The secret of happiness? Wipe Sunday 27th June from English history. Obliterate the day from your diary, deface your calendar, deny all knowledge of that shameful day. Oh woe is England.
We went out only a game earlier than I expected, but it was a dire performance. Who's to blame? Everyone. The media builds them up to knock them down, revelling in every failure and scandal after making them gods a few weeks before. We get the media we deserve, so it's hard to blame them when we buy the product.
The players didn't perform. Those who weren't good enough failed to show the spirit that may have carried them through. Those who are good enough showed neither guts nor ability. Capello is the coach so he shares the blame.
The referees and his assistants? At least they just made a split-second mistake. Yes it may have turned the match but I doubt it, we deserved our beating. Sep Blatter? Oh yes. A thousand times yes. Fifa's equivalent of King Canut, trying to hold back the waves of technology while the rest of the sporting world is surfing.
Oh well, only four more years of hurt.
Monday, June 28, 2010
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Pirate Galaxy
Pirate Galaxy is a free multiplayer online game in which players pilot spaceships against the invading Mantis alien hordes. I love it.
http://pirate-galaxy.gamigo.com/
The game is played through your browser, so you don't need a latest spec computer to play it. This is a good job as our PC is no longer the sprightly thing it once was. What I like about it is that you can go on for half an hour and get involved in a quick fire fight, or spend a couple of hours gathering energy, exploring the solar system you're in, or even building a squadron of other players to take on the more difficult missions.
As you play you gather cystals and blueprints, which help you upgrade your ship, or even buy a newer and tougher ride.
Give it a go, and if you do look out for a pilot named Serig. For me, Thursday night is Pirate Galaxy night.
Update
I've now started a blog dedicated to Pirate Galaxy.
http://cryonitecove.blogspot.com/
Friday, June 18, 2010
The Secret Of Happiness v2
The secret of happiness is to stop supporting England.
Dropping Green was a mistake. Maybe he shouldn't have been picked for the first game, but he was and Capello should have stuck by him. Now the whole team knows that if they make one mistake they could be dropped. No wonder they played so poorly today. They were terrified, when they should have relaxed after the USA game.
Being a leader who is feared only gets you so far. Still, maybe Capello will show that he's a leader who's prepared to change.
Dropping Green was a mistake. Maybe he shouldn't have been picked for the first game, but he was and Capello should have stuck by him. Now the whole team knows that if they make one mistake they could be dropped. No wonder they played so poorly today. They were terrified, when they should have relaxed after the USA game.
Being a leader who is feared only gets you so far. Still, maybe Capello will show that he's a leader who's prepared to change.
Monday, June 14, 2010
The Secret of Happiness
Being happy is a lot easier than most people seem to think. The key is to set realistic expectations, especially for things you have no influence over.
If you are an England fan and had convinced yourself that this was our World Cup, that we would win all three of our group matches and crush all opposition in the knock-outs. If you already have a space reserved for the framed photo of Stevie G holding the trophy aloft, then you're probably pretty miserable right now.
If you were merely confident that England would get through the group stage either first or second. If you felt that we were good enough for the quarter or semi-finals, and after that anything can happen, then you and I are feeling okay at the moment. Of course we're disappointed at Green's slip and Rooney's lack of threat, but we do not despair. Our hopes and dreams are just as lofty as all the other England fans, but we keep them seperate from our expectations.
If you are an England fan and had convinced yourself that this was our World Cup, that we would win all three of our group matches and crush all opposition in the knock-outs. If you already have a space reserved for the framed photo of Stevie G holding the trophy aloft, then you're probably pretty miserable right now.
If you were merely confident that England would get through the group stage either first or second. If you felt that we were good enough for the quarter or semi-finals, and after that anything can happen, then you and I are feeling okay at the moment. Of course we're disappointed at Green's slip and Rooney's lack of threat, but we do not despair. Our hopes and dreams are just as lofty as all the other England fans, but we keep them seperate from our expectations.
Friday, June 4, 2010
Ring tones
Selecting the right ring tone for your mobile is a bit of a challenge. Is it a reflection of your taste and personality, a fast-moving battle of one-up-manship, a media with its own trends and fashion, or just a question of practicality?
I recently replaced my phone so first tested the tones that came with it. They were all muzak, apart from the 'classic phone ring' which a while back was the tone to have.
I've always preferred to have a genuine music track as my ring tone, but of course I'm too tight to buy a proper one so have to go through my limited music files to find one I like. It has to be one where the opening of the tune works, as I haven't figured out how to get the phone to start at the chorus.
On my last phone I had Eton Rifles by The Jam. If whoever I was with started to groove when it went off, I knew they were my age or cool. This time I fancied a change so tried Up The Junction by Squeeze. It was a good idea in theory, but in practice it made me feel like a middle-aged man poised to Dad-dance around the room.
My second attempt was bang on. Now it's Pretty Vacant by The Sex Pistols and I have a cool tone again, in my ears anyway.
Then you have to think about the tone for your text messages of course. Mine's the scream from the start of the Doctor Who theme tune. I'm so cool.
I recently replaced my phone so first tested the tones that came with it. They were all muzak, apart from the 'classic phone ring' which a while back was the tone to have.
I've always preferred to have a genuine music track as my ring tone, but of course I'm too tight to buy a proper one so have to go through my limited music files to find one I like. It has to be one where the opening of the tune works, as I haven't figured out how to get the phone to start at the chorus.
On my last phone I had Eton Rifles by The Jam. If whoever I was with started to groove when it went off, I knew they were my age or cool. This time I fancied a change so tried Up The Junction by Squeeze. It was a good idea in theory, but in practice it made me feel like a middle-aged man poised to Dad-dance around the room.
My second attempt was bang on. Now it's Pretty Vacant by The Sex Pistols and I have a cool tone again, in my ears anyway.
Then you have to think about the tone for your text messages of course. Mine's the scream from the start of the Doctor Who theme tune. I'm so cool.
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
The Write Place Competition
One of the reasons I started this Blog was to create some self-imposed pressure to get on with my writing career. I have inertia issues, otherwise known as being bone idle.
That's why I'm announcing that I'm going to enter Hiding into The Write Place Novel competition. Please throw rotten fruit at me if I miss the deadline.
Thanks to Perry for the notice on the competition.
That's why I'm announcing that I'm going to enter Hiding into The Write Place Novel competition. Please throw rotten fruit at me if I miss the deadline.
Thanks to Perry for the notice on the competition.
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
Authonomy
www.authonomy.com
Authonomy is a website owned and operated by the publishers HarperCollins. The idea is that aspiring writers upload their books, complete or otherwise, for everyone to read and review. If you like a book then you can back it, this pushes the book up the rankings. If you show a talent for backing books that later climb high in the rankings, your talent spotter rating increases. The higher your talent spotter ranking, the more effect your support has. The books that finish in the top 5 every month get at least 10,000 words reviewed by HarperCollins editors.
I think this is a great idea and the site is well produced and managed. I put my book Hiding on the site and got some very kind and supportive comments. However the comments I got were very brief and the reviewers had obviously read only the first chapter. (Maybe my first chapter needs to be more engaging.) I got a hundred times more from my online writing group The Novel Writers. After a few weeks of obsessively watching Hiding crawl up the chart and doing my best to conscientiously review others’ work, supplying honest and constructive comments, I decided to take my book off. I was falling too far behind and the constant ‘back me and I’ll back you’ messages made me cynical. I also realised that the time and effort I’d have to put in to get to the top of the chart could be better spent writing new stuff. A review by professional editors isn't a big enough incentive for me.
I hope the person at HarperCollins who thought of this got a big bonus. It’s a good way to get a few thousand keen writers to submit their stuff to you, then have them all sort through the slush pile. The books that get to the top are either good, or have writers who are good at promoting their work.
Although I still visit the site and read the many helpful and interesting articles, I am now a silent member.
Authonomy is a website owned and operated by the publishers HarperCollins. The idea is that aspiring writers upload their books, complete or otherwise, for everyone to read and review. If you like a book then you can back it, this pushes the book up the rankings. If you show a talent for backing books that later climb high in the rankings, your talent spotter rating increases. The higher your talent spotter ranking, the more effect your support has. The books that finish in the top 5 every month get at least 10,000 words reviewed by HarperCollins editors.
I think this is a great idea and the site is well produced and managed. I put my book Hiding on the site and got some very kind and supportive comments. However the comments I got were very brief and the reviewers had obviously read only the first chapter. (Maybe my first chapter needs to be more engaging.) I got a hundred times more from my online writing group The Novel Writers. After a few weeks of obsessively watching Hiding crawl up the chart and doing my best to conscientiously review others’ work, supplying honest and constructive comments, I decided to take my book off. I was falling too far behind and the constant ‘back me and I’ll back you’ messages made me cynical. I also realised that the time and effort I’d have to put in to get to the top of the chart could be better spent writing new stuff. A review by professional editors isn't a big enough incentive for me.
I hope the person at HarperCollins who thought of this got a big bonus. It’s a good way to get a few thousand keen writers to submit their stuff to you, then have them all sort through the slush pile. The books that get to the top are either good, or have writers who are good at promoting their work.
Although I still visit the site and read the many helpful and interesting articles, I am now a silent member.
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