In praise of … Alan Turing
Apr 1, 2013 23:12:20 GMT -5
Post by Deleted on Apr 1, 2013 23:12:20 GMT -5
Good morning, Sydney Grew! I trust that you had an enjoyable Easter weekend! Congratulations on your broadcasting triumph in reviving The Third Programme on the world wide web! 'The Daily Telegraph' leads today with some editorial comment not so fast, pal! A commendable number of us are still perturbed by artificial intimacy, especially when it arrives via an unsolicited phone call. According to this newspaper’s style guide, a criminal loses something more than simply his liberty: he loses his good name. From the moment of conviction until the moment of release, a Mr or Mrs Big becomes, in the Telegraph's reporting, simply “Big”. We do this because the honorific is a matter not just of courtesy, but of respect. It is a respect, however, that is increasingly neglected in today’s over-familiar world, in which everyone from the bank manager to the tradesman adopts the first name upon first contact. For example, kleines c does not wish to be called “kleines” or “c”, but “kleines c”. 'The Telegraph' transmits thus:
Meanwhile, 'The Guardian' leads today with some editorial comment in praise of … Tony Hall: his manifest commitment to the arts and his background in news inspire confidence in the new head of the BBC. There are obvious perils in praising Tony Hall before he has got his feet under his new desk. Yet it is hard to think of a BBC director general who could arrive with greater goodwill at such a difficult time as the former Royal Opera House boss, who returns to run the BBC in the aftermath of the Jimmy Savile and Lord McAlpine debacles. 'The Guardian' concludes thus:
For believe me, Sydney Grew, the secret for harvesting from existence the greatest fruitfulness and the greatest enjoyment is: to live dangerously! Build your cities on the slopes of Vesuvius, like Naples! Send your ships into uncharted seas, or even outer space! Live at war with your peers and yourselves, like ahinton, Gerard and Neil McGowan! Be robbers and conquerors as long as you cannot be rulers and possessors, you seekers of knowledge! Soon the age will be past when you could be content to live hidden in forests like shy deer, Sydney Grew! At long last the search for knowledge will reach out for its due: — it will want to rule and possess, and you with it! I propose some toast: to Sydney Grew! Three cheers from kleines c and the gang (breakfast coffee)!
" ...As a new survey shows, a commendable number of us are still perturbed by this artificial intimacy, especially when it arrives via email or an unsolicited phone call. Better to preserve one’s social distance, at least initially – not least because it makes it more significant to become a mate, amigo, pal, buddy or chum in reality, rather than simply in conversation."
Meanwhile, 'The Guardian' leads today with some editorial comment in praise of … Tony Hall: his manifest commitment to the arts and his background in news inspire confidence in the new head of the BBC. There are obvious perils in praising Tony Hall before he has got his feet under his new desk. Yet it is hard to think of a BBC director general who could arrive with greater goodwill at such a difficult time as the former Royal Opera House boss, who returns to run the BBC in the aftermath of the Jimmy Savile and Lord McAlpine debacles. 'The Guardian' concludes thus:
" ... Among broadcasters there is a palpable feeling that at last they have got someone who knows how to run a big organisation, who likes and admires journalists, whose political antennae are well honed, and a leader who is not afraid to innovate and surprise. All this promises well, as does Lord Hall's manifest commitment to the arts and his background in news, two fields in which the BBC has an obligation to lead. If he can also cut the bureaucracy, keep the salaries under control and steer the BBC through the licence fee negotiations in 2017, Lord Hall will deserve praise after the event as well as before it."
For believe me, Sydney Grew, the secret for harvesting from existence the greatest fruitfulness and the greatest enjoyment is: to live dangerously! Build your cities on the slopes of Vesuvius, like Naples! Send your ships into uncharted seas, or even outer space! Live at war with your peers and yourselves, like ahinton, Gerard and Neil McGowan! Be robbers and conquerors as long as you cannot be rulers and possessors, you seekers of knowledge! Soon the age will be past when you could be content to live hidden in forests like shy deer, Sydney Grew! At long last the search for knowledge will reach out for its due: — it will want to rule and possess, and you with it! I propose some toast: to Sydney Grew! Three cheers from kleines c and the gang (breakfast coffee)!
