Comments for Maximos' Blog

Comment on The British Museum and its antiquated imperial practices by Some of British Museum’s changing arguments for keeping the Parthenon Marbles « Maximos' Blog

Wed, 21 Dec 2011 20:34:27 +0000

[...] that appealed at the time. By it’s very nature the BM’s collection is suffused with an antiquated imperial logic. When the British Museum and the BBC offer us A History of the World in 100 Objects, they are [...]

Comment on #SMH not telling the full story on the #weather and #climate by marcellous

marcellous — Sat, 10 Dec 2011 01:41:22 +0000

I think you are being a bit unfair to the SMH.

It’s really just a variant on talking about the weather, not the climate.

One reason is that they have all these statistics and information so that weather statistics are more and more like cricket statistics and they want to push their “weatherzone” source.

I didn’t take them to be pushing in any way a line on whether global warming was occurring. Of course, you can’t stop some people drawing such a conclusion but that is not a reason not to gossip about the weather.

Comment on #SMH not telling the full story on the #weather and #climate by Neil

Neil — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 08:43:52 +0000

Aside from the obvious but often ignored difference between weather (highly variable and day-to-day) and climate (30 year trends and averages, essentially) people also forget that even if by some freak we had a week of subzero temps in Sydney in December or even a white Christmas, we would do well to see what’s happening in other parts of the globe. In La Nina times watch them bake and suffer on the other side of the Pacific! Check out what’s happening in the Arctic,

Climate change can’t be assessed by looking at a week or two of weather in one spot on the globe or by sticking your head out the window.

And if you think the Herald is bad, try The Australian. But I know you have more sense…

Comment on Decadence: Decline of the Western World by maximos62

maximos62 — Sun, 04 Dec 2011 00:49:03 +0000

Darcy, I don’t think we’re the audience, necessarily. Yes, much of it might seem simplistic to us but perhaps we’ve already assimilated a great deal of what Pria is drawing to the attention of a wider and younger audience.

I couldn’t agree more about the need to place the environment at the top of the list. Perhaps our patterns of production and consumption, driven by our ‘throw-away society’ need to be thoroughly examined as well.

Thanks for the comment.

Comment on Decadence: Decline of the Western World by Darcy Moore

Darcy Moore — Sat, 03 Dec 2011 23:45:21 +0000

To be honest Russell, I thought the trailer http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oDa4uIrrUyY was pretty superficial. It all seemed like pretty simplistic stuff to me. All the moralising about ‘decline’ seems to ignore that debauchery has always been a human constant, along with philosophy and art, often, all have been intertwined. ‘The West’ will reform, in the same way China is making progress. All of us will need to put the environment to the top of our ‘to do now’ lists.

Comment on Teaching history in the era of digital tools and archives by Teaching history in the era of digital tools and archives | History and Geography in the 21st Century Classroom | Scoop.it

Mon, 24 Oct 2011 05:58:10 +0000

[...] Teaching history in the era of digital tools and archives Chatting with an old friend on the phone today reminded me that I haven’t written much on this blog since the recent school vacation. Source: maximos62.wordpress.com [...]

Comment on Teaching history in the era of digital tools and archives by carlaleeb

carlaleeb — Sun, 23 Oct 2011 05:41:49 +0000

That would be terrific Russell. I would really enjoy reading that and I am sure it would be a valuable resource. We had a teacher who is a veteran speak with Year 10 and share his photos too.It has happened for the last 2 years and both times proved a powerful experience for our students and our colleague, it was also the first time he had publicly shared his story. Not one person in the room was left untouched or without some form of learning from this.

Comment on Teaching history in the era of digital tools and archives by maximos62

maximos62 — Sun, 23 Oct 2011 05:11:54 +0000

Yes, unfortunately Vimeo is blocked by the Blue Coat filter.

Just looked at http://www.scoop.it/t/conflict-in-indochina-1954-1979 it’s great work. Thanks for the link. Yes including multiple perspectives is a challenge. I’m just finishing off an essay on my own experiences during that time. It still needs some editing but I’ll send you a copy when it’s finished. I’m writing from the perspective of someone who opposed the war and the draft quite stridently.

Comment on Teaching history in the era of digital tools and archives by carlaleeb

carlaleeb — Sun, 23 Oct 2011 04:48:01 +0000

Thanks for your interesting post Russell. Sounds like you have some engaging projects going on. Our KLAs of Eng/History/Geo (combined Faculty) are looking at creating some cross KLA units to implement next year. Lots to consider.
I also thank you for the Vimeo clip I have included it in my project of creating a digital text book using Scoop.it http://www.scoop.it/t/conflict-in-indochina-1954-1979. I am just playing with this at present, especially as Scoop.it is blocked by the filter .It is certainly an interesting exercise trying to include multiple perspectives.

Comment on What do we do about the decline of Bahasa #Indonesia in #Australia? by maximos62

maximos62 — Sat, 22 Oct 2011 20:00:27 +0000

Thanks Bernard. It’s pleasing to see that a concerted attempt to promote Indonesian does have some impact.

Glad you recognized the locality in the blog photo. One of my favorite spots. You might appreciate the story ‘Headland’, also on my blog.