peak oil

I watched a mini-doco on ABC last night about Peak Oil which showed the possibly soon situation where oil reserves reach their half-way point. The decline in reserves as well as the rising cost to be able to actually get it out of the ground due to dropping pressure means the average dollar price rises dramatically while dependence rises exponentially. Apparently if we got to around $3-$4 a litre our infrastructure would all but collapse.

The specialists who believe this to be an immanant threat are asking for procedures to be put in place in readiness for a massive cultural change. It was a tad worrying. You can become arrogant and think that we are above a collapse of civilisation yet it has happened to every empire that has existed so far. It would be so deserving that we fall not to a meteor shower, nuclear fallout or alien invasion but to the small cough of an engine spluttering to silence.

One of many links here: Life after the oil crash

quote for the day:
"The major difference between a thing that might go wrong and a thing that cannot possibly go wrong, is that when a thing that cannot possibly go wrong goes wrong it usually turns out to be impossible to get at or repair."
- Douglas Adams (1952- 2001)

ignore me

Ignoring useless information aids memory: study
Wed Nov 23, 3:30 PM ET (Story here)

LONDON (Reuters) - Filtering out useless information can help people increase their capacity to remember what is really important, researchers said on Wednesday.

Scientists at the University of Oregon in the United States have demonstrated that awareness, or visual working memory, does not depend on extra storage space in the brain but on an ability to ignore what is irrelevant.

"Until now, it's been assumed that people with high capacity visual working memory had greater storage, but actually it's about the bouncer -- a neural mechanism that controls what information gets into awareness," said Edward Vogel who headed the research team.

The findings reported in the journal Nature would overturn the accepted concept of memory capacity, which has suggested that how much a person can remember depends on the amount of information crammed into the brain at one time.

Vogel and his team believe the results could lead to better ways to enhance memory and improve the diagnosis and treatment of cognitive problems such as attention deficit disorder and schizophrenia.

quote for the day:
"Have you ever noticed? Anybody going slower than you is an idiot, andanyone going faster than you is a moron."
- George Carlin

russell crowe

Alrighty, I'll be the first to admit ol' Russ can make a complete knob of himself. He takes himself way to seriously (it seems from the outside anyways) and has a penchant for anger management issues. That said, he is a truely amazing actor. When one year he plays-incredibly convincingly at that-a man's man gladiator on a mission and then follows it the next year as a math genius, you have to admit the talent. Whatever depths of the psyche you have to reach to play those role's, as a true character actor, must affect a person. I mean compare it to Tom Cruise, a complete tool but great on-screen. Yet when, in any of T. Cruise's films do you ever forget that it's him. Never. He 'aint no character actor it's as simple as that, he's just convincing as a strong, intelligent, driven man (jeez, I just simplified every role he's ever played 100%). Old Russ on the other hand can make you forget he was ever anyone else but the creation on-screen at that moment. It may be that due to his New Zealand heritage I'm a tad biased but I doubt it.

This said, when ol' Russ screws the pooch it's all over the tabloids. Yep, it certainly looks like he lost his rag and threw a phone at someone. He's paid for it though both financially and professionally. Yet when he does something good it's a blip on the radar then nothing. Below is a small news snippet being circulated by AAP, ANI and a few others which has all but being ignored.

Russell Crowe adept at targeting thieves!
Tuesday November 15, 02:43 PM (Yahoo news)

London, Nov.15(ANI): It seems actor Russell Crowe has a photographic memory, as he has reportedly helped police in Paris, France identify a violent thug, whose face he had only seen once.

The hard-man actor spotted a pair of US tourists being mugged as he was leaving a Paris eatery last month, and even though the thief escaped, the Hollywood heartthrob got a good look at his face and was able to identify him to police.

"It happened too fast for him to react but he got a good look at the thug's face. He comforted the victims until cops came then he went to a police station and identified a mug shot," Femalefirst quoted a scource as saying.

"The mugger was then held in a line-up and Crowe made a positive ID," the source added. (ANI)

So he see's a crime and actually bothers to wait with the people involved and then helps the cops with the crim's ID. Not something most people would do especially busy, self-important people I'd have thought.

All I wonder is why only the bad news gets flogged across the World and the good stuff get's disregarded. I'm a negative cynical prick apparently and I'm looking for the good. All the people that have labeled me that title in my life seem to be only buying into the negative. It's probably not irony but it's gotta be close.

My favourite Crowe story is that when he worked in Sydney at a cafe someone asked for a decaf. Being a recent import from N.Z. he went inside and came back with a glass of water. Smart arse prick. Gold.

quote fo the day:
"Acting is the expression of a neurotic impulse. It's a bum's life. The principal benefit acting has afforded me is the money to pay for my psychoanalysis."
- Marlon Brando (1924 - 2004)

rape

A shining indictment of modern man can be read here:

Rape: 1 in 3 blames flirty women
Monday, November 21, 2005 Posted: 1437 GMT (2237 HKT)

LONDON, England (Reuters) -- One in three Britons believes a woman who flirts is partly or totally responsible if she is raped, a "shocking" opinion poll showed on Monday.

Between a third and a quarter of respondents also put part or all of the blame on the woman if she fails to say "no" clearly to the man, wears sexy clothes, drinks too much, has many sexual partners and walks alone in a deserted area.

Story continues here

This is as fucked as it gets. It would be too easy to think that it's a sentiment only shared by the brits but i'm too cynical to believe that factoid. Surely we as a species are better than this sort of base level bullshit. Probably not.

Fugazi: Suggestion

Why can't i walk down a street free of suggestion?
Is my body the only trait in the eye's of men?

I've got some skin
You want to look in

There lays no reward in what you discover
You spent yourself watching me suffer
Suffer you words, suffer your eyes, suffer your hands
Suffer your interpretation of what it is to be a man

I've got some skin
You want to look in

She does nothing to deserve it
He only wants to observe it
We sit back like they taught us
We keep quiet like they taught us

He just wants to prove it
She does nothing to remove it
We don't want anyone to mind us
So we play the roles that they assigned us

She does nothing to conceal it
He touches her 'cause he wants to feel it
We blame her for being there
But we are all guilty

quote for the day:
"In the magical universe there are no coincidences and there are no accidents. Nothing happens unless someone wills it to happen."
- William S. Burroughs (1914 - 1997)

social hand-grenade

One of my best friend's Blake once called me a social hand-grenade. Throw me into any social situation where i'm off-kilter and watch the carnage ensue. Luckily for me the fuse sometimes refused to light, otherwise I'm pretty sure I'd have no friend's anymore. I have no idea what part of me does it but usually I would call myself a shy person. I often feel awkward at social events where I don't know many people. A residule low-self opinion doesn't help as I'm often feeling a tad insecure at many events. I guess the bombastic all-guns-blazing approach is probably a subconcious personality-revolution. I often (and to be honest, it's usually alcohol fuelled) find myself staring at a crowd of people with looks ranging from interest to strong dislike. I guess it's better to polarise the crowd than be bland. Better to be yourself than a facade.

I just feel that people don't challenge each other enough. We meet new and broad groups of people through events like work social functions and instead of sparking decent conversations we generally aim towards the mundane 'safe' pedestrian subject matter. Why? Surely if we have opionions that we care about it's better to discuss and argue with other people who don't necessarily share your views and possibly see a different truth than the one we thought we had. Instead we save our so-called truths for when we're around friends, which usually tend to have the same views as yourself. I love people who disagree with me. I love being proven wrong. Sure it's always nicer to be right but i'm starting to realise that it's not too often I am.

I have so often been called an arrogant prick for stating what I believe in. Yes, i'm not backwards in coming forwards but at least people know where I stand surely? I've never jumped up and down and said that I am 100% correct and my truth is the only truth though. Nothing is more irritating that someone saying "you're wrong" and when asked 'why?' no response appears. Better to start with a thought and change it than have no thoughts at all.

If you believe in anything it should be able to withstand the litmus test (or the acid test if you prefer it). A belief unproven or undefended is unsubstantial in my mind.

quote for the day:
"Your denial is beneath you, and thanks to the use of hallucinogenic drugs, I see through you."
- Bill Hicks (1961 - 1994)

the great crash of 2005

My portable 20Gb hard drive collapsed. I had a lot of work on there but most of it was backed up. Even so, I lost a bit. The bastard was the thing gave me a warning sign or five last week which I ignored. Technology yet again brought down by my stupidity.

R.I.P. 20Gb. You did well for a while and left with a shiteload of my stuff. you fucker.

fillin' the ol' geek-o-meter

I love some of the computer game reviews I come across. Here's a little snippet that made me laugh:

"...If your dad wears a Von Dutch hat with "US border patrol" embroidered on it, and your family usually dresses in fatigues, you'll get a kick out of the casual racism sprinkled through this game. Whether it's the spicy and revolting cooking, or the "greasy" nature of everyone south of the border, there's an unpleasant air about the jibes in the game. We'll put this down to the developers being Danish, and the Eidos executives never being ones to shy away from exploiting ethnic groups...."

For the full review click here: Gamespy: Total Overdose - By Hector Guzman | Nov. 3, 2005

quote for the day:
"Why hate someone for the color of their skin when there are much better reasons to hate them."
- Denis Leary

i bet my old shop teacher did same

today from news.com.au comes a little nugget of gold.

Teacher was working in brothel
November 07, 2005

QUEENSLAND teachers and other public servants could be forced to get permission before taking up a second job following revelations a Gold Coast teacher was working in a legal brothel.

Story continues here

Classic. I personally couldn't care less as long as the woman was a good teacher and the two world's never collided. No harm, no foul. What I do love in the article is how she was found out:

"...The teacher, who has not been named but is understood to come from the Gold Coast, was reportedly discovered working in a brothel by a male teacher more than 12 months ago.
Both were counselled over their actions and the woman quit her job as a prostitute, changed her name and continued to teach at a different school..."

Love it. So basically the way I read it, the male teacher has gone to the brothel for a 'pressure-relief' and walked into his fellow teacher. Uncomfortable much?!? Now she has left but he's left there with the whole teaching staff looking at him in a somewhat different light.

quote for the day:
"The very existence of flame-throwers proves that some time, somewhere, someone said to themselves, You know, I want to set those people over there on fire, but I'm just not close enough to get the job done."
- George Carlin

middle-ear infection

May I recommend against a middle-ear infection. 5 days of agony occasionally lessened by Panadol Forte which lends itself to creating an extra for 'Night of the Living Dead' out of you. Usually I don't take painkillers at all so this stuff has rendered me able to perform amputations on myself yet the ear still hurts. The joy of life has left the building. If you do happen to see it, give it the single-finger salute for me.

There will be no 'quote for the day' today. Please move along, there is nothing to see here...