GOODY GOODY GUMDROPS
My wife inherited some money over Christmas, and today she went out to spend part of it.
The good news is that she decided to buy a 40 inch Samsung flat-screen television. The even better news is that it will be installed in the room, where we have access to 40 or so TV channels through the fibre optic cable. So I will be able to watch the Australian Open, Premier League, world ice hockey championships and much, much more in great clarity.
I am one happy bunny!
Walter Blotscher
Monday, 14 February 2011
Sunday, 13 February 2011
BRIDGE (3)
I played in another bridge tournament today, with the same format as in the first one. We came third in our group in the morning session, which meant that we were in the top division when it came to the afternoon session.
We started dreadfully, scoring -10 on the first three hands (scoring is from -15 to +15, so our opponents in this round got +10). But we bounced back immediately with a +13 in the next round; and after 4 rounds out of 11, we were lying second. I then made a complete blunder. Finding myself in a 3 no trump contract with lots of misfitting suits, I ended up in dummy with 8 tricks in the bag and the winning king of hearts on the table. All I had to do was cash it, and make my game. But I was greedy, and misremembered the distribution. I thought I could end-play my opponent in clubs, so he would then give me two tricks in hearts to my king-jack instead of one. But he switched to a spade I was "sure" he didn't have and I went down. My partner raised his eyes in horror, since that single mistake cost us 7 points (-4 instead of +3).
After the afternoon coffee break (complete with very nice jam tart) we kept on nudging upwards, and by the beginning of the last round were lying fourth. The second and third placed pairs had to play each other, so there was a chance that they could cancel each other out and we could leapfrog up to second place. In fact, it was +2 to the second placed team, who ended on 26 points; we got +5 but that only took us up to 23.
What nobody expected was that the leading pair (they who had beaten us in round 1) had a complete meltdown and scored -13 on the round, dropping to fourth. Which meant that we ended up second overall, thereby winning three very nice bottles of wine.
I was left to rue the fact that if I had cashed my king of hearts, then we would have won the whole tournament by 4 points. Grrr!
Walter Blotscher
I played in another bridge tournament today, with the same format as in the first one. We came third in our group in the morning session, which meant that we were in the top division when it came to the afternoon session.
We started dreadfully, scoring -10 on the first three hands (scoring is from -15 to +15, so our opponents in this round got +10). But we bounced back immediately with a +13 in the next round; and after 4 rounds out of 11, we were lying second. I then made a complete blunder. Finding myself in a 3 no trump contract with lots of misfitting suits, I ended up in dummy with 8 tricks in the bag and the winning king of hearts on the table. All I had to do was cash it, and make my game. But I was greedy, and misremembered the distribution. I thought I could end-play my opponent in clubs, so he would then give me two tricks in hearts to my king-jack instead of one. But he switched to a spade I was "sure" he didn't have and I went down. My partner raised his eyes in horror, since that single mistake cost us 7 points (-4 instead of +3).
After the afternoon coffee break (complete with very nice jam tart) we kept on nudging upwards, and by the beginning of the last round were lying fourth. The second and third placed pairs had to play each other, so there was a chance that they could cancel each other out and we could leapfrog up to second place. In fact, it was +2 to the second placed team, who ended on 26 points; we got +5 but that only took us up to 23.
What nobody expected was that the leading pair (they who had beaten us in round 1) had a complete meltdown and scored -13 on the round, dropping to fourth. Which meant that we ended up second overall, thereby winning three very nice bottles of wine.
I was left to rue the fact that if I had cashed my king of hearts, then we would have won the whole tournament by 4 points. Grrr!
Walter Blotscher
Saturday, 12 February 2011
A FUNERAL
I went to a funeral this morning. It was not someone I knew particularly well - the mother of my wife's childhood friend - but I know the daughter well, and went for her sake.
I haven't been to many funerals in my life. Three of my grandparents, the obvious candidates, died before I was born, and the fourth when I was five; and I grew up without aunts and uncles. My father died when I was young, but I was only two. And a good schoolfriend died in a car crash when I was about eighteen; but I was at school in France at the time, and so wasn't around.
So my first ever funeral was that of my elder brother, who sadly died of a brain tumour in 2002 when he was 45 and I was 42. Since then, I have been to that of my father-in-law, my stepfather, and a couple of local people. Not many, really; though I suspect that will gradually change from now on.
When we lived in Tanzania, there were funerals all the time. It was a real problem, and not just because many of them were of relatively young people felled by Aids. The problem is caused by the expense, since the body must be transfered to the home village, which might be 2,000km away from Dar es Salaam, and the deceased's relatives must pay to get people home and to feed everybody who turns up. I have read that in South Africa, it is now possible to buy funeral insurance to cover the cost, which is a welcome development.
Despite, or perhaps because of, their greater experience of death, I think that Africans handle it much better. A European funeral - as, indeed, it was this morning - is sober and dignified, with much of it held in silence. An African funeral, on the other hand, is colourful and vibrant, with a lot of wailing and laughing and general chaos. Perhaps that is how it used to be in Europe, before we were taught to hide our feelings. If so, I think it would be a good idea if we went back to it. Death is a part of life, after all.
Walter Blotscher
I went to a funeral this morning. It was not someone I knew particularly well - the mother of my wife's childhood friend - but I know the daughter well, and went for her sake.
I haven't been to many funerals in my life. Three of my grandparents, the obvious candidates, died before I was born, and the fourth when I was five; and I grew up without aunts and uncles. My father died when I was young, but I was only two. And a good schoolfriend died in a car crash when I was about eighteen; but I was at school in France at the time, and so wasn't around.
So my first ever funeral was that of my elder brother, who sadly died of a brain tumour in 2002 when he was 45 and I was 42. Since then, I have been to that of my father-in-law, my stepfather, and a couple of local people. Not many, really; though I suspect that will gradually change from now on.
When we lived in Tanzania, there were funerals all the time. It was a real problem, and not just because many of them were of relatively young people felled by Aids. The problem is caused by the expense, since the body must be transfered to the home village, which might be 2,000km away from Dar es Salaam, and the deceased's relatives must pay to get people home and to feed everybody who turns up. I have read that in South Africa, it is now possible to buy funeral insurance to cover the cost, which is a welcome development.
Despite, or perhaps because of, their greater experience of death, I think that Africans handle it much better. A European funeral - as, indeed, it was this morning - is sober and dignified, with much of it held in silence. An African funeral, on the other hand, is colourful and vibrant, with a lot of wailing and laughing and general chaos. Perhaps that is how it used to be in Europe, before we were taught to hide our feelings. If so, I think it would be a good idea if we went back to it. Death is a part of life, after all.
Walter Blotscher
Friday, 11 February 2011
ARAB DEMOCRACY (2)
In the end, he went. Having said as recently as last night, in a televised address to the nation, that he would not resign, Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak did just that this evening. Cairo is now one big party city.
However, to use a well-worn phrase, this is not the end, but the end of the beginning. What happens next is still very unclear. Mubarak handed over power to the armed forces high command, not his newly installed vice-President, or any other civilian. What the army does with that power is an open question, which presumably will not be answered for some time.
The demonstrators have won the first round. We should not underestimate the size of that victory, but neither should we underestimate how much more change there still needs to be before Egypt can be declared a democracy.
Walter Blotscher
In the end, he went. Having said as recently as last night, in a televised address to the nation, that he would not resign, Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak did just that this evening. Cairo is now one big party city.
However, to use a well-worn phrase, this is not the end, but the end of the beginning. What happens next is still very unclear. Mubarak handed over power to the armed forces high command, not his newly installed vice-President, or any other civilian. What the army does with that power is an open question, which presumably will not be answered for some time.
The demonstrators have won the first round. We should not underestimate the size of that victory, but neither should we underestimate how much more change there still needs to be before Egypt can be declared a democracy.
Walter Blotscher
Thursday, 10 February 2011
MARKING SYSTEMS
Until recently, Denmark had a system for marking academic work (in schools, universities and so on), which my mathematically trained brain thought was bizarre. Here it is in full, from bottom to top.
00, 03, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 13
6 was a pass, given for "unsure, but acceptable, performance".
Although Danes had no difficulty in using and understanding this system, there were nevertheless a number of problems with it. One was that in an increasingly international academic world, which the Danish authorities wanted to tap into, nobody outside the country understood it. Another was that it was extremely hard to get a 13, not least because the work had to be exceptional, original even. In some subjects (eg mathematics), that is simply not possible, at least until you get beyond Ph.D level.
So, in 2007, the system was changed. Did they go for an A to E system, as in the U.K.; or percentages, from 0 to 100; or 1 to 10; or something similar? No. Again, I set it out in full, from bottom to top.
-3, 00, 02, 4, 7, 10, 12
02 is a pass, so it is a bit like the A to E system (A being 12), plus two types of fail. In which case, why not just adopt that? And what on earth is the point of having a grade with a negative number? Danes don't appear to have any problems with the new system, but I am not sure that the rest of the world will get it so easily.
Walter Blotscher
Until recently, Denmark had a system for marking academic work (in schools, universities and so on), which my mathematically trained brain thought was bizarre. Here it is in full, from bottom to top.
00, 03, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 13
6 was a pass, given for "unsure, but acceptable, performance".
Although Danes had no difficulty in using and understanding this system, there were nevertheless a number of problems with it. One was that in an increasingly international academic world, which the Danish authorities wanted to tap into, nobody outside the country understood it. Another was that it was extremely hard to get a 13, not least because the work had to be exceptional, original even. In some subjects (eg mathematics), that is simply not possible, at least until you get beyond Ph.D level.
So, in 2007, the system was changed. Did they go for an A to E system, as in the U.K.; or percentages, from 0 to 100; or 1 to 10; or something similar? No. Again, I set it out in full, from bottom to top.
-3, 00, 02, 4, 7, 10, 12
02 is a pass, so it is a bit like the A to E system (A being 12), plus two types of fail. In which case, why not just adopt that? And what on earth is the point of having a grade with a negative number? Danes don't appear to have any problems with the new system, but I am not sure that the rest of the world will get it so easily.
Walter Blotscher
Wednesday, 9 February 2011
ENGLAND v. DENMARK
England played Denmark in a friendly football match in Copenhagen this evening. England managed to win 2-1 without - paradoxically perhaps - managing to look either stretched or the better side. I suppose that that is the whole point with friendly games, they are just too friendly.
On the England side, Theo Walcott confirmed why he should have been taken to last summer's World Cup, and Darren Bent was muscular up-front. On the negative side, John Terry is looking a bit long in the tooth these days, and Michael Dawson seemed out of his depth. For Denmark, Christian Poulsen is past it in my view, while Christian Eriksen, 19 next week, looks like a great talent in the making.
Walter Blotscher
England played Denmark in a friendly football match in Copenhagen this evening. England managed to win 2-1 without - paradoxically perhaps - managing to look either stretched or the better side. I suppose that that is the whole point with friendly games, they are just too friendly.
On the England side, Theo Walcott confirmed why he should have been taken to last summer's World Cup, and Darren Bent was muscular up-front. On the negative side, John Terry is looking a bit long in the tooth these days, and Michael Dawson seemed out of his depth. For Denmark, Christian Poulsen is past it in my view, while Christian Eriksen, 19 next week, looks like a great talent in the making.
Walter Blotscher
Tuesday, 8 February 2011
FRU RASMUSSEN (2)
My wife told me last night that Kromand (literally "Inn-man"), Fru Rasmussen's husband, has died. That is not so surprising, since he was over 90, and they were very much a team. The inn has continued since her death last year, but it was always going to be a matter of time.
The question now is; what happens to the kro? The Rasmussens had run the hotel and restaurant since just after the second world war; and their children, who must be close to, if not of, pensionable age, don't want to continue it. I suppose that they will try and sell it. But running such an institution is difficult in rural Denmark, and it only worked before because the building was fully paid off long ago.
What happens to the kro will give a good indication of the health of rural businesses in these straightened times. Sadly, I think that indication will be negative.
Walter Blotscher
My wife told me last night that Kromand (literally "Inn-man"), Fru Rasmussen's husband, has died. That is not so surprising, since he was over 90, and they were very much a team. The inn has continued since her death last year, but it was always going to be a matter of time.
The question now is; what happens to the kro? The Rasmussens had run the hotel and restaurant since just after the second world war; and their children, who must be close to, if not of, pensionable age, don't want to continue it. I suppose that they will try and sell it. But running such an institution is difficult in rural Denmark, and it only worked before because the building was fully paid off long ago.
What happens to the kro will give a good indication of the health of rural businesses in these straightened times. Sadly, I think that indication will be negative.
Walter Blotscher
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