Way to spoil ANZAC day Jim!

A couple of years ago I attended our local dawn service for ANZAC day and the local preacher got up and spoke (as he tends to) and for once he wasn’t just boring. It was the year after what we call the Cronulla riots, although I expect people in other countries might laugh at our definition of a riot. The priest spoke at length and then offered a prayer in closing. One of things he prayed for was that we, as Australians showed a bit of restraint and would “beware of excess nationalism”.

This was one of those moments when I actually felt glad the old bugger was up there on the podium praying away. Here I thought, is the proof that we can still make common cause with

I am in the wrong job!

Found this in my letterbox this morning:

From KungFuWoo	From KungFuWoo

I was amused more than anything, but then turning over on to the back page I was impressed with this womans fees:

• $90/ half hour for a cold reading
• $50 for a demonstration
• Workshops ranging from $75 – $150

Man, I am in the wrong job. I could make a lot of money just by bullshitting for two hours a day. Just two hours…

Being Skeptical is sometimes like killing Santa Claus

I have a colleague at work who is a little susceptible to woo. She visits pyschics, reads her star signs, buys into alternative medicine and doesn't mind a bit of mild conspiracy theory to boot. I think this sort of thing has been inculcated early in her life. She has more than once told me that the women in her family are sensitive to psychic stuff (I'm not sure what exactly) which suggests to me she got it from grandma, mum or aunty.

We get on well and have discussions about this stuff and I always hold up the skeptical end of conversation. I have introduced her to cold reading, regression to the mean and many other ways of explaining the mysterious and miraculous. She takes it pretty well, all the time agreeing to disagree.

Coming back from lunch the other day I got a good look at the "problem" with a skeptical outlook.

My skeptical bookshelf

So, recently I cleared out all of my books in an effort to impose some order on my life.

Problem: 3 bookcases cluttering up my sun room and approx 500 books distracting me from my work.

Answer: Box everything up and shove it under the house.

New problem: What am I going to read?

New answer: Keep out a dozen or so books for when I just have to read something.

After everything was boxed up and put away I looked at the books that I had kept out and was a little suprised. My dozen books contained not a single work of fiction and most of these books were related to skepticism. The longer I looked at this pile of books the more meaningful it became. I’ve been collecting my books for a long time and a lot of treasure went in to those boxes. Books I would never throw away or trade, some of them worn thin as you like with no other reader but me ever touching them. Sci/Fi (Niven/Heinlein), fantasy (Pratchett/Tolkien), thrillers (Hiassen/Patterson), historical fiction (Sutcliffe/Cornwell), horror (Stephen King) and classics like Dracula, Pride and Prejudice and Heart of Darkness. None of these books made the cut to stay out of the box and with me. Boy, I think I’ve really changed.

Let me take you through the list and why these books had to stay:

I have written a poem inspired by Dr Seuss

Facebook wouldn't accept this post, so I had to put it here - either it's too long or they are too judgemental about my poetic ability.

The Cat Mouse in the Hat House
By Dr Zeus

The Wilderness Downtown

When looking around the interwebs for design inspiration I often come across an idea that isn't really a design idea but is so fresh and clever that I am drawn to it. One such example is The Wilderness Downtown. This isn't really a web site. It is an interactive movie/music clip which you get to really participate in. Don't rush off and try it yet, there's a few things you need to know.

Welcome to the maiden post!

I've been lazy, really lazy. I haven't updated my blog or my delicious bookmarks lately and I never tweet my twitter if you know what I mean. I only use the damn thing to follow cooler people than me.

But I've just started an Open Universities Australia through Curtin University and my first unit is WEB101. Part of the unit assessment is to develop a web presence or identity. No re-purposing old stuff though, so here is my new blog.