Is Big Brother Watching Me?

This is somewhat unsettling. According to my tracking software it was only 41 minutes after I made a post in which I mentioned Tony Blair and the Government's "Preparing for Emergencies" campaign that my blog received a visit from someone from the parliament.uk domain.

I see the referring site was the UK weblogs aggregator. Does this mean there is someone from Her Majesty's Government who is assigned to monitoring happenings in the blogosphere for political relevance or sensitivity? I have mentioned President Tony and those same items again in this post too. I wonder if I will get another visit from them.

If you are such a person, and you have visited my site from the parliament.uk domain, please do leave a comment telling me why you came and what peaked your interest in my humble mutterings. UK bloggers would like to know.

Kerry's Very Merry

So after weeks with the world running on the assumption that he would anyway John Kerry has graciously accepted the Democrat Party Nomination to run for President of the United States of America.

Much of the comment I heard on the radio this morning was along the lines of "Is Kerry good enough to win the minds and votes of the American people?"

Now, if we leave aside the teensy-weensy fact that George W Bush did not poll the most votes in the election which saw him become President, I am not sure that this is a relevant question to ask. After all it is choice between two candidates; a beauty contest.

To paraphrase that joke about two men being chased by a lion; surely all Kerry has to do is run slightly better than the incumbent.

If he can't do that he doesn't deserve to be President.

Violet Van der Elst

BBC Radio 4 is currently running a drama serial called "The Incredible Violet" about the life and times of Mrs. Violet Van der Elst.

Originally called Violet Dodge, she was born in Surrey in 1882, the daughter of a Middlesex coalman and a washerwoman. She had made a fortune from Shavex, the first brushless shaving cream, which she had made in her kitchen.

Violet was reportedly an unusual and eccentric woman. Her second husband, Jean Van der Elst, was a Belgian artist and she was heartbroken when he died after only seven years of marriage.

Violet's riches bought her a house in Bayswater, London, and Harlaxton Hall near Grantham in Lincolnshire which she bought for £90,000 in 1937 when it was about to be demolished and renamed it Grantham Castle.

One of Violet's life ambitions was to see the abolition of capital punishment. She was a tireless protester and as well as making frequent lecture tours she was often arrested protesting outside jails when an execution took place. She was also known to pilot her own aircraft towing banners bearing slogans over the sites of hangings. Stunts which did nothing to endear her to the authorities. Eventually she extended this preservation of life to cover the entire animal kingdom and as a result there was to be no hunting on the Harlaxton estate, and mice and rats were allowed to run free in all her houses.

Violet was common, a far cry from the aristocratic families she mixed with and from whom she successfully obtained sponsorship of her tireless human rights work. It was her roots which kept her in touch with the people. During the Second World War Violet lived in London and let Harlaxton be used by those being evacuated or rehoused as a result of the bombing. For a time in 1943 it was also home to a company of the 1st Battalion of the British Airborne Division.

Violet had two amusements. The first was spiritualism. The library at Harlaxton was filled with 3000 books on the occult and she often contacted the late Mr. van der Elst with whom she would consult on all her major decisions.

It was her second interest, litigation, that did for her in the end. Legal bills amounted and she died penniless in 1966, a year after the act abolishing the death penalty was passed, thanks in large part to her tireless campaigning. Her grand house, Harlaxton, was sold to the Jesuits who hoped to open a seminary but failed to do so. It is now the British Campus of The University of Evansville.

A fine example of a true British eccentric, Mrs Van der Elst is all but forgotten now. I am so glad that Radio 4 has commissioned this serial to raise the profile of her name once again.

Preparing For Emergencies

Now that George Bush has managed to whip the US population into a frenzy of paranoia it seems Tony and his team have decided the UK population was being far too calm about the threat of the bogeymen from the "axis of evil". To rectify this problem they have produced a little document called "Preparing for Emergencies" telling us all just how scared we should be! The said document will be sent to all households in the UK throughout August.

In support of their "Scare and Terrify" campaign, the UK Government has recently launched a website which contains "information on what the government is doing to protect the country as a whole".

Quick as a flash a student from the UK created a very witty parody of the site using a very similar domain name . Less than 12 hours later, the owners of the original site had sent him a strongly worded email.

Visit the parody and enjoy, before the men in grey suits force him to take it down.

[via PG]

We're Trillionaires!

At last, something really worth celebrating. UK consumer debt has broken through the £1 trillion barrier.

Just to put that into context, that is one thousand, thousand million. Or 10¹².

If we assume that the UK population is currently only a shade more than the official figure of 59.2 million in 2002, that means that the average debt of every man, woman and child in the UK is £16,891.89p

According to the press release issued today by the Bank of England, about 80% of UK personal debt is in the form of loans secured against homes. Well I know I am doing my bit for the economy with my mortgage.

But is this huge nationally held debt a good thing or a bad thing? I suppose it depends on how well equipped each of us is to pay the interest - what the economists call "service the debt". It has certainly become far easier than 10 years ago because of the relatively low interest rates currently being enjoyed in the UK.

If you are in any doubt, or your level of debt concerns you, then you might wish to visit the Consumer Credit page on the DTI website. If you think you have already overextended yourself, you might like to get some independent and non-commercial advice.

New, Improved, it's Wheely Good

Now you might think that the Wheel - man's oldest, simplest and most widely used invention - had developed about as far as it could. Not according to Shinichi Hirai and Yuuta Sugiyama at Ritsumeikan University in Kusatsuan, Japan. They are developing a new breed of wheel-shaped robots which propel themselves!

Unfortunately the whole process depends on the wheel changing shape in order to gain forward motion so I don't think it would give a particularly smooth ride.

Tat Swap

Picture the scene - you have finally got round to sorting out the loft, or the garage (or in my case both!) and you find that you have been hoarding loads of stuff you really don't need or want. Frankly you need the space and so you consider your options for disposal.

1. Sell it on eBay.
2. Take it to the local landfill site.
3. Take it to the charity shop.
4. Accidentally drop it 10 yards inside a farmer's field.
5. Give it away to some needy neighbour.

Then you look back at the pile of, frankly, worthless junk and reconsider the options.

1. Trendy but not even the most ardent a hi-tech car-booter would want to buy it.
2. Responsible, but it means putting it all in the car, petrol to the site, queuing for ages to get with 100 yards of a skip etc.... and it might take more than 2 trips.
3. Honestly charities are so ungrateful these days. They only want small, nearly new, clean stuff so they can sell it easily and quickly.
4. Non starter really, it's not that eco friendly and besides it means getting the car out like option 2 plus there is the hefty fine if discovered.
5. Ah! Now there's an idea. If only there was a way of knowing who might want some of this stuff enough to come and get it themselves.

...and, dear reader, it was in response to option 5 that some ecologically and internet minded souls in Tucson, Arizona decided to set up Freecycle. It was a project originally intended to prevent the beautiful desert area around the city from becoming littered with official (or unofficial) landfill. As with many good ideas, it has now grown to be a global phenomenon.

The idea is simple but effective. You join a local online group; you announce the stuff you have available other members tell you they want it; you agree a time and place for them to pick it up. It's non-commercial, environmentally friendly, very community minded, and just the sort of public spirited thing for which the internet can best be used!

Fortunately, thanks to the global nature of the internet there are Freecycle groups being established all over the world, all over the UK. London, Oxford, Bristol, Sheffield and so on.

Now, excuse me while I get on with the task of asking the local citizenry to help me create some much needed floorspace in the garage.

F 9/11

Last night I saw the film that everyone is talking about. There are still lots of thoughts swirling about my head but when they have all stopped moving I plan to write a review.

In the mean time, a wonderful little animation has been brought to my attention. It is on a similar theme to Mr Moore's film but is more balanced as it ridicules both sides of the American political landscape.

Rinsed!

The problem with most ways of becoming inebriated is the need to consume vast quantities of beer, wine or spirits. Added to that is the disastrous effect on the waistline as you consume all those carbohydrates. Then, worst of all, the dreaded morning after hangover!

Wouldn't it be wonderful if scientists could come up with something useful for once. How about a way to get roaring drunk without any of the side effects? Imagine that!

Imagine it no longer for in America (only in America!) there is a man called Dominic who has marshaled his scientific skills and entrepreneurial flair to put an end to drunkenness side-effect misery.

I can foresee legions n'er-do-well of party-poopers, including religious groups, consumer lobbies, competing scientists and others lining up to decry this "Ultimate Party Toy".

Mind you I can't help thinking that if I were to launch a device which created only the positive effects of alcoholism, I would have chosen a female model who showed fewer of the unmentioned side-effects for posing in the main photo. Still, lets be fair, the press releases say nothing about it preventing the other effects of alcohol consumption including vacant expression, memory loss, poor limb coordination, increased ageing, internal organ damage, memory loss, and oh, erm, wait a minute, oh yes, memory loss.

Now, why did I come in here?

Won't Watch, Can't Watch

It looks like the BBC is going to save the British Olympic Team the embarrassment of national humiliation this summer by making sure that none of us see the games.

How thoughtful. How patriotic. How typical!

I might have known there would be Germans at the root of the problem!

Negotiation

Several bottles of wine and some long walks in and it is getting interesting.

Are iPods Also Time Machines?

Well, that is the only explanation I can think of for an iPod appearing in a film which was first shown to audiences back in November 1983.

I wonder if some crafty person at Apple has carefully CGI'd every frame of this vintage advert to insert today's technology into yesteryear. If they have it really is extremely well done. But then, maybe it was there all along? In which case it could be that Apple have only recently had the technology to be able to put into production a design concept they have had sitting on the shelf since the early 80s?

I have scoured the Apple site and found no narrative which accounts for this apparent timeslip. I wonder if they are waiting for the world to notice?

In which case: "Hey Apple, the waiting is over. The world has begun to notice."

First Live Sex on British TV

It is 3am and a "friend" has just woken me with a telephone call to tell me that Michelle and Stu, two of the Big Brother housemates, are having sex under the table. In a stunning disregard for upholding public decency laws Channel 4 are showing it live. 

Honestly, some people have no sense of decorum. I mean, fancy calling at 3am! 

Oh, and as for the two lab-rats; their mothers must be so proud!
 

Big Action on the Small Screen

Are you a budding Spielberg or Attenborough? Do you enjoy making movies? Well, Nokia Shorts is the competition for you.  Nokia and Raindance are again be setting the ultimate challenge to the UK’s budding film makers – create an original 15-second short film made using standard digital recording equipment and designed specifically to be played on mobile devices. 
 
This year’s entrants will have a lot to live up to following the high quality of last year’s finalists. The 2003 shortlist spanned a range of genres and employed a variety of innovative film techniques. There was animation, art house avant-garde and some hilarious black comedies – each executed within 15 seconds. 
 
The ground-breaking competition which is open for entries till 31st August, is being championed by Mike Figgis, who is renowned for his own use of pioneering film formats including the acclaimed split-screen real-time feature, Timecode.  
 
The 10 finalists will be chosen by a panel of film experts and will gain widespread exposure through being screened at this year’s 12th Raindance Film Festival (1st – 10th October) and on the NokiaShorts site where the likes of you and I can vote for our favourite.
 
Its is certainly a prize worth chasing as the winner of Nokia Shorts 2004 will have the chance to make another short film, longer in length and with a bigger budget, professional crew and professional film equipment. Along with the two runners-up, they will also receive training courses in the key aspects of film making from Raindance. 
 
 

Dazed and Confused

I love exploring a new street of shops and finding a real gem. While waiting for a couple of new tyres to be fitted to my car in High Wycombe I took a saunter round the corner and wandered into the Aladdin's cave that is MH Freeman.  This little shop on Desborough Road has to be the best stocked newsagents in the area and certainly seems to carry a better range of periodicals than most large bookstores including WH Smiths and Borders.
 
It was while browsing through the packed shelves that I happened across a publication which I have only ever seen once before. On the previous occasion it was on a newsstand in Hillcrest, San Diego. At the time I was looking for something completely different but was taken by the quality and quantity of content versus advertising. I did not realise it was a British publication and so it was with some delight that I have discovered it again.
 
The July edition of Dazed and Confused is a special on South Africa. 176 pages of reporting, images and narrative on the social, political, artistic and, significantly, public health of the rainbow nation.
 
Based on what I have seen of Dazed and Confused so far,  I think I will become a subscriber. 

Challenging Week Ahead

It's going to be an interesting week of personal comings and goings. One of my best friends has to fly half a world away home on Tuesday for a period as yet unknown. To some extent my birthday weekend was tinged with sadness as we wished him bon voyage!
 
On Wednesday a very different person, with whom I have had a meaningful, long distance relationship for several years, is coming into town for a few days. Last time we met we had a fairly soul-bearing heart to heart over a picnic lunch and a bottle of excellent wine which resulted in us deciding that 2004 is the year in which we will mutually decide how to put geography, careers, and a couple of other significant obstacles of daily life on one side to explore the possibility of actually having a life together. The next few days will be our next important step along that road. I foresee long evenings and several bottles of wine ahead. 
 

Another Year Older, but Wiser?

Well, another birthday has come and gone. This one was mercifully uneventful. A fine selection of cards and some lovely birthday gifts and not one threat of a big surprise party looming on the horizon. Why is it that one's friends insist that, in order to enjoy a birthday, one must throw a huge drunken binge for everyone else to celebrate the passing of another year? I need no excuse to head off to a bar or club on any night of the week for a bit of a laugh with some friends and so a birthday, for me, is a time for spending quiet, quality time with family and others close to me.
 
Friday evening, we went to Spider-man 2 at the Odeon. A great film and vastly superior to the first in my opinion. Unfortunately I couldn't remember much about the first one and so I had to keep asking my friends about who characters were and why they said what they did - much to the delight of all those around us. After the film we just managed to get a quick drink or two at the pub before they called last orders.
 
Saturday I had a luxurious lie in and didn't surface till the crack of 1pm when I nipped out to the shops for a snack lunch and to get some essentials before preparing for a sumptuous dinner at home.  The weather was mild so we ate in the garden, the twilight broken by oil lamps and candles.
 
Today, I have been out to lunch at Camden Lock and then on to Kilburn to pick up a printer from Sashinka. I think I will leave its installation and configuration until tomorrow.
 
Time now for a relaxing bath and an early night. 

Number 53

Wooo-hooo! I am number 53 in the "most linked from" chart on DiamondGeezer. So in some small way I have helped him get to his 100,000th visitor, a milestone he will pass sometime today. I am not sure if that actually means anything but it makes me feel good.
 
This weekend Lyle has also passed a significant milestone with his The 200,000th page impression.

Meanwhile, here at Sapientum, we are heading towards my 15,000th visitor and 20,000th page impression. So, more than an order of magnitude behind either of them both.

As it said in almost all my school reports........"Must try harder!"
 
 

Horses and Stable Doors

It probably seemed like such a good idea at the time. Two students at Oxford University thought they would have a go at a bit of hacking under the cover of investigative journalism. Everything would probably have been OK if they hadn't published the detail of their antics in a widely read student newspaper.

Now the colleges which they attacked and the University as a whole is taking a very dim view of their behaviour and is considering how the students must now be punished for making the IT staff look like a bunch of chumps. There is talk of fines, suspension (known as rustication in the antiquated Oxfordspeak) or even, the ultimate disgrace, being sent down. Added to that there is also the chance of criminal prosecution.

Oxford University claims to have some of the finest computer science brains in the world working in the field of network security and yet from the published reports it seems that the two scalliwags work went completely undetected. You might think therefore that there are red faces all round in the Computing Services department. However a well informed source of mine on the inside remains robustly bullish telling me "don't believe that what is published in the media bears any resemblance to the real story" and that I can be assured that I "don't know the facts of the case."

Hmm, if the entire reputation of my University's prowess at network security were on the line I am sure I might be saying the same thing!

However, the mistake my contact is making is that he is assuming he knows how much I already know - and I can assure him he doesn't. I have been following this story since the article appeared in May and it is surprising how freely students in the university are prepared to share their views on what is happening.

It is a sad but realistic fact that it is the victors in any conflict that get to write the histroy. I cannot see the students winning this little skirmish and since they will wish to continue with their degrees I feel sure that any settlement which they reach with the university will include some kind of gagging order. It is therefore doubtful that the public will ever get to hear what really happened. It is certain the official account will suitably exonerate the university and its staff. 
 
Once all the legal niceties of the case are resolved, I am promised a full update on the details from my contact so stay tuned. If the "official" account is juicy enough, I might just record it here too.

I Just Said That Didn't I?

How I love being ahead of the experts!
 
Perhaps my blog is more widely read than I thought.
 

Do you Still Want to Fly?

The wetness of this typical British summer continues and many of us will be eyeing the attractive offers on the online holiday sites to see if we can jet off for some much needed sun.

Before you book your trip you may wish to flip over to look at Maisy's site where she has some conversations that airline passengers normally will never hear.

Here is my favourite:

London ATC: "TWA 2341, for noise abatement turn right 45 Degrees."

TWA 2341: "Centre, we are at 35,000 feet. How much noise can we make up here?"

London ATC: " Sir, have you ever heard the noise a 747 makes when it hits a 727?"

Try not to think too much about that as your holiday jet thunders down the runway towards your destiny.

Around the World

How good is life for Ewan McGregor?

I have dreamed of making a trip like this for years.

Oh, to lead the life of a Hollywood superstar.

Friday Fun

Its supposed to be summer and yet it is raining, grey and blustery here.

Luckily I have no need whatsoever to leave the office today so I just found some games and doodles to keep me occupied at lunchtime.

Oooh - New Toys!

Blogger has radically updated their blog editor to provide lots of new features and toys to play with.

Now, instead of having to laboriously type in lots of HTML to embed pictures or change the font colour or have numbered or bullet point lists, block quotes and other text enhancements, I can do it all through a simple button push - just like on a fully featured word processor.

Of course the temptation now will be to use all these goodies and destroy the stark simplicity of my design. However, the time saved in embedding a picture will be enormous as I always seem to forget something when editing by hand.

Well done to the folks at Blogger. There was a time when I paid them a subscription fee to have access to some really basic enhancements but when they were purchased by Google they made all those paid-for-extras free for everyone and I got a refund in the shape of a nice Blogger hoodie (stylish!). Even though the online service can sometimes be a pain to use (and because it is free you can't really complain can you?), I think it to keep adding more value like this is fantastic.

Three cheers for Blogoogle.

PS: If anyone from the company is reading this - perhaps you could do another enhancement to update the online spelling checker to include the words Blog, Blogger, Blogging, and Google. Just a thought!

Learnt to speak proper like I have!

You might not think it to read my blog, but having taken a little test this evening I have received the following accolade:

You are a GRAMMAR GOD!

If your mission in life is not already to
preserve the English tongue, it should be.
Congratulations and thank you!

Now admittedly, the test was not exactly taxing. I mean, anyone with 'O' Level English(remember them?) would come up with the same result, but the text for even one level below me reads "While your English is not exactly perfect, you are still more grammatically correct than just about every American." which I think is unfair because many of the questions give the correct form of some sloppy but commonly used American colloquialisms. You know, like the one from Star Trek.

Given the choice, most people who are uncertain of their language skills would go with what sounds familiar, and to an extent they would be understood, because spoken English is a very fluid language which is constantly evolving.

Nevertheless it is a fun way to find out how grammatically sound you are.

Not Long Now

There are not many shopping days left till my next Birthday and I wouldn't want you to be fretting and worrying about what to get me.

Sun King Buys Millennium Dome (allegedly)

I don't know if this is public news yet, but I have now had it confimed by individuals from two independent sources that the deal to sell London's Millennium Dome was closed over two weeks ago!

I am told that the new owner of Labour's white-elephant is South African businessman Sol Kerzner, the man who created the Sun City resort and and gambling venue and has since grown his Sun International empire to include an airline and resorts all over the world. It seems the billionare's plan is to convert the great white wok into a lavish Las Vegas style casino and entertainment complex.

What I am wondering is why I haven't read about this in the papers or on the news feeds? Anyone have any insight?

Whether the Weather be Fine

I am beginning to wonder what kind of curious micro-climate the village of Ambridge exists. It is the home of the Archers and, according to comments made by the characters in this long running soap opera, they are having a much better summer than the rest of the UK.

Last week they were all perspiring in a heatwave, and last night David, Oliver, Nigel and Bert were sipping wine watching the sunset on a warm summer evening.

Is it to much to ask that the BBC continuity people at Pebble Mill could get a long range forecast from the Met Office to make sure that the weather was at least similar to reality, instead of what we would like it to be? Or, maybe they did and the Weathermen got it wrong again!

1000 Words - Update

It has been a while since I last added any images to my ongoing 1000 Words project. (If you haven't visited before, you can find it by clicking on the image of the old camera on the left hand column of the page.)

Last night I burned some midnight oil collating some of the best photos I have taken this year and added them to the gallery. Now when you click on the camera the magic randomizer has a choice of over 70 images to select from before displaying only one.

Of course, having admired the picture, you can always press the refresh button on your keyboard to see a different image, and so the really patient (or terminally bored) among you can eventually see the whole lot by hitting the "F5" key repeatedly. However it is random so there are bound to be repeats! Instead of doing that, you could spend your time more productively looking for the hidden link which will show them all on a single page.

Share and enjoy!

Well Hung

Well they have finally come and rehung the gate which fell off its hinges the other night.

The engineer told me that the people who installed the gates had used hinge bolts which were not only too small, they were made of too light a material, so it was only a matter of time before it was going to happen and the windy conditions the other night were just the last straw. Fortunate therefore that it didn't happen as someone was driving or walking underneath.

A Man of the World?

In the modern age of package holidays, cheap airline fares and globalisation, we like to consider the world as one big global village. TV and cinema deliver such high quality pictures and realistic experiences for us that we might fool ourselves into thinking we have seen all the world has to offer. The internet puts us in touch with people in different timezones and on distant continents. But just how much of the world have we really seen for ourselves?

I found a useful utility on the web this morning which can be used to see just how well travelled you really are. This is the map it produced using the country names I was able to tick.




I thought I was really quite well travelled but according to this I have visited only 29 countries and that equates to a meesly 13% of the world which probably explains why there are some surprisingly large gaps in this picture. There is also a massive distortion, I have been to Hong Kong, and that apparently equals the whole of China!

Create your own visited country map and see how much of a world citizen you are.

I know what is going to be top of my resolutions list for 2005!

Sweeeeeeeeet

Today while surfing for images to go into a presentation, I found an animated image that has to be the funniest and sweetest thing I have seen in a long time.

Scouting for Boys

Sir Ian McKellen is currently portraying Lord Robert Baden-Powell on Radio 4 in a play called "Be Prepared".

What apt casting!

Browser Wars Restart

It's like deja vu, all over again. I feel like I am back in 1996 with Microsoft and Netscape slugging it out for superiority of product and dominance of the desktop.

Eight years after Microsoft won the battle hands-down, there are a couple of smaller camps engaging in a bout of fisticuffs over whose Mozilla based browser will be in second place, both seemingly with delusions of eventually taking the crown from Redmond. A little like watching Andorra and San Marino battling for global superiority.

It seems that everyone is beating up on Microsoft because a good deal of security holes are being found in IE. Well, I am no particular supporter of the mighty M, but simple logic would suggest to me that the world's most used browser is also going to be the world's most tested and attacked browser. Simple laws of probability make that true. So I am not surprised that IE has been found to be lacking. I am also somewhat impressed that the supplier is able to make fixes available within hours.

Lets us think forward to a time when a large number of people are using an open source browser? Doesn't the fact that the source code is freely available mean that the hacker has everything (s)he needs to find the loopholes to exploit? And when a loophole is discovered, whose job is it to plug the gap so that all users are protected? And won't that fix also be open source, thus informing the hacker exactly how the problem was solved so they can move on and find the next chink in the armor?

Now, I am prepared to evaluate technical products on their merits but can someone please tell me why all the hype and fuss about Firefox? It looks just like Opera to me, just not as mature or advanced. Despite the obvious (to me at least) limitations of Firefox, it seems to have the anti-Microsoft league in a lather. Where were they five years ago when Opera was soldiering on in isolation?

I have been using Opera since 1998, mainly because I was using a Psion Symbian device at the time. Opera runs on both Wintel and Symbian architectures so it meant I could have the same browser on all my systems. Now Opera is available on a whole range of devices including phones and PDAs,desktop and laptop PCs. They also have a free version and a licensed version.

So, unless someone can totally convince me that Opera is as leaky as IE6, I have no intention of downgrading to Firefox.

Unless of course you are the someone to convince me?

Reports of my Demise are Greatly Exaggerated.

I happened to bump into (virtually that is) a very famous blogger (who shall remain anonymous) in an internet forum last night. I introduced myself and passed on my URI so they could remind themselves of who I am.

"Oh that blogger" came the reply "I thought you had stopped".

I explained that I had not stopped but I had become distracted for a few months while life and work got in the way.

"Distracted..? But you can't allow yourself to become distracted, it's against the rules."

Rules? I never knew there were rules! Did I miss a memo or something?

I have always been of the view that I blog when I can or when I have something I think might be interesting for me to write or (more importantly) for others to read. I mean it isn't like I have a faithful regular readership to satisfy - judging by the paucity of comments I get on my posts.

However, having been chastised by a blogger of international repute, I feel I ought to make more of an effort just so people don't think I have given up the ghost again.

A Very British Affair

I have just spent most of the weekend at the Cornbury Music Festival in the grounds of Cornbury Park, Charlbury, West Oxfordshire, the home of the Lord Rotherwick.

This has to be the most genteel event of the British music festival season!

Members of the public rubbed shoulders and sheltered from the infrequent by heavy showers with local Oxfordshire gentry, celebrities and household names, while listening to the likes of James Taylor Quartet, Jools Holland, Ruby Turner, Hothouse Flowers, Will Young and headlining the whole event was Blondie.

This is the first event of the modern era of Cornbury Festivals, the old era having stopped in 1856 when

"The Fair offered unprecedented inducements but not a single case of delinquency has been officially reported."

Much the same could be said of this new event, with weekend tickets costing £65, Membership offered at £250, and Founder "life" memberships going for £2000, it was hardly surprising that the event attracted a different class of people to those normally found strutting their funky stuff in a wet field.

Grooving along in the audience were to be seen Ruby Wax, Rowan Atkinson, Jeremy Clarkson and Geoffrey Perkins.

I even bumped into two old school friends, one I haven't seen for thirty years, the other playing saxophone in Jools Holland's Orchestra!!!

The whole event had a family feel to it as most of the artists were selected to appeal to the baby-boomers and their children.

We arrived at about 6pm on Friday night (having missed KingB) just as the James Taylor Quartet were starting their set. Curiously there were a lot more than four of them on stage, but we will let that pass. Their brand of funky jazz got the crowd going and the atmosphere was heady by 9pm when Jools Holland and his R&B Orchestra took the stage with a fantastic set including vocal performances from the incredible Ruby Turner, and the ever sweet yet soulful Sam Brown.

As we listened we nibbled our supper. No burger in a bun at this event! All the stalls were providing "gourmet food" and there was a choice of French Provincale, Mexican, Vegitarian, or traditional British pies. (I know who ate some, but not all, of those!)

Saturday's line up was a more mixed bag - not in quality, which was always good - but in style. Again, we got to the site just as the first act was finishing their set, but in plenty of time to hear the Hothouse Flowers.

A teaming rainstorm preceeded, and indeed delayed, the start of Will Young's set, but the crowd donned their attractive blue pac-a-macs (free for VIPs) and sung along. I was pleasantly surprised at just how good a showman Mr Young is and his relaxed banter between effortlessly perfect songs showed that maybe he really does deserve the title of Pop Idol.

After an hour's break during which time the stage was completely reset, the stars of the show, Blondie, launched into a highly energetic set. For over an hour the music never stopped. Hit after hit after hit took us all back to our schooldays when Debbie Harry and her band never seemed to be out of the charts. Clem Burke and Lee Foxx provided the thundering rhythm section driving the dancing crowd along between numbers changing tempo till the rest of the band rejoined the action and off they went again. Miss Harry must have a portrait in an attic somewhere as she looked great and had more energy and stage presence than some of the latest breed of popstress!

Sadly, noise restrictions meant that the whole thing drew to a close by 10:15, but there was one more surprise in store, a 16 year old girl calling herself the "Singing Angel" and her accompaniest Abraham sung the crowd home with a beautiful rendition of the Sarah McLauchlan song, Angels.

A wonderful event, and even if at times the high percentage of middle aged and wealthy attendees did make it feel a bit like being at Henley Regatta or Royal Ascot, this very different festival will surely survive a good few years. I plan to go again next year and I hope the 2005 event has better weather.

My only plea to the organisers would be to move the fairground further away from the stage. It really didn't need to be quite so close as to be audible during the quiet passages of the songs!

Things That go Clang in the Night

Sitting in the living room watching a DVD I suddenly hear the most almighty CLANG sound, the sort of sound you expect to hear if someone dropped a skip in the road.

Upon investigation (looking out of the front window) it appears that the wind has just blown one of the 12ft high automatic gates, which guard the entrance to my estate, off its hinges thus completely blocking the road and trapping all vehicles inside.

We have a telephone number we are supposed to call at the management company in case of such emergencies. I have just called and left a message on the answer machine. I suppose it will be 9am on Thursday morning before anyone listens to it - by which time the majority of the estate will be queuing up the drive outside my front door trying to get to work.

Fortunately my first appointment isn't till 10:30am and I am being picked up by a car at the top of the road.

Batten Down the Hatches

Having enjoyed a couple of days of cool but sunny weather which were beginning to fool us into thinking that summer was truly on it's way, the radio is now giving out storm warnings. The picture on the right shows the mess/mass of a storm system headed our way. (Click on the picture for a much larger version.)

Looking out of my office window the clouds are beginning to look low, dark and threatening. Spots of rain have begun to smear against the window and I have just come back in from the garden where I have been moving my pot plants into areas of shelter.

Looking back in my blog I see that a similar thing happened about this time last year. The difference being that the weather had actually been extremely hot and dry for a few weeks beforehand.

Sadly the rain and wind looks set to continue through to the weekend, which is a pity as I am due to attend a two-day outdoor music festival. I know the mugwumps and mudlarks who attend Glastonbury come rain or shine will think me a bit of a lightweight for whinging about a bit of mud, but I am not such a die-hard music fan that I am prepared to sit cold and knee deep in the English countryside just to peer through the sheeting rain at a couple of matchstick figures running around a distant stage while the wind plays havoc with the acoustics of the sound system. I would much rather put an "In Concert" DVD on the telly at home.

Actually, I was curious as to where the title for this post comes from. My Dictionary of Sayings tell me it is "Nautical origin - probably 18th century. A batten is a strip of wood; these were used to hold down sheets of canvas to cover hatchways in storms."

Right now the only strip of wood I am concerned about is the 100ft horse Chestnut tree which towers over my garden. I hope all its limbs are in good health and it won't be dropping any of them in my direction tonight.

Hold the Front Page!

It isn't everyday that one of my photographs is chosen to adorn the front page of a TV station's website.

Not only that but 14 more of my pictures are included in the slideshow.

Thank you KRON 4!

Oops: New York Post Names Wrong Guy

It is good to see that is is not just the British Press which can make such a public blunder. At least the editor of this paper had the courage to admit the mistake in the face of incontrovertible evidence.

Summer Burn 2004

Once again I am participating in Funjunkie's Summer Burn project. Last year I spent ages agonising over which tracks to include in my selection. I think I did a good job, although I never heard so much as a peep of appreciation from either of my recipients.

This year I thought I would be true to the intent of the Burn and go with a totally Summer theme. I did this simply by asking Musicmatch (still clearly superior to iTunes on the PC in my opinion) to search through my library of over 14,000 tracks to see which tracks it could find containing the word "summer". I then paired it down to only those which I thought would make for pleasant listening. I found an alarming number of tunes of which there was a "summer mix" so I decided to abandon those.

Will you be one of the two lucky recipients of my Summer Burn CD? If so you will be able to enjoy the following......

"Summer Cycle" by Toploader
"Summertime" by Sarah Vaughan
"The Summerhouse" by The Divine Comedy
"Where's Summer B?" by Ben Folds Five
"My Summer Vacation" by John Patitucci
"Starless Summer Sky" by Marshall Crenshaw
"The Boys of Summer" by Don Henley
"Hard Rockin' Summer" by Hooters
"Summertime Blues" by Air guitar
"Summertime" by Big Brovaz
"So Nice [Summer Samba]" by Bebel Gilberto
"Summer Rain" by Paul Hardcastle
"Picnic in the Summertime" by Deee-Lite
"It's Summertime" by The Flaming Lips
"Wilbury Summer" by Richard Durrant

If you have never heard that last track, I can thorougly recommend it. I met Richard this April and he is truly one of the music industry's unsung heroes.

If you are a recipient, please take a moment to leave me a note in the comments box.

Disturbing the Peace

My Greek neighbours are still going nuts! Can't think why. Normally they are so quiet and reserved. But about 7:45 this evening they suddenly became noisy and now they are holding the most almighty party. I only hope they quieten down soon. I have to get my beauty sleep.

Go to Work on an Egg

Do you know about the fashionable thing to be talking about at garden parties this summer? It's chickens! I kid you not, it really is.

It seems that anyone who has land (and who's deeds or tenancy agreement permits) is exploring the benefits that keeping chickens can bring. Well, free, free-range eggs is my guess. Yup that's about it.

Now, on the downside there is the smell of chicken guano and all the diseases including New Castle Disease, Gumboro Disease(IBD), Fowl Pox, Salmonellosis,
Pasteurellosis and others.

So what, you may ask, has created this sudden demand for keeping domesticated fowl? Chickens are not that cuddly, eggs haven't suddenly become cholesterol free, you can't take a chicken for walkies. It seems the reason for all the sudden interest for townies to explore the good life is this year's must have garden accessory - the eglu!

Give a bit of moulded plastic a cute name and it seems you can sell anything to the irretrievably trendy.

Hmmm, that has got me thinking!