tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-79534576745795928462024-11-01T11:34:09.242+00:00Don't Fade To Grey..Polkohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02319004168387859789noreply@blogger.comBlogger217125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7953457674579592846.post-57370278320107182562014-03-31T04:49:00.001+01:002014-03-31T04:50:28.661+01:00

Not quite.. but almost. This week it was announced that a Pound Pub would be launching in Stockton on Tees. What's more, this is not a local barmy businessman's idea. It is a test for a potential national chain. If the venture gets the go ahead, beer would be priced at not quite a pound a pint but £1.50. A half a pint will cost you the £1 coin. However, at £1.50 a pint this is still half

Polkohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02319004168387859789noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7953457674579592846.post-5049070318336254902013-12-17T14:02:00.001+00:002013-12-17T15:04:15.631+00:00

An early Christmas present was delivered by the British Library this week. It unveiled a million images that it has placed onto a free to use Flickr account. Anyone can now browse, download, re-image or edit through the collection of illustrations. Each illustration is taken from the massive British Library resources of 17th to 19th century books it has in the archive in London. I had an hour

Polkohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02319004168387859789noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7953457674579592846.post-58480309840627326062013-11-22T12:22:00.000+00:002013-11-22T12:42:42.653+00:00

Last year I raised £160 for Cancer Research UK by not drinking alcohol during January. This year I'm signing up again to their annual DryathlonTM and have set the target at £200 like last year. I suspect it might be a little harder this year as there's a limit to how many times you can ask your facebook friends to donate. It's not fair to keep digging the same people in the ribs and asking them

Polkohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02319004168387859789noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7953457674579592846.post-10214624678416932212013-11-13T14:14:00.003+00:002013-11-13T14:14:43.262+00:00

Here's something that has slipped my net in the last year. Europe's tallest building was The Shard in London (310 meters high) during 2012. But, actually it wasn't. At the time the Shard was 'topped off', technical construction term for finalising a building, another tower was already higher than it but hadn't been topped off/completed. During 2013 the building was finished and ready for

Polkohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02319004168387859789noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7953457674579592846.post-84824463487868818932013-10-25T10:18:00.000+01:002013-10-25T10:20:08.973+01:00

This amused me today as I read through my first 30 minutes of news etc online - Then it got me a bit angry really. If you read the first headline it is all about the benefits to Royal Bank of Scotland in reviving an old family name for a part of their bank, opening new branches on the High St (things going round in circles?!) as their business surveys and advice have been that people like

Polkohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02319004168387859789noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7953457674579592846.post-1404977044376122532013-10-21T17:47:00.000+01:002013-10-21T17:47:45.571+01:00

Now here's a strange thing. And a problem. And a solution to the problem. All in one blog post. Can't be bad? I use Outlook to collect my work emails like a lot of people. Today I created a message and saved it to the draft folder as I wasn't sure I wanted to send it (it was a rant!). Then I carried on working. Something went wrong and I had to restart my PC. When I loaded up Outlook all was

Polkohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02319004168387859789noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7953457674579592846.post-40978858592778237092013-10-17T16:26:00.000+01:002013-10-17T16:36:08.862+01:00

Joe Thornton. Name mean anything to you? Probably not to most of my European readers. But the twitter-sphere and lots of US TV channels have been set alive by a comment he made recently. Here's the story. Joe Thornton is the 34 year old Captain of the San Jose Sharks ice hockey team in .. well San Jose strangely enough. His team mate and new player in the NHL Tomas Hertl scored his first NHL

Polkohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02319004168387859789noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7953457674579592846.post-24320493798061065942013-10-04T09:09:00.000+01:002013-10-04T11:35:07.944+01:00

Well, it's that time of the year again. The time when I sit at my desk each morning with a 'big cup of Joe' and dial up last night's hockey games to catch up on events. At the end of the week I then bore my bemused friends (best type to have) with stories of strange central european names who have been heroes or pussies this week. Who scored what and where, etc. As I'm in England my friends

Polkohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02319004168387859789noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7953457674579592846.post-61286966362201950312013-09-27T16:04:00.000+01:002013-10-01T16:36:18.380+01:00

The title of the blog just about says it all really.  Mercedes. Chicken. Class. Class engineering that is. Such a great ad concept.. Mercedes engineers observe the natural world and incorporate it into their suspension/body control. Got to hand it to German engineers.. ENJOY!(& thanks to Mrs P for the link!) Advert details Advertising Agency: Jung von Matt/Neckar,

Polkohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02319004168387859789noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7953457674579592846.post-11444397163339788182013-09-20T11:03:00.000+01:002013-09-20T11:03:52.521+01:00

Before I start on this iOS stuff, I'd like to put a plug in for a great Blog that should interest any of you that have any feelings whatsoever for Manchester. Manchester UK that is, not Manchester, Ontario or Manchester, New Hampshire or any other part of the world that shares a city or town with the same name.  It's called Skyliner. Written by someone I don't know personally but regularly

Polkohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02319004168387859789noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7953457674579592846.post-68747400549189979772013-07-31T18:30:00.002+01:002013-07-31T18:31:32.883+01:00

As you wander any part of the planet you are surrounded by street signs and furniture. In a short leap of time since the first formal signs started going up in the world we now have literally thousands of varieties of sign that say essentially the same thing but in different languages, with different graphic design and in different colours.. How come? I'm going to make an effort to start taking

Polkohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02319004168387859789noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7953457674579592846.post-85425812414631168892013-05-23T11:27:00.000+01:002013-05-23T11:27:50.028+01:00

In January I was given a gift. It came in the form of two words = Baillie Gifford Their share price was touted around in early 2013 as one to watch or, if you had the balls/foresight, to invest in. At the time it was 150p per share. Baillie Gifford Japan Trust plc are a securities house that invest funds across a range of Japanese companies, property and other investments to make other people

Polkohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02319004168387859789noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7953457674579592846.post-66972370257728859612013-05-22T09:31:00.000+01:002013-05-22T09:31:05.496+01:00

I had to share this with you as it is a piece of genius data analysis. A comparison of car theft crime rates with sales of a video game purported to be one of the factors behind a rise in crime over the same period... Shoots (pun intended) down those who say video games promote crime. It comes from an interesting infographic that looks at car crime rates, unfortunately in the US rather than

Polkohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02319004168387859789noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7953457674579592846.post-57263432957543122122013-05-21T11:14:00.001+01:002013-07-31T17:03:03.815+01:00

HOCKEY.. A slightly disappointing start to round 2 of the 2013 Stanley Cup playoffs for New York Rangers. Down 2 games in the first 2 games to Boston Bruins.. Current standings are (21 May): Boston really are the surprise at this stage being 2 straight games up. Pittsburgh and LA are my personal favourites and I would have thought would be 2 or 3 games straight up but both have conceded a

Polkohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02319004168387859789noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7953457674579592846.post-52837312528362131242013-05-20T14:28:00.000+01:002013-05-20T14:28:35.101+01:00

Let's take a look at the evidence.. Click the video. This game is, yet again, about a world where things are falling apart. This game is, yet again, taking the genre further. This game is, yet again, looking incredible. This game is, yet again, being developed by Ubisoft. Watch Dogs. I rest my case. Ubisoft, by far the most imaginative games designers out there!

Polkohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02319004168387859789noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7953457674579592846.post-35417593817940097032013-05-17T13:54:00.002+01:002013-05-17T14:12:50.201+01:00

Trams... Not many places have the benefit of them in the UK. This is especially surprising since a lot of towns started their adventures into commuting and expanding housing estates with horse drawn, then electric powered tram systems shuttling people backwards and forwards. Those days are gone. Dead and buried some thought. Then came a resurgence in light rail systems during the 90s - across

Polkohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02319004168387859789noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7953457674579592846.post-74451379503693765292013-05-17T09:43:00.000+01:002013-05-17T09:58:44.832+01:00

Game 1 of the NHL Stanley Cup second round started Thursday evening for New York Rangers with a visit to the TD Garden Arena, Boston. An ice hockey venue I have yet to visit - next on my list in actual fact. I'll keep this one short. ish. Most of the shots on Lundqvist in the first period hit dead centre of his shirt logo. You are not going to score against "possibly the best netminder in

Polkohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02319004168387859789noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7953457674579592846.post-36219467090556274692013-05-16T09:29:00.000+01:002013-05-16T23:28:12.053+01:00

We have to wait until this evening for the first face off between the New York Rangers and Boston Bruins. It's going to be a rough, tough fight between those two old time rival teams. Last night, Wednesday evening, saw the first of the second round games for the NHL Stanley Cup involving the other two of the four 'Original 6' teams - Chicago Blackhawks v Detroit Redwings. In Chicago. Welcome to

Polkohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02319004168387859789noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7953457674579592846.post-88126614664235242602013-05-15T14:22:00.002+01:002013-05-15T14:22:51.507+01:00

So, Islanders out - see my last blog - but some surprises at the end of the first round of the Stanley Cup this year. Mini-me supports New York Rangers (think he does it to wind me up as a New York Islanders fan!) and so we've been head to head in round 1 NYI playing Pittsburgh Penguins and NYR playing Washington Capitals. Both tough match ups. The Rangers managed to hang on in there to game 7

Polkohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02319004168387859789noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7953457674579592846.post-70923189807634473122013-05-13T14:15:00.003+01:002013-05-16T09:40:33.121+01:00

Game 6 of the first round of 2013's Stanley Cup playoffs. New York Islanders fighting to stay in with a chance to go through to the next round against the number 1 seeded team from the east Pittsburgh Penguins. All excitement. They've done extremely well to get to this point. And opened well by putting themselves into the lead after only 5 and a half minutes. The Islanders completely dominated

Polkohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02319004168387859789noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7953457674579592846.post-22714736621028803652013-05-10T09:32:00.000+01:002013-05-13T09:24:02.209+01:00

Correction, three goal breakaway... That's what killed NY on Thursday night at the Pittsburgh Penguins v New York Islanders game. Game 5 of a best of 7 Round 1 Stanley Cup playoff match up. Islanders hanging in there and have to win two in a row now to stay in. Until Thursday the Islanders had done well to come back from a disastrous first game (5-0 loss) by winning the last two games and

Polkohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02319004168387859789noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7953457674579592846.post-12524817983430185802013-05-08T09:30:00.001+01:002013-05-10T11:12:11.518+01:00

Game 4 last night between New York Islanders and Pittsburgh Penguins in the first round of the 2013 Stanley Cup Playoffs. A real game of ping pong this one. First one team scores (the Islanders got the first lead as Brian Strait got his first ever NHL goal), then the other evens up 45 seconds later. 1-1 out of the first period. 2-1 to New York 6 minutes into the second with Pittsburgh making it

Polkohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02319004168387859789noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7953457674579592846.post-2871263879985818712013-05-07T18:55:00.000+01:002013-05-10T11:12:26.001+01:00

Spot that break from tradition up there? Usually my blog titles are three words only. Couldn't quickly make up a 3 worder today. Sorry. Anyway, the Stanley Cup is well into the first round of the playoffs. 16 teams playing for the ultimate cup. 8 teams from the Western Conference, 8 from the Eastern.Each round is best of 7 games - an exhausting haul to mid-late June with teams playing every

Polkohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02319004168387859789noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7953457674579592846.post-10487949674737655432013-05-03T11:25:00.000+01:002013-05-03T11:28:17.022+01:00

Wednesday 1 May 2013 New York Islanders game 1 of the first round of the NHL Stanley Cup playoffs. I'm waiting with anticipation.  True, the Islanders have drawn the worst possible team to go up against in the first round - Pittsburgh Pengiuns (way ahead on points and games won this year and playing an amazing game).  True, the Islanders haven't really got a team with any experience

Polkohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02319004168387859789noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7953457674579592846.post-23751187277422125592013-04-24T10:16:00.001+01:002013-04-24T11:48:13.609+01:00

And so... it is that time of the year again. The NHL Stanley Cup is about to start - with the last of the regular season games scheduled for Sunday 28 April. The Stanley Cup starts on April 30th - NHL Countdown Clock This has been a strange and rapid season as the NHL didn't even get started this year until after Christmas (due to player/union/NHL disputes about the split of revenues)

Polkohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02319004168387859789noreply@blogger.com0