Monday, April 30, 2007
Sunday, April 29, 2007
Saturday, April 28, 2007
More Music that surprises
Sometimes, you pick up an album because the cover looks good, do a bit of research and think to yourself "Power Metal from Finland, now that's got to be a winner!". So you listen to an album or two...and you're right.
Friday, April 27, 2007
Music that surprises
Sometimes, you'll hear of a band or an artist,. and based on their media reputation you'll developed a pre-conceived notion of what their sound will be like and whether or not you'll like them.
And sometimes that notion you've got will be completely wrong.
This happened to me recently with a British singer named Amy Winehouse. Winehouse, who I'd never heard of before, seems better known in the UK for constant public drunkenness, fighting, numerous new tattoos and general f-u attitude.
For some reason, I'd developed the impression that she was another in the long line of 'empowered femi-grrll punk princesses' - you know - like Pink, Avril Lavigne, Christina Aguilera - type - manufactured music with an edge as sharp as a dull butter knife.
I got the chance to listen to some of her music the other day. I don't remember why, maybe I was flicking around youtube or something.
And I was wrong.
So good - I went out and bought both her albums.
Winehouse's music is best described as blues and soul. Not the crappy pseudo- rhythms pumped out be your Joss Stone's and Katie Melua's of the word. This is really dark, pulsing rhythms, with a really wicked bite in its humour.
Sometimes it's good to find out when you're wrong about something.
Monday, April 23, 2007
If only they could make games that look this fun
Halo + Metroid
And so ends my posting anything I find cool for now, I think thanks go ars technica to which supplied at least four of the links.
And so ends my posting anything I find cool for now, I think thanks go ars technica to which supplied at least four of the links.
Sunday, April 22, 2007
Saturday, April 21, 2007
The Pen Is Mightier Than The Lithium Fusion Missile
This is one of those Tandem Writing experiments where two people write alternate paragraphs.
Thursday, April 19, 2007
A first day on the job that sucked
Full article here
A 17-YEAR -old rookie plumber has burned down a £5 million ($12 million) waterside mansion in southwest England, after a soldering task during his first day on the job went horribly wrong.
Poor bastard.
Rookie plumber's $12m blunder
A 17-YEAR -old rookie plumber has burned down a £5 million ($12 million) waterside mansion in southwest England, after a soldering task during his first day on the job went horribly wrong.
Poor bastard.
Wednesday, April 18, 2007
Stupid Political Tricks
Full Article Here
MP's clean-up destroys an artwork
A POLITICAL stunt to remove graffiti has come under police investigation after it was revealed that the graffiti was, in fact, a commissioned artwork.
Canberra Liberal MP Steve Pratt, who has run a campaign against vandalism, spent four hours cleaning graffiti from a concrete bridge in Woden on Saturday, calling the artwork an "obnoxious piece of vivid graffiti vandalism".
Tuesday, April 17, 2007
Monday, April 16, 2007
Economic Models explained with cows
SOCIALISM
You have 2 cows.
You give one to your neighbour.
COMMUNISM
You have 2 cows.
The State takes both and gives you some milk.
FASCISM
You have 2 cows.
The State takes both and sells you some milk.
NATIONAL SOCIALISM
You have 2 cows.
The State takes both and shoots you.
BUREAUCRATISM
You have 2 cows.
The State takes both, shoots one, milks the other, and then throws the milk away...
TRADITIONAL CAPITALISM
You have two cows.
You sell one and buy a bull.
Your herd multiplies, and the economy grows.
You sell them and retire on the income.
SURREALISM
You have two giraffes.
The government requires you to take harmonica lessons
AN AMERICAN CORPORATION
You have two cows.
You sell one, and force the other to produce the milk of four cows.
Later, you hire a consultant to analyse why the cow has dropped dead.
ENRON VENTURE CAPITALISM
You have two cows.
You sell three of them to your publicly listed company, using letters of credit opened by your brother-in-law at the bank, then execute a debt/equity swap with an associated general offer so that you get all four cows back, with a tax exemption for five cows.
The milk rights of the six cows are transferred via an intermediary to a Cayman Island Company secretly owned by the majority shareholder who sells the rights to all seven cows back to your listed company.
The annual report says the company owns eight cows, with an option on one more.
You sell one cow to buy a new president of the United States, leaving you with nine cows.
No balance sheet provided with the release.
The public then buys your bull.
THE ANDERSEN MODEL
You have two cows.
You shred them.
A FRENCH CORPORATION
You have two cows.
You go on strike, organise a riot, and block the roads, because you want three cows.
A JAPANESE CORPORATION
You have two cows.
You redesign them so they are one-tenth the size of an ordinary cow and produce twenty times the milk.
You then create a clever cow cartoon image called 'Cowkimon' and market it worldwide.
A GERMAN CORPORATION
You have two cows.
You re-engineer them so they live for 100 years, eat once a month, and the cows milk themselves.
AN ITALIAN CORPORATION
You have two cows, but you don't know where they are.
You decide to have lunch.
A RUSSIAN CORPORATION
You have two cows.
You count them and learn you have five cows.
You count them again and learn you have 42 cows.
You count them again and learn you have 2 cows.
You stop counting cows and open another bottle of vodka.
A SWISS CORPORATION
You have 5000 cows. None of them belong to you.
You charge the owners for storing them.
A CHINESE CORPORATION
You have two cows.
You have 300 people milking them.
You claim that you have full employment, and high bovine productivity.
You arrest the newsman who reported the real situation.
AN INDIAN CORPORATION
You have two cows.
You worship them.
A BRITISH CORPORATION
You have two cows.
Both are mad.
AN IRAQI CORPORATION
Everyone thinks you have lots of cows.
You tell them that you have none.
No-one believes you, so they bomb the **** out of you and invade your country.
You still have no cows, but at least now you are part of a Democracy....
A NEW ZEALAND CORPORATION
You have two cows.
The one on the left looks very attractive.
AN AUSTRALIAN CORPORATION
You have two cows.
Business seems pretty good.
You close the office and go for a few beers to celebrate.
BEATTIE MODEL
You have 2 cows that are producing more than enough milk.
The cow department tell you the cows are drying up.
You don't believe them.
When your cows finally stop producing you just take someone else's milk and meanwhile start a new dairy further north.
You have 2 cows.
You give one to your neighbour.
COMMUNISM
You have 2 cows.
The State takes both and gives you some milk.
FASCISM
You have 2 cows.
The State takes both and sells you some milk.
NATIONAL SOCIALISM
You have 2 cows.
The State takes both and shoots you.
BUREAUCRATISM
You have 2 cows.
The State takes both, shoots one, milks the other, and then throws the milk away...
TRADITIONAL CAPITALISM
You have two cows.
You sell one and buy a bull.
Your herd multiplies, and the economy grows.
You sell them and retire on the income.
SURREALISM
You have two giraffes.
The government requires you to take harmonica lessons
AN AMERICAN CORPORATION
You have two cows.
You sell one, and force the other to produce the milk of four cows.
Later, you hire a consultant to analyse why the cow has dropped dead.
ENRON VENTURE CAPITALISM
You have two cows.
You sell three of them to your publicly listed company, using letters of credit opened by your brother-in-law at the bank, then execute a debt/equity swap with an associated general offer so that you get all four cows back, with a tax exemption for five cows.
The milk rights of the six cows are transferred via an intermediary to a Cayman Island Company secretly owned by the majority shareholder who sells the rights to all seven cows back to your listed company.
The annual report says the company owns eight cows, with an option on one more.
You sell one cow to buy a new president of the United States, leaving you with nine cows.
No balance sheet provided with the release.
The public then buys your bull.
THE ANDERSEN MODEL
You have two cows.
You shred them.
A FRENCH CORPORATION
You have two cows.
You go on strike, organise a riot, and block the roads, because you want three cows.
A JAPANESE CORPORATION
You have two cows.
You redesign them so they are one-tenth the size of an ordinary cow and produce twenty times the milk.
You then create a clever cow cartoon image called 'Cowkimon' and market it worldwide.
A GERMAN CORPORATION
You have two cows.
You re-engineer them so they live for 100 years, eat once a month, and the cows milk themselves.
AN ITALIAN CORPORATION
You have two cows, but you don't know where they are.
You decide to have lunch.
A RUSSIAN CORPORATION
You have two cows.
You count them and learn you have five cows.
You count them again and learn you have 42 cows.
You count them again and learn you have 2 cows.
You stop counting cows and open another bottle of vodka.
A SWISS CORPORATION
You have 5000 cows. None of them belong to you.
You charge the owners for storing them.
A CHINESE CORPORATION
You have two cows.
You have 300 people milking them.
You claim that you have full employment, and high bovine productivity.
You arrest the newsman who reported the real situation.
AN INDIAN CORPORATION
You have two cows.
You worship them.
A BRITISH CORPORATION
You have two cows.
Both are mad.
AN IRAQI CORPORATION
Everyone thinks you have lots of cows.
You tell them that you have none.
No-one believes you, so they bomb the **** out of you and invade your country.
You still have no cows, but at least now you are part of a Democracy....
A NEW ZEALAND CORPORATION
You have two cows.
The one on the left looks very attractive.
AN AUSTRALIAN CORPORATION
You have two cows.
Business seems pretty good.
You close the office and go for a few beers to celebrate.
BEATTIE MODEL
You have 2 cows that are producing more than enough milk.
The cow department tell you the cows are drying up.
You don't believe them.
When your cows finally stop producing you just take someone else's milk and meanwhile start a new dairy further north.
Saturday, April 14, 2007
Friday, April 13, 2007
Thursday, April 12, 2007
Gomez!!!
Last night's show was great (as usual). It was nice to see the band play a variety of their songs from their entire catalogue - although it was disappointing they didn't play 'Shot Shot' - probably my favourite live Gomez track.
It struck me last night that it's got to be a little sucky being 'the other two guys' in the band. Whenever you see them performing, it's always the three singer/guitarists up front in the spotlights. The other two guys just seem to hide in the background, skulking about.
Let's just give up and take it from the minorities...again.
Full Article Here
Anzac Day 'may offend'
ANZAC Day commemorations may offend some religious and ethnic minorities, a new report has claimed.
The study commissioned by Multicultural Affairs Queensland found some immigrants associated Anzac Day with the "increased nationalism" expressed most graphically at the Cronulla riots in 2005.
The report also claimed a "climate of fear" has seized Queensland's Muslim community, which it blamed on federal immigration and anti-terrorist policies and the media.
The situation is so dire that some Brisbane Muslims suspect they might be sent to concentration camps, while others live in fear of bomb attacks.
I am sick to death of this country bowing to minorities. They are a minority, not the majority. Should we not be listening to most of the people in this country as opposed to a minority?
Anzac Day 'may offend'
ANZAC Day commemorations may offend some religious and ethnic minorities, a new report has claimed.The study commissioned by Multicultural Affairs Queensland found some immigrants associated Anzac Day with the "increased nationalism" expressed most graphically at the Cronulla riots in 2005.
The report also claimed a "climate of fear" has seized Queensland's Muslim community, which it blamed on federal immigration and anti-terrorist policies and the media.
The situation is so dire that some Brisbane Muslims suspect they might be sent to concentration camps, while others live in fear of bomb attacks.
I am sick to death of this country bowing to minorities. They are a minority, not the majority. Should we not be listening to most of the people in this country as opposed to a minority?
Wednesday, April 11, 2007
Google Employees have quite a sense of humor.
Go to Google Maps.
In the search box enter: "new york to paris". then Search.
In the directions have a look at step 23.
In the search box enter: "new york to paris". then Search.
In the directions have a look at step 23.
Monday, April 09, 2007
Drought. What drought?
Been up the coast four days and its rained on all four of these days. Makes one think that it's not a drought that causing a water shortage but a government that's building dams in the wrong bloody places...
Sunday, April 08, 2007
Good news (I think...)
According to Rolling Stone, R Kelly has completed an additional twenty-two episodes of his epic 'Trapped in the Closet'. I never realised there was such demand for such stupidity.
Monday, April 02, 2007
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