The Paddock

All week, Sam Cooke’s song has been going round my brain, for obvious reasons - not knowing that there was this excellent video with Seal on YouTube.

And then, spookily enough, we watched an old episode of the West Wing this evening - with James Taylor singing this….

My favourite (with all due respect to the original) remains the version by the Neville Brothers (and Daniel Lanois) - one of my all time top 10 (first heard in Uppsala on speakers that came from Abba’s studios - but that’s another story)

Funny ‘old world.  You may have seen my post from last year about the alumni reunion at Bristol and how I surprised myself by remembering the Time-independent Schrödinger equation

On my flight back from Denver last night / this morning/ whatever, the chap sat next to me started chatting. We started off on US politics, but eventually the conversation turned around to “work”.

Turned out he was Prof. A Szabo from the University at Boulder. His field is Quantum Chemistry, so we got into a detailed discussion (for me) about both the Time-independent Schrödinger equation and the  Time-Dependent Schrödinger equation

 

Funny what you get into on a long plane flight. As Heisenberg would have said - “you can never be sure”

 

 

I was impressed when I first heard about the LHC and the Compact Muon Solenoid at CERN. But also slightly amused.

Back 50-60 years ago, my late Grandfather worked with Professor Powell on the discovery of the π meson - for which Powell earned a Nobel Prize in 1950 “for his development of the photographic method of studying nuclear processes and his discoveries regarding mesons made with this method“.

Yes - “photograhic method” = glass plates & 35mm film. Not machines the size of cathedrals and particle beams travelling an Einstein’s hair’s-breath from the speed of light. Photographic plates, high altitude balloons and “cosmic rays” - that was it.

OK - it was a different scale of particles. But nearly as significant in its time. Interesting to compare how the method has moved on!

This has been a hard post to compose - I’ve been trying to think how to write this for weeks. But I’ve decided instead of planning, I’ll just free-from write -I need to do this so I can reset the blog stream and catch up.

While I was with our 2 boys at Scout camp at the end of July, my Dad was rushed to hospital with a heart attack and died.  It was all very sudden and unexpected. The next couple of days, then couple of weeks, was an intense period of dealing with the practicalities - as an alternative to really facing up to the shock.

I could get maudlin, or resort to cliches. One day, I will write up what a really special one-off he was; with a breadth and depth of knowledge we already miss.  He really was  someone that could combine deep science with art, a love of nature and a mentor to his kids. But it’s still sinking in.
- OK - I said no maudlin stuff.-

My Mum is struggling a little since then; she’s holding up emotionally, but a she’s a bit poorly in her own right. My brother and sister (and her own siblings) have been stalwarts in helping her.
Jan & my boys supported me, while coping themselves; they’re incredible. We carried on with our planned holiday in Brittany, got back late last week. And now we’re back to work / school. Back to normality - but there’s a hole in our lives.

OK; so that’s the story of the last few weeks. Time to re-engage.

Caught up on the rest of the Kings of Leon from day 1; they’ve come a long way, and truned in a great set. But I miss the beards.

Spotted a Elbow performing “One day like this”: one of those great moments when the mood, the weather and the music combine together to create something bigger.

But the stand out memory will be the fragile incandescence of Am Winehouse. Hard to describe - you have to see it.

But it looks like the BBC did not broadcast or record Seasick Steve. Boo!

…. from the sofa. So far this evening, the Editors have been a highlight. I think Alexis Petridis was wrong when he described them (in GQ) as an ITV2 version of Joy Division. For a start Joy Division are (were) in league of their own. More like an English version of Killers….

We are scientists were interesting - Jan said “emotional, and professional with it”. Estelle was an excellent contrasting piece of R’n'B - but what was the ostrich costume? The Ting Tings continue to be musical Marmite - love ‘em or hate ‘em. Maybe they are the anti-White Stripes?

Great fun was had by the kids at the schools Medieval day. Calum was King William (the Conqueror), and Connor hammed it up as a jester - a role at which he seems to be a natural…..

One hundred years of the Territorial Army: this is hard to summarise. One of Jan’s colleagues, Steve, is in the TA, and was part of a pageant in London’s Horseguards Parade, celebrating 100 years of the TA. He was riding a horse in a cameo about the last invasion of Britain- the French in Fishguard, Pembrokeshire ( we know the pub where the surrender was signed)
He offered tickets: Jan could not make it - she was involved in an office move that weekend - MoJ moving to their new home. So it ws the 2 boys & me. We ended up in seats in the grandstand, surrounded by people with medals, braid etc., and next to the Royal box.

It’s hard to describe: a serious piece of military pride. And, although it’s not something I’ve done (since school cadets), I do respect it. Especially the TA’s: and they are not amateurs. They have civilian lives AND they are soldiers. This really came home to me when we got to know another member of Jan’s staff at that time, Adam, who was a member of the “Artists’ Rifles” - which sounds innocuous, but is the reserve of the SAS.

Anyhow, apart from seeing Charles & Camilla in the flesh, we were able to follow the trooping up the Mall. An unusual thing for us - but a privilege.

There are so many ancient sites around this part of the world. Avebury is quite special: less famous than Stonehenge, but spectactular in its own way.

A quick climb up the hill, to find the butterflies were about….