Whose knees are these?
Diogenes' knees.
He put them in peril.
By living in a barrel.
Personal Blogs
Ancient Greek Skipping Rhyme
Monday, 25 Jan 2016, 00:42
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Edited by Richard Walker, Monday, 25 Jan 2016, 00:49
Hurt Transporter
Sunday, 24 Jan 2016, 02:39
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Edited by Richard Walker, Sunday, 24 Jan 2016, 02:57
Sent a scarlet sarafan,
I followed the instructions.
I followed the instructions.
"Wrap it around your wound
Let it extract the hurt and poison.
Then return it in the prepaid envelope.
If we can be so kind."
Let it extract the hurt and poison.
Then return it in the prepaid envelope.
If we can be so kind."
Riddle
Sunday, 24 Jan 2016, 02:11
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Why is a beaver dam like a retirement party?
Joke Factory (Art Division)
Sunday, 24 Jan 2016, 02:09
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Edited by Richard Walker, Sunday, 24 Jan 2016, 04:02
Q. Which dye bleeds most?
A. Sepia.
Red Dwarfs
Thursday, 21 Jan 2016, 02:03
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I was thinking about red dwarf stars.
The second closest star to us is a red dwarf but we can't see it with the naked eye (or see any other red dwarf directly for that matter).
The star is Proxima Centauri, only discovered about 100 years ago. It may have a loose connection with the binary star Alpha Centauri, which to the naked eye seems to be a single star but is actually a pair.
What a marvelous story this is, to my mind. We have gradually increased our visual reach over recent centuries, and now know that very close to us there is a system of three interrelated stars. Imagine what it must be like to live there.
Moreover we now think red dwarfs are the commonest kind of star, at least in our neighborhood. Theory predicts that a small red dwarf will have a lifetime of about 2,000 billion years, and then become a blue dwarf. No-one (human or other) has ever seen one of these blue dwarfs, even through a telescope, because the universe is nothing like old enough for a blue dwarf to have formed.
Our star is a yellow dwarf and won't last very long at all in comparison.
Two Spies and a Paradox
Wednesday, 20 Jan 2016, 01:28
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Edited by Richard Walker, Wednesday, 20 Jan 2016, 01:31
Once upon a time there were two spies, code-named M and N, who worked for rival departments.
By coincidence on one particular day M and N were both assigned to 24-hour surveillance of the email messages sent by a dastardly counterspy X to one of her accomplices Y.
The messages were cunningly encrypted, so the content was unreadable, but it was hoped that monitoring the number of communication would indicate whether or not a crisis was looming and action would need to be taken.
A downward trend during the day would indicate there was no cause for alarm; conversely an upward trend would indicate danger.
M counted the messages sent in each 12-hour period and submitted a report with a graph showing a clear downward trend.
N counted the messages sent in each 8-hour period and submitted a report with a graph showing a clear upward trend.
Yet the equipment used by each spy was perfectly reliable, and they recorded the data accurately. How can this paradox be explained?
Taking Control
Tuesday, 19 Jan 2016, 01:46
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Edited by Richard Walker, Tuesday, 19 Jan 2016, 01:48
Even though it's Winter
Please let's lure Spring.
With our hypnotic stare.
Early Life
Tuesday, 19 Jan 2016, 01:09
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Jumping
Frolicking
Marching
A Comfort Sandwich
Monday, 18 Jan 2016, 00:19
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Jamuary
Breaduary
Marge
From the Joke Factory Again
Sunday, 17 Jan 2016, 02:52
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Edited by Richard Walker, Sunday, 17 Jan 2016, 02:55
Q. What award is given to an alpine cow that no-one can catch?
Snow Gauge Haiku
Sunday, 17 Jan 2016, 01:41
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Tonight, here, a very little snow
Hardly worth writing about
Still a surprise.
Another from the Joke Factory
Friday, 15 Jan 2016, 00:17
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Q. What did the worm sob, as he threw himself over the cliff?
A. See comment
Departure
Thursday, 14 Jan 2016, 01:56
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"Now I must go", she said.
I will write whenever I can.
If it does not distress you.
Breakage
Thursday, 14 Jan 2016, 00:29
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Edited by Richard Walker, Thursday, 14 Jan 2016, 00:43
We often scramble in our heart-rubbish
For shattered glass.
Sobbing to think it was broken.
Joke Factory Again
Wednesday, 13 Jan 2016, 00:38
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Edited by Richard Walker, Wednesday, 13 Jan 2016, 03:07
Q. What ring does a baby swan wear?
A. See comment
One Liner from Ankh-Morpork
Wednesday, 13 Jan 2016, 00:31
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Edited by Richard Walker, Wednesday, 13 Jan 2016, 00:32
Bad financial news today from the Assassins' Guild, who are going into liquidation.
A Happy Landing
Tuesday, 12 Jan 2016, 02:34
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We asked the mother ship to bear
Us to a golden star, and there
Everything was just right.
I wear my time on my wrist
Tuesday, 12 Jan 2016, 00:55
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Christmas, past and
New Year here.
Easter beckons, a
Time to roll eggs. Watch.
Giant Stars
Tuesday, 12 Jan 2016, 00:19
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Edited by Richard Walker, Tuesday, 12 Jan 2016, 00:42
In our stars we see red giants.
White and blue too.
Why no green ones?
The Remembrance of Distemper
Monday, 11 Jan 2016, 02:03
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Edited by Richard Walker, Monday, 11 Jan 2016, 03:35
Tonight at my local pub, the snug was stripped bare for repainting. The Sunday regulars discussed interior decorating for a while, and then someone (I think it was the pint of IPA) mentioned distemper: something which was common before we started decorating our interior walls with emulsion.
Distemper! A Marcel Proust moment for me, with paint in place of cake. Not only do I remember the wall that half a century ago I was sent to distemper, I remember too the colour (a sort of orange my mother wanted). I can see now details of the room: where the windows are; the dressing table; the adjoining washroom with its obscure glass window and fanlight; the coat-hook on the door. I feel the texture of the wall, grasp the handle of my broad, black-bristled paintbrush.
Distemper has been and is still is used as an art medium. Here's an attractive example from 1918. What a super composition! And there is an interesting story surrounding it; try looking up "The Grand Teddy Tea Rooms paintings."
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Le_Grand_Teddy.jpg
Birds Fly Home
Sunday, 10 Jan 2016, 17:14
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The wind is cold,
and the birds fly home.
Winter twilight.
The Interrogation
Friday, 8 Jan 2016, 00:49
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Edited by Richard Walker, Friday, 8 Jan 2016, 03:28
"Would a star burn a flag?", was whispered in my ear.
Then was I saved; for I could neither see nor hear.
The Red, White and Blue, Episode 1 trailer
Friday, 8 Jan 2016, 00:25
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Edited by Richard Walker, Friday, 8 Jan 2016, 00:26
Flags should be ashamed of the beauty of the skies. Watch episode 1 to learn why.
Cicada Song
Thursday, 7 Jan 2016, 01:29
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Edited by Richard Walker, Thursday, 7 Jan 2016, 16:39
That hot day
Cicadas bellowed at us.
"One chance, one chance."
Resonance
Thursday, 7 Jan 2016, 01:22
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The greatest poets have written lines memorable even in translation. Here is one I read for the first time ever today
Death will come, and she will have your eyes.
I remembered it instantly (even though I got it wrong) after reading it here. And I was drawn there by a reference in Primo Levi's book The periodic table. Specifically the chapter on Nickel.
Levi himself was a poet, and a good one: as well as much else. But he doesn't come near "Death will come.." in my eyes, and the young translator of this captured an eternal voice.
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