How Romantic?

Saint Valentine! Why do we commemorate this saint in the way we do? The association with romance escapes me, there's no record of his life at all (or his death), except for what Geoffrey Chaucer wrote, but that was plainly concocted. Chances are, like other early saints, that in order to be sainted, he had to suffer some sort of horrifically gruesome death. Then later once he was departed, somebody probably prayed to him for help, was cured of some boils, and verily, sainthood was assured! You see now, I know how these things work!

So why all this romantic nonsense on the 14th February? I laughed today at the way in which some of my fellow students felt obliged to give their partners cards, chocolates, flowers and other presents, and still take them out for a meal as well. The suggestion that they watch the football tonight instead (Aberdeen 2 : Bayern Munich 2) literally scared most of them. Their girlfriends would kill them. Why? Because someone hundreds of years ago got disembowelled for refusing to deny Christ? That's a good reason to commemorate the event with a Chicken Biryani! I'm sure St. Valentine would appreciate that token of respect to his memory! I might take the wife and kids hill-walking tomorrow, that's more romantic in my opinion!

I've never seen so many cops on the street before as I did this afternoon. I was on the bus heading down King Street and they were all heading the opposite way, towards Pittodrie. I wonder where they ususally spend their time, because you never normally see any police in the city centre, or anywhere in the North East generally. But, stage a European football match, and suddenly they're out in force. Don't need tickets to see the match either, how convenient!

Unlocking the Secrets of the Past!

I guess the Great Pyramids were once the most important stop on the Grand Tour, if you were a dashing young socialite hell-bent on seeing the World at Daddy's expense, and basically shoved off abroad in order to stop embarassing the family. It certainly was up until recently. When my brother went there maybe 10 years ago, he reported back tales of many a foppish 18 year old living on an extensive annuity, and generally making merry around the globe. But times have changed, yes, not such a desirable place to visit now is it? Not that it really was before, but the revenue from tourism kept the welcome mat out even though you were liable to have your bus raked with machine-gun fire if you happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Bad enough the awful food, the incessant heat, the persistent hawkers, the flies, the stinking camels and a whole lot of sand. That was all tolerable to get a good rummage around the Pyramids, the Sphinx, Luxor etc. But not any more, the welcome mat has truly been withdrawn and reigious extremism and hatred of Westerners is now rife. The Egyptian goverment and particularly the custodians of Egyptian antiquities want to deter tourists from visiting Egypts monuments. Gun-toting soldiers have orders to shoot anyone trying to scale the pyramids for instance. We've all seen the adverts for the Red Sea resorts. They'd rather you went there instead, but it's not much of a holiday when you know you're surrounded by would be suicide bombers is it?

My own personal opinion is that the Egyptian authorities have a real over-powering fear of what might be discovered at some ancient Egyptian site. They've pretty much prohibited all foreign archaeologists and scientsist from working in the country. Only patriotic Egyptian archaeologists can work there, and all answer to the Director of Egyptian Antiquities, Zahi Hawass. They are also pushing hard for the return of all Egyptian artifacts to Egypt. Why are they suddenly become so insular? Well, Dr. Hawass himself is a fierce opponent of any suggestion that there were races in Egypt before the Egyptians themselves. It seems they will do anything to prevent an opposing notion coming to the fore. If that means closing sites, they'll do it, and if that means hiding away artifacts which contradict the prevailing history, those will disappear forever.

It could be that I'm singling Egypt out here, but very similar situations are playing out around the World, the remains of ancient kilted caucasians in China got them all worked up, and the discovery of the remains of giant caucasians in New Zealand got the Maori led government all hot under the collar, to the extent where you could be risking your life to try and acces the site. Interesting times we live in, but these people should learn that nothing stays secret forever!

No Real Deterrent!

Oh joy of joys, Parent's night tonight, and tomorrow also. Two hours waiting to be told what we really ought to know already! I love the little kiddies chairs that they make us sit in. It's all psychology! It works on the children so they probably assume that it will work on their parents as well. Of course to make the feeling of domination even more pronounced, the teachers tend to sit in an elevated position also. I've got nothing against teachers mind you. After all I'm going to be one soon enough, and I'll probably use the same techniques myself. Anyway, I've already sat in on a parents night, and seen how it works from the teacher's perspective. Let's just say that the parents play a bigger part than they might realise.

Apparently the University are doubling their intake of student teachers next year, because of shortages. That has to be promising for me with regards to the job front, although I'd like to think I might have something lined up already, but it's never as simple as that. There are several organisations involved in placing teachers in positions. Each one working to a different set of criteria unfortunately. Did I mention that I'll have to get a job over the Summer? That's an area where they really let down student teachers. You'd think that after 4 years of studying, and desperate to earn some money, they would place student teachers on a retainer until they can start work. Nothing of the sort. They're abandoned for 2 months until the schools go back. I wonder how many find themselves something else in the meantime, and then turn their backs on teaching forever.

Anyway, I've came so far, I don't think I'll be deterred that easily. But then, you never really know. If the right offer comes along, only a fool would turn their back on it, wouldn't they? I think that's what happens to many, but I'm in a bit of a backwater really, so there are never going to be that many opporunities staring me in the face. I'll have to make my own opportunities as usual. Always have to do things the hard way!

Blame It On the Dark Star!

I was absolutely delighted today, to have the opportunity to join in a lively discussion on the merits of Sci-fi films, and from my perspective, 70's Sci-fi in particular. The fact that a wide variety of age groups were involved made it all the more lively, but what was truly interesting, and confirmed a supposition made by me previously in this blog, was that the younger guys present (early 20's), had very little background knowledge of the development of Sci-fi. I mean, clearly Sci-fi was on the go before I was born, but I suggested that the pinnacle of Sci-fi had been achieved in the late 70's - early 80's, with films like Dark Star and The Black Hole and T.V. series; Doctor Who, Blake 7, Space 1999, Star Trek etc. were all at their peak in that era.

Of course, these young guys hadn't heard of The Black Hole or Dark Star, but when I told them the general storyline for "The Black Hole", they thought it sounded like a great story. Perhaps because I focused on the robot and his robot friend, their relationship, and how the film evoked great empathy for the robots, who seemed more human than the human characters. My advice to them and to anyone else who loves Sci-fi, but hasn't seen these 2 films, would be to go and get them on DVD, they're probably in the budget bin anyway. These films never got huge credit, but I suspect must have massively influenced the following generations of Sci-fi film-makers.

I should mention that my ankles were in agony this morning. They're much better now, but I probably pushed myself too hard yesterday. What's truly shocking is that everyone else in the family is alright, even the kids, who moaned enough at the time. They don't feel my pain though! As someone once very rightly stated "You'll find sympathy in the dictionary, somewhere between shit and syphillis!" Never was a truer word spoken!

The Moorhound of Bennachie!

I'm knackered! I've just spent 5 hours this afternoon trekking across the five tops of Bennachie, and it took about 5 hours from start to finish. I'm not going to type much, the only peak of any magnificence was the one seen below, the Mither Tap, the last of the 5 for us. After which the long slog back to the car park was fairly tortuous!

Could this be the hiding place of the mysterious Moorhound of Bennachie. Sorry if you don't get that, you really had to be there (family joke of the day).

Barbarian Wormhole Summit!

I read yesterday that scientists want to create a wormhole, which will allow people from the future to travel back to this time. The wormhole thing's a bit vague though. I'm not sure they should be allowed to just create a wormhole. Aren't wormholes theoretical concepts? They might create a paradox. In other related news, Russian scientists are also claiming that they are on the verge of developing time travel. It's all quite exciting and at the same time, fairly scary. I always go back to the Ray Bradbury short story I read in school, where one of the central characters went back to a time before men, where they tried hard not to do anything paradoxical, but accdentally bent the stem of a single flower. The long and the short of which was that when they returned to the present, all writing was backwards.

There are a couple interesting programmes on telly this week. In about an hour's time, there's a show about the Dead Sea Scrolls. Very hotly protected by the Cathoilc faith, because they know and we know that the contents could utterly destroy their version of biblical events. As history tells us, they'll do "anything" to protect the faith, because faith is far more important than the truth. On Wednesday evening, there will be a program about Attila the Hun airing. I'm looking forward to that. Apparently he was vastly intelligent and complex, while still possessing the brutality and penchant for violence that made him the lovable rogue he was.

Hillwalking on Bennachie tomorrow looks like it will go ahead. We had a lovely day here today and if it's the same tomorrow, we'll have a great time. As usual, I'll be sure to take some photos for you. I'm certain that the view from the summit of the "Mither Tap" will be well worth the exertion taken to get up there in the first place.

The Emperor's New Boots!

I bought myself a proper pair of hiking boots today, so now there's no excuse. I have a whole series of reasonably large hills lined-up, which I intend to hillwalk while the weather is still fairly Wintery. Once the snow's all gone, I will have a go at some of the larger hills around here, Ben Rinnes being a priority. It's actually quite exhilirating, and little challenges give you something to look forward to, something to aim for. This week's intended target is Bennachie near Insch, in Aberdeenshire. It's actually three fairly large hills strung together, but we'll take the whole lot if you don't mind, weather permitting as always.

I'm also planning ahead. I'd like to climb the Tap o' Noth near Rhynie, which is a vitrified fort, and so should probably count as double. Actually, like Bennachie, there are two hills joined together at Tap o' Noth. Following that will be another nearby double-hill; The Buck. What we're aiming for are increasingly high peaks. Bigger and badder every time. That's the way to play it I reckon, culminating in Ben Nevis sometime this Summer!

So, it looks as though there might be a few decent films out this year. I never even realised that they were making a follow-up to "The National Treasure". That was a decent film, and the sequel look like it could potentially be half-decent also. I might just go and see that next week, if it's showing here of course, which is by no means guaranteed, as per my recent Cloverfield not showing here post. There is also the small matter of the new Indiana Jones film to come, as well. The Indiana Jones franchise stole part of my childhood, I must confess. What kid wouldn't have wanted to be Indie? I also seem to recall some game I had for the PC, I think it was called "Indiana Jones and the Emperor's Tomb". It looked fantastic, but was rendered virtually unplayable by the dodgy controls which made a simple jump into a doctorate in computing physics!

In A Bunker Underground!

Do you remember the mid 80's, when we were all going to die in a nuclear winter? They used to have these information cartoons telling us what to do in the event of an atomic armageddon. Not applicable if you lived within the blast radius though, as your flesh would be instantly melted, and your bones turned to dust. Otherwise, a matress under the stairs would prove sufficient to protect you, possibly from falling debris, I'm not sure. They tended to focus on the moment of the nuclear missile's impact and the period immediately after. There was no mention of the global nuclear winter to follow, the death of all plant life, and the subsequent resorting to cannibalism once all the animals were gone. A never-ending supply of tinned goods, and a nuclear bunker would be handy at this juncture, but would only be available for those who instigated the war in the first place.

I've just realised that I've pretty much broken down the lyrical content of "War Pigs" by Black Sabbath there, except for the "witches gathered in black masses" part, but since I've covered that in a previous post, I will consider myself fully exhonerated. Why the bunker thing today? Not really sure, I think it's Aberdeen that's affecting me. Yesterday, we were in the car-park which felt underground although it wasn't, the orthdonstist was in a basement, and maybe it's just cities in general, but the darkness and sunbterranean elements are most unappealing for me. Aberdeen in particular with it's grey granite buildings and some horrendous architecture, is just not a nice looking city. Need I moan anymore today? I don't think so. I'm tired, but tomorrow I will be back refreshed and possibly with something reasonably worth itterating!

Port Ticket Road Works!

I had to make a trip into Aberdeen today for reasons which involve being a parent. Anyhow, we were just heading back to the Denburn car-park, and we came down the steps which are just to the left between the first and second car in the photo. the Denburn car-park was right behind me when I took this photo. Anyway, we were confronted by 3 traffic wardens, just as we rounded the corner. I had my camera with me, so I took this photo of them disappearing up the road. I wonder how many cars they ticketed?

Not that there was any chance of me getting ticketed. I'm a decent law-abiding citizen. I even paid for two hours when it turned out one would have been enough. Ah well, better safe than sorry I suppose. Besides which, driving into Aberdeen today was horrendous, a combination of the salt off of the road and the sun directly in front all the way in, made the journey rather unpleasant. Plus, there are numerous road works in operation right now. There must be Third World roads better than the A96, I'll bet there are too!

I also tried my hand at Port Forwarding my router today. It claims to have been successful, but I see no noticeable improvement in my dismal download speeds. However I am getting the message "Your Internet connection is working like it should", which has replaced the previous "Your connection is awful, better forward a port" message. I'm sure things will improve though, otherwise it's back to the drawing board!

No Great Mystery!

You might be like me and enjoy the mysteries that life has to offer. Aren't mysteries wonderful? Unfortunately, when you solve that mystery, it tends to have a disappointing outcome, or it just turns out that there are no real answers and that they mystery is a mystery for mysteries sake. Does it seem as though I'm talking in riddles? Perhaps I am, but I know what I mean and there's no real mystery behind what I'm saying!

What I'm saying is, that the best mysteries are the ones that can't be solved! The kind of mystery that presents tantalising clues, but then fades away again, only to resurface many years later. I've examined a few in this here blog... the crucifixion... archaeological anomalies, and so on. These are the best mysteries, because the truth isn't easily accessible. there are people working hard to hide the truth. Probably harder than those trying to discover it. There's mis-information, dis-information, and academic ridicule for those who dare to challenge the established orthodoxy.

I have my own opinions on such matters and I use rationale and deduction to reach my conclusions. These are valuable weapons when opposed against blind faith in religion or science. Both have their merits of course (science and religion), but the real truth probably lies somewhere in between, which presents a problem for those firmly encamped in one or the other. Let's face it, the theory of evolution is probably about as accurate and definitive as the bible version of the crucifixion. Anyone with the least capability of rational thought would spot the immediate flaws in either one, yet even intellectuals cling on to these ideas for dear life. Ah well, here's to philosophy, where even the impossible remains a possibility!