There was an excellent editorial in the British Medical Journal today. I’m not going to quote it all, because it’s quite long. You’ll find it all at this link and it’s worth a read.

Another comes in the form of the “armchair epidemiologist” who seems blessed with the astounding ability of star economists and physicists to fully assimilate and transcend within weeks what infectious disease specialists have learnt over decades. The seriousness with which they are received in some circles is likely to be damaging. Similar over-reaching is seen within the broad range of disciplines that are central to epidemic disease management, with some academics who are ubiquitous across every media appearing to have complete and cutting edge knowledge on everything from macroeconomics through sociological and psychological science to stochastic RNA mutation. Dealing with pandemics is an inherently multidisciplinary task, and expertise in one area does not confer expertise in another.

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I had an interesting conversation with a guitar tech. earlier. I put a couple of guitars in for maintenance and tlc. They needed their set-up checked and I was worried about the neck angle. The tech. reckons that, over time, they’ve both absorbed moisture and that’s why the neck angle is showing signs of creep. So far so normal. What really interested me was when he said that he didn’t used to see a lot of it but he’s noticed a marked increase in the last seven or eight years. It struck me immediately that this correlates with changes in the climate, with mild, wet winters, and plenty of rain.

As the old saw has it, correlation is not causation, but it is a hypothesis to be considered.

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There seems to be a new scheme in NHS Lothian for those, like me, with a long-standing blood pressure issue, I was presented today with a–free–blood pressure monitor and signed up to a scheme whereby home BP readings are sent in and my doctor keeps a regular eye on them rather than the current annual check up. It’s worth a try.

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Gum Tree Canoe

Music. Tonight’s random selection is from the John Hartford.

John Hartford was a talented fiddler and banjo player who, in 1967, wrote  Gentle On My Mind. The song won four Grammies, was a huge hit for Glen Campbell, and was also recorded by, amongst others, Bing Crosby, Dean Martin, Aretha Franklin, Roger Millar, Frank Sinatra, Andy Williams, Waylon Jennings and many others. It earned Hartford a fortune and left him free to do whatever he wanted for the rest of his life.

He had a succesful career as an innovative musician, but also got his steamboat pilot’s licence and spent his summers on the the Mississippi, the Illinois and the Tennessee rivers.

The title track of Gum Tree Canoe is below, as is Glen Campbell playing Gentle On My Mind with an audience of luminaries. Willie Nelson’s face before and after Campbell’s solo says it all. The solo shows Campbell’s mastery of several styles, from Django Renhardt to Wes Montgomery.