Egg or not?

Paul Riley

So... you have evil verses in your head, Karl? You need to get that looked at. ;P No, seriously, nice quote. Korn, right? (sorry can't be bothered to do a backwards R; it's not essential is it?) Paul And you run and you run to catch up with the sun, but it's sinking
Racing around to come up behind you again
The sun is the same in a relative way, but you're older
Shorter of breath, one day closer to death - Pink Floyd, Time

KaRl

Paul Riley wrote: Korn, right? "Shoot and Ladders". Congrats :) no problem, Karl is my first name, KaЯl is just my CPian pseudonym

Angels banished from heaven have no choice but to become demons Cowboy Bebop

Paul Riley

KaЯl wrote: Karl is my first name, KaЯl is just my CPian pseudonym :-D Yeah. But I used to work for a Rock music forum on Compuserve and I've seen Korn fans (admittedly about 12 years old) get very upset because we wrote Korn on the website instead of using a reversed R. Some people are so depressingly obsessive, it's scary. :) Paul And you run and you run to catch up with the sun, but it's sinking
Racing around to come up behind you again
The sun is the same in a relative way, but you're older
Shorter of breath, one day closer to death - Pink Floyd, Time

Anna Jayne Metcalfe

lol..just that it's the sort of thought I have on Fridays (usually the afternoons though!) ;) Anna :rose: www.annasplace.me.uk

"Be yourself - not what others think you should be"
- Marcia Graesch

Trouble with resource IDs? Try the Resource ID Organiser Add-In for Visual C++

Paul Watson

Paul Riley wrote: Some people are so depressingly obsessive, it's scary So true. I was reading a post by this nut who was obsessed about finding out why Humpty Dumpty in the famous rhyme was an egg when... Oh wait... that was you! ;) Paul Riley wrote: I've seen Korn fans (admittedly about 12 years old) get very upset because we wrote Korn on the website instead of using a reversed R. It's .NET damnit! Not .Net! Yeeaarrgghh that drives me mad... :rolleyes:

Paul Watson
Bluegrass
Cape Town, South Africa

Roger Wright wrote: Using a feather is kinky; using the whole chicken is perverted!

Paul Riley

Anna-Jayne Metcalfe wrote: lol..just that it's the sort of thought I have on Fridays (usually the afternoons though!) Heh, I have these kind of thoughts all week long... especially when I'm reading Robert Rankin. He's even more insane than I am. Way funnier than Terry Pratchett and better at coming up with new ideas. Maybe not quite so funny as Douglas Adams but much more... well, alive. :) Just look at the list of titles here: Robert Rankin on Amazon[^] If I've read a third of these, I'll be surprised. I really must catch up a bit. I can highly recommend Armageddon The Musical[^] as a start point for anyone who hasn't read any Rankin. Paul And you run and you run to catch up with the sun, but it's sinking
Racing around to come up behind you again
The sun is the same in a relative way, but you're older
Shorter of breath, one day closer to death - Pink Floyd, Time

Paul Riley

Paul Watson wrote: So true. I was reading a post by this nut who was obsessed about finding out why Humpty Dumpty in the famous rhyme was an egg when... No way??? Nutcase! Paul Watson wrote: Oh wait... that was you! It was? Really? Daaamn! Must be REALLY pissed off with all the serious conversations I've been having around here lately :-D Paul Watson wrote: It's .NET damnit! Not .Net! Yeeaarrgghh that drives me mad... Hahaha! Indeed. :) [edit]Cobol too ;P[/edit] Paul And you run and you run to catch up with the sun, but it's sinking
Racing around to come up behind you again
The sun is the same in a relative way, but you're older
Shorter of breath, one day closer to death - Pink Floyd, Time

Paul Watson

Paul Riley wrote: So again, from where did the idea that Humpty Dumpty was an egg come? Does anyone know? I don't know, following are my thoughts on the matter. So refreshing, not one mention of W A R W I T H I R A Q O R B U S H T H E T E R R I B L E. The rhyme calls for a fragile object. Something that when dropped from a wall will break well. A person breaks, but they generally stay together when they hit the ground, they don't shatter into pieces. That leaves us with many, many things. Glass, a boulder, hard fruit and eggs. The thing though is that this a nursery rhyme. For kids. So we need something that kids can identify with. A boulder is ruled out and so is glass. What is glass to a kid? A man made of glass? Too complex. Hard fruit is just, well, who wants to go putting hard fruit back together? Broken fruit is good, easier to eat. So not that either. Eggs are universal too, chickens have spread throughout earth. Along with pigs and dogs, chickens are everywhere. Therefore so are eggs (unless some chickens come before themselves without the egg ever being there... That is Hinduism I think.) Also eggs are fun for kids. They love them. They paint them, eat them and throw them. They even have egg farms with animals painted on them (just ignore the fact that these eggs are normally boiled and so don't shatter very well... just ignore that ok? ta.) With all that kid emotion towards eggs already, it is easy to animate an egg. To make the kids care about some egg that fell off a wall. So the egg, is the obvious choice. If the original author of the rhyme had something else in mind, like a pomegranate, then he needs his wrists slapped because the egg is obvious. I could be mad though. :) BTW, my two questions about that nursery rhyme are: Why the hell was the stupid egg on the wall in the first place? Eggs can't climb walls! Chickens don't lay their eggs on walls... even in India they don't. And also, how did All the King's horses and all the kings men actually hear about this tragic event? Did they have spy sattelites, GPS and walkie talkies in those days? No, so did someone notice a bad smell on the other side of the wall ten days later and then casually mention it to a kings man... or horse?

Paul Watson
Bluegrass
Cap

KaRl

Paul Riley wrote: we wrote Korn on the website instead of using a reversed R :eek:! You did it again! Paul Riley wrote: Some people are so depressingly obsessive, it's scary Especially KoЯn fans :rolleyes:

Angels banished from heaven have no choice but to become demons Cowboy Bebop

Paul Watson

Paul Riley wrote: especially when I'm reading Robert Rankin. He's even more insane than I am. Way funnier than Terry Pratchett and better at coming up with new ideas My book club is going through a Rankin craze, everyone is just raving about his books. I resisted last month, but am probably going to cave in this coming month.

Paul Watson
Bluegrass
Cape Town, South Africa

Roger Wright wrote: Using a feather is kinky; using the whole chicken is perverted!

Paul Riley

Paul Watson wrote: So refreshing, not one mention of Stop right there. This is "Paul R refuses to say or even quote the 'W' word Friday" :-D Paul Watson wrote: The rhyme calls for a fragile object. Something that when dropped from a wall will break well. A person breaks, but they generally stay together when they hit the ground, they don't shatter into pieces. Who said they had to shatter into pieces? Did Steve Austin shatter into pieces? And yet they said they had the technology to "rebuild" him. Did anyone argue with that? Did anyone say "I'm sorry, he hasn't shattered into pieces, why do we need the technology to rebuild him? We just need to fix a few bones and then upgrade him a little."? Other than that... cool theory :) Paul Watson wrote: Why the hell was the stupid egg on the wall in the first place? And this was going to be MY argument! I've seen people sitting on walls loads of times. I've never seen an Egg sat on one, just twiddling his shell watching the world go by. Paul Watson wrote: And also, how did All the King's horses and all the kings men actually hear about this tragic event? I assume one was walking by at the time and posted it on news.allthekingshorses.net and news.allthekingsmen.net. Paul And you run and you run to catch up with the sun, but it's sinking
Racing around to come up behind you again
The sun is the same in a relative way, but you're older
Shorter of breath, one day closer to death - Pink Floyd, Time

Paul Riley

Clearly surreal humour appeals to you, I don't think you'll be disappointed. Paul And you run and you run to catch up with the sun, but it's sinking
Racing around to come up behind you again
The sun is the same in a relative way, but you're older
Shorter of breath, one day closer to death - Pink Floyd, Time

Ed Gadziemski

So again, from where did the idea that Humpty Dumpty was an egg come? Alice In Wonderland by Lewis Carroll?

Paul Riley

Humpty was in Wonderland? That I didn't know. It's distinctly possible you're right. Paul And you run and you run to catch up with the sun, but it's sinking
Racing around to come up behind you again
The sun is the same in a relative way, but you're older
Shorter of breath, one day closer to death - Pink Floyd, Time

Shog9 0

Paul Riley wrote: Humpty was in Wonderland? Actually, in Through the Looking Glass[^]. :)

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Shog9 I see the way the salesmen stare into the sun I stood and watched them as they fell off one by one...

Chris Maunder

Some explanations are here[^]. Beware: this page was created by an AOL subscriber. The tale of Charles I being deposed is the one I'd always thought was the origin - but who knows? cheers, Chris Maunder

Paul Riley

Here we go again... ask a silly question, get a really interesting (if bloody hard to read) answer! I'm impressed. Doesn't explain the egg link but it does give some indication that I was right to wonder if Humpty was an egg or not. Has to be said that of the three, the first one sounds more likely to me. The second one is too ridiculous (as I believe Richard III was never really a hunchback, just portrayed that way to make him look more evil) and the last one far too cryptic. Paul And you run and you run to catch up with the sun, but it's sinking
Racing around to come up behind you again
The sun is the same in a relative way, but you're older
Shorter of breath, one day closer to death - Pink Floyd, Time

Paul Riley

Did not know that either. Never really got around to reading Lewis Carroll. Paul And you run and you run to catch up with the sun, but it's sinking
Racing around to come up behind you again
The sun is the same in a relative way, but you're older
Shorter of breath, one day closer to death - Pink Floyd, Time

Shog9 0

Paul Riley wrote: Never really got around to reading Lewis Carroll. 's good stuff! If you've kids, reading the Alice stories to them can be great for keeping them interested while not boring yourself. And who doesn't like to recite Jabberwocky? :)

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Shog9 I see the way the salesmen stare into the sun I stood and watched them as they fell off one by one...

Jorgen Sigvardsson

Paul Riley wrote: Trying to say something? No, he's trying to bill you. ;) -- Ignorant people upsets me.