sea nerd blog
twenty thirteen

tingle

It’s really rather wrong to laugh at people who are learning English, who get it wrong. After all, I’m learning other languages myself, and make all kinds of silly mistakes. Still, I couldn't stop myself laughing when asked about the Christmas song “tingle balls”.

crowds

I’m in a crowd of like minded strangers. Normally I’d go hide in the kitchen. There is no kitchen. I am going to have to put a broom handle up my back and go pretend to like crowds.

conspiracists

Unfortunately, as I suspect you know, the credible scientific journals have long since noted that man–made climate change is not only a fact, but there has been consensus amongst climate scientists since 2004. Whilst I can just about imagine someone with no interest in the subject being ignorant of these facts, I do not see how it is possible that someone who has expressed interest is unaware them, excepting the unfortunate psychological explanation.

On that psychological explanation: I do hope the deniers are aware that they’re regarded as a fruitful subject for pyschological research, e.g. conspiracist ideation. The key paper is behind a wall, so here’s a blog where the authors discuss the matter.

My take is slightly different. If I am challenged by facts that contradict my belief, I will challenge those facts. That’s fair enough: no one likes being wrong. But part of being an adult is admitting to yourself that you may be wrong, so when the facts are plain I swallow my ego and admit my error. I have never, since my childhood, been so egotistical that I believe I can’t be wrong, so all those horrible facts must be the product of a mass secret conspiracy made just to have a go at me. I do not invent or knowingly parrot a mass conspiracy theory that masses of people are keeping a secret. If nothing else, human nature itself makes a genuine mass secret conspiracy impossible, because people just can’t keep secrets: we like to talk, we like to gossip, we actually need to communicate. This, IMHO, means people who subscribe to such theories are asserting those people with whom they disagree are not subject to human nature, e.g. not properly human, e.g. mass conspiracy theorists and their hangers–on are bigots. The word ‘conspiracist’ contains the word racist for a reason.

And, beyond that, climate change denial represents a great failure of the political right. They have left the solution to others, rather than swallowing their pride and coming up with an answer that suites their belief. I do not recall in my history classes great conservative philosophers refusing to address questions that they did not like, rather I recall great conservatives shaping the answer to the distasteful problem in their image. Did Disraeli run away from Reform and assert reformists were mass conspirators? No, he faced the problem and chose the solution that did least damage to the right of the time. Why, then, do these current right–wingers not face the problem, why do they leave the solution to others? They shame themselves. The irony is the basis to a right–wing solution is not difficult: just change the market so people have to clear up after themselves, then let the market get on with it. Yes, you’ve got the usual problems of regulation and policing it, etc., but so what? Regulation is a known problem with known solutions.

cambridge

Had a very Cambridge experience today: I was in the city centre, and came across a string quartet playing in the rain.

nerd

Good God, when I was a horrid youth, being a computer nerd was so strongly anticool it was social suicide. Pretty women really did say ew and move on when student me mentioned my subject. Since then it’s travelled through business rich, hacker cool, and now it’s punting the unseen fear of the spy novel into everyone’s head. Is there any reputation edge being a computer nerd won't give me?!

dream

I just had a bizarre dream. I was walking through the park, but had to stop when I found my way ahead blocked. A couple of trees, young pines, were having a fight. One was wielding a park bench.

bird song

I’m enjoying some weird birdsong; no, not Messiaen, but the real thing. Which makes me wonder … given birds are the clade of dinosaur that survived the mass extinction, and given almost all species of birds sing, one can imagine they gained song from their dinosaur ancestors. What might the song of the dinosaurs been? The huge dinosaurs? Bass? Tick. Rhythm? Tick. Heavy Metal? No chance … well … mmm … perhaps describing heavy metal bands as dinosaurs may be more accurate than first realised!

cat

Oh, this is a wee bit embarrassing. I came across something of mine from 2006, a virtual PC, and I remember the time I had the original PC, & I found myself really missing my cat. Never mind my poor dead mum, or my poor dead dad, oh no—what I really miss is my sodding cat. RIP, all of you.

Wiltz

A small town. Empty, but the bars are full. The end of a branch line, still used. A World War 2 battle site. A castle with a beer museum. This place would be so natural for a certain type of Brit I found myself looking for the CAMRA office. On the other hand, beautiful countryside. Modern arts not just in the studios, but in the supermarket. Kids taking arts lessons in that studio. If it wasn’t an hour from Luxembourg I’d think about commuting from there.

coffee

One morning,
a long time ago,
I was in a bit of a rush,
was a bit distracted,
and was tired.

I made myself a coffee,
then breakfast.

I couldn’t find the coffee,
and couldn’t find it,
and couldn’t find it,
and had to rush off.

When I got back that evening,
I found it in the fridge.

Arlon

We visited Arlon yesterday. It’s a sleepy little town, a complete contrast to Trier. It does have one key advantage, though: we stopped at a random cafe, ate cheaply, and I drank the local beer. What’s so good about that? Well, the food was very good, but that’s not it. The key word is “local”. You see, Arlon is in Belgium, and the local beer, La Chouffe, lives up to the country’s beer reputation. It was delicious. To cap the day, the town cheeserie had some Shropshire Blue.

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