Amazing Grace

Caught in ma goonie wi haf a grapefruit and boily egg, toast too!
Listened to Grayson Perry delivering himself of the latest in his Reith Lectures.
Enjoyed it greatly. I'm not sure if he was wearing his best frock for Stroke City. They lapped it up as did I.
Link here to the Beeb site.

(Isn't it at this point that you usually say something bad about that well known  'Radio Personality' Sue Crawley... Ed!)

Out of the mouths

Herself recently gave rise to a cracker. We were discussing the Nobel Prize for Physics over breakfast the other day (time for a full body cringe or phwatt...Ed) and she suggested that in the house style we should refer to that particle as

THAT GODDAM DOG PARTICLE...

I thought that was rather good.
Anyway, nice one Peter! I'm sure you deserved the gong.

Grangemouth Smokies

Article by Martin Kettle in the Grauniad linking the proposed closure of the Grangemouth plant to the debate about Scottish Independence. A thoughtful piece and while I don't always agree with the Kettle it is clear sighted and I'm afraid paints a rather dark picture for the rest of us (a rare case of the pot being called black by the Kettle ...Ed)

Moves are, undoubtedly, afoot. The Common Weal  has more than the whiff of an Arbroath Smokie.

A linked article by Adam Price contains the suggestion that:-

 One thing we can comfortably predict is that the future will be another country. 

Amen to that, and while the psephologists are having a few days in the country on the back of all the predicting the urns, I'm not sure their field days provide us with any indication of what like those countries will be no matter what we end up calling them.

Dutch people are tall and wear bicycles.

In the interests of science, with a view to winning a Nobel Bicycle, and not having two scalar bosons to rub together, I offer 
the following thought experiment. (Phwhat in god's name is a thought experiment...Ed?)
If you want Buddhist Pizza Research Institute (BPRI) to shell out a few billion spondulics for a Large Head on Collider
be my guest and make the suggestion to the research committee. We meet once a year in Monte Carlo!

Ladies and gentlemen of science the contention of my thesis is that the Dutch are tall and wear bicycles.
I will offer photographic evidence and densely argued text to support this and I hope you will find it irrefutable.

Obviously as you can see from 1. shoes are now offered on the streets of the Netherlands in 3s!

1.

This leads the observer to the inevitable conclusion that the bu**ers have grown another foot while we were not looking.
Some futher support for this theory is available at 2. below where we see the addition of a further foot, though the evidence leads us to suppose it is for a younger person.

2.

Obviously your Dutchman or woman takes little heed for the welfare of its young. You can see below in 3. children are forced to cling to the back of bicycles, which the Dutch wear as a matter of course. The evidence shows the bicycle/persons approaching the quantum tunnel in a popular Museum in Amsterdam. So many people have dissappeared into this it is inconceiveable that anyone would drag a child into such danger!

 3.

(Tut, tut! I thought that science progressed by the presntation of evidence that enabled us to reject a hypothesis...Ed)

Tell me have you been reading that book again:- the Open Society by One of its Enemies!

The Gentlemen of the Press

It seems that the Good Old Grauniad (GoG) has got itself into a bit of troubba having a spat with the PM and MIn (where n is any number between -1 and 666). GoG has been revealing secrets the like of which will:- cause the downfall of civilization, undermine the natural order, destroy all the good work we have done for chappies in less developed parts of the globe, reduce peace goodwill and justice to all men and women even. They should be ashamed and if it weren't too hush hush we might even have to mention the operatives in the field who have been put in danger by that blackguard Rushbridger, I ask you what kind of a man is that.  (How in the name of all that is good and holy can poor old Alan be accused of causing danger and distress to farm labourers. Has he been kicking over the spuds or hurling them at the heads of the poor tattie hawkers...Ed?)

These matters require a deep knowledge of diplomacy and some acquaintance with state secrets, I would not expect you to understand, away and get the printers ink of your fingers before we have our tea!

(I know a few people who know a thing or two and they seem to think quite highly of him...Ed!)

Hacks, all of them, probably paid by the yard!

Still Light with Window

This is the new window in the Nieuwe Kerk in Delft, it is stunning with the light streaming through. My snap does not do it justice.

The Link  gives an indication of the symbolism but the sheer joy and glory of the light is well above the bees knees!

Let there be light...

and the rest is silence.

Flagstone and 2 Girls

This is a snap of the memorial stone in the Oude Kerk in Delft

And here are two girls we found hanging about in Amsterdam.

Pictures courtesy of the Rijksmuseum; flagstone courtesy of Vermeer's mother-in-law.

Story Time.

I ran across two new stories recently.
For the young at heart, aren't we all.

A Vase for the Princess  is the tale of the adventures of a mouse

and

The Story of Doctorow/Dr Who from a ten year old.

Mendicant Musicians!

I bumbled into the Nieuwe Kerk in Delft passing a quartet of young musicians playing in the square. Hm... nice sound, Piazolla as well, must slip them a Eurosov as I come out thought, I to myself. I have a weakness for giving money to young, talented, thin musicians. I know one or two who could do with a bacon beigel and more.

On the way out I deposited my Eurosov and was immediately given a card with the details of the operation by a young woman who was cleverly targeting the punters. (I was delighted that I was not about to be bludgeoned by the nerdowells, bad boyos and pickpockets that beset the honest traveler in foreign climes.) The group, Ardesko, have an interesting project, a Website and if you are interested they introduce themselves and their project here at Our World.

If you do run across them in your travels consider slipping them a Eurosov or two. Not all, but some, look as if they could do with a good feed and they make a nice sound!