b r a v e c r e a t u r e s

Ok. I an coming to recognize I have an addiction.

Yes folks, you read it here. I am admitting it oir the world to read - or at least the 4 people and 87 bots that read my blog with any regularity (yes I know who you are). I am addicted to iTunes, specifically the purchase of TV and Movies.

There was a snaffu* with my US credit card on the weekend and as a result I was declined the rental of "Clone Wars"** until I sorted it out. I felt I'll, I had the shakes, I couldn't focus. Classic cold turkey.

Tragic really.

You would think I could come up with something more interesting, wouldn't you.

K, T and E, my directors from film school would tell me that this is likely to be the cinematic gods protecting my pschy from a heinous travestey, but I would beg to disagree. I was permitted to rent (ok purchase) the recent Brendan Fraser (not aging well) "Journey to the Centre of the Earth" - no argument.

This is a film of epic predictability and shakey digital effects which stays in the memory only because of a glancing connection to a Science Fiction and literary classic. While I wasn't actually scarred by watching it, I was cushioned by a mildly dazing hang over, pizza and a could of "glasses" of spicey Italian Pinot Gris.

I did also place myself immediately under** a doctors care, which really helped.

*Namely I didn't pay the bill on time

**Technically it was actually over rather than under, but same same

Its strange the routes we come to things.

I havent read any Shakespear since I was at University, studying a Batchelor of Music.They were shoving any culture they could at us in the hope that something would stick - it didnt really.

But recently some of Shakespears sonnets came past me from the most unlikely of sources (see the video below), and I have been reading a few of them.

 Now, at last they seem to touch me.

Maybe it was that as a 19 year old, I didnt have the experience to understand them. But a little battle scarred and love lorn as I am, there are words there that mean something.

This one has particular meaning. The people I have loved, I have never seen as perfect. In fact, when i look back, I think I have loved them for their humanity, their weakness and their flaws as much as the things that made them so obviously special. And part of me still loves them - that includes the one who broke my heart, and the one recently gone.

Sonnet 130
My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun;
Coral is far more red than her lips' red;
If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun;
If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head.
I have seen roses damask'd, red and white,
But no such roses see I in her cheeks;
And in some perfumes is there more delight
Than in the breath that from my mistress reeks.
I love to hear her speak, yet well I know
That music hath a far more pleasing sound;
I grant I never saw a goddess go;
My mistress, when she walks, treads on the ground:
And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare
As any she belied with false compare.

And now for something lighter…

Fairy story's?

Ha!

What meaning do they have in the real world?

On the surface probably very little, but they touch archetypes and core issues we all face, and they speak to something in our hearts. Thats why they have survived so long.

And OK - I am a bloody romantic.

Recently I have been referred to as a Beast. Lets face it, i am large, strong willed, outspoken, impulsive, sometimes inconsistent - and yes, yes; apparently some what overwhelming - man. Its easy to mistake all of that, and the gruff bravado that goes with it for aggression. In fact that's not the truth - or at least not all of it.

Inside most beasts, and certainly this on, there is something and someone quite different.

Luckily for me there are those that see it.

But I think that I need to be better at showing it, one time I would like to have learnt the lesson before the final petal falls.

Once upon a time, in a faraway land,
A young Prince lived in a shining castle.
Although he had everything his heart desired,
The Prince was spoiled, selfish, and unkind.

But then, one winter's night,
An old beggar woman came to the castle
And offered him a single rose In return for shelter from the bitter cold.
Repulsed by her haggard appearance,
The Prince sneered at the gift,
And turned the old woman away.

But she warned him not to be deceived by appearances,
For Beauty is found within.
And when he dismissed her again,
The old woman's ugliness melted away
To reveal a beautiful Enchantress.

The Prince tried to apologize, but it was too late,
For she had seen that there was no love in his heart.
And as punishment,
She transformed him into a hideous beast,
And placed a powerful spell on the castle,
And all who lived there.

Ashamed of his monstrous form,
The beast concealed himself inside his castle,
With a magic mirror as his only window to the outside world.
The Rose she had offered,
Was truly an enchanted rose,
Which would bloom for many years.

If he could learn to love another,
And earn her love in return
By the time the last petal fell,
Then the spell would be broken.
If not, he would be doomed to remain a beast
For all time.

As the years passed,
He fell into despair, and lost all hope,
For who could ever learn to love…a Beast? 

My mother, being fiercely patriotic and  not wanting me to forget how fabulous the home country is while I travel the old world, sent me this the other day. It got a laugh, I thought I would share.

It reminds me of Sharon and my "Observations on London" from 2001 - which I must get around to bringing up to date.

1. You know the meaning of the word 'girt'.

2. You know that stubbies can be either drunk or worn.

3. You think it's normal to have a leader called Kevin.

4. You waddle when you walk due to the 53 expired petrol discount vouchers stuffed in your wallet or purse.

5. You've made a bong out of your garden hose rather than use it for something illegal such as watering the garden.

6. You believe it is appropriate to put a rubber in your son's pencil case when he first attends school.

7. When you hear that an American 'roots for his team' you wonder how often and with whom.

8. You understand that the phrase 'a group of women wearing black thongs' refers to footwear and may be less alluring than it sounds.

9. You pronounce Melbourne as 'Mel-bin'.

10. You pronounce Penrith as 'Pen-riff'.

11. You believe the 'l' in the word ' Australia ' is optional.

12. You can translate: 'Dazza and Shazza played Acca Dacca on the way to Maccas.'

13. You believe it makes perfect sense for a nation to decorate its highways with large fibreglass bananas, prawns and sheep.

14. You call your best friend 'a total bastard' but someone you really, truly despise is just 'a bit of a bastard'.

15. You think 'Woolloomooloo' is a perfectly reasonable name for a place.

16. You're secretly proud of our killer wildlife.

17. You believe it makes sense for a country to have a $1 coin that's twice as big as its $2 coin.

18. You understand that 'Wagga Wagga' can be abbreviated to 'Wagga' but 'Woy Woy' can't be called 'Woy'.

19. You believe that something resembling cooked-down axle grease makes a good breakfast spread.

20. You believe all famous Kiwis are actually Australian, until they stuff up, at which point they again become Kiwis.

21. Hamburgers. They contain Beetroot. Of course!.

22. You know that certain additional words must, by law, be shouted out during any rendition of the Angels' song - Am I Ever Gonna See Your Face Again.

23. You believe, as an article of faith, that the confectionary known as the Wagon Wheel has become smaller with every passing year.

24. You still don't get why the 'Labor' in 'Australian Labor Party' is not spelt with a 'u'.

25. You wear ugg boots outside the house.

26. You believe, as an article of faith, that every important discovery in the world was made by an Australian but then sold off to the Yanks for a pittance.

27. You believe that the more you shorten someone's name the more you like them.

28. Whatever your linguistic skills, you find yourself able to order takeaway fluently in every Asian language.

29. You understand that 'excuse me' can sound rude, while 'scuse me' is always polite.

30. You know what it's like to swallow a fly, on occasion, via your nose.

31. You understand that 'you' has a plural and that it's 'youse'.

32. You understand that it's not summer until the steering wheel is too hot to handle.

33. Your biggest family argument over the summer concerns the rules for beach cricket.

34. You shake your head in horror when companies try to market what they call 'Anzac cookies'.

35. You still think of Kylie as 'that girl off Neighbours'.

36. When returning home from overseas, you expect to be brutally strip-searched by Customs - just in case you're trying to sneak in fruit.

37. You believe the phrase 'smart casual' refers to a pair of black tracky-daks, suitably laundered.

38. You understand that all train timetables are works of fiction.

39. When working on a bar, you understand male customers will feel the need to offer an excuse whenever they order low-alcohol beer.

40. You get choked up with emotion by the first verse of the national anthem and then have trouble remembering the second.

41. You find yourself ignorant of nearly all the facts deemed essential in the government's new test for migrants.

42. You know that, whatever the tourist books say, no one actually says 'cobber'. That's a load of cobblers!

43. 'Mate', on the other hand, is compulsory.

44. And you will immediately forward this list to other Australians, here and overseas, realising that only they will understand.

 

So at last I am on my way for my first real holiday of the summer, a week in Ibiza. I have had a few long weekends, but not a good solid break. London is a fabulous city, but you do need to get away.

The summer here has been great so far, lots of sunshine and warm weather, but I have not found the groove of enjoying the warmth yet. I think that's because I haven't found a pool here to hang out at.

Hamstead Heath Pond is suppose to me great, but London is so vast I have not found my way there yet.

But for now I am off to the Spanish sunshine again with a song in my heart and a swing in my step.The DLR and the Standsted Express, not to mention Stansted Airport itself is not the most glam beginning, but with my friends E&C, J, my room mates F&M, L and D; I am sure things will be far more glam as the week progresses.

Around 10 years ago, Steve Jobs returned from the wilderness, regained the helm cf Apple Computers, prising it from the cold, near dead fingers of the evil, careless regencies of Gil Amelio and "Prince John" Sculley.

In a fit of typical, and fairly predictable, Jobsian peak he ran through Apple cancelling programs and product lines left and right. In most cases he was absolutely correct. Apple was over extended, with way too many product variants. It had strayed far from it's base as the alternate to the beige boxed rampaging normalcy of windows. Jobs return was the start of a substantial shift by the Cupertino based computer maker, and with the inclusion of Jonathan Ive as the head of design a legend was (re) born.

I may not have the personal credentials to be able to judge Jobs but as I sit here in a cafe writing this on my Apple Newton 2000 I have to wonder if that at least one product line that he killed a little too quickly.

Granted it's a little boxy, and not THAT much lighter than my Macbook Pro, but there is something very satisfying writing this by hand. As l watch it transform my really very messy handwriting into its quirky digital ink, with a remarkable level of accuracy, it strikes me that given most  people have trouble reading my handwriting, this 10 year old doohickey is doing a bang up job.

For the last few days I have been battling with what, in Newton circles, is referred to as the  "Bootstrap" problem - namely needing to have something installed on the Newton before you are able to install any thing, synchronise or get any thing off. Lets face it, a Newton unconnected is, quite frankly, an curiosity not a usable tool so this was an important battle to win .

Last night, after a few days research and a purchase or two of connecting hardware things suddenly took a very Mac like turn-namely it all just worked. So now l sit cafes, writing my blog and getting somewhat puzzled looks from people and loving the experience of actually writing.

Anyone who has owned a Newton, loved it. Aficionados are constantly talking up rumours that Apple might be about to reintroduce the product, and I have to admit that I am very hopeful. But even if they do not do so, I will keep my old greeny black box because using it is a remarkably beautiful and nontechnical experience. I love it.

2002 was a difficult year for me professionally.

The post 9-11 crash and the bursting of the tech bubble was in full swing. I was in San Francisco working for Digitas who were in the process re-reinventing themselves as a marketing company having dabbled briefly as a tech consultancy.

Digitas had been my dream job. It was exactly what I wanted to be doing, in exactly the city I wanted to be living in, but as the year progressed it became increasingly clear that there was no longer really a place for me. Everyone tried to find work for me to do. I have to say there were really great about it, but given the state of the economy it looked like the entire office was at risk, not just me. In a situation like that there is not much anyone can do.

The thing to remember about all of this, is that my visa was attached to my job. Its not like I could just up and walk away. If I had done that, or if they had fired me it was possible that I would only have days to leave the US. James was still working at USCF and enjoying it and while he wanted to go back to Australia more than I did, he was still not really ready to leave either.

It was a tough time for us, and resulted in some bad things, but as always there is another side.
Christmas that year, we were still pretty nervous. The Americans tend to travel home to their families, so most of our friends were away and given that I expected to be fired any day things were very low key.

As usual, James and I went overboard on gifts, but to be honest I couldn’t tell you what we got each other. What I can tell you is that the card James gave me is simply the most beautiful thing I have ever been given� .

The “card” was a video, a slideshow of pictures set to music and made on his beloved Mac in iPhoto. He spent HOURS getting the timing and transitions just so, making it perfect. The message was no matter what happened, no matter where we ended up we would be happy, we would make it through and we would continue to have fun.

Some of those things may no longer be true, but his sentiment and his care still warm me to this day.

The video is over in my photo album. Its a large quicktime file, but its worth seeing if you have time.