Uploading: cheetahs washing each other

I've been working on a video project for uni using this clip that is pretty durned cute - thought that it might be worth sharing with the world.

I've tagged it with cute, cats, cat and cheetah - why do I get the feeling I'm going to get so many more hits on this than any other video I've put up? :)

Watching: The lives of others

The Lives of Others (Das Leben der Anderen) is a German film telling a tale of repression and redemption in East Germany in the 1980s.

Georg Dreyman is a highly regarded playwright and loyal socialist who (perhaps unfortunately) is in love with a beautiful actress - Christa-Maria Sieland - who the Minister of Culture has a major thing for. Being a right bastard, the Minister calls on his connections in the much feared Stasi (the secret police) to dig up some dirt on Dreyman to put him out of the picture.

This job falls to the talented and loyal Hauptmann Wiesler, who gets to know the couple well in the course of his surveillance of them.

(I won't go into further detail here but I'm sure you can see we have the beginnings of an interesting, chilling and yet beautiful tale)

Here's the trailer.



I've had a bit of a fascination with East Germany for a while now - as the communist state which I feel I can most closely relate to on a cultural level, it's interesting to get some kind of idea of what life might have been like in a place removed from corporate domination and materialism gone mad. (Not to say that what it was replaced with worked any better given the need to use fear and coercion to keep it running of course).

The idea of privacy and particularly of losing it to a faceless and repressive state system has come to the fore in recent years, particularly as a result of the war against terror which has seen the creeping up of more and more invasive and repressive state powers in the name of 'security' and the slow erosion of long held principles of law.

Anti-"sedition" laws (which in essence can criminalise making disparaging remarks about the Government or monarchy), extensions on surveillance powers and the ability to hold 'suspects' for extended periods of time without charge and making it a criminal offence to tell anyone (even family) where you were or why you were there when you are released point to a potentially frightening future.

These haven't been turned on the general population yet, for the most part, however the mere fact that they are available to the powers that be is somewhat chilling should these powers fall into the wrong hands.

The Lives of Others takes us directly into a world just like this - though it was interesting to see at times how systematic and bureaucratic such a system might be. After the Stasi agents methodically search Georg's apartment, cutting open cushions and such, the lead officer hands him a card telling him that "In the unlikely event that we have caused any damage, you are entitled to put in a claim for compensation".

Performances across the board are compelling (the Minister is particularly creepy and Ulrich Muhe puts so much across with just a stare), the music and photography is beautifully bleak and while the story leans a little toward the classy Hollywood drama at times, it's gripping and moving.

I've read complaints that it makes the Stasi guy too sympathetic and that things were never like that and there are no documented accounts of such things - these people seem to be missing the point. At it's heart, it's a story about people that happens to be set in East Germany in the 1980s. The time and location are pivotal parts of the film but it's still mainly about people.

Goodbye Lenin! it's not - it's pretty much the other side of that coin - but it still holds a similar level of fascination. (Goodbye Lenin! is a great film in it's own right but it's a comedy and doesn't really touch on the dark side of things)

This is well worth a look.

Watching: tv current affairs

One of the favourite issues that comes up seemingly every few weeks on tabloid tv current affairs programmes is that of speed cameras and how the government is doing you, the otherwise law-abiding speeding driver, wrong.

The ethical twists and turns that these programmes take in coming out and slamming people for breaking other laws (parking in disabled spots, scamming Centrelink, lying to dodge speeding fines) while simultaneously crying out that speed cameras are nothing more than revenue raisers for greedy governments and promoting ways to "beat the speed camera" are absolutely breathtaking.

A Current Affair last night got just a little obsessed with this, running three related stories back to back.

They began by talking about a new speed camera system being introduced in Victoria that uses two separate cameras located at a certain distance apart that calculate the average speed that you must have been travelling between the two to figure out whether you slowed down for the camera but then sped along to the next one.

Now let's put aside for a moment the slightly scary prospect of CCTV like surveillance of every car on the roads and look at the stated intent of the system - to prevent speeding and to avoid the common practice of drivers only obeying the law because they are afraid of being caught.

They even drag in a motoring journalist to make this point and in the process, trivialise it and perhaps even try to put some kind of near national pride spin on it.

"Slowing down at speed cameras then speeding up is almost a national sport. These cameras will certainly stop people doing that," Cadogen said.

The ACA journalist then got obsessed with the notion that a driver could whiz past the first camera at 200km/h and then stop by the side of the road, take a little rest and drive past the second camera at a legal speed and not get busted.

I'm not going to get into how many different kinds of stupid this idea is but our hero just couldn't let go of it when he was talking to one of the traffic cops implementing this new system. It was like he had uncovered Watergate, found the stained blue dress and shot video footage of John Howard getting jiggy with Amanda Vanstone all in one, such was his level of excitement.

Eventually traffic cop admitted that this was possible but there are still road patrols and whatnot to deal with such anti-social types. The reporter then realised that he was probably being a tool and quickly moved on.

ACA followed this up with the standard stats on how much money is raised and how many fines are issued by each state every year (neglecting to put it into any context whatsoever - such as what proportion these make up of car trips, how many accidents are prevented, where the money goes etc) in some kind of bizarro attempt to say that punishing motorists for breaking the law is bad.

This is the same genre of tv that routinely cries out that criminals across society (well ok, mostly petty poor ones - heaven forbid we look into corporate/advertiser crime) aren't treated harshly enough and punishments need to be jacked up all round.

Personally, I don't give two hoots if there is a speed camera on every street at 20 metre intervals if that slows drivers down. Let governments raise all the money they need this way and put it into providing services for the community.

Another argument put by the anti-speed camera mob is that speed cameras fail in their purpose of slowing down traffic (to the legally prescribed limit) because drivers just slow down when they see them and then speed up again. ACA got all riled because the South Australian government (I think) was deceptively hiding speed cameras in wheely bins, fruit crates and bushes. (Interestingly, SA had the lowest revenue raised from speeding fines - connection there perhaps?)

The purpose of a speed law is to create safer roads - the purpose of any law is to create a safer society. If you only obey a law because you are worried about being punished, then you should accept the consequences of breaking that without bitching and moaning. You make a decision and you own it.

Again, I say put them bloody everywhere and see how much traffic slows down once speeders have received half a dozen fines and the message finally sinks in.

Actually, if revenue raising is such a horrible thing, change the system entirely - give community service orders to all speeders (as well as demerits). This would benefit society even more and teach people even better lessons. (Of course, the costs of administering this is another matter I guess)

They finished up with their favourite piece on people who have challenged speeding fines in court and won - one guy because his GPS said that he was (conveniently) only doing 59 in a 60 zone (he had been charged with going 85 and the other raising the more valid question of the accuracy of some of the handheld speedguns.

Ok, so if there are legitimate problems with the equipment, it's fair that these should be pursued and rectified. At the same time, these people have spent thousands of dollars to get out of fines in the hundreds of dollars and clogged up hours and days of court time. These people weren't actually called heroes but this is how they were portrayed. I wonder when the next story on "our failing legal system - how a clogged up court system affects us all" will go to air.

No mention in this story of Justice Marcus Einfeld, who (alledgedly) tried to get out of a $77 speeding fine by claiming that the car was being driven by a woman friend of his who turned out to have died three years earlier. (He later claimed that he was talking about another friend of his with the same name) I guess this didn't quite fit into the heroic category. (I assume they have covered his story at some point but can't find anything online - I wonder what angle they took in this case. It's ok to speed but wrong to lie about it?)

Wow, I had no idea this bugged me so much - I'm not saying that I think all laws are right and that we should blindly follow the ones that don't benefit society - in fact I think we have some kind of duty to society to constantly work on our system of justice - but speeding laws seem like the wrong place to start.

Jumping on people for parking in disabled spots (morally wrong sure and illegal but not so dangerous) while trying to encourage people to weasel around speeding is just wrong.

Shame current affairs shame.

Jealousing: V Festival Sydney (guest report)

Yes Jealousing is a word - I just verbed it :)



My rock buddy Jo made it up to Sydney on the weekend for the V Festival and sent me this wrap up email - it's too cool and too funny not to share. Thanks Jo (you lucky cow ;)

Phoenix and Nouvelle Vague playing as we arrived - never thought I'd hear 'Dancing With Myself" and "Too Drunk To F*ck" done as a bossa nova, but surprisingly entertaining.

New York Dolls - what can I say ? Glam punk pioneers, and poster boys for the long-term cosmetic benefits of a life time on the junk (c.f. Kim Deal, infra.). David and I actually screamed out loud at the horror, the horror, when David Johansen took off his sunglasses. And then his jacket. We both vowed that we'd have to leave if any other items of clothing were removed, but thankfully were saved that particular ordeal. All killer, no filler!

Gnarls Barkley - terrible sound quality, but a testament to the sheer joy one can get from bands who persist in wearing ludicrously over the top fancy dress. Sadly, they may never again reach the giddy heights of the entire band being dressed as Star Wars characters (Chewbacca on drums was uncannily like Animal from The Muppets). This time it was lovely crisp tennis whites and enormous sweatbands - Centre Court at Wimbledon generally an underrated motif in band costumery, although I guess Mark Knopfler was the pioneer of the dubious headband - will we ever come to grips with his horrifying legacy?!

Jarvis - living, breathing proof that skinny blokes in National Health Service specs can still get the girls (and boys) whipped into a complete frenzy. Best between song banter since Turbonegro - played his set just as the sun was going down, and said "ooh, it's about to get all atmospheric. You'll be able to touch each other". And lots of jokes about the French, always guaranteed to get a laff. Final song, of course, a rousing rendition of The C*nts Are Still Running the World. Not a dry eye in the house.

Beck - all the hits'n'memories from the world's most winsome Scientologist. And puppets! And a Pixies cover - crazy!

Pixies - Black Francis as surly as ever. Kim Deal off the junk and clearly on the pies, and has started dressing like the mum of one of your mates. And yet despite that, fully rockin' .

Groove Armada - totally fun. Gloss taken off the show a tad as a result of copping a stray couple of punches at the end when a skirmish broke out between two testosterone fuelled boys fighting over an inflatable ball - kids, eh?! Sporting quite the shiner today, but nothing that a spot of Siouxsie eye make up can't fix !!

Pet Shop Boys - we were second from front! Genuinely surprised at how tremendous they were. When we got home, Barry downloaded all of the concert pics from his phone, and a few little video snippets taken during their set. Pretty much all you can hear is me singing loudly and incredibly badly, interspersed with the occasional piglet-y squeal. Just be thankful that I was so restrained during Groove Armada ! So impressed that we've all bought tickets for their show at the Hordern next Friday - yay !!

(I'm just impressed to see what I think is correct legal citing in a music review - something sadly lacking in the rock press in general)

Thanks Jo

Scavenging: Second Hand Sunday

There is virtually no furniture in our shared space at Chez Ridley that was bought new - with the exception of the bookshelves, tv (is a tv furniture?) and a beanbag, everything is second hand and has either come from family, friends, previous housemates or Aussie Junk. (Aussie Junk is a great tip based recycling shop - they even extend this philosophy to their website, reusing one from 1997 - right down to marquee text)

While some may think that this just cements the mild squalor of share-house life, I like the sense that it lessens our eco-footprint a little and it brings a certain eclecticism to the mix.

(I also suspect that my parents - uh, thrifty is a nice word I guess - ways have rubbed off on me to some extent)

There's a certain thrill to the hunt when you score something second-hand, particularly when you are out looking for it (not looking is even better) and stumble across something that you need. I've known some people who couldn't imagine having everything but the newest and shiniest and I wish them well in their identical, treeless suburban estate lives.

Back in Melbourne, hard rubbish day (usually 3 or 4 times a year) was always a great time to just wander the streets and pick through parts of people's lives that they've decided to leave behind. It's a bit like walking through a contemporary antiques shop in some ways. (I haven't been to many but the thing I like about antiques shops is the sense of being in a musuem, but one where you can pick everything up and where you have more of a sense that everything has some story to it)

There are whole subcultures dedicated to making use of the things that other people have discarded - the French film The Gleaners & I is a beautiful celebration of this. (It also makes the interesting point that this is the foundation of a lot of post-modern sampling culture).

All of this is my (probably longwinded) way of saying that I'm quite the fan of Canberra's hard rubbish day equivalent - Second Hand Sunday. (SHS)

Second Hand Sunday works on the principle that you register your address on a website a few days beforehand and then a complete list of participating homes (ie people hoping to throw out their old, still usable crap) gets published in the Sunday paper. (The government doesn't follow through with picking up the leftovers as you get with hard-rubbish day but nevermind, points for effort anyway).

PC (I'll spare you the explanation of the no doubt nauseatingly cute pet names for now) and I stumbled across a few things on the way to brekky yesterday morning - notably a low-set lounge chair and stereo setup - and I remembered that it was indeed SHS. Fortunately PC shares my love of a spot of gleaning and plans were made to go a-foraging.

Now there's a little strategising to be done with a hard-rubbish day / second hand sunday - you might think initially that the primo locations would be the well heeled areas - in Canberra that would be places like Yarralumla, Red Hill, Griffith, Manuka and Campbell perhaps but the thing is that rich people tend to get that way by being a little on the stingy side.

Aspirational is where it's at - particularly people moving into shiny new homes in big estates who are gradually upgrading all of their old stuff to keep up with the neighbours. Areas around Belconnen and Tuggeranong were very well represented in the listings in the paper - kudos to Kambah in particular for their community spirit in being by far the most enthusiastic participants.

Hippy-esque left leaning university type suburbs were also a nice source of goodies - at least on first impressions anyway. (O'Connor, Turner, Ainslie etc)

Long story short, here is a sampling of the haul. (SP did some nice work with some tupperware, tins and a bananas-in-pyjamas knitted coathanger as well)(There is also a pretty nifty ergonomic chair in the haul but I've always found them a little odd so that quickly disappeared into Eric's room)

Highlight for me (our loungeroom is crying out for comfortable chairs - aside from my pride of place Aussie Junk recliner rocker, it's a challenging place to sit) was this baby - a little ratty at the front end but nothing that a bit of fabric won't fix up.



We've been on the lookout for an amplifier for quite a while, so finding this combo of a record player, speakers and amp was quite the treat.



Of course, sometimes things are left out for a reason and while the speakers seem pretty useful, the record player quickly showed itself to be a little iffy - unless of course you like the (random) variable speed thing.



My attempts to pull it apart and see if there was anything obviously the matter was I think the main part of the problem in terms of things getting worse.

Well it was either that or my choice of test album (thanks Electric Pandas)



The amp is offering it's own particular challenges - the times it worked (so far just in one speaker or the other) it has sounded great but the more I've tinkered, the worse it has gotten. (So obviously, more tinkering is in order there)

All in all though, a good days hunting.