B U R N

Possibly the only thing that puts a smile on my face at 6am.

And for eight hours I believed it was just the neighbour returning wearing big boots.

Torpids. Thank God for insurance.

PS. There is a reason why it is called a bumps race.

The current flourish in ‘traditional’ media wanting to tap into the blogosphere comes with certain drawbacks.

The most hilarious example, in my humble opinion, is Max, 19, hits the road over at the Guardian.

In theory, it should be about Max’s crazy travelling in India, but all the action takes place in the comments track. It transpired that Max is the son of a Guardian journalist and perhaps not the most gifted writer after all.

Here is a representative comment from a reader called ‘naid’:

Max,
here’s some advice from someone a bit older.
you’ve been badly advised by your dad. stop the blog (any excuse will do). don’t read any of these comments which will upset you.
have a good trip doing fun things, but don’t write about it.
If this paper was smash hits and we travelled 15 years back in time when the idea of going to thailand and india for a two month holiday of getting stoned, drunk and pulling was somehow exotic, my advice would be different. but it isn’t.
good luck.
shame on you guardian.

It has gone wrong to the extent that the travel editor has had to defend his decision, the replies to which have been equally unforgiving.

Poor Max.

I am planning a 10-day road trip in California in April.

Setting out from San Francisco and ideally calling at Napa Valley and Yosemite National Park, I would appreciate any comments on where to go/stay/eat (not necessarily all at once).

I feel most delighted to have my picture above, St. Catherine’s in the Autumn, featured in the 2008 Schmap guide to Oxford.

Schmap is, as only the blatantly ignorant would not know, a world famous web 2.0 outfit, which makes it even more of an achievement to have this honour, not cash, bestowed upon me.

Yeah right. And the server happens to be down at the moment of posting…

Little did I know that my benefactor and founder of some 10 research institutes at Oxford, James Martin, had a movie in the making.

It comes with the title “The Meaning of the 21st Century” and features an impressive selection of interviewees, including Ray Kurzweil, Sir Nicholas Stern, and Senator John McCain (there are quite a few spelling errors in the cast list, but I really do hope that Rudolph Juliani and Rudolph Giuliani are one and the same person).

Adding to this a bit of Hollywood glamour, the film is narrated by no other than Michael Douglas.

Check out the synopsis here.