On-line but not on-air *sniff*

So today’s Unhindered By Talent on KUMM made it into the wider world on-line but the technology between us and the transmitter appears to be broken so no one in these parts can hear us, darn it. Drat. That poor cow in a field near Starbuck is missing her groove!

The show has been pretty damn good, even if I do say so myself. My theme for the week has been: track two. Occasionally Phi has joined in too and played track two too, too, too, too, too. *Weeeeeeeeeeee*

The play list will be posted at our wiki when we’re done in 40 minutes.

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Marie Antoinette

Beautiful. I’m sorry I didn’t get to see this on the big screen as visually this movie was quite stunning. I also think it has a lot to say about self-deceit and the ability humans have to distract themselves from the ills of the world by hiding out in a self imposed bubble of excess. And the catastrophic consequences. (See Nero and modern day bankers.) Loved the use of ’80s punk music, the clash between sound and visuals was brilliant.

Current temperature: here 66F/19C, there 14C/57F

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Public Enemies

Watchable. I will always go and see a Michael Mann movie because you know there is a brain at work behind the camera and even when he fails he still manages to produce better movies than most of the crap being produced by Hollywood’s in-boys. This had a lot going for it and I especially enjoyed Johnny Depp’s performance. (He is always so watchable.) I actually like the use of hand held camera work here as it gave the feeling of watching events as they are happening rather than a historical re-enactment. My main problem was that I had a hard time telling who every one was. (Maybe some of that was down to the poor quality of our theatre’s sound system.) It was almost like we were expected to know who everyone was after the briefest of introductions.

Current temperature: here 68F/20C, there 15C/59F

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Twilight

Enjoyable. Not to be taken as good model for adolescent female behaviour however. It certainly doesn’t stand up to an serious feminist examination but as a fantasy it’s quite fun. The specially effects are pretty awful which is a surprise in this day and age. My favourite part was the father/daughter relationship, each trying their best to maintain the bond and demonstrating the strength of their affection.

Current temperature: here 73F/23C, there 18C/64F

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The Soloist

Good. Well worth the price of the ticket. Surprisingly, not as mawkish as I was expecting and there’s some quite pointed tweaks at inappropriate white-guilt behaviour. Also a more interesting exploration of mental illness and the catastrophic effects on the individual and their family and friends.

Current temperature: here 75F/24C, there 18C/64F

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Daily Mail headline generator

Click and refresh to cheer yourself up with the absurdity of it all. Daily Mail headline generator.

A few examples:

    COULD POLITICAL CORRECTNESS GIVE THE BRITISH PEOPLE CANCER?

    IS FACEBOOK STEALING FROM BRITISH JUSTICE?

    IS THE BBC GIVING BRITISH JUSTICE DIABETES?

    COULD DUMBING-DOWN STEAL THE IDENTITY OF BRITAIN’S SWANS?

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Deja Vu for the millionth time, Oz style

So an Oz male blogger by the name of Possum Comitatus asks the perennial question, “Where are all the wimmez?” on the political blog Pollytics.

Not a very original question you’ve got to admit and, um, a little baffling from my point of view since there are a plethora of women blogging about politics, certainly way more than one can ever keep up with. All you have to do is look to find them on which ever continent you happen to reside.

The comment thread on the original post wasn’t particularly enlightening so I checked out posts on Hoyden About Town and Larvatus Prodeo which proved to be more illuminating. Hoyden About Town especially so as you can watch Possum Comitatus dig a deeper and deeper hole as his unexamined privilege becomes more and more apparent and hits rock bottom with a gratuitous racial slur.

I also enjoyed reading fuckpoliteness‘ response Fixing to have a meltdown cos women dare to have a contrary opinion.

My favourite response though was from Skud, Where are all the men bloggers? where the comment thread is stupendous. Her follow up post nicely summarises the whole thing.

When I hang out on the internet it’s mainly at sites where most of the contributors are female or there’s an aggressive moderator policy. I really don’t want to subject myself to the horrendous slurs and put downs that appear to be the staple of many male run blogs. If you have to ask, “Where are the women?”, perhaps you’re part of the problem.

Current temperature: here 75F/24C, there 14C/57F

Posted in What the heck? | 2 Comments

People as Art

So the current “sculpture” being exhibited on the fourth plinth in Trafalgar Square is by Antony Gormley of Angel of the North fame. 2400 people will each get to spend an hour on top of the plinth doing, basically, whatever they want. To watch the live feed go to One and Other.

My friend Jane will be one of the 2400 on 21st September. Go Jane!!!!!!

Current temperature: here 73F/23C, there 15C/59F

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The Ugly Truth

Ugly. Make that very very ugly. This movie combines the absolute worst inclinations of adolescent-boy movies with the tritest of chickflick moments. It was so disappointing especially give the two leads who clearly have great chemistry if only the script hadn’t been so clunky. Kathrine Heigl was especially not served well and spent much of the movie being humiliated. Uptight girl meets jerk boy and both their lives are changed for the better would have been miles better than this piece of tripe.

Current temperature: here 59/F/15C, there 15C/59F

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My Sister’s Keeper

Tearjerker. Definitely a two tissue box movie. A real roller coaster of emotion from sweet happy uplifting moments to heart-ringing lows. A lot better than it deserves to be though missing a certain something that would raise it’s value as a piece of art. The voice overs at the beginning were particularly irritating and I could have done without them.

Current temperature: here 73F/23C, there 18C/64F

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