I'm sure i'm not the only one who's noticed that society, like Bugs Bunny, failed to take a left at Albakerky. From music to news to television it seems the pop culture jumped some tracks and i'm just not sure where is happened or what to do about it. But alas, i've started this discussion in the middle without proper background information.

If you were in a western country in the 90s you probably remember the Spice Girls (if you don't click the link). They were hailed as "Girl Power"! Parents all over the world suddenly worried that their daughters would turn into raging hormone driven monsters because the girls dressed in skin tight shorts and showed off their mid-driffs. The songs themselves often promoted friendship with girl friends above romantic relationships and keeping close to your friends.

Flash forward to today and the Pussy Cat Dolls are being dobbed as the new Girl Power group. While their style of clothes (or lack there-of) could be suggested to follow on from the Spice Girls, their lyrics can't. Many lyrics suggest that sex is the important claim of a woman. She puts her lust above others and seems to care nothing for other women. How this is empowering for girls or even women as a group, i'm not really sure.

News is not part of pop culture. Or at least it shouldn't be. 12 years ago OJ Simpson was tried for the murder of his wife and suddenly, the news takes on a whole new content! News was meant to feature stories that affected a large portion of people. Now we are flooded with how sad Paris Hilton feels now that she got stuck in jail. We could fill up hours of news if we gave this much "news" time to regular Joe Blows.

But i suppose if i'm honest, i'm not really worried about the lack of a turn in pop culture. I'm more concerned with how little resistance this new phase of pop has. I don't think its because we're apathetic to our current trends, but rather the fact we embrace this new place. We like seeing Paris in the news much more than the war or politics because, lets be honest, the war and politics can be depressing. Watching Paris 'get it' for drunk driving is easier to watch. Her life doesn't really affect our lives and thus, we can easily pass judgement (for or against) her without too many reprocussions.

This is the paragraph where i wrap up all the interesting parts of this with a eye opening idea as to why or how we continue to celebrate this new culture we've made for ourselves. But the truth is that i don't have an eye opening insight. It could be that we've grown tired of seeing so much death and "seriousness" on television that we've moved away to things that are easily enjoyable. Maybe the cultural and economic gap is widening and pop culture is being used as a signal that our society is pulling apart. Maybe this was just the obvious next step in the progression of society....maybe.....maybe

top 5 actors

In a shameless attempt to actually post something on my blog, i've devised a top five actors who are worth watching. i feel i should define "worth watching". Worth Watching refers to their ablity to craft a believable character that is fun and interesting to watch.


5. Liam Neeson

Status: Sold soul to Hollywood for a title role in Star Wars...(somewhat forgivable)
Great Characters: Jean Valjean, Oskar Schindler, Daniel,
Why he's goood: He brings an earthy sort of feel to his characters. You actually believe you might bump into one of them on the street.

4. Kevin Kline

Status: Pure actor
Great Characters:Otto, Luc Teyssier, Nick Bottom
Why he's goood: He manages to create unique characters for each movie is in. He also seems to be able to distingish (for the most part) between a quality film and a quality paycheck.

3. Edward Norton

Status: Unknown. he's scheduled to play the Hulk. If he does, he sells out.
Great Characters: The Narrator, Monty Brogan, Brian Finn, Aaron Stampler
Why he's goood: His nice guys are good, his bad guys are terrifyingly believable. (anyone remember the stutterer from Primal Fear?)

2. Christian Bale-

Status: Soul sold to Hollywood when he stared in the movie Batman Begins
Great Characters: Cowboy, John Preson, Alfred Borden
Why he's goood: He has the ability to change accents subtly to fit any character. I have never known him to use the same accent on two characters.

1. Johnny Depp

Status:
sold his soul to the big hollywood scene when he filmed Pirates of the Carribean
Great characters:
Edward Scissorhands, Ichabod Crane, James Matthew Barrie, and even Jack Sparrow.
Why he's goood:
He flaws his characters in ways that are believable and yet intice you to want to understand the person more. The flaws are often believably exaggerated, so that the audience can laugh at the character while still recognizing the flaw as realistic.

Super Hero

As in all the stories, super hero help comes when the going gets really tough. Then the super heroes can be found. Turns out Australia has its own Super Hero squad. Bowen Tonkes and Kye Ullman found that they too were big enough to make a difference during the clean up efferts.

Flooding in NSW

Driving home from Tuggarah, we encountered a lot of water

It didn't really get better the further we drove

Hubby kept himself busy by taking pictures as i drove.

The next day, Avondale College was swimming. This picture was taken from the security gate.

Faithful readers

If you, like myself, come here often to read new and interesting posts but have found that it has been kind of slow lately, i aplologize. My ghost writer went missing a few days ago and it's been all i could do to figure out what to place on the blog.

Thus, i'm leaving the thinking until after i make the cookies and will be back to blogging as soon as possible.

Hugs and kisses

KrisdaVix

Don't say it

In the English language there are hundreds of words that are considered to be "bad" words. I'm sure you can think of a few now that would likely cause you a bit of trouble if you said them to a client or to your parents. Uttering these words will not make the world fall apart, nor will these words conjure up a demon that eats your eyeballs. So what defines them as "bad"?

In short, society...specifically the one you are living in. If i use the phrase "bloody hell" in front of my grandmother-in-law, i should be prepared to kiss my ears goodbye because i am in for a discussion about how "bloody" is really unacceptable language for a christian to use. If i use the same phrase to my father he won't blink an eye. Yet if i say the word "fuck", I'll likely get my face hit for using such 'strong language'.

The words and phrases that are socially acceptable to use seem to cause more hurt though. "you're only trouble" can have infinitely more negative impact than uttering an 'f' word. "You don't really know who you are" can be more damaging than a brick falling on your head, and feel just about as good.

Why aren't these sentences deemed "unacceptable" for social speaking? Can we really be so callus that a verbal asterisk is more of a concern than the sentence it comes in?

tv money

I admit that i am not at all up with the latest trends. It is often that i do not stumble upon the latest rage til long after the limelight has faded. Thus is the case with my newest favourite TV series;Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel.

Most of my love of these two TV shows comes from the genius of the writer/creator Joss Whedon. He has a style that is smooth and easy to follow, yet complicated enough that you don't feel like you're being fed pulp. He also has a terrific grasp of the feminine power and of metaphors.

The sad part about this is that i have come to the party 10 years too late. While i eagerly enjoy watching the shows, they do not play on television anymore. Thus I'm forced to either watch it off the net (lots of streamed TV is online) or buy the series at the store.

I am not apposed to purchasing my television shows. i realise that in order for the TV i enjoy to air, i must be willing to put money towards it. Yet, i can't help but feel I'm being ripped off when i go to the store to purchase the entire TV series of Buffy. Best price I've found for Buffy: $350. Forgive me for feeling that is a steep price to pay. $70 dollars per series...which accounts to about $4 per episode. It just feels like a lot of work and money for something i could have gotten at home for free if I'd taped it.

My other option is view it online. This is apparently highly unethical because I'm steeling money from the TV studios. They don't like me watching the same show for free if they aren't getting paid for it. If they air it on the TV, they get commercial profits. If it gets streamed online, they get nothing...BECAUSE THEY DON'T DO IT THEMSELVES!

Most places online that you can watch TV. also have advertisements. They can come as part of the video file, or as part of the website that you visit. If TV studios would open up their own website for viewing their old TV series, i would gladly go to them. I would even pay a monthly fee for access to their archives of streamed TV shows.

So I guess what i really want is for studios to allow me to watch TV on my computer without going to a store to buy it. Is that really so much to ask?

to illustrate

click pic to enlarge

copyright me

Has anyone noticed the rate at which intellectual copyright is increasing? People seem hung up on the idea that as soon as the world figures out how special they are they (the world) will be willing to pay for the specialness. Our consumer society has taught us that everything is for sale...and everything has a price.

The current price of intellectual copyright is that we can not collaborate. If i have an idea that is based off of your, my idea is useless unless i get permission to use your idea first. If can not afford to pay for the use of your idea, my idea is unusable. The world might have less poverty, less crime, or more comforts, but because someone can make money off the initial idea, none of this will ever happen.

My frustration is not that people desire to be recognised for their ideas. My frustration comes from our greed. The need to make money off of every thing, no matter how small or great.

Even i am not immune to this shameless market. (You'll notice i have Google ads on my sidebar.) In the event that the Internet suddenly finds me massively appealing, i should be set to make a windfall...until that time, I'll make three cents a year.

The problem with this is that i have cheapened what i have to say. I have lessened our ability to communicate freely. Thus, in protest of this selfish market, i will be removing the Google ads tomorrow. (I'll leave them up for the day so that you can say goodbye)

MJ Dance moves

Step 1. Find a pair of low grip shoes you could try to do it in your socks to start off with.

Step 2. Make sure that the ground you use to practise to moonwalk on is also not too grippy, try and find a polished floor.

Step 3. Stand with both feet close to each other, left foot slightly ahead of the right (toes of right should be in line with half the left foot)

Step 4. Now raise the heel of the right foot so that you are standing on the front of the right foot as if you are taking a step. The left foot must stay where it is (take care not to move it).

Step 5. As you lower the heel of the right foot, lean all your weight on the right foot, and drag back the left foot to so that its toes are in line with the heel of the right foot. The left foot's heel must be slightly off the ground at this stage. As you drag back, do not push down on the left foot at all or it will not glide. Make sure as you lower the heel of the right foot (slowly) the left moves at an equal speed. This will need lots of practice to master the right speed.

Step 6. Keep practicing up to the above steps until you can make the movement subconsciously without any difficulty.

Step 7. Once you have mastered that, "kick" outwards with the left foot, but although not quite touching the ground, make it look as if it is touching. Move it out a foot-size's worth away from the toes of the right. No part of the left foot should be raised higher than another.

Step 8. After you make your left foot move so it is at the starting position, lift up the heel once more of the right foot. Make sure the left leg is bent at the knee. Now repeat step 5. Keep practicing until you have the whole thing figured out, and it has been verified by others, and you feel quite comfortable with it. You should eventually get that gravity-defying effect and you'll MoonWalk like the pro.

Step 9. Once you've figured it out for the right leg bending, switch legs, and try the same with the other foot. Lift heel of left, lower left as you glide right back. Left still on the ground, throw out right foot, lift up heel of left foot, and once again drag right foot back as left heel is lowered.

source

lets talk

so um....[awkward silence] ....

what do you want to talk about?

My 5 Rules on blogging

5. Find something that interests me, then share it with the internet

4. Make sure the post has some form of illustration

3. Site the sourse somewhere in the post

2. Try to encourage discussion

1. Don't make it too personal

blogger rage

Although the following rant relates to nothing we have discuessed over the last few weeks, i feel i must say something about this.

Hunting is a sport that, while i don't like it, i'm not against it. That is to say, i'm not against hunting animals in the right season and that are not protected by laws. I don't have any moral objecting to the death of animals that pose a threat to the human community around them. But i DO have an objection to killing an incredibly unique creature just to say that you've killed it.

In the case of Jamison Stone, the 11 year old boy who killed a wild boar meassuring 2.7 meters (9 feet 4 inches) long and weighing in at 476 kg(1,051 pounds), i've got a problem. It is the biggest boar that we have a record of EVER and we've just killed it. Now i realise that he probably didn't realise it was the biggest on record, but i know he knew it was the biggest he'd ever seen. It was bigger than anyone in his hunting party had ever seen. So in order to say that he'd done it, they killed it.

Then in order to take it out of the woods, "trees had to be cut down and a backhoe brought in to bring Jamison's prize out of the woods".

Yes, i know that the pig was found on hunting ground. And yes i know it was in season...but does our nature really ask for us to kill just because we can?

Once more with feeling

I know that i've technically already wrapped up music week, but i thought i'd add just one more thing to this week. It is not a new artist, nor new songs....it is one of the tracks to the musical episode of Buffy. I thought those Buffy fans would enjoy it, and those who aren't, would get a bit of a giggle out of it...

Walk through the fire- from Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Last day

On this, the last day of music week, i felt that there was several more artists i wanted to share with you. So i have decided to narrow my list of ten thousand to two.

The first is Thirsty Merc. They are a band from Melbourne (Australia). They have a hit and miss history, with many of their songs being aclaimed for lyrics or music, but rarely both at the same time. Their unique sound qualifies them for the honour of being featured. Unfortunately, the song i was hoping to share with you was not available in the visial relmn. Therefore, i've chosen an older song call "Emancipate Myself".



The second musical group i'd like to share is Powderfinger. Like Thirsty Merc, they are not a new group to the musical scene, but they also do not have international stardom. (thank goodness!) Their music video to the song Sunsets is still one of my favourites. It tells an anime story. If you'd like to have a look, you can click this link and see the video. ENjoy!

By request

Thanks to Becky for requesting Daniel Powter.

Daniel found recognition through commercial air play rather than radio. His song "bad day" appeared as a coca-cola advertisement in Europe before it went on to be used be American Idol. Origonally from Canada, this pop singer grew to fame around the world before his hit song was ever even released in his home country. So here for you enjoyment is "BAD DAY" by Daniel Powter.

Wednesday Double

Today we're going to be doing a second group, called THE CAT EMPIRE! They are a Melbourne (australia) band with a ska, rock sound. The first video is probably a song you've heard before: Hello Hello!




THis video may not be one your familiar with. THe style of it is amazing thus, i felt it needed to be featured. The Chariot

John Butler Trio

The John Butler Trio was formed in 2001 with three members. It originally started as a busking band in Perth, but was soon brought into clubs and then later, John started Jarrah Records with the band The Waifs. Their band style is unique, which caused many studios to be waring of signing them for fear they would be too "Indy" for mainstream listeners.

When Jarrah Records produced The John Butler Trio's records, many people would not have guessed its success in both Indy and mainstream music. It is for this reason that they get a mention in this weeks Music blogs.

Missy Higgins

While Missy probably isn't a "new" artist, she definately deserves a mention here for her ablity to create songs that speak to the soul of her audience. In Apirl 2005 she released the song "the Special Two" which brought her into the Australian limelight. Her newest single is called "Steer". Not only is the song full of lyrics that ring real, the music video is well produced and well writeen. So without further ado, Missy HIggins' video Steer:

Music week

This week we're kickin' off MUSIC WEEK. The idea of music week is to discuss music. I'll post music related blogs and i hope you tell me what you think of various different artists. My aim is to expose new (probably just to me) artists that have really cool music. So if you'r a music enthusist. This is the week for you.

OH YEAH! and if you've got ideas of bands/artists you think i need to cover this week...be sure to email me!

First artist up: Kate Miller-Heidke

Words

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Thats all folks

Today is the last day of Secrets week. Being that we brought this week in with a song, i thought we would finish it the same way. Thank you to everyone who participated and contemplated.

more secrets

Anonymous said...

i make out with my best friend after chirch.0+ 0+

Anonymous said...

i sometimes fantasize about the death of my dad... and then i feel better.

Secret places

Go online and you can find a mirriad of ways to share and vent secrets. Some places allow you to do it in visual form, other places are more like forums. Yet other places are all your own. A blog for example allows you to vent your fustration to vitual strangers. The problem with this form is that sometimes your friends will read it and then, no more secret.

I once had a secret blog where i told the world how much i hated the grey areas of my Christian expirience. After getting quite a bit of feedback from strangers, i realised that what i really wanted was not to vent, but to change. I wanted my christian expirience to be much different. Having a place to vent was special to me...but i wanted more.

I wonder if that is a product of my society? Wanting more, i mean. My western world allows for almost non-stop consumption of everything. Food, entertainment, sex (usually in the shape of pornography), 'Stuff'. Yet, no matter how much i have, there is always a desire for more.

I guess sharing secrets taps into my desire for 'more'. In a way, secrets are a spiritual salve. They make me feel more comfortable with who i am. I find that through the sharing of secrets, i realise i am not that different from you. In fact, we share more in common that i could ever realise. The balance i must walk is allowing myself to recognise our similarities, move past them and connect with the real world. In this virtual forum i can begin to feal the slave working, but my wounds will not heal here. I must move away from the soft comfort of knowledge and back into the bright daylight of reality. Because it is only in the daylight that my secret wounds are healed.

The Secret Conversation

Anonymous said...

i have lots of secrets, but the most profound one that no one would even guess of me is that i suffered post pardum depression so badly that i thought i was going crazy.
im also very confused but i wouldnt tell anyone

kris said...

why not? is there no one in your life that would understand/accept that? i truely hope your able to find a way thru it!

Anonymous said...

I think it has to do with being 'strong enough'. i had had PPD before and it was very difficult to acknowlege my depression to myself. to me it ment i wasnt a good enough mom i guess. the only person that KNEW about it was my husband...he was like DUH. but everyone else was clueless because i always put a smile on my face no matter what...even if i was crying inside for NO reason

A Secret Shared

Anonymous said...

I am angry more often then i am happy

Anonymous said...

My secret is that i can't stand the person i'm turning into...

Anonymous said...

My secret: every time I go for a walk, I assume I'll be raped.

Anonymous said...

My secret: I'm afraid I'll die alone and a failure, regretting my entire life. But I'm too afraid to make friends, take risks, or change the things I know I'll regret someday.

secret thoughts

To welcome you to secrets week. Here is a video about secrets that women might think during dating.

Leave Secrets Here

I'm inviting people to share their secrets on this page. There is no word limit (although there is a paragraph limit...as in no more than 3 or 4 paragraphs). You are not censored and you can use what ever kind of language you feel comfortable using.

If you'd prefer to use a digital image, you can send them to me at
Please label your emails with the subject wierd secrets.

From Monday, i'll be posting secrets that have been sent to me or posted in the comment boxes.

naked secrets

Secrets are all over the net. They are popping up in all sorts of places. If you Google "Post Secrets" in the image search, you'll come up with over a millions secrets.

Frank Warren was the creator of the Post Secrets website and books. His original idea was for an art exhibition. He is now the megaphone of the silent, secret world.

Posting secrets for an entire world to read, can be invigorating, its also quite disheartening. Is there no other place to share your secrets? is friends and family not close enough?

I love reading the newest secret every week...but it always makes me wonder when I'll be brave enough to share mine with my family and friends...

Buy your drugs here!

The deadly illness of HIV/AIDS is prevalent in many poor countries. From Africa, to India, to Thailand, the illness spreads. Drug Companies are doing their best to combat this with (surprise) drugs. They are doing a good job too. The drugs actually do what they are supposed to do and save the life of the person taking them.

Unfortunately, getting the drugs can be expensive for many countries. The cost of the drug itself is not the only problem. There is the added problem of importing them into the country. The cost of transporting, plus the cost of the import/export tax can be quite a hard on a country whose average person earns less than a few dollars a day.

Thailand has come up with a solution that is helpful for their country, but pisses off the western countries. They have decided to break copyright law on these drugs and sell them to their citizens cheaper. Western countries have criticised this move because they claim the money only lines the pockets of the politicians. They further claim that Thailand had the option of getting these drugs for free through Global Fund (a Switzerland based program), they chose not to, thus proving that they only want the money for themselves.

Now I'm not a biochemist, nor an economist. But if i were running a country, i could see good business cents in making a knock-off drug in my own country, selling it to my own people and keeping the profits WITHIN the country.

I mean, at the end of the day, this seems to be asking whose pockets do i want lined with money?....

protect your children!

Before i really get into my rant here, let me just remind everyone i have no children. This should allow you to see my wisdom in this matter immediately.

An article came out today about the Disney channel accidently showing pornography instead of children's programming. The man who was interviewed about it was quite agahst that his five year old child should see something so "disgusting".

It never ceases to amuse me the lengths parents go to, to keep their children from knowing or seeing sex. The child may be able to watch violent movies, watch some guy get hit in the groin, but aposolutely NO sex is allowed in any context.

Now i'm not suggesting that parents allow their kids to watch X rated videos...but maybe a little more thought should be put into what sort of viewing is acceptable.

With any luck, a child will grow into an adult and have sex. With even more luck, they will never kill someone or be forced to watch a (real life) violent crime. By encouraging children to watch voilence on games or on screen, we inadvertantly condone crimes and condemn sex.

Is this the message we really want children to get?

The truth is out there

It was two days ago that i learned of my brother's death. He was killed with blunt force trauma to the heart. The killer never knew him, and by all understanding, never wished to know him.

The killer used a weapon that is used in many of these cases. He used words. He used words that went straight to the heart of my brother, causing pain that the killer seemed completely oblivious to. The pain was not caused by the 'truth' of these words but by underlying meaning that was there. The meaning was simply this "you are not good enough now. And you never have been and you never will be. No matter what you do, you will always be a failure in my eyes".

The pain that this caused was so great that my brother's heart broke. I know that he will never be the same man he was.

Rest in peace little brother. Second life is hard but rewarding.

TOP FIVE REASONS TO AVOID WORK

5. Reading the news helps keep you informed about what is happening in the world. It helps to make you a better citizen of it!

4. Email, myspace, and blogs all must be checked and updated. It is a must that you keep in contact with friends. If you don't you may not have the proper network available when you need it.

3.Web comics need to be read so that you can help uplift other co-workers when they feel down. It is a proven fact that workers work better if they are feeling good. It is your job to help them have a good laugh!

2.The contemplation of one's navel is a time honoured tradition. It is a tradition that has been passed down from generation to generation. To avoid or dismiss this tradition would be to slap your heritage in the face!

1. If you complete this task before you, there will only be another one waiting.

can you do this?

scary funnies

Gory, gory Hallelujah

Is it just me or does gory films seem to be on the way back?

I've never liked the gory, horror genre. (I dislike my own blood. I can hardly bare to watch someone else's leak all over the big screen)

The phenomenon of gory films was described by a friend as "bloody porn". In other words, films that feature a lot of blood and guts for the sheer pleasure of the audience. He listed off a few films that have come out in Australia that he felt had done this.

Saw III
Hostel
Grindhouse

I recently noticed that some of the genre's of film i enjoy most have started to incorporate the 'gore' aspect into them as well. For instance the adult fantasy film "Pan's Labyrinth" featured gore in many of the 'real life' scenes.

Why are these gore scenes so popular? Does anyone have any ideas?

guns guns guns!

The USA is bent on keeping guns in the hands of whomever want them. They are so strong on this belief that they lay down their lives for it (literally). In the space of about two weeks, they have had three gun related public incidents that have resulted deaths. The first was the tragic happenings at a University, it was followed by the strange incident at NASA, and finally today, was the open fire in a shopping mall.

The Christian community have always been adamant that their members must be willing to lay down their lives for personal beliefs. The belief that guns (of pretty much any make and model) are to be available to the average person is a strong belief in America. Almost as much as the belief of a Christian god.

Its has become a disturbing thought that one day these two beliefs could become intertwined.

The belief that guns should not be taken away from the individual is juxtaposed with the tighter laws on freedom of speech, right to assembly, and personal privacy. It seems that America is willing to trade all their rights as long as they get to keep their guns. For some reason the belief in guns to protect the individual far outweighs any fear of them.

am i the only one who feels a bit confused?

Does this make anyone else feel sad?

Although Whaling in the Faroe Island need for has been a standard practice for many many years and it is accepted by the International Whaling Commission, i can't help but feel a bit sad at this picture. The lined up, disembowelment of these creatures makes me wonder about the human's need for symmetry even in death.

more evidence

Remember yesterday when i commented that the world had gone mad? Today more evidence has emerged.

In the US, Canada, Australia, and Europe (sorry to lump them all together but my fingers were beginning to get sore) there is a strange phenomenon called a "Blond". A Blond is not distinguished by hair colour but rather by a state of mind. All the knowledge that is normally stored in the brain has been bleached out (hence blond) and replaced by an unknown substance hereby referred to as 'uh, i don't, like, get it".

These strange people (often females) will walk around with small dogs, small shirts, and legs and wonder aloud why tuna tastes like chicken. It was believed that this phenomenon was only observed in the western style countries, but apparently the problem has spread.

Japanese women (and maybe a few men) have been swindled out of $1600 when they believed they had bought poodles. They had in fact bought sheep. There has been cases of couples taking their 'poodle' to have its nails cut only to find it had no nails only hooves. It was then they became suspicious that they might have accidentally bought a sheep instead of a poodle.

Apparently a sheep is a substitute for style!

p.s. This has been proven to be untrue. A fabrication of the media. Who knew they made this kind of stuff up!! click here for more details.

its a mad mad mad mad world

Okay, officially the world has gone mad! here are my top 5 pieces of evidence.

5. Barbie now can be bought with a dog who actually does his business for Barbie to clean up

4. Teachers purify students with Cow Urine!

3. You can now watch your local area get infected with the same disease your carrying from the ease of your own home.

2.Apparently Happy Meals now comes with condoms.

1. TV reality has been taken to a whole new existence with the search for the next great politician. Apparently whichever politician doesn't get stoned to death by the public gets to be the next president:P

See what i mean??

All box and no chocolate

A friend of mine;s blog made an observation about life being all box but no chocolate. The blog came a few hours after watching an episode of Buffy called, Lie to Me.

At the end of the episode Buffy asks her watcher if life is more simple as you grow up. He asks what she wants him to say and she responds, "lie to me". He responds thus:

Yes. It's terribly simple. The good guys are always stalwart and true. The bad guys are easily distinguished by their pointy horns or black hats, and we always defeat them and save the day. No one ever dies... and everyone lives happily ever after.

It is a simple truth that life can and will be difficult at times. But i'm afraid that as of yet, i still believe that even if the box does not hold chocolate, it is still a box and there is something of facination inside.

Shower Time...(say it like you'd say 'Hammer Time!')

No matter where you live, water is an important resources. We would all find ourselves in an uncomfortable death if we were to suddenly find its absence.

So it is with this in mind that i share some water saving tunes for your shower. These songs are all meant to get your day started with a song and keep your water usage to a minimum. The idea is that you play the song as you get into the shower, and get out when the song finishes. (by the way, these songs were stolen from here)

1. Friday On My Mind: The Easybeats (length 2:47, litres 25)
"This one speaks for itself."

2. Rain: Dragon (length 3:39, litres 33)
"We need more of it."

3. Cigarettes Will Kill You: Ben Lee (length 3:50, litres 35)
"The line 'I wish everyone was wrong' kind of sums up where the climate change debate is at."

4. Roll On: The Living End (length 3:08, litres 28)
"Loud and raucous with a social conscience."

5. To Her Door: Paul Kelly (length 3:18, litres 30)
"A classic from an artist who captures Australia better than most."

6. Success: The Winnie Coopers (length 3:19, litres 30)
"Fantastic home-grown hip-hop."

7. Everyday Formula: Regurgitator (length 2:11, litres 20)
"One of the finest Aussie bands of recent years, and clever songwriters."

8. Don't Panic: Coldplay (length 2:17, litres 21)
"We certainly do live in a beautiful world."

9. Desire: U2 (length 2:59, litres 27)
"Passionate rock from one of the world's great bands."

10. Straight Lines: Silverchair (length 4:18, litres 39)
"This one's just over four minutes, but you can use that time to start brushing your teeth."

Gun control and me

Having grown up in America, I know that the gun control issue is HOT. No one likes the idea of more legislation on gun ownership (they feel that it takes away their freedoms granted in their constitution), yet many people agree that something must be done to prevent the mass deaths of students (which seem to be the main target of late).

There are a few things that make me uneasy about this though.

1.) The general public are willing to fight tooth and nail for their right to own a personal semi-automatic hand gun, but don't find it neccissary to fight as hard for their right of free speach or their right to assemble.

2.) The media cover gun deaths only when they range higher than 3 at a time...and even that is beginning to become less common. If the media (everywhere) were to cover the gun related deaths of every single person from their country, I wonder if we might become a little bit more aware of the power we wield over life.

3. the government seems to back the idea of a 'safer' America with less or no immigrants. Suggesting that the only danger America ever faces is from outside. Maybe they should take down their welcome on the Statue of Liberty then...

("Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me.
I lift my lamp beside the golden door.")

The irony is that Americans are developing a reputation outside their country as gun-toting-christian terrorists. The idea that 'all america owns guns' is so prominate, i have many friends who have no wish to ever travel to America for fear they will be shot! "After all", they say, "I'm not white or Christian, they might mistake me for a target".

top 10 things that bug me

10. Television shows that blatantly support the ideology of public fear

9. People who drive 20 K under the speed limit

8. Laundry that piles up

7. False or 'misleading' information

6. Singers who keep putting out trashy songs about nothing

5. general ethos' of death

4. lack of support from your 'supporters'

3The USA university shooting that has law makers favouring tougher action on immigrants rather than gun control.

2. Christian media

1. that i didn't update my blog for two days!

The real News

After a mere 25 years on the planet, i'm sure i've seen a fair amount of heavily biased media. It's so true that the mainstream media that is pumped through our televisions and radios are funded by big business or government that have a vested interested in making sure that the information we hear and see suits their interests. I found out today that there is a website that is starting an independent news site....should be interesting...

The tops from Melbourne Comedy Gala

If you like stand up comedy, the following clips are for you.

Objectifying men

I received a lot of interest in my comments from yesterday. Many emails were sent to me suggesting various ways to objectify men. But one country went beyond mere suggestions and went straight to implementation.

Apparently a new town in China is being constructed that women will rule supreme in. The town motto goes like this:

A woman never makes a mistake, a man must not refuse a woman's request

If that doesn't bring a smile to every woman's face, nothing but town men spanking will.