I Guess So

Sometimes, you won't know the answer to a question, but you could estimate somewhere very close. Wouldn't it be nice to have an educated guess at some questions (that you probably ought to have a good idea on), and have a stab at a solution, with a little tolerance.

Well now you can: The Estimation Quiz permits you to do exactly that. and the nearer you get, or the lower the tolerance (i.e. your level of confidence), the more you can score. That said, I scored 26%!!

Thanks to J-Walk.

Happy Birthday Steve

Yes, today was the 37th birthday of Guildford's answer to David Brent .. hope you had a good one mate.

Today we all received an email at work saying that Steve had bought some cakes and biscuits for all, which was nice, and also that he shared his birthday with Jean Michel Jarre, Yasser Arafat and Windows 95. Over lunch, we talked about the usual drivel, but tried to come up with people's best list of celebrities born on the same day they were born.

Then someone came up with the idea of taking everybody's list of 3 celebrities, and having them compete against each other in some kind of Superstars-style competition. This hit problems straight away when it was pointed out that a 100m sprint involving Welsh diva Shirley Bassey, the wheelchair-bound cosmologist Steven Hawking and the Operating System Windows 95 might not work too well.

I was looking at J-Walk today, and there's a link to Wikipedia Daily, a site with an entry for every day of the year. So, events that happened on your birthday Steve, over the years have been:

• Mount Vesuvius erupts, AD 79, covering Pompeii
• Potato Chips first prepared, 1853
• Born: Steve Guttenberg, actor, 1958
• Alaska become US territory, 1912
• Mark Chapman is sentenced for murdering John Lennon, 1981
• Born: Paulo Coelho, Brazilian author of the Alchemist

Book Review: No 1 Ladies Detective Agency - Alexander McCall Smith

This book is set in Botswana, and tells the story of Precious Ramotswe, who decides to start up a Ladies detective agency when her father dies, and leaves her his inheritance (a herd of cattle!). The narrative is split between her 'cases', which are mostly small incidents of mistrust and disappearance, and pieces about her and her country (with a lovely scene-setting piece by her father).

It is clear that the author wants the reader to also develop a relationship with the country, and the book is both informative and proud about southern Africa, and its different countries. McCall Smith describes his own love of Botswana through Precious, and paints her to be a logical and practical person. Raised by her cousin to solve problems and have an inquisitive mind, she goes on to have an ill-advised marriage with an abuser as a husband. These experiences lead her to have a healthy mistust of men, and a methodical approach to meeting her clients' needs.

The prose is mostly written in the first person, and this allows the English to take on a simplistic style. There is a lovely economy of words that makes the book extremely easy to read, and there is beauty in the way certain things are phrased. The way words are spoken are really indicative of a no-nonsence honesty that her people have, and as such hardly any words are wasted. Precious is described as a "good fat woman" in the book, again in a 'say what you see' style; such candour only illustrates how much we ourselves overcomplicate our lives, and how much there is to enjoy in the simple things in life.

For this reason, it's a feel-good book. Precious keeps the problem-makers in line (mostly men, it must be added), and bestows wisdom on those that need it. She also has a very touching platonic relationship with a local mechanic, who plainly worships her, despite her refusal to marry him. He helps her during different stages of the book, and their exchanges are also refreshingly written. But it's her relationship with Africa that most stands out. This book is not a literary classic, but it is a delightful read, and I'm half inclined to start working through the four sequels, to see what becomes of Precious Ramotswe and her detective agency, 7/10.

You can buy this book here.

When I Was Small (quand j'etais petit)

What a great idea. The Quand J'etais Petit site encourages people to post pictures of themselves when both adult and chilren. As you can see, I've entered into the spirit of things by putting two such pictures here. the one on the left was taken in 1966, at a couple of months old, and the one on the right was taken recently (12 Aug 2005).

No real change, you say?

Book Review: Hey Nostradamus - Douglas Coupland

This book is told from the view of four people, all connected to and impacted by a high-school massacre: Cheryl, a 17 year old girl who was shot in the massacre, reports on her view from beyond the grave. Jason, her high school sweetheart, who turned out to be a hero on the day of the shootings, and who was secretly married to Cheryl. Heather, a girl who years after had a relationship with Jason, and has to deal with some strange circumstances that subsequently befall him. And finally Reg, Jason's dad, who is a religious zealot, and has had a fragmented relationship with all his own family, because of his extreme views.

This book is so well written, it is easy to get inside its rhythm, and that of the characters too. The themes of religion, family, life and love are explored throughout, and by covering four different perspectives, the author does not obviously impose his own views, but discusses the subject in a provocative way, one that weill inspire discussion. All the characters have appeal, despite some of their views. Because each successive viewpoint is from several years on from the previous one, it permits the author to describe how Reg's extremist religious views cause problems early on, yet gives him the chance to soften and repent his ways by the time we reach the final section.

Then there's the surprises. Coupland throws in a few completely unexpected events to keep the reader on their toes, and mix things up a bit. The author's imagination is already legendary, and here he desribes some outcomes that you just couldn't have predicted. These only enhanced the enjoyment of this book for me, which for the most part is a sensitive and human exploration of how the shootings touched and changed people's lives. But this is no nostagically sentimental eulogy. The massacre made some people very angry, with betrayed senses of loyalty, leading to shop-damaged views on what it means to live your life righteously. Yet they all have good hearts, and are all trying in their own ways to find truths for themselves.

So simple, yet so evocative. I just want one of my friends to read this book, so we can talk about it at length. For me this is Coupland's best to-date, 9/10.

You can buy this book here.

Book Review: The Family Way - Tony Parsons

This book was billed as Tony Parson's best book since Man and Boy, so I was sufficiently impressed into buying it. It's the story of three sisters, who were abandoned by their mother, an ex-beauty who looks out for herself first. The girls are: Cat - the eldest, who stepped in to be mother when her real mother left. Having done it all before, she suppresses feelings for having her own children; Jessica - the beautiful middle child, the one most upset by her mother's departure, and the one most desperate to have a child of her own, despite many months of trying; Megan, the curvy younger sister; makes up for looks with brains, and takes a neutral view on family.

And my problem with this book begins there. Tony has to tick all of the beauty/brains/desire-for-family boxes for each of his three main characters, in order to create counterpoints between them. This means that he doesn't have to present too much real insight to get a dynamic going. Not that he doesn't try. It is a Parson's standard to present clever insights to each of his characters - it is also the reader's identification with these inner thoughts that bond us to them. All the real insight in this book is from the women. The men seem rather 2-dimensional; plus, it does make me wonder what women readers make of his all-too-knowing familiarity with the feminine psyche. Does it ring true, I wonder?

It's certainly a departure for Parsons, who has previously written from a man's perspective. That's not to say that this book is without merit. He knows how to pace a book, and writes in an engaging charming way that makes it very easy to read. Not only that, but not all the perceptive pearls of wisdom are awry - many still ring true, and he still can create a surprise to bring a lump to the throat (now that's definitely a Parsons trademark). But the ending is cheesy, and with the lack of 'realness' in the characters (there's an obsession with the sisters' looks .. constantly .. repeatedly!), it smacks as pop fiction. It wouldn't feel like a work-in-progress if Parsons was a bit clearer on what he is trying to say.

An easy read; a holiday book; but no better, and a disappointment from an author who normally makes you feel as if he is in part describing you. 5/10.

you can buy this book here.

Book Review: Sideways - Rex Pickett

I felt that this book would be challenging for me, since I had seen the movie version earlier this year, and loved it. There's always a tendency for the reader to picture the characters as they are in the movie, and falling into that trap could always slightly mar the enjoyment of this book. Rex Pickett's novel is hilarious by painting the two central characters as slightly funnier, and I did not find it to be a problem.

It describes how Miles Raymond, a failed author, senior school teacher and wine buff, takes his friend Jack, to whom he is Best Man, away for a week to California Wine Country, prior to his wedding the following Sunday. Jack is an over-the-hill actor, reduced to voice-over work, and is determined to get some tail before he finally ties the knot. Miles, however, is a manic depressive, who suffers from panic attacks, and he hasn't got over his year-old divorce from Vicky (despite his having caused the break up!). Jack's larger-than-life affable nature contrasts well with Miles' cautious downer approach, and the scene is set for a whole lot of fun.

It's really a buddy caper, where anything that can happen will happen. The passages of food and wine excess are clearly opportunities to drunkenly analyse their own life problems, and to get things horribly wrong on more than one occasion. The book finishes with each of them having a better understanding about each other, and they do have a terrific time.

Apologies for the short review - I reviewed the movie here, and didn't want to repeat the whole storyline, since the majority of the key events appear in both. The book however paints a picture less dark than the movie. They are actually both quite likeable individuals, and have a begrudging respect for each other. Miles' self-loathing principally happens when he's left on his own, stewing in his own shortcomings - around others he's certainly anxious, but uses wine to introduce some levity, and it's at these times that he's bitingly witty, and an intellectual foil for Jack's agreeable teddy bear approach.

I would thoroughly recommend this book - it's a cliche to say "I laughed out loud", but I genuinely did, and that's very rare. I will leave this book a year, and read it again. 8/10.

You can buy this book here.

Film Review - Maria Full of Grace

Most of the people connected with the drugs industry are portrayed in movies as ruthless evil men - and of course that needs to be true; there is lots of money involved, and lots of risks taken. How refreshing then to see the more human face of the industry, individuals risking health and liberty to carry the drugs across the borders. Maria Full of Grace is such a movie; a realistic character study of people in poverty trying to make a better life for themselves.

We are introduced to 17 year-old Maria (Catalina Sandino Moreno) in her home town in Columbia, at work stripping thorns off roses in a factory. The work is tough, and her pay goes towards her household, where her sister has a baby, and her mum and grandma need to be sustained too. Frustrated by her situation, things get worse for Maria when she gets pregnant by her boyfriend; a local boy who pays her little attention, and is just after one thing. Maria refuses to marry him, and finishes the relationship.

At a party, she meets a young man from Bogota, who one day explains another way that she can make money quickly. She goes to the city, meets the local drug dealer, and signs up to be a mule. She is then asked to swallow in excess of 60 packages of heroin wrapped in rubber, any of which could kill her if they explode within her. As she embarks on her journey, she angrily finds that her friend Blanca (Yenny Paola Vega) has also signed up for the same thing, and is surprised when another woman who helped her in Bogota is also coming along. Banned from talking to each other, the three mules have to fly to New York, and wait in a hotel room until the packages 'reemerge'.

This passage of the film is thrilling; the sheer horror of what they are doing to their bodies, combined with the very real threat of beng caught, and the physical discomfort of carrying all the packages steers the film down a thriller route. What adds to the tension is the hand-held camerawork that gives it a 'fly on the wall' appearance. The way the girls exchange nervous glances throughout this section contributes further to the danger and loneliness they feel.

Director Joshua Marston has created a very real character study, portraying what drives people to indulge in this activity. He doesn't take a judgmental position, however; the reality of the situation is sufficiently shocking and terrifying. It's a great human study - Maria is no victim; she is a strong-willed woman who makes up her own mind.

Winner of the Dramatic Audience Award at Sundance - to say it's well acted is misleading in itself - it appears that the girls really are plucked from a Columbian neighbourhood, and look very natural, and terrified by what happens to them - this of course is the sure sign of a director and a set of actors who are very good at what they do, 7/10.

Book Review: Lance Armstrong - It's Not About The Bike

Against all the odds, he did it - he recovered from testicular cancer, and won the Tour de France 7 times. I read his autobiography in the weeks before the tour, and then watched every single stage of the race, either live on Eurosport, or the edited highlights on ITV2. It was an incredible show of strength and control to get an early lead (by default, when Dave Zabriskie fell in the finishing straight of the team time trial, and lost his lead to Lance), and then never looked like losing it. His awesomely strong Discovery Channel Team, part-owned by him, and stocked with some real strength-in-depth (white jersey winner Popo and his long-term mate George Hincapie included) were a massive part of his success. Whenever the peloton got into the mountains, his Discovery Team kept up an amazing pace at the front, making it too difficult for individual riders to make breakaways. There were only two occasions he looked vulnerable, and they were when his team mates weren't around him, but he still managed to remain mentally strong, and prevail. This year appeared to be the easiest of all his 7 victories, and the Tour director even gave him the microphone in an unprecendented move on the podium, so he could say his goodbyes to the one race that became his career focus.

As for the book, well, Lance demonstrates that cancer changed him, and for the better too. Before that, he was a singleminded athlete who entered everything, took brash risks, and won some (he was World Number One in 1993). In 1996, he was diagnosed with testicular cancer, and much of this book looks at his reactions, how he felt when the symptoms started to appear, and the whole consultation process. He describes his operations, the harshness of the chemothereapy, and the nervousness of his remission, and it makes for an inspiring read. His closeness to death changes his attitude to life, and his spirit is evident throughout.

Like many sporting autobiographies, the sheer single-mindedness, determination and guts required to reach the top of his chosen sport are incredibly inspirational - it gives you those "you can achieve anything you want to" tingles on the hairs of your neck, and makes you want to get on your bike and ride all day. So you do, and you realise how tiring it can be, and how much of a machine Lance Armstrong really is.

His obvious need to share his experience, and help others seems genuine enough. The formation of his Lance Armstrong Foundation has generated much for cancer research, including $61m alone for those yellow wristbands you see everywhere. Incidentally, his was the first wristband, now they are everywhere. I even heard off a friend that advertising executives are using them to promote brands at the moment, although that would appear to be a cynical corporate exploitation of a means to raise money for charities.

All in all, an inspiring read, and a remarkable story of a man near death who then comes back to win the Tour 7 times. The book only covers the first two Tour wins, but these sections of the book are fascinating too, and the reader will learn a lot about the races within a race that the Tour de France really is. I am listening to the audiobook of his other book "Every Second Counts" although at the half-way point, this seems to cover much of the same ground of "It's not about the bike" .. I will keep you posted. 7/10.

You can buy this book here.