James Reyne's Been Turnstiled, Junk Piled, Downhearted Too

Just heard James Reyne lovely cover of Townes Van Zandt's To Live's To Fly on the radio.

You too can hear it here on the Official James Reyne Website.

The Poos & Wees to be Jeffed

For Jeff Kennett to be President of the Hawthorn Football Club and also head of a depression organisation would surely be a conflict of interest.

Victoria Park

Behold Thy Strategically Placed Spigot

Got the session time and venue wrong when I went to see the Townes Van Zandt doco. Very embarassing, seeing I took along a posse.

Instead, our posse went to the National Gallery of Victoria to check out the free exhibition, Albrecht Dürer: Master of the Renaissance.

Dürer lived from 1471-1528 and is best known for his wood-cutting genius.

After seeing this exhibition, I'll remember him more as an arts version of Nick Drake with a potty mouth. While many of these prints show lonely figures contemplating their place in an awkward cosmos, most (if you look closely) contain a peurile dick joke somewhere or rather.

NGV's Albert Durer Exhibition Site which contains many more from the gallery's collection which wouldn't fit in the room.
The Project Gutenberg eBook of Albert Durer, by T. Sturge Moore.

The Nightwatchman: The Best Of

The following paragraph was posted on this site way back in Novemeber 2001. It is the most read posting on the entire site. Thousands of people have come to The Nightwatchman when Google searching for EPICACK and this is what they read.

This week's TV WEAK!!

If there is one thing most of us will remember from High School first aid class, is that when the patient is choking, you may have to induce vomiting by feeding them the medicine, Epicack. Here’s a tip. Save money on Epicack by taping the Ray Martin interview with Tom Cruise (Ch 9. Thursday, 9pm).

I've Been Turnstiled, Junk Piled, Railroaded Too

I listen to Townes Van Zandt more than any other singer/songwriter.

On the weekend I'm off to see Be Here to Love Me: A Film About Townes Van Zandt as part of the Melbourne International Film Festival.

The film's director, Margaret Brown, was a guest on Jon Faine's Conversation Hour on ABC 774 this morning which can be heard here. Nice interview. Even better, it was brilliant to hear Van Zandt's music in glorious AM mono sound as I crawled outta bed this morning.

A Prototype of Australia Card II

From The Reader, Crikey's big sister magazine.

George Bush's Leaking Turd Blossom

A shadow on Rove's career.

George Bush is crap at remembering people's names so he gives everybody he meets and works with nick names. He calls his senior advisor, Karl Rove the cutesy name, Turd Blossom.

Seeing that it's most likely Rove who leaked the name of a CIA agent, Bush should now refer to him with the poetic moniker, My Leaking Turd Blossom. Vindaloo anyone?

Turd Blossom's Wikipedia entry.

Another Picture of Polly Holding a Stick

Polly is the best cat on earth.

I miss her incredibly.

Folks Are Dumb Where I Come From

New site, FolkLikeMe is a promising idea- a career/knowlege based dating agency webthingy where you peddle and share your knowledge, skills and interests.

The site reckons all kinds of people will hang out there like:

"an intellectual in Idaho writing a PHD; a coal mine manager in Australia ; a student of Taoism in Hong Kong or a telecommunications consultant in Malaysia." And that "each is an unique individual, and looking for someone with that same uniqueness; not to share an intimate dinner for two, or to find a job, or rent an appartment - but something inherently more potent: knowledge."

More spiel:

"FolkLikeMe is an online place where birds of a feather flock together. A place for thinkers as well as doers. A place where like minded people can find each other, interact, learn and share knowledge and skills. FolkLikeMe is a social networking service, modelled after the online dating model, but more interested in matching people's minds than bodies."

Nice and all but I suspect the place like many others who've tried similar, is going to be filled with helvetica-obsessed graphic design graduates like anaesthesiac, who says on his profile:

"Music keeps me alive and graphic design keeps me sane. The world is a fractal environment. Every brick, leaf and person contains infinite detail. Every sound contains more meaning than we can imagine. The deeper we delve, the more we find. I want to see it all before I leave."

Or Novaman88, who reckons:

"I'm into creativity of all types.Initially trained in the vis. arts. I actually went on to become an artist. It was easy to go from that into writing and recoding music. Later I studied English/ philosophy at uni. and found that all similar subjects relate.I'm thus a creative philosopher."

And Jam Girl:

"I live with enthusiasm and curiousity, I paint with dedication and relish, I cook (vegetarian cuisine) with abandon and flair. I'm looking to improve my employment network and add to my already excellent circle of friends. I love an informed discussion, and a good laugh."

Shouldn't she be using the "flair" in her painting and "relish" in her cooking? And how about Novaman88? "I'm thus a creative philosopher." Oh dear. Maybe instead they should have called the site, PeopleLikeUs.

FolkLikeMe.com - Matching Brains, Not Bodies

This post originally appeared on my careers blog, But I Want An Interesting Job

Mobile Call Centre Road Deaths Link

Instead of running their own call centre or outsourcing to India, Onroad's telemarketers call Australian households while driving through the sunny streets of Brisbane.

Onroad has been linked to 17 fatal road accidents so far this year.

Despite pressure from authorities, Company Director, Mark Turner stands by running their call centres from employees' cars. “Our company is a world leader in mobile innovation. In Australia it is legal to drive and use a 'hands-free' mobile phone.”

“We are committed to safety and if any of our employees are caught using a non hands-free phone, they face immediate dismissal.”

When pressed on the 17 fatalities Turner argued, “Not one of the coronial inquests involved any of our employees. They were infact, private contractors, canvassing on our behalf, therefore they really have nothing to do with us.”

Too Much Farkin Perspective

Lyrics from The Waterboys' Old England which is on the classic recid, This Is The Sea.

"You're asking what makes me sigh now
what it is makes me shudder so"
Well, I just freeze in the wind
and I'm numb from the pummeling of the snow
that falls from high in yellow skies
where the well loved flag of England flies
where homes are warm and mothers sigh
where comedians laugh and babies cry
where criminals are televised, politicians fraternize
journalists are dignified and everyone is civilised
and children stare with heroin eyes
heroin eyes, heroin eyes
Old England !"

The Waterboys' songwriter/singing bloke, Mike Scott runs a huge Waterboys website.