. .
'This nose for example, which no philosopher has hitherto spoken...'
Looking at my nose close up in the mirror. How very ancient it is! Not in the sense of an august and wise Roman senator, but more like a deep-sea fish.
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On Saturday, driving down towards Cavalry, on one of the better roads in town and there, what do I see in the dark? At first I thought, what the hell is that, a deer? Duh! No, a brown donkey running down the middle of the road, in the same direction as the cars! In the land of lazy sods you can imagine how lazy the donkeys are. As an old friend once said (with reference to Italy, actually): any country that has such a high proportion of donkeys can never make any progress. (Now, there's a Ph.D thesis for you!).
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At the Eid family dinner I'm egged on to apply for Principal at my old school. Uncle M__ with his corny jokes...a couple are invited to dinner at 7 but the hosts don't serve dinner immediately; instead, they just ask: "are you comfortable?" One hour passes, then two and all they can say, at regular intervals is: "are you comfortable?". Ten o'clock, ten fifteen. And still no sign of the food, still the same old question: "are you comfortable?". By now the couple are furious so the man says, "Listen, we didn't come-for-the-table, we came for dinner!".
I know, I know.
Next time: must avoid these family gatherings.
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A time of gifts. Anything Bob recommends (music-wise)turns out to be fab. Books: not so sure. But Time of Gifts does look like the real thing. anton, of course, is always right and has superb recommendations. Just got Veronica and, so far so good, despite bilal's reservations.
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Just realised that there are lots of really interesting perspectives on the economy by Catholic writers: Macintyre, Bruni, etc. The idea of the 'civil economy'. Ties in with the idea of the gift and 'other' motivations for exchange. i.e a move away from Adam Smith. What is meant by the 'common good'? Is it something beyond Pareto (or, more broadly, utilitarianism)?
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Roxana came up with this beautiful line (which I can't remember now!)...went something like: '..as if an innocent and wise face could wipe away all the vileness in life.' Indeed. But there are so many ugly faces. Has any philosopher commented on the effect of that? Still, she must be right...the naive view that beauty will somehow triumph over all the stupidity and cruelty. Each child has that potential...
Maybe I'm just growing old, but almost every woman I see nowadays looks beautiful, has something about her.
Sigh, sigh...
6 comments:
i like them donkeys, i want one. they are cute.
btw there is a really nice nature programme on icebears and so on on the telly on the bbc, frozen planet it is called. with narwhales too.
yes, i want one as well anton! (er..as long as I don't have to look after him/er *too* much..feeding them the odd carrot is okay, i suppose) They're so cute! :-) hard to tell if they're thinking all that time over some great puzzle in life or just plain old lazy. donkeys are the kashmiris of the animal world.
frozen planet? okay, will check it out? is it with david attenborough? whales? fantastic! I wish I'd picked up hoare's leviathan. I don't like those bears though. sorry! they just seem to potter around all day, not doing much. anton, have you noticed how lazy animals are [he says, putting his Protestant hat on]? Go to the zoo and there they are, like it's a bloody holiday! Seriously, paying 20 pounds to see them is a rip off (except for the penguins, who at least *try* and entertain you! ;-)]
yes, it is with david attenborough. there are penguins in it too, and albatrosses. i like the albatrosses better. and of course whales, orcas, btu i don't like they always call them killerwhales as they are dolphins in reality, and quite brutal too. they eat minkwhale, and seals.
donkeys are supercool and that cute dorsal stripe. suppose you just put them ina field of grass and they do the eating themselves? like herdwick sheep? then yu don't have to look after them too much. the bears are ok. big fellows. didn't know they're so big, 3 m when they stand. you don't want to mess with them.
besides they're not lazy, they're just saving energy said david attenborough, when they have nothing to eat it's better they doze on an icefloe in the sun and not waste energy.
"besides they're not lazy, they're just saving energy"
Yes, I know how they feel..let me try this line on the Mrs! :-)
killer-whales...such a terrible name! why this prejudice against them? i mean, why not killer-lions as well?
Yes, maybe that's a solution anton. and i could save the carrots for a treat, for Christmas, say. Hmm. no, don't think this animal thing is going to work, is it? :-)
that's the thing with bears...you always think of winnie the pooh (or barnaby the bear) as being cute and harmless and that probably gives you a false sense of security. didn't werner herzog make a film about grizzly bears?
sorry, run out of things to say about animals! -)
Keep well,
b.
b your under the thumb. i learnt when them english calls their spoouse the misses they're under the thumb :) but you're not an icebear, so. i know still things to say about animals. true bears aren't super cosy,. but they're still nice. albeit not as nice a s a donkey.... and on the downside they don;t have a dorsal stripe.
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