http://peterowney.zoomshare.com/:blog Welcome to my website: My blog Tue, 03 Nov 2009 07:10:03 -0600 http://www.peterowney.zoomshare.com/:blog?id=b99dcb36d41105b31e3039c9d287e94a_4aeaea3b Fri, 30 Oct 2009 08:29:31 -0500 I remember the days when you could enjoy a nice, relaxing drive without several people trying to beat you out of twenty feet of road-space. Lane-discipline was kept almost instinctively--if not always cheerfully--and you could walk in even the most crowded parking-lots with little fear of being run over. British drivers seem to have become almost uniformly impatient. Today, after being followed closely for several miles by the same car, I almost walked back when the guy stopped behind me at a light, to ask him where the hell he was a month ago when I really needed a proctologist? http://www.peterowney.zoomshare.com/:blog?id=acf678a0050807857b1fb0bc95b7f1b9_4ab7bb4b Mon, 21 Sep 2009 12:43:39 -0500 Regardless of the weather I often take my laptop and drive out into the countryside around Norwich. Today I was in the area around Caistor St. Edmonds. The words 'stunning' and 'awesome' are grossly over-used these days, but the natural beauty of the area literally made me cry. http://www.peterowney.zoomshare.com/:blog?id=180acf6f6e6480d9705d56d088a9673b_4ab4ea94 Sat, 19 Sep 2009 09:28:36 -0500 Just talked to Bernie Holland. Our lengthy conversation was an absolute gas, as we might have said in the vernacular of the 1970s when we last met. Loud and clear l'essence du Bernie surged through the wires, or perhaps fibre-optic cable. Though he may not be completely unchanged from the man I remember, Bernie never fell foul of the pressures that typically bedevil some of we other hyper-actives; the guy just never quits. His dreams and aspirations were arguably always of heroic proportions, and I don't doubt are still brave as ever. We bantered about the possibility of reunion concerts at The Albert Hall, spoke more seriously about various web-related projects... as if any kind of human endeavour dare not include the Internet these days... and found a common desire to tackle some of the injustices committed on performers in the general area of 'the arts'. However, with regard to the cost of long distance telephony we agreed to postpone discussing all things meta-physical. Just 'Google' him if the name's not familiar; you're in for a treat. http://www.peterowney.zoomshare.com/:blog?id=14a9bb409a7f33425e7dc68c4543d46e_4ab1f873 Thu, 17 Sep 2009 03:50:59 -0500 Since it looks like I just might finish writing something worthy of publication, I've decided to change my name a little. This is to include the professional name which served me well for almost half my life up to this point. Peter Leslie Rowney will become Peter Gavin-Rowney as soon as the deed-poll wallahs send me the documents and I get them signed. All associated cyber-links will stay unchanged for now, and whenever I get around to altering them I'll be sure to let y'all know. Those who know me will understand why it would be unwise to hold one's breath while waiting. http://www.peterowney.zoomshare.com/:blog?id=df3010b3e07d1e3d1730331297d6bbbd_4a0ad778 Wed, 13 May 2009 09:21:44 -0500 Thank goodness there's a name for this disorder. Somehow I feel better, even though I have it. Recently I was diagnosed with A.A.A.D.D.- 'Age Activated Attention Deficit Disorder'. This is typically how it manifests: I decide to water my garden. As I turn on the hose in the driveway I look over at my car and decide it needs washing. As I start toward the garage, I notice mail on the porch table that I brought up from the mail box earlier. I decide to sort through it before I wash the car. I lay my car keys on the table, put the junk mail in the garbage can under the table, and notice that the can is full. So, I decide to put the bills back on the table and take out the garbage first. But then I think, since I'm going to be near the mailbox anyway when I take out the garbage, I may as well pay the bills first. I take my check book off the table, and see that there is only one check left. My extra checks are in my desk in the study, so I go inside the house to my desk where I find a can of Pepsi I'd been drinking. I'm going to look for my checks, but first I need to move the Pepsi aside so that I don't accidentally knock it over. The Pepsi is getting warm, and I decide to put it in the refrigerator to keep it cold. As I head toward the kitchen with the Pepsi a vase of flowers on the counter catches my eye... they need water. I put the Pepsi on the counter, where I discover the reading glasses I've been searching for all morning. I decide I'd better put them back on my desk, but first I'm going to water the flowers. I set my glasses back down on the counter, fill a container with water, and suddenly spot the TV remote; someone left it on the kitchen table. I realize that tonight when we go to watch TV I'll be looking for that remote, but won't remember where I saw it; so I decide to put it back in the den where it belongs. But first I'll water the flowers. I pour some water in the flower vase, but quite a bit spills on the floor. So I set the remote back down on the table, get some paper towels and wipe up the spill. Then I head down the hall, trying to remember what I was planning to do. At the end of the day: the car isn't washed, the bills aren't paid, there is a can of warm Pepsi sitting on the counter, the flowers don't have enough water, there is still only one check in my check book, I can't find the remote, I can't find my glasses, and I don't remember what I did with the car keys. Then, when I try to figure out why nothing got done today, I'm really baffled because I know I was busy all day, and I'm really tired. I realize this is a serious problem and have decided to get help for it; but first I'll check my e-mail.... http://www.peterowney.zoomshare.com/:blog?id=8bcb5ecfa958cc9751693b96267c1477_49e84b8f Fri, 17 Apr 2009 04:27:43 -0500 Took a while to get around to this, but ho-hum. Since the actress Lauren Crace's departure from the cast of the BBC drama series 'Eastenders' it seems she may have effectively influenced others of her fellow actors on the show. Ms Crace's highly expressive portrayal of the unfortunate waif Danielle has perhaps given us all some inkling of a successful future career. Whether it be 'on-the-boards', on film or tv, I think we will be enjoying much more of Lauren's considerable talent in the future. http://www.peterowney.zoomshare.com/:blog?id=0d009b9977595b3d5855154f7af32495_49db46d8 Tue, 07 Apr 2009 07:28:08 -0500 This winter just about drove me looney! I can't remember when I've been this happy to see the coming springtime. Seasonally Activated Disorder is a fact-of-life for me, as it is for many. But, call me naiive if you like, I still believe there's a great big beautiful world out there despite the on-going efforts of some to convince us all otherwise. To quote one of my favorite authors, Stephen Lawhead: "If we give up the quest for beauty in our struggle to live, then The Barbarian has won." http://www.peterowney.zoomshare.com/:blog?id=152f62d00ce736c295cbf288288801a5_498809a3 Tue, 03 Feb 2009 03:08:51 -0600 This is something Andy Rooney recently said on the CBS news show '60 Minutes'. I'd like to suggest Brits substitute British-type references for the US ones and ponder deeply on the result. *"I don't think being a minority makes you a victim of anything except numbers. The only things I can think of that are truly discriminatory are things like the United Negro College Fund, Jet Magazine, Black Entertainment Television, and Miss Black America. Try to have things like the United Caucasian College Fund, Cloud Magazine, White Entertainment Television, or Miss White America; and see what happens...Jesse Jackson will be knocking down your door. *Guns do not make you a killer. I think killing makes you a killer. You can kill someone with a baseball bat or a car, but no one is trying to ban you from driving to the ball game. *I believe they are called the Boy Scouts for a reason, which is why there are no girls allowed. Girls belong in the Girl Scouts! ARE YOU LISTENING, MARTHA BURKE ? *I think that if you feel homosexuality is wrong, it is not a phobia, it is an opinion. *I have the right 'NOT' to be tolerant of others because they are different, weird, or tick me off. *When 70% of the people who get arrested are black, in cities where 70% of the population is black, that is not racial profiling; it is the Law of Probability. *I believe that if you are selling me a milkshake, a pack of cigarettes, a newspaper or a hotel room, you must do it in English! As a matter of fact, if you want to be an American citizen, you should have to speak English! *My father and grandfather didn't die in vain so you can leave the countries you were born in to come over and disrespect ours. *I think the police should have every right to shoot you if you threaten them after they tell you to stop. If you can't understand the word 'freeze' or 'stop' in English, see the above lines. *I don't think just because you were not born in this country, you are qualified for any special loan programs, government sponsored bank loans or tax breaks, etc., so you can open a hotel, coffee shop, trinket store, or any other business. *We did not go to the aid of certain foreign countries and risk our lives in wars to defend their freedoms, so that decades later they could come over here and tell us our constitution is a living document; and open to their interpretations. *I don't hate the rich; I don't pity the poor. I know pro wrestling is fake, but so are movies and television. That doesn't stop you from watching them. *I think Bill Gates has every right to keep every penny he made and continue to make more. If it ticks you off, go and invent the next operating system that's better, and put your name on the building. *It doesn't take a whole village to raise a child right, but it does take a parent to stand up to the kid and smack their little behinds when necessary, and say 'NO!' *I think tattoos and piercing are fine if you want them, but please don't pretend they are a political statement. And, please, stay home until that new lip ring heals. I don't want to look at your ugly infected mouth as you serve me French fries! *I am sick of 'Political Correctness.' I know a lot of black people, and not a single one of them was born in Africa ; so how can they be 'African-Americans'? Besides, Africa is a continent. I don't go around saying I am a European-American because my great, great, great, great, great, great grandfather was from Europe. I am proud to be from America and nowhere else. *And if you don't like my point of view, tough ..." http://www.peterowney.zoomshare.com/:blog?id=c8735bcb00ca6fe661271bbd0c27f521_49786e49 Thu, 22 Jan 2009 07:02:01 -0600 Added a couple of pictures; the smiling bald man is my son Joel Rowney, and rocking-out on guitar is my son Shaun Tiede. Pictures coming of their respective families as soon as I get organized; some of you will know not to hold your breath while waiting. http://www.peterowney.zoomshare.com/:blog?id=97e55a1fd6093352740699dd667e7eca_4958d696 Mon, 29 Dec 2008 07:54:30 -0600 Back in the day when I used to travel more widely I noticed the Brits almost invariably began conversations with some observation about the weather. That much has not changed, but, cranky as our global climate is becoming, most others are not surprisingly now using the same kind of conversational ice-breaker. The '08-'09 winter accross Britain has been uncharacteristically mild to this point, but today's morning temps were colder than a Norfolk cockle-picker's ass. I'm here in fabulous downtown Norwich preparing to donate blood, and hoping I'll have enough juice left to survive the trip home to the suburbs.