Cafe Scientifique this Saturday

Gah it's been weeks since I posted something. Anyhoo, check out this month's Cafe Scientifique at Hobbes High Street. RSVP at cafescimanila(at)gmail. 

Doctor Who?

I was rooting for Patterson Joseph or perhaps James Nesbitt but this new guy seems ok. Eccleston was the Gen X angsty Doctor while Tennant is the happy-go-lucky Gen Y incarnation. Which is why Matt Smith (Smith!) is perhaps the correct choice for Emo!Doctor. 

Nah, he's gonna lose the hair before 2010. 

Sex Ed

Patricia Evangelista devotes a column to a store selling sex toys and, like clockwork, some guy complains, calling it "crass." It hardly is. In fact it was written pretty tastefully as far as columns go. The guy says the article belongs in a cheap tabloid but as a guy who reads everything I'm pretty sure it doesn't (he should take a look at what's in tabloids). Evangelista knows what she is doing. 

Two things befuddle me whenever some social conservative writes a letter to the editor complaining about something "immoral." 

First is the assumption that the Inquirer, or any other newspaper, is supposed to follow "Christian teachings." They are not. Nowhere does it say in the paper that they espouse any brand of Christianity and it is extremely presumptuous for anyone to believe so. 

Second is the obsession about sex. Why does writing about any aspect of sex automatically render an article "crass?" The letter writer even demonstrates his ignorance by saying "Rapists and pedophiles may now rest assured that what they do is merely living out their healthy sexual lifestyle," lumping together patrons of the store with criminals. The article mentions nothing of rapists and pedophiles, just a woman who owns a sex shop.  

Then he wonders why the paper saw fit to print such a column. It's to educate people like you, buddy.

Sir Pterry!

Terry Pratchett -- author, humanist, satirist, and all around great guy -- has been knighted. Diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer's, he has donated a huge sum to research on the disease and is still churning out two books a year for those of us who can't get enough of the Discworld.