THE 2012 PROJECT (2)
Today I managed to find my apple expert; he was hiding out under one of his many apple trees. He told me:
a) that I should prune my big apple trees gradually. If you cut them down to size in one fell swoop, then the enormous root activity will - in effect- cause the resultant stump to explode.
b) that I should do this in the middle of winter, in January or February.
God has spoken; his will shall be done. Early next year.
Walter Blotscher
Wednesday, 31 August 2011
Tuesday, 30 August 2011
THE LOCAL CINEMA (3)
Things are going well in the local cinema. We have introduced some new ideas (earlier opening times for children's films, day showings for mothers with babies) and have had some good films in August, which have brought in more customers, and thereby more income.
This morning I was the projectionist for three new mums and their babies. We showed the latest Harry Potter film, the eighth and last in the series. I haven't seen any of the first seven, but it didn't really matter. There's a good guy (Harry), a bad guy (Voldemort), and they have an apocalyptic showdown, where you sort of know in advance who is going to win. It's a bit like Lord of the Rings with wands.
Three paying customers isn't very many. But this is a new thing, and it takes time for the message to get out to potential punters. It should do, since all three mothers liked the film. Even more importantly, so did the babies, who slept throughout.
Walter Blotscher
Things are going well in the local cinema. We have introduced some new ideas (earlier opening times for children's films, day showings for mothers with babies) and have had some good films in August, which have brought in more customers, and thereby more income.
This morning I was the projectionist for three new mums and their babies. We showed the latest Harry Potter film, the eighth and last in the series. I haven't seen any of the first seven, but it didn't really matter. There's a good guy (Harry), a bad guy (Voldemort), and they have an apocalyptic showdown, where you sort of know in advance who is going to win. It's a bit like Lord of the Rings with wands.
Three paying customers isn't very many. But this is a new thing, and it takes time for the message to get out to potential punters. It should do, since all three mothers liked the film. Even more importantly, so did the babies, who slept throughout.
Walter Blotscher
Monday, 29 August 2011
IRON WINDOWS
We - and many other Danes - have lots of iron "stall windows" in the barn (see below). The frames are made of cast-iron, and the individual glass panes are fixed to the iron with putty.
I have a mini-project going, where I renovate the windows in the barn so that they look like the renovated ones in the middle building on the right. The frames themselves last for ever. However, the putty dries out over time, and eventually crumbles, making the panes loose. And some of those are anyway cracked or broken. So I will knock out the putty, throw away the glass, paint the frames with a metallic paint, and then put new glass in, using a clear silicate gel instead of the white putty.
This will admittedly take me some time, not least because I have to do about fifteen windows, and each one has a dozen panes or more. But that's the point of having a project, you can do it in stages.
Walter Blotscher
We - and many other Danes - have lots of iron "stall windows" in the barn (see below). The frames are made of cast-iron, and the individual glass panes are fixed to the iron with putty.
This will admittedly take me some time, not least because I have to do about fifteen windows, and each one has a dozen panes or more. But that's the point of having a project, you can do it in stages.
Walter Blotscher
Sunday, 28 August 2011
NEIGHBOURS (4)
Last night was the annual street party with our neighbours. This year it was held in the workshop of the man who dug our optic fibre trench. Topics of conversation included the post office's ridiculous new law about where you can and cannot place your letter box when living in a rural area; and the possibility that the kommune will force us to be connected to the town sewage system miles away (we all have perfectly well-functioning septic tank systems, so connecting us will give us nothing except a large bill). Such is life in the country.
As usual, it was very hyggeligt, and gave me an alcoholic headache.
Walter Blotscher
Last night was the annual street party with our neighbours. This year it was held in the workshop of the man who dug our optic fibre trench. Topics of conversation included the post office's ridiculous new law about where you can and cannot place your letter box when living in a rural area; and the possibility that the kommune will force us to be connected to the town sewage system miles away (we all have perfectly well-functioning septic tank systems, so connecting us will give us nothing except a large bill). Such is life in the country.
As usual, it was very hyggeligt, and gave me an alcoholic headache.
Walter Blotscher
Friday, 26 August 2011
THE DANISH GENERAL ELECTION (2)
After failing to get agreement on his "growth package" designed to kickstart the moribund Danish economy, Prime Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen today called a general election for 15 September.
The campaign is already in full swing, and I am currently watching the first debate between the party leaders; more on that another time. In the meantime, two things about Danish elections which always strike me as a bit odd.
First, the only real adverts are large pictures of Parliamentary candidates tied to lampposts. As you drive through a village in Denmark during the next three weeks, you will be bombarded by large smiling faces of people you have never seen before. The day after the election, they will all disappear.
Secondly, those pictures will include a big capital letter, which represents the political party (these letters are also on the ballot papers). Unfortunately, the capital letters don't have anything to do with the names of the parties themselves. So, the "Radikale Venstre" is B, the "Socialdemokraterne" is A, and the "Konservative Folkeparti" is C. And in case you think it goes alphabetically, the "Dansk Folkeparti" is O and the "Liberal Alliance" is I. So there.
Walter Blotscher
After failing to get agreement on his "growth package" designed to kickstart the moribund Danish economy, Prime Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen today called a general election for 15 September.
The campaign is already in full swing, and I am currently watching the first debate between the party leaders; more on that another time. In the meantime, two things about Danish elections which always strike me as a bit odd.
First, the only real adverts are large pictures of Parliamentary candidates tied to lampposts. As you drive through a village in Denmark during the next three weeks, you will be bombarded by large smiling faces of people you have never seen before. The day after the election, they will all disappear.
Secondly, those pictures will include a big capital letter, which represents the political party (these letters are also on the ballot papers). Unfortunately, the capital letters don't have anything to do with the names of the parties themselves. So, the "Radikale Venstre" is B, the "Socialdemokraterne" is A, and the "Konservative Folkeparti" is C. And in case you think it goes alphabetically, the "Dansk Folkeparti" is O and the "Liberal Alliance" is I. So there.
Walter Blotscher
Thursday, 25 August 2011
THE 2012 PROJECT
I spent most of the afternoon chasing round my home town, looking for an apple farmer. His mother told me he was out in the orchards; but after visiting most of the apple trees within a 5km radius, he was not to be found.
My reason for looking for him is the 2012 Project. This year's has been to build a lawn and a kitchen garden; next year's is to make sense of our own orchard. After decades of neglect, we have huge apple and pear trees. There is lots of fruit on them, but so high up that it can't be picked, it simply falls to the ground and rots. I would like to severely prune the trees, so that they are the height of the commercial trees, about 2 metres. Hopefully, they can then start again from there. But I don't know how I should do it, so that they don't just die, or at what time of the year. Hence my need to talk to the expert.
I didn't find him today, but I will eventually. This is a serious project.
Walter Blotscher
I spent most of the afternoon chasing round my home town, looking for an apple farmer. His mother told me he was out in the orchards; but after visiting most of the apple trees within a 5km radius, he was not to be found.
My reason for looking for him is the 2012 Project. This year's has been to build a lawn and a kitchen garden; next year's is to make sense of our own orchard. After decades of neglect, we have huge apple and pear trees. There is lots of fruit on them, but so high up that it can't be picked, it simply falls to the ground and rots. I would like to severely prune the trees, so that they are the height of the commercial trees, about 2 metres. Hopefully, they can then start again from there. But I don't know how I should do it, so that they don't just die, or at what time of the year. Hence my need to talk to the expert.
I didn't find him today, but I will eventually. This is a serious project.
Walter Blotscher
Wednesday, 24 August 2011
DOMINIQUE STRAUSS-KAHN
The prosecuting authorities in New York have asked the judge to drop the criminal case against former IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn. It's important to understand what that means; and also what it doesn't mean.
The case has been dropped because the authorities no longer believe that they can prove DSK's guilt "beyond reasonable doubt", the standard of proof in all criminal cases in the U.S. This is a higher standard of proof than in civil cases, where matters are decided "on the balance of probabilities". And it is right in my view that it should be so. If the state, acting on behalf of society, is going to take away a person's freedom and other rights for long periods of time, then it needs to be pretty sure both that a crime has been committed, and that it has got the right person who committed it. There are, after all, plenty of examples throughout history - too many of them in recent history - where that has not been true.
In a sexual incident that left no signs of violence, and with no third-party witnesses, everything hinges on the testimony of the two persons concerned. Essentially, it would have been DSK's word against hers; and in particular, it would have been his word that she consented (no crime) against hers that she did not (a crime). Unfortunately, she in this instance has repeatedly changed her story, thereby undermining her credibility as the chief prosecution witness. As the motion to dismiss the case succinctly put it, "if we do not believe her beyond a reasonable doubt, we cannot ask a jury to do so".
But if the end result is clear, so too are other things. The first is that a sexual encounter between the two did take place. Semen containing DSK's DNA was found on the woman's dress, which "established that the defendant had engaged in a sexual act with the complainant". Because of this and other things, the prosecutors obviously thought that DSK had committed a crime. But since they can't prove it, he must go free (the option under Scots criminal law, of the third verdict of "not proven", is not available in the U.S.).
It is not for me to judge the morality of what DSK has done; ultimately, that is for him and his wife to sort out. But secondly, in choosing to have a sexual encounter of an almost classical "powerful man meets downtrodden woman" kind, and in the five minutes available to him before he had to get a cab to the airport, DSK showed in my view a stunning error of judgement. Even if his case were 100% true (i.e. it was totally consensual), didn't he stop to think how it would look to the outside world if she chose to reveal it? If the whole Clinton impeachment saga demonstrated one thing, surely it was that not only should sexual relations by the world's most powerful men not be an abuse of power, but they should not be seen to be an abuse of power.
It is common to say that France, and French voters in particular, don't care a fig about this sort of thing, and that DSK can quickly resume what appeared to be his otherwise effortless path towards the Socialist Party's nomination as their candidate in the forthcoming Presidential election. I am not so sure. DSK may well have regained his freedom this week; but I think his reputation has taken a dent that it will be difficult for him to overcome.
Walter Blotscher
The prosecuting authorities in New York have asked the judge to drop the criminal case against former IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn. It's important to understand what that means; and also what it doesn't mean.
The case has been dropped because the authorities no longer believe that they can prove DSK's guilt "beyond reasonable doubt", the standard of proof in all criminal cases in the U.S. This is a higher standard of proof than in civil cases, where matters are decided "on the balance of probabilities". And it is right in my view that it should be so. If the state, acting on behalf of society, is going to take away a person's freedom and other rights for long periods of time, then it needs to be pretty sure both that a crime has been committed, and that it has got the right person who committed it. There are, after all, plenty of examples throughout history - too many of them in recent history - where that has not been true.
In a sexual incident that left no signs of violence, and with no third-party witnesses, everything hinges on the testimony of the two persons concerned. Essentially, it would have been DSK's word against hers; and in particular, it would have been his word that she consented (no crime) against hers that she did not (a crime). Unfortunately, she in this instance has repeatedly changed her story, thereby undermining her credibility as the chief prosecution witness. As the motion to dismiss the case succinctly put it, "if we do not believe her beyond a reasonable doubt, we cannot ask a jury to do so".
But if the end result is clear, so too are other things. The first is that a sexual encounter between the two did take place. Semen containing DSK's DNA was found on the woman's dress, which "established that the defendant had engaged in a sexual act with the complainant". Because of this and other things, the prosecutors obviously thought that DSK had committed a crime. But since they can't prove it, he must go free (the option under Scots criminal law, of the third verdict of "not proven", is not available in the U.S.).
It is not for me to judge the morality of what DSK has done; ultimately, that is for him and his wife to sort out. But secondly, in choosing to have a sexual encounter of an almost classical "powerful man meets downtrodden woman" kind, and in the five minutes available to him before he had to get a cab to the airport, DSK showed in my view a stunning error of judgement. Even if his case were 100% true (i.e. it was totally consensual), didn't he stop to think how it would look to the outside world if she chose to reveal it? If the whole Clinton impeachment saga demonstrated one thing, surely it was that not only should sexual relations by the world's most powerful men not be an abuse of power, but they should not be seen to be an abuse of power.
It is common to say that France, and French voters in particular, don't care a fig about this sort of thing, and that DSK can quickly resume what appeared to be his otherwise effortless path towards the Socialist Party's nomination as their candidate in the forthcoming Presidential election. I am not so sure. DSK may well have regained his freedom this week; but I think his reputation has taken a dent that it will be difficult for him to overcome.
Walter Blotscher
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