Up now over at RHUM.

Just finished it actually. A dark, interesting little book. I liked it more than Slaughterhouse Five.
I am curious about Vonnegut’s view of religion having read it – some quick research (and much of his novels) suggests he was an atheist, but I can’t see a definitive answer. His characters appear to knowingly [...]

Any serious travel is looking like it’s some time away at the moment – I’m thinking of New York (and looking through old photos) and wishing I was over there.
This is a remarkable building which still holds its own in a city full of amazing skyscrapers.

Max!

Fair to say I’m not hating it so far… 43 more free tracks to come, allegedly.

I have been pursuing some non-online interests of late including my health and taking photos

Studying in Melbourne this week.

A stream of consciousness meditation on crime from the perspective of a semi-libertarian bleeding heart cynic whose 1990 Mistubishi Galant was found violated and stripped of its CD player this morning:

Fuck.  I am not really angry so much as just really, really irritated at how inconvenient this is.
It took me a whole day to do [...]

I found this article interesting – new research suggests that exposure to the absurd or irrational may provoke higher levels of thinking – for example, pattern recognition – in humans.  The theory appears to be that when confronted with input which breaches the predictive model that our brains have established, we go into overdrive seeking [...]

Having recently been to (and hated) Las Vegas, I found it fascinating to read this article about a hidden city of homeless living in a network of tunnels beneath the city, including right under the strip.  The scenes described sound like something from a post-apocalyptic film:
There’s a lot of older people, senior citizens, people in [...]

Near Kapunda, South Australia.

Along with the wonderful V, I am reading The Slap by Christos Tsiolkas.  So far, I am hard pressed to think of a novel I have enjoyed less.
The novel apparently examines “identities and personal relationships in a multicultural society” and “taps into universal tensions and dilemmas around family life and child-rearing”.  So far, though, I [...]

I am thoroughly enjoying V by Thomas Pynchon so far.
The novel is roughly divided between the listless drifting of post WWII New York City, the byzantine European intrigues of pre-WWI Florence and the surreal horrors late 19th Century/early 20th Century German colonial Africa.  As well as being a fascinating read in its own right it [...]

Sorry for the lack of posts of late.  Meanwhile here’s a photo of the Adelaide Botanic Gardens.

Shock, horror.
Kudos to Kelvin Thompson, federal Labor MP, for having the courage to stand up to the “eternal growth” fools who currently dictate economic and development policies in the western world and point out that excessive population growth is the root cause of most of our serious problems.
It is time for governments and policy makers [...]