Hanlon’s razor
From Wikipedia;
Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity.
School holidays lead to social decay
A few teacher training days at the start of the year could lead to unemployment and vandalism. “Some parents are worried they may lose their jobs if they take too much time off work” claims the article, without citing the source of this information. Gail McHardy of Parents Victoria claims that if students get too much time off school, they will get bored and start vandalising.
Australians love their coffee
According to a survey of 15,000 shoppers, coffee tops the list of ‘essential’ grocery items. Simon Ford of ShopperTracker said “You can live without coffee”. I beg to differ.
The ‘research group’ also divided shoppers up into categories; hunter-gatherer, scrimper, sensible provider, pace sprinter, and organised habitual.
Kick Off Crew bomb Connex train
Sydney graffiti group Kick Off Crew videotaped themselves ‘bombing’ a Connex train. They then posted the video on YouTube. Connex spokesman John Rees was seemingly alarmed at the “sophisticated editing techniques” used in the video. I wonder if he realises how easy it is to apply a few ripple disolves in any basic video editing application.
He also said “That train will not be in service because it won’t go out on the rails looking like that. That means the service is cancelled and people aren’t getting their train”. As a passenger, I would rather catch a graffiti-covered train than no train at all.
Meaningful folky song ad
A nice breakdown of the ways in which television advertising uses whimsical folky-indie songs nowadays;
Are you the marketing exec for a technology/car/entertainment brand? At a loss as to what sound to put behind your latest concept ad? Do you enjoy ads w/ people ‘doing normal things’ but also being kind of ‘original’ and ‘authentic’ at the same time? Are you are fan of slow-motion, drifty editing techniques? Do you like to ‘empower’ your customers? Do you prefer not even to call yr customers that, rather “partners in happiness maximisation”?
Nice parking. Spotted by someone at DFO recently. Via Melb Maniac.
via clembastow
via Reddit
Teen arrested for 'blasphemous T-shirt'
A teenager was arrested on the Gold Coast for wearing a t-shirt with the message “Jesus is a c*nt”. The Rev. Matt Hunt said “Jesus is anything but that”.
South Australia is the only place in the world where milk is more popular than cola.
Being a descendant of South Australian Germans, I was pleased to find a Wikipedia article on Barossa German - a dialect of German once found in the Adelaide Hills. My family arrived from the Harz Mountains and settled in the Adelaide Hills, around Lobethal. I imagine they spoke Barossa German.
This article led me to this report on Radio National’s Lingua Franca program, on South Australian words.
I was reminded of all this when I read today that Coca Cola plans to launch its own brand of flavoured milk into South Australia, in direct competition with Farmer’s Union Iced Coffee. And then I came across this fascinating fact:
Farmer’s Union Iced Coffee outsells Coke in SA by almost three to one – the only place in the world where a milk drink is more popular than a cola.
Melbourne's laneway simulacrum
I remember when the only place to buy a coffee in Centre Place was Fat Ben’s. These days Melbourne’s laneways have become a simulacrum, a pastiche of themselves. When QV Shopping Centre was built it included ‘laneways’ so that shoppers could feel like they were in on a secret. Melbourne Central followed suite, with laneways complete with ‘street art’. Earlier this week Heritage Victoria and the National Trust were considering heritage protection for Melbourne’s street art. In a sense, such a move seeks to stagnate an artform which is, by its very nature, based on temporality. Artist Andrew Mac puts it nicely:
The work is ephemeral. It’s not meant to last. It lasts purely as long as the weather and other graffiti artists allow it to last. When you interfere with what is an organic process like that, you actually make the graffiti stagnant and what makes graffiti thrilling and interesting to the public and to other graffiti artists is the fact that it’s a never-ending, changing, kind of living art form.
And now it seems the homogenisation of Melbourne’s laneways and street art has reached its logical conclusion. Tourism Victoria is vying for a place in the Epcot International Food & Wine Festival - held at Disney World in Florida - where Melbourne’s laneways would become ‘Disney-fied’.
The bid includes a plan to recreate Melbourne’s laneways at the festival, according to a report to Melbourne councillors. The laneways would lead visitors past displays of street art and into a main exhibition area where a food and wine tasting area would give visitors a Queen Victoria Market experience.
Complete Riding
When I mentioned Heath Tully recently, I didn’t realise this was part of a phenomenon known as ‘complete riding’. From Wikipedia:
Another enthusiast activity is attempting to ride the complete railway network of in one or more cities, state, or countries. This may take months or years in the case of dense networks. The definition of ‘complete’ riding may change from person to person, and non-passenger routes may be included by travelling on special excursion trains, others may attempt to ride on each individual track and curve, rather than the route as a whole, some may not include riding during night, and others may require visiting each stations rather than just passing though. British enthusiasts who attempt to cover a railway network are usually referred to as “gricers” or “track bashers” (see above).
“ During World War II Picasso suffered some harassment from the Gestapo in Nazi-occupied Paris. An inquisitive German officer, coming into his apartment, noticed a photograph of Guernica lying on a table. “Did you do that?” he asked Picasso. “No, you did,” said Picasso. ”
Pablo Picasso quotations. (via dailymeh)
'Oldest' computer music unveiled
In Autumn 1951, the BBC recorded a performance my the Ferranti Mark 1. Although Australia’s CSIRAC was the first computer to play music, no recordings have been unearthed, making this BBC recording is the earliest known example.
During the session, the temperamental machine managed to work its way through Baa Baa Black Sheep, God Save the King and part of In the Mood. Following one aborted attempt, a laughing presenter says: “The machine’s obviously not in the mood.”
