There is someone out there for everyone

http://www.watoday.com.au/lifestyle/lifematters/the-ugly-truth-about-dating-20100830-145ch.html?from=age_ft

http://www.theuglybugball.net/index.php

...would be interesting to have a scroll through and see whether these people ARE actually ugly, or just have self-esteem and body image issues.

Life-sized mannequins

I was at Myer today, and did a double take when I saw these two mannequins for Berlei:



Something was not right... I stood there looking and trying to understand what was making me look... and then it struck me... they were real-life-woman-sized! Maybe I didn't have to feel fat every time I used the changing rooms anymore?

Put these in the trash I say:

Election 2010

Yesterday started out so positively. For the first time in my life I was in a marginal seat (Melbourne), where my vote could actually make a difference. The flip side of that was the unrelenting barrage of mail, people coming to our door, people at the train station, people at the tram station...

The labour candidate (Cate Bothwell) was at the school where I was voting, doing a meet and greet of the waiting line of people. I avoided eye contact; seeing her in person made me feel bad for not voting for her. Both candidates put a massive effort in, but people vote for the party, and it's not her fault her party ran such a crap campaign.

We invited a few people over the watch the ABC live coverage. It seemed so likely that Labour will scrape in. But they didn't :( Now our fate is in the hands of 5 independents, three of whom are ex-Nationals.

The brightest rainbow I've ever seen?

Great site

http://uqrefugeeresearch.wordpress.com/

Rediscovering: Talking Heads

I would like to share this review of their amazing “Best of” album, which expresses my thoughts about it much clearer than I could:

It's brave for a band to put out an eighteen-track best of, but in the case of Talking Heads it's clear from the calibre of this record that they have more than enough songs to justify such a lengthy compilation.

For the uninitiated, it's the perfect introduction to a band whose eccentricity and inventive cros-pollination of influences have often defied categorisation. The days of being part of the New York art punk scene, opening for the Ramones are documented in first singles Love --> Building On Fire and Psycho Killer. The long-standing love affair with soul and funk is evident on the Al Green cover Take Me to the River and in David Byrne's impressive funk rhythm guitar duel with Tina Weymouth's bass on Found a Job.

Further into the band's career, the scope of influences broadens, and Byrne's love of what's now called 'world music' rhythms becomes evident - the groundbreaking Once In a Lifetime and final song (Nothing But) Flowers being two examples. The electro dance scene of the mid '80s makes its mark on tracks such as Girlfriend Is Better and Burning Down the House, both of which reveal a penchant for some incredibly retro-sounding keyboards (one of the few factors to date Talking Heads' sound).

Like the band's music, David Byrne's voice often divides opinion. It's not to everyone's taste and many dislike its somewhat reedy quality and jerky delivery. But his talent for a great melody usually far outstrips the limitations of his vocal chords. The charming This Must Be the Place (Naive Melody) is pure unadulterated pop, as is the euphoric and strangely timeless And She Was.

Not only that but the erudite, often humourous lyrics are intriguing: topics range from narratives of an articulate yet psychotic murderer (Psycho Killer) and being on the run (Life During Wartime) to reflecting on the meaning of life itself (Road to Nowhere, Heaven, Once in a Lifetime...actually there's quite a few of those).

Far from being just arthouse oddballs who struck lucky with a few hits, Talking Heads were quite simply one of the most important bands of the '80s. In an ideal world, everyone would own at least one Talking Heads record and if you do only want to own one, this is the one to have.

Household experiments this weekend consisted of:

1. Planting edible stuff

This is the first time I've ever planted anything in my life, but I went all out and planted mint, coriander, thyme, spinach, rocket, and catnip (Tim's suggestion :)

before:



after:

2. Getting Charlie to do her business outside

Tim built this nifty little shelter for her to use, where we put the kitty litter and tried to communicate our intentions by sticking her inside, but I am not convinced she got the message.

She is not that adept at using the cat flat – she seems to regard it as a vaguely threatening thing. To date she has only used it when was desperate to get back inside, and we wouldn't open the door. As far as I know she has never used it to go outside independently.

I think there is more than a 50% chance of us waking up to an unpleasant little surprise tomorrow morning.





3. A coffee table photo book

Now that I’ve seen the finished product I can definitely recommend it: www.blurb.com. Takes a lot less space than a photo album, and is a lot more interesting to look at. Around the same price as printing the photos and buying an album, but you have to dedicate some serious time to laying it out.

I like the idea of fines being calculated with a means-based "formula"... would provide a real dis-incentive for rich hoons who like to drive their luxury cars extra-fast :)

And it's more equitable

http://theage.drive.com.au/motor-news/300kmh-speedster-faces-11-million-fine-20100812-120xn.html

Do people really have such short memories?

I would really like to know why all the rude, stupid, chauvinistic and outdated things that Tony Abbot has said in the last few years don't get brought up by the media. Have people completely forgotten it? Where is the political scrutiny ?!?!

Let me just do a quick recap of what I can remember off the top of my head:

Abusing a dying man: "I know Bernie is very sick, but just because a person is sick doesn't mean that he is necessarily pure of heart in all things

Denying climate change: "And, I am, as you know, hugely unconvinced by the so-called settled science on climate change. I just think that the science is highly contentious, to say the least, and I think that the economics of an ETS are a bit dodgy.

Insulting women's choices: [Virginity] "is the greatest gift that you can give someone, the ultimate gift of giving and don’t give it to someone lightly"

Insulting women's choices again: [Australia's abortion rate] "almost ... a badge of liberation from old oppressions".. [abortion] "is a national tragedy and a legacy of unutterable shame”

Just being insulting: "That's bullshit" (to Nicola Roxton when she said that he could have been on time for their debate if he wanted to)

Bringing back the morality police: "Something akin to a Matrimonial Causes Act marriage ought to be an option for people" (i.e. let's bring back faul-based divorce)

Feeling "threatened" by gay people (I think he is quite safe - they have a lot more to fear to from him than he does from them)

And this is why I have donated money to these guys - take a 30 second look at the video they've put together, it's great!

https://www.getup.org.au/campaign/Australia_GetsUp_2010&id=1251