Hier, daar, en overal

It’s been a week of sampling a little of life here, there, and everywhere…

Midweek was Medtec UK, where I  was invited to give a talk on “What little companies can learn from big ones”.  Setting cynicism aside, I recognize their ability to execute a process through to a regulatory-compliant conclusion, so gave a talk on development processes.  Not natural ground for a product guy – I’m sure that my former managers were rolling their eyes.

 

Late week was the Cambridge Beer Festival, a much-beloved annual event (well, by me).  The evening weather was perfect, so (with designated driver in tow) I gave a sampling to a collection of craft beers (favoring the dark and hazy).  And somehow ended up with a 2011 commemorative glass…

 

 

Sunday was a visit to the Search for Immortality exhibit at the Fitzwilliam museum.  This is a display of artifacts from two large tombs of the Han Dynasty, buried at about the time of Christ when the Silk Road was in full flower between eastern and western civilizations. 

I think that it means more when I’ve seen the actual tombs near Xi’an: the size of the burial mounds gives more credit to the narrative that the designers were recreating the royal household after death.  The artifacts then have both practical and symbolic value, and so many really haven’t changed much over the millennia (the square blocks, for example, are an ancient toilet.  Identical).

 

 

Then on to the Eurostar and back to Maastricht.  Summer (in the 80’s F) remains dominant on both sides of the Channel.  Finally…