Tuesday, April 23, 2024 – Photo of the Day – At Sea En Route to Kagoshima, Japan

MEET ENRICHMENT LECTURER SIR ALISTAIR MACDUFF
After a Grammar School education, Sir Alistair read law at the London School of Economics and did a postgraduate degree (LLM) at Sheffield University.

He was an accomplished young footballer and could have turned professional.

He became a barrister and a Recorder in 1982 and took silk (QC) in 1993. In 1997, he was appointed a Circuit Judge and became a High Court Judge in 2008 when he was given the customary knighthood.

He retired in 2015 and is an accomplished after-dinner speaker and speaks at conferences and other events.

Enrichment Lecture with Sir Alistair MacDuff: Introduction to Murder
An introductory talk from the perspective of a judge presiding over murder trials

MEET ENRICHMENT LECTURER BILL BURGEL
Bill retired in 2010 after a successful 40-year career in the railroad industry. Bill worked for several railroads in both the engineering and operating departments.

After departing from Union Pacific Railroad in 1989, he assisted the Surface Transportation Board as their rail operations manager for two major mergers, once in Washington, DC, and the second in Chicago. While working for the railroad, his interest and training in geology were often called upon to resolve landslide issues and rerouting studies, implement early earthquake warning strategies, and conduct numerous long railroad tunnel analyses.

In addition to his many talks regarding the rail industry, Bill has given numerous presentations on earthquake preparedness and topics on regional geology to local audiences throughout the Pacific Northwest and, more recently, to the cruise ship industry.

Enrichment Lecture with Lecturer Bill Burgel:

Volcanism – Worldwide, including Iceland, Guatemala, Alaska
Approximately 45- to 50 volcanoes erupt somewhere on the planet on any given day. We explored what’s currently active and what volcano has the potential to become active around the world,

MEET MULTI-INSTRUMENTALIST JIM HODSON
Jim hails from Melbourne, Australia, a city famous for being far from most other places. Between drinking copious amounts of pretentious coffee, Jim somehow found the time to study guitar, trumpet, and composition. He attained a Master’s degree in music from Melbourne University and had his compositions performed by the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra. A piece of his won an international composition prize, which thrilled Jim since it allowed him to preface his name with the description: “award-winning composer.”

After studying, Jim embarked on a voyage of musical discovery, which involved traveling to different countries and pestering interesting musicians to share their tricks. He has collaborated with musicians from China, Bulgaria, Finland, Bangladesh, Italy, and the UK and even had the opportunity to perform on the Antarctic continent. He can now share his love of music worldwide with soaring guitar solos and fancy fretwork.

The ukulele was added to the mix relatively recently after Jim realized the potential of this unassuming small instrument. You will be surprised at how the humble ukulele can be transformed by someone we might reluctantly call a professional.

Jim is excited to be able to travel the world performing the music he loves while steadfastly insisting that no one makes coffee as well as they do in his hometown. When not writing about himself in the third person, Jim is an avid kayaker, kangaroo enthusiast, and whiskey-taster.

Showtime! International Multi Instrumental Virtuoso “Jim Hodson”
We joined internationally acclaimed instrumentalist Jim Hodson for a fun and lively musical variety show. From rock n roll to jazz and classical, there was something for everyone, with more than a few surprises along the way