Siver lining for goats

WINNIPEG — In the latest twist in the mad-cow saga, Muslims in the United States are scrambling to find new sources of live goat sacrifices now that Canadian exports have been cut off.

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Ah Hah!

Most of the stuff I have ever been good at is the kind where you noodle away at problems/issues, leaving them, coming back to them and then, eventually, you have the Road to Damascus moment. The big picture forms out of the assorted half baked ideas, analytical threads and other bits and pieces.

Mathematics was always like that for me. As often as not the key element of a solution would come to me in the shower or while running or whatever. Crossword puzzles are similar in many ways. All this is the long winded precursor to saying I think I broke the back of the strategy job for the big pension plan today. I can now explain the strategic concept in three slogans and three simple diagrams. Unless I am right off base the rest is fine tuning and packaging.

New composers

My search for interesting modern music continues. Today's discovery is the Dutch composer Ton de Leeuw who died in 1996. I hadn't heard of him (sorry kayleighb) until I speculatively downloaded some pieces this morning. I have been listening to some of his choral music which reminds me of a more abstracted and polyphonic Rutter. This album will definitely get some play time.

Numb

I have just returned from the Arctic wastes of mid town Toronto. The mere act of inhalation put one in mind of the instrument the ancient Egyptians used to extract the brain via the nostrils prior to mummification. One feels however that, had they attempted to mummify a Torontonian on such a night as this, considerable assistance from Messrs Black and Decker would have been required.