Topics

1

Unwashed Village / Well, it's about bloody time!

« on: September 06, 2008, 04:46:59 AM »

http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/articles/2008/09/04/1220121421599.html?page=fullpage#contentSwap1

If this was all they taught in school, kids would be better off than they currently are.  Critical thinking in essential for learning beyond simple rote.  These kids will be more self-aware, better able to adapt to life, and will actively seek to learn.

I'm surprised that the zealots haven't jumped up and down complaining about how this kind of thought jeopardises their ability to indoctrinate their children with their chosen religion.  They must actually be doing it right.  By that I mean that they are teaching the kids that choosing to have faith in a religion is not inherently wrong, and nor is choosing not to.  Understanding and tolerance have been the lessons that philosophers have been trying to teach since the earliest written records.  I can't believe that it has taken us this long to start to share this wisdom with our children.

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Unwashed Village / I think my ever-tenuous grip on sanity is slipping again

« on: August 26, 2008, 06:36:25 AM »

I seem to have gone a bit silly.  After 14 years working at a desk and spending my spare time in front of a computer or the telly, I have gone and bought a bicycle and joined a martial arts class.

I'm 33 years old, covered in bruises, aches, pains and (frequently) lathered in sweat... And I've never felt better!

It's like my body is saying "This is what I was built for.  Forget about that damn computer.  MOVE!"

I'm scared.

I have led a mostly sedentary life and up until a couple of years ago I had the same body I've had since high school:  generally weak, not exactly fit, but thin as a rake and mostly healthy.  Then I hit 30 and the weight started piling on.  So I'm making an effort (for the first time in my life) to actually lose weight.  And after only a month or two it seems to be working somewhat.  Again, scary.

I was never any good at sports or athletics as a kid, so I turned to more academic pursuits.  Invariably, any time I tried to make physical improvements, my body just ignored me.  Even when I was going to the gym every other day, I couldn't build strength or fitness.  It all seemed like such a waste of time so I stopped trying.

But now, for some reason, my body has decided to come to the party... When I stretch, I get more flexible.  When I work out, I get more fit.  When I move, I lose weight.  This goes against everything I have learnt about myself over the last 3 decades, and frankly, it's freaking me out.

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Unwashed Village / Rugby World Cup (so as not to usurp Owl's thread)

« on: September 07, 2007, 06:02:27 AM »

For the more enlightened of villagers (ie those who follow "the game they play in heaven").... Go the Wallabies!!

Also, I was surprised last World Cup by Japan.  Not an especially good team, but as is typical of them, they never do anything in halves... They played HARD.  A short, stocky team that just didn't stop.  An absolute pleasure to watch.

Anyway, my prediction for the Cup is Australia.  That's not just patriotism, I really like our chances.  It is the last time that two of our star players will play professional rugby (scrum half George Gregan and fly half Stephen Larkham).  Anyone who knows these two, knows that they will go out with a bang, and they have the ability to inspire the team to do so too.  Plus, Larkham has the added (and admitedly somewhat unfair) advantage of having played rugby with me up until about the fifth grade.  He was also in my class at school for a couple of those years.  The lucky devil.

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Unwashed Village / Just watched "Blink"

« on: September 02, 2007, 04:25:12 AM »

Is it just me, or is the writing of this new Dr Who series going from strength to strength?  This epsiode freaked me in the way that I remember being scared of Dr Who as a child. 

From the very first episode (The Christmas Invasion), Tennant had me...

"By the ancient rites of combat, I forbid you to scavenge here for the rest of Time. When you go back to the stars and tell others of this planet, when you tell them of its riches, its people, its potential — when you talk of the Earth, then make sure you tell them this. It. Is. Defended!"

And now, with Blink, well, I'm just speechless.  And we all know how rare that is.

*edited out a typo that was screetching its nails down the chalkboard of my soul*