Possessions

I think possessions mean less to one as one gets older.  The above was given to me in August 1939, as a Christening present.  The donor was a friend of my father, whom I only ever met once as an adult.  His name was Gordon, hence me having having the same name among mine.
We recently had the birth of a little boy not far from us, called Brennen Grant Miller.  I thought he might enjoy this pewter tankard, which has stayed with me all my life.  I hope it brings him happiness.

The Future of Education

My friend, Kevin in the Marina, sent me this fascinating video about the future of education.  It's given by and Englishman and it's animated.  It's quite long but a different approach to a subject that affects us all.  Try and take the 11 minutes to watch it. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDZFcDGpL4U

Sunday's Column - Lincoln

Today is the Birthday of President Abraham Lincoln, perhaps the greatest of all American presidents.  In the city of Redlands some 30 miles from here there is a shrine devoted to this icon of democracy.  It was donated to the city by a Englishman called Robert Watchorn, who went down the mines of Derbyshire when he was only 11.  Eventually with about $5 in his pocket he emigrated to America and became a very wealthy man.  He, like Lincoln, came from very humble beginnings and he became a student of the ex-president, who himself had never been further west than Council Bluffs in Iowa.  You can read the entire column as www.sbsun.com/trevorstravels

Bears

We have a number of bear carvers up here.  They take big trunks of trees and turn them into wonderful reproductions of wildlife.  Mostly there are a couple of types of carvings.  The whimsical ones like this -

And then there are the more anatomically correct ones like this -

Both of these stand well over six feet tall and they represent a lot of work for the carver.  They also sell for quite a bit of money.  Around $3500 a shot for one this size.

I was told years ago that in order to produce a sculpture all you have to do is imagine the figure you want to carve and then cut away the excess.  So that is what's going to happen to the head on this one - Easy!!!!!

There will be an article coming up soon in The Sun, so I'll not go on more about this subject.  Stay tuned!

Music Track - Bennett - Krall

"The Best is Yet to Come," are the words carved on Frank Sinatra's gravestone in Palm Springs.  Here it is sung by Tony Bennett and Diana Krall.  Prettty nice stuff - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7tX4rjHMBCQ&feature=related

Balls!

There seems to be some confusion in America about the relative sizes and hardness of baseballs and cricket balls.  I actually got into an argument once with a fellow, who told me that cricket balls were a lot bigger and also softer.  Well, here is the proof.  Cricket ball on the top - Baseball (actually a souvenir from the winning Dodgers World Series team for 1988!) on the bottom.  Not a lot of difference in size is there?  As for hardness, well the cricket ball is a little harder with its polished leather outer skin around a wooden core.  Also the seam is a lot more raised.

Unlike baseball where the balls are constantly being discarded due to marks from the ground, the cricket ball is used as long as possible.  In fact its condition dictates the type of bowler (pitcher) to be used.  Fast bowlers - up to 90 m.p.h. - use the shiny ball, and then the slow bowlers come on and spin it.  Always of course, off the ground - never directly at the batsman (batter) like in baseball.  I hope that clears up the confusion.

Books

We've come to the end of the Also Ran Movie list and as this weekly feature has been so popular - people come up to me in the supermarket - I thought I would begin to post a top ten of my favorite books.  I've been an avid reader my entire life - well ever since I was about five and learned to read comics when I had the measels; according to my mother, who had a hard time keeping up with my appetite

Firstly, I went to my usual source for a natty picture of books, and not being happy with what was on offer, I decided I would use the bookcase I have in my office.  Mostly it holds biographies, history and reference books.  The other ones are dotted around various shelves in the rest of the house.  So starting next week, I'll post a favorite book starting with number ten.