RD_Wolves's blog
Porsche Vs Mayor of London
Undoubtedly automobiles contribute to world carbon dioxide levels and global warming. Even pessimists who do not believe in global warming/think that it is overstated would concede that automobile congestion is becoming intolerable and efficient public transport systems can in many cases provide a sensible alternative. However, the 'solution' of taxing high emissions cars not only appeals to those of an environmental conscience but also to leftists who associate so called gas guzzlers with the wealthy.
So on which side do the politicians lie? The ongoing saga of Porsche Vs London Mayor Ken Livingstone over the issue of increasing the London Congestion Charge to £25/day brings into question the former Labour minister's environmental reasoning.
The motoring press:
The Environmentalists:
Porsche GB:
Whatever peoples' views of gas guzzler taxes, it must be noted that governments have paid a disproportionate amount of attention to motoring related taxes. Yet low-cost flights continue to flourish, homes still lack basic energy saving measures, coal fired power stations continue to be built etc. France makes use of an excellent train network and has very few internal flights compared to the UK as a consequence, despite being a larger country. Governments must take a more balanced approach to environmental protection and recognise the advances automotive manufacturers have made for there is growing scepticism among the mass public.
The Student Life
Three years of study has left a few memories - here are the worst of them:
Always keep on top of the washing up.
If not, stuff as much food into a baguette as possible and do without a plate.
Ditto, always empty the bin.
Or refuse will spread to the sitting room...
When on a budget, try curing your own meat. Not in your own room though.
If you cure meat in someone else's room, do not expect favours in return.
Other people's eggs are golfballs.
5o (Fiddy) Cent must be mocked.
Expect to be inundated at Christmas.
Afrikaaa
The ensuing political conflict in Zimbabwe prompted me to take another look at my photos from my trip to South Africa and Namibia last year. A good over-view of everything Zimbabwe/Mugabe related can be found on The Economist website The Economist
Talking to people in South Africa highlighted the international nature of the problem in Zimbabwe: millions of people fleeing Zimbabwe for South Africa in order to escape the strife caused by Mugabe's corrupt dictatorship. Such illegal immigration puts further strains on South Africa's public services and heightens racial tensions leading to the primitive culture of fear one experiences when travelling in South Africa. It is about time President Mbeki and other Southern African nations take a firmer stand against Mugabe for it is clear that he is reluctant to relinquish his iron grip. Mugabe's anti-imperialist rebuke to British Prime Minister Gordon Brown's speech to the United Nations earlier this week should sidelined along with the rest of his propaganda. British interests in Zimbabwe are not imperialistic, merely humanitarian. With a global food crisis on the horizon, it is high time the former bread basket of Africa revitalizes its downtrodden agricultural industry.
However, it should be noted as the photo below (taken in Windhoek, Namibia)shows that Mugabe is still a respected figure in Africa.
More than a marketing slogan:
And finally,
As the Mongol Rally proved, you do not need a fully kitted out Land Rover Defender to off-road, a 2x4 will suffice. However, like my Mongol Rally Fiat Cinquecento, the Toyota Corolla hire car did have its fair share of breakdowns. A stone chip in the radiator being a major headache. However, if the rally teaches you one thing it's that there is a mechanic around every corner and Namibia is no different!
Many thanks to Seth for 'A Post on Posting'. Finally done it!
One Year On
Like the rest of the ralliers on the site, I'm sure you've all been getting the Mongol Rally emails and are feeling very jealous of Ironsides. I wish I was doing it again this year. It's good to see that Ironsides have picked a Fiat in which to tackle the rally. The Pope (as we affectionately called our Italian designed/Polish built Fiat Cinquecento - hence the name) was a brilliant but somewhat unreliable car.
A few Fiat tips:
a) the vibration damper on the driveshaft will break (probably in the Ukraine) meaning that the steering wheel will vibrate manically. However, you will get used to after a while although you may experience a tingling in your hands for weeks after the rally.
b) Poland and the Czech Republic have LOADS of cheap spares. However, after that you will not see another Fiat garage until Almaty, Kazakhstan.
c) make sure the cooling system works BEFORE you leave.
d) Lada parts can be bashed, bent and beaten to fit a Fiat.
Despite not taking part in the rally this year, another car related adventure awaits me this summer... I have decided to drive around South Africa and Namibia. Picking up the car in Cape Town, heading up the Western cape to the Namibian border and then caning around safari parks and sand dunes for a month. Reports will follow in September/October.
Already this year I have been to Paris - gorgeous European city but still can't knock Rome off my number one spot, although it does narrowly get the edge over Barcelona into my top 5. I have also just got back from Hong Kong, carrying out research for my University dissertation. If anyone knows much about the Hong Kong economy and how it has changed in relation to China since 1997 then I would be grateful for any input!
And last but not least, I have still not figured out how to put pictures up on here. I am completely inept when it comes to anything more than typing, so any advice would be appreciated!
The Pan-Am begins...
A recent interview with a Sunday Paper about the Mongol Rally allowed me the chance to promote the Pan-Am.
Great racers go mad for charity by Caroline Smith, The Sunday Sun
"In Kazakhstan the terrain was very rough, there are basically no roads and we were trying to change tyres to help the suspension but the jack slipped out and almost punctured the fuel tank.
"We only had room to take clothes in a little sports bag and we only showered about four times throughout the month-long trip, so it was pretty disgusting.
"We were dirty and smelly and had long beards."
Let's get the show on the road!
Rethinking Intramural Sport - Las Nuevas Maradonas
This is a fairly sporty website, marketing men (and women) would probably label us as 'outdoors types' or something, so I can probably take it for granted that a large proportion of you have participated in University/College intramural sports programmes. For those of us who love our sport but just don't have the talent or in most cases energy to take it more seriously, intramural sport quenches our cravings once a week as we battle away against similarly lazy people. The half time team talk is usually more concerned about the team social that night rather than why the score is 0-2 but hey, you don't have to train 6 times a week at 4am so you can't expect fireworks on the pitch.
Earlier this year a group of friends and I decided to take intramural sport a little more seriously. Our love of Argentinian football and Joga Bonita (The Beautiful game) spurring us on, we decided to creat Club Athletico Las Nuevas Maradonas. We have modelled ourselves exactly upon players who have been called the new Diego Maradona by the Argentinian media. Maradona being the greatest football player who ever lived - Pele is an over-rated, talentless swine. So we all picked a 'new Maradona' and began to learn that player's intracicies. While other teams turn up to games wearing a melange of kit, we have all purchased full 2006 Argentina World Cup replica kits, including towels, warm up clothing and personalised boots. But we are not only concerned with aesthetics... We aim to play like Argentinians too - cheating, diving, slow build up play, delicate link ups and scoring the perfect goal are all extremely important to us. Such underhand tactics and frankly ridiculous style of play for the conditions (badly maintained pitches in the English winter) have drawn some strange looks. But our results have told a different story, two wins out of three so far this season. And we are sitting pretty at the top of the league. Still, most people do not understand our obsession.
