Category Archives: history

beliefs, current affairs, history, memes, personal, photography, thoughts, topographical

My Olympic Meme


My Olympic Meme, originally uploaded by kcm76.

As I don’t believe in the Olympics — not as they are currently run and administered anyway; the ideal is fine — here is a rather jaundiced view …

1. olympic-games-1948, 2. Field Hockey-Washington, DC: PhotoID-97421, 3. poussée bobsleigh, 4. kelly holmes, 5. Ancient Greece, 6. way to heaven 天堂口。, 7. Day 196: That’s Logic, 8. Sunrise – River Dart, Totnes, 9. Dorthea, 10. commonsense, 11. Heirloom Tomatoes, 12. road to nowhere

The concept:
a. Type your answer to each of the questions below into Flickr Search.
b. Using only the first page, pick an image.
c. Copy and paste the html into your blog or Flickr stream (the easiest way is to copy the URLs and then head over to the fd’s flickr toys link above and use the mosaic maker).

The Questions & Answers:
1. What is the closest the Olympics has ever been to your hometown? London, 1948
2. What is your favorite summer Olympic sport? What Americans call “Field Hockey”
3. What is your favorite winter Olympic sport? Bobsleigh
4. Who is your all-time favorite Olympian? Kelly Holmes
5. If you could go to the Olympics, where would you want the games to be held? Ancient Greece; and all the contestants would compete in the nude just as in Ancient Greece
6. What is the symbol or predominant color on your country’s flag? A cross
7. If you were a member of the Olympic Committee, what sport/activity would you add to the games? Logic
8. What sport is your least favorite to watch? Darts
9. You get two tickets to the Olympics, who would you ask to go with you? Whoever buys them both
10. Hey, you made the team! You’re going to the Olympics – what’s your event? Commonsense
11. The Olympics asks you to bring something to represent your hometown or home country – what would you take? A tomato; well my home did used to be one of the largest areas under glass in the country, growing glasshouse crops etc.
12. Congratulations! You won a medal! Where are you going to display it when you get home? Nowhere

Created with fd’s Flickr Toys.

history, science, thoughts

The Importance of Knowing How

Interesting article by AC Grayling in the “Commentary” column of last week’s New Scientist under the above title. The “Commentary” column, written on alternate weeks by Grayling and Lawrence Krauss, always provides food for thought. This week’s column was, in my view, especially important. As usual because New Scientist don’t make their articles available on-line to non-subscribers here is an edited version.

Philosophers investigating the nature of knowledge and the best methods of acquiring it have always distinguished between knowledge of facts and knowledge of techniques. Knowing that Everest is the highest mountain, and knowing how to measure the height of mountains, are respective examples of the two kinds of knowing. The interesting question is, which is more important?

[…] an education system worthy of the name should equip people with both kinds. But it is still worthwhile to ask which is more important, for the equally obvious reason that no head can first cram in, and then later recall at need, everything that passes as currently accepted fact. What’s more, the number of currently accepted facts is tiny in comparison with what we know we still do not know, which is in turn probably a tiny fraction of what might be knowable.

So although everyone coming out of an educational system should at least know [basic facts] they are much more in need of knowing how to find things out, how to evaluate the information they discover, and how to apply it fruitfully. These are skills; they consist in knowledge of how to become knowledgeable.

[…] information is not knowledge […]

[…] it is no bad thing that the internet is such a democratic domain, where opinions and claims can enjoy an unfettered airing […] This increases the necessity for internet users to be good at discriminating between high and low-quality information, and between reliable and unreliable sources.

We teach research skills in higher education differently for the sciences and humanities […] In the sciences, laboratory technique and experimental design and methodology are fundamental; in the humanities, the use of libraries and archives and the interpretation of texts are in the basic tool kit […]

Knowing how to evaluate information, therefore, is arguably the most important kind of knowledge that education has to teach […] only the International Baccalaureate makes critical thinking […] a standard requirement, and in this as in so many ways it leads the field […] I wonder whether the need for critical thinking lessons is more urgent in the humanities than the sciences because the latter, by their nature, already have it built in. The science lab at school with its whiffs, sparks and bangs is a theatre of evaluation; the idea of testing and proving is the natural order there […]

When we talk of scientific literacy, one thing we should mean is acquisition of just this mindset; without it, too much rubbish gets through.

It’s no wonder that people don’t think is it!?

history, memes, words

Today's Word: Glaive

The first in an occasional series bringing you unusual and interesting words.

Glaive. A polearm consisting of a single-edged blade on the end of a pole.

One of those fearsome pieces of medieval weaponry along with things like pikes and halberds. The word is sometimes (wrongly) used to refer to a broadsword. Glaives also appear in a number of video games and animated adventure films.

There’s a bit more at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glaive.
Illustration from Wikipedia Commons.

history, people, personal, thoughts

Ah, Those Were the Days!

I’m not long home from an interestingly nostalgic weekend — I’ve been to a school reunion for those of who left Cheshunt Grammar School (Hertfordshire) in 1967-68-69. I was the youngest of these years as I left in ’69. The reunion (arranged by one of the ’68 leavers on his own initiative) was in the Red Cow pub, Windmill Lane, Cheshunt — about 5 minutes walk from the site of the old school, which is sadly no more, the site now being houses! Yes, the Red Cow was one of the pubs frequented by the 6th form at lunchtimes — except when we were banned, or the headmaster found out, when we went across the road to The Maltsters or into the town to the Rose & Crown.

We had a great time with about 40-50 people there (including some non-CGS partners) — not bad from an audience of probably 200, especially as many of us have lost complete touch with our school-friends. Being today there wasn’t as much beer being sunk as there would have been a few years ago — people were either being good or driving, or both! The pub laid on a good array of finger food. Having arrived about 4.30 we left soon after 9pm and the group was still going strong — if they were true to form they continued well into the night!

There were several people there I was quite friendly with at school as well as many I didn’t remember. Our deputy head (who unsuccessfully taught me History) also came along; I guess Kate must now be around 80, but she looked extremely fit and well, remembered us all and was interested to know what and how we’d all done. Richard who did the organising had arranged for our “all school” photographs from 1963 and 1968 to be printed up and displayed, so fun was had by all identifying the people (pupils and staff). Someone else brought their scrapbook of school memorabilia — I must look mine out! — which was another good conversation piece.

Everyone there seemed to be retired or on the point of retiring. Sadly I have a few years to go yet, unless I can magic together that big lottery win!

The reunion, plus a couple of drives around some parts of the town, turned it into a really nostalgic weekend, especially as I’ve not visited the area at all for 20 years. Indeed I left with quite a pang of home-sickness in my stomach — something I’m not used to and was quite disturbing. Let’s hope we can all meet up again sooner than another 40 years! We certainly should have a big bash for our 50th anniversary!!

Those were the days — the happiest days our our lives! Maybe an overstatement but they must certainly come close.

(Maybe some photos later.)

arts, history, personal

Tower of Babel

The Tower of Babel by Pieter Brueghel the Elder (1563)

The other day for no apparent reason, I was reminded of this painting, which I had not seen for a while. I don’t now even remember what it was that triggered the memory. Anyway I had to go and find a reproduction of it on the web. And I thought I’d share it as for some reason it is one of those paintings which just works for me, and has an almost magical effect. I think it must be something to do with the intricacy, the detail, and also the lighting; both of which are characteristic of Brueghel’s work. Perhaps the lighting is especially what works for me, as 17th century Dutch sea paintings (eg. Cuyp and Vermeer) do much the same, as do the Norwich School of painters.
amusements, current affairs, history, sexuality

Department of Government Sniggering

According to an item earlier this week in The Register, the Office of Government Commerce (OGC) – that’s the bit of the Treasury “responsible for improving value for money by driving up standards and capability in procurement” – has been indulging in a little “Strategy Boutique Newspeak” and rebranding itself. Complete with a new logo which has allegedly cost half a salary. One small problem though: the logo has now been banned. Result: all the supporting mousemats and other office paraphernalia which were produced have been spirited away, no doubt to soon appear on eBay. I’ll leave it as an exercise for the reader to work out why our Nanny Government was upset by it.

[fx: exits sniggering]

Hat tip to Nanny Know Best.

beliefs, books, current affairs, environment, history, quotes

Papal Carbon Offset

1 Comment

The BBC is running on BBC4 TV a short series of programmes about medieval times. It started this evening with a program in which the comic actor Stephen Frye looked at Gutenberg and the development of the printing press. It was a coffee table programme: long on visual imagery, Frye’s idiosyncratic style and hammed-up wonderment; but despite the reconstruction of a Gutenberg press short on real academic detail. Certainly worth watching and much better than the average run of what these days passes for heavyweight programming; and mercifully devoid of dramatised reconstruction.

Frye made one interesting point, however. The Papal Indulgence was the medieval equivalent of our modern-day carbon off-set schemes: the payment of money to absolve us of our sins. Pure genius. Pure scams.

current affairs, freedom of speech, history, medical, pleasures, science, thoughts

Save GMT Campaign

1 Comment

For years – and I mean like 40+ years, since I was at school – there have been campaigns and continual sniping to keep the UK’s clocks one hour ahead of GMT around the year. I don’t just not get it, I fundamentally disagree with it. It was tried in the 1960s, when I was at school, and was a complete failure, So we had lighter afternoons in winter coming out of school, but we also had darker mornings and days when it didn’t get properly daylight until 10AM. As someone who suffers (albeit marginally) from SAD I need that early morning light to get me going and reset my body clock.

Jilly over at jillysheep has suggested in a post today that we should preserve GMT all year round. And I have to say I agree. I don’t see the point of continually changing the clocks with the seasons. Every time we move the clocks an hour (in whichever direction) it throws everyone’s body clocks; it isn’t just me who notices it; I hear many people commenting that their body clock is out of kilter with the our artificial time.

Now I can understand why the government thought it a good idea to put the clocks forward in summer during times of war (which if I recall correctly was a significant part of the rationale for its use; tho’ not the original reason for the idea). But I do not see the least necessity for it today. What does summer time give us? Longer and lighter evenings; nothing more. And while I love long summer evenings as much as anyone, in these days of flexible working we could achieve the same effect just as easily by adjusting our working hours if we need to. (Already some of us frequently have to start early or finish late because we are dealing with colleagues or clients on the continent or in the Americas.)

I wonder if anyone has ever worked out the (notional) cost of changing the clocks twice a year on business? I would think it is rather large. And certainly not something worth paying to get longer light evenings when there are other cost-free options available.

There’s the usual good article about Daylight Saving Time over on Wikipedia. What is interesting, that I didn’t know, is that a large swathe of the world has used summer time and has now abandoned it. Basically it is only the “western industrialised nations” (and some of South America) which use summer time. Large chunks of the globe have either given it up or never used DST in the first place.

Anyway … we really should keep GMT alive. It is, after all, a cornerstone of our heritage. Universal time was “discovered” in England, yes at Greenwich, which is why the Meridian is there! Universal time has been a great thing: the world equivalent of “railway time”. But let each country keep its own time zone. And let us keep and celebrate the heritage which is ours and is GMT!

Now who feels like starting a campaign to preserve GMT? Hands off our time zone! 🙂

history, photography, pleasures, thoughts, topographical

1000 Photos on Flickr


Double Departure from Alexisbad (2), originally uploaded by kcm76.

Double Departure from Alexisbad

This is my 1000th upload to Flickr in just 2 years and 2 days — so I thought I’d better make it a good one!

One of a series taken at Alexisbad during RailTrail charter from Quedlinberg to Wernigerode, 13/02/2008. This was specially set up for our photoshoot; the train on the right is our charter train; the one on the left was a service train which had just terminated. And I must say it was a magnificent sight and not something you will see these days during normal service. It would have been even better if there had been the snow we should have rightly had in February. This is the sort of thing which Railtrail do well: the tours are well researched with special shots like this set up where it can be done because they know that one of the big attractions of this type of tour is for the photographers, as well as those who just want to ride on “pretty” trains!

I have a feeling we might well do this one again sometime; perhaps in Spring (tho’ not this year).