tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-256525502024-03-07T03:37:16.819-08:00OLD MAN ON A BIKE, OLD MEN CAN'T WAIT, OLD MAN IN INDIAseptuagenarian odyssies - US/Mexican border to Tierra del Fuego, Tierra del Fuego to New York, long ride round Indiasimon gandolfihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00728131438736381803noreply@blogger.comBlogger1490125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25652550.post-38214603186963602092011-12-12T13:43:00.000-08:002011-12-12T13:45:07.610-08:00NICK CLEGG AN HIS MINIATURE SPHEROIDSMade a mistake re Nick Clegg. He didn't turn up for the Primeminister's statement on the EU veto. An absence of political courage?simon gandolfihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00728131438736381803noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25652550.post-14794733916175943282011-12-12T02:23:00.000-08:002011-12-12T02:26:26.215-08:00ALL AFGHANS JOIN THE TALIBANWhat total joy.
Wonders never ceasing.
The genius of our political masters.
The latest GREAT IDEA: to pay members of the Taliban £100 a month for not fighting. What a splendid recruiting slogan:JOIN US AND THE FOREIGNERS WILL PAY YOU!!!!!simon gandolfihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00728131438736381803noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25652550.post-25414737789675105642011-12-12T02:18:00.000-08:002011-12-12T02:18:05.922-08:00CAMERON'S VETOBronchitis is depressing - but no where near as depressing as the celebratory baying of the Tory right wing at our isolation in Europe. What relief that Clegg has been forced finally to discover his political spheroids (small though they may be).simon gandolfihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00728131438736381803noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25652550.post-65380676407097103042011-11-18T02:43:00.002-08:002011-11-18T02:48:28.607-08:00OLD MEN CAN'T WAIT
Banner for OLD MEN CAN'T WAIT
I am off to the NEC at Birmingham tomorrow for the UK's major motorcycle show and will be there all eight days signing books on the TRAVEL-DRI stand and on TOURATECH.simon gandolfihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00728131438736381803noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25652550.post-58272516401490136842011-11-18T02:43:00.000-08:002011-11-18T02:49:54.264-08:00BOOK BIRTHING
I have been writing books for much of my adult life; yesterday was my first birthing experience.
Paddy Tyson of OVERLAND magazine drove me across the Welsh border to Pontypool where MWL Print Group was the midwife. Modern printing and binding machines produce with speed. Fascinating to watch books streaming out of the maw and into boxes...
And what instinct leads me to chat to the only man on simon gandolfihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00728131438736381803noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25652550.post-33762888022347558272011-11-14T02:58:00.000-08:002011-11-14T03:00:11.499-08:00SPECIAL RELATIONSHIPStudying Republican contenders for the US Presidency:
Universal health care is sinful.
Water-boarding is moral.
Brit Political leaders boast of their ability to maintain the Special Relationship.
With these people?
Thank you, but I'd rather give it a miss...simon gandolfihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00728131438736381803noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25652550.post-31235869620693480542011-11-11T03:12:00.000-08:002011-11-11T03:15:14.442-08:00TATA TAKEOVER UK GOVERNMENTTata bought loss-making Jaguar Land Rover from Ford in 2008.
Tata immediately invested in research and new models and a new engine plant.
Losses have been transformed into a billion pound profit for 2011.
Tata are recruiting 2,500 workers, all this in the midst of a recession.
HOW TO PERSUADE TATA TO TAKE OVER THE UK GOVERNMENT...?simon gandolfihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00728131438736381803noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25652550.post-45459204477764159882011-11-10T06:28:00.000-08:002011-11-11T03:16:08.613-08:00JAMES MURDOCH, LIAR?I wonder what percentage of people here in the UK believe James Murdoch is telling the truth or lying. I, of course, have no opinion....simon gandolfihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00728131438736381803noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25652550.post-33142376378261581562011-11-08T05:56:00.000-08:002011-11-08T06:01:17.341-08:00HEY, WHAT DO YOU KNOW - TWO POLITICOS BEING HONEST!Conversation between President Sarkozy and President Obama.
Sarkozy says of Israeli Premier Netanyahu: I cannot stand him. He's a liar.
Obama responds: You're fed up with him? I have to deal with him every day.
Press, radio, Tv report the conversation as a gaffe.
My question: Why is a truthful interchange a gaffe?simon gandolfihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00728131438736381803noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25652550.post-65664221396706278762011-11-07T06:51:00.000-08:002011-11-07T06:53:56.897-08:00RANTING AND RAVINGI note, in rereading the last two posts, that I am in full rant mode.
A little rage of a morning gets the blood circulating so blame the climate: cold, damp, depressing...simon gandolfihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00728131438736381803noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25652550.post-37652176528398831872011-11-07T03:38:00.000-08:002011-11-07T14:31:26.249-08:00DAVID MILLIBAND, INFANT CHASTISER OF THE WICKEDAh, Milliband, Milliband...
So tardy in preaching the immorality prevalent in today's financial sector.
Thirteen years in Government, now leader of the Labour Party.
Thirteen years overseeing a massive widening of the chasm between rich and poor.
Thirteen years overseeing a culture of grotesque bonuses and executive salaries.
And now, at last, brave Milliband declares that politicians should simon gandolfihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00728131438736381803noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25652550.post-31949202140846116992011-11-03T09:12:00.000-07:002011-11-03T12:56:48.418-07:00STILL IN THE GAMEBlair, Cameron, Milliband, seedlings reared in the same walled garden; such is modern politics: perhaps a short stint in PR, then special adviser to a Government minister of similar background and similar lack in experience or knowledge beyond the garden's walls. These are the leaders who dictate our foreign policy and order our military into war.My elder brother, Antony Hornyold,is not a simon gandolfihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00728131438736381803noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25652550.post-51337874118213683102011-10-24T08:58:00.000-07:002011-10-24T09:15:00.306-07:00OLD MEN CAN'T WAITFinished checking proofs for Old Men Can't Wait. Goes to the printer next week. Copies will be available in time for the Motorcycle show at the NEC, Birmingham, next month.I will be signing copies.simon gandolfihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00728131438736381803noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25652550.post-37857983433099095702011-10-09T03:28:00.000-07:002011-10-09T03:59:20.809-07:00OVERLAND MAGAZINEOVERLAND is a quarterly travel magazine publishing articles by experienced travelers of all ages and of how ever many sexes there are. Ted Simon is, in heart, an adolescent; Bridi, writing on Iran, is a barely post-teenage student reading Classics at UCL; I am a nearly octogenarian granddad. OVERLAND is a magazine to collect, to show to friends who have never experienced the freedom offered thosesimon gandolfihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00728131438736381803noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25652550.post-49625337021275682302011-09-28T02:48:00.000-07:002011-09-28T17:02:07.475-07:00LT COLONEL IAN KINNEAR - A TRIBUTELt. Colonel Ian Kinnear died last week and was cremated today. He was a fine loyal vital man possessed of an extraordinary enthusiasm for life and with a great laugh always near the surface however inhospitable the place or threatening the situation. Life was for living; time was for doing; negativity and pessimism were the enemy; as for naysayers for ever pleading difficulties, Ian rammed them simon gandolfihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00728131438736381803noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25652550.post-11433522636863626122011-06-30T02:38:00.000-07:002011-06-30T03:05:15.003-07:00GRANT JOHNSON, SUSAN JOHNSONHU MEET AT RIPLEYThe Wehrmacht invaded Ripley last week. Old ladies and children trembled as BMWs thundered down the lanes. Serried ranks of khaki tents enveloped Lumb Farm pasture. Leather-uniformed storm troopers searched for prey. Wild men and women in war paint pranced before midnight flames. Beer got drunk in vast vatfulls.Bedding in the rear of a Toyota Corolla is not for the faint-hearted simon gandolfihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00728131438736381803noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25652550.post-75100983810031040442011-06-03T02:41:00.000-07:002011-06-03T02:52:31.334-07:00RABAGLIATI BENTLEY PHOTO HOLDEN BENTLEYA near neighbour, Bill Holden, has contacted me after reading OLD MAN ON A BIKE. He owns a Bentley identical in body and paintwork to the car my stepfather campaigned - see the Rabagliati Bentley on the web.simon gandolfihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00728131438736381803noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25652550.post-62590773188580283372011-06-03T02:40:00.000-07:002011-06-03T02:41:21.842-07:00OFFALGorgeous day. Am cooking lamb kidneys and mushrooms in a cream and Jerez sauce together with a risotto of baby broad beans and chives. My offal chum, Roger Gill, is coming to lunch. We shall eat in the garden.simon gandolfihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00728131438736381803noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25652550.post-45992810189654115242011-05-25T03:12:00.000-07:002011-05-25T03:17:08.378-07:00HEAVENMy study opens off the corridor by the front door. Both the door and my windows are open. I sit at my desk and breathe the scent of roses. Shade and sunlight on the trees continually shifts in the breeze. Herefordshire is heaven on such a day...simon gandolfihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00728131438736381803noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25652550.post-14581369530905941472011-05-24T06:41:00.000-07:002011-05-24T06:50:02.034-07:00TEMPTATIONClematis and roses surrounding my study window are a temptation to sit outside with a mug of coffee. A cold wind chases me back indoors.Received my royalty statement from Harper Collins last week. Sold 1094 copies of Old Man On A Bike over the past six months - good considering the book has been out three years. Bad is a royalty of £0.50 per copy. Have decided to self publish the following two simon gandolfihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00728131438736381803noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25652550.post-38849629260582210072011-05-18T02:13:00.000-07:002011-05-18T02:15:25.318-07:00WANTED: ENGLISH SPANISH TRANSLATORWanted a translator for Old Man On A Bike. Must have sense of humour.simon gandolfihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00728131438736381803noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25652550.post-33717527393905380072011-05-18T01:46:00.000-07:002011-05-18T02:03:34.198-07:00TOY BOY - OR TOY GRANDPACarin has turned the old tramp into a vaguely respectable grandpa...simon gandolfihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00728131438736381803noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25652550.post-65761909700107110152011-05-17T04:43:00.000-07:002011-05-18T01:46:28.587-07:00BRAVE OLD BRITB threatened me: get my hair cut or exile to the garden shed.I bought a dozen red roses this morning and knelt in the doorway of Carin's salon on the Market Square in Ledbury, face hidden behind the flowers.Carin has forgiven me.I have an appointment this afternoon.simon gandolfihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00728131438736381803noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25652550.post-58434737506700597922011-05-12T11:51:00.000-07:002011-05-13T13:47:43.061-07:00SEVEN YEAR ITCHSeven years ago I went to the multi-sex hairdressing salon in Barnards Green. A trainee, Carin, cut my hair brilliantly. Two years later she moved to Ledbury. I followed. Now she has set up her own salon. I was to be her second client. She telephoned three days before opening to remind me. My short term memory is nil. I forgot.That was in December.I keep meaning to buy her a huge box of simon gandolfihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00728131438736381803noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25652550.post-40544691494977486422011-05-12T11:46:00.000-07:002011-05-13T13:47:40.703-07:00JEDEDIAHSnowboard season is over. Jed has been home a week from the French Alps. He seems to grow each time that he is away.Or am I shrinking in old age?Maybe in height. Not in girth. Ah, well...simon gandolfihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00728131438736381803noreply@blogger.com0