Baby Catrin: progress report (5)
February 24th, 2011 by Roger Darlington
My granddaughter Catrin is now just over five weeks old and I called in to see her for an hour this afternoon. It was my eighth time with her but, for a variety of reasons, I won’t now see her for a few weeks.
Of course, I’ll be keeping in touch with her mum & dad and checking out her Facebook page. She’s doing great. Today she passed her hearing test and she now weighs a very healthy 11 lb 6 oz.
Posted in My life & thoughts | Comments (0)
What’s in a name – and a title? (1)
February 23rd, 2011 by Roger Darlington
He’s in trouble for allegedly plagiarising material for his PhD so he’s decided to stop calling himself Doctor. He’s the German Defence Minister – at least for the moment.
His friends call him simply KT. His full name is Karl-Theodor Maria Nikolaus Johann Jacob Philipp Franz Joseph Sylvester, Freiherr von und zu Guttenberg.
Check out this bizarre story here.
Posted in World current affairs | Comments (1)
Can dreams predict the future?
February 22nd, 2011 by Roger Darlington
One of my favourite social scientists Richard Wiseman has just written a book on the paranormal which examines this question and explains why many people are convinced by the predictive power of dreams. It is the subject of an article in today’s “Guardian” newspaper.
Posted in Science & technology | Comments (0)
Which is the oldest continuously inhabited city in the world?
February 21st, 2011 by Roger Darlington
Of course, it depends what you mean by ‘city’ and by ‘continuously inhabited’ but, however you define these terms, there are many claimants for the title.
When I visited Israel, I went to Jaffa just outside the modern city of Tel Aviv and this place claims to have been inhabited for the last 4,000 years [my account here].
However, I am about to holiday in the Levant and a number of cities that we will visit claim to be the oldest inhabited in the world: Damascus and Aleppo in Syria and Beirut and Byblos in Lebanon. Whether or not these places are the oldest, they are certainly very, very old.
As usual, there is a page on Wikipedia which attempts to summarise the various claims.
Posted in History | Comments (0)
Who is Dido?
February 20th, 2011 by Roger Darlington
She is the 39 year old British singer whose original name is Florian Cloud de Bounevialle O’Malley Armstrong. Dido is not a professional or stage name but one she was given as a child by her family, as explained here.
Dido has created three acclaimed albums:
I really like her music and am playing it now as I work on my PC.
As for names, I’ve always found them a fascinating insights into lives and cultures and have devoted a section of my web site to examining the different naming practices around the world.
Posted in Cultural issues | Comments (0)
Can a nation be cut off from the Net?
February 19th, 2011 by Roger Darlington
If we had any doubt about this, the answer has come from a little-known feature of the recent revolution in Egypt. As explained in this article in the “New York Times”, it seems that, in the space of merely an hour or so, Egypt was effectively cut off from the global Internet and that this was the situation for around five days.
It is still not clear exactly how it was done, but that it was done- and so easily and so comprehensively – is a real cause for concern for those of us who see the Net as a liberating force that was assumed to be difficult for repressive regime to control.
My latest Internet column – written before the success of the Egyptian revolution – looks at the opportunities for, and limitations of, social and political activism on the Net. And it is not just activists who should be thinking about these things; the greater use of cloud computing will put many business-critical applications at risk of local Net disruption from whatever cause.
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Why Wales is moving to England
February 19th, 2011 by Roger Darlington
It’s totally free to use; yet it has 3.6 million articles in English alone and has material in a total of 278 languages; every month, there are 11.6 million edits and over 400 million visits; it is funded largely by donations and has just raised $16 million in 59 days; it’s probably worth in the region of $5 billion but it’s not for sale. It is, of course, the Wikipedia web site, the place I visit most frequently on the Net.
As explained in this interview, co-founder American Jimmy Wales is about to relocate to England. Why? He wishes to be with his current partner, Kate Garvey who used to be Diary Secretary to Tony Blair when he was Prime Minister. The couple met at Davos.
In his memoir “A Journey” which I’ve just finished reading [my review here], Blair writes of Garvey: “She ran the diary with a grip of iron and was quite prepared to squeeze the balls very hard indeed of anyone who interfered, but with a winning smile, of course”. Watch out, Jimmy.
Posted in Internet | Comments (0)
Tony Blair’s “A Journey” (5)
February 18th, 2011 by Roger Darlington
It’s taken me a month, but I have now finished Tony Blair’s 700-page memoir “A Journey”. You can read my review here.
Posted in British current affairs | Comments (2)
Baby Catrin: progress report (4)
February 18th, 2011 by Roger Darlington
Well, last night I had a new experience: for the first time in my 62 years, I babysat alone for a one month old (I don’t remember doing that even for my own son Richard at such a tender age). The baby was, of course, my beautiful granddaughter Catrin and the occasion was the first opportunity for her parents Rich & Emily to have a little quality time on their own (belatedly) celebrating Valentine’s Day over a romantic dinner.
I was over there for about four and a half hours and I was alone with Catrin for around two and a half hours. I changed one nappy before they went and another while they were away, so I think that I’ve now reached a reasonable level of competency in this sticky department.
Despite my best efforts, Catrin was not willing to go to sleep in the Moses basket, so she slept in my arms as I sat on the couch (and I confess that I slept a bit too). I think that my heartbeat and breathing reassured her and I delighted in listening to her breathing and little snorts. On their return, Rich told me: “She’s got you round her little finger”. You know what? – he’s absolutely right.
It was trusting of Rich & Emily to let me look after Catrin at one month old but they knew that I could be trusted. Don’t tell them, but I loved it and I am already looking forward to the next opportunity. Catrin is such an absolute sweetie.
Posted in My life & thoughts | Comments (5)
Change in the Middle East
February 16th, 2011 by Roger Darlington
I continue to enjoy my evening class in International Relations led by our lecturer Dr Dale Mineshima-Lowe. The last few weeks have been incredibly topical because sessions on the Arab world have coincided with revolutions in Tunisia and Egypt and demonstrations in many other countries in the region. This evening we discussed parts of the Middle East (we covered the Arab-Israeli conflict last term) with particular reference to three countries.
First, Libya. It was in 1969 that the king was overthrown by a military coup led by Muammar al-Gaddafi who was then only a captain. He has recently made overtures to the West, giving up on aspirations for nuclear weapons. Domestically, however, even Gaddafi is challenged and this week there have been demonstrations in the second city of Benghazi.
Second, Iran. After the fraudulent re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in the summer of 2009, there were huge demonstrations that were brutally suppressed but in recent days brave protesters have been back on the streets. I visited Iran in the autumn of 2009 [my account here] and was inspired to write a short story [text here].
Third, Lebanon. The brutal 15-year civil war from 1975-1990 is not that long ago and the assassination of former prime minister Rafik Harari in 2005 continues to overshadow the political scene. Hezbollah pulled out of the government in January in protest over the UN investigation into the killing and a new prime minister is trying to form a new coalition government. I will be visiting Lebanon (and Syria) in a few weeks time.
Posted in World current affairs | Comments (0)