Wednesday, 10th of December, 2003

Pretty obvious, but still fun, Dubya parody from Mad Magazine.

Tuesday, 9th of December, 2003

As usual forgetting to use this blog as a forum for Stuff Wot I’m Doing. This time it’s not so much self-promotion as promotion of an important issue; this Saturday from about 10:30 I shall be incarcerated in a cage down at Bondi Pavillion for an hour or so as part of the Daybreak in Detention event being organised by A Just Australia for Refugees and Amnesty International. In the cage with me, apparently, will be Senator Aden Ridgeway of the Australian Democrats, who probably get my second vote after the Greens, although I will certainly be pleased if Mark Latham’s ALP can oust Johnny Howard’s regime.

Whether conversation will ensue “inside”, I don’t know, but if this symbolic gesture can have any effect on the fate of the many refugees incarcerated for mind-boggling lengths of time under appalling situations, that can only be a good thing, and I’m proud to play a small part in it.

Checking out the “YOUR COMMENTS” section on FBi’s Home page, I noticed someone had posted this on Monday:

8.12.03

Utility Fog is kickass - its so good to finally hear experimental electronic music in sydney thats not afraid of a bit of harshness!!
However i do find many of the daytime djs / anouncers to be a bit over the top - ie sounding as patronising and consistantly excited as a childrens television host….. Also it is disapointing to hear some announcers dis 2ser - its unnecessary and unwelcome on our airways, 2ser does a very good job for what it is. keep up the mostly good work and try and relax a little!! cheers alex
Alex White, Newtown

Cheers to you, Alex (no I don’t know him!) and I do agree that dissing 2ser is totally not on. Whilst there have been some bad vibes from some in the 2ser camp regarding FBi, I’ve always felt that FBi hasn’t set itself up as “competition” with that fine station, and we should be able to have a good relationship, like 3PBS and 3RRR (mostly) have… In any case, it’d be bad form regardless. I do think if that’s happened it’d be once in a blue moon.
Nice to get a bit of recognition anyway :) I’m posting this in Stumblings because I reserve the Utility Fog blog for playlists and occasional official announcements.

Thursday, 4th of December, 2003

In this intelligent article on Butterflies and Wheels, Jeremy Stangroom (New Media editor of The Philosophers’ Magazine) argues that the brights, who are pushing the word bright to refer to people like me (who are atheists, believing the world is free of
supernatural and mystical elements, and basing their ethics on a naturalistic worldview), are misguided.

Despite my oh-so-favourite philosopher Dan Dennett jumping aboard (see this article for instance), I have to agree. I like the idea very much, but the word “bright” is so tied up with its meaning as “intelligent” that the whole project is done a real disservice. A more neutrally positive word would’ve done a better job.