Jim Jefferies, Our New Hero

Another great victory for the mighty Jambos this afternoon (Hearts 5 - 0 Aberdeen) and, even more importantly, another great performance. Jim Jefferies seems to have brought the team together in a way not seen since the start of the season in which we won the first eight games and promptly sacked our manager, George Burley, as a result. That's Lithuanian bankers for you.

In that season we had Rudi Skacel or whoever it's spelled, scoring goals for fun and he seems to be doing the same this season now that he is back at Tynecastle.

If this performance continues and the Old Firm continue to drop points we could close the gap even further. Rangers drew with Inverness this morning when Kenny Miller failed to convert a penalty so you never know.

If that happens, however, the Scottish press and radio pundits will start to discuss when "the bubble will burst" for Hearts. We have a well known habit of bottling it towards the end of the season. We did this in the 60's when we were beaten to the league by, I think, Kilmarnock on goal difference and once again in 1986 when all we had to do was draw with Dundee and lift the title for the first time in lots of years. In fact, even if we lost by a single goal, Celtic would have had to have won at Love Street by 4 goals for them to lift the league trophy. Guess what happened.

I missed that game having been to most of the others that season with my first and, I think, only season ticket. My friends and I (including Don) travelled to many away games that season including one towards the end of the season at Tannadice to see Hearts beat Dundee United 3-0 (or was it 2-0?). The Hearts end was packed that day and we stood at the top of the shed part of the terracing. I remember the steps were incredibly steep so we diced with death every time Hearts scored that afternoon. The crowd would erupt and sway straight down and you had no choice but to be carried down with it.

The journey back on the bus was great as the a huge convoy of hearts buses snaked it's way up to the Kingsway and back home. There were probably more Hearts fans there that day that the arabs but that wasn't unusual in those days. Hearts would take thousands of fans away from home and fill the away end, usually making far more noise that the "shitey home support".

Not any more. Stadiums are all seater, family orientated and with less atmosphere. Having said all that, there is far less sectarian abuse at Tynecastle and the songs are more in support of Hearts than deeply against catholics as they used to be. I'm not sure the same can be said for the team from Govan.

So Jim Jefferies can become a real hero at Tynecastle again, especially if he brings silverware in. With our history over the last 20 years the most likely candidate for silverware will be the Scottish Cup but just imagine what would happen if we won the league.......

The Fall's new LP

Here's a link to an interview from our Mark confirming a new LP will be out next year.

http://thequietus.com/articles/05340-fall-to-release-greek-heavy-metal-album

Grogeous George and George

The following link (if it works: I think if you copy and paste it into the address bar of Explorer or Safari it will work) takes you to an interview on one of my favourite shows in Canada, George Stroumboulopoulos Tonight

http://www.cbc.ca/strombo/videos.html?ID=1652524726

The interview is with our very own George Galloway and touches on his recent spat with the Canadian Federal government when they attempted to bar his entry into the country because of their perception that he was funding terrorism.

The claim originated from a video clip that was distributed throughout the world in which George hands over cash to the Palestinian government, lead by Hamas. Because Hamas have been responsible for rocket attacks on Israel in the past few years they have been formally named as terrorists by the Canadian government, although, apparently, not by the British government.

In the interview George Galloway offers that the money he handed over was for humanitarian efforts paying for health supplies and medical staff and that he was handing the money over to the Ministry of Health. However, due to the fact that the ruling party in Palestine is Hamas, they are involved and hence the allegations of "funding terrorism".

I'm always fascinated at the attention George Galloway receives from the politicians around the world and from the press; bordering on hate. I can understand why. The papers are the puppets for whatever political party they favour and print stories that put those political parties in a good light and their enemies in a less favourable light. The political parties do not like outspoken characters like George publicly denouncing their activities and when those opinions touch on globally significant events like the war in Iraq, the debate becomes very heated.

I'm a great believer in "don't believe everything you read in the papers or on the internet or what you see on the TV or internet" from politicians and the visual media. Organizations like Fox News are as controlled by their favoured party as are the print media in the UK and they are not the only ones in that boat.

So when the world's press call George Galloway a terrorist, a terrorist sympathiser or even an anti-Semite take it all with a sackful of salt.

If you actually listen to the man or read his columns you will and should conclude that he is nothing of the sort. He is outspoken, yes, and if he talks in terms that go against your political bias then you will clearly disagree with what he says but don't label him as a terrorist sympathiser. And he's not a racist either. If you listen to his radio show in which he invites members of the public to phone in with their views on the topic of discussion he always agressivley disagrees with those that offer racist views.

He is, in fact, a supporter of the underdog an almost uniquely British past time. That's why he supports and speaks for the Palestinians, that race who have been bullied by their neighbours for years. You could claim that they have simply been standing up for themselves although I don't agree with their methods in the past. Killing is wrong whoever perpetrates it. But why are the worlds press and their controlling political colleagues so quick to call them terrorists when they, through their conventional armies, are also responsible for killing thousands of innocent people? Pot/kettle.

That is why George Galloway was so against the war in Iraq, a view I share. Why invade a country that stands little threat to anyone, least of all the US and UK? All George Galloway does is highlight this to the world.

My advice: listen to what George actually says rather than rely on what you read in the papers or hear from the mouths of his enemies.

I admire him. He stands up for what he believes in and speaks his mind, eloquently, articulately and with much intelligence.

Free Pixies Digital EP

Go to the following for a free copy of a free live digital EP:

http://www.pixiesmusic.com/tour-archive/

At Last, The Truth

Check this out for the answer:

http://blatmandesign.com/Danny%20Baker.mp3

Beady Eye

Liam Gallagher has formed a new band with Gem and Andy from Oasis and they have a new single out that can be downlowded for free at the following:

www.beadyeyemusic.co.uk

It's a slight departure from the previous sound and well worth checking out.

Catch-22

I've just finished Joseph Heller's classic anti-war novel. Set on, I think, an Italian island during the Second World War, the novel tells the story of Captain Joseph Yossarian who is part of the US bombing crew stationed on the island and his various attempts to be sent home due to his increasing fear of being shot down during his numerous bomb raids. He sees the war as in very personal terms and not in the typically patriotic notions that conventional text is written and movies filmed.

The text takes a shot at the lunacy of war and the bureaucracy involved in fighting them and introduces us to many characters who are trying to live through the war as successfully as possible, whether it be in terms of commercial gain as in the case of Milo Minderbinder who uses his mess funds to create international havoc in an attempt make money for himself or Major Major who deals with his feelings of inadequacy by avoiding contact with everyone; asking his subordinate to only admit people into his office when he is not actually in it.

I's an excellent read and well worth fishing out of your local book shop or library.

I want to see the film now.

It's incredibly funny

Gorillaz in Vancouver

I took Josh to see the Gorillaz at the Rogers Arena last week and we both found it an exciting show. Both of us are Gorillaz fans having bought their first album as Josh's first CD when it came out a few years ago and since then we have collected the rest including the G-Sides and D-Sides remix albums.

We arrived a little earlier than I normally arrive because I wanted to see the support band, N*E*R*D with Pharell Williams at the helm. They were pretty good but didn't play any of the songs from the only album of theirs that I have.

Gorillaz came on relatively quickly afterwards and started with the same orchestral section that starts their recent Plastic Beach record, followed immediately by the penning track featuring Snoop Dog. He wasn't there but featured on the big screen at the back while the live band played on the stage in front.

The band is the real life version of the cartoon characters themselves and features half of the Clash; Paul and Mick among other less well known musicians. In fact I've never heard of any of them. It was great to see these two punk heroes live on stage having only ever seen Joe Strummer on stage at the start of his solo career in Liverpool with the Incredible Mr Ford. There were a few more people at the Gorillaz last week than turned up for our Joe.

For the rest of the show we were treated to De La Sol for a few of the songs, a couple of other rappers, Little Dragon and the infamous Bobby Womack. The guy is soul and funk royalty although I'm not sure Josh quite appreciated who he was. Sadly we were not treated to the ramblings of Mark E. Smith for Glitter Freeze but you could still here him ask "where's North from here" at the start.

Damon has created an eclectic sound that has attracted a wide audience and a wider selection of guest artistes and it works. You get punk, hip hop, orchestral music, soul, funk, house music and Mark E. Smith.

I was surprised that they were playing our local hockey arena being as they are a little know act here in canada but they are obviously better known than I thought.

I'm not sure Blur were ever this popular.

Gruff Rhys FREE Download

For fans of The Super Furry Animals, go to the following link to get a free download from Gruff's new record.

www.gruffrhys.com

Enjoy

Belle and Sebastion

Check out the short movie on the introduction page of their website:

www.belleandsebastion.com

More Americans at Anfield

So we now have new American owners at Anfield. I think that means the debt has gone but it will apparently take John Henry some time to figure out what he is going to do with the club. He has suggested today that he is not at the club to make money and would question the sanity of anyone who buys into an English club to make money but instead wants to see Liverpool compete at the highest level in world sport. Well, they are going to have to start winning games again if they are to get anywhere near that level. loosing 2-0 to a poor Everton side who are only 3 points but several places above them.

He talked about the newly agreed "financial fair play" regulations

(http://www.uefa.com/uefa/aboutuefa/organisation/executivecommittee/news/newsid=1493078.html)

helping European soccer, where clubs have to work within their means and not spend any more that they make.

Let's see.

I Broke My Wrist

OW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

One interesting side affect though; morphine really helps you sleep.

Facebook

Ok, I've done it; I've just joined Facebook. I'm still not sure what it's for but I guess I'll have fun hearing news from the 3 friends I've sent messages to.

Any of you on Facebook? I know Don is 'cause he's one of the 3 friends but not sure about the rest of you (i.e. Brian and The Incredible Mr Ford).

I set a couple of bands into my "likes" section and received numerous "news" messages immediately. I suppose it allows you to have all your interests, favourite bands, authors and other interesting organizations in one site where you can keep an eye on them for new releases.

Let's see what happens.

Walk On From Liverpool FC

I spotted this YouTube video in the NME website this week:

http://www.nme.com/news/echo-and-the-bunnymen/53344

It includes a number of pleas from fans of the club, both famous and not so famous and not famous at all to the current owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett to sell the club and get the hell out of Liverpool. It would appear that the duo are somewhat unpopular in a city that has a fanatical fan base for both it's main teams. Having been to the Kop on a number of occassions with the Incredible Mr Ford when we were at university I am feeling the shock of the club's dwindling success and, in particular, their awful start to this season. It now appears that the holding company, Kop Holdings owes the Royal Bank of Scotland 280M pounds and need to pay it back by 15th October or face administration. If that happens the club are likely to face the docking of 9 points, leaving them -3 in the league.

The pair bought the club in 2007, vowing to build a new stadium in Stanley Park and remove the club from debt. So far the debt has not been removed and so the new stadium, despite being designed and planned, remains unbuilt. At the same time the team has not performed due to injuries and a lack of desire from the owners to buy new players.

Now we're hearing that if the club goes into administration it could risk the deal with the proposed buyers further risking the future of the club.

Surely this can't be allowed to happen. Britains most successful club cannot be allowed to disappear. And I'm not just saying this because I've followed them for 22 years. I'd say the same if it was any of the other big clubs in Briatin.

James at the Commodore Ballroom, Vancouver - 7th October

A friend and I went to see James last week. Tracey was ill and couldn't go. The Commodore Ballroom is an old venue with a stage, a dance floor in front and raised seating areas with table to the side. It's tiny with a capacity of just 900. When we arrived the place was pretty empty with a few people up at the stage and lots of people eating their dinner. Never seen that before.

The support act, Ed Hardcourt (not spelled right) came on. I have a copy of an album that Mr Black had given me years ago and I was looking forward to it, but sadly he was very ordinary. I don't think the size of the audience helped but he could have made more of an effort. He evetually stormed off, apparently sulking, without saying goodnight.

When James eventually came on the crown had grown substantially but the place was only 2/3 full. They played a set of new songs from their recent mini-albums and 20 year old songs that they played live when I first saw them at University. I enjoyed it but I think a lot of the Canadian audience were a bit lost. The encore of 3 songs were more recent hits.

They were incredibly tight and gave a great performance despite the smaller crowd. In fact Tim suggested that they would return to Vancouver within a year if everyone promised to bring 1 or 2 friends next time.

Here's hoping.

Mentoring

I was asked to help mentor a graduate sales rep with Honeywell in the UK. She sits in the same office I used to sit in and has been given the same area that I used to look after when I sold service contract 12 years ago.

Back then I was head hunted to join the organization and was interviewed by a sales manager who, despite only being a couple of years older than I was, impressed me (and scared me) enough to agree to join Honeywell. Honeywell were, and still are, a brand that were seen as the best in the industry and I wanted to learn from the best.

Unfortunately this guy admitted that he was leaving the company within a month as he handed me the offer but I was still keen to join the top company.

When I started on January 12th 1999 I was told by my new boss to sell new contracts to exclusively new clients. I was not allowed to even approach existing clients and had to rely on the relationships that I had built with clients at my previous 2 employers but the issue was, I had been successful at selling contracts based on the lowest price. That's not the Honeywell way. Honeywell sell on the value they provide the client with rather than the cost of the service or product so I had to learn how to sell all over again. This was incredibly tough and made even tougher by the fact that I didn't feel I had anyone to bounce ideas off.

If I had had access to a mentor back then it would have been a different story. My confidence would have been higher, I would have learned far quicker and my results would have improved. Luckily for me we won a very large contract withe Siemens to provide maintenance services for the 3 national Savings Bank sites in Glasgow, Blackpool and Durham and I was asked to move from sales to operations. I was still responsible for selling, but selling projects within these contracts (and others that I was given as I proved my effectiveness) rather than new contracts. As I gained more experience on how to sell these projects I was asked to help a new service sales rep and act as a consultant/mentor. This resulted in them winning a few contracts that they were struggling to sell on their own and I got the mentoring bug. It made me feel valuable, experienced and important. In turn this increased my confidence and I became more successful in my own job.

I've done the same for a couple of others since, including one here in Canada. With this young rep in Scotland I am talking to her on a monthly basis (7am here and 3pm in UK) and taking her through a lot of the techniques that I have learned since moving to North America. I've found that the North Americans are years ahead of our European cousins so it's amazing how much I've learned in 4 years.

I'm also able to introduce her to some key people both within Honeywell and with clients. For example she was looking through the "lost contracts" list for Scotland and this included a contract that I used to manage. We lost it because the client decided to take the service we provided in-house. She had started talking to a couple of people who were pleased that she had called as they were unhappy with their current service provider and asked to start estimating a price. Sounded encouraging given the size of this contract. When she talked about this last month I became suspicious that this client would be wasting her time so I called their client's client who I knew very well from my time running their contract. Now we are engaged at a much higher level and our young rep has secured a meeting that she would never have secured on her own. In fact she wouldn't have thought to contact this guy because she didn't have the history or the relationship or even know this guy existed. He's talking about a completely different model and we have the opportunity to win this large contract back again.

I'm not going to benefit financially from this but my mentorship has been exposed to the senior management in the UK and they are happy with the outcome so far and impressed with the value that this new rep is getting.

I'm telling her to, absolutely, go and talk to existing clients and the ones that are happy with us in particular. Our clients are often our best sales reps as they connect with potential clients from the point of view of the client. I've told her to get their permission to use their names with new clients. Find out why our clients do business with us, what they like about us and what they would like to see us do differently and use this information to sell more contracts.

I've given her techniques that I've learned recently to access the CEO level and use this to gain an insight into what these people need, what their business objectives are and the challenges that make those goals difficult. It's our job to remove those challenges and if we do, our price becomes a secondary issue.

I think this is incredibly important, but not just for new reps. I now have a coach of my own; an experienced and very successful rep here in Canada. He is flying out to BC next week to attend some calls with me and provide feedback and tips on how to improve the chances of winning these deals. It's the sharing of ideas and experiences that is helping us all improve our selling methods and increasing our chances to sell more effectively.

Some experienced reps see this as exposing weaknesses to the company. In their minds they don't need some other rep telling them how to sell. They are comfortable selling the way they have been used to and, in many cases, very successful. But I say, take yourself out of your comfort zone, embrace other peoples ideas and be open to learning form others.

Emma and Rebecca

I've been really busy at work and exhausted at home recently so have not been able to write the blog. But now that I have read a couple more books (well, nearly finished Emma) I thought I'd kill two birds with one stone.

Rebecca is a mystery novel by Daphne du Marier and tells the story of a young woman who falls in love with an older widower, marries him and then has to live with the constant comparison people make between her and the late wife, Rebecca. The main character is also the nameless narrator and we learn how she feels inferior in the huge country home of her new husband as she meets a series of his relatives and friends and has to deal with the servants.

She slowly learns about the tragic circumstances of Rebecca's death and the effect it had on her husband but there's a twist in the tale that allows the narrator to see her new life in a different light.

I couldn't put the book down.

Emma, on the other hand, written by Jane Austen in the 19th century has been a struggle from the start. I greatly enjoyed Pride and Prejudice but this one has had me easily distracted by other thoughts and issues at work. The language is very flowery as you would expect from Austen and she continues to use 20 words where 3 would suffice but that was the case with the first of her novels that I wrote so I'm not quite sure why this one has been such a tall order. In fact, I've been allowed to be so distracted by other things that I've had to read several passages twice and still couldn't write a proper review if I was paid. I'm nearly done now and about to start Catch-22 so let's hope I can get through the last couple of chapters quickly.

1984

George Orwell's classic tale of a futuristic society (futuristic in terms of 1940's when the novel was written) in which the population is strictly controlled by the dictatorship called Big Brother. Orwell paints a picture of a hellish existence where your thoughts are policed by the Thought Police, every member of the ruling "party" are monitored by a screen that is placed in every home and place of work and no one is permitted to enjoy themselves, build loving relationships or relax.

The main protagonist is Winston Smith, a low ranking party member who works in a government department that is responsible for changing history to suite the whims of Big Brother. If an estimate for manufacturing is published one week, when the actual output is published and differs from the estimate, the estimate is changed so that word of Big Brother is always seen to be right.

The story is based in a futuristic London in 1984. London is part of a new country called Oceana and is constantly at war with one of the other two global societies: Eurasia or Eastasia. The opposition and allies change frequently and on each occasion the history books have to be changed so that the current enemy has always been that enemy.

Despite the aim of this society being to create an equal society there is still a clear class system in place with the inner circle of the Party acting as the upper classes, the rest of of the party acting as the Middle classes and the "proles" the working classes that are largely left to their own devises unless they display problematic differences with the Party.

Opposition to the party is clamped down on immediately with the guilty arrested, tortured and executed. Their existence is always wiped out as if they never were.

The atmosphere is very oppressive throughout the novel as Winston struggles with his dreams, his vague memories of his childhood in which his parents and sister disappeared, his issues with the party and a relationship with a fellow Party member called Julia.

The end of the novel is predictable and painful to read but I found I was able to read the novel in a couple of days. A definite recommendation.

Dune

I'm not usually a huge fan of sci-fi novels but this one was OK. It took me a long time to finish it due to the fictional place names and people but once you got through that the story was quite entertaining but it's a little complicated.

It revolves around a aristocratic family and their community who move from their home planet to a sandy planet at the behest of the Emporer. This planet is the soul home of the spice Melange and the people that control the planet control the spice production.

The son of this noble family is some prophicised saviour of the native inhabitants of the planet and the final half of the story tells the tale of how he passes a number of tests to claim his place as the head of the population.

I can image that George Lucas used this story as inspiration for the Star Wars movies with it's stories of the "chosen one", trade rights and intergalactic wars. There's a series of these novels but I think I will leave them unread. Too many other literary classics to get through.

iPad and eBooks

I'm not sure I get the point of the new iPad from Apple. Someone at work bought one as soon as they were released and brought it into the office. Yes, they look cool and the fact you have one could be considered by those that know no better as cool, but what are they actually for?

Our two kids have recently bought an iPod Touch each; an iPod with a big touch screen that allows you to listen to music, watch movies, play games, download lots of meaningful and meaningless apps and a host of other tools. My iPod Classic allows me to take a large percentage of my music collection in the car and when I am travelling and play one game; solitaire. If I want to play games, look on the internet, watch movies and all that other electronic business, I have my laptop. A laptop can perform so many more tasks than an iPod/iPad so why is the iPad attracting so much attention?

My attraction to my iPod is that I can take over 1000 albums with me in the car in a wee box. I don't have over a thousand albums on it yet but I'm getting there (600 or so at the last count) and that's it. The new iPod Touch or the Ipad don't have the memory to hold that many albums so they are less about the music now and more about the other tools and , in particular, the games. The iPad is just a larger version of that but with the same limited memory and a limited memory that forces the music to compete for memory space with the apps and photos and movies that you can download for it.

So the iPod is no longer about the music but a myriad of other applications...and games.

There is one application, however, that would attract me to the iPad, but I'd still need my iPod for the music. The attractive feature is the ability to download and read books. I suspect you can already do that on a laptop but mine seems to take an age to boot up these days and it's for work anyway. The iPad is smaller than the typical laptop and starts a lot faster than one too, so you can turn it on and off as fast as you open and close a book.

What does this all mean about the future publication of printed books? From a number of articles that I have read recently it would appear that the sale of ebooks has exploded recently with the release of the Amazon's Kindle and other ebook readers but still runs short of the sale of traditional printed books. Unless you are Amazon where they recently announced that the sale of ebooks had overtaken the sale of printed books. For every 100 printed books they sold, they sold 180 ebooks. It sounds like a lot of this has to do with the price of the ebooks incomparison to their printed cousins and the convenience.

One interesting point I read this morning is that 54% of printed books that are sold are romance novels. Who is buying that stuff? Perhaps th same people that put Mariah Carey in the top 10 biggest selling artists of all time. I digress.

And think about the environmental improvements with ebooks. There is no paper manufacturing involved so no trees are killed and you don't have to drive into town to visit the book shop, you simply make your search on the web.

It's also an improvement, in some ways, for the writers. Many ebooks are self published and sold at under $10, making them more accessable to the public. Traditional books stores that have limited space to store their books often carry only the best sellers so it's more difficult to get into the published world if you are a first time writer.

I have to admit that I am somewhat attracted to the idea of ebooks, their portablility and their lower costs. It doesn't really matter to me how I read the words. There's no difference to me whether it's on a screen or a piece of paper. On the other hand I love visiting books shops and wandering through their many titles, whether I am planning to buy them or not. In fact next week, Tracey and I are visiting Portland where they claim to have the world's largest book store, Powells. That experience would be lost if ebooks took over.

One article I read talked about the traditions of books being lost on the next generations in the same way that music has with iPods. With music, kids no longer pour over album covers and invest time and effort in purchasing their records or CDs, they simply download one song at a time, losing the experience of listening to an entire album from song one to the last, but that's the topic of another blog.

I don't have the same issue with books because you can't download and read the odd chapter from one book and another chapter from a different book because you miss the whole point.

So if I was going to buy an iPad then it would be for the books...but then I'd have all those other apps and games to distract me. Perhaps not.

Captain Corelli

I have just finished Captain Corelli's Mandolin by Louis de Bernieres. Written in 1993 it tells the story of a number of characters on the Island of Cephallonia during the second world war and during the occupation of the island by German and Italian troops.

The story focuses on the daughter of the local doctor, Dr Iannis, who is forced to take in an Italian officer during the occupation. The daughter, Pelagia is betrothed to a local fisherman called Mandras who leaves the island to fight the Germans. Mandras returns from the war as a tramp having had to suffer the winter in the mountains of Greece and then leaves again to fight with a communist group leaving Pelagia to the charms of the Italian.

Her relationship with her gentlemanly oppressor starts badly as Pelagia tries to maintain an atmosphere of loathing but quickly changes to love.

As the war leads to a conclusion the island is witness to the type of brutality that you would expect from the Germans and Pelagia thinks that her lover has been killed and lives the rest of her life wondering what could have been.

It's a tragic love story with some twists and turns along the way and describes how war can affect an entire community and the love between two humans who just happen to be on the opposite side of the war's fence.

It was a great book but took me a lot longer to read than I had expected. It was a little slow to start and really only picked up towards the end but is, nevertheless, very well written and worth a read.

Those Damned Horns

I have been watching the World Cup like most of you. I'm not sure if it's been a particularly spectacular affair. The Argentinians and Germans have played some of the most exciting games in the competition but both failed to get through to the final. Brazil had a great start but fell before the last 4 and Spain, favoured by many, including myself, to win started badly and then dominated everyone without scoring very many goals. Having 60% - 70% of the possession is one thing but you have to convert that into goals. Switzerland managed to sneak a goal passed them in the first round and The Netherlands are a far better team with a few capable of scoring so the game should be a great one, but you never know. They may cancel each other out as the

fellas from Portugal and Brazil did and then we will be presented with 90 minutes or more of turgid football.

I have selected Spain to win tomorrow and need it for the pool that we entered in the office. The annoying thing is that we have a few Canadians who know nothing about the game who went on line and copied the predictions of various websites and tried to pass them off as there own and they are now winning. Some of them actually have Holland and Spain in the final where the more experienced among us had a Brasil / Spain final. Those damned hockey fans. I'll never live it down if I'm not near the top of the winners.

Let's hope for a great game tomorrow and one without those bloody horns. From the first game I saw they've spoiled every game and turned the beautiful game into the incredibly annoying game. It's like listening to a hornets nest for 90 minutes. I just hope that the fans from the domestic teams from around Europe don't adopt them. They should be banned forever.

Mark E Smith Interview

No, not one I did. This is one that is linked through The Fall's website:

http://thequietus.com/articles/04568-mark-e-smith-of-the-fall-on-art-the-artist

Enjoy

Your Future Our Clutter

Another wonderful album from our friends, The Fall. This one sees our Mark produce a record of 9 songs that are some of the tightest he has created, or rather conducted. The opening track kicks off with a long introduction of thundering drums followed by the guitars and growling bass and the second song, Bury Pts. 1 + 3 is class in a glass. This one begins as if it's been recorded off the telly using one of those old tape recorders before becoming a little clearer for a few bars and eventually evolving into full clarity for the majority of the song. The video for this is brilliant, each band member filmed in crystal clear slow motion. Check it out on

http://www.visi.com/fall/index.html

Go to the Fall News section and the recent posting on the right.

It's almost as good as Fall Heads Roll (which is saying something) so I'd like you all to rush out to your local record emporium and purchase a copy and double the sales for the poor man. Mr Black has done his bit by going to see The Fall live in Aberdeen (thank you Sir). It would be great to see them tour over here but, alas, I think I'll be waiting a long time.

Look on the discography section of the above website an you will see all the live and compilation albums that the various record labels of the Fall have released over the years. It's hard enough keeping up with their own studio output without adding the myriad of spurious records that regurgitate the same songs but there do appear to be some live gems amongst them.

I would also recommend the Peel Sessions boxset that was released shortly after John Peels untimely death. A great deal of the track on that lot (8 discs) are superior to their studio cousins.

The Fall continue to be a wonderful example of a band that get better with every record. They can be a challenging listen to the uninitiated particularly if you start with their early stuff but once you get over that initial shock of hearing something completely different to the other stuff you've been listening to you may just find a sound that you can stick with.

Mark E Smith's voice has changed over the years and his ability to hold a tune has diminished with age, but at 53 he's still capable of whipping a bunch of younger musicians into shape and the latest batch seem very tight.

Teenage Fanclub

I have just bought Shadows, the new album by Teenage Fanclub and I can tell it will be a grower. I already love it but it will get better as I listen more over the next few weeks. You can check out a variety reviews on the world wide interweb and they all say the same thing; The Fannies have been growing into their ever evolving sound for the past 20 years. The twists of screeching feedback and scuzzy sounding guitars have given way to a softer folky feeling but the harmonies are still there and their mastery at song writing.

They still have the odd Big Star moments but sound more like The Byrds in some cases. I read one review and it compared their earlier work to a band called Raspberries so check them out on YouTube.

They are coming to Vancouver in October and playing a small club on the south side of downtown so Tracey and I are going with a couple of friends.

Here's the link to their website:

www.teenagefanclub.com

The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe

Although this is a childrens' book and full of the imagery of fairy stories, CS Lewis must have been smoking something when he wrote it. People have read biblical connotations into these stories for years and I guess Aslan in resurrected at one point but I think I'd have to read all the Chronicals of Narnia to see it.

In any case the story is well known to everyone. I used t watch the cartoon version at Christmas when I was a kid. The recent live action story is slightly more detailed than the book itself (the cartoon is much closer to the original), but at the end of the day it's a children's book and not shouldn't be considered anything else.

He was definately on something when he wrote it though. I'm surprised there's not more references to Alsan calling everyone Dude.

Frankenstein

This gothic tale of reanimation was first published anonymously in 1818 and tells the story of young Victor Frankenstein who studies philosophical sciences (not sure what this is, exactly) and creates a human form from bits of other people. Through a process that is left very vague, but involves lightning, the figure comes alive and sends extreme fear through young Victor, who flees his laboratory.

Years pass without sight or sound from the creation until it becomes clear that is simply a temporary respite. Shunned by society the creation, referred to throughout as the "daemon", hides in the countryside and observes society from the safety of the shadows (not the group that Cliff sang with). He comes across a family deep in the woods and observes them for some time, learning their language and their history.

This curiosity leads to the daemon to approach them one day to befriend them and finally be accepted within a, albeit small, community and feel the love that everyone else experiences, only to be shunned again and driven away. This send the daemon into a rage and he decides to pursue his creator, intent on bringing misery to his life.

This story was said to be the inspiration for modern horror as it deals with reanimation, murder and fear. It's a dark and tragic novel with no real ending. You're left with a sense of dissatisfaction but it's nevertheless an exiting account of revenge and pursuit.

Are Audio Books Cheating, Brian?

A friend of mine who will remain nameless, but lets refer to him as Brian Black for the purposes of this post, has started downloading audio books and listening to them in the motor vehicle as he trundles along the roads. His question is "is this reading".

I would say, "no", it's more like listening really. However, for those who can't read I think audio books are marvelous. OK, I'm only joking. Audio books have been around for years and our kids have some examples of them that we've listened to in the car; Harry Potter books read by Stephen Fry are great examples. We've also got the Chronicles of Narnia. I enjoy listening to them in the car and it makes a chance from music when you're on long journeys.

I might start having a look through iTunes for books for work. Good idea Brian (I main nameless person who is definitely not Brian Black or anything).

Eddie Izzard

Tracey and I went to see Eddie Izzard on Friday night with a couple of friends who had never heard of him. It was, as you would expect, hilarious and he spent the 2 hours talking about his take on the history of the world, at the beginning of which, he announces he is an atheist. His disbelief in God is the backbone of the night as he explains the logical and scientific history of our planet as an evolutionist rather than a creationist.

He slags off latin as a pointless language that is way too complicated and describes how language was developed as a means of passing down skills from one generation to another. He suggests that everyone was good at Scrabble before words were invented.

if you get the chance to see him live, take it...regardless of the cost.

Birdsong

Sorry Mr Black, but I've read another one....try to keep up.

Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks is set around the First World War and tells the story of a young man, Stephen Wraysford. The story begins in France prior to the start of the war and finds Stephen living with the family of a French man who is in the textile business. Stephen has been sent there by his British company to learn their business model and pick up a few tips. However, while he is living with the family he falls in love with the young wife and they embark on a love affair that leads to an elopement. Their affair ends suddenly and the story moves to the trenches of France during the war but the strands of this affair are picked up, in part, later in the story.

The book is interspersed with passages in which Stephen's granddaughter, Elizabeth is investigating his background in 1978 and the book passes back and forth in time.

This is an amazing story and gives you and sense of the horror that the soldiers had to face every day. The horror is not restricted to the attacks ("going over the top") although this is where the most horrific passages are described but the author paints a very grim picture of general life in the trenches in between pushes forward.

Some of the narrative takes place underground as Stephen's soldiers are sent to protect the miners who are digging tunnels under the German front lines in order to detonate massive bombs and here the story takes on a more claustrophobic angle.

This is a definite read.

Italian Lessons 2

Here's the next lesson. Two very imprtant phrases:

Che un paio di grandi manghi - what a large pair of mangos
Questo è certamente un grande cespuglio - that certainly is an impressive bush

A couple of vaguely horticultural phrases for you although I'm told to be careful who and how you express these sentiments.

David Gray

Tracey and I went to see David Gray with friends last week. He is a great song writer and his performance is very polished but there was absolutely no atmosphere at all. The audience remained seated throughout the majority of the show until he kicked into an old familiar song towards the end. The average age of the audience was a lot older than I imagine his British audience would be and this added to the Easter Road atmosphere. And they were all dolled up like they were going to a night club (a club for very old people who still think they are 25).

We are goig to see Eddie Izzard in the same venue this Friday so that should be fun. We are going with other friends who don't know him. I wonder if he'll come out in a dress....?

Heart of Darkness

This novella by Joseph Conrad is the classic that inspired Francis Ford Coppola's to make Apocalypse Now. In the film a US army officer is sent into the jungle of Vietnam in search of the renegade Colonel Kurtz whereas the original narrative revolves around the protagonists retelling of his journey into "the heart of darkness" that is the Congo in 1890s. His goes in search of an agent, Mr Kurtz, of a Belgian company that is exploiting the riches of Africa for profit (ivory mainly).

The story is set in the centre of European imperialism of Africa that saw widespread murder of Africans on a scale few understand and sees many European countries competing for the continent's wealth. The narrator, Marlow, joins a Belgian company and quickly hears about this legendary character who is responsible for sending more ivory to the coast than any other agent but when Marlow eventually finds Kurtz he discovers a man who has been horribly corrupted by his own perception of power and that he considers himself a self-proclaimed leader of the group of Africans that he has associated himself with. They treat him like a king, or even a deity, and he abuses them in return. Marlow is shocked by what he discovers and learns that this imperialism is nothing more that the rape and murder of an under-developed civilization (by Europe's standards) by a an imperial force that takes over with extreme force.

This horror story reflects Conrad's disapproval of imperialism that he built over years of working for European companies in Africa himself.

This is a very dark book (no pun intended) and one I didn't really enjoy. I was glad when it was finished. Thankfully it's very short.

To Kill a Mocking Bird and Wuthering Heights

The last two books that I've read and crossed off the list.

The first is Harper Lee's only novel, published in 1960 narrated by a 6 year old girl called Scout Finch as she observes her neighbours and family in the 1930's southern America. Scout's father, Atticus, is a local lawyer who brings his two children, Scout and her older brother Jem, up on his own. They demonstrate a great deal of respect for their hard working father and this respect grows when he is called in to represent a local black man who has been wrongly accused of rape. Atticus senses what really happened during the incident that his client has been arrested for and questions the key witnesses with intelligence and strategic focus. He has to deal with the prejudice that black people faced everywhere in those days (and appear to face still in many parts of the world), prejudice that he is targeted with, due his representation of his client.

A parallel plot involves a neighbour that chooses to stay in his home all day and is rumoured to come out at night. He is the wonderfully named Boo Radley and he later lent his name to the equally famous band.

This is a great novel; a classic in the true meaning and Harper Lee has described a society that comes alive in every page. You can see the small town that the characters live in I was fortunate to read the book before seeing the movie. I suspect the movie will, as usual, be a poor version of this wonderful, coming of age and distinctly heartbreaking novel.

Wuthering Heights is a different animal altogether. Written by Emily Bronte and published in 1847 it tells the story of the dark character, Heathcliffe and his tragic relationship with Catherine Earnshaw. It's a brooding story full of malevolence, fear, fatigue and even love. It is essentially a tragic love story.

It is narrated by a Mr Lockwood through another character Nellie and spans two generations in Yorkshire. It's a short book and that's probably a good thing; it is full of isolation (reflecting the real lives of the Bronte sisters), barren landscapes complete with typical British shitty weather and the ubiquitous class system that forms the backbone of the relationships in the novel.

I'm now halfway through the Picture of Dorian Grey so watch this space.

Italian Phrase 280410

I've decided to learn a new Italian phrase every week using the website http://translation2.paralink.com/

So here's the first one: la tua capra sta avendo difficoltà in farmacia,

which of course means "your goat is having difficulty in the pharmacy".

iTunes

Does anyone know how you can change album covers on iTunes when you have an iMac? In a lot of cases they don't have the covers at all and when they do, they sometimes make a roaring arse of it. On the PC I could copy and paste from Amazon but can't seem to do it with the Mac.

Let me know.

David Copperfield

Just finished Dickens' 900 page, largely autobiographical, novel about the boy who, despite early hardship (the loss of his Mother after the unnecessarily harsh treatment by David's dictatorial stepfather, Mr Murdstone and his spinster sister, his relationship with that austere pair and his running away from an extremely hard job as a young child in London to his only known relative, Betsy Trottwood in Dover) manages to lead an eventful life and become a famous writer.

At 938 pages it's a long text but well worth the read, written in Dickens' elaborate prose and peppered with a myriad of characters including the hideous Uriah Heep.

This was Dickens' 8th novel and it's genesis can be traced to a trip that Dickens made to Great Yarmouth. He filled his story with orphaned children, scenes from his trip and the village of Blundeston, the place he named as the book's narrator's birthplace.

This book appears in the Big Read's Top 200 at 34 but i have a better source of literary inspiration now. I recently bought "1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die" (morbid title) and have read 20 of them (27 on the Big Read list), including David Copperfield. Pitiful.

I've just started To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee and will follow with Birdsong. Shorter books...

Life Begins....

It's happened; I've reached 40. I'm not sure how it happened. One minute I'm leaving University about to embark on a life of adventure and mystery and five minutes later I am sitting in a hotel room in our provincial capital looking forward to an incredibly busy day at work in which, despite several reminders leading up to the trip, my boss fails to remember and continues through the day as if it were any other day. Of course, to him, it was any other day; 3 flights a lunch meeting, followed by a dinner meeting in Prince George before a return flight to the big smoke.

Time appears to have passed with lightening speed since laving University that I often wonder how quickly the next 20 years will pass. I'm wondering if I've done enough yet. I've worked for two dubious companies and one great company, gaining experience of work as I've progressed through a number of roles. I'm married to the wonderful Gingerone and have grown as a person as a result. We have two wonderrful kids and all the stresses and strains that come with that and we've made the move to a fairly foreign country and grown as a family even more. I've travelled to a lot of interesting places in the world, built a music collection that continues to expand today and read some brilliant books.

I've had a very full life so far and met a lot of close friends along the way and I feel that life is improving all the time. Sure we have our crosses to bear and, now that we live in Canada, our bears to cross but if I had the chance to live it all again, would I do the same? Would I make the same choices? Well, if I was going to make different choices I would have to be aware that I was living it all again in the first place otherwise I would definately live my life the same way. But other than a few little tweeks here and there, like working harder at school and not partying so much during my first year at University I'm not sure I would have done anything differntly. Well, I might have completed a MBA before the kids came along but I wasn't working for a company that would have had the foresight to pay for my way through the experience.

I would have gone to Spike Island, I would have gone to see Nirvana before their career took off, REM and the Black Crowes in their early years and the Smiths when I was still at school.

I would have read more. More of the classics that I am reading now so that I would had more books to tick off the Big Read list. But I am making up for that now.

So my Birthday was celebrated a couple of days late. I now have an iPod so that I don't have to borrow everyone elses and a great pair of headphones so that I can listen to the music as it was intended to be listened to. It's amazing how much these headphones improve the sound, although if you're going to buy a set, don't read the audiophile reviews. They are written by people who think the rest of us understand what they are writing about. The best reveiws ere those offered by ordinary people who reviewed their purchases on the Futureshop (think of a North American Dixons) website. Reviews I could understand.

My parents sent me a new version of Reckoning by REM with an extra disc of a concert from 1984. The other CD was the Plastic Beach by The Gorillaz. Now, that's a piece of audio art; an eclectic collection of different styles, guest performers and Mark E. Smith.

So where is all this leading to? Will we have a homeof our owwn to live in any time soon? If the exchange rate continues to remain where it is, no!! But I can't complain. I am enjoying my life here, the new friends we have met and the fact that the kids are growing in an environment that allows them to grow and develop in ways that the UK would never have allowed them to.

Here's to the next 40 years....just can't toast it with any alcohol. Hey ho.

Mark E. Smith Video

Here's another link to check out.

http://www.channel.tate.org.uk/#media:/media/71190048001&context:/channel/playlists

This link may not work. I've tried it a few times so you may have to copy and paste it into the web browser thing. Try this one and go into the "Fall News" link:

http://www.visi.com/fall/index.html

It's a short interview Mark did for the Tate art gallery. Great stuff from our curmudgeon of a pal.

New album out soon to watch out for

Skinny Pete

I'm on a diet. Someone at work had the idea of starting an office version of the TV show "The Biggest Loser". A few of us have paid $50 each and will be weighed monthly until the end of June to find out who has lost the biggest percentage of their weight. The winner will pocket all the winnings; about $600 now. Having thought about it I think we should be offering the winnings to charity and will suggest that this week. I probably won't be very popular but who is going to be brave enough to challenge a plea to have the winnings sent to Oxfam or UNICEF...or whatever. Most of us have declared that we are not interested in the money but the challenge to lose weight so there shouldn't be much of a challenge to my charitable suggestion. We will see.

Anyway, I've been measuring myself for the past few weeks and have lost 6 pounds. I've set a target to lose about 20% (this may or may not be realistic) and I will see how I get on. Other fatties in the office have lost considerably more but have taken to cheating by taking tablets that speed up the metabolism and colonic swilling-out.

My approach is simple; no alcohol (I can't anyway), no chocolate (very difficult, more so than beer), no candy, no cake and no cookies or pop or ice-cream or normal cream and a bit more exercise. "A bit more" equates to a run once a week so far, but I'm still playing football on a Thursday and trying to ski when the weather and my time permit it. I could also cut out bread but I need something to look forward to.

I'm going to try to keep this up beyond June too. I see no point in losing some weight during this period and then putting it all back on again in the latter part of the year. This is the problem most habitual dieters face as their weight drops and increases at regular intervals. Pointless. I could have the occasional chocolate after June, but the problem I have is that once I get the taste of chocolate I have to eat the whole lot. I think my simple sub-conscious thinks the chocolate will go off if it's left for more than a few hours after opening it. I will have to be very careful.

I've noticed a change already; my trousers have a habit of falling down if I don't wear a belt. Belts were simply fashion accessories for me in the past with no real function (my kecks would happily remain around my ever-expanding waist on their own, thank you very much) but now I actually need them to hold my pants up. I ventured out with the garbage the other day without a belt and had to hold my trousers up with me free hand. When I do wear my belt it's now tightened up an extra hole. The problem is, as I lose more weight, and therefore girth from around my middle, I will have to tighten my 36" trousers so much that they will make me look like a rather well dressed vagrant. I've taken that too far.............

More Books

I've just spent the weekend finishing 3 more books from the BBC's Big Read list:

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

Brigit Jones Diary by Helen Fielding

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

The first was written in 1925 and is narrated by Nick Carraway as he spends a summer in the company of a variety of characters who live in mansions on Long Island's shoreline. The story centres on the Jay Gatsby, a mysterious neighbour of Nick's who's background is revealed throughout the novel. It's one of those stories that has no real plot but a series of narratives about parties and meetings with new friends for Nick, not all of which he likes.

Brigit Jones was published in 1994 and everyone already knows the story. Actually the book is a little different to the film but ironically mentions Colin Firth and Hugh Grant in it. It's a great read and very funny...funnier than the film.

Jane Eyre is a great love story written in 1847 and tells the story of a young teacher of the same name who falls in love, loses love and (I'll not spoil the ending).

All these are very short books and can be read in a single day as long as you don't have too much on.

I'm tackling Dickens' David Copperfield, allegedly as close to an autobiographical piece as you can get from old Charley boy.

Go Canada Go

The hype is over and the population of the country are delirious following the Sid the Kid's overtime goal in the Gold Medal hockey game. It was a tense affair that we watched on the internet...well, the 3rd period and OT. Because we were watching on the internet the feed kept freezing the game and returned from the same place it froze so that by the end of the game we were watching 3-4 minute old footage. Josh, who was listening to the game on the radio live came through to tell us that the US had scored their goal with 24 seconds on the clock, 3 minutes before we saw it. I gave him hell. In OT the screen once again froze so I joined Josh in in his room and when Crosby scored the winner I did exactly the same. Tracey gave me hell.

It was dream end to a heart stopping game and a fitting finale to the games.

We then watched the closing ceremony on line.

It would appear that the games were a success. Visitors enjoyed the Canadian welcome and BC hospitality, especially the laid back west coast way of life that we all love here. Businesses downtown apparently boomed (at least restaurants and hotels did - not sure about the stores) and the feared traffic congestion did not transpire for the majority of us.

It was, however, debatable whether the games were entirely environmentally friendly with trucks and helicopters shipping snow from outside the local area and the Olympic flame burning huge amounts of either propane or natural gas 24 hours a day but the traffic was greatly reduced for the event as an estimated 250,000 people left to escape the madness.

Britain won one medal (albeit a gold one) and Canada won a record 14 golds so i am now Canadian, except when Scotland play football or rugby or anything else come to mention it.

Who's "Wombat"?

Alright, who are you? Where's the photo? Do I know you? Do I owe you money? What are the lottery numbers on Saturday? Will Hearts ever win anything again? If a tree falls down in the forest and no one is around to witness it.....................

Super Furry Animals Live

Check this link out. It's the Furries at a recent show in New York. I hope this works.

http://www.baeblemusic.com/concertvideo/The-Highline-Ballroom/Super-Furry-Animals.html

War and Peace

I have finished reading the monster tome that is War and Peace and wanted to share some thoughts on it.

It's been on my literary bucket list for years and now that I've finished the unabridged version I have a sense of satisfaction akin to the feelings I had when I finished Lord of the Rings all those years ago. Back then I took ten years of reading the novel on and off and, frankly, lost the plot a little bit. I should reread it from start to finish one day to get the full benefit of it but for now I have a few other classic to make my way through.

So with this latest voluminous epic I started in September, stopped a little in November and continued at Christmas until I finished it at the weekend so in all it took five and a half months.

The book is 975 pages long and involves very very small text, hence the length of time to complete it but I loved it. It combines the story of a number of the Russian nobility around the time of the Napoleonic Wars with historical details about the war and Russia's involvement in it. The main characters include princes, counts and other nobility and their interaction with each other, their love lives and of course their involvement in the war. The story flits from peace time activities and the battles, hence the title.

Tolstoy started writing the novel in 1862 when he returned home from the Crimean War and it was published between 1865 and 1869. Tolstoy was a Count himself and one of four sons of Count Nikolai Ilyich Tolstoi who took part in the war against Napoleon in 1812 but died when Leo was 7.

The novel is interspersed with the author's own philosophy on the social issues of the time and of the path of history as it relates to wars. He is clearly opposed to the idea of serfdom and the horrors the practise includes and of war and tries to explain that the recording of history by historians is simply a focus on individual characters (Napoleon for example) and not a complete record of what actually happened in detail. For example, he states, that the outcome of wars and the battles in it, are rarely as a direct result of the direct orders of the military geniuses and more a result of the armies interpretation of the orders executed as best they can be. The final battle immediately prior to the French taking Moscow, the battle of Borodino, was executed after a misunderstanding of where the respective armies stood and ended with the Russian army retreating beyond Moscow to regroup. This allowed the French to enter Moscow and declare a victory when, in fact, the Russian army could have continued a bit longer and eventually taken the French by storm and driven them from Russia. However, Moscow was taken, the French troops allowed to rampage through the city and burn it down (although Tolstoy suggests this was due to disorder amongst the troop rather than a planned affair) while the Russian army regrouped beyond the city walls.

Then, instead of taking over and the rest of the country the French, led by their minute leader, decide to leave and march back to Paris with disastrous results (in the middle of Winter). But Tolstoy argues that even this action was due to a mass feeling of despair among the French troops rather than a direct order from above. Regardless, the French left the city and the country and were pursued by the well rested Russian army who themselves lost half their number in the process. Apparently the French army was leaving regardless of who was following them so the hundreds of thousands of Russian soldiers who lost their lives to starvation and the cold, did so needlessly.

If you have the time and the desire to work through this one I'd recommend it.

Now that I have finished I have started to read the Great Gatsby, a tiny novel set in the 20s. Another to knock off the top 100 list. And it should only take me a week due to it's small number of pages.

The World is Watching

The Olympics is well underway and the crowds have flocked to Vancouver. Unfortunately the snow has not so so of the local mountain events have been affected. The week prior to the start, the roads were actually better than normal because an estimated 250,000 people have left the city.

We ventured down town last weekend to soak up the atmosphere and found the downtown area pretty empty. It was the day after the opening ceremony so we went straight to the Olympic flame first and found it to be shielded by a large chain link fence. It was so high you had to put your camera right up to the fence and photograph straight through it. They even had a cherry picker lying around the place so it looked really messy. There have been a huge amount of complaints from the public, and rightly so, so they have now cut a bit hole in the fence to allow people to take proper photos. You still can't get anywhere near the structure though.

The rest of the town was pretty quiet. The main shopping street, Robson, was dead with no one in the shops and the only busy area was Robson Square in front of the gallery. They had an ice rink where the Olympic characters danced about and allowed you to take pictures and a zip line across the road. Apparently the line up for this was 4 hours yesterday and it takes longer to get the safety equipment on than complete the trip so it doesn't seem like a great thing to wait for.

We ended up in H&M and found it to be like a Tuesday night (ie empty) and the restaurant that we had lunch in had two customers so I'm not sure what this event is going to do to the local economy. Obviously the hotels are doing very well as they are all fully booked and charging a fortune and VANOC will be doing ell with their ticket sales and merchandising but I'm not sure about the stores or restaurants.

There have been some funny stories about the lengths that the VANOC organization has gone to protect the official Olympic brand and sponsors. One local restaurant downtown was asked to change it's name as it was called the Olympic restaurant. Apparently this place had been a family run Greek restaurant for years but VANOC saw fit to drag them through the courts. Not sure if they won but it was a media booboo for them. Then there's a local clothing manufacturer of yoga clothing who were not an official sponsor but, nevertheless, put "a famous sporting event held in Vancouver" on their T-shirts and this upset VANOC too. Funny that.

But the weather has been the most disappointing as far as the events are concerned. Beautiful blue skies, warm temperatures and a distinct lack of white fluffy stuff has been an obvious issue. We were up Mount Seymour this morning and, while the views from the top were spectacular, it was like skiing on sugar. There were big rocks and tree trunks exposed where there is normally mounds of snow. It was still fun though.

We watched the opening ceremony on the world wide interweb and it was fun. The event tickets were $1100 each and you had to be in your seat by 5pm. The show ended at 10pm and you were not allowed to take your own food in so you had to buy their food. Very expensive I bet. The show was good, especially the light show but not $1100 worth of good. KD Lang was excellent and has a brilliant voice and was by far the best part.

The Olympics Are Here!!!

We had the Olympic flame down our street this afternoon at lunchtime. The street was full of school kids out from their lessons to watch a spectical that we will probably never witness for the rest of our lives. I have to admit that the sense of excitement grew as the torch bearer gradually approached where we were standing in the crowd but I'm not sure I am overly excited about the overall event.

The traffic will probably be chaos in various parts of Metro Vancouver and I for one will be avoiding the bridge from the North Shore as much as possible. The authorities are encouraging people to use public transport as much as possible while warning of 1-2 hour line-ups at the Skytrain stations during peak periods. For "peak periods" read "most of the time, particularly at night". The two bridges from Vancouver to the North Shore (access to Whistler) will be a nightmare at rush hour as lanes are being claimed specifically for Olympic travel. We only have two lanes in each direction on both bridges normally and they are invariably clogged during rush hour so who knows what it will be like for the next 2-3 weeks.

Then we have to look at the expected costs for hosting this. The Provincial government are forking out millions along with the RCMP and as a result the funding for schools and hospitals have been cut while the government waits to see what the final costs actually are. That means no critical facility upgrades for any schools in BC or any hospitals.

Then there's the weather which is out of everyone's control, but we have no snow. None!! We are having to truck snow in from Manning Park at a cost of $150k and helicopter the stuff from the top of Cyprus Mountain at $10k per hour. And that's just for some of the events. The remainder of the alpine events will be at Whistler where the snow is a lot better.

To top it all we had deal with the process that was chosen for the ticket allocation. About 10% of the tickets were available to the public and they had to apply for them through a lottery. But you couldn't chose, say the hockey gold medal game and nothing else, you had to apply for a group of tickets for other events too and at huge costs. This has meant that people are trying to sell their unwanted tickets to friends as quickly as possible in the run up to the games. Then the authorities refused to let anyone sell their unwanted tickets on Craigslist or any other web site and warned that anyone who did buy tickets in this way would be prevented from entering the events. The tickets have the names of the people on them. At least that was the process until VANOC decided to let people sell their tickets as long as they used their own website and charged 10% of the price to both the seller and the buyer.

Then, on top of all that, you have to buy the official gear with either cash or a VISA. Guess why; 'cause VISA are one of the official sponsors.

The list goes on, but enjoy the games.

Peter

facebooktwitterflkrlinkedin

I don't know about you lot but I am constantly being asked to open a Facebook account by people at work, friends, family and all manner of hangers on, so that people can contact me. Erm, isn't that what email and the electric telephonic apparatus is for? "Yeh, but you can store photos on it for everyone to see". Why would I want my photos on the interweb for everyone to see? The are my personal memories of vacations and days out and soccer games and if I wanted to share them I would email them to my friends, not post them for the entire world to see them. Unless, of course I wanted people to buy them, but that's something else and even then I would create my own website and call it petesphotoemporium.com or something.

And the latest one is this LinkedIn. I do have an account there because I have been inundated with requests from people all over the world that work for Honeywell (yes I know people all over the world that work for Honeywell). I started my page, invited a couple of colleagues and then looked at other people's pages. They had 80 connections here and 40 connections there. I had 2. So now I felt pressure to link up to other people that I knew and spend an hour searching through their database for more people. I think I am now up to a whopping 6.

So my question is this: how do these, normally efficient characters manage to get through their work during the day and have 80 connections? If it took me an hour to get 6 connections how long does it take to win over 80? Or are they spending time at home doing it? Either way, why are they spending this time on it?

What's happened to calling people? Or emailing them? Are we now living in a society where we get satisfaction, not from performing well at work and earning the respect (and lot's of money) from our colleagues and customers, but from how many "friends" we have on Facebook.

And what's Twitter? Is this a social website for twits? Or budgies?

Then we have this new iPad. Isn't it just a slightly larger iPod Touch? A bigger screen to play bigger games and look at your photos, and read emails slightly easier than a iPod Touch. Granted you can read books on it and perhaps this is more environmentally friendly that the traditional paper versions but I won't be able to browse through the old second-hand electronic books in charity stores and pay $1.99 for them. No, I'll pay full price for them and build up an electronic library, drop the bloody thing in the street and lose the lot. Or am I being a ludite?

I'm off to read a book. Made from paper.

Peter

New Follower

Oh, before I forget, we have a new follower. Any names matey?

A Week in the Rain

This week has seen horrendous weather here in Vancouver and even worse conditions up the mountain. We bought season's passes for the skiing back in September and the season seemed to start OK in early December but we were unable to go up due to our move so we kept our fingers crossed for January. The kids had their first school lesson up there this week and I took them up to get our passes and check out the conditions. I've never seen anything like it up there. The car park was a mass of rapidly melting slush, the sleet was driving hard and the fog was thick enough to prevent a view of more than 100 yards. When I picked the kids up at the school later they complained that there was little snow up the mountain and the lower chairlift was closed. There were rivers running through the snow and rocks sticking up through. Not very safe. I hope it gets better for the Olympics here in February. The majority of the skiing will be at Whistler where the conditions are a little better but some of the events are to be held at Cyprus where the snow is very similar to our mountain.

On a related note, the authorities are advising everyone to use public transport during the Olympics as large parts of down town will have restricted access or be closed altogether. One of the main downtown bridges, Cambie Street bridge, for example, will be closed to the general public forcing the traffic over the Granville Street bridge and causing untold chaos. At the same time the organization that operates the public transport and the Skytrain in particular are warning about line-ups of up to 2 hours during peak time through the week. So what they are really saying is, avoid downtown altogether and take the time off or work form home. Even though I work in Burnaby I have to use the main bridge that carried residents from the North Shore into man Metro Vancouver and this is scheduled to be chaos as Vanoc use one lane in each direction for Olympic Traffic.

I ventured to my local Charity Store this week and picked up a few CDs.

1. American Recordings by Johnny Cash - this was the first record he did with Rick Rubin and includes a number of original songs mixed with covers. It's a simple, under-produced record.
2. Absolution by Muse - never heard much of this band except the singles so I thought I'd give it a go.
3. Greatest Hits by The Stray Cats - you can't have enough Rockabilly.
4. My Way The Best of Frank by Frank Sinatra - a collection of his best known recordings
5. Burn to Shine by Ben Harper and the Innocent Criminals - I haven't heard this yet but if it's anything like the other two CDs of his that I have it will be great.
6. A Love Supreme by John Coltrane - a classic jazz record from the sax guru. A little challenging i you are not used to jazz, like me.
7. It's Great When You're Straight Yeah by Black Grape - this is still a brilliant party record from our drugged up Mancunian friends.
8. Francis Albert Sinatra & Antonio Carlos Jobim - an eponymous record from 1967. Frank at his best with a slight Latin vibe.
9. Night Train by The Oscar Peterson Trio - the classic jazz record recorded after the sale of Verve Records to MGM in 1962.
10. Amplified Heart by Everything But the Girl - great songs and a great voice.
11. Technique by New Order - you can never go wrong with these guys.
12. Get Ready by New Order - see above. This is a relatively new one from 2001.
13. Nirvana - a collection of their songs after Kurt spread his brains all over the room.
14. The Group Played "Space Age Bachelor Pad Music" by Stereolab - the bands first record from 1993. They are worth a listen - 60's influenced lo-fi genius.
15. Giants Steps by John Coltrane - more sax jazz
16. Static and Silence by The Sundays - I bought their first album while at University because someone called them the next Smiths. Not quite but some great songs nonetheless.
17. Blind by The Sundays - see above
18. Reading Writing and Arithmetic by The Sundays - the album I bought on cassette in Liverpool.
19. Born in the USA by Bruce Springsteen - a classic rock 'n' roll romp from the Boss
20. The Dock of the Bay by Otis Redding - great soul form a much missed soul legend
21. The Gentle Side of John Coltrane - more jazz
22. Prototype by Seb Fontaine - full on party dance music mixed as part of the Global Under Ground series.

As you can imagine, I haven't listened to all of this yet but I look forward to doing just that when I get the chance.

have a good week.

Peter

Happy New Year - Good Riddens to the Last

Happy New Year everyone, all 3 of you. New Year Resolution #1, get more followers. I may have to start posting pictures of boobs or something.

We are still in Nelson and looking out to the lake after a fresh dump of powdery snow. We return to Vancouver tomorrow so I need to keep my fingers crossed that the roads clear up a bit before we set off.

2009 was a busy year for us and full of surprises along the way. We started here in Nelson having spent last Christmas here too. We had skied at Whitewater a couple of times, spend a relaxing time reading books and chilling out and then drove back to the coast around the 2nd or 3rd. I was back at work immediately after and spend a week or two catching up with customers and colleagues before flying to Florida for Honeywell's annual Kick-off meeting. This is a week of presentations from the senior managements, inspirational speeches from guest speakers and award for those sales reps that sold the most during the previous year. You have to earn the right to attend by selling a certain amount so you go with a certain sense of achievement. It's a tiring week with late nights in the bar followed by very early starts in the morning but it's a great way to start the year. I have not qualified for this year's as I had a year of building accounts in 2009, not actually selling them.

We had a busy couple of months back home and returned to Nelson for the 50th wedding anniversary of my Aunt and Uncle. My cousin had a large group of friends at her house and we spent a great few days in the snow again.

Spring beckoned and we decided to book a holiday in Disney in May. Before that though we drove to Seattle for a weekend, driving back late on the Sunday night before I rose early in the Monday morning to be in the office for 6.15am. I went home at the usual time, fed the kids and then worked on the internet preparing for a trip by our leadership team who were travelling out for a couple of meetings the following day. It was around 10.30pm and I suddenly had the feeling that my thoughts were not my own and this overwhelming sensation of panic. The next thing I know Tracey is shouting my name in an alarmed state. This turned out to be the first of three seizures, but it was a couple of days before I went to the doctor to confirm it. She immediately banned me from driving and sent me to the hospital for an EEG test. The results of this suggested an abnormality on the right side of my brain and so a MRI was recommended to rule out a tumour. We decided not to wait the 3 months that the local health service would take and paid for a private one the following day. It still took a few worrying days to get the results that suggested the all clear. I was referred to a neurologist who took over the case.

We were given the all clear to fly to California to our planned trip to Disney and spent 5 days or so walking around their two parks and tiring ourselves out. Next came two weeks at Whistler for a couple of business conferences in which a colleague and I were standing by a Honeywell booth in the exhibition halls. Again, another two tiring weeks. The following Friday I had my grand mal seizures and this necessitated the taking of my anti-seizure medication.

This preceded a summer of extreme tiredness caused by the first drug that I was prescribed in the middle of which we drive back to Nelson for a well earned rest. My days at this time consisted of getting up for work, having to call Tracey around 2pm to be driven home again and the remainder of the day in bed due to the fatigue. This prompted a return to the neurologist who changed my medication. The first couple of weeks appeared to be a return to normality but the fatigue followed closely behind and an additional mild depression that wiped me out altogether. I tried to continue to work although it was a struggle and I kept my boss informed as to how I was doing. During the Fall (Autumn, not the band) I was put onto my third medication and this has appeared to be the best of the bunch.

We had a couple of trips to a friends cottage in Harrison Hot Springs towards the end of the summer and my parents flew out in September for a couple of weeks and Josh's Birthday.

The kids went back to school and the soccer season started again for them both.

The remainder of the year has been a busy time at work and in October our landlady served us notice that forced us to look for alternative accommodation before the end of the year (niiiiiice). We couldn't even end the year without some added strain but we found our current apartment within a weekend moved out at the end of November. We are now living in our new home together with a bunch of boxes that remain unsorted but at least we now have windows...and a balcony. This will be an excellent feature int he summer.

A friend of ours managed to save a large table and 8 chairs that her friend was going to throw out and a trip to Ikea meant that we now only need a sofa and some living room furniture, oh and somewhere to store our bikes that currently occupy the living room.

It's been a pretty hectic year so I hope that this one allows us to breath a little more easily.

I've added to my collection of CDs and discovered some new bands with the help of Mr Black. My favourites among them are Midlake, Fleet Foxes and Elliot Smith. I was reintroduced to Supergrass, a band that Tracey and I saw at the pub in Drummond (???Street, PLace, Road erm don't know) in Aberdeen when they supported Shed 7. We stayed for Supergrass but the smokey atmosphere saw us exit before Shed 7 appeared. I don't think we missed much.

This year I saw the marvellous Black Crowes and then downloaded the concert from their website and U2 at the disappointing BC Place. I will continue to scour the charity stores for bargains in their CD section. There's a couple of new records out that I fancy: the DVD/CD from Nirvana of their famous Reading Festival appearance and the CD from the latest supergroup, Them Crooked Vultures. Anyone got these already??

Hope you all had a great Christmas and didn't get too drunk at New Year.

Speak to you all soon.

Peter