As this is the Memorial Day weekend in the US : – a post from Alex Horton on the department of veteran affairs’ blog: “Memorial Day is meant to remind folks of the sacrifice borne by those who fell in battle in defense of the country, as well as their families. But once you lose [...]
Archive for May, 2011
Things to ponder : 27 May 2011
Posted in Things to ponder, tagged Memorial Day on May 27, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
Tornado-damaged Joplin
Posted in What I'm reading, tagged Joplin, Missouri, tornados on May 24, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
The death toll in Joplin, Missouri, has now topped 118, making Sunday’s catastrophe the single deadliest tornado recorded in the United States since record keeping began 60 years ago. AP Photographer Charlie Riedel took a trip in a helicopter to capture images of Joplin’s devastated landscape from above. The American Red Cross has set up [...]
L’amour fou
Posted in What I'm looking at, tagged art, Gagosian, Marie-Thèrése Walter, Pablo Picasso on May 23, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
“I love you more than the taste of your mouth, more that your look, more than your hands, more than your whole body, more and more and more and more than all my love for you will ever be able love and I sign Picasso.” These are the last words you see as you leave [...]
Things to ponder : 20 May 2011
Posted in Things to ponder, tagged Brick Lane, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, Jonathan Safran Foer, Monica Ali, Sheryl Sandberg, Things to ponder, White Teeth, Zadie Smith on May 20, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
As I spend my days writing about finance it was interesting to read this piece on money and the meaning of life : “Being rich does not automatically lead to a rich life. There is a difference between money and success. To be totally engaged with all my functions, all my faculties, all my capacities [...]
Jerusalem
Posted in What I'm watching, tagged Jerusalem, Jez Butterworth, Mark Rylance, theatre, William Blake on May 18, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
“I will not cease from Mental Fight, Nor shall my Sword sleep in my hand: Till we have built Jerusalem, In England’s green & pleasant Land” The last verse of Jerusalem by Willam Blake Last year I saw Mark Rylance give a virtuoso performance as Valere in La Bête when he came on stage and [...]
High Line
Posted in My photos, tagged High Line, My photos, New York on May 15, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
Although the High Line was opened as a park in 2009 it has taken me two years to get there. The High Line was built in the 1930s, as part of a massive public-private infrastructure project called the West Side Improvement. It lifted freight traffic 30 feet in the air, removing dangerous trains from the [...]
Things to ponder: 13 May 2011
Posted in Things to ponder, tagged Christopher Hitchens, Things to ponder, Umair Haque on May 13, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
The one thing worth reading this week is Christopher Hitchens’ heartbreaking piece on cancer attacking his vocal cords: “there must be a deep relationship with the word “chord”: the resonant vibration that can stir memory, produce music, evoke love, bring tears, move crowds to pity and mobs to passion. We may not be, as we [...]
The 32-mile saunter
Posted in My photos, tagged My photos, New York, Shorewalkers, The Great Saunter on May 11, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
I have finally recovered from completing The Great Saunter on Saturday – the Shorewalkers 26th annual 32-mile walk around the rim of Manhattan. Some photos from along the route. There are far more from the West side as that was far more scenic and we did that side first so I was far more tired [...]
My April 2011
Posted in Diary, tagged art, books, movies, music, my diary, theatre on May 7, 2011 | 1 Comment »
Books The Hunger Games trilogy (Suzanne Collins) : intelligent young adult books which topically highlight the impact of war and violence on children Money and Power: How Goldman Sachs Came to Rule The World (William Cohan): for those interested in finance, an absorbing 600+ pages on the investment bank One of Our Thursdays is Missing [...]
