Wednesday, April 18, 2007

podcast paul podcast 156

Download the MP3 Podcastpaul 156 right here


Podcast Paul podcast 156 - oops - did I say 155?
3 Blind Mice - Dead Penguin - eh?! (PMN)
A big shout out to Rose and Bob - Back Packing light
I love my Caravan!!
Can you name my caravan?
so many switches - a real big boys toy - but blimey is it heavy!
Most awful thing about camping
Mike O'Hara - Searching for truth (PMN)
Demolition! (I love it !)
Can you send me any audio tracks?
Accents! How many can we get?
Are there differences in other countries?
Karmy Tyler - The Middle Man (PMN)
Podcast Nation - Let's Rock
send me a mail

Monday, April 16, 2007

Alan Johnston

I have to say that I fear the worst for Alan Johnston, there being no word from him or his captors for over a month now.


Do please copy this graphic and display it on your site. My thoughts and wishes are with Alan and his family at this time.




Happiness is......


..... sitting in a caravan with the windows open on a beautiful, glorious sunny day, revising Business Law and Practice for exams on Friday and Monday while listening to Gary Moore...
Ah, the bliss of April Sun, proportionally fitted kitchens, mellow blues and legal academia....

Friday, April 13, 2007

priorities and stuff

I'm taking time out of my busy schedule to drop a note on my blog.



It's still hectic with work and ... stuff. I got in this morning around 5 am (again) and have so many urgent things to do it makes my head spin.



After listening to the hypnotic voice of the Radio 4 shipping forecaster on the world service, I got out of my car and paused. I was met with a beautiful dawn chorus of birds. It was so beautiful I just had to stand and listen for a few minutes.



I got into the office, had a cup of tea and then set about work at a leisurely pace, remembering the old addage of Rob Parsons "Walk around any graveyard in Britain and you won't find a headstone with the following inscription: 'I wish I'd spent more time at the office' "

This Easter break I took my two youngest lads and Sue away in a caravan. Cheap, cheerful - and absolutely delightful. I don't mind working hard, and I'm certainly never one to be called work - shy, but at the end of the day, none of us are indispensable. I vow to leave my kids with great memories of their childhood, not a dad asleep on the sofa, or absent through work commitments or other stuff.

I can't bear to watch 'The Apprentice' with Alan Sugar, the tyrant boss demnding all and more of his strength-sapped sycophants. In truth, I fell for that load of old tripe years ago. Now I see it for what it really is. I'm lucky that I can have a work-life balance and I intend to meet this challenge head on.

The lengthy days in the office from dawn to dusk are hopefully going to be a thing of the past. I don't mind the odd early morning, and I'll do the best I can with the most integrity. I'm happy to give 100%. I'm not giving 200%. The pie of my day is hopefully clearly marked: work / kids / stuff. I now need to make the 'stuff' section smaller and the 'kids' section fatter.

The stuff thing is a deception you know. We all need stuff, but I have too much of it. Stuff that isn't work, but there to please myself or other people. I have so much stuff I find that I often let folks down because my stuff is as overwhelming as my work. To those of you who read this, if I have let you down over things recently, or taken my time in sorting something out - I'm really sorry. I need to learn to prioritise, and I'm just beginning to understand this now.

Life is not a game, you get one shot at it.

Being a terrific lawyer with a glittering career? Hmmm. Being a good lawyer with kids and a wife who will appreciate me? Exceptional. I'll take the latter any day. Now I need to work on the stuff...

Friday, April 06, 2007

podcast155, podcastpaul.

Download podcast 155 MP3 here

Seriously beautiful music from:

Wayne Brown & Virtual Jazz Band link here - Have you ever heard?
Paul Rose: link here
Klodya / Wayne Brown - a different kind of heat link here

I talk about Britain, women wetting themselves and loads of other stuff too!

Thursday, April 05, 2007

Don't Cry for me Argentina.........

.........the truth is, you'll never have it.

I remember sitting in a classroom in 1982, I'd have been 14 at the time, 15 later that year. Steve Jones ("Limpet") came in shouting "They've invaded the Falklands.........!"

30 or so teenagers were excited and enraged - and utterly confused. The Falklands?! Eh?

A bit of the British Isles that is still disputed territory is, to us, and the very British inhabitants; The Falklands - and to the Argentinians; Islas Malvinos.

25 years on and I still remember feeling so proud of our armed forces who fought of the shambolic, disorganised rabble that were the Argentinians. Night after night we'd see news footage of heroic battles, reminiscent of the standpoint of Michael Cane & co in Zulu. The one difference was the fact that we won... I still hold fast to the well seasoned mantra that the British forces are THE best in the world.

Wednesday, April 04, 2007

Broadcasting Lawyer Show No.2 - The job would be great apart from the clients...

Download the show HERE (MP3) - just right click and select "save target as"

The Broadcasting Lawyer is back!

In this episode, Peter Jones; Managing Partner, Smith Jones, talk about some of our more flamboyant clients and the differences between the provincial and city lawyer.

Warning: not in the least bit boring or yawn-worthy.

Enjoy!

Tuesday, April 03, 2007

Thought for the day


Treat people today the same way that you would expect them to treat you.


It's a pretty good lesson to learn. I hve a pretty short fuse these days and find that some people irritate me when they're petty and two faced. It's the easiest thing in the world to treat someone with contempt, it's much more difficult to treat them better than they expect you to treat them. This is alesson I'm learning ...... slowly.


Whatever you say about the stuff in the Bible, it's stood the test of time. I'm not sure that Harry Potter and James Herriot's books will be around in 2000 years, despite the content. Whatever you think of it, it would be daft to pass of some of the real gems in there that have been read by countless millions of people through the ages.


St. Paul talks of using the lesson to treat people well at all times, paricularly those who are bad to you. He talks of kindness to enemies as "heaping coals of fires" on their heads (Romans Ch 12 v 20). This isn't some ritualistic torture - in old Eastern times, hot coals would be conveyed from house to house in pottery carried on the head in earthern vessels. The coals would be used to start fires in each home.


The place we live in today is sometimes a cold, callous place where people don't have time for each other, but at the end of the day, life passes so quickly. Bitterness and anger aren't great virtues and neither do they help anyone. As hard as it may seem today, share some warmth with others, particularly those who may not deserve it. What goes around comes around. Share bitterness, and you can be pretty sure you'll get biterness back. As corny as it sounds, try sharing some warmth. Even if it's not reciprocated, you get a satisfying feeling of haing done the right thing.

Sunday, April 01, 2007

podcast user magazine no.15

It's out again folks - issue no 15 for April is here
Download the magazine completely free from www.podcastusermagazine.com