I was just sitting watching a bit of TV - as you do - when I heard this big noise outside. I didn't really pay much attention to it initially and I continued on flicking the million TV channels to find something that I quite fancied watching. In the end, I couldn't so I gave up and got up. I then looked out the window to see 2 cars in the middle of the road, making a kind of 'T' shape.
It seems that the big bang I heard was actually a car crash. Not a massive one as such but a crash nonetheless.
By the looks of it, some big fat 4X4 had tried to cross over the road from a driveway but had somehow managed to smack into the side of a taxi. No other cars were involved and indeed, it looked as if there were only the drivers involved. The 2 of them then moved their cars out of the way and to the side of the road. I'm not sure who was at fault but I would assume that it was the driver of the 4X4 given that he was trying to cross a lane of traffic.
After about 20 minutes or something, the Police arrived. Clearly, they were busy and couldn't make it any faster. That or they were, well, I won't say...but they arrived, so that's one thing. Not only that, but 2 Police cars arrived. Maybe they just happened to be in the neighbourhood.
And that was about it really. I lost interest after that and resumed flicking channels to find something worthwhile to watch. It's all high excitement over here in Dubai, you know.
Tuesday, February 08, 2011
Monday, February 07, 2011
Duff
I know that I'm an English teacher and I know that I should be helping people with their English in order to improve them but...sometimes I just can't be a*sed with it all.
Exhibit A
One bloke who was promoted but did not match the minimum requirements to get the promotion. He needed to pass a certain level of English test to meet those requirements. Please note that this was something of an 'afterthought' by those who had already promoted him. He has sat the afore mentioned English on 4 different occasions and has failed it each time. He then took one of our English courses to prepare him for the test. He attended each day. And guess what? At the end of it, he failed the test. Again.
Exhibit B
Me. Taught this bloke for a month and spoke to him countless times outwith of class.
Exhibit C
His department who have given him time off to do the course and to attend the tests and who, presumably promoted him in the first place.
All of which, mixed together equals one holy mess.
It now seems that I will have to teach this bloke, one on one, for an entire month for an hour a day in order to help him get to the level required. This bloke will then get to take the English test once again, for like the 15 millionth time. And what if he fails it again? Not only that but it's a question of time. At the moment, I have a fairly tight schedule as it is. And now that I have this bloke coming everyday, makes things difficult. But then who has to bail the department out and this bloke out? Yours truly.
It would be alright if this bloke listening, took things in and did what is asked of him but he doesn't. He will do my head in. All I can do is be nice and do what I can. Everything else must come from him. I'll be delighted when this 'cosy' private set of lessons is over.
Exhibit A
One bloke who was promoted but did not match the minimum requirements to get the promotion. He needed to pass a certain level of English test to meet those requirements. Please note that this was something of an 'afterthought' by those who had already promoted him. He has sat the afore mentioned English on 4 different occasions and has failed it each time. He then took one of our English courses to prepare him for the test. He attended each day. And guess what? At the end of it, he failed the test. Again.
Exhibit B
Me. Taught this bloke for a month and spoke to him countless times outwith of class.
Exhibit C
His department who have given him time off to do the course and to attend the tests and who, presumably promoted him in the first place.
All of which, mixed together equals one holy mess.
It now seems that I will have to teach this bloke, one on one, for an entire month for an hour a day in order to help him get to the level required. This bloke will then get to take the English test once again, for like the 15 millionth time. And what if he fails it again? Not only that but it's a question of time. At the moment, I have a fairly tight schedule as it is. And now that I have this bloke coming everyday, makes things difficult. But then who has to bail the department out and this bloke out? Yours truly.
It would be alright if this bloke listening, took things in and did what is asked of him but he doesn't. He will do my head in. All I can do is be nice and do what I can. Everything else must come from him. I'll be delighted when this 'cosy' private set of lessons is over.
Saturday, February 05, 2011
Erupt
All this Egyptian protesting is causing havoc with my Scottish football viewing. I know, I know, where exactly is the link between hundreds of thousands of people protesting in Cairo and me sitting at home and watching the football on the TV?
Well, I get a couple of TV channels beamed in from Egypt which just so happens to carry the Scottish football. Granted, it's not on every weekend but often enough. In addition, it's in Arabic which is totally crap but you can't have everything.
The problem is that now that this has kicked off, the Egyptian channels have forsaken all 'regular' broadcasts in favour of getting the low down on what's going on in their country. The upshot being that the football isn't being shown at all. It's a scandal, frankly. Of course, that's a purely biased opinion and the Egyptians would certainly disagree with this history making venture of their's. I could go on about how terrible Mubarak has been blah blah but I don't really know enough about it all to make a comment.
Even still.
When's the football coming back on?!
Well, I get a couple of TV channels beamed in from Egypt which just so happens to carry the Scottish football. Granted, it's not on every weekend but often enough. In addition, it's in Arabic which is totally crap but you can't have everything.
The problem is that now that this has kicked off, the Egyptian channels have forsaken all 'regular' broadcasts in favour of getting the low down on what's going on in their country. The upshot being that the football isn't being shown at all. It's a scandal, frankly. Of course, that's a purely biased opinion and the Egyptians would certainly disagree with this history making venture of their's. I could go on about how terrible Mubarak has been blah blah but I don't really know enough about it all to make a comment.
Even still.
When's the football coming back on?!
Friday, February 04, 2011
Yorba
And that was the passing of the White Stripes. When I say 'passing', they won't be touring or releasing new material but with the latest fad for reunions and the kind of money on offer for such tours, I wouldn't go all they way and say that they are totally dead.
But, the White Stripes passing is definitely worth a comment. They were unusual in the sense that there were only ever 2 of them. A very able guitarist and a drummer who kept it simple. They did not employ a bass player in the studio or live. Quite a feat in itself. In some ways, there refusal to alter their musical template may have become their downfall. The limitations that placed on them may have precipitated the end. They were in many senses fairly revolutionary. Nothing quite sounded like them, certainly at the turn of the century there was a bit of a void musically. They took elements of the past, most notably blues and garage-rock and rejigged it, rebooted it even for the 21st century. It worked. Even their look was revolutionary. Red, white and black. Brother and sister? Haha. An excellent urban legend.
I've spoken about how the Strokes played a big part in reviving aspects of rock music, but the White Stripes did so and almost at the same time. I was relatively poor when I lived in London and I recall buying 3 albums that year. The Strokes, the Avalanches and the White Stripes. It took a bit to get into but the song that sticks is 'Fell in Love with a Girl'. It's about 2 minutes long and absolutely fantastic. Two minutes of garage punk energy. It makes you want to jump around like a bit of a fool. It was only later that I saw the video for it. They had 'lego'd' themselves.
The video for which can be found here.
The later stuff like Elephant took them 'overland' if you like and Seven Nation Army remains perhaps there biggest song. Indeed, the 'riff' from it can be heard in songs sung at football stadiums. That's a sign of 'making it'! Again, the video is remarkable. It does give me a bit of a headache watching it though. Their headlining of Glastonbury remains a definite highpoint as well.
How about a sweep stake on when they will reform?
But, the White Stripes passing is definitely worth a comment. They were unusual in the sense that there were only ever 2 of them. A very able guitarist and a drummer who kept it simple. They did not employ a bass player in the studio or live. Quite a feat in itself. In some ways, there refusal to alter their musical template may have become their downfall. The limitations that placed on them may have precipitated the end. They were in many senses fairly revolutionary. Nothing quite sounded like them, certainly at the turn of the century there was a bit of a void musically. They took elements of the past, most notably blues and garage-rock and rejigged it, rebooted it even for the 21st century. It worked. Even their look was revolutionary. Red, white and black. Brother and sister? Haha. An excellent urban legend.
I've spoken about how the Strokes played a big part in reviving aspects of rock music, but the White Stripes did so and almost at the same time. I was relatively poor when I lived in London and I recall buying 3 albums that year. The Strokes, the Avalanches and the White Stripes. It took a bit to get into but the song that sticks is 'Fell in Love with a Girl'. It's about 2 minutes long and absolutely fantastic. Two minutes of garage punk energy. It makes you want to jump around like a bit of a fool. It was only later that I saw the video for it. They had 'lego'd' themselves.
The video for which can be found here.
The later stuff like Elephant took them 'overland' if you like and Seven Nation Army remains perhaps there biggest song. Indeed, the 'riff' from it can be heard in songs sung at football stadiums. That's a sign of 'making it'! Again, the video is remarkable. It does give me a bit of a headache watching it though. Their headlining of Glastonbury remains a definite highpoint as well.
How about a sweep stake on when they will reform?
Thursday, February 03, 2011
Blanket
The past few days have been really awful. Not only being seriously busy at work but the weather has been something very unpleasant. It's been very windy and with the wind comes sand. Everywhere. It looks cloudy but it isn't. It's tons and tons of the stuff lingering in the atmosphere. The car is totally covered in it and it's been parked under cover for the past few days. The window sills are dusty as are the areas next to the balcony and sliding doors. My skin has been feeling pretty rank as well. We did get some rain last night but not enough to wash the streets and clear the sand. With a bit of luck, it might mark a change in the weather.
More clean, clear sunshine please.
More clean, clear sunshine please.
Wednesday, February 02, 2011
Camp
Been watching this on DVD of late. It's basically Ewan and Charley driving from London to New York on motorcycles via Europe, Russia, Mongolia, Canada then finally America. I vaguely recall watching segments of it on the TV a few years ago. But, the time had come to watch it in it's complete form.
I must say, I did really enjoy it. It just amazing to think that they travelled all that distance on motorbikes for goodness sake. It's insane really. Some of the things that they encountered were equally crazy.
I think it was Uzbekistan (or one of the ex-Russian states) that they were welcomed into peoples home for the night. They had something of a party then all of a sudden the host starting singing. Nothing overly unusual there but it was the fact that they then started getting their guns out. Like, serious hardcore guns. I definitely would have been nervous had that been me. Mongolia seemed beautiful but totally isolated. No real roads to speak of. The thing that was amazing was the people. How friendly they were particularly when they were comparatively poor. The Road of Bones in Siberia however was poignant. It was the road that was built by the educated masses that Stalin had banished there for no particular reason. I hadn't heard anything of it until I saw it. It must have been horrendous. Once you went there, you weren't getting back. The road had started to decay and parts were impassable but the history of it was something that really hit home.
I'm not sure I would be cut out to do anything like that but hats off to them for even considering it. They were told before hand that it was impossible but they certainly proved everyone wrong.
The reason for watching this, and it's 'follow up', Long Way Down (coming soon to a download near me!) is that Charley is giving a talk at the Emirates Festival of Literature here in Dubai in March and yours truly has tickets for it. Looking forward to it. I'd better think up some questions for him...any ideas?!
Anyway, Long Way Down ahoy...
I must say, I did really enjoy it. It just amazing to think that they travelled all that distance on motorbikes for goodness sake. It's insane really. Some of the things that they encountered were equally crazy.
I think it was Uzbekistan (or one of the ex-Russian states) that they were welcomed into peoples home for the night. They had something of a party then all of a sudden the host starting singing. Nothing overly unusual there but it was the fact that they then started getting their guns out. Like, serious hardcore guns. I definitely would have been nervous had that been me. Mongolia seemed beautiful but totally isolated. No real roads to speak of. The thing that was amazing was the people. How friendly they were particularly when they were comparatively poor. The Road of Bones in Siberia however was poignant. It was the road that was built by the educated masses that Stalin had banished there for no particular reason. I hadn't heard anything of it until I saw it. It must have been horrendous. Once you went there, you weren't getting back. The road had started to decay and parts were impassable but the history of it was something that really hit home.
I'm not sure I would be cut out to do anything like that but hats off to them for even considering it. They were told before hand that it was impossible but they certainly proved everyone wrong.
The reason for watching this, and it's 'follow up', Long Way Down (coming soon to a download near me!) is that Charley is giving a talk at the Emirates Festival of Literature here in Dubai in March and yours truly has tickets for it. Looking forward to it. I'd better think up some questions for him...any ideas?!
Anyway, Long Way Down ahoy...
Tuesday, February 01, 2011
needs
My god, more than 20 posts in January. That must be some kind of record. I really don't recall writing that many in a month for a long, long time. The big question is whether I can keep it up. It's funny writing that sentence actually, because this isn't written for anyone inparticular and I fully expect that I am the only one 'reading' it in any case. So whether I can keep it up, is really a reflection on myself and how 'bothered' I am.
Anyway, February already.
And with it, the end of the football transfer window. What the heck was that? £50 million for Torres. £35 million for a relative 'unknown' in Carroll. Mental. Crazy money and more likely to be panic buys that anything else. Silly. I know not to buy anything in the January sales because you just end up buying stuff that isn't really what is needed and the same should surely apply to football. At least with the January sales, I can hold onto the receipt and take my purchases back. Easy.
Anyway, February already.
And with it, the end of the football transfer window. What the heck was that? £50 million for Torres. £35 million for a relative 'unknown' in Carroll. Mental. Crazy money and more likely to be panic buys that anything else. Silly. I know not to buy anything in the January sales because you just end up buying stuff that isn't really what is needed and the same should surely apply to football. At least with the January sales, I can hold onto the receipt and take my purchases back. Easy.
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