…the rut in question was 400m long, 15cm wide, and muddy – but more of that anon. 😎

It has been a very interesting and valuable weekend.

Friday night, I went with friends to see Yat-Kha – a Tuvan folk-rock band who recently won the BBC’s World Music Award for Best Asian Band. Being a avid reader of Richard Feynman’s biographies, I became interested in Tuvan throat-singing many years ago; I am not much use at it, but I came to appreciate the music, and highly recommend it, especially for people with a folky bent.

Saturday, and I got a call from Whitfield, inviting me to dinner in Richmond with Fred Piper and his wife Marion.

Fred had to go out, unfortunately, but we three went to a nice local Indian restaurant – Whit’s opinion was rather more negative than mine, but I think he hews to a higher standard of cuisine – and then we decided to go for a walk and wandered the busy evening streets and gardens of Richmond.

Marion toddled-off homewards early, leaving Whit and I to discuss Sun and security stuff. I think we agreed that the biggest challenge of security is the sheer scope of the matter, and the inherent tendency amongst people – including myself – to over-inflate the importance of the aspect to which they are most exposed.

Whit came over to my house on sunday, and we lunched on a fine seared carpaccio of beef on a bed of salad leaves and radish, with sesame, coriander and soy dressing, baguette, and a fine but inexpensive bottle of Syrah. We also attacked the whisky collection, and went for a longer walk over my local heath, and talked more about security, especially the challenges of physical security, anti-theft devices, and so forth.

…right, I am off for lunch. More about ruts, later.