Thursday, February 19, 2009

Spiritual Atheism

http://www.pajiba.com/spiritual-atheism-buffy-angel-house-and-doctor-who.htm

Go read.

This is not to say I am suddenly an atheist, so don't go panicking about the state of my immortal soul.

I think there is a lot of truth in there about God. Which is odd, as it comes from an atheist.

A warning to those of you sensitive to strong language...it's in there. Don't say I didn't warn you.

also, in the comments section, you'll find the following joke. Which is awesome and I think sums things up very well.

'A man walks up to a famous athiest and announces, "I'm an athiest, too."
The famous athiest says, "Have you read the Bible?"
The man says, "No."
"Have you read the Koran?"
"No."
"Have your studied Hinduism or Buddism?"
"No."
The athiest says, "You are not an athiest. You are an ignoramus."'

Sunday, February 8, 2009

no idea...

I feel like I'm living in a state of complete shock.

I mean, this is Australia. A few measly bushfires should not cut this deep.

Except usually, fires might kill, what, 10 people at most? A death toll of 65 and rising and I just can't even fathom what I'm supposed to think. What I'm supposed to feel. How I'm supposed to react. I can't believe the horror of what I'm seeing on the news.

And frankly, this week I refuse to watch even one current affairs show. If I have to listen to some stupid reporter ask someone who's house has burned to the ground while they watched 'So, how are you feeling right now' I might go over the edge. Smashing things would definitely be in order. Screaming obscenities at the TV is a given. I don't see how anyone without half an ounce of compassion and human decency could ask that of a person who has lost everything.

But then, less than an ounce of human decency is probably in the job specs for a reporter on 'A Current Affair'. Anymore and you wouldn't bother applying in the first place.

Oh, and if you're living under a rock (or maybe in Spain? America?), this is what I am talking about. http://news.ninemsn.com.au/national/744864/worst-day-in-history-vic-fires-kill-14

Friday, February 6, 2009

huh?

I blogged yesterday about the fact that reading the news whilst at uni wasn't really a good idea.

Except this morning I found this awesome headline...just a snippet. I had to take a screen shotBecause when we think of Michael Clarke, obviously the first association that comes into our heads is the fact that he is Lara Bingle's fiance...not that he is vice captain (actually at the moment I guess he is acting captain) of the Australian Cricket team. Because that is obviously less important than being engaged to the star of a failed tourism ad campaign.

Ah, ninemsn, you do constantly amuse me. Less roasting puppies alive, more stupid headlines like this, please...

Thursday, February 5, 2009

Why procrastination is bad

Perhaps it is slightly contradictory to write a post about procrastination whilst I am in fact at uni. However, I have discovered in the past few weeks a drawback to one of my favourite forms of procrastinating at uni. Which is reading the news. You may have seen the results of this on my blog.

The thing about the news is...sometimes its ghastly. Really really horrifyingly why-would-anyone-do-that ghastly.

And when you're taking a break from work, reading about teenagers roasting puppies alive, or men throwing their 4 year old daughters off the Westgate bridge, or people kidnapping and eating children...well...it's not exactly incentive to do work. Or do anything, really. I hate the fact that I live in a world where people do these things. I also hate the fact that I live in a world where these things outnumber the genuninely good things people do. Or at least on news sites they do. Which leads me to hate the fact that I live in a world where apparently people would rather read about kids roasting puppies than they would about people doing good things.

It's enough to make a girl depressed, really...

Wednesday, February 4, 2009

Rant

I need a rant. There are several things I would like to rant about, but they may not be fit for the public domain. So I'm going to blog about something very Australian.

The Cricket.

No, not about the fact that we keep getting beaten. That is unfortunately inevitable if you play like a bunch of girls.

I'm going to rant about the double standards that have been evident this week.

It's fairly evident to me that Andrew Symonds has basically made a bit of a hash of it. He's a typical Aussie bloke who drinks a little more than he should, goes fishing and occasionally says something a bit off about the opposition. If this was the 70s, he'd be a national hero. To many, he probably is. The thing is, he said something he probably shouldn't have. I get that.

I also am familiar with the work of Roy and HG and know that if you go on their shows, whether radio or TV, you're going to say something stupid you regret later. It's that kind of show. Roy and HG have this way of goading you into saying stuff that maybe is better left unsaid.

And you end up left out of the squad for an international tour. Thems the breaks. You shouldn't, even in jest, bag out the opposing wicket keeper.

Nor should you accuse them of cheating. Yes, that's right, Daniel Vittori, I'm looking at you. How come Symonds can't make a joke, but you can in all seriousness call our wicket keeper's integrity into question, and get away with an apology via text message?

Because Roy doesn't exactly have a squeaky clean record, because he does things the traditional way. Which I'm not saying is right.

I'm just saying it's a double standard.

To me, this puts ol' Vittori right up there with the English and South African captains as the lords of Prawnville. This is something I have adapted from my brother, but by all accounts, he's right.