When Elizabeth II died I thought: She wasn’t a bad old bird–these very words went through my mind. I remember singing God Save The Queen to her at Saturday morning pictures (movies for kids) back in the 1950s when I was 8 or 9. I am no royalist but at least she gave people something to hang onto. Her accent alone was worth the price of admission–surely even she could see that it was absolutely hilarious. Now we have dear old Charles, also hilarious, and a mere one year older than me. A rich vein of comedy will take Old Blighty into the future.  

Mysteries of Physics

I just read We Have No Idea by Jorge Cham and Daniel Whiteson, a book about all the things we don’t know about the physical universe. These include: dark matter, dark energy, the basic elements of matter, the nature of mass, why gravity is so different from other forces, the nature of space and time, how many dimensions there are, why light has the speed it has, the origin of cosmic rays, the puzzles of anti-matter, what happened before and during the big bang, whether there can a theory of everything, how big the universe is. It appears that physics is rife with mystery. I wrote to one of the authors, Professor Whiteson, and asked if he knew about the work of philosophers and others on the mysteries of mind, notably Chomsky and McGinn. He replied that he did but admitted he didn’t know much philosophy. It seems to me that this is a welcome convergence for the mysterians among us: evidently matter is as mysterious as mind. True, the authors fight shy of declaring irresoluble mystery, but they clearly accept that some mysteries of physics look pretty formidable—especially where dark matter and dark energy are concerned. (This made me wonder if Dark Materialism might be true of consciousness, i.e. the mind is material but the matter involved is of the dark variety; but this is not a theory just a wild speculation.) Most authors who write popular physics books seek to wow us with how much physicists know; this one refreshingly owns up to the depth of our ignorance. I recommend it: it’s probably the best popular physics book I’ve ever read.

I Know a Girl

I know a girl likes to dance and sing

This girl is up for most anything

I took her dancing on a Saturday night

And wouldn’t you know I got into a fight

Too many guys just hanging round

She got her red dress on her feet don’t touch the ground

Guy comes up he’s way over the top

It’s left up to me to make it stop

I know a girl and she’s so fine

I would love to make her mine all mine

But it’s just so hard to keep this girl in line

I know a girl likes to drive around town

Window open she’s putting it down

She’s so cute traffic grinds to halt

But she won’t admit it’s all her fault

I know a girl yeah and she’s so fine

I would love to make her mine all mine

But it’s such hard work to keep this girl in line

I know a girl likes to act so bad

She’ll give you the best time you ever had

She makes me dizzy with her crazy ways

Being with her ain’t no lazy days

She’s so much fun you laugh and scream

But you better watch out or she’ll end your dream

She’ll make you run and beg and more

But then turn around and show you the door

She’s so damn fine I can’t make her mine

She dances along to her own sweet time

No one could ever own this girl so fine

But it’s just so hard to keep this girl in line

I wanna make her mine

I wanna keep her in line

But she slips away

She slips clean away

Away, Away, Away   

(The first-person perspective needs to be read with a critical eye.) 

Hazy Babies

I was driving alone along route 95

Lights were flashing and I started to dive

I told you I loved you and you said you loved me

And the hazy babies were nausea clothed

Oh-oh-oh don’t go-oh-oh

Don’t go oh please don’t go!

I was reading a book that made no sense

That’s when I saw a bird-cat jump the fence

I kissed you and held you and said your name

And the lazy babies were nausea clothed

Oh-oh-oh don’t go-oh-oh

Don’t go oh please don’t go!

I was taking a shower in a blizzard of dust

Everything was quiet in a town made of rust

You told me to wait till you returned to me

And the crazy babies were nausea clothed

Oh-oh-oh don’t go-oh-oh

Don’t go oh please don’t go!

I was swimming in gold on a rapier day

The sky was screaming to stay away

I couldn’t find you as I searched the streets

And the blazing babies were nausea clothed

Oh-oh-oh don’t go-oh-oh

Don’t go oh please don’t go!

I was falling through time on a flaming beach

I’d lost my way and had no more to teach

I saw you floating on a corner at noon

And the fading babies were nausea clothed

Oh-oh-oh don’t go-oh-oh

Don’t go oh please don’t go!