The Pooka

a canadien is 117. julie winnefred bertrand born september 16 1889 I believe that the Wandering Jew is older still. I met him in a Wetherspoon's last year. He was hammered. The WJ told me that he had recently met Enoch in a Happy Eater and that Enoch was even older. I know little of the good book so I have to accept what they say.

Does everyone check their sense of humour at the door before joining DL? I know exactly what you meant, hence my words "double entendre intended"! c'mon LCR, if you venture beyond the confines of the Dickie O thread you'll find the vast majority of regular members on the site have a great sense of humour. But it's a two way street - we like to be entertained as well. I'll pledge no more deleting of posts (unless it's Nazis, I reserve the right to delete posts by Nazis) and will just suggest that hopping from thread to thread gives one loads more interesting topics to discuss than just sticking to one about a poor guy who has done absolutely nothing newsworthy in the past 5 years, best as I can tell. I must confess that the Clarissa / Banshee's dialogue was becoming a little tedious - but it takes no time to scroll through it - and they are each usually good value. Put it down to unrequited love. The Banshee's v Windsor brawl is beginning to heat up. Tactics will be interesting in future. Banshee's sub-Sigmund analysis needs pepping up if he is to resist Windsor's Troglodyte abuse. C'mon lads - swap roles for a few posts - make it interesting.

Me too. MiB. I googled Tessa wyatt and have ended up in this up-turned jam jar for a year now. Frankly I have lost interest in Tessa now. The reasons for this I will not discuss just yet. Needless to say, I am up to something.

Not being able to see the censored posts I am unsure whether what I have to say is relevant. However, sometimes one posts three consecutive posts as one has just logged on and is responding to three earlier posts that are not necessarily related to each other.

Another way of looking at a head transplant is that it's a body-minus-head transplant. Supposing the brain is the organ that contains memory and personality, the body will feel very different. *snip* It seems to me Hein that this is quite different. If you're in a car crash and your body is wrecked your head might well need a new body so that would be a body transplant rather than a head transplant. Your head would be calling the shots. *snip* This is what causes religion. I deal with these questions by being an atheist and by being firm in the knowledge that head transplants won't be perfected in my lifetime. I leave these questions to my descendants. Yes of course CA but this is "just supposing" and this is the Why Are We Here thread after all. I think Dawkins' concept of the selfish gene is worth considering. If his argument that our bodies, our whole existence in fact, is as a vehicle for replicating our genes, it calls in to question the role of the head. If the head (or the brain inside it) is a thought machine, what happens to the thoughts when it is switched off? A computer's memory stays where it is until it is reactivated. Unless its in RAM. Thoughts are NOT memories. The reactivation of a brain (eg after trauma and coma) is frequently characterised by inefficient memory. The thoughts that were present at the time of the insult / injury are, I suspect, lost.

I agree. Breathing in a pulse is nonsense. A pulse is just a transmitted vibration along a blood vessel that is felt as it passes over a bone or similar. But it is no more mad a thought than the suggestion that you can breathe in the 'departing consciousness' of the dying (and, I suspect, that you doubted that possibility anyway). Consciousness, memories and thoughts are features of neuroanatomy and neurobiology that will be readily destroyed as the brain is crushed, ignited, smashed or rotted. PS I've pulled a few chicks with last sentence.

If it's your old brain inside the new head then yes, it would still be you. Everything that is uniquely you is contained inside the brain, the body is just a handy way of transporting it. I thought your genes were uniquely you? Wouldn't they survive with a new head? It would still be your sperm, not the head's sperm. You are the sum of your memories and experiences, all else is mere biology. I'm not sure about this. Are the memories and experiences what some have described as "consciousness"? If they have been accumulated and stored in the brain they must exist. Now if the brain dies with the rest of the body what happens to the memories and experiences? Do they get blown away? Do they dissipate in the atmosphere? If you're standing by someone as they expire is it possible you could breath in some of their departing consciousness that might get lodged in your brain? no more than you'd breathe in someone else's pulse and react accordingly.

Hold yer hands up MPFC. That time you went 'further than far too far'. Even I cringed.

It was also the case in the UK and much of Europe. They hanged an unsuccessful suicide in London in the 1800s. Unfortunately, because he had cut his throat he continued to breathe through the wound. The aldermen took him down, bound his neck and hanged him again. Taught him a lesson he'll never forget. It seems to miss the point though. If one really wants to punish a suicide attempt one ought to give the perpetrator life. regards, Hein I suppose they were driven by religion rather than behaviourism. Though, if you are interested in the history, the Bible, unlike the Koran, does not forbid suicide. It was only when the Christians became embarrassed by a suicidal sect called the Donatists (an early version of suicide bombers, only without bombs) that they forbade suicide on the basis that it broke the 'thou shalt not kill' commandment. But that was over 1000 years ago - I'm saying nothing more out of fear of a fatwah.

that should keep him in leg-bags and anti-parkinson medication for a few years

It was also the case in the UK and much of Europe. They hanged an unsuccessful suicide in London in the 1800s. Unfortunately, because he had cut his throat he continued to breathe through the wound. The aldermen took him down, bound his neck and hanged him again. Taught him a lesson he'll never forget. All in Suicide: the Savage God by Al Alvarez.

Agreed CA. If the 10th were consistently the highest over 10-20 years it gets interesting.

That might be because you're one of the people who has the most face to lose when people see your post-count. The post-count should be kept visible for precisely that reason; so we can see just how many posts people are slopping out. I don't think loyalty is the issue here, mpfc. Nobody should think that a high post-count is somehow directly proportional to loyalty. I'm sure there are plenty of members who have been "loyal" to the DL for a lot longer than us, whose post-counts are only in double figures. Their posts, however few and far between, have probably been of high quality and nobody's questioning their "loyalty". This loyalty issue is just a smokescreen you've belched out to cover the central issue; that your post-count is excessively high, leading to an overall degradation in the quality. You're a funny, intelligent guy but you spread yourself too thin, consistently. That alone is the issue. Jesus, Star-crossed. I wish I could take anything as seriously as you take everything.

Is that you, Chuck?

...or should that be 'gagging'?

Excellent stuff. Lupe Velez (July 18, 1908 - December 13, 1944) Tempestuous Mexican actress with a brief career in musical comedy theater followed by a brief career in cinema. Made close to fifty movies in her lifetime, but none catapulted her to the superstardom she'd hoped for. Swallowed handful of sleeping pills. Left two poignant notes detailing tales of unrequited love and expectant motherhood. I think she featured in a Frasier episode as Ros's example of things turning out unexpectedly. Apparently, she stumbled under the influence of her overdose and died with her head jammed down the toilet. Not how she intended to be found at all.....

Clarissa! You are back. Vinegar Tits has found a recent picture of the lad O'Sullivan. Enjoy.

Excellent work VT. Despite the stick and paunch, he looks good for another 20 years.

I am sure that we all know how to behave cordially to those whom we despise. I'm all for meeting though I suggest that the pub should have a garden in which I can observe the comings and goings.

..... though I believe in many ways the conditions are ideal for baking. http://www.martinity.com/images/colors/throne.jpg

However like his wife, we don't have a hansome, successful, 27 year old husband either. An open goal. Windsor doesn't miss chances like that.

........ and I bet a fish will die.

I think they use the term 'total clearance'.

A 3.5-on-the-Richter-scale dud. That's either a small thermonuclear weapon, or enough HMX to compress the core of a gigantic thermonuclear weapon that, thankfully, failed to detonate. I don't see this as a fake, even if western media tries to portray it as such. We'll find out (maybe) in the next few days when trace radiation leaks from the site (or not). The top estimate is 15kt - about the same as Hiroshima. We're talking very small atomic. Compare that to Russia's biggest ever hydrogen test - 57-odd MT I doubt whether the Whitehouse will be quivering with fear tonight.

Louis, this could the be the beginning of a beautiful friendship A cracking parting shot from Casablanca. I wonder if anyone can enlighten me as to what Casablanca means in English.