Welcome to Wise Hat!
Esoteric, eclectic, electric, eccentric - these are just some of the words that appear on this page. Here are some more:
Can you spare some change?
I'm not thinking about money.
There's an old story about a king (for some reason it's always a king) that was prone to excess. When he was feeling on top of the world his largesse knew no bounds. He showered his favourites with goodies and ran up huge deficits in the process. He was just killing the kingdom with kindness. But then, when he was down, his fear and loathing ran rampant. Yesterday's favourite was the day's danger and the prisons would be filled to overflowing. Even with the inmates working for no wages it cost a fortune. Bankruptcy and ruin were but a breath away. The kingdom was desperate for respite.
So the king commanded his advisers to find some third way to help him keep the middle ground. And being a king, and this being a story, he commanded them on pain of death.
Now, it's said that fear of death focuses the mind wonderfully. But not by this author. Fear feeds fear and fear of death feeds death. The king had all but run out of advisers when his mood changed and he came up with the idea of offering half his kingdom and the hand of his daughter in marriage to the one who found a solution. Not fancying any of the advisors his daughter was quick to offer a suggestion. She presented the king with a ring upon which were inscribed four simple words.
Now those of you who know your stories and those of you with good eyesight may well think you know what the words were. You may think that the king was touched by his daughter's wisdom and learnt to live without excess. After all, the story supposes, the king was just a man and as such just needed a reminder to be good.
Not on your life, and not on mine.
The real problem was less the king than the notion of kingship. Of course, a tyrant is worse than a non tyrant but what people in their right minds or their left ones would give one man so much power? Why would they submit to such a structure? Why accept something so baseless and unjust?
Fear, greed, disdain, ego - more words that appear on this page, but hopefully are not manifest elsewhere in this site.
This introduction seems to be going on a bit. There's a switch somewhere near the top of the page that will hide it. The same switch is on most pages. There's a certain element of randomness running through the site and the switch can be used to hide it. The randomness contributes to a further sprinkling of juxtaposition.
Anything that helps us to think and to feel is surely a good thing. This site is about change. Best get on with it.
Word Doodle
November 2004
Wise Hat News #19
The New School Year in Japan is almost here. It's a time for review and starting a new. For me it's time to delve into some dilemmas - you can find out what they are by reading the latest newsletter
Read it here
Meanwhile... The PAGE CREATOR
Lately I've been feeling more and more that it's time for this site to have a complete facelift. I'm wondering about a complete redesign, though where I would find the time for it I'm not certain. In the meantime I've created a kind of Page Selector - so that readers can spruce up the site for me!
Actually, the idea is to show how I like to introduce new activities in class, by using Activity Cards. These are simply somewhat cryptic pictures of the activities on offer, one to each card. I might say offer four cards and the children get to choose one. So now you get the chance to make your own selection. Have a look at the graphics here. Make a selection send it on to me and I'll put the most popular activities up on line. There are some whole games on offer - so getting cracking!
Happy New Year!
What kind of year do you want -
a really active time, a relaxing, alternative, trail or perhaps a reliable, able, tale? As for myself, I'm aiming to be energetic, energising and exuberant. No more reluctance, no more anonimity, no more trepidation. Enough cluies! Here's my new year card. Hope it brings a smile.
Wise Hat News #18
The Earth has turned and people everywhere are marking the return of the new year. A time for reflection, a time for revelry, a time for resolutions. A time for resolve. A time for a photo of me dressed up in red with a beard... read more!
Four Parties In One Day!
A new splog entry complete with video and nobbly knees... go there
This page last updated Ist January 2008
