There has been a lot going on.
The World Cup got the final it deserved. It was by far the least exciting I can remember, and in some of the better ones, England failed to qualify , so their early exit was not a contribution. It was just dull football. The final was awful, enough said.
The Government seem to be tackling a few aspects of society which I have written about before. The classic, though, is their plan to introduce two year degree courses. Given the first year of a degree course is usually tailored to educating the dim and dimmer in the basics they should have learnt at school, why don't they just call the two year course 'A' levels, and be done with it?
The people of Rothbury must now be mightily relieved the siege of their village has ended. The police were clearly influenced by earlier events in Cumbria and could not risk a further massacre. The subsequent photo opportunities at the death site and on-line hero worship was way over the top and correctly condemned by our Prime Minister.
He is right on track again this week with his views on health and safety, school trip restrictions and the general nanny State initiatives which have spread through society. If he can reintroduce controlled danger for the next generation of inquisitive kids, he will be doing well.
Real and present danger does, of course, still exist in Afghanistan as demonstrated almost daily. With our brother-in-law about to embark on his tour of duty at the weekend, there could be many long weeks ahead.
Thursday, 15 July 2010
Tuesday, 6 July 2010
Goodluck Jonathan
I have been running or jogging the streets for years. I tried to tie it in with my rugby training and then continued the habit once my playing days were behind me.
The most common route was a road run of just over 2.5 miles from and to Gunnersbury Station via Acton Town and Chiswick Park. In days gone by I could do it in about 20 minutes although I suspect today I would struggle to do it in less than 28.
I do wonder, though, whether it was doing me more harm than good, given that recent figures indicate 18 people a year die in Chiswick as a result of air pollution. I did move to running in the gym after I had my respiratory scare some years ago, and now that I am in Scouseland, I am able to run round Birkenhead Park and Wirral Ladies golf club which are havens of fresh air, by comparison.
Sunday saw the local Race for Life take place in said Park, and the girls, Hannah, Emma and Becky were able to complete the course in under 30 mins, with SWMBO managing a creditable 32 minutes, a little quicker than last year. Given her knee is shot and she is under the knife this week it was an excellent effort.
As with last year though I had to run the route to see how I would have done, and the answer is not too well. I went round today in 37.40. that was two minutes quicker than last weeks effort round the golf course, but still someway off my target of 35mins.
So its back on the treadmill for some serious training....the 10K in September, my one concession to Chiswick air quality, is looking a distant effort at the moment as I have 75mins to beat at that one
The most common route was a road run of just over 2.5 miles from and to Gunnersbury Station via Acton Town and Chiswick Park. In days gone by I could do it in about 20 minutes although I suspect today I would struggle to do it in less than 28.
I do wonder, though, whether it was doing me more harm than good, given that recent figures indicate 18 people a year die in Chiswick as a result of air pollution. I did move to running in the gym after I had my respiratory scare some years ago, and now that I am in Scouseland, I am able to run round Birkenhead Park and Wirral Ladies golf club which are havens of fresh air, by comparison.
Sunday saw the local Race for Life take place in said Park, and the girls, Hannah, Emma and Becky were able to complete the course in under 30 mins, with SWMBO managing a creditable 32 minutes, a little quicker than last year. Given her knee is shot and she is under the knife this week it was an excellent effort.
As with last year though I had to run the route to see how I would have done, and the answer is not too well. I went round today in 37.40. that was two minutes quicker than last weeks effort round the golf course, but still someway off my target of 35mins.
So its back on the treadmill for some serious training....the 10K in September, my one concession to Chiswick air quality, is looking a distant effort at the moment as I have 75mins to beat at that one
Friday, 18 June 2010
And the Rosslyn Park forwards all whisper 'heal'
So farewell Andy Ripley
A true gentleman of the finest order
A bohemian rugby player
He mucked around in boats
Was a true Superstar
And always had a good word for everyone
I ran in the Sunday Times fun run in Hyde Park with him and
I met him on the towpath at Chiswick one day in 2006
He was always a fighter, but in a very English way
It was hard to imagine he was ill
As a World class No8
That heavenly rugby team just got stronger
A true gentleman of the finest order
A bohemian rugby player
He mucked around in boats
Was a true Superstar
And always had a good word for everyone
I ran in the Sunday Times fun run in Hyde Park with him and
I met him on the towpath at Chiswick one day in 2006
He was always a fighter, but in a very English way
It was hard to imagine he was ill
As a World class No8
That heavenly rugby team just got stronger
Monday, 7 June 2010
Going once, going twice.....
I have just had two fab days up in Scotland playing golf at Turnberry, the 2009 Open Championship course. I played the Ailsa twice, and am pleased to report that the game held up well and I was part of the winning team, and came third individually, with my second round 86 being as good as I have played for a while.
I am a bit of a golf anorak, so on my return home I was able to check my golf logbooks and identify that in 1989 when i last played the Ailsa course I went round in 98. My handicap was 19 in those days, and we had played the Arran ( now Kintyre) course in the morning. Progress is progress, however, and for that I am thankful.
In that week during 1989 we played 36 holes round Prestwick Old Links, Kilmarnock Barassie, and 18 holes round Troon and Largs. These days 18 is enough both from the stamina perspective and for the fact golf seems to take longer to play.
At Turnberry people started batting off at 06:30 and the last crew we saw on the 18th was 22:15, so they probably started about 18:30. That's twelve hours golf with average 20 people per hour paying £125 each. £30,000 per day just from the one course.
I only had one embarrassment. You know when you see somebody you think you know, either from the pub or work or somewhere else social, well that happened to me. When I confronted the innocent chap it turned out to be Philip Searle from The Antiques Road Show, and Bargain Hunt. What a pleasant chap he turned out to be, just there for the craic like the rest of us.
I am a bit of a golf anorak, so on my return home I was able to check my golf logbooks and identify that in 1989 when i last played the Ailsa course I went round in 98. My handicap was 19 in those days, and we had played the Arran ( now Kintyre) course in the morning. Progress is progress, however, and for that I am thankful.
In that week during 1989 we played 36 holes round Prestwick Old Links, Kilmarnock Barassie, and 18 holes round Troon and Largs. These days 18 is enough both from the stamina perspective and for the fact golf seems to take longer to play.
At Turnberry people started batting off at 06:30 and the last crew we saw on the 18th was 22:15, so they probably started about 18:30. That's twelve hours golf with average 20 people per hour paying £125 each. £30,000 per day just from the one course.
I only had one embarrassment. You know when you see somebody you think you know, either from the pub or work or somewhere else social, well that happened to me. When I confronted the innocent chap it turned out to be Philip Searle from The Antiques Road Show, and Bargain Hunt. What a pleasant chap he turned out to be, just there for the craic like the rest of us.
Wednesday, 26 May 2010
Happy birthday to you....
The third anniversary of the blog passed while we were away. Gosh doesn't time fly. I started the blog to track the sale of the London property and would not have guessed that it would have taken two and a half years to complete that process, and at some cost. Still i got a very pleasant e-mail from the new owners this week enforcing how pleased they were with the purchase.
One is never sure what these old houses unearth once renovations start so it is good that no skeletons have been found in the attic. I must have done a good job bricking them up!!!
The place needed a new touch and I know they have done some alterations so good luck to them. They have kept my stained glass windows which they removed, so I will need to collect those at some stage, and may get a guided tour then.
So what else is new since May 2007....Tim , our oldest, got married, Emma, our youngest, produced our first grand child, Ava. I got to play golf with Tiger Woods (almost) in a Pro-Am, I managed to hang onto my job, although for how much longer is up for debate. Everybody had maintained good health given age and circumstances and all in all life has moved on in a reasonable and controlled manner.
In three more years I will have retired, my countdown clock says 1015 days to go!! I am sure we will have other grand children by then, and Ava can show them the ropes. England may have won a football trophy to go with the rugby World Cup and the World 20/20 cricket victory, but will the mighty Green Army bounce back into the Championship (that's the new Premiership for poor clubs who play British players in the team)?
So into year four we go, the blog at least gives my Google entry some credibility and it sits nicely with my named brick in the Olympic Park in Atlanta, the S Club brick at Twickenham Stadium and my fathers golf trophy at the golf club in Plymouth. A trail of discovery awaits anybody researching the Weathers clan.
One is never sure what these old houses unearth once renovations start so it is good that no skeletons have been found in the attic. I must have done a good job bricking them up!!!
The place needed a new touch and I know they have done some alterations so good luck to them. They have kept my stained glass windows which they removed, so I will need to collect those at some stage, and may get a guided tour then.
So what else is new since May 2007....Tim , our oldest, got married, Emma, our youngest, produced our first grand child, Ava. I got to play golf with Tiger Woods (almost) in a Pro-Am, I managed to hang onto my job, although for how much longer is up for debate. Everybody had maintained good health given age and circumstances and all in all life has moved on in a reasonable and controlled manner.
In three more years I will have retired, my countdown clock says 1015 days to go!! I am sure we will have other grand children by then, and Ava can show them the ropes. England may have won a football trophy to go with the rugby World Cup and the World 20/20 cricket victory, but will the mighty Green Army bounce back into the Championship (that's the new Premiership for poor clubs who play British players in the team)?
So into year four we go, the blog at least gives my Google entry some credibility and it sits nicely with my named brick in the Olympic Park in Atlanta, the S Club brick at Twickenham Stadium and my fathers golf trophy at the golf club in Plymouth. A trail of discovery awaits anybody researching the Weathers clan.
Tuesday, 25 May 2010
Yeah man
I am back from a few weeks of sun in the West Indies, getting a tan and grooving my swing for the upcoming golf challenges I face. The hotel had one communal tele and that was it, no internet feeds, no newspapers and no children. Deep joy.
The ash cloud did its best to prevent us getting there, but all credit to the Virgin Airways flight crew who worked to within 30 minutes of their legal hours to get us there, albeit 7 hours late. We returned on schedule, and what a changed place we arrived back to.
A hung parliament when we left meant we had no idea who was ruling Brittania, so it was interesting to see 'our' Dave had jumped into bed with young Clegg to form a Lib/Dem/Con government. Grumpy Gordon has fallen on his sword I hear so it will be interesting to have a new leader of the opposition. I am still catching up on the other political ramifications.
Money markets continue to drop on the back of the uncertainty in the Euro zone and I see an indiscreet IBM executive has forecast that the IBM worldwide work force could reduce by 299,000 employees in the next 5 years. Wow. Our leader is denying this and describes the comments as ludicrous. Time will tell.
I see Chelsea did the league and FA Cup double this year. Gone are the days when this was a rare feat for any team to achieve. it is now becoming much more the norm. One piece of sports news I did catch up with was England winning the 20/20 World Cup. As it was in the West Indies while we were there we did manage to take in a couple of group games and the England semi-final. All a good craic.
The sun has blasted the UK while we were away but has now done the usual and disappeared behind the clouds up here in Scouse, no doubt it will rain on the Bank Holiday weekend!!
So welcome back to Blighty I say. I will search out my first pint of Pride later today.
The ash cloud did its best to prevent us getting there, but all credit to the Virgin Airways flight crew who worked to within 30 minutes of their legal hours to get us there, albeit 7 hours late. We returned on schedule, and what a changed place we arrived back to.
A hung parliament when we left meant we had no idea who was ruling Brittania, so it was interesting to see 'our' Dave had jumped into bed with young Clegg to form a Lib/Dem/Con government. Grumpy Gordon has fallen on his sword I hear so it will be interesting to have a new leader of the opposition. I am still catching up on the other political ramifications.
Money markets continue to drop on the back of the uncertainty in the Euro zone and I see an indiscreet IBM executive has forecast that the IBM worldwide work force could reduce by 299,000 employees in the next 5 years. Wow. Our leader is denying this and describes the comments as ludicrous. Time will tell.
I see Chelsea did the league and FA Cup double this year. Gone are the days when this was a rare feat for any team to achieve. it is now becoming much more the norm. One piece of sports news I did catch up with was England winning the 20/20 World Cup. As it was in the West Indies while we were there we did manage to take in a couple of group games and the England semi-final. All a good craic.
The sun has blasted the UK while we were away but has now done the usual and disappeared behind the clouds up here in Scouse, no doubt it will rain on the Bank Holiday weekend!!
So welcome back to Blighty I say. I will search out my first pint of Pride later today.
Tuesday, 4 May 2010
Soap box superstar
I had a drink with Frank Field on Friday night. Frank is the long standing Labour MP for Birkenhead, and he was in my local with his campaign team relaxing after a long week on the hustings.
They are a weird lot, volunteer canvassers. I group them with twitchers, train spotters and the Greenham Common peace camp occupants as right up there at the top of the anorak league table.
His campaign leader, however, was an all together more rounded chap. In his early 30's he was up from Central Office in London to add some structure and support to the campaign. I did indicate to him that Franks seat must be one of the most secure Labour seats in the Country, but he was gracious enough to say that nothing could be taken for granted.
When he realised I was from his neck of the woods, the conversation quickly changed to a discussion about Anne Keen, the current MP for Hounslow West. He indicated that the seat had become a marginal now, in no little way due to the fact that Anne and her husband Alan, were an expenses scandal even before there was an expenses scandal!!
I shall watch all three candidates with interest to see what becomes of them on Thursday night, or Friday morning.
They are a weird lot, volunteer canvassers. I group them with twitchers, train spotters and the Greenham Common peace camp occupants as right up there at the top of the anorak league table.
His campaign leader, however, was an all together more rounded chap. In his early 30's he was up from Central Office in London to add some structure and support to the campaign. I did indicate to him that Franks seat must be one of the most secure Labour seats in the Country, but he was gracious enough to say that nothing could be taken for granted.
When he realised I was from his neck of the woods, the conversation quickly changed to a discussion about Anne Keen, the current MP for Hounslow West. He indicated that the seat had become a marginal now, in no little way due to the fact that Anne and her husband Alan, were an expenses scandal even before there was an expenses scandal!!
I shall watch all three candidates with interest to see what becomes of them on Thursday night, or Friday morning.
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