mccullochblog

Pass it on...

I took the bus to work today. This may not seem particularly blogworthy to you, but I will confess that I drive my Acura MDX (not one of the worst polluting SUVs, but not one of the cleanest, either) to work at least three times per week, often for no really good reason.

Still not blogworthy? Okay, I watched the movie, an Inconvenient Truth last night. If you haven't seen it yet, you must. No, really, you must. It's about how we're killing the planet, one car, lightbulb, thermostat, shower and DVD player at a time. As Emma put it: "If there aren't tips to reverse global warming at the end of this movie then it's a total waste of time."

Luckily, Al Gore et al thought of that too and created www.climatecrisis.net. To save you the bother of searching the site I've captured the "Top 10 tips" in the graphic above. And in the spirit of my last social experiment (the one where I asked you whether we could actually do anything to influence politicians) I'm going to ask that everyone does one thing in the next week to reduce their CO2 emissions...and then keeps doing it.

And no, it does not appear that farting has any substantial impact on global warming, so there's no need to cut that out, unless of course it's a cause of conflict in your household already, in which case, cut it out stinky!

So, just switch off a light, or take the bus or something. Pass it on...

Thanksgiving for animals

On this most auspicious of American holidays - a veritable institution of this great democratic nation - I was pleased to read of a major breakthrough in Dutch politics; namely that animals - and not only humans - will be represented in the Dutch House of Representiatives next term.

Not content with already being one of the most liberal nations on Earth, Holland's voters decided it was high time that animals had a voice too and so elected not one, but two, candidates from the PvdD party into office. The Dutch aren't necessarily known for their ironic sense of humor, so one can only assume Dutch voters were serious about supporting the PvdD's manifesto which aims to "improve the position of animals in our society." Either that, or they simply succumbed to something else Holland is famous for - sex - in the form of party leader, Marianne Thieme, who is clearly not your ordinary politician.

Anyway, I was further intrigued to notice that the PvdD believes that "both animals and humans are living creatures with emotions and a conscience".

So the next time your dog poops on the carpet, or your cat knocks over that picture of grandma...don't you be thinking it was an accident...animals have a conscience!

If you too would like animals to have more of a say in the creation of legislation, display this poster in your window.

It's very nice to go travelin'...

It’s funny the things you learn when you travel. In the past eight days, for example, I’ve learned that France has a law banning advertising in English, that Messerschmitt of Germany now makes hotel key cards, that my favorite poffertjes restaurant in Rotterdam has reopened, and that I have a whole heap of family in Eindhoven and even a cousin of some sort in Saratoga, California.

However, if the truth be known, for someone who frequently daydreams about the countries he’s visited, I’ve had to review my itinerary pretty closely to find much I really enjoyed about my just-completed business trip to Europe. Yes, it’s not truly surprising that inserting the word ‘business’ between ‘international’ and ‘travel’ changes the complexion of an overseas jaunt, but whenever I return home from one of these excursions – jetlagged, weary, sleep-deprived - I’m struck by how often the word ‘business’ seems to equate to ‘grueling’ when combined with travel!

Don’t get me wrong, I’m delighted to have had the opportunity to briefly visit each of Munich, London, Rotterdam and Eindhoven; to meet my colleagues there; to conduct some good business and to have dinner with my bro last Tuesday, but I’m also acutely aware – or at least suspicious – of how utterly bad for my health a schedule comprising eight days, five flights, twenty-four hours in the air, four hotels and countless missed hours of sleep must be. As the oft-quoted platitude goes, no-one on their death bed ever wished they’d spent more time standing in a security line at an airport.

Fortunately, fate has equipped me with an antidote to all of that accumulated stress. I’m returning to the office for only a single day tomorrow before our business and the rest of the USA adjourns for the Thanksgiving holiday. Four days off. Bliss! Perhaps in those days of recuperation I’ll reflect more positively on my experiences. After all, it was quite interesting to hear what it was like to be in Germany during the World Cup; that my brother is buying a house 55 meters from a receding cliff edge and that my Eindhoven relative Annie Banken was once on the same athletics team as the Dutch Olympic champion, Fanny Blankers-Koen.

Best of all, of course, I spent a day with my grandpa and mum. Whatever days this trip took off my life, at least those hours with my ninety-nine year old Opa will ensure I live each day with a little more appreciation for the preciousness of life.

New Photo Collection

I took our new camera for a walk to the Conservatory of Flowers in Golden Gate Park today...hence the new collection of pictures to the left...enjoy!

Pop - Part II

Emma and I made it a two-in-a-row concert weekend last night with a visit to the Paramount Theater in Oakland (California's Gangland capital) to see James Blunt in concert, supported by Starsailor.

Why James Blunt chose to play in dodgy Oakland and not nice-and-safe San Francisco, I don't know, but as we sat in row SS of the admittedly very beautiful theater, I couldn't help wondering how it was that a walking Oxymoron such as James Blunt came to exist at all - let alone sell millions of albums and concert tickets worldwide.

After all, when did the words "nice" and "pop star" start to fit together? And what about "seated" and "concert tour" or "ex-soldier" and "performer". It's not that James doesn't deserve his fame, it's just that his fame seems highly unlikely.

Emma and I were frankly a little too dozy as a result of last night's (slight) excesses at the Beautiful South show to really get worked up about the waves of contradition washing over us during the show, but I'll share a few of them, just in case they seem odd to you too...

James Blunt takes to the stage. A huge cheer erupts and the crowd leaps to its feet...and then sits down again 20 seconds later, almost embarrassed to have found themselves upstanding.

James Blunt starts one of his famous ballads. A few dozen delirious female fans start to scream. A few hundred more 'serious' fans start to "Shush!"...the shushers win!

James only has one album's worth of songs, so he decides to do a cover version in his encore. Bizarrely he chooses to cover the Pixies' punkish anti-paean 'Where is my mind'. Not since Tori Amos whispered 'Smells Like Teen Spirit' has rock and roll been more sanitized.

Still, he's SUCH a nice chap. Did I mention that?

And so to a few words on warm-up act, Starsailor, whom I know Ian would like to hear me criticize a little more vociferously than James Blunt. Frankly though Starsailor fit perfectly with the James Blunt demographic. They seem like incredibly nice people too (they did a merchandise signing in the lobby during the interval) and very good musicians too. They're just a bit dull, that's all.

But did I mention they seemed nice? Everyone's nice tonight. We had a nice drive home afterwards too.

Blog for Whoever

A small pleasure (fortunately oft-repeated) of being an ex-pat in San Francisco is that occasionally bands that were HUGE in my youth, or at least, slightly popular in England few years ago, come to town and play tiny venues. Last night was one of those nights with the Beautiful South playing at The Fillmore, much to the delight of the displaced British ethnic minority of San Francisco.

Braving midly chilly weather they came; the Mancunians, the Liverpudlians, the natives of the Beautiful South's hometown, Hull (would they be Hullonians?) - and of course with them came the slightly reluctant American girlfriends, boyfriends, husbands and wives of the same. But what a treat!

In theory, the Beautiful South were here on a 'Promotional tour' for a new album but there wasn't much promotion in sight as the band simply did exactly what the assembled fans wanted and belted out their unbelievably catchy greatest hits set. It must be fun to re-live your hey-day with people the same age as you, all of you pretending it was 1989 again. Well, it felt like it.

And so I shuffled to the beats, Emma whirled to the words, Anu shouted for 'Happy Hour' a lot (they didn't play it) and the South rifled through all their hits. Ninety minutes, three encores, one blurry cameraphone pic and a lot of smiles later, it was over...save for a challenge from Anu that he would "blog about it before you!" Get yourself off to AnuDattaDappen to see if he was right!

A Moment in History. Yes, really.

Do you remember I was ruminating over the fate of our generation a few weeks ago?  I was wondering how we would be remembered. Would it be the Internet? Would it be terrorism...you remember.

Well, tonight, as I watched Bill Clinton speaking to San Franciscans outside City Hall, the answer struck me. And now that it has struck me, I'm amazed it never struck before.

We are of course the generation that can save or destroy the planet. No more. No less.

And as I stood, 30 meters from the 42nd President of the United States, I realised that proposition 87 (the proposition that Bill is in town to support) is not simply a measure on the California ballot. It is an opportunity to change the world. Literally. I can honestly say I've never been so aware of my place in history.

California is the world's 5th largest economy. If its voters decide that big oil companies should be taxed so that legislators can pay for initiatives that will allow us all to breath cleaner air, then the whole world will follow. This bill can change California. California can bring about change in all of the US. And if the US - still the world's largest polluter - really commits to change, this could be the greatest moment of our generation. Really.

Three more things.

1. Eva Longoria was there. So was Bonnie Raitt. I suspected you'd prefer a picture of Eva.

2. I shook Bill Clinton by the hand before he left. He has soft skin and bad teeth.

3. This is San Francisco's Mayor, Gavin Newsome. He thinks he's going to be President some day. He might be right.