TudoRama

Send us Fan Mail The chess championship of the future. The Armageddon wars. If it sounds like science-fiction, it’s probably because it is very much like the plot of a science-fiction blockbuster, set in the remote future, in a galaxy far from ours. A glimpse of how it may play out was seen in a remarkable competition involving most of the leading Chess grandmasters of the day, which ended this we...

Send us Fan Mail David Beckham’s body art has been the subject of numerous stories in the celebrity fanzines. It has even warranted a chapter in a serious academic study published in the Cambridge University Press book. https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/abs/cambridge-companion-to-football/david-beckham-and-the-celebrity-phenomenon/4888485C73DC8B1F08594875880936E9 The Cambridge Companion to Foot...

Send us Fan Mail The Odd Couple: A case study of gaslighting? This podcast summarises a case study of the working relation of a broadcasting team and in particular of its two lead broadcasters whose names I have described as Kenneth and Barbie.  Their story reminds me of examples of teams from real life and fiction, including the one made famous in the film The Odd Couple, brilliantly played by Ja...

Send us Fan Mail @cleckylad Just sat with a coffee  Contemplating how unfair life can be  A case in point  You scrimp and scrape all year to buy Christmas presents for your kids  Then some fat bastard with a massive beard takes all the credit ... ... I suppose it's my own fault for marrying her 😯😯😯😋😋😜 Love the double punchline.  Stay up-to-date with all of Tudor's podcasts, blogs a...

Send us Fan Mail The Invention of solitude, by Paul Auster I began an obituary of Paul Auster who died earlier this month, describing how I discovered this book among the disorder of my bookshelves. The slim volume turned up, apparently unread, fresh from purchase at a time before the instant gratification of an Amazon purchase was possible. In the days that followed, I have read the book initiall...

Send us Fan Mail Stay up-to-date with all of Tudor's podcasts, blogs and current affairs commentary by signing up to our newsletter!  Email everydaycreativityuk@gmail.com to sign up! Follow Tudor on Twitter @ Tudortweet Follow Tudor's blogs: everydaycreativity.uk leaderswedeserve.wordpress.com

Send us Fan Mail Wit Early May @TollytB Breaking: NASA to launch deep space satellite to say sorry to any aliens we may have offended. It's been named Apollo G. @deelomas A man and a woman were travelling on a train.  Woman: Every time you smile I feel like inviting you to my place.  Man: Awwww…are you single?  Woman: No, I’m a dentist… Stay up-to-date with all of Tudor's podcasts, blogs...

Send us Fan Mail Friday 3 May 2024 Paul Auster, my newspaper tells me, died yesterday. So it must be true. But almost everything I know about the American author is shrouded in doubt.  I am almost sure I read his masterpiece the New York trilogy. I look, but can’t find it in the forest of my bookshelves. I only remember me as reader trying to make sense of three puzzling stories in which someone w...

Send us Fan Mail A sword attack, heroism, and knee-jerk exceptionalism.  Wednesday May 1 2024 Yesterday, an apparently maniacal sword attack in a peaceful London suburb resulted in the death of a teenage boy, and injuries to bystanders.  Media coverage was inevitably lurid, even by the standards of current reporting of state-sponsored bloodshed around the world.   Students of journalism would do w...

Send us Fan Mail A compilation of recent posts from social media sites. @revpaulwhite One or two of my correspondents on twitter have suggested that I preach the gospel here more often, rather than be political. So, today the first reading at mass was the story of Philip baptising the Ethiopian eunuch from Acts 8.  We therefore celebrate the fact that a non-binary, black, African was baptised into...

Send us Fan Mail I am possessed. How I became a slave to my new iPhone A cry from the heart. A short while ago, I was a reasonably functioning human being, capable of independent thought and action... then I acquired my new iPhone.  It replaced my ancient model, which was showing all the functions of a deteriorating piece of hardware. After great hesitation, I plunged into buying the Apple 15 phon...

Send us Fan Mail Hysteria from commentators as the Candidate's tournament ends with a win for 17 year old Indian prodigy Gukesh. Stay up-to-date with all of Tudor's podcasts, blogs and current affairs commentary by signing up to our newsletter!  Email everydaycreativityuk@gmail.com to sign up! Follow Tudor on Twitter @ Tudortweet Follow Tudor's blogs: everydaycreativity.uk leaderswe...

Send us Fan Mail The case of the constipated bishop There is a lot of Chess played outside the elevated levels of our distinguished first team. I was struck by the interesting games played in the recent match in the limit league between ourselves and Chorlton. The match produced a fine example of what I am calling the case of the constipated bishop. It was clear to me that the players were intense...

Send us Fan Mail The solar eclipse, and the alleged financial irregularities of the Labour politician and deputy leader Angela Raynor are two topics attracting attention. @BriefcaseMike Our media's obsession with an eclipse in America is weird. But I suppose you could view America being plunged into darkness as a rehearsal for a possible second Trump Presidency, metaphorically speaking. #bbcp...

Send us Fan Mail In an exclusive interview for TudoRama, William Thompson, philosopher and submariner (rtd) examines a difficult social dilemma, drawing on his lengthy experience  of resolving such tricky matters ... Stay up-to-date with all of Tudor's podcasts, blogs and current affairs commentary by signing up to our newsletter!  Email everydaycreativityuk@gmail.com to sign up! Follow Tudor...

Send us Fan Mail Anger management. How using a shredder might help. Writing negative reactions on paper and shredding it eliminates angry feelings, a Japanese study finds. Even this podcast might trigger some listeners into a rage. But listen on. In ancient Rome, the Stoic philosopher Seneca believed “my anger is likely to do me more harm than your wrong” in his work De Ira (On Anger). More modern...

Send us Fan Mail The death of Peter Higgs on Tuesday 9 April, 2024, gave rise to attempts to explain his contribution to our understanding of the nature of the fundamental forces of the Universe. The eulogies affirm his status of a giant in the field. The attempts to explain that contribution to the layman have faced considerable difficulties. I have tried to explain the limits to current understa...

Send us Fan Mail The traumas of modern life. Buying a new smart phone. Assurance companies have arrived at a list of the most dangerous traumas we encounter in our everyday lives. Top of the pops is the loss of a loved one. This is closely followed by divorce. And then, extreme experiences such are encountered on the battlefield. I wish to add to this list, the traumatic experience of buying a new...

Send us Fan Mail Do chess players still learn from studying chess books? Or has the Internet grabbed the bulk of the market? As an experiment, I chose a promising example and carried out a ‘Which’ kind of road test of its performance, first on myself before I attempted to test it on its primary audience, junior chess players. The book, Chess Tactics for Kids, is now a classic of its type. It was w...

Send us Fan Mail Donald Trump is increasingly unable to construct a logical argument. His automatic way of making a point in public is to attack a person. This is widely known as one of the oldest form of false logic, the ad hominem attack. The fury of Trump is frustration at his own inability to communicate sensibly. It has increased over time. A recent example has contributed to his being censor...

Send us Fan Mail Creativity and basket weaving  Several decades ago, creativity was considered alien to courses as offered by Business Schools around the world. I discovered indirectly that my option on creativity, at what was then the Manchester Business School, was being referred to disparagingly as ‘basketweaving’ by a large majority of students. These  opted instead for additional courses in &...

Send us Fan Mail To the glorious victors in a historic chess battle  Sing it from the Church Inn Cheadle and from the Ballrooms of Bramhall. Rejoice in the playgrounds of Poynton and the wilderness of Woodford. For a great victory was won by the East Cheadle chess chiefs (ECCC) against the formidable warriors from Urmston.  Draw close, as I relate the wondrous feats of our heroic pawn-pushers this...

Send us Fan Mail April Fools day has a cultural history in various countries, often involving jokes and even dressing up. I wondered about its history,  but, could  I even trust the usually reliable Wikipedia to give me an honest answer? Maybe a mischievous wiki prankster might slip in some bogus news. I decided not to risk it, beyond noting traditions were often associated with a national victory...

Send us Fan Mail From  Shakespeare to Punk Rock and Punk Chess In this podcast I trace the origins of punk, from Shakespeare to today’s music scene and the rise of the chess punk. My interest in punk in general, and punk chess in particular drew my attention via Dr Google to a poem by from the great English poet and satirist John Dryden.. Mac Flecknoe; or, A satyr upon the True-Blue-Protestant Poe...

Send us Fan Mail The Midnight Library, by Matthew Haig. A book review. 19 years before she decided to die, Nora Seed sat in the warmth of the small library at Hazeldene school in the town of Bedford. ‘Nora, dear, it’s natural to worry about your future' said the librarian, Mrs Elm, her eyes glimmering like sunshine and frost. Mrs Elm made her first move. A knight hopping over the new row of w...