Nurburgring Live Webcam

New website

My new website is now live. Find it at http://bur.st/~orbit. It will be the most frequently updated of my web spaces, though I may still be posting to this blog occasionally.

Write a blog. Or don't.

How To: Dissuade Yourself from Becoming a Blogger
It’s been three months since I began my blog and I still don’t know what it’s for. A brilliant article from a brilliant database of how-to procedures.

How to: Write on the Web
If you do decide to become a Blogger, this article might help you. I’ve felt the urge to write of late, so stay tuned for… ‘5 things to do when you can’t think of what to write’, or something. Actually, how about…


Five Disappointing Television Programmes
There may be nothing I hate more than reaching a small percentage of the way through a movie or TV show to realise that the remaining time of such would be better spent locked in the laundry tasting a range of detergents.

American Dad
Much-hyped successor/side project to Family Guy. My anticipation was high after seeing creator Seth McFarlane’s original, crudely-animated Family Guy concept. What resulted was a German-speaking goldfish and a camp alien. The only worthy reason to watch the show is the way McFarlane’s voice roles sound like his actual accent when they’re outraged. This was apparent in Family Guy, too, and often makes a dubious joke into water-cooler material.

Chappelle's Show
I could have sworn this was funny when I first watched it a couple of years ago. Laughs can be found, but often work best when the sketch doesn't run for twice as long as it should. Each episode feels like it’s about 90 seconds long thanks to the fifteen commercial breaks they cram in between twenty minutes of material.

League of Gentlemen
Not the similarly-titled Sean Connery movie (which I haven’t seen), rather the British sketch show. Repeating sketches with the same characters every week is risky business, and while Little Britain scrapes through with some clever writing and witty narration, League of Gentlemen falls on its face. While everyone’s pondered the comic merit of a disabled man and his spineless companion, less identifiable are the keepers of the General Store in Royston Vasey. They have produced a feature film based on the programme, though like someone visiting Tubbs in her shop, I’ve not yet summoned the courage to take a look.

The Office (American)
Feels like the cast is trying too hard to act like the UK lot, though in actual fact they’re probably doing a fairly good job. My Steve Carell Support-o-Meter was boosted after realising he was the hilariously un-PC mentally disabled character from Anchorman. Nothing can save it from the fact that it suffers from a stale taste despite fresh ingredients. It feels like a bad cover of a good song. (Update: OK, some fresh storylines make this a pretty good show - just let the characters grow on you)

Whose Line is it Anyway? (American)
Soulless, forced and largely relying on Ryan Stiles. And that’s just the presenter, Drew Carey, so denoted because he merely presents the talent rather than hosting the show. Watching the original UK version with legend Clive Anderson in charge, your first reaction was to put your hand up, wait for Mr Anderson to pick you, then ask if you could be excused to pursue less frivolous attempts to fill your time with entertaining viewing. (Update: Wayne Brady is the surprise hit of this show, redeeming it with some brilliant improvised songwriting)

Swift on the road near Wiseman's Ferry. 

A tunnel. 

Anzac Bridge, Sydney. 

Rialto Tower, Melbourne. 

The Swift and a burned-out Commodore. Royal National Park, Sydney. 

The Swift gets a wash. I get a free coffee. Everybody wins. 

Links

The Simpsons Archive
Every piece of information you could possibly imagine relating to every episode

Neologisms from The Simpsons
Words which have been created or modified by The Simpsons

Coca Cola brand images
Interesting

del.icio.us/livedirect
My bookmarks

del.icio.us
Bored? Many hours of web fun start here

    

Coupla Links

Here are a couple of amazing sites I've discovered recently:

Allmusic
A huge database of discographies, artist biographies and reviews. It's not up-to-the-second accurate, and some bands (Aussie mostly) tend to be lacking in much info, but if the group you're looking for is there, there is likely tons of info.

Grammar
Incredible site - never again will you wonder how to properly use a colon! Features a mammoth list of issues to read about.

Rock.

Music: Wolfmother - Wolfmother
Oh, man. This is what kids today should be brought up listening to. Never heard of Wolfmother? Neither had I until recently. When I asked a collegue what to expect, he stated with confidence that "if Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd and Deep Purple had sex, Wolfmother would be the baby". I would not hesitate to add Black Sabbath, The White Stripes and the best of long-hair rock culture into that analogy.

Revealed in the foreground of Wolfmother's rock is the the combination of familiar vocal tones, psychadelic and quasi-deep lyrics, organs and other instrumental timbres distictly characteristic of the seventies, which may raise issues about how far an influence is supposed to reach over a band's work. Whatever your opinion, it is near enough to a scientific fact that rock does not get more hairy and masculine than this.

The praise I give for a new release with such a seventies vibe perhaps will seem exaggerated once it's been overplayed and absorbed by copycats, but like the White Stripes did when I was first exposed, Wolfmother have struck a strong chord within. The fact that they're Aussie makes it even sweeter. The first single, 'Mind's Eye', is a down-tempo track on the album and while a masterpiece, may suffer the unfortunate possibility of fading into the pop noise surrounding it in the charts. The choice of this song as the first single was likely motivated by the fact that it would introduce Wolfmother to the scene in a less-offensive way than a full-blown rock song would, and gives everyone a chance to brace themselves for the resurrection of the term rock.

Filling my time...

...are many things. With a uni essay due soon and exams not-too-far after, I've entered Guilt Mode (TM) and thus can not enjoy my usual recreational activities to their full extent. It's a pity, because with some planning and a little organisation, I could have time to work and play. All I have to do is find out which organisation that is. ;-)

Stuff I'd Reccommend:

Movie: Wild Style
Surely one of 1982's finest, Wild Style (loosely) follows a few characters in Brooklyn, New York and the rise of grafitti and hip hop culture. Highlights include ol' skool cats like Grand Master Flash and MC Busy Bee and some lines which have been sampled in songs I've heard*. Hugely enthusiastic views on IMDB perhaps exaggerate a little, but like many low-budget films it's worth watching at a different mental angle than you would a regular movie. Selling for $4.95, it's (almost-hesitantly) classed as so-bad-it's-good.

*: "You just pick it up, it's like a virus", and "You've heard it on the radio and seen it on the TV show. A to the K? A to the muthaf**n Z."

Music: Prodigy - Their Law: The Singles 1990-2005
I'm a huge Prodigy fan and when I spotted a new album, I was not excited in the slightest about a compilation of singles. It's like a TV clip-show, where the same old stuff you've been over-exposed to comes back to haunt you in a 'new' episode. Well, turns out I was kinda wrong. All the tracks have been freshened up mastering-wise (Jericho sounds amazing with its new clarity), and some structure-wise (Spitfire 2005, though just a change of the kick drum on the sequencer and a new hi-range loop, sounds ten times meaner than the album version). While there's some rubbish on there, it's to be expected through fifteen years of any band's work. The album wins in the end, because for sometime-listeners it's a collection of cool tracks, while for trainspotters like me it's an insight into the original ideas behind some of the tracks.

Music: This Is... Jungle Brothers
While my knowledge of hip hop doesn't reach far enough to tell you more about the Jungle Brothers than words like 'pioneers' and 'ol' skool', they have been around since 1987 producing some awesome tunes. The album starts off with typically old-school, 80s-sounding hip hop (which I respect greatly, but don't go out of my way to listen to) and moves on to some fat 90s beats. My all-time JBs fave, 'How ya Want it We Got it' sounds better than ever and I think iTunes will soon start preemptively cueing it when it feels me hover over the program's icon.

Peace out.

Never read a blog. Certainly never thought I'd be signing up for one. Not a clue what I'll be writing or posting, most likely music and movies that I'm into and that I think you should be into too.

Orbit in tha place, about ta say nut'n,
give it thirty seconds, reach for the back but'n