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SAD006 – TV Scrub 6:06 14.04MB

For several years my studio and lounge were the same room. The TV would be on most of the time, with the sound going through the computer, allowing me to process or capture it. It was often subjected to spectral/delay/FSU plugins for extended periods. TV’s more fun [...]]]>

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SAD006 – TV Scrub 6:06 14.04MB

For several years my studio and lounge were the same room. The TV would be on most of the time, with the sound going through the computer, allowing me to process or capture it. It was often subjected to spectral/delay/FSU plugins for extended periods. TV’s more fun that way.

For today’s sound I decided to process some TV audio in a slightly different way, without plugins. I recorded a minute each of 11 different TV channels and brought them into Ableton Live as a series of loops. Follow actions in legato mode switch to the next clip every quarter note, so it’s effectively in 11/4 time.

Structurally it’s quite simple, going from 999 BPM down to 20, then back up to 999 again. The result is a kind of basic wavetable or granular synthesis. I’m annoyed that Live can’t loop clips without putting them in Warp mode, but the ‘Beats’ setting resulted in some interesting buffer effects.

I have to admit to having a thing for cutup and processed voices. They tickle my brain in ways that other sounds don’t. I’m sure there’ll be more of them in this series.

Over the past few years most of my media consumption has switched to downloads, whether netcasts or torrents, accessed via RSS feeds, aggregated using Google Reader. My use of radio and TV is now mainly for news and occasional sports [...]]]> Some friends of mine are getting broadband (at last) and I’ve been asked for netcast recommendations.

Over the past few years most of my media consumption has switched to downloads, whether netcasts or torrents, accessed via RSS feeds, aggregated using Google Reader. My use of radio and TV is now mainly for news and occasional sports broadcasts. This feels like an inevitable technological and cultural shift, so I was surprised when I discovered recently that very few of my students subscribe to any netcasts.

Here are my current subscriptions. As you can see, there are a lot of them! I don’t have time to catch every episode, so pick and choose based on episode descriptions.

UPDATE: This post has been receiving links, so I’ll endeavour to keep it updated. I’ve just added some recent finds, such as Are We Alone?, The Bugle, and Epic Fu, and removed several others that I was no longer downloading.

Audio netcasts:

• Adam and Joe BBC 6 Music

Humour is such a personal thing, but Adam and Joe make me laugh. Frequently. I first got into them via their great XFM podcast.

• All in the Mind

Interesting RN program about psychology, neurology, philosophy of mind, etc.

• anonradio: the next generation

Run by Tom Ellard, this has evolved over the years and is currently mainly providing downloads of John Blades’ 2MBS-FM program ‘Background Noise’.

• Are We Alone?

The SETI Institute’s excellent program about science and skepticism.

• Artworks

A good arts program.

• ASX Investor Update Podcast

Nonsense, but useful if, like me, you’d like to understand the world of finance.

• Background Briefing

RN’s in-depth current affairs program.

• Big Ideas

Mostly public lectures from Australia.

• Blogariddims

Dubstep mixes.

• The Bugle

The Times Online’s satirical podcast, with John Oliver (of The Daily Show) and Andy Zaltzman

• CBC Radio: Quirks & Quarks Segmented Show

An entertaining Canadian science show, split into bite-sized chunks.

• CBC Radio: The Best of Ideas

Mostly public lectures from Canada.

• First Monday Podcast

Monthly academically-inclined podcast about digital culture.

• FLOSS Weekly

Interviews and discussion about the world of open source software. Often quite technical, which I reckon is a good thing.

• Hindsight

RN history program.

• hungbunny

Experimental music.

• In Conversation

RN interview program.

• In Our Time

Essential. A panel of experts discusses a topic from science, history or the arts. Hosted by Melvyn Bragg.

• KCRW’s Le Show

Harry Shearer (Spinal Tap, The Simpsons) has a voice that could make reading the newspaper sound interesting, which is sort of what he does here, along with sketches and songs. One of my favourite shows.

• Late Night Live

Interviews and current affairs presented by Philip Adams.

• Lingua Franca

RN program about language.

• MacBreak Weekly

A favourite, mainly because of the amusing banter between Leo Laporte, Merlin Mann and Andy Ihnatko.

• Movie Time

Movie reviews and interviews, featuring some great collages by Paul Gough (aka Pimmon).

• National Interest

Australian national politics and current affairs.

• net@night

Amber Macarthur and Leo Laporte are the engaging hosts of this net-surfing show.

• Ockham’s Razor

Short talks by various Australian thinkers.

• Over The Edge

Negativland’s legendary live mixing show which has been going for decades.

• Philosopher’s Zone

I love this show. Accessible discussion of philosophical issues.

• Eleven Eleven

Excellent sound art and experimental music podcast by Jen Teo.

• Chasing the Tangent

Sofie Loizou presents lovely, soulful electronica.

• Radio Eye

Radiophonic features from RN.

• Read/WriteTalk

From the excellent blog on Web 2.0 etc., this podcast is good when they’re not recording from a speaker phone.

• SALT – Seminars About Long Term Thinking

Interesting lectures from people such as Brian Eno, Joline Blais & Jon Ippolito.

• Some Assembly Required

A musical fix for the Negativland/John Oswald style cutup scene.

• Stephen Fry’s Podgrams

I wish I could live in Stephen Fry’s world.

• The Book Show

Reviews and interviews.

• The Economist

A recent subscription, I’m still making up my mind about this. Mainly short but serious political commentaries.

• The Media Report

When the topics interest me, this is a great program, with insights into the media industries.

• The Music Show

Andrew Ford is a respected classical composer who is open-minded enough to engage with all sorts of music makers on this program.

• The Night Air

Radio art is increasingly rare on the ABC, but The Night Air maintains the tradition. Its emphasis is on collage and remixing from the ABC’s archives.

• The Science Show

An Australian national treasure, the ABC’s flagship science program.

• The Skeptics’ Guide to the Universe

Your escape to reality. The panel of rogues turn debunking feeble-minded superstition into laugh-out-loud fun. Cruel, but fair.

• The Sound of Young America

One of my faves. Entertaining interviews with smart people – mostly writers, comedians and media makers.

• The SubGenius Hour of Slack Podcast

Church of the SubGenius. Nuff said.

• The VFX Show

Mainly concerned with feature film CGI and compositing. One of the hosts is Australian, which is nice.

• this WEEK in TECH

I’m a big fan of Leo Laporte – he’s the consumate, charming tech broadcaster. The panel usually includes John C. Dvorak and others with plenty of personality, chatting about the week’s tech news.

• WFMU’s Codpaste with People Like Us and Ergo Phizmiz

Amusing mixing from two well-known collagists. See also their individual shows below.

• WFMU’s Do or DIY with People Like Us
• WFMU’s Phuj Phactory with Ergo Phizmiz
• WNYC’s Radio Lab

Essential. This is one of the most interesting programs anywhere. Ostensibly a science feature program, the radiophonic production techniques take it into the realm of art.

• You Look Nice Today

Merlin Mann and friends being silly.

Video netcasts:

• Boing Boing TV

Xeni Jardin is a good presenter, and there’s plenty of the weirdness one would expect from Boing Boing, but I want more from this show. Maybe longer, less frequent episodes, rather than the current morsels which leave me remembering the ads more than the content.

• Cranky Geeks

John C. Dvorak is indeed a very cranky geek, which makes this otherwise typical discussion of tech news entertaining. Some of the guests are interesting, too.

• Diggnation

I watch this so that I don’t have to read Digg.com. Like many Revision3 shows, it can be painfully frat-boy, but Alex Albrecht & Kevin Rose have enough charisma to carry it off.

• Epic Fu

At last, a Revision 3 show that has a clue about art and music. This is quickly becoming a favourite.

• iFanboy

I don’t have time to read comics these days, so I watch this instead.

• Lynchland: The Liam Lynch Podcast

The guy who sang ‘The United States of Whatever’ and directed ‘Jesus is Magic’ makes this amazing-looking show full of music and humour.

• Rocketboom

I love this show. One never knows whether to expect serious news or something completely whimsical. Often it’s somewhere in-between.

• Tekzilla

Hosted by Patrick Norton, this Revision3 show isn’t sure what it is yet, but I think it’s intended to become a relatively mainstream, viewer-friendly tech show. UPDATE: The wonderful Veronica Belmont, whose talents had been wasted at Mahalo Daily, is now co-host of Tekzilla. Roger Chang is getting more screen time too. This bodes well.

• The Digg Reel

A compilation of popular videos from around the net. It’s funny downloading a huge HD file to watch lo-res YouTube videos.

• The Totally Rad Show

Reviews of TV, films, comics, etc. by ‘three rad dudes’. Good production values.

• Tiki Bar TV

A very silly show featuring Dr Tiki, Johnny Johnny and Lala.

• UChannel Video Podcast

Video recordings of lectures. Sometimes fascinating, sometimes dull.

• Wallstrip

A humorous show about the stock market? It shouldn’t work, but it kinda does, mainly cos it keeps things short and punchy, with each episode focusing on a single stock.

• Web Drifter

Martin Sargent meeting Internet weirdos again, this time on their turf.

• XLR8R TV

Whether it’s checking out Matmos’ record collection, or getting Ableton Live tips from Christopher Willits, this is a cool show for music geeks.

• Yacht Rock

A brilliant, melodramatic piss-take of the world of 70s smooth rock.

Any others you’d recommend?

So TV weatherman Mike Bailey has decided to stand as a Labor candidate at the next federal election.

I always loved the dramatic way he’d say ‘the pressure is rising’ when giving the barometric report. The pressure always seemed to be rising. For a long time I’ve had the idea of taking a year of his [...]]]>

So TV weatherman Mike Bailey has decided to stand as a Labor candidate at the next federal election.

I always loved the dramatic way he’d say ‘the pressure is rising’ when giving the barometric report. The pressure always seemed to be rising. For a long time I’ve had the idea of taking a year of his barometric reports and turning them into a sound piece. But like most of my ideas for artworks (and blog posts) I couldn’t be bothered with the execution. Well, I have plenty of other things to be getting on with.

Here, have a song:

Luke Haines – Bailed Out (from Luke Haines is Dead)

Your star is descending
Round here blindly
Tell your dancing daughter
That there’s no room
on the wing
We can bitch
but it ain’t tinsel town
Hey! Starchild
Can’t dance
Left out on a useless limb

This party will start
To drag you down
Slap your face
and pull your hair

Bailed out, bailed out
Bailed out, this skin is shed
Bailed out, bailed out
Bailed out, this thing is dead

I was in traction
started off smiling
Couldn’t help laughing
I was astounded when
They caught you unaware
And some missionary said
That this week
we’ve got to shoot
All the dancing girls
And then replace them
With satellites instead.

This party will start
To drag you down
Slap your face
and pull your hair

Bailed out, bailed out
Bailed out, this skin is shed
Bailed out, bailed out
Bailed out, this thing is dead

Like to see something change
Around here, around there

I’ve been watching TV Carnage. Here’s some more:

Please read this letter of explanation from the NSW Film Makers Group regarding our concerns and objectives for the state of our industry. This concerns you all, and your assistance will be greatly appreciated.

NSW Film Makers Group update – June 1, 2006

A meeting was called 6 weeks ago when [...]]]>

To all NSW Film and TV Industry technicians,

Please read this letter of explanation from the NSW Film Makers Group regarding our concerns and objectives for the state of our industry.
This concerns you all, and your assistance will be greatly appreciated.

NSW Film Makers Group update – June 1, 2006

A meeting was called 6 weeks ago when a group of concerned technicians met informally at Canal Road Film Centre. The significant lack of work in all areas of film and television production including television advertising, and the restriction of NSW technicians working in Victoria, had brought this small group together. Several members of the group had written to government expressing the plight of the industry. The group has now had 6 meetings and this letter is to update and inform those interested in the outcome of those meetings. The group has been communicating with the Victorian Guild and as a consequence an open letter has been sent and distributed by the technicians booking agents from the Victorian Guild, to all NSW technicians. This letter explains that it was not the intention of the Victorian Guild to stop any interstate technicians from working in Victoria. The group is still pursuing the reasons why NSW technicians were not welcome to work in Victoria.
The group has identified and recognized the core reasons why the film industry (including feature, TV and TVC’s) is in unprecedented depression. These are listed as follows -

* Support for the film industry by Governments is not effective.
* Location costs – council charges, service charges and location fees.
* Contractual arrangements for cast/extras.
* Technicians’ rates and conditions in Sydney.

The group also recognises that the problems that ail our industry are not unique to NSW. The group has discussed including all stakeholders -suppliers, actors, extras, writers, directors, producers, editors, post production houses, service providers, etc. – in helping with the endeavours of the group, because it is in everyone’s interest. The group recognizes that a technician only organisation will not be effective to try and solve the industries problems. Anyone or any organisation that is involved in the production of film and television, in any form, will be welcome to join the group. As this is a national issue, the group will also pioneer a nation wide filmmakers group, in conjunction with other state film groups.
The group’s objectives are focusing on the following -

* Encourage all contributors and stakeholders in the film and television industry to join the group.
* Create an electronic mechanism to allow the efficient and speedy communication of information to all those wishing to support the endeavours of the group.
* Engage a professional lobbyist and strategists to assist in communicating the group’s needs to all members and Government bodies and agents.

Two weeks ago, the group decided on a name for the organisation – The NSW Film Makers Group. This should be formalized within the next few weeks. Last week, the group formalised its’ vision statement and top 10 objectives. The group has been offered generous financial support from some technicians and suppliers. Canal Road Film Centre has very generously offered, not only considerable finances, but also office space and the address for the organisation. The group will also be advertising for a co-ordinater to assist with the formation of the organisation.
The group has received the lists from the booking agents 3 week ago with the names of all of those technicians keen to show their support for the group. Thanks to all of you who have offered help and support.

The group apologises to all of those that have felt left out. To be a success, the group will need everyone’s support but please be patient. Once the website and internet forum are up and going we can all communicate directly and information, input and the hard work can all be realized with a great deal more efficiency and speed. The structure and the management of the organization have not been formalised. Once we are all communicating we can then all have a say on who is to represent this organisation and what we want to say.

David Nichols on behalf of Ray Brown, Tristran Milani, Reg Garside, Sean Conway, Jane Griffin, Penny Baldwin, Anna Howard, Simon Williams, Michael Adcock, Adrien Seffrin, Nikki Long, John Osmond, Gary Lincloln, Paul Booth, Michi Marosszeky, Moses Fotofili, Geoff Wharton, Michael Phillips, Paul Arnott, Sally Eccleston, Jeremy Fitzgerald, Brian Breheny, David Lee, Matt Toll, Warren Grieef, KenHazelwood, Dugal Campbell, Harry Dakanalis, Paul Thompson, Richard Mason.

Both bands have similar songs, with a tendency for bittersweet lyrics and melodies, but whereas Death Cab is an indie rock band that has been [...]]]> After hearing about them everywhere in recent months I finally checked out the music of Death Cab for Cutie and The Postal Service, two projects of American indie singer/songwriter Ben Gibbard.

Both bands have similar songs, with a tendency for bittersweet lyrics and melodies, but whereas Death Cab is an indie rock band that has been active since the mid 90s, Postal is a more recent collaboration with electronic music producer Jimmy Tamborello aka Dntel.

I listened to nearly all of their recordings. They’re very enjoyable and catchy (especially the recent albums) albeit somewhat innocuous. And I watched their videos, including the Death Cab tour film Drive Well, Sleep Carefully which like most rockumentaries isn’t very good, but worth a look if you like the music.

Then a funny thing happened. For the next few days my mind started creating Gibbard-style tunes. There were several of them, a few of which I imagined being good enough to record. I soon forgot most of them but managed to record one using software. The results were disappointing, which reminded me that pop music is as much about the sound as the song, and I’m not setup for making pop sounds at the moment (although I’m well sorted for experimental music!).

One of the keys to Gibbard’s music is his voice, which really is the perfect American indiepop nerdboy voice, with a pure, vibratoless tone. (Although his singing is much less convincing live (on the videos I’ve seen) which is OK when he’s among fans, but really not very good on TV show appearances.)

Death Cab for Cutie – Ben Gibbard, second from left

I still don’t have the confidence to record my singing with any conviction (I’ll occasionally sing a part as a way of sketching it before replacing it with another sound). I really believe I could, but need to get over the fear – of my music snob friends laughing at me as much as of just not being very good. Maybe some lessons would help me get over that hurdle. Likewise with guitar.

Not that I want to emulate Gibbard’s music – that was just an exercise, as I wanted to do something with those tunes that were popping into my head. If I actually developed any of them I’m sure they’d mutate into something quite different. But the experience did reinforce my ongoing urge to do some sort of vocal/song project. I’m just not sure of the best way to approach it. I guess the easiest way would be to start as a solo electronic project, that way I wouldn’t have to show it to anyone until I was happy with it. But it would be nice to have collaborators…

The thing is that although I love a lot of indie music I’m not into the indie scene at all. The Broken Social Scene gig that I went to recently was great musically, but I found the majority of the audience incredibly annoying. I’m much more at home in my experimental music ghetto.

But I’ve been listening to so much indie lately (I blame Last.fm) that it’s beginning to affect me. The other day I found myself wearing a short sleeve t shirt over a long sleeve t shirt! And I even dug out my old Chuck Taylors which I hadn’t worn since the 80s, but the rubber had turned to chalk. I went online and discovered to my delight that Converse now make them in black monochrome! I almost bought them until I discovered that they charge about 50 bucks for postage, and they won’t deliver to P.O. boxes (what’s up with that?).

What’s happening to me?? I hope I’m not becoming a grup! Nah, it’s probably just a phase I’m going through…

My favourite part of this ep was when the med student geek Chuck got a nosebleed at the very thought of having to learn [...]]]> is Beauty and the Geek. I just saw the first ep and it was both hilarious and quite touching, watching socially retarded nerds and airheaded barbies trying to learn from each other.

My favourite part of this ep was when the med student geek Chuck got a nosebleed at the very thought of having to learn how to dance!

I don’t know if I could watch a whole season of it, let alone the three that have been produced, but as someone who generally can’t stand ‘reality TV’ I’m surprised I made it through a whole episode and enjoyed it.

Click on this image to read the story of an amazing life:

Feel Tank Chicago

Global Cemetary Online with Sad News Update

The Interruptor – VST Devices

Possible and Impossible Aporias

Resounding the Cinematic – Resonance, Proximity and the Acousmatic in the Apparatus

The Shannonizer

Sprockets (television)

Through the Keyhole

Urbanomic

Favourites of 2005

I’ve restricted this to things that were published/screened or events that happened in 2005.

Albums

50 Foot Wave – Golden Ocean Broken [...]]]> s0metim3s has given us her favourites of 2005. I wasn’t going to do this, but since I’m waiting for South Africa to be bowled out before I head out for the rest of the day…

Favourites of 2005

I’ve restricted this to things that were published/screened or events that happened in 2005.

Albums

50 Foot Wave – Golden Ocean
Broken Social Scene – Broken Social Scene
Kate Bush – Aerial
Coil – The Ape of Naples
Dressy Bessy – Electrified
Luke Haines – Luke Haines is Dead
Jackson & His Computer Band – Smash
Lady Sovereign – Vertically Challenged
Konono No. 1 – Congotronics
Metric – Live It Out
M.I.A. – Arular
The New Pornographers – Twin Cinema
Puzahki – Daddy’s Little Skint
Rhythm & Sound – See Mi Ya
Sleater Kinney – The Woods
Smog – A River Ain’t Too Much to Love
Venetian Snares – Rossz Csillag Alatt Született

It was mainly pop/rock for me this year – I even bought a guitar (which I still can’t play)! The sort of experimental music that I’d usually obsess over, this year I’d generally listen to once or twice before moving on. See Utility Fog for all the postfolkrocktronica that I should’ve been listening to.

Blogs

Too many – see the blog roll. It has been a privilege to have participated in the blog phenomenon and to have met so many amazing people. Extra love to those who have commented at, or linked to this humble blog.

Films

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Howl’s Moving Castle
Me and You and Everyone We Know
The Proposition
Wolf Creek

I didn’t go to the cinema nearly enough this year.

Games

Dragonshard
X-Men Legends 2

Live Music

Ben Byrne & Clayton Thomas @ Disorientation
Dereb Desalegn @ What Is Music, Sydney
DJ Olive @ Liquid Architecture 6, Melbourne
DJ Z-Trip @ The Metro
Lieutenant Colonel Spastic Howitzer @ Electrofringe
Machina Aux Rock @ Liquid Architecture 6, Sydney
Peter Newman @ Electrofringe
The Residents @ The Metro
Smog @ The Metro
Social Interiors @ Liquid Architecture 6, Sydney
Thembi Soddell @ Liquid Architecture 6, Sydney
Wet Gate @ Liquid Architecture 6, Melbourne

I also played live more often this year than any other. Highlights included a solo performance at the National Gallery of Australia for Liquid Architecture 6, Canberra; a technically disastrous but well-received set with WUAL for Liquid Architecture 6, Melbourne; better WUAL performances at Disorientation and Electrofringe; duo performances with Rik Rue (at if you like improvised music…), John Jacobs (at e)scapes) and Ben Byrne (twice, at the NOW now, and a VJ performance at Science Fiction); a solo performance at The Night Air Audiotheque; a solo performance and a Time Being DJ performance at Disorientation; performances with the Splinter Orchestra at Liquid Architecture 6, Sydney and Science Fiction.

TV

Arrested Development
Dateline London
Deadwood
Green Wing
Late Night with Conan O’Brien
Lateline (ABC)
Nathan Barley
Nighty Night
Peep Show
Rome
Something in the Air
The Thick of It
Trailer Park Boys
We Can Be Heroes

Thank goodness for broadband.

What’s In / What’s Out

What’s out:

CDs
Censorship
Copyright
Free to air commercial TV
Newspapers (in print form)

What’s in:

TEH INTERNETS!

Video crooks come in from the cold

By Nick Butterly December 28, 2005

MILLIONS of Australians who tape TV shows and copy CDs will soon get the right to do it with a clear conscience.

The Federal Government will next year legalise the video recording of television shows for personal use, and the transfer of songs from CDs [...]]]> From NEWS.com.au

Video crooks come in from the cold

By Nick Butterly
December 28, 2005

MILLIONS of Australians who tape TV shows and copy CDs will soon get the right to do it with a clear conscience.

The Federal Government will next year legalise the video recording of television shows for personal use, and the transfer of songs from CDs to MP3 players, in a bid to overturn a ban which has made criminals of much of the population.

Attorney-General Philip Ruddock has flagged tidying up copyright laws by adding fair-use loopholes that will clear the way for private citizens to copy the content without breaking the law.

But yet to be decided is whether a levy will be slapped on the store price of blank CDs and MP3 players, such as iPods, to compensate artists for the revenue they stand to lose under the new laws.

Though the practice is widespread, it remains illegal to convert a CD to MP3 format for playing on an iPod.

There are more than 100,000 Australian iPod owners, all of whom have broken the law by uploading music.

It is also against the law to tape a television program.

A spokeswoman for Mr Ruddock said the Government was close to completing draft laws that would allow people to copy their CDs on to iPods and tape television programs.

Mr Ruddock foreshadowed the changes this month.

He said there needed to be a balance between the rights of copyright owners and the interests of users.

“We should have copyright laws that are more targeted at the real problem,” Mr Ruddock said.

“We should not treat everyday Australians who want to use technology to enjoy copyright material they have obtained legally as infringers where this does not cause harm to our copyright industries.”

The Attorney-General said he was likely to add exceptions to current laws to recognise “everyday forms of private copying that do not harm copyright owners”.

In Canada, where similar laws have been introduced, a fee was levied on blank CD and iPod unit sales to compensate copyright owners with up to an extra $32 being placed on the store price of individual machines.

Mr Ruddock’s spokeswoman said a similar system had been discussed for Australia, but was unlikely to be introduced.

The Australian Federal Police does not pursue people who have taped TV shows or transferred songs to their iPods from CDs. However, a spokeswoman said all referrals were acted on.

This is great news, but I’ll believe it when it happens. I’m also keen to know just how open-ended these fair use provisions will be.

Anarchism, or the Revolutionary Movement of the Twenty First Century

Blogging for Independent Artists and Creatives

The Chappelle Theory

Deleuze and Pop Music

EFF’s Jason Schultz explains how Sony BMG is about to be so pwned!

GWEI – Google Will Eat Itself

M/C Journal – Affect

Minimalist menace: The Necks score The boys

The Night Air – The Wire

Vidomi

The Visionary [...]]]> Anarchism and Political Theory

Anarchism, or the Revolutionary Movement of the Twenty First Century

Blogging for Independent Artists and Creatives

The Chappelle Theory

Deleuze and Pop Music

EFF’s Jason Schultz explains how Sony BMG is about to be so pwned!

GWEI – Google Will Eat Itself

M/C Journal – Affect

Minimalist menace: The Necks score The boys

The Night Air – The Wire

Vidomi

The Visionary Art of Luke Brown

I watched all six 30-minute eps of this show the other day. It’s a brilliant dissection of contemporary British politics’ obsession with spin (one of the main characters is clearly based on Alistair Campbell).

It’s basically Yes Minister meets The Office, and was devised and directed by Armando Iannucci, the comedy genius who was Chris Morris’ [...]]]>

I watched all six 30-minute eps of this show the other day. It’s a brilliant dissection of contemporary British politics’ obsession with spin (one of the main characters is clearly based on Alistair Campbell).

It’s basically Yes Minister meets The Office, and was devised and directed by Armando Iannucci, the comedy genius who was Chris Morris’ main collaborator in the early ’90s.

Chris Langham is perfect as the hapless Minister for Home Affairs. Langham is perhaps best known for playing (the voice of) Roy Mallard in the classic mockumentary series People Like Us. Apparently he also used to be a writer on The Muppet Show!

And now I discover that Langham has recently been arrested over child porn. Oh dear… What is it with the prurience of British celebrity culture?

Anyway – check out The Thick of It if you can – you’ll probably have to download it as it’s not on DVD yet, and like most good recent British TV comedy we’ll be lucky if it screens on Australian TV any time soon.

ok, being noisy was fun for a while (i got as far as find candace – you’d have known that things were serious if i’d pulled out making orange things) but now it’s time to chill out with the cricket until my frenz arrive (soon please!). (there are also some cockatoos and baby magpies around [...]]]>

ok, being noisy was fun for a while (i got as far as find candace – you’d have known that things were serious if i’d pulled out making orange things) but now it’s time to chill out with the cricket until my frenz arrive (soon please!). (there are also some cockatoos and baby magpies around atm which are making more annoying noises than even i’m capable of.)

i love cricket. i make no apologies for that, even though it’s just about the only sport that i follow these days. i know it’s a relic of the british empire, but as a game, i think it’s beautiful (i could go on for hours about the aesthetics of wrist spin alone…). especially test cricket: it has such a meditative rhythm, with room for as much or as little engagement or analysis as one wants. i like nothing more than having the cricket on as i go about my business.

like most real cricket fans i prefer to listen to the abc radio commentary while watching the television coverage.

one thing that foxtel doesn’t advertise is that if you get digital cable, the tv signal is delayed by a few seconds compared to the analogue broadcast, and if you get one of their iq pvrs (as i have) the delay becomes even longer, which ruins the radio simulcast.

fortunately i can patch the radio through my virtualizer pro (which i also use for this – at a street price of approx $180 it’s a great audio swiss army knife – highly recommended) with its 5.5 second delay, which makes the sync close enough to not be a problem. but it must be a pain for any cricket fan without this option. after all, sports fans are one of the target audiences for cable tv. it’d be great if radios had a buffer (like the iq, and other pvrs) which one could adjust in order to delay (and rewind) live audio – are such radios already available?

btw, the problems i was having with my iq box (randomly rebooting, recordings failing, etc.) have finally (touch wood) been solved. the signal strength was insufficient. a foxtel tech rectified the problem last sunday (at 7am). so hopefully my plans to use the iq as an a/v uber sampling device will now be practicable.

But wouldn’t it be wonderful if it actually was a TV channel? It’d be a great antidote to the Christian channels (eg ACC) and the Nazi channels (eg The History [...]]]> has apparently been around since 1999. Incredible that i’ve only just found it. It’s an excellent resource – I’ve just been reading the ‘Letters of Insanity’…

But wouldn’t it be wonderful if it actually was a TV channel? It’d be a great antidote to the Christian channels (eg ACC) and the Nazi channels (eg The History Channel). To all the channels, really…

“Today on the Nietzsche Channel…”

One-glove wonder out to rip ya bloody arms off again

By Stephen Gibbs Sydney Morning Herald November 23, 2005

She’s still big, round and fat, but don’t tell her that. She has ridden her black bike, driven through the night and, after more than 30 years of waiting, she is finally coming home.

Hello, Aunty Jack.

For [...]]]> now this is good news:

One-glove wonder out to rip ya bloody arms off again

By Stephen Gibbs
Sydney Morning Herald
November 23, 2005

She’s still big, round and fat, but don’t tell her that. She has ridden her black bike, driven through the night and, after more than 30 years of waiting, she is finally coming home.

Hello, Aunty Jack.

For the first time since bidding her a fond farewell in 1973, Australian television viewers can welcome a transvestite boxer into their lounge rooms – The Aunty Jack Show is out on DVD.

For those not old enough to remember the two years when the “Queen of Wollongong” was terrorising the South Coast, the phrases “I’ll rip ya bloody arms off” and “me little lovelies” might finally make sense.

Perhaps no other Australian television program is steeped in such mystique. That mystery has included how a biker who wore red lipstick, one golden boxing glove and a tent-like, blue-velvet dress could disappear.

Whole generations have not seen the program that introduced Norman Gunston and colour broadcasting to local TV. It was rumoured for many years that the ABC had lost or taped over most of the 13 episodes.

Instead, they have been digitally restored with the help of the National Archives and the first season of seven episodes will be released by ABC Video and Roadshow on December 1.

Aunty Jack was created and played by Grahame Bond, an architecture graduate whose Sydney University friend Rory O’Donoghue played Thin Arthur and wrote most of those songs.

They were supported by John Derum as Narrator Neville, Sandra MacGregor as Flange Desire and Garry McDonald as Kid Eager. In the second series, McDonald appeared as the TV reporter Gunston.

A fixture on most lists of seminal and all-time-great Australian TV shows, Aunty Jack’s mix of anarchic sketches and musical comedy has not been repeated since the second series finished in 1973.

The following year the show’s anthemic closing song, Farewell Aunty Jack, topped Australian music charts. The character came back for five minutes in 1975 to present a segment introducing colour to Australian TV.

A gloved Aunty Jack is on the DVD cover. “Watch it,” she warns. “Or I’ll rip your bloody arms off.”