The Quran

It was my planning mentor at HHCL who first turned me onto the Koran (as we spelled it then) and Islam, and watching the following video reminds me of a discussion I had in Starbucks the other day with a guy carrying Richard Dawkin's book The God Delusion. I asked him how he was finding it, and pointed out one flaw is the absence of separation between God and Religion (I dislike the latter).

In any case I put him onto my favourite rebuttal of the Dawkins book and he was very grateful for that link. I've just had a chance to watch this, and it's top quality content. I've no idea why YouTube viral clips get only 10 seconds to work with me and yet I'll lose an afternoon in this stuff. This came by way of Smashing Telly which has disrupted any number of lovely days I should have spent in the sun. Time to get down to the beach and squeeze a few hours out if possible.

Freestyle

I've pulled a calf muscle and forced to drop out of the Huntington Beach US Open World Surf Championships. It's a shame I know and I'm gutted not to be able to catch some waves this year but it has given me the opportunity to take a wander around the beach and see the event from the spectator side. The Xtreme Motorbike action (is that what it's called?) has blown me away. These kids are pushing it further than I thought imaginable.

This one is called the Lazy Boy

 

  

  

I'll put the rest up on my Flickr shortly. Expects lots of beach life and people shots!

The Masses Are Debating With The Intellectuals Online

This lecturer is a rock star. Amazing.

 

Internet star and Beijing history teacher Yuan Tengfei talks about freedom of speech, with a clarity and frankness rarely seen in China. Just Brilliant. English subtitles by Chris Wip.

From Danwei.org