HYBRID ICING. ?

Well, it's that time of the year again.

The time when I sit at my desk each morning with a 'big cup of Joe' and dial up last night's hockey games to catch up on events. At the end of the week I then bore my bemused friends (best type to have) with stories of strange central european names who have been heroes or pussies this week. Who scored what and where, etc.

As I'm in England my friends have no clue about hockey - except those I keep up with on facebook who I used to play with and against in my earlier years - and never seem to tire of my incessant stories. Well, not much anyhow.

So, this short post is as much a thank you to them for putting up with me as it is an attempt to start writing more often again - let it slip a bit didn't I - work commitments and all.

Best game this inaugural (very US word) week (if you're interested) was:

Buffalo Sabres v Detroit Redwings
Detroit won in a low scoring 2-1 game with goals from Samuelsson and Datsyuk (see central europeans abound!)

source: nhl.com

Mrs P will be happy as she's a fan - not of the hockey you understand, just one player in particular. ;-)

One more thing to bore people with - and if you are really not into learning about hockey then you can skip this bit!

This year the NHL have decided to amend the rule book and changed the icing rule - this is one conversation that seems to enthrall my football-oriented friends as they like to go on about the complexity of offside rules (which appears simple in comparison).

The icing rule is a bit of a mystery to most when they first start watching hockey - especially people here in the UK.

Basically, the attacking team cannot simply shoot the puck from their half of the ice (behind the centre ice red line) way into the attacking zone as this would have the effect that each time it happens the other team has to skate all the way back, go and get it and start their attack again. Wastes time if the team doing it are in the lead.

So if the puck is fired in this way but an attacking player can skate like crazy and beat a defending player to it before it passes the goal line, then the icing is waved off. If a defending player can get to it first, the ref blows the whistle, icing is called and the play is resumed with a face off back in the attacking teams defensive zone.

This is called the Touch Icing rule

The new rule change effective in NHL season 2013/14 is termed Hybrid Icing. Now, the linesman or referee does not have to wait for a defending player to touch the puck when the icing happens. Instead, they can make an icing call (stop play) if they feel the defending team will definitely get there first. This stops the race for the puck and danger to the players of both crashing into the end boards with serious force in their attempt to touch it - i.e. the new rule is deemed a safer rule.
One of the most quoted events where a player was injured due to the race for the puck going wrong happened last season (2012/13) when Carolina Hurricane's Joni Pitkanen was seriously injured.. 



In summary, an official can now make an icing call based on where the players are on the ice, but the overall basis of icing still remains intact.

Check out rule 81.1 in the NHL's official rulebook for a full explanation.
Want more? There's a really good blog here that goes into a lot more depth..
   

TO THE MADHOUSE..

We have to wait until this evening for the first face off between the New York Rangers and Boston Bruins. It's going to be a rough, tough fight between those two old time rival teams.

Last night, Wednesday evening, saw the first of the second round games for the NHL Stanley Cup involving the other two of the four 'Original 6' teams - Chicago Blackhawks v Detroit Redwings. In Chicago. Welcome to the Madhouse..

Detroit didn't show much promise it must be said! Chicago went 1-0 up within 10 minutes of the game start as the Czech $63.3 million signing Marian Hossa (read "star player, major power shooter") made sure his slapshot went straight into and nearly through the back of the net.

Detroit managed to even up two minutes later but that was one of the only high points in their forwards game all night to be honest. Their saviour - if you can call it that given the end score - was Jimmy Howard, their 6 foot netminder who seemed to fill every space possible to stop more pucks going in the net.

The second period didn't happen. Still 1-1 by the end of it. Enough said.

Then Chicago turned it on and dominated the Redwings throughout the third period, two more goals coming at 8:02 and 11:20 minutes in. Oduya snapping up a rebound and then Kruger with a cheeky backhand shot.

3-1 into the final minutes and in a move of desperation Detroit pulled their Jimmy out of the net and played 6 men up front. That didn't work out though as Pat Sharp found an opening and outskated Detroit's Franzen to put himself in front of the net with nobody there to save the last shot. In the net. 4-1. Game over.

Best of seven though. Early days yet.

The 'Shots on Goal' stats show very clearly the uneven nature of this game:

NOT NEW YORK..

Game 6 of the first round of 2013's Stanley Cup playoffs. New York Islanders fighting to stay in with a chance to go through to the next round against the number 1 seeded team from the east Pittsburgh Penguins.

All excitement. They've done extremely well to get to this point.

And opened well by putting themselves into the lead after only 5 and a half minutes. The Islanders completely dominated Pittsburgh, spending what seemed like 90% of the on-ice time in front of the Pittsburgh net for most of the first period. Rewarded for their effort by scoring their second goal with barely 30 seconds left to play in the first period - a truly amazing split second response by McDonald.

The Penguins though, never let it faze them and matched the Islanders goals first 1-1 by 7:39 into the first period, then 2-2 after 11 minutes of the second period. The 3-1 lead by the Islanders grabbed just into the third period lasted until 14:44 when Martin's slapshot whistled past Nabukov and returned the game to even numbers.

Brooks Orpik put the last goal into the Islanders net, a slapshot from the blue line that hit the left hand post, bounced to the right hand post and bumped inside the net line. It could so easily have bounced the other direction and maybe, just maybe the Islanders could have been in with their 7th game chance this evening.

Here's a link to the highlights video

So. To my blog title. Not quite right as it happens. The New York Rangers managed to hold on to a 1-0 lead on Sunday evening  against the Washington Capitals and with a series tied at 3 games each will now play their 7th game of round 1 this evening at 8pm ET.

Vokoun, the Penguins netminder summed up the NYI-PIT series well, "Give them a lot of credit. They played a great series and they played really hard. They're an up and coming good team."

And the web is full of commendations to a team that is only just getting into its stride. Young players abound. Only two guys with Stanley Cup playoff experience? Tavares already a major star player and he's only 22 years old... There's clearly a lot more to come from this line up.

At least I won't be tempted to stay up late now and catch the playoff games live is over, I'll catch up each morning from now on- until the final final of course! And with the Islanders now out of the running I am not planning to jump on a plane and travel to NY for a final series sometime in June - the sun of Gran Canaria beckons instead.

#PITvsNYI over.

See you next year!

IN THE NET..

Game 4 last night between New York Islanders and Pittsburgh Penguins in the first round of the 2013 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

A real game of ping pong this one. First one team scores (the Islanders got the first lead as Brian Strait got his first ever NHL goal), then the other evens up 45 seconds later. 1-1 out of the first period.

2-1 to New York 6 minutes into the second with Pittsburgh making it even again within 60 seconds.

Pittsburgh then took a 3-2 lead at the end of the 2nd period and it all started to look more familiar as the Penguins game tightened up.

It took the Islanders a while to get back the 3rd goal in the second period, but guess what? With 1 minute 25 to go they did it. Then the Penguins stuffed another one in to make it 4-3 in the first minute of the 3rd period . No panic though, 15 minutes 30 on the clock to go and the NYI evened up to 4-4.

5-4 lead for the Islanders after some really close in work by Tavares. First one shot with a rebound and then proof that persistence pays as he got another chance to hook it round Fleury's right hand side.

Then the first two goal lead of the game opened up. 6-4 to the Islanders in the last minute and a half as Cizikis simply walked it into the net past the Penguins Fleury.

This was the first time that the Islanders have won a playoff game at home since 2002.

Two games each in this best of seven.. Pittsburgh host the Islanders on Thursday 7th, then it's back to Long Island on Saturday 11th. I wish I was not so busy with work and there to soak up the atmosphere!

Persistence paid in another game too.

Montreal were leading 2-1 into the final few seconds of their game against Ottawa on Tuesday. But they managed to even up with 22 seconds left. The game went into overtime  and Ottawa managed to get the winning goal in the first three minutes of OT. 3 games to Ottawa, 1 to Montreal and it looks like the Canadiens may bow out in round 1 this year..

STANLEY CUP SO FAR..

Spot that break from tradition up there? Usually my blog titles are three words only. Couldn't quickly make up a 3 worder today. Sorry.

Anyway, the Stanley Cup is well into the first round of the playoffs. 16 teams playing for the ultimate cup. 8 teams from the Western Conference, 8 from the Eastern.Each round is best of 7 games - an exhausting haul to mid-late June with teams playing every other day, home or away. They're earning their dollars right now.

All for this..

My teams, New York Islanders and the Montreal Canadiens are both faring ok - little early to tell but the NYI at the very least are doing incredibly well given they were drawn against the favourites from the East Coast, Pittsburgh Penguins (PIT in chart below). Three games in, won one, lost two - but only just to be honest and the last two games being high scoring - proving the NYI can score against the Penguins. And a lot when they get their act together. 

The first game was a write off as they lost 5-0 but they came back to a 4-3 win and then took the Penguins into overtime in game 3 to win 5-4.

Here's the run down so far (at early evening 7 May). Eastern Conference on the top row, West on the bottom for the uninitiated!

The other team I follow closely, Montreal, are faring a lot worse against Ottawa Senators (OTT in chart above).

The surprise so far has been the New York Rangers, not my team but I like to watch and they are 'mini-me's' favourites. They seem unable to start the playoffs proper against the Washington Capitals (WSH above). 3-1 down in game 1, then a very uneventful game that went all the way into overtime (OT) with a score of 0-0 until the Capitals scored 8 minutes into OT. Then a 4-3 win for them in game 3.

Their school report says "must try harder". Especially when they get Power plays (the other team have a player off ice for a few minutes - again for the uninitiated).

Also watching Detroit Redwings (second on bottom row above) closely as they have failed to ignite their star players so far (lots of late night catching up on my tablet in bed with Gamecenter Live!)

If you want to keep up with progress, the NHL have a great, constantly updated results chart here.

More soon..

BAD START THAT...

Wednesday 1 May 2013

New York Islanders game 1 of the first round of the NHL Stanley Cup playoffs.

I'm waiting with anticipation. 

True, the Islanders have drawn the worst possible team to go up against in the first round - Pittsburgh Pengiuns (way ahead on points and games won this year and playing an amazing game). 

True, the Islanders haven't really got a team with any experience of playing in the Stanley Cup - only one team member and their netminder have done so before. 

True, they haven't even made it to the Stanley Cup playoffs since 2007.

But, Sid Crosby - the Penguins all start high scorer - broke his jaw playing against the Islanders in the last regular season game (1 day before on March 30) and is out of play at the moment. That's got to help, right?

Wrong.

News headlines like the NY Daily News site's "NY Islanders get destroyed by Pittsburgh Penguins in first playoff appearance since 2007" don't help!!

Oh well. Onto game 2..

STANLEY CUP 2013...

And so... it is that time of the year again.

The NHL Stanley Cup is about to start - with the last of the regular season games scheduled for Sunday 28 April. The Stanley Cup starts on April 30th - NHL Countdown Clock

This has been a strange and rapid season as the NHL didn't even get started this year until after Christmas (due to player/union/NHL disputes about the split of revenues). But, I am very happy to say that the Stanley Cup is on. We know the 12 teams that are now going through from the East and West coast teams. The top 6 of each are: 

Very happy to see both my teams I follow in the playoffs this year; Montreal Canadiens and New York Islanders (the latter for the first time since 2006/07).

It should be an interesting journey as hardly any of the NYI team have played in the Stanley Cup before as they have been building a strong new, young team for a few years. Nabokov, the netminder is a seasoned playoff guy but hardly any of the forwards have been there before.

I might even jump a plane to NY if they get through the first few rounds.

The atmosphere in some of the sports bars in Manhattan is going to be brilliant, even better still on Long Island (where I've never stayed before). 

More reports coming very soon...

99 PROBLEMS...

 
A growing trend on the web / social media globe is the 99% website.

It's a tumblr blog that hosts people who upload a picture of themselves and their pitiful downtrodden story of how life's hard at the moment.  You get the idea... The website intro says it all, including..

"We are the 99 percent. We are getting kicked out of our homes. We are forced to choose between groceries and rent. We are denied quality medical care. We are suffering from environmental pollution." and other moans.

There's been a lot of press coverage of the blog and how it's a great example of social media enablement of 'the people', ordinary people who want to tell their story and make their voice heard. The 99% of people who do. Apparently.

Trouble is, not many people are listening.  Neither are 99% of people so motivated to try and stand up for things around their world.  We see this every day - how soon the UK riots and the issues they threw up have been buried into the midst of time?

There's a good analysis of it on The Economist's own blog site here.  Basically showing how people are very ready these days to find the facebook page and hit the 'like' or 'become a fan' button.  By doing so, they think that they are making their mark in history.   In actual fact they are probably just making one Mark a very rich man by adding to the masses of data that facebook hold on everyone's likes and dislikes - valuable data to sell on to those who want to sell us something.

A better indicator of social concern the article argues is the #hashtag trend.  If people on twitter are marking up their posts with a specific hashtag, then that must be an indicator of rising popularity. Trouble here too though as people change the hashtags as things get subjectified.  What started as #UKriots might become #Manchesterriot or #riotpictures #rioterspics #cleanuptheriots etc etc  The trend moves and becomes less easy to follow as time evolves.

The 99% website may be better.  To upload you have to upload your photo, type your story into the browser and have in the pic your story actually written in ink (shock horror).  Not many of the pics are in legible writing of course given that they are mainly from people who spend 99% of their time tapping on keyboards rather than with pen in hand (I must also take some of the rap for being like that these days - though anyone who went to school with me will tell you my writing is and always has been pretty crap - left handed you see, that's my story and I'm sticking to it).

So, if it picks up the pace.  If 99% of people do make tracks there and start writing about how their life is crap, it might just make it as a social phenomenon. Me, I'm not putting any money on it.

BATGIRL...

 
The Telegraph informs me this morning that Batgirl is to Walk Again!

Seems DC Comics are going to revive the storyline of Batgirl by bringing her back from paralysis (a state you can blame the Joker for) and allowing her to walk again...

See the full story here
  

MISSED OPPORTUNITIES..

 
My life is filled with them.  But before you go for the hankie drawer and commiserate with me I must admit they are not that important..


I used to play ice hockey, still love watching it and from time to time plot an escape from this green and pleasant land (?) and catch an NHL game or three in America.

This would have been an amazing week to have done so.

Montreal Canadiens met Boston Bruins on Wednesday evening and lost (boo hoo! my favourite team) but the match was eventful to say the least - 172 penalty minutes, fights galore, goals galore (final score 8-6)..

Then Thursday night the Canadiens travelled to my other fave team of the NHL, New York Islanders.  Hard to say which I prefer really - Montreal an 'original 6' team of the Hockey League from 100 years ago and loads of amazing history and culture or NY Islanders, a newer upstart that doesn't have as much money, has a scrappy rink relative to the Canadiens and stuck out in a Long Island backwater relative to the other NY team (Rangers) who play at Madison Square Garden.

Islanders beat the Canadiens - battered and bruised from their defeat on Wednesday I guess.

And Friday comes.. Islanders play against the Pittsburgh Penguins tonight, an altogether much more difficult game for them - and NY have launched a load of tickets at only $49 (I usually end up paying around twice that) with a load of offers attached - All You Can Eat Seat, Get Your Gear Seat etc etc

bah! I couldn't have gone.  Too busy with work.  But then I will soon.  Very soon.
 

AS THE SNOW HEADS IN..

 

 

AND ON THE SMOOTH TIP..

  

Most of the people that read my blog will not have a clue what I'm talking about with this title.. but hey! you have to learn (at least) one new thing every day don't you? Read on.

I currently have two books in my live reading list pile - one hilarious and one very very enlightening and informative..

So to hilarity..

Touch Wood, Confessions of an Accidental Porn Director... I found this book by accident in a store in London.  Heading for lunch with a few hours to spare before my next meeting and on my own.  I read the back and it sounded brilliant - a fly on the wall, possibly spoof? docu-diary by an anonymous author.  An account of setting up a porn movie business and running around England making mistake after mistake in the process.  It was cheap enough to take a chance on so it was bought.  I opened it and couldn't stop reading and laughing - whizzing through most of the book by the time I stepped off the train home that evening.

It is hilarious, revelatory, I think probably written by someone in the business but maybe not a real porn business owner.

The thing is it seems to have hit a vein in the UK public and is selling like crazy.  I checked amazon to provide a link on this blog and they appear to have only 3 left in stock?!  For a cheap new release that is some going.  So - unashamedly - I recommend everyone who reads this to click the link and buy the book (new or second hand).  And, yes, I do get a referral fee! Not much, but it might add up to the price of my next book over time.

So, on to the much more enlightening (but also at times funny)Jeff Chang. This book is called Can't Stop Won't Stop: A History of the Hip-hop Generation. A proper account of the social/economic/political impacts of the hip hop generation.

In case you're already jumping to the all too wrong conclusion that I'm talking about rap music here. Think again! Hip hop is a culture, it is a culture that has roots way back and is far greater than the pop-rap world that most (very unfortunately) associate with the hip hop tag these days. Hip hop truly is a way of life - one that I and many of my white British friends follow in the way they live, view the world, etc as far apart as we are from the Bronx in the 80s or LA in the early 90s and certainly even further away from the diamond (diamante?) wearing bling rappers of today. Why do they wear stupid jewellery like that?

This book does concentrate on the hip hop phenomenon from a US perspective - and that's the only criticism I'd have of it - but it sets out the roots of the culture well; the interactions between the black inner city deprived neighbourhoods and Jewish middle class white boy world that is US hip hop, telling tales of some very strong minded people along the way.

Again, if you have an interest, click the link.

What was that about the smooth tip? Sorry, this does come from rap - an old phrase that people used to use instead of the more modern 'chillin' out'... (also the title of a favourite 12" vinyl of mine - a 1988 release by female rapper Sweet Tee - On The Smooth Tip) so, now you know.

I will resume my usual ranting broadcast of things that annoy me in my next blog.
  

LUXURY LIST..

 
I firmly believe everyone should have a luxury list, whether you are walking the plains of Africa daily for firewood or living the high life of a corporate raider in Manhattan..  Clearly if your main thoughts of the day are finding sufficient water or fuelwood then you're not going to be thinking hard about Audemars Piguet watches or Bentley's.  Time to take in the horizon at night or time with your family might be on your luxury list. And that's important to remember.

However, there are too many people in this life who try to deny anyone aiming for something a little higher - a car, a bigger or better located home, a luxury yacht etc.. Somehow these targets in life are made out to be crass or vulgar? Would these same people judge the African woman wanting to live in a bigger house? or in a different place? I think not. If the Indian entrepreneur from the ghetto starts a business to make himself richer and in the process lifts a few friends out of (relative) poverty and provides them with a better wage is this vulgar? Try asking the same question of someone with a successful business in the UK. Are they now vulgar because they drive around in a Rolls Royce or have a million pound plus home?

Some of these same quick to judge people also have their own secret luxury lists. But they dare not utter a word to any of their friends lest they be judged of course. Instead they suffer in silence, which in my experience tends to make them rather bitter individuals over time.  Even worse are those who don't suffer in silence but consume in silence. Always harping on about the vulgarity or bad impacts of someone with obvious wealth to enjoy but then disappearing off on holiday to the Caribbean or filling their homes with mindless tat.

The reality that such inverted snobs have not stopped to consider for one moment is that everyone wants for things. Everybody has a view on what would make their life better.  There are a million and one reasons why someone might want a luxury item. If people only just stopped and thought about the incentive or the psychology of the situation for a brief second. They might even find it interesting why someone owns or uses a certain item.

Everyone and everything has its own unique story. I have an old car that some might see as a luxury and others might judge me as showing off that I can - luckily - afford to buy and run it. But underneath that paintwork the truth is deeper as it always is. I remember seeing these cars being raced when i was younger and always wanted one. I also wanted to buy something older that I could work on and in the process better myself in a practical and constructive way. I also wanted to buy an older car rather than a new sports car because this has lower environmental impact through avoiding the two big hits a car, any car, has on the environment - negative impacts of vehicles are much larger in their production and their final disposal than all the miles driven added up.  See? Deeper reasons that others do not know about when they judge.

So, to Polko's Top 10 Luxuries list...

1. Time to chill out with my close friends - I'd say high on most people's list of life's small luxuries?

2. Every now and then I love browsing on over to a website called Edmiston Yachts.  A dreamy world where people own yachts worth tens (some even hundreds) of millions of dollars.  I always wonder at what these people have for houses given their yachts are so costly?! I would just love to sail the seas with a trading room hooked up to the worlds markets via satellite internet, making money shuffling investments around the globe whilst being completely independent of anybody on the planet.  A staff to take care of me and who can go to the nearest port to stock up on local food.  Drop in on a glamorous marina town for evening meals and to catch up with friends every now and then. Heaven. Edmiston website - click here!

3. Range Rover Vogue - this is borne of my youth growing up in a smallish town in the eighties in England. One of the ultimate cars of the 80s (when luxury cars really were only for the people with riches beyond my imagination rather than a personal lease deal under their arms - or should that be around their necks?) was this ultimate luxury cruiser / 4x4 car. Well before the days of SUVs and the plethora of cheap far east copies that line suburbia these days. In terms of cars it's my only unticked box really, so maybe one day... and the ultimate luxury RR would be a Holland and Holland by Overfinch whilst I was at it. $300,000 well spent I'd say!

4. Lazy Sunday walks with my son - a real luxury that often reminds me that a) some people are not as fortunate as me to have such a cool and rooted child (please don't tell him I've posted this blog!), and b) some fathers rarely get to spend good times with their kids due to the arrogance and awkwardness of some mothers.

5. Time and resources enough to take trips to California with my partner, cruising around, taking in everyday life and deaming of being able to magic up a green card to live there permanently - very much a luxury in many ways due to the cost, the time it takes and the less than green impacts of the flight there (which can always be offset).

6. A multi-million pound house with ocean views - linked to the above and hey! come on, most people have something like this on their list.  Whether it be the sea views off the North Yorkshire coast, Cornwall, the Mediterranean or West Coast California that house with your own space to enjoy nature is very fulfilling indeed. Me, I prefer eating French food with a view of the Med and a backdrop of mountains so it's Languedoc-Rousillon for me..

7. An i-Phone or Windows MobilePhone to keep in touch when not sat in front of a PC! A luxury? I'd say so - but this is also a lot of people's idea of a nightmare!

8. Expensive underwear - I know, how strange? but once you start wearing quality and feel better in them there's no going back! Bjorn Borg are my tipple, others prefer other brands as is their want or desire.

9. The sheer luxury of having an independent income that needs no tending to, no time input whatsoever beyond checking the balance.  Even some of the wealthiest people in the world never achieve this. I'm not saying I want to sit there and do nothing at all while money miraculously rolls into a bank account. That would not be fulfilling. But to have done something in the past (or one of your ancestors to have done something) sufficiently impressive to now have enough money to live until you drop without having to work.. now that would be great!

10. Given that a lot of my luxury list somehow appears to be linked to time in different ways, fitting that #10 is an Audemars Piguet watch - I love these watches for their sheer elegance, their micro-engineering and style. Not for me the brashness of a Rolex, I love the subtlety of A P timepieces but alas cannot afford the £62,000 price tag of the one below!

Strange for me there was no food on the list? I guess #1 and #5 have food involved somewhere.

So there you have it. List done.
  

COUNT THOSE CALORIES...

Once upon a time in New York.. a few restaurants started to publish calorie counts on their menus.  This trend started slow but grew and grew.  Until one day people in New York woke up to notice that they couldn't avoid calorie counts here, there and everywhere..

And one day a politician woke up somewhere in New York State thinking, this is a good wheeze to get me noticed.  He huffed and he puffed, and he pushed and he pushed until some months later (it must be said under heavy attack from the powers that run America's large fast food chains!) a new Healthcare Bill has been passed and now proudly shows off Barack Obama's signature on the bottom since Tuesday.

A central component of the new law is the concept of calorie count disclosure - chain restaurants with more than 20 locations will now have to place (prominently) the calorie content of an item alongside its price.  This is estimated to affect over 200,000 locations in North America.  Vending machines will also have to comply.

Rationale: increased information flows to consumers who can now make better decisions based on the true cost of their consumption (ignoring for now the hidden environmental cost of ripping up agricultural lands or forests to feed cattle for burgers or plant more coffee beans - that's another story that I'll get to one day perhaps).  Information to hand at the point of consumption notice, not posted down some dark hallway, on a hamburger wrapper once you've bought it or on the company website.

Result? Well, on first glance this has to be applauded. As an economist more information is good in my book whatever and whichever market we're talking about.  But, when you start to think this through isn't it just passing the buck from a legitimate government job of informing and educating to the companies and their consumers.  This last group are critical too.  All data (from the Western world at least) display a clear correlation between higher obesity rates and lower socio-economic classes of society.  Seems clear.  Let's help exactly those people who are suffering from a lack of education about what is good or bad for their health?  But, it strikes me it's not so simple.  A simple calorie count isn't going to do much for somebody who can't put the calorie count in perspective, 500 calories? but 500 calories out of what daily allowance for me?  And I'm not going on to the seemingly large body (!) of people who seem to take pride in going against official advice in the first place.

Of course calorific intake is also more complex than a simple counting of numbers.  500 calories in a fat-laden burger does not equal 500 calories in a suger-laden drink. I'm sure any dentist would agree.  So, in my book good labeling needs to reflect this not ignore it.

What we are really talking about here is moulding human behavior.  Making people change.  That is a tough thing to do - especially when it goes against self-interest - much, much tougher than we think. Unless a nudge has a shove attached (and calorie counts on their own don't) most people will remain unmoved.

The other sticky point is of course implementation.  Under the Bill the FDA now have 12 months to come up with the national standard for labeling but there is no mention of a final deadline for restaurant compliance. Through my experience advising government on environmental policy design in the early 90s I've seen this problem a good few times.  Politicians love new legislation that sets out the plan.  Something to get them a few column inches, a photo in a paper and a shot at a radio interview.  Trouble is once the moment has passed the hard work begins and the politician is fixated on the next vote winner with little or no come back if their last conquest and victory lays on a shelf somewhere.  Some of the work I got involved with in the 90s is just about coming round again now in 2010!  Time lags make any benefits that much harder to achieve whether we're talking about the environment or people's health.

Expect some very dragged heels - especially from companies with much yellow and red in their logos where a regular size drink can contribute 50% or more of an adults daily recommended calorific intake or from the insane grinning man with glasses and a white beard...

Count the calories?  Count the consultant lobby firms more like!

As a funny aside, Vice President Biden and Barack Obama staged a TV handshaking session on Tuesday (see, happy to take the limelight now, where will they be in a year's time if the FDA fail to hit the deadline?). Biden was heard to say to the President right at the end of the national TV slot, "this is a big fucking deal!"  It's nice to have real people in top slots.

CENTRE OF THE WORLD...

On a recent trip to America Polko and Mrs Polko found ourselves in the middle of nowhere but at the centre of everywhere. We were on a drive from California to Phoenix, Arizona.

At the Desert Centre Store and Cafe (Interstate 10/highway 60) to be exact..

The road in was long and very atmospheric as we drove through a desert storm..

Then an oasis appeared..

With little sign of life..



But the most amazing retro fuel pumps I've ever seen on my US travels..




Here Mrs Polko tries to hijack the picture with her chicken bag (which strangely seems to pop up wherever we are in the world)..


The road continued, for 160 miles until Wickenburg (a strange sleepy place surrounded by nothing but trailer park towns, but that's a different story for a different day)..


The Desert Center Cafe is in fact responsible for feeding the workers that built the great Californian Desert Aquaduct, bringing water to parts of the west coast that would have been bypassed otherwise. Also, during the Second World War 1 million+ US troops were trained in this area by General Patton.

As the information board says..

OPEN 24 HOURS A DAY
7 DAYS A WEEK
SINCE 1922
WE NEVER CLOSE

More? Here's a link then - Desert Center Wapedia entry
The Google Map satellite image is spectacular - stick the address (Highway 60 Desert Center, CA 92239) into Google Maps here

PEACE?

Don't get me wrong.. I'm not a man of peace. Far from it.

But.. Nobel Peace Prize?

What's this guy done?

Odama does not equal Peace. Yet.