LOLWTIMEing: Gymastique Pekin 2008 (Remi Gaillard)

Laughing out loud with tears in my eyes - I came across this video by some French guy (Remi Gaillard) on the Dnosauria blog of a fellow 2XX presenter, Dean.

GYMNASTIQUE PEKIN 2008 (REMI GAILLARD)
by nqtv

Noting: 10 years of the iMac

10 years ago today Apple released the first iMac, the above Bondi Blue model.

An Apple fanboi mate of mine (Yardo) and pretty well the only person I knew that knew about computers at the time, managed to convince me that in my quest for a computer at the time, it was by far the way to go.

Its reasonable-for-the-time specs were - 233MHz processer, 32Mb RAM, 4Gb hard drive and it came with 2 USB slots. I don't remember exactly what I paid for it but it was just after I'd received a whopping tax return and I'm pretty sure it was at least $2700. (This is more than the sum total of the 3 PCs I have bought since then).

As an entry to "new" computing it was a pretty nifty machine - the only other computer I'd had to that point was a third or forth-hand PC that still used those massive 5.25" floppies. It looked nice and was easy to set up and use. Problems were rare - though a blown power supply put it out of commission for a fair while.

Looking back of course, the specs and the cost seem ridiculous and are prime illustrations of how quickly things change in computer hardware. By comparison, the (work) machine that I'm using at the moment has a 2.4GHz processer, 3.25GB of RAM and 930GB of hard drive space. (And 7 USB ports) Not exactly sure what price - it's leased - but easily half at an educated guess.

It amused me (and possibly pained slightly) when I bought a 16GB USB drive online a few months back for $60 to think back to the old iMac and note that on my key-ring I had four times the storage of that expensive old beast.

Hearing: Never gonna give you up

Damn it - now I can't get "Never gonna give you up" out of my head.

Sometimes I really need to think about what I'm posting.

Apologies if you are in a similar situation.

Loving: the Barackroll

The Rickroll is an internet prank meme that has exploded in web pop culture over the last year or so - in essence it involves tricking someone into watching a video clip of Rick Astley's 1987 pop hit "Never gonna give you up" by providing a link that they think is to a completely different video. (It's well worth reading the wikipedia article for a full history of great rickrollings - everything from Scientology protests to major league baseball games to guest presenting punk stars Pennywise on Australia's own Rage.)

The logical progression, given the American election, is of course, the Barackroll.
Someone (quite possible hmatkin) has spent a lot of time scouring the man's speeches and interviews to put a clip together of him "singing" this pop classic.



Here's a side by side comparison

Watching: Republicans and military men on John McCain.

This is a very well put together video about the war-lust of American presidential candidate John McCain and his Republican mates. It doesn't really say anything that we don't already know but, like all advertising, it's important to keep pushing the message.

The stuff from Scott Ritter - chief U.N weapons inspector during the 90s - is particularly chilling.

It makes good use (perhaps slightly overdone) of "Lux Aeterna" by Clint Mansell, the main theme music from Requiem for a Dream, to really heighten the emotion.



In hopier news, Barack Obama will apparently be releasing a third book around September outlining his vision for America, with all proceeds going to charity. It will have the punchy title - Change we can believe in: Barack Obama's plan to renew America's promise.

I read (ok, listened to the audio book) his second book - The Audacity of Hope - and it really shows a keen mind (and not just a keen mind in comparison to Dubya).

Considering: Turkey Shoot vs Shine a light

The funky Arc cinema at the National Film and Sound Archive has a screening this Thursday of Turkey Shoot - a 1982 Australian exploitation classic. It's your standard tale of rich bastards in the future using a private prison isle (Camp Thatcher) as a human hunting range, which of course goes awry. Evidently it's Tarantino's fave Oz film of all time.



I saw it on crappy VHS years ago and remember it as being pretty cool. Considering my love of the sclocky, it would seem no contest right?

The problem is, that this is the same night that the ANU Film Group is screening Scorsese's Rolling Stones concert film Shine a light. As someone who has only really picked up on the Stones in the last few years, this is also something I'd really like to check out. I mean seriously - Mick, Keef and Marty - fuggedabudit



The worst part is that these two screenings will be within a couple of hundred metres of each other.

I'll probably go Turkey Shoot at a guess and wait/hope for a bluray release of Shine a light (which on the balance of things is a little more likely)

Farewelling: Isaac Hayes

Soul legend Isaac Hayes was today found unresponsive near a still running treadmill in his house and pronounced dead an hour later in a Memphis, Tennessee hospital.

A sad day for cool.

Preparing: Monday Sunset - 4 to 6pm on 98.3fm Canberra

Water Pistol Man The Disposable Heroes Of Hiphoprisy Hypocrisy Is the Greatest Luxury 5:55
Golden Parachute New Radiant Storm King Winter's Kill 2:38
Loose Lips Kimya Dawson Juno 2:25
The Majesty Of Rock Spinal Tap Rage - More Of The Songs Most Chosen By Rage Guest Programmers (Disc 2) 3:56
One Brother Andrew W. K. Close Calls With Brick Walls 2:26
Boys Wanna Be Her Peaches Impeach My Bush 3:56
Right Of Way TZU Computer Love 4:02
Rendez-Vu Basement Jaxx Big Day Out 00 (Disc 1) 5:47
Hey Hey, My My (Into The Black) Neil Young Rust Never Sleeps (Live) 5:14
You Each Time Ani DiFranco Educated Guess 4:19
Spook Strain Ed Kuepper Starstruck 2:16
Flame Trees Sarah Blasko Standing On The Outside (The Songs Of Cold Chisel) 5:21
Interiors The Sea And Cake One Bedroom 4:20
The Weeping Song Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds The Abattoir Blues Tour 2004 (Disc 1) 4:39
Breathe Prodigy The Fat of the land 5:35
Tonite Spiderbait Greatest Hits 4:23
Sleep Forever theredsunband Peapod 2:16
Love Makes you Feel Lou Reed Legendary Lou Reed (Disc 1) 3:10
Mobile Home Presidents of the USA Pure Frosting 2:54
Liar Randall Blair And The Wedded Bliss Tattoos And Taillights 4:57
Islands Cat Power The Greatest 1:44
Smells Like Teen Spirit Nirvana From The Muddy Banks Of The Wishkah 4:47
Factory_Girl The Rolling Stones Flashpoint 2:48
When you're in love Reno Thinking about the good times 3:25
Black Ice The Devastations Yes, U 5:37
Heart Of Glass Nouvelle Vague Bande À Part 3:35
Mutha'uckas Flight Of The Conchords Flight Of The Conchords 2:27
Secrets The Zutons Tired of Hangin' Around 3:16