| Quotes: |
| How can a woman be expected to be happy with a man who insists on treating her as if she were a perfectly normal human being. - Oscar Wilde |
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| Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former. - Albert Einstein |
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| Education: that which reveals to the wise, and conceals from the stupid, the vast limits of their knowledge. - Mark Twain |
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| I thoroughly disapprove of duels. If a man should challenge me, I would take him kindly and forgivingly by the hand and lead him to a quiet place and kill him. - Mark Twain |
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| Great spirits have always found violent opposition from mediocrities. The latter cannot understand it when a man does not thoughtlessly submit to hereditary prejudices but honestly and courageously uses his intelligence. - Albert Einstein |
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| Tuesday, January 31, 2006 |
| On a roll............ |
A chinese company is selling 18,251 concrete paving slabs from Tiananmen Square in Beijing for 1999 yuan ($330) each.
They cite the cultural significance of the blocks which were removed in 1999 supposedly to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the communist regime.
In real terms it was to prevent any memorial or celebration of the infamous tanks on student demonstration. |
posted by Blue @ 9:41 pm  |
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| Miss Manners |
Our esteemed [cough] leader has lamblasted the australian public and the media for its lack of manners and increasing vulgarity.
"I think we have seen a marked deterioration in good manners," Mr Howard told reporters.
In response Opposition Leader Kim Beazley said Australians should respect themselves and each other more. ``Australians like the idea of respect, we all want respect for ourselves and we all want to be respected,'' he told reporters. ``We also need to respect our community and respect each other. We need it whether we are at a sporting venue, whether in a workplace ... whether we're on the streets,'' he said.
I like this - one of the few times Kim has put his brain into gear before opening his mouth - in essence having a subtle go at the PM who has no respect for the majority of the australian population - ie those who earn less than $50k pa. Although - reading on it doesn't appear that Kim really has any idea either (sorry, didn't mean to sound surprised lol) when he continues:
``I think we need to enjoy the fact that we live in a terrific community. We're a good, laid back, tolerant community.''
Yeah Kim - heaps of Tolerance in Cronulla & last I heard, corporate Sydney was the home of 'laid back'. Good: well he might be onto something there in a subjective sucky kinda way.
On the otherhand given Mr Howard's dislike of reality TV, maybe he should be tuning into Czech Public TV - where the producer of a new reality TV show called 'Unmasked' had this to say:
"I think people with limited intelligence watch them [reality tv shows] to fill their emptiness."
I'm sure Johnny could relate to Richard, the current favourite. Although the antics of the characters could only be described as 'vulgar'
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| posted by Blue @ 9:27 pm |
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| Oh Brother |
I thought the commercialisation of christianity had reached its bounds. How naive of me.
Americans (naturally) in the southern bible belt have introduced Ultimate Christian Wrestling.
Pastor Curtis Parker says that the wrestling tournaments have added more members to his congregation than previous soul purchase attempts:
"We have given away cars as an outreach initiative. We have given away 10,000 pounds [4.5 tonnes] of groceries from a truck in our parking lot"
The wrestlers with names like Gods Property and Damien Synn draw correlations between themselves and Daniel who wrestled with an Angel. They also claim they are:
'More violent than secular wrestlers cause we don't feel it like they do'
Maybe the drum pair should have taken up wrestling... |
| posted by Blue @ 8:24 pm |
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| Monday, January 30, 2006 |
| Couldn't have said it better myself... |
Photo taken at the SCG - Sri Lanka v Australia Sunday 29th Jan 2006 |
| posted by Blue @ 10:36 am |
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| Friday, January 27, 2006 |
| Suicide Sitter |
I like this:
Wood of the Suicides an incredible rendition of aspects of the path of a suicide sitter. |
| posted by Blue @ 10:10 pm |
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| Beauty is how deep? |
I came across an interesting site today called Beauty Check. It documents the research of a german group into beauty. I found it intruiging that they took all aspects of what I would consider to be beauty (presentation, carriage, personality) out of the equation and focused purely on structure.
They used an interesting technique called morphing, whereby none of the faces used in the survey are real - they are all computer generated. Another thing I found somewhat ironic is that when they took photos in the same fashion of a number of models including Miss Germany (ie no makeup, facial expression or discernible hair style) none of these women would be considered attractive - and on assessment, none of them rated more than 2.8 (on a likert scale of 1-7, where 1 is not attractive & 7 is very attractive).
The images that most people found attractive were not real and in real terms unattainable. The researchers make some interesting (and somewhat obvious) links to societal and media manipulation of consumers towards unattainable goals.
Have a look at the site & let me know your thoughts. |
| posted by Blue @ 9:16 pm |
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| Wednesday, January 25, 2006 |
| On a lighter note.... |
You may not realize it, but....
1. There are at least two people in this world that you would die for.
2. At least 15 people in this world love you in some way.
3. The only reason anyone would ever hate you is because they want to be just like
you.
4. A smile from you can bring happiness to anyone, even if they don't like you.
5. Every night, SOMEONE thinks about you before they go to sleep.
6. You mean the world to someone.
7. You are special and unique.
8. Someone that you don't even know exists, loves you.
9. When you make the biggest mistake ever, something good comes from it.
10.When you think the world has turned its back on you take another look.
11. Always remember the compliments you received.
Forget about the rude remarks.
And always remember ................ When life hands you lemons,
ask for tequila and salt. |
| posted by Blue @ 9:57 pm |
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| Ethics Brain Dump |
This is in no way intended to answer questions & may in fact raise far more - I am merely dumping stuff that has been roaming around my skull.
I have been pondering the pro's & con's of medical advances over the past couple of hundred years, and the existence of medical ethics. I don't understand ethics & in a medical sense find the complexities enough to cause a brain scrambling and/or bleed.
To help you understand my dilemma here is an illustration:
If it were not for the medical discovery/development of corticosteroids, my mother would not have lived to adulthood - meaning I would not have been born (I would consider this a tragedy - I don't expect everyone to agree). Anyway she did, met & married my dad & had me. Then she had my brother, who without modern medicine would not have lived to see his 2nd birthday. This was followed with another brother.
When I was 9 my father was in a serious car accident - his life saved by a seat belt & modern medicine.
Fast Forward 6 years and my youngest brother suffers an aquired brain injury - again without modern medicine he would not be with us.
Fast Forward 7 years and the other brother suffers an aquired brain injury - again without modern medicine he would not be with us.
Now my dilemma is my mother & father are both functioning, contributing members of society. Neither of my brothers are, in fact both could be considered to be an incredible drain. Is there anyway we could have known that at the point medicine was saving their lives? No.
I learnt a lot about myself, my coping abilities, my mental, emotional and physical strengths and weaknesses through these experiences. I know I would not be the person I am today without them. But I would have preferred not to suffer them.
A friend of mine has a severely disabled child. Again they have learnt alot about themselves in going through the processes of raising and living with a child that will never be a contribuing member of society. I know that they would not give him away now for any money, but if given the choice they would prefer that he had not been disabled, and been able to participate more in their lives; they could have had more children, had different experiences. Their life as they know it would never have existed. They would certainly not be the people and parents they are now. Whether that is a good or bad thing is an unasked question.
Science has traditionally taken advantage of the weak, injured, malformed and diseased in the pursuit of learning, maintenance and cure of illness and disease. I find it inexplicable that medical ethicists object to stem cell research, even when only using those found in umbilical cords, when the pronounced benefits are so great. [more info here...]
There seems to be two opinions forever at war - science (for the betterment of humankind) and religion (for the maintenance of human souls)
I don't pretend to have the answers, and would extremely sceptical of anyone who claims to have them all either. I ponder the decisions of who decides who lives and dies and quite frankly while I feel reasonably confident making decisions about some inDUHviduals, I don't need the responsibility. Perhaps I can take some consolation in the 'trouser legs of time' theory, whereby anything that can happen does happen in different dimensions.
I'm not going to solve this, but at least I have cleared space in my brain for something new :-)
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| posted by Blue @ 9:17 pm |
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| Only Somewhat? How disappointing |
| You Are Somewhat Machiavellian | 
You're not going to mow over everyone to get ahead...
But you're also powerful enough to make things happen for yourself.
You understand how the world works, even when it's an ugly place.
You just don't get ugly yourself - unless you have to! |
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| posted by Blue @ 8:59 am |
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| Who said Personality Disorder? |
Thanks to Daydreamer of Oz for this one:
| Your Birthdate: June 30 | 
You have the type of personality that people either love or hate.
You're opinionated, dramatic, intense, and very outspoken.
And some people can't get enough of you - they're totally addicted.
Others, well, they wish you were a little more reserved.
Your strength: Your flair
Your weakness: If you think it, you say it
Your power color: Scarlet red
Your power symbol: Inverted triangle
Your power month: March |
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| posted by Blue @ 8:40 am |
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| Tuesday, January 24, 2006 |
| Introducing..... Bucket Head |
 Have you ever seen anything more pathetic? Inch (shown) and Tonks were desexed & microchipped today. Then to add insult to injury Inch had to have 2 baby teeth taken out.
Because of his masculine tendency to a: worry the wound & b: in the process of licking potentially damage himself costing me an absolute bucket (pardon the pun) he is now suitable enclosed and unable.
He is still wobbly and feeling very sorry for himself - the worst bit is that his personal space has increased somewhat AND he only has little legs; so not only does he bump into things top & side, but he also trips over the floor if his head is on the wrong angle :-(
Tonks is just feeling very sorry for herself and pathetic - little head down and not happy.
I have pain killers to give them twice a day for the next 3 days - but the bucket stays for the next 2 weeks. I forsee unhappy dogs & difficulty not laughing.
Maybe I should get out the camera for funniest home videos??? |
| posted by Blue @ 1:02 pm |
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| Who'd have thought??? |
Apparently I'm a self absorbed, obsessive compulsive Drama Queen:
| Disorder | Rating | | Paranoid | Low | | Schizoid: | Low | | Schizotypal: | Moderate | | Antisocial: | Moderate | | Borderline: | Low | | Histrionic: | High | | Narcissistic: | High | | Avoidant: | Low | | Dependent: | Low | | Obsessive-Compulsive: | High |
http://www.4degreez.com/misc/personality_disorder_test.mv
Intriguing
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| posted by Blue @ 10:36 am |
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| A New Beginning |
I'm not sure where to begin, this year will be quite possibly the busiest of my life. Finish my degree, work, help my kids develop into responsible citizens (ba ha), participate in the Adelaide Fringe Festival and generally survive :-)
I plan to use this blog as an outpouring of the detrius that fills my brain at the most inoportune moments.
Enjoy.
Blue
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| posted by Blue @ 3:33 am |
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