merry christmas

Trampoline invasion

On a train journey from central London out to one of the leafy shires this morning, I noticed the proliferation of trampolines in people's gardens. we are being invaded...some without protective nets around them, some with protection, some placed into a hole in the garden and some of the most extravagant and ostentatious designs I have ever seen. If the UK has such an obesity problem with children, why dont we get them to go and live with the evident mulitiude of families who fork out large sums of money for garden trampolines?

philosophical puzzle

why doesnt someone make mouse-flavoured cat food?

enjoy life and think positively

How important it is to think about what we want to achieve rather than what we want to avoid...in a relationship talk about what we want rather than what we don't want

The London Underground

Sometimes I travel early in the morning on the London Undergound. It is packed and inhumane at times.

These days everyone seems determined to read the free newspaper that is given out ('The Metro'). These papers are all thrown away by people leaving them at the base or the top of the escalator - causing a potential fire hazard.

the solution seems simple to me:

leave one copy of The Metro in each carriage and ask an obliging person to read it to everyone.

Voila! Everyone hears whats is in it and the the pile of jetisoned newspapers is reduced in an instant

"The proof is in the pudding" - what?!?

I have noticed recently that quite a few people are using the phrase 'the proof is in the pudding'. It seems to be a popular phrase amongst certain types of footbal managers right now. I'm not an etymologist, I would not want to be, but when I was child I was told the phrase was:

'The proof of the pudding is in the eating'

This seems to make sense. you cannot know the quality of something until you have tried it.

'The proof is in the pudding' does not make sense....

unless, of course, you are eating a proof-centred pudding (whatever that is)

chuang tzu: ontology, epistemology and fish

Chuang Tzu and Hui Tzu were walking by a river. Chuang Tzu loooked into the water and saw some fish. He pointed at them and said

'Do you see the fish swimming? they really enjoy that'.

To me and you this might be the start of a pretty tedious conversation? But his friend was in no mood for idle chat.

'You are not a fish so how do you know what fish enjoy?' said Hui Tzu in what could be deemed as a provocative philosophical repost

'Hang on one minute mate...you are not me - so how can you know that I dont know what fish enjoy'said Chuang Tzu (sage-like Taoist guy that he was)

Hui Tzu wasnt going to give up easily
'No, you hang on one minute...I am certainly not you, I know that and therefore I do not know what you know....but... (here we go)....you are definitely not a fish - and that proves that you cannot know what a fish enjoys.'

Chaung Tzu thought for a moment and said ' whoooah! dont give me that me old mate. You originally asked me how I could know what it is that fish really enjoy...
therefore...you already knew I knew it when you asked the question'

I'm sure this conversation went on and on for many a kilometre.

These two guys must have been great fun to go out and have a beer with.