How many stories are there? Less than we think I guess.

Originally posted on Wordpress.....

As an avid reader and watcher of film I have often wondered if there are a finite number of stories in the human imagination. I am not saying everyone who has written a book or made a film is committing deliberate plagiarism. It is undeniable though that  many films and books are retellings of older stories. Many are fairy tales set in the modern day and a large well known City. The same is true of Shakespeare's work. Romeo and Juliet, The taming of the Shrew and many others have been told multiple times in different settings.

Another repeated tale is that of the Hero, often a troubled or unloved soul, who battles against untold odds against an arch enemy of superior intellect and strength. Needless to say he always triumphs in the end-even if it takes a film trilogy for this to come to pass. This story is the basis of most super hero movies.

Even the Crime novel, no matter where it is set, follows the same pattern. Mostly these feature a baffling murder or death attributed to natural causes. A detective, normally with a sidekick, is assigned or works out that a crime has been committed. The sidekick is there in order for the slower reader/watcher to have things explained to them. After a twisted and tangled web is followed, with many false leads eliminated, the villain is revealed in a dramatic way. By and large the criminal is the most unexpected character and there has to be a twist in the ending. The hero must also be menaced occasionally.

An updated version of the Hero story is the type of thriller written by Dan Brown. The hero faces danger, violence and injury that would fell a lesser mortal. He/She is in  pursuit of a theory based around an ancient document or artefact. His opposition is a person or group whose interest is in suppressing the aforesaid theory. They are also quite prepared to kill the hero and sidekicks (Once again for the slower reader/viewer!). After Mr Brown the market was deluged by books of this type and they are still popular but are essentially the same basic plot.

The Romance novel has seen a resurgence with T.V. adaptations of classics and, inevitably, the updated modern versions. These are largely seen as women's books or films and are concerned with the rocky path to idealised romance. There must be angst, there must be opposition to the match, there must be a mysterious enemy of the couple who will do anything to stop the union but in the end there must be marriage or the modern equivalent.

There is a new breed of Romance novel typified by the 50 Shades trilogy which is essentially a love story but explores the more physical side of the relationship.

The list goes on, Disaster movies, Horror and Science fiction. All of these have different settings but most have features in common with the core stories I have mentioned Even these usually include a love story, a ruthless enemy and a hero.

I know that there are some original stories which do not quite fit these things. Dickens Christmas carol is unique in my experience but is about redemption which is a common theme in the aforementioned genres.

The fact of the matter is that we like having our favourite tales spoon fed to us. A truly original novel is rare but they are unlikely to be made into films because they do not have the dramatic plotlines. As a book they are enjoyable but that is all they will remain.

Given the Hollywood habit of Rebooting even recent tales, especially in the Super hero genre, you have to wonder if the 'original' story exists. I am a writer but find it very hard to come up with a plot which has not already been done to death.

Something to look forward too.

My posts lately have not been full of joy but a Blog is about expressing yourself, good and bad. I have a personality which occasionally bogs down in semi depression and it helps to write about it in (I hope!) a humorous way.

However it is time to try to  move on. I am basically a cheerful person and have been listing some reasons for cheer.

1. I am married to a lovely lady who puts up with me. She tries to fill all my needs and I do likewise.

2. While  I am not rich I am not destitute either and have some luxuries which others would love.

3. For every bad day there are 3 or 4 good days.

4. Food. I love my food.

5. I love the Autumn and Winter.

6. Maybe, just maybe, it will snow this year. I love snow.

7. I love Christmas, you will find this out nearer the time when I will mention it every 5 minutes. If it snows AT Christmas my cup runneth over.

8. I have 3 Grown up kids in whom I have great pride.

9. I have 2 Grandchildren who cheer me up all the time.

As Ian Drury said.....Reasons to be cheerful.

Reasons to be cheerful part 3

  

More bad luck......or is it?

I have mentioned several times about how my luck, such as it is, goes in cycles (Good then bad then Good!). I cam currently in a bad cycle but I thought it was coming to an end. How wrong can you be.

I went to see my mother in her care home. We had as enjoyable time as possible and returned to the car. It was parked with the wheels at an angle which allowed me to check the tyres. I had checked them when I bought the car and they had been replaced just before that by the previous owner. They were in good condition. Imagine how shocked I was to find they were now smooth on the inside rim. After a 1/2 hour drive home I took them to the tyre place and had them replaced at a cost we can barely afford. Once again I had, it seemed, been shafted. The tyres were both down to the metal layer and could have blown at any time. The previous owner had had new tyres but neglected to check the tracking. The tyre guy told me, rather condescendingly I thought, that the tracking was quite spectacularly out and this would explain  the rapid wear.


Needless to say I resent paying for that mistake but at least the car is safe. It was this that made me consider this bad luck thing. Rather than considering the bad luck of having to spend money we really can't spare, maybe I should think about the good luck of checking my tyres before they blew, possibly at high speed. I guess every cloud does have a silver lining.

Vengeance is mine. Or is it just coincidence.

 

 

 

 

Aside from the normal day to day niggles that beset us, there are times in your life when it is quite easy to believe in a vengeful God punishing us for an imagined yet undefined wrong. This usually takes the form of a run of bad luck.

 

Another theory of mine is that you can only have so much good luck. Despite my comparatively comfortable circumstances, for which I am grateful, I often feel I am being given some bad luck to balance it out. This is never more so than with finances. Those who say that money can't buy  you happiness fail to mention that having enough to deal with anything life throws at you is a big help. Having come from a poor family I think this type of luck is handed down and I am not likely to break the mould. So I repeat there has to be a balance. This last few days a case in point. A few things have gone my way in the last few months and I should have known payback was on the way. First some fairly important dealings with a government body completely failed to achieve their purpose and many plans were depending on the outcome. Now Mrs Bot and I both tend to get angry about this sort of thing and if we are particularly tired it erupts into very long and  heated argument. This inevitably followed. We are accustomed to this once in a while but it is very unsettling.

 

Today I got up and took Mrs Bot to work at 6.30 am and the weather was cloudy but dry. During the course of the morning it began to rain. It was the type of rain my grandmother called 'Lazy Rain' because it doesn't bother going round you it just goes straight through. Now rain in the UK tends to be short lived but not today. I was shopping and hence jumping in and out of the car every 15 minutes, my clothes got very wet each time. My glasses got covered in rain and steamed up every time. Ditto the car windows. I have never used the heating in the car but it is good, as is the rear window heater. Thank the deity of choice for that. On my last trip I was to top up the cards which run my 'Pay as you go' energy meters. I have done this hundreds of times without a smidgeon of a problem. Today I put my debit card into the machine, Pin O.K. and remove card as usual. Then take the receipts. Transaction failed.

 

"It's O.K." Says the harassed till person, "It won't go through.". I am very stressed by now and the £15 I have just agreed to give to the energy company is a lot of money. How does she know it won't go through. They try it again and again it fails and again I am assured it won't go through. That's £30 if they are wrong and still no gas and electricity. I am sure they have experienced this sort of thing often enough to be correct in their assumption but I am not comfortable spending £15 elsewhere when, as I am given to understand, it is the energy company that is at fault. Luckily we have one or two days reserve.

 

Added to all this the fact that one of our appliances is partially non functional, our sofa is no longer in the prime of life and the vacuum cleaner smells of burning every time it is switched on and you have some idea of my point.

 

 

This cycle eventually swings back to normal but while they last these periods where little goes right are a nightmare. So if you are the Deity responsible I ask respectfully that you stop it and if it is the luck thing I'd better batten down the hatches cos it's gonna be a rough ride.

Blues.

I am not normally a great one for admitting I am under the weather. I am not normally ill, beyond the effects of the stroke and other permanent problems. The weather here is that awful damp greyness so typical of Britain at it's worst. Altogether not the happiest of days.

For the last few days though I have had a backache which makes movement painful and my moods are up and down. Even turning over in bed is painful and I wake myself up 3 or 4 times a night. This exacerbates the mood swings and leaves me short tempered. Normally the idiots on Facebook are eminently ignorable but today I find myself railing at how infantile some of them are. They think themselves so cool with their rudeness and swearing or the casual sexism and racism (Black and white are equally guilty!!!!) It says so much about the moral decline of the world that these people with their amoral attitudes are actually proud of these childish posts. What happened to self respect.

You can see where I am mentally today so I will leave you with this thought. No matter how dark it is today, tomorrow may be bright. I hope so.

Winter cometh-And this year there are problems before it even gets here..

The nights are drawing in and getting colder. Not too bad yet but Mrs Bot has decreed 'Yea I am cold, and ye shall heat the house.' Normally, no problem, but this year a obsolete boiler and replacement for same is causing more than a little angst. Given the modern preference for naming such things let us  call it CHIP or Central Heating Instruction Problems. The boiler is OK it has several thermostats controlling it's on and off cycles. The water is on an 'On demand' basis. The problem is the controller. It has a simple on/off setting. This just switches on and off when told to by the thermostat, 24 hours a day. However we Bots dislike wasting money and heating empty rooms and also when we are snug and warm in bed. Therefore Mrs Bot further decreed 'Yea and verily (You don't think this is getting needlessly messianic do you?) Ye shall find me ye instruction manual and  I shall program ye controller'

No problem, except that the bag containing the manuals has disappeared into the black hole that is the loft, never to be seen again.

On to plan B. I spend 15 minutes trying to read the part number, written upside down and sideways on a tiny flap. The writing is likewise tiny. Given my eyesight this is no easy task. I fire up my auxiliary brain number three, my PC. It is affectionately known as 'Bloody machine.' for it's habit of refusing to do anything useful until it has finished booting to it's own satisfaction. Much cursing later and the computer grudgingly agrees to do a search. One or two websites later and I know more about controllers. More to the point I have found an instruction manual. One click later and it laboriously loads the PDF file. A few more minutes and it is loaded.

'Nearly there.' I scream to myself. But dear reader you know better. The printer goes through it's not insignificant boot up and then refuses to acknowledge it has paper. I can see the paper but no, it is adamant. Fifteen minutes spent at floor level jiggling the paper and nothing. So I take exactly the amount I need, one at a time and separating each meticulously, and replace it. It graciously accepts that it now has paper.

Sixteen pages later and we have the manual. The actual programming will be done by Mrs Bot, who despite my mastery of all this computer stuff, cannot believe I will be able to program a simple controller with a manual.

It set me to thinking of our distant ancestors though. The process for heating was a simple matter of starting a fire-something they were expert at. No bloody manuals or computers either.

I was bought up with a real fire and I know they are warmer, visually very attractive and almost hypnotic. Dirty yes but they do say fire has a soul. I bet the central heating doesn't.

Are we dumbing down or am I just becoming Mr Curmudgeon?

I am normally very confident in my opinions and certainly not afraid to express them. This one is a case in point. Today, a blog I read made me certain that we are, as a nation, dumbing down. I would like to believe that I am wrong but I fear not.. 

Cases in point.

1. 'A' level questions which would have been in 'O' level papers in my day.

2. Teens asked questions in voxpop news items to which their replies are worthy of a child.

3. Answers to similar questions which merely parrot the prevailing ideas on any particular issue without any supporting original thoughts.

4. Youths who have no idea of their own history (Often seen on quiz programs.)

5.Geeks who endlessly argue about which superhero is better or has better powers. I stopped doing this when I left Junior school. These guys live in a world of Games and Science fiction films, the real world does not impinge on their lives.

6. Those who believe that the money they receive from benefits are from some magic endless fund and never question whether they deserve it. This is usually followed by some incoherent comment about why a job is impossible to find for them though everyone else should be made to get one.

The list goes on. It rapidly becomes obvious that many young people today have no idea about Politics, their heroes are vacuous or violent fictional soap opera characters and celebrities with no real claim to fame and they cannot even express themselves without those dreadful Americanisms innit?

Go on Facebook and the ideas expressed by older members are often about politics and current events. Younger people post about said celebrities, post meaningless graphic jokes or parrot others who post (Often obscene) reactions to others.

I have strong Anti European feelings and wish to leave the EU as soon as possible. There are several reasons but a typical post from a younger person might be a graphic like 'Get us the F**k out of the EU.' followed by a comment, if pressed, like 'It's the immigration innit?' That is the extent of their explanation for their views. Interviewers have long learned to accept comments from youngsters but not to push them too hard for further explanations.

The most dangerous youths today are those who see racist information and who do not have the intellectual toolkit to realise they are being manipulated. Thus you have them being indoctrinated by the far right or terrorist organisations. They are ignorant of the futility of fanaticism and it leaves them wide open to this manipulation.


I am sure there are a lot of younger people out there who are not like this but they are definitely in the minority.

Recenly discovered 1912 exam paper which would give me problems today.


'They are Man's,' said the Spirit, looking down uponthem. 'And they cling to me, appealing from their fathers.
This boy is Ignorance. This girl is Want. Beware them both,
and all of their degree, but most of all beware this boy,
for on his brow I see that written which is Doom,

Charles Dickens 'A Christmas Carol'

I may be Mr Curmudgeon but I am sure that I have very good reason to fear the dumbing down of society.

Busy, Busy, Busy

Everything is turmoil Chez Lifebot today. One of the delights that life and advancing age have inflicted on me is a Cataract. This means, for those who have not had the pleasure, that my vision is poor and T.V has become almost impossible to watch from the place our present sofa resides.

So it meant that there is only one thing to do. We moved the sofa nearer to the T.V. If only it were as simple as that. Anyone who has done this will now that several other things get in the way. So it meant a complete rearrangement of the living room. Two or three hours, a major bout of hovering and much swearing later and we have a freshly arranged, hovered and tidied living room.

Cue our gorgeous but ever so slightly naughty 2 year old granddaughter. The toys cam out, the crayons came out, several books now decorate our carpet. The whirlwind that is Laicey has struck and all our good work is now a bit of a mess. Best I get the vacuum cleaner out again.

There will be fireworks.......Mr Curmudgeon rides again.

 

Fireworks, Great aren't they? Organised displays are a lot of fun. Leeds castle in Kent has one synchronised with classical music. I have no problem if it is my choice to watch fireworks and I do understand that you cannot help hearing them around November 5th. I also know that all kinds of occasions merit fireworks. New Year, Guy fawkes night, Christmas and birthdays have all become worthy of displays. Why I don't know, we didn't need fireworks to celebrate at least three of those before.

OK so I'll put that down to change. What has changed for the worse is that there are fireworks going off for at least a week before and after some of these events. Around November the fifth there are fireworks nearly every night. Around Christmas there are fireworks randomly around the holidays. What this has to do with a religious holiday is beyond me but these days the same can be said for the  season itself., We even hear fireworks at Easter.

So people have so little fun in their lives that they need to let off fireworks to celebrate anything. The shops start selling them in early September and I understand many companies sell them all year round. This would tie in with the multiple events they are used for.

We are in a state of Austerity and many people claim not to have money for essentials yet packs of fireworks start from about £20. They get a lot more expensive. So how on Earth can people justify sending all this money up in smoke.

When I was a child fireworks were pretty and if they were going to make a loud bang they were called bangers. Modern fireworks seem to be judged by how loud they are. Many would not be out of place on a battlefield. Often we are seated watching TV and we are subjected to a barrage of bangs loud enough to rattle the windows. Given that this can be any time of year we never know when. A neighbour had fireworks at his barbecue in the summer, presumably to celebrate his not burning the food. Those with pets and small children must dread this time of year.

There is also the unregulated nature of home displays. There is no doubt that Children can get far too close to fireworks and, in November, an unguarded, large bonfire. Ask The fire or ambulance services if you don't believe me. They have to deal with the fallout. These things are dangerous and should only be seen at organised displays. Much as you feel you know what you are doing, fireworks and bonfires can be lethal. Fireworks were invented in China as weapons.

Oh yes and before you buy a super banger designed to make noises akin to a field gun, think about those who are forced to listen to it and who may not enjoy it as you do. And keeping this up from 7 or 8 till well gone midnight is anti social to say the least. Go to a display!

Me and OCD

The picture above is a nice easy way to show what O.C.D. does, but if you don't suffer with it, you won't really understand. I am a sufferer and it is at times of insecurity and when I am tired that it slinks from it's cave. As an intelligent person it can be triggered by the smallest thing that I consider abnormal in day to day life. I offer this example.
I was just going through my new phone's capabilities and had the earphones plugged in. Then the onscreen headset indicator, showing that it was plugged in, disappeared. Straight away I thought something was wrong. Now you dear reader would probably think that it was a software glitch and shrug it off. My somewhat twisted mind thought it was a sign that the phone was possibly broken. I unplugged the headset and plugged it in again. The indicator appeared and stayed there so I listened to a song or two and unplugged it. Then I thought maybe I had damaged the socket removing it and plugged it in again. This happened 15 to twenty times. A classic example of the cycle in the picture. Anxiety about my phone, compulsive action removing and replacing the headphones, very temporary relief from anxiety and renewing the anxiety by wondering if I had damaged it by my actions.
My conscious mind knows there is unlikely to be a problem with a brand new phone, and the irony is that you are likely to cause more damage with this obsessive action of constant plugging in/Unplugging.
But we are not finished yet, once I eventually convinced myself that it was OK I began wondering about the earphone socket on my tablet, I hadn't used it for ages. sure enough I went through the same ritual with my tablet. Another 15 or 20 plug/unplug cycles later and I managed to stop myself. Great, except that I tried both again first thing this morning and nearly slipped into the cycle again. Luckily, being more awake, I managed to stop it more quickly.after maybe one or two attempts.
I won't even tell you about how much of this behaviour I went through setting the phone up. Every time I had a moment of anxiety about it's operation would lead to constantly using that particular function again and again till I was sure all was well.
At one time I had the keys to my workplace and was entrusted to lock up. At the time I was in a fairly bad place with my 1st marriage and my job. It wasn't unusual for me to stand there locking and unlocking the door on the premise that the last cycle would finally convince me that I had locked the door properly. Then I started again, worrying that I had somehow not done it properly last time. Once the lock was dealt with there was the shutter. Once it was down I would lift it to check that the door was really secure and shut it again. I once stood there for an hour doing these robotic and unnecessary tasks. it took a major intercession from my conscious mind to stop it. Basically I had to tell myself I was being stupid again and again and eventually the mind won.
I cannot tell you how tiring and soul destroying it is to try and convince yourself that your actions are futile while your unconscious is hinting about the disasters that will befall if you don't get it right.
I don't suffer permanently from this but when it happens I am drained and irritable afterwards. Many see OCD as a comical disorder but, to sufferers there is nothing funny about it. Next time you watch a documentary and feel like laughing about the antics of the sufferer, bear in mind they are stuck in an infinite loop and getting out of it is so hard. Some live like this every day.

Why is theft still a problem-the technology of today should deter criminals?

I was messing about with my new phone today when I noticed that one of the preloaded apps was actually useful (As opposed to the usual bloatware which the developer has paid the provider to include. It all takes up space on your phone and is 90% useless.).

The App in question is a bog standard antivirus. It does the job but also prompted me to set up a password for tracking. I have never done this before but I thought what the hell. When I logged on to my PC today I went to the site thinking it was a cheap and cheerful map with a large area circled showing approximately where the phone was. To my surprise the indicator of the phone's location was right where it should be. I could even change the map to a satellite image of the location and see my house. I often lean out of my window backwards and wave in case a satellite happens to take my picture but it's never happened yet.

This set me thinking. Of course I could find the phone using this, if it was stolen. Any mobile is capable of this using it's inbuilt GPS and the software is included. Tablets and many laptops are capable too. These devices are readily available for Vehicles, Handbags Children, Pets and so on.  You just need some software to track the GPS devices. One system actually lets you log on to your stolen Laptop from another computer and take pictures of the thief.

 I recently saw a news item about a lad who volunteered to have a GPS tracker fitted on release from prison then burgled several houses not knowing how accurate they are. He was soon behind bars again.

Home burglaries can easily be prevented with a simple alarm and camera system. they needn't be diabolically expensive. One company is now selling an App to make a discarded mobile into a home camera capable of transmitting images to your phone, tablet or PC. Even a simple thing like upgrading your locks helps.

As regards street crime, we all know that Shops, Businesses, Car parks, Public Buildings and most major streets have  monitored CCTV. My wife's company monitors it's staff and outside it's premises all the time. Surely criminals know that the chances of being spotted at or near the crime are very good.

Smart water is a way of identifying your stolen devices if recovered or in a system where criminals are covered in it if committing a crime where it is used. It can only be seen in ultraviolet light but lasts for months.

There is a paint you can buy which looks normal on drainpipes or roofs. If it is disturbed by someone climbing on it the surface breaks and makes it very slippery. It also transfers onto the criminal aiding identification.

 



But crime is still with us-Why?

I think that it is the old Chestnut-'It'll never happen to me.' All the deterrents rely on you spending time setting them up, or money buying the systems and items mentioned. Many haven't got the money or don't feel they need to spend it on something that may never happen. That said, many councils offer smart water free or can offer security advice.

As for street crimes and CCTV, criminals by their nature are arrogant enough to believe they won't get caught  but with modern technology it will become much more difficult to avoid arrest.

Of Shoes and ships and sealing wax, Of cabbages and Kings.

In other words a few stray thoughts loosely bound into todays post.

Yesterday I took delivery of a new smartphone. Setting this up trumps anything else I need to do and requires all my concentration, hence no post yesterday. I now have it as I want it but It bought into sharp relief all the other things that the act of blogging has driven from my mind lately.

Thus this morning I sorted out some issues with my Tablet P.C. Then there was the oil and water in the car which definitely needed doing. Certain personal grooming jobs followed this. More jobs beckon after this which shows how addictive this blogging lark is.

One other thing which I must record before I forget. I visited my dear old mother last week and the staff were feeding her dinner. They were all from the first wave of immigrants into the U.K. Mainly they came from European countries Like Poland, Lithuania etc. and may even be 2nd Generation. Now we face an influx of refugees from Syria. A few years ago we were decrying the uncontrolled immigration from Europe and it is still an issue for me. We only have finite resources.

What amused me was the fact that these nouveau English were watching a news item abut Syrian refugees and were making the same arguments about keeping them out as we did about them. I guess being English is highly contagious.

Having Just thought of another job needing my attention I'd better stop randomly blogging and start thinking about something more witty and wonderful for tomorrow. However I would like to pay my respects to P.C. David Phillips, a police officer killed by a car thief running him down to avoid capture. He had a wife and 2 children. I hope it was worth it for the cowardly thief, David's colleagues will hunt him down.

Also my respects to the victims of the Oregon College shootings. If the shooter did commit suicide he is also a coward, if not the guy who shot him should get a medal. But if I may offer the opinion of a Brit, maybe this love affair between Americans and their guns should end. Too many have died.

No blog today

New phone, playing, back soon

Today I am channeling-------Mr Curmudgeon

curmudgeon

kəːˈmʌdʒ(ə)n/

noun

noun: curmudgeon; plural noun: curmudgeons

a bad-tempered or surly person.

 

 

After my galactic revelations yesterday I am back to my lovely self. Well actually  I have gone the other way. I shall explain. Phil Towers is located in an area of (To use the delightful euphemism.) Affordable social  housing, Someone who grew up when and where I did will know it better as a Caaaaaannnnncil estate. Younger readers my know it better as a housing association property. Basically it is rented accommodation for those who cannot afford to buy. There are good estates and there are the ones which were used in the 1970's. to re house people displaced in the slum clearances of the time. Other groups were also placed in them. Now they tend to be Family homes but also single parent dwellings. Single men or women and older couples live in flats in these areas. There are a high proportion of people who are on benefits.

 

 

Now I am not one to automatically assume that all who are in receipt of benefits are automatically anti-social. There are a lot of people who have genuine problems, or in this Austere climate cannot find a job. Many are victims of the Labour policy of rewarding people who produce children, thus causing an epidemic of babies with parents who cannot afford to keep them. There are hundreds of genuine people for every benefit cheat.

I like to judge everyone on their merits. However it is not of benefits I wish to speak. There is no doubt that the type of people who are on benefits tend to exhibit the kind of behaviour I am about to discuss but it is by no means restricted to them.

There is no doubt in my mind that many bought up in the 90's and Noughties has been given to understand that selfish behaviour and rudeness are quite acceptable in themselves but not in others. They are not effectively disciplined by doting parents. This may seem harsh but I have plenty of evidence and cases to study on this estate.

Example 1. There are many enclosed 'Courts' which are paved and have large green areas for children to play in. Yet many of the teenage boys who claim to be poor can afford motorcycles with no tax or M.O.T. (Yes I do know this for a fact, they openly boast of it.), and they wear no helmets or protective gear. They use these courts, which are blocked off with bollards, as shortcuts despite the danger of hitting children and pollute the air with these elderly machines. The noise is incredible and all summer you smell the oily stench of two stroke engines.

Example 2 There is a young man nearby who seems to think I like his choice of music so much that I want to hear it every day in the summer. Recently he had the music, which had heavy bass content, blasting through a boom box in the back of his car for 3 hours. It was drowning out my T.V. to such an extent that (To my shame!) I shouted from my window to turn the F*****g music down. Next I had an irate young man threatening me, waving a finger in my face, swearing and screaming that he could do what he liked. He did, among all this, say that I could have just have asked him calmly. To my way of thinking it was his behaviour which was the catalyst and he must have known that it was. However if I want to be known as a tolerant person he was right, I could have asked. I still feel that the mental torture of non stop loud music was a good excuse for my outburst but I went out and discussed it calmly. He accepted that and turned it down. Since then things have been better with him but there are many who play such loud music, day and night.

Example 3 and the reason for this rant. All our houses are, by their nature, tightly crowded together. It is possible to see that, on a day such as today, washing is out in nearly every garden. And yet one of our neighbours has decided to have a bonfire, putting out thick dark smoke. Of course this means all our washing will now smell of smoke. If we wished to have a fire where I grew up you always made attempts to let people know.

I know that the code we observed with our neighbours regarding potential nuisances when I was young are impossible now but there are things you can do. A fire can be lit at a time when washing is unlikely to be out. If you are doing something noisy such as DIY, a word to the neighbours helps. Sunday being a day of rest is long gone. I have heard people hammering on Christmas day before. A little consideration goes a long way.

This rant will achieve nothing. I have to accept that the code of behaviour I grew up with no longer applies. People do exactly what they want, when they want. Even if you remonstrate peaceably the discussion often turns ugly. Until parents once again discipline their children as I was disciplined things will not improve. Still we can always drug them till they are old enough to begin the whole cycle again.
 

Inspiration from space.

My fellow sapient carbon based life forms, I know that life is sometimes not exactly as we would like it. We all know it. I know about depression and worries. I know that it is difficult to find your happy place when things go badly.

Maybe I can help. I was perambulating gently around what is optimistically named the Riverside Country park this fine autumn morning. I happened to look up just as the Sun cut through a cloud and it nearly blinded me. You can imagine I wasn't amused but it began a random chain of thought. It has to do with the futility of complaining about the Sun doing whatever it damn well pleases but also about miracles.(You should be aware I am in a more facetious mood than is usual for me.)

Out there is a bloody great Universe, you have no hope of learning much about it without a few million lifetimes or Warp Drive.¹

So somewhat smaller then. The Galaxy. Same applies. Maybe a few less lifetimes. Or a sublight spaceship and committing a fair few of your descendants to a lifetime in space.²

Ok now we're cooking. The Solar system. Our neighbourhood. We have already visited another planet like thing viz the moon. Mars is coming within our reach. At it's centre is the Sun which is about 94.5 million miles away. This body provides gravity  which holds 8 planets and hundreds of minor moons and asteroids in orbit around it. For my purposes the most important is Earth.³

Now this wonderful sun radiates heat across these millions of miles. It reaches Earth with enough energy to cause us to complain how hot it is. Yet without it the Earth would be totally lifeless, plus you and the rest of humankind (Past and Present) would never have existed. It is the basis of our industry and agriculture, our lives are regulated by it's presence or lack of presence in the sky. All life depends on it.

Next then the Earth. it's down there beneath your feet, look down and there it is. Not much is it? But hang on. It revolves very fast generating gravity. You don't even feel the rotation but it's happening.  Gravity. Stops you from flying of into space. Then there's Electricity. Properly harnessed it provides more heat and light when that pesky Sun goes. Properly chopped into little pieces it powers our beloved machines. Chop it up a little smaller and it provides communication between those machines.

Then we dig minerals, gases and metals to make more machines, specially those wheeled devices which we use to go 100 yards to the shop or do the school run. The oil removed from the Earth and grown by energy from the Sun provide them with their power. Gas provides cheaper heating.
The atmosphere protects us (Despite our best efforts!) against radiation and stray asteroids. We are reasonably assured of that protection until our bodies eventually wear out. Maybe one day we will make new ones.

Not very inspiring so far? Well try to imagine all the energy and effort that the universe goes to in order to maintain the Galaxy. The galaxy does the same for the Solar system. The solar system looks after the Earth and the Earth looks after you. How can you think you are not loved or that no-one cares when all that energy has ben expended to ensure that you can live your life. It's bloody miraculous?

1. It would be nice, if ever Warp drive or Matter transporters are invented, that those responsible give credit to Gene Roddenberry for the concept.
2. I like star Trek, Deal with it.
3. I've been there, it's rubbish.

The galaxy song By Eric Idle, explains all this faster and with much more wit than me. Still Meh!

How does the internet affect our daily lives and is there a darker side?

We all think of the internet as Man's crowning achievement as far as communication is concerned. We can do anything online. Shopping, easy, Banking, No problems. Anything that can be sorted out by two Computer systems and a Wi-Fi connection. Social media means families can talk without all that tedious visiting lark. We can play games on computers and games machines all over the world in real time. Even the Government are now cottoning on as to how much cheaper it is to get your computer to arrange Car Tax, Taxes and so on with their computer. So much cheaper than all those nasty, expensive civil servants. Banks, too, know that they can keep taking a monthly fee for day to day transactions which have no need of an expensive clerk. Convenient for all but once again removing the human from the equation. It is also underlining the huge amounts of money being paid by us with no real effort or customer service on behalf of the organisation or business.

But let's leave aside the greed involved, Greed is the defining vice of this particular time in history though we embrace most of the seven deadly sins with enthusiasm.

So it's a good thing, right, this internet thing. No need to go out to arrange everything. Just switch on your computer and everything's great. But what of exercise? It's no coincidence that we are the most obese generation ever with all the health issues that go with it. Everything you need is probably available a few miles from home and you never walk.


O.K. So that's a bit of a drawback but that's the only downside isn't it? Well there is the idea that every webpage must have targeted advertising. How many times have you waited for a page to load all the advertising bots simply to read a paragraph of text? On a slow computer or connection it becomes almost impossible. Webpages have to pay their way and we have to be advertised at if we are to buy faster computers to cope with it all. That is without all the nasty adware that downloads to your 'Pooter on the back of software you actually asked for. On my P.C. it takes 5 minutes to load some pages. All to sell more stuff we don't need. Greed again.

Then there are those nasty but oh so clever crooks who have worked out how to make money with criminal hacking of systems. They can take your cash, your identity and buy stuff on your cards. It's a constant battle against this new breed of criminals. With computerised devices getting smaller they'll even nick the computer too, given the chance. Hey and it's greed again.

'But..' You may be screaming at this point. 'Social media is good isn't it? We talk all the time." Here are some negative things about social media......

Your real friends probably account for about 1% of your contacts.

There are all sorts of ways of making you see advertising on Facebook and Twitter.

You are not socialising, you are sitting staring at a screen.

Kids particularly are not learning social skills they are effectively hiding behind a screen.

Kids who were being bullied used to be able to get away from it at home. Social networking takes this small protection away.

Swearing, explicit images, adult videos and all sorts of other nasty stuff regularly creep into your timelines.

Are you really sure that all the stuff you store on Cloud storage is secure? Those nutty conspiracy theories about Facebook etc. may be silly but you are trusting personal information, images. telephone numbers to a computer which can be hacked. It's information can be fraudulently shared. Do you read ALL those terms and conditions?

I do love the freedom of the internet but I am a hardened nethead. I understand the drawbacks and how to guard against them and it doesn't rule me. This morning I went for a walk, came home and did a bit of housework. I am writing this and then may read or watch a T.V. murder mystery.

If I go on social media I apply the same rules as if I were face to face! I am honest but polite, if I have a point to make I will make it respectfully. I know what I can share or not share. On top of this I am also a people fan. I love talking to people, sometimes total strangers when I am out and about.

I am all for the wealth of information available, the things I can do with my computer and social media with the freedom it brings BUT I also treat it with respect. It is like a dog who seems friendly but is likely to bite you if given the chance. Modern security software helps but you are responsible for being aware of the dangers. the Internet is a great thing but there is definitely a Dark side.

Ghosts and Idiots ruining serious paranormal research.

As if the search for life after death is not wide open to fraud by people with knowledge of picture editing and competent in it, there are now Apps appearing on mobile phones which make it simple. Normally some knowledge of Photoshop or similar is necessary to make a good fake Ghost and it at least required some effort. Even so these pictures are usually easy to spot. Unless you have a very steady hand, cutting out the Ghost which is to be superimposed is not easy. The edges are noticeable and a human figure normally has bits missing. No picture of a human contains all the body and often fingers or toes, even the occasional leg or arm go missing.

As well as all this people always get the balance of believability versus detail wrong. Any serious student of the subject would tell you that full body apparitions are rare and that the reality of Ghosts is likely to be misshapen blobs of energy or E.V.P. (Electronic Voice Phenomenon.) So any clearly recognisable human apparition always awakens my scepticism. I do not believe in Ghosts but I would like to be proved wrong. I do know how to Photoshop though and I know the signs of a fake.

Now we have these Phone apps. There is an example of the above (Clearly not to be taken as real and an example of what can be achieved.) and a screenshot of one such app. These Apps quite openly state that they are designed to fool on social media, one even admits that they won't fool for long.

Now I hate users of social media whose aim is to get Likes, Shares or favourites by any means possible. Some claim that you are an idiot if you cannot do an ambiguous maths problem, some claim you are heartless because you do not share an emotive picture (Again often faked or with a story which cannot be proved. That child molester that hangs around schools is probably just a picture lifted from the net or someone who the poster has a grudge against.), and some just threaten ridiculous events befalling you if you do not send the post to all your Friends. All are designed to make idiots feel superior and generate attention.

Now these idiots can, with five minutes work, create a reasonably credible Ghost image and put it on a ghost picture group. The sceptical will feel obliged to point out that it is fake, the credible will instantly assume that the Ghost is real and is haunting any place you can take a picture of. Those who are not sure will say that it could be pareidolia but it is compelling.

Either way the attention whores on Social media sit back and have a chuckle at the way they have  made idiots of their so called friends. Bear in mind my previous comments about believability though, if it seems too good to be true, it probably is.

Just when you thought this paranormal stuff was rubbish.

The Video above is of a very obscure, long forgotten animated T.V. Series. I watched it as a child but didn't particularly enjoy it.

Two nights ago I dreamed very vividly about it. I also heard the theme music from 'White horses,' another forgotten series, in the dream.

I haven't heard anything about the second one but on a Facebook thread about 1970's T.V., and after having forgotten about it for decades, someone posted about Belle and Sebastian. How spooky is that? What do you mean coincidence? Yeah right!

I await a post on 'White Horses' Whoever is doing this please stop.

Jack the Ripper

This is not going to be an exhaustive history of this case, there is just too much information out there to encapsulate in a blog post. I offer two links, the Wikipedia entry about the case and THE definitive website, the Casebook of Jack the Ripper. I also recommend a comprehensive A-Z book of the case.

Here I just wish to confess myself a confirmed Ripperologist and to try to explain why. What is the fascination? The murders were gruesome but not excessively so by today's standards. The Ripper was a serial killer in the autumn of 1888 but not a prolific one. There were 11 suspected killings of women who were all prostitutes, only 5 of which are considered canonical and even one of those has been questioned as a Ripper victim. There are letters supposedly from the killer which are now considered hoaxes.

The fascination for me is the fact that, after 127 years we still don't know who committed these crimes. The Ripper's hunting grounds were the most poverty stricken areas of Victorian London. It is also his seeming ability to kill, mutilate and disappear within minutes that fascinates. At least twice he must have been nearby when his victims were discovered. There was talk of his being linked to that great British bogeyman, Spring heeled Jack. Some even suspect a demonic Ripper. The mutilations were nasty by Victorian standards.

The conspiracies associated with the case are well documented and the Casebook website will tell you all about them but I don't think we are looking at a famous Ripper. He is just an ordinary man driven mad by syphilis or his poverty stricken surroundings. Try one of the links, you may get hooked on this Victorian mystery. Or maybe you will solve this ultimate cold case.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_the_Ripper

http://www.casebook.org/

Turing-Hero and Victim

     A post originally published on my Wordpress Blog

 

             

Alan Turing 1912-1954

 

As you will know I am totally immersed in Computing devices and the Internet. It is no exaggeration to say that without Alan Turing these devices would not exist. He conceived a universal computing machine, based around binary language, the description of which is the basis of all modern computing machines. His Ghost is probably looking over your shoulder now.

 

 His work in cracking the Enigma codes in World War 2 and the effect on the war in the north Atlantic are well documented. Unfortunately, the idea that Turing designed Colossus with Tommy Flowers is erroneous but he did design the Bombe, a mechanical device to work out the Enigma settings. His work in Crypto-analysis was central to Bletchley Park’s wartime success and his cracking of the German Naval codes helped Britain to stop the destruction of supply convoys. This undoubtedly shortened the war. Unfortunately this work and the Colossus machines were deemed top-secret and Britain handed the lead in this field to others. It is possible that we may all be using Colossi had it been developed commercially.

 

After the war Turing worked on the design of another computer system the ACE (Automatic Computing Engine) at the National Physical Laboratory.  In 1949 he became Deputy Director of the Computing Laboratory in the university of Manchester Mathematics department, working on software for one of the earliest stored program computers—the Manchester MK1. At this time he developed the Turing test, The idea that a machine imitating a human in a conversation, if it could convince a third-party that it was human, must be deemed intelligent

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In the 1950’s he turned to Mathematical Biology and the occurrence of Fibonacci sequences in flowers. He attempted, long before the discovery of D.N.A., to work out why cells separated in different ways to become different structures. He also wondered why certain animals of similar kinds developed different colouring and patterns. He posited  mathematical rules behind these changes, and of course he was right.

 

However he was doomed by his sexuality. Homosexuality was illegal in the U.K. in the 1950’s. He was burgled by a friend of one of his sexual partners, who got his address from the young man. A watch was taken that had been given to Turing by his father and naturally he wanted it back. In a totally Naïve move he called the police. He openly confessed to sex with the young man when questioned about the burglary and the police must have thought it was Christmas. A high-profile war hero and professor admitting to homosexuality. The burglary was quietly forgotten.

What happened next should stand as one of the most shameful events in British History. This war hero and one of the greatest minds of his age was given a choice, prison or chemical Castration. This involved the injection of female hormones, thus destroying the testosterone in the body, and stopping the sexual urges. It also involved shrinking of the testicles and growth of breasts. I can only imagine the shock to the system this would involve but it also impacted on his intellect. I wonder if he would still be alive if he had chosen prison. He once said he might have enjoyed it given his attraction to men.

 

At this time there was a paranoia about Gay men, who were seen as a security risk and much of his work with the government was taken from him. He travelled abroad to Greece and Norway, both places popular with homosexuals, no doubt enjoying the more relaxed attitude there. He must have felt that he was trapped in a nightmare but he bore the treatments without complaint. He cannot have failed to see the irony that his war work was against a country which practiced castration of Jews as well as persecution of Homosexuals and the insane. Now he faced the same persecution he fought against with his towering intellect. I also wonder if the treatments mad him fear madness. For whatever reason on 8 June 1954 was found dead of Cyanide poisoning. There was a half eaten apple (How ironic is that?) by his bed though it wasn’t tested for cyanide. The verdict was suicide with the apple being assumed as the means of ingestion.

 

There have been doubts. This is what Wikipedia says about it:

Philosophy professor Jack Copeland has questioned various aspects of the coroner’s historical verdict, suggesting the alternative explanation of the accidental inhalation of cyanide fumes from an apparatus for gold electroplating spoons, using potassium cyanide to dissolve the gold, which Turing had set up in his tiny spare room. Copeland notes that the autopsy findings were more consistent with inhalation than with ingestion of the poison. Turing also habitually ate an apple before bed, and it was not unusual for it to be discarded half-eaten. In addition, Turing had reportedly borne his legal setbacks and hormone treatment (which had been discontinued a year previously) “with good humour” and had shown no sign of despondency prior to his death, setting down, in fact, a list of tasks he intended to complete upon return to his office after the holiday weekend At the time, Turing’s mother believed that the ingestion was accidental, resulting from her son’s careless storage of laboratory chemicals.  Biographer Andrew Hodges suggests that Turing may have arranged the cyanide experiment deliberately, to give his mother some plausible deniability.
 

Andrew Hodges, and another biographer, David Leavitt, have both suggested that Turing was re-enacting a scene from the film Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937), his favourite fairy tale, both noting that (in Leavitt’s words) he took “an especially keen pleasure in the scene where the Wicked Queen immerses her apple in the poisonous brew.

 

The British Government apologised for his treatment in 2013 but it is poor compensation  given that Turing should have been a hero and been decorated by  the U.K., not persecuted by it.

 

What to post?.......bad night.

The Bot brain is not up to scratch today and the reason is a mystery. Amongst the age related health issues and the Stroke I have sleep Apnoea. This involves wearing a mask every night. This forces pressurised air through the nasal passages all night keeping them open. Without it  they close and you wake from rem sleep every few minutes in a sleep/wake/sleep/wake cycle. Needless to say this is a disaster during the day and sufferers often fall asleep at weird moments. Hence the mask.

Great, got the mask, problem solved. Except once every few days I wake up and take off the mask. Suddenly I have all the symptoms of a cold. My nose runs incessantly, I sneeze,  my throat is dry and sore. Then miraculously these symptoms disappear after a few hours.

Then once in a few weeks I have a day like yesterday. The symptoms started as usual and just carried on. The sneezing was jarring enough to cause a headache. My throat was dry and sore. It carried on intermittently blocking my nose then it ran like a tap. I couldn't think properly. Now you might conclude, as I did, that the minor symptoms are the body reacting to having air forced into it. However all the fellow sufferers and the clinic I visit each year cannot explain it. They have no such symptoms as sufferers and the Doctors at the clinic are at a loss. All I can think is that the air coming through the machine has allergens which cause a reaction. As to the bad days, I suspect a minor infection of sorts. There are effects on other areas of the body too. Maybe it is just what it seems, a cold.

But guess what, I get up this morning and apart from a headache, a bit of a dry throat and a red nose, Nothing. Not a sneeze and a clear nose. I defy anyone to explain this, most medical practitioners just shrug it off.

The N.H.S. take on Sleep Apnoea

And the wikipedia version

What evolved power would you like? How realistic is your wish?

I pointed out in a post over on Wordpress ( Shameless plug ) that the human Brain was designed for nothing more taxing than Hunting and Gathering whilst staying alive and upright. D.N.A. has allowed us to upgrade and pass on these improvements but the Brain is still essentially primitive. Animal instincts and emotions rule it. It seems somewhere along the line we have somehow managed to start dealing with abstracts. Still it is nothing short of a miracle that we have reached the degree of understanding we have with such a limited processor.

Yet those instincts are something which offer hope of future evolution. I think of them as built in autonomous warning and information gathering programs accessed and read by the unconscious. One has always fascinated me. It is that burning feeling in between your shoulder blades that tells you that you are being watched. The advantage is obvious, it tells you that someone or something is showing interest in you. You are pre warned and your first reaction is to locate the watcher. Neat. But hang on, this sometimes happens when you are not facing anyone so visual clues are out. Often the watcher is in a crowded street so auditory clues are unlikely and smell would be difficult to pick up at such a distance and with so many other sources. Where does the information come from? Could this be nascent telepathy?

I don't know but I don't know how else it could happen either. Indulge me, then, if I extrapolate future human evolutionary changes from such a flimsy start. This is not a 'Which superpower would you like.' Post. I am only sticking to those powers that could possibly be ours in future. All this is my opinion and I am not citing any research or experiments to back it up.

Straightaway I am discounting teleportation, if it is possible, it would require more than just a normal brain, possibly a machine (As in Star Trek.). I cannot see the brain being able to move it's entire body vast distances unassisted.

Another one I would love to experience and some people claim is already ours is Astral Projection. The separation of consciousness from the body fascinates me and the idea of travelling in this way would enable you to experience the whole world while you sleep. Maybe you could even spy on your neighbours at their most vulnerable if that is your thing.

Despite my best efforts I have not experienced this but it does not seem like something you can develop. If you believe it, it is something you can already do or not, as with the 'Someone's watching me...' ability. This would be top of my wish list. I have tried to achieve this, result epic fail.

 

Next, and in my opinion most likely to develop within a few generations, is Telepathy. I have often felt that you can pick up on the emotions of another, especially if you are close in terms of emotional ties. No doubt there would be those who provide banal and commonplace explanations for this. You get used to someone's thought processes or you think in similar ways. However I have personally experienced this first hand and there is a distinct difference between knowing what someone would think and knowing what they are thinking. It is hit and miss but it has happened to me. In the future this may develop into a controllable ability.

 

 

Extra sensory perception is a hard one. Telepathy could be achieved, maybe by projection of bio electrical energy through the air with someone able to receive the signal, but this one requires a two way connection with inanimate objects. I can't see any logical way it would work. Once again there are those who claim this ability now but if it exists I have no idea how it would operate It would be very useful though.

 



 

Last of the more realistic abilities is Telekinesis. The movement of objects with the mind alone. Again a projected Bio electrical field may be able to achieve this. It would take a strong and constant field and a way of converting it into a semi solid physical force able to interact with other physical objects. I don't think it would ever work with large or extremely heavy objects, if it is possible at all. Again very useful if it ever happens

"What the hell is he on about?" I hear you scream. Well this is all just a thought experiments about which of these fringe ideas is ever likely to happen.

But what if we used technology? Professor Kevin Warwick of Coventry University already has implants which control computers responsible for Lighting, opening doors etc. The below is his Wikipedia entry with all the details and the second link is his personal webpage.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kevin_Warwick
http://www.kevinwarwick.com/

Ok, it isn't true Telekinesis but it may be possible with cyborg like implants and Wi-Fi connections to create a passable telepathic ability. You may even be able to control machines that can move objects using the implants.

Personally I'd settle for telepathy. I would still REALLY like to do the 'Out of body experience' thing. If anyone has a set of instructions...................

First day of Autumn

We are now officially in one of my favourite times of the year. I don't like being hot or excessively cold so Autumn is just right. Keats had it right, Season of mist and mellow fruitfulness, especially in Kent where we were well known for orchards.

Kicking up fallen leaves is a cliché, but an enjoyable one. Kids and Conkers still have a connection, something which was true when I was one. The nights are chilly, with a hint of things to come in the long cold winter months, but when you get home and your home is warm all that can be forgotten.

Walking becomes enjoyable again as the trees grow brown, orange and yellow and gradually drop their leaves to form a carpet under your feet. My favourite walks, the local cemeteries, become colourful and the graves and tombstones are less morbid, their sombre grey, black and stark whites replaced with a riot of colour.

Yet again winter will drop rain, maybe snow from leaden skies as it grips the world with it's icy clutch. Until then nature takes on it's Autumn mantle, all part of the great cycle of death and rebirth.

Enjoy.

The lottery of intelligence

Above is a Victorian picture of my first home. I was born in the house behind the horse and cart in 1961. Few changes had been made sinc it was built. It had no hot water or bathroom and an outside toilet. It was a four roomed house. The living room and Kitchen formed the ground floor and two bedrooms the upstairs. My father worked in the local paper mill and I remember little of him. He died in 1973. I do remember that this mill worker loved building electric motors using copper wire, knitting needles and a wooden base. They worked too! I never really knew him but I am sure he had other interests you wouldn't expect from a working class person. At that time the pools, the Pub and the Saturday football results were the main interests of the working classes. reading matter included the Daily Mirror, the News of the World and whatever books came your way.

So along I came, a child of a very working class, fairly poor family. I too had interests you wouldn't expect. Classical Greek and Roman mythology fascinate me. I love working out what makes people tick and I find myself comfortable with Latin and the words deriving from Latin. This in turn helps with another interest, Trivia. I have crammed my mind with all kinds of nonsense, none of which is genuinely useful in life. I never pass up a chance to learn something new and am a voracious reader. I try reading Shakespeare and enjoy history both ancient and modern. You know, dear reader, of my love of superstitions and the paranormal. Crime is another passion, the grislier the better. All this from a poor lad who never made it past 'O' Level. Then when the rise of the Computer and the Internet began I found I not only had an interest in it but the technology and techniques involved came naturally to me. I did not suffer from the Technofear common to most of my friends and family. Now I couldn't be without at least 1 internet connected device.

Oh yes, I hate football and most other sports, though the occasional Rugby match is enjoyable. I don't drink or do small talk so Pub visits are rare.

 

This Guy was not from a super intelligent family. His Father had a failed company behind him and Einstein was working in a Patent office when he began his Thought Experiments which eventually led to the physics breakthroughs that dominate the subject today.

 

 

So my question is Why? How is intelligence doled out in the great Lottery. We all know of the idea of the Throwback, the son of a rich and well educated family who turns out to be totally useless. Obviously intelligence runs in some families who have no real use for it, given that they are only expected to work, raise a family and die. Some are lucky and break out of the cycle, others don't.

 

 

I like to believe that I came from a family of great scholars who fell on hard times but my Genealogy research proves that, at least back to the 1700's the family are all from the lower echelons of society. So where does all this thirst for knowledge  come from?

 

I suppose that, if you have a predisposition to reading and open yourself up to all sources of knowledge, you will eventually find that you have interests in all kinds of things you never expected. Maybe if my Father had lived beyond 1973 and discovered the Internet he would have sucked up knowledge as I do.

 

Or maybe just having a receptive and fast brain with good information matching skills is enough to ensure that you will fill it.

 

 

One more thing though, I am intelligent but I am basically unable to use that to my advantage. When I try to do so it inevitably fails. Maybe you can have intelligence or Money making skills, but not both.

Why are there so many 'New ' diseases'?

I am confused! I am a fairly intelligent person who understands people and what makes them tick. I understand how diseases spread. I am fairly aware of the modern diseases that were never heard of in my childhood. I even understand the diseases of the old and how we are much more aware of them. In my day there were whispered comments about an elderly relative 'Going a bit funny' My own grandmother assured me in the 70's that we had to get under the stairs because the German Bombers were coming. She died of cancer but was obviously suffering dementia too. My own mother is now providing first hand evidence of what dementia sufferers go through. Yet I would say that, for whatever reason, she gave up on life and that this was the root cause of her problems. The doctors have now diagnosed dementia but I am sure that it began with this lack of will to carry on with a life she found burdensome. It is known that psychological issues can cause physical problems.

But what of the debate over ADHD. Some swear it is a recognised disease, others that it is an excuse for a lack of discipline from ineffectual parents who wish to drug their children throughout their childhood. I think there is a case for both views but I also believe it is a psychological phenomenon. So much is expected of children now. Parents want one thing for them, teachers want them to pass exams in order to achieve figures imposed on them by the Government. Personal communications are over the internet. Many parents will not let them out to play, which was where children learned personal skills. Every child is a little prince or princess who can do no wrong until the bad behaviour begins.

It also has to be said that many children are bought up predominantly by a single woman which will inevitably mean a lack of an effectual male role model and that the woman concerned often  belittle and ridicule the only male example they have. I am speaking from experience here as many of my relatives have gone this route. Even if the child is in a Male/Female/Children home there may be frequent arguments, usually violent or verbally abusive. Again I do speak from experience. How is a child supposed to deal with that.

If Doctors say that ADHD exists I suppose I must bow to their superior knowledge but I know that children need time to be kids. One of my young relatives is a case in point. He is being assessed for ADHD and is violent and abusive in the family home yet we have him regularly and he is perfectly well behaved. It is my belief that he does not see us arguing, he is allowed to do what he wishes within reason but is disciplined if he crosses the line and so he knows what is expected of him, He does get loud and naughty when he is very tired but most children do.

Autism too is something I don't understand, or rather I do not understand how it has suddenly become an epidemic. According to another family member he has been diagnosed as Autistic yet he is perfectly capable of, and indeed does, live a normal life, albeit with depressive episodes. The symptoms he describes could equally have been applied to me in my younger days. I recall a documentary about this condition 10 years ago which showed young children who were incapable of living who were incapable of a normal existence. I do not wish to be an old curmudgeon (Though some say it is a done deal.). But I do feel that many parents see a problem with their child and would rather label it (Dare I mention the word Benefits here?) than change their behaviour before consulting a medical professional.

So why are all these diseases and conditions, unheard of in my youth, so often diagnosed now. Are we trying to label conditions which have always been around? I don't know but it does seem that we should make diagnosis a last resort and try to change the way we relate to and communicate with each other.

Rugby and the weekly shop.

I have not got a lot of time today but I enjoy a quick blog in the AM so here is a whimsical little post.

Today marks the beginning of the Rugby world cup. Now I hate sport generally but can actually sit through a Rugby match without too much trouble, There are no tantrums, no wimps lying on the ground because someone messed up their hair and above all lots of naked aggression. You can almost see the cloud of testosterone hanging over a scrum. It's great and we have a good chance of actually winning. I was watching the golden moment when Johnny Wilkinson scored THAT drop goal.

On the negative side it is showery here and I have to go shopping. Aggressive drivers, elderly people getting in your way while they select their biscuits, getting wet running across the car park, getting a shopping trolley in the leg and rude supermarket staff. Oh yes and don't be a minute over your time in the car park or it's £25.

On balance I'd rather be playing Rugby.

The Bible, Word of God or man?

Today I intend to leave the world of Ghosties and Conspiracy for the story of the most famous book in history and the source of many mysteries of it's own.

This is not about belief or lack of it. I leave it to my readers to make up their own minds on that. Just to set the scene, religion and religious books have always been a means of control. Superstition and Gods have had their priests, by whatever name, Those Priests have been a power unto themselves or have allied themselves to those who had power. For our purposes it is the bible we are concerned with. It is The Word Of God, Right?

Well no, not really. The old testament is a creation myth and a history of God and his chosen people. Many elements are common to other religions. There are countless flood myths (As in Noah's Ark.). However it is almost impossible to disprove anything so far back in history.

The New Testament is a different matter. If the story of Jesus and his ministry is true, and if the events after his death are accurate then we have first person testaments from his disciples. The New Testament is excellent first hand evidence.

Except that the whole thing is supposedly the word of Jesus filtered through the understanding of simple men. There would be misunderstandings and stories told which would be given spin in order to reflect the views and prejudices of those men. If there is a gospel of Jesus it would simplify things. That is if we assume the writers were actually the people they claim to be. The Gospel of Judas, though not a biblical gospel, is thought to have been written much later than Judas' lifetime.

Then we have the Book of Revelation by St John the Divine. This is a description of the last days before Armageddon. To me it seems to be totally out of place with the rest of the NT which preaches love and forgiveness while it is about God's revenge on sinners. The imagery seems like a drug induced nightmare rather than a vision from God. One can only assume it was included to put the fear of God into believers. Judging by the horror stories and films made about it, it succeeds.

As any Dan Brown reader will tell you, probably foaming at the mouth with enthusiasm, Pope Damasus I assembled the first list of books of the Bible at the Council of Rome in 382 CE. He commissioned Saint Jerome to produce a reliable and consistent text by translating the original Greek and Hebrew texts into Latin. There were many Gospels (including the famous ones about Jesus' family, and the gospel of Judas which is being posited as proof that the Resurrection never happened) that were never included. The end result was a list of approved books IN LATIN. But it did not include much of the 'Evidence' especially if it didn't agree with accepted doctrine.

This state of affairs continued for many years but the power of Monarchs and Popes depended on the Bible being used as a weapon. The Latin bible ensured that the word of God was filtered through the pronouncements of Popes and Priests. Other things which never appeared in the Bible were the result of changes to canon law. Confession, Purgatory and so on ensured income and the fear of hell kept the lower classes bent to the will of Church and Monarch and Priests preached duty to God, Monarch and your Lords. But none of this was in the bible, it was the work of men.

Then, in the Medieval era came the protestants. They argued that the Word of God (Diluted though it might already be.) Should be available to all. William Tyndale first translated the New Testament into English but even he put certain words in reflecting his own prejudice against the establishment. Before his famous reformation, Henry VIII had Tyndale executed because his translation was dangerous to the Status Quo. If anyone could read the NT they would find that no one had advocated the class system except the Clergy and Nobles.

With Henry VIII's break with Rome he swapped one tyrant for another and in a cynical about face he had someone else translate the bible into English and took credit himself. Yet even then most of the translation relied on Tyndale which persevered even in the King James version and thus into modern interpretations. Despite the break, Henry still believed in the power the Popes wielded but wanted it for himself. Therefore he would execute radical protestants one year and Papists the next, as his mood took him.

The New English Bible itself caused problems.  It led to ridiculous (To our eyes!) divisions such as the one which argued for and against the presence of Jesus' body and blood in the Wine and Bread. People were executed for being on the wrong side of this one.

And still the Bible was not available to many from the lower classes. Most were illiterate and still relied on someone else to read to them. Usually it was a priest so very little changed after all the upheaval.

After King James version the bible has remained substantially the same and still does. So is the Bible the word of God? I don't think so but I am an atheist. Even if you are a Christian it is obvious that the Bible has been written, interpreted and used as a tool by men. The extant version is one which ignores unwanted histories. The knowledge of this via the new God internet has meant more and more people can see it.

I would like to believe that Jesus existed but his story has long been corrupted by the actions of men. As for God I don't think he would speak to us via a book when he could speak to us in our heart and soul. Those in power have used this book to keep control of the masses over the years. If there is a God, and I like to think that there is a benevolent soul to the universe, you won't find him in the Bible.

One more thing. In any war, all sides will claim God is on their side and will, no doubt, find evidence for this claim in this Holy Book. If there is a God he must be weeping in despair at the uses men, in their pride, claim for his 'Sacred Word'