The Act of Union - 300 year Anniversary, May 1st

This ought to be a National Holiday.

Learn more here

Goodness Graciousness: Tikkun Olam - Healing the World, Restoring Balance

Jennifer over in the States has kindly mentioned me in a post at one of her blogs (you really ought to visit).

I had the opportunity of hearing the Chief Rabbi give a talk recently and he outlined the concept of Tikkun Olam. Jennifer describes it here......................

Goodness Graciousness: Tikkun Olam - Healing the World, Restoring Balance

What's your own favourite post in 2007 so far?

Mine's this beauty from early January poking fun at the London Evening Standard.

Wednesday, January 03, 2007

Oh my God It's Winter!

Well, blow me down with a feather, it's winter. On page 21 of this evenings Evening Standard, the
headline reads "Don't get comfortable, there's snow on the way" - Really. Well, fancy that.

Mark Prigg, the ES's Science Correspondent(because an ordinary journo couldn't have written this) writes that a Met. Office spokesman said today: "there could be, by the end of February, sharp cold snaps lasting a few days and we think there is a high chance of snow". No shit Sherlock. This usually happens this time of year.

Well known weather geek, Piers Corbyn (brother of the famous Commie Jeremy Corbyn) says "it could be bad for Eastern England" (watch out Ellee). Simon Keeling of the Weather Consultancy, which produces long-range forecasts said "our predictions point to a very average year". ( I mean, why doesn't someone say that Monday will be before Tuesday) - the article goes on to say that GP's are concerned about the cold because it affects people badly. Well short of pissing off to a warmer climate for the entire population what do you expect fellas? Then we're told about El Nino, global warming and how former BBC weatherman Bill Giles says that he's seen certain vegetables in his garden he doesn't normally see until March.

This article is typical of the patronizing fuckwittage spewed out by the ES most days. No wonder they're losing out to those "freebies".

What's yours?

A question for Ellee, Harry at Chase me Ladies

Hugh MacLeod

Necessary Skills

Eastcoastlife

Marianne Richmond

SG

LLM

Evnucci

Ilker Yoldas

Jonathan Phillips,

Raincoaster

Raedwald

Ms Smack

Amanda Chapel

Patricia Hannigan

Ian Grey

Tim Kevan & Michelle

Dr Simon Moores

Norm

Tisha

Zaftig

Lord Nazh

Iain Dale

The Spine

Petite Anglaise

Devil's Kitchen

Arleen

Life Wealth

Random

Innings

Liz Strauss

Robert Scoble

Tully

Eric Jackson

Menssana

Oh the Joys

Company Bitch

and finally Michel Fortin

The last word on Boris Yeltsin

Just seen this great post on Boris Yeltsin at Raincoaster

Sheryl Crow on toilet paper

A way of "saving the environment" according to singer Sheryl Crow is to use less toilet paper. One square is all you need according to this addle-brained, dimwitted, has-been singer songwriter.
Another one of her crack-pot ideas is that everyone should live in a space no bigger than 100 sq. feet.

Green politics = mental disorder

More on Alan Ball

Thanks to James Hamilton for this. I mentioned in the post below about the time I met Alan. I mentioned to him that I was about to take part in the 1991 London Marathon and I was raising money for the hospice where my sister spent her last few months. Alan made no mention about his wifes then known condition. She was suffering from cancer too. Great bloke. He'll be sorely missed.

Alan Ball M.B.E. 1945 - 2007 R.I.P.

Alan Ball, another one of my footballing hero's died overnight from a heart attack. The diminutive, red-haired winger/midfielder is pictured here with Bobby Charlton and the late Bobby Moore, at Wembley, in 1966 with the World Cup.

I met Alan in 1991 at a corporate function and we chatted about his days as an England player.

Dreamland's slow death

Dr Simon Moores of Thanet Life posted these two photos of Dreamland at Margate. They show the huge contrast in the funfair's fortunes. Margate, like so many of Britain's seaside resorts have become almost ghost-towns. Cheap foreign holidays, English weather and poor facilities have condemned places like Margate to the scrapheap.

Successful seaside resorts like Bournemouth, Eastbourne, Brighton & Blackpool appear to have have adapted to change. Presumably, their local authorities have had the foresight to re-invent their respective towns in order to cater for modern trends. There's no reason why this couldn't have happened to my home town. Moreover, just down the road at Manston/Kent International Airport, there's the third longest runway in the country. Why can't it be London's fourth airport? Plans are underway for a fast train link to London nearby and Margate's silted-up harbour could be turned into a magnificent marina. I could go on.....

Days to Remember by Simon Moores

With summer upon us early this year, here's a photo of Dreamland in all its glory.

I can still recall the smell of the hot dogs and onions and the excitement of the rides and attractions, when as a small boy, I was allowed my annual outing to the amusement park when it was the heart of Margate's summer tourism industry.

Here also is a photo that I took more recently. Do you notice any small differences?

Altruism at Virginia Tech last week

Blonde Sagacity wrote this about Holocaust survivor Liviu Librescu, who protected students from Cho Seung-Hui and in doing so, lost his life.

She said......................

"Given that in a high pressure situation, altruism was his innate instinct… I doubt he would have allowed it to go down any other way. And I can’t help but think of the glaring divide between the fundamentalist Muslim that will blow himself up taking numerous innocents with him --and the Holocaust surviving Jew that will be killed to save the innocents... What a wonderful legacy".

April 23rd - St Georges Day

How will you be celebrating?

Tangerine Dream ( A question for football anoraks)

Here's a photo from yesterday's action between Margate and Ashford Town (Middx). On the ball is Danny Hockton who's scored 40 for Margate this season. You'll notice that ATFC's predominant colour is tangerine.

What other senior football clubs currently play in tangerine or orange, apart from Dundee United & Blackpool? Tony Kempster has an in-depth knowledge. Perhaps he'll drop me a line. Dave Twydell writes on this subject as well. Being a bit of a football anorak, I really ought to investigate as to whether there's a football anorak site which will be full of interesting facts.

N.B. Don't even think of mentioning Wolves, that's old gold or the old Rugby Town. They used to but went bust in 1973.

Margate a long time ago.

On the Thanet Life blog, Simon Moores has posted several photos of old Margate and the surrounding area. Earlier this evening I came across this one which shows the Clock Tower on Margate sea-front c. 1920

New Bloggers on this site

I've linked these new bloggers on this site: Lord Nazh, Ruthie Zaftig, Crushed by Ingsoc and Guthrum. Welcome to you all. Just play nicely and behave yourselves.

The facts of life

Thanks to Ariel Waldman for this. Compelling viewing.

"That dawg of a man". Love it.

Margate's third against Chelmsford City

Danny Hockton's screamer from 30 yards. Apologies for the "Essex oik outburst" in the background. Well, it was filmed by a CCFC fan.

Iain Dale tomorrow evening

Details here

Yours truly will be on the couch at 9pm tomorrow.

Football Update - Margate or Manchester United

Not Man Yoo's easy win over Watford but Margate's attempt to get promotion to the Conference South. Despite our stunning victory over Jeff King's Chelmsford City, Robin Trott's blue army are still in 6th place in the Ryman Premier. Two wins are now required from their last two games but even 6 points may not be enough to guarantee that play-off place.

Picture (from CCFC site) shows Margate's Jay Saunders successfully tackling a Chelmsford striker.

From Russia with Love - NOT

Burst out with laughter at this ridiculous story from yesterday's Daily Express. Some bloke from Margate, David Hodgkinson, (no, I don't know him despite my connections there) has sent over £20,000 to two Russian women. He was hoping that one of them would turn up at Heathrow and thrust themselves upon him. David, had "met" the two Russian women over the internet (now there's a surprise) via a Christian singles dating website called christiancupid.com (christianstupid more like). One of the women conned David into giving her money for medical bills. Money he'll never see again. According to the article, David ignored the advice of friends who told him not to get involved and now he's ended up still alone and now a bit broke.

(Yours truly met with a real stunner in St Petersburg a few years ago. Despite being savvy and well-heeled, she did hound me on the phone for months afterwards for a one-way ticket to London. She, of course, was given the order of the boot).

So what can we learn from poor David from Margate? Well, I really don't think the internet is the place to meet someone. Good old fashioned introductions through friends or family and meeting someone naturally is the best way to find that"someone special". Jennifer J in the States would agree, I'm sure.

Code of Conduct for Bloggers

In today's Guardian, Tim O'Reilly, who apparently coined the term Web 2.0, calls for a Code of Conduct for Bloggers. The code would exhort bloggers not to say anything on-line that you wouldn't say on-line.

Personally, I share the view held by Seth Freedman from Israel. He says: "It's important to see the extreme reactions so people can gauge how certain topics bring out the worst in people."

Grand National

Are you having a flutter on the Grand National tomorrow, or have you done one of those "office sweepstakes". If so, all the very best.

Public Speaking and Toastmasters International

Tomorrow evening, I'll be at Riverside Communicators in Twickenham. I'll be their guest speaker at the Area Speech Evaluation Contest. Toastmasters International is a wonderful organisation to belong to if you are serious about your public-speaking and leadership skills.

This caught my eye

Do you ripple? Are you ripple-centric?

Steve Harper's Blog appears to be a good read and thought provoking.

Perhaps we should all start to ripple rather than blog!

Football Today + Update

Later on, I'm popping down to Margate to take my father and Lord Pay of Dartford to watch Margate's clash with local rivals Ramsgate. It'll be the first time the two sides have met in a league encounter at Hartsdown Park since the 1972/3 season in the old Southern League Premier Division. The game will be watched be around 1500 or so fans at our two-sided stadium whilst we still await it's re-building.
Just 5 years ago, nearly 4000 saw Margate entertain Dover at Hartsdown Park in the Conference and a similar attendance saw Margate hold Shrewsbury Town at Gay Meadow in August, 2003. Ramsgate FC couldn't attract a gate of 4000 in their wildest dreams. Here's the *TFFC footage from that Shrewsbury encounter. Margate played in unfamiliar flame red.

* The Footballers Football Channel

UPDATE

Three vital points for Margate as they beat Ramsgate (who were a bit disappointing) 1-0. Margate now need to win their last three games in order to get into the play-offs. Next up Chelmsford away, next Saturday April 14th.

Peter Wells of "View from the Coffin End " reports on the match here

Jeremy Jacobs at the Presenter Centre

That new on-line service for UK tv, and film producers is now up and running.

The Presenter Centre aims to become the bridge between the artist and the production company or personnel who need the talent for their programme or production.

Real Estate Bloggers

Notice I use the Americanism, real estate. For some weird reason, I've attracted several US-based property bloggers. Look, I'm not complaining. Everyone's welcome, well unless you're an enviro-fascist, EU lover...I'd better stop there.

Stroke the Blego

I'm so grateful to Ken Yarmush of Technosight for this wonderful phrase. Stroke the Blego is simply:

Bloggers have egos, better known as a “blego” (blogger ego). If you really want to impress a blogger, talk about a recent post they wrote. Stroking the blego will definitely win you brownies points and increase the likelihood that they will write about you.

There's also a reference to "Blego" at Active Voice from 2004.


How big is your Blego?

Isle of Thanet Gazette

I'm reliably informed that yours truly has appeared in this fine organ of East Kent reading. The subject, my trek and the donation of a Margate FC shirt.

"For news around Planet Thanet, get the Isle of Thanet Gazette each Friday"

Borat-Guide to Dating

Now I get it!

Do Bloggers feel isolated?

Are you an academic, or thinking and regular Blogger?

Do you feel lonely, isolated even depressed?

In a post by my friend Gloria Moss of the University of Glamorgan, she highlights difficulties faced by "British individualism" amongst academics. Does this extend to the Blogosphere and cyberspace in general?.

UPDATE
Looks like Dr Blogstein will be isolated after his outburst directed towards Tisha. What a schmuck.

A new Blogosphere friend

It's Golf Girl Patricia Hannigan from Connecticut. Here she is in all her splendour.

My Father

Light posting for the next few days as my father is staying with me. Here's a photo of him from 1946. Handsome so-and-so isn't he.

April Fool's Day

OK, what, if anything, fooled you this morning?