Interesting (7): Moose & other things

Have you ever gone to "walk" your dogs by skiing? And then been chased by a moose? John McWhorter has.

Have you ever hung out in tango bars to master the art of that dance? Tiffany Kenyon has.

Have you ever set your own Fairtrade chocolate brand? Natasha Lewis has.

Do you provide sexual services to disabled people? Rachel Wotton does.

Have you tried to explain the colour green to blind kids? Errol Flannigan has.

You may not have done any of these things but I'm sure you have done something interesting. Would you care to share what?

Interesting (6): Zero

There were lots of people called "Tim" at Interesting. Tim Longhurst was another one. Tim is behind the Zero Coke Movement. Tim's energy & sheer charisma is a sight to behold.

Tim Baynes was another. Tim talked about the environment, the tragedy of the commons andthe problems with exponential change. And he was bloody funny in the process.

Interesting (5): Vocology

Tim Noonan was possibly the most charming presenter last night. He has an obsession with people's voices (click on the link to find out one of the reasons why). The grain and timbre of the voice. Not so much the words as the texture of the voice and what this can tell you about the speaker. He even did a voice reading of an audience member on the spot.

He also made the point that we risk losing our sense of voice in a culture that is ever more visual. Whether this shift to the visual is actually happening, I don't know. But we do seem to spend more time how we look (clothing, hairstyles). Do we care how we sound?

Interesting (4): Hugs

I was wandering thru Pitt Street Mall a few weeks ago and there was a dude with a sign saying "Free Hugs". So I thought "why not" and we had a moment. And then my day carried on.

I did not know that this dude was Juan Mann or what his story was. Until last night. Juan has spent a great deal of time spreading the love.

Unfortunately, Juan is facing eviction soon and has a request: would you be willing to put him up? If you can, drop him a line.

Interesting (3): How am I living?

Dan Hill talked about "The Well-Tempered Personal Environment". We can measure our environments - the quantities of electricity & water we consume, the distances we travel on public and private transport. We could get feedback all the time on the way we are living. Dan has the image of a house with with a sustainability-type score floating about it. We see how we are doing. And we others and they see us.

Dan is describing a very quantitative type of enviromental awareness (he'd even mocked up Facebook widgets and such like) that we don't really have yet. I loved it...

Interesting (2): Making the tea

Lauren designed the set for Interesting. And made the tea. And gave some simple advice to those would want to engage with art "without feeling like a twat". Basically did heaps.

The stage was less of a set and more of an art installation. And it was quite cosy. Which is more than can be said for most art installations.

South of Interesting - vote now

One conference that looked really cool was the Interesting thang put on back in June in London by Russell Davies. Now we have Interesting South in November. Looks well cool. I am going to put in a bid for a 3 minute slot. In an endeavour to make it interactive, here are some the topics I have been toying with. Vote now to decide what I could rant about:

1. How to make a zombie
2. A multi-sensory guide to Indian sweets
3. The leper king
4. Bass and dread
5. Growing up with the end of the world
6. The lesson of the banyan tree

Or else come up with a better topic.