topics of the month meld. hansard, torchwood, and homoerotica.

because I've got friday on my mind :p

rain

Oh me oh my I am in HEAVEN! We finally have rain that feels like winter over on my side of the country. Thunder, lightening, storms and RAIN! Talk about being in a winter wonderland!

the impact of geography and culture on music

is moldova near latvia?

having said that, this is one of my all time fave eurovision moments

nup, it's my all time favourite on second thought. the crazy eyes, the unco leg action, the latvinglish. ahhhh eurovision, we love you :D

perhaps not

west of here

did yooz know that ten latvians have perved upon our doings this week? hola, latvia! loved your eurovision effort this year. I think.

Pandaemonium - a snippet

on drugs and genius. not me, them.

coincidentally, last night I watched a flick called "pandaemonium". a bbc effort of some years back - on the rise and fall of samuel taylor coleridge, and his enduring relationship with bill wordsworth. descent into opium fueled madness, run-ins with byron (and what a gorjus actor they used in this role ... anyone who's ever had a byron 'thing' should watch this), socialism, politics, sex, but most of all the death-destroying power of literary genius. while there's plenty wrong with this piece, for the most part it's a heady, swoony, hallucinogenic and shambolic flight through life as a deeply cool poet at the turn of the 19th century. tripping out on 'thorn apple' in the countryside attired in full regency clobber, being anti-consumerism 'let's start a commune' 'down with war' political, etc, the evolution of 'the ancient mariner' and the jealousies evoked by same. gorjus stuff, when you can ignore the flaws, with plenty of work recited throughout.

Amy Winehouse - Valerie

Addiction is a helluva disease....what a waste of talent. this cover is one of my fave Amy moments.

the girl who played with ni-nighs

yep. it put me to sleep. don't think I even got to the half way point, in fact. was a poorly (hurriedly?) put together episode of 'law & order for clog wogs', with gratuitous lezzie love, a brunetter and older mike nyquvist, and the formerly awesome looking lisbeth now resembling a skanky heroin addicted hooker. crap. 3/10. the three points just for not being uhmerica.

DVD thoughts: The Social Network

Almost as addictive as Facebook itself. Jesse Eisenberg, is it? Fabbo, plays Zuckerberg. Does Zuckerberg have Aspergers? This character as written does, surely. Sharp writing, convincing characters. (This film is notably short on any decent female characters- is that really the world of Zuckerberg?)Film manages to convey an eerie sense of (shudder, I'm going to use the word...)ZEITGEIST. This is happening, this is now, kids in their 20s are playing on computers and visualising and creating means of communication whereby half a billion people are all chatting to each other and in the process, making these very smart kids into billionaires. And these very smart kids are racing around betraying each other, except its on a billion dollar scale, rather than ripping a mate off when giving his change back at the pub. And when a visionary does something as passe as drugs, he's dropped by his disinterested peers.
...in my lifetime, the role of music in youth culture has never looked so bleak. Visionary Sean Parker (played by Justin Timberlake, ironically) boasts that (by founding filesharing site Napstar) he has been instrumental in bringing down the music industry, but I dont see any of these characters as interested in music as a reflection of their culture or way of life. The soundtrack to the film is superb, but what also caught my ear was the use of the Beatles 'Baby You're A Rich Man' at the end of the film; a nod to the last group of precocious boys who changed the world through their vision- only it was their musical vision. And here I was, hoping that some other young musicians would come along and change it all again, and instead the lads have rocked up and changed our lives via computers. Sigh.
Oh. And the film's funny. 9/10

Butt Darthy, for you of course :)

on leaping, found this morsel at imdb - for your enticement

"I am a guy, so this is hard for me to admit, but I really, really enjoyed this movie. A beautiful travelogue through Ireland with the infectious Amy Adams and the amazing (and underrated) Matthew Goode. Honestly, this is one of the best romantic comedies I have ever seen. It doesn't try to be more than it is, it's just simply a funny and uplifting story, very well told."

Movie Review: Mr Poppers Penguins

The last hoorah of the holidays was daughter and self traipsing off to see this offering. Jim Carey's in it. This announcement was enough to have hubby and my mother gagging, looking at me pityingly and saying 'rather you than me..'
So: Movie is a whimsical tale and was probably a cute novel about a divorced chappy whose crazy explorer father sends him some penguins, who end up reuniting him with his family. Then Hollywood got hold of it and because it was made in 2010, Jim Carey is starring; if it had been 10-20 years ago, Robyn Williams or Bill Murray would have gotten the gig. Angela Lansbury plays an eccentric old lady, which is typecasting for you. Would have been a 6/10 without Jim Carey. Gets a 4.75/10. Hang about. Extra points for being the first film that wasnt an animation that my child has ever sat through. Ok; 5.75/10

the hollywoodised trailer

review x 2

what with an absent bloke at the present minute, I took the opportunity to chomp down some easily digest rom coms. cold rainy nights, kids asleep early due to back to school exhaustion, hot cup of organic chai, etc. anyway, let's just say it's a hazardous endeavour, sifting through the latest batch of awfuls, it roolly is. without workshopping the question overmuch, I'd say you'd be looking at a 1 for 6 strike rate, roughly. and you can just never ever tell by titles! case in point being the two I watched last night. "my girlfriend's boyfriend". independent, small budget, interesting cast, twisty turn plot. sounds good, right? wrong. beyond dreadful. dreary, pointless, chemistry-less, life wastage. can't even be bothered with a synopsis. 0/10. then you have "leap year", which is a dire title for what turned out to be a really lovely little flick. a couple of silly moments (see flying shoe hits bride in head), but overall everything a romcom should be. hoity toity boston girl (played by amy adams) with long time cardiologist boyfriend decides to take matters into her own hands when yet another year passes with no proposal. boyfriend is off to ireland for conference during a leap year (!), so she hops on a plane with the intention of surprising him with a proposal of her own - as per the old tradition of women proposing on feb 29. naturally, she strikes trouble in her quest, and is thrown into the care of a surly irish pub owner in a remote village, who happens to be the spectacularly gorgeous matthew goode, with beard (you just don't see enough bearded men on film these days, more's the pity). tall, dark, irishly lilted, taciturn, funny, clever, cranky, mischievous, etc etc. there's just no possible way that our heroine couldn't fall insanely in love with him under the circumstances. anyway, without revealing more, it's a well cast, well acted, tightly directed piece, shot mostly in rural ireland. predictable, but in a sweet and enjoyable way, with some lovely subversive moments to remind us that it's not hollywood. 8/10.

hypothetical

this morning I inspected a very lovely house on a half acre plot of old gardens with dry stone walls and such. big house, built in late teens, wide oak-ined hallway, immense rooms with fireplaces, original casement windows with window seats. totally a-mazing. thing is, as required by law, the listing agent was obliged to disclose that the last occupant was murdered - in the house. yep. murdered. in the house. your thoughts?

true syrup

well now I been workin' on the particulars of .... hoik .... this one for a goodly while now. me and mr buttocks partook of this fable just this past weekend and, not to put too fine a point on it, the thing didn't take. it almost took, here and there, mostly in the general vicinity of mr bridges and a modicum in the vicinity of mr damon. but everwhere else the spielberg 'hollywood ending' sledge hammer was, essentially, rammed up our clackas, then twisted. waaaaay too much unprovoked shootery (as per betty's nod) and way too much sookery. my position, as it stands, is that I wanted to love it but found marself unable. mr buttocks put it this way "poor mans deadwood". while I don't hold with that viewpoint as such, it's clearly desperately derivative of same, but with none of the sublimely realised restraint. I blame the whole mess on spielberg, of course. the coens can do no wrong, after all.

Image via Wikipedia

Kylie: mutton dressed as lamb.

"Hey, senor Pedro? Civilisation! Listen..." Miguel said as he too the Multiband radio away from his ears and handed it to Pedro.

"Riders on the Storm?" mused Pedro putting his hand down into the saddlebag to get out their map, the donkey coming to a stop yet again on the track down the side of the mountain, Pinto and Punto having decided between themselves to part company the night after Miguel had discussed with Pedro whether Punto would ride as well minus a leg.

Things had got pretty grim holed up in that cave before they started to get better. The ponies had first eaten the bedding before starting on the canvas rucksacks that were attached to the saddles. With no firewood, bedding and fearing their blankets would be next, Miguel had half-jokingly remarked, while eating a mouthful of from the last can of cold Heinz baked beans wit vegetable sausages, that Punto's hindquarters would keep them going for a week or so.

The ponies, after eyeing each other nervously until the two compadres fell asleep, silently made their exit and headed in the direction of Kylie's entourage, knowing deep in their hearts that she was a world renowned lover of animals in distress. Without their saddlebags and other paraphernalia, there was a certain lightness to the heaviness of their being as they made their way back over the pass without the two amigos quite easily.

After some nondescript mutterings from the local DJ in the regional dialect of where ever they were had finished, John Fogerty's voice started to blare out across the valley as he sang of visions of a "Bad Moon Rising". A smile beamed across the both Miguel and Pedro's faces in recognition as they both broke into song and the donkeys resumed their slow journey down the goat track just wide enough to carry them and their load. Pedro turned up the volume only encouraging Miguel to sing louder in his think southern Peruvian accent, complete with some frozen snot hanging from his left nostril. Happiness was slowly returning to our friends as they continued their long journey down the side of the mountain in the beaming morning sun.

Image by bagsgroove via Flickr

Dinkie as a young man with Dunkie in the background.

By the time the song had finished and the DJ reduced the tempo to a gentler pace with Marty Robbin's rendition of 'El Paso', there was a steady pace of the donkey train as they all descended together towards the valley below. Both Pedro and Miguel were happy to have resumed their trek towards Thailand. In fact, Miguel had convinced the donkeys to carry for them on the promise of some fresh Mango and virgin flesh as soon as they arrived at their retreat. Pedro was sure he had seen the older donkey smile at the suggestion. Whatever, there was certainly a twinkle in the eyes of Dinkie and Dunkie, as Miguel had christened the rather dilapidated donkeys, delighted .by the promise of renewed vigour in the warm rainforests of the coastal delta.

To be continued....

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Scary scary..oh so scary scary....and in 2012 too...

you'll need to click on this piccy to get it enlarged. For some reason i couldnt work out how to print it larger than this in the blog.

fuck a duck

no time to read through latest stuff - my every move is under kid surveillance and computer is hogged to buggery. something about free range eggs, foo fighters, soap and homoerotica (okay that last one was wishful thinking) rainbow lorikeets and ... gotta go! back next week :D

Morning All.........

Holidays 3/4 survived.
Trip to the snow yesterday including wailing, wailing, caterwauling children. Bubby had 2 frozen yellow snot icicles hanging from his nose. Kid A kicked off her boots before I could stop her, to see what it felt like, then wondered why she was so cold. I havent been up Mt DonnaBuang since I was a kid and I'm here to tell you that they havent improved the facilities at all in that time....Clothing change helped a little, chocolate helped considerably more. Hubby and I reminisced about trips we have taken the kids on: 'seaside of despair', 'snow from hell', 'aquarium of despondency', 'zoo of pain', 'Scienceworks of shrieking barking insanity'...

Hackers

I F'n HATE them! Grrrr I have just spent my entire day sorting out my email accounts due to a hacker who came in, deleted all my emails and contacts after emailing everyone they could with a note saying that I was stuck in Cardiff UK needing money. Like I would get on MSN or my email for that. **roll eyes emote** Pain in the ass

what a bruising, brawling match....

Live from Festival Hall, Melbourne Australia...



Killer.................Karl............................Kox.............................

DVD review: All the King's Men (1949)

In the olden days, like in the 1940s, nice simple people with convictions who became politicians became corrupt. Golly, how things change....This is a terrific film, made a few years after the end of WW2 with more than a few passing references to the evils of totalitarian politics, etc etc. I think it was made a little before Frank Hardy wrote Power Without Glory but it could easily be the companion volume, if you were looking for continuity of theme in your dvd viewing and book reading... I hear there were a few Oscars involved, well deserved....I also hear that there's a 2006 remake to avoid, so I shall. But go find the original.

The Easybeats - Friday On My Mind (1966)

...It's no less important because it was recorded before I was born....

Stevie Wright - "Evie" (The Whole Thing)

....JJJ voters, hang your heads in shame...

Stormy weather...

Image via Wikipedia

One of the posters on the cave wall.

"Cat Balou, Cat Balou-ou-ou, the sweetest gal I..."

"If you sing that one more time, I gonna..."

"Look Pedro!" said Miguel pointing feverishly out of the cave opening with one arm while holding his shrunken scrotum with the other hand, his testicles hardened by a combination of the sub zero temperatures of the freezing wind that blew into their cavern high up the mountainside, and the pictures of Lady Gaga, Kylie and Britney Spears that he had unpacked from Punto's saddle bags and stuck with chewing gum on the cavern's wall.

"I've told you Miguel, You can't eat eagle."

Miguel's pointing arm dropped dejectedly as he turned and walked back towards the two ponies braying intermittently in the cold mountain air, and exhaling large amounts of steamy exhausted from their large nostrils. Miguel started sobbing and Pinto and Punto looked briefly at each other as an icicle fell from the cavern ceiling and pierced a picture of the Virgin Mary that Miguel had unpacked and set up as an altar against the wall of the cave. With the sharp natural artefact of the alpine climate piercing right through her breast just to the left of her sternum, she now had every right to look concerned. Miguel's crying turned to bawling at the sight of his beloved Virgin being desecrated in such a brutal fashion. Pedro continued looking out of the cave's opening pretending to be unaffected by Miguel's whimpering and the ponies just stepped away, and huddled together to keep each other warm.

Our two intrepid adventurers had never known such a desperate plight. This time they were done for 

certain. The ponies had eaten the straw bedding the day before last and they friends were down to their last two tins of Maxi brand Baked Beans. A grey cloud loomed large beyond the ridge opposite the cave where they had been held up for 17 days now. There only hope was a fierce late winter blizzard, to ice over the ravine once more so that they could continue on their way to their retreat in the Burmese forests at Tom's behest.

"Look Miguel. It's a storm!"

Image by Music Trendsetter via Flickr

A similar poster to that hung by Miguel on the cave wall.

Miguel raised his reddened eyes out of his hands to look at the approaching before returning to the solace of his hardened palms. Everything was silent now as darkness enveloped the valley outside. Miguel shuffled across in the darkness to light a candle from their last box. A howling could be heard approaching from behind the ridge. At last, this could be just the change in weather tat they had been waiting for.

To be continued...

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"Still Hungry for Caged Eggs?" Ad Campaign - Supermarket

Edited to say: yes, it matters. Battery hens/caged hens should be illegal. It's hypocritical of us to be getting all antsy at Indonesia's treatment of our live exports. Our treatment of animals in this country is inhumane and I feel sad that people are desensitised to it.

Ssssssssssh...biggest event of the week is....

Kid A is at family day care.
Hubby has taken Kid B to my parents for the day whilst his car gets serviced by the family mechanic nearby.
I have maybe SEVEN hours to myself at home. I cant remember the last time that happened. Maybe it never did. Maybe I'm dreaming.....
think I'll go and get a coffee :)

Pandas and Tigers and Earthquakes, oh my!

What a strange place Melbourne is today. Icy gale force winds and two earth tremors here. The first one sounded as if there was a loud washing machine in the kitchen off balance and on a spin cycle, the I remembered we dont keep our washing machine in the kitchen; it wasnt on anyway and it never rattles the doors and windows like that....interestingly startling, I'd say. The next one was about an hour later and more of the same, just not as large. I hear that the epicentre was out in Gippsland and it was around 4.6, so that's fairly large for these parts....no damage to anyone..

In other news, I took kid A to see Kung Fu Panda 2 today with friend and friend's mummy. Um. Jack Black doing the voiceover for a Panda called Poh whose bestie is a hardcore kungfu tiger called Tigress. I can give you the plot if you like. No, really; you're welcome to ask me. Lots of animated karate chops. Bit scary for kid A (who had pronounced the earthquake 'cool')so she sat on my knee and ate too much popcorn (again) and felt sick (again). In other words, she had a lot of fun...if you take your kids you wont want to pluck your eyeballs out or throw chairs at the screen or anything & you may chuckle occasionally; will suit primary aged kids...the ending sets us all up for Kungfu Panda 3, so hold onto your hats...

winter of our discontentacles

salutations, monkeys. nudey alaska runs have me thinking! we've been installed here for 6.5 years now, and I do believe we've finally aclimatised. you might think "well that's a relief for old incontinentia in the long johns department", but you'd be wrong. what's actually happened is that with every winter, we become more and more like hardened addicts - we need colder and colder temps to actually feel cold. this little probby has become more apparent since returning from our bogantrip. we were SO cold for the duration that the temps here seem almost balmy. it's almost as though that was winter and now it's spring. we're all of us getting about in less clothing these days, and only donning scarves and beanies for the sub-zed mornings. not sure what the answer is other than tassie - which seems a bit toooo drastic. maybe sub-alpine victoria? alpine nsw? probably just as drastic as tass but without the boat. nz? alaska?

more for wilma.

for wilma