Geoff Coupe's Blog

Reflections on life at “De Witte Wand”…

Year: 2008

  • Open Mouth…

    …Change feet. It appears as though Dr. Williams is on a roll at the moment. I hope he comes to his senses soon.
     
    Update: I think Andrew Brown’s comment in The Guardian pretty much nails it:
    "Only if Islamic law can be reduced to a game played between consenting adults can it be acceptably enforced in this country; and that’s not, I think, how it is understood by its practitioners." 
    Update 2: Yasmin Alibhai-Brown also has her doubts: What he wishes on us is an abomination. I can’t help but feel that she’s right.

  • Tufte’s Rocket

    Nice. So’s Mr. Nitowski.

  • Ballard Interview

    Over at Ballardian is a transcription of a recent interview of J. G. Ballard. Excellent stuff, which gives some fresh insights into what makes Ballard tick.

  • Space Psychiatry

    Vaughan, over at Mind Hacks, has an interesting piece on space psychiatry. The topic dates back to 1959, when a special issue of the American Journal of Psychiatry was devoted to it. Given the time, it was not surprising that one article:
    …discusses the possibilities of using psychological selection techniques for space crew and notes that it should exclude "the person with a history of constantly fighting and rebelling both against peers and authority figures, as well as those with pressing homosexual or other major neurotic conflicts."
    Thankfully, times change. Go and read the piece. It contains references to Stanislaw Lem (a favourite author of mine) and to another related piece in Wired.

  • Offended?

    I see that the UK’s Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has banned an advert produced by a Christian group, The Christian Congress for Traditional Values (CCTV). The advert shows a photo of a traditional family – man, woman and two children, with the slogan: "Gay aim: abolish the family".
     
    The ASA said that the advert broke advertising rules on social responsibility, decency, matters of opinion and truthfulness, adding that "We concluded that the poster was likely to cause serious or widespread offence and might lead to anti-social behaviour." Oh dear, I’m not sure I want to be lumped in with the ever-growing group of people who take offense at the slightest thing. Frankly, the advert is pathetic, and a clear reflection of the stupidness of the organisation that produced it, but I don’t feel offended by it. I am more struck by the time-warped attitudes of the people who produced it. Clearly a bunch of god-bothering wankers.
     
    I note that the group "defended the poster, citing gay organisations’ manifesto documents from the 1970s which described the traditional family unit as working against homosexuality." From the 1970s?! Clearly they are stuck in a time warp. They are getting exercised over the old Gay Liberation Front manifesto produced in 1971, which was indeed a child of its time. But we’ve all grown up since then – or at least, some of us have. Earth to the CCTV: families come in all shapes and sizes. Get over it.

  • Count Your Blessings

    As I’ve said before, I feel very fortunate to be able to live in a society where I don’t have to live in fear because of who I am. Others are not so lucky. GayUganda has two posts up about a situation that is developing in Senegal. Read his first post, At Home, and then his second. Depressing.
     
    Update: 7 Feb 2008: the BBC reports that the Sengalese men have been freed. I hope that this is good news, but I also note the last sentence of the Beeb’s report:
    Senegal is a predominantly Muslim country and gay men and women remain socially marginalised. 
    Not good.

  • The Pearce Sisters

    The Pearce sisters live a lonely life by the sea. Strange, scary, and oddly touching.
     

  • Made in Transit

    An interesting post over at the Cornell Mushroom blog, which reports on an idea from Agata Jaworska.

  • An Embuggerance

    The author Terry Pratchett has let it be known that he has early onset Alzheimer’s disease – an embuggerance, as he describes it. He recently gave a radio interview about it, and I must say that he seems to be dealing with the diagnosis remarkably well, all things considered.

  • Startling Revelations

    Via archaeoastronomy, I’ve only just heard this interview with Sir Arthur Greeb-Streebling concerning the remains of Christ. Brilliant stuff – I must catch the other interviews that he gave Chris Morris back in 1994.
     
       

  • String Theory

    This is the winning video in a competition run by Discover Magazine to explain String Theory in two minutes or less. I give you: String Ducky
     

  • And Now…

    …for something completely different. I give you the Trondheim Akkordian Ensemble and their rendition of Widor’s Toccata and Fugue. Deliciously bizarre, and while I can admire their musicianship, I do somewhat miss the sheer in-yer-face presence of the walking, growling bass line of the piece. The accordion just doesn’t have the same oomph of a thumping great organ (as it were).
     
     
     
    (hat tip to Robert)

  • Lost

    The wonderful Annie Lennox, and the video for "Lost". Not recommended for depression, but a reminder of the depths.
     
     
     
    (hat tip to Gelert. Cheer up, my friend, it could be worse)

  • Where On Earth Are They?

    Stuart Pinfold got bored during the night shifts at the BBC, and ended up writing a Google Earth mashup that shows where the Beeb’s correspondents are located around the world, and their most recent stories. Fascinating.

  • Science and the Pope

    I see the Pope’s doing the old bait and switch again. He tells a bunch of academics that science cannot understand the mystery of man, thereby implying that his religion can. And, I note, displays breathtaking ignorance while he’s doing it:
    Contrary to the Darwinian concept of man, Pope Benedict said that “man is not the result of mere chance, of converging circumstances, of determinism, of chemical inter-reactions.”
    Ah, the old canard that evolution is simply "mere chance" again. Really, the Pope ought to understand a subject a little better before he pontificates on it. Ophelia has more. 

  • I’m Sorry, I’ll Read That Again

    Sometimes, I feel that I agree with some of the observations that Rowan Williams makes. But sometimes, I wonder whose side he is on. Cue this speech. And Ophelia, as usual, points out the poison in the guts.

  • Such A Sadness

    David Lynch has his doubts about watching films on mobile telephones. I concur.
     
     
     
    (hat tip to Tim Spaulding, over at Thingology, for the link)

  • What If…

    …the thinking behind homeopathy and other woo were to be applied in the aviation industry? Then we might end up with something like this wry vision of Alternative Flight. Worth reading.

  • Synapsis

    A game. Try it.

  • Rijksgadget No Workee…

    The Rijksmuseum offers a computer desktop widget that is supposed to display a new picture from the museum’s art collection every day.It’s a brilliant idea, and it’s been delivering a new piece of art to my desktop since last March. That is, until it stopped working a week ago. Since then, it’s just sat there, complaining that it can’t connect to the museum. I’ve sent a couple of emails to the Rijksmuseum alerting them to the problem, but so far, I’ve had neither an answer or even an acknowledgement. I’m not impressed.
     
    Rijksgadget 
     
    Update 30 Jan 2008: dunno what has changed, but the gadget started working again this morning… Normal service appears to have been resumed…
     
    Update 1 Feb 2008: I see that Peter Gorgels, who works at the Rijksmuseum has commented on this entry to say that, indeed, the servers at the museum were configured wrongly. The probem has been fixed. Thanks for letting me know, Peter.