http://www.intelligentdesign.com.au/blog a blog about things Sun, 17 Jan 2010 19:30:33 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Up now over at RHUM. http://www.intelligentdesign.com.au/blog/2010/01/18/album-review-niagara-and-the-hitmen-st-valentines-day-massacre/ 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. ... http://www.intelligentdesign.com.au/blog/2010/01/17/currently-reading-cats-cradle/ 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. http://www.intelligentdesign.com.au/blog/2010/01/17/flatiron/ Max! http://www.intelligentdesign.com.au/blog/2009/12/29/new-family-member/ Fair to say I'm not hating it so far... 43 more free tracks to come, allegedly. http://www.intelligentdesign.com.au/blog/2009/12/16/new-smashing-pumpkins/ I have been pursuing some non-online interests of late including my health and taking photos http://www.intelligentdesign.com.au/blog/2009/12/14/intermission/ Studying in Melbourne this week. http://www.intelligentdesign.com.au/blog/2009/11/12/melbourne/ 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 ... http://www.intelligentdesign.com.au/blog/2009/10/22/on-finding-ones-car-has-been-broken-into-and-ones-car-stereo-taken/ 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, ... http://www.intelligentdesign.com.au/blog/2009/10/12/exposure-to-absurdity-may-improve-the-mind/ 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 ... http://www.intelligentdesign.com.au/blog/2009/10/01/vegas-underground/