Whoever you are, who stole my iPhone. It happened a couple of weeks ago now and the sadness has dissipated somewhat since then but it’s still disappointing and violating. Of course, the insurance claim has already been put in and the money for it is on its way back to me so that I can pimp myself out with a new iPhone as soon as the quagmire of choice the telco’s have laid upon us clears up a little. It’s just too damn murky to see what you’re actually getting at the moment.

Rugby Tours

I am off to Perth this Thursday to a) see my sister now that she lives in the West country and to b) watch the Wallabies kick the Springbok’s arse as part of the tri-nations campaign. I’m also attending the players lunch on the Friday too so I plan on making quite the fool of myself if possible, a lot of alcohol will no doubt be involved.

The Onion

I have talked about my love of The Onion in the past but a colleague of mine has just handed me the actual paper version of it, collected by a friend of his in San Francisco in May. I just thought I’d pass that on, it seems relevant because I’ve got it and you haven’t. Sucks to be you.

Technological Immunity

It’s a term that can only be pronounced in a south african accent much like the bad guy at the end of Lethal Weapon 2 when declaring that he had “diplomatic immunity”. The term itself, which is defined as being the first to have the best available ‘technology’ (e.g. phone, laptop, etc) was recently in my possession. Now, with the theft of my iPhone, I’ve lost the title. Technically it falls back to PJ because he had it previously and none have come forward to claim the title. Of course, the only way a new person can claim the title is to convene a meeting of the minds behind the TI title and for them to decide you are worthy. Are you worthy?

Zen & The Art of Motorcycle Maintenance

I re-read the book recently after putting up the Recommended Reading thread on the forums. This is a fantastic book and can definitely unravel your mind if you let it. It also contains a fantastic quote, “When one person suffers from a delusion, it is called insanity. When many people suffer from a delusion, it is called Religion.” I highly recommend the book, even if just to kickstart a new way of thinking or to give a new perspective. The good thing is, it’s not like a twist in a movie in that once you’ve seen it you can’t watch it again with the same giddy anticipation, there’s so many things to read in it and just so many perspectives to read it from. The more you read and understand it, the more reading it exposes new lines of thought and meaning. Of course, you could just read it from the surface, it’s a great story even without the underlying philosophies attached.

Flying Spaghetti Monster

After Zen, I started re-reading The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins, another worthy book to devote your time to. However, this reminded me of one of the best pieces of satire ever created on teh internetz, The Flying Spaghetti Monster. It’s a religious parody, a modern version of Russell’s Teapot and the Invisible Pink Unicorn. What’s even more hilarious are the ‘hate mail’ comments that are put up on the site, the stupidity of people out there constantly astounds me but some of these really take the cake. By putting those comments up the owner of the site points out a very painful irony, if you are strong in your faith and secure in your beliefs, you will probably find the site funny, those who aren’t either of those will more than likely feel the need to attack it. Remembering, no-one is above having the piss taken out of them, especially religion.

On that note, I’m going to read The Onion.

Scott
all I believe this moment in brutality, you’re the one who kept on pushing till I made you bleed

Tags: FSM, iphone, Rugby, Technological Immunity, The Onion, Zen