Stones that the dry thistle would bite on and spit out
Some of my confusions can be safely laid to rest. The key is this: for different epsilons, the limit in n in the second equation here could converge at completely different rates. This implies that, in general, nonlinear systems cannot be exponentially observed with block codes of fixed length. For linear systems, the n actually drops out completely, so no probs there. There is, perhaps, only one reader of this blog who would actually care, but it's been doing my head in for weeks, and it's my blog, and I can write what I want.
Sipping cool lemonade one balmy afternoon on the verandah of an elegant new home built by k's small sibling on our leafy street in the freedom-loving capitalistic utopia that is blog village, a topic of conversation, a gift as welcome as a new-born child to verandah-sitting lemonade sippers, descended upon the congregation. Continental Europe, so the gilded cue card read, is a desert region when it comes to humour, getting more and more barren as the dry wind takes you eastwards.
Last night, having birthday drinks at a local pub, I threw down the gauntlet and challenged one of my colleagues on this. He is from East Germany. To be specific, he's my second friend from Leipzig. Jenny of course is funny, but more in a narcoleptic boozy floozy way. He is the one who once for piked on a night out with the excuse "I have eaten too much, now I am lying on the bed and I cannot move", which is also funny, though not intentionally so on his part. More to the point, he is the one known about town for laughing uproariously with the Russians after saying something which is not at all funny. Not even bad jokes, just not jokes at all.
I thought, no point beating round the bush (also I was drunk) so I said to him "what is all this, some kind of communist humour?". And, to my surprise (and relief) he pretty much agreed with me. He said "In communist countries, you have to learn how to make a joke without actually saying what is funny, or you get arrested". Sounds to me suspiciously like an excuse for just saying stuff which isn't funny, and then laughing, but I'll give him the benefit of the doubt.
His fräulein grew up in East Berlin, and one of the school projects they gave the kids was to write a short report on a story they saw on the news that night. This would test their comprehension skills. It also indicated which families were watching capitalist television broadcast from West Berlin, which was reported to the authorities, and the parents were demoted to the lowest levels in society.
When the people are being beaten with a stick, they are not much happier if it is called 'the People's Stick.'
(Bakunin)
Sipping cool lemonade one balmy afternoon on the verandah of an elegant new home built by k's small sibling on our leafy street in the freedom-loving capitalistic utopia that is blog village, a topic of conversation, a gift as welcome as a new-born child to verandah-sitting lemonade sippers, descended upon the congregation. Continental Europe, so the gilded cue card read, is a desert region when it comes to humour, getting more and more barren as the dry wind takes you eastwards.
Last night, having birthday drinks at a local pub, I threw down the gauntlet and challenged one of my colleagues on this. He is from East Germany. To be specific, he's my second friend from Leipzig. Jenny of course is funny, but more in a narcoleptic boozy floozy way. He is the one who once for piked on a night out with the excuse "I have eaten too much, now I am lying on the bed and I cannot move", which is also funny, though not intentionally so on his part. More to the point, he is the one known about town for laughing uproariously with the Russians after saying something which is not at all funny. Not even bad jokes, just not jokes at all.
I thought, no point beating round the bush (also I was drunk) so I said to him "what is all this, some kind of communist humour?". And, to my surprise (and relief) he pretty much agreed with me. He said "In communist countries, you have to learn how to make a joke without actually saying what is funny, or you get arrested". Sounds to me suspiciously like an excuse for just saying stuff which isn't funny, and then laughing, but I'll give him the benefit of the doubt.
His fräulein grew up in East Berlin, and one of the school projects they gave the kids was to write a short report on a story they saw on the news that night. This would test their comprehension skills. It also indicated which families were watching capitalist television broadcast from West Berlin, which was reported to the authorities, and the parents were demoted to the lowest levels in society.
When the people are being beaten with a stick, they are not much happier if it is called 'the People's Stick.'
(Bakunin)
posted by I-Rock at 2:50 PM
7 Comments:
Ooooh - can I hang out in the virtual yurt? While we're at it, can there be virtual cabana boys?
My dear, you will have the virtualest cabana boys in all the world.
Not in my shack, though. My house will be a cabana boy free zone. There will, however, be cabana girls...
Ian I think we have solved the mystery of continental European humour, it is never what they say that is funny but always how they say it.
Even though he is not continental European, when I was in Costa Rica, my girlfriend got a new set of pyjamas mailed over from home. When she put them on, our Costa Rican group leader looked at her and said, 'Nice set!' with an innocent smile. She slapped him.
possibly.. but how should that vampire joke be said to make it funny??
Maybe with lots of winks, and some indication, through mime, that it is actually a knock knock joke about bunnies. Thats how I would do it.
I've no idea what you're on about in your update section. Topological entropy looks hard.
Took me months to get it. I'll tell you bout it on the island... and I still wanna milk you for some clues on that asymptotic eigenvalue biz.
Mizz Tangles: I'm all for it, if the bunny-mime gets shot by Mat, standing at his front door, shooting from the hip with one hand, stuffing rhubarb pie in his mouth with the other, laughing maniacally (but not so maniacally as to spit out or choke on the pie).
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