Well not mine actually – its just that I liked the headline. The Guardian’s article Me and My Vulva gave…
Depression – Mind or Matter?
The state of depression is easy enough to describe but it is doubtful whether mere words manage to convey the depth of the misery to one who has never suffered from it.
Quackery and Useless Twaddle
Why is so much of the internet “told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing”?
Conscious Nonsense
I am deeply disturbed to discover what a search on the word “consciousness” produces when you sift through Wordpress websites.
Hospital Blues
If you are feeling bad and want to feel a lot worse, I recommend a trip to your local government hospital.
Philosophy – Would we need it if we were happy?
Would we spend so much time in hand wringing existential anxiety if we discovered the genetic code of the pain…
Gillette Advertisement Controversy
Good on Gillette: it would be hard to deny that male aggression has played a vast and malignant role in our history.
The Internet Ain’t All Bad
While there are indeed vast swathes of Kardashians, footballers wives and people who live in Chigwell you should avoid like the plague on the internet, I would argue that the technology has immeasurably enriched our lives rather than debased it.
More From the Christian Cultist
Without comment in any shape or form (lest I deviate from my new found resolve) I report the unhappy fall…
How to be a Happy Human
Given the basic needs of life and in the absence of physiological abnormality, the solution is fairly simple. The trick…
Dangerous Religious Cults
Religion becomes a dark and dangerous tool in the wrong hands. I visited a website called Do What’s Right today and was…
What is the Purpose of Poetry?
Does poetry have a purpose? If so, then what? I noticed today that by far the majority of WordPresss bloggers…
Davos 2019
I lived in Davos-Kosters for years and loved the WEF.
Crossing the Bar – Alfred Lord Tennyson
Sunset and evening star,
And one clear call for me!
And may there be no moaning of the bar,
When I put out to sea,
Cast Out the Beam
It seems so inordinately difficult to be a decent human, unless you were born that way.
The Snob
How hilarious, the asinine snob.
Gerard Manley Hopkins – Heaven Haven
I HAVE desired to go
Where springs not fail,
The Pig
The only way to deal with the Pig is to wipe him out of your life as you would remove excrement from your shoe.
Father and Son
There comes a time in your life when, if you are lucky enough to have a son, you recognize he has become a man. And of course to you, a very special one.
Are you what you read?
The modern trope would have it that you are what you eat, but the metaphor needs taking further.
Joy to the World
I will never be able to resolve my unshakable disbelief in Christian dogma with the profound peace I find singing sacred classical music in an ancient English church with a good choir.
Range Trading Vix Options
As traders will know, the Vix trades in a range: it mean reverts. Therefor you can profit by buying Vix…
Why I doubt my Existence
I believe that I am merely a “program” and that similar programs run every animal and living thing on earth.
Python Trend Following System 1
Here is a trend following system coded in Python.
A Simple Mean Reversion System for Stocks
I have recently had much fun with “Simple Trading Systems using Simple Python Code”
The Little Drummer Girl
I read the book with much enjoyment many years ago, but this lavish BBC adaptation of John Le Carré’s 1983 novel raises the bar to very high levels indeed.
The Shameful, Avoidable Horror of Dementia and Old Age
We would put an animal down, surely we can offer the same courtesy to a human?
My Old Sweet Etcetera – A Reading
For Eleanor.
This anti war poem, written by American poet EE Cummings and published in 1926, is such a perfect specimen of the genre.
Isness
Happiness is only attainable once you recognize that everything just “is”.
La Belle Dame Sans Merci – John Keats – a Reading
Sometimes sad and sometimes not, our stories and our poems, our Green Ladies and our Belles Dames are reflections of our desires and anxieties.
A reading: Sonnet 18, Shakespeare
Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day? A reading.
Shakespeare: Sonnet 18
Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?
YouTube Trailer
Encouraged and enthralled by Kim Kardashian West I was wondering whether to record a welcome video for my YouTube Channel.
Ozymandias by Percy Bysshe Shelley
A Reading
If….by Rudyard Kipling
A reading of “If….” which I made for my YouTube channel.
Interview with Investors Chronicle
My interview with The Investors Chronicle took place on January 16th 2016 and I have not changed my view.
John Keats – Ode To Autumn – a Reading
I have already written a few words about Ode to Autumn but felt minded to record my own reading of it.
If you can keep your head when all about you are losing theirs….
Kipling’s poem “If” is profound and moving.
Supermarket Phobia
While the modern shopping experience ranks low on my list of existential anxieties, it nonetheless merits mention as one of life’s annoyances.
A Gospel for the 21st Century Pagan
If we 21st Century pagans were to write our own book of “Good News” what would it contain?
A Finger Pointing to the Moon
Master Po say “Grasshopper never mind finger, go for moon”.
Here lies one whose name was writ in water.
Far from disappearing, Keats and his incomparable poetry have lived on after his death.
The Great and The Good are neither “Great” nor “Good”.
I have had three occasions recently, which gave me pause for thought about vanity, motive and human stupidity.
Taking Sides
Can it ever be right to take sides in a dispute? Does it ever help?
How to be Human in an indifferent Universe
How damaging we are to each other. How grim the human condition can become, and it does not take war…
Wittgenstein’s ladder: to climb or not to climb?
The happiest are those who have never heard of Wittgenstein’s Ladder. If asked, they probably assume its something you buy in Homebase.
I know that my Redeemer Liveth
Success in seeking the Absolute may simply be a matter of altering our minds chemically.
Seeking the Eternal in Systematic Investment
The process of coding financial market trading systems is fascinating , but they never seem to last very long and their performance is never very consistent.
L’enfer, c’est les autres
Teamwork my arse. Hell is definitely other people.
Stephen Fry’s Hippopotamus
Fry is a comic genius although his comedy is tinged with darkness. Erudite, witty and (dare I say it) profound.
Could Adolf have chosen to behave differently?
Pavlov’s dog aside we do not expect, largely, to change the nature or behavior of an animal. Why should we expect to change our own?
Norman Nembutal
For the ever mercurial Alfred the sun did not rise yesterday. After a splendid microdosed Sunday, he woke with a bump on Monday morning.
The Iconoclast of Iconoclasts
Psychologically related to nihilism and anarchy, the Iconoclast of Iconoclasts (“IoI”) seeks, for reasons not entirely clear (even to himself)…
Investment Myopia
Myopia, or nearsightedness is a common affliction among those who seek to profit from the financial markets. All too often…
Discarding the Irrelevant
In recent years I have found it increasingly beneficial to narrow my focus.
Rolling VIX Options Monthly
The code below takes the data already cleaned up by the code in the previous post and strings separate months together in a time series suitable for back testing.
Wrangling CBOE Options Data
The data obtained from the CBOE is messy and incomplete. It takes a great deal of time for even the experienced nerd to sift through it.
VIX Option Strangle
This option strangle is effectively short volatility. It buys long dated puts at the money and protects the position with long dated calls far out of the money.
Option Credit Spreads on the VIX
After the liquidation of XIV following the volatility spike earlier in the year I decided to take a more detailed quantitative approach to trading volatility.
Generating Theoretical Option Prices
A while ago I put a lot of work and effort into looking at Black Scholes and various other option pricing models.
“I” do not exist
I have felt with increasing certainty recently that the Buddhists are right. We have no separate existence, no soul, no fixed place in the universe.
Mindfulness vs. Physiology
Much is made these days of the concept of “mindfulness”. It is the cure-all of the new age. Depressed? Mindfulness…
Where are the songs of spring?
What exquisite bitter-sweetness, an English autumn in the countryside.
God’s Bleak House
Said to be the second oldest parish church in the country, churches don’t come much bleaker than All Saints, West Stourmouth, Kent.
In Defense of the Trinity
Are we living in the 21st Century? How do serious people honestly believe in such man made hogwash.
Matins in a country church
In a lifelong search for meaning, I have found little to compare with matins in an English country church.
We are looking for the following qualities….
Such words are prone to make me lift my laptop and smash it to the ground.
Right Thinking
I had a delightful morning over a cup of coffee with some acquaintances I had been meaning to get to know better.
If God could be killed, it’d be dead already
“…..the philosophy of personal identity is relevant in the realm of ethics by helping us address age-old questions like whether being born is good or bad.”
Consider the Lilies of the Field…
…how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin…
Thoughts from the back of beyond.
The back of beyond is where I want to be. And I am back, at the back of beyond. I have come in a full circle.
On Age
Cleopatra was fortunate indeed, the rest of us may age less well. But we should embrace age, not resent or fear it.
Thought as the enemy of Moksha
Analysis and thought are the very antithesis of the sort of behavior likely to lead to lasting peace.
A Time to Live
It is time to “feel” the universe for myself. To cease to see it through the words of others and to experience it directly.
Out of my Skull
Is it a detrimental term or may it have hidden meanings and use?
The Unknowing Fool
The unknowing fool is one who does not know he does not know.
The Mysticism of Blade Runner
Does it sound curious to link a vastly popular work of science fiction to the concept of mysticism?
Facing down the Black Dog
Perhaps it is best to acknowledge the endless pawing of the black dog at your door. For some, it is a rare day that the gentle scuffling can not be heard.
The Doors of Perception
If the doors of perception were cleansed every thing would appear to man as it is, Infinite.
Will the meek inherit the earth?
For some years I have assumed that far from inheriting the earth, the meek will be trampled underfoot. I am beginning to wonder whether I am mistaken.
“Objective truth” is an illusion.
Unqualified objective truth can not exist. Heavily qualified objective truth probably does.
Art as a lens on “reality”.
You may be forgiven for mistaking the image above for photo montage. But it is not: it is the London Mustaba project.
Art as metaphysics
I have sometimes wondered whether art has any importance, and if so, what?
Dvorak – Stabat Mater
For many years I had worked on the assumption that anything written east of Berlin was cacophonous and horrible. I have been proved wrong by Dvorak.
London as a foreign city.
Portobello Road in London W11 is a most curious mix of home and abroad.
The Stockmarket as a Complex Adaptive System
I recommend a paper entitled “The Stockmarket as a Complex Adaptive System” by Credit Suisse Director Michael J. Mauboussin.
Investment “Systems”
Long term investment is simply about following the trend of economic growth. I am not convinced there is much more to it that that.
Happiness and Genetic Bingo
We can expect limited success in our endeavours to change but some change is better than none. We may be able to tip the balance in our favour.
Was the Noble Savage a Happy Bunny?
It is pleasant to imagine that there was a day in the distant past where people did not live in Grenfell Tower and didn’t have to look at Trump’s haircut in the media.
Bad News Fatigue
I turned to the Guardian this morning after my Bad Hair Day yesterday, looking for inspiration but need not have bothered.
Really Bad Hair Day
Bad hair day doesn’t begin to describe the awfulness of a day of real negativity. There are days when the sun just seems to go out.
Class Prejudice
Is it right to feel distaste for your fellow man?
Get Rich Quick: El Dorado
The legend of El Dorado, a fabulous golden city in South America, inspired many expeditions in the 16th Century in search of wealth and excess.
Solace for Deep Weariness
I’m sure there is peace to be had and I have often found snatches of it. The big trick is to make it last.
Do Not Stand by My Grave and Weep
A poem written in 1932 by Mary Elizabeth Frye, beautifully set to music by Howard Goodall as part of his Requiem: Eternal Light.
The Internet – Saviour or Satan?
Is the internet a curse or a blessing? Used carefully, in my opinion it is a huge blessing.
Was Albert Einstein into Alchemical Healing?
I was reading a post this morning on “alchemical healing” and was a little puzzled by it.
Free Legal High
Earlier this morning I had been contemplating nihilism. I was feeling nihilistic and unconstructive. I wondered if some pill or other could improve my mood and cheer up my day.
Do I mean what I write, do I write what I mean?
I was wondering whether I really mean what I write? Or to turn it round another way, do I write what I mean?
How to be a 21st Century Hermit
I wonder whether it is possible to be a hermit these days? And if so, where.
The Internet Troll and the Origins of Conflict
Internet forums are the perfect place to understand the petty origins of conflict. The Troll must be studiously ignored.
The Arab Israeli conflict is very, very Simple
The Arab Israeli conflict arose from vibrating energy “strings” – it really is that simple in a sense.
Fauda – Do we, Should we Watch It?
My latest Netflix Binge is Fauda – a violent, compelling and visually superb take on the Arab Israeli conflict.
“Down” Deal
I’m sorry to have to wax lyrical but it doesn’t get much better than being “down Deal” (as the local patois would have it).
Fish, Chips and South East Kent
Deal is a little seaside town in East Kent which seems to have been forgotten by time and a mile or so further south are to be found beautiful Walmer and Kingsdown.
Flogging Blogging
Commercial blogging is so utterly grubby and most practitioners of the art are second hand car salesmen, whatever they pretend they are selling or “doing”.
Psalm 137: Happy the one who takes your little ones, and dashes them against the rock.
Someone in Canterbury Cathedral (the Dean perhaps?) decided that Verse 9 was going a little far .
Communist Manifesto vs Mein Kampf
In today’s Guardian, some dear lady say that she gives the Communist Manifesto out as a gift.
We are all Gay now
I am so grateful for the BBC who explain that LGBT+ is now passé.
The Internet Blagger and Bluffer
I am always amused by the sheer vastness of the Blagging and Bluffing community on the internet offering advice on subjects in which they themselves possess no expertise whatsoever.
Bingeing on Netflix
As deadly sins go, bingeing on Netflix probably ranks among the less serious.
Tilting at Windmills
I wonder whether I am guilty of “tilting at windmills”.
Carpe Diem
There is nothing quite like a funeral to concentrate the mind; “carpe diem” seems such an apt phrase at such a time.
Hedge Funds – not so clever after all
David Harding ( Winton Capital ) has for many years been quoted as a superhero of the hedge fund world. Harding’s meteoric…
Why are we forgetting the deaths of 100 million in the Spanish Flu outbreak?
Is it odd that 100 million deaths in the Spanish Flu outbreak of 1918 has received comparatively little attention?
Is it all gloom?
Is everything bad? Is the world a bad place? Are we humans damned and doomed? Is there any good news?
Corrosive, Obsessive Hatred
How can people not see what their untrammelled hatred does to themselves and those around them?
John Singer Sargent
John Singer Sargent ranks high in my list of favourite painters.
How should you deal with a pig?
I have come to question my behaviour when dealing with a pig over the past couple of years. Well, pigs actually.
Division and indoctrination, greed, violence and politics.
Why does society have to be so divisive? Why does political posturing have to increase polarization and seek to indoctrinate?
Artificial Intelligence for Financial Market Prediction
it’s time to dip back in and carry on my quest to discover whether artificial intelligence can predict financial markets.
Bishop Michael Curry – the Royal Wedding
Bishop Michael Curry preached a fine sermon at the wedding today of Prince Harry and beautiful actress Meghan Markle.
Art Prices are Obscene .
Art prices at ‘obscene’ levels as Chinese join high-spending elite says Richard Partington, the Guardian’s economics correspondent.
Meghan Markle’s Royal Knees Up
I am trying to work out in my own mind my exact feelings about Meghan Markle’s Royal Knees Up and the role of the Royal Family in general.
Australia’s lame response to Anwar Ibrahim’s detention
Elaine Pearson (Australia director at Human Rights Watch) states that Australia’s lame response to Anwar Ibrahim’s detention was a mistake.
The Hazards of Dramatising the Near Past
Martha Gill writes of the hazards of dramatising the near past and asks whether we should delay so as to achieve perspective.
Victoria’s Requiem
Victoria’s Requiem, written for the funeral of dowager Empress Maria of Spain who died on February 26, 1603 is sublime.
To defeat hatred
Hatred is a difficult emotion to combat connected as it is with so many other qualia.
Utopian descent into Dystopian Horror
All radical and swift changes imposed on society began as Utopian dreams and descended into Dystopian horror. Need it always be so?
With or without Trump, we must back UN’s education drive
We must ensure that education is not slanted towards any political agenda and is concerned with providing what our children need to make a better world.
Class War in Journalism and Politics
Class War in Journalism and Politics is alive and well. It is business as usual in Parliament and the news papers.
Conflict in The Middle East
An end to “Conflict in The Middle East” is unlikely to be achieved by conventional and time worn solutions which have achieved nothing over the decades.
A Moral Dilemma
My own petty, unimportant and irrelevant moral dilemma should teach me something about the world and how to improve it.
Must Try Harder
Must try harder! Unfortunately as an imperfect individual I find it necessary to question my own behaviour on a daily basis.
We are Slaves to the FANGs
The mighty kings at the FANGs are the modern robber barons.
Bashing Grammar Schools
“The UK government’s education policies are damaging and benefiting the few. It’s time for a rethink.”
Scandinavian Happiness
I am disappointed to hear that Scandinavian happiness is “more a matter of class whether you can afford to take time to take care of yourself”.
Am I a Guardian Reader?
Do I have what it takes to be a Guardian Reader? I have always been desperately keen to say: “yes I am, I’m deeply socialist in moral and ethical terms”.
Ich Bin ein Londoner
JFK famously said “Ich Bin ein Berliner” but I can perhaps more accurately say the same thing about London.
Rembrandt – Belshazzar’s feast
Rembrandt – Belshazzar’s feast: the literature, art and music of religion still hold a vast sway over the imagination of many of us.
Van Eyck – The Arnolfini Portrait
Jan van Eyck painted what has become known as the Arnolfini Portrait in 1434.
The Schoolyard Thug
He is an odd character the bully, a difficult one to work out sometimes.
The Beauty of Performance
Beauty comes in so many forms and is so utterly transformative wherever it is encountered.
Catharsis in Writing
The act of self expression in writing seems to provide relief from strong or long repressed emotions – a catharsis.
Hypocrisy
Are we all hypocrites or is there the odd saintly exception?
Euthanasia
Every human should have the right to take his or her own life and the means to do so painlessly and swiftly should be made easily and openly available.
With Hindsight….
What possible use is hindsight when the past is behind us and unchangeable?
A Beautiful Question: Finding Nature’s Deep Design
Nobel prize winning physicist Frank Wilczek’s book “A Beautiful Question: Finding Nature’s Deep Design” is certainly worth reading.
Why I do not read the News
I do not read the news because it is repetitive, dispiriting, boring and irrelevant.
To Regret or to Reset
Regret, while you still have breath, is a wasteful extravagance, a futile and destructive luxury.
Weltanschauung 