Another Dark Little Corner
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Started this before change to "New Blogger", as backup in case of trouble with digiphoto blog "In a Small Dark Room", or rants & links blog "Hello Cruel World" . Useful - at one stage Dark Room was there, but like the astrophysical Dark Matter, we could't see it ... better now, but kept Just In Case.
MY OTHER PLACES
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There is nothing. There is no God and no universe, there is only empty space, and in it a lost and homeless and wandering and companionless and indestructible Thought. And I am that thought. And God, and the Universe, and Time, and Life, and Death, and Joy and Sorrow and Pain only a grotesque and brutal dream, evolved from the frantic imagination of that same Thought. Mark Twain (letter to Joseph Twichell after his wife's death) [me, on a bad day] WRITER'S LINKS Absolute Write Paypal donation button: Absolute Write is one of the leading sites for information on writing and publishing, especially the scam versions thereof. It has a broad, deep online community with an enormous message base going back years. Now it needs help. See the details and discussion here Preditors and Editors Everything you wanted to know about literary agents On the getting of agents Writer Beware Miss Snark Writer's Net (and my Wish List) |
2004-12-30
Indian Ocean Tsunami Animation from NOAA Indian Ocean Tsunami Animation from NOAA > From: Toby Fiander (bigpond) > Date: 29/12/2004 23:51:27 > To: SCIENCE-MATTERS (a) YOUR ABC NET AU > Subject: Re: tsunami graphic > > NOAA has quite a nice graphic of the tsunami, including a semi-realistic > attempt at showing the reflection, diffraction between islands and so on. > If you have a dial-up connection, it is going to take a bit of downloading, > but it is probably worth it: pmel.noaa.gov/tsunami/Mov/TITOV-INDO2004.mov More ... A 'friend' is tempting me with Macstuff From Re:Maines www.maines.org/blog.html Rebecca Maines babbles aimfully. http://www.maines.org/2004/11/unsolicited-testimonials.html Unsolicited Testimonials - Saturday, November 13, 2004 I like to ruminate, particularly about fiction in progress, in a spiral notebook. This means I have stacks of notebooks, organized in no way except chronological, and no way to find specific ruminations when I want them. Which is why I have switched to NoteBook on my laptop. It looks like good old-fashioned spiral notebook pages . . . except they can be organized, searched, rearranged, etc. (And I don't know about you, but my typing is way faster than my longhand scribbling.) Works like a scrapbook, too; you can paste in text, pictures, charts, etc. from other applications, web links, whatever (e.g., the kind of stuff a writer accumulates while doing research). It's a wonderful tool for outlining a novel (which I am doing right now; 70,000+ words in, I finally realize I need an outline to figure out what the hell I'm doing . . . oy), keeping track of research, notes, ideas, web pages, and just jotting things down and being able to have a prayer of finding them again. Mwahahaha--there's no PC version; it's only for Macs. (Me and my cult faves: Mac, Saturn, liberalism . . . Joooooiiiiinnnnnnn usssssssss....) http://www.circusponies.com/pages.aspx?page=products More ... Indian Ocean Tsunami - Weblife contribution Web users pitch in to global relief effort www.smh.com.au/news/Technology/Web-users-pitch-in-to-global-relief-effort/ 2004/12/29/1103996613979.html by Jesse Hogan The Age Online December 30, 2004 As distressed Australian relatives trawl the hospitals of tsunami-affected countries, the internet is proving an unlikely tool in their quest to find friends and relatives. Disaster blogspots www.smh.com.au/news/Technology/Disaster-blogspots/2004/12/29/1103996614109.html Compiled by Jesse Hogan December 30, 2004 Websites providing information on victims and survivors of the Asian earthquake and tsunami. tsunamihelp.blogspot.com A detailed blog that offers list of aid agen cies responding to the disaster, how to donate, and a list of contact numbers for emergency services in each country. www.lankapage.com A site for Sri Lankan expats that details the situation in Sri Lanka. news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/talking_point/4130565.stm Many postings from people looking for loved ones. www.disaster.go.th Mostly in Thai, but has English link to a regularly updated list of hospital patients. www.p-h-u-k-e-t.com/forum Messages from Scandinavians looking for relatives dominate this site but it has a section devoted to Australians. 2bangkok.com/quakes.shtml Regularly updated mix of local news reports and Thai Government information. More ... Indian Ocean Tsunami - Donation info, &c Who to call and how to helpwww.smh.com.au/news/Asia-Tsunami/Who-to-call-and-how-to-help/ 2004/12/29/1103996616211.html December 30, 2004 Foreign Affairs help lines The Department of Foreign Affairs has two toll-free help lines. The first is for people concerned about relatives or friends in tsunami-affected areas: 1800 002 214. The second is for Australians in disaster zones who need help from embassy staff: +61 1300 555 135 or 6261 3305. Travel advisories From the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (I've cut a lot - check yourself for advisories) Thailand: ... A temporary consulate has been established at the Hilton Hotel, Phuket to assist Australians in the surrounding islands and can be contacted on +66 76 370 672 or aus-phuket@inet.co.th. Phuket Airport is operating and travellers are encouraged to leave by commercial flights. A Department of Immigration and Indigenous Affairs officer will be at Phuket Airport to provide travel documents to Australians who have lost their passports... Maldives: A British team has set up an emergency consulate at the Iskander school in Male. An Australian official will join these consuls for any Australians in the Maldives who require assistance... More information and updated advice from the department at www.smarttraveller.gov.au Donations PLAN: Vist www.plan.org.au or call 1800 038 100. CARE Australia: 1800 020 046 or www.careaustralia.org.au Australian Red Cross: Call 1800 811 700, visit www.redcross.org.au or post a cheque to GPO Box 9949 in capital cities. Oxfam: 1800 034 034 or www.oxfam.org.au Medecins Sans Frontieres www.msf.org.au UNICEF: 1300 884 233, 1300 732 240 or www.unicef.org.au World Vision: 13 32 40 or www.worldvision.com.au Baptist World Aid Australia: Call 1300 789 991, by mail to Baptist World Aid Australia, Locked Bag 122, Frenchs Forest NSW 2086, or www.shareanopportunity.org Caritas Australia: 1800 024 413 or www.caritas.org.au Some banks are also allowing donations to be made to various charities at their branches. More ... 2004-12-28
It does get lonely in bed sometimes, but ... A very special form of plush bed-companion /www.kropserkel.com/horsehead.htm www.kropserkel.com/artifact.htm Kropserkel Conceptual Design - Engineering - Fabrication - Execution ARTIFACTS AND ART FORMS Welcome to our online gallery workshop and collection of elaborate costumes, props, and all that is incarnate magic! Here you will find the obsessed over tangibles of the celluloid, and the creative efforts to enhance, distort, and conceal the human form within. From electronic life forms to anime art: We invite you to explore our site where we pay tribute to what we call 'kinetic art' and 'prop culture', a modern art expression for the twenty-first century. More ... Assorted aspects of the Christmas Season Thel has pointed out "another one of those creative Ebay auctions" Horizon Air Collectable Fine China, My Christmas Bonus (eBay Item 3770539257) You are bidding on my Christmas Bonus! Scared of Santa photo gallery (43 examples) Nothing says Happy Holidays like a photo of sweet little toddlers screaming at Santa. The first 25 photos in this gallery are from the Chicago Tribune's "Scared of Santa" contest in 2003. All the rest of the photos were submitted by SouthFlorida.com readers this year. Enjoy! Fine Cell Work - UK Prison inmates doing work to earn money. Possible pressies? finecellwork.co.uk/products/index.html (Home Page) finecellwork.co.uk/inmates/gloria.html - one example Tris McCall's analysis of Christmas songs, written from the perspective of an atheist who takes Christianity very seriously. www.trismccall.net/pop_music_abstract_xmas.html More ... 2004-12-25
... and Merry Christmas to all (no connexion to the entry) Cutenessess: www.flickr.com/photos/arizonasue/2011553 flitter6 12-01-04 & flitter7 12-01-04 both from the work of www.flickr.com/photos/arizonasue Well, some could call this cute: www.deviantart.com/deviation/6851238 (boots) or just appealing www.flickr.com/photos/drswan/2502044 (ice posies, goosegoose) Acute: ( including, for instance www.deviantart.com/deviation/7118765 ) and others at ftp.users.bigpond.net.au/wulfius/myart/politics.htm, such as UStralia SPAMBLOGS Just spotted in "latest published blogs" list. Chester Hill's blog - chesterhill6778 blogspot.com Jeremy Robert's blog - jeremyrobert3609 blogspot.com Ivy Fox's blog - ivyfox4184 blogspot.com More ... 2004-12-22
Not only Australians had to adapt European Christmas customs nielsenhayden.com/makinglight/archives/005917.html#70487
www.samkass.com/theories/RPSSL.html -- Adds two to Game of Three to make Law of Fives Board Game to set the teeth on edge. www.mapletreepublishing.com/mortality.htm
Another. This one agricultural: www.growopgame.com/html/the_game.html And some literary brainstorming, extracted from a mother lode of same: nielsenhayden.com/makinglight/archives/005953.html
nielsenhayden.com/makinglight/archives/002175.html#13758 JRRwocky More ... 2004-12-19
Stillwell Slopes Stillwell Slopes Dreaming www.castlemagic.com/color.html Between Marulan and Goulburn, on 25 acres of hillside above the stream, overlooking the valley & facing the forested slopes opposite ... OK, it might not have "alpine firs and wild mountain huckleberries", or "deer, elk, and moose roaming". "The full moon shines through basalt pinnacles and lights up the bedroom at night." (Will have to check on the lunar visibility, also not sure what the local rock is. There are granite quarries in the area as well as some historic sites from convict days. ) www.marulan-nsw.com.au/tourism.htm igoulburn.com/browse.asp?cid=655&sid=14&caid=0&cpid=0 igoulburn.com/browse.asp?cid=1735&sid=14&caid=0&cpid=0 igoulburn.com/browse.asp?cid=1731&sid=14&caid=0&cpid=0 igoulburn.com/browse.asp?cid=1734&sid=14&caid=0&cpid=0 Marulan is spot on the 150 degree east meridian of longitude. The district surrounding Marulan is home to some of the shire’s most rugged scenery. The spectacular Gibraltar Rocks at Brayton are only a 20 minute drive west of Marulan. The village of Tallong is 10 minutes off the highway, east of Marulan and is home to Badgery’s and Longpoint Lookouts. Both have picnic facilities and give breathtaking views of Bungonia and Shoalhaven River. Tallong is home to the little known convict built dungeons- ask at the general store for directions. Bushranger John Dunn, of the Hall gang, shot policeman Sam Nelson at Collectors’ Kimberley’s Inn, operating today as the Bushranger Hotel. Convict history abounds this corner of the Shire, with remains of the Towrang Stockade located just of the Hume Highway, 10 minutes north of Goulburn. Park at the Derrick VC Rest Area and take a short walk to discover a perfectly preserved convict built bridge, part of the original Great South Road which opened up the area. Across the highway the remains of the powder magazine and early graves can be discovered. Note: Castle Magic is a USA site, naturally. * "You may purchase small castle keeps for $200,000 to $500,000, medium sized castles for $500,000 to $1.5 million, and a large full sized castles from $1.5 million to $10 million. * Custom Castle Building Prices: From $120 to $240 per square foot for a basic simple castle, or $300 to $600 per square foot for elaborate castles. * 10' Outer defence or courtyard walls: around $250 per lineal foot. * Cathedral or Great Halls: around $235 and up per square foot. * All prices include: solid stone castle, handcrafted windows, handcrafted doors, real stone fireplaces, hidden electrical, hidden plumbing and plumbing fixtures, built-in appliances, custom hardwood and/or stone flooring, custom granite and hardwood cabinets, floor heat system, hidden central vac, drawbridge, portcullis. * All prices exclude the cost of land, permits, utility connections or fees, fancy lighting fixtures, and roads." "I usually spend twice as long building a castle when compared to building a common structure. For a small castle, say 4500 square feet, you should allow one to two years. For a large castle with inner and outer curtain walls, you should allow five years or increase the amount of labour and funds used. On the bright side, your castle will last for generations and increase in value over time." More ... news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/ north_yorkshire/4074685.stm Church anger over 'devil' Santa news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=3850270 Mon 6 Dec 2004 Church Outrage at Christmas with the Devil www.yorkshiretoday.co.uk/ViewArticle2.aspx? SectionID=55&ArticleID=900568 Instead of the usual Father Christmas, visitors to Satan's Grotto at York Dungeon are greeted by a man dressed as the Devil with a red face and horns ... As well as meeting the alternative Santa, visitors to the grotto are handed "gifts" such as severed fingers, and can write on a scroll to sign their souls away. On its website the dungeon says the festive attraction includes elves impaled on spikes and robins roasting over an open fire with Santa being put in a witch's cauldron and boiled. Similar ghoulish grottos have also been set up at Edinburgh and London Dungeons ... A spokesman ... said the alternative grotto had been running for many years. "There are many people who are tired and weary of the commercial aspect of Christmas and for those people our attraction comes as a light relief. It is all tongue-in-cheek and our visitors love it." More ... news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/ north_yorkshire/4074685.stm Church anger over 'devil' Santa news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=3850270 Mon 6 Dec 2004 Church Outrage at Christmas with the Devil www.yorkshiretoday.co.uk/ViewArticle2.aspx? SectionID=55&ArticleID=900568 Instead of the usual Father Christmas, visitors to Satan's Grotto at York Dungeon are greeted by a man dressed as the Devil with a red face and horns ... As well as meeting the alternative Santa, visitors to the grotto are handed "gifts" such as severed fingers, and can write on a scroll to sign their souls away. On its website the dungeon says the festive attraction includes elves impaled on spikes and robins roasting over an open fire with Santa being put in a witch's cauldron and boiled. Similar ghoulish grottos have also been set up at Edinburgh and London Dungeons ... A spokesman ... said the alternative grotto had been running for many years. "There are many people who are tired and weary of the commercial aspect of Christmas and for those people our attraction comes as a light relief. It is all tongue-in-cheek and our visitors love it." More ... 2004-12-15
The nativity scene at Madame Tussaud's in London reportedly features an all-celebrity wax cast. [Or possibly an all-wax celebrity cast.] David Beckham plays Joseph, with David's wife, Victoria, filling in as Mary. George Bush and his buddy Tony Blair are two of the three gift-bearing wise men. Samuel L. Jackson, Hugh Grant and comedian Graham Norton are the three shepherds with Kylie Minogue, as an angel, hovering above the crowd. A spokesman for the Vatican said the display was "if not blasphemous then certainly in very poor taste" while one senior Church of England bishop's spokesman labelled it "an outrage" ... A spokesman for Madame Tussaud's said: "It is not our intention to offend anybody and we are sorry if we have indeed offended people. ... The display is supposed to be something funny for the festive period. We will be monitoring the reaction and will make a decision on whether it stays." Mmmm ... a seductively-posed angel hovering above you that looks like Kylie in a thin, clinging white silk gown? Yup, can see the attraction there. Having heard that someone is having a "Satan Claws" instead of a "Santa Claus", where children queue up & get a small, but perfectly gruesome, present from someone dressed as a demon, I reckon that for a real publicity stunt next year, they should set up a Crucifixion scene using figures from their Chamber of Horrors. Am stopping short of suggesting they be used for the Nativity scene; some of the hardline fundamentalists would probably firebomb them after that. More ... 2004-12-09
John Williams follows the trials and tribunals of Savoy Publishing's Lord Horror, the first novel to be banned in Britain for over twenty years A shorter version of this feature appeared in GQ, May 1996 www.abel.net.uk/~savoy/HTML/gqart.html Lord Horror ( www.abel.net.uk/~savoy/HTML/lhorror.html) is a kind of deliberately scatological, very William Burroughsian fable, the story of Hitler and his allies living on in an alternative Britain. Colin Wilson said that 'as an exercise in Surrealism it compares with some of the best work that came out of France and Germany between the wars', and the British sci-fi writer Michael Moorcock was a key witness at Savoy's appeal against the ban. This article brings it up to date to 1996. Not certain what's happened since then. It was referred to as an example of what was possible in the UK, as opposed to the USA, and now what it looks like US Customs is working on -- www.cbldf.org/pr/archives/000237.shtml ICK! And speaking of horrific ideas: simbaud.blogspot.com/2004/12/his-first-straight-horror-movie-since.html www.antipope.org/charlie/blosxom.cgi/2004/Nov/27#wartime-46 Cost of war Sat, 27 Nov 2004 And a different type of maths www.mathpuzzle.com/ The Poppy Seed Bagel theorem www.vanderbilt.edu/news/releases?id=15880 was recently in the news at Vanderbilt. Google has launched Google Scholar scholar.google.com. I'll have to see how well it compares to CiteSeer and arXiv.org. Also: The Google Blog [ http://www.google.com/googleblog/ ] More ... 2004-12-08
Seen recently at Berchtesgaden Ever read Terry Pratchett's Hogfather? Excellent for Christmas, or midwinter. I think these are the critters that all the noise & light are there to shoo away in those long dark days. www.smh.com.au/ftimages/2004/12/07/1102182298316.html Google Image searches for "Krampusse" (~1,700 results) and "Buttenmandl" (considerably less) bring up some good gruesome pictures. Threre's even a www.krampusse.com There's been a fuss recently about whether the Sydney City Christmas decorations are up to scratch. I've been wondering if I should point out to all the people saying that in London, Paris, New York & so forth they have all these lights, that at Christmas time those cities are only getting maybe 4 hours of daylight. And not always very bright sunlight at that. Cold, slushy, grey & grim. More ... 2004-12-05
Some Typeface Links + Paranoia? Some Typeface Links Links to some specialist typefaces/fonts. From a place where you can get a special Old English font/typeface www.engl.virginia.edu/OE/junicode/others.html scholarsfonts.net/index.html bibliofile.duhs.duke.edu/gww/fonts/fonts.html This person has also written a set of programs: bibliofile.duhs.duke.edu/gww/FreeWare/MyToys.html to interconvert between Macintosh NFNT resources and Adobe's BDF (Bitmap Distribution Format), which might be useful to people interested in such things. And, for something completely different, these: Paranoia, or possibly useful? - You decide: nielsenhayden.com/makinglight/archives/005763.html www.equipped.org/ More ... 2004-12-01
Truth Lite; Faux Truth, &c. Operating in the Post-Truth Environment (Truth Lite; Faux Truth, and Beyond) Jim Hightower's Weblog Tuesday, October 26, 2004 Posted 10:22 AM by Jim Hightower hightower.fmp.com/weblogitem.php?id=1587 When Presidents Lie More ... 2004-11-27
The more things change ... Isn't there an old saying that goes: "The more things change, the more they say the same"? The French have it too. With the current kerfuffle about problems with the New South Wales rail system, when, searching for some important legal papers, I stumbled across these comments in a collection of old songs, I thought some people might also find them illustrative of Santanya's saying that "those who forget history are condemned to repeat it." Note the date below. If I can wrench some time and mental energy away from burgeoning "urgent & important" demands I may be able to write about how better public transport is an important part of answers to a large number, perhaps a majority of the problems discussed in "the meeja". www.crixa.com/muse/tot/index.htm AUSTRALIAN RAILWAY STORY A Continuing Project: Concerning the Culture Associated with Australian Railways. Objective Further the collection and documentation of songs, poems and stories that reflect on the contribution railways have made (and continue to make) to the social history of Australia unionsong.com/muse/tot/voices/voices16.htm Railway Voices a CD of Australian railway workers stories with songs and poems Brian Dunnett electrical fitter, Loco Workshops, Chullora Undoubtably the 1970 period which led up to the election of the Wran government was the first real occasion that the public actually got itself involved in the debate about public transport. The argument between road and rail lead to the closing down, in the 1960s, of our tramway system, and that appeared to be the way in which rail as a whole was heading. The thing that intervened in that process, and as encouraged people to look again at rail as a system and a more efficient means, both of moving people and certainly bulk goods, was the energy crisis, the environmental questions that arose in the 1970s. People were in fact forced to look at the enormous increase in the usage of diesel and the cost, not only the cost factors involved but, but the energy crisis dominated a lot of the debate. It was stirred on here, I think, by the Green Ban movement in Sydney and elsewhere that it created a basis of interest about well ... what do you do with your cities? ... Now what ... what had occurred was the NSW government, Askin, brought to Australia a British expert, so called expert, Phillip Shirley, who had been connected with the British run-down of rail and that government was quite openly speaking about 10,000 jobs. The repercussions of that within the union movement was enormous, very sharp divisions, and it was the railway unions that discovered that they had some unity of interest with the public, that formed the "Save Public Transport Committees". Granville had that effect of bringing home what railway workers had been saying, that if you neglect a system, if you don't spend money on maintenance, if you don't do the right thing, well then you're in for trouble. TRAIN TRIP TO GUILDFORD More ... 2004-11-25
150 Years of Licensing 150 Years of Licensing I wonder if this Victorian group protesting about licensing laws was marking the sesquicentenary of the Eureka Uprising? [GET EXPLANATORY LINKS; EUREKA LINKS] More ... 2004-11-24
Holy Rarebit, Batman! Holy Rarebit, Batman! Apparently the grilled cheese on bread with the image of the BVM has been sold to a casino for $US36,000. "tragic microfilm accident" www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/ week_2004_07_18.php#003197 It's possible to 'merchandise' most things: www.idiots4bush.com/t_shirts1 www.pbase.com/alexuchoa/favorites Pretty Pix, to relax a bit with - Alex Uchoa is a Brazilian photographer. www.pbase.com/alexuchoa/favorites More ... 2004-11-16
Cargoweasel helps us chill out Cargo - at www.livejournal.com/users/cargoweasel November 8th, 2004 Time: 12:35 pm Subject: Order Two interesting links of visual beauty today. Enjoy. More ... Power of Nightmares (BBC Documentary) transcript site www.acutor.be/silt/index.php?id=573 Transcript of The Power of Nightmares I contacted the BBC through their web site to try and obtain a legitimate DVD of the documentary, and got the following response:Thank you for your question/questions regarding Power of Nightmares. More ... Post-Election: Major bugs in Diebold vote systems washingtontimes.com/upi-breaking/20041112-112037-7263r.htm Major bugs found in Diebold vote systems More ... 2004-11-13
Remembrance Day Sometime before next Anzac Day I will try to write the piece on Australian War Memorials I have in mind to put some flesh on the casualty figures, but here is an unofficial site about the local memorials. The official site is www.awm.gov.au, which has some excellent resource. This link commemorates some Voices lost to the world of arts in The War to End Wars (Two earlier posts on Remembrance Day.) More ... Mohandas Gandhi & Joe Hill I have been following (lightly - life gets in the way sometimes) some of the reaction in the US & elsewhere amongst like-minded citizens to the election success of Bush (& Howard). It's usually agreed that putting as much effort into making sure that electronic voting, voting, ballot security & vote counting in the "First World" is as scrutinised & secure & independently overseen as the system developed for paper ballots in countries with former records of rigging & cheating is worth putting effort into. But many are also looking at examples like, say, Gandhi, where he said, more or less: "We can't fight them with force, both because that's the wrong way to achieve our aims anyway, and also because they're better at it & we won't win. We can try, in some circumstances defying & working against them directly, but that must only be where there is no alternative - and it might serve our cause rather than harm it. What we should try to do is ignore them. Work around them. Do our own thing our own way rather than fall in with their system. Show that we can do things our way, with our systems, and with better results. Show the people they needn't be dependent on the ones who say 'bend down and serve us, let us make you suffer, because you will suffer even more without us', then their support will crumble from within." Or as Joe Hill put it more succinctly: "Organize!" More ... C.S. Lewis on Theocracy, 1946 Why I am a Democrat (C.S. Lewis)I am a democrat because I believe that no man or group of men is good enough to be trusted with uncontrolled power over others. And the higher the pretensions of such power, the more dangerous I think it both the rulers and to the subjects. Hence Theocracy is the worst of all governments. If we must have a tyrant a robber baron is far better than an inquisitor. The baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity at some point be sated; and since he dimly knows he is doing wrong he may possibly repent. But the inquisitor who mistakes his own cruelty and lust of power and fear for the voice of Heaven will torment us infinitely because he torments us with the approval of his conscience and his better impulses appear to him as temptations. PDF: oddlots.digitalspace.net/downloads/democrat.pdf "A Reply to Professor Haldane" in "Of Other Worlds: Essays and Stories" Danny's Blog Cabin www.brendoman.com/danny/archives/006596.html May 26, 2004 Church and State: Keep Them Separated (article written for June 2004 church newsletter) quoted & explained part of this. It's also a good current-day explanation from the Christian side of the dangers of confusing religion & politics too much, as Lewis' was a half-century ago. I may later add in something about CS Lewis & his works & relationship with JRR Tolkein & others in their group. Or you can go & look that up yersel :) More ... 2004-11-11
News Just Through: Arafat's Death Announced News of Arafat's death has just come through. Is this a turning point? Which way? We are all rowing forward into the future, only able to see where we've been in the past. More ... A Poem After War Back They ask me where I've been, Wilfred Gibson (1878-1962) www.warpoetry.co.uk/FWW_index.html More ... Armistice Day Early Remembrance (1); pre-dawn 11/11/2004 Extracts from a small thing for Armistice/Remembrance Day, which I thought had a few aspects people may find good to think upon. A life in three centuries November 11, 2004, by Jonathon King Age shall not weary Peter Casserly. And, rather than being condemned by the years, time has made him a record breaker. He is Australia's oldest known man for one. Next, of the 331,000 Australians who fought overseas in World War I he is the sole surviving serviceman from the Western Front. For good measure, he appears to have notched up the country's longest running marriage - lasting 80 years and 10 months before his wife Monica died at 102 in August ... Early Remembrance (2); pre-dawn 11/11/2004 Some poems of two wars World War One Poets on the Battlefields: Blunden; Brooke; Owen; Sassoon; St Quentin; Ypres Wilfred Owen "Damn all war mongers who lie to the young so they volunteer to kill + to be killed" Links: http://www.1914-18.co.uk/owen/ (Wilfred Owen Association) http://www.pitt.edu/~pugachev/greatwar/owen.html http://www.everypoet.com/archive/poetry/Wilfred_Owen/wilfred_owen_contents.htm Paul Eluard Early Remembrance (3); pre-dawn 11/11/2004 Some non-poetry of two wars: Article (for members); Article (for members) (Casualty figures 1914-1918; 1939-1945) Until I can work out something grand & good -- this puts it into millenial vistas -- it looks like the only way you can look at these latter two is to download them. Any suggestions for simple conversions of complex Excel spreadsheets to, say, HTML tables? I will try to write the piece on War Memorials I have in mind to put some flesh on the figures. This link commemorates some Voices lost to the world of arts in The War to End Wars. More ... Shock-voting? www.livejournal.com/users/james_nicoll/572.html?mode=reply I know, it's easy to snipe as I sit here in Canada, as immune to unpleasant affairs abroad as a Belgian in 1933 but I'd like to issue a very special Adrej Waidja Stakhanovite* Award to the Republican voters of Gahanna District in Franklin County, Ohio, where 4,258 of the 638 people who voted voted for Bush. I think the old Soviets only ever managed to get turnouts 99% in favour the chosen candidate. Exceeding the actual number of voters has to count as something extraordinary. *Or possibly Aleksei Grigorievich Stakhanov (Алексей Григорьевич Стаханов) - from en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aleksei_Grigorievich_Stakhanov, see also en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stakhanovite about the "model Soviet worker" (or shock-worker) movement. More ... 2004-11-09
The First 9/11 - Broken Glass & Ashes (In Australia 9/11 is November 9th) Remember Kristallnacht - 9/11/38Two sites of manywww.remember.org/fact.fin.kristal.html www.us-israel.org/jsource/Holocaust/kristallnacht.html
From www.us-israel.org/jsource/Holocaust/kristallnacht.html what disturbed the German populace was less the sight of synagogues burning (fires take place all the time, after all -- it depends on the scale) than of the savage and wasteful vandalism that confronted bystanders everywhere, disrupting the clean and orderly streets (to say nothing of consumer convenience). What was indeed memorable was the sheer quantity of broken glass. A third point was the economic outcome of this massive breakage. Germany didn't produce enough plate glass to repair the damages (synagogues did not have to be replaced -- quite the contrary). The result was twofold: the need to import glass from Belgium (for sorely needed cash) and the outrage of indemnifying the Jewish community to pay for the damages. Labels: anniversaries, history More ... Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America by Barbara Ehrenreich (UK Edition) Nickel and Dimed: Undercover in Low-wage America The Working Poor : Invisible in America by DAVID K. SHIPLER www.inthesetimes.com/site/main/article/cold_turkey/ Features > May 10, 2004 Cold Turkey By Kurt Vonnegut Many years ago, I was so innocent I still considered it possible that we could become the humane and reasonable America so many members of my generation used to dream of ... More ... 2004-11-08
Deep & Meaningful (and other barriers) From a discussion on a subject like unto one my friends & I have discussed nielsenhayden.com/makinglight/archives/005515.html Graydon ::: September 10, 2004, 09:54 PM Prosperity and civilization *do* manage to obscure some basic truths, the learning of a hard life. The comment under Randolph Fritz ::: September 10, 2004, 08:03 PM also reflects something mentioned previously no investment--not equities (stocks), debt securities (bonds), not cash, not gemstones, not precious metal--is certain. Your IRAs and 401(k) may turn into so much worthless paper. And they all depend on policy to maintain their values. When the SEC stopped doing its job, fraud in the securities markets (Enron!) made many stocks into so much worthless paper. Debt securities depend on the rate of inflation--the inflation that is likely if W. Bush is reelected will devalue them dramatically. Investments in any currency depend on international trade policies; it is likely that the dollar will not be the world standard of value in 20 years and there will be many losers in the resultant capital shifts. Metal and gemstones are only valuable as long as most people hold them; in hard times, many people will try to sell and the value will drop. and you'll probably notice that PiscusFiche ::: September 11, 2004, 11:25 puts an example that follows my argument -- concluding "Times are changing, and the more we cooperate, the more able we are to weather it." At 12frogs.com September 12, 2004 The Worst Part Is I Don't Want Help "Sometimes I avoid friends or family obligations in order to read novels." "I have neglected personal hygiene or household chores until I had finished a novel." "I have spent money meant for necessities on books instead." "I have wept, become angry or irrational because of something I read." "If you answered 'yes' to three or more of these questions, you may be a literature abuser . Affirmative responses to five or more indicates a serious problem." Large Killer Tracheophytes Silent Killers: The True Story Of Deadly Trees By Gene Weingarten Washington Post Staff Writer Wednesday, January 7, 1998; Page C01 America was stunned this week by the tragic deaths of Michael Kennedy and Sonny Bono, who lost their lives to a silent killer. Trees. [etc.] [also see (Hughes, Sylvia; "Antelope Activate the Acacia's Alarm System," New Scientist, p. 19, September 29, 1990.) summarised at . This is only a "killer" because the antelope are artificially confined by humans.] Flagging & Surveying Tape Used for surveying, mapping, forestry, tagging, roping off an area, or any other marking application. Also available in biodegradeable & printed versions; Pre-Made Aerial Targets Printed Tape SKULL AND CROSSBONES (ONLY) (Glo Orange) DANGER DANGER (Glo Orange) PROPERTY LINE (Glo Pink) WETLAND DELINEATION (Glo Pink) PEST MANAGEMENT (Glo Pink) Spot fire (Glo Orange) WETLAND BOUNDARY (Glo Orange or Glo Pink) TIMBER HARVEST BOUNDARY (Glo Pink) RIPARIAN MANAGEMENT ZONE (Glo Pink) STREAMSIDE MANAGEMENT ZONE (Glo Pink) Other brands Identi-Tape Inc www.contractorstools.com/keson_m2_flag_tape.html Photo-luminescent Tapes (Glow-in-the-Dark) Camouflage Tapes Chart & Map Tape Color Coding Tape Duct Tape Flagging Tape Fluorescent Tape Gaffers Tape Gear-Tape (Identi-Tape) Label Tape Masking Tape Plastic Vinyl Tapes Safety Reflective Tapes Symbols & Stripes Harness Tape www.livejournal.com/users/crevette/113659.html [WARNING!] Review: Night Travels of the Elven Vampire (After reading 98 3/4 pages of complete and utter badness) ... This is my favorite half paragraph in the book.Glowing red eyes looked at her, and she turned her eyes away from the sight of the glowing orbs. Each one stood at least seven feet in height, and must have weighed around six hundred pounds. They were covered in fur, had pointed ears, a snout and large sharp teeth. They stood on legs the size of tree trunks. Now, that might make this somewhat more understandable? Or not? The Rapture Index www.raptureready.com/rap2.html The Rapture Index has two functions: one is to factor together a number of related end time components into a cohesive indicator, and the other is to standardize those components to eliminate the wide variance that currently exists with prophecy reporting. Antichrist Photo Gallery www.raptureready.com/photo/antichrists/rap83i.html Ummm ... www.ericawebb.com/091601 More ... 2004-11-07
After the Ball is over ... ttp://smh.com.au/articles/2004/10/28/1098667914319.html Saudi Arabia sees Bush victory as lesser of two evils By Ed O'Loughlin, Herald Correspondent in Riyadh October 29, 2004 Whatever the realpolitik calculations, on the emotional level relations between the US and its Saudi guarantors of cheap petrol - always unsentimental - have never been worse. While Muslim fundamentalists continue to preach against the Great Satan, America's natural constituency among liberal and reform-minded educated Saudis has been alienated by what it sees as hostility towards Arabs since the September 11 attacks. Over the past three years tens of thousands of young Saudis have returned home from US universities to escape official or unofficial harassment or because of difficulties in renewing study visas. "After 9/11 they say that all Arabs and Muslims are terrorists," said the editor of Arab News, Khalid al-Maeena, whose son recently returned from a US university without graduating. "This has made young Arabs turn against the West. They like to listen to Ricky Martin and Mark Anthony and have coffee at Starbucks, and yet their sentiments are increasingly anti-American." "Saudis love the West and they hate it," said Mansour al-Nogaidan, once a leading Islamic hardliner and now a liberal dissident. "They love Western civilisation but they hate it because they feel inferior. They hate the thought that it is stronger than we are, that it is up while we are a long way down." Man tries to convert lions to Jesus, gets bitten 46-year-old leaps into den at Taipei Zoo, calls beasts to Christianity [There is video of this - watch TV news.] http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6396422/ Updated: 5:51 a.m. ET Nov. 3, 2004 TAIPEI, Taiwan - A man leaped into a lion’s den at the Taipei Zoo on Wednesday to try to convert the king of beasts to Christianity, but was bitten in the leg for his efforts. “Jesus will save you!” shouted the 46-year-old man at two African lions lounging under a tree a few metres away. “Come bite me!” he said with both hands raised, television footage showed. One of the lions, a large male with a shaggy mane, bit the man in his right leg before zoo workers drove it off with water hoses and tranquilizer guns. Newspapers said that the lions had been fed earlier in the day, otherwise the man might have been more seriously hurt ... or worse. Copyright 2004 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Many good useful & hopeful things (as well as rage, despair, &c.) on the "Bad morning" thread at Making Light -- http://nielsenhayden.com/makinglight/archives/005687.html I really thought that today would be the beginning of our recovery from the current low point. But I guess we have lower to sink. Doesn't mean we won't rise again eventually. And in my right hand I hold my sorrow And with my left hand I reach for joy We all are soldiers whether we fight or fall No one can run from the scorns of time "Scorns of Time", on the Simple Path album, by Irene Kelley and Claire Lynch Alison ::: November 03, 2004, 04:39 PM ( http://nielsenhayden.com/makinglight/archives/005687.html ) What I resent most about this election is that 80% of the people who based their decision on "moral values" voted for Bush. Since when did the Republican Party become the last bastion of morality? Well, because they say they are and Democrats are resistent to portraying themselves that way. These people who voted for moral values believe that abortion is murder and that homosexuals are out to wreck their marriages, but not that every child should be adequately educated or that the elderly should not have to choose between their prescription drugs and their food for the month. The reason they focus on abortion and homosexual marriage is that someone told them who was to fear and what was to blame for their problems in life ... What I keep coming back to is an article I read last year about how conservatives use language to dominate politics. The link: http://www.berkeley.edu/news/media/releases/2003/10/27_lakoff.shtml There must be a way to make people see that bombing terrorists only breeds more terrorists, that depriving children of education creates crime and that allowing everyone the same rights does not somehow dilute or diminish those rights. In other words, have to talk to the other side. Unfortunately, we first have to figure out how to use words they can hear. More ... 2004-10-24
Photos of Australian Landscapes - SMH Galleries Photos of Australian Landscapes - SMH Galleries www.smh.com.au/ftimages/2004/10/18/1097951603237.html Midwinter on the Main Range in the Snowy Mountains. The steep faces of Sentinel Ridge and Watson's Crags offer the finest skiing Australia has to offer. Unrivalled scenery, zero crowds and no lift queues (then again, no lifts either, and a hell of a hike back to the top ... ) Photo: Andrew Martin Also see: www.smh.com.au/ftimages/2004/10/19/1097951677187.html and www.smh.com.au/ftimages/2004/10/20/1097951735119.html, or NOTE: If you're looking at Michael Meryment's photo of the waterfall at Kanangra Walls in this gallery, check the person abseiling about halfway down the photo, on the right ( www.smh.com.au/ftimages/2004/10/18/1097951604775.html). In Sydney suburbs -- St Ives: www.smh.com.au/ftimages/2004/10/20/1097951743850.html Dobroyd Head: www.smh.com.au/ftimages/2004/10/20/1097951742774.html For some reason there is a suburb called Dobroyd Point, near Haberfield or Leichhardt, in Sydney which is not at all near the peninsula on the harbour called Dobroyd Head, near Clontarf or Balgowlah Heights! Here is an aerial photo showing Dobroyd Point, the suburb, and you can see that the view between the heads shown in the photo above is round quite a few corners from it, and well beyond the city buildings seen in the background. www.airviewonline.com.au/stock-photographs/photodetails.asp?ID=2228 (This brought back memories of working for my Biology thesis, and here is some of the stuff from the Sydney University SOBS as it is more currently: www.bio.usyd.edu.au/hochuli/article.htm , and www.bio.usyd.edu.au/SOBS/RESEARCH/FACILITY/JOHNRAY/Johnray.html ) This shows you something about Dobroyd Head, from a visitor's perspective. www.stuharris.co.uk/apple_oz/spitman/spitman.html He doesn't mention Clontarf Beach being the site of an early attempted political assassination, where a mentally-unbalanced Irish migrant called Henry O'Farrell shot the then Duke of Edinburgh (Alfred -- see www.wordiq.com/definition/Duke_Alfred_of_Saxe-Coburg-Gotha ) on the first Royal Visit to Australia in 1868 -- see www.shoalhaven.net.au/~cathyd/history/prince.html. Fortunately, the bullet bounced off his braces. We swiftly pointed out Henry was visiting from Melbourne, but despite his obvious derangement, he was fairly summarily tried & executed. Am fond of the story that goes with this picture of Cox Bight on the South Coast Track, Tasmania: www.smh.com.au/ftimages/2004/10/19/1097951665813.html Been here! www.smh.com.au/ftimages/2004/10/19/1097951666139.html (Part of a longer story of mine.) And here: www.smh.com.au/ftimages/2004/10/19/1097951678102.html (see also www.smh.com.au/ftimages/2004/10/20/1097951740480.html for a different view). And this one scarcely touches the wonder & beauty of Barrington Tops -- www.smh.com.au/ftimages/2004/10/20/1097951734794.html. These are something I had to take when I was visiting Western Australia. It's a sight you can't see from the Eastern States -- very few of the water lakes are big enough to not have anything on the horizon, though if Lake Eyre in the centre-south (the lowest point on mainland Australia), usually just salt flats, is full after a flood year it might be possible. www.smh.com.au/ftimages/2004/10/19/1097951676988.html www.smh.com.au/ftimages/2004/10/19/1097951677368.html Oops: Looks like at certain angles in the geology you can get the effect. But it's rare <ahem>, e.g. Stockton Beach, Anna Bay (I believe this is near Newcastle, NSW) www.smh.com.au/ftimages/2004/10/19/1097951678108.html These show the more common effect: www.smh.com.au/ftimages/2004/10/20/1097951743386.html www.smh.com.au/ftimages/2004/10/20/1097951729789.html www.smh.com.au/ftimages/2004/10/20/1097951742843.html Explanatory story re SMH collecting these. www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/10/18/1097951590937.html Restoring Faith in Humanity, One Story at a Time www.heroicstories.com/ More ... 2004-10-13
I was truly shocked at this story, at www.klas-tv.com/global/story.asp?s=2421595 - Voter Registrations Possibly Trashed, about "Voters Outreach of America, AKA America Votes", saying that "The company has been largely, if not entirely funded, by the Republican National Committee." That, if true, is just banana republic stuff. It does completely make my jaw drop, that people's voting registration can possibly go through an unaccountable & possibly partisan group rather than an independent body of some kind - especially if you actually register as being of a particular party. This has always worried & puzzled me about that system, presumably based on the older English system which didn't have secret voting (an innovation from Australia in the nineteenth century). So why have a secret ballot at all? Why bother with elections or voting -- just ask people to change their registration from one party to another when they change their mind? (I gradually came to understand that you could register as something, but vote differently. I read somewhere that it's possible to register as independent, or something non-partisan -- I personally am somewhat neurotic about disclosing who I vote for, after the fight to get a truly secret ballot to help stop some kinds of oppression, so I'd have to do that -- though you could probably work it out from my opinions, if you cared.) Here are some extracts from the story: http://www.klas-tv.com/Global/story.asp?S=2421595 http://www.klas-tv.com/global/story.asp?s=2421595&ClientType=Printable Eyewitness News More ... 2004-10-12
Life is pain, Highness. Anybody who says differently is selling something. Life is pain, Highness. Anybody who says differently is selling something. -- The Princess Bride Not unlike my feelings - brainsnap.com/node/83 A little cheery thought on a really bad night -- extreme spelling correction. U.S. nuke city to correct Einstein misspelling Fri 8 October, 2004 03:20 http://www.reuters.co.uk/newsPackageArticle.jhtml?type=worldNews&storyID=598840§ion=news More ... 2004-10-07
You are Form 5, Dragon: The Weaver. "And The Dragon seperated the virtuous from the sinful. He tore his eyes from his sockets and used them to peer into the souls of those on trial to make a judgement. He knew that with endless knowledge came endless responsibility." Some examples of the Dragon Form are Athena (Greek), St. Peter (Christian), and Surya (Indian). The Dragon is associated with the concept of intelligence, the number 5, and the element of wood. His sign is the crescent moon. As a member of Form 5, you are an intelligent and wise individual. You weigh options by looking at how logical they are and you know that while there may not always be a right or wrong choice, there is always a logical one. People may say you are too indecisive, but it's only because you want to do what's right. Dragons are the best friends to have because they're willing to learn. Which Mythological Form Are You? brought to you by Quizilla More ... 2004-09-22
To Compare Bush and Blair [Headline & details - needs filling in] http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2004/09/18/nwar218.xml [Headline & details - needs filling in] http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2004/09/18/nwar118.xml [Headline & details - needs filling in] http://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/main.jhtml?xml=/opinion/2004/09/18/dl1801.xml [Headline & details - needs filling in] http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2004/09/18/nwar18.xml&sSheet=/news/2004/09/18/ixnewstop.html [USA person at barbyawp.blogspot.com/] http://slate.msn.com/id/2106833/ Do As I Say Bush lets down his Guard. by William Saletan Posted Thursday, Sept. 16, 2004, at 10:42 PM P http://moonlitcynicism.blogspot.com/ (A travel blog - just nice 'n' normal. They're heading for Australia later on; currently in Ukraine.) YUP - Good Stuff Here! http://www.pbs.org/now/printable/transcript_hough_print.html More ... good stuff garnered This looks like there's some good stuff to be garnered. Figures of Speech (Turns of phrase, Schemes, Tropes, Ornaments, Colours, Flowers) http://humanities.byu.edu/rhetoric/Figures/Figures-Groupings.htm Overview An interesting pattern for next Fat Tuesday? Think of some groovy yarns to use. http://www.knitty.com/ISSUEfall04/PATThallowig.html This could be good for fun in the backyard -- especially if the backyard is as large as Hawksview @ Guildford http://www.crazyape.com/product.aspx?CategoryId=60151&ProductID=137932 Also, the Preparing for Emergencies website (UK version) http://www.preparingforemergencies.gov.uk/ Which should get you into the right frame of mind for this cheery little piece http://www.nytimes.com/2004/09/21/national/21cameras.html In Chicago, they are taking away your right to wander in circles:
Meanwhile, back at the Skywalker Ranch; in relation to the reworking George Lucas (Inc) has done on the earlier Star Wars films re-releases, Jonathan Vos Post (someone who's made many contributions to maths & literature) has pointed out this, which Aldous Huxley wrote in regard to a later edition of Brave New World: To pore over the literary shortcomings of twenty years ago, to attempt to patch More ... 2004-09-21
Jargon Revue www.jargon.net/jargonfile/h/HanlonsRazor.html Hanlon's Razor /prov./ A corollary of Finagle's Law www.jargon.net/jargonfile/f/FinaglesLaw.html, similar to Occam's Razor, that reads "Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity." The derivation of the Hanlon eponym is not definitely known, but a very similar remark ("You have attributed conditions to villainy that simply result from stupidity.") appears in "Logic of Empire", a 1941 story by Robert A. Heinlein, who calls it the `devil theory' of sociology. Heinlein's popularity in the hacker culture makes plausible the supposition that `Hanlon' is derived from `Heinlein' by phonetic corruption. A similar epigram has been attributed to William James, but Heinlein more probably got the idea from Alfred Korzybski and other practitioners of General Semantics. Quoted here because it seems to be a particular favorite of hackers, often showing up in sig blocks www.jargon.net/jargonfile/s/sigblock.html, fortune cookie www.jargon.net/jargonfile/f/fortunecookie.html files and the login banners of BBS systems and commercial networks. This probably reflects the hacker's daily experience of environments created by well-intentioned but short-sighted people. Compare Sturgeon's Law www.jargon.net/jargonfile/s/SturgeonsLaw.html. Finagle's Law /n./ The generalized or `folk' version of Murphy's Law www.jargon.net/jargonfile/m/MurphysLaw.html, fully named "Finagle's Law of Dynamic Negatives" and usually rendered "Anything that can go wrong, will". One variant favored among hackers is "The perversity of the Universe tends towards a maximum" (but see also Hanlon's Razor www.jargon.net/jargonfile/h/HanlonsRazor.html). The label `Finagle's Law' was popularized by SF author Larry Niven in several stories depicting a frontier culture of asteroid miners; this `Belter' culture professed a religion and/or running joke involving the worship of the dread god Finagle and his mad prophet Murphy. Some technical and scientific cultures (e.g., palaeontologists) know it under the name `Sod's Law'; this usage may be more common in Great Britain. Sturgeon's Law /prov./ "Ninety percent of everything is crap". Derived from a quote by science fiction author Theodore Sturgeon, who once said, "Sure, 90% of science fiction is crud. That's because 90% of everything is crud." Oddly, when Sturgeon's Law is cited, the final word is almost invariably changed to `crap'. Compare Hanlon's Razor www.jargon.net/jargonfile/h/HanlonsRazor.html, Ninety-Ninety Rule www.jargon.net/jargonfile/n/Ninety-NinetyRule.html. Though this maxim originated in SF fandom, most hackers recognize it and are all too aware of its truth. Ninety-Ninety Rule /n./ "The first 90% of the code accounts for the first 90% of the development time. The remaining 10% of the code accounts for the other 90% of the development time." Attributed to Tom Cargill of Bell Labs, and popularized by Jon Bentley's September 1985 "Bumper-Sticker Computer Science" column in "Communications of the ACM". It was there called the "Rule of Credibility", a name which seems not to have stuck. misfeature www.jargon.net/jargonfile/m/misfeature.html /mis-fee'chr/ or /mis'fee`chr/ /n./ A feature that eventually causes lossage, possibly because it is not adequate for a new situation that has evolved. Since it results from a deliberate and properly implemented feature, a misfeature is not a bug. Nor is it a simple unforeseen side effect; the term implies that the feature in question was carefully planned, but its long-term consequences were not accurately or adequately predicted (which is quite different from not having thought ahead at all). A misfeature can be a particularly stubborn problem to resolve, because fixing it usually involves a substantial philosophical change to the structure of the system involved. More ... |