Commentary
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Moving With the Times
I have been turning my thoughts back to a few of the literary and philosophical works I read as a youth, having recently been reminded of my pleasure in reading Robert M. Pirsig’s Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance in my early teens. This is one of those titles a deep reader can pick up time and time again, and always find something new to consider, some aspect that had escaped them during an earlier reading, some relevance to today. This is also one of those works which almost failed to come into being, until a publisher, without anticipating any real commercial value or financial gain, finally brought it…
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Dinosaur: Your Time Has Long Gone
I’ve never considered myself to be old, at least, not until the doctors starting telling me I really needed to lie down on the operating table and have a few things done to keep the old pump beating. And, to a certain extent, I still do not consider myself to be old despite what others might claim: I have been referred to as Grandpa, and the Old Man by various people, although I have tried to appear as if they couldn’t have been referring to me, and simply gone on my way. When it comes to technology, though, and the advances in computers and telecommunications, well, let me tell you…
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It’s Not Always What You Can See
I took the header photograph to this post back in June 2024, at a time when I was more active with my camera, travelling to many cities across the country, and making great plans for the future. Not, I hasten to add, my first great plans for the future, merely the latest ones. In the past I have written books, short stories, magazine articles and other papers for publication. I have acted on the theatre stage, and been in one or two minor films over which it is best to be quiet. I have invested in real estate, in art, in literature, in antique photography. The next great plan for…
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Fielding the Three Big Questions
There is a certain attraction to traditions, especially when visiting foreign lands, which draws tourists and others into a spiral of mixed feelings. On the one hand, it is good to see that the old ways are being respected and upheld. On the other the question of why people cannot simply let go, especially when it comes to traditions filled with outdated pomp and circumstance, costing the taxpayer a fortune without bringing them any benefits. Just as not everything which is new is good and worth pursuing, so it is with the old; there comes a time when traditions need to be consigned to the history books, taught in classes,…
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A Man of Dishonour, Rewarded
I can well imagine that the thought has passed through many minds over the last few days, but the title is already taken, and by someone far more deserving of public attention and a lasting memory. Andrew Albert Christian Edward Mountbatten Windsor may well be a former Prince, as well as having been granted many other honorific titles, but he is now in a position of disgrace, albeit one which will hardly dent his ego, or his pocketbook. The man who used to be called Prince, Duke, Earl and Baron, as well as being a Vice Admiral in the Royal Navy, will be able to continue his former life with…
