Clearly bored

I'm waiting for something to download, and I see that Tom and Akusai have had a crack at an old one that Bronze Dog did. So I might as well. Have fun, and join in if you're game.

Accent: Supposedly a type of Australian accent known as "ocker". FSM knows that I do try to be well spoken.

Booze: Rather enjoying this Pale Ale renaissance that Australia is going through at the moment. KitKat gave me one called Crackenback for my birthday - I give it 4 stars - very nice with a lovely fragrant hoppy aroma.

Chore I hate: Vacuuming the house. Going to get one of those robo vacuum thingies as soon as I can.

Dog or Cat: Cat. I like dogs, but cats clean up after themselves and don't need baths.

Essential Electronics: My computer(s), my Eee PC, and that's pretty much it since my Sony Walkman got lost down the back of the sofa. OK, maybe MP3 players can be too small.

Favorite Cologne: I liked Activist by The Body Shop. Then they stopped selling it in Australia. Now I've got XY by Hugo Boss. But technically these are Eau de Toilettes, not colognes.

Gold or Silver: Gold. You better believe it, although I'm rather liking oil at the moment.

Hometown: Currently, Melbourne VIC, but I grew up in Sydney NSW.

Insomnia: Negative. But I wish that I voluntarily went to sleep earlier.

Job title: Blogger, Freeloader and Minister. Oh and I have some day job in industry superannuation as well.

Kids: Too young, too poor and too immature.

Living arrangements: A three bedroom unit with my wife and (currently) our friend from the sticks who is in town working at Honda.

Most admirable traits: Standing up for one's personal ethics.

Not going to cop to: Surely this could be phrased better? I have no idea what this one is asking.

Overnight hospital stays: Broken arm, 1985. I was boogie boarding at the time and got dumped by a freak wave.

Phobias: Snakes and crocodiles. Actually, reptiles generally gross me out.

Quote: Primary school poetry: "We had fun, fun, fun, picking boogies in the sun. When the sun got hot, our boogies turned to snot."

Religion: Pretty much quality Australian Pale Ale at the moment. And the Sydney Swans Football Club.

Siblings: Two sisters, both younger, one in Sydney NSW and one in Carson City NV. She's married to my brother-in-law who is originally from somewhere in Indiana. Shit! I know this one. It might be Bloomington. My other brother-in-law is the brother of Ms Dikkii, and he lives in a place called Funkytown.

Time I wake up: Usually after I've hit the snooze button seven or eight times.

Unusual talent or skill: I do this pen-flicking thing that drives people insane.

Vegetable I love: Peas, nuked with butter and pepper. Carrots, steamed with honey.

Worst habit: I'm not putting this one in.

X-rays: Chest, teeth, foot, arm. I think that's it.

Yummy foods I make: I'm told that my chili con carne is pretty good. Personally, I don't think I've got it right, yet.

Zodiac sign: Crux Australis.

Writer's block

I have a bit of writer's block at the moment.

Normally, this wouldn't be a problem. I would just have a think about some of my least favourite things such as woo, Big Music, the media, global warming denialists or post-modernist/post-structuralist/deconstructionists.

But it's just not happening for me at the moment.

I hang out at my favourite blogs and some others looking for inspiration.

Nothing.

Someone's posted something good. I can't be bothered posting a comment.

What would it be like to create an anti-Dikkii? I could blog about stuff that I can't normally say.

Free speech is an illusion.

Peer-group pressure, contract law, defamation, perjury, contempt of court, copyright, national secrecy, corporate confidentiality - is it fair to say that these wouldn't exist either in their current form, or even at all, if it were possible for free speech to exist?

Would truly free speech usher in a new golden age of transparency? Or would it result in a few more failed marriages.

But anti-Dikkii interests me.

How would I protect myself from legal action?

What if I said something that was very, very wrong and it came back to haunt me? You can't even joke about terrorism or paedophilia any more. What was funny once becomes trial by hysterical media.

Do people really accept media releases which are clearly cleverly spin-doctored reverse ferrets as the facts all along?

Why woo? Why can't people just accept that there is usually a normal rational explanation for things that go bump in the night?

Why homeopathy? Why reiki? Why veterinary acupuncture?

If God existed, wouldn't He sentence evangelicals to hell? After all, even God couldn't possibly tolerate the self-interested sucking up that evangelicals do?

Is Richard Dawkins being a fascist in expecting religious moderates to speak out against religious extremists? If not, am I a hypocrite for not speaking out against the violence in Somalia? Is everyone condoning bad stuff in this world if they simply don't get the chance to speak out? Even if they speak out about as much as they can?

Do woo merchants with good intentions have a duty to expose fellow woo merchants who are frauds? And should they go after them with extreme prejudice?

Is apathy the ultimate payback for technological achievement?

Do I need more money?

Why does it not worry me that all my friends from school and uni are earning more than me? Is this wrong? Is it doubly wrong if I still consider myself a capitalist pig?

McMansions are offensive. And people buy them. What ever happened to taste? And why is it necessary to have a master bedroom that can fit three four-post king-size beds?

Who really needs an ensuite bathroom with two washbasins? And why these and not a bath?

Will our kids kill us for allowing them to grow up with shoebox-sized backyards?

How did the urban planners for the Plenty Valley manage to forget about parkland?

Anti-Dikkii is an interesting concept.

Why does economics not have an Alan Sokal figure to tell the theoretical humanities to butt out?

Why does everything that I'm doing at work have to coincide with this week? And why do we hide behind euphemisms such as "due diligence", "fair and reasonable", "meets expectations", "performance management" and "key responsibility areas"?

Do post-modernist/post-structuralist/deconstructionists now run senior management? And the public service? And why do they love Freud and Jung?

Reality used to be a friend of mine.