Playing: First time ever I saw your face

PC and I had been arguing a little in recent days but after a big emo chat we managed to work a few things out and came away feeling much better.

I dedicated the Johnny Cash version of this song to her on the show last night (and am not afraid to admit I got a little emo as it played and I thought about our first meeting) - it was nice to hear that she had the same reaction. She also told me that it's always been one of her fave songs and she choked up a little as I played it. (I could only find it in this YouTube video as the soundtrack for some other couple's Christmas/New Year in Berlin - ignore them and just enjoy the music)

I initially heard it in "Play Misty for me", Clint Eastwood's 1971 directing debut where he played a radio dj who gets stalked by an obsessive fan he had a one night stand with. The version in the film was the original Roberta Flack version, which PC tells me is her fave. (And it really is an amazingly beautiful song, I must say)



And just for the hell of it - here's an instrumental version behind a montage of anime with robots - because they're hella cool and I'm a little geeky :)

LOLing: the universe as an operating system

This is possibly the geekiest thing I've posted yet but I found myself nodding and chuckling a fair bit through it so I figured I'd share it.

It's a simple, text based animation that shows what might have happened if God was a computer programmer in the process of writing Earth. (Parts are funnier than others but if you've ever had a computer refuse to do something you told it to, you should enjoy this)

Check it out here.

(Interestingly God only seems to work an hour or two a day, must be a public servant :)

Looking forward to: Black Sheep

In the great spectrum of funny animals, sheep are way up there.

In the great spectrum of horror sub-genres, zombies are way up there.

How has it taken so long then for someone to join the dots?



Fortunately, our brilliant cousins on the other side of the ditch (the Tasman Sea, which separates Australia and New Zealand) have come up with the goods.

OK, so maybe they aren't zombie sheep as such but from what I can see in the trailer, they have the whole large, dumb, menacing, people-eating group (mob) thing working for them which is an essential element of the zombie flick.

(And like most good things out of the land of long white cloud recently, effects are done by Peter Jackson's Weta)

The website for the movie is great as well - check it out here.



This opens in Canberra next thursday - can't wait.

Sharing: Bogan Jokes

Bogan is a term that could just as easily be interchanged with redneck, hillbilly, westy, bevan, booner, chav or anyone uncultured, poor, rough and dumb. These are a bit mean but I grew up in a bogan area so I claim some right to use them.

Check out this site - www.bogan.com.au - to learn more.

Q. Two bogans jump off a cliff. Who wins?

A. Society.


Q. What does a bogan chick use as protection during sex?

A. Bus shelter.


Q. What do you call a 30 year old bogan girl?

A. Granny.


Q. Why did the bogan cross the road?

A. To start a fight with a complete stranger for no reason whatsoever.


Q. What do you call a bogan girl in a white tracksuit?

A. The bride.


Q. What's the first question during a bogan quiz night?

A. What you looking at?


Q. Two bogans in a car without any music - who is driving?

A. The policeman.


Q. What's the difference between a bogan boy and a bogan girl?

A. The bogan girl has a higher sperm count.

Updating: Day 60 No Shampoo challenge - PC's story

As you can see, my hair continues on it's merry way and I'm happy to report that the PC is finally having some luck with hers now as well.

She initially posted this as a comment but I think it deserves a post in it's own right.

PC here again. After my previous rant, I am happy to say that hair has come around to the plan now! However, this was only after I encouraged it by pouring about a quarter cup of lime juice in my hair (and then rinsing it out) to get rid of the excess oil. After this, all the gunk which was coming out has vanished and my hair does look normal and healthy now!

I also tried something else - going swimming in a chlorinated pool. Well, I didn't do that to be kind to the hair, but I figured I'id put it off for long enough and I should just go swimming if I wanted to and the hair was ok about it. Following a suggestion on the ABC messageboard, I wet it before going in the pool, so that the hair would be saturated already and then likely to absorb less chlorine. and then I rinsed it thoroughly afterwards and it really only smelled very vaguely of chlorine and by the next day it was gone. Hurrah - bye bye shampoo and conditioner! Kiss my butt, drug companies and your evil and incessant advertising!

Comparing: New Neighbours vs Old

Neighbours has changed and I don't like it.



In the face of sliding ratings and a merger with a new production company, Australian soap (sorry - tv drama) institution Neighbours underwent a major revamp on July 23rd.

A large part of this was to herald the use of new production technology - shifting to High Definition Digital Video (which the glossy and soulless Home and Away has been using for a while) and a new lighting setup. (The previous one, known in the biz as wankbank, was made up of a bunch of fluoro lights designed to flood the set with soft light and apparently hadn't been changed for 20 years.)

The new style has made Neighbours look crisper and allows for more dramatic lighting options but saps the show of it's inner beauty. It used to feel like a big, soft, warm, daggy multicoloured cardigan - kind of like comfort food for the eyes. Now it just looks slick and glossy and the same as everything else. (And who really needs the extra detail that much - I don't want to know if Harold has chin cellulite)

Here's the old style Neighbours from a few months back:



And here's the new HDTV version:



Now YouTube does funny things with the pictures so it's not the best way to see it but it's just not as friendly looking.

Ok, so boohoo, the picture isn't as soft and warm any more - get over it. But it's not just that - the theme song has changed (meh, probably due for a change) and the title sequence as well.

This is more of an issue for me as it gets us closer to the real problem with this whole thing - the show seems to have lost it's cutting edge.

The old title sequence drew heavily from the work of Howard Arkley, a Melbourne artist widely respected for his edgy, garishly neon coloured paintings of suburbia. His work celebrated while simultaneously gently mocking suburban life, which meshed nicely with some of the writing on "old" Neighbours. This wasn't something particularly overt but from time to time, characters would come out with some relatively subversive and hilarious remarks - kind of like the way jokes for adults get slipped into animated kids films.

Here are the old titles:



The new titles on the other hand could hardly be blander - very much in the spirit of chocolate box art (a term my old art teacher used to favour for anything simple and inoffensive)

Here are the new titles:



Snore.

Cast members come and go on soaps, it's a fact of life but again, with the "revamp" there has been wholesale class genocide going on in Ramsay St (can someone explain by the way why something that is clearly a court gets called a street?) with the removal of the entire, working class (aspirational if you prefer) Timmins clan to sunny Queensland.

Obviously the new faces take a little while to become familiar and comfortable but my middleclass-o-meter has just about exploded with the blandness of the new arrivals.

(Don't get me started on the whiteness of the cast either - apparently Italian heritage is the only other acceptable ethnicity in Erinsborough)

Storywise there is apparently a shift to more family driven drama (i.e who loves who) - and away from over the top antics, scheming and chicanery (evil twins, blowing up Lassiters again etc). I realise that Karl and Susan are largely backbone comic relief characters but when the dramatic highlight of an episode is whether Karl is going to stick a valium up his stressed dogs arse, you know things have slowed down a little.

In fairness, I've tuned out of this show a little in recent weeks - not sure whether it's been because I've had other things to do or if it's just become less compelling so maybe it will right itself but I'm really wondering.

Programming: Tunes for Monday

Here's a nice mixed bag

Three Dead Passengers In A Stolen Secondhand Ford Stephen Cummings & Dave Graney 3:57 Totally Wireless

Great acoustic story song from a couple of Oz greats

Blind Willie McTel Charlie Owen, Don Walker & Tex Perkins 5:48 Totally Wireless

More Oz greats with another acoustic gem

Willow tree Not Drowning, Waving 4:07 Follow the geography

Downbeat but beautiful from a band that doesn't really sound like anyone else

So Entertaining Gus & Frank 3:46 Confession of a Roooftop Killer

Picking up the pace a little with a fun Femme's-esque party song.

Blade-running Elf 4:12 Preview

Lively local electronica - I used this as the soundtrack to a bike-chase short film I made a few years back.

The Illustrated man Konrad Lenz 3:57 Living with the spirits of the dead

Local lad sings dirty bluesy track with a voice like a man with 5 testicles

Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap (Live) Nitocris 4:00 Epic Voyage

Melbourne girls rock out.

Kiss of Fire (Allen/Hill) Monsieur Camembert 5:43 Absynthe

Quirky gypsy/French style jazz

You're Too Kind Machine Translations 3:17 Abstract Poverty

So much style and suaveness

Karma Police Easy Star All Stars 4:48 Radiodread

Fantastic version of Karma Police from an album which covers OK Computer in a reggae style - it might be a big call but this equals the original in many ways.

The Tourist Easy Star All Stars 4:07 Radiodread

More prominent reggae sounds on this track but it's still awesome

Everybody Knows Leonard Cohen 5:37 The Essential Leonard Cohen (Disc 1)

I've liked this track ever since I heard it on the Pump Up The Volume soundtrack, I wish I could be a tenth as cool as this

Roscoe Midlake 4:49 The Trials Of Van Occupanther

Unfailingly catchy lowkey modern rock

Breakthrough Modest Mouse 4:06 This Is A Long Drive For Someone With Nothing To Think About

Louder modern indie rock

D.C. Semifinalists 2:59 Semifinalists

Solid pop with good guitars and silky vocals

Misspelt Youth The Swedish Magazines 2:09 Eat More Baby

Underrated Melbourne rock that pays tribute to the Powdermonkeys

Cheyenne Guided By Voices 2:59 Universal Truths And Cycles [Bonus Track]

Bit of an alterna-rock classic this one

Elevate Myself Grandaddy 3:43 Just Like The Fambly Cat

I really need to listen to these guys more - I'm always surprised and impressed when they pop up randomly on the iPod with their clever poprock

If you could read my mind Johnny Cash 4:30 American V: A Hundred Highways

Heartbreakingly beautiful song of love from the crackly voiced Cash on his last ever album.

LOLing: Seinfeld in Oz

That's Oz the brutal and compelling prison tv series, not the mystical fantasy land (or Australia - which probably sits somewhere in between)

Browsing: Photos from a camera attached to a cat

Mr Lee CatCam is an interesting website if you've ever wondered what cats get up to when they're out.

J Perthold found a way to attach a lightweight digital camera to his cat's collar which is set to take a picture at set intervals. When the cat comes home, you simply take off the camera and check out it's adventures.



There's a bunch of information up there about how to make your own camera if you so choose as well as photos from 5 of Mr Lee's journeys.

Here's a small sample. (Click pic for larger version)

Uploading: Pix from the Red Centre

It's taken a little longer to put these up online than I expected - given that I took the trip #cough# 3 years ago #cough# - but they worked out pretty well so here you go.

These are all from waterholes and other natural features (including the mighty Uluru) in the general vicinity of Alice Springs (give or take a few hundred kilometres)

Click on the images for the larger versions or if you want to see (and download) the super big versions, go to Flickr and click on "All Sizes"

Eating: Coffee and Hazelnut chocolate

While I'm trying to be good of late and eat well and exercise and whatnot in the process of getting into shape (round is a shape, isn't it?), on occasion it's hard to resist the allure of new and funky products with their new and funky packaging when you wonder around the shops between work and Neighbours.



This chocolate from the good folks at Farm by Nature: Cocoa Farm is one of those things. I'm not sure what the no-added-sugar thing means in the context of chocolate (according the nutrition panel, it's 8.2% sugar) but it tastes fine and is certainly sweet enough.

This is the first time I think I've come across coffee flavoured chocolate though, which surprises me now that I think about it but it's great.

There's not a whole lot to be said about it in general - it's chocolate really and it's yummy.

Rating: 80%

Updating: Day 53 of the 6 week No Shampoo Challenge

For those who came in late, I haven't washed my hair since the 8th of June, 53 days ago. This isn't because I can't afford shampoo or have been locked up in government detention (though I couldn't legally tell you if I had), it's not because I don't wash or am lazy or have embraced a crusty lifestyle.

It's because I read that shampoo wages a minor battle with the natural oils in your hair every time you wash it - shampoo strips away the oils and then your head tries to restore balance by over producing oil to compensate. This makes your hair feel greasy so you wash your hair with shampoo and the cycle perpetuates.

If however you can go 6 weeks without using shampoo, the theory is that the natural oils in your hair finds balance and as long as you vigourously rinse your hair regularly, it will be healthier, shinier, fuller and even sweeter smelling.

I've now passed the 6 weeks mark - well actually I passed the 7 week mark on Friday and I'm happy to say that my hair is feeling pretty good. In the video it looks a little average I think - I haven't worked out how to style it yet but I'm told (by my hairdresser who thought it was looking very healthy) that the resurgent natural oils act as a kind of product now so theoretically I should be able to make it look any way I choose.

Overall it feels light, looks full and shiny and even apparently smells pretty good (according to the PC at least). I don't think it's 100% yet though as parts still seem a little dry (though maybe I just have naturally dry hair or the winter weather makes it dry) so we'll see what the coming weeks bring.

Reading: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Spoilers)

Well I didn't rush in and gobble down the whole thing as soon as I bought it - as many did - but I decided instead to re-read Harry Potter 6 (Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince) first to put it all into context.

This required a certain amount of faith that I'd be able to avoid the spoilers that would inevitably come up as more and more people made their way to the end and found out who would live and who would die. (something I wasn't able to do with the last episode of The Sopranos)

I think it helped to do this - I probably could have muddled (muggled?) my way through and all would have made sense but reading 6 & 7 back to back also helped to immerse me in that world for a little while longer.

Overall I was pretty happy with the final book - there was a fair bit of loose end tying to get through after 6 preceding books (not everything was neatly tidied up but JK Rowling did a nice job all in all) and this meant that there were an awful lot of flashbacks and trips to the pensieve. It got to the point where Rowling seemed to be straining her brain - "Ok, I've done the tell-all bio, the dream sequence, the friendly chat, umm, what else can I use to explain this part now?"

This is by far the darkest book of the series and the deaths of established characters keep coming, particularly at the end in the great final battle.

Parts I liked: (Select text to read) Harry's triumph, Dumbledore's back story, the happy ending epilogue (though from what I've read online, there are many who hated this part), the snippets of non-main-trio naughtiness at Hogwarts during Harry/Ron/Hermoine's absence, the final battle, the raids on the Ministry and Gringotts, the general darkness of the wizarding world falling under the Death Eaters' control, the opening escape from the Dursleys' and Harry's sacrifice.

Parts I was a bit meh about:(Select text to read) Snape's motivation being Harry's mum (laid on a bit thick), Kreacher's change of attitude, long middle patches where the trio had no idea what they were doing and were regularly nudged on by lucky clues and help, humanising the Malfoys (still thinking about this - it seems mainly that because they were a bit crap at being evil, even though they wanted to, they are ok), the lack of quidditch and the plot holes. (How did Neville end up with the sword of Griffindor?)

All in all a satisfying conclusion - 80%

Playing: Music for a Monday

9 To 5 Dolly Parton 3:00 The Very Best Of
Superfish Los Capitanes 2:14 No Butts!
Ever Fallen In Love Nouvelle Vague 3:19 Bande À Part
Trash New York Dolls 3:07 Mojo: I Love NY Punk
Chinito Chinito Ry Cooder 4:52 Chavez Ravine
Phantom Land EZ3kiel 4:53 BARB4RY
Weeds The Negotiators 3:59 Apples and Oranges
Flame Trees Sarah Blasko 5:21 Standing On The Outside (The Songs Of Cold Chisel)
Finger Print (Ra Ra) Randall Blair And The Wedded Bliss 5:09 Tattoos And Taillights
Friday night The Darkness 2:55 Permission to land
1025 Sixteen Sisters The Kleptones 2:50 24 Hours (Disc 1)
Come To This The Sleepy Jackson 3:28 Lovers
Going Going Gone Richard Hell & The Voidoids 2:31 Mojo: I Love NY Punk
One Six One Bit By Bats 2:37 Go, Go, Go!
She Was Venezuela Bit By Bats 3:27 Go, Go, Go!
Myth Takes (Acouth Take) !!! 2:14 Myth Takes (Bonus Disc)
What If Lucinda Williams 5:41 West
Carey Joni Mitchell 3:02 Hits
The Ghost That Feeds (Ray Parker Jr. vs NIN) Ray Parker Jr. vs Nine Inch Nails 3:20 mashed up by nathanchase.com
Ramblin' Man Hank Williams 3:04 CD 3, MGM studio sessions 10-01-1950 to 01-06-1951
Idea of Fun The Stooges 3:17 The Weirdness
Icky Thump White Stripes 4:17 Icky Thump
The Only Way Gotye 4:49 Like Drawing Blood

Getting: out of bed

What started as a persistent runny nose just kept on coming - after two days largely in bed, at least I'm back in the land of the living now.

On the plus side I got to do some reading - and even some time away from the 'puter was kind of nice.

LOLing: Japanese Tetris

Thanks to Bec for this one.

There's really nothing to be said about this - it's just compelling.
(And tell me you don't think about what you would do when faced with the oncoming walls like that - I'm thinking that this would be a fun option for a video game)

glumbert.com - Japanese Tetris

LOLing: Sarcastic Gamer's Wii Fit parody

I sit firmly in the Wii wannabe column - I think it looks like quite the fun games system and one day, when I'm being less responsible with my money, I'll probably pick one up.

This parody of the new fitness game/toy for the Wii by SarcasticGamer.com is a lot of fun though.

Pondering: The Garden Vein

I saw this notice on the board outside the local shops the other day and I still don't quite get what it means.

As ever, I have two theories.

1.- It's just about gardening - most likely a trainee landscaper (or even just an enthusiast) who likes to work in the garden and be given some free rein to try things out. Also one who likes to work for women.

2. (And this is perhaps more an indicator of my disturbed mind :) - Someone offering gardening services for sex (or near sex)

What confuses me is that the service is free and only for women - the "superficial play around afterwards" line adds to this, but as I say, could simply refer to trying some creative gardening ideas.

The whole "Garden Vein" thing also seems a little odd - just a little too visceral.

Jumping: on the Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows bandwagon.

I picked up on the Harry Potter thing around the time of the 4th book (Goblet of Fire) and while I'm certainly no fanboy, I've enjoyed the series so far, books and films.

Given that the release of the final book in the series seemed such a hullabaloo, I thought it would be worth at least cruising past the lines at the bookshops on Saturday morning to see what was going on. (No small ask given the frostiness of Canberra mid-winter mornings)



Arriving at Dymocks at around 7.45, I was a little surprised to see that there were only about 20 or so people waiting and given that I had my pre-order receipt sitting in my bag, I thought I might as well be a part of the whole lining up thing.

Here are some of the pics I snapped and thoughts I had in the 1hr 15mins waiting time - as painstakingly typed in to draft text messages.

Here at 7.45 and there are about 20 people here already. Think im older by around 10 to 20 years at least. No costumes to speak of - one witch hat. General nerdy chatter.

Feel slightly self conscious with the people walking by.

One guy turned up who has already read the thing.

The guy 2 in front of me got here 30 mins earlier.

Borders opened at 8 to let people wait inside (ie browse) until 9.01.

The girl in front of me is reading sun tzu art of war.

My feet are cold.

A woman just shushed some singing magpies.

Shops open. Thats good.

Photographer would be a good cover to q jump.

Inside now. I handed over my docket.



Had to follow a black line of tape that winds around the book stacks. Makes sense.

Stuck in front of the motivation section right now.



Young gen y kids in front reading romance novels out loud.

Maybe I'm being a little cynical but giving out balloons from the local pie shop just seems a little lame.



Next to the classic novels as well.




Interesting to see ray bradbury in there with f451. The original 16th c monkey as well.



I must admit that it was a tiny bit exciting to see the books with their embargo tape passing by. Also that the bookshop (dymocks) staff at least made an effort to dress up.





This was the scene behind me.



The line starts to move - after a somewhat pissweak cheer.



Just a couple of people from the front now - see the books going into the cheap cheap bookbags.

The funny thing now is, that after going through the whole standing in the freezing cold, lining up with nerds and geeks and whatnot, i still haven't started reading the thing yet.

I decided at the start of last week that I should probably re-read HP6 first, to get back up to speed and put the whole thing into context but I haven't finished that one yet. (In fact, Harry has just arrived at Hogwarts for the start of the school year)

Which might seem to have made this whole endeavour a bit of a fools errand but it was interesting being there all the same.

Playing: tunes for Monday Sunset today.

Feelings Of Grief Paul Kelly Stolen Apples 5:55

From the new Paul Kelly album (thanks Jerry for putting me onto this) - a haunting tale of sadness that lightly hangs in the air. (I generally like to kick the show off with something that echoes the feel of the previous show but also gives the indication that the direction has shifted - in this case it's two hours of trad Celtic folk from Celtic Circle, presented by a collective of nice old folkys)

Helpless Nick Cave The Bridge: A Tribute to Neil Young 4:32

This song has the perfect balance between sounding like a Nick and a Neil song. A beautiful song treated with a lot of respect.

Gone Zombie Ghost Train Glad Rags & Body Bags 3:12

Interesting rockabillyesque track that sounds like it's on the move in the middle of the night through some driving rain.

Bury Me Deep In Love Jimmy Little And Kylie Minogue Corroboration 3:51

Beautiful collaboration on one of the best Triffids songs by an Oz icon and someone who should be one.

Radio Tokyo Vanlustbäder The People Versus Vanlustbader 2:33

Dirty, sexy rock instrumental with a 70s swagger

Negative Hearing Youth Group Urban & Eastern 3:05

Good rockin' pop track with heart

Off The Grid The Beastie Boys The Mix-Up 4:36

This could be the end credits of a 70s movie - it has an everything's ok now feel to it - then again it could also be a bit of a drug-den party vibe where the hero is tripping out a little and then goes off into a full dream sequence kind of thing - I like the stretched out spacy quality to this one as well as the dominant guitar in the latter parts.

Little scientist Dave Robertson Little Scientists EP 3:36

Gentle song with passion that would be well at home in the (sadly defunct) Candle records (Lucksmiths, Rob Clarkson, Darren Hanlon) lineup. Interesting spoken rave about the role of science in society in the middle. (I'll be interviewing this guy in the lead up to a gig he has in Canberra in the week of Sept 10)

Bookends of winter Dave Robertson Little Scientists EP 4:10

Nice floaty ballad with a slightly nostalgic melancholy air.

Hieronymus The Clouds Penny Century 3:47

Classic early 90s poppy rock goodness from one time Canberrans.

18 Sojourn Radio Single 3:00

Interesting rock track from a Melbourne band that skirts close to Wolfmotherish cliche but brings it all back to a solid independent 70s heavy rock sound. Worth keeping an eye on.

Tell me why Neil young After the goldrush 2:58

Neil doing Neil this time - simple acoustic guitar, reedy voice and great lyrics.

You're Not Cool Baterz Out of Hell 2:17

Zippy and smart tale of junkies and the cool scene mentality in a quirky track from beloved Canberra muso.

Cherry blossom girl Air Talkie Walkie 3:39

Beautifully orchestrated glidey pop from French electro maestros.

Salvation Jane Fred Smith Soapbox 3:18

Fun song about cricket and much more that just radiates happiness with a very light guitar and drums latin vibe.

A big star The City Lights Escape from tomorrow today 2:56

Easily my favourite song of recent years with an oz politics theme (not hard as these have been very thin on the ground) - back from the days when Tony Abbott was employment minister. Bit of a Fauves feel but slightly more rockin.

Black Betty Nick Cave Used And Recommended By 2:31

Just realised that I've put two Nick Cave sung covers in here today - guess we're all just lucky right. Long before Spiderbait wove their magic over this track, Nick had his own minimalistic crack at it - it's a whole other thing and it's also great.

Que Bonita Es La Vida Rubin Steiner So Frenchy, So Chic (Disc 2) 3:45

The interesting thing about songs in another language is that you focus more on other parts - the music of the singing and of course the instruments too. This track mixes up some clean guitar and piano sounds and makes them impossibly cosmopolitan.

Superstar Underground Lovers Evil. 3:43

One of the great undervalued Oz bands of the last 20 years, the undies are here doing their ethereal droning rock thing live.

Callbacks We Are Scientists With Love And Squalor 2:02

Firing up with some smart pacy indy rock

Miles Away Yeah Yeah Yeahs UNCUT - Neat Neat Neat 2:19

More cool rock - I'm not 100% sold on the Yeah Yeah Yeahs magic but this track is definitely a cracker.

A Martyr For My Love For You The White Stripes Icky Thump 4:16

From an album that continues to grow on me, nice use of loud soft loud in a sad one.

Further On Up The Road Johnny Cash American V: A Hundred Highways 3:25

Talking of sad ones, this is a heart breaker - particularly knowing that it was the man in black's last album ever and made around the time of his wife's death. One of a number of songs on this album about imminent death.