Shadow Ban

The thought police running Facebook awarded them a shadow ban. Nobody really understands what that means other than things once public and visible to all are now hidden. A simple and blunt punishment for crossing a line; real, imagined or otherwise. So we're not sure where we stand. If there were/are rules then they are dynamic and changeable almost on a whim. Easy to cross or break or ignore and when you do you're banned and placed in the shadows where you can't easily be found. Don't bother trying to appeal this either, you're trapped and sentenced by an algorithm that couldn't really care less. Like a motorway pile up, everyone slows down for a look but then just drives on by and the incident is quickly forgotten. There's always a replacement to fill the space. In the end we'll all be quickly forgotten.

Strictly Bake Off

It's a media mash up from the telly folks. Dance and bake and bake and dance and be judged either a failure or a success. The nation awaits the final results to the point where nothing else really matters. It makes news. It fills a space. Why should we care about things we cannot change?

HappyBot1.png Reprise

The Title

The title of this piece is simply "THE INTEDDE INS INTDIDE".

It doesn't have make sense. 

I hope that is clear enough for everyone. 

Thank you.

Happy Bot is Happy

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(There will be no apology)

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Spanish Royalty

I had a little nut tree, nothing would it bear

But a silver nutmeg and a golden pear;

The King of Spain’s daughter came to visit me,

And all was because of my little nut tree.

I skipped over water, I danced over sea,

And all the birds in the air couldn’t catch me.

Obviously.

My Religious Past

I can clearly see that there is no religious future. These pictures are not evidence of anything. These words are not evidence of anything. I can clearly see my religious past. Well I thought I could until it disappeared into the mist. Now I can't see anything. It seems that the evidence has been deleted by nature's cleansing force. You can keep your crosses, shrines and holy books. Such is the power of badly constructed sentences placed one against the other.

One Way Street

We're cutting up rainbows

We're polishing the grass

I'd like you to take your ideals

And shove them up your ass

I wish it was that simple

As simple as inside my head

But you keep coming back and yellin'

You won't be happy till I'm dead.

We're smokin' and we're drinkin'

We're setting trees on fire

I'd like to reach a steady state

But my presence's not required

I wish I was a better man

And I wish that I was worse

But they keep tellin' me it's finished

Like that was some kind of curse.

Someday I'll just roll over

Someday I'll talk more sense

I know you really love me

But it makes no difference

I wish I was confident

In my opinions and beliefs

But the warning signs all tell me

Wrong way down a one way street.

Strollin' down that one way street.

Birthday of the Sun

First of all a game of truth and perception: There are three suns (or four) in the picture, only one of them is the real one. Can you spot it?

Today it is the official birthday of the golden sphere that hangs above our shapeless earth like a giant bonfire floating over the clouds. Heat, light and mysterious life giving rays are what it provides for our simple, pathetic human tribal existence. Scattered across the world we humans see the sun each day and seldom question how it remains in place and burns so bright. Truth is we'll never know as there is no such thing as proper science anymore. Ask any school child and they'll tell you. So as we ponder a future that may never come then think on this: how many of you have ever thanked our friend the sun for all that effort and hard work or even sent out a simple birthday card on a day like this? 

Below is a possible picture of the eventual death of the sun or perhaps a comet or a meteorite or just another heavenly disturbance.

Timely Collage

Another timely collage: designed and planned as a swift reminder that things are, quite simply, what they are. That does not mean that we should necessarily put up with them. Seek the simpler pleasures in life,

A Skull Short Story

An original piece inspired by the story of a skull who comes to dinner: In a Flemish folktale a castellan* kicks against a skull while going for a walk on the churchyard. He says to the skull,"if there's any life in you, you're invited for dinner this evening". That evening the skull shows up for dinner.

*A castellan is the title used in Medieval Europe for an appointed official, a governor of a castle and its surrounding territory referred to as the castellany. The title of governor is retained in the English prison system, as a remnant of the medieval idea of the castellan as head of the local prison.

I Buy a Ghost

All Your Imaginings

All these common thoughts of fairy tales. The light and the darkness. The balance and the distortion. The thrill. The grand finale. They are somewhere out there but they are also somewhere in here. That's not actually all that disturbing when you think about it. It's how things are, straightforward and predicable ... mostly.

Normal Stats

"It's a relief when the stats calm down, when the go back to normal. High numbers are hard to understand, low numbers aren't scary or stressful. The web offers no explanation either, no context. Some bots just ran amok and now there's a list. Some actions and instructions that don't make sense. That's the only reasonable explanation. There was no interaction with fellow humans or replicants, it was all just code and spyware and maybe even some real spies. You need to look elsewhere for miracles."

That's my quick summery of the New Testament now complete.

Free Four

Following what can only be described as a strange series of events triggered by I don't understand what this story somehow fell into my lap. I didn't write it, I didn't think about it, I don't know who did, I don't know where it came from ... but it came from somewhere.

Dr. Simon Tomlin studied the man sitting across the table from him. Rocking back and forth in his chair, with his shoulders slouching, his eyes darting all around the room, and his upper lip twitching every few seconds, the man conveyed a distinctly squirrel-like impression. It was hard to believe that, before his breakdown, this man had been one of the foremost number theorists in the world.

"How are you today, Professor Ersheim?" asked Dr. Tomlin.

"Fine, fine, thank you, just fine," replied the man without looking at him.

"Have you been sleeping all right?"

"Oh, yes, I've been sleeping quite well, sleeping like a baby," replied Ersheim, nodding vigorously in sync with his rocking. Still no eye contact.

"That's good to hear."

Ersheim suddenly stopped rocking and looked straight at Tomlin, eyes bulging. "Oh, cut the nice-guy act, Doctor," he said sharply. "I know you think I'm crazy, don't you think I know you think I'm crazy? That's what everyone thought about Laszlo Bleem, too; that's what they want you to think." He stared at Tomlin, not moving, not blinking.

"Who are you talking about, Professor? Who wants everyone to think you're crazy?"

"The numbers, Doctor, the numbers. They say that numbers don't lie, only they do, they lie all the time, they've always lied. But not to me -- oh, no, I see through their deceptions, I know what they're hiding," said Ersheim. He started rocking again.

"And what would that be, Professor?"

"Bleem, that's what. Bleem!" shouted Ersheim, banging his fists against the desk. He then leaned close to Tomlin and whispered, "The secret integer between three and four."

"We have been over this, Professor -- there is no integer between three and four."

"Tell that to Laszlo Bleem, Doctor," said Ersheim. "Only you can't -- he's dead," he added, giggling. Then he whispered, "He died for trying to expose bleem."

"Laszlo Bleem died in a car accident, Professor."

"Oh, grow up! The man published a paper detailing his discovery of an up-until-now unknown integer somewhere between one and twenty, stating that he was working on a proof of its existence and exact location, and a week after the paper is published -- poof! Bleem dies in a car crash, and his house burns down, destroying all of his written notes. The next day the computer system at his university crashes, erasing all of his electronic notes. Bleem got too close, see, and he was eliminated. Just as I'm going to be, if you don't listen to me."

At this point, Tomlin decided that it was time to play his trump card.

"All right Professor, let's say that there is, as you say, a secret integer between three and four. Positive integers are counting numbers, right?"

"That's right, Doctor," nodded Ersheim, and then, as if to confirm that fact, he began counting, moving his head from side to side: "one, two, three, bleem, four . . ."

"That's enough, Professor," interrupted Tomlin. "Now, if bleem is a counting number, that means that you can have bleem of something."

"Of course," said Ersheim. "I didn't know you were a mathematician, Doctor." He looked at Tomlin with what was probably meant to be a smile, but looked more like a scowl.

"Just bear with me, Professor," said Tomlin as he reached into his pocket and drew out a little plastic bag.

"What's that, Doctor?" asked Ersheim.

"Jelly beans," said Tomlin, smiling, as he tore open the packet and emptied its contents, about two dozen multi-coloured jelly beans, onto the desk.

"Now Professor Ersheim, I'd like you to please separate bleem of these jelly beans from the rest," said Tomlin, a self-satisfied grin on his face.

"All right," said Ersheim, and reached over and moved three jelly beans over to his side of the desk. He looked at them with suspicion, then looked back at the main pile, then back at the three lying before him, and quickly grabbed another one and put it next to them. He studied the four jelly beans for a moment, then slid the fourth one back toward Tomlin, but when it was about halfway to the main pile, he snatched it back and added it to the three, visibly agitated. He then picked up each of the four jelly beans and held it up to his eyes, turning it this way and that, looking at it with deep mistrust. When he had inspected all of the jelly beans, he sat back in his chair, a look of frustrated resignation on his face.

"I can't do it, Doctor," he said.

"So bleem is not an integer after all," said Tomlin triumphantly.

"No!" screamed Ersheim and swept his hand over the desktop, sending the jelly beans flying all over the room. "Bleem exists! Something prevented me from separating bleem jelly beans! I could have three or four, but not bleem!"

"Calm down, Professor. I was here, I watched what you were doing, and there was nothing restraining you, nothing preventing you from separating out bleem jelly beans except for the fact that bleem doesn't exist."

"But it does exist," said Ersheim timidly. He added, with growing conviction, "It does exist. And I can prove it!"

"How can you prove it, Professor, if you insist that there is an omnipresent, invisible force keeping it secret?"

"Remember, Doctor," said Ersheim, his tone conspiratorial, "that I'm a mathematician, and a damn good one. All of mathematics has been doctored in order to conceal bleem's existence, see, but it wasn't doctored perfectly, oh no. There is an obscure branch of number theory that I helped invent about twenty years ago, and I think I can apply some of its theorems to prove that, in order for mathematics to be consistent, there must be an integer between three and four. That was the topic of my lecture during which I was so rudely interrupted by several of my colleagues and lost my temper."

Lost your temper indeed, thought Tomlin. It had taken two weeks to repair all the damage to the lecture hall.

"Those colleagues didn't seem impressed by your proof, Professor," said Tomlin.

"That's because I haven't worked out all the particulars of the proof yet," said Ersheim. "And even if I had, none of those idiots knows the first thing about my research," he added angrily. "But I'm close, Doctor, I can feel it. Just let me out of here, let me return to my research, and I'll have the proof in just a few months. Or at least allow me access to a pen and some paper so that I can work in here."

Ersheim was clearly agitated, so Tomlin decided not to aggravate him further.

"All right, Professor," said Tomlin, "I'll think about what you've told me. I just have one more question for you."

"What's that, Doctor?"

"What possible reason could anyone have to keep secret the existence of a number?"

"I'm not sure," said Ersheim, shaking his head. "Perhaps bleem has some mystical properties -- don't give me that look, Doctor -- or is believed to have them. Numerology has always had a fanatical following." After a moment's pause, Ersheim's face lit up with excitement. "Or perhaps the knowledge of bleem would allow us to attain a much higher level of mathematical sophistication. It might allow us to come up with a mathematically viable theory of time travel, or faster-than-light communication, or who knows what else."

"I see," said Tomlin, "and you really think the discovery of bleem might make these things possible?"

"I don't know, but who's to say it won't?" said Ersheim with a shrug.

"I see your point," said Tomlin. "Well, Professor, I'm very glad we had this talk. You've given me a lot to think about. I'll see you in a couple of days."

They shook hands, and Ersheim left the room. Tomlin sat there for a while, looking at the jelly beans strewn about on the floor.

How sad, thought Tomlin, that a man who has devoted his entire life to the study of numbers should come to think that those very numbers are out to get him. It made sense, of course, that the paranoia manifested itself in relation to something that Ersheim was already obsessed with.

Tomlin was not entirely pleased with that afternoon's session. He had hoped that the jelly bean example would force Ersheim to see the absurdity of his position, but all it did was aggravate him. Still, such a strong reaction indicated that perhaps Tomlin had hit upon a sensitive spot in Ersheim's delusion.

Satisfied that some progress had been made, Tomlin packed up his things and went home. Before leaving the hospital, he instructed the attendants who watched Ersheim that their patient should under no circumstances be allowed access to writing materials.

Tomlin had trouble getting to sleep that night. Every time he closed his eyes, he was confronted by visions of an army of giant numerals closing in on him, guided by a shadowy shape that was bleem. Frustrated, he pulled out a notepad he kept by his bedside, and wrote down the numbers between one and ten. They look so harmless, he thought, just squiggles on a sheet of paper, and yet numbers lie at the foundation of science, and thus make modern civilization possible. He looked at them again, with more respect, and mentally read them off, one by one. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten. They were all there; there was neither need nor room for bleem. His mind finally at ease, Tomlin went to sleep.

He was awakened next morning by the ringing of his telephone. It was Gene, one of the attendants from the hospital. Ersheim was gone.

Tomlin rushed to the hospital. Upon arrival, he was greeted by Gene, who explained to him what had happened, denying responsibility at every opportunity. Ersheim had been fine at ten the previous evening, when Gene last checked on him, but when Gene made his morning rounds at six, Ersheim was not in his room. Ersheim's door was locked from the outside, and the night watchman reported nothing out of the ordinary. As far as anyone could tell, Ersheim had vanished into thin air.

"I think you should see his room," added Gene when he was finished.

Tomlin followed Gene to Ersheim's room. When he saw it, his worst fears were confirmed.

The walls of the room were covered with equations. Rows upon rows of mathematical symbols, most of which Tomlin did not recognize, written by an unsteady hand in reddish purple ink. Ersheim had to have worked nonstop all night by the light of the moon.

Looking around the room, Tomlin noticed in one of the corners a little pool of what must have served as Ersheim's ink. He walked over to it and found a plastic cup that had been knocked over. Dipping his finger in the ink, he tasted it. Grape juice. Floating in the puddle of juice was a crude writing implement fashioned out of a drinking straw. Piled up in another corner of the room were all of Ersheim's clothes. There was no sign of Ersheim himself.

"Looks like he left us a little snack," said Gene from behind Tomlin.

Tomlin turned around to see Gene standing next to the night table. Gene was reaching for one of three small dark objects lying on the table.

"Don't touch those!" yelled Tomlin.

"They're just jelly beans, Doc," replied Gene, as he flicked one of them into the air.

Tomlin watched in horror as the jelly bean described a parabola in the air, ending up in Gene's mouth.

"Want one?" asked Gene, motioning at the remaining jelly beans.

Tomlin looked down at the night table. There were three jelly beans on the tabletop.

 

When Experts get it Wrong

Celebrities doing normal things: 

 Hilary Clinton experimenting with various pastry recipes then looking up into a clear sky for further inspiration.

Watching the Defectives

I can't believe that it's February 2021 already. I have been asleep. 

Never mind that did I ever tell you of my interest in Film Noir? It's a limited thing, very much a monochrome kind of interest, fleeting you might even say. I just drift in and out like a badly written character. Femme fatales are tough to take, bent cops, hard bitten ex-boxers, losers and creeps and somewhere in the mix an honorable if cynical detective. He never thought that it would come to this. The car was unreliable. She was so ... unpredictable. Hide the gun.

There were shadows pasted all across the alley, all across the room. Anytime, day or night, always shadows. Trees and headlights, doors slam and coffee, way too much coffee dished up in that chrome diner with the stale waitress. Why are we stuck in the USA? She ought to get out of town, Mexico maybe. Now the jealous husband has turned up and the jailbird is following him with a case of hard cash. More shadows.

We all need to do the right thing but maybe in the wrong way. Or was it the wrong thing in the right way? The camera seldom lies and the cinema always attracts. The plot is always obvious but you can never predict the twist. In the end you'll feel like you've been through the ringer. You didn't sleep, you drank too much, you lost your job and you didn't get the girl. It's a noir world, not just in France but everywhere.