Another month comes to an end

Another month comes to an end and there's little blogging to show for it. I've simply been too busy to devote time to writing here.

My economics course has come to an end and the exam is next Wednesday. I'm revising, but not that thoroughly. I think that I know the material well and much of it is common sense anyway (at least, common sense after having finished a course in the subject).

I saw the Tom Hanks film "That Thing You Do" the other day and thoroughly enjoyed it. Of course, the subject matter does talk to me. All the way through, I was waiting for the moment when the manager screws the band but that never happened. The entire financial scam element was missing from the film; the innocent band members enjoyed the largesse showered upon them, never realising that the costs would be borne from their earnings. Maybe then they would have been slightly more careful with their money.

The IMDB page has a very active discussion board for the film. There is even a thread discussing how the title song changes throughout the film. One thing missing from the discussion: the closing chord in the early versions is different from the closing chord in later versions.

I'm listening at the moment to "A parcel of Steeleye Span", a three cd compilation of "their first five Chrysalis albums". I thought that I knew some of this material quite well, but I haven't heard it for about 35 years and my memories have faded somewhat. To be honest, I prefer the two previous B&C albums (with Martin Carthy and Ashley Hutchings) - their starkness plays in their favour. The entire package cost only six pounds, and I hope that some of that money finds its way to the group as royalties - although maybe they still haven't paid off the advances for these records.

Reading material is yet another Eliyahu Goldratt book, "Necessary but not sufficient". This book is about a company which has developed and sold an ERP package, making it close to home. How much does such a program contribute to the bottom line? Fortunately, that's not a question which I've often been asked, although the book does provide a few answers.