FFHT - A Quantum of Mystery

Today we are taking part in Fractured Fryday Hairy Tails, courtesy of those wonderful Blogville citizens, Murphy and Stanley.

A story about Schrödinger's Cat, as imagined by Bertie…

Once upon a time there was a very famous quantum physicist called Erwin Schrödinger, who formulated the Wave Equation, the details of which need not concern us here. It is well known that Professor Schrödinger corresponded at length with his contemporary, the great Albert Einstein, however, one of these letters was long lost. Thrillingly, a fragment of the missing letter was recently rediscovered. The translated text is exclusively revealed below:

"My dear Albert, as you are aware, I spend much of my time thinking about the problems posed by quantum physics and the possible implications for the health of my cat. Do you, a theoretician like me, ever tire of the endless speculation and hypothesising and feel the urge to conduct a real physical experiment? I do, and it just so happened that the other night I succumbed to this urge and placed my beloved cat Niels into a box alongside a radioactive source and a flask of deadly poison. I then sealed the box. As you are aware, the Copenhagen Interpretation of Quantum Physics implies that after a while the cat will be simultaneously dead and alive.  So when I opened the box I was startled to find..."

Oh dear, and that is all we have.

Bertie branches out into literary criticism

Here at Human Granny's we have been been going through the cupboards and Gail found a poem, one she was fond of as a child but had forgotten all about:

Lone Dog

Irene McLeod

I'm a lean dog, a keen dog, a wild dog and lone,
I'm a rough dog, a tough dog, hunting on my own!
I'm a bad dog, a mad dog, teasing silly sheep;
I love to sit and bay the moon and keep fat souls from sleep.

I'll never be a lap dog, licking dirty feet,
A sleek dog, a meek dog, cringing for my meat.
Not for me the fireside, the well-filled plate,
But shut the door and sharp stone and cuff and kick and hate.

Not for me the other dogs, running by my side,
Some have run a short while, but none of them would bide.
O mine is still the lone trail, the hard trail, the best,
Wide wind and wild stars and the hunger of the quest. 


I'm sure you are eagerly awaiting my opinions on the literary merits of these three short verses.

Well it is my considered view that this Ms McLeod has set up what I believe is known as a 'false antithesis'. As anyone has met me will already be aware, it is quite possible both to be a lean, tough dog AND a lap dog. Oh and by the way, what is wrong with a well-filled plate?

Other than that, I guess the poem is fine.

Why is Gail saying perhaps stick to the science Bertie?

A question of cleanliness?

Hmmm?

Did I receive my annual shampoo yesterday 'cos I was especially dirty and smelly?

Or was it 'cos a certain person needed a break from helping Human Granny sort out stuff?

Acquiring a taste for luxury

On the way down to see Human Granny in Nottingham, we stayed one night at a hotel in the quaint town of Appleby in Westmorland.

I convinced Gail one should be allowed to sleep on the bed in any place that charges a £15 'dog supplement'..,

[I am sure my Westie friends will appreciate that in the above picture, I am not dirty, just a different shade of white to the sheets].

Come Sunday evening in Nottingham, Gail and Human Granny enjoyed watching Germany beat Argentina in the World Cup Final, but I was more equivocal about game's appeal.

PS from Gail: Keen eyed readers will have spotted the subtitles on the TV. The live transcription of the commentary is a great service for deaf viewers like my mother, and the shortcomings of the BBC's technology can make for some entertaining versions of foreign names. I am still smiling at 'Jo Cain Lurve', the German team manager!