Tag: attend

William Whiston (1667 – 1752), holding his drawing of the solar system.

UK: I Once Ran a Half-Marathon over 1 Hr 40 Mins [13.25 Miles] in Hereford During the 1980s – and Neither of My Legs Were Broken! (8.8.2026)

I was born in Oxford (Hitler bombed my mother’s family out of working-class Lewisham in 1940) – and I love the history and “learning” associated with the place (I can walk around with a book about Marx on open display and no one bats an eyelid). I did attend Oxford – but I paid to do so – as I could not attain a place due to my own limitations when I was young. It just so happened that my intellectual abilities matured at the same time when I experienced a decade of wealth. Although Oxford does discriminate, I “paid” to access a “Philosophy of Mind” course – which I passed despite not fitting-in (I was in my late 30s at the time and was surrounded by BBC executives, Guardian Reporters, and UN employees – but my family was proud). However, I was told a story of a young woman who was born into a poor working-class family and brought-up on a housing estate.

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Mooncakes Are in Town! (22.9.2023)

In 2023 this will fall on Friday September 29th! This coincides with what is termed the ‘Chung Yeung’ Festival – where the graves of the ancestors are cleaned and tidied! In Putonghua this is pronounced as ‘Chong Yang’ (重陽) and refers to the ‘Double Nine’ attribute common in the Book of Changes (essentially a ‘double-yang’ line in a hexagram implying incredible good luck – doubled). What all this means – and there are many more stories – is that we eat Mooncakes and pay respect to our deceased ancestors – either at their graves or at a shrine – where incense-sticks are lit. Meanwhile, there is a beautiful woman, a Jade Rabbit and even a Master-Archer – who is able to shoot-down false ‘Moons’! Like most cultural aspects in traditional China – there is a complexity of integration, contradiction, paradox and reconciliation! The main point is to wish everybody Good Luck for the future!

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