Rant over ... now for some inspiration

Ok ... now that my rant is over and out of the way (sorry all - I needed to exorcise it, it was neither clever nor amusing!!!), writing about the new camera, I'm feeling all inspired. My good friend started a Flickr page (I have one but god knows what my login is!!) and took these amazing photos. I think he even had a blog at some stage, and everytime we hung out, you'd lose him for a second coz he's found some random juxtaposition  (a bit of coloured detritus  amongst grey concrete .. that sorta thing) and is snapping away.

 

Anyhoo, I've always wished I had the inclination and energy to have found a career in design. I do appreciate beauty (well my version of anyway) and like nothing better than flitting through an art gallery, or flipping through a design related zine, whilst sipping*insert beverage of choice* and watching the cool young things drift by.

 

But sadly that does not translate into the real word of contracts, super and income tax. Its nice to appreciate nonetheless. If you are lucky enough to be involved in a creative process of some description, you might come up with something like this:

 

Crazy Cool Barcodes

 

 

thanks again to jeansnow.net for the heads up and pic and designs courtesy of www.d-barcode.com

 

Cool yah?! I especially like the kwik-kopy-esque man holding a heavy load ... thats the orange one in the middle-ish. Who knew that there were design firms out there specialising in the design of barcodes for commercial purposes .. how are jobs like these advertised? "Do you have a talent for design and an appreciation of barcodes"??? Its crazy how there's all these niche-filling industries out there .. filling niches you never even knew existed.

 

 

But I guess commercial design is where the monay is!! M's surgeon's son is a commercial designer. Although I'm not really au fait with the so-called busts of his scattered around his father's waiting rooms. He'd be working to the client's brief for the most part I guess .. which is just as well and you'd agree if you saw those copper objeks dee art. Here is an example of commercial design which I believe is pretty much entirely based on self indulgence. You'd need a large modern white space for this. Presenting Yuki Yamamoto's SPICA speaker (oh ... wait .. yah .. boom boom!)

 

 

 

RANT No. 1

Ok ... so if you're going to act like you're part of the commercial team ... you can at least have the decency to square things with your (still) colleagues within the (still) same team. FUCK!! OVER IT!!

In other happy arrival news

Ok ... so the lovely TN recently accepted delivery of her brand spanking Nokia N97 and we got a call to say that our Samsung ST500 Digital camera had arrived and was ready to be picked up:

Discerning readers will note that for both of these I have linked out to cnet.com.au - I go here for all my entertainment recommendations and reviews - I never puchase hardware before a quick check on cnet and/or logging into Choice magazine via the local library membership.

 

And why have I lumped these 2 things together? Well they both have LCD displays on the back and the front, so if you want to take a photo of youa nd your mate, you can hold the camera up in one hand facing your ugly mugs, view the screen on the front to focus and frame, then click away. No more begging doubtful strangers to help take a photo and maybe make off with your snazzy new digcam, and no more unfocused snaps with just a bit of nose or half an eye.

 

 

And yes it is a bit of a novelty item which is so unlike me ... but I wanted a 3" LCD display and we were able to try the touch screen menus out and M was happy with the feel. And I'm sure the HD vid will come in handy ... although I have to try and remember not to talk ... I hate the sound of my voice!!!

 

Oh and we don't even know what colour we're getting so its going to be a bit od a surprise ... here's hoping its either black, silver or red.

abnormally attracted to Ginge

Ok .. we're off to a Velvet Revolution tonight!!!

 

The venue: Melbourne's Regent Theatre in all its opulent glory.

 

 

The Event -  Tori Amos in all her fiery ginge glory.

 

 

And what should greet me in a quiet corner of our front porch but my Pianobook copy of Tori's latest album. So maybe I can squeeze in a few rounds of That Guy, Mary Jane and Lady in Blue before we head out tonight. Shall I youtube it?... AS IF!!! Although I do a mean "Leather" and "Father Lucifer" ... money and requests in the cup on the piano please ...

Electromadness

Ok .. I am in possession of 224 printed pages of deliciousness which is the Rock Yearbook Volume V, thanks to the still rockin'  PO at work.

Apart from the obvious nostalgia factor (this was published in 1984), its interesting how caustic mag crit used to be, and it also shows how conservative we have become!! 

Here are some choice examples:

Genesis - Genesis
"'Duke' was bad but this is appalling. Kill it now, Phil, put it out of its misery."

Robin Gibb - How Old Are You
"Middle-aged Gibb trembles through his pile of sickly tunes in what is a pretty disgusting album."

10CC - Windows in the Jungle
"Their music is virtually indistinguishable from the hum of the Xerox machine."

Things have certainly changed since then, most glaringly where "genres" are concerned.

In the 80s, electro was certainly different to electronic .... in fact ... its like saying that rock n roll is different to R & B, both rooted in the same foundations, but diverging along (unfortunately) colour lines ... In the 80s, Electro was distnctly black (and American) and Electronic was obtrusively white (and European)!!

So in 1984, who did make up the genre Electro. Well most importantly, Afrika Bambaata:

 

Anyone worth their electro-salt would know about Planet Rock's Kraftwerk sampling fabulousness. And of course how it shaped and informed the early techno-house sound and Hip Hop of the period.

And of course there's the genre hopping-grammy winning brilliance of Herbie Hancock's "Rockit".

But my pick would be Shannon's "Let the Music Play". Those electric cowbells do it to me all the time!!

And over in the electronic corner ... we have the pale pubescent things with the asymmetrical haircuts, triangular tops and pencil skirts:

The Human League

and their last stab at credibility (in my opinion) the supremely addictive (Keep Feelin') Fascination: 

There was also the early World music stylings of Blancmange:

 

In many ways experimentors in rhythmic pop, and perhaps a little too brash on the ear, but again strangely addictive:

And of course one of the early "anthems" from the otherwise exceedingly irritating Bronski Beat:

 
Electronic music back in its pop hey-day (and please note pop denotes mainstream popularity here) was distinctly male and distinctly white. Teutonic was the descriptive de jour and the music was seen as cold, robotic and obsessed by the cold war in all its variant iconography. In 1984, Electronic music was on its final teeter into high nrg as spearheaded by New Order's seminal Blue Monday and its melding of Electro and Electronic music ... less about the head, more about the feet.

It was also the last shout for traditionally electronic bands before the plunge into "serious rock" territory ... good example ... Eurythmics:

 

More importantly 1984 saw the creep of Industrial Rock from underground caverns into the shiny glare of the pop world ... industrial lite ... frowned upon by the indie cognoscenti ... but you can't deny its influence empounded by the wider exposure being in the charts afforded it ..

In the early 80s, groups like Test Department, SPK, Shriekback et al had their brief and early stabs at fame before Depeche Mode and The Cure and their ilk took up the mantel of indie goth in popular culture.

These days its all one big -tronic blur ... you may tack on whatever pre-fix you like ... technotronic, folktronic, thrashtronic, dubtronic, gintronic ... on that note ...

(ps obviously this is not comprehensive ... it was all triggered by boredom and the hallowed pages of the Rock Yearbook)

 

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Comments:

dan cope wrote:  

 

Eighties hair.. love it.

12 Nov

... and a stick of butter

Ok ... my childhood ...



ps how adorable have the google banners been recently in celebration of Sesame Street's 40yrs!! I particularly loved cookie monster and the count ... the whole gang is on there at the mo. Happy Birthday Sesame Street!!

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Comments:

Temasek wrote:   haha ... we could potentially keep doing this all day ... Sesame Street has been brought to you today by the letters P & T ... 11 Nov   Phoenix wrote:   "How could I be so dumb? Plants need water, mannnn!" 11 Nov

Basterds (sic) one and "tulip sniffing canal foraging hemp loving" all!!!!

Ok ... I think someone's taken one fucked up hit ... and he's smiling as he kicks your arse out of the door ... wishing you a nice weekend whilst he contemplates shoring up his coffers at the expense of families who face an uncertain future ahead of them .... there was a reason we hated dealing with that particular p ... they're all tarred with the same brush ...

So what balm to soothe these raw and festering wounds? .. well a day at the movies of course ... well a lovely lunch and then a movie.

Now I hate to say this but I do have to give props to Tarrantino ... he is in many ways a consummate film maker .. he appeals to movie maker and buff alike ... but more importantly he gets the BOS (bums on seats). Even though everytime I see him in pics or on the telly I want to punch him out ... you have to give the man his dues ... putting aside his foray into grindcore (which, I have to say, seen in the right contextual frame of mind, actually works), all is forgiven with his latest and I think his greatest ... Inglourious Basterds.

Believe it or not, this is a restrained affair compared to QT's previous efforts. No one does violence like QT, but what sets him apart from other run of the mill purveyors of "cool" cinema is his handle on tension ... and if tension is what you crave in a movie then the opening scenes at Monsieur LaPadite's farm are a tour de force ... and it does not let up till the final scene with Apache Raine and Col.Landa.

The acting is of course top notch but the women in this movie are luminescent!!! Paricularly Melanie Laurent as the avenging jewish angel Shosanna:

And Diane Kruger as double agent German Actress Bridget vin Hammersmark ... german has never sounded so mellifluous and sweet:

I'm sure there are oscar nods for this film already but it would be poor form if Christoph Waltz does not get a look in ... you'll understand why when you see the movie ... nuff said ... if you haven't seen it, go go go ... and if you are in the vicinity, nothing beats watching a movie at the Sun Theatre in Yarraville:

Its almost like being in gold class ... the comfy leather couches and the fact that the candy counter is licensed and you can bring your beverages in ...

It was a lovely afternoon and exactly what the doctor ordered ... monday will be interesting nonetheless!! Again, think happy thoughts for me peops!! (oh and for TN who is a kind reader and soon to be my partner in the unemployment line ... haha!).

And here's another pic of Denis Menochet (Msr LaPadite) ... erm why ... just because!!!

 

 (PS - I did have the actual trailer on here but the gods of DMCA were not happy and Temasek has been served!! - Anyhoo, I'm sure you can find it on other tubing sites if you so desire)

What a difference a day makes ....

Ok .. I am so tired. Drained. Over this whole damn thing called life. But its amazing how much of a difference a day makes ... well not even an entire day ... In the morning it was all chatty friday ... lunch was its usual walk round the town (and l don't know what it is about spring .. but it don't bring out the eye candy by half) ... then 4.30 .. Bamm! ... it all turned upside down .... I think we're all still a bit shell shocked ... although a few bottles of champers and some yummy cheese did help numb the pain ... now its time for the fall out.



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Comments:

dan cope wrote:

 

hello hello. can you email me pls?

12 Nov

Happy Birthday N!!

Ok ... I can't believe its another year already ...

There's something on the nose
And I think its breaking free

 

Its dodging speeding bullets
And swinging in the trees

 

Its climbing makeshift mountains
And gravel headed hills

 

Its blowing chocolate streamers
And spouting sugar thrills

 

Its landing on sore bottoms
And scraping bloodied knees

 

Its crying out in anger
But screaming loud with glee

 

Its stuffing mouths with snags and bread
And cake thats coloured green

 

Its yelling Happy Birthday N!!
Before it ups and leaves!

 

 

Happy Birthday N ... didn't Nanna G do a great job with the cake ... I scored one of the little red triangle horns on his head!!

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Comments:

 

Temasek wrote:

 

As if ... just make sure you credit me ... haha

3 Nov

dan cope wrote:

 

Have fun at the cup. I am borrowing the poem for the 2 boys? Do i have to pay you royalties?

3 Nov

Temasek wrote:

 

Gee thanks ... its an original ... I'm sooo ready for hallmark!

2 Nov

dan cope wrote:

 

Where did you find the poem, it's gorgeous. x

2 Nov

dan cope wrote:

 

OH OH OH Look at this!! I missed it.. again.. TOOO cute. Hugs d xx

2 Nov

Crash Bang Allakazam!!

Ok ... Saturday night was spent storm watching ... 

Backyard before a flash of lightning

 

 Backyard just after flash of lightning ... yes I was clicking like mad to get this