Sutherland Cult: They withdrew from society, but still fed off it.

SHOOT: Quite a shocking story. Might even make a movie...

"My father-in-law let them stay on the farm for free out of the goodness of his heart, but in time they became dissatisfied with everything," said Jolene.

"At our wedding two years ago they kept talking about the 'third eye'. It made us feel uncomfortable. They regularly held trance music dance festivals on the farm, played memory games and practiced telepathy. They wore black capes and Agnes had a black cat."

Jolene said the Meniéres know the farm well. "For the past 10 years they lived here in isolation without electricity, cellphones or computers."

"They're used to surviving," said Cobus du Plessis, the owner’s oldest son. "The cult and their lifestyle made them tough.

"No-one in town knew them, since during the past four years they almost never came to town," Jolene said.

"It's only our family who knew a little bit about them. Cobus and I often visited the French couple on the farm.

Intimidating

"We had lovely conversations about philosophy with them. They are intelligent people and had interesting perspectives, not all of which we agreed with.

"I was never really comfortable around Philippe. I found him intimidating. It was as if he was constantly trying to read my thoughts.

"I often chatted to Agnes and went walking in the veld with her. She told me a little bit about her work in the advertising industry.

"She's a very creative person. I always felt that she was starved for company."

According to Jolene, Jardel used to be a beautiful woman who "gestured a lot when she spoke" and loved red wine. "Two years ago at our wedding she danced the night away.

"They both have dark eyes, which have become very intense over the past two years. They started avoiding us more and more. The deeper they were sucked into the cult, the more isolated they became.

Read the rest.

Unplugged for 6 months = simplify simplify!

 

AP – This undated photo courtesy of Frances Andrijich shows Susan Maushart, second from left, with her children, …

By BETH J. HARPAZ, Associated Press Beth J. Harpaz, Associated Press – Tue Jan 18, 12:45 pm ET

NEW YORK – Susan Maushart lived out every parent's fantasy: She unplugged her teenagers.
For six months, she took away the Internet, TV, iPods, cell phones and video games. The eerie glow of screens stopped lighting up the family room. Electronic devices no longer chirped through the night like "evil crickets." And she stopped carrying her iPhone into the bathroom.
The result of what she grandly calls "The Experiment" was more OMG than LOL — and nothing less than an immersion in RL (real life).

As Maushart explains in a book released in the U.S. this week called "The Winter of Our Disconnect" (Penguin, $16.95), she and her kids rediscovered small pleasures — like board games, books, lazy Sundays, old photos, family meals and listening to music together instead of everyone plugging into their own iPods.
Her son Bill, a videogame and TV addict, filled his newfound spare time playing saxophone. "He swapped Grand Theft Auto for the Charlie Parker songbook," Maushart wrote. Bill says The Experiment was merely a "trigger" and he would have found his way back to music eventually. Either way, he got so serious playing sax that when the gadget ban ended, he sold his game console and is now studying music in college.
Maushart's eldest, Anni, was less wired and more bookish than the others, so her transition in and out of The Experiment was the least dramatic. Her friends thought the ban was "cool." If she needed computers for schoolwork, she went to the library. Even now, she swears off Facebook from time to time, just for the heck of it.

Maushart's youngest daughter, Sussy, had the hardest time going off the grid. Maushart had decided to allow use of the Internet, TV and other electronics outside the home, and Sussy immediately took that option, taking her laptop and moving in with her dad — Maushart's ex-husband — for six weeks. Even after she returned to Maushart's home, she spent hours on a landline phone as a substitute for texts and Facebook.
But the electronic deprivation had an impact anyway: Sussy's grades improved substantially. Maushart wrote that her kids "awoke slowly from the state of cognitus interruptus that had characterized many of their waking hours to become more focused logical thinkers."

Maushart decided to unplug the family because the kids — ages 14, 15 and 18 when she started The Experiment — didn't just "use media," as she put it. They "inhabited" media. "They don't remember a time before e-mail, or instant messaging, or Google," she wrote.

Like so many teens, they couldn't do their homework without simultaneously listening to music, updating Facebook and trading instant messages. If they were amused, instead of laughing, they actually said "LOL" aloud. Her girls had become mere "accessories of their own social-networking profile, as if real life were simply a dress rehearsal (or more accurately, a photo op) for the next status update."
Maushart admits to being as addicted as the kids. A native New Yorker, she was living in Perth, Australia, near her ex-husband, while medicating her homesickness with podcasts from National Public Radio and The New York Times online. Her biggest challenge during The Experiment was "relinquishing the ostrichlike delusion that burying my head in information and entertainment from home was just as good as actually being there."

Maushart began The Experiment with a drastic measure: She turned off the electricity completely for a few weeks — candles instead of electric lights, no hot showers, food stored in a cooler of ice. When blackout boot camp ended, Maushart hoped the "electricity is awesome!" reaction would soften the kids' transition to life without Google and cell phones.

It was a strategy that would have made Maushart's muse, Henry David Thoreau, proud. She is a lifelong devotee of Thoreau's classic book "Walden," which chronicled Thoreau's sojourn in solitude and self-sufficiency in a small cabin on a pond in the mid-1800s. "Simplify, simplify!" Thoreau admonished himself and his readers, a sentiment Maushart echoes throughout the book.

As a result of The Experiment, Maushart made a major change in her own life. In December, she moved from Australia to Long Island in New York, with Sussy. Of course, the move merely perpetuated Maushart's need to live in two places at once: She kept her job as a columnist for an Australian newspaper and is "living on Skype" because her older children stayed Down Under to attend university. Ironically, the Internet eased the transition to America for Sussy, who used Facebook to befriend kids in her new high school before arriving.
Another change for Maushart: She's no longer reluctant to impose blackouts on Sussy's screentime. "Instead of angsting, 'Don't you think you're spending too much time on the computer? Don't you think you should do something else like reading?' I now just take the computer away when I think she's had enough," Maushart said in a phone interview. "And now that she's been on the other side and remembers what it's like, it's less of an issue."

Maushart realizes that living off the grid for six months is unrealistic for most people. (She also admits getting her kids to go along with it partly by bribing them with a cut of proceeds from the book, which she planned to write all along.)
But she encourages families to unplug periodically. "One way to do it is just to have that one screen-free day a week. Not as a punishment — not by saying, 'I've had enough!' — but by instituting it as a special thing," she said. "There isn't a kid on the planet who wouldn't really rather be playing a board game than sitting at the computer."

SHOOT: Brilliant idea!

Ricky Gervais: A joke too far at the Golden Globes [TRANSCRIPT]

SHOOT: Love his anti-establishment persona. Hope he is back next year for more laughs! Have a detailed look at the Telegraph's summary of Gervais shennanigans:

[Gervais] also poked fun at The Tourist, the flop film starring Angelina Jolie and Johnny Depp - both of whom were in the audience and smiled gamely. Explaining that it had been a big year for 3D movies, Gervais quipped: "It seems like everything this year was three-dimensional... except the characters in The Tourist."

There were jokes about Charlie Sheen ("It's gonna be a night of partying and heavy drinking. Or as Charlie calls it: breakfast") and Hugh Hefner's sex life. He introduced Bruce Willis as "Ashton Kutcher's dad".

But Gervais perhaps took a risk too far when he mocked the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, the 90-strong group of international film critics who choose the Golden Globe winners.

"I'd like to quash this ridiculous rumour going around that the only reason The Tourist was nominated was so the Hollywood Foreign Press could hang out with Angelina Jolie and Johnny Depp. That is rubbish. That is not the only reason. They also accepted bribes," he said.

The HFPA is currently being sued for $2m by a publicist who claims its members accept lavish gifts in exchange for supporting particular films. The HFPA denies the allegations.

Gervais also made a dig at the organisation's president, Philip Berk, saying: "I had to help the HFPA president off the toilet and pop his teeth back in."

Backstage, Berk was asked if he planned to invite Gervais back next year. "No comment," he replied.

Robert Downey Jr seemed similarly unimpressed. The actor presented an award and was introduced by Gervais with the words: "Many of you in this room probably know him best from such facilities as the Betty Ford Clinic and Los Angeles County Jail..."

After the ceremony, he elaborated on his earlier comments. "I think it's great to be funny, but it's just better if you can do it without hurting people," he said.

Gervais also managed to alienate Tom Hanks and Tim Allen, who presented an award together and were there to celebrate the success of Toy Story 3, for which they provide voices.

When Gervais introduced them, he announced: "What can I say about our next two presenters? The first is an actor, producer, writer and director whose movies have grossed over $3.5bn at the box office. He's won two Academy Awards and three Golden Globes for his powerful and varied performances starring in such films as Philadelphia, Forrest Gump, Castaway, Apollo 13 and Saving Private Ryan. The other is Tim Allen."

Hanks retorted: "You know, like many of you we recall back when Ricky Gervais was a slightly chubby but very kind comedian."

"Neither of which he is now," said a stony-faced Allen.

Have we got what it takes to advance? Did we peak too soon? If the world is so green Then why does it scream under a blue moon? We wonder why The Earth's sacrificed For the price of its greatest treasure...[LYRICS]

I blame you for the moonlit sky
And the dream that died with the Eagle's flight
I blame you for the moonlit nights
When I wonder why
Are the seas still dry?
Don't blame this sleeping satellite

Did we fly to the moon too soon?
Did we squander the chance?
In the rush of the race
The reason we chase is lost in romance
And still we try
To justify the waste
For a taste of man's greatest adventure

I blame you for the moonlit sky
And the dream that died with the Eagle's flight
I blame you for the moonlit nights
When I wonder why
Are the seas still dry?
Don't blame this sleeping satellite

Have we got what it takes to advance?
Did we peak too soon?
If the world is so green
Then why does it scream under a blue moon?
We wonder why
The Earth's sacrificed
For the price of its greatest treasure

I blame you for the moonlit sky
And the dream that died with the Eagle's flight
I blame you for the moonlit nights
When I wonder why
Are the seas still dry?
Don't blame this sleeping satellite

And when we shoot for the stars
What a giant step
Have we got what it takes
To carry the weight of this concept?
Or pass it by
Like a shot in the dark
Miss the mark with a sense of adventure

I blame you for the moonlit sky
And the dream that died with the Eagle's flight
I blame you for the moonlit nights
When I wonder why
Are the seas still dry?
Don't blame this sleeping satellite

Ricky Gervais Opening Monologue [GOLDEN GLOBES]

The art of flying [PHOTOGRAPHY]

Stunner rejects marriage proposal from a total Baboon! [PHOTO]

How baboons deal with rejection - a blow by blow account:

Brian: Getrude...from the moment I saw you...I...I...
Getrude: Brian...no...no...it...it's just not...
Brian: You mean, you don't love me too? Here I am pledging my undying allegiance, and you...you have the gall to reject me. Give me that ring back...
Getrude: It's not you Brian. It's...well...it's me.  Here's the ring.  Oh wait no, it's a tick.  Sorry I seem to have dropped it.

Gertrude: You'll come back from this setback. Here, let me fix your tie.  By the way, was that a real diamond?

Brian: [Reflecting later]: Sniff sniff.  Well maybe I saved my neck on that one.  She was probably just a gold digger anyway.

Brian: There she goes.  Guess I better just...be a man...and let her go.  Wait, I'm not sure if I'm evolved enough to be a man.  I don't even know if I can BE a man.

Brian: I guess I'll just be charming self.  Live and let live.

Everything is [not] OK - Kunstler

We lie to ourselves incessantly about the nation's financial condition. We've suspended both the rules of accounting and the rule of law in banking matters (lying). We're too frightened to go into the vaults and find out exactly how much we've swindled ourselves (cowardice). And we aggressively misunderstand issues that will shape our future, such as how much oil is really in the ground, and how long people will be able to live in places like Tucson the way they do (ignorance) - all of this prompting us to march off the edge of a political cliff where we hang today, the cartoon coyote of nations, undone by our Acme techno-fantasies.
Discomfort is probably the only thing that will avail to alter this pattern of behavior.

SHOOT: Something to own up to each of us, our own dishonesty, cowardice and ignorance. One thing is missing in this list of transgressions, although 'ignorance' partially touches on it. And that's our endless capacity to distract, amuse and entertain ourselves. How to go from that to the thankless and joyless task of focussing on...mere reality?

Read the rest of Kunstler's piece here.

Jurassic Park Soundtrack Slowed Down 1000 Times [MUSIC]

Jurassic Park Theme (1000% Slower) by birdfeeder

Scenes from the Cape [PHOTOGRAPHY]

Surfing in Alaska [VIDEO]

SHOOT: Isn't this the coolest!



For most surfers, a really long ride might last about 20 seconds and cover 50-60 yards, so imagine the thrill experienced by a group of standup paddlers recently when they rode waves for a distance of nearly five miles -- amid the splendor of the pristine Alaskan wilderness.

The magical event played out on the Turnagain Arm in the Cook Inlet near Girdwood, thanks to a phenomenon called a tidal bore, caused when the leading edge of an incoming tide pushes against an opposing current or the direction of a river. This creates actual tidal waves.

Tidal bores occur in very few places around the world and the Turnagain Arm exhibits a tidal bore only when conditions are right.

Surfers often try to predict when this will happen. They can ride the waves but with traditional surfboards it's difficult to stay on them for the duration, because they can suddenly diminish before building again.

However, the advent of larger standup boards, on which surfers use a paddle for propulsion, has maximized the Turnagain bore experience.

Word is spreading, too. Standup Paddler (SUP) magazine, in its winter issue, published an aerial photograph showing Eric Newberry, Dave Calkins and Mike McCune cruising on the face of a bore wave.

Scott Dickerson of SurfAlaska.net captured the image and shot video (both shown in this post) from a motorized paraglider.

Die Melktert Kommissie - Proudly South African

Awesome afrikaans music ;-)

Andrew Garfield is Spider-Man

Andrew Garfield will play Marvel's web-slinger inSpider-Man 4.
Photo: John Schwartzman/Sony Pictures

Judging from the new Spider-Man picture released Thursday by Sony Pictures, it looks like another brooding superhero movie is coming down the pike. Andrew Garfield, the 27-year-old actor who won the role last spring, is seen here suited up in the Spidey suit worn in three previous films by Tobey Maguire.
Garfield took on the role of Spider-Man after completing work on The Social Network, in which he played Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin. Director Marc Webb ((500) Days of Summer) cast Garfield from a field of contenders that included Kick-Ass star Aaron Johnson, Jamie Bell and Alden Ehrenreich (Tetro).

Australia's third largest city flooded

SHOOT: Amazing. This is like Australia's version of New Orleans. It also shows how a modern city in modern times can face permanent wrecking or foreclosure. Hopefully the waters don;t rise too much in Brisbane and the damage can be contained and repaired fairly quickly and easily.

 

  Reuters – A passenger in a car waves for assistance as a flash flood sweeps across an intersection in Toowoomba, …

By Ed Davies Ed Davies – Wed Jan 12, 5:46 am ET

BRISBANE, Australia (Reuters) - – Massive floods shut down the center of Australia's third-largest city, sent thousands fleeing from their homes and sparked panic buying of food on Wednesday as rescuers searched for 43 people missing in floodwaters.
Australia's biggest floods in a century have so far killed 16 people since starting their onslaught across northern mining state Queensland last month, crippling the coking coal industry, destroying infrastructure, putting a brake on the economy and sending the local currency to four-week lows.
The flood surge is expected to peak in Brisbane, a riverside city of two million people, before sunrise on Thursday and last for days.
"We are in the grip of a very serious natural disaster," Queensland state premier Anna Bligh said, predicting almost 20,000 homes could be flooded at the river's peak.
"Brisbane will go to sleep tonight and wake up to scenes many will never have seen before in their lives," she warned.
The flood peak hit Ipswich, a satellite town to the west, late on Wednesday. More than 1,500 Ipswich residents sheltered in evacuation centers, but others fled homes with little more than what they are wearing, as floodwater rose around the city.

Car [PHOTOGRAPHY]

The most shocking story on the wires today

You aren't going to believe this.

Prudhoe Bay drives Brent Crude to $98, a 27 month high

 

An oil leak on the Trans-Alaska pipeline has pushed up crude prices. Photograph: Doug Wilson/Corbis

The oil price rose to a 27-month high this morning as the ongoing disruption following last weekend's oil leak in Alaska drove fears of supply shortages.

The cost of a barrel of Brent crude – oil sourced from the North Sea – hit $98 this morning, its highest level since October 2008 before the global economic downturn took hold. US crude oil also rose to $91.65 a barrel, close to its own 27-month high.

Energy prices have been under pressure since the closure last Saturday of the 800-mile pipeline that transports oil from Northen Alaska, following a leak in a pumping station. This has forced a 95% cut in production at Prudhoe Bay, the source of around 15% of US oil output.

Read the rest.

SHOOT: This should give you an idea of just how sensitive the energy supply markets are.  A leak in one pipeline now drives world energy prices up by entire percentiles, no longer small fractions of a percentage as was the case in the past.  The luxury has now passed us by, we're living in much leaner energy times now, and there should be stricter controls in discretionary energy usage.

Two Girls On A Beach [PHOTOGRAPHY]

Table Mountain fascinated jumper Rob Taylor

Pietermaritzburg - Flamboyant KwaZulu-Natal businessman Rob Taylor has reportedly jumped to his death on Table Mountain.

Taylor, a Howick property developer, made headlines last year when he gave his Audi R8 worth over R2m, and R20 000 in cash, to eight car guards who worked at the Table Mountain cable car station.

The mountain apparently had a fascination for Taylor.

On Monday eNews quoted him as saying it is the “portal to Heaven”.

Cableway marketing manager Collette van Aswegen said the man, who has not been officially identified by his family as Taylor, went up the mountain in the cable car and went to one of the viewing decks.

“The information we have is very limited. We understand that he just jumped and we seldom have incidents of this nature. This was an unfortunate one,” said Van Aswegen.

SHOOT: We have seldom had incident of this nature. I should hope not.

Director for the Western Cape Emergency Medical Services, Cleeve Robertson, said they were called to the scene just after 18:00.

According to Robertson, witnesses were on the mountain as the cable car operates until 21:00.

Stretched out arms

Witnesses said the man took off his backpack, stretched out his arms and jumped.

“When we got there the body was lying about 80m below the cableway. It was a significant fall with no likelihood of surviving and the rescue operation was completed at about 22:00.

“From the witnesses' account, it appears that the man intentionally plunged to his death. We sent our helicopter to retrieve the body as it is the easiest way in that condition,” said Robertson.

The Witness has learnt that a credit card was found in the deceased’s pocket and the police used it to informally identify him.

A recorded message on Taylor’s cellphone reportedly tells callers that the number is no longer in use.

Cape Town police spokesperson Captain Ezra October would not confirm the man’s identity, but said Taylor’s relatives arrived at the police station on Monday afternoon.

“The identification was not done, but the men spoke to the investigating officers and left. We can confirm the identity after the family has done so tomorrow (Wednesday),” said October.

He said the police cannot say it was a suicide case until the investigation and autopsy are completed.

Agitated

A Howick resident who did not wish to be named said Taylor did a lot to develop the area.

“He had a big heart and always helped the needy. He gave to charity work expecting nothing in return,” said the resident.

A source close to Taylor said that during a meeting with Amber Valley residents late last year on future plans for Amber Valley, it was clear to everybody that Taylor was agitated.

“It appeared that he was alienated from some of his family.

“He said that he wished to be free of attachments to money or worldly things, that he wished to live in peace with the world, and that he would like to give most of his money away,” said the source.

SHOOT: Well dying is one way to be free of attachments, but I imagine there are a few other ways that work too. Like travelling the world with no baggage. This guy was probably bipolar or something. Did he die because he felt happy, because he was miserable or because he had a screw loose?

Katy Perry - Firework [VIDEO]

I reckon this is my favorite song at the moment.