That's why Britts go to Scotland

You're at a dinner party. After a lovely meal, the host serves coffee and says:
"Would you like something with it? At 95% of all dinners I've been to, it is automatically assumed that the men want whisky and the women liqueur. Well, I don't. I have never had much of a sweet tooth and – I love whisky.
Don't get me wrong, I don't drink much of it and not too often, it must be said (mainly because I rarely have any in the house). However, there is something very special about whisky. Not only does it provide a whole range of different taste experiences, it also carries a story. Behind each bottle, behind each brand and blend – there is a tale to be told. If you learn about the area from where the whisky came from, how the rock affects the river water – which in its turn affects the final whisky – you add another level to the pleasure of drinking it.

Now then. I was on my way to Glasgow and Edinburgh for business when my Whyte and Mackay twitter friends Rob Bruce aka @robster38 and the Master Blender Richard Paterson aka @the_nose saw my tweets about going to Scotland. Rob, who is a lovely man and a hard working Head of PR at Whyte and Mackay, invited me to visit their HQ in Glasgow. Naturally, I took him up on that kind offer. Sadly, Richard wasn't there that day, but Rob let me in to the holiest of sanctuaries – the laboratory where the Master Blender creates his blends. What a privilege!
After this exclusive insight into what is the very core of Whyte and Mackay, I went for a drink with Rob. It was then he offered me... THE GIFT. A bottle of 22 year old Supreme – limited edition. Gorgeous. According to Rob, it was to thank me for supporting Whyte and Mackay and @the_nose and also for helping Rob out when he was new to twitter. Thank you Rob!

I continued my evening in Glasgow by having a scrummy dinner at Red Onion (Excellent place – try it!) with two other twitter friends, the fabulous duo @blessedsister and @tartancat . Wonderful, creative lassies and yet another proof that twitter is not just about telling people what you had for breakfast.
It's so much more – you get fridge magnets, too! Thank you @blessedsister – this one is now added to my collection! And I've learnt how to pronounce it...

After this Glaswegian experience (I did some work too – honestly!), yet again gobsmacked by the wonders that is twitter, I later continued my journey to Edinburgh where I attended and exhibited at a Holyrood conference about flood emergency response.

Having spent a whole day networking and talking flood protection, I came back to my hotel room to chill a bit – and to check my twitter feed. As you do.
To my surprise, I noticed a tweet about a Master Class whisky tasting taking place at Whiskirooms  in... Edinburgh! With @the_nose !! Tonight!!!
I quickly checked the time and saw it was actually just a few blocks from my hotel. BUT – it was starting in about 20 minutes! And you needed a ticket first... Damn.

Quick decision – then I was on my way. (I didn't have to think that hard.)
I arrived just on time and after some light persuasion, I managed to get a ticket, even if the last one had already been sold. I guess I came across as rather desperate to meet Richard...

And what a great evening it was. Six whisky samples (detailed list further down) were pre-poured in special whisky glasses for us to sample, under the gentle... I mean... robust guidance of Richard.
The tiny, intimate room was filled with enthusiastic whisky lovers with high expectations of what the Master Blender was going to say. And boy, did he deliver. If you ever get a chance to see Richard Paterson in action – please do. You won't regret it.

What this passionate man doesn't know about whisky is not worth knowing. And – it's not just about whisky, he tells you about Scottish history as well, little anecdotes told in an extremely entertaining way, stemming from an ardent belief and desire to spread the knowledge and pleasures of whisky.

From now on, I say "Hello, how are you?" to my whisky. I stick the whole of my nose in it and say "Hello" again. And again. Then I let it rest on my tongue, under it and finally let it go down, followed by a deep breath. It really adds to the experience.
Watch here how Richard Paterson explains about blended whisky to the Scottish actor David Hayman, here visiting Whyte and Mackay headquarters in Glasgow.

Watch and enjoy! Slainte!

The whisky samples were:
Isle of Jura 16 Years Old Island Malt
Jura Prophecy
Shackleton Blended Malt Scotch Whisky
Dalmore 15 Years Old Single Highland Malt
The Dalmore 1263 King Alexander ||| Single Highland Malt
The Dalmore 40 – Astrum

Cab Poetry 3

To any newcomers to my blog:
What you are about to read is another post in my series "Cab Poetry". As an honorary London black cabbie (true!) and first ever punter of the excellent @tweetalondoncab I collect random, authentical cabbie tweets and arrange them artistically in... well, poems. Enjoy.

"I'm at Padders. I don't know why.

At oxo on me own

Playing EC5 lottery

That was quick hot a hail

Grv hse buzzin

Did 2 min at grov & got a city

Need a wee in ec3

On me lonesome at smiths

Work mcliver

Havin a go at the grosvenor

Off zuma to The liver

padds moving ok

Sloane Square fully cabbed out.

Bollocks. Hilton metropole to boscobel road. I surrender

Oook me! 15 mins in pk n off to a qqqqq peeps on the 3

Kettle's on at the feeder park

I am at abacus in front of the touts

Bollox tooting bec didn't wanna finish yet

There may be a pot of gold at the end of even the shortest shit coloured rainbow"

Friends Reunited

"Now then, where were we?" Some friends are forever. You don't meet that many of this kind, but the ones you do meet are worth their weight in gold. During last week, I have been thinking about the different types of friendship there are in this world. At least in my world - I might not speak for everybody.

As a little girl, I used to play with the boy across the street. We were the same age and had great fun together. He was rather lively and full of energy - and mischief. I was the reflective and calm one. His mum used to say he always came home in a different mood when he had been playing with me. So she encouraged our friendship. We would play corner shop (using leaves and stones as currency), have secret 'clubs', make jam from non-edible berries (!), run around the block, play hide and seek, build snow huts, cut the bark of branches with our little pen knives, play indians and cowboys - even "The White and Red Rose"...

And so came the Big Day. We were seven that year and - school started. Due to some new, bureaucratic Council rules at the time, it was decided that our street formed a border. As we lived on different sides, this meant I was going to one school and my best friend to another. This was clearly not on. We protested. My friend said he would refuse to go at all unless I could be in his class.

After some telephone calls, made by our dear mums, and some swapping around - we ended up in the same school and the same class. Order was restored.

Enter peer pressure... Even though my friend came to pick me up every single morning for school, we went separate ways once we reached the school gate. He walked over to the boys and I joined the girls. We were still friends, but not "in public". We couldn't have rumours going...

I still find that very sad. Our first experience of sexism, albeit on a very local and personal level.

Another friend was a girl from my class. During the age of 9-12 or so, we were constantly together. Looking back now, I think we were pretty creative in the way we made up new things to do, innovative - and somewhat crazy - plays to play. Once, we told each other to have a "password" every time we met. Just IN CASE we weren't whom we seemed to be. (I guess we had been watching too many spy films.) The password procedure was a quick, yet important introduction to our daily activities. We swore to each other we would continue this in adult life, as well - just in case.

In fact, I met this girl recently - after many, many years of silence. Our first words? Well - the password, of course! She remembered.

Another boy in the class was the cause of my first, real crush. We were ever so serious and he gave me a ring he had made in the wood- and metal work class. His words: "I know it's made of copper. But when I can afford it, I intend to buy you a silver one." Now - that's love...

Later in life, I met other people who have all been very close and always there - in good times as well as bad. Some share my adolescent past, it was all about growing pains, partying, music, politics, "Inter Railing" and - love.

Another dear old friend brought his wife over and came to see me recently, here in England. Great when that happens.

One particular friend shared my passion for Paris. When we weren't actually in Paris, we would be on the phone for ages, each with a map of Paris in front of us and just go for a "pretended walk" together, along the boulevards, Montmartre and the Seine... or meet for a coffee and a "sandwich au jambon", looking at old photos. She has become my ultimate best friend who knows my feelings about just about everything. We can laugh, even without laughing.

All these old friends are still present in my mind, and will be until the end.

Then, there are new friendships. I have never been a great fan of Facebook - although I am on it. But I must admit, Twitter has given me many new friends, many of whom I wouldn't want to be without. Some people think Twitter is about checking out celebs. It couldn't be further from the truth. I follow quite a few people - or 'tweeps', as us Twitterers prefer to say. The strange thing is, you get to know each other's habits, mood swings etc. to the extent that they feel almost equivalent to your old friends.

I find myself thinking: "Oh, he's up already, even if he went to bed so late last night." "She seems as if she needs some support today, something is not quite right." "He's in love." "She needs to get a life."

I have met some of my "tweeps" in real life, too. It is a strange feeling when you meet and you already know quite a lot about each other. You can cut the 'small talk' and just go straight to what it is you want to say.

I would not want to be without any of my friends. Old or new. Friendship is hard to define and - sometimes, it can be mistaken for something else.

I only know that with real friends, you can just take up the conversation where it stopped - even if that means going back 20 years or so in time. Real friends are forever - like bricks in the wall of life.

Twitter rocks!

I have been neglecting this blog long enough now. Time for another post - long overdue! Aware of the repetition, I feel I once again have to praise the social media revolution called Twitter. I wasn't quite sure what to make of this phenomenon in the beginning, but on the recommendation of my son, thought I'd give it a go.

And - boy, am I glad I did. It has given me material enough to write a book, should I want to. That should probably be a 'Twook'. The latest episode would tell about how I became the first ever customer for Tweetalondoncab, met an American 'Social Catalyst and Twitter Guru' at a Central London 'tweet-up', and also how an armchair Blur in Hyde Park dream became reality. 

And if that wasn't enough, I have also just arranged a meeting with an MP, to discuss flood defences. Later on in July, I'm invited to a tweet-up in Lincolnshire. The tweeter in question visited London some weeks ago and we managed to meet up at King's Cross for 10 minutes. Speaking of books... he spent the whole of Father's day to write a book on Twitter, with 140 characters at the time. No - he is not mad, but he did this in memory of his late son who died last year. 

Twitter has meant new friends on the photo-sharing website Flickr, as well. There are some great photographers out there in the real world. Cameras on mobile phones might come across as an unnecessary 'extra' when all you want to do is making phone calls. But - it is a daunting thought that so many people around the country capture so many moments in life and post them for others to enjoy. 

Whenever I feel homesick (for Sweden), I tweet one of my friends over there. She kindly tweets me pictures and updates in both Swedish and English. I'm sure it confuses the hell out of my English speaking tweeps.

So - I'm sticking to Twitter. The only sad bit is that many people who don't 'get' Twitter think it is another Facebook or even worse - some kind of dating site. It couldn't be further from the truth. The thing is, you make of twitter what you want. People on Twitter - also known as 'tweeps' - respect each other. There's a lot of fun banter going on in between the more serious tweet debates. 

My impression is, you trust your fellow tweeps. I give you an example: I just sent a cheque to another person as payment for the Blur tickets. We had built up a good relation between us so she just said "I trust you. I send you the tickets and you send me the cheque later."

Besides, if you don't trust someone, you can always 'unfollow', as us tweeps say when we stop following one and other. You will notice there's a lot of Twitter lingo involved, but you soon get the hang of both hashtags, trends, twitpics, and RTs. And the odd twat!

Uplifting Experiences

Sometimes, things just feel so uplifting. These last few days in London have certainly added to my feeling of elevation - in more ways than one.

First, I had the unique opportunity to visit the BT Tower in London - a kind favour from one of the many contacts I have made through work. This now rather dated tele communication tower (built in the 60s) has become an iconic building in the very centre of London.

I regularly take pictures of it, from different view points in London. But never ever would I have dreamt of going up there myself one day. 

The view hits you straight in the face as you come out of the lift, exclusively operated by professional and indeed very corteous BT staff. As the lift door opens and you step out on the 33rd floor *gulp*, the first thing you spot is the London Eye. You can see for miles up there - it is really a good vantage point for any Londoner, or non-Londoner for that matter. I could have stayed there several days, had I been allowed to. There used to be a restaurant up there and I really find it very sad it is not still up and running. The whole thing used to rotate slowly, which was handy, I guess. A bit like the Eye - but the other way around...

Fancy having pre-drinkies towards the North, mains towards the West, puddings over-looking the South and coffees with the East of London in front of your eyes? In my book, that would mean an end to boring dinner conversations.

Anyway, as it was, we did our own 'rotation' by foot and I managed to take a picture or two.

And then - there was Clapton.

As you might have gathered, he is pretty much God to me. This was my own pre birthday prezzie to myself - because I'm worth it. I had booked two tickets way back in winter time and now I only had to find a volunteer to join me. Lucky buggers! I gave the chance to various people but in the end, my daughter was the lucky one. I wish I could have taken both my children along, but it was a question of £££. They sorted it between them so - no hard feelings.

Mr Slowhands was in great shape and walked in on stage to a bustling, roaring audience which filled the Royal Albert Hall to the ceiling. Great atmosphere and - yet another great place to explore in London! This was my first ever time in the hall and I would have liked to walk around the venue beforehand. As we were on the late side when arriving, this was not to be, unfortunately.

After having kick-started with some hefty guitar riff type songs the way only Clapton can perform, he went up to the mike and said: "Hello! I always need to play a bit before I pluck up the courage to actually speak to an audience." Yeah - as if!

Then he just went on and on and on...At one stage, my daughter grabbed me by the arm and asked: "Are you crying, Mum...?" I wasn't, but I had goose pimples all over and felt that bluesy 'hit-you-in-the-guts" type of feeling. When he gets his hands on that guitar, he really does it for me. Hits the right spot, as it were.

Another highlight of this weekend was of course a lovely dinner with my children and my daughter's boyfriend. As they are all vegetarians, we went to one of their favourite vegetarian eating places - Mildred's in Soho. it is next to the John Snow, where we ended up afterwards. Always crowded, long queue but honestly worth the wait! (Referring to Mildred's) If you ever thought vegetarian and organic food consists of nothing but carrrots and lettuce - think again. This is an amazing symphony of unusual flavours and combinations. Oh - the puddings - to die for! And as an extra bonus - it's pretty healthy, too. (OK, maybe not the bill...)

So, for my last uplifting experience. As readers of this blog will know, I am an ardent fan of Twitter. I have found my 'own' favourite London cab driver through Twitter and he (@cabbiescapital) has kindly taken me from A to B a couple of times. Well, this weekend he was off duty and hence I booked in one of my 'other' Tweeting cabbie friends.

So, as Clapton played the last chords on his guitar, my mobile was buzzing away in my handbag. Message from Cabbie No 2 (aka @londontaximan), who said he was on his way and would be waiting outside within 10 minutes. This meant that, when all the other Clapton fans were queuing up to get either an autograph or a cab, we just climbed in - in front of disappointed punters. We started our Saturday night trip home through the capital in a cool, relaxed way. Excellent use of Twitter I think! 

There are so many misconceptions as to what Twitter really is, mainly amongst people who have never even tried it. I would recommend it to anyone. But use it with care and make of it what you want it to be! 

Twitter is good for you

I find new technology rather fascinating. 

Twitter has definitely added another, previously unexperienced quality to my life - actually without interfering with any of the 'old' qualities. I must admit I was somewhat reluctant initially, but now I am totally sold.

The scary aspect of social networks will forever be there, but - as with most things, it all depends on what you make of things. See it a a tool, a way of communicating. Or sometimes - just a bit of banter when you're bored. Make of it what you want. And avoid getting totally addicted...

So, what has Twitter done for me? 

Ok, I know what Stephen Fry and Barack Obama are up to - most of the time. That's one thing, but by far NOT the most interesting. I am not that bothered to know what celebs had for breakfast and if their dogs have been for walkies yet.

Instead I feel very much involved in news-making and sharing, because of the contacts I have made within - mainly - UK media. Not least Channel 4 News have made the most of Twitter and their interactive communication with viewers is commendable, I think. I constantly leave comments on what I consider important to cover in their news shows. The fun thing is that they also reply and comment back - sometimes even during the live broadcast, whilst presenting! Slightly crazy, but fun.

Journalism Live got me involved in a live 'Twinterview' - that's an interview carried out live on Twitter to you and me.

Plus, I have learnt a lot about London cabs and all that goes with it, from my very own London cabbie. When I need a taxi, I even book him in advance via Twitter! He knows so much about the hidden and unknown - but very interesting - London. Check for yourselves on http://thecabbiescapital.co.uk/

I have also learnt about a great old, 'forgotten' music-hall called Winstons. A hidden London gem, in great need of refurbishment and restoration - and money. It's like stepping back in time...

See: http://www.wiltons.org.uk/image/welcome-wiltons-music-hall

An Essex man who does caricature drawings for a living needed to know about a good, but a bit different place to go for holiday. I sent him loads of links to my home town Arvika in Sweden, for which he was grateful.

If you're stuck with a computer problem, you can shout for help and your fellow Twitterers will come to the rescue with lots of helpful tips.

I could go on...but I won't. I guess the message I want to get through is the following: Don't rubbish Twitter. It can really be good for you and enrich your life. Honestly.

Cardiovascular networking

I often find myself travelling around the country. Although I try to travel by train, the very nature of my work means this is not always possible. Unfortunate as it is, I have become quite an expert on road numbers, motorways, their junctions and where they lead. Sad, really. Knowledge fitting for a pub quiz, I guess.

During my ten years in this country, I have definitely noticed an increase in the number of cars you see on the road. I never cease to be amazed that it all sort of ... works.
All these travellers - all going somewhere, heading home or away, to meetings, work or pleasure. I cannot help thinking what it would be like if they all had a sign on their cars, informing fellow travellers what they were up to. Like a giant, mobile Twitter community. "Nipping down to Tesco for a weekend shop." "Going to airport for my dream holiday"."Picking up granny for a family do". "Attending a conference in the City".

It would undoubtedly make the journeys more interesting, but it would probably not work. Road safety aspects, I guess. And - not much of privacy either, come to think of it. Plus - you wouldn't get a runaway white van advertising "Just robbed the local Natwest. Off to Bahamas." Would be handy for the Police, though! "Chasing bank robbers up the M1".

Our motorways are like a giant system of arteries, with A-roads being the smaller blood vessels and B-roads the capillaries. Sometimes, you will see blood clots clogging up the system, while the busy heart of it all - the M25 - is busy pumping away.

When I think about the number of roads we have in this country, how busy they are, how much pollution is being spewed out in the atmosphere every day, week, month and year - it becomes mindblowing. And this is just the UK. With all the other networks of roads around the globe, the car loving USA as well as the emerging economies wanting to have a bit of the same cake - it is not difficult to see that our planet needs help. Now.

Maybe the economic crisis in some strange, backwards way have done something good to the environment? Not for a minute do I suggest it is a positive thing that thousands of people have lost their job in the car manufacturing industry. That cannot be good for anybody.
But the downturn has also meant that the demand for big gas guzzlers have decreased, as people - who can still afford to have a car - change over to smaller engine sizes. And that has got to be a good thing for all of us.