The Station

It's not a good idea to arrive at Manchester Airport at around 22:00 on Friday.

Firstly, maybe they have closed the walk way from the terminal to the station just long enough for you to miss a train.

Then you might find that NONE of the moving pavement thingies are working ... NONE of them.

After that you might find that they have cancelled your next possible train meaning a 40 minute delay and a change of train at Manchester Piccadilly. Moreover, the train to your destination from Piccadilly has already been cancelled meaning having to go out of your way and taking a taxi to get you the final 5 or 6 miles home.

All in all, a bad idea.

DW
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Fran Made it

Thanks for everyone's thoughts and prayers. Daughter Fran has secured her place at the Beijing Paralympics again with a personal best (they call it a PB).

She has overcome a serious shoulder injury to get back on track.

So happy for you Fran and thanks to everyone.

:-)

DW
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Olympics 5

Are these Gymnasts really as young as they look? I watched the Chinese, Romanian and USA "women" gymnasts yesterday and the Chinese girls especially but also a couple of the American girls looked VERY young.

The Chinese girls were wearing make up too: what would Chairman Mao say about that?

Two of the American girls had personal nightmares, otherwise, a very good standard of competition.

DW
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Olympics 4

Good news this evening even though the girls I am writing about came 8th in their event. Our 10 metre board synchronised divers looked good and performed well. Good spirit, good attitude, not blubbery. Clearly they were in a good field of competitors. They tried hard. Well done!

I have heard of some shenanigans with our 14 year old Olympian diver ... don't know the full story but it sounds terrible.

DW
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Olympics 3

Attitude and spirit are vital at Olympian level. I watched a lot of the women's synchronised diving last night. The Chinese slim and fit looking as well as highly competent. The same was true of the French and the Russians and several more.

Then the podgy British girls turned up: they looked flabby and their performances were flabby. Were they there for the laugh or what?

Praise the two British gold medallists so far.

Then there's that 14 year British diver. In an interview yesterday he looked happy and glibly said he didn't expect to win anything and was told to enjoy himself.

Look at the high achieving nations: they don't send flabby people and they don't send people who believe they won't win. Why do we send second raters and no hopers?

DW
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Looney Clooney

Forgive me but he's one of the many talentless people who have done far too well for themselves ...

Arriving at Geneva airport, the first advertising board one sees has George Clooney on it: complete with greasy hair and skew whiff smile.

Eugh!

DW
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Poor Sooty!

There's an advertisement on CNN at the moment for Shell in which they we can help to reduce Sooty emissions.

Now, what would Sweep and Suzy say about that?

DW
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Fran needs you!

Daughter Fran has qualified to represent Great Britain at the Paralympics in Beijing. BUT she has hurt her shoulder and now needs to prove that she should still go to Beijing with the team.

Please send your most potent thoughts and prayers to her so that she can go for Gold for Great Britain.

DW, awe inspired Dad who has nothing but massive respect for ALL Paralympians.

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Come on Burnley ...

… are we dispirited by the 4 – 1 defeat at Sheffield Wednesday? Are we ‘eck!

 

Up the Clarets!!

 

DW

Olympics 2

More BBC nonsense. I wonder how many times we are going to have to listen to nonsense like this?

"How much is it about getting to know each other?" Asked of the two women rowing together in the coxless pairs.

Then a commentator said of those two women as their event was under way, "For them it's all about being competitive."

I see the Vegans have already tried to make a protest: they tried to unfurl a Tibetan flag. I just hope the people at the BBC don't consider that newsworthy.

DW
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Olympics 1

The Beijing Olympic Games has started in spectacular style but no doubt the Vegans will stage or try to stage a protest or two. Bless 'em! I hope the Chinese police throw them out of the country and don't take the British approach: move along there now!.

Anyway, I have watched a few minutes of the Games and woud like someone to take note of the tattoo count: the early signs are that Britain will come top of that table by far.

I suspect we will win the Olympic Spitting competition too.

One aggravation from the BBC came when a commentator mentioned the AMOUNT of people in the gymnastics hall.

DW
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Marvellous ... true ... scary!

I am really sorry but I don’t remember where I got the following from. The file on my hard disk is dated 18^th July 2002.

However, although the example clearly comes from the USA, it applies here in the UK: just take a look at our A Level exams these days. What follows is a ringer for our A Level system

Teaching Maths in 1950:

A logger sells a truckload of lumber for $100.

His cost of production is 4/5 of the price.

What is his profit?

Teaching Maths in 1960:

A logger sells a truckload of lumber for $100.

His cost of production is 4/5 of the price, or $80.

What is his profit?

Teaching Maths in 1970:

A logger exchanges a set "L" of lumber for a set "M" of money. The cardinality of set "M" is 100. Each element is worth one dollar. Make 100 dots representing the elements of the set "M."

The set "C", the cost of production contains 20 fewer points than set "M."

Represent the set "C" as a subset of set "M" and answer the following question: What is the cardinality of the set "P" of profits?

Teaching Maths in 1980:(with affirmative action)

A logger sells a truckload of lumber for $100.

His cost of production is $80 and his profit is $20.

Your assignment: Underline the number 20.

Teaching Maths in 1990:

By cutting down beautiful forest trees, the logger makes $20. What do you think of this way of making a living?

Topic for class participation after answering the question: How did the forest birds and squirrels feel as the logger cut down the trees? There are no wrong answers.

Teaching Maths in 2000:

A logger sells a truckload of lumber for $100.

His cost of production is $120.

How does the Auditor determine that his profit margin is $60?

DW

Vexillology

Well, nobody knows the plural for Corgi so here’s another one for you: what is vexillology?

 

Answers in a comment here or via email!

 

DW

Witness and Well Move it!!

I had to go to Halifax Magistrate's Court today to have an affidavit witnessed.

Firstly, reception was being run by a manager. Secondly, he was very slow. Thirdly, he told me I would have to pay between £25 and £60 AND make an appointment.

Now, I was told it would be free and available on demand at a Court.

I found a Solicitor to do it for me for £7 and she did it on demand too.

As I was waiting for Mr Slowcoach at Reception I saw a microphone on a stand and on the stand was a notice that said:

**DANGER This microphone is broken and is very dangerous. Do not use this microphone. **

I thought, why leave the microphone there and then put such a notice on it? Put the thing away ... Get someone to dispose of it!!

DW
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Contraception

I’m sorry if this appears sexist but I found it stunning.

 

On Woman’s Hour on BBC Radio 4 yesterday they had a piece on sex education in schools. They interviewed a man and a woman although I don’t really know who they were.

 

The man started by telling us about his work in primary schools and so on and how he was approaching sex education there.

 

The woman bellowed in with, “How dare you do such a thing?” A rant followed and a mini debate in which she insisted that parents are the ones who should be in control of their children’s sex education.

 

I didn’t really understand the woman’s problem with what the man was doing but as far as her qualifications for such a discussion are concerned I am worried because she was introduced to us as having TEN children.

 

Enough said!

 

DW

More on Oil Prices

A simulcast

 

I have been getting no responses to my questioning of the rises in oil prices over the last year or so. I have been questioning the sentiments behind the price rises for almost the whole of the year: not just a bandwagon. Here are extracts from an article in the FT from 4th August. I think it is telling for two reasons:

• language used
• the reasoning and its acceptance

The language used in the article reflects my concerns in my previous Blog entry on this subject: that is, the journalist is worried about falling prices; oil prices plunging and falling prices amid concerns over the global economy and its performance. Where is the hysteria that accompanied the stratospheric rises that the world suffered from as speculation fed the rise in crude oil prices? Nowhere!

 

Probably more importantly comes the reasoning behind the price rises: take a look.

 

This is what they say in the article, included here verbatim:

• Other factors pushing down oil prices included higher supplies from Opec, which mainly reflected Saudi Arabia's decision to boost its oil production to the highest level in more than 25 years.
• Some traders also expressed doubts about the strength of Chinese consumption, saying it had been artificially boosted by stockpiling ahead of the Olympics.
• However, traders warned against calling the end of the oil rally, since prices have oscillated between $130 and $120 for the past 10 days without a clear trend emerging.

These speculators who have probably traded misery over food prices and billions of dollars over the last year as they raped the world are now hiding behind falling prices but no one is pointing the finger at them. Except me of course.

 

From Oil falls as fears for growth intensify

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/c4edfb02-624f-11dd-9ff9-000077b07658.html

 

 

 

Duncan Williamson

Tracking Spyware

So I have built my on computer (with the help of son Andrew in view of TWO new motherboards having failed on me) and have been running it since Saturday: that’s only four days.

 

I have been using my paid up version of the excellent AVG anti virus software and have just got their free upgrade that includes an anti spyware utility. Beggar me but it’s found 130 spyware infections and it’s only about one third of the way through its scan.

 

Dear Spyware routine writers: if ever I get to know about a product or service that I have been invited to buy and there is anything like a spyware routine behind it, I will NEVER buy it. In the words of Dr Ian Paisley, Never, Never, Never, Never. Moreover, I will tell the world and his wife that those products are spyware infected. You are wasting your time.

 

DW

Top of the Olympics Medals Table

Which country was top of the Athens' Olympics Medals table in 2004?

USA? No!
China? No!
Russia? No!

The answer is ... The Bahamas. With a medals tally of 6.2 medals per milion population The Bahamas is miles ahead of its nearest rivals, both with 2.4 medals per million populationa' Australia and Cuba.

On the above basis the USA, China and Russia are nothings!

Thanks to the survey An Olympic Game in Intelligent Life Vol 1 Issue 4 page 33 for this.

By the way, I refer to a medals table and not, heaven forfend, the standings.

DW
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AA Gill

AA Gill writes a column for the Sunday Times magazine: I think it's about restaurants he visits and the food he eats there. I have to tell you that either that man is seriously ill or he is suffering from delusions of an ability to write coherently. I will be posting extracts from last week's column here when I get home, later today. I thought the education system Gill went through didn't start collapsing until the mid 1980s. You will see my assumption in that regard was misplaced. UPDATE A bit late but here is the sort of utter claptrap that passes for journalism these days: The mousseline de brochette et grenouille. Try to picture it. Sitting, nay, levitating in the centre of a circular white table big enough to play Olympic blow football on. This dish is deceptively simple. It looks like a gateau for the type of woman who says let them eat cake. In fact, it's savoury: a fish mousseline, as smooth as a warm Baileys enema administered by Charles Aznavour by candlelight, with the wobbly texture of a contemplative nun's genuflecting buttock. The flavour is pale and interesting; a clear whisper of dark, chalky pools and shimmering, placid, terror faced pike, a taste emphatic and resonant and round, but at the same time restrained, elegant and intimate, like the gesture of a hand laid on the bade of your neck, or the shadow glimpsed under a summer bridge. This emulsion of silky profundity, this boneless evocation of memories, scents and savours is one of the most difficult things to accomplish in all gastronomy: that delicate line between bland and bold and only the haute French can really be bothered to find it. But we're not finished yet. Interred inside the mousseline are the boned and poached legs of small, green Jeremy Fishers. Their flavour, too, is ambivalent; caught between the earth and the water, they owe a little something to both. And they are, of course, the natural dinner of the pike. They go so well together, an antipathy in life that becomes harmony in death. I understand that AA Gill is dyslexic and has to dictate his work to a secretary. Well, if I were the secretary I would edit it before submitting it. DW Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device

Antonin Dvorak

How about this: today I went back to take photos of the place we went on Sunday evening. I didn't have my camera with me on Sunday, hence the need to go back.

I went into the Vysehrad grave yard and came acrosss Antonin Dvorak's grave. Respect. I don't take photos in grave yards.

Lovely grave yard, by the way; and if ever you get to Prague take a look.

DW
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