Come with me on my nostalgic journey
In today’s news: The news is full of Parliament’s upcoming vote to eliminate the House of Lords. The Times article, “One Lord a Leaping,” is hilarious. I quote it almost in full here because the whole thing is so funny: To the horror of a packed House of Lords yesterday afternoon, a bearded aristocrat resembling …
Continue reading “October 27, 1999 – ‘One Lord a Leaping’ and Shepherd’s Pie”
I am watching a wonderfully funny and interesting BBC documentary—Michael Palin’s Hemingway Adventure. A former Monty Pythoner, Michael traces the life of Hemingway, attempting to experience everything Hemingway did in his manly, exhilarating life. The series is extremely well done. In the episode I watched last night, Michael goes to Michigan’s Upper Peninsula and hires …
Continue reading “October 25-26, 1999 – Hemingway and the Birmingham Symphony”
I am going back to Oxford today to see the town. Oddly, I have been to Oxford twice in the last week, but haven’t seen any of it! Looking at the train’s departure board, I notice that two stops beyond Oxford is Basingstoke. One of Brian’s favorite Gilbert and Sullivan scenes features the Baronet of …
Continue reading “October 24, 1999 – Oxford and Magdalen College”
Mary Metcalfe is coming today. I am meeting her at New Street station. Mary lives in Sheffield, about 100 miles north of Birmingham. A friend of my aunt, I met her two years ago when she was visiting in Pemaquid. She is retired; the former head of a London girl’s school and was once invited …
Continue reading “October 23, 1999 – The Sublime Pre-Raphaelites”
I’m off early this morning to Oxford to see Blenheim Palace (pronounced Blen-im, with clipped syllables). From the train station in Oxford, I take a bus that puts me down at the top of the entrance road to the stately house. It is about three-quarters of a mile walk in and sheep peacefully munch grass …
Continue reading “October 22, 1999 – Ostentatious Blenheim Palace”
I spend the morning working on my presentation overheads for this afternoon’s seminar. It’s title―Performance Budgeting: Taking Best Value to its Logical Conclusion?―is sure to raise a few eyebrows. For my first slide, “Where in the World is Maine?” I have a map of the U.S. with a big arrow pointing at Maine. I also …
Continue reading “October 21, 1999 – In Which I Make My Student Seminar Presentation”
Today is cold and windy (but not raining). I am going with Dawna and Jim to Warwick Castle. We plan to meet at Snow Hill station at 1 PM. They are there waiting for me and we make the 1:15 PM train. I am not sure what the 3- and 5-year-olds will make of the …
Continue reading “October 20, 1999 – Another View of Warwick Castle”
On Monday, Dean and I meet with Birmingham city staff. Birmingham is doing a lot with Best Value, gearing up for the April 1 mandate. We go once again to the Council House in Victoria Square, only this time we are taken into the bowels of the building where there are no red carpets or …
Tony gave me a one-cup cafetiére and this morning I make a cup using the Godiva coffee I brought with me. It is nice to be able to have a cup of coffee in my room. A cafetiére is a French-press coffee maker with a plunger that pushes the grounds to the bottom of the …
Continue reading “October 17, 1999 – New Friends, British and American”
The train to Shrewsbury takes an hour from Birmingham. Following the signs for “tourist information,” I walk up the hill to the market square. Shrewsbury’s market square boasts a monument of Robert Clive, better known as Clive of India, one of the founders of British rule of India. He was also an MP for Shrewsbury …
Jody’s UK Memories