grumblegrumble

I know this unit is all about the internet and everything but right now I can't help resenting that. I'm struggling with my assignment, not because I have left it to late or because I don't know what I'm doing but because I live on res and the internet is shit here. Normally I don't really get affected when the network has a spaz but today for some stupid reason, of all days, my internet is the one struggling. ARGH!!! I just hope I get my assignment done in time. So far it's taken about 5 times the normal rate to do anything. I will pull my hair out.

Why the hell is StoneWeek the last week of semester? Stupid idea.

Crap weekend. Lost my flash drive containing some of my data visualisation assignment and some of my visual narrative animation. Dang. Then I busted my knee. Last time I was in my knee brace it was because of a snowboarding stack, this time it is because I nearly dropped a piece of ginger at the markets and stepped funny to save it. Two obviously hazardous environments.

I'm over the distress I was feeling last week about my assignment, despite losing some of the work. Just getting on with it now as best I can, attempting to figure out Google Docs and stuff. Vince Noir and the Kings of Leon have been my companions.

Study study study now. Meanwhile everyone else is outside getting on it and enjoying the balmy night. Bitches. Whatever uni will be all over next week at which point my summer of music commences, with a bit of house hunting on the side. 6 concerts and festivals in the next month and a half. Brutal. Can't wait.

I wonder what I'll do with this blog when I'm finished this unit? Is it just gonna sit here forever?

Deflated

Just finished the week 14 tute. I spent about 15 minutes talking to Michael about my data visulalisation. I'm feeling pretty overwhelmed now. He gave me some great ideas for comparisons and stuff, and was very encouraging and enthusiastic, however I don't know if I have the skills or knowledge to pull it off. I know I could just stick to my simple plan and still do ok but I don't want the person marking my assignment to think "Jeez, she could have done so much more with this." Inadequate would be an appropriate way to describe my current state of mind.

Time for a brew methinks.

Talent Envy

You may have heard of multimedia artist Emma Hack. And when I say mulitmedia I mean she uses bodies and animals to display her work.
Check her out. The stuff she does is insane.

Sound Waves, ahoy

So a mentioned my favourite singer songwriter Josh Pyke a couple of posts ago (so much for daily posts...eep). Big big fan I am, but that's kind of beside the point. I just found this picture, which was taken near Balmain on Friday, in google news Captain Pyke, the salty dog, was filming for the video clip for his new single 'Make you Happy'. Apparently the SS. Maton is almost an exact replica of Josh's favourite guitar, and was made especially for him by Maton. Can't wait to see the film clip. Rad.

cinematic anticipation

OK so I am feeling pretty guilty at the moment because I didn't go to the lecture this morning. But I am sick and I didn't sleep very well last night so it wasn't entirely because I am a bludger.

I got my marks back for an essay that I truly believe was the worst I have ever handed in. I got a credit. Very suprising.

So on another completely seperate note I cannot wait to see 'Burn After Reading', I love the Coen Brothers, O Brother Where Art Thou is a steady favourite of mine, and I really don't think they can do much wrong. Their new one looks just as good!

Off to my tute now.

Return to the fold

OK so I have been pathetic at maintaining this blog over the past few weeks. I am well aware of this so to make up for it I'm going to attempt daily posts this week to try compensate for my slackness (I'm also well aware that 'slackness' is bad grammar, but I will not conform to the constrains of conventional language, and also I'm too lazy to find another word).

So as you might have noticed, in the 'for watching' box on this page I have been viewing 'Clark and Michael'. It is an Internet 'mockumentary' series about two guys who are trying to get their tv series made. Funny as. Written, directed and starring BFFs Michael Cera (Arrested Development, Juno, Superbad) and Clark Duke (the best thing in the show 'Greek'), its silly, random and the root of all procrastination. I think the opening credits are quite possibly the best. Ever. Makes me laugh everytime. The series has a bit of a cult status and features loads of guest stars, paricularly from Arrested Development.
It's the only net based show I have ever watched. I have always steered clear of them because I had the idea that if the show was so good it would be on TV, but I can see why Clark and Michael works on the internet rather than TV. The length of the episodes aren't really suitable and the humour is quite...offbeat. I think it would polarise people and TV is all about ratings, where as the internet alows you to pick and choose for yourself. It's something to think about; the opportunities the net provides in terms of the variety of entertainment.
I rarely ever watch tv anymore, I download or buy the dvd of any series that I'm interested in and watch them whenever I want on my computer, which means I don't miss anything and I don't have to follow the schedule of a TV guide. And most of my friends are the same so I wonder what is going to happen to regular network television stations.
I first got thinking about it last semester when I was researching for an essay on the effects the internet has had on the music industry, and I came across this article.

I'm pretty chuffed at the moment because my favourite singer/songwriter Josh Pyke has just released his second album 'Chimney's Afire' (named after an expression used by whalers back in the day - after harpooning a whale and causing blood to spray out of its blowhole they would cry 'Chimney's Afire'!), which I purchased on saturday with the last of my money. Luckily it is a beautiful record and was well worth the sacrifice of doing anything really exciting over the long weekend. Mr Pyke is a lyrical genius, and I suggest you all check him out, but the main reason why I'm mentioning him is because of the art work on his new album. It was created by the Sydney art collective Greedy Hen, who have also made the film clip for his current single 'The Lighthouse Song' and the Panics' 'Don't Fight It'. It's all collage and puppetry, really lovely stuff. I really like their work, its a mix of the whimsical, sinister and folk imagery. Like a fable or something, but a little off kilter.

Really enjoyed the lecture last week, though I really question the reasoning behind introducing such a dangerous procrastination tool to a class coming up to final assignments and exams. 'We Feel Fine' is now my favourite website. It's like you can hear in people's heads or something.

Apparently, according to Microsoft Word, slackness is a word. And if I say it and you know what I mean why shouldn't it be a word? Thats how words are made.

Thats all for now
B.

Scattered...

Initially I struggled with choosing between the three options for this project, but after grasping for inspiration for a few weeks I settled on option 3.

Originally my exhibition was going to be an exploration of the contrast between holidays and real life. What it means to visit somewhere and what it means to belong there. However as I began to collect photographs from my intrepid friends for the vacation section, my vision of the concept began to evolve. All these photographs from all over the world, of famous and not so famous locations, got me thinking about the experience of discovery, of the backpacker, an individual who is constantly travelling and embodies the idea that the journey is more important than the destination.

The photographs used were selected from a pool of approximately 100 images, all taken by friends of mine who have lived this exploration experience. They were chosen not necessarily for their beauty or compositional skill, but for their location. The photographs vary from postcard-ready images to typical holiday snaps, to candid and sometimes intimate moments. This also was a conscious decision. I wanted to really infuse the exhibition with this sense of variety - of moments and locations. The aim being that the themes of vastness and exploration would contrast comfortably with the suggestion that the world is not so big after all, and that we all share a connection. The concern was then how this amalgam of diversity and connection could best be represented visually.

Flickr was the ideal medium for this. Not only was I able to show all the images side by side as thumbnails, almost like one big image, hinting at the idea of connection and linking, I could also make use of the map tagging function to show physically where these photographs were taken to capture the contrasting vastness of it all.

The order of the photographs derived chiefly from contrasting their locations with the photograph before and after. I tried to organise them so that the viewer felt as though they were jumping all over the world, from Cambodia to Mexico to Greece to Holland to Scotland to New Zealand etc etc. This is where the name Scattered came from, and the idea that while these people are spread out all over the world they all have the same spirit at heart.

Awwww...

Original Video- More videos at TinyPic

So cute!

Talent

Watch this. Insane.

Jinx.

Well isn't this ironic. Last time I posted I spoke metaphorically about the flood gates of inspiration opening. Well yesterday the flood gates literally opened and my building was flooded. Well technically it was the fire sprinklers which were set off when someone shook a doona in front of it, but regardless my house was flooded and now smells like a urinal.

Luckily my computer wasn't damaged but the power has only just come back on so I haven't been able to access any of my work. Awesome thing to happen when you have multiple assginments due in 3 days.

These photos were taken over an hour after the event, and alot of the water had been removed and sucked up. Can you imagine how it was before then?

It was a friggin swamp. I'm anticipating an isolated outbreak of malaria any moment.

I'm off to install a heavy duty air freshener in the hallway.

Metaphorically speaking.

I am drowning in a sea of work. The stupid thing is that I know how to swim. I just don't.

I had a great image to illustrate this point, carrying on the symbolism theme but I just discovered that it is all rights reserved. Which I now know means I cannot use it. I am learning.

Moving on from wanky self indulgent attempts at poetics, I have finally come up with a concept for my production project. My lack of direction and motivation in this area is the reason for my silence on here so as the flood gates of inspiration have opened my blog posts will now flow forth in abundance. And there is that poorly constructed imagery again. I will refrain.

I have chosen option 2, which I suspect I am not alone in. The medium, like so many others, is photography. The exhibition will be a collection of holiday photographs - people enjoying famous destinations all over the world - juxtaposed with photographs of people dealing with negative issues in these regions. For example; a photograph of sunny, idyllic Naples, followed by a snap of the streets that are lined with thousands of bags of rotting garbage as a result of the waste crisis. It will be presented on flickr so that I can make use of geotagging. I'm going to try and do as many destinations as possible. The aim isn't to be depressing or negative but to highlight the notion that we all have our problems, and though some place might seem like paradise from an outsider's perspective, we should appreciate that everywhere has it's issues. I want the theme to be more about solidarity than anything else.

Don't judge me - work in progress and all that.

On a more exciting and interesting note MGMT have moved their Sydney concert to a larger venue. This means more tickets which means I can go which means I will no longer be depressed to the point of sobbing when I hear one of their songs because I missed out on tickets. Oh happy happy day.

Splendour in the Grass

OK I know I said that I would post tomorrow on Monday but I was tired. And Sick. And lazy. Back off.

So now a few highlights from Splendour just like I promised...

First band of the fest was Bluejuice. They were Cra-zy. Jake, one of the lead singers (yes they have more than one), had a broken wrist and a broken leg but he still managed to chuck himself all over the Mix Up stage, whipping the sizable crowd into a frenzy. The only time he seemed to stop moving was when he paused so that I could take this picture. I was pretty shocked when he noticed me taking it and actually looked at the camera. Makes for a good memento.

Other Day One golden moments included the shouty, explosive Cold War Kids, and the insane Polyphonic Spree. 24 people in that band! A choir, string section, horn section, a harp! They even had a costume change! By the end of the set I wanted to be in that band, its like a cult. And I think the rest of the audience felt the same way. Here's some friends I made during the set-

Day two dawned with the same glorious weather that we had been experiencing all week. Stand-outs of the day included British India, The Panics and The Vines. Vampire Weekend were top notch in their first ever Australian performance. Completely living up to the hype, their "Upper-East Side Soweto" was delivered with enthusiasm and what seemed like more than a little surprise at the reception. The vocal crowd knew all the words. The Wombats had the Supertop packed out, belting out their infectious pop rock, leaving me hoarse from singing and physically wrecked from the brutal mosh pit. The most energetic set of the festival methinks.

Sigur Ros was a band I was desperate to see, and they definitely did not disappoint.

An atmospheric, epic, blissful, wall of sound filled the Supertop. Hard to describe the feeling actually. I was going to post some video that I took on my digital camera of their set but it wouldn't load. I'll try loading it again later.

So once Sigur Ros' set, which was a bit of a religious experience, came to an end, myself and about three thousand others headed for the Presets. I could not even get in the tent it was so packed, lucky I have seen them before, as for me The Presets at Splendour were just a ball of pretty light -

But that didn't stop us late comers enjoying ourselves.There was certainly a feeling of solidarity in they air. It felt as though everyone at Belongil Fields was singing when they played "My People".

And that was it. When the Presets wrapped, my mates and I rounded up and dragged our weary bodies back to base camp for a few hours sleep before we left for Canberra early the next day.

Seriously though - Best. Weekend. Ever.

zzzzzzzzzz

Just got back from Splendour. It's 11pm. Left Byron at 7.30am. Will write how awesome it was tomorrow and post some pics. Sleep now.

P.S Its sad how much we all missed the internet. Sad and scary.

Basking in the Splendour of Byron Bay

Hey kids, just a quick update to say I am in Byron for the magnificent Splendour in the Grass fest. Staying at an awesome rainforesty retreat. Can't wait for saturday! Stayed in Coffs last night and met Tom Tilley from Triple J's Splendour Express. Twas exciting.
Off now for some dinner, drinks and hippy chillaxing.

I am a statistic

So apparently we live in the age of the Blogosphere (that is a silly word). A cheap world wide publishing tool that allows global immediacy and interconnectivity. And now I am a part of this sphere.

Well perhaps its not an 'age', but it's certainly a phenomenon of sorts. There is now so much content stored on the Internet that it worries me a little bit. Now I know this is probably naive and a little bit technophobic (yes I am aware of the irony) but just say the Internet breaks and all that stuff is lost? That's some sort of history and culture and stuff all gone. I understand that news, art etc are not stored solely on the net and wont disappear, but I'm talking about all those communities and blog posts like this one, that have cultural significance that without the Internet would not exist(I am not suggesting that my blog has any sort of cultural significance). I guess that's the key-The Internet-it allows for interaction and connection to take place that, due to geographical constraints, among other things, would not otherwise occur.

Speaking of connection, I'm told that a good start for blogging is linking to relevant or interesting media (what a segway!). So whilst it's not particularly relevant, I do find this clip interesting. It was made by this guy for a final year music project using Adobe After Effects. It's a music video for a Josh Pyke song called 'Fill you In'.

I'm impressed with myself, 2 posts in 3 days. Given that I've never been able to maintain any sort of journal in my life I feel as though this is a good start.

Inauguration

OK so this is my very first blog post.

Ever.

Its kind of freaking me out a bit. The idea that people are going to be reading this, and marking me on it is more than a little disconcerting. I prefer regular formal assignments, void of any humour or colloquialism, that you drop in a box. No real interaction or judgment on you particularly, just whats on a page. Cold and impersonal thank you very much. Where as on here I have to worry about an image; an identity. And its real worry too. My main aim is to avoid seeming pretentious, which is ridiculous because everything has a pretense, especially when you have a chance to review what your producing. Like on here.

It's hard to create an accurate portrayal of yourself over net. Its all construction. I was neuroticising over what goes where-colour, pictures, font- for over an hour. All for this Identity, because once you jump on the web people only know you by what you tell them. And usually I don't tell them anything. My facebook is as basic and as private as you can get, and I'm only 'friends' with people I already know. Which still portrays an image. I guess its a reaction to all those facebook/myspace pages of narcissistic youth, with their self-taken semi-naked pictures with screen names like 'sExC gUrL' ect, which make me cringe in embarrassment. I did have a link to an example of one of these 'identities' but I felt guilty for exploiting her any more than what she has already done, so I've taken it down.

So this is my online 'self'. I hope I don't make you cringe.