1 day ago
Tuesday, 31 May 2005
Bob "**** the address, give us your money" Geldof breaks his promise to announce a new concernt in aid of the starving millions in Africa. "Its absurd ... that people are dying of want in a World of surplus" has says. Meanwhile, security forces behind the G8 summit, being held shortly in Scotland, are bricking themselves at the prospect of big demonstrations against globalisation.
Posted
11:09 pm
"The Washington Post has confirmed a former deputy chief of the FBI was 'Deep Throat' - the source who leaked secrets during the Watergate scandal.
Vanity Fair magazine had reported Mark Felt admitted being the source whose identity had been secret for decades."
How long before the excellent movie "All The Presidents' Men" is on telly again?
BBC NEWS | World | Americas | Watergate's Deep Throat revealed
Posted
11:05 pm
Sunday, 29 May 2005
Saw Star Wars Episode III on Saturday evening at MK's massive ski slope branch of Cineworld. Acting is, in parts, a bit wooden, but it does explain the evolution of the characters of the original three movies, which are still better. This movie is essentially a showcase for special effects, where nearly everything you see is computer generated. In fact the 'human' scenes are very short and act mearly as fillers between chunks of special effects - not at all like the originals, but I guess that's hardly surprsing. I'm afraid that Anakin Skywalker's turn to the dark side is rather week and not really believable.
Posted
10:03 am
Saturday, 28 May 2005

Posted
6:26 pm
"The BBC has given its controversial new weather map a facelift after complaints it had a south of England bias.
The angle at which viewers see the UK was changed from Saturday morning, but the colours have remained the same."
Good thing too - the first attempt was blatantly biased towards the South. But IMHO its a shame they didn't dump the new design completely and go back to the symbols.
BBC NEWS | Entertainment | TV and Radio | New BBC weather map gets facelift
Posted
5:52 pm
Wednesday, 25 May 2005
The sixth series of 'Big Brother' is shortly to kick off on UK television with the contestants (I prefer to see them as inmates) being forced to live in a house with transparent walls, and hence no privacy.
"...a rival broadcaster is launching a 'public spirited' attack on reality TV by offering £70,000 to Big Brother contestants if they refuse to speak during the 11-week series.
Satellite network UKTV said its prize was an attempt to 'diminish the amount of mindless drivel generated by the deluge of reality TV shows'."
My sentiments exactly.
BBC NEWS | Entertainment | TV and Radio | Transparent house for Big Brother
Posted
9:08 am
Tuesday, 24 May 2005

Posted
5:32 pm
Friday, 20 May 2005
"The US military says it is investigating 'aggressively' after a picture appeared in a British paper showing Saddam Hussein half naked.
The Sun newspaper's [might have guessed] front page image showed the former Iraqi president in a pair of white underpants.
Other pictures showed Saddam Hussein washing his trousers, shuffling around and sleeping."
Obviously the Sun hasn't learnt any lessons from the Mirror/Piers Morgan debacle in terms of angering the locals, and publishes images regardless of the consequences such actions might have on the British troops in-country.
"The US said the photos appeared to breach Geneva Convention rules on the humane treatment of prisoners of war."
Oh, so the US is concerned about the Geneva Convention now, is it? Conveniently forgotten about Camp Xray have you?
BBC NEWS | World | Middle East | Saddam underwear photo angers US
Posted
5:49 pm
Wednesday, 18 May 2005
"Foreign Secretary Jack Straw has admitted for the first time there would be a 'problem' if France votes against the EU constitution.
But he said ... a French 'no' might not kill the treaty."
Oh, come on, get real Jack - its only the French and German governments who really want it.
BBC NEWS | Politics | French no vote 'problem' for UK
Posted
4:52 pm
"A police constable who reached 159mph on a motorway has been cleared of speeding and dangerous driving.
In reaching his verdict, [District Judge] Mr Morgan noted that two police officers who gave evidence for the prosecution, including West Mercia Police's senior driving instructor, had declined to classify the defendant's driving as dangerous."
159mph. Not dangerous. Mmm, have to remember that.
BBC NEWS | England | Shropshire | 159mph speeding charge Pc cleared
Posted
4:44 pm
Monday, 16 May 2005

Posted
9:06 pm
Sunday, 15 May 2005
After the holiday, what do we think of Austria, and would we go again?
Well, Austria is without doubt one of the nicest countries I have ever visited. It is just amazingly clean: no litter, no vandalism, no grafiti, no yobbos. Britain should certainly be taking a long hard look at the place, because it was pretty depressing to come back home. Lots of stunning scenery, lots of things to see and do. Excellent public transport network. Not too expensive. Food and beer both excellent. Very friendly locals, most of whom have a decent knowledge of English (although I was able to exercise my school German).
Would I go on an all-train holiday again? Probably not - the loss of four whole days getting to and from the final destination was just too much for me and not interesting enough to make it worthwhile.
Given that, and all the problems we had, would I recommend Great Rail Journeys as a holiday vendor? Well, I think I would for several reasons. Firstly, the holiday was pretty good value, since it included pretty much all of every excursion, the guide was very efficient (thanks, Patricia), the hotel was simply outstanding. Unfortuntately we had a fair share of problems along the way, but none were down to Great Rail. The other members of the group were great company and they made me, travelling alone, very welcome - cheers to our team of comedians, singers and the like! I would definately consider travelling to Austrian again, perhaps even to the same town, although maybe at a different time of year, as we found quite a few places were closed.
Well, Austria is without doubt one of the nicest countries I have ever visited. It is just amazingly clean: no litter, no vandalism, no grafiti, no yobbos. Britain should certainly be taking a long hard look at the place, because it was pretty depressing to come back home. Lots of stunning scenery, lots of things to see and do. Excellent public transport network. Not too expensive. Food and beer both excellent. Very friendly locals, most of whom have a decent knowledge of English (although I was able to exercise my school German).
Would I go on an all-train holiday again? Probably not - the loss of four whole days getting to and from the final destination was just too much for me and not interesting enough to make it worthwhile.
Given that, and all the problems we had, would I recommend Great Rail Journeys as a holiday vendor? Well, I think I would for several reasons. Firstly, the holiday was pretty good value, since it included pretty much all of every excursion, the guide was very efficient (thanks, Patricia), the hotel was simply outstanding. Unfortuntately we had a fair share of problems along the way, but none were down to Great Rail. The other members of the group were great company and they made me, travelling alone, very welcome - cheers to our team of comedians, singers and the like! I would definately consider travelling to Austrian again, perhaps even to the same town, although maybe at a different time of year, as we found quite a few places were closed.
Posted
2:31 pm
Friday, 13 May 2005

Posted
9:56 pm
Thursday, 12 May 2005
Start of journey home - very long journey. First train much nicer DB express than the Italian train on the way down. Get in to Cologne about 17:00. Meant to go out to get photos of Cologne cathedral but fell asleep. Nice 3-course dinner but the hotel, same as one on journey down, not as good as that in Jenbach, even though its 4-star. Business hotels are so impersonal in comparison to the excellent Jenbacherhof, which is family run.
Posted
10:54 pm
Wednesday, 11 May 2005

Posted
7:48 pm
Tuesday, 10 May 2005

Posted
10:45 pm
Monday, 9 May 2005

Posted
11:41 pm
Sunday, 8 May 2005

Posted
10:38 pm
Saturday, 7 May 2005

Posted
11:34 pm
Friday, 6 May 2005

Posted
7:33 pm
Thursday, 5 May 2005

Posted
7:28 pm
Wednesday, 4 May 2005

Eurostar train breaks down 3 miles outside Brussels Midi station. First engine sent to rescue us doesn't have the right coupling. Have to wait for another Eurostar to push us in. Three hour delay in total. Delayed our connection to Cologne - had just 10 minutes to jump onto the next Thuraya train and had to hunt for seats the length of the train. Ended up in First Class. Got to Cologne way after normal evening meal time so had to settle for something thrown together - but they did a pretty good job considering. Room was very hot overnight, even though it wasn't particularly hot outside - had to use a fan. As seems to be typical of European hotels, only one pillow, plus bed typically hard.
Posted
11:12 pm
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