Monthly Archives: September 2017

University of California: Berkeley 2017

Posted on September 29, 2017 by odeboyz

There are 1098 students enrolled on CS61A at Berkeley who are happily sharing a learning experience in the Wheeler Hall, which is Berkeley’s largest lecture hall. In state students pay $34,972 and out-of-state students pay $61,654. Is this a demonstration but … Continue reading →

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Conservation: Is it worth it?

Posted on September 29, 2017 by odeboyz

A confident nation builds so that future people may look back and marvel at their ancestors ingenuity and aesthetic vision. A nation in decline looks to the past in a vain attempt to “preserve” what was once great. Preservation is … Continue reading →

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The price of naivety: Verdun 1916

Posted on September 29, 2017 by odeboyz

The Bismarckian precept that two-front wars are disastrous shaped his foreign policy. He created a gigantic balance-of-power, which kept European peace from the formation of Germany in 1871 until 1914. Needless to relate 43 years of peace wasn’t a blessing … Continue reading →

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Fun Loving Baby

Posted on September 26, 2017 by odeboyz

 

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Film Review~ Bonnie and Clyde (Faye Dunaway and Warren Beatty)

Posted on September 26, 2017 by odeboyz

Bonnie and Clyde is a love story. Bonnie is trapped in a dead end job, in dead end town, in a grim part of Texas, in the 1930s Great Depression. A very self-aware beautiful woman yearning for something better, where … Continue reading →

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Going out with a bang

Posted on September 22, 2017 by odeboyz

An elderly, but hardy cattleman from Texas once told a young female neighbour that if she wanted to live a long life, the secret was to sprinkle a pinch of gunpowder on her oatmeal each morning.  She did this religiously … Continue reading →

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A job in a million

Posted on September 22, 2017 by odeboyz

When I started work at Hackney Council I quickly realised I was a cog in a big wheel. Lou Olivo, the area foreman, was pig ignorant, arrogant, and annoying to anyone at a lesser grade than him. We were trash, … Continue reading →

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A Natural Garden adjacent to our Tower Block

Posted on September 19, 2017 by odeboyz

This photograph was taken just fifty yards from a twelve story block of council flats, where 146 people live. A wild life garden, abundant with wild flowers and berries in autumn with small animals and insects throughout the year. It … Continue reading →

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Book Review: Joseph Knox~ Sirens

Posted on September 19, 2017 by odeboyz

Sirens is a debut novel and is a compelling read. Detective Constable Aidan Waits works undercover in Manchester (Manchester noir?). Naturally the people he’s infiltrating are deeply suspicious, prone to breath-taking violence, and occupied with a wide repertoire of evil-doing. … Continue reading →

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A child’s keen sense of humour

Posted on September 15, 2017 by odeboyz

The boss wondered why one of employees was absent but hadn’t phoned in sick. He phoned his home and a child answered. ‘Is your daddy home?’ ‘ Small voice whispered, ‘Yes, but he’s out in the garden ‘ May I … Continue reading →

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