Valentines Day - king of love and money

Dr Qvortrups Cab: Learn about the origin of the Valentines Day tradition and why the day might have been troublesome this year!(Valentine’s Day, Waterloo Bridge, Valentine’s card, Valentine’s roses, Wendy Cobe, Dr Qvortrups Cab, financial phenomenon)

The 14. of February is the day of lovers. Learn about the origin of the Valentines Day tradition and why the day might have been troublesome this year!

By Mads Qvortrup. Camera/editor Jan Rørkær. Produced by Anette von Benzon, avbenzon@jyskebank.dk

The poem Dr Qvortrup recites on Waterloo Bridge is 'After Lunch'. The lyrics are below:

 After Lunch:

 On Waterloo Bridge, where we said our goodbyes,

 the weather conditions bring tears to my eyes.

 I wipe them away with a black woolly glove

 And try not to notice I've fallen in love.

 On Waterloo Bridge I am trying to think:

 This is nothing. you're high on the charm and the drink.

 But the juke-box inside me is playing a song

 That says something different. And when was it wrong?

On Waterloo Bridge with the wind in my hair

 I am tempted to skip. You're a fool. I don't care.

 the head does its best but the heart is the boss-

 I admit it before I am halfway across.

By Wendy Cope (Born 1945 and one of England's most popular poets. )

Bio: Professor Mads Qvortrup

Mads Qvortrup received his doctorate in philosophy from University of Oxford in 1999. He served as an adviser to the British government and a speech writer for Tony Blair, among others. Currently Mads Qvortrup is attached to the UN as a peace mediator in the Sudan, where earlier this year (2009) he was a member of a task force sent by Barack Obama.

Mads Qvortrup is the author of five books on politics, including a book on Danish prime ministers, Fogh, Kragh, Schlüter og Stauning (Borgen 2009), as well as A Comparative Study of Referendums  (Manchester University Press 2005). He has written for such newspapers as the  Guardian, the Glasgow Herald and the Sunday Express, and he often appears as an expert on BBC World and Danmarks Radio (Danish Broadcasting Corporation).

In addition to being a journalist and adviser, Mads Qvortrup taught for five years at the world-famous London School of Economics and was a guest professor at the University of Sydney in Australia.

Legal information