Braille Radio

artbroken @ 2008-05-16T11:19:00

2008-05-16T01:20:16Z

I CAN'T THINK THROUGH ALL THIS HAIR.

artbroken @ 2008-05-15T21:44:00

2008-05-15T11:44:07Z

Any Aussies interested in both tech and general lifestyle improvement should check out the Upgrade Your Life contest on Lifehacker.com.au. The person who submits the best 'life hack', tip, strategy or whatever gets an autographed copy of the book, which sounds very cool.

I'm not entering, mostly because my leet hax usually consist of drinking pre-mix bourbon while playing video games in my underwear, but someone less criminally slack should definitely give it a go.

artbroken @ 2008-05-14T18:38:00

2008-05-14T08:38:25Z

Things I learned today:

- Books are not printed and bound by cheerful orphans who mix their occasional tears into the glue, but by bored and low-paid workers in large and noisy warehouses

- The smell of acetone can be enough to bring on a tic

- Printing and binding is really quite dull

- The rooftop beer garden at the Corner Hotel is really quite nice, especially when it's empty

- Getting a bus from Richmond to Clifton Hill at peak hour fucking sucks

I feel embiggened by all this knowledge. I may have to lose some other knowledge to fit everything in. Fortunately that's why God invented beer.

artbroken @ 2008-05-13T11:23:00

2008-05-13T01:31:18Z

This came out of last night's group writing exercise in my short story class:

"This is all y'alls fault!" screams Cardboard Elvis, and aims a Hollywood punch at Old Leather Elvis' jaw. Around them a party pack of assorted Elvis varieties yell and cheer, or jog in beer-stained white jumpsuits after the departing bus.

Old Leather easily dodges the punch, it's all show and no go, and plants his spit-polished boot in Cardboard's artificial paunch.

Thematic collision between genuine failure and superficial success, as described by a fist-fight between Elvis impersonators on the way to a Las Vegas casino show.

It's a bit silly, but I think I like it, and I might try to develop it further. I should also really come back to that short story about narcolepsy and frog princes, which is also about the search for passion in a superficial world.

One day I must try marrying a light theme to a non-absurd story. Just for variety.

"a cross between Star Wars and the smell of ass"

2008-05-12T01:17:59Z

Today's featured page on Wikipedia is about the film version of Battlefield Earth.

Strangely, now that I can see how and why it was such an unmitigated disaster (well, other than the obvious reason that it's based on one of L. Ron Hubbard's risible novels), I find myself wanting to watch it. Preferably while completely drunk and/or out of my mind on hard drugs.

Not that I do hard drugs. But if I did, I think I'd have to watch Battlefield Earth as part of the experience. Or possibly hit myself in the groin with a ballpeen hammer over and over again.

artbroken @ 2008-05-11T23:11:00

2008-05-11T13:11:11Z

Crimes that involve 'moral turpitude', according to the US State Department: Arson, theft, counterfeiting, manslaughter, fraud. Also tax evasion, bigamy, lewdness and sodomy.

Crimes that do not involve moral turpitude: drunk driving, desertion, escaping from prison, trading on the black market, loan sharking, smuggling, fornication, bastardy, libel and attempted suicide.

Attempts to find any logic in all this or to explain why bigamists are less desirable as US tourists than drunk ex-Army loan sharks with ten illegitimate children should be taken up with the nearest consulate. While you're there, check on the difference between sodomy and fornication, 'cos I really do think there's a lot of wriggle room there. So to speak.

artbroken @ 2008-05-10T16:18:00

2008-05-10T06:18:12Z

I miss the dawn. I saw it for the first time in well over a year this morning, as I had to catch a bus at 6.30am, and I watched sunlight slowly bleed into the dark to turn it... well, mostly grey, but a comfortable soft grey I find beautiful.

It's been a long time since I would habitually skip sleep two or three nights a week, and would walk home through Brisbane dawns from a club/party/session with friends, watching the day and the night shake hands and swap shifts. There was a lot of late-night damage that looked ugly at first light, no lie, but the rest of the world was all brittlepretty and interesting.

And I miss that. I don't necessarily miss the sleeplessness, the next-day-weariness or the hectic nightlife (well, okay, I miss that a bit too), but there were moments of wonder I got to glimpse in that half-lit window of morning. I hope they're still there, even if I'm not.

Into the west(ern)

2008-05-09T04:26:56Z

The Good: Instead of actually writing an assignment next week for my Editing 2 class, the teacher wants me to talk to the class about my job and will give me assignment credit in return.

The Bad: The US's visa application system and rules can suck a rock out of my arse.

The Ugly: Biannual warehouse stocktake tomorrow. Starting at 7.30am. On a Saturday.

artbroken @ 2008-05-08T12:59:00

2008-05-08T03:07:25Z

I'm a bit surprised that no-one on my f-list has mentioned this yet, but Nine Inch Nails have another new album out, and this one's completely free.

It's called 'The Slip', it's 10 tracks long, and it's pretty good. It's nothing amazing, and it feels more like a collection of B-sides and studio asides than a fully realized and cohesive album - but come on, it's free and it's worth a listen. And more to the point, it's been released under a creative commons license, so you're encouraged not just to copy and share it but also to remix and tinker with it, which is very interesting.

Reznor certainly could have money on this, given how successful the Ghosts I-IV experiment was, so kudos to him for going this route. It'll be interesting to see if bands with less fanatical (and less wired) fanbases start doing similar things. Possibly those bands need to fucked over more thoroughly by their record labels first - which is more or less inevitable, I guess.

artbroken @ 2008-05-08T07:04:00

2008-05-07T21:05:31Z

This must be shared:

(Thanks to gmskarka for the link.)

artbroken @ 2008-05-07T19:32:00

2008-05-07T09:32:09Z

This says everything that matters about today's society:

I would now post something pithy and interesting, but I'm still working on this stupid editing assignment. Whoot.

Write here, write now

2008-05-06T07:58:54Z

I just out about the 2008-09 Commonwealth Short Story Competition, which closes this Friday, and thought a few of you might like to know about it. Free entry, 2000 pounds prize money (big bucks!), 600 word max, and the winning stories are turned into radio plays. Good return on zero investment, and the perfect place to submit 'Meta Text Otis' (which won't win, but it's worth trying).

There's also the Australian Horror Writers Association Flash & Short Story Competition, which closes at the end of this month. 'Flash' means 1000 words or less, regular fiction is 8000 or less, prize money is... actually, that's not super clear, but presumably enough to warrant the $5/$10 entry fee. I had hoped to submit my old story 'Godheads', which I'm very fond of, but it's not eligible 'cos it got published briefly online about 6 years ago; instead I'm going to submit 'The Salbine Incident' once I finish workshopping & polishing it later this month.

(Both LJ entries with those stories are getting friends-locked now, just to keep things tidy.)

In other short story news, the next piece for my course is apparently not an 'experimental' piece, and I have free reign for 1000 words. No idea what to write about at this point, but inspiration has a way of pouncing on me when I least expect it, so something will come to mind before long.

As for tonight, well, I have to write 600-odd words for an editing assignment, which another student will edit as I edit someone else. Or something like that. I skipped class last week after a long day at work, so I missed out on all the details, but I'm sure I can make something up as I go along. That works in the rest of my life, after all.

It's cold and raining, but I have brandy and a head full of words. No complaints.

artbroken @ 2008-05-05T21:48:00

2008-05-05T11:49:06Z

I know this is a low-content post, but it bears repeating, and I don't have much else to say today.

artbroken @ 2008-05-04T17:54:00

2008-05-04T07:54:59Z

There's a bar in Caledonian Lane called 'Shit Town'.

I'm here to assure you that yes, the name is accurate.

Iron Ships and Wooden Men (sorry, wrong way round)

2008-05-03T06:31:50Z

In a finer world than this, comics geeks would be banned from cinemas. There'd be some kind of test or brainwave scanner in the lobby, and if you were detected as the kind of plonker who screams at the screen, has a top-volume conversation with their friends about the assets of female characters, or simply laughs like a hyena every time a bit of comics trivia gets a throwaway reference you'd be sent home to bittorrent the damn movie and watch it in your private festering hole in your parent's granny flat, far from the eyes and ears of the public.

In completely unrelated news, I went to see Iron Man last night, and apart from wishing some of the audience were bathed and sterilized upon entry I had a pretty good time. It's a damn fine little superhero flick - not as strong as Batman Begins, but easily on a par with X-Men II and way ahead of any other Marvel adaptation. Robert Downey Jr is perfectly cast as Tony Stark, and makes the role all his own, obviously having a lot of fun with it and knowing when to slip between drama and melodrama as required. The script and direction are both solid for the most part, and even when the film dips into comedy it makes it work. And the lynchpin is the effects direction - not just the Iron Man suit with its mobile control surfaces and realistic movements, but the background technology and throwaway elements that provide remarkably subtle worldbuilding.

It's not all good, though, mostly because there's not quite enough action in what is supposed to be an action film. The script valiantly tries to cram in character development and plot, but much of it feels shallow and unnecessary, and takes up time that could honestly have been better served with more action sequences and chances to show off the armour. The other flaw is that the other characters are nowhere near as well-realized as Tony Stark; Jeff Bridges tries hard, but doesn't get the same depth of development as Downey Jr, and Gwyneth Paltrow & Terence Howard have really no function in the film at all. That ties back to the first problem, really; spending time on the relationship between Stark, his PA and his best friend would have been interesting if those characters had been interesting, but instead I found myself wishing they'd get hit by trucks so Iron Man could punch out a tank or something.

(And Christ almighty, I wish Stan Lee would stop making fucking cameos in every fucking Marvel film. It's beyond tired and well into actively annoying.)

But look, none of that made Iron Man bad, it just made it less than perfect, which is forgivable. It's lots of fun, it looks great, and it never talks down to the audience or treats its subject matter with disdain; a movie by fanboys for fanboys that has a lot for regular sane viewers as well.

Oh, and stick around for the thirty-second bit after the credits. It's the kind of teaser/cameo thing that would have given the shouty geeks down the front permanent boners if they'd stayed for it - but now all they can do is read about it online while crying because they missed it. Which makes me happy.

Also, N. now wants a Nextwave movie. That would be totally fucking sweet.

artbroken @ 2008-05-02T14:53:00

2008-05-02T05:01:38Z

The Pirate's Guide to Freeport is up for an Origins award, which is all kinds of cool.

And I really think the book has a good chance of winning the award, looking at the other contenders in the Best RPG Supplement category. Codex Arcanis and L5R: Emerald Empire are both world-setting books, and while I haven't read them, their system-specific nature and broad focus logically make them less generally useful as the Pirate's Guide, which is system-free and more modular. Paizo's Rise of the Runelords is great and well-produced, but in the end it's (just) a set of D&D adventures and thus limited in scope. And a set of dungeon tiles, no matter how nice (and they are), really shouldn't be in the running as a supplement.

I am, of course, horribly biased. But from here it looks like an easy choice. Here's hoping the voters agree.

Also, big ups to the Green Ronin gang for the other items that were nominated in other categories. Scoop the pool! And get drunk for me at the ceremony, Schwalb!

artbroken @ 2008-05-01T19:20:00

2008-05-01T09:21:20Z

Realestate.com.au and Mission Australia have launched their Houses for the Homeless campaign.

Realestate.com.au will donate $1 towards housing for homeless folks, for every person who clicks through http://www.housesforthehomeless.com.au/ during May, up to a total of $100,000.

It'll cost you less than a minute of your time. Please consider clicking through.

And please pass it on.

http://www.housesforthehomeless.com.au/

(Lifted from drjon - many thanks.)

artbroken @ 2008-04-30T20:02:00

2008-04-30T10:02:52Z

LSD inventor Albert Hofmann dies

Thank you, Mr Hofmann. Thank you a thousand times. You and your bicycle.

artbroken @ 2008-04-30T10:41:00

2008-04-30T00:48:21Z

From today's Age, and a story about striking taxi drivers:

Around 300 taxi drivers are sitting at the intersection of Flinders and Swanston streets, holding up placards and protesting against violence and abuse of taxi drivers.
The protest started yesterday evening and continued overnight. One of the organisers, Indian-born taxi driver Jazz Randyboy, said the protest had been peaceful.

Wow.

I wish my parents had named me Jazz Randyboy.

artbroken @ 2008-04-29T18:34:00

2008-04-29T08:34:40Z

Barry Adamson in June!

Come on, surely this time some of you will rise from your loungerooms and take up arms with me...

(There's also the Resin Dogs CD launch this weekend, but on reflection I'm probably going to skip that. So no-one else better go.)

--
Also, fuck it's cold. How did we get from 35+ degrees six weeks ago to less than 10 degrees now? I blame Jesus. And Barry Adamson.

Office tip #37

2008-04-28T05:21:17Z

Always set the printer to 'collate'.

Always set the printer to 'collate'.

ALWAYS SET THE PRINTER TO 'COLLATE'! ARRGH! FUCK! DAMNIT!

Criswell predicted it - astrology's a load of pants

2008-04-27T00:44:06Z

Astrologers fail to predict proof they are wrong

For several decades, researchers tracked more than 2,000 people - most of them born within minutes of each other. According to astrology, the subject should have had very similar traits.

The babies were originally recruited as part of a medical study begun in London in 1958 into how the circumstances of birth can affect future health. More than 2,000 babies born in early March that year were registered and their development monitored at regular intervals.

Researchers looked at more than 100 different characteristics, including occupation, anxiety levels, marital status, aggressiveness, sociability, IQ levels and ability in art, sport, mathematics and reading - all of which astrologers claim can be gauged from birth charts.

The scientists failed to find any evidence of similarities between the "time twins", however. They reported in the current issue of the Journal of Consciousness Studies: "The test conditions could hardly have been more conducive to success . . . but the results are uniformly negative."

Not that this will convince anyone who does believe in astrology, and I imagine we'll see lots of responses like "the mystic truth of astrology can't be understood by stupid things like facts, science and statistics!" But it's good that so much work has gone into proving what really should be 100% obvious in the first place - and interesting to see just how much money is generated by the astrology industry.

(Thanks to pope_guilty for the link.)

artbroken @ 2008-04-26T18:44:00

2008-04-26T08:44:26Z

I am rather painfully aware that the last few entries - hell, the last few months of entries - have been short and low on content. Partially that's because I'm busy doing things that don't really translate well into interesting LJ entries - no-one really needs to hear about my studies or my work or what I made for dinner - and partially that's because I can't seem to summon up the energy or focus to write at length about things that aren't quotidian bullshit.

I blame Kevin Rudd. It's hard to get angry without John Howard poisoning my world on a daily basis. Contentment just doesn't lend itself well to passionate online railing, you know? Not that Rudd's perfect, but still.

So anyway, I'm studying, I'm working, I'm marking up a friend's novel-in-progress with editorial pedantry, I'm generally remembering to wear pants everyday and I'm having trouble finding ways to entertain my enthralled public (i.e. you guys). But I'm working on it, honest.

Now I'm off to N.'s birthday soiree. If I think of anything ace to write I'll make a note of it and get back to you.

artbroken @ 2008-04-25T19:10:00

2008-04-25T09:10:33Z

This morning I pre-ordered all three 4th Ed D&D books from Amazon.

Oh dear god, I think I've turned into a nerd.

But a nerd who's getting the books for way less than they'll be locally, which surely counts for something.

artbroken @ 2008-04-24T07:02:00

2008-04-23T21:02:12Z

So am I correct in thinking that precisely zero people from my friends-list are coming to the DJ Shadow/Cut Chemist gig tonight?

If I'm wrong, speak up now, and maybe we can touch base at the gig.

Man, I miss having a crew sometimes.