Monday, October 11, 2010
Thursday, October 7, 2010
Henry
James raised his right eyebrow. He then pointed to the wheelie bin outside the cabin with both eyebrows raised.
John, realising his mistake, made a mildly disappointed expression with his face and gestured to the corpse of a dead girl lying on the floor between them, his arms held out at maximum width.
James nodded and brought his left hand under his chin, thoughtfully.
James began to mime, indicating a large, bulky object with his hands, then prentending to pick up the girl's corpse and drop it into the object, he finished with a grinding arm action, reminiscent of 'The Hustle'.
John's face lit up with recognition. He began miming in excited confirmation, quite enjoying the game caution demanded they play. His palm facing the ground, he put his hand just above his eyes. Then he pointed sternly at the door.
James recognised this as John miming 'like Fargo?' and nodded vigorously.
Down the road from the cabin in which our protagonists have been gesticulating, an unmarked van is parked. Inside the van, there are a number of monitors, speakers and two CIA agents. One of the CIA agents turned to the other and raised a confused left eyebrow.
Suzie
I will begin with my death. I died, suddenly finding myself at the end of a long queue. The queue lead into a distant abyss and all around me was darkness. I was in the 'birth line', awaiting my re-entry into life. I was born again. As a very bright newborn, I stumbledupon a micro-autobiographical challenge on WEbook and decided that 73 words was precisely enough to express my very short life, thus far.
Wile E. Coyote
7:00am - Have a good stretch, having slept the night slumped on a rock.
8:00am - Continue my endless search, my desperate quest, for something to EAT!
9:00am - Reflect on the fact that although I can't speak, I'm quite adept at writing signs and schedules.
9:30am - Pay numerous medical bills: Dentist (eating too many tin cans, rocks and loose foliage), Orthopedic surgeon (setting and putting casts around every bone in my body) and Psychiatrist (continue exploring my association with the road runner and my late mother.)
10:30am - Purchase a number of extravagant devices from ACME (don't forget to swipe your loyalty card!)
12:00pm - Set up an ingenious contraption, making sure to ignore the dangerous possibilities of interacting with the device yourself.
1:00pm - Wipe off the explosion residue from your fur and begin constructing your second contraption.
3:30pm - Finish hoisting the heavy object to a great height; secure it in a delicate manner.
4:00pm - Waddle off screen as quickly as your pancake-like body can manage.
4:30pm - Think hard, then arrive at your most dastardly plan yet, yes, order those rocket propelled (insert device name here).
5:00pm - Ignore the stuttering pig, go back home to your rock, laptop: jobs.com
Monday, September 27, 2010
Sally
Life will last longer if we stop trying to maximise it. I'm pretty tired of those self-help, self-motivational, self-waste-of-time posters that try to tell you a very linear way of living. Therefore, please don't see this as one of those. Life, from what I can observe, is abundant in its variety, its infinite possibilities and potential. Don't limit yourself by not limiting yourself! Be lazy! It's a very creative activity, because the world is concerned with doing things, therefore, doing nothing is quite original.
- Spend that 10 hours in a row playing video games that you've always wanted to.
- Don't let a sunny day outside stop you from eating corn chips from a bowl (resting on your stomach) whilst watching the morning show.
- When your mind begins to wander, considering various things it could be doing, stop yourself.
- Impulse is the beginning of invention, innovation and happiness. Do something, or more importantly, don't do something, simply because you thought of it. Jackass, for instance, is a prime example of just doing things that are new and interesting. I wouldn't recommend things quite so likely to kill you, however.
- Don't run a real marathon, run a movie marathon! The reason humanity spends so much time consuming media is because there is so much to consume. A plethora of knowledge, no matter how trivial, to be absorbed. Consuming media, especially TV, is essentially a way of keeping tabs on the rest of humanity, like a series of billions of siblings, seeing how they're all doing. It's nice.
- Film a documentary on the life cycle of chewing gum stuck to the pavement (it probably won't doesn't do much, but film it anyway!) or don't, and simply comment on the guy that posts his 'lifecycle' of chewing gum film, saying: 'I thought about doing that, but then I played marbles with stale grapes instead'.
- Laziness is golden. Any negative connotations associated with the word are merely invented by people that haven't yet appreciated it.
- I'm going to put off writing the rest of this wonderfully fun post until I've done a few other things that have occured to me, brb
back,
- Fly a kite, in your mind, then build a fort out of empty (or full) cereal boxes. Cereal is awesome, it should be eaten for every meal if desired, the term 'breakfast cereal' is cereal racism.
- Play Jenga, and by play I mean throw the blocks at the nearest lamp, awarding points for chips in the enamel and all out destruction.
- We're in Australia, jobs are not hard to find, we resisted the Financial crisis quite well: if you don't like your job, quit.
- Don't feel pressure to be creative, be logical instead, get a degree in accounting then ignore it and work in a pet shop. Then quit and live off the dole.
- Start many things you have no intention of finishing.
- Subscribe to 100 online newsletters, take the first word from the subject line of each of their emails and do nothing with them.
- Work on a skill, like folding paper planes, it's very rewarding. Studies have shown that A4 paper is the most effective for paper planes.
- WHATEVER OCCURS TO YOU AT THE TIME, IS THE BEST THING TO DO, REGARDLESS OF WHAT IT IS. Don't feel guilty, it doesn't achieve much, it achieves something, but not much.
- Stop reading this post and throw milk out of an open window.
- Start reading this post again, with milk all over your face from a retaliatory neighbour.
- Make a catapult out of toilet rolls. Scratch that, sounds much too hard, just pretend you did when your friends ask you what you did that day. It'll make you sound like a very interesting person.
- Find an old super soaker and shoot it into the air, or at your face, or at a wall.
- SMS your friend; 'I agree' and see what they do.
- Call work and tell them you're sick. Then try to construct a scenario in which you will become actually sick for a few more days, extending your fun. Eating too much ice cream, for example, or kissing your girl friend who has the flu. She's hot, after all.
- If you don't have time for all these transcendent endeavours because you're too busy with work etc, feel free to enjoy these next few 'job-focussed' dot points.
- The waste paper basket is the office's most versatile game-creating tool. Basketball, golf, soccer, rugby, anything can be played with this ingenious implement. When questioned about your activities, say you're emptying the garbage.
- Pretend you're in the first Matrix film, the office building scene, in which the agents are looking for Neo by and Morphius is talking to him on the phone. Aka, run in a crouched position to a window facing office, but don't step out onto the ledge, that would be stupid.
- Attempt to recreate that ad for tic tacs where the girl bounces them against the cubicle wall, then email me as to whether it's actually possible.
- Eat a banana... from the office kitchen, it may give you food poisoning because, lets face it, communal kitchens rarely contain edible food. However, the food poisoning would enable you to take time off work and begin addressing this list of activities.
- Take a book to work and read it instead of working. When asked, say that it's research, who's going to argue with a person reading a book? It's like wearing glasses; you're just always going to be the smarter looking person.
- If you catch public transport, get off at the stop of someone wearing a suit, follow them into their building, and pretend that you work there for the day. Bonus points if you manage to get paid for that day's work.
- This is sounding a lot like a scavenger hunt; searching for the tastiest morsels of life.
> But, most importantly, once you've read this, DON'T do anything it suggests. It's a state of mind that makes these things possible: 'not wanting to do them'. Just understand what they're trying to say and you're done.
- Spend that 10 hours in a row playing video games that you've always wanted to.
- Don't let a sunny day outside stop you from eating corn chips from a bowl (resting on your stomach) whilst watching the morning show.
- When your mind begins to wander, considering various things it could be doing, stop yourself.
- Impulse is the beginning of invention, innovation and happiness. Do something, or more importantly, don't do something, simply because you thought of it. Jackass, for instance, is a prime example of just doing things that are new and interesting. I wouldn't recommend things quite so likely to kill you, however.
- Don't run a real marathon, run a movie marathon! The reason humanity spends so much time consuming media is because there is so much to consume. A plethora of knowledge, no matter how trivial, to be absorbed. Consuming media, especially TV, is essentially a way of keeping tabs on the rest of humanity, like a series of billions of siblings, seeing how they're all doing. It's nice.
- Film a documentary on the life cycle of chewing gum stuck to the pavement (it probably won't doesn't do much, but film it anyway!) or don't, and simply comment on the guy that posts his 'lifecycle' of chewing gum film, saying: 'I thought about doing that, but then I played marbles with stale grapes instead'.
- Laziness is golden. Any negative connotations associated with the word are merely invented by people that haven't yet appreciated it.
- I'm going to put off writing the rest of this wonderfully fun post until I've done a few other things that have occured to me, brb
back,
- Fly a kite, in your mind, then build a fort out of empty (or full) cereal boxes. Cereal is awesome, it should be eaten for every meal if desired, the term 'breakfast cereal' is cereal racism.
- Play Jenga, and by play I mean throw the blocks at the nearest lamp, awarding points for chips in the enamel and all out destruction.
- We're in Australia, jobs are not hard to find, we resisted the Financial crisis quite well: if you don't like your job, quit.
- Don't feel pressure to be creative, be logical instead, get a degree in accounting then ignore it and work in a pet shop. Then quit and live off the dole.
- Start many things you have no intention of finishing.
- Subscribe to 100 online newsletters, take the first word from the subject line of each of their emails and do nothing with them.
- Work on a skill, like folding paper planes, it's very rewarding. Studies have shown that A4 paper is the most effective for paper planes.
- WHATEVER OCCURS TO YOU AT THE TIME, IS THE BEST THING TO DO, REGARDLESS OF WHAT IT IS. Don't feel guilty, it doesn't achieve much, it achieves something, but not much.
- Stop reading this post and throw milk out of an open window.
- Start reading this post again, with milk all over your face from a retaliatory neighbour.
- Make a catapult out of toilet rolls. Scratch that, sounds much too hard, just pretend you did when your friends ask you what you did that day. It'll make you sound like a very interesting person.
- Find an old super soaker and shoot it into the air, or at your face, or at a wall.
- SMS your friend; 'I agree' and see what they do.
- Call work and tell them you're sick. Then try to construct a scenario in which you will become actually sick for a few more days, extending your fun. Eating too much ice cream, for example, or kissing your girl friend who has the flu. She's hot, after all.
- If you don't have time for all these transcendent endeavours because you're too busy with work etc, feel free to enjoy these next few 'job-focussed' dot points.
- The waste paper basket is the office's most versatile game-creating tool. Basketball, golf, soccer, rugby, anything can be played with this ingenious implement. When questioned about your activities, say you're emptying the garbage.
- Pretend you're in the first Matrix film, the office building scene, in which the agents are looking for Neo by and Morphius is talking to him on the phone. Aka, run in a crouched position to a window facing office, but don't step out onto the ledge, that would be stupid.
- Attempt to recreate that ad for tic tacs where the girl bounces them against the cubicle wall, then email me as to whether it's actually possible.
- Eat a banana... from the office kitchen, it may give you food poisoning because, lets face it, communal kitchens rarely contain edible food. However, the food poisoning would enable you to take time off work and begin addressing this list of activities.
- Take a book to work and read it instead of working. When asked, say that it's research, who's going to argue with a person reading a book? It's like wearing glasses; you're just always going to be the smarter looking person.
- If you catch public transport, get off at the stop of someone wearing a suit, follow them into their building, and pretend that you work there for the day. Bonus points if you manage to get paid for that day's work.
- This is sounding a lot like a scavenger hunt; searching for the tastiest morsels of life.
> But, most importantly, once you've read this, DON'T do anything it suggests. It's a state of mind that makes these things possible: 'not wanting to do them'. Just understand what they're trying to say and you're done.
Thursday, September 23, 2010
Ingrid
Whenever I see one of those automatic garage doors closing, I feel the urge to dive under it, then pause, and reach back for my hat at the last second.
Sunday, August 15, 2010
Stella
Jim was walking down the street. He saw a small red object lying in the gutter to his left. Rather than pick it up, he walked straight past it; it's just rubbish, after all. A few steps later, however, he paused and considered that by not picking up the object, he's failing to advance the plot in any kind of interesting way. He continued walking, having dismissed this consideration as ludicrous and unethical.
Jim came upon a pedestrian crossing, stopping to look for cars and think about what a weird phrase 'came upon' is. After ascertaining that the street was clear, he walked boldly onto the old, lumpy rectangles of white paint. He was promptly run over by a Ford Mondeo. When I say 'run over', it was more 'run under', because when a car hits you at relatively high speed, the bonnet is designed at a downward angle, and so your body is levered up into the sky.
Jim woke up in a hospital bed, when I say 'bed' it was more a 'dumpster'. After arriving at the hospital, Jim was examined, whereupon his heart stopped beating for 28 minutes and this is widely agreed upon in the medical profession as 'dead'. Therefore, not wanting to waste any more of the tax payer's money, they disposed of Jim by way of the nearest window, landing him in the aforementioned dumpster.
After hopping out of the dumpster, thinking himself surprisingly uninjured considering he'd been run under by a car and thrown out of a window in the past two hours, Jim saw a nearby park and made his way towards it. Parks are unusual places, filled with laughter and a lot of dog shit. Jim was particularly familiar with this second fact because he'd fallen into a particularly large pile of the stuff. He'd fallen because, despite his original assessment of 'surprisingly uninjured', Jim, in fact, had two broken legs, a shattered pelvis and a dislocated left pinky.
Jim army-crawled to the nearest pedestrian crossing, in what can only be described as a wanton act of masochistic de ja vu. After crawling exactly half way across the crossing, Jim was convincingly run 'over', this time, by me, the author. I was dissatisfied with my previous attempt at ending Jim, having hired a 'hit and run man' to do the job earlier, and so the moral of the story is: 'If you want something done right, write a short story'.
----------
I would like to dedicate this short story to Latika... for inspiring me... to write it.
--------
Jim came upon a pedestrian crossing, stopping to look for cars and think about what a weird phrase 'came upon' is. After ascertaining that the street was clear, he walked boldly onto the old, lumpy rectangles of white paint. He was promptly run over by a Ford Mondeo. When I say 'run over', it was more 'run under', because when a car hits you at relatively high speed, the bonnet is designed at a downward angle, and so your body is levered up into the sky.
Jim woke up in a hospital bed, when I say 'bed' it was more a 'dumpster'. After arriving at the hospital, Jim was examined, whereupon his heart stopped beating for 28 minutes and this is widely agreed upon in the medical profession as 'dead'. Therefore, not wanting to waste any more of the tax payer's money, they disposed of Jim by way of the nearest window, landing him in the aforementioned dumpster.
After hopping out of the dumpster, thinking himself surprisingly uninjured considering he'd been run under by a car and thrown out of a window in the past two hours, Jim saw a nearby park and made his way towards it. Parks are unusual places, filled with laughter and a lot of dog shit. Jim was particularly familiar with this second fact because he'd fallen into a particularly large pile of the stuff. He'd fallen because, despite his original assessment of 'surprisingly uninjured', Jim, in fact, had two broken legs, a shattered pelvis and a dislocated left pinky.
Jim army-crawled to the nearest pedestrian crossing, in what can only be described as a wanton act of masochistic de ja vu. After crawling exactly half way across the crossing, Jim was convincingly run 'over', this time, by me, the author. I was dissatisfied with my previous attempt at ending Jim, having hired a 'hit and run man' to do the job earlier, and so the moral of the story is: 'If you want something done right, write a short story'.
----------
I would like to dedicate this short story to Latika... for inspiring me... to write it.
--------
Thursday, August 12, 2010
Jill
The most appealing travel destinations are probably places that frequently feature in movies. Watching a movie is a more heightened emotional experience, so when it comes to actually living in the places you've experienced in the cinema, you feel the excitement 2 fold. The first layer obviously being that you're somewhere very different from home and the second layer being that you're living something that used to only exist in your imagination.
Travelling is also one of the farthest places you can be from your parents and, therefore, the most independent you can be. This is probably why so many people go on a 'gap' year to a far away country after finishing year 12.
Furthermore, being in a foreign country enables you to represent the country that you came from, not in an annoying school expectations kind of way, but more in an alien from outer space way. If you go to a country that doesn't speak your language, you become able to speak 'another' language without having learned anything but your mother tongue. Depending on your home country, you also get tarred with all the good or bad associations your country attracts, so you're automatically a person of interest in foreigner's eyes.
Travelling is also one of the farthest places you can be from your parents and, therefore, the most independent you can be. This is probably why so many people go on a 'gap' year to a far away country after finishing year 12.
Furthermore, being in a foreign country enables you to represent the country that you came from, not in an annoying school expectations kind of way, but more in an alien from outer space way. If you go to a country that doesn't speak your language, you become able to speak 'another' language without having learned anything but your mother tongue. Depending on your home country, you also get tarred with all the good or bad associations your country attracts, so you're automatically a person of interest in foreigner's eyes.
Sunday, August 8, 2010
Joel
HDMI, what a format, what a cord.
Now, this may seem like a nerdy thing to be discussing but I intend to consider its implications as an overall advancement in sociological philosophy, as well as its nerdular facets, so don't worry.
Firstly, visually, it's awesome. I mean, 1080 progressively scanned vertical pixels is a lot of pixels.
Audio is also a great thing to be firing, at high quality, into your theatre set-up.
Both video AND audio at the same time? Now, that's just impressive.
Then you have the ever-increasing versions of HDMI: 1.2, 1.3, 1.3b, 1.4, 1.4b etc. One of the coolest introductions during these version revisions was Deep Colour, which supports billions, as opposed to millions, of colours and just sounds cool. I mean Deeeep colour, it's pretty sweet; the idea that you have the standard colours on your screen and then you can have a deeper, more thorough, embedded form of colour coexisting. Then with the even more recent versions you have things like network connectivity (I think) and generally a massive amount of future-proofing.
But, most importantly, the HDMI cable represents society's move towards simplicity in advancement. Rather than more, bigger, grander, being better; less is finally more. With the adoption of the High Definition Media Interface, setting up your T.V., Blu-ray player, PVR, High Def. Tuner etc. is finally a one-cord, one-stop-shop, one action process (in theory) and it at least shows that we're trying. Trying to make things in life simpler and easier. I think it may also be indicative of our evolving approach to sustainability and environmental friendliness. In short, good times for all,
Long live HDMI.
Now, this may seem like a nerdy thing to be discussing but I intend to consider its implications as an overall advancement in sociological philosophy, as well as its nerdular facets, so don't worry.
Firstly, visually, it's awesome. I mean, 1080 progressively scanned vertical pixels is a lot of pixels.
Audio is also a great thing to be firing, at high quality, into your theatre set-up.
Both video AND audio at the same time? Now, that's just impressive.
Then you have the ever-increasing versions of HDMI: 1.2, 1.3, 1.3b, 1.4, 1.4b etc. One of the coolest introductions during these version revisions was Deep Colour, which supports billions, as opposed to millions, of colours and just sounds cool. I mean Deeeep colour, it's pretty sweet; the idea that you have the standard colours on your screen and then you can have a deeper, more thorough, embedded form of colour coexisting. Then with the even more recent versions you have things like network connectivity (I think) and generally a massive amount of future-proofing.
But, most importantly, the HDMI cable represents society's move towards simplicity in advancement. Rather than more, bigger, grander, being better; less is finally more. With the adoption of the High Definition Media Interface, setting up your T.V., Blu-ray player, PVR, High Def. Tuner etc. is finally a one-cord, one-stop-shop, one action process (in theory) and it at least shows that we're trying. Trying to make things in life simpler and easier. I think it may also be indicative of our evolving approach to sustainability and environmental friendliness. In short, good times for all,
Long live HDMI.
Friday, August 6, 2010
Greg
The only real consolation for missing a yellow light and having to stop at the red, is if you end up at the front of the line. On 'the front lines' you could say, because it does feel a lot like you're leading an army of cars/commuters into battle, the war to be on time, as opposed to brutally late. Each traffic light is like a battle. There's nothing quite like idling powerfully at the very front, with the best view, waiting to test your reaction time for the next battle.
Thursday, August 5, 2010
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
Garry
Could a bedroom be 'held-up' in the same way a bank or restaurant is 'held-up'; with guns, shouting etc? It would, at the very least, be rather funny to see a pair of balaclava-clad ruffians burst into your room, as you're doing your homework, and demand 'all of the cash'. In response to which you will give them $8.40 and watch some very disappointed criminals walk out your door. Perhaps it would work better in larger bedrooms, with more things to steal.
Sunday, August 1, 2010
James
One of the funniest images I've ever seen was a puppy with a mustache wearing a top hat. I saw it on Family Guy and I enjoyed it on a conceptual level as well as the hilarious visual level, because it represents the combination of three very creative ideas:
1. Puppies are funny
2. Mustaches are funny
3. Let's throw a top hat in for good measure
1. Puppies are funny
2. Mustaches are funny
3. Let's throw a top hat in for good measure
Jordan
The greatest word in the English language, based on both phonoaesthetics and semantics, is:
audacity
audacity
Trish
Murder Mysteries, 'Who done-it's...
They don't really ring true if the writer or director knows what's was going to happen the whole time. They end up spending parts of the movie just filling time, or implausibly positioning the characters in the Library with numerous candlesticks surrounding them.
What would really be cool, and more realistic, would be if one writer/director sculpts the first half of the movie, the setup, establishing the situation etc. and another writer/director has to write/direct their way out of it; escape the clutches of the previous creator. I reckon it'd be pretty cool.
They don't really ring true if the writer or director knows what's was going to happen the whole time. They end up spending parts of the movie just filling time, or implausibly positioning the characters in the Library with numerous candlesticks surrounding them.
What would really be cool, and more realistic, would be if one writer/director sculpts the first half of the movie, the setup, establishing the situation etc. and another writer/director has to write/direct their way out of it; escape the clutches of the previous creator. I reckon it'd be pretty cool.
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Const..ance
Paperclips:
• Is that magnetic strip around the lid of the Paperclip Dispenser like a dark nightclub corner for paperclips? I've certainly noticed a lot of paperclips getting together there. Is the bottom, container part of the dispenser the paperclip nightclub's dance floor? It gets pretty crowded down there, more like a mosh pit really.
• Is that magnetic strip around the lid of the Paperclip Dispenser like a dark nightclub corner for paperclips? I've certainly noticed a lot of paperclips getting together there. Is the bottom, container part of the dispenser the paperclip nightclub's dance floor? It gets pretty crowded down there, more like a mosh pit really.
William
Writing a blog post almost every day is... not always easy. However, it is always good for practising writing. Fun facts, with Sam.
If toys/stuffed animals come to life when you leave the room, cats & dogs are actually secret agents when we're not looking and all the insects in our gardens are really living in advanced societies like us but on a smaller scale, what does stationery do when we're not using it?
The pens that spend most of their time in those fairly confined pen cups on our desks, is that just like being stuck in a non-moving elevator? Having to make conversation with the strangers around you, although, they'd probably all know each other quite well, having spent so long in their mutal cup.
Are sheets of paper the party animals of the stationery world? When we put a stack of moderately important sheets somewhere out of the way for later reference, do they just go nuts and see how far they can float away by jumping off the nearest ledge? This would certainly explain why old pieces of paper are so hard to find again.
To be continued..
If toys/stuffed animals come to life when you leave the room, cats & dogs are actually secret agents when we're not looking and all the insects in our gardens are really living in advanced societies like us but on a smaller scale, what does stationery do when we're not using it?
The pens that spend most of their time in those fairly confined pen cups on our desks, is that just like being stuck in a non-moving elevator? Having to make conversation with the strangers around you, although, they'd probably all know each other quite well, having spent so long in their mutal cup.
Are sheets of paper the party animals of the stationery world? When we put a stack of moderately important sheets somewhere out of the way for later reference, do they just go nuts and see how far they can float away by jumping off the nearest ledge? This would certainly explain why old pieces of paper are so hard to find again.
To be continued..
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Betty
Accents you wouldn't think attract the ladies but probably do:
• David Attenborough's
..Moving on,
Not really sure what to write, something occurred to me a while ago but I've forgotten.....
Listening to audio books is a great way to achieve something, even when you're not doing a whole lot. By this I mean that if you're engaged in something, a task/chore/unpleasantness, that doesn't demand a large portion of your brain's power, you can listen to an audio book and absorb something useful at the same time.
I've been unaware of the marvelous benefits of audio books until now: I used to argue that they couldn't ever compare to the level of involvement and retention you get from actually reading the words, but I see that I was putting audio books in the wrong category. They're not a substitute for books, they're like a more extreme sport version of books. A similar relationship exists between skiing and the Skeleton luge: both sports involve sliding head first down a mountain but each sport does so in a very different way.
Skeleton luge is all exhilaration and immersion whereas skiing is relaxing and satisfying. I postulate that this is also true of audio books and actual books: audio books feel like that scene in The Matrix, where Neo is learning martial arts via cognitive osmosis: a shorter, more full-on version of the real thing.
P.S. They're also a great way to appreciate the oratory talents of the chosen 'reader-outer'.
• David Attenborough's
..Moving on,
Not really sure what to write, something occurred to me a while ago but I've forgotten.....
Listening to audio books is a great way to achieve something, even when you're not doing a whole lot. By this I mean that if you're engaged in something, a task/chore/unpleasantness, that doesn't demand a large portion of your brain's power, you can listen to an audio book and absorb something useful at the same time.
I've been unaware of the marvelous benefits of audio books until now: I used to argue that they couldn't ever compare to the level of involvement and retention you get from actually reading the words, but I see that I was putting audio books in the wrong category. They're not a substitute for books, they're like a more extreme sport version of books. A similar relationship exists between skiing and the Skeleton luge: both sports involve sliding head first down a mountain but each sport does so in a very different way.
Skeleton luge is all exhilaration and immersion whereas skiing is relaxing and satisfying. I postulate that this is also true of audio books and actual books: audio books feel like that scene in The Matrix, where Neo is learning martial arts via cognitive osmosis: a shorter, more full-on version of the real thing.
P.S. They're also a great way to appreciate the oratory talents of the chosen 'reader-outer'.
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Gerald
The difference between soda water and mineral water has always been a source of much confusion for me. Until now.
I had no idea that natural sparkling mineral water actually is sparkling, or effervescent, when it's taken out of the spring and bottled. The bubbles forming naturally has something to do with the water's reaction to Limestone but this isn't important or interesting, it's much more fun to think of it as beverage-based magic.
Apparently, people used to drink from and bath in mineral water springs for the medicinal benefits and healing properties. I used to be a soda water fan; cheaper, more widely available, but now I think I've switched to bottled magic water.
I had no idea that natural sparkling mineral water actually is sparkling, or effervescent, when it's taken out of the spring and bottled. The bubbles forming naturally has something to do with the water's reaction to Limestone but this isn't important or interesting, it's much more fun to think of it as beverage-based magic.
Apparently, people used to drink from and bath in mineral water springs for the medicinal benefits and healing properties. I used to be a soda water fan; cheaper, more widely available, but now I think I've switched to bottled magic water.
Monday, July 26, 2010
Sandy
Hello,
Did you know the word 'hello' was invented purely to have something to say when you answer the phone?
Fun facts, with Sam.
Moving on,
I have begun this blog because I love writing. I've not created a blog until now because there seems like there is almost too much freedom with a blog. Unless of course it's on one of those sites that has a theme. Perhaps this site has a theme, and catagorises their blogs, I don't really know. Furthermore, how do people even become aware of a blog? Word of mouth most likely, or perhaps very cunning Internet marketing... such as facebook spamming.
I also imagine it's a popular vehicle for rants on various topics; everyone loves a good rant.
My goal with this blog is to try and defy all catagorisation; to create a blog so random and filled with non sequiturs that people may read it simply to see if something interesting has been posted yet. I wouldn't hold your breath on that one, it'll most likely just be stuff... well written stuff mind you, but stuff none the less. Actually, do I want that to be my goal? I just decided on it as I was writing this; seems like a pretty good goal, why not?
Hmm, maybe I'll go for a more condensed version of Qi, I love that show. Qi seems to focus on things that you expect have an obvious answer but actually don't. Ironically, that sounds a bit too restrictive for a blog, I don't know how many of those things I could come up with. Nah, I think I'll stick with my original goal and just write whatever comes to mind, or whatever is on my mind at the time, or whatever just recently fell off my mind.. into a puddle of irreverence.
I shall begin with #8. (because it's a random number, beginning with #1 has so been done)
- INCEPTION -
Good movie. I don't know if it was the fact that I hadn't eaten a lot and wasn't very well hydrated prior to seeing the movie, or the copious number of narrative layers, but I did get a series of mild headaches during my viewing. Despite this, I still had a great time, very engaging. Very original. There were a couple of moments where you felt that concepts were introduced to the audience a bit hastily and without sufficient spoon-feeding (as in the delightful training sequences with Ellen Page) but the film is so ambitious and tries so hard to impress you, you can forgive it easily. And the somewhat sudden reconciliation between Leonardo di Caprio's character and his love interest, although well written, seemed a bit of an anti-climax. Overall, well worth seeing... twice.
PS. Just like to give a shout out to JP, if he's managed to read this far you're an awesome human being.
Did you know the word 'hello' was invented purely to have something to say when you answer the phone?
Fun facts, with Sam.
Moving on,
I have begun this blog because I love writing. I've not created a blog until now because there seems like there is almost too much freedom with a blog. Unless of course it's on one of those sites that has a theme. Perhaps this site has a theme, and catagorises their blogs, I don't really know. Furthermore, how do people even become aware of a blog? Word of mouth most likely, or perhaps very cunning Internet marketing... such as facebook spamming.
I also imagine it's a popular vehicle for rants on various topics; everyone loves a good rant.
My goal with this blog is to try and defy all catagorisation; to create a blog so random and filled with non sequiturs that people may read it simply to see if something interesting has been posted yet. I wouldn't hold your breath on that one, it'll most likely just be stuff... well written stuff mind you, but stuff none the less. Actually, do I want that to be my goal? I just decided on it as I was writing this; seems like a pretty good goal, why not?
Hmm, maybe I'll go for a more condensed version of Qi, I love that show. Qi seems to focus on things that you expect have an obvious answer but actually don't. Ironically, that sounds a bit too restrictive for a blog, I don't know how many of those things I could come up with. Nah, I think I'll stick with my original goal and just write whatever comes to mind, or whatever is on my mind at the time, or whatever just recently fell off my mind.. into a puddle of irreverence.
I shall begin with #8. (because it's a random number, beginning with #1 has so been done)
- INCEPTION -
Good movie. I don't know if it was the fact that I hadn't eaten a lot and wasn't very well hydrated prior to seeing the movie, or the copious number of narrative layers, but I did get a series of mild headaches during my viewing. Despite this, I still had a great time, very engaging. Very original. There were a couple of moments where you felt that concepts were introduced to the audience a bit hastily and without sufficient spoon-feeding (as in the delightful training sequences with Ellen Page) but the film is so ambitious and tries so hard to impress you, you can forgive it easily. And the somewhat sudden reconciliation between Leonardo di Caprio's character and his love interest, although well written, seemed a bit of an anti-climax. Overall, well worth seeing... twice.
PS. Just like to give a shout out to JP, if he's managed to read this far you're an awesome human being.
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