Hols

We are on holiday at the moment so blogging may be limited. Yesterday we were up on Long Mynd where visibility was very poor so I took a nice photo of this barbed wire fence during our lunch break. Couldn't see much else.

The three stages of film

In my own mind, I'm not sure that acting is something for a grown man to be doing.

Steve McQueen

To my mind this clip from the fifties TV series Adventures of Superman could have something to say about maturity. It may be the clothes worn by the actors, their general appearance and demeanour, their diction and perhaps memories of our parents or grandparents, but the actors seem more mature than modern actors. They come across as mature people required to do something juvenile by acting out a comic strip.

Hey - we know this kind of thing is frivolous and not what real life is all about but it’s just a bit of fun for the kids so why not enjoy it? Let’s get their young imaginations fly too, just like Superman.

I’m not sure how far one should take this, if anywhere, but the same thing is easily seen in many old films dating back to the fifties or earlier. Yet go back a little earlier, say to the days of Laurel and Hardy, and many films seem juvenile again. In which case we have three stages - juvenile, mature, juvenile.

What next? Will mature come round again? I don’t think so.

A certain style

What does Jordan Peterson have that others don’t? There are other powerful speakers but to my mind Peterson’s style is as interesting as what he says and his style is the key to his effectiveness. To begin with he is particularly careful in his use of language. He sticks to the point and does not allow others to distort what he has actually said. In addition to his respect for language - 

He is obviously sincere.

He is obviously honest.

He is not afraid to pause for thought

He is not afraid to leave uncertainties as uncertain.

He focuses on what is known.

He focuses on known consequences.

One could go on, but to my mind the important point is that Peterson uses debates to explore and expound his own personal philosophy and has the honesty to make his explorations clear and unambiguous. Should one wish to emulate him it would be better to emulate his style rather than trying to learn his philosophy.

Knowledge is essential to make the style work but honesty and careful language – these are essential too. Getting this right is easier than it sounds, but in a face to face setting is not at all easy even though Peterson makes it seem simple enough. The trick is to be clear about what we know and what we don’t. The style is to insist on it as Peterson does. Those who would emulate him must first pick up the style.

Ice on the Ob

From the Siberian Times

By this time of year, boats are usually plying the ice-free Ob, but in 2018, while the winter covering the river has begun to move like a giant monster - but it has not cleared.

Far from it.

Here the thick ice is slowly drifting downstream in a northerly direction towards the Arctic yet with temperatures still of an unseasonal -5C, this could go on a while.

As our remarkable videos show, this is an awesome and eerie sight, magnetic to those lucky enough to be in the vicinity.

In Surgut, people come here before work just to glimpse the natural wonder, and listen to the gentle creaking and cracking of the shifting ice.

Then they come back again after work.

The link has more videos and photos

Buggy Beemers

From the BBC we are reminded of a treat for modern car owners - the software update. First it was the computer, then the phone and now it's the car.

BMW's car computer systems have been found to contain 14 separate flaws, according to a study by a Chinese cyber-security lab.

They could, in theory, let hackers take at least partial control of affected vehicles while in use.

The researchers identified ways to compromise the cars by plugging in infected USB sticks, as well via contactless means including Bluetooth and the vehicles' own 3G/4G data links.

BMW is working on fixes.

Its customers have been advised to keep an eye out for software updates and other counter-measures from the German company over the coming months.

That wedding photo

source

When I saw this photo the first word to flit across my mind was 'Romanov'. Not that there is the slightest connection but the word still flitted across as they do. Flit, flit.

Yet who would wish for a British president to replace the dear old royals? Imagine the dolts and deviants who with grim inevitability would be the only choices on our precious ballot paper. 

It's a strange business this democracy game. A particularly strange business when the Windsors are probably preferable to a democratically elected president. President Blair for example.

A modest total

I don’t read much non-fiction but the other day I went through my Kindle to see how many non-fiction books I’d read in the previous year. Turned out to be twenty two which is only a modest total but more respectable than I would have guessed.

Where does all the reading time come from though? It is partly a consequence of being retired but much of it comes from not watching TV. That was my initial impression on totting up the non-fiction books – reading is what I do instead of TV.

TV must have wasted a vast amount of time which could have been used more constructively. Not would have been used of course, but could have been used. I’m sure it has done far more harm than we ever acknowledge.