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
28.7.12
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
19.7.12
Quagmire!
I took a look at my new raspberry tree this morning and as I walked across the lawn, all I could feel and here was QUAGMIRE. The soil around here is absolutely sodden. There will be no apples from my garden this year, there will be no cherries and there will be no blackberries this year.
There are a few well formed raspberries on my tree but whether they will ever get the chance to ripen we will have to wait and see: weather and birds are the enemies! Moreover, the dream of jars of my own raspberry jam have been postponed for a year!
DW
There are a few well formed raspberries on my tree but whether they will ever get the chance to ripen we will have to wait and see: weather and birds are the enemies! Moreover, the dream of jars of my own raspberry jam have been postponed for a year!
DW
18.7.12
This is Lunch!
I need exercise and a healthy diet. The diet is fine but because of our rotten and do called summer weather, getting exercise is not so easy.
Here is my lunch, then: three fruit salad and home made banana tea bread.
Champion
DW
Here is my lunch, then: three fruit salad and home made banana tea bread.
Champion
DW
13.7.12
Alms Houses and People's Park in Halifax
I have got a plan for trips this summer, weather willing; and today was the first of them. This afternoon, in excellent weather, I went to the Alms Houses Margaret Street and then to People's Park just across the street from there.
I this the slideshow here is really good: thanks to the gardeners at the park as well as the architects, builders and sculptors who created and maintain the park. You might recognise the music: I think it's about the most appropriate music for something like this!
This is a large file so if you are using a slow connection, please be patient and wait for it to start ... it WILL start!
DW
I this the slideshow here is really good: thanks to the gardeners at the park as well as the architects, builders and sculptors who created and maintain the park. You might recognise the music: I think it's about the most appropriate music for something like this!
This is a large file so if you are using a slow connection, please be patient and wait for it to start ... it WILL start!
DW
12.7.12
19 Hours
I went to visit my old neighbour Malcolm yesterday and as I left home I noticed the I didn't have any mobile phone service. Poo!
NINETEEN HOURS later the service returned. It will be interesting to see how O2 manages that!
As I tried to find out what was going on I took a look at one or two news sites and after just a couple if hours of loss of service other affected O2 users were saying very aggressive things and threatening to leave them!!
I expect a rebate! Recently I changed gas and electricity supplier because my old supplier kept misbehaving. I have been with O2 for almost 12 years but poor service will not keep me. Their coverage away from home is poor and now this extended loss of service are bad indicators for me.
DW
NINETEEN HOURS later the service returned. It will be interesting to see how O2 manages that!
As I tried to find out what was going on I took a look at one or two news sites and after just a couple if hours of loss of service other affected O2 users were saying very aggressive things and threatening to leave them!!
I expect a rebate! Recently I changed gas and electricity supplier because my old supplier kept misbehaving. I have been with O2 for almost 12 years but poor service will not keep me. Their coverage away from home is poor and now this extended loss of service are bad indicators for me.
DW
9.7.12
What a Load of Bull!
On my walk yesterday, I was strolling down a track, in between two fields when I saw a bull ahead of me. Over a bank, so not that clear. I continued walking and then started to wonder, is that bull in the field or on the path? I slowed down, the bull didn't. I was fortunate that I stopped next to a gate going into one of the fields because I could now see that the bull was not in a field, it was free! Talk about Pamplona: I did NOT volunteer for this and turning on my heels to run away did not seem to me to be a sensible option!
I squeezed through the gate into the field ... muddy, Glastonbury muddy! I felt safe now so took lots of snaps as the bull came nearer and nearer. The grunting, laboured breathing as it ambled up the hill even made me feel nervous: is that heavy breathing because it is tough walking up hill when you're a bull? Or was it the heavy breathing of a bull that is getting ready to attack? How little I know!
The bull slowed to a stop, just beyond the gate, my gate! It turned left and came back down to the gate! It pushed its head through the gate. I really was nervous, it wanted to come into my field, my refuge! I pushed the gate as if I could outweigh half a tonne of beef with attitude!
It tried twice to get through the gate and then seemed to remember that all it had to do was to go upward a little bit further and walk over the barbed wire fence: it just walked back into the field. I was astounded: this animal was free to wander and free to come into my field. I squeezed back out through the gate and back onto the track. The bull carried on to join its friends and I breathed again!
Here is my photo evidence of the above!!
DW
I have never heard the heavy, laboured breathing of a bull at such close quarters before.
At this point, when the bull was breathing its heaviest, it stopped and turned round to face me, I was worried! I can't remember concentrating so hard on anything, ever!
Now it wanted to get through the gate: through the gate!
Gone! It looked back at me once but then sallied forth away from me!
I squeezed through the gate into the field ... muddy, Glastonbury muddy! I felt safe now so took lots of snaps as the bull came nearer and nearer. The grunting, laboured breathing as it ambled up the hill even made me feel nervous: is that heavy breathing because it is tough walking up hill when you're a bull? Or was it the heavy breathing of a bull that is getting ready to attack? How little I know!
The bull slowed to a stop, just beyond the gate, my gate! It turned left and came back down to the gate! It pushed its head through the gate. I really was nervous, it wanted to come into my field, my refuge! I pushed the gate as if I could outweigh half a tonne of beef with attitude!
It tried twice to get through the gate and then seemed to remember that all it had to do was to go upward a little bit further and walk over the barbed wire fence: it just walked back into the field. I was astounded: this animal was free to wander and free to come into my field. I squeezed back out through the gate and back onto the track. The bull carried on to join its friends and I breathed again!
Here is my photo evidence of the above!!
DW
I have never heard the heavy, laboured breathing of a bull at such close quarters before.
At this point, when the bull was breathing its heaviest, it stopped and turned round to face me, I was worried! I can't remember concentrating so hard on anything, ever!
Now it wanted to get through the gate: through the gate!
Gone! It looked back at me once but then sallied forth away from me!
I Went for a Walk Today
I think this slideshow is really beautiful: photos and music together that is!
DW
DW
7.7.12
Don't Worry!
I was walking down my stairs this afternoon when suddenly my right slipper slipped. I slithered down a few steps then came to a skittering halt with a thud.
I felt my back being a bit jarred by the thunk as I landed and I am dreading it seizing up so I am moving and stretching a bit from time to time.
No need for flowers or anything! I will be fine!!
DW
I felt my back being a bit jarred by the thunk as I landed and I am dreading it seizing up so I am moving and stretching a bit from time to time.
No need for flowers or anything! I will be fine!!
DW
6.7.12
5.7.12
Willy's Wise Words ... the new blog
Everyone here is eagerly awaiting the launch of my new blog. After a bit of admin and so on I have created the blog.
New name: Willy's Wise Words
Address: http://wordwisewilly.wordpress.com/
I have created the blog and will start to populate it within the next day or so: it will not only be a book review blog as I have decided to widen its brief. This blog will consider reviews of all sorts of goods and services, including books, restaurants, hotels, airlines, shoes ... you name it and I will consider it for review.
DW
New name: Willy's Wise Words
Address: http://wordwisewilly.wordpress.com/
I have created the blog and will start to populate it within the next day or so: it will not only be a book review blog as I have decided to widen its brief. This blog will consider reviews of all sorts of goods and services, including books, restaurants, hotels, airlines, shoes ... you name it and I will consider it for review.
DW
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