Say Something Damit!

I am sick to shit of crap content. How many blogs have you been to where self-professed blog experts are providing advise on how to best sell your blog? How many of these expert sites are covered in banners, click-throughs, widgets and other bandwidth munching cookie based paraphernalia that the so-called expert uses in an attempt to 'build traffic' and 'make money by blogging'. Fact is, if all you can do regurgitate marketing spin from marketing websites, then your blog is worthless to me. If I wanted to read an advert, I'd go to a commercial website.

I have no issue with people sharing their knowledge, experiences and recommendations - their knowledge, experiences and recommendations, not others'. I respect people who are successful in their industry for taking the time to share and discuss their opinions with readers - if they can back-up their claims to success by referencing reliable and industry recognised sources. But when I stumble across a Homer Simpson attempt at a blog where the author is claiming to be a hugely successful blog developer, my contempt flies off the scale. And more so when the author has the writing and grammatical skills of a 3rd grader. Spelling errors, bad punctuation, poor sentence structure are all accepted (and expected) on personal blogs - professional blogs on the other hand require a certain level of professionalism, such as the correct use of language.

I have no claims to being a professional blogger and have no aspirations to become one. I am, however, a blog reader and if you're seeking my readership, then offer me something to read.


Songs played while writing this entry:
"Surf Wax America" Weezer
"Out Ta Get Me" Guns N Roses
"The Test" The Chemical Brothers
"Return To Reality" Antarctica
"Lost In Emotion" John '00' Flemming
"My Happiness" Powderfinger
"Wish You Well" Bernard Fanning
"Pure Flow" Odyssee

Fuck George Bush

I'm back.

Hi.

Been away for a bit spending time with family back home. It was a long-overdue break from work spending time with those I love and getting my head back into human mode. I miss my family greatly and love them even more, so a trip home for me is always a joy. Yeah, there's the usual arguments, disagreements and tensions, but that just makes it all the more real and does not detract from the unity I share with my mum, dad, sister, brother and sister-inlaw.

Anyway, nough of that.

Those not living in Australia may or may not be aware that Captain Koo-Koo Banana Brains - aka George Bush - will be in Australia for the APEC summit in September. Big Fucking Whoop. I don't like the man, I think he is a deluded cowboy making decisions based on his own conservative fantasy agendas - but that's beside the point. He is the (loosely) elected leader of a nation, and if that's what the majority of American people want as their leader, then so be it. Who am I to argue, not being an American citizen and all? But I am an Australian citizen, and the last time I checked, the Australian population (myself included) did not vote George Bush President of Australia. In fact, we don't have a fuckin president - we have a weasel of a man that is so far up George Bush's ass that the White House chefs have been cooking for 2 for the past 4 years when preparing Captain Banana Brain's breakfast.

Back to APEC. Today, the all-mighty Shrub announced that he will be arriving to and leaving from the summit early. Now this, of course, requires certain changes to be made to the preparations in place for the summit. It's not a small matter of re-arranging the menus or changing what day to take the group photo on. Oh no. His honorable Brains-trust coming early means that the entire population of Sydney needs to adjust our plans. Don't expect to drive on the roads our taxes pay for. Don't expect the trains that we pay to use will run on time. Don't drive to the airport. And don't even think of having surgery. Instead, be prepared for road closures, delays to public transport and embargoes on business activities so that his fuckin emissary can be sheltered and protected from the real world. Hell, our own government is even urging us to leave town.

Do us a favour Bush - CANCEL. Do not come to Australia and fuck up the runnings of our largest city just so your capitalist, elitist, conservative sorry excuse for a leader self can continue to live in Bush-Land where the real people are merely a source of income and cheap labour, foreigners are Indians for your cowboy ass to play round 'em up with, food is free and plentiful (and cooked by slaves who don't speak), and traffic-jams are a myth.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not wishing any harm on the man and hope that his inevitable and unwanted presence here in Australia does not lead to the injury or death of any person. But when I hear the Australian media referring to him simply as "the president" as if he is our president, my blood boils. Little Johnny Howard may be a weasel suck-ass, but he's on his way out at last and he is no-where near as evil, manipulative and dangerous as the Captain.

I'm not visiting family again till December, so if I'm not back within 2 weeks......


Songs played while writing this entry:
"Missing" Everything But The Girl
"Jack Me Off" Funk D'Void
"We Shall Not Be Silenced" DJ Paul Edge
"Feel The Pain" Dinosaur Jnr
"Give It Away" Red Hot Chili Peppers
"Let Me Put My Love Into You" AC/DC
"Nightmare" Brainbug
"Darkness" Angel Alanis
"Come As You Are" Nirvana

Who's Generation?

Ok, so I may be behind the pack on this one, but I only saw this on Spicks and Specks tonight. Presenting The Zimmers cover of My Generation:



I was fortunate enough to grow up surrounded by elderly people. My mum used to work in a nursing home and I often called in on my way home after school for one reason or another. Despite the smells (a mixture of urine, antiseptic, flowers, medicine, food and feces) and the sometimes off-putting behaviours of the residents, I always found the people in the nursing home to be a great source of entertainment and comfort. My family also attended a number of churches, most of which had a largely aging congregation. I gained a good number of surrogate grandparents from the churches, all of whom took a great interest in the events of my life and offered an abundance of knowledge and experience.

While it is important to focus on the well-being of future generations, we must not neglect those who have seen the world change. Kudos to the Zimmers and the BBC for reminding us all that the elderly are part of this changing world and have as much a part to play as anyone.


Songs played while writing this entry:
"Deeper" Barabas & Od1
"Impact" Sound Enforcer
"Dune Buggy" Presidents Of The United States Of America
"Morphist" Drone
"Have A Drink On Me" AC/DC

Suffer the Children

"Suffer the children, the sins of the fathers
Poison the seeds and you poison the harvest"
Directions In Groove

My sis-in-law is due to give birth any minute now and last night I watched Children of Men. Probably not the best choice of movies for an uncle-to-be as it paints a very bleak picture of the future drawing on references from the current state of global affairs. However it does end on a note of hope. If you haven't seen it, watch it.

For my yet-to-be-born niece or nephew, I have the following hopes:

• society will stop being distracted by the unimportant.
• the culture of greed that is perpetuated by governments and corporations will diminish.
• individuals will stop judging others based on appearance, race, gender, sexual-preference and stereotype.
• technological development will become focused on fixing the errors of the past and the betterment of the future.
• decisions will be made with a world-view rather than being based on the betterment of any one particular community or country.
• sustainable resources will be openly available and shared.
• assistance will be offered unconditionally to those who need it.

I like to think that, whoever you are, where-ever you may be and whatever your circumstances, you would want the same for the children in your life.

Songs played while writing this entry:

"No Good (Start The Dance)" The Prodigy

"Face It" Sven Vath

"Mutant Was In Love" Taho

"Zebra" John Butler Trio

"Twilight" Canyon

"Naked In The Rain" Red Hot Chili Peppers

"Angel Particles" Hallyciongen

The Power and The Passion - Rambalations 3

Ok, so now we're all one big happy family right? We're all sitting here, talking to each other with no boundaries. We share our strengths and weaknesses, our hopes and fears, our joys and our sorrows, our pasts and futures. Relationships develop that normally wouldn't due to the tyranny of distance. Discrimination is reduced as no longer are we judging on physical appearance, rather we seek out those whose words we relate to - regardless of race, colour, ability or age. Enter the age of the shared experience.

So why the fuck are there still allied troops in the Middle East??

Why the hell are people trying, and succeeding, to explode car-bombs in the UK??

How come the media is still shoving sexist, racist, invasive, and mostly meaningless tripe down our throats??

For fuck's sake, get over it - the rest of us have.

George, give it up man. You tried to take control of the Middle East and it didn't work, so get your troops out of there and start negotiating some peace - but clean up your fuckin mess first. Fundamentalists of all religious types, chill the fuck out. You love your god/deity/idol/whatever - good for you, pretty much everyone can respect that, so go worship in your way and respect others' rights to worship in theirs. Media, grow up. People can now freely pick and choose content from a vast variety of resources and providers, so start offering up the good shit or become irrelevant.

There's still aways to go and people to wake up, but the shift has started. Find the commonalities, start and engage in conversations, form communities and voice opinions. Use the internet as a starting point for discussions that can lead to real and interactive meetings in the physical space, and use the internet again to allow people outside the physical space to participate. Funky shit huh?

This is why I work in internet. It can be frustrating and at times I may claim to hate it, but it is an area that I am passionate about and that's why I keep turning up to work.... that and the money, which is why it's called a 'job'. Fortunately for me, I work with a group of people who have the same passion for the internet, its uses and the potential it has (albeit in differing applications of its potential;). I have found that those who share this passion also share the same open acceptance of one another, warts and all. I work within this group of amazing people sharing the same focus - to build, develop, distribute and improve this medium to achieve its many potentials. And yes, some of that involves revenue potential, which is why my 'job' is paid for by a 'business'. However, the potentials I keep focus on are the vast and rapid dissemination of information, development of online cultures and the use of the internet as an educational tool.

Anyways, it's Sunday, time for my weekly reality check at Post Secret.



Songs played while writing this entry:
"My Planet" Simply Jeff
"W.M.A" Pearl Jam
"Ebeneezer Goode" The Shamen
"Been Caught Stealing" Jane's Addiction
"Blood" Pearl Jam
"Special Ones" George
"Fatman" The Shamen
"Closer to France" Cap Project
"Magic Shop" Stef, Pako & Frederick
"Surf Wax America" Weezer
"Zebra" John Butler Trio

Flight Path

It's another cold, wet, wintry night in Sydney. I stand out on my balcony, rugged up against the cold, having a smoke. My view is of the roof-tops, trees and clouds. Off in the distance, to my right, I see the lights of a plane through the clouds. As I have an un-obscured view from my balcony, I can track planes coming into land for a good minute or so. I watch as the plane slowly makes it descent, the lights becoming clearer as the plane drops beneath the clouds and tracks its path along the harbour towards Sydney airport. Although I am not directly under the flight path, I can hear the sounds of the engines as the pilot both fights against the winds and slows the engines down for landing.

This is a scenario I see on a daily basis, played out in the skies above Sydney. And each time I wait for the plane to explode. It hasn't happened so far.

I find myself watching the flight of planes a great deal since 9/11. It has in no way deterred me from flying - in fact, I've flown more since I've been living in Sydney than I have ever before in my life. Never have I had these thoughts while on a plane, only when I can see one in the air. I have no fear of flying at all. But for some reason, I see every plane in the sky as a potential disaster waiting to happen.

Is it a result of witnessing tragedy, or am I just morbid?

Songs played while writing this entry:
"Tilt" Seduction of Orpheus
"Yesterday" Guns N Roses
"Marrakech" Madley
"Say It Aint So" Weezer
"Mars Needs Women" Miranda
"Boll Weeevil" Presidents of the United States of America

Potpurri

Seems that there is a lot going on at the moment in my little ol' life - so much so that it's hard to focus on just one thing long enough to pull together enough focus to create an opinion worthy of blogging. So for now I present short musings:

• I hate winter. A number of my friends profess to prefer the cold weather over the heat of summer, spouting that it's easier to get warmer by adding clothing than it is to cool down. I disagree totally. I would much rather be wearing only a pair of boardies and a tee-shirt than to be covered from head to toe in multiple layers of thick winter clothing. Not only am I cold, but I feel like the Michelin Man.
  
  
• The Pasha Bulka has finally set sail off Nobby's Beach after being stuck there for 23 Days. Fortunately, there have been no signs of oil spills as yet. Unfortunately, the government is now talking of charging the owners for the salvage effort to remove the potential environmental disaster from our coast line. Oh bureaucracy.... I only hope the owners have nouse to counter-sue the Australian government for not signing the Kyoto agreement, hence contributing to global warming which attributed to the storm that swept the ship ashore in the first place.
  
  
• I signed up to Second Life and, after spending an hour creating a avatar I liked, now have a character that has no idea of where to go. It's really like my first life! Any suggestions appreciated. If you run into Rogue Pennell, feel free to say hi ;)
  
  
• An Indian-born doctor suspected of involvement in the London car-bomb has been arrested in Australia. Truly he is the definition of displaced.
  
  
• I have an interview for the new job on Thursday. Considering I put very little thought into applying for the position, I plan on putting little effort into preparing for the interview. I applied based on fate and will follow the philosophy that, if I'm meant to do this, I'll get it.

Songs played while writing this entry:
"Get To The Back" Fantazia
"Indifference" Pearl Jam
"Magic Shop" Stef, Pako & Frederick
"Land of Zod" Plantastik
"Elevation" U2
"Elderly Woman Behind The Counter In A Small Town" Pearl Jam
"Judgement Night" Biohazard & Onyx