Pieces of a Man Think it. Do it. Be it. Embellish.

67.68.69.70.71.72.73.74.75.76 77.78.79.80.81.82.83.84.85.86 87.88.89.90.91.92.93.94.95.96 97.98.99.00.01.02.03.04.05.06 07.08.09.10

The last sunset of 2006, taken with the phone just outside our house.

Labels: 2006

Just uploaded to Flickr, a few snaps of Xmas Day at Marloes Sands. We've hired the youth hostel there for the last 3 years; it's a farmhouse in a fantastic location about 100m from the cliff top on the very last bit of south-west Wales. More footage to come when I've worked out how to upload from my new camcorder, an amazing birthday present from my family.

Labels: 2006

Another christmas present I've really been getting into is the album Pimpmaster by Soil & Pimp Sessions, especially the two tracks Waltz for a Goddess (4MB) and Wheel within a Wheel (6MB). Enjoy.

Labels: 2006

A new addition to the office wall (2nd from the right) is Bruno the Bear's front-page spread in Munich's Abendzeitung last June.

This was my Secret Santa gift from Tom, composed from a newspaper we saw in Germany during the World Cup while Bruno rampaged through the Southern Tirol causing new havoc on daily basis. On this particular day the paper describes how he ate 12 kilos of honey and murdered two guinea pigs before having a kip in front of a police station.

Most of the other pictures on the wall are also souvenirs of places visited. (Left to Right) A Spanish tabloid with a picture of the bullfight we watched the night before in Seville in 1991. The matador is getting tossed in the air on the end of the bull's horns, at which point Jo cheered the beast and upset lots of Spaniards. Next, a sign from a shop window in Sicily which says 'Facts are needed against the Mafia'. Tellingly, the shop - in Catania, where we lived in 1992 - was boarded up. Finally, to Bruno's right, a road sign from Route 66 in Arizona during our drive from San Francisco to Denver in 1996.

Labels: 2006

Techie but funny; Jakob Nielsen's latest Alertbox, 'Usability in the Movies';

Break into a company -- possibly in a foreign country or on an alien planet -- and step up to the computer. How long does it take you to figure out the UI and use the new applications for the first time? Less than a minute if you're a movie star. The fact that all user interfaces are walk-up-and-use is probably the single most unrealistic aspect of how movies depict computers. In reality, we know all too well that even the smartest users have plenty of problems using even the best designs, let alone the degraded usability typically found in in-house MIS systems or industrial control rooms.

Labels: 2006

Why are we turning away the very fighting spirit that we've needed for quite a while?

Police had to be called to Norwich City's training ground when a supporter interrupted a training session to demand a trial with the club. Players and other staff initially treated the man's demands as a joke when he turned up and insisted on being given a trial. But the situation turned nasty after the man became more agitated and angry and eventually he was escorted out by police. More...

Labels: 2006

The Beeb have created a Kermode review advent calendar. The Da Vinci Code rant is fun, but it's the controlled wrath directed at Little Man that intrigues. For a Wayans brothers' comedy, I'm intrigued to know how it could be so 'downright evil'.

Labels: 2006

Just had to share this gem unearthed by Mike and described in his blog; it's the menu from a Polish restaurant in Sheffield;

Labels: 2006

Today, some Darwin-grade stupidity on a par with the guy recently who - without a balaclava, mind - held up the bank where he was a regular customer known to all the staff.

This time, a man in South Africa tried to take a sickie with the help of a stolen doctor's note. Unfortunately it said he was pregnant. The article observes - in the manner of the People's Front of Judea - that "he lacked the necessary womb to pull off the scam successfully." More...

Labels: 2006

This is so bizarre it's beyond Seinfeld;

The comic actor Michael Richards, better known as Cosmo Kramer in the long-running TV show Seinfeld, has apologised for a racist outburst that was captured on film and broadcast across the US. Richards, 57, took exception when some black audience members talked during his act at a Los Angeles comedy club on Friday. In the recording, Richards says from the stage: "Fifty years ago we'd have you upside down with a fucking fork up your ass."

Watch the rant (YouTube) | Read the article (Guardian)

Labels: 2006

More great stuff from Nick...

just managed to dig some old video footage off old computer (millennium eve & yani in the snow for first time). Enjoy

Labels: 2006

As well as the wholesome family fare below, Film Four is also currently showing 'The Aristocrats', a wicked documentary featuring comedians talking about and telling their versions of a famous joke:

The Aristocrats is a joke that has been told by numerous stand-up comedians since the vaudeville era. Steven Wright has likened it to a secret handshake among comedians, and it is seen as something of a game in which those who tell it try to top each other in terms of shock value. It is rarely told the same way twice, often improvised, and was the subject of a 2005 documentary film of the same name. Throughout its long history, it has evolved from a clichéd staple of vaudevillian humor into a postmodern anti-joke.

Find out more - including a sample telling of the joke - on Wikipedia. Warning: PG (Parental guidance) rating - guide your parents elsewhere!

Labels: 2006

Make sure you don't miss the documentary about the Young at Heart Chorus this Wednesday on Channel 4; it'll bring a tear to your eye;

"The Young at Heart chorus may be in their eighties, but their versions of Led Zep, Elvis and the Clash add a rare vision of mortality to tracks you have loved."

"These American touring sensations are one of the unlikeliest success stories in world theatre. Starring a group of superannuated performers singing modern rock music, Young at Heart shows are a provocative, life-affirming spectacle."

"I thought I could never be surprised again by these songs, but there is something affecting about watching a woman old enough to be Jimmy Page's mother reworking 'Stairway to Heaven' under the spotlight instead of sitting at home knitting bedsocks for the cat. Certainly I thought the day was past when the line "There's still time to change the road you're on" could bring a lump to my throat the size of Bournemouth."

Labels: 2006

Nick's posted a nice Germany photo on his Flickr site;

Labels: 2006

Mum and Dad do From Here to Eternity;

Labels: 2006

Heard this on the train this morning;

It's not a pay rise. He says he's been given a responsibility allowance...

This was the only positive on a trip that ended up 50 minutes late (on a 40 minute run!) due to all of the following apparently; leaves on the line, signalling problems and a stopping train in front. Of course, today was the one day this week when I had an early meeting to attend...

Labels: 2006

The Woman from Del Monte, she say 'YEAH!'.

Labels: 2006

PinkUn (am)

Norwich City are 90 minutes away from a rare defensive achievement. If the Canaries can keep a clean sheet at the Britannia Stadium it will be their best defensive run in the league for two and a half years.

PinkUn (pm)

The Canaries suffered the biggest defeat of the season with a 5-0 hammering by Stoke at the Britannia Stadium this afternoon.

Labels: 2006

Local sports journalism is sometimes so bad it's good;

Tuesday October 24th:

Norwich City winger Lee Croft believes the Canaries can go a long way in this year's Carling Cup starting with victory over Port Vale. The former Manchester City star says that with the quality at Carrow Road, a favourable cup draw and new boss Peter Grant's intent on winning the trophy, there's no reason why City cannot upset the odds and go deep into this year's competition.

Wednesday October 25th:

Norwich crashed out of the Carling Cup on penalties after being outplayed by Port Vale for much of the game.

Labels: 2006

Louis Seecharan, born Thursday 19th October at St Mary's in Manchester. More pictures...

Labels: 2006

Who says nothing good ever came out of Stockport? Spike commands the station approach. It's a sign.

Labels: 2006

Here we are waiting for a delivery that's been anticipated for 9 months, when something else arrived this morning that was a complete surprise. I won a competition. Yes, me! The Stockport Times' Spike Lee competition, to be precise.

It spotted it when I was waiting to pick up a Chinese last Saturday and flicking through the local rag on the counter. The massively difficult entry question was "How many films are there in the 5 DVD Spike Lee box set?"  The question kinda suggests the audience demographic here in SK2 so I figured 'Why not?'; hardly likely to be overwhelmed by entries.

The full breakdown of the booty in the Spike Lee Joint Collection is as follows; I'm most pleased to get hold of Crooklyn, which I've wanted for years in European format. What a result! Now where's that lottery ticket?

Labels: 2006

Goodbye, Worthy, we'll always have Cardiff;

Nigel Worthington was today sacked as Norwich City manager. Worthington's contract was terminated with immediate effect after a 4-1 Coca-Cola Championship home defeat by Burnley.

The final nails were hammered into the coffin as I sat in an empty pub in Knutsford with an idiot barmaid and a pint of warm lager. Truly bad shit.

Labels: 2006

Last night we were at the Carabosse Fire Garden, a fire art installation in Manchester's Platt Fields. It was spectacular - the whole place was decked out with flaming sculpture and contraptions of all kinds, from smoking chandeliers in the trees to monstrous antique flamethrowers operated by wild-looking gypsy types.

Battered-looking radios hanging from trees piped ambient music in the background, filling the surrounding bushes with soft voices musing away in Russian and French.

And as if the setting wasn't dramatic enough already, Jo thought she had started going into labour just after we arrived. Turned out that it was a false start, but as a passing rain shower came down, hissing and spitting as it hit the flaming torches and the crowd ran for cover, I thought, "What a great night to arrive in the world"...

Labels: 2006

Here are the kids pottering by Derwent Valley Reservoir, apparently the place where they practiced dropping the Dambusters' bouncing bombs. The mist lifted on a beautiful blue sky right after we arrived and we had a picnic by the water without seeing another soul the whole time.

In the afternoon we went over to Sheffield for a bit of a drive and neighbourhood recce. We've pretty much decided to move there next year. Brincliffe is out - too posh. Greystones is out - too suburban. Nether Edge is a possibility.

Labels: 2006

At home this year for a cake-decorating and make-over party with the girls.

Labels: 2006

Gil Scott-Heron on Hard Talk;

"She was obviously not aware of who she was interviewing. Gil kept his cool, kept his composure, the interviwer (sic) had an agenda, and he did expose her! He comported himself well ... RIGHT ON BROTHER GIL!"

Labels: 2006

A day on the beach, watching the tide go out at Prestatyn on a late summer Sunday.

Labels: 2006

Piccies from our last trip down to Norfolk on August Bank Holiday.

Labels: 2006

Now showing - pictures from our long weekend in London last week.

The first day was a bit ambitious and the walking round the sights of central London got to Jo and the kids a bit. Sunday was much better, with everything happening at the Natural History Museum, where we met up with Tom'n'Anna and Christos. After larking about in South Kensington all afternoon we went for a great Turkish on Green Lanes. Monday was London Zoo. It was different to how I remember it - smaller and more laid back - and that made for a very relaxing day.

Thanks for the flat, Nick and Jo! (I think the cat is still there; it was wise enough to stay under the bed the whole time and not waste any of its nine lives.)

Labels: 2006

The recent arrival of a digital telly box has trigged a reworking of the house audio-visual arrangements and the repatriation of my turntable and vinyl from the attic.

With the hi-fi and records boxes all newly installed in the yellow room, I sat down and gave the kids a lecture on the first day along the lines of "No anger you've ever seen in your brief lives will compare with what will happen if you mess with my records".

It seems to have worked and, two weeks on, nothing has been scratched, bent or covered in jam (all things I envisaged).

So anyway, after a wait of quite a few years to get to this point, I made a note of what happened next;It's been too long.

Labels: 2006

Didn't go to Elland Road to see Norwich's opener at Leeds yesterday. The whiff of uncertainty from Mum and Tom was in the air when we got together a couple of weeks back, and we were all secretly relieved, I think, to discover that nobody wanted to carry us there on a personal wave of misplaced optimism.

It seems the horror of last season is still too strong in our collective psyche to expose ourselves to it again. I didn't share Nick's grim fate of 7 games, 7 defeats, but nonetheless, footie costs a lot now - tickets, travel, time with Jo and the kids - and Tom hit the nail on the head when he said Norwich are going to have to bloody earn it this year. Show me the money!

(And guess what? We outplayed Leeds yesterday, missed a hatful of chances and lost. Good call, people.)

Labels: 2006

Have just uploaded pictures of our long weekend in Norfolk at Woodrow Avenue. We got the last of the brilliant July weather and squeezed the most out of it, hitting the beaches at Wells, Holkham and Sheringham. We also managed to get over to Auntie Valerie and Uncle Brian's 50th Wedding 'do' in East Dereham, a big family get-together. (Will try to retrieve group photo and post later.)

Also amongst the photos is a special trip down memory lane to 42, The Avenue, Sheringham, the place where Nina, Nick and I spent a few years growing up in the late 70s (how many, anyone?). It's hardly changed at all, except that everything seems smaller, of course.

Here's some stuff I remember about the place;... it's all coming back. Happy times.

Labels: 1977, 2006

Today saw a 100% increase in the number of important historical events that I know Wythenshawe to be famous for.

In addition to seeing Roy Harper play there in 1989, it seems that 350 years earlier there was also a military action, which we've just seen re-enacted by the English Civil War Society.

Wythenshawe Hall, seat of the Royalist Tatton family, was attacked and taken by Cromwell's men in the Winter of 1643. The re-enactment (in the original setting since the Hall is still there) was carried out by about 100 enthusiasts in period dress.

The skirmish started with the 'parlay' - officers deciding whether or not it was a good day (for their men) to die - followed by a series of engagements between the different sections; pikemen, mustketeers, cavalry.

It was interesting that the fight took place in the shadow of the park's Oliver Cromwell statue, which was apparently re-located there from Piccadilly Gardens to avoid upsetting Queen Victoria on a visit to Manchester.

The kids were terrified by the noise of the cannons at first, but were enthralled by the end. The rebels eventually won, leaving the field littered with bodies, and then there were a series of executions of the captured, kneeling and begging. Great stuff!

Oscar was particularly fascinated by the cameo role of Mary Webb, who rushed screaming onto the battlefield to shoot the man who'd just killed her fiancé in a swordfight. (Yani's lasting memory, I'm guessing, will be the candy floss.)

Labels: 2006

Pictures from last weekend, when we somehow managed to summon up some strength on a Friday evening, chucked all the camping stuff in the car, and headed out into the Peaks for some camping in Buxton.

Labels: 2006

In the days after England's exit from the World Cup, during that traditional period of post-mortem, the press busied themselves with two ways to fill the vacuum; one was blaming Sven and the other was encouraging the nation to give itself a consolation pat on the back for the conduct of England fans during the tournament.

This 'best fans in the world' thing is something I really struggle to understand, especially on the back of the recent experience in Germany.

At the Munich FanFest we must have met about 20 different nationalities, and all of them wanted to do the same things; dance, smile, celebrate and have their pictures taken with other fans. My memory of the England fans, on the other hand ... an island of pink flesh in the middle of the huge crowd watching Brazil v Australia, getting drunker and drunker and sharing songbook gems like 'Pelé is a wanker' or 'Brazilian football's rubbish'.

However, it seems the press prefer to overlook this sort of thing in their rush to revise our reputation. Just one commentator managed to articulate exactly what I expected from England fans and then experienced;

"Of course it was good there was not much serious trouble," says one football source who was in Germany for the tournament but does not want to be named because criticising England fans is not this season's fashion. "But it wasn't pretty. The England fans mostly stood apart from the carnival. They find a place to drink, and the chants, if they're not about the war like Ten German Bombers, are too often about belittling the other countries, not befriending them. Support for England is still aggressive, lumpen and boorish, but nobody wants to talk about that." Read more...

Labels: 2006

An old friend of mine finally got hitched this summer, and a splendid time was had by all. See the pictures...

Labels: 2006

Listen to the wickedly infectious German World Cup Song, courtesy of Soccergirlz.de;



The chorus goes...

1 und 2 und 3 und 54, 74, 90, 2006
Ja so stimmen wir alle ein.
Mit dem Herz in der Hand und der Leidenschaft im Bein
Werden wir Weltmeister sein

Labels: 2006

We reach! A week at the Weltermeisterschaft with Leo Beenhakker's red'n'white army. See the pictures...

Labels: 2006

Today's the day - off to Germany for the World Cup! It's come around very quickly and I'm hardly prepared at all for the assignment that I need to submit a week after I come back, but we'll cross that bridge later. Right now, my concerns are where to get face paint.

Following Trinidad and Tobago in the tournament so far has been fantastic. The draw against Sweden was much like watching Norwich draw 0-0 at Anfield in 1988; completely against all expectations and a cause for great outpourings of footballing joy.

I've had a 5ft x 3ft Trinidad flag obscuring my office windows for the last few weeks so everyone at work knows about the trip and is suitably envious, especially since following England is such a dire experience so far.

I hate to say 'I told you so', but I've always thought that Eriksson is a charlatan. I can see winning Serie A over a season as a practical application of his Swedish efficiency, but he doesn't have the balls to win a tournament, even if his current state of demob happiness has added a few sparks; too little, too late.

The team is still confused over it's shape for a start;

The truth is that England have no real strategy beyond a reliance on the individual qualities of their big names, on the most rudimentary tactics handed down through the English game for generations, and, now, on an almost random infusion of youthful zest. Ask them to play their way from one end of the pitch to another with co-ordinated passing and movement, and they are lost. (The Guardian)

After about 6 years of this supposed golden generation gearing up for 2006 it's still an incarnation of Sven's indecision; he doesn't have the bottle to drop Beckham or Owen, has fudged the choice between Lampard and Gerrard, and is playing an unfit Rooney as last roll of the dice.

Even though they beat the Soca Warriors 2-0 on Thursday, it was pitiful watching them panicking as the game wore on, the first half goal-line clearance (left) at the back of their mind as they tried to figure out what to do.

I couldn't believe my ears near the end hearing the Trinidad fans taunting the mighty England with an Olé for every touch as it was still heading for 0-0.

Honestly, taking 84 minutes to crack T'n'T - and then only doing it with a 6ft 7 striker holding a defender down by the dreadlocks - they should be ashamed of themselves. Still, I'll get behind them like everyone else as they go out to Ecuador next weekend.

Anyway, the plan for next week is to join the 'FanFest' and follow the games in a north-westerly arc from the München bierhalle to the banks of the Main;

Labels: 2006

At work we had our departmental away day yesterday, an opportunity for venting of the organisational spleen. This year someone had the idea of a vote for a song that summed up feelings about our newly merged library-and-computer entity. Top came Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now by The Smiths, followed by D-Ream's Things Can Only Get Better. Ouch!

(My personal favourite was the entry by a friend of mine - Two Tribes (go to war) by Frankie Goes to Hollywood.)

So, as you can see, work is a pretty unhappy place for a lot of people following the various restructures. There was a leak of an internal report to the Times Educational Supplement this week which, although it refers to other parts of the university, could equally apply to my bit (Learning & IT Services or 'LITS');

Staff at Sheffield Hallam University have delivered a damning indictment of senior managers in an internal satisfaction survey leaked to The Times Higher.

Asked to judge overall management, staff found "many aspects unsatisfactory". Management issues that were identified as "very important" to staff but also "unsatisfactory" included leadership qualities, organisational management of the university, the ability to manage change, support and communication and openness and transparency.

There is dissatisfaction across all faculties with the ability to manage change and support and communication during times of change. There appears to be a perception that staff are not involved in decision-making. Comments showed staff having little faith in the focus of the university and a belief that senior management have a totally different view of how the university runs to other staff.

A separate report on my own department called us 'a sick organisation'. Initiatives have been started to address the issues, but I think staff are more interested in first getting some heads to roll. A long, hot summer is ahead...

Labels: 2006

Our little man was 5 today and says he had his "best birthday ever"! The highlight was the party with all his classmates at the local play centre. Just like last year, his excitement at being crowned king for the day was priceless. More pictures...

Labels: 2006

Piccies from 'Knights and Princesses' day at Chirk Castle near Wrexham;

  

Labels: 2006

The Soca Warriors lost their 3rd warm-up game in a row today but continue to be everyone's favourite other team. There's a long and interesting article in the paper this weekend that covers everything Trini - from Carib to Calypso, Lara to Latapy, Soca to Sex life (Dwight's). Some interesting history on past campaigns, too;

(The play-off was) a daunting task: an away leg in Bahrain, after only drawing 1-1 at home. Worse still, those with memories knew the team had twice before blown it from a similar position. In 1973, they lost 2-1 to Haiti, despite putting the ball in the opposition net five times, in a match that led to the Salvadorean referee and Canadian linesman being banned for life.

More bitter still was the experience of 1989, when a buoyant T&T team, nicknamed the Strike Squad and featuring the young Latapy and Yorke, needed only a draw at home to the US to progress to the finals in Italy. The crowds in Port of Spain were so large that day that the T&T team had no time to observe their ritual of stopping off at church on the way to the game. Distracted and overawed, they lost 1-0.

It was a case of third time lucky, though. In the second half, the 6ft 7in defender Dennis Lawrence ambled up for a corner, rose above the melee and headed home. The final minutes were bedlam, with the referee manhandled after disallowing a Bahrain goal and a home player called Ali Baba shown the red card. But T&T hung on. More...

Labels: 2006

An old acquaintance of mine in Japan, Garr Reynolds, writes a great blog about presentation design called Presentation Zen. His latest post likens the effective presentation to the food on bullet trains;

A good bento, like a good presentation, contains high-quality and appropriate content which has been carefully selected, nothing superfluous, nothing arbitrary. The quantity is sufficient to satisfy and to please, but not so much that it ends up undermining the overall quality of the experience. The goal is to have just enough, but no more. More...

Labels: 2006

This week's Guardian Technology supplement has an interview with Jakob Nielsen;

Guardian: People either love or hate you. Have your methods helped you?

Jakob: There probably are some people who are beyond reach because they don't want to listen. It's kind of like being an astronomer and you're looking up at the sky and saying that it looks like the earth is revolving around the sun, not the sun revolving around the earth. You can report it and the Pope can like it or not, but it doesn't change what's going on. It's the same here: I'm reporting what average people find when they visit a website. If you don't listen your users will suffer and your business will suffer. You have to fight for the people.

Labels: 2006

The most recent of the 'World Cup Stories' series of Sunday night football documentaries was the best so far. 'Out of the darkness and into the light' was about Argentina's passage from military dictatorship to democracy between World Cup victories in 1978 and 1986.

The '78 tournament in Argentina was apparently a release for a nation brutalised by a despised military government. Even the detainees hanging blindfolded in a torture centre near the national stadium could hear the celebrations amidst their comrades' screams, and cheered the goals.

The players, too, hated the regime. Defender Alberto Tarantini, who'd had three of his friends 'disappeared' by the regime, described how he soaped his balls in the dressing room before shaking hands with the country's military dictator.

Winning the tournament, therefore, was monumental for both players and public, and perhaps this is why, for me, the most powerful moment of the documentary was the description of a photograph.

It was taken moments after the whistle in the 3-1 win against Holland in the final. Tarantini and the Argentine keeper, Ubaldo Fillol, are on their knees hugging each other, and also part of the 'embrace' is a man with no arms;

The armless fan is Victor Dell'Aquila, a double amputee since the age of 12 and a passionate Boca Juniors fan. Neither Fillol and Tarantini knew Victor was standing next to them when this photo was taken. It was only when they saw it in the newspapers that they realised its full emotion, particularly Fillol.

The photo is called either 'The Hug of Souls' or 'The Heart's Embrace' and obviously what you should now be doing is looking at it, but I've searched all over the web for it - even in Spanish at Google Argentina - to no avail. It's one to be owned and framed.

The amazing ticker tape of the '78 final in Buenos Aires was probably my earliest football memory, and what it also recalled about 70s football was that 'look' that faraway football matches used to have.

The colour balance used to be artificially bright on sports events happening far across the globe, as if the location was so hot that the images were being sizzled. There was also grainy quality about them as if not all the pixels had quite managed to make it back over the long distance to our screens. The combined effect was the feeling that the game was happening on another planet and it all added to the romantic, exotic feel of the occasion.

Of course, now the world's a much smaller place and we'll be watching the games on 42" screens with crystal clear images, simultaneously receiving text and video messages from people who are there. Progress can be a mixed blessing.

Labels: 2006

I've added a new item to the site at the bottom of the pages. It's part of a new Amnesty International campaign being promoted today in the Observer;



It shows a snippet of text from a censored website somewhere in the world which changes to another site at each refresh. Strangely, along with sites in Burma, Syria and China, one of the sites I've seen is the BBC site with an excerpt from the 5 day UK weather forecast. Maybe in North Korea they block meteorology websites and tell people that the West is suffering an ice age.

Also on the subject of eye-catching adverts, I like the recent web ads promoting council services. They sit on the page doing very little but nonetheless, perhaps by exploiting cognitive dissonance, they still entice you in just to find out what they're about.

For example, once you hover over (the original of) this picture, the cursor becomes hedge clippers and you can start to give it a trim. Curiosity keeps you trimming until the message of the ad is revealed (something about removal of garden waste, rather anticlimactically).

I'm impressed - since I work for much of the time in a web environment I have a very high degree of banner blindness, so anything that makes me look, interact and then write about it must be doing something right.

Labels: 2006

We're getting much amusement from the mere title of Hollywood's latest trashy summer offering - Snakes on a Plane. What a brilliant concept! Samuel Jackson, who's starring in it, also realised this right from the start;

At one point, the film's working title was altered to 'Pacific Air Flight 121'. A perturbed Samuel L. Jackson told an interviewer, "We're totally changing that back. That's the only reason I took the job: I read the title." In another interview Jackson claimed that once he learned about the movie title being changed he said: "What are you doing here? It's not Gone with the Wind. It's not On the Waterfront. It's Snakes on a Plane!" The film was soon reverted to the working title of 'Snakes on a Plane'.

In our house, snakes are right up there with rats and wolves as emblems of excitement, so we've immediately taken to using the phrase around the house anytime sudden exclamation is required. Toast burning? Snakes on a plane! Cherry cakes in the fridge? Snakes on a plane!

I was therefore intrigued to read that others are as thrilled we are, and that the phrase is entering the language from other directions, too. Check out other hilarious definitions of 'Snakes on a Plane' at Urban Dictionary.

Labels: 2006

Carlos Edwards has started a new World Cup column for the Guardian;

The mood in Trinidad & Tobago right now is buzzing: everywhere you go there's a mixture of excitement, pride and anticipation, especially now that our first ever World Cup match is just 17 days away. More...

Labels: 2006

First time I've seen this - disenfranchised from the Independent's New York flights competition due to lack of mobile;

Labels: 2006

Nothing for ages, then two come along at once - there's an interesting looking film showing at the Cornerhouse this weekend called Football as Never Before:

"Old Trafford, 12/9/70, as a middling Manchester United beat Coventry, eight 16mm cameras were trained by a German experimental filmmaker on United's number 11: the legendary George Best. Shot, edited and framed so that hardly any other players are visible, Best's beauty on the pitch is captured forever. In the year of his death, surely there can be no better tribute."

However, the current plan for this weekend - alongside Ice Age 2 later today - is to see if Dad wants to go along to Printworks tonight to check out the new film about the rise of New York Cosmos, Once in a Lifetime. Give me 1970s New York over 1960s Manchester anytime, George Best's brilliance notwithstanding.

And the two degrees of Kevin Bacon? According to today's Guardian, Pele was actually approached by United around that time;

"Pele belatedly revealed that he turned down an offer to join the club in the year of their first European Cup success. The most famous sporting icon on the planet claimed he was given the chance to team up with George Best, Denis Law and Bobby Charlton in what would have been the most formidable attacking line-up of any squad in history." More...

Labels: 2006

... in the dispute between universities and their academic staff over pay. Here's an excerpt from the latest email from the HR director;

Dear Colleague,

I wrote to you on Monday of this week to advise you that the University was prepared to respond to the withholding of marks and the Assessment Board boycott, by adjusting salaries, if this action proved to be a detriment to students.

Although the action has caused minimal detriment so far, it is clear that a continuation throughout June is likely to have a significant impact on students.

The University is committed to protecting its students and as such, we will assess the degree of impact at the end of June.

If there is evidence of a detriment to students, there will be a deduction of 15% from salaries for all staff participating in the action back-dated to 1 June 2006. This figure is based on the average time allocated for marking and Assessment Boards in academic work planning.

The first deduction will take effect in the July salary and will continue until the dispute is resolved or until staff resume handing in marks and attending Assessment Boards.

To establish who is participating in the action, academic staff will be asked to declare that they are not participating in the action. (Those who are participating in the action need not respond.)

Considering the strides we have made in developing partnership working over recent years, it saddens me that the University has been put in this position.

Labels: 2006

Video from US Federal Aviation Authority radar tracking of FedEx planes trying to land at Memphis airport during a thunderstorm.

Labels: 2006

An unexpected treat today amidst way too many pages about John Prescott - an Observer profile on Neil Young;

Never afraid to say - or sing - exactly what's on his mind, this forever active and prodigious rock'n'roller has now decided to attack the most powerful man in the world - the President of the United States.

Labels: 2006

Wayne Rooney borderline for the World Cup?

Get the f*ck out of here! Hoax! There is no God! Take me now!

Gary Doherty Norwich's Player of the Year?

See above.

Labels: 2006

A flickr collection of vintage photos of celebrities travelling by Air France in the sixties. Includes Alfred Hitchcock, Henry Miller, Josephine Baker and Danny Kaye.

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Recently, several science gurus - Nobel Prize winners, institute heads, teachers and others who spend most of their time thinking about science - were asked, 'What is one science question every high school graduate should be able to answer?'

1. What percentage of the earth is covered by water?
   

2. What sorts of signals does the brain use to communicate sensations, thoughts and actions?
   

3. Did dinosaurs and humans ever exist at the same time?
   

4. What is Darwin's theory of the origin of species?
   

5. Why does a year consist of 365 days, and a day of 24 hours?
   

6. Why is the sky blue?
   

7. What causes a rainbow?
   

8. What is it that makes diseases caused by viruses and bacteria hard to treat?
   

9. How old are the oldest fossils on earth?
   

10. Why do we put salt on sidewalks when it snows?
    
    Answers...

Labels: 2006

The lights go out on an academic career at Sheffield Hallam...

-----Original Message-----
From: Parminder Singh [mailto:psingh6@hera.shu.ac.uk]
Sent: 27 April 2006 16:09
To: Faik Hamad; Ryan, Anna F; Dalton, Caroline F; Angier, Corinne; merrills, Diana; Lye, Elizabeth; Binns, Francine; Darnill, Jim; Flint, John F; Grant, John; Stirton, JohnF; Cowdell, Paul F; Gledhill, Peter; Macdonald, Ranald F; Smith, Robert F; Ward, Sarah F; Victor Fa; Fabehyan Gilkar; Claudia Fabiah; Fabian Frenzel; cmsjw5@hera.shu.ac.uk; Bolton, Adrian W; Gawthrope, Dave; Jefferies, David; Allen, David W; Taylor, Gary; Gidley, Glen; Naylor, Grant; Gretton, Harry W; Anderson, Hugh W; Maynard, Ian W; Hutchinson, Ivor; Bryant, James; Mann, Jared W; Mann, Jared W; Anderson, John W; Blythe, John W; Anderson, John W; Anderson, John W; Bonsall, Mike W; + ACES IT Prog Area; + ACES IT Prog Area; + ACES IT Prog Area; + ACES IT Prog Area; + ACES IT Prog Area; + ACES IT Prog Area; + Finance (Management Accounts); Bandopadhaya, Anirban; Dujardin, Anne-Florence; Harrison, Anne-Marie; Harwood-Payne, Amber; Ihnatowicz, Aleksandra; Naghsh, Amirmohammad; Tsargorodskaya, Anna; Campbell, Alison A; Ward, Alison (LITS); Betterton, Ann; Pidcock, Arthur; Nuttall, Audrey; Newsome, Avril; Stout, Beverley A; Brown, Phillip A; Yardy, Bryan A; Saunders, Carol A; Sheldon, Carol; Cox, Angie; Harrison, Ben A; Scott, Barbara; Turpin, Beatrice; Trauer, Birgit B; Culmer, Chris; Windsor, George B; Nixon, Gill; Skipworth, HowardB; Shelton, Jennifer B; Walton, John (ACES- City); Beresford, Paul (OE); Ishaq, Rihana B; Garbutt, Sue B; Toulson, SueB; Feeney, Tim; Jafer Ba-Juifer; Baba Kuyateh; Miles Babajews; Babajide G. Awotunde

Subject: jews

i hate jews and shit, and i can't help but say what is on my mind, freedom of speech

Labels: 2006

We've just spent a few days down in Norfolk. Here are the kids escaping the oncoming waves on Sheringham beach;

The beach is one we used to play on all the time when we were kids. Not sure how easy it would be these days. Check out a selection of the warning signs, all in a 100 metre stretch;

Wells was a bit more chilled. The weather got out nicely in the late afternoon, and with the tide out as well, it was beautiful;

Thursday morning we headed out to Holt Country Park early on. Here we are making a den on the Holt Lows;

Labels: 2006

From nick@flickr, me and my Dad on the beach in Singapore in about 1970;

Labels: 2006

Yani and Oscar drying off at the beach in Prestatyn;

Labels: 2006

This is pleasing. Ebay have chosen to let my refusal to pay a peddler of racist materials slide;

Hello,

Thank you for writing to eBay. My name is Raghnall and I appreciate the chance to assist you regarding your concern with member "calderdesigns" for the badge (item number 8771680041) you have purchased.

I understand you've decided not to pay the seller and also received an unpaid item strike from your seller.

Since this is your first appeal, and we have the evidence that we require, the strike for this item has been removed from your record without any further inconvenience to you.

With regards to your complaint about the items being sold by this seller, I have forwarded your email to the appropriate department for they can best handle your concern. They will respond to you as soon as possible.

I appreciate the opportunity to have helped you with this information and trust that it answers your query to your satisfaction.

Regards,

Raghnall Taylor
SafeHarbour Team
______________________________

Original Message Follows:
-------------------------

Subject: NB%P10007 Unpaid Item Bidder Appeal form [#UK L10 UK ?01 -01 ]

Topics > eBay Policies > Rules for Everyone > Appealing Unpaid Item Strikes and Suspensions

Appeal reason: Other (specify below)

Supporting email from member:

Customer concern: I have decided against paying money to this seller because I discovered during the payment process that the seller also sells racist material (BNP/National Front) through eBay.

Therefore I pulled out.

Regards,
seech007

Labels: 2006

The Observer on our journey from the sublime to the ridiculous;

Jason Shackell, unchallenged at a corner, thumped a header in off the bar. 'It came off the wrong corner of his head,' said Nigel Worthington. Gary Doherty, under pressure from Marcus Stewart, then slid in a cross. Norwich were running out of men to mark their own defenders. In front passes found team-mates on heels and opponents on toes. Carlo Nash, in Preston's goal, could have worn one of 5,000 Billy Davies masks issued for the crowd to show their appreciation.

And a year ago Norwich were beating Manchester United.

Labels: 2006

Although my stint of managing a call centre is coming to an end at Easter, articles about the future of customer services still engage me;

Computer systems are being used to snub you more effectively, depending on your value to the company you're calling.

This is how it works. In the customer record is a field that rates your importance, based on your spending power. If you have deep pockets, you may merit a "1", marking you as first-class customer whose calls should be answered pronto by a senior customer service agent.

The same field, in the record of a poor customer, might contain a 3, which tells the system to treat you like a third-class customer (or pond life, as one IT executive described non-priority customers). The system will put you to the back of the queue. If you eventually get through, your call will be routed to the cheapest call centre.

I can envisage a time when final year students get straight through to IT help when their assignments are due. Of course, this assumes they're doing assignments at all...

University lecturers are going on strike this week, upset at not having their cushy life upgraded quickly enough in the annual pay round. The interesting part of this, however, is what they're considering for the subsequent weeks - a rolling refusal to participate in assessment. I wonder what would have happened in the miner's strike if the miners had agreed to come back to work on condition that they didn't have to dig coal?

I must say that the longer I work in the public sector, the more sympathy I have with what Thatcher did to the unions. Last night in the pub I even caught myself ranting, "Let the malingerers go and do a real day's work". What next? Voting Conservative?

It's scary getting old.

Labels: 2006

Is the whole Ashley Cole gay sex story just an elaborate construction to enable the use of the cracking headline I saw last night;

ASHLEY SAYS: I'M NO REAR GUNNER

Labels: 2006

... and more at Flickr...

Labels: 2006

Spike Lee's next film is going to be a biopic about Joe Louis;

Spike Lee's next film will be a biopic of the 1930s heavyweight boxing champion Joe Louis starring Terrence Howard, according to US reports. Lee told a university audience in Detroit that he planned to begin work on a film about the man known as the Brown Bomber after he finishes work on the Hurricane Katrina documentary which he is currently completing.

Labels: 2006

My favourite nutter, David Icke, has been interviewed by Guardian Sport;

I once had an extraordinary experience with former prime minister Ted Heath. Both of his eyes, including the whites, turned jet black and I seemed to be looking into two black holes.

Labels: 2006

Mr Motivator has been working on me over the weekend via his blog;

C'mon Miles ... I know you're reading this ... World Cup on your doorstep, once in a life-time opportunity, take it, it's yours ... Germany v Poland .... Trinidad v Paraguay ... In Nuremburg for the England v Trinidad game ... in Munich for the Brazil v Australia game ... in Frankfurt for the Holland v Argentina game ... Brothers on tour ... it suits you .. you want it .. it's yours ... take it!

There are a number of reasons why this is a bad plan; e.g. the cost, the time away from home and the fact that it's a week before a Masters assignment. So, after long and careful consideration I've decided ... Fuck it! Let's go!

After all, the reason this blog has been so empty the last month or so has been that I spend every waking moment either working or studying, neither of which I will remember on my death bed. A week at the World Cup with the Seecharan men-folk, on the other hand...

Dad's up for it, too. I was all geared up to twist his arm with a quote from his favourite film (Shawshank: "Get busy living, or get busy dying.") but to my amazement, his resistance was as sturdy as that of the Vichy government (first of many tactless WW2 references over the next 4 months).

Kaiserslautern, hier kommt das Trini invasion!!

Labels: 2006

Article about the marketing of Brokeback Mountain, describing how it's rise was fuelled by surgically targeting where the movie would play in its initial release and by selling it as a romance for women rather than a controversial gay-bashing tale.

Labels: 2006

On the Beach - one of the pictures from Nick's collection at Flickr. It's a shot from our day out in Formby last week when Nick, Jo and Tom came up from London. Nick's slideshow has also got some family shots from the 70s. Be ready for denim and flares.

Labels: 2006

The BBC plans to mark the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ this Easter with an hour-long live procession through the streets of Manchester featuring pop stars from The Stone Roses and Happy Mondays and featuring songs by The Smiths and New Order.

The "contemporary retelling" of Jesus' last hours will begin with the messiah - who is yet to be cast - singing the Robbie Williams hit Angels, which will mark his procession into Jerusalem. The climax of the event sees Jesus sing the Smiths classic song Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now as he is being flayed by Roman soldiers. Read more

Labels: 2006

I'm back. The long, dark Bulldog nightmare is finally over.

Labels: 2006