It’s been too long since I’ve been out in the bush. There’s something about standing in the middle of a jungle track and hearing nothing but the sounds of nature. It drives home the fact that you are part of it, and not a spectator. That said, sometimes it would be nice to be just… Read More Bushwalking
At a Chinese funeral that I attended recently, there was a lot of debate about whether the Christians amongst the family should be participating in the prayers and ceremonies, which followed the Taoist and Buddhist traditions. I won’t offer an opinion on the matter, but reflect on this: when Brahms wrote Ein deutsches Requiem (Op.… Read More Legacy
It’s Australia Day tomorrow. To remind everyone about it, the local train station has put up big A4 sheets of paper with “Remember Australia Day” computer-printed on them. “January 26” is also taped up here and there. Altogether it’s supremely tacky. But it does raise a point. Sure, people will remember Australia Day before the… Read More Australia Day
One of the most challenging subjects I did at university was Systematics, the study of classification and order within the family tree of life… basically what it is that separates, for example, Homo sapiens from Homo neanderthalensis. It was difficult for me because I couldn’t see the point of putting things into arbitrary categories that… Read More Words
In 1974, there was a huge uproar over India’s nuclear testing operation code-named “Smiling Buddha”. When the test was successfully completed, the head of operations called the prime minister (Indira Gandhi at the time) and happily informed her: “Madam, Buddha has finally smiled”. In the years since, another series of nuclear tests has come and… Read More Smiling