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What’s on your mind?
- Thread starter Gutwrench
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The rugby is on my mind, England played absolutely phenomenal against South Africa and were deeply unlucky to lose in the last 2 minutes of the match. I went into this game thinking we’d be absolutely thrashed and ended up being the better team. Unfortunate end but a great game of rugby.
Actually, England have been preternaturally fortunate, as this was the first time in the entire competition that they had encountered one of the top teams in the world - and it would have been a travesty had they qualified for the finals.
Their end of the draw was almost ludicrously easy, at the very least, a lot less challenging, to qualify from, when contrasted with what South Africa, (and, indeed, NZ), had overcome to get to the knock-out stages, - let alone Ireland and the host nation, France.
And it is telling that England failed to score a try from play tonight, relying instead on penalties to put their name on the score sheet.
Last week-end's quarter finals when four of the best teams in the world played one another to a stand still were a more accurate reflection of potential and actual quality.
Now, I don't doubt that this was the best game - in terms of preparation and quality of play - that England had managed to perform in the entire tournament. However, the truth is that this is by no means a great England side.
They’ve been pretty average up until now with their aging side and new leadership, but I was shocked tonight how they stayed ahead of South Africa for 78 minutes. I don’t think it would have been a travesty if they’d gone through as a World Cup is often single game performances as history has always shown. We definitely shocked the Boks tonight as they very nearly came undone. A thrilling match and one where England can hold their heads up high coming out of. I was certainly proud of them, brilliant performance
I agree, I'm not actually all that surprised they pulled that performance out of the bag yesterday. (I had a discussion with a mate yesterday who was making all the easy group, few tries, the real final was earlier before the game arguments). There's been a lot of issues with English rugby in the past few years (Borthwick, Sweeny etc) and things should change (they'll eventually come back) and I think that yesterday was an absolutely superb performance.They’ve been pretty average up until now with their aging side and new leadership, but I was shocked tonight how they stayed ahead of South Africa for 78 minutes. I don’t think it would have been a travesty if they’d gone through as a World Cup is often single game performances as history has always shown. We definitely shocked the Boks tonight as they very nearly came undone. A thrilling match and one where England can hold their heads up high coming out of. I was certainly proud of them, brilliant performance
Arguing that penalties are unworthy in the modern game just doesn't cut it, SA won because it was able to pull in the bomb squad off the bench in the second half and convince the ref* as to the superiority of their scrum and then went on to win penalties from their later scrums. (Also bear in mind there was only a single try scored in the whole game.)
There's been a lot of issues with this WC, from the anthems 😂, the groups, inconsistant refereeing etc but as the saying goes in the end you can only play who's in front of you.
* This is not an attempt to suggest gamesmanship etc it's the way the game works for both sides.
What a fascinating read! Thank you for sharing! Can you share the link to the blog? I feel it might become a reading appointment for me. As you know I am fascinated by monastic life (not only christian).
Two nights ago, I gave a talk (on WW1) to a local history society (where my brother lives).
One of their local schools (a very well regarded school, the staff are excellent, according to my brother), had won (okay, jointly won, but still a superb achievement), a British Isles wide prize (awarded to the students who presented the best local history project on the subject of WW1 and their locality). Part of the prize - (it also comes with a very welcome and quite generous cheque for the students) - is that the students have been invited to lay a wreath at the Cenotaph in London on 11th November, Armistice Day, as part of the solemn ceremonies of that day - which I think is absolutely wonderful.
The kids - and their teacher who is a member of the local history society's committee - were invited to give their presentations (which were excellent, - the presentations each focussed on the respective life stories of a number of individuals with some connection to the area who had enlisted when the war broke out, using archival sources, photographs, (including, in one case, family photographs), census information, the actual military records of these particular people, (enlistment details, discharge - or death details, - wounds, decorations, etc), the respective regimental/division histories (including the battles the respective military units had fought in - such as, Loos, the Somme, etc) - and so on; one of the students had chosen the topic of her great-grandfather who had married a woman from the area, - hence the local connection; this was a man who had enlisted once the war broke out, who had fought in the war, been badly wounded, and who had never fully recovered from the physical and psychological trauma of that, taking his own life a mere four months after his wife had died from cancer in the mid 1930s; the other two whose lives were explored had died - been killed - during the war, one of them as late as summer 1918) - first, and then, following that, I had been asked to say a few words to put WW1 "in context".
To everyone's surprise, the meeting was absolutely full, with terrific audience participation (and lots of questions and observations); there were even chaps from the Western Front Society attending (and asking questions).
We - that is, some of the local history committee (whom I know, I've attended some of their functions and outings which they have organised, and taken trips with my brother, and addressed them four years ago, on a different topic, one which I had written about), plus my brother (Decent Brother) and I - had a few drinks afterwards in the hotel where the event was held; it is always enormously enjoyable to have a few drinks with people who are as passionate (and as knowledgeable) about history as I am, and yes, Decent Brother is also pretty interested in history (and politics and soccer).
Anyway, the preparation for that talk - and the actual talk - have been both pretty much on my mind this week.
One of their local schools (a very well regarded school, the staff are excellent, according to my brother), had won (okay, jointly won, but still a superb achievement), a British Isles wide prize (awarded to the students who presented the best local history project on the subject of WW1 and their locality). Part of the prize - (it also comes with a very welcome and quite generous cheque for the students) - is that the students have been invited to lay a wreath at the Cenotaph in London on 11th November, Armistice Day, as part of the solemn ceremonies of that day - which I think is absolutely wonderful.
The kids - and their teacher who is a member of the local history society's committee - were invited to give their presentations (which were excellent, - the presentations each focussed on the respective life stories of a number of individuals with some connection to the area who had enlisted when the war broke out, using archival sources, photographs, (including, in one case, family photographs), census information, the actual military records of these particular people, (enlistment details, discharge - or death details, - wounds, decorations, etc), the respective regimental/division histories (including the battles the respective military units had fought in - such as, Loos, the Somme, etc) - and so on; one of the students had chosen the topic of her great-grandfather who had married a woman from the area, - hence the local connection; this was a man who had enlisted once the war broke out, who had fought in the war, been badly wounded, and who had never fully recovered from the physical and psychological trauma of that, taking his own life a mere four months after his wife had died from cancer in the mid 1930s; the other two whose lives were explored had died - been killed - during the war, one of them as late as summer 1918) - first, and then, following that, I had been asked to say a few words to put WW1 "in context".
To everyone's surprise, the meeting was absolutely full, with terrific audience participation (and lots of questions and observations); there were even chaps from the Western Front Society attending (and asking questions).
We - that is, some of the local history committee (whom I know, I've attended some of their functions and outings which they have organised, and taken trips with my brother, and addressed them four years ago, on a different topic, one which I had written about), plus my brother (Decent Brother) and I - had a few drinks afterwards in the hotel where the event was held; it is always enormously enjoyable to have a few drinks with people who are as passionate (and as knowledgeable) about history as I am, and yes, Decent Brother is also pretty interested in history (and politics and soccer).
Anyway, the preparation for that talk - and the actual talk - have been both pretty much on my mind this week.
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Well my father decided to dance with my mom in heaven, at 4am Wednesday morning. We’re figuring out my father’s celebration of life date. He was 88, married 62 years (mom passed 2 years ago), 5 children, 10 grandchildren. Army veteran, cubmaster, my hero.
Taught me so much.
Still processing life without my parents. It’s now my responsibility to carry on my dad’s legacy and teach it to others .. integrity, truthfulness, focus, determination, grit.
My parents in 2013 at Cedar Michigan Polish festival.
Taught me so much.
Still processing life without my parents. It’s now my responsibility to carry on my dad’s legacy and teach it to others .. integrity, truthfulness, focus, determination, grit.
My parents in 2013 at Cedar Michigan Polish festival.
My deepest condolences on your loss. You must be devastated.
It is a very hard thing to lose a parent, (above all, a parent who was loved and who loved you) and I still miss mine, - sometimes, terribly - even though my mum passed five years ago (five years already?) and my dear old dad has been gone for the past 18 years.
It is a profound shock to suddenly realise that you are now an orphan, and, when this happens, it doesn't matter what age you are, or what age they were when they died.Still processing life without my parents. It’s now my responsibility to carry on my dad’s legacy and teach it to others .. integrity, truthfulness, focus, determination, grit.
My parents in 2013 at Cedar Michigan Polish festival.
The shock, and sorrow and sense of loss are still profound.
They gave life to you, formed you, and helped to shape your worldview, were your lodestar around whom you once orbited; of course you are "processing" life without them; that will take years.
But, while there will be grief and sorrow, the pain of loss, there will also be solace from visiting what a dear friend of mine (who lost his son in tragic circumsatnces) refers to as "paying a private visit to the bank of memories", of saluting that which serves to bring them to mind.
In any case, try to be kind to yourself and be gentle with yourself over the coming days and weeks; accept actual offers of sympathy and support - this is how people show how much they care in a way that they feel able to express.
take care of yourself.
Good luck.
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My sincere condolences. Remember the good times and take care of yourself.Well my father decided to dance with my mom in heaven, at 4am Wednesday morning. We’re figuring out my father’s celebration of life date. He was 88, married 62 years (mom passed 2 years ago), 5 children, 10 grandchildren. Army veteran, cubmaster, my hero.
Taught me so much.
Still processing life without my parents. It’s now my responsibility to carry on my dad’s legacy and teach it to others .. integrity, truthfulness, focus, determination, grit.
My parents in 2013 at Cedar Michigan Polish festival.
Organic milk (some is kept for me, each week), collected from the local shop, and butter bought, the basic necessities; plus, the French bakery has been phoned (they will keep bread for me, tomorrow).
Some fruit and sparkling mineral water shall be delivered later, this evening.
Some fruit and sparkling mineral water shall be delivered later, this evening.
I am truly sorry for your loss, a big hug from me. Your beautiful words described what is clearly an extraordinary man.Well my father decided to dance with my mom in heaven, at 4am Wednesday morning. We’re figuring out my father’s celebration of life date. He was 88, married 62 years (mom passed 2 years ago), 5 children, 10 grandchildren. Army veteran, cubmaster, my hero.
Taught me so much.
Still processing life without my parents. It’s now my responsibility to carry on my dad’s legacy and teach it to others .. integrity, truthfulness, focus, determination, grit.
My parents in 2013 at Cedar Michigan Polish festival.
Started googling some tips to tweak my morning routine, ended up with a commentary on Pythagoras’ Golden Verses.
Go figure.
Go figure.
Mark Twain's The War Prayer (link) is on my mind after receiving a distressed e-mail from a former student now in a war zone.
I have absolutely no idea how that could have happened.
Morning routine —> tweaks —> famous people’s routine —> history —> math —> philosophy—> Aristotle —> Plato —> Socrates —> Baseball —> Statistics, math, philosophy —> Pythagoras.
Ah, yes.
Fascinating.
Those meandering online searches are......no stranger to me.
Actually, I was about to commence composing a reply by writing something along the lines of.... "you can have no idea how....", but then, belatedly, rather realised that you probably have every imaginable idea of exactly how many mad (but endlessly enticing) historical rabbit holes I tumbled down while preparing my talk on WW1 for my brother's local history society this past week.
Oh yes, I can only imagine (how I wish I could’ve listened to that lecture).
It reminds me encyclopedias and even vocabularies / dictionaries. As a kid I used to search for a word or topic (maybe for some assignment) to then end up reading them for two hours. Wikipedia is also a dangerous place for me.
Before the event, their teacher had asked me (at least twice) pleadingly, "not to be too hard" on the kids; as if I would have been anything of the sort. I thought they were brilliant.
They were superb - their presentations were well-prepared, very well researched - an excellent example of how to combine (and make relevant) the study of local history with the use of national archives (many of which are now, of course, online) - and very well delivered.
Actually, I was both very impressed and - perhaps - a little envious. There are amazing historical resources available online, these days. In my day, you had to make your way to national archives (which I loved), plan to spend days of your life immersed in archives, plan trips - make phone calls, arrange to have stuff available; nowadays, much of this is online and readily accessible. How wonderful.
My brother said to me afterwards that he doubted whether either of us (and we are both used to public speaking - he is a solicitor who works for the government at a national level, whereas I used to be a university teacher) would have been as confident, as fluent, as articulate, at around 16. (Privately, as I was both a school and university debater, - I thought I hadn't been at all bad at around 16, but I take - and took - his point; they were excellent).
An unexpected bonus was that this was one of the very few occasions in my life where I have observed Powerpoint used intelligently, and to excellent (and telling) effect, where Powerpoint supported what they said in their presentations, but didn't overwhelm them (of course, these kids are digital natives), and I made a point of letting the kids know how impressed I was both by this and by their presentations in general, as a very impressive marriage of local history and archival research.
For me, the challenge was to "not be too academic" (i.e. dry and boring), but yet be rigorous, thought-provoking, and interesting (for the audience were both passionate about, interested in - and very well informed about - history); I detest these distinctions between "amateur historians" and "professional historians", the notion that the only serious historians are professionals, which is arrant nonsense - and, of course, keep the actual lecture to about 40 minutes (even though you could easily talk about WW1 for days), while yet allowing plenty of time for questions (of which there were many - questions and observations both - which is always a very good sign).
Anyway, I didn't use PP, - or any visual aid.
Actually, I never fully script a talk, just jot down some points (and sometimes, as this week, both prepare a few bullet points, - which I printed out, then, scribbled a few additional facts and thoughts as they occurred, as reminders of stuff I wished to cover). Anyway, I thoroughly enjoyed myself, for I had almost forgotten just how much fun it is to research, prepare and deliver a lecture to an interested audience.
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Deeply sorry for your loss. This remarkable man must be happy to see his beautiful angel again.Well my father decided to dance with my mom in heaven, at 4am Wednesday morning. We’re figuring out my father’s celebration of life date. He was 88, married 62 years (mom passed 2 years ago), 5 children, 10 grandchildren. Army veteran, cubmaster, my hero.
Taught me so much.
Still processing life without my parents. It’s now my responsibility to carry on my dad’s legacy and teach it to others .. integrity, truthfulness, focus, determination, grit.
My parents in 2013 at Cedar Michigan Polish festival.
I wish I could be there to enjoy these remarkable lectures and presentations.
Do not agree with the teacher thinking you would treat them hard. You love history (and beer, of course, haha), and I think if someone discusses my major or the things I'm passionate about, I would be excited and love to explain everything, not to mention they are well-prepared.
PowerPoint, for me, is more like a tool that helps me explain some things that are hard to express with words. I need to show my album works to my clients and some of the plans I've made, which I think is necessary. However, when it comes to speeches, I prefer a more natural approach without auxiliary tools (like Ted Talks; I haven't missed any of them).
In my opinion, the key to good lectures is explaining academic topics in an easy-to-understand way, and that's not a piece of cake.
Anyway, I'm jealous! I wish I could be there.
All my condolences for your loss. Wonderful opportunity @Scepticalscribe when you meet with students who are really enthusiastic and ready to learn it's so gratifying. @yaxomoxay I can relate to those odd online searchs. BTW if you wish to have some visual discussion of the ancient epoch I highly recommend the youtube channel toldinstoneWell my father decided to dance with my mom in heaven, at 4am Wednesday morning. We’re figuring out my father’s celebration of life date. He was 88, married 62 years (mom passed 2 years ago), 5 children, 10 grandchildren. Army veteran, cubmaster, my hero.
Taught me so much.
Still processing life without my parents. It’s now my responsibility to carry on my dad’s legacy and teach it to others .. integrity, truthfulness, focus, determination, grit.
My parents in 2013 at Cedar Michigan Polish festival.
That is so powerful. Saw an excellent adaptation a few years ago.
Why do we have to choose sides? I do not want to start any kind of thread for what is going on in the world right now but it seems there is a culture that says we must choose sides. I like to think I take a balanced point of view. See the perspective from both sides and don't judge. At the end of the day the only thing that matters is the innocent men, women and children.
I headed into the city to collect my French bread and was very impressed by the Hallowe'en cakes that the French bakery had on display.
They had pumpkin tarts - which resembled a toffee coloured version of their splendid French custard tarts, and a series of stunning pumpkin, passion fruit and mango cakes, with a chocolate knife - (dark chocolate for the handle, white chocolate for the blade, wonderfully realistic) resting at an angle on an ominous puddle of what looked like blood but was probably raspberry and passion fruit puree on the top of each cake.
Gorgeous.
They had pumpkin tarts - which resembled a toffee coloured version of their splendid French custard tarts, and a series of stunning pumpkin, passion fruit and mango cakes, with a chocolate knife - (dark chocolate for the handle, white chocolate for the blade, wonderfully realistic) resting at an angle on an ominous puddle of what looked like blood but was probably raspberry and passion fruit puree on the top of each cake.
Gorgeous.
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