All great wartime leaders knew that an army marches on it's stomach. High carb breakfasts were critical to long hikes across unforgiving terrain and still having the energy to fight the enemy on arrival. For the troops, breakfast was undoubtedly the most important meal of the day.
Right now there are armies of global travellers waking up in unfamiliar beds, bubbling with anticipation of what their destination of choice has to offer. Downstairs in the kitchens and dining rooms hotel staff are preparing, cooking and assembling their guests breakfasts. Many travellers will leave their temporary homes with a full stomach and warm feeling but too often the day starts with frustration and disappointment. That's a shame and something more hoteliers need to understand when improving their offering and creating memorable experiences.
Bed and breakfast offers are common place at the moment but the approach to "petit-dejuner" is polarised. The good make it an event that brightens yours day and puts fuel in your body. Others only see breakfast a good way to increase customer spend and profitability.
One of the best breakfasts I've even had, hotel or not, was in The Bath Arms, on the edge of the Longleat Estate. It was a snowy morning but the sun seemed to shine in the restaurant as we contemplated a gorgeous cooked breakfast or a selection of homemade yoghurts and honey. It was a wonderful start a day and exactly the type of choice and selection that puts a smile on a traveller's face.
In contrast I've seen the other side of the coin, and not only when on a package tour to Agadir. You can imagine the scene. You've experience it I'm sure. A dining room capable of seating the entire hotel in a single sitting, crusty croissants, a selection of Aldi cereals and all you can drink concentrated orange juice that's brighter than a cheap spray tan. By the time you reach the buffet bar your heart has sunk and your stomach has staged a sit in protest. This is no way to build enthusiasm for a day pounding the streets of New York or Paris, both of which I have been forced to do on near empty stomach and a desolate soul.
I'm not looking for breakfast surrounded by diamonds but, now, when I chose a hotel, the quality of service I can expect whilst I'm still starting the engine is a very important factor.
Tuesday, 3 November 2009
Friday, 23 October 2009
The morning after, the Question Time night before
It appears that 8million of us tuned into the most watched political debate of the year last night. That's three times as many people who normally watch Dimbleby et al and means that more than 5millon viewers turned their back on Piers meets Boris and Fearne meets Paris.
The fact that the appearance of the BNP leader drives almost 10% of the country to tune into a political TV programme is remarkable. Cameron vs. Brown vs. Clegg will do well to draw in as many as a re-run of Last of The Summer Wine.
The show itself was wonderful theatre. There was a bit of everything; bear-baiting, egg- throwing, muck- raking and lots of very sweaty chuckling and clapping. My excitement was heightened by combining my viewing pleasure with a stream of tweets from the Twitterati and my own observational humour. I even managed 2 mystery RTs of a funny comment about Mr Griffin!
But, now that the fun is over, what did I take as a viewer?
The show undoubtedly showed that Britain is capable of confronting it's demons and the BBC need to be commended for letting the public judge for themselves. I've purposely avoiding reading the press before writing this blog as each editor is going to influence his TV critic, political commentary team and senior staff writers to write the same stories they probably could have done without even watching.
I'm sure the Guardian says "Slimy Griffin squirms under scrutiny", the Express; "Griffin survives lynching" and the Mail; "Jan Moir branded a homophobe on left wing TV channel".
The reality is somewhere in between.
As much as Nick Griffin's private views are beyond repulsion, his public persona didn't crack. Under pressure he did seem like a laughing hyena or a performing seal but the magic bullet in the foot simply didn't materialise. The first 20 mins felt a bit like a midnight ambush but somehow Nasty Nick was still able to come out for the second round, bloody and wounded, and threw a few punches in the direction of Labour's Jack Straw, Iraq style.
Bonnie Greer was the people's champion on the night. She mocked Griffin subtley, often too much, so that the cameras missed it, and steered a very measured and sensible path. Bonnie managed to expose Nick's version of history as bunk. She showed genuine revulsion when the KKK were brought into the debate but didn't criticise everything he said whereas the politicians would have booed and hissed if Griffin had said that his party loved kittens. The only shame was it took an American academic to fill this role.
After the pantomime scenes of the first section there was at least some honest discussion of immigration and it seems like there was a broad concensus that immigration can't continue unabated. It's a topic that needed airtime and the more that the main parties accept that voters want to hear views on immigration the less likely a single-ticket party like the BNP are to get votes.
The debate on Jan Moir and her piece on Stephen Gately seemed to back-fire (assuming it was designed to lure Griffin into a honey trap). Everyone had the opportunity to say what Griffin eventually said which was that the dead should simply be left to rest in peace. Unfortunately there will be many viewers who saw, in that moment at least, a man representing the "way people used to be". I think the panel were too busy waiting for Griffin to condemn homosexuality. The lack of sincerity and sympathy to Gately's family smacked of political pawnbroking which disappointed me.
In conclusion, I really enjoyed the debate and the theatre last night but I'm not sure, sadly, that Griffin ended up reaching the intended status of "Britain's Most Loathesome Man".
The fact that the appearance of the BNP leader drives almost 10% of the country to tune into a political TV programme is remarkable. Cameron vs. Brown vs. Clegg will do well to draw in as many as a re-run of Last of The Summer Wine.
The show itself was wonderful theatre. There was a bit of everything; bear-baiting, egg- throwing, muck- raking and lots of very sweaty chuckling and clapping. My excitement was heightened by combining my viewing pleasure with a stream of tweets from the Twitterati and my own observational humour. I even managed 2 mystery RTs of a funny comment about Mr Griffin!
But, now that the fun is over, what did I take as a viewer?
The show undoubtedly showed that Britain is capable of confronting it's demons and the BBC need to be commended for letting the public judge for themselves. I've purposely avoiding reading the press before writing this blog as each editor is going to influence his TV critic, political commentary team and senior staff writers to write the same stories they probably could have done without even watching.
I'm sure the Guardian says "Slimy Griffin squirms under scrutiny", the Express; "Griffin survives lynching" and the Mail; "Jan Moir branded a homophobe on left wing TV channel".
The reality is somewhere in between.
As much as Nick Griffin's private views are beyond repulsion, his public persona didn't crack. Under pressure he did seem like a laughing hyena or a performing seal but the magic bullet in the foot simply didn't materialise. The first 20 mins felt a bit like a midnight ambush but somehow Nasty Nick was still able to come out for the second round, bloody and wounded, and threw a few punches in the direction of Labour's Jack Straw, Iraq style.
Bonnie Greer was the people's champion on the night. She mocked Griffin subtley, often too much, so that the cameras missed it, and steered a very measured and sensible path. Bonnie managed to expose Nick's version of history as bunk. She showed genuine revulsion when the KKK were brought into the debate but didn't criticise everything he said whereas the politicians would have booed and hissed if Griffin had said that his party loved kittens. The only shame was it took an American academic to fill this role.
After the pantomime scenes of the first section there was at least some honest discussion of immigration and it seems like there was a broad concensus that immigration can't continue unabated. It's a topic that needed airtime and the more that the main parties accept that voters want to hear views on immigration the less likely a single-ticket party like the BNP are to get votes.
The debate on Jan Moir and her piece on Stephen Gately seemed to back-fire (assuming it was designed to lure Griffin into a honey trap). Everyone had the opportunity to say what Griffin eventually said which was that the dead should simply be left to rest in peace. Unfortunately there will be many viewers who saw, in that moment at least, a man representing the "way people used to be". I think the panel were too busy waiting for Griffin to condemn homosexuality. The lack of sincerity and sympathy to Gately's family smacked of political pawnbroking which disappointed me.
In conclusion, I really enjoyed the debate and the theatre last night but I'm not sure, sadly, that Griffin ended up reaching the intended status of "Britain's Most Loathesome Man".
Friday, 9 October 2009
HBO Time .....
This is a mini-blog.
Yes, I've still not made it through The Wire or Mad Men but C4 has thrown a massive spanner in the works by screening True Blood and Generation Kill back to back on a Wednesday night.
The latter is from the creators of The Wire, which is really all you (and I) need to know.
I watched the opener on Wednesday night (10pm, 4OD too) of True Blood and I was very impressed. Vampires are not really my thing but the premise is compelling. If you haven't read the hype, it's based in a parallel universe where vampires have come "out of hiding" and enter mainstream life. Facilitated by the production of synthetic blood to satisfy their nutrional needs the vampires mix with the mortal community but they are shrouded in mystery, suspicion and prejudice.
My immediate thought is that this is a parable for black and white relations in the deep south of America. The vampires are similar but different; some characters treat them well, some with utter disdain.
Compelling, clever and shocking. This is must watch TV.
Yes, I've still not made it through The Wire or Mad Men but C4 has thrown a massive spanner in the works by screening True Blood and Generation Kill back to back on a Wednesday night.
The latter is from the creators of The Wire, which is really all you (and I) need to know.
I watched the opener on Wednesday night (10pm, 4OD too) of True Blood and I was very impressed. Vampires are not really my thing but the premise is compelling. If you haven't read the hype, it's based in a parallel universe where vampires have come "out of hiding" and enter mainstream life. Facilitated by the production of synthetic blood to satisfy their nutrional needs the vampires mix with the mortal community but they are shrouded in mystery, suspicion and prejudice.
My immediate thought is that this is a parable for black and white relations in the deep south of America. The vampires are similar but different; some characters treat them well, some with utter disdain.
Compelling, clever and shocking. This is must watch TV.
Monday, 28 September 2009
Another GAAPweb post
Here's the link to my most recent GAAPweb post - I kind of like it!
http://blog.gaapweb.com/the_gaapweb_blog/2009/09/roughanc-has-a-new-status-update-and-is-now-connected-to-4-people.html
http://blog.gaapweb.com/the_gaapweb_blog/2009/09/roughanc-has-a-new-status-update-and-is-now-connected-to-4-people.html
Thursday, 20 August 2009
Other contributions
I've been a bit slack posting new blogs of late (it's busy when you get engaged and get a puppy!) but I have been writing for the GAAPweb blog.
Here's the latest link: http://blog.gaapweb.com/the_gaapweb_blog/2009/08/selfdedication.html
Here's the latest link: http://blog.gaapweb.com/the_gaapweb_blog/2009/08/selfdedication.html
Tuesday, 30 June 2009
I'm an accountant so this is kind of relevant ....
This post is going on GAAPWeb. It came out of a discussion about the lack of resources for younger candidates .....
Ten years is a long time, but it’s almost that since I qualified with a “Big 6” firm (the number of firms used in this description is inversely proportional to your age!) and I was recently reflecting on how little support there really is out there for a 24 year old who is coming to the end of their accounting contract.
At sixth form there’s a guide that tells you everything there is to know about your preferred university (down to female to male ratio) and in your third year you’re bombarded with careers fairs and guides. But after 3 years of study, play and a bit of work as an auditor where do you go?
You’re caught between the rock, the hard place and some other stony ground. Who do you approach:
You give in and eventually return that call to John at Best Jobs in the World and Partners. He’s got the best job ever. Great opportunity, loads of promotion prospects. £5k more. A car allowance! But it’s on an industrial park on the outside of the M25. 2 trains, 1 minibus and you’re there in less time than it takes to play a Premiership football match.
Do you talk to Henry who joined in your intake but left after a couple of years to join a start up. Audit is crap, right? The real world is much more fun. Or maybe Susan, your audit senior, who went to work in M&A? No ticking and bashing for her. Ok, so they may (or may not) have done well for themselves but there’s always a tendency to rubbish those who stay. It’s often not an objective viewpoint.
You’ve got a Partner Mentor. No chance, she’s devoted her life to controls testing and audit opinions. Maybe that manager who’s always taking his team out for drinks. He’s cool. So he gives it straight. The grass is always greener. Ah, sadly he’s been brainwashed too you think.
Hmmm. Maybe you’re lucky and you’ve got a big brother who’s got the T-Shirt. But, if you are like me, you’ve got to try and see the woods for the trees and take a punt.
My punt was a mistake. I ended up taking Option 1. I should probably have listened to Option 3 but I suppose I wouldn’t change things. You can’t have regrets.
Ten years on I’d give the same advice to anyone in my shoes. Use the internet, use your network, keep an open mind and think “what would make you really happy”. Don’t get rushed into any decision by your peers, your managers, someone who calls you that you’ve never met! But, what I have learned is to make a decision because there’s very rarely a wrong answer, just different outcomes .....
Ten years is a long time, but it’s almost that since I qualified with a “Big 6” firm (the number of firms used in this description is inversely proportional to your age!) and I was recently reflecting on how little support there really is out there for a 24 year old who is coming to the end of their accounting contract.
At sixth form there’s a guide that tells you everything there is to know about your preferred university (down to female to male ratio) and in your third year you’re bombarded with careers fairs and guides. But after 3 years of study, play and a bit of work as an auditor where do you go?
You’re caught between the rock, the hard place and some other stony ground. Who do you approach:
You give in and eventually return that call to John at Best Jobs in the World and Partners. He’s got the best job ever. Great opportunity, loads of promotion prospects. £5k more. A car allowance! But it’s on an industrial park on the outside of the M25. 2 trains, 1 minibus and you’re there in less time than it takes to play a Premiership football match.
Do you talk to Henry who joined in your intake but left after a couple of years to join a start up. Audit is crap, right? The real world is much more fun. Or maybe Susan, your audit senior, who went to work in M&A? No ticking and bashing for her. Ok, so they may (or may not) have done well for themselves but there’s always a tendency to rubbish those who stay. It’s often not an objective viewpoint.
You’ve got a Partner Mentor. No chance, she’s devoted her life to controls testing and audit opinions. Maybe that manager who’s always taking his team out for drinks. He’s cool. So he gives it straight. The grass is always greener. Ah, sadly he’s been brainwashed too you think.
Hmmm. Maybe you’re lucky and you’ve got a big brother who’s got the T-Shirt. But, if you are like me, you’ve got to try and see the woods for the trees and take a punt.
My punt was a mistake. I ended up taking Option 1. I should probably have listened to Option 3 but I suppose I wouldn’t change things. You can’t have regrets.
Ten years on I’d give the same advice to anyone in my shoes. Use the internet, use your network, keep an open mind and think “what would make you really happy”. Don’t get rushed into any decision by your peers, your managers, someone who calls you that you’ve never met! But, what I have learned is to make a decision because there’s very rarely a wrong answer, just different outcomes .....
Thursday, 25 June 2009
Selective Hypocrisy
Maybe this is a fairly dull topic for a blog, or maybe it's exactly what the blogsphere feeds on, but something that intrigues me is the general and individual attitudes of society to "privacy of information".
Turn on Question Time and every so often there will be debate on ID cards. The woman I like to call "that little Chakrabati girl" will almost always be there defending civil liberties to privacy of data. "Why waste the time between home and station pondering on such as topic?" I heard you say.
Well, I'm new to the world of the iphone and it's wonderful appstore. But, in the last week I've entered more personal information into a small electronic device, including several locations, than any ID card system would ever seek to hold.
The purpose, to aid my every day life, but without a blink I've given up that information.
I'm not alone and yet the idea of the government who, like it or not, our democratic system suggests is here to help not hinder, holding all this information seems to make the average O2-subscribing, Apple-wielding lefty aghast.
I've got no problem with anyone knowing where I've been or what I've been doing and neither should anyone else who uses modern technology ....
Turn on Question Time and every so often there will be debate on ID cards. The woman I like to call "that little Chakrabati girl" will almost always be there defending civil liberties to privacy of data. "Why waste the time between home and station pondering on such as topic?" I heard you say.
Well, I'm new to the world of the iphone and it's wonderful appstore. But, in the last week I've entered more personal information into a small electronic device, including several locations, than any ID card system would ever seek to hold.
The purpose, to aid my every day life, but without a blink I've given up that information.
I'm not alone and yet the idea of the government who, like it or not, our democratic system suggests is here to help not hinder, holding all this information seems to make the average O2-subscribing, Apple-wielding lefty aghast.
I've got no problem with anyone knowing where I've been or what I've been doing and neither should anyone else who uses modern technology ....
Monday, 18 May 2009
It has to be England for 2018
Whether you enjoy football, despise football or simply think it's a bunch of overpaid, whinging men who haven't grown up you have to know that hosting the World Cup would be an amazing opportunity for England and the UK in general.
2018 is the most likely date that the bid committee will be targetting, and coming 6 years after a London Olympiad, means two major sporting shots in the arms in a decade.
The billions of pounds of investment and tourist expenditure that events like the Olympics and World Cup will bring to the UK will benefit us all.
Lets all get behind it and make the tens a decade to remember .......
2018 is the most likely date that the bid committee will be targetting, and coming 6 years after a London Olympiad, means two major sporting shots in the arms in a decade.
The billions of pounds of investment and tourist expenditure that events like the Olympics and World Cup will bring to the UK will benefit us all.
Lets all get behind it and make the tens a decade to remember .......
Tuesday, 12 May 2009
TV to expand the brain
If you're English you may not have seen the new Denis Leary ads for Hulu. They're memorable at least. They suggest that TV turns the brain to goo but the irony is not lost on the viewer (unless the watcher is a goo-brained moron who loves Jerry Springer because it's sooo realistic).
Anyway, for anyone who wants to make sure that they are using their 2 (or 4? or 6?) hours of TV viewing a day well I suggest the following diet:
Anyway, for anyone who wants to make sure that they are using their 2 (or 4? or 6?) hours of TV viewing a day well I suggest the following diet:
- Flight of the Conchords (new series, BBC 4) - if you don't know any New Zealanders with their funny vowels this will educate you, and make you laugh very hard.
- Mad Men (iplayer, Season 2 finale) - the coolest TV programme since the makers last series The Sopranos. You'll want to wear 3 piece suits and drink and smoke at work but it's worth it. Season 1 can be bought on DVD now and 2 is out in July. That's 26 episodes to indulge you.
- The Wire (BBC2, DVD) - if you haven't started yet then top up on the DVDs and then spend every night watching BBC2. If you've not be told about The Wire, shame on your 367 facebook friends.
- The Apprentice (iplayer, BBC2) - ok, so it's not the Open University but it is compelling.
- The In-betweeners (4OD, E4 and probably C4 sometime soon) - if you are male and it's 10+ years since sixth form it's time to reminisce. You wish you were able to be a blunt as Jay but you were probably just as geeky as Will
Expenses furore
In the middle of blogsphere there a thousands of posts about the disgraceful use of taxpayer's money for porticoes, manure and swimming pools, but what I can't fathom are the rules and processes themselves?
When could tending to roses using cow dung ever be a necessity of public office? How could a helipad "gag" find it's way onto an expense form that could be submitted "in error"? Who set rules like this, and who thinks it's right to "play the rules" in this way.
Maybe my sense of morality and fairness is abnormal, but i bet it's not dissimilar to yours.
I know we've all put in the odd expense claim that was a bit wide - the handwritten taxi receipt - but at least you did it out of a sense of fairness (didn't you?). And it was only a few quid and probably offset the unclaimed Oyster journeys you forgot to claim for, or the coffees that you bought for your client contacts and thought was too tight to submit.
MPs probably do deserve to get paid more than they do given their important roles but that's no excuse for a lack of common sense or decency. I think that 99% of what MPs do are for the greater good and I know no-one can be perfect (I'm certianly not) but the expenses process is clearly rotten to the core and it's time to pay a fair wage and a total overhaul of how the governance system runs.
When could tending to roses using cow dung ever be a necessity of public office? How could a helipad "gag" find it's way onto an expense form that could be submitted "in error"? Who set rules like this, and who thinks it's right to "play the rules" in this way.
Maybe my sense of morality and fairness is abnormal, but i bet it's not dissimilar to yours.
I know we've all put in the odd expense claim that was a bit wide - the handwritten taxi receipt - but at least you did it out of a sense of fairness (didn't you?). And it was only a few quid and probably offset the unclaimed Oyster journeys you forgot to claim for, or the coffees that you bought for your client contacts and thought was too tight to submit.
MPs probably do deserve to get paid more than they do given their important roles but that's no excuse for a lack of common sense or decency. I think that 99% of what MPs do are for the greater good and I know no-one can be perfect (I'm certianly not) but the expenses process is clearly rotten to the core and it's time to pay a fair wage and a total overhaul of how the governance system runs.
Welcome
After a wonderful chorizo and hummus ciabatta from Bellamy's I decided it was time to post a blog. Thanks for taking the time to read my (a)musings .....
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