brianagain

In Spain via the coastal road - Cadaques. In France it's got to be Collioure. Brian (again)

Sadly I see that another guitar legend has just passed away at the relatively young age of 58 - Gary Moore. Parisienne Walkways is a classic. He was once described as being as good as Eric Clapton but played with more feeling Cooperlola wrote "because I see that the world's greatest guitarist (RT) was in it" Got to be Richard Thompson! Brian (again)

[quote user="brianagain"]Donna Leon's Blood from a Stone will be shown on ARD on 12 Feb at 2015 if you can get German TV [/quote] I purchased a TNT Sat receiver from either Carrefour or Auchan a couple of years back which linked to my satellite dish allows me to tune in most of the mainstream German channels as well as the French TNT channels. My German is also fairly rusty so I usually record the film and play it back to get a better understanding. Brian (again)

A new author to me and recommended by, among others, Lee Child, is Rick Mofina, whose character is a young investigative journalist working in the Seattle area. I've just finish the first and about to start another. Good stuff. I would second the recommendation of the Brunetti novels by Donna Leon having also read them all. The books are very popular in Germany and most of the novels have been filmed for German television and are shown regularly on Das Erste - beautiful location scenes in Venice and well cast actors, especially Uwe Kockisch as Brunetti. I believe they have also been transmitted on FR3 some time ago but would hope they might be reshown again sometime. Sadly I don't think they will make it to British tv as they are in a foreign language and it's much easier to fill the schedules with series imported from the US. Oddly I read somewhere that Donna Leon's books have never been translated into Italian. http://programmes.france3.fr/commissaire-brunetti/index.php?page=article&numsite=5597&id_rubrique=5606&id_article=17129 Brian (again) Edit; Donna Leon's Blood from a Stone will be shown on ARD on 12 Feb at 2015 if you can get German TV

Currently there are 5 direct departures from Lille to Saint-Pierre des Corps, 4 from Lille Europe and 1 from Lille Flandres. As the walking distance between the two stations is not that great, I wouldn't see it as a problem as long as you know which one you are departing from. Brian (again)

Sauce haricot noir? http://www.colifondker.com/PBSCProduct.asp?ItmID=6834966 Brian (again)

If Contador is stripped of his Tour de France title for 2010, as seems likely, I've no doubt that it will pale into insignificance if a certain other, more well known, winner finds himself in the same position. Personally I won't be sorry, but I'm sure that Tour de France will survive in spite of any bad publicity, and, as another poster says, it almost certainly goes on in many other sports but they chose to turn a blind eye. http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1180944/1/index.htm Brian (again)

The ePub format which is used by public libraries and used by all the other major ebooksellers such as FNAC, W H Smith, Watersons, Barnes & Noble , etc is NOT compatible with the Kindle. I suspect that Amazon sells its Kindle at close to cost price knowing that it will make its profit from the purchasers who are limited to buying books from Amazon - other Kindle format ebooks which are available from other suppliers (Google, Project Gutenberg, etc) are essentially obscure or out of copyright. If Amazon enabled ePub on the Kindle it would be a true winner, but then readers wouldn't be obliged to buy their books from Amazon anymore. Brian (again)

An increasing number of public libraries are starting to offer ebooks on loan for free but as I understand it, the Kindle is the only ebook reader which is unable to take advantage of such services due its proprietary software - this also seems to mean that you are limited to buying ebooks from Amazon, rather than shopping around from Waterstones, W H Smith, etc. For some purchasers this could be a reason not to buy a Kindle. Brian (again)

John Harvey, crime novels featuring DI Charlie Resnick set in Nottingham. Brian (again) Can Jack Reacher really exist on just a fold up toothbrush and not much else - except enough money to buy new clothes every couple of days? (Must have got used to flying with Ryanair perhaps?)

We liked La Houblonniere, rue Monsigny - been there a couple of times - friendly atmosphere - would go back again. Brian (again)

Just checked my photos posted on Google Earth Panoramio. The one photo I submitted of the harbour in Doelan three years ago had 7 views in the 19 days between Dec 21 and Jan 8, but this jumped to 165 views in the 11 days between Jan 9 - 19, so yes it seems that Doc Martin has had brought about an increased interest in the location.  The village is not really suited to mass tourism so hopefully it does not suffer too much.  Enjoyed the two latest episodes last Monday. On a different note we're visiting north Cornwall next month so will hopefully get to visit Port Isaac, but at least it will be out of season. Brian (again)

Lovely setting in the port of Doelan - you can watch the first couple of episodes on the TF1 website (after the ads!) http://videos.tf1.fr/doc-martin/ep-1-bienvenue-a-port-garrec-6218110.html Brian (again)

My great grandfather (x10) Sir Edward Neville was also a catholic and as a result lost his head at Tower Hill  - didn't do him any good either!! Brian (again)

I'm surprised that no-one has mentioned one of my favourite places on the Gironde  - Talmont. Lovely romanesque chuch in a commanding point overlooking the Gironde. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talmont-sur-Gironde Brian (again)

Having just read this article about Tesco http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2010/dec/11/foreign-exchange-tesco it might be better to examine the small print of the bank/bs conditions before deciding on moving your account; a new account may be "fee free" or "commission free" but who knows what catches there may be hidden away? Is it really "profit free"? Brian (again)

It is no coincidence that Fifa, like many other international sports organisations (IOC, Uefa, UCI etc,) are located in Switzerland, where they benefit from generous tax breaks and favourable legal terms that allow them to govern their own affairs; regarded as non-profit sporting entities, they are even exempt from Swiss anti-corruption laws. They are literally a law unto themselves. International pressure forced Switzerland to clean up some of its act as far as the banks are concerned, so perhaps fear of being seen as a haven for corrupt sporting bodies may force changes - and not before time. Brian (again)

[quote user="NormanH"]I know some radiotherapy treatments Brachytherapy for example can leave you mildly radioactive for a brief while [/quote] After my brachytherapy last year, the hospital issued me with a card detailing the treatment to show officials if I needed to pass through a scanner. In my case I had to carry it with me for 12 months. And, yes, I got all the "glow in the dark, etc" comments as well. Good luck with the treatment. Brian (again)

Just been reading about Prince Andrew (he golfs for England) spouting off about  " ***ing journalists" poking their nose into business transactions, complaining that anti-corruption investigators are damaging British exporters; sounds just like the ideal addition to the 2018 bid team to speak up for England before it's too late.[:)] Brian (again)

Dinty's bar in Union Hall is up for sale. Brian (again)

I know it is only an advert but it made me smile http://www.themeganeexperiment.com/?wt.mc_id=EM10-ME-072#/two-towns/video/documentary Brian (again)

Interesting and ironic to note that the five economic experts (Booth, Butler, Littlewood, Bartholomew and Bonner, all cheerleaders for free markets), not counting the presenter, are all employed in the service sector. That, in their owns eyes, makes them about much use to they economy as say, estate agents, etc. Perhaps they should all try the manufacturing sector, except I doubt they will hardly be paid as well as they currently are - Littlewood for example is on a six figure salary at the IEA. Further irony; the show was even broadcast on a (part) publicly funded TV channel!  I like the comment someone else made about the programme...  "further deregulation of the private sector is like asking the iceberg to fix the Titanic". Brian (again)

So if everyone in the UK sold off their houses to raise the capital, who exactly would they have to give it to in order to pay off part of this debt? The programme in my opinion was unbalanced, too full of slick editing and taking soundbites out of context, while seeking to undermine any case for central provision of essential services; do we (in the UK/France) really want an American style health service which depends on a person's  ability to pay and which profits only the Pharmaceutical and Insurance industries. Meanwhile, the recent banking crisis proves that unfettered capitalism is not the answer to the economic crisis, and not just in the UK. Brian (again)

This not really aimed at the economic experts commenting above, much of which goes above my head, but may help poor souls like me get a better idea of currency fluctuations, etc. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-11722578 Brian (again)

Off the original topic but... I can trace my ancestry back to William the Conqueror (via John of Gaunt and the Nevilles) and seemingly then back to Charlemagne. However, it seems that everyone of European descent is a descendant of Charlemagne anyway! http://blog.eogn.com/eastmans_online_genealogy/2010/03/you-are-probably-descended-from-charlemagne-and-other-royalty.html Brian (again)