BMW Group has opened the world’s largest showroom for BMW, MINI and Rolls-Royce Motor Cars and BMW motorcycles in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi.

Abu Dhabi Motors, the BMW Group’s long-standing importer for the region, has invested around AED 300 million (approx. EUR 62 million) in the new 35,000-square-metre showroom over its three-year construction.

The new showroom was formally inaugurated by Ian Robertson, member of the Board of Management of BMW AG, responsible for Sales and Marketing, His Highness Sheikh Hazza bin Zayed Al Nahyan, National Security Advisor and Vice-Chairman of the Abu Dhabi Executive Council, and Arno Husselmann, General Manager of Abu Dhabi Motors, at an exclusive event last Tuesday evening attended by over 1,000 guests.

The invited guests also included Graeme Grieve, Vice-President for Importer Markets of BMW AG, Adrian Van Hooydonk, Director of BMW Group Design, and a large number of VIPs and celebrities from the region, including fashion designer Walid Atallah.

At the opening of the BMW Group’s largest showroom worldwide, Ian Robertson thanked the investors and owners Sheikh Mohammed Bin Butti Al Hamid and Sheikh Saif Bin Mohammed Bin Butti Al-Hamid for their strong commitment to completing the new building : “The Middle East is an important region for the BMW Group. We sold more vehicles here in 2011 than ever before. There is tremendous future growth potential in many countries in this region and in the United Arab Emirates in particular - The investment in this impressive and unique facility that makes the world’s biggest BMW Group showroom, is testament to the continued opportunities that lie ahead in Abu Dhabi and in the region”

The expansive facility in Umm Al Nar houses separate showrooms and sales areas for the three premium automobile brands, BMW, MINI and Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, and for BMW motorcycles. More than 450 staff members will work at the facility. The new showroom will allow customers to view the brands’ entire model line-up in different colours and different option packages, with more than 70 automobiles and 10 motorcycles on permanent display.

This will be complemented by an extensive range of newer pre-owned vehicles and a state-of-the-art service area equipped with the latest technology. The workshop will be able to perform maintenance on up to 120 vehicles simultaneously.

A further focus will be the facility’s extensive shopping and boutique area, which will sell a wide selection of BMW and MINI fashion items and other merchandise, as well as original parts and accessories. Film fans will not be disappointed either – there is a private cinema that can also host exclusive new-vehicle presentations for special occasions. A cafe, a Formula One racing simulator and a children’s play area make the perfect customer service offering complete

The BMW Group achieved a new sales record in the Middle East in 2011. A total of 18,657 BMW and MINI brand vehicles were sold last year in the region’s 14 import markets – an increase of more than nine per cent year-on-year. The United Arab Emirates (UAE) accounted for more than 47 per cent of deliveries, with Abu Dhabi and Dubai the largest markets. The best-selling vehicles in the region in 2011 were large model series such as the BMW 7 Series, the 5 Series, the X5 and the X6. The BMW 7 was the top-selling car in the BMW model range, for example, with 4,511 vehicles delivered to customers.

In 2011 the Middle East was the third biggest market worldwide for the BMW 7 Series following China and the United States of America.  In the region’s 14 markets, particularly strong growth was seen in Qatar with an increase of 26% (1,265 units), Abu Dhabi 23% (4,436 units), Dubai 23% (4,395 units), Kuwait 6% (2,380 units) and Saudi Arabia 2% (3,072 units).

But the mind is the power of the human spirit. Spirit is the lamp; mind is the light which shines from the lamp. Spirit is the tree, and the mind is the fruit.

(‘Abdu’l-Bahá: Some Answered Questions, page 208)

Over the period of this blog’s existence I have circled round a number of related issues (see links at the end of this post): mindfulness (Seigel’s book or ACT for example), attentive practice (Syed’s book Bounce and Schwartz on the mind/brain relationship, hemisphere differences (McGilchrist), mindsets (Dweck), adult brain plasticity (Schwartz again), so it was great, thanks to Stephanie West Allen, to get the headsup about a YouTube talk by Iain Stevenson, someone who is an well informed  across most of those areas. I’ve embedded the video at the end of this post. His delivery lacks the charisma of his namesake, Ken, but there is real substance to what he is saying as is born out by the transcript of an interview with him about his latest book, Mind Sculpture, which I also latched onto thanks to West Allen.

It all goes to show that there’s a great deal we can do to build a better brain (and build a better world at the same time, by the way). Much of this work, for me, bears out the notion that the mind can change the brain and as a result lends credence to the possibility that it is not reducible to it: it becomes reasonable then to think that the mind is indeed in some way independent of the brain.

Whether or not you want to go quite that far, and Stevenson might well not, there is much food for thought in both his interview and his talk. The interview covers a lot of the ground I’ve referred to and what is missing is captured in his talk. I won’t spoil the fun by rehearsing it all here. I’ll just say there’s something for everyone including the old and decrepit like me. In the interview, for example, his words on retirement resonated with me most strongly:

Ooh, retirement is a terrible thing, unless you are retiring for something. If you are retiring, saying “It’s all getting too much for me and I just want to put my feet up”, then I think you’d have to be careful or at least you’d have to make plans to be doing something else. I guess in Britain something like 40 per cent of all people over 55 are no longer working — it may not be quite that but it is some enormous number, one of the biggest in Europe — so there are a lot of people who in a sense are stopping work extremely early in their lives. If I had to retire early, I wouldn’t call it retirement even to myself. I’d call it my new career. Now that career might not involve money, it might not involve traditional career ideas. It might be that my new career will be walking or exploring or writing or gardening. I think you have to represent it to yourself as something positive. . . .  There is some evidence that not all but a proportion of age-related cognitive deficits is attributable to the fact that we are not engaging in the learning that we had to do when we were younger. You can’t write off all age-related deficits like that, but a proportion is due to being out of the habit of learning new things.

He has more to say about preserving our faculties in the video.

Also in the video, Robertson describes an ancient and familiar mnemonic device that goes back to Cicero. Help your memory by linking what you want to recall to aspects of a familiar scene, such as a room in your house or the route to work. It’s sold as primarily a visual tool. This makes it virtually useless to me as I have almost no visual memory at all.

When we leave someone’s house after the first visit my wife will say, “Did you see that lovely vase on their side table?”

I’ll invariably reply, “What side table?”

So, I thought this part of his talk would be a write off. But I was wrong. It gave me an idea of how I could use my strongest modality.

He describes memorising a shopping list by making the front door a Kellog’s cornflakes packet and then stepping onto the path and nearly tumbling on the potatoes strewn over it. He was using the kinaesthetic aspects as an add-on to the visual but I immediately saw their potential for me. My memory for movement and sensation is tenacious and I can create a strong sense of such movements from nothing. This could really really work for me. I doubt it’ll get me to the point where I can throw away my iPhone and buy a basic mobile, but I’m going to see just how far it’ll get me with presentations and such.

I expect most of us will find something useful amongst his insights about the brain.

Related articles:

• Interview with Jeffrey Schwartz, MD, on how to rewire your brain, problems with materialism in science, and his new book
• Meditation is the Key (2): We are Built to be a ‘We’ (Siegel’s approach)
• Willing Change (1/4): some of the basics (the first of four posts about ACT)
• A Different Spin on ‘Bounce’ (1/3): Gift or Graft? (the first of three posts on mindsets & the value of practice)
• Mind over Matter (about Schwartz’s book The Mind & the Brain)
• The Master and His Emissary (McGilchrist)
• Retired: Sidelined or realigned?
• Retired: Realigned and far less tired

Brainstorming happened. Ideas were shared. I was able to talk with several folks about my thoughts on having a book arts series at the Gadsden Public Library, a series that would give the community a taste of, and a better understanding of book arts as an art form. I envisioned workshops that started from the beginning of a book’s life with papermaking, to working our way through letterpress printing, bookbinding, and creative writing workshops to fill those empty pages! I saw us having in-house lectures, as well as taking the whole shooting match on the road as outreach! I tentatively pitched these thoughts to some of the folks with whom I was sharing break-out sessions.

My ideas were well received. So well received, in fact, that Jeanie Thompson of the Alabama Writers’ Forum encouraged me to look into writing a grant to the Alabama State Council on the Arts. So, I left Tuscaloosa with a fire lit under my butt to quit THINKING about the book arts project, and start DOING it…

At times, to be frank, it was like watching a train wreck. The Annecy bid stumbled along for weeks without a leader. Finally, Charles Beigbeder, a French entrepreneur, was convinced to take the job. Budget-wise, they’ve acknowledged many times since, they are running on the low side. They have struggled to cobble together a narrative.

On Thursday, however, here before the SportAccord convention of influential sports leaders from around the world, it all came together.

For arguably the first time, the Annecy campaign put together a coherent and credible pitch for a village-style Alpine Games: A  “bid from the mountains with the athletes for the future,” with an emphasis on what they called an “authentic” Winter Games.

People noticed.

The Annecy 2018 team after Thursday's presentation in London // photo: Annecy 2018

“It is a much better race than many in the IOC thought it would be six months ago,” Craig Reedie, the British IOC executive board member who helped lead London’s winning 2012 bid, said after watching Annecy’s presentation, along with those from rivals Munich and Pyeongchang.

“The two front-runners,” he said, “have developed extremely well.”

And, Reedie said, “The improvement in Annecy is — “and here he paused, searching for just the right word — “marked.”

Annecy’s chances? There aren’t even 100 days to go until the IOC’s July 6 vote for 2018 in Durban, South Africa.

Does Annecy have enough on stage and screen to overcome the strong presentations from Munich and Pyeongchang?

The odds remain long, particularly because Annecy was yet again lacking again on Thursday the key element — the in-person presence of Jean-Claude Killy, the superstar of French and Olympic winter sport, who appeared Thursday only in a short video?

Yet for Annecy — indeed, for the IOC — the issue has always been to make this 2018 derby a three-horse race, not just two.

“It’s a three bid-city race. That’s clear,” Beigbeder asserted at a late afternoon news conference, adding a moment later, “They have to choose one, meaning the IOC, “and we have to make a difference.”

Annecy went first Thursday. Then Munich. Then Pyeongchang.

No surprise, Munich’s presentation proved robust. Following a strong presentation in March to the IOC’s evaluation commission, the Munich team proved strong here in London, too.

The chair of the Munich bid, Katarina Witt, in a pinstriped black Strenesse coat-dress and stunningly high Michael Kors pumps, in her best breathy stage voice, kicked things off by unveiling the “vision” of a “festival of friendship in a setting that reveals the full possibilities of Olympic sustainability for all the world to see.”

London 2012's Seb Coe and Munich 2018's Katarina Witt at London Olympic Park // photo: Munich 2018

From there, the Munich team talked up money and geography.

Ian Robertson, BMW’s head of marketing and sales, noted the Munich-based company now supports not only the bid but London 2012, the U.S Olympic Committee, national Olympic committees in France, Greece, China and several international sports federations. German business, he said, underwrites 50 percent of the revenues of the seven sports on the Winter Games program.

This winter, he said, Germany played host to 12 World Cup events and three world championships that attracted nearly one million spectators and a cumulative German television audience of over one billion viewers. “That’s the kind of reach sponsors want,” he said.

Back to Katarina for Munich’s line of the day, and an unsaid but nonetheless obvious poke at Pyeongchang.

“… When you choose a host city for the Olympic Games — Summer or Winter — it is about more than just geography,” she said, Pyeongchang touting “new horizons,” the promise of taking the Winter Games to new markets in Asia.

She said, “It is about the kind of experience the athletes of the future should have,” a suggestion that there might be a livelier place to spend 17 days in February — say, Munich, one of the world’s most interesting cities — than, oh, Pyeongchang.

Which is why, the Koreans said as part of a powerful performance of their own, they’ve planned for a “Best of Korea” experience in Pyeongchang. Already, they said, they’ve signed up 39 companies with 120 brands — world-class amenities, dining, shopping, entertainment and more.

You want to talk money?

The Koreans clearly had been anticipating the German strategy. Let’s put it this way: if 50 percent of your portfolio rested in one stock, wouldn’t you kinda want to diversify?

“We believe,” Theresa Rah, the Pyeongchang director of communications, said from the stage, “that diversifying the financial support of winter sport from new markets makes sense for the winter sport industry, federations, the athletes and the Olympic and Paralympic movements.”

By 2030, according to an Asian Development Bank Study, Asia will comprise 43 percent of worldwide consumption. From 1990 to 2008, the middle class in Asia grew by 30 percent, and spent an average of an additional $1.7 trillion annually. “No other region in the world even comes close,” Rah said.

The South Korean sports and culture Minister, Byoung-gug Choung, announced Thursday that the government would invest $500 million to help promote winter sports and groom Korean athletes in a program dubbed “Drive the Dream” from 2012-2018.

Also in the works — a $1.8 million plan to pay for visits from national Olympic committee officials from 2012-2017, and a $1.05 million plan for trips by international federation experts.

Completed in October, 2009: the Alpensia resort in Pyeongchang, at a cost of $1.4 billion.

You want to talk geography?

“The argument,” Rah said, in front of a map of the world that showed the Winter Games having visited Asia only twice, both times in Japan, in 1972 and 1998, “really isn’t about ‘new versus old’ or ‘traditional markets versus new markets’ or even clever metaphors about ‘roots and new horizons.’ No.

Pyeongchang 2018 communications director Theresa Rah, on stage and in front of the map // photo: Pyeongchang 2018

“The real decision is about maximizing the opportunity for winter sport for as many young people as possible, wherever they may be.”

All of which surely made for Pyeongchang’s counter-punch of the day.

But not the line of the day.

That went to the French sports minister, Chantal Jouanno, as part of an again-relevant Annecy bid.

“It is a great pleasure to be here in London,” she said, “a city that in the sporting context has taught us French two things:

“That favorites don’t always win,” a reference to the 2012 contest. Paris was heavily favored to win. Instead, London did.

When the laughter in the hall died down, the minister, smiling, finished: “And that any bidding city must understand the challenges sport faces — and offer a true global vision to resolve them.”

–

Of special note:

The Korean presentation opened with Yang Ho Cho, the Pyeongchang 2018 chairman, saying:

“Before I begin, please allow me to send our deepest sympathies to the people and the [national Olympic committees] of both New Zealand and Japan.

“The world is with you, and we look forward to seeing your great teams in London next year.”

Alicia Laspra reviews Ian Robertson, An Atlas of the Peninsular War (Yale, 2010), and Nick Lipscombe, The Peninsular War Atlas (Osprey, 2010).

John Ure reviews Ben Hughes, Conquer or Die! Wellington’s Veterans and the Liberation of the New World (Osprey, 2010).

The disease took hold of Ian quickly, and within a matter of months he had gone from being a very strong and bubbly 64 year old man heading for a happy retirement, to a man unable to lift his legs off the ground and time closing in on him fast.

As you can imagine, it came as a huge shock to the whole family. Cancer destroyed him before our very eyes and there was nothing we could do.

As we travelled with him through the ups and downs of various sessions of chemotherapy and radiotherapy, we held onto the small hope that he might make it through for one last Christmas. He did, and it was a special time in the home my wife grew up in come Christmas Day.

Since the turn of the year, though, the entire family has been living on tender hooks. Each day Ian grew worse before our very eyes, until eventually he had to be moved first to the Western General Hospital, and then to the Marie Curie Cancer Hospice in Edinburgh.

He had good days and bad as the cancer spread further through him, but he was cared for beautifully by a team of people who have dedicate their lives to lessening the suffering of terminal cancer patients.

Ian left us one week ago today – the same time this blog entry was posted. His funeral was yesterday.

It’s indescribable what it is like to watch someone deteriorate and die before your eyes in such a short period of time; someone once so strong, alert and alive. You feel helpless, abandoned, betrayed, bitter, angry – long goodbyes are so cruel for everyone. It’s something you have to live through to understand fully – and I hope none of you ever do.

It’s too hard to write much else in today’s post. I’ll leave you with the eulogy I wrote and delivered at Ian’s funeral in Edinburgh’s Warriston Crematorium yesterday, a eulogy that Ian requested I make before he died. “Give them something to laugh about,” he told me. “And say a poem for me.”

I can’t say how I feel about Ian any better than the words I chose to use in his eulogy. Many long hours were spent writing it, and many tears were fought back saying it.

The worst thing about being asked by Ian to stand here today and say a few words, wasn’t that I knew it was going to be a tough thing to sit down and write, but that I knew I would have to do it so soon.

Looking around this room today, I can’t see one person who wasn’t touched by his generosity, kindness or humour in at least some small way.

I knew Ian for a little over 10 years – not nearly long enough – but in those 10 years I learnt a lot from Ian and a lot about him.

[pause]

Ian was a true gentleman. He was selfless – always prepared to help others with anything that needed done. He did so much for me and Gail that I always thought it strange to see him dressed in anything other than his workies gear. I never quite got used to that.

He was a perfectionist; never happy till the job was done the right way, which of course to Ian meant the job was never quite done to his satisfaction. Which leads me onto my next observation –

He was a workaholic. I used to say to him: “Ian, you need to start thinking about getting a hobby for when you retire – you cannae work all the time.”
“I’ve got one,” he said. “You’re hoose!”

Ian was a family man; I saw for myself first hand how happy he was when he was with his family – and when he welcomed me into that fold on my wedding day, I knew it meant a great deal – to him and to me.

Ian knew what really mattered in life. He always managed to keep things in perspective no matter what was going on. He had an incredible knack of being able to take the most complicated or emotional problem and turn it into something black and white. Stick him in the Middle East I used to say – Ian’ll sort that one out before lunch.

Ian could talk.

[pause]

I, for one, am missing his voice already.

He was a Rum man; dark rum and coke. 15 bottles of OVD he got for his 60th birthday. That part of him will live on strong certainly in my house Gail helped him finish that lot off in record time.

When I think of Ian none of my memories are sad. Like the time he accidentally flooded our kitchen and the whole street had to go without water for a day while he fixed the pipe.

Or when Carol sent him out for fish suppers and he returned almost an hour later with two re-heated kippers and a poke of chips. Carol sussed it straight away – he’d gone to the Chinese next door to the chippy by mistake. “I wondered why it took them so long to make the fish!”

I was going to tell you about the first time I ever met Ian, which kind of summed up our relationship over the next 10 years. But on reflection, probably not a good idea. Let’s just say if you have kids of your own, don’t walk into their house, or the bedroom, unannounced first thing on a Saturday morning.

[pause]

Ian was a great father to Alan and Gail, and a wonderful granddad to Laura and Kyle. And for me, I’ve lost the best Father-in-Law I could ever have wanted, a great friend, and an important ally, in what is now a family made up almost entirely of women.

There’s no arguing that Ian was just a 100% top bloke and a genuine stand-up guy, and for all of these reasons and too many others, he’ll be greatly missed and remembered often.

On behalf of the family, I’d like to thank everyone that looked after Ian while he was sick, and in particular towards the end the staff at the Marie Curie Hospice in Edinburgh who made his final days as comfortable and pain-free as possible.

[pause]

Ian told me to do two things when I gave his eulogy: the first was to “give them something to laugh about” – and the 2nd was to say a poem. Hopefully I’ve managed the first bit, so here’s a poem:

Remember Me

[pause]

To the living, I am gone
To the sorrowful, I will never return
To the angry, I was cheated
But to the happy, I am at peace
And to the faithful, I have never left

I cannot speak, but I can listen
I cannot be seen, but I can be heard
So as you stand upon the shore
Gazing at the beautiful sea, remember me
As you look in awe at a mighty forest
And in its grand majesty, remember me

Remember me in your hearts,
In your thoughts, and the memories of the
Times we loved, the times we cried,
the battle we fought and the times we laughed
For if you always think of me,
I will never have gone.

Ian Robertson – Rest in Peace
25/07/1946 – 26/02/2011

Good enough then, good enough now.

The Tuition Fees battle continues to rage, with a petition signed by 104 PPCs from last May’s Westminster Election having been sent to all 57 Liberal Democrat MPs.

Personally*, I hope that if the MPs vote against Party Policy – that is, for the increase in tuition fees – they are challenged by their local parties for the right to stand again as Liberal Democrats.

Perhaps it is time for the Leadership to be challenged publicly at Lib Dem Spring Conference in Sheffield. Would a vote of no confidence in the Party Leader in his home city be in order?

A petition, calling on all Liberal Democrat MPs to vote against the proposed rise in tuition fees when this is debated in Parliament before Christmas, has been sent to all the 57 Liberal Democrat MPs.

This petition has been established in opposition to the coalition government’s current proposed policy on tuition fees and has been signed by 104 of the Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Candidates at the 2010 General Election (over 15% of the total Lib Dem candidates).

The petition was conceived and produced by Craig Bichard, with the support of Derek Deedman, the Lib Dem Parliamentary Candidate for Arundel & South Downs at the 2010 General Election. Craig is a 19-year-old student and passionate member of the Arundel & South Downs Liberal Democrats, and it is his ambition to become a Liberal Democrat MP in the future.

Both Craig and Derek feel very strongly that unlike manifesto policies, which are aspirations to be delivered by an overall majority government or used as a basis for a compromise agreement in a coalition situation, the unconditional pledge made by Liberal Democrat Candidates to vote against any rise in tuition fees is a promise which must be kept – and 103 other Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Candidates at the 2010 General Election agree and have signed the petition. All agree that this is a red line issue and the provision in the Coalition Agreement for Liberal Democrat MPs to abstain is not sufficient.

Derek Deedman‘s blog

The petition in full is reproduced below:

During the General Election campaign many of our MP’s (and now government ministers) signed a pledge with the National Union of Students that they would vote against any tuition fee rises during the course of the next Parliament. The wording of this pledge clearly indicated that this would be unconditional; regardless of whether the party was in government or in opposition. The party has been very clear for many years about its view on tuition fees and that we feel they should be abolished.

However after the recent publication of the Browne review into university funding it now seems entirely likely that although tuition fees will be capped this will be done to an unacceptable level of somewhere between £9000-£9500 per year with almost all courses costing at least £6000 per year.

Stopping this from happening is vitally important. Not just for the benefit of students but also for the Liberal Democrats. There is one thing that sets the Liberal Democrats apart from other political parties; this is that when we say we will do something during election campaigns we then do it in government. This can be seen in how the income tax threshold will rise to £10,000 by the end of this Parliament, the AV referendum on 5th May 2011, the reduction of MP’s to 600, the Pupil Premium and the delay over the replacement of Trident. We have achieved this and more despite the compromises of being in a coalition.

Nick Clegg emphasised this best of all during the televised leadership debates when he said that the Labour and Conservative Parties have given us “Nothing but broken promises”, he also emphasised that “The Liberal Democrats are different”. Finally and crucially he announced how he wanted to create a “New politics” and part of this vision was for parties to do in government as they claim they will in opposition.

It is time for us to remind him of these important values. The rise in tuition fees is designed to fill in the £2.9 billion black hole that will be left in the teaching funds for universities after the announcement of cuts of 40% in the spending review. However in the context of reducing the deficit this is a drop in the ocean and these savings could surely be better achieved elsewhere. For example during much of Margaret Thatcher’s time as Prime Minister the top rate of tax for the highest earners was 60% and yet today in harder financial times it is 50%. Yet it is students (hardly the richest people in our society) who will be paying for the last generations mistakes. This may be a hard time economically but this is a battle we must win.

We are different and must show that we are; especially now that we are in a position to do so.  Otherwise this party will rightly face many more years back in the political wilderness having been labelled as ‘just like the other lot’.

So are these savings of £2.9 billion worth it? Is this price worth the loss of our party’s integrity and our values? If not then we must let the leadership know how we feel and stop these fees from rising while we still can.

We, the undersigned Parliamentary Liberal Democrat Candidates at the 2010 General Election, call on Nick Clegg, Vince Cable and all the Liberal Democrat MPs to vote against any increase in tuition fees, as pledged to the National Union of Students and publicised as such during the 2010 General Election campaign.

There must be better alternatives and we must find the right one; or the else the party and the next generation of students will rightly feel let down for the next Parliament and beyond.

Thank you all for your time, we will all be watching the results of the vote very closely.

Signatures

Derek Deedman (Arundel and South Downs)

Godfrey Newman (Horsham)

Simon McDougall (Littlehampton and Bognor)

Martin Lury (Chichester)

5. Bernadette Millam (Brighton Pavilion)

Andrew Falconer (Runnymede and Weybridge)

Paul Elgood (Hove)

James Blanchard (Huddersfield)

Jon Underwood (Tiverton and Honiton)

10. Mark Chapman (Spelthorne)

Andrew Aalders (Central Suffolk and North Ipswich)

Wendy Taylor (Newcastle upon Tyne East)

Nick Perry (Hastings and Rye)

Peter Carroll (Maidstone and the Weald)

15. Alan Bullion (Sevenoaks)

Roger Barlow (Macclesfield)

Richard Baum (Bury North)

Nigel Quinton (Hitchin and Harpenden)

Nigel Bennett (South Suffolk)

20. Chris Nelson (Kettering)

Chris Bramall (Stourbridge)

Sam Boote (Nottingham East)

Adam Carew (East Hampshire)

David Ord (North Tyneside)

25. Adrian Collet (Aldershot)

Gareth Epps (Reading East)

Chris Foote Wood (Middlesbrough)

John Dixon (Cardiff North)

Philip Eades (Poole)

30. Steven Lambert (Aylesbury)

Philip Latham (Stockton North)

Lynne Beaumont (Folkestone and Hythe)

Michael Mullaney (Bosworth)

Brendan D’Cruz (Castle Point)

35. Jamie Matthews (Pudsey)

Helen Flynn (Skipton and Ripon)

Edward Fordham (Hampstead and Kilburn)§

Alex Berhanu (Ilford North)

Richard Grayson (Hemel Hempstead)

40. Howard Keal (Thirsk and Malton)

Iarla Kilbane-Dawe (Edmonton)

Paula Keaveney (Garston and Halewood)

Steve Guy (Wycombe)

Rob Hylands (Gosport)

45. Martin Pierce (West Ham)

Tim McKay (Edinburgh South West)

Elizabeth Jewkes (City of Chester)

Daniel Roper (Broadland)

Stephen Glenn (Linlithgow and East Falkirk)

50. Chris Tucker (Slough)

Dave Raval (Hackney South and Shoreditch)

Margaret Rowley (Mid-Worcestershire)

Mike Willis (Loughborough)

Andrew Simpson (Northampton North)

55. Colin Ross (Wolverhampton North East)

Fiona Hornby (Devizes)

Paul Smith (Enfield North)

Tom Snowdon (Amber Valley)

Anna Pascoe (South West Devon)

60. Denis Healy (Hull North)

Tony Hill (Maidenhead)

Jane Lock (North Swindon)

Les Jones (Morecambe and Lunesdale)

Paul Brighton (Alyn and Deeside)

65. Ian Robertson (Rutherglen and Hamilton West)

David Harding-Price (Sleaford and North Hykeham)

David Rendel (Newbury)

John Loughton (East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow)

David Hall Matthews (Bradford West)

70. David Smith (Wakefield)

Jerry Evans (Birmingham Hall Green)

Carol Woods (City of Durham)

Denise Hawksworth (Bolsover)

Mark Blackburn (Westminster North)

75. Jonathan Bramall (Dudley South)

Jane Brophy (Altrincham and Sale West)

Peter Reisdorf (Wirral West)

Jill Wareham (Isle of Wight)

Jane Kulka (Reigate)

80. Paul Dixon (Sunderland Central)

Susan Gaszczak (Rayleigh and Wickford)

Sally FitzHarris (Kingswood)

Simon Partridge (Great Yarmouth)

David Rundle (Banbury)

85. Mike Collins (The Cotswolds)

Margaret Phelps (Witham)

Stephen Martin (North Warwickshire)

Graham Oakes (Exeter)

Nigel Jones (Newcastle under Lyme)

90. Trevor Carbin (South West Wiltshire)

Farooq Qureshi (Leyton and Wanstead)

John McClintock (Chatham and Aylesford)

Nigel Rock (Kinelworth and Southam)

Christian Vassie (York Central)

95. Linda Jack (Mid Bedfordshire)

Kevin Ward (Glasgow East)

James Monaghan (Morley and Outwood)

David Goodall (Southampton Itchen)

Joe Naitta (Derbyshire Dales)

100. Robin Lawrence (Wolverhampton South West)

Lucy Care (Derby North)

Richard Nixon (Brigg and Goole)

Sally McIntosh (Mid Derbyshire)

Alan Beddow (Warwick and Leamington)

*This post is purely my personal opinion, not that of the Northern Ireland Liberal Democrats.

§ (deleted) as was included originally in error. (updated 30 November 2010)

Ian Robertson

IAN ROBERTSON, author of An Atlas of the Peninsular War, reveals how he developed a passion for the subject of his book, and explains how he came to embark on the ambitious project of mapping out this series of campaigns fought by Wellington against Napoleonic France…

My interest in the Peninsular War commenced fifty years ago, when I started to collect contemporary memoirs, which could still be acquired inexpensively and with comparative ease, and the subject has engaged my attention ever since. At the time there was very little in print; but circumstances enabled me to commission, and edit Jac Weller’s Wellington in the Peninsula. This was a time-consuming process. Weller would tramp over the battlefields, tape-recorder in hand, later posting completed tapes to his secretary at Princeton, New Jersey. She would post the unedited text to me in London. It was not always too easy to understand, but having  attempted to get it right and in comprehensible English, they were re-typed  and returned to Jac, who would then scrawl all over the revisions, adding new material, and post back the pages for a second or even third re-write. The same process followed with maps, illustrations, and proofs being posted backwards and forwards over the Atlantic over a period of several months. This was hardly conducive to rapid publication, however much the outcome may have been worthwhile; but the experience and participation in the writing gave me a thorough grounding in the subject, for which I am ever grateful.

British troops fording the Mondego

Living in Spain during the 1970s and ’80s gave me many opportunities of exploring in person the battlefields of the Peninsula, the main ‘seat of war’ of the armies of Britain and her Spanish and Portuguese allies in the long confrontation  with the forces of Napoleonic France from 1808 to 1814. Having done so, I could appreciate very much better the often rough or mountainous terrain over which the troops manoeuvred, and  the fighting took place; and  also the harsh climatic conditions encountered, whether in retreat to Corunna in a blizzard, or from Talavera to Badajoz under a blistering summer sun.

Later, when writing on the Peninsular War, I became increasingly aware that maps and plans contained in almost all newly published books on those campaigns were grossly inadequate – although admittedly those embellishing both Fortescue’s and Oman’s volumes were better than most, even if not always reliable – but, far too often, mountain ranges were depicted as ‘furry caterpillars’ when not appearing as mere smudges; and many have been perfunctory edited; I remember that in one History of the war, one plan alone contained no less than seven errors in the spellings of name-places!

The Advance on Vitoria, much reduced

This was a sorry situation, which – with the necessary collaboration with a professional cartographer – I resolved to remedy as best I could, should the chance to do so occur at some future date. Opportunely, in collaboration with Martin Brown, already experienced as a military cartographer, who has well displayed his technical virtuosity in creating a comprehensive series of maps and plans animating clearly and graphically the course of the war, An Atlas of the Peninsular War deserving the name has been published, despite the distance dividing us geographically. This problem was resolved by the constant shuttle of drafts in colour, and their several revisions, by emails, pdfs, jpgs, and what not, together with occasional telephonic pow-wows over a period of two years, with – to me – miraculous results. As one critical reader has remarked: ‘Yale have produced it superbly and the maps are the best I have seen in a modern Napoleonic book.’

Well aware of the manifold hazards incidental to any compilation of this complexity, I can only hope that this atlas – compiled from an Anglo-centric point of view, admittedly – will neither exasperate the perfectionist or expert, nor lead the unprejudiced Peninsular War buff too far astray from the often devious paths of the Peninsula.

…

An Atlas of the Peninsular War

Ian Robertson is the author of Wellington at War in the Peninsula, Wellington Invades France, and A Commanding Presence: Logistics · Strategy · Survival. His latest book An Atlas of the Peninsular War was released on 28 September 2010.

2295 photos, 438 printed labels, 4 days, 2 crumpets, and 1 tub of Lyrical Spread.

‘The Batter, The Rapper, and The Mad Hatter’ by The Chameleon

Animation by Ian Robertson

The car charged with this task is the MINI Countryman WRC, which is being developed by Prodrive, in close cooperation with MINI, and is based on the production model. The powerful heart of the racing car is a 1.6-litre, four-cylinder turbo-charged engine from BMW Motorsport. The car complies with the new Super2000 regulations put in place by the International Automobile Federation (FIA), which stipulate the use of turbo engines with 1,600 cc displacement and four-wheel drive combined with an increased emphasis on road relevant technologies. The result is a significant 25 per cent reduction in overall costs. The first test drive for the MINI Countryman WRC, which will also be available to customer teams, is planned for autumn 2010.

This decision sees MINI continue its success story in the world of rallying. In the 1960s, the MINI Cooper S caused a sensation with victories at the legendary Monte Carlo Rally. The company also tasted success on many occasions in the European Rally Championship. Having already demonstrated the sporty character of its models in many countries in the MINI CHALLENGE, the brand is now taking its presence in motorsport to a new level with the commitment to the WRC.

Ian Robertson, member of the Board of Management of BMW AG, responsible for Sales and Marketing, says: “I am delighted MINI will be represented on one of the most popular stages in international motorsport. The success enjoyed on the rally circuit has made a vital contribution to the image of the brand. MINI customers have always shown great interest in motorsport. I am convinced we will add a few more chapters to our success story in rallying. The MINI Countryman provides an excellent basis, from which to create a  competitive racing car for the world championship. In Prodrive, we have a strong and experienced partner. We will work hard together over the coming months to ensure we get the project on track right from the word go.”

“This is a very exciting new motorsport programme,” said Prodrive Chairman, David Richards. “During the 1960s MINI captured the imagination of the world when the tiny car took on the might of V8 powered Fords and won what was then one of the toughest motorsport events, the 4000km Monte Carlo rally. I believe our new MINI will become a firm favourite of the latest generation of rally fans, just as it is adored by its millions of owners across the world. We already have a significant number of confirmed customer orders for the new MINI rally car with the first deliveries scheduled for the start of the 2011 season.”

Prodrive has been working on developing the MINI Countryman WRC since early 2009. The company was formed in 1984 by Richards, who won the World Rally Championship as co-driver to Ari Vatanen (FI) three years earlier. Based in Banbury (GB), Prodrive has developed into a leading independent company in the motorsport and automobile sector under Richards’ guidance, and today employs over 500 staff. Prodrive’s many successes currently include six overall victories in the World Rally Championship, five titles in the British Touring Car Championship and three class victories at the Le Mans 24 Hours (FR).

BMW was present when the World Rally Championship made its debut back in 1973. Achim Warmbold (DE) and Jean Todt (FR) tasted victory in their BMW 2002 at the Alpenfahrt Rally in Austria. However, MINI’s tradition in this discipline stretches back even further: Pat Moss (GB) clinched the first victory with the MINI 850 at the 1959 Mini Miglia National Rally. MINI ultimately enjoyed its finest hours at the Monte Carlo Rally in 1964, 1965 and 1967: the MINI Cooper S celebrated three overall victories at the most iconic rallying event in the world. Paddy Hopkirk (IR, 1964), Timo Mäkinen (FI, 1965) and Rauno Aaltonen (FI, 1967) joined the list of
winners at this prestigious event. In 1965, “Rally Professor” Aaltonen also won the European Rally Championship. Tony Ambrose (GB) and Mäkinen finished second and third to round off an excellent overall result for the MINI Cooper S. In addition, MINI drivers also enjoyed many individual wins at renowned rallies throughout Europe. The last BMW World Rally Championship victory was achieved in 1987 in Corsica by Bernard Béguin (FR) driving a BMW M3 which was built and run by Prodrive.

From 2011, over 40 years down the line, the MINI Countryman WRC will be charged with adding further chapters to this success story. It bridges the gap between the classic MINI concept and a contemporary Sports Activity Vehicle. The brand’s first model to feature four doors and a wide-opening tailgate, it offers more space – which can be used in a wide variety of ways – to go with its raised seating position and optimised ride comfort. Plus, the “go-kart” feeling for which MINI is a byword has been preserved and takes on a new dimension with the optional MINI ALL4 all-wheel-drive system. The MINI Countryman expresses the defining virtues of the rand in terms of design, premium quality, handling, efficiency and the scope for customisation – and does so in an absorbingly individual way.

The next step down from the racing version is the MINI Cooper S Countryman. With its twin-scroll turbocharger and direct injection now complemented by fully variable valve management, the 1.6-litre four-cylinder petrol engine in the range-topping model offers by far the best balance between output and fuel consumption in its displacement class. The engine generates an impressive 135 kW/184  hp and allows the MINI Cooper S Countryman to accelerate from 0 to 100 km/h in 7.6 seconds. Furthermore, the MINIMALISM concept sees wide-ranging technology designed to reduce fuel consumption and emissions – such as Brake Energy Regeneration, the Auto Start/Stop function, Shift Point Display and the need-based operation of ancillary components – fitted as standard and in model-specific combinations.

The MINI Cooper S Countryman and MINI Cooper D Countryman can be ordered as an option with MINI ALL4 permanent all-wheel drive. Here, an electromagnetic centre differential positioned directly on the final drive varies the distribution of power seamlessly between the front and rear axles. In normal driving conditions up to 50 per cent of the drive is sent to the rear wheels, in extreme situations as much as 100 per cent. The result is a new, traction-led expression of the agile handling for which MINI is famed.

Source:
www.minimotorsport.com

Unfortunately, we missed the 30^th Anniversary Celebration of the North Asheville Tailgate Market by a few hours.  According to my friend 

Jean is selling, Bill is buying

Jo, “It was…a lot of fun to see friends, & celebrate such a great market (now in the best place they’ve ever had.)  I learned the entire history from Ron Ainspan, and talked to Ian Robertson who was in on it at the very beginning also (from Warren Wilson Farms).”  Jo and a bunch of my buddies are Tailgate Market regulars that love the food, know the growers at least by sight, and look forward to quickie visits with friends during the market. 

The UNCA location truly is quite wonderful.  The sun is buffered by lots of shade trees, the layout is very inviting, and live music is always drifting though the market crowd.  Because I have to dash off to work by 8:20 many Saturdays ~ many of my visits are limited to about 20 minutes.  Even though I find a parking space with ease, the parking lot is mostly full at that early hour.  Lines are forming for bread, tomatoes or berries.  Since I have so little time and I am sidetracked into visiting, I usually bring a list so I don’t forget crucial items. 

30 years! How cool is that?  The North Asheville Tailgate Market started in 1980, and could rightfully be called the leader of the pack.  It has been 

Susan Mallard with her son, Blue Heron Farm

chugging along through a number of locations, and gaining momentum from the start.  It still retains some of the original vendors AND ultra-loyal customers.  The market predates “Buy Local” slogans, but has benefited from the renewed dedication of customers seeking out real-life connections to the locally grown food they want to eat.  Congratulations to the North Asheville Tailgate Market, to the fabulous market and all its vendors, and to the faithful customers who support it!

Hear Professor Ian Robertson, one of the world’s leading researchers in brain rehabilitation, in Dublin, Ireland chat about ‘Your Brain & You’. This event takes place on March 18th from 7.30 pm to 9.30 pm in the National Concert Hall, Dublin.

For more details, go to:

http://www.speakingevents.com/index.php/all-events/details/193-professor-ian-roberston-your-brain-and-you

We love Mamma Nye. Every once in awhile ArtLoveMagic throws an open house at our office in Deep Ellum. Not so much an event really, as a simple hangout- a chance for us to get together and be friendly. Without the craziness of an event going on, we get to talk and chill in a relaxed manner, meet new folks, etc.

Last night’s Open House was no exception- except in that it was exceptional. The secret ingredient was Mama Nye (Kelly Nygren) cooking love pancakes for the crowd. Each one a work of art (literally) and delicious to boot. The longer the night went, the more elaborate the edible art got, until finally Kelly and local improv comic Jill Headen were drawing portraits of everyone as pancakes. Tasty.

Here our music director, Deborah Driscoll, takes a turn at some pancake art herself.

More beard!

We always do some kind of live creativity. This open house included a giant sketchbook page 8 feet wide. Folks were encouraged to pick up a pencil and marker and join the oversized jam.

The art was led by Ian Robertson who set up a cool sky scene where people could work off of his sketches of heroes and villains flying in and out and of clouds. This worked out so cool we’re going to save it and hopefully set it up at the next open house for more people to complete or color the image.

We also used this Open House to start putting up the next art gallery in the Deep Ellum Community Center (where we office). 3 times a year we change out the art that’s hanging on the walls and in the windows. It’s an opportunity to show new people and give local creatives a chance to have their work seen.

Our new gallery will include work by poet Jay Bookworm (left), painter Amanda Davis, photographers David Leeson and Jasana Boudard, illustrator Jamel Jones, jeweler Rachel Deniger, and about a dozen more inspired folks.We’re still putting the finishing touches on this new gallery. It should all be up and tagged before the end of the month.

The next Open House date is Wednesday, December 1st 2010.

Stay connected with artlovemagic on facebook or through our email blast to get all of the upcoming dates.

SNP — 8/11
Labour — evens
Conservatives — 25/1
Liberal Democrats — 33/1

So now the only bookie that was backing Labour to win, now thinks the SNP will win.

The Liberal Democrats have named their candidate as Ian Robertson. He previously stood in the Westminster election of 2005 in the Rutherglen and Hamilton West seat, increasing their share of the vote by 6.7% – mainly from Labour voters – and squeezing past the SNP to go into second place. Given the state of the Liberal Democrats in Scotland now I think he’ll be lucky to keep their vote share but nonetheless he has a decent pedigree.

The SNP have also named their candidate as the Baillieston councillor John Mason. He has served on Glasgow City Council since 1998 and is the Glasgow SNP’s longest serving councillor. He also happens to be the most popular councillor in Glasgow – having the highest personal vote of any councillor in Glasgow, and the 4th highest vote in Scotland!

When he was first elected in 1998 he achieved a swing of 17.45% from Labour to the SNP. Can he manage to pull off a 22% swing?

Since Baillieston is a large part of the Glasgow East constituency this should be a shrewd move, capitalising on his local support. John lives in the East End and has done for the last 18 years.

The Scottish Socialist Party have named their candidate as Frances Curran; the joint leader of the party alongside Colin Fox. This clearly shows an intent by the SSP to try and take the socialist vote from the Solidarity Party, the other socialist party headed by Tommy Sheridan.

Both Labour and Solidarity are expected to name their candidates later today. I would guess that George Ryan (Labour) and Tommy Sheridan (Solidarity) would be the favourites.

If Tommy Sheridan does run, his high personal profile will probably take votes from both Labour and the SNP, making any result ridiculously hard to call.

And that will make Gordon Brown very nervous indeed.