Have a look at any networking platform, like a message board or a ‘user review’ and check the members’ contents. A large percentage will feature lists prescribing right or wrong actions for success. Don’t read those lists! Here are 5 reasons why: ☺ • Chances are the writer will be very young. Most probably he/she […]

Half of the world’s population are women. Although in developed countries it has been well documented that women are unfairly represented in the higher executive ranks of companies, what is not that much reported is that the number of famous males outrun the number of famous females, too. A poll by the BBC asked people […]

I used to have a monthly subscription for a music technology magazine. In one of its issues, the editor wrote: “We are introducing to you the latest innovations, but you don’t become a good musician by buying these. If you are a good musician, you can excel in your performance even playing an old instrument. […]

The brilliant, gravelly voiced singer Joe Cocker died late last year, at 70. His most famous recording, of course, was his bluesy and passionate take on The Beatles’ With A Little Help From My Friends. Lennon and McCartney might have written it for The Beatles album Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band in 1967, but […]

I (Who Have Nothing) is a song originally released in English by Ben E. King in 1963. It is based on the Italian song Uno Dei Tanti, with music by Carlo Donida. The English lyrics were written by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller. I listened to it for the first time on a Tom Jones […]

The other day, a lorry emblazoned with the name of my favourite make of yoghurt nearly ran me off the road at 70mph. I don’t know how you would feel, but I have boycotted that yoghurt brand since. For me, that van driver’s behaviour – and his driving was utterly reckless – mirrors the values […]

John Roberts and Joel Rosenman placed the following advertisement in The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal: “Young men with unlimited capital looking for interesting, legitimate investment opportunities and business propositions.” The young guys were successful. They met with Michael Lang and Artie Kornfeld to establish a legitimate venture, aptly titled Woodstock Ventures. […]

I was waiting for this. And I was wondering why nobody has done it yet. I was asking myself if the musicians were really so little influenced by what they see around themselves. The song I’d been waiting for surfaced with the following lyrics: If you got beauty, beauty, just raise ‘em up ‘Cause every […]

Would two animals of the same type, but from different countries “speak” the same language? German and Russian cows… French and Egyptian roosters… Indian and Italian cats… Wherever you see a dog, you know what kind of a sound it will make… or not? Psychologytoday.com reports that virtually all dogs can understand the barks of […]

The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines an ovation as “an occurrence in which a group of people at a play, speech, sporting event, etc. show enthusiastic approval or appreciation by clapping their hands together over and over. Although one might say that the ‘etc’ would cover anything else not cited in that definition, I would for sure […]