Month: November 2023

Thoughts about “Nationalism”….. What rubbish.

Nationalism is rubbish, as an idea, and as a way of thinking. The idea of feeling proud of your nation is silly. The idea of being proud of your nationality is absurd too.

I wonder why they feel obliged to have a national flag flying on their property. It is silly and a waste of a flag having it fluttering above your property, unless it is the Angolan flag, which is a curious mix of a communist flag and Angolan.

The Angolan Flag… In all its glory!

The idea of nationalism is absurd, as all peoples in the world are consumed with the same ideas – earning a living, rearing their kids and enjoying life, universal ideas and needs, and being bothered about your nationalism is absurd. I have lived in a number of countries, 10 to be exact, and I am convinced that nationalism is absurd, I can’t imagine what it is based upon. Is your country better than another one? Nope, they are all the same, people trying to earn a living, rear their kids and so on.

The idea of Nationalism as it is based on nothing really apart from a mixed up idea of “My country, right or wrong”, which is really not really an idea.

“I hope that people will come to realise that there is one race – the human race – and we are all members of it” in the immortal words of Philosopher Margaret Attwood.

Bens Chicken Racing….. An unusual event in outback Australia.

Chicken racing…… An attraction in Outback Australia.

About a year ago, we discovered a really odd thing in Tambo (A town in the outback which we visited). A hotel there advertised Chicken Racing, which was unusual enough, but they also added free showers to this… So we were fascinated by the free showers (Travelling around Outback Australia we were seriously attracted by the mention of Free Showers) and also by the idea of Chicken Racing and also the idea of eating there…..

What fascinated us was the idea of Chicken Racing, we were intrigued and curious about this… The idea was really strange. So we went and set up our camp (by a river as I recall) and then walked back to the hotel where it was all happening.

So, we went in to the hotel, had showers and then went down and walked through to a back yard, where a lot of people were already gathered, and we sat down by a sort of chicken run, but one that was arranged in a style reminiscent of a Roman Chariot racing circuit (but small). In due time the various chickens were introduced to us, one by one. And they were introduced to us as heroes, one by one. They were variously talked up. The various “heroes” were introduced to us. Their pedigrees were discussed and their various races were discussed at great length.

In due time the way that the races where held were discussed. It appeared that they chased a remote control truck which ran around the course and the chooks chased it.. There was food in it, which was why the chooks chased it.

In due time, the race began, after a load of preparation and bets were laid, some of the bets were amazing! Up to $400 in one case!

The chooks raced around the course, following the truck, except for one, that simply stood still and waited for the truck to come around again….

In due time a winner was declared (not the chook that waited for the truck), and the winner was declared and then the various bets were collected.

And that was it……It was a fascinating event, and finished off with a supper in the pub, which was delicious!

My Beard……

I am noted for the length of my beard, which is HUGE! I have never shaved (apart from once, when I shaved my beard off, on that occasion I shaved, and met my younger sister in the kitchen, and she was aghast at my appearance, thinking I was a stranger!).

I have had a beard for all my life, well from about 15 or thereabouts.

In my youth……

As my beard now……It is white now, not red…….

In a pensive mood………

So I have had a beard all my life, well, since puberty, in fact. I have never shaved, so my beard is really looooong. And messy!

I cut it, well, Lotty does that, so it isn’t horribly long, but it is full. So I wear it long, as I see no point in trimming it short. Beards are supposed to be long, not short – see the Viking’s beards – they are really long, as is mine.

A REAL Vikings beard……. HA!

Optical illusions, do they work?

Optical illusions work, there is no getting away from that. They confuse us, and get in the way of our comprehending things – laughably really.

To set us off, here is a classic image.

We have all seen these……..

These are “classic” optical illusions, and thus well known, but we have a selection of ones that you will probably never have seen before.

This one is well considered to confuse everyone!

This one is a well known illusion…..

And this is also a well known illusion, if you look carefully, it is simply a face upside down, printed like that. Easy really.

This one is a well known illusion, find the baby……..

And this one is a normal room, but with all sorts of lines on the walls and floors……

And this is a well known one….. You can duplicate it with a simply set of scissors…….

So, these are what I will write and show you today. If what I have shown you sparks any ideas, please let me know.

Odd LP covers….. And these are really crazy!

This is really odd!

This one is really an odd thing, and to give you an idea of what is to come……….

Now this is really weird!

This one was really strange, and worrying! And it was a great success, believe it or not.

And now for the famous one!

This, believe it or not was a real success….

One of these things, is a real woman!

Believe it or not, this album was a real success.

This one was a real failure… sadly.

And this one was also a real success….

But the lead singer was dead, which didn’t help……. Even if they were a great band, which they were, apparently.

Now this one was plain rude!!!!!

Nothing further to be said about it.

Now this one defies logic!

So, these are all actual LP covers, and the defy reason.

We are robbed in the Philippines.

Once, while I was in Australia, we were robbed in the Philippines, by the nephew of our landlord, no less! And we discovered why we had such a high wall around the place – to keep thieves out!

Sadly, he broke in via one of his assistants who was in love with him! So the high wall was not a help in this case.

He was a junkie, sadly, and had a real habit which was a problem with him, and it caused him to have to steal everything that wasn’t tied down. But happily for us, he was known to the police as a thief, so we managed to get most of the stuff back – but nonetheless it was a real shock to get broken in, and I lost all my tee-shirts which I had from my time as a roadie, and from my WAB days. So we scanned all of our of our papers and loaded them into the cloud (Dropbox), which we have kept going ever since. We now scan any new papers that we have (like our Australian drivers licences) and guard them like mad!

The result of our being robbed was that Lotty had to give evidence at his trail, where he was sent down for years. I was in Australia at the time of the robbery so I was not called on to give evidence. But Lotty was very shaken by this event and was given to locking up at all times! We had to put a lock on the front door……..

Bush Fires….. The danger that is facing us all

The real danger that is facing us all!

Right now we who are living in Australia are facing the real risk of bush fires, already about 40 houses have been destroyed in this State, and people are living in all manner of shelters, in desperation.

We are prepared for the worst to happen to us,as we are ready to drop everything and run for it!

We, as a result of a burglary in the Philippines, ( I write about that in another post) have scanned all of our important documents (Good old Dropbox!!) and have real copies in a file folder, which we are prepared to grab if it gets so far.

We are also prepared for the worst, in that we have a tent, battery, bedding and so on in a trailer which we have on the drive, so we can go camping rather than loose everything in one clap. We have placed everything we might need for camping in that trailer.

The only sadness (among others) is that we will ruin all of our books, of which we have about 300! That is a real sadness, as we can think of no way to save them, if it comes so far.

So, if the worst happens, we are slightly prepared.