I like Leonardo da Vinci. Legend has it that he was a manic depressive, although we can't be sure because manic depression wasn't invented yet when he was alive. Labels. It's all about labels.

You may or may not know this, but Leonardo da Vinci was much more than an artist. He painted pictures to pay the rent, but his real love was science and - particularly - the science of warfare. He drew, in his notebooks, pictures of helicopters and submarines. He touted himself to the royalty of Europe as a courtier who could design and build great engines of war - siege towers and catapults and stuff like that.

But, nonetheless, he had a problem. There was only one of him. If the King of France and the King of Austria both wanted him, then one of them was going to be disappointed.

Now, if Leonardo was smart, he'd have spoke to Chief (who was definitely born at that time) to see how he could fundamentally synergise the duality-ness of da Vinci with the requirements of the Kings of Austria and France. In other words, how he could be in two places at once.

Now Chief and I have spent many hours bent over my kitchen table (no, not in that way) trying to solve this particular problem. You see, I have a gift but I can only be in one place at a time. At first, we thought we could write computer programs that pretended to be me, and that's only half of the problem. Now, we're coming round to a new way of thinking:

"Is it possible that 'Johns' are not born - is it possible that they are made?"

We know that I am a fantastic trainer and teacher - the Universe provided Martin to allow me to demonstrate this. Is it possible, just possible, that I can teach other people to be me?

OK, so there's an argument that says "why would they even want to be?" and I'd be the first to admit that. But this isn't real life, this is the numbers.

If you do only a little research, then you will discover that the truly great people in the world had no idea how they would achieve what they set out to achieve - they just knew that they'd achieve it. Kennedy had no idea how to put a man on the moon when he declared that "by the end of this decade, we will land a man on the moon and return him safely to the Earth".

So, slowly and surely, under Chief's beligerent and often-grumpy guidance, we explore and discover ways that we can have me in more than one place at once. When we solve that problem, funding Transorientale will not be a problem. Conversations will be of this nature:

"Hello?"

"Chief? It's John. Listen, Southampton is up for sale and I was wonder if you wanted to go half and half on buying it?"

"Nah, I don't support Southampton."

"No, you idiot! Not Southampton the football team, Southampton the City!"

Riches are in the post. Yet, at the same time, I know that you can't buy passion and you can't buy a Dakar finish. That is on the inside and is as much a part of you as the colour of your eyes.

Dakar finishers, unlike 'Johns', are born - they are not made.

So, fund it yes. Buy it no. Hopefully you understand the difference.

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