Dinosaur

I read a story yesterday from ABC News Online that highlighted some generational gappyness. Margaret Whitlam attacks Janette Howard, and from what I can see, for nothing more than being a sensible, modern woman.

Here's some quotes:

["There's Howard shaking hands and kissing old ladies in retirement homes. If you've got a wife, your wife should be there too."] Why? I could go into detail here but it would take too long. There are many why's.

[Mrs Whitlam also says it is odd that Prime Minister John Howard and his wife still hold hands.

"For God's sake, they've been married for over 30 years!" she is quoted as saying in Susan Mitchell's Margaret Whitlam: A Biography.] WTF? What fucking century do we live in? In which reality is holding hands with your lover a bad thing?

[In a speech earlier this year, Mrs Howard said: "It's not an elected position and I feel very strongly that because it's not an elected position - and particularly these days with so many women who are members of parliament - you have a very different role".

"You are not the symbol of the women's voice in Canberra because there are now very many, very talented women who have won seats in their own right and who are doing that," she said at the launch of the Mrs Prime Minister: Public Image, Private Lives exhibition in Canberra.

"But that doesn't stop you from following your own passions and interests and encouraging people in causes that you believe in."] Finally something sensible.

This isn't about the politics; I'm not going Liberal, I just think Mrs. Whitlam should keep her old-school mouth shut. Of course I haven't actually read the book, so I'm willing to retract if the above quotes are taken out of context, but time will tell.

Interesting tidbit

Wikipedia, is there anything it can't do?

(Chopper) Read is the nephew of celebrity Australian physician Dr James Wright (ref: [2]).

Check out these chops

I came across this footage on I, Asshole's Blog.

Vitas has got it all: style, moves, ninja orchestra, possessed choir, and a killer false.

All I Want For Christmas...

I know it's a while away, but if it's time for DJ's to be putting out their Christmas wares, it's time for me to start putting together my list.

I am starting at the top and working down.

Came across this the other day, thought it would look good parked next to the 121.

Learn Something Every Day

I, like most people, have always belived the Goldfish theory: that the only have six second memories.

Turns out that is a myth. At least, Dr Karl and Wikipedia would have us belive so.

I, for one, believe it too. It confirms all the aquarium fish behaviour I have witnessed over the years.

John Mayer Follow Up

U2 is an interesting one, but the song that first came to mind (very quickly) was Marvin Gaye's Sexual Healing.

Try it, there are a couple of chord changes that almost make one think there would be a credit to Gaye in the liner notes. (There isn't.)

?cast

From http://www.twit.tv/

A Cast By Any Other Name...
Submitted by Leo Laporte on Sat, 2006-09-23 03:06.
According to Wired News's Listening Post blog, Apple has sent a cease and desist letter to Podcast Ready claiming that the terms "Podcast Ready" and "myPodder" infringe on Apple's trademarks, and that they cause confusion among consumers.

If Apple is claiming that the term "Podcast Ready" infringes their iPod trademark, then they're claiming ownership of the word podcast. Needless to say this could precipitate a crisis in the *cast community.

Truth is, I've never liked the word podcast. It causes confusion. In the past couple of days two people have told me that they can't listen to my shows because they "don't own an iPod." I have to explain constantly that podcasts can be listened to on computers, phones, MP3 players, and CDs, as well as iPods, but because of the name the confusion persists. And now Apple is threatening people who use the word.

I think it's time for a change. I'll address this in my keynote at *cast Expo next week, but I'd like to know what you think. Can't we come up with a better word for what we do?

I propose the word "netcast." It's a little clearer that these are broadcasts over the Internet. It's catchy and even kind of a pun.

Now I know that "podcast" is in the dictionary now, and that Apple likely has little hope of claiming it, but who wants to fight it? Especially when it's not such a hot name anyway. Of course the term is relatively well known, but we are in the very early days of the medium. Changing it now will be a lot easier than changing it in a few years.

I realize that changing the term unilaterally may make me seem like a kook. And I haven't done a thorough trademark search on netcast, so it may be even more encumbered than podcast. But I do think it's time to take a stand. Apple didn't invent podcasts. Podcasts don't require an iPod. iTunes isn't the only way to subscribe to podcasts. Maybe a name change will help people understand that.

What do you think?

Something For All Of Us

This from a Bris guy's Blog I read:

Goat cheese innovation
22 September 2006 | Ben Hamilton | No Comments

This two page article has made me think a little about not just the companies I’m involved with, but myself.

The background: Staff at a company loved the goat cheese on the menu of the local restaurant, the chef changed, the goat cheese got taken off the menu. The frequent visitors dropped off. What is our product that people keep coming for?

Take this on a personal note for a moment, what is it about me (and you) that people like? What is my goat cheese? Hmm… food for thought.

End quote.

So, what is YOUR goat cheese?

Review: John Mayer, Continuum

I bought this album without having heard any of it. I just bought it on the the strength of his last two, Room For Squares, and Heavier Things.

I'll need to give this album time to grow on me. My first reaction to Heavier Things was that he'd thrown together a bunch of songs he had lying around that didn't make the cut for the first album. I have since listened to the CD enough to get to know the songs properly, and I have changed my mind.

But back to Continuum. Overall it feels even more laid back than HT. Not that RFS was particularly up-tempo, but it does have a few more up-vibe tracks on it. HT had less and it seems, after a couple of listens, C has even less.

As a final note, the single of this album, Waiting On The World To Change, bears more than a passing resemblance to XXXXX XXXXX XXXXXXX XXXXXXX. At least, it did to me and my Wife.

Actaully I have removed the song I think WOTWTC derives from, so we can see who else will pick it. It's never the same once someone tells you.

Raging against the dying of the light

Willie Nelson cited for pot, mushrooms

LAFAYETTE, Louisiana (AP) -- Willie Nelson and four others were issued misdemeanor citations for possession of narcotic mushrooms and marijuana after a traffic stop Monday morning on a Louisiana highway, state police said.

A search of the bus produced 11/2 pounds of marijuana and 0.2 pounds of narcotic mushrooms, according to state police.

ROCK ON, you old fart.

When will we learn?

Economists tip petrol price fall to $1

Economists are predicting the price of petrol could fall to $1 a litre within months.

"In fact by Christmas we could see the national average petrol price in the order of $1.15 a litre.

"And it's not out of all credibility for the petrol price perhaps to fall as low as a dollar a litre."

I'm not complaining, not really. I mean, it will be nice to not have to think as much about the amount of KMs I rack up every week in the car, but ultimately, at some point, we are going to run out of fossil fuels. It's an inevitability. The sooner we do, the sooner governments and corporations will start investing in alternative energy sources/technologies in autonomous transport for the average man. So why wait?

Until then we are merely prolonging the use of a non-renewable, environmentally bereft energy source.

Here endeth the Rant.

Album Art

For all you Mac fans out there, you'll not doubt by now have downloaded iTunes 7.

It feels great to use, and the album art fefatures are really cool.

Of course, I have a reasonably eclectic music collection, and the automatic album art download facility is good, but it doesn't grab a lot of stuff that I have.

Enter my latest obsession: Downloading Album Art

I can't stop.

For the last two days whenever I've sat down at my computer and fired up iTunes, the first sign of a blank album cover and I'm off to Amazon to find it. Then I start searching the web in general.

All I'm wondering now is: which will come first? All my music with covers downloaded, or me just getting bored with it?

Or will I take it to the next level and start creating my own album art for CDs that I can't find on the net?

Yeah... I can take photos of the really old and obscure CDs!

Ok, so there is an upside to this madness - I am systematically replacing my 'borrowed' music with legit versions where possible. Yet another example of the record co's not gettting it.

In Today's News

A neighbour who broke into the 29-year-old woman's home while she was out and ejaculated into her lingerie drawer...
...also used a camera belonging to the woman to take pictures of his penis during the incident...

Judge Julie Dick described the case as "disturbing".

From The Courier Mail

See? The universe DOES have a sense of humour...

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Skinny Models Banned From Catwalk

It's about fucking time.

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Whitney Houston Files For Divorce

Well, that's her prerogative. I guess she wants to dance with somebody (else).

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And finally...

Lindsay Lohan needed a scolding, Fonda says

"I just want to take her in my arms and hold her until she becomes grown-up," she says. "She's so young and she's so alone out there in the world in terms of structure and, you know, people to nurture her. And she's so talented."

I was with Fonda right up until she said, "And she's so talented." Damning with faint praise

My kind of philosophy

Here's a quote from an article about David Bridie in the latest Aus Macworld:

"It's good to have a healthy doubt of your own ability and know that the best musicians to work with are the ones who don't think they're great."

A-fucking-men brother.

Bigger Than The Proverbial

Inspired by B B-P's Blog unveiling, I am submitting my third ever post, and my first since I started the bloody thing.

Anyway, here's something I'd pay money to see.

We could start a restaurant chain ala 'medieval Times' except set in Roman days with chariot races.

http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/europe/09/11/france.benhur.reut/index.html?section=cnn_topstories