2009 — 1 November: Sunday

Though this picture is — relatively speaking — one of the most recent photos I have of Christa, it's also easily one of my favourites:

Christa in March 2007

Mind you, they're all basically my favourites; I'm hopelessly biassed, I guess. I took this one just beside the stone globe down at Durlston, near Swanage, in March 2007, during one of the "mystery outings" Christa would take me on from time to time.

After the ridiculously enjoyable radio programme about Ken Campbell there was nothing for it for the rest of the evening but to watch HIGNFY and then follow that up with Boondock Saints while the Freesat PVR watched "The thick of it" for me in hi-def. (Preceded by a delightful short animation.) Who says technology isn't useful? It's 00:41 and the fireworks seem to have stopped. And Big Bro's laconic comment on the photo showing me wearing his birthday present was, wait for it, "Nice hat."

G'night.

Soaking rabbits

I've just (09:23) unchained the front door, but out of habit, not necessity. I'm predicting zero wish to go out into all the rain, no matter how good it is for the garden. We did the right thing in walking yesterday.

It's clever...

... not to be too smart. I missed this back in late 2004:

Democrats' denunciations of the president's IQ bemuse me because Bush strikes me as a lazy but clever and unscrupulous operator who, ever since he quit drinking in 1987, has contrived to get whatever he wants out of life. As I wrote in the Oct. 11 American Conservative in a review of John Sayles's film "Silver City," in which Chris Cooper portrays a moronic politician with Bush's mannerisms, "In the president's lone losing race, his 1978 run for Congress from West Texas, the victor stressed Bush's two Ivy League degrees. Bush resolved never to allow himself to be outdumbed again. And the Democrats haven't outsmarted him since."

Steve Sailer in The American Conservative


Closer to home:

Evan Harris, another Liberal Democrat member of the science and technology select committee, said: "The political sacking of a distinguished scientist, who is the chair of an independent scientific advisory committee, for the 'crime' of having different views than the secretary of state, is an enormous blow to the credibility of the government's approach to scientific evidence."

Jamie Doward, Gaby Hinsliff and Robin McKie in The Observer


You think? I've just heard our revered Home Secretary getting quite shouty in his (in my opinion, feeble) attempt to "defend" his "decision" to sack his chief drugs advisor. Just exactly how stupid do our esteemed leaders think we are? Perhaps they're still cross at having been caught with their fraudulent hands deep in the public's purse.

Post-prandial listening

You can't accuse BBC Radio 3 of pandering to the masses. Earlier, I enjoyed listening to Jerry Springer making his "Desert Island Discs" choices. I'm willing to bet that his anecdote of a live, televised bear "dance" for charity will make the cut for "Pick of the Week", too. Lunch has been lunched (a tasty mélange of chicken breasts marinaded [marinated? Mike usually corrects me on this] in garlic and other herbs, plus new spuds, carrots, peas, beans)... If Christa could see me now, heh?

It's 13:53 and some of the clouds look almost bright enough to suggest that there's still a sun up there somewhere. The more local son, meanwhile, has returned from Cyprus claiming now to be "officially an advanced-open-water PADI-qualified diver", thanks to the efforts (I assume) of Peter's g/f, who is a Professional Association of Dive Instructors instructor. I believe. So he's not yet become shark food. He's asked me to post off one of his York University computing books to him. Can't see a 16-year-old tome called "Data structures and Algorithm Analysis in Ada" making it to the top of the best-seller lists. But his wish is (of course) my command.

I see the chap (Lionel Davidson) who wrote the book "Night of Wenceslas" that became the film "Hot enough for June" has just died. It must be 45 years or more since I read it. I'm getting old, Christa! According to the New York Times obituary, Mr. Davidson never much enjoyed the act of writing, a sentiment he expressed in an interview with The Times of London in 1994. "It's like getting into a boxing ring and taking a really good hiding." No comment.

And Big Bro will get a kick out of the obituary notice here of Richard T Whitcomb, who was obviously one of John's rôle models. I loved his nephew's anecdote about the use he made of his paychecks.

I note the departure of that very senior IBMer who previously escaped being named in the NYT. (Source.)

I further note that some of these obscenely large CEO pay packages are not passing totally without scrutiny. What? Me? Bitter? Pah!

Rich man poor man

JK Galbraith had it nailed: The salary of the chief executive of the large corporation is not a market award for achievement. It is frequently in the nature of a warm personal gesture by the individual to himself.

Oddities

I shall have to stop reading New Scientist. (Probably "NSFW" as they say.) This site on abandoned acoustical mirrors is far more interesting.

Why is it, do you suppose...

... that whatever you look for turns up in the last place you look for it? In tonight's case (and it wasn't tonight when I first started looking) I refer to the John Gross anthology "The Oxford book of comic verse" which I'd been browsing over at Roger's the other afternoon. The fact that my (reprinted) edition didn't match the appearance of his copy didn't help, either. Still, it's only taken about five hours, mixed in with a random assortment of other tasks. And the odd cuppa or two. It's now 22:19 and I refuse to believe that I can still be hungry.