I've just watched Sir Chris Hoy winning another gold medal with a fantastic effort in the velodrome. Really fantastic.
DW
8.8.12
6.8.12
Champion Pasty
I was inspired to make a Cornish Pasty. I made rough puff pastry and realised, after about 45 years (quick, ef?!), that this is the pastry my mother used to make and that was so good. I used the lard that I had left over from last Xmas too.
Well, here are some photos! Instead of meat I used veggie sausage mix and that worked well.
Recommended: the one I ate, with mushy peas, was really good :)
DW
Well, here are some photos! Instead of meat I used veggie sausage mix and that worked well.
Recommended: the one I ate, with mushy peas, was really good :)
DW
5.8.12
Team GB Footballers out!
Sorry to say but it was the penalties wot done it!
Again!!
South Korea have gone through to the semi finals and good luck to them now!
Having seen those two games at Old Trafford I know how much everyone enjoyed the Olympic football so it's a pity we won't be involved any more.
DW
Again!!
South Korea have gone through to the semi finals and good luck to them now!
Having seen those two games at Old Trafford I know how much everyone enjoyed the Olympic football so it's a pity we won't be involved any more.
DW
Mo Farah did it too
Well done Mr Farah! He won gold with a fantastic performance: the first 10,000 metres Gold for team GB ever!
Brilliant night for team GB
Oh! Team GB drew 1:1 with S Korea ... Every silver lining has a cloud as they play extra time and maybe a penalty shoot out! Crikey!
DW
Brilliant night for team GB
Oh! Team GB drew 1:1 with S Korea ... Every silver lining has a cloud as they play extra time and maybe a penalty shoot out! Crikey!
DW
A Raft of Medals for the Rowers!
It's been a very good day at the Olympics today. Rowers won, Cyclists won, Jessica Ennis won, the Long Jumper won and Mo Farah is running as I type ... 3,000 metres to go.
Brendan Foster is commentating on Farah's 10,000 race and it's fair to say he's lost none of his talent. On a score of 1 to 10, Foster's talent has always been firmly lodged at 2.
Will report on Farah in a minute or two.
DW
Brendan Foster is commentating on Farah's 10,000 race and it's fair to say he's lost none of his talent. On a score of 1 to 10, Foster's talent has always been firmly lodged at 2.
Will report on Farah in a minute or two.
DW
1.8.12
BT Battle
I am in the middle of a battle with BT over my broadband. I have reported the sloth of my broadband several times over the last two years and each time I have either been fobbed off or told to call back later.
Well, since I am at home for a while I am chasing them now. They have gone through the, oh dear that's not good, sorry to hear that ... So I called back and they sent out an engineer: he told me that he could probably do nothing but after he'd gone I waited 24 hours and as nothing had happened I called again. They told me the engineer had changed some settings and I should wait up to a week. They promised to call me on Monday evening to check up: they did; but they asked me, is your broadband working? I answered, yes; and they said good and put the phone down. I was furious so I sent them another sms to tell them the following:
Over the weekend I downloaded the new iOS Mountain Lion ... but it took me 5 days to do it. Part of the reason for the problem with downloading was that my connection kept dropping ... another factor that's driving me on is that I am paying far too much to lose my connection and have a speed around one eighth of the national average broadband speed.
I have now been promised an engineer of engineers to come and sort me out! He's coming on 2nd August and I will report back.
DW
Well, since I am at home for a while I am chasing them now. They have gone through the, oh dear that's not good, sorry to hear that ... So I called back and they sent out an engineer: he told me that he could probably do nothing but after he'd gone I waited 24 hours and as nothing had happened I called again. They told me the engineer had changed some settings and I should wait up to a week. They promised to call me on Monday evening to check up: they did; but they asked me, is your broadband working? I answered, yes; and they said good and put the phone down. I was furious so I sent them another sms to tell them the following:
Over the weekend I downloaded the new iOS Mountain Lion ... but it took me 5 days to do it. Part of the reason for the problem with downloading was that my connection kept dropping ... another factor that's driving me on is that I am paying far too much to lose my connection and have a speed around one eighth of the national average broadband speed.
I have now been promised an engineer of engineers to come and sort me out! He's coming on 2nd August and I will report back.
DW
Radio Star ... Again!
There was a discussion on You and Yours on Radio 4 today and they asked what we thought of the Olympics so far. I can't believe how many people are being so negative: the cycle race is coming through my town and already they have put barriers up in front of my father's house and he'll be 100 years old in three weeks ...
Anyway, I am a great supporter of the London Olympics so I wrote up; and they read out most of what I said! This is what I said:
Anyway, I am a great supporter of the London Olympics so I wrote up; and they read out most of what I said! This is what I said:
"Dear Sirs,
I have been a firm supporter of the London Olympics from day one and whilst the seat allocations are a bit of an annoyance, they are not a major distraction are they? The security guard problem was another blip that has hardly presaged the ruination of the Games has it?
On Sunday I went to Old Trafford to watch two Olympic football games and it was a magical experience. 66,212 people were there and the atmosphere was magnificent: everyone cheered everything. Yes, there were supporters of particular teams but everyone cheered every goal, all substitutes were given standing ovations as they left the pitch.
As we all left the ground, there were probably hundreds of policemen and security guards: they really weren't needed as nothing needed controlling!
People had come from all over the world to see their own team, the opposition teams, Old Trafford itself. The standard of football was pretty high too. And for an average of £20 a game I even got to see a Brazilian team whose players are the senior Brazilian players of the future: they were an inspiration too!
Just listen to the crowds at every event on the television too: so much energy and emotion.
£9 billion will prove to have been very well spent when all of this settles down."
DW
30.7.12
Olympic Football Summary
In response to an email from a friend today, I wrote the following and It seemed like a good summary of my trip to Old Trafford today.
I went to Old Trafford today to watch two Olympic football matches. 66,212 people were there. From many nations. The substitutes were clapped into the stadium. The teams were cheered onto the pitch. Whichever team scored, everyone applauded. Everyone was happy.
The Egyptians played New Zealand in game one: one all draw. Good game, great spirit. Many Egyptians there. Two rows down from me there was a posse of young Egyptians: faces painted with their flag, wearing their team shirt, banging a drum they'd brought with them, chanting and singing in Arabic. No one cared, everyone enjoyed it! Come half time, one of the cheer leaders had a bit of banter with some young children in the row in front of him ... perfect English.
The second game was Brazil v Belarus. Suddenly, half the stadium seemed to be Brazilians. Fantastic atmosphere. Superb skills from such young players. Time flew. Belarus scored, everyone cheered. Brazil equalised, everyone cheered but the Brazilians cheered louder still. Brazil won the match by three goals to one.
This is the Olympic spirit.
DW
I went to Old Trafford today to watch two Olympic football matches. 66,212 people were there. From many nations. The substitutes were clapped into the stadium. The teams were cheered onto the pitch. Whichever team scored, everyone applauded. Everyone was happy.
The Egyptians played New Zealand in game one: one all draw. Good game, great spirit. Many Egyptians there. Two rows down from me there was a posse of young Egyptians: faces painted with their flag, wearing their team shirt, banging a drum they'd brought with them, chanting and singing in Arabic. No one cared, everyone enjoyed it! Come half time, one of the cheer leaders had a bit of banter with some young children in the row in front of him ... perfect English.
The second game was Brazil v Belarus. Suddenly, half the stadium seemed to be Brazilians. Fantastic atmosphere. Superb skills from such young players. Time flew. Belarus scored, everyone cheered. Brazil equalised, everyone cheered but the Brazilians cheered louder still. Brazil won the match by three goals to one.
This is the Olympic spirit.
DW
29.7.12
I Arrived ... Old Trafford!
This is where I am now. Train on time. I spotted two likely lads and shared a taxi to the ground with them ... security was OK!
The ground seem smaller than it is on the telly!!!
Egypt v New Zealand first, in about an hour from now.
DW
The ground seem smaller than it is on the telly!!!
Egypt v New Zealand first, in about an hour from now.
DW
<Whispers> the Old Trafford Journey Begins
For the first time ever I am on my way to Old Trafford, football ground. Never had the need to go there before and it's the Olympics that beckons!
Egypt v New Zealand at noon followed by Brazil v Belarus around 3 pm.
I hope the journey is without strife, collecting my ticket is straightforward and the games are exciting.
DW
Egypt v New Zealand at noon followed by Brazil v Belarus around 3 pm.
I hope the journey is without strife, collecting my ticket is straightforward and the games are exciting.
DW
28.7.12
Olympics Opening Ceremony
After three hours I'd say the Olympics Opening Ceremony has gone very well. Some interesting tableaux, music and dance. Interesting way if taking everyone through British history.
The athletes are all in the stadium now and the Arctic Monkeys are singing: not particularly my cup of tea I have to say.
We are promised more interesting spectacles to come.
One fabulous thing they've done us to build dot matrix lights in to the seats and that 's very effective.
DW
The athletes are all in the stadium now and the Arctic Monkeys are singing: not particularly my cup of tea I have to say.
We are promised more interesting spectacles to come.
One fabulous thing they've done us to build dot matrix lights in to the seats and that 's very effective.
DW
Am ... aaaaa ... zing!
I am watching BBC One TV in the build up to the Olympic Games opening ceremony. I am sitting here wondering how many times we'll hear the word amazing over the next 17 days.
I know, grumpy old chap!
The Red Arrows have just flown over the Olympic Stadium ... lovely sight, that. I remember driving around Oxfordshire a few years ago and I could see a chevron formation in the sky ahead of me. As I got nearer to the chevron I realised it was the Red Arrows, in perfect formation.
DW
I know, grumpy old chap!
The Red Arrows have just flown over the Olympic Stadium ... lovely sight, that. I remember driving around Oxfordshire a few years ago and I could see a chevron formation in the sky ahead of me. As I got nearer to the chevron I realised it was the Red Arrows, in perfect formation.
DW
27.7.12
Ding Dong the Olympic Gong!
I am looking forward to the Olympic Games now. Let's hope that nothing serious goes wrong and that the true spirit of the Olympic tradition shines through for everyone.
DW
DW
25.7.12
Lawn Done: let's grow some rice!!
We've had three dry weather days and my back garden was dry enough for me to mow my lawn this afternoon and rain is forecast overnight. So, I mowed the lawn!
The part of the lawn that gets very little or no sun is still very wet. So wet that I'm thinking of growing rice there!!
I feel better now!
DW
The part of the lawn that gets very little or no sun is still very wet. So wet that I'm thinking of growing rice there!!
I feel better now!
DW
23.7.12
Latest Peregrination of Mine!
I hope you enjoy this latest slideshow: all photos taken yesterday as the sun shone!
DW
DW
Very Disappointing Find :(
When I left Georgia in 2001, my colleagues bought me a really nice ceramic keepsake: look at the photo below.
A few weeks ago I noticed that there was a chip out of the hat: I know that this wasn't here when I moved into this house two years ago. Yesterday I really was very disappointed to see that a large part of the left ear was missing too. Again I know that this is something new. I didn't do it!
Really disappointing :(
DW
A few weeks ago I noticed that there was a chip out of the hat: I know that this wasn't here when I moved into this house two years ago. Yesterday I really was very disappointed to see that a large part of the left ear was missing too. Again I know that this is something new. I didn't do it!
Really disappointing :(
DW
22.7.12
My new book is available NOW!
I have published a new book: Business Cases for mSMEs.
So far it is available from the Kindle book store: just go to there to find it.
It costs just £5.99 and is available for instant download.
This book is for budding entrepreneurs looking for ideas, for teachers who teach entrepreneurship. There are cases on ecommerce, franchising and advertising as well as entrepreneurship.
The cases are short, easy to read and understand and every cases comes with questions to help you to review the case whether for the classroom or to help you with your own business ideas and business plans.
Available from the Kindle book store NOW!
DW
So far it is available from the Kindle book store: just go to there to find it.
It costs just £5.99 and is available for instant download.
This book is for budding entrepreneurs looking for ideas, for teachers who teach entrepreneurship. There are cases on ecommerce, franchising and advertising as well as entrepreneurship.
The cases are short, easy to read and understand and every cases comes with questions to help you to review the case whether for the classroom or to help you with your own business ideas and business plans.
Available from the Kindle book store NOW!
DW
21.7.12
WebCam Day 1
I won't give you a running commentary on my WebCam as you can check it yourself but day one was slightly interesting.
It rained all morning so no birds. The afternoon was damp and grey: no birds.
Later in the afternoon a slug slithered into the frame, crawled up to the bird seed and tucked in before running off into the grass.
I ran the archive slide show and there it is, at break neck speed, rain evaporating and a slug running around!!
I hope to see birds in the morning!
DW
It rained all morning so no birds. The afternoon was damp and grey: no birds.
Later in the afternoon a slug slithered into the frame, crawled up to the bird seed and tucked in before running off into the grass.
I ran the archive slide show and there it is, at break neck speed, rain evaporating and a slug running around!!
I hope to see birds in the morning!
DW
20.7.12
WebCam Live!
Since I am staying at home for a while, I am trying to turn my house into a home. One of the things I am doing is setting up two or three feeding stations for birds. Since the birds here seem to feed at around 5 - 6 am when I am usually in bed, I thought I'd set up a webcam so that I could see which birds are eating the food.
I wanted to be able to leave the camera on while I am away in another room, say; and watch it remotely. Just a bit of research showed me a variety of solutions and within a couple of minutes I had set up a webcam and was streaming it live around the world. At the time of writing it is 11:15 am and raining and there are no birds here.
What my current cam shows is the patio outside my office with a small pile of seeds in the centre of the image. I have asked the camera to take a photo every 20 minutes too so it will build up an archive of images to see what slithers in!
The solution I have chosen, My Webcam Broadcaster, is free and very simple to use and I am exploring a reasonably cheap, ie not free, solution that will give me enhanced features such as switching on only when there is some kind of activity.
Take a look here: http://www.eyespyfx.co.uk/livelist.php ... click on the letter D, then the number 2 or 3 and you will see my webcam with the name Duncan Mac Webcam ... click on it. If you are asked for a password, it's welcome.
Please take a look and you never know what you might see ... some birds, yes; but I have no idea which!
DW
I wanted to be able to leave the camera on while I am away in another room, say; and watch it remotely. Just a bit of research showed me a variety of solutions and within a couple of minutes I had set up a webcam and was streaming it live around the world. At the time of writing it is 11:15 am and raining and there are no birds here.
What my current cam shows is the patio outside my office with a small pile of seeds in the centre of the image. I have asked the camera to take a photo every 20 minutes too so it will build up an archive of images to see what slithers in!
The solution I have chosen, My Webcam Broadcaster, is free and very simple to use and I am exploring a reasonably cheap, ie not free, solution that will give me enhanced features such as switching on only when there is some kind of activity.
Take a look here: http://www.eyespyfx.co.uk/livelist.php ... click on the letter D, then the number 2 or 3 and you will see my webcam with the name Duncan Mac Webcam ... click on it. If you are asked for a password, it's welcome.
Please take a look and you never know what you might see ... some birds, yes; but I have no idea which!
DW
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