In the introductory bumf for Jonathan Palmers Bedford Autodrome motorsport venue it says:

The Motorsport Sensation at Bedford Autodrome. Guests drive every high performance car. They experience one of the most thrilling memorable days of their lives and they will love it.

Rarely do you read marketing blurb that on ...   more »

From the Daily Mail on Saturday an article on the explosion of public sector jobs in - no surprises here - labour constituencies. NuLabour has increased public sector jobs by 13% to 6 million, almost twice the increase seen in the private sector and most are pen pushers. In certain ...   more »

Sunday this week saw me heading off to attend a Rally Navigation Course. Why? Well, 'cos we're off on a rally next month, that's why.

We've entered the BGT in The Rally of the Tests which starts on the 11th in Edinburgh and finishes (we hope) 3 days later in ...   more »

In an article in The Age

Updated at 1.09pm:
A traffic warden slapped a parking ticket on a car which had its dead driver slumped at the wheel outside an Australian shopping mall, an official said on Friday.
The body of the 71-year-old man, whose identity was not immediately released, ...   more »

It was quite a weekend packed with all sorts of goodies.

First, the Brighton family visited and brought almost as much wine as they drank. The kids ran collective riot and trashed the house. So....

Second, I went down to the shoot to top up feeders and add water containers, ...   more »

On Screaming

1. Do not scream; for it is as if you scream all the time.
2. If you are given a plate on which two foods you do not wish to touch each other are touching each other, your voice rises up even to the ceiling, while you point ...   more »

Mr Free Market was in 'circular formulae hell' yesterday. If I interpret correctly he was struggling to make a few sums add up with the aid of a computer and a bit of spreadsheet software. One of his readers - Remittance Man - posted a wonderful comment which I cannot ...   more »

In an interesting item on the news tonight it seems the US embassy are refusing to pay the congestion charge in London, incurred by their vehicles. I didn't follow the story clearly, but apparently they cite the Declaration of Independance and the issue of 'no taxation without representation'; said charge ...   more »

If a statue in the park of a person on a horse has both front legs in the air, the person died in battle. If the horse has one front leg in the air the person died as a result of wounds received in battle. If the horse has all ...   more »

Laws When at Table

1. And if you are seated in your high chair, or in a chair such as a greater person might use, keep your legs and feet below you as they were. Neither raise up your knees, nor place your feet upon the table, for that is ...   more »

We enjoyed a couple of really good bottles over the weekend. Don't worry - we didn't only drink two, but two were particularly of note.

First, with The Fisherman and Mrs Fisherman (if I call her Fishwife I'm in deep trouble) a 1988 Hospices de Beaune Volnay-Santenots by Bouchard was ...   more »

Updated at 12.59pm:
Jacques Chirac is ignorantly hostile to reform; Pervez Musharraf is "not a democrat"; and Dick Cheney's style is to stick up "two fingers" to the outside world. Oh, and Vladimir Putin is a liar.
Former Hong Kong governor Chris Patten has let rip at the world's great ...   more »

Prof. Stephen Hawking appeared on Channel 4's Breakfast TV this week - the Richard and Judy show to 'promote' his new book, A Briefer History of Time.

Now R&J are more used to questioning celebrities about their pets, or probing the details of Jude and Sienna's relationship - you know, ...   more »

I spotted this gem in The Devil's Advocate site....

You may have missed one of the most interesting stories to emerge from Hurricane Katrina. It turns out that armed dolphins, trained by the US military to shoot terrorists and pinpoint spies underwater, have gone missing in the Gulf of Mexico. ...   more »

Overheard at a recent British Council of offices luncheon in London, a quote from Sir Digby Jones, Director General of the CBI:

"I've learned to never trust what a politician says. Watch what they do".

Never more true than today.   more »

Hot on the heels of my trip to the US I headed off to Devon for a meeting of the NTHKWS (Not the Hong Kong Wine Society), UK Chapter. We now outnumber the donor branch which, given that there is only one criteria for membership: you had to be a ...   more »

According to a report in Property Week, Major Ken, Governor of London and Lord of all he surveys recently described property developers as 'some of the most rapacious bastards on the planet'. In a style fizzing with all the humility for which he is famous, he did so at a ...   more »

Every news story provides material for humour. The black ones appear immediately after any disasters.. but the best are the short and simple like this:

Kate Moss had just been introduced to Jeremy Clarkson at a smart celeb party -

"What do you do?" she asked

"Top Gear" he replied

...   more »

One of the constraints of my hectic travel schedule is that too frequently it robs me of the opportunity to post posts. Conversely it does, however provide much material.

Last week whilst in Miami on business we had Thursday dinner in The Forge. A strange old place: part Munsters living ...   more »

Thanks to Brixton Boy for sending these... more over the next few days.....

Many years ago in Scotland, a new game was invented. It was ruled "Gentlemen Only...Ladies Forbidden"...and thus the word GOLF entered into the English language.

In the 1400s a law was set forth that a man was ...   more »

Laws Pertaining to Dessert

1. For we judge between the plate that is unclean and the plate that is clean, saying first, if the plate is clean, then you shall have dessert.
2. But of the unclean plate, the laws are these If you have eaten most of your meat, ...   more »

I received a nice invitation to a posh dinner in 'touwn' the other day:

Dear Guest

With reference to the above dinner please can you let me know if you have any special dietary requirements so I can inform the organisers.

Kind Regards

etc.

Well I know what they're after. ...   more »

Very sad to hear of the death of one of the UK's best comedians today. From the Telegraph:

TV comedian Ronnie Barker has died at his home after a long illness, aged 76. The actor had starred in a series of comedies including the Two Ronnies, Porridge and Open All ...   more »

Part of the fun of moving to the UK was the opportunity to take part in activities that are new to us. Joining the Shoot has been a lot of fun as we built the pheasant pen and subsequently have had to learn to look after the little beasts prior ...   more »

A couple of things really caught my eye while I was traveling last week – and they do deserve a little attention here.

First was the fundamental change in approach by the communities and local government minister, David Miliband vis-à-vis the council tax. He confirmed that they were being totally ...   more »