Author: PT

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Christmas, well done with a train set

A little praise. I was at the Celtic Manor yesterday for a (successful) meeting. For those who may not know, the Celtic Manor Resort is where the Ryder Cup Golf tournament will be held in 2010. I’m not into golf (hitting a non-moving object seems a bit boring to me), but the venue itself is great for meetings and events and is local to me.

In the centre of the main reception area is a sunken area, which currently hosts their Christmas tree, and a huge Christmas train set. In an era of inflatable santas, neon house decorations and an amazing amount of Christmas tat (that usually starts being deployed in September), I wanted to take my hat off to the Celtic Manor for a tasteful, and beautifully turned out Christmas display. We all moan and whine a lot about how bad this is, or how that has deteriorated, well sometimes it is not so.

Class act – well done!

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Noah? No-Aarrgghhh more like

Welcome to Usk in the autumn, this is the river just by our office:

Just been away for the weekend and got back to find that it had got
worse. Does anyone have a link to an Airfix Ark building kit? – think
we may need it this winter. Applications accepted from people with a
male and female pair of any animals, and if anyone has a cute female
Cairn terrier who could accompany Gizmo onto the Ark that would be
great as well. No-aaarrrrggghhh.

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A Guerrilla Gardening dilemma

Not sure what to do or think, I have something small with a halo on one shoulder whispering at me and something horny on the other shoulder jumping up and down.

We did some semi guerrilla gardening in our local park (see earlier blog entry), and got nice but unnecessary recognition for a job well done. We suggested that planting some bulbs in the renovated areas might be a nice idea and the local Council agreed. Today small old man from Council turns up and gives us several large bags of daffodil bulbs, amounting, and I may be slightly exaggerating, to about a gazillion bulbs for us to plant.

At what point does a personal activity to help others get turned by those others into an obligation?

So, little angel says ” Carry on and plant them and continue your good work for the community”

And little devil says ” Bloody cheek”

If we follow a Pirsig type argument that there are three answers to a yes/no question then perhaps we should plant tulips somewhere else in the park – what do you reckon?

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7 Pay It Forward ideas

So it’s cold, it’s wet and it’s miserable outside, and you are all tucked up inside a warm house with a nice cup of coffee. Here are some ways that you can get out there and help others:

  1. Buy your Big Issue seller a cup of hot chocolate. These people work hard to try and change their circumstances. How many people must walk past before one buys a copy, how demoralising must that be for them?
  2. Pick up a piece of litter a day. It is not difficult and it can make a small difference. There is a guy in Wales who decided to clear his town of litter and is now a national hero.
  3. Give away an umbrella. Retractable umbrellas are only a few pounds. Buy one from a cheap shop and carry it in your bag. When you see someone struggling in the rain give them an umbrella – the effect on the person will be massively more than the few pounds you spent.
  4. Send a handwritten note to someone to say thank you or give encouragement – this is so much more personal than online communication and shows the person that you are really thinking about them.
  5. Take a step back. Next time you are in a queue let the person behind you go in front of you – give them the gift of a little more time.
  6. Guerrilla garden for your community. No one needs know that you are doing this, just pick a neglected area of land in your community and tidy it up or plant it. If you have a bigger project recruit others to help.
  7. Buy extra, make a box and donate. Plenty of Charities run Christmas appeals where they send boxes of food or children’s packs to those in need. Make it a habit to buy an extra item each time you shop to fill up one of these boxes.

Pay it Forward can be a little cloying or sugary. To me it does two things. Firstly it helps someone else, usually in a small way and quite often in an anonymous way. This is important to me, as I don’t really want thanks; just to know that I did something worthwhile. Secondly as a self-improvement tool, it helps me constantly change and move myself onwards by thinking outside of my day-to-day life. I don’t do sugary, but I can stand in the rain and hand out umbrellas!

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Random Acts of Music #2 Make that move

At a time when we were immersed in punk and post punk, there were a few unusual bands supporting the likes of the Clash and the Pretenders on tour. One such band were the Rockats – listen to this:

Random Acts of Music #2

I had forgotten this band, but shouldn't have. Find it, buy it, love it,  – works great in a car playlist. Enjoy…and comment please!

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Bruno-no-no

Sacha Baron Cohen is a great comic provocateur.

Sometimes a film completely redefines a genre and for me Borat did that. It had been many years since I had laughed that hard or that consistently through a film – IMHO it is already a classic. You know when it is so when members of your family start quoting phrases from it back to you. It was probably a Python film that last did that.

Now that we have got that out of the way let's talk about the disappointment that is Bruno. I once read that the problem with mens taste in clothes is that if they like a shirt they go and buy the same shirt in 6 different colours. Bruno-no-no tries to be Borat 2 but with a different persona attached. It is more crude (didn't think that was possible), more contrived, and the 'targets' seem more savvy or ready for the character. Bruno seeks to offend everyone, but the surprise factor has gone and even though the gags seem to be increasingly outrageous, they are more manufactured.

The subject matter of S-B-C's films is irrelevant as he is a natural performer and will find many funny characters and new ways of entertaining, but this one is a no for me. Ruth gave up after 10 minutes and my son looked bored all the way through. Time for a change Sacha.

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Random Acts of Music #1 Rattlesnakes

Random Acts of Music is a new section of the blog dedicated to giving you tasters of a wide scope of music, some new, some old, some original, some covers, some unsigned.

Play this:

Random Acts of Music #1

If you like it go buy it, hope you enjoyed…

(Tori Amos cover of Lloyd Cole and the Commotion's Rattlesnakes)