To everything there is a season...

Can't believe it's September tomorrow - what the hell happened to the summer? I seem to remember we had a decent week or two in May I think it was, but that was it. The rest has been pretty dismal. Of course, there's always the chance of an Indian summer, but time is fast running out, the nights are pulling in, and the leaves will be falling before we know it. I know there are people who love autumn, but for me it just means winter is round the corner, and I can't find anything to cheer about in that. Roll on next spring!

The greatest? (2)

In our search for an alternative Greatest Olympian, you could argue that the closest any single event comes to the Olympic ideal of citius, altius, fortius is the decathlon for men, and the heptathlon for women, so a good case could be made for people like Daley Thompson, Roman Šebrle or Carolina Kluft. Then again, being top of your chosen sport over a long period might well be seen as a measure of greatness, and that brings Steve Redgrave into play - gold at five successive Olympics, although once again the point needs to be made that these were team rather than individual achievements. But my choice would be Emil Zatopek, if only for his refreshing "let's have a go and see what happens" approach. At the 1952 Olympics he was entered for the 5km and 10km races, both of which he duly won. But then, on a whim as it were, he decided to run in the marathon, never having run one before. There's a story that at about half distance, he turned to those he was running with, and asked "are we going fast enough?". Anyway, he won in what was then an Olympic record time. He must be the only person who for at least a short time had the marathon record of - Run 1, Won 1. For me, the fact that he was prepared to put his considerable reputation on the line for fun, as it were, makes him my personal Greatest Olympian.

The greatest?

Michael Phelps has been given the accolade of the "Greatest Olympian". Well, he is certainly statistically the winner of the most gold medals, both in total, and at a single Olympics, but does this justify his title as the greatest? For starters, it's worth pointing out that half his gold medals came from his participation in relay races rather than from individual events. Secondly he's a swimmer, and proportionally there are more medals to be won in the pool than just about anywhere else - it's no coincidence that the previous holder of the most gold medals record was also a swimmer, as indeed was the one before that. So he's a talented athlete in a field where there are plenty of medals to be won. But the greatest? It depends how you choose to measure greatness doesn't it? More tomorrow.

Show me the money.

So this was our most successful Olympics for a hundred years or so. That's got to be good, hasn't it? Well, I'm not so sure because it's clear that our success was purchased - I think I read somewhere that each gold medal "cost" us the thick end of £10m. So it's just another sad example of the fact that in the modern world sporting success follows the money - or to put it another way, you've no chance unless you are prepared to put your hand in your pocket big time. Our potential for medals in 2012 is already being directly related to how much we are going to be prepared to spend. And I for one, find this pretty depressing.

The Olympics

Now that it's all over, am I alone in thinking that the Olympics have outlived their usefulness? Time was when you looked forward to the Olympics because it was the only chance you got to see competitors with unpronounceable names from countries you'd never heard of, but those days have gone now that we have regular international sporting competitions of all sorts. The Olympics these days are just an excuse for the host city to show off, and for the chance - if you're interested - to see some of the more bizarre minority sports like beach volleyball, taekwondo and BMX racing. I'm sure it will continue, but I'm far from sure that there is really any point in it doing so.

Book Post

(see post dated 18/11/06)

Here are my latest ten reads -

David Gibbins - Atlantis - 5.5
Lisa Gardner - Gone - 9
Scott Frost - Point of No Return - 8
Linda Fairstein - Likely to Die - 6
P. J. Tracy - Want to play? - 8.5
Tess Gerritsen - The Mephisto Club - 7
Harlan Coben - The Woods - 8.5
Dick Francis - Under Orders - 8
Mark Billingham - Sleepy Head - 7
Peter James - Looking Good Dead - 8

While I was away...

...a couple of entries caught my eye for our "You couldn't make it up" collection. The first concerns wheelie bins which, as I've previously mentioned, is fast becoming a heading in its own right. Some council somewhere have decreed that bins will not be emptied if they are placed more than one metre from the kerb. Of course, as most pavements are well over a metre wide, this means that to get your bin emptied you need to put it where it will obstruct the pavement - which is itself an offence! Clever, no? The other is just as stupid, but far more serious. A young girl got into difficulties swimming in the sea off the coast in Devon. A lifeboat was dispatched from some distance away, but would take 10 minutes or more to reach her, by which time she would probably have drowned. There was in fact a lifeboat right on the spot, but its crew had been told not to use it as it had not been checked as safe to take out. They decided to ignore their instructions, and went out and rescued the girl. They now face possible disciplinary proceedings. It really is a mad mad mad mad world!

Home again....

A fortnight in Cornwall - weather not great, but didn't stop us doing anything. The place we had was right by the sea - grandkids had a great time body-boarding. No wobbles this time, so that's got to be good -- hasn't it? Or does it just mean that I am becoming hard and desensitised? So here I am, sitting here writing this, feeling bad because I didn't feel bad - can somebody make some sense of this, please??

We're all going on a...

It's that time of year again - off for a fortnight in Cornwall with the family. Hope the weather picks up!

Music Man

Roger Norrington is a first-rate conductor who has championed the idea of playing music on authentic period instruments and in the style which would have been prevalent at the time the music was written. But I feel he has gone too far with his treatment of the music of Elgar, which he insists on performing without vibrato. He is, of course, entitled to his view as to how this music should be played, but to suggest, as he does, that this is playing it "as its composer intended" is well wide of the mark. We have recordings of Elgar himself conducting his music, and there's plenty of vibrato, so where Sir Roger gets this idea from, I don't know - perhaps he's fallen into the trap of starting to believe his own publicity?

That'll do nicely...

We are told that yesterday was the 117th anniversary of the traveller's cheque - this being the date in 1891 when the first American Express cheques were issued. I'm sure that's right, but the basic concept of the traveller's cheque goes back way before that. If you were a wealthy man back in the early 12th century and were thinking of making the long and dangerous pilgrimage to Jerusalem, you would - assuming you got there - wish to live in the life-style you were accustomed to, and yet if you took your wealth with you, there was every chance you would be set upon and robbed en route. So what did you do? You went to your local order of the Knights Templar and deposited your money with them. They gave you a chitty, and when you got to Jerusalem you handed that chitty over to the Knights Templar there, and they paid you your money back out of their funds. Nothing new under the sun, you see.

Ding, dong as Leslie Phillips might say.

On Sundays the church bells ring. Although not a church-goer for a good many years, I have always found this a comforting sound - very English - you know "God's in his Heaven, all's right with the world" sort of stuff. But apparently in Aldeburgh (ironically the birthplace of Benjamin Brittain) some residents have a different view, and have complained to the council about the fact that once a month the bell-ringers at the local parish church practice their art for some three hours. Thankfully, the council have ruled that this is OK. Mind you, I'm sure I read some time ago that technology can now provide "virtual" bell-ringing which doesn't involve any actual external sound - perhaps this would be the perfect compromise?

What's in a name - again.

I have been watching "Last Singing-Group Standing" on the Beeb. I refuse to call it by its given title, because whatever else it may be, it has little or nothing to do with choral singing. And as somebody who has sung in choirs, played for choirs and conducted choirs, I do claim a certain knowledge about the subject. I'm disappointed because I thought we were really going to see and hear choirs, instead of which for the most part we've had soloist plus backing-group stuff - good of its type, but not choral singing. The judges are clearly judging more on entertainment value than on vocal quality, cohesion and dynamic range. It's nice to see so many people, particularly young people involved in singing, but call it what it is Auntie, and it ain't about choirs!

What's in a name.

My eye was drawn to a report in the paper about Royal Mail giving notice that they are stopping making deliveries to a small hamlet in Yorkshire because the access road to it is too narrow and too steep. It's always been that narrow and steep, so what's changed? Needless to say, the excuse given is "health and safety". Pathetic - but what really caught my attention was the name of the affected place - can there really be a village called Booze? - and apparently it has no pub!

What is insurance for?

The case of a young lad who was severely brain-damaged when accidentally kicked in the head by another boy whilst playing on a bouncy castle at a birthday party made headlines when the couple organising the party were held liable for damages of more then £1 million. It has made headlines again now that that ruling has been overturned on appeal. It may well go to the House of Lords where doubtless it will make headlines again. What seems to have got lost in all the discussion about this being a "victory for common sense" and a poke in the eye for what is seen as an ever-expanding "compensation culture" is that firstly the couple running the party would not have actually had to pay that money - their insurance company would have footed the bill, and secondly and more importantly, the injured boy needs round-the-clock care, and where is the money now going to come from for that? The real problem here is that the insurance company were not prepared to pay out unless liability was established - and I'm sure all other insurance companies would have taken the same line. What is needed is insurance policies which insure against risk rather than fault, and then this sad tale need never have hit the headlines.

The not-so-local.

Have you noticed how many pubs are shutting down? I reckon round where I live there are only half as many pubs now as there were 10-15 years ago, and every month seems to bring the end of yet another one. Of course the writing has really been on the wall ever since the drink-drive laws came in in the 60's and it's been a slow downhill journey since then. To be fair, there have been other factors at work as well - not least the demise of so many small independent breweries, and for many the recent anti-smoking legislation has been the proverbial straw that broke the camel's back. It's a real shame for those of us who remember the joys of going out for a drive and finishing with a pint at a country pub, but it's a different world these days, isn't it?