All posts by Keith

I’m a controversialist and catalyst, quietly enabling others to develop by providing different ideas and views of the world. Born in London in the early 1950s and initially trained as a research chemist I retired as a senior project manager after 35 years in the IT industry. Retirement is about community give-back and finding some equilibrium. Founder and Honorary Secretary of the Anthony Powell Society. Chairman of my GP's patient group.
beliefs, nudism, people

Lewd in Utah

The headline in Thursday’s (23 January 2020) Guardian was

Forget ‘lewd behaviour’ – is being naked around your own kids good for them?

The writer, Poppy Noor, takes issue with a recent Utah court ruling that children seeing their mother’s (presumably any female’s) naked breasts is “lewd behaviour” and damages the kids.

Noor is right. This ruling is completely off-its-tits bonkers, and flies in the face of the available evidence – as I’ve written about many times before.

But then this is Utah, home of Salt Lake City and the Mormons, so what does one really expect?

Do grow up guys!

amusements, words

100 Day Challenge: Words #17

Episode 17 (days 81 to 85) of my 100 day challenge to find words I don’t know. I’m scraping words from https://randomword.com/ and each day picking one that I find interesting and which is also in the OED.

Day Date Word Meaning
81 Monday 20 January squarrose ** having scales sticking out at right angles
82 Tuesday 21 January rheid a substance which deforms by viscous flow when below its melting point
83 Wednesday 22 January cicisbeo the male companion of a married woman
84 Thursday 23 January slype a covered way or passage, leading from the transept of a cathedral or monastic church and the chapter-house
85 Friday 24 hypsiloid shaped like the Greek letter upsilon

** My favourite of the words presented.

Next episode in a few days!

quotes

Monthly Quotes

So here we are with the first round up of quotes for 2020. And it’s an action-packed issue!

Was the earth made to preserve a few covetous, proud men to live at ease; or was it made to preserve all her children?
[Gerrard Winstanley; 1649]

As you close your eyes and inhale frankincense oil, you see yourself walking in a pine and eucalyptus forest, your steps taking you to a sun-bathed clearing. Here, a steamy spring welcomes you in its warm and surprisingly citrus-scented water. While you thought you couldn’t be more relaxed, a misty incense smoke spreads around you, balancing and settling your mind.
[Cosmetics company Lush]

People take way more pictures of giraffes than they do of boring rocks or bushes. As a result, AIs seem to have leaned that giraffes are everywhere. If they’re not sure what’s in a picture – and they do get confused a lot – they’ll often guess “giraffe”.
[Janelle Shane; New Scientist; 21 December 2019]

Someone once trained a neural net to place bets on horseraces. Its winning strategy? To place zero bets.
[Janelle Shane; New Scientist; 21 December 2019]

Do stuff. Be clenched, curious. Not waiting for inspiration’s shove or society’s kiss on your forehead. Pay attention. It’s all about paying attention. Attention is vitality. It connects you with others. It makes you eager. Stay eager.
[Susan Sontag]

Every age has its own Fascism, and we see the warning signs wherever the concentration of power denies citizens the possibility and the means of expressing and acting on their own will. There are many ways of reaching this point, not just through the terror of police intimidation, but by denying and distorting information, by undermining systems of justice, by paralysing the education system, and by spreading in a myriad subtle ways nostalgia for a world where order reigned, and where the security of the privileged few depended on the forced labour and the forced silence of the many.
[Primo Levi, 1974]

If your mind is empty, it is always ready for anything; it is open to everything.
[Shunryu Suzuki]

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly … is a movie about cowboys – that is to say, misogynistic, murdering, rootin’-tootin’ gunmen who meander about 19th-century American Wild West in search of a credit sequence.
[Feedback; New Scientist; 04 January 2020]

Be always at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbours, and let each new year find you a better man.
[Benjamin Franklin, 1755]

How do we preserve Britain as a tolerant place when we don’t have Europe to blame for our problems any more? … How [do] we keep the flexibility of an unwritten constitution, but maintain certainty in human rights and control executive power?
[Gina Miller; Guardian; 11 January 2020]

Love is the delightful interval between meeting a beautiful girl and discovering that she looks like a haddock.
[John Barrymore (1882-1942)]

Everyone has ancestors and it is only a question of going back far enough to find a good one.
[Howard Kenneth Nixon (1927-2009)]

The fundamental defect with fathers is that they want their children to be a credit to them.
[Bertrand Russell (1872-1970)]

Foure things make us happy here
Health is the first good lent to men;
A gentle disposition then:
Next, to be rich by no by-wayes;
Lastly, with friends t’enjoy our dayes.
[Robert Herrick (1591–1674)]

Get naked, drink mead and party like a Pagan because a Christmas spent queuing at Argos is just bollocks.
Only at Christmas?

amusements, words

100 Day Challenge: Words #16

Episode 16 (days 76 to 80) of my 100 day challenge to find words I don’t know. I’m scraping words from https://randomword.com/ and each day picking one that I find interesting and which is also in the OED.

Day Date Word Meaning
76 Wednesday 15 January fiacre a small four-wheeled carriage for hire; a hackney-coach
77 Thursday 16 January sipe to percolate or ooze through
78 Friday 17 January guereza an Ethiopian monkey (Colobus guereza) with long hair and a bushy tail
79 Saturday 18 January phoeniceous of a bright red or crimson colour
80 Sunday 19 January yelt ** a young sow

** My favourite of the words presented.

Next episode in a few days!

amusements, words

100 Day Challenge: Words #15

Episode 15 (days 71 to 75) of my 100 day challenge to find words I don’t know. I’m scraping words from https://randomword.com/ and each day picking one that I find interesting and which is also in the OED.

Day Date Word Meaning
71 Friday 10 January zenzizenzizenzic the square of a square of a square number; the eighth power of a number
72 Saturday 11 January ecdysiast a striptease performer
73 Sunday 12 January brontology scientific study of thunder
74 Monday 13 January vaticide the killing, or killer, of a prophet
75 Tuesday 14 January scop ** an Old English poet or minstrel

** My favourite of the words presented.

Next episode in a few days!

personal, photography

A Birthday Present

1 Comment

Having had a birthday recently, I bought myself a present. As as one of my aims for this year is to do more photography I bought an expensive new camera: a Canon EOS 90D and three lenses (plus some bits & pieces), to replace my ageing Olympus E620. The Canon’s a beast of a 32 megapixel camera with far more facilities than I’ll ever understand, let alone use – although it’s going to be interesting trying.

Of course having got the camera it has had to be tested. So here are the first four serious shots I’ve taken with it: of our cats, of course.

Click the images for larger views

Boy cat washing paws
Boy cat looking astonished:
just look at those curly whiskers!
Rosie trying to charm tea from the food provider
Tilly looking cute and trying to doze

Now all I have to do is to get out and get my money’s-worth from such an extravagance! So hopefully more images to come during the year. And possibly a photographic 100 day challenge.

amusements, personal

Birthday Meme

So today is “Happy Birthday to Me” day and here’s the traditional birthday meme. Enjoy!

  1. Have you ever been camping? Yes, many times, although not since my teens.
  2. What terrifies you? Dementia; cancer.
  3. Do you like makeup? Not a lot, which is why I never wear any.
  4. What piercings do you have? One, somewhere you don’t want to know about!
  5. Do you fear thunder and lightning? No; thunderstorms are fun.
  6. Do you feel you had a happy childhood? No, I didn’t have a happy childhood, for all sorts of reasons.
  7. Do you go to church every Sunday? No. It’s probably almost 40 years since I went to church on a Sunday.
  8. Do you go in a fast food place or just use the drive thru? Neither; I don’t do fast food.
  9. Do you use the word “hello” daily? Who doesn’t?
  10. Do you like to wear perfume/cologne? No, but I do sometimes wear aftershave.
  11. Have you ever slept with someone at least 5 years older or younger? Yes, she was 9 years older than me (32 to my 23); I learnt a lot and it was fun.
  12. What would you name your future children? Nebuchadnezzar PearDrop and Nefertiti CherryPie. (Oh come on! You mean you didn’t expect a stupid answer?)
  13. Do you wear glasses/contacts? Yes, I’ve worn glasses since I was about 14 and I’ve never wanted to switch to lenses.
  14. Do you have a creed? Yes: “Treat others as you would like them to treat you”.
  15. Do you hold grudges? I try not to; I can think of only two which are mostly still there; both are over 40 years old.
  16. Which are better black or green olives? Both are good; black are better.
  17. Do you have any strange fears? Not that I can think of.
  18. Do you have any strange interests? Don’t think I have any of them either.
  19. Are you envious of anyone? Not really, and certainly not in an overwhelming way.
  20. Is anyone envious of you? I’d say they were fools if they were.
  21. Any specific textures that bother you? The fuzz on peach skin.
  22. Do you ever go barefoot when you’re outside? Yes, quite often in the garden or on the beach.
  23. Can you say the alphabet backwards? Of course.
  24. Favourite pair of shoes you wear all the time? Yes, although I don’t wear shoes often these days, mostly trainers. But I’ve worn the same pair of Clarks deck shoes for well over 10 years (I had them ages before I retired); they’re just so comfortable.
  25. Do you believe in ghosts? Probably maybe.
  26. Do you wear rings? Yes, six of various sorts.
  27. How would you describe your style? Haphazard casual.
  28. What would you say if the person you love/like kissed another girl/boy? Why would I need to say anything? Why comment on something perfectly normal?
  29. Have you ever been in a car accident? Yes, four. Luckily none of them serious. And, no I wasn’t driving (‘cos I don’t).
  30. Are you very sensitive to smell? I have quite a good sense of smell, but it isn’t sensitive in that there are lots of smells it it recoils from other than ordure.
  31. Do you believe in aliens? Possibly maybe.
  32. What’s your most common mistake? Being truthful; people really don’t like it!
  33. When was the last time you had a portrait taken by a photographer? Laura Dodsworth, October 2016.
  34. Have you ever sat on a roof top? Yes, quite a few times.
  35. Do you like going on airplanes? Yes, I quite like the actual flight (though I used not to) but I hate all the airport hassles.
  36. Do you ever write in pencil any more? Old programmers always write in pencil.
  37. Do you like to organize? I suppose so, I just do it naturally.
  38. Dinosaurs or dragons? Always dragons.
  39. Do you believe in god(s)? No.
  40. Have you ever laid on your back and watched cloud shapes go by? Many times.
  41. Can you curl your tongue? No; that’s a gene I didn’t inherit.
  42. Opinions on sex before marriage? Where’s the problem?
  43. Have you ever been handcuffed? No.
  44. What do you label yourself as? Village idiot.
  45. How did you get your worst scar? Appendectomy in my late 20s; I think they let the trainees loose on me: huge scar and big blanket stitches to close it.
  46. Do you take vitamins daily? Only vitamin D.
  47. Do you have freckles? No.
  48. Have you ever been to a strip club? No; why would I?
  49. Do you believe in auras? I don’t know; they seem incredibly unlikely but then so do so many things.
  50. An angel appears out of heaven and offers you a lifetime supply of the alcoholic beverage of your choice. “Be brand-specific” it says. What are you going to choose? Adnams Dry Hopped Lager or Adnams Ghost Ship.

I must find something a bit more exciting for next year (assuming the Kindly Ones permit me to continue to exist that long).

amusements, words

100 Day Challenge: Words #14

Episode 14 (days 66 to 70) of my 100 day challenge to find words I don’t know. I’m scraping words from https://randomword.com/ and each day picking one that I find interesting and which is also in the OED.

Day Date Word Meaning
66 Sunday 5 January pubarche the first appearance of pubic hair
67 Monday 6 January quinticlave ** upright brass-wind instrument like a keyed bugle
68 Tuesday 7 January tentiginous lust-provoking
69 Wednesday 8 January wherret a sharp blow, particularly a box on the ear or slap on the face
70 Thursday 9 January labiomancy lip reading

** My favourite of the words presented.

Next episode in a few days!

amusements, memes

Ten Things: January

This year our Ten Things series, on the tenth of each month, is concentrating on things which are wackier than usual, if not by much. From odd road names to Christmas carols by way of saints and scientists. So here goes with January …

Ten Amusing UK Road Names

  1. Frog Hall Lane, California, Surrey
  2. Ha-Ha Road, Greenwich
  3. Minge Lane, Upton upon Severn
  4. Stoat’s Nest Road, Coulsden, Surrey
  5. Titty Ho, Wellingborough, Northants
  6. Butt Hole Road, Conisbrough, S.Yorks
  7. Park Butts Ringway, Kidderminster
  8. Dog Kennel Lane, Rickmansworth
  9. No Ditch Bridge, Soham, Cambs
  10. Fanny Street, Shipley

And there are so many more!