Wee, this is fun :P. I stole this off Robyn off Myspace (Robyn is becoming a Myspace whore, everyone).

1. Of all the bands & artists in your collection, which one do you own the most cd's by?
David Bowie, duh! Most of my vinyls are also David Bowie.

2. What was the last song you listened to?
Nobody Weird Like Me - Red Hot Chili Peppers (Album: Mothers Milk)

3. What's in your CD player right now?
Razorlight - Up All Night

4. What is your favourite instrument?
12-string guitars.

5. Who's your favourite local band?
From Melbourne - Cut Copy, definitely.

6. What was the last concert you attended?
Big Day Out 2006

7. What was the greatest concert you've ever been to?
Ooh, hard to say. Either Chili Peppers in 2002 or David Bowie in 2004. Both were amazing.

8. What's the worst band you've ever seen in concert?
Louis XIV - They are so up themselves I wanted to throw up all over their shoes (I was right up front).

9. What band do you love musically but hate the members of?
Louis XIV. Their music isn't bad. But the members are a huge turn off. I shouldn't have seen them live.

10. What is the most musically involved you have ever been?
Playing violin in the senior school orchestra, I think. I think dressing up and going crazy at gigs is also classified as "musically involved".

11. What show are you looking forward to?
Nothing at the moment.

12. What is your favourite band shirt?
Franz Ferdinand red and black striped tee shirt. Finally a band shirt made to fit a girl just right!

13. What musician would you like to hang out with for a day?
David Bowie or John Frusciante. There's just so much I want to ask them! Maybe I'll have both of them there.

14. What musician would you like to be in love with you for a day?
Oh, Alex Kapranos!! Marry me, Alex!

15. What was your last musical "phase" before you wizened up?
I've been through a million phases and as a result, a combination of these phases 'wizened' me up ten fold. I'm now a genre hopper who appreciates everything (well, most).

16. Sabbath or solo Ozzy?
Sabbath... I think.

17. Did you know that filling out this survey makes you a music nerd?
Yeah, but everyone already knows that.

18. What was the greatest decade for music?
70s. If I could choose which decade live my prime in, it'll definitely be the 70s. I want to be one of those glam kids who grew up on David Bowie, T-Rex, The Velvet Underground, Lou Reed, Iggy Pop, New York Dolls, Queen, and Roxy Music. When boys wanted to look like girls. When parents started freaking out.

19. What is your favourite movie soundtrack?
The Life Aquatic, possibly.

20. What would you be without music?
Wouldn't have a clue. Probably someone that doesn't have anything to be passionate about... and thus resulting in a bland, couldn't-care-less product of the mainstream.

So that's my quiz. Fun. So hey, last night I went over to Andrew's girlfriend's house out in Wheelers Hill to play poker. And do you know where she lives? In a neighbourhood where all the street names are named after THE GRAND MASTERS. Get this: Rembrandt Drive, Dali Court, Raphael Drive, Cezanne Court, Renoir Court, Degas Court, Lautrec Avenue, Gainsborough Ave, Picasso Court, Bellini Ave, Goya Court, Elgreco Court, plus many more. And there's a street called THE DEVIATION! I almost creamed myself as I was driving out to her place going past these street names!! I was like "Omg! These are all my friends!" - What I'd give to live in such a neighbourhood! If someone is looking to steal a street sign for me, you know where to go!

In seething jealousy that I live in a neighbourhood that is slightly uncreative, I bid you all adieu.

I decided to chuck on my whole Red Hot Chili Peppers collection of CDs onto my iPod finally. Going through the Playlists and for "Recently Added" playlist, it lists out all the songs of each CD backwards. So basically, I'm currently listening to Californication but with backwards tracklisting. I've never done this before! It's like a whole new way of listening to an album! Completely different experience!

I've been listening to Stadium Arcadium for the last 2 days. I'm not sure what to think of it. I'm not sure whether I actually like it. First of all, its a LOT of music to digest. Two hours of RHCP goodness after 3 or 4 years of complete silence from the band. I haven't enough of it to make any sound judgments but so far, it just seems so 'radio-friendly'... and totally mainstream in a sense. I haven't caught on to any of the songs yet... well there are a few good singalong "oh this is a great tune" songs but nothing has caught onto me on a deeper level.

By contrast, I'm currently listening to the song "This Velvet Glove" off the Californication album. That is a fucking good song. FUCKING GOOD SONG. It's somewhat dark, and deep. It connects with my soul musically. When I listen to Stadium Arcadium, as much as it is really good quality music - good writing, great instrumentals - but it just feels like as if Kelly Clarkson can sing the songs and make them chart topping hits too. Y'know?

I even listened to By The Way yesterday after two years of sitting in my CD tower. Even though a lot of people complained about it being so not them... they explored a different avenue of music writing but still holding a credible amount of "yeah, that's the chili peppers". I mean, take "Midnight" for example. What an awesome song. "Don't Forget Me", "Venice Queen"... gems amongst the other melodic, doo-wop songs. It went off on a massive tangent from Californication but it was musically excuseable - complete experimentation and not confined to anything.

Californication - such a brilliant album. Omg, so brilliant. Blood Sugar Sex Magik - omg, even better. And Mother's Milk is just SOO GOOD!! As I'm currently moving back towards the RHCP catalog... their new album just doesn't cut it... Not that I'm one of those losers who want RHCP to stick to their roots and not explore anything new... I want them to, which was why I loved By The Way. But Stadium Arcadium didn't quite do the same thing.

I don't know. Maybe I'm speaking too soon. I will keep giving it more listens... I don't give up on an album so easily - and especially if its RHCP.... the band that provided the soundtrack to my teenage years.

I'm quite glad to say that the proportion of girls wearing ugg boots out in public has significantly decreased this winter season. It's good to see young women liberated from the gravitating force of what we call "fad fashion" and moving on to bigger and better things. Wait, maybe ugg boots are no longer the fad fashion. Well, whatever the fad fashion is these days, I'm not really picking up on anything severely as horrid.

Speaking of horrid, I, however, saw some male emo looking person in skinny black jeans with RED ugg boots. It looked incredibly awesome and I have since been inspired to purchase a pair of red ugg boots (available from Cotton On for a mere $29.95) - to wear at home of course. Ugg boots can look great if you can pull it off but unfortunately, the majority of the population can't. And chances are I'm part of this population.

So onto the topic of this post of which I'm sure you are curious to some extent. Let me explain. There are consequences when you don't blog for a few days. One of them is readers bugging you to stop being so literarily constipated and in extreme cases, they INTERVENE in trying to get your writers juices flowing. A particular reader has done so... and if it makes me more creative than perhaps it's not such a bad idea.

The topic given to me is "Why we should be nudists". I had a quick thought... and I don't think, as much as it's rather nice to be 'free' and au naturale, I think I'd be friggin cold this winter. Seriously, I don't understand how anyone could be a nudist without getting some sort of hypothermia. I'm thinking that if we lived in some nice tropical island where the weather was gorgeous and warm all year round, then it is a possibility.

I have no issues with being naked so long as EVERYONE else is naked. I'm certainly not offended by nudity. I like those photos taken of a whole bunch of naked people standing around some famous landmark - it just brings about a liberating sense of equality and allows us to focus our judgment on each person according to their individual merit - i.e.: personality, humour, etc. - rather than on the clothes they wear.

Clothes, being the first thing we see when we see a person, can generally tell us a lot of things... not so much about their financial or class status, but their personality - whether they respect themselves, whether they are narcissistic (i.e.: arrogant losers who love themselves a little bit too much), whether they are lazy, and whether or not they are insecure (try-hards attempting to be accepted).

I reckon that, relating to the topic above - ugg boots and young 14 year old whores - if we were all nudists, we wouldn't have to put up with such bullshit. Would you rather see a fat person walking down the street naked... or see the same fat person wearing tight skinny leg jeans with massive overhang and a skimpy top trying to look 'appealing'. Firstly, if we didn't wear clothes, overhang wouldn't be so much of an issue because it would be classified as natural. Overhang on tight jeans is NOT natural - it's simply overweight people trying to wear what their skinnier peers are wearing in order to keep that mentality of "hey, so what, if she gets to wear it, I get to wear it too. Because it's the 'in' thing" - puh-lease. Yes, I must say that you DO have the right to wear it too but if it looks like shit, then why lower yourself to such standards where you're being ridiculed?

This is going on to be a big rant about how people who friggin look SO BAD in a particular item of clothing who continue to wear that same piece of clothing because its the current trend and will somehow make them feel better about themselves. But my point is that some people turn a blind eye against themselves for the sake of fashion and that's a real sad thing. And so if we were all nudists, lots of people will be liberated in two main ways. 1. People won't have to feel inclined to dress in a certain way to feel accepted or better about themselves, clothes are no longer your advertising billboard for the kind of person you are. 2. The rest of us won't have to put up with the eyesore of bad sense of style and/or overhang and dimpled thighs on miniskirts. I'd rather see the whole full-monty than to think "how sad is that person?".

I don't know about you. But a naked oddly shaped person will always be more beautiful than the same oddly shaped person trying to wear something that was not suited to them. Let's just say that if there was a world wide revolution for everyone to be nudists (as well as a really good external heating system during winter), I wouldn't be complaining because then maybe everyone would start treating eachother equally. Who knows what other good things that may bring?

Ah. Ok, so I think that's about all I want to write. I could go on forever but we don't want that. I've gotta say tho that if we were nudists, I'd still like to be able to have dress up parties :P I love dressing up too much to give that up! What's your opinion?

Could you be a nudist?

Wow. Have you seen the photos of the new Apple store on 5th avenue in NYC? I have an iBook and so I've got the Apple website as my homepage and I just saw the pics - it's amazing!! Here's a sample.



This is an example of why I love Apple. It stands for innovation - and doesn't this store just say everything? I have an iBook G4 and I love it to bits. It does its job and more. Secondly, I have an iPod. As much as I had such a huge initial aversion to a product that has completely saturated the portable music playing world, I ended up buying one because it's just so user friendly. There is a reason why its up there and it's not just a marketing ploy. Sure the iRiver kicks its arse in terms of music quality... but most listeners would give up a fraction of sound quality for a little bit more user friendliness and aesthetics. Apple products, just like its store, are just so visually beautiful. As all designers would know, aesthetics play a huge role in making someone feel better about owning the product.



More love for my iBook - I can record and compose songs, compile photo albums, a music library, organise my projects, surf the net wirelessly, and so much more without having to install any programs because everything comes with the iBook and everything is oh so synchronised and integrated on such a stable operating system. And no, Apple didn't pay me for this free advertising. I'm just saying that I entered computing bliss since I bought this (very cheap for what you get) computer. Worth every buck.

See more photos of the new Apple store on 5th Ave here. It reminds me of the Louvre.

Yeah so I think on Thursday was the last interview that I will have this recruitment season and probably my last chance to try and get a job. *Sigh* This whole thing is so incredibly draining. I can just see myself not ending up with a job after all that hard work and time I had put into all this. I guess the experience has been rather worthwhile though - I've gone through pretty much every kind of interview you could possibly do - one on one, panel, group, assessment centre, 'in-tray'. What totally sucks is that I always get through the first round and all the subsequent rounds bar the last. So it's like I'm never rejected til right at the end - It's usually down to 2 or 3 people they have to choose from and I'm never the lucky one :P

I guess that if I don't end up getting a graduate job I suppose it isn't the end of the world. I have a few contingency plans up my sleeve but their feasibility at the moment isn't too good. FINANCIALS, argh. We shall see. I keep thinking that things will work out... but at the same time, I can't help thinking that I'm just a big lame failure if I don't land a job. Argh!

It's coming up to Week 12 now and exam season is getting ready to kick in. I really can't wait til this semester is over. This is by far the CRAZIEST semester EVER. In every aspect of my life. Remember I kept wailing on about how things are just so seemingly out of my control? It still is. Nothing new there.

So I shall stop being so self-indulgent. But it's MY blog and if you don't like it, then get the fuck out :P (Quoting Eddie Murphy). I've been learning a few more songs on the guitar and maybe if I'm feeling up for it again, record something and let you pretty people listen to it :) It's rare I find time to be able to record at home. Main reason? Because some songs require belting. And I hate belting when my brother or someone is in the room next to me. I feel like the biggest dork.

Last night was Adri's birthday party at Chaise Lounge which was fun. Happy Birthday, Adri!! It's a club on Saturday nights - no pretty vintage sofas.... just one big massive dancefloor that played phat funk beats at the start and later merging into good time retro i.e.: Wham's Wake Me Up Before You Go Go, Prince's Kiss, Stevie Wonder's Superstition, etc. Best retro playlist I've ever heard.

I'm waiting on the photos from Adri and I will post them up here later. There were some 'interesting' ones.

I have taken a leap of courage and decided to spend the afternoon recording a full-length song (a cover of course, I can't write for shit) and post it on my blog. Inspired by Steve who records and shares his music on his blog, I was like "hey, home recordings don't have to sound perfect - they can be raw because that's what it is... bedroom music".

So the song I recorded isn't perfect. I hit the wrong chords sometimes and my voice gets slightly out of tune. There's also a lot of 'noise' that I can't seem to get rid of. But as my first recording, I'm rather satisfied.

This is a song that means a lot to me and possibly my favourite David Bowie song ever. I thought it was a good place to start. Click on the link below to listen :)

Lady Stardust (David Bowie cover).mp3

xoxo

I'm currently printing my Thermo solutions in order to work on the tutes. We have a "mid-semester" exam next week (Week 12). Like what the.

Anywho, I was having a peaceful breakfast this morning and reading the trashy Herald Sun and I think I just read the (possibly) worst article ever. Well, it's soooo bad that it is in fact entertaining. So entertaining that it's worth blogging. I've bolded the sections of which I found made the article so incredible.

"Average food, hours and prices, but... Look Who's Talking"
by Matthew Schultz reporting for the Herald Sun - Sunday May 14, 2006

THE mayor of Delhi, home to one of the world's biggest slum populations, has delivered a backhander to one of the world's most liveable cities. Farhad Suri reckons Melbourne is too expensive, we shut up shop too early and - despite an interational dining reputation - we serve only average food.

On his frist visit to the city, Mr Suri - administrator of 14million people, including 2.4 million impoverished slum dwellers - complained that Melbourne shops closed too early.

"By the time you go out after a tough day, the streets are deserted by 8pm," Mr Suri said this week while attending an environment summit for Asia Pacific mayors.

"We're not used to that. We're generally open until about 9pm." My Suri was keen to check out what Melbourne had to offer because his home town will host the Commonwealth Games in 2010.

"By the time I got back to my hotel about 6pm, and my wife decided to go out with me to buy something, everything was closed," he said. "People going home from a conference in another country invariably wants to take back things for their families."

Mr Suri said he stuck to traditional Indian fare while here, but it was only "not too bad" and no match for the food back home. Our goods and services cost too much - the average monthly household income in Delhi is $541.40. But Melbourne impressed Mr Suri as "cosmopolitan", clean and friendly and transport arteries appeared less congested than in Delhi.

Buahahaha! Like, puh-lease. His slagging is so friggin lame - what do their slums have to do with our food being horrid? He then pastes this huge box titled "Facts about Delhi". These were the facts that he had - word for word, I'm not lying.

FACTS ABOUT DELHI

• India's capital city, population 13.8 million


• Average monthly household income is 18,138 rupees ($541.40)


• Delhi is the world's fourth worst polluted city


• There are about 400 murders and attempted murders and 170,000 kidnappings a year.


• The infant mortality rate is 23 per thousand live births.


• Traffic accidents kill more than 2000 a year.


• There are 636,200 unemployed.


• About 500,000 children live on the streets.


• About 4.2 million poeple live in squats or slums.

Is it just me who finds this incredibly ridiculous? I mean, maybe the stats are true... but what an incredibly irrelevant way to slag off another city just because the mayor expressed his opinions about us being overpriced?! How does it even compare? It's like saying "Living in England is like so expensive and the weather is shit! But that's okay because back home in Melbourne, our picture frames aren't really that sturdy". I just don't understand how an article of this stature can even be published! But then again, it IS the Herald Sun - you can't expect too much scholastic academia to come out of that one.

Seriously though, I find it rather disgusting and embarassing for Melbourne. What would someone from Delhi think if they read that article? They'll just think Melbournians are a bunch of stuck up irrational pricks. I can just imagine sone uneducated dickwad sitting on a sofa in Fountain Gate with the following thought stream running through his/her head "Oi bloody oath, this Delhi mayor is such an idiot, what does his city have to show fer? Get yer kids off the streets before yous complain about our food yer fucking fuck"

IN OTHER NEWS... I had the most beautiful dream last night. It was so beautiful I woke up with the biggest smile on my face. Which, after the 5 seconds of basking in the blissful dreamstate world, turned into the biggest frown when the realisation that it was 'just a dream' kicked in. As much as I love having the happiest of happy dreams, I hate it when I wake up because I know it isn't real, it won't ever happen to me, and the true reality of the situation is just so far from it. I find these things so depressing.

Well, I better get back to my thermo. When was the last time you had a happy dream and how did you feel when you woke up?

I am saddened. I just read Dick Mac's blog today and found out about The Body Shop being sold to L'Oreal, of which Nestle is the biggest shareholder. This totally sucks. I can't believe this. I love The Body Shop. Their Body Butters are the best thing to have happened to me. Basically, how the hell am I going to keep up this Nestle boycott when the only moisturiser I use are the (wonderful wide variety of brilliant flavoured) Body Butters?! I hate it when things are this conflicting. I have used a lot of products in my lifetime - and The Body Shop has just been unbeatable.

I'm very disappointed with the fact that The Body Shop has done this considering how much of a long-standing human rights/environmental activist the organisation is. I always had the deep satisfaction of buying The Body Shop products knowing that I'm purchasing an extremely high quality product that takes environmental and social effects into account. Now? Now I feel that such a decision is simply not worth my money. I don't understand why Dame Anita is arguing that the Nestle shareholders won't benefit from customers continuing to buy The Body Shop products. As a student of finance, OF COURSE THEY WILL! Why else would you be a shareholder?? Why would L'Oreal even take over The Body Shop if it wasn't in line with every corporation's intent: To maximise shareholder wealth?!

It's logical - People buy The Body Shop's products, L'Oreal reaps all the profits, L'Oreal distributes profits to shareholders, Nestle being the largest shareholder gets the biggest proportion of the dividends. And expanding its product base, L'Oreal's market value will increase, again benefiting the shareholders in terms increased share value. I don't understand this comment:

"So if you have to bloody boycott - then boycott. Boycott all the products that Nestle own 100 per cent - Perrier, Kit-Kat, Shredded Wheat, Nescafe, Carnation Milk. And boycott every pension fund that may have holdings in Nestle for whatever reason, and everyone who benefits from them. But for goodness sake strengthen the arm of anyone who sees an opportunity of changing the black hole of the corporate world." - Dame Anita Roddick

How on earth does that work?? If you want to change the black hole of the corporate world, you don't sell yourself to it! I just can't comprehend... Someone please explain!

For those of you who have just missed the boat on the Nestle boycott, please visit Baby Milk Action. I don't see how you could change the corporate world UNLESS L'Oreal makes a statement that the profits from The Body Shop contributes to a good cause that will continue to fight for human, animal and environmental rights. If I were to continue to buy their products, I'd like to know where my money goes. But seriously, even if profits from The Body Shop is withheld (as retained earnings, because they can't just possibly give all profits to charity otherwise why would they even bother paying $600m for it?), it means they don't need as much retained earnings from their other lines of business... meaning that they will just get the dosh elsewhere to distribute dividends. In my opinion, it just doesn't work.

"I'm not an investor in Nestle myself. I'm not giving them any money. I'm not even taking money from them. I am taking money from a company where they have a small stake, and ... I will be giving this away to further the cause, just as I did last year to help Amnesty move into a new office."

Good for her and for a lot of people who would benefit from her charitable efforts BUT that is not the point here. It's not all about her and what she does with the money - it's great to see her putting it into a good cause - she doesn't need to defend herself in that regard. But it's about the COMPANY and what it represents. What's going to happen to the profits from this day forward? Will it still continue to support consumer activism? She's said nothing about this and she can't because she's no longer in control of its business. It's like saying Lenin converted himself into a capitalist in exchange for a wad of money and then using this money to fund a communist party. It just doens't make any sense!

My main argument in this post is not because I want you all to stop buying anything remotely related to Nestle, L'Oreal or The Body Shop (you should do what you think matters to YOU - it's not easy and there is no point boycotting if you're not passionate about it). It's about being able to uphold your standards of which you stand for. And I don't think The Body Shop has in this case. And thus I'm gravely disappointed.

I never knew about this feature!!! Ahhh! It's so great to get stats on my most played songs. The best thing is that it takes the stats off my iPod.

1. Goodbye Yellow Brick Road - Elton John
2. You Only Live Once - The Strokes
3. Perfect Now - Sarah Blasko
4. Always Worth It - Sarah Blasko
5. Don't U Eva - Sarah Blasko
6. Counting Sheep - Sarah Blasko
7. Always True - Gail Ann Dorsey
8. Saturdays - Cut Copy
9. Don't Dream It's Over - Sarah Blasko
10. Divorcee By 23 - Clare Bowditch
11. Everyday I Love You Less and Less - Kaiser Chiefs
12. Na Na Na Na Naa - Kaiser Chiefs
13. Juicebox - The Strokes
14. Hey Now Now - The Cloud room
15. I Predict A Riot - Kaiser Chiefs
16. Oh My God - Kaiser Chiefs
17. Stuff And Nonsense (Split Enz Cover) - Missy Higgins
18. Positive Tension - Bloc Party
19. Love For Sale - Faker
20. Slip Away - David Bowie
21. Philadelphia - Gail Ann Dorsey
22. Beautiful Secrets - Sarah Blasko
23. All Hands Against His Own - The Black Keys
24. Sunnyroad - Emiliana Torrini
25. The Fool - Gail Ann Dorsey

Hmm, I'm not very well diversified according to my top 25. Sarah Blasko seems to dominate my music world at the moment! Who could blame her tho... She's just brilliant!!


Sarah Blasko

Kaiser Chiefs are up there because of the culprit by the name of ROBYN who always makes me play them full blast in my car resulting in the both of us losing our voices!

What is YOUR iTunes top 25??

So I went to Toys R Us today to do some shopping for my Final Year Project. I am looking for a big tub of Duplo blocks and large baseplates to build my little harbour town to test in the wave generator. I found the baseplates but no big tubs of Duplo. Aw.

Then I came home and went online to see if I can order them instead. And what can I say... as soon as I went to the Lego Online Shop... I felt this slight tingle up my spine - the kind of tingle when you get excited about walking into a huge toy megastore when you're friggin five years old. The products that Lego has now come up with are fucking cool!

Check out Catwoman!! They have a new Batman range. When I was a kid, I *loved* Batman. He was my hero. None of that Barbie stuff really went down too well for me. It was superheroes all the way.

They also have a totally wicked Ferrari Formula 1 team range... They have the motorhome with "Scuderia Ferrari" emblazoned on the truck just like how it is in real life. You get the F1 car and the pit crew. *Drool* Hey, if anyone wants any ideas for any birthday presents... ahem, ahem.

Damit this stuff is just so cool. I'm feeling like a bit of an idiot getting so excited about toys - I probably look like someone who had seriously missed out on childhood... - but hey, why can't I?

Okay, back to my Duplo shopping. Maybe I should buy a 'Batman' set and turn my little harbour town into Gotham City. That'll kick arse!

I was looking for a notebook to write a 'To do' list for my final year project (I am so behind in everything) and I dug up an old spiral notebook from a few years back in which I wrote down my thoughts on art, and what I found compelling. I wrote a rather huge section on Dada - an art movement that really fascinated (and I guess, still does) me.

This is what I had to say!
(I was probably 18 years old when I wrote this, so it's been a while!)

Her face is sans feature but she wears a Dali broach! Dada - a catalyst which helped poets, artists and disaffected intellectuals in a dozen countries during the Great War to focus their hatred and ideals into a programme of cultural action. I think I am a rather disaffected individual in a sense that I always question the status quo and am somewhat dissatisfied to a huge extent because I can be so skeptical to the way things are. I'm not sure if this is a good thing... But if I lived in the age of great social unrest, I think I would be at the forefront of such a movement - or at least, its biggest fan.

Dada represents a revolt against art by artists themselves, who, appalled by developments in contemporary society, recognised that art was bound to be a product, reflection, and even support of that society and was therefore criminally implicated. DADA MEANS: Man is at the behest of nature and gives up pretending to be its master. Intentionally negative, ephemeral, illogical and inconclusive. Remove the 'intentionally negative' trait and I think I'm a walking and talking work of art: I am Dada! Ephemeral, illogical and inconclusive.

Dada-ists believed that "war was a direct product of the competitive urge of industriall capitalism, when its mechanized trench warfare as a grotesque and monstrous version of the productive process itself"... Words were mere fictions and that there was no correspondence between the structures of language and those of reality.

I don't think Dada is just an art movement... but also a frame of mind or moral revolution. ART - SELF - REALITY. It is artistic free thinking. The artist (or person) is a spiritual adventurer for whom productivity was of secondary importance.

Some say that Dada is the sickest, most paralyzing and most destructive thing that has ever originated from the brain of man. But I see it as a revolt against a world that was capable of unspeakable horrors. Reason and logic had led people into the horrors of war; the only route to salvation was to reject logic and embrace anarchy and the irrational.

Y'know, I forgot that I had thought about Dada so much. As much the above concepts sound absurd, it has some truths. The more we try to draw logic and meaning from what is happening in our lives, the more complicated things get and the more we aren't happy. If we just went with the flow of life... and see where things take us... grabbing opportunities along the way... wouldn't we be a lot happier than say if things didn't turn out to be the way we wanted? How we saw things to be in the future, the type of person we wanted to become?

People try to be so politically correct all the time too. This is completely logical because we don't want to offend. But what if we call could 'embrace the anarchy and the irrational' by accepting the fact that everyone of us is so biased in so many ways? A quote from a song off Avenue Q... "If we all could just admit that we are all racist a little bit and if everyone stopped being so PC, maybe we could live in Harmony!" ... Dada drops all respect for tradition, opinion, and judgment. And maybe we should too.

I'm not advocating the fact that we should all become anarchists and not have some sense of direction in our lives. It's just an observation. Anywho, I am going to go and continue my work on my FYP. But I shall leave you with some of the different kinds of Dada... Enjoy ;)

A Quote:

"DADA speaks with you, it is everything, it envelops everything, it belongs to every religion, can be neither victory or defeat, it lives in space and not in time." - Francis Picabia

Some Visuals:







A Song:

Listen to what Dada sounds like! This is rather peculiar.
A Dada Sonnet
Dada Sonnet Conclusion

A Poem:

Jetzt muß ich aus der großen Kugel fallen.
Dabei ist in Paris ein schönes Fest.
Die Menschen sammeln sich am Gare de l'Est
Und bunte Seidenfahnen wallen.
Ich aber bin nicht unter ihnen.
Ich fliege in dem großen Raum.
Ich mische mich in jeden Traum
Und lese in den tausend Mienen.
Es liegt ein kranker Mann in seinem Jammer.
Mich hypnotisiert sein letzter Blick.
Wir sehnen einen Sommertag zurück...
Ein schwarzes Kreuz erfüllt die Kammer...

Which I will translate with my limited knowledge in German...

Now I must fall from the large ball,
Into a beautiful celebration in Paris.
The people gather around Gare de l'Est
and colourful silk flags flying.
I however am not among them,
I fly in the area above them,
I mix in each of their dreams
and read thousands of their expressions.
There lies a patient man in its misery.
I'm hypnotised in this last view,
we remember one long summer day back...
A black cross fills the room...

x

I thought I'd freshen up the place a bit. I don't really see the point in a 'News Flash' section (see to your left) because a blog is supposedly for the purpose of posting news flashes anyway. That 'News Flash' section totally defeats the purpose of this posting section. I might get rid of it soon. Please tell me if the colours hurt your eyes. I don't want a long line of lawsuits coming from you people because I have just made you colourblind.

I have a slight problem with this new layout. I don't think I can take myself seriously anymore considering the colours that I have chosen. It's just so happy... (?!), so expect a few tweakings over the next few weeks. Besides, I haven't added my links yet, my tattoo photo is looking rather stale and this pink double border surrounding this text is makes me look as if I'm constipated and/or sexually frustrated, you decide. [Editors note: I have taken off the awful yellow and pink border which Adri describes as "upholstery colours"]

In other news, Uni (apart from assignments) has been going pretty good this semester. I was just talking to a friend today about how 'balanced' this semester has become. Squash twice weekly, trivia weekly, coffee daily, uni work not so daily, days off, crazy days, etc etc. Not to mention grad apps... they are worth atleast 12 credit points. By the way, remember I was talking before about how I had a really great interview session with a company? Well, I am now through to the second round! I'm rather excited because I really wasn't expecting anything less.

My uni friends and I went to see Mark Watson last thursday for the Melbourne Comedy Festival. He was fantastic! I was rather worried about this because I chose the show for everyone, and if he wasn't good I would be on negative street cred for the rest of the year. Well not really... but people might ask for their money back :P.

My house is currently freezing. Our central heating has broken down and I feel like I'm sitting in an oversized Esky except I am not surrounded with beer.

BUT HEY, I was going through more of my archives and I remember stumbling upon a RUSSIAN website with the *funniest* article on David Bowie. I thought I might dig it up again because its so friggin rich!

First Bowie positioned himself as tender "white Duke". Because of David Bowie's amasing charm, many rich women and men wanted to have sex with him. However, he chose his own path to metrosexuality. Some of Bowie's scene images were frightening. "Thin White Duke" not only impressed people with his innovative music, but also opened the new way of following the path of good and evil to them. David Bowie is an extremely well-groomed man. It is shocking to imagine what will men of future look like if they all continue developing in this direction.

Bowie's fame increased after his singing "China Girl" song by Iggy Pope. Bowie admired with Pope, wrote songs for him and sponsored his discs. After Bowie sang "China Girl" and included this song in his album "Let's Dance", poor and homeless Pope became a millionaire.

Some more funny moments of which I found...

• Weird sexuality was among Bowie's features.


• His dressing sense had an unearthly aristocratic flavor contrasted with an earthly routine.


• On the preak of his popularity "Ziggy Stardust" turned into effeminate creature similar to elf.


• The key image was hero dropped to the Earth out of another world.


• Bowie started his career with singing unpretentious ballads and rock'n'roll.

HAHAHAHAHA!

xx

It's such a beautiful day today. The sun's shining, clear blue skies all around, butterflies fluttering around flowers, my cat sunbathing on the bonnet of my car... and HERE I AM INSIDE ON A COLD MARBLE TABLE WORKING ON MY FRIGGIN ECONOMICS ESSAY in seething jealousy - JUST LOOK AT MY CAT!

Ugh. Assignments just remind me how much I am over university. Yet at the same time, if I were working full time, I'd be sitting inside anyway, and worse... cooped up in a stale cubicle with a computer and maybe a photo of me and my cat (sunbathing). Ugh. As I said earlier... there are already songs written for me... As Franz Ferdinand would like to put it...

"It's so much better on holiday.
SO MUCH BETTER on holiday.
That's why we only work when WE NEED THE MONEY"

xoxo

Y'know the reason why I don't write my own music (the fact that I'm shit at it has nothing to do with it :P) is because there's a horde of music out there that has already been written about similar experiences that are incredibly good. Why bother trying to make something better when you just can't get any better? :P Besides. When you write a song with lyrics that fit you to a tee it's nothing special. Of course you can relate to it, cos you fucking wrote it! It's only a lot more special when someone else has written it and you feel as if it was written just for you or about you. It's not always accurate word for word (especially in the case below) but the general gist is there. Such touches the heart.

Split Enz - Stuff & Nonsense

Disobey my own decisions, I deserve all your suspicion.
First it's "yes" and then it's "no" - I dilly dally down to duo.
But I got no secrets that I babble in my sleep,
I won't make promises to you that I can't keep.

And you know that I love you,
Here and now... not forever.
I can give you the present,
I don't know about the future...
That's all stuff and nonsense.

I once lived for the future, every day was one day closer.
Greener on the other side, this I believed before I met you.
I soon learned your love burned brighter than the stars in my eyes,
Now I know how and when I know where and why.

And you know that I love you,
Here and now... not forever.
I can give you the present,
I don't know about the future...
That's all stuff and nonsense.

I think this song describes my overall outlook in life. Things change all the time for me. I live in the present... and whatever the sandcastles that I build in the sky called 'my future', they always crumble and fall and are always rebuilt again - no matter how much I love it. They are, essentially, stuff and nonsense.

This week is a rather colourful week for me. I have 3 assignments to complete, a group interview, uni, a lab, a shift at work, and a sprinkling of social events in between. I need these social events to break up my week otherwise I feel like the biggest lame-o. I mean... there's more to life than doing homework even if you are in your absolute busiest week EVER. Outlets are good. And so are factory ones.

xo