tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-247252802024-03-18T11:16:36.292+00:00The Musings of Major_GroovesThis is my blog. Mostly it is a place to share the things that I have been up to with my family and friends. I also use it to remind myself of what I have done and where I have been - sort of like a surrogate online memory...Major_Grooveshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12649158425015616526noreply@blogger.comBlogger333125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24725280.post-17409884452235307012014-09-07T09:30:00.003+01:002014-09-07T10:20:51.699+01:00Thoughts on Scottish Independence<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I’m a proud Scot, living outwith* Scotland, and it’s got to the stage now that when people realise you are Scottish, they will just look you in the eye and ask, “Yes or No?” (and whether I am eligible to vote, which I am not).</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">My answer, is “no”.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The slightly longer answer is “the heart says ‘aye’, the head says ‘dinnae be daft’”.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">However I have found even those sage words fail to placate my inquisitive foreign enquirers, so I figured it was about time to put my thoughts down in written form. Disclaimer: this is not a deep political and economic analysis. It’s just my feelings and thoughts.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">First, some context around me. I left Scotland at age 21 to do a biology PhD in London. After that I worked in pharmaceutical consulting, then did an MBA at Oxford, then worked for one of the world’s largest Internet companies, first in London, later in Berlin. Most recently I’ve started my own company, based in London, backed by investors from all over Europe. So what I’m saying is, I’m fairly-well educated, got quite a bit of international business experience, and while I’m not an economics expert I get the basic principles. i.e. I’m not a dafty, but I’m no f’ing independence braniac either. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">My opinions are based on my own experience, and what I consider “common sense”. I don’t care about “left-wing vs right-wing” and “socialist vs conservative”. I don’t think in those terms, because I think they are mostly bollocks and damaging, preventing people on “one side” from using good ideas just because they are considered from “the other side”. I’m even vaguely tempted to start my own “Common Sense” political party. I’d be like George Galloway, but without an appearance on Celebrity Big Brother.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">So before I get stated, I should say that think the independence debate in Scotland has mostly been a model of democracy from which the rest of the world could learn. When you see the good folk of Crimea, “voting” to join Russia in their recent “referendum”, I can’t help but wonder, with political naivety set to 11, if the Ukrainian government could not have got the upper-hand by saying, “ok, we can have this referendum, but this is important so let’s do it like Scotland, planned and debated over the next 4 years”. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Despite Scotland conducting a largely well-behaved and intelligent debate around the independence referendum, I can’t help that nationalism is nothing much more than the politically packaged face of one of mankinds most negative traits: tribalism. The Scottish dislike the English; the West Coast of Scotland is different from the East Coast of Scotland; the folk in Dundee dinnae like the folk in Aberdeen; Kirkton vs Lochee; this street vs that street. Tribalism is a natural, ingrained instinct, but it’s one which is largely overridden by being in a civilised society.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Tribalism is mostly-based on self-preservation and selfishness, whereas a civilised society is meant to promote egalitarianism and selflessness. So when the Yes camp, start talking about “our” oil money that’s been robbed from the Scottish people, it strikes me as ugly selfishness. If we follow that argument, in an independent Scotland, why should the Shetlanders or the folk in Aberdeen share “their” oil revenue with the rest of Scotland? Indeed, why should London stay a part of the rest of the UK? It produces far more tax income per capita than the rest of the country. Why shouldn’t they just keep it all to themselves? Other parts of the country are “robbing” London of its tax money. You see if we keep pandering to tribalism we might as well just break up the country into dozens of separate states. I think that’s called Balkanisation, and I don’t think it’s considered a positive thing. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">One of my concerns from watching the independence debate from afar is the dominant profile of the people that seem to be the loudest on either side of the argument. From afar, it seems the the majority of people on the Yes-side are the ones that have lived in Scotland their whole lives, are less-likely to have much international experience, and (I can’t think of any polite way to put this) less well-educated. Of course there are well-educated, internationally-rounded people in the Yes camp too, but it does not seem like they are majority. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with living in Scotland all your life and having less-education. It’s just that it seems to most observers that the “Yes” feeling is mostly driven by the “Braveheart mentality”.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">You see, it’s hard to admit, but when you’re brought up in Scotland, you pretty much get brought up to hate England. There’s nothing specific about it, but there is this self-perpetuating animosity towards our neighbours, “the f**king English”. Then when you move to England, you assume that they feel the same way about us. Surely the English hate the “f**king Scots” just as much as we hate the “f**king English”.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Nope. They don’t. They really don’t. And it’s kind of embarrassing when you realise you’ve been holed up in Scotland for 21 years thinking that you occupy as much-mind share in their heads as they do in yours, but you really don’t. That’s when you become painfully aware that as a nation we have a collective chip on our shoulder about England. I think it’s that chip on the shoulder that fuels the tribalism that drives most of the Yes voters, and seeing as most of the Yes voters have lived in Scotland their whole lives, they’ve never had the chance to brush that chip off their shoulder and look at things objectively.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">There seems to be some perception that we have it bad in Scotland, and that we would be a rich country if only we were independent. Eh? As part of the UK we’re already one of the richest countries in the world with an exceptionally high-standard of living. Alright, we’re no Norway or Luxembourg, but do we need to be? Maybe we can be realistic here?</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We are part of perhaps the most successful union in the world - the United Kingdom. Why on earth would we want to break something that has already been so massively successful and rewarding for us? Wanting to break up from one successful union - the UK, whilst staying part of another successful one - the European Union, makes no sense to me. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Can we think of any other successful unions? Yeah I can think of a couple of examples. The United States of America for one. Does anyone think that the US would be a richer place if they started splitting up? California on its own would be on of the richest countries in the world, why don’t they split off? Because most people realise that they are successful because they are part of a successful union, not despite it. When you read about crazy San Francisco types who think their city should be a separate state or country because it is so rich with technology companies, does anyone sensible really think that is a good idea, or just selfishness?</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Closer to home, look at Germany. Germany is the combination of dozens of states with just as much history as Scotland and England. But do you see them fighting to breakaway from Germany? No, because they realise that their union has made them one of the wealthiest countries in the world. Sensible Germans.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">OK, so that’s my general “independence is a daft idea fuelled by selfish tribalism” angle. I’m getting a bit bored of writing this, so here’s a few practical points. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Oil revenue - please let’s stop going on about this. It’s going to run out eventually. It might go up or down in the short term, but we sound like total-f**kwits going on about it.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Replication of services - if we were independent we would have to duplicate a whole bunch of governmental services that are provided by the UK. What a waste of money. Notice how in the business world companies tend to merge exactly so they can do the opposite? It’s because they know merging makes them stronger, more powerful and means they can eliminate over-lapping functions. Doing the opposite makes no sense.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Currency and debt - this seems to be the most dafty part of the whole Yes angle. Of course we can’t keep the pound and of course we have to take our share of the national debt. I don’t think we get to have our own way with those just because Alex Salmond is a better orator than Alistair Darling. If we go independent our credit rating will certainly drop and Scotland’s cost of borrowing would increase. Can’t see how that is a good thing.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Nuclear - please can we keep nuclear power and Trident? Hatred of nuclear power is irrational. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Lastly, what worries me about independence is that if we vote for the biggest structural change our country has known for hundreds of years, it will be by a very slim margin. It doesn’t seem like a good thing that we could have independence based on 50.1% people voting Yes versus 49.9% voting No. It feels like the sort of thing that needs a clear 60:40 majority. But hey, I guess that’s just the way democracy works. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I don’t support No because of any specific economic argument, but just because overall it is pretty much pointless. The Yes camp say that at the end of the day it’s not about economics, it’s about self-determination, but just seems like a fancier way to describe tribalism to me. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">* <a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/Drive-to-get-Outwith-in-common-use-outwith-Scotland/241998865886319?fref=ts">https://www.facebook.com/pages/Drive-to-get-Outwith-in-common-use-outwith-Scotland/241998865886319?fref=ts</a></span></div>
<span style="color: white;"><br /></span>Major_Grooveshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12649158425015616526noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24725280.post-84820761149238381922011-04-05T23:41:00.001+01:002011-04-05T23:41:23.447+01:00Ghana fun<div class='posterous_autopost'><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px;">Rambling notes from my first few days in Ghana:</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px;"> <br /></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px;">Took a trip along the coast to Elimna for a couple of days before the MEST activities get started.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px;"> <br /></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px;">Took the STC Bus (State Transport Company). The bus was meant to leave at 10am and take about 2.5h to get to Elmina. I ended up waiting 3h for the bus and it took 4h to get there. That is kinda similar to taking a train at the weekend in the UK, so it was not too bad for me, but the Dutch girl I was sitting next to at the station struggled.</p> <p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px;"><br /></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px;">Had my first experience of a Ghana public toilet there. I have over 20ps, he hands over a wad of toilet paper. The facilities themselves were grim.</p> <p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px;"><br /></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px;">Got to the guest house – the Almond Tree Guest House – and it was as nice as the Tripadvisor reviews said it was. Even nicer maybe. I was staying in the Bob Marley room with air-conditioning. The power went off in the middle of the night but I had already cooled the room down so it wasn’t too bad. I only had hot water once – not sure why – but the cold showers weren’t exactly cold so it wasn’t too bad.</p> <p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px;"><br /></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px;">On the Sunday I took a trip along to see Elimina Castle, which was built by the Portuguese as a place to trade slaves. Took a dodgy old cab along the road to get there, as soon as a I got out the cab I was surrounded by about 5 or 6 teenagers. “Hey what is your name?” “Where are you from?”</p> <p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px;"><br /></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px;">I made a less than voluntary donation to their “school.” I hope they enjoy the $20. I also made a less than voluntary purchase of a couple of bracelets which would have my and W’s name on them, ready by the time I left. They also wanted me to write my surname down, but I wasn’t sure why (I would realise in about 1h).</p> <p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px;"><br /></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px;">Did a tour of the castle. It was taken over by the Dutch and subsequently sold to the English in exchange for some land (in Sumatra maybe?). Needless to say the conditions the slaves were kept in were horrible. It’s hard to accept that slavery by Europeans was once normal. <span style="font-family: Wingdings;"><span>L</span></span></p> <p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Wingdings;"><span><br /></span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px;"> In the castle I got speaking to an English tourist who agreed that the “young salesmen” were quite intimidating and said he had also been totally gamed when he first got there. As I left the castle a couple of my enterprising young friends noticed me, and my heart sank a little as I noticed them beckoning to all their friends to join them. Great.</p> <p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px;"><br /></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px;">They had finished my bracelets. Lovely. They had also prepared a “present” for me – a large shell with “To our Scottish friend Steven Renwick from...” and all their names and their email addresses written on it in black marker pen. I tried to decline it, then I said I would take it if it was really free. “Yes it is free!” “Really free?” “Yes!” OK, so I took it and hid everything in my bag so I wasn’t too obviously a tourist mug. Then my friends decided they wanted my free gift back. I guess the marker pen must wipe off easily.</p> <p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px;"><br /></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px;">My rubbish taxi was waiting for me and nearly ran a couple of families over as it sped to meet me and then it took me back to the guest house.</p> <p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px;"><br /></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px;">Once back at the guesthouse I asked them to send a decent cab – i.e one with seatbelts would be nice, and a/c would be nice too. They sent Abraham. He had seatbelts, but the a/c was a bit dodgy. I paid him a vast sum to be my driver for the afternoon and he took me to Kakum National Park.</p> <p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px;"><br /></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px;">At the national park I went on a jungle canopy walk, suspended 30-40m above ground-level. Everybody else on the tour was Slovak but thanks to my incredible language skills I was able to effortlessly blend in as one of them, despite only saying “How are you” and “I left my pineapple of the bus, please ask the vicar to send a replacement”. They had also stayed at Elmina and had also run in to the young entrepreneurs outside the castle.</p> <p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px;"><br /></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px;">I saw lots of Ghana countryside on the drive to and from the national park. It really is like you see it on TV – a mixture of corrugated iron houses, mud huts, and concrete constructions – with a couple of notable differences. 1) The plastic rubbish everywhere – I didn’t realise what a blight plastic is till I had seen it strewn everywhere in the Ghana countryside. It is *everywhere*. 2) Ghana seems to be sponsored by Vodaphone – you can go through a village and 50% of the buildings will be red with the Vodaphone logo painted on. Very odd. Apparently Vodaphone offers to paint houses for free and the deal is you have to accept Vodaphone branding.</p> <p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px;"><br /></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px;">Today I got a taxi back to the STC station in Cape Coast. Abraham’s car was playing up so he sent a friend. Just before the taxi showed up a rainstorm started. Lucky I had my waterproof jacket with me as I was getting soaked inside the car. This was the worst taxi yet. I could not see out the windscreen so I’m not sure how he could. Anyway we made it.</p> <p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px;"><br /></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px;">“The white man wants to go to Accra” they shouted when I came in. It was 1045 and I was wanting the 11h bus. I was told there is no 11am bus – only 3pm. Bummer. Turns out that was not true – the 11am had been pushed back to 12 and it eventually left at 12.30pm with me on board, which is where I am now writing this post.</p> <p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px;"><br /></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px;">Further: got chatting to a young guy on the bus who was totally in to Manchester United. He gave me a minute-by-minute rendition of their last game. We had even travelled to Russia for the Champion's League final. Amazing dedication. Unfortunately though if football is the universal language then I am only semi-literate but I did my best.</p> <p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px;"><br /></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px;">Got a taxi from STC to the hotel. As my taxi pulls up who is getting out of his own taxi, but Mike! Many beers were drunk that evening...</p> <p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px;"><br /></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px;">Today we did our first MEST day with a tour of Accra, but I'll make that a separate post...</p> <p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px;"> </p> <p style="font-size: 10px;"> <a href="http://posterous.com">Posted via email</a> from <a href="http://majorgrooves.posterous.com/ghana-fun">Steven's posterous</a> </p> </div>Major_Grooveshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12649158425015616526noreply@blogger.com50tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24725280.post-49939145840324927612010-09-13T21:55:00.001+01:002010-09-13T21:58:38.759+01:00NatWest MBA loanSo, I'm going back to university in a couple of weeks to start an MBA. In true social media geek style I have started <a href="http://wannabevc.wordpress.com/">new blog</a> specifically to cover the MBA and any business issues I feel capable of discussing.<div><br /></div><div>My first post covers the <a href="http://wannabevc.wordpress.com/2010/09/10/natwest-mba-loan/">NatWest MBA loan</a> - essential reading if you're thinking of applying for one to fund your degree.</div><div><br /></div>Major_Grooveshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12649158425015616526noreply@blogger.com131tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24725280.post-60579251035824419592010-08-20T19:07:00.001+01:002010-08-20T19:07:01.505+01:00Cycling home along the Thames in Oxford<div class='posterous_autopost'> <div style='padding: 5px 5px 10px 5px; margin-top: 5px; border: 1px solid #ddd; background-color: #fff;line-height: 16px;'> <div style="float: left; margin-right: 5px; overflow: visible;"><a href='http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/majorgrooves/jDKjIfZri4QsFEll5iOqZogpvpDcbZ5Rzz87vtVao9uqmdn7suDvfVH39DSH/IMG_0850.mov' style='color: #bc7134;'><img src='http://posterous.com/images/filetypes/mov.png' style='border: none;'/></a></div> <div style="font-size: 10px; color: #424037;line-height: 16px;">Download now or <a href="http://majorgrooves.posterous.com/cycling-home-along-the-thames-in-oxford" style="color: #bc7134">watch on posterous</a></div> <b><a href='http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/majorgrooves/jDKjIfZri4QsFEll5iOqZogpvpDcbZ5Rzz87vtVao9uqmdn7suDvfVH39DSH/IMG_0850.mov' style='color: #bc7134;'>IMG_0850.MOV</a></b> <span style="font-size: 10px; color: #424037;">(1511 KB)</span> <br style="clear: both;"/></div> <p style="font-size: 10px;"> <a href="http://posterous.com">Posted via email</a> from <a href="http://majorgrooves.posterous.com/cycling-home-along-the-thames-in-oxford">Steven's posterous</a> </p> </div>Major_Grooveshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12649158425015616526noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24725280.post-86204951072806957672010-07-08T22:23:00.001+01:002010-07-08T22:23:55.639+01:00Pacific Coast Highway 1 Video<div class='posterous_autopost'> <div style='padding: 5px 5px 10px 5px; margin-top: 5px; border: 1px solid #ddd; background-color: #fff;line-height: 16px;'> <div style="float: left; margin-right: 5px; overflow: visible;"><a href='http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/majorgrooves/ug1HjdbWWcZSA3JC10oFjYm0I1B27esiHf4tDmju8TsoCpNfzTLu7F8xkECL/P1020940.mov' style='color: #bc7134;'><img src='http://posterous.com/images/filetypes/mov.png' style='border: none;'/></a></div> <div style="font-size: 10px; color: #424037;line-height: 16px;">Download now or <a href="http://majorgrooves.posterous.com/pacific-coast-highway-1-video" style="color: #bc7134">watch on posterous</a></div> <b><a href='http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/majorgrooves/ug1HjdbWWcZSA3JC10oFjYm0I1B27esiHf4tDmju8TsoCpNfzTLu7F8xkECL/P1020940.mov' style='color: #bc7134;'>P1020940.MOV</a></b> <span style="font-size: 10px; color: #424037;">(15732 KB)</span> <br style="clear: both;"/></div> <p style="font-size: 10px;"> <a href="http://posterous.com">Posted via email</a> from <a href="http://majorgrooves.posterous.com/pacific-coast-highway-1-video">Steven's posterous</a> </p> </div>Major_Grooveshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12649158425015616526noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24725280.post-17484579451908919692010-07-03T05:07:00.001+01:002010-07-03T05:07:14.377+01:00All done and dusted<div class='posterous_autopost'><a href='http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/majorgrooves/aZD2YFL9Nh5ayAndnZNWkWbMwcV1BK2CJvnoD8xW512ueZQQQpN2DCBi27FP/photo.jpg'><img src="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/majorgrooves/CSPbitkXT1NsB1gCLj34KPzsRMB4NYpr0yJ3VxoArjU2BjM6mrAm1N34ktcS/photo.jpg.scaled.500.jpg" width="500" height="667"/></a> <p>The biking is done for this year. Today we rode North up Pacific Coast <br />Highway 1 back to San Francisco. It was really cold on the coast but <br />warmer as we moved inland again. <p /> We decided that we wanted to ride over the Golden Gate Bridge so <br />headed to Sausalito for lunch. W got a great video of us riding over <br />the bridge. <p /> We then rode back over the bridge - $6 toll for a motorbike. What a <br />rip-off! I got us back to the hotel on Post Street, W checked in and <br />took our bags in and I went to hand the bike back. It wasn't due till <br />tomorrow morning but if took it back early it would save hassle <br />tomorrow. <p /> So I make the not unstressful rise through downtown SF back to the <br />bike shop. So glad to hand it back without any mishaps. <p /> Then, still wearing my bike kit, I walk out of the bike shop, hail a <br />cab and get back to the hotel. <p /> When I get back W asks me where the luggage is. Ha ha - of course she <br />already has taken our stuff in. No really - where is the lugage we <br />left at the bike shop for the week. <p /> Oh... <p /> Looks like I'll be making another trip to the bike shop tomorrow <br />morning. Damn.</p> <p style="font-size: 10px;"> <a href="http://posterous.com">Posted via email</a> from <a href="http://majorgrooves.posterous.com/all-done-and-dusted">Steven's posterous</a> </p> </div>Major_Grooveshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12649158425015616526noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24725280.post-40341013360604183742010-07-02T16:50:00.001+01:002010-07-02T16:50:20.371+01:00some video riding towards Carnel Valley<div class='posterous_autopost'> <div style='padding: 5px 5px 10px 5px; margin-top: 5px; border: 1px solid #ddd; background-color: #fff;line-height: 16px;'> <div style="float: left; margin-right: 5px; overflow: visible;"><a href='http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/majorgrooves/pCwuQi56EpCZ2i42SdIgJX3H58tbW1wpHwrKmFW0suIPuaLiFQYiQIbOFLqj/P1020974.mov' style='color: #bc7134;'><img src='http://posterous.com/images/filetypes/mov.png' style='border: none;'/></a></div> <div style="font-size: 10px; color: #424037;line-height: 16px;">Download now or <a href="http://majorgrooves.posterous.com/some-video-riding-towards-carnel-valley" style="color: #bc7134">watch on posterous</a></div> <b><a href='http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/majorgrooves/pCwuQi56EpCZ2i42SdIgJX3H58tbW1wpHwrKmFW0suIPuaLiFQYiQIbOFLqj/P1020974.mov' style='color: #bc7134;'>P1020974.MOV</a></b> <span style="font-size: 10px; color: #424037;">(21776 KB)</span> <br style="clear: both;"/></div> <p>We've got a better video in Carmel Valley but I can't post it yet because it's too big. Will do later.</p> <p style="font-size: 10px;"> <a href="http://posterous.com">Posted via email</a> from <a href="http://majorgrooves.posterous.com/some-video-riding-towards-carnel-valley">Steven's posterous</a> </p> </div>Major_Grooveshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12649158425015616526noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24725280.post-17852908390417193232010-07-02T16:07:00.001+01:002010-07-02T16:07:12.988+01:00Lake Nacimiento and Carmel Valley Road<div class='posterous_autopost'>Yesterday's roads were great - Lake Nacimiento, then Carmel Valley Road. I wasn't going to try Carmel Valley Road as I though it might be a bit to twisty, but I was persuaded by Norm - a biker we met at the Bluebird Motel. I'm glad to did it - the views were absolutely amazing and the ride was just right. We could ride for an hour without seeing traffic. Amazing!<p /><div>In one of the pics you see what we thought was a tornado at first. It looked like a massive cloud originating at some point and turned the sky really dark. Turned out it was actually grass fires at Fort Hunter Ligggett which we were riding through. <br /> <p /><div>W has taken some great videos but I am having trouble uploading them at the minute. </div></div> <p><a href='http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/majorgrooves/nOb3KODY9e1OkXvHvNtZcpLFZ04EfEKXstr2kB4ZnUtqoaJlQNTjlItfyJQ9/P1020972.jpg'><img src="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/majorgrooves/6XfuAyG5X03GGAzLMnfopYaUB2NgsARScUSalFUYS5TJt8lOpehxBY2iPFGH/P1020972.jpg.scaled.500.jpg" width="500" height="375"/></a> <a href='http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/majorgrooves/wJjd0EM22Rg2aE0I2661tZcrQrivyrvDKRX03W9asTQ4RDpZwKvD4SArGGV7/P1020966.jpg.scaled.1000.jpg'><img src="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/majorgrooves/DsWYIIfht1NxAYSvsmk5D2cTJMNgovq3TuJ2i5Ym8AOQ8e0EJHtpa0CNcPYP/P1020966.jpg.scaled.500.jpg" width="500" height="375"/></a> <a href='http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/majorgrooves/8DTMpvU7hupEnRdMKUGN44d4Jc7agPDwyjTameXrUZB9JJJnsDI1v8XedVza/IMG_0769.jpg.scaled.1000.jpg'><img src="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/majorgrooves/AnO65SY05REd45hUbo3uxl21HsJAjVxrFOwmDVTsAGJXI5AjZfm0O5yOPFPK/IMG_0769.jpg.scaled.500.jpg" width="500" height="667"/></a> <a href='http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/majorgrooves/4UtD0XlwQpG0mZqqKk7d8EyoFCLj3qe8HqFKbDugEo5Xf3JX7WwefSzfWJYb/IMG_0767.jpg.scaled.1000.jpg'><img src="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/majorgrooves/uoT7JCRSDA1N2Px17TPqr7V4gCc74SxC0mj2qQ7AEHbqbKSytjXMMwzfoQWl/IMG_0767.jpg.scaled.500.jpg" width="500" height="667"/></a> <a href='http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/majorgrooves/7IRy2dWDyPnnqYC2B6lCKjMGR8Fe5tLaeFyB1E8YCoBcLcCkqyorrvV0Mxr0/P1020958.jpg.scaled.1000.jpg'><img src="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/majorgrooves/spw4rwzuYvvNQSpbYRr0BGIROAbgUea5Gwn9Sj3jr65ZdK2Sf7EhPKTuO2qP/P1020958.jpg.scaled.500.jpg" width="500" height="667"/></a> <a href='http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/majorgrooves/3dakhyCqqKaJ1FjOQQjlOruFxi7zUmmX3AJOSN22TuMeN0nXBvEJeEoj0GZq/P1020951.jpg.scaled.1000.jpg'><img src="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/majorgrooves/Ccz7AFMW3n6iNdno3ew8x0rpio6IepiY1wLJqDybOuVCSa0irOjRt9xkwsCY/P1020951.jpg.scaled.500.jpg" width="500" height="375"/></a> <div><a href='http://majorgrooves.posterous.com/lake-nacimiento-and-carmel-valley-road'>See and download the full gallery on posterous</a></div></p> <p style="font-size: 10px;"> <a href="http://posterous.com">Posted via email</a> from <a href="http://majorgrooves.posterous.com/lake-nacimiento-and-carmel-valley-road">Steven's posterous</a> </p> </div>Major_Grooveshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12649158425015616526noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24725280.post-11200519047903807072010-07-02T01:40:00.001+01:002010-07-02T01:40:26.808+01:00Frenchman on Kwak<div class='posterous_autopost'><a href='http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/majorgrooves/5H4C9Ta9hIYTZiHRkPdP4qeQmg7VapB6PkmNX0ltOqBww4hTujyE0kjCDus2/photo.jpg'><img src="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/majorgrooves/Tl5yuRfj5oDslrAsQ7fCZu9TSJalgUsbCK2PleRAwz5AdIUYnQb4Dhn37Hi2/photo.jpg.scaled.500.jpg" width="500" height="375"/></a> <p>We saw this guy stopped at the side of the road crossing Lake <br />Nacimiento dam. We didn't see the 'No Parking Any Time' signs till <br />after we had stopped and got off. <p /> He was immediately amazed that we were riding a Harley but had full- <br />face helmets and proper biking jackets. We explained we were European <br />then it made sense to him and we agreed that most Harley riders are <br />mad going about with tiny helmets and just t-shirts. <p /> Turns out he was French and had been living in California for 30 <br />years. He sounded like he had just got off the boat. <p /> We told him we were heading for Carmel Valley Road and he warned us <br />that the road was quite small and difficult. Another few minutes chat <br />and we were on our way...</p> <p style="font-size: 10px;"> <a href="http://posterous.com">Posted via email</a> from <a href="http://majorgrooves.posterous.com/frenchman-on-kwak">Steven's posterous</a> </p> </div>Major_Grooveshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12649158425015616526noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24725280.post-82950030632068701332010-07-01T18:13:00.001+01:002010-07-01T18:13:32.470+01:00Carmel Valley Road<div class='posterous_autopost'>We're about to ride to Salinas via Lake Nacimiento and Carmel Valley Road. <p><a href='http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/majorgrooves/WSSFPJCfFny94utYXbxjN2i0iqQtXNBaCMQN002QNZpeCuQIYDo9Mha5bV0g/P1020954.jpg'><img src="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/majorgrooves/0l9CEJg4uJJoQaXvslVmu5Aigtga3El9ahj2qwcX3kpIrZNvsIgKYNB1KyJa/P1020954.jpg.scaled.500.jpg" width="500" height="375"/></a> <a href='http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/majorgrooves/cwK58fyMjZTaU8sEghtLAI4A1ObNyxeovM27BE7xOpJ4Fv8mrgQXvMwEhDcm/P1020953.jpg'><img src="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/majorgrooves/atVikVYSyxPuG6Tr6Q6q1HZJuCezcyI5fuFJH4J9mdIicRzVl2MmxQvtnGe4/P1020953.jpg.scaled.500.jpg" width="500" height="375"/></a> <div><a href='http://majorgrooves.posterous.com/carmel-valley-road'>See and download the full gallery on posterous</a></div></p> <p style="font-size: 10px;"> <a href="http://posterous.com">Posted via email</a> from <a href="http://majorgrooves.posterous.com/carmel-valley-road">Steven's posterous</a> </p> </div>Major_Grooveshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12649158425015616526noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24725280.post-21687898065740438022010-06-30T18:39:00.001+01:002010-06-30T18:39:44.617+01:00Pacific Coast Highway 1 to Cambria<div class='posterous_autopost'>Yesterday got off to a good start when the 'limo' that was arranged to take us from the hotel to the bike rental place turned out to be a proper white stretch limo.<p /><div>Got to EagleRider and there was a Portuguese guy, Pedro, there hiring a bike and taking the same route as us so we agreed to ride down together. eD from <a href="http://sport-touring.net">sport-touring.net</a> came along too to help us get out of San Francisco and take us on a bit of a tour out of the city. So grateful to eD - without him we would have been quite screwed getting out of the city! Nice twisty roads out of SF then we stopped at a famous biker cafe called <a href="http://www.alicesrestaurant.com/">Alice's Restaurant</a> (see previous post for pic).</div> <p /><div>OK, I don't have time to write more now - got to go ride! Take a look at the pics and I'll write up more later. We're in Cambria now. About to go try Route 58. :D</div> <p><a href='http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/majorgrooves/Wx55FGGpgwb3eHg1qnNAxeUpSVAgUsRkzKjC8cGkNsqUp2jIQH7CHMZwQxSM/IMG_0745.jpg.scaled.1000.jpg'><img src="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/majorgrooves/CGf7D00maNhQeij26Cm1cc5IcUS7wbdWN0ViWjL1r5Pr3L0BOg6gq7Yflh9B/IMG_0745.jpg.scaled.500.jpg" width="500" height="375"/></a> <a href='http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/majorgrooves/MxdgpBEwmIGtfnVE11aaXNy3fbQOFOQwJ3igPAdBPJMysft3UYmsDzUnm2O5/P1020926.jpg.scaled.1000.jpg'><img src="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/majorgrooves/cF2ZCzpqMPikdiKODmTTBSqcnLRDVAKVqNFeGyO75BBVZC5Rq1epgMhpHY0T/P1020926.jpg.scaled.500.jpg" width="500" height="375"/></a> <a href='http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/majorgrooves/AsNQWp4b06IDLNglP76Zf8gKkvwHVJRi6GHigwsywVXSIpRKIIoLjtboMaDX/P1020927.jpg.scaled.1000.jpg'><img src="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/majorgrooves/QORJs8BoDWpMBgAsacnKF05eGHCuJwG9iiVdRDVQqGPVCT6ErQufMxvqrLll/P1020927.jpg.scaled.500.jpg" width="500" height="375"/></a> <a href='http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/majorgrooves/vqBkI8DeRaA7GqsjwZMV29ejoDgLuoJTgx0QyskT4KReCNGFnAUTTXWBavVN/P1020930.jpg.scaled.1000.jpg'><img src="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/majorgrooves/zEaKizRfadVRnaDU9JpeMFax9AdK1FP20H3yQLSH1w7KnHKHfz0w0xSNiWGo/P1020930.jpg.scaled.500.jpg" width="500" height="375"/></a> <a href='http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/majorgrooves/ggRuJgTrY2B2zN4CMQlGglPQNgLQLl8HRXDXbdSOEF3UYYuOz7rd8eRJqBCF/P1020931.jpg.scaled.1000.jpg'><img src="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/majorgrooves/maa6MVSoVZ5f7Lt3ruLzeCf4ki8FHNYQ6DEJacKx3PPfq6zI0XHdlkN6rEDr/P1020931.jpg.scaled.500.jpg" width="500" height="667"/></a> <a href='http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/majorgrooves/cuQjXlvI2S7p4WU67S95b2DvfR34B2KsCE9mDJ2NCLGW2eyHVzIHaZNINJvM/P1020936.jpg.scaled.1000.jpg'><img src="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/majorgrooves/Y7VBMjLwsjtJmqohLYLs7RCGSKaDTtUWEB8i2An3f2O8Gsj4V774l6gTZCpr/P1020936.jpg.scaled.500.jpg" width="500" height="375"/></a> <a href='http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/majorgrooves/282UjD9ZYUUf1pOtcFQ1NvafYe4uRYyC6F2pDpYJKiFnY6HMr9uy3B5ztG49/P1020951.jpg.scaled.1000.jpg'><img src="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/majorgrooves/PI4Z02zR7HdpwoIymAIDqG2HngTVN5N3H1Wu0RoFjxxKOfqFLpeQweMafBms/P1020951.jpg.scaled.500.jpg" width="500" height="375"/></a> <a href='http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/majorgrooves/C3jEdtIqeRWK7K4XhNyozfy3Upy4ytQLEDtyJHQET4Zng9lYkbGttvmhqpt5/P1020934.jpg.scaled.1000.jpg'><img src="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/majorgrooves/HIYhXDQlxf3ymzOsTuoY1gVGKdlTtAjZj7ixWIVH25YBllc61F8tdySCfJeb/P1020934.jpg.scaled.500.jpg" width="500" height="375"/></a> <a href='http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/majorgrooves/J1xIHTynUkUIdIFvNDowudmRQH2vXxJhLPk9qtEpE11fmfsVDNRjJRLuJhmK/IMG_0740.jpg.scaled.1000.jpg'><img src="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/majorgrooves/rwjwpMSC9qqSDgVLrmpJES2YoTJY1TmgGDTv5OkwQCbcLjC37sSwhtBLHMYW/IMG_0740.jpg.scaled.500.jpg" width="500" height="667"/></a> <div><a href='http://majorgrooves.posterous.com/pacific-coast-highway-1-to-cambria'>See and download the full gallery on posterous</a></div></p> <p style="font-size: 10px;"> <a href="http://posterous.com">Posted via email</a> from <a href="http://majorgrooves.posterous.com/pacific-coast-highway-1-to-cambria">Steven's posterous</a> </p> </div>Major_Grooveshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12649158425015616526noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24725280.post-86879274797161080742010-06-29T22:02:00.001+01:002010-06-29T22:02:31.749+01:00Escape from San Francisco<div class='posterous_autopost'><a href='http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/majorgrooves/P8KLqFrIabcaZ1A6td0f295ZxgHPYCUNRc2nMqT5aHbF5aFLwcLoSfQjE31U/photo.jpg'><img src="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/majorgrooves/amqdMRSy0ErTLsK5mzARTDypEYTiiUYPbLYe9vjMvnkiZA71fXGcOul1Jcka/photo.jpg.scaled.500.jpg" width="500" height="375"/></a> <p>The riding is good!</p> <p style="font-size: 10px;"> <a href="http://posterous.com">Posted via email</a> from <a href="http://majorgrooves.posterous.com/escape-from-san-francisco-0">Steven's posterous</a> </p> </div>Major_Grooveshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12649158425015616526noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24725280.post-39379268924864902952010-06-29T06:42:00.001+01:002010-06-29T06:42:44.711+01:00Penguins and pancakes<div class='posterous_autopost'><ul><li>Went to <a href="http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/">Monterey Bay Aquarium</a>. Saw more sea otters. Penguins will rule the world one day</li><li>Now in San Francisco. Exited BART as Gay Pride March went past with ticker tape falling from the sky. A suitable welcome for our arrival I think.</li> <li>Waited 40min for a table for breakfast at <a href="http://www.yelp.com/biz/dotties-true-blue-cafe-san-francisco">Dottie's True Blue Cafe</a>. I had pancakes but I didn't really like them that much tbh.</li><li> Went to visit a friend at Google HQ today. Google HQ rocks. Please can I have a job there? I could be a gardener or something...</li><li>Going to pick up the Harley tomorrow. Now the real holiday starts!</li></ul> <p> <div style='padding: 5px 5px 10px 5px; margin-top: 5px; border: 1px solid #ddd; background-color: #fff;line-height: 16px;'> <div style="float: left; margin-right: 5px; overflow: visible;"><a href='http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/majorgrooves/gOsQMVdQ0bHgDSjYOHPiOK3L8RQTWAL2xXVIuxcFygsnMrgBzjZ8GWK6DtWj/IMG_0726.mov' style='color: #bc7134;'><img src='http://posterous.com/images/filetypes/mov.png' style='border: none;'/></a></div> <div style="font-size: 10px; color: #424037;line-height: 16px;">Download now or <a href="http://majorgrooves.posterous.com/penguins-and-pancakes-0" style="color: #bc7134">watch on posterous</a></div> <b><a href='http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/majorgrooves/gOsQMVdQ0bHgDSjYOHPiOK3L8RQTWAL2xXVIuxcFygsnMrgBzjZ8GWK6DtWj/IMG_0726.mov' style='color: #bc7134;'>IMG_0726.MOV</a></b> <span style="font-size: 10px; color: #424037;">(5083 KB)</span> <br style="clear: both;"/></div> </p><p><a href='http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/majorgrooves/uSQM022ZGJKPlmpjAZj5gfuecQeHJOwgnTH3Q3OuNg0B1gjscYb7rCB09ivP/IMG_0736.jpg.scaled.1000.jpg'><img src="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/majorgrooves/8QuFsjP8pr3kpAR0MrP3zBalYWL3pwlRiMFYZQpfbORzrDjgAsGYkBbNuuT6/IMG_0736.jpg.scaled.500.jpg" width="500" height="375"/></a> <a href='http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/majorgrooves/3YD5ueKvj0vqlb0RGx8DKk4xwjrLeGJIS0E5v1aZSlE5KV2pXRd5XLv9ujkg/IMG_0734.jpg.scaled.1000.jpg'><img src="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/majorgrooves/4xgSYvGKy43c9yTtpt2QipKLyQsWfp1ZlEfT1p3GoF8ZcW5qCPKILjCwNR7G/IMG_0734.jpg.scaled.500.jpg" width="500" height="375"/></a> <a href='http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/majorgrooves/VBYZHn6APfiDMdyofLzFiFiHtMmRH0PBZ9s0IebBGzYQ76M8FN2gCPHdK3qr/IMG_0729.jpg.scaled.1000.jpg'><img src="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/majorgrooves/AtUEcF2Swjp3Set9jT4bMtyqTrnxqTM7ZGEyI1xvxrRFjyleY0499Rsz9iBA/IMG_0729.jpg.scaled.500.jpg" width="500" height="375"/></a> <a href='http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/majorgrooves/ekT04E40BiXphBkXGdg21UfE4EeEoiebADX3qpVYeTIOEhg5MgpZt368DBQH/IMG_0701.jpg.scaled.1000.jpg'><img src="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/majorgrooves/raRGuf7E8oSWsge2r5H9ZX2o3EH659MXJFvQBlVMl6uyFQO96pLTJGONkHYK/IMG_0701.jpg.scaled.500.jpg" width="500" height="375"/></a> <a href='http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/majorgrooves/wrabeVHE1zPVOFgBYAHLjJZrlAJmS8e1mrjxJr1CjKGw9yrstTR64oynyb4P/IMG_0712.jpg.scaled.1000.jpg'><img src="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/majorgrooves/6ect7CpQkTZ8kgmryY42BBsk4nEWWmdpuoVBxYQPHdaacxVRmcG8JPO1dRaB/IMG_0712.jpg.scaled.500.jpg" width="500" height="667"/></a> <div><a href='http://majorgrooves.posterous.com/penguins-and-pancakes-0'>See and download the full gallery on posterous</a></div></p> <p style="font-size: 10px;"> <a href="http://posterous.com">Posted via email</a> from <a href="http://majorgrooves.posterous.com/penguins-and-pancakes-0">Steven's posterous</a> </p> </div>Major_Grooveshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12649158425015616526noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24725280.post-34641096125535116642010-06-27T08:07:00.001+01:002010-06-27T08:07:59.910+01:00Spot the Seal<div class='posterous_autopost'>I hired a bicycle yesterday and took a ride down to Monterey, where I hired a kayak for a few hours. It was not particularly sunny, but of course I still managed to get burnt. I had a wetsuit on, so I have a nice line at my ankles, and my forehead is glowing nicely. Out on Monterey Bay I saw loads of seals, quite a few sea otters and a seagull using a dead seal as a surf board. :D <p /><div>Burnt feet really hurt. Not good.<br /><p /><p /></div> <p><a href='http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/majorgrooves/Fe8WhQzvTr6wJBBl7C1sRx5YM8bTKAXVLQdvEo6dtbgccA9k1DMxHmL9ZTBx/IMG_0699.jpg.scaled.1000.jpg'><img src="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/majorgrooves/kfkfRLf0tNmxyfndLKvGyns4EuPtlERfkVGb6JLLpq2sL1qY6I0LXxAZbPTA/IMG_0699.jpg.scaled.500.jpg" width="500" height="375"/></a> <a href='http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/majorgrooves/DLZUW10DwBb99PElTkHFFPyuWHchZmD3ZbN31XlTrYIRYUlAbfNnvqj8LIbx/IMG_0695.jpg.scaled.1000.jpg'><img src="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/majorgrooves/u1dniXm7zOvlZHeAoOm1PQBQYO7FOy7gzyxbon90BcG0A2tDxQBAWQrRxSOB/IMG_0695.jpg.scaled.500.jpg" width="500" height="667"/></a> <a href='http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/majorgrooves/5OSV42FFvtsELejaxLCm2q8eTgtk2XRLJMqUYJBl9XXLgzygZvkNvcQ93Cwq/IMG_0700.jpg.scaled.1000.jpg'><img src="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/majorgrooves/umnCPeP22czHQmOEZPj3bRtBYggytPBzVBLAF9PfNJZpD4iWbuqIWEPfZRth/IMG_0700.jpg.scaled.500.jpg" width="500" height="375"/></a> <div><a href='http://majorgrooves.posterous.com/spot-the-seal'>See and download the full gallery on posterous</a></div></p> <p style="font-size: 10px;"> <a href="http://posterous.com">Posted via email</a> from <a href="http://majorgrooves.posterous.com/spot-the-seal">Steven's posterous</a> </p> </div>Major_Grooveshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12649158425015616526noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24725280.post-37120687603748577802010-06-26T18:29:00.001+01:002010-06-26T18:29:33.588+01:00Spot the Seal<div class='posterous_autopost'>I hired a bicycle yesterday and took a ride down to Monterey, where I hired a kayak for a few hours. It was not particularly sunny, but of course I still managed to get burnt. I had a wetsuit on, so I have a nice line at my ankles, and my forehead is glowing nicely. Out on Monterey Bay I saw loads of seals, quite a few sea otters and a seagull using a dead seal as a surf board. :D <p /><div>Burnt feet really hurt. Not good.<br /><p /><p /></div> <p><a href='http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/majorgrooves/Fe8WhQzvTr6wJBBl7C1sRx5YM8bTKAXVLQdvEo6dtbgccA9k1DMxHmL9ZTBx/IMG_0699.jpg.scaled.1000.jpg'><img src="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/majorgrooves/kfkfRLf0tNmxyfndLKvGyns4EuPtlERfkVGb6JLLpq2sL1qY6I0LXxAZbPTA/IMG_0699.jpg.scaled.500.jpg" width="500" height="375"/></a> <a href='http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/majorgrooves/DLZUW10DwBb99PElTkHFFPyuWHchZmD3ZbN31XlTrYIRYUlAbfNnvqj8LIbx/IMG_0695.jpg.scaled.1000.jpg'><img src="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/majorgrooves/u1dniXm7zOvlZHeAoOm1PQBQYO7FOy7gzyxbon90BcG0A2tDxQBAWQrRxSOB/IMG_0695.jpg.scaled.500.jpg" width="500" height="667"/></a> <a href='http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/majorgrooves/5OSV42FFvtsELejaxLCm2q8eTgtk2XRLJMqUYJBl9XXLgzygZvkNvcQ93Cwq/IMG_0700.jpg.scaled.1000.jpg'><img src="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/majorgrooves/umnCPeP22czHQmOEZPj3bRtBYggytPBzVBLAF9PfNJZpD4iWbuqIWEPfZRth/IMG_0700.jpg.scaled.500.jpg" width="500" height="375"/></a> <div><a href='http://majorgrooves.posterous.com/spot-the-seal'>See and download the full gallery on posterous</a></div></p> <p style="font-size: 10px;"> <a href="http://posterous.com">Posted via email</a> from <a href="http://majorgrooves.posterous.com/spot-the-seal">Steven's posterous</a> </p> </div>Major_Grooveshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12649158425015616526noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24725280.post-85828897231719869892010-06-23T18:27:00.001+01:002010-06-23T18:27:01.606+01:00Freezing in Asilomar; TomTom California map?<div class='posterous_autopost'><a href='http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/majorgrooves/wNegjz3VEB60Am96DjStbBZ7WIWYu1pmZL6tg5CvWeC1LcPnEFAxfAUyj0Re/IMG_0688.jpg.scaled.1000.jpg'><img src="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/majorgrooves/C5ovD80RuaWVyjil5BSezy4eE2JCHulqGkoi2YKR4saVkFQYOEUpXQe8R2p4/IMG_0688.jpg.scaled.500.jpg" width="500" height="375"/></a> <p>We arrived in Asilomar yesterday after a 2.5h bumpy bus ride from San Francisco. This conference place is a little odd - kind of like a cross between a scout camp (Douglas Wood anyone?) and something from Amityville. </p><p /><div>Main problem is that it is really cold and misty. This isn't the weather that Arnie was showing off on all those "Visit California" adverts recently! I'm sitting in front of a roaring fire right now. It would be warmer if we headed in-land, but considering we're planning on riding Pacific Coast Highway we might not be getting much sun.</div> <p /><div>W is working now in some meeting. I'm thinking of going for a cycle ride but I'm not sure I've got warm enough clothes!</div><p /><div>Gripe: I still planning the route for next week. I have my TomTom Rider (v1) with me and wanted to add a map for California to it. However, it seems you cannot buy individual state maps in the US. Seems a bit daft when you can buy individual country maps in Europe. The US is the size of a continent and California is about the size of the UK so you've got just as much chance of only needing a regional map. Would someone using their TomTom in Washington really want to be forced to buy a map which included Georgia? Seems like a economically motivated decision by TomTom which is daft when they're about to be crushed by Google <i>et al</i> who will be offering a more customer focused service. </div> <p /><div>You used to be able to buy individual state maps for TomTom so if anyone can point me in the direction of one please do. It doesn't matter how old it is - I doubt Pacific Coast Highway has changed much recently!</div> <p /><div>Pic is of <a href="http://www.nps.gov/crla/">Crater Lake</a> taken on the flight over. </div> <p style="font-size: 10px;"> <a href="http://posterous.com">Posted via email</a> from <a href="http://majorgrooves.posterous.com/freezing-in-asilomar-tomtom-california-map">Steven's posterous</a> </p> </div>Major_Grooveshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12649158425015616526noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24725280.post-92089689221765017092010-06-20T21:21:00.001+01:002010-06-20T21:21:59.082+01:00Time to ride California again<div class='posterous_autopost'><a href='http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/majorgrooves/a6HaVyZomLeFvbxfqfrt37EiTSzeF6vWWMvC3Ll6PSsnshzGwTpy5truq314/DSC00736.jpg.scaled.1000.jpg'><img src="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/majorgrooves/8TdBIHkybFRqRnPmo5zc4aDS4IHK9USQL0qJuTVKbACppdC2Vxf73bs9mxLZ/DSC00736.jpg.scaled.500.jpg" width="500" height="375"/></a> <p>On Tuesday I'll be flying out to San Francisco and on the following Tuesday I'll be picking up a Harley-Davidson Electra Glide and riding for four days around California. I did this 6 years ago and loved it. This time I'll have W sitting behind me! Like the social media geek I am I'll be using Posterous to tweet, blog and Facebook my pics as I go along. If Google Latitude worked properly on an iPhone I would be able to track my route properly too. Use a map you say? Yeah I guess that would make sense...</p><p /><div>Technical gripe - when you email a photo directly from the iPhone to Flickr via Posterous, the GPS Exif data seems to get stripped out, which is a shame. I'd like to have all the photos geo-tagged.</div> <p style="font-size: 10px;"> <a href="http://posterous.com">Posted via email</a> from <a href="http://majorgrooves.posterous.com/time-to-ride-california-again">Steven's posterous</a> </p> </div>Major_Grooveshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12649158425015616526noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24725280.post-24235225122517922722010-01-30T12:44:00.001+00:002010-01-30T12:44:26.385+00:00Post Office Oxford<div style="float: right; margin-left: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/10804218@N00/4315282973/" title="photo sharing"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2756/4315282973_bcb23e2bd7_m.jpg" alt="" style="border: solid 2px #000000;" /></a> <br /> <span style="font-size: 0.9em; margin-top: 0px;"> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/10804218@N00/4315282973/">Post Office Oxford</a> <br /> Originally uploaded by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/people/10804218@N00/">major_grooves</a> </span></div>When i arrived at the Post Office with the queue below there was only<br />two people serving. I wonder how busy it has to get for them to<br />consider opening all the counters. Really people should be grateful<br />that the Post Office has shut all the local post offices. If they<br />hadn't people wouldn't get the opportunity to travel in to central<br />Oxford and queue for 20 min. Thank you Post Office for being so useless!<br clear="all" />Major_Grooveshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12649158425015616526noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24725280.post-9887193539790779042010-01-16T12:22:00.008+00:002010-01-16T14:17:12.268+00:00LipDub videos and stupid record companies<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3112/2826329583_787b814bc8_m.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 160px;" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3112/2826329583_787b814bc8_m.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />I made a Barenaked Ladies <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lip_dub">LipDub</a> movie with some friends in Dundee over Christmas as a wedding present for a friend. It was inspired by a fantastic LipDub movie of the Black Eyed Peas' song "<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-zcOFN_VBVo">I Gotta Feeling</a>." It's such a fantastic clip, I think I've probably watched it more than a dozen times (also see the follow-up '<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3z1Pr0ayzik&feature=response_watch">making of' video</a>). It's impossible to watch without it putting a smile on your face.<div><br /></div><div>I tried to upload our movie to <a href="http://www.youtube.com/">YouTube</a>. OK, the video has the Barenaked Ladies' song "If I had $1000000" playing throughout, but I just assumed that YouTube would automatically add a "buy this from iTunes" link that you often see on videos with music in them.</div><div><br /></div><div>Nope, YouTube just blocked the video as soon as it was uploaded. </div><div><br /></div><div>I knew that most of the major record companies had been getting their knickers in a twist about arranging licensing deals with YouTube so that their music could be posted. Turns out Warner Music Group has thrown a <a href="http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-10150588-93.html">major hissy fit</a> and now all their music is blocked. There are amusing/annoying stories about of people's videos being blocked because some copyrighted music is playing in the background i.e. on the radio or something! </div><div><br /></div><div>Wonderfully, YouTube gives you the option of uploading the video with a) no audio, or b) audio from YouTube's library of available music. Me thinks that might somewhat spoil a <u>LipDub</u> movie. <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-6fKRzhm3s&feature=related">For example</a>. </div><div><br /></div><div>I don't really have a problem with record companies protecting their music <i>per se</i>. I've always been against file-sharing as it just feels like stealing. However, I do think that the record companies are being quite short-sighted with the opportunity that YouTube presents to them. When I listened to the I Gotta Feeling LipDub, I immediately bought the tune on iTunes. A few months later I bought the whole Black Eyed Peas album (should I really be admitting this?!).</div><div><br /></div><div>I didn't buy them through YouTube, so Google gets no money from this - just Apple, the record company and the band. However, I bought them <span class="Apple-style-span" style="text-decoration: underline;">because of</span> the video on YouTube. I wouldn't have bought it otherwise.</div><div><br /></div><div><a href="http://www.wmg.com/">Warner Music Group</a> apparently don't get this. I therefore presume they are run by thickos and I fart in their general direction. Black Eyed Peas' record label, <a href="http://www.interscope.com/">Interscope</a> (part of Universal Media Group) are clearly much more enlightened.</div><div><br /></div><div>Of course everyone wants to get their video on YouTube so they can have their <a href="http://www.majorgrooves.co.uk/2007/03/youtube-news.html">5-minutes of fame</a>! Instead I have uploaded the video to <a href="http://vimeo.com/">Vimeo</a>, which is a really beautiful video website. They've actually been encouraging people to make <a href="http://www.vimeo.com/lipdub">LipDub movies</a> (and even claim to have coined the term). Sadly though, they're <a href="http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20091214/1409257345.shtml">getting sued</a> for their efforts. </div><div><br /></div><div>Anyway, here is the video we made. I expect the morons from WMG will come along eventually and issue a takedown notice, but in the meantime please enjoy:</div><div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana, sans-serif;font-size:85%;color:#645F5E;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" white-space: pre-wrap;font-size:10px;"><br /></span></span></div><br /><br /><object width="500" height="400"><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><param name="movie" value="http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=8763792&server=vimeo.com&show_title=1&show_byline=1&show_portrait=0&color=00adef&fullscreen=1"><embed src="http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=8763792&server=vimeo.com&show_title=1&show_byline=1&show_portrait=0&color=00adef&fullscreen=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" width="500" height="400"></embed></object><p><a href="http://vimeo.com/8763792">$1000000 LipDub</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/grooves">Steven Renwick</a> on <a href="http://vimeo.com/">Vimeo</a>.</p><p>A LipDub movie we made to Barenaked Ladies' "If I had $1000000" for Kev and Hilary's Wedding (8th Jan 2010). Filmed at various locations in Dundee and Carnoustie.</p><br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:x-small;">Image from Flickr user </span><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/tracyrusso/2826329583/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:x-small;">Tracy Russo</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:x-small;"> used under a Creative Commons licence. </span>Major_Grooveshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12649158425015616526noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24725280.post-43740649230485121882009-10-25T20:52:00.002+00:002009-10-25T20:53:42.796+00:00Engrish: Green Grass is Afraid of your Trample<div style="float: right; margin-left: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/10804218@N00/4044120310/" title="photo sharing"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2702/4044120310_30e1260ccb_m.jpg" alt="" style="border: solid 2px #000000;" /></a><br /><span style=" margin-top: 0px;font-size:0.9em;"> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/10804218@N00/4044120310/">Green Grass is Afraid of your Trample</a> <br /> Originally uploaded by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/people/10804218@N00/">major_grooves</a> </span></div>A week last Thursday W got back from a month long trip to China where she had been travelling the silk road. Amongst the 403 photos she showed me this morning were a few amusing examples of <a href="http://www.engrish.com">Engrish</a>.<br /><br />A couple more <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/10804218@N00/sets/72157622536592323/">here</a>.Major_Grooveshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12649158425015616526noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24725280.post-59851454719468925612009-09-25T16:05:00.004+01:002009-09-25T19:56:24.257+01:00AffectLabs (FestBuzz) at TechCrunch London<div style="float: right; margin-left: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/bitchbuzz/3951935496/" title="photo sharing"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2630/3951935496_2759e79ef7_m.jpg" alt="" style="border: solid 2px #000000;" /></a><br /><span style=" margin-top: 0px;font-size:0.9em;"> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/bitchbuzz/3951935496/">BitchBuzz at TechCrunch London</a><br />Originally uploaded by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/people/bitchbuzz/">BitchBuzz</a> </span></div>Yesterday I pitched <a href="http://www.affectlabs.com/">Affect Labs</a> (aka <a href="http://www.festbuzz.com/">FestBuzz</a> - for more on that see below) at <a href="http://uk.techcrunch.com/2009/09/15/come-to-techcrunch-london-24-sept-speakers-pitches-party/">TechCrunch London</a>.<div><br /></div><div>Update: See also TechCrunch Europe's <a href="http://uk.techcrunch.com/2009/09/25/techcrunch-london-event-wrap-tclondon/trackback/">Event Wrap</a>. <div><br /></div><div>I'm rather pleased, and still more than a bit surprised, to say that we won "best pitch"!</div><div><br /></div><div>Picture above is me on stage with <a href="http://uk.techcrunch.com/about/">Mike Butcher</a>, Editor of <a href="http://uk.techcrunch.com/">TechCrunch Europe</a>, receiving a bottle of bubbly.</div><div><br /></div><div>There were a lot of interesting companies there with some very good pitches. I did think it would be nice to get in the top 5 but I didn't think I'd really done anything to deserve winning. Not that I'm complaining though!</div><div><br /></div><div>Credit where credit is due though, the presentation was largely based on <a href="http://www.trendpreneur.com/startups/pitching-for-beginners/">Jennie's learnings</a> in the run up to the <a href="http://uk.techcrunch.com/2009/03/20/geek-n-rolla-tech-startups-rock-april-21-london/">TechCrunch Geek 'n Rolla</a> event earlier this year where she pitched Affect Labs. Some of the slides were ones that she had made for a pitch she did at an <a href="http://www.astia.org/">Astia</a> London event, also earlier this year. </div><div><br /></div><div>Of course, like all my interactions with TechCrunch events, I don't like <a href="http://www.majorgrooves.co.uk/2009/09/51st-company.html">things to be straightforward</a>. I had visited the relevant <a href="http://www.amiando.com/tceurope.html">Amiando</a> page almost as soon as the event was announced. The first thing I did was click on the link to export the event in to my Google Calender. As I knew I was going to be pitching I didn't have reason to buy a ticket or visit the Amiando page again.</div><div><br /></div><div>So yesterday, at 3pm, I turned up like an eager beaver for some pre-pitch practice.... at <a href="http://www.gilgameshbar.com/studios.htm">Gilgamesh Studios</a> in Camden. Nobody had a clue what I was talking about as I wandered around what looked like a giant empty Indian restaurant asking where the TechCrunch event was. </div><div><br /></div><div>Turns out the original plan <i>was</i> to hold it at the Gilgamesh Studios, but the venue had quite quickly been changed to the <a href="http://www.cafedeparis.com/">Cafe de Paris</a> near Piccadilly Circus. The people that had already bought tickets were notified of the venue change by email, but as I wasn't buying a ticket I wasn't notified (<a href="http://michaeljackson.tweetmeme.com/story/165075780/amiando-techcrunch-london-london-gilgamesh-studios-techcrunch-europe">random link</a> found through Google shows venue as Gilgamesh).</div><div><br /></div><div>So in future I'll remember not to blindly trust Google Calender exports. In the end I wasn't too late for the event and managed to get some very helpful tips before I went on stage.</div><div><br /></div><div>Cafe de Paris is an interesting venue isn't it? The private rooms (where we prepared before the pitches) had what they describe as a <a href="http://www.cafedeparis.com/club/Private%20Room/index.html">VIP boudoir</a> but which everyone else described as looking like some kind of porn set. I wonder what goes on in there <i>hmmmm</i>. It would have been a bit nicer without the dodgy stains and cigarette burns on the beds...</div><div><br /></div><div>Tonight they're hosting the <a href="http://www.fhm.com/girls/high-street-honeys/high-street-honeys-2009-top-100-revealed">FHM High Street Honeys</a> '09 party. I should have hidden in a toilet for the night or something. Quite contrasting clientele to have one night after the other! <i>Om nom nom nom </i>:D</div><div><br /></div><div>I got some good questions from the floor. I particularly liked the audience's reaction when I was asked where the technology originated: "<i>Jennie's PhD research in a NLP group at Cambridge University</i>". I think I did hear a kind of "<i>ooh</i>" from the audience. Hud that! </div><div><br /></div><div>A Hungarian chap, who knows the sentiment field, attempted to ask a technical question. Fortunately, nobody, including myself, could really understand what he was saying. I say fortunately because I did go and speak to him later and I wouldn't have been able to answer his question very well on stage. </div><div><br /></div><div>One slight issue that did become apparent through the night was our own brand perception. We were publicised as FestBuzz, we were introduced as FestBuzz, and the first thing I did was go up there and say "<i>I'm Steve from Affect Labs</i>". I pitched as AffectLabs (which is the registered name of the company), told the audience about FestBuzz (our <a href="http://www.4ip.org.uk/">4iP</a> funded Edinburgh Festivals project), and referenced <a href="http://benchmark7.com/">Benchmark7</a>, which is the working name of our sentiment classification engine. Also my business cards are heavily Benchmark7 branded. </div><div><br /></div><div>Well for the rest of the night I was "the guy from FestBuzz". I had to explain the three names more than a few times. I spoke to Mike Butcher about it and he was definitely keener to refer to us as FestBuzz - "that's what people know you as"! (TechCrunch had written a <a href="http://uk.techcrunch.com/2009/08/11/4ip-invests-in-festbuzz-crowdsourcing-opinion-about-the-edinburgh-festivals/">short piece</a> about us when our 4iP funding was announced). So that's something we'll have to keep in mind as we move forward. </div><div><br /></div><div>Anyway, I had a great time at the after show party, which was timed to coincide with the end of <a href="http://www.seedcamp.com/">Seedcamp</a>. It was pretty nice having lots of people compliment the pitch (even before we won) and then have people congratulate me later. :) I met a whole bunch of great people. Now the challenge is to connect the business cards to the faces to the conversations to the follow-ups that may or may not have been promised!</div><div><br /></div><div>Some more pictures from the event can be found <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/bitchbuzz/sets/72157622324063467/">here on Flickr</a>, courtesy of <a href="http://www.bitchbuzz.com/">BitchBuzz</a>. </div><div><br /></div><div>The event was actually streamed live on <a href="http://www.ustream.tv/">Ustream</a>. If my day before the event had not been so busy/chaotic I would have put the link in my Facebook account. Is it possible to watch things which have already been streamed?</div><div><br /></div><div>Thanks to <a href="http://www.twistedtree.co.uk/">TwistedTree</a> for organising the event.</div></div>Major_Grooveshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12649158425015616526noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24725280.post-3404071851164923162009-09-13T13:17:00.008+01:002009-09-13T23:31:09.521+01:00The 51st Company<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_-VkYfYywHl_KuX6ZsjHPBthOaQkKQRFhmhTb7G2HEZXtz5rmN8FDFNAXCkb04vI87j-iQUfwW_mQhMjBQqNm2Fpk4XzjkpAfAAKhgb8gpB2xrbjgRrCVthU0hIlA9bpAXqFS/s1600-h/yo-dawg-at-first-i-was-like_ohno.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 221px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_-VkYfYywHl_KuX6ZsjHPBthOaQkKQRFhmhTb7G2HEZXtz5rmN8FDFNAXCkb04vI87j-iQUfwW_mQhMjBQqNm2Fpk4XzjkpAfAAKhgb8gpB2xrbjgRrCVthU0hIlA9bpAXqFS/s400/yo-dawg-at-first-i-was-like_ohno.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5380925360708440546" /></a>In my <a href="http://www.majorgrooves.co.uk/2009/08/techcrunch50-rejection.html">previous blog post</a> I was lamenting our failiure to get in to the <a href="http://www.techcrunch50.com/">TechCrunch 50</a>.<div><br /></div><div>Well this week, in an unexpected twist to the story, I got an email from TechCrunch CEO Heather Harde asking for us to go over there and pitch.</div><div><br /></div><div>Oh my heart did skip a beat!</div><div><br /></div><div>Apparently some companies were at risk of not making their slot, so she wanted us to come over as the "first reserve" so to speak. If it turned out that we weren't needed then we would be given a DemoPit spot instead. </div><div><br /></div><div>I received the email on Wednesday. She wanted us to fly over on the Friday to work through our pitch then get stuck in on Monday or Tuesday.</div><div><br /></div><div>Only problem was, since getting the initial rejection, we had been working on other things - not making a specific demo for TC50 (we had something specific in mind that would have been exceptionally cool for all companies there - not just us). </div><div><br /></div><div>Shortly after getting the email I was on the phone to my co-founder Jennie.</div><div><br /></div><div>"So you know that demo we were going to do specifically for TechCrunch 50 that was probably going to take about 2 or 3 weeks to get ready? Do you think you could still do it in two days? How about if you just stay here and work on the demo, while I go over to San Francisco, have a great time at the conference and bask in the limelight of being a presenting company? Strictly speaking do you <i>need</i> to take time out to eat and sleep?"</div><div><br /></div><div>OK, so pretty obviously it wasn't going to be possible. Nevertheless, we could have presented something, possibly shown <a href="http://www.festbuzz.com/">FestBuzz</a>. The only problem would be that it wouldn't be a product launch, so much as a technology pitch, and TechCrunch 50 is about launching products.</div><div><br /></div><div>Even if we didn't end up on stage, we would have been in the DemoPit. Doing an exhibition without any preparation would be challenging to say the least. I figured we could probably wing it, however with rather prophetic timing, Jason Calcanis' email newsletter had just arrived with <a href="http://calacanis.com/2009/09/08/22-tips-on-how-to-operate-a-trade-show-booth/">22 tips on how to operate a trade show booth</a>.</div><div><br /></div><div>Let's just say that none of these tips include, "decide to go to a trade exhibition a couple of days before it starts and just wing it". Hmmm....</div><div><br /></div><div>So anyway, Heather had said in her email that she would call me the next day or that I could call her at any hour to discuss, so I did that. No answer on her cell phone so voicemail was left and then I sent her an email outlining my concerns and suggesting that we probably couldn't do it. I tried calling a few more times, because I was really hoping that she would try to persuade me to do the pitch. However I never heard back from her. No phone call or reply to my email, so I guess it was taken as a decline (unless they're still expecting us to turn up. That would be awkward!).</div><div><br /></div><div>When Jennie and I were talking about the possiblity of doing the pitch, there were quite a few things running through my head. This is TechCrunch 50 and we've been asked to do it! It's web-tech lifetime opportunity - we would be mad to turn it down. Even if the demo is not perfect we should just do *something*.</div><div><br /></div><div>Luckily Jennie was the voice of reason, not least because she would have to make the damn demo! Sure we could turn up and do a demo of *something* but it wouldn't be good enough. We might end up doing more harm to the company than good. Just because it's TechCrunch 50 doesn't mean we should put our reputation at risk. Even if we're just mediocre, people don't remember mediocre. I think I was being driven more by the prestige of the TC50 badge rather than the practicalities of the situation.</div><div><br /></div><div>The reality is that although I was extremely excited when I got Heather's email, I knew we probably wouldn't be able to do it. At first I was like "Yah!" but then I "Meh'd"...</div><div><br /></div><div>So I guess we were the 51st choice company (unless some other reserves had already turned them down!), and Michael Arrington's 75-80% chance of us getting in was fair. I wish the best of luck to whatever company has presumably replaced us. I do hope they get a chance to go on the main stage and make the most of this (presumably) unexpected opportunity.</div><div><br /></div><div>That's twice in the past couple of weeks I've meant to have had a conversation with Heather and we have not managed to connect. I really hope I'll get the chance to speak with her eventually! And hopefully they'll remember us and <a href="http://www.affectlabs.com/">Affect Labs</a> will still get a chance to pitch at a TechCrunch event in the future!</div><div><br /></div><div>N.B. We've actually got a few pitches coming up in the next few weeks. We were selected as one of the <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/tech-media-invest-100/top-100">Guardian Tech Media Invest top 100 companies</a> and we'll be pitching at the <a href="http://www.e-unlimited.com/events/view.aspx?events_pages_id=1">related event</a> at the Emirates Stadium, London on 1st October. </div>Major_Grooveshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12649158425015616526noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24725280.post-86174785017648097532009-08-24T21:38:00.009+01:002009-09-13T23:33:04.644+01:00TechCrunch50 Rejection<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3304/3414977299_167f4af85d_m.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 160px; height: 240px;" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3304/3414977299_167f4af85d_m.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a>[Update: We actually got <a href="http://www.majorgrooves.co.uk/2009/09/51st-company.html">asked to pitch</a>!]<br /><div><br /><div>I started writing this post as a response to <a href="http://swacle.wordpress.com/2009/08/24/we-regret/">another person's blog post</a> in which he talked about his rejection from <a href="http://www.techcrunch50.com/2009/">TechCrunch50</a>. It was turning in to a bit of a mammoth response, so I thought I would be better posting it on my blog and just leaving a link to it on his. So it begins as a response...</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>Hi, we had a similar experience, although possibly with more mishap and with our expectations even higher.</div><div><br /></div><div>So we applied and were happy to be told we would be interviewed. Unfortunately the interview timings seemed pretty difficult to book and were timed for US West coast people and we are in the UK, so we had a bit of difficulty getting a reasonable interview time.</div><div><br /></div><div>Eventually we got the interview time set, with the screen sharing and teleconference details sent out. My co-founder and I were waiting in the teleconference (separate locations) and in the screen sharing facility. Our interview was with Heather and we got an email saying she's running 5min late. Fair enough.</div><div><br /></div><div>I had researched her so knew she was TechCrunch CEO and saw she had worked in corporate M&A, which is similar to my background so I thought we might have something in common.</div><div><br /></div><div>After a few minutes we could see Heather in the screen sharing facility and she started chatting to us. She says she's in the teleconference but can't hear us. We're in the teleconference too but we can't hear her. Oh crap. </div><div><br /></div><div>Anyway, we faff around for a few minutes but she says that she has to go and we will rearrange. Oh crap, we've just missed out on pitching to the Techcrunch CEO. :(</div><div><br /></div><div>We do rearrange. Unfortunately the only time they can do the interview is when my co-founder is due to be hosting a big event for us. So it's up to me alone. I gladly take up the challenge! So I'm due to be speaking to Tyler from <a href="http://www.mahalo.com/">Mahalo</a>. Ok, cool.</div><div><br /></div><div>So in the run up to the meeting, I start getting a bit panicy that the teleconference is gonna mess up again, so I change our phone details to get them to phone me direct. I'm exchanging emails with various assistants to try and make sure they have the correct details. I'm convinced telecommunication technology is going to let me down again.</div><div><br /></div><div>The time comes. And passes. I'm checking the online room. There's no-one there. No email this time saying anyone is running 5min late. I wait for ages. I have three phones so I keep dialing in to the teleconference rooms to make sure he's not dialed there by mistake instead of phoning me directly.</div><div><br /></div><div>Eventually I get an email saying Tyler is running a bit late. OK, fair enough. So about an hour after our scheduled time I get the call. I try to demo, but he can't hear me properly. He asks if he can phone on another number. Lucky I have three phones! </div><div><br /></div><div>So we get on to a decent phone and start the demo. It goes well. Tyler actually has a pretty cool idea for something we could do. I agree it is a cool idea (I'm sure we would have thought of it anyway ;) ). Towards the end of the demo, Tyler asks me to show something quite specific that I'm pretty sure is going to be impossible. I try. I was right - it was not possible (yet).</div><div><br /></div><div>Anyhow, demo over and Tyler gives me his email address and says if we could rig up a demo of the "not yet possible" thing, then that would be pretty cool.</div><div><br /></div><div>A few days pass by. Tuesday night at 8.50pm I get a call on my landline. Calls on my landline are either a) my g/f's parents, or b) recorded message spam. Tonight it is c) Michael Arrington's assistant from Techcrunch. Ooh, I wasn't expecting that!</div><div><br /></div><div>"Michael would like to speak with you in an hour."</div><div><br /></div><div>Crikey! I do know of him already as I read Techcrunch a lot and I follow his Twitter stream. However, there's always time for some obsessive Google searching and I find out he is no. 100 on the 2008 <a href="http://www.time.com/time/specials/2007/article/0,28804,1733748_1733758_1735848,00.html">Time Magazine 100 most influential people</a> list.</div><div><br /></div><div>Wow. That's quite influential. I mean, granted there's 99 people above him, but there's around 6 billion people below him, so I'm thinking that's pretty good going.</div><div><br /></div><div>So at 10pm he calls. First thing he says is he doesn't know my name. That's ok, I'm quite insignificant, he can call me Susan if it gives us a better chance of getting in to TC50.</div><div><br /></div><div>I do the demo. Michael mentions the same cool idea that Tyler did. I presume Tyler mentioned it to him. I agree whole-heartedly that it would be a cool idea. As before I can't show the demo of what he's suggesting, but this time I can show him it in command line form.</div><div><br /></div><div>He says he "gets it" and he "loves it". The most influential man in Web tech GETS it! He LOVES it! Woo-hoo!</div><div><br /></div><div>He then says that he thinks we'll be an "edge case" because the other partners (Heather and Jason) have not seen us, but says that his opinion carries weight so we still have a good chance. In fact, he says he reckons we have a "75-80%" chance of getting in.</div><div><br /></div><div>75-80% chance?! That's like, more or less 100%! I mean, nothing with a "75-80%" chance ever actually fails does it? I mean if someone tells you you have a 75-80% chance of winning the lottery tonight you'd be making friends with the local Aston Martin dealer PDQ. Dead cert! (Notice I quickly suppress the words "edge case").</div><div><br /></div><div>We wait a few days in eager anticipation. Surely we're in - I wonder what I should wear on stage?</div><div><br /></div><div>But then I notice a tweet from Michael saying they've made the final decisions on the last companies for TC50.</div><div><br /></div><div>Oh, but some mistake surely? Our email has gone astray! Curse you technology and your missing emails!</div><div><br /></div><div>So we wait. And then get the /other/ email.</div><div><br /></div><div>“Unfortunately, we regret that we are unable to place your company as a TechCrunch50 finalist…"</div><div><br /></div><div>Oh, bummer.</div><div><br /></div><div>We also get the invite to DemoPit, which I would *love* to do, but unfortunately in our near-zero financing state (as well as being located in the UK) it is prohibitively expensive so we have to decline. It's probably a good thing in a way, because it would have been a lot of pressure to get the product ready in time and we might not have been as good as we would have wanted to be.</div><div><br /></div><div>However I am a bit bummed and I can't help wondering what difference the failed teleconference with Heather made. :/</div><div><br /></div><div>Still, it doesn't keep me down for more than a few hours. It was pretty good validation to have made it to the semi-final stage. It was also a pleasure to get the chance to speak with both Tyler and Michael. I was glad they at least liked our product, even if we didn't quite make the final cut for TC50. </div><div><br /></div><div>We've had similar validation experiences, tempered with a hint of dissapointment. We got invited out to San Francisco to do the 15min interview for <a href="http://ycombinator.com/">Y Combinator</a> this year. That's a long way to go for a 15min chat. Although we didn't make the final cut, it was good to make it from the 600-1000 companies that applied down to the last 60.</div><div><br /></div><div>We also applied to all the Y Combinator-like schemes, and all of them interviewed us at least once, so there was definite interest in our company. In fact, we actually got an investment offer from one of them but decided to turn it down in the end so that was an especially good validation.</div><div><br /></div><div>Since then our company, <a href="http://www.affectlabs.com/">Affect Labs</a>, has had some funding from <a href="http://www.4ip.org.uk/">4iP</a> to launch our Phase 1 product <a href="http://www.festbuzz.com/">FestBuzz</a> and we did get <a href="http://uk.techcrunch.com/2009/08/11/4ip-invests-in-festbuzz-crowdsourcing-opinion-about-the-edinburgh-festivals/">mentioned on TechCrunch Europe</a>, which was nice.</div><div><br /></div><div>We also have some other very good irons in the fire, one of which is certain and others which we will find out about over the next couple of months.</div><div><br /></div><div>So I'll be keeping my fingers crossed, but not getting my expectations up too high, because even when you've got a 75-80% chance of success, that's still a 20-25% chance of failure. I mean, if someone tells you you've got a 20-25% chance of dying tonight, you'd probably put on your best underwear...</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Apologies for random tenses in this post. I can't be bothered fixing them. Photo from Flickr user </span><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/littlemonkeybutt/3414977299/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">KatieL366</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">.</span></div><div><br /></div></div>Major_Grooveshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12649158425015616526noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24725280.post-58808911404195076312009-08-06T12:12:00.006+01:002009-09-25T16:07:00.358+01:00So what is it I'm doing now exactly?<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2571/3792135022_5f1a25fe19_m.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 180px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2571/3792135022_5f1a25fe19_m.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />I'd been wanting to start some kind of company for a while, particularly something involving Internet technology, but that idea was limited by my lack of programming skillz. My day job had given me experience of project managing the re-design and re-launch of a pretty complicated business information website/database so I was quite confident I could find my calling in the Web start-up world coming from the business angle.<br /><br />It was a toss-up between trying to start-up a company and doing an MBA this year. And the start-up won.<br /><br />Earlier this year I teamed up with <a href="http://www.trendpreneur.com/">Jennie Lees</a> to start <a href="http://www.affectlabs.com/">Affect Labs</a>. The company is founded on sentiment analysis technology that Jennie had developed during her doctoral studies at Cambridge University. She has since moved to Scotland and the company is now established in Edinburgh.<br /><br />Over the past few months we've been writing business plans, applying for funding and lots of other cool things. While this has been full-time for Jennie for some time, for me it has always had to be something I fitted in to my spare time and holidays. It also wasn't something I widely revealed at my day-job.<br /><br />Well, the time has come where I need to apply more time to the start-up. We're starting to try to raise money in earnest and that means more work and meetings. There's only so many meetings I can arrange for holidays! So, I have told my employer my plans and they have very graciously agreed that I can go part-time from September. Eventually I hope to go full-time with the start-up, but only time will tell when we'll be in a position to allow that.<br /><br />So the exciting news is that we've launched our first product. <a href="http://www.festbuzz.com/">FestBuzz</a> (with funding from <a href="http://www.4ip.org.uk/">4iP</a>) is crowd-sourcing <a href="http://www.edinburghfestivals.co.uk/">Edinburgh Festival</a> show reviews. What that means is that our technology is listening out for all the messages on <a href="http://www.edinburghfestivals.co.uk/">Twitter</a> that are talking about the Festival shows. We aggregate these messages (aka "tweets") and use our sentiment analysis technology to understand the emotion in the reviews - are people being positive or negative about the show.<br /><br />The site launched late last week, and is not quite yet 100% operational. We've got a few features to switch on and we're waiting for the Festival to really kick off so the flow of tweets will start.<br /><br />So if you're interested in getting started with Twitter and "tweeting" your reviews, have a look at <a href="http://blog.festbuzz.com/2009/08/04/what-is-this-twitter-thing-anyway/">this guide</a> (or <a href="http://blog.festbuzz.com/2009/08/05/how-to-become-a-festbuzz-reviewer-in-140-characters/">this</a> much shorter one).<br /><br />Or if you just want Edinburgh Festival recommendations from the "word on the tweet" please <a href="http://www.festbuzz.com/">check out the site</a>!<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-size:78%;">(Image taken from the <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/festbuzz/3792135022/">FestBuzz on Flickr</a>)</span>Major_Grooveshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12649158425015616526noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24725280.post-43948795665766519562009-07-21T18:29:00.002+01:002009-07-21T18:32:15.969+01:00Damn those bus drivers<div style="float: right; margin-left: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/35278842@N04/3471421164/" title="photo sharing"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3639/3471421164_daa38d0b8d_m.jpg" alt="" style="border: solid 2px #000000;" /></a> <br /> <span style="font-size: 0.9em; margin-top: 0px;"> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/35278842@N04/3471421164/">Stagecoach OJ09BZH</a> <br /> Originally uploaded by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/people/35278842@N04/">KK70088</a> </span></div>Don't you just hate it when you try to get on the bus and the driver shuts the door just as you arrive. You knock on the door assuming that he'll see you and open the doors to let you on, but no - the ba$tard just drives off and you're left there cursing him, buses, public transport and Gordon Brown.<br /><br />I was on the bus the other day leaving Oxford and I saw exactly that happen to someone trying to get on my bus. The driver could easily have let the guy on the bus, so I emailed the bus company to query their procedure.<br /><br />This is what I was told:<br /><br /><blockquote>Prior to departing a stop the driver is to:<br /><br />1) look in their mirrors to ensure there are no persons intending to board their vehicle <br />2) Close the doors<br />3) Put on indicators to show that they wish to move out right<br />3) Look constantly in both offside/nearside/inside mirrors to look for any obstacles and ensure that persons are safely seated<br />4) If safe to do so move off from the stop at slow speed <br /><br />Once the driver has closed their doors and started their checks we state they have commenced their manoeuvre and should therefore not pick up again on health and safety grounds. <br /><br />As you can imagine the issue surrounds point 1. If the driver did not see the person in time they will commence their manoeuvre, however the intending passenger may believe they should have been easily seen creates conflict over the interpretation of the incident.<br /><br />Additionally, if the driver was due to depart a few minutes earlier they will at some point have to commit to making progress and departing, as they have a responsibility to operate the service on time for the other intending passengers left waiting at stops further up the route.</blockquote> <br /><br /><br />Can't really argue with that. They have to pull away at some time and they are only following procedure. In Oxford, where the buses are quite popular, you can be left sitting on a bus for ages waiting for it to pull away from the city centre while there is a steady drip of people constantly getting on the bus.<br /><br />Don't get me started on the summer foreign language students!<br clear="all" />Major_Grooveshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12649158425015616526noreply@blogger.com1