The only thing we ever do.

Around the time of the anniversary of Apollo 11, or of the famous assassination in Dallas, the clip of President John F. Kennedy talking about going to the Moon has often been wheeled out: Ever since I saw this for the first time, maybe 35 years ago, I was always slightly baffled by the phrase: "We choose to go to the Moon and do the other things , not because they are easy, but because they are hard." What does "and do the other things" mean, I wondered? Why did Kennedy just presume his audience would know what these other things were? Or was it some sophisticated rhetorical device that I was unaware of? Should I start using it to give whatever I was saying some much-needed gravitas? However, just last week I happened upon a fuller version of the speech: Clearly then, the other things are referring to the climbing of Everest and the flying of the Atlantic, conquering the challenges necessary for progress.  With context, it is obvious what "and do the other th

 "The only way we can begin to try to understand anything better is by asking+checking." If that statement is true, then you might think that it might be widely accepted, that, say, asking+checking practice for stidents might be eagerly accepted with open arms.  You would be wrong. Traditionally, no culture, no education system, makes any formal effort to encouage, practice, test, or grade asking+checking. The reason for this is very simple: any unjust power structure must inhibit communication, to a lesser or greater extent, in order to protect itself. Consequently, what we end up accepting is a world where understanding things better has no common currency, so that questions people should naturally have been asking in their schooldays bubble up years later. And because we lack practice with questions, just asking one and getting an explanation that is novel can be a profoundly moving experience : "What if the moon landing was a hoax?" The following is my answer to

      I exhibited Martian elephants, at the pleasure grounds        where the bands and circus played.       No clowning for us, but a great feat of science,       from dream to plan, with tool and appliance,       some 25 years of traveling in place,       then a carbon-based Elevator to take us to space.       Geodesic dome-home and dust-devil friends,       six-eighty days (or a year) (it depends).       Then found them! and quickly discussed guest disgust:       No hunting, no chains; their family united,       no cages at all, for they were invited.       Between worlds we flew, and, taking our cue,       planetary break, from red on to blue        Greatest Show on Earth! The posters went up.       One time only! A mile from this station!       Free parking, free programmes, three groats a head,       fifty pence extra to see them all fed!       St John, Old Bill, and The Queen's PCA,       Sol with his hat on, to brighten the day.        Pleasure to share miracle existence!  

col·lage   (kō-läzh′, kə-) n. 1. a. An artistic composition of materials and objects pasted over a surface, often with unifying lines and color. b. A work, such as a literary piece, composed of both borrowed and original material      What?                                                                                                     Which.....?                                             What kind of....?                        Who?               Where? Whose?     How?   Why ?            To see a World in a Grain of Sand And a Heaven in a Wild Flower Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand And Eternity in an hour                                                                                    - William Blake               The astonishing worlds and heavens and infinities of human  la