To win you have to be a player

World of Football, Tony Adams, Alex Ferguson, Howard Wilkinson, the chairman of the League managers Association and Kenny Dalglish are all featured in 86-year-old Jilly Cooper’s latest 18th novel Tackle! Known for her occasional oral tribute, sex is a bit thin, although a character called Emma Stanton-Harcourt whose refusal to shave her public hair betrays her upper-crust status to anyone who sees her without underwear, does have a few steamy nights with Ryan Edwards, the manager of the club that has just signed her son, Harry to its academy.Rupert Campbell-Black, all-conquering racehorse owner-trainer is in the darkest of places. His … Continue reading To win you have to be a player

Love and Lust, Sex and Consent

The old idea that sexuality is a smouldering, animalistic force within us, desperate for release yet restrained by social forces, has little to support it. Bodies are not just sticks that make fire when you rub them together, and the pain, heartache, and regret that can accompany the highs of sexual excitement show us that much more is at stake. So what are really thinking about when we think about sex? And what are were really doing when we do it? Oscar Wild said “ Everything in the world is about sex, except sex”.  Acclaimed psychoanalyst Darian Leader explores the … Continue reading Love and Lust, Sex and Consent

How powerful use the law to gag their critics

Veteran Media lawyer David Hooper’s Buying Silence focuses on the controversial issue of SLAPP cases – Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation – which are designed to censor, intimidate and silence. Critics by burdening them with aggressive opposing lawyers, heavy legal costs and enquiry agents until they abandon the case. Power of money enabled the very wealthy to crush their critics and outlines the tactics they used. Hooper examines how billionaire oligarchs, often ex-convicts and linked to organised crimes, have tried to launder their reputation in this country by suing for libel, and how they have found lawyers only too happy … Continue reading How powerful use the law to gag their critics

Don’t miss the opportunity to fail well

Billionaire entrepreneur, Elon Musk urges innovators to celebrate and embrace misfires, setbacks and flops. He likes experimental culture of “Take risks, Learn by Blowing things up. Revise, Repeat”. After losing another starship rocket this week 10 minutes after lift-off, Space X said “ with a test like this, success comes from what we learn”. Influential organisational psychologist, Amy Edmonson’s  Right Kind of Wrong promotes intelligent failures and learn from them, reveals How we get failure wrong – and how to get it right. We used to think of failure as a problem, to be avoided at all costs. Now, we … Continue reading Don’t miss the opportunity to fail well

Pat delivers: Australia win World Cup

19 November 2023 ICC Men’s World Cup Cricket India Vs Australia India 240 ao off 50 ov,   Rohit 47 off 31, 4 fours, 3 sixes, Kohli 54 off 63, 4 fours, Rahul 66 off 107, 1 four, Starc 3-55, Hazelwood 2-60, Cummins 2-34, Maxwell 1-35, Zampa 1-44. Australia 241-4 off 43, Head 137 off 120, 15 fours, 4 sixes, Labuschagne 58 off 110, 4 fours, Bumrah 2-43, Shami 1-47, Siraj 1-45. Australia win by 6 wickets Accidental captain Cummins, well-mannered with a  business degree, delivers sucker punch to previously unstoppable India and their 12-year wait for a global title  and … Continue reading Pat delivers: Australia win World Cup

Power and potential dangers of AI

Hungarian wonderkid, John von Neumann was a titan of science, whose exceptional mathematical powers made Hans Bethe, a Nobel Prize winning physicist into thinking he might represent the next step in human evolution, von Neumann after studying mathematics in Germany emigrated to the United States where he became entangled in the power games of the Cold War. He designed the world’s first programmable computer, invented game theory, pioneered AI and digital life, helped create an atomic bomb that destroyed Hiroshima and Nagasaki. When his illness unmoored his mind, his work pushed further into areas beyond human comprehension and control. Paul … Continue reading Power and potential dangers of AI

Factory owners who cybrogizes it’s workers for maximum productivity

The most urgent true story in modern tech begins two hundred years ago. Textile workers in the North of England set on a course towards obsolescence by new machines, struck back, when workers known under a banner of a mythical apprentice named “Ned Ludd” as the Luddites rose up and staged nightly factory raids, using machine hammers to smash machines and forcing the British government to place the entire region under military occupation rather than starve at the hands of factory owners who were using unauthorised machine to erase their livelihoods. The Luddites who organised guerilla raids to smash those … Continue reading Factory owners who cybrogizes it’s workers for maximum productivity

Australia beat South Africa to meet India in the World Cup finals

16 Nov 2023 ICC Men’s World Cup Cricket South Africa 212 ao off 49.4 ov  Klaasen 47 off 48, 4 fours, 2 sixes, Miller 101 off 116, 8 fours, 5 sixes, Hazlewoo 3-12 Stars 1-34. Warner 29 off 18, 1 four, 4 sixes, Coetzee 2-47, Shamsi 2-42, Maharaja 1-24, Rabada 1-41. Australia 215-7 off 47.2 ov Head 62 off 48, 9 fours, 2 sixes, Smith 30 off 62, 2 fours,  Australia win by 3 wickets Australia beat South Africa and are through to the World Cup final with a 3-wicket win.  South Africa were in trouble  as Start and Hazlewood … Continue reading Australia beat South Africa to meet India in the World Cup finals

Raindance

TALK “HOW TO MAKE A LOW BUDGET FILM AND LIVE TO TELL THE TALE” – RAINDANCE 31 ST FILMFESTIVAL 25 OCT TO 4 NOV 2023 LONDON AT WONDERVILLE HAYMARKET . EVENTS ALSO AT ANUMBER OF CINEMAS – SO PLEASE GOOGLE.The talk featured Mark Pirro, Matt Devlen, Marteinn Thorsson, Chris Beckman, Andrew Mark Seweland Noel Donnelion and was introduced by actress Caroline Kennedy.“Give it a go”! “Treat your friends like gold”! “Watch out for the sharks. Stick to your guns and don’t give up”!And also – very importantly – “Don’t “bridge finance” films”The panel of very entertaining men (no women apart … Continue reading Raindance

India marches into the World Cup semi-final as Shami claims 7

15 Nov 2023 ICC Men’s World Cup Cricket India vs New Zealand India win by 70 runs Virat Kohli’s historic 50th ODI century taking him past Tendulkar, Mohammed Shami finishes with 7-57 his bet for India in all ODIs. Shreyas smacks 105 off 70, Gill 80 not out off 66, Rohit 47 off 29, as India post 397-4 in Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium. New Zealand was set an unlikely target of 398, with Mitchell posting 134 and New Zealand were short by 70 runs. Continue reading India marches into the World Cup semi-final as Shami claims 7