I decided to take a look at what different styles of template I could use for this blog after the inspiration came from a visit to IKEA. Hardly considered the height of good taste, but much maligned, IKEA has been loved for its cheap prices and functionality while loathed by traditional furniture fans.
Yesterday I went to IKEA and looked around for stuff I need for my party on Friday. I can't tell you where the said party is going to be, since I fear and dread gatecrashers. The guests who are invited are rowdy enough for my taste, thank you very much. What I can tell you is that my parents found these lovely green stools for around $6 in Australian money, and that could well solve my dilemma of how to seat twenty people, maybe a bit more even.
There's a lot to be said for IKEA, like ABBA, it's one of the best, and worst, things that ever did arrive from Sweden. You either love it, hate it, or simply use it for its cheap and affordable furniture. I really should take a camera to IKEA one day and post some pictures of what I see in there that I like.
But solutions for modern living aside, what I did yesterday, being New Year's Eve, was watching the fireworks from Chiswick with my family, and playing Scrabble in an excruciatingly dull game since both my father and myself were too tired and, as it were, lost for words (pun definitely intended) to the extent that we packed up the game in twenty minutes and watched the music videos on the VH1 Music Video No. 1's Countdown, because there was nothing else on really.
The other thing I did yesterday was shop for my birthday present, as my birthday was within four days of arrival. Sadly, when I went to EB Games at Rhodes Shopping Center, I discovered that although boxes of DS Lites with price tags on them were on the shelves, they were empty, and the rude and bitchy shopkeep woman told my mother and I that they were sold out. Not only that, but that they increased the price from the Christmas sales price of $189 to $200 that very day, and even though we had seen it cheaper in another EB Games shop, in which case the store guarantee promised to reduce the cost, she wasn't going to help us, nor was she going to tell us precisely when the new stock would come in.
Thus one of my New Year's resolutions is not to shop at EB Games unless they have something I need that nowhere else has, because JB Hi-Fi has a better range of games stuff at much cheaper prices. EB has significantly fallen from what it was, a friendly games and console seller to a greedy corporate chain store. This is why I more often shop for games at JB Hi-Fi instead, because people who work at JB actually like helping you.
However, there is hope. There was a Dick Smith Electronics shop at Rhodes, which was being operated by a very nice Muslim woman with glasses. She not only gave a much better impression than the EB servicewoman did, but she was a premium example of how helpful and friendly Muslims can be. Trust me, I want a DS Lite so bad, even if my acceptance of other cultures wasn't as tolerant as I am already, give me any serviceperson in an electronics shop of ANY faith, and I would accept their help in getting one of those little handhelds on my birthday, I would accept assistance from a Mormon or a Krishna-follower if I had to, despite my experience of some of them being pushy for donations/conversions!
The nice Muslim lady helped me order a DS Lite and took my phone number on a notepad in order for her to contact me when it arrives. I am exceedingly grateful for this. Such people deserve to be given raises/Employee of the Month awards/Medals for service, and they definitely need to be given respect by those of different cultures anyway, even if they really can't help you (but they try to). Never underestimate a foreign shopkeeper, as behind the cultural differences lie cultural strengths, such as hospitality and good manners.
- Jacob Martin
AKA "Jake of All Trades"
My Current Mood in a Picture
Monday, December 31, 2007
Sunday, December 30, 2007
Trawling my CD Collection Part 1
I have a few CDs I bought recently, and I will review them for your blog-reading pleasure as I go along.
The theme of today's reviews is "Angry Young Man Music". This is a generally misunderstood field of music, since many, after the dawn of Emo music, have lost the true meaning of what it means to be a young man who is angry, now thinking it means not having enough money for an iPod, or being dumped by your girlfriend for being a whiney bitch who is hardly a man at all. Usually a Young Man, who may or may not be angry, buys or downloads music albums for their ability to inspire awe, wonder, and understanding in their souls. Or they like it because they like loud music that bugs their parents.
The first CD I will review is Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols.
This album is one of the chief discoveries of my youth. Not only is it loud, and angry, but it has an actual heart to it. Johnny Rotten doesn't tell you why he's angry, he yells it at you, attacking British sentimentalism and nostalgia in the face of conservative government. From "Holidays in the Sun" to "God Save the Queen" to "Anarchy in the U.K.", it is a solid album of Punk era classics. One of the tracks, "Bodies", is a song about abortions that is sure to offend everyone, and contains at least three "F-words". This should not mean you should turn down the volume for this track, for what is the point of The Sex Pistols if you can't play them loud on your stereo? Loud playing is not recommended on iPods, because you'll make yourself deaf. I give this album Ten "Unplugged Sid Vicious Bass Guitars" out of Ten.
WHY IT'S GOOD: This is the ultimate Punk album, alongside The Clash's London Calling record, it's one you have to own if you're an angry young man who wants to experience the Punk phenomenon first-hand. It's way better than this new "Emo" crap that claims to be Punk, and is best enjoyed played on a stereo cranked to 11.
The second album in this series of reviews is Nirvana's Nevermind, an album from the early 1990s that truly fits the "Angry Young Man" criteria.
Nevermind, unlike The Sex Pistols's "Never Mind the Bollocks", is an album less about anarchy and more about the collective unrest in a generation's spirits, hence, "Smells Like Teen Spirit", the opening track that made Kurt Cobain a star. The album cover is probably more famous than the music on the actual album nowadays, but the music should not be ignored. Can't understand the lyrics? Few people could. The point was more about the feelings that the music evokes rather than the lyrics, which are more an accessory to Nirvana's grunge sound. This album's worth as music has been debated from everybody from established music critics to blokes like my twin brother, who probably only hates it because I like it, however, its endurance as an album cannot be ignored in influence. This album also contains tracks like "Lithium", "In Bloom" and "Something in the Way" (Something in the Way contains a hidden track after a long period of silence on some CD pressings, called "Endless, Nameless", which is definitely meant to be played loud), which genuinely express Cobain's inner torment and angry young man cred. I give it 8 "Swimming Babies" out of 10, I take away two points for the commercial exploitation of Kurt Cobain that this album led to.
* * * * *
Well, that's the first part of "Trawling my CD Collection", which hopefully turns out to be an enjoyable and enlightening series of reviews about CDs I own. Next time, we explore "Muse: What Is the Big Deal?", as I review two albums by the band Muse, which brought the band in question significant scorn and acclaim in mixed baskets.
- Jacob Martin
AKA "Jake of All Trades"
The theme of today's reviews is "Angry Young Man Music". This is a generally misunderstood field of music, since many, after the dawn of Emo music, have lost the true meaning of what it means to be a young man who is angry, now thinking it means not having enough money for an iPod, or being dumped by your girlfriend for being a whiney bitch who is hardly a man at all. Usually a Young Man, who may or may not be angry, buys or downloads music albums for their ability to inspire awe, wonder, and understanding in their souls. Or they like it because they like loud music that bugs their parents.
The first CD I will review is Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols.
This album is one of the chief discoveries of my youth. Not only is it loud, and angry, but it has an actual heart to it. Johnny Rotten doesn't tell you why he's angry, he yells it at you, attacking British sentimentalism and nostalgia in the face of conservative government. From "Holidays in the Sun" to "God Save the Queen" to "Anarchy in the U.K.", it is a solid album of Punk era classics. One of the tracks, "Bodies", is a song about abortions that is sure to offend everyone, and contains at least three "F-words". This should not mean you should turn down the volume for this track, for what is the point of The Sex Pistols if you can't play them loud on your stereo? Loud playing is not recommended on iPods, because you'll make yourself deaf. I give this album Ten "Unplugged Sid Vicious Bass Guitars" out of Ten.
WHY IT'S GOOD: This is the ultimate Punk album, alongside The Clash's London Calling record, it's one you have to own if you're an angry young man who wants to experience the Punk phenomenon first-hand. It's way better than this new "Emo" crap that claims to be Punk, and is best enjoyed played on a stereo cranked to 11.
The second album in this series of reviews is Nirvana's Nevermind, an album from the early 1990s that truly fits the "Angry Young Man" criteria.
Nevermind, unlike The Sex Pistols's "Never Mind the Bollocks", is an album less about anarchy and more about the collective unrest in a generation's spirits, hence, "Smells Like Teen Spirit", the opening track that made Kurt Cobain a star. The album cover is probably more famous than the music on the actual album nowadays, but the music should not be ignored. Can't understand the lyrics? Few people could. The point was more about the feelings that the music evokes rather than the lyrics, which are more an accessory to Nirvana's grunge sound. This album's worth as music has been debated from everybody from established music critics to blokes like my twin brother, who probably only hates it because I like it, however, its endurance as an album cannot be ignored in influence. This album also contains tracks like "Lithium", "In Bloom" and "Something in the Way" (Something in the Way contains a hidden track after a long period of silence on some CD pressings, called "Endless, Nameless", which is definitely meant to be played loud), which genuinely express Cobain's inner torment and angry young man cred. I give it 8 "Swimming Babies" out of 10, I take away two points for the commercial exploitation of Kurt Cobain that this album led to.
* * * * *
Well, that's the first part of "Trawling my CD Collection", which hopefully turns out to be an enjoyable and enlightening series of reviews about CDs I own. Next time, we explore "Muse: What Is the Big Deal?", as I review two albums by the band Muse, which brought the band in question significant scorn and acclaim in mixed baskets.
- Jacob Martin
AKA "Jake of All Trades"
The Blogger's Code
Try this link:
www.bloggingcode.org
This O'Reilly seems to be friendlier and aiming for a better cause than the OTHER O'Reilly... you know, the Fox News one!
As a blogger, this will affect me, but how do I factor in all these rules without careful analysis of the proposed rules?
There really is a need to support civil and polite blogging, yet what I've noticed is the popular ones, like Maddox's blog, maintain interest by throwing politeness out the window.
An ethical code of blogging is good for maintaining factual content, but a simple message that warns people that some viewpoints may offend people would do a better job at making sure people find appropriate content. I am not calling for censorship, what the classification system has done for movies is, however limiting it is for what younger people can see and the general stigma of certain ratings, it does on many occasions give a good idea of the content within the film itself, and the positive aspect of a classification system is that of a way to decide, instead of netfilters censoring artwork blogs with accusations of nudity when the blog is merely presenting the human form (in my experience my school's filter system used to block much needed websites for the study of artists because of nudity that was justified by the idea behind the artwork in most cases).
But an ethical code of blogging could well be, if constructed with thought and reason, not a tool of repression and censorship, but an electronic era code of ethics that would guide bloggers into making the right choices in their content and manner.
More needs to be looked into though, there's a whole bunch of dense material to sift through in order to gain anything from it. A simpler, layman's code would be more effective in the long term, as bloggers have notoriously short attention spans (it takes one to know one) and even non-bloggers thinking of starting up a blog would be helped with a simpler code for use in their blogging activity.
I will bookmark this code immediately!
www.bloggingcode.org
This O'Reilly seems to be friendlier and aiming for a better cause than the OTHER O'Reilly... you know, the Fox News one!
As a blogger, this will affect me, but how do I factor in all these rules without careful analysis of the proposed rules?
There really is a need to support civil and polite blogging, yet what I've noticed is the popular ones, like Maddox's blog, maintain interest by throwing politeness out the window.
An ethical code of blogging is good for maintaining factual content, but a simple message that warns people that some viewpoints may offend people would do a better job at making sure people find appropriate content. I am not calling for censorship, what the classification system has done for movies is, however limiting it is for what younger people can see and the general stigma of certain ratings, it does on many occasions give a good idea of the content within the film itself, and the positive aspect of a classification system is that of a way to decide, instead of netfilters censoring artwork blogs with accusations of nudity when the blog is merely presenting the human form (in my experience my school's filter system used to block much needed websites for the study of artists because of nudity that was justified by the idea behind the artwork in most cases).
But an ethical code of blogging could well be, if constructed with thought and reason, not a tool of repression and censorship, but an electronic era code of ethics that would guide bloggers into making the right choices in their content and manner.
More needs to be looked into though, there's a whole bunch of dense material to sift through in order to gain anything from it. A simpler, layman's code would be more effective in the long term, as bloggers have notoriously short attention spans (it takes one to know one) and even non-bloggers thinking of starting up a blog would be helped with a simpler code for use in their blogging activity.
I will bookmark this code immediately!
Friday, December 28, 2007
My birthday is coming soon...
And I'll be 18 years old. *Gasp*
After already completing a New Years Resolution before 2007 is even finished (completing reading a book I've been meaning to finish reading months ago), I have to put things in perspective. First of all, I'll need to pick the one beer I'm allowed to drink on my birthday (Drinking alcohol is legal at age 18, but I do not intend to use this occasion as an excuse for debauchery). In Australia, we are spoiled for choice when it comes to beers, and I am puzzled at which one I would possibly pick. Heineken or something like that would do, but what if I want something exotic?
Also, I need to plan my party. Which is Disco Themed thanks to my strange twin brother who listens to old music constantly. What am I going to wear?
And what of my birthday present? I have concluded that I want a Nintendo DS Lite for my present, however I am not 100% sure my parents have been convinced that I need one. However, I believe that since I have shown them one of the games I got for Christmas, "Brain Training", they have taken the bait. My father is also interested in using the planned DS Lite to play "Brain Training", so I think I've convinced him now.
What will I do on my birthday? Probably clean up the house for the party, and generally veg out in front of the TV. In any case it should be a good event.
- Jacob Martin
AKA "Jake of All Trades"
After already completing a New Years Resolution before 2007 is even finished (completing reading a book I've been meaning to finish reading months ago), I have to put things in perspective. First of all, I'll need to pick the one beer I'm allowed to drink on my birthday (Drinking alcohol is legal at age 18, but I do not intend to use this occasion as an excuse for debauchery). In Australia, we are spoiled for choice when it comes to beers, and I am puzzled at which one I would possibly pick. Heineken or something like that would do, but what if I want something exotic?
Also, I need to plan my party. Which is Disco Themed thanks to my strange twin brother who listens to old music constantly. What am I going to wear?
And what of my birthday present? I have concluded that I want a Nintendo DS Lite for my present, however I am not 100% sure my parents have been convinced that I need one. However, I believe that since I have shown them one of the games I got for Christmas, "Brain Training", they have taken the bait. My father is also interested in using the planned DS Lite to play "Brain Training", so I think I've convinced him now.
What will I do on my birthday? Probably clean up the house for the party, and generally veg out in front of the TV. In any case it should be a good event.
- Jacob Martin
AKA "Jake of All Trades"
Thursday, December 27, 2007
I played a Wii on Christmas Day
But it wasn't mine, I'm sad to say. (Hey, that rhymes)
Wii Sports is one of the most innovative videogames I've seen in a long time. And I've seen a lot of videogames in my time... this one actually tires you out. You need to be fit to play Wii Boxing, and Wii Tennis, as well as be prepared to have your concentration and coordination at their peaks for Wii Bowling.
Unlike other videogame systems, Wii actually gives you the weariness of the character on screen, (or at least the weariness that your character would feel in real life if constantly doing whatever they do). After playing it for 20 minutes, I saw why people want these babies in their living rooms, perfecting Wiimote control is a satisfying aspect to Wii ownership, as well as the fun multiplayer games it has.
I was late posting this since I was very busy for the past two days, and hope to post more if I can.
- Jacob Martin
AKA "Jake of All Trades"
Wii Sports is one of the most innovative videogames I've seen in a long time. And I've seen a lot of videogames in my time... this one actually tires you out. You need to be fit to play Wii Boxing, and Wii Tennis, as well as be prepared to have your concentration and coordination at their peaks for Wii Bowling.
Unlike other videogame systems, Wii actually gives you the weariness of the character on screen, (or at least the weariness that your character would feel in real life if constantly doing whatever they do). After playing it for 20 minutes, I saw why people want these babies in their living rooms, perfecting Wiimote control is a satisfying aspect to Wii ownership, as well as the fun multiplayer games it has.
I was late posting this since I was very busy for the past two days, and hope to post more if I can.
- Jacob Martin
AKA "Jake of All Trades"
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
Terry Pratchett has Alzheimers
http://apnews.excite.com/article/20071212/D8TG495G0.html
This is really sad. I've met this guy in person, and he seemed really nice. He's one of my favorite authors.
But then again, he's trying to be cheerful about it. Nothing ever gets Terry in a depressed muddle, so there is hope for him.
- Jacob Martin
AKA TeenAuthor
This is really sad. I've met this guy in person, and he seemed really nice. He's one of my favorite authors.
But then again, he's trying to be cheerful about it. Nothing ever gets Terry in a depressed muddle, so there is hope for him.
- Jacob Martin
AKA TeenAuthor
The Wonders of Demo Tape Recording
I've been recording some demo tapes with just singing to send to my musically minded colleagues, in order to give them some idea of how I could make the song work with their riffing.
I do not yet feel the confidence to post links to downloading the said demo tapes. It's humiliating enough to have one's closest friends hear your musical efforts, I feel that I don't need the entire Internet laughing at my expense. When I have more polished versions of my songs with music added, then we might see some download links. But for now, I have more demo tapes to record...
- Jacob Martin
AKA TeenAuthor
I do not yet feel the confidence to post links to downloading the said demo tapes. It's humiliating enough to have one's closest friends hear your musical efforts, I feel that I don't need the entire Internet laughing at my expense. When I have more polished versions of my songs with music added, then we might see some download links. But for now, I have more demo tapes to record...
- Jacob Martin
AKA TeenAuthor
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