50 years ago yesterday man first landed on the moon. It was about 9:20 pm by the clock in the Crotchety Family's apartment when Mission Control confirmed that Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin had landed safely on the lunar surface. We had already been watching live TV pictures for two or three hours and it…Read more Magnificent Desolation
Billie Jean
Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair! The King ruled over a great empire. He had built magnificent temples as monuments to his wealth and power. The inscription on his statue proclaimed his dominion over all the known world. Pretenders to his throne could only marvel at what Ozymandias had built. Marvel and despair,…Read more Billie Jean
Zoom
Things to do, places to go, people to see.¹ Last weekend it was the Humanists UK Convention, this weekend it's the annual village Open Gardens weekend, next Sunday there's the Farmers' Market, all of which require my presence and not a little preparation. So, I shall be wearing my Crotchety Man hat only briefly again today.…Read more Zoom
Annobon
Crotchety Man has never been religious. He found the prevailing Christian teachings unconvincing and with so many other religions peppered across the spiritual landscape, all offering the One True Way™, it seemed foolish to commit to any one of them. Then, back in 2010, he came across the website for the British Humanist Association. The…Read more Annobon
Mathematics
In 1972 the American meteorologist Edward Lorenz was to give a talk at the 139th meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. As Lorenz had failed to provide a title for his talk, one of the organisers of the meeting concocted this attention grabbing headline: Does the flap of a butterfly’s wings…Read more Mathematics
La Vita
This week I'm inviting you to listen to another song I've chosen for my funeral (which, I trust, is still a long way off but it makes sense to plan well ahead for that particular commemoration service). If you cast your mind back to November 2016 you may remember the Archipelago post in which Flight, an instrumental…Read more La Vita
Bested Bones
Crotchety Man is operating in low power mode today. He picked up a nasty infection earlier in the week and his biochemical batteries are now completely drained. So, while this husk of a man soothes his shattered spirit and rests his weary bones, he invites you to watch this bleak but fascinating video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s3bSgz8EXaI Bested…Read more Bested Bones
Parnassius Apollo
Annie Lennox is a singer, right? She's also a songwriter, political activist and philanthropist, but to music fans it's her voice that stirs the emotions and captivates the heart. So an EP by Annie Lennox without her distinctive contralto singing, surely, has to be a disappointment. But she must have known she would be defying…Read more Parnassius Apollo
Nothing Arrived
"What would you like for your birthday, Poppy?", they asked. I knew immediately what I wanted. "A puppy like Jane's", I said, excitedly. Mummy smiled sadly at me and said that she didn't think that would be possible. But she turned to Daddy and he said we'd have to see. He had said that when…Read more Nothing Arrived
Sharig (and some)
What, you may ask, is 'Sharig'? And it's a perfectly good question. Not even the mighty Google can give a sensible answer to that. Unless it's a spelling mistake. ("Did you mean 'sharing', O seeker of truth?", it offers in reply. But there's no way to answer 'No'.) So don't look for deep meaning in…Read more Sharig (and some)
Crotchety Man 