Does an English train seat fit the bottom of a horse?

"For all their sophistication, Roman roads are responsible for the narrowness of our train seats today. The first Victorian trains were built to the same wist as horse-drawn wagons; they, in turn, were designed to fit the ruts left in the roads by Roman chariots. The standard British railway gauge - 4 feet 8.5 inches - mirrors the specification for a Roman war chariot: that width, the Romans thought, accommodated a large horse's bottom, while also allowing for a little wriggle room on either side. As our own bottoms have grown bigger, those seats have grown more uncomfortable".

How England Made the English by Harry Mount
Publisher: Penguin Books, 2013

Why do English drive on the left?

"Of the five most popular Google questions about the English , 'Why do the English drive on the left?' is number one. [...] The most popular reason is that, in the Middle Ages, you drove on the left to keep your right arm free to wield your sword or lance at approaching traffic. In 1300, Pope Bonifacio VIII formalized the practice by telling all this pilgrims to stick to the left. While we clung on to the habit, as did most of our colonies, the French moved to the right after the Revolution. The left side of the road had previously been hogged by the aristocracy, forcing the peasantry to the right - a habit formalised after the Revolution".

How England Made the English by Harry Mount
Publisher: Penguin Books, 2013

The One-Hundred-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out The Window and Disappeared

What would you do if you were 100 years old?

a) Steal a bag full of cash from a stranger;
b) Freeze to death a drug dealer; 
c) Run away from the police across the country on an old Mercedez Benz;

...z). Omitted for the ones of you who actually want to read the book.

Would you do the same and jump out a window, leaving your whole life behind you?

The One-Hundred-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out The Window and Disappeared by Jonas Jonasson
Publisher: Allen & Unwin, 2012

English Weather

"James Bond and Charles II were right - England is too warm to stay indoors, too cold to sit around and do nothing once you get outdoors.

Walking has always been our thing - from the Canterbury Tales, through to the Jarrow March and the charity walks of recent years; and walking in all weathers, too, because we know the weather's not going to be that bad.

Because the English weather is so temperate, and the landscape so accommodating, there's no need for walking clothes, luminous body socks or special shoes; except perhaps for the all-purpose wellie - a boot that strikes Americans as being tremendously odd. Why would you need wellies in town, where there is no mud, they ask; and surely you need something more professional for vigorous country hiking?".

How England Made the English by Harry Mount
Publisher: Penguin Books, 2013

How many friends do you have?

"The average village size in 1086 was around 150 inhabitants. 
According to the Oxford evolutionary anthropologist Robin Dunbar, 150 is also the maximum amount of friends you can conceivably juggle, because the number has been hard-wired into the human mind over the millennia.

Dunbar's two criteria for his broad definition of friendship are: you must be willing to lend one of these friends £5, and you must contact them at least once a year. 

With more than 150 inhabitants, communities - or group of friends - grow too large and fall apart. At 150 or below, everyone knows everyone else and is prepared, in theory, to fight for them".


How England made the English by Harry Mount
Publisher: Penguin Books, 2013

The Lego Story: that's how it all started

After 1929, Europe suffered a drop in demand of agricultural products, caused by the crisis in the USA. There were regions in Europe whose main activity was based on agriculture, like Jutland, where the founder of LEGO, from now day to another, found himself without a job. In order to be able to still provide wealth for his family, he decided to change his activity, and in 1932, Ole Kirk Kristiansen founded a company to sell wood crafted toys, in Billund in the heart of Jutland.

Two years later, Ole Kirk, named the company, LEGO leg godt, which means "play well". He had no idea that in Latin its meaning was "put together, assemble".
It's only in 1949 that the company started the production of the plastic binding bricks LEGO is nowadays well known for all over the world.

LEGO by M. Lindholm and F. Stokholm
Publisher: EGEA, 2012

Zara? Why Zara?

Did you know that Zara should have been called Zorba?

Except that, in La Coruña, in the very same street that was chosen as the location to open the first store, in 1975, there was already a store with that name, Zorba. 

Except that, the sign was already ordered, therefore another name needed to be  selected using the same letters: zora, zaor, zobar, zara!

Zara by Enrique Badía
Publisher: EGEA SpA, 2013

An innocent story

It wasn't meant to be innocent (*).
Maybe, it wasn't meant to be at all.

The innocent story teaches you that it's all about believing in yourself, your ideas, your brand.

Explain it to your granny: business ideas have to be clear and simple.
Start small, but do start: don't give up when investors turn you down.
Think different: small details can help you win.
Stick to the brand values: keep your promises.
Look good: the importance of packaging.
Listen to your consumers: be a better company for them.

And... a slightly bigger thought:
"The things that society deems acceptable change over time. Two hundreds years ago it was socially acceptable to be in the business of slavery. It sure isn't now. Consequently, there is a risk that in two hundred years' time, people are going to look back and say 'Right, so you knew about all these problems - climate change, poverty in Africa, human rights abuse, war-driven humanitarian crises - and with all the money, time and resources that your business had, all you did was sell frozen pizzas?'"

innocent (our story & some things we have learned)
Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd, 2009

innocent by John Simmons (the story of innocent told from the outside)
Publisher: Cyan Communications Ltd, 2011

(*) At the beginning the company was called Fast Tractor

Open your wallet!

A candle pack might be the most tempting article that you can find in an Ikea store. It's in those 10-12 baskets positioned right at the entrance, in the area that people working for Ikea call "Open your wallet". Basically the technique consists in trying to get you purchase at least one of those cheap items in the baskets, that you grab almost without thinking about it. Candles, little wooden frames, napkins, whatever you choose, Ikea framed you: you opened your wallet. Then you'll add into your Ikea yellow bag other "good deals" and stuff that you'll "eventually need one day", and bam, you end up buying load of things you didn't even thought you'd need to begin with!

The truth about Ikea by John Stenebo
Publisher: Gibson Square, 2010

The Girl Who Saved The King of Sweden: A Novel

Rarely I give a 5 star to a fiction, but this book gets also a plus on top of it!

I got this book as a present, and hold off immediately to all other books I was reading, until I could get to the end if it. This book is a real page-turner! 

I believe that it classifies under the section in my library where I keep 'Books with magic running through them', which makes it really special to me... 

It is also very well written (at least the translation in italian is :-)).

The story is about a very smart girl who grew up in South Africa doing one of the most humble jobs you could imagine: emptying latrines.

Her destiny will bring her to Sweden where she will have the most exciting adventures, involving a stolen nuclear missile, 3 Chinese girls and the Swedish king.

Already got another book of this author on my night stand to see if it is as good as this one...

The Girl Who Saved the King of Sweden: A Novel by Jonas Jonasson (author of the 100-Year-Old Men who climbed out the window and disappeared)

Publisher: Ecco

Italian Version:

L'analfabeta che sapeva contare by Jonas Jonasson

Publisher: Bompiani

The Luneburg Variation

The crime of an Austrian businessmen is just the beginning of a complex plot that unfolds many "variations" of murder's true motivation. It's a mind game that will confuse you at times and it will unfolds new meanings of playing chess, but it will only be solved once you turn the last page.

The Luneburg Variation by Paolo Maurensing
Publisher: Farrar Straus & Giroux

Italians and rules...

"In some instances, the way of life in Italy undermined their own defense. The Italian inclination to ignore rules proved self-destructive when blackouts for raids went unobserved. 'RAF planes crossing the Alps were welcomed by the sight of Milan and Genoa fully illuminated.... Bologna houses were brightly lit and cars and bicycles drove with full lights.' The inability - and, at times unwillingness - of some Italians to defend themselves was evident even to a Royal Air Force navigator looking down on the very city his crew was bombing".

From Saving Italy by Robert M.Edsel (Author of the Monuments Men)
Publisher: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc.