Talk the talk

After many trial runs I did my talk on Wednesday. The three biggest pieces of academic mud I have heard being slung around are:
But what's the context?
So what?
But it's just straight narrative.
So decided to put Alexander Donald's rise and fall into the winder context of the rise and fall of the Glasgow Tobacco Lords, showing how they went from being able to have entrance to governors, kings and future presidents and why they wielded quite such power to be able to do this, to losing it all and ending up in prison (last one was specific to Alexander I admit, but a lot of them also were bankrupt and only got away with it by being given jobs for the boys by Glasgow council).
The so what I answered by showing that his actions were instrumental in the Virginia Ratification Debate of 1788, so obviously of national importance and signficance and also illustrate how Jefferson behaved when things weren't going his way and how he acted to avoid conflict, so I was basically calling him a weasel in the home of TJ veneration, and to avoid the straight narrative I split it all around a bit, having the Ratification part as a big section in the middle.
Beforehand went out for a fellows lunch and despite my sister's advice not to do a Lucky Jim, had a couple of very refreshing Jefferson Bourbon Stouts - which is like Guinness, but has been aged in bourbon barrels. Very good it was to. Anything that has Jefferson in the title I have to have in honour of him - I do have to wake up every morning to his print staring straight down at me.
The slides were very popular - all pictures, no powerpoint text - and the talk went as well as I had hoped - I realised after about 20 minutes that if I didn't do a lot of editing on the spot, I was going to bore on for hours, so managed to cut out some bits as I went and got it down to 40 minutes exactly. I think it is rude to go on for longer than asked.
For the question and answer session - the whole focus was on my claim about Jefferson sending this letter to Alexander which fell into Patrick Henry's hands. That seemed to really touch a nerve which I was very pleased with - I called Mount Rushmore and told them to add the fifth face up there - nice long nose and big upper lip, perfect.

What do you think? Alexander to the left of TJ or to the right of Lincoln?
Afterwards went to Tufton for a drink on the veranda - it is in a very beautiful location.
Slight flat feeling when I came back - been building myself up for it - not sure quite what I expected. A firework display? Dollars showering down from the roof? An audience with Obama?
Makes it sound like I spent the whole day drinking, but did have a glass of Bogle wine at the garage, trying their Merlot this time - haven't found the family connection yet with the Bogles of California who make it, but sure they must be related to Martha Bogle - the mother of Janet Dunlop who married Thomas Donald, Alexander's brother. Lots of information coming out about Colin Dunlop, Martha's husband - he did get paid by the commission into loyalist debts.
Happy to re-enact the talk for anyone interested - can do the director's cut next time - so the full hour and a half version.
Reminder: turn off Skype before you do a presentation! It kept flashing up that my sister was online etc - I had my back to the screen do didn't see it - luckily nobody sent a message as that would have been on the huge screen as well.