In the entertainment we watch on TV, we are used to there being a sliding scale between fiction and non-fiction. ‘Fictional’ stories are often ‘based on true events’ and documentaries can be ‘dramatised’ to make them more interesting.
An interesting discovery was made recently in an attic in a very old house in Guilford, England. It is a metal box, like a biscuit tin with a hinged lid, containing scores of small pieces of paper, each with a short message in tiny writing. (more…)
This is coming to you from a different kitchen. The morning sun is flooding the courtyard of the Neram Harvest Café at the New England Regional Arts Museum in Armidale, northern NSW. Despite the sun, it is still too cold for me to sit outside – the air temperature has risen from an overnight low of -4°C to around 10°C – although the hardened locals are sitting out there in their shirtsleeves.
Having finished my last post with a quote from Douglas Adams, I shall start this one with another:
We don’t have to save the world. The world is big enough to look after itself. What we have to be concerned about is whether or not the world we live in will be capable of sustaining us in it.
I’m strapped into my seat and the aircraft is sitting on the tarmac at the terminal, as it has been for over ten minutes. What is delaying our departure? A truck. The catering truck has delivered our simple refreshments and now it can’t be detached from the side of the aircraft. Engineers are on the way.
One myth I live by is that sport used to be sport – not politics or commerce or an opportunity to shame someone. Sport used not to be about technology but certainly about enjoyment – on the part of those participating and those watching.
It is the time of the signs that make no sense and of labels that beggar belief. A packet of Turkish delight sports the announcement: “60% less fat – and always has been”. A packet of biscuits proudly announces: “Still using our original 1897 recipe – now new and improved”.
“Whether you think you can, or that you can’t, you are usually right.” (Henry Ford)
There are very few people who truly believe they can do anything they set their minds to. Such people are so rare that they become the subject of news items, even whole TV series. They are sometimes labelled ‘heroes’ or ‘freaks’. We are thrilled by their achievements and delight in their failures. The thrill comes from our wishing we could do extraordinary things and the delight comes from wishing we could do extraordinary things.
“Do you, Dragon, take Donkey to be you lawfully wedded husband?” Children who watch films like Shrek or read fairy-tales or have them read to them are used to ‘odd’ pairings of people, animals and mythical creatures. And they accept the hybrid progeny that result.
No matter how much a person believes s/he lacks prejudice, there are very few people who would not, from time to time, find themselves surprised that a person they see or hear is able to do something unexpected. Expecting that someone will or will not do something is a form of prejudice – a prejudging of a situation. It may be the most benign form of prejudice, yet prejudice it is.