Posts Tagged ‘Heroes’
Jane Kelsey, a lifetime of leadership
Here’s a fantastic interview by Moana Maniapoto talking with law professor and courageous public intellectual Jane Kelsey, on her retirement from university life. The whole 17 minutes is really worth watching. It’s good to place Prof Kelsey in context with this brief, accessible retrospective look. She has always struck me as an articulate, determined, fiercely […]
This is not a dress rehearsal
Bill Murray interviewed by Charlie Rose.
Farewell Jeremy Hardy. RIP
Jeremy Hardy has died, aged 57, from cancer. He was a hero of mine, an absolute craftsman with words. In a world that values eloquence and intelligent, good faith argument, but has to often make do with ‘debate’, Hardy stood apart as a man who could couch the toughest criticisms in a comedy shell. He […]
Farewell Stephen Hawking
What can you say about this hero? Boom! By his beliefs he has stopped existing now that he is dead. Fair enough. But few people make the impact he did – those that do, live on in our memory. Their insights ‘live’, recorded in books or other media. What a shadow he cast. – P […]
If you can keep your head …
Joni Mitchell, from her 2007 album Shine, which was (initially) distributed through a deal with Starbucks Coffee chain – I bought my copy there, like, in person – but of course now it’s on streaming services like Apple Music and Spotify. I find this track ‘If’, based on the poem by Rudyard Kipling (now derided […]
Farewell Leonard Cohen. RIP
I had enormous admiration for this giant, and also gratitude for the influence of his music – his soul music – his meditations and his anthems in my life. Words, many more words, will be written and spoken about Leonard Cohen, and so they should. But not by me here today. I have so much […]
Michelle Obama’s full speech at the 2016 Democratic National Convention
What an astonishing person Michelle Obama is. – P
RIP David Bowie
I actually, literally staggered when I was told yesterday that David Bowie had died. ‘Have you heard about David Bowie?’ someone asked me. ‘What? About his new album?’ I replied … then what a crash. Bowie was a hero to me, an artist whose influence was enormous in my life. I have written about him […]
Robin Williams RIP
What can one say about Robin Williams that hasn’t been said in the last 24 hours? I loved him, what I knew of him from his work. His brittle, manic side seemed always near the surface — but so too, even nearer and unmistakable, was his sensitive, heart-warming, generous, warm and encouraging side. Robin Williams […]
RIP Rik Mayall
A sad farewell to a comedic genius. Rik Mayall has died unexpectedly at 56. His fans will celebrate the groundbreaking The Young Ones and remember with relish his scene-stealing and virile Lord Flashheart (woof!) in Blackadder — as I do — and these were great. But for me, I will always remember his Alan B’Stard, beautifully […]
I guess it depends what you mean by ‘highlights’ Eddie. (Wonderful!)
I’ve expressed before my enormous respect for broadcaster Eddie Mair who hosts BBC Radio 4’s PM news hour. He is silky smooth, a highly capable radio host and an intelligent, persistent interviewer whose voice often betrays a delightful sense of humour, a warm chuckle, and occasionally, gentle mockery, as in his interview with a squirming […]
Behind the Washington Post’s end-of-year interview with Edward Snowden
Worth watching … December 24, 2013 3:54 PM EST — Washington Post reporter Barton Gellman discusses how his exclusive interview with Edward Snowden came about and whether the former NSA contractor would ever want to return to the United States. (Jeff Simon / The Washington Post) LINK TO VIDEO HERE Snowden is being predictably and […]
Essential viewing — Nelson Mandela on Yasser Arafat: Your enemies are not automatically our enemies.
I know this is contentious, the claim that Yasser Arafat was murdered using Polonium (as the Russian dissident Alexander Litvinenko was, his killers leaving a radioactive trail through London). I reproduce this Al Jazeera banner (above) here, prompted in part by the clever use of the Po 84 periodic table reference to spell ‘POISONED’. Whatever your […]
Maya Angelou on Nelson Mandela
One of the reasons I run this blog* is to post inspiring material like this … a great spirit farewells another: Wonderful. – P (* as much for me as for you)
Haere ra, Mandela. RIP.
What a great man. What an inspiration. “The quest for reconciliation was the spur that gave life to our difficult negotiations process and the agreements that emerged from it.” — Nelson Mandela to Parliament, Cape Town, 25 February 1999 – P
