YarravillePaul

There is much to be discovered about how the things we believe in, have become the things we believe in....

This cynical parody explores the beliefs underlying the maxim that marriage is only for straight people.

It was interesting to watch. I was amused, despite knowing that I had heard all the punch-lines. However, the more I watched, the more I felt that gay people are being singled out by denying their relationships an equal support from society. Not so much as victims, but as the focus of irrational, outdated understandings of the human condition.

Maybe one day....

I will have to wait until September, but the teasers are here already and they look good.....

Milo posted this clip hinting at some new work by Banksy. I would love some more details if anyone knows anything...

This news report from 1993 tells of a new phenomenen called the "internet".
Absolutely fascinating, I wonder if it will catch on....

Found here

What do you think about your body? Do you like it? Is your view skewed by Pornography, Parents, Peer, Media, or self hate?

Or are your gorgeous, balanced and self-aware?

A good mate is investigating men's body image as part of a Masters of Psychology degree.
He is seeking input from men (straight and gay), through an anonymous 30 minute survey.

If you can spare the time, it would be great if you could complete this short survey. You never know, you might even discover something about how you think about yourself, and your body.

Thanks in advance for those that participate.

I have seen this picture in a couple of places and, from a purely academic perspective, I like how the image is constructed.

Elements of the image tell a playful story. The look on their faces, their postures, the sense of pleasure, and the sense of familiarity with the beach setting... It takes less than a second to grasp the pleasure and meaning of this youthful playfulness.

Is it a snapshot? Or was it set up?

I think the word for this picture is 'twee'. Or perhaps 'lame'. Or 'tragic'.

But I don't really care.

Today is the second anniversary of our first date!

Me, the quintessential, moody, self-absorbed, cold-fish, geeky, cynical bastard, has found someone who doesn't mind hanging around. Go figure!?!?!?

Trust me, there is an angel for everyone. Even for us late starting, old farts.

He is gentle and caring, and has a capacity for lovin' that continues to astound me. I am truly blessed and must try hard not to stuff it up ..... :D

Particularly since he is cooking dinner tonight!
(ps. did I say I was self-absorbed???).

One of the greatest things about being a moody gemini, is that my mind frequently stops to re-interpret my internal and external worlds.

Today, at relatively uneventful time in my life, I was struck by the mundane ordinariness of routines and rituals that make up a modern life.

Work rituals, sleep rituals, play rituals.

My rituals give me structure in a life that would be otherwise quite messy. Yet I feel a compulsion to challenge them daily, just in case I become boring, or they go beyond my control. Imagine becoming controlled by your rituals! It would almost be as bad as being controlled by the technology I love (sic).

But I challenge them in pathetic ways. "Of course you can stay up an extra hour before sleep", "Don't feel compelled to exercise today, do it tomorrow", "Being 5 minutes late for work will really show them who is in charge of my work-life". Can you see the pathetique?

And that is why I loved this ad campaign from the 1980's for Apple computers. Ignore the product placement, and just watch it for the list of differently thinking luminaries who were able to take themselves beyond their own routines, rituals and internal craziness, enough to make a difference in the world.

I am in awe as much for their achievements, as for their ability to live a little bit crazy.

I am sure that, as a young lad, I knew more about the constellations in the night sky. There was an overwhelming majesty in staring at the Milky Way, the Big Dipper and trying to find the Southern Cross.

On my recent trip to the Kimberlies, I was again amazed at the beauty of the unpolluted night sky. But I struggled to identify and name any of the constellations.

So I am very keen to see this new geek toy from google. When released, it will be an app for my iPhone that will name the stars it finds on a picture I take of the night sky.

Initially I thought that this was just another gimmick until I heard an astronomer suggest that such toys help improve the general level of knowledge about the universe. This is a good use of technology, significantly better than mindless twitter-chatting about when I cut my toenails...

Now, I just need to find some unpolluted night sky!

(All images, and Photography credits can be found on Gayya Kuyusu)

There is a point from which all people squirm...

(found on Slava Mogutin's Blog)

I'm not much of a dancer, but the Tango always seems sensuous, whoever is dancing...

Some interesting thoughts in this clip.
If you ignore the slightly xenophobic start and just take in the steep growth curves they are presenting, it is a good presentation about rampant change in the world.
Whether this will impact on our humanity, or just keep us distractingly busy, is a different argument.
Perhaps technology is the new opiate of the masses.

(found on Durban Bud)

Dear reader(s),

I have been very, very, very naughty and have not posted for a while.

I think I have slunk into a summer blog-break. My mind is slow, work is busy, self-discipline is lacking, future life-direction gray, mellow contentment is my daily mindset..... you get the idea.

I am also realigning the place this blog has in my life. However, not having been clear as to this blog's original purpose, realigning it is philosophically difficult. But such contradictions make my life interesting.

Others, such as Monty, are also adjusting their blog dialogue in view of their changing lives .... maybe its time for new things....

But I suspect I will be back soon. The internal debrief this journal provided has been too rewarding to abandon....

Stay well, and see you soon.

Help!! Please..!!!

A couple of good friends are formalizing the permanency of their relationship. I know...you wanted me to say they are getting married, or have a civil registration, or a commitment ceremony. But it has taken them 10 years to decide on what to call it, and far be it for me to say "just do it!!!!!!"

Anyway, now they are settling on the format/nature/arrangements for the event, it has befallen to me to arrange a bucks night equivalent for my good mate.

They are non-scene, non-queeny, funny, intelligent, established kind-of-guys adn thus I have absolutely no idea what to do on the night.

All suggestions welcome.......

Thanks in advance.

Perhaps one of the biggest world-changing of our lifetime has just occurred in the U.S. A non-oil company representative, or actor, has just become the (nominally) most powerful man in the world.

Barack has become the U.S. President! A man with a social agenda which includes improving access to healthcare, restoring the rule of law, and focussing on the richness of our differences rather than xenophobic bigotry.

But this is not news to you, my dear reader. For the world is not a small place, and this is information that even those in deep, dark Africa will have heard about. It has been a newsworthy happening, building publicly for over a year now.

So....

.... how surprised should I be when, confronted with needing to remember a new password for a database I have set up at work, two separate managers have come to me to ask "how do I spell Obama"!?!?!?!?!?!?!

Ummm...... world event? newspaper? culture change? global impact? Oh well .... best not to expect too much....

There are things one should not forget, and things that I shouldn't run late for....

Yet I often forget, and I am usually late. Even my fella recently had me over for dinner, telling me a time half an hour earlier than the other guests! Just to ensure I was there on time. The cheeky bugger!!

Anyway, a bigger problem for me has been to try and find a way to post my working roster so that it was accessible for him. I work crazy, changing shift work, which, in his kindness, he tries hard to accommodate. We communicate most days, but if I am working when he wants to check a date for some function or other, or my shifts change at short notice, he needs access to my roster.

This is an easy thing to do if you are a programmer, or have access to reliable web servers and understand their coding requirements, but as nerdy as I am, I have struggled to find a solution that will link my current calender on iCal with a web service that the fella can get to.

Until today.....

I use iCal because despite having some minor deficits, it smoothly synchronizes with my iPhone, and has alarms that my Mac uses to remind me of birthdays and other events.

I have set up a calender using a Google account because it is free, and easily available from anywhere I go.

Today, I found a Google app called Calabration that sets up automatic synchronizing of a calender in iCal with a Google calender.

Its brilliant! I now have a calender that is relatively private behind a Google account log in. It syncs automatically on both of our computers using iCal. Both of us can read and write to it.

Here are some instructions for those with a similar need:

[steps 1-3 are probably unnecessary]
1. log on to google using your google account (eg. same as when you log into blogger)
2. go to this page
3. click on Enable Google Calender in Apple's iCal so that you get a list of instructions
4. download the set-up tool from the instruction page or here
5. open the tool and enter the following details

• google account: [your google account]
• password:         [your google account password]

6. click Add to iCal
7. close the tool, open ical and see if you have my roster calender

Please let me know if these instruction work for you, or need editting.
It has taken me many months to find out how to share an iCal calender over the web for free.



Nerd-alert over and out....

Now here is a little social commentary on advertising that caught my attention.

We all know that advertising images are inherently unhealthy. Visual advertising involves idealized images that make us believe in a world, a look, or a dream. And then it convinces us that we need or want to acquire or become.

But the images are not real, they will have been photoshopped. Thus, when the image is of a person, we want to look like the surreal, modified and unblemished photoshopped version of that person. Cue the entrance of anorexia, bulimia, or drug use for the wanna-be young muscle-marys.

A street artist in Berlin has responded by adding some photoshop controls to advertising images. Its brilliant! Entitled "Don't Forget", you can find pics of the artwork here. Found through Gizmodo. Click each image to enlarge.