Leadership

All that I have for you today is pictures of two of the world's great leaders - D.J.Trump and Kim Jong-un. On a daily basis, these intellectual giants demonstrate the qualities of great leadership in a changing world.

For example, they have each handled the COVID19 epidemic with intelligence and foresight - happily taking on board the learned advice of epidemiologists and other well-informed academics. They realise that one of the vital traits of leadership is the ability to just listen.

As thousands of families have been wracked by grief, they have offered comfort and support, demonstrating another of the prime qualities of effective leadership - compassion.

Of course, leaders must be decisive and that decisiveness has been very apparent in the actions of both Donald Jong-un and Kim Trump in recent times. In no better sphere than defence is this exemplified. One marvels at the careful planning that has underpinned the building of the "beautiful wall" along America's southern border and at the testing of nuclear weapons above the waters to the west and east of North Korea. Pure genius in the name of World Peace.

As the great Iowan thinker, Leroy Eims said, "A leader is one who sees more than others see, who sees farther than others see, and who sees before others see." Do you see?

Quiz

Another Sunday means another lockdown quiz via Zoom. For this particular quiz, each team has to prepare five questions. It's a family quiz so there tends to be an hour of chitter chatter before the quiz actually gets going. The whole thing can last up to three hours. As Little Richard might have said: "Good golly Miss Molly!"

With a little assistance from the wife, I have prepared five visual questions for later on. I am still in my dressing gown so for the millionth time the upstairs shower is calling along with the shampoo, shaving foam and soap. Talk about "Groundhog Day". But before I scale those treacherous stairs, here are today's questions. See how you do.

To American, Canadian, Australian, New Zealand, Russian and Ukrainian visitors, I apologise in advance for the obvious British bias:-

A

Who is this and in which Yorkshire city was he born?

B

Who is the famous British woman on the left?

C

Here are The Seven Dwarfs. Name them.

D

Who is this as a young boy?

E

Who released the album "Joanne" in 2016?

Floyd

George Perry Floyd Jr

Born October 14th 1973. Died May 25th 2020.

We shall overcome

We shall overcome

We shall overcome, some day

Oh, deep in my heart

I do believe

We shall overcome, some day

We'll walk hand in hand

We'll walk hand in hand

We'll walk hand in hand, some day

Oh, deep in my heart

I do believe

We shall overcome, some day

We shall live in peace

We shall live in peace

We shall live in peace, some day

Oh, deep in my heart

I do believe

We shall overcome, some day

We are not afraid

We are not afraid

We are not afraid, TODAY

Oh, deep in my heart

I do believe

We shall overcome, some day

The whole wide world around

The whole wide world around

The whole wide world around some day

Oh, deep in my heart

I do believe

We shall overcome, some day

Numbers

Regular visitors to this corner of the blogosphere know that from time to time I like to consider numbers.  Some of you are possibly yawning already - "Oh no! Here he goes again!"

Okay. I don't wish to detain you for very long so let's go.

First of all - the population of our planet. Back on February 4th the total population was 7,762,009,632. Today, four months later, the world's population has risen to 7,789,122,032. This means that in just 120 days there are now 27,112,400 extra people. That is more than the entire population of Australia in such a short span of time. By the way, the current population of Australia is 25,499,884.

Turning now to COVID19. So far, worldwide, it has killed 389,995 people and 6,641,078 have actually contracted the disease. 

As you can see, these numbers seem quite small compared with what is happening with regard to population growth.

Just before I go, here's another number to think about: 4,772,583. That's the number of people on the planet who have died of hunger this year. As Fats Domino sang, "Ain't That A Shame?" He was probably understating things.

Zoom

Until COVID 19 seeped into our lives, I had not heard of "Zoom". In the past, I had occasionally used "Skype" and I was aware of "Facetime" but "Zoom" was new to me.

My relationship with "Zoom" has been quite fractious over the last three months. To begin with it was very hard to access - partly because Lady Pudding had made an abortive attempt to sign up to it and had forgotten the password she used. 

We had agreed to join three weekly quizzes that brought a few households together locally or from across the country. Once or twice we couldn't participate as the links we were sent didn't appear to work. But gradually we got the hang of things and the link problems dissipated.

I have been participating in pub quizzes for years and possess an enormous amount of general knowledge. I am naturally inquisitive and want to know things whereas many of my fellow human beings don't seem to value general knowledge very much at all.  In all that multitude of pub quizzes, I never once had to look at myself on a screen while quizzing and in "Zoom" I have found this to be quite off-putting. Incidentally, Lady Pudding will sometimes apply lipstick and a little eye makeup before we enter a "Zoom" quiz. No comment.

Within "Zoom" there is a mute facility and sometimes people have the mike on when they shouldn't or off when they should have it on. This has caused no end of problems or accidentally you hear participants blurting out answers. Sometimes you miss the actual questions because of other people's remarks or laughter and often you can't tell who is talking.

Lady Pudding does not share my hunger for general knowledge. Let's suppose a question has been posed, such as "What is the capital of Portugal?" Immediately I write down Lisbon and Lady Pudding might say "Are you sure it's Lisbon? Isn't it Madrid?" and as she's saying that the quizmaster or quizmistress is reading out the next question so I miss it as well as having to explain to my dear spouse that Madrid is in fact the capital of Spain.

Then a health question might crop up such as "How long does it take for the average human body to expel one unit of alcohol?" and I will turn to her and she'll say "How should I know?" and I'll say, "But you're a nurse, can't you have a guess at least?" But she won't so I have to guess instead

And you get other participants making philistinic remarks after an Art question - "Art's not my thing!" or after a simple question about the world's oceans - "How are we supposed to know that?" And you get situations where the quiz leader hasn't thought through the allocation of marks - deciding on the hoof how points will be awarded.

Yes. I have found "Zoom" stressful. We have won several of the quizzes. The dubious reward has often been to prepare the next quiz. I try to strike a nice balance. You don't want the quiz to be too hard or too easy and you need to remember that it is all meant to be fun.

With "Zoom" it is nice when you can show on-screen images during the quiz though this requires the "host" to allow screen sharing which has again been problematic on occasions. In one quiz I presented several flags which typically invited another load of unmuted grumblings - "I don't like flags...", "I have never really looked at flags" etc.. Jesus God!

Here's three of them... Please test yourself before searching Google Images:-

  

If I never have to join a "Zoom" quiz again I will not be complaining. In fact,  it's one reason I want this bloody virus gone sooner rather than later. Let it zoom off into the distance and never be seen again.

Trent

A bend in The Trent near Cottam Power Station

The River Trent is Britain's third longest river - after The Thames and The River Severn. My wife and all of her family grew up on the west bank of the Trent just north of Gainsborough. In fact they had a special verb round there. "To trent" something meant you were chucking it in the river as generations before had done. Mostly we are talking about organic matter - leaves, grass cuttings etcetera.

I drove out to The Trent on Monday - another gorgeous day. Clint deposited me in the village of Dunham-on-Trent, close to the toll bridge on the A57 that eventually takes travellers to the city of Lincoln.

A family of swans on Trent Pool near Torksey

The etymology of the name "trent" suggests that it means something like  "strongly flooding" and indeed in past times the river would flood each winter. But large embankments now ensure that flooding in the lower reaches of The Trent has become a fairly rare phenomenon. Foe example, my late father-in-law's farm near Owston Ferry was last flooded in the winter of 1947.

Unusual sign at Church Laneham

Under a blue sky upon which wisps of cotton wool clouds had been painted, I walked to Church Laneham then on to Cottam Power Station with its huge concrete cooling towers that can be seen from miles around. I paused to watch a family of swans in Trent Pool and then carried on down Torksey Ferry Road - all the way to Rampton.

Cottages and the church in Rampton

I sat in the porch of All Saints Church for ten minutes to rest, drink water and devour a banana before carrying on to Laneham and then it was back across the fields to Dunham. 

Beech Farm, Laneham

This was another wonderful sunny  day on which it simply felt good to be alive and mobile. As usual, I saw many lovely sights - even those monumental cooling towers. Clint was snoring when I got back to the car park opposite what was once a pub but is now the "Maharaj" Indian restaurant and takeaway. As Kurt Vonnegut Jr said in "Slaughter House Five"... "So it goes".

The same cooling towers reflected in Trent Pool

Message

"Please Believe These Days Will Pass" is a nationwide art project created by a British artist called March Titchner. Posters have appeared in ten British cities - sending out a message of hope in these trying times. Throughout the pandemic, on my weekly trip to our local "Lidl" supermarket, I have passed an advertising display board with six of Mark Titchner's posters on it. Each time I have driven down Broadfield Road I have thought - "Next time I will remember to bring my camera".

This week I remembered the camera though it was late when I parked Clint at the kerbside. and the light was fading.

But anyway here it is. That message of unity and hope. Given what has been happening in America since the killing of George Floyd, it is a a message that might as easily be applied to the hurt, despair and anger that decent American citizens are now feeling. Not just for COVID 19.