My earliest clear and distinct memory meme

Bruce has sent me a toughie. I have to:

1. Describe my earliest memory where the memory is clear, and where "clear" means I can depict at least three details.
2. Give an estimate of my age at the time.
3. Tag five other bloggers with this meme.
   

When I was very young I used to share a bedroom with my younger sister. It was an upstairs bedroom in a two-storey house, and where we join the action I was lying on the upper bunk or our bunk bed. I can remember the curtains in the room, which I liked, even if--for reasons unknown--I found them a little scary. (They depicted schooners and ships.) I remember looking beyond the curtains and across the road to where a vacant lot stood. It was just bushland surrounded by houses, and there was a large rock in the middle of the lot which, if you were looking at it from my angle and vantage point, resembled a human face.

I guess that was the first time I noticed it--my sister and I would often remark upon it for years afterwards, until the lot was eventually bought and developed. I think we even tried to locate it once.

Oh great. My earliest memory turns out to be a case of pareidolia.

(By the way--I think I was about three at the time.)

I, in turn, tag Sean, Lucy, Madd McColl, Backyard Missionary and Ninglun.

Dan Dennett on the meme:
Read more!

Animal Meme

I've seen this one floating around for the past few days, and now Bruce has tagged me with it . . .

An interesting animal I had

Back when I was in primary school, my sister and I found a bullant, kept it in a jar and fed it sugar.

Well, it died.

An interesting animal I ate

Since coming to Japan I've eaten eel and octopus--I know that sounds pretty mundane but they're not easy foods to come by in Australia. I've also eaten chicken hearts and meat from the head of a bluefin tuna--though that isn't nearly as hardcore as the Japanese teacher who sat nearby me and ate the eye.

An interesting thing I did with or to an animal

Can't think of anything for this one. As kids we would sometimes race snails--but we've all done that.

An interesting animal at the museum

I've seen blue whale skeletons twice--once at the Western Australian Museum, and once in a museum in Eden, NSW.

An interesting animal in its natural habitat

I was twelve years old and riding bikes with my cousin when I came across a paralysed huntsman spider being dragged along by a spider wasp. Said wasp was none too pleased with me when I pushed my front wheel onto her prey; we shat ourselves and hightailed it out of there.

Oh, yeah: I tag Clay, Hourann, and Lucy.

Read more!

PZ Myers' mutating genre meme

Here are the instructions:

The Pharyngula mutating genre meme

There are a set of questions below that are all of the form, "The best [subgenre] [medium] in [genre] is…". Copy the questions, and before answering them, you may modify them in a limited way, carrying out no more than two of these operations:

• You can leave them exactly as is.

• You can delete any one question.

• You can mutate either the genre, medium, or subgenre of any one question. For instance, you could change "The best time travel novel in SF/Fantasy is…" to "The best time travel novel in Westerns is…", or "The best time travel movie in SF/Fantasy is…", or "The best romance novel in SF/Fantasy is…".

• You can add a completely new question of your choice to the end of the list, as long as it is still in the form "The best [subgenre] [medium] in [genre] is…".

You must have at least one question in your set, or you've gone extinct, and you must be able to answer it yourself, or you're not viable.

Then answer your possibly mutant set of questions. Please do include a link back to the blog you got them from, to simplify tracing the ancestry, and include these instructions.

Finally, pass it along to any number of your fellow bloggers. Remember, though, your success as a Darwinian replicator is going to be measured by the propagation of your variants, which is going to be a function of both the interest your well-honed questions generate and the number of successful attempts at reproducing them.

My parent is: Pharyngula.

1. The best time travel novel in Magical Realism is…

The Island of the Day Before, by Umberto Eco.

2. The best romantic movie in historical fiction is…

Cold Mountain.

3. The best sexy song in industrial rock is…

Closer, by Nine Inch Nails

I shall attempt to disseminate my seed of a meme to:
Mikey Capital
Ninglun
The Thinker's Podium
A Churchless Faith
Unorthodox Atheism




Via Nullifidian, Kent Hovind getting pwned on the Infidel Guy. . .


Funny stuff. God himself now talks to this guy in his prison cell.

Read more!

I Can Has Jeebus

The Holy Bible: New LOLcat Translation, via Friendly Atheist. (See over the fold for comments by the site's creator.)

Hey,

I’m the owner of the Lolcat Bible Translation website. Thought I’d share a bit about why I did it.

Essentially, the idea of the wiki was merely a whim of mine when I saw a picture floating around with a page of Genesis translated into the LOLCat pidgin. I thought it would be prudent to undertake the entire work.

The most common reaction so far is “Wow, that is awesome!” The most negative is “What a waste of time.”

I am here to confirm that I do indeed have far too much time on my hands. I am also here to confirm that it is probably blasphemous, but being pretty atheist I’m not too worried about the “Ceiling Cat” striking me down anytime soon.

I would not be surprised if this is more accurate than some “normal” translations out there. Also, I hate to break it to many people, but lolcat is not exactly how kids talk online. In fact, it takes effort to write in lolcat. it’s not very easy at all.

Most of all, I just find it funny. Let’s face it, the Bible is quite dreary, violent, and insane. I imagine we are softening it up, if anything. Sex becomes “PENIS GOES Z WHEAR?” and violence becomes “stealin mah cheezburgerz.” I’d recommend this version over the current KJV or NIV for your children.

On a slightly more serious note… I think the willingness to laugh at what is in the Bible, even in a different form, may show just how silly the whole book is. People died for this book. When you find it in this form one can’t help but wonder, “They died… for this?” I think the time has come to poke a little fun at things. Shake up the system so to speak.

On a quick final note, I saw a Christian forum linking to my site and talking about how “blasphemous” it is. Needless to say, I think they missed the point entirely.

Anyways, sorry to be so loquacious, just thought I’d share my thoughts.

Martin

.

Read more!

I demand a recount!

Last time I submitted my blog to the Gematriculator I was way, way more eviller!

Speaking of evil, here's Christopher Hitchens on "The Morals of an Atheist"


And Hitchens on "The Moral Necessity of Atheism"

Read more!

Well, I'm back

As Sam Gamgee famously puts it in the closing lines of Lord of the Rings, "Well, I'm back." How's Japan, I hear you ask? Japan is a wonderful country: friendly, sophisticated, and so much more "alive" than Australia (or at least the Ben Cousins-obsessed corner of Australia from which you humble servant hails). Who would have thought it in a country full of heathens? But Japan is also hot: insufferably hot. I really should have done my homework on that one: I was expecting to arrive in a mild European-style clime and wound up landing in a steam bath. The heat wave, which has continued pretty-much unabated since the beginning of August, has claimed more than 50 lives, apparently. But not me--my apartment has an air conditioner.

I've been away for quite a few weeks now, and evidently I have a lot of catching up to do regarding the topics of magical thinking and church-state separation, which as you know I like to write about from time to time. I have running internet in my home now, so I should be back in the swing of things soon enough, if not as frequently as when I was back in Australia. After all, I'm living in Japan, and I have touristy-stuff to do.

So this morning I would simply like to plug a magnificent post by Balneus--a critique of a Quadrant article by Cardinal George Pell in which he mounts an apologia for theocracy by way of a hagiography of Emperor Constantine.

If you peeked over the fold, I wanted to post more episodes of the "Search for a Scapegoat" series, but no more seem to have been made. A pity.

So here's Daniel Dennett on ants, terrorism and memes:
Read more!

8 Random Things Meme

I wasn't looking forward to this tag, but if I must, I must. Here are eight random things about me.

1. I must be the first blogger on my block to have been visited by a member of a terrorist organisation. (See comments in the previous post.)
2. I think Harry is a Horcrux.
3. I make a mean pasta sauce--Godfather-style. (You never know--I might have cook for 20 guys some day.)
   
4. I prefer instant coffee, provided it's Moccona Classic, Mocha Kenya, Temptation or Nescafe Gold. I studiously avoid university cafeteria coffee, which tastes like watered-down Pablo.
   
5. I'm actually afraid to ride a bicycle, given that I haven't done so since my teens.
   
6. I don't have thyroid problems.
7. I was raised Catholic, and for most of my young life my parents made me go to church every weekend. In my last two years of high school, I would pretend to walk there on my own--but instead I would just wander the streets for an hour and a half.
   
8. In two month's time I will be living in Japan. Hitherto, the furthest I've travelled overseas is Rottnest. I haven't left the state since I was 11 years old. I have never travelled on an aeroplane.
   

And here are the rules, as told by Irked Off:

1 - We have to post these rules before we list our boring facts.
2 - Players start with 8 random facts about themselves.
3 - Tagged folk have to post their 8 things and these rules.
4 - At the end of the post you have to tag 8 other unfortunates.
5 - And leave a comment on the tagged blogs alerting them to this fact.

The unfortunates I choose to tag are: Simmo, Hourann Bosci, As The Worm Turns, Slim Pickens, Don Quixote, Dave Bath, Joe and Ninglun.

Sorry, guys. I don't mind if you don't participate.
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The Wonderful World of Magical Thinking XXII

(Blogswarm: see below fold)

The week in fundie . . .

1. Alabama Governor proclaims a week of prayer for rain. (A tactic which has worked so well for John Howard.) (Via Pharyngula)
2. C of E bishop blames floods on TEH GAY. (Nullifidian)
3. Islamic nutjob blames recent thwarted terrorist attacks on the Salman Rushdie knighting. "Is Britain longing for Al Qaeda's bombings?" You fucking tool! (Dispatches From The Culture Wars)
4. Rightwing creationist nutjob Ann Coulter gets smacked down on national television to thunderous applause. (Via Morons.org)
5. Christian Zionist nutjob: Tony Blair is not necessarily the antichrist. "Many prophecy experts believe that a future pope will be the false prophet." (Bartholomew's Notes on Religion)
6. Christian fundamentalist nutjobs are planning a series of "Paul Hill Days" in honour of the man who in 1994 assassinated a doctor and his escort outside an abortion clinic. Planned events include a re-enactment of the shooting. (Talk2Action)
   

On the subject of theocrats, another Blog Against Theocracy blogswarm has been planned for July 1-4, 2007. Here's what to do:

1. Post to your blog about the separation of church and state. If you want to point your readers to something they can DO about the religious right, send them to the First Freedom First website and ask them to sign the petition. First Freedom First is not a sponsor of this blogswarm, but they have been a very very helpful resource, and Blog against Theocracy would like to return the favor. You may wish to tag your post "Blog Against Theocracy."

2. send an email to

blogagainsttheocracy.july07 AT blogger DOT com

The SUBJECT LINE of your email will be the NAME of your blog. I would type for my subject, "Blue Gal". Don't use all caps or any extra lines. It won't get picked up.

The BODY of your email should have ONE thing in it: The url for your post. Blogger will turn this into a link automatically. Make sure you post the full url, including the http, etc.

I'm sorry, but that's all you're allowed to email. Longer posts will be truncated, and if they're not, BAT staff will edit them. We have to be fair to everyone participating. We'll also be watching for spam and deleting that as it arrives, so don't feel you have to email me if you see any violations or spam on the site, we'll get to it.

I've tested this system and the biggest problem is getting the darn email address correct. It's AT blogger DOT com not AT gmail DOT com. And make sure you have a period between the blogagainsttheocracy and the july07, and that you spell theocracy correctly. (even I screwed up in this post. Be aware it's july07 not jul07. See?)

You may email blogagainsttheocracy AT gmail DOT com if you have any questions or problems.

Read more!

What kind of atheist am I?

You know how I love doing these meme things . . .

You scored as Scientific Atheist, These guys rule. I'm not one of them myself, although I play one online. They know the rules of debate, the Laws of Thermodynamics, and can explain evolution in fifty words or less. More concerned with how things ARE than how they should be, these are the people who will bring us into the future. Scientific Atheist 100% Agnostic 75% Militant Atheist 42% Apathetic Atheist 42% Spiritual Atheist 25% Theist 25% Angry Atheist 25% What kind of atheist are you? created with QuizFarm.com

My background is in English, not science, so I'd probably struggle to explain evolution in fifty words or less (though I did try this once with a Catholic aunt who takes the Adam and Eve story literally--I ended up lending her Carl Zimmer's Evolution: the Triumph of an Idea and I really must get it back), much less the Laws of Thermodynamics.

I'm not going to tag anyone, given that the paint has barely dried on the Blog Against Theocracy meme, but feel free to participate. Read more!

Blog Against Theocracy: National Day of Secularism May 26th

The National Day of Thanksgiving is just around the corner, and in an election year you just know the pious frauds on both sides of politics (but let's face it, mainly the Right) will be screaming more loudly than ever about religion, values (which, as we all know, only the religious possess) and the "spiritual emptiness" that is the hallmark of a secular democracy (apparently).

Well, as Bruce has declared, enough's enough.

Bye-bye, ta-ta, theocrats take your disingenuous political stunt with you. You
haven’t fooled me or anyone else with a functioning brain.

That's right, fundies--the evil secularist babykilling hordes are fighting back. Let May 26th henceforth be known as The National Day of Secularism!

National Day of Secularism
May 26th

This is a tagging meme, so I'll let Bruce tell you the rest:

How the “meme” works
This “meme” works in two steps; first the “Tagging stage” and then the “Blog against theocracy stage”.

Tagging stage
If you are tagged by the meme, then it’s the same old format; mention this entry so
people can see the rules and then tag five other bloggers (preferably Australian given the nature of the NDoT.) You can link back to these rules and display the above (rather modest) banner by inserting this code at the end of your entry

(Check Bruce's post for the code--Blogger won't let me post it here)

Feel free to copy the PNG file to your own host and alter the code accordingly, and remember when entering the code to enter it into the “code” window of your blog editor (blogger and wordpress users, I know there is a tab for this above your editing window)!

This meme does however have somewhat of a difference; an additional stage…

Blog against theocracy stage
If you have been tagged (heck, even if you haven’t, it doesn’t bother me) then in addition to tagging others, it is also hoped that you will write a blog entry about the separation of Church and State in Australia. It could be a critique of Pell’s “normative democracy”, the historic anti-democracy sermonizing of Archbishop Daniel Mannix, inevitable discrimination by the funding of (approved) chaplains in public schools, the state backed imposition of bans on forbidden women’s dress or whatever Church-State issue you find important.

Preferably, such a blog entry would be published on the 26th, but I’ve been lazy in getting around to this and I’ve left people little time so there is no deadline as such.
Just a couple of caveats; 1) the church-state anti-theocracy blog entry should mention the phrase “National Day of Thanksgiving”, possibly mentioning that the entry is a response to the NDoT, and 2) feel free to add the (again admittedly modest) banner.

I, in turn, tag the following: A Churchless Faith, BeepBeepIt'sMe, Smogblot, Super Simmo and The Dog's Bollocks.

UPDATE: We haven't spoken too soon, evidently. John Howard courted uber-fundies Catch the Fire in January; now Kevin Rudd's at it. Now let me get this straight. They umm and aahh and fiddle with their diaries when it comes to meeting the Dalai Lama, but they're falling over themselves to court an organisation whose leader claims to have personally met Jesus "face to face on 21st July 1997 at 3.40am (He spoke to me for 2 hrs. 20 minutes.);" who in the run-up to the 2004 election called on his followers to pull down "Satan's strongholds," including brothels, gambling places, mosques and temples; and who in 2005 addressed a meeting of the Australian League of Rights.

What's going on here? First the Exclusive Brethren, and now Catch the Fire? Has the batshit insane fundie vote really become that significant?

Read more!

Invade Rage

Bruce has tagged me, so here's a list of 20 songs I would submit to Rage's be-a-guest-programmer-for-a-night competition if I were so inclined:

Metallica: One
Faith No More: Epic
Prodigy: Smack My Bitch Up
Ministry: Jesus Built My Hotrod
Depeche Mode: Enjoy the Silence
Verve: Bittersweet Symphony
Beastie Boys: Intergalactic Planetary
Massive Attack: Unfinished Sympathy
Nirvana: In Bloom
Snoop Dogg feat. Dr Dre: Who am I? (What's My Name?)
Jeff Buckley: Grace
Anthrax and Public Enemy: Bring tha Noise
Smashing Pumpkins: Today
You Am I: Berlin Chair
Bjork: Human Behaviour
Weezer: Buddy Holly
Rage Against the Machine: Killing in the Name
Rammstein: Sonne
Aphex Twin: Come to Daddy
The Cure: Lullaby

The rules specify that I have to justify at least five of these choices. Here goes:

Metallica: One
This is One of the main reasons I stayed up til the wee hours of the morning watching Rage of a Friday or Saturday evening in my high school years. (That, and the promise of Madonna's "Justify My Love" or Massive Attack's "Thank You"--those of you who know what I'm talking about know what I'm talking about.) Best. Music. Video. Ever.

Anthrax and Public Enemy: Bring Tha Noise
I have mixed feelings about this one: it's fucking brilliant, but on the other hand without this seminal thrash metal/hip hop crossover single, would we have had to endure the likes of Limp Bizkit and Linkin Park? In any case: have you ever seen a white rapper more ill-at-ease with the genre than Scott Ian?

Beastie Boys: Intergalactic Planetary
Unlike Scott Ian, these boys totally get the white-boy hip-hop thing. Most people would probably choose "Sabotage" as their favourite Beasties video, but I just can't go past three thirtysomething men busting out in yellow space suits, nor the lyric "I'll stir fry you in my wok!"

Ministry: Jesus Built My Hotrod
As soon as I discovered that this "rock" thing was true, I often found myself in the small hours watching this delightful music video featuring the vocal stylings of a reputedly inebriated Gibby Haynes (lead singer of the Butthole Surfers). Rim-a-ding-dang my dang-a-long-ling-long!

You Am I: Berlin Chair
I don't get the little dude in the sparkly jumpsuit. But this song, and this band, restored my faith in Aussie music after long and tortuous years of John Farnham, Jimmy Barnes, Wendy Matthews and Johnny Diesel dominating the airwaves. (Perhaps it's just that I started listening to JJJ about the time this song was released.)

And now, I pass the baton on to Sammy Jankis, Simmo, Null, Lucy and YepThat'sGold. Read more!

The "Thinking Blogger Award"

A big cheerio to Mikey for tagging me with a Thinking Blogger award. The rules are as follows:

1. If, and only if, you get tagged, write a post with links to 5 blogs that make you think,
2. Link to this post so that people can easily find the exact origin of the meme,
3. Optional: Proudly display the 'Thinking Blogger Award' with a link to the post that you wrote (here is an alternative silver version if gold doesn't fit your blog).

And my nominees are:

New Lines From a Floating Life: Possibly the most erudite blogger in the country. Like a one-man Larvatus Prodeo.

Smogblot: Perth blogger with very similar blogging interests to mine. (We're also friends from way back.) Blogs intermittently nowadays, on account of a small case of travelling through Europe.

Super Simmo: English teacher from Perth who blogs with passion on politics, education, and Terry Pratchett.

Philaletheia: The benchmark for atheist-Christian dialogue on the internet.

Unsane and Safe: An intellectually intimidating Perth blogger (And no--it's not just the boxing gloves!) writing a PhD in African literature. Jen's posts aren't really posts--they're aphorisms. Read more!

Blog Against Theocracy, 6th-8th April

From Neural Gourmet:

I'd like invite you all to Blog Against Theocracy. This is a little blog swarm being put together by everybody's favorite panties blogger Blue Gal for Easter weekend, April 6th through the 8th. The idea is simple. Just post something related to, and in support of, the separation of church and state each of those three days. Something big, something small, artistic, musical, textual or otherwise. The topic is your choosing. Whether your thing is stem cell research, intelligent design/Creationism, abortion rights, etc., it's all good. Separation of church and state impacts so many issues and is essential.

Blue Gal is still putting the finishing touches on everything and tying up loose ends so check in regularly with her for updates. In the meantime, if you need a little information to tickle your muse then you'll want to check over at First Freedom First for a ton of excellent resources. FFF is a partnership of two very cool groups; Americans United For Separation of Church and State and the Interfaith Alliance Foundation. Also, I can personally recommend this interview on CFI's Point of Inquiry podcast with Susan Jacoby, author of Freethinkers: A History of American Secularism. The Center For Inquiry is just one of many supporters of the FFF project.

So get involved in a little blogactivism and help raise awareness on the need to preserve separation of church and state and protecting the First Amendment. Your help in recruiting bloggers for Blog Against Theocracy is needed and appreciated too.

Hmmmm . . . well it isn't my usual style to blog against theocrats, but I'll give it my best shot!

(Via Pharyngula) Read more!

The Sci-Fi Meme

A list of the "Most Significant SF & Fantasy Books of the Last 50 Years" has been doing the rounds, and now appears to have evolved into a meme. The idea is that you reproduce the following list with the books you have read in bold-type.

Here's the list. And though I consider myself a SF fan, it appears I'm not as big a fan as I thought:

1. The Lord of the Rings, J.R.R. Tolkien
2. The Foundation Trilogy, Isaac Asimov
3. Dune, Frank Herbert
4. Stranger in a Strange Land, Robert A. Heinlein
5. A Wizard of Earthsea, Ursula K. Le Guin
6. Neuromancer, William Gibson
7. Childhood's End, Arthur C. Clarke
8. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, Philip K. Dick
9. The Mists of Avalon, Marion Zimmer Bradley
10. Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury
11. The Book of the New Sun, Gene Wolfe
12. A Canticle for Leibowitz, Walter M. Miller, Jr.
13. The Caves of Steel, Isaac Asimov
14. Children of the Atom, Wilmar Shiras
15. Cities in Flight, James Blish
16. The Colour of Magic, Terry Pratchett
17. Dangerous Visions, edited by Harlan Ellison
18. Deathbird Stories, Harlan Ellison
19. The Demolished Man, Alfred Bester
20. Dhalgren, Samuel R. Delany
21. Dragonflight, Anne McCaffrey
22. Ender's Game, Orson Scott Card
23. The First Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever, Stephen R. Donaldson
24. The Forever War, Joe Haldeman
25. Gateway, Frederik Pohl
26. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, J.K. Rowling
27. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams
28. I Am Legend, Richard Matheson
29. Interview with the Vampire, Anne Rice
30. The Left Hand of Darkness, Ursula K. Le Guin
31. Little, Big, John Crowley
32. Lord of Light, Roger Zelazny
33. The Man in the High Castle, Philip K. Dick
34. Mission of Gravity, Hal Clement
35. More Than Human, Theodore Sturgeon
36. The Rediscovery of Man, Cordwainer Smith
37. On the Beach, Nevil Shute
38. Rendezvous with Rama, Arthur C. Clarke
39. Ringworld, Larry Niven
40. Rogue Moon, Algis Budrys
41. The Silmarillion, J.R.R. Tolkien
42. Slaughterhouse-5, Kurt Vonnegut
43. Snow Crash, Neal Stephenson
44. Stand on Zanzibar, John Brunner
45. The Stars My Destination, Alfred Bester
46. Starship Troopers, Robert A. Heinlein
47. Stormbringer, Michael Moorcock
48. The Sword of Shannara, Terry Brooks
49. Timescape, Gregory Benford
50. To Your Scattered Bodies Go, Philip Jose Farmer

The consensus seems to be that of sheer mystification regarding the inclusion of The Sword of Shannara on this list, and understandably so. The book is derivative rubbish: not only is it a cheap rip-off (in every sense) of Lord of the Rings, it also reads like the kind of fantasy novel that graces the bargain bins of second-hand bookstores or the rotating bookstands you find at train station newsagencies. But I suppose it could be argued that this is a list of the most significant SF/Fantasy, and The Sword of Shannara merits its selection on the strength of the Shannara series as a whole. (And the series improves greatly post-Sword.)




Still, if you're going to include The Sword of Shannara for the reasons just mentioned, I don't see why Raymond E. Feist's far superior Magician doesn't get a guernsey. Magician wears its Tolkien influences on its sleeve--particularly in the way it represents elves and dwarves--but it still manages to be original and enthralling.

(And where's L. Ron Hubbard? I haven't read any of his stuff--nor do I plan to--but his SF spawned a whole new religion! How many SF/Fantasy authors can say as much?)

Thumbs up to the inclusion of Stephen Donaldson and William Gibson. I would have liked to have seen Ursula Le Guin's The Dispossessed up there, too.

(Via Pharyngula. And although this is a meme, I won't tag anybody this time. I'm interested to hear your thoughts, however.)
Read more!

A meme about memes

Paul of Fishers, Surfers and Casters fame has tagged me on the topic of "Five reasons why I do/do not respond to memes." (I had to read that twice--take out the "do/do not" qualification and you have something reminscent of the liar paradox on your hands.)

1. Because little Kimberley Anne is dying of a horrible disease.
2. Because I have tried this twice -- the first time I made about $1,200, and the second earned me just over $2,000!
3. Because I will experience great sex within four days of receiving this meme, provided I send it on!
4. Because Carlo Caditt, an office employee, received the meme. He forgot it and a few days later he lost his job. He found the meme and sentit to 20 people. Five days later he got an even better job. Dolon Fairchild received the meme and not believing it, threw it away. Nine days later he died..
5. Because every meme I answer releases a soul from Purgatory.

I, in turn, tag yepthatsgold. Read more!

Five Public Quotes

BeepBeep! has tagged me for my five favourite quotes:

Hitler got the fascists sexually aroused. Flags, nations, armies, banks get a lot of people aroused (Gilles Deleuze)

There are no eternal facts, as there are no absolute truths. (Friedrich Nietzsche)

Morality is the herd-instinct in the individual. (Nietzsche again)

Enlightenment is man's emergence from his self-imposed immaturity. Immaturity is the inability to use one's understanding without guidance from another. This immaturity is self-imposed when its cause lies not in lack of understanding, but in lack of resolve and courage to use it without guidance from another. Sapere Aude! [dare to know] "Have courage to use your own understanding!"--that is the motto of enlightenment. (Immanuel Kant)

The strategic adversary is fascism... the fascism in us all, in our heads and in our everyday behavior, the fascism that causes us to love power, to desire the very thing that dominates and exploits us. (Michel Foucault)

I, in turn, tag Lucy, Mikey, Jacob and Simmo. Read more!

The Truth Hurts

Your 'Do You Want the Terrorists to Win' Score: 96%

You are a terrorist-loving, Bush-bashing, "blame America first"-crowd traitor. You are in league with evil-doers who hate our freedoms. By all counts you are a liberal, and as such cleary desire the terrorists to succeed and impose their harsh theocratic restrictions on us all. You are fit to be hung for treason! Luckily George Bush is tapping your internet connection and is now aware of your thought-crime. Have a nice day.... in Guantanamo!

Do You Want the Terrorists to Win?
Quiz Created on GoToQuiz

Via PZ Myers Read more!

My Favourite Things

(For the purpose of keeping a promise to BeepBeepIt'sMe . . .)

Things I'd like to do before I die:
1. Write a book
2. Finish my PhD
3. Teach in Japan

Things I cannot do:
1. Kick a football
2. Play the guitar
3. Vote Liberal

Things I can do:
1. Cook
2. Use chopsticks (much easier than it looks)
3. Run 800m without collapsing (to my lasting surprise)

Things that would attract me to my significant other:
1. Friendship
2. Likemindedness
3. Gymnastic flexibility

Things I like to say:
1. "Gidday! Where's the cheese?"
2. "Hold the phone!"
3. "Boo-ya!"

Books I like best:
1. J. R. R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings
2. Franz Kafka, The Collected Short Stories
3. Bertrand Russell, The History of Western Philosophy

Movies I like to see:
1. Aliens
2. The Shining
3. A Clockwork Orange

I, in turn, tag

Sketchgirl Read more!

Yes, I like inane personality tests :)

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Via Bruce Read more!

Tagged: Book meme

My first ever tagging comes via Sketchgirl . . .

A book that changed my life: The Lord of the Rings. I've read it cover to cover at least 11 times since I was 16, and worn through three copies. I even wrote my honours thesis on it.

A book I've read more than once: see above. Also: Feist's Riftwar Saga, Empire Trilogy and Serpentwar series (I kid you not, Sketchgirl), Umberto Eco's The Name of the Rose, Ursula Le Guin's The Dispossessed.

A book I would take with me if I were stuck on a desert island: A Nietzsche Reader. Or The Complete Works of William Shakespeare.

A book that made me laugh: Stupid White Men.

A book that made me cry: I can't imagine a situation in which a book would make me cry.

A book I wish I could have written: Anything by Nietzsche.

A book I wish had never been written: This question is a little too close to "Which book would you burn?" for comfort.

A book I've been meaning to read: Where do I start? War and Peace, The Decameron, Swann's Way and Gargantua and Pantagruel have been sitting on my bookshelf waiting for me to either read or finish reading them for about ten years.

I'm currently reading: Thackeray's Barry Lyndon. Also working my way through Thinking in Education by Matthew Lippman. Read more!