Quick Overview of Week

Hi Folks,

Last week everyone was talking about rugby and if the topic wasn't rugby then it was about James Watson. Every morning on the BBC's Today Show there was always a discussion on some aspect of Rugby. What were England's chances? Should the Springboks in the future reflect SA's demographics? Etc., etc. And on Saturday everyone in England had plans to watch the game. The morning's papers had articles on what you could do if you were not planning to watch the game. Turned out all the posh restaurants in London which were always fully booked, had plenty of seating. And all the shows and things that you normally had trouble getting tickets for, well, Saturday was your chance!!! Daryl and I watched the game at our local pub, The Dewdrop Inn. It was completely crowded, but with a very middle class nonrowdy type. We were very lucky to get space on a sofa with a woman in her 80's! She told us she came out because she wanted to be a part of the excitement. She turned out to be quite an interesting person whose late husband, a social psychologist, was highly respected in his field. After the game she invited us to have dinner with her at a nearby Indian restaurant later this week. So we had fun and because we seemed to be the only Springbok supporters we couldn't show our joy too openly.

We spent Saturday with friends outside of Chichester which is between Southampton and Brighton on the coast. Karen, Dave and their two daughters, Holly and Harriet, updated us on what they're up to over a pub lunch. Later we did a coastal walk then returned to Oxford.

We spent Sunday with our friends David and Rona Epstein at a famous estate called the Waddeston Manor in Buckinghamshire. This estate belonged to a famous banking family, the Rothschilds. The manor was designed to resemble a chateau in the Loire Valley, so it had those characteristic turrets and elaborate wall carvings. The grounds of the manor were spectacular. Acres and acres of green lawns and many, many trees and hedges and shrubs. There was an aviary with some exotic birds and also a large, very fragrant rose garden.
We had an exquisite lunch there of creamy cauliflower soup, rissoto cake, and roasted veg. tart. Later, after a tour of the house, we had a cream tea at the cafe. We talked about James Watson and whether the Science Museum in London ought to have cancelled his talk. Daryl and I had tickets to see Watson in a question/answer session with Richard Dawkins here in Oxford, but that got cancelled because Watson returned to New York thoroughly disgraced. Rona, with her legal background, thought that Watson's free speech rights might have been violated. Then again the Science Museum is a place of great prestige so should a person who thinks blacks are stupid be allowed there? Personally, I feel most people would have refused to go to his talks and so he would have been forced to cancel anyway!

Well, I'm still hard at work on my manuscript. I find it hard to exert effort on other writing (like this blog) when I'm so focused on my book!

The biggest news this week is Troy's wedding. Daryl's sister, Troy and her fiance, John, will be tying the knot this Saturday. The whole family will be together over the weekend and this will be a great way for us to end our stay in England.

Next week we will fly to Cape Town where we'll spend 6 weeks.

A quick update on my itinerary.
Nov 1 to Jan 2 - South Africa
Jan 3 - Jan 5 - Singapore
Jan 6 - Feb 6 - India
Feb 7 - Feb 27 - Australia (mostly Sydney and hopefully Brisbane)
Feb 28 - March 6 - New Zealand

March 7 - Back home in Santa Barbara.