Mars Attacks!

hehehe - this is good: http://evilpundit.com/archives/003590.html

As a fellow work-mate commented last night: “if it took 60,000 years to get this close, it wouldn’t have looked that different last night would it?”

Spin Cycle

According to this news.com.au article, Immigration Minister Philip Ruddock said today that Australia’s hardline stance on refugees have “saved many lives”, because less people are jumping on leaky boats trying to get to our shores.

That’s like saying welfare payments should be taxed, because you’re supporting the system that supports you.

But I guess as long as people die outside Australian waters everything’s ok.

But officer, it’s just a story…

From Wired News: blank” onclick=”javascript:pageTracker.trackPageview (’/outbound/www.wired.com’);”>http://www.wired.com/news/conflict/0,2100,60144,00.html

Poor bastard. When did American’s lose the right to free expression? Brian Robertson, from Oklahoma, wrote a short story detailing a plan for an armed invasion of his school and was promptly charged with “Planning or Threatening Violent Act”, despite the fact police did not find any weapons, explosives or any other evidence that he was actually planning to raid his school.

According to the Wired News article a number of students have been either suspended or arrested (or both) across the US i the wake of the numerous school shootings of the last few years. And in typical US style it was decided that locking up kids that might decide sometime in the future to commit a violent act was the best solution to the problem. In other words, doing things arse end first.

Was anyone curious as to why kids were killing their class mates in the first place? What was their motivation? Have they shown violent tendencies in the past? Were they anti social? Did they show signs of depression? Did they show signs of parental neglect? Signs of drug use? How were their grades? Were there consistent bad behaviour? Did they look ok?

Maybe the problem is that kids are not getting adequate support from their school. Maybe schools should provide better care for their students. Maybe parents are should pay more attention to their children.

MAYBE KIDS SHOULDN’T HAVE ACCESS TO GUNS.

Dripping Tiger, Hidden Poncho

1. Tan Dun with the Sydney Symphony, Opera House Concert Hall.

2. Disposable ponchos on the seat. Front row, not far from the stage where a large bowl of water has been placed.

3. Oh, this can’t be good.

4. I’ve always had some difficulty with music that was written with found, made or otherwise non-traditional instruments in mind. You know, the “Concerto in Z Minus featuring a barbecue and a gas stove” and the like. But I was intrigued when I read in the Herald about Tan Dun’s Concerto for Water Percussion will be performed for three nights only. Intrigued enough to dent the plastic a bit more for a pair of awful seats at the Opera House. And oh my! Who would’ve thought you could do so much with water? Percussion soloist David Cossin stole the show, reminding the audience that melody and harmony aren’t the full story. His fingers bounced and tapped and splashed (especially the poor sods sitting not two meters in front) his way through the piece, with the orchestra mimicking the sounds he was creating. It was absolute magic.

5. But that was only half the night, the other half being the Crouching Tiger Concerto, a piece based on the music to the film of the same name. Except this time around Tan had full creative freedom - and had the film cut around the music. Revolving around the major themes of the film score, it has you riding shotgun to the story but staying separate - this is a journey of the places the story passes through. Cello soloist Maya Beiser was dynamite - although at times I did wonder whether it would’ve served the music better if she was less rough with the instrument. There was a particularly touching duet between cello and violin, as well as one between the two soloists. The music was so captivating that I found myself ignoring most of the film that was showing - the version of the film I was cutting in my head to the music seemed much more important. I would be very disappointed if this was not released as part of the Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon DVD in the future, it deserves to be there as it gives an additional dimension to what is already a fantastic movie.

6. And you don’t even need a disposable poncho.

Hanson sentenced to 3 years self delusion

This, from the official website of Pauline Hanson: “…a landmark decision not seen since Nelson Mandela was thrown in jail for representing the views of the oppressed voice of South Africa. Pauline now sits in jail for following the same ideals.”

So, Pauline Hanson, once the champion of the ‘White Australian Racist’, has apparently had a change of heart. Her comparison of herself to Mandela is touching - who would’ve thought she knew who Nelson Mandela was?

She obviously hasn’t heard of apartheid.

While facts have never had a major place in Pauline’s repertoire (leading to her conviction for Electoral Fraud), this should rocket up to number one on the ‘Top Ten most Outrageous Pauline Quotes’. They should run that list beside ‘Mike Tyson’s Top Ten most Outrageous Antics’, since they seem to have a great deal in common - short ride to the top, shorter ride down, and a puppet all the way.

An iDesk to go with the iMac in your iHouse

This is an interesting idea, but where do I put my coffee?

Lowe to join The Guvinator

My, haven’t Arnie been busy! Not satisfied with just a billionaire and a former US Secretary of Treasury on his bankroll, err, I mean “his advisory staff”, he’s now recruited Rob “No-Judge-I-didn’t-know-they-were-under-age-when-I-pressed-record-on-the-video-camera” Lowe as another of his star-studded advisors. Apparently his actual role has not yet been set, but it will certainly be interesting to see what Sam, err, I mean Rob can bring on board. It’s interesting that one of the reasons Lowe left The West Wing was that he thought his character wasn’t getting enough of the president’s ear, especially on policy issues. Is this the ultimate revenge on Aaron Sorkin? All jokes aside, what is really interesting is that Arnie (a Republican) is attracting support from both the major parties - I believe his wife is a Democrat, as is Lowe. I have to admit, I don’t know a great deal about US internal politics but I can’t imagine this happens all that often. Still, Rob Lowe has always been very politically active and Arnie seems to be genuinely interested in serving, so good luck to ‘em!

Shortcuts: 13th August

Laying the smack down, geek style!

++ eWeek - “Why not everyone should have PCs” ++ Edmonton Journal - “Intel VP lays the smack down on Apple” ++ The Register on the Wall Street Shuffle ++ DeBeers, ass-whuppin, and a revolution in diamond production ++ Stupid, whinging, tree-hugging hippies!

One step closer…

Update 5/8/03: This has been picked up by Slashdot, click and be humoured by the responses!

Don’t think it happened this way in the Matrix, but Panasonic researchers in Japan have apparently developed a method of extracting electricity from blood. I can’t confirm that this is not a hoax, since SHM.com.au seems to be the only place that’s reporting it. But the implications - implants powered by normal human energy production! A world where one has to powerdown unnecessary human/implant functions to preserve energy… A world where I can have vat grown eye transplants with built in x-ray vision! muhahaha!