Unexplained Mysteries Discussion Forums: Unexplained Mysteries Discussion Forums -> My family and other assorted animals

As some of you know, I work with a Charity group that dresses up as characters out of Star Wars. We usually help out with events at Children's Hospitals, Parades, Conventions, and generally raising money for various groups and individual's in need. Naturally, being Star Wars, occasionally this means carrying replica guns around with us.

However, gun laws in Australia are very strict. Normally unless we are dressed up we keep them wrapped in towels to show we have no interest in using them. During a recent charity event, one member of our group simply kept the gun in his backpack with the barrell sticking out of the top before walking into a shopping centre (a Mall, you would call it in America). Security monitored him and took him into custody shortly after leaving. For carrying a gun, even a replica gun, he was taken to Court. The Judge sentenced him to do Community Service.

To which, naturally, this person requested that he take that Community Service with this Charity group and dress up and do everything he would have been doing anyway even without the Court ruling

Just thought I'd share. Until next time,

~ PA

Confine that which you fear to the mirror.
Start with who is standing there.
Then smile.

End transmission.

QUEENSLANDER!!!! QUEENSLANDER!!!!! QUEENSLANDER!!!! Against the odds, all-round effort - go the Maroon's

*if you're an Aussie, you'll understand*

Bullet Dodging - the ancient art of getting oneself out of tough situations, often a result of sheer dumb luck rather than any sense of skill or good management. Definitely not a recommended practice

Today I turned my computer to find the mouse had completely shut down. A mouse-transfusion was required, and having transferred the mouse from one PC to another in a brilliant display of IT techno-babble, the computer rejected the mouse, and decided to crash the system, multiple times. On this computer contains a semester's worth of information, particularly assessment tasks for my main subjects. One such task, due in in less than 24 hours is near completed. There is no backup. Said assessment was as good as lost. Some hours of pure blind luck later, the computer is now active again. Step 1 - email backup copy of assessment task.

Bullet Dodging - saving uni-students since 1963

"Probably" - a term used to denote the likelihood of an action or event occurring based on available data.

At least, this has always been my understanding of the term. But recent discussions seem to have upset the sensibilities of what that actually means. Some people believe "probably" to mean a hypothetical scenario, a "what if", if you will. And so in order to not derail topics on the forums, I'm ranting about it here on my blog. Consider the following statements *note, these do not necessarily reflect my own views or feelings*

~ The holocaust probably never happened
~ President Bush was probably responsible for 9/11
~ The Loch Ness Monster is probably 200 feet long and has probably hidden sensors all these years by hiding under a pink raincoat on the bottom of the Loch.
~ The latest UFO citing was probably Pleudians from the far off planet of Pleudia.
~ I'm probably going to rob a store this afternoon.
~ Jack Pradoni was probably the founder of America, twenty-five years before Christopher Columbus was even born

All these statements use "probably". Now if we were discussing this in a rational manner, how many people would let these statements pass without question? Of some, I would be accused of being a racist (Holocaust denial), and no matter how much I protest that I only said "probably", it won't help, because the definition of the term suggests that I have come to this conclusion on the basis of the available evidence. It is not a hypothetical, I am not asking "What if". Some of these are just completely ludicrous - who are the Pleudians? WHo is Jack Pradoni (I made them both up). Yet in a discussion, simply prefacing the comment with "probably" makes it appear as if I have come to a reasoned answer based on the information I had available to me, at the time, and naturally I would expect someone to question my reasoning for coming to these conclusions.

Why is this such a difficult thing to realise? Why are there some people out there that think "probably" is an excuse to say whatever they want and then when questioned about their rationalisation or reasoning, they simply say "I did only say "probably", it's only a hypothetical question". Or in other words, I have no evidence, but because I phrased it as a "what if" you cannot question me.

I don't get it

Sorry for the rant, but it was just totally perplexing to me how this could even be an issue. Thanks for reading (if you got down this far, that is, lol).

Remembering that underneath all our clothes and fur, we are all naked, here's a completely DISGUSTING video from the Muppets I thought I should share, ironically titled What a wonderful World

I would just like to say a few words about Nudity in the world today. And I, for one, am just appalled by it. Why, did you know that underneath their clothing, the entire population of the world is walking around completely naked? Is that disgusting?!?!?!

And it's not just people, although goodness knows, that's bad enough. But animals too! Even cute little doggies and pussycats can't be trusted. Underneath their fur, absolutely naked!

And it's not just the quadrupeds either! Birds too! Yes. Beneath those fine feathers, birds wear nothing. Nothing at all! In fact--

But I digress! Personally, when I think of nudity, most of the time (particularly in winter) it's left me feeling cold.






*adapted from a skit from "The Muppet Show*

Really, where are the carrots - I want to know where they went.......

To my adoring fans, my apologies in not having added to this blog in a long while. To newcomers and established readers alike, I welcome you to Paranoid Android's blog, where you can learn about my family and other assorted animals. Today, I pick up a theme that was established in a long-past entry. The Doctrine of Gumby - new readers can CLICK HERE for details of that entry. But today, we move on from the joys of claymation and into the realm of children's morning television. Today, we look at the Church of Humphrey.

Most children regard Humphrey B. Bear as a God. It's not too hard to realise why. Every weekday morning, the children gather for mass at 9am in front of the TV. They sing hymns like "I'm a little teapot" and "Humpty Dumpty Sat on a Wall", not to mention "What a wonderful fellow is Humphrey". They do not sing "There's a bear in there". Humphrey considers this blasphemy and ex-communicates any child found singing this song. These children do not mind and usually end up becoming a Priest of Playschool (of which a future blog entry may be dedicated).

Humphrey's apostles also give sermons on the important things in life - smiling. Smiling appears to be fundamental to being a Humphrey acolyte. How to smile even when it rains; how to smile when you don't want to smile; and how to make whipped cream feature prominently in all Humphrey related sermons. The last is very important, for what can put a smile on a child's face faster than whipped cream? Whipped cream however, is completely innocent. As such, it often falls prey to larger, more aggressive competitors such as Coca Cola and Cheezels. For this reason it is vitally important that someone is always looking out for whipped cream.

While Whipped Cream is important, it is not to be confused with Humphrey worship. For even Humphrey's great rival, the evil Fat Cat, uses whipped cream in his periods of worship. Fat Cat (The same Fat Cat, from "Fat Cat and Friends") tries to lure kids to his show, also using whipped cream. But as his name suggests, Fat Cat's gluttony is clear, earning him the nickname "Fat Cat" (his real name is Arthur C. Pymble). It is unfortunate that Fat Cat has abused the name of whipped cream, but it is to be expected, as the aforementioned innocence of whipped cream is clear. However, this is just one more reason why Humphrey followers should always be looking out for whipped cream, ensuring that it is not misused or abused by unscrupulous others intent on destruction of true Humphrey worship.

While on the topic of Fat Cat and Friends, it might be worthwhile to briefly mention the Cult of Fat Cat, which has sprung up in many areas. This Cult is considered by many to be dangerous. "Friends" is the title given to a Fat Cat Initiate, a misnomer to be sure, for the Friends are far from friendly. It is nothing more than a poor attempt to subvert Humphrey values and beliefs, in direct contrast to the Doctrine that, to quote the theme song "What a wonderful fellow is Humphrey. Humphrey the fun-loving bear". While traditional interpretations suggest "fun-loving" is one term (a bear who loves fun), it is becoming increasingly common, especially among liberal scholars, to insist that they are in fact two separate concepts - a fun, loving bear. These scholars insist on the Love of Humphrey as an overriding theme of Humphrey worship, much to the chagrin of the Friends, who attempt to portray Humphrey as a silent creature who cares more about having fun than any real desire to care for the needs of his followers.

For every child, the Church of Humphrey is definitely one to consider ascribing to. I hope this article has been helpful in making clear the basics of the Church of Humphrey. Until my next entry, adoring readers. Good day,

I was supposed to go to university today , but I've been sick all weekend and I thought i'd take the day off to recuperate. Now I'm sitting at home and listening to the radio, and apparently the university is in lockdown while a gunman is apparently running rampant on my home campus (as far as i can tell, no one's been killed, but it's still quite amazing ).

I'm shocked