Culture and Countries
For those of you old enough to be around before personal computers became a permanent fixture in everyday life, spam had a different meaning. In 1937, the Hormel Foods Corporation introduced a meat product called “Spam”, which is still available today. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the origin of
Books
I have always had an interest in books, but should have read more than I have. My excuse? That the books that matter are too bulky. The arrival of e-books has totally destroyed this excuse. My iPad now carries Oscar Wilde Complete Works Ultimate Collection (140+ works), Works of
Language & Writing
According to the New York Times, HSBC has settled management succession at the top after its current Chairman Stephen Green departs to become UK Trade Minister. It has been a week of tumultuous week of public relations damage control. HSBC is not known to be flamboyant or attention seeking. The
Language & Writing
In the money-frenzied and celebrity-gossip-hungry world of modern media, it is not surprising that the decision by Middlesex University in the UK to close its philosophy department did not make the headlines. It would have passed unnoticed had it not provoked a three-week sit-in by
Communication
It has been a harrowing few weeks, and finding time to write original material for the blog has been a challenge. I tried to recycle material I had received from friends and associates, but that turned out to be quite inadequate as well.Instead I spent the little time I
Communication
A colleague and I changed our travel plans at short notice and decided to take an earlier flight than the one we had booked. There were no seats available in business class on that flight, so they had to re-book my colleague into economy. This was the question the
Language & Writing
“Language,” André Brink says, “is the starting point of literature, an invention in and through language.” As someone who writes in both English and Afrikaans, he should know. He tells me that since the transition to multi-racial democracy in South Africa, more literature is written in Afrikaans, often seen
Language & Writing
John Naisbitt the futurist held a discussion session at the AustCham Regional Conference. The gist of his talk: - The Western representative democracy model is essentially “horizontal” with two parties slugging it out every few years - This model has been rendered dysfunctional and inoperative by the information revolution - An alternative “vertical”
Classical
There isn’t a great deal in common among Robert Schumann, Frédéric Chopin and Gustav Mahler – except perhaps that they delineate early and late stages of what is often described as the romantic period in music. In 2010, important anniversaries of their birth bring them together – Schumann and Chopin two