It has been said that the United States and Great Britain are two nations separated by a common language. I believe that this is just half of the truth that explains why our differences amount to chasms in to which many unwitting people fall. In my adventures across the pond over the years I have encountered the wild, the wonderful …
Sunscreen And Men: The Rules
Trevor and I went surfing at the weekend. Well, you would, wouldn’t you, on an island in the middle of the Pacific … ? Today my back is red despite the application (in haste, might I add) of sunscreen before hitting the waves. I blame Trevor. He blames England and the lack of sun preparing my virgin skin for the …
You Have Been Warned …
This sign from a Gymnastics School in Maui makes a lot more sense after seeing my friends’ kids around dogs.
Pragmatism Is The Principle
In a recent article about the imprisoned Ai Weiwei, Boris Johnson highlights China’s practice of silencing their critics and opponents seemingly at will and without fuss. In a Communist country that’s rapidly emerging into superpower status, formerly agreed upon world principles, like human rights, don’t seem to hold much weight. With an economy growing at at a faster rate than …
What Have I Just Ordered?
When you walk in to you favourite coffee house you will be presented today with a variety of options that all sound like characters from a tragic opera. These continental names posture as flamboyant and may confuse the average Brit who is only just catching up to a scene that has been played out in northern Mediterranean countries for some …
Facebook Ruined My Mind
In 2005 The Guardian ran an article stating that, The distractions of constant emails, text and phone messages are a greater threat to IQ and concentration than taking cannabis. That was 2 years before the iPhone was released to the world and before we’d ever heard of Twitter or the majority of us could sign up for a Facebook account. …
Train Your Mind
Discipline. It is the one area of life where there simply are not any shortcuts to victory. And as with our bodies, regular training of our mind is crucial if we are to get the best out of what we have been given. How and what we think affects how we act. Ideas have consequences. What we believe informs what …
Get Fit, You’re On Mission
In late 2007 I topped the scales at over 200lbs (14st. 4lb or 91kg). I’m 5’7 (on a sunny day, in the morning). There was no way I could apply the usual “I played rugby”, “I’ve got a big frame”, “BMI doesn’t work for me” escape clauses. I was overweight, out of shape, unfit and no matter which camera angle …
Starbucks: Do we really want it our way?
What’s the secret behind a coffee company hailing from an often-wet, increasingly-cosmopolitan city in the northwest of the United States also home to Microsoft, Boeing and Frasier? What started out as a small, waterfront, independent coffee shop is now a mega-chain spanning the world. How’s that? I’d like to offer a suggestion on one of the many factor’s that may …
Shot In The Back
Thoughts on fighting on the same team.