Archive for the ‘Miscellaneous’ Category
Why is it called Boxing Day?
December 26th, 2014 by Roger Darlington
“Employers used to give presents to servants on Christmas Day. But because they were working, they would open those gifts – presented in boxes – the following day, giving Boxing Day its name. Another theory is that the name comes from boxes left in churches filled with coins that would be distributed to the poor […]
Posted in Miscellaneous | Comments (0)
Was Jesus really born in a stable?
December 25th, 2014 by Roger Darlington
Evangelical scholar Rev Ian Paul, a theologian and former Dean of Studies at St John’s theological college, Nottingham, has argued that the entire nativity story may be based on a misreading of the New Testament, reviving an ancient theory that Jesus was not, in fact, born in a stable. You can read more here. Maybe, just […]
Posted in Miscellaneous | Comments (0)
What does the ‘X” mean in Xmas?
December 23rd, 2014 by Roger Darlington
Do you find the word “Xmas,” as an abbreviation for Christmas, offensive? Many people do. You won’t find Xmas in church songbooks or even on many greeting cards. Xmas is popularly associated with a trend towards materialism, and sometimes the target of people who decry the emergence of general “holiday” observance instead of particular cultural […]
Posted in Miscellaneous | Comments (0)
The 50 Paddington statues in London
December 20th, 2014 by Roger Darlington
To coincide with the release of the “Paddington” film [my review here], there are currently 50 Paddington bear statues scattered around central London. I’ve loved spotting some of them as I travel between meetings in the capital. You can see photos of all of them here.
Posted in Miscellaneous | Comments (2)
The Dane who wants to visit every country in the world – without flying and without frills
December 15th, 2014 by Roger Darlington
I love travel to new countries, but 35-year-old Danish Torbjørn Pedersen has taken global travelling to a whole new level. He wants to visit every nation on earth – 193 member states of the United Nations or 203 countries including additional territories. He plans to do all this travelling without taking an aircraft and on a mere […]
Posted in Miscellaneous | Comments (0)
Why older people are usually happier and what younger people can learn from this
December 8th, 2014 by Roger Darlington
An article in the “New York Times”, David Brooks argues: “It’s comforting to know that, for many, life gets happier with age. But it’s more useful to know how individuals get better at doing the things they do. The point of culture is to spread that wisdom from old to young; to put that thousand-year-heart […]
Posted in Miscellaneous | Comments (0)
Are you right- or left-handed?
December 6th, 2014 by Roger Darlington
There are some fascinating facts and figures about right-handedness and left-handedness in this news paper article. I am right-handed – except with a knife and fork. I rationalise this by the following arguments: The fork does twice as much work as the knife – it holds the food and transfers it to the mouth, whereas […]
Posted in Miscellaneous, My life & thoughts | Comments (0)
Fancy travelling somewhere different? Want a bit of excitement? Here are 13 suggestions.
September 30th, 2014 by Roger Darlington
As you’ll see from this section of my web site, Vee and I like to travel to different countries and, over the years have been to some fascinating places. Not just nations like Egypt, India and China, but quite exotic locations like Uzbekistan, Iran, Syria and Guatemala. and Vee especially has done some fun things […]
Posted in Miscellaneous, My life & thoughts | Comments (0)
Who was the first to suggest a standard system of tipping?
September 26th, 2014 by Roger Darlington
You might be surprised – apparently the idea in Britain goes back at least to 1768, as you will see from this story on the BBC web site. Like many people, I really don’t like the system of tipping. It obscures the issue of low wages. One is never sure whom to tip and how much. […]
Posted in Miscellaneous | Comments (0)
You just never know what’s going on in people’s lives – and we should make allowances
September 11th, 2014 by Roger Darlington
I was recently talking to a colleague who explained that he had just been diagnosed with something called celiac disease – a condition of which I had never previously heard. It reminded me that so often I have found that people have a physical or psychological issue with which they are coping privately and colleagues […]
Posted in Miscellaneous | Comments (0)