Saturday, August 26, 2006

He's back, he's back. It's the same one!

My morning was brightened, not inconsiderably, by the return of our old friend Boris to his blog. He seems to be refreshed by his well-earned and needed 10 week holiday. He wrote a nice little article about education, which those of you who feel a need to improve their minds might enjoy. I posted the following in response. (Please note that it was thrown together quite quickly, and I have not checked it for any typos or factual mistakes. Given the subject matter, there are bound to be some, but please do not mistake me for someone who cares.)

Apart from the advertisement thing that deary old Toxy pointed out, the Davy reference was a clerihew. It was still a poem, but I prefer attention to detail. Also, please do not encourage children to make biscuits with Mrs Sindall. Use flour, water and flavourings of your choice, but not those extracted from members of staff. It is true, that in the kind of civilisation that you are supporting, where the so-called laws of physics hold sway over emotional considerations, that most schoolteachers deserve to be chopped up and used in snacks, but, call me old-fashioned, I believe in a caring and tolerant approach to our psychopaths.
I have to declare a prejudice against the laws of physics. In short, I neither accept nor obey them. They are nonsense. The propaganda of class room Goebbels. (If you want to read more please go over to my web pages to read about this. Advertisement.) This clouds my judgement of the thrust of your argument, which seems to be that some subjects taught in schools are of more use than others. It may well be the case, but I do not have the inclination to put forward my arguments about the fallacies upon which our current theories of education are built. So instead of that, I will embark upon a happy bank holiday skip down the lanes of North East Hampshire, singing merrily and smiling at the rabbits and proposing that the most valuable subjects at A level in these times are Love Studies, Peace Studies and the music of Janis Joplin.

PS. More attention to prep, Johnson (clerihews, advertisements, cookery ingredients), and less time spent staring out of the window dreaming of David Cameron would better prepare you for life in the real world.
C-.
See me.

10 comments:

Mark Gamon said...

Yeah. I went there. Not planning to go back.

Unknown said...

I didn't go there.

Hullo vicus. What's new?

Vicus Scurra said...

Hi Pamela.
Mark is upset because he thinks that a politician ought to respond to comments. He is right, of course, but takes a view that is not borne out by experience.
I, on the other hand, am firmly in the camp that believes the internet is a place for silliness.
So, not much new. But nice of you to ask. What should I write about next?

ayadak - sports shoes for the incontinent.

Unknown said...

Write something witty and funny so I can steal it and send it to my editor. Apparently I'm late on sending him a column.

I've come up empty.

Dave said...

Vicus always writes things that are witty and funny - except at my blog, where he writes sarcastic personal comments, despite which I still let him play cricket yesterday.

Mark Gamon said...

I lied. I went back. I read his post. Against my better judgement, I left a comment.

I'm a fool to myself. I know it.

Anonymous said...

Yes, and I refrained from making fun of you over there. That will not, of course, stop me from making fun of you over here.

For god's sake the anti-American rant was in the Spectator weeks ago. Why can't they be bothered to post the damn thing? We usually get the redrudescence on the BoJo blog no more than four days later.

Vicus, you might like it better there now. There are lots of freelance abusers who don't think very well. Or, as we call them, "prey".

Anonymous said...

Oh by the way, I thought you'd like to know; not only have I been banned from two forums, but I've just been labelled a porn blogger on Wordpress and my blog's been blackballed.

So to speak. I thought it was supposed to be blue...

Boris will have his work cut out for me if he wants to top that.

Vicus Scurra said...

We are all proud of you, RC.

Anonymous said...

Thank you; it means the world to me. You know if it had been Boris, though, he'd have made the cover of the Torygraph and probably gotten a television appearance out of it. I need a better agent.