Rationalism and Nostalgia in London

On Monday afternoon I took the train to London for the Rationalist Association AGM. This was held in the Library of the Bishopsgate Institute. There were only about twenty people there, including the three speakers, considerably less than last year's meeting at the Arts Guild. No doubt this was due in part to the heat. The main topic was the intention to concentrate efforts on electronic media rather than print, following current trends in the media. Opening an online forum was mentioned and I pointed put that there used to be one, but it was closed down. I hope it will be an open forum and not just for members, as a closed forum (as with the BHA members forum) can be rather dull, though of course it would require more moderators. I also complained about the lack of a question and answer session at the Aaronovitch meeting earlier in the year, arguing that such a session is essential to any rationalist meeting, otherwise it can seem patronising and authoritarian. A talk by Jonathan Miller, the RA President, to be given in the main hall at the BI, is planned for later in the year.

On the way to the meeting I walked from London Bridge station, taking a route deliberately past the base of 30 St Mary Ax, otherwise known as the "Gherkin", since I hadn't seen it from close up. It is all very neatly done, with the diamond-shaped panels right down to ground level. I had a coffee and Pret bar in the cafe opposite. Since I was early I also took a walk round Exchange Square on the other side of Bishopsgate. The architecture, both new and old, is impressive, but I can't say the same for the sculpture of a big woman reclining on one side of the square; I've no idea what if anything she is intended to represent. After the meeting I took a stroll to the east and ended up in Jewry Street by Sir John Cass College which I attended for a while some fifty years ago. This led down to the Tower of London, and I walked across Tower Bridge, and past the building that used to be St Olaves Grammar School, now being converted into a hotel. Then up Tooley Street to catch my train back to Hastings. The next day I felt quite tired, from the heat, and still do to an extent.

Another Long Walk

Last Saturday, 12 May, I took a walk along to Bexhill. This was prompted in part by the fact that Sustrans, the sustainable transport charity of which I am a supporter was holding a "family fun day" at Glyne Gap to celebrate the new cycle link between Hastings and Bexhill along the seafront, avoiding the main road. The photo shows the main part of the work where it rises up to the small hill just before it reaches Glyne Gap. In fact it was being used more by pedestrians than cyclists while I was there. The quality of the path is not as good as the previously existing path past the coastguard post to Bexhill, since it is not tarred, and is rough in many places, which is not good for cycle tyres. I was walking rather than using my bike, and the tide was out so that I took the opportunity to walk along the beach some distance away from the shore. In the process I took 12 other photos besides this one. As you can see it was a fine sunny day, though with a chill wind. The flags and stands of the Sustrans exhibition didn't much interest me, though I noticed Councillor Lock and the Hastings MP were involved. Instead I carried on to Bexhill and looked into the Bestsellers bookshop, which is run by one of our Hastings Humanists members (Mike Lynott). There we had a chat and I bought a couple of books (The Story of Philosophy by Bryan Magee, and The Fire by Katherine Neville, which is a sequel to her novel The Eight which I enjoyed some years ago.) By chance I met another Hastings Humanists member (Graham Martin-Royle) in the street and we stopped for a chat. After a meal at the Pop In Restaurant, and after buying a Guardian newspaper, I returned home by bus. Quite an eventful and pleasant day out.

May Day Walk

Went out to do some shopping in Kings Road this morning but felt distinctly doddery, probably from lack of exercise lately. So decided it would be better to go for a longer walk. Took the steps up to London Road and walked up to Silverhill to buy some coffee and biscuits in Asda. They no longer seem to stock Hovis Crackers, which is disappointing, as no other shops round here stock them as far as I'm aware. From there I took the scenic route, all the way through Alexandra Park into Hastings. The clock on the Town Hall registered 12:30 so I decided to go to the Royale Cafe for sustenance. They make a very nice steak pie with roast potatoes and three veg. This is more of a plateful than I normally eat when I'm at home. Completed the circuit with a walk along the promenade, and home in time to watch some more of the snooker on TV. Feel a lot better for the exercise, but must try to keep it up.

I've been neglecting these diary pages, so maybe that indicates I'm not doing much of any wider interest. A lot of my efforts recently have been put into playing more chess. This last weekend (31 March - 1 April) I went to play in the St Albans congress. In fact I set off on the Thursday and spent a lot of time just walking around exploring the city. I'd only been there briefly once before over 20 years ago. In the chess I only managed 2/5 and those wins were against very low-graded players.

On Friday 9 and 16 March I played the last two games in the Hastings Chess Club internal tournament called the Rush Cup. In the first of these games, against Greg Chandler, I played very poorly, but the second against Joe Sharp, the winner of the tournament, was much more eventful, running to over 70 moves, with three pawns promoting to queens, two being mine yet still not enough to win!

The best game I have played recently was this one in the Paul Watson Trophy competition against a team at St Francis and Hayward Heath Chess Club. Although my opponent was a junior player his grade was 105 to my own 85.

White: George Jelliss, Black Joe Thorley:
1.Nf3 Nc6 2.d4 d5 3.Bf4 Nf6 4.Nbd2 Bf5 5.e3 a6
6.h3 Ne4 7.NxNe4 BxNe4 8.Bd3 e6 9.c3 Bd6 10.Bg3 BxBg3
11.fxBg3 Qf6 12.0-0 0-0-0 13.Qe2 Rdf8 14.Bxa6 bxBa6 15.Qxa3+ Kd7
(with the Rook battery against the black Q I thought this sacrificial
attack pushing the black K to d7 might work, and it did!)
16.Ne5+ NxNe5 17.RxQf6 gxRf6 18.dxNe5 fxe5 19.Rd1 Rb8 20.b4 Rhg8
(Rd1 sets up a pin, which white Q proceeds to use, Black chooses to
sacrifice the Bishop in favour of a Pawn and Rook attack.)
21.g4 h5 22.Qc4 hxg4 23.QxBe4 gxh3 24.Qh7 Rxg2+ 25.Kh1 Rxa2
(Black got four Pawns for his Bishop but another pin coming up.}
26.Qxh3 Rc2 27.Rxd5+ Ke7 28.Rd3 Rg8 29.Qh4+ f6 30.Qh7+ Kf8
31.Rd8 mate.

More Updating In House and On Line

I've now updated the Rationalist Essays section of my website http://www.mayhematics.com/e/e.htm.
The changes are mainly cosmetic, using CSS to keep the style consistent and put in coloured backgrounds. There is one new Essay on "Rewriting of History by Christian Apologists", which was the subject of my 9 February talk to Hastings Humanists.

On Friday I took delivery of a new sofa-bed. This is to replace the oslo futon I previously had but found too heavy, because of the metal base, and difficult to keep the mattress in place in the upright position. The new one is smaller and has no arm rests. It is in plain brown upholstery but I can cover this with a selection of differently patterned duvet covers. I've also moved everything round to make space for it, but not sure I've found the best way to fit the computer in.

History of Ideas and Science Overview

I've at last got round to updating the sections on my website dealing with "History of Ideas" and "Science Overview". Much of this was done towards the end of last year but I've only just got to the position where all the necessary facilities my new computer are operational. There is still a lot of work to be done on these pages - they are an ongoing project. The "History of Ideas" pages make much use of colour-coding of the entries, to distinguish between subjects.

Next on my to-do list is the section on "Rationalism", which I propose to put in the form of a series of Essays.

Catching Up

I seem to have lost the motivation to keep this diary up to date lately.

Before christmas I invested in a new computer, a Samsung laptop with Windows 7 and considerably more power than my previous desk top tower type, and I've now just about got it all working, transferred all the files from my old machine, and reinstalled the key programs that I use. Now I should be able to catch up on all the updating work on my website, and on the Hastings chessclub site, that I have in mind.

Over the new year I played in the Hastings chess congress, just in the lower sections, and didn't do particularly well, but I'm hoping my grade may have improved slightly. I seem to be getting better at prosecuting an attack once I have obtained an advantage, particularly using queen and knight together.

Today (Sunday) I went to London by train, to attend the 11 am lecture by Kenan Malik at Conway Hall. The subject was "The Myths of Christian Europe". I thought it might provide me with some material for my own talk to Hastings Humanists on 9 February, which is on the rewriting of history by christian apologists.

I also stayed for a symposium held at 2.30 pm on the future of South Place Ethical Society, of which I am a member. It seems some members fear a "take-over" by the BHA, but personally I can see no harm in greater cooperation between the two organisations. I would also like to see the Rationalist Association involved. Some of the members there seem to hold strange ideas about what "Humanism" is.

Going to the first meeting meant getting up very early since there were works on the line and a bus service between Wadhurst and Tonbridge. The train left at 7.38 and I arrived at Charing Cross about 10.15. The return journey was longer due to waiting for the connecting bus and train. The "bus" was in fact a very long "Eurocruiser" coach which had considerable difficulty negotiating some of the sharp bends on the side roads and station entrances.