Category Archives: Contributors

Interesting Quotes From The Past…

I think computer viruses should count as life. Maybe it says something about human nature, that the only form of life we have created so far is purely destructive. Stephen Hawking 1942- English theoretical physicist.

The Internet is an elite organisation; most of the population of the world has never even made a phone call. Noam Chomsky 1928- American linguist.

The symbol of the atomic age, which tended to centralise power, was a nucleus with electrons held in tight orbit; the symbol of the digital age is the web, with countless centres of power all equally networked. Walter Isaacson 1952- American writer.

The email of the species is deadlier than the mail. Stephen Fry 1957- English comedian.

Interesting Quotes From The Past…

There is no man so friendless but what he can find a friend sincere enough to tell him disagreeable truths. Edward Bulwer-Lytton. 1803-73 British novelist.

Predictions can be very difficult – especially about the future. Niels Bohr 1885-1962 Danish physicist.

A garden is a lovesome thing. God wot! T.E. Brown. 1830-97 Manx schoolmaster.

Lord! we know what we are, but know not what we may be. William Shakespeare. 1564-1616 English dramatist.

A man enjoys the happiness he feels, a woman the happiness she gives. Pierre Choderlos de Laclos. 1741-1803 French soldier.

No one is born hating another person because of the colour of his skin, or his background, or his religion. People must learn to hate, and if they learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite. Nelson Mandela. 1918- South African statesman.

Happy Halloween…

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The Wychwood Brewery is named after the ancient medieval forest of The Wychwood. The brewery produces an award winning range of traditional craft-brewed beers full of character. They are the UK’s No1 producer of organic beers and can be found at: www.wychwood.co.uk The Wychwood brewery is based at Witney in Oxfordshire England, so click on their website for a free iPhone app, and much more!

Interesting Diary Entries From The Past…

Television in The Home. July 1953. Aerial requirements. The aerial is usually of the dipole type, with a reflector and a special matching feeder cable to connect the aerial to the receiver. Usually a receiver is designed for a feeder having certain electrical characteristics. It is necessary to have the aerial arrangement fixed at a good height, and a suitable place is on the roof of a house. Often this is mounted on the chimney stack.

The aerial should point in the direction of the transmitting station, with the reflector behind the aerial. Its erection is a job for the expert and is not one the amateur should undertake lightly.

As television sets will in time improve, more and more people will get good results from aerials of low efficiency, but in the meantime, it is safe to assume that a television set is no better than its aerial. In some circumstances it can be found that installations close to the transmitter will receive too strong a signal. A way of dealing with this is fix an attenuating device between the aerial feeder and the receiver… Severe interference can often be reduced by changing the position of aerial…

Interesting Quotes From The Past…

England expects that every man will do his duty. Horatio, Lord Nelson 1758-1805 British admiral.

I am I plus my surroundings and if I do not preserve the latter, I do not preserve myself. Jose Ortega y Gasset 1883-1955 Spanish writer.

The Parks are the lungs of London. William Pitt 1708-78 British statesman.

Every man is surrounded by a neighbourhood of voluntary spies. Jane Austen 1775-1817 English novelist.

There is only one thing in the world worse than being talked about, and that is not being talked about. Oscar Wilde 1854-1900 Irish dramatist.

The poor have sometimes objected to being governed badly; the rich have always objected to being governed at all. G.K. Chesterton 1874-1936 English writer.

Interesting People From The Past…

Charles Spencer Chaplin – Dear Charlie Chaplin!

Dear Charlie became Sir Charles Chaplin, receiving his knighthood from Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace in 1979. His film career had spanned 54 years, and in that time Charlie made a total of 81 films, only 5 were talkies and 67 were completed before his 30th birthday. Sadly Charlie died at the good age of 88 and on Christmas Day in 1977 at his home in Vevey, Switzerland; at his bedside were Oona his fourth wife, their children, and grandchildren. Hannah Chaplin was Charles Mother and she had spent most of the later years of her life at an institute in England and for her remaining seven years she lived in the little house Charlie had bought for her close to the Pacific Ocean. Sidney Chaplin (Sid) was Charlie’s older brother and manager, he had retired to the South of France after the second world war and visited every summer with Charlie in Switzerland. The first love in Charlie’s life was Hetty Kelly; he had fallen in love with her whilst working for Fred Karno. But alas! when he left for a US tour she married a politician and later died from influenza at the very young age of 25. Charlie never forgot her and she was the inspiration for many of his screen heroines. Charlie had a leading lady in Edna Purviance for over 30 comedies, and when she retired after failing to make a new career as a dramatic actress Charlie had her kept on the studio payroll for the rest of her life. Charlie’s first wife was a very young Mildred Harris. After their sudden divorce she was reduced to working in sleazy nightclubs and died an alcoholic at the age of 43. Charlie’s second wife was Lita Grey and they had two sons; Charlie Chaplin Jnr, and Sidney Chaplin. Charlie Chaplin Jnr died in 1968. Paulette Goddard – formally Levy, was a famous star, and became Charlie’s third wife. When she retired from acting in 1966 and divorced from Charlie, she and her new husband set up home in Switzerland not far from Charlie’s house. Joan Barry was besotted by Charlie. She was a flirt and a drunk and followed Charlie around everywhere. After their affair ended she claimed he was the father of her child. But a blood test (not admissible in a California Court at the time) proved otherwise. However Charlie supported Joan’s daughter Carol Anne until she reached the age of 21. Poor Joan, unfortunatly spent much of her remaining life sectioned before dying at an early age. Oona O’Neil Chaplin was 18 when she consented to marry Charlie. She had been a former Irish debutant and together they had eight children. She did survive Charlie by some 14 years and she had always loved him with a passion until her own death in the September of 1991.

Interesting Quotes From The Past…

We all know that Art is not truth. Art is like a lie that makes us realize truth. Pablo Picasso 1881-1973 Spanish painter.

I hate books; they only teach us to talk about things we know nothing about. Jean-Jacques Rousseau 1712-78 French philosopher.

One would remember the Good Samaritan if he’d only had good intentions. He had money as well. Margaret Thatcher 1925- British stateswoman.

Charm… it’s a sort of bloom on a woman. If you have it, you don’t need to have anything else; and if you don’t have it, it doesn’t matter what else you have. J.M. Barrie 1860-1937 Scottish writer.

The opposite of talking isn’t listening. The opposite of talking is waiting. Fran Lebowitz 1946- American writer.

This is the Night Mail crossing the border, bringing the cheque and the postal order, letters for the rich, letters for the poor. The shop at the corner, the girl next door. W.H. Auden 1907-73 English poet.

Interesting Movies From The Past…

Interesting Quotations from The Past…

My idea of Heaven is, eating pate’ de foie gras to the sound of trumpets. Sydney Smith 1771-1845 English essayist.

Every hero becomes a bore at last. Ralph Waldo Emerson 1803-1882 American writer.

Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful. William Morris 1834-1896 English artist.

Does anyone mind if I don’t live in a house that is quaint? Because, for one thing, quaint house are generally houses where plumbing ain’t. Ogden Nash 1902-1971 American humorist.

‘I hate discussions about feminism that end up with who does the dishes,’ she said. So do I. But at the end, there are always the damned dishes. Marilyn French 1929- American writer.

All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players: They have their exits and their entrances; And one man in his time plays many parts, His acts being seven ages. William Shakespeare 1564-1616 English dramatist.

Introduction to Digital Photography…

From Monday 15th to Thursday 18th of August 2011, there is an Introduction to Digital Photography at the Victoria & Albert Museum in Cromwell Road, South Kensington, London. SW7. You can discover the potential of your digital SLR camera as you take photographs in the V&A galleries and get inspired by rare photographic prints from the Museum’s collections. Learn camera controls and create stunning images by manipulating light and color, controlling exposure and digital photo editing. It will be ideal for beginners also, but you will require a DSLR camera. A fee is payable. The V&A is online @ www.vam.ac.uk