Quote of the day ...

"There is really nothing Channel Seven will stop at in lying to its audience,"

Stuart Littlemore QC

Big Bad Barry Hall

Barry Barry Barry ...

Philippe Starck says "everything he designed was unnecessary"

(AFP) — Renowned French designer Philippe Starck says he is fed up with his job and plans to retire in two years, in an interview published in a German weekly on Thursday.

"I was a producer of materiality and I am ashamed of this fact," Starck told Die Zeit weekly newspaper.

"Everything I designed was unnecessary".

"I will definitely give up in two years' time. I want to do something else, but I don't know what yet. I want to find a new way of expressing myself ...design is a dreadful form of expression."

Starck, who is known for his interior design of hotels and Eurostar trains and mass consumption objects ranging from chairs to tooth brushes and lemon juice squeezers, went on to say that he believed that design on the whole was dead.

http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5jZ9aaCenPfUCVgRIlkxTfDDvbzow

Man saves beached whale

Nice ending !!

Dissonance

"The more costly a decision, in terms of time, money, and inconvenience, and the more irrevocable its consequences, the greater the dissonance and the greater need to reduce it by overemphasizing the good things about the choice made."

Michael Webster summaries a key point from the book:

"Mistakes were made, but not by me"


In simple terms, cognitive dissonance can be the filtering of information that conflicts with what one already believes, in an effort to ignore that information and reinforce one's beliefs.

Love this pic ...

Funny

Drunken Australian threatened city with TV remote

Feb 7th 2008

Reuters

CANBERRA - A drunken man's threat to blow up half a city with his television remote control forced Australian police to declare a state of emergency at a luxury golf resort, a local court heard on Thursday.

http://in.reuters.com/article/entertainmentNews/idINIndia-31810020080207

Banksy in Enmore Road Sydney

Nice one Banksy !!

More frogs

Random Man thanks Marie for photos.

Frogs

Random Man went frog collecting (so much fun!)

Note: all frogs were released unharmed.

Howard Cartoon

Not drowning ... talking

CIA bans a form of water torture
September 15, 2007

The CIA has banned the controversial interrogation technique known as "water boarding," which simulates drowning to persuade suspects to talk, a report says.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/World/CIA-bans-a-form-of-water-torture/2007/09/15/1189277026390.html

Bush Blunder OPEC - APEC ?

Mr Bush, in Australia for the APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation) summit of world leaders, took to the stage at the Sydney Opera House and thanked Mr Howard for his introduction and for being such a "kind host" for the OPEC summit.

"I mean APEC summit," he said.

"I've been invited to the OPEC summit next year. The APEC summit."

War on APEC - Chaser boys at it again

The Chasers on horseback at an APEC protest. (No real police horses in Sydney for APEC because of the equine flu).







Osama also made a visit to APEC.

The Chaser's bogus Canadian motorcade of two black vans, a hire car, two very unofficial looking motorcycles and jogging security heavies remained undetected until Morrow and Licciardello got out of their car outside Mr Bush's hotel, where police grabbed them.

Some drunk aussie at Scores

Random Man says "one night is a long time in politics".

Don't drink 8 cans before a race !!

Man's heart stops after Red Bull overdose

Daniel Dasey

August 19, 2007
SMH

A MAN whose heart stopped after he consumed eight Red Bull energy drinks in five hours has called for an overhaul of the product's warning labels.

Matthew Penbross, 28, collapsed after downing the popular drinks, each containing 80 milligrams of caffeine, last Sunday.

He drank the Red Bull while competing in a motocross event on the state's Mid North Coast.

His heart stopped and he needed defibrillation from ambulance officers.

Source

Trip to Canberra

Swans vs Melbourne at Manuka Oval

Good win to the Swans!! 17.10.112 over Melbourne 9.10.64

Comic Science

Scientists make TV remote redundant with a wave of the hand

Barbara McMahon in Sydney
Friday July 20, 2007
Gaurdian Unlimited

A new device that allows viewers to operate the on/off switch or change channels by simple hand gestures may make the remote control lost down the back of the sofa a thing of the past.

Its inventors, two engineers from Wollongong University in Australia, say the new gadget incorporates a camera that recognises hand signals and translates them into electronic commands for the TV and other audiovisual equipment.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/australia/story/0,,2131226,00.html