A recent note (January 30) from UBS's Arthur Cashin:
On this day in 1876, an already legendary medical professor at Edinburgh University began to address a new group of students. He began his lecture with his usual demand for observation. He pounded on his theme of the "vast importance of little distinctions" of the "endless significance of trifles." "Yeah, yeah!," thought the students (or whatever the 1870's equivalent of a cynical "yeah, yeah" was). Sure you're a famous surgeon and professor but what will all this minutia get us.
He called for the first patient. Then, according to published reports, the following happened -
A man walked in and stood for a moment. The professor walked around him slowly, twice. Then the professor said something like; "Army, recently discharged--probably Scots Highland regiment. ("Aye! Sir!" came the reply). Next; you were likely a non-commissioned officer--likely in the West Indies - perhaps Barbados."
When the patient confirmed the correctness of every guess, the class was intrigued. When Professor Joseph Bell explained each guess they were amazed. "The man appeared courteous and respectful but did not remove his hat. Members of the Army do not, so he was likely recently discharged. His gait and tone tell me he's Scottish thus the Highland regiment and he had an air of authority suggesting he was a non-com. And the mild elephantitis evident on his arms tell me he was stationed in Barbados where there have been recent outbreaks."
Needless to say, the class was impressed. One student in particular was awed. For the next few years, he observed Bell observing things. Every day was fascinating - like the time a student knocked on Bell's door. Bell, without looking up, said "What are you worried about?" Startled, the student said, "How did you know I was worried?" Still not looking up, Dr. Bell said "You knocked four times. The timid knock once. Most men knock either two or three times. The worried, knock four times." Time and again the awe-struck student watched Dr. Bell make amazing deductions from simple observations. He vowed he would never forget Dr. Bell--and he never did--and he made sure none us would either.
After graduation, the student hung out his medical shingle. Unfortunately, there was an outbreak of health at the time. To avoid starving, the student turned to writing. He needed a new kind of character, so he chose a detective--an incredibly observant detective--someone like Dr. Bell. And for a sidekick he gave him a curious but not so observant doctor--somewhat like himself. Thus, the author, Arthur Conan Doyle, portrayed himself as Dr. Watson, standing in the shadow of his hero--the great Dr. Bell, whom he renamed--Sherlock Holmes.
 Weather in Ellicott City, MD
...and in Betws-y-Coed, Wales
A °C/°F switch is at the top of the page.
A few miles west of Betws-y-Coed lies Mount Snowdon, which is the tallest mountain in the background to this webpage. Clicking here will take you to a webcam so you can see for yourself what the weather is like there.
{The webcam is situated at the top of Elidyr Fach, 2600ft (Grid:SH604613) just north of Snowdon, 1000ft higher (Grid:SH610544).
Don't forget to consider time zones; it could be dark in Wales even if it's not where you are}
By the way, you might like this old truism you sometimes hear from local people:
"If you can see the top of Mount Snowdon it's going to rain.
If you can't see the top of Mount Snowdon it's raining already."
I've switched from Puzzles to Stories in this column but if you enjoy the challenge of a good puzzle try my new
Journey of Rhyme and Reason.
Click on the above logo
to see the Astronomy
Picture of the Day
Click on the above logo to go to
WYSAWYG
What You See Ain't What You Get!
This Month's Story:
Brassed Off!
In view of the "Brass Monkey" weather we've been having here lately, I thought you may like to hear this interesting tale...
A man walked into an antique shop. He looked around for a while and then noticed a beautiful brass sculpture in the form of a rat. He picked up the brass rat and asked the shop owner how much it cost.
The owner said, "It'll cost you $100 for the brass rat and $1,000 for the story behind it". The man hesitated for a second and then handed over $100 and left the store with his brass sculpture.
As he left the store he noticed a little furry face peering at him from the gutter. A few paces down the street he saw another furry whiskered face watching him. As he walked further along the street he began to see rats everywhere. They were coming out of trash cans, running out of drains, dropping down from roofs. They were everywhere. He felt like the Pied Piper of Hamelin!
The man began to walk faster, hoping to get away from the rats but soon literally thousands were following him. He started running and tens of thousands followed him, running even faster that he was. He began to panic as hundreds of thousands of rats chased him. Then he noticed that he was approaching a river bank. In horror he saw millions of rats closing in on him and he had no means of escape!
He ran to the river bank and hurled the brass rat as far as he could into the water. He then watched with relief as tens of millions of rats plunged into the water and were drowned!
The man was really quite shaken by all of this, so he ran back to the antique shop and burst through the door. "So," the owner said. "You're back for the story are you?"
"Not really," the man said. "I was just wondering if you happened to have any brass politicians."
What's News:
The DGS "Lost Boys"
The following group of DGS Old Boys stays in contact via e-mails. If you recognise anyone, drop me an e-mail and we'll add you to the list.
Peter Bradford—USA
Bert Collins—UK
George Craggs—UK
Peter Denton—UK
Alan Farrer—UK
Peter Fittock—UK
Dave Fox—Canada
Keith Freeman—UK
Mike Gray—Canada
Ron Hickson—UK
Graham Luck—Australia
David Mitchem—UK
Peter Newton—Australia
John Pope—UK
Brian Warren—UK
Bryn Wootten—Canada
Take a look at
some of the more
notorious quotes from
former Vice-President
Dan Quayle
To see another
bunch of quotes,
take a look at
the web page of
Aussie Fibromyalgia
sufferer
Ricky Buchanan
Bet you'd just LOVE
to know what the strange
British custom of
Swan Upping
is all about.
I don't wholly concur
with Charlton Heston's
views on gun control,
but his views on freedom
in general, as spelled out
in his
Speech to the Harvard Law School Forum
are well worth a look.
Check out some
of the work
of the new
Poet Laureate
HM The Queen
recently appointed
Want a good laugh? Check out
recent winners in the
Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest
If you're Welsh,
Irish, Scottish
or English, and
can take a joke,
check out my
W.I.S.E. Remarks
Talking of the Irish, are you aware that my father-in-law, Justin, wrote a book on the History of the
Naval Armed Guard?
YOU CAN NOW ORDER THIS BOOK IN PAPERBACK
Talking of the Scots,
here's a wonderful chart showing the range of
flavours and complexities of the
various families of Malt Whiskies:
How do you like your Malt?
And talking of the Welsh,
have you heard of
the village in Ynys Mon
(The Isle of Anglesey)
that is fifty-eight
letters long?
Click here to see it.
And do you know what this is?
It's a Welsh Lovespoon, traditionally carved by a young man and presented to the girl he wishes to be his bride. Note the chain links and the ball in a cage, yet the whole thing is carved from a single block of wood!
Click to see a selection of lovespoons
RECIPE ROUND-UP
With Easter fast approaching "I Could Write a Sonnet" about
Simnel Cake
an Easter favourite in Britain.
Spend "Salmon-chanted Evening" with
Salmon in Shrimp Sauce
"The Science of the Lamb"
is applied in my recipe for
Shepherd's Pie
"Slow and Easy Does It"
My wife was so impressed with this dish, I hardly dared tell her how easy it was to make! I add my own signature to it through the addition of 2 Tablespoons of Tomato Ketchup or Paste and one teaspoon of Worcestershire Sauce.
"Marie's Easy Slow-Cooker Pot Roast"
One of our favourite Chicken dishes, and one that makes me look like a gourmet chef, is
Coq au Vin
Here's one that belies its name,
It is not Welsh, and contains no Rabbit!
Welsh Rabbit
And just like the Welsh Rabbit,
Scotch Eggs
were apparently not invented in Scotland! The London store of Fortnum and Mason claims to have invented them in 1738.
Here's an alternative version that doesn't require deep-frying
Baked Scotch Eggs
After our Paris trip we've become
hooked on crepes. Here's
a recipe for a lovely dessert
Crepes with Nutella
And here's a recipe for another dessert,
Summer Pudding
Finally, here's a recipe
for the "World Famous"
Cornish Pastie
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Croeso! Welcome!
Hi, everybody! I'm Peter Bradford, thanks
for dropping by..
Now Playing:
 'Butterfly'
Chris Bradford & "Hag" Stephenson, Speckler Records 
About Me—Hey, it is my page, after all!
If you're somebody who knows me you can check out the stuff to the left, and a few of the links I add from time to time.
If you're somebody who thinks you might know me, but aren't sure if I'm the right Peter Bradford, the following paragraphs will give you all the clues you need, together with an update on what I've been doing for the past several years.
If you neither know me nor think I'm that long-lost somebody you're looking for, just feel free to surf, learn a thing or two, send me a message and move on.
I work as a tutor at Mathnasium, a wonderful learning centre for kids who want to hone their maths skills.
My wife, Pat, was born in Texas and, like every Texan I've ever met, she's "Damn proud of it!" She recently retired from the world-famous Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland. The Johns Hopkins Hospital has recently been named #1 Hospital in the USA for the 21st consecutive year
by US News & World Report.
I was born in the UK, part English part Welsh—the Welsh part is my heart. I was educated at Days Lane Primary School, Dartford Grammar School, The University of Nottingham and later at the University of London, where I received a Masters Degree in Solid State Physics. I moved to the United States over thirty years ago. We live in Ellicott City, Maryland.
I am a triple cancer survivor, having had a tumour on my right kidney removed almost 30 years ago, prostate cancer over ten years ago, and a brush with skin cancer more recently. Thank you everybody for all your prayers. And thank you God and St. Jude for hearing them.
It's strange; I'm not a Catholic, nor even a regular churchgoer come to that, but I have come to believe in the powers of St. Jude. If you click on the link below, it will take you to the St. Jude Shrine, which is right here in Maryland.
St. Jude Shrine
I'm a Mensan, and my interests range from Jazz to Motor Sport, from Cricket to Crossword Puzzles (cryptic only), and from Rugby to Crib—Cribbage here in the States. Don't know what that is? Check it out. By the way, there's a link at the bottom of this page to the Welsh Rugby Union web page.
Check out the book I have written, called BritSpeak. This attempts to explain to Americans some of the words and terms we Britons use.
Among my 'heroes' are Norman Anderson, Phil Bennett, Joshua Chamberlain, Graham Hill,
Lt Col 'H' Jones (I had the privilege to work with 'H' at Warminster when he was a Major),
Gary Sobers—the first cricketer to hit six sixes in an over. For you Americans that would be like hitting six home-runs off six consecutive pitches! Harry Beck, 'Professor' Stanley Unwin, Arthur C Clarke, Tenzing Norgay, and Sacha Baron Cohen.
If you haven't heard of some or any of these, check them out, too.
Oh yes, and I enjoy a good pint of ale like you get at the Silver Plough in Pitton, Wiltshire. Pitton lies about 5–6 miles east of Salisbury and about 15 miles south-east of Stonehenge which is at the
junction of the A344 and the A303.
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Things I Like
I love to vacation with friends or family in coastal Maine or in a cabin in the mountains—but only if I get to take some creature comforts like my Jazz CDs with me.
I get back to the UK as often as I can, especially North Wales. Check out Snowdonia if you don't know it already.
Favourite Movies: Saving Private Ryan (Yes - it should have won!); Monty Python and the Holy Grail; Lady and the Tramp; Local Hero; Fandango.
Favourite Authors: Dylan Thomas; Bill Bryson; Arthur C Clarke; P D James; Douglas Adams;
Stephen Ambrose*;
Ken Follett; Isaac Asimov; Edward Rutherfurd and Leslie Thomas.
*Click here to sign a petition to award the Congressional Medal of Honor to "Band of Brothers" hero, Major Dick Winters.
Favourite Time of Year: Fall—by a long chalk!
Favourite place to "Hang Out": My family room, or any "Pub" that serves a decent, fresh cask-conditioned brew in a 20oz glass at around 40-50 degrees!
My Favourite Music: I like "everything" from Mozart to Male Voice Choirs—Welsh, of course, like the ones you can hear at this website. Try "Myfanwy" (muh-van'-oo-ee). Ah, those top-tenors!
But although my heart lies in Wales, my soul lies in Jazz.
My true favourites are The Modern Jazz Quartet (MJQ); Dave Brubeck; Gerry Mulligan; Coleman Hawkins and Ben Webster. Being a drummer myself, I have many favourites on the skins, but best of all is Joe Morello.
Things I Don't Like
Officious Twits. Tomato juice. Any member of a group who across the board dislikes all members of another. Bagels. The modern trait of labelling or categorizing everybody: I feel people shouldn't be judged on whether they are male/female, black/white, young/old, Jew/Christian/Moslem etc. They are all just people. Most I like, some I don't, but it's the person I dislike, not the group.
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Here are links to my favourite websites. Click on the titles to visit any of them.
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My Favourite Site to Send e-Cards from
Truly, a Cut Above the Rest
Help Feed the Hungry
PLEASE visit the Hungersite, below. Just click on it, it'll cost you nothing, and could save the life of a starving child
Shop and Help a Good Cause at the Same Time
Many of the internet's most popular merchants—places you would patronize anyway—will donate a portion of your purchase payment to the International Myeloma Foundation*, but only if you enter their sites using the link below.
*The International Myeloma Foundation (IMF) is a non-profit organization dedicated to improving the quality of life for multiple myeloma patients while working towards prevention and a cure. The staff and doctors associated with the IMF are super, dedicated people. And the fellow patients and caregivers that Pat and I have met through our association with the organization are wonderful, too.
CricInfo
My only way to keep up with cricket scores. The game might as well not exist here in Maryland. I even get to listen real-time to ball-by-ball commentaries on-line through this site.
The Electronic Telegraph
Once again, my only way of keeping up with what's going on "back home". Plus I get to do the Telegraph Crossword every day!
Cribbage
I don't have any crib-playing friends or immediately available family members, so playing on-line is my only way of getting a game.
Bridge
Pat and I play a moderate game of Bridge, usually one afternoon a week with a group of fellow Seniors. To hone my skills we us the FunBridge program.
Snowdonia
This is where my heart lies. Wales at her most rugged and awesomely beautiful.
I've hiked around the Snowdon Horseshoe a few times, often with pretty cruel weather.
Where's George?
Do you ever wonder where that paper money in your pocket has been, or where it will go next? This is the place to find out!
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Click on the postbox to send me "Royal" e-mail.
Cymru Am Byth!
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