My Music & Arsenal YouTube Video's

Here are a few YouTube Video's I have made for the Arsenal.

 

I hope all my Arsenal friends enjoy these !

Losing a whole day of thier life

The Pacific island nation of Samoa and its even tinier neighbor Tokelau are skipping Friday this week, jumping westward in time across the international date line and into the shifting economic balance of the 21st century.   
 
There are lots of serious reasons for doing this, but imagine if this Friday was your birthday or wedding anniversary, all of a sudden it's not there anymore, try explaining that to a five year old !!!

The time change, officially decided in June, is meant to align Samoa with its Asian trading partners; it moves the islands’ work days further from the United States, which dominated its economy in the past.

In this giant-step version of daylight saving time, the island’s 186,000 citizens, and the 1,500 who live in Tokelau, will go to sleep on Thursday and wake up on Saturday. The government has decreed that those who miss a day of work on Friday will be paid all the same.
Samoa has been out of alignment with its Asian-Pacific neighbors since 1892, when American traders persuaded it in 1892 to shift from the western side to the eastern side of the international date line to facilitate business with the West Coast of the United States.

That earlier shift took place on the American Independence Day — so the Samoans could celebrate July 4 twice. This one takes place at the stroke of midnight, so that two minutes after 11:59 p.m. on Dec. 29, it will be 12:01 a.m. on Dec. 31. The new time zone will put Samoa 3 hours ahead of eastern Australia rather than 21 hours behind it, and 22 hours ahead of California, instead of 2 hours behind it.       

It's a Fat Fat world.......

The world is getting fatter and fatter, and all at a time when the world is also starting to run out of food. It is also getting fatter when we are at a time when 8m kids will die of hunger this year alone. So we are running out of food, 8m kids will die from having no food, and yet the World Health Organisation is spending billions on the issue of obesity. Do you get the feeling something is not quite in balance with this situation.

 
This diagram from the W.H.O. shows that certain countries have a real challenge with fat adults. And I for one was surprised to see certain countries, like South Africa highlighted. I was not surprised to see both the UK and The USA, but was surprised to read that the States are not the fattest nation on earth, Nauru has that honour. But comming in at 3 and 4 on the list is the UAE and Saudi, and did surprise. The USA is fifth, and the UK comes in at number 10. Did you know that Hunger kills more people than Malaria, TB & Aids combined, that I am sorry to say is a lot of people.

Big Brother 2012 - Who's in the house @BigBrotherMad

So more names are starting to come out and boy it is packed with unsurprising surprises. So far this is the list of 2012 Celeb Housemates:Frankie Cocozza : Wagner : Denise Welch : Michael Masden : Natasha Giggs : Ruby Wax : Andrew Stone : Shaun Williamson : Natalie Cassidy : Kirk Norcross : Kristina & Karissa Shannon

So that is 12 Housemates, So I wonder if that is the full list or if there is still room for one or two more. 2 from the XFactor, two from Eastenders, 4 America's (Too much in my view), one Loose woman, and of course another set of twins, although I think I prefer these two to Jedward.

For football fans the fun one will be Natasha Giggs, the sister-in-law of Ryan Giggs, who it is said had an affair with her more famous brother-in-law. I am sure that will provide the online community and fans up and down the country with lots of wonderful moments. Jokes at Ryan's expense are always welcome.

However at this point I also feel there are just too many "no-bodies", why oh why did BB sign up Wagner, and do they really think the twins will fall for Frankie or Kirk. I can't really see where the romance will come from this year, but I guess you never know.

Thierry Henry set to return, a question for the Arsenal #Thierry Henry

So the web is awash with stories that a true Arsenal legend is set to make his return to the club. Yes Mr Thierry Henry does now look likely to be about to wear the Red & White once more. It is being reported that the club will resign him for two months, starting on the 1st of January 2012. This means of course that he would be available to play for the Arsenal in the FA Cup game against Leeds Utd. And that he will be at the club for all of January and February. He would be there as cover for the African Cup of Nations where we lose two strikers, so in that it makes sense. Henry would cost the club £70k a week plus insurance, so around £1m.

However here are a few questions for all Gooners out there:
1. Would you want to see him back ?
2. What happens to his legacy at Arsenal if he does not score goals ?
3. Would you prefer to see a youngster, (The Ox) get a chance instead ?
4. Should we be buying a more perminent option instead ?
5. Is he now just too old for the Premiership ?

I believe I share the same view as most fans, in that I would welcome his return. He is a special footballer, a genuine Arsenal legend, and one of the most amazing goal-scorers of all time. I think he would add something special to our team, and I can see him comming off the bench and really adding a spark to the whole team. The game versus Wolves is a great example of where he could have changed the situation. For me even a "half-as-good" Henry is better than certain other players we are currently using. So for me I would yes, lets sign him up and play him. Lets face it, both Sol and Lens did a job when they both came home, so I am sure Thierry can and would do the same.

Look what Christmas has done to Rihanna @rihanna

 Lets face it, Rihanna is one of the sexiest/hottest/cutest pop stars on the planet today. The girl is fine. But even famous pop stars are effected by over eating and drinking at this time of the year. And of course being famous they have to do it to excess. But this is just so very sad.






So here it is, before and after pictures of Riri from this Christmas ! Girls, you have been warned !!!

Big Brother 2012 - Celeb's @BigBrotherMad

So we are now just a few weeks away from the start of the next series of Celebrity Big Brother and already the papers are starting to speculate just who's in and who won't be there. It will of course be the usual mix of the weird and the wonderful, plus some "on the wane" Yank or two. But of course this being BB they will also pull some real surprise.
These two young ladies are said to have been signed up, but more of that later. I like the Celeb version of the show because for some reason I do like to see these has-beens made to look very silly and just like "I'm a Celeb" BB does not spare the housemates from humiliation, and I am sure this year will be exactly the same.

So far the gossip pages of the UK tabloids have told us that the legend that is Boy George is in, and also told us he is "definetly" not in. I have to say I think he would be a great housemate and I for one would love to see him in the show. I think he has all the required qualities for the show and think he would make great TV. He would be a clear early favourite for the show.

I have also read that BB will be graced with the Playboy twins.  The American twins have promised bosses they will steam up the series.Playmates Kristina and Karissa Shannon have signed up for next month's Celebrity Big Brother and it is hoped that ladies' man housemate Kirk Norcross from The Only Way Is Essex, will be the perfect "victim" for the 22-year-old pair. But to be honest I have to say I can't really see what the attraction is !!!!

So along with Ruby Wax, Michael Madsen and the aforementioned Kirk Norcross these are the main people mentioned as possible 2012 housemates. I am sure over the comming days the papers will be awash with other little nuggets and suggestions. But I for one will be looking forward to seeing the freak show begin.....

Twitter rules the world @jack #Tweets

  Nearly six years ago, a small team of people started working on a prototype of the service that we now know as Twitter. On March 21, 2006, Jack Dorsey (@jack) sent the first Tweet.

Today, on every measure of growth and engagement, Twitter is growing at a record pace. Here are some numbers:

#tweets

·         3 years, 2 months and 1 day. The time it took from the first Tweet to the billionth Tweet.

·         1 week. The time it now takes for users to send a billion Tweets.

·         50 million. The average number of Tweets people sent per day, one year ago. 2009

·         140 million. The average number of Tweets people sent per day, in the last month. March2010

·         177 million. Tweets sent on March 11, 2011.

·         456. Tweets per second (TPS) when Michael Jackson died on June 25, 2009 (a record at that time).

·         6,939. Current TPS record, set 4 seconds after midnight in Japan on New Year’s Day.

#accounts

·         572,000. Number of new accounts created on March 12, 2011.

·         460,000. Average number of new accounts per day over the last month.

·         182%. Increase in number of mobile users over the past year.

The simple fact is that Twitter is now changing the world, it’s impact is startling and in truth just a little scary. Why are these 140 character messages just so powerful and what does the future hold ? Why are celebrities so hooked on giving us so much detail of their life, why are governments so afraid of this, does this mean we communicate more than before or less ? For me that’s the thing with Twitter, it has created so many questions rather than any answers.

I have a Twitter account, but in truth I have no real idea why, what I am doing with it, or if I will ever really have a use for it. But there are generations behind me that believe it is the most important application on the web. With all the millions of websites, the one that gives you 140 characters is the most important and most powerful. How weird is that.

London 2012 : The Mascots

I know it has become a real and important element of any Olympics, World Cup or any major sporting event, and yes I know that they have to be clear, original and like nothing before, but the mascots for the London 2012 games are almost as weird as the logo that was created.

The two Mascots are called Wenlock and Mandeville. And yes in the true spirt of our times you can actually follow both of them on Facebook. Which makes me wonder, who got the job of actually being Wenlock and Mandeville on Facebook and just how much do they get paid ? But if you go to a website : Click Here you can find out all sorts of interesting and useful imformation about these two wacky creations. I won't type all the facts here, you can go and find out for yourself.

However I also wonder to myself just how many mascots, from games gone by, can anyone actually remember. For me the only one was the big bear at the Moscow games, I will never forget the tear drop at the end of the games, that was cool. But all the others, nope I cannot remember any of them. So I wonder to myself just what the future holds for these two new creations. Which is a shame really, for me it should be part of the brief when these things are created, that they have a life beyond the games, a life as a marketing brand for the city of London perhaps, or for sport in the UK.

My Music: London 2012

Oh I do so wish one could buy shares in songs, because if you could two songs would definatly be worth a punt. With just over 200 days to the start of the London games it is a fair bet that these two songs will become anthems of the games and of London.

Proud, by Heather Small, has already been used in a number of different ways and was used in the whole bid process. It is an amazing song, wonderful words and the girls voice is simply superb.

The second song is Gold by Spandau Ballet. It is a winners song, it is a song dedicated to dreams and that is what the games are all about, people pushing themselves to be winners. Like Proud, it is also already being used and I think all sorts will have this as a musical backdrop and the song will be played over and over.

So I hope you enjoy these two songs, but be warned, you are going to be hearing them a lot over the year of 2012.

London 2012

 As I write this there are 218 days to go before the opening of the London 2012 games, and I have to say I really can't wait. Ever since that moment when London won the vote and become the host city for the games I have been so excited. I really believe it will be a very special moment in London's proud sporting history. So yes I am one of those that is 100% behind the games and the benefits they will bring.

You see for me sport is one of those amazing things in life that unites people, even rivals share a common moment. Sport is about pride, passion, and winning, and these are emotions that all countries need. If you have a winning mentality, it transcends into every aspect of your life and then you win at other things. The same is said for pride and passion, and I totally believe that London will be a better place during and after the games.

The UK is somewhere which likes a moan, our media does love to paint the picture of the glass half empty, already the stories are about rising costs, where as they should be about things like being ahead of schedule, which we already are, and building the stadium inside budget, which it did. Plus the massive regeneration od that part of London, which has already happened.

I was very lucky to live and work in South Africa for the World Cup there in 2010. To see and feel the atmosphere, to be surrounded by the pride and passion in the city and the country was amazing, and that in a country that was not really into football, just gave me a taste for how London will embrace the games in 218 days time. It really is going to be a wonderful time and a really wonderful show.

World's most expensive hotel

As a hotelier I do love looking around the world at all the different variations of hotels. People have come up with a host of different ideas on the same theme. After all a hotel is a hotel is a hotel. But thankfully, different people have different creativity and therefore we end up with copious versions of a hotel.

This hotel, The Marina Bay Sands, is said by many to be the world's most expensive. Although a check on TripAdvisor also shows that like every other hotel in the world, sometimes there are discounts and even a bargin or two. Well a bargin in relative terms.

Now we have to start by saying it really is a superb building, amazing design. But the more I look at images, in truth, the less I like it. But just like all hotels, it is the inside, the heart of the hotel that really matters. So heres a look at just two of the bedrooms. And it is here that we start to see that despite being build in an amazing building, the design of the rooms in nothing special, in truth, this bedroom could be anywhere in the world.

Here are two more images, just so you can get a feel for the place.

Toilet designs ..... #cleverpeople

I do like it when someone takes some really simple, some everyday thing, and adds something to it, changes it up a little, does something inventive and creative with it. These pictures are a good example of just that.

 

But these are just a few, a click onto Google Images and there are heaps of weird examples of this creativity. But I also wonder what would happen if you put something like this into a hotel bedroom, just how would the guests react.

A hotel for the dead !

A hotel for the dead, now that’s something. This one is for real, actual corpses. And it’s pretty luxurious, going from the pictures. It’s a place where your folks check you in, and you wait it out until it’s time for you to be cremated. Also, it’s pretty luxurious.

The hotel Lastel run by Hisayoshi Teramura in Japan’s Yokohama suburbs, looks like any other building from the outside. In fact, young couples mistake it for a regular hotel and come asking for accommodation. But the place is not meant for lovers, or for weary travelers. Only for those who have already made their final exit from this world. The need for such a hotel very much exists in Japan, where there is a wait time of at least four days for a crematorium. With a total of 1.2 million deaths in the country in 2010, the annual death rate is at 0.95%, while the global average is only 0.84%. The Japanese also apparently tend to splurge on funerals, on the cost of flowers, coffins and memorial services. Mr. Teramura seems to have found a business opportunity in the area of death.

And if you think about it from a hotelier point of view, it has some real advantages, no guest complaints, no guests posting up on TripAdvisor after their stay, no rush for the breakfast buffet, no noise complaints and the guests won't steal anything like normal guests always do.

Fancy a new phone this Christmas #Gifts

Fancy a new phone this Christmas

Croatian artist Ivan Mavrovic turns modern technology into steampunk gadgets that still retain their functionality.
In a world where everyone seems interested only in getting their hands on the latest futuristic designs when it comes to gadgets, some, like Ivan Mavrovic, prefer to look back in history, to the time of the Victorian era, when brass, copper and wood were the main ingredients that made things cool. But interlacing modern tech with steampunk design isn’t easy, especially if you want to maintain functionality, but Croatian steampunk enthusiast Ivan Mavrovic does a fantastic job. Not only do his retro-cell phones look incredibly cool, but they also work as well as normal modern-day phones. They may not be as feature-full as today’s smartphones, but his sturdy converted Nokia phones work perfectly and make gorgeous accessories.

After seeing the above phone I had a look online for a few other interesting phones and found these. The first one is the world's most expensive phone. $1m for a phone.

And then the next one I think is maybe the weirdest phone I have seen, and it makes me wonder just why someone would want a phone like this, yes folks that is a mobile phone that looks like a packet of fags......

My Music: Funny video's, well sung

I came accross this person on YouTube almost by accident, and have to say I was well impressed. This girl got talent. I really don't know a lot about her, but if she wrote these songs, as well as performing them as well as she does, then fair play. These two are funny and show the versitility.....

However, this one is my favourite. And if you see the original by Dappy, the video is quite clever.

Mind you, like all good artists, sometimes they get it wrong and this last video I just am not into, but its only to post it up as well.

I hope you enjoy and have a laugh...........

The Arsenal Shirt through the years #Arsenal125

Like so many supporters, I have bought a new Arsenal shirt every time they bring out a new one. I have every shirt from today going back to 1971, plus a wonderful replica of the 1913 shirt. Here is a collection of images of the home shirt through the history. In these images are 35 shirts and of course 35 players. But just for fun, heres a question for you, how many of the players can you name. Out of the 35 I think I can name 27.

Arsenal 125 anniversary #Arsenal125

This Saturday, the 10 of December is the day selected to mark the 125th birthday of the worlds greatest football club. Honour, Class & Tradition the Arsenal is special. In my life it is exceptionally special and for millions the world over Arsenal Football Club is more important than anything else. If football is a religion, then Arsenal is heaven, and Dennis Bergkamp is the one true God.

Over the 125 years Arsenal have used 803 players and played 5,174 matches in the period. Of those 803 players, 83 (10.3 per cent) played just once, with more than half (409) falling into the two to 49 appearance bracket. At the other end of the scale, 198 players (24.7 per cent) have so far made it into triple figures, while an elite band of just 20 players went on to play 400 games or more.  David O'Leary, who played 722 times between 1975 and 1993 has played the most.

As for me, well the greatest game ever was away to Liverpool, May 26th 1989. The great goal was Charlie George in the 71 Cup Final, the greatest moment was when Michael Thomas broke through and the TV commentator said the immortal line, "It's up for grabs now", and the greatest player was, and always will be, Dennis Bergkamp. However for me, supporting the Arsenal is more than just those moments, it is a bigger than that. If we suddenly were relegated, all the way down to the conference, I would still be an Arsenal fan. It is truely a case of Arsenal for life, and beyond.

 It is funny but at a time like this, all the memories of my life as a Gunner flood back, the CL final in Paris, the trips to Copenhagen, Milan and Florida, the games when we were crap, my first time on the North Bank, then on the Clock End, seeing Liam Brady score that goal away at Spurs, Tony's goal against Everton, players like Vadimir Petrovic, Alan Sunderland, David Price and the greatest "unsung" hero Michael Thomas. Or getting into, and out off, bother away at Leeds and Millwall. Buying my first Arsenal shirt and first season ticket. And of course there was the day, away at West Ham, that my daughter was Arsenal Mascot, now that brought a tear to my eye. 44 years of amazing memories and all thanks to the Arsenal. Happy birthday my beloved Arsenal and thank you so much for the memories, heres to the next 125 years and whatever it may bring.