Word on the street is that if you want to see any movies, do so this weekend, because by the following weekend they’ll have all been swept away by blanket screenings of the bloody Da Vinci Code. On the train, which do you think there’s more of? Dan Brown books, or iPods? Dan Brown books ... [More]
Category: Culture
TV, movies, music, that kind of thing
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Should they be told?
Brant Webb and Todd Russell, trapped down in that mine in Beaconsfield, Tasmania, have been talking to their rescuers as the final stage of digging commences. “So we are trying to talk to them about things that they can relate to, and things we can keep on an even keel and keep their spirits steady. ... [More]
Saw a guy on the train with an old-style portable CD player. ‘Cos, you know, digital music from real CDs have a warmth that MP3/AAC on iPods just can’t match… Watched WarGames again the other night. As Marita commented, no wonder geeks like it — geeks get to save the world. (Though they almost destroyed ... [More]
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You’re right
“Sorry.” “No; you’re right.” I’m not sure where I picked it up, but it seems to be a new speech pattern that’s entered the language that makes much more sense than the higher-profile “Yeah, no, yeah.” If someone says sorry, but it’s for something they really shouldn’t be apologising for, I won’t say “That’s okay”, ... [More]
Ah, Good Friday. It seems like ages since I’ve been able to sleep in, then laze about the house in my pyjamas. Shortly I’ll watch the vid of last night’s West Wing, then maybe, maybe I’ll consider having a shower and shave and getting dressed. But no rush. I’ve decided, by the way, that the ... [More]
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High-visibility jackets
It used to be just construction workers that wore high-visibility tops. Now they adorn police on traffic duty, tram/train customer service people, cyclists, truck drivers, builders, couriers, and so on. They do make a person more visible (spectacularly so at night), even if they do little else. Railway industry people wryly observe that some of ... [More]
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Should Daniel sell-out?
Daniel wears Glo-Weave shirts. He shops at Safeway. He loves Weetbix for breakfast, and always includes Leggo tomato paste in his spag bol. A while back I decided to play around with Google ads on a few pages: Here, here and on Geekrant.org. To my utter surprise, it’s now earning US$5-9 per month. Which is ... [More]
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Doctor Hugo
The Doctor Who stories “Dalek”, “Father’s Day” and “The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances” make up three of the seven nominees for this year’s Hugo Award for best dramatic presentation (short form). Oddly, the Wallace & Gromit movie got nominated in the long form section. The Hugos are for sci-fi and fantasy, which I suppose covers ... [More]
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Just buy the CD, old man
Tickets for the Ben Harper concert have suffered from a similar fate as Belle & Sebastian: The concert is on a “school night” plus expensive at $79.95 plus booking fee equals Stuff it, just buy the CD, old man. (And wait to see if they schedule a second concert on a better night.)
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Personal branding
Speaking of branding, what about personal branding, eg your name? Perhaps in the western world it’s not really an issue for most men, though I was born Daniel Quinlem, changing to my mother’s maiden name, Bowen, when she divorced. I have the option of changing back, but don’t really want to, partly because it’s hard ... [More]
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Number one
For a while earlier this month one of the hot email memes going around was a Number One In History web site, though it’s been taken offline now. Happily there’s another site which is online, and even better, it can tell you the number one hits in Australia, the USA and the UK. Like many ... [More]
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Bye bye Games
Bye bye to the Commonwealth Games. I’m not normally that enthused by sport, but going to see the athletics at the MCG enthused me somewhat. I also saw the big fish thingies on the Yarra on Friday night, and enjoyed wandering amongst the big crowds. I watched some of the TV coverage, and noted that ... [More]
Goodnight and Good Luck — A dramatised version of the campaign against Joe McCarthy by 50’s CBS programme See It Now, but with so many modern parallels in today’s climate of terrorism, fundamentalism, secrecy and censorship. Beautifully shot, and compelling. My eyes didn’t waver from the screen for the full 90 minutes. On a couple ... [More]
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GO KERRYN!
Australia’s Kerryn McCann says she was prepared to be beaten in the women’s marathon, until she heard the roar of the MCG crowd. — The Age Such a thrilling thing I haven’t seen in a long time. She didn’t know it, but 76,500 of us in the MCG were watching her progress against Hellen Cherono ... [More]
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Music meme
Tagged by Rae: Seven songs I am listening to right now and a lyric or two that sounds good New Mistake, by Jellyfish — I have no idea what this song is about, but I like it. Got hooked on this band after seeing the music video for it (which is just as confusing) on ... [More]
So the other week I opened up the Good Weekend A2 (Saturday newspaper colour magazine). I ask you, does the world really need another profile of Barry Humphries? I’m not asking for him to go and die or anything, and I find Dame Edna as amusing as the next person, but this continuing fascination for ... [More]