The Video That Started It All

This is a fantastic video of Boney M. performing Daddy Cool on Musikladen, a popular German TV music show in September 1976. This video started the success of Boney M. as once people saw this performance, Daddy Cool became a number 1 single in West Germany and the companion album Take The Heat Off Me also made number 1. whereas when the single and album came out originally in April of that year nothing happened chart wise. Then every discotheque in town wanted to have Boney M, thus ensuring everyone knew about Boney M. resulting in this TV appearance

What is really great about this video is the ad lib parts done by the Girls - it shows they really thought through the performance on stage, and when Bobby takes off his jacket that really helps add to the show! All in all it shows Boney M. had a fantastic stage presence and made great music.

MacBook

Just bought a new MacBook from the Apple Store in Southampton for £799. It has a really funky design, a great operating system - OS X 10.5 Leopard and is simple and easy to use.

Apple have done their homework with this one and produced a notebook that is good enough for serious work, yet light enough to carry around. I opted for a model with a 160GB hard drive, 2GB of Ram and a SuperDrive DVD ReWriter. The processor installed is an Intel Core 2 Duo running at 2.4Ghz - a much better one that on my Mac Mini. I am really pleased that I purchased this upgrade as it means that I am no longer using a slow Mac with only 512MB of RAM and a 60GB hard drive.

What I like about the design of this MacBook is the colour - white looks much nicer on my desk than a black laptop, and the fact that a Webcam and Microphone is built in to the laptop above the screen, which is great for chatting on Skype and iChat.

Also for safety Apple have included their Mag Safe power adaptor, which is a great feature as it means if for example someone treads on the power cord it comes away from the Mac and does not send it flying across the floor, thus getting damaged. Being a Mac also means that it comes with software installed that you will want to use, such as iTunes, iPhoto etc. rather than trial software that has no real use, and is just there to try and make what comes with the computer much better.

All in all if you are looking for a new laptop then one from the Mac family is a brilliant idea, and well worth spending money on.

Cycling 2

Read an interesting article on The News web site - http://www.portsmouth.co.uk/news/MP-steering-move-to-axe.4166215.jp
about the proposal from the Havant MP David Willets to create a cycle-way along the A3 around Butser Hill near Petersfield.

I fully support this proposal as it will make it easier to cycle south towards the Queen Elizabeth Country Park, a poplar beauty spot as well as towards Portsmouth etc. I think it is about time that this country got serious and put cycle-ways on roads where it is practical to do so to make it easier for cyclists to get around, and to encourage more people to cycle.

Having got back in to the swing of cycling recently I think that a very small minority of motorists need to be educated that it is not just them on the roads but cyclists too, that when passing a cyclist they should leave plenty of room and that during a passing manoeuvre they should not sound their horn as this could distract the cyclist from concentrating on the road.

Cycling

Recently I have taken up cycling again, as a way of keeping fit. A good friend recently gave m his old bike, to replace my old bike which was a good few years older than his, about 10 years I think. It's a bike by Alpine Stars and is nice and lightweight which makes cycling easier. I'm still getting used to having 7 more gears to play with.

Also I enjoy going on rides in the country side, which is really good where I live as there are plenty of country lanes to ride on, though with Petersfield surrounded by hills most of the lanes have up and down stretches! I hope that by the end of the summer going up hills will become easier, and that I will be able to do a good 30-40 miles per ride, currently I can manage 20 miles. I have been advised that when cycling I should not "stand up" on the bike as that uses more energy, however I have yet to test this theory.

What is good about Petersfield is that I live near a cycle path in to the town centre, which makes getting in to town a lot safer. I think it is about time that more cycle paths where built where possible in towns, cities and in between towns etc so that there is a safe way to cycle - I have noticed that when cycling, a minority of car drivers pass me in an unsafe manner as they do not allow enough room between themselves and me on the bike, which is not good, especially if an accident happened. Also I think some car drivers want to get cyclists too quickly, meaning that the overtake may be done on a dangerous stretch of road, perhaps just before a sharp bend etc., as they feel cyclists are an inconvenience on the roads, when in fact we have just as much right to be on the roads as car drivers.

I hope in later blog entries to let you know what is happening with my cycling.