Sunday, September 30, 2007

Ramble #3

I think they decided to use small pieces for confetti because A4 bits of paper just floated around, and saving the effort of making the paper and cutting it by just throwing a tree had an effect - just not the one that they were looking for.

If you love geometry...
What do you call a baby triangle with an incline of less than 90 degrees?

Acute!

I just bit my cheek for the third time in two days, which brings me to a WYR:
Bite your cheek everyday or get a papercut everyday?

Also, for those of you interested in having a heart attack for $7 (US), this looks healthy. Excerpt from the creator: "Just a bite of the bacon was too salty and yearned for the sweet kiss of chocolate syrup." It's probably a safe bet to assume that if all the fat was mined from their arteries and turned into candles, there would never be darkness again.

Wednesday, September 26, 2007

Trouble in Guess Who Town

Doris: Alfred... do you know what day it is?
Alfred: Is it Christmas?
Doris: What? No.
Alfred: Is it Easter?
Doris:... Alfred, I'm not playing.
Alfred: Is it my birthday?
Doris:... I'm not playing your childish games. Our game days were so long ago. Let it go... Do you even know who I am?
Alfred: Do you have facial hair?
Doris:....
Alfred: Are you wearing a hat?
Doris: (sighs)
Alfred: Are you a man?
Doris: I don't think you even know who you are anymore.
Alfred: ... Am I a man?
Doris: NO MORE GAMES!
Alfred: Do I have white hair?
Doris: You're an idiot.
Alfred: Am I... George?!?!?!?!
Doris: I'm leaving you.

Monday, September 24, 2007

Update

Thanks for all the birthday love everyone. Including those of you who sent messages, and don't comment on this blog. But I know you read it. Ha.

Anyway. Sorry for long break in blogging. I have now finished three major essays and am so happy that it's holiday breaks... even if only for a week.

Essays aside, in the time between last post and this, I have:

  • Improved Minesweeper scores


  • Performed at Church Muso's night - "Can You Feel The Love Tonight?" with K, and "Hallelujah" solo.
  • ...Pooped.
  • Won a giant jar full of 742 jelly frogs.

I haven't blogged due to being busy, and being quite frustrated about some things and didn't particularly feel like writing, since I'd end up thinking/writing about these. I was also frustrated at myself. So that's that.

HOWEVER! I have written up a few posts, and we will be back on track. Hopefully.

Amongst other things that might amuse you, the final Serial Drama Movie episode + Outtakes is up. It might amuse you. It mightn't. On that note, here's a movie that amuses me.

Wednesday, September 12, 2007

19

Today I am 19. To celebrate this nothingness year, here is a list of 19 things - in no particular order, except for whatever comes out first - I want to do before I am dead.

  1. See all the Great Wonders of the World.
  2. Visit Egypt, Spain, America again, South America, Fiji, Vanuatu, Hawaii, Germany again, Thailand and many others.
  3. See a Liverpool FC home game.
  4. See a Lakers home game.
  5. See the community Africa Aid is now supporting first hand.
  6. Finish my novel (almost one year old, two pages in ha), maybe get it published.
  7. Get married, have children.
  8. Have a dog, a pig, a turtle (preferably Galapagos), a monkey and many more. At least. If it's legal. Ha.
  9. Learn to cook.
  10. Learn to dance some sort of style I don't know. Basically. All.
  11. Perform music at a gig of some sort.
  12. Play guitar well.
  13. Teach, minister, and leave Africa Aid in safe hands when it is time.
  14. Blog more.
  15. Not get fat and lazy and unhealthy when I'm older.
  16. Skydive, bungee jump, paraglide, all of those.
  17. Break the world record for Minesweeper. HA. I've got a long way to go. My expert record is 81 seconds, and the world record is somewhere in the 40s.
  18. Learn to count.

Here are some exciting things that happened on this day in history:

  • 1954 - "Lassie" debuted on CBS.
  • 1963 - "Leave it to Beaver" aired its last show.
  • 1966 - The Beatles received a gold record for "Yellow Submarine".
  • 1983 - Arnold Schwarznegger became a US citizen.
  • 1984 - Michael Jordon signed a seven year contract to play for the Chicago Bulls.
  • 1988 - A young man was born from an egg on a mountain top, the punkiest monkey that ever popped. Monkey Magic.
  • 2007 - Walked around the house in my underwear most of the morning.

Finally, a happy birthday to these cool cats:

  • 1913 - Jesse Owens (who I can outrun)
  • 1944 - Barry White (whose voice is so high compared to mine)
  • 1966 - Ben Folds (who wishes his name was my name)
  • 1972 - Liam Gallagher (who wishes he sang "Wonderwall" as good as me)
  • 1973 - Paul Walker (who wishes he was as Fast and Furious as me)
  • 1978 - Benjamin McKenzie (who wishes the OC was written about his life and not mine)
  • 1980 - Yao Ming (who I'll be taller than one day)
  • 1981 - Jennifer Hudson (who cheated me out of my Oscar for "Dreamgirls")
  • 3057 - Optimus Prime (who is actually me in the future)

The last one may or may not be made up.

Tuesday, September 11, 2007

Inconvenient

Some of you will have seen Al Gore's Academy Award-winning documentary, An Inconvenient Truth. If you haven't, I strongly recommend it. It's very eye-opening.

For my group assignment in International Studies, we are looking at the Global Environment - specifically issues of climate change and environmental devastation that have been caused or accelerated by globalisation. This may sound very large and above our heads, but it is a very real, confronting issue that is contributed to by and that has an effect on every one of us.

The issue is this: for the first time in human history, we have reached, and are exceeding the ecological limits of our planet. The global population is booming, while the global natural resources are being quickly depleted. There is not enough to go around, under the current consumption levels of this world. The major consumption is by people like you and me - in the developed world.

The world population is approximately 6.6 billion. At the current average level of global consumption, according to In a Nutshell by Ron Nielsen, our planet can only support about 4.8 billion.

Industrialised countries consume twice as much energy as developing countries, and people in these countries (that's us) personally consume more than eight times the energy that developing country citizens do.

On Sime's blog, he posted the link to the World Clock. Though the figures are estimates of the actual numbers, they are not hugely inaccurate. It is frightening to see how quickly the C02 emissions, Earth temperature and military expenditure rises. The amount of money spent on things that destroy people far outshadows the amount spent to reduce the things that are destroying the Earth.

It might be interesting for you to calculate your ecological footprint. It becomes very clear how much strain is being put on the Earth. I admit that I do not do enough to care for the environment. Most of the time, I tend not to even think about where what I'm consuming comes from or what had to be done or killed or removed for it to get to me. If everybody lived like me, we would need 4.1 planets. My total footprint is 7.7 global hectares, required to support my lifestyle. It shames me.

Though all these figures and stats are big and scary, there are lots of things you can do. You can lobby the government to do more to alleviate the gross inequality between rich nations and poor. You can investigate alternative energy sources, and research how to help make these more viable. You can catch public transport more or ride your bike or carpool. You can convert your house to green energy schemes, take shorter showers, turn off electricity points when they aren't needed. There are many tips on the Sustainable Energy Authority of Victoria website.

The developed world we live in is responsible for so much of the damage that has been done to the environment. As we continue to consume more and more, the Earth will die with us. Our children and their children and our future generations will be subject to an increasingly suffering Earth, until there is nothing left for them.

This is not just an inconvenient truth. It is scary, terrible, and it makes me personally feel very guilty. I will be investigating stuff I can do in my own life that can help reduce my own ecological footprint.

Sunday, September 09, 2007

Integration

I worked my first day in a potential casual job on Friday. The title was as an integration aide, and I basically went to a few different classes and helped out students that needed a little support and encouragement due to intellectual or social disabilities.

Some of the classses and students I hung out with were labelled as "difficult", "feral" and "ratbags". Their behaviour might have been a little bad, but no worse than some of the other students around them - some of who were actually far worse. Most of the students were fun to be around, and I really enjoyed my first day of work.

One of the students I was with even asked me to join him on his weekly girlfriend search. Ha. He said he already has four, and is on the lookout for more. I politely declined.

I've still got to work out if I'll take on the job, as it will require some time juggling around uni, internship and Africa Aid. It was fun though, and I could really enjoy doing some more of it.

Wednesday, September 05, 2007

Wristband

I wear a Make Poverty History wristband all the time. I don't care where I am or what I'm wearing. I heard somebody say once that they weren't wearing their's because it "didn't match the outfit". Stupid. I wear it because it matches who I am, because it represents something I firmly believe in.

Several times this year, people have asked me where to get one from, and how to buy one. Each time they've been relative strangers. Every time, I have felt the strongest impulse to do something nice. So in all cases, I've taken off whatever band I have on, and give it to them. Once, a person that I had given one to lost it within a week, and randomly saw me a week later. So I gave them the one I had again. Why? Because it's more important that they have it and remember what it stands for, because I can always get more, and it's already so firmly stamped into my mind and heart. Yesterday I gave away another one, to someone from one of my classes.

I don't want to come across as feeling very self-satisfied for doing such a little thing. Plus, I do lots of things that probably aren't very nice. But doing random nice things makes me feel good, and what's more, a $2 wristband for another person openly supporting and caring about making poverty history seems like a fair trade to me. (Ha. "Fair trade"... Make Trade Fair. I'm a poverty nerd.)

Tuesday, September 04, 2007

Theology?

This is an essay I found in the religion classroom at school last year. It's by a Year 8, and it's on the question: "Why did Jesus choose 12 disciples?" All spelling mistakes are part of the essay.

What was there purpose and what did how did Jesus teach them about the Kingdom of Heaven and how to peach the word of God? But why did he chose 12 disciples? Why not 27 or five or any other number. I looked this up on the internet and found two reasons. First he chose 12 disciples to representthe twelve different tribes around Jerusalem. And the second: seven is the holy number, three is the number of the Trinity, and if you multiply seven and three you get 21, and then reverse it and you get 12! Some people thought JEsus thought like this. Jesus did perform amazing miracles that were just never heard of, like turning water into wine and calming the sea, and these acts of unbelievable power must have given the disciples the impression that this was not just some nutter saying he was related to God.

Makes sense to me. Or, does it?

Monday, September 03, 2007

Armless

After a fun weekend away, these are some things that are hard to do when you have no arms:

  • Eat ice cream
  • Wipe your mouth
  • Blow your nose
  • Open a mobile phone
  • Read a text message
  • Write a text message
  • Play the piano
  • Balance when kicked in the back
  • Pull pants up when dacked
  • Scratch
  • Swat mosquitoes
  • Eat
  • Drink
  • Carry things
  • Write
  • Play Pictionary
  • Play Speed Stack
  • Blog

However, weekend was good. I have raised nearly $300 for the 40 Hour Famine, but if you still want to donate... you can. Hooray! In other news, it is my birthday in 9 days, and then again in 366 days.

To end, this is a video of Speed Stacking at its finest. Check out the boy in the yellow's face.