oceanisold

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I was listening to some of the great shoegaze and chill-out music that features in psychadelic kids show Yo Gabba Gabba! during my workout today and thought I'd share some of the songs. "Pool Party" by The Aquabats is probably my favourite:

"Pool party baby / It was a cool party / Cool pool party / La la la la"
"Grab your swimming suit / It will be a hoot!"
"Holy guacamole / We've got chips!"
""We're gonna swim / So give me a high-five!"

And the chorus: "It was a pool party for everybody in the world!"
Everybody in the world. Can you imagine?

Some of the other songs like Mark Kozelek's "Bedtime Lullaby" and Smoosh's "Pyjama Partytime" are notable for the quality of their vocal work - Kozelek's for his somber, run-over lines and Smoosh's for making pyjama parties sound both raucous and sultry.

"Listen" by Paco does a great job of encouraging kids to attend to, not just everyday sounds, but also sounds that would ordinarily only be heard in 16-bit videogames and novelty casio keyboards: "Listen to blips / Listen to bops / Listen to bips / Listen to buzzers" Not sure about that last line though.

The Parellelograms perfectly evoke images of calm days and cool summer breezes in "Kites are Fun":

"All that's between us is a little yellow string
But we like each other more than anything
And we run along together through the field behind my house
And the little drops of rain caress our face and wash my blouse
And we'd like to be a zillion miles away from everyone
Cause Mom and Dad and Uncle Bill don't realise
Kites are fun.. kites are fun.. kites are fun"

Park Jacobs gives sage advice ("When in doubt, pick it up") in "Pick It Up" and The Salteens remind us why we should "Be Nice to Animals":

"Eagles are my friends / Gorillas are my friends / Chipmunks are my friends / So let's be nice to them / We can learn from them / Grow our hair with them / Run from that bear with them"

And I can't help but laugh every time I hear the opening to high-five, in which Plex says (in what should almost definitely become a meme):

Most powerful foe vanquished: a support beam
A support beam? You're fired.

It's his dead son.

I will be unable to attend on this day due to work commitments. As part of my occupation I will be expected to visit one or more primary schools on this day within the Perth metro area or as far South as Mandurah. These appointments are difficult to arrange as they require the coordination and conserted efforts of students, teachers and principals. Rescheduling would be at the detriment of these individuals. It would also impinge on the timely collection of data (which must be complete within a tight time-frame.)

Edit: Success!

It occurs to me that sites like Facebook and Twitter function very well as long as people have very short thoughts, or regular-sized thoughts that can be meaningfully condensed. These sites are like the action movie one-liner equivalents of the thought world. And it makes me wonder, just as society (and social websites) effect people and the way they think.. what effect have status update websites had on our thought lives?

I remember when I used to write to livejournal on a regular basis, my daily self-talk would often take the form of narration: "I did this, it was great" or "How will I describe this later on Livejournal?" At the time I didn't wonder too much about this, though it bothered me. It felt unsatisfying to contrive my experiences into a story, almost like the value of the experience was all in its writing - and implicitly - in its being read by others. The same can be said of my experience of photography. I often feel as though my engagement in, and emotional experience of a situation, is reduced by my attempt to capture it artistically.

But what I didn't realise was that Livejournal - the social networking and blogging website - had temporary influenced my way of thinking: my way of perceiving the world, the way I organised events in my head, the extent to which I processed my experiences and so forth.

What then can be said about me today, using only Twitter and Facebook to express myself? Are these websites teaching me to 'cut the fat' from my thoughts and experiences? Are they teaching me economy of language? Or are they positioning me to think small, think infrequently, and think in increasingly broad and impersonal terms (129 people follow my 'thoughts' on Facebook including old school friends, acquaintances and work colleagues - how can I update my status in such a way that it's appropriate for all of these groups?)?

To some extent, the idea and popularity of short, fast status updates seems reflective of our society. Technology and progress have always been about making things simpler and faster. But I for one would not like my thought life to be degraded in this fashion.

If there's one thing my recent trip to Melbourne taught me (or rather, the extensive period of time I had in which to think, unfettered by thoughts of work and university), it's that a healthy thought life is important in order to process things (of course, I'd like to think that 'time away' doesn't have to mean 1'960 air miles. I would like to think that I can take time out to 'get meta' about my life anywhere, everyday - in a quiet area of the house or in a peaceful community setting.)

To be honest though, I don't know that Facebook or Twitter have a negative impact on thinking. I for one adore the challenge of choosing the most interesting aspects of my day and then translating them into 140 characters.. a challenge that - if you follow me on Twitter, you will know that I sometimes fail.

While my sense has been that people have moved away from Livejournal in order to Tweet or Facebook, on reviewing at my Friends page I can see that it may just have been me! ( Read more... )

It seems to me that for all the social networking sites that are now available, there needs to be some meta-site, that gathers all of an individual's personal pages - presents them in a profile - and aggregates the posts into a live feed.

i.e.

• Damian posted to his livejournal account oceanisold: "It seems to me that for all the social networking sites that are now available... [see more]" on Sunday 19th July @ 5:57


• Damian posted to his twitter account damianaw: "The taxi cost $74, oh my God." on Sunday 19th July @ 4:00 am

People could be followed as a single rss feed rather than tracking them on multiple websites at once.

I was outside doing some uni reading but I thought I'd better come in and rate some animals.
1. Ant. The ant is the worst animal. If it crawls up your leg you pretty much have to bend over and brush it off. Sometimes they cling to your leg hairs (this point especially poignant for males) and then you have to make an effort considerably higher in concertedness to get it off.
2. The fly. These guys are okay - unless there are a lot of them or they are being truly pedantic. Especially if they're being pedantic about your face. There is an old urban legend stating that if you leave a fly on, it will go away faster than if you brush it off. That is, if you brush it off it thinks - mm, must be something tasty there they don't want me to have. So give that a try if you like.
3. Birds. No problem with birds. Up in the tree - sometimes noisy - bit annoying. Depends on where you are/what you're trying to do. If you're trying to sleep outside of Greens and Co in the evening you'll be fucked - the birds are so noisy there. Jesus.
4. My dad. Not too bad, might try to water you if you're in the garden. Don't hide there reading a book.
5. Grapes.

Beartato in a carpark near Luna on Essex, Fremantle.

Everything is incomplete.
.. and thank goodness!
Just think - if even one thing was complete..
What would that mean?!
Can any one thing be complete without everything being complete?
Our narratives - the narratives of all things - are so intertwined.
If even one was complete, surely all would be.
Everything will be complete when the world comes to a close.
Until then, dead or alive, we'll all be in progress.
Either as a person or a body or an influence or a bunch of atoms.

So many ghosts underground.

These elderly keys.

Make a wish on the first person you see.

It isn't smart love but it's naive.

That's my second favourite thing.


We are newly elderly.

Mere days into old.

Already considering consciousness.

And how it will feel not to be.


The ghosts underground have a language I don't understand.

Neutral looks and no hands.

A network of caves under graves.

Where they speak silently and stare and stand.


I think about a network of Facebooks - none connected.

Collecting dust, away, and separate.

I think about being dead on the Internet.

And whether I'll be dead forever.


There are so many ghosts underground. And these elderly keys are breaking. I made a wish today, on the first person I saw. It wasn't smart love, but it was naive. Which is my second favourite thing.

When I'm newly elderly - will I consider consciousness? Will I extend my mind to the idea of non-existence? Will such an adventure kill me?

Eventually they'll the dust the data. Remove the increasingly old to make room for the new.

Hello journal. I'm quite excited.

I've been listening to new music!

Belle & Sebastian -
"Oh, I'll settle down with some old story
About a boy who's just like me
Thought there was love in everything and everyone
You're so naive!
After a while they always get it
They always reach a sorry end
Still it was worth it as I turned the pages solemnly, and then
With a winning smile, the boy
With naivety succeeds
At the final moment, I cried
I always cry at endings"
(Get Me Away From Here, I'm Dying)

Softlightes -
"We got stuck in a cloud
So we climbed our way down
To get help from a friend
Cos he'd been where
Cos he'd been where we'd been

We found our way to a tree
That took it's drink from a spring
I put my ear it to it's ground
It had a heart made
It had a heart made of sound"
(Heart Made of Sound)

and The New Pornographers. I love five songs on Twin Cinema. Is that the voice of cats and baggage on tracks 2 and 7? Because if it is I'm glad I'm getting Fox Confessor Brings the Flood.

I am an untrained research assistant starting 14th of April. It's a part-time job, so I'll still be in residential care! Melbourne is calling so this week will be boring. Jonathan to Albany, Jonnie to the aforementioned eastern city, Tessa's gonna study. Hayley? Hayley might return on Monday! I'm going to need a friendly face to fight all this fleeing.

I want a kitty hat so bad! I need to feel warm and fuzzy
- at home,
- in the car,
- and on night shifts!

If you told me you were making a turn-based FPS I would commend you for your creativity.. and feel very concerned for its quality. But it's good. DoomRPG. Wow. Cell phone games ftw? I just know I'm going to age my numpad early. Sorry numpad.



Jon and I found this on our adventure through Technology Park. Sign says, "GALS FOR HO USE ONLY. V OCCER." Ocker indeed. At least they were honest.

Also...
I got the job!

I had a dream this morning that the government was imposing a new public transport scheme in Perth. People in loveless relationships weren't allowed to take the train, and had to travel by a different route. They were lead to a shady looking factory in a shady looking part of town. The scheme was created to stop people from becoming too independent and solitary, as solitary people wouldn't procreate, and without procreation the species would die. Henry and Alisa couldn't convince the train guard that they were in love with each other, so they were taken to the factory. Myself and a group of others followed them and staged a rescue. The factory didn't have any steps between levels. It had been designed for robots, and robots don't get hurt when they fall. Somehow we got down, and on the bottom level we found our friends chained to chairs. A table was set out with cookies and milk, and an old time-y voice encouraged prisoners ("guests") to take their fill. We watched one 'guest' break free of the shackles and approach the table. As he did, tiles in the wall folded back and flames shot out. They weren't transporting people, they were incinerating them! And that's where the dream ended.

I was making an Easter card for my granddad this morning. While struggling through ideas for what to write, I came up with this one -

Isn't it Ironic?
Regular eggs bring life, by nourishing and protecting the developing baby. Chocolate eggs snuff life, by clogging our arteries.
Isn't it Ironic?

But I figured that was a little too cynical for a casual card.

How do you choose one charity over another? Monthly donations mount up. Do you choose the charity with the most valiant goals? The one that's been noted (by some unbiased third-party) to do the most good? Do you choose the least funded - the most needy? Or do you choose the first one to accost you on the street?

Accost is a strong word, but I often feel accosted by these people. I had a girl from the Wilderness Society ask me to renew my membership this evening. She sounded cheery at the beginning of the conversation - not so much towards the end, when she sounded down right condescending.

Here's a few things I don't like about religion and charity.
1) Not being allowed to go home and think about it. There's a very pervasive "let's do this now" atmosphere about these sorts of events. This sort of encouraged urgency makes sense - they know that if you go home and think about it, you probably won't go ahead with it. It's funny, because making a life-changing decision, or making a decision about finances, is something most people would want to think about and discuss with others, rather than just jumping in.

2) They don't make sense. Religion doesn't make sense for a whole bunch of reasons. Beliefs are based on hearsay and fairy tales, sexism and bigotry are encouraged. The list goes on.

Charity doesn't make sense because it often isn't focused on prevention. Because poor people are funding poor people (blind leading the blind) while the rich sit happily on their millions. Because end-points and results are never conveyed to donators. What is my money doing? Funding your petition of government? I'm almost certain you can do that for free.

3) Cheery people. Overly cheery people are almost always hiding something. Noone is naturally that content with their lives. Please be civil, but don't be a suck up. You're trying to take my money. We both know that. So let's cut to the chase. Tell me how much you want, and what my money's actually doing. If you want to meet someone on an emotional level - for the love of god - empathise. People who don't sound pleased to hear from you, don't want you to be bubbly and full of life. Match their energy level! (WHY AM I GIVING THEM TIPS?)

4) Pushiness. Speaks for itself.

5) Passive aggressiveness. These people, I have found, leave these long, drawn out silences, when you refuse to renew or donate. What are they waiting for? An excuse? A reason? My beliefs and affairs are private!

There is a time and a place when I will donate, and that's when I'm passionate enough about something to pursue and endorse it of my own accord. In the mean time, campaigns that capture my attention will be those that don't attempt emotional manipulation. They'll be those that don't harass me in the street. Campaigns will capture my attention if they clearly present the facts - what they are doing, what my money is doing, and proof (gathered via third party evaluation) that what they're doing actually makes a difference. They'll be those that approach but don't harass. And they'll be those that provide further reading, as well as a variety of financially appropriate monthly plans.

- I didn't get the RA job, but I got another interview (possibly for the same job.)
- Boys boys boys (well only two boys actually.)
- Arty friends force art in friends (it's a good thing.)
- I keep missing calls. Eventually exploration will No Longer Be A Best Friend (fear; -1000 Aspiration Points.)

I used to think there was some merit in creating art. More merit in creating than consuming. But all you're doing as a creator is creating for consumers to consume. You're feeding art addiction.

Of course that's wrong. That's not all you're doing. You're expressing yourself. And good art inspires. Art begets art in the best of circumstances.

Bad art provides a basal, carnal level of stimulation. Or bad consumers consume it in this fashion; without thinking, reflecting, or expanding on what they see.

And no art genre is more conducive of thought, reflection, or expansion than another. Hilda Doolittle's poem Sheltered Garden forces me to think more than Jeph Jacques' comic Questionable Content. But Kane Lynch's comic Quamran makes me think more than Dr. Seuss's children's poems. Obviously they have different aims.

But thought can come from all art forms, whether the consumer is positioned for thought or not. Eager minds can flesh out the characters of Hannelore and Martin. But we don't need to to understand proceedings, or appreciate the art.

Ambiguity makes me think. Ideas posed well and interestingly make me think. Words that don't match pictures make me think.

I like to think, others like to feel. I assign feelings very little value (or so I think.) Thoughts can change your entire world. Feelings rarely stick. (Though feelings can change me.. but only if they lead to thought.)

I place a lot of value in things that endure. Temporary things, like emotions, that flit, get lost in my accumulating past. What good are things that don't change - that aren't remembered?

But I come from a society that prides longevity. That teaches early the merits of delayed gratification. Schooling, work - but mainly schooling: It isn't fun for most, but it pays off in the end.

I have to accept that there is value in emotion. That base stimulation is not a sin. That art that addicts and distracts can be a compliment to living. That hedonism is as right as waiting.

But I'll never feel it myself. I'll never feel as satisfied by Gears of War as I will by sitting under a tree and thinking.

Even so, for me, emotion is addicting. And because of my creative leanings, I see fun, or rather, too much fun, as a hurdle I have to learn to surmount.

This may include avoiding art that doesn't make me think.

I suppose it comes down to a fight between the emotion's fun and the mind's satisfaction. And which of these is most important to me.

Bits and pieces
This is the 31st entry on this journal, and that's numberwang.

Does anyone want to see Rod Stewart with me?

Reducing scanning artifacts... (final)
I'm such a maroon. All you have to do is
- eye-dropper the background
- select > colour range
- increase fuzziness to encompass relevant areas
- increase brightness to 150 (full) twice

And that's it. No contrast alteration. No darkening. That's all you have to do.