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    A Sad End…


    2012 - 11.04

    I’m sorry to say that the old Furabg won’t be updating any more. Unfortunately she was taken by a couple of dogs this afternoon. Thankfully it looks like she was literally caught napping and probably didn’t know what happened.

    It’s fair to say she’s been taking it tough the last seven months, clearly not taking to the new addition all that well. She was begrudgingly sharing her space and human. She is now permanently “snoozing” under her favourite Pine Tree in the back yard. It truly is a sad day, and the end of an era. I’ve had her for seventeen years now, and it’s been an interesting period of my life. I’d say I had a closer relationship with Baggins than most other cats I’ve had over the years.

    The blog will stay up as a memorial to the many years of pleasure and punishment that the Furbag gave me. No doubt Tigga will continue some of the hilarity of Human vs Feline.

    RIP Furbag

    RIP Baggsy

    RIP – Furbag

    Death of a Salesman (if ONLY)…


    2011 - 04.29

    There was a time not too long ago (1990’s & early 2000’s) when a TV series had a season to warm up. Not only that, a Season was a good 20+ episodes. A series had time to grow, find it’s feet and an audience had time to see the multi-dimensionality of characters, and the ideas the series was trying to explore.

    There’s no doubt these days that’s not the case. It’s all about Lowest Common Denominator – LCD (and not the screen). Series with any real intellectual and creative stimulation are ruthlessly “euthanised” because audiences in general clearly can’t deal well with show’s that don’t spoon feed them every thought and emotion. Couple that with a medium rigidly unresponsive to the way a large number of viewer wish to absorb the media (i.e. WHEN AND WHERE they desire. Instead of embracing new opportunities to let viewers enjoy shows, studios continue to try to tie their viewers down to schedules that don’t mesh with their daily lives.

    It seems we’re in the decade of no imagination or creativity at all. A significant number of movies are poor remakes of classics or cult favourites. Even series are beginning to follow suite. Is it that Studios believe that there is no one alive that remembers the originals? There are some that clearly attempt to ride the fame of their antecedents, and then make a mockery of them. Effects don’t make up for creativity and challenging your audience. Clearly the Electronic Games Industry is following in it’s cousin’s footsteps with many pretenders and few rebels.

    My TV has been nothing but a “display for more than fifteen years. I don’t even think about what’s on TV, don’t use it for “news” or any other type of information. In fact I find a TV on and displaying a transmitted show invariably annoying to the extreme. Not only is the content utterly appalling for the most part, but insulting. Certainly I watch products generated by the industry, but for so long I’ve chosen a “removed” mode like many others. Pay TV went that 15 odd years ago when they started advertising. The only possible thing that could persuade me to engage that service is if I could literally pay for the 4 or 5 stations I might likely watch on a regular basis. I don’t want 20 channels of rubbish, just so I can have 3 or 4 reasonable ones to try and pick some content from that I can choose to watch at a time of my choosing.

    Equally I’ve tired to a large degree of buying many PC games. Copy Protection has become so annoying that I can’t be bothered taking chances on many games I’ve not researched and clearly have a strong pedigree or some outstanding feature. And just because I’m not buying a lot of games doesn’t mean I’m pirating them. I honestly can’t even remember the last time I “evaluated” in any form other than a demo.

    Drip, Drop, Pitter, Patter (and NOT little feet)…


    2011 - 02.18

    I’m yet to fully discern what lies behind my adoration / obsession with rain, listening to the rain: basically doing anything in the rain. All I know is that I rarely feel so at peace with the Cosmos as when listening to rain or being in the rain. There are two earliest recollections of rain of which I’m aware at this stage.

    I have  one of lying in my bed at night when young listening to the rain in the dark for what seemed like hours, floating away on the sound, merging with the rain. Somehow I feel a sense of innocence and purity when I recall this experience.

    The other is of sitting under a Willow Tree by the lake near my home on an afternoon, simply watching the rain fall onto the surface of the lake, listening to the symphony of tiny splashes, eventually building up to a fair crescendo as the rain got heavier. I remember the light breeze and fresh smell I’ve come to appreciate like few others. I was to have an early sexual experience in that same spot a few years later, in the rain, partially chosen because of the sense of safety I’d felt there on several occasions, and because we both liked the area. It was one of my few early experiences where I felt some emotional connection to the girl I was with, making it something more than just “getting it”…Not so innocent, but still something potent.

    Cruisin’ Year’s End…


    2010 - 11.07

    Not that far to go and another year will be over, and another to begin! Thing’s been quiet lately; work, exercise, sexercise, and slipping in a bit of non institutional study.

    I’ve had a friend staying with me the last week, and possibly for another few weeks. He’s in a transitional period and needs a base to springboard from while seeking some change. Good to be of help to someone in such a situation, nothing worse than finding out someone needed help and didn’t ask. I’m sure the Cosmos and he will fall back into line soon.

    Went for a trip to Apollo Bay with couple of friends yesterday, it was nice to get back down that way when not doing it for work. It’s always lovely down there, slipping through the Otway Ranges is always good for the soul.

    The Netgear Stora got “forcibly retired”, it’s been replaced with a WD Sharespace, which at least provides more expandability and better management. I’ll add a picture to the blog soon. Other additions to the household lately: new dining table and chairs to match the bar stools (thanks Kingy), and finally a bed in the spare room for those guests not engaging in carnal celebrations while here!

    And the answer is: not 42…


    2010 - 09.06

    Well the year rolls over, and the birthday shag tradition is intact just…
    The Cosmos certainly toted with me though: I had no power from 0:45 Sunday morning until 18:30 Sunday evening. I’d rescheduled twice in anticipation of the worst! But fortunately all was sorted with time to spare. Considering my guest / present was traveling this had had me sweating (in a bad way).
    Anyway saw in the early early morn in the most fitting way I can think of for such a day and that’s the main thing.
    The Cosmos provides.

    Too many bricks and a wall…


    2010 - 08.22

    I don’t know why I would begin to think to the contrary, but the Runes were spot on yet again. Doors have closed, some things are lost, perhaps others were never really there. Intentionally or not there’s just nothing left to connect on. Either way suddenly I realise that there’s just no place for me in some realities…

    A reach across time & space…


    2010 - 08.11

    Alive or dead, physically present or not, those close to us exert amazing influence even without doing anything. To have been touched intimately either physically, emotionally or spiritually binds us to another far more than we may intend at the time. Even Time is not a barrier, although it seems to be the only salve to appease a soul’s hunger or desire and even then it seems we’re not necessarily proof. A remembered look, or touch, a breath across the neck, or hair across the stomach lingers for years, decades…

    A different sort of Pillow Talk…


    2010 - 07.18

    There are some old friends where you just don’t have to say anything, they understand perfectly, there’s a connection that transcends the spoken word. You can discuss anything freely without fear or prejudice. Just being with them creates tangible changes in the Cosmos around you both and creates that sort of Microcosm where the rest of the world just doesn’t matter for 12 hours, or a day. Total Freedom to be!

    Helen and I were having a post breakfast chat in bed this morning, and it’s amazing how interesting morning after conversations get when there’s no “romantic” emotional content to clear from the air. The conversation turned to people who had left their mark on us, where that had left us, and how people all too many times seem determined to drag relationships through the wringer so far that they end up despising those that once they claimed to love.

    I was struck this morning with the idea that in some part this is an unconscious attempt to subvert the old feelings that can arise when you see this person again later. Yet the rewards for those who can extricate themselves before descending into the never-ending spiral of the blame game are potentially great. To have someone that you’ve been through much with, and agreed that you’ve run your course without needing to blame each other for something that no longer worked is worth more than money can buy. Helen and I’ve both enjoyed the benefits of such including with each other.

    A slightly different case in point was yesterday, where despite my best efforts to feel nothing, I just don’t seem to have surgically removed all. What’s left is harmless, but a humbling experience, because I realise I just cannot exorcise it all no matter how much I would like to, without losing what I’ve worked so hard to achieve over all these years. I was intrigued because it doesn’t seem to matter how well you think you burn certain feelings out of you, and cauterise the area, you can’t seem to cut it all out. It seems a bit like cancer. There’s always the potential for it all to come undone when you see that person face to face again. You realise then that unless you’ve perverted that old love to hate, you’re always going to be doomed to feel something no matter how little is left.

    Just seeing them is enough to remind you of what attraction there was once before. And then we spooned, and there we lay, 2 drifters in the Cosmos, both alone but not lonely…

    The Bed’s too big without … Who?


    2010 - 07.07

    Definitely getting over the cold now, not 100%, but getting close.

    With a couple of further days off last week attempting to recover from this cold, I managed to knock off Heavy Rain. I’m strongly considering buying a second hand PS3 provided I can find one at a reasonable price just to play this game again a few more times. I actually bought a new copy for $50 from JB Hifi which has sort of committed me to this, albeit at the appropriate time designated by the Cosmos.

    The emotional reframing I’ve been working on has also been progressing well too, with a good sense of stability returning and a sense of grounding also. There’s been a few tough patches, but the last few days have unfolded much more comfortably. It’s amazing that Albert Ellis’ RE(b)T is still a useful avenue for positive change. Couple that with revisiting a bit of Psychosynthesis and the medium to long term prognosis is very good.

    Let’s just say I’m feeling up for continued diet of non committal sex, whores and assorted toys. I guess I’m just prepared to acknowledge that I occasionally feel sad about an empty bed by 07:00.

    A Gypsy Fancy gone with the Caravan…


    2010 - 06.29

    Recovery from this Cold is progressing finally, not cured, but on the mend. So while a physical purging is in progress, so too is an emotional exorcism. Some feelings just can’t be held onto if life is to go on forward.

    I’ve always been one to try to move forward in the journey, and now is a time that demands I move forward sooner rather than later. If I dwell within what is held when there is no reason to hold on, I’ll slowly die a little more each day. So I’m purging both physically and emotionally. Hopefully to spiritually move forward, and embrace the Cosmos again, rather than try to force my way aside from the path.