What not and so forth: May 2005

Triumph visits Star Wars nerds

I finally got around to seeing the new Star Wars movie yesterday, and it got me thinking about all the Star Wars nerds that there are in the world.
So I did a search for these nerds and found a little video of "Triumph the Insult Dog" talking to some.

Click on the picture to see the video.

I've been waiting 4 months for this!

Wave Aid - The Tsunami Relief Concert (2 Disc Set)
Coming Soon! Pre-Order Now - Available Tuesday, 07 June 2005
Featured on the DVD are some of the performances from each of the artists, as well as interviews with some of the behind the scenes organisers and the press conferences held for the event. The highlight of the DVD – as was the case on the night – is the huge performance from Midnight Oil who re-formed for the event.
“Waveaid – The DVD” is a must-have souvenir of a ‘once in a generation’ event for Sydney-siders and Australians as a whole, with over 4 hours of footage. And furthermore, it is yet another great opportunity for one and all to donate and assist the victims of the Tsunami disaster.

Missy back at number one

In late 2003 I bought a four song EP by a relatively unknown artist named Missy Higgins.
She had just won some competition on radio station Triple J, and I thought she might be going somewhere.
Now, nearly two years on, I look at the weekly Aria Album Chart (australian record industy association) and see that after debuting at number one and not dropping out of the top 10 for 37 weeks, Her album "The Sound Of White" has returned to number one.
That is an acheivement.
Any international visitors, especially any that share my musical tastes should go out right now and buy this album.

No Ms Bobbott, No

A young woman chopped off her husband's penis with a kitchen knife in northern India over his "blatant indulgence in womanising and drinking", police said on Saturday.

The 27-year-old woman said her husband of 10 years had brought a prostitute home to Lucknow in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh on Friday, police said.
"I wanted to teach him a lesson for his blatant indulgence in womanising and drinking," Reshma Ahmed, a mother of four, said in her confession to police.

"He was fast asleep when I thought to myself that enough was enough ... so I tied his hands and feet and got a kitchen knife to chop off his organ to bring an end to his lust once and for all."

A team of doctors at a local hospital reattached his penis. "We will have to wait and watch to see if he will be sexually normal again," said A.K. Singh, who performed the surgery.

Dave Matthews Band Debuts At No 1.

The Dave Matthews Band album 'Stand Up' has easily taken out the top spot on the US chart this week, selling 464,559 units.
'Stand Up' is Matthews forth consecutive album to debut at number one in the USA.
Dave Matthews Band has sold more than 30 million albums and 10 million concert tickets to date in the USA.

EASY RIDER

How much fun would this be.

... ...

Click here to see more of this little toy.

WORKING WITH DELUSIONAL EMOTIONS

Disclaimer - I am in no way making light of this situation.

"Delusions are states of mind which, when they arise within our mental continuum, leave us disturbed, confused and unhappy. Therefore, those states of mind which delude or afflict us are called 'delusions' or 'afflictive emotions'."His Holiness the Dalai Lama.

The three most important negative mental attitudes or delusional emotions are called the Three Poisons, these are anger, attachment and ignorance. Underlying all negative emotions are one or more of these three, with ignorance at the bases of all negative emotions. Ignorance here, mainly refers to the Buddhist concept of lack of wisdom, or insight into the actual way that things exist.

My work collogues will understand the relevance of this post.

Great New Site

Click here to see a great new website.

I know at least one person will enjoy it!

Ben Folds' Newest Video

Here's Ben's brand new video for "Landed", and you're seeing it first.
It was directed by Frally Folds and Ben Folds, and filmed with Ben and the band in Adelaide, Australia.Click on the button to see the video. It'll open in windows media, but if you you want in real media or quicktime let me know. I can also give you better quality video in windows media if you want it.

Barnstorming end to epic third episode

EXCLUSIVE STAR WARS REVIEW
5th May 05 Herald Sun
Michael Bodey

GEORGE Lucas has rewarded those who kept with The Force for almost 30 years with a barnstorming conclusion to his Star Wars saga.Star Wars Episode III Revenge of the Sith has astonishing digital effects, a terrific last few reels and wonderful light-sabre rattling.
Revenge of the Sith, the third of the modern prequels to 1977's Star Wars, ditches the petty politicking and tedious back stories that made Attack of the Clones and The Phantom Menace so laborious.
It opens with a frenetic air battle that emphasises just how advanced film technology has become -- the colours are vivid and the detail so minute they're almost wasted.
A new villain is introduced, a wheezing Terminator-type, General Grievous, while Padme Amidala (Natalie Portman) reintroduces the bread roll hair bun, showing how Revenge of the Sith maintains a sense of history while keeping it fresh for the kids.
Nevertheless, the early battle scenes and subplots are almost too much to consume.
It's all mildly irrelevant anyway, as we know this film has one task -- to transform Anakin Skywalker (Hayden Christensen) into Darth Vader.
Lucas ensures the film is twisted and evil -- a quandary for parents.
The violence is heightened, both explicitly, in the case of severed, red robots, and implicitly in one chilling scene showing just how low Jedi Anakin will stoop. I'd be reticent to take any child under 10.
They won't understand the essence of why the film really heats up, when Anakin kills and betrays.
Without spoiling it, he has revenge issues. He also has designs, fuelled by the mischievous Chancellor Palpatine (Ian McDiarmid) on ruling the galaxy.
The weight of the series, and some good plotting, mean this crucial development works, despite Christensen.
The last 45 minutes is enough to forgive Lucas's prior misdemeanours.
It's angry, fiery and occasionally brilliant.
Australian actors involved in the film might not be so happy though.
Only Bruce Spence (as Tion Medon) has meaningful dialogue, thus completing his honour of acting in the Mad Max, Matrix, Lord of the Rings and Star Wars trilogies.
Other Aussies include Graeme Blundell, Trisha Noble and Joel Edgerton.
The Aussie crew has reason to be proud.
The sets are terrific and, technically, it's hard to fault anything other than occasional lapses in continuity.