Published on Leave a comment on Modern Food

We all need it.

We would die without it.

If you read science fiction written 50 years ago, we were all supposed to be living on pills by now.

Instead, in Western society, food has polarised. At one end of the scale there are fast food and pre-packed meals full of artificial ingredients and preservatives. At the other end we now have food as art, innovative cuisine combining flavours and ingredients unheard of twenty or thirty years ago. Entire reality television shows are devoted to this type of food (without mentioning any names).

I want to say here that I don't get the point of combining food and television. To me food is about eating, which means it should taste good, smell good, hopefully look good, and be nutritious. A pleasant side effect is the social aspect - nothing beats sitting down to a Sunday lunch with a group of friends and family. Where can television possibly fit into the above? ...continue reading "Modern Food"

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Published on 5 Comments on Lucy & Alarm Clocks

How do our brains work?

Why do our minds work the way they do?

Earlier this week I saw Luc Besson's new film, Lucy. M. Besson has long been one of my favorite directors. I still watch The Fifth Element and all the Transporter movies a few times a year. He has a very European way of putting a story together, a knack Hollywood would never quite understand, and Lucy is destined to maintain his reputation. The last time I came out of a cinema unable to speak was 1990 after I'd seen La Femme Nikita, another one of M. Busson's excellent creations.

"Lucy" will also reignite the debate about how much of the human brain is actually used. M. Besson has already gone on record saying he knows we use far more than the 10% mentioned in the film, but that it was an excellent premise for a movie. I agree with him completely. Much research has gone into proving how much, where and how we use our brains, and general consensus seems to be that we use quite a lot, although we don't always know what for or why. ...continue reading "Lucy & Alarm Clocks"

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Published on 9 Comments on Thinking About History

For those of you who haven't met me in person, I studied history as a mature aged student at the University of Tasmania. At one time I considered making history my career, but as the wise man said, life is what happens when we are making plans, and that plan never came to fruition. However, I remain fascinated by history in all its many forms.

When I was a small child my father told me true stories passed on, generation to generation, in his family. These were not fiction, but oral histories in their most authentic form. One in particular stays in my mind to this day. ...continue reading "Thinking About History"