Deviate

Seems like there is a fight brewing back in Edinburgh...come on guys, sort it out.
What's wrong with taking a minute or 3 to send a text message?

Clearly, I'm not 'in the know' but I definitely don't want to see my mates having problems with each other. That's not good. You're both big enough and ugly enough to sort it out, so please do so.
Love and hugs and all that stuff!

Tronic

Word of the week: 'Really'

'Cos they were really here. That'll be my students claiming they were in my class when in fact they were in their beds, recovering from a hangover.

Phrase of the week: 'Happy Birthday'

This was primarily brought on by a certain Munro - and not, that's not a 3,000 foot high mountain of Scottish origin, it's a bloke and a mighy fine one at that. Korean style birthdays seem to be celebrated in bars in much the same way as everywhere else, however, it appears that the 'thing' to do is to tell the management who then turn the lights out, crank up your choice of 'Happy Birthday' - the thrash version, the normal version or some other shocking versions - and then switch on the strobe lighting for the duration of the song. Cue nosebleeds, fits and temporary blindness. A definite health and safety issue.

Sight of the week: 'Children'

Don't like them. They are small. Have too much energy and that's it.

Song of the week: 'I ain't saying my goodbyes' by Tom Vek

Not a household name but who is these days? Simple guitar followed by highhat with a little bit of bass...then a distinctly London voice. Akin to the Rapture in sentiment in that it is defintely music to tap your feet to and some. Might even wiggle my hips to it. Noisy, brash and onrepeat.

Out

It's not my time yet. I ain't saying my goodbyes.

f.e.a.r

Not sure if you've followed this court case in some hick(!) State in America in which the parents of kids took the Education Department to court. They were challenging the Education Departments policy of teaching Darwin's theory of Evolution to the kids in class. The challengers wanted this 'Intelligent Design' theory brought in to replace it.
I'm not exactly fimailiar with Intelligent Design but it essentially suggests that us Humans were made or created by an intelligent being and were not at all here due to evolution. Of course, this 'intelligent being' is God - a Christian one.

I'm not really going to get into the Court case as I don't want to influence the jury /haha/ although i'm not sure that we should start mixing Government and Religion. They are both different entities. One we have a choice over and one which we don't but for both to become mixed and intertwined sets a dangerous preceent with certain Governments going down that particular path.

However, the reason I bring this up is the 2 conflicting 'theories' on how we got to where we are today.
Having a scientific background, I'm more concerned and interested in facts and evidence. Something hard and tangible which sways me towards the evolution side of the coin. It makes some degree of sense. Darwin suggests that 'only the fittest survive' and in my mind that is true. Humans with some genetic disease don't generally survive to produce offsprings resulting in the end of that particular genetic combination. One could argue that this is also true within other animal communities with more 'suitable' members of that community going forth and mulitiplying, enabling the next generation to live. And in turn this generation adapting to it's surroundings and continuing the cycle until 'something' happens with prevents the next generation from being produced. They are more longer able to adapt. When this happens, extinction occurs. It appears Dinosaurs could not adapt and paid the penalty. It could be that Humans eventally pay the penalty also.

Darwin and his peers presented this against a backdrop of evidence and it has yet to be proved wrong beyond all reasonable doubt, hence it's general acceptance.

This Intelligent Design, though, is essentially the Bible story in Genesis in which God created Man et al. and sent us on our way. The inherent problem with this is it's lack of concrete evidence to prove it. Equally, there isn't anything compelling enough to completely disprove it. Yet this particular idea does cover all the bases. Dinosaurs came before Humans, so where do they fit in? And what of the this fossilised evidence? Further, nobody has actually seen God. He /or she/ tends not to visit anymore. Despite any definite pointers to the authencity of this, there are believers, so much so that they want it taught in mainstream Schools. There have been believers for 2thousand years.
Science though is a way of explaining what is around us. It's a best fit model of 'everything' based on the evidence available. Perhaps something will turn up to prove or disprove the most fundamental aspects of our lives or existance. And that is the difference between the 'believers' and the rest. Evidence.

Whether or not a 'God' did create us is open to question. Perhaps. I'm sure some unknown force did help us on our way. I would be naive to suggest that it all happened completely by chance or as randomly as it seems given the size of the 'universe' but I do hace serious misgivings over the Christian concept as it is too simplistic and doesn't answer the most fundamental of points. Whether we will ever get an answer is something but we are only as good as the evidence allows us to be.

_

Abrupt

University was a time in which could be considered a time of self expression. Free thinking and radical thought. Debate and arguement. All interwoven with tales of pulling xyz and terrible hangovers whilst trying to listen to lectures on the p-orbitals of Carbon or something similiar. In fact, at times, lectures were more like monologues. A 1 way stream of consciousness that continued streaming, past you and out of the room, never to be caught or seen again.
Though, in general I didn't particularly stand out but then that was more by choice than anything else. I never had pink hair or wore a sarong. I just got on with what I had to do whilst enjoying it on the way. It never really occurred to me to be 'different' or outrageous. I was a student - not a great one but equally, not a bad one. I didn't get picked on, I got on well with my classmates and the people down the Union and that was fine. And I certainly didn't intend to do anything that would cause this to alter...

Yet, there is 1 student here at University who is trying his hardest to get himself a reputation for being different or even odd but I think that it is more to do with his beliefs than anything else. Every lunchtime at 12 noon he can be found outside the main building - nothing unusual with that - but the strange thing is, is that he is on his knees facing the sun...praying and bowing his head completely oblivious to those around him.

I'm not quite sure what to make of it. He definitey gets some 'looks' but I guess that he is too involved in what he is doing to notice. I have no idea when this ritual started or even how long he knees for but I'll give him credit for doing something he believes in and in such a public place and such a busy time of the day.

I might go and sit next to him and see what happens...

Catch

So...the shambles at Heart of Midlothian F.C. continues.

The baby faced one /clever enough and cool enough to be Chairman and Chief Exec./ has decreed that a certain Mr. Graham Rix is worthy to succed Burley as coach. Notice how he is not the 'manager' but 'coach'. That is a job for Romanov himself because he knows alot not just a alot but A LOT.

It's just a soap opera really. The Baby faced one promised a high profile successor with names like Bobby Robson and Ottmar Hitzfeld being mentioned yet they get Graham Rix. Formerly of Oxford Utd. In fact, sacked by Oxford Utd. I'm not even sure which league they are in these days. He had coached at Chelsea but 'only' coached.

'Puppet' springs to mind.

The Hearts fans are not impressed. They are equally unimpressed by the fact that he is a convicted sex offender. Of course, people can change their ways and be given a 2nd chance but do you think that opposition fans are going to be 'nice' to him? Not a chance...

He's going to have to win the league now. No question of it. The PR disasters of the past few weeks have seen to that. The Hearts fans will demand it.

And the last word to the baby faced one...he said when responding to a question about Rix's criminal record 'We in Russia have a saying 'A man beaten by life is worth 2 men that have never been beaten by life'.
Interesting. He thinks he's Cantona. Is there no end to this man's talent? Perhaps someone should tell him that he isn't actually Russian, he's Lithunianan.

Sorry, a minor detail akin to me saying i'm English when in fact i'm Scottish. A simple error.