I’m considering continuing on with this site in some capacity, which I think I’ll try to do. Most likely I’ll organise it to be a formal archive of my earlier work.
New blog-posts will be appearing at:Token Skeptic. It’s not the same as the Token Skeptic Podcast, but there may be some overlap at times.
If you’re a regular reader (or even just someone checking this site out on your way to finding more Tim Minchin lyrics) – I’d love to have you as a reader at that new blog. The RSS feed for Token Skeptic is here.
Thanks to my supporters, especially Digital Cuttlefish, Paul Caggegi (who created my snappy new banner) and my dear friends who I emailed to let them know ahead of time and whose advice I greatly appreciate. Here’s to being the Token Skeptic at Freethought Blogs.
A counter protest for 40 days doesn’t seem right – why draw attention to them? Instead, lets do something for the people who are probably most affected and could use the boost.
Anti-abortion protesters and prayer groups. They can legally ‘block’ the way to providers and make it very, very uncomfortable for those going to those services, let alone the people who work there. We’ve had members of the Perth Atheists ponder how best to tackle similar anti-abortion protests here (not unlike the ’40 Days for Life’ vigils outside the British Pregnancy Advisory Services).
Now? Although this is a story heralding from the UK and we’ve never met, I recognised the name of Carmen D’Cruz (http://www.carmenego.com - who has appeared at a number of skeptical events in London – including Westminster Skeptics, which is a great gathering!) and I really, really like the positive spin it makes in regards to counter-protests. Indeed, there shall be cake! The Forty Days Of Treats Website.
They were especially keen to support the charity after the recent Nadine Dorries amendment aimed at stripping abortion-providers of their role in counselling women. Instead of holding a rival protest and further upsetting women who went to the clinic, Carmen D’Cruz and Liz Lutgendorff decided to “express our opinion through cake” – and 40 Days of Treats was born.
For every day the pro-lifers were praying outside, D’Cruz and Lutgendorff vowed they would cheer up staff inside, and launched their idea on Twitter and Tumblr. “We thought it would be nice to show lots of us appreciate the work they are doing. It’s not combative, or confronting the protesters in a way that no one would want,” Lutgendorff explained.
What do I do after enjoying a great session of the 2011 #Ig Nobels (a live-Tweet marathon where I surprisingly managed to get the attention of Tim Minchin, who is currently dealing with a cold while on tour and was helpfully distracted by the Coffee-shop Opera breaks -- get well soon, Tim!)?
Today, I’m heading off into town in order to do the final checks on students who are attending Work Experience Week, involving on-site and hands-on involvement with careers that they well might make their own some day. Although, to be honest, my work experience once involved a detective agency and I didn’t end up in that career, but it was brilliant fun regardless. It’s nearly the school holidays and I’m looking forward to the break.
Here’s three things to keep you intrigued while I’m gone: firstly, I didn’t announce it on the blog, but I donated both audio and funding to the 365 Days of Astronomy podcast recently!
That episode will also feature on the Token Skeptic podcast today, so even if you don’t subscribe to ’365′ (and you should, it’s fantastic!), you can download it off my show and enjoy the interview with a really talented and inspirational astronomer.
…okay, perhaps all my filming is a little overwhelming at times, but it’s a fun record of things I do and I appear to have a great audience for my travel documentaries. Thanks, subscribers!
There’s also times that I don’t film things. My first visit to Embiggen Books was such a time, because it was damaged by a really awful flood due to the apartments above and I thought it was such a shame to take photos or film it when it wasn’t at its very best. I really, really hope to make it back there and do one of my films in the future -- and now it seems that this will happen!
On October 7th, the shop will reopen! If you can make it, do so and support the best rationalist bookstore in Melbourne and probably the world… mind, I haven’t done any tours of other rationalist bookstores, but I’m sure that it measures right up there with the very best. Go prove me right and check it out when it’s open next month!
Already there is talk about a “vampire cult” in this case, and as often happens, entertainment media is blamed. The news media loves stories like this, but the fact is that 99.9 percent of kids — even those fascinated by vampires — have a pretty good grasp on reality.
It’s one of those mornings where I’m thinking about my students who have got an exam today (and does one wish ‘Good luck’? I think I’ll stick to‘Remember to use a nice black or dark blue pen and take time to think about the question’)…
…and I’m ignoring the massive pile of laundry that has started to develop sentience in the corner of my office (I’ve started brainstorming names for it -- Basil? Sondra?)…
…and I’ve noticed that the tree that has crushed the back-yard fence into splinters is still being stoically ignored by the neighbours, which must mean they are waiting until December to pop ornaments on it and sell tickets for viewing their symbolic Christmas Tree art-installation (‘With Its Tragic Sacrifice, The Brave Fallen Zombie-Jesus Pine Tree Massacres The Paling Fence Of Commercialisation And Secularisation Of The Season‘)…
…and I’m glancing at the stats of my blog, where the most hilarious interpretation of its recent activity might be explained by someone obsessively searching through Wayback Machine for evidence of their very-public infidelity (or maybe it’s just a Yahoo slurp spider with a fetish for acting batshit crazy?). Oh, and there’s the usual schoolwork and I’m tinkering with programming and now my email access is down and woe is me with my first-world problems.
I know, I know, everyone should just get a life. It’s nearly the holidays, I’ll work on the life thing then. Honestly:
When most people have house-guests staying, they’re probably worried that it’s going to end up like this: In short, people always think that the house-guest is going to be the biggest issue. Not for me. In my case, I have a different concern: ‘How am I going to entertain a house-guest — I’m either working or [...]
