Random Jots by James

I'm so bored with...

2011-11-22T23:00:00.000Z

the Phone Hacking scandal...

A company is caught doing to a selection of celebrities (and, yes, a few innocent civilians) what our governments do to everybody every day. What's the big deal?

I suspect the surplus of coverage of this thing stems from 2 things:

1. The ever prurient interest in the lives of celebrities

and

2. This is another chance for the Press to cover a story about itself because it makes for such a good diversion from real news...

On turning 42...

2011-11-21T19:49:00.001Z

Today I turned 42.

Why is this a significant milestone? Maybe it has to do with the answer to Life, The Universe, and Everything.

Whatever it is, I am not really sure, but it appears I am now - more than at most times in my life - in a significant transitional space. (Sorry if that sounds a bit New Agey, but that’s what it is.)

To say the past couple of years have been difficult would be an understatement. With various crises on the family front, the friendship front, the faith front, and the work front (not to mention various minor illnesses and operations), it seems now is truly a time of rebirth. Every compartment in my life - except for my wife and daughter - has seen a significant, stressful, difficult change in the past two years. I’m not complaining - just stating a fact.

In the overall scheme of things, I have lived and am living a very blessed life. I’m just finding the transition slow. They say God doesn’t close one door without opening another, but the hallway is a bitch. I’m sitting in the hallway.

‘Nuff said about that. No more wallowing. As they say, today is the first day of the rest of your life.

Today was a good day.

Started the day with a nice cuddle, and after I emerged showered and dressed, I got a big hug from my daughter wishing me happy birthday.

Had a walk up to Chanctonbury Ring with the wife. Chanctonbury Ring was enshrouded completely in fog. We could not see more than 30 feet in front of us. One can almost see the legendary Roman legionnaires if one strained enough.

Then we had lunch at the Black Horse in Findon.

Birthday cake was Mississippi Mud Pie in the evening. Overall, not bad. One could do worse, and few could do better.

The view toward Isle of Wight from Chanctonbury Ring

It appears Nigel Farage...

2011-11-18T13:09:00.001Z

is coming into his own in the midst of the Euro crisis. Saying what most British politicians should be saying (but won't)...I'm getting the sensation that the changes about to be wrought on the entire world as a result of all the financial shenanigans going down in both the US and Europe are going to make the battles and the aftermath of the two world wars look like a picnic...

As usual, the Tories will end up on the wrong side of history.

[I was once told by a Conservative MP, in so many words, that most of them thought it would implode anyway, so no reason to take a side and risk voter disapproval or apathy - as in the election they lost under Hague. This seems to me to be their official position now. More important that Dave stays PM than that the UK government looks after the country's interests.]

(hat tip to Zero Hedge via Ed Steer's Gold and Silver Daily)

Ain't Nothin' Like the Blues

2011-11-17T21:21:00.001Z

"Oooh Yeah...

Oh Yeah...

Everything gonn' be all right this moanin'..."

Thus began my initiation into the blues. I was at a deadhead party somewhere in thesuburbs of Atlanta, about the age of 18. I was kicking back enjoying the atmosphere, when someone decided to dropthe needle down on "Mannish Boy" by Muddy Waters, a tune on probablyone of the most concise compilations of Chicago Blues ever: Wizards from theSouthside. The tune hit me right betweenthe eyes.

I had never heard anything that so completely rocked mybutt than that one song. Muddy Watersyelling into the mike, the relentless beat of the drums, the signature bluesguitar picking combined with some rocking harmonica, producing thequintessential electric blues tune.

I had always heard the blues reinterpreted by Britishbands from the 60s and 70s (such as Led Zeppelin, the Animals, and various EricClapton projects.) Stevie Ray Vaughanand George Thorogood were also making the rounds at the time. I had even heard of Robert Johnson, and couldnot fathom the steps it took to get from Robert Johnson to the rock and rollthat permeated the airwaves when I was coming up.

But this tune that I was listening to bridged that gap. Although I had heard it in rock and roll, andin the pop culture surrounding me, I had never quite heard anything likeit...And I loved it.

And then the guy in charge of the stereo played a fewmore tunes off of that album and I was hooked...I dare anyone listening to LittleWalter's "Mellow Down Easy" to keep their foot from tapping or tokeep from getting up and dancing. Ifound myself shuffling around like mad the first time I listened to that tune.

But then, the DJ took me a further halting step in to my blues odyssey...He changedthe album and didn't tell me what it was...

It was some white guy singing a live tune with a rockingbackground:

"Wake up, Mama, turn your lamp down low,

Wake up, Mama, turn your lamp down low..."

"Man," I exclaimed, "What is this?! Thiscompletely rocks!"

He challenged me: "Guess."

"I don't have a clue."

"The Allman Brothers Band."

What?? I thoughtthey were those dudes that played that country song, "Ramblin' Man." I had always wondered why they always playedthat song on classic rock radio. Itbelonged more to country in my mind.

But hearing them play "Statesboro Blues" on theAt Filmore East album was an eye-opener. Theywere actually a blues-rock band that played the odd country song! Wow! And some of the stuff on that album could almost count as jazz, too,what with all the extended riffing and improvisation going on! I was so excited to discover that something I thought was naff was actually very cool.

After that night I had to go out and buy me some blues,and some Allman Brothers Band on cassette. Which I did. It's been about 24years and five country-moves since then, and I have managed to always haveAllman Brothers and some sort of Chicago blues tunes on my person at any givenpoint. The music has given a lot of joyand familiarity and continuity, as well.

And, as with other specialist genres of popular music,getting to know the blues is one of those things that can make you new friendsin novel situations. And it completely rocks butt!

Lies, Damned Lies, and Maybe the French...

2011-11-16T09:58:00.001Z

...are doing something right.

Tim Worstall has posted something on the comparison between French and British productivity and the best way to go about actually comparing it, citing GDP as the better measure than productivity per hour worked. The per capita numbers are

(2008, PPP, US$, OECD figures again) 33,090 for France and $35,631 for the UK.

Maybe not the most scientific approach, but judging from my own experience and looking at the above numbers maybe the French are doing something right...

A lot of people in the British managerial classes typically underreport the amount of hours they work: I've seen this first-hand amongst most of my peers at organisations in various sectors. The expectation is a 50-hour work week at UK PLC; whether it is illegal or not is beside the point. Most of the managerial class equates time spent with one's bum on seat as being productive time. This leads to long hours and the expectation that anyone with a white collar should be prepared to sit his bum on the seat for the same amount of time as the boss.

It is not uncommon to see regular, non-emergency meetings called for after 18:00 or even as late as 19:00 in a typical environment. This sort of approach would be considered barbaric on most of the Continent. However, at UK PLC, anyone who complains is considered a lightweight and is thought to be pulling less than their own weight within the team.

The French branch of one of the companies I used to work for would give 11 weeks (rather than the statutory 6) paid holiday to their managers because it was accepted that some managers - by the nature of their work, such as IT service delivery managers - were expected to break the Working Time Directive. Therefore, they had to make that time back some other way. [Whether this was statutory or not, I'm not sure.]

But I think about it...Would I forgo $2,540 per year in income if it meant I got back (on the assumption of a current average 45-hour work week, underreported, in a 47-week year) 470 hours of my life (compared to the French 35-hour week.)

So, some rough back-of-a-fag-packet numbers tell me, I have to work 470 more hours, at 19 US cents/hour, in order to enjoy a higher average GDP than my counterpart across the Channel.

So, who is more productive? Am I missing something?

So hey, you're probably asking yourself...

2011-11-15T22:27:00.001Z

"What gives, James? Nothing for almost a year and then two (now three) posts in one day?"Don't know...just felt like it.

We have a new favourite trash TV show...

2011-11-15T22:14:00.001Z

Sorority Girls

Compelling viewing...Like watching a bus accident. You try to avert your eyes, but there is some prurient part of you wanting to see what happens next.

It's a lot of fun explaining the Greek system to the English wife and 11-year-old daughter (who now wants to join a sorority.)

The family also thought that the eponymous stars of the show were involved in some major p***-take, but I assured them, "no, there really are girls like that."

God bless America...

Chuffed, actually...

2011-11-15T18:03:00.001Z

My daughter has been asking me to make compilation CDs for the school bus ride (apparently the bus driver only has an S-Club 7 CD.) She told me that the bus driver digs samba, so, she asked, would I be willing to throw together a CD for the bus driver? Here are the results, not too bad, I think:

Quote of the Year

2010-12-03T13:18:00.000Z

"I don't understand; how will you heat your houses? You do not want gas, you do not want to develop nuclear energy. Where will you get your heat from then? From firewood?

"But even for firewood you will need to go to Siberia, you do not even have wood."

- Vladimir Putin to Germany

Momentary lapse of...whatever

2010-11-19T18:08:00.003Z

The proprietor of this blog would like to beg the readers’ forgiveness for the downbeat nature of the last few posts. He is going through his annual pre-birthday bout of existential angst combined with the feeling that he could have been so much more by this point in his life. He is led to believe that this is part of the general experience of being a male member of the species Homo sapiens.

Once he turns forty-one on Sunday, he hopes that he shall be rid of said existential angst until this time next year, at which point, he advises his readers to potentially stay away, or, if they are so inclined, gaze on in morbid fascination as someone temporarily loses his grasp on reality.

Thank you for your support.

A Meditation Upon hearing the Indigo Girls

2010-11-17T18:09:00.000Z

Life is relentless, I heard Dennis Prager say on his weekly Happiness Hour.

My life has been blessed, but relentless lately, nonetheless. No great tragedies to speak of, really. Work is a pain in the ass, and my commute’s a bitch. I turn 41 this week. Edging into middle age. And everything seems a slog lately. When did it get like this? Everything seemed so effortless (what seemed like) just a few short years ago. Now it’s an effort just to work the will up to get out of bed.

Typical spoiled middle class suburban white collar twaddle.

Insanity is doing the same thing repeatedly and expecting different results. Time to change tack.

Anyway, I had the iPod on shuffle last night and “Blood & Fire” by the Indigo Girls came on. Typical folky lesbian torch song. One of my all-time favourites, actually. When that song came out I must have been a junior in high school. An aspiring poet. With pretensions to my own intensity. I thought I had problems then, but I didn’t really, other than being strange and adolescent. I thought life was so complicated and complex. Wow.

It is amazing how much one knows when one is younger. I wish I had been aware of the depth of my own ignorance. It would have been handy to know that there were things that I didn’t know.

But it is funny, listening to “Blood & Fire” now. It reminds me of how complicated life has become in the intervening years, and just how simple and easy it really was back then.

I still love the song, but it is a rather masturbatory paean to intense, obsessive love, when one does not have a single other care in the world. But it is done so well...

And to use another trite phrase - which I sometimes find hard to digest, myself - “God doesn’t give you more than you can handle.” There are times when I thank God that that is so.

And now for a Primal Scream:

2010-11-16T19:42:00.000Z

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thank you for your support.

Standing on the Shoulders of Giants...

2010-11-11T22:55:00.000Z

The following is an essay I wrote a while back and posted on previous blogs at this time of year, so I think it's well worth resurrecting. I hope you enjoy...

Yesterday morning the wife, the daughter, and I were down in town, and it just so happened that the mayor was presiding over an act of remembrance at the war memorial in front of the town hall in honour of Armistice/Veterans’ Day.

Whilst waiting for it to begin, my eyes were caught by the following poem (hat tip to Steve for publishing it):

They shall not grow old as we who are left grow old.
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning,
WE WILL REMEMBER THEM.

Well, once my eyes were caught, they started leaking like no one’s business, and my daughter jumped up and gave me a big hug, her little hands patting my back.

Beginning in 1992, I spent six years in the US Navy. In the first three years of serving in the Navy, I was probably the most conscientious sailor one could hope to meet. I loved the Navy, I loved its history and I was damned proud to be seen in my crackerjacks. But something happened to me, gradually. Many of the goals I set for myself, and for which I thought I was punching all the right tickets were not coming to fruition. I was beginning to get a little burnt out on being so squared away for my first three years, with no – apparent – return other than a job well done.

After that point, I couldn’t wait to get out. Not that I actively tried, but I could have really left the Navy at the first chance presented.

I served the rest of my time, maybe not as conscientiously as I should have, but probably better than many of my colleagues, nonetheless. Looking back now, I’m a little bit ashamed of the fact that I didn’t necessarily give my best to the Navy, and by extension, my country. Back then, I could justify it by the fact that I was such a good boy, but Santa still wouldn’t bring me presents.

I may not have been proud of my service then, but I am definitely proud of it now.

You see, I have shared the experience of wearing a uniform in the service of my country with some of the greatest souls to ever grace this planet. Men who were definitely better men than I. Men who did not know what was in store for them when they signed that dotted line and received the queen’s shilling or that paycheck from Uncle Sam. Men who gave up their youths and their freedom so that the rest of us could enjoy our own. Many men whose remains now lay on the fields in which they were mowed down, or the watery graves where their ships lie.

Yes, it’s true, some of us join/ed the military because it was a way out or a way up from whatever circumstances may have been going on (I initially walked into the recruiting office because I was running away from something.) But no matter the reasons for joining, the sum total of the efforts of my predecessors, colleagues, and those who came after me was that this world is just a little bit better than it may have been had we not done our “duty”.

My father served in the Navy for 20 years. My uncle just retired from the Navy, himself. Both of my grandfathers served in WWII, one in the British Army and one in the US Army. And I am proud of all that they did.

I may have said that after my first three years I didn’t get anything from the Navy. But the truth is, my whole experience gave me the world.

Thanks to all those people with whom I shared that world and those experiences, and whose boots I could never fill. I am truly humbled when contemplating the greatness that came before, and that follows, my brief stint of service.

I didn’t see any action, and I am grateful I didn’t have to. But then, as they say, I was standing on the shoulders of giants.

Bitter and Twisted...

2010-11-01T16:57:00.000Z

I have definitely lost something over the past few years, even more so recently, it seems to be escaping me even more and more.

I am culturally an American. What that used to mean was that I had a certain golly-gee-whizness in my outlook and an indomitable belief that everything would work out for the best. For some reason, maybe for many reasons, that golly-gee-whizness is no longer there. It has been replaced by a dark, pessimistic cynicism. A perfect example of this happened yesterday...

I was on the phone to my mother who is back in the States. She asked me whether I voted or not in the US elections. She was treated to a rant about how, due to immigration policy (formed under both Democrats and Republicans) that won’t let my wife have a green card unless I have $66,000 cash in a bank, the whole lot of them can kiss my ass. Three years ago they were jumping all over each other to make citizens of any one living illegally in the US (which was only held back by the threat of mob backlash). She seemed to think that politics have changed in the US since then, making a reference to the Tea Party movement.

I am extremely cynical: the Tea Party may get the politicians talking one way for a little while, but none of them, especially career politicians, will do anything to really change the way their business is done. As far as I’m concerned, for the next few years, I have been effectively exiled from my own home country, because it is now too late, due to personal circumstances, for us to really try to make a move to the US again for another eight years or so. (My wife’s application was rejected about two years ago, which would have been a good time for us to start the process of establishing residency in the states again.)

And I’m probably going to see my income get taxed more by those bastards, as I happen to be a citizen of the only developed country in the world that feels it can tax its citizens on money that they’ve already been taxed on in the place where they earned it. And they can all just kiss my ass.

Oh yeah, Republicans will pay lip service to lowering taxes on those of us living abroad (and actually, I’m not really paying right now as I come in under the threshold, but it is still a pain in the ass to deal with.) But I’m really skeptical when I am the apparent low-hanging fruit that they can pick. As someone once said, democracy is mob rule with neckties. Why should anyone give a sh** about what happens to those of us who are living and working outside of the US?

But what I am getting at, though, is that I have developed what feels like a well-reasoned deep mistrust of institutions and people that I’ve never really had before. And I am becoming angry. Generally grumpy. I’m not the best company of late. There’s bound to be something wrong with the person who finishes his diatribes with the words: “And they can all just kiss my ass.” Especially when that person uses it more than once in one day...

Mobile phones and their discontents...

2010-09-14T19:05:00.000+01:00

I have noticed one thing about a certain type of person that I tend to find myself working for (current boss excluded):

They are surgically connected to their mobile phones. There isn’t any place they can go or any situation they can be in where they will refuse to pick up their mobile when it rings: at children’s parties, on the train, whilst driving, you name it. The individuals I am thinking of also display a high level of assholiness to their subordinates whilst puckering up big time for their bosses. (I’ve worked for 3 people like this.)

One thing I’ve noticed about the boss’s bosses: They tend to be some of the most decent people to work for, and they never pick up their mobiles at inconsiderate times, unless they are dealing with ongoing crisis situations.

So what is it? Is my refusal to pick up my mobile phone every time it rings holding me back? Would I be able to break through to the next level if I walked everywhere with phone to ear? Do I have to go through that awkward phase of assholiness in order to get more pay for what I do?

And how about getting to the level after that? How would I make the transition? Who would surgically remove the mobile phone from my ear and make me a decent person again?

Also, how about d***heads driving brand new Wehrmacht General Staff cars but can’t afford hands-free kit? How many times have I seen someone in a new Mercedes or BMW talking into a cell phone, driving with one hand? You’ve just shelled out bucketloads of cash for a car, but you can’t even spare a couple hundred pounds for a hands-free kit? Pr***s.

I can always tell, too, when I am driving behind someone who is speaking on the phone, especially on A-Roads marked out at the national speed limit: they are the ones whose speed varies within a range of 35 to 60 miles per hour without a corresponding change in road conditions. Just because you drop down to 40 mph whilst on the phone does not make you a considerate driver...Particularly when you realise someone (like me) is trying to get around you and then you crank it up to 70 to keep them from passing...

Feh!

Party in the USA

2010-09-13T18:01:00.000+01:00

Back in July, I had the dubious pleasure of putting together the music for my daughter’s tenth birthday party. In order to compile said music, I canvassed her and her friends for requests. To say that 10-year-old girls do not have sophisticated tastes is a bit of an understatement. But I managed to get a slight lesson from one of the requests: “Party in the USA” by Miley Cyruss.

The theme of the lyrics is a sort of fish-out-of-water story about a Southern girl from Nashville who ends up in Hollywood, feeling distinctly out of place. She’s looking at the way the buildings look and the way people interact and she’s wondering if she’s done the right thing. Then, at the end of each lyric she hears a familiar song that she loves and she puts her

“...hands up and their playing my song
and the butterflies fly away
Yeah,
It’s a party in the USA, a party in the USA.”

Now, I don’t normally go looking for significance or profundity in a top 40 pop tune, least of all, one by Hannah Montana, but the song struck a chord with me.

When I was 22, I enlisted in the Navy and, at that point, I had only left the South once from the time that I was 12 or 13. One could say that my teen years were relatively sheltered and that my cultural point of view was limited, despite having lived in far flung places in the world prior to that. My viewpoint was distinctly Southern - not that I had really appreciated it - until I left the South.

In boot camp in California, I didn’t get a chance to appreciate that point so much, as many of my fellow recruits were Southerners just as well, and, well...there were other more pressing matters to attend to that just didn’t allow one enough navel-gazing time. Military culture can be very Southern in flavour, so there weren’t many immediately apparent differences from what I was used to. (I will say, I found more of the Westerners and New Yorkers to be a bit more openly, shockingly, racist than all but a few of the redneck peckerwoods from back home.)

It was when I was stationed in Rhode Island that I became acutely aware of how there were different cultures throughout the US, and that, despite all my many rough edges, I definitely had a more genteel Southern disposition than many of the people I encountered in New England. The way people spoke to each other actually shocked me, the man of the world I imagined myself to be.

But one thing still stood out...When I turned on the radio stations, they all played the same tunes, with only slight regional variations (for instance, one was more likely to hear Billy Squier on the radio in Rhode Island more often than Lynyrd Skynyrd.) And when “my song” came on, people from the rest of the country would join in and enjoy the party just as much as I would. I suppose seeing the dance floor fill up when “Love Shack” by the B-52s came on was the same for me as it was for Miley Cyruss when she heard a “Jay-Z song” come on.

I guess what I’m getting at is - on the one hand - that the USA is filled with so many little subcultures, some regional, some socio-economic, and one can almost argue that the USA is made up of several different “countries”. But - on the other hand - there is an overarching shared culture of being American. And whether she was aware of it or not, Miss Cyruss was reminding her fellow Americans of the famous motto:

E. Pluribus Unum.

Out of many, one.

Been a good week...

2010-09-10T15:30:00.000+01:00

In anticipation of returning to work on Monday, the wife and I have been enjoying each other's company on daytime "dates" which usually include a bit of a walk and lunch at one of Sussex's finer eating establishments. (With a little bit of shopping thrown in.)

Wednesday found us at the George and Dragon Inn in Burpham after a brief shopping trip to Chichester. I had a rib eye steak that, upon first glance of the menu, seemed a bit on the pricey side at about £20. However, it had to have been the tastiest restaurant steak I have encountered since a steak I had from the private herd in a restaurant at the Biltmore Estate in North Carolina. The chips were just about perfect as well.

My wife had a fillet of mullet that she absolutely adored.

Being inspired by Wednesday's lunch, for Thursday we decided to plot a 5-mile walk in the Burpham area to end with lunch at the George and Dragon once more. This time lunch was a bit lighter with each of us opting for a mezze platter. Very basic, but very tasty. Judging from the menu, it appears the George and Dragon is very big on sourcing local produce for its dishes, and it tasted fresh.

Today we decided to have a walk around Arundel Park and find something to eat in Arundel. Arundel has got to be one of the best kept secrets in the UK, as I very rarely meet anyone who is not from Sussex who is familiar with it. There are a lot of quirky little shops, wonderful buildings, and from certain angles - thanks to Arundel Cathedral and Arundel Castle - you could almost swear you were in France.

We had lunch at a little place called Osteria in the centre of the town. Yet another excellent eating experience. Although one was not assured of the local provenance of the food, one could tell that a lot of attention was paid to the quality of the ingredients. The double espresso I had perked me right up, and displayed a very well-balanced flavour. For eating, I had a panini made with prosciuto, an Italian cheese the name of which escapes me right now, and balsamic onions, with a side of salad. For £3.95...For what I got I would have expected to pay at least £2 more for eating something of that quality at a table. The wife had a bruschetta made with brie and a red onion marmalade (which she insisted I sample - excellent!).

To finish it off, we had a tiramisu, which wasn't the best I've ever had, but was nice nonetheless.

We shall be returning for dinner some evening.

I also returned to a shop that helps me out when I'm feeling homesick for the States: Sparks Yard. In the upstairs kitchen/food area they sell American junk food. Today I purchased a bag of Reese's peanut butter cups, a few Jolly Ranchers, a couple of Twinkies, some Tootsie pops, and a 3 Musketeers bar. The proprietor was enthusiastic about his wares and always soliciting opinion from his customers. Very heartening.

But, boy, it has been a good week.

Some things just ain't right...

2010-09-07T08:28:00.000+01:00

Not bad, though...

And so it came to pass...

2010-09-03T18:02:00.000+01:00

The hamster became worse over yesterday, and it was obvious she was in a lot of pain. The poor little critter.

We called the vets last night and arranged an appointment this morning to put her to sleep. She was a little over two years old and the vet said we did the right thing when we did.

It's been a tough day for the whole family, with saying goodbye and all. I never thought a hamster could have this effect on me. It seems rather silly...

We buried her this afternoon after my daughter came home from school.

Big thanks to the people at the Grove Lodge Veterinary practice. Everyone we encountered were sensitive and supportive and did their best to accommodate us, seeing us on very short notice a few times in the past three weeks.

It is amazing...

2010-09-01T17:53:00.000+01:00

how much of an impact a pet hamster can have on one. Our pet hamster of two years, Makiko, may have to be put to sleep in the next couple of days.

Big Softy here spent the better part of an hour trying to suppress the waterworks after the visit to the vet.

FFS, it's just a hamster...but she will be missed by all of us.

A fun time had by all...

2010-08-27T17:51:00.000+01:00

On Wednesday we went to Bodiam Castle to avail ourselves of our National Trust membership.

Hands On History were there with armour, which both my daughter and I put on.

And they let us shoot a trebuchet into the moat. Now that was way cool.

On the way home we stopped in at Bateman's, Rudyard Kipling's home. I highly recommend just reading the titles of the books on the bookshelf in his study. One could spend hours just doing that. A true child of Empire.

Our National Trust membership has paid for itself a few times over, which has been useful, as we have been slightly skint of late.

(On another note, however, why is it that cafes at National Trust properties serve the vilest espressos?)

Seinfeld in Fitzrovia

2010-08-27T14:21:00.000+01:00

Went up to London for an interview for a job a couple of days ago. After finding the location on Euston Road I had about 20 minutes left until the appointment.

At this point, nature was calling, and to avoid having to squirm in my seat for the duration of the interview, I decided to go along the backstreets of the adjoining neighbourhood (Fitzrovia) to find an appropriate café in which could relieve nature’s call and have a quick espresso.

During my wanderings, I came across a man in a wheelchair. I am not certain of what he was afflicted with, but it was clear that he could not speak clearly nor could he propel himself in his own wheelchair. He motioned for me to give him a push in the wheelchair. Fancying myself as ever the gallant, and assuming that he could not have gone far on his own steam anyway, I obliged him and began pushing him in his chair.

I pushed him one block, two blocks, three blocks…Asking him every half minute or so whether we were going in the right direction…He would motion with his hand and grunt. He also reeked of beer and I realised that the plastic Tesco bag on his lap had a four-pack of lager in it.

Every once in a while he would stick one of his feet down to force me to change direction or avoid an obstacle that would be difficult to manoeuvre around in a wheelchair. For instance, it appeared he had no great love for those nobbly bits of pavement where the curb drops to allow propulsion by wheelchair and instead preferred driveways as his way of getting up onto pavements.

I had gone about maybe three or four minutes and realised that I may end up getting lost if I keep going deeper and deeper into the neighbourhood. Every ten seconds or so I would ask him how far and he would continue to reply in grunts and motion with his palsied hand to go ever forward. I said that I thought I would have to give up soon as I had an appointment to attend to.

He motioned and grunted for me to keep going…

Finally, he set his foot down in front of a building with a ramp in front of it and refused to let me push him further. A woman – apparently a care worker of some sort – came out of the building, said “hello” to him and said “thank you” to me.

Feeling slightly used, I went along my merry way to the roundabout at Great Portland Street, used the public conveniences and had an espresso in the Middle Eastern café there. Made it back to the place for the interview with a couple of minutes to spare…

But, boy, that was weird.

A bit of Frankl

2010-07-30T20:41:00.000+01:00

I recently finished reading Viktor Frankl’s Man's Search for Meaning: The Classic Tribute to Hope from the Holocaust - a book about the author’s experiences in Nazi concentration camps during WWII as well as a summary of his school of psychotherapy, Logotherapy - and I picked up a few gems from it which I just needed to pass along:

“…And finally I spoke of our sacrifice, which had meaning in every case. It was in the nature of this sacrifice that it should appear to be pointless in the normal world, the world of material success. But in reality our sacrifice did have a meaning. Those of us who had any religious faith, I said frankly, could understand without difficulty. I told them of a comrade who on his arrival in camp had tried to make a pact with Heaven that his suffering and death should save the human being he loved from a painful end. For this man, suffering and death were meaningful; his was a sacrifice of the deepest significance. He did not want to die for nothing. None of us wanted that.

The purpose of my words was to find a full meaning in our life, then and there, in that hut and in that practically hopeless situation. I saw that my efforts had been successful. When the electric bulb flared up again, I saw the miserable figures of my friends limping toward me to thank me with tears in their eyes. But I have to confess here that only too rarely had I the inner strength to make contact with my companions in suffering and that I must have missed many opportunities for doing so. “

[Emphasis added.]

That last bit hit me between the eyes. I used to be able to reach out and make friends (or, at the very least, more than a passing acquaintance) with people from all sorts of backgrounds and places, and through a series of bad decisions and wrong moves and growing up, I seem to only have maybe two people I can truly call friends, and neither of them reside in this country.

I was reminded by this passage that sometimes it is necessary for us to reach out and make the acquaintance when others don’t appear to be bothered. We are all companions in suffering just by existing. Sure, we try to cover it up with materialism, television, bravado, or just by shutting off our brains (which seems to be a very common reaction to our own brand of existential angst.) No, nothing we can go through right now even begins to compare to the Holocaust and the uncertainty that Frankl and others survived.

But sometimes, just reaching out to let someone know you are thinking of them could be the very thing that lifts their day up, at least temporarily. It is really easy to get sucked up into the daily grind and the things we find to divert ourselves with. I know when others have reached out to me, it has made a difference. Reading the passage above, and in particular the final sentence has really made me think about how I keep in touch and is beginning to drive a change in my own behaviour. I’ll leave that point there, as there are a couple more passages that I really liked, from the second half of his book, the part about Logotherapy.

“…Man is not fully conditioned and determined but rather determines himself whether he gives in to conditions or stands up to them. In other words, man is ultimately self-determining. Man does not simply exist but always decides what his existence will be, what he will become in the next moment.

By the same token, every human being has the freedom to change at any instant. Therefore, we can predict his future only within the large framework of a statistical survey referring to a whole group; the individual personality, however, remains essentially unpredictable. The basis for any predictions would be represented by biological, psychological or sociological conditions. Yet one of the main features of human existence is the capacity to rise above such conditions, to grow beyond them. Man is capable of changing the world for the better if possible, and of changing himself for the better if necessary.”

And

“Freedom, however, is not the last word. Freedom is only part of the story and half of the truth. Freedom is but the negative aspect of the whole phenomenon whose positive aspect is responsibleness. In fact, freedom is in danger of degenerating into mere arbitrariness unless it is lived in terms of responsibleness. That is why I recommend that the Statue of Liberty on the East Coast be supplemented by a Statue of Responsibility on the West Coast.”

Which is also another thing that reminded me of my own experiences…Freedom and responsibility must go hand in hand, otherwise we face the “existential vacuum” of looking inside and seeing nothing looking back. Pure freedom without responsibility is nihilism and isn’t good for any of us.

Church...Update

2010-07-29T14:29:00.001+01:00

I thought I might follow up a bit on the provocative post below. Unfortunately, it would be hard to get a clear reading of the situation without me getting specific and without being able to maintain the privacy of one or two sympathetic people.

However, I'll try to do it whilst protecting the innocent.

At a screening of a sex ed video at my daughter's CofE school, wherein more than a few parents looked bemused at some of the material, I actually raised some objections to the appropriateness of it publicly. Because someone a bit louder than I was managed to shout me down, it seems any other opposition may have been shouted down as well. So everyone goes sheep-like into the liberal grinder. We - a libertarian (and former libertine) and his agnostic wife - were the only people with objections to it, ironically, in a school full of professing Christians.

It seems you can show just about anything in animated sepia tones with a soothing female voice narrating and it becomes "nice" and acceptable, as subsequent progressive women kept telling me with their annoying nurturing earth mother tones: "When I saw it I felt as if I was sitting in a warm fragrant aromatherapy bubble bath, that's how nice it was" they may have been saying. I just wonder how they would have reacted were a male narrating the film and the animated bits were no longer animated but live action?

Anyway, it turned out we would have to write a letter to the head to opt our child out of it. And we filled up two pages after doing a lot of research. Realising that we had a bit of a live one on our hands, we also wrote the School Governors, and cc'd the clergy from our parish (who are involved in school governance) as well as our daughter's teacher.

This culminated in a meeting with the representatives of each area mentioned as well as the teacher in charge of the Sex and Relationship Education.

However, ahead of this meeting, a couple of things happened.

The parents who were in the original meeting began gossiping and my daughter began to catch sh** from some of the kids, thus kicking up a sort of peer pressure. Also, she wasn't the only one who felt she wasn't ready to see it (as we felt, because we are very open and frank about that sort of stuff with a lot of wisdom formed through personal experience and education, and she doesn't want to go anywhere near there yet.) One or two of her colleagues felt they weren't ready to see it. She was called "spoilt" by one of her friends. Not something you would say if you thought the viewing of the film would be a pleasant experience.

And then, to top it off, when they got around to showing the video, they gave my daughter extra work in an academic area where we had been told by the teacher earlier in the year that she was on par with pupils two years her senior. She felt she was getting punished for it and started to cry.

Anyway, we have the meeting and it became apparent by the end of it that certain people in the school had an ideological approach to Sex Ed which probably would have shocked a few other parents; that the other parents who sent their kids to the school either didn't care, or trusted the school to always do the right thing; that the teachers mistook my daughter's crying because she was punished to be crying because she would rather see the video; that many people in a "Christian" environment are not driven by a Christian ethos (or rather their Christian ethos is secondary or even tertiary to their secular allegiances); and that the teacher in charge of sex education, ironically, is a good man who does not fall into that last category.

All we wanted was an opt-out permission slip, like they do for everything else. The head said she would have disregarded our wishes to opt out if we had not included so many people on the distribution to our letter. The meeting ended up, from our position, being a pointless exercise, but it was good we wrote it. Most of our points were like pearls to swine and we kept talking past the others in the meeting.

It seems that because one or two girls in the class are having their periods earlier than everyone else, a video must be shown. But if one or two parents would like to opt their children out of the video, "whoa! we can't make an exception for one or two kids."

Anyway, to all of you parents who did gossip and ended up upsetting my daughter through your children as proxy...SCREW YOU!
And to all of you parents who had problems with it but didn't say anything...SCREW YOU, TOO!

You'll let the bloody liberals pop your child's psychological cherry without saying a word...Shame on you.

And to all of you parents in the above groups who call yourselves Christians? You bring new meaning to the word "flock". Sheeple...Bloody Sheeple...Baah Baaah Baaah

Finally, to be fair, the local clergy were definitely supportive and saw our point of view on this and offered support if we wanted to take it further. We decided that we didn't want our daughter being targetted any more thanks to the wagging tongues of fishwives, and everyone else can try to look out for their own kids if they really give a damn.

Now this gave me a chuckle...

2010-07-27T15:20:00.000+01:00

I write like
H. P. Lovecraft

I Write Like by Mémoires, Mac journal software. Analyze your writing!

Church...

2010-07-06T09:53:00.006+01:00

There are times where I think that for many people, Church is a place where you go to get your kid into a better school or to be in a semi-exclusive club where you sit around in an old building holding your hands up whilst singing crap tunes...Or it's a Get Out of Hell Free Card...

I am going through one of those times right now...It's not pleasant, but let's just say I find it hard to defend being a Christian to my agnostic wife right now because of the lack of action on the part of people who call themselves Christian. I won't go into details, because I am reserving final judgement for the outcome of something I have raised. But so far the results don't look too good.

There is a problem when people live their lives as if they are forgiven: there aren't any perceived temporal consequences to sins of commission or omission...Because they are forgiven already.

Well, I think people tend to forget that "faith without works is dead." (James 2:20)

Warning: Do not do a BT Broadband "Upgrade" to "up to 20 Mb"

2010-06-24T19:14:00.005+01:00

If you are thinking about taking advantage of BT’s option to upgrade your current broadband to “up to 20 Mb”…Don’t do it.

Since my upgrade in December, I have spent loads of time dealing with outages (three or four days, once), DNS faults, and a much slower connection than I had before the “upgrade”.

Every time we think it’s fixed, the issues eventually come back. Credit to BT’s staff, as they are all trying to be as helpful as possible, but...

Every request I have made to be downgraded has been disregarded or has fallen into a black hole. I’ve spent about two and a half hours on the phone and in a chat window to BT today for a couple of things and no resolution to my issues at all, other than to turn off things that I want turned on (supposedly "free" content screening, but if it doesn't work you have to pay for support).

Very angry with them, and I am switching as soon as I can, which, apparently, is December 2011 because I signed on to a 2-year contract thinking “Hey, what could be so bad about faster broadband on my current account.”

What a mess. What a total steaming pile of poo.

UPDATE 06/07/2010: Turns out BT had a bandwidth limitation placed on my line. It has now been removed, but the reliability of web page loading has gotten worse. It's back on the phone with them, I'm afraid.

Just had to share this...

2010-05-29T12:36:00.000+01:00

MOMENTOS from Nuno Rocha on Vimeo.

Wow!

By the way...

2010-02-18T20:52:00.001Z

A rather large piece of mine can be found right here. Cheers to John for publishing it!

An Observation...

2010-02-06T14:14:00.002Z

Roller-skating two miles on the Worthing sea front is a lot harder than it looks...

Alley Oops in Worthing

2010-02-01T13:15:00.002Z

In my continuing occasional series on local businesses, might I recommend Alley Oops in Worthing, for all of your self-propelled wheeled recreation needs? (Roller skates, skateboards, bikes, etc.)

They are located on Worthing sea front, right across from the Pavilion (on the right hand side of the roundabout if you are looking north)...I just bought a pair of roller skates from there and am looking forward to breaking them in. The gent who owns and runs it is very helpful and accommodating, providing competitive pricing on his wares.

Good stuff.

From Conversations with Casey

2010-01-29T13:23:00.003Z

An ongoing series of interviews with Doug Casey, a bit of a character and head honcho of Casey Research:

L: You mentioned before the 20% of the 20% who are the Bad Boys in society at large. I think government attracts the 20% of the 20% of the 20% who aren’t just bad but smart enough to see the enormous power to plunder the state offers them, and are ruthless enough to knowingly embrace crime on that level. To knowingly enact measures that will increase the misery of the masses for your own gain, you have to be way out on the far end of the bell curve in lacking simple human decency and compassion for others. If I believed in hell, the deepest, hottest circle in it would be reserved for such people.

Doug: That’s absolutely right. Government everywhere in the world draws that type of person – regardless of the type of government. And if a decent person, a misguided idealist perhaps, gets into government, he’ll almost certainly be co-opted and corrupted after a while. It reflects poorly on the level of spiritual evolution among humans. But that’s another story…

Thought-provoking, to say the least...

Winds of Change?

2010-01-29T08:11:00.005Z

I watched Question Time last night. Douglas Murray, Nigel Lawson, Baroness Tonge, a Labour Cabinet minister, and a woman from the Sun were the panel.

I couldn't help noticing the difference in the audience reactions to what the right wing was saying as opposed to previous Question Times I have observed.

For one, whenever Douglas Murray spoke, he got applause...That never happens when the "far right" posterboy on the panel talks.

Secondly, the Lawson's Global Warming skepticism was met with approving nods in the audience, by young people especially. And as a turnabout, it was the older people in the audience who were shocked.

Also, there was an obvious Labour/socialist plant in the audience. He was well-spoken but had the air of a party hack/ideologue. He was trying a bit of grandstanding but received a lukewarm response.

Is the natural small-c conservatism of Britain re-emerging? One can only hope.

Too, I suspect that once all the chicanery of the AGW movement is exposed to broad daylight, as is gradually happening now, no one born in the past 20-30 years will ever trust a politician or a scientist again. Or even take environmental concerns seriously. AGW will set the environmental movement back 40 years.

Also, I fear for the health of my marriage should my wife ever meet Douglas Murray...She has a huge crush on him.

This rocks...

2010-01-28T21:05:00.000Z

For all you Econ homies out there:

The turning of the year...

2009-12-31T20:21:00.002Z

List of goals for next year - check...

Raisins to eat at the stroke of midnight - check...

Black-eyed peas soaking in a pot for tomorrow - check...

Happy New Year, y'all...

Hope it is prosperous and healthy...

Decline and Fall

2009-12-30T15:29:00.003Z

I've been reading an abridged version of The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Edward Gibbon. Reading is a bit too strong; I have been dipping into a couple pages here and there in between the other books on my desk...

It makes for interesting reading as it gives great insight into life at the time of the Roman Empire, as well as life at the time of its writing (late 18th Century). And sometimes it just reminds one of one aphorism: the more things change the more they stay the same...

There is also subtle, wicked humour at play as well. From the notes to Chapter 1:

A hope is expressed by Pomponius Mela, iii, 6 (he wrote under Claudius), that, by the success of the Roman arms, the island [Great Britain] and its savage inhabitants would soon be better known. It is amusing enough to peruse such passages in the midst of London.

Best Christmas Albums, Ever...

2009-12-14T19:47:00.001Z

In my late teens I worked part-time in a record shop belonging to a large corporate entity. In the month leading up to Christmas, when playing "product" over the loudspeaker system, we would have to alternate between a normal pop album and a Christmas-themed album (an album would be a CD for all you young whippersnappers out there).

We became rather adept at ensuring the Christmas product we played would not sound stale to those of us working on the floor and we were sufficiently empowered to "special order" multiple copies of notable Christmas albums if we thought we could push them. As a result, I became something of a connoisseur when it came to good Christmas tunes and albums.

Over the years I've come to appreciate a few gems and blow the dust off of them every Christmas, but I have three albums that are my absolute favourites (in no particular order):

1. Elvis's Christmas Album - the perfect mix of secular and spiritual, with my all-time favourite Christmas tune: "Santa Claus is Back in Town"

2. The Chieftains - Bells of Dublin...A mix of different traditional and non-traditional tunes with a definite Celtic flavour and the Chieftains collaborating with the likes of Nanci Griffith, Jackson Browne, Elvis Costello, and (another one of my favourites) Kate and Anne McGarrigle(sic?) singing the traditional French carol "Il Est Ne".

3. Die Roten Rosen - Wir Warten Auf's Christkind (We're Waiting for the Christ Child) (any native German speakers feel free to correct my translation)...Die Roten Rosen are the Christmas-themed alter egos of the German punk band Die Toten Hosen. They've done some kick-ass punk rock and straight-ahead and truly twisted versions of favourite German and English-speaking favourites. If you speak the least amount of German, their version of "Still, Still, Still" will have you rolling on the floor laughing. But, like I said, about half of it is in English, and very enjoyable; this could be due to their drummer being English, and formerly (ISTR) of 80s band Doctor & the Medics

Anyway, anyone else have any favourites or least favourites for holiday tunes? Or am I just sad?

A weekend in the Wilds of Sussex

2009-11-26T19:01:00.003Z

Well, in keeping with bigging up local(ish) businesses that "get it right", I'd like to share my recent experience with Bison Bushcraft (an outfit based out of East Sussex).

I went on their Countryman Course this past weekend with a bunch of fellow Land Rover Discovery 3 Owner/Enthusiasts plus three other unsuspecting "civilians". The Countryman Course is sort of an introduction to the tools used for hunting and catching food in the British countryside, as well as a hands-on session on how to prepare game (there is more than one way to skin a rabbit, I discovered).

They covered ferreting, fly fishing, shooting, archery, a bit of lamping (when weather permitted), and they provided some of the tastiest game-based meals I have ever had. I also came away with a better appreciation for the traditions of the British countryside.

Two Thumbs Up...I shall be returning for further courses, cashflow permitting...

Cool...

2009-11-25T17:18:00.002Z

Stratfor has published a letter I sent to them:

Here

I was heartened to finally see an article (The Geopolitical Implications of a Conservative Britain, Oct. 8) mention the parallels between the EU project and previous military attempts to bend the U.K. to a more continental political will.

I do think the conclusion regarding how a Tory government would provide a more assertive engagement with Europe is, perhaps, a bit wide of the mark.

Although the poll tax was the nominal reason Thatcher was ousted by her party, the real catalyst was her opposition to Maastricht. Any subsequent Tory leader has had to toe the line with regard to the EU-loving parliamentary side of the party. Cameron has always been coy about Europe and the only time Euro-skepticism comes to the fore in Tory politics is during General Elections, when the party leadership throws a little bit of rhetorical red meat to the rank-and-file who are naturally Euro-skeptical. There are very few open Euro-skeptics in the forefront of the party’s politics. They usually get knocked back when they open their mouths publicly.

Rightly or wrongly, the EU project provides continuing employment with excellent benefits for prominent politicians who may have run out of steam in their own domestic political establishments, with even less democratic accountability. No doubt, senior Tories are just as subject to the temptations these opportunities present, as are members of other parties.

Also, let us not forget, about 80 percent of the laws passed in the U.K. parliament are actually “gold-plating” of EU directives. The EU is where the real, unaccountable, power now lies for Britain.

Once again...

2009-02-06T15:37:00.002Z

Lax with the posting, as usual...

But while I'm online, might I take a moment to recommend the services of a local business: Northbrook Bodyworks.

If you live in the Worthing area, and need car body work performed, then these are your guys. They just fixed damage to my front left wing (caused by the recent snow) for a fraction of the price the dealership quoted for me. You would never know there was damage with the level of handiwork they performed.

I am always happy to find a local business that does quality work...and to spread the word. And these guys are good.

10 Signs You Are About To Lose Your Job

2009-01-12T15:49:00.002Z

This week's discussion question in class is to list 10 signs you are about to lose your job. My answer was as follows:

10 Signs that You are About to Lose Your Job + 1

1. Your boss in noncommittal when it comes to answering questions about the future.

2. You’ve been asked to show the guy next to you how to do your job, to ensure there is continuity, just in case, you know, anything happens.

3. Corollary to number 2: You are not asked to learn anyone else’s job.

4. That new laptop you thought your boss had ordered for you hasn’t come through for some reason yet.

5. You start being subject to openly critical comments about your performance which you never heard before, with no real drop in the quality of your output.

6. If you work for a technology company: when IBM lays off workers, it is almost guaranteed that almost every other technology company will follow suit and in the same proportions.

7. You get passed up for additional duties when you volunteer for them.

8. Your boss starts mumbling under his breath about expensive resources.

9. When you walk up to a group including your boss, the conversation stops and breaks up.

10. You just can’t seem to get your hands on the floor plans for the new office space your unit is moving to, despite all your colleagues having seen it.

11. Likewise for new organization charts.

Any additions would be interesting...

Ah, Greet the New Year

2009-01-05T17:27:00.003Z

Well, first day back at work. Unsure about the current contract which ends the end of January. But it has been nice to know that some things are never going to be my responsibility again. The shoulders are taking on a definitively slopey angle as I cc my successor with the answer to every query that comes my way.

I did get a call about a gig that could potentially go out for two years working for someone I worked well with before. Fingers crossed it comes along. A solid gig for two years would literally set us up for the next decade.

Anyway, new habits that I am trying to cultivate:

Reading (out loud) 20 minutes a day from Churchill's History of the English Speaking Peoples to improve my public speaking.

Keeping a journal.

Staying away from sweets/sugar (cheated a little here as my mother-in-law was handing out cherry brandy chocolates).

Exercising - no luck on this so far, have gone out for a couple of walks over the past couple of days, but no other exercise. Tomorrow I'll put in 5 miles total, anyway.

Doing schoolwork for two hours a night and avoiding the weekend. We shall soon see if that is possible.

Where Have I Been?

2009-01-01T17:40:00.004Z

I watched Jools Holland's New Year's Eve Hootenanny last night.

Every time I watch Jools Holland, I come away with a new artist to listen to and follow. Last night it was Sam Sparro. He did his "hit" tune "Black and Gold", first time I'd heard of him, but then, I'm rather square.

Then I downloaded his album at Napster. Wow! Butt-rocking funky R&B pop with a slight 80s tinge. Intensely listenable. I highly recommend his latest single "21st Century Life". If it doesn't have you moving your butt around and doing a white-boy overbite, I don't know what will...And what a voice!

Outstanding.

And finally...

2009-01-01T11:06:00.004Z

Tomorrow is the first day of my very last class in my Bachelors Degree program (Business with a concentration on Finance). It is a capstone class with a business simulation exercise done with a team.

In March, after almost 22 years since first stepping into a university class room, I will finally have a Bachelors degree.

Further Comment on my Resolutions...

2009-01-01T10:59:00.001Z

I suppose some of those resolutions betray a certain cynicism about the shape of things to come. But short of a Great Awakening, I see the Western World, and particularly Western Europe and the UK, on a collision course with destiny if something doesn't change quickly and soon. I know people who have lived in societies that seemed to be working one day and fell apart the next (Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Angola, and, soon, South Africa).

The past 60 years has seen a gradual and, dare I say, systematic, dismantling of Western Civilisation in Europe by the intellectuals and elites. Recent events will only add to the snowball effect of disintegration.

I am skeptical that Europe will weather the next ten to twenty years very well. We will either see a resurgence of Dictatorship/Communism/Fascism or complete anarchy, continent-wide, including the UK, if our course doesn't change quickly. (If the current state of politics in the UK is an indicator, this isn't bloody likely.)

In such a society, survival skills and the ability to be self-sufficient will be more important than whether one can create an MS Project Plan.

New Year's Resolutions

2009-01-01T10:18:00.006Z

(As tweeted on Twitter)

#1: Stop being such a grumpy git. Be happy.

This isn't getting off to such a good start, but the neighbors did keep me up for at least two hours longer than I would have liked.

#2: Attend the rifle club more; get really good.

It's time to get serious about learning some new basic skills. Maybe I'll get a firearms license as well as my own rifle this year.

#3: Develop more interests outside of politics.

I really love the cut-and-thrust of politics and follow it like some blokes follow football, but I keep getting severely disappointed by those people I support. Also, it's turning me into a bit of a bore. Gotta get back to other things that interest me, like music. I might even try learning the guitar once my classes are finished.

#4: Develop the ___ _____ business with the wife.

Still in the hush-hush stage. Will be trying to work on a business plan for this business in between schoolwork and work work. It could be the ticket out of the machine.

#5: Spend more time with my daughter. (should be #2, actually.)

She hasn't had much of my undivided attention over the past couple of years between working in London and doing school work. March, I hope, should be a good turning point on my free time activities (of course, I may not have a contract by the end of January anyway, so January may be the turning point; I'm getting prepared for having a few months off given the state of the economy.)

#6: (ties in with #1) Learn to leave the bad bits of work at work.

Particularly as no matter how much blood, sweat, and tears I may put into it, they will always come along and use a wrecking ball on my legacy. It won't matter much past the end of January.

#7: Figure out what I want to be when I grow up.

It is whiny and stupid to moan about what I do, given that I make enough money to be able to not worry if I go months without a gig, but if I am at the top of the game of something I can't stand doing, I imagine what it would be like if I did work that truly animated me.

#8: Lose the spare tire around the waist.

This is the prerequisite to so many things I would like to do this year: more martial arts, maybe a bush/woodcraft course. I'm going to give up sugar and avoid white bread and the like. Try to keep a low GI diet. On the days that I am not in London (I walk two-and-a-half miles between the train station and work each way) I shall book time for exercise.

#9: Begin to learn a skill that could come in handy just in case the "lights go out."

I've excelled at being a manager/middleman, but if the lights go out (Zimbabwe is a good example of such phenomenon), I'm going to need to know more than how to manage resources and people. I'm going to have to know how to do something.

New Year, New Blog

2009-01-01T09:26:00.000Z

Thought I would re-start this blogging business with a new blog. We'll see what happens.

Test

2008-12-25T16:38:00.000Z

Test