Archive For The “Opinion” Category
Your space or mine: a model for relationships? Last weekend I bought an ipod docking station. The shop assistant and I had little in common; unlike me, he was probably in his late teens, he clearly knew all about sound systems (after all he had just advised me on the pros and cons of buying a…
I hate the term silver surfer. It sounds vaguely sleazy. In my imaginary sitcom “Silver Surfer” the lead is a Terry Thomas sort of character; a know-all brilliantined cad in bow tie or cravat and blazer, propping up the golf club bar (and played so well by Eric Idle in the Monty Python sketch) ….
During my career I spent years finishing and delivering completed bits of work. And, in retirement this has continued unabated although at a rather different level (last week it was one article, two blogs and some French homework!). Whatever the work, what strikes me as mysterious is how I (or anyone else) seem to be…
Verbal molestation: the light and dark sides of broadcast conversation There can be little more invasive than unwanted noise. Aeroplanes, trains, even music (pressed to the loudspeaker at a rock concert, the overloud iPod) can bombard and make life unpleasant, and even painful. Well, that is classic noise pollution for which there are laws; but what about…

I am now 67 and am having the time of my life. Inevitably, the way I am feeling and acting now is the product of both my age and my recent retirement, and the exact contribution of the two components is difficult to disentangle. I actually retired from being an academic with an active role in…