Samhain and Cider

Samhain and Cider: "And while you're doing it, while you're picking up those apples, breathing in the strong, sweet scent, sweating and panting slightly, there's a sense of deep satisfaction, that this process has been going on since the beginning of Time. You know you are doing something ancient and true. Thousands of generations of human beings just like me, picking up the Summer's harvest, so that it can be preserved and enjoyed in the depths of Winter. Sharp, strong cider, like the Summer Sun glowing in your glass."

Atlantis

Atlantis: "...for these histories tell of a mighty power which unprovoked made an expedition against the whole of Europe and Asia, and to which your city put an end. This power came forth out of the Atlantic Ocean, for in those days the Atlantic was navigable… Now in this island of Atlantis there was a great and wonderful empire which had rule over the whole island and several others…”

With these words, from the dialogue of Timaeus, written in about 360 BC, the philosopher Plato would unwittingly launch a deluge of speculation, investigation, argument and counter-argument, that has lasted the better part of 2,500 years."

Baghdad Girl

Baghdad Girl: "Her name is Raghda Zaid and she lives in the United Arab Emirates. She used to live in Baghdad.

If you want to know what life in Baghdad is really like, then you should take a look at Raghda’s blog. In between pictures of cats she adds these totally unselfconscious comments on the state of her city, on the killing and the violence all around, on the fear that stalks their every move. It would take a hard man indeed not to be moved by the simple humanity of this one, small girl."

Welcome To The Future

Welcome To The Future: "I mean: what’s a ‘Scart‘ when it‘s at home? Is it related to the Snark or is it more like a Jabberwock? Wasn‘t sure whether to hunt it, talk to it or kiss it on the lips and call it baby.

So the warning should have read something like this:

“Warning: scart lead not included. Please note, use of the term ‘scart’ is strictly controlled. Anyone over the age of forty using the word ‘scart’ in public will be made to feel woefully inadequate.”"

Computer Troubles

Computer Troubles: "Actually, George Orwell seems to have got a number of things right.

Britain is indeed Airport One for the American Empire, as he predicted: we are permanently at war, the government is adept at double-speak and we have a Ministry of Truth telling us lies and a Ministry of Peace selling us war. And if it’s not exactly Big Brother watching over us, it’s Google, and meanwhile we are all watching Big Brother.

Is this a case of life imitating art or the other way round?"

Whitstable Times Columns II

Whitstable Times Columns II: "It was the playwright, Arthur Miller, who said: 'Few of us can easily surrender our belief that society must somehow make sense. The thought that the State has lost its mind and is punishing so many innocent people is intolerable, and so the evidence has to be internally denied.'"