Out, damn'd spot!

Have you seen this idea that rubbers (no, not that sort - erasers!) should be banned from classrooms? One Guy Claxton, who is described as a "cognitive scientist" - whatever that is - has gone so far as to call them "instruments of the devil".  His argument is that they allow children to conceal the fact that they have made a mistake and pretend that they got it right first time.  There should be no shame in making mistakes, he maintains.  I am reminded of the old adage "the man who never made a mistake, never made anything".  Well, it's a point of view, but is this really why kids rub things out?  I can only speak for myself, but for me it would be more a matter of neatness of presentation - I would feel more ashamed of handing in an untidy piece of work with crossings out than the fact that I'd made mistakes.  Also I've yet to come across a rubber that rubs out without leaving some evidence that it's been used, so the idea that it conceals your mistakes is questionable.

A tangled web...

So we've now moved on - we've redefined marriage, and husband and wife, and now it seems we're changing the meaning of mother.  This arises because Elton John and his partner (husband?) David Furnish have two children who were born to a surrogate. Again I have no problem with that arrangement, but the children need birth certificates and on those certificates David Furnish is entered as the mother. Can't help thinking that things have gone a little crazy!

Dabo tibi ius

Feels a bit awkward to find myself siding with Vladimir Putin but, whatever may or may not have been going on in FIFA, I find it difficult to see what it has to do with the United States (whose connection with the game is pretty peripheral) and from whence the FBI gets its jurisdiction.  Perhaps all will become clear in due course. 

Who's number two?

Well, blow me - a public poll has suggested that the UK's second city should be Manchester rather than Birmingham, which has traditionally unofficially held that title. I need of course to declare an interest - I come from the Industrial West Midlands and Birmingham is our largest city.  Mind you, I am the first to admit that Birmingham is not what it was - the former "city of a thousand trades" became more and more reliant on the automotive industry and when that went into decline 40 or so years ago, so did the city.  It is still the largest city after London, but whether the title of second city should be based purely on population size is perhaps open to argument. Certainly recently Government seem to have given preferential treatment to what they have referred to as the "Northern Powerhouse" and so perhaps the tide is turning their way.  Can't see any point in Birmingham going into a sulk though - we are what we are and we know we're really the second city whatever anybody says!

Day off!

Did you have a nice Spring Bank Holiday last Monday?  It's now fixed as the last Monday in May, but it used to be Whit Monday, the day after (you've guessed it) Whit Sunday, which is the seventh Sunday after Easter, and as such is a moveable feast. Why Whit?  It's short for white, and traditionally the priest or vicar wears white vestments for the day.  It's also called Pentecost which comes from the Greek meaning fiftieth, and it is the fiftieth day after Easter Sunday, if you count that day as day one.  In 1971 the Bank Holiday was changed to the last Monday in May as a fixed date was felt to be more desirable.  There have been calls to do the same thing with the Easter Bank Holidays but that's not so easy (see post dated 3/4/10).

Music Man

I don't play the piano much these days, but when I did I used to enjoy playing (or trying to play) the early music of Alexander Scriabin, who died a hundred years ago this year.  Musically way ahead of his time his idiosyncratic style  paved the way for composers such as Prokofiev and Stravinsky.  Although his later stuff is too atonal for my tastes, his earlier pieces are harmonically quirky whilst remaining tuneful. Indeed he always cited Chopin as one of his exemplars.  His music very quickly fell out of fashion after his death and is little performed today but he deserves to be remembered.

What if...?

Can't understand all the fuss about the fact that the Bank Of England has set up a little group to consider the practical ramifications if the coming referendum were to result in a vote to leave the EU. Don't know about you, but I would be concerned if they weren't doing something like that - it's just common sense to think about what might happen and have contingency plans formulated for the various scenarios. Much is being made about the fact that (until some prat pressed the wrong button) this was being done "in secret".  But I think there's a distinction between deliberately concealing what you're doing, and simply not talking about it, and I feel this was just a case of the latter.

So did she say it??

Nicola Sturgeon (leader of the SNP in Scotland) getting on her high horse about the admission by the LibDem MP Alistair Carmichael that he was the source of the story during the election campaign that she had admitted to the French Ambassador that she would prefer to see the Conservatives win the election. The basis for this was said to be the contents of a memo of her meeting with the Ambassador written, as is standard protocol, by a civil servant who was present.  She is suggesting that Carmichael should resign. Once again, I think the pertinent question is not being asked - quite simply, is the memo a true account of what was said?

You can't leave it there!

Suggestion that Scotland will make it illegal to park on the pavement.  This is being done in the spirit of ensuring the "free movement of pedestrians".  Yes, I can see that, but the other side of the coin is that if cars can't stick two wheels on the pavement it's likely to cause chaos on the roads which are generally too narrow to easily accommodate both parked and moving vehicles going in both directions.  As a driver and, at one time, a wheelchair pusher, I can see the arguments both ways. The basic problem of course is that our road system is totally unsuitable for the use to which it is being put in modern times, but I'm not sure that preferring one set of users over another greatly helps.

The Lazy Cook

Mediterranean vegetables for roasting - you can find them in most supermarkets and roasted they make a good accompaniment to meat or fish, but you can also use them for a cheat version of a Greek dish called Briam (pronounced bree-am) which you can do in the slow cooker.  You will need about double the quantity that you would use as an accompaniment.  Just tip the vegetables into the slow cooker, add some crushed garlic and a couple of tablespoons of olive oil, and there you are - couldn't be simpler! If you want to take it a step further add some sliced potato and aubergine, if those are not already included and serve with some crumbled feta cheese.