informage

I made the rash promise some time ago that I would write something informative about Landmark Education and its courses. Rash because I find it difficult to sort through the myriad opinions and emotions that the subject evokes in me. Doing the forum and subsequent courses formed a significant part of probably the most transformative period of my life to date, albeit a period laced with other formative elements: graduation from university; many stages in a deep intimate relationship; drugs; my first (and to date only) full time job. You get the picture.

Anyhow in lieu of a deeper analysis than that, I commend this article by Traci Hukill. Whilst not particularly intellectual, her take on it just works for me.

it didn't make me think something was right with The Forum as much as it made me realize something is terribly wrong with the rest of the world. It's so sad, I thought, that the most intimate and intense experience these people have had is one they paid to have with a group of strangers. The more I think about it, the clearer it seems that too many people are cut adrift from the organic necessities of love, family and community. In an age when people leave their hometowns as a matter of course, the ties that bind are dissolving, and people are looking for pretty new ribbons to replace the old familiar cords.

Yesterday Shannon and I signed a notarial contract, Shannon spills the beans

Although I've never visited Havana, one of the appeals of the Mojito is the taste of Cuba - c.f. Die Another Day. However one tip for the wise: order only one of this fine minty cocktail in any one bar. The second invariably fails to live up to the promise of the first; in particular the quantity of mint leaf drops quite dramatically, as though my drinking tokens only qualify me for a handful.

Bloody Marys, on the other hand, should be ordered in merry abundance - even on low quality flights such as this lumbering NWA (yo yo) DC-10 flying San Francisco to Tokyo. Shannon and I have just made our way through several, and my only concern is that the Mr&Mrs T's can warns that "Separation is normal". Fortunately our relationship has survived thus far, albeit a little shaken.

(written a little while back on my Palm)

The usually rather tacky cnet has an excellent piece by Joe Firmage, who I've never previously heard of but is apparently an ex-VP of Novell who was involved in a key part of the whole SCO 0wns Linux debacle.

The model of open science is "communistic" in the sense of community ownership--or rather community stewardship. But innumerable highly successful organizations and institutions in America are founded upon the ideal of community stewardship--including our democracy itself.

The downfall of communism was due to state control by totalitarians--an attribute embodied by today’s commercial software industry far more than by the emergent open-source science of information technology.

"Shock for SA Gun Owners" (Cape Argus) - and that's the least they deserve <rimshot>

"Father dies at son's death spot - A man whose son was killed on a railway line nine days ago dies at the same spot hours after his wife is attacked." (BBC News Online). - the real story is pretty dark, but not quite as outright weird as the BBC makes it sound.

"UN Leaves Skeletal Staff in Iraq" (BBC News Online) - Okay, there's *definitely* a warped sense of humour floating around the beeb these days.

I wanted to add something about use of the word 'fuck' in recent headlines concerning Alistair Campbell but I thought (a) it would be gratuitous and (b) it's not actually that funny and (c) I don't think anyone actually used it in a headline.

It's 7am, in the dusty light of early morning peeping through my badly woven curtains I indulge in some surreal flash entertainment, this probably isn't healthy but I feel surprisingly heavenly.

Spot the difference, odd todd's cookie gambling machine and drift which fair leaps out of the screen. Drift, the sentiment seems particularly appropriate, almost as if my computer is coming to life as I drift away to sleep.

Ha!

Tim is firing off some new and somewhat inimical shots on his blog. He sounds angry but I can't fault his reasoning, not on cannabis nor the BBC's mislabelling of the slaughter of nine Iraqi policeman as "friendly fire".

In fairness to the BBC I'm gonna point out that Bush seeks his Kennedy moment, their report on Bush's pathetic speech on Monday, is about as scathing as the BBC is likely to be towards the US right now. That dry, superior and uniquely British tone is brought out in full force with liberal use of the inverted comma and phrases like "rather doubts it".

Salon has a beautifully written accolade to Björk up on the site. There's not much to add to what Thomas Bartlett says: she is indeed a beautiful and extraordinary musician.

Coming direc' outa Wil Wheaton's mum, apparently! I've found that abstaining from all TV news, as I've beeing doing for the last couple of months, give or take a couples of samples of Japanese and Malaysian TV, has had a striking effect. Watching one or two BBC video reports with my bleeding edge South African ADSL (it bleeds here, believe me) I've experienced the return of a certain malaise in my global perspective. I prefer to have my experiences of sentience come direc' from the source, not mediated through the glass, knowit aye.

Tip: Mental Clarity: Taking a News Fast

Been feeling stressed out after watching or reading the news lately? A "news fast" - avoiding news on the television, newspaper or the Internet for a few days or even a week - may be in order. It is a good way to gauge how you react to and process news, and how the news affects you. If a news fast seems outlandish, consider the following:

* Both local and national network news have increased their emphasis on crime, even as U.S. crime rates continue to decline. This is particularly true of local news.

* Studies show that violence, death and other negative images can provoke changes in mood and aggravate anxiety, sadness and depression.

* Feelings of depression and sadness can lead to a negative view of your own life. Perceiving the world as violent, unsafe and hostile can have negative effects on your body, as well. By taking a news fast, you can develop a more conscious relationship with the media - and promote greater mental calm within yourself. When you spend more time in harmonious mental states, your body will function better, and anxiety and overstimulation may be minimized.