Love of the Game

I didn't even watch the All Blacks play Australia last night.

Truth be told I was called into work to supervise contractors working during the latest weather bomb to hit Northland. Around 2am I pulled up the NZHerald website to check the score, only to find we had lost. For once my heart didn't die a little. That's when I realised I may be well and truly be over Rugby; at least at the professional level.

For me, I now believe the only real Rugby is being played at club and provincial levels.
Titanic games played between regions; played during the day, not bowing to Northern Hemisphere television requirements, saying no to playing during cold winter nights. Many battles raged between Canterbury and Otago rugby teams, creating a healthy rivalry between the fans. That's the Rugby I love - but does it still exist today?

I recall a game where our local team beat the touring South African Springboks.
I was there at an NPC final where we beat Waikato in the final. What a day that was!
I remember standing on the terraces at Carisbrook with my friends. Chatting away, catching up - yelling Ottttaaaaagggooooo until my voice was hoarse - we made a difference some days I think.
Not too long later I remember walking around the London Underground in my Otago jersey when some lone soul at the other end of the platform let out the Otago chant. For a moment in time I was home again...all those miles covered in a millisecond.

I recall the players on that Otago team working in our community; you could see them behind business they'd own, or surfing at the local beach. You could say hello to the Otago and All Black player Jeff Wilson, as he poured you a beer at Umbrellos Bar - you might see captain Tane Randell at the Meridian Mall checking up on his businesses there. The players were a part of the community.

Sure - Tane wasn't a local lad. In fact not a lot of the guys back then were. Most of the Otago players initially played for the Otago University Team while they were away from their home provinces getting their University degrees (some even getting double degrees). Regardless of where they came from, they were our team, and a part of the Dunedin family.

Professionalism changed the face of Rugby in New Zealand. I don't believe as a nation, that we've ever recovered from the shock. Now kids with talent are picked out of schools and thrown into All Black development squads; some only to be left packing shelves in supermarkets when their playing days are done. And as for the black jersey? Where once it was won through fierce pride and determination, now in the most part it is probably expected as an end goal in a progression of Rugby development.

Something smells bad in this once-land of Rugby; but unfortunately it may be a smell we must learn to deal with. Those that control rugby seem to care little for the grass roots game, instead following the lure of sponsorship money wherever it takes them. They in turn nurture a new breed of fan who, very possibly, has never known anything but an All Black team wearing an Adidas uniform selling Steinlager. Sure - the new fans may love the game as well, but I wonder if a greater enjoyment of the game may have been long lost to them since the days of a paycheck. Frankly I doubt they would even care, wondering what the hell I was talking about.


But oh - if they were at the Carisbrook in 1998 they would know what real atmosphere was; it was as if we were all together greater than the sum of our individual parts - electrifying to experience. I was glad I was there to be a part of it.

Microsoft is Dead

You can kill a head right? Anyone can kill a head.

Well actually, someone else actually pointed this out about a year ago, so I cant take credit for the headline.

At this point I must mention my love of all things i and Apple-ey, and I wont even mention my recent epic struggle with a friends Vista build. The memory is too painful still. Oh the horror...

So, I'll just cut and paste some bits - because this guy Paul Graham writes it better than I ever could...

What killed them? Four things, I think, all of them occurring simultaneously in the mid 2000s.

The most obvious is Google. There can only be one big man in town, and they're clearly it. Google is the most dangerous company now by far, in both the good and bad senses of the word. Microsoft can at best limp along afterward.

Microsoft saw the danger of Javascript and tried to keep it broken for as long as they could. [1] But eventually the open source world won, by producing Javascript libraries that grew over the brokenness of Explorer the way a tree grows over barbed wire.

Microsoft's biggest weakness is that they still don't realize how much they suck. They still think they can write software in house. Maybe they can, by the standards of the desktop world. But that world ended a few years ago.

You heard it here last folks...

Whale Oil Beef Hooked

I’m not good with being bad. My first recollection of doing something bad in the world outside my home happened when I was about 5 or 6 years old.
My primary school was a small country affair, with less than 300 pupils. Every year we would have a sports day, and for lunch all the parents would all bring a plate of food for those who participated. I knew my Mum brought along coconut ice slice, and I showed my 4 year old brother where it was on the table. While we were hungrily admiring the cake we both decided to take a slice - after all it was our Mum’s cake and therefore, by some strange twisted five year olds logic, OK to take. At that very second my 1st grade teacher Mrs Noll yelled out from afar “Jennifer Aniston [*1], what do you think you’re doing?”.
Well... I grabbed Paul and we both took off. Mum and Dad found us hours later hiding in our play hut, under the pine trees at the end of our section. Nothing was said about the cake incident, I guess the trauma was plain to see.

Years, or perhaps what feels like Eon’s later, I still hate being caught out. I remember how my clean slate was sullied, and I really hate that someone can still make me feel that way today. Maybe because of that moment, I’ve lived a pretty tame existence? Perhaps, if I was more of a shit growing up, this feeling would have disappeared by now; maybe I wouldn’t feel so bad about being permanently suspended from You Tube.

Yep - It’s a bit of a stretch from the post traumatic stress inducing “cake incident”, but my ejection from the famous video hosting site, handed down yesterday for posting that 1 minute 40 second clip of Stargate SG1, imparted a similar feeling of woe; well through to at least morning tea.

It seemed that I pissed off MGM.

You know, If you think about that a bit, you could really start to worry; but hastily moving along, I was asked via email to remove the “offending transgression”.
OK - The geeky traumatized 5 year old cake thief in me promptly tried to log on to delete the clip, only to find my account had been permanently blocked. Like the cake incident I could not undo the wrong I had inflicted - I had been given my scarlet letter, and on me it was to be well and truly stuck.

I was, actually, in point of truth, in the wrong, and totally screwed.

After morning tea I got angry. As if 1 minute and 40 seconds of video really mattered. I mean, it wasn’t even porn!
I was angry because I was trying to illustrate a point with that bloody video - and it wasn't about how tricky it was to create the clip either (which it fucking well was, by the way).
These corporate bully boy laywers have recently taken on You Tube, so I don’t blame them per say for ejecting me, but i think it’s slightly hypocritical when you think of all the other Stargate clips (and other stuff) that is still there now. Why pick on me?

I cant help but wonder just how long You Tube would be in existence if they removed every last vestige of copyrighted material from their servers?

Imagine it....

We’d be logging in to watch crappy home movies of people we didn’t know, doing things we didn’t want to see, in places we never intended going. What a sad bunch of arses we’d be watching that Trifecta.

As my old mate [*2] Dylan Thomas used to say..

Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight,
And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way,
Do not go gentle into that good night.


I would have said it with more brevity, and a lot less tact.
Fuck the fuckers - and that's all I'll say about that.



[*1] Not my real name.
[*2] Didn't know the man.

Muppets

Usually a term to describe some of my contractors at work, everyone has a favorite muppet.

Music will never be the same again. Beaker is obviously my fave, and now he has a Youtube channel. :)

Epitaph

Paul Holmes interview with friend and workmate Tony Veitch is here in full.

I never really understood Paul's popularity as a broadcaster.
I've often disagreed with his opinion.
But not today.

Those of us who know Tony Veitch and have worked with him are in shock at how quickly a man who seemed to have it all can lose almost everything in less than a fortnight. He has lost not just his income. He has lost his name. The fall of Tony Veitch is a genuine modern tragedy....

...But this has been a carefully orchestrated plan to end a career and the life a man has built. A valuable broadcasting performer has been taken out of two prime broadcasting slots, the Radio Sport Breakfast Show and One News. Instead of us seeing justice, we may have been seeing revenge. Instead of journalism, we may have seen commerce.

...As early as Wednesday afternoon, I think, Veitch knew he was done for and could not survive. Early on Thursday afternoon, he rang me to say his statement of resignation was being issued. Then at 5.30pm the police announced the formal complaint against him. It is a terrible prospect for Veitch and his former partner. I imagine the process that lies ahead and the thought of how it may end. But at least now it is formalised, at least it is now within the system. Now the investigation will become rational.

Tony, I wish you all the best for the future. May you and your ex partner find the help and support you both need to move on in life. Time to heal I think.

Required : One Mega Stereo System

Partially inspired by Niamh's post this is classic Talking Heads.
Volume and Bass to 11 people!!!!

Another week that was

You have to love a short week.

Although I had to be up early on Thursday morning, by lunchtime I found myself chilling with friends in Nelson. Any thoughts of a "business as usual" week went out the door immediately - a mere four days later I feel proud to have included more than my fair share of NZ red and white wines amongst the numerous cafes I've visited. Last night Ang and I undertook a yearly tradition of cooking for the Nelson crew; yet again it was deemed a roaring success (i.e no reports of food poisoning yet).
I love spending time with Angela. Unlike some other friendships that started circa 1983, we seemed to have grown together and not apart over the intervening years. Having so much history can provide for more than a few cringey moments; especially when we remember who we were at 16 or 17 years old. In fact it's almost a challenge to outcringe each other with our stories once we get going - especially when alcohol is found near. It helps to have a good memory, although there are many utterances of "I'm sorry - I have no recollection of that" when the stories get a little too close for comfort :)

This post finds me siting in the Wellington air terminal, due in a no small part to a strike by some Air New Zealand crew. At this stage my connecting flight to Auckland is still on, but a potential adventure awaits - and my laptop battery is getting low.

Could be a long day yet !

Who watches the watchers.

For the longest time I have tried to avoid as much daily news as possible. Apart from the depressing version of life that is presented to the masses on an hourly basis, I see a more hideous agenda at play; that of the media becoming our moral compass.

Some years ago I made a decision not to watch the television news, and I have been much happier since.
Basically I believe it's mostly bollocks. Any time I personally have been involved in some news story I have been dismayed over the inaccuracies of the reporting. I once even rewrote an article for a reporter to clear up some issues over technical accuracy - the editor changed it back saying the original draft made better copy. I challenge you - next time you listen to the news, look for reporter bias - and listen what they are trying to make YOU believe.

Sure, as humans we cant help but have opinions. The problem I see with most (if not all) media, is a lack of balance. So many journalists now seem to be pushing their own personal agendas along with their stories. This I wouldn't have a problem with if the reporter said "I believe..." or "I think..." . But they don't.
They always seem to speak opinion as fact - and often they are just plain wrong.

I wonder sometimes if we can actually have news without opinion. Perhaps not. Even so I would prefer a report that served up the facts, and an item that didn't attempt to make our minds up for us. Perhaps that type of reporting no longer exists, because what a TV or Radio station report now simply reflects the bias of their owners. At least FOX News in the USA is honest enough to not hide this behind this fact.
In the years ahead I cant help but wonder if people will simply choose to tune into the news bias "they" want to hear. Moral compass indeed.

A local example of an issue that has been fucking me off lately, is the Tony Veitch affair.
I refuse point blank to justify domestic violence in any shape or form, but the way the media have continued to report this incident has been atrocious.
Encouraging opinions from the public, when the all the facts are unknown is ,at best, trial by media. Interviewing social commentators, who are simply pushing their own platforms is ethically bankrupt. Just today - the New Zealand Herald reported further information from "a source that does not want to be named". This person or persons unknown revealed more inflammatory information to the public on this matter. There is no proof supplied stating this information is correct, the anonymity ensures there is no right of rebuttal.

Frankly it stinks to high heaven.

This is a matter for the Police to pursue privately after detailed discussions with both parties involved. Emotions may have paid a large part in the attack, but for justice to be done here the facts of the case must be investigated by those with a vested interest in the truth, not special interests or audience numbers.
One can but wonder how far this reporting will go on. I would hope that eventually someone would offer both parties the help they require to move on with their lives. Mr Veitch obviously has a long road ahead of him. What he has done is very wrong. I just wonder if the New Zealand public can get off their high horse long enough to offer their heartfelt assistance to those perpetuating, and being impacted by, domestic violence.

I do however, have some searching questions about Mr Veitch..

Do you believe you can find it in your heart to forgive?
Must someone be destroyed completely to be redeemed?
Can he ever make amends for what he has done?

I just hope your answers don't depend on what TV news you subscribe to.

Battlestar Zen

Leoben Conoy to Kara: What is the most basic article of faith? This is not all that we are. See, the difference between you and me is, I know what that means and you don't. I know that I'm more than this body, more than this consciousness. A part of me swims in the stream, but in truth, I'm standing o­n the shore. The current never takes me downstream.

Weekend wishes

I wish I could embed this, but I cant.

Breathe in right away,
Nothing seems to fill this place
I need this every time,
Take your lies - get off my case
Someday I will find a love
That flows through me like this
This will fall away,
this will fall away.

Some days it seems like it just isn't enough. For some it's more often - others less.

May your bad days be few and far between. :)

And now for something completely different

Damien Rice - Cannonball

Still a little bit of your song in my ear
Still a little bit of your words I long to hear
You step a little closer to me
So close that I can't see what's going on

Language !

Overheard in a packed lift today at work.

Her
"I see you haven't attacked that stubble on your face again today Glen"
(silence)

Him
"No Laura, but it's nice to see you've had a shave this morning"
(deafening silence)

I love a good comeback, especially when people on attack often use an awkward moment to point score. The guys was so obviously indifferent as he shuffled out of the lift; a winner in every possible way.


Years ago I would hate having to be polite when older relatives or parents friends would come out with the most inappropriate comments like;

"God you've put on weight"
"Haven't you got a girlfriend yet?"
"Goodness, where did all your hair go"?

Part of me just wanted to tell them to get fucked and die, but children brought up in the 60's and 70's were often seen and not heard.
Old habits die hard it seems.

Fuckers.

Never in one sitting

It's so ridiculously silly, but after watching ten years and 214 episodes of Stargate SG1 in a row over the last two months, now it has drawn to a close, I feel I have lost something important in my life.

Yep - I know it's just a TV show, but isn't it strange when we invest so much time with people,things or places, we cant help but miss them when they are no longer there. Some of us are wired differently I guess.

Although I'm not about to rush out and buy an authentic looking SG1 uniform and head off to the next Sci-Fi convention, through this all I honestly believe these feelings of loss to be a good thing. Nonsensical feelings for those we don't know, this empathy for something outside our own sphere of existence could, one day, be our one saving grace. How to nurture those feelings of interconnectedness with each other could one day ensure our survival as a species.
No?



This scene, although not typical of the series as a whole, is one of my favorites.

Eight is Enough

Anonymous said...

Ok...now a list of 20 things your really glad you did? i'm intrieged!

I've been putting this off - not sure how to write this down, but Anonymous deserves an answer.
There are many of the 20 things I have amended in the last twenty years, but there are eight I'm sure I'll be working on to the day I die.

So here goes....


I'm really proud of the friends that I've made. The quality of the people that stand with me in this life, that support my choices, and accept me as I am.

I'm happy that I've haven't broken, succumbed to the wills of others. Sure, it's life; you have to bend a little to fit, but if you bend too much you break. I'm true to myself; I'm more certain about myself now than I was once, and I haven't changed the core essence of who I've always been.

I'm happy with how I've treated others. Sure, everyone at some point has hurt another person, and I have let some people go, but I haven't strung people along. I've never manipulated situations to be with someone, or taken advantage of a situation to get what I personally want - regardless how much I've wanted it.
I've seen others lie, cheat, and manipulate their partners - and although in some cases the ends have justified the means (for them), they never will for me.

I'd like to think I'm loyal and honest. I'm not above telling a white lie to protect someone, but if someone asks me something straight up, I'm going to give them an answer. Even if they don't want to hear it. It's a double edged sword, but most people appreciate it.

I speak my mind. When I'm upset, or concerned I tackle issues, even if it seems stupid. More often than not, people are clear on how I view things I'm passionate about. I pick my battles, and I'm not short on stubbornness when push comes to shove.

I have faith in the goodness of others. I'm not naive to believe every one on this earth is good, but I look to a persons heart, and I'm not often fooled.

Most of the time I'm a very positive person. Although it may not always seem the case in what I write here, there is a balance to my life. Perhaps I should write about more positive stuff - but I just tend to live the happy stuff instead :)

I've always been an independent soul. I love people, but I can also be alone. So many people in this world fear that - but through independence I've come to know myself; my worth, and better yet I have continued to grow as I question myself. I treat my friends as individuals as well - partners, husbands or wives do not exist in my world; If I am your friend it is because of you, and you alone.

It's not about money.

After six years as a prisoner of Colombia's rebels, the former presidential candidate rushed on to the plane that brought her children from France and threw her arms around Lorenzo, 19, and Melanie, 22.

"They're my babies. They're my pride and my reason for living, my light, my moon, my stars," Betancourt said, holding their heads close as they planted kisses on her cheeks.

Betancourt emerged with a pallid complexion from years under the forest canopy, but she beamed as she stood arm-in-arm with her children.

"Nirvana, paradise - that must be very similar to what I feel at this moment," said Betancourt, 46. "It's like being born again."

From the New Zealand Herald.

Why Science Fiction is cool

Science Fiction is an existential metaphor that allows us to tell stories about the human condition. Issac Asimov once said; individual Science Fiction stories may seem as trivial as ever to the blinder critics and philosophers of today, but the core of Science Fiction, its essence has become crucial to our salvation, if we are to be saved at all.
Scene from Stargate SG-1 - Episode 200

It's a stretch somedays

..and explaining the chasm between the extremes of your musical choices can be tricky :)
From

To

And finally


“Part of being sane, is being a little bit crazy.” - Janet Long

No Pressure Folks!!!!

Please feel free to waste some time - PLEASE [*1]



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Something Moody this way Comes

Some days you'd be better off staying in bed. Like today, perhaps?
By 11 am I'd already told one of my workmates to "Go get Fucked" (with meaning, I should add).
If you were to ask any of my close friends if this was typical behaviour, they would hopefully come to my defense with a resounding NO.
So much of what I write here is honest. I believe that to be aware of ones motivations, anger, frustration, is better than to bury it all and hope for the best.
So with all this introspection, it comes as a complete surprise that I should get upset for no definable reason; even more confused to think it may be a myriad of smaller vectors.
I haven't even scratched the surface.
Butterflies beating their wings in some far land reining down chaos on my day are infinitely more reassuring than simply feeling better after lunch; I'd hate to think all of this PMS'ing came down to just having low frakking blood sugar.

Some of this might be good

Hunter S Thompson on the feelings of optimism in the late 60's

There was madness in any direction, at any hour. If not across the Bay, then up the Golden Gate or down 101 to Los Altos or La Honda. . . . You could strike sparks anywhere. There was a fantastic universal sense that whatever we were doing was right, that we were winning. . . .And that, I think, was the handle—that sense of inevitable victory over the forces of Old and Evil. Not in any mean or military sense; we didn’t need that. Our energy would simply prevail. There was no point in fighting—on our side or theirs. We had all the momentum; we were riding the crest of a high and beautiful wave. . . .

[It never lasted - Thompson continued on...]

So now, less than five years later, you can go up on a steep hill in Las Vegas and look West, and with the right kind of eyes you can almost see the high-water mark—that place where the wave finally broke and rolled back.

From Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas

We are so sensitive!

In response to Writer Girls review of "The Butterfly and the Diving Bell".

I found the Dirty Dozen very emotional - and I've since discovered I'm not the only one!



Talk about sniffing in unison!

20:20 Vision

Twenty things I wish I did in the last twenty years

Saved 10% of my salary since 1986
Brought a house
Asked NFG to marry me
Believed in myself more
Embrace what i couldn't change about myself
Changed my job at least twice
Pushed myself
Accepted less crap from others
Expected more
Drunk less
Inhaled
Was less judgmental
More open minded
Felt the fear and did it anyway
Cut my losses more quickly
Made more mistakes
Bent or broke the rules
Lived the moment while I was in it
Damned the consequences
Make a difference


The concern is not so much how many I can still do, but how many I can actually make myself do in the time I have left here.

Chickenshit is a word - right?

Insider

Best heard live, this duet by Tom Petty and Stevie Nicks is lovely, yet bittersweet.
I love the live version on the "Pack up the Plantation" CD. This clip's audio is a little too sterile, especially given the story being told.

You've got a dangerous background
And everything you've dreamed of
Yeah you're the Dark Angel
It don't show when you break up
And I'm the one who oughta know
I'm the one left in the dust
Yeah I'm the broken hearted fool
Who was never quite enough

Where the Day takes You

Haven't heard this for years.
Before the Commitments there was Phil Lynott.

The I's have it

I'm writing while listening to this clip.

I am thinking it's partially about infatuation.
I have learned that this is not necessarily a good thing.
I understand that some people may prefer a challenge to a sure thing.
and
I wonder if anything else is enough.

Haiku Moment #2

Just as the clock struck 4pm, the rain began to fall.
I was already at the rear exit door, ready to escape the office for the 10 meter walk to my car. After the first step, the drops fell harder; I should have turned back then; hindsight is 20:20 'though.
Six paces later the rain was setting up a suppression fire around the car park. People were diving for cover, as the torrents lashed down on their targets. Water ran like blood over the asphalt. Mother nature, her thirst unquenchable, unleashed hell: it started to hail.
On the mad dash to my car I came across two fallen comrades in the car park, fishing for a dropped set of keys under a storm water grate. Irony was at work here too. I moved on without regard - a man possessed; no time to save the lives of keys long lost to the will of nature; they were dead - they just didn't know it yet*.
A mere 10 seconds later I had made it to the safety of my car - I had survived another day.

I can cope with being wet: living in Dunedin most of my life has cured me of any potential Ombrophobic tendencies, but the one thing I cant stand is wet feet.
Thirty minutes later, squishing loudly (and sadly), I walked from my garage to the living room, I retired my shoes to the hot water cupboard for a few hours, knowing later that evening I had to go back to work.

People - I would like to try and convey some of the joy I experienced when I put those shoes back on later that evening. I'd like to, but I doubt I'd be able to do justice to the emotion. My only wish is that you too can one day experience this moment of nirvana - try it soon.

Perhaps on a cold winters morning, when the still bedroom air seems to assault you at every turn as you attempt to start a new day, grab those shoes from their warm resting spot. Warm shoes on one's feet can create a smile that takes some beating, even after the hell of a thunderstorm.

* No news on the keys yet - will keep you posted.

Rock of Ages

Question: Is it better to burn out that to fade away?

Pre Rick Allen's Accident

I've been thinking about Def Leppard a lot lately.
OK - You can stop laughing right now!

If you stop to think of the other music around the 80's, Def Leppards' music actually hasn't dated too horrifically, at least compared to the other dross we were inflicted with back then.
Those who led the charge with critical musical passion may have started with Bauhaus or Shakespeare's Sister, but quickly strayed to Michael Bolton, Milli Vanilli, and Wet Wet Wet whilst dating. Yes - Many fine men were lost, some perhaps, never recovered .... (not thinking of anyone in particular, ya understand?)
The 80's were indeed a troubled time musically - sure you could struggle through with The Stones or Led Zep on your turntable, but listening to Uriah Heap or Motorhead didn't get you laid. Come to think of it - it probably still doesn't.

While the local AM (Yes - AM!!!!) radio station pumped out such classics a Centerfold by the J. Geils Band, or Let's Hear it for the Boy by who the fuck cares (I still shudder with that memory) - finding a more rockier sound was harder than you'd first believe. You could go the New Romantic route, and face it, most of us did - but lets just forget that ever happened OK?

So - In the meantime a little album by Def Leppard called Hysteria sold shit-loads of Cassettes and CD's in New Zealand . I recall being in Wanaka over the Christmas it was released , playing Animal on a minuscule battery powered ghetto blaster in the back of my Capri, all this because CD players weren't really about then.

Years later I still listen to this album - maybe not the syrupy tracks like "Love Bites" or "Throw some Sugar on Me", but "Dogs of War" still rates highly, as do a few other tracks.

And lest we forget, back in the day, if a guy just happened to be a bit of a bogan, and he just wanted to show a sensitive side to his bogan girlfriend, (in the faint hope she's throw him a shag) there was always this track.




If you think I'm still taking the piss, take a listen to this. Just goes to show you, although we all get older, our talents still remain.

Always a Browncoat

[Don't worry if you don't get this post - just follow its example]

There are a lot of things I should be more upset about. The fact that I even take time to dwell on these pettier emotions, shows that I have far too much time on my hands for this angst.


I mean - why do I get so upset when I see yet another "Director's Cut" of Bladerunner at the DVD store. Is it perhaps, because I have to sit through yet another reinterpretation of the story?

I wonder, when the night finally takes me, as I lie down to sleep -
Is Harrison Ford's much hated monologue intact ?
Will we find out - definatively - if he is really a replicant ?
Will I actually see more through the light, mist, and atmosphere in this version, and if I do, will it actually make sense?
I wonder these things before I drift off - because, years on, I believe Harrison probably wonders as well.
How many times oh Lord - How many times?


Donnie Darko has also been re-released with commentary from Kevin Smith and director Richard Kelly. With music originally intended for the film, but initially cost prohibitively denied, it just happens to be missing the brilliant cast commentary from the original release, especially around "Sparkle Motion" and Mary "Stands with Fists" McDonald. Trust me - get the early version.
I might be able to save you - but not I.... I have two copies.


Serenity director Joss Weaton has released a Directors cut that I've also purchased. It's probably the same version as the old one that I gave to Writer Girl, but I so desperately want Fox to sanction another movie, I'd buy more copies if I thought it would make a difference. Jewel Staite mentioned recently that Joss was getting the Firefly cast back together for the comments track on the Blu Ray version of Serenity. A Blu Ray fucking version - OMFG! I don't even have a Blu Ray player - but if Fox are ever going to sanction that movie...

Actually- come to think about it - just don't talk to me about Firefly - everyone I know who's watched that show left wanting more. Years later, in yet another interview, Jewel Staite still rates Kaylee as her favourite character. (sigh).

Still - all these wishes and frustrations are a blissful refrain from a potential boredom waiting just around the corner. Be different - embrace that, that makes you you. Embrace that, that makes you different. In a world where conformity is an easy, yet strangely unobtainable option, our uniqueness is all that we truly own.
Don't give it up without a fight, and just for a change, take some time to admire people who live their lives on the outskirts of the herd; even if they aren't treading the same path you are.
They are, after all, kindred spirits.

A B-side guide to life

Friends and liars
Don't wait for me
Cause I'll get on
All by myself
Put millions of miles
Under my heels
And still too close to you
I feel

Yeah right

So - a flirtatious email surfaced inside my work in-box yesterday.
Is there anything more stupid than dating someone you work with?
Someone younger than the (1/2 your age + 8) year calculation, allows for.

Yep - Upon reflection I'm sure that it's a great idea.

I just wanted a much simpler life. Somewhere, I know someone is mocking me!

Enough already!!

Some regrets - but not many

Accepting things I can't change has always been an issue for me.

I could learn to live with it all, if life didn't have a habit of fucking with me by continually dumping new and varied crap for me to deal with.
Life in its infinite wisdom may have been trying telling me something for some time, but like most people I'm loathe to listen to things I don't want to hear.

I may elaborate at a later date, but not before first assuring friends and family they don't have to stage an intervention. One of the worst things about writing personal stuff here is that too many friends and family drop by to see how I'm going. In some respect a degree of anonymity would be a welcome change. That's why I admire Fish and Dooce so much; they put it out there for the world to see day after day, and they just don't seem to care. Lately I've been holding back, and because of that I'm starting to feel like I'm not moving forward here. Don't get me wrong This is ALL my fault - and I will have to deal with it sooner or later. Knowing me - it will be later - always later. :)

I read somewhere - "You never learn anything while you're talking". An interesting statement, and although it's one thing to listen; when you don't quite understand the language, those lessons can take time to learn.

One thing I have come to realise is that making ones luck isn't something you can do retrospectively. I'm guessing at least in that respect, I'm correct.

Redemption?

Take it easy on me - ok?

Sometimes my musical tastes are extremely eclectic.




I feel the need to justify this, I really do - it's just that I cant find the words.
Please forgive me, but on the off chance that you like it too - it will have to be our dirty little secret - OK?

It's not like its a Celine Dion fetish people!

Other things Mama said

After reading Jacie's last post :)

Social Lepers

Setting: Three guys stand around a work desk discussing the early stages of beard growth.

[fade in]

Mark to Jase: "You had an impressive beard going there for a while Jase."
Jase: "Thanks, although it drove me mad when it got to that itchy phase"
Mark: "Yeah - I cant get past that - eventually I have to shave"
Sam: "It's quite prickly though - right"
Jase: "Actually it's quite soft"
Sam: "What about your partners? Don't they mind?"
Mark: "Well I'm single - so it doesn't really matter"
Jase: "I'm single as well, so it's the same for me"
Sam (English as second language): " Oh.. I'm sorry.. I didnt mean to mention your...(searching for word)... inadequacy"
Jase:"(silence)"
Mark: " It's OK Sam - really"
Jase: "Yeah - It's fine"
Sam: (nods head - oblivious)

[fade to black]

Our McCarthyism

The following email appeared in my mailbox today. I wonder in the future, upon reflection, if historians will view polictical correctness the same way that they do McCarthyism from the 40's and 50's. I believe it's gone too far, and sooner or later there will be a backlash....

The following is the winning entry from an annual contest at Texas A & M University calling for the most appropriate definition of a contemporary term.
This year's term was 'Political Correctness'. The winner wrote:

'Political Correctness is a doctrine, fostered by a delusional, illogical minority, and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a turd by the clean end.'

Where for art thou Eric?

First off - I refuse to apologize for the 80's. I know part of me feels I should, but I can't:)

I'm sure in the years to come the 70's parties I once went to will morph into parties revolving around the excess of the 80's. Party goers will, no doubt, be heading off with knitted ties, leather boots, black lipstick ,rounding the whole thing off with massive shoulder pads - and that'll be just the boys!

Don't forget - the 80's may be remembered for their excesses, but they also brought us some amazing music. Ushering in the 80's were The Clash with London Calling; it's wasn't all Duran Duran, and the Style Council, although people in general tend to remember the bands that pushed the envelope of (lack of) style I guess.
In the early 80's Pink Floyd released their concept album The Wall, Springsteen released The River, and a little known group of schoolmates from Dublin won a battle of the bands contest to record and album for CBS called Three. CBS passed on the band, and U2 signed with Island Records; the rest is history.

Band Aid came and went - I still remember the Queen set on that day. They were amazing. Live8 was an unfortunate attempt to capture some small part of the spirit of that original day - It was obvious the original audience wasn't going to get what they wanted as too much had changed in the years since; all that promise - had come to nothing.

Other bands that I personally remember making their mark in the 80's include;
The Cure, Depeche Mode, Queen, Guns and Roses, REM, The Pretenders, AC/DC, and strangely, the B52's....

Sure, Duran Duran were a self indulgent guilty pleasure. Robert Palmer was very possibly simply irresistible, and Michael Jackson may have thrilled us by taking off this sunglasses at the Grammy's.
and..
a lot of British pop involved cardigans and crappy music videos but don't forget US pop consisted, in the main, of guys with huge hair, leather and makeup singing Girls Girls Girls (or variants thereof) ,

but...

though it all was an optimism that seems to be sadly lacking today. I miss the boom days of the 80's occasionally - just occasionally mind, and never for long.

Now, there's a whole genre of artists talking about get'n rich or die'n try'n. But those same guys are actually making a pretty good living off samples ripped from those same 80's songs, so I guess thats some kind of justice.

We children of the 80's may have had a hand in the way the world is today, but I'm not sure that the youth of today, given the same economic environment, wouldn't have made the same life choices we did. Personally, looking back though, I wish I'd paid more attention to the gold, and less on the glitter.

That and girls, obviously.

Guest Post

I received this email today, and after getting Writer Girl's permission I have posted it. Rest assured I am looking into a suitable excuse for not having posted on Eric Carmen before now. At this stage I'm having trouble just picking one out of the multitude.

[Post starts]

I am concerned how Eric Carmen appears to be overlooked in your blog and by extension your music collection.
Please see:-



Observe the sartorial daring of the man: his exploding head, tangerine makeup, shiny gold lame leopard print jacket with shoulder-pads (any of those adjectives would be enough indictment in themselves, never mind all together), the vest, the braces, the drainpipes and white sneakers. Wait for the dancers who re-enact highlights from 'Dirty Dancing' on stage.

You can thank me in person.

[Post ends]

Sap Alert Part 2

Says too much really.

My point is this.

If I ask you not to think about dark chocolate, what is the first thing you think of ?
Yes, this isn't a trick - the answer is invariably dark chocolate.

I read a story once, where a naturally gifted pianist, with no musical training or influence listened (illegally) to a recording of Bach supplied by a fan. Because he knew it was (in the context of this story) illegal to listen to any others musical compositions, he tried to hide the fact he had heard the tune. Even though the concept of the structure of Bach as an artist was completely alien to him, (as were all other types of traditional music for that matter) he was eventually found out by those who uphold the law; not because they discovered the hidden recording, but because all shades of his music afterward that time were lacking in their Bach-ness.

His genius and musical purity, once praised from afar, were now corrupted, and so in this perfect world, it was deemed he could no longer play music again.

There may be no point to this post; or perhaps, just perhaps, this is just another case of dark chocolate. I'll leave it for you to decide.


P.S. The photo, I borrowed from here. I just that I love her smile; we should all smile this well :)

Why volume controls should go to 11

Wanna Rock?

Remember how your head (and hair) moved back and forward in time with the music as you stood (or perhaps pogo'd) near the front row of a rock concert - before there were mosh pits even!
I remember you - you were there; fists pounding the air; the power, the passion, and a smile you couldn't remove from your face if you tried?

For your listening please; The Cult of Personality by Living Colour.
Listen, but only....only if you still wanna rock :)

Original Video here at Sony BMG's YouTube site. I cant embed it - yet I can link to it - go figure :(

Addicted

Why is it you cant be addicted to something thats good for you ?

I ask this because I've been wondering if there shouldn't be some balance for the word "addicted". You know what I mean; some good to balance to all the nasty things we all can fall prey to.
And I'm not just talking the hard stuff here; what about Chocolate Cake, Coca Cola, and other sugary treats. It's bollocks really isn't it ? When was the last time you heard someone was addicted to Bran? Yet "they" have to have it every morning right? Hmmm braaaaannn.
I believe it's time to take back addiction from the bad, to remove the stigma of having an addictive tendencies.

I'm addicted; yep you heard me right. Maybe not to bran - lets face it - NEVER to Bran actually, but I've been making a list lately. And it's getting larger every day.

Just today I added a two new items.

1) "V" - Yep, but before you jump in and tell me each bottle has like 20 teaspoons of sugar in it, I'm talking the sugar free variety. God - when I first tried the sugar free variant after giving up the sugared up version i was struck by its HORRIDness. But determined, I stuck with it - determined to get past the vile taste to get to that sugar free goodness. It took a while but now it seems i always have 4 small cans in my fridge lurking - less energy than diet coke mind - take that you sugar Nazi's !!! Addicted and I don't care.

2) Massage therapy at the mall.
Yeah - not the "You want extra's" kinda place. Nice and safe in plain sight at the mall. When you saunter in and ask for a massage that's what you get. Not one of those deals where they place hot stones on your back either. Nope - this is a mans massage - at the mall you get to keep your clothes on as they work out those knots and sprains after a stressful day in front of your office PC drinking caffeinated drinks, and doing lines of coke. All above board - nothing to see here - just keep moving along folks.

And no - I don't miss the sugary goodness. As much as the Green Party might try to ban things that taste sweet as well (yes - they believe we need to rid our craving of sweet things in general) - I don't miss the sugary goodness. Honest I don't....

Sure - I may look the other way when they take away my sugar, I might even look at my feet when they ban chocolately loveliness from the work vending machine; but when they take my caffeine..... IF they take my caffeine - well that's another story entirely buddy. Thats when the revolution will start my friends.

[Disclaimer: this post may have been written whilst under the influence of a sugar free caffeine product]

Dinosaurs

It doesn't surprise me that the music industry is hurting. You just have to take a look at who are running the RIANZ. These guys don't make music, they make money, and lately their stock is falling. So, guess what do the these type of guys do do when they see their cash cow slip though their oily grasp? They legislate.

There is a young woman in spectacles and an orange wig dancing around her bedroom doing an out-of-tune spoof of the song "YMCA", complete with arm-waving and expletive-riddled lyrics. Nothing out of the ordinary there, then, because of course, this is YouTube.

The song is actually pretty funny, and decent satire.

It's called "DMCA", after the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, the US law that enshrines some of the rules websites such as YouTube must abide by if they don't want to get sued by the owners of copyrighted material posted by their users.

Viacom has launched a $1bn claim for damages over all those copyrighted clips, 150,000 of them, watched over 1.5 billion times, according to its lawsuit.

The problem here is a distinct lack of innovation. Anyone who visits this site cant help but notice all the Youtube clips. Here I share my musical tastes with others. I broadcast my love of music to those who drop by, and if people who come here are interested in an artist, maybe they'll go out and buy a CD or two: except in increasing numbers - they don't.

More and more people are bypassing the CD shops at the mall in favour of iTunes or downloads from their mobile phones. You know it's time to get out of the music retail business when The Warehouse is New Zealands biggest physical seller of CD's, and the largest digital download source in New Zealand is Vodafone New Zealand.
The final step in this mess has to be the eradication of the middle man, whose love of music seems not so much in its creation, but more with its destruction. The sooner artists bypass the recording companies, and fast track their music to digital downloaders, the sooner we wont have to worry about buying a platter of aluminium that costs up to $32 dollars - especially when that platter costs less than $2 to make and box.
So in the end we lose and the artists lose.
Support Youtube - advertise the music, share music with your friends, in the hope that it won't die out entirely on the world stage. By putting the music back into the hands of the fans, we can truly listen to what we want to, rather than to what's on some radio stations play list. And that's an innovation I'd love to champion.

This wont last long

I have sometimes been blessed in the ability to see bad relationships for what they are, and have ended ended them with good reason. I'm equally blessed, in that those I've dated have also had the same wisdom and ended relationships with me as well.:)
The end seems to justify the means - and I reluctantly admit, looking back, I am a better person for the experience.

This song is a rare posting indeed - and I suspect it wont be around for long before it gets removed. Although it doesn't necessarily subscribe to my life accurately, some of it fits a little too close for comfort. Plus it's a nice bit of 80's cynicism :)

Switchfoot

I'll never understand why on one hand I'm told I give good advice to others, yet I refuse to follow it myself. Would it kill me to look past the forest and the trees?
This all wouldn't matter so much, if I didnt find myself asking the same questions year after year.
Like, in this video clip, I always seem to ask myself, is this who I want to be?....
In a world where we choose our direction - are our decisions always the right ones for us?



By the way check out the person who created this - she's an amazing artist :)

One you must watch

This movie, I would die defending. Pleasantville is one classic flick.



If you have seen it, and wish to relive it again in 5 minutes click on the Youtube link below. For those of you who would prefer to watch the movie - spoiler free, avoid - please. You'll thank me for it later.

Five Movies I shouldnt like

...but I do....

So, in no particular order - here are five (of many) films I know I shouldn't admit to liking;

1) Elektra.

Not sure if it's Jennifer Garner in red leather, or the fact she's a kick arse assassin - OR she almost gets killed during a lesbian kiss. Perhaps it's all of the above. A guilty pleasure that doesn't bore with repeated viewings - honest!!


2) The Core

Oscar winner Hillary Swank (a heroines name if ever there was one) travels to the center of the earth in a ship made of a material that actually gets stronger with increasing pressure - in an almost futile attempt to restart the rotation of the earths molten core. Plus they get saved by whales dude!
"All right, sweethearts, what are you waiting for? Breakfast in bed? Another glorious day in the corps! A day in the Marine Core is like a day on the farm. Every meal's a banquet! Every paycheck a fortune! Every formation a parade! I LOVE the Core!" - oops wrong movie :)


3) Cars

I kiddies film for sure - but I get that lump in my throat every time Lightning McQueen stops himself just short of winning - just to go back and push "The King" across the finish line, and by doing so giving up the piston cup for a more noble prize - sportsmanship.


4) Natural Born Killers
This film polarizes people - I love what Oliver Stone is trying to say here. Sure it glorifies violence, but if you delve a little deeper it's a damning examination of the medias "If it bleeds it leads" mentally. Hate this film, and I believe you're missing a very important warning on where we are heading as a society. Plus they really regretted killing that Indian guy while they were high.


5) The Cutting Edge.

D.B Sweeney stars as a washed up ice hockey star who takes up figure skating with an impossible partner (Moira Kelly) in a bid to win an Olympic gold medal. Chosen here not only because of it's high cheese factor, but because the two actors in question met on this film and remain good friends to this day; proving once and for all what a sap I am.

Mojo missing

Don't know where - don't know why, but it's missing.

Will add to this tomorrow, in the hope that a new episode of Battlestar Galactica, to be delivered on Friday, raises ones spirits somewhat.
Lost are the words that propel me though the waters of seasonal affective disorder, delivering me onto the shores of disinterest, from the seas of complacency. Perhaps, just perhaps there is a resort and a bar tab. Tis a lot to ask for, but for today I am demanding it seems.
As Picard said "make it so"

About bloody time

We ask them to travel to foreign shores, to kill for the greater good, only to deny them recognition and later hide information that impacts not only on them but their families.
Later - we apologize, but it is enough, and can we ensure it never happens again?

Full story here;

At the Manurewa RSA, five not-so-old-soldiers gather around a table to explain why they are calling a truce. There is not a celebratory beer in sight.

Like 3500 other Vietnam veterans, they came home in the late 60s and early 70s to begin the war at home. They returned to a country which didn't want to know about Vietnam.

They were not welcomed back - unlike earlier conflicts, there were few parades before flag-waving crowds. Instead they were spat at, abused and punched by protesters who knew little of what they'd been through.

"We were ordered to march down Queen St and the public told us we were a bunch of arseholes," says Ken McKee Wright, a career soldier who spent six months in Vietnam in 1967.

They were left to fend for themselves by a system which didn't recognise post-traumatic stress. They were shunned by many RSAs because the Government had not declared war.

Then they started dying....

.....When Garry O'Neill went home to Christchurch he would walk home from Burnham base in battle dress with his ribbons on. One evening he was walking with a female friend whose brother had been wounded in combat when a woman came up and spat on him.

"I just recoiled but Devon took it to heart and dropped her."

Most soldiers resorted to changing into civilian clothes off base to avoid confrontation.

Early last year, O'Neill lost a daughter to breast cancer.

He remains dismayed at the narrow range of conditions, in veterans and their children, recognised as due to the chemicals absorbed in Vietnam.

Yet, he says: "Some positive things have been done. It's going in the right direction."

What hurts Zac Harris most is the denials. In the 1980s, veterans' children were being born with deformities including spina bifida and their parents were spending thousands on health care. Other veterans were dying young.

"At that time they were denying we were in the spray zone.

"The evidence was in Defence headquarters all along.

"I remember Helen Clark on TV saying I don't know what these Vietnam vets are groaning about - they all volunteered.

"I nearly smashed my TV."

I dunno but

[Disclaimer - the person I am thinking about, doesn't visit here.]

Why is it, we're all so quick to take sides when it comes to people? Why do we take so little time to make our minds up about people when we meet them for the first time?
OK - when we first meet people we can't help but form an opinion - I imagine that it's some kind of fight or flight complex - maybe from some junk DNA that still works, and by doing so, we make a stand on whether we trust them or not.
The issue I have with all this is that this whole thing has evolved (or devolved) to a point where people dislike each other because of perceived misunderstandings; I don't like them because they did that, or said this. I just wish people looked beyond the superficial, and into the other persons heart. Are they a good person? Do they mean well?
Socially, we're not all at the same place. Some people lack the niceties of polite society - sometimes they... hell, all of us .... can get it wrong. All I'm saying is, a closer look may be in order, before sending another lovely person to Coventry.

Taking off the rose coloured spec's

Contrary to popular opinion the 80's were a dire time indeed :)

How to deal with Nihilists

Dipshit with a 9 toed woman - classic stuff from the Cohen brothers.

All uses of the f word dedicated to Writer Girl.

Then and Now

I loved Cold Chisel back in the day - though I never saw them live. They were a powerhouse of rock, with a few ballads thrown into the mix.



Later, after the booze and drugs, the talent remains. It's a shame there's such a thin line between the two.