For a month or so I’ve been an incredibly angry young man, and for two reasons. Firstly, and most obviously we are starting to suck at cricket. God damn the poms. However, the second, more upseting reason for my anger has been what I’ve been reading in news articles, magazines and the interweb about the new ‘scientific’ approach Creationists are taking against Darwinism.

I’ve acknowledged that ever since early childhood, I’ve been a bit of a scientist. Although it sounds geeky, I’ve always had a fascination for how things work, why things are how they are and how we got here. That final question was answered, as far as I was concerned in about grade 2, when I first grasped a loose understanding of Darwinian evolution – that we had descended from apes in the last 2 million years or so. Even to my young mind, the theory just seemed right. Later in my education, genetic similarities between primates and Homo sapiens became clear to me, and by looking at isolated ecosystems such as pre-colonial Australia, or the Galapagos Islands (no wonder that Darwin twigged there!) evolutionary theory became so much more than just a theory – in my mind there was incontrovertible proof that natural selection was truly the way that the world worked.

It is perhaps for this reason that the constantly surfacing creationist monster is so frustrating to me. Although I agree with a lot of what ‘the church’ (I know the Christian faith isn’t the only proponent of creationist thought – but it is probably the most vocal) says about how we should live life, I find it infathomable that millions upon millions of people can believe, after weighing all sides of the argument, that evolutionary theory cannot match Intelligent Design, or even Young-Earth creationism theory as the most scientifically sound explanation for the way the world is.

One part of the creationist arsenal of cleverly made-up rebuttals of Darwinism is Intelligent Design – a ten year-old theory that basically masks creationist values behind a nameless, assumedly omnipotent ‘designer’. This clever slip of political correctness apparently renders the theory far more scientific than the simple ‘God created the world’ account of creationism, and has as such attracted a vast following in the last few years, to the point where the president of the United States has expressed his desire to give ID equal time to Darwinism in state classrooms, and the Kansas School Board has gone one step further and actually ratified the notion. As well as this, museums across the US have let ID based exhibits open to the public, and many schools across the country, short of teaching ID have been forced to make aware to students that Darwinism is only a theory, and should be taken with a grain of salt. What a sad state of affairs we live in, when religious doctrine, little more than stories written thousands of years ago stipulate how we live our lives.

Anyway, the Kansas state education board decision to give Intelligent design equal teaching time in all state schools is what caught my attention to the massive debate currently engaging much of our community. Although I see the situation as a rather bleak example of how naive much of the world is, the debate has spurned a lot of intelligent debate and criticism, as well as an awful lot of parody and spoof, which is never a bad thing. One rapidly growing phenomenon is the response of an American Science graduate to the Kansas board, explaining that because ID stipulates that there is no ‘god’ as such, but more universally a ‘designer’, it is the education board’s duty to teach all different sub theories. This author personally sees the designer as a ‘Flying Spaghetti Monster’, and firmly believes that everything we can touch, feel and see was created by His noodly appendage. Interestingly the web has ensured that there is a growing number of ‘pastafarians’ out there (as the internet tends to do), and I myself have found that the evidence supporting this man’s claim is compelling indeed. He also points out that there is equally concrete evidence to suggest that recent global warming is a direct result of the diminishing number of pirates in the world, which seems just as scientific as the Spaghetti Monster claim.

If you are at all amused by that, or even if you just want to see a real scientist at work, check out venganza.org for the full letter, responses from the board and very neat drawings of his holiness, the Flying Spaghetti Monster. I actually think I’ve found a religion that can satisfy both my yearning for answers and my general hunger. Huzzah!

Pete

Music news tonight – it looks like Pete Murray is set to release his second album next month. It’s been about two years since his major-label debut, Feeler, but with that only just recently slipping from the ARIA charts, it wouldn’t seem unlikely that “See The Sun” emerges as quite a gem for 2005. The first single, “Better Days” has just been released and is already getting a fair bit of radio time, so following suit, I’ve added it to the top of grannytunes for your listening pleasure – check it out (just click the songname and wait), I can guarantee you’ll like it.

Pete

Well, I survived, but more on that later.

The Soweto Gospel Choir, which unsuprisingly is a Gospel choir hailing mostly from the Soweto area of Johannesburg, South Africa is touring the country at the moment, and I took time out on Friday night to take my mum out on a date to see them. Considering the time I spent in the country last year, as well as mum having lived in Southern Africa for about 3 years in the late seventies, I thought it would be a reminder of the beautiful country we left so long ago. Interestingly, the choir made it’s first ever public performance here in Melbourne of all places two years ago, and has since played around the world, including sellout shows at New York’s Carnegie Hall as well as having the honour of headlining the 2004 Edinburgh Festival.

The performance was absolutely mindblowing. Every song they performed sent shivers down my spine, digging up memories of living the African life. The power of African singers is like nothing any caucasian has ever experienced, and the same can be said about their dancing. Must be in the genes . Anyway for those who have the opportunity to go and experience a night with these guys, seize it – you won’t regret the decision.

On Saturday evening I was invited to a rather sophisticated and posh dinner party, thrown by Jake. I have a feeling that the reason for the event was little more than competition between he and a couple of other mates along the same lines as peacocks fighting over which has the most beatiful tailfeathers. Regardless of the reason for the bash, it was very pleasant – I won’t bore you with details, but Jerusalem Artichoke and Chestnuts make an exceptional soup. Unfortunately for me, I had to leave Jake’s early as well as keeping an eye on alcohol consumption, as I had to get up before dawn to make the snowfields by mid morning on Sunday.

So, Sunday’s Buller trip. I did make it up and down and back again (Powderfinger reference anyone?) in one piece. It was great, nay it was awesome, and I’m sure I’ll be back on the snowboard before long, although it would have been best to have stayed for a whole weekend and really gotten proficient in one sitting. That said, even with only one day of boarding, I can fairly confidently say that I can snowboard. That is until I need to stop, although by the time we headed off the mountain I was starting to get that down as well, and found that high velocity arse/ground collisions were becoming less frequent.

So all in all, quite the exciting weekend, and suprisingly it was only minimally to do with alcohol. How bizarre….

Pete

So much to talk about, so little time….

If all goes to plan, I’ll blog more thoroughly tonight or tomorrow, but there is a distinct possibility that this post could be my last. I’m going snowboarding today, and I’m most likely going to die – if not from the actual experience itself then from Theresa when she finds out that I went without her. Au revior, cruel world!

Pete

I was dutifully doing my biology prelabs this evening with iTunes on random when U2′s Vertigo started playing. I never really liked the song, but a smile crept onto my face as I remembered the last time I heard it. The time in question was a flash animation convinced that the words of the song were “Hello, hello, I’m in a place called Birmingham”. I originally thought the accompanying (convincing) music was a joke on the animator’s behalf, having been manipulated to make Bono sound like a twat.

However, on listening to the real, unadulterated song this evening, I can confirm that England’s second biggest city is mentioned quite fondly in it. Listen for yourself just here:

Oh here’s the original flash. Weird.

Pete

Well well well, it looks like I may have to help myself to a slice of good ol’ humble pie. Although this years Ashes series is tied at one a piece – hardly a forgone conclusion – my pridiction (made only weeks ago) that we would win the series in a whitewash was clearly just a touch optimistic/arrogant/bullshit.

The poms have been fantastic, and we haven’t. ‘Nuf said really, although interestingly I’m not upset or angry whatsoever about the outcome of the last couple of tests. I actually feel great about it – we haven’t had a challenge like this for almost a decade, and it feels SO GOOD to be forced into playing good cricket, just to draw a test!

That said, if we lose the coming Trent Bridge test, in the process making the 5 test series un-winnable for Australia, it will be a dark day indeed. Quite possibly more difficult to bear than the loss of the Rugby World Cup two years ago……….. ugh.

Pete

I don’t think I’ve posted about my most recent employment yet…. I’ve been working for the past couple of months with Tony and Jake on the set for the just-finished Wesley production of ‘Footloose’. The season was phenomenal, with some very talented kids being showcased onstage, as well as fantastic direction and an incredible set (I don’t mean to blow my own horns, but it was awesome) to cap it off. I’d even go as far as to say it was one of the best campus musicals for the last 5 or so years.

Anyway the season finished on Saturday. It means I’m now out of a job, and finding myself all of a sudden with a lot more time on my hands – funny, that! I’m sure I’ll find some pictures of the show and may very well post them here, but for now I’ll paint you a mental image of myself on Sunday morning, ecstatic from a win against Collingwood the night before (albeit a shitty match) but with one of the worst hangovers I’ve had since having arrived home from Africa in December. I didn’t think I drank that much either.

Another victim of the famous parties of Tony Scanlon…..

Pete

Last year was an interesting one for my taste in music. Although I would say my primary listening staple (Light/Medium Rock, Reggae, Jazz & Surf) hasn’t shifted much in the last 3 or 4 years, living with a pom (an uncouth, INCOMMUNICATIVE one at that) has made me broaden my tastes somewhat. There is an awful lot of British music in my collection at the moment, and one of those bands – one that acts as a catalyst for remembering the year away is Feeder. Although in England Feeder is seen as little more than a pop band, here, given the rather vibrant local music scene (and the bastardisation americanisation of our imported music), the band has gone relatively unnoticed, and so appears under the ‘Alternative’ section of music stores. It is for this reason that I was a little suprised to see that ‘Feeling a Moment’, the 2nd single from the ‘Pushing the Senses’ CD has found its way onto the ARIA singles chart. That means it’s on Rage this week!

Anyway I’ve decided to put that album into grannytunes (reload a couple of times if you still see the Cat Empire), so you can see (or hear) for yourself what Australians are missing out on. Just click the song name and it should start playing automatically, after enough has loaded to start playing. The tracks are only ≈400kb each, so even the most modest of internet connections should see this playing its heary out. Anyway hopefully I’ll inspire a few of you to buy the album, which will be my bit in stopping idiots buying THE CRAZY FUCKING FROG! How the hell is that vomitus of a song number 1?

Oh for those interested, if you actually like what you hear, buy the album ‘Comfort in Sound’. It’s older but the first track is one of the best songs ever written. If, per chance you are a lawyer looking to sue me for copyright breach, I give the same little shpeel to you that I gave the Empire’s legal team. Please don’t sue – my mp3′s are basically copy-proof and of such poor quality that if someone really wants to steal it, I’m not too bothered, and neither should you. I own the CD in question and am simply trying to get your name out there.

Pete

Bloody England bloody won the bloody second test. By two bloody runs.
Although I was at work during today’s play, it was without doubt an absolute humdinger. I also believe it’s a new record for a runs based win in Ashes history. Quite impressive.

Really there are two reasons why England won. Firstly, Andrew Flintoff. He was utterly amazing both with the bat, posting an impressive seconds innings 73, and the ball, taking 7 wickets over the two innings. The second reason England scraped over the line was Glenn McGrath’s absence. Although this is hard (or impossible) to prove, he was a match winner in the first test, and is one of the most imposing bowlers in the game at the moment. I have little doubt that he would be worth 2 runs over five days.

However, that’s enough of Pete the sourpuss. As my dear, dear (read bastard) Uncle pointed out in the last post, a win is a win is a win is a win, be it by two runs or two thousand. Let the poms have their joy.

Oh my comments from the last post still stand. We will win the series, as long as McGrath stops treading on balls and rolling his ankles.

Pete

I just realised I haven’t really talked about the cricket for weeks. Infact, I haven’t debriefed the First test, and the second is starting tonight!

Anyway I really do hate blowing my own trumpet, but look who was right? The Australians came through at Lords, comofortably winning a match that saw wickets fall on both sides like bowling pins. What made the win so much sweeter is the British press boasting that they’d already won after the first day. Although I admit to being worried at that point in time, the poms never really stood a chance after our second innings, and were overcome so totally that I can, with almost total confidence, assure you dear readers that we’ll do it again at Edgbaston, again at Old Trafford, and again at the Oval. I’ve left the Trent Bridge test out, because I think at least one will be drawn due to rain. I’ve made this rather brash claim (of a winless series for the English) for the simple fact that even with the form slump of late, the Australian team is far deeper and more skilled, and simply more hungry than their English counterparts.

Perhaps I’m not giving the poms enough credit. If they play a superb match, they can pull off a win. Perhaps, if the gods are kind and our top order collapse constantly they will win two, but the Ashes are ours. No question.

That said, you wouldn’t know it by the confidence of the British press. A survey I saw on the BBC website has 45% of the public genuinely believing that England will win at Edgbaston – on a green wicket and with the world’s best spin bowler on the other side. Interestingly, after a quick look at current Centrebet odds, it becomes clear that this optimism is pretty superficial. An English win offers $5, Australia returns $1.75 and a draw $3. Having a draw more likely than a win, even in England seems to me to be fairly conclusive evidence in support of my claim that the English don’t stand a chance. Either that, or there’s some very good money to be made by the clever punter. Bring on tonight!

Pete