Chania and beyond

I've wanted to visit Crete for best partof 30 years or more. I recollect in the late 1970s watching a TV drama entitled "Who pays the Ferryman ?" which was set on the island and I was thrilled by the scenery especially the harbour views. Life has a way of delaying plans and as a result I reached Crete in late September 2012.

We're on a tour named "Discover the West", determined to avoid hiring a car we've booked three coach tours and plan to use public transport (buses) for any other journeys. The tour centres on the town of Chania. Once in the old town it offers the charm,bustle and harbour that I've been hoping to see. Obviously at this time of year tourists outnumber Cretans but the setting still retains its character.

We sat in a harbourside cafe to have lunch, to our left a Mosque built when the Turks invaded Crete has been converted into a craft market (no comment). I succumbed to a plate of grilled sardines (I've told myself that I will not eat a diet of fish this holiday), but the sardines are excellent washed down by a Mythos. We watch as horse and carts go by.

This is perhaps the first European holiday I've experienced where British tourists are obviously outnumbered. The dominant grouping obviously comes from Germany, with a fair number of Dutch as well. In the current economic climate the number of German tourists is significant, Greece could certainly use the Euros that they spend here. The local population work hard, the season will be over by November. As before my thoughts are drawn to the propaganda in some of the UK media, that the plight of Greece is the result of the Greek people shunning hard work. Yet again my experience is completely the opposite, those o working in the restaurants and hotels are working tirelessly often without a day off in a week.

Crete we are told has a million olive trees , our guide on the coach suggests that many of those working in Chania will return to the land when the tourist season ends. I'm not convinced.

Crete is the largest of the islands I've visited, in its current situation you might expect a Cretan separatist movement to develop, but we've seen no signs of that. Instead Cretans we've spoken to are proud to be Greek, they've been invaded many times perhaps that explains this pride and determination. We've been here only three days but I sense we have so much more to see and learn.

Terry Brown's Yellow & Blue Army

(written Wednesday 19th September , uploaded 9th October)

A day of very mixed emotions; people follow football clubs with their heads and hearts. My head had told me for some little while that the time was right for managerial change at AFC Wimbledon. In football talk the manager and the coaching staff had taken the Club as far as they could.

Results this season have been poor, and as weeks past the only strategy appeared to be to loan more players. Fans and I suspect players could see that there was no masterplan and little or no pattern of play. The Board a few weeks ago made an announcement that they had spoken to the management team about the seriousness of the situation; however results have not improved and two defeats at home in three days was the tipping point.

Last night after a 1-0 home defeat to Torquay, Terry Brown walked around the ground applauding fans, who in turn reciprocated. The bulk of those present were aware of what was taking place and they all appreciated all that Terry Brown had done for the Club.. He arrived when we were languishing in the Ryman Premier League. The aim to get to the football league in ten years had stalled. Terry Brown refired the engine, promotion to Conference Football was achieved via the play offs and of course two seasons later AFC Wimbledon reached the football league via the play offs and the dramatic penalty shoot out at Eastlands.
It only took 9 years, was in no small part possible because of Terry Brown.

As he walked slowly around the ground, the mood was reminiscent of the scenes when Brian Clough left Nottingham Forest. Fans remembered the good times rather than the predicament that it now finds itself in.

The Club now needs to find a new manager.I sense that every manager, even the greats, have a sell-by date, but like people in other forms of employment they rarely leave at their peak. Sadly for every AleX Fergusson or Arsene Wenger there are many who never peak or who stay too long.

Terry Brown is a good man, a decent person who has had to cope with much during his time at the Club> He deserves to be respected for his past successes not the past couple of months.

Postscript(Saturday 22nd Sept).
It's late afternoon and I'm sitting in my hotel room in Crete. I'm following Wycombe v AFC Wimbledon on my ipad as Simon Bassey wins his first game in charge as caretaker boss. It has also been revealed that the Club has asked Dave Bassatt to act as a consultant as he and the AFCW Board will interview candidates for the managerial position over the next week or so.

Green Party Conference September 2012

It's many years since I've attended a conference, and my experience in the past has come from the NUT and Labour Party; for this reason I wasn't sure what to expect from the Green Party Conference in Bristol.

 Having joined the Party I knew that I wanted to learn and immerse myself in the culture of the party.

For personal reasons I was unable to attend on the opening day (Friday) when the formal hand of the party leadership would take place. Caroline Lucas would hands over the reins to Natalie Bennett. Since conference ended I have watched their two speeches and the speech of Caroline Lucas sums up exactly why I found myself atrracted to the party and why I would spend the next three nights in Bristol.

At 9am on Saturday morning I was in a workshop learning the ins and outs of conference, this familiarisation would have been essential to someone unfamiliar with this type of debating forum. On a personal level I found it useful, it jogged the memory and prepared me for the days ahead.

The main session of the morning was taken up by speeches from Jason Kitcat , leader of Brighton and Hove Council whose theme was Brighton's getting greener. This was followed by the handing over of the deputy leadership from Adrian Ramsay to Will Duckworth. Will gave a personal moving and humourous speech. He explained that after becoming a house husband after a fruitless year looking for work, he read every party's manifesto and discovered that the Greens agreed with him on everything, and he joined the party in 2008. He co-formed Dudley Green Party in 2009 and by 2012 he became the party's first councillor in that authority.

His description of the other parties strategy was spot on, particularly the Labour "hiding in the cupboard" analogy. As he said "forget the grey,it's the 50 Shades of Blue that get me hot under the collar"

I went from the main hall to two sessions that discussed media and stategy. Both were thought provoking, as I tried to adapt messages and strategy to suit my situation in Ingatestone.

The afternoon dealt with motions , a range of issues from working hours to animal racing. Late afternoon and I was sitting in the Compass debate between Rupert Reed  and Neal Lawson ( Lavour Party and Compass Organiser). Compass has been the one genuine non sectarian campaigning broad based body on the left in recent years. Based around the concept of the Good Society , Compass has engaged in debate on key themes, the debate on Saturday was on the issue of growth.  it was a well rehearsed debate, in part because I'd listened and read Rupert Reed's analysis via Green House. However Neal Lawson made on comment that struck a chord and I'll undoubtedly use again. He said : " We live in a utopia , the trouble is it's not our utopia, its one designed and made by neo-liberals".

On Sunday I made a beeline for a discussion group on whether to pay an allowance to the party leader. While Caroline Lucas lead the party this issue really didn't arise, as an elected politician, first as an MEP and then MP, she could fulfil party and media engagements easily, however there was a realisation that if the party was to advance the new leader would need time to devote to campaigns,meetings etc and this would be rendered ineffective if the leader had to find employment. It was an interesting debate with valid contributions on both sides. Ultimately it was decided to pay an allowance, again a historic decision for the party.

Sunday ended with a plenary session discussing party pollicy on disability followed by a panel debate on "What if growth doesn't happen ? A long but personally rewarding day, where I felt more attuned and engaged.

Back on Monday and an early session on Greens in Power, a discussion organised by the Association of Green Councillors. For the first time I felt inclined and confident to contribute, I was beginning to meet other delegates and interact. Later that morning I went to a feedback session where I could make some points as a "newcomer" both to the party and conference.

Overall this was an inspiring experience, and one I hope to repeat, to quote a headline I read on Guardian online : " They're jolly, they're green, and they might be giants"

The End of the Season

A win in the penultimate game of the season and Surrey are safe. A month ago our place in Division 1 appeared to be in jeopardy, but an upturn in performance has seen Surrey accumulate sufficient points. It seems that last season's champions Lancashire will be relegated, such are the turnarounds in county cricket.

The dispute between the ECB and Kevin Pietersen had at least one positive, it gave Surrey a quality batsman in the middle order when one was most desparately needed.

In recent months players have been changed more regularly than socks, and the selection policy has to say the least been baffling. In the penultimate game at home to Nottinghamshire, fast bowler Tim Linley took five wickets in the Notts first innings; all good you might say, except Linlay has been overlooked for much of the season.

Nothing highlights the problems at Surrey more than the treatment of Matthew Sprigel. For much of the season Spreigs has been a mainstay of both the CB40 and T20 sides. On more than one occasion he was steered Surrey to victory when defeat looked on the cards. Yet the Coaching staff have denied him the chance to cement a place in the county championship side. A player who bats, who has taken valuable wickets in limited over cricket and excels in the outfield, has effectively been an outcast from the county side.

I assume it came to noones surprisewhen it was announced that Matt was joing Northamptonshire for next season. No one could blame him, but Surrey have lost a local cricketer who has played for the county since 9 years of age. Even more bewildering was the fact that Coach Adams told the Surrey members forum in August that he regarded Spriegs as a player of immense potential. Actions and words seem some distance apart.

I'm sure many Surrey players will be delighted when the season ends, it seems that it will conclude with rain once again the dominant feature. A season that initially promised much has unfolded in ways that no one could have imagined. Perhaps everyone needs to put time and space between them and the Oval. Hopefully next season a clear pattern and strategy will evolve,and cricket will once again be fun and the sun will shine.

London Olympics (part 3) Hottest ticket in town

If you were to ask most of the British public what their personal highlight of the London Olympics were, you'd get a multitude of answers. I sense the names Ennis, Wiggins, Farah, and Hoy would feature regularly. Of course the bulk of the British sports loving members of the public are not nuts about basketball.

In the second week of the Olympics the basketball tournaments moved from the Basketball Arena to what became the North Greenwich Arena. For three days I made journeys down to North Greenwich to watch some of the world's finest players.

Friday saw us witness the Spanish team produce a great second half comeback against Russia. On Saturday night, with a 9pm tip off, we saw the womens gold medal game between USA v France. Now when the tickets first went on sale this was my biggest catch. I must admit that the idea of seeing a gold medal presented, the flags rising, the anthem played, it all was part of the experience I had hoped for. France kept it close for 15 minutes but there was little doubt that the USA women would gradually wear them down, and they did.

Now just before the Games started I was told that more tickets were being released. I went online in desperation rather than hope. In a flash it appeared on screen, there was a ticket for the mens basketball funal. The only issue was the price, the ticket was near courtside, the most expensive ticket in the house. A quick conversation at home, ended with the statement "it's a once in a lifetime opportunity", and so I bought it. Needless to say it was the most expensive ticket that I've ever purchased.

On Sunday morning I'd arranged to meet some friends in the bar where the night before we had cheered Mo Farah to success in the 5000 metres. After a couple of beers chatting over the basketball tournament, it was a case of taking my seat. With my camera in hand I watched Knicks Carmelo Anthony & Tyson Chandler warm up, somewhat closer than when I watched them at Madison Square Garden in February.

Here was my chance to watch LeBron James and Kobe Bryant two genuine NBA all stars who I'd never watched live before. The game itself lived up to expectation, Spain kept it close and indeed went ahead in Pau Gasol they had one of the games outstanding performers. His brother Marc acquired fouls too quickly and his absence on court cost Spain dearly. Just as Spain got close in the 4th quarter Le Bron stepped up, my enduring memory will be of him driving to the basket and dunking the ball.

 At the end the USA won 107-100, the Spanish players knew that they had got "that close" but it was the star spangled banner that played.

A week later with the memory of the game still vivid, I'm just so pleased I bought that ticket.

London Olympics Part 2

The London Olympics covering so many different sports allowed me to engulf myself in one of my fascinations - sports photography.  I'm fascinated at how sports photographers capture the moment. Writing a couple of days after the Olympics finished, I've started to wade my way through the last two weeks newspapers to cut out and keep a scrap book of sports photos that will hopefully act as an additional memory and souvenir of the London Olympics.

Of course there are many who see the written  paper media as a declining form, and since this is a blog, I've decided to devote an entry to photos from 2012 of one particularly discipline - track cycling.

I've chosen track cycling because the photography seemed to capture speed,skill, danger and colour. The uniforms and speed seemed to present an almost surreal image. Perhaps because this was a discipline where Team GB excelled it caught my attention more, but the photographers work on occasions seemed to move into the realm of art.

These two photos are of Jason Kenny who won gold in the mens sprint.

The above photos are of Chris Hoy who at London 2012 became Britain's greatest olympian overtaking the haul of gold medals won by rower Steve Redgrave.

The photo below is of Laura Trott who won two gold mdals at the London games, here she's seen in action in the womens' sprint.

 This photo is of the team pursuit and probably ranks as my favourite photo of the Olympics

 I include some photos of Victoria Pendleton whose performances captured the elation and heartbreak of the Olympics

Finally a photo of the womens team pursuit which seems to sum up effort, concentration and commitment.

London Olympics - Week 1

During the build up to the London Olympics it was easy to be cynical, there was plenty to be cynical and indeed angry about. The failure of a private sector firm to employ and training enough staff, leaving a public sector organisation ( the British Army) to pick up the pieces. The corporatisation of the games,not only the role of sponsors but the choice of them. Fast Food Chains, Chemical and Oil companies etc. Finally the establishment of VIP lanes on London roads, fast tracking officials wnen ordinary commuters were threatened with impossible journeys.

However once the games began the focus turned to sport as it should. In week one we were fortunate to have several tickets for the basketball arena. On the first Sunday morning following instructions we aimed to be at Stratford at 7am that's two hours ahead of the first game. The threatened long delays to get through security were non existant, as the army ensured that the process was smooth and efficient.

It was our first sight of the Olympic Park and the various sites. We made our way to the basketball arena to see Tunisia v Nigeria, not necessarily the most enticing fixtures to drag neutrals out of bed on a Sunday morning and indeed there were many gaps in the stands. Of those present many had little or no knowledge of the sport, and I acted as an informal advisor. By the second game Brazil v Australia, more spectators were arriving, the game was of a higher standard.

After the session end we made our way through the park knowing we'd be back later in the week. The opening days saw few medals for Britain ( I'm not happy with the marketing term Term GB), however rowing and cycling are two sports where we began to achieve. Now being a poor swimmer, rowing offers little attraction to me, but cycling has without doubt been absolutely compelling. As I found myself shouting at the TV screen as British cyclists won gold medals, none more so than Victoria Pendleton.

On Wednesday evening I returned to the basketball arena to see womens basketball. My seat which I'd bought late  turned out to be courtside and I was able to see two fine games Croatia v Czech republic and then USA v Turkey. However with the final game tipping off at 10.15pm, it was no surprise that the arena emptied well before the end. Nevertheless it did give me the opportunity to see the stadium lit.

Thursday afternoon and we saw two more games , this time the highlight was seeing Manu Ginobili ply his trade for Argentina. The opportunity to see a three time NBA champion was a highlight, then a close fought game between Russia and Brazil.

Friday saw the first athletics session at the Olympic Stadium. This would see the Park at its fullest as 80,000 spectators made their way to the stadium for a chance to see Jessica Ennis start her campaign to win a gold medal in the hepthalon. No one should underestimate the pressure that Ennis has been under. London 2012 demanded a poster girl to sell the games, and she has fulfilled the role. The crowd in the stadium could not have been more supportive of all the athletes. Cheering British performers while encouraging others. It has something about our culture that often the warmest applause was reserved for those athletes clearly out of their depth, yet determined to compete and give their best.

Athletics as a spectator sport is not like team sports, the passion is in the performance. The crowd is a better gender balance and definately family orientated. For all that I 'm delighted to say I was in the olmpic stadium, and I saw Jessica Ennis complete two disciplines on the way to her gold medal.


Saturday night was one of the most successful nights in British sporting history. Three gold medals in little over a hour. Jessica Ennis was followed by Greg Ritherford in the Long Jump and Mo Farah in the 10,000 metres.  Collectively the success of these athletes together with others over the first week lifted the spirit across the country, at a time when celebrity culture is everywhere, these men and women proved that Britain does indeed have talent.

Their success also said much about modern Britain. The country shared the success not only of Jessica Ennis, a mixed race woman from Sheffield but also Mo Farah, a young man who came to London as a boy, a refugee from Somalia,a muslim, who went to school  here, and supported the Arsenal. When Farah told a reporter, this is my country , I grew up here, and I'm proud to wear the vest of Great Britain. He spoke words that sum up modern British society. Nationality is about identification, not necessarily where you were born.