Happy Feet

I sometimes get frustrated when I feel life is becoming humdrum. A 4 year old is a useful antidote for that. Today "A" decided she wanted to do some foot painting, I will let the photos tell the story from here:

Suspect Lyrics

I am happily transferring my CDs over to the computer at the moment. "A" was instantly attracted to the "Beautiful South" album "blue is the colour" because of the little boy on the front. She wanted to hear the songs and I had no reason to say no, so I put the album on and turned the volume up. Well I say no reason to say no. I don't know if you know this album, more especially the first track "Don't Marry Her". You may remember it from being in the charts a few years ago. When played on the radio the chorus ran with the line "Don't marry her, have me". To be honest, and I remembered this approximately 1 second too late, the CD is worded slightly differently. I don't want to shock anyone so I am not going to use the word that replaces "have" but suffice it to say that it begins with "f" and ends with "k". So witness me singing "have" as loud as I can to cover over a word that I am not yet quite prepared to hear my 4 year old saying.

The Trial of Tony Blair

I just watched this tonight. Brilliant satire. Robert Lindsay does a fantastic job as Tony, very credible - the hand wringing, the eye movement, the well spaced............ sentences ........with tactically.......... placed....... spaces. We have a prime minister whose main concern is his legacy, what will he be remembered for. As this drama predicts, it won't be for rejuvenating the NHS, for improving education, or for reforming our legal system. No, he will be remembered for one thing, an illegal war for which many on both sides die every day. As for Bush, well more americans have died in Iraq than died in the twin towers, that should make all pause and consider.

Wings

It is the voice of many to cry "bring me mediocrity, don't let me stand out." It is a voice that has been taught how to behave, not to make a scene, to accept what is given. It is a voice scared to be noticed. A voice scared to be hurt. A voice scared to be scared. But to live, to fully experience our potential, to find the buried treasure within our soul, we need to relinquish the control. Stand up in front of the crowd and say "here I am". Dance when those around you are sitting. Sing when others have lost their tongues. Let your dreams guide your waking day. Simply, spread your wings and fly to clearer skies.

Smoke, Mirrors

Dealing with the media can be quite fun. Tonight we were watching West Wing (I know, great surprise there) and CJ didn't answer a question from the press. When they point this out she says something along the lines of "really, go figure". And it puts me in mind of today. Now, let's be honest, the media may not distort but they certainly can cherry pick. This means that there always has to be a degree of care when talking to the media. Well today I need to know an answer to an dilemma. I sent my question to our PR company and they replied within an hour. I read the reply. A bit later they phoned about something else, but I turned the conversation around to my query. I think my comment was "if you hadn't trained me in the first place I would never have noticed that you didn't answer my question".

One day Match - Brisbane

A stutter but probably nothing more than that. For a moment Oz didn't look quite so invincible. Yes England were bowled out for a pathetic total, but the bowlers came back with a fight. Had Hussey done the honourable thing then it might have been a different story, but he himself admits that he is not a "walker". It would be nice to think that the players would remove themselves from the crease if they knew they had been caught but, in reality, there is too much at stake. Jon Lewis is the one to come out of this with credit to his name, 4 wickets for 36 runs.

The Great Sex Divide

If ever anything could fully demonstrate the divide between men and women it would be watching TV. We (maybe that should be I) have now bought all seven series of the West Wing (this is justified by the fact that we were using Amazon DVD rental service but getting problems so I have unsubscribed, however while you subscribe you get 10% off all DVD purchases so I had a limited window during which I could save money, you have to admire my logic). So most nights we end up watching it because there really is nothing else on. West Wing is gripping, even when you can't fully understand the USA politics. So we are watching one of the final episodes in series two (only another 5 series to go) when Charlie realises something important. We are not privy to it. That is the point. We are supposed to wonder. We have to wait. Why can't women wait! "J" starts going "what, what's wrong, what was important about the form" and I just want to watch and wait for it to unfold. It is supposed to be a moment of tension. I may have glared!

Water, Water

Hang on. Think about the weather. I suppose we have had worse winters but my garden is wet enough to indicate that is has rained a few times. In fact the state of my daughters shoes last weekend after a walk suggested rather more than a few times (grandads fault not mine, check my shoes, relatively clean, check grandads and the nephew, terrible mess, it was them who walked into the quagmire, I stayed on the path, I was good honest). And now, yes now, they finally lift the hosepipe ban. How can we have had a hosepipe ban for 8 months? Where has it all gone? I don't believe Coca-Cola are bottling it anymore. I definitely don't have it (wait, let me check I haven't left a tap running). Nope, a mystery.

Whoosh

I suspect most of us might agree that the weather today has been a little bit breezy. Possibly, and I don't want to go overboard on this, even a bit of a gust. So there I am, watching the news, and they decide to do a live interview from a pub. To be honest everyones OK in there, candlelit (very cosy, are you sure this is all REAL men or are we moving into lumberjack territory), all have pints because the pumps are gas powered. Interviewer approaches interviewee. "Do you think this is acceptable in this day and age to be without power?". Well there's a give-me I think, act of god so not the utilities fault, possibly a bit of an opening for a dig at global warming. But no, interviewee comes back with a firm "no, not acceptable, the amount they charge me for electricity....." - to be honest I tuned out. How pig-headed can someone get. Like paying a utility bill will ensure trees remain upright, rooves don't get torn away.

Result

I didn't mention my flight back last night. Well, it can only be described as a result. Yes I had the aisle seat but, wonder of wonders, no-one else had the seats next to me. So, after a slightly shakey start, I was able to stretch out and close my eyes. It would be too taking it too far to say I slept but at least I rested.

The rather shakey start was that I couldn't turn off my ipod when the plane began to taxi. I was pressing buttons and generally thinking up a few new swear words when the steward walked passed. He obviously thought I was a law breaker, tapped me on the shoulder, and told me to turn it off. Now I would like to think that when I said "I am trying" I was sweetness personified. However a combination of frustration and the fact I still had the headphones on might, only might, mean I spoke a bit louder than I planned. He looked quite startled and apologised! Rather glad I didn't want coffee later, he might have accidentally spilt it on me.

Silent Call

Phone
Phone
She calls
Nothing
Phone
Sighs
Stands
Water dripping
Down long dark hair

Lifts the phone
Hello

Silence
Hello

Silence
Hello

A breath?

Sits
Cold drops down back
Cold unnoticed
Skin glistening
Perfect body
Wet
Perfect body
Untouched
Water rare caress

Male
Female
Who?

He enters
Hi love
She stands
Returns to bath
Wet shape
On bed
Memory
Her presence

Bad Bed

It is always a bad idea to go to bed on an argument. It is an even bigger bad idea to go to bed on an argument on New Years Eve.

Under Milk Wood

The problem with poetry is that there have already been centuries for people to use the best lines. "I wandered lonely as a cloud", "Captain, my captain" and others all used. Unless you go for the surreal then it is difficult to be new. Then I listen to "Under Milk Wood" read by Richard Burton and I know I don't have a chance. Pure poetry

You

Would you be there
When the sun rose
On my day?

Would you be there
When the rainbow
Ended at my feet?

Would you be there
When the sun set
In fiery splendour?

Would you be there
When shooting stars
Lit my sky?

And would I let you?

Twiddling

In what may be considered, for me, a slightly unusual moment, I obviously worried about the costs of flights to and from Brussels. I must have gone for a cheaper flight because there is no other way to explain the fact that I am stuck at Brussels airport for over 4 hours waiting for my flight to depart. No, it is not delayed, I just seem to have chosen a late flight. It is always difficult getting the timing right, I have had to leave the IFAH meeting early before now to get to my flight (I will leave you to find out what IFAH stands for), and I prefer to leave plenty of time spare, but this is ridiculous.

On top of it all, I didn't sleep at all well last night and I am really not looking forward to the drive home. One option would be be stoke up on coffee now, but then I would need to repeatedly go to the loo on the plane and that just doesn't seem a good idea. I will have to go for a power nap on the plane instead in the hope that will help (and I have just realised that I chose an aisle seat rather than window so sleeping will be harder).

Huh. When did the terms "jet setter" and "glamour" get put together?

Embargoed

How
How do we manage
This fighting without speaking.

No words
Meaning more
Than a hundred.
Silence
Meaning more
Than discussion.
Distance
Meaning more
Than touch.

Dimensions

The other reason I like "Dimension Jump" is that I like the idea of multiple dimensions. When something isn't going right I like to think that somewhere there is a me for whom it is fine.

Ace

Smoke me a kipper, I'll be back for breakfast.

Normally I am a "shower" person. But in hotels I tend to go for baths as they take longer and I have time to kill. And I have got into the habit of watching DVDs while I am in the bath (for those worried about my safety, I do realise about the general rule that electricity and water do not mix, the laptop is on a chair away from the bath).

I just watched "Dimension Jump" from Red Dwarf series 4, the introduction of Ace Rimmer. It is a classic episode, and has me laughing out loud. Cat with a broken leg more worried about the fact he is bleeding and red doesn't go with his apricot suit than the fact he is dying. Told he might get gangrene he is happy because he thinks he can "pull off" green and apricot. Holly going ga-ga when she meets Ace for the first time. So many moments.

So, smoke me a kipper, I'll be back for breakfast.

Flying High

Sitting at Heathrow waiting for a flight to Brussels. It is going to be a quick trip, 24 hour job. It always sounds good going to Brussels and other places but I hardly get to see them. I am so glad I bought a lounge pass though. Able to sit in (reasonable) comfort, have a glass of wine, some nibbles and half decent coffee. Means I can get here nice and early knowing that I will be able to do some work, instead of leaving it to a last minute rush.

England and the Cricket World Cup

It is hard to know where the England one day match is going. No, I tell a lie, it is easy, downhill. The squad for the World Cup does not make positive reading.

It is hard to believe that at least 6 of the other teams in the world cup will have one player who has scored more one day centruies than the whole of the england squad together. We have so few big hitters that the other teams know there are just a couple of players who need to be targetted in order to completely unravel our plans.

Panesar is there, but then so is Giles. There are 4 uncapped players. Gough is unfit. We can just cross our fingers for Pietersen. For the current tri-nations tournament, after a big defeat, Vaughan says we have no new game plan.

I tell you what, I ain't making any bets about wearing cricket shirts in March.

The provisional squad for the world cup in the West Indies:

James Anderson, Ian Bell, Ravi Bopara, Stuart Broad, Glen Chapple, Rikki Clarke, Paul Collingwood, Alastair Cook, Jamie Dalrymple, Andrew Flintoff, Ashley Giles, Matthew Hoggard, Ed Joyce, Amjad Khan, Jon Lewis, Mal Loye, Sajid Mahmood, Paul Nixon, Graham Onions, Monty Panesar, Kevin Pietersen, Liam Plunkett, Matt Prior, Chris Read, Owais Shah, Vikram Solanki, Andrew Strauss, Chris Tremlett, Michael Vaughan, Michael Yardy.

Families

Yesterday we went down to Bristol to a family party held by my sister "J". She has five children already so one or two more can't have much impact on the noise and sheer level of activity. All a bit of a shock when you are used to just one child though.

After the lunch we had a quiz game. Not usually the sort of thing that we all do, and an interesting insight into how competitive we can all be. Considering the rules were rather basic (each write out ten famous people, these names are then put in a pot, a selected team member pulls out a name and describes who it is so the rest of the team can guess, get as many names as possible in two minutes) it was surprising how much confusion followed. There was also a fair amount of cheating (I am shocked by my family), eg "she was the queen in the victorian age", my father putting the name of his doctor in the pot (apparently famous in the village), saying "yes" when the name hadn't been guessed correctly, someone cutting their names into special shapes so they knew them even before any describing had occurred, and a number of people throwing the name back in if they didn't like it. I have to admit I may have been a bit stupid on this as every time it came to my teams go everyone said that they would play properly and not throw the names back in so we didn't and battled through the difficult names (like a certain village doctor), then the other teams threw back names they didn't like. maybe by the third round we should have twigged. Anyway, the team that say they won should have been disqualified for cheating (you know who you are).

Yesterday I posted the lyrics of both a Runrig and a Juliet Turner song. I wish I could write like these guys. I have a fairly wide range of taste, from Mahler and Wagner through Steeleye Span and Fairport Convention passing through The Stranglers and the Damned onward to Deacon Blue, Sting, Chris de Burgh, The Beautiful South......... I love having music around me. But a few can do more than simply cocoon me, some penetrate to my core. Runrig and Juliet Turner both do this.


I have seen both live. Juliet Turner has twice provided me with incredibly important and special moments. The last two years at Greenbelt she has been kind enough to come and play to the ops team during one of our meetings. Amongst the rush that Greenbelt is, the planning and organising, the things to do and people to see, there was sudden calm. Both times she brought tears to my eyes and more than anything in the last ten years reminded me what Greenbelt was about.


Runrig I used to go and see whenever I could. Live they are fantastic. On a number of occassions I have organised loads of friends to go along, many of whom had never heard of Runrig and were willing to take my word for how good they are. Not one person has ever regretted going. They have also played at Greenbelt, on the mainstage, and they had the whole crowd dancing. Unfortunately they now seem to mainly tour abroad and are rarely in the UK. Hopefully I will get to see them again.

One Day match - Melbourne

I have been desperately trying to think of an excuse not to post this, but in reality I can't. It was another bad day for the England team. Not only were they squarely beaten but also one of the few decent players we have ended up with a broken rib. Hell of a ball. Fairly sure I wouldn't have got up again afterwards. Pietersen was playing his usual brilliant way, sixes and fours peppered around the ground, but after a serious bodyblow from McGrath he was never going to stay out there, despite his efforts, and an attempt at a six which he would have got another time instead saw him caught. After that the team petered out in the way we have come to expect.

My aussie colleague made me watch the last few overs (break in the sales conference) and it was not pleasant to watch. I am actually not sure how you manage to keep out on the field playing when there are 39 balls left, 8 wickets in hand, and only needing 2 runs.

I Hope That I Don't Fall in Love with You - Juliet Turner

Well I hope that I don't fall in love with you Cause falling in love just makes me blue,
Well the music plays and you display your heart for me to see,
I had a beer and now I hear you calling out for me
And I hope that I don't fall in love with you.

Well the room is crowded, people everywhere And I wonder, should I offer you a chair?
Well if you sit down with this old clown, take that frown and break it,
Before the evening's gone away, I think that we could make it,
And I hope that I don't fall in love with you.
Well the night does funny things inside a man
These old tom-cat feelings you don't understand,
Well I turn around to look at you, you light a cigarette,
I wish I had the guts to bum one, but we've never met,
And I hope that I don't fall in love with you.

I can see that you are lonesome just like me, and it being late,
You'd like some some company,
Well I turn around to look at you, and you look back at me,
The guy you're with has up and splits, the chair next to you's free,
And I hope that you don't fall in love with me.

Now it's closing time, the music's fading out
Last call for drinks, I'll have another stout.
Well I turn around to look at you, you're nowhere to be found,
I search the place for your lost face, guess I'll have another round
And I think that I just fell in love with you.

Every River - Runrig

You ask me to believe in magic
Expect me to commit suicide of the heart
And you ask me to play this game without question
Raising the stakes on this shotgun roulette

Every river I try to cross
Every hill I try to climb
Every ocean I try to swim
Every road I try to find
All the ways of my life
I'd rather be with you
There's no way
Without you

But you came to me like the ways of children
Simple as breathing, easy as air
Now the years hold no fears, like the wind they pass over
Loved, forgiven, washed, saved

Every river I try to cross
Every hill I try to climb
Every ocean I try to swim
Every road I try to find
All the ways of my life
I'd rather be with you
There's no way
Without you

The One

A face amongst a hundred,
The face amongst a hundred,
Only face amongst a hundred.

And I watch.

Beer in my hand,
Loud all around,
Surrounded,
Alone,
She is all,
All I see.

She drinks,
I raise my bottle to my lips.
She laughs,
I smile.
Every move
Unconsciously
Mimicked.

But not approaching,
Watching is all,
Safer
Than speaking,
Safer
Than risking,

Love
From a distance.

Observation Skills

The more observant among you may have noticed that "Para Handy Tales" has moved from my "reading" list to my "travelling" list. This should not be taken as any kind of indication of the enjoyability of the book. It is simply that, as it is a collection of short stories, it makes a very good book for travelling with. The Cornish Trilogy on the other hand is a big book. I have read the first two stories but have now started the third and it will do better sitting on my bedside table.

Wonder

I wonder
(wonder)
If you ever
(ever)
Miss me
(miss)
As I
Miss
You
(miss)
(miss)
(you)

Dorian Who?

This is strange. The most common search term for finding my blog is “Dorian Amos”. I really don’t know how that is happening. Well, obviously I know I am found because I critiqued his book. What I mean is I don’t understand why so many are searching for him. So I looked at his book on Amazon. Almost everyone gives it 5 stars. Weird I think, the book isn’t well written. So obviously it is what he has done, not what he writes that everyone is so excited about.

So is this people living in cities, growing up never seeing the world or seeing nature. Is it vicarious living?

I have grown up in the country. I have “roughed” it, not like Dorian, nothing that extreme. But I have packed my bag and trekked across Canada. I have disappeared by myself to Orkney. I have opened my tent in the morning and then laid there watching otters playing in water. I have killed for my meal. I have climbed mountains by myself when I shouldn’t. I have wondered if I will make it back. But through none of it would I have ever knowingly put a loved one in danger.

If you really admire him so much then go and do it. He did it, so can you. He will even help you mine for gold. Don't romanticise this. It is not an easy life, it is not a pleasant life. But be true to yourself. Only a dead salmon flows with the current.

Clanger

A US nuclear sub became just a bit too friendly with a Japanese oil tanker last night. Even allowing for the fact that subs don't have headlights, it is still hard to see exactly how you miss one of the biggest ships on the seas. It couldn't exactly have sneaked up on them. Maybe they were all eating beans on toast and when they heard a loud clanging at first thought it was some campanologists a bit late for Christmas before they realised that they had forgotten to put anyone on watch {the way my posts have gone recently I suspect I will now have a submarine commander complaining}. Yes it was a fast-attack sub, but fast is relative when you are talking about anything in or on the sea. The fact that the US have been asked to investigate would imply that it was the navy that are at fault.

This may be the ultimate happy slap!

And Also

On a roll, I have also won the school tote. This was good because it funded a chinese take-away (I recommend Chopsticks restaurant if you are passing Northampton). I am a little vague on the rules (of the tote, not the chinese take-away, the rules for the chinese take-away are that you pay when they knock at your door), I think we put in a small donation each week, some of the money goes to the school, and some goes to the winner. I was quite pleased with my haul of £30.

However, to demonstrate that gambling is a bad thing, the tote, much like the raffle, is leading to disagreement and dissent in the household. In this case with "J". I firmly believe that I won the tote as I believe that I completed the form (this is based on the well established rule that I do anything that requires an element of luck). "J" is trying to claim that it was, in fact, herself who filled it in. This is plainly impossible owing to the simple fact that we could not have won if she had touched the form, but I am having trouble making her understand my logic.

Nearly Forgot

During the School Fete "A" didn't win anything. Well she wouldn't, "J" was helping to buy the tickets and "J" is not the luckiest person around. Anyway, while they were in the queue for Santa I sneaked off and bought some raffle tickets. I let them both see the tickets but not touch them. On the Monday "A" came home carrying a wonderful pussy cat pyjama case. After checking this was not purloined goods, it turned out that I had won it at the raffle. "A" and I do have a slight disagreement now owing to the fact that "A" reckons she won it because, and I quote, "it's my school". I have put forward a counter-argument (and if you have read my other blogs you know I do like those) that it was my money. Currently I am losing.

Schools Out

You may, given some of my other political comments, be expecting me to have a go at Ruth Kelly and her decision to send her son to a private school. Well, I am having a mellow day (no, I am not mellowing, just a mellow day) and that is despite losing three hours work on Excel and a letter that has scuppered some plans we had for later in the year. She made a choice defined by the fact that she is parent first, minister second. Her son has needs and she has to respond in any way that she can. She would be a worse person for putting her politics before her family.

They Said I Wouldn't Dare

Get Down Fido

Pfizer are releasing a new drug in the USA to help your dog lose weight. It is designed to reduce the appetite and to make the dog feel satiated. This gives people an easy option again rather than doing what they should. But apparently some people can't exercise their dog more because they don't have the time. Well, if you don't have the time then you should seriously consider whether you should have a dog. Exercise isn't only about loosing weight and dogs need to be able to run. I would love to have a dog again, in fact I would also like to have a horse and a Harris Hawk, but I know I could not give them the time they need and it is then unfair on them. Can't say I am too happy with Pfizer on this one.

Pen and Paper

She sat
Gripping pen,
Unwritten words
Unmarked paper,
Except
For a drop of ink
Diluted
By a tear.

The Great Escape

The prison service don't know how many prisoners have escaped! There are definitely some pieces of news that I would prefer not to hear. It seems that they are now going to invest in a new system in order to track this a bit better, but not as a recognition of need but because the public and media are asking more questions.

Kind of imagining roll call in the morning

Officer: Biggs

Prisoner: Here

Officer: Davies

Prisoner: Here

Officer: Fox

Prisoner: Here

Officer: Layton

Officer: LAYTON

Officer: Oh never mind, suspect he's just nipped to the loo, tick him anyway.

Or how about in Colditz:

German Officer: We have checked the prisoners sir

German Governor: And?

German Officer: All present sir

German Governor: You are sure this time?

German Officer: Yes sir...................Er

German Governor: What?

German Officer: Well....

German Governor: What?

German Officer: I suppose I didn't see McQueen

German Governor: Oh never mind, he's probably playing baseball somewhere.

It certainly brings a new meaning to "open" prison.

Getting Ready

I really need to start getting ready for my installation as Master of the Lodge of Enterprise. It may seem a long way away, the second Wednesday of April, but I have plenty to think of. As well as having to learn some lines for the ceremony I have to think about who I want to ask to be officers for the forthcoming year. I know who I would like but, like a pack of dominos, if one person doesn't accept the position then the whole plan will come tumbling down. I need to start phoning around now in order to be prepared.

In addition I would like to do something a bit different. I have a couple of ideas about the place settings for the Festive Board after the ceremony, something that will tell visitors a bit about the history of the Lodge. I also want to have something that stands out a bit. I was thinking of firing glasses. The firing glass is a glass with a heavy base, after a toast it is brought crashing down on the table with a loud bang, the firing glass does not have drink in it for obvious reasons (although this is a mistake I have seen made, with interesting and impressive results). Firing glasses are not that common in lodges but I have seen them on a few occassions so I am now trying to think of something that I haven't seen that might become a lodge tradition given time. I need to discuss my thoughts with some Past Masters to see if they are acceptable, so phone calls required there as well.

It's Over

I never like this bit. Taking down all the decorations. Oh I smile, I play music loudly, I sing, I dance a bit, I make out it's OK, but in reality I hate it. I just love being surrounded by Christmas lights and other things. I have remembered to get the snowman from the garden (I am also infinitely grateful that I didn't put lights up outside this year because we went away, taking them down in the pouring rain would not have improved the enjoyment factor). Suddenly it is all back to normal, and I don't like normal, I prefer eccentric and brash. But it all gets reduced to this:

Death of Gren

Gren (or Grenfell Jones to give him his full name) has passed away. This is the passing of an icon. I grew up with Gren cartoons. Grens drew for the South Wales Echo for 40 years. His cartoons of rugby, sheep, and a welsh way of life, have passed into legend. As creator of the village of Aberflyarf he cannot be forgotten by any who grew up in the valleys of South Wales. An unusual, and I suspect mainly unknown, part of history is that he was a founder of the Barron Knights (then known as the Knights of the Round Table). He was awarded an MBE for services to the newspaper industry.

He had a fine and satirical outlook on a country he loved and will be missed.

CU (Jimmy)

At first glance the story of the Christian Unions being banned from universities seems to be political correctness gone mad. It seems they are banned because they are exclusive. So the first thought is how many Jews or Muslims would want to join the Christian Union anyway.

However, as with so many things, it is infinitely more complicated than that. Although anyone can attend meetings (good), it appears that to be a member of the CU a person first has to sign a doctrine (not so good). This includes such things as a belief in the virgin birth and a belief in the bible as the true word of God. The doctrine is written in such a way as to exclude membership to gays and lesbians, and in fact to those simply of less strong beliefs (I, for one, doubt I could have signed what I heard was on the list but I consider myself a Christian).

The union was given the option (well, it was forced) to change its name to the Evangelical Christian Union, but they are refusing to do so. They feel this does not reflect their position (no, I would agree, let's choose the "Radical Christian Union" or the "Only-if-you-believe-what-i-believe Christian Union").

What I find sad is that this identifies christianity as being radical and unaccepting, of being narrow minded and closed to others. And when you are like that then you struggle to bring others in to hear your message.

Beardy

Let's look on the bright side. We didn't lose everything. Monty, one of the few shining lights, has won the Beard of the Year. That's kind of the highlight of the Ashes so far. Inspiring!

Ashes - Day 4, Sydney

What is most upsetting about England losing to the Aussies is the lack of fight and of spirit. We could of lost and this still been an enjoyable series, in fact the first two matches were enjoyable, but as it became obvious that few players would stand up and be counted (well done to Pietersen, Panesar and Cook however) then it all became inevitable.

Just set a total of 46 to get in their second innings the end was going to come quickly. And it did. Little can be said really.

Anyway, I am a man of honour and I have spent the day wearing the Aussie cricket shirt. I regret making the bet now but it seemed reasonable that we would win at least one match. What made it worse is that I had two meetings with external agencies today so I had to explain why I was dressed like this:

Chastened

I am somewhat chastened by lizs comment to my post. Chastened not because of my beliefs, but because I might be seen as casually dismissing someones views. I actually took time over that post, it was not a one minute job, and I would not casually dismiss anyones views, especially not Squeak. I know Squeak to live her life by her principles and she should be admired for that. However I do not want to start every post with "I agree with your thoughts but....", I have to do too much of that at work. I want my blog to be an open forum for debate, I want to be challenged, but I will also defend what I believe. And politics is always going to be emotive, especially as I think I am in the minority in my beliefs amongst my friends. Writing is always more dangerous than speaking as there is no body language to deflect or temper the words (a reason why emails so easily offend). Please take what I write as done with a smile if we are debating a point, but I want freedom of expression. I am sorry if offence was, is, or will be caused. Now, apology over, on with the argument........

Schools Return

It was "A"s first day back at school today (not a private school by the way). Start of her second term. She was actually really looking forward to it, but waking up this morning was a bit of a shock for her after the holidays. In order to get her enthused I first pretended to be confused about the names of her school friends, eliciting a "silly daddy" response is always good. Then (and this might make me a slightly bad parent) I made a bet with her. I thought all her class would turn up today. She didn't think they would. It appears I lost the bet and owe her a chocolate coin.

And The Winner Is....

Or at least I hope the winners will be:

I feel it is time to get some pets again. I miss having animals around. Although I would like to get another Flat Coated Retriever I have to be honest that my present life doesn't really allow it. And a horse is definitely out of the question. Luckily some kittens have become available through work. There are quite a few to choose from but these are my, and "A"s favourites. So I really hope we can get them. Apparently the blue-grey males grow to be big beautiful and very naughty. Sounds great.

Ashes - Day 3, Sydney

As expected. The Aussies manage to bat on and post a good score. Whereas England crumble, Aussies dominate. So we are in our second innings. We have already lost 5 wickets for only 114 runs, and that effectively means we are 12 runs ahead.

Just how sensible it was for Collingwood to start sledging Warne remains to be seen. Or rather, it doesn't. Already fired up by his imminent retirement it appears a bit of verbal was all he needed to really get going. 71 runs is a more than respectable score for someone who has changed from being a bowler to an all-rounder. Warne has been the thorn in Englands side for so long and in so many ways.

Fair!

"Fair" cannot be used as a political argument. Cliche it may be, but life is not fair. It is not fair on a big scale - that we are born into affluent society while others are born in the third world. It is not fair on the small scale - that I invariably get a cold just as I am about to go on holiday. It is not fair that some people think that they can steal from others. It is not fair that one person gets cancer and the next doesn't. It is not fair that some are born more intelligent than others.

The only way that we could get even close to "fair" is to get a communist ideal. No-one gets paid, we put it all into a big pot and share it out evenly, and I mean globally not nationally. But that would also demand that everyone puts in the same amount of effort. Unfortunately communism has been proven not to work because humans are inherently greedy, there are those that will cream off the top and there are those that will feed off the bottom.

We cannot talk about fairness. What we should talk about is responsibility to each other. God has not made things fair, he has given us each responsibility.

Fairness is not the same as social justice, and it is important not to mix the two.

The rich do pay more. The more you earn then the more you pay through taxes.

By paying taxes I have put my bit into the NHS. I have paid my dues. By then electing to go private the money I have paid into the NHS is available for someone else, I am freeing up my "slice" for someone else to use. Rather than not having a private system, it should be expected that those who can afford it should pay for those services, in itself a form of taxation. I get treated more quickly but so does someone else because I am no longer in the queue.

I work hard. Probably too hard as my family suffers at times. That is my choice, I do not do it for the money (I could find better paying jobs if I wanted) but because I enjoy it. That I enjoy my work makes me lucky. But last year I had to sell some of my holiday because I did not have the time to take it all. I was taxed on that and ended up paying a large chunk of my "holiday" to the government who then use it to fight an illegal war. Sorry, but that doesn't seem fair either.

There have to be rewards for effort. Otherwise people will not try. The way that people get paid is certainly out of kilter, jobs with a social responsibility often do not pay enough while someone who can push numbers in the city gets paid obscene amounts. But if you don't have to try then you don't value what you receive (I am careful about the charities I give to on this basis, there is a very interesting book "Dark Star Safari" that considers the actions of charity groups in Africa).

The Alternatives

So would the alternatives be worse? And is that a reason to accept who is leading our country?

I have previously admitted to being a conservative. But I vote for them for the same reason, I believe the alternatives are worse. Not because of strong commitment to what they represent (or possibly represent, I am aware that I vote for a party that might not actually have any policies). Do I believe that man to the right is any less false than Blair, no. Do I believe that there are any politicians left who wouldn't sell their principles just because there is a vote in it, effectively no (I say effectively because I think there are still principled politicians, the problem is that they will never surface above the mire).

I have, over the years, voted for most - SDP, Lib Dem, Green, Conservative, Scottish National. I never voted communist but thought about it. Not Labour, never Labour though.

I vote because I think it important that we use our right to vote. Not voting is not a statement, it is apathy. It could only be a statement if it meant no-one got into power. Someone is going to be in power though, so you should do your best to make sure it is those that you think will do best, even if their best is fairly poor.

There is an ideal world, one where we do share what we earn. BUT, a very big but, that ideal world also demands that everyone pulls their weight. Unfortunately humans are not like that. Some pull well above their weight, others don't pull at all. Those that aren't ABLE to pull should be supported, but those who CHOOSE not to pull should not be given a free ride. Health should be free, so should education, but that doesn't mean I shouldn't be able to pay for those if I can afford it. In fact if I can afford it then I should pay so that those who can't afford it benefit more.

I want a world where we try to pull everyone up to the top bar. I have always thought labour tries to push everyone down to the bottom bar.

I have often thought about entering politics myself. I believe in fariness, I believe in equality. So if I did make the step where would I go. In all honesty I would stand as an independent. And that is why I haven't made the step, because I don't think I could make a change.

Ashes- Day 2, Sydney

From 234-4 to all out for 291. The kind of scorecard we are now used to seeing from England. No wonder Brett Lee is celebrating at getting Chris Read out. The last 5 batsmen contributed 4 runs. That's right, 4 runs. Australia are now 188-4, the difference being that we can expect that to be turned into a decent score by the end of tomorrow.

Shipwrecked

He watched the ship
Go down.

Looked for just
One beam.

Wreckage to hold,
To float.

To stay above waves
One minute

More.

Ashes- Day 1, Sydney

I kind of think it is likely that I will soon be wearing an Aussie shirt so I refuse to get excited about 234-4. it's OK but England have repeatedly shown themselves incredibly capable of throwing away "it's OK" and turning it into "oh g.d". I might dare comment more if it still OK when I wake up tomorrow.

Whoops, How Did That Happen?

I am sorry Prescott but you have two options now. One is to plead stupidity, the other ignorance. And you are probably better with collective stupidity because, if you go for ignorance, then the question is why could you not see what the rest of us could see. You are politicians, you are suppose to be capable of running a country, but could you really not see what was going to happen when Saddam went to an Iraqi court. Don't now say it is deplorable.

The moment was missed, the moment when it wouldn't have looked simply like vengeance. There is no point wringing hands saying how bad it was. Once the decision was made that Saddam wouldn't stand in front of an international court it was obvious that execution would be the result. And it was obvious that the victors would take their spoils.

No. The result is what Blair and Bush wanted. Unfortunately for them they have discovered that they created a martyr and that their decisions have once again backfired. So now they backtrack. Actually to be fair, little that I like the USA government, at least they are standing by their choice. It is the UK government, Labour, the party that has always said it stands for peoples rights, that is reeling. It was wrong, but at least have the backbone to admit you were wrong, the act of surprise is not credible.

And do people still believe in this government, in Blair? In those that have made spin a brand of their own? How do we sit, and watch, and accept, when we are led with deceivers?

{Again I won't use a picture with this blog}

Cheese

So cheese is now a junk food. That's right. Cheese has been officially designated as junk. This means that cheese cannot be advertised during childrens programs. Great, thank you. Force feed my daughter with Barbie but don't let her know about food that will provide essential calcium.

Truth

I have trod paths
A thousand years
Searched celtic ways

I have seen stars
That Arthur saw
With Merlin at our side.

I have seen fields
Where Wallace stood
Talked within Stirlings walls.

I have seen valleys
Where Glendower rode
Smelt fragrent grass.

Still I search
For celtic truth
A hidden beauty
Of the soul
The truth
Of freedom.

Old in the New

You know those moments when you say something then realise how old it makes you sound. Had one of those last night. Watching the celebrations in London and all the fireworks from the Millenium Eye.

For the first few minutes I was thinking they looked very nice. Then they seemed to be going on and on and I finally said something along the lines of "just how much money is being thrown away with this".

I do, I feel old. But I also think that there were probably much better things that the money could have been spent on. All the homeless in London, the ill, the lonely, the suffering. Trying to correct the wrongs and injustices brought about by our, and the american, governments. Mistakenly New Year has turned into this massive celebration, when all it represents is a man-made moment for a date change. As people have lost the meaning of Christmas they have needed to turn to something else, and they turn to self-focused self-gratification.

Yep, old.

Sleepy

It is no compensation to hear that I am not the only one having problems sleeping. I have tried a nightcap (Balvenie the current whisky of choice), I have tried not having a nightcap. I am reading until at least one in the morning (reading usually being a good tactic as it lets my mind wind down). But when the lights go off I cannot get to sleep. Not quite true, can't get to sleep for most of the night but, ironically, manage to get into a deep sleep just before I need to get up.

Whatever is on my mind is in my subconscious. I am not lying awake with a particular problem going through my head, except for the problem of why can't I get to sleep. Could be my back, I have missed three osteo appointments in the last month and everything is stiffening up. Maybe it is my brain rebelling because it hasn't had anything to worry about for ten days while I have been away from work. Maybe just tense. Maybe ......

I should be going back to work feeling refreshed, seems I will be going back more kn........d than when I left. Oh well, hey ho.

The Catnip Tapes

I was asked to give more details about my project with the big cats at Bristol Zoo. A function of being in the right place at the right time - wanting to be a vet, being at Clifton, needing a Biology project, being on the Science Society committee, and having a Chemistry teacher who wanted to know what it was about catnip that made cats respond as they do. The teacher asked me if I wanted to be involved and I snapped up the chance.

The idea was to expose the big cats to catnip and see if they went all kitteny. I tried fresh catnip, dried catnip and catnip extract. Put it in a box mounted on a tripod and placed it as close as possible to the cage mesh then waited for the cats to come for a sniff. Had a video at the ready (this was a long time ago, I look at my little camcorder now and compare it to that thing, three separate units, camera, video recorder and battery case) to record all the behaviour.

The great thing was I could stay in the zoo after it had closed. The reason this was so great was that the leopards had just had cubs. The cubs were very shy and wouldn't come out during the day but they would come out in the evening when it was all quiet. One evening I was leaning on the plexiglass having set up the tripod when the whole thing shook with a bang. I spun around to see a cub had leapt at me and was just the other side looking bemused. I had many a pleasant evening wandering around the zoo, no-one else to disturb me, and away that everyone else was sitting down to their homework (public boarding school, two hours strictly supervised silence).

I had problems with the project, trying to get a good response was difficult. I only managed with the leopards, the tigers and lions didn't react as we hoped. The leopards were perfect though, rolling over, pawing at the air, just like overgrown domestic cats. My theory was that we overloaded the other cats, catnip can be overwhelming and I think the extract we used was too strong.

Redland Girls

A friend has admitted that she went to Redland High School. That was because I had made a comment about being at Clifton College. Well, that got me thinking and remembering. I remember Redland. Yes, Redland definitely had a reputation for being harder than the Clifton High School girls. Never stopped us trying though. More than one boy tried to climb over those walls (which I remember had broken glass cemented into the top as a deterrent). Not me of course, I was much too busy concentrating on my studies.

Execution

I almost resisted. It was too big a news story. I didn't want to go near it. But I need to give vent to my frustration. But no pictures and no links.

I am shocked. Shocked that they executed Hussein, shocked that they picked the end of the year (an important time for many religions) and shocked that they put it on television. I am shocked that the UK is so against the death penalty but our politicians suddenly seem to think it alright as long as it is another country and someone who is not english (is it just that they hope that his execution means the whole debacle will go away). I am shocked that Bush is arrogant enough to sleep through it, telling his aides not to disturb him.

I am frustrated that an illegal war has come to this. That the biggest and strongest countries have flexed their muscles to lead a small country to disaster. I am not saying that Hussein didn't deserve to be brought to justice. But there are other countries and other dictators that are ignored because they are western-friendly. It is the selectiveness of the thing. And the attitude that we know better. The USA, aided by Britain, are nothing less than global dictators.

His death serves no-one any good. It will not help the attrocities currently occurring in Iraq, they are not driven by him. It will not bring back those he killed. And it does not give him time to reflect.

What was the point?

Steps

So many
Want to live
Want to escape
Find worlds
Unexplored
To take another step.

So many
Hesitate
Can't see through the mist
And doubt
The path ahead
Afraid to take another step.

So many
Fumble
For a truth
To guide them.

Incomprehensible

I didn't mean......
I never said.....
That isn't....
But...

Misunderstood,
Purposefully misunderstood
Avoiding understanding.

Who said?
What said?
Why?

Misunderstood
Purposefully misunderstood.

Annoyed
Annoying.

Misunderstood.