Groundhog Day and Morality

It's one of my favourite movies and for a romantic comedy, it's pretty amazing.  I think Bill Murray is an excellent and uncoventional leading man.  In Groundhog Day, Bill lives the same day over and over again.

If you were in Groundhog Day, and in a relationship, is it cheating to sleep with someone else?

I think it goes to show how much time relates to our morality.  If we live without consequences, then how do we distinguish between right and wrong?  Further, cheating relates to being in a relationship with someone and sleeping with someone else while you were in that relationship.  If you are in a situation like Groundhog Day though, I'm not so sure if it would be.  Even though it appears like he is stuck in one moment, I actually think it is more like the expression of the timeless nature of the universe.  He is stuck in an eternal moment, where all the possible consequences of our actions play out.  He is the sum of all of those different expressions, he is always the same.  So really, it's impossible to say if it is or it isn't.

Or, looking at it another way, in our 'normal' time, it is possible to love and sleep with more than one person, as long as they are separated by time.  In Groundhog Day, each day is a different experience of time.

Philosophy

The life of a human being receives its worth, its importance, from the way in which unrealised ideals shape its purposes and tinge its actions.  The distinction between man and animal is in one sense only a difference in degree, but the extent of the degree is what makes all the difference.  Becoming men did not make us philosophers, scientists, or theologians, debating about the possibility to find the truth of the universe and God.  It primordially made us poets, that would catch the gleam of sunlight on foliage and wonder, rather than stick to the business of mere survival, be it biological, social, or academic.  Men are children of the universe with foolish enterprise and unrealised hopes. The search for responsibility is a particular case of a foolish enterprise, a witness to the importance we assign to unrealised ideals.  The same is philosophy, which embodies the adventure of hope, with the ultimate aim of experiencing disclosure.  - Isabelle Stenger

The Company Wombat

The northern hairy nosed wombat is one of the most endangered species in the world.  Only 138 exist, and none exist in captivity.  They are really rare.

Xstrata is one of the biggest mining companies in the world.  They now own the northern hairy nosed wombat... or should I say the Xstrata northern hairy nosed wombat.  As part of the millions they are spending on the wombat, they get 'exclusive' naming rights, like Etihad stadium.  Something that humans haven't really had since the Garden of Eden with Adam.  Books, clothing, backpacks, .. anything northern hairy nosed wombat is now Xstrata.

Their investment mainly goes to the development of a second colony of wombats, located near St. George, Queensland, which has helped to increase numbers in the last 2 years by about 20.

I think it's one of the most bizarre tie-ins in the world.  I can understand home loans and stadiums, but wombats and mining?  What do the mining company get out of it?  138 wombats can barely do much heavy labour.  They don't seem to be the most resilient of species either.  

I think the wombats do get a bit of benefit from it, a trendy little Xstrata logo to have branded on their backs or somewhere conspicuous.  Maybe a guest starring spot in some recruitment videos.  Anyway, hopefully this is just the start of more businesses owning some animals.  

Locked bathrooms

Ashwin

hey fairenza. how are you going?
12:19am
Fairenza

heyy i'm good how are you
12:20am
Ashwin

alright, have a headache sorta thing

been at home all day, sorta bored like
12:21am
Fairenza

really? how come?
12:21am
Ashwin

what have you been up to?

i don't know... it's like the right side of my head hurts... throbbing sort of thing
12:22am
Fairenza

i just lockd myself out of the bathroom

and i can't find the key
12:22am
Ashwin

why do you need a key?

just knock.. they'll let you back in
12:23am
Fairenza

hahaha who is they in my bathroom?
12:24am
Ashwin

oh, what if you are in a hurry? just use the emergency entrance..
12:26am
Fairenza

hahahaha my bathroom? as in my room?

where wouldthis emergency entrance be?
12:28am
Ashwin

i don't know, it's your bathroom!
12:28am
Fairenza

haha wel i'm pretty sure generally people's bathrooms arn't built with emergency exits
12:28am
Ashwin

it seems poorly designed. im still stuck on the key issue

most bathrooms don't have keys.
12:28am
Fairenza

why would they have keys?

all bathrooms have keys
12:29am
Ashwin

mine doesn't

so, i rest my case
12:30am
Fairenza

your bathroom is wierd then
12:30am
Ashwin

wierd? do you mean wired?

its got electricity if that's what you mean, and also an exhaust fan.

is yours wired? perhaps you can used the wires to get in... 'jumpstart' your door perhaps
12:31am
Fairenza

no weird as in strange
12:31am
Ashwin

it's not strange! it's got a toilet, mirror, sink, and shower.

i challenge you!
12:31am
Fairenza

you are being so strange
12:32am
Ashwin

you are pretty funny too

thanks 
12:33am
Fairenza

not funny... strange!
12:33am
Ashwin

i could have sworn you said funny

maybe it was a typo? 
12:34am
Fairenza

perhaps
12:35am
Ashwin

any luck breaking into your bathroom?

have you tried talking to whoever locked you out? maybe you could get them to hurry up.

just do it gently, they may be in the middle of one of those processes.. like blowdrying or what not.
12:36am
Fairenza

hahaha you need to stop talking now!
12:36am
Ashwin

i see you know about the blowdrying... 

do you have housekeepers? maybe you could ask them to help you break in.
12:37am
Fairenza

everyone is sleeping

i'll just deal with it tomorrow
12:37am
Ashwin

or you could hire some housekeepers

it's your choice
12:38am
Fairenza

it's okay it's not a big deal
12:39am
Ashwin

yeah, just roll with it

Drinking

I am doing a few projects on work about drinking.  It makes me think about what the problem is about how we drink.  It's Australian to have a drink, is it Australian to get trashed?  Probably.  Do other countries act the same way?  There is a view that in Latin countries, they drink better, they drink socially and getting drunk is not the ultimate goal.

One of the big problems with binge drinking is the violence associated with it.  Sometimes it can be scary to go to some pubs, or on nights out.  Drinking also seems to amplify the mood that you are in.  If you are in a depressed mood, and you are looking to forget your troubles, you think drinking can help.  It often just makes it worse.  I don't think anyone has ever said,'I got drunk and when I woke up the next day, I had no problems'.  Someone once said, 'I drink to forget'.  Someone smarter once said, 'I drink to forget I drink'.

Why do we drink?  So many reasons, lose inhibitions, a way to say things and get away with it, to excuse behaviour, to get courage.  Why do we get totally trashed when we know it's so bad for us, and more often we end up with the bad consequences of drinking, like spending too much money, hangovers, health problems, lack of motivation, losing brain cells, arguments, fights, embarrassing things, forgetting what we did?

Drinking is so important to the culture.  There are people you can talk to, but you feel closer to the people you can have a drink with.  If you don't drink, you will be asked why, as if you have some sort of problem.  Why is that?  If you don't drink, you have to wonder if there are the same social opportunities.

It's not like it's getting particularly worse these days.  The problems have been there even since Australia was settled by convicts.  It seems like every effort to get people to drink better... extended drinking hours, allowing females into clubs, extending liquor licences, making sure food is at venues.. it's all backfired.  We've traded the 6 o'clock swill for boozy nights out drinking shots.  It's gotten to the point where the government feels that people can't control their drinking, and have banned some shots, and banned drinks for a certain time period each hour.  

I don't know how the situation can change.