David Conway's Blog, page 5
May 23, 2013
Books in the bathroom?
Now this is what I call a bathroom, one boat and a few books!
Why I hate The Apprentice
Am I the only person who loathes The Apprentice?
This programme seems to have nothing to do with entrepreneurship. It is all about encouraging young people to make unsustainable boasts, and then humiliating them on television.
In 2007 I started an Award for business leadership, largely motivated by my dislike of The Apprentice.
This is what I said to business leaders at the time:
“We want to identify and spotlight the best business leaders at work in Britain today, and we are very much hoping that you can help us.
We think that television programmes such as ‘The Apprentice’, or ‘Trouble at the Top’, bear little relation to the reality of corporate life. Worse still they often give young people, at the outset of their careers, an image of business which is inaccurate and damaging. Nor is the problem confined to television, across the media boardrooms are often portrayed as ‘piranha bowls’ of conflict and internecine tension, and more is written about executive pay than is ever written about executive achievement. The problem isn’t helped by the fact that many of our most successful business executives are barely known to the public.
In truth, Britain is home to some of the world’s best run companies. We believe that highlighting the work of the best business leaders, and the best management practice, will pay dividends to the wider business world, and give young people a less distorted view of commerce.
In 2007 we are going to present our first ‘Business Leader of the Year Award’. We will give the trophy to the winner at a simple ceremony in London, and ask them to give a short talk on their achievements and their views on business leadership. The purpose of the award is to highlight and publicise the best business leadership we can find anywhere, and to stimulate debate.”
We gave the first award to Stuart Rose of Marks & Spencer.
Katie Hopkins, an unsuccessful Apprentice whom I tussled with on-air, seems to epitomise all this programme stands for.
I presented the first Business Leader of the Year Award to Stuart Rose (right) of Marks & Spencer in 2007
Some well-reasoned comment on the Woolwich outrage
This piece from the New Statesman is by far the most incisive and well-reasoned comment I have read on the recent Woolwich outrage: http://www.newstatesman.com/politics/2013/05/after-woolwich-how-media-got-it-wrong-and-how-public-can-get-it-right
May 21, 2013
Why does Sheryl Sandberg allow Facebook to make money from fascism?
I recently wrote about Sheryl Sandberg’s new book, Lean In.
Sandberg, who is now COO of Facebook, is an articulate advocate of more women in the boardroom.
The book impressed me, as did a talk she gave to TED in 2010. It chimes with some of the themes I dealt with in my own book Cruel Sister, and in subsequent interviews.
Imagine my surprise when yesterday, while browsing my own Facebook page, an advertisement appeared for the New British Union, with a link to their website. If you don’t know them, they are a fascist group who are trying to resurrect Oswald Mosley’s pre-war British Union of Fascists.
I won’t trouble you with Mosley’s whole life history, but if you want an idea, he married his mistress Diana Guinness (née Mitford) in the home of Joseph Goebbels, and Adolf Hitler was one of the guests.
I was stunned, how could Facebook accept advertising from people like this?
According to Facebook, Sandberg oversees the firm’s business operations including sales, marketing, business development, human resources, public policy and communications. She is credited with making Facebook more reliant on advertising for its income.
There is a lively debate around what kind of things social media sites should or should not include. The New British Union does have a Facebook page, and some might say it would be a denial of freedom of speech if they did not.
Advertising however, is absolutely different. All media, without exception, have strict rules about the advertising they carry. For Facebook to make money out of fascism is outrageous.
If Sandberg wants us to take her seriously as an advocate of human rights, then she should stop taking money from people who hold them in contempt.
Why does #SherylSandberg allow #Facebook to make money from fascism?
I recently wrote about Sheryl Sandberg’s new book, Lean In.
Sandberg, who is now COO of Facebook, is an articulate advocate of more women in the boardroom.
The book impressed me, as did a talk she gave to TED in 2010. It chimes with some of the themes I dealt with in my own book Cruel Sister, and in subsequent interviews.
Imagine my surprise when yesterday, while browsing my own Facebook page, an advertisement appeared for the New British Union, with a link to their website. If you don’t know them, they are a fascist group who are trying to resurrect Oswald Mosley’s pre-war British Union of Fascists.
I won’t trouble you with Mosley’s whole life history, but if you want an idea, he married his mistress Diana Guinness (née Mitford) in the home of Joseph Goebbels, and Adolf Hitler was one of the guests.
I was stunned, how could Facebook accept advertising from people like this?
According to Facebook, Sandberg oversees the firm’s business operations including sales, marketing, business development, human resources, public policy and communications. She is credited with making Facebook more reliant on advertising for its income.
There is a lively debate around what kind of things social media sites should or should not include. The New British Union does have a Facebook page, and some might say it would be a denial of freedom of speech if they did not.
Advertising however, is absolutely different. All media, without exception, have strict rules about the advertising they carry. For Facebook to make money out of fascism is outrageous.
If Sandberg wants us to take her seriously as an advocate of human rights, then she should stop taking money from people who hold them in contempt.
May 20, 2013
Why are Facebook allowing fascists to advertise?
What ever is happening on facebook?
An advert has just appeared on my Facebook page for the New British Union, with a link to their website.
I hadn’t previously heard of them, but it seems they are a group of fascists who are trying to resurrect Oswald Moseley’s British Union of Fascists from the 1930s. Apparently they’re led by a man called Gary Raikes. He was once the BNP’s boss in Scotland and close to party leader Nick Griffin. He has adopted Mosley’s paramilitary uniform, posting pictures of himself online in a black peaked cap, black military fatigues and leather boots.
This really disgusts me, how can Facebook accept advertising from people like this?
Support An Author Month Task: Give Kindness
Reblogged from "CommuniCATE" Resources for Writers:
If you have never gotten around to it, please give one!
When someone inspires you, or if you see someone who is using their writing gift to help others, please take the time to thank them publicly by giving them this award (and the rules for passing it on.)
This award is open to anyone to use. You don’t have to receive it, in order to be able to give it.
May 19, 2013
Forty mile sponsored row in aid of #HelpForHeroes and #LondonRowingClub
I am taking part in a sponsored row in aid of the “Help For Heroes” and to enable my rowing club, London Rowing Club, to buy boats (- moneys to be split equally). Whilst the “Help For Heroes” Charity is well known and well publicized, you may wonder about helping us to buy boats.
A top racing boat does come cheap, about £28,000, but this is not what I am asking for your help.
May 17, 2013
Who was James Bond’s father?
Cold War spy novels were a product of the 1960s. No sooner had the Berlin Wall come down, than they became as démodé as flared jeans or floral shirts. But, like other ephemera of the time, the best of them stay in our minds and on our shelves.
My personal favourites are Len Deighton’s. I found the James Bond of Ian Fleming’s novels too coldly brutal, and John le Carré’s George Smiley a little too cerebral. I preferred Harry Palmer, Deighton’s bespectacled, irreverent but deeply patriotic working class hero, who was flawlessly portrayed on screen by Michael Caine (Palmer, by the way, was never named in the novels, only in the films).
Deighton is 84 and still writing. He is a polymath; in addition to novels he writes history, cookery books, and screenplays, as well as being an accomplished illustrator.
I have just read his latest work: James Bond, my long and eventful search for his father. Like his earlier spy novels, it is compulsive reading and I devoured it at a single sitting.
Deighton knew Fleming, but the main source for this book was his friendship with an Irish film producer called Kevin McClory. If you’ve ever wondered how the cruel, humourless, Blower-Bentley-driving James Bond of the early novels evolved into the suave, witty, hi-tech, Aston Martin-driving James Bond of the screen, this book holds the answers.
Hollywood didn’t discover James Bond by chance; Fleming had approached McClory as early as 1958 to try and get a film made. McClory knew that the character could only be adapted for film with extensive changes, and Fleming became one of a group who produced a screenplay called Longitude 78 West (later renamed Thunderball) which went into pre-production. They later quarrelled and McClory was pushed out of the project. Because of the dispute, filming of Thunderball was delayed and Dr No became the first Bond movie to reach the screen. Fleming subsequently turned Thunderball into the ninth Bond novel without crediting McClory or the other contributors. The two sued each other, and the case reached the High Court. McClory won, but was ruined by the costs of the case.
From this improbable mêlée was born the most successful film series of all time. Deighton’s recall for intricate detail and his matchless descriptions of time and place, make this a delightful read. There have been many books about Hollywood’s bizarre accounting practises, but this is by far the most entertaining and insightful I have come across. A great short read.
Len Deighton giving Michael Caine cooking lessons during the filming of The Ipcress File
May 13, 2013
Singing Space Oddity while orbiting the earth!
A real astronaut singing Space Oddity while orbiting the earth!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lc8BcBZ0tAI
