Every Friday when I was a child there was a lawyer who took questions on a radio show and though too young to understand many of the subjects that were discussed I appreciated the humour and turn of phrase that he used to use. The most memorable was a listener enquiring whether she should consider […]
Sherharazade’s Genie of the lamp was very similar to the dreaded algorithm in that it granted wishes literally. Neither are able to recognise irony, sarcasm, humour or drunken rambling. Most of us overlay a colloquial language upon our intentions which genies and algorithmic robots also do not understand. Is it any wonder that heroic adventurers […]
An epheral entity watches. It’s misty fingers stretch out toward us searching for the barest hint of an intention. It listens to our whispered ambitions, reads directions over our shoulder and in an attempt to fulfil (or maybe destroy our purpose) it amplifies our words back at us, louder and more defined. Interruption, distraction, attention. […]
The battle in the garden over the bird feeder is significant in that too many factions were fighting over the same resource. The small birds don’t eat all the food – they drop a lot of it and so other wildlife comes along to take advantage of the harvest. Fat pigeons – some almost as […]
Most can agree that doing some exercise is better than doing nothing. Sure, there are the memes about tortoises living hundreds of years and fast little mayflies lasting only a day. Humans are not reptiles or insects. When we buy used vehicles the odometer count and state of the engine are better indicators of value […]
I watched Reuben Hughes retain his Armgods 95kg title belt last weekend. He let it be known a month ago that win or lose, he was retiring from Armwrestling after the match. He’s been an inspirational person to watch – stoic, focused with no fanfare or bragging before a match or after a victory. He […]
In the woods, foliage is dying down and the recent heatwave has stress tested some of the older trees who likely won’t survive the southwesterlies of the winter. A dozen or so fairytale style apples have matured on the memorial tree for the first time, whilst its lesser titled neighbour is again full of the […]
Many road trips start with eager conversations and lead to singing. This is true for solo journey’s too – the unquiet mind fills the silences without self-consciousness. Both solo and in company, hours pass easily with deeper thoughts surfacing to formulate into words. We travelled over a thousand kilometres on our tour of the Southwest […]
”Look at them, riding around in his damn bus. He’s taking my ice cream money.” I overheard an ice cream vendor complaining about an old man who gave rides around a park on a small vintage bus. The ice cream man ran 5 or 6 vans and lamented the unpredictable weather. Overcast days and rain […]
Removing an entangled thorn tree that has overrun a small mountain ash was the task today. The heat of the sun did not concern me too much – I had protection from an acer tree’s shade for the most part and the surroundings were pleasant and interesting. Every pass of the thicket of Rhododendrons produced […]
I often mention Louie Simmons of Westside Barbell to people who want to get strong or are injured. Louie was against hypotheticals. He analysed training and competition data, experimented with people who became world record holders and used simple maths to calculate the volume needed for progression. The result was a system that anyone can […]
I spent a few days in Edinburgh, having determined it better to commute into Glasgow for the Commonwealth Games rather than stay more local. Visiting athletes, coaches, officials, volunteers and contractors had already booked the best spots and the local hospitality economy maximised their potential. Even the boiler houses of the no star dive hotels […]
I decided in my teens not to pursue a career instead opting to be a sort of odd job man which I am to this day. On leaving school I could have done further education but didn’t like the idea of it. Instead I signed up for an apprenticeship but I tended my resignation before […]
On June 9th 2014 a lot of media carried the meeting in which Swedish Prime minister Fredrik Reinfeldt rowed German Chancellor Angela Merkel and the Prime Ministers of Britain and Netherlands – David Cameron and Mark Rutte – across Lake Harpsundssjon. “I have meetings all the time with people in rowboats, what’s strange about that?” […]
Folklore and pop culture are interchangeable in the rear-view mirror of history. It can be difficult to discern which if any were reality. Methods of storytelling have changed. For millennia the fireside tale ruled supreme. In the late 1970’s my Dad lamented the removal of the coal burner from our fireplace despite the savings that […]
“Myths and Legends of the British Isles” has been a favourite book since childhood and inspired many expeditions. It was the first I ever heard of the Loch Ness Monster. The five hour roadtrip returning home from the latest armwrestling event with Atom Bomb provided random chat including the possible existence of the Loch Ness […]
“You have to be sick to listen to me” was a strapline I used on my hospital radio talk show. The Sunday night 8 til 10 slot had weekly inspirational guests. They were strongmen, long distance swimmers, musicians, adventurers. Sometimes celebrities were lured from the local bookshop signings that had less interest than they had […]
I ran an outdoor swimming club for thirteen years before such things got popular. It was Sunday, Monday and Wednesday in the lake, two other days at an indoor pool and it was a hub of ambitions. We had a few English Channel Swimmers, lake challengers, some of us were extreme cold enthusiasts. The committee […]
My dad had an arc welder in his workshop when I was a kid and it was a thing of wonder. It made a buzzing sound like the black and white Flash Gordon spaceships on Saturday morning television and of course the warning not to look anywhere near it when he was using it was […]
I inherited a pile of archive materials which included an innocuous local newsletter from the early 1970’s. In one small a column a contributor lamented the beginning of mass car ownership noting that commuters taking short cuts across the estate were reducing safety for children playing in the streets. Where would it end? Perhaps there […]
