John Connell's Personal Blog

Hope…and more…symbolized…

John Connell — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 18:10:06 +0000

This is, for me, a lovely image that is painted on the wall of one of the buildings at Soweto TV - it is an image that symbolizes learning, teaching, literacy, knowledge, media and hope for a people, all in the apparently simple drawing of a child.

Technorati Tags: soweto tv, drawing, learning, teaching, knowledge, media, hope, south africa, literacy

Incredible Rio

John Connell — Sat, 29 May 2010 20:02:38 +0000

I had my second visit to the amazing city of Rio de Janeiro a couple of weeks ago. The sights, sounds and spectacular setting of this city simply take my breath away. Like all the great cities of the world, it never stops. Sao Paulo might be the engine of Brazil’s incredible economic success at the present time, but Rio remains the face that this country displays to the world.

Everyone I met in Rio was friendly and, language permitting, more than willing to tell me anything I wanted to know about the city and its people. On my last day there, I got into a taxi to take me from the hotel to the Cisco office. The driver had a classical radio station on. As I settled down, I picked up the words Winton Marsalis and a beautiful piece began, one that I had not heard before. The driver asked, apologetically almost, if I wanted to listen to something different. When I said no, and that I considered Marsalis a genius, he beamed from ear to ear, told me the voice was that of the American soprano, Kathleen Battle, and then proceeded to tell me a little of his life story.

He had been a chemical engineer, had travelled the world - he had even been to Glasgow back in the 1970s - and had taken up the taxi business after he retired. His English was probably better than mine, so we spent the 40 minutes or so of the ride exchanging thoughts and memories of various parts of the world we had both visited.

He was kind enough to say he wanted to return to Scotland one day for a holiday, so I gave him my card and told him to get in touch if he ever did come back.

Rio has some wonderful views, as can be seen from the photos here, but I know that its people are even more spectacular than its wonderful setting.

Technorati Tags: rio de janeiro, brazil, sao paulo, winton marsalis, kathleen battle

Airport Tweet-stakes

John Connell — Mon, 17 May 2010 09:50:07 +0000

My flights to Amsterdam and Sao Paulo were cancelled today because of the volcanic ash cloud, so I have been watching the news about the issue in the hope that I might be able to arrange to get away either this afternoon or tomorrow morning. Edinburgh Airport, unfortunately, has a way to go to catch up with Aberdeen and Glasgow Airports, both of which make good use of Twitter to keep passengers informed.

Technorati Tags: edinburgh airport, aberdeen airport, glasgow airport, twitter

Liverpool’s Albert Dock

John Connell — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 14:57:03 +0000

These photos are making a slightly belated appearance, since Jan and I spent a couple of pleasant days in Southport in February. We visited Liverpool, of course, while there, and had a lovely wander around the Albert Dock, taking in the Beatles Museum while there.

The vehicle above is an old World War II amphibious vehicle which has been rebuilt as a tourist sightseeing vehicle on the Liverpool Docks.

Technorati Tags: liverpool, wacker quacker, albert dock, beatles

The Glenlivet

John Connell — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 14:17:17 +0000

Jan and I spent a few days in the north last week, mainly on the Moray coast, but we took a run down to the Glenlivet Estate too. The distillery itself is set in beautiful countryside. On the way, we passed the lovely old Packhorse Bridge.

Technorati Tags: the glenlivet, distillery, whisky, packhorse bridge, scotland

26 hours from Dubai

John Connell — Sat, 09 Jan 2010 15:12:44 +0000

The last thing people want to see, especially those living in the UK or eastern US at the moment, is more pictures of snow-bound cars, but that’s exactly what I’m putting here. After spending 6 days in Riyadh and Dubai, where average midday temperatures were in the mid-to-high 20s Celsius, it was disconcerting for me to come back to the scene above in Lauder. I had seen some of the BBC reports emanating from my home town while I was away, and my wife, Jan, had of course kept me up to date with the continuing snowfalls, but it was still a rude awakening for me when I arrived home - certainly something of a contrast with the warm sunshine in Dubai (see below).

Like so many yesterday, I had a bit of a nightmare journey home from Dubai: the flight from Dubai to Amsterdam overnight was uneventful and on time; the problems began when my flight to Edinburgh was cancelled as we were lining up to board the plane (the aircraft was switched to Glasgow instead); KLM assured us we would all be re-booked onto later flights, but a quick call to Amex (Cisco’s travel agent) told me that the two later flights due out of Schiphol to Edinburgh were already fully booked; Amex found me an alternative route by BMI via Heathrow, and so I found myself in London late in the afternoon boarding a flight to Edinburgh; however, after sitting on the tarmac for 40 minutes or so beyond the scheduled take-off time, the captain announced a computer fault which, if it could not be fixed, would necessitate our disembarkation; thoughts of a second cancelled flight in one day were dispelled 20 minutes later when the announcement came that all was well; and so off we went.

I arrived in Edinburgh at 7.15pm and found myself back in Lauder at around 8.30pm after a slow and cautious drive down to the Scottish Borders in the back of a taxi. Even with the snow, it was a welcome sight when I finally arrived home!

Technorati Tags: lauder, scottish borders, klm, bmi, dubai, riyadh, snow

Strolling around Red Square

John Connell — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 16:16:42 +0000

I spent the best part of a couple of hours strolling around Red Square and the surrounding parts of Moscow. Dusk was just starting to fall as I got there, which allowed me to see all the sights of the Square lit up for Christmas (on 7th January in Russia).

St Basil’s Cathedral (correct title: the Cathedral of Intercession of Theotokos on the Moat) hasn’t been a church since 1929. The building apparently marks the geometric centre of the old city of Moscow.

The Kremlin is, of course, impressive, not least for the sheer scale of the complex. It was nice to see the red star still sitting atop the Kremlin’s towers!

Lauder Common Riding 2009

John Connell — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 19:30:05 +0000

Lauder Common Riding took place a couple of weeks ago, on the first Saturday in August as usual. I managed to catch this fine phalanx of ex-cornets as they returned to the Royal Burgh after their annual trot, canter and gallop around the extremities of Lauder’s common land.

As can be seen from the image below, all ages and sizes take part in the annual ride - and it’s no small feat for the youngest riders to take in their stride!

Technorati Tags: lauder common riding, ex-cornets

Aldeburgh and Lifelong Companionship

John Connell — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 19:15:41 +0000

Jan and I visited the lovely little town of Aldeburgh in Suffolk, where Benjamin Britten lived and is buried, a few weeks ago - from the pebble beach, the town has almost a toy-town look about it.

But one of the nicest sights I came across that day was the elderly couple below, walking along the main street holding hands. I passed them two or three times and they were hand-in-hand every time!

Technorati Tags: aldeburgh, suffolk

Islay

John Connell — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 18:50:29 +0000

Back in June, I spent a couple of great days on the beautiful island of Islay, off the West coast of Scotland. I was there to attend the Education2020 TeachMeet organized by Ian Stuart and Andy Wallis, both of whom teach in Islay High School.

The above image shows the view from the harbour at Bowmore up the brae to the famous round church.

And the image below was taken during the event itself. Krysia Smyth seems as if she’s been caught in mid-prayer, with Con Morris looking on in wonder! Ian and Andy can be seen working away in the background.

Technorati Tags: islay, bowmore, education2020, teachmeet