| 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 |
| Quotes: |
| Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former. - Albert Einstein |
| Quotes: |
| Education: that which reveals to the wise, and conceals from the stupid, the vast limits of their knowledge. - Mark Twain |
| Quotes: |
| 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 |
| Quotes: |
| 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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| Wednesday, March 29, 2006 |
| I've had my shots |
I've been infected with the Indie Virus by DayDreamer. But little does she know, I've been innoculated :-)
This is an experiment:
- To bring exposure to lesser known blogs (especially those outside of Technorati's top 100)
- To explore the metrics behind a viral linking campaign launched by the "little guys" (less popular blogs)
So - anyone who wants time off work, go get a medical certificate from your Doctor and tell him you have The Indie Virus. Who knows it could be good for a weeks holiday if he/she is not real bright. |
posted by Blue @ 5:33 pm  |
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| Sunday, March 26, 2006 |
| Women lead the way.... |
Sydney women have marched in Cronulla to promote etnic harmony.
Those attending hope it will help replace images of violence in Cronulla with images of racial harmony.
Why women? Perhaps its because feminist struggles are more recent and still have a way to go. Maybe its because women are used to promoting peace in the workplace, community and home (not necessarily in that order).
Given the major issues Australia is facing which include racism, IR Reform, civil liberties perhaps its time that the PEOPLE of Oz began to fight back against our conservative, capitalist, authoritarian govt.
If men AND women fight the good fight - we'll triumph once more. |
| posted by Blue @ 6:12 pm |
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| Saturday, March 25, 2006 |
| Judge offended by cleavage..... |
Chief Judge in Equity Peter Young says "unwelcome" displays of flesh can be unsettling - especially when the offenders are well built. His comments are in an article for the Australian Law Journel entitled "Politeness".
He goes on to say:
"There is no problem with the bar, as there is a standard form of dress. There has been virtually no problem with male solicitors, who invariably wear jacket, tie and long trousers. "However, it is clear that some female solicitors have no idea of appropriate court dress. The worst offenders are usually well-built women who expose at least the upper halves of their breasts, and as they lean forward to make a point to a judge sitting at a high level they present a most unwelcome display of bare flesh." Justice Young, who is the editor of the journal, railed against the presence of water bottles in a previous issue.
nuff said. |
| posted by Blue @ 11:04 pm |
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| Were you a whingy kid? |
In the 1960's Professors Jack & Jeanne Block, a husband and wife team, began a research program looking at the personalities of 100 kindergarten children aged 3-4yrs. The kids' personalities were rated at the time by teachers and assistants who had known them for months.
A few decades later, Block followed up with more surveys, looking again at personality, and this time at politics, too. The whiny kids tended to grow up conservative, and turned into rigid young adults who hewed closely to traditional gender roles and were uncomfortable with ambiguity.
The confident kids turned out liberal and were still hanging loose, turning into bright, non-conforming adults with wide interests. The girls were still outgoing, but the young men tended to turn a little introspective.
This study is not going to win the professor any conservative friends.
Critics branded it the "conservatives are crazy" study and accused the authors of a political bias. Of course 3-4yr olds tend to have a fairly well considered political stance, so the bias call is obviously correct. :-)
The full article is here. |
| posted by Blue @ 9:48 pm |
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| I knew they were good for something..... |
It appears that stem cells can be obtained from mice testicles. Researchers have found that the cells, when cultivated a particular way will develop into one of 3 different types of cell.
Researchers have not investigated whether the same will hold true for cells from human testes; however as the UK govt has just promised £100m over the next 2 years, this research is a definite.
Hopefully the cells will be able to be propagated from humans Then we'll be able to set up farms - I already know of some candidates lol |
| posted by Blue @ 9:33 pm |
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| Monday, March 20, 2006 |
| Detrius download.... |
I hate groupwork! No, possibly the word Hate is too mild:
Loathe
Despise
Detest
Abhor
Bleecchhhh!!!
Just for a little clarification - I'm referring to the stuff you have to do at Uni, which in no way resembles teamwork in the workplace.
I have 4 assignments due in the next 7 days. 3 of them are group assignments. Do you think I can find my groups in the ether?
Gonna go have a major spack attack & do all the work myself >:-( |
| posted by Blue @ 9:39 pm |
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| Despicable Business Model |
Forgent Networks Inc. is a company with (what I consider to be) an appalling business model. Yes, the capitalistic portion of my soul says 'cool - thats great - I'm impressed someone thought of it' but the rest of me wants to puke.
Their model operates on purchasing up companies who own little known patents, then suing companies for royalties. A practice known as 'patent trolling'.
A fine example of this is U.S. Patent No. 4,698,672 - this is for the JPEG compression technique used in PC's & Digital Cameras. Forgent purchased Compression Labs, then proceeded to sue a number of companies for failing to pay royalties. Forgent has collected around $105 million in royalties from different electronics and software companies..
Requests have been made to the Patent office to have the patent reviewed it will be interesting to see the outcome. |
| posted by Blue @ 7:21 pm |
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| Minor Victory for Google |
Google has been under fire recently.
Firstly there was the company decision to provide censored search results (complying with censorship laws) to China. Some argue that this is contrary to the company motto 'do no evil'. However as Google have explained they are merely providing a service. In addition, they are not shipping users to the govt the way other search engines (Yahoo) have done.
The US Govt has had demands made to prevent Google from operating under authoritarian regimes, however this is the same govt who are trying to get access to user information from Google's databases. Fortunately a US Judge has seen reason:
In his 21-page ruling today, US District Judge James Ware told Google to provide the US Justice Department with the addresses of 50,000 randomly selected web sites indexed by its search engine by April 3.
Ware, though, decided Google won't have to disclose what people have been looking for on its widely used search engine, handing a significant victory to the company and privacy rights advocates.
This is a significant victory given the original request from the Govt was for an entire week's worth of Google search requests - a list that would encompass queries posed by millions of people.
Yay 1 for the people. |
| posted by Blue @ 7:03 pm |
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| Cyclone Larry |
Cyclone Larry was upgraded to a category 5 this morning as gusts of up at 290km per hour ripped through innisfail. (Katrina was a cat4)
In the lead up to the cyclone hitting this morning warnings included evacuation.
For those who decided to sit out the storm, local pubs were offering 2 for 1 beer during the eye of the storm and local bottle shops were having 'cyclone' sales.
I love Australia |
| posted by Blue @ 9:44 am |
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| Sunday, March 19, 2006 |
| Recruitment |
Going through applications for Graduate Recruitment, I'm hating some of the questions.
Example:
Why do you want to work for XXXX company/Govt Dept?
I feel sure the honest answer wouldn't suit: Ie cause I need a job & if I don't get one I really want at least I'll be able to pay the mortgage.
*sigh* |
| posted by Blue @ 2:32 pm |
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| Saturday, March 18, 2006 |
| No Surprises here...... Barely a hint of angel :-) |
You scored as Dragon. Dragon: Now talk about a legend. These magnificent creatures are of many species. Some can be as large as the Earth itself, while others are as small as a mouse. One image that comes to everyone's mind is the large, fire breathing Dragons that loathed humans and loved to sleep on massive piles of gold. Not all dragons have a bad reputation. Most dragons are very wise, caring, and protective. It would make a person very lucky indeed to meet a dragon. Especially if they walked away untouched. I admire your wisdom, for you are the Ancient Dragon.
Dragon | | 100% | Mermaid | | 75% | WereWolf | | 75% | Faerie | | 58% | Demon | | 50% | Angel | | 25% |
What Mythological Creature are you? (Cool Pics!)
created with QuizFarm.com |
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| posted by Blue @ 8:43 pm |
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| Rundown of a drunken evening at an Irish Pub |
I love watching people & judging them on such things as the level of drunken behaviour, appropriateness of dress (or lack thereof) and the general social behaviour that takes place when groups of humans congregate.
This takes me to Mick O'Shea's on St Patricks Day.
The first thing I noticed was the queue leading well down into the carpark. So being somewhat savvy, we headed into the beer garden where there are no security guards to prevent entrance.
You can tell the regulars - they are the ones wearing T-shirts reading:
Whale Oil
Beef Hooked
@ Mick O'Sheas
Then there are the girls. Many funky hats (didn't take my camera - sorry). Lots of green & shamrocks - some strategically placed for emphasis :-)
The age ranges were vast - from elderly couples sharing a (not so quiet) pint, to families (they were leaving by the time we got there) to various aged singles looking to score, to couples. Everyone was out for a good time, which always creates the best atmosphere - everyone chatting to everyone else. Good music - Dj in beer garden - live band inside.
There was the usual group of young girls having a great time till one is drunkenly sobbing to her friends 'but I love him', while her friends reassuringly share disdaining glances at each other while hugging the stricken fool.
I stood near numorous groups of guys rating the women using various scoring methods (mostly transparent) and always amusing, if occasionally offensive.
Met an inebriated person I shall call Michelle, who was sweet & funny. Hugged & danced with everyone. I questioned her about a boy who was obviously infatuated with her, she told me that at 19 she doesn't know enough about the world to fall in love, so she is just meeting people & having fun, while enjoying that he buys her drinks.......
Few middle-aged, newly separated/divorced men looking a bit lost, until they are spoken to by a person of the opposite sex - then they just look scared.
Had a drunken man swear his undying love for me - and then get offended when I didn't take him seriously, so we had an amusing (for me) discussion about beliefs of 'love at first sight' (he believes - I don't) I told him he was mistaking love for lust..... He left to pass out in his car lol
All in all a great night out. Roll on another 4 weeks till I get out again :-)
Hope you all had a great St Pat's day.
**Edit - Forgot to mention Billy who spent a lot of time shaking peoples hands and sayng 'love ya guts'
So from me to you: Love ya Guts. |
| posted by Blue @ 3:39 pm |
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| We're Sorry... |
Gratuitously stolen from Helen:
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| posted by Blue @ 4:49 pm |
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| Thursday, March 16, 2006 |
| Happy St Patricks Day |
May those who love us, love us, And those who don't love us, May God turn their hearts And if he doesn't turn their hearts, May he turn their ankles So we will know them by their limping. ** Guinness is on Bogs :-) |
| posted by Blue @ 11:02 pm |
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| Who's a Joke? |
Saddam Hussein has denounced his trial as a comedy. So who is laughing? The judge who has shut down the court (read adjourned until April) ?
Saddam has been told numerous times to stop playing politics and focus on the issue of the massacre of shi'te muslims.
His response:
"Oh mighty people, I am still your faithful son, oh Iraqi people ... I am still your sword, and despite what has happened to my people, to me, to my comrades because of the criminal occupants, I shall be patient, it's only a question of time until the sun rises and you will be victorious."
I guess that depends on the definition of victory. |
| posted by Blue @ 2:50 pm |
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| Phew I feel better now. |
This meme is from Graf''s blog.
List ten things you want to say to people you know but you never will, for whatever reason, don't say who they are, use each person only once.
1. I would love to meet you - I love your sense of humour.
2. Did you ever consider exercise in your weight loss plan?
3. Yes you have lost your mind!
4. Get the fuck out of there.
5. No I won't be your referee - you are lazy & stupid.
6. Yes your bum does look big in that (or any outfit) get over it.
7. I think that your child is exceptionally rude & I don't want them in my home.
8. I'm sick of telling you how wonderful you are. Develop your own standards for self esteem.
9. Your politics suck.
10. I really like you!
I didn't realise all the negative things I'm holding in. Oh well - better to be anonymous about it & not hurt feelings. |
| posted by Blue @ 1:57 pm |
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| Wednesday, March 15, 2006 |
| How America sees the world..... |
hehehehe
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| posted by Blue @ 7:21 pm |
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| Wanton Destruction??? |
We are in the lead up to our State Elections in South Australia some of the highlights for me:
- Labour advertisments for the Liberals where they play a voice clip of Rob Kerin(who is being asked why he wants to be Premier of SA) saying a lot of 'ummm why do I want to be leader, ummm errrr' quite amusing
- Moustaches drawn on the faces of (would be) politicians on every stobey pole in SA
- Strong [sic] statements like 'Rann gets Results'
- The Liberal party thinking that getting rid of 1000 public servants in this state (pop 1.5mill) will advance their cause
- The Family First 'protect your home' idea. I want to know - do I have to provide a uniform & workers comp payments? Tea? Coffee? - Will they protect me from christian doorknockers? (DOH!)
I'm sure there will be more - but there are advantages to being too busy to watch TV or listen to local radio :-) |
| posted by Blue @ 4:41 pm |
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| Tuesday, March 14, 2006 |
| Adios Chef |
Isaac Hayes who played the role of Chef in Trey Parker & Matt Stone's South Park is leaving the show citing "inappropriate ridicule of religious communities."
However as the creators pointed out in their statement:
"In 10 years and over 150 episodes of 'South Park,' Isaac never had a problem with the show making fun of Christians, Muslims, Mormons and Jews, he got a sudden case of religious sensitivity when it was his religion featured on the show.'
Hayes is a scientologist. In a recent episode 'Trapped in the Closet' Stan takes a scientology test, which shows that his thetan levels are OT9. Believing him to be the reincarnation of L. Ron Hubbard, scientologist's begin to gather at his home (inc John Travolta). Stan's father sends him to his room where he finds Tom Cruise, who, having been told by Stan what he thinks of his acting abilities, goes into the closet & refuses to come out.
The episode originally aired in Nov 2005, but as we are behind with the episodes in Oz, it only recently viewed here. (unlike the one paying out the virgin mary which we don't get to see :-(
It is funny as are all South Park episodes. Matt & Trey have never shirked from controversy and are remarkably equalitarian in poking fun at EVERYTHING.
However, my personal belief is that Isaac got a bit shirty because he hasn't been in many episodes recently and has jumped the religion bandwagon as a 'valid' excuse rather than picking up his toys and going home because they wouldn't let him play so much anymore..... |
| posted by Blue @ 6:50 pm |
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| Sunday, March 12, 2006 |
| I'm exhausted: |
Well performances are over - 10 shows in 3 days - various audiences, school kids, random people from the street, family & friends.
The story of the play is the birth & death of a mid 18th Century village told through the Yarns they tell. Yarn's were the entertainment media of the day, so each actor had not only their own character, but also acted out the Yarns as well. So my character was Jenny, but I also was the woman who cursed the cow, Nathaniels wife, narrator etc
We had mixed reviews - one reviewer deciding that 'the plot was lost in its own sophistication' allowing however 'there was great humour'.
Overall our audiences enjoyed the show - it is (was?) very fast paced and fun to perform.
It was a very intense experience for me. Three days without responsibility for anyone other than myself, I stayed in town with some of the other actors. Naturally in such an environment away from reality, intense friendships were formed. However I think there are probably only 4 people (of 11) that I will keep in touch with (despite the numerous statements 'we'll have to keep in touch' in reality this never happens). They were the ones who weren't offended by my filthy sense of humour and complete disregard for [some] social norms - and in some cases shared these.
But now I'm knackered. I didn't sleep enough - but had a great time.
I have decided as a result of this experience to make a conscious effort to take time for myself. To arrange sitters & have a break - I didn't realise how much I needed it until it was almost over......
So have organised sleepovers for small boy & girl on the 17th March & I'm going out to drink green beer :-) |
| posted by Blue @ 7:50 pm |
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| Tuesday, March 07, 2006 |
| hiatus |
Well folks its SHOWTIME.
We open tomorrow at 1pm for a theatre full of high school kiddies - who better to test our mettle?
So I'll not be here (unless I have a complete OCD fit & claw my way screaming towards a computer) for a couple of days.
Enjoy yourselves - don't forget me - & wish me all sorts of good thoughts.
Back soon. |
| posted by Blue @ 10:33 pm |
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| The LongPen |
Margaret Attwood is one of my all time favourite authors. No book she writes is the same or in any way similiar to any other. Each story is original and told in the most amazing, encompassing way.
Margaret has long held a fascination for technology (see Oryx & Crake) and has now put her creativity to good use to be involved in the invention of the LongPen.
This piece of technology enables her to do book signings all over the world - regardless of her location. I'm guessing some pretty good backbone infrastructure helps though.
For more info - see this article. |
| posted by Blue @ 10:14 pm |
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| Monday, March 06, 2006 |
| Don't give away all our secrets Amanda.... |
I'm in a conundrum over this woman. Generally I don't like her. But then she comes out with something sensible, like her comments over the RU486 debate:
I note, incidentally, that some of the churches who are opposed to any form of abortion can somehow come to the concept of what is referred to as a 'just war'. I am at a loss to marry the two. If you can come to a view that there can be a just war, why can there never be a just abortion? I cannot see it, and I have never had it answered.
Now though she is publically using the 'yes dear' patronisation against the historic perpetrators:
First, do not call male ministers stupid......Men don't like being criticised generally in front of other people … if a woman does it, it is even worse. The best thing was not to tell the male minister that his idea was stupid but rather to call it interesting then suggest an alternative.
Now my Gran gave me this advice years ago, but I thought it was secret womans business - now the bits of the world who read this paper know too.
Now if we could just stop her from deporting the wrong people to the wrong country and somehow prevent her from putting refugees in gaol, she might just turn into a decent human.
Naaahhhhh. |
| posted by Blue @ 10:06 pm |
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| Saturday, March 04, 2006 |
| I love a sunlit country.......... |
I'm disturbed by the lack of qualifications required to become a politician. Two politicians - one Labour, One Liberal have been polling in a neighbouring electorate in the lead up to the State Election. The results of their polls were published in our local rag.
One of the questions they were both polling was:
Whether or not Judges should be elected.
It would be nice if these people had read the constitution, particularly section 61 which deals with separation of powers. This would help these people to understand that regardless of whether individuals 'think' that judges should or shouldn't be elected - it ain't gonna happen without a referendum - and historically the chances of getting this to happen is not good (of the past 44 attempts to change the constitution, only 7 have been passed at referendum. info here)
High Court justices are appointed by vote of the existing High Court Justices. Lower level court Magistrates at both State & Federal level are appointed by the Courts with final say by existing Magistrates.
Historically magistrates in the lower courts were public servants. However this was challenged due to the separation of powers (legislature from judiciary) and they are now required to be barristers who apply and are appointed by the Justices. For more information see this article by High Court Justice Murray Gleeson.
I think there are far better things that politicians can poll on: education, aged care, taxes, roads, the high cost of petrol, the environment........etc all of which *they* could do something about. But to poll on something this ridiculous drives me insane (it was a short trip).
So, I rang my local member and asked her about 'election of judges' to which her response was 'you can't elect judges because of the constitution and separation of powers' and offered to send me some information.
*sigh* some small measure of hope has been restored. |
| posted by Blue @ 7:41 pm |
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| Wednesday, March 01, 2006 |
| Who is he kidding? |
In 2001 the HMAS Adelaide began tailing a boatload of refugees (223 people including 56 children). Under orders from Canberra they shot across the bows of the Olong, boarded it several times and forced it to turn back. The orders from Canberra were to prevent the Olong from landing on Christmas Island. The navy believed it was time to rescue these people. Canberra said under no circumstances. Events escalated to the point where as the boat began to sink, the refugees and their children started diving overboard.
The Australian Govt from Canberra published reports and 'video evidence' that these people had 'thrown their children overboard' in order to be rescued. A media frenzy began. Five years later and despite conclusive evidence provided by the Australian Navy, the prime minister denies he lied. He still claims (despite evidence to the contrary) that the refugees deliberately sank their boat. That they did throw their children overboard. That they were not really refugees.
None of which explains why nearly every person on board the boat is now living in Australia and in the words of the PM 'a member of the australian community'
Pompous little liar. |
| posted by Blue @ 5:33 pm |
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