The Stripper

For many years, I drove everyday – at least once and sometime twice – from The woodlands, TX to the center of Houston. In all of that time, I would listen to the radio and curse that most often, the song played would be never said. I hate that. Anyway, recently, I found out that many of the songs that I enjoyed were by a British band called Bush. Yep- almost all those songs that I itched to know – who? Bush! Strange. There I am in the US and its British music I adore – though I didn’t know it then. It reminds me of a trip I made there for a week and the Partner of our firm took me – somewhat reluctantly – to a strip club.

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The Death of Idols

Idols are really symbols that have a deep meaning that is only understood personally. While an idol may have a life of its own, it’s not possible to be the idol or participate in its experience of life. David Bowie is one more idol of mine and countless others, that has left to move on somewhere else. Much will be written about him in the next few days. For me, he was a symbol of something that I chose from time to time, to give my attention to. He is a memory trigger of happy times, great people and incredible memories of my life. Whether that be driving to Cornwall listening to kooks with my then best friend Mike in my late teens, or feeling strong as I listened to

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Gassing in Essen

Since Sunday evening I have been in Dusseldorf, Germany arriving home late last night. It is amazing to me how quickly traffic to this site drops off and tails away unless I post to it every day. In just three days, traffic declined by 70%! What I find interesting about that is that this blog is filled with content – short stories, poetry, thoughts, articles – most of it is not time sensitive. I guess, people only look at the latest material on blogs and that must mean all of the good stuff on this blog goes largely unread after it is first written. Sad but probably inevitable…. Anyway, I visited a huge trade fair in Essen with my business partner who flew in from Houston, TX. Over 15,000 power

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The Halloween That Wasn’t!

I lived in Houston, TX for nigh on 20-years and on Halloween, the doorbell would not stop ringing. Little kids by the dozen all dressed up roaming the streets with their parents collecting candy. When my boys were little, I would accompany them around all the local streets and I really enjoyed seeing how Texans celebrated Halloween. Decorations, candy, make up, fancy dress, they do it right. Some of the yard decorations were simply spectacular too. I will be honest and say that some years being the cranky sod I am, by the 50th ring of the doorbell and 100th listening to ‘TRICK OR TREAT,” I had sometimes had enough. There were times when I opened the door and said “Trick”. The kids looked confused by this as no one

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The Travel Queen

I am just returned from an overnight trip to Prague where I dropped my Mother off for her return trip back to Beverley. She had been here 10-days and it was her 5th such trip since my Dad passed away. My Mum can talk the hind legs of a donkey and if you had a chance to chat, she would tell you how she has travelled the world because of me. And she has. It all started back in the late 1970’s with trips down to the Midlands to drop me off and pick me up at Aston University. That shifted to Leeds and then to Glasgow as I continued on with my PhD with the British Geological Survey and University of Strathclyde. It became Aberdeen when I started my

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In the Domain of Asteroth

Several months ago I moved this blog to the WordPress.com set up from my own private hosting arrangement. It does seem to get better traffic and more readers and so I have moved my other blog too. My other blog, Asteroth’s Domain, is my original blog that in some form or other has been online since 2006. As you might imagine, its been through several reiterations but the posts there include material back to 2006. A word of warning! Asteroth’s Domain is explicitly about the occult, magic, alchemy, and reality as I see it. I don’t post there often. Perhaps once a month at most (and I will admit to adding an odd promotional item for my books there too) but if you are NOT into that kind of stuff,

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How to Waste a Morning in Prague

So today I had to send a letter to the IRS. Since I need it to arrive before December 23rd, I thought I would send it by courier – DHL in fact. Around 10am, I duly set out and drove the 10-minute drive to the airport where DHL have an office. I walk in to the DHL office armed with my reading glasses (their air bills use such small typeface its unreadable) and a pen…. yes, last time I was there they had no pens available! This is the Czech Republic people after all where customer service cannot be translated into the local language because it simply does not exist as a concept….. Entering the office there was what looked like a 15-year old behind the desk and on the

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9-11… It’s my Daughter’s Name Day

Today is 9-11 and my 6-year old daughter’s name day. In the Czech Republic, everyone has a name day – except me. My name is too English unfortunately to appear on the calendar (it does however, appear on the Slovak Republic’s Dog Name Calendar…..:-)) A few years ago though, 9-11 meant something quite different to me….. I walked into my office in The Woodlands, TX that morning shouting a cheery “Hello,” as I passed other’s office doors. One of the other business owners looked up at me as I walked by. He looked shocked and pale. I stopped. “What’s wrong?” I asked. “Have you seen the news?” he asked. “No, why?” “A plane has crashed into a building in New York,” he replied. I didn’t quite know what to say.

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Technology is Killing Us

I was reminiscing to myself last night as you do from time to time. I recall back in the early part of my career how there where no cell phones, no smart phones, no IPads, no PCs, no windows, no Google, no Facebook…… and wasn’t it great! If I went on a trip, I didn’t expect to keep in touch with people, no one called me looking for something. Occasionally, I’d get on a payphone and call home to check in but that was it. Back then, a holiday was a holiday. On Sunday, we leave for two weeks in the USA. Sunday looks like being miserable with three flights and around 14 hours in the air. But I am looking forward to my vacation and going back to the

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Back in Sales Mode!

I recently swapped the security of a quite fat monthly paycheck for the lifestyle of a business owner and entrepreneur. I partnered up with my long time buddy and business associate, Patrick Reames, who is based in Houston, TX in Commodity Technology Advisory. For the time being, I am working out of the spare room at home after all, all I need is a PC, phone and internet connection. I could, in fact, be located anywhere……..(there’s a thought!). Working for yourself is great fun. You can be creative, pick your own hours, choose who to work with and what to do. The problem is that you have to generate cash too. That’s the tricky part. I have always been quite good at sales. If anything, I tend to oversell. Given

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