Whiskey a Go Go - Giants and Rope Bridges

I studied Irish history at A level back in the late 1960s. Since that time Northern Ireland has been ripped apart by what is referred to as "The Troubles". Travelling round the country now that the Troubles are over (permanently I hope) there is a kind of sadness but feeling of history in the place names. I will return to this theme over the next few days.

Today was more a day of sightseeing than history. We started at Bushmills whiskey distillery. As it's Irish whiskey it has to have an e in it whereas Scottish whisky is without an e.  I went round Bushmills about 12 years ago when I worked in Media and PR for Norfolk Constabulary. They were very different days but in order to show our respect to the Royal Ulster Constabulary, the National Association of Police Press and Public Relations Officers' annual conference was held in a hotel in Port Rush. Throughout the three days the hotel was surrounded by armed police who also sat in the reception area with machine guns. One of the primary reasons was that key speakers included RUC Chief Constable Sir Ronnie Flanagan along with Sir John Stevens who, at the time, was undertaking a top level enquiry in Northern Ireland.

I remember Flanagan as a very charismatic man who talked movingly about some of the atrocities taking place in Ulster. He showed his sense of humour by telling us that he lived with a hooker - actually it was his son who played in the middle of the scrum for one of the top Irish rugby union sides!

So just being at that event was nerve-racking enough and we were told not to mention to anybody what we did for a living. Now thankfully all that seems to be past. Anyway I'm sure Bushmills hasn't changed much over the past 15 or so years. I haven't changed all that much as I still don't like whiskey (irrespective of whether it's Scottish or Irish). At the end of the tour there was a generous measure of Irish which I immediately tipped into a cup of coffee which was probably sacrilege.

 Then it was onto Carrick-a-Reide which is owned by the National Trust which is scarcely surprising as we were on a National Trust holiday. It's a small island connected to the mainland by a narrow rope bridge suspended over 100 ft above the water, Not one for anybody frightened of heights. Once you're halfway across you have no alternative but to carry on to the end and even less of an alternative to taking the same bridge back. Lovely views once you get over it (and I mean that in two senses). So plenty of photographs in the high winds which didn't make getting across the bridge very pleasant.

 

Then onto Northern Ireland's top tourist attraction The Giant's Causeway. Lots of legends here mainly surrounding the giant Finn McCool who took on the giant of Scotland Benandonner and used the causeway to walk across to meet him for the battle. The real reason for the formation of the Causeway is much less romantic. They are about 40,000 Basalt columns formed by a volcanic eruption. It is a world heritage site and apparently has been voted the fourth greatest natural wonder in the UK by readers of the Radio Times. It was good to have free access to the columns to climb on them and take photos. A good day all round.

 

Flying or Coaching?

To fly to Ireland takes approximately one hour. To go by coach takes about 17 hours, but in many ways coaching is the better option. Travelling by air has become an infuriating process from booking in hours ahead of the flight to having to go through security and all the other bits and pieces including standing around carousels waiting for luggage. On coaches you dump the cases in the hold and then just sit back and sleep/eat/read/listen to music or whatever. Now we hear that people are waiting in line for hours on end to get through passport control and back into the country at airports. This is not acceptable and once again shows a total lack of respect for the very people who obviously keep so many in work. Perhaps there is something in those stay at home for your holiday advertisements after all.

I know that no passports were needed for our trip to Northern Ireland but we did land at Dublin in the Republic. We had to set out from Norwich at 4 a.m which was a difficult time as it was neither here nor there. A midnight start and we could have stayed up and slept on the coach. But with a 4 a.m start the question is to go to bed or not to go to bed. So I went to bed and grabbed a couple of hours before getting up again at 2.30 a.m.

One of the problems with coach tours is the way they zig zag across the country picking people up. So we had to go from Norwich to Downham Market and then Wisbech and Peterborough before setting off for the ferry at Hollyhead in Welsh Wales. That was followed by a three hour ferry journey to Dublin. That in itself was interesting. The on board pizzas were decent but it was the weather that was of particular interest. It was announced that the winds would be gale force eight or extreme gale force nine. I'm sure a number of years ago that would have seen the passage cancelled. But stabilisers were employed and the journey was pleasant enough.

Interesting journey from Dublin to Belfast as well. There were no border controls, no apparent "welcome to Northern Ireland" (unless I missed it) and the only indication that we had moved from one country back into the UK came when distances in kilometres were replaced by distances in miles and signs stopped being repeated in Gaelic alongside the English.

It seemed to take forever to get to our destination the La Mon Hotel and Country Club 15 minutes out from Belfast and in open countryside. I think we had about five minutes between getting to our rooms and the evening carvery where the asked for small portion of meat turned into a massive wallopper. So everyone wore the clothes they had travelled in but, after 17 hours of travelling, the lure of food seemed more important than sartorial elegance.

Staying Anonymous

Very often in these blogs I think of some kind of subject and just see where the muse takes me.

Today let's talk of one or my favourite pastimes - people watching. I love just watching how people behave but deeper than that I am always aware that you never know who they are and what they have done with their lives.

For much of our time we are totally anonymous. What we are is deep inside us, but out on the streets, in the shops etc nobody knows exactly who we are. This was brought home a few years ago when a very senior executive with whom I worked was having problems with builders and a wall he wasn't happy with. He got so frustrated that he came out with the arrogant words: "Do you know who I am?"

I believe the reply went something along the lines of: "we don't f-----g care if you are the King of England." In other words the exalted status he enjoyed (?) during the working days when he could order people to do things, cut no ice at all in this situation.

We never really know who we are talking to and what they have done in their lives - as soon as we step out of our usual area or comfort zone we almost become anonymous and that should be enough to stop any of us getting arrogant about things.

Today it has rained. It has been raining ever since they declared a drought situation. Hethersett football was called off because of a waterlogged pitch and Hethersett cricket was cancelled due to a similar problem. Have given my ticket for the Norwich v Liverpool match away and. looking at the weather, it looks like a good decision as I can stay in and watch the match on satellite TV in the warmth of my home. Tomorrow we are off to Ireland for the best part of a week. It's an horrendously early start with the coach leaving Norwich at 4 a.m, so will have to be up at 3 a.m. Just hate these early holiday starts.

Ouch and Double Ouch - More Websites and Ram

Ouch. This morning I am hurting. Second session with the new social Hethersett running club last night and it was a tough one. Hence last night I could hardly walk and this morning I have tight calfs (or should that be calves), tight hamstrings and too many other tight bits and pieces to mention. But I tell myself that I am getting fitter and I have lost four pounds in the last couple of weeks. So the regime will continue. I feel a right fraud when you hear about people running 100 marathons in 100 days. How the hell do they do that?

Will have to miss next week's session as we are on holiday in Northern Ireland chasing the rain. It's currently raining here in Norfolk as I type this. In Northern Ireland there is bright sunshine at the moment. Tomorrow Ireland will have bright sunshine and for most of Sunday. On Sunday we will be travelling west as a belt of rain sweeps west and as we reach Ireland it should just about get there at the same time. Such is life.

This morning I have come and try sports days for the village to sort out and I also want to revisit Paul McCartney's album Ram which was the first thing he recorded after leaving the Beatles and which has just been re-released in an enhanced package. Don't know what you think about all this re-packaging lark. I find it very confusing to have different versions of the same album with enhancements and extra demos and tracks. I tend to still like just listening to the original album. I like McCartney's stuff that he was putting out post Beatles. It has a kind of quirky feel to it.

I spoke a few days ago about my obsession with web sites. My village web site at www.hethersett.org.uk has become so big that it needs sorting out. I'm not going to get rid of anything as everything on it acts as a village archive. So I have found Weebly which gives free web sites and very easy they are to put together. All those years of learning html coding etc gone by the board. So I am launching the Hethersett 2 site at http://hethersett2.weebly.com so that I can capture and categorise some of the information into sections. The idea is that it will bring all the stories on a particular subject together in one file. So if you want to read about the past two years at one of the local schools you can without having to search through archive material.

Problem is I haven't stopped there. I have also launched new sites for our social running club, the sports association and sport in Hethersett. Now you can call me an anorak. So please excuse me if I get on with that work. See you tomorrow.

We Heard It at the Grapevine - Still It Rains

Well since we had the hosepipe ban it hasn't stopped raining here in Norfolk. Yet we are told there is still a drought. Didn't look much like one last night when I had to drive at 15 mph due to a torrential downpour on my way into Norwich.

Since they talked about drought it's rained every day so we now have a new word for when it rains. We simply say it's droughting it down.

Last night was another excellent one at the Grapevine at Bedfords in the centre of Norwich. Three more acts, all different and all very engaging. The evening started with Holly Taymar and Chris Bilton from York and it was nice to have a chat afterwards with Holly about her work with the MacMillan Cancer Charity. It did underline that so many talented artists cannot make a living from their music and have to fit in gigs with their working schedule. In some ways this makes it even more special because it means they play music through the sheer love of doing so.

Holly mentioned that her CD had been recorded in a loft in Pontefract and said she was sure nobody in the audience had even heard of Pontefract. My wife, who was with me, comes from Knottingley which is the next town - about two miles away. So the two of them reminisced about York, Normanton and many other West Yorkshire places.

Second act was London based Australian Joel Sarakula who was very interesting. He hammered the crap out of a keyboard and guitar. I would describe his style as highly aggressive folk. His material was half decent, however.

Highlight of the night for me were three vintage rockers/electric folkers from Norwich called The Proposition. Catch these guys if you can. During their set at various times they played guitar, electric mandolin, electric banjo, slide guitar, harmonica and drums. Their material had heavy Americana leanings but a couple of the songs were outstanding and the whole thing had a feelgood vibe to it. I detected many influences from Bob Dylan and the Band, through Neil Young and the Byrds and at times they sounded very much like Geordie Folk Rockers Lindisfarne, especially when the electric mandolin kicked in. Another excellent value night at this venue.

Tonight it's the second session of the new Hethersett social running club. Last week 33 people turned up. Be interesting to see whether this increases or decreases tonight.

A Catchy Band Name, Classic Soccer Match and Inventions

Yesterday was the birthday of Gideon Sunbach and we should all celebrate that because old Gid, who lived from 1880 to 1954, invented something that most of us use ever day of the week. Gideon was a Swedish-American electrical engineer who revolutionised the way we dress. I will let you know just what he invented at the end of this blog.

In mentioning my various web sites a few days ago I missed off my family site which has pictures of the family and information on it but which I primarily use for my writing on subjects as diverse as sport and history and mainly music. There are book and music reviews on there and it is a great hobby of mine. I just need more time to devote to it but if it continues raining I might have that time. Anyway if you are interested it's at http://www.stewardfamilyweb.co.uk

Pardon me for being slightly jaundiced when it comes to music but I guess I am a purist and news that New Kids on The Block and Back Street Boys have combined does not fill me with great anticipation. Dollar signs before the eyes but that’s about all. So have these two self styled supergroups come up with a catchy name – have they hell. They have come up with NKOTBSB.

That could be the worst name in the historyof pop music purely on the grounds that it is impossible to pronounce let alone remember. But weren’t they clever to come up with the idea of putting the initials of their names together? New Kids On TheBlock/Back Street Boys became NKOTBSB – simples. Okay I can just about stomach that but on Breakfast TV today they were brandishing words like awesome and legends about and one of them referred to Back Street Boys as one of the greatest bands in the history of music. OH BLOODY COMEON. Talk about The Beatles, Pink Floyd, The Rolling Stones, The Who, U2, REM etc and you have some of the greatest bands in the history of music – not New Kids on the Block and Back Street Boys – yuck.

Can't leave today's blog without mentioning Chelsea's display against Barcelona last night. It was quite simply one of the greatest club performances from an English team I have ever seen. To go down to 10 men, lose both central defenders and still draw 2-2 with what are generally thought to be the best club team in the world is quite something. To get through to the final of the Champions League was unbelievable. They were helped of course by a generous Barcelona team who 1/ didn't seem to know how to play with a numerical advantage 2/ didn't seem to know how to shoot or show any urgency and 3/ are in the middle of a poor run.

That shouldn't detract from what Chelsea achieved, however, which was quite monumental. I refuse to use the word awesome. There were some downsides to the achievement, however. Chelsea will be without a number of key players for the final due to unnecessary fouls and petulance and John Terry - just what were you doing man? Terry is the captain and as such should have led by example. He didn't. His stupid knee in the back and sending off let himself, the club and the fans down and he made matters worse at the end by trying to talk his way out of blame. Look old lad the evidence on TV showed you carried out an unprovoked assault. The player wasn't backing in or any of the other things you said on interview. By trying to make excuses you just made yourself look and sound like a right prat.

Tonight we are off once again to the excellent folk club at Bedfords in Norwich. It will be the fourth consecutive month and I will let you know tomorrow how it went.

Oh and finally the answer to the question at the top of this blog. Mr Sunbach invented the Zip Fastener. So now you know.

Rain, Rain and More Rain and Posh Boys

It continues to rain which in some ways is annoying and in others is very good.. Annoying in as much as it prevented us doing a coastal walk but good in as much as we desperately need the water. We know that because we have been told so and in Norfolk we have a hosepipe ban which is rather ironic because now there is no need to use hosepipes anyway as gardens are saturated.

There is horrible irony as well in the tragic death of a 30 year old runner in the London Marathon. Running 26 miles is a considerable strain but I don’t think there’s any more danger in doing that than in playing any sport. There is a camp of thought that says too much exercise isn’t good for you but then not enough certainly does you no good at all.

The irony in the tragedy comes in the massive amount of money that has been raised in donations for Claire Squires’ chosen charity The Samaritans. I have spoken before about my support of this charity and it is wonderful to see it benefiting with public donations but so sad that it had to happen this way. One tragedy achieves more than all the publicity and marketing in the world – although of course there’s an irony here as well, as publicity around the death has greatly helped swell this amount. My thoughts are certainly with Claire’s family. Not only have they lost Claire but she was running in memory of her brother who died in 2001 of an overdose. At the time of writing this there had been 23,704 donations in Claire’s name raising an amazing £262,524 and I should imagine plenty more to come. I know the Samaritans will use the money wisely.

Prime Minister David Cameron and Chancellor George Osborne were yesterday described as two arrogant posh boys totally out of touch with reality. This came from one of the Conservatives own MPs Nadine Dorries just showing that all is not good in Toryland (or should that be Toyland?). Dorries was only saying what most of us have thought for a long time. Now of course the PM is having another think and in his words “upping his game.” Funny how these comments are always made when there has been justified criticism and not out of a genuine feeling that things aren’t going quite as right as they should be. It’s always a knee jerk reaction rather than a genuine change for good.

As I keep saying there seems to be little alternative. Let’s not kid ourselves that things would be any different or any better under Labour. Our politics are in a parlous state but when was the last time that comments were made about how well a Government was doing?

So where do weeds come from and why do they grow so much faster than plants? Today I read a definition that weeds are just unwanted plants that grow aggressively. Of course one man’s weed is another man’s flower! Weed seed can blow in, be brought in by feet, dropped by birds or be spread by rakes and garden tools which in no way explains how there are so many of the little perishers. It’s a bit like dust – we know that comes from skin cells etc but why is there always so much of it – can we really lose that much skin etc? Answers on a postcard please.

More Nuisance Calls and Who Was St George

I find it unbelievable that cold callers can telephone you and then insult you in your own home. I know this is a pet hate of mine and something I have mentioned before but these people's cheek is mind numbing. It happened again today.

It was another call from India and yet another survey. I have had loads of these calls. On this occasion I tried to find out what was going on. So I asked the person at the other end why I have received numerous calls from his company over the past few weeks.He replied that his company had never phoned me before. "Well there must be a lot of companies based in India doing this," I said. "Maybe," he replied. "Well either there are or you have phoned me before," I answered. Then I told him that I wouldn't take part in his survey because it would result in my being swamped by companies trying to sell me things I didn't want. Whatever company he was representing would sell on my replies to other companies along with my telephone number.

"Why would I do that?" he said

"Because that's what you are paid to do," I replied. To which his answer was:

"You are mad."

Now please excuse me for being a bit rude here but what the effing right does this interloper into my life have to call me mad in my own lounge on my own phone and did I invite him to intrude on my life? The answer is an emphatic no. I think from now on when I see the word "unavailable" on my phone as the number calling I will not answer it. If it is a "proper" call the caller will leave a message on my answermachine anyway.

You know how many people use the phrase "you know" or "I mean" in virtually every sentence. Well I tend to say OK a lot without really knowing where the phrase comes from. So I decided to look it up. Sadly I am no closer to knowing. It could be of Choctaw derivation or West African or any other number. One suggestion is it was used by the Boston Morning Post newspaper as a joke culled from putting various combination of letters together. So I'm no wiser. Perhaps I should leave off using it until I find out its true history!

On a similar theme, today is St George's Day but just who was St George and why do the patron saints of Wales, Scotland and Ireland seem to mean more than George does to the English? Does this also mean that the English have less pride in their country than the other home countries? The answer to the last question is possibly yes although the Irish may just use St Patrick's Day for a giant p--s up.

Anyway St George was in fact a Roman soldier and Christian martyr. Of course the story of him slaying a dragon is a legend and fabrication. There's loads of stuff on Wikipedia if you want to know more - I'm not sure I can be bothered.

Sad news filtered through over the weekend with the death of Hethersett businessman Nick Fulcher. Nick was a lovely man who had an international reputation as a coachtrimmer. He worked from a business in New Road, Hethersett, but was known nationally for his thoroughness in restoring the fabric of some very valuable and famous cars. Think of James Bond here and you will be on the right track. I wrote a number of features on Nick's business for the local press and my village web site and was particularly interested when he called me down on one occasion to look at a DeLorean car he was working on. I was allowed to sit in it but not allowed to drive it. I was also subject to Nick's generosity on a number of occasions and he was a big supporter of the village and sport (football in particular). I will always remember his appearances in the audience for the annual village panto and the fun that was generated when good natured abuse was hurled back and forth from the audience (Nick) and the actors/actresses on stage. Nick will be greatly missed. Again there is plenty about his business on the Internet - just do a Google search.

When he visits us our eldest son always laughs at the local news and the mediocrity of some of its context. I couldn't help thinking about him today when a trailer featured a story about a dog that sits on a roof!!! Mind you last time I went to visit him in Eastbourne the news level wasn't much better - "Pensioner's Prize Parrot Stolen" stated a billboard.

Having put together a quiz at the weekend I am always interested in possible questions for the future. Can't say I will be using one that was featured on All Star Family Fortunes. It was for a viewers' competition and was so complex that I spent all night trying to work out the answer. The question was along the lines of: Which of the following do you add to food to sweeten it? And the answers to chose from were: Vinegar, Salt or Sugar. Hell that's a tough one. If I was cynical I would say they want to get in as much dosh in as possible with a call costing over £1.

There was a much more difficult conundrum on Pointless (yes I've mentioned it again). The legend that is Richard Osman was doing a round on Cockney rhyming slang when he asked why £15 was know as a Commodore. This is a bit contrived but brilliant: The pop group The Commodores had a big hit with Three Times a Lady. Lady Godiva is Cockney rhyming slang for a fiver and three fivers or three ladies is £15 - simples.

Finally today I have just watched the item about the dog on the roof. It became laugh out loud when the thatcher climbed down the ladder with a big black dog draped round his shoulder. Well it beats a fox fur coat and that reminds me of a joke about Prince Charles but perhaps I will keep that for another time.

Inspirational Runners, Quizzes and a Busy Sunday

How inspirational are the people who run the London Marathon? Come to think of it how inspirational are those who run any marathon?

I do know a little of what some of them will be going through today as 30 years ago I ran my one and only marathon and it was bloody hard. It was the Bungay Black Dog Marathon, two circuits of a Waveney Valley course through Bungay and Beccles. I seem to remember walking quite a bit of the way after my training had gone to pot. I had been running round Hethersett on a course that was 2.4 miles long round the village and had worked up to over 18 miles when the best possible distraction stopped my training dead - our first son Chris was born!

It meant sleepless nights and the training schedule going to pot. So I struggled at the event, but did complete the course and still have the medal somewhere to prove it. It was one of those things in life I wanted to do once - but never again. Same as appearing in a stage play which I achieved at Sheringham Little Theatre and then promptly retired from acting.

I think it's good to set these goals. Now my running goals are a bit more modest - just the two mile village event in June and continuing with the newly formed village running club where we made a really good start on Thursday as I mentioned in my blog. My problem is distance running and breathing. I seem to tie up all too quickly and Thursday night showed this again. When it comes to sprinting I can still run pretty fast and I'm sure outrun most people of my age. But at my age I should be more comfortable with the distance running and I'm just not built for it. At school sports I always took part in the 100 and 200 yards and the sprint relays and in football I always played on the right wing because of my speed.

That's why it's quite humbling to receive coaching from Norfolk Olympiad Paul Evans who is a very good coach, makes you want to run and has done it all himself - so big respect there. The thought of running for 26 miles just fills me with horror. Mind you yesterday I heard about a guy, whose name escapes me, who ran 100 marathons in 100 days. Now quite plainly this guy is nuts!!! But all power to him because we need nutty people like that.

Had a bit of a lay in this morning after a very tiring but excellent evening quiz at the Junior School. I got the questions finished on time and we had approaching 100 people taking part and first estimates are that we made around £400 profit to go towards the village jubilee fayre in June. This will give us the chance to make most of the attractions free and it should be a good day.

There was a bit of controversy at the end of  the quiz when we had to reverse the first two places due to a marking discrepancy. Everyone was very gracious about it, however. So overall an excellent if a little tiring evening.

At last the sun is out and its warm and no hint of rain yet!!! This afternoon I'm off to the Memorial Field in the village where there should be plenty of interesting activity. Our Ladies Reserves football team will be playing Stalham in the semi-finals of the Norfolk Women's League Cup and Hethersett Hawks Cycle Speedway have a big match on. I will be taking photos of both events for the newspapers and various web sites - so looking forward to that and I will report back tomorrow on how things went and weather I got wet (or should that be whether I got wet -play on words there)?

Sorry I only partly finished yesterday's blog - just ran out of time through shopping duties and preparing for the quiz. I will return to it and finish it off later today.

My Love of Web Site Writing

I guess it’s time to talk about my obsession with web sites. When it comes to the Internet the public seems to be divided between those who embrace the new technology and use it and those who do not understand it and haven’t a clue what it’s all about. Among the more clued up there seems to be a split between those that think it is a wonderful thing and those that think it is an excuse for evil.

To my mind the Internet is the greatest invention in the written word since the printing press was invented. I know that’s a cliché but it is true. There is virtually no piece of information that you can’t find online. This week I have spent some considerable time writing a quiz for charity and the Internet has helped me with writing questions and checking answers. If we have any controversy this evening over answers I can just go onto the Internet.

As I keep mentioning two of my passions in life are writing and music – the third is sport. Before the Internet I didn’t really have an outlet for all my writing other than via newspapers. Now I can write as much as I want and put it on various web sites. Likewise I now have an outlet for my photography.

But is this all just me going on an ego trip. Well I hope not. I have received many e-mails from people who have written to say how much they enjoy reading some of my articles on music and sport. This is very humbling. The internet allows you to go to infinity and beyond, to boldly go where no man has gone before (no prizes for recognising where those two quotes come from).

So today I write for and edit a number of web sites as follows:

Hethersett Village Web Site -  This is in many ways my pride and joy. A number of years ago I wanted to produce a village web site to stand up against any in the country. When I say that I’m not talking about design as I’m very limited when it comes to design. I am talking about content. As I was already writing about the village for a number of local newspapers it seemed a logical step to put all my copy and photographs on a special web site. There were quite a few Hethersett based web sites in existence but nothing covering what was going on in the village on a day to day basis.

So gradually I began turning up at more and more events and it was a logical extension of the kind of work I used to do many years ago on local newspapers. Getting into the fabric of a village is a very interesting experience. We have the best part of 6,000 people living in Hethersett which makes it a very large village. With that many people there are organisations and groups for just about every interest and every age and a wonderfully active community that has won numerous awards for its go-ahead attitude.

Today the web site continues to grow and it is fast becoming a full time job – well it would be a job except for the fact that I take in no revenue. I have always insisted that the site should be free of charge, a service to the community and independent and willing to feature any views providing they are not obscene or libellous. Anybody is welcome to have their say on the site, but mainly it is being used to promote events and report on them after they have gone.

I am very pleased that the site now seems to be part of village life with many organisations sending me information and people using it for newsletters, application forms and many other community based things. Being a one man band I can never get to every event but I do try and cover as many as possible. I know the site will continue to grow and at times I feel that I could do with some help – so any offers?

My second most time consuming site is one I designed and edit for Hethersett Athletic Football Club of which I am chairman. This mainly involves keeping statistics and results up to date and again I can boast that it is updated at least once a week.

Same with the Hethersett Hawks Cycle Speedway site which is regularly updated with results and reports.

I also look after a site for Café Morello in Norwich and for a friend who wanted one set up in memory of her mother who was a nursing sister during the Second World War.

A Blistering Start, Einstein and Poor Customer Care

The new Hethersett social running club got off to a blistering start (in some cases literally) last night. I expected between 20 and 25 people but when it hammered down with rain all day I re-assessed this number to about 10. We had 33 runners turn up which was a brilliant response. I’m sure with good weather we can get this up to 40 over the next week or so.

The group is being led by Norfolk Olympiad Paul Evans who is a great guy. He makes you want to work hard. It was quite a tough session for the first one, but really rewarding. It runs for another nine weeks leading up to the two mile run the square event towards the end of June. If every evening is as good as last night this is going to be a very enjoyable experience.

The running club is just one of the many events being organised throughout the year in our wonderful village. Hethersett may not be the most picturesque village in the country but it is one of the most go-ahead and I am very proud to be part of what’s going on. Tomorrow night it’s my quiz at the junior school to raise funds for the village fair to celebrate the Queen’s Jubilee.

Got up this morning to find the rain had given away to sunshine for a change. It did rain during the day but nothing like the last few days. Got my breakfast and switched the television on to see the BBC Breakfast show. I rarely do this early morning but something made me switch on and the fist item was about a wonderful weekend of weird art in wonderful Liverpool where they have giant models taking to the street. Then there was an interview with one of my favourite all time artists Judy Collins. Judy is a very gracious lady. She has a new autobiography out which I’m looking forward to reading. It charts her life, her music, her struggles with depression and alcoholism and the suicide of her son. Admittedly it isn’t going to be a laugh a minute read but I’m sure it will be rewarding.

I often get besieged with Internet jokes and funnies from friends. There was a more thought provoking one yesterday which spoke about Einstein and came up with a couple of interesting sentences that are worth thinking about. He said that there is no such thing as darkness, it is just a lack of light. There is no such thing as cold, it is just a lack of warmth. Anyway the whole thing went on to talk about religion. One day in this blog I will go through the content, but I need quite some time and mental effort to do that.

More interested today in talking about customer care. I have had a couple of bad experiences over recent days. I won’t bore you with the details but I do want to talk about the dangers of poor customer service and the knock on effects it can have. Let’s take a mythical sports club where a customer is let down. The club might see an apology as the end of matters but if they have a disgruntled customer just think of what the knock on effect can be.

That person doesn’t renew his or her membership – thus costing the club a few hundred pounds. Neither do they eat and drink in the club bar anymore – thus taking the cost into four figures. Then the disgruntled customer stops supporting social events. He then puts his friends, who are potential new members, off joining because of his experiences. Those friends pass on the message that the club does not have a good reputation. The overall result is the club’s reputation goes down and the potential loss of revenue runs into thousands of pounds and all because of one disgruntled customer.

Today I received a cheque for a return on one of my investments. The cheque was for 4p. I promise not to spend it all in one go. Then I went to Sainsbury’s to shop and had a money off coupon with me. It turned out to be for a magnificent 3p and then we were told it was out of date anyway!!! I would write to head office but it would cost me 50p for a stamp (just a joke remark that one).

I have to say food prices seem to be going through the roof at present. Ridiculous costs for pieces of chicken. I can see how restaurants and pubs are struggling. They are having to pay ridiculous prices for meat and vegetables but can’t pass the additional cost onto customers for fear of their establishments being empty. It’s difficult to work out what is good value for a meal now. I don’t like paying £11 for a bog standard pub meal, but even at that price how much profit can there be in it for them?

Finally today I’m quite fortunate to be writing this. Was coming up to traffic lights at a local roundabout when the car in front suddenly stopped despite the fact they were on green. He had seen two flashing blue lights hurtling through red lights. Problem was there was no way of seeing what these vehicles were (I assume they were unmarked police cars) and the blue lights were on their back ends and not their roof. This made them difficult to see and a very bad idea.

The Importance of Positive Thought and Many Other Things

As you wander through a day there seems to be so many events and things happening that spark thoughts. I guess we are all affected in some ways by what is happening in the world and in our local area. Some people think deeply about what is going on but others are almost secretly affected.

Obviously anything to do with money and finances, anything to do with work and roads and travel affects us. But as you get older you realise that there are so many other things that can make it a good day or a bad day.

Some wonderful people rarely have bad days because they have an optimistic outlook on life. Others struggle through blackness and pessimism. I find myself somewhere in the middle, fluctuation in my moods depending on what is happening.

And in our modern world we crave things happening because of the disposable society in which we live. We are so used to change that we become concerned and agitated when it doesn’t happen. This can lead to a feeling of boredom and even sadness and also lead to us hunting for things in areas alien to us.

I hold diplomas in both life coaching and sports psychology, so have been trained in a small way to understand how and why an individual acts and how to improve their lives through positive thinking, which isn’t always easy. Before you can teach somebody to be positive you have to strip away the negativity. Of course it is always easier to be positive when things are going right but less easy when they aren’t and it’s when things are going wrong that positivity is needed the most. It’s a definite Catch 22 situation.

For many years I served as a Samaritan helper – a kind of shady world where you aren’t allowed to tell people what you do in your spare time. I actually quite enjoyed the cloak and dagger stuff of sloping off  to the centre in Norwich for my weekly duty, often staying out all night and trying to catch some sleep at the centre between phone calls.

It was a wonderful experience and one I will always treasure. Samaritans is a unique organisation as it is there to listen, never to judge, but to help through quiet reflection. Sometimes this can be very demanding, but essentially the idea is to get people to reflect and find their own path through their problems and troubles. In the same way life coaching is about getting people to set themselves achievable goals. The goals have to be realistic and positive. Sports psychology isn’t a million miles away either. It teaches a person to perform to the top of their ability while being focused.

What I learnt above all other things in these matters is that a positive attitude can see you through most things and also have a huge affect on your health and well being, not to mention happiness. Being positive and optimistic isn’t a cop out, it is almost a statement of intent about your life. It can come over as being uncaring, however, and it can also anger others when you refuse to get angry over situations that infuriate them.

In general, however, being positive is a very good thing, If you aren’t a positive person by nature try taking a course in life coaching. Believe me it will help you to put things in perspective.

I didn’t mean to start this blog with the above, but, as usual, as soon as I started writing the words just flowed. That’s the power of the written word.

So what else shall we cover today?

How about the trial of Anders Breivik in Oslo – the man accused of killing 77 young people. Does he have the right to a trial and does he have the right to churn out his ultra right views?

This is a tough one. Yes everyone has the right to a trial but there are two schools of thought as to whether he has the right to explain himself through views that are by and large inhuman. Add to this the fact that the man is quite obviously insane and it’s a difficult mix. On the one hand do we really want to hear the hatred and rubbish coming out of his mouth but on the other do we want to understand in some small way why he carried out these atrocities in such a usually peaceful city?

One of the survivors surprisingly advocated allowing him to speak in order to help their understanding of the situation. I say that if it helps this one person to get some peace from the trauma then it is worthwhile. What we don’t want to hear is a garbled account of fascist groups that quite obviously only exist in Breivik’s imagination and above all what we don’t want to hear is medical evidence that Breivik has some kind of syndrome which might excuse his behaviour. He probably suffers from MBS – Murdering Bastard Syndrome.

Interesting situation in our village yesterday. We currently have a hosepipe ban in force due to severe drought conditions which seems strange as it has rained non stop for days on end. It is also strange that our area is sending water to other parts of the country that don’t have a hosepipe ban. I have it on good authority that there was a major water leak due to a burst pipe in the village. I am reliably told that it took Anglian Water many hours to repair it whilst water shot out at an alarming rate. What a waste.

ILowestoft, Norwich, Cromer and Beccles. There is an archive of British newspapers but I cannot trace any on which I worked. Maybe someday my stories will be available thus making a lie of the old saying that today’s news is tomorrow’s fish and chip paper. I would prefer to say that today’s news is tomorrow’s history. That’s the primary reason I cover the village for various newspapers and web sites. I want to leave a record of what Hethersett is/was like in the early years of the 21^st Century.

Heard about a scam yesterday that is a bit naughty rather than being downright criminal. Obtaining an European Health Insurance Card is free. You can get them through the official National Health Service web site. Many people are being taken in, however, by web sites offering to provide a service for obtaining the cards. These sites usually charge between £10 and £15 and many state that the charge is to cover administration costs. What they will say is that they are fully checking applications to ensure they meet the necessary criteria. What of course they are doing is making money under false pretences, leaving people totally unaware that this is a free service that only requires the filling in of a form which is available both on-line and from post offices.

Yesterday I touched on the subject of fare prices etc. It always seems potty to me that people on trains, aircraft and buses making the same journey have all probably paid different prices for their travel.

Some people pay full price whilst others spend a little time searching out bargains on the Internet and saving themselves money. Nowhere is this more obvious than on trains. I spend time searching through tickets on trainline.com and there are some bargains to be had if you are flexible. It does throw up some anomalies as well. Over the past couple of years I have regularly

• Bought two single tickets which turn out to be much cheaper than a return
• Travelled first class which has been cheaper than travelling second class and, my particular favourite:
• Travelled on a ticket with two parts to the journey and only undertaken the first part.

The final of these points needs some explaining. The journey I wanted to take was from Norwich to London. I found that a journey from Norwich to Southampton via London was actually cheaper. So I bought the tickets and just didn’t do the London to Southampton bit of the journey. Next time you want to use public transport try fiddling around on the Internet, you could save yourself a considerable amount of money.

This morning I have been down to Woodside Infant and Nursery School to take pictures of their Paralympic themed day where youngsters experienced what it is like to play sports such as goal ball and boccia. The pupils also learnt about Paralympic Games – another excellent village event.

Tonight we launch the new Hethersett social running club. The forecast for this afternoon is for hail and thunder. Let’s hope it is all over before this evening. Will report on how it went tomorrow.

Pointles Words, Steering our Lives and Remembering a Friend

In modern society we seem to have picked up so many overused words. Words that should be special but have become mundane. Sport and reality TV  shows must shoulder the blame for much of this.

The most over-used word in the English language is probably “Awesome” which is used by young people with very little experience of the world to describe something that actually varies from the appalling to the reasonably good.

Just watch the X Factor and see how many times some run of the mill ordinary performance is described as “utterly awesome.” I know I’ve gone on about this before but usually the word is used to describe something that is anything but awesome. The problem is when you are confronted with something that is awesome (happens probably a handful of times in a whole lifetime) it will now be devalued by the over use of the word. Therefore it is a word that has had to exit from my vocabulary.

Likewise how many times have you heard a footballer being interviewed after the match refer to something as massive?

“How big was that win today?” comes the question.

“Massive” comes the spontaneous reply.

Mind you getting Carlos Tevez to use the word would be a step in the right direction and preferable to his response to a question on television after he had ripped Norwich apart. He refused to answer the question, grabbed a bottle of champagne that was going to be presented to him for being man of the match, ducked under the camera and walked off much to the embarrassment of teammate Vincent Kompany who was left to answer questions on his own and managed to sound intelligent and interesting and thankfully, didn’t describe the victory as “a massive win.”

Companies spend much of their life using pointless phrases as well. You buy a new mobile phone or a new TV set and you receive a letter which starts “Congratulations on buying an xxxxx,” as if you have done something hugely noteworthy in parting with your cash on their product.

Airlines usually end their trips with “Thank you for choosing (name of airline) today and we look forward to welcoming you aboard again soon.” This is a particularly nauseating one as the chances are you didn’t choose the airline it just happened to be the one going to the destination you picked or being used for the holiday you wanted and secondly even if you do go on aboard again soon you won’t be recognised.

Let’s go back to something like a new mobile phone. You receive an e-mail or letter with words like “relax – all you have to do now is sit back and enjoy your new (product name)” as if just because you have bought their phone all your worldly troubles just melt away in the enjoyment of the moment of owning their product. It really sound as if you should be holding a party and celebrating the fact that you now have their product, which of course is always so superior to others on the market. You are made to feel wise and clever. See if you get the same comments when the thing goes wrong and you have to complain (usually to a call centre in India where you can’t understand a word that is coming from the other end).

I well remember a friend getting so worked up at her washing machine breaking down and not getting anywhere with her complaints that she eventually phoned the company up and used the immortal words “you can keep your fucking appliance from science”. That will probably give the make away.

There is a huge gulf between what happens and how you are treated when you buy something and when you try to get it sorted when it goes wrong. Another thing that really bugs is the emphasis on attracting new custom but ignoring loyal customers. You see this all the time.

Say you join a gym and pay £50 a month (just an imaginary scenario). A few months down the road they have a special offer of £20 for six months as they try to entice new membership. This really p----s off existing members who are paying 15 times more and falling firmly into the “once we’ve got them lets ignore and fleece em” category. I’m convinced that is one of the primary reasons people leave organisations etc. The organisations, companies that flourish are those that look after loyal members instead of trying just for the quick fix of newness.

My thoughts today go across the pond to a friend who died yesterday. Ironically I never met Steve but he was still a mate. I belong to a virtual music club which has just 12 members. Nine of us come from the UK, two from USA and one from Austria. We e-mail and talk about music and have a real bond. It’s not a club you can join. You have to be invited and it is restricted to 12. I got to know one of the members through the internet and our shared love of the music and songs of Harry Chapin. When one of the members dropped out I was asked to join.

Two years ago some of us met up in the wonderful city of Liverpool where much of the emphasis was obviously on music and the Beatles in particular. So I have met some of the guys but not others – including Steve from Michegan

Isn’t it strange (and strangely wonderful) how in our modern world people we have never met face to face can have an impact on our lives and often steer them in a general direction. The virtual music club has given me considerable support over the years and I hope in some small way I have been able to support others, This is surely what life is all about.

Rachmanism, Technology and the Big Society

Today I would like to talk about being a landlord of property and how it’s not all its cracked up to be. Let’s start with Peter Rachman. That guy gave landlords a really bad name. We have to turn the clock back to the 1950s and 60s and the Notting Hill area of London. Rachman was born in Poland and became notorious as a landlord exploiting tenants. Indeed Rachmanism came into the English language as a description of a greedy and unscrupulous landlord.

Rachman built up a property empire in London and packed his properties with mainly immigrants from the West Indies. He drove out existing tenants in order to maximise his rentals, which became extremely high.

The ironic thing about Rachman was his former life as a member of the Polish resistance He was interned by the Germans and later in a Soviet labour camp in Siberia where he was cruelly treated. He later fought on behalf of the Allies in the Middle East and Italy. He moved to England in 1948 but obviously the lessons learned in prisoner of war camps did little to imbue in him kindness to his fellow man and woman – apart of course in the shape of numerous affairs he had in England.

I mention this because many landlords still receive a bad Press and it is thought that Rachmanism still exists. I am sure it does, but there is another side to this story. Over the past few weeks I have heard of numerous situations where sitting tenants have stopped paying rent and almost taken up squatter’s rights. As a result the landlords have been faced with loss of rent, people living in their houses without permission and having to resort to law to get them out. This involves obtaining court orders, paying solicitors and, when they eventually do regain possession of their property, finding it at best in a filthy condition and at worse severely damaged.

Talk to the authorities on this and they will tell you that the tenants have rights. So what about the rights of the landlords in these cases?

Another thing I would like to mention today is how new technology leads to a jungle of confusion. Had cause yesterday to ring up about an appointment (won’t bore you with the details). Firstly I was given the usual five options. I pressed one of them only to be given another five. I pressed one of these and was eventually answered only to be told that I had come through to the wrong place. Suddenly I felt this was my fault. Years ago the person I spoke with would have just transferred me but in today’s automated world I had to go through the process again. The stupidity of this kind of situation was brilliantly illustrated by a friend a few years ago.

He worked in the office of a large company. Each year he renewed his home insurance through this company and could do this by visiting a colleague who worked three doors down. This year the company, like so many, had outsourced their call centres to India. My friend was told that he would have to phone this call centre. You have probably guessed what happened next. He phoned the call centre which in turn phoned his colleague three rooms away who then sorted the matter out and posted the documents to his home address. And they call that progress!!!!

When is goalline technology going to be introduced into football? After Chelsea were awarded a goal in the FA Cup semi-final that quite obviously hadn’t crossed the line, we were subjected to all the old arguments about bringing in goalline technology. So why are we still talking about this? Technology works well in cricket and tennis and it’s obviously going to come into football. So let’s stop the yabbering and bring it in before more teams have good goals ruled out or are awarded goals that aren’t

Big sports story today is how football players at all levels dive in the penalty area in order to gain penalties. There seems to be some outcry that this is happening and  some people seem to think this is something new. It’s been happening for years. Most teams will have a player who flops over in the penalty area – I know Norwich City have. So let’s not get sanctimonious about this. It happens and makes a mockery of the national football respect campaign as essentially it is cheating that is supported by all clubs

Journalist Shaun Custis made a very good point on Sky Sports this morning on this subject. He pointed out that honest players and national institutions like Frank Lampard, Steven Gerrard, Michael Owen and David Beckham have all dived for penalties. He also pointed out that there is outrage and anger amongst fans if an opposition player does it but total support if one of their team does it. If say Norwich (my team) are playing Chelsea at home and Lampard dives and wins a penalty the home supporters will go mental, accusing the player of cheating. Now take those same fans and transport them to Wembley for an important England game and the same player dives again to win a penalty and the support for his actions will almost be 100%.

Yes we need to get rid of diving but I’m not sure how you can achieve this as it seems to be endemic in our game and the rewards are so big and the pressure on players so great. Even bringing in technology to help with this will only lead to confusion as often evidence on penalties is inconclusive and open to personal interpretation.

Last night as chairman of the village football club our panel interviewed coaches/managers from nine teams about their aims and intentions for next season. It was a very long but highly worthwhile night with some very interesting points being brought out. Running a football club our size with anything up to 16 teams has become like running a small business. It all functions on volunteers as well. Prime Minister David Cameron continually goes on about the Big Society and how we need more volunteers. As I have said so many times before these volunteers already exist in every city, town and village in our country. Without them the country would virtually grind to a halt. Certainly plans to tax charitable donations will in no way help the Big Society. It is an ill thought out policy that seems to go against the whole idea of self help, penalising the very people the Big Society is supposed to be supporting.

I know in these blogs that I make numerous comments on political issues and politics itself. I feel that I am entitled to do this as I support no particular party. I accept that party politics has to exist at national level but feel there is no place for it at parish and district level where the only criteria should be serving local communities without the millstone of having to tow a particular party line. On BBC local television last night an MP (his name escapes me) had the guts to attack his own party for their stance on charitable donations. He was absolutely right to say what he did and brave as well. Our society is a good one but it would be even better if everyone worked together for the common good and cast aside jealousies and petty squabbles.

This blog’s word count is now beginning to move into anorak land. Only just over halfway through April and it amounts to over 56,500 words since the start of the year. At this rate the magnum opus is going to be approaching a quarter of a million words by the end of the year and I bet I have been repeating myself in certain areas. Sorry!

A Moody Day... They are Digging Up the Bloody Road Again!

The weather really sums up my mood today - alternately bright sunshine and then dull and showery.

I suppose when you wake up you are never quite sure what kind of mood you will be in. Whether the mood is decided by what's inside you or by the day's events is a matter of conjecture. Probably a bit of both. Probably staying up very late last night to catch up on e-mails, stories for the newspaper and web sites was a mistake. I am now finding my voluntary work takes up a good three to four days a week and brings its own pressures. Problem is if I gave it up I would probably be rather bored. Perhaps I need to find a happy medium (and I'm not talking about a lady who smiles a lot and communes with the dead).

This morning I was down to have a golf lesson with one of the professionals at a local club. I was so concerned at not having heard from them that I rang up both yesterday and today to confirm and was told everything was in order. Actually far from it. When I got there they had nobody available for the lesson and seemed to be confused about what it actually was and where it had been booked. Eventually they found the appointment in a diary. So despite booking it in person and confirming it through phone calls it turned out to be a cock up. Not likely to improve my mood as I now have to re-schedule and what confidence can I have that it will go ahead next time? Perhaps I should just ask for the money back.

This blog is becoming rather a moan but c'est la vie. Noticed when I turned into my road that they are digging it up yet again. This seems to be an almost weekly and certainly monthly occurrence. The last twice they have wiped out my telephone line and consequently I was left without internet connection for days. Let's hope that isn't going to happen again this time. One has to ask how many times they (and I presume it's contractors working for BT) have to dig up a road that has just 20 houses and why they can't sort out whatever the problem is without having to take it up and re-lay it yet again.

Today my thoughts are with a former colleague whose husband has just died from a heart attack.

Tonight is going to be a rather long one. Actually that's a strange phrase as every night is exactly the same length. Some just seem to be longer than others. Tonight will be continuing the football club interviews started yesterday. There's plenty to sort out between now and the start of next season in September.

Am particularly looking forward to our new social running club which starts this Thursday and continues for 10 weeks. It will be nice to get back into running and improve my fitness.

There seems to be a dearth of good music at the moment. Each Monday I like to check out new releases on Napster but have been struggling in recent weeks to find anything interesting. Today I've actually reverted to listening to yet another Moody Blues compilation which does pose a question. How many times can a best of or greatest hits package be released? This one is called Nights in White Satin - The Collection and is suspiciously similar to so many other MB compilations - just another collection re-packaged. Much better to listen to the original albums in order to put the songs in the right context. Justin Hayward does have one of the great voices though.

Should the Grand National Be Banned?

I almost feel duty bound to talk about the Grand National today following the death of two horses in this year’s race.

The National is one of our country’s iconic sporting events. The year throws up a number of these that capture the imagination of the public. They include the Grand National, the Derby, the World Snooker Championship, the University Boat Race, the Cup Final and a handful more.

These are events that bring in a television audience of millions. Virtually every sports fan will know that the Grand National takes place in April. It is truly iconic.

This year the focus has been on the two horses that were put down following the race. One just happened to be one of our top animals Synchronised. That fact is fairly irrelevant. When it comes to animals dying in this race it scarcely seems to matter much whether they are champions or second raters. They are all living, breathing animals.

At the end of the day the Grand National is about two things (and I’m not sure what order they come in). It is about sport and money. It is also the greatest race over jumps in the world. It fires the imagination like no other race (The Derby included). I have been a horse racing fan for many years and thoroughly enjoy a day or evening out at the races. Primarily I am a fan of flat racing, but if I had to put races in order of enjoyment and importance the National would be at the top by some way.

It is a sporting spectacle. Now the talk will not be so much about sport as about whether the race is two dangerous. It’s a difficult argument about where safety should take over from spectacle. As an expert pointed out this morning – all sports have their element of danger. Formula One is highly dangerous, we had an oarsman collapse at this year’s Boat Race, Fabrice Mwamba had a heart attack whilst playing football, a 21-year-old Italian player died this week whilst playing football. Most sports have their dangers.

Of course people will point out that footballers, rugby players, racing drivers make their own decisions, know the dangers and also know that the rewards make taking those dangers worthwhile. Jockeys also know the dangers but of course the horses don’t.

I have to point out that having been round a number of racing stables I can attest to the fact that race horses by and large have a wonderful life. They are looked after, exercised, pampered and cared for in modern facilities and often when they retire from racing they are put out to stud. Horses love to run. They love to run fast and these are thoroughbreds.

So does that justify races like the Grand National or are they too dangerous? Well firstly if you water down the National and cut the number of sizes of the fences you will destroy it. It will become just another race. Who is really interested in the Welsh or Scottish Grand Nationals where the fences are smaller? It is the legend of fences like Beecher’s Brook, The Chair, Valentine’s Brook and the Foinavon that makes the National what it is. Every race fan will know what the phrase “crossing the Melling Road” means irrespective of whether they have a clue where in Liverpool the Melling Road is.

The National is the ultimate test of trainer, jockey and horse. It has been in existence at Aintree since 1839 and it has turned many horses into heroes (think about three times winner Red Rum in this context). Having never been a horse myself (well not knowingly anyway) I cannot attest to how they are feeling whilst taking part in the Grand National but my guess is that they enjoy themselves.

It is natural for a horse to run and jump. Just look at those that lose their rider and continue to happily follow the pack and jump fences when they could easily stop or run out of the course. They are conditioned and trained for these events and this is something we shouldn’t forget.

Winning the National, along with winning the Derby, is the highest accolade a racehorse can have. If we ban the race or scale it down it will be watering down this accolade. Yes it is tragic when horses have to be put down but we shouldn’t take this out of context. Two horses died, 38 either completed the course or fell and were physically sound.

I mentioned yesterday that I am at present reading a biography of Joseph Stalin, a man who was responsible for the murder, mass genocide and death of millions of his own people. Think of Hitler, Mugabi, Amin, Saddam Hussein – the list of those prepared to butcher human beings is almost endless. So I really don’t think we should get too emotive about the death of two horses.

Yes you can argue that they died because of the greed of people, they died because of the high stakes involved and they died in the name of sport and entertainment. But that is all part of our modern day lifestyle. Think about how many horses were needlessly led to slaughter in the inhumanity of the First World War and how many animals will be slaughtered today and everyday to provide us with meat for our Sunday roasts.

If we ban the Grand National, do we ban all Steeplechasing

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Talking of sport over the next two days Hethersett Athletic Football Club is interviewing all its managers/coaches for next season. The first two interviews took place this morning. The idea behind this is to ensure that all our teams are run efficiently and effectively and that the club is able to communicate better. We made a decent start but I’ve got a feeling tomorrow will be a long night.

From those interviews I went onto the Village Hall to take photographs for the village web site of the coming Yvonne School of Dance show which takes place in Norwich Theatre Royal in May. Was able to get some decent photos to help them with their advance publicity and also for my village web site.

Final port of call for the day was a charity cricket match at Hardingham for the Wymondham based Star Throwers Cancer Charity, more of which later.

Another Good Un Goes, Beatles and Norwegian Films

A few blogs ago I talked about people who had a positive inspiration on my life and sadly yesterday I heard that another of them had died.

I started my life as a reporter in the Suffolk seaside town of Lowestoft. At that time the sub editor was a Welshman by the name of Glynne Gwilliam (he had to be Welsh with a name like that). I had been told that Glynne could be tough and uncompromising. I found him friendly and helpful and we seemed to gel well, particularly as I shared his interest in Lowestoft Town and football statistics and also helped him with technology.

We are talking the 1970s here and so are not talking mobile phones, laptops and Ipads. No we are talking clanking, clanging, large machines. I'm not even sure of the name. But you had to have some kind of strange brain to be able to work them. So every week I would send over Glynne's copy covering Lowestoft Town for the Suffolk Sports paper The Green Un. So named not surprisingly because it was printed on green paper.

So myself and Glynne spent many Saturdays at Crown Meadow - the home of Lowestoft Town. Glynne also allowed me free rein to cover the local arts scene because he knew of my love of music and theatre. I was very lucky to start my working journalistic career at Lowestoft and very lucky to have the support of people like Glynne and Chief Reporter George Smallman.

I may have a few wet the pant moments at the end of May. We are going to Liverpool for four days and yesterday I booked to go on the Beatles Magical Mystery Tour for the second time. This coach goes round the places made famous by the Beatles. Not just that this time. I have booked with the National Trust to go round the insides of the homes of John Lennon and Paul McCartney - wow.

Am currently reading a biography of Joseph Stalin - it poses the question of just when supporting a cause turns into Megalomania. When did Stalin eschew Marxism and Bolshevism in the pursuit of personal domination and are people like this revolutionaries or just murderous thugs? Certainly not questions I have an answer to yet.

Today went into Norwich and had brunch at our favourite cafe - Cafe Morellos which is opposite Debenhams. Followed this by watching Norwich be completely outclassed by Manchester City. We lost 6-1 and analysing the Norwich performance is pointless as we were just beaten by a team with the potential to be world class. It is always interesting to see teams that buck the trend by playing small players. Spain won the World Cup this way, Barcelona do it brilliantly and so do Manchester City. Fast players with low centres of gravity and Norwich just couldn't compete with this style of fast attacking football.

Followed that by going to Cinema City to see the Norwegian language film Headhunters based on the novel by Jo Nesbo. Plenty of gore and guts. Somehow I kept thinking of two films - Duel and Straw Dogs. I think entertaining is the wrong word to describe it. but as a thriller it was half decent. I must read some of his books.

Have just watched Benjamin Lake on the Voice TV talent and reality show. Ben lives (or it might be lived as I have a feeling he recently moved) in Hethersett and I have written a number of articles about him for my village web site and also for the local Press. I have also had a few drinks in the Queen's Head with Ben. Sadly he didn't make it through.

The Norwich Titanic Association had a special display in Norwich Forum. It was very interesting tracing the family trees of Norfolk survivors, along with facsimiles and various other artifacts. I can't help feeling that there's been a bit of overkill on the Titanic front - not that it will stop us going round the new exhibition when we visit Belfast at the end of the month.

Backed 10 horses in the Grand National and only one of them came in the first four. Oh well such is life. It wasn't so much about the race this year as the death of two of the horses. I'm not getting into the argument pro and against cruelty to animals through horse racing as I am a fan of the sport. Nevertheless it's upsetting when there are fatalities.

Ricky Gervais, Ringo Starr, Liverpool, Roger Ellory and Ninja Turtles

Watched the new Ricky Gervais programme Derek last night and couldn't make my mind up whether it was being kind to disabled people or a bit of a p--s take. I sincerely hope it was the former. It's a tricky subject to attempt and a fine line between success and failure. Basically Gervais played the part of Derek, a worker in a care home for the elderly.. Derek would be classed as educationally sub normal (not sure whether this in itself is an acceptable phrase in our ever changing world). Certainly it is a difficult part to play and Gervais does it well - portraying a rather shambling individual who is both annoying but at the same time has a heart of gold.

Whether he strays across the thin line into the realms of bad taste is open to debate and I will be very interested to read the reviews. I will be charitable and stay on the side of the fact that it was a decent drama, handled reasonably well. I hope, however, that it isn't classed as a comedy as I saw in one of the preview pieces. That in itself would rather suggest a too light-hearted portrayal of very difficult subject matter. Essentially this was a one off drama, but I think it will turn into a series. Whether Gervais has the skill to keep things fresh over six or more episodes remains to be seen as developing his character will take some doing.

Spent last night booking and organising a coming trip to Liverpool - my favourite English City. Visiting Liverpool is to me like stepping straight into a history book. There is history at every turn whether it be the slavery museum, the Liver Building, The Mersey, Lime Street Station, the two cathedrals or everything to do with Merseybeat and the Beatles. I am particularly looking forward to visiting the new Liverpool Museum which wasn't open last time we visited.

Have already booked to go on the Beatles Magical Mystery Tour for the second time and today will be booking with the National Trust to go inside the former homes of John Lennon and Paul McCartney. "Nowhere Boy," the biopic of a young John Lennon, is one of my favourite films and portrays Liverpool of the last fifties and early sixties brilliantly. Even today it is impossible to walk down Penny Lane or stand outside the gates of Strawberry Fields without feeling the pulse of music history. Be interesting to see what has been done with the former home of Ringo Starr in Madryn Street.in the Toxteth area. Last time I went past it was boarded up ready for demolition. I think that is probably still the situation. It is important for Liverpool's heritage that Ringo's home is saved for the nation, even if the remainder of the street is ripped down and replaced by new buildings. It might feel a bit incongruous to have an old style terraced building remaining, but Ringo Starr has done more for the image of Liverpool than any builders or City planners. Interestingly a search on the Internet shows that a group called SAVE have bought a property in Madryn Street close to the former home of Ringo Starr with the idea of renovating it to prevent it being torn down. This is a campaign I can fully support.


If you have half an hour and want to read a very thought provoking article visit the official web site of author Roger Ellory and read his blogs about the potential breakdown of parts of society, how badly we are served by politicians with their vested interests and particularly how educational standards have gone to the dogs. I share many of Roger's concerns about literacy and the dumbing down of reading where we have created a throwaway society which spends its life on mobile phones and glued to such over the top glitz as X Factor. Sadly youngsters feel that this is the real world - it isn't. The real world is about paying bills, making ends meet and living from day to day.

I have a phrase for the kind of society described by Roger. I call it the Michelangelo Concept. Basically that's a concept whereby the majority of people recognise Michelangelo, Raphael, Donatello and Leonardo as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles rather than Italian Renaissance artists!!!!

A Drama Unfolding and Mobile Phone Mania

Let the pictures speak for themselves. That was the idea behind an intriguing documentary on Channel Four last night about the sinking of the Costa Concordia cruise ship. This excellent programme just relied on footage shot by passengers with the occasional comments from survivors. It gave it a strange almost ethereal feel, but above all said more about the incompetence of the crew than any interviews could ever do.

By using footage from cameras and mobile phones the programme allowed the drama to unfold before our very eyes as it happened. And it soon became apparent that 1/ there were just not enough lifeboats and 2/ the communication and information being given out was controlled and extremely poor. Add to that a captain and officers whose only aim seemed to be to save their own skins and it made for compelling viewing.

It also underlined that in our modern age it is impossible to "hush" anything up. We have all become journalists and photographers, ready and able to record any events and pass them on to the public via television documentaries and social media. If mistakes are being made there is absolutely no place for those making them to hide.

The worrying thing here was the Concordia obviously had a coward as its captain and that is of grave concern. You tend to assume when you undertake a cruise that the captain and officers are there for a bit more than to pose for photographs with guests and to clink glasses and toast each other at the gala banquets. The fact that on this vessel it seemed that they were literally out of their depths is worrying.

I have been on a number of cruises and really enjoy the relaxation which is mixed with on land visits. It's the perfect mix for a holiday. I have always hated the first day lifeboat drill where everyone wanders out to their particular muster station with lifejackets on and stand around (often in very hot conditions) whilst they are given a lifeboat drill.

My problem with this is that in a real emergency there is likely to be blind panic and not an orderly queue for the various muster stations. It would turn into the survival of the fittest as the captain of the Concordia proved. All the drills would go out of the window and at the end of the day the problem has been the same for the last 100 years. There weren't enough lifeboats on the Titanic and there weren't enough lifeboats on the Concordia. Add to that the fact that there seemed to be a lack of awareness on how to launch them on the Concordia and we are entering very dangerous territory indeed!

I think there is a great deal of tokenism on cruise ships - the same kind of view that there was on the Titanic in 1912 - a belief that the boat cannot possibly sink and if it does there are plenty of lifeboats to go round. This is patently not true and neither is the view that the captain and crew will direct operations when things go really wrong. I hope that this documentary will be the catalyst for cruise liners to really train their staff in safety principles and how to take charge of a life threatening situation. If it doesn't we could have another Concordia at virtually any time. This is an area where corners cannot and must not be cut.

Interesting take on the use of mobile phones yesterday with news that a stallholder on Norwich Market is refusing to serve refreshments to anybody on a mobile phone. Well done him. Mobiles can become highly addictive and anti social. After all if you are in a restaurant you wouldn't expect one of the waiters to be using a mobile.

It's incredible how talking into a mobile at all times of night and day has become the accepted norm. I can remember when mobiles first came out (about the size of a house brick and with a battery that lasted about two hours). I was working for Norfolk Constabulary at the time and was sent off into Norwich to test whether this particular monster worked. I was in Virgin Records when it rang and I scuttled out of the shop and almost hid in an alleyway to answer it - such was my embarrassment. Today people use them just about everywhere. I have even heard mobile phone conversations coming from behind a loo door.

So they can be anti social but they can also be dangerous. I only just avoided having an accident with a van last week because the driver was speaking into a phone with one hand and trying to turn a corner with the other. The thing that annoys me is not so much the fact they are using mobiles whilst trying to drive (and this alone can be highly dangerous) but that they refuse to have blue tooth technology put into their cars/vehicles. I know this can be quite costly but the blue tooth ear adaptors cost just a few pounds. It is an offence to drive whilst holding and speaking into a mobile. I know the police take it very seriously but I would like to see many more people stopped and prosecuted for this offence.

Television Vandalism, Regression and More Calls from India

The Shooting Yourself in the Foot Award for April 2012 goes to the BBC for their stupidity in showing repeats of  the game show Pointless and treating their viewers with what must approach contempt.

There we were approaching the halfway stage in Series Six when suddenly, and for no apparent reason, we reverted back to series four. So not only are we now subjected to repeats of shows shown just a year ago, we seem to have no guidance as to when we will return to the current series. It makes me turn to another channel and, of course, once somebody does that the BBC could be in danger of losing them when they do start broadcasting up to date shows.

It's all very confusing because the format of the show has changed somewhat between series four and six. I have no idea why we have gone backwards. Some people seem to think it's because of the Easter break but that makes no sense. It's like watching Coronation Street or Eastenders on Friday and then tuning in the following Monday to find the storyline has regressed and they are showing repeats from two years' previously with Jack Duckworth still alive (as far as Corrie goes).

The point I am really trying to make is that this kind of thing assumes that BBC viewers are idiots and won't realise they are watching stuff from two years ago with questions relating to 2010. It is a lack of respect as in "we will show you what we want to and not what you want to watch." It happens in other programmes as well but quizzes are particularly prone to this kind of thoughtless television vandalism.

This morning we have suffered a number of short power cuts which has been annoying, particularly as I'm trying to finish off writing a quiz for next Saturday to raise money for the coming June Jubilee Fair in the village. Seven rounds written, three to go. Whilst on the subject of quizzes we came fourth in last night's event at Wymondham Railway. The main problem is we were handicapped for having seven in our team as we didn't get too many answers wrong. Seems that the optimum number is four. Oh well it was another good night and the pub's 100th quiz. We did come away with a chocolate bottle!!!! and a large bottle of bubbly which will go down nicely when our first grandchild is born in September.

Well they got the weather forecast spectacularly wrong again. Today was supposed to be cloudy and wet. At the moment it's sunny and warm!!!

Had one of those highly annoying cold calls from India this morning. The most annoying thing about them is not that they ring in the first place and not that the assure you they aren't selling anything, but that they have a complete inability to pronounce my name. It's Steward as in a servant. They somehow always pronounce it Steeeward with long emphasis on the Steeeeee bit. Today's was even worse. They kept asking for Mr Annie. My wife's name is Anne so this is probably where they got it from. To me if they can't be bothered to get my name right I can't be bothered to be polite to them. It's another example of being treated with disrespect and as an object rather than a human being.

Walking Broadland, Result of the Season and Bubba

A five mile walk in Norfolk Broadland again today. Yesterday it rained and it was cold. Today bright sunshine and blue skies again. You can never tell.

Yesterday also saw one of the football results of the season with Norwich winning 2-1 at Tottenham. It's the result of the season in a season that has seen some fine performances from the Canaries.We were going to go to London but I thought it would be a futile trip. How wrong was I?

Tonight it's off to the quiz at Wymondham Railway again - a special Easter one. Have been working hard today to get my Hethersett village web site up to date, but still have a way to go.

Apparently The Zombies are playing in Norwich in June. I have seen them on a number of occasions and they really are excellent. So must dash out and buy tickets (actually I usually buy on the Internet so there's no need to dash anywhere).

Yesterday I said I would look into why golfer Bubba Watson is called Bubba. Appears that his Christian names are actually Gerry Lester. He can hit the ball 350 yards and at 194 mph which is nothing. I can hit the ball 95 yards at 25 mph - not something young Bubba can do. Bubba is 6ft 3in and 15 stone. In other words a big dude. Oh and his wife is 6ft 4in. As for Bubba - well that's a nickname and comes from professional American footballer Bubba Smith - so now you know.