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The Up Series
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- Written by: Rod Boyle
- Category: Film
- Hits: 2493
"Give me a child until he is seven and I will give you the man"
So runs the motto of "The Up Series" - a documentary that follows the lives of 14 children at 7 year intervals.
Beginning in Britain in 1964, the films documents the lives and attitudes of the children - a mixed group from a wide range of socio-economic backgrounds, at 7, 14, 21, and every 7 years thereafter. It's an ongoing project still in production. In the first film we are introduced to the characters, 3 wealthy boys who claim in turn - "I read the Financial Times" to "I read the Observer and the Financial Times" and so on, a young man from the Yorkshire Dales who resents being asked if he has a girlfriend (and in no uncertain terms tells the interviewer), and 10 others of mixed class and backgrounds. The stage is set. Each of them is observed in their own environment, is interviewed about various things, and the story continues. Especially notable is the change in attitudes not only of the subjects, but of society and the filmmaker.
Very worthwhile. You can rent it at Bird Dog Video.
Cellular Memory
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- Written by: Rod Boyle
- Category: Ideas & Questions
- Hits: 2087
An interesting idea is that of Cellular Memory. In essence it postulates that personality, intelligence and memories are not entirely local to the brain. This is not a new theory, but of late there is some anecdotal evidence from transplant patients of memories and personalities that they claim could only have come from the donors.
This is not necessarily as crazy as it might at first seem. In ancient Greece many believed the heart to be the seat of the soul. The brain has only relatively recently been assigned the functions of memory, intelligence and personality. And while there is no doubting that it has an enormous role to play, this does not rule out the possibility that other organs have a role - however small - to play as well.
Studies of planariums (a type of primitive flatworm) have shown that if a group of planariums was taught a behaviour (such as avoiding a light source), then minced up and fed to a group of planariums that hadn't learned the behaviour, the group afterwards demonstrated the same light avoiding behaviours.
Of course, cannibals have known this all along, eating the relevant parts of their victims in the hopes of recieving the appropriate benefit - the heart for courage, brain for intelligence, etc.
No serious emperical studies have been done on this topic so far. But if you're still curious there is some anecdotal evidence that would seem to support at least the thought that perhaps more study is required....
Further reading: Daily Mail & www.scienceray.com
Pursued by a Badger
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- Written by: Rod Boyle
- Category: Dreams
- Hits: 1925
I've got to go over to R**'s to fix his computer. He picks me up with a client and announce they've acquired some perverted domain - somethingperverse.com, R** is boasting about what a deal it was - "Only $400" he says, he's going to use it to link back to the sites I've been working on to drive them up in the search engines. I don't see the point, the site we're working has nothng to do with this at all, still....They stop a little mall, they have to run inside for a moment.
Outside the mall is a small parking lot, surrounded on all sides by short red brick buildings. It's very green, trees, lawn. I'm waiting outside. It begins to rain. Looking around I spot a small arcade, and think to go inside, I recognize it, familiar somehow, perhaps from another dream.
Inside there's a man behind glass to make change, another room you can go into to play the games, looking through the window I see a Ms. Pac Man game, I have a quarter, but wonder if I won't be too long, I can play for a while on this game. Water is dripping through the ceiling, somebody apologizes, bangs it with a broom and the water stops. I go back outside.
It's still raining, and I realize that I'm not supposed to fix the computer until tomorrow. And so I stop waiting for R** and begin to walk home.
There's a field outside a school, very green, like British Columbia or Vancouver in the fall, and it's still raining, but there's a thunderbolt and the rain turns into Hershey Kisses, quickly I fill my pockets, I find a small, elegantly wrapped egg in sheer plastic wrap and a bunny in foil, recognizing them to be Bernard Callebaut I pick them up as well.
And I'm walking home, alongside a narrow green strip of park, swinging the foil bunny and plastic wrapped egg beside me in a bag, congratulating myself on my good luck and eating the Hershey Kisses.
I notice a badger. He's walking alongside me, looking over and noticing me, he growls. I think it's unusual to see a badger, especially in the city, then he runs at me and makes to bite me. I knock him gently out of the way with my bag, he tries it again, I knock him away again. This is very odd, the badger isn't working very hard, I think....
There's a kiosk and a young plump blonde is working behind it in the park, an information booth of sorts, so I stop and tell her about the badger. She doesn't think it's odd. I explain how it's been pursuing me and trying to attack me and she thinks about this for a moment, looking confused, then says: "I know, I think it has rabies...". I'd already had the same thought. I persuade her to leave the kiosk, we'll trap the badger inside and call the SPCA before it bites anyone. She reluctantly agrees.
The badger comes after me again, and I sweep it up with the bag and into the kiosk. We can hear in there, it's annoyed...A green recycling tub is inside the kiosk, with some dirty water from the rainfall, I think to open it and get the badger inside, again I trap it in my plastic bag and throw it into the tub, it splashes, then sinks in the water bubbling, and I worry the badger might drown.... we close the tub lightly and tip it to let the water out, it strains out, through the lid I glimpse the badger nonchalantly lying on it's back eating a chocolate cookie. We take the tub out of the Kiosk and the blonde goes back inside, she's going to call the SPCA. A woman with her child stop, they crouch down by the tub, the plump blonde comes out again to open the tub slightly and allow the child to reach in and pet the badger...
Opinion VS Reason
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- Written by: Rod Boyle
- Category: Conversations
- Hits: 1548
Sometimes I miss our conversations. This one, it's a tough one, but it has to be done.
“One Plus one” I begin “equals two”.
“In your opinion” she counters.
“No, no, always. One plus one equals two”
“How do you know?”
“Let me give you an example.”
I pull a couple of pennies from my pocket, I came prepared.
“But what if you add another penny?” She asks
“then you’re changing the question, or premise….”
“Or used walnuts instead..”
“It wouldn’t matter….”
“You never liked one!” she sobs….”You think your numbers are so perfect….”
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