ATM

Cabinet for a Spotted Owl

2009-06-08T13:26:00.002+10:00

Painting by madeline von Foerster

clipped from www.madelinevonfoerster.com

Fischerspooner

2009-06-08T13:22:00.000+10:00

2009-06-01T17:21:00.001+10:00

Mardi Gras from Keith Loutit on Vimeo.

2009-06-01T17:13:00.001+10:00

Metal Heart from Keith Loutit on Vimeo.

Cyberpunkowe roboty-owady

2008-10-14T21:28:00.001+11:00

This site has cool cyberpunk figures

clipped from www.retrome.pl

comic!

2008-09-25T23:28:00.001+10:00

cool online comic

clipped from www.viruscomix.com

Robots

2008-09-25T22:24:00.001+10:00

This site has a lot of robots

clipped from www.drawergeeks.com

RE ONE

2008-09-25T22:09:00.002+10:00

I like this guy's stuff especially

clipped from www.wallspankers.com

Graffiti

2008-09-25T22:01:00.001+10:00

This site has fifty most beautiful graffiti

clipped from www.inhabitat.com

Interface art project: Dating

2008-09-03T22:41:00.003+10:00

I Want You To Want Me / by Jonathan Harris and Sep Kamvar

Car

2008-08-30T09:57:00.001+10:00

Clone wars movie not that bad

2008-08-22T21:07:00.002+10:00

Yeah it looks tacky but, while no masterpiece, this is still a lot more enjoyable than the last three SW movies – in fact it is almost a return to the spirit of the first two Star Wars flicks ever, yeah i mean the original and Empire Strikes Back. Perhaps the absence of Lucas is what helps here – the writing is fresher, and actually has laughs. The story moves along well, there is kick-ass action and the characters, tho animated, seem a hell of a lot more natural than the real life versions of the past three movies.

Perhaps Clone War's connection to TV has also helped it get a bit more with the times.

I would recommend this movie to all die-hard Wars fans (I am one)– especially to those disillusioned by Phantom Menace and its sequels. This small movie breathes new life into the series. Ironic isn't it?

Obama portrait

2008-08-21T23:58:00.004+10:00

There def appears to be a lot of people out there - including artists - who are digging Obama and placing a bit of hope in him. I seem to be seeing more portraits of him all the time.

clipped from www.juxtapoz.com

Window papered over by exterior painters

2008-08-17T18:53:00.000+10:00

Salut! Baroque performance, 13 August, Sydney

2008-08-13T22:48:00.009+10:00

(pictured - Handel)

You can't really do wrong with Baroque Music, especially if you are feeling jaded. As soon as it starts you are won over, no matter what your mood is - the urbane elegance, the sophisticated melancholy, the wit of its endless experiments, is quite simply better than anything you can throw back at it. The music is like a supremely indifferent vampire, or Duchess, casually self assured no matter the era or the generation.

This performance - including music by Handel, Corelli, Alessandro Scarlatti, Caldara and Albinoni, performed by a troupe of experienced and talented players led by artistic directors Sally Melhuish and Tim Blomfield at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, was a pleasure.

Anime lessons

2008-08-08T17:38:00.001+10:00

This is worth reading if you love anime: http://www.abcb.com/misc/latt_03.htm

clipped from www.abcb.com

All I Ever Learned, I Learned from Anime

Mark Jenkins: Street Installations

2008-08-08T17:34:00.001+10:00

Art you can do lying down

clipped from www.xmarkjenkinsx.com

Street Installations

Samurai Champloo

2008-08-06T00:41:00.000+10:00

Video: Curren$y f. FS Jets "Air Assult"

2008-08-05T22:54:00.000+10:00

clipped from www.thefader.com

Video: Curren$y f. FS Jets "Air Assult"

Courtney Brimms at Monster Children

2008-08-05T19:43:00.001+10:00

clipped from www.lostateminor.com

Courtney Brims is a talented young Australian artist with an exhibition of new running at Sydney’s Monster Children Gallery until August 7th. Read more

Chris Mars - mutant fairy story art

2008-08-05T19:42:00.001+10:00

clipped from www.lostateminor.com

Chris Mars paints the kind of paintings you’d expect to find in the basement of a serial killer after he’s shown the cops where all the bodies are. Read more

Fabulous Diamonds - er - quirky I guess

2008-08-05T19:41:00.004+10:00

clipped from www.thefader.com

Freeload: Fabulous Diamonds, "LP7"

Australia's Fabulous Diamonds new EP is available right now from Siltbreeze Records, who are mostly responsible for releasing good albums by bands that sound like they play twenty dollar guitars through cell phones and record that onto a Talkboy.

Download: Fabulous Diamonds, "LP7"

Camilla d'Errico Release: "Malificent"

2008-08-05T19:39:00.002+10:00

clipped from www.juxtapoz.com

Camilla d'Errico Release: "Malificent"

Curren$y-She On My Mind

2008-08-05T19:34:00.001+10:00

Check out this song

clipped from www.youtube.com

Curren$y-She On My Mind

Saturday

2007-07-14T16:35:00.000+10:00

Home alone - distant telephones ring - answer machines in other apartments mutter - outside voices fade in and out as people walk by. Words you can't decipher. Hugs and kisses. Someone coughing. Buses and cars.

Winter

2007-07-08T12:18:00.000+10:00

July: dark weather, interior living, thick clothing, Nothing ahead but August. Cold blue skies, hunkering clouds, thunder, rush hour drenched in blinding rain, headlights running like oil over windscreens, accidents, fallen trees, paper blowing over the city, plentiful as leaves. Days when the light drains shades from everything – concrete colours. People shivering outside nightclubs. Taxis in demand. Cold. Everything cold. Damp shoes, scarves, tights. Achoo!

Movie Review: Black Book

2007-07-08T12:07:00.000+10:00

This is a bit of a departure for Paul Verhoeven, better known, perhaps, for stuff like Starship Troopers and Robocop. The satire isn't as strong here, although there's still a bit of Hollywood cliché around - maybe we could just say "tradition" which he plays up perhaps a little bit too much (Verhoeven is not know for subtlety).

The movie is a reminiscent of Polanski?s The Pianist ? another epic story of survival from WW II. There?s no lack of suspense, action, twists and adventure in this flick ? plus its somber tone and historical detail give it the kind of stature you want for the subject matter.

This is worth seeing ? mainly because Verhoeven knows how to make a bloody good film.

Homie handshakes for honkies

2006-12-01T13:10:00.001+11:00

Have you ever been out at a club or on the streets and been confronted with some friendly hip-hop homeboy types who want to shake hands? You know their handshake will consist of at least four to five different “right-on” maneuvers that you, as a honky (or being like a honky), have no hope of knowing about. You are going to look square for sure.

Well, no longer.

In a dream I had last night I invented the perfect solution – a robotic arm with hand that links to your laptop - the laptop, in turn, links to a website which downloads the very latest handshakes into the arm so that you can practice them. No worries! Now you can avoid those handshake faux pas with people who are cooler (or posier) than you are. You will be instantly down with them. Clever or what??

Sitting staring into space

2006-10-25T11:47:00.000+10:00

Ever since my company updated the software I work on I have been doing a lot of the above. This is because this software takes so bloody long to do the most basic things. It can take over an hour simply to open up some (very large) files. And while it is doing this it can’t do anything else – I, therefore, can’t do anything else. This is very blog-friendly software because you get to the point where, in order not to go insane, you might as well just write a post – like this one. This is a post designed to fill in time by writing about writing posts designed to fill in time – if that makes any sense at all. God – I’ve still got 45 minutes before this file checks in…. Maybe they should supply magazines, games, or other diversions with this program. It’s the doctor’s waiting room of programs, the bus stop, the line at the post office, the….

Why do companies spend millions of dollars to go backwards – and how do I get in on the game of selling crap to them???

Equinox

2006-10-24T22:26:00.000+10:00

This movie was part of the "Mu-Meson" season at the Chauvel Cinema (ie it stems from the movie collection of Jay Katz and Miss Death, who were there to introduce it – catch them on FBI Radio every Saturday morning on "The Naked City" – Jay Katz (otherwise known as Jaimie Leonarder) also used to be the main guy on SBS’s now defunct "The Movie Show" and is organiser of the Sydney band The Mu-Mesons).

Phew – anyway – Equinox was made in the late sixties on zero budget, with zero acting – but wow – is it fun! Monsters from hell chase teenagers around a generic camping ground, possessed teen girls run amok and Satan himself (with bat wings) even gets in on the act. With money this could have been a spectacle (and a much worse movie). As it is, you have to just love it.

Equinox is famed for having inspired Sam Raimi to make Evil Dead. As well, a bunch of later-to-be famous industry hacks got a start on this one – including effects guy Dennis Muren, who worked on the orignial Star Wars and has since won 9 Oscars. Finally, of note, the film casts 70s award winning sword and sorcery author Fritz Leiber as “the Professor”. Paperback buffs rejoice.

Equinox is available on DVD. Don't miss out!

Schonberg who?

2006-10-24T22:07:00.000+10:00

Anyone interested in 20th Century atonal music (let’s face it – who isn’t?) but unsure what CDs to buy (its all about consuming of course) can check this out. I recently (one action packed night) did some surfing and built a page on the consumer blog site Kaboodle with the results. If you click on the CDs you will go to pages with samples to listen to – enjoy if you are a cultural elitist.

Houellebecq, Martel, Murakami and others

2006-10-24T21:16:00.000+10:00

Another catch-up – some of the lit I’ve read lately. These reviews are short – the books were long – please excuse if the coverage does not measure up to your own experience.

Atomised by Michel Houellebecq high quality, readable contemporary literature – French nihilism, lots of sex, depression and bad experiences in today’s consumerist wasteland. Recommended to bummed-out divorced existentialists and fans of Brett Easton Ellis.

Platform by Michel Houellebecq continues Houellebecq’s odyssey through the dreary landscapes of global culture – with an emphasis (this time) on sex tourism and male fantasy. Recommended to resort vacationers and over-stressed executives.

Life of Pi by Yann Martel brilliant postmodern adventure story about survival, zoology, and subjective conundrums - Robert Luis Stevenson meets Christopher Priest. Recommended to adventurous theology students and brooding boy scouts.

Vanity Fair by William Thackeray (currently working through this one) – sprawling Victorian social satire – urbane, sardonic but not bitter, comedy winning over tragedy – recommended to wags living in the wrong century.

Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami he's been described as the Japanese David Lynch – long obscure plot made enjoyable by loveable or intriguing characters, creepy scenarios, and manga-style suburban melodrama. Recommended to surrealists and anime fans with time on their hands.

Of Human Bondage by Somerset Maugham turn of the (20th) century epic about boyhood and (later) falling in love with the wrong woman - plenty of sardonic wisdom – recommended for readers interested in growing up.

Hair gel and the passage of time

2006-10-24T21:05:00.000+10:00

Well – its been a while since I updated this blog – but the passage of time has been advantageous at least in one way – I can now report on the progress of several important personal projects that have been ongoing throughout the period.

Firstly – hair gel. As you may recall (well, probably you don’t) I managed to grab a whole bunch of hair molding product samples left out by a sales rep type (my guess) neighbour for anyone to have. The upshot, after testing them all – “Got2b 90 degree max control styling gel”– I’m still using it and will be buying more when it runs out. I know it sounds extreme but it’s actually quite subtle for a gel. I find it melds with my hair perfectly – and gives me a cool, desirable look that is pleasing to my friends and co-workers alike – not to mention providing me with a mirror-friendly morning experience every time.

This proves that, as a marketing technique, giving away lots of product will inevitably create loyal customers – I am prepared to take a variety of other products (MP3 players, lubricants, hotel stays, preferably all at once) on a similar basis – so I hope lots of corporate types (apart from ones I work with) are reading this!

My second update is potentially less interesting (if that’s possible) though it has involved a hell of a lot more spare time than my hair – this is my current position in the Japanese PS2 roll playing game Phantom Brave – my god this game just goes on forever – but I am still plugging away and finding it a pleasant diversion – I think I have completed close to a hundred strategic battles now – and where am I? No idea. Certainly my life hasn’t changed. But I have now come across the “Pure Spirit Spear” which I am using to kill virtually everything in sight! OK! (Current play time: 63:25:17 (level 71)).

Malaysian Junket

2006-09-13T22:40:00.000+10:00

OK – it was free to go to Malaysia – but I feel like I paid the corporation back in full, what with no sleep, long hours talking about work, and tearing around insane highways at ridiculous hours in the morning on the way to the “fact finding assignment”.

It sounds great – all this international traveling and getting paid for it, but the reality was very different for me and it gave me a glimpse into what it’s probably like for most functionaries catching planes. Whether you are opening a McDonalds in Dubai, setting up a TV station in Zanzibar or a production service in KL it's probably the same - a globalised, standardized, brief experience – you get freighted out there – you perform, deliver the goods, get pissed, shop a bit (duty free), then get shunted back to where you came from. It’s hardly enlightening or relaxing – unless motorways, lobbies and glimpses of scenery are your thing.

There was an Arab feel to KL – apparently it’s a cheap Islamic-friendly tourist spot for Middle Easterners. The main attraction is the twin towers – very Muslim looking – – tempting symbolism given 9/11 – but I am not sure what it indicates to the people, if anything. There was an excellent shopping mall there.

The photo is a view outside my hotel window in Singapore where we did a stopover.

Going to Malaysia

2006-08-31T21:00:00.001+10:00

Globalisation is in my life again – first it was because a lot of friends were made redundant from my workplace, leaving a lot of empty desks - now it's because of a trip to Malaysia to visit the center where the jobs were outsourced to.

Am I a hypocrite to go on this corporate expedition, cooperating in the very operation that is behind the event I have hated and condemned for the last year?

Well shit – of course I am! There’s no way to excuse it really – it’s all in the realm of one’s “job”, of course – doing what the company offers you – taking what you can (a trip, money) despite your ideals. Thinking, well, I gotta pay the rent. Tyrannafoe said she thought it was a bit weird. It is. The only "positive" is that, being someone who enjoys people, I will probably enjoy meeting the Malaysian workforce (actually Malaysian, Chinese and Indian) and helping them if I can (that is the purpose of this visit after all). Also it will give me something to post about I guess.

Simple 2000 Series Vol. 105: The Maid Clothes and Machine Gun

2006-08-28T22:29:00.001+10:00

Episode 105? Phew. I don't know anything about this thing except that the name is great and the synopsis, er, intriguing.

Here it is verbatim:

"During the dusk of one day, the girl maid Yuuki, who may act reckless at times, was secretly protecting her future master who was returning home from school. This future master was summoned to his grandfather’s villa and found himself facing a large robot army and a man with a hideous face. Faced with so many enemies, Yuuki had to reveal her identity as the secret bodyguard. But what is the identity of this master who is attacked by sexy maids and giant robots? And why is that? The key is linked to a certain secret closely related to him."

Hand Washing and Other Disturbing Topics

2006-08-26T14:55:00.000+10:00

I saw an interesting variation in approach to toilet hygiene in the office loo today. I know this is a constant source of fascination for people – who washes their hands and who doesn’t, how hard they try, etc. I guess it has relevance if you have to shake hands or get back-slapped, also you share surfaces with these people’s fingers. This guy, who is a fairly well-place manager, was very perfunctory on the wash – wiggling his digits quickly and vaguely under a drooling cold tap - but he then proceeded to make a huge deal in drying them, going through several paper towels and really rubbing them hard and taking a while– it was like he hated water more than germs. Or maybe he was trying to impress me after he'd realised I’d caught him being slack with the wash. He was certainly dry, but was he clean?

Another thing that disturbs me are long conversations in the men’s – one time there was a suit sitting on the dunny and another leaning against the wall looking in and looking down on him questioning him – there was an interrogation-room vibe to it – why hang out in a bright smelly institutional cave to discuss business? What’s wrong with the staff room or café? I think these guys imagine its macho to talk in these places – sort of the locker-room – or maybe they are impervious to the whole thing. Maybe they just can’t stop talking business. Maybe I’m just neurotic.

The Movies of Harry Smith

2006-08-14T22:39:00.000+10:00

Harry Smith was an important figure in the American avant-garde scene of the mid twentieth century. He was a collector, an occultist, a bohemian, a druggie, a musicologist and important archiver of American folk music (a reissue of his anthology received two Grammies in 1997).

The Chauvel showed his movies with an apology - two hours of abstract film is not easy to sit through, the convener said.

The show opened with animated abstract paintings boogying on down to early Beetles music. Two things struck me – 1) just how good early Beetles music actually is, and 2) how nice it is that, instead of plodding around an art gallery for an hour, you can sit in a darkened room sipping wine (it's allowed in this cinema) and have the paintings come to you.

The set then moved on to a very long film that resembled Terry Gilliam’s animation work for Monty Python – moving cut-outs of Victorian gadgets and occult symbolism all dancing around to random sound effects.

The whole thing is designed to mess with your bourgeois brain but it is far too entertaining to be threatening. My guess is that this is because Smith himself liked a bit of pop entertainment (it's in all his stuff) – maybe he just couldn’t help himself. Personally, I liked it.

The final film is a photo film montage with opera - there's European stuff in it and Native American - Smith was into Shamanism.

It's impressive just how much work has gone into these films. Smith had a lot of interests and his teeming brain is reflected here.

The Devil in Daniel Johnston

2006-08-14T22:27:00.000+10:00

Daniel Johnston makes music for the geek who dares to love – all the tragedy, confusion and naked failure of hope-filled but probably doomed romance is poured out with his nerdy voice – underground folk music from the suburban doldrums of loneliness and depression – but laced with genuinely funny comic book joy and faith.

This movie tells a story that is dominated by art and mental illness – both phenomena at war (and in collusion), both overwhelmingly powerful in Johnston’s life so that, apart from his family, he really seems to have nothing else.

It’s also the story of the unreality that results from a celebrity and music culture that seeks to exploit individuals it doesn’t understand and ultimately can’t cope with. Is this movie part of the ultimate trip that is Johnston’s life and people like me (viewing it and blogging about it) just another abstraction? I wish. Anyway – this is a good look at an “underground” American artist with one hell of a life story.

Gotcha!

2006-08-14T22:15:00.000+10:00

The terror that is the Daily Telegraph.

Australia’s right wing bogan media are frothing at the mouth with joy over the foiled terrorist bomb plans revealed last week. The Daily Telegraph is in the running for the most nihilistic hate-engendering story – the facts are all “alleged” of course - but if it inspires paranoia, anger and continued support for as much fascist militarism and control imaginable (and the Tele can imagine quite a lot), then print it large.

Wax - Or the Discovery of Television Among the Bees

2006-08-07T22:26:00.001+10:00

When I first came to Sydney there were four independent cinemas showing non-mainstream movies – the Mandolin, the Encore, the Valhalla and the Chauvel.

Earlier this year there were none.

This lamentable state of affairs - a city with no (excuse the term) “arthouse” cinema AT ALL changed a few weeks ago when the Chauvel re-opened, allowing movies like this one to have a place to be screened.

Wax was released in 1991 and it is firmly placed in the experimental counter-culture of the late 2oth century – writers like William S Burroughs (who features), Thomas Pynchon and J G Ballard loom large.

Jacob Maker (played by the film’s creator David Blair) is a programmer for the military, working on simulation computers for experimental weapons technology. He also does a sideline in beekeeping, using bees he has inherited from his occult dabbling grandfather James 'Hive' Maker (William S Burroughs).

The bees are Mesopotamian and it turns out they have mysterious powers. Jacob begins to have visions – it seems the bees are reincarnations of the dead – which has significance to Jacob given his day job as weapons technician. Guided by a revolving geometric crystal (the bee’s “television”) Jacob wanders off into the desert – actually a missile testing range – to experience visions and confront the nature of death.

Pretty much everything from flying saucers to ancient civilisations, the hollow earth, transmigration of souls and other psychic gobble-de-gook is thrown in and the story, while more or less holding together, comes close to being incomprehensible and largely symbolic by the end. Apparently David Blair knocked it together over six years, incorporating accidents and free association as he went.

The session was prefaced by the Chauvel with an old interview with Harlan Ellison, Sci Fi’s bad boy of the seventies, explaining to us that “far out” shit was being written in the science fiction world now the sixties had happened – so watch out. He was right about that.

Wax also has the distinction of being the first movie to have had an interactive website (warning: big download!) The New York Times recognized the accomplishment, and ran the article "Cult Film is First on the Internet" in its May 23, 1993 business section (see the NYT review).

This review at Amazon is kinda flippant but sums up the Wax experience pretty well anyway:

Did you like "Eraserhead"? Did you like 'Being John Malkovich"? Do you listen to alternative music and read William Burroughs novels and SF and Charles Bukowski? Are you on drugs? Answering "yes" to any two of the preceding questions qualifies you as a good bet for WAX. Blair put a lot into this, and the right viewer will get a lot out of it. I loved it.

Big guys with small gadgets

2006-08-03T15:03:00.000+10:00

In the world of tech – small is the new big. The smaller your gadget, the better, it seems. So in the office these days I am noticing big guys who obviously want to be “cool”, talking into mobile phones so small it looks like they are talking into their hands, squinting desperately at tiny laptop computers with unusable keyboards, and awkwardly stabbing with oversized fingers the controls of iPod Nanos. They look like immigrants from the land of the giants. They look like gorillas trying to thread needles. Then there’s trendy small cars (owned by their wives, girlfriends and mums) for them to contend with. Not to mention plugging in tiny USB things like flash drives. So if you have trouble fitting into your clothes, spare a thought for today’s big-boned executive. They can hardly push a button.

Mynahs outside my window

2006-07-31T12:46:00.000+10:00

These birds are just plain rude. If they could sing (like I thought birds are supposed to) I could tolerate them – instead – at 5.30am they tunelessly and aggressively bleat the same non-note over and over again, like a broken electric alarm clock telling you it's time to catch your early morning flight to hell. The sound is halfway between a squawk and a bleep – horrible.

Here’s a small history of the bird from the smh:

Since their introduction in Victoria in the 1860s, originally to control insects in market gardens, the birds have spread, like flying cane toads, to almost all parts of Australia.

And from a more specialised site

They put them in the list of the 100 most invading species in the world and describe them as an extreme threat to Australia. And humans don't get off easily either. Mynahs carry bird mites and have the potential to carry avian-borne diseases that are dangerous to people, not to mention the huge amount of droppings they leave under their communal roosting trees. Often gathering at night in numbers in excess of a thousand, these raucous birds can take over clumps of trees, especially around areas where lots of people go (where they encounter fewer predators) like shopping centres.

Not to mention the park outside my flat.

But this is the worst:

[The] Indian mynah is an extremely aggressive bird that attacks baby native birds and takes over all the best nesting spots….

The methods these birds use to kill other birds can be horrible. Sometimes they build nests right on top of the eggs of parrots. But they don't stop there. They've been seen killing some tree-dwelling species of mammals too. This is pushing many Australian species towards extinction.

It’s the avian apocalypse – like they’re heralding their own bad-ass-ness every morning – let's start by waking everybody up really early – then go on to screw up the rest of the day by killing and crapping on the environment: hah! (or, bleep!)

No wonder they squeak like demons.

Is this the future – only dickhead species like roaches and these birds (and capitalist humans) prospering?

Phantom Brave (again)

2006-07-31T12:43:00.000+10:00

Well, fellow RPG-ers, I totally wasted two hours on this. There’s an aspect to the game where you go into randomly generated dungeons and you cannot save unless either you summon a particular character who has a “return” skill to get you out, or you complete all the dungeons in the level and leave. If you die or fail – its game over and nothing saved.

In this case there were five dungeons to traverse and twice I got to dungeon #5, summoned the dungeon escape guy just in case, then held off using him thinking I was winning, then, each time, was absolutely defeated by the very last demon.

All swords, treasure, level up experience, time, etc, gone like a word document you’ve typed up for hours crashing into oblivion.

It shouldn’t read “game over”, it should read “get a life”.

Current play time: 22:17:18 (level 18)

24 improves (Day 5 11.00 pm to 1.00 am)

2006-07-26T22:49:00.000+10:00

This is getting better now the President is evil. He’s quite Shakespearean as a character, I think – tragic and doomed and bad all at once. Or is it more like “Yes Minister”? There's also an oil aspect which is quite interesting given the way this world is currently run. But who cares about politics? The office politics at CTU is the real hell. It looks worse than at Microsoft. At the office its very “mobile phone”. Every call is speed-dialed. The computer geeks have screens leaping all over the place at the touch of a button.

All in all this show is getting better again after flopping about for a few weeks. It means the end is near, I guess.

Outsourced

2006-07-18T21:55:00.000+10:00

The company I work for has finally removed the computers, desks and furniture from the department they outsourced earlier this year. A lot of my friends used to work here – as did I before I was transferred, so becoming one of the few survivors.

It’s all about the bottom line, people. You don’t count – they will do this to you if they get the right offer. Australians have apathetically kissed goodbye most of their traditional working rights. Why? They must like empty rooms.

(Thanks to “extensible” for taking this photo!)

(Also happy birthday Les!)

:)

got2b "glued" Water Resistant Spiking Glue (For Screaming Hold - Spike, Chunk, Ultimate Hold"6")

2006-07-14T21:04:00.000+10:00

Unlike most gels in the world, this stuff came out of its bright yellow tube an opaque white. It reminded me of builder's adhesive, except that it smelled strongly of melon.

I’ve discovered that if I’m using these hard-core hair moulding products I really have to smooth my hair back 80’s yuppie style. I've tried to spike it up but it just looks electric shock silly. Or, if I leave it flat, it mats to my skull and looks dorky.

Yuppie or dorky – it’s the choice, every morning: except that with my hair combed back I tend to look more like an emaciated chauffeur you'd maybe see smoking an afternoon cigarette in the driveway of some crumbling and corrupt Balkan embassy.

Maybe I should just use nothing – I might at least look intellectual.

Protesting Pandas

2006-07-13T13:49:00.000+10:00

Is this the world’s first virtual protest? Players of a shared online virtual game world in China gathered together – or, really, their characters (called avatars) did - in the game world itself - to protest certain content in the game they regarded as offensive: specifically a picture of an imperialist Japanese flag in one of the ‘rooms” in the game.

Ten thousand players participated, resulting in one of the largest – and cutest - gatherings of politically motivated cartoon creatures ever.

Why am I posting this? Just as an excuse to show you the pictures.
(Remember - click on the images to get the full effect)

For more detailed info: see this

(Actually there is a serious side – the declining relationship between China and Japan – not good).

Kimmie!

2006-07-11T22:34:00.000+10:00

Kim Jong Il - is this some kind of clown persona he puts on to make us all think he's harmless? Is he really as mad as he looks? Maybe a comic book character propped up by more secretive elites? Maybe the CIA are paying him to put on a show.

For a good website about various nefarious types and "good guys" see this great site called moreorless.

RPG Hell (Phantom Brave)

2006-07-09T21:17:00.000+10:00

Tired of non-stop driving and shooting on the Playstation2? Try getting a life. Or otherwise try a Japanese strategy role playing game. You need either a PHD or a year of spare time to get through them. They look like old-school 80’s Nintendo – just to make you think it’ll be easy. Good advice is to just play them ocasionally. Not all at once. Unless you like hiding.

Current Involvement: Phantom Brave
Current play time: 2.11.11 (level 5)
Estimated completion date: never

The Fiery Furnaces

2006-07-09T13:43:00.000+10:00

The Fiery Furnaces are from NY and played at the Gaelic Club here in Sydney where Trace, Jgirl and I attended. The music was smart, proficient, innovative and punchy – total brilliance from the big A. They reminded me of everything from the Pixies to Yes. Kinda hard to put your finger on, but they were pumping.

Trace: “It’s a privilege.”

Jgirl: “Go New York.”

TV.com

2006-07-08T12:19:00.000+10:00

I came across this website while surfing the net during the boring bits of "Lost – the Reckoning". Yep – another exciting night.

There are guides for all series, so you can catch up on anything you may have missed while out trawling the streets for sex or whatever (god forbid). Better, you can download them. There are forums where you can discuss programs, down to individual episodes, with fellow enthusiasts. You can even read people’s blogs – and write your own – all devoted, I guess, to the box. In other words there’s no limit to the amount of time and industry you can expel in promoting, pondering, commenting on and reviewing your favourite shows.

AAGGGHH!!

Ps - yes "Passions" fans (you know who you are) there's Passions stuff - check out the latest episode: "Sheridan watches in horror as Alistair unleashes bloodthirsty lions on Fancy and Luis". Gosh.

got2b 90º max-control styling gel

2006-07-08T12:13:00.000+10:00

I felt happy and preppy. It encouraged me to smooth my hair back neatly. People at work noticed – some smiled, others scowled. This stuff is power in a tube!

24 (Day 5: 2.00pm to 3.00pm)

2006-07-08T12:12:00.000+10:00

Not one of the better episodes but it still had its moments. I love the “Nine Inch Nails”-style action soundtrack – it makes the tense scenarios really power. The music is classy. I sometimes feel like dancing to it.

In this one the terrorists tried to nerve-gas a mall. Jack looked stupid in his gas-mask. They overdo his hero status sometimes. I wanted him to stop off at the food hall and at least grab a sandwich.

Most painful quote: Martha: Walt...loved this country.

My first comment - not in the comment area

2006-07-05T17:04:00.000+10:00

Got an email from some guy I know who read this blog. Why can't people just use the comments thing?

Here it is:

sigh... haven't you got anything better to do? as if the net wasn't awash with irrelevant content already - to quote 'fight club' - "you are not special - you are not a unique snowflake"... I (capital letter "I"), I, on the other hand have been hanging out at the Luftwaffe 46 site AND sending emails about german tank maintenance in WWII (among other things) to my colleagues in 'ausreenact' - much more relevant and useful, as I am sure you would agree...

Jpod

2006-07-05T00:01:00.000+10:00

Funny, poppy, experimental, stupid.

Jpod is the name of a cluster of cubicals in a software company occupied by the main characters.

There's three elements: cut-up, really lame and dumb stories about the protaganist's wired parents, and the lives and thoughts of nerds at work (this is the best stuff).

Love it!

Current favourite junk food: Arnott’s Tasty Jacks Seasoned Roast Potato Original Crinkle Cut Potato Chips

2006-07-02T13:18:00.000+10:00

There’s no way the “roasted potato” taste of these is natural, but I can’t resist them – I think it’s the MSG – ie “flavour enhancer 621” - Monosodium L-glutamate. No wonder that stuff is so popular everywhere (though often maligned). They’ve used stacks, I reckon. Tasty, yeah...

Following is a quote from mbm.net.au on MSG – in case you were wondering:

Added to any savoury processed protein food. In cigarettes and animal food. In over 10,000 foods in USA. Flavour enhancer derived from the fermentation of molasses, salt substitute; adverse effects appear in some asthmatic people, should not be permitted in foods for infants and young children as it could damage the nervous system. Typical products are canned vegetables, canned tuna, dressings, many frozen foods. To be avoided. It could kill nerve cells, resulting in diseases such as Huntington's, Alzheimer's and Parkinson's. Pregnant women, children, hypoglycemics, elderly and those with heart disease are at risk from reactions.

Cigarettes! God those things have got everything. And as for “It could kill nerve cells, resulting in diseases such as Huntington's, Alzheimer's and Parkinson's”…

*crunch crunch…*

Current Location in Grand Theft Auto San Andreas: San Fierro (ie San Francisco)

2006-07-02T13:10:00.000+10:00

I like this city more because of the colours: cool blues and greys. Also it's more stately and monumental than Los Santos (ie LA) which is orange and brown and trashy. Makes me want to visit San Fran – looks quite beautiful.

Wonder Boy

2006-07-02T11:56:00.000+10:00

Jgirl, Trace and I went out to a gig (people from NZ – Solar Rosa and Girl 6), but it was starting too late so we went to the Landsdowne Pub instead and had a play of an old Sega side scrolling platformer table game Wonder Boy. So cute!

Got2b “glued” Blasting Freeze Spray

2006-07-02T11:55:00.000+10:00

This stuff scares me. Its spray container, with a cone shaped nozzle, looks like a yellow civil defence siren, or a fire hydrant. It is part of the “glued” range and you apply it after you've nuked your head with other plasters in the range. I just used it straight. It smelled gaseous, like dry ice – and has this cold way of penetrating your lungs as if to say – you’re fucked now, mate.

The result was the usual – an uncertain, dry looking mess on my head due to the fact I have no idea how to style.

*Sigh*

Last Exile

2006-07-02T11:53:00.000+10:00

I bought the whole boxed set of seven DVDs (four episodes per disc) for half price – what a bargain – shit I hope its OK.

So far it is:

A whimsical and sumptuous production – not exactly taxing on the brain (yet – I’ve “only” seen two DVDs or eight episodes) but nice to watch, especially if you like steam-punk neo-Victorian anime.

It also looks like the animators have seen the Red Star comics – flying juggernauts and rusting war games in the clouds. In fact the battleship designs are so similar it seems someone is ripping off someone here.

Smoke a beachball and float off to it.; )

Mossimo MP1 Moulding Paste

2006-06-30T21:21:00.000+10:00

Some marketing idiot obviously thought Mp1 was close to Mp3 so everyone would think ... what? That it was a piece of music software??

The container is your usual flat, masculine tin with a screw top.

The stuff itself looks and feels like used chewing gum, especially when your chewing it and you drink fluids and it turns all slimey in your mouth.

Hair = dried cotton flock gone flat.

got2b Chaos Moulding Gel

2006-06-30T20:47:00.000+10:00

Firstly the name is fucking stupid.

What is it - some kind of lame punk rock fashion fantasy thing?

I googled "got2b" and the got2b website just said "coming soon". So this stuff hasn't even been released yet. My neighbour must be one well connected hairdresser. Maybe he's that uber-gay dude I see around. Not to stereotype.

The "gum" comes in a tiny oil barrel shaped metal pillbox (maybe nuclear waste container miniature) - sort of industrial. God...The gum looks like paint and smells like cheap candy - it’s as greasy as hell and, handling it, it occurred to me it might be handy in repairing the fallen tiles in my kitchen.

It didn't look like I had anything at all in my hair until I touched it. Then I had to go back to the bathroom to wash the residue off your fingers.

Hair Product Testing

2006-06-30T20:29:00.000+10:00

Last weekend someone who obviously works in the hair industry left five brand new samples of hair styling products in the lobby of our building - for anyone who wanted them. I immediately took them all.