Posts (page 2)

Over at Ellie's blog I recently mentioned the Helsinki scene from Jim Jarmusch's film Night on Earth, and, thanks to YouTube, I thought I'd share it more broadly.  He's one of my favourite directors and, at the risk of sounding like a complete wanker, I'll say that he's the only non-Finn I've ever seen who "gets it" about them. 

Now I should also say that while the whole thing is sprinkled with a wonderfully touching sense of pathos, part 2 has a particularly sad story that is quite affecting, especially if you're at all sensitive about premature births.  Stay with it if you can though.  Enjoy.

Army by Ben Folds Five.  This was the song of the moment when The Boy joined us so I have a very clear memory of singing this out the window at 3am in the morning, just a few hours after he'd been born, driving back home from the hospital.  And I gave it another crack yesterday after spending Good Friday holed up at work typing up study notes.

Do you believe that ignorance is bliss?

No.  There's nothing particular blissful about being ignorant of things that may affect you.

I figure ignorance probably falls into two categories, using some Rumsfeldian reasoning:

1. not knowing what you don't know - an inadvertent ignorance, you haven't been exposed to an issue or a piece of information before and you simply didn't know it existed; and
2. knowing what you don't know and choosing not to know about it - say you're a committed fan of the book of Genesis and one day you hear about this 'evolution" thing that some guy by the name of Darwin did a bit of work on around 150-odd years ago.  But because it would seem to threaten your fandom, you'd prefer not to know about it thanks and, indeed, you can't help find the idea a little threatening 'cos it would affect your established views which is one of the few things you feel you have any control over.

So, you know, ignorance can be problematic.

Which is not to say that there aren't uses for category two either.  I, for instance, don't have any particular desire to know about the fuel composition used in shuttle launches.  I have no need for it nor do I have an anticipated need for this knowledge (participation in a trivia night aside).  But I wouldn't be hostile to such knowledge.  So maybe ignorance is coupled with intent.

We're in an age where we have access, within mere moments, to the biggest information stores our little old species have ever experienced.  We google, we wiki, we research the limits of mediator liability at Casebook Online (just to throw out a random example) [glances at pile of articles currently being worked through], all for the sake of knowledge. 

How could anyone want to be ignorant in this day and age, bliss or no?

Didnae do so well last week, what with my risks and all, but I believe everybody would have been surprised by Sydney's comprehensive win over Hawthorn last Saturday night which was terribly unexpected in all quarters.  A few tough games again this week which lead me to stick my neck out again, tempered by the knowledge that at times it's simply what you have to do to win a tipping comp.  Into it, will try to keep it short and sharp:

Geelong v Collingwood:  The Magpies had a predictable win against the Melbourne Demons last week which was then promptly sabotaged by one of their idiot fans (and, let's face it, it's accepted wisdom they have a larger proportion of these mugs than any other team) beating up on the father of one of the Melbourne players.  Mook.  And to top it off Eddie McGuire's confirmed he's returning to our television screens.  Cats to win.

St Kilda v West Coast:  I honestly thought that Port would have the better of the Eagles last week but they proved me wrong.  Can't see them beating the Saints at the dome though.

Brisbane v Sydney:  The Lions have a poor recent record against the Swans but this is starting to look like a must-win game for them which, this early in the season, just can't be a good thing.  Luke Power has talked about taking Sydney wide and perhaps using the Lions' younger legs against the older Swans which could be a key tactic.  I'm tipping Brisbane out of loyalty and for the upset.  Would appreciate seeing some post-game analysis as well. 

And hooray hurrah it's being broadcast into Canberra this Saturday night on a half-hour delay, presumably for the benefit of the "thousands" of Swans fans living here.  Need I remind readers that, given the level of interstate migration into Canberra for professional purposes, we've probably got the most diverse spread of AFL team supporters in the country.

Carlton v Essendon:  A special mention to my in-laws for this game which will result in one of two garden gnomes being put somewhere ignominious by the winning party.  Blues for the win.

Port Adelaide v Melbourne:  The Dees still have a ways to go and won't be able to overcome Port at home.  Bookies agree, putting Port at something like $1.15 for the win.

North Melbourn v Hawthorn:  The Hawks are having a terrible start to the season which is a shame given how entertaining they were against Geelong in their opening round loss.  They're really vulnerable here and so this is one of the tips I'll be reconsidering Sunday morning, particularly given their current disadvantage in the ruck due to injuries and suspensions.  A notional tip for Hawthorn.

Fremantle v Adelaide:  I promised last week I wouldn't carry on if a certain result didn't go my way, so I'll just say that in a close match I think the Dockers can scratch up their first win of the season.

Western Bulldogs v Richmond:  Poor, poor Tigers.  After some preseason successes I got a few messages from Tiger supporters of my acquaintance emphasising that they were "keeping a lid on it".  Just as well, really, as it's been a typically disastrous start to the season for them.  The Bulldogs, however, are being talked of as top two material come the conclusion of round 22 - consistent with particular predictions made prior to the season's start.  They should keep their form up with a win this Monday afternoon.

That's it for round 3, enjoy your Easter. 

Today is "No Housework Day." Tell us: What's your least favorite chore around the house?

The only thing I really struggle with, the only thing, is cleaning the bathroom.  I tend to just go in there and blitz it with chemicals and scourers and scrubbing brushes, do a great job and then leave it alone for 3 months until my wife goes ahead and cleans (which isn't much of an option right now given her pregnancy) or I finally relent. 

Everything else I do with no problems, toilets, kitchens, floors, could be better with dusting but yeah, just bathrooms are the problem for me.  I'm planning on doing it the weekend after this one given I'm quite busy with essay work right now.  Speaking of which, back to it...

Funny where a thread can lead you.  Last week I decided most properly that what I really needed was a snap brim wool felt fedora in black or charcoal that I could wear walking to and from work.  Figured it would be a good use of a David Jones gift card I recently came into possession of (well, really I guess I kind of earned it) though, sure enough, DJs don't appear to stock anything of the kind so I'll hold off for a while hoping they'll magically appear over winter.

Anyway, not just the hat thing but that whole sort of mood, the idea of the "look" that a fedora is associated with has been bumping around my head.  And then I see this over at the RiotACT which is about swing dancing run in Canberra by a mob called Jumptown.  Here's the video from the RiotACT post:

A few fedoras there, and that "look" I was thinking of.  So taking a look at Jumptown got me all curious about this Lindy Hop style of dancing.  Thank you wikipedia: 

The Lindy Hop is an African American dance, based on the popular Charleston and named for Charles Lindbergh's Atlantic crossing in 1927. It evolved in New York City in that year and was a fusion of many dances that preceded it or were popular during its development, but it was mainly based on jazz, tap, breakaway and Charleston. The Lindy Hop co-evolved with jazz music and is a member of the swing dance family. It is frequently described as a jazz or street dance.

...which then led me to YouTube and this video which is simply delightful and, I reckon, worth sharing with you all.  Enjoy.

Well I had a pretty good round last week with seven, missing out on a perfect score thanks to a typically stupid performance by Collingwood (who promptly had a big sook about the umpiring afterwards, the sookylalasookysooks). 

This weekend looks to be a harder one, with two games in particular causing me some vexation.  And can you guess which teams are involved?  Into it:

Adelaide v St Kilda - I'm tipping the Saints here, somewhat reluctantly as the Saints don't have the best record at AAMI stadium (9 to 3 against), but I was impressed at the way they held Sydney last week and they'll be bolstered by Lenny Hayes coming back into the team.  A close win.

Geelong v Richmond - Nice to know I was right about the Tigers as I think a lot of people may have been put off by Carlton blooding four new players in last week's game.  I caught the first half of Geelong's contest against the Hawks and found it most entertaining, though it wasn't enough to keep my tired little eyes open past close to midnight (cue yet another rant about free to air game broadcasting in Canberra).  Look, we all know how this is going to go tomorrow afternoon.  Cats to win.

Collingwood v Melbourne - I'm honestly beginning to think that both Malthouse and McGuire will be leaving the Magpies at the end of the season unless they're lifting a certain cup on Saturday September 26th.  Magpies to beat the Demons here.

Sydney v Hawthorn - To see Sydney get held goal-less for two quarters was pretty remarkable, and I just don't like their chances against a Hawks team looking to rebound after closely losing their grand final rematch last weekend.

Carlton v Brisbane - The first of the two "problem" games I referred to earlier, this one involving dear old Brisneyland.  Carlton are justified in feeling a bit happy with themselves after their comprehensive demolition of Richmond, whereas the Lions seemingly needed the benefit of what I hope was an almighty half-time rev-up from Voss to overcome the Eagles at the Gabba.  One thing I do like about Carlton-Brisbane games is booing Marc Murphy for not taking the opportunity to go to the Lions under the father-son rule despite all the effort the organisation put into getting him over. 

I think the Blues have the edge here, though I'm not at all confident given the strength of Brown and Bradshaw supported by the return of Black to the midfield.  I caught a radio call of the Lions game from about the 15 minute mark of the third quarter through to the end thanks to live streaming and got the impression that Brisbane was maybe lacking some match fitness.  Carlton's had the longer break between games and I suspect their fitness is a bit better, so they're the choice this time.  Oh, and it was great to see rookie Lion (cub?) Daniel Rich win a rising star nomination for his effort last Saturday night too.

Essendon v Fremantle - God help me, I don't know why I'm doing this but I'm going to tip Freo.  I just don't think the Bombers can do it given how they were beaten so effectively by Port last round.  Now the Dockers are no beauty contest either but I'm really just going on gut instinct here.  Could be one where I check the final team selections and analysis and change my mind tomorrow arvo, but a Fremantle win is what I've put down right now.  Look, if they lose then I promise not to bitch about them for the next four weeks, ok?  That'll teach me.

Western Bulldogs v North Melbourne - I think, really, that the Bulldogs had the better win of the two teams last Sunday, showing a lot of class against that team I was just carrying on about whereas North only had to overcome a hopeful Melbourne side.  I reckon this'd be a game worth watching, Bulldogs to win.

West Coast Eagles v Port Adelaide - Port had a very strong win against Essendon last week and go into Sunday afternoon's game with a good record against both West Australian teams at Subiaco Oval.  While the Eagles showed some promise against the Lions I think Port will win relatively easily.

That's it for this round, happy to hear your thoughts.  Enjoy your football this weekend. 

If you were sent to prison for an undefined amount of time, what would you miss most?

Uh, yeah.  I believe the correct answer would be my freedom. Given that's sort of one of the points of prison and all.  Freedom of movement, of association, being able to see people like, say, my family when I wanted.

I know a few people who've been and they've mentioned the endless boredom.  I could kind of see myself doing situps and pushups and working on my rehabilitation really.  It would probably be a good idea to get a bit zen, as per the tv show Life. 

What superpower would you most like to have?

Brandi: [calm and nefarious tone] Second Suitor? If you were a comic book character, what character would you be?

Brodie: [Brodie is caught off guard, but delighted with the question] Wow! That's a great question. Tough one, though I mean, what does one gauge his response on: physical prowess, Keen detection skills? The ability to banter well with super villians?

Brandi: [interupting] How's your comic book collection, Brodie?

Brodie: Oh it's goin' good. But, I mean...

Brodie: [T.S. punches Brodie's arm and shows an angry look, realizing they have been made] Oh, comics? what are you talkin' about lady? I don't collect comics! Comics are for kids!

The question made me think of Mallrats, the much under-rated second film from Kevin Smith.  Being silly, I have given this some thought and decided upon time travel.  And if that's not considered to be a superpower, then I'd settle for Spiderman-style agility and reflexes.

It was when the Sifu started enthusiastically telling the students that the sound a breaking elbow makes is akin to that of ripping your pants (and how goddamned hilarious that was to him at the time) that I decided I should start looking for another club.

I've been meaning to write about this ever since I joined vox, and have been prompted a little by the street fight scene in Watchmen where the aforementioned move occurs (terribly graphically which is probably why it's stuck with me) along with a couple of others that looked familiar.

For a few years, right up until I moved here to Canberra and for a while afterwards on my own and with a couple of students I found, I was studying a form of kung fu called Wing Chun.   I got up to mastering the second form, the Chum Kiu ("seeking hands"), and was about to start on the wooden dummy form before I left Brisbane and began pursuing a new path down here.

I need to make it clear that I am not a violent person and that I didn't take up kung fu to learn how to hurt others.  My own personality traits, combined with professional training and experience in dealing with cranky people, means that I generally have the situational awareness and communication skills to be able to avoid or defuse a likely conflict before it escalates.  And when I was teaching I'd usually spend the first class with a new student going through these awareness and communication skills before getting anywhere near how to strike or block.   

I cannot emphasise just how important this is.  Learning a martial art - the right kind of martial art, I should say - will give the student the confidence to be able to not fight.  It translates into little things like the way you walk, your posture, and your attitude that will actually make you less of a target of physical violence.  The self defence aspect of a martial art should really be about protecting yourself and neutralising a given threat or threats with as minimum force as required before running away. 

The school I moved to, on the recommendation of my housemates at the time, emphasised the art as opposed to the practice of kungfu.  The focus was on the forms, especially the first form the sil lam tao ("little idea", also called siu nam tao), and how everything flowed from those.  Once you reached a certain level of understanding the teaching also moved to chi, to internal energy, and how the structures and movements enabled a whole new level of comprehension of the art.

And I think that this is the reason why it's never left me.  I simply got to a point where I couldn't unlearn what I'd learned.  Sort of like music, I guess - the years of heavy practice associated with classical piano means that the discipline and basic skills and knowledge are now ingrained in me, inseparable. 

So it's a little crazy but I think about it every, single, day.  The tan sau, bong sau, fook sau, the four gates, the endless chain punching drills, remembering how the senior students would hang back after training every Monday night for an hour long intensive chi sau ("sticking hands") session and we would close our eyes just before contact with our partner and seek the centre by touch alone - you could feel when someone moved their foot mere centimetres just through the change in their structure and energy.  While it lasted (as unfortunately it inevitably went broke) the school under Sifu G was a very special experience indeed.

I'll leave it at that for now.  I think the next time I write about it I'll talk about lineages and the differences in approach, and what you'll commonly encounter at most schools.