Exit, pursued by ninjas

Less than a week until the WBC appear in Derby.

thefritch:

Any locals people to Derby, keep an eye on this blog cause I will post here, twitter and book-face if this appearance/protest/general opportunity to troll actually does happen.

If it does hold true then we are gonna have some fun!

Then probably end up at the pub after to celebrate once the extremists have given up/been arrested. :D

We have a counter protest group if you’re interested. I’m interested in the pub.

http://www.facebook.com/events/354160971279217/

Fate and Facetious Foolishness

Following a teacher’s comment that I could only leave the result of my interview in the hands of Fate- a comment following on from several conversations I’ve had with him before about Fate and whether there’s any point believing in it- I wrote this. It sounds quite dogmatic, but I was actually trying to find out whether he had anything to say in response. I’m still trying to work all this out, so any challenges or clarifications are more than welcome.

For one thing, whether or not someone is successful in interviews should not be down to external forces. I say “should not” because if said external force is assumed to be the specific Christian God, for example, who supposedly can be communicated to through the use of prayer (if we assume, based on the Christian, Islamic, and Hindu models of god/s that this is the case) and that this entity is supposedly omnibenevolent, applying an equal value to all of humanity and not seeking to cause harm, injury etc to any member of it; then the assumption made by the person sitting opposite me previous to interview that prayer might bring more luck can only be false, as in interview scenario a set number of places are available, meaning that a set number of people must miss out. If said external entity is omnibenevolent, a selfish desire that you personally avoid the disappointment which your taking of a place causes to someone else can only be ignored, rendering the prayer useless; and if indeed said entity isn’t omnibenevolent, what’s the bloody point in praying to them anyway? (Also, it violates the model of God.)

If we are even to assume that the entity responsible for influencing success or failure is something more abstract, which could be referred to simply as “fate”, this raises further questions. Subtracting all external influences from the model of the interview scenario, we have 400 people- the candidates- 160 places available, and a set of interviewers who make the decisions. If said decisions are, as they should be, based entirely on the merits of the candidates as displayed in the interview scenario, the outcome is that 160 people get places, and 240 are rejected. Those selected are chosen because the interviewers believe them to be the best choice based on evidence they have observed (or because Daddy has funded a new wing). If we then add Fate into the mix, the outcome is that 160 people get places, and 240 are rejected- however, this time, the people who receive places no longer absolutely have to be the right choices as observed by the interviewer, as Fate, an external entity, can affect this. What this means, then, is that if Fate has anything to do with interviews, then candidates who do not deserve places will have more chance of getting them, and those who do will have less. (The “daddy building a new wing” presumably guarantees a place for his little darlings regardless of Fate, but the power of the god of Money is not being discussed in this particular outpouring of vitriol.) This all has very worrying implications for the real world. While I have not proved here that Fate cannot intervene in the interview scenario, or that it doesn’t, I have, I hope, explained adequately why I don’t choose to believe that Fate has anything to do with my upcoming rejection from Warwick university, because quite simply I can’t see how it would give anyone any comfort.

In next week’s rant we will be discussing the implicit contradiction in having an English teacher who plays football; because most teachers wouldn’t know what to do with a ball, and I doubt many footballers would know what to do with a word.

Actually we won’t, I just wanted an excuse to use that joke.

Time I put myself to good use

I’m thinking of doing something slightly bonkers for charity this summer. I won’t have anything else to do (except panic about exam results) and I don’t have any plans to go to random Greek islands and get drunk. What I do have is a bike, determination, and a desire to do something good. All I need is a plan.

Provisionally, I’d like to cycle from my home county of Derbyshire to either John O’Groats or Land’s End and back, staying in village halls, churches, back gardens- wherever will have me really- taking less than two weeks if possible. Ideally I’d like to do it without money, relying on good will and offering work in exchange, but I know all that’s a bit thin on the ground at the moment, so I’ll just stick to a shoestring budget and survival rations. And I’m likely to be solo. 

So, things I’m not sure about- where will I go? Which charity will I do it for? (I was thinking of Sport Relief) Should I perhaps try and find someone to come with me? Have you got any ideas for ways I could make this stand out? And of course- does anyone think i’ll actually manage?

My life just gets more and more fascinating

This is an actual email exchange from earlier. I have changed the name slightly.

Teacher sent me this, title being simply “bike shed open”

I was thinking this too

asickmanisbutachild:

What I would have given for Sherlock or John to say ‘I love you’

• my laptop
• my car
• my first born child
• my life
• EVERYTHING

Maybe a tad extreme, but still, I was just hoping all the way through that he would say it. They both basically said everything but.

(Source: flockofangels, via padabecky)

Frustrated Cyclist Bear