<$BlogRSDURL$>
Tram Town
Friday, August 31, 2007
 
Category: Politics
Magda Szubanski is currently starring in a silent film. Perhaps she should take that as a sign to shut the heck up rather than offering this sort of nonsense:
"You need to have a government that supports local culture, that is not frightened of it and supports the arts. When you have a government that is frightened of the arts and starts slashing and cutting all over the place, it makes people fearful and people constrict and that is the opposite of creativity.
"If you look at London now, obviously there's been enormous flaws with the Blair government but, having spent the best part of a year there recently, it has really opened up and that's a lot to do with the pride in cultural product that seems to happen under Labour governments."
I expect she meant Labour/Labor inclusively - ed.
I don't think any government should be frightened of the arts or particularly supportive; they should be ambivalent. And what the heck does she mean by "pride in cultural product"? It seems like a completely meaningless group of words to me.
Let's not forget that Magda is talking up her own game here. She makes a good living sucking on the government teat and then, in a film review, journalists give her a free go to slag off the current government. Sickening!
Just One Guy's Opinion™.

Thursday, August 30, 2007
 
Category: Confession
We do have the odd RC reader of TramTown and they might find it interesting that (as Slatts points out)
a parish priest in Suffolk[,] will be at the county’s Waveney Greenpeace festival this weekend to hear eco-confessions in what is thought to be the first dedicated confessional booth of its kind

 
Category: Technology
My friend Les has pointed me towards an interesting application. Umm, I think they're for real too. Golly, I'll have to try it I guess.

Wednesday, August 29, 2007
 
Category: Greeting eCards
Auffers, has pointed me to a nice e-card site -- a bit mucky but.

 
Category: Space TFF
Luke's light saber's off to Space. Guess it's too late to name a shuttle after The Millenium Falcon though.

Sunday, August 26, 2007
 
Category: Art
We all got up early today and headed in to the ACMI for a perve at the Pixar exhibition. As far as art exhibitions go, this was the most fantastic (def 4: extravagantly fanciful; marvelous) that I have ever seen. Much of the art on display was as beautiful as any I have ever seen and there was more. As DB has said, the zoetrope was worth the cost of admission just by itself. For mine, though, the "last" part of the show called the "Artscape" was the most stunning visual feast I have ever supped on; every moment was a winner. I will be returning alone before the show is over.

Friday, August 24, 2007
 
Category: Aspies
Many of TramTown's readers don't read the Bolta's blog for any number of reasons. They may have missed the Bolta pointing at a particularly good article written by a bloke called Tim Page about his life with Asperger's. It's quite long but well worth the read, IMHO. I wouldn't be surprised if both DB and I were mildly afflicted with Asperger's.

 
Category: Gentleman
It's taken nearly a week but I have finally found an interesting twist on Kevvy Rudd's Big Night Out at Scores. The brilliant Frank Devine is the source for this one in an article in today's Oz. He quotes Col Allen, long time editor of down market tabloids (I don't disapprove of down market tabloids but I do feel that they should be known for what they are rather than by some silly euphemism), who said:
"Scores is a gentleman's club and Mr Rudd behaved like a gentleman."
Strip out the euphemism consistently and you end up with something more like:
Scores is a strip joint and Mr Rudd behaved like a typical patron of a strip joint.
Frank Devine was able to state this with a lot more style than me so go ahead and read his column.
Oh, and BTW, I don't necessarily disapprove of strip joints but I would prefer that they were not made out to be like, say, public libraries.
The Bolta has had a bit to say about this "issue" but eventually pointed off to the Frank Devine piece and I think that it is the definitive note on Ruddy and Scores.

Tuesday, August 21, 2007
 
Category: Bogans
This magnificent article about chavs by Julie Burchill makes an observation:
...the white indigenous English working-class is now the one group you can insult without feeling the breath of the Commission for Racial Equality on your neck, which makes it pretty damn cowardly apart from being what I call “social racism”...
In Australia we call chavs bogans and the social racism observation counts just as much. The Bolta pointed at an article by Kim Huynh (who teaches politics and international relations in the School of Social Sciences at the Australian National University) entitled "Will bogans decide election?". If it weren't August I would assume that it was some kind of sick April Fools' Day gag. Maybe it is a satirical piece but it's very well disguised if it is. As one of the Bolta's commenters said:
If the Left could rid themselves of this snobbish elitist attitude, they might actually have a chance of understanding the people they look down upon.
I would add that these are also the people that they expect to vote for them.

 
Category: Cake
Stephen King, novelist, was caught scrawling on books and then accosted in the fruit and vege section of an Alice Springs supermarket and told: "well if we knew you were coming we would have baked a cake". I am not making this up though I wonder if somebody else may be.

Saturday, August 18, 2007
 
Category: Software
Hey, now I've finally figured out this YouTube thing I'm on fire!!! Software specification by the numbers:

 
Category: Comedy
Clown obviously becomes Laughing Stock! Caution, this product may contain nuts!

 
Category: Music
What do you call a dog with wings? Oops, sorry, wrong reference! I'll know what I'll be doing with BitTorrent over the weekend. What this woman:
can't do with Bacharach obviously isn't worth doing. Check out her website and see if you can solve the "listen" enigma -- which, honestly, might just be a Mac thing. Liked what I heard though.

Friday, August 17, 2007
 
Category: Science
From Radio National comes this interview with Nigel Calder conducted by Robyn Williams. For those who don't know, Calder appeared as one of the denialists in The Great Global Warming Swindle.
By the way, Jack, you will have to press the "SHOW TRANSCRIPT" button after the intro. It took me a while to find it so I thought I'd let you know.

 
Category: Music
Zoe Brain points at a lovely YouTube video with a bloke singing about parenthood to the tune of Pachelbel's thing.

Thursday, August 16, 2007
 
Category: Wastage
Any wonder the war is costing so much. It seems the U.S. Army is throwing undischarged rounds of ammunition at locals in Sadr City.

 
Category: Global Warmongering
I've pointed at Anthony Watts' site before. On this occasion he has a guest post by Roy Spencer chronicling the past week or so's events...
In case you hadn't noticed, the global warming debate has now escalated from a minor skirmish to an all-out war. Although we who are skeptical of the claim that global warming is mostly manmade have become accustomed to being the ones that take on casualties, last week was particularly brutal for those who say we have only 8 years and 5 months left to turn things around, greenhouse gas emissions-wise.
It's a good read with a lot of very interesting stuff in the comments. Go ahead, Jack, I think you'll enjoy it!

 
Category: Fat
There's another terrific article over at JunkFoodScience discussing a paper from Dr Michael Gard of Sturt University about obesity. Sandy Szwarc should be given a medal of some sort.

Wednesday, August 15, 2007
 
Category: Conflict
There's a fascinating little sideshow going on over at the Bolta's blog:
On Friday, just before the Bulletin came out with its story that Peter Costello had talked big of toppling John Howard - a story damaging to both - Sportingbet noticed something strange.
It was getting a flood of bets - up to 30 - backing Malcolm Turnbull as the next Liberal leader. One bet was of $10,000, and the odds were driven down from $6.50 to $3.10.
“It’s a good, old-fashioned plunge,’’ the head of Sportingbet told 3AW’s breakfast show this morning.
Also... go have a look at the very Flash SportingBetDecider site. I've bookmarked it and will probably visit daily until election day.

Monday, August 13, 2007
 
Category: Traitors
In an article pointed out by the good folk over at Diogenes' Lamp, Robert F. Kennedy Jr, referring to climate skeptics, said "This is treason [a]nd we need to start treating them as traitors". The author of the article notes:
Traitors are either shot or imprisoned. I wonder which Robert Kennedy has in mind for the skeptics.
The article also points at Senator Inhofe's EPW (Environment & Public Works) Press Blog. It contains many more examples of enviro-extremism. It's all worth a look!

 
Category: Fillums
Over at SBS over the last coupla weekends they've had a 2X2 hour gig which was very much well worth a look. Directed by one of my all time favourite fillum directorsMartin Scorsese it looked at Bob Dylan's work specifically from '61 to '66 which covered his transition from Woody Guthrie coverer to folk singer to protest singer to his work with electric amplification and his hostile alienation of his fanbase through same electrification -- I respect him for that. Watch it when you have some time to spend -- you'll learn something you didn't know.

Saturday, August 11, 2007
 
Category: Space TFF
I don't think I'll be staying in this hotel any time soon. Good to see that warmening gets a mention in the artlce though -- like, completely out of context but!

 
Category:
On Monday I mentioned the idiocy about the Work Choices advertisement. Jack Marx has raised the same issue in the SMH. He also noted some more outrageous issues such as:
At the same time as appearing in the 1972 film The Godfather, Al Pacino was apparently engaged in absolutely no organized crime.

Friday, August 10, 2007
 
Category: Trademarks
Johnson & Johnson gets cross over a cross! I wouldn't cross them. (in the complete absence of a Red Crescent pun)

Tuesday, August 07, 2007
 
Category: Technology
Stop or I'll make you throw-up! Fascinating.

 
Category: Warmening
Over at the Onion News Network is a very funny story about immigration best of all is the unrelated tail of the report which states "Due to global warming, Eskimos have lost seven percent of their words for snow".

 
Category: Reality
Michael Bachelard writes for The A☭E...
The Government's $37 million campaign to sell its workplace legislation was in tatters last night after allegations that an actor in a Workplace Authority advertisement was himself a bad employer who ripped off junior staff to the tune of thousands of dollars.
Now the veracity of the claims may or may not be clear but it doesn't matter. The man was acting in the ad. What he does in real life is not relevant to the message. Don't these people understand this basic separation? Formulaically: Theatre ≠ Life
The whole thing has been made even worse, though, by the minister's reaction...
Joe Hockey last night pulled the ad "Protection for under-18s" off air after The Age asked him about the history of one of the actors, Damien Richardson, who until recently had a painting business employing youngsters.
Do all of these people consider Oliver Stone films to be documentaries?

Saturday, August 04, 2007
 
Category: Humour
As pointe at by Tim Blair...
As part of National Science Week:
On the Edge of Silence
A Chorus of Women will use drama, poetry and music to create an emotional response to climate change that explores how science and the arts twine together to speak deep truths.
The presentation will be followed by a discussion about climate change science and policy with the audience and invited participants.
You can't make this stuff up.

Thursday, August 02, 2007
 
Category: Scandal
I was reading some background stuff on a website and saw mention of the scandal of Lady Worsley's bottom. It was mentioned in passing just as if I should have been born with knowledge of it. I hit the Google thing and lo and behold it turns out that the scandal involved a liaison between the said Lady and a bloke by the name of George Bisset. Who knew?

Wednesday, August 01, 2007
 
Category: Politics
Janet Albrechtsen has a cracker of an article which includes this comment about the left...
standing around in the Stone Age muttering that no good will come of this new-fangled wheel business, it will just create a two-tiered society: those with wheels and those without.


Powered by Blogger