Dublin break

Just got back from a weekend break in Dublin. It was interesting to see Dublin, having never been to Ireland before. It’s a nice, characterful city, but the highlights were the traditional old pubs, the Guinness and the excellent microbrews from the Porterhouse — fine ales and stouts (better than Guinness — I wouldn’t order the food there again though).

Flights were out of London City — as always, the airport of choice if you can get a flight to where you want to go. Check in 20 minutes before take–off, in a cab within 10 minutes of touchdown on the way back… totally sweet. The slight disappointment was the hotel. We stayed at a five star (alright, we got a special deal on the standard rates) that is written up as being the absolute dogs and I had high expectations of it being fantastic. It certainly had the superficial trappings of luxury (flashy reception, smart staff, expansive lounge bar), but let down on the detail and the service. Some examples: the hot water in our room did not work (at all) during times of peak demand in the mornings or in the evenings, a request for a second pillow for the bed was dealt with unhelpfully (initial response “we haven’t got any, the hotel is full”, eventually a small cushion–shaped pillow being provided), the room was cold when we arrived, with the heating off. Not what you’d expect from a five star hotel.

Now you may say we didn’t pay the five star price, but if these organisations decide to run special offers in order to fill up capacity, they are in danger of ruining a hard–won reputation if they don’t treat their new customers just as well as they treated the dignitaries who used to visit before they lost all their wedge at Lloyds. Clients like me should be left aspiring to visit at full–rates in the future, thinking “wow, that place was fantastic, I can see why people pay the money” rather than thinking “these places aren’t all they’re cracked up to be, people who stay there at full price must have more money than sense, thank God I didn’t pay the £300 per night”. If your business model is no frills, (dare I say) Easyjet–style, fine. People should understand that you will not usually go much beyond your strict contractual obligations if they have a problem. But this was supposed to be a premium product and I’ve had a more comfortable stay at a Travellodge on the M1.

Viking Power website of Svend Karlsen.

These personal webshoite things have come on a long way, eh? It’s gone from “OMG check this out lol — it is sooooooo lame roflmao” to some kind of new semi–competitive literary phenomenon where everyone is, like “hey, great writing, man, how can we compete with that?” and “beautiful writing, thanks (sniff)”. Rest assured we’ll be having none of that malarkey here and this will continue to be the most amazing site about me and a load of random cool mad links and stuff lol. Cos I’m mad, I am.

So the congestion charge has reduced motorcycle casualties, contrary to the prognostications of various organisations that said that a load of novices would jump on bikes and scooters to avoid coughing up their fiver, resulting in carnage and mayhem.

Amusing post about the Atkins diet.

In da club

Went to a formal dinner at a traditional London gentlemen’s club last night. Met some interesting characters, straight out of the old school. One chap, whose appearance would be best described as Stephen Berkoff dressed as Jarvis from Newman and Baddiel, responded to an enquiry as to his occupation with “not very much… I farm a little…”; now we’re not talking the Archers of Ambridge, here, by that I think he meant “I own a large country estate and occasionally shoot the odd pheasant”.

Someone I met said he lived in a Chinese pagoda in Ireland. With the same nervous instinct for a quick, inappropriate gag in an unfamiliar social situation that made me introduce myself as Bryan Ferry, Roxy Music to my Cambridge University director of studies when he forgot my name at an alumni drinks party, I immediately claimed to live in an Irish pagoda in China. My reception was similar on both occasions — blank incomprehension.

Beware of stereotypes

Remember, not all fat people are jolly, friendly characters, who “became the class clown” at school to avoid being picked on. Certain fat people are humourless, unpleasant, pre–emptively aggressive, miserable sods. Just like certain thin people.

Would you like a double-yolk with that?

Unbelievable dithering at the sandwich shop just now. Bloke at the front of a long queue was having chicken and avocado in a white baguette. I was next in line. When asked whether he wanted salad, his response was to stroke his chin, let out a long “hmmmmmm”, and then say “maybe lettuce and tomato… no, perhaps not… what do you think…”? The foreign serving lady, whose English is not great at the best of times, looked back at him in total bafflement. And I’m not surprised. This man is clearly some sort of double–yoker. People get shot in New York for less.

Bloke gets sacked by Microsoft for his website. I wonder if I am taking an unnecessary risk by having this thing?

This is interesting for the bit about what Ken Livingstone has to say about Bush. I remember being amazed at his speech at the last big demonstration about the war on Iraq. He certainly does not pull any punches for a mainstream politician.

What do you think of Mark Steyn? Here he discusses Iraq, here Rod Stewart. Good versatility.

Saw My Cousin Vinny last night. Sometimes we need to take a step back and remember why it was we got into the law in the first place. Where did it all go so awry?

ID cards - update

I’ve thought about this some more and it seems to me that the key is deciding when and how ID cards should be demanded and information linked to identity collected and used.

Wadham says the government should trust its citizens. I say, I don’t trust the government. Specifically, I don’t trust them not to use the information about what I buy and where I go against me, even if everything I do is within the law. No–one should be allowed all that information. It is none of their business. Further, I do not trust the government not to sell the information to the big companies with whom the governments of the UK and US are increasingly in cahoots and for the benefit of whom the world increasingly appears to be run. I remember the way in which we had to fill in all that information on the electoral roll, under penalty of the criminal law and a large fine, which was then made available to marketeers (note the opt–out on the new forms to comply with the Data Protection laws and the Human Rights Act).

I don’t want employers being able to get a dossier containing every piece of information about me in one place. I already feel like I have to justify my existence too damn much to employers via CVs (“just to clear up a few gaps, can you tell me what you did between getting back from your travels in India in January 1997 and starting the job at Vodafone in May 1997”), without having to field questions about (say) how much I drink and where, what books I read, why I have the odd bet on the horses, what I pay Seem Internet for, etc, etc, etc, it goes on…

I suppose what Liberty is saying is that ID cards are the thin end of that wedge.

So the absolute key with ID cards is that while they may be useful and legitimate when it comes to access to services paid for by the tax–payers of this country, we have to be very careful about when it is proper to demand them and how much information is gathered on the computer systems with which they will inevitably be linked.

Tell me when you think checking ID is not an appropriate requirement: After being arrested for a crime? Claiming a state benefit? Seeing a doctor on the NHS? Simply getting into places (bars, shops, places of entertainment… you could see it happening, actually…)? Buying goods and services? Getting into any private residence? Just walking along the street at any time? Where should the line be drawn? A danger here is that if you were to say that you need ID when you are arrested, claim benefits or seek NHS treatment but you don’t need ID to get into the Opera, you may be accused of discriminating against the less wealthy.

My own view at the moment is that ID cards can be justified, but that the information to be collected on law–abiding citizens should be restricted to the absolute bare minimum necessary to protect the people of this country from criminals and fraudsters and should not be provided to third parties by the government. But what I’d certainly assert is that these are the sorts of issues that need to be discussed, rather than cloaking the debate in silly civil liberties rhetoric about trusting citizens and protecting grandmothers.

ID cards

Can someone explain the issue on ID cards to me? Whenever they are mooted, people get very excited about infringement of civil liberties. Mark Littlewood of Liberty states that “They represent a real threat to our civil liberties and our personal privacy”.

In what way? Despite all the rhetoric, no-one has yet satisfactorily explained to me what threat being obliged merely to identify oneself at appropriate times poses to the law–abiding citizens of this country.

John Wadham of Liberty has previously said that “This plan exposes the fact the government doesn’t trust its citizens”.

This seems a silly allegation. Why should the government take on trust that people are who they say they are? Benefit fraud, abuse of the National Health Service and illegal immigration undoubtedly occur, at the expense of the law–abiding, tax–paying citizen. It is naive to suggest that the Government should simply trust its citizens. What about people who are not citizens? In what way is asking someone to substantiate the mere fact of their identity and therefore their entitlement to a pay–out from tax–payers’ money unreasonable?

Wadham goes on to state that he can’t understand why his 89 year old mother should be forced to register, maybe have her fingerprints taken and have other personal details stored on her card when she has committed no crime.

This seems to me to be just a cheap rhetorical technique, evoking images of a kindly old lady hobbling into a police station and having mug–shots taken like a criminal. But all that his mother is being asked to do is to submit to a simple, one–off procedure to sign up for an ID card that will allow her to be identified when she seeks to claim services from the state, so that she can get what she is entitled to, while keeping out those wrong–doers who would seek to benefit from her rights as a citizen of this country, without having undertaken the other side of that bargain which gives rise to those rights — i.e being a citizen, paying National Insurance Contributions, or whatever that may have been. Provided the sign–up procedure is undertaken sensibly and sensitively and the occasions on which one is required to identify oneself are kept to what is strictly necessary, what possible complaint could anyone have with that? Somebody please explain.

Blimey, the manager for Pink is Craig Logan, formerly the third bloke out of Bros.

This is a good post on a good weblog site. I like this:

“‘Robin’, he said breathlessly, ‘you over analyse’.

I spent the rest of the day wondering whether he might not be right but on balance I have come to the conclusion that I don’t”.

Anyone see BBC breakfast news this morning? Some feature about how everyone is under–insured, presented by… the British Association of Insurers. That’s not news. That’s advertising. In other “news” I just renewed my bike insurance. £900, fully comp, garaged, with 3 years NCB, clean licence. And the worst quote I got was for £1,700. Yet another hidden cost of living in London, I guess.

A bit out of date now, but here is a funny story about a crazy Viking who killed a shark with his bare hands. Hardcore. [via Benny-boy].

Speaking of Douglas Bader, there’s a problem with the air conditioning in the office at the moment, resulting in an ambient temperature of about 18°C. In spite of this, someone bravely decided to wear a tight blouse today. Like fighter pilots thumbs…

Question

Is it effete for a bloke to eat a pastry with a coffee; say, a pain au raisin? Is it effete for a bloke to order a Starbucks coffee; say a latte? Are Starbucks emasculating us? Why can’t you get a strong white coffee and a bacon sarnie? Douglas Bader wouldn’t have had any of this.

Partial retraction

Thinking it through, I have more sympathy with Mr Chick than I have expressed below. Who is to say what I would do if confronted with the situation where I was being denied access to my kid and no–one seemed to be listening to me? So while I don’t appreciate the traffic jams, maybe I shouldn’t be so quick to condemn. It’s not like he was setting out to hurt anyone.

Traffic III

Ken is on my side on this one. Apparently he says that:

“It is totally unacceptable that this man’s foolish protest is causing massive disruption to London and holding Londoners to ransom”.

I agree.

However, echoing the “your two pounds a month could save the eyesight of twenty Rwandan refugees”, Matt O’Connor, the founder of Fathers 4 Justice, says:

“In the extra 20 minutes you spend in traffic, one child will lose contact with their father. At the end of today, a further 100 kids will lose contact with their fathers”.

Tugs the heartstrings. But the difference between this stunt and asking people to covenant their two quid is that me and thousands of others sitting in traffic doesn’t affect whether Mr O’Connor or Mr Chick sees their kids one jot. In fact, what Chick is trying to do is to cause enough inconvenience/risk of harm (albeit fairly fanciful — but supposedly real enough for the police to see fit to cordon off the area and hence create the inconvenience) to large numbers of innocent people, that the Government (he hopes) will be forced to capitulate to his demands. Leaving completely to one side the issue of whether or not his demands are reasonable and whether or not I would otherwise support them, the name for this sort of action is “terrorism”. He’d better get down before Bush and the CIA come over to visit in a fortnight or he’ll end up in Guantanamo Bay (oh, sorry, he’s not a Muslim). But seriously, what do people think? Should Chick be locked up for this?

Question

Is it effete for a bloke to eat chocolate/sweet stuff, like, say, a Twix?

Traffic II

I should add to yesterday’s post, the reason that this protest has had such an impact on traffic is that the police have closed Tower Bridge and the Highway at Vaughan Way, forcing traffic off to the right, up past where I live and into the South East end of the City. The reason for doing this is that Chick might fall off the crane in a high wind and land on the road below, causing an accident. Is this an over–reaction?

Traffic

So this evening it takes me an hour to do the 2.5 miles home from work on the bike because although Blaine has fooked off, some tosser has now decided to replace him by staging a protest up a crane at Tower Bridge. And that is in spite of cutting out of the jam by riding up on the pavement and going around a different way. A car would have taken even longer. Having finally made it, the traffic is still gridlocked outside my window and the noise and fumes will presumably continue to percolate up until he sees fit to come down. Is it right that people can inconvenience a whole load of other people either to make a fast buck (Blaine) or to make a point (Chick)? Now where did I put that .22 rifle?

Pay in advance buses

I tried to get on a bus at Tottenham Court Road. The machine at the stop was broken, so I got on the bus. “Pound, please”, I said. “Nah, mate, you’ve gotta pay at the stop mate”. “Machine’s not working”. “Well, there’s other stops, other machines”. Thanks for your help, pal. Unbelievable. So I walk to the next stop. This one has two machines. Both broken. One has eaten a woman’s money. Everyone’s waiting for one of those Routemaster buses with the conductor on so they can buy a ticket. An empty bus pulls up, going our way. The doors open. No–one gets on. The doors close. It drives off. I decide to walk. Ridiculous.

So we had a costume party on Friday to celebrate my birthday. My girlfriend and I went as Axl and Slash from Guns ’n’ Roses. Unfortunately, due to the postal strike, some of my costume didn’t arrive in time. Still, those tight black leather trousers from ebay will come in handy whenever they get here, right?