One Day in History

Today, October 17th has been set aside by the National Trust as a day in which thousands of ordinary people across the UK will recount their day for a mass blog-in that will be registered for posterity in the British Museum.

Normally, I don’t write about myself or my daily goings-on with the notable exception of some of the meals I cook. Besides being a fairly private person for the most part, I simply do not generally enjoy writing. This isn’t to say that I don’t write - I do frequently in my work. I write design documents, concept documents, marketing blurb, press releases, sometimes even back stories for the games I work on. Nevertheless, whilst I do consider myself a decent writer (I can write grammatically correct, understandable prose), I don’t think I’m necessarily a good or creative writer. Like many of my skills, I have my moments, but I’m very much a jack rather than a master. So this is a novelty for me, to be honest.

Part of the remit for the One Day in History blog is to reflect upon the ways that history itself impacted on one’s day. This bit is not difficult. History is always a part of my life - because, of course, without the past behind us, the present simply wouldn’t have occurred. We exist precisely because our forbearers and their experiences existed and those events have inextricably shaped our lives. But on a more personal level, history is a special interest, whether it’s family history, world history, art history or archaeology And whilst history is generally reserved for the human bits, palaeontology is as relevant as the rest. It’s certainly as fascinating.

My day started with a bit of a lounge in the still warm, but weakening October sunshine, skimming through In the Blink of an Eye: How Vision Kick-started the Big Bang of Evolution. This was, by the way, as much a work task as it was a pleasure. Working from home means my choice of working environment is down to my whim and if there’s a sunny day, I’ll take advantage of it. For better or worse, they seem to be less rare than in previous years. I won’t complain, though I probably should.

So, even though this book is about pre-human evolution (specifically the Cambrian Explosion), there are the odd bits of human history that inevitably crop up. The one that caught my eye was little anecdote, that, like so many things in my life recently, led from one interesting concept to another. The author told the story of how Sir Edward Bagnall Poulton, upon entering the Huxley Room at Oxford University’s Natural History Museum, happened to notice a beam of sunlight illuminating a brilliant blue Sumatran carrion beetle. This chance meeting of man and insect led Poulton to eventually publish a classification of colour in animals that inspired a century of research into the subject - the subject I’m now researching.

Interestingly, The Huxley Room was the location of The Great Debate of 1860 which saw Thomas Huxley defend Darwin’s Origin of Species to Bishop Willberforce in an attempt to ‘prevent sentiment interfering with intellect’.

And so, on that note and with one third of the day complete, I’m off into town to get some historical and scientific inspiration from Charles Darwin and his lovely Cambridge University that just happens to be on my very doorstep. Darwin, by the way, said in his autobiography, that whilst much of his early years at Cambridge were wasted in hunting, shooting and drinking with the local sporting set, “no pursuit at Cambridge was followed with nearly so much eagerness or gave me so much pleasure as collecting beetles. It was the mere passion for collecting, for I did not dissect them, and rarely compared their external characters with published descriptions, but got them named anyhow.”

I’m seeing this as a three-part series, for anyone who can be bothered to read it…

back to their roots

The Elm Tree in the Eden is now my new favourite pub. It’s pretty much a work local and recently had a complete refurb. They’d always been known for their jazz nights, and now they’re back into it with a vengence. Lovely place, good music and very nice landlords. Jazz on Mondays, Wednesdays, Friday, Saturday and Sundays.

And food starting tomorrow! Hurrah - no more Boots lunches at Gameware.

my new favourite museum

The V&A in London is a fantastic art and design museum and my new favourite. They’re open ‘til 10 on Wednesdays, so it’s nice and easy to get up late, take the train down to London and have a good wander around. After 6 the music starts and they serve Pimm’s and wine in the gardens. It’s ever-so civilised. In 3 hours, we managed to only briefly skim 3 of the 40-odd galleries. The sixties fashion exhibit was brilliant, the new Jameel gallery stunning and the cast rooms really quite awesome. The photography gallery is quite small, but interesting. I can’t wait to go back.

My V&A snaps.

this is getting ridiculous

National Lottery money is being used to teach unfit accountants how to salsa, Sport England has confirmed. (BBC)

Accountants? Public schools? Manchester United? Sport England says, “We cannot and should not discriminate against a firm based on whether it is perceived to be a wealthy organisation”. Yes, you bloody well should! Ensuring your staff is healthy is a business decision and helps businesses remain more efficient. These people are not lacking in funds, simply in motivation and if a company wants to benefit from healthier staff, then it should jolly well pay for it. Is Sport England implying that the North of England has no needy people who could benefit from Lottery funding? Is helping those who can’t afford helath clubs and salsa classes not making a difference? Is changing the image of accountants really going to make a difference to anyone? Even accountants?

Christ. I think I’ll apply for a Lottery Grant - I could really do with a health club membership. Targeting me would make a big difference. To me.

only me?

Am I the only person in all of Britain who’s happy to pay council tax and happy with the services received? Appears so.

One person whined about having to pay for their own bin liners! Perhaps they want the council to buy their loo roll as well? Maybe send a housekeeper around to clean the toilet for them? Christ.

When shall we three meet again? In thunder, lightning, or in rain?

Been excessively busy with deadlines and stuff, but I did manage to take a bit of a holiday while my mum was visiting from the states. It was like the three fates, with the three generations of us - my daughter, myself and my mum - traveling up to Stratford-Upon-Avon on the train (and train and bus and train and taxi and tube). Obviously I like to think we were a rather more attractive set than the weird sisters were.

Anyway, we took a couple days at a country house a few miles outside of the town and there are some photos in the Gallery.

This being Britain, of course, there was thunder, lightning and rain a-plenty, but also the odd outbreak of sun.

(P.S., I’ve had to disable comments because some eejit keeps posting comment spam.)

London

Our hearts go out to the friends and family of those who lost their lives in London today. I have little say other than a great sense of reflected pride in the way Londoners and the English deal with these sorts of events. Without wailing or hand-wringing, panic or fear, everyone who’s been interviewed, even those caught up in the blasts and the press themselves, represent the best of a traditional and possibly even stereotypical British attitude. Calm and collected in the direst of circumstances.

The emergency services were incredible. To deal with 4 separate, nearly simultaneous blasts and then for the city to roll back to a sensible normalacy within hours is just amazing.

Page 1 of 7 pages  1 2 3 >  Last »