Read Before You Look!

So, the kids are sitting watching "The Lord Of the Rings - The Two Towers" again and they still really enjoy it! I'm glad they do, because it's a fantastic story, which I'm afraid to say is far more enjoyable in the reading rather than on film. The problem is, having read the book at the age of 12, it was clear to me that any film version would never be able to do justice to Tolkien's writing. The second component is the imagination, and as a 12 year old, my imagination was indeed vivid. I lived this book, in my head.

Now, I know that my children, even if they were to read the book, would never draw the same enjoyment form it that I did, because not only do they now know the main themes of the story, but they already have mental images of the events described, and so won't be able to imagine them for themselves. It's a shame really, but at least they show me that they have the same good taste as myself, in embracing "The Lord Of the Rings" just as fully as they have now rejected that Harry Potter nonsense. The comparisons are ridiculous really, but they do happen, and it's clear to me that the popularity of Harry Potter says a lot about the present generation of children. What's astounding though is how many older people I've met who have expressed a liking for it (mainly women in retrospect). I wonder why that is? Perhaps because, it's written by a woman!

Anyhow, I think it should be compulsory that in order to be permitted to see a film based on a book, you should have to have read the book before-hand. Such a move would increase literacy skills and allow people to be imaginative again, instead of sitting in front of the telly vegetating. Get your brain mechanisms working again, reading does stimulate the mind, just get a book and read it, even if it's awful at least you'll have the mental capacity to realise that!

Who Does He Think He Is?

He's Sir Matthew Pinset (four times olympic gold medallist), that's who! I've decided to do a second post of the day, because this is what I was going to write about in the first place, but got side-tracked by political news. Well, last night was the final episode in this series of "Who Do You Think You Are?" Unfortunate, as besides "Top Gear", it's one of the few things that the BBC can be congratulated for. I've got to admit, where British TV used to be pretty good, we're rapidly losing out to US telly. For instance I've recently caught a few US shows in passing such as "Entourage" with Matt Dillon in it, and "Californication" starring David Duchovny. Both seem excellent!

Back to Sir Matthew Pinsent and his family tree. I was quite jealous, because he found (a researcher found actually) what genealogists allegedly call a "Gateway Ancestor". The individual in question was General Sir George Anson, who we were told acquitted himself rather well in the Iberian Peninsula during the Napoleonic Wars. Turns out that Sir George was descended from the Howards, one of the leading noble families in England during the Middle Ages. They also provided a wife for Henry VIII to have beheaded.

A visit to some peerage place later, and it becomes clear that the Howard line was descended from Edward I, who was descended from William the Conqueror. He was then shown a tree going back to Jesus, Adam & Eve and finally God. You see now that's the kind of thing I want for my own family tree, I just need one of those Gateway Ancestors, and I'll be sorted. I know I'm descended from nobility, I just can't join the dots, so to speak. For instance, on my mother's side of the family I have Beaton's (or Bethune's) from Skye. It's commonly known that they were descended from an Earl of Fife, but no written genealogy. My wife's family claim a link to the Dukes of Gordon, and circumstantial evidence indicates a likelihood of this, but conclusive proof is elusive. Nevermind, someday I'll make a breakthrough too!

No Change From This Lot!

I've quite a few things to get off my chest today, mainly political I'm afraid, but all hugely significant I can assure you. Firstly, let's talk about the man above. Yesterday he claimed that a nuclear Iran would pose the potential for World War 3. Hmm, really! Well, we all know that a nuclear Iran is some years away, but a nuclear US is here and now, and hasn't Bush been threatening to nuke Iran? Don't all but one of the present Predential candidates for 2008, advocate such an attack? I'll answer for you, yes they do!

What's more, Putin says he'll be very upset by any attack on Iran, as he knows the US only has eyes on the Caspian Sea oil there. Of course he's right! When asked by a reporter about Putin's step-down from President to Prime Minister in order to keep hold of power, being a constitutional violation, Bush's reply was "I was planning something similar myself!" Nothing new there, I said so many moons ago. The legal framework is in place. All that's needed is an major Iranian-backed terrorist attack, elections will be cancelled and that's a toe-hold on the Presidency for life that Dick Cheney and his lackies have had their eyes on all along. Take heed, I'll be happy if I'm wrong!

Back to this country, and yes as predicted, Gordon Brown has provisionally signed the new EU treaty (to be formally ratified in December), which is proven to be 96% the same as the old EU constitution, which he promised us a referendum on, but then lied in saying wasn't the same and that he had our "red lines" covered anyway. All lies, he's a liar, it is the EU constitution, we never got our referendum and the "red lines" will be gone in 5 years. I know they'll be gone, becuase the Germans say so! The real question is; "What's in it for us?" Nothing whatsoever! So, what's in it for Gordon? we might wonder. Maybe he has his eyes on that EU Presidency that was once Blair's pipe-dream. He has no chance though, that's guaranteed to go to a Frank or a German.

Last but not least, seeing we've mentioned Blair, new evidence released concerning MOD scientist, UN weapons inspector and government whistle-blower Dr.Kelly, pretty much proves that he was indeed murdered as we had all concluded anyway. The knife with which he apparently slit his wrists had no fingerprints on it. Independent doctors also claim that the wounds would not have been fatal anyway. Take into account the lack of blood found with his body, and it becomes pretty plain that Dr.Kelly was murdered (by lethal injection?) elsewhere and deposited afterwards at Harrowdown Hill! You thought that poilitics was sordid and murky in the past. Well, it's worse than ever now. We really can't trust the people who hold the reigns of power!

Hanging In the Balance!

Where's the paper and scissors? I totally stumbled across this, this morning... and I want to know more about it. Apparently, someone somewhere has instigated this new art-form, known as rock-balancing! Just look at that picture above, isn't it amazing? Reminds me totally of "Myst Exile", I wonder if either the rock balancer or the photographer had that in mind? Anyhow, I will find out more about this and report back to you on the subject at a later date. It definitely merits further investigation.

OK, change of plan, and I've left the above to demonstrate just how fickle I can be. Wikipedia tells me that rock-balancing has been around far longer than I had presumed, and that there are three types of rock-balancing:

• Pure Balance - each rock in near-point balance (See Above)
  
• Balanced Stacking - rocks lain flat upon each other to great height
  

• Free Style - mixture of the two above; may include arches, etc.

It is suggested that there might be spiritual connotations involved, presumably traits from Buddhism, particularly as a great deal of patience is required in order to achieve perfection. Harmony with nature is another Buddhist element that one might associate with rock-balancing. I note however that some people get paid for doing it, and while artists need to make money, as soon as money becomes the principle motivation for doing so, the art is sure to suffer. I therefore cannot condone payment of any sort for rock-balancing. Long live the unpaid free-style rock-balancers!

Some Books, Some Clothes!

Yes, today we took a trip into Aberdeen, under the guise of stocking up on some early Christmas presents. My son and I headed off to the Bon Accord shopping centre for a nose around, so that on our return to Union Street, my wife and daughter would have done most of what was required. You know my clothes shopping hate, so I did this in order to survive!

I came back with two books; The War Of Wars by Robert Harvey (described as: the definitive one volume account of the Napoleonic Wars) and The Lords Of the Isles by Ronald Williams (describes the kingdoms and conquests of the Scottish Western Isles). My son was looking for PS2 games, but there seems to be a famine as far as those go. I wonder why, could it be that they're pushing the PS3 real hard at the moment?

Anyhow, surprise surprise, when we returned to Union Street after about an hour, my wife and daughter had acquired a blouse and a pair of boots. I'm convinced that they'd much prefer to spend the whole day just looking, they're good at looking and acquiring nothing. So I'm in a clothes shop 15 minutes and I have a pair of jeans, a pair of trousers, 3 shirts and 2 ties. That's how to shop! So, there were no early Christmas presents after all, only the ones I bought for myself.

The Tree Of Life!

I may have mentioned this before, but I do have a bit of the amateur genalogist in me! I started researching my family tree around 1990, and not long after probably started researching my wife's side of the family as well. Back then though, it was straight-forward. A visit to New Register House in Edinburgh, then back up to the North-East, trawling through Census records and Parish records (combined with the IGI) on microfilm. Some scanning through old newspapers, the odd local reference book, and of course scouring cemeteries for headstones.

I haven't done that type of research for several years now though, because the Internet changed all of that. At least, my discovery of the Internet. Four of five years ago, I took the liberty of uploading my family tree to several genealogy sites such as Ancestry.com, Genes Reunited (when they got going) etc. Since then, I haven't had to do any research, the information has come to me. Let me explain further:

• People anywhere in the World, can log-on to any of those sites and enter a name, possibly just a surname.
• They find a match.
• They look for the E-Mail address of the person who uploaded that name.
• They E-Mail me saying that they are descended from the individual in question.
• I respond with a sort of, I'll show you mine if you show me yours.
• Information is exchanged, and I add that new information to my tree.

At this point, I should re-upload my tree to show the new names on there, but this is something I haven't done for a year or two, but still I add and add new names to my tree. At this point in time, I'm just shy of 11,000 individuals dead or alive. Mostly dead I'm afraid. I'm not sure how much longer I can keep adding people. You'd think there'd be a ceiling of some sort, where the names just dry up, but not neccessarily. You'd be surprised how many descendants one person can have, for instance, take the wife's Gt Grandfather, Alexander Maver b.1855. My family tree software enables me to see that he has (or had) 254 direct descendants, and those are only the ones I know about. There might be more. I really should re-upload my tree, I think I'll do it now!

Top Gear Rules the Waves!

If you are a resident of the UK then you will be familiar with "Top Gear"! If you're not then it's a bloody shame, because Top Gear is absolutely immense. It is a motor show, but, anyone will tell you that I have no interest in cars whatsoever. And yet, my kids and I (and I suspect the wife even) enjoy Top Gear no end, because it's so funny. They're prepared to be outrageous, they take enormous risks and clearly enjoy driving and cars in general, particularly fast ones.

On Top Gear last night, the team: Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May, each built an amphibious vehicle (part car, part boat), which they then had to drive from London to Dover. Once at Dover, they recieved the next part of their challenge, to sail their ridiculous amphibious vehicles 28 miles across the English Channel to Calais. The idea was just plain stupid. There was no way any of their vehicles could possibly make it. At least that's what we thought.

Thei first attempt was a trial run within the harbour, which went quite well, but the second attempt was fairly disastrous. As they left the calmer waters of the harbour, James May's boat sank, Richard Hammond's rudder jammed and he started going around in circles in the harbour entrance as the gigantic Sea-cat came steaming towards him. The timely intervention of the coastguard saved the day. Attempt 3 saw James May join Richard Hammond as cabin-boy. This time the sea was much calmer, so they made a good start. Several miles out to sea however, Hammond's boat began taking on water and then capsized. The three hosts then all ended up together on Jeremy Clarkson's boat, which was a converted pickup truck.

They were going great, but then came the shipping lanes. The English Channel is quite probably the busiest shipping lane in the World, and these nutcases were weaving in and out between tankers, ferries and cargo ships in a floating pick-up truck with an outboard. It was completely insane. They are crazy. Then they started to take on water, but as they drew closer to France the water calmed and unbelievably they made it. They landed somewhere near Sangatte, off target, but considering they had no maps or guidance systems of any sort, pretty good I would say. Rivetting viewing that's for sure. Here's a preview to give you some idea if you missed it or couldn't watch it. Check out some of the videos on the Top Gear website though, and you'll see what I mean!

Sovereignty Surrender Imminent!

Don't say I didn't warn you! Many moons ago, in this very blog, I highlighted the inherent dangers of the revived EU Constitution, in the form of the new EU Treaty, due to be signed this week. At that time Tony Blair was still Prime Minister and refused to give the public a referendum, despite being elected on the back of just such a promise. Now, we have Gordon Brown, similarly refusing a referendum, claiming that the treaty is hugely different to the old constitution and that he has opt-outs on key areas anyway. Well, only this week a team of Labour MP's, returned the verdict of their investigation into the treaty documentation. Result, "Dear Gordon, this document is exactly the same as the old treaty!"

Well, of course, Gordon knew that anyhow. He was only stalling for time, and now it's too late. Only last week I read that Brown had only 10 days left in which he could allow a referendum, which is obviously too short a time anyway. As for Gordon's opt-outs, this morning I read that a German Eurocrat warns Brown that he has 5 days to surrender those opt-outs and sign the treaty. Oh dear, Gordon what have you done! Apparently (in a thinly veiled threat) he also said that other EU countries (principally Germany and France here I suspect) copuld not allow one country to destroy the hard work that had gone into this treaty when 25 other countries were in agreement.

Makes you wonder who won the war doesn't it? "What war?", you might ask if you're a German Euro-MP, because yes, they want to forget all about that don't they? They want school textbooks to totally play down the Second World War, portraying it as a European Civil War, as though we were a united Europe before that. Basically they want to brainwash kids into a sense of European as opposed to national identity. Why don't they just burn the old history books in the street like they did the last time? You may think I'm Euro-sceptic, not so, I like parts of Europe, other parts I have no desire to ever visit. My main beef is centralisation. It's going to benefit certain countries more than others and inevitably the result will be a desire for de-centralisation and consequently another European Civil War.

Templar Trial Minutes Published!

Big news today for anyone holding an interest in the history of the Knights Templar. It seems that trial documents pertaining to the trials of the Knights Templar are to be published by the Vatican Secret Archives, having been allegedly discovered in 2001. Discovered, as it is purported that the documents had been misplaced somewhere among the vast archives of potentially explosive documents that the Vatican would rather were not made available for public consumption.

Quite why they've made this material available is a bit of a mystery, although apparently, it in some respects exhonerates the then Pope Clement V of his part in the sordid affair, demonstrating his opposition to King Phillip the Fair of France. King Phillip is largely regarded as the main instigator of the dissolution and elimination of the order. He owed them vast sums and was intensely jealous of their power and influence. What the documents probably won't address, and what will likely never be known, is what hold Phillip had over Pope Clement that enabled him to pressurise the Vatican into doing his bidding.

Don't think however, that you'll get your hands on a copy of these documents anytime soon. With a price tag of 5,900 Euros and as part of a limited edition set of 599 copies, the chances are that the lay historian (ie. the guys who get real results) will never get a hold of it. Anyway, the Vatican does as it pleases, so who's to know if this is all they have, partial, or far from complete. Working to their own agenda, odds are that they only released those documents which they see as being in some way likely to cast the Catholic faith in a good light. But we all know what atrocities they have committed or permitted to be committed in their name, in the distant and not so distant past. Their are some stains which will never wash away no matter how much time passes!

Dustin Hoffman Impersonator!

I am a graduate! I have graduated! It's over, or is it? I was asked only yesterday if I would graduate again this year from the PGDE, and I said no quite firmly, but even before today's ceremony, I had started to wonder if I was committed to that decision. Only time will tell. I'm afraid to say that I was shamefully present at several photo opportunities and that consequently there may well be several pictures of me in the Northern Scot next week, which is not necessarily a good thing, as I caught a glimpse of one photo and it was fairly horrendous I must admit.

I should also mention that the inventors of the kilt clearly never took driving into consideration. Obviously there weren't any cars around then (whenever then was?), but not only does half the kilt remain outside the vehicle once you've got in it and closed the door, but the sporran won't go under the steering wheel, and I kept catching my hands on it while cornering. Kilt-makers of the future should consider these factors when devising their futuristic kilts.

The actual graduation ceremony went very smoothly, although it was obviously oinly one in a series, as it would have been impossible to accommodate all graduates in one sitting, especially nowadays when it's permissible to graduate at any level of qualification. Personally, I'd rather not have had to sit and watch people receive an SVQ (Scottish Vocational Qualification) in second-rate cooking skills. Not that any achievement is not worthwhile, but surely they'd have been better organising the graduation ceremony by achievement rather than by subject areas, which is what they did.

On other news, I'm reading in the "Sun" newspaper that the average downloader of Radiohead's new album "In Rainbows" paid £4 for it, and there were over 1 million downloads in the first 24 hours of availability. That didn't even include me, as I had to wait slightly longer (See yesterday's post). If I'm right in thinking here then, they've probably already made more money off this album than they will have from any of their previous label releases, because all profits go directly to the band and the thieving record labels get nothing, yay!