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In what follows, I describe myself as having a rare experience which led me to connect with the thinking processes of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, arguably the greatest musical composer of all time. (In a future note I will discuss the nature of modesty).

I was later able to connect what happened to with much that has been written about with the moment of self awareness, often associated with the Eureka moment in the myth of Archimedes, or the aha moment as it was described by Arthur Koestler.

Like others interested in creativity, I have written and even given lectures about it. But this is the first time it has happened to me in such a powerful way. Other related thoughts crowded into my head which I will come to later. But, first  the details of my Mozart moment.

It started on a routine short drive on a quiet road. 
 I was mostly on autopilot, listening to the background music of Classic FM, and aware of the familiar road midday conditions. The music ended and the commentator confirmed that I had been listening to one of the most loved of Mozart’s compositions.
Suddenly, I could see vividly the infant Mozart playing the music. 

And other non-verbal thoughts were on stage competing with the powerful mental image. These were the related thoughts jostling for my attention.  The great chess champion Capablanca, as an infant who learned watching his father play. He went on to become one of the greatest chess players of all time!
Almost off-stage was someone who wanted to remind me of his story, which I could only faintly remember as a French mathematical genius Henri Poincaré who dreamed a solution to a big problem when getting on a bus, then forgetting it, only later rediscovering it, in full detail.

Still in the moment, I knew what the stories were telling me. I was sharing the way a bundle of sensations become arranged into a new understanding for Mozart. Also how his insights went from a rich bundle of possibilities to a great musical construction. 
Also how the process was shared by the infant genius of Capablanca, and as described by Archimedes then refined by Poincaré among others ...

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Wit and Wisdom Christmas Edition, December 2023

@EvLenz
What do you call a sad cup of coffee? A depresso.
and …
Q. How do you kill a Swedish band?
A. Take them to the Abbatoir.
and...
What do you call the fear of being stuck in a chimney?
CLAUStrophobia.

@ShoabMolbi
In the hospital car park I saw a sign saying ‘Thieves Operate Here’. 

@revpaulwhite
Can’t get used to the Queen’s Speech being done by a man. 
Political incorrectness gone mad.

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Regular contributors continue to win accolades by being selected by the TudoRama panel of Pod-judges who wish to remain anonymous. 
Special mention to Dee Lomas who seems to have found an eccentric vein of humour in domestic life (or maybe a vein of humour in an eccentric life.  Keep tweeting, Dee, we need your contributions ...

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Artificial Intelligence and real creativity.

I took part in an international workshop this week. The MBA students were asked to investigate the capacity of emerging AI systems for generating outcomes deemed creative 

 This podcast from my audio diary  records my initial impressions that the students had  shown their own creativity  as well as the potential and limitations of the AI  systems for replicating  human  creative problem-responses to tasks involving design, artistic and poetic challenges. 

I am grateful for the opportunity provided by my academic friend Professor Gershman for my involvement.  Also to  film maker and audio wizard  Mike Ogden, for converting my mumblings on my personal audio diary into its final form. 

TR

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This podcast is the start of a presentation to MBA students in which I introduce the idea of everyday creativity, and the importance of commitment to ideas through actions. 
It also shows an example of a 'warm up' exercise for creative meetings.

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The Guardian Quick crossword 16,722 appeared on Saturday 9 December. It produced a furious response from thwarted puzzlers. 
In this podcast, I start with a crossword clue of my own, which crossword addicts may able to solve immediately. Those who can’t will have a second chance at the end of the podcast, where its relevance will become obvious.

Dodgy speed. Almost never spoken in jest? (5,9)

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Punk chess like punk rock is a popularist movement of mostly chess amateurs defying tradition in the interest of self expression.  In the space of a few years Punk Chess has roared into life through social media, first with Twitter as the site was known then. Maybe the Punk Chess pioneers were acknowledging the punk bands of the 1979s who rejected the perceived excesses of mainstream rock music. They tended to be anti-establishment, approving of a do-it-yoursel self style. 
Punk chess is in the spirit of the Sex Pistols, in their absence of chess celebrity or ranking status. 

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Nature notes. The armchair birdwatcher. I have accidentally become an avid birdwatcher. Accidentally because my watching is confined to a partial view of my garden while engaged in other assorted interests.

Typically, my garden attracts a few visitors on their way to or from the food bank operated but neighbour Stan, who is far more dedicated to the welfare of the Woodford Woodpecker and other exotica,

In contrast, on my side of the fence, visitors are mostly a rather unpleasant gang of Magpies, who once roused are more than a match for a squirrel, and even for the overweight black cat from across the road. 
There is also a blackbird, a much more solitary individual. The ecosystem is graced occasionally by a herring gull, a Tyson Fury in bulk, but perhaps with a preference for dominance without having to fight for his food by circling in ferocious orbits sending the magpies up into trees in noisy disarray.

I report a typical feeding frenzy which took place this morning...

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Henri Grob has acquired notoriety for inventing one of the most eccentric of chess openings. But his story is of interest outside footnotes in a chess book. 

First, you should know that as a player, Henri was of strong master level. He became Swiss champion and competed  in the strongest tournaments in his era in the 1930s and forties. He was also an accomplished painter

Zack, a chess punk of good standing, posted the opening move of the Grob opening in a diagram on what used to be known as Twitter, commentating.

1. g4 is the riskiest first move in chess. Its inventor, Henry Grob, was married 9 times. 

Further research suggests that 
His lack of success in the marital stakes is mirrored in the results he obtained playing  his chess opening. Beginners in chess are taught that opening moves should compete for control over the centre squares. Pushing the g pawn well outside the centre action area is to give it its technical term anti-positional, and should lead to a disadvantage.

Chess has always developed by players seeing beyond the obvious. I would place Henri  Grob as one such pioneer. His basic idea is a simplified version of a much more revolutionary concept by a far greater contemporary chess player Alexander Alekhine. His idea was chess as a battle for the centre ground, by control at a distance. 
This produced a revolution in chess  opening systems. Grob took Alekhine’s principles to an extreme by finding a reckless opening move, in military terms an advance against enemy forces without due preparation ...

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Wit and Wisdom special to end November 2023

Tudortweet
Dear Advertiser. Don’t know how much you are paying ‘X’ was known as Twitter, for the daily ads for investing in gold, but investing in ‘X’ in that way isn’t working.
@Hepworthclare
And - given the cost of living crisis- Santa is scaling back.
The elves are demanding the minimum wage , Rudolf is claiming red nose discrimination & the Fairy on top of the Christmas tree has abandonment issues.

@Davis27271327
I was set upon by a group of immigrants in Dublin yesterday. They gave me a triple heart bypass and saved my life.

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