Sixth sense of humour

I am not totally convinced that people value sense of humour in the way they advertise.
Let me explain.
How many times have we heard that people say they admire in others a sense of humour?
But what is it they admire? Perhaps a reflection of their own sense of humour? What if that is poorly developed?

Somebody who takes chances and pushes the envelope by adopting a personal style by definition produces a sense of humour that will not be such a mirror.
Indeed without surprise, humour is nothing. That's the point.

And this is a sense we are talking about, right?
This is not the sort of quality easily mimicked by relating someone else's joke, forwarding a text, duplicating a tweet, is it?
This is a sense.
A sense.
It's not sight or hearing. It's not taste or smell but it's certainly not a forwarded e-mail.
It has to be more than that.
But many people shy away from the dangerous potential of individuality. No two people share exactly the same sense of humour but if you admire it in others you must at least have that quality that means you are not frightened by new.
So I ask you again, is the trait you think you value in others really a sense of humour? It's okay if it isn't. I just want to be clear.

Do we all really share this so well-advertised common desire?
When you see a gang of hoodies gathering (in their hoods), do you think they are exchanging gentle observations on why a triple chocolate cookie does not contain three times as much chocolate as an ordinary chocolate chip cookie?
Do you think they're trading nuances in the delicate exercise of their personal sense of humour, their sixth sense?
Why not? It's free? Humour comes from the streets, from hardship. It is found at its best almost everywhere in Britain, apart from Liverpool.

Or do you think that the hoodies are taking drugs, preparing to fight and if they're laughing at all, laughing at the successful bullying of their next victim.
And this is my point.
The very people born into damage and propelling themselves into further destruction need this resource most of all.
A sense of humour failure is a phrase that was being bandied around in the recent past, but perhaps it should be a diagnosis. And one with a terrible prognosis.

Because without a maturing sense of humour, you cannot prosper.
Without a genuine delight in humour, you simply cannot survive this world. I don't mean survive it well. I mean survive at all.

The only way to avoid adversity dragging you down is, after a suitable period of grief, reflection or general adjustment to the potholes of life, is to laugh at it.
This isn't just a quality to display on a first date.
It's an evolving display of humanity's most primal instinct to survive and prosper.

Those to whom it does not come naturally should put away their Gavin and Stacey videos and give this some thought.

Tensely Tranced

thought the
right think
so you'll
do the
right thing,
extending the
right hand
dipped your
tippytoes in,
believe you're
a force
for someone
in hell,
tomorrow was
the day
you became
angel.

BBC3 Etchings

Love means never having to say you are sorry.
Untrue of course. And I have seen Ali and Ryan close up. He for one knew that love sits at the bottom of a bottle of scotch.
Love actually means saying sorry is no discomfort but it is said in the hope that it will not be used against you. Hell, it might even mean you finally have your tea on the table at the correct time. That would be nice.
It’s a hope that is vain in 75% of marriages.
But Erich Segal betrayed the male gender.
Love may mean always having to say you are sorry, nowadays. And even pretending to mean it.
Today, on the Apprentice (UK .. for international readers) was the day improving Irish comic Dara O’ Brain came of age...
“8 years of medical training means that you should never have to run around Covent Garden shouting Look At My Muffins”

Medics of the world, please..... please have a crack at the day job.
Don’t go on The Apprentice.
Leave my guilty pleasures alone.

When it's all too late

You can turn and stay

I tried but you tried harder...
I lied but you lied smarter

Written in the sun

I have a prediction for you.

In the next 15 years, Scientology will gather a massive new following. The bullying, unrepentant nature of the administrators of the so-called church will see to that. Once it is through this fledgeling stage, it has the potential to snowball. But how will it do it?
The secret lies in in the fact that it has been so clearly exposed as a corrupt, repellent organisation and yet it still exists, perhaps even thrives. If it weathers this storm, then it's hard to think of mountains that it can't climb. Because once it has enough pennies for all the administrators to be nice and rich, it will disown the hard sell that it makes to its infantry.
It will make a show of removing the “bad elements" that gave it this oh-so-unjustified negative publicity as its size will make it be able to use a softer approach for the masses.
It's softer new age message will sell. It will sell because of the pressures the world will face in the next 10 years. It will look very appealing and having shed the shackles of what it took to get there, it was eventually be able to wield unimaginable power.

The recent second Panorama exposé ended with what was supposed to be an indictment -- the final line referring to Scientology as a “cult”.
The naive insult of an older journalist. Cult uses to be a bad thing. Now it's fun. Cult isn't a dirty word any more.
I may see something wrong with Scientology, but I do not see anything wrong with cult. Star Trek is a cult. In my darker moments I suspect birdwatching is a cult.
Cult is geek-chic.
Cult is nerdy intelligence.

To me the word cult lost its darker edge years ago so as an indictment of a dangerous movement the accusation is a weak punchline.

The simpler messages of Scientology will be a manna to the masses. Masses who are more than ready to replace traditional organised religions so tainted with hypocrisy and paedophilia. Who, in many cases have already wiped clean that part of their brain and replaced it with a little restless amateur atheism.

Millions of empty sheets of paper, a blank canvas waiting to be filled, waiting for a message.
Scientology will be ready to oblige with its bulging property portfolio and the tantalising mix of celebrity endorsement.

It will sell for the same reason people buy the Sun.

It will sell for the same reason people buy butter. And with every pattie, comes a bit more cash for the portfolio. Look after the pennies and the pounds will look after themselves.

The only thing that will save us from this new and possibly hitherto undiscovered strength in mass common sense. But modern man is not skilled in this. Despite our super-sophistication.

Some of the best paid people in London, New York, LA, Tokyo are paid to exploit the weaknesses in our psyche.

They are good at it.

They can push us to extraordinary beliefs.
Buying margarine because Carol Vorderman says so is one thing but putting your eyes under a laser because an Olympic rower says it is a good idea is another.

If Tom Cruise is your hero, you want to be a little more like him, don't you?

That's what heroes are - role models.

Every year a list of the most powerful people in the world appears. Actors are among them. Actors!
A bit of fun at the movies is one thing.

But give them power, true power and I begin to wonder what awaits us.