Hard News by Russell Brown

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Hard News: The Foundation for Subliterate Representations (NZ)

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  • Lucy Stewart,

    I....have only had one sip of my margarita, but reading that made me feel like it must have been a very large sip. Or I wouldn't be so confused. Would I?

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 2105 posts Report Reply

  • Craig Ranapia,

    It's socially irresponsible of you to make my eyes bleed on an otherwise pleasant Friday morning. Go forth and sin no more, little one.

    North Shore, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 12370 posts Report Reply

  • Megan Wegan,

    I think this might be my favourite thing you've ever written.

    Welly • Since Jul 2008 • 1275 posts Report Reply

  • Geoff Lealand,

    I hope too that they will promote the use of correct grammar and spelling in electronic postings, beginning with their own Graziella (oops..I almost wrote 'Gorilla')

    Screen & Media Studies, U… • Since Oct 2007 • 2562 posts Report Reply

  • giovanni tiso,

    Only losers bother to spellcheck their LinkedIn page.

    Wellington • Since Jun 2007 • 7473 posts Report Reply

  • David Hood,

    I'm sure Gerry could fix the prose.

    My general impression is the further from evidence-based decision making something is, the less well it clearly holds together. The quotes here, which I think are saying my vision is to bring together your visions, does nothing to dispell that stereotype.

    Dunedin • Since May 2007 • 1445 posts Report Reply

  • Ian MacKay,

    Thank God for the Internet. Without it I would never have known about such a grand cure for dandruff!
    It was what they were advertising wasn't it? A Social sort of disfunction? Oops. Sorry.

    Bleheim • Since Nov 2006 • 498 posts Report Reply

  • Tom Beard,

    Graziella's transformative journey via The Secret

    at the age of 14 I started to mediate, not really knowing how powerful working on my energy could be.

    I wonder whether that was Transcendental Mediation?

    When The Secret was shown to me by a friend, I slept through the whole thing

    Possibly the wisest thing she has ever done.

    I have begun to license internationally and have met amazing people just sitting beside me on planes.

    Oh, those lucky, lucky people!

    The gift of The Secret is it goes on.

    Much like her prose.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 1040 posts Report Reply

  • Craig Ranapia,

    It all makes a lot more sense if you chant it to the tune of I Zimbra.


    (OK, I lied -- but the world's greatest pop-funk setting of a Dadaist poem seemed appropriate. Remember, folks,

    Gadji beri bimba glandridi
    Lauli lonni cadori gadjam
    A bim beri glassala glandride
    E glassala tuffm I zimbra!
    )

    North Shore, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 12370 posts Report Reply

  • Sam F,

    Graziella's transformative journey via The Secret

    subconscicous

    Sorry, had to stop reading there.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 1611 posts Report Reply

  • Russell Brown,

    From the same site, the video for The Power, much-awaited follow-up to The Secret, is teh awesome:

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report Reply

  • 3410,

    So, what's the 't' in FOStR Nz stand for?

    Auckland • Since Jan 2007 • 2618 posts Report Reply

  • Russell Brown,

    So, what's the 't' in FOStR Nz stand for?

    It's a Secret.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report Reply

  • giovanni tiso,

    I get "Flight Of" and then "the Ring", I just can't work out that S in the middle.

    Wellington • Since Jun 2007 • 7473 posts Report Reply

  • Craig Ranapia,

    From the same site, the video for The Power, much-awaited follow-up to The Secret, is teh awesome:

    I'm touch-typing this because my eyes stopped bleeding and exploded. Thanks a bunch, Brown.

    North Shore, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 12370 posts Report Reply

  • Rich of Observationz,

    They'll probably get half a mill in uncontested, unaccountable funding in the next budget.

    (Do we even have budgets any more, or does Gerry just pass supply through an Order in Council one Monday morning?)

    Back in Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 5550 posts Report Reply

  • Lilith __,

    Wow, I didn't realise English was my second language.

    Wait, *was* that email in English?

    I'm not sure whether to laugh hysterically or just have hysterics.

    Dunedin • Since Jul 2010 • 3895 posts Report Reply

  • Rich of Observationz,

    Also, you realise the hostname is case-sensitive?

    Back in Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 5550 posts Report Reply

  • Tom Beard,

    I suppose one should cut Ms Thrake some slack, since one presumes that English is not her first language. In any case, criticising her prose is like shooting New Age fish in a barrel: lots of messy fun, but not particularly enlightening.

    The astonishing thing is how many influential, powerful and apparently credible people appear to have bought in to this preposterous, unintelligible and potentially dangerous twaddle. My knowledge of "The Secret" has been hitherto restricted to one episode of The Simpsons, but the discourse is scarily redolent of Landmark, NLP and other cultoid fads so beloved of the New Age "personal power" Right.

    If The Secret teaches that natural disasters strike people "on the same frequency as the event", and an obvious disciple of that ludicrous twaddle is apparently taken seriously by government departments and business leaders, then such thinking could be even more dangerous to Canterbury than Lord Brownlee. That may be a bit hyperbolic, but the "power of positive thinking" philosophy meshes cosily with the victim-blaming ideology of this government. In that case, it's not the spelling mistakes in her "faciliating consultnming" that we have to worry about so much as its content, and the "Social Responsibility" and "New Humanity" that she preaches may not be just harmless waffle.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 1040 posts Report Reply

  • Lilith __,

    From the same site, the video for The Power, much-awaited follow-up to The Secret, is teh awesome

    Definitely having the hysterics.

    And I think I speak for many ppl here in Chch when I say that Teh Power is all very pretty and dolphiny until it bites you on the ass! (About 700 times, and counting)

    Dunedin • Since Jul 2010 • 3895 posts Report Reply

  • Deborah,

    You think Russell is being mean? I think this is mean. It's a clip showing a Norwegian woman being taken to a crop circle, by a sceptic. The fun bit is when you get to see the shape of the circle towards the end.

    New Lynn • Since Nov 2006 • 1447 posts Report Reply

  • Lucy Stewart,

    I'm touch-typing this because my eyes stopped bleeding and exploded. Thanks a bunch, Brown.

    No-one forced you to watch it, you know.

    That may be a bit hyperbolic, but the "power of positive thinking" philosophy meshes cosily with the victim-blaming ideology of this government.

    I had a conversation with a Republican voter yesterday who, when I asked her if she thought all poor people were just lazy, responded "Well, we all know people like that, don't we?"

    That was....special.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 2105 posts Report Reply

  • Tom Beard,

    the circle towards the end

    Priceless! Though to be fair, Stephen Fry does indeed seem to be a higher power.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 1040 posts Report Reply

  • Ross Mason,

    babble babble babble fish blah blah humfrgg husnnw

    Words fail me.

    But I have found a spot where she and her ilk fit.

    The dark and the light green bits on the table. Or at least well to the right of the table. Take your pick.

    Edit: Nah. Anywhere!

    But careful my PAS firends. One must be careful who we mock. We are all of one planet. We must make room for...well...woo and idiots.

    Love the Woo Number in place of the Atomic Number!

    Upper Hutt • Since Jun 2007 • 1590 posts Report Reply

  • TracyMac,

    I love Barbara Ehrenreich's sporking of The Secret - she goes into it pretty thoroughly in her book on the cult of "positive thinking" in all its manifestations.

    Anyway, "The Secret of Mass-Delusion" pretty much sums it up: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/barbara-ehrenreich/the-secret-of-mass-delusi_b_42212.html

    Canberra, West Island • Since Nov 2006 • 701 posts Report Reply

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