Nick Browne's Commonplace Book :
Updated: 30/04/2002; 05:59:43.

 

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26 April 2002
Villa Beaumarchais

We are off to Paris for a long weekend, staying in the Villa Beaumarchais, so there will be no more posting here until Tuesday. Au revoir!


5:29:50 PM    
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Email from John my brother. A story about Rugby, Wales and England.

A meteorite strike on Twickenham during the six nation, prior to the England Wales match, killing both Steve Hansen & Clive Woodwood. They both ascend to heaven and are met by the boss.

"Welcome Gentlemen" says God," Allow me to show you to your accommodation."

He takes Clive for a short walk through the beautiful countryside to a lovely little cottage. The thatch roof forms a St. George's Cross, the bees in the garden gently hum 'Sweet Chariot' and beside the path are Groggs of David Duckham & Jerry Gusgott.

"Gosh, lord, I don't know what to say!" says Clive, and goes inside.

While checking the kitchen, he glances out of the window and up the hill, to see a glorious stately mansion. The huge lawn is covered in daffodils, and giant leeks grow in the veg plot! Dragons fly from the battlements, and fifteen-foot golden statues of Gareth Edwards, Barry John, Ieuan Evans and Rob Howley stand guard over a colossal flower bed of prize roses spelling out 'Cymru am Byth'

Going back outside, Clive says to God:" Lord, I'm deeply honoured, but I have to ask - how come Steve Hansen's house is so much...well... nicer?"

God laughs and puts a consoling arm around Clive's shoulder.

"There, there, Clive!" Says God,"That's not Steve's house - it's mine!"


1:16:33 PM    
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Scandal in the Church

"In studying the long history of Catholicism, one realizes that as bad as things are, they have been worse before. And yet the Church survives because the life of faith, in a man or in a people, is an unpredictable thing. As Monsignor Albacete recently told me, "If, in addition to all the terrible things we have learned, if tomorrow it was revealed that the pope had a harem, that all the cardinals had made money on Enron stock and were involved in Internet porno, then the situation of the Church today would be similar to the situation of the Church in the late twelfth century ... when Francis of Assisi first kissed a leper." Saints, not bishops, will remake the face of the Church, and the making of saints is God's work. It would be wonderful indeed if every bishop were a saint. But the current crisis could have been avoided if the bishops had merely remembered they were human beings."


1:14:54 PM    
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Tony Blair and the Theatre

Interesting little background point from an otherwise bland interview with Tony Blair, "the security rigmarole makes going to the theatre easier for Blair than to the cinema: theatres stand empty all day and can be swept for devices more cleanly than cinemas".

I suppose its more of a comment on me than anyone else that I'm intrigued by this tit bit alone.


12:31:31 PM    
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Leave London by train after work on Thursday and be in Barcelona for coffee the next morning
Matthew Parris has found a secret railway. I'm off to Paris on Eurostar tomorrow morning. We flew to Barcelona for the weekend last year, so this intrigues me greatly.
10:38:24 AM    
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Airwave Web Site
Just found this.
10:20:45 AM    
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Electronic courts scheme in crisis talks. A project to link hundreds of magistrates' courts in the UK electronically may have to be abandoned according to the Register. There really do seem to be a lot of accidents waiting to happen in this area. See my posting on Airwave earlier this week.
10:14:29 AM    
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More worries for wobbly Wacko
Life has not been kind to Michael Jackson of late. His Invincible album was panned by the critics and has sold badly. Now rumours suggest the former 'King Of Pop' has big money worries. How can this be, asks James Langton?

9:35:02 AM    
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When I Met Tony
"Many moons ago I met Tony in a Labour constituency club. After some drinks, my brother and I went off to a side room to play pool. After a while, Tony also decided he'd had enough of drinking and wanted a shot of himself playing pool to go on television. Cameras rushed in and Tony asked if he could take a shot. Obviously, being proud upholders of the rule of pool, we told him we had money on the table and he could wait his turn. And so we carried on playing away at our little game until the level of frustration in the room was so tangible that we decided he could take a shot - but only one - and he had to promise not to cock it up. (Which he did - he's crap at pool.) The cameras later did shots of my brother's hands playing because Tony's shot was so laughable he would never have won the election."
Simon Briton
9:31:46 AM    
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Meg Hourihan: My experience using personas. Interesting ideas for development. Always try and put yourself in the mind of the user.
8:48:53 AM    
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Kevin Werbach notes Wi-Fi sales stun spectrum experts. Wi-Fi card sales are 1.5 million units per month! Wow. It will be impossible to stop this seeping through organisations regardless of security concerns. I have always thought that we should plan our business as if there is only one network in the world connecting every device. What this inevitably will demand is that security is implemented on the device. Its simply not prudent to plan to sit on a secure network behind a firewall.


8:38:17 AM    
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© Copyright 2002 Nick Browne.



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