Month: February 2006
Gone!
OK, the book was e-mailed off to the publisher at about 3 am this morning. Nice to make it to that stage. My last book took almost 2 years from this first-submission stage to actually be on the shelves of bookstores, but I’m working with a different publisher now. My editor got back to me…
Drink Tap Water, for Earth’s Sake!
Bottled Water the new eco-disaster
Undead Theories
(A brief free preview of my forthcoming book, which I’ve been working on solidly all week, (it was already 80% done) and which I hope to send off to the publisher tomorrow, or Sunday at the latest.) I’m not talking about vampires here, all cool and stylish in their evening dress and Transylvanian castles. No,…
After-life?
I wrote this in a forum yesterday: As you probably know, I tend to check the ‘Christian’ box on the polls (at least, when there’s no ‘I’m Bravus’ option), but honestly, if all there is of an ‘afterlife’ is my body fertilising the ground, and my kids and those I’ve taught trying to make the…
Who Would Jesus Smite?
Interesting that in all his life, Jesus mostly worked for and preached for peace. Even when they came to take him away for trial and crucifixion, and Peter lopped off someone’s ear, Jesus healed it. He had no army and fought no battles. The only people he ever got angry at, yelled at, chased away…
An Eye For An Eye
I know I tend to link out to Salon quite a bit, and I know it means you have to watch an ad, but in this particular case I think it’s very worthwhile. It’s a really interesting interviwe with a guy who has just written a book about justice and vengeance, and it includes as…
Cutthroat?
A post about the etymology of ‘perversion’ that ends up travelling via ‘bravus’.
School Shadow
Kids sometimes get to go to their parents’ places of work and ‘shadow’ them for a day, just to see what their working day is like. I’ve never heard of the reverse – parents shadowing their kids throughout the school day. I think it’d give parents a whole different idea about what their kids’ school…
The ‘finished marking’ dance
…is what I’m dancing this evening. All the marking for my course I just finished teaching is done and ready to send in tomorrow morning, so I’m finished teaching until July. Don’t get me wrong, I love to teach, but this course is incredibly intensive, and due to a research project I had to mark…
Do you really want to…?
(Yes, I know it’s Valentine’s Day, but the title of this post is not part of that theme… ;)) I’m playing Deus Ex – Invisible War (aka Deus Ex 2) at the moment. Deus Ex (1) is one of the bestest computer games ever. The sequel was received very poorly when it came out, for…
Adventist Forum
I’ve just added a link to a discussion forum for and about the Seventh-day Adventist church, run by my mate Stan Jensen. I’ve been a fairly regular poster there for a year or so now, and there’s lots of interesting discussion. The debate occassionally gets heated, but hey, this is the Intarweb… Check it out,…
Gaming for Gold
Some people in China have little money but lots of time. Some people in the West have way too much money but little spare time. Combine that with an online game like World of Warcraft or Everquest, where it takes a lot of time to level up and gain particular (virtual) items… and a market…
Kids getting hurt is hilarious, apparently
At the food court last night, before we went to see Aeon Flux, they were showing ‘funnies’ on the big video screen. (Big video screens in food courts is another rant for another day.) You know the kind of stuff – flatulence is apparently the height of wit, and people falling over the epitome of…
Possible Integrated Topics
As well as the Physics and Chemistry that my students will mostly be teaching, there are some integrated science courses at Grade 10, 11 and 12 levels that they’re likely to teach, as well as Science 7, 8 and 9. One thing I noticed was that out of the four ‘units’ (subsections of the course)…
One Measure Of Success
I try in my teaching to create a community among the students. So when I give my class a morning coffee break and go down to grab a coffee myself, and most of the class is standing in a big circle still chatting with each other, that feels like success to me.
Some Christians Understand Climate Change
I found this article from Salon1 very heartening: there are Christians who are getting active and standing beside those who will be harmed by climate change. Sad that the Republichristians are standing in the way, though. I used to actually respect some of the things James Dobson said (while being very worried by others), but…
Read it carefully
I’m offended. Those people, by their actions, have demonstrated the essentially corrupt nature of their society and culture. Their behaviour, which all right-minded people should be offended by, should be universally condemned. If anything shows that we are right and they are wrong, this is it. And I call upon all of those who agree…
People are People, Stuff is just Stuff
You hear the story again and again: “I’m not talking to them – I lent them my [thing] and they brought it back empty/filthy/broken”. Or you hear a parent scream at a kid who accidentally breaks something or spills something. I don’t for a moment think this is profound, but a lot of people seem…
Men’s Stuff
Part of a discussion from another forum about how the Christian church in general seems to be losing its men (most congregations have many more women than men), and whether that’s due to the church failing to support men – and, in fact, to allow them to be men. The guy who started it is…
The Zero Sum Pizza Rule
New idea (or maybe an old one that’s just new to me): Pizzas should have the same number of meats as vegetables. If each vege is a + point and each meat a -, the total should add to zero (the cheese, tomato sauce and crust all have a value of zero). So Hawaiian –…