Climbing mountains seems like bloody difficult work doesn't it?  All that equipment, the bad weather, the thin air and the clothing which seems to come mostly in colours that are never found in nature and are instead invented in Japan.  The calssic reason mountaineers give for clambering up various peaks is "because they're there", which as self- ( Read more... )

You'll no doubt now be aware that Team GB's perfromance (when did we get that Americanised name all of a sudden?) at this years Olympics is the best in a century.  Pretty impressive but it looks like, in terms of historical context, we may have plateaued.  While we're knocking on the door of 20 gold medals in Beijing with a few days to go, 1908 saw ( Read more... )

What an Olympics it's been for these isles, eh?  Expectations were good to begin with but the performances have been outstanding- full of fire, fight, grit, determination, innovation, improvisation and excellence in equal measure.  And the athletes have been good as well ( Read more... )

I've prattled on about the differences between the sexes on here plenty of times before but tonight I'm all about the ladies.  The fairer sex they may be, Mother Earth godessesses and all that nonsense, but it's recently become clear to me that the best thing to put two X chromosones to use at is sport ( Read more... )

Fuck Tibet.  There, I said it.  In all honesty, I don't know anywhere near enough about the ins and outs of Tibetan/Chinese relationships stretching back hundreds of years to comment intelligently on the issue (I pride myself on such restraint in this age of ill-informed, knee-jerk, flock-following, reactionary, black-hats-and-white-hats stances ( Read more... )

You blew it.  All of you.  You did.  And you.  And you.  You as well.  Not to mention you.  Especially you.  I gave you a chance and you shagged it up with all the grace of a ski-jumping cow.  I hope you're happy ( Read more... )

You know that special person?  You've got one- everyone does.  They might not necessarily be the person you share your bed with at night, your nearest and dearest.  They might be a friend for whom your love is unrequited.  They might be the one that got away all those years ago.  They might be the mythically beautiful person you see on the bus ( Read more... )

I have a problem.  I have, as I often do, an urge to write- God knows why but I do.  This happens to me quite a lot of the time but, as is currently the case, the urge has failed to conincide with actually having anything to write about.  That's not to say there hasn't been anything going on in the world on which I could decide to pass comment and ( Read more... )

Think of something.  Anything.  A cat, a box, a yeti, Lake Titikaka, anything.  Right, now you've thought of it, what do you think of it?  DO you like it?  Hate it?  Does it make you smile?  Frown?  Queasy?  Whatever it is you thought of, form an opinion on it ( Read more... )

Well.  It's decision time.  I've always, for some reason, had a bit of an obssession with the number 27.  I'm always drawn to it if I'm ever asked to pick a number (feel free to remember this information and then, if you're ever in the pub with me, pretend to be psychic) and it's the number I'd put my life savings on at the roulette table if I ever ( Read more... )