A Personal Historical Note

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Details: Written by: Richard_McKie; Parent Category: Economy; Category: Energy; Published: 27 August 2012; Hits: 72998

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You might wonder why I'm bothered with this subject.

The answer is that electricity has always been part of my life; and that of my ancestors almost since it was discovered (see The McKie Family - Untimely Death).

Indeed, it has probably always been part of your life too. It's the revolutionary discovery that has led to the modern world. So it shouldn't it be of interest to everyone?

Joke: How many New Yorkers does it take to change a light bulb? Two: One to call the handyman; and one to mix the cocktails while they wait.

Note: Some content previously here has been moved to The McKie Family - My Inheritance

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Travel

Cambodia and Vietnam

In April 2010 we travelled to the previous French territories of Cambodia and Vietnam: ‘French Indochina’, as they had been called when I started school; until 1954. Since then many things have changed. But of course, this has been a region of change for tens of thousands of years. Our trip ‘filled in’ areas of the map between our previous trips to India and China and did not disappoint. There is certainly a sense in which Indochina is a blend of China and India; with differences tangential to both. Both have recovered from recent conflicts of which there is still evidence everywhere, like the smell of gunpowder after fireworks.

Fiction, Recollections & News

Alan Turing and The Imitation Game

The movie The Imitation Game is an imaginative drama about the struggles of a gay man in an unsympathetic world.

It's very touching and left everyone in the cinema we saw it in reaching for the tissues; and me feeling very guilty about my schoolboy homophobia.

Benedict Cumberbatch, who we had previously seen as the modernised Sherlock Holmes, plays Alan Turing in much the same way that he played Sherlock Holmes. And as in that series The Imitation Game differs in many ways from the original story while borrowing many of the same names and places.

Far from detracting from the drama and pathos these 'tweaks' to the actual history are the very grist of the new story. The problem for me in this case is that the original story is not a fiction by Conan Doyle. This 'updated' version misrepresents a man of considerable historical standing while simultaneously failing to accurately represent his considerable achievements.

Opinions and Philosophy

A modern fairytale - in a Parallel Universe

I've dusted off this little satirical parable that I wrote in response to the The Garnaut Climate Change Review (2008). It's not entirely fair but then satire never is.

In a parallel universe, in 1920† Sidney, the place where Sydney is in ours, had need of a harbour crossing.

An engineer, Dr Roadfield, was engaged to look at the practicalities; including the geology and geography and required property resumptions, in the context of contemporary technical options.

After considering the options he reported that most advanced countries solve the harbour crossing problem with a bridge. He proposed that they make the decision to have a bridge; call for tenders for an engineering design; raise the finance; and build it. We'll call it the 'Sidney Harbour Bridge' he said; then less modestly: 'and the new crossing will be called the Roadfield Highway'.

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