Just after I moved house last year I switched on my DVD player only to find that it didn't work. It was a good quality player and I was disappointed. I did nothing about it as I was working away most of the time.
Half an hour ago I decided to take a look at the DVD player again. I thought, I am a meddler so what have I got to lose?
Let me keep a short story short. I am now watching the Shawshank Redemption on my DVD player and very old LG cathode ray tube television!
DW
26.11.11
Dear BBC, I KNOW Where Vienna is
It's happening! On top of all of the tripe that our twelve year olds at the BBC are wont to talk, they have started to use another one.
As you are probably aware, people from the USA will often say, eg, Paris, France or London, England. Now, the reason for that is that in the USA there are MANY cities called Paris so they say Paris, France to ensure the listener is aware that they are NOT talking about Paris, Maryland or Paris, Ohio ... far be it from me to suggest that it's to do with geographical ignorance.
Well, well, well, TWICE today I have heard a BBC reporter or presenter say ... Vienna, Austria. One even said something like Glasgow, Scotland.
Dear BBC, take it from me I KNOW where Vienna is and if ever I did not know the whereabouts of a town or city I could readily find out for myself were I sufficiently motivated to do so.
DW
As you are probably aware, people from the USA will often say, eg, Paris, France or London, England. Now, the reason for that is that in the USA there are MANY cities called Paris so they say Paris, France to ensure the listener is aware that they are NOT talking about Paris, Maryland or Paris, Ohio ... far be it from me to suggest that it's to do with geographical ignorance.
Well, well, well, TWICE today I have heard a BBC reporter or presenter say ... Vienna, Austria. One even said something like Glasgow, Scotland.
Dear BBC, take it from me I KNOW where Vienna is and if ever I did not know the whereabouts of a town or city I could readily find out for myself were I sufficiently motivated to do so.
DW
25.11.11
Local Food: freakinomics article
I read the book Freakinomics when it came out a few tears ago. As far as i know it was the first place to read about drug dealers still having to live with their mothers! Interesting but many of their articles/chapters had racist overtones.
Here is another article of theirs that is hogwash: the Inefficiency of Local Food. Go to www.freakonomics.com to read the article.
These are my responses to that article: I tried to post them on the freakinomics site but their publish button was dead! There are many comments already there and some of them make excellent points too.
Not a good article at all. Several people have also pointed out the idea that local farms are for local food. So potatoes are better grown here rather than there: so what? Let's eat what we can grow and who says that we MUST trade our food with everyone else?
Here's something that I didn't see in this article: the current system encourages food waste. Not only is it very inefficient to produce meat versus grain but we throw away up to a third of all the food we buy anyway. Concentrating our minds on our own needs should help us to consider such waste.
More importantly, though, is the fact that the current system of absentee farming encourages a very large proportion of the population to become obese. As far as I know, obesity has not been factored into this article yet its reach is very wide ranging.
DW
Here is another article of theirs that is hogwash: the Inefficiency of Local Food. Go to www.freakonomics.com to read the article.
These are my responses to that article: I tried to post them on the freakinomics site but their publish button was dead! There are many comments already there and some of them make excellent points too.
Not a good article at all. Several people have also pointed out the idea that local farms are for local food. So potatoes are better grown here rather than there: so what? Let's eat what we can grow and who says that we MUST trade our food with everyone else?
Here's something that I didn't see in this article: the current system encourages food waste. Not only is it very inefficient to produce meat versus grain but we throw away up to a third of all the food we buy anyway. Concentrating our minds on our own needs should help us to consider such waste.
More importantly, though, is the fact that the current system of absentee farming encourages a very large proportion of the population to become obese. As far as I know, obesity has not been factored into this article yet its reach is very wide ranging.
DW
The Twitchiest Girl?
On the flight home: sitting in a seat with extra leg room but the rest of my row was empty. Just minutes to go until the doors are due to be closed. Then swoosh! A family arrived. I am sorry but some babies are just not pretty, looking far too adult than baby like and here was such a baby.
The girl was 7 - 8 years old at a guess and she sat next to me. I have never met a twitchier child in my life. Talk about hyper active! Fortunately she slept much of the way but even then she spread herself and lolled where she wanted to loll!
Happily, the baby was calm and no one died.
DW
The girl was 7 - 8 years old at a guess and she sat next to me. I have never met a twitchier child in my life. Talk about hyper active! Fortunately she slept much of the way but even then she spread herself and lolled where she wanted to loll!
Happily, the baby was calm and no one died.
DW
24.11.11
William Hague: tweets but no action
I am following William J Hague on twitter and every now and again feel the need to write and ask him something or inform him of something. I am sure he doesn't mind because I am not aggressive or offensive but the man needs help and he does ask for hints and tips from time to time.
He said there's to be a big pow wow on Afghanistan now that the Brits are leaving: I responded that he needs help because there's much more to Afghanistan than the military problems.
Just now he said he's calling former ambassadors and others together to discuss how to make British Embassies dead good. I just wrote and told him about my friend in Riyadh who had a passport/visa problem and was given NO HELP at all from the Brit Embassy. They told him either to go home to the UK or send his passport off to Dusseldorf ... and in a month it would come back. Why Dusseldorf? Is Dusseldorf a suburb of a British city now? Embassy jobs off shored now??
My friend solved his problem, by the way, without having to travel anywhere. You know how he did it? British Ambassador intervened? An Embassy clerk took pity on him? Nope: a SAUDI NATIONAL solved the problem for him.
What's going on in the FCO Mr Hague? Looks like a right mess to me.
DW
He said there's to be a big pow wow on Afghanistan now that the Brits are leaving: I responded that he needs help because there's much more to Afghanistan than the military problems.
Just now he said he's calling former ambassadors and others together to discuss how to make British Embassies dead good. I just wrote and told him about my friend in Riyadh who had a passport/visa problem and was given NO HELP at all from the Brit Embassy. They told him either to go home to the UK or send his passport off to Dusseldorf ... and in a month it would come back. Why Dusseldorf? Is Dusseldorf a suburb of a British city now? Embassy jobs off shored now??
My friend solved his problem, by the way, without having to travel anywhere. You know how he did it? British Ambassador intervened? An Embassy clerk took pity on him? Nope: a SAUDI NATIONAL solved the problem for him.
What's going on in the FCO Mr Hague? Looks like a right mess to me.
DW
Will Self ... dead loss!
Well, he's not going to respond is he: this oh so smart Mr Will Self who cannot put his money where his mouth is.
Then again, my blog postings on this man come up on google immediately after Self's own entries ... I come in at umber 5 or 6 or so, page one! At least the world can read what he said v what he does!
No offence Mr Self but we deserve better.
DW
Then again, my blog postings on this man come up on google immediately after Self's own entries ... I come in at umber 5 or 6 or so, page one! At least the world can read what he said v what he does!
No offence Mr Self but we deserve better.
DW
22.11.11
Pork Belly in Macau
Sophie Grigson was sent off to Macau to look at the place and no doubt ruin some good food ingredients. Grigson is a television cook who trades on her mother's name and she has no knife skills at all.
She just went to an up market restaurant and said the fish dish she was served was delicious. Hmm, this explains her ever spreading girth. The dish was riddled with butter, olive oil (in Chinese cooking!!!); the risotto (in Chinese cooking!!!) was sloppy and the fish was burned.
Then again, Macau looks interesting!!
DW
She just went to an up market restaurant and said the fish dish she was served was delicious. Hmm, this explains her ever spreading girth. The dish was riddled with butter, olive oil (in Chinese cooking!!!); the risotto (in Chinese cooking!!!) was sloppy and the fish was burned.
Then again, Macau looks interesting!!
DW
20.11.11
There is an App for that!
There I was snoozing away when an alarm went off. I couldn't quite work out where the noise was coming from but it lasted only a short time.
Then it went off again later. And again ...
It was a clock with an auto alarm to announce prayer times.
Forgive me but I took the batteries out and put them back in the wrong way round.
Peace again!!
DW
Then it went off again later. And again ...
It was a clock with an auto alarm to announce prayer times.
Forgive me but I took the batteries out and put them back in the wrong way round.
Peace again!!
DW
Had Haway Jimmy, man
I never met the man and nor should I have I suppose but one man who made life happy for a few years has just died.
I never saw him as a player either and that was my loss.
Jimmy Adamson was the manager at Burnley for several years and during that time I watched the best football I have ever seen, week in and week out.
I was a regular supporter at Roker Park from 1979 - 1988 too but they never shone like Adamson's Burnley side much as I was happy to go there every home game for all those years.
Well done Jimmy, many thousands of people will remember you with a great deal of fondness.
DW
I never saw him as a player either and that was my loss.
Jimmy Adamson was the manager at Burnley for several years and during that time I watched the best football I have ever seen, week in and week out.
I was a regular supporter at Roker Park from 1979 - 1988 too but they never shone like Adamson's Burnley side much as I was happy to go there every home game for all those years.
Well done Jimmy, many thousands of people will remember you with a great deal of fondness.
DW
Had Haway Jimmy, man
I never met the man and nor should I have I suppose but one man who made life happy for a few years has just died.
I never saw him as a player either and that was my loss.
Jimmy Adamson was the manager at Burnley for several years and during that time I watched the best football I have ever seen, week in and week out.
I was a regular supporter at Roker Park from 1979 - 1988 too but they never shone like Adamson's Burnley side much as I was happy to go there every home game for all those years.
Well done Jimmy, many thousands of people will remember you with a great deal of fondness.
DW
I never saw him as a player either and that was my loss.
Jimmy Adamson was the manager at Burnley for several years and during that time I watched the best football I have ever seen, week in and week out.
I was a regular supporter at Roker Park from 1979 - 1988 too but they never shone like Adamson's Burnley side much as I was happy to go there every home game for all those years.
Well done Jimmy, many thousands of people will remember you with a great deal of fondness.
DW
18.11.11
Sepp Blatter
How did this man, Sepp Blatter, get the biggest job in Football Administration and, more importantly, keep it: in spite of professed and demonstrated ineptitude?
I have been told that if you go to FIFA headquarters you will find Blatter's relatives working there and you will find Blatter's neighbours from his tiny home village in Switzerland working there too.
His recent analysis of racism in football is one of his ineptitudes but someone keeps electing him back to the job.
Finally, I saw David Beckham on the television today and whilst I admire him as a footballer, his arms are just a pathetic mess with all of their tattoos: what on earth is he thinking?
DW
I have been told that if you go to FIFA headquarters you will find Blatter's relatives working there and you will find Blatter's neighbours from his tiny home village in Switzerland working there too.
His recent analysis of racism in football is one of his ineptitudes but someone keeps electing him back to the job.
Finally, I saw David Beckham on the television today and whilst I admire him as a footballer, his arms are just a pathetic mess with all of their tattoos: what on earth is he thinking?
DW
Technocrats and Lame Ducks
If another reporter says that the Italian and Greek political leaders are technocrats, I'll heave a boot at the telly. They are NOT the only leaders ever to have worked in the appropriate business or to be qualified appropriately for the job in hand. Except in the UK, of course, where Strictly Come Politics and the X Bodger seem to help us to recruit our politicians.
Let's run a competition: I think it's Presidential election time in the USA next year. When do you think the first stupid journalist will tag obama as a lame duck president. Four years ago it was in January or February 2009 ... very early in the campaign.
DW
Let's run a competition: I think it's Presidential election time in the USA next year. When do you think the first stupid journalist will tag obama as a lame duck president. Four years ago it was in January or February 2009 ... very early in the campaign.
DW
17.11.11
Reggie Perrin ...
I watched a couple of films on my flight over to Dubai and then sought to change the tempo a little bit by listening to some music and then watching a television programme.
No offence intended but the majority of the television programmes they have on Emirates' ICE system are American so I looked for something British. I found REGGIE PERRIN. I found it hard to believe that they would revive such an idiosyncratic programme albeit one that was iconic in its own way at the time it first went out.
It started ... it was MODERN! A revival! Martin Clunes appeared as Perrin. Interesting, I thought. Was it any good? The lads in the office were nowhere near as good as the likes of John Baron, the MD Then former MD.
I didn't spot any of the classic one liners like, I didn't get where you are today without ...
I think the flashbacks were not of the mother in law and they were not of a Hippopotamus!
Was it funny? Hmm! A bit.
I only saw one episode so I cannot really judge too harshly or be to effusive in my praise.
Was it worth reviving? I don't know how many episodes they have made and whether they started with the fall ...
DW
No offence intended but the majority of the television programmes they have on Emirates' ICE system are American so I looked for something British. I found REGGIE PERRIN. I found it hard to believe that they would revive such an idiosyncratic programme albeit one that was iconic in its own way at the time it first went out.
It started ... it was MODERN! A revival! Martin Clunes appeared as Perrin. Interesting, I thought. Was it any good? The lads in the office were nowhere near as good as the likes of John Baron, the MD Then former MD.
I didn't spot any of the classic one liners like, I didn't get where you are today without ...
I think the flashbacks were not of the mother in law and they were not of a Hippopotamus!
Was it funny? Hmm! A bit.
I only saw one episode so I cannot really judge too harshly or be to effusive in my praise.
Was it worth reviving? I don't know how many episodes they have made and whether they started with the fall ...
DW
Nice Story from Afghanistan
Please find time to read this article from The Times today.
There's some good to come out of the place from time to time.
http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/life/article3227704.ece
DW
There's some good to come out of the place from time to time.
http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/life/article3227704.ece
DW
16.11.11
Pudding and a Crossword!
Decided I would have a pud: fruit dumplings with Mango sauce.
Now relaxing with The Times crossword!
DW
Now relaxing with The Times crossword!
DW
15.11.11
Dubai Metro Ineptitude
I am finding it very difficult to buy tickets from the machines on the Dubai Metro. I am sure it's simple but in the last three days I have bought an illegal ticket, a single instead of a double and a two station ticket when I wanted an all zones ticket.
Luckily this is not London so I am not losing a King's ransom but I need help!!
DW
PS I am on the Metro again and after waiting ages for the couple in front of me to buy their two tickets, I impressed myself with my efficiency by knowing what to press and how to pay. I did it correctly.
However, after I had gone through the barrier I noticed the I had been given a ONE zone instead of an ALL zones ticket.
If you know the ticket machines here you will know that the one zone button and the all zones buttons are NOT next to each other and I could not have pressed one instead of all and I did not!
So, I lost another 50 pence or so!! All in a good cause.
DW
Luckily this is not London so I am not losing a King's ransom but I need help!!
DW
PS I am on the Metro again and after waiting ages for the couple in front of me to buy their two tickets, I impressed myself with my efficiency by knowing what to press and how to pay. I did it correctly.
However, after I had gone through the barrier I noticed the I had been given a ONE zone instead of an ALL zones ticket.
If you know the ticket machines here you will know that the one zone button and the all zones buttons are NOT next to each other and I could not have pressed one instead of all and I did not!
So, I lost another 50 pence or so!! All in a good cause.
DW
Incredible but True
Just saw three Russian women going into a fashion shop and they set off the alarm going IN!
Scary
DW
Scary
DW
Emporio Armani Caffe: Mall of the Emirates
I spotted this caffe last night but only after I had already eaten, so I returned this evening!
I have just ordered minestrone soup and some pasta I have never heard of, beginning with M! There will be porcini mushrooms and black truffle with the pasta.
Because I am not in a wifi zone, this message will contain my thoughts on the food as well as this anticipatory note!
The Verdict
The soup was a little heavy and more potato than minestrone. Earlier in the day it could be good.
The pasta was excellent: the pasta beginning with M was a kind of lasagne but much thinner. The mushroom flavour was strong, just as I like it and I would have that again at any time.
Tea time now: Armani black tea with ylang ylang and orange flowers! Very nice it is too. I have been given a small pot so let's see how good the second cup is. In terms of colour, the second cup is much darker than the first one. The orange is more pronounced in the second cup and there is a hint, just a hint, of bitterness behind it too. A nice cuppa!
The caffe was not crowded but there were enough customers to make life a little interesting!
DW
I have just ordered minestrone soup and some pasta I have never heard of, beginning with M! There will be porcini mushrooms and black truffle with the pasta.
Because I am not in a wifi zone, this message will contain my thoughts on the food as well as this anticipatory note!
The Verdict
The soup was a little heavy and more potato than minestrone. Earlier in the day it could be good.
The pasta was excellent: the pasta beginning with M was a kind of lasagne but much thinner. The mushroom flavour was strong, just as I like it and I would have that again at any time.
Tea time now: Armani black tea with ylang ylang and orange flowers! Very nice it is too. I have been given a small pot so let's see how good the second cup is. In terms of colour, the second cup is much darker than the first one. The orange is more pronounced in the second cup and there is a hint, just a hint, of bitterness behind it too. A nice cuppa!
The caffe was not crowded but there were enough customers to make life a little interesting!
DW
14.11.11
You Could not do that in X
There I was on the metro, minding my own business when a man in a black shirt came and stood near me. So far so good. Then he asked me if only women could get off the train through this exit ... motions towards the door nearest to us.
I say, it's fine and when he said he'd been barred from entering another carriage I pointed out the women and children only privilege.
At that point my reaction on hearing about that privilege was to accept and understand that I am somewhere different from home.
This chap said, "Whoa! In X the liberals would have a field day with that one."
I wished that Lisbeth Salander had been with me to deal with this man!
We got off at the same station and he introduced himself with a look that said, "Hey, buddy ..." An error on my part got me out of a fix. I used the ticket machine at the station for the first time and made a right Horlicks of it. It cost me what turned out to be an AED8.5 fine and another AED4.5 for the return trip on top of the AED8 I innocently but wrongly paid for what I thought was the correct fare.
My new buddy left me to it!
What put me off this chap, apart from his silly remark on segregated carriages, was that as we were talking he showed no interest in my responses (I know, who does?!) AND half way through a sentence he started talking to someone else.
There you are! I dined alone as I had intended to do all along!
DW
I say, it's fine and when he said he'd been barred from entering another carriage I pointed out the women and children only privilege.
At that point my reaction on hearing about that privilege was to accept and understand that I am somewhere different from home.
This chap said, "Whoa! In X the liberals would have a field day with that one."
I wished that Lisbeth Salander had been with me to deal with this man!
We got off at the same station and he introduced himself with a look that said, "Hey, buddy ..." An error on my part got me out of a fix. I used the ticket machine at the station for the first time and made a right Horlicks of it. It cost me what turned out to be an AED8.5 fine and another AED4.5 for the return trip on top of the AED8 I innocently but wrongly paid for what I thought was the correct fare.
My new buddy left me to it!
What put me off this chap, apart from his silly remark on segregated carriages, was that as we were talking he showed no interest in my responses (I know, who does?!) AND half way through a sentence he started talking to someone else.
There you are! I dined alone as I had intended to do all along!
DW
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