Comments on: Dabbler Diary: Flog It!

By: malty

malty — Mon, 10 Dec 2012 00:05:55 +0000

Dabblers in a different time zone? its Sunday the 9th up here.

By: malty

malty — Mon, 10 Dec 2012 00:02:41 +0000

If Oxford is running short of the readies they should have a word in the ears of Cameron-Clegg. An English version of the NYA is required plus a latter-day LBJ, he had the Texas unemployed youth building stuff for the universities, in exchange for the readies, allowing the poor mites to pay for their studies.
Can’t see Oxford allowing through it’s hallowed portals a bunch of half-trained plumbers and plasterers, can you.

Leaving the environs of a genuine Weihnachtsmärkte we were greeted today with a wee pretendy one at the Scottish National, the stall selling das toddy had a large notice ‘£2.50 deposit on all mugs’

The British eh, don’t you just love ‘em

Oxford’s prime income stream, must be Morse, by a mile.

By: Susan

Susan — Fri, 07 Dec 2012 23:00:11 +0000

Kudu and ostrich – would probably go down well with the locals in Putney, Gaw. Occasionally a French farmers’ market pops up here selling industrial style crepes, croissants and cheeses. Meanwhile, at the local deli, organic fruit and veg and handmade chocolates are priced as if they’re sprinkled with gold dust.

By: Gaw

Gaw — Fri, 07 Dec 2012 20:09:03 +0000

I suspect the King James Bible would need the attentions of some rapacious Hollywood producers to really coin it. LOTR’s have been impressively keen to extract every last penny – $5bn and counting, I think.

By: Gaw

Gaw — Fri, 07 Dec 2012 20:04:46 +0000

Totally agree with you BenSix – smoking outside is potentially highly convivial. I recall being in Dublin post- their ban and pre- ours. I had some fantastic conversations in lean-to’s at the back of pubs.

My guess is that Alice didn’t make the cut as the film wasn’t as commercially successful as Narnia’s.

By: Gaw

Gaw — Fri, 07 Dec 2012 20:02:03 +0000

Got it! I think it was Martin Rees who pointed this out, by way of demonstrating how pure research can be commercially valuable even if it doesn’t set out to be.

By: Mark

Mark — Fri, 07 Dec 2012 16:23:39 +0000

Oxford is so full of students from all over the place that soon they’ll be asked to start living in those Cowley-built Minis if the overcrowding continues. Still, shorter degree courses for those of every age, not only 18-21, sound a very good idea and I know several folks here from other countries who are doing them. And those conferences have a lot of time and rooms to fill when you consider that the university terms last for only half the year. Perhaps it’s time to reconsider that one.

I’m with Recusant on the first of the most valuable properties, though I’ll take a 33-1 and say the King James Bible for the second, on the grounds that even though it was only partly done at Oxford it’s been on sale for a few hundred years already and the 1769 Oxford edition seems to have become The One. And in terms of value you can’t put a price on, it has to the The One.

By: BenSix

BenSix — Fri, 07 Dec 2012 14:31:47 +0000

They lose their appeal in January, what with nipping out into the cold and damp for that vital ingredient of a pub’s atmosphere. Am I the only person who enjoys smoking outside? It's one of the better elements of a rather bad habit. The beauty is in the fact that it gives one the perfect excuse to leave uncomfortable and tedious conversations, and to bitch about the non-smokers left inside... Then again, perhaps that isn't the healthiest of pleasures... I started with a question and I’ll leave you with one: what are the two most money-making pieces of intellectual property created at Oxford University? Harry Potter was only partly filmed in Oxford so I'll have to go for Alice and LOTR. If this was QI, though, a big old hoot would sound and it would turn out to be something more counterintuitive. Inspector Morse?

By: Recusant

Recusant — Fri, 07 Dec 2012 14:16:16 +0000

‘Lord of he Rings/The Hobbit’ and ‘The Tales of Narnia’.

I’d go on a pub tour too, if I could have a smoke. They lose their appeal in January, what with nipping out into the cold and damp for that vital ingredient of a pub’s atmosphere.

By: Brit

Brit — Fri, 07 Dec 2012 13:59:15 +0000

I’d happily go on a Twaddle pub tour of Britain. In fact I’d happily volunteer as a guide.