Mark O’Meara: the blog

“History tells us that a lot of ground-breaking discoveries are made by mavericks who don’t follow the mainstream,” says Laidler. “What is often left out is that most of the mavericks are just plain wrong. They laughed at Galileo and Edison, but they also laughed at Bozo the Clown and Don Knotts.”

Why there’s no dispelling the vaccines-cause-autism myth. - By Arthur Allen - Slate Magazine

I found this article quite interesting both because of the actual topic but also because it talks about confirmation bias which I find especially interesting.

Lesson for the day - believing is an odd business.

Black dog and bald man by florriebassingbourn

I write this blog assuming that anyone might be reading and so I am mindful of what I write. Having said this it is entirely possible that I take self censorship a bit far and end up with only a string of meaningless faux witticisms. In fact what I am aiming for is mainly faux witticisms and a little actual content about me and what I think and feel.
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Tom Price Iron Mine by nporiord

The other day I saw a woman putting petrol into her car from a can only a couple of hundred metres short of a service station. My first instinct was that this was ironic. Then I got to wondering if it was just bad luck rather than irony.

Perhaps it would have been ironic if she had stopped two hundred metres past a service station. Then Andy pointed out that there was a servo down the highway a short distance and that it was ironic after all that she passed that one and didn’t make it to this one.

Then, as you might expect, my head started to hurt.

Lesson for the day - irony is poetic but more work than it looks.

The end is nigh…. by gtvone

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Out of order by Olivander

I feel clumsy of tongue and somewhat lacking when it comes to connecting with people.

No doubt a huge part of it is just mental fatigue. All the same I would like to be normal for a bit, I might like it and people around me might like it.

Lesson for the day - you can wish for a particular mental state but that’s not the same as being able to just will it into existence.

Beautiful by Nicky P

Lesson for the day - there is a lovely girl on either end of the lens in this photo.

geometry of silence by alt_castan

Due to complete lack of organisation and energy on my part there was no podcast this morning and it is entirely possible there will not be one tomorrow either.

Lesson for the day - even the very talkative sometimes just don’t have time.

Steam Railway (Kent, England) by shotbygrant

I think I can, I think I can.

Lesson for the day - just two days to go.

SingStar Rocks! by Luke Edgar Seeley

I would be the first to say that I don’t regard SingStar as being at the heart of the English Curriculum. However I do see a place for it especially at the end of term when reports are written and teachers and students alike are at the ratty end of the mental health scale.

Part of playing is reading the lyrics off the screen which is both an immediate reading exercise but also highlights the value of reading well. When you sing you are vocalising in front of other people. Every student I have can improve on this front. When you work in teams you connect with people and learn a little more about working with people.

And, finally, you sing. It’s good for your soul even if it is just dumb pop music.

Lesson for the day - everybody sing (la da da da daaa)

Inside a green beer bottle by scienceduck

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