Elitist Slob

Rude awakenings

2006-02-11T22:59:00.000+10:00

Well, it's never fun to be robbed and last night it happened to me twice. First I paid to see the most ridiculous movie I've ever seen - A sound of thunder - thank you Ruth! It featured perhaps the worst CG dinosaur I've seen in years and the quality of blue-screen you might expect from community television (briz31) not on a movie screen. Seriously, this movie was so bad it made you laugh when you were meant to tremble in fear (unlike Domino which is so bad you crawl into the foetal position and start crying). Note to self, always IMDB movies before seeing them at the behest of friends. Apparently this movie cost $80 million US, but it looks like it was made on a shoestring. Also according to IMDB, the CG was never properly done, and the "filler" effects shown at test screening were used in the theatrical release, and the production company went bankrupt in post-production and there were floods on set in Prague during filming. You could tell they just didn't bother to waste any more money on this film, the post-production quality was almost as appalling as the continuity. Do not pay to see this money - you will be poorer in every possible way for having done so - financially, emotionally, mentally and spiritually.

Of course, this was less traumatic than finding my car broken into and my ipod stolen.

Oddly, I'm actually not so upset about it. I guess I realise how bad things could have been. For example, I would've usually left my bag with my laptop in my car, except I was running late so I left it at work. Now if I had my laptop stolen, I would've really been in trouble. As it stands, I'll have the inconvenience of having to burn CDs again to listen to in the car, but aside from that nothing really. If my laptop was taken, not only would I have lost years of valuable work, but also the ability to continue to work. And I guess they could've stolen and trashed the car, then I'd be stuck without wheels. So although I had a bad night, I've got a lot to be thankful for.

I also got a letter from my sponsor child, Haider Perez, the other day. So that gave me some perspective. It's his birthday in May, and I'm sure he'd be over the moon to get $20, let alone a $200, second hand ipod. I guess in many ways we're so blessed in the developed world, and for the majority of the time, we don't even think of it.

Well, I'm not buying a new ipod any time soon. It looks like apple will release another new ipod later this year, so I want to wait until then. I'm sure I'll survive just fine in the meantime. I'm just a little annoyed that the broke the lock from the outside - can't people just open cars with coat-hangers like they used to? Rudeness.

Dissatisfaction - an honest appraisal.

2006-02-08T23:34:00.000+10:00

DISCLAIMER:
I'M OK. Please don't worry that I'm going to go off and slash my wrists or that I'm on some depressed downward spiral. I just need to vent and this seems the most natural outlet for me. I appreciate the concern I was shown over previously "dark" posts on my blog in the past, but I think I can easily get misunderstood. I'm fine.
END DISCLAIMER.

So anyway, I'm venting. I've kind of been in a really crazy time period at the moment where it seems that I'm too busy to really get to do the stuff that I enjoy. And then when I do get time, I'm too busy stressing out over other things to enjoy it. I think things will get better over time. Uni will be sorted out after this week bar a few papers, I'm starting to get settled into my new jobs and juggling several balls in the air, but I'm still finding it hard to keep a balanced life.

Anyway, I've kind of missed my friends over the last month or so. Haven't seen my uni mates in ages, guess I naturally won't see them that often though. I feel like I don't really see my church mates outside of meetings, or time hanging out after meetings. I really just want to chill out with them without any "order of business" or agendas, y'know. I feel a little disconnected from many of my friends sometimes - there's stuff I'd really find fun to do that I don't think a lot of my mates would. That thought was really what inspired this post, so here's the obligatory list.

Things I would like to do with my friends, that they probably wouldn't think of as much fun:

Cook. I really enjoy cooking. Not just cause I love food, but I think cooking is fun. Especially when you haven't tried to make a dish before. Exotic stuff. I had a friend who used to cook with me, years ago when I was in high school. But nobody cooks any more as a group activity.
Talk philosophy. I don't mean really intense stuff - there's no need to get into academic-level rhetoric and discourse and that kind of hoo-hah. I mean, am I the only one who finds things like "the new sincerity" interesting? Or like, how our society is changing - why people do and say the crazy things they do? Are my friends shallow? No, of course not. Am I an intellectual snob? Somewhat, I guess. I've had some really great philosophical discussions with friends over time and I don't really want to be deep all the time. I just wish I had more substantial conversations that weren't dominated by quoting cartoon characters.
Watch something together that's different. Ok - so I know this pretty much goes against what I just said before, but hey - I don't care. I'm of the vocal opinion that Hollywood had long lost the plot. So Sahara and the Island were entertaining the first time round, but c'mon, it's disposable entertainment. I'm over my notorious kung-fu stage at the moment - at least until I find a new video store. What about some brushing up on some cinema history and watching some great classics like a Hitchcock night for example? Or just a really bad sci-fi night? Or anime, or standup comedy? Surely anything would be better than following Australian Idol for another jaw-droppingly, appalling series. It's enough to make you pull your eardrums out with a bent coat-hanger.
Play. I don't really care what -- I'm somewhat partial to board games, and I'm certainly no poker aficionado, but it's just a nice way to interact with people in a group.

Anyway. I promise to keep the next few posts at least a little more upbeat. I guess I've pretty much been a malcontent since primary school, so if I don't find an output for my frustrations I can't function properly.

Just to reiterate: I'm fine.

But now I grow tired, and methinks I shall retire till the morrow.

Do You Goo?

2006-02-06T22:12:00.000+10:00

I'm trying to not get my hopes up prematurely, but tomorrow will hopefully be my last piece of assessment in the course of my formal education - ever! Whoo! I can't remember if I already detailed this, but anyway here's the story in a nutshell:

I finished my degree back in November except -- I failed 1 subject -- cause I handed the assignment in 4 weeks late. Why? I didn't attend the lectures, because I really couldn't stand the former-hippie who was lecturing us, so I didn't realise how late it was.
So I decide to do summer semester -- nothing at Griffith, even though the course I failed had been available the 2 years previous over the summer semester.
I decide to go to UQ for summer semester -- but enrolments are closed, so I call, check I can do a late enrolment and still get hecs, everything is good. I spend 2 days running around chasing paperwork, but I eventually get the paperwork in.
I get an approval letter from UQ - this is before Christmas - good. It says login details for their system are forthcoming.
1st week of January, still nothing. So I call -- oops! We haven't processed your paperwork!
Week before my intensive week of lectures -- sorry, we still haven't got it sorted, but go along anyway.
Week of lectures 30 hours in total excluding breaks.
Thursday afternoon of that week -- we've decided you have to pay full fee, please cough up $1400 by Tuesday.
I kick up a big stink, have to call and harass people for a week. Get an extension on my assignment.
Last week, UQ overturns their decision and the school in question (that stuffed up my paperwork) will cover what hecs would have. Yay!
Today -- handed in major assessment.
Tomorrow -- get up at 5.30 for exam. Drinking lots of coffee.

So yeah, that was hardly short but less arduous than the full saga. In an interesting side note, for this final assignment I found great help in a (relatively) new site: Google Books. Everybody knows the most exasperating part of assignment writing can be research: going to a library is enough of a drag in itself, yet alone actually reading those books! Well, now instead of actually having to read widely - you can just google for the key phrases you want, and the search engine finds the sources for you! And you get page numbers to source - totally legit! Man, I wish they had this available when I was in year 11!

Anyways, I need my grumpy sleep.

What am I doing? I'm living my life!

2006-01-25T00:18:00.000+10:00

For all those people, nagging me to update.

"That's a good point you raise there, Lisa. But let me ask you this-- Shut up."

The post with no point.

2006-01-14T12:27:00.000+10:00

Okay, I am now simply succumbing to the demands of my clamouring fans, even though I have very little to write about. Except a few things.

So this morning I got up, made some coffee and then that stupid Jack Johnson song got stuck in my head - augh! But then I thought, no, wait! Banana pancakes sound pretty good about now, so here's the recipe I made for breakfast:

1 banana
1.5 cups of flour
2 tablespoons of sugar
1 cup milk
2 teaspoons baking powder
pinch salt
60g melted butter
2 eggs

Chuck it all in a food processor into a smooth kind of goop, and fry it up (remember to flip once the top side is all bubbly). Serve with honey and whipped cream. Mmm... lunchables.

TANGENT! So, to answer the question postulated by t-rex in the last dinosaur comic (read it) - the answer is, yes! Last week, my old mate Elliott and I headed up to Mooloolaba. Which wouldn't have been much an adventure if it wasn't for the fact that he lives on the Gold Coast and I ended up driving for 8 hours that day, and over 560km. That's like over half way to Sydney! And the sharks and dinosaurs, and we ate goat curry and got lost in the west side of Brisbane somewhere. So yeah. And we ate like 2 cups of maraschino cherries, it was totally an adventure and not at all a man-date or a mandate or even an injunction. The only thing that was missing was some pirates or ninjas or something. But, hey, life isn't perfect.

TANGENT! Also, I had an interesting (at least to my twisted mind) thought the other day, and seeing as I can't think of a more suitable outlet for these random thoughts, I'll share it with you: What if famous songs had been written by people completely devoid of eloquence? I mean, here are some examples:

I just turned into a cold, rotten corpse in your arms tonight. (I just died in your arms tonight)
You make me feel like I never even had the gender alteration surgery. (You make me feel like a natural woman)
You violently jilted me all night, until you dislocated my shoulder (You shook me all night long)
Go get a stethoscope, and check that your blood circulation is still going (Listen to your heart)

And with that absurd though, I leave you. Please put your own extensions of this idea in the comments.

A year out, another year in.

2006-01-01T01:32:00.000+10:00

As a prelude to the actual meat of this entry, I'm going to rant about glasses, so bear with me. Actually, it's pretty straight forward - broke my "unbreakable flexy titanium" glasses for the second time the day after boxing day, unfortunately my backup glasses were my old frames with prescription sunglass lenses - the ones I left in the dash of my old Falcon. The one that got towed to the wreckers a few weeks ago. I think. Anyway, so I had to wear the "harry potter" glasses I had back in grade 7 - fortunately a friend of the family works at an optometrist. The new frames came overnight, so I only had to bear with the old ones for a few days. The new frames have a better "unbreakable" technology which shouldn't have the same weak points as the old pair.

It's been weird with the new glasses though - I've developed an astigmatism in my right eye, so the corrective lens is still taking a while to get used to. I went to a birthday do last night and got completely distracted from conversations by the eerie optical sensation that I was staring at people and straight through them at the same time. So, if you were there, and I seemed flaky - I'm sorry, my glasses were just making me awkwardly self conscious.

Anyway, this entry wasn't really to rant about glasses, it was intended for ranting about my new years resolutions. I've always had a mixed opinion on resolutions - on one hand, it's good to set goals and refocus, so the new year seems as a good a time as any to do that. On the other hand it seems most resolutions are shallow or spontaneous as part of the greater new year ritual and very seldom kept.

So in spite of my better judgement, I'm going to post my resolutions online this year so that all 2 people I know who read my blog can help me stay on track.

Spiritual. To prioritise my personal relationship with God.
Physical. To weigh in under 100kg before the end of the year.
Professional. To be better organised and more professional in my business conduct.
Financial. To build an emergency cash reserve of 3 months income.
Entrepreneurial. To have a basic business plan completed by the end of the year.

I may go back and fill in my reasoning for these later. Right now it's early, so I'll bid you all good morning, happy new year and sweet dreams.

The post of Christmas past

2005-12-26T18:42:00.000+10:00

This Christmas was surprisingly enjoyable and stress free this year. After the semi-traumatic events of previous Christmi, my hopes weren't too high, so I was pleasantly surprised. There were even a few nice developments!

Firstly, I got my ipod back! Hooray! After five months of torture watching it function only as a dust-gathering paperweight after selling it to my dad, I finally received it back again. I mean, I even sent away for replacement earphones - he never even opened the pack! The perfect gift - how did they know? Good thing I didn't sell my iTrip after all.

Secondly, and more importantly, I got a new job! I'll be working for the church and the college at Northside, starting two days a week. I'm really happy, this was my ideal, and I wasn't really sure of getting it, so if I didn't get I was going to have to seek out an part-time in-house position somewhere else, which would've meant a lot of door knocking and cold-calling. The pay isn't high, but it's not bad either - but that's not the important thing.

I think too many people see work as just about money. I'm sure there are certain jobs where the money is the sole motivating factor - I think that's sad. I've found (in a very short working career) that my job has a huge effect on my mood, happiness, esteem and general life outlook, not just my bank balance. That's why I'm stoked to be working in an environment where I can do work for something I actually believe in. So things are coming together well, although I realise I have a lot of planning to do. I want to try to maintain a flow of freelance work throughout the year, as well as planning out a business venture or two. Should be fun.

I really feel like I'm reaching a new season in life. Which is an exciting, if somewhat melancholic thing. It's sad to be losing touch with old friends, not being able to sleep in till noon any more, and losing my student discount status. But it's exciting at the same time. I've been cleaning out my room and throwing out a lot of stuff recently - old shirts I bought in high school, old hand outs from uni - perhaps it's making me nostalgic?

Speaking of nostalgic and melancholy, I have no ideas of what to do for New Years Eve. I know the uni guys are going to the beach down at the Gold Coast. Sorry guys, but that's not an option. I have to look after at least my youngest brother (mum and dad left for two weeks on a midnight flight this morning) plus - it's the beach. And it's the Gold Coast. Anybody else doing something. Surely you will hear from me around the day before.

Absenteeism

2005-12-24T01:06:00.000+10:00

My dear readers, I apologies for neglecting you. It's not that nothing has happened in the last month or so, it's just that I find my self with only enough energy to write half an entry... like right about now. But, I press on.

Anyway, quick rundown - I have to figure out a working life for next year, do a week of summer semester (suprisingly, two people I know are doing the same obscure history subject) and get my degree. So I'm a little hazy at the moment. Anyway, so on a complete tangent - I broke my tooth on a Quizno's sub the other day. The Mesquite chicken with bacon. Actually, the bacon - you know the gristle that inevitably ends up somewhere through the diced bacon - yeah, that. The tooth was bad anyway, so I didn't say anything. Thinking of it now, I realise I missed a great opportunity for free sandwiches. The sub was good, if not toasted quite as long as it should have been.

In any case, I went to the dentist today. First time in 6 years. Haha! The good news is that nothing is infected, so no need to yank out the nerves {wince} or pull any teeth {wince}. The bad news is that I have 11 (eleven!) teeth with cavities! Actually the dentist was really quite nice, so I guess it won't be so bad. Anyway, I think neglect was only part of the cause, I have only just switched to diet soft drink this last year, and since about grade 8 I would drink between 4-10 soft drinks a week. Yeah, pretty bad. What is this emotion called regret?

TANGENT! So it's Christmas. Doesn't feel like it around here. We're having a low-key Christmas this year. Which I guess is a nice change from the madness and pure impracticality of years previous. Christmas is a surreal time of year. I love the idea of Christmas, and I have this notion of what "a Christmas" should be as far as the cultural, familial and social dynamics are meant to work in theory, but have never actually experienced such a cultural event first-hand. I really can't stand the crass commercialism of Christmas, the fact that people are running themeselves further and further into debt to buy totally insignificant items for each other, which (if most people are like me) will be used once and then be either tossed or forgotten. The repulsive colour combinations as every store and brand try to mix their corporate colours with red and green, the sub-rubbish quality tinsel, the irritating and dated Christmas songs on loop in the super markets.

Kids must be so much dumber than we give them credit for- surely with half the population dressed up in santa suits, you'd think they'd cotton on to the lies sooner. Then again, being invariably self-centred, they'd probably keep playing along with it just to get the presents long after finding out about it. I know I did.

Strangely though, the romantic image of Christmas - the family opening their gifts with delight (not disappointment) around the tree, a white christmas, carolling, warm eggnog and a fireplace - despite their impossibilities, seem so appealing. I'm sure I could quite literally send myself crazy just analysing the reasons behind it. Anyhow, with that neurotic thought, I wish you all a good night, Merry Christmas and Happy Chanukkah to Elliott!

All good things must come to an end

2005-12-06T01:03:00.000+10:00

Unfortunately sometimes it seems the crap things seem to drag on for ever. Hooray for transition! I haven't been in the greatest of mood recently, need to find my feet - get another job, tie up loose ends from uni (I failed a subject) and figure out what I'm going (and not going) to do this year.

Anyway, for all you classmates of 2005, here is the long overdue Graduate Exhibition Polaroid collection and video confessions (quicktime, not ipod ready tho'). Also for those in that circle, an anecdote of interest: I was chatting with a certain art theory lecturer - let's call him Charles - and he was trying to convince me of the legitimacy of his subject, as one does. Anyhow, he mentions to me that "many" designers in industry think that we should be doing more art theory - we'll call the one he mentioned "Jason". Now you and I both know that art theory is perhaps the single worst thing about this course and is, at best, a log-sized steaming pile of cow dung. Jason and his company do not live in a real commercial world, they live in a little constructed neo-left-wing-modernist world where they can work on posters to demonstrate against detention centres and save the rainforest. They think they can use design to change society. Where did they get these delusions of grandeur? Art theory. Whatever. Get real.

Speaking of irrepressibly awful things. Do yourself a favour, don't see the film, Domino. Some of the reviews at IMDB are just so spot-on, it's tragilarious.

Strange Behaviour

2005-11-22T01:19:00.000+10:00

Tonight I had the most surreal television experience of my life: a Turkish remake of the Nanny Christmas special. Except it was Ramadan "Bayram" instead of Christmas. So weird. Need to stop watching late night tv for the sake of staying up.

Sorry for my lack of information regarding the graduate exhibition. I'll put up some video confessions I captured as soon as Elliott properly scans the neat polaroids he took. Coincidence? I think not.

Greatest ad slogan - ever!

2005-11-18T08:56:00.000+10:00

Thanks, Sprint (American mobile provider), you've made my day.

Anyway, on a totally inter-related note sorry for not replying to peoples comments, posting recently and for eating the last of the tiny teddies. I promise to be on my best behaviour from next week, okay? Good.

Update

2005-11-15T14:24:00.000+10:00

The friends and family night is on from 6.00pm tonight at QCA, corner of Grey & Vulture Streets, South Bank.

Sweet relief with a hint of grief.

2005-11-10T12:36:00.000+10:00

My portfolio was finally produced and surrendered to the proper authorities at about 2.30pm yesterday. I feel a great release with this, the final piece of assessment (bar 2 essays, but they're not greatly significant) of my university "education". I wasn't totally happy with the flow of the poster and I wish I had the time to fix another project and put that in place of the Sirromet Wines assignment, but I think that's the case with everybody's work; it never lives up your own expectations.

The friends and family opening night is on this coming Tuesday night (15th November) at QCA, South Bank. I'll update this spot with the start time when I find out.

That, my friend, is the benefit of hindsight.

2005-11-08T12:19:00.000+10:00

That's what I'll answer when my clients ask me, "Why didn't you do it better in the first place?". Today is my last day before the folio is due. Hah hah!

Cultural Wasteland.

2005-11-08T00:23:00.000+10:00

Sarah made an interesting post over at her blog, which I replied to with honesty and sincerity. However, I believe the subject matter is deserving of a more complete and inane rant.

I found myself, quite involuntarily, moaning and rolling my eyes with each and every song on the radio at work today. Puh-huh-lease! Somebody next time you see me, clap your hands violently over my ears and put me out of my misery!

I mean, if I really had a sick desire to pour septic waste into my ear canal, shouldn't I be the one to do it? If I wanted to listen to garbage, wouldn't I visit a landfill? Or watch Australian Idol? It's torture. Nova, the radio station of "choice" at work, lists it's playlist (say that 10 times quickly) online. Of the entire list I see 3 that I might just bear listening to (Jamiroquai, U2 & Coldplay for those who were wondering, although none of those tracks have much going for them). Voodoo Child, My Humps, The Trouble With Me, I Want You & Don't Bother are all bad enough in themselves to start a man on the path to disturbingly violent and anarchic crimes.

Are all the radio stations this unspeakably awful? Have I really become such a terrible snob that I can't listen to the radio any more without wanting to lunge head-first out of a 20th storey window? Or is my worst fear actually correct - that this is the true and sorry state of the music industry today?

Over produced beyond recognition (e.g. Shannon Noll's Shine. I know! That's Shannon? "What about me" Shannon?). Showing less depth than a dried out birdbath. Repetitive, unoriginal, self-inflated and unenjoyable. I really wish I could sever my neurological activity at will and could mindlessly enjoy something about the noise coming from that Pandora's box called a radio, but I find myself lacking the skills to do so.

Is there any hope? There is shelter from the aural sewerage in the digital realm. How I miss my ipod. Oh, how I miss you. We'll be back together again soon. Internet radio at least has some interesting options.

In summary: Video didn't kill the radio star. Unfortunately. Does anyone have the contact details of a reliable hit man?

Under way or way under?

2005-11-04T17:39:00.000+10:00

I'm currently in the process of going over my back-catalogue of work for my graduation portfolio. The work you can see above has the original to the left (done May '04) and the revised done today. I had little idea about espresso coffee when I did the original, but I didn't remember how bad the photoshop work was. Augh! Anyway, so I've scratched the surface now. I've got to get it all done by Wednesday. So that should be fun.

People are totally wigging out over the graduate exhibition. It's way closer than I thought, only 1 week from today. I recently shaved off my goatee and am now sporting some manly stubble. I think I'll go stubble for the industry night. That, with a tuxedo shirt and jeans. I'll certainly blend into the crowd of "I'm trying to look professional, but creative at the same time" graduates quite easily.

Universal Disclaimer

2005-11-02T08:31:00.000+10:00

I hereby reserve the right to make my posts nothing but one sided, ill conceived, unoriginal, exaggerated and offensive.

I also reserve the right to sleep in until 11am, drink nothing but discount-store energy drinks for weeks and eat Swedish meatballs for breakfast. (Yeah, I wish).

I'll never get it.

2005-11-01T14:22:00.000+10:00

Melbourne Cup day has ruined my attempts to enjoy some mindless midday television. How on earth can people get so excited by a stupid horse? Did it cure cancer? No. Did it start a movement to help the poorest people in Calcutta? No. Did it write a catchy 3-minute song? No. Did it bake a delicious soufflé? No.

What did it do? It ran faster than all the other horses in the race 3 years in a row.

Big friggin' whoop. I'll never understand the concept of spectator sports. Sports in themselves are pointless enough. Sportsmanship? Give me a break! Sport is flat and one-dimensional institution. Life is multi-faceted and infinitesimally complex. Sports are dumbed-down games with a simplistic objective and a set of boundary-setting rules. How could you possibly enjoy watching other people trying to attain these lofty and philanthropic goals? It's as bad a reality television - a voyeurism based on watching others accomplish nothing of significance. Is it meant to make people feel better about their own lives? Do people really feel like they're just running around a track in circles, never getting anywhere but back to where they began? Is life a race to be the first to get back to nowhere?

Okay horse, you need to reach the end of the track before the other horses. Wow! You're a living legend Mr. Ed! So amazing, I'll tell my grandchildren of this day! Hey, you drunken brawlers! Kick this ball between those posts more times than those other guys! Wow, you're an inspiration, a national treasure!

Surely there must be more interesting diversions for the nation to squander its time on. Now excuse me while I go purge myself of this morning's breakfast.

A sneaking suspicion.

2005-10-11T23:23:00.000+10:00

Okay, so despite the mounting evidence in this blog that points to me being a compulsive liar, I assure you I am no such deviant.

--Well, perhaps some what. But mainly I've been adjusting to a normal sleep cycle (yes, I actually go to bed around midnight now). The realisation hit me today that I only have about 3 weeks of uni left! --!!! It's making me wigg-out! But I'm not failing any subjects to my knowledge, I was concerned about it for a while, my fears were alleviated to some degree today when I found my very late assignment got marked none the less.

I'm working 4 days a week now (could do 5), uni 2 days and Sundays are all taken up, so I'm barely home except to sleep. We need to get our portfolios ready in a few weeks too. I haven't really got it under control yet, although Elliott's been working hard on his. I think I'm gonna make something without any binding. An A0 poster or a cd sleeve that folds out to a poster seem to be ideas at the moment.

Okay, so that wraps up my life-at-the-moment report in a very stream-of-consciousness way. Moving on to the semi-interested content as promised:

Keane: Hopes & Fears

I'm really liking this album at the moment; a sweet serve of soft, britpop earcandy. Screw pitchfork and their absurd notion that any brit-band with a keyboard is ripping off Coldplay. What the... {interrobang}. This is not Coldplay-esque in any other aspect, the melodic tendencies, the lead vocal qualities (which are great), the song structures, all vastly different.

This record isn't exactly gripping material, but a solid début effort, with fantastic vocals, great production and no tracks that start the skip-track finger itching.

Jacks brand chips are soooooo salty!

2005-10-01T23:33:00.000+10:00

Seriously. It's like a party in my mouth-- that's been crashed by a dump truck full of salt. Saw Poolhall Junkies tonight. I really like movies that look at colourful sub-cultures and this movie pulls it off perfectly. Check it out, cho.

Been quite busy with work this week-- I may have even adjusted my sleeping pattern, cause I really feel quite tired now. Sorry for the lack of posts recently. Will try to be good and post some more this week. Interesting stuff. G'night.

A lesson learned? Or not.

2005-09-22T02:48:00.000+10:00

Well the kung-fu movie night went well on Monday, Elliott & Glen from uni came and Luke, Callum, KC, Tim & Jess, Harry, James, Liz, Ruth & Steve came from Northside. I also managed to hand in the assignments were due that day (but not the ones already overdue, minor as they are, I feel bad about that). Anyways, here are some nuggets of hearty wisdom that I garnered over the last few days:

If you're having a movie marathon: screen your movies first. Not that the movies we watched were bad (Once upon a time in China, Rumble in the Bronx) but we only got to a real good one (in terms of pace and fun, Twin Warriors) by the end of the night.
If you give people 2 choices of something to bring along (this case, dessert or drinks), you'll undoubtedly end up with all of one and none of the other.
If you stay up 2 days straight and then get up when you need to the day after, you will not reset your body clock. Nope. Doesn't work.
My oven resets after a blackout so that it won't heat unless you mash all the buttons on the front of it (figured this out after leaving nachos in there for 20 minutes with no heat).
Procrastination is hard work.

resignation or delusion?

2005-09-19T01:53:00.000+10:00

current tiredness: buzzed up mentally, physically sluggish. i've now resided myself to my fate of no sleep, and have decided to enjoy it. multi-tasking around the house (cleaning up for tomorrow), moved the good speakers off my brother's computer (he's away for 2 months anyway) and i've had 3 shots of espresso, a berrocca and a nurofen since the last post. i know that in the future i won't be able to do these sort of stupid things. i'm 20 now, in a few years the body won't be able to stand up to it. plus a real job would mean a more sensible sleep cycle. hi-keeba!

big crunch semster 2, 2005

2005-09-18T20:22:00.000+10:00

been up since 11 (stupid body clock) and the plan is to stay up until at least the early hours of tuesday. current tiredness: more than normal for 8.00pm. body must be stressing out over the fact of how long this'll be. oh, yeah. and i'm totally stealing this tiredness-log thing from elliott.

Progress (or lack thereof) report

2005-09-16T04:29:00.000+10:00

So much for that idea. Hah. The presentation I shall surely skip and present this on Monday with my other late uni-work. Oh well, it's only a 20% penalty. I'm pretty sure I could only do 1/5th of the work at a 1/2-baked rate anyway if I'd hand it in on time.

Hah hah! Procrastination.

2005-09-16T01:35:00.000+10:00

Here's a snapshot from the last time I left my assignments to the last possible minute-- 20 minute power-naps (as supposedly used by Leonardo Da Vinci). This time? I'll let you know when I get started-- or finished-- or whatever.

Nachos & Nunchaku Night!

2005-09-14T16:09:00.000+10:00

Attention crazy web peoples... consider yourself-- invited!

What: Kung fu movies and Mexican food.
When: Monday 19th, from 4pm - ??? Drop around any time.
Where: Linus' Place. Phone or email me to let me know you'd like to come.
Bring: Dessert or soft drink. Any kung-fu DVDs you've got.
Why? I've got the whole place to myself, and to celebrate the end of "term" (sort of).

Let me know if you can make it! Bring a friend, if I've met 'em before, or bring an enemy and fight for the honour of your wing-chun master! Aeeyyahhh!

man, i wish i had thought of that.

2005-09-11T16:39:00.000+10:00

i've gotten so many telemarketing calls that i just plain hang up on 'em now. at least there's always a more interesting (albeit geeky) alternative.

frightening.

2005-09-11T15:35:00.000+10:00

in our media-saturated age, i think all high-school kids should see this photo-retoucher's portfolio.

Bachelor pad! It's not quite as cool as helipad.

2005-09-11T14:41:00.000+10:00

Hah-Hah! Squalor!

Well, the family went off to the airport for their round-world whirlwind tour on Friday, so I've had the place to myself for a few days. Don't worry, that's not my photo - although, I haven't gotten round to the dishes yet. Anyways.

So, a few things are happening:

Today I'm officially on my open driver's licence - woohoo!
I've worked out that I can't maintain my current expenditure without getting a lot more hours at work, and hopefully a few freelance projects to boot.
I have a suspicious feeling I'll end up cramming all my assignments in at the last minute again this semester despite affirmation both on this blog and elsewhere to the contrary.
Luke came out to catch up with me after work Friday - at 10pm. It was nice to do something a bit out of the ordinary, we cruised around the city, got lost and disorientated, went to the pancake parlour. It was fun.
Procrastination is a way of life at the moment. I'll tell you more about that later.

Leo Nine @ the Globe

2005-09-05T15:02:00.000+10:00

Leo Nine album launch at the Globe, Sat 6 Aug 2005.

“Different bands have different styles,” front man, Caleb James muses whilst retuning. “Our style is to build up a strong fan base and then totally alienate them by playing one or two gigs a year, and only releasing an album every four or five years.”

After surveying the converted theatre packed with jostling bodies on this Saturday night, one might assume that Leo Nine haven't been trying very hard to diminish their fan base. Perhaps they've been too busy perfecting their latest album, Slow Steady Heart, which they launched at the Globe on August 6th.

Leo Nine sound almost as tight live as on their recordings, if perhaps a little more raw and aggressive. The bass and drums form a solid, dynamic platform for emotive guitar duets which move from melancholic and melodic to screaming feedback and thrashing distortion. For the most part, clever arrangements compensate for synth parts from the album versions that are absent here.

There's something very therapeutic about soaking up this music at high volumes. The band seem to be enjoying the night too as James stares manically over the crowd before bouncing around the stage like a guitar-wielding Bruce Lee. His vocals are in full strength, hitting a huge range and seeming to permeate the room with a tasteful amount of reverb.

Kicking off the set with Wish, a favourite from their Battered Fish days, it isn't long before the band are tearing into the first five tracks of, Slow Steady Heart. This is followed up by the popular Satisfied from their 2001 Leo Nine EP. The crowd is then treated to some brilliant acoustic-tinged arrangements of Heart's two closing tracks, but thankfully, the night is far from over. After a couple more Battered Fish classics, the epic Easy Now from the EP launches with an almost theatrical intensity. The night draws to a close on a high point with, Shining Like the Sun, which James touchingly dedicates to his mother.

Overall it's a great night that leaves the “alienated fan base” charmed once again by a strong, heartfelt performance and some unrivalled songsmithing. Despite claims to the contrary, Leo Nine are actually playing quite regularly at the moment – most notably as the openers for Rhubarb's album launch tour this September. If you love great music, don't pass a chance to see these guys live and support some local artists of global calibre.

Photo courtesy of Michael Mann.

Procrastination-- or plain indifference?

2005-09-05T15:00:00.000+10:00

It's been over a week since the last blog entry. So here's a summary no-one will read:

The photo above is of Elliott when we drove out to Dayboro-- the town of yesteryear... he's sporting a lovely knitted "dead-cat" from the local crafts shop.
First 2 weeks at work have been good. Do my first late shift on my own this week.
The car has had no more accidents, but it sometimes doesn't count on the odometer-- weird.
Uni is awful... like pulling a tooth.
I have learned how disgustingly expensive parking in the city can be.

And now - for no apparent reason - here's a review I wrote of Leo Nine's performance at the globe last month. Originally intended to get it published but wasn't quick enough on the deadlines.

the first day, then the worst day.

2005-08-26T00:00:00.000+10:00

I had a really bad day. So ignore this post if you want, because off I go into ranting mode... nnnnnn.....ow!

Forgot to turn on alarm, so late for work. Nice first impression for the 2nd day on the job, huh?
Today I laminated 400 sheets. And stuffed envelopes. And had no end of problems with publisher/acrobat/distiller.
I though I'd be done by 7, go over to the Limkins' place to watch the finale of Lost with mates. Didn't finish work til 9.30.
Didn't bring a jacket, freezing on the train.
Got off at the wrong station.
Had to wait and hour for the next train.
Finally got to my car - windows are all fogged up, I drive into a pole, damaging my less-than-two-weeks just bought car.

So, here's the good news (as I make it tradition to list whenever I have a really bad day).

I have a job.
I got to know the people at work better.
I needed the hours.
A stranger gave me 50c so I'd have enough money for a bottle of water while I waited an hour at Mitchelton Station.
The damage to the car (and my ego) is mostly superficial. The locks still work, the windows still wind down.
I only damaged the side doors, not running directly into the pole.
I made it home.
It becomes highly unlikely I'll have a day as bad as this at work for at least a while.

So. Now I'm going to bed. Oh, and Rachael, I found out yeah, the free loop is kinda dumb. It took five minutes to walk to work, it took 15 minutes for the free loop to come, then another 5 minutes to get to my stop. Insane!

the annual blog post!

2005-08-25T00:16:00.000+10:00

Whooo!

Anyways, so I've got a new job. I know! Crazy, huh? It's with Worldwide online printing at Eagle Street, and I've dealt with them for printing for a while now. It's just crazy how quick it's been. Monday I called them, Tuesday I gave them my CV and had an informal interview, and then today I worked there, coming back tomorrow and possibly the day after!

It's pretty unglamorous work at the moment, but I'm not complaining, beats working with food! Plus it's in a good location; right outside a stop in the free loop, short walk to a good café, and only a ferry ride away from uni. Oh, and their logo is a butterfly, thus the photo.

Speaking of butterflies, I'm really looking forward to getting our next home espresso machine, the La Scala Butterfly... drool. We currently have a somewhat dysfunctional Rancilio Silvia, and a brand new HUGE commercial grinder (it was only $50 more than the pro-sumer model, so dad bought it).

Will post more thoughts tomorrow!

Beware the pointy chin!

2005-08-15T21:40:00.000+10:00

Ugh. What can I say... I just watched Reservoir Dogs and now I'm so worked I have to make a Tarantino bashing post! Awful, just awful. It was... well, refer to the picture.

I don't understand you Tarantino fan-boys {cough! James! cough cough! Elliott!} I mean, really, apart from the violence factor, what's he bringing to the medium that hasn't been done before? I mean, maybe I'm missing some vital clue somewhere along the line-- let's see, now I've seen:

Reservoir Dogs - I really tried to find something to enjoy about this film. I was waiting right up until the very end to for it to get to the "good part". No luck. I found my mind wandering through this boring, trying-to-be-shockingly-violent (but not succeeding) snooze fest. It really was for the dogs, so at least the title was fitting.
Kill Bill 1 & 2 - First thing is first. Uma Thurman is not attractive, and her character in the film does not win any sympathy. Another story as thin as rice-paper. Violent to the point of ridicule, but not comedy. Eyes-- rolling! Can't-- reach-- far enough-- to convey-- disregard! Please, let's all do everyone a favour and never let Quentin Tarantino try to make a kung fu film again... leave it to Hong Kong you poser!
Speaking of kung fu... there's Hero. Why was Tarantino so hung up on this movie? It was shocking. Zzz aplenty! Over-hyped, over-directed without any decent fights - what is this guy on? Seriously, it sucked.

I've also seen the first half of Pulp Fiction, before losing interest enough to turn it off. Perhaps I turned off the movie at the most inopportune time, to miss the very pinnacle of cinematic history and finally have my eyes opened to the genius of Tarantino... but judging from his other works I wouldn't bet 5 cents on it.

Sorry, I just had to get that out of my system. I promise to post on something pleasant next time. Seriously.

Astranomical

2005-08-13T23:41:00.000+10:00

Obviously the main news is that I finally got my new car! But I don't have a photo, so bleah... of course, I'll have some soon! ... Sheeash! Calm down, will you? The Falcon was on it's last legs, and then on Wednesday the headlight control came right out. Great. A car with no lights.

Sadly, the Falcon must now be:

Trashed
Given away to someone who'll work on it as a project car.
Driven into a terrorist cell base rigged with high explosives.

You know I'd vote for the 3rd option, but it's dad's car after all. Should I bother taking out my 35 speakers & sound system setup? Whaddya think?

Anyway, the SLX LD 1987 Holden Astra Hatchback (Aquamarine with red stripe) is opening up a new age of prosperity: not! Although the fuel savings will help - I filled up for the first time today: $35 and it's almost full - amazing! - I'm badly in need of a job now. Just scraped together the money for the initial down payment and insurance, plus $245 for licence-related expenses.

So if I can't sell out to Worldwide Online as a print/photoshop monkey, I might be selling out to all that is indecent in the world... Starbucks! Why? Because if I don't get a print shop job I'll be too lazy to search for a part-time job with any real effort. Have a friend who's girlfriend is a manager / the money's okay / the training is there. Have I gone insane? I'm just tired. At least I'm not manically depressed! Ciao for now.

Motion pictures in the cinema and the home.

2005-08-03T23:59:00.000+10:00

I've actually watched (and re-watched) a unusually large number of movies over the last few weeks and I thought I'd take a moment to share some one line reviews:

Fantastic Four - 3/10. More like Craptastic Bore... the worst comic book adaption movie I've seen in 5 years.
The Island - 7/10. Not a bad sci-fi/action movie but hardly original in its ideas.
Once Upon A Time In China (Part 2) - 7/10. Jet Li is awesome... would have been better with Engrish subtitles instead of the fairly-good English ones.
Office Space - 9/10. Classic... damn it feels good to be a gangsta.
Madagascar - 5/10. Moderately entertaining... sub-par effort visually... that Lemur King is pretty funny, as was the silhouette guy standing up in the middle of the DVD I saw.
Unleashed - 6/10. Jet's Hollywood stuff isn't as good as his Hong Kong movies... the script is full of 2d characters and stereotypes... anyone for a kind old, blind black man?

That's all folks.

Flat lining.

2005-08-01T23:57:00.000+10:00

It's really strange. I've been feeling totally out-of-whack over the last week. Last Tuesday (I think it was Tuesday) I had got into the most depressed mood I can remember in about 4 years. Since then I've been walking around half-awake. Today I woke up at 11.40am, had brunch, went back to sleep until 4.00pm. I'm lacking any drive or motivation at all.

I had to show all the work I've done over the last 3 years to my tutors on Wednesday... I left the meeting feeling totally incompetent... which I know isn't true, but that's the feeling you get when people judge your work and pick at every minute detail over an hour. I'm feeling totally flat.

As well as that I've been questioning my cynicism recently. I guess I just don't trust people. I know myself, I know that I, just like everyone else, am driven by selfish survival at the core of it. That people, in the end, will really only be in it for themselves. There is selflessness, yes, and God can work through people, but I can acknowledge that I have a deep-rooted mistrust of people and groups. And now I come to the point at the end of my education where I am faced with what I'm gonna do with the next season of my life, and I see that the main line of employment for graphic designers is in advertising. The problem of course being that I don't believe in it. Companys are like people (who ain't that trustworthy) without a soul and only a drive for money. Advertising is just a mouthpiece for their lies. Branding is term that came from cattle ranchers. I don't want to be treated like a cow. Am I the only one who feels this way?

We all know the opposite of cynicism is to be trusting, innocent. What is the cure for cynicism?

I mean, I recently turned 20. I'm not a teenager any more. Not that I've felt like a teenager until now, but I'm just unsure. I don't seem to enjoy a lot of the things I used to enjoy as a kid. The problem isn't that really, it's that I don't know what I do enjoy any more and the things that I do enjoy (fine food, fine coffee, buying new sneakers, expanding my dvd collection) I can't afford a lot of the time and seem shallow. I guess it's just another life-stage. Wanting to build my own life, get my own place, start to walk on my own and all that jazz. I need a job so I can buy a newer car, so I can afford to travel. I just feel so uninspired, apathetic.

{Sigh.} What a rant.

Anyway, on Sunday night my visa debit card got eaten by an ATM. It just took my card, and then crashed. It rebooted, and it was running Windows 98! I mean, what the...? It took like 15 minutes to re-boot, and then it just went back to how it was when I started and I never got my card back. It could have it least spit out cash or something! And now it's going to take over a week to get a new card. So I called up, and the guy on the other end was like "Oh, you'll have to contact the bank that issued your card."
"But it's your ATM!"
"I'm sorry, you'll have to contact your bank."
"Well what about the time and the cost because your ATM swallowed my card? And what about the cost of this phone call, when I'm informing you about a problem with one of your machines?"
"You'll have to contact your bank."
I wouldn't trust the Bank of Queensland as far as I could throw one of their branches.

In some good news, I submitted a review of Leo Nine's album Slow Steady Heart which was published at the Phantom Tollbooth last week. (Erratum: Their self-titled EP was released in 2001, not 2002 and the band shared song writing duties on this album.)

Dis Appointments

2005-07-30T15:54:00.000+10:00

Hrm. You may have noted a distinct lack of entries of late. In a shock confession: it may be due to my recent disloyal feeling toward Blogger itself! It's simple, and only does blogging. Which is good... and bad, for ADD-types like me.

So, I saw a post about Yahoo! 360° on Lifehacker and thought, "Well, they made Flickr, so they can't be all that bad, right?" Plus, the features looked good at a glance:

Share your Flickr album directly.
Blog
Reviews
Lists
hi5-style "my friends" feature
Share RSS feeds

Problems being:

Complete lack of support for custom templates! What? Is it 1996? At least the default style is clean and functional, not like Microsoft's "so butt ugly it even drives it's own mother to be violently ill" templates.
The blog feature is even more basic than Blogger's.
"Reviews" are only for businesses in Yahoo's directory, or through their Y! Music service.
Lists is only a feature like that in Blogger Profile, e.g. Favourite Movies, Music, etc.
Who wants to start a new online-community spam-happy craze? Not I.

So... in short, I'm still searching for the Holy Grail. A blog with Blogger's clean interface and template support, post tags, list maker (like msn spaces), rss feeds, and simple photo sharing... so I guess it's going to be a long wait.

Crap is the new good.

2005-07-16T02:38:00.000+10:00

Out of the previous post climbs a half-baked idea. I'd like to print my own shirts one day. Here a few that have been ideas and could be whipped up typographically.

plain is the new... imagine a plain shirt, this text printed on the right sleeve.
From here in only type nerds would get it. Ubiquity is set in probably the most prolific typeface in the western world, Helvetica.
"the don" is of course, Clarendon, the Helvetica of book covers circa 1962-1977.
airborne is set in the business-mode face of Frutiger. Originally designed for airport signage.

Well, that's all you get for one night kiddies. Time to shut down this brain of mine and get some rest. Non-type nerds, don't despair, there will be plenty of crap for you too in the upcoming weeks.

The magic is gone.

2005-07-15T13:43:00.000+10:00

I went clothes shopping with a mate of mine last night, at — that hub of crass consumerism on the North side of Brisbane — Chermside. Ugh! Is it just me, or has originality died and the stench of its decomposing corpse is the current inspiration for every insipid $79.95 garment? I mean, please.

Oh yes... learn the magician's tricks and the magic disappears. Was fashion always this crap, or have I just been oblivious to it until the last few years?

So, in light of this, I've made a mini-guide to generiffic fashion trash. Please suggest additions by commenting on this post.

All tied up in a neat little package.

2005-07-13T12:30:00.000+10:00

Hehey pratty people!

Well, a lot has been happening. I turned 20 (for those who were wondering), I passed all my subjects (a miracle considering my poor effort, the worst marks I've ever had, but I've never been happier to have passed), and I've done some stuff. Like buying some new domain names. These are of course, under construction, so you've been warned.

www.shortmac.com - short macchiato that is. This is where I intend to host my various personal projects, etc. I don't think I'll abandon the old blogger account though, it's cool to have randoms just stumble on through, but with Wordpress and the WP-Lists plugin I should be able to feed my list-making fixation.
www.clutterdesk.com - lunchtime legend was too long. This will probably be my portfolio site. Idunno what I'm gonna do about lunchtime legend. Sell it on eBay maybe?

I got a few new cds and stuff I'll be reviewing soon and I've got plenty of work and a few side-projects to keep me busy. Also, I'll share one thing I got from the conference in Sydney.

To be honest, I've been completely disappointed and disillusioned with my uni course, however, particularly of recent, I'd developed a victim mentality about it. Like I was robbed of the kind of education I thought I should get for what I was paying. In many ways I still feel that way, but I realised I can't have a victim mind set. Things will happen to us. People will disappoint us and life will fail to meet our expectations, but we can't give up and live waiting for the next bad thing to happen to us. God is ultimately in control, and I want to stay open to what I can learn from and how I can grow through difficulty. It's usually the trying times that give us the greatest opportunity to grow and I don't want to miss the larger lesson because my attitude is poor. But that's enough sermonising from me.

P.S. Grim Fandango is great. How I miss the golden age of the adventure game. Sigh.

Another milestone spent hacking in a tram shelter.

2005-07-08T15:40:00.001+10:00

Yo all, I'm down in Sydney at the moment, scumming un-protected wireless from a tram shelter. So you'll understand if this is brief, I'll try to post more details of my week when I get home.

So, yeah, Sydney. We're staying in Chinatown and boy, is it hard to find a decent cup of coffee! The best brew in the area comes from Gloria Jeans, which is certainly ironic considering what they're like back in the Sunshine State. So yeah, been somewhat tired. It's been a good week, also I passed my major subject (but barely) so that's good... I think.

It's my birthday today, but we kind of celebrated last week, so it doesn't seem like a huge deal. Had steak at the Norman Hotel with the family. Good steak. Bought myself some new sneakers (B&W Pony Shooter '78 Hi's) and a some geek gear on eBay. Public transport in Sydney sucks, someone should release a phrasebook for understanding the cab drivers and train conductors here. Really, 60% of the time, it's unintelligible, every time.

Nobody likes an emo cry baby.

2005-06-28T17:23:00.000+10:00

With all the nagging going on around here {cough cough} anyone would have thought I'd bought a clock-work wife!

Okay, so fair enough, it's been a long time. I've been busy and uninspired to write any blog entries. That said, I'm sorry to the few people who actually check up on this little corner of the web, hoping for some interesting drivel. I promise to try harder in the future. Really.

So, yeah, summary:

Finished all my assignments at clown college. Hooray! Pulled an insane 31-hour stint (woke: 11am Thursday, bed: 8pm Friday) to get everything done, but yeah, it's done. Hope I pass all my subjects. Pretty safe with CD4 and Typo3, but I'm not sure if my animation essay got 80%... hmm. At least if I have to repeat it I can just show up for the exam and hand in the same assignments. How I rue the day (dang, someone bought that domain) that I first stepped into QCA. Many of my classmates ask me why I bother coming if I dislike it so much, but then they don't know my family dynamics. I think it would be a pretty low blow to dad if I were to drop out. Even if I feel it's doing me no good... anyways.

What else? I'm heading down to Sydney next week for the Hillsong Conference, which should be good... it will be nice to just get away for starters. I've been working at Northside on pay for 2 weeks to catch up on design work and video work left in Steve's illness. There may be a breakthrough in that area (he's been sick for over 3 weeks without final diagnosis), it could be a tapeworm in the brain. Creepy, but at least it can be treated. Quite uncommon here, they think he may have picked it up in the Ukraine. Also, bought GTA: San Andreas for PC, which is pretty good fun, the soundtrack isn't as good as the one in Vice City though. It's been a good diversion.

Okay, hope that fills all two of you in on the last few weeks. Catch you later, kids!

Absence makes the heart grow mildew

2005-06-16T00:36:00.000+10:00

I can't believe it's been a week already! Sorry. I did start this blog intending to keep updating fairly regularly, daily if I could help it. Unfortunately, I couldn't help it. Snowed under with work and wot-not... okay, mainly wot-not. No, work really.

Quick update: My close friend, Steve Limkin is in hospital with a mystery illness, his condition fluctuates between good, and not-at-all-good. They think it may be a form aseptic meningitis, but the doctors are baffled for the moment. On top of this, Steve was looking after some of my workload at church with video stuff while I was busy with end-of-semester assignments. Well, that's derailed my uni assignment plans a bit. Things are tight, but I managed to get an extension in one subject, which makes all the difference.

On the up side, I'm getting lots of freelance work coming through. Finished 2 graphic design projects and a corporate video over the last 2 weeks, with more work from all 3 clients expected for the future. Looks like it'll be yet another working holiday... which gives me mixed emotions... I certainly could use the income, but then I could certainly do with a break... if only there was a way to combine the two! {Sigh}.

Wish I had something timely and entertaining to say, but it's late and I have to finish some more work. Ciao / see you on the flip side / inane signoff.

Same old tune

2005-06-09T21:49:00.000+10:00

Sorry for the lack of entries recently. Frenetic with work, uni and otherwise, at the moment. I'm currently the proud owner of ~$30 in total. So I'll be relieved when that situation changes. Which, all things going well, should be soon as I'm at different stages with about 4 different freelance jobs. Two are done and waiting for payments. One should be finished tonight. The other should be done by next week.

Handed in final assignment for one class on Monday, after pulling an all-nighter till about 3.30am. Then handed another piece in on Wednesday, this time up till 4.45 am and getting around 2 hours sleep. Slept in till 11 today to catch up. Have an essay to get cracking at, which is due Monday and requires me to get 80% marks to pass the subject. Totally forgot the date of the exam for that subject so I lost 30% of my marks by that single act. And then need to get another 2 assignments done and present a folio of uni work by next Thursday.

After all that uni will be over for the semester. Woohoo! Can't wait to finish this awful course. Paying for a whole bunch of nothing can become tiresome after a few years. Give me my piece of paper! I still need to think of what I'm going to do next year... still so much to work out. Oh well, back to it I guess. Sorry if this post sounded like a projected to-do list. Hope your lives are better in that regard at the moment.

New recommended music: Coldplay: X&Y, The Afters: I Wish We All Could Win, Adelaide: Overtired and Ill-Prepared.

Nerdular Nerdance

2005-06-04T23:56:00.000+10:00

I'm starting to feel a little better now. And a little less stressed. I suspected that my assignment work was out of control. It is. But not as bad as I thought. Or perhaps I'm too tired to know better. Anyway, on with my ranting which will surely impress all my peers and inspire them to send me notes of admiration and fine Belgian chocolates with all due haste.

I recently read that internet explorer 7 is scheduled to infect computers by the end of the year. Do yourself a favour and convert to Firefox now. Even if Bill Gates himself were to come to my place, clean my house, do my assignments, buy me a new car and make me a kickin' turkey & meatball sandwich, I still wouldn't go back to using internet explorer. As someone who's spent hours of my lifespan hacking standards-complaint CSS to work in that monstrosity, I have too much self-respect to give them that.

Oh and while I'm on the anti-microsoft shtick, check out OpenOffice as a replacement for MS Office. I'm still waiting for an Outlook killer, but the rest of the Office suite gets used maybe 3 times in a month, on average. Why waste 1.5 gigs of hard-drive space for it? The whole OpenOffice suite takes up less than 200 megs. And the new v2.0 beta has an interface that's close enough to Word, Excel and those other ones so it's easy to use. It doesn't handle tables nicely all the time, but as I said, I'm a light user. Most of the time I use it for invoicing, one or two essays in a semester and extracting text to InDesign.

Okay... feel better now that I've geeked out a bit. 'Night folks.

Ow. My favourite internet quiz!

2005-06-04T20:31:00.000+10:00

Hehey! What good is the internet if not for the completely unprofessional and potentially risky game of anonymous and random diagnoses and prognoses of various illnesses!

So I've had a cold for 2 weeks, until a few days ago. Then I became sensitive to light. My eyes physically hurt when I get up. And since yesterday evening, I don't feel full, just gassy and slightly like throwing up. {What a charming individual I am}. Oh yeah, and I'm getting about 4 hours sleep average per night for the last 3 weeks. That doesn't mean I haven't been close to falling asleep at random times during the day though. Ugh.

So, internet persons - name that illness!
All suggestions are winners! You win by the fact that whatever it is I've contracted, it most likely cannot be spread via the internet like so many bizarre Scandinavian advertisements.

Only... two... more... weeks... {aaaaiiieeeeeeeeeeeee}!

Drowning in work

2005-06-01T01:04:00.000+10:00

Despite being underwhelmed by the quality and legitimacy of my university course, I still seem to be whelmed, or overwhelmed by work at the moment. 5 assignments. 3 freelance jobs. 2 weeks. Aghhh! My own procrastination is the main culprit in this situation, I intend on fixing it. Later.

Anyway, here's a list of things I intend to do when my assignment work for the semester is finished:

Sleep in, guilt free.
Take a 24 hour "unplugged" sabbatical.
I habitually surf blogs and watch movies on my laptop when I get bored. No phone, pda, computer or even ipod for a whole day.
Ring all those I've failed to follow up or contact in the last 4 months.
Catch up with people I've intended to for the last 6 months. Sorry.
Update my professional website.
Research a good studio for studio experience.
Write a few thank you / sorry for being a jerk notes.
Get a haircut... and maybe some new streaks.
Get new glasses.
Clip my toenails.
Clean my room.
Reformat my computer.
Archive my old work.
Get my ipod headphones replaced.
Go for that 7 day trial at the local gym.
Cook an omelette.

Prescription Envy

2005-05-28T14:26:00.000+10:00

Well. It's official. The drug companies have been holding out on us. New Scientist describes the benefits of ADD and narcolepsy drugs on normal people. Sounds pretty good to me. Who am I to argue with scientists? New scientists! Hmm? 40 hours waking, 8 hours sleeps sounds like a sweet deal to me.

Ritalin is a misunderstood hero. Elliott told me a story about a friend of a friend of his (that makes them a friend of a friend of a friend of mine, so this must be true), who took some of her brother's ritalin and proceeded to finish 3 assignments and clean their entire apartment twice without stopping. Sigh. Surely drugs would solve all our problems.

This post has a hidden secret!

2005-05-24T13:06:00.000+10:00

On the topic of gadgets, Simon, my brother got a new Treo 650 yesterday. Very nice. I'm green with envy. Converged devices are the way of today, not the future, I tells ya! I was surprised at the lack of Notepad, a staple of the PalmOS on my Tungsten E, but you can draw directly on photos. Weird. The camera is really nice, although not really high-res. A lot better than most camera phones. He also scored the phone for almost half the retail price. Nice.

I can't complain today, however, as I finally got the verdict on the insurance:

They accepted the claim!
That means that it's only $1300 instead of $8000! Praise God!

Thanks to all my friends for their support and prayers through this, and especially the team at Northside. It's really because of you guys that I've been able keep my head above the water through all this, so bless you. I can breathe a sigh of relief. {Ahhh...}

Go-go-gadget Thermostat!

2005-05-24T12:10:00.000+10:00

I was away at youth camp this weekend. I learned that you should never forget your sleeping bag. I was counting on them having those really bad, itchy, woollen blankets at the camp site, but not this time. I ended up wrapping a towel inside my trusty trench coat, and sleeping in that. No blanket. Shoes on, so my feet didn't freeze. Not a pleasant experience. I managed to get about two hours sleep, but the camp was awesome despite this.

I get a lot of comments on my tan trench coat (that I picked up for $10 at the Gold Coast Lifeline Warehouse). Especially about looking like Inspector Gadget. A lot of kids thought he sucks, probably because they only remember the atrocious movies. I'm old enough to remember the cartoons, they were great (he was voiced by the great Don Adams, the actor who played Maxwell Smart). I even remember the great PC adventure game, I played in 1993. Ah, nostalgia.

American movie + British comedy = not quite there

2005-05-20T00:45:00.000+10:00

Went to see the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy earlier this week. To be honest I was somewhat disappointed. I'm not going to go into a full blown review, you'll find an abundance of them around, but I think the key question here is:

Can American's ever successfully capture British comedy?
And if so, when has it happened?

I really wanted to like this film more. I'm a fan of Sam Rockwell, and but sadly, the actor chosen for Ford Prefect didn't work at all for me. Maybe, had he been a really over-the-top British black guy he might have pulled it off. But Mos Def? As much as I'm sure his hip-hop stardom is legitimate, I really couldn't give a quarter-crap. Ford Prefect didn't come from Brooklyn, foo'! Bring back the old, produced-on-a-shoe-string budget at the BBC as a TV miniseries in the 1980s HHGG. {Sigh}. At least the motion graphics were good.

Rollin' Rollin' Rollin'

2005-05-18T23:56:00.000+10:00

I finally figured out how to add a blogroll to this site, without having to manually edit the template and re-publish the whole site. Or put up with obtrusive ad links. (C'mon blogger! Where are the nice features, huh? Sigh. A boy can wish, right)?

Back to the story: I'd heard about del.icio.us a while ago, but never really thought it very useful. At least until now. In short, my suspicions that it could be ideal for this were confirmed by this article, which pointed to RSS Digest, which is used to publish my blogroll. The good thing is that the tagging system under del.icio.us means that I should be able to create a variety of interesting link/lists for automatic syndication. Okay, I'm all geeked out for tonight.

Minor bridge burn-off

2005-05-18T02:31:00.000+10:00

Why doesn't anyone on flickr have a photo of an actual burning bridge? Not that I've ever actually seen a bridge burn. Anyway. Removed pretty much the whole set-up from my main site. Hopefully will get some time during the winter break to sort that out. Also removed my mindsay blog. A few key entries have been transferred over here. Burn, baby, burn!

Going to redo some of the old album reviews that got deleted. Two bands to check out in the mean time: Athlete, (think dark, moody British modern rock) and the Delgados (Scottish indie-pop rockers. Shame they split up).

Lasers and other childish amusements!

2005-05-17T20:48:00.000+10:00

There are very few times I will forgive the presence of comic sans. Super Mega comics is an exception. If you like randomness you may also enjoy White Ninja comics.

I regularly check up on web comics, and intend to cook up the 2nd instalment to the Highly Recommended Time Wasters series, soon. The first part highlighted web animation.

Other places on the web worth a look, include lifehacker for some fun, productivity-based time savers/wasters. Also, check out superbarista for some good, old fashioned espresso-centric ranting. I could answer yes to 7 of her 10 signs you're a real barista quiz.

currently rotating on lipod fm

2005-05-15T18:31:00.000+10:00

The Lucksmiths: Warmer Corners

A nice little Aussie indie-pop band. Quite laid back, acoustically based, and the lead singer manages to do what so very few Aussie bands to succeed in: singing with a genuine accent, without it being annoying. It actually gives it an extra dimension of charm. First heard them as the ambient pre-show music for Daniel Kitson. (Elliott thought the sounded somewhat like the Decemberists. But man, does their lead singer's voice put me off! Seriously. It sounds like he's diseased or something.) Anyways. Check out the Lucksmiths.

Stand out tracks:
#6 Sunlight in a jar, #9 Putting it off and putting it off.

The Flaming Lips: Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots

Yes, it's one of those well-known indie bands. But they're cool. Synthesizers aren't dead. They really shine on this album (without sounding retro), put that along with a great quasi-sci-fi robot theme and this album = a lot of fun. I love it.

Stand out tracks:
#1 Fight Test, #3. Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots Pt. 1.

Coldplay: Parachutes

Yes I know. Despite all my pretence of being an music snob, I actually do quite like Coldplay. Actually, Everything's not lost has become somewhat of an anthem for me recently.

Stand out tracks:
#6 Trouble, #10 Everything's not lost.

3 Slow Claps: Typophile

2005-05-13T23:29:00.000+10:00

We're proud to present a new feature here at Elitist Slob, the 3 Slow Claps Award. Well done to our inaugural winners, Typophile. Take a tip from internet has-been-guru, Jakob Neilsen: if you want people to use your website, make it usable.

They should be commended for the new-look anniversary edition of the site, but can I log in with my old user name and password? Strange, doesn't seem to work. Request new password. Receive it, try it. Still doesn't work. Try it in that really awful browser instead of Firefox. Still doesn't work. Try registering new account. Give up waiting on new account information after over 20 minutes.

I suppose I should inform someone of these bugs. Typophile is Beta! Please report all bugs to the Bug Report Thread. Okay... login or register to post comments. In the words of Napoleon Dynamite "Ughhh! Idiots!".

Update 14/05/05: Apparently my registration details got to me at 8.52am this morning. Over 9 hours after registration. However, this log in works, a novel feature with many advantages, such as the ability to forward on this post in the Bug Report Thread.

stillness

2005-05-13T19:45:00.000+10:00

Life is crazy. Stop and gaze at the clouds for 15 minutes. I did today... after a great coffee at the dancing bean, nice to finally find somewhere else where they do it right!

Smell-o-vision

2005-05-13T19:28:00.000+10:00

I think we need a breather from all this heavy stuff, time for a double feature with our friends: Deodorant and Packaging Design!

They say smell is the sense most strongly linked to memories, and I reckon that's quite true. The smell of certain perfumes and deodorants bring back memories of various different people I've met (although the smell of really excessive amounts of any deodorant just bring back memories of high school).

Anyway, I usually like to try a new deodorant every few months or so. The 3 in the photo above are:
Dufour Nirvana, Lynx Touch, Graphite Skull.

So, how do I choose my deodorant? I'd like to say by the smell. But really, it's first by the packaging, then the smell. That's what attracted me to Skull. Even comparing the three in the photo, the clean white-on-red design really stands out from the competition. It proves that sometimes less is more, but more truthfully (though less catchy), just enough is more.

Do I think this attraction-to-presentation applies to other, non-visual people as well? Yes. Actually just a month or so ago I designed a new logo and signage for for a baker and food wholesaler, Pastry Perfections. Apparently their foot traffic has doubled at their shop front since the new signage has gone up. It was somewhat of a surprise to me, but I'm very happy that it's helped their business.

I was curious to see who had come up with this design, and the overall concept (this series follows the theme of warning icons with other names like Gamma and Flame). Unfortunately I couldn't find anything on that, but I did find out that Dufour is quite the offender (pdf link). And the parent company, Gillette, is apparently spying on people. A little google can be a wonderful thing.

Happy Happy, Joy Joy

2005-05-12T15:53:00.000+10:00

Hmm, if life is like a box of chocolates, I must be in the orange-fudge ones now {gag}.

The last few days have not been fun, some things have been said that should have been left unsaid, which was upsetting. Now today, I was in a car accident. My fault. I'm fine. Never-the-less, it means I will be in debt of somewhere between $1350-$6000.

So, in an attempt to slow any rapid downward spiral from here on in, here are 5 things I am grateful for:

I wasn't injured, and neither was the other driver.
The support of friends, and the understanding of family.
I'm in a position where I don't have to pay it up front personally, and I can repay Dad for it later on.
The Falcon will get fixed tomorrow, so I won't be totally stranded.
I can learn from and grow through this.

Nuffin but puffins

2005-05-10T23:59:00.000+10:00

If I could have any pet I wanted, I think I would choose a puffin. Hehe. Puffin. The name alone is worth it. I would definitely give it a playa name, like Vance, Max or Troy. I'm thinking of when I get time (or when time travel is invented, which ever happens first), I'll definitely design a Puffin Power t-shirt. It would rock.

Well, it's been an eventful last couple of days. I pulled an all-nighter Sunday night / Monday morning to finish an assignment, just to get it half finished and too late to submit. Nearly... until I received a most gracious extension at the end of the tute. I just have no idea how I'm going to get all my assignments done on time by the end of semester (4 weeks away)! AAaaaiigh!!!

In other one step forwards, two steps backward happenings, I won 3rd place in the DIA Student Typeface Competion. I haven't seen the winners over mine yet, so that'll be interesting. I was somewhat dissapointed with the prize however: a year of free DIA membership. Better than nothing, I guess, but 1st gets $1000 cash, 2nd gets $500 worth of art supplies, I get $88 worth of this.

And here's an anecdote to scratch up for lessons learned: If you here a distinct SHOOMP, SHOOMP, SHOOMP sound every time you turn your car, it may be that new Finnish industrial band you're listening to. However, if you're me, it may be that both your front wheels are out of alignment and both front tires are worn down to the wire on the inside*.

*Pictures will, no doubt, ensue. I intend to get the best mileage I can from this. C'mon... Alright, I'm sorry about being so pessimistic. And the pun, but it's late. And for beginning sentences with "And".

BloatoShop BS2

2005-05-07T12:48:00.000+10:00

Ah, my love/hate relationships with computers (and most everyone/everything else, but the focus today is computers). So I've been playing with the new Photoshop CS2, here are some opinions, for those that way inclined.

One step forwards:

Image warping! Hoorah - about stinkin' time! Now you can warp your images to layer over rounded/uneven surfaces, very handy.
Smart Objects. Basically, Illustrator and other vector files placed in photoshop files now don't get rasterised when you place them. Now if you need to shrink that logo just a little you won't have to go back and replace the file.
Multi-layer select and alignment. This one's a no-brainer that should have been put in a long time ago. Adobe gets no clap for finally doing the obvious.
Improved healing brush. Now you can do a "Proximity Match" so you don't have to select a secondary source area.
Vanishing Point. Neat, but I can't think of a heap of applications for this feature. Mocking up monolithic skyscrapers, perhaps?
Simple red-eye removal. Okay, Paint Shop Pro 8 had this feature, and it also had a JPEG artifact removal filter, which Adobe still haven't done.

Two steps backward:

Now THREE programs to do the job of ONE. I thought it was a huge step backward that they split Photoshop and Imageready into two applications. Now Adobe have split the filebrowser off from Photoshop to work as a seperate application. This just means more wasted resources. Sometimes I swear software companies deliberately take the path of least efficiency so we'll be forced to upgrade our machines forever, oh wait, that's a fact.
Adobe Stock Photos. I don't like superfluous applications clogging up my hard drive. Hooray! A tie-in with the ridiculously expensive (one image, 5"x 7" 300dpi = AU$299) stock photo agencies for Adobe. Because I, and a lot of other designers, won't be able to afford Getty Images photography, add another peg to the redundo-meter.

Now if they would strike up a deal with iStockphoto, then we might have a decent feature on our hands, but for the moment, another reason not to upgrade.

Don't waste your money, unless someone's paying you to extend images of skyscrapers or wrapping images to mugs. Besides, Adobe just bought Macromedia, so six to nine months from now we should hopefully see the first hybrid range. Macdobia Fireshop, anyone?

Dry Freedom

2005-05-05T10:51:00.000+10:00

So Saturday is Elliott's birthday. Unfortunately I can't make it for that gathering, so last night my parents and I took him to see Daniel Kitson at the Powerhouse.

The show was quite enjoyable. The photos in the promotions showed him without a beard, but once he came on I recognised him form the comedy festival line-up from tv. Daniel was an interesting character: a sort of scrabble-loving, foul-mouthed, snobbish nerd. I like him. I particularly liked his bits on smokers and night-clubs.

It was good to see a comedian who didn't do a whole show based around sex and drugs too. Being a bit of a square and a rebel, he doesn't do drugs, smoke or drink. Although he did have a cup of "sweet tea" in the middle of the second half. I'd recommend going and seeing him if you get the chance - it's $25 to book online for a student, and he's in Brisbane until Saturday night.

I'll leave you with a bit from the act (as best as I can remember it):
I've always been fairly contrary, which has meant if I sense even a hint of peer-pressure, I'll pretty much run to do the opposite. Unfortunately nowadays, most of my friends want to do things that I also might quite like to do.

So a friend might come up to me and say"Daniel, Daniel, we're all gonna have some pavlova now, yeah? Everybody's gonna have pavlova. It's pavlova, Daniel, everybody's having it, yeah?".

To which I'll reply, "PAVLOVA? What are you talking about pavlova? NO THANKS, dry Ryvita for me! Mmmm! TASTES LIKE FREEDOM!"

".... Uh, have you got any margarine for my freedom, it just a little bit dry?"

Napoleon Firecracker

2005-05-03T23:33:00.000+10:00

Well, after hearing much hyper around the interweb on this one, I gladly parted with my $1.50 (I officially love half-priced Tuesdays) and rented out Napoleon Dynamite. For a self-professed cynic, I'm not doing very well at dismissing the exuberance of others.

I'm not saying it was a bad movie, but this (much like The Royal Tenenbaums) just didn't do much for me in terms of comedy. Despite that, it did have its share of moments. Sadly, the characters are quite relatable to many people I know. Some of the lines had great timing, and the nerdy chick, Deb, was actually quite cute. The "token ethnic friend", Pedro, was played brilliantly, but in the end it just felt like it was dragging the whole way through.

I guess it's personal preference in format. The deadpan art-house comedy genre just isn't my bag. It seems these films try so hard to be clever that they forget to be funny. That sounds like just the kind of mistake I would make filming a movie, so the enjoyment gets further reduced.

1.5 Eye-rolls out of 5. (This is a reverse rating system. Lower scores for better movies.)

2 Questions

2005-05-03T14:56:00.000+10:00

Recently formatted my ipod, which meant re-organising half my music collection. Strangely enough one CD I love, In Motion, seems to be a lot louder than all the rest, even though I used MP3/AACgain on everything.

Why is this? Is the sound just really compressed (in the volume sense, not the bitrate sense)? I'm somewhat stumped.

Question 2: It's been about two months since I last did a clean install on my machine, and now I feel like wiping it again (or, at least reverting to my last clean backup image). Is this really anal? I get really bothered by programs floating around that I don't use... is this normal or just plain neurotic?

Okay, so I gotta go. Must.... construct... protective helmets of foil... to prevent brain waves from being eaten... by aliens that... gain power... from my deliciously random thoughts...

My new role-model

2005-05-03T01:30:00.000+10:00

Wow. Last night/this morning was the first time I actually sat through a whole Rambo movie. Interesting contrast to the languid so-called "action" movies of today.

Things I learned from Rambo: First Blood Part II:

Most everything in 1985 was filled with explosives. Cars. Vietnamese villages. Vietnamese officers. Filled. With explosives.
If an Asian ally can speak English she will drop all articles from her sentences. "I will take you to the village" becomes "I will take you to village".
It is possible to be held in a cesspit after a blazing gun fight and yet still never get an infected wound.
Computers are un-American.
The greatest weapon is the mind.

Over-reacting

2005-05-02T00:38:00.000+10:00

Okay, so today I decided to take the plunge and brush my ipod. I'm not happy with the results yet, although I didn't do it for an hour like the tutorial recommended. I covered my serial number with a sticker so that it won't void the warranty, just in case.

However, I did discover that either the dust from the ipod chrome or the breakaway from the scourer itself is giving me an allergic reaction. I feel like I'm breaking out in hives. I'm not actually getting them, but it's itching like it. We'll see what's happened by tomorrow morning. Of course I could be making the grave mistake of thinking: this, then this; therefore: because of. We all know what folly that can lead to (again stolen from Will's blog).

On other matters, I was convinced, nay... tricked into seeing Without A Paddle tonight. Perhaps, nay... without a doubt, the most predictable movie I've seen in years. Put together three stereotypes re-united by the death of a childhood pal, then throw them into the wilderness hunting for a mythical treasure. Script practically writes itself. Truly devoid of originality of any sort. Hooray for Hollywood! And what's with the All-American super-endings anyways? Everybody gets what they need most, learn their lessons and finish with instant fulfilment. "Loser boyfriend learns to accept responsibly and commitment in the relationship". Good grief!

4 Eye-rolls out of 5.

Highly Recommended Time Wasters: Part 1

2005-04-30T12:34:00.000+10:00

But first, what do you think about the flickr photos with each post? I think it adds something, like the eclectic nature of the web or something, but then again I've been known to fool only myself at other times.

Highly Recommended Time Wasters: Part 1
Flash Animations

Okay, yeah, there's a lot of really dreadful flash animation on the web, but trust me on these ones, okay? Okay.

Homestar Runner. Perhaps one of the most famous "semi-traditional" cartoon series one the web. Updated most weeks on a Monday, which means Tuesday for Aussies.
Xombie. Not a funny one, but impressive animation. Currently being turned into a full-length movie.
Weebl and Bob. Random and absurd spring to mind, but what can you expect form the country that gave us Monty Python? Very surreal, but very funny.
Animutations. Probably the most bizzare animation style ever created. The following are my current favourite examples:

People often ask me where I come up with some of the random things I say... well, probably about a third of it comes from these. Have fun, kiddies.

Pet peeve of the week

2005-04-30T01:05:00.000+10:00

Poor drivers. But specifically slow drivers.

Especially the kind of slow drivers that either speed up where there are overtaking lanes, so that you can't pass them, then slow down to 10/20kms below the speed limit once you can no longer overtake them.

Then there's the numeric dyslexics who do 60 km/h in the 80 zone, and 70 km/h in the 60 zone. Now how does that work out? Do they just not read the speed limit signs? I've thought about over size cue-cards to have on the passenger seat to wave at these people, but they're probably so oblivious to the environment around them that it'd make no difference.

Sometime while driving I get so frustrated, I just want to tear out my toenails with my bare teeth. Is anyone with me?

Indecision is my middle name. Or perhaps I should change it...

2005-04-30T00:20:00.000+10:00

Well, after much deliberation I've decided that for now, Blogger will be the permenant home of my personal blog. After a couple of weeks on Mindsay, I've gotta say, it lacks the advanced features I was looking for. A few basic features were missing too. Like being able to add links without having to edit HTML. And the templates were a pain to edit.

But it wasn't meant to be this way! Blogger is so... mainstream! I wanted to be the one with an original blog! {Sobs quietly over broken dream...}

So yeah, hopefully I'll be able to settle down here for a while anyways. I'm the kinda guy who re-formats his computer every 3 months, so who knows? My last experience with Blogger was back in 2002! That was before everybody went to a spotty default theme! Geez people - at least pick another template!

Sorry... anyway... welcome to the chaos!

Stiff drinks with a friend.

2005-04-26T18:14:00.000+10:00

Met up with Elliott in the city yesterday. Starbucks was open (I needed some photos for an assignment: more on that at another time), we got some muffins and hot milks. That's what the majority of these drinks are - hot cow juice. The froth was so bad that the coffee stirrer just remained upright in the cup. Starbucks: come try one of our coffee-inspired beverages today. Blech! On the other hand I had a really good coffee from a coffee van yesterday afternoon, unfortunately couldn't remember the name on that one. They even let me do my own milk! w00t.

Anyway, it was Anzac Day yesterday and we walked by the parade in the city. First time I can remember being at a parade (that being said I have trouble remembering most of my childhood). Anyway, there was something very old worldly about it. About half the crowd looked like they didn't want to be there... idunno, it just seems that the spectacle was lost on me. I'm another desensitised millennium-child.

Cheated by visions of the future.

2005-04-20T00:48:00.000+10:00

On another note: the consistent betterment of technology is scheming against me! Why must they always make it better? Why? Just a month after I bought my shiny 20GB 4th generation ipod, they bring out the ipod photo edition - which displays the cover art on the player! Why can't they do this in greyscale on the existing ipod? Just to cheese me off! Now PalmOne brings out an upgrade to the Tungsten E, my pda, the Tungsten E2. It has solid state memory, meaning it won't wipe itself if the battery goes completely flat. Like mine did just this week. [Update: Plus it supports the palm WiFi extension card, which mine doesn't]. If only I could have held out four months (which there was almost certainly no way I could have)! Stupid sub-par future-cum-present! I want a flying car!

XP2 workaround for Samsung P510

2005-04-15T01:40:00.000+10:00

Okay, so this problem was bugging me no end and it took me some time to figure it out, so I'll share it with everyone here in hopes that it reduces some frustration for others!

My new phone, the Samsung P510 (great phone, Optus service - that's another story), however the only ways to get the photos off it is via email, Infra-red (IrDA) or buy a cable. Email costs money to send, and I already have an infra-red port, so I downloaded Samsung's EasyGPRS software to get the photos off my P510.

However, there's a bug in Windows XP service pack 2 that stuffs up the IrDA connection!

The best way to get it working again (without removing SP2 or re-installing a non-SP2 version of XP) is to replace the msircomm.sys file in your WINDOWS/system32/drivers directory with a non-SP2 version (like off an old WinXP install CD). It is located in the archive "drivers.cab". However, the file is protected by Windows File Protection, the easiest way to disable this is using a demo of XPlite from litepc. Hope this saves some people a lot of trouble. I would assume there are similar issues with infra-red and other Samsung phones under XP SP2.