(not so) far and away

was recently interstate for most of last week. as a result, there was ‘radio silence’ (as only had my phone and the ‘smaller touchpad is challenging for me) on my part and spent the last few days ‘catching up and prioritising time-sensitive things’ – hopefully, I can start posting again as most things have now been ‘attended to’…

ggg

in searching yesterday, GGG (not sure if it is still used) is a usenet/email shortcut for giggle.

aaaaaa

when i was searching for ‘aaa-‘ words, i ‘stumbled’ upon a ‘funny and self-contradictory’ initialism: “AAAAAA” it stands for Association for the Abolition of Abused Abbreviations and Asinine Acronyms.

Monty Python and Philosophy: Nudge Nudge, Think Think!

have listened to the audiobook version of this and more than the previous popular culture and philosophy books in the series i’ve encountered before, this requires ‘more concentration’ on my part (is it obvious i’m not a ‘professional’ philosopher?). time permitting, might need to listen to this again to ‘improve my takeaways’,,,

a fine man?

i didn’t know much about Richard P. Feynman (RPF) other than through The Big Bang Theory (which i enjoy watching and rewatching because the characters actually reminded me of my previous co-workers’ personalities and behaviour). All i knew was he was a renowned theoretical physists who taught at CalTech.

The following podcast episode (i highly encourage you to follow this podcast by Stephen Dubner, of the Freakonomics book series fame, that’s well over a decade old):

The Curious Mr. Feynman

made me curious to learn more about him. while i don’t really subscribe to the ‘great (wo)men theory of history’ there should no reason why you can’t apply certain practices to your own life without completely ‘lionising’ an individual’s identity.

examples of what i didn’t know: i heard about the Manhattan Project and the ‘review’ of the Challenger Space Shuttle Disaster, but not aware of RPF’s involvement. moreover, what i found interesting were his parallels with the fictional Dr. Sheldon Cooper as they both played the bongo drums and became Nobel physics laureates..

“transmogrification”: on (data) type conversion and Python

transmogrify is my favourite word i learned from the comic strip Calvin & Hobbes. i like it because there are sometimes muliple “layers”.

Python has some built-in functions to do some “basic” type conversion. however, i’ve learned “recently” that sometimes additional conversion is required to “prove mastery” (aside from logic) so my next discussions should involve these to be more pragmatic.

(Romeo and) Juliet: on thoughs about the film, Juliet ,Naked

i watched Juliet Naked it wasn’t that different from a “formulaic” romantic comedy – it’s just i found the dialogue quite “pithy”.i liked the comedy stylings of Chris O’ Dowd in The IT Crowd (maybe since i used to work in tech i could relate). strangely, it’s his choice of “dramatic” roles i find appealing: this film and The State of the Union, a limited television series.

it sort of reminds me of the movie: High Fidelity ( this was a very rare instance where i enjoyed the film aside from the book by Nick Bantock – who happens to be one of my favourite authors).

it’s probably the writing which i like in both films – i’m a sucker for “good” dialogue. there’s a line in the film which struck me, paraphrasing it was to the effect that art is not for the artist as water isn’t for the plumber – effectively elevating the “beholder” in the power dynamic wrought equation.

generally, i tend to like some of the roles that Ethan Hawke accepts: Gattaca, Boyhood, Great Expectations, Training Day, Reality Bites, and Dead Poets Society, It seems “foolish” to expect i’d like all his movies.

if you’re doing nothing, it’s an “alright” flick to watch.

a “red” wedding in the Land of the Long White Cloud and Hobbit dwellings: our short (mis/)adventures in New Zealand

we recently came back from New Zealand (Aotearoa in Maori) to attend a wedding. no, it wasn’t bloody like the GoT episode – it was just the bride was Vietnamese and her gown was a shade of crimson.

despite also having a tea ceremony after the nuptials, it was not at all stuffy – i found their vows funny and they even had a jumping castle for the adults.

not only did we travel overseas to get there and drive a long way to attend the event but we really wanted to be there on that joyous occasion. unlike some destination weddings it made sense to me. although the groom (who’s my wife’s cousin), the bride’s a Kiwi and most of her relatives are still there. it was at a garden for people to feel more at ease and so that there could be other “fun” activities. it was a balance between fiscally responsibility and meaningfulness – i think most couples spend so much time, money, and effort on just one day instead of being mindful about the remainder of their lives together: there’s even a stat that states the more money that the couple spends on the wedding, the likelier they are to break up.

we also had a little time to do a few “touristy” things. we drove aways for most destinations but being on several OZ road trips the NZ views were much more picturesque. My son took several photos using a proper digital camera of the scenery – to keep the post downloadable, i exported a select few to “smaller” files.

Rotorua – Landscape

Rotorua Nightscape

DISCLAIMER: The copyright of all the pictures is his and these were shared with his permission.

we also saw a geyser:

Rotorua Geyser

while there are kangaroo crossing signs in OZ, NZ have them for cows. i thought the dairy products were already good in OZ, but they were better in NZ as their milk is much creamier (and i could tell as i like my cheese, coffee (although i’m partial to doppio and ristretto, i get lattes in countries that have good milk), and ice cream). That said, vegans close your ears, cows are bred better in OZ for eating.

there were too many photos so in the interest of space and download speed i’ve decided not to share all of them.

we had a chance to witness a Haka performed live – prior to that we’ve only seen it on TV, mostly by the All Blacks prior to a rugby match. we know it was for intimidation and, if possible to avoid conflict. it was also interesting to learn that it is used to “warmup” major muscles so it makes a lot of sense in the sporting context.

because i’ve always been a nerd (it would be a misnomer to call me a John Ronald Reuel Tolkien geek, although both can be socially awkward, because more than just being an enthusiast i can get quite cerebral about the topic. case in point, when Gandalf in the movies (played by Sir Ian McKellen) utters the words: “You shall not pass!’ in the original text it was will not shall – it was a “happy accident” that wasn’t edited out of the film) we also visited Hobbiton.

interestingly, the movie set is in Matamata which translated in Filipino means eye-eye and the whole Fellowship of the Ring was formed partly because of the expanding reach of the Eye of Sauron.

i even tried to read the books (as i was a fan of fantasy novels). alas, i wasn’t able to finish the books (i attempted The Hobbit and The Fellowship of the Ring) as some words were a bit obtuse for me (my excuse was that i was young and English wasn’t my primary language) and the author was a Professor of English Literature at Oxford. i instead settled for the cartoons and movies.

in any case, i want to return for a longer time but their accessibility facilities can still be improved…

ironic

it was “surreal” last night.  on ABC last night, it featured MoJo (an iconic advertising consultancy and, eventually, a “full-blown” agency)that influenced and shaped Australia.  For those that don’t know, ABC  is a national TV channel that’s mainly funded by the government and disallows all forms of commercialism (including ads) – you can’t even discuss (much less promote) any brands on their shows.

it was so meta.  Admittedly, they have a programme called Gruen that “humorously” critiques ads but this somehow felt different as it impacted Australian culture.  It can be argued that it was simply a mirror and a true insight into the Australian zeitgeist.

While prior to them “proper” American or British accents were used to voice over commercials, authentic Australian enunciation and expressions were instead  used (although they were considered “vulgar” by the “establishment”). i think this “honesty” was greatly appreciated by the Australian public. i now believe that you should never be ashamed of your actual heritage despite what you were “taught” and the constant stream of messages to put you down. i’ve got a feeling that’s why they dislike the old country so much – it is said that POME was originally an acronym for Prisoner Of Mother England.

Hogs (Paul Hogan better known by some Americans as Mick “Crocodile” Dundee) was the human face of a former tourism campaign – i challenge anyone to say it wasn’t effective as Australia moved from the 78th preferred holiday destination by Americans to the 7th.  Prior to him, it was all wildlife (like koalas and kangaroos) and he was even recognised, arguably, as Australian of the Year for its success.  The catchphrase was even adapted to the Yanks: “put another shrimp on the barbie” – as no one Down Under referred to them as “shrimp” but as “prawns”.  They say a real measure of a tourism campaign isn’t just about the foreign visits but also abut how good the locals feel about their country.

nothing to see here

i came from my neurophysio the other day and a cab driver asked me, “what’s your problem?’ For a moment, i was tempted to answer: “Nothing. What’s yours?” i said the doctors don’t really know and just kept quiet for the rest of the ride – it would have been unfair of me to “pounce” on his ignorance.

there are systemic vestiges of the sigma of disability – that’s simply the reality.  i laud all those that want to change this but the pragmatist in me knows we are still far-off despite all the strides forward.  Pardon me getting on my “soapbox” but the encounter made me reflect.

The NDIS, although its implementation is very “problematic”, IMHO is very good in principle.  However, the reduction of my allocated funding by tens of thousands in the pursuit of the “almighty” surplus seem like a scenario to “rob Paul in order to pay Peter’,  I’m not an economist but encouraging the disabled community to spend can help “stimulate” the Aussie economy.

Maybe my argument is difficult to accept objectively given i’ve got a “horse in this race’.  Can’t the investigation of an inrease to NewStart be viewed with this lens: who says compassion and fiscal responsibility always need to be on opposite sides.