Visit of the Russian Naval Squadron to Toulon (1893)
It’s not a significant number by any means, but it does mean I’ve written 3,418 previous blog posts. Mostly they have been inconsequential, but that’s not what is important. What is important is that it has enabled me to practice my writing, and I have been able to chat to some interesting people along the way. Nothing in life is ever wasted. The ability to rattle out 250-350 words on nothing of any importance, for instance, would be vital if I were a journalist, and is also quite useful for a man who write haibun.
I’ve just done another post for the Numismatic Society of Nottinghamshire, and am just getting into my rhythm. At the moment I am actually able to write more than we need for my contribution to the Facebook page. The President write something nearly every week, on classic numismatic items – mainly ancient coins, and I do something nearly every week on the less serious side – plastic transport tokens being one of the more recent ones.
Centenary of the railways in Britain (1830 – 1930)
having had another reasonably industrious day, I am feeling better about things, even if I have had to write an entirely new outline for the Miniature Medal talk. The ideal talk, to my mind, avoids assuming that everyone is as fascinated by the subject as I am, it does not batter people with facts, and it falls short of being an hour long. Forty minutes is plenty. You can then have questions, a chat and all get home still feeling like you have the use of your legs.
The chairs in the meeting room are hard plastic and an hour is usually long enough for me to start feeling numb, at which point I find my legs feel old for the rest of the evening. You want to atlk for an hour – you provide me with a chair that has a cushion.
Miniature Medals – the subject of my next talk
Forty minutes is a good length. Best to leave people wanting more than it is to have them wish for less.
🙂 Fair point.
You are quite right, Simon. Nothing in life is ever truly wasted.
🙂
In regard to “Centenary of the railways in Britain (1830 – 1930)” what is the significance of the word “Foreign” at the bottom of the token?
And when I was in the Army I heard a Brit officer refer to to the miniatures as “coming up with the rations”. Was that just him or was it a common comment?
Those small medallions were often made abroad, even in the late 19th century when we were supposedly dominant in manufacturing. Until 1914 they often said “Lauer” or “Germany”. After that they seem to have changed to “Foreign”
No, it’s a comment that used to be quite common. I once asked a friend of the family about how he won the Military Cross in Burma. That was exactly what he said to me, though it clearly wasn’t true, as he’d spent several years in the jungle and ended up as a major.
When I was a teacher, we were forced to attend a lecture as part of our training which told us we should never teach for more than 10 minutes without a break as people found it impossible to take things in for longer than that time. As the lecture lasted well over an hour without a break, we were a bit ambivalent about the whole thing. But I do agree that 40 minutes is probably quite long enough with plastic chairs in the equation
I think ambivalence was a very restrained response. I will try for 40 minutes broken into 10 minute sections. Some of them will be asleep anyway . . .
I remember the same thing. University lecturers were often very clever but actually very poor teachers.
At the Numismatic Society I notice that the academics that give talks have better slides than the rest of us, and a much deeper subject knowledge. However, I did disgrace myself by falling asleep in one of the more academic talks last year, so entertainment is not high on the list. 🙂