a beautiful film, via Angelina in the North of Italy, where her new yoga practice is making her seek out tranquility. She’s always had an eye for gorgeousness. This piece comes from people in Halifax, Nova Scotia, one of my favourite places. A woman called Tanya Davis is the poet, and Andrea Dorfman the animator.
Here’s another by the same team, Tanya and Andrea. i like it.
(after the break) Read the rest of this entry »
Here at the Grandview, we’ve just joined a very wonderful food co-op. Exciting times for foodlovers.
i deliberately used some bad English in an email. (i mean grammatically non-standard English.)
My housemate was appalled.
So i took it all too far, with a genuine LoLcats poster from icanhazcheeseburger.
i’m fascinated by the way new language evolves in a new environment. LoLcats has become one of the latest new English dialects. If i put on my linguist hat for a minute, it’s easy to find a quote from David Crystal (one of the world’s most amazing academic linguist people), in an article at the BBC.
Word play For English speakers there are cult websites devoted to cult dialects – “LOLcat” – a phonetic and deliberately grammatically incorrect caption that accompanies a picture of a cat, and “Leetspeak” in which some letters are replaced by numbers which stem from programming code. “There are about a dozen of these games cooked up by a crowd of geeks who, like anybody, play language games,” said Professor Crystal. “They might not be reading Shakespeare and Dickens but they are reading and cooking up these amazing little games – and showing that they are very creative. I’m quite impressed with these movements.”
Word play For English speakers there are cult websites devoted to cult dialects – “LOLcat” – a phonetic and deliberately grammatically incorrect caption that accompanies a picture of a cat, and “Leetspeak” in which some letters are replaced by numbers which stem from programming code.
“There are about a dozen of these games cooked up by a crowd of geeks who, like anybody, play language games,” said Professor Crystal.
“They might not be reading Shakespeare and Dickens but they are reading and cooking up these amazing little games – and showing that they are very creative. I’m quite impressed with these movements.”
Okay that really belongs on my work blog, but hey, everyone loves the LoLcats, don’t they?
Following the series of election videos comes this triumph from Taiwan. This is a must-watch video!! Especially for Julia’s laughter at the crucial moment. Yes the commentary is in Taiwanese (i think), but you get the picture.
And a very good turn from Paul Keating on Radio national breakfast, before the election (while Rudd was still at the helm). “Goodness of heart is a requirement for a good country”.
This is the ad that Gruen Nation pitched in their weekly competition. It was a strong winner, but because it now belongs to the ABC the Greens can’t show it on television. So you’ll need to watch it on the Greens site, on the ABC Youtubes, or right here!
Why am i so fascinated by the Australian election, in a year when the rest of the country is busy yawning?
i saw Alex Bhathal speak at the Greens campaign launch for Batman last night, at the Downunder Curry Cafe in Northcote. Very impressed with her dedication, passion and compassion. First and only thing that’s touched me this whole election. Alex spoke from the heart, which is such a rarity in politics.
(more after the break) Read the rest of this entry »
Politics is a messy business.
Some say Julia should have waited longer before calling the election, to give herself time to sort things out with Kevin. Oh well. Too late now. Kevin’s much chirpier since he had his gall bladder removed anyway.
Some say it’s just a circus, and if you live in a safe seat, you have no power at the ballot box anyway. You always have some power. There’s only 100,000 people in any given seat. That means you have at least 0.001% of the overall say. Yeah. And anyway, your senate vote is crucial – whether your in a safe or marginal seat. Here’s a great site showing what happens when you let the party decide your preferences. http://belowtheline.org.au/
There are some good videos doing the rounds too.
EG Tony’s views on women from GetUp
Some say there’s no difference between the Labor and the Liberal parties. i totally disagree. Maybe the Australian Labor Party does look like a centre-right populist party full of power-crazed hacks, playing it safe and following the polls. But i’d still rather have them in government than the Liberals who are determined to make an art-form out of deliberate ignorance and mean-spirited prejudice. And i’ll be voting for the Greens – the party of dreamers, who genuinely think we can make this place sustainable.
Read the rest of this entry »
i’ve been listening to a lot of Kate Bush lately, after reading an article in Uncut magazine – “25 Years On – the inside story of Hounds of Love. And how it haunts the music of 2010.” Many many songwriters say the album had a huge impact on their musical creativity. For example, John Lydon (!) says, “Hounds of Love is beyond an album – it’s an opera”.
And Lee Scratch Perry says, “i no longer smoke weed, but you don’t need to if you have Kate Bush. Her music is all the high you need.”
Had a great musical evening with Jen and David lately, where we attempted to bash out Wuthering Heights on the keyboard. Got a bit trapped with some of the chords.. trying to work out the exact sequence of Ebm F# Ab C# during the chorus.
One of my highlights from the Falls Festival at New Year was this cover of Wuthering Heights by Wolfmother.. and here it is on TripleJ Like a Version. Nice one. i was really underwhelmed by the Wolfmother show until he launched into this song, which made up for the lacklustre quality of everything before it.
You can see from my latest ‘Loved Tracks’ from Last.fm, that Kate Bush has 3 in the most recent 10 right now*.
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*Right now, meaning when i write this. Not when you’re reading it.
And my most loved tracks of all time at Last.fm – a lot of B(if)tek in the Top Ten! Because they are one of the best musical collaborations of the last 30 years and i love them.
What a gorgeous surprise!
We’re about 5 metres back from the festival hall stage, soaking up the funky glam rock disco..
When the crowd starts to go wild over a song I haven’t heard before.
Must be a good one, I guess.
Then I notice a third singer on stage between Jake and Ana.
No way!
It’s Kylie.
Home town crowd, at a disco gig, you would expect some excitement, but this was hysteria.
..and for such a super-daggy song!
i tried to take a photo on the phone, but my phone’s camera is not great at night.
PS oh whoops, i just discovered that ‘super daggy song’ is Kylie’s latest release. *Not* a lame cover of some country and western number. That was the encore – she sang harmony on one of their songs during the show.
This is Melbourne, there’s always a dozen amazing exhibitions to visit.
I reckon these two could be really good.
..
Lauren Simmonds (had) an exhibition opening Thursday 3 June at the Napier Hotel – Skin and Bone –
Went to see Jessie Tucker’s exhibition at the Brunswick Arts Space last night. She’s made a thoroughly gorgeous set of “rare birds” – Avis Rara – in the style of trophies on the wall, with beautiful colour and design.
i wish i’d taken some photos, because all the pieces sold within the first 90 minutes, and who knows when i’ll get all the way back to old Brunswick town again.
An owl, a flamingo, a couple of love birds, some kind of hummingbird with a unicorn – all with lovely old world titles. My favourite was definitely the owl and i was thinking of investing, but i took too long thinking about it and bam, someone else grabbed it.
Would definitely recommend you pop into the gallery and see the birds before they fly off to their new homes.
The only reference i can find online is via BrunswickArts’ facebook page with
It’s always good to remember how incredibly lucky i am, living in a developed country, having a roof over my head, access to public transport, and some kind of employment, as well as amazing social support networks. Many people around the world don’t get this lucky.
There’s been so much going on in my life lately:
But telling stories here on the blog.. haven’t had the follow-through lately. Too busy enjoying life, too nervous about writing in public, too stressed about moving house and finding new workplaces.
So there’s the overview.
Maybe i’ll come back with some detail, one day soon.
photo credit: cloud_nine
