A touching song

An uplifting song with a heartwarming video courtesy of the great Van Morrison.

                                       

Garry Kasparov on Chess and His Life

I have always been mystified by chess so I watched this informed and informative portrait of Garry Kasparov talking about chess and his life in the former Soviet Union. He is interviewed by Sir David Frost. 

Last June in Manchester, Garry Kasparov took on Alan Turing's  "Paper Machine" - the first chess computer program ever written - for the first time in public, and Garry true to form wins in 16 moves. 

http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/grandmaster-garry-kasparov-takes-on-alan-690039

Engaging Voices

While having a coffee in a small cafe in Cambridge, I came across a lovely thought provoking journal. I noticed from its webpage the following which I thought was worth showing in full and definitely food for thought. 

Why Wisdom?

"Fashionable intellectuals today treat all ideas as fads. Alas, it’s a zeitgeist that’s conducive not to responsible thinkers but rather provocateurs, who do little of substance to foster the kind of humanity they claim to profess. Sensationalising not explaining, bamboozling not enlightening, berating not inspiring: society’s moralising has been entrusted to the likes of radical postmodernists, religious fundamentalists and political extremists, all of whom fit and shape the virulent modern media, even as they critique it.
Yet beneath this entanglement of weeds, wisdom endures: civilisation’s forgotten monument. Inscribed on it are history’s most profound existential lessons – thoughtful, conscientious and deep, yet down-to-earth, concrete and practical. There are homely meditations on how to live a meaningful, happy and good life. There are simple teachings on how to get the best out of oneself and others; to create more of the things that make life worthwhile – such as beauty, love, labour, compassion, peace and learning. And there are insights into human nature and how it can be channelled into achieving all this.
Through contributions from academics and other professionals – responsible intellectuals alike – the Journal of Modern Wisdom seeks to cut through the faddish brambles; to recover, reassert and redevelop wiser ways of living. Because ideas matter. And wisdom is the most valuable thing people can reflect on – and in doing so, with hope, achieve"

http://www.modernwisdom.co.uk/

Reaching Out

This is very poignant and very apt nowadays.

A Warming Song about an Ordinary Town.

A beautiful song about ordinary people in an ordinary British town.