BBC News – A Point of View: Beware of experts
Drinking Alone With The Moon
From a pot of wine among the flowers
I drank alone. There was no-one with me —
Till, raising my cup, I asked the bright moon
To bring me my shadow and make us three.
Alas, the moon was unable to drink
And my shadow tagged me vacantly;
But still for a while I had these friends
To cheer me through the end of spring…
I sang. The moon encouraged me.
I danced. My shadow tumbled after.
As long as I knew, we were boon companions.
And then I was drunk, and we lost one another.
…Shall goodwill ever be secure?
I watch the long road of the River of Stars
Li Bai (701-762)
Posted with BlogsySadness
In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.
John McCrae, May 1915
Giacinta and I recently visited Yprès, Tyne Cot and Essex Farm.
Steal Like An Artist
Austin Kleon wrote Steal Like An Artist — alluding, presumably, to the unsubstantiated Picasso quote “Good artists copy, great artists steal”. The book is intended for “anyone who’s trying to inject some creativity into their life and their work”. I found it a stimulating and thought-provoking read.
There are 10 chapters — creativity guidelines:
- Steal like an artist
- Don’t wait until you know who you are to get started
- Write the book you want to read
- Use your hands
- Side projects and hobbies are important
- The Secret: do good work and share it with people
- Geography is now longer our master
- Be nice. (The world is a small town.)
- Be boring. (It’s the only way to get work done.)
- Creativity is subtraction.
Each chapter has examples and specific suggestions on what to do. For example, in chapter 2, there’s a subheading: “Fake it ’til you make it”.
I love this phrase. There are two ways to read it:
1. Pretend to be something you’re not until you are — fake it until you’re successful, until everybody sees you the way you want them to; or
2. Pretend to be making something until you actually make something.
In Chapter 9: Get yourself a calendar:
The comedian Jerry Seinfeld has a calendar method that helps him, stick to his daily joke writing… get a wall calendar that shows you the whole year… break your work into daily chunks. Each day, when you’re finished with your work make a big fat X in the day’s box. Every day, instead of getting work done, your goal is just to fill a box. “After a few days you’ll have a chain, ” Seinfeld says. “Just keep at it and the chain will grow longer every day. You’ll like seeing that chain, especially when you get a few weeks under your belt. Your only job next is not to break the chain”
So I’ve now got one X on my calendar.
Seth’s Blog: Declaring victory
Seth’s Blog: Declaring victory.
Continuing the theme of getting things done: Seth talks about knowing when it’s over.
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Wine and Food: Good Advice
“Wine and food pairing is generally straightforward,” says Rajat. That is, the elementary rules work nearly all the time. Most important—more crucial than flavors or colors—is weight. A heavy dish will clobber a light wine, and likewise a light dish will be destroyed by a heavy wine. “But the old color codes—white wine with fish and red wine with meat—don’t always mean something today, because we have access to so many different kinds of wine,” explains Rajat. “We have light reds that are great with fish, and richer whites can pair with certain meats. The only color code that seems consistently valid is green. White wines with a touch of green in them—Albariños, Sancerres, some Greek whites—are usually good paired with green foods like salads and vegetables.”
Rajat Parr and Jordan Mackay Secrets of The Sommeliers p102
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Marvellous Champagne
More on the delights and benefits of Champagne from Your Good Health!: Medicinal Benefits of Wine Drinking by Dr Maury:
You would do better to choose… (as an appetiser)… extra-dry Champagne which is heartily recommended for several reasons… this wine has a beneficial effect on the alimentary canal through its natural aeration. This acts on the stomach muscles which thus retain their suppleness and elasticity. (p 55)
I have already commented that the wines from the Champagne region, whether dry or extra-dry, have a beneficial effect, both chemical and mechanical, on the digestive system. They are therefore recommended for people suffering from flatulence and a bloated stomach. (pp 57-58)
… you should bear in mind the complications associated with this condition: arterial hypertension, the risk of narrowing of the coronary arteries and the possibility of a heart attack… your diet should be complemented by natural elements designed to strengthen the action of the heart and improve kidney function. You should therefore include the wines of the Champagne region, the extra-dry Champagnes of the Montagne de Reims, Côtes des Blancs or those of the Marne valley. (p 66)
… the sulphuric anions in Champagne wines activate the mechanisms of cellular oxidisation and give them purifying and cleansing properties. Finally, as dry white wines they possess powerful diuretic agents, helping to rid the body of its wastes. (p 66)
People who have mild rheumatism should opt, depending on personal taste, … for the ‘blancs de blancs’… of the Champagne region… (p 76)
Still with the same aim of restoring organic and functional order, never forget the beneficial effects of extra-dry Champagne, due to its natural phosphorus content. Its glucose and fructose content also helps to restore energy. (p 85)
On the other hand, if the mineral deficiencies are phosphatic salts, causing physical fatigue and mental depression, the Champagne wines are very suitable… They have the added bonus of ascorbic acid (vitamin C). The most noble of all, an extra-dry variety, should be chosen and two glasses may be taken as an apéritif. (p 91)
The good doctor recommends Champagne (usually extra-dry) for loss of appetite, cardiac problems, digestive ailments, rheumatoid arthritis, convalescence, detoxification, mineral deficiencies, hypertension and heart attack.
One final quote:
This spirit of creativity, drawn from the ‘divine nectar’ is evidence of an art of living and a joy in living. If it is sometimes hidden, it will always surface in those millions of bubbles that rise from a glass of Champagne. It took a man dedicated to God, Dom Pierre Pérignon, cellarer of the Abbey of Hautvilliers in the Marne district, inspired by the pagan influence of Bacchus, to blend the vintages of different varieties of wine. By this act of creation was born a beverage of incomparable quality, which can only be produced in the soil of Champagne. It does not need us to exalt its virtues and describe how it affects the emotional centres of the brain by arousing the noble functions of the spirit. (p 100)
Symantec accused of using ‘scareware’ tactics to sell full-version products
Symantec accused of using ‘scareware’ tactics to sell full-version products | ZDNet.
The article says the claim might be hard to prove. Yeah, well…
Wine is the best medicine
“… a meal washed down with water, even if it is served in a crystal carafe, is an unfortunate error in taste and a grave dietary error, as it is one of the causes of dyspepsia. Relying on this tasteless beverage affects the elasticity of the stomach cavity and changes the catalytic value (the ability to break down foods) of the digestive juices, apart from its negative influence at a psychological level which, in the habitual water drinker, may encourage a tendency to pessimism and introspection.”
Your Good Health!: Medicinal Benefits of Wine Drinking Dr E Maury
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