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11月21日 So This is, Essentially, FillerI haven't written a Blog in 11 days, and right now it's too hot to think. So I'm stealing another quiz-thing from a newly-uncovered Space, for everyone to see.50 things you could care less about1. How tall are you barefoot? 2. Have you ever skinny dipped? 4. Who's your best friend? 5. Do you get nervous before "meeting the parents"? 7. What's your favorite Christmas song? 8. What do you prefer to drink in the morning? 10. Do you consider Pluto a planet? 11. What's your favorite piece of jewelry? 12. Do you like painkillers? 13. What is your secret weapon to lure in the opposite sex? 14. Do you own a knife? 17. Name 3 thoughts at this exact moment? 18. Name the last 3 things you have bought: 19. Name 3 drinks you regularly drink: 20. What time did you wake up today? 22. Current worry? 23. Current hate? 24. Favorite places to be? 25. Least favorite place to be? 26. Where would you like to go? 27. Do you own slippers? 28. What shirt are you wearing? 30. Favorite color(s)? 31. Would you be a pirate? 32. Last time you had an alcoholic drink? 33. What is the last song you listened to? 34. What did you fear was going to get you at night as a child? 35. What's in your pockets right now? 36. Last thing that made you laugh? 37. Best bed sheets you had as a child? 38. Worst injury you've ever had? 40. How many TVs do you have in your house? 41. Who is your loudest friend? 42. Who is your most silent friend? 43. Does someone have a crush on you? 44. Do you wish on shooting stars? 45. What is your favorite book? 46. What is your favorite candy? 47. What song do/did you want played at your wedding? 48. What song do you want played at your funeral? 49. What were you doing 12 AM last night? 50. What was the First thing you thought of when you woke up?? 11月10日 Changes of DirectionWell nobody else seems to be talking about it... Maybe nobody else knew about it?
You all might've been hoping for it, but you might not believe it.
Yes that's right children: the Bush administration has begun to lose some of its power in the US in the past day or two, following the election for the Senate and the House of Representatives. Thus far, the Democrats have seized the House of Reps in a "landslide" victory, which newsreaders and other sensationalists are describing as an outpouring of public rage over the actions of George Bush over the past two years. If there has been any decision yet on the Senate I haven't heard about it; last I heard it was down to two fairly minor areas, and the margin between them was pretty slim.
Admittedly this is not the presidential election - Bush still has two years left to either continue taking over the world, or try to salvage a measure of trust from his people... However it is certainly a step in a new direction.
Interestingly, the Democrats have said that they do not support withdrawing from Iraq; what this is going to mean in the short term I can't even imagine. In related news, Donald Rumsfeld stepped down from office. Yes, that's right, he's down for the count and gone. Given that he stood as probably the biggest link between Bush and the war in Iraq other than Bush himself, some journalists (in fact, many journalists) have taken the not unacceptable view that he is effectively being scalped by the administration in an attempt to distance themselves a little from the increasingly unpopular war.
So the question is, what now? The fact that the House of Reps is definitively Democrat, but the Senate still hangs, seems a little like mixed messages to me. If the Democrats win the Senate with a reasonable majority, it may become very difficult for Bush to pass any more underhanded bills through Congress without someone picking it up. I guess we now just wait and see.
And America has installed its first female speaker of the house. Naturally the fact that America is sooo not sexist and yep, mmhmm, definitely promotes equal rights for men and women in all human endeavours means that Nancy Pelosi's election as speaker comes as not only a great surprise but also as a great source of news. Feel free to read a subtle undertone of irony into the preceding statements.
In other news, mum is moving house! Further down the line, in fact, than we have lived since weell before I was born. I haven't looked up the house yet, but it sounds pertty sauve - whatever Art Deco means for a house. To my Mountaineering friends: watch out. The house is probably much closer than you think... 11月6日 Exciting New Offer!*Ring ring, ring ring* (Argh, why did we get a phone?)
*Goes to the phone*
Azukar: "Hello?"
Dodoman: "Yes, hello, am I speaking to Mister Hall?"
(Wow, who has this phone number and still calls me Mister Hall?) Az: "Yeah, that's me."
Dm: "Yes, hello, this is *something incomprehensibly Indian-sounding* from Dodo internet services. How are you today?"
(Oh great. Dodo.) Az: "I'm well, thank you."
*Pause* Dm: "Yes, thank you, I am calling you from Dodo internet services to tell you Mister Hall about our amazing new offer."
(Okay, this is not going to go anywhere.)
Dm: "So what we are offering is a reduction in your internet service charge -"
*Car zooms past, obscuring the man's voice*
Dm: "We are very excited to be offering you this new offer of reducing your internet service charge by five dollars per month, may I ask, who is your current *incomprehensible noises and static* is at this time?"
Az: "Sorry, I didn't catch that."
*Pause* Dm: Hello?
(I hear cheap internet, let's hear this man out.) Az: "Yes, I'm still here."
Dm: "May I ask, who is currently providing your line rental?"
*Thinks*
Dm: "Is it Telstra that is currently providing your service? Hello?"
Az: "Yes, we're with Telstra."
Dm: "May I ask, how much are you paying for your line rental?"
Az: "Nineteen-ninety five."
Dm: "Ah. Well, we are very excited to inform you of this new offer. If you bring your home phone line to Dodo we will give you five dollars off your internet service charge, every month from now."
(Well, $45 is better than $50, sure.) Az: "Okay..."
*Pause* Dm: "Hello? Hello?"
Az: "Yes, I am still here."
Dm: "We can move your line rental to Dodo, you will pay just thirty-nine dollars a month for your line rental and..."
*Incomprehensible noise and static*
Dm: "Hello? Hello?"
Az: "Yes, I'm still here."
Dm: "Hello? Mister Hall?"
*Long pause*
*Beeeep. Beeeep. Beeeep*
*Hangs up*
Wow, so the offer was as follows: Pay an extra twenty dollars per month on your line rental to receive a DISCOUNT of five dollars per month off your internet service charge! Wow! Who wouldn't jump at an offer like that one? Not to mention you'd have your phone line conveniently bundled with your internet, meaning not one but TWO services controlled by the company that has brought such angst-ridden stories as "The Problem Must Be On Your End" and the old classic, "We Apologise For The Inconvenience".
Great. Needless to say, this is one incomprehensible Indian man I won't be chasing up to find out more about his exciting new offer.
-Azukar 11月5日 Part of Why I Don't Watch Much TVFeeling a bit bored after a gloriously empty day today, I decided to eat dinner before the watching eye of the television. Which naturally, meant finding something worth watching. It probably says something about the 7-9pm Sunday slot that I settled for Australian Idol. Only they don't call it that anymore; the producers must've had a brainwave and, realising that most people just referred to the show as "Idol", decided to make it the official title to save people a bit of hassle. Nobody likes having to remember four extra syllables if they can possibly avoid it.
So I switched on to see young Dean Someoneoranother, who I think is the first overtly Christian Idoleer, crooning away to some song I've never heard of. Nice and laid back, pretty good vocals (that comment coming from someone with nil experience in what actually constitutes "good" vocals) and all the rest. For which he was laid into by all three judges - apparently he "wasn't putting enough into his performance". God only knows what that was supposed to mean.
Then Damien Whatshisface gets up and gets down to business. We find out that the song is Halelujah, which if it wasn't written by Leonard Cohen then he at least did a cover of it once. This Damien guy... He can sing pretty high, and pretty smoothly, but... Has he no idea of timing? Pace? Consistency, even? I mean, it's all well and good to muck around a bit with the pace of a song, but stopping half way through a note? Skipping whole syllables? Ending part way through a line on a high note, then skipping on to the next line at a lower pitch? He sounded a little like a scratched CD, but maybe that was the point. In a word, though I'll disclaim again that I'm only an amateur judge, I thought he was very, very disjointed.
But no. Judges love this sort of thing. He was described as "haunting", which is true - I'll be having nightmares tonight about trying to speak but my voice coming out at ultra-high pitch with pauses every few syllables. He "led the competition this week". Oh, and he got a double-touchdown from Mark Holden, apparently an Idol first. Go figure. All I can say is, it left me very confused as to what "good singing" actually entailed.
Oh, and just to put the final nail in the coffin, as they were panning through snippets of everyone's songs from the night, it turned out that God Boy had sung Dare You To Move (Switchfoot) as his first song. Of all songs in the world, there are few that make me shudder like that one. Ye-ouch. Is it a reflection on stereotypes that the Australian Idol-watching population chose a Christian song from a Christian artist for the Godly contestant to sing, or am I reading too much into it?
Anyway, that's my two cents. In other news, those of you who have heard from me recently know what I've recently done which is bringing me plenty of short-term happiness but will no doubt come back to bite me in the next few months... For those who don't know... Let's try to keep the information close for at least a week or two - ask me in person. |
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