Then and (Almost) Now

Mad Dog at the square of The Medical College of St Bartholomew's Hospital, June 1994


Mad Dog at the same spot, June 2006: clearly the trees have matured!

Yesterday's post mentioning Barts Hospital induced a few pangs of nostalgia. A year ago to the day I paid a flying visit to my former workplace to attend a conference on avian flu. It was most odd being there as a 'tourist'. Somehow voyeuristic or even slightly surreal. On one coffee break I took the lift (a point of much irritation in the past -remind me to write a few column inches on this) up to my former department -closed since 2003 in a restructuring exercise. The door was locked but I could clearly see through the glass my old office and the lab. It looked the same as the day I left in 2001 and had a Marie Celeste feel. Actually it was quite creepy, even down to the verbina paintwork. Perhaps more accurately it gave the impression of a video game where a doorway, usually back to a previous level, becomes sealed. Definitely a case of life imitating the virtual world...

Sunday Reflections

Sir William Wallace's commemorative plaque at the site of his torture and execution in Smithfield, London, 1305. The plaque is affixed to the wall of St. Bartholomew's Hospital, where approximately 700 years later Mad Dog was routinely tortured in meetings concerning the Research Assessment Exercise.

It occurred to me as I watched a re-run of Braveheart on television last night that Sir William Wallace must be chortling in his grave as yet another Scotsman takes up the mantle of leadership in the UK this week. Now I don't know what it is that troubles me about Gordon Brown as he's certainly been a very astute Chancellor for the past 10 years but somehow he seems to lack something –maybe it’s the chewed fingernails and that 1950’s “out of shape” look that puts me off. On the other hand, dear Tony, who was loaded with charisma and worked on by an army of image consultants, still managed to author the current foreign policy disaster. Oh well, history will be the ultimate judge…

Friday Music Blogging: Blodwyn Pig

I wonder how many of you remember this great little combo? The lead guitarist, Mick Abrahams, was originally with Jethro Tull and played on their first and arguably best album, This Was, but then left the band following "creative differences" with Tull leader, Ian Anderson. The result of this bifurcation was Blodwyn Pig -a tremendous blues band which apart from Mick featured the astonishingly good Jack Lancaster on sax and flute. I saw them at least once at the Gin Mill, Godalming, c1970 and I think again at a festival somewhere but it's all a blur now. The Blodwyns hung around the club/university scene for about five years before fragmenting and were moderately successful. After a 30 year hiatus, I'm glad to say they have recently reformed although I somehow doubt they'll be touring the USA. Mick Abrahams remains the only rockstar with whom I've been in email contact (bless you, Mick). Above is a wonderful clip of the group performing on the BBC's sadly defunct Top of the Pops.

Goal Setting: 101 Things in 1001 Days

I got this idea from Caroline at Dai Kyo Soku Kei. These internet meme things can be a bit corny but I'm generally a sucker for them and in any case I love goal setting exercises. So here are 101 things I'm proposing to do or achieve in the next 1001 days. So according to Time and Date I have until March 15th, 2010 to get through this stuff. Actually the clock started running on Monday when I began to compile the list. You will note that one thing, yoga, is already done (started Monday, the same day as the list). Also items 87-100 are very tangible things but I don't want to put every detail of my personal and financial life on the internet. From time to time I'll publish an update on my progress.


Professional
1) Write book on Vaccines
2) Start a not-for-profit institute
3) Begin research to improve one existing vaccine
4) Get at least one diagnostic to market
5) Start developing an autoimmunity multiplex diagnostic
6) Obtain a new academic affiliation

Domestic and House Restoration
7) Build two car garage
8) Remodel kitchen and master bedroom
9) Remodel basement with additional bathroom and utility area
10) Set up a media room with quality A/V surround sound
11) Complete study decor
12) Paint in and out
13) Replace front lawn with patio
14) Plant ferns as groundcover
15) Install rear deck with Snorkel hot tub
16) Clear out basement
17) Set up a workbench (in basement)
18) Replace glass in all artwork with the UV absorbent kind

Travel
19) Visit Greece in 2007
20) Visit Zanzibar in 2008
21) Visit Hawaii in 2009 (July 22nd ) for total solar eclipse
22) Visit either Machu Picchu or Thailand
23) Plan visit to Loch Ness
24) Go to Victoria, British Columbia with Olivia
25) Go sea kayaking off the San Juan islands
26) Visit at least three new US states (there are 20 on the list)

Automotive
27) Bring Jaguar E type in storage up to Seattle
28) Complete restoration of E type
29) Rebuild Mini Cooper
30) Find sponsors
31) Write article for MC2 Mini magazine
32) Attempt Monte Carlo Historique rally one more time
33) Bring Mini Cooper to USA, sell or commit to another MC rally
34) Compete in one West Coast road rally with daughter
35) Begin (if possible complete) book on classic car restoration
36) Investigate the purchase of a classic convertible

Martial Arts and Related Activities
37) Grade Shodan in aikido
38) Grade Shodan in iaido
39) Obtain a modern shinken for tameshigiri (sword cutting)
40) Obtain a modern shinken (already have antique) for kata only
41) Rewrap and change koshirae on modern shinken
42) Learn tameshigiri
43) Wrap and change koshirae on wakizashi
44) Continue logging training on Funbeat
45) Begin tai chi classes
46) Begin regular gym exercise regime for core strength
47) Start yoga classes

Other Sports
48) Scuba dive to PADI open water diver level
49) Learn to do a cartwheel
50) Learn to ride a horse
51) Learn to shoot a shotgun

Music
52) Have my flute cleaned and serviced
53) Re-start semi-regular flute practice: all major and minor scales
54) Acquire a Fender Rhodes electric piano
55) Make plans for formation of a jazz group

Linguistic
56) Learn conversational Japanese

Computer
57) Make website for friend, Mel
58) Learn to use iMovie for slide shows and movie clips
59) Buy a new Intel core MacBook laptop and load it with Windows
60) Back up my computer properly on hard disk

Other Hobbies
61) Restore an 1849 pocket Colt revolver (family antique)
62) Purchase “Real Flight” r/c flight simulator, install on new Mac and practice
63) Learn to fly a real r/c model airplane
64) Build a semi-scale flying model of a De Havilland Mosquito
65) Go solo in an ultralight

Rampant Materialism
66) Acquire a high quality mechanical watch
67) Acquire an inflatable rubber boat with small outboard motor
68) Acquire a quality digital SLR camera

Reading
69) Complete James Joyce’s Ulysses
70) Complete Daniel Defoe’s Journal of a Plague Year
71) Read at least six other important books (not airport novels)

Blogging
72) Maintain posting on blog
73) Meet a blogger in person
74) Print and self-publish blog (the first 5 years) for family and friends

Spiritual
75) Start sitting/zazen

Personal and Miscellaneous
76) Make digital scans of all family photographs
77) Make digital copies of all Dad’s 8mm cine films
78) Find and frame Dad’s degree certificates
79) Convert all LPs to CD format
80) Convert all CDs onto computer/iPod
81) Check all old floppys and transfer to hard disk
82) Commemorative photograph in boat with Olivia
83) Start plotting a family tree on GenesReunited
85) Send e-cards (with personalized letters) to all of my family and friends this Christmas
86) Throw a large party at my house and invite friends I haven’t seen for years
87-100) 14 personal and private goals not listed here

Penalty
101) Donate $10 to UNICEF for every goal not met

That Was The Week That Was

The past week was a bizarre mix of good and bad. Consider the following:

1) My colleagues and I obtain three grants from various branches of the US government worth a total of $1.6 million over two years (good).

2) Two other grant applications get submitted ahead of the deadline (stressful but amazing that they went in comfortably on time: this is almost a career first for me).

3) The Food & Drug Administration calls to announce an unannounced site visit to my workplace (a biotechnology company) this coming week (stressful; all staff are in hyperactive mode if not blind panic getting ready for this inspection).

4) At iaido, the activity I do for stress relief, my Sensei collapses four feet in front of me with severe chest pain. The "heart attack" turned out to be an aortic aneurysm which is A Very Bad Thing because of its pessimistic prognosis (stressful, sad and depressing).

5) On Wednesday I managed to leave a super-dooper-purchased-in-UK-and-very-expensive saucepan on medium heat all day. I came hope to find a distorted steel skeleton sitting in a puddle of molten aluminium (its construction was complicated and a work of engineering genius) on the range top and the cats were improvising gas masks and not impressed (stressful and annoying but a relief that I didn't burn the house down).

As the song from the old TV show goes "That was the week that was, it's over, let it go..." No problem there. Now roll on Monday...

Dragging On

This little bug(ger) is a type of tick known to spread typhus-like diseases and other nasty infections. Avoid like the plague!

The typhus grant is dragging on and I have less than 48 hours to complete it. I'm making good progress but there's a lot of polishing to do. When this chore is completed I'm going to give serious consideration to a vacation somewhere...

Friday Music Blogging: Remember Renaissance?

Thanks to YouTube I've uneartherd all sorts of hitherto forgotten gems that remind me of my youth and devotion to progressive music as 'twas called at the time. Above is a clip from Renaissance, a tremendous band formed by ex-members of the Yardbirds including Keith Relf, Paul Samwell-Smith and Jim McCarty. Initially Keith Relf's sister Jane was on vocals but she was replaced by the wonderful Annie Haslam whose pristine voice and reputed near five octave range became the band's trademark. I saw them a couple of times in the early 70's including a gig at Shoreditch Teachers' Training College, Egham, Surrey. Those were the days, my friends...

Rallying Again

Bill observing that the tracking is a bit out after PRX 720B's flirtation with a mountain wall back in 2005



The Mini looking a lot better after new body panels, paint and a subframe

After a lot of soul searching Bill Richards and I have decided to have another crack at the Monte Carlo Historique rally so preparations for the 2008 event have started. Our altercation with a wall on the infamous Col de Turini 50Km from Monaco in 2005 left us both with a feeling of "unfinished business". I have gone back and forth as to whether to sell the car and hang up my driving gloves but a winter evening over dinner with Bill and a bottle or two of excellent shiraz persuaded me to have another go. Now, with certain big personal projects behind me I can focus on the event. The clock is running and we have just under eight months finish the rebuild and sort out the logistics. In future posts I'll describe our campaign plan. Hopefully this will be fun: watch this space...

This Day in History 63 Years Ago: D-Day Blogging

June 6th, 1944: The Battle of Normandy

From "A Friend Consigned to Death" in The Iliad by Homer,
translated by Robert Fitzgerald. copyright © 2004 by Farrar, Straus & Giroux.

"Sleeping so? Thou hast forgotten me,
Akhilleus. Never was I uncared for
in life but am in death. Accord me burial
in all haste: let me pass the gates of Death.
Shades that are images of used-up men
motion me away, will not receive me
among their hosts beyond the river. I wander
about the wide gates and the hall of Death.
Give me your hand. I sorrow.
When thou shalt have allotted me my fire
I will not fare here from the dark again.
As living men we'll no more sit apart
from our companions, making plans. The day
of wrath appointed for me at my birth
engulfed and took me down. Thou too, Akhilleus,
face iron destiny, godlike as thou art,
to die under the wall of highborn Trojans.
One more message, one behest, I leave thee:
not to inter my bones apart from thine
but close together, as we grew together,
in thy family's hall. Menoitios
from Opoeis had brought me, under a cloud,
a boy still, on the day I killed the son
of Lord Amphídamas--though I wished it not-
in childish anger over a game of dice.
Pêleus, master of horse, adopted me
and reared me kindly, naming me your squire.
So may the same urn hide our bones, the one
of gold your gracious mother gave."

I wish to acknowledge Daughters of D-Day for the content of this post.

Typhus Recrudescence

The wretched typhus grant has come back to haunt me. The deadline is next Tuesday so you know what I'm going to be doing over the next week. Blogging will be hit-or-miss depending on my need for displacement activity...

WeakEnd Activity

Mad Dog spent Saturday and Sunday engaged in swordplay

Well a couple of you quite correctly pointed out that the item in my last post was a "tsuba" or the handguard part of a Japanese sword. Actually it's from my own iaito or practice sword (it looks exactly like the real thing except only the point is sharp and believe me this is scary enough). Anyway I've just spent the the entire weekend at one of the most amazing martial arts seminars I've ever witnessed. It was an iaido seminar taught by three esteemed instructors from Japan: Noguichi Sensei (8th Dan) Aoki Sensei (7th Dan) and Suzuki Sensei (6th Dan). In addition from my own dojo there was Murasako Sensei (7th Dan), Konno Sensei (7th Dan) and Seto Sensei (5th Dan). Furthermore there were several other noted Sensei from all over the western United States and numerous yudansha. Quite an astonishing group. The demonstrations were all inspiring and I was trying to absorb facts like a dry sponge and I just hope I can retain a few percent of what I was taught (damn the aging grey matter). Now if you'll excuse me I'm going to limp off to soak myself in a hot bath and swallow a handful of ibuprofen...if I can summon the energy to open the container, that is.

Now What's This...?

Here's an interesting item: it's part of an instrument I'll be playing with continuously over the weekend. Anybody know what it is? Clue: it's nothing to do with gardening.

Bad News

With Janine at Cardiff University Rag Ball, March 1972.

I have posted previously about a friend from undergraduate days and more latterly a hero of uncommon stature. Janine was an incredibly buoyant, optimistic person whose love for life was totally infectious. Sadly, I had an email from her husband last week so say that she had lost her 15 year battle with breast cancer. Today is her funeral and in a small way I’m paying tribute the passing of one the most sparkly, positive and brave individuals I’ve had the privilege of knowing. She leaves behind husband John, daughters Helen and Claire as well as new grand-daughter Freya Jane; they will all miss her terribly. The absence of her occasional chirpy emails in my inbox will also leave a void. Tonight I will raise a glass in memory of an exceptional person and one of life’s “good guys”.

Don't Say I Didn't Warn You

I've just finished the latest link tidy-up. Here it is in summary:

Hello
Derelict London
Geoffrey Chaucer
Jon Swift
Life of a Lab Rat
LitBrit
Musokai
Puget Sound Aikikai
Ricardiblog
Shakesville
Wiki Leaks

Goodbye
Black Rat
Jaundice James
Mykeru
Ramblings of a Scientist (Dr Jim, it pains me to take you off my site but you haven't blogged since January; if you re-start I'll be delighted to reinstate you)
Shamus O'Drunkahan
Shakespeare's Sister
Sir Findo Gask
Where’s the Ka-Boom (same as for Dr Jim)
Whiskey Bar
Zemblan Grammar

Reconnected
Twenty Major
Pharyngula

Link Purge

I'll be updating my links over the next few days. As before I shall remove hypertext connections to sites that are dead, boring, dead boring, offensive or terminally dull. I will deem a site dead if it's been inactive for three months (unfortunately some of my favourites have gone quiet and I will excise them with regret). Oh, and to redress the balance I shall add a few new ones. TTFN!

More Musical Notes: Going Retro

Mad Dog's latest foray into the world of materialism

To continue the musical leitmotif of the last few days I have to brag about my latest acquisition. I managed to obtain on eBay the little gem pictured above. It's an Italian valve/tube amplifier (definition depends on which side of the Atlantic you live) which I got for an absolute steal of a deal. I've been fancying one of these beauties since I saw one displayed in a hi-fi shop off Marylebone High Street about 10 years ago. So when my faithful Rogers amplifier expired (I paid over a hundred quid for it just 30 years ago and now they tell me it's out of warranty -I don't know what's happening to customer service these days) earlier this year I started searching. I'd almost given up looking for a used item when this one popped up and I secured the auction a week ago. Yesterday it arrived and after making the wiring connections and giving the valves a couple of hours to warm up I then proceeded to play a large part of my CD collection. All I can say is the sound is quite heavenly: very open, warm and detailed. With every album I could hear musical nuances that I hadn't previously noticed. By the end of the evening I had a broad grin fixed on my face. Yay for valves and analogue kit!

Lightweight Friday Blogging

I'm probably the only person in the world who doesn't own an iPod but here are the top ten most played songs (popular category) in my iTunes library.

1. "Light Flight" Pentangle
2. "Sama Amie" Wock
3. "Bourrée" Jethro Tull
4. "Classical Gas" Vanessa-Mae (yes, I know...)
5. "(I don’t want to go to) Chelsea" Elvis Costello
6. "Theme from Harry's Game" Clannad
7. "All Along the Watchtower" Jimi Hendrix
8. "Just a Gigolo" Barbie & The Kens
9. "House of the King" Focus
10. "Tam Lin" Fairport Convention

I'm unrepentant about apparent naffness of some of my choices or the predominance of 60's music. At least there's no Coldplay, Phil Collins or pretentious stadium rock bands.

Jazz and Classical categories to follow...

Life's Rich Pattern

Jaguar steering rack: from the price you'd think it was constructed from 24 carat gold

This week I discovered Murphy's corollary to Occam's Razor. The Good Friar's hypothesis can be paraphrased, more or less as: "All things being equal, the simplest explanation of a phenomenon tends to be the best one". Murphy's addendum, however, states that "In the case of matters automotive, the converse is true". I can certainly attest to the veracity of Murphy. Last Saturday my car's power steering started to groan like a Tottenham Hotspur fan who has just witnessed the team lose 5-4 after being four goals up. "AhHa", I thought, after checking the reservoir and noticing that the fluid level was more than a bit low, "this is probably a leaking high pressure hose; it's unlikely to be the steering rack as they are very well engineered and a defect here is the more complex (not to mention expensive) explanation". The need to top up ("top off" in American) the reservoir after 20 miles seemed to confirm my suspicions. On Sunday afternoon I dropped the car off at the garage and left a detailed message on their voicemail instructing them to replace the leaking hydraulic hose. On Monday I received a call from the service manager who politely told me I was nothing more than a weekend mechanic with the diagnostic insight of a gerbil (OK, OK, he didn't actually say that but his tone was very clear) and the problem did, in fact, lie in the steering rack. So much for the simplest explanation! So, $1800 later the offending part was replaced and I drove home to have a warm milk and a valium. All part of Life's Rich Pattern I suppose...

Backed Up

The blog backup software finally arrived last week after the slowest, most convoluted and nonsensical transaction known in the history of personal consumerism. However I'm pleased to say that the blog is now backed up and if I wish I can print it out in treeware format if I ever want a hardcopy of my memoirs. New posts about life in the kennels will be forthcoming...

An Explanation

The reason for the dearth of posts of late is because I've been waiting six weeks for backup software so that I can make a record of this entire blog. Blogger apparently retains 300 posts and then starts rolling old articles off the end. This is my 301st post and I've manually backed up the first. I won't be posting again until the software arrives. So far my experience has not been good and has amounted to a catalog of miscommunication and incompetence. If the company concerned (you know I'm talking about you) doesn't get its act together and either get me the said program or refund my $65 it will be the subject of an extremely disgruntled post in the next week or so.

Grrrr!

In the Nation's Capitol

This was the iced-up view from the window of MD's airbus at Washington Dulles airport on his trip back from Ireland and the UK exactly one month ago; hopefully the weather will have improved considerably by tomorrow...

Mad Dog is stressed out. He's currently in Washington DC reviewing research grants for the National Institutes of Health (that's the US government for those of you not in the trade). The last week has been spent reading grant applications which have been of patchy merit. There's been no time to consider any personal activities such as rallying, duelling and other related manly and relaxing activities. Tomorrow (Wednesday) he's on his way back to Seattle and that sword (see previous post) is going to be ordered as a small personal reward -and possibly something to do with the anticipated, massive, honorarium of $200 for reviewing the above applications (works out to about $4.00 an hour; i.e. about half the minimum wage).

P.S. According to blogspot statistics, this is my 300th post since I started blogging.

Iaido

Mad Dog is lusting after a sword like this one (don't worry only the point is sharp).

While I'm on the subject of aikido, I should also mention that I also train in iaido. This wonderfully graceful and contemplative martial art is all about sword drawing. The Japanese were absolute masters at unsheathing (and re-sheathing) their famously lethal katana in a precise, lightning quick manner and practiced the movements in a similar way to gunslingers of the Wild West (yes, and I haven't forgotten about those cowboy posts I said I'd finish awhile back). Anyway as aikido techniques are largely the empty hand versions of sword movements, taking up iaido has been a logical extension of my practice. It also has the allure of swordplay which has been a fascination since childhood. So recently I decided to extend my training beyond the sword classes offered at my home aikido dojo and join the excellent Musokai in Bellevue, Washington. Musokai is run by two very senior Japanese sensei (both 7th degree black belts) as well as a host of highly ranked assistant instructors and is one of the best schools in the country. I'm anticipating that this will be excellent supplementary training not to mention the fact that will give me an opportunity to acquire weapons like the one pictures above...!

Aikido Notes

I don't blog much about my practice of aikido and iaido as I'm the consummate under achiever in these arts. However since my decade long hiatus (1995-2005) I've been training fairly diligently for the past 18 months and even feel I've made some modest improvements both in technique and general fitness. Long may this trend continue. Anyway I feel I must comment on a marvelous seminar I had the privilege to attend a couple of weeks ago. It was conducted by the legendary Frank Doran and was quite simply the best seminar I have ever witnessed. Not only was it extremely well thought through in themes and teaching style but Doran Sensei, at the age of 74, is a model of graceful movement and amazingly precise aikido (see YouTube video clip above). In addition he is an extremely polite, courteous and approachable human being: personality traits that are not evident in many of the instructors I've observed over the years. I must also add to a comment on seminars made recently by the excellent aikido blogger, UchiDeshi. Unlike many students I generally don't care much for seminars. Having had some great teachers over the years I find that seminars generally fall into two categories (i) the instructor teaches the same old basic forms I can see on any given day of the week in my home dojo or (ii) he/she demonstrates very complicated techniques, usually on a overcrowded mat where they can't be executed properly by the deshi. So I don't usually relish the idea of paying money (usually quite a lot) to get battered more than usual with little in the way of enlightenment. Doran Sensei was a notable exception however and I'm going to make every effort to his workshops in future.

World Traveller

OK, here's a piece of nonsense for you to do -assess your globe-trotting activities over the years. It would appear that I have visited 28 of the states in the USA and 32 countries (except this algorithm lumps the constituent parts of the United Kingdom together). Anyway what's a Celt or two between friends? According to the this TravelBuddy thingy I've visited 15% of the countries in the World. That's ok I suppose but there are some shameful omissions. I haven't been to South America, Central or Southern Africa, Russia or China. I'm hoping a trip to Thailand might come up towards the end of the year and jaunt to Zanzibar might be in the pipeline. So many places, so little time (and money)...!

Gift of the Gab

Mad Dog Indulging in Tourist Silliness

In case any of you wondered about my whereabouts, I've spent the last few days in the Emerald Isle attending to a collaborative project. While in the delightful town of Cork I took time off to visit Blarney Castle where I shamelessly kissed the Stone of Eloquence (and ignored rumours that the locals urinate on it). As if I needed an endorsement to blather on and on and on...

P.S. SInce writing this post, it has been drawn to my attention that there is an epidemic of "Winter Vomiting" going around these parts. It's due to a really contagious bug called a norovirus. I'm really anxious I might succumb. Ironically I'm working on a diagnostic for this very disease back in Seattle. Ah, well, home tomorrow...

Monte Carlo Historique Rally 2007: Progress Report 4

The rally is now over and the results confirmed. I watched the ACM site avidly as the cars raced off to tackle the dreaded night loop on the mountains behind Monte Carlo. Many a competitor's hopes have been dashed on the infamous Col de Turini (memories of hitting That Wall in 2005 still make me shudder). There were three regularity stages. On the first two nothing much happened and with both the Barker/Cave and O'nion/Wilkinson Mini Coopers moving up through the field. And then on the final stage from Lantosque to the Col de Braus, chaos! Peter Barker and Willy Cave 13 places to finish 22nd overall but somehow lost the class position to a Renault 8 Gordini that had been running about 10 places behind. They were however, the first Mini over the line. A fitting performance on this the 40th anniversary of the last Mini victory in the original event. Geoff O'nion and David Wilkinson were less lucky. They had a torrid time on the last stage and they dropped 30 places to 99th overall but still finished 4th in class behind a Saab 96. I'm not sure what happened but weather is almost certainly to blame. The mountain roads behind Monaco are very, very tricky and when snow, ice and freezing fog are thrown into the equation anything can happen. The overall winners were the formidable Belgian team of Alain Lopes and Joseph Lambert. I've excerpeted the top 10 results from the Automobile Club de Monaco's site (sorry about the size but you can just about read them).


Oh, and for completeness I've posted the final episode of the 2004 event for your viewing pleasure.

Monte Carlo Historique Rally 2007: Progress Report 3

Today is the second part of the Common Leg and runs from Briancon to Monaco. I'll post the results as they come in (the most recent at the top of the page). I've also posted the Episode 5 movie clip of the 2004 event.

Results after the third regularity stage (Rouaine - St Pierre)

Aghem, G/Cumino (Lancia Fulvia 1.6) 1st overall

Barker/Cave (Mini Cooper): 51st overall, 1st in class (II/1)

O'nion/Wilkinson (Mini Cooper): 72nd overall, 4th in class (II/1)

Both Mini teams have been gradually moving through he field but overall most crews seem to be performing very consistently and I presume this is due to good weather. Furthermore the domination of the event by more powerful cars and the relatively few retirees (29) suggests that this is a "dry" year.

The next item on the agenda is a race around the casino at Monte Carlo after the cars arrive in the Principality this afternoon. Just like the days of yore. Finally it's the dreaded nightloop around the Col de Turini where in the past many a crew has literally become unstuck (including your humble narrator on the 2005 edition).
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Results after the second regularity stage (Ets Thermals - Norante)

Aghem, G/Cumino (Lancia Fulvia 1.6) 1st overall

Barker/Cave (Mini Cooper): 54th overall, 1st in class (II/1)

O'nion/Wilkinson (Mini Cooper): 75th overall, 4th in class (II/1)

A Saab 96 and a Renault Gordini still separate O'nion/Wilkinson from Barker/Cave in class II/1.

The highest placed Mini, the Innocenti Cooper S of Treves/Calegari is running 26th overall.
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Results after the first regularity stage of the day(St Clément sur Durance - St Sauveur d'Embrun)

Aghem, G/Cumino (Lancia Fulvia 1.6) 1st overall

Barker/Cave (Mini Cooper): 58th overall, 1st in class (II/1)

O'nion/Wilkinson (Mini Cooper): 79th overall, 4th in class (II/1)

Monte Carlo Historique Rally 2007: Progress Report 2

Today in Part 1 of the Common Leg. I'm going to try some live reporting throughout the day; so here we go -the most recent result are first.

Results after the fourth regularity stage (Les Rambeaux - La Paute)

Aghem, G/Cumino (Lancia Fulvia 1.6) 1st overall

Barker/Cave (Mini Cooper): 59th overall, 1st in class (II/1)

O'nion/Wilkinson (Mini Cooper): 84th overall, 4th in class (II/1)

I have a suspicion that Geoff' O'nion's little 997cc Cooper is struggling in the mountains and gives away a lot of horsepower to the more much more powerful 1071cc engine of Peter Barker.
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Results after the third regularity stage (St Michel les Portes - Col des Deux St Guillaume)

Aghem, G/Cumino (Lancia Fulvia 1.6) 1st overall

Barker/Cave (Mini Cooper): 58th overall, 1st in class (II/1)

O'nion/Wilkinson (Mini Cooper): 84th overall, 4th in class (II/1)

A Saab 96 and a Renault Gordini are in between Peter Barker and Geoff O'nion in the II/1 class.

Former Cooper Car Co colleagues (but now Porsche 911-mounted, the buggers) Alain Lopes and Joseph Lambert are running 2nd overall.
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Results after the second regularity stage (Les Nonières - Mens)

Aghem, G/Cumino (Lancia Fulvia 1.6) 1st overall

Barker/Cave (Mini Cooper): 59th overall, 1st in class (II/1)

O'nion/Wilkinson (Mini Cooper): 85th overall, 4th in class (II/1)

It looks like weather conditions are now breaking up the field...
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Results after the first regularity stage (St Jean en Royans - Vassieux en Vercors -usually a tricky run with lots of snow):

Ortiz de Zarate/Gonzalez (Porsche 911): 1st overall

O'nion/Wilkinson (Mini Cooper): 69th overall, 2nd in class (II/1)

Barker/Cave (Mini Cooper): 74th overall, 3rd in class (II/1)

I'll update these results throughout the day.

A quick eyeball of the overall results after the first regularity suggests that the crews are being very consistent and I suspect there's not yet much snow. Hopefully I'll get some direct reports from the frontline soon. In the meantime I've linked another episode of the 2004 rally for your viewing pleasure.

Monte Carlo Historique Rally 2007: Progress Report 1

In true petrolhead fashion, I've been glued to the Automobile Club de Monaco's website as the results of the 10th Monte Carlo Historic Rallye are posted. Notes are as follows:

After the Concentration Run, a non-competetive but gruelling 800Km+ overnight slog from the various European start points to Saint Etienne in the Ardeche, 14 of the original 319 crews had abandoned the event.

Today is the first truly competitive day of rallying. Traditionally this is known as the Classification Run: the results of the first five regularity stages dictating the running order for the rest of the event.

At the end of the fifth and final regularity stage, BRR customer and former Cooper Car Co cronies, Geoff O'nion and co-driver David Wilkinson were running 65th overall and second in class in Geoff's fabulous 997cc Mini Cooper. Peter Barker and Willy Cave in the seemingly immortal 977 ARX Mini Cooper were running 81st overall and fourth in class behind the Mini Cooper S mounted crew of Castelein and Schamp. A Porsche 911 driven by the Spanish crew of Ortiz de Zarate and Gonzalez is in the overall lead. The highest placed Mini is in 39th place and driven by the Danish crew of Kristofferson and Arp although this is a more contemporary car than those of O'nion/Wilkinson and Barker/Cave and thus in a different class.


I'll post more result as the come in -in the meantime I've posted a clip (3 of 8) of the 2004 MCH.

Monte Carlo Historique Rallye 2007

I shouldn't really complain about the weather as it's perfect for rallying. And today is the start of the 10th Monte Carlo Historique. I'm hoping that the whole Mad Dog team will be at the start in 2008. There really is nothing else like it to stir the blood. a I've found a clip of the 2004 edition that gives a good feel of the event (it has some great historical footage of Minis racing around Monaco). Enjoy!

Whining about Weather

South facing view of road outside MD kennels this morning; the incline turns it into a ski slope.

I'm so bloody cold I can't think.

In November we had the heaviest rainfall since records began...

In December we had record breaking gales that blew down trees everywhere in the state....

Now, in January, we've had snow on the ground for a weeks and it's frozen solid. More snow fell this morning. There's a burn ban in place so I can't have an open fire in the grate (but all the wood is sold out anyway). All I want to do is stay warm and eat huge amounts of comfort food.

I'm starting to hate winter...!

Vend it like Beckham

The New Year has started with some remarkable developments in the world of sports. The number of column inches devoted to the England cricket team's annihilation by Australia and the subsequent loss of The Ashes has already been exceeded by the announcement of David Beckham's move to the USA. It was even the front lead story on today's New York Times. Now why anyone would pay $250,000 million for a 31 year old midfielder who was quite overated at his peak (c2002) is beyond me. I presume that marketing rather than football is the driving force in the deal and all this talk about "branding" and promoting the "David Beckham Image" is getting on my nerves. I won't rant on about deification of celebrities and such because my blood pressure won't take it. Unfortunately I'm just going to steel myself about the prospect of seeing pictures of Posh and Becks saturating the commercial media while hawking all kinds of consumer frippery. Oh well...I'm off to have a G&T and contemplate seeing a publicist about marketing the Mad Dog Image! LOL!

Reflections on 2006

Olivia receiving her degree at the University of Washington Commencement Cermony, 10th June, 2006

The past year was great. There were quite a few memorable "highs" and not too many "lows". Possibly the best moment was daughter Olivia's graduation from University of Washington with a very creditable Bachelor's degree in Psychology (with loads of additional honours for rowing, leadership etc) back in June. Definitely a good outcome after 21 years of conspiracy/worry. Well done, O, -now just make sure you get into medical school. I'll post a resized photo in due course. Something seems to be awry with my scanner just now and I doubt it has anything to do with the amount of champagne I've just consumed -in any case I'll try to fix it on the morrow.

Have a great New Year's Eve, everybody and stay safe (if in doubt take a cab).

Forty Years Ago Today

Mad Pup with first car; a pedal-powered Maserati -the only type of this marque I'm ever likely to afford.

While we're on the topic of things automotive, it was 40 years ago today that I passed my driving test. It was my first attempt. I was also the first person in my class at school to gain my driving licence and gained minor celebrity status as a result. Forty years though, it doesn't seem possible -doesn't time fly when you're having fun!?

Mad Dog Rallying Update

Mad Dogs on the Winter Challenge Rally 2001 (2nd in class, 13th overall)

Several people have asked me about rally plans for 2007. Earlier this year I proclaimed that the Mad Dog Rally Team would enter the 10th Monte Carlo Historique (MCH) event to be held in January, 2007. The repair of PRX 720B was completed and a rebuild mapped out with Bill Richards. Lots of upgrades to performance and safety (especially considering out altercation with a wall in 2005) were planned. Better still we obtained very valuable sponsorship from a major parts supplier as well as a US-based automotive magazine. But despite this promising start things slowed down mid-year and we failed to secure an additional major sponsor. It's an expensive business to be competitive in the MCH and in the absence of a personal fortune external funding is essential. Following this letdown I felt quite despondent about the future of the car and decided that one rally every couple of years didn't justify the the expense of keeping it in cosy lockup the rest of the time, so relcutantly I put it on the market.

I received quite a few enquiries including one or two that were serious. The publication of advertisment corresponded with a trip to the UK and needless to say I popped in to Bill Richards racing for a chat. In retropect this was not the most sensible thing to do if I'd wanted to remain objective. After sharing several glasses of good shiraz with Bill being exposed to an evening of his infectious enthusiasm I decided to pospone the sale for now and agreed that we will definitely enter the 2008 event (just one year away). The rebuild will start in January and I can assure you that the next iteration of PRX will be seriously hot: faster, stronger, safer and more reliable than ever before. The team is all on board and the sponsors are happy. Now we just need one more major investor to cover the entry fees (3000 Euro). So if any deep pocketed readers want to back the team in return for some substantial publicity please let me know.

Cultural Observations: No.1, Phonophilia in the UK

Passengers on a UK train indulging in the national pastime.

What is it with the English and their phones? Stand one of them alone in a room/train/bus for more than 30 seconds and I guarantee they will pull out their mobile. Sometimes a phone call results but mostly they fiddle. I'm not sure what they do: check messages? check texts? write texts? web surf? play games? all of the above? Possibly they have cooler phones on the other side of the Atlantic or they've become more adept at SMSing (which seems to have just caught on here: I think the US is about 6 years behind Europe on this particular fad). Whatever it is the behaviour seems quite compulsive and much more evident than in the American counterparts. If you have any theories on this social phenomenon please feel free to speculate below.

P.S. And in case you were wondering it was I who took the photo of the above two gentleman with my own phone: they were clearly too absorbed in their telephonic twiddling to notice what I was doing!

Weather

A view of some of the storm debris at Mad Dog's kennels.

Earlier in the month I made a lightning pre-Christmas trip to the UK to organise some collaborations. While there I survived a tornado in North London and radiocactive contamination (I hope -at least I don't appear to be glowing, yet) from polonium 210 at UCL Hospital where the unfortunate Mr. Litvinenko met his recent demise. On the night of my return to Seattle I was, in a slightly self-congratulatory manner, I admit, contemplating my near misses before retiring to bed quite exhausted. I was woken up at 2.00am by the most violent wind storm and noticed that the power had gone out. The next morning, still without power, I surveyed the damage. It was quite unbelievable. Trees were down everywhere and millions of people were without electricity in Washington State, a wretched situation that continued for over week for some unfortunates. It took me a whole weekend to clean up the mess in my garden and heaven knows how long it will take me to dispose of the piles of debris. Oh Lord, I promise I won't be smug ever again...!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas Everybody!

Alan Freeman, RIP

Alan Leslie Freeman MBE, 1927-2006

Farewell, Fluff. You entertained us PopPickers hugely.

Erm....not 'arf!

Bond, James Bond

Now before you chide me, I haven't forgotten about the cowboy poll -it's just that I've been overtaken by life recently. So I promise to publish the results soon. However as we've been on the topic of spys and spying recently I thought I'd continue the leitmotif today. As a distraction from grant writing (now done, Praise the Lord!) I took myself off to see Casino Royale at the weekend. I have to admit to leaving the cinema ("movie theatre" in American) slightly breathless after two hours of non-stop action and I offer the following comments:

Daniel Craig is a great Bond; possibly the best since Sir Sean. And I mean Connery in the first two flicks, Dr No and From Russia with Love in which he was very phyiscal and quite ruthless: Craig did well to play a similar character. I note that Timothy Dalton (an excellent actor and an underrated Bond) tried hard to do something similar but was given rubbish scripts and as a result came across as a bit wooden.

Lots of the old stuff is gone. Mercifully improbable stunts and ridiculous gadgets have been deleted (why did it take so long for the producers to get rid of this nonsense?). Notable missing items are:

-the Aston Martin DB5 (although there is a hat tip to it)

-the Walther PPK (I guess too old fashioned and puny -now the preferred pistol seems to be a modern Walther, always carried with a quite phallic silencer)

-Ms Moneypenny (but again there is hat tip but you have to be awake to catch it)

-"Q" nobody could really step into the shoes of the late, great Desmond Llewellyn (and please don't even mention John Cleese) and in any case the gadget-gimmick stuff became seriously silly after the autogyro in You Only Live Twice

-Martinis, shaken not stirred. Bond does drink in the film. Indeed he seems to drink quite heavily but when asked if he prefers his Martini shaken or stirred he snaps "do I look like I give a damn?"

In fact with so few references to the past you could be forgiven for thinking that the movie was just a plain old action-thriller but then in the final scene Daniel Craig reinvents the Bond character as he introduces himself to the arch villain as "Bond, James Bond" -then as the credits play the old familiar Monty Norman theme tune starts up for the first time. Brilliant!

Now don't get me wrong. There are still big stunts, luscious ladies and some extraordinary violence. But somehow it all appears credible.

Overall, Daniel Craig and the producers have more than reversed the rot that started to in creep into the films after Goldfinger. Heaven knows, I never thought the franchise would be taken seriously after Roger Moore (bloody hell, what did do to get his knighthood -if I had my way I'd have him thrown in the Tower of London for his efforts).

Now I can't wait to see Bond #22...

"...the bastards got me..."

Apart from the occasional sideswipe, I don't really do politics on this site. However I was very moved by the death in London of former Russian spy, Alexander Litvinenko. Mr Litvinenko was almost certainly assassinated by elements from his former country who used an unusual form of toxin: a radioactive isotope known as polonium 210. The story bears ominous similarities to that of the unfortunate Bulgarian dissident, Georgi Markov who was killed in London in 1978 (ironically on 9/11). In this latter case the poison ricin was used and deliverd by a miniscule pellet fired from an umbrella. Why I am disturbed by a single act of political violence in an era when it is commonplace to read of 150 people killed by car bombs on any given day in the Middle East, is the sheer sinister nature of the deed. The use of a rare isotope suggests that a degree of sophistication well beyond that of the common criminal was involved: a notion that will probably be reinforced when the toxin delivery system is revealed. I am thus saddened and outraged that acts of overt political criminality are perpetuated by governments pretending to have foresworn such activities. But more so I was moved by the dignified statement issued by Mr Litvinenko before hs passing and I will repost here:

I would like to thank many people. My doctors, nurses and hospital staff who are doing all they can for me, the British police who are pursuing my case with vigour and professionalism and are watching over me and my family.

I would like to thank the British government for taking me under their care. I am honoured to be a British citizen.

I would like to thank the British public for their messages of support and for the interest they have shown in my plight.

I thank my wife Marina, who has stood by me. My love for her and our son knows no bounds.

But as I lie here I can distinctly hear the beating of wings of the angel of death.

I may be able to give him the slip but I have to say my legs do not run as fast as I would like.

I think, therefore, that this may be the time to say one or two things to the person responsible for my present condition.

You may succeed in silencing me but that silence comes at a price. You have shown yourself to be as barbaric and ruthless as your most hostile critics have claimed.

You have shown yourself to have no respect for life, liberty or any civilised value.

You have shown yourself to be unworthy of your office, to be unworthy of the trust of civilised men and women.

You may succeed in silencing one man but the howl of protest from around the world will reverberate, Mr Putin, in your ears for the rest of your life.

May God forgive you for what you have done, not only to me but to beloved Russia and its people.

Alexander Litvinenko
21 November 2006

Happy Thaksgiving

Happy turkey day to all US readers. In the meantime I'm still writing the wretched typhus grant. No peace for the wicked, as they say! More soon...

30,000th Visitor

Today the 30,000th visitor passed through the portals of MD&E. Congratulations to IP address 81.79.152. I note that you work at Energis, UK and that you visited just after five pm GMT. I hope you won't get into trouble for surfing at work and that you enjoyed the picture of Sarah Beeny who is still very popular according to the search titles on my sitemeter.

It's taken two years and three months to achieve this modest level of readership. No fewer than twenty thousand of you have pitched up here since last November which is gratifying as I've been fairly quite for a large part of 2006. Anyway a hearty thanks to all readers; please keep visiting and feel free to add (hopefully polite) comments.

Concerning Rats, Disease and History: Spot-the-Bug Competition #5

Mad Dog's latest enemy (or at least a close relative).

I have a huge grant deadline coming up in the next week and blogging may be a bit sparse: just talk among yourselves for awhile. For those readers who have some background in the biosciences, see if you can can guess the name of the bug that's the topic of my latest activities. It's an age old foe and it shouldn't be too difficult to figure out considering the clues here and in the electron micrograph above (apologies to the authors for borrowing their data but I'll give the citation when I've announced the results in about a week).

Cowboy poll results coming soon.

Karma

My nocturnal activities have reached a new high (or low depending on your POV) in frivolity. For the most part I'm quite happy with these comparisons as most of these guys are pretty cool but I bet a certain ex-politician is laughing his arse off loudly about the results following Thursday's sideswipe. What goes around comes around, I suppose.

If you want to try this silliness for yourself, click here. Hat tip to Dawn for this link.

Oh Frabjous Day!

Callooh, Callay!

And there I was quite looking forward to going mano a mano in nuclear combat with Iran, North Korea and sundry failed states and terrorist groups. So I suppose I'd better hold off on the construction of the nuclear bunker in my basement now.

Elections

As an immunologist I've always loved this cartoon which I borrowed from the now sadly defunct satirical magazine "Punch" (May 1981 issue, believe it or not).

Today mid-term elections are being held in the USA and the results are awaited with interest. Despite extensive TV campaigns I haven't got a clue what either party stands for, especially the Democrats. I have seen an awful lot of awful attacks ads though. UK residents count yourselves lucky that these things haven't crossed the Atlantic yet (although I suspect it's just a matter of time).

Cowboy poll results, just like the Elections, to follow.

Cowboy Poll

Poster from a Souffle Western

This week it's back to cowboys again. I'm doing a poll so please nominate 'winners' for the categories below. I'll publish the results combined with my own opinions (did I ever say this was a democracy) shortly. Feel free to add any categories I may have missed. Anyway, here we go: poll-me-up in the comments section...

1. The Coolest

2. The Nastiest

3. The Hardest/Toughest

4. The Funniest

5. The Most Annoying

6. The Most Camp

7. The Best Partnership

8. The Best Horse

9. The Best Cowgirl/Heroine

10.The Best Cowboy Movie

On Matters Equestrian

Mad Pup on horse in Co Wicklow, Ireland, c1959. MP's brother is holding the bridle.

I've never had much truck with horses. Somehow riding them never appealed. When growing up, I didn't seem to have much in common with horse-owning members of my peer group and I hated the intrusion of any program with an equine content (show jumping, racing, showing)on television. In more adult years I think it's fair to say that horses and I maintained a mutual disinterest and in addition I held a view that if God had intended us to ride these beasts, he wouldn't have allowed us to invent superchargers. So up until now my sum total of equestrian matters is (i) as a 10 year old, I sat on a cart horse of some description on my Uncle's farm in Ireland (see above picture) and (ii) a few years back I was bitten, yes, bitten, by some nag whose nose I was offering to stroke. Curiously enough I have ridden, and been thrown off, camels.

Recently, however, I've become curious about the whole riding business. I'm not quite sure why but it's proabably something to do with an interest in the Old West. So I've decided to add horse riding to "things to do before I slough the mortal coil" list. I mean it can't be THAT difficult, can it? Yes, I know it makes yer bum sore but so what. I have sore muscles all the time after aikido. So I hope to manage a lesson or two before the end of the year: watch this space for updates...

Remembering John Peel: Mad Dog's Music

John Robert Parker Ravenscroft, OBE (aka John Peel):30 August 1939 – 25 October 2004. RIP.

Today is the anniversary of the passing of John Peel. I was profundly affected by his death two years ago: I'd been a devout listener from the time I first encountered him on Radio London in 1967/68 and then when he moved to the BBC after the demise of pirate radio. Not only did he influence my listening and record/CD collection but he became a sort of pillar of the establishement -a bit like the Beeb's shipping forecast or the saturday afternoon football results. He had a warm, comforting, reliable, voice and its absence came as a great shock and left a vacuum. So as a tribute, I've compiled a list of "JP-endorsed" bands that I saw in the golden era of 1967-1975 (my formative years as a student). I've trawled through YouTube for footage. I should point out that that (i) I had other favourites however couldn't find archived film clips (ii) I've omitted some great bands I've seen since that period e.g. Led Zeppelin, Queen, Grateful Dead, Rolling Stones even though they had received the JP stamp of approval but were mainstream, adult-oriented rock by the time I finally got to see them and (iii) I've left out some groups that, despite the JP endorsement I thought sucked like a truckload of Dysons (take note Third Ear Band, Hawkwind and Edgar Broughton -amazingly all still seem to be in existence). Anyway, here we go in alphabetical order:

Argent
A concert from my Cardiff days, c1972 at the Old Student’s Union. They were not particularly memorable except for the “Hold Your head Up” anthem which everyone loved.

Bond Organisation, The Graham
An amazing bunch of musicians. I’ve cheated a little with this clip as it’s pre-1967 but was all I could unearth. However it features Jack Bruce, Ginger Baker, John McLaughlin and the late Dick Heckstall-Smith and is taken from a hilarious campy, sci-fi, flick, Gonks Go Beat). I think I saw Graham Bond first in the unlikely venue of Woking, c1969, and later as part of Ginger Baker’s Airforce at a festival in Sussex. His apparent suicide in 1974 was a great tragedy.

Colosseum
Sorry, this is a contemporary clip but it was all I could find. I first encountered Jon Hiseman’s mighty Colosseum at Guildford Tech around 1969 and then again at the Top Rank Ballroom, Cardiff about two or three years later when they had recruited the amazing Chris Farlowe on vocals. Jon Hiseman was the first drummer I’d seen with twin bass skins. I’ve seen him many times since with Barbara Thompson’s jazz band, Paraphernalia.

Curved Air
Cardiff, 1972. A genteel and intellectual lot. I chatted to all of them. Sonja Kristina was strikingly lovely and very polite: I was quite besotted.

Deep Purple
Timeless power rock practitioners. I first say them at Guildford Tech, c1968 in their pre-"Smoke on the water..." days.

Fairport Convention
I saw them several times, the first being at the 1968 Jazz and Blues festival at Sunbury Race Course. John Peel was compering in a tent of smaller acts which included Reg Dwight (now Elton John). Unfortunately I couldn’t find a clip which included the wonderful Sandy Denny in the lineup.

Fleetwood Mac
Now this was a super band. I think I saw them first at the Albert Hall in the summer of 1969 along with Pentangle and the late, great, Duster Bennett. To this day I don’t think I’ve ever seen a group so dominated and controlled (in a positive sense) by then lead guitarist and founder Peter Green.

Focus
No they are not Jethro Tull! This combo of flying Dutchmen pitched up at Cardiff University Student Union along with half the population of South Wales who, needless to say, didn’t have tickets. It was 1973 and the band were at the peak of their fame. As part of the “Events” committee my job was to maintain the door security which was an impossible task. My memory is of a running battle the entire evening with Focus’ music playing as a soundtrack.

Humble Pie
Stadium yob rock at its best or worst depending on your POV. I encountered this bunch of hooligans during Cardiff Rag Week, c1973. Indeed I was on the committee that booked them. They were loud, raucous, and sent members of their entourage out to ensnare young females to entertain messrs Marriott, Frampton et al. after the concert (there seemed to be no lack of willing volunteers). One of their roadies knocked me off stage while I was photographing the band: as I was the official photographer for the event my pride was severely dented although the camera remained intact.

Kinks, The
A tremendously enjoyable, professional, bunch that I saw at the Top Rank Ballroom, Cardiff, sometime in 1973. To this day they are one of my all time favourite bands from this era.

Kirk, Roland
I’m showing great restraint by inflicting only one jazz musician on you. My memories of Roland Kirk (or Rhaasan Roland Kirk as he became) emanate from Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club, London, around January 1970. RK was chaotic and charismatic: you’ve got to love a guy who can ply three saxophones at once, can do circular breathing (the first time I’d seen the technique) and wandered through the audience and out into the street while still playing. And he was simply the best jazz flute player I’ve seen, ever!

McTell, Ralph
I know “Streets of London” has become a bit clichéd but Ralph was/still is a great performer. I saw him in Cardiff on several occasions. Apologies for the contemporaneous clip but I couldn’t locate any classic old stuff.

Moody Blues
I think the first group I ever saw. Guildford Tech c1967. I’ve liked the use of flute in rock music (not to mention jazz) ever since.

Nice, The
One of the very first groups I saw -again at Guildford. Keith Emerson played with his organ in spectacular style. Unfortunately these antics degenerated into pretentious wankery with Emerson, Lake and Palmer.

Pentangle
Perhaps one of the most complete and accomplished groups I’ve seen to this day. I saw them first in Guildford. They played together in the most complimentary manner. Jacqui McShee’s voice was angelic and the John Renbourne-Bert Jansch guitar partnership just magical. John Peel wrote the sleeve notes to the band’s first album (which I still have).

Slade
Not an intellectual or virtuoso band but they could work the crowd like nobody else. They were a student union favourite and I must have seen them on three or four occasions during my Cardiff years.

Steeleye Span
This lot were just great. Lively, engaging and super musicians. Maddy Prior’s voice was always pristine. I wish I could have found a clip with a more interesting song though..

Tull, Jethro
Ah yes, another enduring fave from my first ever rock concert at which John Peel was in attendance. I’ve remained a fan of Ian Anderson through thick and thin even though he sorely tested my loyalty with a lot of crappy offerings in the 1980s.

Who, The
A slight cheat here as I didn’t see The Who in the golden era. I did try though. In my first week as a freshman undergraduate in Cardiff (1970) I failed to obtain tickets to see them although subsequently met Keith Moon (absolutely plastered) when he was guest drummer with a visiting band, Sha-Na-Na. He shook my hand, gave me a stick of “Cardiff Rock” and implored me to “Rock on, man”. I didn’t wash my hand for a week afterwards! I eventually got to see The Who around 1980 but by that time Moon the Loon had sadly self-destructed through vomit inhalation.

Facts and Figures

Sir Mick and the boys were in town two nights ago, apparently their 10th visit to Seattle since 1965. I watched their armada of trucks unload equipment in the parking lot behind my place of employment and the roadies wheel it over to the adjacent Qwest field football stadium. And it was a lot of stuff too. So much so that it takes a fleet of 70 articulated trucks or “semis” as they call them over here to transport it across the country. The special stage weighs 300 tons, occupies 20,400 sq ft and has a 2,450sq ft video wall. All of this equipment is lugged about and assembled by a road crew of 235 and 150 local workers are hired to build and take down the stage.

I have to say that having grown up with the RS their longevity, both individually and collectively, has been quite amazing especially considering their lifestyle. The have outlasted six US presidential administrations, seven British Prime Ministers, Vietnam, the Falklands, Gulf War No. 1 (unfortunately not yet Iraq or Afghanistan), Watergate and even The Beatles. As a matter of trivia, Charlie Watts and I employed the services of the same hairstylist in London back in the early 1990s.

Reviews of their concert were very enthusiastic. Mick strutted and pranced around the stage in a highly energetic fashion for two hours; Keith Richards, true to form, chain smoked. The music was classic stones and the special effects and firework finale were spectacular. Did I go, I hear you ask? You must be joking. I saw them at Wembley Stadium in 1981 and am still traumatized by the length of time it took to get out of the parking lot. Also I find the way that iconoclastic values have been dumped in favour of mainstream corporate adoption and sponsorship (RS tunes are used to sell just about everything from banks to cars these days) quite objectionable. And besides I’m not prepared to spend $700 on a ticket. Funnily enough I’ve never had an RS record or CD in my collections either. Now tonight I’m off to see Pink Martini who are more my style these days.

Highway 1 Revisited

Mad Dog at the Lone Cypress, Carmel, c1984. There's something quite disturbing about the tightness of those jeans…

Today is Part 2 of my account of the roadtrip I made up the California Pacific Coast Highway back in August. North of Hearst castle and San Simeon the road winds along the Big Sur coastline in spectacular fashion for a hundred miles or so before arriving in Carmel and Monterey. At Carmel I resisted the temptation to have a “Dirty Harry Burger” at Clint Eastwood’s Hog’s Breath Inn. I did, however, take the opportunity to cruise along the 17 mile drive –a spectacular stretch of privately owned beach road that passes through some of the most amazingly expensive real estate and golf courses in the country. I made this run over 20 years ago. Nothing much has changed except that the Lone Cypress tree seems to have more preservative in it than Lenin as it looked like it was on its last twigs back in 1984. But overall the scenery is as gorgeous as ever.

The image-trademarked (yes, really) Lone Cypress has either been filled full of embalming fluid or replaced since my last visit!

Monterey was awash with tourists but even so they failed to disturb the Steinbeckian images evoked by Cannery Row. It’s a truly lovely place. I did visit the Monterey Aquarium of which I’d heard great things. Sadly I was sorely disappointed to find a theme-parked, Disney-like playground full of hyperglycemic children and not the natural habitat that I’d expected. The fun-loving sea otters compensated for a lot, though.

Blue Jay atop a fence at Nepenthe –the nicest place imaginable to stop for a drink.

After Monterey I pointed the Jag in the direction of San Francisco and continued my trip north…

Citizen Hearst

Driving the Pacific Coast Highway (please don’t ask how I got the photo).

OK, OK, I had no idea that my last piece of frippery about cowboys, horses and the Wld West would stir up so much interest, so I’ll post on these topics again in the near future.

But for now I want to say a bit more about the road trip up the California Pacific Coast Highway back in August before it fades from neuro-retention. If you are not familiar with Highway 1, it’s sufficient to say that it is one of the greatest coastal roads in the world. It runs from Southern California to San Francisco and has a backdrop of breathtakingly spectacular ocean scenery. The stretch south of Monterey known as "Big Sur" is simply magnificent and that whole region is quintessential California. If you ever get the chance to drive it don’t hesitate or you’ll miss out on one of the spectacular drives on the planet.

Half-way between posh Santa Barbara in the south and historic Monterey in the north lies San Simeon and the amazing Hearst Castle. Built by newspaper magnate, William Randolph Hearst between 1919 and 1947 on a 250,000 acre estate known as 'La Cuesta Encantada' ('The Enchanted Hill' if my O level Spanish is still holding up) is not only an astonishing feat of construction but an extraordinary collection of art treasures looted purchased from around the world.

Hearst Castle façade in the style of a Spanish cathedral by San Francisco architect, Julia Morgan.

It’s really quite astonishing what you can do when money is no object. Hearst made (and lost) a fortune or two in his lifetime. He pioneered jingoistic, sensationalist journalism (Rupert Murdoch paid close attention to this model) and agitated for the Spanish-American war. The principle character in Orson Welles’ film “Citizen Kane” was modeled on Hearst (I still haven’t figured out why it’s everybody’s favourite movie -it’s a miserable, charmless, flick IMHO). Throughout all this, Hearst continued to build the castle and fitted it out with an amazing art collection. The grounds were populated by exotic animals and The Ranch became the place to visit for the rich and famous. Film stars, politicians, adventurers, writiers, socialites and captains of industry were all to be seen at The Ranch (as Hearst liked to call it) during its heyday.

One of the pools at Hearst Castle. The parthenon-like structure was constructed with genuine Greco-Roman columns.

But all good things come to an end and following another financial reversal and then William Randolph’s death in 1951, the Hearst Corporation donated The Ranch to the State of California in 1957. Definitely the public’s gain. Perhaps George Bernard Shaw summed up the place the best when he said: "This is what God would have built if he had had the money."

Despite the fact that Hearst Castle is now in the public domain, the hoi polloi are not allowed in the pool!

Quick Draw

This post is a reflection on what a sad bastard I've become in my dotage. First it highlights an increasing obsession with YouTube, second, it reflects a childhood fascination with cowboys and the American Old West and third, it indicates that I can be quite easily amused by superficial, physical humour. But I don't care; I find this video clip, an advertisement for Sprint broadband, quite hilarious. Oh, and if anybody is interested, it's taken from a 1970 spaghetti western called Lo chiamavano Trinità (They Call Me Trinity) starring Terence Hill and Bud Spencer. Curiously both of these actors are Italian...

Oh, bugger...!

I note the human race's self-destruct gene is in full evidence. I suspect this can only end in tears...

Tidy Up

I've just removed a cartload of links from the sidebar. They were either dead, dead boring, unfunny or politically rebarbative. Others are on probation. There seem to be a lot of bloggers, notably scientists, running out of steam (don't look at me) which is a shame. So from now on, sites that don't offer a new post after three months will be deemed moribund and, unless I hear to the contrary, will be purged.

P.S. October 9th 2006. OK, don't say I didn't warn you. I've just deleted links to another dozen tragically dull or deceased web logs. If you want to stay here please keep writing and be nice.

New Wheels

The friendly old cat that was Mad Dog's daily driver for five years.

There has been a truly silly level of travel activity in the Mad Dog kennels recently. So much so that time available for blogging has been severely restricted. However I really should mention a trip to San Diego, California, I took back in August. The purpose was to pick up a new (used) car from old friend, mechanic, English ex-pat and generally top bloke, Mel Muzio. Back in 2001 when I arrived once again on the shores of the New World I needed an inexpensive pair of wheels to traverse the greater Seattle area. Mel had mentioned he had a decent 1988 Jaguar Vanden Plas for sale. It was a high mileage car but inexpensive so I flew down to California, stumped up the readies and drove back to Seattle over the Thanksgiving weekend with my daughter who was keen to take a look at the University of Washington as a potential site for her tertiary education. Frankly I was nervous about the concept of an old Jag and catastrophic bills but then I was really only planning to keep the car for a year and get one of new MINI Coopers that were due to be imported.

Well its funny how things change. I had never seen myself as the driver of a Jaguar saloon -too big, bourgeois, expensive and stodgy. Up until that point I preferred small, high-powered, noisy buzz boxes. So it was slightly disconcerting to realise that I loved wafting around in the Jag. I was calmer, less aggressive and reaally enjoyed its cache effect. Everybody loves these old cats, even when they have faded paint and are clearly a bit past their prime. So after the first year of ownership I did not trade up (or down?) for a MINI but elected to continue driving my iconic piece of UKmobilia. And so I continued for five years when it became clear that a change would be necessary in the interests of both safety and economy. Once again I contacted friend Mel who said that he had just the car for me: a black 1998 XJ8 in pristine condition and with all the worrying mechanical weak spots for that year corrected. So once again I flew down to San Diego, completed the transaction and drove back to Seattle. This time however, I didn't blast back in wintry rain and snow as I did in 2001 but opted for a leisurely cruise along the sunny and stunningly beautiful Pacific Coast Highway to San Francisco before jumping onto the more business like Interstate 5 to Portland, Oregon and Seattle. I arrived back home feeling relaxed and refreshed (note to self: the feeling had better better last, pal, as it's the only vacation you're going to get this year!)


Black Cat, Mad Dog and Mel.


Big Cat on Big Sur.

And what about the car you ask? Well I'm still learning about it and I sometimes have to (Heaven forbid) consult the owners manual. In essence it has a 300hp V8 motor with sports exhaust, traction control, electronic stability control, cupholders (a first for me) as well as a 6 CD player ("so 1990" I know, but again this is a first for me). The interior materials must have required the clear cutting of a forest of burr walnut and the extermination of several large quadripeds. Overall it's quite gorgeous and according to the onboard computer is drinking at the very reasonable rate of 19.4 mpg (and don't forget that's US gallons, not 10% larger Imperial measure). My only reservation is the rear windows which are tinted black: while fine for Southern Californian pursuits such as drug dealing and drive-by shootings they are less suitable for the Pacific Northwest where these activities are less popular.

Custer's Last Screw Up

Last Stand Hill, Custer County, Montana. After the battle, the bodies of the hapless 7th cavalry men were buried where they fell.

I seem to have become a monthly blogger. As mentioned in previous posts there is nothing dire going on in the background -quite the reverse, in fact. Work is going quite satisfactorily and I've been fortunate to pick up a couple of decent sized grants over the summer (long may this trend continue). Indeed I've been crazily busy and running around like the proverbial headless chicken trying to organise various projects and develop some momentum. So in the course of things, I've had reason to travel to Montana; until now a state I've not had an excuse to visit. I have to say the landscape was fascinating although the the whole region is terribly depressed economically and food consists of steak and more steak (think the Monty Python Spam sketch but substitute steak). My ever increasing interest in the historical Old West caused me to stop at the Little Bighorn battlefield (Custer’s last stand, 1876). It's a poignant and lasting tribute to complete arrogance and stupidity in a military command. Unfortunately I don't think we've learned a great deal since...!

General George Armstrong Custer met his end here although his remains have since been interred at the West Point Academy. Now, look Georgie boy, if you happen to be reincarnated as a warrior, please read Sun Tzu's Art of War before going into battle again.