Translate
Sunday 21 April 2024
AI
Sunday 31 March 2024
Easter
Saturday 10 February 2024
Error et descensus
One must remember:
Evil pretends to be the divine.
The wilfully guilty frame others for their sins.
Cruelty cloaks itself as the guardian of reason.
Those with nothing to say hide behind a wall of words.
The ignorant deceive with feigned wisdom.
Hence, truth must resonate more intensely.
Sunday 20 August 2023
Jokey Thoughts
Comedy is the universal language, even more so than Esperanto or interpretive dance. It reminds us not to take life too seriously, especially during a sock puppet presentation about fiscal responsibility. It’s a healing touch, and the best facial workout, the most fun way to burn calories without actual exercise. Plus, it's a great excuse when you trip in public – just call it physical comedy! It’s a refuge, reminding us that sometimes, life is just funny. In the words of a wise man I once heard in a coffee shop – "If we don't laugh, we'll cry." And as we all know, tissues are pretty expensive. Without it, life would be a never-ending episode of Monday mornings.
In a world full of spreadsheet errors, missed buses, and
mismatched socks, comedy is our shared relief, our collective exhale. It’s a way
of saying, “Don’t worry, you’re not the only one who falls over.” Comedy has
always been my go-to defence mechanism against awkward situations, existential
crises, and confusing instruction manuals. For it has the power to unite, to
heal, and to make us forget about that embarrassing thing we did last week.
Comedy shouldn’t just be about the nuances and implications of the Oxford comma, or developing a comprehensive understanding of why chickens really cross roads. Let's ensure all voices are heard and no joke is left unlaughed. It's paramount that everyone, regardless of background, gets the chance to groan at a bad joke.
Wednesday 12 July 2023
Dignus Est
The worthy wear no crowns, nor sit on golden thrones,
Their wealth is not in riches, but in love that they have shown.
Their court is in the fields of grace, beneath the boundless sky,
Their rule is not by edict, but by starlight in their eye.
Wednesday 8 March 2023
An Improvement Loop
Tuesday 29 November 2022
Journal 2022-11-29
Saturday 19 November 2022
Diagnosis
Saturday 12 November 2022
Putinland Disease
- 10% are fascist cheerleaders;
- 20% are broadly supportive of Putinland because they want to believe the Kremlin’s lies;
- 60% want to get on with life and be left alone;
- 9.99% are directly opposed to the regime, but are cowed because of the consequences;
- 0.01% are actively opposed.
Saturday 15 October 2022
Socially Sadistic and Masochistic Media
Monday 10 October 2022
Putinland
Sunday 12 June 2022
JBK
Saturday 9 October 2021
In One Billion Years
Saturday 18 September 2021
Journal 2021-09-18
It is quite an old joke that “it’s er” can sound like “sir” when introducing oneself. So I remember going to some event where I had to sign in at the front desk; I introduced myself as “it’s”, then as the man behind the desk was picking up his pen, I offered the dreaded “er”, before finally saying my name. He had a moment of sardonic glee, then sneered: “Sir Robert Walker, is it?”
I’m thinking of this now more as an observation of how some people engage in this world trying to subdue others. The man would have been a lot happier if he was interested in helping rather than hindering the people he met.
Tuesday 27 April 2021
Approval Addiction
Friday 2 April 2021
Podcast #6: Dawn
DAWN
BY ROBERT WALKER
Dead shadows dance in the night
yearning for the dawn.
Cold and forgotten walking scars,
drained by decay,
wasted by time,
stretch out,
hungered and blurred,
to a spark ignited,
climbing,
rising from the ground.
From the last depths,
rays of hope entwine in the sky,
kissing the hills;
breathing new life
and wonders layered in light.
Naked with joy, a new day, a new world is born.
Wednesday 17 February 2021
A Different Story (Gandalf the Great)
What would have happened if Gandalf had accepted Frodo’s offer of the One Ring?
Gandalf freezes, the shadow of the ring draws his hand nearer; and as the fire skips a beat, the ring falls into Gandalf’s pocket. “I shall keep the ring safe and unused. However if there is just cause to use it, I shall become the guarantor of peace,” announces Gandalf solemnly.
As night draws in, Gandalf looks back over the hills at the tiny flickering lights of the Shire. The wizard whispers to himself: “There is much to do. Much to do.” He notices the weight of his robes and the precious ring within.
Gandalf wanders, ruminating intensely upon the weaknesses of elves and men. He reasons that elves are incapable of comprehending the true power of the Ring, and would foolishly wish to destroy the golden future of Middle-earth. He knows that mere men are too easily corrupted by its power. Gandalf is absolutely resolved: he must keep the Master Ring his own secret, at all costs.
Gandalf sits on the crest of Weathertop. The days pass, the rain falls but Gandalf does not notice; he is lost in matters of deepest consequence. Then out of every corner of the darkness come the cries of The Nine: “The Ring. The Ring!”
Gandalf raises his staff and proclaims: “I am a servant of the Secret Fire, wielder of the Flame of Anor, your master, the Lord of the Ring!”
“The Ring. The Ring!” chant The Nine. As the Ring slides onto Gandalf’s finger, the sky erupts with lightning. “I am the bringer of light,” exclaims Gandalf in triumph.
Gandalf of Many Colours imprisons Saruman the Traitor and unifies elves and men against Sauron, destroying the Dark Lord and his Dark Tower of Mordor. Much rejoicing is had by all. Gandalf announces that there is much more to do – to the consternation of Aragorn, who is executed for treason, with all his followers, kinsfolk and other suspected spies of Elrond.
Gandalf later wears an imperial gown of black and proclaims himself the Lord High God of all Middle-earth. He anoints his Ringwraiths the Lords of Middle-earth, as a temporary edict to ensure order while the new Great Age of Wisdom is being forged. He puts his vast prison camps of heretics and traitors to work, building a bigger more magnificent tower on the ruins of the Dark Tower, called The Great Tower of Unity – as an example of beauty and perfection to all. Gandalf sits at the top of the tower in his golden throne room and ever-watches, ensuring his subjects are forever obeying his great will.
Gandalf is regularly overcome with anger at the disloyalty and ingratitude of his subjects, which necessitates public demonstrations of his great power, much to the amusement of the uruk-hai. Transgressors of the laws of Gandalf are sent to Mordor to learn more of The Way of Gandalf – they are not seen again.
One day, as the Lord High God of all Middle-earth is amusing himself with the antics of his hobbit court jesters, he sips from a chalice of poisoned wine, carefully prepared by his servant Grima Wormtongue. He takes his last gasp as the Ring slips from his withered finger onto the finger of his murderer. The Great Tower of Unity is renamed The Dark Tower.
But Gandalf had foreseen and refused this fate, placing his hope instead on the unnoticed deeds of hobbits. “Will you not take the Ring?” says Frodo. “No!” cried Gandalf, springing to his feet. “With that power I should have power too great and terrible. And over me the Ring would gain a power still greater and more deadly.” His eyes flashed and his face was lit as by a fire within. “Do not tempt me! For I do not wish to become like the Dark Lord himself. Yet the way of the Ring to my heart is by pity, pity for weakness and the desire of strength to do good. Do not tempt me!”
Friday 12 February 2021
Journal 2021-02-12
Imagine if each of your waking thoughts were logged and at the end of the day you read them back.
It would be line after line of the same thoughts pointlessly repeated.
Imagine if this were a person hanging around saying this monologue to you.
Would you be wanting more or would you prefer some peace and quiet?
Tuesday 9 February 2021
Speed Barriers
Galaxies are micro specks in the universe, yet the nearest galaxy to Earth is tens of thousands of light years away. This should make the ego feel silly, and the heart in awe at the unimaginable immensity of it all.
There are five stages in the human expansion story:
Intercontinental;
Interplanetary;
Interstellar;
Intergalactic;
Interuniversal?
To physically visit a planet at the intergalactic stage might be entirely irrelevant to an intelligent species that evolves to such a level to circumvent the speed of light – they may discover something fundamental to the nature of the universe that is completely incomprehensible to us, in our rudimentary stage of development.
Sunday 24 January 2021
Journal 2021-01-24
The “us” and “them” mentality is the biggest obstacle to overcome. There is only we.