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OTD# 11 December – Post-colonial blues

The sailing ship effect is the paradox that the old reaches its peak just as it is being overtaken by the new. Sail, the argument goes, was at its most innovative just as steam was passing it. Evolutionary biology has the Red Queen effect, the Red Queen saying to Alice “Now, here, you see, it… Continue reading OTD# 11 December – Post-colonial blues

#OTD 10 December – An enlightened space

10 December marks major developments in time and space during the European age of enlightenment.  The first, at the dawn of the age, belongs to the heavens. In November 1684 Isaac Newton sent a paper to Edmond Halley. On 10 December Halley read it to the Royal Society. We call it de motu corporum in… Continue reading #OTD 10 December – An enlightened space

#OTD 8 December – Music makes the day

Buddy Holly’s death is the day the music died. Not quite. He is directly remembered in one English band of the sixties who called themselves “The Hollies”. He – or at least his band the Crickets – is indirectly remembered in another English band of the sixties who called themselves “The Beatles”. On 8 December… Continue reading #OTD 8 December – Music makes the day

#OTD 6 December – War, poets & Santa Claus

The Great War and poetry go hand in hand. For Rupert Brooke “If I should die, think only this of me…” For Wilfrid Owen “My friend, you would not tell with such high zest / To children ardent for some desperate glory, / The old Lie: Dulce et decorum est / Pro patria mori.” Both Brooke… Continue reading #OTD 6 December – War, poets & Santa Claus

#OTD 5 December – The mysterious Russian soul

On 5 December 1991, Ukrainian voters decided to secede from the Soviet Union and Leonid Kravchuk became Ukraine’s first president. On 5 December 1941, the Russians launched their counteroffensive against the Germans in the Battle of Moscow. The plan had been hatched by Generals Georgy Zhukov and Aleksandr Vasilevsky. The European winter was the coldest… Continue reading #OTD 5 December – The mysterious Russian soul

#OTD 4 December – Lies and cherry pies

Great sea disasters and fiction are firm friends. The Mary Celeste, discovered adrift in the Atlantic on 4 December 1872, has the peculiar distinction that its fictional counterpart, the Marie Celeste of a young Arthur Conan Doyle’s short story “J Habakuk Jephson’s Statement” has become the “correct” spelling. Virtually unknown in the west is the… Continue reading #OTD 4 December – Lies and cherry pies

#OTD 3 December – Ties and ties

We get “tie” from the Anglo Saxon “teag”, a bond or chain or tape.The bond can be physical or spiritual or both, with “old school tie” a delicious example of the last. While “tie” in the sense of a competitive outcome has been around since the 17th century, I can find no contemporary news report… Continue reading #OTD 3 December – Ties and ties

#OTD 2 December – Destiny day

Handel’s anthem “Zadok the Priest” has been sung at every coronation since that of King George II in 1727: Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet anointed Solomon king.And all the people rejoiced and said:God save the King! Long live the King! God save the King!May the King live for ever. Amen. Hallelujah. While the… Continue reading #OTD 2 December – Destiny day

#OTD 1 December – Portugal

When one talks of Australasia or North America or Britain, it can be easy to forget that this includes respectively New Zealand or Canada and Mexico or Wales and Scotland as well as the larger neighbour. And then there is Portgual. On the east side of the Atlantic, the land comprising modern-day Spain and Portugal… Continue reading #OTD 1 December – Portugal