Greenflame

Jottings on science, religion, technology, pop culture, photography and faith from the Aotearoa New Zealand

Category: General

  • New Zealand Electronic Poetry Centre

    Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Go to the nzepc – new zealand electronic poetry centre. Enjoy. Have a look at nzepc – 12 Taonga – Whetu Moana under the Features section. (Here be text and sound recordings).

  • The pace of blogging

    Seems the pace of blogging – the frequency and length of posts – is slowing up, particularly in the NZ blogs I read. Must be the end of winter – spring is almost here (an “already but not-yet” tension for the eschatologially minded) but the energy burst of new growth isn’t quite here yet. On…

  • It must be spring!

    Yesterday was the last day of the soccer season for two of my boys. A couple of convincing victories and an end of season party to round it off. Boots put away, soccer strip washed and shin pads retired. This afternoon the cricket gear came out. The pitch was a little moist (as in very…

  • Rhythm Science

    Looks interesting. Once you get into the flow of things, you’re always haunted by the way that things could have turned out. This outcome, that conclusion. You get my drift. The uncertainty is what holds the story together, and that’s what I’m going to talk about. Rhythm Science – The MIT Press by Paul D.…

  • Modern Kiwi Rituals

    A while back I blogged about contemporary Rites of Passage and the lack thereof perceived by some. Now in the latest AA Directions magazine (AA as in Automobile Association) they give their list of modern Kiwi rituals including The Fishing Trip, The Car Rally, The Wedding, The Singalong, The Tattoo, The Hangi, The Match, and…

  • Let’s put ourselves in some boxes

    Seen on jonnybaker: test your political leanings a link to The Political Compass. Here you can take a quick quiz (5 minutes) and see where you lie on the socio-political spectrum (with comparisons to well-known political figures).

  • Books on the go

    Even though I’ve been busy preparing theology lectures and generally stressing out being busy recently I’ve been reading these too. Just finished Alan Jamieson’s Journeying in Faith. To be honest I think I got more out of A Churchless Faith but as with that book the stories told by the various people interviewed were the…

  • Dark Matter

    I’m in the process of reading the anthology Dark Matter : A Century of Speculative Fiction from the African Diaspora edited by Sheree R. Thomas. I’m finding it both enjoyable, confusing in places and extremely challenging all at the same time. There are short stories and essays in the collection. Derrick Bell’s short story “The…

  • A Question of Proportion

    From David Slack’s web site a a short quiz about aspects of the Treaty of Waitangi. See A Question of Proportion: Questionnaire. At the end of it you can see how you rate against others who’ve done the quiz. Finally, a chance to prove that you really are the “expert” you proclaim to be in…

  • Ursula K. Le Guin’s: Some assumptions about fantasy

    A recent talk given by Ursula K. Le Guin (one of my favourite writers) on the assumptions made about writing fantasy stories (and why they’re wrong). She notes the assumptions are: 1. The characters are white. 2. Fantasy Land is the Middle Ages. 3. Fantasy by definition concerns a “Battle Between Good and Evil” (BBGE).…