Social networking

This morning I was reading an interesting article on Sydney Morning Herald about a recent trend in people refusing to use facebook, twitter and all the other equally useless social media wankfests. As my close friends and family can attest, I started this trend years ago. Social networking is a waste of time, effort and is a virtual wedge for preventing any meaningful form of physical human interaction. It is a monopolistic,self involved,egotistical, shameless outlet for incomprehensible dribble. Where Self promotion is king.

Millions of people sharing jack shit. Tweeting about every sandwich they eat, posting yet more crap to yet more people.

It's the age old parable of data vs knowledge. Data has no inherent value. It is just data. Social networking generates loads of it. But without any inherent value it might as well be random binary datum.

After all, it's just another fad. No business applications that are anything new or useful. It's a pimply faced teens veritable wet dream, but devoid of any long term usefulness.

I'll stick with my old school blog mentality thank you very much. I have plenty of constructive ways to waste time (yes i know that's an oxymoron) without participating in a big giant ego stroking social orgy.

Join the revolution and cast off the pinko social(ist) networking hyperium. come back to the real world.

Of course I know noone is reading this, your all too busy friending other cretans on twitbook or facespace.

Just you wait, I'll dance on their grave. And I'll laugh, laugh I tells you.

That is all. We mow return to your regular programming.

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Untitled

As per usual, my evening commute home gives my brain time to switch into a lower gear, the more distance I put between myself and the commerce centric white noise of work, the more I unwind.

Gone are is the daily pursuit of some semblance of order, of schedules, tasks, organization and multitude of communications. Replaced by the quiet solitude of a clear mind, accompanied by the beat of my own heart, and the stirring of of creative thought.

I pity the poor souls who march to the incessant beat of omnipresent engagement with work. Unable to escape it's grasp to steal a few precious moments of peace.

As the train rumbles onwards, my minds drifts, music twinges happy recollections and spurs further meanderings. Time retreats , replaced by more spurious realisations of the constructs of time and place. And then, almost inexplicably the journey is at once complete, yet also beginning anew.

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Sick

It's been 9 days and the battle of mark vs the flu continues to rage. The germs continue their quasi guerrilla warfare from their mountain stronghold. They are bashing me like a damn pinyata, trying to get to my delicious candy centre.

I hate being sick. The helplessness of the situation, as you lie there struggling to breathe, even thought becomes agony. Praying that if you ever get better you might somehow find a way to appreciate your life on some newfound plane. Really that's a big crock of shit. You only remember how it feels to be sick when your bloody well sick.

For the love of god, make it stop!

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Insurance and/or Credit Card Ads

Is it just me -or is everyone else sick and tired of the ad-nauseum Insurance ads recently? Seriously - every single commercial break there is insurance ads for bloody funeral protection plans, life insurance etc etc. They trot out the same stupid plot lines with people crapping on how great it is - the same shitty acting, and the same lame crap. And not once, but over and over. Which bright spark in the marketing department decided that showing the exact same ad twice in the space of 3 minutes will get better results. I'm pretty sure that the stats would back up an increase in violence.

Then comes the bloody credit card ads. Over and over. One of these days I am going to snap. They must must be stopped. They must be made to suffer like we have.

Goosebumps

Does anyone else get goosebumps listening to "Tuesday Morning" by Michelle branch? Or have I contracted some sort of deadly song induced virus?

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Heatwave

Its one of those good old Australian summers in Sydney - like I remember as a kid. Recently our summers have been much more mild and wet - but this year its a good old fashioned stinker. So far the last 3 days have been 41, 43 and due for 40 again today. It will be sunday before we see the lower side of 35 degrees Celcius.

The cicadas are back. Theres something magical about a hot summers evening. The sun (finally) dipping below the horizon - but the heat persisting. The sounds of insects winging around. The chattering of flying foxes in the eucalypts - snacking on the nectar. The hot north-westerly winds blowing, and the hint of smoke from the all too familiar bushfires. Watching my pet dog chase ice cubes around on the floor. Its all part of the rich tapestry of summer.

Ok - I'm over it now. I'm ready for Autumn!

Australia Day

It's Australia Day. 9am - and like every other true blooded Australian I'm looking to start canning on. Yet - no grog shops are open. This is totally un-australian. Hang you head in shame Australia!

Deciphering Appliance Icons

I'm not talking about computer icons here - but the indecipherable icons used by appliance manufacturers the world over. Especially European appliance who tout their "design" excellence - which generally translates into the inability to use them. Hell they look good though.



Came in to work this morning feeling pretty chipper. Hell, its friday and I'm in a rare good mood. Saunter up to the coffee machine (one of those stainless steel automated euro thingamees - plastered with "Design Award 2009" Stickers - hell those awards were probably made up by the magnificent bastards in their marketing cesspool). I whack my cup on the machine - select the desired strength (one notch down from "Cornholio" Strength) - And hit the button (the give me coffee now button.



The machine does its usual clicking and whirring then stops - and some weird looking light starts blinking. It looks strangely like two amoebas duelling with salad forks while its snowing all around them. By now, my lack of coffee has dropped my mood from good - to moderate and I'm a little bit miffed. After several attempts at percussive maintenance (I smacked it around a couple of times at various angles) - I had to resort to reading the manual. Fuck - I really need a coffee. After 5 minutes of navigating through the various obscure languages - I find english. OK - so its out of beans. Ok, I can deal with that.



Thank god we have spare coffee otherwise I might have started looking for a shotgun at this point. OK, fill the pissy little compartment at the top of the machine with beans (damn they smell good) - its a grind called Cafe Exotica. With a sensual name like that it outa be good. But I digress. Ok - hit the "give me a fucking coffee now you stupid machine" button again..Whir Click Whir. More fucking lights!!!



The ameobas are still lit up like a little chrismas tree but now I have an exclamation mark. WTF. So I figure I fucked up with the beans somehow. Even though its like the simplest task in the world. More percussive maintenance, few attempts at swearing at it. No dice. Ok - back to the manual. Apparently, Amoebas and Exclamation mark means something far different. It means the little tray at the back that holds the coffee remains/corpses is full. At this point I'm suprised such a tray exists as I haven't emptied it in over a year. Oh well, first time for anything. I tip the disgusting contents out into the nearest recepticle. And try again.



FUCK! Ameobas are gone - the big mofo exclamation mark defiantly remains. At this point I am about ready to teach this machine a lesson. Sure its an ininimate object and can't feel pain - but I don't care. I need coffee, and this fucking piece of meta and euro shit is testing my patience.



Yet again I attempt to decipher to holy writings of the euro coffee maker gods. Ok - exclamation mark without duelling ameobas in a snowstorm means the water is empty. At this point I consider pehas adding something with a little more kick than water, as my day has rapidly deteriorated. I resist the urge, booze is best straight up anyhow (might clean the inner workings of the machine tho...wonder if thats in the service manual). I fill up the water..and press the "give me coffee or you will be smashed into a million pieces" button - huzzah! Success! Ah crap - milk is out of date. Fuck it - at this point I don't care.

Live Music

Theres nothing quite like it. I have been absent from this scene in recent years - I guess life just got in the way. Now I'm lucky to have the opportunity to see some of my favourite bands I have idolised since I was a youngster - live, in the flesh and better than ever.



Earlier this Year it was the Smashing Pumpkins. My all time favourite band. By far. I have seen the Pumpkins many times - from the '96 Mellon Collie Tour when I was still in high school - rocking the "Zero" Tshirt. To the '98 Adore Tour - picture billing corgan in a full length black vampire cape cranking out ava adore. When they broke up in 2000 - it was heart breaking. So to the false start with Zwan. So when they came back around - I had to go see them. The new lineup has the same energy and sound as the original - only Billy remains from the original 4. His voice is a strong as ever, and their new songs hark back to a pumpkins before Mellon Collie. The gig was the best I have ever seen. Intimate (by modern big band standards) - and my ears were ringing for 3 days afterwards. Rock on! My final memory was a 30 minute rendition of "gossamer". Long live the pumpkins! They are now releasing an 11 Disc compendium of their new tracks - one at a time via their web store - no record label - no bullshit. Just raw unadulterated pumpkins. Check them out @ www.smashingpumpkins.com and download the tracks for free!



Next - Its bon Jovi in December. I saw them back in '96 at Eastern Creek as a bright eyed bushy tailed youngster. It was the classic rock gig in a field. Including a violent hailstorm before the band came on. It was dirty, muddy and we all hurt like hell. But 3 hours (yes 3 hours) of Bon Jovi tunes made it all worthwhile!

Songs to Change Your Life #1

I've never really thought about a soundtrack for your life - theres just too many influences, phases and sheer bulk of music to deal with. I do however believe in a soundtrack for a day or a week of your life. Songs that you have in your head, songs that you think about or have been listening to ad-nausea.



So here is my first set of 10 tracks for this week.

1. Like a Stone - Audioslave


2. All I wanted - Paramore


3. 23 - Jimmy Eat World


4. Reoffender - Travis


5. Time Time of Times - Badly Drawn Boy


6. Dizzy - Jimmy Eat world


7. Always Love - Nada Surf


8. Light Years Away - Mozella


9. Feeling the Moment - Feeder


10. We Might as well be Strangers - Keane

Thoughts

When are your thoughts your own. When can you truly claim ownership and forsake the pressures and influences of others. Are we but a motley collection of random thoughts, feelings and desires. Or is there some deeper understanding of symmetry and archetypal design that is just too hard to comprehend. Some days I just don't know.

Down on the Upside

I only write when I'm sad or melancholy. At other times, I just don't have the words.



For me - happiness is like that feeling when you hear a really great band for the first time, or like a dream so good you can't bear to wake up from it. Afraid at any moment that it will be over. And if I talk, or write about it - somehow that threatens its very existence, or the permanence of its current incarnation.

The Power of Music

I love music. How a simple song can change your mood. How the right song can lift you up when your down, can give you hope or push you further into the abyss. How a simple song can encapsulate a range of emotions and memories into a single guitar riff, or combination of lyrics. I remember the first time I heard all my favourite songs, and I relive those memories every time that song plays.

I love how a song can make me sad, and at the same time lift your spirits.

Music is powerful. It is personal. It is a touchstone to our memories and a window to our soul. Music is what it is to be alive.

Struggling Against the Tide

Have you ever woken up one day and realise you have become the worst revision of your former self? That somehow all your weaknesses, transgressions, flaws and dislikable qualities have taken hold. That you have lost your way, and try as you might - the tide is too strong for you to swim against. Slowly your former self fades away to the horizon and your left with nothing but a fleeting recollection of who you used to be. The person you want to be. The person you wish with all your heart you are. But are you?



Do I struggle against the tide, or let it sweep me towards the inevitable. And if I do - what does that say about my heart, and my soul - as I would be betraying them both.

Mondays

Don't you love them. I'm in that brief 5 minute window where you think everything might just be ok. The weekend is still fresh in your mind, and somehow the week might just be one of those sparkling beacons that happen albeit occasionally. This will be the week!



Of course, give it five minutes and this wildly optimistic overview of the situation may change. However I choose to instead enjoy this brief window of respite. Ignorance is bliss.



As I sit here and sip my morning brew of exceptionally average instant coffee, and gaze out over the treetops from my quasi urban office window - I can't help but wish it was Friday.