The Advantages of Blogging
I’ve just had two hits to this blog from search engines.
It just shows how fast blogs get entwined in Google, Live and all the others.
So I would always advise someone starting a business to go the blogging rather than web site route. Especially, if you use something like WordPress, which allows you to have a small web site as well.
Wimbledon Uniform
As a keen tennis player of the real variety, I’ve been watching Wimbledon.
But the uniform the line-judges wear is awful and totally out of keeping.
And why too was it designed by Ralph Lauren, who is not a British designer. Surely someone like Paul Smith, who was I believe a competent sportsman himself, would have done better.
Richard Dunwoody
I was in Newmarket yesterday and saw him walking along the Bury Road in his thousand miles in a thousand hours challenge.
Good luck to him!
And donate as it’s all in a good cause.
Michael Jackson and Seve Ballesteros
The news is dominated by the death of Michael Jackson. I wasn’t a fan at all and the outpourings are in my view totally over the top. He may or may not have done things he shouldn’t and we can look forward to large amounts of allegations that can’t be verified one way or another.
Jackson may be dead, but long live the Michael Jackson industry!
Much more important news today is that Seve Ballesteros has made what seems to be a pretty good recovery from his brain tumour.
He was in a far worse state than Jackson and it shows that by focusing on the future and doing everything you can to help, you can make a recovery from the darkest places.
Good luck to Seve!
A Memory of Denis Thatcher
I never met Denis or Margaret Thatcher, but I do have two stories about Denis. One is in the public domain and the other is not.
I used to work in Ipswich and the Borough Development Officer was a guy called Reg Mayes. I was having lunch with him and another local businessman in about 1981 or so, when the subject of Denis Thatcher came up. The other guy felt that Denis was a bit of a laughing stock. Reg, then told a tale about how some years before Denis had been his boss at I think, ICI Dyestuffs. He told how he was the best boss he ever had and really developed his career, by quiet suggestion and constructive criticism. He was very much of the opinion that Mrs. T’s skills had been criticised and honed by her supposedly idiot husband.
But who believes the media.
The other story was when Neil Kinnock was on Sport on 4, one Saturday morning and he was asked by Cliff Morgan, how with his political differences he got on with Denis Thatcher at political dos, when wives and husbands were present. Kinnock almost got on a high horse and said how could he not like someone who was passionate about rugby and was a first-class rugby referee. You got the impression that those two got on very well.
It just shows how some politicians are rather different than we are led to believe.
Mark Thompson’s Expenses
There has been a lot of fuss about the BBC’s Director General Mark Thompson’s expense of cutting his holiday short because of the Russell Brand and Jonathan Ross affair, that some call Sachsgate. Here’s an article in the Guardian.
Thompson claimed £2,236.90 to cut his family holiday in Italy short and fly back to the UK on 30 October last year to deal with the Sachsgate row that engulfed the BBC after offensive messages left on actor Andrew Sachs’s answer machine by Russell Brand and Jonathan Ross were subsequently broadcast in Radio 2.
Mark Thompson was on BBC Breakfast this morning and said that it was a driving holiday with his family in Sicily and as the Trustees of the BBC wanted him to get back, it would not have been the a good idea to leave them behind without a car.
Quite right!
Some years ago, my late wife and I spent a very enjoyable holiday driving around Sicily looking at all the sites. They are wonderful by the way and the holiday was finished by a memorable performance of Jesus Christ Superstar in the amphitheatre at Taormina.
Sicily is not Italy, in that there are long drives between the sites, cafes and hotels are far apart and except in cites like Palermo and Taormina, it is not a country you can enjoy by yourself. So as Mark Thompson had to come home, he had to bring his wife and family back.
Out of curiosity I just tried to book flights for two adults and two children back from Sicily, either today or tomorrow.
Ryanair wanted to charge me about £700 for this, but it would get you to Stansted and knowing Sicily well, it might not be too easy to book the flight from there. With Ryanair’s new conditions on baggage and ticketing, I suspect that a family might find that this airline would not be possible. I use them a lot and plan what I take before I leave.
I also tried British Airways. They only fly from Catania and that gets you to Gatwick. The cost was £3703.94!
So I think we got good value for his flight back.
I suspect too that Mark Thompson got a hell of a lot of grief from his family!
President Ahmadinejad’s Personal Hygiene
This is another from PopBitch.
One of the things Iran’s President Ahmadinejad is most known for in political and diplomatic circles is his B.O. He has been described to us as smelling “musty” and “like a billy-goat”. Our drunk Whitehall source this week gave an interesting take on the West’s attitude towards him. The Chinese are said to be appalled by Ahmadinejad’s standards of personal hygiene – it offends their cultural norms. And so, despite everything – democracy, freedom ‘n all that, Britain and the US don’t mind him staying in power. The Chinese are not likely to give political support to somebody so weird/smelly. Which will help delay Iran getting nuclear weapons.
Let’s hope the last bit of the story is right.
On another serious note, someone who treats his countrymen and especially countrywomen, doesn’t deserve to be in power. The sooner he goes and Iran gets a proper non-religious democracy the better.
But I doubt, I’ll see that in my lifetime.
Can anybody name a Muslim country that has moved from a religius dictatorship to something even a little bit better?
Setanta
Setanta has gone bust and as a widower living mostly alone, I’m not particularly pleased as I like my football and it also gave me RacingUK at an affordable price. For that now, I’ll need to shell out £20 a month, as opposed to the £12 for Setanta, that included it. Daft!
But there was this in PopBitch about Setanta.
RIP Setanta. A victim of global financial meltdown? A brave underdog bringing choice to the TV football fans? Or a profligate company which had arse-elbow knowledge issues? One Premier League club told us that to screen a live game Sky Sports asked for two car park places and 22 stadium passes, to accommodate crew, pundits and guests. Setanta – 66 car park places, and 120 stadium passes.
If you want to be a success, you must control the expenses in a company.
And very hard!
Dundee (or Essex) Marmalade Lamb Chops
This is an interesting recipe. I originally found it because I had some nice Welsh lamb chops and wanted a different way to cook them. I had just bought a jar of decent marmalade and typed marmalade and lamb into Google.
It came from RecipeZaar.
These are the ingredients.
- 4 leg lamb chops
- 2 1/2 fluid ounces vinegar
- 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
- 4 tablespoons real marmalade (i.e. with sugar and not wheat maltodextrin – Tiptree is ideal)
- 4 slices oranges, for garnish
- 2 ounces unsalted butter
- 2 1/2 fluid ounces water
- 1/2 teaspoon paprika
- salt and pepper, to taste
And this is how you cook it.
- You will need a frying pan with a heavy base and a close-fitting lid.
- First, brown the chops in the butter.
- Sprinkle the ginger, paprika, salt and pepper over the chops and add water and vinegar.
- Place a generous tablespoon of marmalade on the top of each chop.
- Bring to a slow simmer and cook for 45 minutes on a very low heat.
- If required, add a little extra water.
- Serve with a twist of orange on top of the chops and with boiled potatoes and fresh vegetables.
It is absolutely disgusting. But wonderful.
The Anonymous Widower 