Posts by BenWilson

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  • Muse: TV Review: Good Gods Almighty!,

    I thought Wednesday was Wodin's day....

    Edit: Hang on, did she ask this the day before? I don't remember every line in there!

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 10657 posts Report

  • Speaker: Medical Journal, Chapter V, in reply to giovanni tiso,

    That's not only heart shaped, it's heart colored. I think we have a new Odin.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 10657 posts Report

  • Hard News: "Orderly transition" in #Egypt,

    I guess people like the idea of a real revolution, rather than an externally imposed one. Something about it just feels right. I feel empowered by it, I must say, and I'm not even in a dictatorship. There's something awesome about people fighting off oppression, especially when it's done (mostly) peacefully.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 10657 posts Report

  • Speaker: Medical Journal, Chapter V, in reply to Robyn Gallagher,

    I wonder why it's come so widespread and, indeed, culturally acceptable here.

    I think it's because we're one of the least religious countries in the world.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 10657 posts Report

  • Speaker: Medical Journal, Chapter V,

    Experience must vary. A friend of mine complained that it felt like he'd been kicked in the balls, but without the eventual easing - this went on for a week.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 10657 posts Report

  • Speaker: What PACE actually does,

    Ah....I've muddied the waters by mentioning Zen.

    I don't think so. It was on my mind even when I said that art was in the doing, not the final product. But just thinking about it again, gave me pause to consider the numerous objections to that being the whole story. I remember trying to keep a Zen-mind during a design session involving a manager, in which discussions to-ed and fro-ed, became heated, stuck, broke free, scrapped everything, started again, etc...the end result was quite good, but I found it pretty hard to see how waves of relaxed ease could accompany such a task.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 10657 posts Report

  • Speaker: What PACE actually does, in reply to Lilith __,

    But Jacqui is right - I think we're mostly in agreement here.

    I'd say so - to even find any wisdom in Zen at all. But I still don't buy it wholesale. It seems to me like the anguish and heartbreak that goes into a lot of great works is not always pure foolishness. Maybe I misunderstand them, but that comes with the mystical territory.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 10657 posts Report

  • Speaker: What PACE actually does, in reply to Lilith __,

    What I take from the sory of the zen archer is that physical skill is different to intellectual skill, and if you start thinking too hard about what your body is doing, you can’t do it anymore.

    I'm not so sure that they don't extend the same principle to mental processes too. Zen Masters do, after all, do things that would seem mostly mental, like arranging flowers, calligraphy, etc. I'm not sure if they particularly approve of a mental/physical distinction for Zen mindedness. They do talk, they do write. But, so far as I know, their mental state is not meant to change from one activity to the next, except perhaps when they are resting or sleeping.

    But it's a mystical philosophy, I'm never sure if rationalizations about it in translation are correct, indeed it's most basic premise seems to forgo all rationalization. It's a fairly famous position that you could know absolutely everything ever written about Zen, and still know nothing at all about it, and vice versa.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 10657 posts Report

  • Muse: TV Review: Good Gods Almighty!, in reply to James Griffin,

    Steer clear of suggesting Vikings discovered NZ and I'm sure you'll be forgiven for choosing Norse gods :-) Good show.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 10657 posts Report

  • Speaker: What PACE actually does, in reply to giovanni tiso,

    I can't think of much else we celebrate about our artists than their creativity.

    But your requirement that artists "fulfill that role and respond to that need for our world to be imaginatively represented and critiqued" does rather explain why PACE allows so few of them. I can just see it: "OK, so your a sculptor? Where's the critique in this abstract thingo you just made, then, huh? Pfft, you're just a technician".

    I expect that the point I was making about technique may have been lost in there, though. I was actually suggesting that there's plenty of technique in the conceptual side of things too. Design has techniques. There's technique in making good social commentary, lots of research, creativity workshopping etc. Criticism has technique. Aren't we all technicians then?

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 10657 posts Report

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