narcissists

What is the collective noun for a group of Narcissists.


A Flock - No
A Herd - No
A Murder - Maybe
A Management team - that seems to fit. Appropraitely oxymoronic
An abandonment
A Mug, Suggested on http://www.ojohaven.com/collectives/)
An Inflation?
An Asylum?

.......

Culture vs legislation

The new privacy legislation

Companies widly ignoring or not understanding it.

eg eatingwa required to capture personal information by a sponser that is breaking privacy rules (with no disclosures etc)

What do YOU do when faced with this prospect?

People and Culture

When the project team wanted to implement new electronic communication in police cars they wondered about how to do this across the state.

They figured out that police are really good at reacting to a critical situations and not so good at planning and organising and preparing.

They decided that implementation teams would arrive unannouced and immediately require compliance and implementation from each police station. The result was that police team worked within their normal operating envirnment

Lending

When you lend money you want to know will the person pay it back.

You have to assume things during this process. What is it ok to assume?

Is it ok to assume there current salary will continue?
Is it ok to assume house prices will rise?
Is it ok to take into account illegal earning?
Is it ok to take thier word for it?

Fundimentally I think that as with life you should start with principles. What are your Principles? Then follows process and action.

Happiness

Does comparison make us happy?
Do we need to be able to compare ourselves to be happy?

Compared to others,
Compared to ourselves 5 years ago........

I hope not but perhaps there are no absolutes, perhaps we cannot be good at tennis without implicitly being better than others.

But then is we have a sense of humour that means we make people laugh, does that imply that others are not funny? What about if we are kind to someone, is that only kind because other have not been. Does kindness only exist next to rudeness or can kindness relate to taking time to think and act with regard to anothers needs.

hummm

Forgiving

Why are we so accepting of our own failing while being so hard on others?

Why do we work so hard to look for the negatives and even figure out ways to turn positives to negatives?

Self-pity is easily the most destructive of the non-pharmaceutical narcotics; it is addictive, gives momentary pleasure and separates the victim from reality.

-John W. Gardner

Nurture your minds with great thoughts. To believe in the heroic makes heroes.

-Benjamin Disraeli

Short films on July 5

LAST NIGHT (ED PARK, AUST, 2008)
The end of a relationship… a car accident ends it all

ASCENSION (STEPHEN IRWIN, AUST, 2007)
Train spotters, strange religious cults, and the apocalypse come together in this
Queensland produced comedy.

RUBBERHEART (BRIAN CRANO, USA, 2007)
A chance meeting in a video store, a shared movie, and a very, very odd date.

THE MAN AND THE ALBATROSS (DANIEL BORGMAN, NZ / DANISH, 2007)
A moving short about loneliness, belonging,and sorrow.

DJ DAZZ (TOM JACKSON, AUST, 2007)
Dazz is a DJ, but sometimes the best laid
plans can slowly unwind…

What do you want ?

Bring Sarah Back, I want to bring Sarah back
There has been a mistake, I want to replace Sarah
Why am I left here while Sarah is gone.
Leaving feelings.

Gone, how can she be gone? I just saw her,
she must be hiding somewhere she can be gone
What is this numbness in my brain?
Why has my brain stopped working?

While I dream of a life well lived, Sarah lived it, a positive wake is left
As she swam, sailed, walked and run, the energy is left on smiles and in the minds.
Children are healed and mysteries explored.
Great and pure and inexplainable joy are here as sadness.

There is no why, no reason, no rhyme, to song, no rules, no karma, no justice, no patterns,
Just time, one second at a time is gone.
What is it? How cruel is this? The edge of existence, why?
Philandering, Phorgetful, Phloundering, Phucking Shit

Your wave bob

The art and act of giving.

A gift is best when it has value to the giver or it took something away from the giver, perhaps it took time.

Gifting something you don't want is ok, but it is more like directed disposal.

Greave, Prey, Hope or Shop

What to do when something bad happens?

"Our enormously productive economy… demands that we make consumption our way of life, that we convert the buying and use of goods into rituals, that we seek our spiritual satisfaction, our ego satisfaction, in consumption… We need things consumed, burned up, worn out, replaced, and discarded at an ever increasing rate."

- Victor Lebow, 1955

ANSWER: SHOP

Louise Bourgeois

At the Tate modern.

She Certain knows how to torment. She seems to examined and obsessed about her life and the people in it. THe particular hate is directed at her father. All in all an interesting experience. I need a drink.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louise_Bourgeois

Australia Impressions 6: Fake Competitions

This is totally insulting and robbery. I don't know who does this but this is really bad.

• For $5 you can will $10,000 by telling them by SMS which ocean is next to WA, A or B.
• A personal fortune cookie for only $9
• Sign up for X for $5 sign up plus $4 per day.....

This is totally immoral and should somehow be illegal.

Miram Margolyes: Dickens Women

Remembering:
Summary

• he took is characters from real life, from people he met.
  
• he did not get over much and used his writing to express how he felt
• He did not like women.
• Some books published in installments in the weekly newspaper. A story of how a character changed was the person the character was based on complained and got a lawyer
  

Details

• 17, lots of 17 year olds, due to the death in his family of a 17 yr old girl
• He first love from the houses of parliament and there later meeting when she was poor and he was famous - he took his revenge
• his first job was as a label sticker in a shoe blacking company

All in all an entertaining evening

Cost of flight (per km)

We all the talk about discount airlines I was looking for information on actual costs. I found the following airline costs breakdown which is interesting, i think:

Cost per available seat Kilometer is around A$0.08/km ($80 per 1,000km). This suggests that a flight from Perth to Sydney costs around $290 for the airline. (assuming 3,500 km).

Obviously all airlines are a little different with different cost structures, and many of these costs do not vary with the volume of flight, short flights will be more expensive per km that long ones etc.

The breakdown by component is something like:

• Fuel 28%,
• Operations costs 40%,
• Finance related 12%,
• sales, marketing and overhead 20%

When I look up flights on Tiger airways I often get a revenue of around $80/1,000 km less for the deals and more for the popular flights. If this is true it will be all about how full the planes are. Reasonably full, Tiger will do well and make money. An important dynamic is that most of these costs are fixed so discounting below $80/1,000 km makes sense to fill seats in the short time but not in the long term (this is the bane and joy of the airline industry)

Need to think about Co2 emissions.......

Wonderful Swan Valley Wines (WSV)

For a good wine that first sip is just magical, the intension favours and smells bring a grin.

John Kosovich Wines

Park under the 80 year old vines and enter the musty Underground Cellar. The cool and wonderful smelling prepares you for the tasting. The Son (Anthony) now runs the winery and you probably get to talk directly to him as you taste.

The Vergelho is excellent as is the Chardonnay an the Shiraz. They also make a Liqueur which is very well regarded, although I have not tried it.

Lamont's

Cool and relaxed feeling under the trees. Meal – small bits, squid excellent, nice olives, noisy wine tasting area on weekend.

The SSB and Family reserve are excellent.

Houghton Wines

Huge old pine trees mark the picnic play area that is a favourite spot on a sunday afternoon. It is going to be busy so don't come for a quiet time.

the wines are great as you would expect. We have the Premium white (apparently 30% of what they sell and $10 per bottle its a great everyday white), the crofters SSB and Cab Merlot. The Jack Mann is just getting so expensive ($200+) so we don't bother with it.

Carbon Offset

The Basics - What we use.

Based on the various Web sites we use about 11 tonnes per year (Lots of variation in this number)

Ways to reduce:

• Plant a tree on the sunny side of the house
• Light bulbs - we have the small spot lights so we need to wait for LED lights to become available
• Use the bike - must do this more often
  

Ways to remove catbon:

• A new tree has to be the easiest.
• The amount of Co2 absorbed per tree appears to vary widely from web site to site. Some sites say 170 kg per tree, others suggest around 20-22 kg/yr of Co2.
  
• So you need between 6 and 50 trees per tonne. These must be net new trees and of course there are lots of other benefits.

Death at a Funeral

Took awhile to warm to this movie, the dialogue misses the mark and just isn't funny at the start. Perhaps I needed an attitude adjustment. As the story matures the plot turns and deepens reality gives way to incredulity. A classical fase there is nothing really new here but a good entertainment. A lot of familiar faces but no hook actor, no A list star to take all the attention or get it from the audience. I wish it didn't really need one, but it does, someone to bring the other performances together and make this a story.

B for effort. I am surprised at the Rotten tomato rating, seems high

Terrorism, the modern warfare

Terrorist are people at deliberately target civilian populations. Its not related to specific political or religious ideas, it is related to trying to kill people who have no direct intention to do you any harm.

Is this a reasonable? Does it matter that those civilians are sending other people to kill you. Are there really any rules in war, other than to win. What is winning anyway?

Life X3 By Yasmina Reza

Excellent play. Entertaining, thought provoking.

3 acts that are the same but unfold differently depending on how the characters react to the situation. The reactions are complex without easy stereo typical sets and reactions, but the connection between action and reaction is clear.