Inca Gold
It’s been over a month since my last post: we have been on holiday in South America. Machu Picchu was on Claire’s bucket list, and it did not disappoint. We were blessed with a wonderful guide for most of our almost four week tour, Berner Torres. Berner told me that...
Persian New Year
Last night we celebrated Nowruz, which is the Persian New Year. Neither I nor Claire have any Persian connections, but we did attend an Indian street food cookery course with Vaughn’s Kitchen and Cookery School and they run pop-up evenings in a barn near us. The theme...
Saint Patrick
I’ve never really celebrated Saint Patrick’s Day. I’ve visited Ireland twice, the first time as a baby, and the second time on a one day business trip to Dublin. Claire and I have talked about going, but Ireland is the Emerald Isle, and what we’ve learnt about places...
Dictator and Tolerance
On 15th March 44 BC, Brutus, Cassius, and other senators, assassinated Julius Caesar. He had orchestrated his appointment as dictator four years earlier. I am inclined to wish that all dictators could be dispatched so quickly. Yet even four years must feel like an...
Golf
The first varsity golf match between Oxford and Cambridge was played on 13th March 1878 at Wimbledon. I’m delighted to find that Oxford won 24 - 0. According to Golf Monthly it is the oldest amateur event in the game, because the British Amateur Championship was first...
Tax and Welfare
It is reported today that Rishi Sunak wants to squeeze welfare to reduce tax. I’m sure that many tax payers don’t like to see people who are able to work claiming welfare benefits. However I have two related questions for Rishi Sunak. The first question is where are...
David Rizzio
On 9th March 1566 David Rizzio was murdered in Holyrood Palace. He was secretary to Mary Queen of Scots. We don’t know how good a secretary he was, but he is said to have been an excellent musician and singer, which is how he came to the attention of Mary. There are...
Faith and Reason
On 5th March 1616 De revolutionobus orbium coelestium, by Nicolaus Copernicus was placed on the Catholic Forbidden Index. The problem with Copernicus’s book is that it contained the results of his astronomical observations, which were that the Earth revolves around...
Spy in Plain Sight
Watching QIXL recently I learnt about a number of very famous spies. I don’t mean a spy like Kim Philby or Anthony Blunt, I mean a spy like Noel Coward, Marlene Dietrich, Audrey Hepburn or Josephine Baker. The advantage of these famous stars in espionage terms, was...
Inca Gold
It’s been over a month since my last post: we have been on holiday in South America. Machu Picchu was on Claire’s bucket list, and it did not disappoint. We were blessed with a wonderful guide for most of our almost four week tour, Berner Torres. Berner told me that...
Persian New Year
Last night we celebrated Nowruz, which is the Persian New Year. Neither I nor Claire have any Persian connections, but we did attend an Indian street food cookery course with Vaughn’s Kitchen and Cookery School and they run pop-up evenings in a barn near us. The theme...
Saint Patrick
I’ve never really celebrated Saint Patrick’s Day. I’ve visited Ireland twice, the first time as a baby, and the second time on a one day business trip to Dublin. Claire and I have talked about going, but Ireland is the Emerald Isle, and what we’ve learnt about places...
Dictator and Tolerance
On 15th March 44 BC, Brutus, Cassius, and other senators, assassinated Julius Caesar. He had orchestrated his appointment as dictator four years earlier. I am inclined to wish that all dictators could be dispatched so quickly. Yet even four years must feel like an...
Golf
The first varsity golf match between Oxford and Cambridge was played on 13th March 1878 at Wimbledon. I’m delighted to find that Oxford won 24 - 0. According to Golf Monthly it is the oldest amateur event in the game, because the British Amateur Championship was first...
Tax and Welfare
It is reported today that Rishi Sunak wants to squeeze welfare to reduce tax. I’m sure that many tax payers don’t like to see people who are able to work claiming welfare benefits. However I have two related questions for Rishi Sunak. The first question is where are...
David Rizzio
On 9th March 1566 David Rizzio was murdered in Holyrood Palace. He was secretary to Mary Queen of Scots. We don’t know how good a secretary he was, but he is said to have been an excellent musician and singer, which is how he came to the attention of Mary. There are...
Faith and Reason
On 5th March 1616 De revolutionobus orbium coelestium, by Nicolaus Copernicus was placed on the Catholic Forbidden Index. The problem with Copernicus’s book is that it contained the results of his astronomical observations, which were that the Earth revolves around...
Spy in Plain Sight
Watching QIXL recently I learnt about a number of very famous spies. I don’t mean a spy like Kim Philby or Anthony Blunt, I mean a spy like Noel Coward, Marlene Dietrich, Audrey Hepburn or Josephine Baker. The advantage of these famous stars in espionage terms, was...