Jonty Nation (TM)

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2011-05-17T21:26:00.001+01:00

Ask me anything you like as long as it's clean-ish!

http://formspring.me/JontyNation

Guys!...Meeting Women Demystified

2010-09-03T20:44:00.001+01:00

For many (straight) men, one of the major challenges that comes up high on the list repeatedly when it comes to meeting women is gathering up the courage to actually approach them and start conversations with them.

Indeed, the issue is nothing short of pandemic worldwide, attested to by the ever-increasing number of cheesy “ pick-up artist” ("PUA") so-called "training" courses available out there.

To say I take a dim view of them is an understatement.

But wait a minute.  What if a particular guy is not at all interested in becoming one of these “pickup artists”?

What if he’s a normal guy who’d simply like to have a great girlfriend, and perhaps, maybe, even a terrific wife someday?

The truth is that, if you’re that guy, you’re still going to have to actually meet the woman of your dreams before you can build a relationship with her, right? And, if you are, like many men today, useless at this type of peculiar social skill of flirting and all that jazz, what do you do? It's not as if this stuff is taught, is it?

Given the obvious truth of that statement, it’s remarkable that there has never been a comprehensive plan on how to meet high quality women in particular, start conversations with them and make plans to see them again.

Until now...

Enter Scot McKay.

"Who's he?", I hear you ask.

Well, not only is Scot one of the world’s most respected and well-known dating coaches (yes, they exist), he happens to be married to a great woman, fellow dating coach Emily McKay.  Scot calls her his “proof of concept”.

So what’s a married dating coach have to teach you about meeting women and starting conversations with them?

It’s really very simple.  Scot met a whole lot of women and built a wildly successful dating life, enjoying the process immensely before ultimately meeting Emily and building a great life with her.

And when you get around to it, isn’t that what just about every guy really wants?

When you think about it, that makes Scot the quintessentially perfect guy to teach the kind of mission-critical skills covered in his latest program, which he quite appropriately calls "The Man's Approach"

Scot’s program is the one “regular” guys all over the world have been waiting for all along.

Not only does Scot cut through all the misogynistic and cheesy Jedi mind “tricks” and “tactics” to give you what he calls a “character-based” approach to, well…approaching, he focuses on helping guys like you meet only the world’s finest women.  We’re talking about the one’s with the whole package….the ones with true “long-term potential” .

So if Scot’s the right guy to teach this stuff, then you might be asking, “What took him so long?”.

Well, ask Scot himself, and he’ll readily admit that it was only after the men that he advises persistently badgered him to produce a program like The Man's Approach, that the light bulb went on.

Although there are literally DOZENS of “pickup” courses out there, every single guy who simply wasn’t interested in being a "Player" had no real, solid resource to turn to.

This is the resulting “magnum opus” after months and months of hard work by Scot and his team.  I have to tell you, it’s one action-packed program that's contains zero "fluff", as I have utilised his mentoring that is within Scot's work myself in becoming a better man, and improving my relationships with everyone, not just my relationships with women.. Considering the track record Scot brings to the table, I'd say we indeed have exactly the right man for the job teaching this stuff…finally!

Here you go, see for yourself:

TheMansApproach.com

Do I get any recompense for recommending Scot & Emily's work?

Yes I do. I recommend it as I utilise his mentoring programs and have gained great benefit from doing so. If I make a few dollars endorsing a service or product I like, then it helps ease the bills too.

The Scarlet Dust Master

2010-08-19T15:00:00.001+01:00

When this Sebo clean machine arrived I took it out of the box and clipped the cleaner head and hose together in a trice without fuss, head-scratching, or having to look at the slim manual. I then put in the fresh bag that was included, again withoutneeding to consult any instructions.

Slipping the cleaner head into its vertical clip at the base, I filled out the warranty card and sat down with a cup of freshly made filter coffee, marvelling at the bright, shiny red glory of it as Charlotte Green crisply intoned the 11 o'clock bulletin on BBC Radio 4.
After a quick flip through the manual, which wasn't really needed, I finished the coffee and plugged it in after fully pulling out the self-rewinding cable.
Poised over it, I gripped the comfortable curved handle at the top of the tube.

"The tube's rather short", I thought, but smiled upon discovering a thumb button on the tube that makes a telescopic chromed steel inner smoothly glide out which stops at whatever length you want it to suit your height - nice.

I stepped on the combined power dial and foot switch: "whoo-OSSHHH...", it said, like a miniature turbine. So I hoovered away, grinning to myself at how clean the carpet was becoming with every pass, and found the cleaning head can be 'steered' on a turn of your wrist.

I must have hoovered the lounge (24'x 18') in as much time as it takes to boil an egg, though what impressed me, oddly, was that many cylinder cleaners have this annoying design that means it's like being in a hot air backwash like a very small jet. Not this one. The K-1 'Airbelt' is so-called, because the exhaust is pushed out around 'its waist', not via a traditional straight vent.

Around the K-1's waist is a firm, yet yielding bumper, rather like the one around a dodge 'em car, which is what the K-1 resembles. What's ingenious though is the bumper diffuses the exhaust while protecting your furniture from knocks as you glide it about.

The bags are also a design marvel, each bag has simple, clear fitting instructions, though you don't really need them. It takes less than ten seconds to work out how they slot in, and only go in one way besides. A neat design touch is the box of eight bags comes with a set of matching small "lids" that plug the hole in the bag when it comes to putting it in the trash, thus sealing in dust in and preventing it going everywhere outside. Replace the air filter with every 16th bag change.

Finally, I also own a Bosch Pro Power 2400W cylinder, with a power dial like the K-1. It's close, but no cigar, as the hot exhaust blows out the top. Both are well made in Germany, although the Bosch is 300W more powerful, making it stick to the carpet. The K-1 and Pro Power clean as well as each other, though the Bosch is noiser.

The clincher is Sebo offer a 5 year warranty with their units, additional optional turbo heads and the K-1 weighs 5.5KG, while the Bosch is 8KG.

Oh, and the K-1 is cute, quieter, scarlet, and shiny.

Atlantic Broadcloth Cyanide Blue

2010-05-20T23:22:00.001+01:00

Calgary Downtown Parkade, Alberta, Canada. It was nudging eleven thirty on a mid-July morning. I was tired, sweating and full of no coffee. The sky ached a broadcloth azure, congealing into a firmer shade as it adjoined a crowded horizon. The arrogant sun screamed like Hell and was enjoying it.

Occasionally a forsaken blur of cloud was daubed on this canvas, just for appearances.

The impassive, thirsty air hung lifelessly like a movie-house fire-curtain. It had the smell of new asphalt from a couple of blocks away. When it did see fit to take a shallow, resigned breath, it was dusty and parched: you could taste the red-yellow prairie grit in your mouth.

The atomic brilliance made the concrete road look bleached. The concrete made the cloud look bled-out. The heat was comfortable enough, at over 28 degrees C. I had to get myself protection, or my retinas would be nicely broiled within the month.

The wrap around goggle shades made me look like a bug, though it was better than a permanent Eastwood squint.I turned the colour of a light hardwood during my first week in this high and dry cowtown without trying.

The Secret behind the Secret-Part One "The Strangest Secret" by Earl Ni...

2010-04-20T23:04:00.000+01:00

On way to a Party - bumped into new student chums.

2009-11-07T01:04:00.001Z

Just archiving a photograph really.

Zut alors! Le Domaine André Brunel, Vin de Pays Rhône Vaucluse 2007 (14%) arrivé!

2009-10-16T21:29:00.002+01:00

Right, that is enough (probably rubbish) français for now in the title. The case of Rhône Wine Futures I ordered last month arrived today, and for those whose French is as limited as mine, it is all the way from the Vaucluse region, to the right of the Rhône river in the South on your map of France.

It is utterly delicious. If you want to treat you guests - or paramor - to a Châteauneuf-like experience, but don't want to frighten the wallet then try this. It is a touch sweeter than a budget Pape, and far leaner in body, yes but beware: though it is 14%, its black forest black cherry overtones make for a deceptively quaffable glass and may be knocked back with gay abandon when served at parties. For £6 a bottle, what do you want? Château Lafite? Buy, buy, buy with confidence and enjoy within a year.

Grammar Fail

2009-10-15T00:39:00.001+01:00

Seen in Wilkinson's stores.. Note the quotation marks. Why?

Superplonk Wine Picks: Asda

2009-08-27T21:17:00.002+01:00

Astonishing value bottles this week, one under a fiver. To the left is a 2007 Valpolicella 12.5% in their 'Extra Special' range. The wine is made using a technique of "Ripasso", air drying the grape skins, which deepens and intensifies the fruit. It is a pocket pleasing £4.86.

The second pick is more interesting: "La Différence" Carignan, is a 2007 Catalan Red and Gold medalist top-100 award-winner of 2008 (Vins de Pays de France).

Grown in the south, this wine derives from vines so venerable that few remember them being planted. The deeply penetrating roots draw out the rich minerality of the terroir (Character of the territory/land/soil) and the yield is tiny and intensely concentrated. The palate is rich-ish, full and ripe with several layers: Prunes, dark chocolate, soft plummy fruit with a bouquet of herbs. £6.48.

It's not particularly big like a big Amarone (not Hannibal Lecter pleasing), though try with lighter French beef dishes say, or lighter game. I suppose it wouldn't complain with an Italian tomato pasta beef sauce either, through something good from Tuscany or Puglia would be better there.

Britain: Poor Standards of Newspaper Journalism?

2009-08-21T16:44:00.001+01:00

The increasing dominance of News Corporation we've had coming for some time haven't we?

I say "we" as it is us, the consumer, who buys his - (mostly) ghastly "news" papers. I say that because three of News Corporation's titles, the ironically titled "News of The World", The Sun and The Star contain barely any news stories or analysis that is fit to print.

The red tops are, if you think about it, *harder* to read than the blacktops, as by the time you have fought your way past all the emotive language, journalese and proxy moral outrage, there's little boiled down content left. So are The Daily Bigot, sorry, The Daily *Mail* - and Daily Express.

The solution would seem a simple one: stop encouraging them! Don't buy News Corporation titles.

If we want penetrating, incisive news coverage of quality with clear, intelligible and polished writing by journalists with at least a degree of integrity and that are familiar with a metaphor that isn't decomposing, then at least buy the titles that actually have news in them:

The Guardian and Telegraph --

Not perfect and politically biased to the left and right, but at least the bias is clear.

The International Herald Tribune, The Christian Science Monitor (CSM) --

The IHT, with it’s arresting photo-journalism, contains more solid and astute illumination in it’s scant 20 pages than an entire Telegraph, Times or Guardian combined. Granted, it is at £1.50, 50p dearer than The Guardian at £1, but you don’t mind due to it’s BBC World Service “From Our Own Correspondent” style reports that reflect the humanity behind the news. Its online content is superb. Subscriptions are £23 a month, which is 41% off the cover price, not bad.

http://global.nytimes.com

Far from being an organ for it's religious output, The CSM is renowned for it's weekly lucid and fascinating dispatches and "why it matters" style briefings. I would contend that it's superior to TIME and, yes, even Newsweek. You can subscribe for a mere £65-70 a year, or 20 pence a day, which is half the weekly cover price:

http://tiny.cc/CSM635

1930s Austrian Raymond Chandler meets Country Tweed

2009-08-19T19:07:00.001+01:00

Bitter Suite Public House, Preston, Lancashire, England. December 2008. The pipe is borrowed from my good friend "G" and the tobacco if had in it was suprisingly aromatic, cool and tasty. I do not smoke, though I had a wee puff.

I have always believed that - suicide, incest and shoving pineapples up your bum aside - one should try very different things throughout one's life, particularly those you believe you may not like.

The Case of Murder by Vanishing - A Parody.

2009-08-18T14:37:00.001+01:00

I'm not knowledgeable enough to attempt a Shakespeare hardboiled parody, I barely understand the Bard at all. However, Jonathan vos Post managed something rather ingenious in "Raymond Chandler's 'Hamlet' "

So I had an off the cuff stab at a parodic take off of the hardboiled PI genre, in which I thought I'd have as much fun as I could, with every pun, gag and referential bit of sillyness as I can shoehorn in with a touch of the surreal too. Think of it as the runty bastard progeny of Monty Python, Raymond Chandler and The Two Ronnies. It's not really a proper story as such, more of a just a few off the top of my head fragments stitched together with gaping plot holes, but plot holes was good enough for Chandler :-)

Some feedback would be appreciated, how I can improve my writing etc.

Anyways, I'm thinking of introducing more characters:

several suits of armour, an old creaky Gothic house (a house is definitely a character); "Colonel Dijon": a retired ex-military man (from the mexican war) and condiment magnate; "Smoky" a mysterious wise-guy hoodlum; two identical twin brunette femme fatales: Vanya & Tanya Humphelott; "The Bag Man": a mule from a White Cider heist and finally, "Polly": (or some other name), a green parrot.

==Synopsis==

--With the reluctant help of the odd flatfoot from the local police precinct and his various contacts who inhabit the icky underbelly of a sleepy one-horse, two bit northern city (that is pretending to be so),
Private Eye Drake Noir investigates a missing woman who has been mixed up with the wrong side of town (isn't it always?)

I'd like to credit Raymond Chandler for the part use of his simile "...she came over to take my coat and disapprove of my clothes, she had eyes like strange sins."

*Film Noir smoky saxophone music*

Ext. pink neon sign outside a nightspot.

*Laconic and world weary voice over*

"...This joint was the sort of place where money talked. It was the "In" place to be. So, I went in. The lights were as low as the prices and the girls no wider than fridges. A pneumatic hat check girl in a black silk blouse and white glossy teeth came over to take my coat and disapprove of my clothes, she had eyes like strange sins. I gave her a tip - the six to one favourite at the Hollywood Bowl.

I approached a barman who looked like one of the three Stooges and ordered two fingers, he took a cleaver from behind the bar and went in the back. I scanned the room. A nervy looking small guy in a poor-fitting untucked white shirt and painfully trendy bad shoes was chalking his cue over by the Pool table.
He called me aside. I didn't know what to call him, so I took my drink over and introduced myself.

His eyes darted about. Seemed he'd been hitting doubles all evening.
I told him to quit fooling around, pick them up and put them back in. He looked like a budget Peter Lorre. There was a single, lonely bead of sweat on his pale forehead. He didn't look too healthy. He knew the Fat man he says, "his real name's Sidney Meanstreet, see?", not long out of Sing-sing for a ding-dong on a fencing rap he says.

His breath smelt of Rizlas, lamb Kebabs and bathtub gin, or worse. He wasn't telling me anything I didn't already know. I took a slug from my drink, I wish they'd buy their own. "I snorted. "need more than that kid", I snorted, "that kind of information you can get from any punk jive-ass purse-snatcher on the wong end of Church Street"

So flaps his gums again, now his yabbering got more interesting. Turns out Meanstreet had an operation in an old abandoned warehouse next to the docks. Why he didn't have it in the city infirmary is anyone's guess.

Anyways, kid bad shoes tells me to watch out for the fat man's two goons down there, "deese two yoots" he says. "Uh-huh" I said, "but, what is a 'yoot'?". I'd seen them in the mugshot book Malone showed me down at the fuzz-house: Tony 'two-toes' and 'Jimmy Gallo'. They always carried heavy heaters, usually oil filled radiators, and they hurt.

I finished my drink, handed the kid a paper napkin and told him to keep his nose clean. I took my leave and my hat, with the brand new lead he gave me.

It was red leather with a Dachshund on the end of it.

I made my way back to the office. The city was quiet, too quiet. Getting into the lobby I took the elevator up to the fourth floor. My office is on the third floor, but I decided to walk down after taking things to a whole new level. Besides, that's another story.

The Big Sleep (1978 Robert Mitchum)
The Big Sleep in a Colour print (Bogart/Bacall)
Ian Fleming Interviews Raymond Chandler

Asda-Wal-Mart Grammar Fail

2009-08-13T18:57:00.001+01:00

This is a common, but easy to miss Grammar Fail. When I first learnt about this type I realised how easily bad english can creep into your writing.

If ones as subtle and commonplace as this can occur on a seemingly unimportant sign, then perhaps we're not as literate as we think!

So, if you haven't worked this one out yet, here's a question: would you say for example, "fewer cornflakes for me, please", or "fewer scotch with that ginger", say? Think about it. It even sounds wrong!

If it's countable, it's "fewer"; if it's not countable, like liquid, or stuff such as milk, sugar, bran flakes et cetera, it's "less".

Compare the meercats dot com...simples!

Zesty & fresh summer white from Puglia, Italy.

2009-08-05T22:50:00.001+01:00

This commended 12% dryish, easy drinking light lemon sorbet astonishing refreshment bargain at £6 is available from Booth's and perhaps others. It LOVES lemon based puddings of all kinds, fish and chips and salmon. Buy a case with confidence and get 10% off the bill.

July 2009: Hotel Fairmont Paliser, Calgary.

2009-08-02T03:25:00.001+01:00

July 2009: Hotel Fairmont Paliser, Calgary. The heaven's opened for ten minutes, beginning with a sound like an iceberg breaking the sound barrier.
Downtown central Calgary, 3pm. An, arid, cloudless, thousand arc-lamp of a day, like every other in July - scrubland prairie cowboy weather. As I stepped from the hotel for a little shopping on Stephen's Avenue, thunder clattered and tumbled in from the close distance of the rockies. Cloud like a snap swarm of full payload B-52 stratofortresses appeared in a handful of minutes. The air was cloying, and hung thick and heavy as a theatre curtain.

Feeling the pat...pat...pat...of tepid water on my head, I sheltered in the revolving doorway of a high-rise office opposite as quarter-sized dark spots appeared on the beige sidewalk. The streets flickered and lit-up for a fraction of a second, the air held its breath and my eardrums rang with an iceberg shattering the sound barrier.

The afternoon dimmed as waves of thick, silver pencils bore into the asphalt with a steady, beating roar, muffling the surprised squeals of women running for cover. Not so much black cloud, but the duvet of Erebus.

After a few minutes of carpet bombing it stopped in an instant, the Sun woke up, blinked and pushed itself through the melting cloudscape.

The sidewalks became dry as the gasping heat and grit of the high plains breathed onto them once again. The wet hit and run evaporated and disappeared.

Calgary, Canada. Say hello to hot, dusty days, random warm rain and gobstopper hail within a summer week in in all the moment it takes to hard-boil an egg.

Saloon Bar, Heritage Trail Town, Alberta, West Canada.

2009-08-02T00:39:00.001+01:00

Wood raised sidewalks, dirt streets, arrid prairie air. The Chinook blows the grit of the plains into your mouth. Walk in this period Saloon and sate your dehydration with a bottle of real cream soda, orangeade or cola.

City Constables, Calgary

2009-08-01T22:22:00.001+01:00

During the Lilac Festival, 4th Avenue SW

Cool Stuff You Can't Get in Britain

2009-07-10T16:05:00.001+01:00

Kraft Dinner is a super idea. It is simply easy cook Macaroni Cheese. Ideal iron ration provisions as a full box of 225g makes 1000 cal. if made with Milk butter and real cheese. The candy is North American, by Hershey Canada Inc., Mars and Cadbury-Schweppes. As with much of the food in the continent, serving size is larger than British, though relatively bland, or one note flavour. Even the smallest candy bar here, the "Wunderbar", is a "mere" 58g, with the largest, Hershey's "Oh Henry!", dominates the scales at a 410 calorie, belly surrendering 85g. Can you say Diabetes?

Bargain Riesling

2009-07-05T14:04:00.001+01:00

Dr Loosen, available from Sainsbury's and M&S. Crowd pleasing summery party white, , 8.5%

Aurora Borealis, Manitoba, Canada.

2009-06-26T13:20:00.001+01:00

The sound it makes is hard to describe; the way it looks, more so. The Earth's largest, most spectacular Eidolon, The Northern Lights is a psychadelic shimmering morphic curtain that dances to the sound of ripping silk.

Midnight over Terminal 2

2009-06-24T23:59:00.001+01:00

The view from room 826, Radisson SAS Hotel, Manchester. The blue striped snake is the travelator walkway that goes to and from Terminal 2. and the railroad station. Both walkways connect to the hotel. Easy money!

Just off 17th Avenue

2009-05-26T18:27:00.001+01:00

Rose & Crown, just off 17th Ave., Calgary.

Dartmouth Coast, SW England

2009-05-14T01:48:00.001+01:00

I got a friendly crab to take the photograph for this striking Orson Welles/Citizen Kane-style shot.

UCLan Library: The Wacky Warehouse

2009-05-08T19:49:00.001+01:00

Ground floor. What first strikes you about the inside of the library? Its emptiness, its vacuity, the curious and unsettling want of books.

1892 Greco-Roman

2009-05-05T00:37:00.001+01:00

A curious Victorian corner building on Heatley St, unsympathetically converted into a licenced outlet (thankfully unsuccessful) entirely at odds to its patrician bearing. It offers a mix of Neo-Classical proportions, Gothic-ish window features, Laurel or Olive leaf swags and Wreath motifs, granting a Mediterranean air. There is Spanish undertone with that proud corner turret? This should be a mess, yet it works. Who built it? Who lived here? A wealthy merchant with a sense of humour maybe.

Jonty Nation (TM)

formspring.me

Guys!...Meeting Women Demystified

For many (straight) men, one of the major challenges that comes up high on the list repeatedly when it comes to meeting women is gathering up the courage to actually approach them and start conversations with them.

Indeed, the issue is nothing short of pandemic worldwide, attested to by the ever-increasing number of cheesy “ pick-up artist” ("PUA") so-called "training" courses available out there.

But wait a minute. What if a particular guy is not at all interested in becoming one of these “pickup artists”?

What if he’s a normal guy who’d simply like to have a great girlfriend, and perhaps, maybe, even a terrific wife someday?

Given the obvious truth of that statement, it’s remarkable that there has never been a comprehensive plan on how to meet high quality women in particular, start conversations with them and make plans to see them again.

Until now...

Enter Scot McKay.

"Who's he?", I hear you ask.

Well, not only is Scot one of the world’s most respected and well-known dating coaches (yes, they exist), he happens to be married to a great woman, fellow dating coach Emily McKay. Scot calls her his “proof of concept”.

So what’s a married dating coach have to teach you about meeting women and starting conversations with them?

It’s really very simple. Scot met a whole lot of women and built a wildly successful dating life, enjoying the process immensely before ultimately meeting Emily and building a great life with her.

And when you get around to it, isn’t that what just about every guy really wants?

When you think about it, that makes Scot the quintessentially perfect guy to teach the kind of mission-critical skills covered in his latest program, which he quite appropriately calls "The Man's Approach"

Scot’s program is the one “regular” guys all over the world have been waiting for all along.

So if Scot’s the right guy to teach this stuff, then you might be asking, “What took him so long?”.

Well, ask Scot himself, and he’ll readily admit that it was only after the men that he advises persistently badgered him to produce a program like The Man's Approach, that the light bulb went on.

Although there are literally DOZENS of “pickup” courses out there, every single guy who simply wasn’t interested in being a "Player" had no real, solid resource to turn to.

Do I get any recompense for recommending Scot & Emily's work? Yes I do. I recommend it as I utilise his mentoring programs and have gained great benefit from doing so. If I make a few dollars endorsing a service or product I like, then it helps ease the bills too.