State of The Blogosphere

Some interesting stats on the growth of blogs. There are even awards. Pity they didn't have a Best Holiday Blog category.

Most efficient keyboard.

Comic Relief :

Making poverty history is a great thing. But is that comic relief show a great thing? Yes admittedly my children painted their hair we donated money and bought McFly. I will also buy the Peter Kaye/Tony Christie one. He makes me laugh. But I hated all those comperes. I used to like Jonathon Ross on the radio but I'm now going off that. But the rest were the supreme purveyors of tat, even crap. Graham Norton, Davina McCall if there is some rubbish tacky show you can pencil her in, some bloke from big brother and to top it off Chris Evans where did they dredge him up from? Was he owed a favour? I watched about an hour. I don't like Little Britain, in fact it makes me feel a bit sick. Jo likes it and asked me why I didn't. But I said fat blokes on the bog about to get their arse wiped is not funny.
Lets make poverty history but I don't think I can watch it again. Cele(brat)ies with over inflated egos moralising at us all. Just show us the injustice do we need to be entertained (?) before putting our hands in our pockets? Or can we not just raise taxes?

Journey to work

I usually walk to work after putting Eleanor on her school bus. I have had some long bus journeys to work when I worked in Cupar. It is about 25 minutes if you go the straight route. But the bus went round as may villages as it couls so it was about 65 minutes. One village actually had a cow byre in the main road. The first time I didn't believe it. I thought I was half asleep. I did a bit of reading on the bus but i never really enjoed it. I like looking out the window or at the people on the bus. I'm reading a science fiction book by Margaret Atwood . Its excellent. I picked it up by chance in the library.

I don't know how you can be writing the blog whilst travelling on the bus. Also how do you make the web links in the prargraph and with different titles to the web link. I've tried to make a link but it probably won't work.

Journey to work

I'm currently on the bus on my way to work - sitting in a traffic jam on the motorway. The journey from Erskine to Glasgow is 15 miles but can take anything from 30 to 75 minutes depending on the traffic. It's going to be closer to 75 minutes this morning.

I use the time to read. I'm currently reading Who Runs this Place? which explores the people who control the UK. I also scan the Metro newspaper which is usually lying around the bus. It's trash but it keeps me in touch with the Great Unwashed. I see from today's edition that Natasha Kaplinski has won Newscaster of the Year. Now Natashi is many things but a great newscaster is not one of them.

Most of the people on the bus sleep, stare out of the window, read pulp fiction or chat. Given the usual topics of conversation (TV, horoscopes, diets etc.), it might be better if they read. The young man sitting opposite me is reading Zoo. The story that he's reading is headlined: "Being shot isn't a big deal". Maybe they should just sleep.

Possible title losing defeat

Quick thoughts on this game. Rab Douglas has played his last game. Too many terrible mistakes in crucial games (Porto cup final the worst). I think Sutton should be upfront with Petrov through the middle. These are our best players and we should play them in their best positions. On the face of it perhaps Bellamy won't be prolific. The postponement last week was a blow. The goal difference looks like it is worth a point. We need to win every game. It might come down to which fixtures are at home. The Rangers goal difference at home is immense. On the plus I thought Balde was great. In fact the defence really didn't look troubled until the goal.

On another note I was surprised by those recent turnover figures where Celtic were earning more than Rangers. Is the business being run correctly? Was there not a case for some investment? Anyway you don't get games like that in Kenya. 25 years where did it go?

Blogs under the spotlight

Blogs not only report the news but sometimes create news. This excerpt from an American TV show explores this new phenomenon and questions the validity and professionalism of bloggers.

Back from Kenya

I got back from Kenya last Friday - but it's taken me a week to find my feet. It was harder than I thought to go from winter to summer and back to winter again. That and my body clock being totally screwed-up after 2½ weeks of early rises (I'm talking 6am every day) and early to bed (sometimes as early as 9pm).

I'm still working through my photographs. Digital photos are great but it takes a long time to do your own processing (download, review, edit and finalise). I'm just about there.

I maintained a (paper) journal while I was there and I'm currently turning this into a photo-and-story blog. It will take a while to complete.

Internet access is dire in Kenya so I had some catching-up to do when I got home. The Net feeds your brain and I missed some of the more celebral sites that you come across while surfing.

Holiday blog

I'm posting this from Mombasa in Kenya. Margaret and I in Kenya for our 25th wedding anniversary. We arrived in Mombasa last night, from Nairobi where we spent a week on safari.

The safari was great. We visited four lodges and saw lots of animals. I've got loads of photos some of which I'll post when I get back.

We're currently staying in the Indian Ocean Hotel just outside of Mombasa and it's beautiful. Our house is 20m from the sand and 50m from the sea. It's absolutetely boiling. Around 35C today (and I'm already sunburnt from the safari).

Good news on the transfer front. I'm way behind with the news but I gather that Bellamy signed. I spoke with a Newscastle fan who was glad that he was away. She said he was very talented but disruptive in the dressing room.

Most Kenyans follow the Premiership (I saw last weekend's goals this morning on a TV in the hotel) and most follow Man Utd or Arsenal. The only thing they know about Celtic is that we want into the Premiership!

It's very expensive to go online here so I have to go.

Celtic complete Bellamy loan deal

BBC SPORT | Football | My Club | Celtic | Celtic complete Bellamy loan deal
This looks like a brilliant move even if the bloke is a nutter. Racial assaults are a bit worrying. But now that Bobo is staying there may be no more of them. I think this move could win the league and at £45k a week it may be worth it. Especially with Ferguson back at Rangers and the other buys they have made. I think Celtic have looked a bit jaded in the past couple of games. I thought the Henchoz move was good given Balde's recklessness and lack of distribution which we talked about in the European games. But then I started to think about the presence he must have and what it is like physically to play against him. So I'm ok with him staying but with Henchoz also there I wonder what will happen, he may go at the end of the season. I don't fancy a return to three centre backs. Getting rid of Camara was also a good move but what about Juninho. Is he the new Stuart Slater? ( I think that was his name).