Jottings on science, religion, technology, pop culture and faith from the Antipodes.
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ALA | Select Bibliography of Children’s Books about the Disability Experience is a list from the American Library Association that “contains some outstanding books that portray emotional, mental, or physical disability experiences, most published between 2000 and 2006.â€
Just filing the link here because it might be useful at some point for the “Spirituality and Well-being†course I’m co-teaching next semester.
Last September it was my turn to graduate with the PhD at the University’s spring graduation. Last Wednesday I was on the other side of the fence, participating not as a graduand, but instead as faculty. Quite a different experience, from carrying the Theology banner through the streets at the head of the Theology students, through to being an academic marshall at the ceremony, and watching the students get capped from ‘on stage’ rather than in the audience.
All in all, a good (though different) kind of day.
The end of another hectic weekend is upon us - having just returned from an afternoon down in Hamilton for a most excellent wedding. With all the kids now into the football (soccer) season, Saturday mornings are a logistical exercise in getting the four of them to four different venues on a Saturday morning (think, traveling salesman problem), and then all the other things that are on at the moment. Last weekend it was football (x4), a birthday party to attend, and an out of town visitor for the night on Saturday, followed by a most of the day inter-school Krypton Factor that two of the kids were in on the Sunday. This weekend it was football (x4), first-born’s birthday, an engagement party, family staying over night and then the wedding in Hamilton today.
And anyone who thinks watching your kids playing football is relaxing needs their head checked. I’m still recovering from the highs and lows of yesterday’s performances.
I’m thinking it’s time to look at the next few weekends and see what can be culled from the events calendar. These things are all good (like all the people we saw today at the wedding who we haven’t seen for ages) but every Monday we’re a little more tired going to work.
Al Hsu (over at The Suburban Christian) had a couple of interesting posts recently.
The first, The Suburban Christian: Planned obsolescence and perceived obsolescence, links through to The Story of Stuff with Annie Leonard and ponders Christian responses to consumerism.
The second, The Suburban Christian: On role playing and creating culture, notes the recent death of Gary Gygax (co-creator of Dungeons & Dragons) and the need to be creators of engaging culture rather than just critics of culture. I can identify with Hsu’s point the Gygax created an attractive immersive and social environment. Certainly, when I was at high school in the early 80s D&D (and to a lesser extent Rune Quest) were all the rage amongst my classmates.
Personally, I enjoyed Traveller (a science fiction role playing game) because it came with rules for starship and solar system generation, a developing historical context (detailed in the supporting journal), and series of board games that fitted into this history (e.g. Dark Nebula).
Related links: Wired - Dungeon Master: The Life and Legacy of Gary Gygax and Dylan Horrock’s Gary Gygax R.I.P. - Vox (with link to Horrock’s 95bfm interview about D&D).
We went down to Hamilton today to watch day four of the NZ-England cricket test. Great day all round - though the excitement of the NZ second innings collapse could have been done without. Armed with deck chairs, rugs and our chilly bin the 6 of us, plus another 5 staked out an area on the bank and sat back to watch the game. A slow start, which picked up after lunch and then the excitement of the final session.
Is it unique to the Waikato to have people with drenching packs of sunblock walking through the crowd squirting out free sunblock to anyone who wants it?
Highlight of the day for the kids was playing on the field at lunch time. See photos below.
Three weeks into the new job and it’s been very, very busy.
So far I’ve been to a large number of meetings (School of Theology and University), met faculty (incl. a nice lunch at the Catholic Institute of Theology (next door)), helped lots of students with course selections and enrollments, organized my courses for this semester (including a new online course we’re offering this year), come to grips with the university IT systems, familiarized myself with the uni’s online learning management system (CECIL), continued my predecessor’s work on a new online course on spirituality for second semester, attended various training sessions, attended various orientation events (including a nice commencement chapel service), organized a powhiri for new students next week, attended a powhiri for myself (and another one next week), run the undergraduate section of the School of Theology orientation day on Friday, and put in a proposal for the AAR consultation “Transhumanism and Religion”.
I’m very tired but I think I’ve won more than I’ve lost, and I’m really looking forward to teaching starting next week now all this preparation work has been done. My fellow faculty and staff have been brilliant at helping me get established.
Next time though I’ll hopefully start a new position with a little more time before the start of the academic year, and with a more graceful transition into the job. 
No blogging rhythm at the moment. I imagine in a few weeks time things will get more regular again. Until then posting will be intermittent.
Yesterday we all went out for a family trip to Whatipu, one of the West Auckland beaches. It was a pretty grey and overcast day, but the temperature was warm, and the company we met up with was good. Sort of a rite of passage for us all - the last act before our new routine start tomorrow (Philip’s started school, Kim’s started her new job, and tomorrow I start mine). From tomorrow, all is different (but hopefully still as good as it’s been).
My youngest (5) was given a Cambridge BrainBox - Electronic Kits for Children and Schools on Monday and it rocks. Really simple way to build electronic circuits that make radios, alarms, lights go on and off, and (most importantly) fans fly up and hit the ceiling. He loves it and has spent that last few days assembling all sorts of things (and blowing the fuses in the set a few times). I can’t believe we didn’t get something like this ages ago (though we have Lego, Meccano and other similar things). The press-stud approach works really well for his hands and it’s robust enough to carry around to show people.
I’m sure it has potential for use in a children’s talk at some point.
Had a nice (but all to brief) lunch today with Tim (of SansBlogue fame), though I was thwarted in my efforts to find some soup to eat as I recovered from the gentle(?) ministrations of my dentist. Conversation ranged all over the place, but included whether or not the ASUSTek Eee Ultraportable , with Linux, OpenOffice and Zotero (or WinXP etc.), might make a nice small, robust machine for taking on sabbatical-type journeys.
2008 has rolled around and brought with it a whole lot of changes for us. Our youngest turned 5 over Christmas and so will be starting school (no more preschoolers!), Kim started a new job locally, and I’ve got a full-time theology teaching position here in Auckland. So all our family schedules and rhythms will be changing and it will take a little while for that to shake down.
From mid-February I’ll be lecturing in practical theology in the School of Theology at the University of Auckland. The interview was the week before Christmas, and I’m only now just getting my head around actually starting the job in a few weeks time. Some of the exact teaching details are still to be worked out, but I have a reasonable idea of what’s coming up. After so long in the journey to this point it all feels a little unreal.
I imagine it’ll be a year of challenges and opportunities, especially as I get to grips with the change in role to full-time lecturer, and the nuances of teaching theology in a university as opposed to the other places I’ve taught it before. Still, it’s a great relief to be starting and to know what we’re doing, and also to be able to stay in Auckland for the foreseeable future and not have to uproot the family. And, given where we live, I can take the train to work each day and avoid the traffic because I’ll be based full-time at the city campus.
I’m already fielding some of the questions and comments that Simon noted over at Simply Simon: Practicing theology. Things like, ‘Practical theology? Theology is practical?’ or ‘Practical theology? Isn’t that an oxymoron?’. I imagine that sort of thing will be fairly regular for a long as I’m teaching and researching in practical theology . I am looking forward to working in an area that lends itself to interdisciplinary work, as well standing at the intersection of scripture and tradition on one side and the issues and concerns of our society and cultures on the other.
So new things, new experiences, and a new life (of sorts) in 2008. After the frustrations of 2007 we’re all looking forward to it.
Came across these podcasts from Radio NZ the other day. I haven’t listened to the Split Enz documentary at all, but the kids have been enjoying the Storytime stories. The former might be of interest to those outside of NZ who like the Finn brothers music, but haven’t listened to their early stuff.
Enzology - Radio New Zealand’s story of Split Enz - Enzology
Enzology is Radio New Zealand National’s documentary covering the history of New Zealand’s most iconic band - Split Enz. Five years in the making, this ten-part series covers the history of the band from their beginnings in Auckland as an acoustic ensemble in 1972, to their final concerts as an Australia-based, internationally acclaimed pop band in 1984.
Radio New Zealand National : Programmes A-Z : Storytime Treasure Chest
Back in the past couple of days from 10 days away in Rotorua and Kawerau with both of our families. A really good time to catch up with everybody and for the kids to renew friendships with their cousins. Games of cricket, swimming, family walks in various forests, barbeques, catching up with old uni friends, and a trip out to the Ohope Beach Outdoor Book Sale to pick up a few second-hand books all part of the holiday.
Great to be away together, and also nice to be home now.
The last week and the next one are full on with all sorts of family activities. Monday was fourth-born’s ‘official’ kindy farewell, Thursday was first-born’s school prize-giving, Friday night Kim and three children part of the church’s Christmas drive-thru, today three of the kids were in the Christmas pageant at church, and then there are two family birthdays this week. Combine all this with other stuff that’s happening (summer holidays start mid-day Thursday for the kids, Christmas preparations, fitting in some work and other things) and it’s all really busy.
Oh, and third-born and I made chocolates yesterday at her insistence. Just simple molds with milk and white chocolate but they look (and taste) really good. Mmm.
A couple of interesting things this week relating to copyright.
Firstly, the National Party had to recall the DVDs it had produced to promote John Key because it contained music that was the same as or very close to a Coldplay track. See Faux Coldplay forces Key change - Stuff.co.nz and Key out of tune with Coldplay - NZ Herald.
And secondly, an article on the increasing tendency for the enforcers of copyright to go after everyday people who are oblivious of what constitutes copyright breach over ‘performance’ of a piece - in this case someone playing music in the background at their factory/store during a one-off sale. See Feature: For your ears only by Joanne Black | New Zealand Listener.
Fair enough in the first case, but in the second I guess it’s not safe to hum a tune in public any more?
Various books on the go at the moment. Some good, some not so. Random comments follow.
“Metal Swarm” by Kevin J. Anderson (Book 6(!) in the “The Saga of Seven Suns” series). Should be right up my alley - ancient powerful alien races continue ancient wars while plucky humans (with strange alien sometime allies) strive to survive. It’s Babylon 5 all over again - even down to the human politics and civil war. But it reads really badly - too many characters to follow and a million very short chapters focusing on different characters means it feels like watching a TV where someone’s changing the channel every 10 seconds. No time for empathy to develop with any of the characters, and by now it feels like it’s just going through the motions. On a plus side you can skip whole chapters and not miss much of the plot. Undecided on whether I’ll read the next book.
“The Language of God: A Scientist Presents Evidence for Belief” by Francis S. Collins, the director of the National Human Genome Research Institute. Recommended to me by a non-scientist/non-theologian (in the professional sense) so I’ve picked it up from the library. As usual I’ve started reading from the back, in this case the first few pages of the appendix on bioethics which gives some nice summaries of that field. (See also: Religion & Ethics NewsWeekly . PROFILE . DR. FRANCIS COLLINS . July 21, 2006 | PBS)
“Saturnalia: A Marcus Didius Falco Novel” by Lindsey Davis. Falco novels are like a comfortable old pair of slippers for me. When I don’t feel like reading anything too heavy then I get the next one out of the library. I didn’t really like the last one (“See Delphi and Die”), but you know what you’re getting and I’ve always been interested in Ancient Rome. “Saturnalia” improved on the last book, but still missed something of the dramatic tension present in the early novels. (Related information: Second-born (9) has been devouring the children’s equivalent of the Falco novels - Caroline Lawrence’s “Roman Mysteries” - effectively a ‘Famous Five in Ancient Rome’)-
“Practical Theology: On Earth As It Is in Heaven” by Terry A. Veling. Because it was spoken highly of over at Simply Simon: Practicing theology and Simply Simon: Practicing theology II.
“The Blackwell Reader in Pastoral and Practical Theology (Blackwell Readings in Modern Theology)” by John Patton. Because it was near the Veling book on the shelf in the GSC library, and because it covers a wide range of perspectives on the field.
“Engaging the Online Learner: Activities and Resources for Creative Instruction (Online Teaching and Learning Series (OTL))” by Rita-Marie Conrad and J. Ana Donaldson. A book that collects a large number of different online learning examples and is really useful for showing you what other people have down and why, and also for helping design your own activities and assessements.
Duncan Macleod posts an interesting set of links pointing to the use of the web to create a ‘viral’ YouTube clip to highlight the conflicting values within Unilever’s campaigns to market their Dove and Axe (Lynx) brands. See Unilever Hypocrisy Exposed » Television Adverts at Duncan’s TV Ad Land, and the associated link Dove Viral Draws Heat From Critics - Advertising Age - News. I guess it’s all about selling, not a product primarily, but a brand that triggers associations with particular values in the consumer and thereby loyalty to that brand.
Related links:
A list of the top re-read books in the UK. I was surprised at how many of them I’ve re-read.
See booktrade.info - Book Trade Announcements - Oops…I Read It Again!
does my ADSL internet speed slow significantly (a crawl?) when it’s raining hard?
On Saturday we all walked down to the local police station for their open day (See Police open doors to the public - Western Leader). It’s one of those places, like hospitals, that you don’t normally get to look around unless you’re preoccupied with some crisis or other, so we thought we’d go an look around the cells etc. The fire and ambulance services were there as well, and you could climb in the ambulances, fire engines, and police cars; dust for fingerprints in the SOCO (CSI) lab; watch the hazardous situations robot do its thing (my favourite); watch the search and rescue people abseiling with a rescuee in a sled; and, if you were my kids, get licked by police puppies. Plus there were various static displays.
I was surprised at how many people were there, and it looked like a successful PR exercise for the local constabulary.
One of the activities (for kids) was the speed gun running test. From a standing start, sprint up the driveway (steepish hill?) for about 15-20m and they’d clock how fast you’d go. My four kids, being ultra-competitive, did it lots of times seeking to be the fastest. When we were leaving they (and Kim) pressured me into doing it, all of them firm in the belief that I would be slower and they could mock me. Alas, they were incorrect, and my speed just pipped my eleven and nine year old sons.
(Insert glorious victory dance here, and bragging rights for the next few days)
I’m sure I’ll be faster than them for at least a couple more weeks During the soccer season though (with multiple practices a week, plus games) I imagine I will finish an inglorious last in such events.
England 12 - 10 Australia
France 20 - 19 New Zealand
I have it on good authority that the sun won’t be coming up tomorrow and that the Rapture Index will be increasing
School holidays + other things means that this will be a slow blogging week.
Yes, indeed. It’s International Talk Like a Pirate Day.
Arrr!
Death by PowerPoint is an interesting online slideshow presentation about how not to do slideshow presentations (via Tensegrities » Powerpoint “stuff”).
A timely link as I’m currently collating material about the effective use of presentation software.
One of my favourite authors, Madeleine L’Engle, has died at the age of 88. I first encountered her work at primary school when I borrowed A Wrinkle In Time from the school library. I read it several times, and then forgot about her work until a few years back when I was working on an essay about principalities and powers in the apostle Paul’s writings and I came across a footnote in a commentary pointing to her book A Swiftly Tilting Planet and her portrayal of the Ecthroi. I borrowed that book from the library and was hooked again.
Since then I’ve bought a boxed set of her Time Quartet, and coincidentally read Many Waters at the same time as I was working on translating texts from Genesis 1-11 in a Pentateuch course. I thoroughly enjoyed her spiritual autobiographical work Bright Evening Star: Mystery of the Incarnation.
If you’ve never read any of her books, do yourself a favour and check some of them out. You might have to look in the ‘young adults’ section, though that’s how the books were marketed, and not necessarily whom they were written for.
Related links:
Today the electric kettle (jug) needed to be replaced. A trivial event, you think - simply go out an buy one. After all, all a kettle does is heat the water in it to boiling and, if you’re lucky, then turn itself off. Useful for making tea and all that.
So off I went (with fourth-born in tow) to various shops - having done the obligatory pricing research via the net. Now a kettle is a personal sort of thing. You start the day with it, you end the day with it. It tracks you through the day. Choosing a kettle is a matter of great reflection (more so if stainless steel), and so one needs to go and look at them, pick them up, pretend to be ‘mother’ with one, flick switches, check out temperature-dependent colour-change panels, and take lids off and put them on.
Ah, the lid. Many a kettle today tempted us with its sleek lines, vast capacities and filter funnels, but if you can’t get the blessed lid on and off quickly, safely and have it stay on securely then the kettle is useless to me. Filling the kettle is not some optional step (unless you only possess a kettle to look good on the kitchen bench and match the toaster and blender).
Some kettles had flimsy designer lids that will not last the distance (of all components we break lids most often); others had cool push-button, slow motion automated lid opening mechanisms (which fourth-born thought were great, and hence I relegated to the pile of kettles that might be treated unwisely as toys by children who are learning to use one); and several had lids I (with my multiple degrees) could not figure out how to open. I do not want to have to be trained to fill my kettle. Early mornings are bad enough without struggling to make the morning cuppa.
I left with high hopes of finding a new kettle to bring me to a place of heightened oneness with the universe (through the sacrament of tea) and instead left three shops a broken man and without a kettle. (Though I did pick up a new Pyrex bowl to replace the one I dropped last week).
On a whim I popped into a different store well out of our way. Serendipitously it was ‘the great kettle sale’ day there - 50% off! Bought identical kettle to the one that was retired today. No lofty heights of new kettle experiences for me - though I know how to get the lid off it with my eyes shut (so to speak - because that would be a silly thing to do, wouldn’t it?).
Based on my experiences in the past 6 months there’s definitely an element of truth in this recent post on JonnyB’s private secret diary.
Well, low tech in the sense that they don’t need batteries. Still need the internet to access the web pages that tell you about them and, in PocketMod’s case, create the file to print out.
PocketMod: The Free Disposable Personal Organizer
CreativeIQ: Discover PocketMod. The low-tech PDA.
Introducing the Hipster PDA | 43 Folders
MONDOLITHIC STUDIOS - EcoHome - Artist’s impression (and accompanying text) on sustainable dwellings produced for National Geographic Kids.
MONDOLITHIC STUDIOS - An Earth Without Us - Again, artistic representation (& text) about how our technologized landscape might change if all human beings suddenly disappeared.
Links to a couple of images I saw recently on Mondolithic Studios’ web site.
Different Futures. The choices we make now affect those who follow.
Dark Energy. Resonates for me with William Blake’s lines from ‘Auguries of Innocence’, as well as with the dreams of the nanotechnologists.
To see a World in a Grain of Sand
And Heaven in a Wild Flower
Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand
And Eternity in an hour.
Related stuff - Mondolithic search results on Greenflame.
Radio New Zealand National : Programmes A-Z : Nine to Noon : Wed, 18 July had an interesting section from their employment lawyer Andrew Scott-Howman on employers and potential employers using information available on employees (and potential employees) on social networking sites. Audio link here.
Books on the go at the moment.
Article in the NZ Herald notes that it’s illegal to borrow material from some public libraries if you have a communicable disease. More details at Law bans sick book borrowers - 15 Jul 2007 - NZ Herald: New Zealand National news.
Right up there with the recent segment on Radio NZ National’s This Way Up, where they sent a keyboard in to the lab to see what was living under the keys.
Back home after having my gall bladder removed by laproscopic surgery yesterday. No problems with the operation and feel quite good apart from some tenderness. Still a bit of CO2 fizzing around inside though. Asked to keep the gall stones but they turned out to be more of a sludge than nice stones - so that’s another children’s talk idea out the window.
When I was researching the thesis I read about this system - Workmates - da Vinci Surgical System. Was planning to see what they used yesterday but forgot once they started pumping anaesthetic into me. Oh well, next time?
Well, not quite. There aren’t enough positions around to apply for a new one every day 
Still, at the start of every week I go through all the emails that get sent to me from various job sites and tertiary educational institutions HR systems, check university, church and college web sites, plus RSS feeds relating to jobs in humanities etc. Also send out emails to prospective employers and check in with other folk. I’ve met some nice folk doing that, just no-one with a job.
By Tuesday each week I feel a bit like Cecilia in the cartoon below.
Must be somewhere that needs/wants a theologian with expertise in doctrines of creation, eschatology, anthropology and research interests in their intersection with science, technology, ecology, media, pop culture and spirituality. (Plus a love of the OT and expertise in providing IT/internet support for and the teaching of distance theological education). It’s not as if they’re irrelevant topics for the church today.
Interestingly, the most recent positions I’ve seen advertised in Australasia have all been for OT specialists. See:
http://www.ttc.wa.edu.au/employment.shtml#Academic
http://jobs.search4.co.nz/job/view/sxnyr/
Would appreciate a flaming angelic messenger (or even a talking donkey) about now.
The Dominion Post has some pretty summaries of the 2006 census up on its web site available for download. How the data is presented is as interesting as the figures themselves. See NZ by the numbers - Features - Dominion Post
Related links:
2006 Census Data - Statistics New Zealand
Selected tables - Statistics New Zealand
We all went to see the NZ women’s soccer team play Canada at North Harbour Stadium this afternoon. A bit chilly by the end but an enjoyable time with the kids getting to see a good game played.
Final result: Canada 3 - 0 NZ which was a fair reflection of the difference between the teams.
In early January I submitted my PhD thesis (Greenflame » Submission) for examination, and then a couple of weeks ago (May 21) I had my oral defence of the thesis: Transhumanism and the imago Dei : Narratives of apprehension and hope. For the oral I met with my examination panel (The two NZ markers in person, and the US marker via written questions) and a chairperson to defend my thesis. A pretty traumatic experience of just over two hours, though good to be able to address the examiners in person and respond to their criticisms and comment. I’d have hated just getting the examiners’ reports in the mail and not getting the critique nuanced by interaction in person.
Yesterday I received the confirmation letter from the University of Auckland stating officially that the examiners had recommended my thesis favourably and that, pending some minor modifications, I can submit the final copies to the university (within three months) and then graduate with my PhD.
So all the hard work is done, I’ve passed the final examination, and now just need to “dot the i’s and cross the t’s” in a few places and get on with the rest of my life. The feeling gets better every day.
Left: Newman Hall, home to the Catholic Institute of Theology, and site of oral defence trauma.
Right: The Fisher Building (next door to Newman Hall), site of the School of Theology.
Photos taken before the oral, which was a good thing, as I wasn’t in the mood to take any at the end of it.
Up in the dark yesterday to take Mark to a soccer tournament in Whangarei. Returned in the dark too. Mark’s team (U11 Waitakere) played 6 games - won 4, lost 1 and drew 1. The team were happy, as they’re a new squad made up of players from various West Auckland clubs who’ve only had a couple of practices together, and things will get better as they play together more.
Very windy (the Pentecost factor?) but the rain stayed away. See the 360 degree panorama taken from side of the park.
Quicktime VR of the same photo. No idea if this will work, and you’ll probably need to view it in Quicktime player rather than in the browser.
Should be tournaments in Cambridge and Tauranga in the next month or two, so lots more traveling coming up.
Got to go - three soccer practices to get kids to this afternoon. Fortunately all club practices so they are all at the same training ground. Will prepare hot and hearty food for when they return.
If you know of someone theologically qualified and with an interest in sport then this might be of interest:
Professor/Reader in Sport and Christian Outreach - University of Gloucestershire
From my daily web surfing of job sites.
This week I’ve had several conversations relating to communicating to the everyday church the insights of academic insight. How might the months or years of effort put into something like a Masters or PhD thesis result, not just in publications that speak in the language of the academy, but also to things that speak into the lives of everyday people? And not just in a way that talks at or down to ordinary people, but that listens to their concerns, passions, and stories and seeks to use that to inform this communication.
At its heart it’s a question of identifying whom your are serving in your research, and also whether those who aren’t academics will understand you and trust you? It’s not limited to theological research, but to all sorts of research, especially if one of the motivations for the research was to address an issue or subject in order to help or inform people.
At the end of my PhD process reflecting theologically on new technologies I’d like to communicate my questions, struggles, insights and ideas in a variety of ways:
Of course, the question is how to do that. In the past few days Tim over at Sans Blogue reflects on similar thoughts in responses to a student’s question about why the insight in biblical studies often remains inaccessible to those in the church who could benefit from it, and highlights correctly I think, the tension that exists between serving academic performance-based research funding goals and writing to a popular audience. The former recognised and supported financially by the academy, and the latter valued by ordinary people.
(See SansBlogue: Biblical Studies and its “market”)
I’m not sure what the solution is because both types of communication and interaction inform each other. Questions about the everyday world inspire critical reflection at an academic level, while popular communication is enriched by being resourced by the work of scholars. It’s something I’m trying to work out as I look for what’s next.
Related posts:
More reflections by Tim at SansBlogue: Teaching the Universal Soldier
And Scot McKnight’s excellent current series of posts on theological teaching:
I’ve been skimming through John Waters’ book The Real Business of Web Design over the past couple of weeks. It’s been a refreshing change to read a book that talks about web design from a perspective that isn’t bogged down in the ‘how’ of what technologies will be used, but rather concentrates much more on the human dimensions of good design. You can find an excerpt from the book here at DMI eBulletin - The Information Age is History.
On design, Water’s writes:
It is not the singular quality of line, or form, or color in the Apple products or the Turkish tiles, or in any product or message for that matter, which we respond to. It is the totality of those elements—the way line, form, color, texture, pattern, purpose and meaning all fit together—that creates a whole far superior to the sum of its parts. Design is a holistic language that speaks not just to emotion or just to reason, but to both sides of the human brain.
Like Web services, the new metalanguage—a transformative language about language—which allows computers to speak to one another, design may be thought of as a metalanguage for humans, one which speaks more clearly, more universally, more comprehensively than any other language we have. A language that may be used effectively on the Web to help us cross borders, not create them. A language that may help us preserve cultural characteristics while sharing universal concerns. By thinking of design as the metalanguage of humans, the circle of language on the Web can be expanded to include everyone. (p.222)
Reminds me of the Mutton Birds song, ‘A thing well made’, which includes the lyrics:
Can you see the man who made that?
Can you see him putting it down and standing back?
Can you see the moment when he said “That’s it. That’s perfect.”?
At a time like that you wouldn’t care about your job,
Or your mortgage, or the fight you had with your wife.
‘Cause when a man holds a thing well made,
There’s connection,
There’s completeness when a man holds a thing well made.
Now in the song, the items in question are rifles, which reminds us of the ambiguity of human creativity— the human capacity to be creative and innovative in design, and yet to use that capacity for both good and evil. And also of almost transcendent power found in things that are well-designed, and how that addresses something deep within us.
I love this cartoon strip! We had a fridge just like this one in the honours room back in the Canterbury computer science department. Inherited each year by the next generation of honours and masters students, the fridge was guaranteed to taint any item placed in it with a strange taste within an hour or two.
Links to a two-part post on the creation of immersive story worlds that span soaps, wrestling, and superhero comics. Interestingly, another post on the blog connects the worlds of soaps with comic books more explicitly using the example of DC’s recent 52 and Marvel’s Civil War. Not too surprising really, given that Star Trek and Firefly are probably better classified as ‘space opera‘ rather than hard science fiction. People watch as much for the interplay of the characters as for the speculative devices.
See:
Related link: Greenflame » Dylan Horrocks on comics, games and world-building.
I have a date for my viva voce! (The oral defense of my thesis.) Feels like Amos 5:18 as I begin to prepare for it. But then, I’m sure all thesis students defending their work like this feel the same way, and in less than three weeks it’ll be behind me, regardless of the outcome.
Somewhat encouraged by the likes of Steve, Cathy, and all the others I know who’ve come through it unscathed(?).
And yes, I’m currently not talking to those who didn’t have to do one to get their PhD.
The cover story, “In the name of God,” from the Easter issue of the New Zealand Listener and which asks the question “Is religion dangerous?” is now available online.
See Cover Story: In the name of God by Philip Matthews | New Zealand Listener.
Interesting to see the writer interplay another thinker (Keith Ward) with Richard Dawkins, rather than just spout off Dawkin’s lines.
Had a wee spell feeling under the weather over the past 4-5 days, and ended up in the hospital for four days. This was the view from my bed (if I sat up), over Lake Pupuke in Takapuna. Weather was a little bleak, but that didn’t stop all manner of rowers, sailors and others entertaining me with their antics on the lake. Met many interesting people along the way, but the bed was bl**dy uncomfortable.
Back home now, but taking it easy. Ah biology, you have to love it.
I receive an email. It’s a friend asking for my assistance with something as a handyman. I read the email again to make sure I read it correctly. It still seeks my advice. I sit down for a bit to recover.
I decline to show said email to my wife fearing derisive laughter, and instead post about it on the net, where my two readers can bask in the glow of my ‘do-it-yourself’ aptitude. I have become an ‘expert’ sought out for my practicality. I feel at one with the universe.
Tomorrow I shall find my toolkit from where it’s buried in the shed. In the meantime I surf over to hardware shop web sites to mentally, emotionally and spiritually prepare myself. With great power comes great responsibility.
One of my friends (who shall remain nameless) gave me one of these. With friends like these…
Took my two youngest children to the beach today as something different to do during the school holidays. Over to Long Bay on the North Shore, the weather was glorious, the kids splashed in the sea, played on the playground and rode on the little train. Then down to Takapuna for lunch with Kim - and we got to see a graduation procession through town for Massey University complete with pipe band.
A nice day and here’s a snap of the beach this morning.
Life seems to have been busy of sorts lately.
Lots of little things - but they all add up.