Christmas - What's All That About?

Christmas is on its way. I know this because my school choir has finally nailed their first performance, the only serious hiccups coming courtesy of my over reliance on technology. Meanwhile in class it's all about Advent and the associated preparation. My Teaching Assistant has done a superb job of draping the displays with all manor of sparkly things and the piano in the hall is beautifully decorated with evergreen and fairy lights. Oh yeah, and I'm crying at the outcomes of the end of term assessments. What could be more festive than that?

Of course, it's been Christmas outside school and for rather longer. Christmas markets have been springing up everywhere since Halloween and the National Trust have been selling Christmas since September over at Fountains Abbey. Perhaps it's the emerging grumpy old man in me but I really do feel there is way too much Christmas, that it goes on for far too long and this is helped by the need of shops to use it to maximize sales. That's not a criticism, just an observation. I'm trying to avoid criticism these days. 

At the same time, I've been amongst those who feel it's a shame that materialism seems to push Christ further and further out of his own birthday each year. Even in a chuch school, I hear far more discussion of Santa and what he brings to the table than I do about the Baby Jesus. Thank God this hasn't happened to Holy Week. Again, this isn't criticism of anyone but seen though my eyes, it's sad when you stop to think about it whereupon there is an easy assumption to make: that consumerism is responsible for pushing Christ out of Christmas as people satisfy their natural instinct to indulge and spend at Christmas. 

I'm getting there now so don't just give up just yet. 

This morning, my regular Saturday morning coffee guy spontaneously gave me his take with the added flamboyant gesticulation that only a true Italian could get away with. Now he's a bit like me when it comes to the extent to which he gets excited about Christmas. You can tell from the fact that the token Christmas decoration in his cafe consists of a single 90cm synthetic tree with non flashing fairy lights and a few evenly spaced baubles. There are also some Christmas cards neatly placed about the tree, one of which bears some vague reference to the original meaning of Christmas. He's not, as far as I can tell, a man of any particular faith. I've been buying my Saturday Morning coffee from him for years because he is great with the kids and makes my latte exactly the way I want it, every time, without fail. That's hard to find. 

Stefano is more than just a small businessman though. He's lived in this country for a while though well travelled  is married (I think) to and English woman and has done a few jobs. Seven days a week he is in his cafe and five of them he opens it. The man knows all his customers well, not only in terms of their coffee preferences but also their personal interests, life story and so on. You only get that when you get people talking. So, even though I don't tend to go about talking to anyone who will listen about what happened to the Baby Jesus, he caught me on it. 

And now I'm there.

Stefano's take is simply that consumerism doesn't push Jesus out, it is simply filling the gap. As society is less and less Christian (remembering that whatever it is now, this was a Christian country), they naturally leave Christ out. He thinks that they feel guilty because they have enjoyed Christmas without, 'going to church,' so they spend to compensate. Within his flowing, almost musical lecture, Stefano even took the time to define compensation as money paid to make a wrong thing right. "That's why charities get so much money at Christmas," he offered as proof along with two steaming perfectly made coffees to go.
Is he right? Heck! How should I know? All I know for sure is that once again I've proof I'm in no place to judge because I'm once again guilty of make assumptions. I'll try and remember that next time I look at my mantle piece and wonder why only a third of the Christmas cards mention the opening scenes of the greatest story ever told (in my opinion). 

Broad and Balanced

I had a bit of an awakening over the past few days. It seems I've been being secretly judgemental without any right. There's probably a word to describe me and it won't be complementary.

It started while I was waiting for my bacon sandwich with black pudding (thankfully, they seem not to have received the memo from my doctor). I noticed on the table an obviously popular newspaper. Surprisingly, despite the important events following the US presidential election and the Chinese Communist party conference, they had mainly gone with the existence of someone's breasts and some apparent BBC bashing. It left me wondering what kind of person would willingly admit to reading such a publication. Doubtless they would be shallow and of limited intelligence. Wouldn't they?

That evening, I was directed by Motorcycle News on Twitter to a documentary about the Isle of Mann TT. Called 'Isle of Man TT: A Most Dangerous Addiction,' it was excellently put together and presented by a typical English chap (by typical here I admit to meaning a white, middle aged, middle class bloke). However, this seemed odd as it's an Al Jazeera program.

Now, there are many things I accidentally let myself think I knew. Firstly, Al Jazeera is a news network prone to broadcasting beheading and inciting the Islamic world to jihad. Also, the people who watch the Fox news network would happily set the full force of the US military machine on anyone who has ever watched Al Jazeera. Meanwhile, people who watch the Channel 4 news (and Channel 5 for that matter) are a little like I think people who read the Daily Star must be, shallow and insular. I of course tend to get my news from the BBC who are above reproach, broad and totally balanced.

But it turns out, I don't know anything. It turns out I'm the shallow one for making judgements based on people's news providers. At the end of the program about the TT, secretly wondering why there was no obviously Islamic slant, I went onto the live feed of the Al Jazeera English channel. I caught the end of someone being hugely critical about the USA in general while summing up a discussion I otherwise missed. Then there was a great deal of coverage of current affairs across the middle east and a teaser for a program about the ordeal of refugees in Israel. Actually, it came as no surprise and was mostly what I was expecting. However, I learned about things that were happening to people that the BBC didn't tell me. I feel quite well informed about the crisis in Syria for instance. Mind you, I thought I was before.

What could I learn if I regularly got my news from other networks? What am I missing? Perhaps I need to look around. Rather than expecting my news provider to be broad and balanced, maybe I'm the one that needs to be. One thing's for sure, I'm in no position to throw the first stone and I'd better remove the plank from my eye. That said, I'm not sure I'll start broadening my horizons by reading the Daily Star just yet.

I've Discovered My Perfect Day

Not being the sort of person to dwell on such things, I'd no idea until today what my perfect day would look like. Now I know and just on the off chance anyone wants to know without the requirement to make small talk, here it is.

Sorry fellow devoted parents, but it started with dropping one child off at nursery and handing the other off to Grandma (thanks Mum). Then Ang and I got on our bikes and headed out. It wasn't perfect weather for riding as the roads were a little damp and largely strewn with wet leaves. But any day that starts with a rideout, no matter what the weather, is bound to be a nice day.

Ang has built a lot of confidence since she spent the summer riding to work. I led the way up to Patley Bridge, across to Lofthouses then north towards Masham. They're narrow roads with tight curve after tight curve, steep hills, tired tarmac strewn with gravel and the odd sheep. Add to that the autumn leaf fall and the roads get tricky. Ang took it all and handled her little YBR125 beautifully. When we did stop for coffee high up on a stunning moor, Ang was still smiling and so was I.

After coffee, we carried on to Masham. It's a wonderful place where instead of pay and display machines and patroling 'Traffic Enforcement Officers,' there's an honesty box and a suggested parking fee of 50p. Usually, I wouldn't bother paying to park my bike unless I know they ticket bikes which haven't. But in Masham, parking is a matter of Honesty. I couldn't Steal parking.

As I dropped the full whack, a whopping 50p per vehicle a passing local, who must have thought Ang looked hungry, pointed her in the direction of the Suncatchers Cafe. That place is awesome and is a metaphor for multicultural Britain as I like to think of it. I was served a full cooked breakfast in a Yorkshire Market town, by a woman who was not apparently of European decent and had a broad Scottish accent while surrounded by what seems best described as loads of Arabian type stuff. Even the toilet was kind of cool because they made room for a wash basin by digging into the thick stone wall. Ace!

After that we pretty much rode home and spent time together pottering about Harrogate, drinking more coffee. The new Baltzersens Cafe is also rather good, particularly because it's spacious, has some very comfy seats and the actual coffee is superb. It's a perfect place to while away the afternoon and catch up with the world, sitting by your wife as she catches up with whatever they feel important enough to publish in 'Prima' magazine.

Thus my perfect day began to draw to a close. I'd had a ride out though my beautiful Yorkshire Dales. I'd found new and wonderful places. I'd had a full cooked breakfast and superb coffee. And all of this was quality time spent with Ang (as opposed to time spent placating children with my wife). However, this would not have been enough on it's own.

At the end of my perfect day I was alone in my garage, just me, my bike and my power tools. I'd bought a metal work vice because I needed to modify some M8 bolts and the woodwork vice I've already got is no use for grinding. Unfortunately, I rather cleverly used the last of the M8 nuts attaching the vice to a wooden block making it impossible for me to complete the job on the garage door. That's fine though because next time I have a perfect day, I will have a good reason to finish it off in the garage, with my bike, playing with power tools.

Hello Old Friend - Xubuntu Back in My Life

Many moons ago now I bought a little netbook for the purpose of having something I could use to write my blog and generally surf with while Ang used our main laptop to surf, shop and generally do whatever it is she does. Though it did travel to the states with me, it hasn't otherwise see a whole lot of use but I think it probably will now.

When I bought it, the little Samsung N145 came with Windows 7, a sizable enough hard drive and an impressive battery life. Unfortunately the Atom processor, though frugal, isn't great with Windows 7 and things could take rather longer than I like. It booted very slowly and applied updates slowly. Being disinclined to wait for it to start when my phone (usually) does most of what I want my laptop to do, I started it seldom and when I did, ended up waiting ages for the darn thing to apply updates.

Then I saw Windows 8 with its swipey, tappy, appy mobile style interface and hated the idea. In part I hated it because I'm starting to get old and stuck in my ways so fear change. However, it also seems to me the whole idea is not going to work on a traditional PC or laptop, of which I have many. Fortunately I have Windows 7 (or had) and that is actually really rather good in that it's shinier than XP and isn't Vista.

It did get me thinking about the other options though. There was a time, when I was poorer and had more time to build my own computers from the scraps thrown out by others, when I played with various Linux distros. I always liked one in particular for its simplicity and, um, well, its simplicity really.

Xubuntu is like the most popular distro Ubuntu Linux but with fewer system requirements. It meets my requirements more quickly than plain old Ubuntu and is an awful lot quicker about it than anything with the prefix MS. What's great though is that the current version has improved without appearing any different. I installed it on the N145 expecting to have to mess with wifi drivers, figure out why the sound wouldn't work, find all sorts of workarounds and be eventually frustrated by stuff generally. But no! It really did just work. I've yet to find anything that doesn't work. Even DropBox works. The simple, straight forward XFCE desktop interface is there along with the the simple file system. It's not shiney but it works great.

Clearly, I'm not fully hip, down with the kids or with it. I still can't see why people get addicted to Apple stuff having owned an IPad (though I am hugely concerned by my offspring's obsession with it). However, I know what I need, and right now, I need something that gets me on the net, checks my email, feeds me my twitter and when absolutely necessary lets me do work. Xubuntu appears to do that very well indeed so I'm very happy and so is my netbook.

In which I Watch Many Movies & Go To The Butcher's

Today I've been watching movies. It's the last Thursday of the summer holidays and that means the last day that I get to myself. Now, obviously, I should be going into work on such a day being as I've not really got anything like enough done. However, life's too short for that and I wasn't going to to miss the opportunity. Usually, I head out for a ride but this day I pretty much just watched movies. Mind you, I did pop out to a local butchers to replenish our black pudding supply. 

When I woke up this morning I could already hear that any plans I might have had for roaming the Dales upon my trusty Wee Hamish would only be accomplice whilst doing my impression of a drowned rat. Rain audibly lashed at the windows of my bedroom and on closer inspection, could be seen running as a river down the tarmac that would be the start of any rideout. That wouldn't put me off riding to work or somewhere I had to be but I'm not going to wade the strom all the way to nowhere in particular when there are other equally enticing options. 

Instead, I spent the morning watching movies. I started with 'Battle Los Angeles' which was surprisingly good. Having watched 'Battleship' the previous day I was on the hunt for similar movies, namely SciFis comprising aliens, firefights and general slaughter. Neither film disappointed and I found myself rather enjoying the Gung Ho, Who Rah and God Bless America feel of the movies. It rather makes you feel fictionally proud to be American (by birth). 

Of course, the real Gung Ho, Who Rah and God Bless America theme of real life, in the middle east and throughout the post September 11th world is rather less unarguably admirable. Not that I have an opinion of that because I have no clue where we go forward as a world from where we are now. It would be much easier if could unite against a common extra-terrestrial enemy. Perhaps they missed a trick there. It would have been great if at the end of 'Battle Los Angeles' they showed the rest of the world tackling the aliens together. It would include some Taliban fighters/terrorist (you choose) fighting side by side with US Marines. Hell, they could even invite the French, if that wasn't too far fetched. 

Following that and having run out of recent movies from the genre, I checked IMDB.com for similar and came up with Starship Troopers, a film from my youth and one I had once enjoyed. I recalled the wholesale slaughter of bother aliens and humans as well as some pretty girls. I got it and watched it. Turned out I had remembered correctly (though I've no idea how I'd forgotten about the fact the girls occasionally went topless). The slaughter was indeed wholesale. Aliens died eventually, riddled with bullets with occasional others blown up for expedience. The humans however died much more interestingly. There is it would seem, an incredible variety of ways in which one can be dismembered, impaled or decapitated. 

What I wasn't expecting, doubtless because I hadn't noticed it in the past, was the politics of the movie. Set in a future, federal world, the political system and culture of the world it was set in was different, very different indeed. In it, citizenship had to be earned. Parents had to be licensed. Gender roles were totally removed. I could probably go on but I've probably not appreciated all if the, um, thingys. It wasn't subtly done either. The writer or director or whoever is responsible for the issues raised, they were pretty blatant. I think that was often the case back in the 90s when Hollywood just loved dealing with issues and it could be painful at times. What got me though, was the fact that I'm absolutely certain that I never noticed it before back in 1997.

That was 15 years ago now. It hasn't changed, so I guess I must have. I'm not sure how. It's not like I can now speak authoritatively on such issues as middle east relations, the role of women in the military or how to tackle stagnation in the economy. Nope, it's just that I am just a little more aware of it all. I'm no wiser. A little more experienced perhaps, but certainly no wiser. I'm pretty sure I'll carry on missing the obvious and doubtless make mistakes but in doing so, I'm more able to worry about it all, especially if I should be working. 

I'll also keep wandering. I did today after the second movie. With an afternoon and drying roads, I did get out on my bike. One thing I had noticed was that we were running low on black pudding so I needed to get to the local butchers, in Settle. It was a lovely ride and 80 miles later, with the children home and in bed, I am watching 'Forrest Gump' which doesn't deal with issues. It just tells a story in the words of a simple man, who's outlook is utterly enviable. Anyway, that's more material for another blog, one I probably won't write.

Buttertubs Pass On A YBR125

I haven't yet written about the biggest rideout since U-Ride2012. When I do, it will no doubt include at lease some small mention of my first ride up Buttertubs pass. This gist is that it wasn't what it could have been. I wanted to do it again and got the opportunity earlier than expected thanks to a very lovely wife I happen to have. 

I did it on Angie's YBR125 for a couple of reasons. One big one is that the rear tyre is getting very low on my V-Strom. Another is that I quite like putting along on a littl'un. Finally, after hearing about my brother in law's epic ride from Lincoln to somewhere near Kingston on Thames (190 miles on his YBR125) I felt like putting a big ride in on one myself.

Unlike a lot of my rides, this one started with me knowing exactly where I was going. Having recently returned from a 900 mile jaunt fully loaded and carrying a pillion on the Wee, it was a real joy riding the tiny little bike. It steers so easily in comparison. Actually, you pretty much just think a direction and off it goes. The brakes on the other hand, take a lot of getting used to after the Suzuki. But my chosen route was just 115 miles of superb riding and beautiful Yorkshire countryside, perfect for the little learner machine. 

Part of the beauty of the bike was that it is so easy to handle. You're never having to heave it about, on or off it. On my way up the pass I hopping on and off like it was an old London Bus. There are a great many reasons to stop on the pass; the stunning views over the dales, the butter tubs themselves and even just to contemplate the winding road ahead. When you are riding it, unless you want to rag the nuts off the poor thing, it takes you up and down the pass at a very sedated pace, perfect for just passing gently through, enjoying the cool air and long views. 

There is another road up there that is worth a look in. I took the pass north then rode to Reeth and took another high road back south to Askrigg. It's a much less used single track road. Not as high but very quiet and windy. It's not for the feint of heart but I imagine that probably keeps it quiet. 

The only thing that wasn't much good was the Samsung Galaxy S I decided to trial instead of my usual HTC Wildfire S. On paper the Samsung kicks the backside of the HTC but when it comes to getting a mobile  signal and picking up GPS sats, the HTC win hands down. Good thing I had a map in the box and a very good idea of where I was going really. 

Anyway. It was a good day and I would recommend this route to anyone. 

Buttertubs Pass Rideout (Sorry, you will need to zoom out a bit to see the whole route). 


View Larger Map

Getting Ready to Wander North

I'm so excited. It's almost time for us to go touring on the new bike. I've not blogged for ages because I have a job and children and, well, a new bike. Gone is the YBR250. In it's place is a Suzuki DL650 V-Strom. We wanted something we could tour on and ended with the 'Wee,' now known within the family as 'Wee Hamish' (despite it's comparatively colossal size). 

Soon, it will finally be used in earnest, doing what it was bought for. The plan was to recreate the first days of our honeymoon but on a bike. Then, we stayed in a lovely boutique hotel in Edinburgh before travelling up the A9 to Laggan to see the set of 'Monarch of the Glen.' This time we have less money and more time so we'll give the big city a miss and stick to reasonably priced accommodation. Camping or Glamping were considered but they aren't that much cheaper, require a lot more kit and are less conducive to a great night's kip. The thing about staying in a bed and breakfast see, is that you get a bed and you get breakfast. This negates the need to carry a bed or purchase breakfast. 

So on day one we will spend the night in Peebles. I chose that one, if only for the name. I hear it's also nice and that's enough for Ang. The route up there is planned and highlighted on the map. It avoids big roads and is a full 188 miles. Sure it'll be a long day but boy it looks good. It traces a straight (read 'very curvy') line towards our destination taking in parks and forests but not a single metre of dual carriageway. It's the kind of route that has more farm shop tea rooms than Costa Coffees and that's just the way I like it. I figure we ride from early doors stopping for breakfast, lunch about Hadrian's wall with a brew somewhere in-between. Then afternoon tea and finally, fish and chips or similar in Peebles. We won't be able to use fuel as an excuse to stop because the Wee will do that comfortably on a tank so sampling tea up the spine of the British Isles will be our excuse to stop, take pictures and generally be.

View Driving directions to Peebles in a larger map

Now, that's enough blogging for now. The whole packing thing didn't go as expected and I need to get both of us plus tools and other essentials into a tank bag and a tail pack. It shouldn't be a problem as long as Ang doesn't need too many pairs of shoes. However, I want the bike prepped and writing about it won't get it done.