This is so not a thing I have time for today, but five people emailed me overnight regarding the Paracas skulls. Five! I’m a little bit touched that people would want my opinion on something or even assume that I have one. Because it turns out I do. I very much do. If you have […]
Whisky Rant: Disc 2 (Special Features)
Presidents building robot armies that can murder without trial, Nazi inquisitor popes climbing back down off the cross, meteors smashing into Russia, billionaires constructing private space stations, children’s authors being outed as spies, Baltic sea anomalies, teh gayz coming to destroy your opposite marriages, the Fed getting hacked by Anonymous, the unstoppable rise of gender politics in […]
What Is A Whisky Rant For? (Part 10)
Let’s return to the opening metaphor of an oceanic journey following the promise of some old maps and unfamiliar stars… You hear some strange tales in the dive bars by the docks when you go looking for your crew. Whilst you may fear that your own speculations -your possible El Dorado- may strain the credulity […]
The Tarot of Unpopular Futures: Whisky Rant (Part 9)
“Your head’s like mine, like all our heads; big enough to contain every god and devil there ever was. Big enough to hold the weight of the oceans and the turning stars. Whole universes fit in there! But what do we choose to keep in this miraculous little cabinet? Little broken things, sad trinkets that […]
The Inevitable Atlantis One: Whisky Rant (Part 8)
My father’s eyes narrow and I can’t tell if it’s from rage or thoughtfulness. He picks up his gin and sips slowly on it. We are having our weekly drink at the Qantas Club at Sydney airport before he flies home for the night. I am nineteen. And I really shouldn’t have worn this hat. […]
When We Met The Neighbours: The Whisky Rant (Part 7)
Does it not fascinate you that there was a first sorcerer, a first shaman, a first act of magic? There is considerable, understandable interest in how our art tumbled down from Egypt and Greece. Both civilisations irrevocably changed the shape of western magic. But taking a macro view, an overemphasis on these two regions is […]
Your Boring, Crowded Universe: The Whisky Rant (Part 6)
This isn’t an alien rant… aliens aren’t anymore rant-worthy than leeks or sparrows. Have you ever had to convince anybody that aliens exist somewhere in our mediocre universe? Even Dawkins thinks they do. (But then, he’s an agnostic these days, apparently.) No, this is the rant that you pull out when you’re feeling outrageous… Lokean. […]
You Are Made Of Books: The Whisky Rant (Part 5)
Seven day cycles don’t exist in nature. Which is why, when we find them, we have to make the qualified assumption that they are anthropogenic. You know how it always seems to rain on the weekend and then it’s fine on Monday as you head back to work? Turns out that’s actually a thing. I […]
The Map Of Forbidden Places: The Whisky Rant (Part 4)
If you woke up this morning with Queen Elizabeth II as your head of state then you probably have an opinion about rugby. Or if you woke up this morning in a country we have repeatedly trounced in battle (France) then you also probably have a rugby opinion. Kiwis, Australians, English, French, Welsh, Saffas. Ask […]
How Pseudohistory Works: The Whisky Rant (Part 3)
The greatest challenge when engaging with pseudohistory is its persistent need to speculate beyond the data. Take the Paeleolithic Renaissance. There is currently no universally accepted -or even verifiable- explanation for this simultaneous global flowering of art, and technological innovation that occurred pretty much everywhere where the earth wasn’t covered in a two mile block […]
How Conspiracies Work: The Whisky Rant (Part 2)
From your own experience, ask yourself this honestly: how successful are surprise parties? How about this one: how long does it typically take for a workplace-based extramarital affair to become common knowledge? Even ones that ruin marriages and (more importantly) careers seemingly have the inevitably of avalanches. We are shit at secrets. Gossip is an […]
The Whisky Rant (Part 1) – An Origin Story
For Scribs. As a teenager it became apparent that getting boys to make out with you required a substantially different strategy than getting girls to. With girls I would just add wine use my ears. Straight(ish) boys required a delicate balance of Demonstrating your own non-threatening awesomeness while Sufficiently loosening their reality bonds so as […]