tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30575572011-04-21T17:40:49.856-07:00NoWayJoseWhat you reading for?Danielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13298223169965154939noreply@blogger.comBlogger3431100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3057557.post-1095664858733927232004-09-20T01:13:00.000-07:002004-09-20T00:20:58.733-07:00It's been a while.
There's been New Zealand. And Fiji.
And a failed attempt to get to the US.
And other people's broken legs, pleurisy, death, coming out (or not), etc.
Danielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13298223169965154939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3057557.post-1076200330382361222004-02-07T16:32:00.000-08:002004-02-07T16:34:32.543-08:00On the other hand knowing something's name = having power over it
Having the power to choose your own name - and not to give it to others:
13 Moses said to God, "Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, 'The God of your fathers has sent me to you,' and they ask me, 'What is his name?' Then what shall I tell them?"
14 God said to Moses, "I am who I am . [2] This is what you are to say toDanielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13298223169965154939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3057557.post-1073998101097312172004-01-13T04:48:00.000-08:002004-01-13T04:59:39.623-08:00Currently on heavy rotation chez me: Sean Paul's Dutty Rock. Altho I can't seem to get past track 5. hmmmmm.
"Is this Shaggy?" enquiries a housemate.
"Sean Paul" I reply.
"Is that Shaggy's real name, then?" he further probes.
"No"
"Well, he sounds like Shaggy"
"They are both ragga singers"
"Ragga?"
"Yes, ragga or dancehall. From Jamaica"
Ah ha! I (30, librarian) am momentarily cooler than my Danielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13298223169965154939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3057557.post-1073997967375639992004-01-13T04:46:00.000-08:002004-01-13T04:47:55.700-08:00I arrived back on Saturday. I had about 400 emails awaiting me to trawl thru so I wimped out and went to the cinema to see "Return of the King". Bad move.
Why it didn't work for me
- It's long. I don't think I have ever had the urge to leave the cinema before a film is over (except for that one time when I was seven I ran out a showing of The Black Hole coz it was too damn scary) but at the 2 Danielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13298223169965154939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3057557.post-1073997227125430592004-01-13T04:33:00.000-08:002004-01-13T04:35:41.106-08:00So I spend 5 days sitting on various Gilli islands and not doing very much. A tropical island with friendly natives and a ready supply of coconut juice. I suppose this is paradise. It says so on the tin. Maybe I saw too many Bounty Bar commercials as a child. Danielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13298223169965154939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3057557.post-1073996947198373292004-01-13T04:29:00.000-08:002004-01-13T04:30:55.763-08:00Gilli Air around 7 pm. The sun is going down beind the trees which are a sumptious green. To the West, the water looks like beaten copper stretching into an ultramarine blue (is it just my brain or does the water actually glow?). The full moon has risen and there is a trickle of silver on the water. In the distance, the mountains of Lombok reflect the last of the sun and a rainbow stretches from Danielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13298223169965154939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3057557.post-1073567760868131872004-01-08T05:16:00.000-08:002004-01-08T05:17:43.060-08:00Apparently I slept thru an earthquake on the morning of Jan 2nd. About a 6 on Richter scale so I'm told.Danielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13298223169965154939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3057557.post-1072936392744977942003-12-31T21:53:00.000-08:002003-12-31T21:54:45.546-08:00Happy Birthday, Dear Bruvva
My bruv is working towards his black belt in jujitsu and he rocks! With mighty fists of steel. Danielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13298223169965154939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3057557.post-1072936306622625482003-12-31T21:51:00.000-08:002003-12-31T21:53:19.450-08:00This is going to have to wait until I get home. But it will be fun. Oh yeah.Danielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13298223169965154939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3057557.post-1072936144000422112003-12-31T21:49:00.000-08:002003-12-31T21:50:36.263-08:00End of Year Lists
No, there'll be none of that round here.Danielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13298223169965154939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3057557.post-1072935956274568222003-12-31T21:45:00.000-08:002003-12-31T21:47:28.576-08:00The Story of Ganesh
Once upon a time, there was a god called Shiva. His nickname may give you some idea of his character - "The Destroyer". And he had a wife called Pavarti. Now Pavarti was pregnant with their child. When the time of delivery came, Shiva wasn't there. He was off fighting demons - or so he claimed. More likely he was sinking a couple of schooners of soma with Vishnu. Anyway, Danielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13298223169965154939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3057557.post-1072934737946385662003-12-31T21:25:00.000-08:002003-12-31T21:27:10.420-08:00Overpaid, oversexed and over here
"Bule (Western) women are just about OK. They can be reformed. Bule men are beyond the pale however. Probably all drug-addicted sex maniacs. Most of the Bule guys have trouble getting a relationship here without an imediate promise of commitment. Some of the office girls were told by their parents not to talk to the English teachers. They were terrified of us."Danielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13298223169965154939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3057557.post-1072934401190522672003-12-31T21:20:00.000-08:002003-12-31T21:21:33.700-08:00Javanese manners
I have to say that on the whole, the Javanese are some of the most helpful people I have ever met. If you look lost, people will come up to you in the street, take you to the place you want to go and even work out itineraries for you on the spot (you should go here at this time coz you get the best views and then go there coz there are fewer people around and be sure to avoid Danielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13298223169965154939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3057557.post-1072934226625550982003-12-31T21:17:00.000-08:002003-12-31T21:18:39.170-08:00Solo vs Jogja
These 2 central Javanese cities apparently have a long-standing rivalry going on as to who is the real home of Javanese cultural. Soloeans say they have the better Gamelan players, the better artists and dancers but they get poached by better-known, fly-by-night Jogja. They mutter darkly that this wouldn't have been the case if the Sultan of Solo hadn't supported the Dutch in the Danielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13298223169965154939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3057557.post-1072934032585994242003-12-31T21:13:00.000-08:002003-12-31T21:15:25.153-08:00Solo has 2 Kratons (royal palaces). In one they have museum with pretty much everything the royal family has ever owned (including chastity belts based on the principle of magic rather than locks/keys).
I imagined everything I had ever owned being put on public display. It wouldn't really amount to much. A few hundred tapes and CDs. Some books and clothing. A 1983 vintage Raleigh BMX burner.
Danielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13298223169965154939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3057557.post-1072933657919072582003-12-31T21:07:00.000-08:002003-12-31T21:09:10.546-08:00Big up James! I spent the first half of last week in Solo staying at his place. J teaches English to bored Chinese-Indo young people and is good vaue. For Christmas we went to Jogja and staying with Ker and Odie - who also rock.
Many thanks to you all for your hospitality.Danielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13298223169965154939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3057557.post-1072933232705374732003-12-31T21:00:00.000-08:002003-12-31T21:02:05.403-08:00Happy New Year to you all. I went to Kuta, Bali for NYE. Now, I can see all you hardcore travellers at the back turning your noses up - "But.. but... it's a tacky beach resort." Korrectamundo. And therefore has good restaurants, nice shops and a fair few scantily-clad young people.
As 2003 became 2004, I stood surrounded on a beach by people blowing paper trumpets (these are de rigeur on NYE inDanielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13298223169965154939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3057557.post-1072853027308140762003-12-30T22:43:00.000-08:002003-12-30T22:45:18.170-08:00There is a monkey forest in Ubud. At the end of Monkey Forest Road oddly enough. And it's full of monkeys. With mohicans and bad attitudes - so punk monkeys in fact. And around them there are statues of monkeys - one notable one with a big grin on his face. Whythe grin - well, maybe the large erection he's holding in one prehensile fist is reason enough.
And thru some odd, associative train of Danielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13298223169965154939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3057557.post-1072850442857881572003-12-30T22:00:00.000-08:002003-12-30T22:07:57.670-08:00It is dark. It is raining. And worse, it is 4.30am. I have left the hotel at the crater's edge and slowly navigate my way downwards with the aid of a torch. I do not know where I am going. The path is steep but soon ends on a flat plain. Where do I go now? There is a light in the distance. "Go towards the light I think". There aren't mainly other options. I trudge on. The sky is getting lighter. Danielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13298223169965154939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3057557.post-1072442456434703242003-12-26T04:40:00.000-08:002003-12-26T04:42:21.076-08:00I spent Christmas Day cooking pasta for Javanese skate punks.
My list of top Christmas treats:
1. Bread fried in bacon fat.
2. The doll-based video for Sum 41's Hell Song.
3. Garlic potatoes.
4. Bribing security guards with alcohol.
5. Watching toodlers fight with dogs (no betting took place unfortunately).Danielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13298223169965154939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3057557.post-1072441987056614042003-12-26T04:33:00.000-08:002003-12-26T04:34:31.810-08:00I Say, I Say, I Say
Just as the speed of light is constant in a vauum, so watching person A kick person B up the arse on stage is universally funny. For want of something to do last Saturday I went to a Javanese music hall night. Well, it was free and out of the rain. The band were gamelan and after a bit of floaty dancing a middle-aged man and woman duo took to the stage (and to the kicking Danielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13298223169965154939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3057557.post-1072441454132763772003-12-26T04:24:00.000-08:002003-12-26T04:25:39.000-08:00I have been in the waiting room for an hour - only three more to go before the train has come. It's not so bad, the air-con and MTV Asia are keeping my spirits up. My idyll is shattered as three of the campest Javanese men I have ever seen enter the room. One of them speaks English and we get to talking. He's a pharmacist turned barman (just moving from one form of pain relief to another kids). Danielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13298223169965154939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3057557.post-1072441047130375882003-12-26T04:17:00.000-08:002003-12-26T04:18:52.076-08:00so I'm in this minibus with a middle-aged dutch bloke called bill and bill's violently sick and blames it on my face and i tell him it's his own fault for being an old man and with this spirit of bonhomie he asks me if i want to check out this hotel run by a dutch couple that's been recommended to him and i go along for want of anything better to do then go down the beach which is about an inch Danielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13298223169965154939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3057557.post-1072081092993880202003-12-22T00:18:00.000-08:002003-12-22T00:22:06.466-08:00Ubud is where you go for a bit a kulcha on Bali. You can get to see various forms of Balinese dance: including the Legong, the Barong/Rangda amd Kecak.
Legong dances are essentially the dances of the Hindu Balinese/Javanese royal courts. Like most aristocratic types, they are elegant and extremely neurotic. Posture and expression are everything.
The Barong (yay!) is a big cuddly thing somewhereDanielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13298223169965154939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3057557.post-1071407006775153422003-12-14T05:03:00.000-08:002003-12-14T05:04:36.170-08:00Now in Bali. Which is hot. And wet.
I love the tropics.
Bruv - postcards heading your way.Danielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13298223169965154939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3057557.post-1071150401270883832003-12-11T05:46:00.000-08:002003-12-11T05:47:48.733-08:00Bah Humbug
I didn't know what to do for Christmas until a few weeks ago. I was sitting in a hotel bar in Double Bay gossiping with a colleague when all of a sudden it hit me: I loathe Christmas.
Now Christmas is fine if you are a kid. It may even be bearable if you have kids but as a single man with no offspring, it offers little in the way of pleasure. Everywhere is shut and everything has Danielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13298223169965154939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3057557.post-1071150018730094042003-12-11T05:40:00.000-08:002003-12-11T05:41:23.670-08:00As this trip was paid for by somebody else, I was staying in plush hotels rather than the dives I normally frequent. The whole experience is rather underwhelming. It's nice having somebody fold yer towels for you and getting to open a fresh sachet of soap every day - but apart from that? Nah - gimme back the sleaze.Danielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13298223169965154939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3057557.post-1071149844238276032003-12-11T05:37:00.000-08:002003-12-11T05:38:29.216-08:00More Seoul
Korea used to have its own monarchy. Who lived in palaces. Then the Japanese came and did away with that in the early years of last century. The palaces are now shells of their former selves - and altho simple and beautful, have a melancholic air about them. In the National Museum next to the main palace, there are two large scale models of the palace - one before and one after Danielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13298223169965154939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3057557.post-1071149502688327362003-12-11T05:31:00.000-08:002003-12-11T05:34:07.920-08:00Seoul
Seoul was actually quite interesting. It's 40km to the DMZ with North Korea. So on a day off, I went there.
It was cold and pissing down with rain - appropriate Cold War whether. I was on a tourist bus with a bunch of Hyundai workers from Alabama. Apparently this was a month long training course / holiday for them - although most had elected to go home early.
The best bit was the tunnel.Danielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13298223169965154939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3057557.post-1071148794229199552003-12-11T05:19:00.000-08:002003-12-11T05:20:59.450-08:00Japan and Korea
I spent a hectic week visiting Tokyo and Seoul at someone else's expense. However, I don't have that much to say except that I ran a course with a Vietnam vet who roadied for Sly Stone.
Oh and this guy writes about Japan in a very funny way.Danielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13298223169965154939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3057557.post-1071148546461529192003-12-11T05:15:00.000-08:002003-12-11T05:16:51.733-08:00Driving
I learnt to drive when I was 17. The instructress was this Hyacinth Bucket-type woman who slapped the dashboard to make rhetorical points, almost causing me to crash. For one reason and another (mainly laziness) I haven't been behind the wheel of a car for nearly a decade. As most of Australia is only visitable by car, I decided it was time to get a vehicle. But not wanting to kill the Danielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13298223169965154939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3057557.post-1071148138244130262003-12-11T05:08:00.000-08:002003-12-11T05:10:03.606-08:00Alright already
So I've been busy. And stuff. And now I'm back. For a bit.Danielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13298223169965154939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3057557.post-1065363985281635962003-10-05T07:26:00.000-07:002003-10-05T07:26:25.193-07:00This place is scary.
Paging Senor Alighieri.Danielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13298223169965154939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3057557.post-1065363867703636242003-10-05T07:24:00.000-07:002003-10-05T07:24:27.633-07:00The Yarra Valley
Beautiful countryside filled with heaps and heaps of wine. What were they thinking?Danielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13298223169965154939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3057557.post-1065363754782227922003-10-05T07:22:00.000-07:002003-10-05T07:22:34.730-07:00Went to some fringe stuff. Got told off for heckling one of the comedians - and his audience.
I dunno - I can't help it.Danielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13298223169965154939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3057557.post-1065363660227637692003-10-05T07:21:00.000-07:002003-10-05T07:21:00.196-07:00After the Gold Rush
Melbourne is a nice city. The centre is grid - ordered, sane. Lots of cafes and restaurants. Lots of rain and wind as well apparently.Danielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13298223169965154939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3057557.post-1064153829780188632003-09-21T07:17:00.000-07:002003-09-30T01:01:13.043-07:00I Think I'm In Love
Matters of the heart crop up all the time in pop songs. Yearning, satisfied, pure, lustful, before, after. But in most songs, there's little room for doubt. You love somebody or you don't. You're in love or you're out of love.
Of course, things aren't that simple in real life. People may know what their feelings about someone or something are (although even this is tenuous)Danielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13298223169965154939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3057557.post-1064058444919778912003-09-20T04:47:00.000-07:002003-09-20T04:47:24.610-07:00Jesus and Mary Chain - yes, they are painful. That's the point. You Trip Me Up or In A Hole are meant to leave scars on your ears in the best possible way.Danielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13298223169965154939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3057557.post-1064057754732047122003-09-20T04:35:00.000-07:002003-09-20T04:36:28.023-07:00And as for humidity - yeah, Bummed always smelt of dry ice and sweat to me. The whole album disappears in a haze. Pills 'n' Thrills was definite and well-behaved and dry in comparison. Or rather it felt rusty and corroded - like the years of hedonism on the inside and Manc precipitation on the outside had finally compromised the industrial infrastructure of the Hacienda.Danielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13298223169965154939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3057557.post-1064057330037052542003-09-20T04:28:00.000-07:002003-09-20T04:28:49.890-07:00London (and Dizzy Rascal)
I went into a shop today and asked after the Dizzy Rascal CD as others had raved about it. It left me cold. Literally. I was shivering in Sydney spring sunshine. It's defintely got a lotta garidge in there. The sub-bass pressure drops, the asymetric drum patterns. The sheer naked aggression of the thing. It triggered a weird flashback to life in London. Screwfacef***Danielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13298223169965154939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3057557.post-1064056549998433172003-09-20T04:15:00.000-07:002003-09-20T04:15:49.993-07:00This week is Glebe Week (courtesy of the Glebe Chamber of Commerce).
Tomorrow we have the Blessing of the Pets at Glebe Estate Community Church. If i had a pet, you can bet ya caboose I'd be down there ensuring it was blessed.Danielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13298223169965154939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3057557.post-1064055753317649522003-09-20T04:02:00.000-07:002003-09-20T04:10:01.280-07:00A Home and a Castle
We moved offices at the end of August. They didn't have enough space in the new building so a whole slew of us were told to work from home. I have been adjusting to this situation. Contrary to others' expectations I do make an effort in my teleworking - washing, wearing clothers, even shaving. But the change is requiring some adjustment, especially around ethical practice.
Danielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13298223169965154939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3057557.post-1061710768403937122003-08-24T00:39:00.000-07:002003-09-20T04:10:46.636-07:00You can't see out of the windows. Not that there is much to see - just an enormous McDonalds and the Parramtta Road traffic. It is mandatory for all lower-league rock venues to an airless black box where everything is coated with stale beer and fag ash. Drinks are served in plastic glasses. Don't get the wrong idea - this is not a place most people would go to hang out. No - you have come here Danielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13298223169965154939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3057557.post-1061253222217893652003-08-18T17:33:00.000-07:002003-08-18T17:33:42.150-07:00Until a month ago, all Ian Penman meant to me was a name in Cure curio Desperate Journalist. And now he's spilling his heart out in html. Ian's gone TV cold turkey.
Ah TV - so much cheaper and socially acceptable than heroin, so much less disruptive to the lifestyle than alcohol abuse.Danielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13298223169965154939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3057557.post-1061192897286537522003-08-18T00:48:00.000-07:002003-08-18T00:48:17.146-07:00On Vinyl
Kpunk picks up on Paul Morley's article.
My take on this is a bit skewed. Coz I wasn't allowed vinyl records as a child. My parents believed that I would break/scratch them - as I broke everything else they gave me. I wasn't violent - just unbelievably clumsy (but, hey, you knew that from my prose style no?).
So I had a tape recorder instead. First, one of those enormous reel-to-reel Danielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13298223169965154939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3057557.post-1061176057181640152003-08-17T20:07:00.000-07:002003-08-17T20:07:37.200-07:00Body Stuff
Can I just say how much swimming rocks? The resistance of the water against your limbs. The sense of being suspended - cheating gravity?
And can I also content that yoga rocks with mighty fists of steel?Danielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13298223169965154939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3057557.post-1061007544858656362003-08-15T21:19:00.000-07:002003-08-15T21:19:04.180-07:00Today is Indonesian Independence Day. The smoke from dozens of barbeques drifts across Sydney University and a student bands knocks out that old Javan favourite "When I Saw Her Standing There".
The Australian relationship with Indonesian is rather complex. Both are essentially European colonial creations. One is an archipeligo of 2000 islands and 200 million people (mainly Muslim) held together Danielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13298223169965154939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3057557.post-1060869988882950872003-08-14T07:06:00.000-07:002003-08-14T07:11:04.326-07:00"I hate my job."
"Come to our place. Do you have much experience with Brazilian waxes?"
"Not technically, but I do tear strips off c***s all day."Danielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13298223169965154939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3057557.post-1060069336326715642003-08-05T00:42:00.000-07:002003-08-05T00:42:16.176-07:00The New Pornographers have a stylish stylite in their video.Danielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13298223169965154939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3057557.post-1059701600711065572003-07-31T18:33:00.000-07:002003-07-31T18:33:20.623-07:00A Time For Fear and K-punk delirial/derailed.
When I was 9 an early experiment with DIY connected me briefly to the mains electricity supply. The energy poured through. It was exhilarating. Wonderful. But reluctantly I knew it had to stop or else I'd die.
Breathe deeply. In. Out. Forget the world. Forget the farawayvisions in the corner of the room. Forget the people around you. There's no one Danielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13298223169965154939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3057557.post-1059548129211524282003-07-29T23:55:00.000-07:002003-07-29T23:55:29.003-07:00Human-isms
What exactly does inhuman mean? And if music can awaken the inhuman within us then how can it be inhuman if it's part of us already?
Danielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13298223169965154939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3057557.post-1059547239210148262003-07-29T23:40:00.000-07:002003-07-29T23:40:39.073-07:00You've caught me at a bad time, so why don't you piss off
Currently caning this on my headphones whilst I receive emails with "God Bless American" signatures.
It's partly coz the music is both forlorn and cheerful. But mainly coz Barney Sumner has truly absymal voice that with any other backing would drive you to rip your ears off. But it works here.
In much the same way that Ian Brown's Danielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13298223169965154939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3057557.post-1059441322262593022003-07-28T18:15:00.000-07:002003-07-28T18:15:22.223-07:00Ridicule is nothing to be scared of
Agree with K-punk on this one. An ironic approach to culture means never having to say you love something. Never making yourself vulnerable to the critical judgements of others. Never taking a gamble. Flatlined.
I kinda have issues with The Carpenters at the moment (see below). But I think ABBA are great. Dancing Queen and Gimme Gimme Gimme are ProgDisco. Danielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13298223169965154939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3057557.post-1059439286606360392003-07-28T17:41:00.000-07:002003-07-28T17:41:26.563-07:00No Recuperation, Only Feedback
Most of this paper strikes me as irrelevant however the following is quite interesting:
"The very desire of Ubiquitous computing to become embedded or pervasive technology serves to render space and time invisible; it quite simply seeks to go anywhere and be everywhere. But theories of everyday life as flow and transduction suggest that Ubicomp cannot actually be Danielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13298223169965154939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3057557.post-1059437115333564942003-07-28T17:05:00.000-07:002003-07-28T17:05:15.290-07:00Creeping
Am I alone in finding Stelarc bloody annoying?
"Look, look - I have shoved a DVD player up my arse. Marvel at my post-humanity!!!"
A Jim Rose Circus Side Show for the academic lecture arts circuit, most of his posturing misses the point. Our bodies and the everyday life we experience through them are being reconfigured by technology. But this technological transformation is Danielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13298223169965154939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3057557.post-1059434718770976402003-07-28T16:25:00.000-07:002003-07-28T16:25:18.736-07:00Just received a press release about this event:
"Thomas A. Stewart, the all powerful editor of the Harvard Business Review and one of the world’s 50 most influential management thinkers as voted by The Financial Times"
All powerful, eh? Well at least I can stop worrying about world poverty now, Tom be praised!
Somebody needs to have the "hyperbole" function disabled on their word processor.
Danielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13298223169965154939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3057557.post-1059119690388347632003-07-25T00:54:00.000-07:002003-07-25T00:54:50.206-07:00The character and fate of Sisypheus are similar to Loki. In both cases, their punishment is eternal and somehow circular. But then, they'd been very naughty boys. And we can't have people pulling tricks and getting away with them, can we.Danielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13298223169965154939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3057557.post-1059119626855749392003-07-25T00:53:00.000-07:002003-07-25T00:53:46.666-07:00On Wednesday, I took a late lunch and contemplated leaving Australia, never to return. To backpack and learn Spanish in South America may be. Or possibly a Buddhist monastery in Thailand. Anything but continue my Sisyphean office routine.
That's not going happen. Maybe I feel better today.
Danielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13298223169965154939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3057557.post-1059117136775958382003-07-25T00:12:00.000-07:002003-07-25T00:45:02.166-07:00K-punk reaches out with an undead claw...
"It's true, what I was interested in, when I started the blog, was (re)covering the (lost) Futures of Pop - Partly a genealogical exercise"
Any escape into the past (e.g. a past where you are saddled with Joan Collins) implies the present can't that great. The lost futures are resuscitated as the present future ain't up to scratch?
Are the dead not Danielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13298223169965154939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3057557.post-1058512043205490922003-07-18T00:07:00.000-07:002003-07-18T00:11:36.673-07:00Monbiot sells out
George Monbiot is the Hugh Grant of the anti-globalisation movement. Noam Chomsky with a better hairdresser. An engaging public speaker with some ambitious ideas for the future of global democracy.
Oh and I got into a argument with someone from here and someone from here outside the event. Apparently everybody needs to join a union. Party like it's 1926!Danielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13298223169965154939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3057557.post-1057837755272396442003-07-10T04:49:00.000-07:002003-07-10T04:49:15.236-07:00"She had a baby on your bathroom floor? You lived with her, didn't you notice she was pregnant?"
"Well, she didn't so how were we supposed to?"Danielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13298223169965154939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3057557.post-1057837647464015052003-07-10T04:47:00.000-07:002003-07-10T04:49:37.033-07:00Rich Americans discipline their kids
Western corporations outsource industrial production (and increasingly services) to countries with low labour costs and lax regulations. Why shouldn't Western families do the same with activities such as parenting?Danielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13298223169965154939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3057557.post-1057654800942033482003-07-08T02:00:00.000-07:002003-07-08T02:00:00.730-07:00"Don't dress in a manner which attracts attention to your body"
Camoflage possibly? Or maybe a disguise (e.g. animal costume)?
So easy mock.
Which is why I am doing so.Danielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13298223169965154939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3057557.post-1057654663809459692003-07-08T01:57:00.000-07:002003-07-08T01:57:43.616-07:00Let's keep these foreigners away at any cost.
Oh unless they're sponsored by multinational technology companies of course.Danielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13298223169965154939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3057557.post-1057654213111565462003-07-08T01:50:00.000-07:002003-07-08T01:50:12.940-07:00'Why did you come to the Blue Mountains if you suffer from vertigo?"
"I didn't think we'd go near the edges."
Danielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13298223169965154939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3057557.post-1057654051720754662003-07-08T01:47:00.000-07:002003-07-08T01:47:31.556-07:00One of my flatmates said: "You listen to a lot of angry music."
And he was right. And I don't think it's helping my mood. So I went to "Dirt Cheap CDs" on Pitt Street (this is Australia, if a desert is great and sandy, it gets called the Great Sandy Desert) and bought a bumper 60-song pack of reggae and this.
Aural prozac.Danielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13298223169965154939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3057557.post-1057647816235847992003-07-08T00:03:00.000-07:002003-07-08T01:48:57.976-07:00"You should get involved with the Big Sister Big Brother programme. They're crying out for responsible male role models."
"When I become a responsible male, I'll let you know."Danielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13298223169965154939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3057557.post-1057461985197620652003-07-05T20:26:00.000-07:002003-07-05T20:26:25.153-07:00"How do you find out about a person's character?"
"By slips of the tongue. What they say or don't say, I suppose."
"I disagree. Action reveals character. People lie all the time, especially to themselves."
"Well Denial is a good place to live. Its plains are rich and fertile."
"But treacherous. The plains are prone to flooding."Danielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13298223169965154939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3057557.post-1057461791811038012003-07-05T20:23:00.000-07:002003-07-05T20:23:11.766-07:00Question from audience: What do you think of frequent commercial use of your father's image in the West?
Che's Daughter (via translator): I hear that in Australia you use my father's image to sell ice cream. I am not happy about that. But some of those who wear Che's picture on a T-shirt must wonder who he was. And a few of those will read his words. And one or two may act of them. Recently, an Danielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13298223169965154939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3057557.post-1057289320878767992003-07-03T20:28:00.000-07:002003-07-08T01:50:35.900-07:00Dayglo: what this Mirror article about David Beckham misses is the I-Ching reference. And there's a fascinating reference to Morse Code.
"Splitting Apart" - could this refer to Beck's effect on the opposition? Or on his move from his native country? Or maybe his marriage?
Or is it just that Michael Jordan had the same number?
The writing around Po (Earth below the Mountain) reminds me of The Danielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13298223169965154939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3057557.post-1057235464524569752003-07-03T05:31:00.000-07:002003-07-03T05:31:04.430-07:00Phrases to add to budget requests in the futile hope that they'll get approved:
- "Implementation will drive shareholder value"
- "Significant impact on both revenue and cost drivers"
- "You can use my children as little knife-throwing acrobats"
- "For God sake, do you know how many hours of my life I wasted on the 30 pages you've just consigned to the shredder? Do you? I'll never get them back..Danielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13298223169965154939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3057557.post-1057235133948645772003-07-03T05:25:00.000-07:002003-07-03T05:25:33.880-07:00He's irrelevant.
And therefore good.Danielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13298223169965154939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3057557.post-1057234864323015662003-07-03T05:21:00.000-07:002003-07-03T05:21:04.280-07:00More KM
NSW Forum where we were presented with a tag-team presentation by Sydney Catchment Authority and CSC Australia on Social Network Analysis. A fascinating technique that maps interactions between people.
The applications of this are potentially endless - and also disturbing. A fear for many is that people are talking behind their backs, or even worse, having a better time socially than Danielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13298223169965154939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3057557.post-1057145756995264062003-07-02T04:35:00.000-07:002003-07-02T04:37:03.690-07:00"I'm going out sleepwalking
Where mute memories start talking"Danielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13298223169965154939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3057557.post-1057145480735389402003-07-02T04:31:00.000-07:002003-07-02T04:31:20.716-07:00Human beings are fascinating. If I study them hard enough, they may even let me be one.Danielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13298223169965154939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3057557.post-1057054211239511442003-07-01T03:10:00.000-07:002003-07-01T03:10:11.206-07:00A conversation at work triggered a memory of the following:
The trick, he said, was to ignore what other people said, whoever they might be, and just deal with the person in front of you, and what they said and did in the time you spent together. Otherwise, he said, you’d constantly be behaving as if the other person was an asshole, and only notice when they did asshole stuff. Since adopting Danielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13298223169965154939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3057557.post-1056964886364276002003-06-30T02:21:00.000-07:002003-06-30T02:21:26.346-07:00Che Joe
I'll be attending this launch of a compilation of Che Guevara's writing this Friday.
Go Che! Revolutionary and T-Shirt Salesman!Danielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13298223169965154939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3057557.post-1056958796955566932003-06-30T00:39:00.000-07:002003-06-30T00:39:56.920-07:00I have a new locker at work. I do not have a key for said locker. The lockers (and therefore their keys) are not made in Australia. They are in fact made in Italy. Hence the key to my locker will have to be shipped over from Italy.
Well at least I'll have one Italian accessory in my wardrobe.Danielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13298223169965154939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3057557.post-1056958287956313652003-06-30T00:31:00.000-07:002003-06-30T00:31:27.936-07:00When we think of love, we think of flowers. There are good reasons for this. They are beautiful and perfumed (as, by implication, is the object of our affection). It is the job of flowers is to be attractive - to insects. The seduction of people is an unintended by-product. Subconsciously many of us know that flowers are vegetable reproductive organs but most of are too polite to mention this.
Danielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13298223169965154939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3057557.post-1056957422823318432003-06-30T00:17:00.000-07:002003-06-30T00:17:02.810-07:00Baran - love amongst the scaffolding on an Iranian building site.
Igby Goes Down - hey rich people are as messed up as regular folks - but they have better interior design and more erudite dialogue.Danielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13298223169965154939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3057557.post-1056956606997292782003-06-30T00:03:00.000-07:002003-06-30T00:03:26.973-07:00Release The Bats
I fell asleep in the park for 5 minutes. When I awoke the tree in front of me was full of bats. Hundreds of them, like black, leathery fruit hanging from the branches. Fantastic.Danielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13298223169965154939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3057557.post-1056956175850344572003-06-29T23:56:00.000-07:002003-06-29T23:57:21.700-07:00Downer
You may have come across the excreable show TV's Funniest Bloopers. It revisits the screw-ups and mis-takes that you never normally see on the box. "Ha ha - look there's a local news presenter being savaged by rabid dog!!! That'll have him foaming at the mouth - d'ya geddit? Foaming!! At the Mouth!!!!"
Anyway, depression has its own version of this show. Only in this case it's called: "Danielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13298223169965154939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3057557.post-1056952366621297982003-06-29T22:52:00.000-07:002003-06-29T23:13:59.800-07:00At work:
"Are you making a difference?"
"Oh yes. I'm raising the CO2 levels in this room even as we speak."Danielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13298223169965154939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3057557.post-1056682038953903932003-06-26T19:47:00.000-07:002003-06-26T19:47:18.843-07:00I wore a suit to work on Wednesday and 5 people asked me where the job interview was.Danielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13298223169965154939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3057557.post-959780672003-06-24T05:06:00.000-07:002003-06-24T05:06:34.000-07:00Happy Birthday.
Happy Birthday to ya.Danielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13298223169965154939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3057557.post-959387392003-06-23T00:55:00.000-07:002003-06-24T04:56:36.000-07:00No Money
Lost my wallet on Friday. Should be returning to me shortly. Basically it meant that I had $20 for Saturday and Sunday. An insightful and unpleasant experience. You think: "Hmmm, could really do with a coffee now. Ah there's a coffee house! I know I go in and get a coffee and... oh."
This may be karmic payback as I haven't been giving money to charity in the last few months.Danielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13298223169965154939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3057557.post-959116572003-06-22T00:15:00.000-07:002003-06-22T00:15:39.770-07:00"It is harder to fight my superiors than the enemy"Danielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13298223169965154939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3057557.post-959079132003-06-21T21:05:00.000-07:002003-06-21T21:05:37.950-07:00The Only Explanation I Can Find
I'm have this recurring nightmare where I'm in a kareoke bar with Karen Carpenter. We're on top of the world, looking down on creation. And we're given a menu covered in plastic. Each entry is for a song and an item of food. We both have to sing a song then the one with the better voice gets the item of food in the menu. We begin and by the time we hit a Danielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13298223169965154939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3057557.post-959076812003-06-21T20:54:00.000-07:002003-06-21T20:55:56.000-07:00David Weinberger says: "We are bodies. Flesh rulz."
And he's read lots of Heidigger and written books and stuff - so he must be right.
Coz some of us sometimes forget that. Ya have to love ya body. And treat it right.
Go David!Danielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13298223169965154939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3057557.post-959074322003-06-21T20:42:00.000-07:002003-06-21T20:42:52.390-07:00"I'm saving myself"
"You're not spent yet"
Luke and Jacqui attempted to persuade me last nite that Frank N Furter is a classical Shakespearian hero brought low by his own flaws. I blame the chocolate margaritas they had been consuming.
Go Luke! Go Jacqui!Danielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13298223169965154939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3057557.post-959072742003-06-21T20:36:00.000-07:002003-06-21T20:54:41.000-07:00Alister: ex-music journo, script writer, techie, charming coffee companion and knowledge manager. Go Alister!Danielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13298223169965154939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3057557.post-959072292003-06-21T20:34:00.000-07:002003-06-21T20:34:21.126-07:00Krista has just become the proud mother of two twin baby boys. Go Krista! Go Isaac! Go Logan! Go Jonas! Go Noah!Danielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13298223169965154939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3057557.post-958459792003-06-19T18:06:00.000-07:002003-06-19T18:06:05.660-07:00The knight sat at the bus stop, his shield resting on his knees and his armour glittering in the street lights.
"Do you think he's lost his horse?"Danielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13298223169965154939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3057557.post-957858942003-06-18T03:27:00.000-07:002003-06-18T04:03:51.000-07:00Dayglo was a Rodeo.
Just remember:
1. Hang on
2. We're right behind you. But that's only because riders are thrown forwards.
My favorite metaphor for the rough patches of life remains Ocean Kayaking. You start on the shore, two to a kayak. You get in the kayak (easy). You then attempt to paddle through the impact zone. You the faster you go and the more perpendicular you are to the incoming Danielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13298223169965154939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3057557.post-957855932003-06-18T03:06:00.000-07:002003-06-18T03:06:22.660-07:00"Ya used to tell the truth
But now ya clever."
Thief. Addict. Casualty. Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you...Danielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13298223169965154939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3057557.post-957854952003-06-18T02:58:00.000-07:002003-06-18T02:59:19.000-07:00"Get in the lift please, I have a plane to catch."
He stands by the lift's controls, jabbing at the close button with a woodpecker thumb.
"This life is going to stop on every floor", he grumbles as people exhibit the temerity to get in.
The lift descends. He motions everyone to stand clear of the doors and stands as close as possible in front of them. I cock my hand like a starting pistol.
The Danielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13298223169965154939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3057557.post-957853802003-06-18T02:50:00.000-07:002003-06-18T02:50:36.580-07:00"Here, mate, mate, OI mate..."
"Yes?"
"My mate's seen you around and she really fancies you. Can I get your phone number?"
"I'm terribly sorry I don't have a phone."
"What not even a land line?"
"No, I'm allergic to them you see."
"Well can I give you her phone number then?"
"Well no, because I couldn't ring her, could I?"Danielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13298223169965154939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3057557.post-957853452003-06-18T02:48:00.000-07:002003-06-18T02:48:23.513-07:00I received this message from the FCO:
"Australia
The vast majority of visits to Australia are trouble?free. The risk from terrorism is low."
Thanks for sharing that. You've really set my mind at rest.
Danielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13298223169965154939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3057557.post-957129172003-06-16T04:52:00.000-07:002003-06-18T02:51:00.000-07:00The Queens of the Stone Age vs. Bjork
1993: The second song on Debut is Crying.
It's a song about longing, about being separated from someone you love. The percussion starts twitchy and awkward. Unable to relax because it's distracted, its thoughts are elsewhere.
"there's no-one here,
and people everywhere"
These two lines sum up the feeling of isolation when no one else will do but the Danielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13298223169965154939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3057557.post-957117672003-06-16T03:47:00.000-07:002003-06-16T03:47:05.616-07:00What is it about explanatory frameworks of human behaviour (e.g. astrology, MBTI, Belbin) that means they have categories between 7-20? A cynic would say that such a number is large enough to give the appearance of rigour (unlike the comments such as Sgt Hartman's to Pvt Cowboy)without being overwhelming (as say the 821 classifications of SOC).Danielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13298223169965154939noreply@blogger.com