Patton Oswalt wrote a compelling and interesting article on nerdery, pop culture and subculture. It could be considered the co-theory of Pop Will Eat Itself: Nerds Will Eat Themselves, Throw It All Up and Coat the World. (The article)
I got to thinking a little bit. 'Nerd' as it was used in the eighties and, certainly for me, the nineties, wasn't just about what you liked, or to borrow Oswalt's vernacular, what you lined your thought-palace with. Being called a nerd was as much about the people who did the name calling in the first place. You can't be called something without someone calling. To be a nerd was to like something different, weird, not part of the mainstream. We liked things the cool kids weren't aware of, and that made them dislike us but it also made us special.
I don't think that defining aspect of nerdism is gone. True, nerd culture is now pop culture, but that just means a different set of likes and small joys that sit outside the mainstream are being devoured by a new, different set of neo-nerds. Maybe using the word 'nerd' to describe an outcast kid is off-base now, and we need a new word. It should be easy to find: simply go down to the nearest schoolyard and eavesdrop on the words being spat at by those outcasts.
Nerd used to be derisive, or maybe you've forgotten. I think everyone's always been a weak Otaku, they've just had different things to obsess over. From a housewife in the fifties discussing the best laundry detergent with her friends to a member of the Vienese court, waxing lyrical over Beethoven in 1795. What really made a nerd, back in my day, was that what you liked was scorned by the mainstream, but you loved it anyway.
I'm certain those signifiers still exist today. What are they, do you think? In an age where Boba Fett and comic books are cool, what isn't?
Dec 31, 2010
Dec 13, 2010
Nov 7, 2010
One Of My Favourite Chudwuffers
http://www.chudwuffer.com/2008/09/29/boring-sex/
and this one
http://www.chudwuffer.com/2008/09/23/hugh-manatee/
There are an embarrassing number of broken images...
and this one
http://www.chudwuffer.com/2008/09/23/hugh-manatee/
There are an embarrassing number of broken images...
Nov 6, 2010
REVIEW: The Social Network
First class. The Social Network is first class filmmaking.
Mark Zuckerberg invented Facebook, and this is his tale through the eyes of the author Ben Mezrich, who wrote the controversial book The Accidental Billionaires, that Aaron Sorkin then turned into a screenplay. Remember that: this film is a fictionalised account of what took place in the years before and after Facebook took over the world and made Jesse Eisenberg and his youthful cohorts billionaires. How much of it is real and how much of it isn't will create a maelstrom of discussion online for years, maybe decades. It doesn't matter. What does matter is that the elements Sorkin has created and director David Fincher has visualised tell a terrifyingly true-to-life portrayal of our modern time. I agree with other critics; this film captures the zeitgeist.
David Fincher is a great director. He's had his share of misses, but his hits become pieces of cinema that will be remembered long after he's gone. His direction here is masterful, subtle and restrained. This isn't a wild, psychotic visual ride like Fight Club, but more of a steady, mature journey like Zodiac. That Fincher re-teamed with Jeff Cronenweth is a blessing, as the DP's own style has matured into a gorgeous collection of techniques that blend together to show a stark, contrasty, somewhat high-definition digital looking modern Boston and California. The opening shots of Harvard in winter at night, with sodium lamp yellows against stunning centuries-old school buildings as a jilted Zuckerberg runs home through the snow set the tone for a realistic portrayal of a different world, here on earth. Cronenweth uses the tools at his disposal and plays with the final image to give us something unique. His tiltshifts of the rowing meet are lovely, and it's cool to see that effect used outside of a commercial for HP or Kodak. Fincher's re-teamed with Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails for the soundtrack, and Reznor delivers a score I immediately downloaded when I got home. It's a mix of quiet organic moments and very synthy beats that express the emotion of each scene beautifully, hauntingly or aggressively. The second track, In Motion, a heavy, thudding kind of retro sounding beat that runs over Zuckerberg's frenzied, emotional creation of Facemash as Fincher cuts back to one of Harvard's elite clubs getting its freak on was memorable.
Jesse Eisenberg has helmed a great rising-star career. He's done it right, and this is his crowning achievement. I loved him in Adventureland, and though his mumbly style may have been suspected of aping Michael Cera, he demonstrated early on in his indie selections that he could indeed act, that there were raw and challenging emotions beneath his awkward, nerdy performances. Those complexities are thrown into sharp relief in The Social Network, as Eisenberg gives us glimpses into an angry, possibly Asberger's-ridden nerd who really, really wants to be cool, but whose faint misanthropy and the massive chip on his shoulder creates something worse. Combine these traits with becoming a billionaire and being hailed a genius and Eisenberg's Zuckerberg demonstrates a three dimensional person, someone conflicted, someone you can't call a monster or evil, because he's really just a jerk or an arsehole at his worst - but real, someone you've met. Sometimes he's loyal, apologetic or friendly, but there's always that smug, indignant anger in Zuckerberg's eyes. It's a great performance of one of the most deep and realised characters on the screen this year.
The rest of the cast are stellar - there's a reason they use the term ensemble cast. When everyone else is a top performer, you can't just call them the supporting cast. Justin Timberlake in particular stands out as Sean Parker, the founder of Napster and a future vision or dark shadow of the young internet entrepreneur that Zuckerberg is captivated by. The Winklevoss brothers, two Harvard seniors and identical twins who get mixed up in lawsuits against Zuckerberg, are played by two different actors, which blew me away when I looked it up just now for this review. Armie Hammer and Josh Pence don't look like bros, yet are fairly similar. Apparently, they were trained to mimic each other's subtle actions, then Pence's face was morphed to look like Hammer's. In certain scenes, it's Hammer talking to himself, but with clever but rather standard editing tricks. I had no idea. Very authentic work, and surely some of the best special effects I've ever seen, because I didn't see them!
One of the biggest joys was Aaron Sorkin's screenplay. Any West Wing fan knows why, and the dialogue in The Social Network is as acidic, fork-tongued, snappy and quick as anything Sorkin has written. He's really wrapped his chubby hands around this source material and bled out some terrific scenes. There's never a wasted moment, never an unnecessary scene, always characters that resonate and have depth. Characters who in other films may come off are throwaway are instead empowered and just as smart as the main characters. All second tier of characters who are only in one or two scenes bring their own decades long histories with them, and challenge Mark Zuckerberg in some way, bringing out the various, toe-curling facets of this fascinating man and the behemoth he built to ride to the land of cool.
Zuckerberg strode into a world of business, dominated by men in their late forties wearing suits and ties, and with a gang of youth-fuelled, anger-driven egotists, smashed the conventions of how a billionaire looks and acts. His posse of coolly yet affectedly casual staff and management wear thongs and hoodies like a uniform, build themselves a legend as giant killers and godmakers. While their thought processes may at times be repugnant, there is still a genuine awe in their achievements at such a young age. When he was about 24 years old, Zuckerberg's Facebook was worth 25 billion dollars, and it's because he capitalised on what my generation finds cool.
At first, everyone seemed to think this film was unnecessary. "We don't need a Facebook movie!" thousands of critics sneered on their blogs or sites, the updates of which were most likely fed to their thousands of Facebook pages or status feeds and liked by millions of friends. Like it or not, Sean Parker is right when he says in the film, "We used to live in farms, and then in cities. And now we're gonna live on the Internet." He's right. Of course he's right. Through what medium did I post this review? Through what medium are you reading it right now? Businesses are now completely dependent on it. Social networks are formed and maintained through it. Nothing exemplifies that more than Facebook, the site that was founded 6 years ago but is still used by a huge majority of the modern world today to stay connected to friends, family and strangers. Sorkin is wise to have crafted this tale, and he also lends it credibility by delivering the most authentic dialogue from people my age talking about the internet. There's no irony or pained humour - the internet is a part of these people's lives. It is Now, and Sorkin writes it so. We're all a part of this story, because we all helped build Facebook and the internet into the monster and overarching social necessity it is today.
I left Facebook a few months ago, and when my sister sits in front of me at a cafe and tells me she I should go back on Facebook so she can show me the photos from her trip, or catch me up on her last few weeks, despite being right in front of me in real life, I can see how important Facebook is and how necessary this film was. The Social Network is first class.
Mark Zuckerberg invented Facebook, and this is his tale through the eyes of the author Ben Mezrich, who wrote the controversial book The Accidental Billionaires, that Aaron Sorkin then turned into a screenplay. Remember that: this film is a fictionalised account of what took place in the years before and after Facebook took over the world and made Jesse Eisenberg and his youthful cohorts billionaires. How much of it is real and how much of it isn't will create a maelstrom of discussion online for years, maybe decades. It doesn't matter. What does matter is that the elements Sorkin has created and director David Fincher has visualised tell a terrifyingly true-to-life portrayal of our modern time. I agree with other critics; this film captures the zeitgeist.
David Fincher is a great director. He's had his share of misses, but his hits become pieces of cinema that will be remembered long after he's gone. His direction here is masterful, subtle and restrained. This isn't a wild, psychotic visual ride like Fight Club, but more of a steady, mature journey like Zodiac. That Fincher re-teamed with Jeff Cronenweth is a blessing, as the DP's own style has matured into a gorgeous collection of techniques that blend together to show a stark, contrasty, somewhat high-definition digital looking modern Boston and California. The opening shots of Harvard in winter at night, with sodium lamp yellows against stunning centuries-old school buildings as a jilted Zuckerberg runs home through the snow set the tone for a realistic portrayal of a different world, here on earth. Cronenweth uses the tools at his disposal and plays with the final image to give us something unique. His tiltshifts of the rowing meet are lovely, and it's cool to see that effect used outside of a commercial for HP or Kodak. Fincher's re-teamed with Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails for the soundtrack, and Reznor delivers a score I immediately downloaded when I got home. It's a mix of quiet organic moments and very synthy beats that express the emotion of each scene beautifully, hauntingly or aggressively. The second track, In Motion, a heavy, thudding kind of retro sounding beat that runs over Zuckerberg's frenzied, emotional creation of Facemash as Fincher cuts back to one of Harvard's elite clubs getting its freak on was memorable.
 |
| Concept art, courtesy thesocialnetwork-movie.com |
The rest of the cast are stellar - there's a reason they use the term ensemble cast. When everyone else is a top performer, you can't just call them the supporting cast. Justin Timberlake in particular stands out as Sean Parker, the founder of Napster and a future vision or dark shadow of the young internet entrepreneur that Zuckerberg is captivated by. The Winklevoss brothers, two Harvard seniors and identical twins who get mixed up in lawsuits against Zuckerberg, are played by two different actors, which blew me away when I looked it up just now for this review. Armie Hammer and Josh Pence don't look like bros, yet are fairly similar. Apparently, they were trained to mimic each other's subtle actions, then Pence's face was morphed to look like Hammer's. In certain scenes, it's Hammer talking to himself, but with clever but rather standard editing tricks. I had no idea. Very authentic work, and surely some of the best special effects I've ever seen, because I didn't see them!
One of the biggest joys was Aaron Sorkin's screenplay. Any West Wing fan knows why, and the dialogue in The Social Network is as acidic, fork-tongued, snappy and quick as anything Sorkin has written. He's really wrapped his chubby hands around this source material and bled out some terrific scenes. There's never a wasted moment, never an unnecessary scene, always characters that resonate and have depth. Characters who in other films may come off are throwaway are instead empowered and just as smart as the main characters. All second tier of characters who are only in one or two scenes bring their own decades long histories with them, and challenge Mark Zuckerberg in some way, bringing out the various, toe-curling facets of this fascinating man and the behemoth he built to ride to the land of cool.
Zuckerberg strode into a world of business, dominated by men in their late forties wearing suits and ties, and with a gang of youth-fuelled, anger-driven egotists, smashed the conventions of how a billionaire looks and acts. His posse of coolly yet affectedly casual staff and management wear thongs and hoodies like a uniform, build themselves a legend as giant killers and godmakers. While their thought processes may at times be repugnant, there is still a genuine awe in their achievements at such a young age. When he was about 24 years old, Zuckerberg's Facebook was worth 25 billion dollars, and it's because he capitalised on what my generation finds cool.
I left Facebook a few months ago, and when my sister sits in front of me at a cafe and tells me she I should go back on Facebook so she can show me the photos from her trip, or catch me up on her last few weeks, despite being right in front of me in real life, I can see how important Facebook is and how necessary this film was. The Social Network is first class.
Nov 2, 2010
Stephen Fry's Comments About Cottaging Are Not Misogyny
All of you STOP! Read the goddamn article that Stephen Fry was originally quoted in. Be somewhat familiar with Stephen Fry. It is completely out of context and verging on vicious lies when all these newspapers and blogs run with a headline like, "Women can't enjoy sex," and use phrases like, "In a bizarre outburst."
What absolute bloody arsehanky. What a slimy, sniveling, under-rock-crawling, straw grasping, pathetic approach to journalism these people are taking.
How on earth can you call an organized interview an outburst? And again, read the bloody article and you'll see there's not a skerrick of misogyny. What a horrid, ludicrous and opportunistic word to throw at someone as consistently compassionate and concerned for human rights as Stephen Fry. Commenters are pointing at that he's old and gay, using that as a reason for his comments, as if he's mentally slipped from syphilis due to his years of buggery. What a horrid way to treat someone. Fry has said numerous times his being gay was a fiery trial that almost ended with him at the end of a rope or choking on his own vomit. He emerged firm on the need to accept people and his liberal mind and pursuits demonstrate a commitment to equality and human rights.
What we're seeing here is a completely overblown and misguided sense of feminism, a vicious mutation of feminism that isn't true to the cause, that seeks to crush men instead of equalize women. It's the sort of feminism you find in a university campus among a group of young women recently scorned by lovers who have thrown their hands in the air angrily and said they've given up on men, but who, ten years later, lose their anger, find the right man (or woman) and buy a labradoodle together, hopefully feeling faintly embarrassed about their overwrought man-hating when they look back at campus life during a nostalgic moment. Worse, it's women who never let go of that anger and look for any possible target to unleash on, never once thinking to have a proper look at the target first.
The comments and articles spewing out in relation to Fry's interview smack of ignorance and off-topic agenda-pushing rants. I remember when a book was released that talked about sex, IVF and homosexuality, aimed at young kids. People decried the book while proudly stating that of course they hadn't actually read it, it's filth and evil. This week's trashy articles read exactly like those squealing fools.
It's not feminism that is happening here. Feminists aren't attacking Stephen Fry for his harmless comments about gay men having much higher and sometimes more kinky sex drives than women. It's people who think they are feminists. People who think that tearing down an old queer who states quite truthfully that there are very few places to find heterosexual cruising lanes or cottages makes them a feminist.
Feminism is about increasing the power of women so they can take their rightful place next to men, not under them. Feminism is about creating a culture that sees humans, not man and woman. It's about breaking barriers: wage barriers, job barriers, rights barriers. It's about changing the minds of men who dismiss women just because they are women. It has nothing to do with a gay men commenting that he thinks gay men like sex more than straight women, in the context of whether or not women use public places for lewd and lascivious acts. Re-read that last sentence and see how ludicrous it sounds to judge a man's entire worldview based on such a light and frivolous topic.
What absolute bloody arsehanky. What a slimy, sniveling, under-rock-crawling, straw grasping, pathetic approach to journalism these people are taking.
How on earth can you call an organized interview an outburst? And again, read the bloody article and you'll see there's not a skerrick of misogyny. What a horrid, ludicrous and opportunistic word to throw at someone as consistently compassionate and concerned for human rights as Stephen Fry. Commenters are pointing at that he's old and gay, using that as a reason for his comments, as if he's mentally slipped from syphilis due to his years of buggery. What a horrid way to treat someone. Fry has said numerous times his being gay was a fiery trial that almost ended with him at the end of a rope or choking on his own vomit. He emerged firm on the need to accept people and his liberal mind and pursuits demonstrate a commitment to equality and human rights.
What we're seeing here is a completely overblown and misguided sense of feminism, a vicious mutation of feminism that isn't true to the cause, that seeks to crush men instead of equalize women. It's the sort of feminism you find in a university campus among a group of young women recently scorned by lovers who have thrown their hands in the air angrily and said they've given up on men, but who, ten years later, lose their anger, find the right man (or woman) and buy a labradoodle together, hopefully feeling faintly embarrassed about their overwrought man-hating when they look back at campus life during a nostalgic moment. Worse, it's women who never let go of that anger and look for any possible target to unleash on, never once thinking to have a proper look at the target first.
The comments and articles spewing out in relation to Fry's interview smack of ignorance and off-topic agenda-pushing rants. I remember when a book was released that talked about sex, IVF and homosexuality, aimed at young kids. People decried the book while proudly stating that of course they hadn't actually read it, it's filth and evil. This week's trashy articles read exactly like those squealing fools.
It's not feminism that is happening here. Feminists aren't attacking Stephen Fry for his harmless comments about gay men having much higher and sometimes more kinky sex drives than women. It's people who think they are feminists. People who think that tearing down an old queer who states quite truthfully that there are very few places to find heterosexual cruising lanes or cottages makes them a feminist.
Feminism is about increasing the power of women so they can take their rightful place next to men, not under them. Feminism is about creating a culture that sees humans, not man and woman. It's about breaking barriers: wage barriers, job barriers, rights barriers. It's about changing the minds of men who dismiss women just because they are women. It has nothing to do with a gay men commenting that he thinks gay men like sex more than straight women, in the context of whether or not women use public places for lewd and lascivious acts. Re-read that last sentence and see how ludicrous it sounds to judge a man's entire worldview based on such a light and frivolous topic.
Nov 1, 2010
Top 10 Free iPhone Apps for Nerds
There's lots of apps in the Apple store. Like, lots. 200,000. That's a lot. Here are the ones I think are tops, the top 10 apps for people like me: nerdy, business-minded gamers who drink too much coffee.
ANZ goMoney
If you don't have an ANZ account, this one's less useful, but as a bank app, it's incredible. You sign up once using your bank account details and input a unique PIN for your phone only. Once that's done, you only ever have to type in your unique PIN to gain fast, instant access to your accounts. You can customise the images for each account, using pre-loaded ANZ card designs or your own photo library. Very slick.
iSpy Analytics
Maybe not the best google analytics app, but for free, it's pretty great. A lovely, clean red design and pie charts mean you've got an interface you don't need to strain your eyes for and a fairly broad range of reports for multiple accounts. As an analytics junkie, I'm always quickly checking blog or website stats on the go.
Shazam
A general favourite, this guy listens to a song on the radio or through the speakers of the clothes shop while you wait for your partner to come out of the changing room, and tell you who performs it, what album it's from and what it's called. Simple, yet one of those apps you've unknowingly wanted for years.
Skype
Skype is obvious, but when you combine the iPhone, headphones with built in mic and a video game console, you have free, wireless, cheap connection to chat while gaming, without needing to buy the rather overpriced accessories Xbox and Playstation sell. If your game drops out, your connection to friends doesn't.
Showtimes
This is the most useful, comprehensive movie times app I could find for we poor Australians. There are plenty of movie time apps, but too many cater to only the US or only a small handful of Aussie cinemas, usually limited to main cities or a specific chain. This guy gives you plenty, with links to trailers, times and purchasing outlets.
Gametraders
This app connects you to Gametrader, an Aussie video game store retail chain. You get the skinny on hot deals, but more handily, you also have a virtual video game shelf. Add games you want to your wish-list shelf, then press them to shift them over to the games you own shelf, before finally shifting them once more to the trade in pile. You can also mark which games have been leant out and link them to your contact book. I also use this app to show family what I want for Christmas.
Toilet Map
Run by the federal government, this app is a pretty comprehensive survey of Australian public toilets. I've used other apps for this purpose, but most are very slow and US-centric. Being run by our own government, and designed for people with bowel and bladder health problems, Toilet Map can get you out of tight spots fast. All it needs is the ability to update info on johns.
HoursTracker
Get the lite version and you have a very thorough job tracker. Set up multiple jobs and clock on and off at your leisure, running several jobs at the same time. You can manually input hours and set different hourly rates for each job. The reporting can be broken down into day or job based summaries, and all of it can be exported as excel or PDF.
Domino's
Order your pizza, save your favourite orders and then watch the clock run through the different stages of your order in real time. I loe this because I know when to start salivating and when to get angry that my pizza's taking ages despite the clock saying it was delivered. A bit buggy when the phone locks, but otherwise neat.
Flashlight
Very simple, but when they added the ability to activate the flash on the back of the iPhone 4 and use it as a very powerful LED light, I blew my stack. Otherwise, use a bright white screen to find your keys or look under the hood of your car. I also use this with my iPad to act as a fill light for low budget film shoots.http://itunes.apple.com/au/app/anz-gomoney/id387076038?mt=8
If you don't have an ANZ account, this one's less useful, but as a bank app, it's incredible. You sign up once using your bank account details and input a unique PIN for your phone only. Once that's done, you only ever have to type in your unique PIN to gain fast, instant access to your accounts. You can customise the images for each account, using pre-loaded ANZ card designs or your own photo library. Very slick.
Maybe not the best google analytics app, but for free, it's pretty great. A lovely, clean red design and pie charts mean you've got an interface you don't need to strain your eyes for and a fairly broad range of reports for multiple accounts. As an analytics junkie, I'm always quickly checking blog or website stats on the go.
A general favourite, this guy listens to a song on the radio or through the speakers of the clothes shop while you wait for your partner to come out of the changing room, and tell you who performs it, what album it's from and what it's called. Simple, yet one of those apps you've unknowingly wanted for years.
Skype is obvious, but when you combine the iPhone, headphones with built in mic and a video game console, you have free, wireless, cheap connection to chat while gaming, without needing to buy the rather overpriced accessories Xbox and Playstation sell. If your game drops out, your connection to friends doesn't.
This is the most useful, comprehensive movie times app I could find for we poor Australians. There are plenty of movie time apps, but too many cater to only the US or only a small handful of Aussie cinemas, usually limited to main cities or a specific chain. This guy gives you plenty, with links to trailers, times and purchasing outlets.
This app connects you to Gametrader, an Aussie video game store retail chain. You get the skinny on hot deals, but more handily, you also have a virtual video game shelf. Add games you want to your wish-list shelf, then press them to shift them over to the games you own shelf, before finally shifting them once more to the trade in pile. You can also mark which games have been leant out and link them to your contact book. I also use this app to show family what I want for Christmas.
Run by the federal government, this app is a pretty comprehensive survey of Australian public toilets. I've used other apps for this purpose, but most are very slow and US-centric. Being run by our own government, and designed for people with bowel and bladder health problems, Toilet Map can get you out of tight spots fast. All it needs is the ability to update info on johns.
Get the lite version and you have a very thorough job tracker. Set up multiple jobs and clock on and off at your leisure, running several jobs at the same time. You can manually input hours and set different hourly rates for each job. The reporting can be broken down into day or job based summaries, and all of it can be exported as excel or PDF.
Order your pizza, save your favourite orders and then watch the clock run through the different stages of your order in real time. I loe this because I know when to start salivating and when to get angry that my pizza's taking ages despite the clock saying it was delivered. A bit buggy when the phone locks, but otherwise neat.
Very simple, but when they added the ability to activate the flash on the back of the iPhone 4 and use it as a very powerful LED light, I blew my stack. Otherwise, use a bright white screen to find your keys or look under the hood of your car. I also use this with my iPad to act as a fill light for low budget film shoots.http://itunes.apple.com/au/app/anz-gomoney/id387076038?mt=8
Oct 26, 2010
A Way To Combine Social Media Into One Feed
I love the internet. If you come up with a problem, a quick search links you to the world's brain and sure enough, someone's already thought of a solution or eleven.
I thought there must be a way to combine all my social media into one mainline feed. Sure enough, you can. Grazr used to do it, but they are dead. Instead, check out FriendFeed. The benefit of this, as far as I'm going to use it, is to send all my social media feeds to one location, then pipe that feed out (they provide RSS, Facebook App or Google Gadget as output methods) to my eventual Simon J. Green website as a mega updater.
Here's my feed at the mo-mo: http://friendfeed.com/simonjongreen
I thought there must be a way to combine all my social media into one mainline feed. Sure enough, you can. Grazr used to do it, but they are dead. Instead, check out FriendFeed. The benefit of this, as far as I'm going to use it, is to send all my social media feeds to one location, then pipe that feed out (they provide RSS, Facebook App or Google Gadget as output methods) to my eventual Simon J. Green website as a mega updater.
Here's my feed at the mo-mo: http://friendfeed.com/simonjongreen
Oct 22, 2010
Simultaneous Release
Movies get released in stages. Theatres first, then retail (DVD), then Video On Demand and digital, then pay TV, then broadcast. In between, there are established waiting period of weeks or months. If a film broke that waiting period, there was trouble. This model is based on a finely balanced set of needs between film studios who want to make money off of films so they can make more films, and the distribution channels who on-sell those movies.
The new model emerging is to smash those windows of release, Hulk style, and release a movie on DVD, in cinemas and digitally on the same day, or a few days apart.
This is a good thing.
Some quarters complain that this could lead to the end of cinemas. Sure. But so be it. Let them go the way of the drive-in as an outmoded form of technology that the audience simply stopped using. The world has decided en masse that they will take movies when they want them. This is the result of that demand. Steven Soderbergh put it similarly: "Name any big little movie that’s come out in the last four years,” he said, and “It has been available in all formats on the day of release. It’s called piracy. Peter Jacksons Lord of the Rings, Ocean’s Eleven and Ocean’s Twelve – I saw them on Canal Street on opening day. Simultaneous release is already here. We’re just trying to gain control over it."
The new model emerging is to smash those windows of release, Hulk style, and release a movie on DVD, in cinemas and digitally on the same day, or a few days apart.
This is a good thing.
Some quarters complain that this could lead to the end of cinemas. Sure. But so be it. Let them go the way of the drive-in as an outmoded form of technology that the audience simply stopped using. The world has decided en masse that they will take movies when they want them. This is the result of that demand. Steven Soderbergh put it similarly: "Name any big little movie that’s come out in the last four years,” he said, and “It has been available in all formats on the day of release. It’s called piracy. Peter Jacksons Lord of the Rings, Ocean’s Eleven and Ocean’s Twelve – I saw them on Canal Street on opening day. Simultaneous release is already here. We’re just trying to gain control over it."
Oct 19, 2010
Good for Footy
Footy Training
At The G
As you can see, there's a theme. I always liked the fact we seemed to be one of the very few who went for that holy cow, AFL football. Sure our satire was crude, but at least it's on the ball. Enjoy!
Sep 28, 2010
Grog's Blahmut
The chap who is Grog's Gamut knew he ran the risk of being unmasked when he first set up an anonymous blog. If he didn't, he wasn't too bright. The fact that he was unmasked may be unfortunate for him, but I don't see it being in any way unethical. No one has a right to anonymity for no reason. Mr. Gamut knew he was doing something his job disallowed him, but he did it anyway, hiding behind anonymity. That's fine so long as it lasts, but like any superhero or villain, if you run around hiding your identity someone, somewhere will work it out. The longer he ran as anonymous, the greater his chances of being unmasked, especially as his profile rose. Why should he remain anonymous if a media worker discovers him? Since when is the media supposed to ignore a fact when nothing but a person's job is at stake, especially when that job was placed in jeopardy by Mr. Gamut's own actions? If Mr. Gamut really wanted to influence politics, he could've quit his public service job at any time and gotten rid of the need to be anonymous in the first place. The notion he was silenced is silly. He chose to be an anonymous blogger running the risk of being outed. The media have always investigated mysteries and uncovered them to the public. That's what they do.
Unless he was a whistle-blower or in a position where his anonymity was crucial for his or someone else's physical security, he had no rights to anonymity, just like any of the rest of us. The dude played a game and lost. Next.
Sep 27, 2010
30 Rock and That Joke
People are throwing the all too familiar moral shit fit today over a joke on 30 Rock. Pete Hornberger explains that with his extra free time he made love to his wife, but that she was asleep, so he didn't have to be gentle. We then see a mid-shot of Pete's snoring wife as she starts to jiggle up and down.
Now, my girlfriend and I exploded with sustained laughter after this gag and had to watch it again to maximise the hilarity. At the time I didn't even think of rape. I was laughing because being a fan of the show, I know that Pete and his wife have a history of bizarre sex practices, and this was just the next step in their escalating kinkiness. I also laughed at the grotesque nature of his wife's mass of snoring flesh wobbling back and forth as a bald, most likely naked Pete began rutting her. I thought my reaction to that horror show was reflected in Liz Lemon's curdled face when we cut back.
Pete intimates he knows it's gross and we cut back to his wife really shaking. Here I figured the writers knew they'd come up with a great joke and wanted to milk it a little extra.
Maybe this says something about me, that my mind didn't go straight to rape, but if so, it equally says something about those whose minds did race to sexual assault in the framework of an off the wall comedy like 30 Rock.
Now that I read the outcry, I realise this scene could indeed be seen as rape, but I really don't believe that was the point or intention of the comedy, and it's certainly not why I laughed. Maybe the writers were a little dangerous with their humour on this one, but in the context of the show, Pete having sleep-sex with his wife seems completely appropriate. This is the same couple who were happy to have sex in Lemon's bed and whose children beat up their father. I believe that Pete's wife, upon waking, would be fine with Pete having made love to her while asleep, because they've set her character up that way. She's a kinky woman. So maybe Mrs Hornberger is happy to be sleep-sexed. Does that mean she condones the same or worse to other people? Does that mean the writers of the show do? Of course not!
The joke is risky, but I think edgy comedy needs to be observed within its sphere of reality. To leap to the conclusion that the scene, the characters and the writers condone rape is absolutely ludicrous.
Sep 21, 2010
YouTube Tuesday: Lisa vs Pooh
Made this after I discovered the joys of decent video on my phone. It's silly, but fun.
I'm sure before long you'll all be enduring five minute vids of my cat playing with a shoe...
I'm sure before long you'll all be enduring five minute vids of my cat playing with a shoe...
Sep 14, 2010
Sep 13, 2010
Melbourne Show Copy Fail
I saw a poster for The Royal Melbourne show that really pointed out why companies need a skilled copywriter.
No doubt if you live in Melbourne, you've seen this poster at tram shelters and train stations. The problem is the prevalence of those unwarranted little apostrophes after Moo, Baa and Ooh. The apostrophe between a word and an s denotes ownership. This poster can be roughly translated as saying the show belongs to Moo, Baa and Ooh - and then someone screams. It could also be saying there are three stores owned or named after Moo, Baa and Ooh, and that this causes someone so much grief they have to scream Aaaggh!
Maybe Moo, Baa and Ooh take the prize for best cow, sheep and carrot cake each year, and the little kids in the picture are frustrated contenders who've had enough of the trinity's dominance? Whatever the case, if those apostrophes were inserted on purpose, the intention isn't very clear. If they were a mistake, then that's a city-wide mistake seen by lots of eyes. If you have a business that's communicating to the world, to a small local network or even to your employees, it's wise to have someone who understands language and communication. A skilled copywriter can save you from putting out what I think we can safely call a copy disaster.
No doubt if you live in Melbourne, you've seen this poster at tram shelters and train stations. The problem is the prevalence of those unwarranted little apostrophes after Moo, Baa and Ooh. The apostrophe between a word and an s denotes ownership. This poster can be roughly translated as saying the show belongs to Moo, Baa and Ooh - and then someone screams. It could also be saying there are three stores owned or named after Moo, Baa and Ooh, and that this causes someone so much grief they have to scream Aaaggh!
Maybe Moo, Baa and Ooh take the prize for best cow, sheep and carrot cake each year, and the little kids in the picture are frustrated contenders who've had enough of the trinity's dominance? Whatever the case, if those apostrophes were inserted on purpose, the intention isn't very clear. If they were a mistake, then that's a city-wide mistake seen by lots of eyes. If you have a business that's communicating to the world, to a small local network or even to your employees, it's wise to have someone who understands language and communication. A skilled copywriter can save you from putting out what I think we can safely call a copy disaster.
Sep 9, 2010
Melbourne
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| We love Melbourne so much, we once made a show about it. |
Rolling in through North Melbourne has that rather unique combination of horrendously broken men and women screaming at each other and lightly slapping each other's crusty face with limp, track marked arms, sitting right next to upstanding women with sticks up their butt, ignoring the screeching as desperately as their head phones will allow. The hipsters come on and off, scurrying away to either a derelict commercial space that's been illegally transferred into a rental property or, in stark juxtaposition (a word any good hipster loves), their three-quarter of a million dollar townhouse owned by mummy and daddy. If you hear a note of scorn in my voice, I guarantee you've mistaken the true ring of pride. My unshaven, capped, cargo-panted, flannel visage, clinging with all its might to the nineties, blends in with this freaky-deaky mélange like a needle in a public toilet.
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| Victorian State Gallery : Cameron Zayec 2007 |
Smack bang in the middle of the Roundabout of Death is the giant pole and enormous Australian flag, surrounded by lesser minions usually displaying either a museum exhibit or the Grand Prix. I remember coming out from the Royal Children's Hospital, so pleased just to have escaped, and being struck every familiar time with how immense the flag is. I still imagine myself being wrapped up in it, and knowing there'd be so much room left over that I'd drown in navy blue and six white stars. Sometimes old blue would be replaced with a giant Aboriginal flag that dad or an uncle would grimly curse but that I secretly thought was way more interesting and used way cooler colours than ours.
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| City from Alexandra Ave : Cameron Zayec 2007 |
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| West Gate Bridge from the harbour : Cameron Zayec 2007 |
Sep 4, 2010
Hot POA
Ladies and gentleman, may I present to you, the hottest piece of ass this side of the Atlantic. She'll steal your dreams, get all up in your head box and destroy your ability to step outside, away form your computer screens.
Aw yeah. Snap!
Aw yeah. Snap!
Jul 17, 2010
Scientific Study of My Writing
There is no scientific basis to this, but I did use, like, four different blog posts to get an average result.
I write like
David Foster Wallace
David Foster Wallace
I Write Like by Mémoires, Mac journal software. Analyze your writing!
Jul 10, 2010
Golliwogs at Highpoint
Speaking of racists...! I was walking around Highpoint Shopping Centre with my girlfriend, as is our wont, when we happened upon this piece of astounding ignorance that I had to snap on my phone.
That, my friends, is a display of Golliwogs. Notice that you can buy male or female Golliwogs, and the female Golliwog rounds the whole thing off nicely by dressing like a classic American Mammy. This Mammy is sporting a charming lemon headband instead of the traditional red.
Are these dolls available as part of some sort of exhibit? Oh my no. They're for sale, as any other item would be, in a gift shop called Cardiology.
The display shows a terrifying lack of understanding or even awareness of the racist connotations of these dolls, to the point that they seem to have invented an origin story that Googling reveals has no basis in fact whatsoever. (Click for a bigger, only barely legible resolution)
What's so astounding is that whoever OK'd the sale and display of these dolls is so incredibly ignorant of their horrible relationship with slavery and racism against African Americans. They're so ignorant, in fact, that they make probably the most egregious error of judgement by stringing the dolls up from the ceiling.
In my attempt to find justification for the seemingly made up story they've written on the plaque, I found an Australian website that carries the same baffling ignorance about the racist origins of the Golliwog. Read this link and marvel at how unaware the author is, going so far as to posit that Golliwogs disappeared from children's book because they were "allergic to the newer style of ink." I hope, for their sake and for the sake our genetic stock, that this website is tongue-in-cheek.
My god, look at that photo below. Unbelievable!
Can you imagine if a black American walked past that display? Can you imagine the embarrassment this would cause if he alerted the American media? Couple this with the Hey Hey blackface incident (one that could have been explained away as a one off incident), and we'd be propelled so far back into the dark ages in terms of the world's view of us, the only way out would be to donate our country to the U.S.
I intend to inform the store that it'd be in their best interest to remove these dolls post haste. I wonder what they'll say?
The look on our faces in the reflection is shock and amazement that anyone could be so out of touch. I wonder if anyone will post a rant about how this is political correctness gone mad? If so, in the interest of education as the our saving grace, here are some links that may give a little context.
Jul 8, 2010
Welcome Back!
Pop the balloon and see what falls out.
I have time to write! A scooter accident yesterday has left me sore, a little shaken and with a broken rear view mirror. Meaning? I can ride the tram today and get some time alone with ma words.
First order of business: I have an iPad! I'm typing on it right now on the 57 tram. As we pull up to the commission flat, I need to keep one eye on embarking strangers, but aside from that, I've been absolutely loving it. It's a writer's dream. A small screen with excellent Internet connectivity, and a decent sized qwerty keyboard with a lovely suite of writing and number tools. I have instant access to digitised comics from Marvel and DC and a whole host of indies. All I need now is screenwriting software and I'll be right as rain.
I just passed the corner I took the spill. Yuck. It's the potentiality surrounding the incident that freaks me out the most. The what ifs.
When showing my tablet to someone, I typed a phrase absent-mindedly to demonstrate Pages. I didn't even look at what I was typing, just splurged a sentence down on the screen. Today I opened Pages and the sentence greeted me:
'Pop the balloon and see what falls out.'
What an odd sentence.
That's all. Not much. I'm only having a stretch.
I have time to write! A scooter accident yesterday has left me sore, a little shaken and with a broken rear view mirror. Meaning? I can ride the tram today and get some time alone with ma words.
First order of business: I have an iPad! I'm typing on it right now on the 57 tram. As we pull up to the commission flat, I need to keep one eye on embarking strangers, but aside from that, I've been absolutely loving it. It's a writer's dream. A small screen with excellent Internet connectivity, and a decent sized qwerty keyboard with a lovely suite of writing and number tools. I have instant access to digitised comics from Marvel and DC and a whole host of indies. All I need now is screenwriting software and I'll be right as rain.
I just passed the corner I took the spill. Yuck. It's the potentiality surrounding the incident that freaks me out the most. The what ifs.
When showing my tablet to someone, I typed a phrase absent-mindedly to demonstrate Pages. I didn't even look at what I was typing, just splurged a sentence down on the screen. Today I opened Pages and the sentence greeted me:
'Pop the balloon and see what falls out.'
What an odd sentence.
That's all. Not much. I'm only having a stretch.
Jun 29, 2010
Red Dead Redemption
There's been some hubbub on the net of late about the legitimacy of video games as an art form. This debate is most likely a generational issue, and the resistance to the idea that games can be art will melt away with the withering of baby boomers. Most people my age, in those generations marked X and Y have played the very games we know to be powerful works of art, that also happen to be, for the most part, incredibly accessible. Accessibility is to snobbery what lemon is to a skinned fish. Sprinkle even a few drops on and it will start thrashing desperately. The result is inevitable, either way: death. Of course, rounding on my argument like a cowboy on his horse, some components of these artier games might be considered less accessible on the scale of the average gamer. Certainly not every gamer is prepared to sit through an half hour cut scene during the end level of Metal Gear Solid 4. Still, my point stands. These games are on the edge, they push the medium, and they're bloody fantastic.
One such game is Red Dead Redemption. It's perhaps not as groundbreaking overall as a format, but the execution and style of this game is what has been getting Rockstar the 10/10 reviews. I'd like to share one moment with you.
*SPOILER ALERT*
You, John Marsten attack the fort that your quarry has been hiding in in the west US. The fort is defeated, but Bill Williamson has escaped. You ferry across the border river and after a wild shootout from a raft in the middle of a vicious storm, end up in Mexico for the first time. You say farewell to the Irish rat who got you across, mount your horse and ride up the embankment. The horse can't break out of a run yet, so you clop slowly up the incline. Over the crest is a breathtaking view of the red, rounded mesas of the Mexican desert. The sense of quiet natural wonder is heightened by the slow build of gentle but strong guitar strumming, with Jose Gonzalez's Far Away playing over the scene. The storm washes away and the sun starts to shine through, beaming gorgeous fingers of golden sunlight onto the wide open plains. You can't help but keep your horse at an even pace and swing the camera around to take in these visuals.
This scene solidified Red Dead as a top shelf game in my mind. The brilliance of it is that it demonstrates how a game can affect the players and manipulate them into reacting the same way, to move our eye around the screen like a masterpiece painting moves our eye around the canvas. I've spoken to a few people and read reports online about this same scene, and everyone seems to react the same way. Once you crest, your horse is freed up and you can run it as fast as you like, but most players I spoke to or read about kept their horse moving quietly and couldn't help but drink up this stunning moment. That is artistic power, especially when we gamers are so often unfairly characterised as blood thirsty Peter Pans with the attention span of a gnat. To script a game in such a way as to keep our supposedly goldfish-like attentions firmly fixed not on bloodshed, but on natural beauty, and to do it in an open plan, free roaming game is truly a view to behold.
So, if you haven't played it yet and don't intend to, or if you have and want to relive that moment, here is a clip of someone I've never met, reacting exactly the same way I did when I played through this scene.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i8IonrlZp74&feature=youtube_gdata
One such game is Red Dead Redemption. It's perhaps not as groundbreaking overall as a format, but the execution and style of this game is what has been getting Rockstar the 10/10 reviews. I'd like to share one moment with you.
*SPOILER ALERT*
You, John Marsten attack the fort that your quarry has been hiding in in the west US. The fort is defeated, but Bill Williamson has escaped. You ferry across the border river and after a wild shootout from a raft in the middle of a vicious storm, end up in Mexico for the first time. You say farewell to the Irish rat who got you across, mount your horse and ride up the embankment. The horse can't break out of a run yet, so you clop slowly up the incline. Over the crest is a breathtaking view of the red, rounded mesas of the Mexican desert. The sense of quiet natural wonder is heightened by the slow build of gentle but strong guitar strumming, with Jose Gonzalez's Far Away playing over the scene. The storm washes away and the sun starts to shine through, beaming gorgeous fingers of golden sunlight onto the wide open plains. You can't help but keep your horse at an even pace and swing the camera around to take in these visuals.
This scene solidified Red Dead as a top shelf game in my mind. The brilliance of it is that it demonstrates how a game can affect the players and manipulate them into reacting the same way, to move our eye around the screen like a masterpiece painting moves our eye around the canvas. I've spoken to a few people and read reports online about this same scene, and everyone seems to react the same way. Once you crest, your horse is freed up and you can run it as fast as you like, but most players I spoke to or read about kept their horse moving quietly and couldn't help but drink up this stunning moment. That is artistic power, especially when we gamers are so often unfairly characterised as blood thirsty Peter Pans with the attention span of a gnat. To script a game in such a way as to keep our supposedly goldfish-like attentions firmly fixed not on bloodshed, but on natural beauty, and to do it in an open plan, free roaming game is truly a view to behold.
So, if you haven't played it yet and don't intend to, or if you have and want to relive that moment, here is a clip of someone I've never met, reacting exactly the same way I did when I played through this scene.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i8IonrlZp74&feature=youtube_gdata
Jun 24, 2010
Prime Minister Julia Gillard
Hello Australians. We have a new Prime Minister, the Honourable Julia Gillard. I stayed late from work this morning to watch the spill carry out. Excitement gripped me through and through. I love change. Whether it's good or bad, I get a thrill watching large scale change. Now, before Mr. Rudd finished his term as Prime Minister, he has been ousted and Julia Gillard is leader.
When I finally left the ABC's rather spotty programming, I went via a servo. Inside, a chap came in and bought a newspaper in front of me. He tapped it and said to the cashier, "It's done. Gillard's PM. We didn't vote for her. Typical Labour." He then left in a huff.
First, good for him for at least being fiery and interested about politics. Second, what the hell does that mean? How many leaders were churned through by the Liberal party prior to this spill? Not to mention that the events of today were unprecedented. Perhaps he was referring to the NSW factional problems that resulted in an unhappy public voting out Mz. Keneally. I doubt that chap had really thought it through, but his comments did make me think.
My girlfriend is similarly inclined in politics, and she tweeted in response to the groupthink of unfairness Liberals are shoving, "I voted for Rudd knowing full well Gillard would take over should he not be able to discharge his duties as PM. She is my elected PM." It's a good point, and well formed.
I'm not fussed by the way in which this leadership turnover was handled. I'm equally unfussed about the Liberal party's several spills. What I think this does highlight is another facet of our political system that I disagree with, and that I think republicanism can resolve.
The way our system stands now, with these sorts of spills allowing our PM to be replaced by internal party votes and not by the vote of the people takes away the full democratic process. It means that really, we are voting for the party, not for the person. There are pros and cons to this. Obviously a party is kept in check, the power diversified and doled out in varying agrees among a group. It also results in slower, less dramatic change. It holds back the ability to really push forward as trail blazers. I want us to be better, and I think a reformatted system that brings with it more respect for our nation's leader and thus an inability to have a group of factional leaders oust our elected leader in a sanctioned coup is the way to go.
When I finally left the ABC's rather spotty programming, I went via a servo. Inside, a chap came in and bought a newspaper in front of me. He tapped it and said to the cashier, "It's done. Gillard's PM. We didn't vote for her. Typical Labour." He then left in a huff.
First, good for him for at least being fiery and interested about politics. Second, what the hell does that mean? How many leaders were churned through by the Liberal party prior to this spill? Not to mention that the events of today were unprecedented. Perhaps he was referring to the NSW factional problems that resulted in an unhappy public voting out Mz. Keneally. I doubt that chap had really thought it through, but his comments did make me think.
My girlfriend is similarly inclined in politics, and she tweeted in response to the groupthink of unfairness Liberals are shoving, "I voted for Rudd knowing full well Gillard would take over should he not be able to discharge his duties as PM. She is my elected PM." It's a good point, and well formed.
I'm not fussed by the way in which this leadership turnover was handled. I'm equally unfussed about the Liberal party's several spills. What I think this does highlight is another facet of our political system that I disagree with, and that I think republicanism can resolve.
The way our system stands now, with these sorts of spills allowing our PM to be replaced by internal party votes and not by the vote of the people takes away the full democratic process. It means that really, we are voting for the party, not for the person. There are pros and cons to this. Obviously a party is kept in check, the power diversified and doled out in varying agrees among a group. It also results in slower, less dramatic change. It holds back the ability to really push forward as trail blazers. I want us to be better, and I think a reformatted system that brings with it more respect for our nation's leader and thus an inability to have a group of factional leaders oust our elected leader in a sanctioned coup is the way to go.
Apr 8, 2010
The Adventures of Freddo and the Mystery of Slater Island
It's here! A few months back, I worked as a freelance writer at Public Mojo, an advertising agency. There, based on Mojo's story, I wrote the scripts for 10 episodes of an online animation starring the great Freddo the Frog, of Cadbury fame. The end result is a fun cartoon and game that gets released day by day. It was awesome fun and I got to be the script writer of this bad boy. It's one of my first big writing jobs and thus I hope you enjoy!
Go to the site freddo.com.au and sign up, then you can watch the episodes of series 2 - the one I wrote - or see the first series (I wasn't a part of that one). It's a great little adventure, and if you aren't convinced, here's the trailer (link):
And lastly, here is the media our little Freddo adventure's been getting:
coloribus
advertolog
tweetmeme
campaignbrief
BestAdsOnTV.com
industry.bnet.com
Cadbury Freddo Game | Kids HYPE!
bannerblog
Apr 5, 2010
I Like The Internet Being Free
To me, the Internet has been the last bastion of completely free speech. While you can still be rightfully challenged with court proceedings if you infringe on national law, we users of the Internet are pretty much free to do whatever we like - upload whatever content we desire and view whatever material we want, so long as it isn't breaking our laws. And we're free to do it without censorship of any kind. I want that to stay, but I always figured it would be a matter of time before people more conservative than me ruined the Internet.
If this filter goes through, they've ruined the Internet for me, because they'll have opened Pandora's box.
Why? To save us from kiddy porn and other things that are bad. The filter won't stop it, though. It'll make it harder for bad people to get bad things, but they'll still get them. The same law that makes bad things illegal will still be there, just as enforceable as before, but every other person in the country will suffer. Great. Well done Government, you've ignored the lessons of the past. Hooray.
Strengthen the agencies that enforce the existing laws that outlaw things like child-porn etc. and make sure they investigate ISPs for misconduct. Don't make the consumers and general public suffer. The whole "it's for family friendliness" argument scares me, because so much awfulness has been committed in the name of some notion of an ethereal 'greater good' that is so subjective from person to person it could never be called a democratic approach.
If this filter goes through, they've ruined the Internet for me, because they'll have opened Pandora's box.
Why? To save us from kiddy porn and other things that are bad. The filter won't stop it, though. It'll make it harder for bad people to get bad things, but they'll still get them. The same law that makes bad things illegal will still be there, just as enforceable as before, but every other person in the country will suffer. Great. Well done Government, you've ignored the lessons of the past. Hooray.
Strengthen the agencies that enforce the existing laws that outlaw things like child-porn etc. and make sure they investigate ISPs for misconduct. Don't make the consumers and general public suffer. The whole "it's for family friendliness" argument scares me, because so much awfulness has been committed in the name of some notion of an ethereal 'greater good' that is so subjective from person to person it could never be called a democratic approach.
Apr 2, 2010
Killeroo still chuggin'
KILLEROO Production Diaries
In case you missed 'em, here are the last five Killeroo blog posts. Check out my Facebook profile (a link is to the right of this post) to see killer character designs by Ryan, our artist supreme.
A Reprimand
Predictably, I have much to learn. Today I was lightly reprimanded for giving too much detail on posture and stance during a discussion on a character’s design. These are the things I learn in the face of naivety. I was told such details should be left for those moments in the script. Indeed they are [...]Chapter 2, Draft 1… BASHED!
I walked into the room late in the afternoon. The room reeked of a whole day’s worth of bodies sweating over their work. The script jumped out at me before I’d even taken my seat. BAM! A knee in the guts and an elbow in my back, forcing me onto the ground, splinters collecting in [...]My Face! My Valuable Face!
Oh man. So much has been going down! I’m sitting in a dentist office with a numb mouth, keepin’ it real on the iPhone so I can update this page. We have an artist on onboard, two in fact, and Daz has been going over the layouts with one of them. He’s been kind enough [...]The Not So Silent Treatment
Treatments are freakin’ grouse! A film treatment is a prose version of the story, step by step and without dialogue. I’ve been doing this for our graphic novel. If you know this already, good for you my friend! Share the knowledge with people who don’t, because that’s what I’m trying to do. I love treatments [...]Contract Killer
Contracts can be a killer. Darren and I are being smart. We’re sorting out the legal wranglings good and early. It sucks, because we both have so much creative juice in us right now, at the very start. But I’ve been through too many creative partnerships over the years that didn’t pay heed to these [...]Mar 1, 2010
Killeroo and Where I Am Right Now!
I'm writing Killeroo!
Killeroo is a comic book series by Darren Close. It's Australian, and I've managed to worm my way into Mr. Close's heart, whereupon he gave me a fair amount of freedom to take the character to a more solid, ongoing story.
Check out my updates on the writing process, as well as sketches and the rest of the team here:
http://killeroo.com/
Killeroo is a comic book series by Darren Close. It's Australian, and I've managed to worm my way into Mr. Close's heart, whereupon he gave me a fair amount of freedom to take the character to a more solid, ongoing story.
Check out my updates on the writing process, as well as sketches and the rest of the team here:
http://killeroo.com/
Feb 13, 2010
Why is Abbott Accusing Garrett of Murder?
Does anyone else find Mr. Abbott's persistent attention on Peter Garret strange? I'm not sure about it as far as a tactic. He and his party have been relentless over the last few days, demanding Garrett be fired and even attributing responsibility of the four deaths to the Minister. It's a fairly heavy accusation that Abbott has likened to industrial manslaughter, and thus a fairly big swing, yet no one seems to be supporting the claims outside of the party.
The opportunity Abbott might be taking is that a high profile member of the Labor party is vulnerable, and in order to weaken the PM, Abbott is trying to scalp the Government's famously bald Minister for the Enviornment. If Garrett was fired, the far left votes he might bring wouldn't be likely to swing to Liberal, but as far as broader strategy, Abbott would have ammunition to attack the PM closer to election day by running smear campaigns showing a Labor government who mismanaged to the point of death. A party who have to fire their own are a party open to such an attack. We know for certain that Tony Abbott is running a negative campaign, and a bloody scalping can only help as a means to that end.
If this is the strategy, than the seeding tactical stroke is flawed when the Opposition have no support for their claims against Mr. Garrett. The Construction Union (CFMEU) have not only said Garrett shouldn't be fired, but that they are responsible for keeping their workplaces safe. The CFMEU's only criticism in the whole affair is that the scheme under question should be suspended. The Conservation Foundation, who admittedly might be Garrett supporters anyway, have said the scheme should stay active because it saves the equivalent of 1 million cars per year until 2020.
So where are the lobbyists and industry bodies supporting Abbott's cries that the Minister be sacked? Can anyone point them out to me, seriously, in the comments section? If there are none, then why is Abbott harping on about this for so long? It doesn't seem that strong an issue.
UPDATE: Wow. It all comes out! So this is why they made such a big fuss over it -
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/pm-changes-direction-on-climate/story-e6frg6n6-1225834964124
So Mr. Abbott gets his scalp...sort of. KRudd may be trying to dampen the full victory Abbott can claim by only demoting and not sacking, but the papers are all screaming, "SACKED!" anyway, despite then explaining only an inch down that it was a demotion. Garrett steps down from a role and keeps his other two. Are those other two very politically important? Not really. Without the global warming protection part of his folio for the environment, he's farily toothless, the old Oiler. In the end, his real chance to get something done in politics after singing about it for years turns out to be a bit of a non-event. What a waste of credibility, Pete.
The opportunity Abbott might be taking is that a high profile member of the Labor party is vulnerable, and in order to weaken the PM, Abbott is trying to scalp the Government's famously bald Minister for the Enviornment. If Garrett was fired, the far left votes he might bring wouldn't be likely to swing to Liberal, but as far as broader strategy, Abbott would have ammunition to attack the PM closer to election day by running smear campaigns showing a Labor government who mismanaged to the point of death. A party who have to fire their own are a party open to such an attack. We know for certain that Tony Abbott is running a negative campaign, and a bloody scalping can only help as a means to that end.
If this is the strategy, than the seeding tactical stroke is flawed when the Opposition have no support for their claims against Mr. Garrett. The Construction Union (CFMEU) have not only said Garrett shouldn't be fired, but that they are responsible for keeping their workplaces safe. The CFMEU's only criticism in the whole affair is that the scheme under question should be suspended. The Conservation Foundation, who admittedly might be Garrett supporters anyway, have said the scheme should stay active because it saves the equivalent of 1 million cars per year until 2020.
So where are the lobbyists and industry bodies supporting Abbott's cries that the Minister be sacked? Can anyone point them out to me, seriously, in the comments section? If there are none, then why is Abbott harping on about this for so long? It doesn't seem that strong an issue.
UPDATE: Wow. It all comes out! So this is why they made such a big fuss over it -
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/pm-changes-direction-on-climate/story-e6frg6n6-1225834964124
So Mr. Abbott gets his scalp...sort of. KRudd may be trying to dampen the full victory Abbott can claim by only demoting and not sacking, but the papers are all screaming, "SACKED!" anyway, despite then explaining only an inch down that it was a demotion. Garrett steps down from a role and keeps his other two. Are those other two very politically important? Not really. Without the global warming protection part of his folio for the environment, he's farily toothless, the old Oiler. In the end, his real chance to get something done in politics after singing about it for years turns out to be a bit of a non-event. What a waste of credibility, Pete.
Feb 12, 2010
5 Common Irks For Those Who Know CF Patients
My friend and old housemate Dr. Sean Fabri sent me a sweet companion piece to my 5 CF irks! Read on to see what gets the goat of those who know sickos like me.
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Irk # 1.
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Irk # 1.
The stenches. CF patients don't digest their food very well, which is why they're on all those tablets. Occasionally this gives rise to them passing wind, but not a normal wind, more of a yellow, screaming demon wind, which is going to claw your eyes out, and linger far longer than you thought possible. On long roadtrips, Simon would periodically shoot hot injections of this wind into my car seats.
Irk # 2.
The coughing is easy to get used to. I've lived with someone with CF, and you just tune it out, or in fact, use it to locate them in shopping centres, or remind you that they're okay. Except, of course, that there is almost always a coughing fit at 4am, which ends abruptly, and you lie awake thinking, "is he okay? what if he's not? I can't check, he does this every night. But what if this time...?"
Irk # 3.
The venom with which they rail against kids with cancer. It makes perfect sense. The cancer kids get all the resources and fame. But somehow hearing the rants against them feels like you're breaking a taboo. Society will forgive them, but YOU will be thrown to the vipers, just for having listened sympathetically.
The venom with which they rail against kids with cancer. It makes perfect sense. The cancer kids get all the resources and fame. But somehow hearing the rants against them feels like you're breaking a taboo. Society will forgive them, but YOU will be thrown to the vipers, just for having listened sympathetically.
Irk # 4.
You never get the tiniest shred of sympathy from them when you're suffering a minor cold, or sore tummy.
Irk # 5.
Linked to irk #1, the poor digestion means that CF patients can eat pretty much the fattiest, most wicked foods, all day long, and not really put on much weight. I understand this is actually a disadvantage for them, but when you are on a diet, and you've had an apple for lunch, and you're still putting on flab, and then they casually eat an entire roast turkey while you both wait for a bus, well... it's annoying.
Feb 10, 2010
5 Common Irks CF Patients Put Up With
I have Cystic Fibrosis or CF. It's a disease far too many people know far too little about. Here are some of the irksome things I and many like me often put up with that are unique to people with diseases. (I know most of the time people are trying to help, but too bad!)
The Home Doctors
I don't have one doctor who looks after me, I have a team of them. Their leader is a specialist in CF and respiratory illness. She not only spent 10+ years at university, she went on to study and focus her considerable scientific knowledge on my specific disease. So when some taxi driver, tram passenger or dude with an arts degree gives me advice on my sickness, it really grates my cheese. Thanks pal, but I'm covered!
The Home Remedies
I'm on a litany of drugs that keep me healthy and alive. I take over 80 tablets a day. Literally. There are pancreatic enzyme replacements extracted from porcine digestive tracts, inhaled genetic therapy that breaks down bronchial mucousal DNA and histamine inhibitors focused on gastric acid neutralisation. But yes, I'm sure your suggestion of cutting out milk and instead drinking honey and lemon in some warm water will do just fine.
Osteoporosis
So this one's kinda funny. Most people have no idea what CF is. Some have a hazy notion they may have pulled from a TV movie or a distant relative, and at best they remember the general thrust of the illness. Others, when I tell them I have cystic fibrosis, say, "What, the old lady bone disease?"
Cancer
When I was young, admission to hospital was always at the Royal Children's. I was there fairly regularly, once or twice a year for two or three weeks at a time, and one visit I was lucky enough to be there for the opening of the Starlight room. This was a mythical cave of fun: all the current consoles, books, TV, lego, toys...awesome. The CF kids from the two respiratory wards were allowed to be the first ones in, snuck through before the official opening. Our recreation officer took us all down, buzzed out of our brains with excitement. When we got there, she went ahead, spoke to someone then came back dejected. She informed us the cancer ward children had beaten us to the punch, and we weren't allowed in because TV camera crews were in there covering it. Devastating! That day I learned from the nurses that there's a rivalry between the CF kids and the cancer children, and it's a resource war: charity donations, funding, equipment, sympathy. So curse you cancer kids, curse you!
A Glass of Water
I cough. A lot. It's part of the deal, and I do it because my manky lungs are trying to get nasty, sticky mucous up and out. It's got nothing to do with my throat, my stomach or dehydration...yet everyone always seems to tell me - after hearing me cough a few times - that I should have a drink of water. Yeah, you're absolutely right! Water going into my stomach! That'll dislodge my phlegm, dry up my mucous, correct the genetic delta f508 mutation and put me right on track! Why didn't I think of it before!? All these years I could've been drinking water and curing my disease!
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That's it! Does anyone else have any I've missed? Are there any irks you suffer due to your own illness, or even because of a specific job you hold? Leave a comment!
The Home Doctors
I don't have one doctor who looks after me, I have a team of them. Their leader is a specialist in CF and respiratory illness. She not only spent 10+ years at university, she went on to study and focus her considerable scientific knowledge on my specific disease. So when some taxi driver, tram passenger or dude with an arts degree gives me advice on my sickness, it really grates my cheese. Thanks pal, but I'm covered!
I'm on a litany of drugs that keep me healthy and alive. I take over 80 tablets a day. Literally. There are pancreatic enzyme replacements extracted from porcine digestive tracts, inhaled genetic therapy that breaks down bronchial mucousal DNA and histamine inhibitors focused on gastric acid neutralisation. But yes, I'm sure your suggestion of cutting out milk and instead drinking honey and lemon in some warm water will do just fine.
So this one's kinda funny. Most people have no idea what CF is. Some have a hazy notion they may have pulled from a TV movie or a distant relative, and at best they remember the general thrust of the illness. Others, when I tell them I have cystic fibrosis, say, "What, the old lady bone disease?"
When I was young, admission to hospital was always at the Royal Children's. I was there fairly regularly, once or twice a year for two or three weeks at a time, and one visit I was lucky enough to be there for the opening of the Starlight room. This was a mythical cave of fun: all the current consoles, books, TV, lego, toys...awesome. The CF kids from the two respiratory wards were allowed to be the first ones in, snuck through before the official opening. Our recreation officer took us all down, buzzed out of our brains with excitement. When we got there, she went ahead, spoke to someone then came back dejected. She informed us the cancer ward children had beaten us to the punch, and we weren't allowed in because TV camera crews were in there covering it. Devastating! That day I learned from the nurses that there's a rivalry between the CF kids and the cancer children, and it's a resource war: charity donations, funding, equipment, sympathy. So curse you cancer kids, curse you!
I cough. A lot. It's part of the deal, and I do it because my manky lungs are trying to get nasty, sticky mucous up and out. It's got nothing to do with my throat, my stomach or dehydration...yet everyone always seems to tell me - after hearing me cough a few times - that I should have a drink of water. Yeah, you're absolutely right! Water going into my stomach! That'll dislodge my phlegm, dry up my mucous, correct the genetic delta f508 mutation and put me right on track! Why didn't I think of it before!? All these years I could've been drinking water and curing my disease!
That's it! Does anyone else have any I've missed? Are there any irks you suffer due to your own illness, or even because of a specific job you hold? Leave a comment!
Feb 4, 2010
iiNet slay AFACT!
http://www.theage.com.au/technology/technology-news/iinet-slays-hollywood-in-landmark-piracy-case-20100204-ndwr.html
This is very good news, my friends! iiNet have successfully defended themselves in court, in a case that was the first to actually go before a judge instead of settling out of court. Thank you iiNet for taking the bullet and setting a precedent. Now the Internet provider can continue to offer internet without fear, and perhaps other ISPs will stop towing the line of the big copyright holder organisations and alliances.
I may have said this before, but here's why I'm all for this decision:
Yeah, I'm in an industry where pirates may one day take money out of my mouth, but I think because I am young and unstained by old ways of thinking, I can see that this is the reality of the situation. The audience is now holding content makers accountable. I look at it not as thieves stealing IP, but as an audience determining the quality of goods. If your product isn't good enough to have a consumer drop $30 on it, then make a better product, win back your lost audience. Find ways to deal with this new landscape. The tide is made of millions of humans. It isn't a phase or a fad. Pirating is an indelible part of our industry. Your challenge as filmmakers and producers is to find ways to take advantage of it. Hopefully the ridiculous stranglehold only 5 or so corporations have over the entire western world of movie making will be broken and the chance to make a film can be spread out, the flow opened up. The new big men and women in our biz will be those who harness the internet and accept the behaviour of their audience, instead of trying to forcibly shackle and rape them.
This is very good news, my friends! iiNet have successfully defended themselves in court, in a case that was the first to actually go before a judge instead of settling out of court. Thank you iiNet for taking the bullet and setting a precedent. Now the Internet provider can continue to offer internet without fear, and perhaps other ISPs will stop towing the line of the big copyright holder organisations and alliances.
I may have said this before, but here's why I'm all for this decision:
Yeah, I'm in an industry where pirates may one day take money out of my mouth, but I think because I am young and unstained by old ways of thinking, I can see that this is the reality of the situation. The audience is now holding content makers accountable. I look at it not as thieves stealing IP, but as an audience determining the quality of goods. If your product isn't good enough to have a consumer drop $30 on it, then make a better product, win back your lost audience. Find ways to deal with this new landscape. The tide is made of millions of humans. It isn't a phase or a fad. Pirating is an indelible part of our industry. Your challenge as filmmakers and producers is to find ways to take advantage of it. Hopefully the ridiculous stranglehold only 5 or so corporations have over the entire western world of movie making will be broken and the chance to make a film can be spread out, the flow opened up. The new big men and women in our biz will be those who harness the internet and accept the behaviour of their audience, instead of trying to forcibly shackle and rape them.
Apple iPad Threatens Toilets
A funny, silly article I wrote for Oldskool TV
http://www.oldskool.tv/blogs.php?blogid=14&postid=15462
http://www.oldskool.tv/blogs.php?blogid=14&postid=15462
Apple iPad Threatens Toilets
A funny, silly article I wrote for Oldskool TV
http://www.oldskool.tv/blogs.php?blogid=14&postid=15462
http://www.oldskool.tv/blogs.php?blogid=14&postid=15462
Jan 20, 2010
The Rules of my Dreams
Let me tell you about the very specific, unbreakable rules of my dreamworld. I have no idea why or from whence these rules were forged, but they play an indelible role on every fantasy and nightmare I've ever had. I can't break them, as hard as I try, and despite the obvious influence my own brain has on the formation of dreams, I feel that I never purposefully established or enforced the strict guidelines dream-me has to live by.
For one, I can run almost never. If there is a situation that requires haste, running is slower than walking. When I try to sprint I'm taken by a sudden and overwhelming heaviness that weighs me down so much so that running is impossible. It's like walking through invisible sand piled up to my chest. If I'm in the middle of a scene, being chased by CIA agents big, black over coats, sunglasses and dark trilbys, I might panic to the point of forgetting the rules I'm bound to and try as hard as I can to run away. My entire body literally bends against the restriction and I grab at the wall next to me or the gate just within reach, pulling myself through the mental muck. It's excruciatingly slow and frustrating. Yet, as soon as I remember, "Oh yeah, The Rules," I straighten up, stop trying to run and simply begin the first pace of a brisk walk. Immediately the heaviness melts away and I can now make good my escape. A simile is like when you punch wet sand and the sudden force turns the stuff hard and impenetrable, but as soon as you relax your hand and push lightly, your fingers slip under the surface of the sand with the flying trapeze.
The second unavoidable rule that I never invented, but discovered through experimentation in the dreamworld of Simon, is the precise nature of flying. I can usually fly in dreams, especially if I pull myself out of a passive state when I realise I'm mid-dream. More than once I've been in a tremendous fight at the top of stairs in and old clock tower, only to be over powered and thrown through the banister. At the exact moment I look down and recognise I'm about to fall to my death, I actually say to myself, in mid-air and a fraction of a second, "Hang on, this is a dream, Ha!" and as I swoop down, I pull up sharply with my will and rocket up, through the ceiling and into a new lucid escape. The rules of flight, however, are immutable.
The last rule isn't anywhere near as solid as the other two, but pretty prevalent in Simon's dreamworld. When I websling or shoot guns, I sometimes do it through a Playstation controller. For shooting, this is occasional. For webslinging, a Playstation controller is a must. The way it works is a bit odd. Imagine my dream as a scene you're watching through a screen that takes up your entire vision. Now, when I want to sling across the city like Spidey, my hands pop up at the bottom of the eyeball screen. My mind controls the controller, and at the very same time, the me inside the dream, but the controller controls the webslinging direction and when I shoot each rope of webbing. Usually It's L1 for the left arm, R1 for the right, the left joystick for direction of swing and the right joystick (with far more precision and speed than the real Playstation) is used to aim where exactly I'm aiming the next web shot.
Weird, huh? These rules just are, and always have been, and pretty much never change as far back as I can remember.
For one, I can run almost never. If there is a situation that requires haste, running is slower than walking. When I try to sprint I'm taken by a sudden and overwhelming heaviness that weighs me down so much so that running is impossible. It's like walking through invisible sand piled up to my chest. If I'm in the middle of a scene, being chased by CIA agents big, black over coats, sunglasses and dark trilbys, I might panic to the point of forgetting the rules I'm bound to and try as hard as I can to run away. My entire body literally bends against the restriction and I grab at the wall next to me or the gate just within reach, pulling myself through the mental muck. It's excruciatingly slow and frustrating. Yet, as soon as I remember, "Oh yeah, The Rules," I straighten up, stop trying to run and simply begin the first pace of a brisk walk. Immediately the heaviness melts away and I can now make good my escape. A simile is like when you punch wet sand and the sudden force turns the stuff hard and impenetrable, but as soon as you relax your hand and push lightly, your fingers slip under the surface of the sand with the flying trapeze.
The second unavoidable rule that I never invented, but discovered through experimentation in the dreamworld of Simon, is the precise nature of flying. I can usually fly in dreams, especially if I pull myself out of a passive state when I realise I'm mid-dream. More than once I've been in a tremendous fight at the top of stairs in and old clock tower, only to be over powered and thrown through the banister. At the exact moment I look down and recognise I'm about to fall to my death, I actually say to myself, in mid-air and a fraction of a second, "Hang on, this is a dream, Ha!" and as I swoop down, I pull up sharply with my will and rocket up, through the ceiling and into a new lucid escape. The rules of flight, however, are immutable.- I cannot simply take off in any direction. There's a method. First, I have to crouch down as low as I can and then push up, as if trying to jump as high as I can. Only the jump works much better than you'd expect and I launch directly vertical. I can't simply jolt forward Superman style.
- I need to reach a certain altitude before I can begin horizontal flight. After this first big jump, I usually go up, up, up over the city or country, so high that the clouds whip through my hair and all the lights below are breathtakingly far from my floating feet. Sometimes I feel a little giddy in my tummy or get that weird swooping sensation in my groin (like what you get in the forward motion on a swing). I then start a head first dive. If I don't get enough height, the dive ends with me having to quickly pull my head up and land back on my feet. However, I can use the momentum as if the ground was a trampoline, and I'll immediately launch back up again. I pretty much always make teh required height on the second go.
- Flight is not unlimited. Once I get the right height, as I swoop down I'll know and at the last moment, before I hit the ground, I pull up sharply and rip straight back up, over the threshold of height, and I start flying through the air like the little plumber does in Mario 64. After a few dips and pull ups, I can fly pretty much unhindered until I need to land, at which point I glide down at a weak angle and then softly pull up and plop onto my feet.
The last rule isn't anywhere near as solid as the other two, but pretty prevalent in Simon's dreamworld. When I websling or shoot guns, I sometimes do it through a Playstation controller. For shooting, this is occasional. For webslinging, a Playstation controller is a must. The way it works is a bit odd. Imagine my dream as a scene you're watching through a screen that takes up your entire vision. Now, when I want to sling across the city like Spidey, my hands pop up at the bottom of the eyeball screen. My mind controls the controller, and at the very same time, the me inside the dream, but the controller controls the webslinging direction and when I shoot each rope of webbing. Usually It's L1 for the left arm, R1 for the right, the left joystick for direction of swing and the right joystick (with far more precision and speed than the real Playstation) is used to aim where exactly I'm aiming the next web shot.Weird, huh? These rules just are, and always have been, and pretty much never change as far back as I can remember.
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