Ah yes gentle reader sorry for the gap in posts, last weekend was a trip down to watch Ireland get their bottoms slapped by the all blacks and this week was cram packed with work work work and more work.
Anyhow - today 21st November is the 230th birthday of one of my heroes, Francois Marie Arouet or as he is more commonly remembered Voltaire. We geeks, nerds and techie nere-do-wells are not known for our philosophical leanings ... well at least when sober. My father introduced me to the scribblings of this writer, philosopher, and wit many years ago.
Like any gael whether French,Scots or Irish Voltaire had an opinion about just about everything and was able to express it with a wit and style that has yet to be surpassed.
Do not be put off by his supposed atheist reputation, whilst he is credited with the tongue in cheek expression "Si Dieu n'existait pas, il faudrait l'inventer" ("If God did not exist, it would be necessary to invent him") he found fault not with a deity but with organised religions, those that did the organising and those that allowed themselves to be organised.
Whilst for some reason people are going mad to buy and read that deeply irritating, cloyingly sentimental, shallow, mediocre, heap of crap that is "The Shack" do yourself a favour, nip down to your local library and see if you lay you hands on a modern translation of "Candide".
Oh If anyone wants to pass on a copy of "The Shack" to me this Christmas because "it is a beautiful book" that "will teach me things about the nature of God" , please please please please take the money you would have spent and give it to Medicne Sans Frontiers or Oxfam you will then be actually helping people rather than supporting the sort of mediocre writing that is best left inside Hallmark greeting cards.
