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  1. Mikefule

    What's The Most Boring Fortean Subject?

    I agree. Plato started as a genuine disciple of Socrates and used his early dialogues to promote Socrates' approach to philosophy. However, later. as Plato developed more of his own ideas, he used the dramatised version of Socrates as a sock puppet. That aside, just because Plato mentioned...
  2. Mikefule

    Lincoln (England)

    Lincoln has a strangely disparate city centre. At the top of the hill is all the old (medieval etc.) stuff. The cathedral (very impressive) and the castle (worth a visit), as well as one of the old city gates, various tea rooms and cafes etc. At the bottom of the hill it is a fairly mediocre...
  3. Mikefule

    What's The Most Boring Fortean Subject?

    Most boring Fortean subject? Based on the pages I usually skip in FT, that would be UFOs (especially alleged abductions), ghosts, and those cryptids that I find completely implausible, most notably Mothman. Of this unholy trinity, I'd say the continual rehashing of the same few canonical UFO...
  4. Mikefule

    Strange Crimes

    I have a workmate who is a most excellent ambassador for Islam. He is devout, but with a sense of humour about it, and always willing to explain to anyone who asks, but he never tries to impose his views on anyone else. I respect him enormously as a person, even though intellectually, I...
  5. Mikefule

    Strange Crimes

    Yes, there's something about it that doesn't add up.
  6. Mikefule

    Good Posting Practices

    I think the suffix "ista" has taken on a wider currency (fashionista, for example) as referring in a mock derogatory way to anyone perceived as setting themselves up as some sort of opinion former or arbitrator of opinions. It's had a similar evolution to the suffix "...gate" which is now used...
  7. Mikefule

    Oops! The Silly Mistakes Thread

    I've just come across this incident on a You Tube channel that I follow (Skallagrim) and I looked it up. A teacher in New Mexico decides it's a good idea to bring real, sharp, swords into class and get the students to duel with them. One student badly (permanently) injured. Teacher delays...
  8. Mikefule

    People You Thought Were Dead

    This is not intended to be a comment on any aspect of his beliefs or political career. I was surprised to read that George Galloway has just won a by election. I honestly thought he had died of cancer a few years ago. I don't know why I thought that he had. I just did. (Please limit any...
  9. Mikefule

    Blasphemy

    I'm not a Christian, but I don't agree with that analysis. If you see the cross or crucifix simply as an image of a man being tortured to death then of course it is distasteful. It is a distasteful as, for example, a T shirt showing someone being executed in the electric chair. However, that...
  10. Mikefule

    Fortean Headlines

    Follow up: At least he's been cleared to compete again, although he has had to apologise. https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/equestrian/68335114
  11. Mikefule

    Fortean Headlines

    Shane Rose: Show jumper competes in mankini https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/equestrian/68330519 At first, I thought, "What's this, some sort of childish protest?" Then I read the opening lines: <<Australian three-time Olympic medallist Shane Rose has been stood down from competition for wearing a...
  12. Mikefule

    Fortean Headlines

    You see, I'm surprised by his expression. I thought he'd be looking pumped after that experience.
  13. Mikefule

    John Lydon Missed Lockerbie (Just)

    I'm never quite sure what to make of John Lydon. It's clear that his Johnny Rotten character was no more his real personality than Ziggy Stardust was Bowie's. However, he still does the mad eyes and "say something to shock" routine. His work with PIL is not to my taste (I have tried) but I...
  14. Mikefule

    John Lydon Missed Lockerbie (Just)

    ^ This. It's like the "ex SAS" being the biggest regiment in the British army.^ We've all missed an untold number of accidents and opportunities that we don't even know about. We like to assemble unrelated facts into a narrative. (If only I hadn't gone to the Nottingham Riverside Festival...
  15. Mikefule

    Strange Coincidences?

    A hummock: not quite a hillock or a tummock, but definitely summat wi' a summit.
  16. Mikefule

    Tales Of A Flat Earth

    On the basis of extensive research, I believe the Earth was quite flat in the iron age. Before that, they used to press it under weights but could never quite get the creases out. It then became even flatter in the steamiron age. One of the arguments that people who (claim to) believe in the...
  17. Mikefule

    Strange Coincidences?

    That's a tussock. :) A hassock is either a cushion for kneeling on in church, or a firm clump of matted vegetation in boggy ground. (Vegetation forming a cushion?) A tummock is a hillock (!) or mound. A cassock is a full length garment worn by a clergyman or member of the choir. A Cossack is...
  18. Mikefule

    The Bird-Eating Beast Of Ullswater

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cumbria-68250382 Not Ullswater, but an actual alligator snapping turtle (not just an unsubstantiated alligat-ion) found in a Lake District tarn.
  19. Mikefule

    Dragons: Evidence They Existed

    I'll go a step further. In the case of sea serpents, there are good reasons to say that a witness from, say, 1,000 years ago might be more reliable. Not more honest, or more dispassionate, but more reliable. 1,000 years ago, a ship might be 15 to 25 metres long, powered by sail, and with a...
  20. Mikefule

    Fortean Headlines

    It is a standard jocular description of ordinary (non-diet) Coke, widely used in the UK. The opposite of "diet" in many food products is "full fat".
  21. Mikefule

    Dragons: Evidence They Existed

    (My numbers added to your words.) At least 4 statements there. 1) Absolutely agreed. As with religion vs atheism, most political debate (elsewhere, not here, obvs), and many Fortean subjects, the common failing is to leap into the yes/no debate without first defining terms. If you define a...
  22. Mikefule

    Fortean Headlines

    Sick Devon donkey saved by being given 24 litres of cola Quite a happy story, actually. BBC news story
  23. Mikefule

    Old Urban Legends

    Urban legends: stories of the unusual, grotesque, or implausible told in slightly altered forms by various people, often in the form of "it happened to me" or "a friend of a friend" or, more lamely, "they do say..." I have spent much of my life in and around Nottingham. We used to have several...
  24. Mikefule

    Sea Serpents & Monsters (General; Miscellaneous)

    This is very important. This is only an assumption - a reasonable one, but not necessarily a correct one. I used to train people in a fraud management team. I still use some of the skills in my current (part time, semi retired) job. It is a big step to identify something that is "factually...
  25. Mikefule

    New & Soon To Be Published Books

    I haven't read the book, and probably won't. I see the Morris as more of a modern traditional activity and less of an historical study. That said, I am aware of Mary Neal. Last year I read my friend's (Dr Matt Simons) PhD thesis on the social history of the early years of the 20th century...
  26. Mikefule

    Strange Coincidences?

    A coincidence from a couple of weeks ago. I spent most of my life from age 8 to 47 in Nottingham and now live in Lincolnshire. Visits to Nottingham for shopping are rare. (I work on the outskirts of Nottingham city centre, though.) 2 weeks ago, my wife and I were in the Victoria Centre...
  27. Mikefule

    Study Finds A Huge Number Of People Believe In Bigfoot & The Loch Ness Monster

    On the basis of my casual observations, over 50% of people believe bad things come in threes, and 90% of my customers believe that they are entitled to a refund regardless of the circumstances. Widespread belief in bigfoot or Nessie, based on no real consideration of the evidence, is hardly a...
  28. Mikefule

    Gigantopithecus: Giant Ape That Co-Existed With Early Humans

    I'm pretty sure that was in jest, but nevertheless, I'll bite... :) If you have 2 solids of approximately the same shape but different sizes (in this case, a small ape and a big ape) the big one has less surface area per unit of volume, and therefore (for animals) per unit of mass. Twice as...
  29. Mikefule

    The Loch Ness Monster

    Worth watching just to hear, the expression, "Dr Omand, his canonicals fanned by the breeze..." An interesting assertion by the narrator that the monster has been causing mischief for a million years. I wonder what makes a recently retired west country vicar decide that he is the one to...
  30. Mikefule

    Given Time Travel, Where & When Would You Want To Travel?

    Wow! The first time I saw Motorhead, I thought I'd done well to work my way through to the front of the stage. That was bad enough: seriously impaired hearing for about 3 days, which was not good in a job that involved long detailed telephone conversations with angry customers.
  31. Mikefule

    Given Time Travel, Where & When Would You Want To Travel?

    An angle that isn't often considered. In that case, if I had a time machine, I'd go back to just before the time machine was invented, and stop it being invented, and then I'd... no... wait... er...
  32. Mikefule

    Rogue Waves

    There are several ways waves can get bigger. They boil down to (1) more energy being put in, or (2) the energy from two or more sources being focussed in one place. On a calm lake with no currents, as the wind gets stronger, wavelets will form, then get bigger, and eventually become large...
  33. Mikefule

    Proof Caligula Was 'Completely Off His Rocker'

    Fair points. Just as Shakespeare fictionalised Richard III to suit the politics of his time, Roman authors surely did the same about historical figures. Always present the current emperor and his ancestors in a good light, and his opponents and the opponents of his ancestors in a bad light...
  34. Mikefule

    World Records (Miscellaneous)

    Interesting paradox? If the 700 records is 699 other records, plus the 1 extra world record for having the most world records, then... If you got 700 "other" records, would you also get the extra 1 for having the most records to make 701 and beat Ashrita Furman? Or would you need 701 other...
  35. Mikefule

    Fortean Headlines

    I agree, there is an important distinction between "factually didn't do it" and "legally not guilty". However, in this case, we are talking about a defendant with no previous criminal record, accused of shooting someone dead at a gas station. The only evidence seems to have been poor CCTV...
  36. Mikefule

    Morphic Resonance

    I think you miss my point. Once one person has done it for the first time, others follow, often in quick succession, faster, better, etc. It's as if doing it for the first time opens the floodgates for multiple repetitions. The fact that it has been done once actually makes it easier for...
  37. Mikefule

    Morphic Resonance

    I'm not sure which comedian (possibly David Mitchell) did a long set piece rant about this phenomenon. So and so is the first black/female/autistic/blind/solo etc. person to climb a Mountain. So and so is the quickest climb it, or the first to do it without some piece of equipment, etc. His...
  38. Mikefule

    Morphic Resonance

    Hmmm. I had heard about Sheldrake before, but had never really taken much notice. I've just looked him up. Local lad, born less than 10 miles from where I live. He is clearly not an unintelligent man: MA at Cambridge, PhD at Harvard, studied the philosophy of science, and specialised in...
  39. Mikefule

    Ridiculous Accidents

    In the late 1980s, I went through a brief craze of basic rock climbing and abseiling. Intending to abseil, I once very carefully set up my belay (attached the rope securely to the rock) walked to the top of the cliff, turned, and started to lean back then suddenly I realised that I had not...
  40. Mikefule

    Fortean Headlines

    Link to post about this subject!
  41. Mikefule

    Fortean Headlines

    BBC news story Darien Harris freed from prison after trial's key witness was found to be blind "Justice is supposed to be blind. The eyewitness is not supposed to be blind," Mr Harris' lawyer Lauren Myerscough-Mueller said. "That is not how the justice system is supposed to work."
  42. Mikefule

    Ridiculous Accidents

    This is a very peculiar death indeed. It is hard to imagine the camera equipment bag being the same shape, straps, buckles, colour, and weight as his parachute bag. I have never parachuted. However, I used to be a keen scuba diver, which has some similarities: bulky technical equipment...
  43. Mikefule

    Lucky Escapes

    I spent several years of my working life investigating motor accidents for an insurance company, taking statements from drivers and witnesses, visiting scenes, taking photos and measurements, studying police reports, negotiating with solicitors, occasionally attending court. Most road accidents...
  44. Mikefule

    Alternative Medicine: Homeopathy

    I understand the point you are making, and I believe you understood the point I was making. It is not completely implausible that very small doses of some substances might increase resistance to, prevent, or even cure some medical conditions. Indeed, to a certain extent, that could be a...
  45. Mikefule

    Alternative Medicine: Homeopathy

    A friend of mine was depressed and took an underdose of homeopathic remedy. We had to use the weakest antidote available to save him. That said, just because the ritualistic element is clearly nonsense, and the explanation about molecule memory has no basis in our current scientific...
  46. Mikefule

    Festively-Named Somerset Couple Declare Their Surname Is Real

    A double barrelled surname used to denote a particular branch of a prestigious family, or the union between two people who were last in their line and didn't want it to die out. My own son uses a double barrelled surname because his wife had no brothers and wanted to preserve her family's...
  47. Mikefule

    How We Die: Proximal And Ultimate Causes Of Death

    The police usually say "No suspicious circumstances" when it is not murder, and " We are not looking for anyone else" if it is suicide, or if it is a murder followed by the suicide of the killer. I suspect this unusual formula is intended to suggest it is not suicide. However, they would only...
  48. Mikefule

    Oh, The Irony

    Not sure if this is the right thread, but it's ironic in the broadest sense, I suppose. 1959, Louis Armstrong's version of the song, Mack the Knife, was banned by the BBC because of its subject matter. It is about a serial killer who uses a knife. 2023 (tonight) on the BBC's flagship light...
  49. Mikefule

    Komodo Dragons Eating People?

    An important factor here being that most people are not in the sea, and all sharks are. There was a notorious incident in Blackpool (a famous seaside place that's noted for fresh air and fun) where a young lad poked a stick with a horse's head handle through the bars of a lion's cage. He was...
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