Journal Entries
Guilty pleasures
Posted Jun 15, 2007
I had a conversation with someone whose opinions I respect and posed the question "What is the most embarrassing track on your iPod?" This is a simple question and when you are talking to someone you have known for sometime and trust, it is fine to share the horrors of your music collection.
Except that the person in question used every excuse going to avoid the question:
Excuse 1 - "My iPod is broken"
Fair enough Apple's build quality is seriously shocking at the moment, but you must have iTunes.
Excuse 2 - "I don't use iTunes"
OK but you have a music collection, I know for a fact that you are obsessed with a band named after bovine spit.
Excuse 3 - "I have excellent taste in music, so the question of embarrassing tracks is moot in my case!!! Go on, what's your most embarrassing track?"
Right well, in a spirit of openness I will confess what I confessed to him. I have a soft spot for the Little Angels 'Greatest Hits' album. It was ELO but ever since the brilliant Doctor Who episode 'Love and Monsters' Jeff Lynne is cool again.
And no I am not ashamed. It has some seriously good memories of uni atatched to it. (Little Angels not ELO. ELO has seriously good memories of pre-primary school.)
So here is the question - what will *you* confess to loving?
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Latest reply: Jun 15, 2007
My new mantra
Posted Jun 7, 2007
I must *not* blog about work...
I must *not* blog about work...
I must *not* blog about work...
No matter how bad it gets... no matter *how* bad it gets, I must *not* blog about work.
But it is so tempting. The things I have seen today... the things I saw in the last hour.
But I cannot.
I must not.
It would be too obvious and I will get into serious trouble.
Someone distract me, please!
Discuss this Journal entry [9]
Latest reply: Jun 7, 2007
Horse or man?
Posted Jun 3, 2007
Being a racing fan I was thrilled to be at Epsom to see Frankie finally pop his Derby cherry. To hear the roar of the crowd as the short priced favourite Authorized stormed into the lead made all the hairs on my neck stand up. If you listened carefully you could hear the bookies whimpering.
I am a huge fan of Frankie; despite the fact that the only time I met him he was incredibly rude to me. But he is exceptionally talented, a great statesman for racing and he works his tiny tiny a*** off. But I was saddened to see that most of the news was about Frankie and to a lesser extent the trainer Peter Chapple-Hyam rather then the real star of the whole event, Authorized himself.
Yesterday I was talking to a Racing Post journalist who I found myself standing next to. He said that if Frankie didn't win, he would go home about half an hour after the race. If Frankie won he reckoned he would be at the course for a least three hours afterwards. Yesterday was all about Frankie. But his win only came because his employers, Godolphin, did not have an obvious Derby horse and agreed to release him from his exclusive deal to ride for them. Indeed it is looking like he might be free to ride Authorized again as they are not sure they have anything good enough to be entered in the races Authorized is being aimed at.
Godolphin, despite having all the riches of Dubai to throw at the sport, have had a lean few years recently. Their last Derby winner was in 1995 in the glorious chestnut shape of Lammtarra. Godolphin's crazy decision to boycott the progeny of stallions owned by Irish bloodstock operation, Coolmore has denied them and Frankie a credible Derby horse as well as countless other prestigious race victories.
That might sound like a bold assertion but the Racing Post noted that the majority of Derby runners were either sired by Coolmore's top stallions, or had a Coolmore stallion as a grand-sire. If they weren't so short-sighted who knows when Frankie would have won his first Derby. He probably would have been riding for them yesterday.
Authorized on the other hand, is a horse that would have started a short priced favourite even if I had been riding him. I would be so bold as to say he probably would have won too! He is head and shoulders above his generation of three year olds, with the possible exceptions of those who through injury or stud duties remain unknown quantities. We do know how good Authorized is. He now has a Racing Post rating (their guide to a horse's ability) as high as any Derby winner in the last ten years. He is rated a whole ten points ahead of last year’s winner and my personal favourite, Sir Percy.
Frankie gave Authorized a good ride yesterday, but not great. I believe the horse could have finished further ahead of the field then the winning margin of 5 and a half lengths. The pace of the race was fast, but Authorized was further off the pace then he should have been in the middle of the race. Thus a lot of his electrifying acceleration was in effect wasted on making ground that he should have had in hand.
He is a worthy winner. I have no doubt that Frankie will win other Derbys, but that was Authorized's only shot. He will probably run two or three more times this year and then will be off to stud. I doubt his owners will be as brave as the owners of last year's winner, Sir Percy and campaign him as a four year old. His stud value is just too great.
But that is all by-the-by. The main story is that at the 15th time of asking, Frankie finally won the Derby.
This racing fan, at least, thinks yesterday belonged to Authorized.
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Latest reply: Jun 3, 2007
Can I sue Nintendo?
Posted May 31, 2007
I have suffered with travel sickness all my life - as a child I threw up on the mile every mile.
Nowadays cars, tubes and buses are hell. Tubes, trains and lifts are pretty awful and don't get me started on ships.
But MarioKart DS?
Someone is having a larf!
Discuss this Journal entry [2]
Latest reply: May 31, 2007
Loose lips and treacle tarts
Posted May 30, 2007
There is a family tradition which involves a fondness for treacle tarts. It reached its zenith (or nadir if you were the cook) when my Mum decided to make a treacle tart for a big birthday party she was throwing my Dad. She lovingly made the tart and little pastry letters spelling out 'Happy Birthday Richard', which she laid on top. She then put it in the oven.
The treacle mixture warmed and due to the wonder of physics became less viscous then it had once been. When it was taken out of the oven, the letters had rearranged themselves into a new and utterly unpronouncable message. A few years later they separated - my parents that is, not the pastry letters.
I don't think it was connected, my Dad is not that petty, but perhaps the first event was a sad divination of the second. Anyway this is by the by.
As has been the case for at least the last thirty years, I have once again managed to say what is undeniable true, but definitely best kept to myself.
You really think I would learn. It's not as if I have an unblemished record on this particular subject. In fact I seem to do it rather a lot. Then I spend days and days regretting it, but secretly knowing that I will do it again and probably sooner then I think.
In an attempt to make myself feel better, I took refuge in a treacle tart. Not literally you understand, that would have been very sticky and not a bit impractical.
I foolishly thought that it would make me feel better. Two bites in and I regretted it. As treacle tarts go it was profoundly disappointing, but it was more then that. It just didn't help as much as I thought it would. So I threw it away.
It still leaves the question, what does it take to make me keep my mouth shut?
Failing that, what does it take to get a decent tart in Chelsea?
Discuss this Journal entry [13]
Latest reply: May 30, 2007
Lochangel
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