Today, I had lunch, a meal provided by PWA retirement village, (euphemism for old people’s home) in which I live. I had three companions at table, my wife, another old lady and another retired old man. The other man was quite enthusiastic about the bingo he had just participated in. He also waxed enthusiastic about the 1500 piece jigsaw puzzle waiting for his attention back in his unit. I have never heard him express an opinion about anything except that he prefers to avoid political involvement. The old lady is a pleasant person who avoids conversation. My wife is in the throes of Parkinson’s. I often assure her that the people who visit us aren’t really there. Because of my faulty hearing I can’t decipher much of people say to me. It really doesn’t matter since what I do hear is generally a comment on the weather or something similar – never anything controversial or thought-provoking. I respond to ‘How are you?’ with ‘old, frail and useless.’

On the olo forum there are many opinions, some I agree with and some I disagree with. I am thankful to all of you. How wonderful that you have opinions. You are a window on the world. I hope to continue interacting with you. The Forum is my escape from the confines of PWA village

Dear David,

Thank you!

I keep coming back to the forum because of contributors
such as you. Such as Banjo, Steele, Paul, and so many
others too numerous to mention. I've been posting on this
forum for decades now and have seen so many come and go.
Many who became friends over the years. Sharing views
and discussing various topics does keep the mind alert.
Forcing us to delve into subjects we may not normally
delve into. That's how we learn and keep our minds active.

I too am grateful to this forum for giving me the opportunity
to learn from different perspectives. I certainly don't agree
with all the viewpoints expressed - but I do appreciate
reading the arguments presented, especially when they force
me to check the facts surrounding those arguments.

Once again, I hope that you will keep on posting for
years to come. You have taught me a great deal - and as I
stated earlier - it's people such as yourself I consider a
privilege to inter-act with. Again - THANK YOU!

Hi David, well said, the internet is a great boon for us as we age.

I have dozens of friends all round the world I have never & will never meet. I contribute to a few forums including classic car forums, particularly those catering to old Triumph sports cars. Then there is the remote control flying crowd, a very mixed bunch, & the long range yacht cruising fraternity.

The one thing wind power is really useful for is sailing. I find it very interesting to see how different sailing the worlds oceans is today to when I was doing it a mere 40 years ago. Few today would know what a sextant was, & taking sun or star sights is a long lost skill, with sat nav doing all the work today.

We are so lucky to be able to access so much world today, from the comfort of our computer desk in our house, retirement village or yachts saloon.

Dear davidf,

I am glad you still stomp around the halls of OLO.

I will admit I do get many of my diversions elsewhere now but it is fun to come back to familiar territory.

I'm not sure if you follow podcasters but Lex Fridman is one I am enjoying at the moment. He can be found here: http://www.youtube.com/@lexfridman/videos

He has a PhD in electrical and computer engineering but has a very eclectic range of guests on.

He also committed, as a new year undertaking, to read and discuss a book a week, old friends of he and many of us.

The list thus far is:

Sun, Jan 8 – 1984 by George Orwell
Sun, Jan 15 – Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
Sun, Jan 22 – Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
Sun, Jan 29 – The Stranger by Camus
Sun, Feb 5 – Meditations by Marcus Aurelius
Sun, Feb 12 – On the Road by Jack Kerouac
Sun, Feb 19 – Foundation by Isaac Asimov
Sun, Feb 26 – The Art of War by Sun Tzu
Sun, Mar 5 – Old Man and The Sea by Hemingway
Sun, Mar 12 – 2001: A Space Odyssey by Arthur C Clarke
Sun, Mar 19 – Animal Farm by George Orwell
Sun, Mar 26 – Man’s Search for Meaning by Victor Frankel
Sun, Apr 2 – Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari
Sun, Apr 9 – Metamorphosis, Hunger Artist by Franz Kafka
Sun, Apr 16 – The Plague by Camus
Sun, Apr 23 – Player of Games by Ian Banks
Sun, Apr 30 – Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk
Sun, May 7 – The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
Sun, May 14 – Brothers Karamazov by Dostoevsky
Sun, May 21 – Siddhartha by Herman Hesse
Sun, May 28 – Dune by Frank Herbert
Sun, Jun 4 – Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

He discusses 1984 here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Sk6lTLSZcA

Thanks David for letting us in to have a peek at your day, one thing I disagree with is; "frail and useless." Physically at 97 you wont be what you once were, no one at that age is, but judging by your reasoned comments on OLO your mind is as sharp as ever.

For me today is free, I'm off to the library to pick up some reading material. Think I'll read one of the old classics, maybe Daniel Defoe's 'Robinson Crusoe', see what they have available, I like to read Dickens and Twain etc, love those old adventure stories, a great bit of escapism.

So, it's only selected people that Paul 1405 rubbishes if they live in a retirement village. Don't say anything he doesn't like, david f, or he will start bringing up nurses and dementia and his other insults.

It's not good to reveal your personal details on OLO. On the other hand, I suppose your Lefty credentials will protect you from Paul and his girlfriend's venom.

Dear ttbn,

I appreciate you, also. Lefties and righties are both human. There are some people I would rather not deal with. However, it has nothing to do with whether they are a lefty or a righty. Mussolini started out as a lefty. Then he became a righty.

Lefties and righties may be democratic, honest and truthful. They may be authoritarian, dishonest and liars. Virtue is attached to neither tendency. Unfortunately some lefties think of righties as bad or misguided people and vice versa.

We get into bubbles and reinforce our opinions. We classify people. I hope we can get beyond seeing people mainly as lefties and righties.

Dear David,

I agree with you. However, in order to succeed
in stopping labelling we need to better understand
where people are coming from and why.

Here's a link that provides some answers:

http://oxfordpoliticalreview.com/2019/07/13/how-australia-became-a-conservative-nation/

david f,

I said , "So, it's only selected people that Paul 1405 rubbishes if they live in a retirement village".

I will never understand why people don't read what is written.

Hi, Nah ttbn,

Its only those living in the R.I.P Retirement Village for Old Farts, and by Old Fart I don't mean by age. Those who retired their brain at a very early age, say 21 or younger, or never had a functioning brain to begin with would be classified as an Old Fart, unfortunate but true, people above a certain age are simply the elderly. Those with no progressive thinking are Old Farts, conservatives locked in their '1952 Time Warp' and can't move into the present, qualify as Old Farts in my book. I can't help that.

Hi david f,

In my view there is no Left and Right, (the French have a lot to answer for) only moderate, and then there are varying degrees to the extreme. With the variation from moderate to extreme a factor of the societies prevailing social, political and economic conditions at a given time. I believe in the 'Horseshoe Political Principle';

"In political science and popular discourse, the horseshoe theory asserts that the extreme left and the extreme right, rather than being at opposite and opposing ends of a linear political continuum, closely resemble each other, analogous to the way that the opposite ends of a horseshoe are close together."

I see Hitler and Stalin, not as extreme right and left opposites, but simply similar extremes, to the point where they were within calling distance of each other, and one could be transposed into the others regime with little dislocation. They were not brothers in arms, but brothers in competition who could accommodate each other if required.

The other concept I find misunderstood by many is the term 'radical' you cannot be progressive without be radical, but then radicalism can lead to extremism, and many equate radicalism with extremism, and that is not always the case.

Hi there DAVID F...

As you may know, I've always held your intellect in very high regard, in fact you'd probably be the most intelligent gentleman on this Forum. However, I rarely agree with any of your philosophical beliefs, as articulated on many of your posts herein. Nor your obvious tendency to support the 'Left' in many of the topics raised herein.

Nonetheless, I admire you as an intellect, and as a genuine gentleman, DAVID F. And I'm sure many others would agree, that your presence has greatly enriched the quality of 'The Forum'. Thank you sir for all your learned contributions to this Site.

Hi David,

Yes, I think the privilege here is to be able to share opinions. The one truth that I hope people gain from the experience is that being a good or bad person is not defined by your opinion of a particular matter.

Dear o sung wu,

David Hume, a wise Scottish philosopher, said "Reason is the slave of the passions." Our opinions are the product of our background - our ethnic group, our religion or lack of it, where we live, what we do for a living, who we know and a lot of things that have nothing to do with our analysis of the situation. Then we use our intellect to justify those opinions. If I had lived the life you've lived and had your background my opinions would be similar to yours and vice versa.

The exact Hume quote is:

"Reason is, and ought only to be the slave of the passions, and can never pretend to any other office than to serve and obey them."

Hume's works are on Project Gutenberg.

Dear Fester,

You wrote, "The one truth that I hope people gain from the experience is that being a good or bad person is not defined by your opinion of a particular matter."

How many religious people think an atheist is a bad person? How many atheists think a religious person is a bad person?

Dear David,

Atheism is a non prophet organisation.

Foxy you made me groan. For that one you should be made4 to stand in the corner for an hour wearing the "SMART ASS" cap.

Hi Hassie,

I've already got a cap that says - SASSY
on it - does that count? And another with - YES!

For the record, Atheism is about truth.
I imagine a True Atheist sees religious people as humans being conned and scammed.
But worse.
The religious give the impression they are allowing this to happen.
They are persons who want to be conned and scammed?
Perhaps they are too frightened to live in the natural world?
Its reality is too much for them to think about?
They prefer to live in a story world, where nothing needs to be out of place.
Imagination is a wonderful thing?

Going by what I see in the monkey cage it goes back a bit further than religion David. Thinking someone bad because of a differing opinion seems a bit primitive.

Dear Fester,

We are primitive. I am more likely to read sources which reinforce my opinions. I am more comfortable with people whose opinions agree with mine.

I am enjoying Victorian poetry especially from those such as Swinburne, Clough and Arnold who challenged the religiosity of their time. The religiosity of their time is pretty much the same as the religiosity of our time but those like Dawkins, Dennett and Harris who challenge the religiosity of our time are not also making beautiful poetry.

I have the mentality of a tribes person but try to be polite to the members of other tribes who live in the Old Folks Home with me. Many of them are members of the local Christian Reformed Church which pushes the idea that the earth is 6,000 years old and was created in six literal days.

Good old Swinburne:

From too much love of living,
From hope and fear set free,
We thank with brief thanksgiving
Whatever gods may be
That no life lives for ever;
That dead men rise up never;
That even the weariest river
Winds somewhere safe to sea.

Then star nor sun shall waken,
Nor any change of light:
Nor sound of waters shaken,
Nor any sound or sight:
Nor wintry leaves nor vernal,
Nor days nor things diurnal;
Only the sleep eternal
In an eternal night

Dear David,

I will not bother you this time with opinions you disagree with,
but I may use this opportunity to ask for your advice.

My orchestra regularly plays in old-folks homes, so any feedback about the types of music and/or any specific pieces that you and your colleagues/inmates like to hear most, is most appreciated.

We have so far been playing shorter pieces and avoided long classical pieces on the assumption that the attention-span of older residents is short, but is this assumption correct?

Perhaps also your view on an incident we had in 2011: following Japan's big tsunami and nuclear catastrophe, I brought in the music for the Japanese anthem, which we practiced and were going to add to our program in solidarity, but then our leader decided to take it out due to the potential sensitivity of these older people who still fought in WW-2 and considered the Japanese as monsters. I must mention that this is the new, post-war Japanese anthem which has no resemblance at all to the imperial one. What do you think?

Dear Yuyutsu,

I don't enjoy interacting with you.

Dear David,

Thank you for introducing us to Algernon
Charles Swinburne and his writing. I loved
the poem.

Dear Yuyutsu,

I am sorry to be so churlish. I find your observations re god to be very offputting. They have affected my feelings toward you, but I will try to respond to your post. It is admirable that your orchestra entertains old people.

I do not share the musical preferences of most of the fellow inmates of my old-folks home. I stopped listening to pop music when Elvis and the Beatles came out. They have played long pieces in the social hall such as St. Matthew’s Passion, and there were about 30 people who sat through the whole piece. The attention span of old people varies widely as does the attention span of young people. I listen to music very rarely. I enjoy natural sounds – the patter of rain, twitter of birds, thunder, the chirp of a gecko etc. Occasionally I listen on youtube to Spike Jones, the Hoosier hotshots or Russ Columbo. As far as classical I like Bach, Rimsky-Korsakov, Enesco but my tastes are not the same as those of my wife so I have to be content with the sounds of nature.

I avoid the social gatherings in pwa village. I lie low during Christmas as I do not relate to that holiday. There is a lot of Christmas related activity in the village. Many people in the village belong to the local Christian Reformed Church which pushes the Genesis Project. The GP promotes the idea that the earth is 6,000 years and was created in six literal days. However, there is beautiful landscaping in the village and medical help on call. I don’t feel that I am a good representative of the inmates in the village.

I don’t understand the hostility toward Japanese music. We can enjoy great German music even though Hitler was not a man of good will. We fought the Germans in WW2, and the Nazis were not nice guys.

My father spent some time in Japan about a hundred years ago. In Russia he was a despised Zhid. In Japan he was just another blue-eyed, red-haired European. He loved Japan.

Dear David F.,

Thank you so much for all the feedback.
Too bad you cannot speak for the majority of inmates, but we should look again at incorporating longer classical pieces in our concerts.

I can very much understand your feelings about Christmas:
I don't feel any attraction to it either, but when we play we just want to serve the residents and make them smile, and they seem to like it, they even sing along, some with tears. It may interest you that we included Maoz Tsur in our Christmas program the last two years.

Hi folks,

Have been browsing for a while, and quite pleased to see so many of my old pals still here.

David, what a heartfelt post from you - great thread!

Might pop in from time to time.

P,S. SteeleRedux - I'm reading Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari at the moment. Excellent book!

Hi Poirot,

Welcome back!

I gave a shout when I saw your name come up on the forum
again. We need you so I hope you'll keep posting more
often. You've been missed greatly. How have you been?

Hi Foxy,

I have been very well, thanks for enquiring :)

I'm working as an historical researcher for an author, so that has been fantastic.

At present, my head is filled most days going up through the Sinai and Palestine (as it was then known) in 1916/1917 with the Australian Light Horse.

Very fortunate to find this kind of work.

Hi Poirot,

Sounds like interesting work and rewarding work.

I've had my recent work accepted for publishing.
A collection of short stories. So life is satisfying
at the moment.

That's great!

What an achievement.

Congratulations.

When's it due to be published?

Hi Poirot,

Around mid-year. I'll let you know.

Dear Poirot,

Welcome back stranger. Good to see you posting again.

I will be sure to check out your recommendation. Sounds like an interesting read.

I'm having a catch up with Don Watson's The Bush. Always good value as an author.

Take care.

Hi SteeleRedux,

Yes, good to be back.

I should thank you for your kind words after I departed some years back.

Much appreciated :)

Tori, you might feel a "million bucks" by cloaking yourself in the hide of some poor dead animal, but a lot of people see it for what it is, cruelty towards other creatures for the perverse pleasure of an inferior animal, YOU! Anyway don't be a cheapskate by trying to flog your dead animal hides on a free website like this.