Grand National 2011 Sweepstake Kit

Updated version now available here.

For those who like me am a sucker for a sweepstake I have made a sweepstake kit. Its very simple, very cheap (its free after all), very early and subject to change.

Sweepstake kit

Feel free to take it and do with it as you would! I'll post updates when I can if you want to check back but it'll at least let you get a sweep going in a timely fashion. Even if you may have to swap some horse as they are replaced.

Grand National 2011 CSV

Its the Grand National a week on Saturday, and I'm not going to be here (bad times) as I'll be in sunny Cyprus (Good Times.) So have been setting up our grand national sweep database early this year.

So in the spirit of sharing for all those of the nerdy ilk here for your importing pleasure is a csv of the runners for the 2011 Grand National. I'll post further updates if they change.

Book 2/50 : The Lost Fleet Dauntless

The Lost Fleet: Dauntless a mini review.

Jack Campbell real name John G. Hemry is a retired Lieutenant Commander from the US Navy. This really comes across in his writing. His prose is pulpy, and the universe he creates has some logical flaws that he has to cover through character exposition. This is easily countered by his exquisitely crafted space battles. He describes battles between large fleets of ships spread across distances that make the travel time of light a problem, with such detail and so believably you wonder if he hasn't actually been involved in such battles. His navy background is also easy to see as his thoughts on duty, honour and the necessity of following orders are very large parts of the plot.

This is my first delve into the Military Science Fiction subgenre and it was very enjoyable. Its not going to win any literary prizes and its most definitely the first book in a series (as nothing much is concluded,) but its a very good read. Rating 7/10.*

The Challenge Update

Just into week 2 and 2 books down. Helped in no short order by reading this book in less than 24 hours.

*I'm being necessarily harsh.

Book 1/50 : Surface Detail

So Surface detail a mini review.

I'd give Surface detail 8.5/10. As you would expect from Iain Banks the prose is fantastic this really is the acceptable face of Science Fiction literature. Iain's M books (his Sci-Fi books) could easily join his main stream non M books on English Literature courses. What's more it obvious he has great fun with his characters, The Mind who controls/is the General Offensive Unit "Falling Outside The Normal Moral Constraints" is well Generally Offensive but ultimately great fun and though proudly eccentric deeply moral. The story is engaging and thought provoking. Where technology can transfer your mind on death to a virtual reality Heaven, its just as easy to create virtual Hells. The plot centre's on a young women revented (brought back to life,) after her murder at the hands of her owner. With a war in the virtual Heavens, over the virtual hells, threatening to spread to the real. The future of the virtual hells may just pivot on her decisions.

If you aren't familiar with the culture books, this isn't the place to start. The Player of Games is the best place to start.

The Challenge Update

Well into week one and it's going to get harder from here. It's took me a week to finish this book. Time to take my finger out.

Tuesdays Ten "Interesting" Facts 7

1. As a youth "Rapper", Actor and producer Mark Wahlberg was convicted for attempted murder.
2. When a young writer approached United Artist's with his script for the story of a club fighter who gets his shot at the Heavy Weight boxing title, they loved it. The executives wanted to cast Robert Redford but the writer insisted he star in the lead role. The executives gave in and the young writer Sylvester Stallone was cast as the title character Rocky Balboa.
3. ....Stallone's first acting job was in the soft porn film "The Party at Kitty and Stud's". A job he took out of necessity after he was kicked out of his flat.
4. Dick Van Dyke claimed to have once been rescued from drifting out to sea and possible death by a pod of porpoises.
5. In a show of her skills Actress Toni Collette, once pretended to have appendicitis and was so convincing her appendix was removed.
6. More people die every year from donkey related injuries than in plane crashes.
7. Chickens that lay brown eggs have red ear lobes.
8. The first draft of Steinbecks' masterpiece "Of Mice and Men" was eaten by his dog.
9. The first music video to be shown on MTV Europe was "Money for Nothing" by Dire Straits. For those of you to young to remember yes MTV used to play music videos and hardly any reality TV.
10. This is the 3D shadow of a rotating 4D Hypercube.

Ohhhhhh pretty.

My 50 Book Challenge.

ConDem Minister of Education Michael Gove, has said that all children aged over 11 should be reading 50 books a year. I'll get the rant over first before moving on.

Rant 1. So the ConDems are cutting budgets to libraries (indirectly admittedly,) and than they have the audacity to say children should read more. Where are poor families to get these books from? I wonder if any of the Tory's old school chums just so happen to be in publishing?

Rant 2. Surely its not the quantity of reading that is important, but the quality.

Rant 3. ...and the Tory's said Labour where making a nanny state. Next step approved book lists.

Anti-Rant. At least if the next generation are well read they'll be to intelligent to fall for stupid right wing propaganda.

phew rant over. 50 books a year seems excessive to me and I am a prolific reader at times. To that end I intend on taking Michael Grove up on his challenge (yes I know I'm not a child,) but I think it'll be interesting to see how feasible it is. So by the 22nd March 2012 i will have read(or reread) 50 books.

I'll post mini reviews and the name of each book as I go.

First up Surface Detail by Iain M Banks.

Cheating a little here as I have already read the first few chapters but it needs finishing.

Halifax Advertising Meeting.

Advertising Consultant 1 : To make our adverts cheap but engaging lets use the Halifax staff as a source of cheap actors?
Advertising Consultant 2 : Great idea.
Advertising Consultant 3 : Wait a minute, what if it comes across as amateurish?
Advertising Consultant 1 : Oh yeah. What if we got actors to play Halifax staff?
Advertising Consultant 2 : That's even better.
Advertising Consultant 3 : Hang on the actors wont really be convincing talking about serving customers, branches and accounts.....
Advertising Consultant 1 : I've got it what if we have the actors play Halifax staff running a crap radio station instead of doing banking?
Advertising Consultant 2 : Swish!
Advertising Consultant 3 : I can't see anything wrong with that. Well done.
Advertising Consultant 1 : That's why i earn the big bucks.

This is why all meetings should have a chairperson, a designated note taker and a common sense monitor(or bullshit filter if you would)! To stop this and other stupid ideas from ever leaving a meeting unchallenged.