The Summer programme
Please Note:
This week’s lectures have two changes to the published programme. On Monday, Ruth Sober will talk about working as an Educational Volunteer at London Zoo, and on Wednesday – an addition to the programme – Irene Kyffin is giving again her popular lecture on The Gothic Genre in Architecture.
Mon 17th Aug
10:30 – 11:30 Ruth Sober: If it’s Tuesday, it is Zoo Day. Tues 18th Aug
10:30 – 11:30 Shafeeq Siddiqi: China mega Infrastructure Projects: Domestic and Global
Tues 18th Aug
No talk
Wed 19th Aug
10:30 – 11:30 Irene Kyffin: The Gothic: Tracing the genre from medieval architecture to present day
Thurs 20th Aug
10:30 – 11:30 Shafeeq Siddiqi: Elon Musk projects impacting humanity
Fri 21st Aug
10:30 – 11:30 Christopher Dean: Neglected histories of small European countries and what we can learn from them: Belgium
Coming up!
In a change to the published programme next Monday 24 August Anthony Sober asks ‘Do we live in a Democracy?’
And on Wednesday 26 August Maisie Meyer gives the first of three talks about the Shanghai Jewish Community. Colin Lomas is back in the last week of the Summer Programme to talk on ‘Myths and Legends in The National Gallery’
From Naomi
Promises do often come true but not always as quickly as we have hoped. Our new website, like some babies, is a little past its delivery date and we are now anticipating it this coming week. It will need some polishing up – class changes are not quite up to date – but we hope that you find that the end result has been worth the wait. With its arrival, those of you who wish to renew your membership on line will be able to do so, paying by credit or debit card.
I know that many of you have been anxious to renew your membership and we appreciate this so much. We suspect that may be some of you have already paid next year’s fees directly into our bank account but have not submitted the necessary paperwork. If this is the case, there is no way for us to match that payment to you, so that your membership will not have been added to our database or your payment been acknowledged. If you fall into this category, please get in touch with the Office o that we can send out a registration form to you and link to your payment.
If you prefer to pay by cheque, let us know and a personal registration form will be sent to you which would then have to be posted back to me together with the cheque. Details will be supplied when you contact me. Until we return to Belsize Park, there is no other way we can accept payment.
Thanks to all of you who responded to our AGM email and have entrusted their proxy vote to me. Those of you who have not done so and are unlikely to “attend” our AGM, please empower me to use your proxy vote so that we ensure the legality of the meeting. You can sign and return the actual form or you can simply send an email to naomi_stuart@yahoo.com giving me permission to vote on your behalf. If you did not receive the email containing the documents we will be voting on, please contact me.
From Stanley Volk
We hope that those of you who tuned in enjoyed the Play-Reading group’s “Battle of Cable Street” last Wednesday. If you would like to join the group, you are very welcome. See Gilli’s timetable for details.
From Herbie Goldberg
My fortnightly classical Music talk about Schubert will take place this Wednesday at 12.30. Details for joining are in Gilli’s timetable.
From Sheilah Grubb (about Scrabble)
I love Scrabble but have no one to play with now. I wondered if a member of U3A group would like to meet up for a game? I’m in West Hampstead, I have a garden and a large table for distancing. I don’t do any zoom , but I’m so admiring of all your tech savvy. Best wishes……Sheilah Grubb.
Can anyone oblige?
From Martin Green (about Quantum Theory for the Terrified)
I have found a Britannica article useful in summarizing the scope of the course. You might like to circulate it to my fellow “terrified” participants if you think it could be helpful. Best, Martin https://www.britannica.com/science/subatomic-particle/Elementary-particles
And a P.S. from Amalia – did anyone catch the BBC4 programme last Thursday at midnight called Einstein’s Quantum Riddle? I recorded it and you may like to watch it on iPlayer. It’s about entanglement and contains some stuff that may be familiar to my faithful followers – don’t worry if parts of it are incomprehensible; that’s something you share with me – and Einstein!
To make you smile
Donald took a quick trip to Rome to show his concern for the Pope:
“I met with Pope Francis today. He’s a really great pope — great, great pope. You know he’s the leader of the Catholic Church — big church. I couldn’t believe it when he told me how many Catholics there are. Way more than I thought. They have churches all over the world; some are very, very close (so close) to my hotels and golf courses. He tells me he’s elected for life, probably copying that Xi guy in China. Fantastic idea, though. Fantastic. It turns out the pope is a lot like me, you never see him with his wife.
“He told me he’s infallible. I said that’s great, you’ll never have to worry about breaking a hip. He told me about a Mary Magdalene, beautiful girl, beautiful. Apparently a hooker. I asked him for her number. Didn’t catch his answer. I’m told he said it in Latin. I give the guy credit because he doesn’t look Latino. He took me into the Sistine Chapel. Beautiful ceiling. Not the usual white stucco stuff. I don’t think too many people even know about this place. The paintings are great, I’m telling you. Lots of colours. The Pope (great guy, by the way, knows more about the Bible than almost anybody — we got along great, I think he really likes me) told me the whole thing was painted by this young Italian. I think his name is Mike Langelo. At least that’s what Francis (we’re great friends) called him, I think. Trust me, we’re going to hear more about this guy. He’s really artistic, and everybody tells me I have the greatest eye for the best art. It’s natural, just like my incredible understanding of science. All the renowned scientists say they can’t believe it.
I’d like to buy some of Mike’s art. I asked if Mike’s done anything on velvet. He’ll check (great guy). I’ll hang his stuff at Mar-a-Lago or Trump Tower. This Mike guy needs more exposure. He’s too much with the churches. He could paint my presidential portrait on the Capitol Dome. Or maybe a mural on my big, beautiful border wall; but just on our side.
When we left, the pope gave me a bible. Huge book. (Huge.) I told him I have the full set. You get one for free every time you take a porn star to a hotel room.
[pauses] Unbelievable. Just heard. The media is at it again. Fake news. I just saw something on TV. They claim Mike the painter died 450 years ago. Sad. I’ve already got people looking into this and you won’t believe what they’re finding.”
From John Bent
London Region of U3As: U3A National High Streets Research Project
Further to the email you received announcing the U3A National High Streets Research Project that you kindly circulated to your members, please see herewith a further email with additional information for volunteers, (and potentials).Sorry the web based registration form was not ready to go with the original announcement and apologies for the inconvenienceYou recently received an email asking for volunteers to gather information for the project.
To make the volunteering process easier, and establish a database to better communicate, our team has created a registration form that the volunteers can use to submit their application directly. To access it, please CLICK HERE
As you will see, the form is quick and easy to complete, and will give us access to useful information including:
a) who has signed up with their contact details
b) which Region and U3A they come from
c) what kind of community is represented e.g. suburban, rural, coastal…
d) anything else they’d like to add
This will help us to establish immediately not only which Regions we seem to be light on, but also which types of shopping area we’re lacking, so we can take active steps to plug the gaps by contacting suitable U3As. There is a box for questions and comments, and the contact details for the Project are also on the form. Note that all personal data will be handled in compliance with data protection regulations.
Having completed the Registration Form, volunteers will receive an email on or just before 4th September with an information pack and full instructions so they can start their recording exercise.This September’s survey aims to collect data on the early effects of the Pandemic since March, so we can establish a baseline for comparison. We’ll carry out similar studies next year so we can see how things have changed, and then report more fully on the Pandemic’s impact in time for the 40th anniversary of the U3A in 2022.
Thanks to all those who have already contacted Peter by email indicating that they are willing to participate. Could I please ask you to complete the form as well to complete our database.
Best regards and keep well, John
Zoom in for the series of fortnightly Summer Talks on Monday afternoons from 17.00-18.00
24th August: Dick and Lisa Robinson – ‘Edith Appleton: The Nurse at the Front’ Click here
7th September: Alistair Griffiths – ‘Gardening in a Changing Climate’ Click here
21st September: Jo Livingston – ‘Do you Want to Write your Life Story?’ Click here
London Region website: The above information is also available via our Website on the Events page. Go to https://u3asites.org.uk/london-region All recordings will be found in the Talks Archive which is accessible via the Events page.
Kind regards,
Catherine Ware.