Meaning of Life Part 1

hmmm.. been a while.
Existentialist crisis? mid-life crisis? who knows?
Nah, not really.

I was given a catholic school education. My motto in my youth may as well have been 'question authority'

Catholic school taught me about God and Jesus and so-on and so-forth. When I was old to enough to understand such things I had on the one hand church religion and the great philosophers on the other, philosophy telling me of the great mystery of existance and the church with the far too glib and simplistic answers to life's mysteries. Not only that but other religions with different but similarly glib answers, each confident in their own 'Truth' being the 'only truth'. Well I was not so confident.

It slowly dawned on me most established religions used myth and poorly interpreted historical events to establish a religious dogma, the primary purpose of which is societal control. Historically straddling the transition between monarchistic fiefdoms and the modern representational democratic method of societal control and regulation during the middle ages. The 'religions' I thought that came closest to quantifying the nature of existance were the eastern religions, particularly buddhism.

So religion was largely a disappointment for me as far as answering the fundamental questions of existance, and the 'truth' (if such a thing exists) of it may be unknowable within existance - In Douglas Adams' book "hithhikers guide to the galaxy" the ultimate answer to the ultimate question was not the enigmatic '42' as first declared but rather that-

"...if the ultimate question and the ultimate answer were to exist in the same universe at the same time, they will cancel each other out and that universe will then cease to exist... "

Who to turn to then other than the greatest philosophical minds of a generation? Monty Python! In the movie "The meaning of life" their answer was

"..Not much, just have fun and try to be good to each other..."

What I'm left with though is that there is something within us, within all people, and as far as I know all creation, that searches for such things, a search perhaps for what has been lost, motivating the founders of religion, of those who seek the answers, like the philosphers who speculate on existance, and for me as I try to follow and make sense of all, there is some larger dimension to us, something bigger than we know. There is something .. 'extra' involved in all this, the root and basis of all religious and spriritual thought.

As in Jethro Tull's album 'Aqualung'

" ...and in the beginning man created God, but the spirit that caused men to create his God lived on in all men, even within Aqualung, but he saw it not. But for christ's sake he'd better start looking. "

Paris Hilton

Haha poor Paris Hilton! oh man, some were saying she was really a clever person in disguise and going to jail had re-arranged her priorities and so on - but I didn't see any of that on the Larry King interview -

LK - And you did read the bible when you where in jail ?
PH - (solemnly) Yes I did.
LK - Which passage did you like ?
PH - umm .. well .. it was all pretty good ...

I'm sorry Paris just be the bubbleheaded heiress we all know you to be, It's been working for you so far, the serious Paris just doesn't cut it I'm afraid. Hahaha I Laugh My Head Off.

But a big but, If Paris IS genuine and does want to straighten up and make a positive contribution, and it's not some publicists idea of a good angle to play for spin, Then I'm all for it and say Hooray for Paris! And keep it up! Listen to your heart, every human being has one. Oh and it wouldn't hurt to use that brain occassionally either ...

Complacency is not an option.

Shirley Maclean, a very interesting lady with very unorthodox beliefs. Fascinating in many ways. I remember she was being interviewed one time about re-incarnation, and why so many 'spirits' are walking around on the earth as human beings at this particular time in history - to which she replied 'These are very interesting times, we all want to see and experience what's going to happen' what exactly she was referring to she didn't elaborate on, but from various things I've read and heard about the year 2015 is going to be very interesting ....

I can't understand the nay-sayers attitude to global warming, sure the predicitons may be wrong, but if there is even the smallest chance they could be right then there MUST be some action taken, to argue about economics when confronted by global climate change sounds a little too much like re-arranging the deck chairs on the Titanic to me.

And despite reassurances I believe global oil production has peaked, and yes science may find a viable alternative but if not, consider there is practically no aspect of modern society that doesn't rely on it. Not just petrol or diesel, but plastics, pharmaceuticals, fertilizer, industrial chemicals, and many other things are derived directly or indirectly from crude oil. It's interesting to note that like the bronze age and the Iron age, and the steam age immediatly preceeding this, we are now in what can only be called the 'Oil Age' and one day it will run out, not if, but when. Then what?

Sorry if this sounds a bit bleak, and I admit I'm playing devil's advocate, but we gotta start thinking about these things. We can overcome the problems, if we recognize and plan for them. Complacency is not an option!

Randoms

Ahhh .. Random Stuff -

PS3 .. to buy or not to buy ?? Love the idea of linux - like playing games - but so much money! Tossed a coin to decide - came up 'no' 5 times in a row hehe - the universe is telling me no.
I'll wait a little longer, they'll get cheaper, linux distros will become more stable .. cheaper games ...

hmm... Myspace messaging... 'repost this or so-and-so will come around in the middle of the night and kill you .. Well I say, 'Bring it on!!' It's like the internet equivalent of 'The Ring'

Oh Yeah, 'The Nation' now that had it's moments and God I hope it continues for Nikki's sake if nothing else. Funny but why does Molloy come across so apathetic? Does he really care or is he just going through the motions? C'mon guy .. And you know as far as Nikki goes it's great she's moving into primetime and even if the nation falls over I'm sure she'll be picked up somewhere else but QM was a really great forum for her star to shine with all the ad-libbing and what-not .. I'm afraid to say Nikki will never be on TV in a similar role again (I hope I'm wrong) and for that reason my myspace profile pic shall wear the sad-cat-hat for a little longer (yeah I know it's actually a dog but sad-dog-hat doesn't have the same ring to it)

Finally - a political blog. Someone from labour (I think) wanted a UN agancy to investigate the human rights implications of the 'Work Choices' legislation - Saw Joe Hockey on TV say 'Disgraceful! they're belittling Australias reputation in the global community!' What a really dumb thing to say because

• Australia's treatment of Aboriginals has already been condemned by the UN human Rights Watchdog, and
  
• If Workchoices were the fair and equitable regime the Libs claim than they should welcome any enquiry to validate their claims! The fact they object to it is almost an admission that there are negative implications to the legislation!
  

Why oh Why do people keep re-electing the Libs ??? Riding on the back of a commodities boom with ever expanding resource exports to china and asia even a drover's dog could claim to be 'great economic managers' Never mind the fact the Hawke-Keating government set in place the fiscal reforms that enhanced the nations prosperity oh man it just makes me sick with frustration. How many lies ?? How many broken promises does it take ?? and don't get me started on freedom of speech, terrorist paranoia, Iraq, Tampa, the so-called 'Pacific solution' the racism, meddling with the ABC and CSIRO boards, education, health, the list goes on and on and on and on !!!!! WAKE UP PEOPLE !! YOU ARE BEING DECEIVED !!!

anyway enough from me for now.

First post

This is the first ever post I put on this blog, or rather an earlier blog I deleted, cos it got just, well a bit too revealing about me ...
I dedicate this to all the male Nikki fans .. a message from the 'Hunky Dory man' ...

Hi, this is my first blog.

Love is a great feeling when reciprocated, otherwise it just hurts. Someone said being in love is a little like being insane, it can drive you to do crazy things if you let yourself become a victim! I guess a lesson to be learned when you find yourself with unrequited love is to become the master of your emotions rather than be the victim of them.

I'd say we all have certain ideals and expectations about a potential partner, both unconcious and concious. So if we come across someone who goes a long way to meeting those ideals - we may find ourselves gettin a crush on them - sort of like the unconcious motivation to go and meet them. But for whatever reason, shyness, etc., or by virtue of circumstance, if we don't approach them the aspiration is frustrated, which makes the crush stronger, a feedback loop occurs that can literally drive you mad ! So the lesson there is - don't sit on it, declare your love and hang the consequences !

So let's say you've declared your love and your potential partner has accepted the possibility of you as a potential partner, and everything's hunky dory - as the relationship develops It may be that the ideals and expectations you had are'nt matched by the reality and what happens ? bonk-bonnngg - disappointment. The crush wears off and you start looking elsewhere, how sad.

The lesson from that could be - give up expectations ! They only lead to disappointment. The secret of 'true' love is in my opinion unconditional acceptance - accepting the other for all their perceived faults as well as their virtues.

I like the idea, somewhere from the eastern philosophies I believe, that you can
only truly achieve happiness when you accept other people unconditionally - warts and all, for in truth they aren't warts at all, merely interpretations and judgements you have decreed as 'this is how it is' and these judgements are highly personal and have in reality nothing to do with the person who is being judged.

But sometimes, for whatever reason, it just doesn't work. and that can be sad and heartbreaking, but that which does not kill you makes you stronger. Take heart in the fact, that as shakespeare said "It is better to have loved and lost, than to never have loved at all "

Or maybe I just need to get out more ...

---

Easter Festival

Happy Easter to all!

So Easter is supposed to commemorate the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, right? And the tradition is - 'Here comes the big magical bunny rabbit hiding chocolate eggs! Go find 'em kids!' - When you think about it it's a bit bizarre ... I don't see the connection. It comes about because most religous festivals are in fact hijacked festivals from earlier days - Easter is actually the spring equinox where the earlier celebration concerned the renewal of life, hence the eggs, the rabbits come from them being the symbol of fecundity, well they are 'at it' most of the time ...

Speaking of rabbits - In Germany a rabbit breeder managed to breed huge rabbits, and he struck a deal with North Korea to breed the animals there for food production - so a whole bunch of these rabbits was sent over, along with the largest prize winning rabbit, to begin a breeding program - but what happened to them? They ended up on Kim Il Jong's dinner plate at a state banquet! Sounds comical until you realize this is the mentality of the current leadership - 'Geez those rabbits look good! Stuff the people, I wanna eat'em now!' - I should qualify this by saying the North Korean spokesman has denied that this happened, But the question remains, where are the rabbits??

Emo kid

Ranting and raving about apparent injustice in the world is no great stretch for me, what is a stretch is sharing honest stuff about myself, so here goes.

I hated school, I left as soon as I had the school certificate (leaving certificate). I loved science, was average at maths (I told myself I couldn't do it, I found out later that I could), Commerce was like just so much BS, an elective I did was music - I enjoyed that. the reason I left was not because of academic ability but because being a quiet sensitive boy I was the target of every psychological abuse my classmates could think of, I don't believe in violence but could defend myself physically, so physical bullying wasn't a problem ... being an emo kid being ostracized was a continual nightmare - The teachers said 'Just ignore them and they'll get bored' - tried that and it didn't work! I wasn't able to hide the hurt I felt ... wanting so much to be popular but not being so .. Anyway although I was scarred I'm largely over it - although to this day I'm very reserved and cautious about making new friends - you know it's a behaviour pattern that gets learned and it's hard to unlearn it.

So anyway I left school and fell into a job in a place that made yoghurt, rose up through the ranks and did a food technology degree, ended up being head of quality control at Kellogs before resigning to do electronics. So I did that and worked for a few different companies before going out on my own as a sub-contractor which I've been doing for about 10 years now...

I can't help but think though that although I'm much older and wiser than that school boy I still have within that emo kid who cries at the fact that no-one seems to like him or talk to him .. even though I have a few very good friends ..

I'm not really trying to make a point here I'm just sharing stuff about myself, no real reason other than .. maybe someone might get something from it, and for myself, I've said many times this is an experiment in my self expression .. putting stuff out here even though in all probability no-one is listening.

QM vs Sport

Current score, Sport = 2, QM = 0. Sorry to say that like the situation that if God ever appeared on a quiz show it would be God the winner and all other contestants with a score of zero. What I'm saying is that sport will always bump off QM on TV where they conflict. Although many of us will suffer Nikki/Amy withdrawels, look at it in the sense that we can get some more sleep when it does happen, and the hosts and crew get a bit of a break as well. I would imagine they're mostly on contracts so it shouldn't result in less pay, I hope so anyway. But ah I do so much enjoy seeing Nikki and Amy doing their thing, and I rue the day when they move on, but I don't think about that too much cause while it's in the here and now I shall watch and enjoy - to paraphrase Shakespeare it is is better to have watched and enjoyed than never to have watched at all.
I'll stop now, I'm tired and waffling and probably not making much sense.

What else is new?

I dunno about Nuclear energy, what about solar ? If every home in Australia had a solar cell setup on the roof each house could be totally self-sufficient ... As it is now for $20,000 or so you can equip your house with enough solar cells that you can pump energy back into the grid, ie the meter runs backwards, and the energy authorities pay you for the energy you provide !!

How ridiculous is it that in an arid country like Australia we waste our precious water supplies growing cotton and rice - Cotton uses the majority of pesticides in agriculture and requires huge amounts of water - there is a better alternative, non-THC hemp requires no chemicals, very little water, has no psycho-active content (no THC, tetrahydrocannibinol) and produces a better fabric than cotton, and can be used to make paper and ethanol, CHEAPLY, why the pollies can seperate this from the drug issue I do not understand.

I read in the paper John Howards latest response to the greenhouse gas emissions debate, ask South-East-Asia to stop chopping down rainforests! What a pathetic response haha. What about all the ILLEGAL landclearing in Australia ? What about all the old-growth forest in Tasmania ? Typical petty-minded beaurocratic response from seomeone who can't see beyond the balance sheet - throw money at the problem and hope it goes away. Oh dear. I don't think he gets it.

Big Brother

No, not the TV show. Big Brother comes from George Orwells book '1984', about one mans struggle and eventual surrender to a repressive regime.

Political dissent is being squashed in this country. Several Sydney University students were arrested recently - their crime ? They were planning a protest at the upcoming G8 meeting to be held in Sydney later this year. Planning to protest is now apparently a crime - how disgusting.

The federal government has long accused the ABC of bias. What rot. Their 'crime' was to broadcast unfavourable reports about the incumbent government. Having largely achieved their goal of suppressing unfavourable reporting the ABC, the Federal government is now going after SBS, accusing it too of 'Left Wing Bias'

Any criticism of current policies are largely branded as 'Un-Australian'.

It should be remembered that during this time of right wing domination of politics that the Nazi Fascists were also right wing - and it seems many of the tactics used by the Nazis are being resurrected not only here but in the US as well. It should also be remembered that John Howards father was a member of the 'New Order' right wing group who threatened Jack Lang, the NSW premier during the depression, with kidnap and god knows what else.

The great hero of the Liberal party, Robert Menzies, declared that 'Every Australian should rather starve to death than for australia to renig on debts owed to Mother England' Yeah right Bob, you'd be on the first boat home wouldn't you ? Jack Lang rightly said 'Fuck you brother' and emptied the NSW government bank accounts before the federal authorities arrived to confiscate the cash to send to england.

The right is concerned with selfishness, sink or swim, no handouts, etc, etc, etc. The left is concerned with the group, sharing, support, etc,etc,etc. Who you gonna vote for ?

Peniz Pills

Goddam Spam Peniz Pills BS is popping up all over the place ! Does anybody actually believe those things work ? What a load of crap. The only way it can be done is by a special suction tube thing - Any part of the body that is stretched for a long period of time will eventually adapt.
I read in the paper, a judge in the states was using one of those suction things while presiding over his court cases, totally inappropriate - the reporter claimed the pump was very audible. He was eventually dismissed as a judge -The reason given for his dismissal was 'Public Indecency - Masturbating in Court'. Well, no he wasn't, but I guess 'using a penis enlargement pump in Court' is not technically an offence!

Kenny

Wanna see a funny movie ? Go and see 'Kenny' it's not exactly hysterical, but the one-liners the guy comes out with are just brilliant - 2 quotes I can think of - 'There's a smell in here that will outlast religion' and 'Busier than a one armed bricklayer in Baghdad'. His old man calling him a 'Glorified turd burgler' is pretty funny 'Nah Dad, I'm a plumber!' It's just full of classic 'Austrlianisms'
And it's also got a little bit of heart, so that's good too.

Anchorman

Yeah I watched 'Anchorman' today - What surprised me is that Christina Applegate can actually act! well I'm no critic. The funniest bit I thought was at the end when the mentally retarded weatherman, with his IQ of 48, is said to have ended up being a senior political advisor for the Bush administration - sounds about right!!
But really, were men that really mysoginistic in the 70's? Maybe they were. if so, then women have certainly come a long way - A good thing too In my opinion I might add.

Goldfish Bowl

I might like to ask .. What's it like living in a goldfish bowl ? I don't think I would like it very much, I've always been fairly private, but then who doesn't want popularity ? but when popularity turns to scrutiny ... and for me, just for me, I don't want to intrude that much, and I get that .. well the understanding I've reached .. let's just say I'm putting away the binoculars and the microscope .. I see what I see and so I don't want to add to it. Also I'm not surprised some questions remain un-answered, when I first saw them I thought 'Whoa'. Yes they are very personal, I would only recommend a 'no comment' where appropriate.

I only want to say that personally I'm glad that there is a direct channel of communication available, but human nature is I guess that .. well what's that saying, give 'em an inch and they'll take a mile ? Please understand I'm not criticizing the fans, no-one wants to be submerged in a sea of anonymity, but scrambling and demanding attention, geez, I dunno. I guess I'm trying to say give the girl a break, give her some room, and appreciate what you get, 'cos she gives a whole lot, that's for damn sure. It's becoming like the old cliche' where the star gets caught up in the throng and emerges with tattered clothes .. everyone wants a piece.

If I can figure out a way of saying this without offending people, but actually getting them to think about it, then I'll post it publically. until then these thoughts will remain here.

But then, that's just me. maybe I'm totally wrong.

Photoshop contest

That photoshop contest was fun! (although I used 'Paint Shop Pro', a lot cheaper than Adobe's 'Photoshop') The entries were all very good. But what was good about it for me was that Nikki got a kick out of it, it's just great to be able to be a part of repaying her in a small way for all the times Nikki's cracked me up!

Nikki for a logie

Logie nominations are to be revealed April 2. Is it possible to hold your breath for that long ?? I've got everything crossed that it's possible to cross, figuratively speaking, I don't think I could function being cross-eyed all the time.

Have we done enough ? 11 times I voted. Drew hasn't released how many responses he got about how many people voted. From what I can tell there's somewhere around 300 - 400 reported on myspace. Add on those who aren't on myspace - well it maybe enough to get a nomination at least.

Oh man, QM is really entertaining, they deserve the nom, and in my mind the award as well, the hosts and crew obviously have fun, and that comes across for the viewers. People watch it and most of them become hooked.

But you know when Nikki comes on the whole thing is just elevated to another level, Nikki really is the star of QM, and yeah QM deserves a gong, but Nikki really, really is the 'Best New Talent' on TV. There's something seriously wrong with the whole process if she doesn't get the guernsey.

Oh, and the other thing, sorry if it was too much.

Britney's hair

1,000,000 dollars for Britneys hair on ebay ?
What would you do with it ?
Make a merkin out of it.

Skin Ads

Those late night skin ads are just ridiculous. Do some guys really go for that ? I guess they must, they wouldn't be there if they weren't making returns, but really ...

'Call me and I'll jiggle my breasts for you, if you're really lucky I might do a handstand leg split for you' Aw gee, I feel privelidged. 'We squirt each other with hoses, teehee' They must have special dispensation from the water authority for that. 'If you call now, you could be in my bed tonight like this dufus here ...' yeah he's got gun, but notice he doesn't actually say anything, just lays there with a leacherous grin. If I was a female I think I'd start running.

Now I have as much appreciation for the female form as any other red-blooded male, but geez, those ads would be an insult if they weren't just laughable.

I was once saw a comedy sketch mocking skin ads, had a really thin weedy looking guy wearing grandpa's too big cotton underpants, posing with a silly grin, slowly nodding his head, haha it looked so ridiculous it was just hysterical, and I wonder if that's how they're perceived by a lot of women, as just being ridiculous. Well this male for one agrees with them.

Where it stops

Doing those things for the photo contest reminds of a quote from a famous artist -

A painting is never finished, it simply stops in an interesting place.

The Secret

The universe provides, we create with our thoughts - I reckon all that stuff is pretty right. Here's an interesting thing I was told once, I reckon it's pretty right too ...

Before the universe existed, outside of space and time, we existed as thinking sentience. However, in the timeless void, we became bored. And with a single thought, we created the material universe. Creating vessels to contain our essence, we entered into the world, simply for play. And to make the game seem important, so that we wouldn't be bored here as well, we deliberately chose to forget what we really are. But to make the game more interesting, we maintained the power of creation through thought. And even though we made the choice to forget, our souls do remember who we are, even if our thinking identities do not.

Or to put it another way, God made the cake, but could not taste the cake. We are agents of God, come here to taste and experience all the various flavours of the cake.

Interesting stuff eh ?