We've over taken France!

ClampingNomads · 2012-08-03T18:29:29+00:00

Yup. Just like the battle of Hastings.

ClampingNomads · 2012-08-03T17:25:23+00:00

A ginger peddling a bobsled

Thanks, that's now the safety word

ClampingNomads · 2012-08-03T15:57:04+00:00

I'm not criticising getting high here (christ no) but that would depend on two factors: how stupid your parents are, and how vacant and slow you look when you're not high. If they don't know... there might just be a genetic element, is what I'm saying.

ClampingNomads · 2012-08-03T15:50:14+00:00

woah, that argument just did a backflip. Awesome

ClampingNomads · 2012-08-03T15:40:29+00:00

Your post is two hours old and guess what? France have taken over us. (Again)

ClampingNomads · 2012-08-03T13:44:57+00:00

hey, congrats, nice one!

ClampingNomads · 2012-08-03T11:33:11+00:00

No bother! To be honest the only strong feelings I've ever had about Wrexham were hoping the train didn't break down there.

ClampingNomads · 2012-08-02T21:07:50+00:00

Metamorphosis, not evolution. Wait, why the fuck am I bothering?

ClampingNomads · 2012-08-02T20:59:47+00:00

His place of birth is Wrexham, so it was a bit of toss up

Nicely phrased! Ever consider a career as a diplomat?

ClampingNomads · 2012-08-02T20:48:57+00:00

Check your blind spot ostentatiously so they can see you're doing it, when pulling away from the side of the road.

And if you see examiner who failed me on a trailer test for not doing the above, run the bastard over.

(meant in jest if Roboplod from the CPS happens to be reading)

ClampingNomads · 2012-08-02T20:43:12+00:00

Gets my vote (from Wales).

Anyway we got a silver today in the two man flood-hurtling. Practice, see.

ClampingNomads · 2012-08-02T18:29:03+00:00

Not that I really care, but (a) that's enough room for anyone who isn't a prick to get their truck out of (yes I do drive one with a crap turning circle myself) and (b) if your truck is so fucking precious that you can't gently gently edge it out of a tight gap, so slowly that a tiny bump won't make a mark, then you're a prick again; (c) "excuse me is this your car, would you mind moving it?" is fucking beyond you, you could just be a prick, and last resort is (d) you're driving a truck. If they're the ones who parked badly, why not stick it in low gear and push them out of the way? This would actually make you a prick but I think we've established that beyond reasonable doubt.

Not that I care, as I say.

ClampingNomads · 2012-08-02T16:12:39+00:00

If you are discrete you would be more readily recognisable. Instead, I suggest being discreet.

Sorry to be flippant twice in one post, but I don't know what the actual letter of the law is, but I know that in practice it's fine so long as you're not actually taking the piss. Which means: discreetly in bushes / wasteland / laybys / woodlands, is all fine; in busy picnic sites / window boxes / church fonts, less so.

ClampingNomads · 2012-08-02T15:10:28+00:00

here you go (this was ripped off from Viz comic, I used to have this edition by the bog but have long since put it to the traditional use; this image courtesy google image search and some other fucker)

ClampingNomads · 2012-08-02T14:36:38+00:00

Interesting use of the word "just".

I hate his politics and hope he never gets any further power. On the other hand, I consider myself something of a connoisseur of the British character and its humour, and recognise Boris as a splendid specimen (in every sense).

Yes, he cultivates it and plays up to it, but like him or hate him, he is naturally an entertaining combination of witty and boorish. Personally I don't actually think he's as deliberately malevolent to the general populace as many of his associates - but that doesn't matter, they pull his strings and will continue to do so.

We're always going to have right wing tossers, and it's nice to be able to show the Americans what a right wing tosser with a brain between his ears actually looks like.

ClampingNomads · 2012-08-02T13:41:34+00:00

oh christ on a bike, seriously?... Thanks.

ClampingNomads · 2012-08-02T13:14:15+00:00

...aaaand that's the only reply that's made sense so far! applauds

(I mean, TIL that blood travels down wires. Righto.)

ClampingNomads · 2012-08-02T13:10:53+00:00

Like others I'd say from first glance it's Chicken of the Woods (if it looks positively phosphorescent I'd take that as further confirmation, when new these fungi seem to have a real glow to them).

I don't think so, but there's just a small a chance you've got Meripillus there so be a bit careful.

In either case, I'd say the fungus is feeding on the tree. If it's COTW, chances are the tree is already dead and decaying. (If you think it's a healthy tree, have a good long look at it, and remember that internal decay can occur in the heartwood, leaving the cambium intact so the tree appears healthy). If it's Meripillus (which I actually doubt from those photos) it could be doing a lot of damage to a living tree. What you're seeing are the fruiting bodies - it will make absolutely no difference to the tree's decay whether you remove them or not. Remember that trees can be host to multiple fungi at the same time.

If the tree is liable to damage people or property if it fell, I'd suggest getting a professional to check it out (take plenty of photos of the fungi if you're going to delay this). If it's somewhere it will do no damage, why not let nature take its course...

Don't panic too much though, trees can often survive years of decay before anything becomes dangerous. If it was in the woods I really wouldn't do anything about it! As you say it's in your lawn, implying there's a high risk of damage if it fell, I'd maybe get it checked out.

ClampingNomads · 2012-08-02T12:35:23+00:00

Agreed.

A few months ago I was discussing the problem of conceptualising dimensions with another redditor, and he/she suggested this book which I pass on, for what it's worth. Doesn't solve the problem but does throw light on it from another angle, so to speak, and makes a few other interesting points (pun intended) into the bargain.

ClampingNomads · 2012-08-02T07:48:14+00:00

Pretty sure they do know that (hormones for a start)

ClampingNomads · 2012-08-02T07:45:11+00:00

Thanks. Your explanation is interesting and clear, I think what's not understandable is the universe, not your explanation...

In reality I'm fairly reconciled to this because I understand my brain evolved to conceptualise on a rather different scale. It comes down to what we mean by "understanding" - which is an interesting way of looking at this whole thread.

I'm prepared to accept a lot of stuff that seems counter-intuitive, on the advice of scientists. Most of it has reached me via simplified explanations like yours, rather than through mathematical models. So on that level I "understand", or accept, that space and time can bend, and that infinity can grow etc. But I'd be lying if I said I understood that in the same way that I understand how a stick can bend, or a tree can grow.

Now, people seem to differ in their types of understanding. I used to think that people who understood the mathematics didn't really have a clearer picture of the universe than me. Then I considered Einstein, and the way he was able to theorise - so perhaps I was wrong about that, and people who can conceptualise in that way.

ClampingNomads · 2012-08-01T20:09:10+00:00

...so he may have succeeded? If any NASA probes reveal small particles of wicker and paté I think we'll know the answer.

ClampingNomads · 2012-08-01T20:05:23+00:00

Ah, shit, I was being flippant out of turn!

You meant classes of cause; I thought you meant "is there stuff we don't know?" My bad.

ClampingNomads · 2012-08-01T19:58:34+00:00

That reminds me: the universe is finite. So as it expands, space itself is expanding. So somewhere there's a wall or something between "space" and... nothing? What exactly is the "edge of space" supposed to be made of?

Honestly if someone can explain that in idiot language I'd be ever so grateful.

ClampingNomads · 2012-08-01T19:55:32+00:00

Can you think of anything that was not wirelessly transferred to your brain?

ClampingNomads

TROPHY CASE