Clever and Silly

Had the malaria flu.
Hope you don't get it.
Thinking of becoming a Luddite.
They were a bunch of people who smashed up the machines in the dawn of the industrial age.
Would love to do that at times.
Especially my little computer lab.
Working with computers(Mac and the other silly ones) is like the War On Drugs- never ending and in the end futile.
The new operating system update means you have to upgrade this which causes conflict with that and you end up getting blamed for someones class that didnt go as planned.
I want to go back to pen and paper and bits of string. Maybe not just yet.
Because I just got a really good new deal from my Telco, I get unlimited local and national calls and 7 gig of Broadband for 89 bucks.
I'll save like 700 smackers a year if there isn't a hidden catch, which there must be.
They must be freaking out about Skype and the like coz I was just about to ditch the landline all together.
I need the internet to keep me informed of all the really bad news.
You want some -try this.
Yep it's a hoot.
I really don't want to panic the natives who no doubt are enjoying their consumerismo credit card tango so I steer you to this clever and silly little video clip.
Have you ever edited some video? Then this is for you.
Look out for the umbrella as the rainbow ball of death.

The power of the Arts

Saw the movie "The Lives of Others".
It won the Academy award for best foreign film.
Set in East Germany a senior Stasi officer is given the job to get some dirt on a famous playwright because his actor girlfriend is coveted by a senior party official.
East Germany was one of the most watched and spied upon places ever.
Every fifth person was an informer.
A very grey and sad looking place.
In the process of watching this couple and listening to their every word the Stasi guy realises how empty his life is and starts to protect them from the party.
It is Art that changes him, a piece of music, some literature he steals from their room.
He eventually ruins his career protecting these people who he comes to love and betrays the Party but redeems himself to himself.
A very powerful film although it could have finished a little earlier.
Art does change people.
It comes in under the radar.
Newspapers and TV shows only confirm what you already think you know.
There is a truth beyond science.
Science, for all it's miraculous works will never get to the big truth because that can never be contained by mere words or the logical mind.
For me the big truths can only be sensed for a moment out of the corner of ones heart when one is deeply immersed in Art or nature.

I wanna be a cave man

Totally buggered today after a big day out in the Royal.
Went for a long ride with my old mate Dan( see above).
He lived for a while in a cave.
It was a lifestyle choice.
He was quite comfortable apparently.
It was summmer so it was easy
So we decided to start Australian Cave Dwellers Magazine.
Should be big!
After much laughter we decided to explore these limestone caves I have always been meaning to check out.
Well worth the effort.(30 km bike ride plus 4km hike)
And now we have the cover shot for a most unlikely lifestyle mag.
Also has a great waterfeature.
I always offer to take my international students into the great ozzie bush for a little walk but unfortunatly they seem disinclined.
Maybe it's a result of all those most poisonous animal shows I dont know.
Maybe they are suspicious of my navigational skills?
Viva la cave man!