Australia Day Hot hot hot

GeoTagged, [S33.75260, W150.74905]

Today the great national day came with one of the hottest days this summer. I tried hard to do the BBQ, snags and flags thing but could only manage a few hours. To get out of the heat the wife and I headed for the club for a few cool hours of refuge. The club too soon got busy as people arrived for the Australia Day Raffles so we soon headed back to the BBQ.

Generally Australia Day has ended up being a good day off. The usual debates about the Republic, changing the flag and removing the English monarchy were had but I do not see these things happening or changing in the near future. It will take quite a few more years of inducting new citizens who definitely do not look Anglo, European or even white for change to happen. The call for relevance and a departure from anachronism and it's symbols will outnumber the closed minds that keep us looking foolish. I welcome the day - a true Australia Day.

Australia Day: Too Patriotic

Read a blog on the ABC Drum website today which echoes many thoughts I myself have had about the countries national day and how dangerously patriotic the whole thing has become. 


Following is a quote from the post by Michael Brull which shows perhaps what is meant by too patriotic:

"When I was in Surfer’s Paradise last year around Australia Day, I saw stores selling t-shirts saying things like those who don’t love Australia should leave it. I saw several Australians with blonde hair and tans wearing these shirts. I’m sure there are right-thinking Australians who would emphatically agree with the sentiment."


I do not think we should scrap the concept of a national day but I do agree it should take a more positive and inclusive tone. Australia is so much more than its Anglo Heritage and this is what should be reflected in our national day. It should also be a round a truly national event like federation (the day on which Australia actually existed for the first time).


Brull also quotes Tolstoy as follows and it is an illuminating quote though some may call you an anarchist if you take it seriously.

"The feeling of patriotism is an unnatural, irrational, and harmful feeling, and a cause of a great part of the ills from which mankind is suffering, and ... this feeling... should not be cultivated, as is now being done, but should, on the contrary, be suppressed and eradicated by all means available to rational men...

Patriotism as a feeling is bad and harmful, and as a doctrine is stupid. For it is clear that if each people and each State considers itself the best of peoples and States, they all live in a gross and harmful delusion."
from Patriotism and Government by Leo Tolstoy


In any event as the day draws near its probably good to have a good think about why we have a day off and perhaps not get to upset if not everybody is having a BBQ and waving flags, or posturing about what a great country this is - actions make thing great.

Second Longest word in the English Language

I encountered the word floccinaucinihilipilification recently and not knowing what it meant I looked it up (read Googled it). According to Wikiquote it is the second longest word in the English language. It means an estimation of something as worthless. I am willing to bet that it's a word that's never been used in anger or Scrabble because in my estimation it is probably worthless being at once unpronounceable and undeliverable in anything under light speed, further you would never have enough tiles for it in Scrabble. However, contrary to my views it has been used by people like Sir Walter Scott as far back as 1826 and Bill Clinton more recently. Neither really a reason for continuing to use it.


Following this line of inquiry I then decided to look for the longest word in English which per Wikipedia it is said to be  Antidisestablishmentarianism at 28 characters in length - note by count both have 28.

A Fated Typo and Insurance Contracts

I was looking back on some recent posts and discovered this sentence: "Just discovered you need to change fate manually otherwise your dates are not right in your time zone. Seem to be a day behind."

Another Manual Fate Changer

I had just posted as a reminder about changing dates and as you can see I miss-typed. Now I'm thinking was there a prophetic message or was it just more fat fingers syndrome.

Can fate be changed manually?  Some might argue it can but I doubt it would be anyone whose seen the recent floods in Queensland and Victoria. Certainly there would be some that would be cursing their fate after speaking to their insurance providers.

Especially those insurers making tawdry distinctions as to what is and is not a flood and trying to avoid their obligations by relying on unreadable and incomprehensible contract and terms.

Example of early Insurer with only 10 terms and conditions and a clear definition of floods
Willing to part waters to honor contract

Useless Knowledge and the Kidney

There is a web site on my iGoogle Web Page that I link to called Useless Knowledge. Every time I refresh my page it gives my a snippet of information that many might consider to be useless.


Why do I link to it? 
"Because all knowledge is good!"  I tell myself.  "Even if it is from a place in cyberspace called Useless Knowledge".  And today this theory paid off with the following revelation:


"The kidney consists of over 1 million little tubes, and the total length of the tubes in both kidneys runs to about 40 miles."


Imagine that there are two small places in our bodied that house 4O miles of plumbing. Now its stuff like that makes me stand in awe of what a big a complicated universe we live in is and how precarious existence can be. Consider it one small blockage and you looking for a Surgeon with the attitude of a plumber who doesn't charge as much.

Just another Useless fact

Anyway time to refresh my page for the next useless fact.

Technology Making Solitaire Easier

Someone once said that computers do not improve the quality of our lives but in fact only make us go faster.
Here's an example that may not prove the point:

Getting Older: Some Reflections on the Process!

Now that it is technically safe to look into this years calendar I have been reflecting on some of the witty sayings and wisdoms contained in the 2011 one given to me as a present.

A lovely piece of publishing craft it is called "Senior Wit & Wisdom", neither one of which I thought I was lacking, but commodities which I am happy to ponder on and accept fresh sources when supplied.

One wisdom that struck my eye today was the one attributed to Friedrich Nietzsche the great German philosopher who reputedly proclaimed with Germanic certainty that "God is Dead".

The calendar attributes the following wisdom to him:
"Jesus died too soon. If he had lived to my age he would have repudiated his doctrine."

With arrogance like this it should come as no surprise that in the 60's one of the "in" jokes for philosophy students was to proclaim on blackboards everywhere in big chalk letters - "Nietzsche is Dead!! by God". The idea that age is a decay to the point of abandoning belief is sad and not worthy of scholarly men.

The other witticism which caught my eye and that I actually liked was attributed to Dr Seuss, namely: "Your only old once!" I liked it because the legitimate point is made that life is a progression through experience and that each stage is a new experience and our task is to make the most of it and not to bemoan it or decry it for times we may have thought better. Times when we could drink lots, pea less and wake up with smaller hang overs. Times when we could run for the train and actually catch it! Perhaps there is an advantage to walking slower? Perhaps you actually see the world around you and appreciate it more!

I think what we get from age  is that life is never to be moaned about and that mostly you just have to get on with it as god and age permit.

Life is only a bowl of cherries if you get off your ass and pick them?

Other plants of course can also be of value too!