|
Post by Matthew Of Canberra on Sept 6, 2012 8:28:16 GMT 10
I liked first dog's cartoon about moo-gate www.crikey.com.au/2012/09/05/nsfwalking-down-the-street-language-warning/Sadly, I think the point will be missed, because Grahame "allosaur" Morris obviously wasn't about to start beating up Leigh Sales so it's not the same at all so there anyway women are equal now so stop whining and get me a beer. I also do think teh leftz' case is indeed undermined by a certain number of identifiable celebrities who can be, I'll be blunt, bloody idiots. I though "face like a rapist" was particularly vile, myself. I think that did put a little bit of a bucolic comparison in the shade. I imagine that being compared with a rapist might make me a little bit grumpity, should it happen - I would find that very not funny indeed. On a related note, I think the world would be a better place if folks in the media learned to accept when they've made a mistake and apologise. Hey, we all blunder. But having to work through that mental evaluation process might lead to a bit of Continuous Improvement, I think. Anyhow, I came across something last night which was really breathtaking. Let's have a look at the level of pure hatred that exists in the US ... mostly on Fox. mediamatters.org/research/2012/09/04/michelle-obama-derangement-syndrome-four-years/189737Something to look forward to, I guess. I'm pretty sure of one thing - if the next liberal PM's missus gets the sort of derangement that the first bloke has faced, the commentators on the right will explode with outrageous fury.
|
|
|
Post by Matthew Of Canberra on Sept 9, 2012 15:06:27 GMT 10
Just watched this (been busy)
I think bolta's probably right to criticize the coverage that boils that whole thing down to the "2$ african" soundbite. I think she does deserve a grown-up response. Ok, it comes to basically the same result, but if she does want to raise important questions then maybe somebody in the government ought to respond.
Personally, I think that video is a target-rich environment for any economist.
It's also ripe with disingenuous concern for other people. She's not worried about HER red (or green) tape, no sir - it's the mom and pop small-business owners she's worried about. And she's not worried about HER return on investment, that's just silly - no, it's all those other multinationals who're being forced to do business elsewhere that are keeping her up at night. And it's not HER labor costs that she's upset about ... it's just that there are these africans ...
Actually, I don't think gina's worried about her own self-interest at all. But there's this other miner she knows who's really worried that the WEF thinks rwanda's doing better than we are.
I for one am happy to see the resource sector finally hit some constraints. I grew up in a country that had a manufacturing sector, and I'd like think that it might still have one when I move on. I can imagine gina's ideal world - we'll still all be doing alright, but our industries will be reduced to a monument somewhere and some fond memories. And its employees will be working for companies that import goods from overseas.
|
|
|
Post by Matthew Of Canberra on Sept 9, 2012 16:29:58 GMT 10
|
|
|
Post by Matthew Of Canberra on Sept 9, 2012 17:49:13 GMT 10
In preparation for a week of madness, I'm ironing some shirts and introducing a couple of cats to each other ... verrrrry slowly. So I've been listening to podcasts. I first listened to the live recording of Skeptics' Guide To the Universe, produced at Dragon Con: www.theskepticsguide.org/archive/podcastinfo.aspx?mid=1&pid=373I'm actually relatively late to being a fan of this one. I must have listened to an episode a long time ago and been annoyed by it and just written it off. But it's actually quite entertaining. But I've also been listening to BBC's "A Point Of View" - the latest series is of episodes from the philosopher John Gray. They're really good. I've been listening in reverse order, and so far I'm three in - listening to a surprising essay about the links between isaiah berlin, george orwell and orson welles. I'm sure it's all old news to real culture buffs, but I'm finding it fascinating. I didn't know, for example, that one of the (several) people who turned down the publication of Animal Farm (on the grounds that it sent the wrong sort of message about the soviets - still an important ally), did so on the advice of a man who orwell later named to authorities (as he was dying of TB) as somebody who was probably a soviet agent. He was right, as it happens - which only became known after the soviet union fell. That agent later sold some short story ideas to graham greene (one about a chap selling diluted penicillin) which led to the screenplay of The Third Man, and he was briefly immortalised in the film as the name of a bar. Which all led to giving orson the opportunity to ad-lib the lines about 500 years of democracy producing the cuckoo clock - leading back somehow to berlin, but I can't remember how just now. It's great stuff. It really is. His point (in this episode) is not to assume that the fall of a tyranny inexorably leads to greater freedom - history says otherwise. Get 'em while they're hot: www.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/series/pov
|
|
|
Post by angra on Sept 9, 2012 18:17:51 GMT 10
MoC - Berlin was a great man - a profound thinker, social theorist and philosopher ahead of his time, but not very fashionable now. I recommend his essay's on Vico and Herder. Berlin resurrected interest in them after generations of neglect. I believe it's legit to download them from here. avaxhome.ws/ebooks/0701125128.html
|
|
|
Post by angra on Sept 9, 2012 20:29:46 GMT 10
Awe shit - I went in for some Digital Retinal photography to check my eyes, and found it was Digital Rectal Photography. I now have some some interesting photos but my eyesight isn't any better.
BTW - what is the best cure for hiccups?
|
|
|
Post by Matthew Of Canberra on Sept 10, 2012 9:20:26 GMT 10
Hiccups? I'd rather have a bottle in front of me... I did some googling/translating last night over the whole 2008 "cute-gate" incident in beijing, wherein we're told that the real chinese singer of "ode to the motherland",Yang Peiyi (age 7), was swapped for the more photogenic Lin Miaoke (age 9) because Peiyi was "too ugly to represent China" and for having "buck teeth". Turns out that there was a lot of filling-in by the press. What the artistic director actually said was far less specific than that. "The main consideration was the national interest. The child on the screen should be flawless in image, in her internal feelings, and in her expression. In the matter of her voice, Yang Peiyi was flawless, in the unanimous opinion of all the members of the team."
"We have a responsibility to face the audience of the whole country, and to be open with this explanation. We should all understand it like this, it is a question of the national interest. It is a question of the image of our national music, our national culture."
"Especially at the entrance of our national flag, this is an extremely important, an extremely serious matter."
"So we made the choice. I think it is fair to both Lin Miaoke and Yang Peiyi, after all, we have a perfect voice, a perfect image and a perfect show, in our team’s view, all together." It does seem that chinese people who heard about the switcharoo were also fairly outraged - apparently baidu banned search terms including the girls' names for some period of time. So it does seem that there was a domestic backlash, but mostly over the deception. Showbiz is tough. I traveled to hong kong a few times in the 90's, over a short period of time, and each time I was there a completely new set of pop stars had saturation coverage on the TV. That doesn't make me an expert, but I was struck by the high rate of turnover. I wonder how long an average hit single lasts - weeks, is my suspicion. So sure, feel bad for the girl who was bumped. But it's not all bad - it was HER voice that was broadcast. It seems there's some doubt as to whether the second girl actually realised that she wasn't singing. But the whole "too ugly" and "buck teeth" thing does seem to have been a western interpolation. Google the name "Yang Peiyi" - she's not actually particularly lumpen. She's not as photogenic as Miaoke, but that has more to do with the whole "manic pixie baby doll" thing the latter has going. Peiyi wasn't actually ugly, but Miaoke seems to have access to perky-drugs that should probably be banned. Our own pop industry is only 15 years out (maybe) from routinely substituting singers' voices. I forget which one, but one of the girl bands once admitted that they'd never actually stepped foot into a studio (atomic kitten?) And our own opening ceremony in 2000 had some fakery too. The SSO, I understand, actually played to a recording made by the MSO. Shock! Horror! I hate to be seen as defending china, but this was just one example of a series of fairly unhinged hate-fest overreactions from a media that seemed locked and loaded to find and report anything at all that could put china down. Guys - diplomacy goes two ways. When that torch came through canberra, chinese chauvinism and youth-nationalism were on display - perhaps even obnoxiously. But then we went and made up for it, and it was a bit unattractive.
|
|
jreidy
Junior Member
Posts: 60
|
Post by jreidy on Sept 11, 2012 7:06:50 GMT 10
When doesn't the media distort something by focussing on a single aspect to the exclusion of everything else. Latest exhibit - the Quarterly essay on Tony Abbott. I read the extract in the weekend papers, and the 'wall punch' episode is striking but there is a lot more in the article, also this particular anecdote is a 'he says, she says' story. I am starting to think that if a story doesn't have some 'new' startling news it sinks without a trace. Background or analysis just doesn't cut it.
|
|
|
Post by angra on Sept 11, 2012 20:37:37 GMT 10
What did Dame Nellie Melba like to do before a performance to improve her voice?
|
|
|
Post by Matthew Of Canberra on Sept 12, 2012 21:44:21 GMT 10
Random podcast roundup ... This week's Gareth Jones on Speed (one of my very faves) sees gareth scoring himself a drive from blighty to the belgian grand prix in some sort of V8 AMG SLS thing, complete with lots of information about the history of the company, the technology, the cars and some gorgeous recordings of a big V8 woofling 500+ horsepowers while he drives with the other hand (the one that's not holding the mic). I think this podcast is starting to become what Top Gear would be if they just took away all the silliness. That's followed by several minutes of hi-fidelity "audio car porn" as our man sets up his recording gear next to the track. It's good. It really is. www.garethjones.tv/onspeed/onspeed181.htmlBBC's "Analysis" is in hiatus, but they're taking the opportunity to run series 2 of "The Philosopher's Arms", a live show recorded at the Edinburgh fringe. I listened to a couple last night, and they're very entertaining. Genuinely funny, and seriously nerdy. www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01lyb82/episodes/guideI discovered something quite odd tonight, and I just sort of half-listened to most of an episode before popping out to buy some mineral water. I suspect I don't have the theological grounding to grok this one, but I like the idea: www.rethinkinghell.com/category/podcast/And Monster Talk has just put up another episode - always good, these are. This is what I'm about to take to bed with me: Yokai Attack! The Japanese Monster Survival Guidemonstertalk.skeptic.com/webpage/yokai-attack
|
|
|
Post by Matthew Of Canberra on Sept 13, 2012 8:50:16 GMT 10
Just casting an eye over today's contributions to punch-gate, and a question occurs to me ...
Is there anyone on the liberal front bench who WASN'T somehow connected with the University of Sydney SRC elections in 1977?
And I used to think Adelaide was cosy. Wow.
But I reckon bolta and others should totally keep putting the boot into people who're backing barbara ramjan's version of events. It's working a treat. A few more days of this and we'll have GoPro footage.
|
|
|
Post by angra on Sept 13, 2012 19:49:47 GMT 10
Q. - Where is the Universal House of Justice?
Is it in a superhero comic? The US headquarters of the NRA? Avengers?
Nah. Much better.
|
|
|
Post by angra on Sept 14, 2012 11:10:30 GMT 10
We've got some real old-fashioned MSM bitch-slaps going on over the Abbott "he said, she said" Punchgate affair. It's great fun!
SMH says this, Abbott says that, SMH drags some witnesses out, News says it's all rubbish, Abbott says "I don't remember" then "it didn't happen", Fairfax drags out some more witnesses.
Settle back with a pack of Twisties and a VB and enjoy the spectacle!
|
|
|
Post by Sammy Jankis on Sept 14, 2012 17:28:44 GMT 10
Did anyone hear Greg Sheridan lose his shit on the ABC today? Classic! ;D
|
|
|
Post by Matthew Of Canberra on Sept 14, 2012 19:35:44 GMT 10
What program was that? I'd like to hear it.
The Committee For The Election Of Tony Abbot has been working hard today.
Having ignored my (OK, probably unread) advice not to attack, wholesale, all possible witnesses as liars and leftist scum in advance (and hasn't that gone well - seriously, if digital media had been around in the '70s ...) they've realised that they're going to have to huff and puff VERY VERY HARD to make this one go away.
The "she never mentioned this before" response (currently the backbone strategy of the defense counsel) is basically The Chewbacca defense warmed up (she didn't spit! you must aquit!)
What really gets me about this one is how quickly the Instant Karma struck. Wow.
|
|