Landis, the Tour, and Doping

Let's get this latest doping scandal into longer perspective - but not a happy one. Cycling has been dogged by doping for years and years. The first time I ever suspected something was amiss was when I saw pictures of Jaques Anquetil after his amazing tour and time trial performances. His eyes looked as if he had just come off another planet. And it was later revealed (if I remember correctly) that he was taking amphetamines - which at that time were little understood, and certainly not recognised as a 'drug'.

Not too long after Tommy Simpson died on Mont Ventoux because he had been taking the same drugs. All sorts of euphemistic explanations were offered at the time. Not necessary. Just look at Tommy's eyes in pictures at the time. There's one just after he had won the world championships where he looks as if they are popping out of his head.

Coming nearer in time, I always thought that the performances of the two Dutch climbers Stephen Rooks and Gert Jan Theunisse were quite clearly chemically enhanced during the Tour.

Fast forward a few years. Michel Pantani knocking shit out of all the other climbers. I saw a magazine the other day which recorded his ascent of Alpe d'Huez being the fastest on record. Sure - but drug assisted. And a couple of years later he committed suicide with a narcotics overdose.

France's polka-dot star for many years, Richard Virenque, was the same. All those spectacular moutain-top triumphs were done on drugs, and as soon as he stopped taking the drugs, he stopped winning.

Then we come to those riders whose performances suddenly become dramatically enhanced. Bjarne Riis was a domestique then suddenly a Tour winner. David Millar (the Tim Henman of British cycling) was winning time trial stages in the Tour against every other rider. Now we know he was on drugs. He paid his dues of two years in the wilderness, and now he's back - to results half way down the general classification.

Then there's the question of Lance Armstrong. The Sunday Times has accused him of taking drugs - and had to apologise to the court in actions he has taken against them. So officially there is no proven case of Armstrong doping. But I'll tell you what there is against him. Try to think of another cycle champion who has won so few other races, except for the Tour. Other greats win the Milan-San Remo, the Fleche Wallone, the Grand Prix du Nations. But in the seven consecutive years that he won the Tour de France, Armstrong only ever won the Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré, which is considered as a warm-up for it. Seems very fishy to me.

Floyd Landis dropped eight minutes in one stage, then pulled back the same time the next day. We don't yet know if his B-test will be positive or not. But my goodness the pattern is there.

Katherine Mansfield: A Secret Life

Katherine Mansfield has the rare distinction of being regarded as a major writer, even though she only ever published short stories. In fact her entire oeuvre is available in just one volume. There are two other biographies by Jeffrey Myers and Anthony Alpers, but Claire Tomalin's is a fairly straightforward and very readable account of her life. She portrays her talent sympathetically, but does not disguise her weaknesses and her occasional unkindnesses, though she does seem either squeamish or even purblind where sexual matters are concerned. However, she is very well informed and spares us none of the medical details of gonnorhoea and tuberculosis which helped to bring KM's life to a premature end ... Read more >>

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South from Granada

Gerald Brenan was a Bloomsbury fringe figure who spent much of his adult life living in and writing about Spain. This is his much-loved travel memoir which recounts setting up home in the Alpujarras - a beautiful but fairly remote area of the south between Granada and the coast. It's a joy to read for all sorts of reasons - partly because of his amazing fortitude and resourcefulness, and partly because of the empathy he shows towards everything with which he comes into contact. At first he lived on next to nothing, with no water, gas, or electricity, settling in a village miles from anywhere. His idea was to spend his time reading, catching up on an education which he had not received at public school. His food came virtually straight off the land - for this region of Spain is rich in fruit, vegetables, and the olive oil for which it is famous ... Read more >>

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The Oxford Companion to English Literature

The first edition of this book was published in 1932, and quickly established itself as the standard source of reference for students and general readers. Since then it has gone through six editions, the latest of which has been hugely updated and expanded. Of course it's not the sole work of editor Margaret Drabble. She has assembled a team of 140 fairly distinguished authors (all listed) who have written authoritatively on their specialisms. The entries are biographies of novelists, poets, and dramatists; and there are sketches of well-known philosophers, historians, critics, and biographers. It includes non-English writers such as Balzac, Goethe, and Tolstoy, as well as figures from other genres such as Dürer, Pasolini, and Prokoviev. It includes mini-essays on genres; fictional characters; famous works (Aaron’s Rod to Max Beerbohm’s Zuleika Dobson); famous places, and literary theory. ... Read more >>

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The Tour de France - Floyd Redux!

So maybe Floyd does read this blog after all - because today he launched a magnificent, powerful, magisterial come-back by following precisely the advice I have been offering him all week. He put the hammer down on his rivals and won not just the stage, but the huge psychological advantage of proving just how effectively he can strategise his race. It's still a close thing of course - and this does not in any way belittle the other leaders of the general classification. But today's effort was a marvellous sporting moment, and he has every reason to think that he can pull back the extra time he needs during Saturday's time trial. Email me if you need further help Floyd, but the advice will be 'Eyes down, deep breath, then give it all you've got for fifty-seven kilometers.'

Tour de France - Floyd goes backwards

If Floyd Landis had been reading this blog carefully over the last few days, he might not have been in the position he occupies now. I'm still fairly sure he had the opportunity to put down the hammer blow yesterday on the Alpe d'Huez. He didn't, because he was riding a 'conservative' race - and look where that got him. Today the hammer was put down on him, and he couldn't respond on the Col de Toussuire, where he lost an astonishing eight minutes within fifteen kilometers of the final climb. Of course he had already made the mistake of letting a principal rival, Oscar Pereiro, take a twenty-eight minute climb back to contention earlier in the race - but we know that Floyd has a relatively inexperienced team which he wanted to rest, and that might be forgiven him. But it wasn't his 'team' who have saved him in the last couple of days. It has been Axel Merx (yes, son of Eddie) doing stalwart service protecting his leader. Time to move on maybe, Axel? OK - there's a difficult mountain stage tomorrow, and a 57 kilometer time trial on Saturday, but it's difficult to see how Floyd can pull back that eight minute deficit now, given that there are so many talented riders in contention. One thing I will say. It's a lot more interesting now that boring old Lance Armstrong isn't in the race. At last you feel that this is a genuine competition, with possibly less doping. More of which anon.

Landis on the Alpe d'Huez

I was astonished by the composure and unruffled peddling rate of Landis at he tackled the first major test in the Alps yesterday. He said at the finish that he was adopting a conservative strategy, knowing that he might take time out from his rivals in the time trial later this week. And there are two more Alpine stages to go. Yet somehow, I felt he could have put in the killer punch on the Alpe, when he was clearly in a position to do so. OK, he's wearing yellow, but somehow you feel he's perhaps a transitional jersey or race winner. I think we expect great riders to put down the hammer blow at some point, and we haven't seen that yet. But - still three decisive days to go.

Bauhaus 1919—1933

The Bauhaus was a major landmark in the development of modernism in the early years of the last century. In concept it grew out of the German desire to form its own version of the English Arts and Crafts movement, but it quickly became influenced by constructivism and expressionism. As a movement it grew rapidly in Weimar, despite the economic recession in Germany in the 1920s - and it embraced all forms of design - typography, ceramics, furniture, architecture, Its principal teachers and movers are now household names in their respective disciplines - painters Wassily Kandinsky, Paul Klee, and Lionel Feininger; architects Walter Gropius and Mies van der Rohe; designers Joseph Albers and Laszlo Moholy-Nagy. What made them different to earlier design movements was that they wished to make their products available for ... Read more >>

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Newsnight Review - BBC2

Newsnight Review used to be a good programme when the likes of Tom Paulin, Alison Pearson, Tony Parsons, and Germaine Greer would discuss serious new works from the world of theatre, art, literature, and music. The topics in question were well chosen, and the criticism was lively and well-informed. One thing I particularly liked was the fact that they could disagree completely with perfectly good grace and behaviour. Then there was a downhill transition period marshalled by commentators who you felt knew not much more than yourself - such as Bonnie Greer, Tim Lot, and Ekow Eshun. But now the programme has gone right down the pan, with complete nonentities passing worthless judgements on rubbish such as the latest Superman film, pop trivia, and junk TV. Last night's half-baked rabble were also badly chaired by Martha Kearney. I mean to say - I agree with John Carey (another former quality panelist) that popular culture should be given some consideration - but it has to stand up and fight for itself against the best of the field.

Tour de France - Floyd Landis emerges

The race reached its first decisive stage yesterday: five difficult climbs in the Pyrennes which split the riders asunder in dramatic style. The narrative of events was not so spectacular - but it was a wonderful and impressive display of a long term strategy at work. In the past, riders have often made lone and heroic breakaways to put themselves beyond the reach of their rivals. Fausto Coppi's greatness was often demonstrated this way. And Charly Gaul - who won the Tour in 1958 - was another.

But what we saw yesterday was the setting of a relentless tempo on those crippling climbs in such a way that only the top echelon of riders could survive the pace, and all lesser mortals were burnt off. Landis stamped his authority on the race in magnificent fashion. It was an epic performance which had me on the edge of my high velocity armchair throughout.

Bloggers and the News Media - again

Get your news online first. The bloggers have taken over the agenda. First it was Prezza-gate, then it was Cheri Blair signing a copy of the Hutton Report for auction, and now its Sleazy Levy. All of these stories were broken first by Guido Fawkes and Iain Dale - neither of them in anybody's pay, but both of them committed to revealing corruption and graft in public life. Last night we had the pathetic sight of BBC's Nick Robinson on TV, reporting in excited tones on a story which had been broken by the bloggers from under his nose weeks ago - and which he had pooh-poohed as mere gossip in the meantime.

Comparisons with Watergate plus Bernstein and Woodward have been drawn already - and I don't think they are so fanciful, as the possibility of the Prime Minister being interviewed by the police draws closer. Whatever happens politically, the nature of the news media is changing before our very eyes.

The Oxford Dictionary of Music

Actually this is what should be called (for the want of a better term) a dictionary of classical music, because it does not seek to cover all musical genres. Entries run from the note A to the Polish soprano Teresa Zylis-Gara, and include major (and minor) composers plus their works, famous performers and conductors, characters from operas, musical concepts and genres, musical instruments, and even mini-essays on topics such as 'Electronic Music'.It's as up-to-date as one could expect for a work of reference of this kind. There are 12,500 entries on all aspects of the subject, and topics stretch from music of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries to potted biographies of contemporary composers such as Judith Weir and performers such as Cecilia Bartoli. I checked against (for instance) George Benjamin (b. 1960) and Thomas Adès (b. 1970) - and both of them had entries. Its one nod towards 'popular' music is to include mention of song composers such as Irving Berlin and Cole Porter ... Read more >>

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Web Design: E-Commerce

This is one of the latest titles in Taschen's ultra-cheap but glamorous series of design guides. They're not books of instruction, so much as portfolios of inspirational works. The editor Julius Wiedemann has chosen a selection of commercial web sites - from small retailers to online superstores, bringing together the most cutting edge e-commerce sites on the web today. The book starts off with a number of detailed case studies showing innovations in e-commerce. The examples include surfwear, computers, IKEA, fashionwear, bicycles, and ladies' underwear. The good part about these is that not only are the design brief and the commercial portfolio spelled out, but details of the original design studios are added, along with any awards they might have won. You get a close feeling for the demands made of the designers. Curiously enough, URLs for the sites are not given, but you can usually work them out.

The remainder of the book is a collection of double-page spreads showing the home pages and screenshots from each site. Examples range from photography, office chairs, jewellery, fleet management, and paintings, and they come from all over the world - UK, France, Brazil, USA, Germany, and Japan. The editors have decided not to show major e-commerce sites such as Amazon.com or Dell.com, but instead to present work which might not be so well known, but which nevertheless makes interesting use of e-commerce principles.

I checked most of the sites on display, and the majority of them are visually sharp, smack up to date, and work in usability terms. Just one or two heavily Flash-based examples put more emphasis on showing off the designer's skills than making a purchase easy. In the case of the examples shown, other useful details are given: the design team, the tools they have used, and the cost in hours for developing the site, plus any awards they might have won.

You might not agree that all of them are examples of good customer usability. For instance I checked a lingerie site (purely for research purposes of course) and even with my enthusiasm to see the goods in close-up, it wasn't easy finding the right buttons to push. (Story of my Life?) But a wonderful jewellery site at Antonio Bernado delivers a stylish and well-nigh seamless user-experience.

These books are smart, and well-printed on good quality paper. The text is printed in English, German, and French, in a rather small and condensed font - but at this price you can't possibly grumble.

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Julius Wiedemann, Web Design: E-Commerce, London: Taschen, 2006, pp.190, ISBN 3822840556

 

 

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Art of the Digital Age

This is a beautifully illustrated survey of the latest developments in art which has been generated digitally. Well, for 'latest' read 'in the last ten or fifteen years', because people were attempting to use IT for art even before the arrival of the Web. Bruce Wands very sensibly begins by defining 'digital art' - pointing out that many artists may use computers and digitisation in the preparation of works which are then executed by conventional means. His first section on digital imaging illustrates that perfectly. Many of the artists combine photography, painting, and scanned imagery - to produce data files which can then be manipulated, printed, or projected into other media ... Read more >>

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Blogging and the Mainstream Media

The current furore surrounding the Prescott affair(es) has some important repercussions for new media, the blogosphere, and what has been called 'citizen journalism'. The latest claims about Prescott's multiple cars, homes, and mistresses were made by political bloggers - notably Iain Dale and Guido Fawkes. Indeed, they are still being made now, hot from the keyboard, as I write this. These people are doing the work which used to be the exclusive province of newspapers and the broadcast media. But as Dan Gilmour has argued in We the Media: grassroots journalism for the people, by the people the democratising forces within information technology have put powerful tools into the hands of ordinary people. Guido and Iain aren't exactly ordinary - they are both very well informed and well-connected - but as ordinary citizens they have the right to post their opinions and any items of gossip or research onto their personal blogs.

Some journalists working within the mainstream media now feel their positions threatened, as anyone with a fresh piece of news can scoop them - certainly by twenty-four hours in the case of print journalists. In fact often by much more, as MSM journalists claim that they have their hands tied, with legal departments breathing down their neck to substantiate any claims they might make. But as Iain Dale argued when challenged by Jeremy Paxman on Newsnight last night (in a section which was edited out of the broadcast program) "The difference between you and me Jeremy, is that if you get sued the BBC picks up the bill, if I get sued, I pick up the bill."

I watched that broadcast, and it seemed to me to epitomise the manner in which the MSM journalists are obviously feeling the heat from social bloggers. And naturally Prescott is feeling the heat too - because he has joined in the debate by claiming that bloggers are running a dirty tricks conspiracy on an anti-Labour ticket. This is not true - for two reasons. The first is that they post gossip and criticism of the Conservatives and the Lib-Dems as well. They simply set out to expose hypocrisy, corruption, and political dirty-dealings. The second reason is that they simply make claims and ask questions which Prescott and his ilk fail to answer.

Eminent Victorians

This is a book which marked a decisive step into the modern world of the twentieth century, and a clean break with the Victorian and Edwardian attitudes which preceded it. Lytton Strachey was hardly known when he published the book in 1918: afterwards, he was almost as notorious as Oscar Wilde. It's a group of critical biographical studies - of Cardinal Manning (1802-1892), Florence Nightingale (1820-1910), Dr Arnold of Rugby School (1795-1842), and General Gordon (1833-1885) in which Strachey overturns all the pious hagiographic work of his forebears and portrays these icons of Victorian life as ordinary human beings locked in the social and political battles of their age. His sketches are witty, pungent, and very elegantly expressed put-downs which punctured the blind optimism of the age which had led up to the disasters of the first world war ... Read more >>

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Roger Fry: A Biography

This is one of the last books Virginia Woolf wrote, and it is a tribute from one artist to another, an account of Fry's aesthetics, and one of her many excursions into biography. Actually, it's almost a joint production, because much of the text rests on direct quotations from Fry's own journals and his letters to friends. It starts with his family background of radical Quakers, a quite strict upbringing, and his interest in science and the natural world. He was a studious youth who blossomed when he went to Cambridge and was elected to the semi-secret society of 'Apostles' who were what would be called free-thinkers (and coincidentally formed the basis of what would later be the Bloomsbury Group). Despite getting a first in science, he switched to the study of Art and travelled to Italy and France on a sort of autodidactic Grand Tour to bring himself into contact with the masters ... Read more >>

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