About ten years ago, when I was a member of the then Gloucestershire chamber of commerce, the chairman said a very wise thing. “What is a chamber of commerce?”, he asked. “It’s a room (a chamber), in which people meet to do business (commerce).” If a chamber of commerce is not... Read More

This game requires two participants, Black and White, who are both members of a LinkedIn discussion forum. No message is intended by the choice of colours or the allocation of colours to roles in the game: the analogy is with chess. No sexism is intended by the choice of gender... Read More

How to sing in a choir 3 The choir meets the conductor for the first time When the chorus master has honed his pride and joy to musical perfection, or four days before the concert, whichever is the sooner—and I’ll give you three guesses as to which of these comes first in... Read More

How to sing in a choir 2 The chorus master is the poor sod who has to rehearse the choir and bring them just to the peak of perfection, only to hand the songsters over to the conductor of the concert who then takes the credit for the fine job they’ve done on the night. If he (or... Read More

How to sing in a choir 1 England has a fine tradition of choral singing. Of course, Wales also has a fine tradition of male voice choirs, but this gender exclusion, due to the historical reason that the women were all down the pit hewing the coal while the chaps were up above... Read More

I want to make it clear that I do not endorse any of UKIP’s policies (or those of any other political party) but I am fascinated by how this party was so successful in last week’s EU elections. Targeting their market Nigel Farage, the leader (I use the word very advisedly—it’s... Read More

I recently received probably the worst marketing email ever. It was creepy. It opens ominously, as if it were from a petulant stalker: My records show me that you have not been opening my emails lately. That is just that little bit scary. What is this woman recording about me?... Read More

As Tolstoy observes at the start of Anna Karenina, Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way. [*1] Equally, happiness at work is a doddle;  unhappiness is much more complicated, runs much deeper and is more likely to be exogenous, ie not... Read More

I was grimly amused to read, “A bungled execution in Oklahoma “fell short of humane standards”, the White House said on Wednesday [30 April], as the state announced an investigation into how a condemned man ended up dying from a heart attack after writhing and thrashing on... Read More

It is well known that particular constituents of certain foods have specific benefits to the body. Apparently, grated carrots can be used to help heal wounds, cuts and inflammation. Blueberries are one of the richest sources of proanthocyanidins which have a unique ability to... Read More