tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14496565.post114617475344576121..comments2008-09-28T22:33:34.540+01:00Comments on The Silver Eel: The Silver Eelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03615661656637047142noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14496565.post-1146763395175499472006-05-04T18:23:00.000+01:002006-05-04T18:23:00.000+01:00That didn't stop Balsamo from using it to predict ...That didn't stop Balsamo from using it to predict the numbers in the London lottery - successfully, as it turned out. The problem was that every swindler and hoodlum in the capital then laid siege to him in order to extort the secret. London was not lucky for him. McCalman says the same was curiously true for Casanova. I reiterate that I make no claims for McCalman's accuracy or strength of verification, but he tells a good story pretty well.The Silver Eelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03615661656637047142noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14496565.post-1146753227030123322006-05-04T15:33:00.000+01:002006-05-04T15:33:00.000+01:00Kabbalah is much much more than mere gematria, jus...Kabbalah is much much more than mere gematria, just as alchemy is so much more than an attempt to transmute base metals into gold. In fact, both are elaborate metaphorical constructs meant to explain the inner workings of the universe. Using either of them merely to produce oracular predictions is like trying to use Deep Thought as a pocket calculator.<BR/><BR/>Speaking as one who is 4.31 degrees of latitude south of you (but used to live .67 degrees north of you), I must say I prefer the seasonal fluctuations of night and day down here!Yewtreehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02028699564003381058noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14496565.post-1146693197343259362006-05-03T22:53:00.000+01:002006-05-03T22:53:00.000+01:00If I lived in the country the long summer days pro...If I lived in the country the long summer days probably <I>would</I> be a delight, cos I'd go out and enjoy them. I forget where I read it, but there's a line about how one doesn't notice what season it is, living in the city. I wouldn't put it as strongly as that meself, but certainly one's enjoyment is partial, one's sense of nature is at best episodic.<BR/><BR/>However, I suspect that even - or especially - in the country, the winters would be a drag. I know of people who've lived in northern Canada for ages who were forced to move south because they felt unable to endure another winter. Admittedly, there's a difference of scale there, but I'm beginning to understand the sentiment.The Silver Eelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03615661656637047142noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14496565.post-1146690124543273292006-05-03T22:02:00.000+01:002006-05-03T22:02:00.000+01:00Without the long winter would the long summer dayl...Without the long winter would the long summer daylight be such a delight to you? And if you moved to a place where there was no long, dark winters the summer daylight wouldn't be as long as it is here in high summer, when you can still wear shades at 10pm in July. I rather like the contrast myself, light and darkness and the great wheel of the seasons like an eternally changing painting.Joehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11257155435655575336noreply@blogger.com