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Geoff Coupe's BlogThoughts of a retired stiff 6/27/2009 The Grand Illusion of ConsciousnessHere's Dr. Susan Blackmore giving a terrific presentation on why she thinks consciousness is a "grand illusion". Well worth your time.
Now I want to read more about it... 6/24/2009 Eau de Raison...If it was an actual product, I'd almost be tempted to buy a bottle, just to try it... But, as Mrs Lovett and Sweeney might say, it's just (taking the) piss with ink... 6/21/2009 Surrealism While ShoppingI mentioned a Lily Allen song a little while back. It's currently being played quite a lot on Dutch radio stations. And it has a certain earworm power.
I'm finding it somewhat bizarre that when I'm in shops, where the radio substitutes as muzak, that I'm confronted with Dutch matrons of a certain age lip-syncing along to the tune:
6/20/2009 Gutsy, Snotty TearsAlastair Appleton writes of the power of art to provoke a reaction - often when we least expect it. I know what he means. I remember visiting Tate Modern some years back and seeing Stanley Spencer's The Resurrection - Port Glasgow and dissolving on the spot into floods of gutsy, snotty tears. The Apocalypse ApproachesI rather wish it would be this sort of apocalypse, but somehow I doubt it. 6/17/2009 The Problem With Madeleine BuntingI've never been a fan of Madeleine Bunting - Our Maddy of the Sorrows. I have the strong impression that underneath all the hand-wringing lies something close to the vituperativeness and dogmatism of a Melanie Phillips. I think that yesterday, Bunting inadvertently let the mask slip in a piece in the Guardian titled "The Problem With Ophelia Benson". It's a rather nasty piece, and actually shines an unflattering light into corners of Bunting's psyche rather than Benson's. Ophelia has responded in measured fashion here.
The latest Jesus and Mo cartoon seems to speak to the situation as well. 6/14/2009 A Day OutWe had a day out yesterday, visiting a potter friend of ours in Flevoland, and then taking in a rather elaborate garden on the way back. Gerda Grashuis had an open day at her pottery (Pottenbakkerij GG), which also featured the work of fellow potter Bert Wieman, the sculptures of Loes Kouwenhoven and the paintings of Carolien Kooi.
On the way home, we did a small detour to the village of Teuge in Gelderland, and visited the Levenstuinen van het Groot Hontschoten. Levenstuinen translates as Life Gardens, but I haven’t a clue what Hontschoten means. I have to confess that what prompted me to visit these gardens was not the fact that the gardens have been planned “according to Zen Principles” and a walk through them will “give much positive energy”. You know that this sort of thing causes much eye-rolling with me. No, what caught my attention was the fact that my gaydar pinged very loudly once I learned that the garden’s owners were two men: Charles van de Nieuwegiessen and Hans IJzerman. Check out their bios on the web site and I suspect that you will agree that my gaydar was probably accurate for once in my life. In any event, the gardens are certainly worth a visit. They are somewhat like a cross between a spiritual ghost train and a series of stage sets, managing to pack in an amazing number of different vistas into a relatively small space.
Making ChangesWe have a couple of ponds in our garden. A large one in the front garden, and a smaller pond abutting the patio at the back of the house. This was how the pond at the back used to look:
This smaller pond had a waterfall, but unfortunately that had a leak somewhere, so whenever it was turned on, the water level in the pond fell over the the course of a few days. The pond itself also seemed to have a slow leak, and the water level would drop to a lower level than we wanted. Earlier this year, Martin had had enough of the problems, and so we decided we would get rid of the whole thing and replace it with a more formal pond. Rather than tackle this project ourselves, we thought it would be better to get in the professionals. So we contracted the folks at the Watermolen to come in and do the heavy work, once we had drained the pond.
The bit that worried us the most was moving the millstone. The first crane could only just manage to slide it out of the way…
Then the new pond was marked out and excavated…
Part of the area occupied by the old pond was filled in and would become the basis for a new patio. The guys brought in a bigger crane when the time came to replace the millstone into its new spot in the pond.
And now, several months later, after the new patio and paths were laid, and the lawn resown, this is the result. We are very pleased with it.
6/11/2009 The Stupid, It Burns...Well, you know that I have no time for astrologers, but really, Satya Harvey ought to get a prize for this twaddle.
The Stupid, it burns. By the way, her bio is also a jewel. I've resisted sending her a message, as it exhorts me to do. I couldn't trust myself not to be witheringly sarcastic.
(hat tip to Phil) Green FieldsIf you're troubled with life or afraid of death, here's a prescription that might soothe. I've followed it a number of times in my life and it does work. He's Back!Here's some good news at least: Mr. Deity has returned with a third series. Here's episode 1: Mr. Deity and the Virgin...
Blood MoneySo, Shell has settled out of court with the plaintiffs in the Saro-Wiwa case. As a retired employee of Shell, I have the uncomfortable feeling that too much dirty linen would have been aired in court, which saddens, but doesn't really surprise, me. At least the Saro-Wiwa family and the other plaintiffs feel some sense of closure, which is a good thing, but I am not proud of Shell.
And now Malcolm Brinded, the executive director of Royal Dutch Shell, has an opinion piece in today's Guardian claiming that Shell wanted an opportunity to prove its innocence, and that settling out of court, far from suggesting that Shell was guilty, was the right thing to do. The piece strikes me as a study in breathtaking effrontery. No, I'm not proud of Shell at the moment. 6/10/2009 Catch 'em YoungI've never been a fan of Faith Schools. All too often they seem designed to develop intolerance and ignorance of others. That said, if the schools were being funded entirely by their own communities, then I can state my misgivings, but there's an end to it (unless they break laws, of course).
But now, here in the Netherlands, we have an interesting situation developing. Most of the country's faith schools are state-funded, in other words, some percentage of my taxes go to support them. And now, the Dutch government's highest advisory council says state-funded schools should be allowed to exclude teachers for being homosexual. Er, hello?
I suppose I really shouldn't be surprised that the usual suspects are lining up to state that they think this is a really good idea:
So presumably Mr. Kuiper is now suggesting that not only the "cabinet should follow the advice", but that the other 2,100 Christian schools should abide by the principle and get rid of those pesky gay teachers who are obviously corrupting their charges by their very presence in the classroom. And naturally, we have others from the other side of the religious divide trumpeting their joy:
Yeah, get out of our schools... Happy to, if you stop taking my tax money...
Of course, what this removal will lead to is more of what is seen in areas such as Slotervaart, where the chairman of the borough council is trying to combat anti-gay feelings in his community. The irony is that such polarisation would not occur if children could learn some simple truths about people and society right there in their schools... 6/7/2009 But Only Just...Those are the last three words that Felix Dennis utters sotto voce in this performance of his poems. I don't quite know whether to applaud or hiss at his life's work. Perhaps the tension is the thing that makes it interesting.
Sapolsky on ReligionI've not come across Professor Robert Sapolsky before, but I found this lecture by him absolutely riveting. Well worth your time.
6/6/2009 Out Of The Mouths Of Babes And Sucklings...A rather jolly video produced by a bunch of French teens. I usually try and present reasoned arguments to homophobes, but of course with them it's just like water off a duck's back, so I usually end up getting incensed. How pleasant, therefore, to be able to sing along with this bouncy little ditty by Lily Allen and at the same time ridicule homophobes everywhere.
(hat tip to Box Turtle Bulletin) Like A VirginAnother classic from Jesus and Mo... How Are The Mighty FallenI mentioned yesterday how depressing the news was that small-minded xenophobia seems to be on the rise in Dutch Politics, with the success of Geert Wilders and his party in the Dutch election for the European Parliament. Across the channel, things don't seem to be much better, with the implosion of Gordon Brown's government.
Mind you, the quality of the politicians, or rather, the lack of it, has a lot to do with it. Marina Hyde in today's Guardian captures the almost farcial nature of the happenings to a tee. Not so much Brown's Cabinet as Karno's Army. I particularly liked Hyde's withering verdict on the appalling Hazel Blears. I don't know whether Blears does consider herself the natural heir to Barbara Castle as Hyde suggests. It would not surprise me if Blears did, but in reality the comparison is so outlandish as to cause a sharp intake of breath. 6/5/2009 The People Have Spoken...... and it's a sad day for Dutch democracy. It appears that Geert Wilders' right-wing populist party looks likely to win 15% of yesterday's European Parliament vote and will get four seats. I feel saddened and soiled by this news. 6/3/2009 The Carnival of IdaBrian Switek has an excellent roundup of scientific commentary on Ida, or Darwinius masillae, the fossil unveiled in a blaze of media glory last month. It really is a beautiful specimen, but many people, including me, have severe misgivings about all the hype that went along with it. 6/1/2009 Compare and ContrastBBC Four had a couple of history programmes on tonight. First up was Terry Jones on the Celtic civilisation that existed in Europe around the time of Caesar. Then we had Dan Snow on How the Celts Saved Britain. Frankly, give me the lugubrious and slightly cynical Jones over the puppyish Snow any day. Jones' programme was thought-provoking. Snow's programme was almost complete and utter tripe.
The most telling thing was that Jones stated the old saw about the fact that history is written by the victors (in his case, Caesar). Snow seemed blissfully unaware of this during his retelling of his version of history. A Dim-lit Shot of Dangling BallsBonnie Tyler's Total Eclipse of the Heart was, for me, one of the defining videos of the 1980s. Therefore, this literal reading of the video had me in stitches:
Welcome To Our Titted OverlordsCharlie Brooker is on fine form this week. He may not be entirely serious, but he does have a point. The wetware operating system that runs in the brain of the male variant of Homo sapiens is long overdue for an upgrade. 5/31/2009 The Digital ClosetThere was an interesting article on Ars Technica the other day about anti-gay censorship in online gamer forums. The article itself is well-written and level-headed, but what really struck me was reading the comments (all nine pages and counting at the moment) on the article. The amount of fuckwittery on display is really quite astonishing. 5/30/2009 Traditional CraftsHere’s a post to extol the virtues of traditional crafts and craftsmanship. Last Sunday, there was an event held in our local small town of Varsseveld. Billed as an “Old-timers’ day” (you can understand why I felt right at home), it was a combination of a market, an exhibition of vintage cars and tractors, and folk dancing.
It was charming in its simple way, but I do want to draw your attention to the fact that Varsseveld is the home of the Dutch Clogmaker Champion. Jurjen Jolink has won the title for the last two years running.
While the painted clogs are sold as souvenirs, the everyday clogs are still worn by a lot of folks around here when they’re out working in their fields or gardens.
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