Castle Aching

[Hroth]

8 hours ago, Edwardian said:

Is this better?

 

 

 

Very Spikey!

You seem to have found a new Muse for yourself....

 

1 hour ago, Annie said:

The internet is a wonderful thing, but it is a two edged sword and being able to immediately find out about the latest horror/disaster/atrocity within minutes of it happening on the other side of the world is not necessarily good and useful for anyone's state of mental health.

 

Its not just the speed of communication, the real Horror of the Internet is that all sorts of nonsense can be broadcast without critical consideration, amplified and distorted in the echo chambers of open and closed social media and accepted as fact by those who want to believe anything that bolsters their world view*.  There lies the seeds of the madness that infects the world today.

 

And there's nothing to be done about it unless we rip the Internet out by its roots and go back to the "certainties" of the time before.  Of course, heavy handed Government censorship could be introduced, the creation of "The Great Firewall Of" X country and a Minitrue established behind it to root out heresy. Either would be worse than the disease.

 

Arghhhhhh!!!!   Coffee, Coffee!!!

 

* Not something that could happen here...

[Malcolm 0-6-0]

1 hour ago, Annie said:

I wake up from being asleep for nine hours and find the world is still going mad.  No wonder I prefer being in the dreamworld these days, - at least things are relatively sensible there. 

It seems to me that human beings have been treating other human beings badly ever since history began (and most probably before then too) especially if there is money (or local unit of exchange) to be made.  I think this state of affairs will continue until somehow we either  manage to destroy the earth or a massive natural event (meteor, super volcano & etc) destroys it for us.

I've given up on social media (Farcebook, Twit et al) and I scarcely bother to look at on-line news sites since in general all they do is make me very depressed and upset.  For whatever reason people have taken to the streets lately to protest and/or act badly it's a very foolish thing to do during a global pandemic and even more people are going to die.

It's not that I don't care, - I do, - and that's the problem for me and the very reason why I feel so depressed and upset.  So my only defense is to give up on spending far too much time scanning the latest news reports.  Doom scanning is what it's called apparently.  I can't help feeling that things were better when news arrived six months out of date by by sailing ship.  The internet is a wonderful thing, but it is a two edged sword and being able to immediately find out about the latest horror/disaster/atrocity within minutes of it happening on the other side of the world is not necessarily good and useful for anyone's state of mental health.

 

Annie a bright funny news story just for you -

 

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-06-27/chunk-the-groundhog-gardening-wildlife-steal-fruit-vegetables/12360190

 

I warn you old Chunk can become addictive.

[St Enodoc]

1 hour ago, Annie said:

I can't help feeling that things were better when news arrived six months out of date by by sailing ship. 

I've read a story about a member of the Colonial Service who had The Times shipped out to him, in bundles of six months' worth that arrived, as you say, six months after publication. He read them all - in order, one per day.

[Annie]

25 minutes ago, Hroth said:

Its not just the speed of communication, the real Horror of the Internet is that all sorts of nonsense can be broadcast without critical consideration, amplified and distorted in the echo chambers of open and closed social media and accepted as fact by those who want to believe anything that bolsters their world view*.  There lies the seeds of the madness that infects the world today.

That is indeed a major problem.  And once the nonsense has spread and had been believed by those who can only accept information in sound bites and have the wit of a goldfish it is very difficult to get rid of it because the truth seems so boring by comparison. 

[Malcolm 0-6-0]

16 hours ago, Edwardian said:

 

Ooh, we know an opera about that, don't we Boys and Girls?

 

Complete with a chorus of eunuchs singing bass!

 

 

 

I think that's one of the early experiments with techno music. Once removed the boy bits were adapted so that they could be plugged back in if the score required it. 

 

Apparently it never quite achieved the popularity the inventor thought it might ..........     

[Malcolm 0-6-0]

9 minutes ago, Annie said:

That is indeed a major problem.  And once the nonsense has spread and had been believed by those who can only accept information in sound bites and have the wit of a goldfish it is very difficult to get rid of it because the truth seems so boring by comparison. 

 

Yes the truth will set you free but sometimes it's a bloody boring process. 

[Hroth]

1 minute ago, Malcolm 0-6-0 said:

 

Yes the truth will set you free but sometimes it's a bloody boring process. 

 

And oftimes, the Truth will make you fret...

 

[Edwardian]

Clearly ...

 

There are bad times just around the corner,
There are dark clouds hurtling through the sky
And it's no good whining
About a silver lining
For we know from experience that they won't roll by,
With a scowl and a frown
We'll keep our peckers down
And prepare for depression and doom and dread,
We're going to unpack our troubles from our old kit bag

And wait until we drop down dead.

 

But, though it may be starting to rain (again) outside, in my heart it's p1ssing down ...

 

No, hang on, that wasn't what I meant to say.  What I meant to say was that at tea time yesterday I flung out an email attaching multiple spreadsheets and pdfs to my Accountant so he can do whatever he does to ensure that my business pays the correct amount in State-expropriation this year. No doubt the State will spend it wisely, it Knows Best, after all, though I feel that my modest tax contribution will be but a peanut dropped down a mine shaft of debt and that I will never hear it reach the bottom. 

 

But, for another year, it's done, and it won't rain forever.  As I look around my little office, I think to myself that now, with the gift of solitude, free at last from the many petty demands upon my time and relieved of the dampening glower of disapproval and judgment, I can finally consider what one might do were one to find oneself with a room of one's own ......

 

Build a railway test track round it, obviously.

 

Now, where did I leave that saw?

 

Cue Walton ...

 

 

[Compound2632]

Several posts back now there seemed to some confusion. It's not a chorus of castrati but a chorus of basses playing the role of eunuchs. No doubt a little joke on M. Rossini's part but he'd already used up the soprano section playing a chorus of harem girls.

 

Po-faced exactitude this morning, I'm afraid.

[Compound2632]

14 minutes ago, Compound2632 said:

No doubt a little joke on M. Rossini's part

 

Re-reading my post, I realise I should have made it clear that I understood that the original poster was alive to the humour.

Edited June 28, 2020 by Compound2632

[Nearholmer]

I sometimes wonder is  all the internet does is make overt  that people spend a great deal of time spreading nonsense to one another and in many cases believe and act upon a load of medieval nonsense.

 

Before the internet, people spread nonsense, and believed and acted upon nonsense, it just wasn’t so apparent to other people, because you had to be there, in the middle of it, to experience it. And, it was harder to come by fact-based knowledge anyway, so fewer people were positioned to judge whether what they were being asked to believe was nonsense or objective truth.

 

Of course, the internet makes spreading fact or fallacy faster, and lies have a habit of out-running truth (Why is that? What is it about the human psyche that makes us find juicy lies so compelling?).

 

 

Edited June 28, 2020 by Nearholmer

[Edwardian]

9 minutes ago, Compound2632 said:

Several posts back now there seemed to some confusion. It's not a chorus of castrati but a chorus of basses playing the role of eunuchs. No doubt a little joke on M. Rossini's part but he'd already used up the soprano section playing a chorus of harem girls.

 

Po-faced exactitude this morning, I'm afraid.

 

Indeed. If a little ungentlemanly of you to point it out.

 

Not the best sound quality, but her is a filmed performance for any who want to watch the whole thing. 

 

Check out the waves and seagulls during the overture!

 

 

[Malcolm 0-6-0]

36 minutes ago, Nearholmer said:

 

Before the internet, people spread nonsense, and believed and acted upon nonsense, it just wasn’t so apparent to other people, because you had to be there, in the middle of it, to experience it. And, it was harder to come by fact-based knowledge anyway, so fewer people were positioned to judge whether what they were being asked to believe was nonsense or objective truth.

 

Of course if you ask any economist they will assure you that WW2 was simply a well disguised international initiative, and a very successful one at that, to reverse the financial problems caused by the Great Depression.  

[Edwardian]

16 minutes ago, Malcolm 0-6-0 said:

 

Of course if you ask any economist they will assure you that WW2 was simply a well disguised international initiative, and a very successful one at that, to reverse the financial problems caused by the Great Depression.  

 

Well, one member of the Imperial German General Staff, before the Great War, declared that a general war would be a biological necessity for the German people.  You mention the idea that WW2 may be seen as an economic necessity.

 

Let's hope, then, that the retention power in Washington or Beijing does not furnish a political necessity!   

[Compound2632]

1 hour ago, Edwardian said:

Indeed. If a little ungentlemanly of you to point it out.

 

 

[Edwardian]

4 minutes ago, Compound2632 said:

 

 

 

I was not complaining for my own part, but there was a lady in the case ....

[Hroth]

2 hours ago, Edwardian said:

There are bad times just around the corner,
There are dark clouds hurtling through the sky
And it's no good whining
About a silver lining
For we know from experience that they won't roll by,
With a scowl and a frown
We'll keep our peckers down
And prepare for depression and doom and dread,
We're going to unpack our troubles from our old kit bag

And wait until we drop down dead.

 

You missed out my favourite bit

 

Quote

And the rats are preparing to leave the BBC....

 

 

Edited June 28, 2020 by Hroth
Correction of misremembered word.

[Hroth]

2 hours ago, Edwardian said:

Clearly ...

 

There are bad times just around the corner,
There are dark clouds hurtling through the sky
And it's no good whining
About a silver lining
For we know from experience that they won't roll by,
With a scowl and a frown
We'll keep our peckers down
And prepare for depression and doom and dread,
We're going to unpack our troubles from our old kit bag

And wait until we drop down dead.

 

But, though it may be starting to rain (again) outside, in my heart it's p1ssing down ...

 

No, hang on, that wasn't what I meant to say.  What I meant to say was that at tea time yesterday I flung out an email attaching multiple spreadsheets and pdfs to my Accountant so he can do whatever he does to ensure that my business pays the correct amount in State-expropriation this year. No doubt the State will spend it wisely, it Knows Best, after all, though I feel that my modest tax contribution will be but a peanut dropped down a mine shaft of debt and that I will never hear it reach the bottom. 

 

But, for another year, it's done, and it won't rain forever.  As I look around my little office, I think to myself that now, with the gift of solitude, free at last from the many petty demands upon my time and relieved of the dampening glower of disapproval and judgment, I can finally consider what one might do were one to find oneself with a room of one's own ......

 

Build a railway test track round it, obviously.

 

Now, where did I leave that saw?

 

Cue Walton ...

 

 

 

And in the original (sort of).....

 

 

The Walton is good stirring film music for Henry V, but I thought it would be nice to give the original celebratory music an air too!

 

And just for completeness, the King's Singers with....

 

 

 

 

Edited June 28, 2020 by Hroth
Spelin, etc, the ushual....

[Edwardian]

4 minutes ago, Hroth said:

 

You missed out my favourite bit

 

 

 

 

The lines that resonate for me are:

 

It's as clear as crystal
From Bridlington to Bristol
That we can't save democracy and we don't much care
 

[Annie]

5 hours ago, Edwardian said:

No, hang on, that wasn't what I meant to say.  What I meant to say was that at tea time yesterday I flung out an email attaching multiple spreadsheets and pdfs to my Accountant so he can do whatever he does to ensure that my business pays the correct amount in State-expropriation this year. No doubt the State will spend it wisely, it Knows Best, after all, though I feel that my modest tax contribution will be but a peanut dropped down a mine shaft of debt and that I will never hear it reach the bottom. 

The fetters of the accounts are cast off!  Rejoice!

 

My vision of hell is a place where accounts have to be done forever.  Once a foolish family member asked if I'd got a receipt for some transaction or another and I just looked at them with a pitying gaze.

They should have known after all the time we'd both been on this earth that I'd never managed to retain any receipt I'd been given for more than 10 minutes before it had become irretrievably lost never to be seen again.  And no I don't throw them away, - I always put them somewhere 'safe'.  So safe in fact that not even i can find them.

[Donw]

If there is anything more depressing than looking at how people have mistreated people over the whole of ou existance it is looking to the future. You only need to recieve another scam call and there you have industrial scales thievery by conning people. I bet the people sat there making the calls are probably no better off than  working in a sweatshop and probably wose off. There have always been greedy bu99ers and probably will be.

 

My view about the past is I weren't there so not me, my ancestors seem to have been agricultural labourers who probablt had no idea about slavery and were rather bottom of the pile so I have no gilt about inherited wealth from cruel practices.

England may have profited from slavery but we damn near bankrupted the country fighting Hitler. Swings and roundabouts.  

I don't consider myself racist I can hate English people just as much as others. I am well aware that there are good and bad people in all races. I also believe that those who go round complainng about racism are just as prejudiced about us.  Forget the racism tag and lets just have fair treatment for all. Which should include all taking some responsibility for ourselves.

 

 

Unlike some of you I have no kids so that fact I think the world is going the wrong way is tempered by the fact that I will be lucky to live another 20 years even luckier to live for 30.

Sorry to be a bit I'm alright Jack. but the wold hasn't shared my views.

I did enjoy Bad times are just around the corner  cheers one up no end.  Very glad you posted that James it wall all a bit depressing before.

 

Don 

 

[Regularity]

1 hour ago, Donw said:

but we damn near bankrupted the country fighting Hitler

I think there was no “near” about it. We used to own the capital behind most American (as in USA) industry, but had to sell that off to pay for materiel (WWI) and lease-lend. We only paid off our war-debt to them in 2006...

[jcredfer]

1 hour ago, Regularity said:

I think there was no “near” about it. We used to own the capital behind most American (as in USA) industry, but had to sell that off to pay for materiel (WWI) and lease-lend. We only paid off our war-debt to them in 2006...

 

Casually referred to as "The National Debt".

 

Julian

 

[Compound2632]

4 hours ago, Donw said:

we damn near bankrupted the country fighting Hitler. 

 

Not sure about "we". "Rooseveldt" might be nearer the mark. The dissolution of the British Empire was one of his war aims. Churchill, unlike most of his contemporaries, understood that that was the price that would have to be paid.

[nick_bastable]

7 hours ago, Annie said:

 - I always put them somewhere 'safe'.  So safe in fact that not even i can find them.

 

I have kits,  parts and tools put somewhere safe never to ever be seen again until either I replace the part or forgot what I wanted it for, considering how small a flat I live in there must be a Black Hole / Worm Hole in one of the walls

 

Nick B