Some background: before moving to Norfolk in 1987 I grew up in North London on a staple diet of Star Wars and old World War 2 films. ‘Show me your papers’ was a common request in the war films and led to me realising how thankful I was to live in a free society like the UK.
Read moreTolerance and freedom were at the heart of liberalism. Where did it go wrong? Why at some stage did people who called themselves ‘liberals’ end up being so intolerant of people who didn’t share their views, and embark on a mission to suppress their freedom to share those views?
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The abundance of biographies out there published during lockdown suggests people are finding time to do things they wouldn’t normally do. Well here is my contribution: writing about my desk.
Read moreYears ago I had to ask myself ‘How do I know what is true or not?’. This began a challenging journey exploring the history of science, philosophy, religions, worldviews and back into the present to see what has been learnt.
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Another day of the morning routine. Wake up. Make coffee. Let chickens out. The half-awake routine was wonderfully interrupted by something other than the chorus of eager chickens wanting to break out of their house and have breakfast. There was a big egg in the run. Bluey greeny sort of thing that had to have come from something much bigger than a chicken, after all, it seemed to weigh about as much as one of the chickens so the hole it came out of was much larger than the ones chickens had. Read more
On Friday 26th January, I was woken up ahead of my normal 530am time by what appeared to be a chicken celebrating an early morning egg. When doing the rounds of letting dogs out, feeding the chickens etc, I noticed one of the chickens was a bit bedraggled. Mavis appeared she had gone for a swim in the river, which is a bit odd. The penny dropped, foxes had made a visit and despite getting away with nothing, had spooked one of the girls into the river. That at least, was how it seemed. Read more
Remember marble runs when you were little? There was something so wonderful about putting them together and seeing a marble end up where it should. That fascination never ends – even at 48 I was equally fascinated by how the Moors in the 9th century channelled water from one place to the other. In this case, the old waterways feeding the pool in the Andalucian shack I was staying in. Read more
A brief ditty about Aldi, Hall Rd, Norwich. I went in for some wine and some milk (both great quality and price!). I overheard two Spanish students discussing Pizzas and cheekily said in Spanish I think the best is the chicken and chorizo one. I asked a friendly English chap with one arm about the brioche burger buns and he seemed really pleased to be able to help.
When you are distant from homelessness, i.e. your only experience of ‘homeless’ people are the people you walk past from time to time with a Staffordshire Terrier and a begging bowl, it’s easy to feel pity and think it is no fault or choice of their own to be there.The reality of why people are on the streets, whether they live there or not, is more complex than most people imagine. Read more
Darwin’s Evolutionary Theory is Dying..
And it’s because of what science is discovering that finally, Darwin’s greatest doubt is being realised.
“If it could be demonstrated that any complex organ existed, which could not possibly have been formed by numerous, successive, slight modifications, my theory would absolutely break down.” – Charles Darwin, 1859. Read more
This was a question I rather naively posed to a leading consultant psychiatrist a while back when visiting my home (on a social thing in case you wonder!). I thought perhaps I should have presented it in more politically correct terms, but alas, I didn’t know how to.
The response was interesting “That is a very good question, and the simple answer is Yes’. So according to an ‘expert’, we are going madder after all! Read more
According to the widely accepted evolutionary theory, I came from inorganic matter combining to form the most basic form of life, and then over loads of time that simple life got more complicated until I arrived. Must add, my real Mum and Dad had a big part to play. However, according to a recent article my eldest ‘living’ ancestor looked like this…
A few years ago I was in the Gobi desert stunned by the beauty of the Mongolian desert. A boy on a horse walked by, nodded, probably wondering why on Earth I travelled across such a place in an English ambulance. Whilst this Earth is an amazing place of beauty, and so much to be discovered and explored, every now and then where I spend most of my time reveals a equally stunning beauty. Even the people around you so often reveal something that refreshes your belief in a human beings capacity for incredible beauty. Read more
Every now and then the web produces some classic humour, I couldn’t resist this one!
ELEMENT: Women
SYMBOL: 02
DISCOVER: Adam
ATOMIC MASS: Accepted at 118 lb.. but known to vary from 90 to 5501b.. OCCURRENCE: Copious quantities in all urban areas
With a few bits of wood and a couple of tools, here’s some of the things I made this summer without spending much. Hope it inspires others to have a go!
There used to be a time everyone believed the Earth was at the the centre of the Universe. It was a ‘scientific fact’. Then a naughty chap called Copernicus suggested it wasn’t, backed up a dude called Galileo just a few years after Copernicus died. They were are told off, ridiculed, persecuted and in no doubt told they were naughty chaps to challenge the status quo. Read more
Dear Council.
I know many people have complained about the various road schemes in Norwich but wanted to write a complimentary letter to say thank you for the increasing abundance of traffic lights you have so wonderfully installed. I am convinced there must be a Mr Traffic Light working for you, he’s doing an amazing job of calming traffic (if not the drivers). In fact, I’d say he is doing an amazing job of not just calming things, but bringing traffic to a complete halt. Read more
For most of my life I was an atheist, wholeheartedly believing in the ‘scientific fact’ of evolution. I was told it was true right from the start of my education, through to studying molecular biology at University.
About 25 years ago, the term ‘going off grid’ was first used to signify disconnecting from some future network that connected everything to everything, before the internet was what it now is. Almost like a prophecy, it signified people breaking their 24/7 global connection, becoming more local, more connected with what was around you at any given time and less connected to what wasn’t.
Well, things aren’t here for ever so I took some photos of pylons and wood from an old staithe in Trowse. Taking photos of pylons is quite easy, you are on dry land and they don’t move. Taking pictures of wood in a river that you can only see at low tide, when the sun is in a particular position, and the river isn’t moving too much so the canoe doesn’t whizz off, well, that’s a challenge! The webs were from some photos I took on a warm, misty morning in front of the house.
Enjoy the pics.. Read more