quote:

Originally posted by That JR Thang:
But it's been so hot and humid that cooking is the last thing I want to do, plus I cannot eat my normal Summer culinary delights because of my dental issues.
Oh, but I recently found an Aussie inspired brand of pot pies.
I'll have to make sure I have a beer or 2 in the fridge when they arrive. Ordered the beef and a spinach and mushroom. I'll let you know if they are any good.

They certainly look the real thing. Interesting to see their container box has a lid which crisps the pie crust in a microwave oven. Haven't seen that here. Their shepherd's pie looks like it could do with more gravy.

Maybe when I start to get out more I'll be in a better mood to chat with Mary Jean.

Am reading more, so maybe that will help. Just found a book of John Wyndham's short stories. My copy was printed in 1973, so I was surprised at just how dated his stories were. Then I found they had been first published in the 1930s. He's top stuff. Have you read The Midwich Cuckoos or The Day of the Triffids?

quote:

Originally posted by Henry J:
Just as long as those wheelies don't give other people the willies!

That would be stiff, wouldn't it.

Enjoyed passing on your story about the young woman in ultra-tight pants, though I did add that my days of sowing wild oats are long gone. Nothing left but porridge.

quote:

Originally posted by Allan:

quote:

Originally posted by Reed N D Dark:
Allan, your definitions are what I know here, in the States, too!

And here's me thinking you, at least, are above such things

Should I have said “I’ve heard” they are the same? I don’t want to be too “hard on” ya!

quote:

Originally posted by That JR Thang:
And why is it her fault that his little rascal gets up when he thinks it shouldn't?
Furthermore, why is it he thinks he's obligated to act on it, or blame the damnable damsel, every time his little rascal sticks its nose in his watch pocket?

That, my sweet, is the answer to a great many of our problems.

Some of us are genetically programmed to fight to protect the tribe. Others are genetically programmed to negotiate, mediate, to protect the tribe.

One day our orthodox, conventional, psychologists will come to terms with the simple fact we are nothing more than an evolved animal, with a limited number of types.

Watching the news, and the re-runs of 9/11, I see the same thing.

If our politicians could only accept the minor number of differences between us, they could work at reducing the fears of right-wingers and encourage the negotiating skills of the centrists and moderate leftists to bring peace to our world.

As it is, the right is becoming more fearful and demanding military responses while the centre and left are losing hope of commonsense peaceful solutions.

We need to begin by looking at the history of the West and its relationships with the Muslim Middle East. They haven't forgotten the despicable actions of our Crusaders, the way we betrayed our Arab allies when they helped us defeat the Ottoman Turks in WWI*, nor have they forgotten how we stole their oil.

Was reminded recently about the simple fact that Iranians are far more like us than they are like their Arab neighbours.

While not all their problems are due to Islamic thinking about women, in many ways Iranian women are treated far better than Semitic women are.

*I first got that from T.E. Lawrence's autobiography Seven Pillars of Wisdom.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T._E._Lawrence
He was renowned for his liaison role during the Sinai and Palestine Campaign and the Arab Revolt against the Ottoman Empire during the First World War.
...Battles/wars First World War
Arab Revolt
Siege of Medina
Battle of Aqaba
Capture of Damascus
Battle of Megiddo

quote:

Originally posted by Reed N D Dark:
Should I have said “I’ve heard” they are the same? I don’t want to be too “hard on” ya!

If I don't go for a shower right now, neither the birds nor I will have anything to eat tonight.

See y'all

quote:

Originally posted by Allan:

quote:

Originally posted by Reed N D Dark:
Should I have said “I’ve heard” they are the same? I don’t want to be too “hard on” ya!

If I don't go for a shower right now, neither the birds nor I will have anything to eat tonight.

See y'all

I’m in roughly your time zone!

quote:

Originally posted by Allan:
They certainly look the real thing. Interesting to see their container box has a lid which crisps the pie crust in a microwave oven. Haven't seen that here. Their shepherd's pie looks like it could do with more gravy.

Those little boxes are quite nice. We have them for several different types of pies/pockets and such.

You can also buy crisper pans:
Walmart

Amazon

I've made several versions of Shepherd's Pie and none seem to be very juicy, so maybe it's a US thing? Dunno, but this is the version that tastes best to me, whether made with lamb or beef, except that I add a tablespoon of chives to the mashed potatoes:
Shepherd's Pie

quote:

Maybe when I start to get out more I'll be in a better mood to chat with Mary Jean.

I'm sure she will be delighted to hear from you.

quote:

Am reading more, so maybe that will help. Just found a book of John Wyndham's short stories. My copy was printed in 1973, so I was surprised at just how dated his stories were. Then I found they had been first published in the 1930s. He's top stuff. Have you read The Midwich Cuckoos or The Day of the Triffids?

Dahlin', I haven't been reading much of anything lately. Cannot seem to focus well enough. But to answer your question, no. And I'm not gonna order any more books until I can read the ones I've already ordered and still have lying about. At last count there were 7 of them with bookmarks within the first 10 pages...

Missed my last dental appointment because I couldn't walk. Woke up and my back was a screaming mess. Flopped between chair and bed all day. When I finally put me down to sleep with a handful of herbal relaxers, and in the midst of tossing and turning, I kicked the sheet up and out so that I could turn without dragging them with me, my back cracked in 3-4 places! Was loud enough to wake the dead! Dang, that felt good!!! Now I'm awaiting another appointment.

quote:

Originally posted by Allan:

quote:

Originally posted by That JR Thang:
And why is it her fault that his little rascal gets up when he thinks it shouldn't?
Furthermore, why is it he thinks he's obligated to act on it, or blame the damnable damsel, every time his little rascal sticks its nose in his watch pocket?

That, my sweet, is the answer to a great many of our problems.

Some of us are genetically programmed to fight to protect the tribe. Others are genetically programmed to negotiate, mediate, to protect the tribe.

One day our orthodox, conventional, psychologists will come to terms with the simple fact we are nothing more than an evolved animal, with a limited number of types.

Watching the news, and the re-runs of 9/11, I see the same thing.

If our politicians could only accept the minor number of differences between us, they could work at reducing the fears of right-wingers and encourage the negotiating skills of the centrists and moderate leftists to bring peace to our world.

As it is, the right is becoming more fearful and demanding military responses while the centre and left are losing hope of commonsense peaceful solutions.

The right-wingers here have learned to play to the fears of the wingnuts in order to keep themselves in office.

As I see it, the left pretty much dismisses them. Probably not the best way to handle it. A little coddling may well go a long way to soothing their fears.

quote:

We need to begin by looking at the history of the West and its relationships with the Muslim Middle East. They haven't forgotten the despicable actions of our Crusaders, the way we betrayed our Arab allies when they helped us defeat the Ottoman Turks in WWI*, nor have they forgotten how we stole their oil.

Was reminded recently about the simple fact that Iranians are far more like us than they are like their Arab neighbours.

While not all their problems are due to Islamic thinking about women, in many ways Iranian women are treated far better than Semitic women are.

*I first got that from T.E. Lawrence's autobiography Seven Pillars of Wisdom.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T._E._Lawrence
He was renowned for his liaison role during the Sinai and Palestine Campaign and the Arab Revolt against the Ottoman Empire during the First World War.
...Battles/wars First World War
Arab Revolt
Siege of Medina
Battle of Aqaba
Capture of Damascus
Battle of Megiddo

At some point we are all going to have to let the past and get on with building our future. What we need is for someone to step up and lead the way.

quote:

Originally posted by That JR Thang:
Missed my last dental appointment because I couldn't walk. Woke up and my back was a screaming mess.

I suppose you always could take some comfort from the fact you are able to stop me from feeling so sorry for myself?

quote:

Originally posted by That JR Thang:
The right-wingers here have learned to play to the fears of the wingnuts in order to keep themselves in office.
As I see it, the left pretty much dismisses them. Probably not the best way to handle it. A little coddling may well go a long way to soothing their fears.

While I accept there are real issues with Iran, I reckon its leaders are the people to go to.

You know I like to think I'm reasonably good at reading body language, so I see a far more mature approach from them than I can possibly see in the likes of Trump.

They are educated intelligent men, and the ones I see on the news each night seem to be realists. They know they have serious problems at home and abroad, yet they seem capable of being sensible in many ways.

At some point we are all going to have to let the past and get on with building our future. What we need is for someone to step up and lead the way.

I'm with Churchill's version of Santayana's saying: 'Those who do not learn history are doomed to repeat it.'

Don't know if I mentioned it, however the final chapter of The Age of Sacred Terror is right up my alley, right along with some of what was said in Moyers' Genesis.

According to Genesis, what was our first experience of death, and why did that murder happen?

Why, too, was God so deeply concerned with what he discovered when he took that fatal (for us) trip down to Babel?

We can learn far more if we understand ancient mythologies and adapt them to our modern needs.

Up until 100, maybe 150, years ago, everyone in the West learned how to behave in a way that benefits, does not harm, our tribe.

Who learns that today?

Bugger all.

Instead, we are left to fend for ourselves, and that can not work, as we see every night on the news.

What is so difficult about teaching that the tribe must come first if we are to survive?

Talked briefly to a Scotsman, last night over dinner. He not only liked the term churchianity, he knew immediately what a myth is! I think you like talking to him.

quote:

Originally posted by Reed N D Dark:
Talked briefly to a Scotsman, last night over dinner. He not only liked the term churchianity, he knew immediately what a myth is! I think you like talking to him.

It is only when the entire world learns to accept that it is those
Scots, wha hae wi' Wallace bled,
Scots, wham Bruce has aften led;
who are the real Chosen People with the answer to all our world's ills that we will see the light.

quote:

Originally posted by Allan:

quote:

Originally posted by Reed N D Dark:
Talked briefly to a Scotsman, last night over dinner. He not only liked the term churchianity, he knew immediately what a myth is! I think you like talking to him.

It is only when the entire world learns to accept that it is those
Scots, wha hae wi' Wallace bled,
Scots, wham Bruce has aften led;
who are the real Chosen People with the answer to all our world's ills that we will see the light.

He went on to suggest that organized religion was first in the Middle East and Islamic, iirc.

quote:

Originally posted by Allan:
If our politicians could only accept the minor number of differences between us, they could work at reducing the fears of right-wingers and encourage the negotiating skills of the centrists and moderate leftists to bring peace to our world.

As it is, the right is becoming more fearful and demanding military responses while the centre and left are losing hope of commonsense peaceful solutions.

We need to begin by looking at the history of the West and its relationships with the Muslim Middle East. They haven't forgotten the despicable actions of our Crusaders, the way we betrayed our Arab allies when they helped us defeat the Ottoman Turks in WWI*, nor have they forgotten how we stole their oil.

Was reminded recently about the simple fact that Iranians are far more like us than they are like their Arab neighbours.

While not all their problems are due to Islamic thinking about women, in many ways Iranian women are treated far better than Semitic women are.

*I first got that from T.E. Lawrence's autobiography Seven Pillars of Wisdom.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T._E._Lawrence
He was renowned for his liaison role during the Sinai and Palestine Campaign and the Arab Revolt against the Ottoman Empire during the First World War.
...Battles/wars First World War
Arab Revolt
Siege of Medina
Battle of Aqaba
Capture of Damascus
Battle of Megiddo

I dunno, Allan, the more I think about this the more confounded I become. Re-fighting old battles and settling old scores keeps us planted in the past. If these offended bubbas cannot come to terms with their history and make peace for their future, what the hell can the rest of us do for them?

Maybe some of us are evolving past all this tribal stuff and accepting that we are becoming one; one big brotherhood of mankind. And the sooner we can get beyond the past and start determining what we want our future to look like the better for all of us.

quote:

Originally posted by Allan:

quote:

Originally posted by That JR Thang:
Missed my last dental appointment because I couldn't walk. Woke up and my back was a screaming mess.

I suppose you always could take some comfort from the fact you are able to stop me from feeling so sorry for myself?

Hate to think that my feeling worse makes you feel better!

I just get ticked off when I'm feeling bad, not sorry for myself. Don't know which is worse though...

quote:

Originally posted by Allan:
While I accept there are real issues with Iran, I reckon its leaders are the people to go to.

You know I like to think I'm reasonably good at reading body language, so I see a far more mature approach from them than I can possibly see in the likes of Trump.

They are educated intelligent men, and the ones I see on the news each night seem to be realists. They know they have serious problems at home and abroad, yet they seem capable of being sensible in many ways.

Granted.

quote:

I'm with Churchill's version of Santayana's saying: 'Those who do not learn history are doomed to repeat it.'

What I dislike about the whole situation is that it seems everyone wants to remain offended so that they can demand concessions. The problem is they are attempting to get those concessions from a generation that had no responsibility toward the decisions of the past. Pull yourself up by your bootstraps and carry on with a keen eye toward seeing that you are properly situated so that it doesn't occur again. Someone wants to put you through the grinder again? Talk sense. But if they won't hear you, don't ask permission; just kick a$$ and take names.

quote:

Don't know if I mentioned it, however the final chapter of The Age of Sacred Terror is right up my alley, right along with some of what was said in Moyers' Genesis.

According to Genesis, what was our first experience of death, and why did that murder happen?

Why, too, was God so deeply concerned with what he discovered when he took that fatal (for us) trip down to Babel?

We can learn far more if we understand ancient mythologies and adapt them to our modern needs.

One of these days, and sooner than many suspect, I think, the Abrahamic religions will lose their grip because they have all become corrupt. When that happens, then, and only then, will mythology find its place again.

quote:

Up until 100, maybe 150, years ago, everyone in the West learned how to behave in a way that benefits, does not harm, our tribe.

Who learns that today?

Bugger all.

Instead, we are left to fend for ourselves, and that can not work, as we see every night on the news.

What is so difficult about teaching that the tribe must come first if we are to survive?

Maybe it's time for you to start realizing that most people feel tribe-less these days. The last 2 generations most especially. Everything is changing so fast - faster than we old folks can keep up with.

What I'm finding is that is changing faster than even they can manage - for the most part. But eventually, they will learn to cope and manage. It will be a whole new world and they will be forced, at some point, to determine what they want it to look like; what serves humanity the best - not just me and mine. IOW, we/they are going to have to start thinking globally, not simply community...

quote:

Originally posted by Reed N D Dark:
Talked briefly to a Scotsman, last night over dinner. He not only liked the term churchianity, he knew immediately what a myth is! I think you like talking to him.

They are terms that seem to be making the rounds. Gives me hope that we are finally going to start seeing the light at the end of the tunnel.

quote:

Originally posted by That JR Thang:

quote:

Originally posted by Reed N D Dark:
Talked briefly to a Scotsman, last night over dinner. He not only liked the term churchianity, he knew immediately what a myth is! I think you like talking to him.

They are terms that seem to be making the rounds. Gives me hope that we are finally going to start seeing the light at the end of the tunnel.

Yes, we can hope and be vigilant, or so it seems.

Rough seas all night, I feel beat up!

quote:

Originally posted by Reed N D Dark:
Rough seas all night, I feel beat up!

Yikes!

I've only been on a couple of sail boats and a few fairly large fishing boats...but with my overly sensitive ears, it doesn't take much for me to be sick. Have never even been tempted to take a cruise for that reason.

I feel for you!