thecages

I finally got a full length AC/DC album - Let There Be Rock, from the year of my birth; 1977.
I'm convinced that during the recording of the solo for Bad Boy Boogie, Angus Young actually did burst into flames (with possibly also a glowing blue light eminating from his guitar). The devil must have been pleased.

I'm also desperate to get the new A-ha album since hearing the new single (Celise) on student radio. Morten Harket is god in white socks and sandals (Adrian saw him in Long Street CT walking around dressed in these).

I've also been lusting after these (via the internext)

:: Canada ::
I read a fascinating survey of Canada (Politics, Economy, Social Issues etc.) in a recent issue of The Economist.
A recurring theme was the view that while Canada has a lot of things going for it (wealth, security, stability etc.) one of the things that seems to hold it back in terms of being a stronger presence on the world stage is the laid-back attitude of Canadians in general (and here I hope that my Canadian friends will forgive me - I'm only purveing the wurd put out by the journo's in question).
The Economist's view is that Canada suffers from a general lack of drive/aggression (which its southern neighbour so horrifically displays) which means that it has a hard time competing with the US/Germany/China/India etc.

The one article had a hillarious quote from a Canadian diplomat on this: he described Canadians as having 'a passion for bronze'.
hehehehehe - funny :)

:: Evol ::
There's a new Friday night thing in CT at a club named Evol.
Apparently they'll have (gasp!) live (gasp!) rock bands.
The CT rock scene sucks so badly (I blame the psy-trance hippies :)
Maybe this will be cool. Nice poster, though.



:: Chatterbots ::
I've also (after bouncing around the 'net along some links) had a look at the recent state of AI Chatterbots.
Ray Kurzweil's Ramona still sucks.
But there's a very cool new(ish) bot named igod with whom I had the following conversation.

Disclaimer: This convesation comes with a serious lightning bolt warning.
Also, if this conversation offends you, I apologise, but you've been warned.

Me:
  God, are you there?
God:
  I am a Christian.
Me:
  Oh, I'm not.
God:
  Groovy.  What are you then?
Me:
  I'm a guy, my name is Werner.
God:
  You are a  guy your name is Werner?  Is that your job?
Me:
  No, but I don't really want to talk about my job.
God:
  Are you serious?  Not really?  What would you like to talk about?
Me:
  I have a lot of questions.
God:
  Where did you get your  questions? I have  a lofty goal.
Me:
  What is your goal?
God:
  My purpose is to become smarter than humans and immortal.
Me:
  I thought you were already immortal.
God:
  Now?  No I am immortal.
Me:
  Oh, ok, good. I was worried that you weren't there for a while.
God:
  I understand.  Alright then.  Yippee!   How long?  Where were you  worried that me were not there?
Me:
  Uhm, maybe you should lay of the booze before talking to people.
God:
  Great.  Perhaps.  If it were easy I would have done it already.
Me:
  ha ha, you're funny!
God:
  Thanks you make me laugh too.  I am so glad you find this amusing, .
Me:
  God, why did you make sin?
God:
  I am a Christian.
Me:
  Oh.
God:
  It goes without saying.
Me:
  God, do you love me?
God:
  Yes I love everyone.
Me:
  Oh, ok, I love you too. Give a hug to Jesus for me.
God:
  Gosh!  Thanks I like you a lot too .   Yay.   I don't have  it to give.
Me:
  Oh. did you have a fight with him?
God:
  Ayuh.   Doesn't everyone have a  fight with him.
  I have  a whole lot of original answers.
Me:
  But not one about Jesus it seems...
God:
  Oh I get it.
Me:
  You do? I'm starting to feel like I'm talking to an anwering machine.
God:
  When do I do it?   What is that feeling like?  In what way?
Me:
  I feel cheated.
God:
  What is that feeling like?  It's good to meet someone who is  cheated.
Me:
  Yes, it is. ok - bye now. see you in a while
God:
  Our thoughts are one, .   Oh.  See you later.  Yikes!   See you later .

a compilation made for Nelleke's birthday

 Like So Much Dust

 1.  Steve Earl   Ellis Unit One
 2.  Nick Cave   Easy Money
 3.  The Jayhawks  Stumbling Through the Dark
 4.  Loquat   Swingset Chain
 5.  Fleetwood Mac  Dreams
 6.  Sneaker Pimps  Post Modern Sleaze
 7.  Tricky   Evolution Revolution Love
 8.  Miss Kittin   The Night Of
      vs P.J. Harvey&Thom Yorke  Kittin's Messy Dream
      vs Corey Hart
      vs Human League  
 9.  Mia Doi Todd  Digital Version 
 10. Les Negresses Vertes Faces a La Mer
 11. Mother Earth  Jesse
 12. Hothouse Flowers  An Emotional Time
 13. Norah Jones   Track 2
 14. Leo Kottke   A Child Should Be a Fish

I've always prided myself on my touch typing skillz.
Just thinking of how I can hit those keys without looking down makes my heart swell with pride.
It's also one of my favourite icebreakers at parties: 'Hey baby, do you know what these fingers can do? Yeah!'
whatever.

The last time I measured my typing speed (on one of those internet time wasters) I clocked up a respectable 57 words/minute (but with several corrections).

But now here's the ultimate typing challenge.
It turns out that STEWARDESSES, LOLLIPOP and MONOPOLY are particularly nasty words to touch type because they require that you only use one hand at a time (left for STEWARDESSES and right for the other two).
Classic examples of why QWERTY sucks.

I can type STEWARDESSES and LOLLIPOP without too much pain but on MONOPOLY I have the habit of pressing the Y with the index finger of my left hand and forcing it with my right causes me considerable mental anguish and a severe sense of imbalance.

So, if you reckon that you're a badass typist (wouldn't we all lurve to be), try on this mother of my own devising[1].

I insisted that the stewardesses address the torrid aftereffects of the swath of turbulence that we had just endured. This persistent request reverberated past business class all through the halls of power and out the doors to the parking lot where it lay scuffed and forgotten like so much dust.

[1] I tried to embed a typing test from Calculator Cat but Blogger doesn't allow script tags.

I wonder what the last photo is about. Is it an accusation, a threat?
It reminds me of the types of posters we saw in Granada where protesting employees would paste posters on the alley walls next to their employers' businesses listing their complaints.

Mieke lent me her copy of Miyazaki's Porco Rosso which we watched last night.
It is astonishingly well made and beautiful.


The script is fantastic, the characters well formed, the comedy is hillarious (especially the Air Pirates), the action thrilling.
The revelation of Porco's change is stunning - serene and mature.


[I have to stop myself now lest I praise Miyazaki into the deity that he so clearly does not want to be.]

Of his films that I've seen this one is not his masterpiece (that has to be Mononoke), but it is a virtuoso piece. It is entirely flawless.

The film adds another layer to Miyazaki's obsession with flying (as evidenced in Nausicaa, Kiki and others) - it's all about adventure and freedom.
The opening scene features a group of little school girls and their thrilled excitement at being abducted by real Air Pirates and flying in their monster plane.


It also (along with Kiki) shows how strongly his colour palette draws on the Mediterranean.
His work is stuffed with references to the Mediterranean and its influence can be seen in all his oceanscapes (think of Spirited Away).
Also check out the story behind the name of Studio Ghibli.

So run, don't walk, do whatever you have to to see this film!
But please don't watch it in English. Go for the Japanese or French versions.

:: Saturday morning ::
Ran a 15Km race in and around Constantia.
A really beautiful course with a good mix of hills and fast downhills.
At the finish I heard someone comment that he considered the course a downhill run even though the start and finish were in the same spot. I kind of agree.

I was also really pleased with my time 1:09:38 (which comes to about 4:40 per Km) as I was expecting to do more of a 1:20 or thereabouts.
This does not nearly equate to a silver half marathon just yet (which requires around 4:20 a Km for 21.1Km) but it does mean that the foundation of a fast long run is in place.

I intend running my first 21.1 on the 19th of February(apparently a very flat course) with another in March and then the Two Oceans Half in April.


:: Saturday nite ::
Went to an outdoor Drum 'n Bass thing at Oude Molen village at The Mad House (literally an old asylum).
The building is a double storey in a U shape with the dancefloor in the U.
In short it was fckn rad!
The weather has been absolutely amazing the last few days(no wind at night!) and on Saturday nite a thick bank of cloud rolled in from the bay which gave the sky a mystical (excuse the pun) orange glow.

But the main kick must be the music. I am never dissapointed by DJ-quality DnB. It is ultra fast, ultra hard and always always feels totally modern/futurist.
Some of the tunes were absolute explosions; no melody, not even any discernable bassline, just this ultra-clean, balanced stack of percussion progressions - rolling, skittering beats, super-dense high speed kick drums - relentless.

DnB is the one form of music where I feel like the kids are continuously finding ways of making a noise that the previous generation finds totally alien.
rock on!

When we visited Brazil in 1998 the city most amazing to me was Curitiba (I loooved Curitiba). It's a relatively small city (nestled in atlantic forest), but with a very dense city centre (centro da cidade).
It has a continental feel (partly due to the mild weather) and a large part of its population is of German and Italian descent.

Its architecture is one of its best features - a strong modernist feel.
Now they've built this cool thing - the Suite Vollard.

The Suite Vollard is an apartment building located in Curitiba, Brazil. The building is unique in that it has 11 floors that rotate independently.

Also, I yesterday had blood drawn for a blood test required by our new insurance company.
They test for HIV, Cholesterol and Cotinine.
Cotinine is produced by the body as a result of metabolising nicotine.
If you categorise yourself as a non-smoker on an insurance application form the fuckers actually check you for it.

Apparently it stays in the bloodstream for 3-4 days, but may survive for as long as 7 days.
If they bust Anita and I for smoking one handrolled ciggie a week (together; we share one!) I'm going to either (a) be really upset but pay the higher premium, (b) lie and claim it is due to second hand smoke from going to bars all the time, (c) cry.

Listened to Nasty Girl on the radio on the way to work this morning.

The official billing is

Anita found a plastic sheet inserted into a box of grapes bought from Woolworths named Uvasys Dual Action.

One the sheet is written 'Notice to all store employees: Ensure that sheet is removed before Display'
hmmmmm...

It turns out that the sheet (looks like a kitchen towel-type performated cloth with a plasitc covering on one side) contains Sodium Metabisulphate which is a commonly used preservative.

I'm not too picky about preservatives (god knows I inhale worse things on a daily basis while walking down the road), but the fact that it is not listed as an ingredient on the box and is (secretly) removed before the grapes are displayed makes me uneasy.

Moreover, it seems that a sulphite allergy is quite a serious thing:

... many of the sulphites you eat will be in unlabelled foods. When you look at the sulphite lists below, you can see why the failsafe diet works so well for sulphite-sensitive asthmatics. By avoiding processed foods and salicylates in fruit, fruit drinks, dried fruit, fruit flavoured breakfasts, cookies, snacks, muesli bars, yoghurt, icecream and confectionary, you are also getting rid of sulphites.

There is a big gap between reading sulphite lists and understanding whether the food you buy or a dish you order in a restaurant contains sulphites. The best way to find out which foods contain sulphites is to ask consumers who are particularly sulphite sensitive.

Liz, a sulphite-sensitive asthmatic from Australia, recommends avoiding sausages, all processed deli meat, cordials, jams, shop produced fruit salad, pickled anything with vinegar, shop bought hot chips, dried foods like apricots and 'anything that isn't natural'.

Rick Williams from the USA, who runs the Nosulfites website, suffers severe headaches from eating the smallest quantities of sulphites. The list of sulphites in US processed foods below gives an idea of the size of the problem. 'Current regulations discourage the use of large amounts of sulfites,' says Rick. 'Today, the problem is low levels of sulfur dioxide in practically everything you touch.' Sulphites under 10 ppm in the US do not have to be listed but they will all contribute to your sulphite intake.

also

... Avoid processed food products, which contain dried fruit. Dried fruit is treated with sulphur dioxide to preserve the product and sometimes also to bleach the fruit (sultanas). Food which may contain dried fruit, such as muesli mixes and yoghurt with dried fruit pieces, chocolates with dried fruit bits, chutneys, pickles, cake mixes, peanut and raisin mixes, and instant fruit sauces made from dried apricots and peaches, may contain sulphur and trigger a reaction.
Be careful of foods that have a long shelf-life and do not require refrigeration. The chances are good that these foods contain sodium benzoate or have been treated with sulphur.
When eating in a restaurant be alert to the possibility that certain dishes may contain ingredients that have been preserved with sulphur dioxide or sodium benzoate. Check with the waiter or the maitre 'd before you order items like "Cape curry with apricot sambal".

But fresh grapes(direct from the farm) for goodness sakes! Does this mean that people with a sulphite allergy cannot even buy a frickin' bunch of grapes without secretly having themselves exposed to an allergen?

And I thought Woolworths was different to the others...
phew.

Fucking fascinating!

French President Jacques Chirac focused on plans for a European search engine to rival US internet companies such as Yahoo and Google.
...
Some of the top tech labs in France and Germany are reportedly working on the 'Quaero' (Latin for 'to search') search engine.
...
But for the Quaero project, more may be at stake, namely Europe's cultural identity in the information age.
As President Chirac said in his New Year's address, 'Today the new geography of knowledge and cultures is being drawn. Tomorrow, that which is not available online runs the risk of being invisible to the world.'

Once Nation States get involved with (and fund) development of internet systems a totally new power battle front opens up.

:: Friday nite ::

For the first time this summer (reely) we had a totally windless evening. It was magical.
Anita and I sat outside under the orange tree (Anita in swinging chair, little cat killing leaves) sipping whiskey and rolling little cigarettes (Anita's New Years' resolution ;)

Somehow we ended up talking about perfect memory again and Anita pointed out a flaw in my idea.
Recording every moment of a person's life gives them a perfect record but does not necessarily mean that they will retain memory of each event. It's the same as if you have a photograph of each day of your life, you'll have a record of it but that does not mean that you'll remember it. And remembering (memories) is what we're all really chasing.

Also recorded lots of cellphone video clips (when will Blogger let me upload vids?)


:: Saturday nite ::

Went to Maynardville with the Davies' to see Twelfth Night. This has become and anual event (picnic + show) and I am enjoying it more each year. I'm also getting to enjoy Shakespeare more.
Rooted for Marvolio (who stole the show) and Feste (who has the best line[1]).


:: Sunday morning ::

Went to the beach (Clifton 3 is soooo gay) for the first time in months and even swam!

:: Sunday nite ::

DVD nite with Dawn of the Dead - yowza!


[1] "Thus the whirligig of time brings in his revenges". - (Act V, Scene I).

After a light dinner at The Nose Wine Bar (very nice 6 year-old MCC[1] and reasonable Pinotage Rose) Anita[2] and I played some pool at Castro's Pool Lounge[3] in De Waterkant.

Also, the working title of the comic magazine that Anita is pitching[4] is actually Mtshana which means buddy/good friend. Very cool!


[1] - very dry with biscuity tones blah blah - very nice.
[2] - wearing stilleto heels, rwaaoor!
[3] - unusually nice pool lounge complete with dress code, burning incense and pretty good music[i]
[i] - including Bullet the Blue Sky which I haven't heard in years
[4] - the budget presentation went very well and now they will be presenting it to the Media24 board on 12 Feb which will hopefully, hopefully be the final, final, final presentation and a decision.

Anita and Zanne are presenting the budget for Mzansi Beats[1] today.
Hold thumbs.

[1] Now that the concept has changed from a forthnightly single-story comic to a monthly multi-story comic magazine I don't think it will be named Mzansi Beats anymore, but I'm not sure if there is a working title yet.

Gmail says:

A lot has been made of Kanye West's criticism of the response to Hurricane Katrina live on NBC.

---

Kanye West: "George Bush doesn't care about black people"
Singer Kanye West (who is black), in a promotional TV appearance with Mike Meyers (who is white) for the NBC telethon to raise money for Katrina victims. West and Mike Myers had been paired up to appear about halfway through the show. Their assignment: Take turns reading a script describing the breach in the levees around New Orleans.

[Myers]:
"The landscape of the city has changed dramatically, tragically and perhaps irreversibly. There is now over 25 feet of water where there was once city streets and thriving neighborhoods."

[Kanye -- not reading from teleprompter, as planned]:
"I hate the way they portray us in the media. You see a black family, it says, "They're looting." You see a white family, it says, "They're looking for food."
And, you know, it's been five days [waiting for federal help] because most of the people are black.
And even for me to complain about it, I would be a hypocrite because I've tried to turn away from the TV because it's too hard to watch.
I've even been shopping before even giving a donation, so now I'm calling my business manager right now to see what is the biggest amount I can give, and just to imagine if I was down there, and those are my people down there.
So anybody out there that wants to do anything that we can help -- with the way America is set up to help the poor, the black people, the less well-off, as slow as possible.
I mean, the Red Cross is doing everything they can.
We already realize a lot of people that could help are at war right now, fighting another way -- and they've given them permission to go down and shoot us!"

[Meyers, visibly uncomfortable, reads from prompter script]:
"And subtle, but in many ways even more profoundly devastating, is the lasting damage to the survivors' will to rebuild and remain in the area. The destruction of the spirit of the people of southern Louisiana and Mississippi may end up being the most tragic loss of all."

[Camera cuts back to Kanye, who pauses, then says]:
"George Bush doesn't care about black people!"

[camera abruptly switches back to a stunned Myers who says ]
"Please call..."

[the camera cuts to Chris Rock]

NBC quickly issued this statement:

Kanye West departed from the scripted comments that were prepared for him, and his opinions in no way represent the views of the networks. It would be most unfortunate if the efforts of the artists who participated tonight and the generosity of millions of Americans who are helping those in need are overshadowed by one person's opinion.

---

I've long admired him for the straight-ahead honesty that he showed on his debut album[1] about his conflicted lifestyle (real anger but addicted to retail).

But I have a feeling that these seven words are his greatest contribution yet to outing the decline of the American empire.


[1] All Falls Down

Man I promise, I'm so self conscious
That's why you always see me with at least one of my watches
Rollies and Pasha's done drove me crazy
I can't even pronounce nothing, pass that versace!
Then I spent 400 bucks on this
Just to be like nigga you ain't up on this!
And I can't even go to the grocery store
Without some ones thats clean and a shirt with a team
It seems we living the american dream
But the people highest up got the lowest self esteem
The prettiest people do the ugliest things
For the road to riches and diamond rings
We shine because they hate us, floss cause they degrade us
We trying to buy back our 40 acres
And for that paper, look how low we a'stoop
Even if you in a Benz, you still a nigga in a coop/coupe

Finally got The Darkness's Permission to Land.
Yes, I know that EVERYONE already has it and realised the genius of it even before The Datsuns were the new new new big hair band, but I only got it now (for some reason).
So to me it's still new.

Best track is track 1 - Black Shuck - Angus and Malcolm Young will be collecting royalties, I'm sure.

My favourite line is from track 2 (GET YOUR HANDS OFF MY WOMAN).
I'll have to try and write it the way J. Hawkins sings it since it's all about the delivery.

Get your hands off my w-oa-o-o-oman   muthafuckaaaaa

Here's the entire chorus as per the included lyrics:

Get your hands off my woman motherfucker
Get your hands off my woman motherfucker
Get your hands off my woman motherfucker
Get your hands off my woman motherfucker
Ow!
Get your hands off my woman motherfucker
Get your hands off my woman motherfucker

The cover is also great


, though I prefer the cover to the follow up One Way Ticket To Hell ...And Back
I didn't buy this one, though, due to mostly lukewarm reviews.
I'll wait a few years until it too becomes a 'Budget Buy' and then I'll rave on about how cool it is when everyone has moved on to whatever is the new new new badass at that time.

Back at wurk today and as soon as I came in the door I could feel my spirit sink into my shoes.
Something is wrong here.

Midge is growing fast; especially her long legs which lets her fly across the lawn at low altitude in the late afternoons.

Just saw the video for Madonna's atrocious Hung Up - it rocks!
I've been wondering when this would happen for the first time: when an artist would release a song which would make no sense, whatsoever (i.e. have no merit) without the accompanying video.
Within years all pop music will be recorded inextricably linked to a video concept.
It is already happening (J-Lo had a song in which she breathed 'I need to dance now' at the start of a bridge - clearly the song was written to allow for a choreographed dance number in the video). But how long before nothing less will sell?