Arcticterntalk.org

The blog of a travelling psychiatrist and football lover. Who happens to be a halfway decent photographer. Takes a cynical view of the world

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AC Hotel Bella Sky Copenhagen 


An architecturally curious hotel. Divided into two towers. There are good and bad points about this hotel. Let’s start with the negatives. Expect a scowling unhappy taxi driver as the hotel is around 4 km from the airport. An estare agent might describe the hotel as having good access to conference facilities, ideal when watching a concert at Bella Centre. Bryan Adams arrives next month. And perfect if looking for a new home. So let’s translate that lot into reality. 

The hotel is a superb looking building. It is connected to a large congress centre next door and a few yards away is the main entrance to Bella Center. The whole complex has car parks around it. The land next door is a massive building site. There are seemingly hundreds of new build houses under construction. So there is little point in coming to this hotel unless you have a specific need to. Some bus stops outside . A metro station about third of a mile away. 

The hotel is generally busy and there are queues for both check-in and check-out. A large breakfast room with a superb breakfast but a curious quirk. On arrival at the self service buffet breakfast one is invited to fill in a card with room number etc. There is also a section to leave a tip! I wonder if non EU tourists might be confused into leaving tips thinking it the norm or being unaware that it is self service. This is not a practice I much care for . 

The hotel itself is modern, comfortable and warm, but not cheap. Avoid the minibar where a small chocolate bar will cost you £2.50 or to be precise 20DK. As per Scandinavian norms the rooms have wood flooring and duvets that you struggle to make fit the bed. The staff are nice and efficient and the ambience is good. This is a hotel for the business traveller and preferably when someone else is paying the bill. 

There is too much tolerance of appalling behaviour in football . Notts County are taking the right steps 


A number of clubs have had players found guilty of either racist or sexist abuse of players and officials. Arsene Wenger felt it appropriate to physically abuse a fourth official last weekend.  Seemingly clubs are tolerant of this behaviour and wrongly in my opinion stand by their players at least in public. Although some of these acts indeed are done in a red rage and suggest the emotional lability of adult ADHD many culprits have a lot of previous form. 

Notts County currently residing in the relegation places in league two are having tough times on the field. They have however sacked their manager John Sheridan and released the reasons why. For this I applaud them. Sheridan not only abused the officials following a defeat by Wycombe but also threatened to knock them out. He was sacked for gross misconduct and given arguably a pointless five game touchline ban. His reward for this behaviour was to be appointed manager at Oldham in league one only ten days later.  Chairman Alan Hardy said such behaviour would not be tolerated by any employee.”This is a family friendly club which aims to be a pillar of the local community”  . In the referee’s report, referee Ilderton said Sheridan repeatedly swore at fourth official Matthew Donohue and also threatened to “knock him out”.

Far too often clubs do not castigate their players for offences that frankly are not acceptable on or off the pitch. Shelvey at Newcastle is a case in point . Players continue to give the impression that they feel they are superior to their paying public and the rules of the world need not apply to them. The papers today report that Granit Xhaka the Arsenal player was questioned over claims of racial abuse to an airport employee when a friend arrived late for a flight and was denied boarding. People and footballers do make mistakes and have a higher prevalence of emotional volatility than the general population however the simple reality that they are mostly more affluent than the general public cannot be seen as a reason why they should not pay the consequences. 

Notts County can thus be applauded for taking not only the correct decision but making public the reasons why. 

Can You Drink The Water In Urinals?


And thanks for the clarification that the water in the gents urinal in Orly airport is non-drinkable…. does this mean that someone actually asked this as a question or worse drank it?? 

Anyone Know Who Might Own These Keys? 


Someone has found them under car seat. Devon or Cornwall areas possibly.  The finder has no idea whom they belong to . 

The Husky Who Discovered Ice In UK. What did he do? A short video


A four month old puppy. Three quarters Husky and the rest Cocker Spaniel. Which is actually a great mix and represents brilliance from the breeder . The mixture tend to ameliorate the bad bits of both. As long as you like exercising them. Or they exercise you ? He is called Wolf and discovered Ice in the park. Here is his attempt to remove it. ttps://arcticterntalk.org/2017/01/19/sunrise-in-suburbia/

Sunrise in Suburbia 


Just simple random photos of a nice sunrise on a cold morning . Sometimes it is nice just to take a few minutes to look around at what nature gives us. Even on a freezing cold morning. 

Rumour is True. Sun arrives in Surrey. Motspur Park 


Even a few hours of sun is enough to remove some of the water . Vast improvement over yesterday . Not every white dog returns black and boggy. 

Some artistic license with these photos. Enjoy 

A Very Wet Park. 


Brentford v Newcastle . A curious afternoon and maybe an indicator of the rest of the season? 


On paper a mid table side sets out to topple a promotion certainty side . However a lot more is at stake. Brentford performances recently have been dubious and inconsistent and the superb performance last week was not predicted. 

There are two ways the season might go. A decent run of league results seeing us sit maybe in 10th place. A horrid run of results that see us in a relegation battle. Very difficult to call the direction on this . 

Our squad needs to lose the fringe players. The squad should only contain players good enough for the championship . Sadly that means Bonham, KK, Saunders, Hoffman all need to move on. The jury is out on Barbet and Yennaris. My own view is that they are not good enough . 

We all know what we need but importantly we also need options. Sometimes Plan A does not work and we need a different approach during a game. A further thing needed in my view is far more engagement with the fans than Dean Smith currently exhibits. Fan forums would be a good start. Maybe also acknowledging in his press conferences mistakes . Certainly a little bit of warmth too. Martin Allen was a revelation last week . Fans need to engage with the manager as they did with Warburton. 

Lastly players need to start a game at high tempo . I can see no reason why not. Players need to play to their potential . Ryan Woods has ranged from brilliant to inept . And similarly most players. 

Smith might also consider blooding more young players. Exactly what Holldack and others will learn from B games is unclear. Either play them or send them on loan to a league club or let them go. They need to play football. Week in week out. 

Tomorrow against Newcastle will be a challenge. For me a good result is a draw. But a spirited draw. 

Tesco Art. Car Wash Photography


It is said that cameras should always be carried everywhere. Now my proposal is that this should extend to the car wash at Tesco. I give you two such photos . 

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