Monthly Archives: January 2007

Critical Mass

Last Friday I found myself in London at Critical Mass, the monthly bike ride and display of urban cycling solidarity that has been around for well over a decade in cities across the world. The simple philosophy is to celebrate, … Continue reading

Posted in cycling | 1 Comment

Howies vs. We-We

I’m fairly new to marketing. I’ve been to only a couple of seminars and read only a few of the myriad websites, blogs and magazine articles that rush before my eyes. There are a hell of a lot of words … Continue reading

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Still Waters Run Cold

Yesterday was the coldest day of the winter so far in England. Northerly winds brought cool arctic air down to Europe. The unusual offshore wind in Brighton creates a beautiful peace and tranquility on the water. Which, on the coldest … Continue reading

Posted in Brighton, swimming | Leave a comment

Pigeon-Proofing Our World

Is it my imagination or has every building in urban Britain developed some kind of odd infection? A sort of rash, characterised by thousands and thousands of spikes covering every visible horizontal surface above head height? In the love/hate relationship … Continue reading

Posted in architecture, Brighton, design | 2 Comments

Brighton Goes Off

A big day in Brighton. Big weather, big waves. Not really a morning for swimming! Here’s a video of how things are looking from the roof of the Neilson office in Brighton Marina: The shakiness of the picture is a … Continue reading

Posted in Brighton | 1 Comment

Semicolons

“Here is a lesson in creative writing. First rule: Do not use semicolons. They are transvestite hermaphrodites representing absolutely nothing. All they do is show you’ve been to college.” Kurt Vonnegut, (1922 – 2007) Kurt Vonnegut is a wise man. … Continue reading

Posted in books, language | 6 Comments

Sand In My Shoes

A while ago I was at my parents’ house clearing out some stuff I’d left at their place. I found a pair of shoes I’d forgotten I owned. The last time I wore these shoes was in 2000, during one … Continue reading

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Macworld – All you need to know…

Steve Jobs.How does he do it? Once a year, he gets up on a stage in San Francisco, in his jeans and baggy grey roll-neck, and absorbs the adulation of the masses as he tells us what he and his … Continue reading

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The Myth of Pub Welsh

A good friend of mine recently returned from a weekend in north west Wales. I asked him about his trip. “It was fine” he said, “though of course the locals did the usual thing of switching to speaking Welsh whenever … Continue reading

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Filthy Pleasures

Mountain biking in southern England in January is generally a muddy experience. A couple of hours in Bedgebury Forest, Kent, leads to a bike covered in thick black gritty mud. Thankfully, the visitors’ centre has a freely available hosepipe. One … Continue reading

Posted in cycling | 1 Comment