It is a dark, Sunday night. There has just been some rain and the humidity is high but the temperature is tolerable also thanks to the rain.
Someone in the neighbourhood is having a barbeque and I can smell the smoke really strongly. I am sitting in my room, studying with an elaborate set up to allow myself to use one computer while at two desks.
Still Run - BrotherSister is playing in iTunes.
Why do you care? You don't. So I make this small observation about my life at this exact moment in time. So what? This is of no consequence to anyone but me and even for me this experience is so minor, so insignificant in the broader scheme of things that once it is over I won't remember it or care about it any further.
So why am I taking the effort to post this moment on my blog? Nobody cares, even I won't care in about half an hour. The reason is this: for some reason I just thought for a split second that this is a great experience. The smoke, the dark, the rain, the music. Something about these factors came together and suddenly I feel like this is the most perfect place in the world.
And what would life be if we didn't all have these random moments where for even no more than 10 minutes the world just seems perfect. Where all the much better possibilities for how life could be at this moment just don't seem so exciting compared to the dull yet magical experience we have here.
In a recent XKCD comic, Nowhere, this idea is ridiculed. The guy says there is nowhere he'd rather be than here with his girlfriend, his girlfriend pictures herself riding a dinosaur. I found that comic hilarious, but I still disagree with it because just now I could honestly think of nothing I'd prefer to do than be right where I was.
It is strange, it makes not much sense because really studying, smelling someone else's barbeque and being stuck in a small humid room aren't the most appealing things in the world. But there is still honestly nowhere I'd rather be.
You don't care about what has made this experience for me, in fact you might not care I had the experience. The fact that the experience exists is why I am sharing it. It is just another very human moment saved for the archives of the internet.
Sunday, November 8, 2009
Thursday, November 5, 2009
Storm Season '09/'10: Storm 4 Review
The day began at the ludicrous time of 4:54am, which was sunrise given our government hasn’t seen fit to introduce daylight saving. Because I was asleep at sunrise, as were most people because it is so ridiculously early, I have no idea how it started other than unconsciously. As the day progressed however it became hot and humid. I actually found it quite pleasant.
As the day continued more cloud covered the cloud, but it wasn’t anything special. You could possibly extrapolate a storm from the clouds but it was more likely that everyone knew there was going to be a storm tonight anyway.
In the afternoon there was a huge storm that wiped out most of west South East Queensland. I’ll be waiting eagerly for the email from the relative in what used to be Warrick for first hand reports of the 7cm hail they got there. As for me in Brisbane though- nothing. Jut heat and humidity.
That is pretty much how the story went for the day. There were lots of big storms and storm warnings and the warning even had an arrow pointing to one cell to say it was very dangerous- as if its representation as a huge red mark wasn’t enough to suggest that. But none of this came remotely close to us.
It was beyond the end of the day, which happened at the foolishly early time of 6:09pm because our government is too stupid to wind the clock on one hour, when the promise of a storm that dared approach was seen. It came in the form of a huge barrier of red moving East across the radar. There was no way it could possibly miss us. There was at one stage a large black spot in the cloud but it faded out as it approached. When the storm came near to hitting, at a time I foolishly didn’t take note of but I think it was some time around 8pm, the first drops of rain were large and isolated which suggests the formerly black spot on the radar was in fact hail that melted out.
The storm didn’t start with these heavy drops though, in fact for a while there it didn’t start at all. We went out to observe the calm before the storm and then when it finished we eagerly watched the next stage- the calm before the storm. Ultimately there were three calms before the storm finally blew open the doors. The unusually long calms built quite the excitement. The sky was constantly a light with lightning, but there was scarcely any thunder to be heard. This silent light added to the eeriness created by the perfectly still environment.
Next there was a series of false starts after the calm finally cracked with an almighty gust of wind and the heavy drops began to fall onto the tin roof… and then stop after a few seconds… and then start again… and then stop. The storm’s engine seemed to have stalled just after Ipswich and it was now unsuccessfully trying to kick back into gear.
The radar was still showing a looming red mass so the family had shut all the windows, and under the astonishing silent lightshow had also shut down most of the electronics. We lined up chairs and ate dinner in front of the storm.
The rain eventually did come, but it seemed somewhat undramatic. The build up to the storm was over done and this was pathetic. We’d lost internet so we couldn’t see the radar any more, but something was going wrong. The storm tired itself out already perhaps?
For about 3 seconds the power went off. Enclosed in darkness the family gave a great cheer at the sign of something entertaining, however the people at Energex must have been particularly on the ball as the power came back on again immediately. A few minutes later it went off a second time, and as with the first time there was a great cheer. As with the first time also it lasted only 3 seconds before the lights came back.
There was a show for a while, but it was nothing notably exciting. It looked like a storm would look if you weren’t as obsessively excited by them as I am. The family retired inside and turned back on the internet and checked the radar. The storm had changed direction just before it hit us and gone south. We only got the very edge of the storm, while the Gold Coast got hammered. The storm must have headed south where they have a decent time zone I guess.
The storm is over now and BoM has cancelled warnings accordingly, but there are thundery showers sitting over South East Queensland. The thunder in these showers- ooh there was a strike just then- is ironically better than that of the actually storm. One rumble as loud enough to shake the glass in my open window. These showers are expected to last all night.
Final Statistics:
Wind: yes
Rain: yes
Lightning: yes
Hail: no
Blackout: yes
House damage: no
Car damage: no
Human damage: no
Side yard: wet
Car-tracks: wet
Breezeway 1: wet
Breezeway 2: dry
Front Yard: wet
Carport: wet around the edges
Inside the house: dry
This storm had a lot of tension to start with, the long series of calms added anticipation, the long series of false starts added frustration. The blackouts added happy distractions. The most exciting part was probably watching cars drive past during the storm and seeing in their headlamp light that the road was steaming, the cold of the storm taking affect on the hot bitumen from the day. Overall though this storm was bitterly disappointing. Other than the things I’ve just mentioned and the spectacular albeit silent lightshow there was really nothing interesting. Yes there was a storm. There isn’t much more to say though. It is Guy Fawkes Day, and with this storm was a poor substitute for fireworks.
Brisbane Storm 5th November 2009:
5/10
And if you can’t tell, I think South East Queensland should have daylight saving.
As the day continued more cloud covered the cloud, but it wasn’t anything special. You could possibly extrapolate a storm from the clouds but it was more likely that everyone knew there was going to be a storm tonight anyway.
In the afternoon there was a huge storm that wiped out most of west South East Queensland. I’ll be waiting eagerly for the email from the relative in what used to be Warrick for first hand reports of the 7cm hail they got there. As for me in Brisbane though- nothing. Jut heat and humidity.
That is pretty much how the story went for the day. There were lots of big storms and storm warnings and the warning even had an arrow pointing to one cell to say it was very dangerous- as if its representation as a huge red mark wasn’t enough to suggest that. But none of this came remotely close to us.
It was beyond the end of the day, which happened at the foolishly early time of 6:09pm because our government is too stupid to wind the clock on one hour, when the promise of a storm that dared approach was seen. It came in the form of a huge barrier of red moving East across the radar. There was no way it could possibly miss us. There was at one stage a large black spot in the cloud but it faded out as it approached. When the storm came near to hitting, at a time I foolishly didn’t take note of but I think it was some time around 8pm, the first drops of rain were large and isolated which suggests the formerly black spot on the radar was in fact hail that melted out.
The storm didn’t start with these heavy drops though, in fact for a while there it didn’t start at all. We went out to observe the calm before the storm and then when it finished we eagerly watched the next stage- the calm before the storm. Ultimately there were three calms before the storm finally blew open the doors. The unusually long calms built quite the excitement. The sky was constantly a light with lightning, but there was scarcely any thunder to be heard. This silent light added to the eeriness created by the perfectly still environment.
Next there was a series of false starts after the calm finally cracked with an almighty gust of wind and the heavy drops began to fall onto the tin roof… and then stop after a few seconds… and then start again… and then stop. The storm’s engine seemed to have stalled just after Ipswich and it was now unsuccessfully trying to kick back into gear.
The radar was still showing a looming red mass so the family had shut all the windows, and under the astonishing silent lightshow had also shut down most of the electronics. We lined up chairs and ate dinner in front of the storm.
The rain eventually did come, but it seemed somewhat undramatic. The build up to the storm was over done and this was pathetic. We’d lost internet so we couldn’t see the radar any more, but something was going wrong. The storm tired itself out already perhaps?
For about 3 seconds the power went off. Enclosed in darkness the family gave a great cheer at the sign of something entertaining, however the people at Energex must have been particularly on the ball as the power came back on again immediately. A few minutes later it went off a second time, and as with the first time there was a great cheer. As with the first time also it lasted only 3 seconds before the lights came back.
There was a show for a while, but it was nothing notably exciting. It looked like a storm would look if you weren’t as obsessively excited by them as I am. The family retired inside and turned back on the internet and checked the radar. The storm had changed direction just before it hit us and gone south. We only got the very edge of the storm, while the Gold Coast got hammered. The storm must have headed south where they have a decent time zone I guess.
The storm is over now and BoM has cancelled warnings accordingly, but there are thundery showers sitting over South East Queensland. The thunder in these showers- ooh there was a strike just then- is ironically better than that of the actually storm. One rumble as loud enough to shake the glass in my open window. These showers are expected to last all night.
Final Statistics:
Wind: yes
Rain: yes
Lightning: yes
Hail: no
Blackout: yes
House damage: no
Car damage: no
Human damage: no
Side yard: wet
Car-tracks: wet
Breezeway 1: wet
Breezeway 2: dry
Front Yard: wet
Carport: wet around the edges
Inside the house: dry
This storm had a lot of tension to start with, the long series of calms added anticipation, the long series of false starts added frustration. The blackouts added happy distractions. The most exciting part was probably watching cars drive past during the storm and seeing in their headlamp light that the road was steaming, the cold of the storm taking affect on the hot bitumen from the day. Overall though this storm was bitterly disappointing. Other than the things I’ve just mentioned and the spectacular albeit silent lightshow there was really nothing interesting. Yes there was a storm. There isn’t much more to say though. It is Guy Fawkes Day, and with this storm was a poor substitute for fireworks.
Brisbane Storm 5th November 2009:
5/10
And if you can’t tell, I think South East Queensland should have daylight saving.
Monday, November 2, 2009
Australian Song of the Year
It is November! Which means I must wish you all a very happy Aus Music Month! Being Aus Music Month I think it is the perfect opportunity to shamelessly plug my favourite song at the moment. It is Australian and it was released this year and it is an independent artist.
My Australian song of the year is ‘The Waitress Song’ by Seth Sentry. I first heard this song on a rainy Easter Saturday morning while in the car home from an all night LAN party and it was one of those songs that even as I was listening to it for the first time it stuck in my head. Not it was stuck in my head, but I remembered it as I just demonstrated by retelling the story of first hearing it.
If you haven’t heard the song it is about going to this dodgy café everyday because despite the poor food and unpleasant dining experience, he has a crush on the waitress.
The lyrics to the chorus are:
And there’s a place I go for breakfast every afternoon
The coffee’s rubbish and the bacon’s always hard to chew
And the toast is always soggy
But I hardly notice
And the food takes such a long time to get made
Even when I’m the only person in the café
And my table’s always wobbly
But I hardly notice.
The next time I heard it was on the Triple J Unearthed Podcast (Episode 8, 2009) where it was the song of the week. They played an interview with Seth Sentry about the song and here is what he said:
“So I wrote this and I was just thinking ‘can I play this to her? Is she going to swoon? Is this what chicks want to hear? Is it a little bit stalkerish?’ So I just thought about it for like a month and didn’t go back into the café cause I felt a bit dodgy you know, I couldn’t just go and eat in a café, looking at this waitress knowing I’d written this song about her. So yeah I eventually summoned up the courage, went in with the intention of showing her this song and you know the rest would be history, we were going to get married, it was going to be beautiful; and she’d quit the day before. So I never saw her again.”
The guy has a great sense of humour and to be laughing about that. I can no longer listen to the song without feeling a harsh kick in my stomach. But I love it. The Waitress Song is a beautiful tale of one sided romance between strangers, a feeling that I’m sure everyone has experienced even if I’m the only one here willing to admit it (hey, the supermarket has more than just cheap soft drink would you believe it), but along side the beautiful lyrics of strange infatuation comes the sickening kick of regret delivered courtesy of the story behind the song.
I guess it is another example of how intertextuality is capable of improving everything (Johnny Cash’s cover of ‘Hurt’ being the best example), but even without the intertexuality this is a great song.
I downloaded The Waitress Song from Seth Sentry’s Unearthed page, but it has since been removed so if you haven’t heard the song you can stream it from Myspace at http://www.myspace.com/sethsentry , at that good low quality stream quality only MySpace and YouTube provide. Or you can pay money for it and get it forever from iTunes.
I don’t know how to put it without being extraordinarily blunt, but if this song doesn’t make it into the Hottest 100 for 2009 then I will hurt myself. My self harm record has been pretty good recently, but if this song doesn’t get in then I will not hesitate to take a brick to my head. The reason I stress this so much is because I have very little faith in Triple J listeners to do it justice. There is a habit for average Aussie Hip Hop to do very well while outstanding Aussie Hip Hop is left out of the light. To prove my point go back and look at how many TZU songs have been in previous Hottest 100s- nil. Now I love the Hilltop Hoods as much as the next guy, and Urthboy should make a strong showing with Hellsong, but The Waitress Song is in my opinion far more deserving of a place, yet is also far less likely to get in.
So I urge you, please go and listen to this amazing song by Seth Sentry, buy it if you like it that much, and vote for it in the Hottest 100. It is a great song, you’ll love it.
My Australian song of the year is ‘The Waitress Song’ by Seth Sentry. I first heard this song on a rainy Easter Saturday morning while in the car home from an all night LAN party and it was one of those songs that even as I was listening to it for the first time it stuck in my head. Not it was stuck in my head, but I remembered it as I just demonstrated by retelling the story of first hearing it.
If you haven’t heard the song it is about going to this dodgy café everyday because despite the poor food and unpleasant dining experience, he has a crush on the waitress.
The lyrics to the chorus are:
And there’s a place I go for breakfast every afternoon
The coffee’s rubbish and the bacon’s always hard to chew
And the toast is always soggy
But I hardly notice
And the food takes such a long time to get made
Even when I’m the only person in the café
And my table’s always wobbly
But I hardly notice.
The next time I heard it was on the Triple J Unearthed Podcast (Episode 8, 2009) where it was the song of the week. They played an interview with Seth Sentry about the song and here is what he said:
“So I wrote this and I was just thinking ‘can I play this to her? Is she going to swoon? Is this what chicks want to hear? Is it a little bit stalkerish?’ So I just thought about it for like a month and didn’t go back into the café cause I felt a bit dodgy you know, I couldn’t just go and eat in a café, looking at this waitress knowing I’d written this song about her. So yeah I eventually summoned up the courage, went in with the intention of showing her this song and you know the rest would be history, we were going to get married, it was going to be beautiful; and she’d quit the day before. So I never saw her again.”
The guy has a great sense of humour and to be laughing about that. I can no longer listen to the song without feeling a harsh kick in my stomach. But I love it. The Waitress Song is a beautiful tale of one sided romance between strangers, a feeling that I’m sure everyone has experienced even if I’m the only one here willing to admit it (hey, the supermarket has more than just cheap soft drink would you believe it), but along side the beautiful lyrics of strange infatuation comes the sickening kick of regret delivered courtesy of the story behind the song.
I guess it is another example of how intertextuality is capable of improving everything (Johnny Cash’s cover of ‘Hurt’ being the best example), but even without the intertexuality this is a great song.
I downloaded The Waitress Song from Seth Sentry’s Unearthed page, but it has since been removed so if you haven’t heard the song you can stream it from Myspace at http://www.myspace.com/sethsentry , at that good low quality stream quality only MySpace and YouTube provide. Or you can pay money for it and get it forever from iTunes.
I don’t know how to put it without being extraordinarily blunt, but if this song doesn’t make it into the Hottest 100 for 2009 then I will hurt myself. My self harm record has been pretty good recently, but if this song doesn’t get in then I will not hesitate to take a brick to my head. The reason I stress this so much is because I have very little faith in Triple J listeners to do it justice. There is a habit for average Aussie Hip Hop to do very well while outstanding Aussie Hip Hop is left out of the light. To prove my point go back and look at how many TZU songs have been in previous Hottest 100s- nil. Now I love the Hilltop Hoods as much as the next guy, and Urthboy should make a strong showing with Hellsong, but The Waitress Song is in my opinion far more deserving of a place, yet is also far less likely to get in.
So I urge you, please go and listen to this amazing song by Seth Sentry, buy it if you like it that much, and vote for it in the Hottest 100. It is a great song, you’ll love it.
Saturday, October 31, 2009
How To Derail a Statistics Class
Actual answers given in class yesterday afternoon.
Q. Sasu walks 2km to school and along the way he drops a $2 coin. There is an equal probability of the coin being dropped at any point along his walk.
a) What is the probability of dropping the coin in the first 10m of his walk?
b) What is the probability of dropping the coin on a different street?
c) What is the probability of dropping the coin and then having it roll onto another street?
d) What is the probability he never drops the coin?
e) What is the probability that there was no coin?
Ah yes, 34% of people think that the future of statistics is in safe hands. I don't blame the people who fall into the 79% of people who think it isn't though.
Q. Sasu walks 2km to school and along the way he drops a $2 coin. There is an equal probability of the coin being dropped at any point along his walk.
a) What is the probability of dropping the coin in the first 10m of his walk?
b) What is the probability of dropping the coin on a different street?
c) What is the probability of dropping the coin and then having it roll onto another street?
d) What is the probability he never drops the coin?
e) What is the probability that there was no coin?
Ah yes, 34% of people think that the future of statistics is in safe hands. I don't blame the people who fall into the 79% of people who think it isn't though.
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Thoughts on The Top
In the mail today I got a shirt I ordered from The Cure. It is The Top Alternative t-shirt, you can get it yourself here or I’ll put a photo of it at the end of this post. It is a great looking shirt and it is just the right size, and it came in good time considering it started life in Britain and had to come through customs to get here (and it didn’t even have cocaine in it when it arrived so customs were even doing their job).
Now having it on a t-shirt I thought I’d write some of my thoughts on the album itself. It was released 25 years ago, 8 years before I was born so I only know what I have read and listened to.
Most people I find seem to consider The Top to be the worst Cure album, or at least worst classic album and then put one better than 2004’s eponymous release. I think I would agree that it is the worst album but that by no means is because it is a bad album. It just doesn’t come up quite as well as the others.
My main objection to the album is that it is too short. The feeling of the album is good to begin with but it starts to deteriorate and just becomes songs after song until the end- quite a problematic feeling coming from a record with only 10 tracks.
The album’s opener and most frequently performed song from the album is Shake Dog Shake, which goes for the right length, opens the album well and sounds healthily like Cure of that period. Only 2 years after Pornography this is the sort of sound that you’d be expecting, though maybe not so much after Japanese Whispers but we’ll just ignore that for the duration of this post.
Birdmad Girl is a song I adore and it also goes for the right length. Wailing Wall then also great length and fantastic song. The slow hypnotic droning of The Wailing Wall followed by the fast anarchic Give Me It carries the mood as well as Pornography did, though with a fuller and more experimental feeling.
Everything is great to this point.
Dressing Up though is where it all starts to come undone for me. Dressing Up is a brilliant song that evokes images of blissfulness, lost in white sheets. It just takes me to a place in my mind that is peaceful and happy in a simple, intimate way. But then after not even 3 minutes it just stops. This song could easily have continued instrumentally for another 2 minutes. If it had done something interesting in those 2 additional minutes it could have possibly gone even longer than that. As it is though it sounds like it ends before it finishes, as if there was more played but somehow left off the recording. Not in actual sounds of course, just in feeling.
The longer Dressing Up would have also led better into the only single from the album, The Caterpillar. The Caterpillar is spot on, it could not be improved by any means. When the single is over you are greeted rapidly by the beginning of Piggy In The Mirror. The vocals starting immediately does work for the song, but it feels too short when it ends and I think it would be better, especially following the single, to have had an instrumental at the beginning. I’d not contest the fact too strongly because the opening would have a different impact but I think an extra minute and a half could easily go into this song.
The Empty World is good. Short but sweet, it says everything it needs to say in the short amount of time it has. Bananafishbones though is again, I feel, too short. A longer instrumental beginning maybe, more instrumental throughout, maybe a solo; I’m not sure exactly what but it needs something to buff it out a bit. An extra two minutes to this song and you would be ready for the album to end.
The title track is spot on. The mood of loneliness and longing that it sets is beautifully captured and effortlessly recognized. It is tracks like The Top, Shake Dog Shake and The Wailing Wall that give the album its strength.
When I criticize the album I am simply stating my opinion and not trying to say “oh he should have done this differently and this differently”. Ok, I am saying he should have done these things differently, but I say that based on the effect the album has on me; if we were judging on the way each composition turned out compared to how the artist intended I’d be telling a whole different story. Also if the songs were all the lengths I suggest then the album would have a total running time of over 46 minutes, which wouldn’t fit on an LP back in 1984.
The feeling I get of an album that deteriorates in the middle to end might not be the best musically but it actually captures the mood of the album’s creation wonderfully. After the violent and chaotic period of Pornography, Robert Smith made as close to a solo album as The Cure have ever produced, with just Lol Tolhurst and some studio musicians forming the band. At the end of it all Smith decided to clean up his life and get a proper band back together, resulting in the unmistakable brilliance of The Head On The Door, which a new line up of 5 made the next year. The deterioration I see in the music then is representative of the deterioration in ambition you might say that occurred during the period, first going in with what was left and doing a good show of it but gradually realizing this wasn’t working and calling out for a new start.
The music in a way shows this transition too, with Shake Dog Shake starting with laughter and The Top’s closing lyrics “please come back all of you”.
So those are my thoughts on the album. It’s sure no competition for the likes of Disintegration, but The Top is a very interesting album, pushing boundaries for the band and creating a powerful mood beautifully fitting with the band’s biography of the time. I just wish it were a little bit longer.
Comments on the album welcome, but note as always that I cannot respond if you are at Blogger.
Now having it on a t-shirt I thought I’d write some of my thoughts on the album itself. It was released 25 years ago, 8 years before I was born so I only know what I have read and listened to.
Most people I find seem to consider The Top to be the worst Cure album, or at least worst classic album and then put one better than 2004’s eponymous release. I think I would agree that it is the worst album but that by no means is because it is a bad album. It just doesn’t come up quite as well as the others.
My main objection to the album is that it is too short. The feeling of the album is good to begin with but it starts to deteriorate and just becomes songs after song until the end- quite a problematic feeling coming from a record with only 10 tracks.
The album’s opener and most frequently performed song from the album is Shake Dog Shake, which goes for the right length, opens the album well and sounds healthily like Cure of that period. Only 2 years after Pornography this is the sort of sound that you’d be expecting, though maybe not so much after Japanese Whispers but we’ll just ignore that for the duration of this post.
Birdmad Girl is a song I adore and it also goes for the right length. Wailing Wall then also great length and fantastic song. The slow hypnotic droning of The Wailing Wall followed by the fast anarchic Give Me It carries the mood as well as Pornography did, though with a fuller and more experimental feeling.
Everything is great to this point.
Dressing Up though is where it all starts to come undone for me. Dressing Up is a brilliant song that evokes images of blissfulness, lost in white sheets. It just takes me to a place in my mind that is peaceful and happy in a simple, intimate way. But then after not even 3 minutes it just stops. This song could easily have continued instrumentally for another 2 minutes. If it had done something interesting in those 2 additional minutes it could have possibly gone even longer than that. As it is though it sounds like it ends before it finishes, as if there was more played but somehow left off the recording. Not in actual sounds of course, just in feeling.
The longer Dressing Up would have also led better into the only single from the album, The Caterpillar. The Caterpillar is spot on, it could not be improved by any means. When the single is over you are greeted rapidly by the beginning of Piggy In The Mirror. The vocals starting immediately does work for the song, but it feels too short when it ends and I think it would be better, especially following the single, to have had an instrumental at the beginning. I’d not contest the fact too strongly because the opening would have a different impact but I think an extra minute and a half could easily go into this song.
The Empty World is good. Short but sweet, it says everything it needs to say in the short amount of time it has. Bananafishbones though is again, I feel, too short. A longer instrumental beginning maybe, more instrumental throughout, maybe a solo; I’m not sure exactly what but it needs something to buff it out a bit. An extra two minutes to this song and you would be ready for the album to end.
The title track is spot on. The mood of loneliness and longing that it sets is beautifully captured and effortlessly recognized. It is tracks like The Top, Shake Dog Shake and The Wailing Wall that give the album its strength.
When I criticize the album I am simply stating my opinion and not trying to say “oh he should have done this differently and this differently”. Ok, I am saying he should have done these things differently, but I say that based on the effect the album has on me; if we were judging on the way each composition turned out compared to how the artist intended I’d be telling a whole different story. Also if the songs were all the lengths I suggest then the album would have a total running time of over 46 minutes, which wouldn’t fit on an LP back in 1984.
The feeling I get of an album that deteriorates in the middle to end might not be the best musically but it actually captures the mood of the album’s creation wonderfully. After the violent and chaotic period of Pornography, Robert Smith made as close to a solo album as The Cure have ever produced, with just Lol Tolhurst and some studio musicians forming the band. At the end of it all Smith decided to clean up his life and get a proper band back together, resulting in the unmistakable brilliance of The Head On The Door, which a new line up of 5 made the next year. The deterioration I see in the music then is representative of the deterioration in ambition you might say that occurred during the period, first going in with what was left and doing a good show of it but gradually realizing this wasn’t working and calling out for a new start.
The music in a way shows this transition too, with Shake Dog Shake starting with laughter and The Top’s closing lyrics “please come back all of you”.
So those are my thoughts on the album. It’s sure no competition for the likes of Disintegration, but The Top is a very interesting album, pushing boundaries for the band and creating a powerful mood beautifully fitting with the band’s biography of the time. I just wish it were a little bit longer.
Comments on the album welcome, but note as always that I cannot respond if you are at Blogger.
Monday, October 26, 2009
Storm Season '09/'10: Storm 3 Review
The day dawned with a beautiful sky perfectly prepared to deliver the promised rain. I’m not sure about other people but I like the sky to be blue and when there is an entirely overcast day it doesn’t send moods high. Perhaps that is why I like storms but not so much the rain. Today’s forecast was for both storms and rain, but with a day of rain a true thunderstorm would surely be unlikely. It would be thunder approaching in the too familiar grey sky of the waking hours passed.
But the evidently rain filled cloud in the morning’s blue sky gave enjoyable weather a favourable prognostication even if it be of rain. The day grew gradually more overcast as the land slowly and unregrettably vanished beneath the blanket of shade.
It was 2pm when he sky showed its eagerness for release and precipitation unavoidably awaited. The BoM site gave no storm warning but the radar showed cells of moderate to heavy rainfall moving in a South-South-South-East direction, almost due south but with just enough East to put you on edge. Shortly before 3pm the wind came in and pushed it more east again and the class left work for the day under no illusion as to the likeliness of saturation during the trip home.
As I reached the train station and began my run home I kept in the forefront of my mind the looming rain, determined to beat it home despite the ominously cold humidity that felt suspiciously like the first mist of a shower. In the distance I could see the blanket of water pouring from the heavens, but this was not nearby. I must have been under a different cloud. It was while coming over an elevation on a bend in the road that I saw the first magnificent strikes of white light piercing the sky as they broke from cloud to ground in the far west. This determinedly set the mood as storm rather than shower.
I did beat the rain home, in fact it didn’t rain at all. I even had unmarred opportunity to take photos of the dead trees below the grey cloud; the results reminiscent of a Sefiros album cover. Still no rain. The radar showed the cells moving due South and avoiding us so I continued to play games, some Team Fortress 2 for the afternoon. 612 Brisbane took actions to command the reluctant rain into their own hands as lightning and thunder were now bountiful across the city, yet the clouds simply would not let their bellies break. Before 6pm a city-wide rain dance was issued- and to what effect! At 5:55pm the rain finally descended and the storm began.
However it was not an entertaining storm. It was a relief storm. We had what we wanted but the effort was minimal. Outside it was cold and wet and not much to look at, inside it was hot and humid as result of being forced to close all the windows. I went back to playing Team Fortress 2.
Feeling tremendously proud of my efforts in the game, my skills having benefited from a recent outbreak of Nexuiz campaigning on my part, I was in a way disappointed to have to urgently leave the game while shouting at Adam (my gaming computer) to shut down more quickly. Stupid Windows 7, just be gone already! I was not alone in my rushed efforts to turn off and unplug computers as the rain had begun outside with storm force and more threateningly the lightning was at a rate of seconds and close enough to be deafening. This was weather for storm watchers, not computers.
It was now 6:30pm and after a trip to the toilet- a small almost pitch black room that I didn’t bother to illuminate with electric light as the natural electrics beyond the window provided sufficient brightness- I went out to the storm observation deck and beheld the wonder that this storm had to offer. Rain fell hard and at a harsh angle having been tilted by the wind. The lightning continued its unrelenting assault of the sky. For minutes it remained this way.
After a while the rain died down, certainly only a drop to rain and not as low as showers but no longer of the full intensity of a storm. The lightning also died away, not entirely but its ferocity reduced. This was not the end however. After this short reprise the storm again fired up and continued its incursion until shortly after 6:50pm at which point I left to attend dinner.
The lightning and rain hung around for the rest of the evening and into the night, never giving up but no longer being as dangerous as to prevent electrically dependent activities within the house. As of now as I write this at after 10:35pm I can still hear the rain fall on the tin roof and overflow from the gutters and into the tanks; the thunder still sounds with regularity if not volume.
The come down from this storm will be stretched out beyond usually measure. Based on the forecast from BoM, tomorrow the rain will ease to showers, on Wednesday the showers will ease possibly to squalls, on Thursday the squalls will be all and then it will be mostly fine from Friday to Sunday before finally shaking the clouds next Monday. Enjoy drifting to sleep tonight to the soundtrack of a dying storm.
Final Statistics:
Wind: yes
Rain: yes
Lightning: yes
Hail: no
Blackout: no
House damage: no
Car damage: no
Human damage: no
Side yard: flooded
Car-tracks: flooded
Breezeway 1: wet
Breezeway 2: wet
Front Yard: flooded
Carport: wet around the edges
Inside the house: dry
Although storms on rainy days are usually terribly disappointing, scoring lowly among morning storms and electric showers, this was a pleasant surprise. The build up was not what I would be any means call classic but it was an extremely enjoyable atmosphere all the same. The build up taking the duration of the whole day was also a nice touch, and the blue sky with rain cloud morning was beautiful. The reluctant start just added to this very slow feeling with the real start being a half hour later when the full force of close lightning brought everything to a stand still. Some people have had a blackout from the storm, I however have not though it did seem a likely prospect at the height of the lightning which did through its brightness give daylight strength bursts of illumination to the street. Over all though with the slow build, slow start and now the long, slow, drawn out conclusion, there is no other way to describe this than the slow storm. Slow, but certainly brilliant.
Brisbane Storm 26th October 2009
8/10
But the evidently rain filled cloud in the morning’s blue sky gave enjoyable weather a favourable prognostication even if it be of rain. The day grew gradually more overcast as the land slowly and unregrettably vanished beneath the blanket of shade.
It was 2pm when he sky showed its eagerness for release and precipitation unavoidably awaited. The BoM site gave no storm warning but the radar showed cells of moderate to heavy rainfall moving in a South-South-South-East direction, almost due south but with just enough East to put you on edge. Shortly before 3pm the wind came in and pushed it more east again and the class left work for the day under no illusion as to the likeliness of saturation during the trip home.
As I reached the train station and began my run home I kept in the forefront of my mind the looming rain, determined to beat it home despite the ominously cold humidity that felt suspiciously like the first mist of a shower. In the distance I could see the blanket of water pouring from the heavens, but this was not nearby. I must have been under a different cloud. It was while coming over an elevation on a bend in the road that I saw the first magnificent strikes of white light piercing the sky as they broke from cloud to ground in the far west. This determinedly set the mood as storm rather than shower.
I did beat the rain home, in fact it didn’t rain at all. I even had unmarred opportunity to take photos of the dead trees below the grey cloud; the results reminiscent of a Sefiros album cover. Still no rain. The radar showed the cells moving due South and avoiding us so I continued to play games, some Team Fortress 2 for the afternoon. 612 Brisbane took actions to command the reluctant rain into their own hands as lightning and thunder were now bountiful across the city, yet the clouds simply would not let their bellies break. Before 6pm a city-wide rain dance was issued- and to what effect! At 5:55pm the rain finally descended and the storm began.
However it was not an entertaining storm. It was a relief storm. We had what we wanted but the effort was minimal. Outside it was cold and wet and not much to look at, inside it was hot and humid as result of being forced to close all the windows. I went back to playing Team Fortress 2.
Feeling tremendously proud of my efforts in the game, my skills having benefited from a recent outbreak of Nexuiz campaigning on my part, I was in a way disappointed to have to urgently leave the game while shouting at Adam (my gaming computer) to shut down more quickly. Stupid Windows 7, just be gone already! I was not alone in my rushed efforts to turn off and unplug computers as the rain had begun outside with storm force and more threateningly the lightning was at a rate of seconds and close enough to be deafening. This was weather for storm watchers, not computers.
It was now 6:30pm and after a trip to the toilet- a small almost pitch black room that I didn’t bother to illuminate with electric light as the natural electrics beyond the window provided sufficient brightness- I went out to the storm observation deck and beheld the wonder that this storm had to offer. Rain fell hard and at a harsh angle having been tilted by the wind. The lightning continued its unrelenting assault of the sky. For minutes it remained this way.
After a while the rain died down, certainly only a drop to rain and not as low as showers but no longer of the full intensity of a storm. The lightning also died away, not entirely but its ferocity reduced. This was not the end however. After this short reprise the storm again fired up and continued its incursion until shortly after 6:50pm at which point I left to attend dinner.
The lightning and rain hung around for the rest of the evening and into the night, never giving up but no longer being as dangerous as to prevent electrically dependent activities within the house. As of now as I write this at after 10:35pm I can still hear the rain fall on the tin roof and overflow from the gutters and into the tanks; the thunder still sounds with regularity if not volume.
The come down from this storm will be stretched out beyond usually measure. Based on the forecast from BoM, tomorrow the rain will ease to showers, on Wednesday the showers will ease possibly to squalls, on Thursday the squalls will be all and then it will be mostly fine from Friday to Sunday before finally shaking the clouds next Monday. Enjoy drifting to sleep tonight to the soundtrack of a dying storm.
Final Statistics:
Wind: yes
Rain: yes
Lightning: yes
Hail: no
Blackout: no
House damage: no
Car damage: no
Human damage: no
Side yard: flooded
Car-tracks: flooded
Breezeway 1: wet
Breezeway 2: wet
Front Yard: flooded
Carport: wet around the edges
Inside the house: dry
Although storms on rainy days are usually terribly disappointing, scoring lowly among morning storms and electric showers, this was a pleasant surprise. The build up was not what I would be any means call classic but it was an extremely enjoyable atmosphere all the same. The build up taking the duration of the whole day was also a nice touch, and the blue sky with rain cloud morning was beautiful. The reluctant start just added to this very slow feeling with the real start being a half hour later when the full force of close lightning brought everything to a stand still. Some people have had a blackout from the storm, I however have not though it did seem a likely prospect at the height of the lightning which did through its brightness give daylight strength bursts of illumination to the street. Over all though with the slow build, slow start and now the long, slow, drawn out conclusion, there is no other way to describe this than the slow storm. Slow, but certainly brilliant.
Brisbane Storm 26th October 2009
8/10
Friday, October 23, 2009
Run Everywhere
Society is built on a number of basic principles, some which we realise consciously and some which we take for granted and completely fail to realise. Unless you are under two years old, use a wheelchair, care for someone in a wheelchair or care for someone under two years old you probably take walking for granted.
I could discuss the differences that would emerge in society if we were to not walk but rather to run everywhere, but they are too numerous and profound for any simple analysis of mine to even scratch the surface. Some of the differences that I can hypothesize include people would be fitter and disease would probably be different because while minor bugs wouldn't effect us, major ones would effect us much worse. City design would be completely different because with running being much quicker than walking people would run more often than they currently walk, but at the same time you can't run as far as you can walk because you tire out quickly, so any services would have to be closer.
I have thought about what would happen if everyone were to run everywhere for quite some time. This is partially because I play too many computer games and everyone runs in computer games, partly because I've recently developed a potentially alarming exercise obsession, and partly because it is just interesting.
I mentioned my thoughts about this concept of running everywhere to a friend today, a friend who I respect greatly as her intelligence perfectly counter-balances my idiocy. She greeted my interest with such words and phrases like "interesting" and "you should try it sometime". Expecting that people would just tell me I was insane I was now incredibly enthusiastic about this idea and continued to spread it to anyone who would listen. Everyone else of course told me that I was insane.
But here is the idea: for one week to start with, next week in fact, 3 days away from now, starting the 26th October, instead of walking just run everywhere. You only run everywhere you would otherwise walk, so you aren't excluded from any other forms of transport. You also don't have to run if you are inside. But walking down the street, walking to take out the bins or whatever you will now run.
Expect to get a lot of strange looks at first- a collar and tie business man in the city running down the mall to get his lunch is going to look out of place. People tend only to run places currently if they are in a hurry, or obviously doing exercise. But after you get over the strange looks it could be greatly beneficial to your health. Also doing weird things and not worrying about it can be very liberating.
I doubt many people reading this are going to try this experiment and those of you who do try will probably give up, but I would still suggest that you, despite my great pessimism, give it a go.
I'm going to try. I expect it will be an effort constantly interrupted by periods of walking, Kanye West and my inability to talk seriously for prolonged periods of time without mentioning a meme, but I'm going to try. I decided to run home today and did better than I have before. I did walk the whole time I was with a friend and then I walked for half blocks at a time when my chest felt like exploding but the rest of the way I ran. The walk home is 2km so I think I did alright.
Run everywhere: give it a go. And my apologies for the potentially appalling spelling errors in this blog but Cailie is currently speaking German and as such Text Edit has put a red line under 97% of the words in this document so I've got no idea what is right and what is wrong. And I never proof-read for the blog but you all know that by now.
I could discuss the differences that would emerge in society if we were to not walk but rather to run everywhere, but they are too numerous and profound for any simple analysis of mine to even scratch the surface. Some of the differences that I can hypothesize include people would be fitter and disease would probably be different because while minor bugs wouldn't effect us, major ones would effect us much worse. City design would be completely different because with running being much quicker than walking people would run more often than they currently walk, but at the same time you can't run as far as you can walk because you tire out quickly, so any services would have to be closer.
I have thought about what would happen if everyone were to run everywhere for quite some time. This is partially because I play too many computer games and everyone runs in computer games, partly because I've recently developed a potentially alarming exercise obsession, and partly because it is just interesting.
I mentioned my thoughts about this concept of running everywhere to a friend today, a friend who I respect greatly as her intelligence perfectly counter-balances my idiocy. She greeted my interest with such words and phrases like "interesting" and "you should try it sometime". Expecting that people would just tell me I was insane I was now incredibly enthusiastic about this idea and continued to spread it to anyone who would listen. Everyone else of course told me that I was insane.
But here is the idea: for one week to start with, next week in fact, 3 days away from now, starting the 26th October, instead of walking just run everywhere. You only run everywhere you would otherwise walk, so you aren't excluded from any other forms of transport. You also don't have to run if you are inside. But walking down the street, walking to take out the bins or whatever you will now run.
Expect to get a lot of strange looks at first- a collar and tie business man in the city running down the mall to get his lunch is going to look out of place. People tend only to run places currently if they are in a hurry, or obviously doing exercise. But after you get over the strange looks it could be greatly beneficial to your health. Also doing weird things and not worrying about it can be very liberating.
I doubt many people reading this are going to try this experiment and those of you who do try will probably give up, but I would still suggest that you, despite my great pessimism, give it a go.
I'm going to try. I expect it will be an effort constantly interrupted by periods of walking, Kanye West and my inability to talk seriously for prolonged periods of time without mentioning a meme, but I'm going to try. I decided to run home today and did better than I have before. I did walk the whole time I was with a friend and then I walked for half blocks at a time when my chest felt like exploding but the rest of the way I ran. The walk home is 2km so I think I did alright.
Run everywhere: give it a go. And my apologies for the potentially appalling spelling errors in this blog but Cailie is currently speaking German and as such Text Edit has put a red line under 97% of the words in this document so I've got no idea what is right and what is wrong. And I never proof-read for the blog but you all know that by now.
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