Watching: Web 2.0 - the machine is us/ing us

My mate Jerry reminded me about this video the other day - it's a pretty clever examination of how the internet (and the way we use it) is reshaping our society, hopefully for the better. (Of course, this is unless SkyNet decides to use all this information for nefarious purposes :)

Hope you have a great weekend, the Lodge (official residence of the Oz Prime Miniature) is having an open day on Sunday so hopefully I'll be able to share something about that next week - not sure what their policy is on cameras though. (Just wish I'd thought to order a Kevin 07 tshirt before now)

Looking forward to: Jerry Seinfeld's Comedian

I know virtually nothing about this movie as a result of this trailer but I want to see it.

Looking forward to: Shaun Micallef's Newstopia

Shaun Micallef is a bit of a hero of mine - brilliant and hilarious and seemingly a genuinely decent person, he's been doing tv comedy in various capacities in Australia for more than 10 years.



This is why I was pretty happy this morning to read that he has a new news satire/review programme starting on SBS next Wednesday called Newstopia. The prospect of Micallef in some kind of Jon (The Daily Show) Stewart role gets the mind a-boggling.

There's a pretty decent interview with him about it in The Age today - here are a couple of quotes of note:
Firstly about the show -

Enter Newstopia. Screening every Wednesday after Anton Enus' World News Australia, the half-hour satire will take aim at politicians and other bigwigs, and at the way we see ourselves on the world stage. Are we part of Asia? The 51st state of the US? Or do we still cling to the apron strings of Mother England?

"The conceit of the show is that Australia is the best possible place to judge the rest of the world because we have no control over it," Micallef says. "But we're desperately concerned about what the neighbours think of us."

His thoughts on John Howard (Oz Prime Minister, not his Seachange co-star) are an indicator of his insight:

"I've met him a couple of times and found him to be a man of enormous charm," he says. "His greatest strength is that everyone seemed to underestimate him. You can see how Kerry O'Brien's attitude towards him has changed over the past 10 years. He's getting on quite well with Howard now and even having a laugh. He understands he'll never break down that impenetrable wall. But if you get a crack, you've scored a point."

Not that he endorses Howard's spin-laden sound bites. "He's extremely conscious of how his words will read in the paper the next day. It's like he's always got one eye on that history book, on that series of biographies, which is not a great way to live. He's like a dad who watches his kids play through the viewfinder of a Handycam instead of engaging in the moment. But he's survived as a politician partly because he is so careful."

His work on his ABC programme - The Micallef Program is probably his best, here are just a couple of examples if you're wondering what the fuss is about

Updating: Day 107 of the No Shampoo challenge

It's been a little while since I've updated my progress on the no-shampoo front but I'm happy to report that things are still going well. It's still thick and shiny, soft and healthy and I'm assured it doesn't smell. I've also found that it seems to get itchy less than when I was using shampoo.



I rinse it thoroughly each day and try to give it a good brush most days as well - I've been bike riding a fair bit more recently too and this doesn't seem to be making a difference.

In other news, the PC tried valiantly for something like 8 or 9 weeks before packing it in - she has longer hair and it just wasn't coming good. So I guess it's not for everyone but it's definitely at least worth a go.

Enjoying: Raymond Crowe's shadow puppetry

Sometimes the simplest forms of entertainment are the most effective - this is a beautiful video by Raymond Crowe, a guy who calls himself Australia's only unusualist.

Nice, different, unusual.

Playing: songs for Monday Sunset

Like the 309 Johnny Cash 4:35 American V: A Hundred Highways
Jealous Girls The Gossip 3:39 Standing In The Way Of Control
Rosa The Devastations 5:10 Yes, U
Dream In Color Grant-Lee Phillips 4:26 Strangelet
Perfectly Ordinary Rastawookie 4:01 Perfectly Ordinary
Binary Love The Rakes 3:45 Capture/Release
Apple Blossom The White Stripes 2:13 De Stijl
Troubled in mind Konrad Lenz 2:20 Living with the spirits of the dead
Swampland Scientists 4:10 Blood Red River
Young folks Peter Bjorn And John 4:39 Writers block
I love my leather jacket The Chills 2:54 Topless women talk about their lives
The Ship Song Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds 5:14 The Good Son
If Looks Could Kill Camera Obscura 3:29 Let's Get Out Of This Country
The Beast I Came To Be Beasts Of Bourbon 2:14 Little Animals
In Front of Me Tzu 3:37 Smiling At Strangers
Indecise Coralie Clement 2:35 So Frenchy, So Chic (Disc 2)
Jolene Dolly Parton 2:41 The Very Best Of
Black, White And Dead Zombie Ghost Train 2:51 Glad Rags & Body Bags
Chinito Chinito Ry Cooder 4:52 Chavez Ravine
Being Followed Rocket Science 3:53 Being Followed
Fuzzy Grant Lee Buffalo 4:59 Fuzzy

Enjoying: the labour day long weekend

Hope you are too (if you're having it)