Blog

Two among a series of obituaries that resonated powerfully this month were those for Wing Commander Bob Doe, who Tim flew with in, I think, India and Burma during WWII, and Charlie Gillett, one of the key figures in the world music movement from the late 1980s. I wrote many of the books of that period late into the night listening to Gillett on Capital Radio, in the days when you listened to the radio on the radio. In my mind he’s up there alongside John Peel in terms of DJs – and alongside Chris Blackwell and Ry Cooder in terms of being an ambassador for world music.

Yesterday and today have involved rather more swimming in academic waters than I’m used to, though all three events – at Imperial College (yesterday), and (today) Goodenough College and LSE – were surprisingly lively. The Imperial session was my annual stint there, with MSc students, and thoroughly enjoyable. The Goodenough conference saw the launch of Rebecca Harding’s new report on Hidden Social Entrepreneurs. And the LSE evening event was a speech to an open audience on the links between economics and climate change. Began by admitting I had given up economics in 1968, at a point in time when it seemed to have little to do with what was going on in the streets and wider world at the time.

 

Following the Clean & Cool Mission to San Francisco and Silicon Valley, covered earlier, I did my first blog for Fast Company – posted today here.

 

The Emirates Stadium

Up at some unconscionable hour to trek across London to see Arsenal Football Club, starting with breakfast with Ivan Gazidis, their Chief Executive, and Svenja Geissmar, now their General Counsel. Then a session with their Board. Found myself much more interested than I had imagined I might be. Odd to be in a boardroom and Chief Executive’s office that had been moved in their wood-panelled entirety from another site – reminded me a little of the recent party in San Francisco with the house into which the owners had inserted a reasonable facsimile of a British pub. Then back to Bloomsbury Place to work on various writing projects and a couple of slide presentations, with the occasional telecon with people like Jeroo Billimoria of Aflatoun.

 

 

 

Mislaid Ocado van

Elephant graveyards – and now Ocado van graveyards, apparently. Seen on our way back from Barnes bookshop – and dropping off Amelia at the video store, the film of Amelia Earhart’s life that attracted highly critical reviews, but which I have to say I rather enjoyed. Hilary Swank was the spitting image.