Greco-Roman

Wandering around Thessaloniki we came across this Roman arch celebrating some victory by some emperor presumably (no details - Thessaloniki doesnt really cater to tourists in this regard). Thats me at the centre of the arch with my hands raised, alongside John (doing the same), Greg, and Siya (reclining against the fence).

Greece!

My trip to Greece is over, and after returning to Londons colder and wetter May, looking at my photos now with their clear blue skies seems like Greece is indeed a world away... was it all a dream?

Here are some pics from my last few days in Greece, staying at the Blue Bay hotel near Thessaloniki - on the coast approx 1 hour bus ride south east. A bit of fisbee on the beach, lots of relaxing, reading books, swimming and trying not to get too sunburnt (I failed miserably). We had the place virtually to ourselves, as the summer tourist season hasnt quite kicked off. As far as I'm concerned it was perfect precisely because we didnt have to vie for recliners by the pool with throngs of other eurotrash. Temps were in the 30's. An idillic wee town within 20mins walk away had cafe's, restaurants and tourist shops selling Ray Bans for something like 10 euro, and other 'authentic' mechandise, as well as some less tacky art & craft shops.

A sane response.

I like reading sane responses by people who are fed up with what is done in their name (supposedly). I am talking about the ID/ CS agenda in the US, which is a fairly hot topic at the moment.

I found this and really liked what he had to say.

the problems with tolerance and other things...

An interesting read over here


Particularly under the follow up comments from "SteveG", who proposes (i think), minimising tolerance (and where it is required) by rationally determining where possible what the morally right action is. He terms this "Process absolutism" - believing there is a morally absolute correct answer, and trying to rationalise towards it, and where there is uncertainty, tolerance is required. (I'm mangling this terribly, so if you are interested head on over for a read). There are some interesting points -i swear.

Lets make Creation - Science not suck

Excellent post, on a blog over here

I have real problems with CS being anything other than at best an oxymoron, and at worst, responsible for isolating genuinely intelligent people to write off Christianity as archaic and potentially evil nonsense. I may discuss further my views if I get around to it.

Things I miss about NZ

I thought I'd have a brief winge about things I miss about good ol' NZ.
Its mostly to do with Food. The UK is a bit disappointing when it comes to good food and drink. They do know how to make a good beer though.
OK here goes:
*Cafe food -inevitably plain -toasted sammies, greasy food, or pastries, and I miss a good ol Eggs Benedict from Atomic Cafe in Ponsonby.
*Cafe Atmosphere. Either its a chain like Starbucks, Costa or Neros (ie same ol american-like shite), or its a bit lacking in atmosphere, whereas NZ cafes have Charm. Costas are at least reliable when it comes to an OK coffee.
*Coffee is just flavourless -watery, and no coffee scent that you get in NZ cafes (I am so puzzled as to how they just CANT do coffee?). They lack Flat Whites, and Long Blacks, Vienna, the Hot Chocolates are not made with frothed milk & no marshmellows, and they use something akin to Milo to make it with -Cadburys drinking chocolate over here is not as good as what you get in NZ either.
*Icecream -but then we always knew NZ icecream was the shiznit.
*Marmite -you can Vegemite over here, and even Vogels, but I'm a fan of NZ Marmite, and the UK stuff is horrid.
*Fish n Chips. Think of the worst FnC you've ever had in NZ, its likely to better than standard fare over here. To be avoided.
*Burgers. Burger Fuel and Burger Wisconsin make fine burgers, and trust me, they are better than anything over here.

There, now that thats off my chest I can stop being such a winge.

I do love the public transport, the building quality, the parks etc, the quality of the university, testament to the fact that the UK does think long term, and something NZ is certainly short of -long term foresight.

The Decline and Fall of the West

The decline and Fall of the West

A very right wing opinionated piece, but nevertheless a fun read, and some good points regarding the future of the West, with our incredibly low birthrates - Spain is halving every generation at the current rate of decline! (assuming his data is correct).

And despite my dislike of intolerance, at the same time I can see his point clearly on the problem of Islam -it is an extremely intollerant religion. I'm definately at odds with Political Correctness and being free to call a spade a spade.

The decline and fall of the west can be blamed on one thing - the pill. Our desire to control our biology - our very mode of existence, will lead to our ultimate destruction.

Lumpenproletariat

Doing some random surfing today and came across the term "chav" on a BBC News report describing modern terminology (along with blogging, dogging, and a number of other things I cant remember). Being semi-interested in English subculture, I turned to Wiki to fill me in on what I perhaps ought to know...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chav


Apparently, not a recent phenomenon - Marx had a term for this subculture as well: The Lumpenproletariat. Proletariat being of course the working classes, productive, hard working, and the ones Marx was keen to see ruling society. The lumpenproletariat however, were seen as the scum on the refuse pile of society, and completely useless to him and his plans for his revolutionary ideas.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lumpenproletariat


And I managed to find this excellent photo essay on "yoof" culture in London Council estates. While some may mock others for their poor taste in clothing, there is a very real sad story behing a lot of these individuals.

http://todayspictures.slate.com/inmotion/simon/