Ocular occamy...

---

[Edited - 'dead' image removed] Purple Reign? Certainly no purple patch? Arsenal are probably doing better than last year but not lighting many fires yet: all the new additions are playing well enough, especially Cazorla, but the Gunners are still waiting for their first goal of the season. Two games, two points: average possession 65%, goals for/against: 0/0, corners for/against: 18/0 attempts on goal for against: 39/11.


occamy: n. - alloy imitating silver or gold.

Ocular occamy...

---

[Edited - 'dead' image removed] Purple Reign? Certainly no purple patch? Arsenal are probably doing better than last year but not lighting many fires yet: all the new additions are playing well enough, especially Cazorla, but the Gunners are still waiting for their first goal of the season. Two games, two points: average possession 65%, goals for/against: 0/0, corners for/against: 18/0 attempts on goal for against: 39/11.
occamy: n. - alloy imitating silver or gold.

Ocular occamy...

---

Purple Reign? Certainly no purple patch? Arsenal are probably doing better than last year but not lighting many fires yet: all the new additions are playing well enough, especially Cazorla, but the Gunners are still waiting for their first goal of the season. Two games, two points: average possession 65%, goals for/against: 0/0, corners for/against: 18/0 attempts on goal for against: 39/11.

occamy: n. - alloy imitating silver or gold.

Obama's overwriting officials...

---

"The mud is flying, and it's only August"...why did we think it would be any different? "Obama or Romney, who's more scary?" writes Ruben Navarrette Jr. (CNN). I must say I have not been impressed by Obama at all, and why should I or anyone have expected to be impressed? He was only elected because he is black (yes he was) and he's not even black, said a Freeman last month! However, good or bad, he/they should not be 'rewriting history; it seems clearer what the 30% increase in State Department budget since Obama took office is being spent on:

Inserting himself into the biographies of past presidents on the White House website apparently wasn’t enough for President Obama. His State Department is now editing its descriptions of foreign countries into yet another taxpayer-subsidized campaign commercial for the Obama Administration.

Amy Payne at The Heritage Foundation's The Foundry blog "American officeholders are supposed to take great pains to separate their campaigns from their official duties. Using taxpayer resources to blatantly promote the president’s positions on foreign policy—and even editing the historical record—is an egregious abuse of power." She is not wrong.

Obama's overwriting officials...

---

"The mud is flying, and it's only August"...why did we think it would be any different? "Obama or Romney, who's more scary?" writes Ruben Navarrette Jr. (CNN). I must say I have not been impressed by Obama at all, and why should I or anyone have expected to be impressed? He was only elected because he is black (yes he was) and he's not even black, said a Freeman last month! However, good or bad, he/they should not be 'rewriting history; it seems clearer what the 30% increase in State Department budget since Obama took office is being spent on:

Inserting himself into the biographies of past presidents on the White House website apparently wasn’t enough for President Obama. His State Department is now editing its descriptions of foreign countries into yet another taxpayer-subsidized campaign commercial for the Obama Administration.

Amy Payne at The Heritage Foundation's The Foundry blog "American officeholders are supposed to take great pains to separate their campaigns from their official duties. Using taxpayer resources to blatantly promote the president’s positions on foreign policy—and even editing the historical record—is an egregious abuse of power." She is not wrong.

Our Olympians...

---

London 2012: every Great Britain and Northern Ireland medal winner. Images from Politimo.

P.S. Interesting to read a post I wrote in June 2007: Olympian obscenity; all's well that ends well?

Our Olympians...

---

London 2012: every Great Britain and Northern Ireland medal winner. Images from Politimo.

P.S. Interesting to read a post I wrote in June 2007: Olympian obscenity; all's well that ends well?

Outstanding Olympics over II...

---

I don't want to end what has been a fantastic Olympics - especially for for Great Britain - on a sour note but...this is as good as it gets, as good as it will get: the Rio 2016 table may well have a similar top ten but we won't be third (and first or second is simply not going to happen): 65 medals in total; medals in 19 different events; gold/s in 13 of those events [Link], totally unexpected; absolutely fabulous. We have seen so many good role models the last two weeks: not spoilt football mega-rich brats, not soap opera slebs or reality TV wannabes but good strong patriotic excellence in British sportsmen and women. I hope at least part of the much mentioned legacy is to goad the UK's youngsters outside, GOAD, Go Out And Do!



Update, 13th August: opinions from around the world [BBC]

Outstanding Olympics over II...

---

I don't want to end what has been a fantastic Olympics - especially for for Great Britain - on a sour note but...this is as good as it gets, as good as it will get: the Rio 2016 table may well have a similar top ten but we won't be third (and first or second is simply not going to happen): 65 medals in total; medals in 19 different events; gold/s in 13 of those events [Link], totally unexpected; absolutely fabulous. We have seen so many good role models the last two weeks: not spoilt football mega-rich brats, not soap opera slebs or reality TV wannabes but good strong patriotic excellence in British sportsmen and women. I hope at least part of the much mentioned legacy is to goad the UK's youngsters outside, GOAD, Go Out And Do!

Update, 13th August: opinions from around the world [BBC]

Original OMG?...

---

Was the original use of the now ubiquitous TLA* OMG in a letter to the original outstanding orator? We'll never really know but Letters of Note editor Shaun Usher has pointed out "what might be the first known usage of O.M.G., in a September 1917 missive from British admiral John Arbuthnot "Jacky" Fisher (or Lord Fisher**) to Sir Winston Churchill.". Hat-tip New York Magazine. Click on image to enlarge and read. Certainly the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) suggests it was the first usage.

* TLA = Three Letter Acronym (aha!)

** Lord Fisher is often considered the second most important figure in British naval history, after Lord Nelson [Wiki]

Original OMG?...

---

Was the original use of the now ubiquitous TLA* OMG in a letter to the original outstanding orator? We'll never really know but Letters of Note editor Shaun Usher has pointed out "what might be the first known usage of O.M.G., in a September 1917 missive from British admiral John Arbuthnot "Jacky" Fisher (or Lord Fisher**) to Sir Winston Churchill.". Hat-tip New York Magazine. Click on image to enlarge and read. Certainly the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) suggests it was the first usage.

* TLA = Three Letter Acronym (aha!)
** Lord Fisher is often considered the second most important figure in British naval history, after Lord Nelson [Wiki]

Olympic originals...

---

Olympic success in many sports is usually down to immense natural talent and very good training ...and, as I've mentioned before, dedication, money and time. In some events, many 'marginal gains' are the Crux of the matter: "This unique process has resulted in a smaller, safer helmet that utilises its shape and structure to surpass other off-the-shelf cycle-helmet designs". Yeah, but apart from that it was still - by far and away - the coolest helmet on show.

Olympic originals...

---

Olympic success in many sports is usually down to immense natural talent and very good training ...and, as I've mentioned before, dedication, money and time. In some events, many 'marginal gains' are the Crux of the matter: "This unique process has resulted in a smaller, safer helmet that utilises its shape and structure to surpass other off-the-shelf cycle-helmet designs". Yeah, but apart from that it was still - by far and away - the coolest helmet on show.

Overt obloquy....

---

How can 'The Left' ever find solutions (to problems they have caused) if they simply have no idea what the actual problem is? YAB in the Independent is so far off target with her attempt to use GB's Olympic success against those do not agree with open border immigration : "Anyone who now thinks Britain is too multicultural?" LINK. "I wonder how the formidable anti-immigration prophets and campaigners react when medals are won by super-fit migrants and children of migrants"...WTF? Is she really so completely clueless as to what the immigration debate is about or "What multiculturalism really means"?

Overt obloquy....

---

How can 'The Left' ever find solutions (to problems they have caused) if they simply have no idea what the actual problem is? YAB in the Independent is so far off target with her attempt to use GB's Olympic success against those do not agree with open border immigration : "Anyone who now thinks Britain is too multicultural?" LINK. "I wonder how the formidable anti-immigration prophets and campaigners react when medals are won by super-fit migrants and children of migrants"...WTF? Is she really so completely clueless as to what the immigration debate is about or "What multiculturalism really means"?

Original outstanding orator...

---

You may think I should write about the Olympics again (what...a...day: Britain's greatest Olympics day since 1908, that middle link from Cranmer) but this is about another truly Great Briton: the Morgan Library and Museum in New York [Link] is holding an exhibition entitled "Churchill: The Power of Words": visitors (crowds have exceeded all expectations) can listen to (and read) the many speeches and see and read the notes, letters, documents etc 'full of annotations and alterations made by Churchill himself'. Allen Packwood, co‑curator of the exhibition and director of the Churchill Archives in Cambridge said "Our aim was to present Churchill in his own words",



[Edited: 'dead' image removed]
"To let visitors hear his voice. To let them read his wartime speeches and see how they were constructed. We wanted to show the blood, toil, tears and sweat that went into his compositions. Because those words mattered. They had a profound effect on Britain, on Europe and on the United States." [DT]



Edward Rothstein, in his fantastic Exhibition Review in the NYT back in June wrote:

"...what the rest of this fine exhibition accomplishes is to show how Churchill’s words can seem the expression of a life force, mixing mercurial passions and extraordinary discipline, passionate devotion and exuberant self-promotion, extravagant indulgence and ruthless analysis." [NYT]

If a quick trip across the pond isn't on the cards then perhaps a visit to the site that the museum has launched in conjunction with the Churchill Archives Centre: discoverChurchill.org. Reading and listening I find myself moved beyond words (something Winnie never suffered!).



"Action This Day"!

Original outstanding orator...

---

You may think I should write about the Olympics again (what...a...day: Britain's greatest Olympics day since 1908, that middle link from Cranmer) but this is about another truly Great Briton: the Morgan Library and Museum in New York [Link] is holding an exhibition entitled "Churchill: The Power of Words": visitors (crowds have exceeded all expectations) can listen to (and read) the many speeches and see and read the notes, letters, documents etc 'full of annotations and alterations made by Churchill himself'. Allen Packwood, co‑curator of the exhibition and director of the Churchill Archives in Cambridge said "Our aim was to present Churchill in his own words",

[Edited: 'dead' image removed] "To let visitors hear his voice. To let them read his wartime speeches and see how they were constructed. We wanted to show the blood, toil, tears and sweat that went into his compositions. Because those words mattered. They had a profound effect on Britain, on Europe and on the United States." [DT]

Edward Rothstein, in his fantastic Exhibition Review in the NYT back in June wrote:

"...what the rest of this fine exhibition accomplishes is to show how Churchill’s words can seem the expression of a life force, mixing mercurial passions and extraordinary discipline, passionate devotion and exuberant self-promotion, extravagant indulgence and ruthless analysis." [NYT]

If a quick trip across the pond isn't on the cards then perhaps a visit to the site that the museum has launched in conjunction with the Churchill Archives Centre: discoverChurchill.org. Reading and listening I find myself moved beyond words (something Winnie never suffered!).

"Action This Day"!

Original outstanding orator...

---

You may think I should write about the Olympics again (what...a...day: Britain's greatest Olympics day since 1908, that middle link from Cranmer) but this is about another truly Great Briton: the Morgan Library and Museum in New York [Link] is holding an exhibition entitled "Churchill: The Power of Words": visitors (crowds have exceeded all expectations) can listen to (and read) the many speeches and see and read the notes, letters, documents etc 'full of annotations and alterations made by Churchill himself'. Allen Packwood, co‑curator of the exhibition and director of the Churchill Archives in Cambridge said "Our aim was to present Churchill in his own words",

 

"To let visitors hear his voice. To let them read his wartime speeches and see how they were constructed. We wanted to show the blood, toil, tears and sweat that went into his compositions. Because those words mattered. They had a profound effect on Britain, on Europe and on the United States." [DT]

Edward Rothstein, in his fantastic Exhibition Review in the NYT back in June wrote:

"...what the rest of this fine exhibition accomplishes is to show how Churchill’s words can seem the expression of a life force, mixing mercurial passions and extraordinary discipline, passionate devotion and exuberant self-promotion, extravagant indulgence and ruthless analysis." [NYT]

If a quick trip across the pond isn't on the cards then perhaps a visit to the site that the museum has launched in conjunction with the Churchill Archives Centre: discoverChurchill.org. Reading and listening I find myself moved beyond words (something Winnie never suffered!).

"Action This Day"!

Olympian overhaul...

---

"Olympics 'dominated by privately educated'" screams the headline. I ask how many of those Chinese, US, Korean, Kazakh, and Russian athletes are privately educated. Not so: Conservative politician Lord Moynihan, Chairman of the British Olympic Association [BOA] (and a gold medal winner himself: cocks cox) says that the number of British medallists that were educated at independent schools was one of the "worst statistics in British sport"; he was on about the percentage of Beijing medal winners over half of whom were from the 7% of the UK population that are privately educated. A 'Future priority' must be identifying and developing the talent from the other 93%. I would say that the fact that "The vast majority of Britain's athletes competing in London 2012 were state-educated" [DT] shows things are already being done.

Readdressing my sarcastic comment about the other countries: very few sports these days, at elite level, are simple or cheap; apart from natural talent and parental (and/or coach) support and encouragement to get the ball rolling, it takes time and money and dedication; and then more time and money and time and money and dedication. (gratuitous sexy photo of Victoria Pendleton, click for a better view)



Update: "But is the under-representation of state-school-educated athletes in Britain's Olympic medal table really down to the sharp elbows of the posh? Or is it down to the retiring of the competitive ethos and the rise of a culture of low expectations in state schools themselves? I think it's the latter. [so do I!!] Just as state-school pupils are no longer considered capable of learning Latin or of reading too many classic texts that are not "relevant" to their lives, so they are also considered incapable of handling the pressures of competitive sport. On many state-school playing fields, all-out, hardcore competition, the ideal of being the best and proving you are the best, is frowned upon as inappropriate, as potentially giving rise to an unacceptable social divide between "winners" and "losers". State-school sports lessons are now more about boosting kids' self-esteem and shrinking their waistlines than about encouraging them to be singular, head-strong winners – and that is not conducive to creating future Olympians." Brendan O'Neill, State School attitudes...[Link]

Olympian overhaul...

---

"Olympics 'dominated by privately educated'" screams the headline. I ask how many of those Chinese, US, Korean, Kazakh, and Russian athletes are privately educated. Not so: Conservative politician Lord Moynihan, Chairman of the British Olympic Association [BOA] (and a gold medal winner himself: cocks cox) says that the number of British medallists that were educated at independent schools was one of the "worst statistics in British sport"; he was on about the percentage of Beijing medal winners over half of whom were from the 7% of the UK population that are privately educated. A 'Future priority' must be identifying and developing the talent from the other 93%. I would say that the fact that "The vast majority of Britain's athletes competing in London 2012 were state-educated" [DT] shows things are already being done. Readdressing my sarcastic comment about the other countries: very few sports these days, at elite level, are simple or cheap; apart from natural talent and parental (and/or coach) support and encouragement to get the ball rolling, it takes time and money and dedication; and then more time and money and time and money and dedication. (gratuitous sexy photo of Victoria Pendleton, click for a better view)

Update: "But is the under-representation of state-school-educated athletes in Britain's Olympic medal table really down to the sharp elbows of the posh? Or is it down to the retiring of the competitive ethos and the rise of a culture of low expectations in state schools themselves? I think it's the latter. [so do I!!] Just as state-school pupils are no longer considered capable of learning Latin or of reading too many classic texts that are not "relevant" to their lives, so they are also considered incapable of handling the pressures of competitive sport. On many state-school playing fields, all-out, hardcore competition, the ideal of being the best and proving you are the best, is frowned upon as inappropriate, as potentially giving rise to an unacceptable social divide between "winners" and "losers". State-school sports lessons are now more about boosting kids' self-esteem and shrinking their waistlines than about encouraging them to be singular, head-strong winners – and that is not conducive to creating future Olympians." Brendan O'Neill, State School attitudes...[Link]

Orinico oro...

---

Happy birthday today to Ruben Limardo Gascon whose gold medal win in the men's individual epee on Wednesday was totally unexpected a few weeks ago; only Venezuela's second ever Olympic gold. Inolvidable, unforgettable. A cutting comment was "Not an irrelevant victory in Venezuela’s election year" [Bloomberg]. The last gold medal for Venezuela was won by Francisco Rodriguez for boxing (flyweight) in the 1968 Mexico City Olympic Games. Four years ago, in Beijing, Ruben came 23rd but had improved to be 12th seed for London 2012...



He dedicated half his medal to Poland where he has lived and trained for eight years although he also dedicated it to his mother, his coach, (and uncle),Venezuela and last but not least (maybe), Chavez! The image is from El Universal; more great photos HERE. It's worth mentioning that Bartosz Piasecki's silver was the first fencing medal for Norway and in the men’s foil, the Olympic title went to China (first medal ever in the event), the silver went to Egypt (its first fencing medal) and the bronze to South Korea (another first)! the times they are a-changing.



Update: I knew it: he thanked Chavez and raved about his help and - sure as eggs is eggs - on Monday 6th, when Ruben returns to Venezuela, you can bet it will be Chavez soaking up the electoral benefits, despite the 'Chavez dominated Electoral Board' doing all they can to stop the opposition [Devil's Excrement]; however, back in March Ruben was decrying the fact that he had qualified with NO support form the Sports Ministry and that Chavez must know about that.

Orinico oro...

---

Happy birthday today to Ruben Limardo Gascon whose gold medal win in the men's individual epee on Wednesday was totally unexpected a few weeks ago; only Venezuela's second ever Olympic gold. Inolvidable, unforgettable. A cutting comment was "Not an irrelevant victory in Venezuela’s election year" [Bloomberg]. The last gold medal for Venezuela was won by Francisco Rodriguez for boxing (flyweight) in the 1968 Mexico City Olympic Games. Four years ago, in Beijing, Ruben came 23rd but had improved to be 12th seed for London 2012...

He dedicated half his medal to Poland where he has lived and trained for eight years although he also dedicated it to his mother, his coach, (and uncle),Venezuela and last but not least (maybe), Chavez! The image is from El Universal; more great photos HERE. It's worth mentioning that Bartosz Piasecki's silver was the first fencing medal for Norway and in the men’s foil, the Olympic title went to China (first medal ever in the event), the silver went to Egypt (its first fencing medal) and the bronze to South Korea (another first)! the times they are a-changing.

Update: I knew it: he thanked Chavez and raved about his help and - sure as eggs is eggs - on Monday 6th, when Ruben returns to Venezuela, you can bet it will be Chavez soaking up the electoral benefits, despite the 'Chavez dominated Electoral Board' doing all they can to stop the opposition [Devil's Excrement]; however, back in March Ruben was decrying the fact that he had qualified with NO support form the Sports Ministry and that Chavez must know about that.

Orson ousted...

---

A large number of distributors, critics and academics of The British Film Institute's Sight and Sound magazine (846 to be exact), for the first time in my life-time, have opted for a change: after 50 years of Orson Welles' Citizen Kane being top pick they have chosen Alfred Hitchcock's Vertigo as 'the greatest of all time' [BBC]. "There is so much in Vertigo, that a single showing barely opens the door to its understanding" (Magill's Survey of Cinema).



Commendable indeed but haven't these people ever seen Jaws, Alien, Predator, Rambo, Silence of the Lambs, The Matrix, etc? :-)

Orson ousted...

---

A large number of distributors, critics and academics of The British Film Institute's Sight and Sound magazine (846 to be exact), for the first time in my life-time, have opted for a change: after 50 years of Orson Welles' Citizen Kane being top pick they have chosen Alfred Hitchcock's Vertigo as 'the greatest of all time' [BBC]. "There is so much in Vertigo, that a single showing barely opens the door to its understanding" (Magill's Survey of Cinema).

Commendable indeed but haven't these people ever seen Jaws, Alien, Predator, Rambo, Silence of the Lambs, The Matrix, etc? :-)

Overloaded official...

---

Some record: [Link] Sushilkumar Shinde ended his tenure as Indian Union power minister yesterday *; he claimed his work as power minister was "successful" and the additional generation of 80,000MW was a 'record'...the world's biggest ever electrical failure caused a blackout across half of India bringing most things to a standstill: as many as 670 million people without electricity; that is almost 10% of the world's population! * He wasn't sacked/resigned/demoted; he is now the new Home Minister.

Overloaded official...

---

Some record: [Link] Sushilkumar Shinde ended his tenure as Indian Union power minister yesterday *; he claimed his work as power minister was "successful" and the additional generation of 80,000MW was a 'record'...the world's biggest ever electrical failure caused a blackout across half of India bringing most things to a standstill: as many as 670 million people without electricity; that is almost 10% of the world's population! * He wasn't sacked/resigned/demoted; he is now the new Home Minister.