Happy Snapping

This picture was particularly encouraging to me. Whilst in Switzerland I had the misfortune to drive a Smart ForTwo car and found it one of the most irritating driving experiences since the original Mercedes A-Class. So, what a delight it was, upon landing back at Amsterdam Schiphol airport, to see that someone shared my opinion of the Smart when deciding where to park it:

The Sickest Site on the Internet...

...according to the 'News Of The World'. And I, for one, can't think of a better moral arbiter than that august journal. If, however, after that warning you're still prepared to give it a whirl, then go to http://www.derbydeadpool.co.uk and take a look at their spin on Fantasy Leagues. I particularly enjoyed the entry on Ronnie Biggs.

Still, if you like black humour and are up for a challenge, then it might make a change from your Fantasy Football league. I'm planning to put up a team myself for next year. But who to select? There are so many good candidates to choose from. Ah, the agony of choice - an embarrassment of riches!

It's not easy being a corporate

If, like me, you take the corporate dollar, and you see them from the inside, you may not have much sympathy for large American corporates. Of course, you may have even less sympathy if you don't work for one! Anyway, having seen an excellent colleague RIFfed recently, I've seen some of the downside, but there are always occasions when these monoliths show a "mouse of compassion" (I think that's the phrase Le Carré uses in 'The Russia House') and then I'm amazed, touched and impressed. So, I suppose 'mixed feelings' sums it up (and I'm not convinced anywhere else has better standards of behaviour).

Anyway, such personal feelings aside, you have to feel sorry for Bausch & Lomb, the people who make RayBan sunglasses and, as such, one of the cooler corporates around. They were also hip enough to snap up a chunk of the Berlin Wall (graffiti and all) as a talking point for the Food Court at their Rochester, N.Y. headquarters. Someone really had an eye for a piece of history. Unfortunately, not everyone around them shared this visionary nature and, using their initiative, someone made sure that the nasty, dirty piece of wall had been sandblasted nice and clean prior to shipping to its new owners! Good work, guys...

(Full story with picture at http://rocwiki.org/Berlin_Wall?action=highlight&value=berlin )

Dates, Terrorism, Men and Women

By the way, the date of my first posting isn't without (geeky) significance as people who saw ITV4 tonight may be able to confirm. Come on, fellow geeks, it's not difficult.

Having praised Mr. Blair recently, I must say how pleased I was that the Terrorism Bill proposing such a reduction in personal freedom was defeated in its original form. Things can't be well with the world when The Sun, The Mail and The Express are all supporting the Labour party and Michael Howard is leading the Conservatives in defence of our personal liberties. Did the two parties switch positions for a bet? Anyway, the principled stances of such Blairites as Richard Burden MP (who explained the situation brilliantly last week in an interview on Radio Five Live) in opposing this imposition have kept the extension down to a (barely tolerable) 28 days detention without trial. What's going on? We Brits aren't supposed to give up our hard-won personal freedoms when the forces of anarchy gather at the gate. We'd just be playing into their hands. Let's keep calm and not over-react. And, on the subject of the police recommending 90 days' detention, I refer you to the comments of Mandy Rice Davies: "Well, he would, wouldn't he?" Perhaps the PM should take the advice he receives with a pinch of salt after the WOMD incident...

I may be the last single person to do this but I finally read 'Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus' (by John Gray) this weekend, after yet another female friend recommended it to me. Normally self-help books are anathema to me, but I must admit that this one is tolerable and helps explain the (stereotypical) differences in preferences between the genders such as why many women want to talk things over and why many men don't want to do the same. Having said that, it is a bit repetitive and, like most of these over-hyped books, makes a lot of fuss about a limited amount of content which could be summarized on one side of a postcard. But, maybe that's too Martian a way to view it? Anyway, I'll let you know if it pays off! One minor point: the edition I bought (published by Element in the UK) was riddled with irritating typos, erroneous cross-references and incorrect hyphen-ation (sic).

And finally, as Sir Alastair Burnett used to say, I can't recommend 'The West Wing' Season Five DVDs highly enough. As ever, a great ensemble piece, with some really tough times to face for the President (wouldn't you like to see an election between Jed Bartlett and '24''s David Palmer?) There's no quiet life for his supporting cast, either, with C.J. Cregg getting some more great storylines, the First Lady as usual demonstrating that she has her own opinions and Donna finally getting a bit more independence. Add the usual great showings from Charlie, Leo, Josh, Toby and Will to superb guest appearances by the President's daughters, Nancy & Fitz and Mallory and you'll hardly notice that Sam's gone. Hope I get Season Six for Christmas!

Exodus

I'm just hanging around Zurich airport for my flight back to Amsterdam, so that's my excuse for my incremental titling of this posting.

And I feel it's important to explain why I chose the first three subjects for my blog (OK, I don't want everyone to think I'm some gynaecology-obsessed sicko). Of course, you may consider me a sicko for other reasons, but I'd rather be loathed for genuine reasons than for a misunderstanding.

In case you never heard the second series of Douglas Adams' brilliant 'Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy', the first episode ('Fit The Seventh') refers to 'Playbeing' magazine which is described as "a curious journal devoted in roughly equal parts to galactic politics, rock music, and gynaecology". Hence my nod of deference to Mr. Adams' work. Also, I am interested in two of those subjects. And, coincidentally, my first job was working in two hospitals' Obstetrics & Gynaecology Departments. But that's not important right now.

OK, so I'll also throw in a comment about UK politics. Much as I hate to see the awful situation in Iraq right now, I reckon Mr. Blair made the best judgement given the information available and I imagine that I might've made the same decision he did. But the press like someone to take pot-shots at, so they criticise him for his lack of clairvoyant abilities. (We all have 20:20 hindsight). And those same media would have been just as quick to draw parallels with Chamberlain's appeasement at Saddam's next attack on his own people. Sheer hypocrisy. I play my best games from the stands, too.

As my parting shot I highly recommend two books which, I admit, I'm probably a little late in coming to. Phillip Yancey's 'What's So Amazing About Grace' is the best summary of what being a Christian is really about. Even if you've been badly burned by the Church or Christians, you should read this book, because it admits (and encourages Christians to admit) the weaknesses of those of us whio try to live the Christian life. And then it reminds us that God wants us to stop focusing on what we do and look at who we are. Then we need to let others do the same. Encouraging and challenging, it frequently brought a lump to my throat.

The second is Neal Stphenson's 'Cryoptonomicon'. A cyberculture thriller which I nearly left in W.H. Smith when I saw that it was 950 pages long! But I'm glad I didn't, because it blends cryoptography, technology, a Second World War story, American business and some laugh-out-loud one-liners into one of the most enjoyable books I've read in a long time.

Read 'em both and let me know what you think!