Hello, Dear World

5 tips for surviving long-haul flights

2011-08-17T14:42:00.015+09:00

PSA 06-_00229, originally uploaded by San Diego Air & Space Museum Archives.

Having recently returned from a trip to UK and Europe (from Perth, Western Australia), I thought I would summarise some of my tips on how to survive long haul flights.

1. Be prepared!
Here are some supplies that I have found to be useful on board long haul flights:
1) A small (<100ml) bottle of hand sanitiser.
2) A few of those moist towelette things that you get from some takeaway stores.
3) Eye mask.
4) A neck pillow.
5) A pen.
6) A double-pronged airplane headphone adaptor.
7) A pashmina scarf/shawl.
8) A very small multi-purpose moisturiser - for dry lips, hands etc.
9) A small bag of hard candies and some chewing gum.
10) Lightweight entertainment! Suggestions: an mp3 player loaded with long and interesting pod-casts/music, a small games console, a paperback, book of puzzles etc.

2. Noise reduction
A recent article on WAToday confronted the negativity that is often aimed at the parents of crying children on flights:

"Sure enough, at 35,000 feet, crying began in stereo, with two tots screaming. Dads passed babies to mums. Mums passed babies to dads. The crying continued - two minutes, three minutes, four minutes. One baby finally quieted but the other, a girl about 18 months old, kept up the wail, arching her back, screaming her misery. Passengers started staring at the mother. They ruffled their newspapers. Turned up their overhead fans. Blasted the volume on their headphones. Anything to make the noise go away."

On my recent flight (from London to Kuala Lumpur) I was seated right next to several families with young children (several of which were crying and screaming for long periods). Was I annoyed or irritated? No! The reason? I always bring two things on ANY flight: ear plugs, and "isolation" headphones (which I use simulaneously). The exact type of headphones that I used was: "Direct Impact, Extreme Isolation". Although the isolation headphones are rather bulky (and need careful storage during travel so as to avoid damage), they are just excellent for reducing noise during flights. Even without screaming babies or chatty teens, the sheer noise from the engines is enough to exert a stressful influence on the ears. Being able to block this can greatly improve your ability to survive any flight with minimal psychological and physiological impact. I have found that with the ear-plug, headphones combo, I don't even need to play music to block out most sounds. Whilst watching a movie or listening to music, the blocking-out effect is absolute,...what bliss!

3. Drugs
I don't want to give you the wrong impression here. I do not advocate prolonged or excessive use of any drug (legal or illegal) as I believe when it comes to drugs and the human body, less is best! Although I prefer not to overload my liver in the long-term, I can hardly ignore the beneficial and useful phsyiological effects of drugs in the short-term. Antihistamines, naprogesic, paracetamol,.. ahh blessed be those little magic little pills for the relief that you deliver! With a little bit of help, the right combination can turn the unbearable eternity of long-haul flights into a fleeting blur. In my cabin bag I take a small stash of: paracetamol, ginger capsules and sleeping pills (in my case, temazepam). The ginger capsules work like gold on motion sickness, settling the stomach and battling any pangs of nausea. And I can't speak highly enough of using sleeping pills to get through a night on a plane. They are only recommended when you have longer than 8 hours on board. Although I did not sleep continually for the whole 8 hours, time passed very quickly and I was continually shocked upon checking my watch to find that 2-3 hours had passed in what felt like a 30 minute nap. Sleeping pills are also good for reducing the physical discomfort of sitting in the same position for hours at a time. You do have to be disciplined with sleeping pills though, and make sure that you don't use them upon returning home as they can be addictive and highly disruptive to natural sleeping patterns.

4. Clothing and hygiene
Aeroplane cabins are notoriously chilly. Even if the weather is sunny and warm at your departure and destination,... you should always be prepared for <20 celsius temperatures on board. This may not be an issue for the more thick-skinned, but if you are in any way sensitive to the cold, be warned! On my recent flights I wore leggings and a long-sleeve cardigan under a winter jacket. At times the cabin warmed up and I could lose the jacket,... but I am very glad I had the leggings. One thing I always try to do for a flight, is to put on an absolutely fresh and clean set of clothes before leaving for the airport. This can be hard when you are travelling and laundry facilities are hard to come by, but wearing clean underwear, socks etc really helped me last the extra mile. In the past, when I did not do this, by the time I reached my destination I felt super gross, like I would on a Sunday morning after a big night out; hungover, nauseous, with that somewhat clammy feeling of being still dressed in the clothes from the night before. This is not a great feeling! I also recommend bringing a toothbrush and toothpaste and brushing your teeth at the airport before boarding, for similar reasons. I also believe that being clean also helps get through immigration and customs!? Apparently having a beard or looking stubbly can cause problems for male passengers passing as they disembark. Bizarre I know, but I have seriously been told this by several male friends.

5. Manners and courtesy
I know this sounds obvious to many, but some passengers do not seem to realise that by they can actually improve their own flight experience by extending good manners to those around them. Aeroplane flights are like a macrocosm of karmic retribution. Smile and thank all air attendants as they check your boarding pass and direct you to your seat. Pay attention to the lifejacket demonstration even if you have seen it a million times before. You cannot anticipate what needs you may have during the flight,... what if you become sick, what if you need to make a special request? If you have been polite and courteous to the cabin crew, then it will be much easier to call on their assistance if required. Courtesy to the other passengers around you will also go far. Make sure that none of your belongings intrude on their space. Keep your elbows from overhanging over the arm rest. Don't make too many unnecessary noises (eating very crunchy food for long periods, rustling through loud crackly plastic bags for belongings, talking or laughing at an excessive volume, using game consoles etc with the volume on). If you are waiting for another passenger to move for some reason, be patient. If they have wriggling children, try and be empathetic. By extending human decency to the people around you, you will have a much more pleasant experience. Other passengers will be more obliging and less annoyed if you need to climb over them to go to the toilet. Also, if there is ever some sort of emergency, you never know whose hands your life might be in!

Do you have any tips for surviving long distance flights?

The best albums of 2011 (so far)

2011-08-09T20:31:00.001+09:00

Here are some of my favourite albums of 2011 so far (in loose order). Yes I DO like subpop!

1. Low - C'mon

A track from the album:

2. Braids - Native Speaker

A track from the album:

3. The Antlers - Burst Apart

A track from the album:

4. Starfucker - Reptilians

A track from the album:

5. Julianna Barwick - The Magic Place

A track from the album:

6. My Morning Jacket - Circuital

A track from the album:

7. Washed Out - Within and Without

A track from the album:

8. Cape Dory - Tennis

A track from the album:

9. Papercuts - Fading Parade

A track from the album:

10. Cults - Cults

A track from the album:

Meal made from leftovers

2011-06-06T22:20:00.000+09:00

Meal made from random leftovers, originally uploaded by sleepy chan.

I only had a few random vegetables in the fridge so I made a few different salads and combined them altogether to make a passable meal.

Books I've read recently

2011-04-06T19:56:00.002+09:00

The Door Into Summer by Robert A. Heinlein

An intriguing story of suspended animation and time travel written in a wonderfully curious and sardonic tone. Recommended, 7/10.

The Man From Beyond and other stories by John Wyndham

Stories of aliens ship-wrecked on earth, space travel, alternate history, time-travelling tourists, insidious planet-threatening red goo, alien/human misunderstanding, occult horror and musings on the whereabouts of the souls of those cryogenically frozen. I LOVE John Wyndham! Some stories are stronger than others but as a whole, this is a solid compilation. Recommended, 7/10.

The Woman in the Dunes by Kobo Abe

A simple yet bizarre story of a man trapped at the bottom of a sandpit with it's female resident. A genuinely chilling and perfectly constructed existential horror. Recommended, 9/10.

Tomorrow by Philip Wylie.

A story describing the response of two small American cities to the threat and eventuality of nuclear attack. Major flaws in character development and overall tone. Not recommended 4/10.

Limitless

2011-03-25T12:29:00.002+09:00

Limitless. So this is not normally a film that I would rush out and see. But, a few friends wanted to see a movie, any movie!, preferably an ACTION movie. So, Limitless it was!

So the basic story-line is, a struggling writer gets a hold of a new, not-yet-approved super drug that him super intelligent for 8 hours or so. He finishes his book in four days, and then tackles the stock market in order to achieve supreme wealth in a matter of weeks.

With films, I have a basic test: watchable or unwatchable? I think that the line of watchable or unwatchable hovers around 2.5 out of 5 stars. Are all of the film elements of a passable level in their own right?... and do all of those film elements mesh together imperceptably to create a believable scenario that draws you in to the point where you forget about your own life, your own body sitting their in the chair, the un-eaten jar of nuts in your bag?... On this point, Limitless passes the test! I give this film a 3.5 out of 5. It's definitely above a pass, with seamlessly arty special effects, an apt sound-track, believable casting and acting.

There is also something to be said about films that are based on books. Limitless is based on a novel of the same name by British author Alan Glynn. Contrasted with other action films (that often have only limited dialogue peppered throughout expansive visual action scenes), Limitless has an intelligent and thoughtful narrative flowing throughout the entire film, adding a layer of interest for the cognitive senses.

Thematically, the film (and novel) are apt and timely; at present, smart drugs are actually starting to become available through both legal and illegal means. This film will therefore be of use to various high-school and university teachers wanting to engage students in discussion regarding the ethical complications that these sorts of drugs will have as they permeate society.

A few of the major thinking points that this film raised for me are:

1. Currently, Olympic athletes must pass drug tests in order to compete. What sort of status would smart drugs have in society in terms of regulation and control? Would aspiring students need to pass drug tests in order to entire prestigious colleges or companies? Or would these colleges and companies tolerate the use of such drugs in respect to the intellectual advantages and productive benefits that may result from usage by students or employees?

2. What kind of impact would these drugs have on society if they are only available to those who can afford/obtain the drug? How would you feel if you were applying for a job in competition with a person using a "smart drug"? Would it become necessary for you to also take the drug in order to retain competitiveness?

3. The drug portrayed in this film is an "intelligence" drug, which enables the user to fully draw on his own memory and neural pathways, recognise patterns and make accurate predictions. In my experience, however, intelligence is separate from motivation and action. It's one thing to be a high level thinker, but another to be motivated enough to do something with your intelligence. This relates to the legitimacy (or lack thereof) of judging individuals on IQ. Provided that the IQ is high enough (ie, 100), individuals have been known to achieve great things in life due to motivation and sheer tenacity. Having a genius IQ does not mean you will create genius work,... making a mark on the world usually entails a great deal of perserverance, effort and productive activity. People may take a smart drug expecting that they will suddenly shoot to the top of the ladder, but I think a lot of people make it in this world by actually putting in the hours (whether that be through research, repetition, vast productivity, or networking with the right people and entering the circle of cronyism at the top of many organisations).

At the end of the day, Limitless is very watchable; exploring interesting issues regarding the human use of performance enhancing substances; which is certainly a phenomenon that is not going away any time soon.

127 Hours - human survival at it's most extreme

2011-02-08T12:56:00.006+09:00

Last night I went to a preview screening of 127 hours at the outdoor cinema at Burswood. As I expected from reading some reviews prior, the film was excellent. All of the film elements: script, casting, acting, set, sound, music, cinematography, editing/pacing, effects etc were singularly exceptional and also perfectly gelled together.

The dynamic soundscape, bright colours, slightly raw but crisp and powerful camera-work made for a strong impact on the senses. The representation of Aron: as reckless, bold and adventurous; spontaneous, creative and unhinged; a loving son; a young man reflecting on the failures in his life; and finally, the mix of a primal, wild super-human mad-courage and a serious, calculated and desperation-driven rationality that enabled him to cut his own arm off.

The story is inspiring because many of us would not be able to do the same. Many of us would perish, pinned by the rock. It reveals the human survival instinct at its most extreme, and it serves as a reminder for all the softies out there (myself included) to toughen the $%#* up!.

I thought I'd now dedicate the rest of this blog entry to some other brave self-amputees (being, as they are, so few in numbers - at least according to Wikipedia). On the"Self-surgery: Amputation of Trapped Limbs" page of Wikipedia, there are only four other individuals mentioned other than Aron Ralston. The following text has been copied and pasted from this page (and the cited pages). Warning: not for the squeamish!

On July 20, 1993, Donald Wyman was clearing land in a remote section of Pennsylvania, as part of his work for a mining company. In the process, a tree rolled over his shin, severely breaking the leg, and pinning Wyman to the ground. He yelled for help for one whole hour, but no one came. He concluded that the only way to save his life would be to cut off his leg. So he made a tourniquet out of his shoe string and tightened it with a wrench. Then he took his pocket knife and cut through the skin, the muscle and bone just above the knee and freed himself. He crawled thirty yards to a bulldozer, drove a quarter-mile to his truck, then maneuvered the standard transmission with his good leg and a hand until he reached a farm house one-and-a-half miles away, with his leg bleeding profusely. The farmer at the house helped him get to a hospital where his life was spared.

In 1993 Bill Jeracki was fishing near St. Mary's Glacier in Colorado, when a boulder pinned his left leg. Snow was forecast and without a jacket or pack, Jeracki didn't believe he would survive the night. Fashioning a tourniquet out of his flannel shirt and using his bait knife, he cut his leg off [3] at the knee joint, using hemostats from his fishing kit to clamp the bleeding arteries.

In 2002 Doug Goodale cut off his own arm [4] at the elbow in order to survive an accident at sea. He had become caught in a winch hauling lobster pots up from the sea floor, and could not free himself. The power of the winch left him hanging over the side of the boat, unable to either free himself or clamber back aboard. Somehow he managed to haul himself back onto the deck, dislocating his shoulder in the process. However, he was still trapped in the winch, bleeding heavily, and with no way of getting free, his only option was to pick up a knife and cut through his right arm. He then managed to pilot his boat back into harbour to get medical help.

In 2003 an Australian coal miner trapped three kilometres underground by an overturned tractor cut off his own arm[5] with a box-cutting knife. The 44-year-old man, who was not identified by police, was working late at the Hunter Valley mine when the tractor tipped over, crushing his arm and trapping him.

You can't ignore MONEY

2011-02-07T12:21:00.006+09:00

If you had of asked me 7 years ago what I thought about the topics of "money", "investment", "economics" etc I probably would have said: "BORING!". I grew up in a middle-class household where money wasn't a big issue (or one that was even spoken about),... and I also found the subject slightly distasteful. I did poorly at Economics in Grade 10, I think because at the time I found it to be abstract and had no experience in its practical application.

Today I am hardly a bastion of knowledge when it comes to the subject of money/finance. Don't ask me any questions about Keynesian economics (ask Ai-Ling!). I have very little in savings, zero investments and no assets. But a few things have changed since then.

Probably the biggest thing that has changed is: I have recently noticed that, uh, the whole world is currently in a tremendously momentous period of change due to developments in global and regional management of MONEY. If you are interested in the past, present and particularly the future path of human-kind, therefore, there is absolutely no way you can ignore this subject.

A problem that I have with the subject of money, is how enormous, expansive and complex the world economy is. There is no way that I will ever understand either its entirety or all of the tiny cogs and micro-machinations that it is composed of. I am not an economist, I do not work in finance and I never plan to. So it can be hard to come to any sort of understanding, when you only dedicating perhaps 1% of your time towards it.

One video that I found really helpful was Money as Debt by Paul Grignon. The most useful part of this video, I thought, was a very simple and visual explanation of how finance came to exist. So at first people were trading gold. Carrying gold around all the time was not very practical, so people started storing their gold with other people who offered the service. These first "bankers" then issued pieces of paper stating the amount of gold that each person had deposited, which people then used as currency. Then the bankers realised that they could easily issue MORE PIECES OF PAPER than ingots of gold... because people hardly ever came and retrieved the physical gold. I learnt that in these early times, rules were developed about the ratio of "paper money" to physical gold that the bankers were allowed to "create" ie, the birth of fractional reserve banking. But of course lots of people didn't abide by these rules. I don't know the figures,... but say,... at first the ration was 4 paper units:1 gold ingot,... this later became 10000 paper units:gold ingot... something like that. Of course this is all simplified but it really helped me to understand how the world of finance was born.

I was also pretty interested to find out, that when you take out a loan, the bank
WRITES THAT MONEY INTO EXISTENCE. Ie, you ask for $400K for a home loan. The bank says: "sure thing!" and then writes $400,000 on its balance sheet. Even though the $400 is in the negative, that debt can then be "re-packaged" into some-one else's investment. So when you see those clips on the news of money being printed... and you think that's how most money comes into existence,.. it's not really true. Money is virtual!

One thing that I find really bizarre and a bit scary, is that the world of finance/the amount of "virtual" money that is created and traded in the stock-market etc is way bigger than the actual world economy. The amounts of debt just kept increasing, puffing up like a massive balloon... and now, in most places in the world this has popped/or is rapidly deflating,... taking down with it the ACTUAL economy. The balance sheets of ACTUAL companies involved in real physical products and services.

So everyone is panicking, selling their "virtual" monies and buying physical gold again,... but unfortunately that is removing a lot of the actual finance and liquidity that was required by actual businesses to go on operating.

It's a little surreal, living in Australia where large effects from the global financial crisis have yet to hit home. I look at the rest of the world and feel sad for the low-middle classes of very normal people around the world who have now had the brunt of the crash forced upon them as austerity measures such as reduction/elimination of social services, pensions, welfare, public health, education etc. I think only time will tell if Australia will suffer a similar fate...

Anyway, to sum this post up,... we are now living in a time where MONEY is the biggest player of our times. It will be extremely interesting to see how things go from here,.. we can only hope that more people will try to understand it and hopefully be able to curtail its worst abuses.

17 tips for hosting a party

2011-01-13T17:25:00.007+09:00

Paul Petrov of the Ballet Russe, backstage at the JC Williamson New Year's Eve party, Theatre Royal, Sydney, 31 December 1936 / Sam Hood, originally uploaded by State Library of New South Wales collection.

I think now, having (co)hosted at least 6 parties, I have a few things to say about hosting a successful party.

1) If some of the party will take place outside, make sure you use mosquito coils and have mosquito repellant available for the mosquito prone.

2) Supply enough chairs for two thirds / half of the guests. You don't want to have chairs for everybody, there'll be too many chairs and there'll be less "party flow". But some people will want to do some sitting down at some point. That's why I think 2/3 or 1/2 is the optimal ratio. If you are throwing a really big party though, people don't expect chairs as much. I am only talking about 30 or so people.

3) There should be no fluorescent lighting. Everyone looks terrible under fluoro and it makes you feel like you're in a meat fridge or office. Warm/soft/non-direct lighting only!!! For any lightbulbs, 60W or less and not direct! (ie, no ceiling lights, just lamps pointed upward, downward or at a wall).

4) You should have a stock of "emergency drinks" on hand. Ie, a carton of beer for the inevitable occurrence that someone will forget or run out of drinks. Add to that, some dry ginger ale, tonic water and coke, for people to mix with. Add to that, a cheap bottle of spirits.

5) People need to eat snacks if they are drinking. Due to the costs of providing emergency drinks and so-forth, at our last party I asked people to bring their own snacks. I think this worked well and nobody minded.

6) Make sure the party starts at 8pm or later. I think this is the unofficial code for: "we will not be feeding you dinner". For instance, if a party starts at 6pm then I think the host needs to feed food to the guests or at least assist in food facilitation ie, with a barbeque.

7) Have some blankets on hand for when people get cold.

8) Ask your most music obsessed friend/s to DJ/supply the music.

9) Make sure there are no dirty dishes in the sink, people might need to use the sink for preparing their drinks.

10) If you are the host, spend more time with the people you see less frequently and/or the people who don't know many other people at the party. The friends you who see regularly, you'll see them again soon, plus they know your house and can look after themself more easily.

11) Have some ridiculous decorations/something that people can play with. People enjoy novelty items.

12) Take lots of silly photos so you can more easily remember what happened.

13) Put away your valuables/things that could be broken easily.

14) Use lighting to direct flow of people. If there are any rooms/parts of the house that you don't want people to go onto, make sure all the lights in those areas are OFF. People won't really hang out in blackness.

15) Make sure there is an ample supply of toilet paper, very easily accessible in the toilet so there is no possibility of it running out, or people not being able to find it.

16) Don't go to bed until the last person leaves.

17) If someone has passed somewhere, make sure they are breathing/in a position where breathing would not be obstructed by surprise vomit.

So there you have it, Karen's guide to throwing a party. I think if I have to wrap it up in a nutshell, make sure people are physically comfortable, drinks are flowing, and there are no lights shining in their face.

Life-hacks

2011-01-10T13:12:00.002+09:00

Gosh, I can't believe I haven't blogged here since June 2010. I've decided that this year I will try and blog more regularly. So here goes!

The first topic of the year is life-hacking. If you don't know about life-hacking, just punch it into google as it's all over the internet. The concept/idea started to spread online a few years ago. Basically, people share ideas online about how to make different aspects of their life more efficient/cheap/logical/easy/stream-lined/quick/pain-less.

I am not a life-hacking fanatic, but I am interested generally in this area. I love sleeping and lazing around at home, so if there are any ways of making more time to do this, then I will try and use these.

Anyway, here are some relatively minor "life-hacks" that I am now doing regularly. Some of these probably don't really qualify as "life-hacks" but just as straight domestic sense, but anyhow.

1. Thermos Coffee to work
Late last year I started making my morning coffee at home on our cofee machine, and then bringing it to work in a small thermos. A small coffee at work costs $3.80 (even with staff discount). Drinking one coffee a day would cost $19. Fourty eight weeks of this would cost $912. The coffee beans, electricity and water costs of making my own coffee and taking it to work, I hope wouldn't be more than $200? I don't know exactly, but it's definitely much cheaper to make it yourself.

2. Work clothes laid out the night before
Ever since I started full-time work, I have always laid out my work clothes the night before. That way it only takes about one minute to get dressed in the morning.

3. Smart-rider (RFID transport pass) and work pass put together.
Using coins to catch the bus was a pain in the ass. Fumbling in my purse for my new smart-rider was a pain in the ass. But then I tucked the smart-rider in with my work pass (which I wear around my neck). I haven't lost either of them since that.

4. Sniping cheap clothes off ebay.
Sniping is using a third party website or program to automatically put in a bid on an auction item at the very last moment. Initially I thought that sniping was kind of like cheating and unfair to the other bidders. However, those bidders could also snipe as well if they wanted to. Auction sites don't mind if people snipe and at the end of the day, you only put in the price you are willing to pay anyway. If someone else put in a bid with a higher maximum price than yours, you'll lose the auction.

So what I do, is I trawl ebay for clothes in my size at the lowest possible price (including shipping). I have bought lots of nice clothes for work that would've retailed for over $50 that only cost me $0.99 + $5 shipping.

If you are to buy clothes successfully of ebay then you need to be pretty aware of your body size/shape, what fits you, and also what types of fabric you prefer. For instance, I won't buy anything that is 100% cotton because I can't stand ironing.

My only problem with buying clothes off ebay is that now I have become somewhat addicted, so I need to be a bit more careful of this in 2011.

5. Turn off the TV
About a year ago, my boyfriend and I agreed to switch off the TV and not watch it at all. I think we were getting sick of all the advertising, and were also aware of how much TV saps away your time. Over the past year I only watched about 10 minutes of Channel 7 news (I wanted to see some footage from the huge storm/flood in March 2010), and TV at other people's houses.

When I say that we don't watch TV, that only means that we don't watch any broadcast TV. Actually we still watch DVDs (currently the third season of 30 Rock), downloaded movies, and streamed programs (through ABC iview), youtube etc. The programs that we watch at the moment are:

The 7:30 Report (ABC iView online)
At The Movies (ABC iView online)
PBS News Hour (streamed through the PBS website)
The Keiser Report (streamed through RT.com)
30 Rock (on DVD)
Equals 3 by Ray William Johnston (youtube)

I think that's all we regularly watch. By not watching free-to-air TV, you only watch the shows you actually enjoy, no filler!

6. Computer in the kitchen

We had a spare computer lying around so we set it up in the kitchen with some speakers. So we can watch all of the above programs while eating dinner. It's also good to stream video and audio (TED talks, youtube lecture, podcasts, news etc) while preparing dinner or cleaning up. Grooveshark.com is great for streaming music.

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Okay that's all I've got today for you. I'm going to try and update my blog a bit more regularly on random topics from life etc from now own, so see ya soon!

Rose Heritage Cafe

2010-06-09T18:04:00.001+09:00

Arch, originally uploaded by sleepy chan.

Monday was a public holiday, so I took a Japanese friend up to the Bickley valley in the Perth hills for a bit of local tourism.

We went to: Rose Heritage Cafe (Carmel), Cosham Wines, we attempted to go to Brookside Winery and the Packing Shed but both were closed for a private function, and lastly, Piesse Brook wines. Oh I forgot, we also went to Lesmurdie falls and... Lesmurdie IGA.

This photo is from Rose Heritage Cafe. I didn't really know what to expect from this place expect that we could eat lunch there. We did indeed eat lunch there, but this was not the highlight. This place actually has an extensive nursery with about a million different species of roses, plus a few extras. They also have a "French Garden" (for which I cannot vouch authenticity), but involved a pretty awesome bed of light-fluorescent succulents (click through the image above to see my flickr stream).

This is a pretty nice place in general. I would recommend it to: tourists, guys looking for a place to take their girlfriend or wife on a surprise day-date, anyone looking for a place to take their mother or grandmother out for a scone and cup of tea, people with small children (there was a pond with a million koi fish which many small kids were entertained by), people looking for a place to get married, and lastly, people who like plants.

This day spent in the hills reminded me of the fun of being a "home tourist". Sometimes, when you get bogged down by the same old schedule, just try and become a home tourist for a day and go somewhere you've never been before. I think I'll try it more, provided I don't run out of places to go to in Perth/Perth surrounds.

Just Like Heaven

2010-05-24T17:00:00.009+09:00

Okay okay okay. I know I watch a lot of trash. Forgive me! There is a part of my heart that loves the cheesiest crap that Hollywood can deliver. Just Like Heaven, well, it was cheesy, no doubt about it. But was it trashy? Not really. It was more like a pleasant stroll in a rose garden or a lovely cup of earl-grey tea. Sweet, but somewhat unaffecting. Why did it not really affect me? Probably because I didn't buy the chemistry.

I notice a trend in some of these romantic comedies (well, in this movie, and also in The Proposal and I suppose in Suddenly 30). You have the over-achieving career-woman who works so much that they've not left any space for a personal life. Then you have the sweet, down-to-earth guy who the girl has overlooked until some kind of personal crisis delivers him to her. The girl is all righteous, self-centred and bossy and the guy just kind of puts up with it dopelybecause he has always loved her.

This is my problem with a lot of these films in this kind of post-feminist(?) film-production landscape. The leading female, as an extreme example of the single American career-woman, seems to be more of a caricature than a character. She works too hard, other people are perhaps a little afraid of her, she eats chinese take-away alone at home etc. This is the reason why I think this movie failed; Reese Witherspoon's character was based a little too completely on a stereotype and I couldn't really learn anything about her apart from the fact that she worked 20 hours a day as a doctor and drank too much coffee. When she did come into Mark Ruffalo's life (sorry I can't remember the character's name, just the actor's), she swiftly proceeded to lash out with the pussy-whip, forbidding him to talk to his next door neighbour because she answered the door wearing a crop-top, and totally ruining his night out when he simply tried to have a whisky with his friend at the pub. Geez. IF SHE WAS THAT BAD AS A GHOST (which she was at that point in the movie) HOW BAD WOULD SHE BE IN REAL LIFE? I couldn't even really believe that they were in love.

If you didn't really care or notice chemistry between characters, then this movie would be fine, but the more I think about it, the less convincing they were. If you can suspend criticism and belief for about 90 minutes though, it was all rather pleasant. Your heart-strings will be manipulated in the usual ways and you can vicariously experience elements of their newly found love for each other. If you find it hard to surrender your intellect in such films, and don't find enjoyment in the escapist ride on a side-show alley ride of romantic emotions, then you would find watching this film to be a rather pointless exercise as it makes no meaningful statement about men, women or humankind.

Can I just add as an aside though, I THINK I LOVE MARK RUFFALO.

He's a vegetarian.

Reading

2010-05-22T21:10:00.007+09:00

Wow, I've actually been reading books lately! I used to be an avid reader when I was much younger, but then life seemed to get in the way. I stopped reading novels around year 11 and 12 when I started having to analyse them for the purposes of writing essays. Then at uni, if I had time to do any reading at all, it'd be for the purposes of researching for essays. After uni, if I had any free-time it would either be taken up with going out, sleeping, or doing housework. Now it seems that I have a bit more free-time, which is good because I can finally pick up on that old pastime.

I don't like to waste time with classics, or with "books I ought to read". If I read, I like to read something that is just exactly the kind of thing I want to read about. Does that make sense? Anyway, I have always been fascinated with escape stories (and survival stories). We had this book in the house ("True Stories of Great Escapes"), which I read at some point. I must've been pretty young at the time because I couldn't really remember anything from it. My sister had taken it from the house when she moved to Melbourne, and only just gave it back to me when I visited last September. When I re-read it the other week. I'm surprised that I read such a thing at a young age, because there's lots of semi-disturbing historical escapades involving bombs, death, amputation, starvation etc. But hey, my favourite part of Reader's Digest was always Drama in Real Life where people narrowly escaped encounters with sharks, mountain lions, falls from icy cliffs etc.

There are lots of amazing stories in this book. People digging tunnels to escape from POW camps, swimming 100km over the Baltic Sea to escape from East Germany (before the wall fell). And a simply EPIC tale of a group of Russians escaping from a Siberian prison camp and walking across the GOBI DESERT and the HIMALAYAS to INDIA.

After reading the stories in this book, I contemplated on whether I would be able to survive any of the many gruelling escapes. My answer was: NO. I think if I was in most of these situations, ie walking through barren deserts of sleet with clothes made out of deer and nothing to eat but tiny slithers of old black mangy pork, I would probably end up just curling up to die. I really am a massive wuss! I don't like being too hot, being too cold or being too hungry. Maybe that's why I find these stories so impressive, that the escapees can just keep on going despite extreme hardship and discomfort. Next time I find myself suddenly out on a cold night without a jacket, or when I forget to bring a muesli bar and apple to work and have to go without a morning snack, I'll think of them and try and toughen the f$#k up!

Places I would buy/live in if I were rich

2010-05-07T17:14:00.017+09:00

You have to be rich to buy almost any house in Perth, Western Australia. I am not rich. But that doesn't stop me from appreciating nice houses on the interwebs. I think I am reconciled to the fact that I'll probably never be an owner/part-owner of a house in this city, unless the house is kinda poor. But let's ignore that, and look how beautiful this house in Lesmurdie is:

"Built by well known architect Wally Greenham in the early 1970's, this home has been fastidiously maintained and presents today as a testament and reminder of creative forces at work during this period. Wally Greenham was an important Western Australian architect who, upon graduating from the University of WA completed a study tour in Japan. This piqued an interest in Japanese architecture akin to the likes of Frank Lloyd Wright and Bruce Goff. His work has been described as being loose and experimental and as having great freedom of expression."

Here's a pic of a room in this house, and then a pic of an authentic Japanese interior.

You can really see the influence. The Japanese style really fits well with the bush setting.

I'd never tire of washing dishes with a view like that, but anyway, at a price of $990 000 which equates to $1517 a week for 30 YEARS, this aint never gonna happen.

13 Going On 30 / Suddenly 30

2010-05-03T15:58:00.009+09:00

So if you haven't noticed already, I'm a big fan of comedies/romantic comedies that involve a fantasy/time-travel element. By this, I mean either a body swap, or a "going back in time to your previous self" type plot-line. Suddenly 30 involves the "going back in time to your previous self" story line.

I'm always entertained by the different methods by which the fantasy time travel takes place. Sometimes people bang heads in a pool and switch bodies, sometimes it's a voodoo statue in an art gallery that the characters accidentally invoke. In this case, it's some glitter on top of a dolls-house that falls on the 13-year-old Jenna's (Jennifer Garner) head and magically whisks her 17 years into the future; her 30 year old self.

She's ecstatic to discover that she is now the owner of a huge shelf of shoes, and the successful editor of her favourite magazine, Poise. Apart from that, she is rather shocked to find out that her 30-year-old self is also a huge bitch with a back-stabbing best-friend and lame jock/himbo boyfriend. She rushes to track down her old best friend (played by Mark Ruffalo) and is further shocked to find out that they had a falling out in high-school when she ditched him to hang out with the popular crew, the "Six Chicks". Of course, this ex-dweeb is now this AWESOME kind of indie, very modest, down to earth photographer living in New York and Jenna is now KICKING HERSELF HARD because he's totally awesome but now engaged and she has zero chance. Actually, I was in love with his character too. Here's a photo:

* sigh * . So Jenna realises that she totally stuffed up her life by choosing popularity, fame and the bitchy road to success instead of this completely awesome guy who was right in front of her. Is it too late!? You'll have to watch in order to find out. Hahah though it's not hard to guess what happens.

In terms of this particular genre, I thought this film was pretty successful - the characters had an authentic chemistry and Jennifer Garner really played a 13 year old in a 30 year old's body quite well. Her performance made me reflect on the way some adults become; as they get older they get wrapped up in money and career and stop seeing the magic in life. Well, it's ok to care about your career, and money to some extent, but not when you lose your heart in the process. It does make you realise that we do have choices in life, but sometimes they are so gradual that they don't even feel like choices. Over-time, these tiny little "mini-choices" add up and suddenly that's your life. I think this would be a good lesson for the 13 year old girls who probably made up the majority of the audience for this film, to ignore the superficial bitches and try and just live your life with heart and authenticity.

I think if this happened to me; if some wishing dust fell on my head and I was SUDDENLY 30, I'd be like, oh ok. Hahah actually it's only 3 years away so I can't imagine life will be hugely different. I won't be the editor of a successful magazine. Actually, when I was younger I couldn't wait to be old enough to move out and live my own life. Now I'm doing that, it's harder and not as much fun as I thought it'd be. By 30 I hope I'll be better at looking after myself so that it's less stress. Going from being the youngest of 7 children (with the whole dependent/slacker/wait-and-see style of living) to self-sufficient adult has been hard. I think my challenge in life is to get above that and not get weighed down by it all, which is how I often feel these days. Work seems to suck out a lot of my energy and then I just feel like sleeping the rest of the time. If I continue like this, then I think I'll be a boring 30 year old so I should give myself a kick up the ass eh.

The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus

2010-05-02T15:14:00.001+09:00

Ok let me try and summarise the plot. If my summary is incorrect, forgive me, I'm trying to do this from memory instead of just looking on IMDB. So, Doctor Parnassus (top image) is this guy who gained immortality by promising his daughter to the devil on her 16th birthday. Her 16th birthday is fast approaching when the devil re-appears, keen for another gamble. So, Doctor Parnassus and the devil make a bet with his daughter as the wager; the winner has to "capture" five souls by her 16th birthday.

Doctor Parnassus has an "imaginarium", which is a kind of magic mirror. When someone goes through the mirror, they find themselves in their own imagination, surrounded by everything they'd ever wished for. They are then faced with a choice; of temporary, material, earthly satisfaction, or the eternal truth of life. In order to pass into the eternal/immaterial, they have to let go of their narcissism, hedonism, materialism, and their fear of death. If they choose the eternal, then Doctor Parnassus has "won" their soul, but if they choice hedonism/materialism/earthly desire, then the devil wins.

Doctor Parnassus is hopelessly struggling to attract willing participants to the Imaginarium when Tony (Heath Ledger) comes into the story. Tony revamps the stage and presentation of the show and manages to "win" several souls. As the story goes on, we realise that Tony is not who he claims to be, and the battle between dark and light is not as clear as one would imagine.

Gosh that was very hard to explain. I think it'd be best if you watched the movie for yourself and tried to make sense of it. The concept, the story and the film are all quite incredible, it's always a treat to watch something by Terry Gilliam. It reminded me a lot of Hermann Hesse's "Journey to the East" where the main character is on a long symbolic/metaphysical journey where things are not as they seem.

I tried to visualise what my imaginarium would look like. I think it would be very pretty and aesthetically perfect, I always want to be in nice surroundings. Is it bad to wish for a perfect life? Nice house to live in, nice clothes, nice friends, nice hobbies, nice family, nice partner, nice holidays, nice everything. Is it bad to wish for everything to be pleasant? Because that's what my imaginarium would be. I'd be living in a kind of amazing tree-house in a city with a perfect layout, brilliant public transport, intelligent and humane governance. I would have amazing clothes, toe-socks every day, and extremely cute pets. Then, what would be the choice I have to face? To accept things as they are instead of constantly chasing perfection? But sometimes it's better to strive for things or you go backwards. I guess the key is to strive whilst also being content with the imperfect moment? I'm not sure. I'm just thinking aloud here. Anyway, when you watch this film it'll definitely make you ponder your own imaginarium and how we create our own heaven and hell right here on earth.

The Dinner Game / Le dîner de cons (1998)

2010-04-19T13:43:00.007+09:00

A group of elite French businessmen host a weekly dinner where each of them must bring "an idiot", for the amusement of the group. Pierre Brochant's "idiot scout" finds him a premium idiot on the train, Finance Ministry employee and budding match-stick landmark replica builder François Pignon. On the day of the dinner, Brochant severely busts his back on the golf course and has to cancel on the dinner. His "idiot" Pignon is already on his way over. Hilarity ensues as Pignon manages to almost accidentally destry Brochant's whole life through a series of blundered telephone calls and cases of mistaken identity.

I didn't know this when I watched it, but the director of the film, Francis Veber, had actually originally written Le dîner de cons as a theatrical play. 95% of the film is set in Pierre's apartment, and the film moves along at a cracking pace by virtue of Pierre and François' often ridiculous dialogue.

Apart from a fleeting 87 minutes of entertainment, I didn't find much to contemplate on. What was the meaning here? That an idiot is not always an idiot? In my books, if someone can build realistic mini replica's of famous landmarks, then how can he really be an idiot? I couldn't do that. I think the essential quality of Pignon that had him defined as an "idiot" was not stupidity in itself, but a kind of lack of self-awareness whereby Pignon could not see himself as others did. Here's the formula for this kind of idiot:

1. A quirky/strange and/or obsessive hobby that sits on the border of normal and insane.
2. An innocent and earnest enthusiasm,
3. Total lack of awareness of how others see him.

In order to demonstrate this principle, let me use the example of Chocolate Rain by Tay Zonday. If you haven't seen Chocolate Rain yet, just type it into youtube and you'll see.

Why is Chocolate Rain hilarious? Well, firstly, the song really sits on the border of normal and crazy. What do I mean by this? Well, there are PLENTY of guys doing songs in such a way on youtube. That's pretty normal. BUT, why is his voice SOOO low? And the lyrics of this song? "chocolate rain"? It's not quite right is it? Secondly, Zonday seems totally earnest throughout his performance, and the interviews I've seen with him. What do I mean by earnest? Well, no irony, no intended humour. He's not trying to be cool, he truly is singing a song from the heart. Just like Pignon builds his match-stick replicas with completely and non-self-conscious, innocent enthusiasm. Lastly, it doesn't seem like Zonday can really appreciate why his video has gone viral,... because, I don't think Chocolate Rain is funny or strange to him. To him, it's an honest self expression.

I think the humour in this type of video/situation, is that Zonday is not aware of why his song is funny, which makes the song even funnier. There is a gap between the self-perception and the audience perception that really creates the humour. I have seen a lot of viral videos where this really seems to be the case. Ie, the recent barking dog man (which you will easily find on youtube). He wasn't trying to be the star of a viral video, he wasn't trying to be funny, but man, WTF. I think this is why engineered viral videos so often fail, because you can't manufacture that kind of innocent/earnest weirdo who sits on the border of weird and normal to create a song/performance that is sincere and heartfelt to the weirdo, but hilarious to everyone else. Another big example of this phenomenon is Tommy Wiseau in the 2003 film, The Room. Think about it.

Uncle Buck

2010-03-20T10:54:00.008+09:00

So, Uncle Buck is a story by John Hughes about an unmarried, fat, drinking, cigar-smoking uncle who comes to look after his brother's kids when the couple leaves town to visit the wife's father (who's just had a heart attack). The kids parents are extremely square and meal-times are tense. Then crazy ol' Uncle Buck arrives to stir things up. He swears and curses, smokes cigars indoors, makes giant pancakes, tells the daughter's nitpicking headmistress where to go, punches an alcoholic clown and threaten's the teenage daughter's boyfriend with a hatchet. My favourite scene is when he crashes a highschool party to find her and walks through with a cigar and beer in hand totally freaking out all the teens who are like, WTF who is this crazy old fat guy doing here? Basically, Uncle Buck is great because he doesn't stand for any kind of shit and he's not afraid to poke a stick in it no matter how many people it'll piss off. His honest humanity wins the kids over, and even breaks the icy wall of the teenage daughter. Society needs more Uncle Bucks.

As I was watching this movie, I constantly keep feeling, wow! That's nuts!? How the hell is he doing that??.... I think that today's society is a lot more square and regulated and you couldn't make and release Uncle Buck today. It's interesting, if you asked people if they thought society was more square or more liberal than 30 years ago, a lot of people might assume it's more liberal because of all the "sex, drugs and violence" on TV. I haven't seen any TV from the 70's but I've been told that there were totally naked people on TV all the time, and not just late at night. So, maybe there is more violence on TV today, but that doesn't exactly indicate a culturally liberal society. Yes, I definitely think that society has got more square in some ways.

Another reason why you wouldn't see this film made and released today, is due to the social climate in context of the recent "war on men". I'm not sure when it all started, but it seems that these days, the media is completely and overly obsessed with the threat of pedophilia and pedophilic porn. OK, so pedophilic porn is no good. Keep funding police programs to thwart it. So, sexual abuse of children is of course no good. Well, haven't studies shown that most sexual abuse comes from family members or those known to the family and not strangers? So, they should address that through family-centred social programs. So, why this very generalised, hyper-paranoia about men? Apparently it is hard for men nowadays who want to pursue careers child-care or early-childhood teaching without being seen as dodgy... And although we were always taught "stranger danger", I think it's really been hyped up generally over the last few years and especially towards men. Today's Uncle Buck wouldn't stand a chance. I think that's sad.

The end.

An Education

2010-03-02T17:34:00.012+09:00

I can't really describe this film that well without showing heaps of photos. The 1960's setting is brilliant. I'm really hungry right now so it's a bit hard for me to write anything more about this film (I hate cooking in summer, and I'm all out of milk so I can't even eat cereal). Let me just say that most of this film is a highschool girl's dream come true. High school is, as depicted in the film, a total drag. Most highschool boys are useless (sorry boys), and if I were Jenny (the main character in this film), I wouldn't blame her for getting swept up! Ok, that's all I can write before I faint from heat and malnutrition.

District 9

2010-02-05T12:24:00.006+09:00

Ok so here's another piece of compulsory viewing for 2009-2010. Well, compulsory only if you can handle shaky "documentary-style" camera-work and R-rated bloody alien gore. There is A LOT of alien gore.

So if you're not familiar with the storyline already,..an alien ship "washes up" on Johannesburg, South Africa, filled with hordes of malnourished extra-terrestrials. The local government sets up a refugee camp of sorts, which soon becomes an alien ghetto slum that causes all sorts of problems for the human citizens of J-burg. A tough and cheerful official is put in charge of a project to move over 1 million of these aliens to a distant location (ie, concentration camp). This is when the problems start.

Throughout the first part of the film (showing the interaction between humans and the aliens in the ghetto slum), I felt very weird inside. Partly because of the very-current refugee/ghetto situation and the cruelty aimed at the aliens. Also, because the director very successfully supplanted this very alien situation into an extremely believable contemporary reality. The first part of the film mostly uses documentary style/news footage clips, adding to the surreal believability of the scenario. This gave me a very unsettled and uneasy feeling - AWESOME,... this is what a good surreal-sci-fi/horror-type film should do. Imagine Cronenberg, add an alien-apartheid situation and put the whole thing on FAST FORWARD and then you've got District 9.

Oh, and I need to mention that the special effects are INSANE. People keep talking on about how the special effects in AVATAR changed their life. Sorry I haven't seen this film, but I reckon District 9 would stomp all over it. The director, Neill Blomkamp, worked for years as an animator... and the result is that you totally buy all the special effects. The aliens are REAL, which makes it all the more creepy. And, no 3D glasses required. Oh, and also, the story-line and dialogue are also ... really good.

Lastly, If you think you can bear the shaky camera work on a big screen, I recommend seeing this at the cinema. I watched this on our piddly TV and thought at times that it'd be heaps better with a big screen and full sound.

Up In the Air

2010-02-04T14:57:00.006+09:00

In trying to find some good movies to watch, I was browsing top films on Rotten Tomatoes. Up In the Air had like 92%, so I thought I'd give it a go. The movie ratings on Rotten Tomatoes are not always reliable. Films that I've loved, have only scored in the 50's and 60's, and then some films that I think are total bullshit have scored in the 90's. So you can't use this website as a guide for all films. However, in this case, I realised that the film is by the writer/director of Thankyou for Smoking, Jason Reitman. If you haven't already seen that film, it's really funny and I recommend it. C and I once went to see it at Innaloo Megaplex Greater Union whatever it's called on a Saturday night and although the cinema foyer was PACKED, there were only about 5 other people watching the same film as us. So we could kinda stretch out across the seats of a row as if we were on a couch at home. I was kind of wearing my pyjamas under my coat, which made it all pretty awesome.

Anyway, what have I got to say about Jason Reitman based on these two films. Well, he knows how to WRITE. The characters and dialogue were great. Both films are pretty smart and I consider them both to be compulsory viewing. I don't know what else I can tell you about Up in the Air that you can't learn from other sources. Oh! Anna Kendrick's portrayal of a early 20's graduate go-getter was spot-on. Intense and still with a head full of book-learning from university. Aww.

I just realised I have neglected to mention that Jason Reitman also directed Juno, a film which upon retrospect, I realise that I didn't really like. I liked the aesthetics of the film, the music, the characters, everything. The only problem was, Ellen Page's character, Juno's lines were just WAY TOO witty/ironic/sarcastic for her age. It didn't seem believable to me. I wished they would've toned it down a bit so I could believe in her character a little more. But hey, Jason Reitman didn't actually write this film, so it's not entirely his fault.

Oh, and one last point, I never noticed this before but George Clooney's voice is REALLY DEEP. C recently built these funny sound-trap things for our lounge-room for his recording, and it makes the bass level on everything pretty immense. George is definitely a real man.

Our CD Launch tonight.

2009-12-06T13:14:00.009+09:00

I totally forgot to mention earlier that the band I'm in (The Ghost of 29 Megacycles) is launching an album tonight. Time: 6:00pm - 10:00pm, Location: Velvet Lounge (Behind the Flying Scotsman). $5 entry. The facebook events page is here.

Usually we play experimental drone music, but tonight we will actually be playing SONGS! Hopefully this will work out ok. ^_^

20÷2/10 Exhibition + Tookbegi Korean

2009-12-03T12:35:00.012+09:00

The 20÷2/10 exhibition opened last night at Coastal Shelf gallery. The works are by Royce Alido in collaboration with Sarah Rowbottam and Jessyca Hutchens (20 works on graph paper created within 10 days). Coastal Shelf gallery is @ 8 Pier St, Perth.

If you ever go to Coastal Shelf at night (or well, during the day), try and eat at Tookbegi Korean. This place is right next to the Korean supermarket on the corner of Hay and Pier St. They have heaps of stuff for vegetarians... bibimbap, dumplings, noodles, savoury pancakes, and it's all awesome...especially if you like CHILLI!

Two films about very different girls.

2009-11-29T10:47:00.013+09:00

So I've been slowly making my way through the "films to watch" list that I wrote in April. The latest films that I watched were The Double Life of Veronique by Krzysztof Kieslowski, and Happy Go Lucky by Mike Leigh. I like watching films where the main lead is a girl, because, unapologetically, I am a girl. We often subconsciously/consciously identify with the lead character in a film, and as that person is quite often, male; the female in me has nothing to connect to.

The Double Life of Veronique...seemed like a rather slow and solemn version of Amelie. There's atmosphere, there's European-ness, lovers using weird ways to contact each other. From there, it is not like Amelie at all. It's far too serious, far two existential. The story goes: there are two Veroniques; one living in Paris and the other, in Poland. They are not twins, they are not related, but they look identical - are they identical? It's never really explained how the existence of two identical girls came to be. I wonder, does this actually happen? Is there someone out there who looks exactly like me? I'd like to meet her. What's weirder?: that there would be someone out there who looks identical to you?, or that you are absolutely unique and there is no one like you?. Both of these prospects are pretty amazing.

Happy Go Lucky, yup, this film was very different. The main character, Poppy, is a perky school-teacher who refuses to take life seriously. I suppose that she was kind of charming; her character was pretty convincing. But I wasn't entirely taken by Mike Leigh's floaty slice-of-life style story-telling. The film just kind of drifted along, showing Poppy on a trampoline, Poppy taking spanish dance lessons, Poppy teaching her class about bird migration, Poppy going to visit her sister, Poppy having driving lessons with a mentally unstable instructor, Poppy hanging out with a homeless man in an abandoned industrial park. Generally, you feel like: gee, good on Poppy for giving life a good shot. Overall, did this film really resonate with me? Well, if you asked me while I was watching it, I would've said, "not terribly so", but actually it has stayed with me for over a week so there must be something in it.

Well, there's my films for the week. Writing about films is hard. Makes me appreciate really good film reviews. Ciao for now.

The use of characters in graphic design (Perth).

2009-11-19T23:33:00.008+09:00

As you may have noticed, I have started blogging about instances of character-design usage in commercial graphics. I am interested in the intersection of art and the commercial world, where the priority of design is to catch your attention and imagination in a simple and/or emotive way. Of course I also appreciate "fine-art", but often there is no particular urgency on the part of the artist to convey a specific message and have it understood. Sometimes the artist can't even articulate the meaning of a work to him/herself.

I feel that in the west/or just in Australia(?), that there is a sense that if an artist signs up for work in the commercial world; in advertising, marketing, etc, then they are selling out. Art is something "above and beyond" the commercial; something divine, something that people aren't allowed to touch. I think that this is definitely changing, as these fields grow and more creatives are involved in commercial work. I felt that Japan is so far ahead though, in terms of merging the artistic and the commercial. A lot of "ordinary", mass-produced items such as lunch-boxes, erasers, bowls, chairs etc are so artfully designed. Some of the advertising campaigns / promotions are surprisingly imaginative and thoughtful. "Corporate" doesn't necessarily equate with ugly, square and utilitarian. Artful and aesthetic objects and images are not just hung in galleries, but are pervasive all through day-to-day life.

I think that character design in advertising represents the joining between the creative and the commercial. Art is slowly pervading the corporate landscape, and overall I support this trend because it gives me something more interesting to look at than just the same old text-based signage. So, in this blog, I'll be presenting as many local/Perth examples that I can.

So, without further adieu, allow me to introduce "Teddy". I found this little mascot in the classifieds section of the Guardian Express:

TeddyClean Commercial Cleaning Services provides cleaning services to West Australian commercial and residential properties within the Perth metropolitan area.

The character is quite basic, but it is indeed, a cleaning bear; something just a little out of the ordinary.

My first market - Made On The Left

2009-11-17T23:47:00.006+09:00

I finally had my first art stall on Saturday at the Made On The Left market at Hyde Park Hotel. My set-up was pretty minimal compared to many of the awesome stalls that day, but hey, it was my first try. It has inspired me to do some new art and hopefully try selling at a market again. Next time I think I will work at a better display.

Meteor shower this week.

2009-11-16T21:53:00.003+09:00

"The Leonid meteor shower occurs from about 14 to 20 November as the Earth passes through an old debris stream left by past passages of a comet. The maximum rate occurs within a day or so of November 17 and is usually less than 10 per hour."

Between 2 and 4am tomorrow morning, there should be meteors visible from Perth. Look North East, about 45 degrees up into the sky and you should see some? Please let me know if this is incorrect.

Here's some more information here and here.

Perth Character Design - Megasealed Frog

2009-11-10T00:02:00.013+09:00

Here is a cute frog touting tile grout called "Megasealed".

"Megasealed" is a two part chemical compound that looks like grout, but when it dries is as hard as the tiles bonding them together. It can be used to fix gaps in shower tiles etc.

Megasealed is Australian owned and operated, with a Perth (franchise) branch. I found the Megasealed frog in the Guardian Express.

Japanese School Festival / 日本の学校　文化祭

2009-11-07T22:03:00.008+09:00

Today I went to the Japanese School Festival in City Beach, Perth. I go there every year to eat dango and buy Japanese children's books. This year was no exception!

ペースにある日本の学校.今日はこの学校の文化祭でした.毎年私は文化祭へ行きます,団子を食べますそしてこどもの本を買います.今年も楽しんできました!

Anyone else want a tea room in Hyde Park?

2009-10-21T21:42:00.009+09:00

Today I walked home from Northbridge to Mount Hawthorn. I probably didn't take the most time-efficient route because I avoided walking on any main roads, so overall it took one hour and twenty minutes. I'm not sure if I'll make a regular habit of it. The first 45 minutes was nice, but after that I just wanted to be home already. But, I saved $1.70 by not taking the bus.

My walk took me through Hyde Park, one of my favourite parks in Perth.

Speaking of Hyde Park, I noticed in the Guardian Express that the Town of Vincent is doing a consultation to see whether the public would support a tea-room in the park. This would be awesome. I could combine two of my favourite things: tea + lakes, into one amazing lake-side tea-sipping experience. It would also be awesome because that would probably mean that there would also be some more public toilets constructed for all the people who have just finished drinking tea. At the moment, if the Hyde Park toilets are even unlocked, they're kind of scary to go into.

As for the proposed Tea-room, you can download the survey here if you also support the idea and want to help make it happen. You just have to submit by the 30th of October.

Vegetarian dinner

2009-10-15T23:49:00.004+09:00

Wondering what a vegetarian dinner looks like? Here's a sample:

I warmed up some rice from last night, quickly steamed some corn, fried some onions and red kidney beans with salsa sauce, and chopped some lettuce and tomato. Preparation/cooking time = 15 minutes.

Thinkfirst WA Protest

2009-10-13T21:52:00.008+09:00

Today I went to a protest. WA Parliament were debating whether or not to introduce a bill that would ban the sales of spraypaint and +6mm markers to anyone under the age of 18 (without any educational/employment-related exceptions). No thanks!

Here's a pic drawn by IKA at the protest =

More information on the issue can be found at Thinkfirst WA.

Nobuta wo Produce

2009-10-12T00:40:00.008+09:00

This is a fanclip made about the Japanese drama I've just started watching, "Nobuta wo Produce".

It's a show all about two guys who help out this loner girl at school. It seems cute. You can watch the whole thing on mysoju.com here.

Pip & Pop exhibition at Freerange Studios

2009-10-10T22:56:00.006+09:00

This exhibit is extremely cute, I thoroughly recommend you to go check it out!

"Three minutes happiness"
by Pip & Pop (Nicole Andrijevic and Tanya Schultz)
Free Range Gallery
339 Wellington St,
Perth, Western Australia.

Japanese dinner

2009-10-09T22:47:00.000+09:00

The best source of vegetables in North Perth

2009-06-07T19:26:00.005+09:00

View Larger Map

Piccadilly Cinema, Perth

2009-06-04T11:36:00.006+09:00

Piccadilly's is currently the only operating cinema in central Perth. Does this amaze anyone else? The next nearest cinemas are in Mount Lawley, South Perth(?)... and not sure where else.

The reasons that I like Picadilly's are: its art deco stylings, the feeling that when you enter the doors and walk up the stairs you are actually travelling back through time and of course, it's relative cheapness. The reasons that I don't like Picadilly's are: the seats are often uncomfortable, the floors are often sticky, and they tend to pick up and screen the more crapper of the Hollywood releases. I saw one of my most hated films here: "The Terminal". Under no reasonable condition should you ever subject yourself to this film, for you will surely perish with a seething overflow of wrath.

Adventures in J-Drama, Hotaru no Hikari

2009-06-02T12:33:00.007+09:00

Well, you already know my secret - that I am addicted to Japanese dramas. Recently I watched all 10 episodes of Hotaru no Hikari. The story revolves around a 24 year old office worker, Hotaru, who is neat and professional at work, but messy and grungy at home. She drinks canned beer, eats random crap from convenience stores, rolls around on the floor a lot and sleeps under newspapers. She is boarding in a cute old-style Japanese house, thanks to a drunken agreement with the house's owner some time ago. Little does she know, that the house's owner is actually her bosses father. So when her boss separates from his wife and returns to his family home, there is some shock involved for both parties concerned. The two then decide to live together in the house, but keep it a secret from everyone else at work.

There are several really annoying parts of this show that almost put me off watching the whole thing. Hotaru can be really annoying at times with the random female babbling, but what kept me going was the strong supporting cast. Hotaru works in the interior-design department of a Tokyo Building company. The 10-15 people working in this department are like family to each other, and there are plenty of jokes between them are good for kicks.

When I watch these J-dramas, I am always reminded of how different some aspects of Japanese culture are to Australian culture. Take for instance: HUGGING. In Japan, if you HUG a member of the opposite sex, it's basically saying: "I like-like you". Hugs tend to happen AFTER the couple gets together as a couple. So when a guy suddenly hugs a girl, it's a HUGE deal! Here in Australia, I tend to hug people a lot. It's often my greeting or farewell for friends, whether male or female. I am trying to remember if I hugged any male friends in Japan because it may have confused them! Hahah I definitely hugged many of my female Japanese friends and that may have taken them by surprise because even same-sex friends don't really seem to hug!. Sure, they'll take naked baths together, but they won't hug!

Anyway, here is a short compiled video of Hotaru no Hikari. Ignore the kind of annoying music, and you will get an impression of what this drama is like. Another good point about this drama, is that it has plenty of every-day contextual/situational workplace/social Japanese language, so I will definitely be watching it again to try and pick up some phrases.

MV-Hotaru no Hikari
Uploaded by JennyProd. - See more comedy videos.

Why has it taken me so long to notice Amiina?

2009-05-31T16:02:00.002+09:00

Japanese green tea

2009-05-24T13:19:00.003+09:00

Spinach and Potato curry

2009-05-23T20:50:00.001+09:00

I used this recipe.

Mosquitos are our teachers.

2009-05-22T11:58:00.006+09:00

When anything goes wrong in life, call it your teacher. If a mosquito keeps biting you, call it "Teacher Mosquito".

...from Teachers from Hell, a talk by Ajahn Brahmavamso from the 29th of November 2002. If this doesn't play automatically on your computer, try and download it. Thanks to Ajahn Brahm I don't get agitated at red traffic lights anymore, and last night when I spilt all the freshly-washed cutlery into the dirty sink I barely even reacted. haha.

Using Google Maps for travel research

2009-05-21T11:45:00.006+09:00

View Eur - Berlin in a larger map
Hello! In about 4 weeks I will be going on my first trip to Europe. This is exciting lah! It will begin with my brother's wedding in Cyprus, then to Hungary to meet relatives, to Ljubljana and Bled in Slovenia, then to Prague, Berlin, Amsterdam, Paris, London, Jungfrau region in Switzerland, Barcelona, Vitoria (to check out my other ancestral past), Madrid and Marrakech (Morroco). I can't believe we'll do all of that in 9 weeks!

I have already started planning and thinking about where to go. When I travel, I classify my planning into three modes: A) Natural appeal, B) Traditional/conventional tourist mode, or C) specialised Subcultural/urban. If I travel somewhere in Australia, it's either for the natural appeal, or the urban spaces in Melbourne. In Kyoto, Siem Riep/Angkor Watt, Luang Prabang I was in conventional tourist mode. In Tokyo, Osaka and Nagoya I was interested in the subculture in Koenji, Shimokitazawa, Akihabara, Ameri-Mura, Ose.

This Europe trip will be an interesting mix of the natural, the conventional, and seeking out the interesting urban spaces. Above, you can see what I've been doing for the city of Berlin. We will only be there for 4 days... So I want to know where we should go. One of my favourite things to do, for visiting cities, is to find out where the arty/alt streets/districts are, and then just wander around there. The atmosphere is the destination. So I have been reading about Prenzlauer Berg, Kreuzberg & Friedrichshain. I was quite please to find that the hostel that I booked is actually in Friedrichshain. It was a bit cheaper out there, but at least it'll still have some interesting cafes etc.

By the way, my colour coding for the map above is: Green = vegetarian places. Red = Sites of interest. Blue lines = streets for wandering. Purple = accommodation.

Cute tear-drop game by Lullatone/Secondary School

2009-05-18T00:33:00.004+09:00

I like this a lot. Make your own song here.

Pink blur life

2009-05-12T22:16:00.002+09:00

Hello! I am dinner for two.

2009-04-29T14:21:00.005+09:00

I won't list the ingredients because I think that they are obvious. But I would like to share with you how easy it is to make babaganoush = Cut up eggplant, put some crushed garlic on top of it, and steam the crap out of it. Then put it in a blender with some salt, pepper, and tahini. Blend, and there ya go!. I never really though Bagaganoush was a real food but I was wrong.

Hatched Exhibition at PICA

2009-04-28T22:33:00.006+09:00

I recently went to the Hatched Exhibition, a showcase of some of the best up and coming Australian graduate artists. One of my favourite pieces was by Michael Prior & Lachlan Conn (Victoria). I wish I could remember the description because it was very interesting, but the general notion is that this is a kind of time machine. I think I also liked this piece the most, because it was in a dark room. Art galleries are always too bright.

Here is a video I found of another one of their works. I like this.

Dinner on Monday night

2009-04-15T00:01:00.002+09:00

This is a quick spinach/chic pea curry, a potato/pea curry and rice.

Not only is it vegetarian but ... vegan.

A list of movies I want to watch

2009-04-14T18:24:00.008+09:00

Over the easter long weekend, I decided to try and create a list of films that I want to watch. First of all, I racked my brains and wrote a big long list of my favourite films. Using this info, I spent a while browsing through the following movie recommendation websites: Rotten Tomatoes, Tastekid, Movielens, IMDb, Criticker, and Clerkdogs.

I found Clerkdogs and Tastekid to be the best for finding new films to watch, and I used RottenTomatoes and IMDB just to run a check on the plot/ratings to see if the film really suited my fancy.

Here is a list that I have compiled. If you have seen any of these films, let me know if any are good or crap.

Dramas

This Boy's Life (1993)
Searching for Bobby Fischer (1993)
Husbands and Wives (1992)
~~The Double Life of Veronique (1991)~~
My Life as a Dog (1987)
Hannah and Her Sisters (1986)
Ruang rak noi nid mahasan / Last Life in the Universe (2003)
My Life Without Me (2001)
Ma Vie En Rose (1997)
Dave (1993)
Ikuru (1952)
The Living End (1992)
The Secret Life of Words (2006)
High Art (1998)
The Doom Generation (1995)
Lost and Delirious (2001)
~~Some Kind of Wonderful (1987)~~
Short Cuts (1993)
A History of Violence (2005)
The Ice Storm (1997)
Before Sunrise (1995)
Lolita (1962)
Youth Without Youth (2007)
Dona Flor e Seus Dois Maridos (1976)

Stupid, surreal, quirky, kitsch, black, political and or teen comedy

Airplane / Flying High
Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown (1989)
~~Peggy Sue Got Married (1986)~~
Ruthless People (1986)
Back to School (1986)
Parents (1989)
The Closet (2001)
How to get Ahead in Advertising (1989)
Heavy Traffic (1973)
Bottle Rocket (1996)
Valley Girl (1983)
Parenthood (1989)
Wilbur Wants to Kill Himself (2004)
Falling Down (1993)
One Crazy Summer (1986)
Strike! (1998)
Grosse Pointe Blank (1997)
The Pick-Up Artist (1987)
The Rachel Papers (1989)
The Daytrippers (1996)
Deconstructing Harry (1997)

Thrillers / surreal / sci-fi / horror

The Vanishing (1988)
Avalon (2001)
The Deadzone (1983)
Eastern Promises (2007)

Films that involve: romance, romantic comedy, female friendship, relationships women’s issues, body-swapping, time distortion, fantasy fatalism, Robert Downy Jr and or John Cusack.

~~All of Me (1984)~~
Dream a Little Dream (1989)
Bull Durham (1988)
Moonstruck (1987)
Flirting (1991)
Things I Never Told You (1996)
~~Shopgirl (2005)~~
Me Without You (2001)
Singles (1992)
~~Friends With Money (2006)~~
Walking and Talking (1996)
~~Broken English (2007)~~
~~Dan in Real Life (2007)~~
Me Myself I (1999)
~~Melinda and Melinda (2004)~~
~~Happy Accidents (2000)~~
Next Stop Wonderland (1997)
Serendipity (2001)
Only You (1994)
~~Chances Are (1989)~~
While You Were Sleeping (1995)
Return to Me (2000)
Irma Vep (1996)
Working Girl (1988)

A list of my favourite movies

2009-04-13T21:52:00.003+09:00

For various reasons and appeals, and in no particular order, I hereby present to you a list of several of my favourite movies. If you can recommend any films to me based on this list, it would be more than welcome.

Hairspray
Election
Say Anything
Pretty In Pink
Blue Velvet
Mulholland Drive
Down By Law
The Fly
Raising Arizona
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Adaptation
Amelie
There Will Be Blood
Napoleon Dynamite
I Heart Huckabees
Videodrome
Terminator II
Spirited Away
Dr Strangelove
Crybaby
Pecker
Sex Lies and Videotape
Secretary
Sean of the Dead
Crumb
Breathless
American Beauty
The King of Comedy
Citizen Ruth
Clueless
Dead Poets Society
Chungking Express
American Splendor
The Shawshank Redemption
My Neighbour Totoro
The Hudsucker Proxy
Gummo
What's Eating Gilbert Grape
They Live
The Graduate
Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!
Wild at Heart
Dead Man
Barton Fink
Kentucky Fried Movie
Chasing Amy
Poison Ivy
Mannequin
Rushmore
Sideways
Being John Malkovich
Saved
Ghostworld
Fast Times at Ridgemont High
Welcome to the Dollhouse
Better Off Dead
The Secret of My Success
The Royal Tenenbaums
High Fidelity
Being There
Network
Thankyou For Smoking
War Games
The Day After
Spinal Tap
In America
Clerks
Mallrats
The House of Yes
The 40 Year Old Virgin
Dead Man on Campus
Somersault
The Matrix
Wonder Boys
Mean Girls
Body Melt
The Opposite of Sex
Goodbye Lenin!
Love and Other Catastrophes
Strange Planet
City of God
The Wedding Singer
Lost Highway
Flirting with Disaster

Mary and Max - A new feature length Australian claymation.

2009-03-30T12:05:00.007+09:00

Last night I went along to a preview session of the new Australian claymation, "Mary and Max". There was also a Q & A with the director Adam Elliot and producer Melanie Coombs. I don't have the time and energy at the moment to write a synopsis or proper review of this film, but there is an excellent summary here.

You know, I must admit that I have a pre-existing bias towards stop-motion animation. I grew up on Gumby, Pingu, Trap-door and Plasmo and even as an adult I haven't ever tired of this medium. These days digital technology can seemingly create any effect you can imagine. If I asked to see a comet crash to earth and give birth to an alien brain exploding fireballs, it could be done these days with quite a high degree of realism. But I guarantee it would still pretty awesome and probably more entertaining if made with clay.

Anyway, coming back to "Mary and Max". Why is this movie special? Well firstly, the artistry of the characters and the set are so spot on, that you often totally forget that you are watching an animation. Then, when you momentarily remember that you are watching CLAY and that each and every second took HOURS of work, one feels overwhelmed with respect for the artistry behind it.

I also really liked the theme of this story. When you live alone and have very few friends, recieving a letter and a chocolate bar in the mail would mean so much to you. Max irons, laminates and sticks all of Mary's letters up on his wall, and right towards the end of this film, you really get a strong sense of how important Mary has been in his life. With the global financial crisis slowly washing over us like a slow-burn tsunami, this film is perfectly timed to remind us that at the end of the day, we remember our lives through the relationships that we've had and not the money that we spent.

I am a bit too tired and sleepy to really give this film it's proper due,... but yes, it is well worth watching. As an individual, it would only cost you $10-$15 to get along and support the Australian film industry by checking out this incredibly unique and engaging animation that has been 5 years in the making.

Bean Vermicelli Salad & Shiitake Greens soup

2009-03-18T12:52:00.004+09:00

This dinner took only about 30 minutes to make. The salad consists of: soaked and drained bean vermicelli, firm teriyaki-flavoured tofu, snow peas and a touch of oyster sauce. The soup consists of: cheap asian greens, soaked and chopped shiitake mushrooms, dashi (fish stock) and soy sauce.

Adventures in Japanese Drama

2009-03-16T10:41:00.001+09:00

Today I will explain for you my recent explorations of Japanese dramas. There is a particular type of drama that I enjoy - must have some comedy and some romance, and even better, some sort of sci-fi or fantasy element. The acting must be believable and the characters, likeable. The episodes must be poppy and enjoyable but also engaging on some sort of intellectual level.

Absolute Boyfriend

The first jdrama that really caught my eye was Zettai Kareshi / Absolute Boyfriend. A Japanese A.I company develops what they call, "a love robot" which is provided to a young single office worker. Of course, all sorts of complications arise while she struggles to find a place in her life for the robot. Things get even more complicated when a real warm-blooded love interest arises between her and a co-worker. Spot the robot:

You can watch this whole series online here.

Kimi Wa Petto

Kimi Wa Petto is a story about a successful single female office-worker in her early thirties. She is pretty cold, rational and finds it hard to connect with other people. One day she comes home to find a 20 year old boy, huddled and bleeding in cardboard box outside her apartment. She takes him in, cleans him up, feeds him, and he becomes her pet. Complications arise when a real warm-blooded love interest arises between her and a co-worker (sound familiar!?). She must choose between taking on the challenges and revealing her vulnerabilities in a real relationship, or keeping "her pet". I didn't like this drama as much as Absolute Boyfriend because the girl in this show fails to realise the obvious. However it's still kinda light and enjoyable for at least the first half of the series.

You can watch this whole series online here.

Papa to Musume no Nanokakan

Papa to Musume no Nanokakan is a jdrama that I started watching last weekend. The main characters, 17 year old Koume and her 47 year old father, are not exactly close and have not spoken to each other for years. Fate intervenes, and after eating a magic peach, they are involved in a train accident where they body swap! All sorts of complications arise, as they struggle to cope with each other's lives (whilst in the girl's body, the father goes on dates with the girl's boyfriend), and the girl (in the father's body) has to go to work at the perfume company where her dad is managing a new project. I LOVE the genre of bodyswap, even more so when the method of swapping is patently ridiculous. This drama is more than just novelty though; the characters are sweetly believable and the plot explores the awkwardness and difference between a father and a teen daughter pretty well. It's also kinda bizarre and funny in a way that only a Japanese show can be... like, how the girl (in the father's body) is constantly having to ward of sexual advances from her mum! (That does sound sick, but it's something that is pretty funny in a Japanese comedy).

And yup, you can watch it all online here.

Karen on a friday

2009-03-15T08:45:00.008+09:00

Australia has waited long enough for this!

2009-03-05T10:33:00.003+09:00

"Dear Friend,

To date, this Government has delayed the introduction of a paid parental leave scheme - waiting for the Productivity Commission to report, while making grand promises to mums and dads around Australia.

The Productivity Commission has now reported and the evidence is in: government-funded paid parental leave is good for babies, good for parents and good for the economy. And at $450 million a year, it's a sound investment.

We've just found out though that a decision on whether to include paid parental leave in this year's budget sits on a knife's edge.

Click below to sign the petition telling the Government this delivery is overdue - and we'll take it directly to Canberra next week as the Budget decisions are being made:

www.getup.org.au/campaign/DeliverOnPaidParentalLeave

The Government's excuse for not introducing it - the global financial crisis - simply doesn't stand up. Paid parental leave has proven economic benefits. It will stimulate the economy, retain parents in the workforce, and safeguard the nation's future prosperity.

A government-funded parental leave scheme would mean those working in small businesses or in low-wage sectors will have access to something previously only the domain of those lucky enough to work for big corporations that have their own scheme.

Decisions are being made now about this year's Budget. This is our one opportunity to show the Government we aren't willing to wait any longer for paid parental leave:

www.getup.org.au/campaign/DeliverOnPaidParentalLeave

There are only two developed countries that don't have paid maternity leave - Australia and the United States. There's no good reason to delay this scheme any longer - but without your support, the Government will sit on its hands and do nothing.

It's easy for a government to make grand promises like this - now it's up to us to make sure they deliver. Join our petition today and we will deliver it to Canberra next week.

Thanks for being a part of the solution,
The GetUp team

PS - We've designed a new series of bumper stickers to put on your car, pram or nappy to spread the message of this campaign. Click here to get your sticker".

__________________________

GetUp is an independent, not-for-profit community campaigning group. We use new technology to empower Australians to have their say on important national issues. We receive no political party or government funding, and every campaign we run is entirely supported by voluntary donations. If you'd like to contribute to help fund GetUp's work, please donate now! If you have trouble with any links in this email, please go directly to www.getup.org.au. To unsubscribe from GetUp, please click here.

Authorised by Simon Sheikh, Level 5, 116 Kippax St, Surry Hills NSW 2010

Someone please give me an invite to FFFFOUND!?

2009-02-28T18:44:00.000+09:00

Just found this cool site... you save/accumulate images that you like and the website generates recommended images for you. I can browse it without joining, but would need to be a member in order to save images. Please invite me, someone? If you invite me, I will send you a cupcake in the mail. Failing that, I will draw a picture for you of anything you please.

Anyway, here are some cool images that've caught my eye so far:

Niall Ferguson on Lateline - The Global Financial Crisis for Idiots - Part 2

2009-02-27T11:08:00.000+09:00

Last night on Lateline there was an interview with financial historian, Niall Ferguson. Times like these certainly benefit from some historical perspective; if you really want to understand what's going on, watching this will help!

Here's the link to the Lateline website, the video is there on the front page. You can also see the transcript here.

Outfit for work

2009-02-25T21:09:00.002+09:00

I never thought I could wear open-toed shoes that weren't thongs, but times have certainly changed. My experiences of being forced to wear jesus-style sandals in primary school completely put me off the open-toed style for many years. I stubbornly wore socks and closed-in-shoes, summer after summer up until this point. I never thought it would come to this;... but there's only so long you can avoid this 'fashion' item when you live somewhere with 38-degree daytime temperature peaks.

So on this day, I put the sandals on and crouched, waiting for the sky to fall. I counted to ten, and ... nothing. The sky didn't fall, I was still alive. I went to the bathroom, looked in the mirror and saw myself looking back- completely normal and unharmed. I can now wear sandals almost everyday with only a minimal level of psychological discomfort. You know, I'm 25 years old now, and this is one indication that the logic of life is slowly starting to set in. Eventually I suppose this logic will progress to wearing bumbags, the sock and sandal combo, plus eye-glasses neck strap whilst walking amongst birds at 5:30am.

One small step for a sandal, one giant leap for Karenkind.

Learning Japanese through music: "Folklore" by Clammbon

2009-02-25T13:51:00.000+09:00

As a big fan of Japan, naturally I really want to like Japanese music. Listening to music is a good way to learn more about the language and culture of a country, so it's been one of my recent objectives to find more Japanese bands to listen to. In the past I've been glad at least to catch onto Cibo Matto, Shonen Knife, Kahimi Karie, Pizzicato Five and a few others. The problem is that when I try and search for more Japanese bands/music, the songs that I find seem to be lacking something. Many Japanese bands have earnt some reputation for being good at mimicking other styles, but music needs more than technical accuracy to be good. What is it?

Anyway, here's a particular song that caught my ear. At first I didn't like it, but it's since grown on me like a moss. I've decided to listen to it lots of times so my ear will acquire some more familiarity with the vocabulary (not that the lyrics are common-language or anything), but some familiarity is better than none. The lead singer Ikuko Harada, is also very cute and that's a bonus.

Without further adieu, here's "Folklore" by Clammbon:

Lyrics in English:

The night that the fierce typhoon passed, I was looking down on the city from the top of a tall building
The wind still a little erratic, tearing at the edge of its departure
The lights of the houses nearby shimmered like through searing air
I've never witnessed a scene like, though I was used to seeing it

Something is going to change, that's how I felt, in a little while
It disappears quietly, June, number 6, in a little while, in a little while

I can hear the low anouncement of the final train more clearly than usual
Like always, I just keep on staring blankly at the sky
My eyelids a little heavy, I close my eyes
From far away I hear your voice, I'd better get going

I've cleared a period of low pressure, that's how I felt, in a little while
My feeling suddenly becomes lighter, that's how I feel, in a little while, in a little while

Something is going to change, that's how I felt, in a little while
It disappears quietly, June, number 6, in a little while, in a little while
By the time I notice, the hour hand is pointing to 2 o'clock, in a little while
My feeling suddenly becomes lighter, that's how I feel, in a little while, in a little while

The night that the fierce typhoon passed, I was looking down on the city from the top of a tall building
I'm still a little erratic, tearing at the edge of its departure

La la la.....

The Global Financial Crisis for Idiots - part 1

2009-02-24T10:32:00.000+09:00

If you are anything like me, you probably don't have much background in economics and financial theories. I was never really interested in this topic at school and I basically failed economics in upper high-school. In this subject area, I am myself, an idiot. However, the topic is both just so crucial and also, surprisingly interesting once you can tease out information from the enormous intimidating mess of abstract concepts and corporate disinformation. As the world falls into the economic crisis, it's about time we all took a bit of control over our own knowledge of money and the economy.

I thought that this video, Money as Debt would be a good start! Here's the write-up from the producer of the video, Paul Grignon. This guy is immensely interesting.

****

"Born in Toronto, Canada in 1948, I first became suspicious of our money system when I was in high school in Ottawa. We were studying logarithmic functions such as interest and it struck me that a money system in which money accrues interest at every turn could only function with exponential growth of the money supply. Something did not make sense to me. I wasn’t sure what it was but I had a strong feeling that banking was a scam designed to benefit bankers at the expense of everyone else. I vowed never to get into debt to bankers.

As fortune would have it I got to (mostly) fulfill that vow. As a hitchhiking, backpacking young adult I was led to Gabriola, a forested coastal island off British Columbia, Canada where the building code was not yet in effect. My partner and I were able to take up residence in a tent, then a shack and as the years went by, and our four children arrived, our primitive shelter without water or power gradually evolved into a modest but comfortable owner-built paid-for home. This was achieved on a sporadic income that would never have been sufficient to buy a home had we gone the conventional mortgage route.

For several years, I made my living in the logging industry as a seasonal tree planter until injury forced me off the slopes. Taking whatever jobs I could get at first, I eventually established myself in my longtime ambition to be a landscape painter and visual artist. (http://www.paulgrignon.com)

In 1997, as a result of an inheritance, I was able to realize another long-held ambition. I set myself up as a digital video maker and produced several professional video projects.

In 2002 I was commissioned to produce a video for United Financial Consumers (http://www.ufc.ca), a small organization dedicated to defending credit customers from the predatory practices of banks. I taped a 5-hour seminar explaining an innovative strategy for reclaiming the equity banks defraud us out of when we sign for a so-called “loan”. I prefaced this rather abstruse lecture material by telling “The Goldsmith’s Tale” in animation form. Entitled “Money as Debt”, it was my first full animation project.

Other monetary reformers saw this original “Money as Debt” cartoon and approached me about using my animation as part of an information package being sent to municipal politicians, urging municipalities to demand interest-free loans from our publicly owned Canadian central bank, the Bank of Canada.

The Canadian Action Party, a federal political party devoted to monetary reform posted it on their website.

Two gentlemen from the American Monetary Institute in the USA also saw the animation. One described my cartoon as “far and away the best explanation of fractional reserve banking” he had ever seen. They requested that they be able to use it for their educational purposes as well.

I informed them that I was in the process of writing a much-expanded script. I knew there was a lot more to explain and felt certain that an animated cartoon was the best way to overcome the eyes-glazed-over reaction one often encounters when trying to interest people in this subject. I asked them if they could wait a few months until I had finished the project to my satisfaction.

They agreed to wait and to assist me. Their avid interest in the project spurred me on. I worked day and night (12 -20 hours per day) for 6 months to complete the movie.

My new US contacts were able to provide me with very valuable information and feedback on my script. One of them, a senior member of the Institute, had learned this information directly from US Congressman Wright Patman, who was Chair of the House Banking and Currency Committee for 12 years.

With the help of my partner Tsiporah and my neighbour and voiceover man, Bob Bossin, the final script was edited and rewritten numerous times. Money as Debt is now a colourful, fast-moving 47- minute animated short feature that explores the basic concepts of money creation in words and pictures that are not only clear but also enjoyable. It is intended for all audiences, including elementary school children. My particular hope is that it will convince environmental, social justice and electoral reform advocates that monetary reform is essential to the goals they hope to accomplish.

Money created as interest-bearing bank credit is a magic trick, a fraud - now 3 centuries old; one that very few people have seen through despite, or rather because of, its utter simplicity.

It is my intention to make this mysterious debt-money system comprehensible to everyone. It is also my intention to foster sufficient understanding of the problems with this money system that citizens will be motivated to join the monetary reform movement and/or create local alternatives to the global monetary system - a system in which most of the productive people of the world are collectively chained to an ever-increasing and perpetually unpayable debt.

This is a system designed for elite control of the people by those who have given themselves the privilege of creating money. It is also, I believe, a system that is designed for catastrophe. As the movie explains, there can be no sustainable civilization without a sustainable money system." - Paul Grignon

****

The video is about 45 minutes long, so make sure you have enough time and possibly a nice cup of tea.

Happiness according to me

2009-02-24T02:42:00.000+09:00

Ingredients:

- macbook with extra monitor
- episodes of Absolute Boyfriend / Zettai Kareshi / 絶対彼氏.
- asian style dinner with miso soup, tofu greens, rice and korean pickled veg

Vegan dinner in 20 minutes

2009-02-12T09:37:00.001+09:00

I pretty much hate cooking in summer, but if I don't make and eat something then I am likely to starve. So I have become interested in making the quickest meals possible. This can be hard sometimes when you are a vegaquarian with a food intolerance to wheat. We don't even eat fish at home because I can't be bothered buying or learning how to actually cook it properly. So apart from a bit of cheese, milk, fish stock and oyster sauce, many of the meals we end up eating are practically vegan.

Here is an extremely quick and random dinner that I threw together in 20 minutes last night. On the left is a red cabbage salad. Just chop up half a red cabbage into small bits and mix it with two tins of beetroot (chopped), plus chopped parsley. This takes like, two minutes and tastes pretty good. The dish on the right was a random invention: I took a tin of lentils, rinsed the lentils and then put them in a foiled metal tray with some oil and put them under the grill for about 10 minutes. On the stove, I quickly fried some chopped cauliflower. Then I threw the lentils into the pan, along with some chopped cherry tomatoes, chilli powder, turmeric and tomato paste. That's all.

Feeling as French as possible in Edgewater WA

2009-02-11T11:17:00.002+09:00

Mlle. Chenal (LOC), originally uploaded by The Library of Congress.

Last night, a friend had a most excellent idea of celebrating his birthday French-style. This included baguettes, camembert, four different vegetarian french dishes, wine, champagne and Jean Luc Godard.

We didn't have enough time to watch any features, so we just watched two short films that had been included as extras on his DVDs.

The first film we watched was All the Boys Are Called Patrick, a cute 20 minute film about a Parisian casanova who chats up two room-mates on the same day. This film, written by Éric Rohmer and directed by Godard, is so snappily perfect that it's hard to believe that it was made in 1957. He uses several experimental film techniques that were revolutionary for his time, like cutaways and playing with film speed. This film also was shot in the informal observational style that was soon to become iconic of Godard. This style was most likely influenced by Godard's tertiary study of Ethnology, "the branch of anthropology that compares and analyzes the origins, distribution, technology, religion, language, and social structure of the ethnic, racial, and/or national divisions of humanity."

Heavily influenced also by Jean Rouch, the father of Cinema Verite / Cinema Truth, Godard observed his subjects in a sort of light anthropological style; retaining the randomness and inconsequentiality of every day conversation without any overbearing cloak of dramatic pretense. This has led some people to criticise his films for their superficiality, but as this short film demonstrates, there are other truths to be found in the random banter that fills most of our lives. The girls are pretty cute too.

Watch the film; you will not be disappointed! I truly believe that no cooler film was made in 1957.

We also watched the 1958 short, Une histoire d'eau / A Story of Water which was also very fun but I couldn't find it on youtube.

St Jerome's Laneway Festival - Friday Feb 6th

2009-02-10T16:39:00.000+09:00

Since hitting my mid-twenties, I have been rather reluctant to go along to any big music festivals. These days I prefer smaller gigs, or staying at home with the stereo and a cup of tea. So I surprised myself by deciding to go along to the Perth version of the Laneway festival.

For the past few years I haven't really been keeping an eye on bands and new music. So without really knowing much about many of the bands on the line-up, I settled for some old favourites; Stereolab, Fourtet and locals The Bank Holidays. I was pretty happy to be seeing Stereolab as they were a particularly iconic band from my youth. The Bank Holidays were comfortable, like wandering through a field of daisies towards a croquet field. Fourtet was also pretty good but I was getting pretty cold by that time.

Oh, and the picture that I've featured at the top is of Still Flyin, a San Franciscan super-band with members from The Aislers Set, Ladybug Transistor, Dear Nora, Masters of the Hemisphere, Je Suis France, Bright Lights, and Track Star. Random stage dancing, ample amounts of novelty boxer shorts, and the wearing of a pig-faced soft-toy on the head all ensured a most entertaining set.

Speaking of entertainment, one of the more amusing moments on the night came on the walk back along James Street to Adam's car. We were passing by the window of "New York Tailors" (the shop that has all the rock & roll belt buckles etc in the window)=

Lo and behold, as we were passing, I spotted a RAT walking around throughout the belt buckles, in the window of the shop! I quickly pulled out my camera to take a shot, but by that time it had leapt onto the floor. Here's the rat running away:

I think it was Adam who said that perhaps, Ratatouille-style, this little rat was an aspiring window dresser, who, in order to avoid detection, had to sneak out at night to develop his passion. For this reason, I implore to the shop-owners of New York Tailors to support this little rat in his ambitions by offering him a retail traineeship.

Attempt at Thai cooking 7/10

2009-02-04T10:09:00.000+09:00

On the left is a kind of Thai salad made of up of: dragonfruit, orange, beansprouts, sunflower sprouts, coriander and chilli.On the right is a kind of Thai stir fry made up of capsicum, cauliflower, chilli and sweet chilli sauce. It all tasted okay and I think I'd give myself a 7/10. Not extremely delicious but highly edible. The creation of this meal however, was fraught with disaster and chilli-related physical pains.

I came at the chillis with a kind of innocent enthusiasm. C had recently been talking about the anti-cancer effects of capsaicins, so I kind of went a little mad with the chopping and throwing off mini chilli-bits into both dishes. All was well for about half an hour after I cooked and ate dinner,.. but about 45 minutes later, my hands started to burn like nothing else.

I washed my hands in water, in soap, in dishwashing liquid but the burning persisted. We looked up remedies online; I rinsed my hands in milk, in vinegar, in alcohol, rubbed them with an onion - everything gave temporary relief of about 10 minutes but after that the burning kept returning. Man it killed so bad, and the best I could do was sit still on the couch nursing my hands with a bag of frozen peas.

C kept checking on the internet and found various comments from other people who had burned their hands with chillis. Apparently the burning sensation was to last between 8-10 hours!. I had prepared dinner at 7, so I guessed that the sensation wouldn't subside until 3-5am. Aarghhh! There was so much heat in my hands, as I sat there staring at them, I honestly would not have been surprised if small flames had of leapt out of them, they were that hot.

Eventually out of desperation, we went to Mt Lawley chemist and I tried to explain my situation to the clerk. Unfortunately the clerk didn't really seem that sympathetic and kind of looked at me like I was half mad. Could he not interpret that I was talking figuratively rather than literally when I spoke of flame bursts erupting from my palms? Most unhelpfully he had nil suggestions, so I settled on an anaesthetic antibacterial skin-spray and a box of codeine enhanced painkillers.

Back at home, the skin-spray only gave 10 minutes of relief so around 1am I resorted to the last, and ultimately most successful option of dosing my self up with the opioid analgesics. I was happily knocked out for the rest of the night and awoke in the morning so very very happy to find that my palms were back to normal.

Moral of the story: Love the chilli, but use protection. Does this mean that I have to buy latex gloves from the supermarket if I want to chop chillis again? That would be an embarrassing item to purchase. Possibly even more embarrassing than female sanitary hygeine items. Actually I am not embarrassed to buy those anymore, but latex gloves,... they imply a whole plethora of possibly icky and unusual private practices. When purchasing the gloves I would have to mention to the clerk, "oh, I'm chopping chillis," but the excuse would probably sound like a lie.

Wedding portrait commission

2009-02-02T16:58:00.000+09:00

Here's a wedding portrait done for a friend of a friend. They are not Japanese, but really into the culture.

I guess I'm doing commissions now! I'm open to anything; weddings, engagements, birthdays, anniversaries, graduations etc.

I also particularly specialise in cute personal pictures relating to foreign cultures/languages and/or subcultures; punk, indie, retro etc.

The cost would depend on the size of the picture and the time spent on it, but as I'm just starting out, I think my prices are currently pretty reasonable! Enquire within for more details!

Toy box - Moving house

2009-01-29T16:02:00.000+09:00

We are currently in the middle of moving house, and it makes me realise something which is probably typical of others in their mid 20's.

I currently own more toys than I ever did as a child. Perhaps this is a sort of compensation for my childhood years where my family could not afford much beyond a simple teddy and a pair of floaties. Now that I have a disposable income, it's hard to resist the lure of certain luxuries which were previously unaffordable, like robotic cats and troll dolls.

How to beat a lip balm addiction.

2009-01-27T11:50:00.001+09:00

I am a little bored right now and couldn't think of what to write about. So I thought I'd share with ya'll how I beat my lip balm addiction.

It all started at the age of 12, when I was given a set of 'Lip Smackers' as a birthday present. Lip Smackers are basically a tube of shiny smelly goo in flavours such as 'peanut butter,' 'jellybean,' 'lemonade,' and 'oreo'. Infused with the aromas of various low grade junk foods, Lip Smackers are like crack cocaine for your lips. Surely it is obvious by now that these things are EVIL, and I had an evil addiction from the word go. The problem with these products is that they strip off the natural coating from your lips, and inhibit your own ability to self-moisten. This creates a vicious cycle - you use the product, your lips get drier, you have to use the product more to relieve the dryness, your lips get drier still, and so on.

Anyhow, I soon grew tired of the gross sweet smear effect of the Lip Smackers, but as I had been drawn into the vicious cycle I couldn't escape this product type entirely. So I then moved onto the slightly less offensive, but still unhelpful product; the strawberry chapstick. The most loathesome thing about chapsticks is their supposed sweet sweet innocence; they catch you in, and for many the relationship develops into a lifelong obsession.

I used this product from the age of 14 until I was about 18 or 19. It was then that I was introduced to the tub of the gods, BLISTEX. When you apply Blistex to your lips, you are treated with a rather pleasant tingling sensation that no other lip balm provides. I couldn't leave the house without my tub. Sometimes I would be caught out without a tub and I had to either go back home for it, or buy another one. The thing that bothered me most about Blistex was one of the ingredients - phenol; which I think may be responsible for the pleasant tingling. Anyhow, this chemical has rather grim historical connections - in concentration camps in Nazi Germany, phenol was injected directly into the hearts of some unfortunate inmates during fatal medical experiments. This nazi-balm historical connection always bothered me greatly.

In 2008 I realised that I had been addicted to lip balms for 11 years. I estimate that in my lifetime I have spent about $300 on lipbalms. It seems like a relatively small and innocuous amount of money to spend on a 'beauty product' over 11 years, but think of all the other millions of people who have done the same - and then you realise how evil these corporations are - selling these products that lock people into inescapable addictions that fuck up parts of their face.

Anyway, the way to beat a lip balm addiction is simple. Throw out all your lip balms and buy a small tub of vaseline. Even with the use of the vaseline, your lips will probably dry and crack and it will all be very unpleasant for about a week. This will pass. After that, contine with your use of the vaseline when needed. You will notice that it has very few of the addictive properties of the other marketed lip balms, and you will not need it as much. Start to get more disciplined - i.e, only use it once in morning, once at lunch and once before bed. Keep cutting it down and then one day you will find yourself, as I did, at a party without my tub. I didn't panic and I was totally fine. This could be you!

Into Ynki - an exhibition at Keith and Lottie

2009-01-20T16:54:00.000+09:00

This exhibition by local artist Zoe Keogh is open until the 23rd of January at Keith and Lottie Gallery. Very cute illustrations; only 3 days left of the show!

Hot Fuzz

2009-01-05T12:26:00.002+09:00

It's strange, when this film came out at the cinema I was not interested at all. It sometimes happens that a film is marketed more to the mainstream, and therefore I completely ignore it because it looks kind of naff.

I initially thought this film would be like Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, a film which I guess I tolerated with only mild interest. Hot Fuzz was heaps better than I expected, most probably because of the presence of Simon Pegg.

Over the past 6 months or so, I have finally got into Simon Pegg through watching Spaced. Do you ever get the feeling that you've watched all of the tv shows that you could possibly like and that you've run out of quality shows forever?... and then you stumble across a show which in your opinion, completely nails it? Such a satisfying moment. I really love Spaced.

Anyway, Hot Fuzz hit the spot just like Shaun of The Dead. Deep down within us all, I think each and every one of us just has a pent up urge to smash a zombie's head with a baseball bat or blow away a satanic cultist with an AK47.

"Hot Fuzz" - 3 1/2 stars

Memorable quotes from "The Happening".

2009-01-05T11:41:00.002+09:00

First of all, I can't believe I watched this film. Okay, so the cover story looked interesting,...kind of relating to the dystopian/post-apocalyptic genre which I adore. The basic story-line is that a weird plant-borne virus starts affecting populations of various American cities on the east coast. The effects of the virus are that the person loses their 'survival instinct' and immediately commits suicide. This film could've been well done if more attention were paid to the building of atmosphere and suspense. A lot of the dialogue also sucked quite hard.

Here's some of my favourite quotes from this film, which really personify the glory of the scripting:

Alma Moore: Okay, I was going to tell you, okay? There was this guy Joey. His name is Joey; he's at work. We went out and we had dessert; I went out and had dessert with him when I told you I worked late and I didn't work late and I'm feeling really guilty in case we're gonna die. I just wanted you to know that.

Elliot Moore: If we're going to die, I want you to know something. I was in the pharmacy a while ago. There was a really good-looking pharmacist behind the counter. Really good-looking. I went up and asked her where the cough syrup was. I didn't even have a cough, and I almost bought it. I'm talking about a completely superfluous bottle of cough syrup, which costs like six bucks.

I think this was one of the highlights of the film,... the weird sub-plot of the mysterious JOEY, with whom Alma shared a tiramisu. How is this relevant?, I ask?
Is 'tiramisu' a clever euphemism for a more sordid treat?

"The Happening" - 2 stars

餅 Mochi Time!

2008-12-09T14:27:00.001+09:00

"Mochi (Japanese: 餅 is a Japanese rice cake made of glutinous rice pounded into paste and molded into shape. In Japan it is traditionally made in a ceremony called mochitsuki. While also eaten year-round, mochi is a traditional food for the Japanese New Year and is commonly sold and eaten during that time." - Wikipedia

I have always enjoyed the texture of cakes that are not quite cooked properly,.. things that are kind of rubbery and chewy. I remember once, my mum was making cookies, and I went into the kitchen and stole a ball of dough,... then hid behind the couch eating it. Delicious dough.

Tonight i'm going to a mochi party so I am getting amped up.
餅わ　たべります！

Experiments in Happiness.

2008-12-04T15:20:00.001+09:00

"Mihaly Csikzentmihalyi made people carry a pager, and told them that every time it went off they should write down what they were doing and how much they were enjoying it. The idea was to avoid the memory’s tendency to focus on peaks and troughs, and to capture the texture of people’s lives as they were experiencing them, rather than in retrospect. The study showed that people were most content when they were experiencing what Csikzentmihalyi called “flow”—in Haidt’s definition, “the state of total immersion in a task that is challenging yet closely matched to one’s abilities.” We are at our happiest when we are absorbed in what we are doing; the most useful way of regarding happiness is, to borrow a phrase of Clive James’s, as “a by-product of absorption.”" - from imomus.

The death of Jørn Utzon - the architect behind the Sydney Opera House.

2008-12-01T15:23:00.001+09:00

Here's a quick tribute to the Danish architect, and designer of the Sydney Opera House, Jørn Utzon. I was disappointed when I first learnt of how Utzon was treated by tne NSW government during the construction of this landmark building. Government construction projects invariably go into the red,...I don't know the specific details, but how could you blame the architect?

What is the point of architecture? Of course, function is extremely important. But something interesting happens when art meetings construction. This is when a building becomes 'a place', 'an icon' and 'a landmark'. In the international collective perspective of the world, what would Sydney be without the Opera House? Ambitiously edgy new buildings are always risky when it comes to public opinion and politics, but it would be even worse if we never tried at all.

Baby Mama - lazy chick flick times on a Saturday night.

2008-12-01T13:36:00.001+09:00

Looks a little cheesy, right? In a way, you are correct,...this movie is definitely like a big fluffy (yet ultimately enjoyable) marshmallow. On the other hand, Tina Fey and Amy Poehler are sharp, sarcastic and bubbling with that kind of smart, self-aware humour that few actors can really pull off. Making it in comedy is hard, and I'd guess it'd be even harder for women.

So although yeh, this is probably a 'chicks flick,' that doesn't make it instantly dismissable. Though some of the jokes are a little obvious and lame, the film never takes itself too seriously. My new method of assessing a film is this: - at the end of the film do I feel cheated of 100 minutes of my life? The answer in this case is, no, not at all.

*****
Why does the office smell like vinegar? Maybe it's me?

My first t-shirt from RedBubble............!

2008-11-26T13:08:00.004+09:00

I finally got around to ordering a T-shirt from Redbubble!

Redbubble is an Australian company based on the Cafepress-style business model; Creators upload their works onto the site, from which consumers can purchase prints or printed goods featuring the works. In exchange for hosting your image/profile, doing the printing and posting the item, Redbubble take a fee from the sale. It's a pretty cool concept and I'm really happy to support this sort of venture.

I decided on this design by "lowvincentyh", "lowvincentyh", available here.

Cute, ne?

"Take me Home" exhibition at Keith and Lottie

2008-11-25T13:20:00.000+09:00

Went along to the Lisa Max and Jessica McLeod's exhibition opening last Wednesday night. It was a very cute affair, with very cute paintings and soft toys. I even bought a painting! (left). This year, 2008, is the first year that I have actually bought other people's art (not just the small zines, prints, cards etc that I wouldn't normally buy, but actual original art)!

Anyway, well done Lisa & Jess for putting on this very cute show! Also, thanks for the free pocky sticks, it made my night. Take me Home will be open until the 12th December at Keith and Lottie Gallery so I do recommend anyone to go and check it out! ^_^

Also, here's a quick review for The Moon's Caesar Salad (spare the bacon)... = At first it gives the impression of just being a bit plate of lettuce. Where's the anchovies?, you may wonder. Delve beneath the surface and there are at least 10-14 of them. Salty goodness.

Martin Will's recent exhibition opening.

2008-11-25T13:10:00.001+09:00

So I'm a bit behind on my blogging. Anyway, this was very cool exhibition by a very talented artist, Martin Wills.

Clare Nina Norelli played the opening night, and I could also eat fancy cheese on a stick. I tried to eat a piece of artichoke, but don't you hate it when you try and eat a piece of food that's too big for your mouth when you're at a social thing? It's hard to talk with a mouth full of artichoke. I still consider it a fancy vegetable, so that made the whole experience ok.

I also had a conversation with some people I know about the wrong-ness of the Hog's Breath Cafe Mascot. I think I may have scared them with my passionate anti-hog sentiments, my apologies.

All in all, a great night!

Simone and Girlfunkel at the Moon.

2008-11-25T13:06:00.001+09:00

This is from last week.

Very cute and talented girls. ^_^
You can see their myspace here.

The new Coen brothers' film; Burn After Reading.

2008-11-14T12:42:00.001+09:00

Initially I had reservations as to whether I'd enjoy this film or not; it only scored about 78% on the tomatometer, and reviews indicated that it wasn't the strongest example of Coen brother's-style film-making. As one does, when they have pre-concieved low expectations, I actually enjoyed the film quite a lot.

I was quite pleased to watch a film where everyone was between 40-60 or so,... no young bimbos or token hotties,... The casting was quite unusual,...but with great performances from Tilda Swinton, Frances Mcdormand, Brad Bitt, George Clooney, John Malkovich,...it all came together well.

I particularly love the Coen brothers' style of extremely subtle yet fiercely cutting black humour. Unlike other "comedies," there is no need for obvious comedic conventions and announcements;.. "THIS IS A JOKE, LAUGH NOW!" type stuff. Actually for some of my favourite comedies, there wouldn't be so many "laugh out loud" jokes, but rather, an ongoing series of inward ironic chuckles.

I can see how Burn After Reading would only score 70-80% / 3-4 stars,... it's not THE BEST FILM in the world,... it's more like a lingering dry martini rather than a pina colada. Sharp, funny, subtle, by not TRYING to even be a block-buster, the Coen brothers nail this one, for what it is.

Pacific By Rail @ Amplifer

2008-10-25T11:39:00.002+09:00

Went out last night to Amplifier for the first time in a long time to see Pacific By Rail.

Influences include: My Bloody Valentine, Slowdive, The Telescopes, Monster Movie, Mojave 3, Sigur Ros, Godspeed, Mogwai, Blonde Redhead, Helen Stellar, Pia Fraus, Stereolab, Yo La Tengo, Ester Drang, Radiohead, The Pillows, Bailter Space, The Jesus and Mary Chain & Auburn Lull.

They're also playing the Artrage Roadtrip gig tomorrow night with Eleventh He Reaches London, Bone, These Shipwrecks, French Rockets & The Tigers.

Article from The Australian - Children don't come first in lucky country, says OECD report

2008-10-24T00:17:00.000+09:00

Stephen Lunn, Social affairs writer | October 21, 2008

AUSTRALIA'S prosperity is masking an unpalatable truth - the health and wellbeing of our children lag unacceptably behind those of many developed countries.

More than 7 per cent of Australian children have fewer than 11 books in their family home, we rank in the bottom third of the OECD nations for infant mortality, and we are 21st out of 27 for children eating meals with their parents.

These are just a few of a raft of international indicators of childhood health and wellbeing that reveal the chasm between our perceptions of a prosperous country and the harsh reality, childhood expert Fiona Stanley has warned.

An international comparison of 42measures of childhood wellbeing to be published for the first time today by the Australian Research Alliance for Children and Youth shows we rank 13th out of 23 OECD countries on childhood mental health. Indigenous children fare disproportionately badly across a range of indicators from infant mortality through teenage pregnancy and exposure to poverty.

Professor Stanley, chair of the alliance board, told The Australian that the nation "continues to accept mediocrity for our young people" at a time when we top the rankings of some global prosperity indices.

"I'm disappointed in the way Australia has become smug about being top of the pops in wealth and sport, but for the most important element for the future of the country, our children, we're way behind the eight ball," she said.

"An international prosperity index published just last week had Australia the No1 one country in the world for life satisfaction, but how can we be so self-satisfied when there are so many indicators of childhood wellbeing that are in the middle of the range?

"We need to be asking how an affluent and successful country like Australia can be so average when it comes to raising our children and whether we're prepared to continue to accept mediocrity for our young people."

The ARACY report card, titled The Wellbeing of Australian Children, to be launched in Canberra today by Families Minister Jenny Macklin, will feed into the Government's policy agenda focusing on universal access to early childhood education, improving responses to childhood obesity and mental health issues, and combating indigenous disadvantage across the spectrum.

It notes Australian children are four times more likely to be living in poverty than a child in Finland, with 12 per cent of children in Australian households where the income is less than 50 per cent of the national median on the most recent measure.

About 7.2 per cent of children report having fewer than 11 books in their home, a figure that sits at 19 per cent for Aboriginal children.

A spokeswoman for Ms Macklin said last night the Rudd Government was committed to a child-centred approach to family policy and that the ARACY report card would "provide vital baseline data".

"Children are our most important asset and we are determined to make children's interests the driving force of our decision-making for families," the spokeswoman said. "This is reflected in the Government's commitment to introduce a paid paternity leave scheme, the development of a Child Protection Framework and increasing the child care tax rebate from 30 to 50 per cent in our first budget."

She said the indigenous indicators are "shocking" and closing the gap between indigenous and non-indigenous Australians was an "urgent national priority".

Rob Moodie, professor of global health at the University of Melbourne's Nossal Institute and an ARACY board member, said obesity was one example of where we fell short in looking after children's wellbeing, to the point where the life expectancy of future generations was about to start falling.

Professor Moodie said that governments, communities, business and parents must work together to provide better options for the nation's children.

"We need to value teachers, we need to make sure there are safe public spaces set aside for kids to be active," he said. "We need to get kids walking to school, so they can get both exercise and get to know other children."

Professor Stanley agreed the response had to move beyond polite dinner party conversation.

"Society has to start changing what it values."

She labelled rising psychological problems among children and young people as a particular concern, one that "just shouldn't be happening in a successful country".

From The Australian News Online.

Mu's photography exhibition

2008-10-22T22:36:00.000+09:00

Just got back from Mu's photo exhibition at Blend(er) Gallery, Joondalup.

Well done Mu for an awesome collection of gorgeous photographs!

Do check out her works if you can!

Gallery Opening Times
Tuesday to Sunday 10am to 2pm
Friday to Sunday 6pm to 9pm - hope to see you there!!

Candy for Grown-ups

2008-10-22T14:10:00.000+09:00

A bit of a write-up for the group exhibition I am currently holding at the Breadbox Gallery.

Their paws, claws and antennae wave for our attention from between the pages of comic books, their bouncing figures guide us through pixelated game worlds, and their large eyes peep at us from TV and movie screens. They can be furry, scaly, prickly, smooth, warm, cold, big and small. Some have ears, some resemble a strange mix of two different animals, some are made of robotic steel and others, candy-coloured plasticine. Some echo our deepest childhood fears; murderous ghosts, blood-thirsty vampires, flesh-eating zombies, and others descend from worlds of fantasy; friendly monsters, bouncing sprites and cheerful robots. They are characters, and from childhood, these weird and cute characters like Dracula, Casper, R2D2, Snoopy, Gumby, Gizmo, A.L.F and E.T have become a significant and persistent part of our collective memory.

Rather than discard the toys, videos and comics, many in their 20’s and 30’s have preferred to keep these iconic characters of their childhoods close to their hearts. Some might think that playing Super Mario, collecting Transformers or watching Mighty Mouse in one’s 20’s is an indulgent and immature childish habit, but perhaps what this trend of 20-30 something “kidults” really represents, is a generation of adults who have refused to let go of their imaginations. Though the rational part of our brain knows perfectly well that E.T is not real, we are still open enough to go along with it, forget about reality and let ourselves be convinced. With this generation, therefore, we have seen a disintegration of the old indicators of adult-hood and child-hood. Whilst our parents and grandparents may have preferred more adult pursuits of chess and back-gammon, many of us are not afraid to admit that we still collect Star Wars figurines and watch Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles in our spare time.

Unfortunately, the increasing enjoyment of these seemingly “childish” pursuits has led many a social commentator to label this generation as immature, indulgent, materialistic and escapist. This claim would fail to recognise that although we do enjoy a nice new pair of sneakers, many creatives in their 20’s and 30’s actually create a lot more than they consume. The convenience and freedom of the internet, combined with the plummeting costs of print and production technologies, has mean that many motivated creatives have been able to set up their own record labels, self-publish comic books, release their own lines of toys and market their own self-created brands. “Self-contributor” sites like Flickr, Etsy and CafePress, RedBubble all reflect the recent de-centralisation of production that has allowed for the development of independent creative enterprises.

It isn’t surprising then, that many local creatives, who grew up on Warner Brothers cartoons and video games, are now also producing and distributing their own character-based comic books, games, animations and toys. Whilst comic writers Jessica McLeod and Edward J Grug III write, illustrate and publish their own comic books about talking animals and unusual super heroes, craft artisans Ali J and Teresa Watts create and sell their character based purses, badges and cards online. The strength of Jessica’s Space Rabbit character has seen her work translated and published in Germany, whilst many of Ali J’s fashion-centred characters have found their ways onto walls of fans and appreciators on the other side of the globe.

The international popularity of Japan’s Astroboy, Holland’s Miffy, America’s Mickey Mouse and Switzerland’s Pingu reinforce the sense that successful character art can effectively transcend limitations of language, race, age and geography. Although we may not understand the Japanese, Spanish or Thai spoken by artists Yui Matsubara, Marco Recuero or Studio Aiko, their cute girls, candy monsters and surreal mutants embody simple narratives and emotional meanings that can be easily understood and enjoyed by audiences of any background. Typified by its strength in visual communication, character art is therefore, starting to be acknowledged as a genre in its own right. Clearly more than just a child-hood pre-occupation, characters are also increasingly being recognised for their power to create instant emotional connections with audiences.

The characters of Australian artists Jodee Knowles, Tim Waters, Deathbot, Paul Robertson, Yok and Creepy clearly function on this basis of immediate emotional connection. Furthermore, though visually their characters are highly accessible, they also reflect a more complex layer of emotional and social commentary. The contorted robots of Tim Waters and Deathbot reflect a surreal meshing of the organic and the technology, whilst the inked faces of Jodee Knowle’s characters reveal an uneasy sense of emotional detachment. Artists Maximillian Goldin and Suspecto have effectively challenged the “cutesy” nature of character art by juxtaposing bright child-like colours with themes of decapitation and horror. Overall, in the creation of these characters, artists have combined their sense of imagination and play, with the expression of more adult concepts and emotions.

To celebrate this recent generation of “user-contributed” character creation, Candy Cult will put on show over 50 of the most unique, cute, weird and imaginative independent characters from 35 local, interstate and international artists. From cute witches to sexy anime girls, musical demons to demented bunnies, this collection will demonstrate the dual power of character art; as a highly accessible visual communicator, and also as a vehicle of expression for more adult concepts and emotions. With a strong graphic appeal, this exhibition will inspire and engage those who who wish to deepen their appreciation for the imaginative and unique characters that populate contemporary comic illustration, street art, graphic design, animation, game art and craft-making. Overall, Candy Cult will celebrate the imaginative world of this generation; a place where monsters still lurk in the shadows, and ninjas fly through our day-dreams, for as long as we continue to believe.

Viva la imaginacion!

Candy Cult artists:
Yok, Sean Morris, Jodee Knowles, Creepy, Suspecto, Deathbot, Luke Milton, Peter Long, Jessica McLeod, Edward J Grug III, Ali J, Isobel Knowles, Paul Robertson, Yui Matsubara (Japan), Lisa Max (Germany), Marco Recuero (Spain), Kimiaki Yaegashi (Japan), Stick A Thing (Germany), Ciah Ciah (Poland), Zoé Byland (Switzerland), Hylton Warburton (South Africa), Talita Hoffman (Brazil), Studio Aiko (Thailand), Fomat Brain (Argentina), Mutsuko Okayama-Everitt, John Patterson, Stefanie Bop, Tim Waters, Teresa Watts, Karen de San Miguel & Emma Lurie.

Where?
The Breadbox Gallery, 233 James St, Northbridge.

Gallery opening hours:
12 and 5pm, Wednesday to Friday
2 to 5pm, Saturday and Sunday
Candy Cult will run from the 19th of October through to the 2nd of November.

More information:
www.candycult.net

Candy Cult art character arts exhibition

2008-10-22T14:00:00.000+09:00

Candy Cult will be open until the 2nd of November. Entry is free, and opening hours are:
12 - 5pm, Wednesday to Friday
2 - 5pm, Saturday & Sunday

If you pop in on Saturday or Sunday I will be there personally if you would like to say hello!

Although many of the 1/1 Limited Edition Candy Cult Character Cut-out prints have already sold, there are still a few fantastic creatures who are still looking for loving homes. Looking for some awesome, contemporary monster art for your bedroom wall? Now’s your chance!

It’s all happening at the Breadbox Gallery, 233 James Street Northbridge.

First Post

2008-10-22T13:56:00.000+09:00

Here is my first post on Here Now.

I decided to start this blog, in order to document my thoughts and reactions on things currently happening here in Perth.

You can expect to read about social issues, art events, urban planning, health issues, and anything else that I have a reaction to.

About Me

2008-03-10T11:23:00.026+09:00

Likes

JAPAN!,language, art, photography, travel, dreams, learning, living styles, clouds, nerds, musics, arts, op shops, socks, street fashion, books, umbrellas, parasols, cameras, Scrabble, Boggle, Balderdash, mad-libs, sociological science-fiction, dystopian fiction, organic architecture, post-materialism, op-shops, social change, social justice, vintage dresses, indoor plants, video clips, badges, people-watching, idioms, jokes, language, polka dots, bright red, conspiracies, costumes, mix cds, knee-high socks, glasses, libraries, well-thumbed books, other people's junk, verge collections, the internet, interior design, fashion, being surprised, maps, gingham, pheromones, hair-styles, magazines, cubby-houses, time machines, ghosts, aliens, speculation, satire, black humour, robots, tree-houses, children's games, learning, memory, imagination, creativity, evolutionary legacies, tabula rasa, game-play, personality, perception, social responsibility, civics, manners, logic, pop, xylophones, showers, rain.

Favourite subjects

Music, Japan, Japanese culture, Japanese language, Asian studies, Anthropology, History, Psychology, Media Theory, Cultural Studies, Linguistics, Sociology, Humanism, Mythology, Ancient History, Social History, Human Biology, Neurology, Behavioural Science, Alternative Medicine, Child Development, Evolutionary Psychology, Organisational behaviour, Religion, Politics, Economics, Epistemology, blah blah blah, you know, everything interesting.

Focus subjects

Japanese language/culture/society, History, Media, Character Design.

Favourite foods and drinks

Real lemonade, cupcakes, lemon meringue, sushi, sashimi, tofu, mochi, green tea, bananas, dates, avocado, baked beetroot, rainbow paddlepops, tacos, burritos, pizza, thai food, palak paneer, indian food, grapes, mangoes, blackberries, persimmons, kahlua, baileys, franjelico, beer.

Favourite bands

low, monster movie, blonde redhead, the dirty three, deerhoof, air, shonen knife, beck, mojave 3, slowdive, sigur ros, catpower, the books, auburn lull, boards of canada, manitoba/caribou, red house painters, lullatone, mice parade, bjork, pj harvey, nick cave, kraftwerk, radiohead, kahimi karie, radarmaker, pacific by rail, colleen, mum, my disco, architecture in helsinki, the necks, the flaming lips, the postal service, broken social scene.

Favourite TV

flight of the conchords, degrassi junior high, weeds, arrested development, northern exposure, the x-files, japanorama, six feet under, big love, freaks and geeks, the mighty boosh, garth marenghi's dark place, press gang, the it crowd, snuff box, the goodies, the pick up artist, gumby, plasmo, sooty, tim & eric's awesome show, anpanman, the human body series, art attack, full frontal, zettai kareshi, father ted, black books, nathan barley, manwatching, the human sexes, seven-up, cnnnn, chaser's war on everything, pbs news hour with jim lehrer, sbs news, 30 rock, the wonder years, family ties, the d generation, star trek: next generation, spaced, the funky squad, the twilight zone, amazing stories.

Favourite Authors:

Hermann Hesse, Aldous Huxley, John Wyndham, Desmond Morris, Noam Chomsky, Naomi Klein, Charles Landry, Steve Biddulph, Elizabeth Warren, Marshall Mcluhan, Haruki Murakami, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, James Howard Kunstler, Banana Yoshimoto, Chuck Palahniuk.

I spend most of my time...

Working (at a large library in Perth)
Shopping for food, cooking food and taking photos of it.
Reading random books and articles on the internet.
Studying Japanese.

Musics

Between 2003(?) and 2005 I played drums and bass in an all-girl post-punk group, Trashband 1987. This band was a joke that everyone took seriously, much to our amusement.

From 2006 I have been playing music with Greg, firstly in Jasmin Loop Control and then in The Ghost of 29 Megacycles. Best way to describe this kind of music is: "organic ambient drone".

My favourite bands/songs seem to tend towards post-rock, indie-folk, indie-pop, electro-folk, ambient, dreampop, shoegaze, slowcore, lo-fi, ambient pop, alt-electronic and cheesy pop. Check out my LastFM account if you are interested in hearing more of what this kind of music sounds like.

Arts

In 2007 I produced a series of cute character paintings for my first solo exhibition at Keith and Lottie, Tiny Town (2007).

In 2008 I curated and put on a group character art show, Candy Cult, which was part of the 25th Artrage Anniversary Festival. With help from Lisa Max & Teresa Watts, we put on a show exhibiting 36 local and international artists.

These days I'm too busy to put on shows, but have instead been working on a few commissions. I occasionally put some works and photos up on my Flickr, if you wanna have a look at that.