About Fuckin Time

"Took us away
Yeah took us away
Grabbed from our mother's breast
Said this is for the best
Took us away."
Archie Roach

Tomorrow, PM Rudd will officially say sorry to the Stolen Generation on behalf of the Australian Government and citizens. The Stolen Generation is one of the bleakest chapters in Australian history, and although a simple apology wont mend the years of hurt, devastation and psychological pain inflicted on the thousands of Aboriginal people who have been impacted by the actions of the past, it is a first step.

My hope is that Rudd follows up with actions - they really do speak louder than words.

Today we honour the Indigenous peoples of this land, the oldest continuing cultures in human history.

We reflect on their past mistreatment.

We reflect in particular on the mistreatment of those who were stolen generations - this blemished chapter in our nation's history.

The time has now come for the nation to turn a new page in Australia's history by righting the wrongs of the past and so moving forward with confidence to the future.

We apologise for the laws and policies of successive Parliaments and governments that have inflicted profound grief, suffering and loss on these our fellow Australians.

We apologise especially for the removal of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children from their families, their communities and their country.

For the pain, suffering and hurt of these stolen generations, their descendants and for their families left behind, we say sorry.

To the mothers and the fathers, the brothers and the sisters, for the breaking up of families and communities, we say sorry.

And for the indignity and degradation thus inflicted on a proud people and a proud culture, we say sorry.

We the Parliament of Australia respectfully request that this apology be received in the spirit in which it is offered as part of the healing of the nation.

For the future we take heart; resolving that this new page in the history of our great continent can now be written.

We today take this first step by acknowledging the past and laying claim to a future that embraces all Australians.

A future where this Parliament resolves that the injustices of the past must never, never happen again.

A future where we harness the determination of all Australians, Indigenous and non-Indigenous, to close the gap that lies between us in life expectancy, educational achievement and economic opportunity.

A future where we embrace the possibility of new solutions to enduring problems where old approaches have failed.

A future based on mutual respect, mutual resolve and mutual responsibility.

A future where all Australians, whatever their origins, are truly equal partners, with equal opportunities and with an equal stake in shaping the next chapter in the history of this great country, Australia.

Songs played while writing this entry:
"Shine" Collective Soul
"Alchemy" Legal Mission
"Feeling So Real" Moby
"Bonzai Channel One" Thunderball
“Rush Hour” Christopher Lawrence

Whale Song

This is a Minke whale:





















This is the Japanese Whaling Ship Yshin Maru No. 2:


























This is not science:





You shoot a whale with a harpoon - it bleeds.

You shoot a whale with a gun - it dies.

Do something about it.



Songs played while writing this entry:
"Perception" Cass Vs Slide
"One Love" Pearl Jam
"Straight To The Point" Michel de Hey Vs Jeron Verhey
"No Good (Start The Dance)" The Prodigy
"Valley Of The Dolls" Mylo
"Time Out In Toronto" SS
"Shine" Collective Soul

Much Ado About Nothing

"And crawling on the planet's face
Some insects called the human race
Lost in time, and lost in space
And meaning"
Rocky Horror Picture Show

As predicted, I'm not posting much due to summer. For those who are interested, I've been going out a bit, working lots, exercising some and making the most of the sunshine when it graces Sydney with its presence.

What else has been going on around this small, fragile planet? Let's see....

Word of the month:
WaynKarey (wāng'kərē)
noun
1. of, or pertaining to, repetitive damaging actions against women, friends, the police and yourself.

Brittney Spears has finally been declared a danger to others. That leaves Michael Jackson, Nicole Ritchie, Paris Hilton, Tom Cruise.....

Looks like Kevin 07 is going to make good on his promise to say 'sorry' - proving once and for all that the word can be part of the prime-ministerial vocabulary.

RIP Heath Ledger.

Stock markets are going up and down, up and down, up and down. Interest rates look like they're only going to go one way. No doubt the instances of sob stories about those nasty loan lenders repossessing people's houses because they can't afford the repayments under the conditions of contract to which they agreed to are also going to go up.

Corey proved that today's youth have no morals, no respect, take no responsibility and are more interested in a fast track to fame than they are in their family - and that the tabloid media is only happy to help.

Sri Lanka joined in on the war fad by beefing up their civil war efforts. Shame there's no oil in Sri Lanka.

Test cricket resorted to racism for publicity, while tennis turned to sex-appeal.

Australia's weather has decided to cash in on the "land of droughts and flooding rains" tag by delivering both in one hit.

Comment of the month:
"it's a free world"
official comment from the Sydney Roosters club when the media attempted to hype up a report of one of their players being caught smoking a cigarette at the beach on Australia Day.

Yep, just another month really....


Songs played while writing this entry:
"Cheap Wine" Cold Chisel
"Always" Lisa Shaw
"Does He Rent It Out" Cheap Knob Gags
"Amphetamine" Drax
"Single" Everything But The Girl
"Emenius Sleepus" Green Day
"Drumstick" NJoi
"Ariella" Black Acid
"Californication" Red Hot Chili Peppers
"Seven Days And One Week" B.B.E

Happy Anniversary Baby

Well, my blog is now 1 year old (and a few days). During the past 12 months, I have received:

• 2,919 visits
• 3,943 pageviews
• 105 comments

Not much in comparison to some other blogs, but then this is just my site for talking crap.

The most popular posts in the past 12 months (based on hits) are:

• Rate My Ass
• Fuck George Bush
• People, Police, Paths, Protests, Pictures
• Opinions Wont Keep You Warm At Night

The most commonly used search terms that led people to my blog are:

• rate my ass
• cut the bullshit
  
• fuck George Bush
• bullshit blogs
• bullshit in modern society

The following blogs sent the most traffic my way:

• A Bowl Of Stupid
• My Journey To Eliminate Debt
• Imagif Child Protection Became A Serious Business
  
• Red Sultana

And last but in no ways least, I have had the pleasure of meeting these great people:

• Colin
  
• Cooper
• Louise
  
• Matt
  
• Megan
• Ron
  

Thanks to all my (ir)regular readers for dropping by, posting comments, keeping me motivated and posting their own incredible, inspirational and irrelevant posts.


Songs played while writing this entry:
"Human Behaviour" Bjork
"Get To The Back" Fantazia
"No Good (Start The Dance)" The Prodigy
"Times Like These" Foo Fighters
"Funky Sound" AK1200
"The Power Of Equality" Red Hot Chili Peppers
"Cover You In Kisses" Vassy

Greatings & Gettings

First off - Merry Christmas & Happy New Year to my (ir)regular readers. I hope you've all had great holidays, or at the very least got really drunk and laid. I'll be swinging by your blogs over the next week to catch up with the goings on in your worlds.

I've had a fairly busy but enjoyable December, which accounts for my lack of posts in the past month. As we had a family friend over from Canada this year, I headed home earlier than normal. Fortunately my work can be done anywhere (as long as there is electricity and broadband and mobile coverage of some description) so I didn't eat into my annual leave too much. It was great to catch up with many old friends and family, eat way too much good food, drink far too much alcohol and spend much too much on presents for the nieces and nephews. Naturally there were the expected holiday arguments, including one with my best friend of 15+ years which I don't think has been resolved. But the positives always outweigh the negatives over Christmas imo.

So what's in store for 2008? For me, I plan on a year of gettings:
- getting over
- getting on
- getting fit
- getting out

I've already started on the getting fit - today is my 3rd day of reduced smoking. I haven't quit all together but am gradually increasing the time between cigarettes - currently I'm at 5 hour intervals. Yesterday I only had 5 cigarettes where previously I would have smoked about 15 on a Saturday. There's no proven science behind my approach, just my own twisted logic. I finished a pack of smokes on Thursday night, then went for as long as I could (3 hrs) on Friday before giving in to my cravings and buying a new pack. Using this 3 hrs as my benchmark, I then waited 3.5 hrs for my next smoke, 4 hrs after that for the next and so on. Saturday started at 3.5 hrs and again increased by half an hour for each cigarette. Today started at 4 hrs, meaning I've only had 1 cigarette thus far today. My cravings are definitely reducing and I'm finding it easier to go for hours without a smoke (altho the 5 hrs last night was killing me after a few scotches!). I'm back to work tomorrow, so that may be a challenge given that many of my work colleagues are smokers - but that's where the other gettings kick in.

Getting over will be a psychological move to get over the shit that has held me back or plagued me during my life. Getting on will entail getting on with my life, personally and professionally. Getting out will literally be that - getting out and doing stuff, including the possibility of an overseas holiday. And I've got more planned for getting fit, building on the exercise routines I started late last year in a vain attempt to make myself the world's most desirable man.

Naturally, things may all go pear-shaped or I may just forget it over time, but the intention is there.


Songs played while writing this entry:
"The Horse" Marshall Jefferson
"Missing Link" Dinosaur Jnr & Del The Funky Homosapien
"Punisher" Underground Resistance
"Zebra" John Butler Trio
"No Rain" Blind Melon
"Beds Are Burning" Midnight Oil
"Der Klang Der Familie" 3 Phase
"Platina" Twilight
"One" U2
"Creep" Radiohead
"The World Has Turned And Left Me Here" Weezer

What're You Looking At?

In a bid to be the first "Top of 2007", Yahoo!7 today released its results of top search results for 2007. Given that Yahoo!7 is an Australian domain, it's safe to assume this reflects Australian users. And what a sad story the list paints.

Top overall searches on Yahoo!7 for 2007:

10. Justin Timberlake

9. Bourne Ultimatum III

8. iPod Nano

7. Brangelina

6. Anna Nicole Smith

5. Jessica Alba

4. Bebo

3. Real Estate

2. Weather

1. Britney Spears

So if I'd really wanted to get hits on my blog this year, I should have written a post along the lines of:

"Justin Timberlake and Anna Nicole Smith were watching the Bourne Ulitmatum III on an iPod Nano at Brangelina's Beverly Hills mansion - a prime piece of real estate - when Jessica Alba rang wanting to know if they'd checked out her page on Bebo which had a video clip of Britney Spears presenting the weather."

Seriously, what a load of crap. If you want to know the weather, go to http://www.bom.gov.au/. If you want to know about real estate, go to http://www.domain.com.au/ or http://www.realestate.com.au/. If you want to know about useless American gits - go to America.

Songs played while writing this entry:

"Defiant" Christopher Lawrence

"Shake A Leg" AC/DC

"Stalking The Wild Controller" Tristan

"My Michelle" Guns N Roses

"Red 2" Dave Clarke

"Seduction Of Orpheus" Tilt

"Forever Young" Interactive

Riddles In The Dark

How?

When?

Why?

Questions that are not asked often enough.

How did we get to where we are today?

When did people stop paying attention to what was going on around them?

Why did we allow ourselves to become so distracted from reality?

How much irreparable damage has been done?

When did the mass media gain control of the greater common consciousness?

Why did we allow this to happen?

How can we fix this?

When is it too late?

Why?

Who Knows? - Rambalations 5

I don't know where this is going to go - just a warning. Lots of issues I want to touch on here, but I'll try to keep some logical and sensical flow going.

Who knows, I may even throw in an Anna Corin segue.

Since Louise asked for it, let's start with the impending election. It appears neither of the major parties in Australia have paid any notice to what has been happening around the world in the past 4 years. Or their own backyards. All I hear from the Liberal (I refuse to call it the coalition - when was the last time the Nats actually did anything?) party is economics disguised as big ticket item policies, geared towards the good of corporations, while all I hear from the Labor party is.... well whatever the Liberals say but with less focus on the economics and more geared towards the workers.

I don't hear anything from the minor parties. The mainstream media has made them vanish into thin, polluted air and they seem to be doing nothing in regards to the digital media. Maybe they're just not doing anything at all? Perhaps they'll speak up and/or be heard this week.

It has been entertaining watching the majors try to use digital media in their campaigns tho. Johnny Costello has made a repeated fool of himself on Youtube (search for his posts yourself - I aint shitting on my blog) while Ruddy Kevin discovered social networking platforms such as MySpace and Facebook. Still, they don't seem to get it. Or use it. Because, if they did, how could they possibly be so blind to what is going on around them?

Social networks have proved to be just that. People from all walks of life are finding their common interests and sharing their experiences with one another. Regardless of race, gender, religion, age, sexuality, financial status, location, physicality, appearance, education. We are engaging with one another and pissing off the old barriers, and not just online. But to make this work for you, you have to participate. This is where the major parties have failed. I have had not one political candidate or representative talk to me during the campaign. None. No-one representing any political party has approached me on the street, has knocked on my door, phoned me during dinner (although that could be because I do not have a fixed-line phone service) nor, thank fuck, posted a comment on my blog. Have any bothered approaching you?

If one did bother to engage with me in conversation, I would be happy to talk with them. Shit, there's heaps of issues being addressed in this election, so I'd be more than happy to hear their policy outlines. But only if they could speak frankly about them and not just talk spin.

And if they were to say something like this, they'd get my vote.

But all I am seeing is mass-market spin.

On the other hand, they may have been following blogs all this time and think that mass-advertising is something bloggers are really interested in, and therefore continue to use mass-market campaigning. Given the state of many blogs now, I can understand why they would think this. On a few pages that I flicked past today, I found it almost impossible to find actual content. It was there, squashed between adverts and paid-posts. But if I have to hunt for content, then I aint gonna read your page. And a lot of the content I did find was about this whole Google page-rank dispute that has developed - whatever that may be about. It appears to only impact people who use blogging as a means to make money. Since it seems to be largely based around blog advertising and has zero impact on me, I'll not be reading any further into it. Best of luck to those fighting that greedy corporation who had the audacity to change their own business practices.

There are other things I plan on focusing on this week.

Lastly, for what it's worth (and as this is a free blog, it's worth nothing), I'm not planning on voting for either of the major parties. No great surprise to any of you (ir)regular readers. One of them is going to win either way and both fail to impress me. Instead, I'll be voting for the minor party which focuses on those issues which I find important. Their preferences will end up going to one of the majors, but at least I've had my say on what issues are and aren't important according to my perception of the world (yes, world - even though this is an Australian election, we are players in world politics and apparently we're almost worth as much as the USA). If enough people voted in this way, we may see issues which are important according to the people actually being addressed.

Although I am undecided which minor party will receive my vote, I do know it will not be Family First. The last thing we need now is a bunch of right-winged 'Christian' zealots running the country.

Again.


Songs played while writing this entry:
"Where Is S" Infected Mushroom
"Dreams" Quench
"Bambaata Back To The Core" Goldie
"Drumstick" NJoi
"Scared" Slacker
"Perception" Cass Vs Slide
"It Doesn't Matter" The Chemical Brothers
"Konspiracy" Kemal
"Mockmoon Remix" Genlog
"Sweetness And Light" Itch-E And Scratch-E
"Niji" Denki Groove

Reality Check

"I lost touch with reality
now my personality
is an unwanted commodity"
Teenage Fanclub De La Soul

Sometimes it's good to have a reality check, both as an individual and as a collective. You don't want to do it too often because you become so obsessed with the analysis of reality that you loose sight of the real reality. But every now and then it's worth doing. And what better time than now?

America has been delivered a reality check in the form of this report (kudos to Cooper). I wonder if Johnny Costello or Ruddy Kevin will take any notice of it.

If you're an internet user then read this post by Colin. (Ever notice how internet users are socially acceptable while heroin users aren't, yet they're both referred to as 'users'?)

I'm sick of being single - time to do something about that.

And if you think you have it rough or aren't happy with your appearance, then check this out because I bet you'll never guess what this is by just looking at the photo.

Top Of The Desk

Because Cooper told me to (and because it's one of my favourite pics that I've taken):

Port Douglas, July 2006

Show off yours:

[1] Going to your desktop and pressing the Print Scrn key (located on the right side of the F12 key).

[2] Open a graphics program (like Picture Manager, Paint, or Photoshop) and do a Paste (CTRL + V).

[3] If you wish, you can “edit” the image, before saving it.

For MAC users: Press [ Apple] [ Ctrl ] [ Shift ] and [ 3 ]

Type

"You're so fuckin special
I wish I was special"
Radiohead

I was chatting with a mate on Friday night at a work piss-up and we were discussing a woman we both admire. She's the type I've always been a sucker for. Natural beauty, smart, confident, creative, laid-back and a bent sense of humour. The whole package. And recently single. My mate was doing all he could to convince me that I should pursue a relationship with this incredible woman (the only reason he wouldn't do it himself is that he is happily married to his wife and kids). In theory it sounds great.

You see, I know I am not the type of man this particular woman is attracted to. If I have learnt anything in my short life, it is that everyone has their 'type' when it comes to attraction - both physical and emotional. And in this instance, I fail in both categories. She is attracted to the confident, well-built, tall, decisive, slightly arrogant, sporty, rugged types, whereas I am the quiet, average-build, medium height, submissive, thoughtful, spectator, homely type. We get along great as friends, but the chemicals are only flowing on my side.

So I will continue to admire her as a friend until eventually she finds a guy who fits her type who she chooses to spend her life with and we grow apart.

You may call this a defeatist attitude, I call it realistic.


Songs played while writing this entry:
"Beds Are Burning" Midnight Oil
"Impact" Sound Enforcer
"Capoeira Brasileria Psicolodel" Kaigang
"Point Break" Solphurex
"So Tinha Que Ser Com Voce" DJ Marky
"Big Cat" Afro Celt Sound System
"I'll Get You" Plump DJs

29 Days Later

Its been 1 day short of a month since I last posted on my blog. No real reason why, I just haven't - haven't felt like it, haven't had the motivation, haven't had the time. And as we're moving into summer and the silly season, I think I'm not likely to post all that often over the next few months. Still, it's nice too see a number of regular visitors still dropping by to check in on me.

So what's happened over the past month?

• Little Johnny has set a date with Kevin 07, giving all us Aussies an opportunity to pick between the lesser of 2 evils. This would have to be one of the most interesting elections I can recall. There is such a wide range of issues being addressed and opinion being thrown around, and people actually seem interested this time. I think this public interest is being helped along by the internet and tv shows such as Difference Of Opinion, Insight and The Chaser's War On Everything. According to an online ABC poll, new media is now a strong source of knoweldge in elections:

Where will you get most of your election news from?
TV - 39%
Radio - 22%
Online - 27%
Newspapers - 12%
2656 votes counted

• Usually, Australian tv moves to off-season at this time of the year. However, due to the increased usage of P2P, tv stations here have been forced to bring forward the screening times of popular US shows. This has lead to them advertising with catch phrases such as "Streamed direct from the US", which, in most cases, is blatant false advertising. Take for example Californication, which premiered in the USA on Aug 13 and premiered in Australia on Aug 27 - a 2 week lag. And yet, channel 10 continues to promote it as "Streamed direct from the USA". One day the main-stream media will wake up to the fact the we're not all gullible idiots.... one day.
  


• I went to an advanced screening of 30 Days Of Night on Halloween. While it was a decent vampire movie, I was a bit disappointed. Yeah, there was plenty of blood, the ending was a bit unexpected and the setting in Alaska put a good spin on the vampire story, but it just wasn't scary enough - 3 wooden stakes out of 5.
  
  
  
  


• I've been pleasantly surprised by the support provided by Beyonwiz, the manufacturers of the PVR mentioned in my last post. The company runs an online support forum and takes on board the feedback provided by their customers. I had a couple of issues with networking and play-back performance which I raised on the forum and these were quickly rectified. It is nice to see a company that actually uses internet technologies to their benefit.
  


• The USA has gone into debt crisis largely due to over mortgaging. Strangely enough, the Aussie Dollar has remained strong - for now. Hopefully, this will encourage people to rethink their spending and budgeting. I have been really surprised by the amount of debt people are in, especially on credit cards. I only have one credit card with a relatively small credit limit, so am surprised when I hear stories of friends who have over $10k worth of debt rung up on their credit cards. Society has become so focused on the 'quick fix' that people expect to have everything they want, now. Unfortunately, those who know how to save and budget are punished for the greed of others' through interest rate increases. It's good to see some bloggers out there taking steps to change their behaviour, and I can only hope their message spreads.

Ok, so plenty of other stuff has happened in the past 30 days, but that'll do me for now. I will return, maybe sooner, maybe later.

Songs played while writing this entry:
"Black Girls" Violent Femmes
"My Michelle" Guns N Roses
"Valley Of The Dolls" Mylo
"Scary Dog" Sixth Sense Approach
"As The Rush Comes" Motorcycle
"Dual" Memory Tree
"Lump" Presidents Of The United States Of America
"Ariella" Black Acid
"Emenuis Sleepus" Green Day
"Funky Sound" AK1200

Switching On

About a week ago, I wrote a post about how I was going to spend a lot less time watching tv. I meant it.

So much so that I have just upgraded my home 'entertainment' system to a LCD HD TV and a PVR... with dual HD tuners.... and a 250Gb HD.... with wireless network access.... and 2 USB ports..... and DVD

This may sound like a strange investment for a man who isn't going to be spending much time watching television. But it's not, and allow me to try and convince you (and myself) why.

With this amazing device, I can time shift. Not in the physical being kinda way where the edges of reality are folded in on each-other, creating a seam in the time continuum, allowing past, present and future realities to converge at a single point in time. It aint that good. But I can pause television and then fast-forward it. Even better I can skip forward in time, flicking past advert after advert after election campaign after advert. I can fast-forward the 'news' from the past, selecting to view only those few stories which actually really matter. And I can do all this while recording another show in the now-future to watch sometime in the current-future once I have caught up with the past.

See, it makes perfect sense.

And then there's the many other benefits of having a HD unit with built-in hard-drive that is fully networked. None of which is to do with this sort of behaviour. No. Doesn't matter that free media sharing has been going on for years on video-tapes and audio cassettes, and no-one seemed too phased about it up until things went digital. And traceable. It's illegal.

The key points again:

• I can remove advertising from the few shows I actually do watch.
• I can remove gossip about the idolised and generally fucked up people the mainstream media choose to focus on.
• I can remove the irrelevant and unimportant completely from my house.
• I can access media files that are stored on my other networked devices, and vice-versa.
• I reduce the amount of time I spend watching television by now having the freedom to choose what it is that I view and cutting out all the remaining bullshit.

The LCD TV was for just because.

Songs played while writing this entry:
"The Now Current Past" Beyonwiz

Feed Me Cookies

I went looking at a few random blogs tonight and fuck me dead. The amount of sites which were churning through data left right and centre to load up.... I'm baffled. It's worse than walking into a Telstra shop. This is NOT a sponsored post: for reasons of my own, I run PeerGuardian on my pc which tracks the IP traffic through my internet connection. Using this, I can monitor the companies and governmental bodies trying to obtain access into and data out of my pc. Not in the forceful, brutal hacking sense - no. Instead through the pleasantly disguised cookies which now adorn myriads of blogs (I'll not go into how it works with torrents).

Naturally, the widgets on my page are exempt from discussion...

One of those is for the Australian Blogs Community. I was looking at the Aus-Blog banner and decided to give it a revamp, the current one just don't fit the image of my blog. Using Google image search, I found a pic of the Aussie flag to use as a starting point, loaded it and saved it. I'm no graphic artist, there's no professional grade graphic design programs on my pc. So to add text, I copied the saved pic and pasted it into MS Word and, using a text-box, added the text. Then I found that Word no longer allows you to group objects when one happens to be a saved jpg from the web. Once again, Microsoft thinks they own everything. Fortunately this is not true, where there's a will, there's a way.

Using the basic tools on my pc - Word, Paint, Photo Editor, FastStone Capture and Nero Photosnap Image Editor (came with my digital cam) I created the following designs:

I played with gradation curves (colour/exposure) to get this effect.

Looks like a tv (CRT for those who remember) - Lens distort to maximum.

Fixed in Concrete - Embossed then played with inverting colours.

A bit of Green & Gold - same as before

Copper Rush - messing around with the aged effect

Writing in the sand - playing with glow

Underwater - hit solarize

Underwater 2 - whadayaknow, the next effect was water

Feel free to use them, I'm not Microsoft, I don't own everything.

Songs played while writing this entry:

"First Rebirth" Jones & Stephenson

"Rush Hour" Christopher Lawrence

"Daughter" Pearl Jam

"The Meltdown" Lunatic Asylum

"I Want To Fall" Freaky Chakra Vs Single Cell Orchestra

"Killing In The Name Of" Rage Against The Machine

"Red 2" Dave Clarke

"Give Your Body" Random XS

"The Stalker" Green Velvet

Switching Off

"Television, drug of the nation
Breeding ignorance and feeding radiation"
The Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy

Last night I made the decision that I am going to spend a lot less time watching television. This earth-shattering decision came about for 3 reasons:

1. There is bugger all on television worth watching.
   
2. I am sick of what passes as news and entertainment today, and even sicker of advertising - in particular the current political campaigning, which is only going to get worse.
   
3. Winter is over.

This does not mean that I will be cutting out television all together. I will still be watching Spicks And Specks, The Chaser's War on Everything, Summer Heights High, Difference of Opinion and the occasional episode of The Simpsons. I will also keep an eye out for interesting documentaries such as Decadence: The Meaningless Of Modern Life and Get Up Stand Up. Apart from that, the tv will be turned off.

Having made the decision, I grabbed a book and spread out on the couch. I soon became aware of how not-silent my apartment is. Despite having no stereo or tv blurting out noise, there was still a constant hum emanating from the appliances that share my living space. I went around and unplugged everything that could be unplugged - the fridge and my pc were the only two devices left connected (the pc was in the process of burning a dvd). Doing this reduced the hum significantly, although the thermostat in the fridge meant that its basal drone kicked in and out occasionally.

I settled back on the couch (this time with a glass of scotch) and resumed my reading. But I could still hear humming, and its source was out of my control. I could hear the traffic on the roads outside, the low bass of cars idling on my street, distant tones from my neighbouring apartments. I thought to myself is this now what passes as silence? Have we become so accustomed to filling our lives with sound that we don't notice the constant noise that surrounds us? The electronic pitches, buzzes, hums and drones that fill our living and working spaces and go on ceaselessly are now accepted as silence? Is this the new rhythm of life?

My inner-country-boy longed to be on my uncle's farm, far away enough from civilisation to hear nothing but the wind in the pines and the scurry of nocturnal animals in the dark. My inner-hippy longed to be back in Cape Tribulation, nestled in the rainforest with the sound of the waves slapping on the beach in the distance. My inner-yuppie was too busy mourning the loss of the television.

How silent is your silent?

In case I don't post between now and Thursday: Difference of Opinion looks at tween-marketing this week - something parents need to become aware of fast. For background info, check out Two Knives and Imaginif.


Songs played while writing this entry:
"Hey Jealousy" Gin Blossoms
"Say It Aint So" Weezer
"Tremora Del Terra" Illuminatae
"Schoneberg" Marmion
"Animal" Pearl Jam
"Civil War" Guns N Roses
"It Doesn't Matter" The Chemical Brothers
"Standing On The Outside" Cold Chisel
"Hot" Purveyors Of Fine Funk
"Defiant" Christopher Lawrence
"Global Machine" Temperature Drop

Sisters Are Doing It For Themselves

It's 1:00 am. She lays on a mattress on the floor of her brother's house, her 3 year-old daughter sleeping in the bed on the other side of the room. Its been a long day at work - her boss can be such a prick at times, but the job pays alright and it's only a temporary means to an end. Plus it's part-time, so she can spend more time raising her 2 kids.

Throwing back the quilt, she gets up and gently stirs the child awake. The poor thing is tired and becomes only semi-conscious. She picks the girl up and nestles her against her shoulder as she opens the door. In the room directly across the hallway, her 18 month-old son stirs in his cot. Quietly, she carries her daughter to the toilet and sits her down on the loo. Speaking gently, she encourages the girl to take a wee. She has to be up at 7:00, get the kids breakfast, get ready for work, dress the kids, make lunch, pack their day-bags, get them all into the car - which hopefully will start this time - and drive them to her ex-husband's parent's house, then on to work. But for now, she is a mother teaching her daughter to become aware of her body's signals. The job done, she whispers gentle words of praise, lifts the child and carries her back to her bed. One quick check on the sleeping boy, then she lays back down to sleep.

I lay in bed. I had worked an 8-hour shift and got home around 11:00. I listen to her perform this act of love and selflessness. I marvel at her strength, determination and bond of duty to her children. I know that she is putting on a brave front, but she is hurting inside and struggling with the new world of being a single-parent. She has many challenges still to face and it will not be easy. I vow to myself that I will be there for her always.

She is a woman, a mother, an employee, a survivor of an abusive marriage. She is my sister and I love everything that she is.

Happy birthday BJ.


Songs played while writing this entry:
"Mockmoon Remix" Genlog
"Don't Go Now" Ratcat
"Sunsets" Powderfinger
"Porch" Pearl Jam
"Undone - The Sweater Song" Weezer
"Love For" Glenn Underground
"Anything Goes" Guns N Roses
"Millenium" Torsis

Opinions Wont Keep You Warm At Night

No, I'm not being philosophical.

Aussie band Kisschasy released "Opinions Wont Keep You Warm At Night" in June of this year. The lyrics can be interpreted in a number of ways - a message to an ex, a youthful expression of the generation gap, a dig at the media (and bloggers), or, based on the video clip, a statement on world politics.

Either way, it's nice to hear a murmur dissent from the music industry at last.

I've posted both the video and lyrics below - interpret it your way. I'm off to watch Get Up Stand Up.



Wait while jealousy tears you apart
I’m sorry but I cannot help the way you are
That we do the things you can’t

Just wait, can’t you see you’re being weak?
It’s shallow and dark you know every time you speak
You’re just lying through your teeth

Sometimes, days are like you say yet I don’t agree with what you see
But I will never let the bitter things you say ever get to me
Sometimes, days are like you say yet I don’t agree with what you see
But I will never let the bitter things you say ever get to me

We are everything you wish you were
But, I’m feeling kinda concerned
we’re probably friends
But you hide from consequence

Yeah you must have a lot of spare time
To put down the words that you write
But no one cares
You should put your mind to rest

Sometimes, days are like you say yet I don’t agree with what you see
But I will never let the bitter things you say ever get to me
Sometimes, days are like you say yet I don’t agree with what you see
But I will never let the bitter things you say ever get to me

Get to me…Get to me…

Sometimes, days are like you say yet I don’t agree with what you see
But I will never let the bitter things you say ever get to me
Sometimes, days are like you say yet I don’t agree with what you see
But I will never let the bitter things you say ever get to me


Songs played while writing this entry:
"Feel The Pain" Dinosaur Jnr.
"Reactivate" Bismark
"Basket Case" Green Day
"I Could Have Lied" Red Hot Chili Peppers
"Opinions Wont Keep You Warm At Night" Kisschasy
"Special Ones" George
"Closer To France" Cap Project
"Live And Let Die" Guns N Roses

People, Police, Paths, Protests, Pictures

Drove down a strangely-quiet-for-a-Saturday-morning Pacific Hwy to North Sydney. North Sydney was also very quiet, but that's nothing unusual on the weekend as it's predominantly a business district. Parked easily, walked to the station, bought a ticket and waited for the train heading into the city. A north-bound trained pulled into the station, all but empty. Similar story when my train arrived.

Disembarked at Town Hall station, walked through the QVB and had my first spotting of protesters (wearing anti-Bush tee shirts and drinking coffee at Gloria Jeans) and police. Out onto George Street to a lack of traffic and pedestrians and plenty of closed shops. As I had missed the actual march, decided to head straight down Market St to Hyde Park to join the rally. Got to Elizabeth St to a barricade of police and police vehicles. After one of the cops advised it would be 10-15 minutes before they would allow people to cross the street to get into Hyde Park, I decided to go the long way round.

So I back-tracked up Market and down Castlereagh St, only to be denied access to Park St by a row of police and a strategically placed bus. Ok, stage 3. Cut across through an arcade to Pitt St and came across this:

Now, the intelligence of the police operation was really coming to a pinnacle at this point. I was advised that I was unable to cross the road at the pedestrian crossing unless I was to walk up to George St and then back down Park St. I figured it was futile arguing that there would be no difference in me having access to the pedestrian crossing via this route as opposed to the alternative route with a guy who takes orders without question (I'll let you figure out which one he is in the pic). Ironically, on the opposite side of the Pitt St intersection is a McDonalds with entrances on both Pitt and Park Streets. So I was forced to pass through the Golden Tits of Mass Consumerism to proceed - eh, it saved me 5 minutes of walking in circles.

Finally on Park I was able to walk back down to Elizabeth only to be confronted by this:

Talk about overkill. Besides making it impossible for people to cross the road from either side, this mass show of police force was only serving one purpose - intimidation.

Eventually made it to the one police-sanctioned pedestrian crossing into Hyde Park and entered the rally proper. Came across a bloke from the Socialist Alternative Party who gave me this:

I chatted with the bloke about how the police were making it hard for people to get into Hyde Park. At one point he referred to them as 'the pigs' and looked confused when I responded "Don't call them that mate, they're just ordinary blokes doing their jobs".

Caught the end of the rally speeches. The dj chose "Fight For Your Right (To Party)" by the Beastie Boys to play straight after the speeches. This of course received great response. I chose to wander around observing, reading and talking.

This girl was part of a group of female Muslim protesters, all wearing hijabs.

At one point, there was a loud roar from the crowd and this came walking by:

The black thing sticking up in the centre of picture is a camera used by the police to instantly photograph and scan the faces of people in a crowd. I don't think too many people had anything to hide considering the size of the crowd following it around.

This group was dancing to "My Bush Would Make A Better President" by Digital Primate.

This stand was unattended when I walked past - shame...

And so, having spoken with a diverse range of people from a diverse range of cultures on a diverse range of issues, I wandered back towards the train station - this time using a much more direct route. Walking back up Park St, I saw this:

A hard-earned thirst hey fellas?

At the train station I ran into these 2 women:

The lady on the right told me her son had told her not attend the march with "that mob of riff-raff". She went on to tell me how disgusted she was with the police organisation of the event, being that she had to walk for so long to be able to express her right to protest. We both agreed that riff-raff did not define the range of people who had attended and that the path to freedom should have been a hell of a lot shorter and easier.

"NSW Police riot squad chief Superintendent Stephen Cullen had warned: "I have absolutely no doubt that minority groups will engage in a level of violence not previously experienced in Sydney."
News.com.au

5,000 attendants, 9 arrests, 2 injured police, 0 riots.

I've been to cricket matches with worse outcomes than that.

Less fear-mongering going on when it comes to cricket though.


Songs played while writing this entry:
"Add It Up" The Violent Femmes
"Acid Wiss" DJ Skull
"Drop Top Caddy" Aphrodite & Mickey Finn
"Forth" Secret Silence
"There Goes The Neighborhood" Body Count
"Kick Out The Jams" The Presidents Of The United States Of America
"All I Want Is You" U2
"Holiday" Weezer
"Rocket Queen" Guns N Roses
"Land Of Zod" Plantastik
"Scary Dog" Sixth Sense Approach
"Low" Cracker

Dotty Points

• The presiding Australian Commonwealth Government is elected based on a 2-party preferred system. The 2 prime political parties in Australia are the currently in power Liberal party and the Labor party (otherwise referred to as "the Opposition"). The Liberal party was founded by the middle class. The Labor party was founded by the workers.
  
  
• I don't trust either of them to do the job properly, but we're stuck with an archaic electoral system that prevents change and which neither of them will have the balls to change.
  
  
• I do not belong to any political party. None of the minor parties appear to be doing anything to open debate against the 2 major parties and present viable arguements for social change. Protesting is one thing, debating is another, policy planning is something completely different.
  
  
• I cried watching this because I love Australia.
  
  
• And for the fact it was posted on youtube by a 54 year old.
  

Songs played while writing this entry:
"Sunsets" Powderfinger
"Born Slippy" Underworld
"Only 4 U" Cajmere
"Wish You Well" Bernard Fanning

What's That Noise? - Rambalations 4

Just an upfront warning that this may turn into a rather long, rambling post.


Tell you what - it's a fuckin weird time to be living in old Sydney town right about now. I mean, shit. It's all fuckin happening. There is this buzz, this murmur, this energy. The people are talking. And people are listening. Now think about it. People are those beings that work together, day in and day out. People work together and get to know together by talking and listening. After a while it becomes people talking and listening together while they work. The paradigm shifts.

And this is how I see how it happening in Australia.

Most workers here will give you.... wait for it.... here it comes..... " a fair go". When a new person starts working within a team, we give them a few weeks to settle into their new role, to become sociable within the team, to let us get to know them as a person and as a colleague. I mean fuck, we've all been in new teams at some point and know what it's like to feel you have NFI, that you hope your new team members will like you in some way, shape or form, and wandering if you're going to like them. We weigh each-other up for a while. For a few weeks.

And then we say "Fuck it, let's just get on with it".

So we do. And after a while, all that new-kid tension wears off from both sides. We go about our work and we get to know each-other while we do our work. We realise the commonalities we have on personal levels, professional levels, skills levels. We find the grounds that connect us regardless of background, race, age, gender, religion. Those things no longer matter, it's the person that is important. That thing inside that makes you you.

Like it or hate it, APEC has stirred Sydney to bubbling point. You see, we work and live (mostly) side-by-side here. Muslims work with Christians. Americans work with Iraqis. Tibetans work with Chinese. Anglo-Saxons work with Aboriginal Australians (that has taken far too fuckin long to achieve, but it finally seems to be getting somewhere). And we get to know each other, no holds barred, guts 'n all. We don't hold back talking about shit as we work.

No-one seems too fussed about the actual issues being addressed at APEC, rather we're talking about the one that is being un-addressed. The people.

APEC has given Sydney the taste of what it feels like to live under a dictatorship or military rule. Sure, it's nothing in comparison to how it is in some countries, but even a small taste of it is a massive shock to the system. See, down here in Oz we rarely see people walking round with guns in public. Our skies aren't normally filled with military and police helicopters. The public is not usually denied from entering their own city if they can't present identification. Individuals are not normally stopped and searched for no apparent reason. We generally don't live with that fear.

APEC has brought all of that here. And the people are not liking it at all. Not just the activists or the uni students or the hippies. It's the bloke in the suit on the bus trying to get to work. It's the doctor on his way to perform surgery. It's the mum trying to get her infant to sleep as the helicopter buzzes by her apartment. It's the teenage girl on her way to her first date. This shit has really pissed people off. Not the just the inconveniences but also the fear that is being brought into our country.

Australians do not live like this.

Problem is, Australians also have an attitude of 'she'll be right'. This could easily turn into a case of letting it run its course and then get back to how things were. After all, summer is just around the corner and we're all looking forward to long days in the sun, warm nights on the beach, holidays, cold beers, swimming in the pool, drinking at the local beer garden, bbq's, music festivals - all that good shit which comes from living in a country where the people are free to live their lives their way.

I hope that attitude doesn't prevail this time. We need to build on this experience and ensure that our country does not end up accepting this fear and governmental enforcement on an ongoing basis. If anything, we should be highlighting our nation as an example to the rest of the global community of how things can work without having those things. Sure, we are far from perfect, but we're slowly figuring this shit out amongst ourselves. It's easier to do it over a couple of beers at your mate's barbie on a Saturday arvo than it is by bombing the shit out of each-other because we're too afraid to talk to one-another.

May the protest on Saturday be held and received with Australian easy-naturedness, acceptance and good-will.


Songs played while writing this entry:
"Opinions Wont Keep You Warm At Night" Kisschasy
"Iris" Goo Goo Dolls
"Librae Solidi Denari" The Shamen
"Live And Let Die" Guns N Roses
"Sunday Bloody Sunday" U2
"My Happiness" Powderfinger
"Speedway" The Prodigy
"Satisfaction" Benny Benassi
"Every You Every Me" Placebo
"Tennessee" Arrested Development
"Red 2" Dave Clarke
"Beds Are Burning" Midnight Oil