Made with real ingredients....

or so the advert stated... which has made the Beard wonder whether there are products out there made of fake, or even worse, unreal ingredients.... but such a statement must rank with the head lice remedy that allegedly contains no chemicals.... which basically means a bottle of quite literally nothing... and brings the Beard to the question, why are so many people ignorant about science??....
Science is, after alll, a closed book to many... ome expect it to explain everything, while others believe it to be a lie... whereas those of us in the know are positive that we don't really understand all of it, but tht its the best of all the wort possible alternatives... now I'm pretty sure that I've waxed semi lyrical about the ingherent naturalness of mankind and all its doings, and possibly about global warming.... to precis, we're as natural as anything else in the universe, judaeo-Christian philosophy not withstanding, and therefore everything we do, whether nice or not, is also natural.... houses are as natural a termite hills and nests, and flushing sewage into surfer is as natural as owl pellets... and as for global warming, i think that as part of the gaia organism, our role is not that of a cancer, but of an antibody, warming the planet up for the next stage in its evolution.... true, we'll be wiped out... but think about what happens to the antibodies in your blood when their usefulness is ended....but i digress.....
I was once party to a conversation about Mr Men ice lollies, if anyone remembers them... basically, Ms a said to her friend Ms B, "they make a big thing about the added vitamin C, but they don't tell you about this ascorbic acid they shove in it...." for those who are already lost, google or wiki Vit C.... aand then there are these ad that claim "no E numbers," preying on those who are scared of siuch things, and who do not realise that all approved additives, including such nasties as strawberry juice and pepper have to have e numbers before they are used... and that all the nice no e numbers people are doing is naming the ingredients so that they don't have to quote the e number.... but again, i digress....
I thinkthe point the Beard is trying to make is that all too often it is far too easy to just swallow whtat we're told, rather than doing our own research... his leads to a whole generation who believe in chemical free food, and shampoo that can somehow feed dead tissue.... despite the obvious fallacies.....
Regardless of this, the Beard allegedly celebrated a milestone last week.... now, those who know the Beard will attest to the fact, that as a paid up grumpy sod, he sets not much store in birthdays, christmas, et al... but suffice it to say, the Beard was 40 last week, and was convinced by friends and a certain young lady to celebrate... so, the scout hut was decorated, and 50 of the beards friends and family descended for an evening of Blossom's disco and the Screaming Eagles, a local rock band who kindly provided some great music in return for a portion of fish and chips.... and for once, all the great pressies given over were actually useful..... which was great.... but it grows late, and it just remains to thank everyone who came, and all of those who didn't, and all of those who thought they did at some point... and to say that until we are all as old as we wish to be, Wisebeard salutes you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!