At sea

Until recently the weather has been good and the seas largely calm. Last night we discovered that our cabin at the back of the boat with its bizarre arrangement of  three wash basins is prone to pitching up and down when the seas are less temperate. This may be why we were allocated it. Throughout the voyage our fellow passengers have been entertaining and generally good natured. Political discussion has been notable by its almost omertà like absence. The accompanying lecturers have provided depth and insight to our shore  visits. One after dinner speaker gave a very Stanford insight into Chinese Taoist dissident literature. This is not something you’d get on many ships.  Being a California cruise the day starts with Pilates on the fore deck. In some of the smaller islands the primary school kids and their grand parents run down to the dockside to greet us. This is rather like the innocence of Scotland 50 years ago. We have seen lots of azaleas, some olive trees and a few hardy orange groves.

The ships WiFi became temperamental shortly after we boarded and has retained an impractical quirkiness ever since. Downloading photos is impossible.  These will need to wait until we make it back to Tokyo. The ex servicemen among the passengers have discovered that if you stand behind the bridge and hold your phone up over your head there’s an outside chance the satellite will do what it’s supposed to do and you’ll catch a few minutes of connection time. From a distance they look like a gaggle of swaying ravers .

The woman at the table next to us in the dining room likes to have  a Bloody Mary with her breakfast . She has gluten allergies so the vodka must be Smirnoff . The Filipino bartender deals with this very first world problem with good natured third world charm. At our next port of call he heads off in a taxi to pick up half a dozen bottles from the nearest liquor store. For the last black tie ‘Gala’ dinner Bloody Mary woman and her husband appeared in shiny matching gold outfits. The look is remarkable and ‘The Font’ quietly wonders if they might be in show business. The food on board is becoming slightly repetitive and slightly drab in a brown rice with crayfish sort of way. The logistics of feeding forty passengers for three months between the Malacca Straits and Sakhalin must be a nightmare of planning and delivery. Dinners  ashore are a welcome change.

Earlier in the week we briefly went to Hiroshima. We thought the site of the atomic bombing would be a place of quiet reflection. Not a bit of it. Princess Cruises, Hapag Lloyd and Seabourn had huge ships in port and all of their passengers had made a bee line to the museum to be first in line for when it opened. On top of that every school in Japan seems to have chosen the day we were in town to come on a field trip. There must have been a queue ten thousand long when we arrived. Unable to see the displays we manoeuvred our way through the crowds and headed for the exit. More moving was a small almost invisible marker in a side street by the children’s hospital that marks the exact spot  where the bomb detonated. An intense young German man with his equally intense girl friend looked at the marker stone and  quietly cuddled. Apart from us and them there wasn’t a tourist to be seen.

We head back to Tokyo next week before flying onto Edinburgh. How quickly our three week break will have passed.

Old time religion

Our cruise around Japans inland sea and gardens is now well underway. We are thoroughly enjoying ourselves as much for the shipboard company as for the shore excursions. The weather has been mixed but we shall definitely do this, or something similar, again. Tomorrow, the ship heads for Busan which will take two days. Fog is forecast for Monday. Angus has purchased a cable to transfer photos from the i-Phone to the i-Pad but is having little luck in doing so. The ships £400 for three weeks unlimited use Wi-Fi package is prone to having problems which makes posting data and pictures difficult. This problem causes much grumbling amongst the passengers who spend much of their time on deck vainly peering at their phones. In fact the passengers spend much of their time complaining about something. The absence of Chivas Regal in the bar being the most serious issue encountered so far.

Rule #1 of going on a cruise is to read the small print. I’d assumed ‘The Font’ had done this. ‘The Font’ assumed I’d done it. So we are surprised to discover that every Friday night is ‘Dine with the Stars -weather permitting - Night’ . This is when al fresco tables and beach umbrellas are set up on either side of the funnel and cocktail  dresses and blazers are replaced by something altogether more exotic. Not even Oscars night parties could match some of the creations hauled across the Pacific in 1st class cabins for this event. ‘ We love dressing up . Simply love it ‘ says a lady holding a champagne flute as she wanders around the ‘exquisite and harmoniously decorated ‘ dining area to show off a close fitting white silk creation covered in sequins and small embroidered roses. Her husband wears white tie and tails which is also - in its own way - remarkable.

There are ‘tensions’ onboard. The silk wearing lady vies with a rubenesquely proportioned woman in a low cut red outfit as the Queen Bee of the voyage. The woman draped in silk lives in Palo Alto while the woman in red lives in Presidio Heights but used to live in Bel Air . They each ask the guest lecturers ever more complex questions at our morning briefings in what the staff refer to as the ‘theatre’ but is really an empty space with chairs located somewhere dark and humid in the bowels of the boat. It is clear both ladies enjoy the limelight but not sharing it.

On our first evening onboard our permanently cheerful purser ‘Eldo’ delivers two bottles of wine to our door. We assume that these are  for quiet consumption over the coming week. Imagine our surprise when he returns the following evening - and every subsequent night  - carrying two more bottles. It seems that part of the California zeitgeist is to arrive at dinner in a ‘convivial’ mood. “ It’s included in your rate “ says the lady at the concierge desk when we ask . She quickly adds ‘ We can provide spirits if you’d prefer ‘. We most certainly wouldn’t.This evening two bottles of an Indian Zinfandel which the label says is ‘ zippy and robust ‘ are provided. 

Good Friday night. While ordering a post gala dinner gin and tonic in the inglenook bar - ‘ a touch of old world calm and elegance on the high seas ‘- one of the Palo Altoan ladies gets it into her head  that something must be done to commemorate this special moment in the year. Soon others take up the cry. The captain - a  bearded and well tanned Greek gentleman in a splendid white uniform with enormous gold trimmed epaulettes - says he will ‘ pause the vessel for the expression of the seasonality of our prayers ‘. Angus is left to ponder where the man might have learnt to  speak English as if it’s still 1920 but is impressed with his ability to deal with the sudden whims of his passengers.

So it is that on Easter Saturday morning a group of forty or so Americans, two Europeans ( three if you include the captain ) and the fifty or so Filipino crew can be found gathered on the promenade deck to catch what would have been the sunrise if we’d only got up an hour earlier. There is a slight delay while a waiter goes off to find a Bible. The captain  reads something in what can only be described as  heavily accented English. One of the Californian ladies dabs her eyes with a handkerchief. Four  of the Filipino gentlemen then sing ‘ Give me that old time religion’ accompanied by a colleague playing a guitar. Finally the woman behind the concierge desk reads G K Chestertons poem ‘The Donkey’ . She waves her arms theatrically and perhaps a tad too force fully shouts out the last line -“Fools! For I also had my hour: one far fierce hour and sweet ! There was shout about my ears and palms before my feet”. The only passengers missing are ‘Gwinny’ and her ‘grandson ‘. Before we head back to our cabins  we are reminded to fill in our customs declaration forms for South Korea.

On board.

We have now left Yokohama ( which was a pleasant surprise and reminded us of Baltimore but with palm trees ) and have joined the Palo Altoans on our ‘environmentally friendly cruise ship . The brochure in the cabin informs us the ship is‘ large  enough to weather the worlds roughest waters but small enough to visit places other cruise ships can’t reach’. Today is a ‘sea day’ and the sunshine of recent days has been replaced by something more Scottish and blustery.

The passengers are for the most part a cheerful bunch although some display a reserve that suggests they are less than delighted to have had to change their meal time seating plans to accommodate these late arrivals. As a group they tend to the  formal. For dinner last night the majority of the men wore a cruise uniform of blazers  with white button down shirts. The women displayed greater creativity but tended towards wearing black cocktail dresses and a lot of artisanal jewelery . Exceptions are a sharply dressed younger ‘techy’ couple - he in a light blue expensive looking shark skin jacket, she in black vest , matching leggings and heavily embroidered turquoise felt slippers . There is also a lady of a certain age called ‘Gwinny’  who dresses eccentrically in floral patterns and is travelling with a much younger man  in a track suit who attentively  strokes her hand during dinner . We assume he is her college age grand son.We may ,however, be wrong in this assumption. ‘Gwinny’ ,according to the wine waiter,is fabulously wealthy having  inherited a controlling block of shares in an insurance company founded by a previous husband. All on board consume alcohol as if it’s going out of fashion.

Our accommodation is at the rear of the boat. The designers have adopted a 1970’s era La Guardia airport Holiday Inn look with eau de  Nile coloured carpets and lots of brass  wall fittings. A large cherry red sofa somewhat surprisingly completes  the decor. We have three wash basins, one loo and a thin corridor that leads to an enclosed dining area dominated by a mural of a Greek goddess standing in a field of flowers. This unusual configuration leads us to believe the owners originally planned to instal more cabins here but the ships pre-existing plumbing  layout defeated them.’ The world is full of cabins but our cabins are uniquely ours . It’s all about us as individuals ‘says the brochure in florid English.

Rainy Yokohama

No pictures this morning. The cable that enables photos to be downloaded from the phone to the laptop has been packed away ‘safely’ and can’t be found. A new one will be bought when the stores open . The second we get home you can be sure the original cable will magically reappear.

The flight out took 14 hours . BA had a brand new Airbus on the route which had that unmistakable but transitory smell that you only find in new cars and aircraft.  Everyone likes to criticise BA but the service was smooth and efficient despite every seat being taken by exuberantly happy families on their way to view Cherry Blossom season. It was not a smooth flight and became ‘lively’ over northern China. Seemingly all Beijings airports were experiencing the strongest winds in half a century . 41,000 feet above things were also turbulent. We both watched Conclave which was good until the overly sentimental and improbable ending.

Immigration at Haneda was a nightmare. There was a queue with at least a thousand people in it. Seems every flight from Europe is operating full . Thankfully, after twenty minutes, a young woman in a day glo jacket arrived took one look at Angus and announced ‘You very old’. Ordinarily a greeting like this would not be well received but on this occasion it proved to be our ticket to a ‘priority’ line that saved us another hour of standing amid jet lagged  back packers.

No news from the organisers of the trip regarding the whereabouts of our ‘luxury motor vessel’ which is somewhere en route from Borneo with its collection of Palo Altoans and assorted guest lecturers. A review of the passenger list shows that there are five ‘Bob and Laura’s’ onboard which considering the boat can only hold 36 must be some form of record.

Heat.

22 degrees here yesterday. The towns two beaches packed solid with day trippers making the most of the abnormally good half term weather. We watch as two coach loads of tipsy retirees from Falkirk discover the joys of al fresco drinking . At the bar by the Divinity School they occupy all the outside tables while others perch themselves, contentedly if uncomfortably, on the communal flower planters. Happily slurred conversation fills the air.  Their tour organizer becomes  increasingly agitated as he tries to convince them to board the bus and head home. " I canny rush ma glass is still fuw " says one gentleman to peels of laughter. Central Belt OAP's and Italian teenagers must be the co-equal bane of a tour guides life.

On the village green a group of calves watch us as we set off on our morning walk. The sea mist has rolled further inland today which makes the air decidedly nippy.

The morning weather is changeable. One minute we and the calves are in bright sunshine. The next it's difficult to see through the fog to the far end of the field.

For the first time this year we have had the aircon in the car turned on. It's surprisingly efficient although it drains the battery in the blink of an eye.

Back in the village the farmers Heath Robinson approach to irrigation has been installed. A 6 inch diameter firemans hose has been laid the half mile from the pond behind the potato sheds to the newly sown fields outside The last wee house before Denmark. Every two hundred yards or so there is an ill fitting join where the lengths of hose have been coupled together. Water spray shoots everywhere. The Jack Russells are having the time of their lives.

We set off this evening. From Edinburgh to London, overnight at Heathrow and then on the first BA flight of the day to Tokyo. There is a last minute flurry of activity as we're told by the organizers, incorrectly, that Brits need visas for South Korea. Communication with the Lily Tomlin lady coordinating the trip has moved from the effusive to ' Please ensure you are in Yokohama by Tuesday. Your ship is currently en route to Japan'. Angus notes the studied imprecision in this statement but 'The Font' thinks I'm looking for problems where none exist. We shall go here on Sunday :https://www.tokyoweekender.com/event/ashikaga-flower-park-great-wisteria-festival-2025/ and also go to the Osaka World Fair to see the Japanese pavillion. Who ever knew World Fairs were still a thing ? https://www.osaka.com/info/world-expo-2025/osaka-expo-2025-everything-you-need-to-know/

An interesting read :https://theamericanenterprise.com/the-russian-paradox-so-much-education-so-little-human-capital/

The London Review of Books ( like its New York cousin ) consistently throw up fun reads :https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v47/n07/james-meek/everything-is-possible

Rethinking consciousness:https://www.sciencefocus.com/the-human-body/we-may-have-to-rethink-consciousness-completely-heres-why

Sun and drought.

A late night chat with the Manhattanites. The chief honcho, who rarely appears on these calls,  has the final pithy word - 'Relative to this morning things are much better. Relative to a week ago things are significantly worse'. That seems a pretty good summary of where we are.

A thick sea fog makes the start of our morning walk decidedly cold and chill. A hundred yards inland - towards the village - it's sunny and warm. The farmer tells me we're in drought territory. We've not had a drop of rain in a month. He and his teenage sons are busy laying out a system of hoses to take water from the burn to irrigate the freshly planted but already parched potato fields. The Irish lady by the cross roads leans on her front gate and tells us she doesn't know what the worlds coming to. " A drought in April ! Who'd have thought such a thing possible ! ". She's making breakfast porridge for her six year old twins so having shared these thoughts with us she heads back indoors.

The weather forecast says we can expect 20 degrees this afternoon. In anticipation paragliders are out in force and buzzing low over the village.

The centre of town is busy with half term holiday makers so we divert to the calm of the cathedral ruins.

In the graveyard no doubting that this is a golf town. What a grand monument.

Scots and the southern states of America have had a long and intertwined history. One grave in the cathedral precincts shows a man who died in Mobile, Alabama on the 31st January 1886. He was interred here on the 19th February. How did they ship his remains back so quickly ? You'd be hard pressed to match that efficiency today. We wonder if Darien, Georgia was named after that important disaster in Scottish history the Darien colony in Panama ?

This mornings car radio music :https://youtu.be/NzUMfVpugq4

I never remember any :https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/your-brain-on-food/202504/why-do-some-people-always-remember-their-dreams

This may not have been Mercedes smartest move :https://www.carscoops.com/2025/04/byd-goes-after-germans-with-euro-launch-of-denza/

19th century tariffs :https://www.economicforces.xyz/p/high-tariffs-didnt-make-the-us-rich

Swallows arrive, youngsters break the rules.

Tuesday early evening. We set up a table in the garden , open a bottle of Pomerol and prepare to enjoy the sunset over the bay. No sooner are we settled than a solid wall of cold, dense, sea fog quietly rolls in and settles over 'The last wee house before Denmark'. Annoyingly the rest of the village remains unaffected and is bathed in warm, bright sunshine. We retreat inside.

The first swallows have made it to Scotland after their long migration from Africa. This morning four of them sweep low and fast over the barley field before circling back and  doing a series of barrel rolls. A skillful flying display to let us know they've returned. We pause on our walk and congratulate them on their artistry. We tell the man with the Spaniel about the swallows and he passes on the good news to the other village dog owners. There's nothing like the return of the swallows to tell you the promise of summer is about to come good.

Noreen, the farmers middle dog, makes an early appearance at the kitchen door. She is given a Grissini which is eaten with something approaching grace. She would have preferred Jaffa cakes or a sausage.

It's another study week so many of the youngsters are out of town on a pre-Easter visit to their families. A time to have laundry done and eat at sensible hours.

The students that remain are enjoying the sunshine and each others company. They ignore the ' Keep off the Grass' signs. These are put up every year and ignored every year. 

Some students are enjoying breakfast on the lawns outside their dorms. We spot the first frisbee of the semester. What a day - Swallows and frisbees .

It's good to be in town early. By lunchtime the place is full with day trippers making the most of the school half term holidays. Our cleaning lady drives by and  stops her little FIAT van to tell us all her Air BnB's are booked solid until the 22nd. Then things get quiet again until Whitsun and the first of the graduation ceremonies. This puts things in perspective. Not only are we approaching finals season but in five weeks time a quarter of the youngsters will be getting ready to leave here for good.

Who is domesticated ? Dogs or humans ? :https://longnow.org/ideas/self-domesticating-ape/

Some common  sense on manufacturing :https://x.com/molson_hart/status/1908940952908996984?s=46

Rational optimists. Who knew there were such things ? :https://rationaloptimistsociety.substack.com/p/our-secret-plan-to-change-the-world

Sounds of the country.

Blogger having one of its super temperamental days. Formatting all over the place. What's typed suddenly disappears. What appears isn't what's been typed. Sigh.

5:34 am. Every lark for miles around greets the sunrise with a burst of song. This dawn chorus is sudden enough and loud enough to wake both of us . The sound of the wind or the sea pounding against the shore usually blocks this out but today it's completely calm. The farmer has finished off planting his seed potatoes so the ever busy tractors are also quiet.

6:04am. From the front door we can hear the sound of hundreds and hundreds of bees hard at work on the old heather bushes in the courtyard. For eight months of the year the wind batters this wee patch of paradise and apart from the heather ( which thrives )  not much else manages to survive. The bees flock here in huge numbers. There's something deeply satisfying about the deep tones of bees at work.

Half term school holidays ( both North and South of the border ) have attracted the crowds. This morning there's an old VW on the dunes. It's a miracle it's still road worthy. I'm guessing the owner is asleep in the fibre glass extension that's been built above the front seats. There are signs of more than a little rust around the door sills.

Down on the beach there's not a soul to be seen apart from the woman with the hyper active Pomeranian. The woman who usually walks Archie, the arthritic labrador , is off in Seoul visiting her daughter.

Two students working outside the old cafe by the chapel. A dog and its owner show up. The dog is of the exceedingly friendly type. It sees no reason why the two girls should study in silence. Soon another woman with a dog appears. The dogs greet each other enthusiastically. The girls give up all hope of revising. The woman behind the cafe counter appears with dog biscuits. This kind gesture generates another bout of lively enthusiasm from the dogs. Soon the dog owners, the students and the lady from behind the cafe counter are all chatting away. You're never alone when you're with a dog.

You know you live in Northerly climes when you stop in town to admire the shadows cast by the rising sun.

Fun music :https://youtu.be/bKP8uoj9B7Q

No disputing this :https://interestingengineering.com/culture/women-hear-better-than-men-everywhere?group=test_b

Cold water swimming :https://www.sciencealert.com/a-week-of-swimming-in-cold-water-can-change-you-on-a-cellular-level

Shingles jab benefits :https://erictopol.substack.com/p/the-shingles-vaccine-and-reduction

Connecticut:https://knowablemagazine.org/content/article/physical-world/2025/how-did-eastern-north-america-form

Vignettes of life.

A town dog has discovered that 1) the recently bought bacon roll has been finished and 2) it wasn't distributed in anything approaching an equitable manner. The enormity of this injustice doesn't seem to be understood by the human portion of his family.

We arrange to see the artist who paints the 'wonky' pictures of buildings in town. He will come over one day during the summer and do a painting of the wee house by the cathedral.

The gulls are aggressively out and about and looking for suitable materials to build their nests. There's no doubting the gulls are the true masters of the town. They were here long before humans made it their home and they have a look that says we'll be here long after you're gone. They are fearless.

That rarest sighting of all. Early rising students. Something you almost never see on a Monday morning. Exams start in three weeks which may explain this sudden diligence.

 

After Sundays services the Baptists are giving their ironwork a touch up.

So starts a quiet morning in a small Scottish town surprised to be enjoying a protracted spell of good weather.

Whoever chooses the morning music on the local breakfast radio programme is on something :https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BwJNDF2Jfbc

Things I didn't know about owls :https://x.com/amazlngnature/status/1908181961983566067?s=48&t=zWTf_7IcsLbgVFGj-yo7UA

Thoughts on animal welfare and unintended consequences :https://farmanimalwelfare.substack.com/p/five-insights-from-farm-animal-economics

Sunday sights.

A group of American golfers have hired a video camera man and sound engineer to record their round on the Old Course. We've seen camera men before but never sound engineers.

The golfers have also hired students to act as Caddies. The students know the course and the etiquette. At the end of the round much time is spent looking for cash to pay them. " Do you take dollars ?"  asks one gentleman while searching frantically in his bag. I'm sure the students will take anything. 

The restaurant in what used to be the Salvation Army Hall is charging £75 for a whole lobster. That's the same rate as you'd pay at the modern 'cube'  restaurant with its stunning views of the sea.

The bakers 'universal' biscuits have had New Years, Burns Night and Mothers Day variants. They have now seamlessly been repurposed for Easter.

A fudge doughnut inside a Belgian chocolate egg. This is a product Angus can relate to. 'The Font' - who is one of those people that thinks a single square of dark chocolate a day is a sin - mutters something about you can take the boy out of Scotland but .....

One intriguing paragraph:https://zoekeziahmendelson.substack.com/p/20-dogs-sitting-in-a-row-with-their

Sunday morning music:https://youtu.be/6y-eZf-IgtM?t=54

We shall pop in to see this in London on Friday:https://www.vam.ac.uk/exhibitions/great-mughals-art-architecture-opulence

Life in a time before Google:https://hedgehogreview.com/issues/the-varieties-of-travel-experience/articles/the-department-of-everything?ref=thebrowser.com

This is common sense spelt out clearly:https://x.com/cfishman/status/1907802208399142972

'Interesting' views.

The cold North Easterly wind means the beach is free of dog walkers and visitors  and provides the horse riders with a perfect excuse to gallop from one end of the sand to the other. The horses love it.

Down by the club house there must be 30 golfers waiting for their tee off time . Some sit on the steps and take in the view. Others nervously pace back and forth. Two American gentlemen enjoying the sacerdotal side of golf  sit and happily repeat the words ' Wow oh wow ' over and over.

Dogs and children pause to enjoy the sunshine on their morning walk. 

Players heading out on the course as far as the eye can see. It may not be warm but it's dry and sunny which is unusual for these parts. Some early rising foursomes have already appeared heading homewards on the 17th hole.

The world is on a crash course in American domestic politics. This morning the BBC radio news programme provides an insight into the unusually rich and varied life of one Ms. Laura Loomer. 'Goodness ' says The Font when the item ends. Ms. Loomer is 31 , has 'unorthodox' views about many things and is  big on Rumble - a social media platform that until now we were both unaware existed. She also believes herself to be an expert on National Security.

Timeslips on a street in Liverpool :https://theguideliverpool.com/legend-of-the-bold-street-timeslip

A word I'd never seen before - Gaelscoileanna Irelands answer to the UK's faith schools  :https://www.conorfitzgerald.com/p/multiculturalism-and-the-irish-language

Hubs appearing everywhere :https://www.edwest.co.uk/p/welcome-to-the-hub

This mystery worshippers website is a joy. The online review of this church in Oregon spares no ones feelings :https://shipoffools.com/mystery-worshipper/wellhouse-church-sisters-oregon-usa/

Sauna users.

The farmer stops his tractor and wanders over for a wee chat. A chance for him to have a break from 24/7 potato planting. 'Granny' Jack Russell dozes in the warmth of the tractor cab. She's been slowing lately and they're making sure she's always got a member of the family as company. The old lady seems to be enjoying the attention - and the absence of the two younger terriers. In an hour , after the younger children have gone to school, he'll pop home for a coffee and let her sleep by the AGA. The farmer has pre-sold his entire crop to a potato chip maker in Newcastle. 'The price was reasonable' he informs us in a tone of voice that suggests a new Range Rover may be coming along soon. 

There's another glorious sunrise over the beach. This weeks weather has been a  wonderful surprise.

A group of half a dozen people spill out of the new beach sauna . They run about and laugh in that overly contrived ' Isn't this great fun ?' way people do when they emerge from extreme heat into the bitter cold. A thirty something woman in a bikini has been barbecuing sausages on a throw away grill. They sit at at a table and eat these off paper plates. There's a hint of hypothermia inducing frost on the grass so It's a surprise that they're wearing nothing other than swimwear. Usually sauna users quickly don their long padded coats for warmth. Someone has put a vase of daffodils on the picnic table which is a peculiarly domestic touch.

Starbucks , when we get there, already busy with students and dog owners .

The first of the new seasons fresh peas in the garden shop. There's also fresh asparagus. It can't be long before strawberries are in season.

This morning instead of lemon sole we opt for some freshly landed brill.

A week today we head off to Japan. This morning an unexpected e-mail from Palo Alto informs us that ' the departure from Borneo has been delayed due to technical reasons and a new embarkation time for passengers joining in Yokohama will be advised'. I have a presentiment of a disaster/adventure in the making. What sort of technical reason can possibly prevent a boat from getting underway ? Having flown to Borneo how are the 30 Palo Altans taking their delayed departure ?

Lost birds :https://birdhistory.substack.com/p/birding-10000-bc

A pricey new way to see Italy:https://www.orient-express.com/la-dolce-vita/

Cambodian history :https://thediplomat.com/2025/03/cambodia-the-unbearable-memory-of-the-khmer-rouge/

This has the great advantage of being brief . The closing paragraph is to the point :https://www.econlib.org/what-would-true-reciprocity-mean/

A St Andrews professor gives his views of what's happening in the world. This may be more opinion than analysis but the last line seems to sum up the consensus pretty well :https://phillipspobrien.substack.com/p/how-to-make-us-rivals-stronger-101

Swimming hares.

Every day this week has been more cloud free and glorious than the one before. More sunshine is forecast. This morning we watch two hares race  across the sand. They rush into the shallow water and then - perhaps surprised by its alien  wetness  - turn abruptly and head back to the safety of the long grass that lines the shore. It's not only humans who are enjoying the sunshine.

Last night one of the Manhattanites , talking about Liberation Day, voices the view that ' Populism is popular until you live with it for a while'. 

The old cloisters and pends provide intriguing glimpses of sun lit secrets beyond.

Youngsters starved of sunshine are out and about. Even at this time in the morning a sheltered spot can offer warmth. Some of them have bought fudge doughnuts at the bakers and are enjoying an al fresco breakfast. Some read books, others chat.

The renovation of the Aquarium is progressing but I doubt it will be finished by Easter. Men in orange jumpsuits are busy with a concrete mixer.  Work on the old cinema has also burst into life after six months of inactivity. Perhaps the Tiger Woods sports bar will be ready to open this summer ? I also doubt that this will be ready on time.

Golfers are now piling onto the sacred turf. Angus is called over to take a group photo of amiable 50 somethings not once ...but twice. This group of cheerful gentlemen will be moving on to the Trump Golf Resort at Turnberry this afternoon. " It belongs to our President " one informs me with self evident pride. 'Indeed' I reply with a smile.

So starts a Thursday morning in a small Scottish town that is enjoying the Mediterranean sunshine and shedding ( while the good weather lasts ) a little of  its straight laced Presbyterianism.

Music from 1977:https://youtu.be/yZjEC4WhCvg

Discovering Australian art :https://www.awm.gov.au/articles/encyclopedia/menin/notes

An exhibition by thus artist starts here in St Andrews tonight :https://www.thecourier.co.uk/fp/entertainment/5133633/standrews-buildings-watercolour-peter-jones-artist/

Rome without the crowds:https://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/explore-romes-hidden-underworld-city-beneath-city-180986228/

This sums it all up :https://paulkrugman.substack.com/p/trump-goes-crazy-on-trade  Perhaps this may have something to do with it ? :https://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/does-financial-literacy-decline-with-age/

Edenic.

Tuesday was warm and sunny and the first day this year we've been able to sit outside for lunch. Our table is near the bird feeders and a mass of starlings, buntings and collar doves flit and hop around us as we eat. They clearly think we're part of the furniture. There is something innocently Edenic about lunching with birds. Later we consider going into town for an evening drink but come five o'clock the temperature tumbles and the thought of sitting outside becomes altogether less appealing.

'Puppy' has matured into a personable young lady but still retains the youthful enthusiasm and joie de vivre that warrant her name. This morning she opts to join us for breakfast. I open the front door and next thing you know there's a dog in the kitchen. From the enthusiasm with which our yoghurt pots are licked I'd guess these aren't on offer at home. After finishing we're stared at with an unblinking intensity that signals she'd like more.

The farmer and his son are back planting seed potatoes in the field outside the kitchen window. In the tractor cab the Jack Russell 'granny' is listening to Nick Robinson on the Today programme while sitting snugly and happily on the farmers lap. 

A Spanish tour group is gathering by the Martyrs Memorial. Five hundred years ago political passions here burnt Taliban bright. In fact there was enough passion and extremism to last a thousand years . This may explain the quiet Presbyterian orderliness of the town today. There is something to be said for staid politics .

A steady stream of foursomes heading outbound on the Old Course. A group of gentlemen from Ohio have opted to play without the help of  the local Caddies. Little do they know how treacherous the winds on the back holes can be even on a calm day like this. While waiting for the group ahead to move onto the next hole they limber up and go through calisthenic routines. They hold their drivers over their heads as if they're power lifting. I've never seen this before. It provides entertainment for a group of Italian tourists who, in between eating the bacon rolls they've bought from the coffee shop, applaud them. The Ohian gentlemen are far too serious to notice their Latin audience.

A Kimchi making course being advertised in the Asian super market. A sign of peak globalization ?

This played on the radio this morning . Simple but beautiful:https://youtu.be/7VRw9N9OlPo

The Tully Monster :https://www.sciencefocus.com/nature/this-tully-monster-mystery-keeps-getting-weirder

Not my favourite part of London but it's getting better :https://www.worksinprogress.news/p/a-walk-down-victoria-street

Focal dystonia. Had you ever heard of it ? :https://www.gramophone.co.uk/blogs/article/i-had-to-tell-my-wife-i-would-no-longer-be-able-to-earn-a-living-as-a-concert-pianist

Disrespect update:https://x.com/tashecon/status/1907364573612589425