Some people are having problems believing the seagulls in Finding Nemo were saying “Mine!”. Apart from issues surrounding the operation of the human ear, some have ignored the evidence of how seagulls behave and the context of the dialogue. One person insisted that since they’re Australian seagulls, they must be saying “Mate!”. Yup, ‘cos Australians ... [More]
Category: Culture
TV, movies, music, that kind of thing
I didn’t watch the life expectancy survey thing on Channel 7 last Sunday, though I see a minute or two while channel-flicking. It was showing reams of statistics, read out by an unseen host whose voice I thought I recognised, but who didn’t appear on-screen so I could work out if I was right or ... [More]
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Must… resist… online… shopping…
The problem with shopping on the Net on UK web sites is that prices in pounds make everything sound so cheap. So it was hard to resist the lure of three movies I kinda sorta wanted, at 8.97, 8.97 and 6.97 each. Bargains, every one! No, wait, that’s UKP, dammit. Multiply by three, pretty much. ... [More]
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The party shirt
Friday night DVD: School Of Rock. Not at all deep, and obviously a Jack Black post-High-Fidelity star vehicle, but very funny, very enjoyable. I rang the bank to ask what happened with my alarm clock points reward thing I ordered. The lady told me it would take up to 28 days to arrive. TWENTY EIGHT ... [More]
Categories
Did we get fooled again?
Last night I found myself watching some of the Concert For NYC, in particular The Who’s performance. I’m still not going to splurge out on their forthcoming concert (dubbed rather cruelly by one friend as “Who’s left?”). But this four song performance from 2001 is great music. And remembering it in context, very moving, a ... [More]
The problems with going to the movies at Chadstone on a Friday night are: There is no parking on the “entertainment precinct” side of the centre at 8pm on a Friday. Well that is, there are plenty of parking spaces, but every one of them is taken. There are, of course, no buses running. Oh, ... [More]
Crisis on Friday night when a certain girlfriend lost her handbag. It hasn’t shown up yet either. Perhaps the taxi driver liked the look of the two books contained within. And the glasses. Finally watched Bowling For Columbine. I can’t think of much to say about it than probably hasn’t been said before. I’ll just ... [More]
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Virtual cleanup
Recently I was looking through a bunch of old floppy disks, having a bit of a cleanup, and found a bunch of old favourite sound files, which I thought I’d share. Most of them date back to a job in 1996…
Categories
Next / tipping
Neal Stephenson’s “Snow Crash” is next on my reading list. I’ll let you know what I think of it when I’ve got beyond the first page. I ummed and ahhed about my footy tips on Friday. I tipped Geelong, then on reading the paper I changed my mind and tipped Brisbane. Then I pondered if ... [More]
Once Upon a Time in the Midlands (DVD). Some good acting (Robert Carlyle is rarely not), some funny moments (particularly Ricky Tomlinson), some poignant moments. But ultimately there was something lacking in this movie, and I don’t think it was just because some of the dialects weren’t quite intelligible. For instance, after the punch-up at ... [More]
The experiment… well I stood and sat around at Flinders Street for about an hour all up, reading and re-reading the MX, and kept looking out for smokers. Not many about as it happens. Met up with the photographer at 6pm, and stood and sat around a bit more, posing for the camera. Flash, flash, ... [More]
Categories
Instant reviews
The Crow Road (Iain Banks). I just finished reading this. The ending nicely tied up the story, and it was a great read. I think for me one of the signs of a great writer is that Banks was able to throw up thoughts and concepts along the way that most would consider are thought-provoking ... [More]