Carter's Column

My last blog entry a few weeks ago was less than inspiring, but this time I am coming off the back of two brilliant weeks in Australia. That in itself was an uplifting experience, but even as I sit here looking at the rain falling in Bovey Tracey and struggling to keep warm enough I still have a stupid inane grin on my face thinking about all the things that happened in those two weeks. Before I left I met with a few school friends for a drink up in the Cromwell Arms in Bovey; Garry Styles, Chris Towell, Liam Berry and Fiona Squire. It was good to catch up and at one point Garry told me I could use his video camera and make a video diary, the only requirement being that I left some adult material on there for him when I gave it back... I'm afraid I've let him down on that score. But I do still have the Wagon Wheel that he gave me! And I decided that a video diary might be quite fun too. Me with Concorde G-BBDG again! The journey to Heathrow with Chris and his girlfriend...

I'm going to apologise in advance because this is a long post... I've never previously subscribed to the theory that things you experience as a child have a bearing on things you do as an adult. My mind could never see a link between being smacked as a child and growing up to be a violent criminal. If you broke the law or did something bad it was because you made the bad choice to do so, not because your parents struck you for taking extra chocolate from the cupboard. Recently though I have begun to understand that it's not the big behavioural traits that people refer to, but the subtleties of adult life. I have a tendency to look backwards to my past rather than ahead to my future and that has proven to not be a good thing for me. About a week ago I had an awful day. I went to bed the night before fairly early and was more than ready to sleep. After sending the usual Goodnight / Good Morning text to Jess in Australia I began drifting off. I hadn't quite drifted whe...

Lewis Hamilton at the 2011 Australian GP Albert Park, Melbourne. What is going on in the world of sport this week?! Given my recent appearance on "Flash And The Fat Stig" I'd say it's best to start with motorsport, and in particular the huge news that Lewis Hamilton has signed for Mercedes-Benz for the 2013 Formula 1 season. My initial reaction was that it's a massive mistake, but now I'm of the opinion that it's a big gamble that might pay off although I'm not so sure about any Championships. It appears that the relationship between Hamilton and McLaren had reached it's natural conclusion although there's nothing to say that in a couple of years Hamilton could be back at McLaren. I would even put a cheeky £5 on it. It also makes Jenson Button's position interesting. Now the team-leader, next year is pivotal because questions will be asked if the young Sergio Perez upstages him. I back Jenson to be in the hunt for the title next year. ...