Britain has span out a few of the Worlds top music makers throughout the years and we do seem to have a special talent for churning out excellent guitarists such as Slash, Mark Knopfler, Eric Clapton and Matthew Bellamy of Muse. Must be something in our water.
I have yet to hear anyone who can top Slash when it comes to bashing out a solo but Brian May came mighty close on the likes of Killer Queen and Don't stop me now.
Not that either claim the Lucy prize of best guitar solo in the history of the World, ever. I give that to Berton Averre of The Knack for the solo in My Sharona. If you have only ever heard the short edited version i recommend you go here, press play and move it onto around 2.35 and see what you have been missing.
Not that you expect to hear many thumpingly good guitar solos in Carpenters songs but i have always loved the ending of Goodbye to Love where the guitarist rips it up with a solo worthy of mention.
Anyway, Brian May. Great guitarist, not as good as Slash (whose birthday it is on the 23rd and i fully expect to eulogise here) but terrible hair.
Sunday, 19 July 2009
Thursday, 16 July 2009
Who Won?
With the 40th anniversary of the historic moon landings, there has been a considerable number of programmes concerning this and other achievements in space that us humans have performed.
Especially interesting is the notion of a 'space race' between the USA and the USSR.
Piecing together information from the many programmes the question begging to be asked is did America actually win the space race?
Sure they were the first country to put a man on the moon but prior to that magnificent achievement, it seems that it was the USSR that made the greatest strides.
First artificial satellite to orbit the Earth, first animal sent into orbit, first human in space, first woman in space, first spacewalk, first craft to reach the surface of the Moon, first to land a craft on Venus and Mars and the first space station.
If it was a race to the moon then obviously America takes the plaudits. If it was a race to push the boundaries of space exploration then the Soviets win hands down.
So, who really won the Space Race?
Especially interesting is the notion of a 'space race' between the USA and the USSR.
Piecing together information from the many programmes the question begging to be asked is did America actually win the space race?
Sure they were the first country to put a man on the moon but prior to that magnificent achievement, it seems that it was the USSR that made the greatest strides.
First artificial satellite to orbit the Earth, first animal sent into orbit, first human in space, first woman in space, first spacewalk, first craft to reach the surface of the Moon, first to land a craft on Venus and Mars and the first space station.
If it was a race to the moon then obviously America takes the plaudits. If it was a race to push the boundaries of space exploration then the Soviets win hands down.
So, who really won the Space Race?
A Solution To Renewable Energy Question
It seems that most people are keen on renewable energy but the problem is nobody wants one of those big, ugly wind turbines in their back yard or solar panels fastened to their roofs. I can understand that and would probably kick up a fuss if i woke up to find one churning away just outside my kitchen window. At the moment the turbines are situated out of town in fields which doesn't go down too well with the country folk.
I have a solution which seems a bit too easy and there must be drawbacks i haven't considered because someone else must have thought of it before and decided against it for some reason.
Deserts cover almost a quarter of the earths land surface. Thousands and thousands of miles of nothing but sand and more sand just sitting there getting blown about.
This space isn't being used for anything and by nature a desert receives plenty of sunshine so why are we not building large scale solar panel farms there?
I'm sure that if we make a deal with the North African countries that the Sahara straddles, we could easily set up enough wind turbines and solar panels to satisfy Europe's power needs.
The Middle East is virtually all desert, more than enough redundant space there just begging to be filled by the means to create renewable energy.
Every continent has access to a vast desert so why are we bothering trying to shoehorn wind and solar farms into congested areas when we have a quarter of the planet, bathed in more sunshine than you could shake a stick at, just left empty?
The host countries get a cut, we get renewable energy that doesn't destroy the environment and the the only people who won't be happy will be the Nuclear bods, the OPEC countries and the bosses of the likes of Exxon and BP and they have been destroying the planet for decades.
All that available space that we are not doing anything with and it isn't as if we have it earmarked for anything else.
I have a solution which seems a bit too easy and there must be drawbacks i haven't considered because someone else must have thought of it before and decided against it for some reason.
Deserts cover almost a quarter of the earths land surface. Thousands and thousands of miles of nothing but sand and more sand just sitting there getting blown about.
This space isn't being used for anything and by nature a desert receives plenty of sunshine so why are we not building large scale solar panel farms there?
I'm sure that if we make a deal with the North African countries that the Sahara straddles, we could easily set up enough wind turbines and solar panels to satisfy Europe's power needs.
The Middle East is virtually all desert, more than enough redundant space there just begging to be filled by the means to create renewable energy.
Every continent has access to a vast desert so why are we bothering trying to shoehorn wind and solar farms into congested areas when we have a quarter of the planet, bathed in more sunshine than you could shake a stick at, just left empty?
The host countries get a cut, we get renewable energy that doesn't destroy the environment and the the only people who won't be happy will be the Nuclear bods, the OPEC countries and the bosses of the likes of Exxon and BP and they have been destroying the planet for decades.
All that available space that we are not doing anything with and it isn't as if we have it earmarked for anything else.
Wednesday, 15 July 2009
2009 Predictions Revisited
As we are halfway through the year (sort of), time to look in at how our psychic pals at One World Psychics are performing with their predictions for 2009.
They said:
Kate Winslett to win best actress Oscar √
An assassination attempt on Barack Obama X
Gordon Brown forced out of office and early election called X
A large number of C of E bishops convert to Catholicism X
Dam burst in Far East – maybe China X
Victoria Beckham pregnant X
Knife attack on a top celebrity X
Tsunami in Asia/earthquake in Malaysia X
Funerals for Bill Cosby & Robbie Williams and close call for Nicole Kidman X
Serious terrorist attack in UK and Germany X
Obama's wife in financial scandal X
They got Kate Winslett winning the best actress Oscar spot on but as far as i know Bill Cosby is still kicking around and Gordon Brown's ample rump is sitting in number 10 but we still have 5 months to go so they may be proved right yet.
They said:
Kate Winslett to win best actress Oscar √
An assassination attempt on Barack Obama X
Gordon Brown forced out of office and early election called X
A large number of C of E bishops convert to Catholicism X
Dam burst in Far East – maybe China X
Victoria Beckham pregnant X
Knife attack on a top celebrity X
Tsunami in Asia/earthquake in Malaysia X
Funerals for Bill Cosby & Robbie Williams and close call for Nicole Kidman X
Serious terrorist attack in UK and Germany X
Obama's wife in financial scandal X
They got Kate Winslett winning the best actress Oscar spot on but as far as i know Bill Cosby is still kicking around and Gordon Brown's ample rump is sitting in number 10 but we still have 5 months to go so they may be proved right yet.
Sunday, 12 July 2009
Psychologists Give Red Light To Swear
As i have mentioned many times before here, i was a massive fan of the programme Buffy the Vampire Slayer and would happily argue with anyone that it was the best thing ever to appear on television. In the show were several British characters such as Spike and Wesley (actually both American but both spoke with perfect English accents), Drusilla (another American but her accent didn't fool anybody) and Giles and occasionally, to reinforce their Britishness they would swear like Brits using words that probably didn't raise any eyebrows in America but led to many 'he can't say that..' exclamations in our living room. The shows musical score composer, Thomas Wanker, also bought a few giggles from those of us with less mature senses of humour.
Now that the psychologists at Keele University have discovered that swearing is a form of pain relief, we have been given the red light to eff and jeff all we like as long as we say that it was in the act of relieving the agony of stubbing a toe, walking into a lamppost or tripping over the legs of a former Estate Agent laying destitute on the street.
It isn't very often that i pull out the big guns of swearing, preferring to stick to their softer and more acceptable cousins such as git and bugger although i do find a well timed 'bad' swearword to be very effective and in some circumstances, and from certain comedians, very funny.
There are some people who manage to cram in more swearwords than regular words into their sentences which isn't very pleasing to the ear but maybe they are constantly in pain, like having a Mariah Carey earworm because that has to be painful. I'd be swearing like a Trojan also if i got her warbling 'Without You' in my brain on a loop.
Now if only psychologists can find some way to excuse some of society's other shady areas such as men who wear their shirts outside their trousers. My hypothesis is that they are just being Thomas's.
Now that the psychologists at Keele University have discovered that swearing is a form of pain relief, we have been given the red light to eff and jeff all we like as long as we say that it was in the act of relieving the agony of stubbing a toe, walking into a lamppost or tripping over the legs of a former Estate Agent laying destitute on the street.
It isn't very often that i pull out the big guns of swearing, preferring to stick to their softer and more acceptable cousins such as git and bugger although i do find a well timed 'bad' swearword to be very effective and in some circumstances, and from certain comedians, very funny.
There are some people who manage to cram in more swearwords than regular words into their sentences which isn't very pleasing to the ear but maybe they are constantly in pain, like having a Mariah Carey earworm because that has to be painful. I'd be swearing like a Trojan also if i got her warbling 'Without You' in my brain on a loop.
Now if only psychologists can find some way to excuse some of society's other shady areas such as men who wear their shirts outside their trousers. My hypothesis is that they are just being Thomas's.
Saturday, 11 July 2009
184 Flag Draped Coffins
It has been a deadly fortnight for British troops in Afghanistan with eight soldiers having died yesterday, taking the number killed in the region since 2001 to 184, surpassing the number of lives lost in the war in Iraq.Rightly, albeit 8 years too late for my liking, people are starting to question just what are our boys and girls dying for?
We of course callously ignore the Afghan civilan casualties because their deaths are down the pecking order of who matters when the graves are being dug. Our 184 in 8 years is much more important it seems than the 2,118 innocent Afghans who died last year alone.
Gordon Brown has said that despite the losses and an "extraordinarily difficult" 10 days, we were succeeding in our objectives. Maybe we should start with what our objectives actually are.
Perhaps if we go back to the start we can get a clue.
Bin Laden's group, Al Qeauda, masterminded the Twin Tower attacks in 2001 and as he was being sheltered by the Afghan rulers, the Taliban, American sights turned in that direction. George W Bush gave them an ultimatum to hand him over or face the wrath of the US military. They refused, Bush invoked the NATO charter and in October 2001, Operation Enduring Freedom was launched. As of July 2009, it is still going.
So it seems that the entire adventure was to be back up for Americas removal of the Taliban as punishment for not handing over Osama Bin Laden. If they had 'coughed him up' as George W Bush said at the time, then America would step back and leave the Taliban in Government. We can assume that also meant turning a blind eye to the terrorist training camps, lack of human rights and poppy fields which became a justificiation afterwards.
So our objective was to engage upon a war of choice with Afghanistan in order to remove the Taliban from power and catch Osama Bin Laden and bring him to justice.
The Taliban are out of power but still causing havoc in the country but as Iraq showed, we have no problem with leaving the citizens of the country we invaded to it's fate in the face of murderous terrorists, almost 350 Iraqi civilians died at the hands of Al Queada last month but we seem happy to call that a success.
So, we still have no answer to why exactly we are there and why, despite the evidence that it is spreading and destabilising neighbouring countries and actually increasing hatred against the West, we continue with this unwinnable debacle.
Wednesday, 8 July 2009
Finding A New Role For Men
Things used to be so simple for men. Their primary role in life was to parallel park the car for us, open jars, reach for things on high shelves and dispense sperm at the convenient time.
At a squeeze, us ladies could do most of these things for ourselves but the access to sperm was always going to be tricky. Until now.
A team of British scientists have created human sperm using embryonic stem cells, which means that the main role of men has now been made redundant.
Before the male of the species get all depressed and question the point of their existence, we need to find a role that is exclusively male. Something that women or machines can't do although i am struggling to think of when a need to pee standing up will be of any use to society.
Their greater strength does come in handy to carry those bags when we have bought more than we can manage and their ability to reverse into parking spaces without having to visit a panel beater afterwards is very useful.
I'm sure that if we think hard enough and long enough we could come up with something only a man can do but while we do that, would you mind stirring my coffee for me.
Hang about...i think i've cracked it.
At a squeeze, us ladies could do most of these things for ourselves but the access to sperm was always going to be tricky. Until now.
A team of British scientists have created human sperm using embryonic stem cells, which means that the main role of men has now been made redundant.
Before the male of the species get all depressed and question the point of their existence, we need to find a role that is exclusively male. Something that women or machines can't do although i am struggling to think of when a need to pee standing up will be of any use to society.
Their greater strength does come in handy to carry those bags when we have bought more than we can manage and their ability to reverse into parking spaces without having to visit a panel beater afterwards is very useful.
I'm sure that if we think hard enough and long enough we could come up with something only a man can do but while we do that, would you mind stirring my coffee for me.
Hang about...i think i've cracked it.
Tuesday, 7 July 2009
Михаил Горбачёв aka Gorby
The Obama roadshow rolls into Russia and it's good to see Mikhail Gorbachev back on the scene because i always had a bit of a soft spot for the last ever Soviet leader.
It always seemed to me that the whole Soviet Union break up thing was a situation that kind of got away from him and before he realised what was happening, it had snowballed and he had done himself out of a job.
He has to take the credit of meeting up with the acrimonious Ronald Reagan and his equally odious sidekick Margaret Thatcher at summit conferences and playing a major part in ending the Cold War as well as introducing the policies of Perestroika and Glasnost to the Soviet Union.
These new freedoms in Russia quickly led to a string of revolutions within the Soviet republics and Eastern Europe throughout 1989 as the Soviet grip over Eastern Europe loosened and effectively ended the Cold War.
It may have earned Gorbachev the Nobel Peace Prize but as the USSR crumbled, his powers were transferred to Russian President Boris Yeltsin and he had little choice but to dissolve the Soviet Union.
I guess history will show that it was his plan all along but i'm not so sure it was. I was always left with the impression as he tried unsuccessfully to scramble around to keep the imploding USSR together, events just overtook him and as he cleared his desk that final day in 1991, he would have looked around and thought 'How the hell did this happen?'
It always seemed to me that the whole Soviet Union break up thing was a situation that kind of got away from him and before he realised what was happening, it had snowballed and he had done himself out of a job.
He has to take the credit of meeting up with the acrimonious Ronald Reagan and his equally odious sidekick Margaret Thatcher at summit conferences and playing a major part in ending the Cold War as well as introducing the policies of Perestroika and Glasnost to the Soviet Union.
These new freedoms in Russia quickly led to a string of revolutions within the Soviet republics and Eastern Europe throughout 1989 as the Soviet grip over Eastern Europe loosened and effectively ended the Cold War.
It may have earned Gorbachev the Nobel Peace Prize but as the USSR crumbled, his powers were transferred to Russian President Boris Yeltsin and he had little choice but to dissolve the Soviet Union.
I guess history will show that it was his plan all along but i'm not so sure it was. I was always left with the impression as he tried unsuccessfully to scramble around to keep the imploding USSR together, events just overtook him and as he cleared his desk that final day in 1991, he would have looked around and thought 'How the hell did this happen?'
Monday, 6 July 2009
Ronnie Biggs Was Doing Time, Until He Done A Bunk
Every couple of years a Ronald Biggs health scare prompts calls for the train robbers release from Prison and although i feel that i should support it, i really don't.
Yes he is an old man of 79 with failing health but he isn't some innocent citizen wronged by the justice system.
He, along with other gang members, stole £2.6 million from a mail train. After being convicted and sentenced to 30 years, he escaped from HM Prison Wandsworth after a year of his sentence and fled to Spain, Australia and then Brazil.
As Biggs could not be sent back home because the UK had no extradition agreement with Brazil, he was able to brazenly live it up with his ill gotten gains for the next three decades, sticking two finger's up at us from the beaches of Rio de Janeiro.
It was only 36 years later,when the money ran out and he could no longer afford his health care in Brazil that he announced that he would be willing to return to the UK and suffer the consequences.
Sent back to prison in 2001, he immediately petitioned for an early release on compassionate grounds based on his poor health and to be released into his sons care for his remaining days. It was denied.
In 2005 his lawyers again sought his release on grounds of compassion, saying that their client's death was imminent. Again it was denied.
He was still hanging around in 2007 when he asked to be released to die with his family pleading that 'I am an old man and often wonder if I truly deserve the extent of my punishment. After all, I only stole 2.6 million pounds and watched while an innocent man was beaten to pulp with an iron bar - not that serious'.
Now he has pneumonia and his son has sent pictures of a frail looking Biggs in a hospital bed to every member of Parliament with a note stating that Biggs is not much longer for this World yet again and should be released.
My feeling is that if he had not run out of money then he would still be in Brazil flicking us the finger and laughing it up how he had escaped justice so i'm siding with Justice Secretary Jack Straw who rejected a parole board recommendation that Biggs be released. Leave him in there.
Yes he is an old man of 79 with failing health but he isn't some innocent citizen wronged by the justice system.
He, along with other gang members, stole £2.6 million from a mail train. After being convicted and sentenced to 30 years, he escaped from HM Prison Wandsworth after a year of his sentence and fled to Spain, Australia and then Brazil.
As Biggs could not be sent back home because the UK had no extradition agreement with Brazil, he was able to brazenly live it up with his ill gotten gains for the next three decades, sticking two finger's up at us from the beaches of Rio de Janeiro.
It was only 36 years later,when the money ran out and he could no longer afford his health care in Brazil that he announced that he would be willing to return to the UK and suffer the consequences.
Sent back to prison in 2001, he immediately petitioned for an early release on compassionate grounds based on his poor health and to be released into his sons care for his remaining days. It was denied.
In 2005 his lawyers again sought his release on grounds of compassion, saying that their client's death was imminent. Again it was denied.
He was still hanging around in 2007 when he asked to be released to die with his family pleading that 'I am an old man and often wonder if I truly deserve the extent of my punishment. After all, I only stole 2.6 million pounds and watched while an innocent man was beaten to pulp with an iron bar - not that serious'.
Now he has pneumonia and his son has sent pictures of a frail looking Biggs in a hospital bed to every member of Parliament with a note stating that Biggs is not much longer for this World yet again and should be released.
My feeling is that if he had not run out of money then he would still be in Brazil flicking us the finger and laughing it up how he had escaped justice so i'm siding with Justice Secretary Jack Straw who rejected a parole board recommendation that Biggs be released. Leave him in there.
Sunday, 5 July 2009
Buzzing For Jesus, Buddha And The Rest
There are not many game shows i would like to participate in but the one being made in Turkey sounds like something i would love to be part of.
The idea behind the show is for 10 atheists to be set upon by a Muslim imam, a Christian priest, a Jewish rabbi and a Buddhist monk who will try and convert them with the prize for converts a pilgrimage to a holy site of their chosen religion.
Now i consider myself an Atheist and nonconvertible by whichever religious group decide to bend my ear about being the one true religion and as much as i enjoy hearing them try, i have not yet heard that killer answer to my questions that makes me want to take religion seriously.
Not that i am one of those Atheist's that berate people for their beliefs, despite my thoughts on God, it does bring comfort to many and who am i to try and deny them that.
Back at the game show, the winner is whichever Atheist is converted first and depending upon which denomination succeeds, they win a trip to Mecca, the Vatican, Jerusalem or Tibet.
I don't know about any of these religions but Saudi Arabia and Israel don't appeal, China i might consider but i would suffer Catholicism for an all expenses trip to Italy. I'd even listen to the bloke with the funny hat mumbling from his balcony for a hour or so as long as i didn't have to actually meet the horrid little man.
If they ever make the show in the UK, i would love to be a contestant but they would need to find some more religions from better countries. Hasn't any religious headliners ever come from Canada?
The idea behind the show is for 10 atheists to be set upon by a Muslim imam, a Christian priest, a Jewish rabbi and a Buddhist monk who will try and convert them with the prize for converts a pilgrimage to a holy site of their chosen religion.
Now i consider myself an Atheist and nonconvertible by whichever religious group decide to bend my ear about being the one true religion and as much as i enjoy hearing them try, i have not yet heard that killer answer to my questions that makes me want to take religion seriously.
Not that i am one of those Atheist's that berate people for their beliefs, despite my thoughts on God, it does bring comfort to many and who am i to try and deny them that.
Back at the game show, the winner is whichever Atheist is converted first and depending upon which denomination succeeds, they win a trip to Mecca, the Vatican, Jerusalem or Tibet.
I don't know about any of these religions but Saudi Arabia and Israel don't appeal, China i might consider but i would suffer Catholicism for an all expenses trip to Italy. I'd even listen to the bloke with the funny hat mumbling from his balcony for a hour or so as long as i didn't have to actually meet the horrid little man.
If they ever make the show in the UK, i would love to be a contestant but they would need to find some more religions from better countries. Hasn't any religious headliners ever come from Canada?
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