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| May 19th to the 23rd |
| 05.23.04 (8:33 pm) [edit] |
Wednesday, May 19th. 16 to 18C, partially overcast with sunny breaks. Eat that, weatherman.
Mr. Slattery made his way to Murdoch, again, to attend the morning Eco-Philosophy class. The class was held indoors due to the cool weather--and it was an interesting one.
Each class, one or two students make a presentation of the day's readings. The presentation then involves a group discussion or activity that relates directly to the readings. In today's presentation, the presenter divided the class into two groups and asked them to come up with a list of as many dualities as possible.
Dualities equal diametric opposites--such as black and white, heaven and earth, sea and sky, fact and myth... with increasing complexity.
The two groups were then brought together for a comparison of lists; one group, not Mr. Slattery's, was much more successful and prolific in their list making. Before the lists were read out, the presenter had laid out a treat for each of the other students; however, after the lists had been read out, the group that had produced the least number of dualities was penalized by having their treats removed from before them and given to the other group. This process of reward and punishment (another duality), however, was not explained to the participants, and simply done.
Mr. Slattery seemed amused by this turn of events, although he was probably just confused because he hadn't done the course readings.
In any case, the presentation moved onwards--the overall theme was an examination of how people, processes, and the environment are categorized, and thus, subjected to stigma, prejudice, condescencion, and disregard while largely ignoring the actual quality and needs of the subject. For instance: an apparently empty (of human influence) parcel of land is a passive commodity--it should be developed, or have something done to it that would increase its economic standing. Question: does this reflect the actual quality of the land? Why must it be developed? Isn't it fine to just leave as it is, pristine and beautiful?
Simply said, the goal of the presentation was to increase awareness of how fixed ideas can affect our perception--of relationships (men and women are a couple; men and men aren't), of nature (it should be preserved in a park; why aren't we more integrated with our environment?), of economics and philosophy (economic growth is good; what does economic growth mean in relation to humanity as a civilization?). In other words, question all perspectives and pursue alternatives.
Following class, Mr. Slattery did some email action and then read all day.
Mr. Slattery drove back from Murdoch in the evening, doing well on the left side of the road, except for when he zoomed through a roundabout at roughly 70km/hr.
Patsy and Mr. Slattery arrived home famished--and Peter had prepared a surprise: an excellent roast pork loin for dinner!
Thursday, May 20th. 20-22C Nice sun, some cloud.
Mr. Slattery drove to school--wanting to increase his ability to rage through roundabouts. He did some email action in Patsy's office, read the paper, and book before attending the EP class. Mr. Slattery then went to the pub for a few rounds, and met a couple of American exchange students from Penn State and had some discussion regarding the insiduous practice of urine testing in the US. Employees are tested monthly or even weekly for narcotic substances, such as marijuana. Such an infringement of an individual's freedoms is unparalleled in the western world... and also just ridiculous in general. Sadly, this is all part of the US government's War On Drugs--an out of date, idiotic program that does little to actually diminish illegal drug trafficking while simultaneously creating an underclass of citizenry who have done hard time for smoking a few too many joints (especially in states that have Three Strike programs).
That evening, Mr. Slattery went to dinner with P+P in Freo to meet their good friends Hanni and Tony. Hanni is originally from Switzerland and Tony is a native Perthian. The couple currently organize a backpacking club that runs week long treks in the Pilbarra and Kimberley and pretty much here and there. Tony is also someone who has hand built a catamaran, making him, Peter, and Kurt a triumvirate of shipbuilders. Quite a club.
Michael was then deposited at Anthony Weston's apartment in South Fremantle--while Anthony and his family were away backpacking for the weekend.
What a spread! Two bedrooms, a giant bathroom, a terracotta tiled patio, a large and well equipped kitchen, track lighting, a large living room, bicycles, a tv, and great location to central Freo.
Friday, May 21st. 18C or so, with so-so weather, rain and sunny breaks.
Mr. Slattery walked around Freo after breakfast and enjoyed the sights and sounds. He had lunch at Bella Roma pizzeria--ate the Quattro Gusto, a pizza that had four different sections to it. Mushroom, then ham, then green peper, and a super meaty ham-like section again. The crust was very good, deep dish, not greasy, and with a nice layer of cheese... a sinful delight.
To be continued in a few days... the computer needs to be used. Adios!
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