Racing through the dark

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Morning Tash Appreciators,

Now that we’ve all heard Lance Armstrong’s “confession” and the media frenzy has died down, I thought this might be an opportunity to tell you a tale of real redemption. Not the kind that follows crocodile tears and a prime-time tv interview; I mean the kind which follows spending time in the depths of despair but which ultimately leads to a raised fist and victory while doing something you love. This kind:

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That’s David Millar: a Scottish cyclist who insists on being described in the press as “David Millar, ex-doper”. Like everyone else 10 years ago, he took performance enhancing drugs to win bike races. And, like many others, he was caught. 

Unlike most, however, he offered no excuse for what he did. You will not hear him attempting to justify his use of drugs by saying that everyone was doing it and that he was just trying to level the playing field. 

Instead, even once he lost his lucrative contract, his newly built house, his friends and his livelihood, he gave a full confession which described what he did and why he did it. He then served his ban; helped start (and now partly owns) a successful cycling team that has a no-needles policy but which also allows former-dopers to race again; started campaigning vigorously against doping when no-one else was; and did everything he could to ensure that cycling, and sport generally, is drug-free.

Armstrong and Millar make for an interesting comparison. Both could have (and did) win clean but both bowed to pressure and cheated and were ultimately caught. That’s where the similarities end. Millar used his experience to better himself and the sport he cares about. He missed out on two years racing – and a lot of money – but since then he has made a lasting impact on cycling and sport in general. He’s now an athlete representative on the World Anti-Doping Agency committee and has done as much as anyone to help young athletes avoid making the same mistakes he did. Along the way, he’s even managed to win a stage of the Tour (which he did in 2012) and get back to the very top of the sport. Millar shows that sometimes the pain of defeat is sometimes worth it. He’s rebuilt his life on his own terms and seems to be a happier man because of it. I’m sure Armstrong can’t say the same. 
Millar’s victory in the Tour was his last step to redemption. The state he was in after it shows just how much of an effort it was:

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I’ve already mentioned Millar’s team. Its name has changed over the years but Garmin has always been part of it. It’s also always got some kind of Argyle pattern on the jersey. Over the years, some of the team have sported a Tash. One such Tash was worn by Dave Zabriskie: another former-doper who is currently serving a 6-month ban after blowing the whistle on Armstrong. He’ll be back racing in March and I can only hope his Tash also makes a return:

 

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Quality, right?
Have a good weekend folks!
Keep going!

From where we are now to where we have never been

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Morning Tash Appreciators,

In November last year, I spent some time working on a TF about the American election. It was about how the hostility between the campaigns was detrimental to democracy. I binned it because (a) it wasn’t positive; and (b) I saw James Bond and I did the TF on him instead. 

It came to mind again on Monday when I watched President Obama’s inauguration:


After all the name calling that seemed to be filling the pre-election airwaves, America seems quite content with its decision. Democrats and Republicans are making progress with budget negotiations and there appears to be consensus about the need for gun reform. It seems that after all the hostility, two camps that were previously irreconcilable might just be able to reach some agreements. 
Maybe a good old street fight (in the metaphorical sense) is actually what’s required when people need to choose between two options which are opposites. I suppose you can’t really make an informed choice about an argument (or a person) until you’ve seen it/them tested to their limit. Making things personal is a step too far but going all out at the other side’s ideology and logic seems useful.

Monday also saw another important day in the American calendar: Martin Luther King Day. With Dr King, you see another example of where the coming together of diametrically opposed views caused a shift in opinion and change for the better. If those involved in the Civil Rights Movement had decided to accept anything less than equality then they may not have been so successful. 

In the next few years, Scotland and the UK will have big decisions to make too. Firstly we’ll have a referendum on independence and then, possibly, on membership of the EU. Hopefully, we’ll have a full debate which will leave no holds barred in examining the merits of each side’s argument. 

However, that might not be enough for the right decision to be reached. If you look at the campaigns of Obama and the Civil Rights, they have many things in common. But the similarity that seems most striking is that both had leaders who were/are charismatic, intelligent and principled. Can we say that about our political leaders today? 

Hopefully, as well as putting these issues to bed for good, the referendums in the UK will also bring to the fore genuine leaders who we can look up to in the same way Americans look up to President Obama and Dr King. 

I’ll leave you with a quote from Dr King about the occasional need for entirely opposite views to be tested against each other; when you can’t compromise. I’ll also leave you with reminder that he had a particularly excellent Tash:


“Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.”


The similarities, and differences, between two of those photos are quite something. 
Have a cracking weekend folks!
Keep going!

Right! Let’s dig out your best booze and talk about me ’till the car comes!

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Hola Tash Appreciators, 

It may be cold outside but, just like “grime” artist Wiley, when TF arrives it causes a heatwave. 

A lot has been going on this week: we’ve had Lance Armstrong’s interview with Oprah; a helicopter crashing in London; hostages being taken in Algeria and BLIZZARDS!!! (to use the Daily Mail’s emphasis). 
One thing that hasn’t received much coverage is the admission from David Cameron that Yes, Prime Minister (the 80s TV comedy where a hapless PM is bamboozled into inactivity by a much smarter Civil Servant) is “true to life” (http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2012/apr/12/david-cameron-yes-minister-true). It doesn’t exactly inspire confidence in Mr Cameron, does it! 
It got me thinking though. If Yes, Prime Minister is accurate, I wonder if The Thick Of It (today’s equivalent of Yes, Prime Minister) is also true to life. In The Thick Of It, various Ministers are battered into submission by a crazed yet incredibly funny Glaswegian who bombards everyone in sight with an unrelenting stream of abuse. He goes by the name of Malcolm Tucker and this picture pretty much sums up his attitude to everyone he encounters:
I truly hope that it is accurate, as the thought of Mr Cameron being brow-beaten by an angry Glaswegian seems very fitting. I only wish that I could quote some of his lines here but, if I did, email filters around the world would explode and you would all be in breach of your respective employers’ IT Policies. I can’t recommend the show too highly. 
Anyway, on to this week’s Tash. 
I haven’t chosen him for any particular reason other than because he’s absolutely fantastic. However, I’ll crow-bar a connection in by pointing out that he also comes from a BBC comedy. Malcolm and this week’s Tash alone are worth the license fee.
This week’s Tash is flash by name and flash by nature; instead of worshipping god, god worships him; he doesn’t wear underwear because pants haven’t been built that could take the job on; he likes his ladies firm and fruity; he keeps canoes in his pocket…”down boy, down!”; and he makes saying “woof” sound alluring. He is, of course, Lord Flashheart from Blackadder:
He just wouldn’t be as funny without the Tash. 
Have a great weekend folks!
Keep going!

Whatever’s comfortable

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Hello Tash Appreciators,

And just like that:

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It’s 2013. Happy New Year! 

As promised, TF has returned in what I hope will be lucky 2013 with incandescent optimism and enthusiasm. 

January, particularly the beginning of it, can be a fairly miserable time. We go from the presents, nights out and good-times of December to the reality of winter, damaged livers and a bit more weight than we’d like. However, a New Year’s resolution will give you a target at which to aim and encourage you to start the year as you mean to go on. Also, whether it’s throwing yourself into some new hobby, or learning a new language or even sitting down with that book you always wanted to read, a target for the New Year will take your mind off the short, cold, January days.

TF isn’t here to tell you that your target should involve aiming to be a certain weight or doing something to “better” yourself this year. However, it is here to suggest that your target should be something to look forward to. 

Emulating this week’s Tash is my target for this year:

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Now, I’m not suggesting that I want to be a rather large, sunburnt chap in speedos (I’ve been there and done that) but the big man does have style. 

Maybe I’ve watched too much Mad Men, but when I see this advert I see a bloke entirely content in his own skin. He also looks like he’s on holiday (when else would one stroll down a beach with a glass of SoCo in hand?) which is always good. He’s not distracted by the things going around him – such as the bevy of beach beauties lying on the beach – and appears to be happy to just swagger along the beach. Of course, his credentials are completed by his outstanding Tash. 

All of that sounds pretty good to me, so that’s what I’m going to do this year: go on holiday; drink in moderation (with the exception of an (un)civilised tipple at 5.19 on a Friday); chill out; and not give a f…arthing about what anyone thinks of my swimwear. A bit like this chap:

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(I know I use him too much. Sue me.)

Keep going!

The exodus is here; the happy ones are near. Let’s get together before we get much older.

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Good morning Tash Appreciators,

Welcome to what may be the last TF – The End Of The World Edition. 

As most of you will know, the Mayan calendar ends on 21 December 2012 and, by virtue of some very dubious logic, that apparently means the end is nigh.

Personally, I should think it more likely that the Mayan chap who drew up the calendar got to the 21 December 2012 (presumably hundreds of years away from when he was putting reminders in his Filofax) and thought “bugger this, I’ve had enough of writing dates – I’m off for a lemonade” (or something to that effect in the Mayan vernacular). 

I may be wrong, as prophecies etc tend to pass me by, but I won’t start worrying until I see this week’s Tash on TV saying that we are all about to be wiped out. After all, that’s what he does:

So let’s assume that human existence doesn’t end today. To quote last week’s TF: what’s next?

For me, the holiday season will begin tonight with a reunion that has been some three years in the making. The last time we were together, subject to one missing lad, looked something like this:



This may sound ridiculous but we have a sort of anthem which dates back to a wildly successful holiday several years ago. It’s a song by The Who called Baba O’Riley and, like TF did with a different song last year, I shall end the year by leaving you with a few lines which I think might be relevant to all of us: 

“The exodus is here;
the happy ones are near. 
Let’s get together before we get much older”

As the exodus from work begins and we all retreat to our respective homes this Christmas, let’s remember to enjoy ourselves and try not to get caught up in the mayhem which accompanies this time of year. 

Even if the world doesn’t come to an end today, we should nevertheless take this opportunity to get together and celebrate life like there was no tomorrow. 

For my part, I’d like to take this opportunity to thank you all for you responses in the course of the year. I hope you enjoy getting involved with TF as much as the TF team enjoys bringing it to you in the wee hours of most Friday mornings. 

TF wishes you all the very merriest of Christmases and a hope-filled, happy New Year


Until next time…

We could be heroes

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Hello Tash Appreciators,

This will be the second to last TF of what is, incredibly, Tash Friday’s second year.

Earlier this week, I had a look back at what I said around this time last year. As some of you may recall, last year’s festive TFs looked at Christmases Past, Present and Future.

In the final TF of 2011, I said this:

With the Tash of Christmas Future, I hope that we can all look ahead to the things that can be achieved or, more excitingly, attempted. After all, it is only by pushing ourselves beyond what we perceive as our capabilities that we can really test our mettle. It’s also at these times that we tend to find that we are capable of doing more, and going further, than we thought possible.

If you look back at 2012 you can see numerous examples of people who did just that:

Closer to home, 2012 has seen numerous new jobs (100% decrease in unemployment among Tash Appreciators); new houses; exotic holidays; an engagement or two; weddings; and what would appear to be, in the main, relative contentment.Friday morning rhetoric about getting stuck in, aiming higher than just an “acceptable” level and about life being too short is one thing but it looks very much like this year exceeded expectations. If we had sat down a year ago, and recorded our hopes for the year, would we have thought ourselves too ambitious by suggesting that all of the above would happen? Yes, is probably the answer.

The question we therefore have to ask ourselves is: what’s next?

We must be ambitious, enthusiastic, vigorous and determined. The coming year will not bring financial prosperity for the nation or even, dare I say it, any indication that we’re on the right track towards it. However, this year has shown we can do just fine; even in times of relative hardship. Onwards and upwards must be our battle-cry!

So that leaves us with this week’s Tash. Serendipitously, Bowie just faded into my earphones and so, with the words “just for one day…” ringing in my ears, I leave you with this week’s Tash (from the excellent movie The Prestige), David Bowie:

See you next week for the end of year/world edition…Cheers.

We may have all come on different ships, but we’re in the same boat now.

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Hello Tash Appreciators,

I am struggling with various ailments this week (I’m sure it’s some exotic, super-potent, lethal flu virus but I’m informed it’s just a cold) and I apologise in advance if this week’s TF is not up to its usual rambunctious standard.
Whether it’s the grim weather streaking past the window, the aforementioned ailments or the horror show which was the Autumn Statement, December does not seem to be off to the best start. 

For those who missed our egregious Chancellor delivering his view of the nation’s financial position, it was a loud, obnoxious affair where he told us (for the third year in a row!) that, starting now, the recovery would take five years. Ed Balls then delivered the worst attempt at a retort ever (and then tried to blame his incompetence on his stammer) and, throughout, MPs on both sides of the House guffawed at the other’s incompetence.  

This sums the whole thing up:

Smug. Juvenile. Idiotic. You’d never know that these three have just told the country that the last two years of their tenure has been a failure.

Even reading the Statement gives no indication about what the government is attempting to do to remedy the situation. “Fairness” has become a sinister euphemism for sticking two fingers up to the poor and “recovery” appears to mean stagnation. Instead of saying anything of any merit, they’ve just put random sentences in bold green writing.

In response, this is what the Labour Party came up with:

From this, we can assume that they are in favour not just of further cuts but that they want to take more money from those who need it most. It’s hard to tell exactly what they intend to do because, as far as I can see, these are just statements which may not even be true. 

In previous times of strife, coalitions have been formed to achieve consensus and promote national unity. Even though there were ideological differences, they put those aside to reach agreement. These days, even though all the political parties seem to agree that everyone who falls into the safety net of the benefits system is a scrounger, they then argue about who would cut benefits the most. 

Take this week’s Tash, for example: he led the wartime coalition and, afterwards, laid the foundations of the welfare state. How I wish we had politicians like Lloyd George these days – not perfect by any means but someone who folk could work with and who would get things done.
Have a good weekend folks. Next week will be more festive (but shorter!). 
Cheers.

Ask not what you should be thankful for…

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Good morning Tash Appreciators,

Some are under the impression that TF is based in the US (N.B. not everything that is  syntactically incorrect and littered with spelling mistakes emanates from the United States) and others lambast TF’s American leanings. This week, we embrace the US-bias, and one of the great American traditions – Thanksgiving. 

If Thanksgiving is one of the most famous American traditions, John F Kennedy is one of the most famous American Presidents. In his inauguration speech (pictured below), he asked that his fellow Americans “ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country.” 


Maybe we should not ask ourselves what we should be thankful for (there would surely be too many things to think about), but what we have done to make others thankful. I daresay that’s a shorter list. 
Earlier this week, I heard an exceptionally cantankerous chap – who will not be happy with his views being compared to those of JFK – arguing that people these days spend too much time trying to insulate themselves from society.  He said that we should invest more of our time and effort in trying to improve the world around us rather than blocking out all interaction with it. The ways he suggested doing this were fairly radical but the core of what he was saying was pretty indisputable: that only by working together will things improve. That seems to fit pretty well into what JFK said.  It also fits the idea that we should ask ourselves what we have done to make others thankful.
Of course, there is one thing for which we will all be thankful – The Tash. For that, we must thank the ‘Tashfather’ (apologies, that’s awful):
Have a cracking weekend y’all!
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Howdy Tash Appreciators,

This week’s TF gets its title from the last episode of The Sopranos. 
Without spoiling what many consider to be the greatest finale in television history, most people’s first reaction to the denouement  of the story is: “that can’t be it, surely?” However, if they watch it again, or really think about it, they realise it’s excellent. The important aspect, for the sake of this week’s TF, is that no-one sees the subtleties first time around.
“Made in America” is used somewhat ironically in the show. The Sopranos, and subsequent programmes like The Wire or Treme, tell stories of the decline of America; that it doesn’t make anything any more. In real life, the same is said of Scotland. We hear a lot about job losses, declines in industry etc etc.
However, like the ending of The Sopranos, maybe there’s more going on in Scotland than initially meets the eye. Are there details that we miss as time rushes by but which are in fact crucial to how our story ends? Could it be that when we look around the country and think “this can’t be it, surely” that we’re missing crucial details? Perhaps, when we look again in more detail, we’ll notice the subtleties and see that there are more positives than we think.
Maybe Scotland doesn’t “make” things in the same ways it used to. However, do we need to see factories billowing out smoke or thousands of men going home in dirty overalls after a hard day’s work before we think that Scotland is going places? Although we may miss aspects of the old days, such as characters like Tash-toting Jimmy Reid (below), they are mostly behind us.
If you look around Scotland you’ll see investments in pioneering energy production technology; in Glasgow, the east end is effectively being re-built with better housing, better facilities and better transport links; high-rises are being demolished to make way for the building of more affordable housing;  and I attended a graduation ceremony on Thursday at a new(ish) university that appears to be going from strength to strength by targeting niche areas and cleverly using land to ensure that generations in the future will be encouraged to pursue further education. 
When we look back in years to come, these projects and others like them, which we all see but don’t notice, might be the beginnings of a new sustainable era which we can be proud of. Some will say that they don’t see any signs of improvement and that the best days of Scotland are behind us, but as I have been saying to a Tash Appreciator this week, a negative attitude becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy – it’s only with positive thinking and action that things will get better. 
Hopefully, in the future, we will see Scottish people and their technology around the world. If/when we do, we’ll be able to proudly say: “made in Scotland”. 
As he so often does, President Obama sums up in one word exactly what I’m getting at:
If only he was from Hamilton rather than Hawaii.
Have a fantastic weekend folks!
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Good morning Tash Appreciators,

This week saw the passing of Clive Dunn. He’ll be fondly remembered by those who were fans of Dad’s Army and his oft repeated line: “Don’t panic, Don’t panic!”. As an aside, he also had an exceptionally distinguished moustache:

Clive Dunn played the part of Jonesy, and his character spent many an episode recalling his time in the deserts of Sudan during the First World War. In reality, he fought in the Second World War but spent four years as a prisoner of war. He later said that his time in Dad’s Army was payback to the Germans. I suppose he wasn’t one for holding a grudge. His death, in the week before Remembrance Sunday, is a reminder, if one were needed, that we are steadily losing those who lived through the war years. 

So much is eloquently said and poetically written about veterans at this time of year that it would do them an injustice for a nonsense “blog” like TF to chip in with some hastily drafted tribute. Instead, I’ve tried to find something which might resonate particularly  with what TF is all about: living life to the fullest. 

The example I have chosen is from one the prominent First World War poets, Rupert Brooke. He was a Cambridge student and his friends (including Winston Churchill and Maynard Keynes) would later become giants of his generation. His sonnet, V: The Soldier, said this:

If I should die, think only this of me:
That there’s some corner of a foreign field
That is for ever England. There shall be
In that rich earth a richer dust concealed;
A dust whom England bore, shaped, made aware,
Gave, once, her flowers to love, her ways to roam,
A body of England’s, breathing English air,
Washed by the rivers, blest by suns of home.

And think, this heart, all evil shed away,
A pulse in the eternal mind, no less
Gives somewhere back the thoughts by England given;
Her sights and sounds; dreams happy as her day;
And laughter, learnt of friends; and gentleness,
In hearts at peace, under an English heaven. 


Poetry like this leaves you wondering how much richer a place the world would have been if Brooke, and the millions like him, had been given the chance to do more than occupy a corner of a foreign field. 

Have a good weekend folks.