xaphod

Hi, Squirrel,

ROCK ON TOMMY .... well done

Sorry I shoved your thread off topic, but I thought it would be an idea to have a brief comparison of the world's education systems.

I think that the prospect for young people's educations is pretty grim .... like the godawful concrete architecture of your school .... talk about uninspiring.

What are you going to do next? Does your school have a sixth form, or are you off to a sixth-form college? It will be interesting to see what your colleagues' comments will be next term .... maybe something along the lines of 'when are you going to wear skirt and heels again?'

In all, I think you got a very good result. Ignore the builders, they're nearly all the same .... total of one brain cell in each ball. (It must be, since they're always scratching their balls in an attempt to rub two brain cells together ! )

Finally, the post Alton Towers roller coaster is pretty normal for those who don't get motion sickness too badly. They adapt quickly to continuous movement but when their surroundings return to normal, their brains seem to think that everything is still moving. You ought to see me after a week's sailing .... I walk around as if I had a few beers inside me and fall over in the shower, thinking the walls are moving around. Driving can get a bit ethereal too.

FF, you forget that Bob is a member of the armed forces (either that or is a civilian attached to one of their units). You can bet that when it's the Government's pitch, it definitely slopes their way. Not so long back, for example, a well respected and efficient Navy officer was ejected from the service for being gay. I believe the whole process took less than a week, to remove someone who had served for over 10 years.

Hi, SQ, Ye Gods, has time passed that quickly, or are you off to sixth form college? I didn't think you are going to university just yet. For those not familiar with the UK 'education' 'system', it goes something like this:- From 5 to 11 years old, kids go to primary school, where they used to be taught reading, writing and arithmetic as a basic minimum. Dependent upon the school (and more like the specialisations of the local teachers) you would occasionally find the kids taught a bit of French or Science as well as art, drama, music, history, geography, nature study, religion and PE. Secondary school, year 1 is for 11 to 12 year olds. There are 5 years of compulsory secondary education up to the age of 16. For those wishing to take exams, there are nationally set syllabuses (syllabi for pedants ?) and 'general certificate of secondary education' examinations based on the syllabuses. These GCSEs used to be called 'O' (ordinary) levels, but these used to be much too difficult for everybody to pass, so the Government made them progressively easier so they could say how great all their new 'initiatives' were working. If they wish, pupils are allowed to remain at school for another 2 years in the lower and upper sixth forms. Sometimes this means going to another school, commonly known as a sixth form college. Here pupils study for higher qualification (A levels which are the remaining part of the old system) in fewer specialised subjects that interest them and may form the basis for a career. Universities are independent educational bodies (in theory, but they are so dependent on Government grants they have little freedom). The universities select their students on the basis of A level achievement for degree courses which used to last 3 years. With the degredation of A level standards, some universities offering Engineering courses now insist on 4 year courses, just to get the standard of mathematics and physics up to the old level before they teach the old 3 year course. At the end of this, at 21 or 22, students are armed with an ordinary degree. The exceptional students can stay on at uni to do a doctorate (PhD), but funding to do this is increasingly hard to find. A point to note between the UK and US systems is that US ordinary degrees are not up to the standard of UK ordinary degrees, the US guys normally needing another year of work before they start on a doctorate.

Hey Calv, you forgot to mention the two full-size buses.

This story goes back many moons when I was an impoverished Engineer and couldn't afford a car. For a couple of weeks I dated a girl who wore a pair of boots like these.

She looked pretty good on the back of my one of these.

Regretably I got bored with her, possibly due to the light in her eyes was best explained by that shining in her ears !

BTW, she was blonde and from Essex but didn't have any white stilettos.

HI, SQ, I spend quite a lot of time in my workroom, doing some rf work, keeping the paper deluge at bay and playing with the toys. You are correct about the window .... it faces due west so I get the sun from midday until sunset. This can be a mite warm in Summer, but that's a small price to pay. The ham radio gear is used occasionally, about 10 conversations a week, but more when I drag bits of it down to the boat and work maritime mobile. Slim, This is all in an upstairs bedroom. I'm becoming a little paranoid that someday it will all be 10 feet lower, having fallen through the floor !

I've just been scanning some pics.... beware I'm blitzing the board in some misguided fit or enthusiasm.

As a gift for the tech-heads, see how many goodies you can spot.

Ohmigod, not another birthday. This card raised a smile .... I thought I would share.

As Homer would say .... DOH !

Hi, Yamyam, Having seen a few divorces (from the outside), I now rarely ascribe blame to one party. There are always two irreconcileable opposing points of view, so I don't waste too much time working out who was right. The best way to get past this is to go and do something else .... like retail therapy .... yeah yeah, gimme gimme. If you want to do this with like-minded friends, it just so happens that Calv and myself will be in Coventry from 1630 onwards tomorrow (Wed 1st May), looking round the big chains that stay open until 2000. Either PM me on the board or email Calv if you want to join us.

Hardstanding for a tank. And there will be 4 of us and most will be poured where its going !

Sorry, guys, can't make it. The chief concrete shoveler is away on business, so, as understudy, it is time for my debut. Fame awaits at last !

Maybe

I come up to cambridge quite often to see a friend of many years. We usually go out for a curry .... if you like, I will PM you when I'm up your way next.

Hi Guys, It looks like it's just we three. I must admit that I have other things to do on Saturday, frankly not as interesting as heely things, but I said I would help a friend shift 12 cubic metres of ready-mix concrete when it arrived .... it looks like that will be Saturday.

From 'The World in Brief' on teletext:- Steve Madden, who built an empire designing chunky shoes for teenagers, has been jailed for almost 41 months in New York for cheating investors.

Hmmm, funnily enough, Laurie, I was thinking of saying something about buttons. I don't particularly like big buttons because they tend to draw attention to themselves and spoil the overall effect .... as for zip fasteners for sweaters yuck.

In this case, I think she has more buttons undone to show the cut of the dress, which you can just see between her cleavage and left shoulder. As it stands, it is a bit unsubtle. I suspect commercial off-the-peg dresses would be cut more modestly.

I just wonder .... those slightly browny red Legende pumps/courts would pick up on the lipstick and the nail varnish; however the usual bright red patent that is so favoured by the fetish shoemakers would push the whole look over the top.

It is very easy to change a sophisticated look into a tarty one by just one change of detail.

To quote Yamyam

"I think the most dangerous question is "What's the worst that can happen?"

.... this reminds me of a joke

'Cheer up .... things could be worse'

So he cheered up, and yes, things did get worse.

Here's a style for Spring.

Timeless elegance, or just slightly wide of the mark. To me, it doesn't quite make it .... lose the umbrella or the sunglasses possibly ?

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: xaphod on 2002-04-03 19:37 ]</font>

Hi, Laurie, I know you are anything but run-of-the-mill. I'm sorry if you thought I didn't believe that. I just used the technique of applying argument to a premise to create an absurd conclusion, thereby implying the premise was wrong .... it's called 'reduction to the absurd' and has a Latin name which I can't remember, in case someone nitpicks my crappy Latin. As it happened, I managed to create a conundrum which served the purpose and, what I found delicious, it put a pinprick in the odd ego as well. As for egos, mine has been running around creating havoc for the last few posts. I've got it cornered now, so, soon it should back in it's box for a while.

As mod here, Inga, thanks for allowing us to tease (can't we have an icon for evil grin ? ) ------------------------------------------ Certain people aren't much impressed by IQ figures .... they just indicate the ability to pass IQ tests ! I agree that girls and boys score near as dammit identically in IQ tests, tests carefully devised to be insensitive to the effects of cultural background, gender and, although difficult, reading ability. Really, Laurie and Firefox, I'm surprised at you! It's doubtful that you would suggest that the statistical sample 'I' is big enough to be significant, so it must be you consider that, fortuitously, you happen to be fully representative of the 'bang in the middle' average of the whole human range of abilities .... tut tut ------------------------------------------ BTW, Francis said "if we were all equal, there would be no diversity in the world and what a dull world it would be." .... too damn true !

Quote FF

It depends what you mean by equal. They share the same intellectual capabilities, which is one of the most important traits in todays society. .... Unquote

Sorry, FF, I beg to disagree ....

I don't want to spend too long straying off topic, but this popular, but erroneous, view needs correction.

I recount anecdotal evidience from my parents, both teachers, who saw the capabilities of more young, and unformed, minds than people in other professions. To them, it was obvious that boys were better at solving abstract problems, but girls far outstripped the boys in verbal reasoning and communication. Think back to when you were at Junior School, and how boys played with things and girls were always being told off for chattering.

Lately there is scientific evidence (Horizon TV prog about 1 month ago) that male and female brains differ, a small part of the hypothalamus being physically unlike. The evidence went on to show that this part of the brain, in the hormonally male body of a trans-sexual, was the female type.

Terayon sums it up quite well .... on average, there isn't much difference.

Sorry, Trolldeg, A well turned ankle does it for me every time. If I were a less civilised human being, I would now be wiping the drool from my keyboard. Charlie, When FF and myself went to the GSO, we had the highest heels there, mind you that's fairly easy when the competition comprised a bunch of well-bred dowagers in the most posperous county town of the UK. Laurie, Men and women are not equal .... they're different. Depending how they approach it, they can reflect society's modern canker, hire attorneys, and fight like alley cats, or accept each other's views (while not necessarily agreeing with them), make allowances, and enjoy a partnership greater than the sum of the individuals.

With the ease, courtesy of 'theforumisdown', we can include pics, I thought we could start a thread where we could post fashion shots (from the net or wherever).

The idea would be to share our critcisms, both good and bad, on the co-ordination and elegance of the whole outfit, naturally including the shoes.

To start, here's mine.

As you might have seen elsewhere, I don't normally go much on baggy thigh boots, but these are an exception. The way the designer has co-ordinated the bagginess of the boots with the top is rare. The overall black of the outfit matches the model's hair and the leopard print trim tones in with her face.

I can only guess that the heels are about 3", but with the looseness of the rest of the clothes, I guess this whole outfit would be reasonably warm and comfortable to wear.

I think this overall look allows a woman to wear thigh boots without looking fetishy, rather she looks more like best part of a million dollars.

Here's one for the wet and messy crew.

After the heavy rains of last year, the cellar flooded. A pair of courts had been left down there and didn't look too good afterwards.

Now I've found out how to drive this image inserter, here's one of me at Euroheel in Rotterdam.

PS .... The guy in the background is Lion.