tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-360247502024-03-13T03:58:26.287+00:00Sod Abroad - The official site of the reasonably funny bookOk, it's not absolutely certain that you'll catch a fatal bout of food-poisoning or be banged up in jail as a drugs mule. But you might. Why would a sane person risk it? Holidays aren't economical, they aren't ecological, and they're not much bloody fun. Here's the proofMikeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09639836396121576665noreply@blogger.comBlogger157125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36024750.post-46400594452881037932009-04-20T20:45:00.000+00:002009-04-20T20:46:18.121+00:00More Sky jolliesMikeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09639836396121576665noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36024750.post-16259045706112094822009-01-15T22:19:00.001+00:002009-01-15T22:20:12.551+00:00Another Sky thingShare the joy as my buddy Martin starts talking about a story that wasn't in the script! i love showbiz!Mikeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09639836396121576665noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36024750.post-5536421790300981662008-12-15T19:23:00.008+00:002008-12-15T19:33:12.763+00:00These people just keep proving my pointRemember what I was saying the other day? It just got righter:City 'experts' ? - Absolutely no clue what they're doingMilitary strategists - No idea how to do their jobsThe security services safeguarding our country? - JerksLocal government officers, of more or less any stripe? - JackassesThe geniuses who made it through the 'very competitive 'selection procedure for the BBC? - IdiotsThe people Mikeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09639836396121576665noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36024750.post-35730962926851506452008-12-15T14:48:00.003+00:002008-12-15T14:57:07.925+00:00Top 10 locations ruined by tourismIt's a great list that underlines just how many gap-year nitwits are destroying the environments that they profess to admire. And that's not me talking, that's National Geographic Magazine.Mikeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09639836396121576665noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36024750.post-63438896758169269952008-12-09T15:10:00.003+00:002008-12-09T15:25:56.685+00:00The Expert MythOwnership of an electric guitar ought to, as far I can ascertain, confer upon one instant membership of the counterculture. Stars from Elvis the Rolling Stones to the Sex Pistols have felt obliged to rail against the establishment until either an interview with Richard Nixon or a knighthood or a lucrative butter advert intervened.Not me though. I’ve got two very fine electric guitars, but I stillMikeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09639836396121576665noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36024750.post-17034729150630980462008-12-01T15:02:00.003+00:002008-12-01T15:16:34.201+00:00More Sky action: I can't pretend this was a complete triumphNote the nervous glances to the monitor in those pregnant pauses when I'd said my piece and the presenter's being a bit too quiet:Mikeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09639836396121576665noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36024750.post-7763632188704469352008-10-14T07:45:00.002+00:002008-10-14T07:47:15.946+00:00See? I TOLD you! Security staff will nick anything..And in this 'period of heightened security' who's going to stop them?Transportation Security Administration baggage screener Pythias Brown is the reason you hate flying with expensive gear in your bag, especially if you ever flew out of Newark airport. Over the last few years, he stole at least $200,000 worth of electronics. Not just a camcorder here, a laptop there, or an Xbox 360 or two, eitherMikeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09639836396121576665noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36024750.post-9773132159042352132008-10-10T13:54:00.001+00:002008-10-10T13:55:13.481+00:00Yes, I know. I've been letting things slide.But this splendid article about why Americans don't travel caught my eye, and I thought I'd see if you liked it tooMikeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09639836396121576665noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36024750.post-52605612202470512722008-09-06T06:54:00.002+00:002008-09-06T08:14:48.458+00:00Me. On the telly. Wittering.Mikeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09639836396121576665noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36024750.post-17853000724254365512008-08-27T10:42:00.002+00:002008-08-27T10:48:36.110+00:00Multimedia thrills as Sod Abroad visits EssexI think this link will work - A 10 minute interview with Dave Monk of Radio Essex. Surrounded, of course, by all your usual Essex-based chat and music. He played 'Rock with you' in the middle of the interview. Great choice, but not as great as this.Mikeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09639836396121576665noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36024750.post-68214574240150369122008-08-26T09:23:00.006+00:002008-08-26T09:51:53.015+00:00Synchronicity: How 2 quite different people can write the same staycation piffle on the same dayLionel Shriver, the 'Boy named Sue' of Britain's literary elite, did a bit for The Sunday Times this weekend about how ghastly she thinks holidays are. Not a mile off my own bit for the Indy that I posted about on Sunday.Indeed, they went with a markedly similar pic too.One might be tempted to infer from this a woeful dearth of imagination among the editorial staff of our great nation's Mikeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09639836396121576665noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36024750.post-29760988858727863452008-08-24T16:12:00.006+00:002008-08-26T09:34:01.654+00:00From today's Independent on Sunday - 'What’s so good about holidaying abroad?'Essentially a super-sized puff for 'Sod Abroad' it also provides some (I am sure) interesting background on how I came to write the book..Plus, it reveals some harrowing insights into my painstaking research:Before I went on that holiday I had just assumed I didn't like camping. Now I know. Some magical alchemy about getting enough tents together in one place attracts rain like a picnic attracts Mikeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09639836396121576665noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36024750.post-50910181309894211122008-07-30T16:26:00.003+00:002008-07-30T16:29:39.050+00:00119% of adults in the western world have a blog these daysBut do they have an automatic blog post generator?Well yes.Yes they do.Because it's out there on the Internet.(excellent, if rather off-topic, find by Tamar)Mikeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09639836396121576665noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36024750.post-75006771074884543632008-07-30T11:49:00.004+00:002008-07-30T11:57:45.093+00:00Sod Abroad: Best price guideIf, by some appalling oversight, you haven't bought my spiffy collection of light comic essays about the iniquities of travel yet, then here's something handy. A constantly updated guide to the cheapest online prices so you can buy knowing that you've got the funniest treatise about staycations available, by the nicest known author, at the lowest possible price.You could probably use it to find Mikeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09639836396121576665noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36024750.post-74137763921792814982008-07-24T13:22:00.003+00:002008-07-24T13:23:59.646+00:00Schott's Almanac of New TourismLots of variety here, as one might expect from the master of miscellany, but I detect a pleasingly negative tone overall.Take a look at the PDF & see!Mikeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09639836396121576665noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36024750.post-28581498859009347822008-07-23T10:40:00.002+00:002008-07-23T10:50:46.653+00:00Moby says aeroplanes are a great way to travel - as long as you don't wear glasses & like bad smellsThis terrific bit from the online journal of ambient electro-advert music pioneer and all-round fellow bald chap Moby: "I was on a flight recently and I was sitting next to a very professional business woman. I'm guessing she was 48 years old, very affluent and successful and poised. 15 minutes into the flight she took an Ambien and went to sleep. 90 minutes later she woke up, looked at me and Mikeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09639836396121576665noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36024750.post-13837561362800992882008-07-23T08:11:00.003+00:002008-07-23T08:15:22.514+00:00Jet set to 'blow' instead of 'suck' - hilarity ensuesIt's a mistake any of us could have made. If we'd been entrusted with the cleaning of a very expensive aeroplane and somehow distracted at a crucial moment.It didn't happen to us though. It happened to this poor lady. So let's take a moment to point and laugh.Mikeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09639836396121576665noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36024750.post-60434570393357532282008-07-22T06:41:00.002+00:002008-07-22T06:50:55.818+00:00I expected a Canary, I got a TurkeyBlame early morning check-ins. Blame sloppy staff who haven't checked the tickets properly. Don't, whatever you do, blame the passengers for not paying attention to where they were being shipped. It sounds to me like they're annoyed enough already.Actually, we shouldn't be assigning blame, but thanks - this one's a purler!A family setting off on a five-star holidays travelled 2,000 miles out of Mikeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09639836396121576665noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36024750.post-45372447951151209342008-07-17T07:47:00.009+00:002008-07-17T09:59:43.543+00:00A cheap holiday in someone else's miseryWe have an ongoing credit crunch. Some might call it a recession. Whatever language you choose to employ, certainly there's not much money left over for luxuries like vacations right now.So who has decided to start pitching for your hard-earned holiday cash?Why, the Iraqi tourist board, of course!And you thought you already knew about the silliest holiday idea ever.Hassan alFayath, a spokesman Mikeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09639836396121576665noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36024750.post-51725112656157015532008-07-16T19:59:00.005+00:002008-07-16T21:11:13.991+00:00StayCations - The debate hots upThe second you get a nice trend going, there's always someone who comes along to decry it.The person decrying the StayCation thing is a pleasant-looking lady from St.Louis called Aisha Sultan.I think her problem might be that she's looking for a traditional holiday experience - and that's precisely what I (and many others) strive to avoid.Proponents of these staycations tell us to: Rediscover theMikeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09639836396121576665noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36024750.post-9977259959781702942008-07-16T19:54:00.002+00:002008-07-16T19:57:36.677+00:00Fly the empty skiesNot a travel story as such, given that no-one's actually travelling, but it seems some airlines are running empty planes on scheduled routes rather than give up the slots that they evidently can't fill.So, next time you calculate the carbon footprint of your holiday double it, because chances are that the airline will have made a few dummy runs just so they could be ready at the airport when you Mikeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09639836396121576665noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36024750.post-70309226530053192242008-07-15T08:01:00.001+00:002008-07-15T08:03:24.856+00:00Picture of the DayNot sure what relevance this has, but I like it..You know where it's fromMikeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09639836396121576665noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36024750.post-82282397369586234912008-07-14T10:42:00.004+00:002008-07-14T10:49:50.539+00:00The StayCation meme spreads & diversifies..We Are Storytellers is running a StayCation theme month at the moment, with a forum, hand-made postcards from home and all sorts of crazy.The 'home holiday' idea is really picking up now. Of course I'm not so arrogant as to claim it was all my idea.But it was.Mikeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09639836396121576665noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36024750.post-52622307689056542312008-07-12T11:56:00.005+00:002008-07-12T13:05:34.186+00:00I started a joke..I must confess, when I started work on Sod Abroad, all those months ago (actually, now I think of it, it’s a big hole out of two years but then I did suspend operations briefly to work on Shopping While Drunk) I didn’t honestly believe anyone would ever agree with any of my points. It was intended principally as a sort of amusing Deb.Soc. conjuring trick wherein I raised an untenable argument andMikeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09639836396121576665noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36024750.post-42937146053415669582008-07-12T07:45:00.003+00:002008-07-12T07:48:50.509+00:00Aeroplanes: They’re just common aren’t they?The appeal of air travel is rooted in a spurious 1960s notion of glamour involving well-groomed people hopping on and off Concorde who are on the one hand entirely unaware of problems like noise pollution and their colossal carbon footprint but on the other hand are carrying really nice little blue bags with BOAC written on them. The truth today is far more democratic and infinitely more ghastly.Mikeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09639836396121576665noreply@blogger.com1