Philip R Buttall's Blog

It's his funeral!

2011-07-09T19:46:00.003+01:00

So Lewis Hamilton has said that, despite being branded as 'dangerous' before the British Grand Prix, he will never change the way he drives until the day he dies!

I have absolutely no problem with this - he can go tomorrow, for all I care - I don't think he'll be greatly mourned, or a great loss to mankind!

However, I just hope that by his arrogant manner, some other poor sod doesn't get killed first!

Give him a taste of his own medicine, I say!

2011-07-01T11:19:00.003+01:00

So top Met Police Dog handler and trainer just happened to forget that he'd left two dogs in his care in his van, on one of the hottest days of the year! Oh, dear, how careless of him! To his 'credit' he did attempt to slash his wrists, but with the kind of ineptitude we've come to expect, he didn't even get this bit right!

He will face prosecution from the RSPCA, and a 'disciplinary investigation' - some people are calling for his immediate dismissal. They won't get that, of course, he'll just be moved somewhere else, possibly even promoted.

No, I have a better idea! Let's lock him in an industrial oven, preferably with heat-resistant glass sides and back, so we can all watch! I'd happily turn it on, but suspect that I'd have to wait my turn in a very long human queue...to say nothing of the entire dog population in this country!

The man's a total disgrace to mankind!

Grow up, Mr Clarkson!

2011-06-15T10:24:00.003+01:00

I used to be a fan of Jeremy Clarkson and, years ago, enjoyed Top Gear when they were sensible and talked about sensible things, and cars to which the average person could aspire.

A couple of nights ago I saw they were talking about the Reliant Robin - in my student and early teaching days I had a few of these, for their economy, and, initially the fact that they could be driven on a motorcycle licence!

I was horrified to see Clarkson manage to turn over his Robin virtually every few seconds, I know with three wheels there is a stability problem, but if you're aware of this, then there is no real problem. He set out deliberately to turn the car over at every opportunity, simply because he though it was funny. Well, I expect those few owners still enjoying the little car weren't so amused. The fact that he took every single corner so fast simply attests to his POOR driving, not an inherent design fault! Interestingly, despite being upended numerous times, the poor little car still kept going - and, I see that the Reliant Robin is involved in the fewest accidents today - of course, as the paper said, most of its owners are very old, but they're careful!

He also seemed to derive great delight in burning the rubber off the rear tyres of a new Bentley Sport Coupe - wasn't that clever - he's lucky enough to be able to afford one, let alone get one free to abuse!

I only wished he'd done himself some real damage, as I find hos over-inflated ego just too much.

And, while on that tack, I find his side-kick, Richard Hammond, equally as objectionable - rubbishing family cars which most people have to save up for - I just wish that perhaps that crash he had, had been more conclusive, and we wouldn't have to stick his childish prattle!

The same time, I saw the other member of the team, James, present a programme where he succeeded in running a model train between Bideford and Barnstaple - he came over so much better, so less arrogant, so much more mature - I suggest he leaves these other two buffoons to get on with Top Gear - it does him no favours in the credibility stakes!

Why don't Clarkson and Hammond just grow up!!

Hamilton does it again!

2011-06-13T08:54:00.002+01:00

I've said it before, and I'll say it again - Hamilton is a reckless, dangerous driver, in my humble opinion!

In fact, this view is shared by no less a person than former world champion, Niki Lauda.

Of course, Hamilton will get away with punishment, for his antics at yesterday's Canadian Grand Prix, just as he did at the earlier Monaco event - the chips are stacked in his favour!

But, and I'm going to get in touch with Santander, using him as a role model, where a full-size cardboard cut-out (at least a safer driver!) awaits you in most every branch of the Spanish bank across the UK, is giving the wrong picture.

In these economic times, we need stability and common sense in managing our finances.

I contend that Lewis Hamilton suggests danger and poor judgement - something that any investor or saver certainly doesn't want to see!

If you feel like me, why don't you write to Santander, too!

England and Crapello do it again!

2011-06-06T08:55:00.004+01:00

If you had the misfortune to watch that shameful display against the Swiss, you'll surely realise that neither has England a hope in hell of beating any decent team, or that the much over-paid and over-hyped Capello will ever be able to achieve anything - excellent ensure a big fat payout (of our money!)

The Swiss simply made us play like amateurs, were far better on the ball and, had their Arsenal defender (the bloke with the really stupid haircut!) not played as badly for the Swiss team, as he does for Arsenal, the Swiss would easily have won!

But it doesn't take much to realise why!

Let us assume that Man U is currently the best team in the Premiership. When they played Barcelona, they were made to look totally ordinary. Barcelona has a high percentage of Spanish players, Man U, like every Prem team is a complete mixture, so effectively we've hardly any decent English players anywhere. Look at Bent, for example - what total rubbish - those misses were of schoolboy amateurism!

Oh, and just one final comment: ITV had two pundits commenting on the match - Gareth Southgate, who seems a nice bloke, was a good player, but didn't distinguish himself managerially - and Peter Reid, who by his astute managerial skills has managed to bring Plymouth Argyle down and down - exactly what does he know about international football, I hear you ask! Oh, and a final moan - commentator, Andy Townsend is blessed with the gift of the gab - but in his case it's the worst sort - verbal diarrhoea - why can't he just shut up occasionally - he wasn't a bad player, admittedly, but.........

Plymouth Argyle - a good ambassador for the city!

2011-05-03T13:29:00.003+01:00

So Plymouth Argyle football club is to be relegated next season, and will find itself down in Division 2. Of course, it true PC fashion, this is actually worse than it sounds. Just like in education, where 'A' has always sufficed to distinguish the best results, we now need to have 'A*' - has the best really got better, or is it rather like the composer, Schumann, for example, who asks that a piece of music be played 'as fast as possible' - then asks for it to be 'even faster' later on!

Division 2 is, infact, Division 4 - the lowest you can get without playing on the village green. The Premiership is the old Div 1, the Championship Div 2, so it's worse than you think - but is it!

Plymouth, despite its relative size, is a fourth-division city - just on the news, the decision to shut Plymouth Airport will be greeted in Exeter with great pleasure, as this will now expand, and become the gateway to the South West.

Culture stops, anyway, at Bristol - something trickles down to Exeter, and then filters through to Truro, neatly bypassing Plymouth - a naval town, but where there's hardly much navy left.

Our traffic system's a complete mess - there have been major roadworks for a year - unlike everywhere else, our traffic policy seems to be: narrow the roads, increase the pavement width, give wider cycle paths, and sod the motorist. Other cities seem to realise that if you widen the arteries, the blood flows better!!

I am sorry to say that, virtually through an accident of birth, I am a Plymothian - it's probably the one thing I can't actually change, like my nationality. We can re-assign our sexes, but once we're born, that's it - I wonder whether the church would allow me to be 'reborn' somewhere else - after all. it extols the praises of marriage as a holy state, where people don't live together until they are married - that is, of course, unless you're a 'Royal'! It's sensible to try anything out before you sign on the dotted line - but it's hypocritical of the church to take all the money for these kinds of weddings.

...and we still give money to Pakistan!!

2011-05-03T13:21:00.004+01:00

So the Americans have taken out Osama Bin Laden - good job they did, as if it had been us, we'd probably have apologised profusely to the guy for disturbing him in his stronghold, and offer him alternative accommodation here in the UK - with free NHS, or rather private medical treatment.

What is unbelievable is that his stronghold was in a fairly affluent town, not far from the capital - it looked like a stronghold, or fortress - it had no Internet or phone - and yet the Pakistanis didn't seem to know it was there?!? Had it been disguised as an Asda store, with mock petrol pumps, I could possibly have understood their confusion.

And yet the UK government persists in giving money to this regime! As I said at the start, a good job the Americans got to him first - good riddance, I say!

NIKON (UK) SUCKS! - in my opinion, that is!

2011-04-22T15:41:00.012+01:00

Years ago, when I first needed a camera to take holiday snaps, my parents bought me a Canon, which was one of the first reasonably-priced compact 35mm cameras around - for all you youngsters, this meant that it used actual film to take the pictures, which then had to be developed! Irrespective of that, it lasted years, and never ever let me down - in fact I still have it upstairs.

Digital came in, of course, and the obvious advantage is that you can effectively just take anything, without worrying about whether you'll run out of film, or whether you shouldn't 'waste' a particular shot - with just 24 or 36 exposures on a film, before you have to change it - the difference was like chalk and cheese.

Mum had bought me a good pair of Nikon binoculars, so I thought that my first digital compact camera should also be a Nikon. The first one lasted a few years, but then the battery holder clip broke off (I prefer using AA batteries, rather than Lithium here, as they can easily be recharged, but they need spring pressure to retain them) - I had to bin this one. Shortly Nikon were bringing out their L20 which again used AA batteries, but where the battery case had clearly seemed to have got a stronger means of fastening it - perhaps they had learnt from this in the past.

I used it for under two years - we were going to York for Dad's 91st birthday a week or so ago, and so I took it out of its case, in order to get the batteries charged in readiness, and found that a small part of the bottom of the battery case had sheared off. I certainly hadn't knocked, since putting it away, and when I put it away after the last time, it was in perfect condition. After contacting Nikon UK it was suggested that I send the camera back to them to be assessed. When I discovered the small broken-off bit - see photo above - it was 4 days after the 2-year guarantee had expired! Had we been going the week before, I would have discovered it within the guarantee period.

Well, most large companies show some goodwill in similar circumstances, so I sent it back, recorded mail, as suggested, and waited to hear their response. I heard nothing to say it had even arrived, despite having given them both my postal, and email address - tracking the parcel confirmed that it had arrived there. I got back in touch with Customer Service at Nikon UK, to say how appalled I was that I hadn't heard anything yet. The agent kindly 'escalated' the matter, so that I would hear 'soon'. The next day I received an email with an 'invoice' - they estimated that the repair would cost £51+ - it would even cost me £6 just to have it sent back!

I contacted them by phone immediately, but they were TOTALLY inflexible. They claimed that, as 'I had damaged it myself', the guarantee was invalidated, and I would have to pay. Needless to say I told them where to stick the camera - it might come in handy for bowel screening. I emailed back to Nikon UK * to say how very disappointed I was, but have heard nothing more since! I have now emailed the CEO of Nikon UK, to make him aware of what I think is poor service by his company. I WOULDN'T BUY ANOTHER NIKON PRODUCT OF ANY SORT AGAIN, AND WOULD RECOMMEND THAT YOU THINK TWICE, TOO, BECAUSE OF MY EXPERIENCES, NOT ONLY WITH THE PRODUCT BUT WITH THE COMPANY IN THE UK. I've just seen the same camera advertised - brand new, as it's now a previous model, and this was only £49 - so I'd be daft to pay more than that for a 2-year-old one And why, if it only cost me £2.53 for recorded delivery, would it cost £6 to have it returned!! Despite my accompanying letter clearly showing my Post Code and city correctly, they addressed the invoice and explanation not to PLYMOUTH - but to PORTSMOUTH. Just how inefficient are they at Nikon GB!!

In terms of my having damaged the camera, obviously it's my word against theirs! All I can say is I recently had two similar instances where damage occurred and where I was claimed to have caused this - on a recent pair of expensive spectacle lens a scratch developed, which I know I didn't cause, and Optical Express gave me the benefit of the doubt, replacing the lens free of charge. The latest pair were rimless, and these started to fail at the drilling point, again something which 'careless' use might have caused. Optical Express again came up trumps and replaced everything for nothing. Here, in both case we weren't talking £120 or so which was all the measly little camera cost, but £4-500 on each occasion. But then, Optical Express obviously respects what their customers say. They could so easily have said that I must have damaged the lenses etc.

No, I think Nikon UK have been unreasonable and inflexible here - they could have shown some goodwill but didn't. This is strange, as previously I've had Honda and Toyota cars, and they really did seem to have care and concern for their customers.

* While I heard nothing fro their CEO, they did make me a slightly improved offer - 25% off the cost of the repairs, and possibly free return back to me. They also apologised for confusing Plymouth with Portsmouth!

However, I went into our local Jessops and emerged with a really great offer on a brand new camera - obviously not a Nikon, but from one of their leading Japanese competitors. This came with a brand new memory card, card-reader, case, small tripod, 3-year warranty and cleaning cloth - and, furthermore I got to be served by Plymouth photographer, Suri Murrani, originally from Baghdad. This was an altogether pleasurable experience, and I am happy to draw a line under the whole sorry episode with Nikon GB.

I hope you enjoyed the Grand National!

2011-04-10T13:53:00.004+01:00

I hope all of you who were sad enough to watch yesterday's Grand National enjoyed it, and made a lot from your winnings!

I don't suppose, though, that the two poor horses that died during the race found it quite as entertaining - at least they gave their lives for sport, and thus something of little real consequence.

Wouldn't it be lovely to see the jockeys actually run and jump the course, being continually whipped by the horses it they didn't try to kill themselves in the process!

Of course, with a good number of the jockies being of Irish origin, perhaps it wouldn't be that hard to convince them!

Let's ban this terrible spectacle, and complete waste of animal life!

Ant and Dec - One decked, one to go!

2011-03-10T09:16:00.004Z

There are some things, unfortunately, which, as a member of the general public, you can't really do - even though you'd often like to!

It has always amazed me what people can see in these two people (I can't call them comedians, as Morecambe and Wise would turn in their respective graves!) - I suppose 'presenters' is about all they do. But they're always in your face, always on the box, and as far as I can see, their only 'claim to fame' is their Geordie accents - hardly unique there then, man!

Now The Hairy Bikers, and Alan Shearer, for example, all sport the same dulcet tones - but at least they've got some obvious talents! In the first instance, they're good cooks, and are really funny - in the second, he was a really good footballer.

So when I read that someone had punched the 'Ant' one - I don't know or care which is which above - in a pub - all I could say was, well, it saved me the trouble - or just putting my fist through the TV screen.

Sadly these are just two more cases of genuine non-talent that plague our screens and lives today. Hopefully someone might now follow suit with the other one!

New mobile phone!

2011-02-28T15:23:00.004Z

As soon as the contract was within 3 months of finishing, I updated my previous mobile phone, and got a new BlackBerry Bold 9780 - what a brilliant phone it is - emails arrive even quicker than they do on my home broadband and everything else works a treat.

Although being wooed by Carphone Warehouse, I eventually went to Phones 4u, where there's an excellent branch in Plymouth, just down from the shopping mall, and where I got a fantastic deal which saw me virtually not having to pay much more a month than I was before, but now enjoying everything the BlackBerry has to offer. I can't recommend Phones 4u too highly!

One consequence of basically continuing my previous contract, was that I retained a limited SMS account, but never going over 300 a month, this was no hardship!

However, on my previous phone, there was a built-in SMS counter, but strangely on the BlackBerry there wasn't one.

But with all the apps now available, I found a 'SMS Counter' which cost just a couple of pounds, and which does the trick.

The only problem is that it doesn't appear exactly as it is advertised, and a couple of its features are not overly clear. As with most things, there is a support service to email, which I have done now, more than once, but with no response. It's not crucial to me, but I've noticed other occasional references to this particular company NOT bothering to reply.

So, just in case you're considering an app from them, bear in mind that their promised support might not materialise.

The company is called GetEmpower - you have been warned!

Caveat emptor! - BT Cordless Phones fail all too easily, it seems!

2011-01-10T18:42:00.017Z

Let the buyer beware!

I just wanted to share our experience with BT Cordless Phones! I use one in the house, and one in my studio, where the intercom facility is most useful.

The first one I bought was a BT Synergie model - that failed after a year or so. This was then replaced by another BT model, the Studio 1100 - that, too, failed, not long after it was out of warranty.

I know I should have thought twice about replacing this in October 2009 with the new BT 3100 model, but feeling a certain loyalty to BT, I went ahead. That has now failed, too - it's not long out of warranty, but I don't suppose BT will have anything to do with it.

I've since read some reviews, and it seems that people are preferring the models by Siemens etc - which they mention are a 'replacement' for BT ones they'd and, and which had failed.

I did email BT, but am not holding my breath for an answer. I know they're not that expensive, but they still ought to last longer - the original cordless phones did! So, like me, if you're looking for a cordless phone, or pair of them:

DON'T WASTE YOUR MONEY ON BT PRODUCTS! THEY'LL PROBABLY FAIL CONVENIENTLY JUST AFTER THE 1-YEAR WARRANTY!

SIEMENS, on the other hand, is German, I think! That probably tells you something, even if they're both ultimately put together in the Far East!

STOP PRESS: Having had no joy in trying to get a repair/spare part, I went and bought a Siemens (Gigaset) model - what a difference! Not only cheaper. but with a real quality feel, and more facilities.

And yes, I was right! 'Made in Germany' is there for all to see! Far more comforting than 'Made by BT'. I'm just wondering why I stayed loyal to a seemingly dud product for so long!

EXTRA: I did find an excellent firm, actually also situated in Devon, and they supply spare parts for BT and other products. They sent me a new power adapator, which is what had actually gone wrong, and it was pretty cheap, and quick coming. I'd thoroughly recomend them.

Thank you, Howard - for nothing!

2011-01-09T16:35:00.003Z

After a most enjoyable meal of fillet steak, Dad and I settled to enjoy the FA Cup clash between Manchester United and Liverpool.

Well, we would have, had not the great Mr Webb - or Sergeant Webb, to give him his full police title - completely spoilt the game by a penalty award to Man U after a mere 31 seconds of play!

There was absolutely minimal contact - Berbatov clearly went an extra step or so, before doing one of his favourite Bulgarian dives!

Of course, we've seen this happen with Howard Webb before, and the penalty was awarded and converted, even though Berbatov wasn't ideally even in a scoring position.

Then later he sends off the Liverpool captain, Steven Gerrard for what was supposed to be a dangerous tackle on Michael Carrick - despite the fact that some of the Man U players regularly make far worse tackles - Rafael please note! Carrick didn't even have to go off, but got up after a minimum of treatment, and looking decidedly none the worse for this 'oh so dangerous' challenge.

No, Mr Webb, you spoilt it for everyone - and wrecked Dalgleish's chances of getting Liverpool back on their feet - even though they were, in fact, playing with far greater conviction than they had done under Roy Hodgson.

Of course, apart from all the fees etc Mr Webb picks up, he's also on a 5-year sabbatical from South Yorkshire Police. The Chief Constable said that Howard Webb brings to his refereeing the same kind of qualities as are need on a weekend in the centre of town to break up a punch-up. Perhaps he should also have mentioned the occasional need apparently to fabricate the evidence, and stitch people up.

I didn't make the picture above - it's from someone else's blog, and, of course, Man U have moved on from that particular shirt deal - but we all know what the picture means!

It's more a question of charisma, than tactics!

2011-01-07T09:03:00.005Z

In yesterday's paper, there was a composite shot of four Premiership managers under severe pressure to quit after a string of poor results and performances. In fact, today we hear that one is alread going, going...gone!

If you looked at the four managers - a Frenchman, an Italian, an Israeli and Roy Hodgson - the first one to go - they all have something very much in common.

They have little or no 'charysma' - you can see that from their expressions - yes, I know they would be looking less than happy right now, but even when you look at them during a match, there is really little coming from them, apart from the odd shout / strange hand gesture.

If a team of players isn't inspired to play - they don't, but it's the manager who cops it, not the players. As any kind of teacher knows, you can't physically make people do something - well, I suppose you could, upon threat of death, or loss of wages for a couple of years, in the case of the UK's overpaid footballers!

A few other candidates for a 'lack of charisma' award might be: Mark Hughes, Roberto Mancini, Roberto di Mateo - and the future of none of these is guaranteed.

On the other hand, Sir Alec, Harry Redknapp, Mick McCarthy, Arsene Wenger, to name but a few, exude this in abundance - you might love or loathe them - that's the point - with people like Roy Hodgson and Carlo Ancelotti, they inspire you to do neither.

This, of course, is why great players don't necessarily make good managers, and why some of the best managers in the world today were not that high-flying as players.

It's far more than simply just having the right credentials, coaching badges, tactical knowledge - that's important, of course but, rather like respect, it doesn't come with the job description - it has to be earned!

The four managers were obviously 'nice blokes' - but unfortunately that isn't what it's all about!

One New Year's resolution to enjoy!

2011-01-06T10:13:00.004Z

After an evening's piano teaching, I have to admit that I do like to catch up with the Soaps on TV.

Because I particularly like Yorkshire and the Dales, I've always enjoyed Emmerdale for the scenery - location and female cast! - and, I suppose, because it's been around for such a long time, Coronation Street.

Mum also used to watch Eastenders as, indeed I did. But once Barbara Windsor left, it's really gone to the dogs - the present story-line - about cot deaths and baby-snatching, is really quite distasteful, and has provoked a lot of viewers' complaints. Yes, I know there's Sophie Webster and her 'friend' cavorting about in Corrie - but frankly I don't think this is anywhere near as unpleasant as the current Eastenders goings-on.

But what has really finished it for me, is the return of that dreadful Kat character, and even worse, that totally-in-your-face-watch-me-overact-the-whole-time Alfie Moon! There are other issues with the cast, too - but I'm not, of course, at liberty to flag such things up here

Anyway, we don't watch this rubbish anymore, and feel a damn sight better for it! Just think, we, as licence-payers, are actually paying for these so-called actors and actresses!

The Queen's Speech 2010

2010-12-26T10:09:00.005Z

I have to admit that I'm not the greatest royalist around, and usually don't make a point of watching the queen's Xmas speech.

I watched it this year, however, and really wondered whether we're in the same country! I know she doesn't want to go on about the economic gloom and doom in the country - we all know about that! - or the bad weather that we've still got, which has caused major disruptions for almost everyone.

But to start off with a history lesson about the St James' bible, and then follow this with a hymn of praise to all that's great about sport, seemed particularly insensitive, and certainly a large number of so-called sportsmen and women hardly set a good example to the youth of today.

Of course everything has to be so PC nowadays - the selection of youngsters from the London primary school who did a reading, and the chapel choir all made sure that this particular aspect of today's England was well and truly reinforced. If there was no queen, we'd have an elected president, which could be even worse, I suppose, but I just wish the message was so much more pertinent to the average person in this, and therefore, the queen's land.

On a tangent, I heard on today's news that some £13 million has been withdrawn from a scheme to supply deprived youngsters with free books - something which caused a vitriolic response from Sir Andrew Motion and others.*

But, because the fund set up to help countries hit by natural disasters (following the Tsunami incident) is 'running low' the British government can fork out £40 million to prop it up. What about the natural disaster of this year's appalling weather - the worst December on records since1890! Ah, but that's in this country, and we can't be seen to pander to the saying, 'CHARITY BEGINS AT HOME!' - now can we! Just how uncharitable is that, as seen by the other countries in the world who frankly don't give a stuff about Great, or should we more accurately say, 'Lesser' Britain!

* I think I heard later that the governement had rethought the 'book issue' and, has given in under pressure - something it now seems quite well-known! Now that does inspire you with real confidence, doesn't it!

So England didn't get the bid - so what!

2010-12-03T09:47:00.002Z

If anyone was naive enough to think that England would get the FIFA 2018 World Cup, then they know more about football than they do about politics and the world as a whole.

It didn't matter whether we'd sent the queen herself (and why should we have to use the royal family anyway, simply because we've still got one - Russia didn't, and they got the bid!). David Beckham probably means well, and is an honest EastEnd lad, but in terms of negotiating skills at the highest level, 'you know, you know, you know, you know, you know, you know, you know,' he hasn't got much going for him - and certainly no more than a former runner, now turned 'Lord'.

No, money and power is what it's all about, and everyone else knows that England hasn't got either anymore!

Anyway, we've still got the 2012 Olympics to help bankrupt the country, so why should we worry about the World Cup, too!

Here in Plymouth, they were talking about being able to extend the local football stadium if the bid had been successful. God, the way Plymouth Argyle is going, all that would mean is that even fewer supporters would have even more room to spread out in a larger venue - and when they haven't even been able to pay the players recently, well.....!

Plymouth Argyle 3 Bristol Rovers 1

2010-11-06T09:21:00.011Z

On Tuesday Dad and I had a great night out, as guests of Ocean Plymouth (BMW), when we were chauffeur-driven to Home Park, and given a complete tour of the ground and facilities, before watching the match in the Directors' Box (view as above), whilst enjoying the excellent hospitality on offer!

We are really grateful to Ocean Plymouth, and especially to New Car Sales Manager, Garry Parker, for inviting us to join their party that night.

The fact that Argyle won that night was an added bonus!

PS If you're a Facebook 'friend' of mine, you'll be able to see all the pictures I took on my mobile!

By the way, here's a good Football site to visit - Livefootball.net!

Now this IS unfair!

2010-10-22T08:48:00.003+01:00

Every day we're hearing of all the cuts which, whilst necessary after the mess that the previous Labour government left this country in, will surely effect all of us, whether it means losing a job, or in some loss of services.

I have always supported the Conservatives and believe that these cuts, supported by the other party in the coalition government, are necessary to try to put the country's books in order.

But I can't help having sympathy with people who are against them when it appears that, despite the cuts, the government actually plans to INCREASE aid to foreign countries by some £3.7bn! Apparently this could provide some 200 schools in the UK, or pay for some 120,000+ policemen, but instead we're giving it away!

David Cameron's response is that 'we have a moral duty here'. Sod that, I say! First and foremost we have a moral duty to our own people and family - not someone else's! This is certainly not going to win the government any brownie points at all.

But then, it's all part of the culture: I see that a lady (see picture) in Stockport, Cheshire, who runs a sandwich bar with her Turkish husband, has had to make alterations because a neighbour says that the smell of bacon cooking upsets some of their Muslim friends, who no longer visit them - even though the sandwich bar itself often serves other Muslims who don't find any problem with the apparent smell, supposedly offensive because Muslims don't eat pork. The owner will appeal, but, of course, will lose the case.

Before we moved to our present home, we lived up the road from a factory that used to produce Farleys Rusks for babies - the factory is now a Morrisons supermarket.

Every morning we could smell the 'cooking' - in fact it, too, smelt rather like bacon & eggs. We never complained, even though we know it lost us one house sale, and was always a question asked by prospective buyers.

No, I'm afraid until we get our priorities right, we'll never succeed. Once we get a government that's not afraid to do THAT, then we'll really be in business!

Peripatetic music lessons - the best option?

2010-09-28T09:11:00.008+01:00

As a former Head of Music in an 11-18 mixed Comprehensive, I feel I have a little knowledge about peripatetic music lessons - these are where students are taught a variety of instruments by visiting peripatetic music teachers, who are not part of the school's main teaching staff.

There is no doubt that a lot of the teaching is excellent, of course. But there is always the added difficulty that students normally have to 'miss' something in order to fit their lessons within the normal school day, sometimes teachers are on courses, and occasional school holidays and closures can affect continuity. Furthermore the lessons are normally more expensive, as the school has to get its cut and/or they are not always individual one-to-one lessons.

The private instrumental teacher working at home can, of course, give a better overall service, except, of course, that the student then has to make their way to the teacher, and this normally out of school hours. The 'ideal', though in no way cheap answer, is to go to a dedicated Music School.

A good number of schools, and especially those in the private sector, are able to attract good private teachers, and many of their school websites confirm not only the excellent qualifications of the in-school music staff, but also of its visiting peripatetics. Not all schools, however are as lucky to have really well-qualified music staff - and, in terms of their visiting teachers, they don't choose to list them, or , if they do, their qualifications in their respective disciplines, are either conveniently left out - or they don't have any! In fact it's a sad state of affairs when someone advertises the fact that they are CRB-checked - as if this gives them the same claim to professional expertise as does some honest music qualifications.

It recently came to my attention, via a parent, that a student in a local school was asking for Jazz Piano lessons - something, apparently that was not available in school - or there was no flute teacher, for example, who could be persuaded to swap over and do the job as, sadly is often the case where peripatetics are not actually qualified in one area that they teach in.

I don't seek to blow my own trumpet (in any case, I'm a piano teacher!), but my name was suggested - I actually have a Jazz diploma, in addition to all my regular classical ones, and have had an excellent pass rate in Jazz, with many students gaining Distinction.

However, the teacher in charge at the school, apparently, when they were unable to come up with an in-school possibility, rather than suggest me, chose to find an ex-colleague/friend to do the job. I'm not bothered, as I realise that being well qualified can often be a disadvantage, especially when teachers can feel vulnerable because of their lack of such.

Don't be conned into thinking you'll get the best peripatetic teaching simply because it's on offer at a particular school - or that it's expensive! It has to be, as the school wants its cut, too!

And don't be afraid to ask around - word of mouth is still more important than any advert! The teacher in school is often biased, too, so an ABRSM or Trinity Guildhall local representative is often your best port of call for an honest appraisal!

PS If you're wondering what the piece of 'modern art' is above, it's actually a school shot, but suitably (hopefully!) disguised, so as not to give the game away!

There's no justice in this world - even in Emmerdale!

2010-09-24T09:18:00.002+01:00

I don't mind admitting that I quite enjoy watching Emmerdale - it takes place in one of my favourite parts of the country - and does seem to have the highest proportion of attractive females on the cast - furthermore, they don't spend all the programme shouting like on Eastenders, or overacting like that annoying 'Alfie Moon' character!

But I was sad to see - as an animal lover - that that idiot, Aaron Livesy, who sold this guy a dodgy motor, then took Clyde, his Alsatian along, in order to put the frighteners on, but which all backfired when the guy's eminently larger dog attacked Clyde, who then had to be put to sleep.

Yet again the dog gets it because of their owner! Why couldn't Aaron be put down? He's an ignorant, uncouth git for starters, and miserable and arrogant to boot.

I'd willingly have stuck the needle in him, and put us all out of our misery!

Simon gets his come-uppence!

2010-09-12T11:31:00.007+01:00

Perhaps it's because I was too many years as a schoolteacher, but some kids on TV can really get up my nose!

I know everyone else probably thinks that Simon Barlow in Coronation Street is such a dear little chap, but frankly I can't stick his precocious nature, and the way he constantly backchats his 'parents'.

The problem, I know, stems from the fact that, whilst he is supposed to be 6 years old, the actor is actually 8, and so often scriptwriters fall into the trap of putting words in the mouth of a child that would rarely, if ever, be heard from one in real life of the same age. A classic example is an advert for the Sun, where a ginger-haired kind, probably about 11 years old, exhorts us to 'Forget about our cynicism..........' - God, I don't suppose most people can actually define the word, let alone today's kids - it's just so fake.

Anyway, I'm so pleased that Simon has eventually owned up for pushing Dev's kid, causing the skull fracture and Social Services to take Dev and Sunita's kids away from them temporarily. You can see he's a spiteful little brat, and I'm glad everything's come out in the open. He's just got one of those faces that winds me up - perhaps it's all that curly hair and I'm just insanely jealous!

But, of course, it's not even real, and they're all just actors - so why am I getting so wound up about it all!

One-way traffic!

2010-08-30T09:03:00.003+01:00

We watched Barcelona play last evening in their first La Liga match of the 2010/11 season, and, of course, they were quite superb - with two particularly brilliant goals from......... you've guessed, Messi and Iniesta.

We later watched Real Madrid's opening match against Mallorca, which was the first match in charge for the (not as good as he thinks he is!) great Jose Mourinho! The match was a draw, and frankly Mallorca played better!

However, the point of this particular post is just an observation: if English footballers are so 'good', why aren't more of them playing in European clubs - or, indeed, why haven't they been playing there for years? After all, most of the top clubs in the Premiership are made up almost exclusively of European players.

Not rocket-science, of course! Nearly all English footballers are simply poor by comparison, and lack the necessary skills in passing, ball control, and in particular, shooting. Just calling a 'soccer school' an 'Academy', rather like the current trend in mainstream education, doesn't actually mean anything at all - after all, a rat-catcher is a rat-catcher, even if his job description says 'rodent exterminator'!

And just one aside to the likes of the great Rooney, and some of the other 'miserable' over-paid English stars: Lionel Messi's not only the best footballer in the world today, but he actually appears to enjoy what he does and, he never seems to wish to retaliate deliberately - a true sportsman, I'd say. Whereas Rooney...........!

Topsham's 'Lord' Nelson it ain't!

2010-08-29T10:19:00.008+01:00

In my previous post, after a disappointing meal at the Passage House Inn, Topsham, I decided to investigate the new Lord Nelson, which has completely re-branded as The Nelson.

They have a website, which I visited, and thought this looked impressive. There was a facility to download their menu, which again looked quite nice, even if, we thought, rather on the expensive side, and especially for its location which is just starting to leave Topsham, and not necessarily within the visitor's 'walk about' area. A 10oz Ribeye Steak at almost £17 is dear, for this part of the country - I'd just bought 4 large, thick fillet steaks from our local Morrisons yesterday - £15.05 the four! Need I say more!

Because it wasn't overly clear what they serve on a Sunday, apart from the ubiquitous roast, I emailed them via their contact form to ask exactly what is available, as Sundays is our best day to visit.

To date I have had NO response, which doesn't look good. Hopefully they've been SO busy that they haven't had time to reply - or, like so many places today, can't be bothered!

Well, all I can say is, I am already NOT impressed with The Nelson, Topsham - and that's before we've even set foot in the door!

Po-faced Capello clearly not impressed!

2010-08-12T09:11:00.004+01:00

I'm not the greatest fan of Steven Gerrard, but without his contribution in last night's friendly international against Hungary, not only would England have lost against supposedly far inferior opposition, but Fabello's job would surely have been even more untenable.

Now, if I was sitting there, earning £6 million, and the highest-paid international team coach in the world, I think I would have shown some emotion when Gerrard scored - particularly his second goal, which showed as much skill as you'd ever hope to see on a football pitch. True his first goal, a typical power shot was top-drawer, but not something unusual from the Liverpool skipper, but the second....... well, surely Capello's complete lack of emotion or appreciation could not have registered here, that it was something special! Without it, C(r)apello would be probably jobless - although he would get such a massive payment if he went, that it doesn't actually matter to him if England loses or wins - and particularly because he's not even English!

Come on, Capello - if the only thing you can do is rant and rave when things go wrong, but do nothing when they go well, you haven't learnt a thing about motivation or elementary psychology!

And this, more than whether it's a 4-4-2, 3-3-4, or just a plain '69', is really the reason why, under this piece of inert Italian marble (though not as attractive!) England will never do any better!

PS Glad to see that Rooney was taken off - perhaps he needed to relieve himself in the penalty area, but thought that, with some 70,000+ fans watching, even he didn't have the cheek to do that!

Rooney's true vocation?

2010-08-07T13:46:00.004+01:00

Just back from a lovely 10-day break at York and Wroxton, near Banbury! Loved this article about one of our current top football 'stars' - I use the term extremely loosely:

Wayne Rooney is to face the wrath of England manager Fabio Capello for his well-publicised night on the town, according to reports. The Manchester United striker was photographed smoking and urinating in the street following a night out last weekend. Rooney escaped sanction from his club boss Alex Ferguson [no surprise there!], but according to The Sun Capello will read the riot act when he meets up with his squad on Monday ahead of the friendly with Hungary at Wembley.

An FA insider told The Sun: "Fabio was very annoyed to see those pictures of Rooney lurching out of a nightclub at 5.30am. Then to see arguably England's biggest star urinating and smoking in public is simply not acceptable and Rooney will be told as much [I don't see the problem as, after all, what else would you expect a p*ss-artist to do?!].

"He must realise those pictures have been seen all over the world and project a truly awful image of English football." [nothing new there then, Fabs!]

David's not interested!

2010-07-15T08:55:00.005+01:00

David Beckham says he is not interested in taking over from Fabio C(r)apello and becoming the new England Head Coach.

Well, that's a relief, I'd say. Beckham is probably basically a nice enough guy, whose heart is in the right place - he was a good footballer, even if he's probably more articulate with his feet than in his speech.

But, like some people before him, he does not realise that a good player makes a good manager, or a good performer makes a good teacher. They are two separate skills, and only a very few can actually do both at the same high level.

Also, to say that the English players were to blame for their disgraceful performance in South Africa is to miss the point. How many times have we seen a team in the doldrums, only to do a complete reversal with a change at the top.

C(r)apello, for all his £6 million fee, lacks the basic art of the teacher, to inspire and to listen. It doesn't matter that much as to how to inspire either. I have no time for Sir Alex, but clearly his 'inspiring' is down to pure fear, and we've all been there at school - or we used to! At my old grammar school, we had a Classics teacher whom everyone was afraid of - yet his results were fantastic and second to none - and I can still remember my declensions and conjugations to this day. Of course, he didn't 'inspire' me to study Classics, or have any interest in Latin Civilization, but he certainly knew how to get us to 'win'!

¡Y viva España!

2010-07-12T09:16:00.009+01:00

Well, it's all over now, for another four years!

We were delighted to see Spain beat Holland last night - even del Bosque managed to smile when victory finally came!

It wasn't a particularly inspiring final, and having our own 'great' Howard Webb as the ref was a big mistake. Once again he appeared to lose it, and his 14 yellow cards still didn't stop it finishing up as a game of pettiness and 'handbags at 10 paces'!

But we loved to see the Dutch go out - they play dirty and a number of their players should have been sent off well before Heitinga eventually was. Yes, they can play nice football - Robben et al - but a lot of what they did last night, and especially on this ultimate world stage, ought to have got them charged with bringing the game into disrepute!

Still, for once, cheats didn't prosper, and Iniesta scored a great goal, so typical of him, and the way Spain continued to play, despite the attempts of van Bommel and De Jong merely to hack them down.

Holland have never won it, and I'm so glad they didn't this time. Dad, who drove a Churchill tank in WW2, commented that, it was strange that the Dutch were never as aggressive then, when the Germans decided to walk into their country, and needed us to help them out - hints of the French there, too, I'd say!

Perhaps they should both stick to making cheese!

But if you don't believe me, then just take a look here!

ENGLAND - yet another 'softa' touch!

2010-07-09T09:24:00.006+01:00

Didn't we do well in the World Cup..............NOT!

I just saw in today's paper a list of how much the various international managers earned for their stint in South Africa and....... guess what, who earned the most, and nearly by some £4 million pounds?

You've guessed it - the not so bloody 'fabulous' Capello, who picked up £6 million for his and England's achievement - well, we did come second in a group that contained such strong footballing nations as the USA, Algeria and Slovenia, after all!

Maradonna picked up something in the region of £790K, the German manager almost £2 million, and even the Spanish guy (who has never yet smiled!) picked up considerably less than

C(r)apello, and they're in the final.

Of course, England is awash with money for sport etc, what with the 2012 Olympics, and I see that we'll be picking up the tab for the Pope's visit - Catholic or not!

But then that's why we're the best-loved nation in the world - we're bankrupt, but what we don't have, we willingly give away to any and every bloody foreigner!

Sorry if I seem a little bitter today!

Yours 'not proud to be British'!

There IS an answer, dear Ashley!

2010-06-30T15:53:00.004+01:00

England 'footballer' - I use the term loosely - Ashley Cole apparently launched a foul-mouthed rant about England and its 'people' days before flying out to the World Cup to play football for his country.

The message - which read 'I hate England and the f***ing people - was sent to friends from the Chelsea defender's Blackberry shortly before he boarded a flight to England's pre-World Cup training camp in Austria.

The 29-year-old posted it as his status message - alongside a picture of him sunbathing topless - allowing all those designated as his friends to see it.

Well, Ashley, I could type an answer here, which I'm sure many, many people in this country would agree with, even if they thought better of saying it! Of course, you can make a racial comment about us English, but..................

Wayne doesn't want to sing, either!

2010-06-29T08:53:00.006+01:00

One of the bits I always enjoy about the World Cup is the short ceremony at the start when both teams sing their respective national anthems.

Unfortunately, though, it just brings home what an uninspired thing our 'God Save the Queen' is, compared to the vast majority of the others. I know the French and Italians are already back home, but certainly their national anthems are inspiring - even the German one manages to repeat the last few bars, to give it added effect - something we could easily do, with a change of harmony - but ours is still really a drab affair.

Watching Brazil and Chile last night night, theirs were really stirring in the true Italianate patriotic mode, certainly not easy to sing, and quite fast, but every man sang his heart out, even if, from the sound, most of them are clearly better footballers than singers! And I like the gesture so many countries adopt, of the right hand crossed over the heart. What's wrong with this overt show of patriotism?

Here again, whilst most of the England team did at least sing heartily, Rooney didn't - nor did Milner - and neither of these players really looked as if they could be bothered later, on the pitch!

Apparently Rooney really doesn't know the words, and had been offered help to acquire them. In one respect I can't blame him - when I was young, the national anthem was played at shows, school speech days, and everyone sang it - school music teachers even knew how to play it by heart, as it was something expected of them! Of course, Wayne's primary and secondary schools probably had a higher ethnic content than English, and perhaps the national anthem was frowned upon, in the same way as Xmas is, so he never did get to sing it.

But, he should have been told to - and Milner, too - presentation is as important in football as it is in music - opposing teams can so easily read his body language before he even kicks a ball. Terry, on the other hand, at least comes over as 100% patriotic and gives his all - even if it is not enough on the day any more.

Website makeover

2010-06-28T15:34:00.008+01:00

For some time I have used the WYSIWYG programme from Pablo Software, to design and make my own website.

To coincide with the new version 7, just released, I have decided to give my website a complete makeover and overhaul.

Whilst keeping the basic design, I have tidied it up a lot, simplified navigation, and removed a lot of the gimmicky things which I had used previously, but which slow things down, and, in the end, hopefully make the website more professional - but without the cost of a web-designer!

It goes live on July 1, 2010 - if you do then have time to visit it, and find any broken links, or other technical problems, please let me know, as feedback is always most appreciated.

You can find my website at http://www.philiprbuttall.co.uk/

The picture above is a screenshot of the new homepage, in case you're not sure whether you're looking at my previous website, or the newly-updated one!

England's had it!

2010-06-27T18:14:00.006+01:00

I don't intend to rub it in, as the media and most of the general public will do that anyway!

Germany played well - yes! But, England were absolutely dire and played worse than they did in any of the other matches in this year's World Cup.

Listening to the soccer pundits, whilst the players have to take the blame, Capello does, too, for is totally inflexible and inept management! They needed a goal, so he brings on Heskey - that's about as likely as bringing on a substitute goalkeeper.

The FA have to get rid of him - of course he's mouthing off about Lampard's disallowed goal being the key to England's dismal failure. Yes, it was a clear goal but even then it wouldn't have made any difference, and this has been the worst defeat for England at any World Cup, so what does that say about that mouthy Italian con man, I wonder!

Germany were simply a class act and deserved to win!

Oh, by the way, who won the latest European Grand Prix in Valencia the same day - Sebastian Vettel... and I won't even bother to tell you which country he's from!

England's euphoria!

2010-06-23T18:08:00.008+01:00

Amazing - England manage to get one goal against minnows, Slovenia, to allow them to go through to the next round, and everyone's euphoric!

Let's put it into perspective! We couldn't beat the USA, nor Algeria, many of whose players wouldn't be playing even in our lower divisions (although most of them are better than our over-paid players!), and just scrape the one goal today against Slovenia. We actually finished second in the group, under the USA, who, whilst they're a good team, don't come from a country that invented the game, and is supposed to have one of the best leagues in the world.

Let's face it - we were lucky - Slovenia had a lot of chances, and their outstanding goalie nearly stopped Defoe's shot, which was right at him. Let's see how euphoric we are when we perhaps have to play Germany next - after all, and no disrespect to the USA, Algeria or Slovenia, the first team from a REAL footballing nation!

Fabio-phobia!

2010-06-19T09:20:00.002+01:00

After watching England play (I use the term loosely!) against Algeria, it's clear where their main problem lies.

OK, we know that basically they're just not real footballers - anyone could see that, as the Algerian team - to a man - could control the ball so well, pass to a fellow-Algerian, and look as if they actually wanted to be there. Also some of the Algerian team play in Division 2 and below in various national clubs, even in the FA.

No, all this crap about Fabio ranting on and losing it totally on the touchline is the problem! The players clearly are unhappy - they're playing in an uncomfortable formation, afraid to move an inch, totally inhibited because they know what he'll say - of course, they can't understand him because his English is so poor, and it must be worse when shouting constantly.

None of the players plays even half as well as they might do for their club side - Rooney is the prime example - absolute rubbish, and then he's got the cheek to moan when fans boo him. On the money he gets, and how much it must have cost fans to get to South Africa, they deserve better - for him at least to appear to try!

Andy Townsend came close to saying this about Capello on the commentary. Fabio, you're definitely now 'pasta' your sell-buy-date!

Let's get someone who's at least English!

Now this IS Football!

2010-06-16T08:45:00.005+01:00

If you want to know what football really is - take a look a Elano's goal for Brazil yesterday in their win over North Korea!

This was the perfect interaction of 'foot' and 'ball': a perfectly-weighted pass, of computer precision from Robinho, right into the path of Elano who then simply placed the ball past the goalkeeper. He didn't blast it, nor as most of our players would, belt it miles over the goal - he just stroked it into the net.

Our players will never do this because of the 'Culture of Mediocrity' which pervades British life. We've already seen it in education, where it's taken them over 20 years to realise that GCSE exams are just too easy. In football it's so evident in the TV commentaries, often by Premiership managers and coaches. Player X has an open goal, but boots it wide! The commentator says, 'Great Strike!'. That's crap! If it was such a great strike it would have been a goal. The player should be docked his wages and taught to shoot, not be taken on golf trips or jaunts out into the bush to look at the animals!

Failure has got to be reintroduced into our culture - there's no stigma about failing - it's the only way you learn how to do better!

The Germans get it right - once again!

2010-06-15T08:59:00.007+01:00

I make no apologies for my real love of Germany and all things German! As I've said before, my great-grandfather was German, so if there was any way I could have the other seven-eighths German blood transfused, I'd leave tomorrow!

I won't comment on the England v USA match - it was predictable and what we've come to expect from them, even under the (I think) over hyped leadership of Signor Capello who, after all, is first and foremost an Italian!

It's too early to predict a winner, of course; Japan look good, especially when considering how small they are, whereas France and Italy weren't impressive.

Despite the injury to Michael Ballack, the German team look as impressive as ever and, even with Cahill's unwarranted straight red card for the Aussies, the German win was pretty convincing - and boss, Jurgen Low is a German.

But it wasn't really that which I wanted to comment on. Franz Beckenbauer, who 'knows a fair bit about football' hit the nail on the head when talking about the English team. It's simply down to the fact that English players aren't good enough, as most Premiership teams employ foreign players from all over the world, and who are simply better. Why, I wonder?

Finally, and just as an afterthought: all this business about the vuvuzela and the deafening noise they produce. If you hold the World Cup in a continent where this is the norm, and didn't find out about this sporting tradition beforehand, then you've got no one else to blame!

Does Europe really want us aboard?

2010-06-03T13:40:00.004+01:00

The Eurovision song contest is obviously treated with greater respect on mainland Europe, where far more is made of it, and some of the acts are better known.

It's always good to watch it for a laugh, just to watch the antics of those taking part, and this year it was nice not to have to put up with Terry Wogan droning on, with Graham Norton doing a good job in his place.

Frankly I didn't think that the UK entry was all that bad, and certainly there were worse ones!

But, true to form, just as Cyprus always votes for Greece, as do most countries who seem to prefer 'political' voting to voting on merit, the UK entry came last - Ireland wasn't much better, and it really does confirm what Europe thinks of us both, and the UK in particular!

Someone writing in one of the daily papers letters' section got it right when she said that 'No one in Europe likes us (UK), except those immigrants who know that coming here is a soft touch, when compared with most other places'.

Of course nearly every song (I use the term loosely!) was actually sung in English, so they don't mind pinching our language either!

For me though, I was delighted to see who won - why, Germany of course! Now they are popular in Europe, and we all know why!

'Ah, so - Japan' - or should it be 'Arse-hole England'!

2010-05-31T10:18:00.006+01:00

I'm a musician and writer, so obviously don't know as much about football as Signor Capello - although it was interesting to see him temporarily 'lose it' with the Japanese coach at the last England warm-up game in Graz, Austria - he's really no different from any of the others in this respect!

Now if it was me, I would have liked to try out my 'final' team, not keep experimenting with formations almost up to the opening World Cup game in South Africa. If he doesn't know by now, he never will!

And what a joke it was - had it not been for the generosity of a couple of Japanese own goals, England would have lost, which morally they did - even Lampard screwed up his penalty.

Clearly, on this showing, England's stay in South Africa will be short lived as, once they come up against a real team, their frailties will be obvious!

On one count I sympathise with Capello. Because most of our English club teams at the highest level are full of foreign players, we've very few English players who can cut it. If we rely on the likes of Gerrard and Rooney now, we've had it! Gerrard will probably drop out through injury, and every foreign player will know that Rooney is currently frustrated by his poor form, as will be a time-bomb waiting to go off - and off the field he'll surely go, as they're all dab hands at getting him a red card!

It's interesting to note that, just before the start of the World Cup, Capello is in negotiations with the FA about continuing in the job after the finals. Capello and the FA obviously know something that we don't - or do, if we were ever honest about the dearth of real 'Messi-like' quality in the English team!

Let's hope it won't end up with everyone labelling Fabio 'C(r)apello'!

Does anyone recognise these two 'Leamington lovelies'?

2010-05-13T15:54:00.004+01:00

Dad and I, and our cousin, Ken, from Topsham, had a lovely weekend away, recently, at the Wroxton House Hotel, near Banbury. The idea was to have a joint celebration of Dad's recent 90th and our cousin's impending 84th birthdays respectively.

On the Sunday we drove first to Stratford, before visiting Leamington Spa. Ken was just about to take a picture of Dad and me outside the Town Hall, when these two young ladies spontaneously joined us in the shot - and then disappeared as smartly as they came, so we couldn't even ask their names!

If anyone sees the picture, and knows who the girls are, please tell them that the picture came out really well - we laughed about it for a good while.

I was thinking of asking the local Leamington paper to run the picture, so that the girls could identify themselves - apparently a lot of young people often 'join in' with various photos, quite off the cuff! They certainly enhanced this picture for us, thanks!

In the real world...!

2010-05-01T09:00:00.004+01:00

If the students I entered for music examinations all regularly failed, I'm sure that those left would leave, and certainly few new ones would be flocking to my studio!

Of course, this is the 'real world' where success tends to be rewarded, and failure deserves the opposite. In this way we learn to improve - failure's no bad thing at times!

Now in the unreal world of professional football, failure at one club often leads to a fresh appointment at another, and often better one. This certainly seems to be what happens where managers are concerned!

Look at Liverpool's Rafa Benitez! Liverpool have done virtually nothing this season - no silverware or hopes for anything good next time. They have the players, but clearly Benitez either can't relate to them (or more likely them to him!), and they just don't 'play for him'.

It's not surprising, though! Have you ever watched this little hyperactive man at the touchline? God knows what all those strange little gestures he makes mean. There's one which clearly looks as if he's telling his players to 'go and masturbate' - or is he just calling them a bunch of w**kers!

His team selection is often bizarre, and his seeming ability to bring off the player who is actually playing his heart out, rather than one who clearly isn't trying, is often evident.

In the real world he should get the sack - he clearly can't do the job which basically requires that Liverpool are successful and make money - that's what football is now all about.

However, Rafa's prize? It looks as if he might now move to top Italian Serie A club, Juventus, on the strength of his 'successes' at Anfield. I'm afraid I just don't get it and once more it sends out completely the wrong message.........or does it?

A student was telling me that, at his school, those kids who are badly behaved got a trip to Alton Towers as a 'reward'! Furthermore, when they get there, they can jump the queues because the act of queueing could upset them, make them angry, etc. Oh dear,what a shame! Tell that to the people who had to queue out on the pavement at the NatWest bank in Plymstock yesterday, just because one teller window was shut, and a customer had a young baby which always means that the staff have got to go all broody and talk about baby things, while we wait! Also, why do people plonk their young kids on the actual counter where we have to write things - most hygienic, I'd say, but don't get me going on another one just now!

Banking woes at Santander!

2010-04-29T17:30:00.011+01:00

One of the annoying things about this blog site is that it's not too difficult to delete text accidentally, when you're just trying to put the odd thing in italics.

I'd written a long epistle about my problems at Santander Bank, but found that all but the title had been deleted - by me, not Santander, unless they've got a stake in Yahoo!

I can't be bothered to write it all again, but as I told Santander that I would make my experience public, I'd better just outline things:

Branch: Former Abbey (Plymstock Broadway, Plymstock, Plymouth)

I wanted a cheque from my account in order to pay this in to the NatWest just around the corner, to be able to finance a 2010 ISA, and pay for the balance on a new car

Cheque (payable to me) printed, but cashier seemed hesitant to give it to me. I had my Santander Cheque card on me, + my driving licence, and thought this would be sufficient
The cashier knew me personally, as I'd even taught him at my last school, and we are known to this branch, as we've been there for some years

Apparently I needed an EXTRA item of identification. 'Did I have a NatWest bank card with me?' No, why should I - I did, however, have my NatWest cheque book with me, which has all the same details. This wasn't deemed enough and I had to leave without the cheque

I returned the next day with more identification and picked up the cheque. Of course it had already been debited so had lost a few pence interest. The cashier reimbursed my from petty cash for this, although not for the inconvenience of having to drive over twice!

I complained online to Santander and, despite a number of communications and acknowledgments, am still waiting for an answer!

Yes, Santander has become one of the best, most successful banks, but its customer relations side seems poor and uncaring! At the local level the branch seem to be unable to change a ribbon on a printer, so that my Dad can barely read what's printed in his pass-book. We've complained about this too but........

Finally, should a young Mum with a baby, or even one who is expecting, come into the branch, this seems to bring out the ultimate in broody behaviour from at least one member of staff, whilst the queue gets longer and longer!

I'll let you know if Santander ever bother to reply!

UPDATE!

Well, I did eventually get a letter back, but of course, they said they were entitled to ask for as many bits of identification they wanted, for me to take my own money out, and that they were 'sorry' that I'd had to make two journeys there!

As to the efficiency within the branch itself, there was NO COMMENT! The next time I'm there, and there's a delay because someone wants to discuss 'baby' issues with a customer, I'll film it on my mobile. Of course, I'll then probably get done for filming inside a branch ...with a view to robbing it later. On the other hand, that might still be a quicker way to get my own money out in future!

The demise of Plymouth Argyle F.C.

2010-04-24T08:36:00.013+01:00

I try to keep it quiet, although I have lived in Plymouth for more years than I can remember, that I am actually a Plymothian!

As a boy I remember going along to Home Park, Plymouth Argyle's ground, and watching them play, at a time when it was fun - and cheaper, and where you could stand right down the front against the railings and cheer the team on!

Nowadays, with so much good football on TV, I prefer to watch all my football here, and, whilst I don't specifically support any particular team, must say I have a preference for Arsenal - much to Dad's annoyance, as he was born and bred in Tottenham - and, of course, Barcelona, and a number of La Liga teams.

Last week, a Plymouth Argyle match was televised on Sky and we watched some of it. Admittedly it was against Newcastle, who were already going back up into the Premiership, but one moment in the match more or less said why Plymouth will, unlike Newcastle, not be going up next season but will, in fact, be relegated.

Most teams worth their salt always put two outfield players on either goalpost when there's a corner. If the goalie comes out to take the cross, and misses it, then these two players protect a fair amount of the otherwise empty goal. That's the principle!

Unfortunately, the guy positioned at the nearside post, as soon as the corner was kicked, decided to go walkabout, and, of course, the ball eventually went right past where he was supposed to be standing!

The coach needs to realise that he has to tell his players exactly what to do - where to go - what to do when they get there - after all, they're only professional footballers, aren't they - admittedly some more than others, it would seem!

PS I can always remember, as a young boy, asking a goalie what ‘F.C.’ actually stood for, in his local football team. I can’t print his answer, of course – but I think it might have been more appropriate for Plymouth Argyle, than ‘Football Club’ on this showing!

Too much of a coincidence?

2010-04-12T18:51:00.006+01:00

The older I get, the more I am convinced that there is some 'beyond the grave' presence out there.

Since my dear Mum passed away in 2004, there have been a number of 'odd coincidences' - dates, numbers, times, that have cropped up, and which would have had a particular significance.

Today it was really uncanny! It was a lovely sunny afternoon - I wanted to use up the remaining diesel in my tank before part-exchanging my car for a new one shortly. Dad and I decided we'd drive firstly up to Kingsbridge - my Mum's home town in the South Hams, and where she had first met my father during the second World War. It was April 12 - Mum had died on April 11.

We decided to drive up Rack Park Road where she once lived, and parked opposite her old house, was a car with the number plate 'ARB'. Now, Dad's initials are really 'AFB', but he told my Mum he was called Bob - not Bert, as all his army comrades called him - and Bob has stuck to this day - in fact Dad often used 'ARB' as his initials.

Then we drove on to Torcross, and on the return, as we were coming across Bowcombe Bridge (see picture), a car with the number plate 'ATS' passed us at the point almost exactly where Dad used to meet up with Mum, he on his army motor bike. The significance of 'ATS' was that Mum was also later called up into the Auxiliary Territorial Service - or ATS!

Now I can't believe these were just two haphazard coincidences - one might be, but two - and then later we passed a lorry from a firm called Murray Hogg - the name of someone Dad used to work with in the City Architects' Department.

I really think dear Mum was up there watching us drive around, and left us a couple of 'calling cards' to let us know she was there - in spirit!

Ferguson blames the Germans - well he's got to blame someone!

2010-04-08T13:40:00.003+01:00

It's been quite a while since I've added anything, I'm afraid!

This week has been especially busy, as I've had two operas from Welsh National Opera to review, three concerts as part of the Essentially English Chamber Music Festival, and London Mozart Players at Dartington on Sunday afternoon.

Each evening, Dad and I have got home, and banged on Sky + to watch some of the European football quarter finals. Messi, of course, was just superb against the Arsenal, who, true to form, took their defeat by a better team firmly on the chin!

Of course, Ferguson had to have a go at the Germans when Bayern Munich beat Man U on away goals, by saying that they crowded around the ref in order to get Rafael sent off after a second bookable offence. Now I'm sure I've seen his players do that once or twice!!

No, despite attempts by Vidic, Rafael, and Evra to foul their way through, Bayern Munich were the better side, and probably Ferguson's feeble attempt at deception by playing the 'injured' Rooney will now backfire on him, and perhaps England's World Cup hopes too!

And if I was interviewing Ferguson, I'd tell him to take that bl**dy chewing gum out of his mouth whilst he's speaking to me. At the best of times it's hard to hear what he's mumbling about!

People don't like poor losers, and perhaps this is why no one really bothers that there are no English teams left in there! I'm backing Barcelona and Messi - at least they get there honestly!

Classical Music and University Challenge

2010-02-02T15:23:00.003Z

I always enjoy University Challenge and used to watch it, all those years ago, when Bamber Gascoigne was the host!

I have noticed a pattern emerging, which says a lot about music-teaching in schools today.

Of all the categories of questions asked, those on classical music are invariably answered incorrectly nowadays, and I've also yet to see one of the contestants actually reading Music at their respective college or university.

Despite what we're told, frankly it would probably be better to cut music out of the curriculum, rather than keep giving it in ever-more watered down fashion, where frankly young people learn absolutely nothing at all about music in the classical western tradition.

I know my music experience in school as a boy, was really more that of musical appreciation, but I did actually learn things about composers, and some basic facts about music notation etc.

Of course this wouldn't be fashionable today, as everyone's got to be 'composing' music - in fact, anything that doesn't involve any serious effort goes. This is so evident in terms of GCSE, where, when it started in 1988 its standards were considerably higher than they are now, and a number of the more challenging disciplines have been removed. This is all about money, and making a subject 'popular' but it's still so sad to see that, whilst today's students on the programme have a fantastic knowledge about virtually everything - they know basically zilch about music!

You might, of course, say, so what?! Well, I find that I can answer a significant number of questions about science and geography, for example, although I only studied these areas to 'O' level. Then again, we did Latin and all sorts of things which wouldn't go down at all well today. Who would do a degree in Classics, when there's one in Media Studies lurking around every corner. I'm just glad that I was at school when education actually taught you things about everything - not just how to send an email or produce a simple spreadsheet. Oh for the good old days!

Where has the time gone?

2010-01-18T13:23:00.004Z

I can't believe that I haven't got around to adding a fresh blog since October!

I suppose I've just been busy, and, of course, there was Christmas in the way, and the bad weather at the start of January.

Dad and I had a lovely time at the Monkbar Hotel in York again, and met some great people from around the country, with whom we plan to keep in touch! Dad will be 90 this April, but hopes to return to York next Xmas, to make it an annual event. We have something in mind for his birthday, but it's all in the planning stage as yet!

Luckily we didn't get too much snow in the south west, and it tended to go the very next day. It didn't have too much effect on students coming for lessons and, I'm afraid, if anyone phoned to say they couldn't make it, I felt that I could stay up in the house and catch up on some TV, rather than going down and warming up my studio.

I must make it a New Year's resolution to add posts to my blog on a more regular basis!

Our new 'bird' - from the Schwarzwald via Warrington!

2009-10-29T09:26:00.007Z

Mum always liked the idea of a cuckoo clock, and when I was in Luzern, Switzerland, on a European holiday some 15 years ago, I bought one there, and she was delighted.

Unfortunately they don't last for ever, and ours was beginning to fail, and they're not the sort of thing that every clock dealer has numerous examples of on display.

We wanted to find one that looked very similar, played tunes on the hour and half-hour. We found an excellent online selection at Diamond Sundial of Warrington, Cheshire, and ordered one. It was very promptly dispatched and the service from them was excellent and highly recommended, if you're looking for one.

I knew nothing about cuckoo clocks, but looked up our new one online. It's made by Anton Schneider in the Black Forest, Germany. They have a fascinating website, and there are literally hundreds of different ones to choose from.

People who know me will confirm that I love Germany, German, and all things German, especially my BMW! I decided to write a short email to the Schneider firm just to say how much we liked their product. Well, first thing the next day I got a most friendly reply back from their Managing Director, Andreas Wildpreth. Now that's German efficiency for you!

Mum loved to hear the cuckoo chime, and although she passed away back in 2004, it always reminded us of her. Now we have a new one, which will do the same, and hopefully last as long, or even longer than its predecessor!

Gordon Brown's Summer Forecast!

2009-09-08T10:23:00.005+01:00

Personally I blame Gordon Brown and his shower for virtually everything that's wrong with (Great?) Britain today, and for making us a real Third World nation where it's often best to pretend you're from somewhere else, when abroad!

But you can't really blame him for the dreadful summer we've had yet again - this, surely, is well beyond his control! He might like to think he is God, but control the weather, I think not!

Of course, cynics amongst us, and me included, still think he's got a hand in it somewhere along the line!

The Meteorological Office, with all its sophisticated computers and technology still can get it wrong week to week, even day to day, so however they can be expected to predict a scorcher of a summer months in advance simply beggars belief!

Now, what Mr Brown would dearly like is for all us hard-off Brits to stay at home this summer and spend our hard-earned pounds in this country, rather than giving it away in bucket loads on the continent, because of the pounds pathetic value against the euro.

So, if he suggests to the government-funded Met Office, that it would be helpful to predict a good summer, so that this encourages us to stay in the UK, it could help the economy out and, once the game's out, and we realise that we've been had, well, they get it wrong most years anyway, so tough luck!

Now if we could just arrange for a bolt of lightning.............................

A 'Premier' place to stay!

2009-08-24T09:37:00.004+01:00

Back in June, Dad and I returned to Malta, where we had a nice time, of course, but where the hassle of airport travel, and the often ridiculous flight scheduling rather took the edge off things somewhat.

When Mum was still with us, and foreign travel wasn't really an option, we spent a couple of good holidays here in the UK back in the 90s, staying at the Starting Gate in Hereford, part of the Premier Inn chain. I also returned there on my own in 2003.

Dad and I thought it would be nice to get away for a short break last week, so we went back to the Starting Gate again. We'd always found it a most homely stay, and where the staff were really friendly, treating you as a member of the albeit large family (it's one of the most popular hotels in the chain), rather than merely a paying guest. We were therefore intrigued to see if, some six years after my last visit, things had changed!

Well, it was really like going back in a time warp for us! The food and staff in the Beafeater restaurant were just as helpful and caring, as were the reception staff in the hotel section, especially one of the receptionists, Anna Smith, who went out of her way to oblige us. The actual accommodation was excellent, and whilst there had been an extension since 2003, it had been tastefully done, and hardly noticeable to us, until we realised that we were, in fact, staying in part of it!

Hereford, of course is so very central, and the Starting Gate is perfectly placed adjacent to a busy roundabout (although we heard no traffic noise at all on the car park side) where taking the left fork took you into West Wales and beyond, the right fork took you to Worcester, Cheltenham and the Cotswolds, and straight on lead up to Shrewsbury and on the Chester. We notched up some 1000 miles, and got as far as North Wales, and a lovely day in Oxford, taking in Aberystwyth as well. With a bus stop right outside, we spent a nice day in Hereford, too, returning to the Starting Gate, and then drove back home to Plymouth, which isn't a long journey, now that the second Severn bridge is there.

Although we had a strange sense of déjà vu there, and almost felt as if Mum was there, too, it's not to say that things weren't thoroughly up-to-date and modern. But for value for money, ease of access, easy parking, good food & accommodation, friendly and helpful staff, yet retaining the original character of the old pub, I think you'd be hard-pressed to be the Starting Gate at Hereford! And, before you say it, no, I haven't been paid by Premier Inns to write this!

Christina Coker... or Stephen Hough!

2009-08-10T09:20:00.015+01:00

Although I don't normally put 'musical thoughts' on these pages, I felt I just had to comment on the recent BBC Prom performance which featured Stephen Hough with our excellent National Youth Orchestra in Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No 1.

We are used to having so-called 'experts' comment on the performances, and, as a reviewer myself, I am well aware that such things are very much subjective matters of personal opinion. On this occasion, one of the 'experts' was Christina Coker, the CEO of the National Foundation for Youth Music. Stephen is playing all of the Tchaikovsky works for piano and orchestra this Prom, and will also be recording them on CD. Whilst Ms Coker approved of much of Stephen's playing, her comment that, as far as she was concerned, he didn't 'put to bed some of those infamous challenges', left me feeling rather angry. As Stephen said later, a lot of the difficulties actually go unnoticed, because it's more the awkwardness of the writing - Tchaikovsky wasn't really a pianist - which makes the work so taxing. The showy passages in double octaves, whilst in no way easy, are relatively straightforward to bring off with real panache, unlike some of the extremely convoluted passages there, too.

I had a quick look at Ms Coker's background, and from it I doubt that she would probably be aware of these 'difficulties', so I found her comment vacuous, and patronising. Of course, a glance at the Youth Music website, and a further look at her past experience, and it doesn't surprise me that she would possibly make such a comment!

People (largely. I hope!) respect my musical opinions and judgements, even if they don't always agree with them, but they know that, at the end of the day, 'I've got the video and the tee-shirt'. In my dealings, Youth Music as such seemed to be two distinct entities: the elitist kind, with National Youth Orchestra, County Orchestras etc, which still depend on having trained and talented young musicians with a real gift, and the other kind where stringing together anything, banging hell out of a tin can, fiddling about with noises is classed as music-making, just so the participants can be fooled into thinking that being a musician is no different from being a bricklayer!

Now that GCSE and 'A' level Music is getter so much simpler, and even the good old ABRSM is making things easier (both doing this to keep their customers happy!) it fuels the flawed argument (and one which Ms Coker supports) that elitism is on its way out! Of course it is if you make things easier all the time. After all, whilst the population of Plymouth hasn't changed that much, when I went to one of the city's grammar schools, there were about 500 boys on the roll. Now it's double that or more, but a lot of the kids would never have made it there, without continually easing the admission requirements over the years.

Sorry I'm going off on a tangent, and I really just wanted to say that, for me, Stephen's performance was superb! Of course, I'm biased as I've reviewed Stephen twice playing here in Plymouth, and met him briefly - and one of my teachers at the Royal College of Music was Cyril Smith, who certainly did know a thing or two about piano-playing, unlike...........,

PS Just checked out Edward Seckerson's review in the Independent - seems like he approved of Stephen's performance, even commenting on the 'virtuoso' aspect, so I think Ms Coker has been well-and-truly shot down!

Hereford gets it right - and so does 'Target Travel'!

2009-08-07T18:28:00.002+01:00

It seems like my Blog could really turn into a diary of good and bad practice, or firms and organisations who are helpful, and do a good job, and those who don't! Here, for example, is some good service I got earlier today!

We are having a few days away at the Starting Gate at Holmer, Hereford. It's a Premier Travel Inn, and somewhere we've stayed before in the past, on twice when Mum was still alive. We'll be driving there, of course, but it's nice to know what the buses are like, should we prefer to pop into town this way, rather than pay to park. I emailed Hereford County Council, where there is a transport section, and within a very short space of time, a most helpful Sharon Moran emailed back, answering all my queries, and attaching all the relevant timetables for buses travelling via Holmer.

I thanked Sharon by return, whereupon I received a further email thanking me for being complimentary.

This is what I call service, and I doubt that I'd have got the same response from my own local council in Plymouth! Also, don't ever bother to complain about First buses, which used to run one of the services we'd occasionally use. Despite there MD saying he's always very interested in feedback, it would appear that this doesn't apply, if it's a complaint. Fortunately Target Travel has taken over the franchise, and the difference is phenomenal - friendly, helpful drivers, who aren't monosyllabic, clean and modern buses which can actually run virtually on time.

But, I mustn't get side-tracked - all credit to Hereford Council, and Ms Moran in particular!

But 'Minky Homecare', on the other hand.........!

2009-08-07T09:01:00.011+01:00

A long while back you could get little sachets of fragrance which you simply either hung in wardrobes, or put in clothes drawers - the last ones I had were made by Comfort.

I was interested to see whether anyone still made them, and quickly googled to find a firm called Minky, in Rochdale, Lancs. They sold the very thing online, and their website said that 'they were happy to hear from customers', so I followed up their email invite, merely to ask whether their product was available locally, say in Morrisons, Sainsbury's etc, or whether I would need to order online.

My email produced the usual acknowledgement, with a promise to get back. This was in the form of one of those 'ticket' things, where you have a unique log-in number and can monitor the progress of your reply online - that is, of course, assuming you got a response!

I sent the initial email on Monday and, despite my checking, asking for progress updates, etc, am still waiting, and now it's Friday! In fact, I emailed again today, but find I'm in another 'ticket' loop!

I'm pleased to think that the firm, Minky Homecare, is so busy that it hasn't yet had the chance to answer - after all, it has got the 'royal' seal of approval, so I expect the Queen uses them to fragrance her drawers (and wardrobes too!)

But surely this is real overkill! The response to my two questions (Is your product available locally? If so, where?) merely needs to be: 'No / Yes - At these outlets...' - hardly time-consuming!

In the meantime I think I've seen that they can be bought locally at Wilkinsons - and of course more cheaply than online, where P&P is involved!

It'll be interesting to see just how long any response takes! Good job I didn't want to know something complicated, like the times of the buses running past the Starting Gate in Hereford - see next post!

Putnams - yet another great find!

2009-07-31T16:47:00.004+01:00

Whilst we had the upholsterer here yesterday, we asked whether it would be possible to get the cushion in Dad's armchair refilled. Dave, from Fairway Furniture (see previous post) told us about a firm called Putnams, and gave us the directions to find it. I had once had a Jag, and the garage was not far from where Putnams were, so it seemed a really simple task!

In the event it wasn't, as the instructions didn't quite marry up, and we found ourselves talking to someone who worked at a Call Centre. They hadn't heard of the firm, and we were all for coming back, when we decided to ask a young guy who was working on one of the lawns. He again didn't know, but went in and found someone who did, and we eventually drove back almost to where we'd been, and found Putnams hidden away by some trees. Once we turned in, there were two biggish signs!

When we went in, we were met by a lovely girl who soon had us sorted, and we'll be collecting the new cushion in a few days. We had a real laugh there, and enjoyed the friendly banter too. Again we see from the website that it is another family-run business, and clearly this reflected in the way they treated their customers - and from the numerous testimonials on the walls!

Check them out online, if you're not in the Plymouth area, as they've got all sorts of interesting things to see. If you're in the Plymouth area, then it's just out on the Langage Industrial Estate, and certainly well worth a visit - if only for the entertainment!

Fairway by name - and Fairway by nature!

2009-07-30T12:14:00.006+01:00

When I come up from my teaching studio to the house, I always enjoy watching some TV, and the comfort of my electric Woburn Recliner. Even though it soon can lull me to sleep, it's still a great chair, and particularly as my dear Mum bought it for me back at the start of 2004, and she, sadly, passed away only a few months afterwards.

A week or so back, I noticed that it didn't feel quite right when raising the seat, so I popped over the road to the large furniture showroom where it had been bought. They arranged to send someone along to check it out, and, if necessary, replace any parts which had failed.

Dave, their eminently friendly and efficient upholsterer, arrived promptly this morning - and very smartly dressed, too, and soon discovered that the problem was that a nut and bolt had come loose. Fortunately these were found under the chair, and it's all back in working order now! Fairway Furniture is another long-established family business (see previous post) and they were happy to have made the repair as a gesture of goodwill!

What a contrast with some larger multi-nationals again, where there'd be an astronomical call-out charge before anything could be looked at, let alone carried out!

The moral, again, is to support these types of local businesses because, when the chips are down, and you need some service, they will come up trumps - not always the case when getting something seemingly a few quid cheaper on the Internet!

Duerr's Marmalade - a really good 'find'!

2009-07-30T11:23:00.004+01:00

It's always good to discover something new! One of my more senior piano students is an avid cook, and recently brought us a couple of jars of her home-made Seville Orange Marmalade. We really enjoyed them, and, as she had exhausted her current supply, we wondered what to to do find an 'off-the-shelf' substitute. The usual proprietary brands of 'breakfast marmalade' just didn't seem to match the home-made stuff, and so I decided to have a closer look whilst doing my regular weekly Morrisons shop!

I have to admit that I wasn't familiar with the Duerr brand, and it certainly wasn't the most expensive 'specialty' brand on the shelf, but I brought home a jar of their 'Thick-cut Seville Orange Marmalade' to try. I found it excellent, and certainly not unlike the 'home-made' variety we had wanted to keep with. I found Duerr's on the web, and just wanted to pass on my comments - it's always nice, I think, to praise something good, as in today's world, it seems always to be the opposite!

Thinking no more of this, I was delighted to receive a large envelope in today's post, with a really nice letter from the Wythenshawe-based company, and enclosing their fascinating brochure describing their 125-year history - well, brochure is what they called it, but in its Fourth Edition, and almost 5o pages long, with a wealth of pictures and interesting memorabilia, I'd call it a book!

Dad had his first taste of Duerr's marmalade this morning, and I'm pleased to say that he was equally impressed, too!

It just says something about old-established family firms, who clearly value each customer, rather than some of those other large multi-nationals who couldn't really care less!

When is 'British Gas' NOT 'British Gas'?!?

2009-07-28T17:21:00.008+01:00

A simple question you'd think - but it certainly hammers home the old familiar adage of READ THE SMALL PRINT!

We've always been with British Gas and enjoyed basically excellent service from them over many years - in fact we have both gas and electricity from them. We also enjoy their full service package, which not only looks after the central heating system, but any plumbing problems we might get. We've had the usual number of call-outs over the years, and nearly always the engineer has been friendly, helpful, and thoroughly professional in rectifying any problem.

So, when we received a flyer advertising a good deal on a new boiler, we decided to go ahead, as our existing one was a few years old and wouldn't last for ever, as well as the new, condenser models being far more efficient. The leaflet gave all the details, and at no time was there any mention that the whole thing wasn't going to be carried out by British Gas employees.

We duly signed up, and, of course, there is a lot of paperwork and, yes, I know, we should have studied every minutiae of the contract, but thinking we were dealing with a company as secure and long-standing, there would be no problem.

Well, to cut a rather long story short, we found that the job was to be carried out by a local firm of British Gas-approved workers, and that basically British Gas weren't really involved - except that they got the money - in the figure of some £3,500! Whilst it worked, there were aspects we weren't happy with, especially the quality of the finish, and naturally we complained. To be fair to British Gas they listened to our complaint, and have put everything right now, and even made a small ex gratia payment to us for our trouble. The initial person who contacted us, following our letter of complaint, a 'Nicola' from their Midland base, was unusually aggressive in dealing with us, and said, of course, if you don't read the small print...........! She also said something quite uniformed about our observation that the hot-water cylinder thermostat had been left at 80 degrees, so the utility room was like a sauna, and our fridge and freezer there were working flat out to cope, almost to breaking point. This was actually unusual, as most people in 'customer service' in various companies do try to listen and help - not her! Needless to say we complained about her, when the 'man from British Gas' called around to address our complaints in person.

Of course, it's all about economics, and sometimes 'approved' engineers can do just as good a job as actual employees - but NOT in our experience!

We have had everything sorted out, and the boiler and heating system now work a treat, and our faith in British Gas has been restored!

But the moral of this is don't be fooled - read the small print, and ask that British Gas carry the job out themselves! Apparently this is possible to do, as we were told afterwards, by one of the people involved! Of course, they omit to mention this beforehand!

You have been warned!

Summer update!

2009-07-28T16:35:00.009+01:00

It's amazing how quickly time goes by, especially when you're waiting for the promised hot, dry summer this year. But then, despite all the sophisticated technology, they still can't get the weather forecast right from one day to the next, so it's just a long-shot when they try to predict so far in advance!

Presently things have quietened down, students are away on their summer breaks, and the concert season for reviews has all but stopped, and won't be resuming until September.

In the meantime, Dad and I had another visit to Malta which, we're sorry to say, we didn't really enjoy as much as when we were there back in 2007. The main reason, of course, is that the island is now firmly within the euro zone, which means that prices are so much higher and you get the feeling of being ripped off, right, left and centre! Indeed, someone commented that they now have three-tier pricing there - one for the Maltese, one for ex-pats, and one for the poor bloody tourists! It's certainly taken the edge off going there, and the feeling just isn't the same. Also there seemed to be so many more cars about, even in June, and parking the hired car wasn't quite as simple as before, where you could virtually park anywhere, within reason.

We had another lovely 5-star hotel this time, the Radisson SAS Bay Point Resort (see photo), not far from the Hilton, and where the food in particular was excellent! We went over to Gozo again, this time driving ourselves via the car-ferry, and had a good day out, despite the roads which, of course, are still pretty bad, and full of pot-holes, even though some will argue, rather like the antique buses, that this is all part of the island's charm!

Once more we flew from Exeter Airport, our local airport - well only some 45 miles up the A38 - but even here things weren't quite as good as on the last two occasions we were there. Admittedly they had had a power blackout, due to a thunderstorm, which had caused serious problems to the computer systems and resulted in unusually long queues when checking in. But also, on our particular flight, which was a scheduled Air Malta one, instead of the normal three-stage boarding process, ours was a free-for-all, and may the best man win experience. Needless to say I complained about this on our return, and we did receive an apology, as apparently ours was an isolated incident when the normal boarding procedures weren't adhered to. But, at the end of the day, passengers are fast becoming mere human freight, to be herded around at the convenience of airlines and those that work there, with the result that it's really getting more and more of a hassle. Yes we had good weather, which is impossible to guarantee in the UK - but at what cost?! I'm afraid it will simply just get worse, and when you consider that the German word for passenger is Fahrgast - literally 'travel guest', it makes a mockery of what you have to be subjected to both leaving the country, and coming back!

On the home front, we have already had another couple of excellent meals with Cousin Ken at Topsham, and have found that the Passage Inn is excellent for the quality and quantity of its food, even if the service isn't exactly lightning fast! If you're in the area, then you should certainly give it a try, but booking is vital, if you want a particular table at a particular time!

Well, that's about it for the moment - we've also had a new gas boiler fitted, but I'll talk briefly about that, in a separate blog! Enjoy the summer - that is, when it actually arrives - or did we have it during that hot spell back in June?!

A more pleasant Easter Sunday!

2009-04-13T12:27:00.002+01:00

Since Mum died on Easter Sunday, back in 2004, this day has never been one that we look forward to any more.

Yesterday, however, we were invited out to Sunday Lunch at the Holiday Inn, Plymouth. When Dad was a practising architect, he did a lot of work for the Wrigleys factory in the city, where he got very friendly with the then factory-manager, Bill Dapling.

Bill, with whom we used to have lunch virtually every Thursday, sadly passed away last June, but Dad still keeps in touch with his widow, Audrey. Dad and Bill also worked with Terry Day, who had his own Heating & Ventilation Company in Sussex, and who was visiting Plymouth for a few days, as he's done. a couple of times before, since he retired.

He invited Dad, Audrey and me to Sunday Lunch, and I must say it was really excellent!

We haven't been to the Holiday Inn for some time, but the food was excellent, as was the service, and the at-table entertainment provided by magician, David Duval, was first-class!

Of course, it was a beautiful sunny day, and the view over the Hoe, from the Penthouse Restaurant, was an added bonus (see above)!

It certainly helped Dad and me to get through what has always been a day we'd both rather forget!

Excellent service!

2009-04-13T12:19:00.003+01:00

Whilst on the subject of dental treatment, Dad and I think ourselves extremely lucky to have the services of Alex Paulsson as our dentist, at Oasis Dental Care, Plymstock.

'Alex', or to give him his full name, Hakan Henry Alexander Paulsson, is actually Swedish, though you'd scarcely notice this, is not only a superb craftsman and technician, but is so willing to explain exactly what he proposes to do, and then keeps you informed at every stage of the proceedings. We look upon him as a friend rather than dentist, though in his treatment and demeanour, he is scrupulously professional. I don't know much about the other dentists in the practice - I can tell you which hygienist to avoid, but that's another story - but I can honestly say that I've felt a thing! Except, of course, when having to pay up, although their prices for treatment seem in line with what you'd expect to pay in Plymouth, and it's a friendly and helpful practice, too!

If you're looking for a 'top' dentist, we can't recommend or praise Alex too highly!

A sign of the times?

2009-04-13T12:12:00.003+01:00

Recently I had to have some dental treatment, after a crown had cracked. I have noticed, or it seems to happen when I've been in the waiting room, that instead of it being packed, it's now very quiet!

Of course in the UK, even though you've paid for it, you're virtually unable to get dental treatment on the NHS, and have to take the costlier option of private treatment. Perhaps, in the current credit crunch, people aren't spending so much on their teeth. Strangely, though, pubs and clubs seem just as busy, perhaps even more so! Could it be that people are simply using alcohol to numb the pain?!

Our ideal Chinese menu!

2009-04-13T12:05:00.003+01:00

As often as we can, we get a takeaway form Dragon City, (above). and lately we have hit upon what we think is the perfect accompaniment to our two main courses. We initially tried noodles, omelette (Foo Young), then fried rice with crab meat, but have 'returned' to our original flavouring, but now in 'fried rice' format - Singapore Fried Rice.

If you are in the Plymouth (Chaddlewood) area, do give them a try. We've just noticed that the pub at the end of our road, which has been shut for some months, now looks like it's going to open as a Chinese Restaurant! We don't think it'll make a go of it, and, even if it does, we'll prefer to get our meals from Olivia and Larry's takeaway, Dragon City!

Our new Topsham hostelry!

2009-03-23T09:59:00.012Z

Dad and I met up with cousin Ken again yesterday, for Sunday lunch in Topsham.

Although we had been to the Lord Nelson on a number of occasions, we weren't so enamoured with the meal we had there, back in November, so decided to make a change yesterday. Of course, being Mothering Sunday, and a lovely sunny day, too, there were lots of people about, and we made sure that Ken had booked in good time!

We had been to the Passage House Inn before, but not for some considerable time. We found it excellent - it's not cheap, but not overly expensive either, and the choice of menu is better, we felt, than the Lord Nelson's. Our reserved table was ready when we arrived just after 1pm, and we very much enjoyed it - true, we had to wait a while, both before making our order, and then in between courses (we could only manage a starter and main course!), but they were busy with a lot of people sitting outside and enjoying the early spring sunshine.

We then had a pleasant walk around the town, before repairing to Ken's for tea and cake, and then back home. Luckily we'd recorded Liverpool's match against Aston Villa on Sky+, so enjoyed watching this afterwards.

So, what's wrong with fast food - occasionally?

2009-03-18T11:37:00.003Z

Dad and I eat well, I think, and we always combine good, wholesome food, with sandwiches, the fairly regular Chinese takeaway, and sometimes a visit to our local McDonald's, which is conveniently situated a short drive away.

I know my cousin, Wendy, in Australia, absolutely loathes this type of fast food and, indeed, when I was once staying with her for a few days, insisted that the packing tasted better than the contents!

Personally I think you can do a lot worse than McDonald's - and, even though, the tea is simply a tea bag in a cardboard cup, it always tastes good and strong. Furthermore, when we've been abroad, we've always relied on a visit to a local McDonald's, not only because of the tea, but more so because they generally have far cleaner toilets than some other similar establishments!

The picture shows Dad sitting across the table from me, enjoying 'said' cuppa, during a recent visit to our local one!

Dragon City goes from strength to strength!

2009-03-08T11:42:00.015Z

If I reviewed food, rather than classical music, I would be only too pleased to give Dragon City, Chaddlewood, Plympton, the highest accolade!

Dad and I have come to Chinese takeaways relatively late in our lives, and probably wouldn't have done so, had not the parents of one of my long-standing piano students had their own!

With their initial recommendation we started out with a basic pair of main course dishes:

King Prawn with Broccoli & Garlic
Beef and Mushrooms

To accompany this we have tried a number of different options, including Singapore Chow Mein, Mushroom Foo Young, Roast Duck Chow Mein - even a portion of their excellent Chips!

Last night we think we have now come up with the definitive:

Crab Meat Fried Rice (with extra peas & onions!)

(but now see a later post above!

Of course, we always finish this off with a Banana Fritter with Syrup, in any case! We think we now have the perfect combination for us, and which we enjoy each weekend, on those days when I'm not out reviewing! Of course, just as with music reviews, it's all a matter of personal taste, but if you want to see why we're so impressed, then give Dragon City a call! It's open every day from 5.00pm - 11.00pm, and has a delivery service too, if you're in the area. We're a little farther away, but the journey's certainly worth it, we feel.

The number to call is: (01752) 331033

- you might even get Isaac (my piano student, pictured above) to answer the phone, and take your order, or serve you in person on your arrival!

Dad and I go to the opera!

2009-03-06T18:35:00.004Z

It's been another busy week reviewing, with Welsh National Opera's visit to the Theatre Royal, Plymouth!

This time they toured Marriage of Figaro, Salome and The Elixir of Love. The Figaro, whilst a very familiar opera by now, was beautifully sing, and despite the staging shift into the 1930s, was excellent.

I'd never seen Salome before, and what an experience this was! It's one single act, which lasts for about 100 minutes, so you've got to make sure you've paid the necessary visit before curtain-up! This was a superb performance, and I felt one of WNO's best to date.

The Elixir of Love wasn't really as good as Glyndebourne's when they toured it recently. Unfortunately, it needed a better singer in the lead role of Adina.

The picture above shows Dad, who comes with me wnenever possible, sitting on a long radiator - the theatre, rather stupidly, doesn't provide seats adjacent to the foyer, so that people who are waiting for friends to arrive and join them, or waiting on tickets, have somewhere to sit.

Because of a slight mix-up, we didn't get our press seats until almost five minutes before curtain-up, so understandably Dad looked a tad hassled!

Dear little doggie!

2009-02-26T09:16:00.003Z

Dad and I always enjoy our regular shopping trips to the Willows near Torquay, as the staff in the M&S are always so friendly!

We also have a bit of a ritual, every time we approach Paignton, before turning off onto the Ring Road. We see a couple and their lovely collie dog virtually without fail, waiting at the bus stop, when we pass. Although we don't know them, nor them us, we always wave and they respond. One day we'd love to stop and say hi - we just love how the dog sits there waiting for the bus to arrive!

Yesterday we had to pop into Comet to get something, and the dear little dog (pictured above) was tethered outside, whilst its master was inside the shop. It was such a dear little friendly chap (or lass, of course!).

Back to Malta again - with Caroline!

2009-02-23T16:03:00.007Z

After a Xmas break at our favourite UK hotel, the Monkbar Hotel in York, we decided that we'd like to return once more to Malta, where we spent a lovely week back in 2007.

Caroline (pictured above) from our local First Choice shop (Plymstock) helped us arrive at our decision, and, whilst we're basically having a similar week to the last one, we've decided to ring the changes slightly, by returning to a different 5-star hotel, though one not far from the Hilton, where we stayed last time. We'll be flying from our local airport, thankfully, at Exeter, and have a car hired for the whole week this time.

Hopefully we'll both be able to avail ourselves of some decent sunshine, which we sadly missed out on in the UK last year, and which then made our week in Cyprus so important. to us!

Time flies - all too quickly!

2009-02-06T09:13:00.012Z

I can scarcely believe that it's now a year since my Blog first went live! With the very best of intentions, I had hoped to contribute regular news items to it, and certainly every month at least! Sadly, and despite news-worthy things happening in between, I am horrified to see that my last entry was back in November, and it's now February!

Dad and I had a lovely Christmas at our favourite UK hotel, the Monkbar in York. Or at least we should have, had Dad not gone done with a really bad, hacking cough, almost as soon as we arrived there for a six-day break! This was such a shame, as it meant that he was virtually confined to our hotel the whole time and couldn't get out and about and take advantage of the two extra days we had this year over last year's break. I managed to get to Harrogate, and visited the National Rail Museum in York, but Dad didn't venture outside the hotel. Still, we tried to make the best of it and enjoy the festivities as much as possible! Our good friend, and Hotel Director, June Nelsey, and her excellent staff, made us feel totally at home, especially Dad, and I even had my own personal garage space, as this year we drove up and back from Plymouth.

Shortly before Christmas, we were saddened to hear of the passing of June's best friend, girl-Friday, office DOG-body, her beloved black labrador, Bonnie. We had never met Bonnie, but if you visit the hotel's website, you'll see just what a real celebrity she was, and how important she was to the hotel and everyone who worked there.

But, we heard that June had been most fortunate in finding a worthy successor to Bonnie, and we met with Misty on our arrival last December. Misty is also from Labrador Rescue, and is seven and a half - her colouring is different (pictured above in the hotel Courtyard) so whilst Bonnie could never be replaced as such, Misty will be her own person (or dog, ought we to say!) and is already settling in well with the staff, and learning about the many duties she will be required to undertake in helping to run this busy and successful hotel!

We are looking forward to re-visiting the hotel in the summer, so that Dad, God willing, will be able to enjoy the stay that was unfortunately denied him, a while back!

'Nelson' is alive and kicking again - in Topsham!

2008-11-18T17:25:00.007Z

We were delighted to be back in 'our own' pub at Topsham at the weekend! The Lord Nelson Inn had recently shut down, and remained closed for a while, before new management took it over. We went back to the scene of the 2007 Buttall Family reunion, with cousin Ken, and enjoyed a good meal! They have it sensibly priced, where there is a set cost for 1 course, 2 courses, or 3 courses. We all enjoyed a starter and a main course - Dad and I having roast beef, whilst Ken, always the more adventurous, had Cajun chicken.

The food was certainly as good as before, and the new people seemed very friendly. There was a good crowd eating on the Sunday, so it looks hopeful, and we shall definitely be up again to see Ken soon, and enjoy another meal there.

The only slight niggles, and which we pointed out were a) the time we had to spend waiting to order, and b) the fact that there were no condiments other than salt and pepper on the table. They had horseradish sauce and mustard etc, but didn't think to offer it to us. Still, they'll now know, for future reference!

P.S. The picture shows Dad (left) and Ken deciding what to have from the new menu!

Ivan Ilic - 'The American in Paris'

2008-11-05T14:50:00.015Z

I can't believe that I haven't written anything since the end of September, when I was extolling the virtues of Dragon City - a Chinese takeaway owned by the parents of one of my piano students, and where, since that first meal, we are now regular customers, and think they're the best around!

Similarly, writing reviews of concerts is, of course, a subjective thing. What I might like, or dislike, ten or so other reviewers could have a completely opposite take on what I felt. Good, that's what it's all about!

Equally, as my reviews are published in the leading local newspaper, as well as across the region online, just occasionally people will write in to beg to differ with something I might have said! At the end of the day, it might sell a couple more papers, so no one's going to complain.

Recently I had to review an American pianist of Serbian origin, and now living in Paris. His recital, a lunchtime one, remember, lasted only one hour, so to devote almost 15 minutes to a piece by a fellow-American composer, which supposedly investigated the way sounds die away on a piano, to a mid-day audience wasn't perhaps, the best of planning, and particularly as the rest of the programme was decidedly dreary and largely uneventful, and the piano, as we all know, is simply not up to it, for a solo recital.

I said this in my review, as this was what I, and a good number of the rest of the audience felt. However, it solicited a letter in support of this particular piece, and the pianist's playing in general. Now, I don't mind the criticism, but when the person is best friends with the concert organiser, even to the point of making sure that the organiser's post-nominals are included in the letter - we leave all such things out in the paper, as they're simply irrelevant - it's not quite seen as an unsolicted communication from an agrieved listener. The writer then went on to moan at 'some of us who should have known better' for fidgeting during this almost 15 minutes of banging odd notes on the piano. Of course, she defeated her own argument here, as the fact that this was happening should have said something!

In a way I wish I had sent off my initial review, where I criticised the player's right hand position, and where the 5th finger was almost flat, resulting in missed and inaccurate top notes at the top of chords etc. However, in the end I decided not to comment on this, as perhaps it was the result of some early injury or medical condition, and that would have been somewhat unprofessional. Interestingly, the writer describes themself as a professional musician, and who am I to deny this. But at a recent concert to celebrate the work of some local composers, despite my wish to appear modest, I cannot hide the fact that a number of people referred to me as the 'only real composer' there! Well, true I've had my compositions played by some of the UK's top orchestras, in the Royal Albert Hall, Symphony Hall, Birmingham etc etc - but then, I mustn't boast!

No, at the end of the day, I shouldn't have had the temerity to knock this performer, playing in a lunchtime series in our local museum! Er....I don't think so!

Oh, and on that subject, before the start of the concert I was politely reprimanded for not referring to the concert series in my previews as 'International'! I always thought it was better to include the word 'Lunchtime', as this was more relevant, and far more important than pointing out that the artists each year were 'international'. After all, virtually every school class from infants to secondary is 'international' in the UK nowadays, and it would be quite difficult to pick any performers of purely national origin. But I will do as instructed, and emphasize the 'international' nature, rather than point out that being a lunchtime concert, it can be more appealing to those who might be retired.

If you want to make your own mind up, here's a link to my review, and to a copy of the letter sent in to the paper! I'm not losing any sleep over it, but as a sort of insomniac, this doesn't mean much anyway!

It's never too late to go Chinese!

2008-09-27T19:38:00.008+01:00

Whilst I've often tried some of the Chinese meals which come ready produced from Marks & Spencer, and had the occasional restaurant meal with the family of one of my Chinese students, Dad and I have never ever tried a Chinese takeaway!

We thought that it was really time we did, as so many people seem to love them, and swear by them!

So, I arranged with the mother of one of my Chinese students, Isaac Chung, and who runs Dragon City not too far from where we live, for us to choose something with their help, and then to go over and pick it up.

Well, after a brief consultation during Isaac's piano lesson earlier, we came up with what we fancied, and Isaac's mum, Olivia, kindly phoned it through, and it was there ready and waiting for us to collect when we got there - unfortunately we're just a little too far for them to deliver to our area.

Well, we've just phoned Olivia to say how very much we really enjoyed it all, and how filling it was, but we ate everything, even though Dad hasn't now got the biggest of appetites. We're definitely hooked now, and if you haven't tried it yet, and live anywhere in the Plymouth area, then drive out to Chaddlewood Shopping Centre, Plympton, where you'll find Dragon City! You certainly won't be disappointed!

The contact details and opening times are shown on the picture above.

What a lovely break!

2008-09-19T09:16:00.003+01:00

A few months back, I wrote to say that, whilst we were originally planning to return to Malta again this year, our local First Choice travel agent suggested we might try Cyprus, as there are some obvious similarities.

Well, we have now returned from a week's break on the island, and have to say how very much we enjoyed every aspect of it! We flew locally from Exeter, and whilst this was an early morning flight, and we had to leave the house at 4am, we used the excellent services of Tony Sibley, (Airport Travel) was no problem at all. Tony was there to pick us up on our return and frankly, what he charges is very little more than what you'd pay to drive yourself, and pay for a week's parking!

We were recommended a lovely hotel, the Pioneer Beach Hotel, which more than exceeded our expectations! Even if our room at Malta's Hilton was superior, every other aspect of the Pioneer left it standing. The meals were excellent and the staff always so helpful and friendly. In particular I'd like to thank Kristina on Reception, who seemed to be working there everyday hour of every day, and the waitresses we met in the Odysseus Restaurant. They were all so willing to chat, even though they were always kept very busy! In particular, we enjoyed meeting Mirka, from Slovakia, who was really interesting to talk to. Rather than upset any of the others, whom we also liked very much, we include one from Italy, from former East Germany, another from Wuppertal, and one from Cyprus itself.

The weather was absolutely gorgeous, and on our last day, when we were in the capital, Nicosia, the digital thermometer showed 39 degrees - not bad for early September, I'd say! Whilst we loved Paphos, where we were staying, we made the wise decision to hire a car for the week. This was a lovely little Kia Picanto which coped admirably with all the twists and turns in the Troodos Mountains, whilst keeping us nicely cool with its excellent air-conditioning. We drove up to Polis, and the Atacama Peninsula, and along the coast to Limassol. We were going to drive to Nicosia, but decided to book a scheduled coach trip, especially as they would know exactly where to park.

We couldn't fault our holiday, and would thoroughly recommend it - as long as you've got no kids, as our hotel won't take them!

As to whether we ultimately preferred our week in Malta to this one in Cyprus, shall we say: The jury's still out!

Typically bad losers!

2008-08-30T09:02:00.006+01:00

Although my dear Mum started supporting Manchester United ever since the Munich Air-crash in the 50s, I've never been their biggest fan. Dad was born in Tottenham, so has supported Spurs ever since.

There's no doubt that they're a good team, and play to win, which obviously is as much down to Ferguson's management style as the fact that, even with Ronaldo still injured, they have a strong squad.

It was therefore good to see them lose 2-1 last evening in Monaco in the European Super Cup against FC Zenit St Petersburg. They were well and truly beaten, and even if Ronaldo had been playing, the other side still missed quite a few chances.

After the first FC Zenit goal, Man U started their usual trick of playing less than wholesomely, with a few yellow cards to boot. Whatever possessed Scholes to handle the ball into the net, a couple of minutes before the end, and when he was already on a yellow, defies logic. I suppose it could be argued that it was divine justice for the number of fouls and bad tackles he gets away with, using the excuse that he's 'not a defender' of course!

But what really summed up the whole rationale of Man U was at the end, as they walked up and collected their loser's medals from Michel Platini. Even before they had crossed the stage and were on their way down the steps, they'd all taken them off unceremoniously, following Ferguson's bad example. This is what gets to people, and makes Man U probably one of the most hated teams around - simply poor sportsmanship, and the inability to take defeat squarely on the chin, when it is deserved.

And, as in every organisation, the example comes from the top, so the players are merely clones of their manager, in terms of their display of poor playing spirit. Let's hope Arsenal and Chelsea et alia give them a good run for their money in the Premiership this season!

A bit over the top?

2008-08-27T09:22:00.004+01:00

Now that all the Olympic athletes have returned to their home towns, there are obviously going to be local celebrations throughout the UK, before and further national ones again in September or October.

Already, we've seen a number of open-top bus parades through towns and cities in the UK, and this seems to be the norm when welcoming home any kind of 'hero'. Where actual medal-winners are involved, this is perhaps more warranted, but here in Plymouth, where divers, Tom Daley (see previous post) and Tonia Crouch did exceptionally well to get to Beijing, and get creditable results there, neither actually won anything.

There's quite a lot of correspondence in today's Herald (the main Plymouth daily - no pun intended!) from people who think this is literally over the top. The civic dignitaries should invite them to the Council House, celebrate there, have a posh dinner, but that's all. If you're able to get hold of today's paper, you can make your own mind up. If not, take a look at the correspondence online and see what you think!

In these days where no one can be seen to fail, especially in the examination sphere, we are tending to want to praise even the most mediocre attempt. I'm not suggesting that our two city divers' achievements weren't really impressive, but I can't help wondering whether they're actually embarrassed by all this, and thinking, 'Well, we got an open-top ride through the city just for getting to the finals. Whatever will we have if either or both of us pick up an actual medal in 2012!' Yes, Rebecca Adlington had the bus treatment in Mansfield, but she did win 2 medals! And, at the end of the day, it's all a bit of a waste of money in times when we, as a country, cannot afford it! Furthermore, and as you can read online, it invites unfair comparison with the return of real 'heroes' to a city which still has strong service connections. Personally I don't want to detract from Tom and Tonia's success, or the celebration of this in the local community, but I wonder whether anyone actually asked them what they'd prefer!

Initial impressions can be deceptive!

2008-08-25T16:53:00.014+01:00

Over the last couple of days, I have had some initial impressions modified, and it just goes to show that you can't always judge a book by its cover!

First off, whilst I enjoyed some of the roles actor, Martin Clunes, has played, I would never have said that I was a particular fan. Not, that is, until I tuned in for the first of two TV documentaries on Dogs last night. Anyone who clearly loves dogs as Martin does is top of my list, and when I later googled him, it was apparent that he does so very much in the way of charitable work, and not all that far away from the area where I live. To see him being nuzzled by wolves who looked as if they could just as easily ripped his face off, was fantastic, and his obvious delight at the musical dingo was clear to see. Like me, when he was watching three little Jack Russells despatching a number of rats right in front of him, he felt a sense of relief for the baby rat that managed to elude the dogs' bite, and escape, even though the rats themselves were eating more than half the animal feed in the barns, where they were thus a real pest.

Then today it was the return of the GB Olympic Team at Heathrow. I've never particularly liked BBC newsreader, Kate Silverton, whose continual, and abundant thanks for every correspondent who sends in a report, however inconsequential, really got to me - thanks indeed, when they're probably all picking up £100K of our money every year! But in the difficult and extremely noisy environment of a recently-landed plane, she came over as really sincere, avoided asking the obvious question: 'What's it like to win a Gold Medal?'.........er!... and kept things going professionally yet totally informally. She, too, gets my vote now!

And whilst on the subject of the returning Olympians (a term which seems to be used now, but I thought referred to actual Greek Gods!), I now have a real admiration for young Tom Daley, who shares my birthplace of Plymouth, though I was there a few(!) years before him! When I first heard him interviewed, I felt that I detected a certain precocity which, having worked with lots of talented musical youngsters, didn't always endear them to me, or to other people. But when I heard Tom interviewed on a couple more occasions, and especially today on his return, I realised that what I thought was a hint of arrogance, was simply the fact that Tom is not only an outstanding diver for his age, but he's really so articulate for just a 14-year old. I checked to see if he was already attending a specialist Public School, where this sort of articulation and self-confidence so often makes its pupils stand out from those who just go to the comp up the road. No, Tom in fact actually does go to the comp up the road - Eggbuckland Community College! Of course he must mix with loads of youngsters who perhaps have the public school 'advantage', but he's a real credit to his school and his family, that he can talk with such an old head on young shoulders, but in such an unaffected way.

What a difference, then, to our Lewis Hamilton who, whenever he's interviewed, seems to have that 'know-it-all' attitude, and blames everything else when he doesn't win. He ought to have a few lessons from young Tom who had his disappointments in Beijing, but who genuinely seems to have gained from the experience, not just in terms of his diving, but also as a person, and who, I hope, will scrub up gold in 2012 in London! And, if you can convince me that there is the slightest correlation in skill level between a high-tariff dive, and driving a racing car around a track, please send me your answers on the back of a postage stamp! I know if I had just 6 months' instruction, I could probably drive a racing car, perhaps not very quickly, but even if I had 60 years, you'd never get me up on one of those 10m boards to start with, or, as, I'm afraid a non-swimmer, even in the pool afterwards!

Well done, Tom - you made me feel (well, almost!) proud to be British, and to be a fellow-Plymothian! Good luck for 2012!

The Lord Nelson re-opens, as the Titan 6 meet again!

2008-08-24T19:14:00.003+01:00

Had some good news from Cousin Ken in Topsham this morning! In my previous blog I bemoaned the fact that the Lord Nelson in Topsham had shut down. This was a double blow, as not only was it the pub where we liked to go when we met Ken for Sunday lunch, but it was also the scene of a couple of meals when we held the Buttall Reunion in 2007!

Well, Ken has confirmed that the pub is re-opening under new management, and with a new menu, though we hope that they don't change it too much, as we particularly enjoyed it before! Either way, we plan to meet up with Ken next month, and he will, in the meantime, check it out to see if it's not been turned into a Curry house, or something similarly not to our particular tastes!

Today we met our lovely friends, Pam and Den, and Lorna and Bill, whom we first met when we spent Xmas 2006 in Sorrento. They live near Truro so we met up at the Halfway House, Twowatersfoot at usual, and had a lovely carvery. Although we'd booked, when we arrived it seemed as if another party was already going on! In fact it was a birthday bash for a 2-year-old, related, I believe, to the people running the pub. The only downside was that we had to park further away, and brought a bit of mud into the car. Apart from this, it was lovely to meet up again, and we next plan to have a Chinese Meal down in Grampound, near where they all live, and where they regularly eat. Den has nicknamed us the Titan 6 as this was the company we travelled with, and where we all had a terrible journey, no thanks to their driver, from Gatwick!

The picture shows Bill, a retired GP, being served his tea by one of the very friendly waitresses! Lucky old Bill, I'd say!

The Lord Nelson - shut down!

2008-07-20T11:42:00.006+01:00

I can't believe that we enjoyed another lovely meal at the Lord Nelson in Topsham only last Sunday with cousin Ken, and then heard from him during the week, that the pub had ceased trading and closed!

This is a real shame, as we really enjoyed it there, and it was the place where we held the first Buttall Reunion in 2006.

We hope that Ken can find us an alternative venue for our occasional Sunday lunches with him - or that the pub can reopen, but the way things are going in the UK, I think it's a sign of the times, and won't get better in my lifetime!

Footnote: See above post (24/08/08) for update on this item!

Return to Topsham!

2008-07-14T12:23:00.011+01:00

Yesterday, we returned to Topsham, and met up again with cousin Ken, and had a lovely lunch back at the Lord Nelson. Things seemed to have returned to normal, and there was a really extensive menu again, with all that we asked for available.

Having managed only two courses, because the helpings are so generous, we all then had a quick wander around the town again, and ended up once more in the museum.

Luckily, after so much wet weather, it wasn't a bad day at all, and it was very warm when the sun shone. The picture shows Dad with the Exe estuary behind him!

Visit to Long Meadow

2008-07-10T21:00:00.001+01:00

It seems ages since my last update - time seems to fly by, the older you get! Earlier today, Dad and I visited one of my longest-serving piano students at her house, just outside the Plymouth boundary. The grounds are quite magnificent, and there is a lovely greenhouse, with lovely floral displays.

We had afternoon tea there, and it was a really enjoyable time, so much so that I nearly didn't get back in time for an evening lesson, and Dad had had a particularly large G&T!

An excellent carvery, and a great venue!

2008-06-17T12:36:00.013+01:00

When we spent Xmas in Sorrento, Italy, a couple of years ago, we very most fortunate to meet up with two lovely couples who travelled up to our overnight hotel with us. They both come from the Truro, Cornwall area. Den is a retired builder, with wife, Pam, and Bill is a retired GP, and wife, Lorna, a retired hospital sister. They're all lovely people and dad and I get on very well with them.

We've already had a couple of Saturday evening meals with them at the Halfway House Inn, Twowatersfoot, on the road from Plymouth to Bodmin, and not far from Trago Mills. This time we decided to book for their Sunday lunchtime carvery. It was a good thing that we booked, as we'd forgotten that it was Father's Day, and so it was especially busy. We met at 1.0pm (the pub is about halfway between Plymouth and Truro, with a large car park, so ideal for all six of us to meet up!

We had a lovely carvery and dessert afterwards, and eventually we got back to Plymouth around 4pm. The beef and turkey were lovely, as were the vegetables, and choice - much more interesting than your usual peas and carrots etc! We were so impressed that we've booked again in August! Although this Sunday had been particularly busy, apparently it's always like this each Sunday, as it's an extremely popular venue.

It's so easy to find, and the staff are most friendly and helpful - it's really worth a try, but don't forget to book in advance!

Schumacher he ain't!

2008-06-11T08:48:00.003+01:00

I know that with England (rightfully, having seen some of the matches already) not taking part in the European Championships 2008, we have to find something to sing about!

I'm not at all into F1 racing, and still need to be convinced that racing driving, like darts, is actually a sport in the sense that you've got to do something extremely energetic, but Lewis Hamilton's little mishap at the Canadian Grand Prix did strike me as amusing! I've no idea about what his 'penalty' involves, and frankly don't care, but I think he ought to have to retake his driving test. That's probably what would happen to the rest of us if we avoided a red light and hit another driver up the backside!

Anyway, I hope the other guy claims on his insurance! British Lewis might be - Schumacher he certainly ain't!

A bus driver's communication skills!

2008-06-10T13:32:00.007+01:00

We all know that the government wants everyone to give up their cars, so that they can all be herded onto buses!

Fine if there's a decent bus-service, but, as you'd expect in a third-rate city like Plymouth, we have a bus-service to match! (To be fair to the city, my complaint has nothing to do with Plymouth CityBus but First Devon & Cornwall who provide the various 'services' to the Plymstock and South Hams side of the city).

Yesterday we had the misfortune to go into town from where we live. In there wisdom, the bus company involved has completely revamped the route, so that it's now grossly inconvenient, late, and uses small buses which are very uncomfortable and feel every vibration!

Ok, I can put up with that, even the almost 1-hour late return trip, but not the rudeness of their staff. Because I'm not too au fait with the route, and it wasn't clear on the bus, I politely asked the driver if he could confirm whether the bus passed by Billacombe Tavern - he looked as if I had asked him the formula of petrol, and just looked blank! I then said does it go along the main road - a couple of grunts later I realised that it did, so we boarded it. Of course this really grumpy driver soon cheered up as he swapped over at the First depot near Plymstock. In fact he was quite happy to chat with the driver who took over, while we waited in the heat!

When I got back, thinking that First Devon & Cornwall wanted feedback, I emailed them to tell them about this - I gave every detail so they knew what I was on about. Of course, did I get a reply - you must be joking! I did suggest that to drive a bus you hardly need a PhD, so probably upset all the executives there, who didn't read my email, as they probably have an arrangement for all complaints to go straight to spam!

They ought to call the service LAST rather than FIRST!

To avoid any embarrassment, the bus in the shot above was not the one we took - ours are like gold-dust! (When I get round to adding it!)

PS Needless to say, I never heard back from them, despite a second email pointing them to this item on my blog. To be fair, though, I expect they're always extremely busy dealing with every other customer's complaints, from what I could hear as we waited hopefully for one of their buses to turn up!

Imperial College sees sense!

2008-06-05T10:17:00.011+01:00

Anyone currently involved in education, or who has been in the past, knows that one of the main problems with our education system in the UK today, is that, with everyone getting 'wonderful' results and all achieving As or A stars, it's virtually impossible to tell one student from another, academically speaking.

In music this was recognised some years back, when one university professor of music said he'd far sooner take a candidate with a Grade 8 in Practical Music + one in Theory, than someone with A level. There are so many variations and boards, that you can almost get by by avoiding actually playing or writing anything, so that the first year at uni is what most of us did in our sixth forms!

At least London's Imperial College has responded to the crap which our government churns out about rising standards, and will now make potential candidates take an entrance exam. They are clearly concerned with the need to continue to bring in the best students, which our system no longer accounts for. I hope other top outfits will do the same! You can read the article here!

I always remember my days with A levels. In the Arts, it was virtually impossible to get 3 straight As - only perhaps in the Sciences was this more achievable. We had one chap in our class who did this - and he's a professor of Maths at Oxford. Under today's system, they'd all expect to be Oxbridge dons!

Buttall 'mini' reunion - 2008

2008-05-22T09:55:00.006+01:00

Following our first Buttall reunion in April 2007, we had a 'mini' one again, last night in the Lord Nelson in Topsham. Dad's cousin, Joan, with her daughter Gill, and son-in-law Brian, were staying for a few days in Exmouth, and yesterday they came down to visit us here in Plymouth. It was a great day chatting over old times, and, of course, meeting Gill and Brian for the first time.

They dropped Joan off at cousin Ken's flat in Topsham, and then we drove up to meet Joan and Ken, and have a meal in the pub as before.

I know I referred to the Lord Nelson as my favourite pub, and we did still have good meal - but both dad and I were very disappointed that there was no scampi left, which we'd planned to have, and even my steak and ale pie was the last portion!

After a good old chat, we dropped Joan off back in Exmouth at her hotel, and then, once we were back in Plymouth, watched the Man United and Chelsea in Moscow, which I'd recorded on Sky+ earlier. It all finished after 2am, and we then went to bed pretty tired!

P.S. Have a closer look at 'Lord Nelson' on the pub sign, Joan!!

Dragons' Den - or is it?!

2008-05-20T09:14:00.004+01:00

Recently I had a spot of bother with my laptop and, whilst searching through Google, as you do, I came across Plymouth PC Repair Centre and thought I'd give them a ring to see if they could sort my laptop out. The service I received from proprietor, Steve Michaels, was second-to-none, and I'm pleased to say that - touch wood - everything's now seems back in working order!

As I'm often asked for names of local piano tuners and other services like PC repairs, I took a few flyers from Steve, who also very kindly supplied a free mug, and these are now down in my teaching studio where, hopefully, students and parents will notice them, if they're on the look out for a PC desktop or laptop repair whilst there for a piano lesson!

One of my students, Georgi, thought the guy on the flyer, about to trash his laptop, was particularly amusing, and Steve confirmed that they had purchased him as a graphic. Steve mentioned that he bears a striking similarity to someone on Dragons' Den - which unfortunately didn't mean anything to me, as I'd never seen it on TV! However, quite by chance a couple of days later, whilst channel hopping, I came across the programme, and can definitely see the likeness!

In the meantime, if you're in the Plymouth area, and are looking for a PC repair, then do give Steve a try - his service even includes the facility to log in and monitor the actual progress of your repair! Their number is (01752) 66 99 30, or mailto:help@plymouthpcrepair.co.uk

The Lord Nelson Inn at Topsham - our favourite pub!

2008-04-29T13:48:00.004+01:00

On Sunday, we went once more to our favourite pub, the Lord Nelson Inn at Topsham, where we had a lovely lunch with cousin Ken. Ken pointed out to the proprietors that they were now getting quite a bit of web exposure, but unfortuantely they don't have a computer, so weren't aware! Of course, we were hoping for a spot of discount, to make up for the ridiculous diesel prices, but this wasn't forthcoming. If you do have a meal or even a drink there, do say that you 'read all about the pub here', so that the message gets home to them!

After lunch we walked through the town and went back to the museum, where Ken was keen to show us some new information about our ancestor's house in the town. Whilst there, we got chatting to one of the volunteer helpers, who, having realised that we were all three Buttalls, asked me if I was 'Philip R?' - apparently he's a big classical music fan, and had read or at least seen my columns in the Herald, or online at What's On South West. It was good to think that my 'fame' had travelled all the way up the A38 as far as Topsham!!

After a great time chatting with Ken, who showed us some of his more interesting vegetables like kale, we set off back to Plymouth, eager for our next visit when cousin Joan and part of her family come down from Brightlingsea in Essex to spend a few days in nearby Exmouth - this will certainly involve at least one more meal at our favourite pub!

Some sad news!

2008-04-24T15:37:00.003+01:00

Bill Dapling, Dad and I met up as usual for our carvery at the Billacombe Tavern earlier today, only to discover that Darren & Sarah, who had taken over the pub not that long ago, would be leaving this weekend to manage another one in Tamerton Foliot, on the north side of Plymouth.

We were really sorry to hear this, as they had both tried really hard to make something of the pub, even though it's a difficult job.

Fortunately, Liz (see picture), who works in the kitchen, as well as in the bar, will be standing in as temporary manager, until such time as new, permanent ones can be found. Liz always does the carvery, and today's beef was especially good. The only thing is, she's going to have to take a lesson or two from Darren, where Spanish Omelettes are concerned - Darren, of course, learnt his trade in the Steak & Omelette Bar in Plymouth, so will be a hard act to follow, where omelettes are concerned. We all wish them well in their new venture, and will hopefully all still keep in touch! Best wishes to Liz, too, of course!

Post Script (added 23/11/08): The poor old Billacombe Tavern shut again for good, it would seem, a few months ago now, and in the present economic climate, it would seem highly unlikely that anyone would want to take on something that hasn't really flourished for many a year!

A nice spot for lunch!

2008-04-23T18:15:00.009+01:00

As you know, we always like shopping at The Willows, just outside Torquay, where there's an excellent M&S, and a Sainsbury's.

We then have a variety of places to go and eat the sandwiches which we buy, and then make our way back.

Here's a very short video, taken on my mobile, of Meadfoot Beach, where we were today - watch out for the cyclist!

A nice meal out with friends

2008-04-22T12:56:00.008+01:00

One of the nice things about going on holiday with a travel company is the people you meet on the trip. Mostly, though, whilst you tend to keep in touch with them occasionally, perhaps the odd Xmas card, geographically they're often too far away for it to go much further.

Dad and I, however, were particularly lucky when we travelled to Sorrento to spend Xmas there in 2006. We went with Titan Travel who pick you up from your door and take you direct to the airport, or overnight hotel. They use Volkswagen 6-seater minibuses usually, which means that there would normally be three couples travelling.

When the minibus arrived here in Plymouth, onboard were Den and Pam Williams, from Lanner, near Truro, and Bill and Lorna Timmins from Frogpool, which is close by. Travelling up to London we made good friends with each other and, because we're not much more than fifty miles apart, have been able to keep in touch regularly, and had our first meal together, some time back at the Halfway House Inn, Twowatersfoot in the Glynn Valley, which is about equidistant between us, and has a large car park off the main road.

We so much enjoyed our first meal, that we arranged a second one last Saturday where we all met up together again! We had a lovely time chatting away, as we seem to have so much in common. Dad is a retired architect, and Den had a building business, whilst Bill is a retired GP, and Lorna a former hospital sister.

It was probably good that we ate there on Saturday, as, sadly we were the only party in the main restaurant, but the food was good.

We're not going to wait quite so long for our next visit, and have planned a Sunday Lunchtime, rather than evening meal, so that we can book for the carvery there. This will be in June, as we all have various short breaks planned over the coming months, and, quite by chance, found out that Bill and Lorna will be in York at exactly the same time as we shall be - that's a real coincidence, and we might even be able to meet up there! The picture shows Lorna and Dad enjoying the conversation!

My favourite supermarket!

2008-04-14T18:27:00.002+01:00

I know a lot of men hate shopping, and I can see why, if they're having to rush around in a lunch-hour, and then find all the tills full, and they've got only a couple of items!

For a number of years I went to the Sainsbury's at Marsh Mills, Plympton, as I used to like the way it was laid out.

Then, of course, everything changes, and I started to find that all the groceries (which was the reason for me to go shopping!) were hidden behind clothes and all sorts of other junk that I wouldn't choose to buy in a supermarket.

I started shopping at Morrisons, which is only up the road from us, and found that, not only is it cheaper, has more stock, and isn't congested with the sort of junk that Sainsbury's is, but once you get to know various members of staff there, it's a really friendly place to shop, and invariably I'll meet someone I know and have a chat almost each week. People who know me, will know that I do like my little chat!

The meat department there is fabulous, and their fillet steak is by far the best around, and a lot cheaper than it used to be in Sainsbury's!

I'm not so sure about the manager, as once I was talking to a member of staff, who's service is fantastic, and I said this, just as he was passing. When I saw that member of staff the following week, she said that, far from praising her, he seemed quite annoyed that I had given her a compliment. That's probably why a good number of the staff don't seem to have much time for him. Respect, they say, has to be earned - it doesn't come with the job!

The picture shows me loading the car (Dad's, of course!) on a Saturday morning!

Watching the trains go by!

2008-04-10T09:00:00.004+01:00

Sometimes, when we go to The Willows to do our M&S shopping, instead of coming back via Paignton, and having our sandwiches down by Meadfoot Beach, or on the top at Babbacombe, we turn left and make for Teignmouth, crossing the Teign at Shaldon.

Initially we used to do this and park in the car-park at Labrador Bay, but, like everything else, the local council decided to stop even that little pleasure by forcing us to pay 60p for the privilege of stopping there to eat our sandwich. True, for that 60p, we can stay there for 24 hours, but who the hell would want to!

So we now drive past and cross Shaldon Bridge, and make for Kingsteington. Just outside Teignmouth, there is a nice little lay-by on the left, overlooking the Teign, where you are invited to park for free, up to 2 hours.

This is, of course, nice, except that often it is completely filled with large lorries, so the private motorist can't get in. I did email the council, and ask them to ban lorries, but had no reply. Clearly they don't care about this, as there's no charge to park.

I think I might email them again, as yesterday there was a massive Jewsons lorry there and another one. Now I know that lorry drivers are entitled to stop and eat THEIR sandwiches, too, but not when this is a drive-in layby, and they take up the space of about three cars. There's even a council mobile library van there sometimes - but I didn't notice hundreds of residents changing their library books either!

Still, we found a space and ate our sandwiches, and I was able to watch a few trains go past, under the cliff, as this is the main London - Penzance line.

PS Whilst, of course I don't condone malicious damage to property, it was interesting to see that for a number of weeks, the ticket machine in Labrador Bay car park was out of action, and boarded up. It looked as if someone else, who thought having to pay was excessive money-grabbing, had decided to give it a massive smack!

Philip goes by bus!

2008-03-27T14:47:00.005Z

This is most uncharacteristic of me, given what I've tended to say about having to go into Plymouth! Not only did dad and I go in there yesterday, so that dad could arrange to get his new Bus Pass, which go nationwide from April, but I went in there again this morning - and by bus! I've even put a shot of the bus above, in case anyone misbelieves this!

I first needed to go to our solicitors, to drop in a document regarding codicils we've added to our respective Wills. I then was able to put in our annual In Memoriam insert for mum, which will appear in April 11's Herald. After that a quick walk through the Drake Circus shopping centre, and a bus home, before lunch with our great friend, Bill Dapling, at the Billacombe Tavern.

A short Jury Service - this time!

2008-03-26T13:34:00.002Z

Yesterday I presented myself at the local Crown Courts, to start my second bout of Jury Service - the previous time had been some years before, whilst I was still in full-time school-teaching.

Having made various arrangements to accommodate the suggested two-week run, some 24 jurors assembled, to be split randomly into two potential juries, for each of the two courts in action later.

One group was delayed for various reasons, and quite out of the blue, we, in the other 'team' were told that the case had collapsed, as the defendant had apparently pleaded guilty. We were free to go, and would no longer be needed - so my Jury Service this time lasted just a half-day!

On the way home, I was able to walk through the centre (see above picture), and call in and see Simon Young, proprietor of Vibes Music, and to pick up some music for one of my students.

Easter in The Lord Nelson again!

2008-03-26T13:24:00.004Z

Although Easter Sunday will never be our favourite day, because of Mum, Dad and I spent a lovely day at Topsham again, where we had lunch in the usual Lord Nelson with cousin Ken.

The pub was full, and there was a nice family atmosphere there. The food, of course, was up to the expected standard - as Ken said, it's about time we got a discount there, because of all the free advertising we're giving them! This time, whilst Dad finished with Apple Pie & Custard, Ken and I both settled for an ice cream dessert, featuring After Eights - as the picture above shows! Naughty.........but nice!

Easter - not my favourite time of the year!

2008-03-22T09:00:00.003Z

Easter isn't my favourite time of the year, ever since my dear mum passed away on Easter Sunday, back in 2004. The date then was April 11' so we get to remember twice every year. Why Easter can't be fixed each year like Xmas, I just don't know! And when it's as early as it is this year, not only does it muck up the kids' holidays, but it means that the weather is poor. Although it's nice and sunny here in the South West, there is supposed to be snow elsewhere - although our weather forecasts are so alarmist that you can't believe anything!

The picture above is where we ate our M&S sandwiches last Wednesday, and Meadfoot Beach, Torquay. I'm not sure what's happening this week, as I start my second bout of Jury Service on Tuesday, so can't predict the next couple of weeks -lucky my students' exams are on the Wednesday!

BOYS 2 MEN - what an excellent service!

2008-03-18T09:30:00.009Z

If you're like us, you begrudge paying way over the odds to get a decent haircut! We used to go to the same barber for years, but when they closed, found it increasingly difficult to find someone we liked, and whose premises weren't too far away.

We saw a Feature in the local paper advertising BOYS 2 MEN - an excellent lady barber who is not only extremely good value for money, but comes here and cuts our hair in the house, bringing all the equipment she needs in her specially-liveried 'Smart' car. We simply get in touch by text or phone, arrange a time and day to suit, she comes over, and it's all done! No travel, waiting around, and paying way over the odds, just to keep some swanky salon in business, by helping to pay their exorbitant rates! The picture shows Susie 'working on' dad!

Her details are: 07738 264260 (mobile) / boys2men@tiscali.co.uk (email)

If you live in the Plymouth (UK) are, do give her a call - I doubt you'll ever want to go back to the inconvenience of having to go and get a haircut!

A busy day, and nostalgic trip all in one!

2008-03-15T17:37:00.010Z

Today was quite a busy day! Firstly dad and I went up to Kingsbridge, which was was mum's home town (about 18 miles south east of Plymouth, on the A379). I was doing some music examining in the Harbour House on the Promenade, so, whilst I did this, dad had a look around the old town, which held many memories for him, as it was here that he met mum, some 64 years ago, when he was stationed in the town in WW2.

After I had finished the examing, it was a quick drive back home, and a change before going to do the usual weekly shopping at Morrison's, and then before teaching two lessons in the afternoon.

Then, this evening, it's once more along to the University of Plymouth Sherwell Centre to review a concert by the Iuventus String Quartet, lead by Ruth Rogers, one of the UK's top young violinists.

Tomorrow it's Bach's St Matthew Passion with the Plymouth Philharmonic Choir - not my most favourite work, I have to say, something of an endurance test, I fear!

P.S. Despite the terribly hard seats and lack of leg-room in Plymouth Guildhall, the Plymouth Phil's performance turned out to be excellent - check out my online review!

64th Wedding Anniversary - or would have been

2008-03-11T09:10:00.009Z

Today, March 11, would have been mum and dad's 64th Wedding Anniverary!

They were married, of course, during the war at dad's home, Tottenham, as mum was serving in the ATS, based at Didcot, and so it was easier for the marriage to take place in London, rather than in mum's home town of Kingsbridge, some twenty miles or so away from where we now live.

Mum and dad celebrated their Diamond Wedding together in 2004, and the picture was featured in our local paper, the Herald, which I write for. The picture was taken outside our front door.

Sadly mum died on April 11 that same year, which happened to be Easter Sunday, and a day I shall never ever forget. At least, though, something helped her to hang on to make those 60 years of married life together!

Traditional values are still around today - thankfully!

2008-03-08T11:02:00.010Z

My good friend, Vicky van der Vliet, who is also the local ABRSM rep for Plymouth & SE Cornwall, sent me this cutting from the paper I actually write for!

Alex Basso, whose dad, Giorgio, is Italian, recently not only got a Distinction in his Grade 1 Piano exam, but achieved this with a very high score of 141! At his last lesson, I was delighted to hear that he had also just passed his 11+ exam, and was, in fact, going to my old school, Devonport High School for Boys this September.

Plymouth still retains the 11+ (fortunately, in my opinion!) but makes it a real obstacle course for those children who want to take it! Unfortunately, with all the dimming down of educational standards in this country, we can't bear to conced that some children will be more able than others, and therefore deserve exactly the same opportunity for 'Special Needs', as those at the other exact of the spectrum.

In these days when you're afraid to praise anyone for a traditional and respected success, it's great to see this little ad in the paper, along with others, too. Obviously they're proud of Alex's achievement - and why not! Well done, Alex!