Is it only me.... But are our children really that much smarter than us?
Those of you who know me well, and I am pleased to say that to remain an enigma it is important that few do, will know that I have hold a long held belief that you can only call yourself a university if it was founded before 1500. In my world anything after that date is merely a polytechnic. Sure it may call itself a university but that does not mean that it is one or deserves to take its place alongside the likes of Padua, Heidelberg, Glasgow.
Naturally I was educated at such an ancient site of learning.
Now some of my acquaintance have scoffed at such reactionary views but news has reached me that vindicates my opinion.
Earlier in week I learnt that the child of one who is known to me has just got a first. Now you might think that this should be cause for celebration. And in my day it would be.
But when I tell you that this young man, who is bright but not especially so, managed this awesome feat by failing to turn up for 2 of his final degree exam papers, you do have to question the rigour of the marking and the challenge of the exam.
Oh, yes, and before I forget the 'university' in a question was in a provincial Yorkshire seaside town and was founded barely 10 years ago. It is hardly Baliol, Oriel or Kings, would you not agree? All seats of learning with pedigree, heritage and class. Unlike the University of E Ba Gum.
Quod erat demonstrandum, methinks.
It surely can't just be me who thinks this is right, can it?
In my day when I was really earning my academic spurs, in a class of about 100, no one got a first, not even yours truly; only six got upper seconds; and the bulk got lower seconds. And we had to sit every paper.
Now there is a chance that the current crop of students are just so much brighter and intellectually superior to my graduate cadre. You only have to see the yoof of today in the workplace to perhaps draw that conclusion (and here I am being deeply caustic).
Alternatively we can draw the conclusion that if awesome degrees are being given out like smarties by jumped up polytechnics, then these places should be stripped forthwith of their university title until and unless they learn to behave like one.
In other words they adopt the standards, mores and rigour of those founded before 1500.
Have a great week. I am now off to sail the seas for the next 10 days.
Sis felix. Et sis fortunatus.
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Wednesday 27 June 2012
Wednesday 13 June 2012
Dedicated follower of fashion
Thank you for last week’s comments on my appreciation of the Two Caesar’s policy of listening to us, The Great British Public. I know not all of you agree with this stance which is fine but I do find it interesting that it is my views on the political situation that gets people stirred up.
No politics this week however.
Is it only me...but some people really do need protecting from themselves.
A few nights back I was travelling home. And standing at a bus stop at the side of the road was a man five feet nothing tall and roughly the same in breadth and depth. He was almost a perfect cube.
However it was not his shape that intrigued me but what he was wearing.
Now before I go on, I acknowledge freely that fashions and clothes are not my strong suit but I do know what goes with what and I do respect some basic rules of society’s dress code.
Sadly this man didn’t.
And too often these days we are seeing men, and women, failing to pay the slightest attention to what they are wearing, how they are wearing and how ridiculous they look.
Let me try describe this man’s outfit.
Firstly he was wearing on his feet a pair of light brown ersatz suede slip-on training shoes. However given this man’s shape the only sport he could possibly be in training for was darts.
Above these shoes he wore a pair of very long baggy shorts in the bri-est of black bri-nylon whose length ballooned down his skinny pale legs to just a couple of inches above his trainers.
And the shirt completed the ensemble. It was a baggy green shirt in the finest polystyrene. However the green was not the green of grass but was a shade of green that you would only see in a Dali painting or when under the influence of hallucinogenic drugs. Indeed the last time I saw this particular shade of puce was after an especially dodgy prawn bhuna.
Get the picture?
I cannot believe that this man thought his dress was acceptable.
Sadly this is a sight we see too often these days on our high streets. And it is not a sight confined to men. Women too have been known to put together some absolutely horrendous collections of colours and styles. Sometimes with women all that happens is they end up looking like mutton dressed as mutton.
And when we see these pictures we only want to scream ‘....what exactly were you thinking of when you bought those clothes? What made you think that that combination of styles and colours made you look good?’
Now maybe it’s only me but I do think that some people need to be stopped from buying certain items of inappropriate clothing before they make a right fool of themselves when out in public. Just like my man.
Those of you who are regular readers of these fine words will be aware that I am not a big fan of nanny-ism but sometimes there is no alternative and it is in some people’s best interests that they are stopped from self harm and self humiliation.
Yes, I do know that fashion is a subjective thing but some people and some wardrobe items just do not mix and even those deemed visually impaired could take steps to stop such obvious fashion faux pas.
To avoid future fashion disasters it might be best if we trained our sales assistants to politely advise their customers that if they wore what they are intent on purchasing they would be committing a crime against human decency and that they would be better buying something else.
Don’t you agree?
Please feel free to share the fashion disasters you have seen.
Have a great week.
Sis Felix. Et sis fortunatus.
No politics this week however.
Is it only me...but some people really do need protecting from themselves.
A few nights back I was travelling home. And standing at a bus stop at the side of the road was a man five feet nothing tall and roughly the same in breadth and depth. He was almost a perfect cube.
However it was not his shape that intrigued me but what he was wearing.
Now before I go on, I acknowledge freely that fashions and clothes are not my strong suit but I do know what goes with what and I do respect some basic rules of society’s dress code.
Sadly this man didn’t.
And too often these days we are seeing men, and women, failing to pay the slightest attention to what they are wearing, how they are wearing and how ridiculous they look.
Let me try describe this man’s outfit.
Firstly he was wearing on his feet a pair of light brown ersatz suede slip-on training shoes. However given this man’s shape the only sport he could possibly be in training for was darts.
Above these shoes he wore a pair of very long baggy shorts in the bri-est of black bri-nylon whose length ballooned down his skinny pale legs to just a couple of inches above his trainers.
And the shirt completed the ensemble. It was a baggy green shirt in the finest polystyrene. However the green was not the green of grass but was a shade of green that you would only see in a Dali painting or when under the influence of hallucinogenic drugs. Indeed the last time I saw this particular shade of puce was after an especially dodgy prawn bhuna.
Get the picture?
I cannot believe that this man thought his dress was acceptable.
Sadly this is a sight we see too often these days on our high streets. And it is not a sight confined to men. Women too have been known to put together some absolutely horrendous collections of colours and styles. Sometimes with women all that happens is they end up looking like mutton dressed as mutton.
And when we see these pictures we only want to scream ‘....what exactly were you thinking of when you bought those clothes? What made you think that that combination of styles and colours made you look good?’
Now maybe it’s only me but I do think that some people need to be stopped from buying certain items of inappropriate clothing before they make a right fool of themselves when out in public. Just like my man.
Those of you who are regular readers of these fine words will be aware that I am not a big fan of nanny-ism but sometimes there is no alternative and it is in some people’s best interests that they are stopped from self harm and self humiliation.
Yes, I do know that fashion is a subjective thing but some people and some wardrobe items just do not mix and even those deemed visually impaired could take steps to stop such obvious fashion faux pas.
To avoid future fashion disasters it might be best if we trained our sales assistants to politely advise their customers that if they wore what they are intent on purchasing they would be committing a crime against human decency and that they would be better buying something else.
Don’t you agree?
Please feel free to share the fashion disasters you have seen.
Have a great week.
Sis Felix. Et sis fortunatus.
Thursday 7 June 2012
You turn if you want to
Well, thank god that the huge extravaganza that was the Jubilee is over. Maybe now we can get back to doing some work and help get Your Queen’s nation back on its feet. Someone has to.
I am not going to prolong the monopolisation of our media by this orgy of obsequious fawning but instead respond to some recent political happenings.
And maybe it’s only me...but I do prefer to be governed by people who listen.
In recent weeks we have seen the Two Caesars, and their Money Man, change tack on tax on pasties, charities and caravans. And every change of tack has been greeted with howls of derision from the Last Lot and accusations of making a u-turn as if this was a very bad thing to do.
The intention to change the tax regime on these items was announced in the Budget and then having listened to the concerns of those affected, the Two Caesars and their supporters decided that these changes would cause more harm than good.
Now maybe it’s only me but I think that is a good thing. It shows that we are governed by people who listen.
So unlike the Last Lot who ploughed on regardless of the damage inflicted by their policies. And boy did they cause some damage. We are in fact still paying for their headlong pursuit of policies on which they believed they were right and everyone else was wrong.
Now it could be argued that maybe those in charge of the tax policy on pasties and the other things should have done their consultation beforehand. How could they? If they had done this, as sure as eggs, their thinking and proposals would have leaked and been attacked by all sorts of crusading lobby groups. Budgets are like sausages and it is not edifying to know how they are made, to mis-quote Bismarck.
Instead they did the right thing. Sharpened their thinking and proposition behind the scenes, as any business developing a new product might, and then road tested the policy with those most affected. Is this not the right way to do things?
If you are out in the car and you come to a dead end. What do you do? Plough on and write off the car? Or U Turn? Surely turning round is the right thing to do in this instance. And no one would criticise you for doing this.
And in my humble opinion our political process and our democracy are better served when listening and responding to the electorate is to be applauded rather than characterised as a humiliating climb-down.
As Maynard Keynes once said ‘’When the facts change, I change my mind. What do you do, sir?’’
Hear hear.
Have a great week.
Sis felix. Et sis fortunatus.
I am not going to prolong the monopolisation of our media by this orgy of obsequious fawning but instead respond to some recent political happenings.
And maybe it’s only me...but I do prefer to be governed by people who listen.
In recent weeks we have seen the Two Caesars, and their Money Man, change tack on tax on pasties, charities and caravans. And every change of tack has been greeted with howls of derision from the Last Lot and accusations of making a u-turn as if this was a very bad thing to do.
The intention to change the tax regime on these items was announced in the Budget and then having listened to the concerns of those affected, the Two Caesars and their supporters decided that these changes would cause more harm than good.
Now maybe it’s only me but I think that is a good thing. It shows that we are governed by people who listen.
So unlike the Last Lot who ploughed on regardless of the damage inflicted by their policies. And boy did they cause some damage. We are in fact still paying for their headlong pursuit of policies on which they believed they were right and everyone else was wrong.
Now it could be argued that maybe those in charge of the tax policy on pasties and the other things should have done their consultation beforehand. How could they? If they had done this, as sure as eggs, their thinking and proposals would have leaked and been attacked by all sorts of crusading lobby groups. Budgets are like sausages and it is not edifying to know how they are made, to mis-quote Bismarck.
Instead they did the right thing. Sharpened their thinking and proposition behind the scenes, as any business developing a new product might, and then road tested the policy with those most affected. Is this not the right way to do things?
If you are out in the car and you come to a dead end. What do you do? Plough on and write off the car? Or U Turn? Surely turning round is the right thing to do in this instance. And no one would criticise you for doing this.
And in my humble opinion our political process and our democracy are better served when listening and responding to the electorate is to be applauded rather than characterised as a humiliating climb-down.
As Maynard Keynes once said ‘’When the facts change, I change my mind. What do you do, sir?’’
Hear hear.
Have a great week.
Sis felix. Et sis fortunatus.
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