At the age of eight, in a school with only 70 students, in a small village in the middle of Lincolnshire, a county not famous for much (except Sir Isaac Newton), and in a classroom with a view of a field of sheep (whose wool made the area wealthy in the the late middle ages),… Continue Reading
Category Archives: Uncategorized
Yet more quotations on my birthday
Every year is getting shorter, never seem to find the time. Plans that either come to naught or half a page of scribbled lines. Hanging on in quiet desperation is the English way. The time is gone, the song is over, thought I’d something more to say… Time, Pink Floyd All I ever wanted All… Continue Reading
Some quotations on my birthday
Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle. Plato (possibly – it is disputed) [I]in the whole world there are really only two problems. [..] One problem is, “you know what you want but you don’t know how to get it”, and the only other problem is, “you don’t know what you… Continue Reading
And three more quotations on my birthday
“When I was five years old, my mother always told me that happiness was the key to life. When I went to school, they asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. I wrote down ‘happy’. They told me I didn’t understand the assignment, and I told them they didn’t understand life.”… Continue Reading
Historic street names in the City of London
The City of London is the oldest part of greater London, yet has many of the newest buildings. Tiny, winding medieval streets are preserved next to the latest office blocks, built rapidly on the ruins of older, less efficient blocks that are ruthlessly torn down when the economic case dictates. The streets have curious names:… Continue Reading
Three more quotations on my birthday
“Remembering that I’ll be dead soon is the most important tool I’ve ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life.” Steve Jobs, Stanford Commencement Speech 2005, about 9 minutes in. (But I’d still recommend an Android phone.) “Of all forms of caution, caution in love is perhaps the most fatal to true happiness.” Bertrand… Continue Reading
I know what I like: is there any objectivity in art?
This year’s BBC Reith Lectures are being given by the British artist Grayson Perry. Perry gave a summary of his first lecture in the Financial Times last week, on the theme, who decides what makes art good? In a witty, amusing and charmingly written article he concludes that “if enough of the right people think… Continue Reading
Like black holes in the sky
Now there’s a look in your eyes, like black holes in the sky – Pink Floyd, Shine on You Crazy Diamond When Roger Waters wrote those words about the band’s former and founder member, Syd Barrett, he was referring to the spaced out look that Syd had acquired from excessive amounts of acid (LSD), which… Continue Reading
Happy holidays and Merry Christmas
It is supposed to be George Bernard Shaw who said that the UK and USA are “two nations divided by a common language.” Long established differences persist. Nobody in the UK says “gotten” anymore, even though it was normal English use centuries ago. “Oftentimes” appears in the King James Bible but is never used in… Continue Reading
Three quotations on my birthday
“To laugh often and much, to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children, to earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends, to appreciate beauty, to find the best in others, to leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch,… Continue Reading
Stocks versus flows – the sustainability of US foreign indebtedness
In economics and finance it is important to be clear about when we’re discussing a stock – the amount of something at a point in time – and when we’re referring to a flow – the volume of something during a period of time. So the US has a particular level of debt at a… Continue Reading
Management buzzwords to hate, pt.96: “authentic”
The most irritating words used by management gurus and pundits on management are those which replace existing words that do the job already and those which obfuscate and mislead. There are many such words but the one that currently irritates me particularly is “authentic” when yoked to the word leadership. I’ve lost track of the… Continue Reading
Pink Floyd, Cambridge and me
Pink Floyd, in their great middle period, are one of my favourite bands. Like millions of people around the world I was first turned into a Floyd fan by hearing their huge selling Dark Side of the Moon in 1974 (it was released the year before). I was just a child when I first heard… Continue Reading
Spring in Cambridge
For those who came to graduation and think that it always rains in Cambridge, here are a couple of photos taken today. Continue Reading
Eurovision: a unique European contribution to world culture
Europe is proud of its cultural heritage, whether it’s the Renaissance, beautiful icons in Ukrainian churches, Shakespeare, Bach or Truffaut. But perhaps Europe’s greatest contribution to world culture is the Eurovision Song Contest. If you’ve never seen this, you should watch it. Once. If you have seen it, your opinion will probably depend on your… Continue Reading