Friday, November 22, 2024

Snow Time!

Shock. Horror. It’s that time of year again.

Scotland had to brace itself overnight with warnings of danger to life weather conditions. 

It’s a bit frosty. It went down to -4.

I think we just get confused when it stops raining.

Anyway, in what in now becoming a annual post, it’s time to celebrate the gritters again.  There’s 240 of them, based at 42 depots and everyone of them has a name.  If you are really keen, you can follow them  on a website and it shows you what gritter is where.

The website can get over 100,000 visitors a day.

Last year the Minnesota Department of Transportation started the same thing, as dod a few cities in Canada. They came up with Snowboni, Plowsaurus Rex and Sir SaltsALot.

And if you are stuck because you are behind a gritter, you at least get a wee titter at the name.

                                      

Here are the 24 25 names. Prepare to be amused.

· Mr Plow

· Gritallica

· Ready, Spready, Go!

· Sled Zepplin

· For Your Ice Only

· Gritt Scott!

· Frosty the Snow Plough

· Grit and BEAR It

· Mr Snow-it-all

· Mr Snow, Let’s Go

· Plougher O’Scotland

· BEAR Chills

· Polar BEAR Explorer

· Mrs McGritter

· Salt Shaker

· Olaf Snow Free Roads

· Sir Andy Flurry

· William Wall-Ice

· Sammy Salt

· Salty Claus

· Gritty Gritty Bang Bang

· Get a Grit

· Gritz Crackers

· Auntie Freeze

· Thistle do nicely

· Blizzard Wizard

· Snowmer Simpson

· Hagrit

· Salty

· Grit A Bit

· My Name’5 Doddie

· I Want to Break Freeze

· Mega Melter

· I’m shovelin’

· Always Be Grit-full

· Scotland’s Bravest Gritter

· Blizzard BEAR

· Basil Salty

· Polar Patroller

· Snow Dozer

· Licence to Chill

· Sir Salter Scott

· Snow Connery

· Nitty Gritty

· Grit-Tok

· The Incredible Ice BEAR

· Walter The Salter

· BFG – Big Friendly Gritter

· BEAR-illiant

· Gritly BEAR

· Brine Freeeeze

· Snow place like home

· Scoopy Doo

· Gritty McGrit Face

· Griticle Mass

· The Forth Gritter

· I’ve Grit a Crush on you

· Don’t go Grittin’ my heart

· Thistle gets through

· Sprinkles

· Oh my Gritty Aunt

· The Polar Bear Express

· Kevin Fridges

· Stone Cold Steve Frostin

· Keanu Freeze

· Polar Abdul

· Taylor Drift

· Sleeter Andre

· Skate Bush

Thursday, November 21, 2024

Choices

 Michael - Alternate Thursdays

Governments don’t do things, people do things. I don’t know who said this, but I’m sure someone did. Unless it’s too obvious to be worth saying. Government may set policy, even provide guidelines and money, but eventually someone has to act on those. The success or otherwise of an initiative depends very much on how competent that person is and how committed they are to the initiative.

Let’s take two examples from South Africa. Up until a few months before the elections in May this year, South Africa was suffering from fifteen years of electric power problems culminating in rolling scheduled daily blackouts called loadshedding.

Eventually, with the national elections looming and the government watching its support shrink at pretty much the same rate as the electricity, the president set up a new ministry and appointed a new minister. Bypassing party structures, loyalties, and even financial considerations, the president appointed an extremely competent person and gave him a free hand. Dr Kgosientsho Ramokgopa is a civil engineer with two MBA-type degrees and a doctorate, and he has serious experience to boot. 

Dr Ramokgopa
Bypassing party structures, loyalties, and even financial considerations, the president appointed an extremely competent person and gave him a free hand. He rapidly made it clear that inefficiencies, corruption, and straightforward theft would not be tolerated whereas competence and success (as in keeping the lights on) would be rewarded. A couple of months before the election, the load shedding stopped. Cynics raised their eybrows, saying that the government was burning megagallons of diesel in emergency generators to look good for the election. “Just wait till the day after the election,” they said laughing. There has not been a single day of load shedding since then.

Queues at Home Affairs

After the election, the ANC had to take other parties on board to build a majority. That required handing over some ministries. It was the first time the erstwhile official opposition had been in the national government, and they were given the important Home Affairs ministry among others. Home Affairs deals with matters like citizenship, residence permits etc. It was a poisoned chalice of inefficiency. It had a backlog of about 250,000 cases open cases. However, the new minister was competent and motivated. This was a make or break assignment. He looked at the system and changed it, stepped hard on corruption, and expected everyone to work as hard as he did. After three months there was no backlog.

By contrast, the previous president Jacob Zuma was only interested in what he could personally get out of the job. Ministries were filled with yes-people who were rewarded with riches. He demanded absolute loyalty for the money and generally got it. The civil service took their lead from the top. The center could not hold.

The moral of all this is that the choice of the person heading an important instrumentality is crucial to its success. Competent governors appoint competent and respected people with expertise in the operation that they are required to guide. Despots, however, don't do that. Their interest is to stay in power so the key requirement they have of their ministers is loyalty. Competence may even be a disadvantage because the incumbent may be diverted to achieving the aims of his portfolio at the expense of the required absolute loyalty. We saw a suite of examples in the previous Trump administration when he tried to appoint some competent people to important portfolios. They didn’t last very long.

I think Trump 2.0 has learned the lesson that loyalty is critical; the rest is optional. For example, Matt Gaetz is a perfect choice for Attorney General. He’s a lawyer, available since he was forced to resign his seat in the House ahead of the bipartisan report on his "extramural" activities, and clearly has no other possibilities of employment. There’s no doubt that he’ll be completely loyal and focus on getting rid of any residual cases directed at the president elect by getting rid of the people concerned. Another appointment along the same lines is Linda McMahon as Education Secretary. The president elect wants the department gone. What better person than a specialist in TV wrestling for a wrecking ball?

The Treasury Secretary post is still open. The requirements are enthusiasm for tariffs and the false belief that the exporting country pays the tariffs. Some experience with money (preferably legal) will be helpful, but one mustn’t be too picky. Loyalty is the big thing. We await developments.

Abroad, and especially in Israel, Taiwan, and Ukraine, the question is how the new US administration will affect them. For mineral producers like South Africa and Australia, the threat to the world economy posed by punitive tariffs is a huge concern. In addition, South Africa has aligned itself with the BRICS group, which includes such players as Russia, China, Iran. It has also aligned itself with the Palestinian refugees. That amounts to disloyalty…



Wednesday, November 20, 2024

My Morning Shift

Sujata Massey 



A few weeks ago, I had the fun of interviewing a literary lion in Washington DC—and I received a gift that went far beyond the signed copy of a book.

 

Sir Alexander McCall Smith was touring the United States in support of one of his newest novels, The Great Hippopotamus Hotel, and organizers at the Hill Center, a Capitol Hill landmark building, invited me to ask him about a quarter century of writing all kinds of books.

 

I’ve mentioned McCall Smith’s newest novels in plural. In 2024, he’s released three other books: The Perfect Passion Company, a comic novel about matchmaking set in Edinburgh; The Conditions of Unconditional Love, the fifteenth book about philosopher Isabel Dalhousie; and The Stellar Debut of Galactica MacFee, another epistle in the Scotland Street social satire series. 





 

The lecture room at the Hill Center was packed with almost 100 rapt fans who’d all properly reserved seats ahead of time, with some waitlist members crowding the edges while standing on foot. Everyone was all smiles. Sir Alexander is a true Scottish gentleman and an excellent joker. He’s not one to toot his own horn, but he did come forward and answer my questions about his work, including the fact he doesn’t know the total number of books he’s written: just that it’s over one hundred, and that he averages the publication of three or four books every year. 

 

Writers who have joyful careers running at high productive speed are often asked for advice about how they manage. Alexander McCall Smith shared that he doesn’t have to revise much because his brain delivers sentences to him in a stream-of-consciousness fashion—they come to him just as they appear in print to us months later. He described being in a mild dissociative state when he works, writing about 1000 words (or four pages) per hour. 

 

People’s eyes widened when he described beginning his workday very early—sometimes as early as three in the morning, which he described as a melancholic time also known as “the hour of the wolf.” Instead of lying in bed feeling frustrated at having the interrupted sleep, he gets up to write. And generally, he is done with all of the day’s writing before lunchtime. 

 

I’ve been an early riser for a long time—but my habit has been to go through a lengthy morning routine before starting to write. This looks like coffee, journaling, dog feeding and walking, tidying some rooms and putting in a load of laundry, and cooking a real breakfast. Oh, and perhaps a glance at the papers and five minutes watching Stephen Colbert reruns online with my husband. You can quickly see that writing gets shifted to the end and sometimes I’m lucky to have an hour and a half for writing before heading out to lunch or an 11:30 gym class. 

 

That was BEFORE talking with Alexander McCall Smith. In the last few weeks I’ve risen when I wake, usually between four and six am. I have the first half of my coffee in front of the fire, and then I take the cup upstairs to my study and turn on the laptop. I work for a solid hour before thinking of breakfast and anything else. And I must say: I’m writing faster and better, and I still have the interest to write more in the morning, even after breakfast and the dog walk. If I wake way too early—say 3:30 a.m.—I will find myself rising if I can’t return to sleep within 30 minutes. And I read or write then for an hour, and I go back to sleep. My brain is fine with this routine, as long as I give it space for  a cozy afternoon nap (early afternoon, so as not to screw up falling asleep later).

 





 

I’m also reading a productivity book called Hyper-Efficent by a researcher named Mithu Storoni. Dr. Storoni has pulled together many research studies on brain performance to develop her original framework of three gears for the brain, ranging from highly focused to scattered, and also a flexible stage in which one can flip from different focus areas. You can’t change the gear your brain is in at the moment; but you can recognize what’s going on internally by planning tasks and relaxation around your own clock. 

 

In gear theory, early morning is the time the brain can most easily sink into a creative well.  For most of us, though, this prime time is spent eating, helping others start their day, and traveling to work. As the day goes on, our brains will always become fatigued—it’s not a personal fault. Yet our brains can regain focus and happy strength following 15-minute breaks with different kinds of activities. For instance, writers who’s had their eyes locked on a screen would probably recharge best by taking a short walk that brings their eyes to rest on trees and sky and nature. Someone working with very difficult information or tense, unpleasant personal interactions (say at a hospital or a tollbooth) might recover their emotional reserve taking Instagram break scrolling cute animal videos. 

 

I was flat-out thrilled to have it confirmed that the most successful way to initiate intellectual activity later in the day is following a nap. Storoni found that late afternoon is the second most efficient period in the day for most brains. Because my day started at four today, and included a midmorning water aerobics session, I’d worried that I might lack the energy the to write this blogpost later in the day. However, after lunch I napped for an hour, and got up to have a cup of green tea and started writing without any kind of hesitation. 

 

I’ve been blogging for Murder is Everywhere on alternate Wednesdays for ten years. There are days I’ve regretfully missed posting because of writing deadlines and my inability to shift to a second project on the same day. I'm also very different from Alexander McCall-Smith in that I haven't got multiple publishers expecting me to write various novels and short stories in the same calendar year. I am satisfied researching, writing and revising a book every eighteen months (although the publishing cycle sometimes draws the book’s release a bit longer).  

 

My chance encounter with a veteran novelist, and the coincidences in his working style with brain's Circadian rhythms, have been illuminating. Now I’ve got a plan of how to make use of my chronic insomnia, and I can accept that I can’t force my brain to run when it wants to rest. Taken together, all of it goes a long way to make writing more enjoyable. 

Tuesday, November 19, 2024

Kulture, Kaya and Kindred Spirits

Ovidia--every other Tuesday

I've been feasting mind, soul and (unfortunately?) body over the last two weeks. There's been so much going on here... or maybe I only notice between book drafts!

First of all, though, I got to go back to our neighbourhood kopitiam for my traditional comfort breakfast,



Rolled oats may be healthy, but nothing beats a thick slab of butter and kaya inside crispy toast!

The Singapore Writers Festival (over two weekends, with evening events in the linking week) is just over. But even before that there was the DARE Festival, celebrating accessibility and diversity in dynamic performances by differently abled artists.



I really enjoyed the show, and the side benefit of meeting up with old friends on and off-stage!
(my only objection is how inaccessible the toilets at this accessible performance were--narrow dark steps--but all in all it was great.
This is the 3rd year (after the Covid lockdown) DARE had a live festival and I hope it continues!

What impressed me most at the Singapore Writers Festival was the youthful energy and sense of mission in the audience as well as the performers. In particular the Carnatic singer Sushma Soma and Isuru Wijesoma who accompanied her on his double-necked guitar that allowed him to switch between Western and Indian classical styles. Beautiful music aside, it was her commitment to recognising and sustaining our natural and social environments that impressed me.

Another young artist who impressed me was Sarah, a comic creator, who wove traditional wayang kulit into her graphics like a true dalang (puppeteer).




This is from her Bandar Rimau, which started as a school project and ended up winning an Eisner for Best Webcomic.

And then there was Anton Hur, Korean writer and translator, who was charmingly frank about how, even though we might feel passionate about our projects, we need to learn to pitch them as though we're used car salesmen...
I'm biased because I really loved this book he translated--I Want to Die But I Want to Eat Tteokbokki: A Memoir.



And since I don't read Korean, it's thanks to his translation that I got to read it at all!

A small drawback of feeling overwhelmed by all the new and wonderful information coming at me is compensating by eating too much... after listening to Anton Hur I was craving Korean food.

This is Korean soft tofu stew... (because they didn't have Tteokbokki)



And it was totally delicious!

In between SWF events, I managed to catch Wild Rice’s production of The Wizard of Oz. The first time I stepped onstage (over 50 years ago!) was as a munchkin in this musical and I loved this localised version; from “Toto, I don’t think we’re in Yishun anymore,” to a Wicked Witch named Gentrification, it was brilliantly sly/wry and entertaining on multiple levels (though I don't envy any parents who might have to go home and explain why a pair of crocheted pom-poms signifies 'courage').



And speaking of localised versions of classics--I got a copy of Kaka Farm--a brilliant Singlish translation of Animal Farm!




I'm still processing all the talks and panels--too many to list here. But I think what stood out most for me was Cat Bohannon's keynote. She was clear eyed and realistic about where we are today, seen in context of how far we've come (too far for it all to be destroyed by one guy with a fake tan) and I know it wasn't just the young people in the audience who were inspired.

And of course, meeting other writers, readers, artists and all manner of creators as we came together as storytellers and book lovers was wonderful. Because we aren't just hiding from a world where the incoming US President is threatening publishers with $2 billion lawsuits; we're preparing ourselves--and others--to live in it.

A good dinner of Japanese noodles helps...



Monday, November 18, 2024

The Power of Small Acts of Love

Annamaria on Monday


More often than you might think, an act of love, even a seemingly small act of kindness will produce a marvelous outcome.  If all you do is unlock a door for someone, you might set them on a path to something wonderful.

My case in point today, is also my excuse for being late with my post.  I was too busy yesterday celebrating such an event.

All I did was give a stay in my apartment in Florence as a wedding gift to a couple I love and admire very much: Kate Hamill and Jason O'Connell.  Such an easy thing to do for two theater artists who have delivered so much joy to me.  Covid had messed with their wedding plans and temporarily brought to a halt their careers.  Who wouldn't want to give them something nice.

While Kate and Jason were in Florence, they visited the Uffizi Gallery, where Kate saw Artemisia Gentileschi's painting of Judith Slaying Holofernes:


That image grasped Kate's curiosity and her ensuing research inspired her to write a powerful play - The Light and the Dark.

The play was preformed in out-of-town trials at Chautauqua this past summer.  Here is what Chautauqua said about Gentileschi and Kate's play:

Artemisia Gentileschi, a trailblazing artist, was the most successful female painter of the 17th century. Her artistic legacy endures as one of the few Baroque-era female artists, with dozens of paintings exhibited globally alongside Rafael and Caravaggio. Artemisia, characterized by her irreverence and audacity, aspired to attain immortality through her groundbreaking work. However, her journey took an unexpected turn, marked by a series of brutal betrayals that forever altered her life and art. The resulting transformation kindled a fire within her, a flame that continues to astonish and resonate with audiences today. 

The Light and The Dark delves into the profound impact of art in assuaging trauma and explores the transformative power of female rage in reshaping societal paradigms. 

Yesterday I had the enormous pleasure of attending the New York opening performance.

Kate plays the role of Artemisia.  Jason plays supporting roles. If you are anywhere near New York, I urge you to see this riveting and powerful play.


 
Kate and Jason give me far too much credit for "inspiring" the work of art that Kate has created.  My point is this: unlocking a door for someone is a pleasure in itself.  And you never know what wonders that first small step might lead to.