Farewell, Cinema City!

It is with much sadness that we say farewell to Perth's grandest cinema complex. None of the suburban megaplexes ever rivalled Cinema City for it's sheer old style class.

The architecture was impressive. Huge vaulted ceilings, balconies, mirrored walls that gave a great impression of space, floor-to-ceiling carpeting in a most traditional red, and very arty photos of famous actors.

I slaved away at this cinema as an usher from 2001 - 2005, and yet had many fond memories. It's a pity that during it's final years its state of repair was let to decline so much. It's also such a pity that it's being knocked over. And to make room for yet another city apartment complex no less - whose patrons ironically will now have no city cinema to attend (apart from Picadilly that is, but you won't find many recent movies there)

So ends an era. 1980 - 2007. Cinema City, we salute thee!

Perth: Chillsville, not Dullsville

It's about time somebody addressed all these allegations of Perth being "Dullsville".

To all those that malign Perth - yes, we understand. Not many shops are open after 6pm. Not many shops are open Sundays. We don't have daylight savings (permanently anyway). We don't have a massive public transport system. We don't have every sort of shop you could think of. We don't have readily available taxis. We don't have an overabundance of night-life. And (shock, horror, despair) we don't even have Krispy Kreme!

So then, why would anyone want to live in Perth? Isn't is because it's such a beautiful, clean city? Isn't it because of it's relaxed and laid back lifestyle? Isn't it because of it's small-world status and fewer degrees of separation?

Now think about the connections between the last two paragraphs. Surely it's not too hard to see the inherent causality.

Detractors of Perth usually compare it's lack of excitement, night-life and facilities to cities such as Sydney, Melbourne, Singapore, Tokyo and London. They say Perth needs to move with the times and become more like them. But surely there are already enough of these bustling metropolises in the world. Perth is something special, so why should we make it like the rest? If you much prefer these busier cities then what is stopping you from going and living there (or going back there perhaps?).

Lifestyle in Perth revolves around having good friends, not good facilities. We invite friends around to our houses for BBQ's, dinner parties, pool parties, games nights and movie nights. We chill out on the beach and watch the sunset. We have picnics in our many lovely parks and take the kids for bike rides. Surely this is a lifestyle that makes for healthier bodies and relationships?

So really, Perth deserves the tag "Chillsville", not "Dullsville". It's a great combination of perfectly adequate facilities with a relaxed and healthy lifestyle. Isn't that worth keeping as it is?

Chinese Counterfeits

I found this story about counterfeiting in China very enlightening.

I guess this highlights the importance of being genuine.

Their, their, it's (not) OK

The English language has been missing a gender-non-specific third person singular pronoun for a long time. That is, "A toilet user must sink his/her own submarines". Various attempts have been made - his/her is probably the most correct but also the most clumsy. I've been a fan of their for a while, and while it's not technically correct (it's plural) there are certain usages that sound a lot better than others.

Facebook doesn't seem to realise this. Never a great one for impressive displays of grammar, one of their ugliest uses in this:

"Joe Bloggs updated their profile"

I think "their" only really works in the singular if the identity is unknown. For instance:

"A user has updated their profile"

sounds OK to me. Because the user could be anyone, we then have a vague sense of plurality. But the original just sounds hideous.

Pay the nerds

Do engineers get payed enough? It's sometimes hard to think they do, considering they usually have 4-5 years of uni, 12 years of school and 12-48 weeks of vacation work under their belt. Does a plumber or a brickie deserve to get payed the same amount after their on-the-job training or apprenticeship?

Well, perhaps they do. I'm sure their work is much more boring and backbreaking so I guess it evens out. Perhaps we engineers enjoy our work too much (because we are nerds at heart) to get paid huge amounts. Why pay someone a lot if they like their job?

Meat, meaning and evolution

"Red meat - you were meant to eat it."

Or so Sam Neill has been paid to say by the Meat and Livestock association of Australia in their TV campaign a little while ago. If you haven't seen it, be thankful. But it you want to punish yourself, you can do so here.

He argues that by eating red meat, our brains became bigger and that's a main reason we evolved into the superior species that we are today. He waffles on about all the benefits of eating read meat and then concludes with the tag line - you were meant to eat it.

Isn't the self-contradiction in this painfully obvious? If humans evolved, we weren't meant to do anything. Humans just decided to eat meat because it was there and tasted good. How can there be any meaning in a world where we evolved out of nothing? No-one meant for us to eat meat. Unless there is someone out there with a plan for our lives. And not just out lives, but the whole of history. Someone who can mean for terrible things to happen, like a man dying on a cross, as part of a larger plan. Then we would to meant to do things.
Perhaps Sam Neill should stick to Jurassic Park.

Spelling, Grammar and Meaning

The prescriptivist vs. descriptivist war on spelling and grammar will go on forever, and both are important, but one principle reigns supreme: meaning.

What are you trying to say? Is your meaning comprised by your improper use of spelling or grammar? Or is it perhaps enhanced? Pull out your artistic licence if you must. But always ask yourself - how will what I am saying affect the meaning?

This is really just a roundabout way of trying to get across that:

Don't say you want to be apart of something when you really want to be a part of something!

They pretty much mean the opposite of each other.

Ambivalence

I've always been quite ambivalent as to whether or not I want a blog.

A lot of people think this word means "indifferent", probably because it sounds the same. However, it actually means "feeling contradictory emotions at the same time for the same object or person"

On the one hand, I like the idea of having an outlet for my insights and rants. I think it would be good to vent sometimes and also good to share my ideas with others for their benefit. I often have thoughts I consider good enough to share with a wider audience than the internal lining of my cranium.

On the other hand, I'm quite an introvert and spilling my innermost often takes lots of energy and momentum. I'm not naturally forthcoming with information. Also once bared, I then feel exposed. That I have given away too much and will be judged because of it.

I've started up blogs before and they generally become graveyards of thought, occasionally getting the odd post twice a year when I feel like I've slipped into obscurity and no-one knows what I've been up to.

However, a number of things have prompted me to think about starting one up again:

• I'm discovering that volunteering information can be quite helpful to a conversation. I've always been more of a listener. So here is my chance to get some practice.
• Frivolous talk often annoys me. I'm happy to have a D&M with someone soon after meeting them. However as Steve McKerney pointed out, most people won't talk about the deeper things until they've built up a rapport starting with the trivial.
• I'm working up North without a wife for every 3 out of 4 weeks, so I'm getting much less relational interaction. That was fine for a while (a chance to really get into some computer games). But now it's a getting a bit lonely up here. I could stop playing Knights of the Old Republic for 5 hours a night and do something more interpersonal.
• The cycle of life rolls on... time to try again at past things failed.

So there it is. After reading a number of people's blog I have become inspired again. Now we shall see what happens.