Rajab, the SEO Gladiator

Rajab, one of my readers, and an SEO Gladiator from north Africa, is coming to Italy to study Italian this summer.

I’ve been exchanging the odd email with Rajab, and I complimented him on his English, but he disagrees. Indeed, this is how he disagreed:

My written English is good? Heck no, I think it sucks! But thanks anyway, I’m gung-ho about languages

Now, I don’t know about you, but I think that for someone who says he does not know English, the above response was absolutely excellent.

It’s grammatically accurate, colloquial, and, there is even a nice little idiom thrown in for good measure.

Maybe I should point out that he is studying French, Arabic, and English at university. He must be making good progress.

I would be interested to hear what his spoken English is like, but, in today’s email oriented world, being able to write well in a language or two is a very useful skill to have.

Rajab appears to have a bright future ahead of him. Hope he’s on Linked-In.

Jeff Healey 1966 - 2008

I was saddened to hear about the passing away of Jeff Healey today.  If you did not know he was a talented Canadian blues-rock guitarist, singer, and jazz trumpeter and clarinetist.  But what was really amazing about this guy was that he was blind.

I have a couple of his albums and like his music a lot. 

Throughout his relatively short career, he was only 41, he had been battling with the cancer which had taken his sight away when he was only one.

When I hear about these things, it makes me wonder whether there is a supreme being, but I guess it’s just one of those mysterious ways things.

My condolences go out to his wife and two children.  And I’m going to get what sadly turned out to be his last album, ‘Mess of Blues’, and I’ll pop it in my shops by way of a tribute to this guy who was an example to us all.

Bye Jeff, you will be missed.

Colin McRae

Alas, one of the world’s most spectacular rally drivers Colin McRae, and his young son, have lost their lives in a horrific helicopter accident.

The present news headlines in the UK confirm the sad loss of someone I admired greatly. Well, to be honest, I was horribly envious of the guy. The way in which he controlled massively powerful cars was, for me, being a lover of all things fast, fabulous. A shame, great shame, that he is no longer.  Italian connection?  Yes, there was.  One of McRae’s friends was Valentino Rossi, ace Italian motorcycle racer, who said that to him Colin McRae was the Kevin Schwanz of rallying.  High praise indeed.  Rossi even dedicated his latest victory to McRae.

That’s now three celebrities that have passed away recently. I’ve noticed this ‘famous people dying in batches’ situation before. It’s odd. Very odd.

Next Page »