thismeansnothing's New Writeups

dread (idea)

2005-09-26T11:26:00Z

Disclaimer: I, myself, am not a Rastafarian, nor do I profess to fully understand the complex philosophy and social structure of Rastafarianism. However, I do hold the richness of Rastafarian culture and traditions in high regard and would like to make a start at w/u-ing some of the richness to be found in, especially, the language and terminology used by Rastafarians.

Dread

The term Dread is an integral and multi-faceted part of Rastafarianism. It represents several social, religious and personal concepts in the Rastafarian religion and culture. Its richness in meaning and wide use is similar to that of other important Rastafarian concepts such as I and I and Roots.

Dread – Fear of the Lord

The term itself is not unique to Rastafarianism and most religions describe some form of reverent fear of the holy personality or force described by the religion. Rastafarianism is no…

Mississippi Goddamn (thing)

2003-02-21T14:03:43Z

One of Nina Simone's best known songs, Mississippi God damn is also one of her most overtly political. The song was written in response to the bombing of a church in Birmingham, Alabama in which 4 children were killed and seems to voice Nina's discontent and the slow pace of progress in the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960's.

It remains an in-concert favourite to this day but Nina's performances of it has changed from one filled with anger and frustration to one of victorious righteousness.

Alabama's gotten me so upset
Tennessee made me lose my rest
And everybody knows about Mississippi Goddam

Alabama's gotten me so upset
Tennessee made me lose my rest
And everybody knows about Mississippi Goddam

Can't you see it
Can't you feel it
It's all in the air
I can't stand the pressure much longer
Somebody say a prayer

Alabama's gotten me so upset
Tennessee made me lose my rest
And

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Aslan (thing)

2003-01-31T08:59:38Z

Also the fictional mood altering drug in Jonathan Franzen's book The Corrections. Aslan first appears in the book under the street name of Mexican A when serial loser Chip's far-too-young girlfriend Melissa buys a supply before they head off for a weekend's worth of 'fucking'. When asked about the effects Melissa describes it as doing 'Nothing and everything'. The drug removes every trace of inhibition from Chip and a few hours after taking the first golden pill, while driving, Chip states 'We have to stop immediately and fuck.'

Aslan re-appears later in the book when Chip's mom, Enid visits the ship doctor on a cruise when she finds herself feeling 'confused' and unable to sleep. The doctor, a patronising youngster named Dr. Hibbard, offers her a flavour of the drug officially known as ASLAN® Cruiser^TM. When Enid asks what it does Hibbard replies 'Absolutely nothing, if you are in perfect mental health. However, let's face it, who is?' He…

Encyclopedia on a toothpick (idea)

2003-01-22T14:26:42Z

'How do you store an encyclopedia on a toothpick?' This theoretical puzzle is used by Haruki Murakami in his wonderful novel Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World to illustrate a point about eternity.

The theoretical answer to the puzzle is as elegant as it is simple.

To store an infinite amount of data on a toothpick, assign a numerical value to each letter of the alphabet (00 for 'a', 01 for 'b' and so on) - you could even use their ASCII codes. Next string all the letters making up the encyclopedia together to form a very large number. You'll end up with something like this 0419041713081924...
Next turn this number into a fraction by pre-pending a 0. to it and make a mark on the toothpick at exactly this point of its length (where 0 is the start of the toothpick and 1 is its end). This mark contains all the information of the encoded encyclopedia in its position.

Obviously this solution is not practical,…

December 4, 2002 (idea)

2002-12-04T07:51:30Z

Today was the eclipse in Southern Africa. I am in Cape Town and we therefore saw only about a 60% darkening of the sun (which was still quite impressive). The path of the totality hit Africa over Angola, passed over Namibia, Botswana and the northern Limpopo province of South Africa (including the Kruger National Park). It then continued along over Mozambique towards Australia.

The totality was supposed to hit Musina (where 100 000 people were expected to gather) at 08:18 this morning. The totality lasted for 68 seconds. Astronomers say the next total eclipse in the region will not occur until 2030, so everyone wanted to make this one count. Apparently (according to news reports) there was some cloud covering on the path of the totality which left hundreds of tourists frustrated and pointing their massive lenses at the clouds hoping for a break through which they might get a peak at the diminished sun.

As for myself, it's a beautifully…

Dream Log: November 29, 2002 (idea)

2002-11-29T07:11:04Z

I don't regularly have lucid or disturbing dreams (and therefore do not log much in the Dream Log) so last night's main dream was particularly intense (being both disturbing and lucid).

Some notes on the context of the dream:

I've just come off two days of physical exertion, erratic sleep and too much alcohol. The night before I had had a series of fragmented hangover-in-the-making dreams.
The last few days have been emotionally taxing and culminated in a messy dinner with friends (about to be ex-friends?) who I've been drifting away from recently.
At this dinner the conversation veered (as usual) between sexual perversions, detailed discussions of recreational drugs (especially in the context of an up-coming party at this Wednesday's eclipse) and the influence of recreational drugs on sexual perversions. You get the idea.
The conversation also briefly touched on recent discoveries

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