Questions Game

Haha, I like the word "stroppy"
Shouldn't give you this a bit of an insight, when women
know exactly what men want and men are clueless as
to what women want.


Do you think they're going into pubs to look for a possible
spouse or just good conversation?

Well-I wouldn't call it a spouse actually.One thing I have noticed is that when they batten on to a bloke they stop coming into the pub.Another thing is that there are a lot of blasted men about who hardly seem to know what happened.

But I'm in a new pub for six weeks due to a refurbishment of my local and I haven't yet picked up on the dynamics.There's another four weeks to endure and we are all hoping it will be worth it but nobody has a lot of confidence.

Do you like novelties?

Not necessarily. Novelties are not always better or more exciting, which is saddly proven once the novelties wear off.

We've had a little mexican restaurant & bar here in town, that was haven to the locals for more than 30 years. It
didn't look very updated, but the food was good, cheap
and the service just great.

Then the owners changed, the restaurant got remodelled,
the menue changed, and everything was new and more
exciting for newcomers. To us, who we have frequented
the restaurant for years, it has become a different place, and the food and service dosn't justify the price. We're all
saddened by the changes....

Are you traditional?

Only in a worked out sort of way.

I like traditional ways of doing things until something superior appears.I prefer,for example,the pull off tops on Heinz soups to the traditional tin opener method.I also like to see things where the traditional method cannot be improved upon except by talent.An example of that is riding a winner at Royal Ascot or smacking a rank long hop through the covers for four.

It is sad about your cheap nosh shop.I know the feeling very well.There's something safe about familiar surroundings.One assumes the changes took place because the owners perceived that people wanted more novelty.Your traditionalists must not have been producing the sort of dividends the owners felt they might get in new ways.That's capitalism.

I realise I have drawn my examples from a fairly limited range of activities so could you suggest ways in which I could broaden my literary scope in relation to the traditional methods of doing things?

I meant traditional in a sense of familiarity, not in using
the new plastic squeeze bottle vs. the old screw glass cup.
Having traditions you know, like decorating the xmas tree
always a certain way. Having the same meal on a certain
holiday, going every Sunday to Momma......things like that.

When I grew up, our family was big on tradition and in
looking back, these traditions are the things I have the
fondest memories of. Tradition is important and that's
what I try to relate to my family.

So are you traditional?

As I said before-it depends.Tradition is another spectrum.And it shouldn't really be confused with habit.I would say that the manner in which an individual decorates a Christmas tree is a habit but that they have one and are decorating it is a tradition.
But even then it is only a recently acquired tradition dating back what?A thousand years?Maybe less.
There are much older traditions than that.

I do have a leaning towards those timeless traditions which can be discerned from an extensive reading of those works of art which stand the test of time and which seem to me to be being confirmed in modern biological research.
The family is,of course,one of these old traditions and is more or less inescapable.But Jesus insisted his disciples did throw off the family bonds in order to follow him.

What do you think about that?

Yeah, the disciples wanted Jesus to pick up the tab for
the last supper too, didn't they? (just joking).
But you are right, Jesus did not promote family, and even
today, Priests and Nuns are not allowed to marry and
to better serve God and Jesus, which (in their view) would
be pretty distracting with family.
What I think of that? It's all rubbish and people should
rethink what the bible and their church is asking them
to do, or rather sacrifice in the name of Jesus.

We shouldn't be so agnostic on a holy Sunday, eh?

I don't think it matters. Actually, that's been a problem with formal religion- the 'Sunday' mindset. I thought the idea was that God is everywhere, everyday, and It doesn't want your false witness. I'm certainly not accusing you of anything, CJ. I'm just blathering about the people who think that Sunday is a day for good behavior and shiny shoes. I don't think it matters much if you even have shoes, so long as you pray with an open heart. I think your God knows what you're about all the other days as well. I grew up in the Bible belt in the States, so I guess I'm a bit opinionated about this aspect of formal religion.

I think what the UCC's support of marriage equality, regardless of gender, reflects a genuine, Christian stance. What do you think?

You may indulge your agnosticism,if such it is,CJ,to your heart's content any day of the week.There is no law against it.

We were discussing,albeit gingerly,the difference between habits and real traditions at your instigation.I mentioned Jesus simply to point to his rejection of the biological imperitives of family and thus tradition.

I feel that any confusion between habit and tradition is likely to lead to some difficulties not least in communications.

If one sets out to rethink the Bible's lessons and the Church's teachings one has to provide some new conclusions which are of utility to a whole society rather than to specific individuals.

Has the weather improved?

Shazzer, I grew up in a very catholic household and went
to catholic schools, so Sunday was always a special day
for us. I guess, old habits (or is it tradition) are hard to kick.
Nonetheless, today I have my own ideas about religion.


spendius, yes, the weather has improved, it is not as hot
and tropical as it was a couple of days ago. We're getting
back to perfect Californian weather.

Okay let's go back to habits and tradition.
In your opinion, what's the difference between the two?

The simple answer is a combination of time-scale and popular acceptance.

It is traditional for example for young people to engage in courtship rituals of all shapes and sizes.The presence of a ritual is traditional but the ceremonials of it may well be habits.The former serves to strengthen the species and is hardly subject to manipulation whilst the latter can easily be made to serve a sectional interest and is often transient.In Brave New World there are no courtship rituals because the quality of offspring is determined in another way.
The intellectual argument against birth control techniques may well rest on the principle that the courtship ritual is thereby rendered redundant and a lot else with it.

The courtship ritual is so ageless that most animals practice it.The transfer from matrilineal descent patterns to patrilineal ones is not yet complete and the recent move into alineal patterns may be a new tradition just beginning.Which eventually triumphs may well be decided by force of arms.It won't be decided by money.

Does that answer your question which actually needs a book to do half justice to it?

Well it makes me see your point of view on the subject
matter. Interesting - alineal patterns may be the new
tradition to come, (not by force of arms ) but by
choice and I see no negativity in it.

Wouldn't be nice, if the ladies chat you up in the pub
instead of the other way around?

It certainly would.That's a fantastic idea Cal.I love it.

You mean when I go in the door all the ladies look at me and follow me with their greedy eyes as I walk up to the bar and when I say to the barmaid," the usual!" they all giggle and laugh at my wit.

Why don't you run for President?

The world is not ready for my dictatorship.

Don't the girls ask you, why you come to the pub every
day?

Why would they?They already know.

We are the environment which is the easiest to exploit by females who couldn't be bothered doing their homework and,as a consequence,are unable to become brain surgeons or rocket scientists.

And they know that Englishmen will never let them down in providing them with the opportunity to make the most of their other talents.

How could a man consider himself a gentleman otherwise?

I guess, a lot of men don't care to be considered a gentleman. At least in places outside England.
Mothers should send their sons to England for a few
lessons - if I just think of the macho Latinos...oh boy.

So your mother raised you well?

I prefer to think I raised myself.I thought of my mother as a complete nuisance but useful in certain crucial areas such as food delivery and first aid.She did put a considerable effort into using me to prove the superiority of her DNA and that of her chosen mate but I managed to overcome such futile and selfish strategies.I would say I was raised on comics more than anything and the natural world in which I was enmeshed.Obviously the comics got more difficult to understand as I progressed but I was never deterred by that.

Don't you know how clever and wise the writers of comics are when compared to Sunday school teachers?

Having never met either one, I have to go by your word that writers of comics are more clever and wise. Actually, except
for "Asterix" I didn't like comics. It must be a boy thing.

What was/is your favorite comics character?

You are trying to discover my age again you crafty lady you.

So I will mention only the timeless ones.

Leo Vincey in Ayesha is one.Spendius in Salammbo.
Henry Miller in a few.Stan Laurel.Captain Good RN in King Solomon's Mines.Road Runner.Bilko.
That enough comic characters for one day.

Do you think I have a penchant for absurdity?

Haha, I didn't really think of your age, and since I don't
know any comics - except a selected few - you shouldn't
get paranoid

I think all Brits have a penchant for absurdity, that makes
them so charming.

Monday morning, and I have a ton of problems waiting
for me. How did your day go so far?