mockney piers

Of course, of course, I can't believe we were all attempting a rational (for the most part) discussion on this, my bad. Hang on, let me have a proper go. Think not of the how cold the gusts are, think instead of the power of the winter storm. Think not of the sweetness of the spring water, think instead of the ocean where all streams* gather. Think not of the meal you eat, think instead of the bounty of gaia from which all nourishment emenates. Think not of the notes you play, think instead how your spirit is enervated by the music. Think not of the vaccuous solipsistic, crappy tedium of the blog you write, think instead of the conciousnesses of the loa that pervade the electronic nuerons of cyberspace. Think not of the grubby knee trembler in the car park, bag of chips in hand, think instead of the miracle of the creation of life. Think not of the existence of God, think in blah blah etc etc. Cor, I should take advantage of lonely, lost people inspire those who seek truth, for a living ;-P Shammily tac tac Swami Mockinada *err, apart from the ones that don't go there i guess, unless you count evaporation and precipitation as a sort of universal serial bus of the water cycle..or something.

Nicely put; basically conspiracy theorists miss the wood for the tiny sapling. http://counterknowledge.com/2009/09/the-quintessential-workings-of-counterknowledge/ "[there is] no explanation relating how those points impact the overall narrative, not anything built on more than mere ?See, this is wrong, that means it?s all wrong? implication."

:-/ sorry

Has anyone consulted Shu? He has a nose for a hidden gem I believe. Where was that sushi place again?

Everyone knows the best team in the world is Fulchester United anyway!!

Been a while since I've done some Mash linkage. DID VORDERMAN ACTUALLY HAPPEN? QUESTION TIME VIEWERS KEEP ASKING THEMSELVES Did anyone see that question time btw? I haven't cringed so much since the first time i saw that dance on the office.

more snippets from a life spent browsing pointless miscellenea This time new livery from South African Go equivalent, Kulala Airlines. Known for their wacky livery, they've excelled themselves this time.

Big congrats guys; a long and happy marriage to you both :D May your first born child be a male child! ;-)

funky oil painting ....or is it?

what a lovely little browser game. immortall

How genetics works shamelessly nicked from Flowing Data

I can't go sadly, and apologies for the short notice, but this lecture on the creation museum tonight at UCL looks like it could be interesting/entertaining. That good old young earth huh?

nob o meter, oh funny, yep, funny that one. How's the novel coming along...

nothing to do with the height of the brow. More that it's a lounge where everyone sits on their own picking at and examining their navel fluff. Fine if that's what everyone wants, it just used to be a bit more sociable and more fun. Yeah yeah, this was all fields once ad nauseum. I hear spitting image isn't as good as it used to be. Right, I'm off to start a thread about the fact that I had a bacon sandwich this morning.

I think it has bedded in nicely though it has taken quite some time to find its feet, but then I'm probably biased. One thing I'll say for it, at least there are genuine conversations in there. The lounge has turned into something of a woodland chorus. There are many voices, a few of them sweet of song, but most of them just marking territory, marking time, or just singing because they can, and as a whole it's becoming white noise and it is increasingly difficult to discern any real songs. The gossip room converses, there are just no conversations i want to be part of. The family room works well; just despite becoming newly fathered I can't actually get excited about cot mattresses or baby nasal sprays enough to want to talk about them, though I'll admit to having lurked there quite a bit gleaning nuggets of good advice from the community...keep up the good work :D

- "you're all different" - "yes, we are all different" ;-)

Is it 30,000 people jumping in unison to someone bleating on about conformity?

"considered to be a minor classic' otherwise known as 'noones heard of it and it's a bit rubbish'. BIlly Warlock. There's a blast from the past!! Cheers chaps, I can sleep soundly tonight.

Watched District 9 last night. Really quite enjoyed it. I thought the satirical parallels hinted strongly at in the opening scene setting sequence might be explored in the film, but disappointingly they weren't. Didn't stop it being a very entertaining sci-fi romp and a very good black comedy to boot. The director is so clearly a gamer, if those weapons weren't straight out of Unreal Tournament I'll eat my hat! on other matters, quids just referred to PJ O'Rourke's Eat The Rich, and I was suddenly reminded of a late 80s early 90s schlock horror film about aspiring types in US upper/middle class suburbia wanting the trappings and membership of the top social circles, only to discover that they maintain their preeminence by literally eating the lower classes (the lower classes are invited to society dinners only to discover they are on the menu!!). As social commentary it left alot to be desired but it was very funny. Can't remember the name though, and some poking around google and imdb has failed to find it. It was something like 'the club' or 'high society' (but obviously neither of them). Any ideas or help anyone?

wasn't it coined by a comedian at the gut rocking comedy?

I think we may have offtopicated again of cuorse, just goes to show how easy all this breaking the rules is ;)

Well if the system is a tacit acknowledgement of semilegal activities, inneffective international legal frameworks, corruption and a blind eye to criminality, both by governments, corporations and the wider global public at large in order to maintain profits, a certain lifestyle and access to cheap goods and energy at the cost of others' suffering then yes, I completely agree. In fact I think that's exactly what it is.

It looks more like those rubik's cubes I used to take apart and be unable to put the final piece in when reassembling them. It's actually quite funky. Are we meant to take something metaphorical about US politics heading south?

The problem of course being that many of these countries have less rigorous legal frameworks and that proxies are often used. It's not so much about conspiracies as that people cut corners or fudge things when they can, multinationals often operate in this manner. If HM constabulary (not to mention the FBI) thought that BAe were bribing the Saudis to buy our weapons, how much worse do you think things get when bunging sweeteners for oil surveying rights or to get the contracts to dig the stuff out of the ground. Alot of competition for those rights you know. Then there's criminality within organisations. How many FSA lectures on money laundering have you been to? Lots I'm guessing, me too, because there are trillions of ???? of dirty money from drugs and arms and prostitution and oligarchal funds and kleptocratic governments being laundered through the City of London alone. All of these bits of blind-eyeing from foreign offices and company management, negligence, white lies, moral grey areas and outright criminality all add up. Those in power in countries with dodgy governance (usually military) have vested interests in staying in power lest they be held up for their own criminality if the framework exists, or just to keep the money flowing. That's just simple reality in more countries thatn I have fingers and toes and potatoes in my larder to count on. This happens everyday. To call it "1980s Sociology lecturer at a Poly in the Midlands stuff" is dismissive and frankly not a little dense. It's not blaming bad govenance entirely on outside forces, but noones doing anything to discourage it, and it's this outside corruption that allows the dodgy governance to survive comfortably. There are usually small amounts of bleatings that IMF loans are contingent on, but these are toothless and despite no progress the loans are usually repeated to countries that have failed to improve poor governance. Again, as Huguenot suggested, the real conspiracy is one of silence by all of us; we don't like to think about Colombian government corruption and torture, or the civil war in Mexico when we snort our lines (assuming anyone does of course) of cheap cocaine, we don't think about the desperate plight of the Nigerian river delta people as whinge about a 2p price rise in our petrol..etc etc

Interesting. Silly Argentians/ines. Hence why compromises are subtitled british, and not spanish!!