Blogger or WordPress?

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/31/Blogger.svg

This isn’t one of my normal posts, in fact it’s something of a fishing exercise, and you could almost describe it as a fact-finding mission. It involves the possibility of switching my blog over from Blogger to WordPress and just wanted to sound out people’s opinions, or better still experiences of using either site.

I’ve been using Blogger, which is Google’s own, cloud-based, blog hosting platform, since starting this blog, nearly 12 years ago, and in the main have fond it easy to use. I have experienced the odd niggle though, especially when it comes to positioning photos and getting the text to wrap round correctly. 

The latter problem doesn’t occur all the time, but it can be a nuisance, especially when you attempt to squeeze in that one last extra photo. You can then spend an age having to reposition all the others; something that’s very frustrating when you’re about to pack up for the evening, before hitting the sack. Most of the time though, Blogger is easy to use and relatively user friendly. 

So, what about WordPress? I first became aware of the platform six years ago, when I attended my first European Bloggers Conference in Dublin. WordPress were one of the event's main sponsors, and a couple of cool-looking dudes gave a presentation on the company and the benefits of using their software to host one’s blog. 

I was tempted back then to give WordPress a go, but my blog seemed to be doing fine as it was with Google’s platform, so I left things alone, on the basis of “If it ain’t broke, don’t try fixing it,” but every so often, and now is one of those moments, I think to myself, should I give it a go?

WordPress / GPL (http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html)

Hence the reason for this short, and slightly out of context post. I know that amongst the blogs I follow and sometimes comment on, there are users of both platforms, so I would be interested in learning about people’s views, thoughts and experiences of both Blogger and WordPress.  

Thank-you all in advance; I look forward to hearing from you.

Special birthday beer

It was my birthday on Easter Monday and whilst it might have seemed that there wasn’t much to celebrate, the fact that I’m alive along with numerous other blessings was enough. So being unable to go out for a meal with my family, or meet up with friends for a drink, I cracked open a rather special bottle of beer instead. 

The bottle in question was one I’d originally received as a Christmas present, but after noticing the  Best Before Date was the end of June 2020, I knew I ought to drink the bottle anyway, as whilst it was bottle-conditioned, this was no guarantee that it would last much beyond this date.

Marston’s No.1 Horninglow Street IPA 7.4%, is a limited edition, bottle-conditioned pale ale, with each bottle individually numbered. My one is Bottle No. 09601, from a total run of 32,000. For those like  me, who are interested in such things the beer is brewed using low-colour pale ale malt and then late plus dry-hoped with four different hop varieties. These varieties are: Sovereign, Goldings and Ernest from the UK, plus Cascade hops from the United States.

Fermentation takes place over 15 days, initially in one of the Burton Union sets of 24-linked, oak casks, and using Marston’s unique Burton Union yeast. This delivers a signature dry and fruity flavour with a touch of oak coming across from the Burton Union casks. The oak was quite evident in the finished beer, as described by my tasting notes below.

This is an excellent beer, although it doesn’t quite drink to its 7.4% strength. Presumably this is because many of the malt sugars are fermented right out. There is a hint of oak lurking in the background, but this blends in well with the dry fruitiness derived from the malted barley and the hops.

Pale amber in colour, the beer pours with an attractive, fluffy, white head. It is surprisingly refreshing despite its potency and is a beer I would definitely drink again – if there are any left that is.

Brewery Talk:

 No:1 Horninglow Street IPA is the first in a series of speciality one-off beers to be brewed in Marston’s legendary Burton Union system.

The Horninglow Street speciality beers have been named after the original brewery at which John Marston started brewing in 1834, the Horninglow Brewery in Burton Upon Trent. In 1898, the company moved to its current home, the Albion Brewery, in Shobnall Road. 

Marston's Albion Brewery was also where my very first brewery visit took place, as a student back in the early summer of 1974. Not just "Half the world away," as Oasis sang, but considerably more than half a lifetime away!

Will Oktoberfest 2020 be cancelled?

One of the more bizarre stories I’ve come across recently, is the news that the city authorities in Munich are pushing ahead with plans for this year’s Oktoberfest. This is despite calls for the 2020 event to be cancelled whilst the world remains in the grip of the Corona-virus pandemic

Whilst it is accepted that Germany’s response to the Covid-19 crisis has been better than most European countries, it is surely far too early for the country to be easing the lock-down restrictions, let alone contemplate going ahead with an event that attracts six million extra visitors to Munich.

Tens of thousands of revellers crammed into noisy and crowded “tents” - not really tents, but semi-permanent structures dismantled and then re-erected each year. Whatever the definition, they remain as hot humid places and when crammed with thousands of revellers, could form an ideal environment where the virus could multiply. Not only that, but in such conditions, one infected person could easily pass it on to dozens of other people.

If proof of this were needed, even in normal times there’s a reported upsurge in cases of the common cold, which occurs during the second week of the festival. Locals even refer to it as the “Wiesn flu.” The name “Wiesn” derives from the Theresien Wiesse, which is the site where the event is staged each year, and is the description used by most Munich residents when referring to Oktoberfest. 

Since its inception in 1810, Oktoberfest has been cancelled 24 times, mainly due to conflict - two world wars, plus earlier disruption caused by Napoleon’s forces. Two cholera epidemics in 1854 and 1873, also prevented the event from going ahead, so calling it off for Coronavirus would not exactly be setting a new precedent.

According to Munich's department for economic affairs, last year Oktoberfest contributed more than €1.2 billion to the economy of the Bavarian state capital and generated 12,000 jobs.  With the event welcoming more than six million visitors every year, this is good business for the city’s 450 hotels and the 80,000 beds they offer.

Any decision to cancel will therefore not be taken lightly. Clemens Baumgärtner, head of the city council’s Department of Labour and the Economy, has insisted that it is still too early to make such a decision, and wants to monitor the situation until the last possible minute. 

Late June is the deadline for cancelling the festival, as by 6^th July teams of workers will have descended on the Theresien Wiesse and started assembling the large beer tents. With construction costs for these structures put at several million Euros, it would make sense for there to be a final decision at around this time, to prevent the tents being set up for no reason. 

This is why, according to Baumgärtner, the planning is still going ahead. Speaking more realistically he added, “The decision will be made with the greatest possible responsibility. In the end, it will largely depend on what the medical experts advise and what health policy and safety regulations will be issued by the federal and Bavarian governments."

Alexander Kekulé, a leading professor of virology, said that due to the global character of Oktoberfest, the pandemic needed not only to be under control in Germany, but also globally, for the event to go ahead. He stated this is highly unlikely to be the case by mid-September.

Personally speaking, I cannot see the event going ahead; I even think it would be madness to do so. Restrictions on international travel are in place right across the globe and seem unlikely to be lifted until late summer at the earliest – and that’s probably being optimistic. 

The only scenario which could enable Oktoberfest to take place is for immunity being achieved, either through everyone having had the infection, or for a vaccine to be made available. The first option is the so-called “herd immunity” effect, and is something the UK government initially adopted, before realising the disastrous impact it would have on both vulnerable people and the NHS.

Fortunately, that strategy has been dropped, although it is arguably responsible for the high death rates we are currently seeing in the UK. Vaccination is by far the most preferable solution, but even the most optimist scientists don’t expect a vaccine to be available before autumn at the earliest, and many citing next summer as the most likely.

Covid-19 is therefore likely to remain present throughout the summer, so with this in mind, it would be highly irresponsible for large-scale events, such as Oktoberfest, to go ahead.

Footnote: the photos in this post were all taken by my good self, at Oktoberfest 2017. The family and I were there for a late-morning/early afternoon session, and thoroughly enjoyed the whole experience. I'm sure it gets more crowded and much busier as the day progresses.

I would love to go back and spend more time there - but not until several more years have passed, and the world has found a solution to Covid-19.