DON'T CAST ASPERGIONS

Richard said that he recently did an online AQ test and passed. I'm not sure what he means by 'passed' whether it meant that yes he has Aspergers or no he doesn't. Or maybe after doing the test he passed out.

Anyway I found an online test and did it and received a score of 18. This apparently means that I don't have Aspergers and am below the borderline rating.

The ratings are sort of explained by someone named Justine on AspergersTest.net:

"Interpreting Your AQ Score
Basically the range for possible answers is 0 to 50. The information below shows you the different ranges as recorded from others sitting this same AQ quiz over the years.
0-11 low result – indicating no tendency at all towards autistic traits.
11-21 is the average result that people get (many women average around 15 and men around 17)
22-25 shows autistic tendencies slightly above the population average
26-31 gives a borderline indication of an autism spectrum disorder. It is also possible to have aspergers or mild autism within this range.
32-50 indicates a strong likelihood of Asperger syndrome or autism.
In fact, scores of 32 or above are one of strong indicators of having as ASD.
It is important to keep in mind that this quiz and the result you got are a useful tool, but are by no means a form of diagnosis or asperger’s syndrome or an autism spectrum disorder. If your resulting AQ score was above 31 then you may want to follow up with a medical practitioner to do further tests in order to determine 100% if you do have an ASD or aspergers.


If you suspect that you or someone you care about is affected by asperger then it is important that you continue to learn more about this condition. You can begin on this website with some of the useful articles that are here and more that will be added in the future.
Simon-Baron-Cohen, a psychologist from Cambridge’s Autism Research Centre was assisted by his colleagues in the development of this AQ test. This Autism Spectrum Quotient quiz was created to give an indication of autism spectrum disorder traits in adults.

It is interesting to note that 16.4 was the average score that people received in the first major trial of this autism test. Another point of interest is that around 80% of those actually diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder got an AQ score of 32 or higher out of the maximum 50."

 I'm suspicious of online personality and IQ tests and see them about as useful as Rorschach Tests although recently one of Richard's alter egos Angry Jesus did a Rorschach Test and it confirmed that he was a nutter.

See HERE

NEW POST - THE RELIGIOUS CURMUDGEON

 The Religious Curmudgeon got a bit upset that The Food Curmudgeon had wandered into his territory with publication of a post about the origins of Easter Eggs.

He got cross about it and published himself a post about the origins of Hot Cross Buns.

THE ORIGIN OF HOT CROSS BUNS

Given the negative comment by Richard (of RBB) about the length of The Food Curmudgeon's post (old Richard hasn't got the reading powers he once had), The Religious Curmudgeon has kept his post short and to the point.

NEW POST - THE CURMUDGEON EXPRESS

AND SO IT HAPPENS





.

NEW POST - THE FOOD CURMUDGEON

THE FOOD CURMUDGEON has a new and timely post:

THE ORIGIN OF EASTER EGGS

DRONING ON ..... AND ON

No, not this although it can be annoying as the woman in the picture indicates ....

It's this generally unlicensed and unregulated little fucker that's putting not only our privacy but also our lives in danger.

THE DANGER OF DRONES

The very near miss at Auckland the other day shows how dangerous these things are and how irresponsible the fuckers are who 'fly them'. I fully support the call for prison sentencing for anyone operating drones in a manner that puts people at risk. Do we really need to have a major incident before the namby pamby legislation is changed?

THE CURMUDGEONS INC. - THE REAL DEAL

I must admit that I was a bit worried a few days ago as I was dreading being offered a job. This would have cut out at least three and a half days a week  of my precious time and would have meant that my blogging frequency, if not the quality might have slipped down to the dangerously low levels that Richard's Bass Bag and his associated blogs are now operating at.


Que mal.

As it turned out I didn't receive a job offer so I'm a free man - relatively as on hearing of this I then (stupidly?) offered my time and services to a community organisation. It then occurred to me that without a job and my contribution to household expenditure I'm hoping that The Old Girl who works around the clock will continue to support me in the manner which I like to be kept. As it turns out, the apartment sale looks like it's going through (it's not over though until the fat lady sings though) so the financial pressure will be off. Good news is that not only can I continue to post but the seventeen other blogs that I 'caretake' will be able to post.

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All good and I'm set to go but as today was just so lovely I played tennis between 8.30 and 11.30 so blogging took a 'back seat'.

The Old Girl who is in Auckland, working, and who is handling the apartment sale details went to view a Queen Street apartment today and reported that it's ideal so we may put in an offer to buy. It's smaller but cheaper than the one we've sold so will be mortgage free. I'll have to get cracking doing due diligence on this and helping out T.O.G. where I can.

I went into town this afternoon to scope out buying a car and a trailer. I went to the trailer place first and found that the model I want is not only on special this month at $1700 but has $400 worth of extras added including a spare wheel and a decent cover. I then went to some car dealers and found just the thing I want. I'll negotiate a price including a tow-bar and less a trade in price for my little car next week.

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So this is why you won't be seeing eighteen new posts today but, rest assured, there will be lots of interesting things coming your way soon.

What's Richard's excuse?

BACK TO BEING A LAZY BASTARD*

* As Robert views retirees and the unemployed.

I applied for a job a couple of weeks ago and had an interview. I didn't hold out much hope of getting it - what with being an old bastard and all but we needed to service a hefty mortgage on the Auckland apartment.

On the weekend we sold the apartment for the nett amount we wanted and can now clear the mortgage with enough cash left over to buy another, smaller 1 bedroom one and a car and trailer.
As this then takes the financial pressure off I was hoping that I wouldn't be offered the job I interviewed for. Today I received notice that I didn't get the job which I was thankful for.

With another, more robust car with a towbar and a cage trailer I'll be able to get stuck into the garden and clear a load of rubbish. I'll also be able to get involved again in community projects (unpaid) that are worthwhile.

This means also that I can continue to play tennis on Tuesdays and Thursdays and a bit more golf. On Wednesday mornings there is a golf 'haggle' named the LOBs. Some people say that LOBs stands for lovely old blokes but a lot of others say it stands for Lazy Old Bastards.

I could realise an ambition to start up a small business in the community - looking after people's properties as there are a lot of absentee owners of baches and holiday homes up here but as The Old Girl says " you can hardly look after your own property matey".

SATURDAY NICE. SUNDAY NICE TOO.

The 'sheep' were cast members dressed in full-body fluffy outfits with Venetian masks. Brilliant.

We saw Leonard Bernstein's  CANDIDE on Saturday night at the Auckland Town Hall.
This was great  entertainment - more in the Gilbert and Sullivan operetta style rather than formal opera but brilliant nevertheless.

 New Zealand Opera, Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra and Freemasons' NZ Opera chorus all came together to put on a first class show with the chorus joining in the farce with great enthusiasm and drama. I'm so glad we went to see this. The quality of performance that we have in Australia and New Zealand is outstanding. I hope that others can get to see this.

The version we saw was the one that Bernstein updated from his 1956 original and had input from Stephen Sondheim which shows in the lyrics. It's almost as if he had input from Kurt Weill  as well (although he was dead when Bernstein wrote this) with the sometimes edgy compositions that underscored Bernstein's comic European operetta tunes and modern dance rhythms.

Outstanding.

Lynn bought us great seats alongside the stage that was like a catwalk designed as a pier with the orchestra and the chorus at the 'T' end. We were right alongside the action and caught all of the great expressions the actors used - including the chorus who got into the action physically.

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We signed the sale documents for the apartment on Saturday afternoon and hopefully now we are all good to go.

On Sunday morning before I caught the bus north after an excellent brunch at the inner city 'Scarecrow' urban grocer deli we went for a walk around Auckland's legal and university-fringe precinct to look at potential 1 bedroom apartment options (from the outside).  We had a look at a character building that we've long admired and then moved on. Serendipity came into play and The Old Girl spotted a woman walking down the road towards us with an 'Open Home' sign under her arm. T.O.G. told her we were looking to buy an apartment and bingo, she led us back to the apartment building we had just been looking at. We went upstairs to view a 1 bedroom apartment that has almost everything we are looking for. It's for sale by auction though which is something we haven't considered in the past but, knowing that we will be cash buyers in a few weeks we might go to the auction and hope for a good deal.

After leaving this apartment building we continued on our way up the same street to look at another building we like and sure enough there was an 'Open Home' sign outside . we went in and looked at a studio apartment that is smaller than what we desire but a hell of a lot under our budget. If it was down to me I'd buy it on the spot but I'm not the one that will be living there. T.O.G. will be there 4 nights a week so it's only fair that we get something that she likes.

Still, it's encouraging. We have reconciled ourselves to the fact that a 30 square metre (plus or minus) 1 bedroom apartment in inner city Auckland will cost as much as a 3 bedroom house with section in other cities in New Zealand.

We continued our walk back to our own (for the next month) apartment and looked at a few other desirable buildings. I'll be busy over the next few weeks looking at options.

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It was a great weekend and I've arrived back in sunny Northland to a magic afternoon. I opened a bottle of Deutz Blanc de Blanc and am sipping away while writing this with late afternoon sunlight coming through the study window.

I don't know if it was the 'opera' that has inspired me for my evening meal but on the way home I stopped off at the local supermarket and bought the makings for lasagne with a rocket and pear salad.
I also bought a Sara Lee tirimisu dessert (don't tell The Old Girl).
That with a nice Waipara Pinot Noir should make the evening go well.

THIS WORLD IS THE BEST OF ALL POSSIBLE WORLDS - LEIBNIZ ON OPTIMISM

I'm off to Auckland this afternoon.
The Old Girl has booked us to see Candide this evening, Leonard Bernstein's operetta as done by Opera New Zealand, Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra and the Freemasons New Zealand Opera Chorus. Should be great fun.

The story of Candide (from Voltaire's novel of the same name is of 'mindless optimism' in a greedy and unforgiving world. Sounds like the premise of a John Oliver Last Week Tonight show in Trumpland.

GLITTER AND BE GAY

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Coincidentally I'm also going to Auckland to sign sale documents for our Auckland apartment.

We got news yesterday afternoon that an offer is in which we've accepted so if all goes well the apartment is sold and will change hands at the end of April.

Of course that means that The Old Girl will be homeless in Auckland. We'll miss the apartment, particularly the view but we need to downsize to clear the mortgage. We'll be on the hunt immediately to buy a 1 bedroom apartment for her to use during the week. I discovered an outstanding one in the central city that we can afford. It's an old heritage building with apartments of character with high ceilings. Yesterday I contacted the agents to discover that it's 'under contract'. Bummer!

We'll be like Candide and Cunegonde, naive optimists exploring Auckland's greedy and unforgiving property world.

NEW POST - THE MUSIC CURMUDGEON

The Music Curmudgeon stepped in with a new post that is really on behalf of all the curmudgeons of THE CURMUDGEONS INC.ⓒ as the post could easily belong to any of the different themes/personalities. It touches on an issue in our society that is disturbing and that goes largely unreported and unfixed.

WHY ARE 'ROCK STARS' SACRED?

A NEAR MISS

As I was driving around the bays after playing tennis this morning and as I was going uphill a black Holden SS came around a corner on the wrong side of the road as the driver was passing a lorry. He just fucking missed me necessitating a universal one fingered salute from me.

What was wrong with this idiot? He was passing on a blind corner - at a greater speed than the speed limit. I didn't get his rego number being more concerned with avoiding the arsehole (and of course giving the universal one fingered salute).

*****************

The New Zealand Transport Agency has taken ownership a lot of the offences relating to driving that were previously incorporated in the old Police offences Act.

In many ways these are a watered down version of what went before and no wonder we have such bad driving on our roads.

See this Fact sheet from The New Zealand Transport Agency:

DRIVING OFFENCES

I prefer the old New Zealand Police Offences 1908:

NEW ZEALAND POLICE OFFENCES . 1908, No. 146.

Furious Driving 

Every person is liable to a fine not exceeding ten pounds Offences by persons who, in or upon any public place, Being the driver, rides on any cart, dray, or wagon without ' reins, no competent person having charge of the animal drawing the same, or is away from his horse or cattle so as to be unable to have the full control thereof ; or acts as driver or has the sole charge of more than one vehicle, unless in cases where two of such vehicles and no more are drawn each by one horse only, and the horse of the hinder of such vehicles is attached by a sufficient rein to the back of the foremost of such vehicles ; or drives any vehicle whatever or rides any animal and, when meeting any other vehicle or animal, does not keep on the left or near side of the road or street, or, when passing any other vehicle or animal going in the same direction, does not go or pass, or does not allow any person desirous so to do to pass, when practicable, on the right or off side of such other vehicle or animal; or furiously or negligently rides or drives any animal or vehicle, or any engine, carriage, or conveyance of any kind; or drives any vehicle laden with any goods or materials which project on either side more than five feet from the centre of such vehicle or, drives or allows to stand any cart, coach, or other vehicle with the curtain, covering, or awnings thereof unfastened and liable to be flapped about by the wind so as to frighten or be calculated to frighten horses ; or being the driver or guard of a public vehicle for the conveyance of passengers, allows more passengers to enter or remain in or upon such vehicle than it is licensed to carry, or wilfully delays on the road, uses any abusive or insulting language to any passenger, or, by reason of intoxication, negligence, or other misconduct, endangers the safety or property of any passenger or other person, or demands or exacts more than the proper fare due from any passenger ; or drives any dog or goat harnessed or attached to any vehicle ; or permits any cattle to be at large, or without proper guidance, or to wander, or to be herded or grazed, or unlawfully obstructs or prevents the driving of any cattle; or sets on, urges, or permits any dog or other animal, whether or not being the owner of such dog or animal, to fight, attack, or worry any other dog, or to attack or worry or put in fear any person or animal, or, by ill-usage or negligence in driving any cattle, causes any mischief to be done by such cattle; or leaves any plough, harrow, cart, or other vehicle without reasonable excuse ; or being in charge of any traction-engine, propels or causes the same to be propelled along or over any public road, highway, street, or bridge, unless the engine is accompanied by two men.

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I like the language used in the 1908 version - particularly FURIOUS DRIVING. It seems more pejorative somehow.

Also, as the Holden SS the arsehole was driving has 362 horsepower the old version can get him on 363 counts.

WHAT HE LOOKED LIKE COMING DIRECTLY AT ME

WHAT I HOPE HE LOOKS LIKE SOON (WITH NO OTHER VEHICLES INVOLVED)

JOB INTERVIEWS

 I had an interview for a job last week. I'm superbly suited for the job so, being now elderly I'm sure that I won't get it. The employers will no doubt opt for a younger and less qualified person who they can control. I've mentioned this before. See HERE

I heard today about another job vacancy. CEO of FONTERRA. The present overpaid incumbent has lost well over a billion dollars in the last couple of years (and 350 million in the last six months alone) through his foolhardy actions and yet has still pulled in an eight million dollars per year salary. With this job I think that I'm not at all qualified for it as there's no way in hell that I could lose so much money for a company and, if I'd been doing the job instead of him it's likely that I would have made a profit for them us. Maybe I should apply.

FONTERRA PROFIT TUMBLES

A REAL CHARLIE

You may have noticed that I give Richard of Richard's Bass Bag* a bit of a hard time regarding his preoccupation with matters to do with going to the toilet and his aversion to public conveniences. He has a big trip overseas planned this year and will no doubt have a few anxious moments. At least he's only going to Italy though where they do have adequate facilities. The Romans invented plumbing afterall. It could be worse - he could be going to India or an Asian country where public and even private conveniences are a bit of a challenge.

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I read today about Prince Charles that arrogant pompous fool who's been hanging around the Royal Family for seemingly forever. This prat has his own toileting idiosyncrasies as recounted in a new book being released this week. In it there are claims about how he likes to live and travel.  It reveals how he insists on travelling with a complete staff and all his own furnishings, including his own toilet seat and toilet paper.

Kate Hawkesby: My eye-opening flight with Prince Charles

Maybe Richard isn't so nuts after all. 

* Not the original one - it was called Richard's Bass Bagg previously.

STRANGE

AINT IT STRANGE

I've been a bit strange today and I think that it's been due to migraine.
Sometimes migraine symptoms are easy to recognise in the visual aura or headache but today it has been in the inability to read anything that makes sense or to do a crossword or other word puzzle.

Needless to say Richard's posts made absoluteLy no ENse to me And Robert's did - a clear indication that something was wrong.

I suspect that I may have written strange comments on Richard's blog and if so I apologise.

I took some migraine medication which makes me really sleepy. When taking Lynn and our weekend guest, a workmate of Lynn's to the bus this afternoon I got her to drive as I didn't trust myself. I drove home carefully and fortunately made it.

While typing this the letters are 'dancing' a bit so I hope that it is readable. Thank you Mr Check Spelling.

For anyone who hasn't experienced migraine it's like a mini-stroke where it's difficult to read and write and even to form sensible speech. It is I guess, if I was brave enough to imbibe such a thing, like drinking too much 'cleanskin' wine.

BRANDED

BRANDED

I used to watch this TV Western in the 1960s and am sure that Richard did too. We didn't have a lot of choice in entertainment in those days and generally just watched what was served up on the initially one then two TV channels.

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Why BRANDED you may ask? Well a few weeks back Richard decided to add an extra 'G' to his blog Richard's Bass Bag to make it Richard's Bass Bagg. It's sort of like promoting a Lance Corporal with one stripe to a Corporal with two stripes.

Sad I know but the old guy was desperate because of flagging readership and needed to create extra interest *. I was wondering what next? - an extra 'G' and a stripe to make the blog a Sergeant but no, it seems that it got busted down to Lance Corporal again and now only has the one 'G'.

Still, it's been the most exciting happening on his blog for some time.





* (It didn't work as The Bass Bagging Confederation folded soon after)

HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY

"Sectare Fidem is our rule,

We'll hold our faith while we have breath.
Loyal to home, church, crown and school,

St Patrick's sons we'll remain to death."

I attended St Patrick's College Wellington in the 1960s and don't remember celebrating St Patrick's day. Everything was blue back then, not green.

Thanks for modelling guys.

 The only thing green as I remember was the jealousy of the kids in the 'G' and lower classes who envied the kids in the 'P' classes.

We did have a statue of old St Pat but it was white as I remember.

Certainly not as flamboyantly gay as this image that richard cherishes hides used in his latest post HERE .

WOW! TWITTER IS A BUSY FORUM.

THE TWITTER CURMUDGEON may well prove to be a force to reckon with. The format of a few lines of up to the minute scathing observations is just what this modern, social media world that has the attention span of a goldfish needs. Who wants to take the time to read a carefully constructed, erudite and worthwhile post from THE CURMUDGEON and other members of THE CURMUDGEON INC.ⓒ when they can get a quick fix on Twitter? This leaves the old tired formats like RICHARD'S BASS BAGG well down the reading list. Robert's disappearing blog won't even get a look in.

So, it looks like THE TWITTER CURMUDGEON is here to stay. There are already dozens of Twitter post written (it would be good to come up with another word for these as 'Twitter posts' is a lot of letters to type. I haven't got time to alert all my readers of new posts by THE TWITTER CURMUDGEON but will try to give you a weekly alert and provide a link to the blog like THIS

ANNOUNCING: THE TWITTER CURMUDGEON

As THE CURMUDGEONLY LUDDITE mentioned in his latest post, Twitter - the instant social media messaging tool is too bloody difficult to set up so we at THE CURMUDGEONS INC.ⓒ  have decided to create our own instant messaging blog - THE TWITTER CURMUDGEON.

This in no way detracts from the excellent contributions that THE CURMUDGEON EXPRESS makes and he will continue in his role. THE TWITTER CURMUDGEON will report using pithy though important statements on current events as he sees them.


THE TWITTER CURMUDGEON's inaugural 'Tweet' is HERE

NEW POST - THE CURMUDGEONLY LUDDITE

The Curmudgeonly Luddite has a new post HERE

NEW POST - THE RELIGIOUS CURMUDGEON

The Religious Curmudgeon has had a couple of wines and decided to write a post on religion and education ( or at least that's what he said).

See HERE

NEW POST - THE CURMUDGEON'S AGONY AUNT

The Curmudgeon's Agony Aunt has a new post HERE

TAKING FOR GRANTED

We're all guilty of it - taking for granted many of the things around us and just sort of expect it to be there without giving much thought to the effort that someone has put into making things nicer for us.

Richard in his latest post HERE talks about just that from the perspective of a musician.
He felt that the band performed well, helping to make the evening a success but they were underpaid and it seems underappreciated. In his earlier post HERE he indicates the preparation that goes in to a gig, even a small local one. The 24 tunes all have to be charted and practised meaning that a lot more time than the actual performance is put in by the musicians and in particular the band leader.

In the photograph that Richard used (taken from Facebook) the band leader, Richard, isn't even in the photograph.

I'm aware that I've been at gallery openings, exhibitions, cocktail parties and dinners where musicians have been playing in the background. I've enjoyed the music, particularly if it is a chamber group playing some nice jazz or classical music but haven't really given much thought to the work that goes into it. More recently I am a bit more aware for example at a local supermarket there is often a busker playing who has a really good voice and a great repertoire so I thank him and if I have coins in my pocket put a couple of gold ones in his hat.


I guess though that often, good musicians must feel that they are being screwed.

INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY TODAY

Me, I'm all for it. Give them a chance I say. It's about time that the patriarchal societies that have existed since year dot got a bit of a shake up.

We've got another female Prime Minister and a good one too. USA almost had a female President but at the last hurdle choked and decided that it's safer to stick with a racist, ignorant, philandering rich prick. Good luck to them. We can see where that's got them.

The 'Women's Movement' has a long, long way to go. The revelations about sexual bullying and harassment by lawyers, politicians, businessmen, actors and 'celebrities' that we've been witnessing over the last year isn't a surprise per se. What is a surprise is that the victims in most of these cases are successful, intelligent, capable and potentially powerful women! And still they get victimised. I've been watching the fall-out from the Russell McVeigh law firm's 'indiscretions' and the various university law faculties outrageous goings on and again I'm astounded that the victims again are intelligent, strong-minded and capable young women who have been subjected to vile and disgusting sexual approaches, and, they thought that this was the norm and they shouldn't do anything about it. WTF!

So, there's something else going on. Intelligent, strong-minded and capable young women don't or shouldn't just accept the norm of cringy old suits touching them up nor should the 'suits' organisations allow these old (and young) bastards to act this way while pretending to be all about equal opportunity and gender equality orientation. There need to be a major change in thinking of the 'Suits Organisations' and the sooner the better.

The Old Girl, my partner of the last 30 years is a strong 'feminist minded' person. She was at the forefront of the 70s and 80s 'movement' that pushed the idea that women deserve equal rights, equal pay and equal respect at home and in the workplace. She has often said that the advances that women have made in the second half of the nineteen hundreds is being eroded by a lack of momentum and by the fact that young women are being seduced into the idea of freedom being in being able to drink as much as they want and acting outrageously.

Now The Old Girl isn't a wowser. She can drink Champagne, wine, cognac, gin and whisky like James Bond. It's not the alcohol, the sexual freedom, the rights to choose what you want that is the issue now, it's the fact that all of these things have been captured by shameless marketers (of both sexes) who represent liquor, fashion, media, telecommunication and travel companies.

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Right. That's said, thanks Mr Villa Maria Hawkes Bay Chardonnay. And also may I say a big thanks to The Old Girl who is very good at her job and works in a senior position for a major international company. She 'brings home the bacon' and keeps me in my dotage retirement in a fashion that I like to be kept. Happy International Women's day sweetheart.

PRESCIENCE

At tennis this morning over coffee we talked about how cinema often has foretold events and discoveries. Literature and cinema has for years produced works that have had a vision of the future some of which is frighteningly exact.
Forget the whimsy of The Jetsons and the trashy nonsense of American 1950s B-Grade sci-fi and horror movies which were corny and strangely out of date even when first made - and look at creations like:

• George Orwell's 1984
• Terry Gilliam's Brazil
• Ridley Scott's Bladerunner
• Steve De Jarnatt's Cherry 2000
• Douglas Adams' Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy
• Paul Verhoeven's Total Recall
• Luc Besson's The Fifth Element

In these and others the writer and or director has managed to introduce an idea or device that is far ahead of its time and seemed to be fanciful.

The excellent Bladerunner (1982) showed a futuristic society with environmental and overpopulation issues alienating humans who have chosen to build robots and Artificial Intelligence machines to run their lives:

BLADERUNNER

In The Fifth Element (1997)  fingerprints and multipasses were used as a universal password and identification tools This was way before we had such things that are only just now being employed by Apple with the Apple Touch ID.

MULTIPASS

Total Recall (1990) shows Arnold Schwarzenegger getting into a robot driven 'Johhny Cab'. Last week UBER announced it's experimentation with driverless cars and the possibility of UBER taxis being robot driven:

JOHNNY CAB

One of the great scenes in Cherry 2000 (1987) is the dating scene (human vs human) where before a one-night- stand or pick-up from a bar can be made the prospective couples have to have lawyers draw up a contract. Recently I read that 'relationship contracts' are the latest thing for people who hook up via dating sites and that these are becoming popular given the current climate of sexual harassment and inappropriate behaviour:

DATING CONTRACT

Cherry 2000 was about a dysfunctional man who had relationships and sex with a sex-robot. When this broke down he had to go on a hunt to find a replacement model he liked - The Cherry 2000.

Today there is a flourishing industry not only in sex toys but in fully functioning sex robots.

Video phones were presented to us in many early TV shows like Get Smart and in films like 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) but we always thought that those were real science fiction. Nowadays our smart phones and operating systems give us FaceTime and Skype that we take for granted.

My favourite though is the guidebook from Douglas Adams's 1979 novel The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy. At the time I was intrigued by this and fantasised about having such a thing. Nowadays GOOGLE is my go-to search tool that I quickly flip to for an instant answer to things. Prescient? Yes and it's wonderful.

THE GUIDE

.

OH THE HUMANITY .....

 ....  We all know the reference but I won't post the images or audio or film clips as they are too disturbing and should never be used in fun.

Robert and Richard - well Robert really has started a thread about Marist Brothers (and Priests) interfering with young boys in New Zealand schools on the 1960s.


This is a bit of a departure for Robert whose previous denial of such events was driven by his blind belief in the righteousness of the Catholic Church and the 'holiness' of its leaders and disciples.

I was educated by Nuns, Brothers and Priests in the Catholic education system and fortunately wasn't fiddled with ( or not that I can remember although Brother Paulinus complimenting me on my 'nice legs' and giving me a leading female role in a Noel Coward play is, in afterthought, a bit suspicious).

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I'm no hero but have through my life supported the underdogs - stepping in at Primary, Intermediate and Secondary school to defend victims against bullies and have found myself standing up for the 'put upon' in my adult and working life. Paedophiles to me are the lowest of the low as they get their jollies from preying on small people who haven't the physical or emotional strength to resist them. The results are usually horrendous with the 'events' haunting the victim for the rest of his or her life and influencing (usually negatively) all their life choices while the paedophile merrily goes through his (usually) or her life without a care. Cunts!

It's distressing to know that most of these bastards hide behind social institutions, Education and religious organisations to both protect them and to bring them into contact with their victims. This is not news. This is a fact that is so obvious and glaring that the heads of these organisations should hang their heads in shame for ignoring the problems and not doing anything to fix them. I don't care if we are talking about Rolf Harris, Roman Polanski, Woody Allen, Jimmy Saville or the many, many 'celebrities', educationalists and religious leaders - there were people in superior positions that made them capable of intervening who did nothing. These people, to me are just as guilty and need to be 'outed' if not prosecuted.

I know that I'm an unforgiving bastard (see HERE) but that's the way I choose to be having met some real shits in my time. Robert in his latest Post mentioned a Catholic leader or administrator who said "I'm sorry" for not doing anything about a paedophile priest. Well that's not good enough. 'Sorries' don't help the people who lived through this shit.

MIND YOUR EAR WAX

I've gone deaf in my left ear a few times in the last few months.   HERE

I went to the doctor to see if I could get a referral to a specialist but apparently this can only happen after a visit to an audiology clinic. I went to an audiology clinic who told me that I had to get my ears syringed and checked for wax first. I said "OK let's do that". They said that they don't do that and I'd have to go to an ear clinic. I did that today and had my ears cleaned of wax. My left ear had a big chunk of wax that had been almost totally blocking the ear canal. Now that it's removed I can hear again quite clearly.

NEW POST - THE RELIGIOUS CURMUDGEON

The Religious Curmudgeon has been having weird dreams.

See HERE

SUNDAY MORNING AT THE CURMUDGEONS INC.

Hello readers.

Today we launch a new feature of THE CURMUDGEONS INC.ⓒ:

SUNDAY MORNING AT THE CURMUDGEONS INC.

This innovative magazine-style feature will enable the members of THE CURMUDGEONS INC.ⓒ to gather in an informal setting and discuss issues of the week. We chose Sunday for a couple of reasons - firstly because Richard's Bass Bagg hasn't had the foresight to chooses Sunday for forum time and also because we know that there's nothing better to do on a Sunday morning than to read THE CURMUDGEONS INC.ⓒ blogs (unless you're one of those religious nutters).

Today we've assembled The Curmudgeon (TC), The Curmudgeon Express, (TCE) The Food Curmudgeon (TFC), The Curmudgeon's Agony Aunt TCAA), The Mundane Curmudgeon TMC), The Curmudgeonly Luddite TCL), The Cultured Curmudgeon (TCC), The Religious Curmudgeon (TRC), The Philosophical Curmudgeon (TPC), The Music Curmudgeon, (TMC2) The Darker Curmudgeon (TDC), The Wine Guy (TWG) and Good Kiwi Bloke. (GKB)

We have apologies from The Wine Guy Express, The New Wine Guy, Zweite Geige and Bass's Bag. We were unable to contact The New Different Time Zone Bill but will keep minutes for him.

Thanks to The Food Curmudgeon for supplying the smoked salmon on home made rye bread - very nice. Thanks also to The Wine Guy for the bottles of Deutz Rose - I see that it's going down a treat and hope that a dozen bottles is enough.

Let's get started:

TC: Thanks all for this inaugural SUNDAY MORNING AT THE CURMUDGEONS INC. I'm sure that this will be a very popular monthly gathering.

ALL: Thanks to you TC for your inspiration and guidance.

TC: Aw, gee, shucks - Ta. Now we had news this week from Richard's Bass Bagg that ...

TMC: Richard's Bass Bagg?

TC: Yes, Richard's Bass Bagg - that's what he's calling himself now - I think it's a kick-back to his Welsh heritage or something, you know the double-g thing. It's something that Robert started off with his genealogy schtick.

TMC2: So does he play gguitar now - in GG?

TC: Ha ha, I see what you did there TMC2, very funny but to continue - we had news this week from Richard's Bass Bagg that the Bass Bagging Hexagram has folded. Poor old Richard of the double g is probably feeling a bit down at present so we need to be respectful of him and his situation.

ALL: (silence)

TC: We need to show Richard respect ....

ALL: Hah ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ..Whooeeee - ha ha ha ha ha  (Great pandemonium and laughter - sparkling wine bottles being opened etc)

TC: Ha, ha ha ha ha ha (wiping tears from eyes) ... yes I thought that would get you.

TDC: I don't want to put a downer on this guys but if The Bass Bagging Hexagram is no longer in existence wh....

TPC: But what is existence ? Mmmm? Karl Jaspers said that ' Existenz' is a state of authentic true being, and the relationship with the "encompassing", an elusive being often understood as the totality of consciousness, the world itself, and other forms of determinate objects.

TDC: Well get him! I mean it, get him another glass of wine so he'll shut up.

ALL: (General hubbub and attempts to stop TPC from hitting TDC with an empty wine bottle)

TC: Stop it guys, settle down now. TPC, can you please refrain from being pedantic - we leave that sort of thing to Richard's Bass Bagg or even that thing of Robert's. TDC, you raise a good question I ...

GKB: A ggood question?

TC: Thanks GKB, yes let's say a ggood question as it's appropriate. We all need to be concerned at what that crazy old joker will come up with next ....

TCE: You mean Zweite Geige?

TC: No, not Zweite Geige TCE - keep up, I mean Richard of Richard's Bass Bagg. We should keep an eye on him Any ideas?

TCAA: Well in my professional capacity I get some odd letters from ....

ALL: (sniggering and snide comments)

TCAA: Boys, boys,behave yourselves. As I was saying I get some odd letters from people who I suspect are members of or previous members of that Bass Bagging Hexagram. Some of these are quite disturbed and have shown a deep dissatisfaction of that group and have provided some very interesting insights into the mind of Richard

TC: So TCAA what are you suggesting?

TCAA: I think that I can cultivate a relationship with some of the more disturbed members of The Bass Bagging Hexagram and find out more of the workings of that evil empire.

TC: Excellent TCAA. I approve. What do you think guys?

ALL: Great! Go for it. You beauty! Show us your knickers! ... etc.

Most of the wine has been drunk at this stage and things are getting boisterous.

TC: Guys, guys, guys ... settle down. Look I think we'll call it quits for now, We've made some headway - TCAA will explore the minds and working of Richard's new group and report back next month. Keep up the good work and remember - be careful out there!


Meeting closed at 10.40 AM

IS ANYBODY OUT THERE?

IS THERE ANYBODY OUT THERE?

I go to great expense and effort to write interesting Posts and generally the only commenter is an old retired joker in Lower Hutt who invariably finds fault with what's written. He can be such a grouch that I suggested that his blog - Richards Bass Bagg - comes in under the CURMUDGEONS INC.ⓒ franchise.

That's him here wearing his wife's pantyhose.

This joker is obsessed with the number of comments he gets on his blog posts and measures the quality of the posts by a high number of comments. Sad deluded fool. The Curmudgeon doesn't bother about comments but would like to know if there's anybody out there (religious nutters need not apply).

I've given instructions to members of CURMUDGEONS INC.ⓒ to publish a lot of interesting posts relative to their fields of expertise.

LISTEN UP

I read an interesting Post this morning ........ sorry, I need to start this sentence again ...... I read a Post this morning on Richards Bass Bag HERE where the reinvented Richard (sans the support of his alter-egos) talks about writing a 'Theme from Richard's Bass Bag'. This hasn't been released yet so we are being given prior warning.

What I noticed is that Richard is using a 'shop bought' computer programme to write this song. This from a man who has a good music degree after studying for many years at university. It's kind of like a conveyancing lawyer downloading a 'do-it-yourself' house selling kit off the internet. Very strange.

Richard made an unnecessary observation that THE CURMUDGEONS INC.ⓒ hasn't written its own theme song. Well, we at THE CURMUDGEONS INC.ⓒ are professional and busy people and haven't time to waste on such nonsense. Also, we stick to the knitting and don't dabble in things that we haven't training in. If we want some goods or services we appropriate acquire them as needed. To this end we introduce our blog theme:

GRUMPY SONG

SWEET AS

I listened to a discussion today on National Radio today about how Nestle is removing the 4.5 health star rating from Milo.

Consumer NZ chief executive Sue Chetwin says Milo has a 4.5 star rating – out of a possible five stars – despite the fact it is almost 50 percent sugar. Product packaging also boasts pictures of active young sportspeople.
Milo’s high rating is based on the drink being made with skim milk. On its own, the powder only earns 1.5 stars.
“It’s the skim milk that boosts the number of stars. But our research found most milo drinkers prepare the drink with standard blue top or full-cream milk,” Ms Chetwin says.
The 4.5 star rating will disappear from Milo powder in June.
Health star guidelines let companies calculate the number of stars on an “as prepared” basis. This means a rating can reflect the nutritional components of the added ingredients, such as skim milk, rather than just the product itself.
Ms Chetwin says this rule undermines one of the main objectives of the rating system, which is to give consumers at-a-glance information about the nutrition content of a packaged food.
Consumer NZ has been campaigning to get rid of the “as prepared” loophole. It supports ratings being calculated on an “as sold” basis, with the exception of products that need to be drained or reconstituted with water.
To make sure consumers can trust the star ratings, Consumer NZ also wants caps on ratings for products high in sugar, saturated fat or sodium.

.

WHY MILO ISN'T A HEALTH FOOD

All good this and it asks the question "What about all the other shit that's sold in supermarkets under the guise of health, nutrition, naturalness etc.?"

Excess sugar consumption is a cause of onset diabetes and other serious health problems that cause death, disease and disfigurement as much as alcohol and tobacco does but producers still get away with this 'murder' by clever and cynical marketing.

The cigarette killers got their comeuppance some years ago and have to market their brands alongside scary images of the effects that using their products have.

I used this 'nicer' image as the others are downright disturbing.

Alcohol producers in New Zealand only have to put the 'Standard Drinks' statement on labels which does not go far enough. I agree with the requirements of some other countries where our export labels have to carry the government warnings.

USA requirement

Although, compared to tobacco and sugar the effects of wine are comparatively benign and some people think that there is no harm in it ....

..... while others think that the warnings don't go far enough:

When it comes to food products I'd like to see food manufacturers who sell product with excessive levels of sugar being made to carry big warnings on the packaging and not hide the information in unreadable tables on the back label or at the bottom of the packets.

They should be made to state the sugar content, in teaspoons, in big writing on the front of the label or package and have a bloody great big warning sign as well.