When you sing you begin with Do Re Mi

When you want to make big bucks in radio you begin with ABC. It’s a sad fact of life that JJJ, and more broadly the ABC, cultivate 90%* of the media talent in this world, and they all eventually leave.

Roy and HG have had many trists and dalliances with commercial TV through their Olympic broadcasts and the like – but until now have remained true to their radio roots with “This Sporting Life” on JJJ on a Sunday afternoon. But no more. They’re off to the greener pastures of MMM. They did manage to stay there much longer than Merrick and Rosso, or Wil Anderson – and they command respect for that…

But for some reason this makes me angry. I was probably so ingrained by the left leaning creative types at uni that I scream “sell out” every time someone makes money out of their creativity. It’s a hard line to tread. The thing is – even JJJ radio personalities make an exhorbitant amount of money on the professional MC circuit.

Even ABC breakfast radio hosts command more than $10,000 an appearance** – and that’s pretty close to the base rate. Seriously, this is easier than painting some obscure blue poles on canvas. You get 100 of these gigs a year (assuming 1 mid week and 1 a weekend over 52 weeks) and that’s a million bucks. Why you can’t stick to your principles and stay committed to the station that nurtured your talent is beyond me. I guess this is the only way new talent is allowed an opportunity. But I find it all a little mercenary.

*arbitrarily selected figure
** One extroverted mathematician in particular, ex JJJ, we had him up here for a function a while back…

December 3, 2008

Dangerous book for boys

Nine year old Alex Greven is putting out a self help book for guys called “How to talk to girls”. Advice from a nine year old with no experience may be a bitter pill to swallow. But here are some quotes from Alex (via the SMH)

On brains v brawn

“You want the girl to notice you,” he writes. “But you don’t want to draw too much attention to yourself or she will think you are a crazy madman who doesn’t even know where his brain is.”

He says it is important not to be a show-off.

But it is good to be the smartest boy in the class, because “girls will be prowling at your feet”.

On grooming

“Comb your hair and don’t wear sweats. Control your hyperness (cut down on the sugar if you have to). Don’t act desperate.”

On pretty girls

He warned boys to be wary of “pretty girls”.

“It is easy to spot pretty girls because they have big earrings, fancy dresses and all the jewellery … pretty girls are like cars that need a lot of oil,” he writes in chapter three.

On heartbreak

“Sometimes, you get a girl to like you, then she ditches you. Life is hard, move on!”

“Or sometimes it doesn’t work out. I had a crush on a girl in preschool. Then my family had to move, so I had to let her wash out of my mind.”

“About 73 per cent of regular girls ditch boys; 98 per cent of pretty girls ditch boys.”

“If you do get a girl to like you, that is victory. Winning victory is a dream for most boys, but it is very rare.”

The boy is clearly a genius.

December 3, 2008

You know you’ve got too much time on your hands when…

When you can make a scene from Super Mario using 17,000 pins. There’s a whole gallery of Mario goodness awaiting anyone brave enough to click that link. I know they’re called drawing pins… but that’s ridiculous.

December 1, 2008

Jupiters stripped bear for charity fundraiser

Today’s Townsville Bulletin carries an unfortunate headline regarding Jupiters’ charity garage sale on the weekend. Apparently they stripped a bear? But it’s ok, it was for charity. Not like that cruel “dancing bears” game they play in India. The humane society is dead against that.

December 1, 2008

This is incredible. 

November 30, 2008

Say “I love you” in style

Nothing says “I love you” like one of these. Literally. You can turn any computer generated sound waves into highly fashionable jewelery at just the click of the button . Bracelets, necklaces and earings are just the tip of the sonic iceberg. There’s also an “installation art” option where you can wall mount the sound waves and have a specially installed stereo play it at just the push of the button.  John Cage’s 4’33” would be a particularly poignant piece of art and/or the ultimate avant garde arm guard.

November 30, 2008

A good analogy

I know Ben hates analogies. This will annoy him. But if Annabel Crabb is my Herald pin up girl then Peter Hartcher is a close second as far as his writing is concerned.

“Rudd has grown attached to his description of the crisis as a result of “extreme capitalism”. That’s akin to saying the Titanic sank because of “extreme sailing”. The US economy and financial markets collapsed not because of the doctrine of capitalism, any more than the Titanic sank because of the practice of international shipping. The cause of the calamity was bad policy, just as the cause of the Titanic’s fate was bad navigating.”

Both Rudd and Turnbull cop a tongue lashing in the piece. Well worth reading.

“Why does it matter what Rudd calls it? Because from the diagnosis comes the cure. The fault was not capitalism, extreme or lame. It was bad policy.

As for Malcolm Turnbull, he has made some sensible suggestions on how the Government should respond to the crisis, but the one he made this week is not one of them. Turnbull claims the Government must not allow a budget deficit. Already, Rudd has used half the projected budget surplus for this fiscal year as apackage to stimulate growth.”

November 28, 2008

Of mice, and monkeys?

Engadget has compiled a list of stupid gadgets that should be avoided at all costs. There seems to be a particular focus on mice.

Like this one:

It sure is dumb. It’s a red piggy mouse. Some of them are quite cool. I would buy them. But I’m not sure why, or why they were ever invented. Like the Mouse Scale… for those people wanting to keep track of how much their hand weighs?

Luckily it comes with a cover for when your hands are feeling a little fat…

The real winner, as far as I’m concerned, is the USB powered “monkey” hand warmers.

For those looking for a little monkey magic – there’s a matching footwarmer. At $46US for the set – plus postage. A great Christmas present. Shame I live in the tropics.

November 28, 2008

Carazy

Keith Loutit is the man who produced those amazing tilt shift videos of the Sydney Harbour I posted a while ago. He’s at it again. This time making a demolition derby look like a game with Tonka trucks.

Metal Heart from Keith Loutit on Vimeo.

November 28, 2008

Bach off

This is the best work of the 2008 Walkley awards best headline winner Rob Mills. It’s good – but I think the real gem came from one of the other nominees. I’d like to know on what basis these were selected. The winners announcement says:

“Knowing what makes a good headline is instinctive and ethereal rather than formulaic, but Mills prefers to use humour to grab readers’ attention. These headlines, from politics to the arts, shimmer with lively puns and pop-culture references. They are layered, lithe and fresh.”

Here’s the complete list of nominees and their submissions:Headings
Rick Feneley, The Sydney Morning Herald,
“The felonious monk and his trail of lies”
“Welcome to the CBD: all arteries, no pulse”
“Della in the freezer”

Rob Mills, The Sydney Morning Herald,
“Bach from the dead: fresh portrait of a decomposer”
“Yes, I did inhale: Liberal leader admits sniffing staffer’s chair”
“Dear me: Della penned Iguanas letter”

David Winter, The Monthly,
“It’s Bennelong time”
“The great pretender”
“From Mandarin to top banana”

My favourite by far is the last one. I even bought the magazine in question thanks to that stunning cover headline. I do like the Bach one though.

November 27, 2008

If life were a musical


It would be much easier to steer the plot with this little number. A shirt with its very own in built speaker. Just $40 US. It’s a limited release – and the speaker can be removed so that you can wash it. The shirt that is. Not the speaker. Here’s a demo video… just in case you’re not convinced.

November 27, 2008

Change we can believe in

The problem with campaigning on a definitive narrative – or theme – is that you’ll be stuck with it when you get into office. Like the Rudd government and the economic albatross around its neck – Obama is now stuck with this rhetoric of change. And is copping criticism for appointing people with Washington experience. His whole campaign message was predicated on getting rid of the influence of lobbyists. Not getting rid of everyone in Washington…

Here’s Obama’s take on the situation from the Huffington Post.

“So it would be surprising if I selected a Treasury Secretary who had had no connection with the last Democratic administration, because that would mean that the person had no experience in Washington whatsoever. And I suspect that you would be troubled and the American people would be troubled if I selected a Treasury Secretary or a chairman of the National Economic Council, at one of the most critical economic times in our history, who had no experience in government whatsoever. What we are going to do is combine experience with fresh thinking.”

November 27, 2008

It’s a lemon

This clock is remarkably similar to a chemistry assignment I did in year 12. If only I’d gone into commercial science…

November 27, 2008

Optima Prime

The words “Cool” and “Transformers T-Shirt” and “ASCII Art” were never destined to be included in the same sentence. Until now. This is the second time I’ve made an Optimus Prime pun inspired post. You can buy this shirt for $14US. I know I want one.

November 27, 2008

K-Ruddy Year

A year on, K-Rudd hasn’t grown on me. He’s still a triumph of symbolism over substance. What has he done? Not much. Annabel Crabb, still my favourite political commentator, obtusely reviewed his year in office… complete with Shakespeare reference. I’m still in awe of her. She is brilliant.

And then, in a story on his dropping the d word – “defecit” in parliament yesterday – highlighted this little gem from the PM’s first post trip question time…

As he arrived for question Time, at 2pm, the Prime Minister scanned the Opposition front bench and performed a double-take when he espied the employment spokesman, Andrew Southcott, whose Movember moustache has survived a sickly infancy to become a luxuriant ornament to his upper lip. Noticing the PM’s surprise, Mr Southcott told him: “I grew it – while you were away.”

The comment was a palpable hit; even the row of disciplined countenances along the Government’s front bench betrayed the odd appreciative smirk.

Anyway, a year of Labor in power. Interest rates have plunged – which would be a good thing, if they hadn’t been raised first. But in isolation it’s quite a positive – shame about the rest of the economy – and the deficit… politically a bad move, given a budget surplus is generally understood by the population as being a marker of successful fiscal managment. I think a deficit is not necessarily a bad thing – provided it’s contained to spending on infrastructure. What’s the repo man going to do? Take away our roads and ports? The rest of the population is happy to borrow beyond its means to finance a lifestyle and to invest – why isn’t that thinking extended to the government? Anyway, Rudd will have to be prepared to die by a sword of his own making – given that he promised a surplus budget. The Coalition will no doubt continue hammering the fact that they paid off Labor’s debts and they do still have a reputation of economic management – conveniently the Global Economic Crisis really began to be noticed under Rudd’s watch, and there blame will be apportioned. The global economy is largely out of governmental control. I’m more interested in Rudd’s bad policy moves in emissions trading and other decisions that will ultimately cost jobs and make us less competitive – and the fact that he’s the most boring Prime Minister in the world with a massive reliance on cliche and cheap buzz phrases like “a bridge too far.”

November 27, 2008