Wednesday, 24 December 2008

A very Modern Christmas Story

T'was the night before Christmas, and on his Pole top
The Guru was thinking. He thought quite a lot
"I wonder,' said he, 'why is it that we must
Tell lies to our children come every Christmas?
For every December we tell girls and boys
That Santa is coming to bring them new toys
But tis not Santa who brings them, tis my Wife and I
So what is the reason we tell them this lie?
If it's to make sure they're not Naughty, but Nice
Why so small of a bribe for so high a price?

"For the fact is, no matter how naughty they tend
Each Christmas we go out and gleefully spend
With our credit cards armed we spoil them rotten
On toys that, come New Years, will all be forgotten.
And each Christmas day, we watch them with pride
As they unwrap their presents, then throw them aside
'I wanted the pink one, not that one in cream!'
And they fall down, and thump things, and then start to scream.
And if, as so rarely, with their toys they are happy
Do you think they thank us? Their mummies and daddies?
No! Not at all! They thank the fat guy in red
He gets the praise. We go bankrupt instead!"


The Guru, while balancing, he thought long and deep
Of his sweet little angel, in bed fast asleep
No doubt she was dreaming of jingling bells
And reindeers, and Santa, and presents as well
'Wait a Minute!' said the Guru, 'By the great Zeus, I've got it!'
And placing his hand in his back trouser pocket,
He pulled out a bill that was several sheets thick
And cried out, "I'll forward this onto Saint Nick!
I do the hard work, yet my thanks he steals
So this year, he's paying. I'll send him the Bill!"

He jumped down his pole. To the study did flee
Stuffed the bill in a envelope, "To Santa, Love me!
Merry Christmas to you, you great big fat Liar"
And, taking the letter, he threw it on the fire
It burnt in an instant. The smoke flew up the flue
And wafted to the north pole, to Santa's Igloo
The guru he smiled, He'd never felt so much glee
Cos now Santa was paying this Christmas was free.


The season passed quickly. The toys quickly broke
But the Guru cared not for he billed the fat Bloke
Come New Year and Valentines more money he spent
And all of his bills straight to Santa he sent
A new sofa, new television, a new Laptop too
A book on meditation. (Well, he was a guru...)
The charges on his credit card they grew ever higher.
The red reminders, and summons he burnt on the fire.
'Santa,' thought the Guru, 'is so much in arrears
Why the little red thief, he should pay for all year!'
And so the Guru kept spending, and he laughed on his way
For the bill was on Santa. Father Christmas would pay
.


T'was the night before Christmas, and on his pole top
The guru was hiding, he hid quite a lot
They bailiffs they came and they knocked on the door
They'd taken the presents and come back for more
His TV, his Sofa, his Laptop, all gone
And his wife had left home and moved it with her mum
Someone called up from the ground down below
T'was a policeman who stood knee deep in the snow
"Seasons Greetings Mr Guru!' the policeman, he said
"I've come to arrest you, you're in too much debt."

He slapped on the cuffs, the guru fell to the floor.
And with a heartbreaking scream cried "Santa you Whore!
Every year on this planet I've brought gifts in your name
Just for one year couldn't you do the same?"
To the car the cop pushed him. On the back seat he fell
Then on the edge of his hearing - could that be sleigh bells?
He moved to the window. Pressed his nose to the glass.
And there stood St Nicholas who let out a laugh!

"Christmas is not in the money you spend,
But in the love and the laughter you share with your friends!
Not at my whim did those presents you buy
No, that was your choice, you made up that lie!`
The car engine started. He'd spend Christmas in a cell.
There'd be no Christmas cheer there. That much he could tell.
And Santa exclaimed, ere the car pulled away.
'Christmas spirit is free! If you want Presents, you Pay.'


And the Moral of this tale? The one Christmas rule?
For a very happy Christmas, just spend bugger all!

Merry Christmas to you all, From the Freelance Guru

Marcus
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Sunday, 21 December 2008

Life Wisdom - in 400 Words or Less

There are times when my Pilgrims surprise me, and actually ask questions that I want to answer. This is very nearly one of them

Dear Guru

What wisdom would you wish to impart to your relatives? What is the one thing you want to tell them about the life you lived?

Canucklehead

Dear Pilgrim,

Everywhere questionsI've thought long and hard about this question. The answer didn't come easily. You asked me this question about half a year ago and it's taken me until now to finally be bothered enough to answer it.

My difficulties stemmed from one minor point - who in my family was I leaving wisdom to?; I would leave very different wisdom to my wife than my little girl. However as the wisdom I'd leave my wife involves Lincoln's Gold, I'll write about the advice to my daughter instead.

The wisdom I'd impart to my girl, and that I already try to impart to her every day, is this - 'ask Questions'. If you believe something, question the reasons you do. If you want to learn something, question an expert. Before you accept anything as true, Question it.

If my daughter were to read in the paper that her father is a pole-balancing lunatic, I would want her to question the journalists authority, and check the article wasn't written by my next door neighbour before accepting it as valid. There are many things that seem to be real until you study them closely (homeopathy, Acupuncture, George Bush's hair...etc) and it's easy to be fooled if you don't get more information.

My Big QuestionAs for the one thing I would share about my life, how long of one thing can it be? I understand the average pilgrim may be able to settle on just one thing, but I've accomplished a lot in one lifetime: becoming enlightened, giving life changing advice, managing to set up my wireless network, etc... But if I had to pick one, I would tell her that I 'Found Answers'. When people came with questions, I consulted the infinite, or sometimes Google, until an answer became clear.

As such, I gave myself to the needs of others.

There are those, mostly my wife, who would argue with this assessment of my life, but, as a guru, you need to prioritise. And personally I think the questions of a Canadian I've never met are far more important than cleaning out the Garage for our Christmas Party.

Hope this helps

Marcus
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Questions are my bread and my butter. Ask Your Questions and help keep food on my pole top

Friday, 19 December 2008

Is Life a Race?

Xander, who is rapidly becoming my biggest fan, has written in with this question. I've never seen anyone who so needs my help.

Dear Guru

Is Life a race?

Xander101

To answer this question we must first consider what a race is.

To clarify:
Ironman Canada - Penticton 2008 - Lara Russell - 89A race is a sporting event, often done for fun, in which any number of people, starting at the same place and point in time attempt to run the same distance in the quickest possible time.

If this is accurate (and it is, it came from me) then life can only be defined as a race if it fits this definition. If A=C and B=C then A=B, not that that relates to the question, I just think it's neat.

If life were a race then everyone would be born at precisely the same time with exactly the same Financial status, political views, social class and general intelligence as everyone else. And we would all be desperately, and joyfully, trying to die before anyone else does

While I can see certain places in the world where this philosophy may come in useful, Essex for example, it does not seem to be the status Quo, and we must conclude that the null hypothesis is the correct one.

Life is not a race.

I tend to think of life as a slow, intense, wrestling match, something like Foxy Boxing - no matter how hard you fight to win, every one ends up dirty

Marcus
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