Plastic Spaghetti !

Anyone for plastic spaghetti ?

They are simply delicious ! They come in all shades of colours and consequently the taste varies very much.

Those that are red tinted look like lobsters but taste like cherries; the blue ones look like the tendrils of a climbing blue-bell but taste more like plums; an assortment can be presented in the by now famous dish called "the rainbow mix" which is actually available only at the most renowned restaurants. The taste is only discovered by the adventurous connoisseur and is regarded as a very confidential and esoteric matter.

The popularity of this culinary delicacy knows no bounds.

Just like all the other artificial items that surround us and with which we have learnt to live, sometimes in harmony and acceptance, and sometimes to our chagrin and disapproval.

Some artificialities have become so important, especially those that are pluses to our well-being, that we cannot stay without. Some examples would be: limbs that give mobility to otherwise shackled legs, state-of-the-art dentures that give an angelic smile to otherwise uninviting facial features, sighted glasses that turn blank faces into ponderous professorial looks, which, incidentally have become a useful fashionable item, and so on.

Life becomes more useful and sociable with solutions like these.

But I hate artificial flowers, artificial characters, artificial sweeteners, insemination, turf, fireplaces, smiles, .............all being artificial. The list may be much longer.

But I hate artificial spaghetti most of all.

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Queuing.

A habit I have cultivated for a long time is meditating and pondering on subjects while queuing up wating for a service. Its practice has become much easier to-day because it is possible to enter thoughts quickly in a PDA while sitting or standing in a row. This often happens, notwithstanding the efficient management of appointments by modern techniques. People queue up at the salon, at the dentist, at the GP, at the restaurant, at the coffee shop and at so many other places. They also stand in a row marking their turn to buy their train tickets, cinema tickets and at the theatre, to mention but a few instances.

When the wait is long enough, or if it goes beyond expectations it becomes expedient as a timefiller to jot down one’s ideas.

Having this morning my name listed towards the end tail of a long list to see a vip (small letters intended), I settle comfortably down on a chair to do some more practice in meditation. Such thoughts as the following fly in and take centre-brain stage:

How long will it take to find solutions to pending world conflicts ?

How many innocent young lives must be truncated on the politicians' high altar of self-gratification before an end is put to strife, hunger, misery.....................

When are we to realize that humbeis [read my other blog to understand meaning of this new word] are one formidable race, capable of living peacefully together and have the talents to realise yet other multiples of sevens as new wonders of the world;

How much more will it take to turn penal institutions into an oasis of the guiltless eager to help their fellow neighbours when in need;

When will statistics show a full literacy complement;

Why do we still refer to countries by classification, the elite, the firsts, the seconds, the thirds, and perhaps other classes later on;

Tell me, is it the same at the pearly gates – queuing up again sitting on misty thick clouds waiting to be called in or chased away ?

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Delusions.

Up and away!

I have always wanted to discover what it felt like to be a passenger in a hot air balloon. Though we do have huge amounts of hot air around us, hardly has anyone tried to pump some in a large paper balloon and hover peacefully above our towns and villages in an attached cradle on a calm summer evening.

I worked very hard on the idea of making this project a real life adventure. My only ally was Uncle David, who after long years working at the Dry-docks, seemed to me a problem solver and a great inventor.

The last time I discussed the project with him was during a barbeque that my Dad organised on the beach for our family and some other friends. Uncle David, as always, topped the list of guests on such occasions. It seemed that his vast knowledge was not only limited to mechanical gadgets, but it also covered other areas, judging by the loud bursting laughter of all his listeners.

It was all thoroughly planned. We were to construct a huge strong paper balloon. This was easier said than done, as sheets of a giant size were not easily available, the nearest paper-mill being thousands of miles away from our place. The alternative was to glue bits and pieces of strong paper together, taking great care not to make the whole too heavy and run the risk of crashing under its own weight.

The sketch diagram that Uncle David drew included a windlass with an enormous length of thin strong rope in a corner so that coming down would be no problem if the hot-air system failed. We knew little about the scientific part, but knowing that hot air moves upwards, together with Uncle David’s prowess and inventiveness, everything seemed all right.

Knowing that Joseph and Etienne Montgolfier’s discovery in 1783 proved that a fabric bag filled with hot air would rise, and that to-day balloonists can soar up thousands of metres in the clouds, were of little practical value to us at this stage.

We intended to take with us Dodger, the poodle, Tipsy the cat and Rocker the canary. I had once read or watched on screen that for safety reasons it was important to have travelling with you some animals.

Using my scanty pocket money I bought a blowlamp that was fuelled by paraffin, which was to be used to warm the air inside the balloon, taking great care not to bring the flame too close to the paper balloon. Fuel for other purposes when up in the air was to be supplied by Dad’s camping gas bottle. The tasks were very secretly carried out in Uncle David’s shed at the back of the garden. The space between the orange and lemon trees was the earmarked platform for take-off.

But unfortunately our project was doomed to failure. Everything was well in place: the large paper balloon seemed to behave well, the air was constantly being warmed and the whole thing rising up, the animals oblivious of their destiny were looking quite well, we were well poised in the raffia basket underneath, our relatives ready with white handkerchiefs to wave goodbye, when all of a sudden a rending sound of paper being torn made our hearts sink.

Little we realised that the cats in the neighbourhood chose on the previous night to make our balloon their home. Their claws had pierced an innumerable number of tiny holes, which weakened the fabric and ruined our trip.

According to Uncle David all great inventions had a very humble beginning. But ours was also disastrous.

Sometimes glorified projects miss the mark of success due to overlooking the most trivial details, which are also very important nonetheless.

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Aesop Revisited - 1.

John Joseph James (JJJ) was travelling uphill in his new status car. It was the car's maiden voyage. He had decided to take a short vacation after long months of reforming the penal establishment of which he was completely responsible.
All of a sudden, the engine came to a grinding halt, after a suspicious noise, that left little doubt that something sinister must have happened.
Knowing next to nothing about car engines, JJJ was at a loss what to do next. Trying restarting was only drying out the batteries. At the time, the sun had already set behind the mountains for at least a couple of hours. Calling for help through the mobile phone would be alarming to his friends and in the best of circumstances would employ hours for any help to reach him.
But a gleaming beam of light a little distance downhill indicated another vehicle coming up his way. Frantically, he waved his hand to draw the driver's attention.
In fact, it took only a few moments for the newcomer to reach JJJ. A strapping young man in his middle thirties alighted from his beaten old vehicle and very politely asked: "Do you need any help, Sir?"
"Yes, please, my car broke down and I have no way of making it moving again!"
Lifting the front hood, it took only a few minutes for the newcomer to discover what was wrong with JJJ's status car,
"It is only an IC component that is burnt out. The fault sent all the electric bits and pieces into haywire. It must be replaced. Luckily I have a new replacement in my tool-box."
JJJ's car was back to normal in no time.
Out of genuine good mannered habits, JJJ offered his saviour payment for his efforts. But to his astonishmnet he refused to take it. But he did not object to giving JJJ his name, surname and other generalities, just in case fate puts them again back on the same pathway.
JJJ noted in his PDA the young man's vehicle number. He meant to compensate somehow his benefactor.
Looking up the young man's details JJJ discovered that the young man's details tallied with those of an inmate in his institution. As far as he could remember he never met the man personally, but was just a number on the register like the rest of the inmates.
After thorough investigation, there was no doubt that his saviour was his prisoner. But the latter never left the precincts of the jail. Records confirmed this.
Further research showed that JJJ was once instrumental in helping the young man through a difficult patch during the first years of his confinemnet.
But a logical explanation is still wanting. Good turns are often shrouded in mystery.

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Teamwork.

Geniuses seem to have become a rarity. Their appearance has been shrined in history texts. The time when a sole individual under his or her own steam managed to make important discoveries belong to the past. We are the losers.

Still, to-day, many unknowns are explained, albeit through collective efforts. This is evident in most areas of study: medicine, space, technologies, machines and many more. This is not to mention recent solutions to age old problems. The better brains are managing to approach projects in a team, providing space for many to fit in a group that suits their aspirations and specializations. Areas prone to discoveries are subdivided into smaller teams with specific objectives. This is proving to be more productive.

End results often depend on the efforts of the group and its leaders, and on the efficiency of the pooling of ideas. In this collegial way the results arrived at would be marvellous.

It does not mean that there is no more room to-day for geniuses. Far from it! But it seems that the practice of specialization has produced experts in smaller units of study. The cultivation of teamwork approaches has therefore become more focused and consequently more prolific.

Needless to enumerate the many recent discoveries and developments made that are the result of this evolutionary process.

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Controversies.

Even the Prince of Denmark was not sure what to do. He thought thoroughly and at length what was 'to be' or 'not to be.'

Controversies are as old as the mountains. But they belong to humans. In other areas they are settled by sheer brute force, strength in numbers, survival and might. Not so with people, though the oldest biblical controversy was settled on no uncertain terms. Indeed, a tough way for starters.

But given that the human mind is presumably operated through intelligence, intellect, reason, logic and calculation, controversies enjoy a much higher rank. The resolution of conflicting controversies is consequentially more difficult and lacrimatory to arrive at, but the results are thrilling experiences.

Unfortunately, intellectual and other qualities, do not always manage to identify solutions which are absolutely satisfactory and welcome to one and all. It is a very relative business. A seemingly very equitable solution may be so to Peter but not to Paul. Robbing one to pay the other is unfair and unsatisfactory.

The function of an arbiter becomes indispensable. Still, it is difficult to find one that can be trusted with holistic infallibility and completely neutral.

Those with vested interest in the matter, or having controversial views, or prejudiced, both for or against, are logically eliminated from the list of the best apparent judges. But is it at all possible to discover a brain that is not in any way biased on a particular matter under consideration ?

It is indeed very difficult to pass a judgment on other people's actions and sometimes also on one's own. In his monologue, Hamlet, weighs and re-weighs all the alternatives. But it is doubtful whether he did in fact come to an emotionally balanced settlement.

This is only but to quote an instance where a controversy is obvious. Many other instances that are occurring continuously within our sights are legion.

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Traditions.

To state that all countries under this sun, and perhaps others elsewhere, have their own traditions, is an obvious statement. Whether such a belief is an over-under statement is not all that obvious! What constitutes traditions may become complex, debatable and flexible. There are so many elements to be taken into consideration, such as, culture, religion, environment, governance, beliefs nurtured by genrations of practice, art, craft and trends, to mention but a few.

More difficulties arise when traditions are gauged by any other given standards or dimensions that belong to other cultures other than the one being considered. For example, it would be very difficult to evaluate a tropical tradition through the eyes of the arctic circles.

Tradtions are unique and entirely belong to the country of origin, and should, therefore, be appreciated as such. In other words, one cannot qualify a set of traditions which are not one's own native, to any degree of accuracy, relying solely on one's own likes and dislikes, or as compared to the cultures that are traditional in one's own country.

But there are, of course, basic humbei (see elsewhere in my blogs to refresh meaning of humbei) traditions that are intrinsically traditional to all. A few that come to mind will be: equality in all its manifestations, fair and reasonable justice, rights and obligations, tolerance, property, peaceful living, and so on!

Perhaps, even some of the elements listed might not fit equally well in a societal set-up that does not accept them.

It would be safe to state, though, that the most expedient way to solve traditionally generated difficulties would be to, firstly, live in peace with one's own tradition, and, secondly, when confronted with divergent attitudes originating from near or distant forces, a workable medium is created and adhered to.

It is often the case that humbeis of diametrically opposed traditions manage to live in unison and in concordance with all that their status require of them.


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