Adam J Taylor

The Nunc Dimitis from Philip Stopford’s Truro Evening...

Sat, 19 May 2012 12:02:27 +0100

The Nunc Dimitis from Philip Stopford’s Truro Evening Canticles.

The Adagio Espressivo from Beethoven’s Sonata for Violin...

Sun, 06 May 2012 23:32:00 +0100

The Adagio Espressivo from Beethoven’s Sonata for Violin and Piano No. 10 in G, Op. 96. Performed by Gidon Kremer (violin) and Martha Argerich (piano). From Deutsche Grammophon’s wonderful collection of Argerich, Kremer and Maisky’s Complete Duo Recordings.

lindaboucher: The drought in Britain continues. Swans in...

Wed, 02 May 2012 23:53:35 +0100

lindaboucher:

The drought in Britain continues.

Swans in Worcester happy about this.

(photograph by David Jones, PA)

I used to love the the floods when growing up in Worcester. They brought a sense of our powerlessness under nature; and seasonality to the year. And then when they subsided, down to the Water Gate to see how it compared to the marks from previous years

Congratulations Lorna and Will!

Sun, 29 Apr 2012 14:46:48 +0100

Congratulations Lorna and Will!

"Do you remember the line in the Psalm – “Thy word is a lantern unto my feet” – not any more light..."

Fri, 27 Apr 2012 23:28:08 +0100

“Do you remember the line in the Psalm – “Thy word is a lantern unto my feet” – not any more light than is necessary to make the next step.”

- Educationalist George Lyward. Featured in this evening’s Great Lives on BBC Radio 4.

Possibly the greatest photograph ever (L-R: Uncle, second...

Fri, 27 Apr 2012 22:50:00 +0100

Possibly the greatest photograph ever (L-R: Uncle, second cousin, uncle)

The history of reprogramming 3.0

Wed, 25 Apr 2012 14:56:00 +0100

The history of reprogramming 3.0:

Alexey Bersenev summarises the history of induced direct reprogramming (or transdifferentiation) by defined factors in vivo..

Blue Stone Heart — Evening Chorus

Sun, 22 Apr 2012 23:46:00 +0100

Blue Stone Heart — Evening Chorus

Oh, child of delight! Oh, glorious hero! Thou foolish lord of loftiest deeds! Laughing must I love...

Sat, 21 Apr 2012 21:44:20 +0100

Oh, child of delight! Oh, glorious hero!
Thou foolish lord of loftiest deeds!
Laughing must I love thee,
laughing welcome my blindness,
laughing let us be lost,
with laughter go down to death!

— Brünnhilde, Siegfried Act III.

Poster session 2032

Sat, 14 Apr 2012 00:11:29 +0100

Poster session 2032:

“Paper‽”

It was good that the restaurant wasn’t quiet, so the postdoc’s interrobang didn’t distract the other tables nearby.

“That’s right. When we first went to Neuroscience, you had to print your poster on this big sheet of paper.”

Better Posters imagines the conference posters session of the future. “Easier, but not necessarily better” is a concluding line that rings true for so many “advances”.

Tim Morris on Doctoral Training

Thu, 12 Apr 2012 15:59:00 +0100

Tim Morris on Doctoral Training:

Tim, a fellow member of the EPSRC DTC in Regenerative Medicine, writes an interesting commentary on his experience of doctoral training, in response to an article in Nature by Daniel Cressy.

Spiritual emptiness is a universal disease from the always...

Wed, 11 Apr 2012 18:21:25 +0100

Spiritual emptiness is a universal disease from the always intriguing but does it float, featuring photographs by David Stephenson is very close to perfection.

CS Lewis walking in Magdalane College, Oxford. 1949. (via Good...

Tue, 10 Apr 2012 00:59:18 +0100

CS Lewis walking in Magdalane College, Oxford. 1949. (via Good Report)

Morris & Co window at All Saints, Madeley. Christ by Sir...

Sun, 08 Apr 2012 13:02:02 +0100

Morris & Co window at All Saints, Madeley. Christ by Sir Edward Burne-Jones. 1872.

Jill Essenbaum speaks humbly on unpacking Easter, including this...

Sun, 08 Apr 2012 04:08:00 +0100

Jill Essenbaum speaks humbly on unpacking Easter, including this poem:

Easter

is my season
of defeat.
Though all
is green and death
is done,
I feel alone.
As if the stone
rolled off
from the head
of the tomb
is lodged
in the doorframe
of my room.
and everyone
I’ve ever loved
lives happily
just past
my able reach.
And each time
Jesus rises
I’m reminded
of this marble
fact:
they are not
coming back.

and these lines:

“It’s always Lent in my head, and it’s always dark, and it’s always the second day, it’s always the decent into hell. And I’m actually OK with that, weirdly.”

Zurbarán’s Agnus Dei (via The Guardian)

Mon, 02 Apr 2012 21:33:38 +0100

Zurbarán’s Agnus Dei (via The Guardian)

Oh, you lovers everywhere, who are parted and troubled, or near and discordant, go quickly...

Mon, 02 Apr 2012 17:25:56 +0100

Oh, you lovers everywhere,
who are parted and troubled,
or near and discordant,
go quickly to him who waits.
on the hilltops of your souls,
for there you will find peace, and your hidden love.

Let Christ always be
the third person at the feast,
the white passion at the bridal,
the constant companion on the road.

He is the ultimate answer,
and even now
is nearer than breath.
or as far away
as your stubborn will.

— Celtic marriage blessing from the Northumbria Community, used in my sister and her husband’s ceremony yesterday; and the exact point at which the tears broke through for me.

My grandmother and my infant father. September, 1957.

Sat, 31 Mar 2012 15:16:10 +0100

My grandmother and my infant father. September, 1957.

Camile Saint-Saëns. Romance in F major, Op. 36. Johannes Moser...

Wed, 28 Mar 2012 08:00:05 +0100

Camile Saint-Saëns. Romance in F major, Op. 36.
Johannes Moser (Cello) with the Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra under Fabrice Bolton.

Francis Poulenc. Les chemins de l’amour Je veux...

Tue, 27 Mar 2012 23:30:21 +0100

Francis Poulenc. Les chemins de l’amour

Je veux qu’en mon cœur un souvenir repose
Plus fort que notre amour.
Le souvenir du chemin
Où tremblante et toute éperdue,
Un jour j’ai senti sur moi brûler tes mains.

I want in my heart that a memory
Will rest more strongly than another love.
The memory of paths
Where trembling and completely passionate,
A day I have felt above myself
To burn and be consumed by your hands.

(ht @berezina)