A note on how to browse this blog and (perhaps) avoid confusion

Welcome!
As written in the very first post, when I started this project I wasn't very familiar with the process of setting up a blog. As I built it some bits were successful and ended up looking the way I expected, others... less!
Please refer to the Blog Archive in the menu bar on the right to better explore this blog. Posts often have descriptive titles, namely: - "On the field" entries refer to my random explorations of Oxfordshire -- and beyond. - "FolkRec" posts feature my (rigorously non-professional) folk recordings. - "Flowchart" entries display attempts to use the concept of flowcharts to describe aspects of life -- decisions, indecisions and resolutions. - "ScienceCom" posts focus on the themes of science communication and education. Unclassified entries are labelled in this way for a reason: they are totally random in content.
Please do leave comments if you fancy.
Thank you!

Saturday, April 14, 2012

Riflessioni e ricordi

I took this picture in 2010 at the "Operngasse" tube station, Vienna.
For more input on pi, I personally find the Wikipedia article (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pi) on this enticing irrational number extremely well done - particularly, the right-hand menu comprises a wonderful animation (much clearer than so many words!) as well as a link to the whole list of Wikipedia entries related to pi. Among these, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chronology_of_computation_of_%CF%80 is quite impressive, I think. :)

Wednesday, April 11, 2012

On the field #2 - Recent discoveries

Did you know that Oxford has a "Story Museum"? If yes, well done. :) If not, you may wish to check this link: http://www.storymuseum.org.uk/the-story-museum. I took this photo a few days ago - I guess I was enticed by the poster, which has a picture of a window on it, and which happened to be visible from a window, too. A window through a window. Hehe.
There is a small problem though: clearly, the website is a bit out of date. Now, I can confirm that the museum is still not open to the public (I went there thinking that it would be ready and running - not really), but it looked like there will be an exhibition in May. So it may be worth heading to Pembroke Street to have a look - a suggestion. ;) There is an undeniable relevance - and art - in telling stories, and collections of such pieces of wit and creativity - every human population has one, I believe - should be taken care of. I particularly liked this Siberian proverb that is quoted on the website: "If you don't know the trees you may be lost in the forest, but if you don't know the stories you may be lost in life." Comme quoi...

On a different - but rather related, actually - note, if you happen to be in Bloomsbury, London and have some spare time, I would suggest you to visit the Foundling Museum (previously known as the Foundling Hospital): as advertised on their website, it is "Britain's first home for abandoned children and London's first public art gallery" - http://www.foundlingmuseum.org.uk/. I came to know it in the occasion of a specific event: http://www.foundlingmuseum.org.uk/events/view/back-to-front-weekend-by-yinka-shonibare/. It was with great pleasure that I discovered this tiny museum and its incredible collection of memories, tokens and more.