I've been in and around London for a few days, always an enlightening experience. I think of Eliza Doolittle's Dad, Alf, who, just before signing " Get me to the Church," intoned, " There are drinks and girls all over the town and I have to track them down in just a few more hours". It always seems to me that that is the real business of London. All we ordinary folk bustling about are only there to provide the background.
So here's a tale to gladden your hearts on a Wednesday afternoon.
It seems that an ex-Ambassador ( no names no pack drill) has been having a bit of a hard time recently, but, of course, he continues to have very good connections at all sorts of levels of society. He puts these connections together with other people and takes a small commission for doing so.
A VERY senior executive of a certain American multinational, who had come up the hard way from what I can only describe as the uneducated and backward areas of the States, wanted a particular introduction to a certain group of people, and the ex-Ambassador was just the chap to do it.
A fee was agreed, and it was also agreed that the way to do it was to set up a dinner at an exclusive restaurant, where the group would just happen to be and they would be invited to join the executive and the ex-Ambassador at their table.
All was going absolutely swimmingly. Then one of the ( admittedly educated and worldly wise) group ordered some dish with truffles.
Now in all the best restaurants, a plate of truffles is brought, from which, after smelling and feeling the various fungi ( I shall be shot for referring to them as that), one is chosen for the dish. And a few slivers are grated into it.
Our executive thought he would like the truffle dish too.
The head waiter brought a silver salver with 5 creatures ( let's call them that).
As the executive was the host, the maitre d' took the plate to him first.
The executive promptly ate the one nearest him.
There was an aghast silence.
Then he ate a second one.
Then he cut the third one in half, and ate one half.
With shaking hand, the other truffle orderer picked up a truffle and ate it. Then the second. Finally, glancing about the restaurant ( since everyone there was riveted by the spectacle) he ate the final half.
" Not bad," said the exec. " Not too heavy, and quite tasty."
Naturally, the educated one was performing the equivalent of drinking the water from the finger-bowls, so as not to embarrass his host.
The conversation finally got going again, and it would appear a mutually profitable arrangement was made.
Now the ex-Ambassador, being no fool, knew that the bill was going to be of such an enormity that the exec would almost certainly make a scene - which, in the polite society at the table would almost certainly lead to no deal being done, and prejudice his commission.
So he whispered to the exec that it was impolite for the host to ask for the bill ( sooo common) and he should just slip him his credit card, and he would take care of it all.
Don't ask me how he managed without a PIN, but it seems he did.
Commissions were paid, business was done, everyone was very happy.
The explosion didn't take place until a few weeks later when the exec's credit card bill arrived back in Idaho ( or wherever).
The dinner for 6 had cost nearly $20,000.
As the ex-Ambassador said, " You know, Mr. King, sometimes it is good for the soul to have it scoured.One has to pay for education"
Showing posts with label Education. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Education. Show all posts
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Friday, November 06, 2009
The best days of our lives..
This post in the Speccie referring to compulsory sex education for 15 year olds, reminded me of my own introduction to S-E-X.
When I went to School ( no, not Eton, the one Lord Peter Wimsey referred to as a Railway Junction) there was what was called the " New Boys Course".
This consisted of an induction course, which included where everything was ( stinks lab, swimming pool, where all the Houses were) but also included three half hour lessons on " Human Beings".
Of course, the boys who had already done the course puffed it up outrageously -" Yeah it's SEX!!!". So obviously we were all agog (we 13 year old rampaging hormonal spotted oiks) to get to them. There was never a cry off. In fact, one boy had missed the LAST lecture the year before and he was COMPELLED to attend the third and final talk in his second term.
Being schoolboys, there was of course an Omerta about what was actually said. Torture would never have opened our mouths.
We all trooped in for the first lecture. It was given by the biology master, whose name was Potty Falk. He started off staring above our heads in his dry voice, and began on plants. Then fish - and the lesson finished.
The second one began in the same way, with a brief resume of what had gone before - and went on to frogs.
And then the lesson ended.
The third and final lecture began with a complete resume of the first two lessons, with Potty being even more ethereal and starey into space. The boy who had missed the previous term's final fling was in the front row, riveted to every word.
Potty began to talk about rabbits. I particularly remember the bit about the female rabbit's scut ( tail) flattening up her back when the buck mounted her. Potty drew diagram's on the board. The clock ticked. Potty drew a picture of a doe's reproductive system.
The clock ticked. He drew a picture of the buck's reproductive system.
The clock ticked as the silence was absolute.
And then the bell rang for the end of the lesson.
And Potty looked at the clock and said:
" And it's pretty much the same for human beings"
Can't say I've ever tried it on a rabbit....
When I went to School ( no, not Eton, the one Lord Peter Wimsey referred to as a Railway Junction) there was what was called the " New Boys Course".
This consisted of an induction course, which included where everything was ( stinks lab, swimming pool, where all the Houses were) but also included three half hour lessons on " Human Beings".
Of course, the boys who had already done the course puffed it up outrageously -" Yeah it's SEX!!!". So obviously we were all agog (we 13 year old rampaging hormonal spotted oiks) to get to them. There was never a cry off. In fact, one boy had missed the LAST lecture the year before and he was COMPELLED to attend the third and final talk in his second term.
Being schoolboys, there was of course an Omerta about what was actually said. Torture would never have opened our mouths.
We all trooped in for the first lecture. It was given by the biology master, whose name was Potty Falk. He started off staring above our heads in his dry voice, and began on plants. Then fish - and the lesson finished.
The second one began in the same way, with a brief resume of what had gone before - and went on to frogs.
And then the lesson ended.
The third and final lecture began with a complete resume of the first two lessons, with Potty being even more ethereal and starey into space. The boy who had missed the previous term's final fling was in the front row, riveted to every word.
Potty began to talk about rabbits. I particularly remember the bit about the female rabbit's scut ( tail) flattening up her back when the buck mounted her. Potty drew diagram's on the board. The clock ticked. Potty drew a picture of a doe's reproductive system.
The clock ticked. He drew a picture of the buck's reproductive system.
The clock ticked as the silence was absolute.
And then the bell rang for the end of the lesson.
And Potty looked at the clock and said:
" And it's pretty much the same for human beings"
Can't say I've ever tried it on a rabbit....
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Labour achievements
You may not believe this but I have been really busy for the last week, both in London and in Romania. Hence the lack of posts, and too much to tell, much of it of no interest to readers.
I did catch this mornings news on bbc.co.uk as I like to know what has been happening whilst I am away, so that I do not appear entirely ignorant when I return.
Even the Beeb is talking of a fin-de-siecle feeling in the Labour conference, and I spotted the following information in one of the papers:
Spending on the NHS has doubled since Labour came to power. Yet the number of beds run per administrator has dropped from 12 to just 5. And nurses? They now look after 10 beds as opposed to 6. Real progress there then.
Similarly, the education budget has doubled. We have slipped to 16th in the OECD table of reading 'riting and 'rithmetic - from 4th.
Oh, and we have the highest percentage of year 1 drop outs at University of any country in the world.
What achievements!
I did catch this mornings news on bbc.co.uk as I like to know what has been happening whilst I am away, so that I do not appear entirely ignorant when I return.
Even the Beeb is talking of a fin-de-siecle feeling in the Labour conference, and I spotted the following information in one of the papers:
Spending on the NHS has doubled since Labour came to power. Yet the number of beds run per administrator has dropped from 12 to just 5. And nurses? They now look after 10 beds as opposed to 6. Real progress there then.
Similarly, the education budget has doubled. We have slipped to 16th in the OECD table of reading 'riting and 'rithmetic - from 4th.
Oh, and we have the highest percentage of year 1 drop outs at University of any country in the world.
What achievements!
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Clever? No, properly educated.
I can't help but think the commentator's and others referring to Gail Trimble from Corpus Christi as very " clever" are entirely wrong.
Yes, I'm sure she is clever, but quizzes are not a measure of " cleverness" They are a measure of what you have remembered and how wide your interests, how widely you have read and so on.
Perhaps, in this uneducated age, simply knowing something is clever.
Yes, I'm sure she is clever, but quizzes are not a measure of " cleverness" They are a measure of what you have remembered and how wide your interests, how widely you have read and so on.
Perhaps, in this uneducated age, simply knowing something is clever.
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Edukashun
I sometimes pop over to Takis Magazine which has the feel of a proper magazine in many ways and certainly a broad range of articles.Taki himself, half of the famous " High Life/Low Life" duo that included Jeffrey Barnard, posts regularly and his writing always has some merit.
I was taken by this article by one Karen de Coster which finishes as follows:
"For many people, their job is their life because it is something they are “trained” to do. It’s all they have outside of kids, a lawn to cut, and golf on Sundays. For me, my formal education garnered me an established career—a satisfactory and oftentimes challenging occupation that both feeds and funds my passions. If I knew little about the world outside of my job, the one-dimensional life would crush me with boredom and leave me with the life of a trained monkey."
There are many houses I go to where there is no book, no newspaper, no intellectual engagement of any kind, and we as a nation have colluded in the target culture which excludes true understanding and knowledge.
Perhaps the most important part of a University education is the reading around a subject that is done. Today, we can, in many cases, cram or learn by rote what is needed for an A grade, but have neither common-sense nor real understanding.
The result is, I believe, largely to be laid at the door of the present government, which, since 1997, has promulgated the mantra " no one can fail."
Of course they can. And if they do, they should be helped to succeed.
Slightly off subject, the joy on the Little Chef workers' faces as they mastered new skills and saw the results they could achieve made one's heart glow. Jason in particular, who appeared the most unlikely candidate to be able to achieve, made it - and showed his sheer delight.
Surely we should try to do the same for readers, writers and 'rithmeticers.
I was taken by this article by one Karen de Coster which finishes as follows:
"For many people, their job is their life because it is something they are “trained” to do. It’s all they have outside of kids, a lawn to cut, and golf on Sundays. For me, my formal education garnered me an established career—a satisfactory and oftentimes challenging occupation that both feeds and funds my passions. If I knew little about the world outside of my job, the one-dimensional life would crush me with boredom and leave me with the life of a trained monkey."
There are many houses I go to where there is no book, no newspaper, no intellectual engagement of any kind, and we as a nation have colluded in the target culture which excludes true understanding and knowledge.
Perhaps the most important part of a University education is the reading around a subject that is done. Today, we can, in many cases, cram or learn by rote what is needed for an A grade, but have neither common-sense nor real understanding.
The result is, I believe, largely to be laid at the door of the present government, which, since 1997, has promulgated the mantra " no one can fail."
Of course they can. And if they do, they should be helped to succeed.
Slightly off subject, the joy on the Little Chef workers' faces as they mastered new skills and saw the results they could achieve made one's heart glow. Jason in particular, who appeared the most unlikely candidate to be able to achieve, made it - and showed his sheer delight.
Surely we should try to do the same for readers, writers and 'rithmeticers.
Friday, November 14, 2008
Brown and Educashun
Following on from my previous post about Brown's aspirations for the excellence of British Education, here is Jeff Randall today:
One area of egregious mismanagement has been education. Under Mr Brown, the budget for schools, colleges and universities has more than doubled to £77 billion (twice as much as defence). And what do we have to show for it? A debased system, where nobody can fail but excellence is under attack. A generation of pupils has been sacrificed on the altar of misguided ideology.
Stuffed with resources, comprehensives are not closing the gap on grammars and public schools. Frustrated by the resistance of our best universities to social engineering, the Government is bullying the top 20 Russell Group institutions to lower the bar in order to accommodate state-school pupils with sub-standard grades. Typical of Labour: rather than address the problem, it prefers to fix the figures and create a false impression of success.
Isn't that just appalling? Don't fix it, fiddle it.
See Jeff's whole article in the Telegraph here.
But then, they never had a belief, nor a desire beyond power.
One area of egregious mismanagement has been education. Under Mr Brown, the budget for schools, colleges and universities has more than doubled to £77 billion (twice as much as defence). And what do we have to show for it? A debased system, where nobody can fail but excellence is under attack. A generation of pupils has been sacrificed on the altar of misguided ideology.
Stuffed with resources, comprehensives are not closing the gap on grammars and public schools. Frustrated by the resistance of our best universities to social engineering, the Government is bullying the top 20 Russell Group institutions to lower the bar in order to accommodate state-school pupils with sub-standard grades. Typical of Labour: rather than address the problem, it prefers to fix the figures and create a false impression of success.
Isn't that just appalling? Don't fix it, fiddle it.
See Jeff's whole article in the Telegraph here.
But then, they never had a belief, nor a desire beyond power.
Thursday, November 13, 2008
Robinson must go.
If ever there was a case for getting rid of a particular reporter, this is it. Robinson was sooo far out on this that surely he should be replaced. Even Andrew Marr when doing Robinson's job was actually quite even-handed -not that he is anymore. Of course, that's the reason Brown will speak to him.
Just to backtrack a bit, this is from an interview Marr did with Brown in 2007:
"GORDON BROWN: Well every parent that I talk to wants more opportunities, more chances for their children, than they had before, than they had themselves. And I think what we've got to do is see education as the priority, what's going to make our economy successful? Education.
What's going to make Britain great in the modern world? Education. What's going to give people higher standards of living is going to be education. So education will be the priority, it will have pride of place, and indeed it's my passion.
I believe that we can move Britain to a world-class education system over the next few years. We've started, we've got much to do, and to do that I think we've got to concentrate on how we can get individual tuition so that we bring out the best in every pupil. "
Shame he didn't stick to trying to make it happen. Instead we have an entire generation basically unable to read, understand the words they are reading,write, spell or count.
They can, however, text.
Such an achievement.
Just to backtrack a bit, this is from an interview Marr did with Brown in 2007:
"GORDON BROWN: Well every parent that I talk to wants more opportunities, more chances for their children, than they had before, than they had themselves. And I think what we've got to do is see education as the priority, what's going to make our economy successful? Education.
What's going to make Britain great in the modern world? Education. What's going to give people higher standards of living is going to be education. So education will be the priority, it will have pride of place, and indeed it's my passion.
I believe that we can move Britain to a world-class education system over the next few years. We've started, we've got much to do, and to do that I think we've got to concentrate on how we can get individual tuition so that we bring out the best in every pupil. "
Shame he didn't stick to trying to make it happen. Instead we have an entire generation basically unable to read, understand the words they are reading,write, spell or count.
They can, however, text.
Such an achievement.
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