Attention Rael, Ruth, and George!

For anyone intereted in deep space communications, the possibility of alien life, and star jumps check this out:

Yelling at Stars will send Australia's first interstellar message. It's art, it's music, it's a show, and its being beemed into space via radio waves shot from Deep Space Communictions in Florida, USA. The performance kicks off at 9pm on the 31st of May (that's tomorrow night people!) at the Sydney Myer Music Bowl in Melbourne and will stream live to space. It will also stream over the net, so you too can watch at home. It is part of the Next Wave Festival 2008, which this year is exploring ideas of closeness and conflict. Yelling at Stars uses humour, pathos, and the odd cover song to broadcast a personal account of humanity's struggle to deal with its sense of isolation. So, grab your favourite silver jumpsuit, pop your blasters in the cupboard, and rock out with a group a hoopy froods who really know where their towels are.

Check 'em out:
www.yellingatstars.com

I guess I should reveal that my brother is the Sound Designer/Composer, and my dad did some of the Astronomical Coordinate calculations. But that doesn't stop this being a funky exercise in intersellar communication.

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Come to Trivia!

Come to Trivia! Click on the image for better resolution.
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Fancy a Beverage?

Then come along to the Forest Lodge Hotel from 5pm, Wednesday 28th May for drinks and frivolity.

You're always welcome at the Flodge!
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Come and see a freaky film!

Do you secretly like movies about macabre, unexplained phenomena? Then come to the Mu-Meson Archives with us on Friday, May 23rd to see Wisconsin Death Trip!

We'll be meeting at the Annandale Hotel at 7pm for a sneaky drink, then heading around the corner at 7:30-ish for the film. Entry is $10 which includes a small supper.

Email Alex if you'd like to come with us (alex.norman at usyd.edu.au) ...

Friday 23rd May

Wisconsin Death Trip

Based on Michael Lesy's 1973 book of the same name, WISCONSIN DEATH TRIP is a strikingly original nonfiction film that tells the strange story of one cursed American community. In the late 1890s, the small rural town of Black River Falls, Wisconsin, suffered through an incredibly bizarre crisis. Economically depressed and battling a diphtheria epidemic, in addition to relentlessly bleak weather conditions, the residents of Black River Falls began to collectively lose their minds. Through recreations, old photographs, and newspaper clippings culled from the era (read by Ian Holm), James Marsh's film shows just how bizarre a time in history this actually was.

Mu-Meson Archives
Doors 7.30 for 8pm start
$10 with supper

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Why in Heaven Would You Study Religion?

Do you find people exhibit strange reactions when you tell them you are studying Religion? Do they assume you’re studying theology, and back away slowly? Do you feel somehow obliged to justify your choice of subject, more so than, say, English, Philosophy, or Sociology?

Then welcome ...

I have been studying Religion at Sydney Uni for 8 years. In that time, I’ve fielded hundreds of queries related to my study, reiterating ad nauseum that I am not training for the ministry, striving for the monkery, or bible-bashing my way through University. The simple fact of the matter is that no matter how you explain it, the majority of punters seem unconvinced by the motive for your pursuits, or indeed the nature of your research.

It’s hard to say how I tripped into this area of study. Actually, that is a lie. I enrolled in Studies in Religion because it was the only Arts subject not offering classes on Fridays. 8 years later, Fridays remain class-free and I’m still here.

I’m also better at answering that bastard of a question: “Why are you studying religion?” I find that responding with a question helps to level the playing field. Try: “Why are you an accountant/lawyer/commerce student?” Perhaps toss them a punchy statistic: “Did you know that over 70% of Australians identify as religious, in some sense?” Without sounding like an arch intellectualist*, you might point out the nonlikelihood that 70% of Australians would identify as devoted to accountancy/law/commerce.

To study religion is to delve into the cockles of human psychology and its physical manifestation: human behaviour. It is to ask: “What makes something sacred?” and “Is there a purpose to belief?” It is to excavate the foundations of social morés, cultural taboos, and common rituals. It is to become worldly without travel and wise without ageing. Most importantly, to study religion is to analyse what makes us tick: the primeval pulse that beats deep and wide across humanity’s collective consciousness.

So next time someone sounds incredulous – tell them to stick that in their pipe and smoke it.


*a common wanker

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