The Killer in Me is the Killer in You

Went and saw this man ...


... discuss this show ...

... at the Dendy last night, accompanied by not one but two episodes.

It was quite the thrilling experience, marred only slightly by the EXTREMELY STRESSFUL process of getting there. My directions turned out to be quite shoddy which, combined with the fact that it was rush hour traffic, left me swearing at the top of my lungs. One thing I HATE about Melbourne; YOU CAN'T TURN ANYWHERE! Every single damn time I need to make a critical turn to get somewhere I'm going, it's not allowed ... quite often for no discernable reason! Cara's been showing off her Navman GPS navigation system since she arrived in town; last night, I could have REALLY used it!

I collected the tickets with time to spare, had a highly unsatisfying meal of sweet and sour pork that had been sitting under a heating lamp all day, and waited for the rest of the crew to show. Organiser Ben had to drop out in order to do stocktake, and Carol soon followed, citing a family dinner she needed to attend, so our squad consisted of me, Li-Kim, Sarah Imax (whom I actually called Sarah Imax in conversation ... not that she had an issue with it, having nearly called me Estoban when introducing me to someone) and Li-Kim's friend Rachel, whom I've met only a handful of times but seems quite cool.

We got in line, took our seats, and waited. An awkward MC introduced the show, it was lights down and away we went.

The show's very good. At first I wasn't digging the first-person narration, as it felt it was telling us stuff it should instead be showing us, but it helps give an insight into the character's unique worldview (given that he's a serial killer who hunts and kills other serial killers, while also working as a forensic blood specialist for the police, he certainly has a very individual point-of-view). The first episode ended and before the second started there was a Q & A with none other than Dexter / David Fischer himself, Michael C Hall.

It was strange after so many years of seeing him play such a pent-up character as David to be confronted with the real guy; very laid-back, somewhat sarcastic, slightly Gen X slacker type. The Q & A was quite good, as far as Q & As go. The degree for social awkwardness in these situations is very high, but for the most part the questions were intelligent and the answers insightful, so it was well worth it.

Given the propensity towards Internet downloading these days, most people left when Michael C Hall did, before the second episode started. One of those guys was the Super Noird sitting next to me.



I feel a certain kinship with nerds / geeks / what have you, what with being one and all. That kinship even extends as far as the sweaty, anxious Super Noirds, such as the gentleman sitting next to me, with his buttoned-up, ill-fitting white business shirt, severly-gelled hair and fretful energy. I look on the Super Noirds as if staring into a mirror darkly, seeing all my anxieties about myself reflected back at me, and I must admit I did as much with this guy.

And believe me, being fair-haired and bespectled, there's a lot of these doppelgangers walking about! Many of you know me as referring to them as 'the Army of Steve', these strange creatures with their poor eyesight and their pale skin. I like to think of them that way as, given their numbers, it feels like it would be a simple thing to rally them to a cause and harness their insecurity with the world into a potent fighting force, one with which I could surely conquer all enemies!

... if we weren't all foiled by a collective asthma attack.

In any case, the evening was quite enjoyable, and I was back in time to watch one of the shows that only I seem to be a fan of; the American remake of The Office. It's good, people, just give it a chance!!

Life. Updated.

It’s a veeeery slooooow day at work today. The majority of the office is either in Sydney for the regular monthly meeting or are off “sick”. I’ve organised event stock up to a month in advance (the usual lead time is two weeks) and I’ve posted out all the mail in our out-trays.

Next week will no doubt be busy, as one of the monthly Big Jobs will be needing doing, but until then it’s all quiet on the western front. Hence all the blogging.

Having posted music videos, comedy sketches and political rants, I figured I’d round things out (and make the parentals happy) by giving a Life Update!

(if I had a Life Update theme tune [or “sting” as they call them in the radio biz] I’d be playing that right now).

- Job’s going well.

- There might be good news on the manuscript front. Cross your fingers for me and stay tuned.

- Cara’s staying at our place at the moment, having moved down from Queensland and now in the middle of house-hunting. I don’t know if I’ve bored her to death with Japanese-game-shows-I-like-to-watch-on-cable yet, but no doubt her demise will be any day now!

- I’m going to Derby Day. This would usually get its own post (and might very well yet) but I can’t be bothered right now. So let it be said I’m off to see the ponies run (I’m going to be in a marquee! For free!) and have that be that.

- Anxiously awaiting the arrival of two new shirts from Threadless.

- Thinking of heading back to Brisbane for Christmas. Will see if it’s possible.

- I like ham.

- I’ve been browsing laptops, and there’s an HP I really like the specs of … but its mouse is shitty! Is it something I can adapt to, or would it drive me berserk? Do I go with an inferior machine based on mouse-control? Do I pay more and go with a superior machine, once again based on mouse-control? Oh, the dilemma!

- Cheese is quite good, too.

- Rome took over from The Sopranos as my going-to-bed DVD series to watch. It started slow but built up beautifully. I can only hope the wait for season two isn’t too long! I now go back to Angel season 5, which was my original Sopranos replacement, but I didn’t get too far into having already seen it on TV.

- I don’t like Kanye West much, but hot damn if Stronger isn’t a fun song! But how much of that do we attribute to Daft Punk? Hmmm.

Eh. I think that’s enough now. I grow weary of this navel-gazing. Bring me a fatted calf, so that I might sup on its flesh!

Hoo yeah!

Too Many Magic-Based Puns to Choose From!

Yes, Dumbledore has been outed by JK Rowling as having been in love with his arch-rival Grindlewald. Credit to Sarah, she called it whilst reading Deathly Hallows (goes to show you there's some legitimacy to homoerotic sub-text, eh, Pree?).

Of course, people are losing their shit over it, proving once again how homophobia is, as Christopher J Priest put it, the last safe bigotry.

This leads into my utter disappointment with Kevin Rudd's position on gay marriage. Kevin, I had such high hopes for you! When you were Shadow Foreign Minister, you spoke with such eloquence and intelligence, such insight and sensitivity. But now you're doing absolutely everything you can to insure you gain victory against Howard and his cronies you're slowly but surely transforming into them. It's not a pretty sight.

I can't think of any objection to homosexuality and the recognition of gay marriage that isn't founded in a religious viewpoint (other than one that stems from simple gay panic). Certainly, we're not guaranteed a seperation of church and state in our constitution (as far as I'm aware. Maybe I'm confusing it for freedom of speech), but I don't see the legitimacy in allowing religious dogma to motivate political policy.

To quote from the previously mentioned Priest article (who is himself a Christian minister);

"I presume this to be a mystery, if not exactly a paradox, that God condemns homosexuality while, at the same time, creating homosexuals. To suggest someone can be born into an inescapable sin is to deny the power of the cross. To suggest that a person must war against their own nature and embrace shame and scorn just to make it into heaven and be embraced by a loving God is paralyzingly stupid. In that context, making criminals of homosexuals seems wrongheaded."

Beyond religion, is there any kind of legitimate argument for legislating against the homosexual community? Is it 'the protection of the family'? I didn't realise 'the family' was such a fragile constitution it could be so easily destroyed. Is it because 'next thing you know people will be marrying dogs! Or kids!!" My response to that? What heinously stupid bullshit! I mean, there's no arguing against that kind of sheer idiocy, other than "Shut up, dumb face"!

To stand against gay marriage strikes me as being just the same as those who outlawed interracial marriage in decades past. We can only hope that, in time to come, homophobia is seen as being just as virulent as the racist mentality behind that out-dated law.

Huh. I didn't expect to start off discussing Dumbledore and end up on politics and religion. But there you have it.

Take Note, Ben

Tony Martin as a typical Australian movie producer from The Late Show.

Brought To You By Considerate Cowboy Records

I enjoyed doing the top 5 songs thing with YouTube links, so I figured I’d do something along the same lines with songs I quite like at the moment (though a couple I've liked for a good long while now and just felt like posting). That’s it. Nothing exciting. Turn off now if this bores you.

Daydreamin’ – Lupe Fiasco fting. Jill Scott



An intelligent, insightful hip-hop artist with a great deal of artistic and personal integrity. Features a great sample and guest vocals, and actually has something important to say. Hip hop’s been stagnating for too long with hyper-masculine posturing, misogynistic overtones and a complete over-emphasis on material concerns. Watch as Lupe critically evaluates all that and does it to a catchy tune!

Konichiwa Bitches – Robyn



Another hip hop tune that subverts the dominant paradigm and is damn catchy to boot!

Comfortably Numb – Roger Waters and Van Morrison [Live]



I’ve been obsessed with this one ever since it was used in the trailer for The Departed. An excellent rendition of an excellent song.

I’ll Kill Her – Soko [Live]



A light pop tune dealing with some dark heartbreak. That’s funtastic!

Blue - Yoko Kanno & the Seatbelts [Live]



This video is from the concert that Yoko Kanno & the Seatbelts played where they performed their music from Cowboy Bebop. This song, Blue, is the track that the series ends on, and it’s quite a beautiful one (especially when heard in context). It’s a little difficult to make out because of the poor sound quality, but I think it still works. And if it tickles your fancy, there’s a TONNE of Bebop clips on YouTube, all written and performed by Yoko Kanno & the Seatbelts.

Hello, My God. This is Steve Singing.

Does anyone else remember this faith-based community service clip from the '80s?



I found it quite coincidentally today on Defamer.com.au after mentioning it to a few different people over the past few months. God bless You Tube! Literally!

I want to know what the deal with the water on the window is. It seems it's supposed to be rain, but it looks like the kid's mother is just keeping him inside by spraying the hose on the glass.

Of course, I'm more familiar with this version, featuring what appears to be an autistic home-school child;



These cunningly flashy community service announcements no doubt lured many unsuspecting children into the folds of organised faith during that madcap decade of mullets and multi-coloured skivvies.

Nostalgia. Bottled.

A Celebrity Is Me!

Well, it happened! My email made it into the Get This podcast (no. 140)! You can listen to it here. It’s even listed in the podcast contents on the menu as ‘Engorged Man-Brute’. How proud I am!

I’m unsure now what to do with my newfound celebrity status. Do I lord it over pensioners? Do I use it to bend people to my will? Do I extract sweets from the lolly shop man?

My vote is … yes. Yes I do.

Can I Add This To My Rèsumè?

You may remember the post I made about Tony Martin's Get This show on Triple M getting the chop (you very well should, given that it was, what, yesterday??).

Anyway, when they announced it on-air, my immediate response was to go to their website to see if there were any details about it. Unfortunately there wasn't, but there was a form by which you could email the team ... which I promptly did.

Cut to today, with me merrily going about my business as I listened to Get This on my headphones ... when they start reading out my email!!! Out of the (reportedly) hundreds of emails they've received, Tony read mine out on air, with that whimsical lilt he has whenever he recites listener feedback.

I was, of course, extremely thrilled. To be honest, I felt I'd had a pretty good shot at getting it on-air, as my email not only made reference to the show's pet subject of up-skirting, but it also referred to co-host Ed Kavalee as "a giant", "a parade float" and an "engorged man-brute". Little did I know that Ed's giant-like proportions would be a running joke throughout the rest of the episode! Fingers crossed that it gets referenced in future installments ... and fingers double-crossed that my email makes it into the Podcast! (Which, if it does, you can be sure I'll add a link to, and will hold prized position on both my hard drive AND my iRiver!).

In Get This-related news, it seems I'm not the only one upset with the show's cancellation. The following is from celebrity snark blog defamer.com.au;

A surprising development in the world of radio today, with news Austereo has decided to give Tony Martin's Triple M program the boot.

Tony Martin's nationally networked radio show has been axed, despite being one of the top rating programs on struggling station Triple M.
The comedian's Get This program has been a successful annoyance for the Austereo network, which shifted its timeslot three times in just over 18 months.
In a pattern repeated across the country, figures jumped from about 5 per cent audience share to about 11 per cent during the two-hour program, when it aired from 11am. They fell back to near 6 per cent when the station returned to music.

Given, as it says above, that the show is a ratings winner, it does seem an odd decision.

Ratings are not everything, of course, but the program is also highly respected by those in "the industry", with more than a few radio stars and producers declaring to Defamer Australia over the past few months that it is one of the best quality radio shows on air in the country. The general opinion amongst Martin's radio peers this morning regarding Austereo's axing of Get This seems to be a mix of "What the fuck?" and "IDIOTS!".

The Herald Sun's Confidential column reported this morning -

It's believed that the signing of comedian Peter Helliar and Triple J's Myf Warhurst as part of a national breakfast restructure has seen costs rocket, which has led to the station letting Martin go. Some sources said Helliar's yearly salary could be as high as $1 million.

They really are taking quite the punt on the Helliar/Warhurst combination, aren't they? We suppose time will tell if this is as daft a move as it seems. What do we know? Kyle and Jackie O just won Best On-Air Team at the Australian Commercial Radio Awards, and listening to them makes us want to stab our eyes out with broken pieces of Tamara Jaber's Ooh Ahh CD single case, so we obviously don't have our finger on the pulse of what makes good radio.

All of this was interesting to me for 3 reasons -

1) Myf Warhurst is jumping over to Triple M? Triple M??? To do a show with Peter Helliar?? Have I gone mad? Myf's been on Triple J for at least a decade now, so I can understand her wanting to stretch her wings a bit, but Triple M??? They must be paying her an awful lot to put up with that shitty station list they have.

2) I'm pretty much the only one I know who actually listens to Get This, so to see such a shining write-up about it was very validating. That's how sad I am.

3) Kyle Sandilands and Jackie-O won an award for that piece of crap show of theirs? I've listened to that thing ... all it consists of is hysterically-annoying Jackie-O listing all the ways that monolithically-annoying Kyle is horribly abusive to all their staff, and his nasally assertions that he doesn't care if he is. I really have gone mad if that's worth some kind of award!

With my ranting over, I'll retreat back to my box, and will no doubt pop back up again should it turn out my Get This missive has been archived for any and all to listen to. Watch for the link!

This Is What You Do With Your Time??

What did my weekend consist of, you might be wondering. Or not. In any case, I'm going to tell you.

I was minding my own business Friday night at 1.30 am when my bedroom door swung up and a very drunk Luke was standing there grinning at me. Seems Luke had been drinking it up with his new work colleagues and needed a place to crash before his audition the next day. While he was here, he imparted two piece of information to me that I found highly interesting;

1) He's gotten a role in Band of Brothers: The Pacific. I don't know if I'm allowed to say too much about it, but let's all be proud of him - and not at all bitter - that he can now say he's been in a Spielberg/Hanks production.

2) He auditioned for Justice League!!! I kind of had a hunch this might happen when I heard they were auditioning people in Sydney, so I thought I'd ask Luke about it ... and yes, he has indeed done a reading. You can be guaranteed that if he gets cast in it, no matter how big or small his part, I'll be asking him every day if I can come visit him on the set.

The next day, Luke wasn't feeling up to going to his audition, so he re-scheduled it and we hung out watching Cowboy Bebop and eating burgers. Needing to go home, Luke planned on catching a train back, but I figured I could use a drive and elected to take him all the way back to Frankston. After realising neither of us knew how to get there, we consulted the Melways and were on our way.

If you were looking to shoot a film set in the '80s, I'd highly recommend you scout Frankston for locations. It looks like they got to about 1987 and decided to stop letting new shops set up business.

But besides fantastic PD, they've also got a fantastic view. This is the lookout that's just around the corner from Luke's house (I actually found this photo on Google);


That was the sight that greeted me as I drove back after dropping Luke off at his parent's new place. Ashley was there too, recuperating for the week after having gotten her wisdom teeth out.

Anyway, I came back home and ... well ... stuff happened that I'm not supposed to talk about ...

Sunday was pretty much spent quietly enjoying the day.

And now you're all caught up. Riveting stuff, eh?

Say It Isn't So!

It was announced on Get This this morning that once the show wraps up for the year in six weeks time it won't be coming back.

Noooooooooooooooo!

This is utterly devestating news. So much of my work day has come to revolve around doing mundane tasks while listening to Tony, Ed and Richard prattle on ... I won't know what to do with myself!

It's not really surprising, I guess. The show has always been far too witty and satirical for Triple M - there was a palpable sense that the station's executives had no idea what to do with it.

Hopefully a new home will be found for it - preferrably one that allows the guys to play music of their own choice and that doesn't have as many restrictions as Triple M does. But in the meantime, if you haven't already acquanted yourself with the mad genius of Tony Martin and co., check it out here, while you still can!

Holy. Crap.

Check out this vintage television clip, that shows the Flintstones endorsing their sponsors - Winstons cigarettes!



Have times changed or what?

Pedantic Numeration

It’s my lunch break, so what else am I going to do besides blog? Eat?? You must be crazy!

In any case, I’ve been wanting to do another post on music for a while now. In fact, my intention is to do two, but the second will have to wait until another time. Today I bring you …

My Top Five Favourite Songs. Ever.

With inspiration taken from High Fidelity, I bring you – in no particular order – my top five favourite tracks. This has been a list of been working on for literally years now, and I think I’ve managed to finally get it to a place I’m happy with (of course, that doesn’t mean I couldn’t change my mind in another couple of minutes).

There aren’t many rules for this; the way I came to my conclusions was personal significance X listenability + sheer enjoyment = top five contender.

So, with a repeated underlining of this being in no particular order, here are my all-time top 5 favourite tracks.

1. Today – The Smashing Pumpkins



A song that’s meant to be a rally cry for people who’ve reached their lowest ebb, this song often gets mistaken for being all shiny and happy. But whether or not you miss the point of the lyrics, you can’t deny that it’s one infectious tune!

2. My Baby Just Cares for Me - Nina Simone



A saucy jazz number that winks knowingly at the audience, this is a song that always uplifts my mood, and no matter how many compilation CDs I burn it onto, I can’t help but listen to it every single time.

3. Maps - The Yeah Yeah Yeahs



From the pounding drums to the restrained guitar work, this is an example of not only an excellently constructed rock song, but one that has an incredible emotional depth to it as well.

Instead of the music video for this song (which has had its ability to be embedded disabled) I’ve included a live performance from the MTV Movie Awards that I think is, to put it frankly, astoundingly beautiful.

4. Let’s Stay Together - Al Green



There’s nothing about this song that isn’t cool and … to make you all feel a little sick at the prospect of me saying it … sexy as well.

5. Lover, You Should Have Come Over - Jeff Buckley



If this song doesn’t break your heart, you had no heart to break in the first place!

As it was never actually released as a single, there was never a video made for it. Having failed to find a video of Buckley performing it live, I’ve had to settle for this clip made by some random guy for a college assignment … so don’t judge the song by the production values of the video!!!

And that’s my list. I’d ask “what’s yours?”, but I don’t want to run the risk of getting no replies and looking like a fool. So I’ll finish with a “what’s that over there??!” before quickly running away.

Ha!

My Moth-take! Ho!

The Sydney Morning Herald website had an article titled Unskilled migrants swarm to city. Expecting the kind of hyper-conservative journalism the Herald has become famous for, I clicked on the link only to find it was about a mass moth infestation spreading across Sydney.

The Herald had used my own low expectations of their work against me!

They are a tricky lot ...

Dignity? Who Needs Dignity?

Who else out there feels that they aim to be this ...

... but in fact, more often than not, simply end up being this ...

Anyone?

Just me?

Right then.

Fame and Riches Surely Await

The manuscript has been sent off to a publisher. The same publisher. Again. Though I'm absolutely positively sure he'll read it this time.

To be perfectly honest, I'm not too worried if he says no ... though of course it'd be nice if he said 'yes'. Or 'I'm intrigued. Put your pants back on and tell me more'.

But if it's a no go, there's the possibility of going through some people at my very own place of business. But let's not go counting chicks and what not.

Hopefully I've now provided enough blogging to keep Pree happy for at least the next week.

Current Mood:

Sad sack.

You've all been warned.

4 out of 5

That's how many news stories on the radio were about football the other day. They then did a weather report (on how the weather was going to affect the game) before they launched into the sports headlines, the majority of which were about football.

I'd be grateful that football season is finally over if not for the fact that we're about to launch into cricket / swimming / tennis season.

Thank God for cable!