All posts by Keith

I’m a controversialist and catalyst, quietly enabling others to develop by providing different ideas and views of the world. Born in London in the early 1950s and initially trained as a research chemist I retired as a senior project manager after 35 years in the IT industry. Retirement is about community give-back and finding some equilibrium. Founder and Honorary Secretary of the Anthony Powell Society. Chairman of my GP's patient group.
quotes

Quotes

Here be this month’s collection of quotes miscellaneous.
Words transform both speaker and hearer; they feed energy back and forth and amplify it. They feed understanding or emotion back and forth and amplify it.
[Ursula K Le Guin]
There is, at this very moment, a general feeling that communication is breaking down everywhere, on an unparalleled scale … What appears [in the media] is generally at best a collection of trivial and almost unrelated fragments, while at worst, it can often be a really harmful source of confusion and misinformation.
[David Bohm, 1917-92]
The scientist is engaged in a … “dialogue” with nature (as well as with his fellow human beings). Thus, when a scientist has an idea, this is tested by observation. When it is found (as generally happens) that what is observed is only similar to what he had in mind and not identical, then from a consideration of the similarities and the differences he gets a new idea which is in turn tested. And so it goes, with the continual emergence of something new that is common to the thought of scientists and what is observed in nature.
[David Bohm, 1917-92]
Robert Conquest’s Third Laws of Politics: The simplest way to explain the behaviour of any bureaucratic organization is to assume that it is controlled by a cabal of its enemies.
Even when she is perfectly at home on the wheel [bicycle], she should remember her sex is not intended by nature for violent muscular exertion … And even when a woman has cautiously prepared herself and has trained for the work, her speed should never be that of an adult man in full muscular vigour.
[Just Championnière, French surgeon, 1895 in Scientific American]
We are living in a time that requires inventiveness and imagination. It is this kind of creative inspiration that is indigenous to PANTONE 18-3838 Ultra Violet, a blue-based purple that takes our awareness and potential to a higher level. From exploring new technologies and the greater galaxy, to artistic expression and spiritual reflection, intuitive Ultra Violet lights the way to what is yet to come.
[Leatrice Eiseman, Executive Director of the Pantone Colour Institute, on the Pantone Colour of 2018]
Religions are just ways people have come up with to deal with the fear of death and the necessities of civilization. On the philosophical side, it’s driven by the knowledge that all of us, some day, are going to die. We’re not sure if any other animals know this. Maybe they do. Elephants seem to have rituals around death. Other animals may have their own ways of understanding it that we just can’t comprehend. On the social and ritual side, the purpose of religion is to get everyone in a close-knit community on the same page about following the rules that are necessary to keep their society from collapsing into chaos and disorder.
[Brad Warner at http://hardcorezen.info/merry-christmas-2017/5673]
God is kind of like aliens. Either he exists right now, or he doesn’t. Whether we believe in him or not, won’t change the fact.
[Brad Warner at http://hardcorezen.info/merry-christmas-2017/5673]
Perhaps in a democracy the distinctive feature of decadence is not debauchery but terminal self-absorption – the loss of the capacity for collective action, the belief in common purpose, even the acceptance of a common form of reasoning.
We listen to necromancers who prophesy great things while they lead us into disaster. We sneer at the idea of a “public” and hold our fellow citizens in contempt. We think anyone who doesn’t pursue self-interest is a fool.
… … …
A decadent elite licenses degraded behaviour, and a debased public chooses its worst leaders. Then our Nero panders to our worst attributes – and we reward him for doing so.
[James Traub, http://uk.businessinsider.com/us-reached-last-stage-before-collapse-2017-12]
Here is something genuinely new about our era: We lack not only a sense of shared citizenry or collective good, but even a shared body of fact or a collective mode of reasoning toward the truth.
A thing that we wish to be true is true; if we wish it not to be true, it isn’t. Global warming is a hoax. Barack Obama was born in Africa. Neutral predictions of the effects of tax cuts on the budget must be wrong, because the effects they foresee are bad ones.
… … …
Your story fights my story; if I can enlist more people on the side of my story, I own the truth.
[James Traub, http://uk.businessinsider.com/us-reached-last-stage-before-collapse-2017-12]
The reduction of all disagreeable facts and narratives to “fake news” will stand as one of Donald Trump’s most lasting contributions to American culture, far outliving his own tenure.
[James Traub, http://uk.businessinsider.com/us-reached-last-stage-before-collapse-2017-12]
The worship of the marketplace, and thus the elevation of selfishness to a public virtue, is a doctrine that we associate with the libertarian right. But it has coursed through the culture as a self-justifying ideology for rich people of all political persuasions &ndsh; perhaps also for people who merely dream of becoming rich.
[James Traub, http://uk.businessinsider.com/us-reached-last-stage-before-collapse-2017-12]
The passage of time is an illusion and life is the magician, because life only lets you see one day at a time. You remember being alive yesterday, you hope you’re going to be alive tomorrow, so it feels like you are travelling one to the other but nobody’s moving anywhere! Movies don’t really move, they’re just pictures – lots and lots of pictures, all of them still, none of them moving, just frozen moments. But if you experience those pictures one after the other, then everything comes alive.
[Dr Who, Series 10, Episode 1. Quoted at http://hardcorezen.info/doctor-who-dogen-and-the-fermi-paradox-or-happy-new-year-2018/5677]
When I make myself a sandwich I am amazed that sandwiches exist. How improbable is that? How astonishing is it that, in the vast universe, I exist in a place in which there are sandwiches? Throughout most of this endless universe, there are no sandwiches. Sandwiches can’t even exist on most planets.
[Brad Warner at http://hardcorezen.info/doctor-who-dogen-and-the-fermi-paradox-or-happy-new-year-2018/5677]
If we want to solve a problem that we have never solved before, we must leave the door to the unknown ajar.
[Richard Feynman]
Remember also that once your house is spotless, there will be no food inside for any insect that happens to stray inside and it might die of starvation. Therefore it is an act of kindness to leave directions to the nearest food bank for them.
[https://www.theguardian.com/books/2018/jan/07/a-monks-guide-to-a-clean-house-and-mind-by-shoukei-matsumoto-digested-read]
The Axehandle Hound has a hatchet-shaped head, a handle-shaped body, and stumpy legs. This North Woods dachshund eats only the handles of axes.
Among the fish of this region we find the Upland Trout. They nest in trees and are good fliers but are scared of water.
[Jorges Luis Borges; The Book of Imaginary Beasts]
When it is so dark you cannot identify members of the same species, never mind the same sex, glowing genitals are presumably a very handy thing to have!
[https://www.theguardian.com/science/blog/2017/dec/19/glow-in-the-dark-sharks-discovered-in-hawaii-etmopterus-lailae]
Boom! Boom!

arts

Review: Modigliani at Tate Modern

1 Comment

This morning Noreen and I went to Tate Modern. Despite living in London, I’d not been there before and it is even more vast than I had expected, to the extent that they seem to have far more space than they really know what to do with. This is good as it means all the circulation areas are wide and accommodating; there are loos on every floor and several cafes and shops. The use of glass makes the space feel open, even on the dullest of January days, although I felt there was too much use of black/very dark colours in the public areas.
We went specifically to see the Modigliani exhibition. It is an absolute delight! For an artist who died at just 35 he produced a stunning array of paintings and sculpture – effectively all of which is portraiture (there is just one small landscape). In eleven rooms the exhibition takes you sequentially through Modigliani’s life in Paris from 1906 to his death in 1920. This means you see the interesting development of his style, from drawings and small, rather sombre, paintings to the larger portraits for which he is perhaps best known.
These later, larger portraits are especially delightful. The exhibition shows as many male portraits as female ones, although the only nudes are female: largely because Modigliani was painting for a male audience (photographic erotica then being largely still in the realm of the B&W postcard). The paint in these later works is especially luminous and bright, something which shines especially well on flesh tones. This helps make the female nudes particularly gorgeous and erotic – the nude paintings in Modigliani’s only solo exhibition, in Paris in 1917, were removed because the local police chief thought the displays of pubic hair to be obscene.
What I had not expected was a room of Modigliani’s sculpture. I wasn’t aware that he did any sculpture! Given that he knew Brancusi well, one should not be surprised that the sculptures in the show, all of which are life-size or slightly larger portrait heads, are very much influenced by Brancusi. Many of the heads are sharp and elongated in the way that many of Modigliani’s later portraits are – as Noreen observed, they explain the style of the later paintings which are almost paintings of sculpture.
There is also the obligatory short film, which shows scenes from Paris of the period, including some of Modigliani with Picasso and Brancusi. I would have appreciated this much more had it not been so jerky that it was doing my head in – that is partly the down to the film technology of the day, but wasn’t helped by being projected on too large a screen for the viewing distance. There was also a VR experience, which we declined.
Despite missing a couple of Modigliani’s best known female nudes, this is a great exhibition, which, having brought together works from around the world, has taken a huge amount of work and money to put on. It is well worth seeing, especially if, as we did, you can get tickets for a quieter time. The exhibition runs until 2 April.
Overall Rating: ★★★★★

amusements, personal

Birthday Meme

This year’s birthday meme has been unashamedly stolen from Robin Bynoe, with one question added.
Four places I’ve lived:
1. Waltham Cross
2. York
3. Norwich
4. Chiswick
Four places I’ve worked:
1. Waltham Cross
2. Norwich
3. City of London
4. Bedfont
Four things I love to watch on TV:
1. You mean there are four different programmes on TV?
Four places I have been:
1. Washington DC
2. Hartz Mountains
3. Enschede
4. Land’s End
Four things I love to eat:
1. Curry
2. Avocado
3. Smoked Salmon
4. Sausages
Four people I think will respond:
1. ????
Four favourite drinks:
1. Earl Grey Tea
2. Gin & Tonic
3. Champagne
4. Adnams Dry Hopped Lager
Four desert island luxuries:
1. Adnams Dry Hopped Lager on tap
2. Laptop
3. Cat
4. Digital SLR camera
I hereby grant permission to anyone who wants to copy this and join in. The only rule is that you add question to the list.

personal

Ten Things

This month, as it is the beginning of the year, by tradition Ten Things is my wish list of what I’d like to accomplish during the year. These are not necessarily the highest priority things I want to accomplish, nor are they necessarily in any particular order. Some are (relatively) easy; others are going to take quite a bit of work. And they’re not all SMART, so they aren’t true objectives but more “wish list” items.
Ten Things I’m Trying to do in 2018:

  1. Handover AP Soc Hon. Sec. role
  2. AP Oxford conference
  3. Work to improve knees and back
  4. Reduce waste/rubbish/clutter and recycle more
  5. Have a 2 week holiday
  6. Do something not done before
  7. Go somewhere not been before
  8. Visit the Horniman Museum
  9. Walk across London’s Millennium Bridge
  10. Prove my family history back to Tudor time

Notice that these are things I’m trying to do; they aren’t absolutes which must be achieved. So while I will be disappointed not to achieve any of them it will not be a matter for sacking the manager.
You’ll also notice some are things which were on last year’s list; some of that is deliberate but some reflects just how badly I did in 2017, and indeed 2016. Let’s see if we can do better in 2018!
I’ll report back this time next year, DV.

amusements, ramblings, thoughts

Predictions for 2018

So I retrieved my crystal ball from the back of the wardrobe and dusted it off. Having been staring into its mistiness, on and off, for most of the last month, these are my best guesses at what it’s trying to tell me for the next year.
As before, I’ve divided the predictions into three sections: UK, Worldwide and Personal – the latter are documented but currently redacted, as are a couple of other items which some might consider over-sensitive.
Disclaimer. I remind you that these are just my ideas of what could happen; they’re based solely on hunches and gut feel; I have no inside knowledge and I haven’t been studying the form – so if you base any decision on any of this I will take no responsibility for your wanton act of idiocy or its consequences.

UK

  1. Brexit. It becomes clear that no Brexit deal is possible, but no-one has the courage to cancel Brexit so the UK is sleepwalking over a cliff to become a third world country (economically and socially) by 2020
  2. The government will ensure that, despite its expressed wish, Parliament does not have a meaningful vote on the final Brexit deal
  3. Increasing sexual harassment claims in Parliament and involving members of the government, on top of divisions over Brexit, are likely to bring down the government
  4. However, it’s unlikely there will be a General Election, but if there is it will be won by Labour with a tiny majority
  5. Michael Portillo is given a peerage and a seat in the Cabinet
  6. Boris Johnson is replaced as Foreign Secretary by one of David Davies, Liam Fox or Michael Gove
  7. Part of the Palace of Westminster collapses and the whole building is evacuated long-term, and may even have to be demolished
  8. UK interest rates rise twice during the year, each time by 0.25%
  9. Inflation remains at 3.0-3.5%
  10. Stamp Duty relief for first-time buyers pushes property prices up by 10%
  11. Tesco try to buy another supermarket chain but are prevented from doing so by the Monopolies Commission
  12. Waitrose close 20 stores across UK by YE and record an operating loss
  13. Ryanair buy/merge with EasyJet
  14. Move to regulate and meter all London taxi fares (including all private hire)
  15. Uber wins the appeal over its withdrawn operating licence in London
  16. Heavy flu season with many hospitals unable to cope with demand, contributing to 10,000 excess deaths
  17. At least two major disasters (industrial, train crash, plane crash etc.) with a combined total of over 200 fatalities
  18. Driverless vehicles kill six cyclists in the UK
  19. Red Arrows are disbanded after another fatal accident
  20. Murders. [[REDACTED]]
  21. No snow in London for the whole of 2018 with temperatures 2°C above average across the year
  22. Prince Harry’s wedding day will be wet
  23. Meghan Markle. [[REDACTED]]
  24. Deaths: Prince Charles, a current England cricketer, [[REDACTED]], [[REDACTED]]

World

  1. There’s an attack on Donald Trump’s life, which results in the death of several bodyguards and assailants, but only minor injuries to Trump
  2. Average of one terror-related attack a month across Europe (including UK) with total fatalities in excess of 120
  3. It’s unlikely North Korea will fire a nuclear weapon at the US to start WW3, but quite possible the US will fire first probably with conventional weapons
  4. Kim Jong-un will fall from power in North Korea
  5. There could be military conflict over China’s appropriation of islands in the South China Sea
  6. Vladimir Putin is re-elected as Russian President; in fact there’s a good chance he will be the only candidate
  7. US lose a submarine and are unable to rescue the crew
  8. Ukraine is proven to be illegally selling radioactive materials, and cannot/will not identify all the buyers
  9. Saudi Arabia. [[REDACTED]]
  10. Civil war in Zimbabwe which spills over into South Africa due to uncertainties about the South African presidency
  11. The Pope is embroiled in controversy possibly surrounding a significant shift in core Catholic theology
  12. At least one space disaster (possibly on the ground) which kills two; and at least one major inter-planetary mission is lost in transit
  13. Euro – Dollar – Pound parity
  14. There’ll be major financial crash, with long-term knock-on effects, although it’s not clear if this will be in US, Europe or the Far East.
  15. At least two household name companies are hacked with over 100 million sets of personal information exposed
  16. Uber buys Lyft
  17. Two of Amazon, Google and IBM merge
  18. Scientists believe they have discovered extra-terrestrial life (not necessarily intelligent)
  19. Major eruption of Vesuvius or Mt Etna with widespread destruction and mass evacuation, but fewer than 50 fatalities
  20. Magnitude 7 or above earthquake in California which, with continuing drought, all but destroys their fruit production
  21. At least one major US city will be destroyed (and quite possibly permanently abandoned) due to a severe hurricane (possibly New Orleans, Orlando, Miami)
  22. Massive collapse of another Antarctic glacier or ice sheet
  23. Poland beat Russia in FIFA World Cup final, with Denmark and Brazil as losing semi-finalists
  24. Other deaths: Dalai Lama

Personal

  1. Anthony Powell Society. [[REDACTED]]
  2. Family. [[REDACTED]]
  3. Cats. [[REDACTED]]
  4. Friends 1. [[REDACTED]]
  5. Friends 2. [[REDACTED]]

Obviously I’ll keep a tally and will publish the results at the end of the year. Let’s hope I’ve seen further and more clearly into the mist than last year.

personal, ramblings

Predictions for 2017 — How Did I Do?

This time last year I made a series of predictions about what would happen during 2017. So what did I get right, and what wrong?

UK

  1. Brexit. The Supreme Court overturns the High Court judgement that Royal Prerogative cannot be used to trigger Article 50. WRONG; the decision was upheld by a majority verdict.
  2. Brexit. Article 50 will be triggered in the last week of March by government without the agreement of parliament. WRONG in that Parliament agreed by passing legislation authorising the PM to trigger Article 50, although without any explicit agreement to leave the EU. CORRECT in that Article 50 was triggered in the last week of March.
  3. Brexit. It becomes apparent that no deal is possible with the EU and that the notification under Article 50 cannot be withdrawn. WRONG as this is not yet apparent to the government.
  4. As a consequence, Theresa May resigns and asks Parliament to grant a General Election. WRONG in that Theresa May didn’t resign. CORRECT that there would be a General Election.
  5. Boris Johnson is sacked as Foreign Secretary and relegated to the back benches. WRONG
  6. The new Foreign Secretary is one of David Davies, Liam Fox, Michael Gove. WRONG as it didn’t arise
  7. Inflation will hit 2.5% by year-end. CORRECT: in March inflation was 2.3%; by November it was 3.1%.
  8. The Bank of England Base Rate will be reduced to 0%. WRONG; BoE base rate was raised to 0.5%.
  9. The Pound falls by 20% (cf. 1 January) against the US Dollar and the Euro. WRONG; pound was down 4% against the Euro and up 9.5% against the US dollar.
  10. FT100 falls by at least 10% compared with the start of the year. WRONG FT100 was up 7.6% on the year.
  11. Unemployment rises by 10% compared with December 2016. WRONG unemployment was down from 4.8% to 4.3%.
  12. GDP falls by at least 2% year-on-year; the UK is in recession by the end of the year. WRONG; GDP was up 1.7% as measured 3Q2016 to 3Q2017 (latest data available).
  13. The Government will introduce legislation to implement Nordic model of prostitution. WRONG
  14. The Government also implements alcohol minimum pricing. WRONG; although CORRECT in Scotland.
  15. There is at least one major incident (plane crash, train crash, terrorist attack, industrial accident etc.) with over 50 fatalities. CORRECT; the Grenfell Tower fire claimed 71 lives. Add to that two terror attacks in London and one in Manchester with a total of 35 deaths.
  16. At least one high street name goes out of business with over 500 job losses. CORRECT. Monarch airline collapsed with 1858 jobs lost. Also Jaeger collapsed with 700 jobs threatened as did Multiyork with 550 jobs threatened.
  17. At least 2 major hospitals are forced to close due to finance problems, with loss of jobs and healthcare; there is no allowance for anyone to pick up the slack. WRONG
  18. Two horses die in the Grand National, which is then permanently scrapped. WRONG; all the horses survived the race.
  19. There’s significant flooding somewhere in the UK in March, May and October. WRONG about March and May; CORRECT as there was major flooding in Cumbria in October.
  20. A meteor strike destroys two houses, but there are no fatalities. WRONG
  21. There is finally proof that there are non-native big cats living wild in the UK; there are enough to maintain a small breeding population. WRONG
  22. The Queen dies unexpectedly followed within 3 months by Prince Philip. WRONG
  23. Prince Charles ducks becoming King thus allowing William to take to the throne. WRONG because it didn’t arise.
  24. Other Deaths: Paul McCartney, Bruce Forsythe, Bob Geldof, Michael Parkinson. CORRECT about Bruce Forsyth. WRONG about the others.

World

  1. Donald Trump is inaugurated as US President amid strident protests, possible rioting and several fatalities. CORRECT, although I don’t recall any fatalities.
  2. During the year there are moves to impeach Trump which may succeed. CORRECT although they have come to nothing.
  3. Obama care is scrapped. CORRECT
  4. NASA’s budget is halved. WRONG
  5. An accident (maybe a debris strike?) destroys the ISS with loss of the crew. WRONG
  6. Consequent on the above NASA abandons manned space flight for the foreseeable future. WRONG as it didn’t arise.
  7. Trump visits Russia; Putin visits the US. WRONG, surprisingly.
  8. US imposes severe restrictions on immigration. CORRECT although the courts seem to be unsure about whether the bans are legal or not.
  9. Against all the odds the USA abolishes the death penalty. WRONG
  10. Major banking collapse somewhere in the developed world, possibly Italy, USA or UK. CORRECT; the Italian government had to bail out two banks to the tune of €17bn.
  11. Major cyber attack brings down power/utility infrastructure affecting hundreds of thousands, probably in USA but maybe Western Europe. CORRECT; the WannaCry attack in May affected over 200k systems worldwide including a significant chunk of the UK NHS.
  12. Marine Le Pen is elected French President precipitating an existential crisis in the EU. WRONG; Le Pen lost the run-off to Emmanuel Macron.
  13. Turmoil in South Africa after the arrest of a top politician. WRONG; not noticeably although it seems to have been a close run thing with President Zuma.
  14. President Mugabe of Zimbabwe dies. WRONG; although he was forced from office in November only to be replaced by one of his acolytes.
  15. Consequently the regime in Zimbabwe becomes even more repressive, in an attempt to prevent a civil war; this triggers a mass exodus of blacks to neighbouring countries. WRONG as it didn’t arise.
  16. At least one major earthquake (magnitude 7.5+) with over 200 fatalities in Asia and another in South America. MAYBE: two quakes in Mexico (magnitude 8.1 and 7.1) with 360+ deaths; a 7.9 quake in Papua New Guinea with few deaths; a 7.3 quake in Iran/Iraq with over 400 deaths.
  17. Scientists in Tasmania discover a small breeding population of Thylacine. WRONG; although there were reports of possible sightings in Queensland.
  18. At least two major civilian plane crashes each with over 100 fatalities. WRONG
  19. There is a significant downturn in air travel which causes at least one major carrier to fail. CORRECT; the economic/trading environment was a major contributor to the failure of Monarch Airlines.
  20. At least one conspiracy theory of 2012-16 turns out to be true. WRONG, as far as I am aware.
  21. There’s a major epidemic of a new infectious disease across a whole continent (or more). WRONG, again as far as I am aware.
  22. IBM is bought by/merged with another large US corporation (possible contenders: Microsoft, Apple, Google). WRONG
  23. Other deaths: Rupert Murdoch, the Dalai Lama, Jimmy Carter, George HW Bush. WRONG on all those.

Personal
These predictions were previously redacted.

  1. Knee Surgery 1. Operation on right knee successful although recovery takes >3 months. CORRECT; surgery was very successful although recovery was nothing over 3 months.
  2. Knee Surgery 2. Left knee replacement not before November and probably in 2018. WRONG; operation was done in September and again successful and good recovery.
  3. Pension. IBM reduces all pensions by 10%. WRONG
  4. Deaths amongst Family & Friends. Joan Wayman (before end-January); Cyril; Jessie; Stan Owen. CORRECT about Stan who died in April. CORRECT that Joan died, although on Boxing Day and not in January. WRONG about Cyril and Jessie.
  5. Anthony Powell Society. I am replaced as Secretary as the Society Trustees decide on a new direction/strategy. MAYBE: I wasn’t directly replaced but announced (voluntarily) that I am standing-down at the 2018 AGM so as not to impede the refocussing of the Society.

Well that’s not a very impressive year! Definintely could do better.
I’ll be posting my predictions for 2018 in the next few days, so if you have any good predictions please do share them.

personal, ramblings

My 2017 in Summary

As for the last few years here’s a summary of my achievements and engagement (or, more accurately the lack of it) during 2017.
Yet again it has been a strange year with significant depression all year round (not just in the winter) and in effect two knee replacement operations (OK the first was in the last few days of 2016, but recovery wasn’t!). Despite that I have somehow managed to function most of the time and have been insanely busy, although I will be cutting back commitments during 2018. All in all I don’t feel I’ve achieved anything and haven’t even managed to get anything off the bucket list! So here’s the summary …

At the beginning of the year I posted 10 Things I’m Trying to Do in 2017. The results are in and, yet again, it’s fair to say I lost badly.
1. Keep breathing – WIN
2. Do something not done before – WIN; attended a book launch
3. Go somewhere not been before – WIN;Islip & Brightwell Baldwin, Oxfordshire; Tutbury & Sudbury Hall, Staffordshire/Derbyshire; Stondon Massey, Essex
4. Be drawn/painted/photographed nude (again) – LOSE
5. Walk across Millennium Bridge – LOSE
6. Complete AP London Photography project – LOSE
7. Do more photography – LOSE
8. Monthly Day Out – LOSE; we managed two
9. Visit Horniman Museum – LOSE
10. Significant family history progress – WIN; in that I reconnected with my family in Canada as they told me about my Aunt’s and my cousin’s deaths
That’s a pathetic 4/10. 2018 really can’t get any worse!

Looking at the year through the usual 25 questions doesn’t look any better.
1. What did you do that you’d never done before?
a. Had my photo in the Guardian magazine for 27 May (it was the image from Laura Dodsworth’s Manhood).
b. Attended the book launch of Manhood.
2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
No because I didn’t make any, and I never will.
3. What would you like to have in 2018 that you lacked in 2017?
a. A big lottery win.
b. Free time.
4. What dates from 2017 will remain etched upon your memory?
13 September – left knee replacement.
5. Did you suffer illness or injury?
Only the left knee replacement – and recovery from the right kneee op as well.
6. What was the best thing you bought?
a. Knee replacement.
b. Hilary Spurling’s biography of Anthony Powell.
7. Where did most of your money go?
Other than an exorbitant amount of tax, fuck alone knows.
8. What did you get really, really excited about?
Nothing; I don’t do excitement, just like I don’t do panic and crisis.
9. Compared to this time last year, are you:
a. happier or sadder? – sadder, because the depression is worse.
b. thinner or fatter? – a couple of kilos heavier (it’s called Christmas!).
c. richer or poorer? – about the same.
10. What do you wish you’d done more of?
Sleep.
Sitting in the garden.
Being generally active.
11. What do you wish you’d done less of?
a. Sleep.
b. Depression.
12. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
Continuing to breathe.
Knee replacements.
13. What was your biggest failure?
Depression.
14. How many one-night stands?
None – where would I find the energy and enthusiasm?
15. What was your favourite TV program?
Yet again, I’ve watched hardly any TV programmes from end to end all year, mainly because it is all such garbage. But the best of the few? Probably the RI Christmas Lectures.
16. What was the best book you read?
Hilary Spurling’s biography of Anthony Powell.
Laura Dodsworth’s Manhood.
(I must get round to writing reviews of them!)
17. What did you want and get?
a. Hilary Spurling’s Anthony Powell.
b. A second new knee.
18. What did you want and not get?
a. A big lottery win.
b. Cancellation of Brexit.
c. The lack of depression.
19. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
a. Universal acceptance of nudity and sexuality rather than stigmatisation.
b. Everyone being treated properly, as a person, with gender, ethnicity etc. being totally unimportant.
c. Not having depression.
20. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2017?
As little as possible as much as possible.
21. What kept you sane?
Nothing – it’s a lost cause.
22. Who did you miss?
My mother.
23. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2017:
a. All men are guilty.
b. Biological gender is irrelevant to worth and ability. [Well I knew that, but this seemed a good way to encapsulate the concept in a soundbite.]
24. A quote or song lyric that sums up your year:
“Statistics … suggest it is truly dismal these days to have a Y chromosome.”
[Mark Rice-Oxley; Guardian; 21 November 2017]
25. Your hopes for 2018
a. Sanity all round.
b. A government with the courage to cancel Brexit.

Yet again the overall result is REQUIRES IMPROVEMENT; kicking the depression would seem to be one of the keys!
Will the manager last another season, one asks? Or does he still have the full confidence of the board?
Anyway, enough of my misery. How was your 2017? And what are your hopes for 2018?

beliefs, personal, pleasures, thoughts

Winter Lights

In a few days, on Twelfth Night, our Christmas decorations will be coming down. Anything which gets forgotten has to stay up until next year as it is believed to be unlucky to remove Christmas decorations after Twelfth Night.
But there’s an exception. Our lights. Which are Winter Lights, rather than Christmas Lights.
How come?


Almost all major religions have a winter light festival, mostly around the Winter Solstice (in the Northern Hemisphere) to celebrate the turn of the year and to provide light and hope in the darkness of winter.

  • In Hinduism the most important light celebration is Diwali – the victory of light over darkness – which is slightly earlier than the solstice as it normally occurs around early November. Jainism also keeps Diwali.
  • Buddhism, at least in Burma, has Tazaungmon which mostly falls in November-December.
  • Chinese New Year seems to fit I here, as it too is a light festival celebrated on the first new moon between 20 January and 21 February.
  • Islam, at least as practised in Iran, has both Jashne Sade, a mid-winter feast to honour fire and to defeat the forces of darkness, frost and cold, and Shabe Chelle, the turning point, the end of the longest night of the year and the beginning of growing of the days.
  • Judaism, of course, has Hanukkah.
  • The Roman feast of Saturnalia, with its reputation for debauchery, lasted a week and also fell around the Winter Solstice.
  • Paganism, in its various forms – either ancient Paganism or its more modern incarnation as Wicca – celebrate the Winter Solstice as Yule.
  • And of course Christianity has Christmas, which it cobbled together from Pagan Yule and Roman Saturnalia with Christian iconography as pargeting.
  • And let’s not forget St Lucia’s Day on 13 December, a light festival widely celebrated across Scandinavia and some other countries.

I’m sure there are more, but you get the point.
There are many different traditions embedded in these festivals. In fact so many that years ago we decided to create our own. Hence our Winter Lights. So when the Christmas decorations – tree, holly, cards, crib figures and so on – come down the lights remain, just as they preceded the Christmas decorations.
In fact the tradition we created was to put lights in our main windows. They go up on the Feast of Christ the King, which is the Sunday before Advent (so in late November) and stay up until Candlemas on 2 February.
Why? Well, why not? Lights cheer the place up! They add some fun, interest and maybe even some mystery. They give light to scare away the dark during the gloomiest two months of the year. And while the lights don’t banish SAD they do shine a little happiness, and let’s be honest we could all do with that at this time of year.
Yes, OK, before anyone says it, the lights do take a certain amount of energy to run. But if, like us, you standardise on LEDs then the cost and environmental impact is negligible. As an example, the set of lights plugged in by my desk are rated to use 3.6 watts of electricity; over 70 days that’s 6KwHr at a cost of about £1. So you could run four sets for the cost of a couple of coffees, or (in London) the cost of a pint of decent beer. Even my environmentally conscious brain isn’t going to worry too hard about that; maybe I’ll just drink one fewer mug of tea a week.
So if you would like to help cheer the place up, and you have lights that you could like to leave up for a while, why not join our tradition. Together we might even be able to make it into something big.