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I like that idea - thinking like a child. This is play. But it also involes a creative and unconscious approach to physical activity. One of the things I've noticed about swing dancers - they're particularly keen to try new things, particularly sports, physical activities, games, tricks and 'stunts'. I think it's because they've discovered that you have to just try things (as Sugar Sullivan would shout at us in class - "If you don't try to dance it, you will never dance it!"), throw yourself into activities, even if you're likely to look foolish or fall over. When you know the limits of your body, you can trust yourself to do things which appear physically difficult. And when you're used to experimenting physically, you stop worrying about looking foolish or being embarassed.
I think that Tim Blair has missed the point with this derision - he hasn't understood that ducky was pointing out that her everday life had been interrupted, that the sorts of things that consumed her everyday had recently been pushed aside. That suddenly printing wasn't at the fore of her mind, and her priorities had shifted.
It worries me that Tim Blair might be so profoundly lacking in empathy that he could read duck's entry and not see it as an important bit of writing about something very important to duck, and through their assocation with her through her writing, to duck's readers and online friends.
I had this feeling that she was somehow kind of suspended in that space where you move between uncontrollable crying, where you just don't have that conscious control of your mind and body - it's like the emotion and the sheer physical experience of that emotion have opened up a clearway to the rest of the world. You wouldn't normally shed a tear in public, but you suddenly find yourself with snot and tears all over your face. You'd normally try to keep it together for the sake of your family who are also worried. So lying on a bed crying does feel like indulgence.
And I don't know about the rest of the people reading duck's blog, but I was wishing her all the good luck, hoping someone would hold her hand and tell her it was all going to be ok. Reading the comments on her original blog entry, you can see that I wasn't the only one. But when you read the entry out of context, you don't see all that rallying-round. All the people holding hands for duck and thinking of her. Not in the sort of in-your-face way we would have in person, but in the more manageable way the internet does it.
And when you're reading that post on the Online Opinion site, you don't see the 'textbreak's duck inserted through her original post, which I read as big breaths, or clear pauses, or literally, breaks in the text. And the fact that duck is a printer, who is all about the mechanics of words on papers, a text break, in her font, lent weight to the pause. Then, of course, when you're just reading that one post on OO, and you haven't been reading duck's blog, you're not reminded of the follow-up post, and this line, that stuck in my memory:
This bit sticks with me because it so nicely sums up the complexities of wanting children, not wanting children, having a child whom you love and adore, a partner who loves and adores you, and perhaps most importantly, a child who loves and adores you as well. I think I was most moved by the BBs' worry. I don't know where they stand on duck's resolving all those issues of body and work and motherhood. But they've definitely got duck's back.
But I suspect that Mz Tartan, who has just bought a house, would perhaps prefer these images.
I don't know if anyone else is as interested in flickr as I am (well, except for Jean of course), but if you're a flickr person (and I've noticed that a great deal of the people who's blogs I read are), then you might be interested in the flickr blog. My timing is perfect, of course - flickr went down, just as I discover all sorts of interesting groups and photos and things to look at. This photo is one of them.
There's another neat one here.
stuff on ur cat
im on yr lap
druling on yr pants
i fail l33t speak. txt on ur cat
April 9, 2008
jook joint pics
There're more of these wonderful images here.
"jook joint pics" was posted by dogpossum on April 9, 2008 1:35 PM in the category clicky and lindy hop & other dances i have known and music
March 17, 2008
wwo
The internet just got awesome: google sky.
"wwo" was posted by dogpossum on March 17, 2008 11:53 AM in the category clicky | Comments (1)
February 12, 2008
omg
How wonderful are cheezbergers?
"omg" was posted by dogpossum on February 12, 2008 3:00 PM in the category clicky
February 3, 2008
look at this interesting thing
Some artists in York (UK) hooked some lights up to York Minster cathedral which responded to sound. As people (and passing vehicles) made noises, lights were projected onto the facade of the cathedral, moving up the contours of the building.
This clip is kind of annoying to listen to, but it makes for fascinating viewing.
"look at this interesting thing" was posted by dogpossum on February 3, 2008 2:55 PM in the category clicky
January 18, 2008
lindy + sisters + SF = want!
(From flickr, uploaded by The Library of Congress)
Carefully trained women inspectors check and inspect cargo transport innerwings before they are assembled on the fuselage, Douglas Aircraft Company, Long Beach, Calif.
Photographer: Palmer, Alfred T., 1942 Oct.
How freakin' awesome.
"lindy + sisters + SF = want!" was posted by dogpossum on January 18, 2008 12:44 PM in the category clicky
January 12, 2008
go indy go
A new Indiana Jones film is on the way. Check out this picture of one of the baddies. Go Cate, go.
"go indy go" was posted by dogpossum on January 12, 2008 11:13 AM in the category clicky | Comments (0)
supercool
Following some neat teaching ideas, I came across the Dymaxion map of the earth. Supercool.
...and I recommend following all the links from the world simulation entries - there are films on YouTube and everything. That looks like FUN teaching!
"supercool" was posted by dogpossum on January 12, 2008 10:36 AM in the category clicky and teaching | Comments (0)
December 17, 2007
o
There are many nice things. This is one of them. Yet again, I kick myself for failing to attend.
"o " was posted by dogpossum on December 17, 2007 5:36 PM in the category clicky | Comments (0)
December 12, 2007
bazlotto!
"bazlotto!" was posted by dogpossum on December 12, 2007 5:25 PM in the category clicky | Comments (0)
August 31, 2007
Farmers lock up premier
An angry mob of farmers locked Victorian Premier John Brumby in a machinery yard for more than an hour this afternoon to protest the government's planned north-south water pipeline.Am I the only one who thinks this is an awesome news story? I especially liked the headline.
"Farmers lock up premier" was posted by dogpossum on August 31, 2007 7:35 PM in the category clicky
August 29, 2007
rock on scribbler
The Scribbler has taken the challenge (also ranted on here), for which he rocks.
"rock on scribbler" was posted by dogpossum on August 29, 2007 4:39 PM in the category clicky
August 22, 2007
the legend of D4E
Whenever I see D4E (which is a few times a year at a lindy exchange - in Sydney, in Perth, in Melbourne) we plug our earbuds into each other's mobile music devices and play each other music.
This is where I learn about music that isn't jazz and wasn't released in 1992 on Shock Records.
I only play music - he makes it.
the legend of D4E Hip Hop Mixtape
(I'm not sure if he rocks, though)
"the legend of D4E" was posted by dogpossum on August 22, 2007 2:12 PM in the category clicky and djing and music and people i know | Comments (3)
Some guys really don't rock that hard.
(but don't read the comments.)
"Some guys really don't rock that hard." was posted by dogpossum on August 22, 2007 1:53 PM in the category clicky and music
August 17, 2007
we can has feminzm now k thx
stealing other people's ideas when I should be finding photos of Britney Spears for work.
"we can has feminzm now k thx" was posted by dogpossum on August 17, 2007 1:14 PM in the category clicky
August 15, 2007
argh! another cult!
Facebook has eaten my life. I'm trying to write lectures but. can't. stop. checking. wall.
argh!
"argh! another cult!" was posted by dogpossum on August 15, 2007 4:30 PM in the category clicky | Comments (4)
August 14, 2007
facebook = virus!
Listening to this discussion about Facebook, I was struck by the guy's description of face to face and telephone communication 'inefficient'.
The entire presentation emphasises 'efficency' in communicative and networking practices. An interesting project for someone who's interested in how men and women and different people communicate in person and online?
"facebook = virus!" was posted by dogpossum on August 14, 2007 7:27 PM in the category clicky
July 27, 2007
"unbelievable teaching tool!"
I've been spending a fair bit of time on YouTube lately - can you say
"Unbelievable teaching tool!"
Why, yes I can.
But while there's a whole host of fantastic things on there, from 1980s Solo ads (go solo man, go) and weird Japanese ads for McDonalds, some of the very weirdest things start off extremely normal.
""unbelievable teaching tool!"" was posted by dogpossum on July 27, 2007 9:17 PM in the category clicky
July 10, 2007
in the spirit of lolcats...
...I choose to decloak now.
And because this shit is funnier when you tell the joke over and over and over again...
"in the spirit of lolcats..." was posted by dogpossum on July 10, 2007 4:42 PM in the category clicky
May 21, 2007
there's some freakin' great stuff on the internet
"there's some freakin' great stuff on the internet" was posted by dogpossum on May 21, 2007 1:51 PM in the category clicky
May 8, 2007
i know there are only about 3 of you who have never seen this
But I feel it is my duty to open this particular world for you.
"i know there are only about 3 of you who have never seen this" was posted by dogpossum on May 8, 2007 8:15 PM in the category clicky | Comments (2)
May 2, 2007
strong-arm
Galaxy's little brother (I never get tired of writing that - I'm sure it drives him nuts, but I feel like I get to associate with Galaxy's Big Sister pride in Stew because I've known her so long) has been making nice things again. I particularly like that photo of the nannas with the the athletes. It reminds me of a comment a dance friend made about images of black men being intimidating. At the time I was kind of floored by the inadvertent racism at work, but now I'm also really interested in the idea of pictures of people being intimidating. And by the way particular people are set up to be intimidated. And of course, the ways race and gender are at work in all this.
...I'm always really tickled by the way certain types of men find me really intimidating. I think of myself as a little baby - I spend half my time worrying that I'm not clever enough or good enough or whatever. I like to wear a lot of pink and I like necklaces made of bright wooden or plastic beads. And when I come across another young man who finds me really frightening... I have to say, I like it. I like the power. I like being able to think 'HA! Take that, patriarchy!' And of course, I take shameless advantage of it.
"strong-arm" was posted by dogpossum on May 2, 2007 2:20 PM in the category clicky | Comments (2)
March 29, 2007
i guess you get what I mean, right?
Jean put me onto something neat here. It's a talk by Ken Robinson about learning and teaching and you can watch the clip here. I can hear some of you sighing and clicking on, but I recommend dropping in to have a look and a listen - it'll make you giggle. And there's some talk about bodies and dance.
It's interesting, because I've written and thought quite a bit about embodied and disembodied knowledge, and how different cultures privilege one or the other. Robinson talks about academics and how their bodies are really just vehicles for carrying their brains around. It's true - I've always loved dancing (mostly la discotheque!), but before I got hardcore about dancing I always thought of my body as something for transporting my brain. I sufferred from serious migraine headaches - I spent a couple of days in bed each fortnight when I was finishing my MA. Can you imagine that? It seems completely crazy to me now, but then I just dealt with it (well, in a getting-depressed-and-wanting-to-blow-myself-up way).
Now I realise that the problem was that I was spending an awful lot of time sitting on my clack, squirrelling my stress away in my muscles. Now I know that if I don't get up out of my chair and shake my arse every day, my muscles start to tense up and get cranky. And I get a headache. But I also know that getting up out of my chair and jiggling about to music I love for an hour is WONDERFUL! Going to the gym - dull. Jogging - duller. But dancing? That shit is GREAT!
Writing about dance for my work happened kind of by accident - I was coming out of a shitty first run at a PhD, I was hating it, I was miserable, but I loved dancing. And I thought, 'What would be my dream situation? What would be most perfect?' And getting another scholarship to write about dancing and score some funding to go to Herrang was that dream project. And you know what? They gave me the scholarship and they sent me to Herrang, and I wrote a big fat thesis and lots of articles about dancing.
Can you imagine anything more nuts? It just seems too great to be true - getting the chance to do combine dance with the loveliness of thinking and writing and reading and talking all day. I still feel insanely lucky - and I'm sure someone's going to bust me some day and ask for the money and degree back.
The thing I like to think and write about, though (after I've written about saucy 1920s song lyrics), is the way dance works as system of meaning and a medium for the exchange of ideas - the way dance is discourse. That shit rocks. I mean, in cultural studies you're so centered on the idea of language and words - most of the theory floating around in this discipline has at its heart the idea that words are the most important, most wonderful way of communicating ideas. I dig that - I'm all over the idea that words are great. But I've found, working with the various theories trucking about, that this doesn't allow much room for other ways of communicating or representing the world. Sure, there might be vast tracts of writing about other disocourses, but they're still vast tracts of words. I can make a joke with my body that simply doesn't translate into words. You just can't make the joke work. But one sight gag is worth a thousand words.
And then, the thing that really gets me pumping, is thinking and writing about the way dancers have gotten a hold of the internet and other hi-tech action and appropriated it for ther own, decidely embodied purposes. The last paper I submitted to a journal had a comment from a reviewer where they wrote:
The author needs to explain this meaning for the dance studies outsider and not use it for other purposes like a some sort of repetitive mantra or abstract motif to try and unify the article, or 'sound academic' . For example, couldn't 'embodied use-value' (p.6) just be 'inherent usefulness'?
And after I got over huffing and puffing and being angry, I thought about the way I've used the expression 'embodied use-value'. I'd spent a large chunk of my thesis exploring the idea of particular technologies having 'embodied use-value'. For me, this meant asking how a particular bit of tech was valued for its place in embodied practice. In other words, dancers value particular types of technology because they can be used in an embodied context. They're not very interested in books of vast theoretical discussions of dance. But they've gone crazy for youtube. Because you can do things with it, with your body. You can watch a clip, stand up and dance along.
I wanted to distinguish between 'usefulness' and embodied usefulness. Sure, the internet is neat for keeping people in contact, but for dancers it's even more useful as a means by which they can access dance footage, download music and organise a dance class. The Lincoln Centre Jazz Orchestra Live in Swing City CD is a wonderful thing in itself, but when you pop it in the CD player and stand up, it suddenly becomes an incredibly useful and wonderful thing. And the difference is that it acquires a material, physical, immediate, embodied value and meaning. Here is the medium by which I can access the work of musicians in another country, years ago. Here is the means by which I am inspired to move my body. Here is the thread that joins me to my dance partner and to the dancers around me and to the people people in the room who aren't on the dance floor, but are still listening and watching and moving.
When I read Gunther Schuller's book The Swing Era, I certainly find use for his ideas. I read about Ellington and think about his life and read the musical score on the page. But Schuller's book suddenly has far more meaning and value for me when I play the song he's writing about, and get up to physically test the different percussive rhythms and soaring trumpet solos he's describing. That's embodied use-value. It's not just the academic value of an idea or a line of prose. It's not even the things that I might do with his words with my body in the future. It's the things that I do do, and am doing, right now, when I'm shaking my arse.
I think that's one of the things that I find so appealing about dance - each dance is transient. Sure, you can record it and watch it again later. But the real meaning of the dance lies in that moment when your body is in motion, when you're touching your partner and the communicative process simply outstrips the resources of words. You can't write about it later and hope to catch the true meaning, or to articulate the way it really felt. But you can certainly get up and move, and feel the meaning.
I think that's the other important part of dance - it's not just about watching, but about doing. It's necessarily participatory discourse. That's why I'm interested in vernacular dance rather than performance or concert dance - I'm interested in the way vernacular dance doesn't let you just sit there and suck it in. You have to do it, to make it, to participate with your body. So your body cannot possibly just be a container to carry your brain around in. It actually is the medium and the message and the meaning all at once.
Ok, that's a long way away from the original clip, but I guess you get what I mean, right?
"i guess you get what I mean, right?" was posted by dogpossum on March 29, 2007 12:40 PM in the category clicky and lindy hop & other dances i have known and music
March 1, 2007
i think i'm in love
Rock on Language Lab.
c/o baristah!.
"i think i'm in love" was posted by dogpossum on March 1, 2007 11:19 AM in the category clicky
February 12, 2007
web 2.0
Web 2.0 ... The Machine is Us/ing Us via Purse Lip Square Jaw via Digital Ethnography @ Kansas University
"web 2.0" was posted by dogpossum on February 12, 2007 11:35 AM in the category clicky
As dangerous as a midnight coffee
Glen's started a meme over here, and it's one that actually caught my eye.
I meme when I'm trying to be cool, but I think this one is actually quite me.
I am starting up a meme. It is called the “As dangerous as a midnight coffee” meme.Blurb: Five songs for going nuts when IT HAS TO BE DONE. This isn’t the Nike Just Do It song list of inspiration. It is a savage beast that attacks your weaknesses, and gives you the perspective of sickness, thus forcing you to be stronger. The songs have to currently be on a portable music playing device that you listen to at midnight brewing a coffee and getting ready to attack IT (or comparable scenario).
I do own an ipod (well, The Squeeze owns an ipod, and I see it as my Sistahly duty to appropriate it and use it for previewing old skewl jass for DJing on the bus... well I did, when I was catching the bus. I also used to use it for 'read-a-long' sessions with Gunther Schuller (I've just been humming and ahing over his books on abebooks, btw: I need them. I do. I really do)), but I think this meme really lends itself to the 'hypothetical set list'.
Midnight Coffee - hm. I'm thinking of late night after parties, when the crowd are warmed up from the first gig, but you've just changed venues, so you have to get them really cooking again.
So, to rework the meme-theme, here are five songs that (I'd hope) would work together to GET IT DONE. In other words, five songs that would hopefully drive a crowd of dancers into a frenzy.
Now, five songs really isn't very much for crowd frenzying, so let's assume I've spent about five songs getting them warmed up.
...actually, I'm going to do two lists. One will be a chronological list of five songs, in the order I'd play to get the crowd nuts. The other list will be five seriously hardcore-kick your muthafucking arse hardcore YAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!! dancing songs that I would never play all in a row. Not if I wanted to have the floor even partly full.
1. 'Blues In Hoss' Flat' Count Basie 142bpm 195? Big Band Renaissance Disc 1 3:13
Because Basie is the only way to kick a bunch of dancers into a frenzy... well, not really, but it's a nice place to start.
I'm imagining I'm working with the Melbourne crowd at CBD rather than at MLX or another big exchange. Because exchanges are a different kettle of fish.
This song rocks because it's hi-fi, it's late Basie, it has some pretty major brass and people know it and love it. It's also a very manageable 142bpm - a nice warm-up tempo.
2.
...look, this isn't going to work. Five songs isn't long enough for me to guarantee mass insanity. I ain't that good, and I need to see the floor to judge my choices.
Instead, I'm just going to go list five arse kicker songs. The sorts of songs that make me crazy. That I've made dancers crazy with (with which I've made... whatever). And they'll probably be my current favourites.
1. 'Back Room Romp' Duke Ellington and his Orchestra 155 2000 Ken Burns Jazz: Duke Ellington 2:49
Man, I can't believe I only have one version of this song! It's the best. This is a great warm-up track.
... wait, I'm doing it again! I just can't list five big songs without working up to them!
Ok, now I'm just going to do hardcore, arse kicky songs that I might play at an afterparty. Maybe not all in a row, because the dancers would die. But definitely within one set. Between about 2 and 3 perhaps - when people have all arrived, had a slurpy or their second (or third) Red Bull and something to eat and have the energy to burn. Let's also say that the room is pretty warm (but not hot - just not chilly), and it's pretty crowded. But not so crowded you can't really swing out like a fool.
I'll try again.
1. 'Jumpin' At The Woodside' Count Basie 237bpm 1938 Ken Burns Jazz Series: Count Basie
The 1930s versions are best. This is one kick your arse song. You can tell Basie got his start with a bit of stride piano with that stomping intro. The tempo is hot (but doable), there are lots of nice layers building up the energy.
Actually, I'm into this now. Now I'm just going to list hardcore songs that I love that would kick your arse if you danced to them all in a row.
2. 'Lafayette' Benny Moten's Kansas City Orchestra with Count Basie 285bpm 1932 Kansas City Powerhouse 2:48
My comments for this one read "difficult but good fast dancing; ok quality". It comes in shouting and then pounds away at 285bpm. I've never danced to it, I'm not sure you could, but it's a cracking song. I like the stompy base. Basie of course began with Moten's band - this is hot Kansas city action (those Kansas doods were wilder and rougher).
3. 'Hotter Than Hell' Fletcher Henderson 275bpm 1934 Tidal Wave 2:58
This is one frickin' fast song. But it really rocks. Henderson is the king of hot, arse-kicking music for lindy hopping.
...I'm getting really excited listening to this stuff. It's going to be impossible to settle down and work after this.
4.'Blues In The Groove' Jimmie Lunceford and his Orchestra 205bpm 1939 Lunceford Special 1939-40 2:35
Not everyone's pick of the Lunceford action (I know I was torn between this and 'Lunceford Special' or 'Blue Blazes'), but this one, while it doesn't have that pounding, driving structure is one of those songs that you can't help but dance to - it makes you jump up and jiggle around. So it's a 'get it done song' because it'll get you dancing, despite yourself. And that's a DJ's job - getting people dancing despite themselves.
5. 'Rigamarole' Willie Bryant And His Orchestra 240bpm Willie Bryant 1935-1936 2:35
This one doesn't actually sound all that fast, but it really builds you up and makes you crazy. It says DANCE MUTHAHFUCKAH! So people generally do. Mostly like crazy fools. It has shouting in it as well, which always helps. I often play the Mora's Modern Rhythmists version for dancers because the quality is better, but the MMR version doesn't have the same punch as Bryant's.
That's it, then.
There are about a million other songs I could have listed - we're all about hard fast, getting-you-moving music here in the swinguverse - but these are five of my favourites.
I know some people'd be suprised to see no 'Ride Red Ride' in there, or 'Man from Mars' (or Chick Webb at all) or 'Sugar Foot Stomp' in some incarnation. I'm also a bit sorry not to have any really hot Ellington action there something like 'Jubilee Stomp', a 1928 Ellington track that clocks in at 265bpm (I have it on The Duke Ellington Centennial Edition: Complete RCA Victor Recordings (disc 01)) would have been a sensible addition. But I could have gone on forever. I could have done a top 5 Basie arse kicking songs. Or a top 5 old skewl. And I didn't even touch the dixie or 'charleston' music.
Anyone got 5 other good, arse kicking, 'get it done', 'dangerous as midnight coffee' music?
"As dangerous as a midnight coffee" was posted by dogpossum on February 12, 2007 10:28 AM in the category clicky and djing and lindy hop & other dances i have known and music | Comments (8)
February 6, 2007
textual analysis = dangerous
This is exactly the reason I didn't name names in my thesis, and am reluctant to publish some parts of it.
I just know I'll get a serve for pointing out the obvious.
I might write more on this later when I'm not so busy.
"textual analysis = dangerous" was posted by dogpossum on February 6, 2007 11:29 AM in the category academia and clicky | Comments (9)
February 5, 2007
clicko
This article on Bruce Osborn rocks (c/o Mz Tartan).
"clicko" was posted by dogpossum on February 5, 2007 12:32 PM in the category clicky
go read them - they're good
I'm just about to get jiggy with another paper draft, but I just wanted to draw your attention to Galaxy's series of great telly posts. Go read them - they're good.
"go read them - they're good" was posted by dogpossum on February 5, 2007 12:11 PM in the category clicky
February 1, 2007
ladies'
I'm allergic to tea tree (and all melaleucas), but I love lavender. But it's not for boys.
"ladies'" was posted by dogpossum on February 1, 2007 5:36 PM in the category clicky
clicky
I've been looking at some interesting acka blogs lately - sort of the American (I assume) version of people I'm already reading.
- Digital Audio Insider, an interesting chat about digital music. I need to read more of this dood's blog. Especially when he gets talking about itunes (because swing DJs have a rather love-hate relationship with itunes - there's some freaking amazing, obscure shit on there, but the quality simply isn't good enough for DJing).
- Fandrogyny, a blog with a post about Heroes at the top, and of course, we're all over Heroes at our house at the moment.
- terra nova, a kind of all-round internetty/acka-ish group blog which has a really interesting article about three ackas choosing to synchronise their posts about second life:
The posts are intended to be the beginning of a coordinated conversation. According to Henry, "After corresponding with Shirky and with my colleague Beth Coleman, it was decided that we would offer some new statements about this controversy across our three blogs today and respond to each other's posts in about a week's time. We also agreed that we would post links to the other posts through our sites which would help readers navigate between the various positions." (from that entry)
That's some interesting stuff - I've been thinking about the way early career ackas (or eckas, I guess) use blogs to network. And it's only a matter of time til more grown up ackas start using the lovely discursive potential of the internet. I don't doubt, though, that finding the time to do this stuff will be something only fairly well positioned ackas will be able to do. - apophenia, more lovely fan talk
"clicky" was posted by dogpossum on February 1, 2007 2:02 PM in the category clicky
January 31, 2007
i know everything about strayan kulcha
Australia Day Meme c/o pavcat and others.
This will help you understand why it is that I am a media studies person not a literature person. And perhaps it can be explained by the fact that I read almost nothing but science fiction.
AUSTRALIAN LIT MEME
1) Which Australian poem are you most confident you could recite from memory?
There was movement at the station
for the word had got around
that the colt from old Regret had got away.
That's it, homies. That's all I know of any Aussie poem.... no, wait, I know one more:
Jesus Christ,
superstar,
Burnin' round town on his Yamaha,
Chucked a skid,
Scared a kid,
Burned his arse on the petrol lid.
My favourite bit is the part where he scares a kid. I couldn't swear that this was penned by an Orstraylian.
2) Which of the Seven Little Australians are you?
What are you implying?
I don't know any of the Seven Little Australians. I have never read a story with them in it. Nor watched a telly show featuring them.
3) Which is your favourite Patrick White novel?
Couldn't name even one. Not even one. I'm sorry.
4) Which is the best Patrick White novel?
Can I call a friend?
5) Which Australian fictional/dramatic/poetic character do you fancy most?
I think that would have to be the man from Snowy River, for obvious reasons. Unless I could be ... no. Actually, I don't want to be anyone from Monkey Grip.
6) And which do you identify with most?
Oh, you were asking me which I thought was hawtest in that last question? Riiight. Sorry, same answer.
7) If you had to read five Australian poems to a heterogeneous unknown audience, which five would you choose?
Five that were written down. But I think I'd start with this one because it actually reads aloud quite well. I would perhaps accompany it with some interpretive dance.
8) Which five Australian books would you take to a desert island?
48 Shades of Brown by Nick Earles.
...
fuck, I can't think of any Australian books I've read that weren't written by Nick Earles or Helen Garner. I know I've read some, I'm just not sure which one's I'd like to take to an island. Nice ones? Maybe ones I haven't read? How's about that Patrick White - what's good by him?
9) If you were a guest at Don’s Party, would you be
(a) naked in the pool
(b) upstairs having sex
(c) outside having sex
(d) sulking with a headache
(e) huddled round the TV
(f) crying
(g) more than one of the above (please specify)
(h) other (please specify)
Waaiiiit... this wasn't just a film, was it?
I'm not sure.
Last (state) election I was herding a few hundred endorphine-charged, sweat-bathed dancers through two rooms of late night fun. I think crying would have been my preferred option at that point.
10) Tim Winton or Christos Tsiolkas?
Because I once had a discussion with Galaxy about Tsiolkas and decided I didn't like his sexual preferences much (I got the idea he was into underaged young men. But then I didn't mind Loaded (was that the name of the film?). The only Tim Winton I've read is Cloud Street. It was ok, but it was a bit depressing.
11) Banjo Paterson or Henry Lawson?
Banjo, because there's never enough banjo. Banjo-banjo-banjo.*
12) Henry Lawson or Barbara Baynton?
Lawson because I don't know Babbs.
13) What’s the worst thing you’ve ever seen at a writers’ festival?
I saw someone's undies once. I can't remember who's.
*This is a reference to New Orleans jazz.
"i know everything about strayan kulcha" was posted by dogpossum on January 31, 2007 4:10 PM in the category clicky
no, THIS is the greatest thing on the internet
c/o balcony.
"no, THIS is the greatest thing on the internet" was posted by dogpossum on January 31, 2007 4:09 PM in the category clicky | Comments (3)
January 26, 2007
flipper fest
Having seen ducky's post, I'm now having second thoughts about the thongs I bought The Squeeze the other week (this photo doesn't quite do justice to the extreme green of the things). I picked them up at a supermarket for a couple of bucks as a joke - an extension of the cricketing hat I bought him for christmas (he doesn't play cricket, never has, doesn't really watch it, but like the thought of watching it. Or falling asleep on the couch in front of it).
I spent half of this very beautiful Invasion Day asleep - 12 hours of slumbery goodness. I have no idea why I slept so late (til 12!), but I do know I was tired out dancing last night, was very tired riding home and then fell into bed and asleep straight away with only a token grizzle.
I think it's the insane solo jazz binge kicking me.
"flipper fest" was posted by dogpossum on January 26, 2007 2:26 PM in the category clicky
January 21, 2007
inquiring minds...
Zoe's popped - go here to check him out!
And just yesterday we were at the pub with a friend who's really ready to pop.
Inquiring minds need to know: did you eat the placenta, Zoe?
"inquiring minds..." was posted by dogpossum on January 21, 2007 10:39 AM in the category clicky | Comments (0)
January 18, 2007
the thought of dancing in the third person
If you drop in over here, you'll see that things are sounding a lot like a whole lot of swing dancers with too little to occupy their immediate attention.
I have only two things to add:
1. I wrote my thesis in the first person and began each chapter with an anecdote, not to mention peppering the whole thing with talk about me. This is partly because I was actually spending a bit of time talking about how to do research as scholar-fan (to use Matt Hills' term)/member of the community you're researching. But mostly it was because I am a hopeless narcissist. It simply became ridiculous to write about this stuff without the first person - imagine all this in not-first-person (apologies - this is from a not-final-draft):
My earliest experience with swing dance was framed by university culture. As the social convenor for my postgraduate association in 1999, I was asked to organise a group expedition to a local venue that featured a live jazz band and swing dance classes. I fell instantly in love. Moving to Melbourne in 2001 for postgraduate study, I found the local swing dance community offered a natural complement to the work and culture of academic life, and quickly became a ‘serious dancer’. Five years later, I am well familiar with ‘the zone’ and all its attractions, have devoted countless hours and dollars to its pursuit, and become firmly entangled in both the local and international swing dance community. This doctoral thesis signals not only the completion of years of academic study in cultural studies and media studies, but also my critical engagement with a community and hobby which has played such a large part in my life.A large part of the introduction, from which this bit was taken, is devoted to my figuring out how to talk about and write about a community of which I am a part. I did try writing in the not-first-person. It was mostly ok until I started trying to talk about what it felt like to actually dance. Then it just got dumb.During my time in the swing dancing community, my interest has frequently been arrested by:
1) the encouragement and embodiment of traditional gender roles and social relations in the dance;
2) the ways in which these embodied dance practices and representations of identity are managed by communications media and technology; and
3) by the discursive activities of institutions and organisations within the community.
I am continually surprised by the way traditional gender roles are enforced in contemporary swing dance culture, despite the more liberal examples offered by the African American history of swing dances. I am also struck by the capitalist nature of contemporary swing dance culture articulated by dance schools and institutions, again, despite the social history of African American vernacular dance. These issues have led me to a more comprehensive research project where I asked how embodied dance practice in this community have been mediated by technology and institutions, and what are the effects of this mediation?Much of what I have observed in terms of media practice in contemporary swing dance culture echoes the literature dealing with media fandom in cultural studies. In this small community of interest, members adopt active and creative approaches to texts and discourse, routinely poaching ideas and structures from official discourses and media texts to create new creative works. Fan studies offers me a means by which to approach my research, not only in terms of theoretical frameworks, but also in terms of considering my role as a researcher who is also a member of the community I am studying. Despite my interest in media use within this community, swing dancers are, above all else, dancers, engaged in embodied discourse and cultural practice, always with an eye to social engagement with other dancers.
In fact, one of the major arguments in my work is that the divide between performer and audience in concert dance is a marker of middle class Anglo ideological stuff.
Here's some stuff from the paper I'm trying to write writing.
African American vernacular dance of the swing era, with its emphasis on improvisation and the creative contribution of individual dancers, rather than the prioritisation of choreographed performances and of choreographers as orchestrating artists, presents a public discourse that demands individual contributions. Social standing is assured by the ability to produce improvised or innovative new steps or variations on familiar steps, making public contributions to public discourse, representing the self in community discourse. A popular phrase in contemporary swing dance culture, shouted to encourage dancers in competitions or in jams or battles on the social dance floor, epitomises this notion: “Bring it!” And what is being brought to this discourse is an authentic or convincing self. Make it real or dance real feelings (whether these are anger or joy or derision or ironic humour), or stay off the floor....and then...
Ward makes this distinction: “there is a categorical divide between dancers and the audience in performance dance …that does not exist between dancers and spectators in social dance, where those roles are interchangeable” (18). I read this dynamic relationship between the roles of ‘spectator’ and ‘dancer’ in social or vernacular dance as a clear example of the ways in which readers participate in the making of meaning in textual interpretation. Thomas DeFrantz describes the call-and-response between performers and audiences in African American music and dance in "Believe the Hype", arguing that this structure is carried on into other media forms, and he takes music video and film as his key examples.In the case of dance, the text is a dance, or a dancer’s body, or just ‘dancing’, and the reader makes meaning through reading this text not only as a spectator, but also through their knowledge as dancers. This ability to make meaning even from unfamiliar choreography is facilitated by the cultural knowledge of movement that we all learn as social beings within a community. We know that this is dance, we recognise it as such in this moment, because we have danced, we have seen dance before. We have occupied and are occupying the roles of spectator and performer and are culturally familiar with this as dance.
I can promise you only that more quotes from my thesis will be forthcoming. No one will ever read the bloody thing if I don't, and fuck, we endorse strutting in our house.
I will also, no doubt, continue to quote from papers until I get them under control. I am working at home, alone, and don't see another acka type person more than once or twice a semester. This is the online equivalent of talking to yourself.
But, wait, my second thing:
2) If the first person is using 'I' and the third person is saying things like "dogpossum disapproves of most things" and "today dogpossum will take her tea at her desk, though she will consider wearing pants so as to avoid unfortunate scorchings", what's the second person? Is it (to make oh, perhaps another quote from a little thing I've just finished)...
In the zone, you respond without thinking, your senses taken up by the music, by your partner and by your own emotional responses in a state or way of being that can only be described as – thinking with the body.
???
I think this is the sort of question that &Duck could answer.
.... look, I'm still giggling at the thought of dancing in the third person. One of the indelible rules of partner dancing is that you have to stop thinking to make it work. And one of the most excellent bits of my research has been the way thinking academically about dancing on the dance floor is the one sure way of having a really crap dance.
oo, oo, I'd really like to write a bit about choreography and the 'third person' in that process. There's some really fabulous stuff written on the choreographic process and its ideological function/context. I'm a big fan of the idea of improvisation as choreography, which suggests that you make shit up as you go along, so the new steps you create are necessarily function-first. This is of course in direct contradiction with the sort of tortured-artist-in-an-ivory-studio idea that gets trundled along in ballet and concert dance (and much of dance studies - you should see how excited they get about the idea of geneologies of dance - where they trace the influence a particular teacher had on a line of dancers/students).
[edit: oops. forgot some references:
DeFrantz, Thomas. “Believe the Hype!: Hype Williams and Afro-Futurist Filmmaking.” Unpublished paper. Spectacle, Rhythm and Eschatology: A Symposium. University of Melbourne, Melbourne, 24th July 2003.
Ward, Andrew. "Dancing around Meaning (and the Meaning around Dance)." Dance in the City. Ed. Helen Thomas. London: Macmillan, 1997. 3-20. ]
[another edit: I also like the way it's assumed that blogging is about telling the truth. Whether you're writing with emotional honesty or with careful logic and supporting linkage. Surely I'm not the only one who's digging the implied gendered assumptions about writing here?]
"the thought of dancing in the third person" was posted by dogpossum on January 18, 2007 5:06 PM in the category academia and clicky and lindy hop & other dances i have known | Comments (0)
happy coincidence
I'm doing a bit of research on youtube for this paper I'm doing (and discovering in the process that deciding to 'stop reading', while a fabulous tool for getting the thesis done, has left me... oh, at least a few years behind the published world of academia), and have come across this neat article on M/C by Paula Geyh. Do go read it - it's only a little thing, and does the nicest job of combining talk about bodies, urban space and D&G I've seen yet.
I am a massive big nerd for anything to do with bodies and dance/gymnastics/beautiful, rhythmic movement, and this stuff on parkour (which I've also heard referred to as urban junglism) is absolutely right up my alley.
To quote directly from wikipedia:
Parkour (IPA: [paʁ.'kuʁ], often abbreviated PK) is a physical discipline of French origin in which the participant — called a traceur (/tʁa.'sœʁ/) — attempts to pass in obstacles in the fastest and most direct manner possible. The obstacles can be anything in the environment, so parkour is often practiced in urban areas because of many suitable public structures, such as buildings, rails, and walls.And to continue with a quote from Geyh's article,
Defined by originator David Belle as “an art to help you pass any obstacle”, the practice of “parkour” or “free running” constitutes both a mode of movement and a new way of interacting with the urban environment. Parkour was created by Belle (partly in collaboration with his childhood friend Sébastien Foucan) in France in the late 1980s. As seen in the following short video “Rush Hour”, a trailer for BBC One featuring Belle, parkour practitioners (known as “traceurs”), leap, spring, and vault from objects in the urban milieu that are intended to limit movement (walls, curbs, railings, fences) or that unintentionally hamper passage (lampposts, street signs, benches) through the space.
So when we watch footage of that parkour stuff, we're watching a combination of practical (yet wonderfully imaginative and creative) urban locomotion. But the bit that catches my interest is the repeatedly quoted line from Sebastien Foucan,
"And really the whole town was there for us; there for free running. You just have to look, you just have to think, like children." This, as he describes, is "the vision of Parkour." (Wikipedia article)
I like that idea - thinking like a child. This is play. But it also involes a creative and unconscious approach to physical activity. One of the things I've noticed about swing dancers - they're particularly keen to try new things, particularly sports, physical activities, games, tricks and 'stunts'. I think it's because they've discovered that you have to just try things (as Sugar Sullivan would shout at us in class - "If you don't try to dance it, you will never dance it!"), throw yourself into activities, even if you're likely to look foolish or fall over. When you know the limits of your body, you can trust yourself to do things which appear physically difficult. And when you're used to experimenting physically, you stop worrying about looking foolish or being embarassed.
As an example, I am frequently (if not always) the only woman leading in aerials classes. I hear comments about how leads (or bases) should be physically strong, and there's certainly a degree of posturing by some male dancers in regards to being a base. But the truth of the matter is, if you have good technique and do moves correctly, you don't need to be ridiculously strong at all. I'm no stronger than the average woman, and certainly not as strong as most men my size, but I know that I can lift my partner up onto my shoulder and flip her over. Because I know how to use my body effectively, and work with her body. You are in greater danger of hurting yourself or your partner if you enter these activities with some grandiose idea of your own strength, or, conversely, with the idea that you're going to get hurt. In learning aerials, the conventional 'female = weak/vulnerable', 'male = strong and protective' is rubbish. Self reliance, good communication, solid technique and using spotters are key parts of safe aerials
But back to the parkour people...
There's lots of talk about military obstacle courses and so on in discussions of parkour, and escaping and leaping and reaching (the latter two I quite like, as ideas), but I'm really struck by the emphasis on creative responses to obstacles, yet with a practical eye. Ostentatious flips are debated - are they un-pakour because they're aesthetic (an unnecessary) embelishments?
But the part of this that I'm really interested in, is Geyhr's references to flow:
One might even say that the urban space is re-embodied — its rigid strata effectively “liquified.” In Jump London, the traceur Jerome Ben Aoues speaks of a Zen-like “harmony between you and the obstacle,” an idealization of what is sometimes described as a state of “flow,” a seemingly effortless immersion in an activity with a concomitant loss of self-consciousness. It suggests a different way of knowing the city, a knowledge of experience as opposed to abstract knowledge: parkour is, Jaclyn Law argues, “about curiosity and seeing possibilities — looking at a lamppost or bus shelter as an extension of the sidewalk”Flow is something that's come up in swing dance discussions. I've mentioned it very briefly in my own work, but without using that term.
Dancers often talk about being 'in the zone'. As with that notion of flow, the zone is the place where you stop consciously directing your body, but respond to the music, to the weight changes and posture and movements of your partner on an almost instinctive level. I think it's important to point out that this point of flow or zone is only achievable if your body and reactions are at a particular level of ability. To make this work, you must have a degree of body awareness, a stability of core, clear lines of alignment in joints and muscles and bones, some level of fitness and a willingness to 'give in' or 'surrender' what I call 'high brain stuff'. You have to stop planning and to just give in and move.
Needless to say, this is one of the most wonderful parts of dancing, and the point to which most dancers reach toward. It's often the motivation for travelling internationally or interstate to attend exchanges, where the sleep deprivation and intense socialising helps bring that point of flow closer. It's something that newer dancers don't feel, but suddenly, at about a couple of years, suddenly do feel, and get seriously addicted.
The thing that catches my attention in the discussion of parkour is that this flow is about the relationship between body and environment. With dancers, it is about body and body and floor.
So go read that nice article, if only to check out the neat clip.
Geyh, Paula. "Urban Free Flow: A Poetics of Parkour." M/C Journal. 9.3 (2006). 18 Jan. 2007
Photo from this site, a photo by a parkour dood, uploaded to parkour.net
"happy coincidence" was posted by dogpossum on January 18, 2007 1:34 PM in the category academia and clicky and lindy hop & other dances i have known | Comments (6)
January 17, 2007
youtube = great
Hey, homies, has anyone seen Birds of Prey? The telly series from 2002? It looks like exactly my cup of tea. I suspect it's supercrap, but if I can watch Aquaman, the Smalls spin-off, I can certainly handle a little Batkid action.
I gots a look at the promo thing here (and here with the alternative, hawt Sherylin Fenn action) but haven't managed to figure out which clip comes next.
Youtube = great.
...but dang this media convergence thing. Is it still telly if it was never screened on telly, but you watched it on youtube? Does the form determine 'tellyness', or is it the mode of reception?
"youtube = great" was posted by dogpossum on January 17, 2007 7:16 PM in the category clicky and television | Comments (0)
someone else said it betterer
Stephanie pointed me in the direction of this nice blog. There, Meredith has said far more succinctly what I was trying to say in my last post:
I had promised myself for a year or so that when I finished my PhD I'd start a blog. Marrickvillia was a reward to myself, away from the academic grind - a place to write lightheartedly. It also turned into an escape...
"someone else said it betterer" was posted by dogpossum on January 17, 2007 2:01 PM in the category clicky | Comments (0)
probably too long and definitely unfocussed
There's been a bit of a scuffle going on around the Golden Bloggies lately (you can read an installment on LP, and I have to confess, I have mixed feelings. I tried to read up on the awards on the official sites, but lost interest fairly quickly (mostly because I couldn't find the rules or the list of entrants or understand what was going on). I heard about these things first from Mz Tartan, then nick cetacean, then from some other people on some other blogs (I can't remember where or when - it was over christmas and I was busy).
I've had a look at a few of the winning posts (there were a bunch short listed, and they're being reposted over the next bit of time), when they've been linked to by other people, but mostly I've not bothered.
I think it's because I'm not really sure there's much point in a bunch of awards for blogs.
Frankly, the thought scares the living shit out of me - I really can't stand the thought of there being people out there reading this mass of dance-nerdery and recipes (the swing dancer alternative to photos of cats, unicorns and purple cursive font action) and assessing it seriously. I read and write for a job, and for me, a blog - this blog - is a chance to just write and write and write and write and not edit (I just write into the box on movable type here - that's why I have so many typos. Sometimes I go back to fix a post with masses of horrible mistakes, or to fiddle with layout). I can just write down a bunch of crap, add in a picture (if I can be bothered), click post and then walk away.
Writing here is a chance for me to write crap that has no real point, isn't developing another point, and doesn't necessarily make any sense. I like just floating ideas without citing sources or supporting arguments. I prefer posting here on my blog to participating on discussion boards, because here I have complete control and can just delete the comments made by people I really can't fucking stand who give me shit on other online spaces. I love that delete button.
I like writing here because it's a chance for me to keep my writing hand in when I get all blocked on my work writing. There's nothing so debilitating or distressing to someone who's job is all about writing, or for whom their entire working self is all about writing than to suddenly find they can't string a sentence together. During those moments when I've gone back through a day's worth of work and thought "Holy shit, I frickin' suck. What the FUCK am I doing?", being able to just open a tab of Movable Type, blurt out a bunch of ramble and then move on is WONDERFUL. And it's because I know this writing is just for fun, I don't get all blocked, and I don't worry about whether or not this post is good enough for publishing, and I don't try to write about things other people will find interesting and I don't try to impress people. I write as if no one was reading. Ahaahaha. That's a lie.
Sigh. Sometimes I do, anyway. Mostly I treat this as a chance to work through an idea I've had. That's where all that dance stuff comes from - I have to articulate these ideas, and goddess knows I don't see another postgrad/person-formerly-known-as-postgrad from one semester to another, so I need to do this this way. It's a really useful process for me - creative, constructive, low-stress.
I could, I suppose, just write all this in a file and leave it on my desktop. Or I could keep a proper journal. But when I'm writing here on the internet, I feel like I'm writing as if there could, one day, be someone reading this. Not many someones - maybe just two, if I'm lucky. One of those will be The Squeeze, out of duty. And the other will be another googler looking for pictures of Dennis the Menace. So I have to try, at some level, to explain my idea. Or to write as if I was writing an explanation.
I think I've contradicted myself here quite a bit. Ah, fuck it.
But here are a couple of things I wanted to write about, in regards to this whole Golden Blogs thing (you know, I'm actually having real trouble writing today. It's fucking hot, I'm sitting here riddled with hormones and trying not to think about the paper I'm trying to edit).
Mark on LP, using skepticlawyer's comment, pointed out that Tim Blair doesn't like 'I' in blog entries.
I can't fathom that. Nor can I go on to read the comments in that Tim Blair post - play nice, kiddies.
That sort of action is the reason I don't like to read conservative blogs. Blogging is meant to be fun (and blogging = writing blogs, reading blogs, posting on blogs, receiving posts on one's own blog), and I really don't need to read that rubbish. Head in the sand? Up my own arse more like - I prefer my own company to hanging out with meanies.
I don't really understand how these doods can on one hand revile the use of 'I' and personal anecdotes on a blog, and yet also hoe in with incredibly aggressive personal attacks (mostly in comments it seems - I guess comments are the 'less formal' bit of blogging, huh?). It seems a bit contradictory to me.
I wonder if, perhaps, this insistence on no-I-word and less-on the 'personal' stuff is a manifestation of the idea that we should keep personal stuff out of the public sphere?* That the private should be private, and the public... I was going to make a joke about public assets and Telstra but can't. It's too hot.
This whole issue strikes me as odd, as blogging seems one of the most personal spaces or modes of address or whatever (look, it's frickin' hot, ok?) on the internet. If we remember the roots of blogging, we're talking home pages. Home pages.
The Squeeze is reading Where Wizards Stay Up Late: the Origins of the Internet, which contains this little gem:
Rumours had persisted for years that the ARPANET had been built to protect national security in the face of a nuclear attach. It was a myth that had gone unchallenged long enough to become widely accepted as fact. Taylor had been the young director of the office withn the Defense Department's ADvanced Research Projects Agency overseeing computer research, and he was the one who had started the ARPANET. The project had embodied the most peaceful intentions - to link computers at scientific laboratories across the country so that researchers might share computer resources. Taylor knew the ARPANET and its progeny, the Internet, had nothing to do with supporting or surviving war - never did...I'm not sure how reliable this book is (though it seems better than most of the bios of the internet and computing getting about), but this point really caught my interest. I'd only ever heard the story where the internet had been invented as a way of localising US military computer resources and information, so as to avoid complete obliteration if one, centralised site was hit by cold war missiles. This alternative story really warmed my spirit ( :D ). It's so much nicer to think of the internet as doing what we bloggers do with it - share stories of our everyday. So my everyday doesn't include much talk about electronic switches and mainframes and hardware (so to speak), but it does have a whole bunch of fairly specific knowledge and practice which I can't really share with every person in my life. It's pretty specific stuff, and the internet gets me in contact with other people who share that particular discourse. And what could be nicer than finding a bunch of like-minded people with whom to share this stuff?
Lately, the mainstream press had picked up the grim myth of a nuclear survival scenario and had presented it as an established truth.
So the internet's very purpose was to facilitate the sharing of knowledge and individual people's social networking. Basically, the internet was designed for nerds to talk crap. Right on!
With that in mind, as Jeff Beck points out in a gentle observation about the Golden Blogs,
A few of the posts are worth reading but most are tedious, self-indulgent bullshit from self-important lefty academics. If this is the best the blogosphere has to offer, it's fucked.
And that's entirely the sort of sex I like. Really, we don't use the word 'blog' for nothing: long and boring. It's nice that people have high hopes for the internet (I, too, like to think that somewhere out there someone is tapping out a ream of Great Art or Important Contribution), but I think it's ever so much more interesting to think of all the ordinary things people are doing with the internet out there in their bedrooms and studies and workplaces and classrooms and loungerooms. And it seems a bit silly to me to pretend that the internet has no domestic or private or everyday elements, when it is being made on people's laps on couches all over the world (or desks or kitchen tables or wherever). Though, it could be fun to imagine, just for a minute, that I'm wearing a suit and glasses, my brow furrowed with concentration and Serious Thoughts, rather than sitting here in front of the fan in my bedroom doing a little nuddy typing and considering running to the fridge for snack before I cruise Youtube for more hawt lindy prn.
So I guess I do have one problem with the Golden Blogs. When I read, for example, ducky's entry in Online Opinion, I was struck by the way reading this post out of context stripped so much of the meaning out of it for me. When I first read that post on duck's blog, I'd been wondering where she'd been for a while. I'd been reading her blog for a while, sucking up the bits of her life she put online. For me, ducky's story meant more as a chapter in her ongoing blog/life than as an isolated moment re-contextualised in an awards series. When I first read it, I teared up and suddenly wanted to do something for ducky, even though I don't know her, have never seen her, and would probably have felt really strange talking about this with her in person then. The first sentence,
Some of you may be wondering why I haven't been writing more about progress on my letterpress project and my arts grant.which Tim Blair picks out as his special favourite in a list of 'dreaded I's' means so much more when you have been keeping in touch with ducky over the past year or so. We'd read about her grant and been pleased and excited for her (yet also understanding the new challenges of the project). We understood that she was a big printing nerd and thought letterpress(es?) were the best things since sliced bread. For us, to not hear about a bit of ink-and-tickle was an indication that something was amiss. Or that, perhaps, there were other more important things going on in her life.
I think that Tim Blair has missed the point with this derision - he hasn't understood that ducky was pointing out that her everday life had been interrupted, that the sorts of things that consumed her everyday had recently been pushed aside. That suddenly printing wasn't at the fore of her mind, and her priorities had shifted.
It worries me that Tim Blair might be so profoundly lacking in empathy that he could read duck's entry and not see it as an important bit of writing about something very important to duck, and through their assocation with her through her writing, to duck's readers and online friends.
But then, thinking about it, I wonder if this sort of response was encouraged by the out-of-context-ness of duck's post on Online Opinion. I remember being moved by the everyday language of the entry when I first read it. I was far more affected by her 'normal' tone than I would have been by wailing and gnashing of teeth. When she wrote
Lying on a bed crying just feels like I'm indulging myself too much. I know, go figure. It's not like I don't indulge myself in other ways.On the one hand I thought, 'you silly - of course it's not being too indulgent', but on the other, I thought 'I know what she means'.
I had this feeling that she was somehow kind of suspended in that space where you move between uncontrollable crying, where you just don't have that conscious control of your mind and body - it's like the emotion and the sheer physical experience of that emotion have opened up a clearway to the rest of the world. You wouldn't normally shed a tear in public, but you suddenly find yourself with snot and tears all over your face. You'd normally try to keep it together for the sake of your family who are also worried. So lying on a bed crying does feel like indulgence.
Because I had been reading her blog for a while, I was most moved by her bravery and trying to keep it together, but then I was really touched by this bit:
Actually, I'm telling this tale at this point in time because tomorrow morning at 10.00am I'm going under the knife to get Wellsley Giblet (see, we'd nicknamed it already!) scraped out.* And I'm scared. I want lots of blog-reading good vibes to steady that surgeon's hand and keep me safe. Last time a stupid doctor perforated me three times, and I bled for two months. This is a different hospital, a more experienced doctor, but the same soft mutant fibroid-filled womb. It should only be a day-visit, and I should feel better in a day or two. If all goes well.. It's the way duck moved from bravery and clever writing and a touch of humour to suddenly admitting - I'm afraid. I'm afraid of being hurt, of things out of my control. And I just want you wish me good luck.Wish me luck.
And I don't know about the rest of the people reading duck's blog, but I was wishing her all the good luck, hoping someone would hold her hand and tell her it was all going to be ok. Reading the comments on her original blog entry, you can see that I wasn't the only one. But when you read the entry out of context, you don't see all that rallying-round. All the people holding hands for duck and thinking of her. Not in the sort of in-your-face way we would have in person, but in the more manageable way the internet does it.
And when you're reading that post on the Online Opinion site, you don't see the 'textbreak's duck inserted through her original post, which I read as big breaths, or clear pauses, or literally, breaks in the text. And the fact that duck is a printer, who is all about the mechanics of words on papers, a text break, in her font, lent weight to the pause. Then, of course, when you're just reading that one post on OO, and you haven't been reading duck's blog, you're not reminded of the follow-up post, and this line, that stuck in my memory:
To his absolute credit, there is no pressure from BB's side. He and Bumblebee have been seriously scared on both these occasions (more so last time) and they keep insisting that it's totally my choice whether I want to go through it again.
This bit sticks with me because it so nicely sums up the complexities of wanting children, not wanting children, having a child whom you love and adore, a partner who loves and adores you, and perhaps most importantly, a child who loves and adores you as well. I think I was most moved by the BBs' worry. I don't know where they stand on duck's resolving all those issues of body and work and motherhood. But they've definitely got duck's back.
That whole follow up post, with the discussion of having children, when to have them, how to have them, the physical experiences of pregnancy and all of that - all of that is what goes in to deciding when and whether to have a child. Abortion and contraception and children and bodily health are all things that pop up a lot in the blogs, and in the month following duck's post there's been a few posts about motherhood by women who read duck's blog.
That sort of trickle-on effect of a really good blog post can't be indicated or measured in blog awards thingy which cannot map the temporal (as well as 'spatial') relationships between individual blog posts, posts on a single blog, posts cross-posted between blogs, between blogs, between blog authors, and so on and so on.
All of that talk about ampersand duck's post has suddenly made me feel uncomfortable - I don't know if I like taking apart 'someone' and their feelings like that, and I guess that's the kernel of my argument: this is emotional and personal, domestic and private writing. Blogging isn't always, but when it's part of your everyday, when you engage with it by commenting and writing your own posts as well as reading (not to mention the emailing and snail mailing and face to face catch ups), it's not just words on the internet. So why should it always be calm and cool and detached? Why shouldn't I be in the words as well?
I'm not saying that everything we write or read on the internet should be emotionally loaded. Sometimes it's nice to read or write a bit of cleverly cool and detached academic writing or a bit of well-crafted mass media. But social networks are complicated. We don't ever leave our own persons behind when we write or read. We are always there, there is always a body in the net (to quote Katie Argyle and Rob Shields**). So why pretend that there's not?
*I can't be bothered revisiting Nancy Fraser and the feminist stuff on the public sphere, so just imagine I did, ok?
**Argyle, Katie, and Rob Shields. "Is There a Body in the Net?" Cultures of Internet. Ed. Rob Shields. London: Sage, 1996. 58 - 69.
Tim Blair didn't think there were enough links in the winning OO blog entries. Does citation like this count? What is the importance of linking? Is it citing sources? Or would he like to see more text on cats? If he was a lindy hopper, I just know he'd like to see more of this hawt shit.
"probably too long and definitely unfocussed" was posted by dogpossum on January 17, 2007 10:50 AM in the category clicky | Comments (9)
January 2, 2007
tappa tappa = the sound of someone blogging at speed
The Squeeze sent me something interesting in an email - links to these fab photos on this page of historic computer images. I don't know anything about these photos as I haven't taken the time to research, but I thought they'd appeal to the Sisters who dig the tappa-tappa keyboard action.
The bit of text that goes with that photo reads:
Two women wiring the right side of the ENIAC with a new program, in the "pre- von Neumann" days. "U.S. Army Photo" from the archives of the ARL Technical Library. Standing: Ester Gerston Crouching: Gloria Ruth Gorden
Here's another neat photo:
That's the one The Squeeze sent first, but I'm not sure I like it as much as the other - feels like these ladies are there just to look pretty... or are they? Judging by the dress, these look like ladies from the 40s or 50s. If we'd been talking mid WWII, then these ladies could have been actively involved in creating these first computer bits. Heck, I am just plain old guessing... I think I need more information. I think we need The Squeeze (who has a fetish for computer history) to tell us more.
...and its caption
"U.S. Army Photo", number 163-12-62. Left: Patsy Simmers, holding ENIAC board Next: Mrs. Gail Taylor, holding EDVAC board Next: Mrs. Milly Beck, holding ORDVAC board Right: Mrs. Norma Stec, holding BRLESC-I board
But I suspect that Mz Tartan, who has just bought a house, would perhaps prefer these images.U.S. Army Photo, courtesy of Michael John Muuss PDP-11/70, Vector General display of XM-1 tank Left: Michael John Muuss, operating Vector General Right: Earl Weaver, inspecting printout of XM-1 design
and
Photo of BRL's Cray XMP48 courtesy of Michael John Muuss Right: Phil Dykstra
"tappa tappa = the sound of someone blogging at speed" was posted by dogpossum on January 2, 2007 12:20 PM in the category clicky | Comments (2)
underwater mapping
Barista has written a really interesting post here on the history of research into techtonic plates (or more specfically, on Marie Tharp and her work on the subject). This post makes for a really good read, but the line that caught my imagination was the last (bolding is mine):
Despite the fact that the plate tectonics debate spanned fifty years, several languages and many countries, I suspect the battles fought in that house full of maps in South Nyack were some of the fiercest and most personal.Ironically, they were all wrong. Nowadays, we believe the planet is expanding.
I wish I could string together a few coherent thoughts (I am scarily scatty at the moment - all these half-bits of posts... I promise I'll get it together soon. Ish.), but I can't. But I like the thought - expanding v contracting planet.
"underwater mapping" was posted by dogpossum on January 2, 2007 12:11 PM in the category clicky
December 28, 2006
not the sharpest knife in the drawer
I'm always the last to latch onto cool things - you can guarantee something's no longer cool if I've suddenly discovered it.
I don't know if anyone else is as interested in flickr as I am (well, except for Jean of course), but if you're a flickr person (and I've noticed that a great deal of the people who's blogs I read are), then you might be interested in the flickr blog. My timing is perfect, of course - flickr went down, just as I discover all sorts of interesting groups and photos and things to look at. This photo is one of them.
There's another neat one here.
"not the sharpest knife in the drawer" was posted by dogpossum on December 28, 2006 6:15 PM in the category clicky | Comments (2)
December 25, 2006
im in ur frij eatng ur stufz
"im in ur frij eatng ur stufz" was posted by dogpossum on December 25, 2006 7:39 PM in the category clicky
December 24, 2006
christmas meme
via pav's cat.
I am really enjoying having endless time to just sit online and talk and write crap. The last six months of insane teaching and busyness have made me realise what a luxery doing a phd is - you get to sit about and write and read and write and rewrite and edit as much as you like. I miss it all ready.
The nicest thing about this holiday with the ps is that we're all superbusy people (The Squeeze does crazy late night systems admin support stuff, the mother ... mothers and stuff, the father is a busy suepracademic) and we're all really enjoying doing nothing. The father's family are big on sitting about and talking and enjoying each other's company. There's been some shouting, but not as much as usual, and not me. Surpisingly. I have a history of Big Shouting, but as I pointed out to The Squeeze, we don't shout at each other (though I do shout, generally, and sometimes in his direction. But not angrily), so it was actually strange to find my parents shouting at each other strange. But it wasn't angry shouting - just kind of loud emoting.
Because it's that time of year (and pav says it's ok to be in the Spirit), here's the most useful advise I've had all year:
The Squeeze said (when I was busy being worried about some nasty and insensitive comments from acquaintances):
think less about people you don't like, and more about people you do like.
Or (the hardcore version)
think less about the people you hate (just give them a punch in the bum and fuck off) and more about the people you love.
It was the best advice ever.
But on to the meme.
1) Do you have a tree, and if so what is hanging on it?
Some nice white lights, some red/gold/green baubles. It's a fake tree, but it looks nice.
2) What's the most successful bit of Christmas cooking you've done so far?
Mince tarts!
3) And the least successful?
Fried rice with herbs. Boring boring boring. Too dry. Dumb. Waste of nice prawns and pink ling (that's a fish).
4) Which bit of your Christmas shopping are you happiest with?
The p's present: it's one of those amazing toilet seats that's clear plastic but with wonderfully tacky sea shells and things inside it. They will LOVE IT. Especially the father.
5) Have you opened any of your presents yet? What was it / were they?
Nope.
6) Do you have any bad Christmas associations that will have to be tackled?
Well, family stuff with my sister in law. But that's largely sorted. Because she's in Brisvegas and I'm in Hobart.
7) What's your favourite carol? Why?
The Holly and the Ivy (I think it's called that), because it's really nice to sing. But the other day I discovered that the tune of Deck the Halls works really nicely with all sorts of lyrics, especialy when you're riding your bike.
8) Which part of your Christmas plans is most likely to go awry?
Turkey. It can suck if it's over cooked.
We are also flying back to Melbourne Boxing Day for dinner with The Squeeze's mothers and grandfather. That could be a bit tiring.
9) What's your most favourite thing about Christmas?
I like the hardcore food (cooking, more like).
I like coming down to Tasmania.
I like the way The Squeeze is really relaxed and fun.
10) What's your least favourite thing about it?
Spending so much money on crap (though we have become less present-centered since the year the mother was really ill. We had only a couple of days after she came out of hospital to get presents, and because we were all kind of preoccupied, we didn't fuss about presents or food too majory - we were more mellow and just spent time enjoying each other's company and plain old counting our blessings.
It feels like we now spend less time fretting about crap like whether we got people good enough presents or will have a 'proper' christmas (something that always seems on the mother's (English) mind).
Now we just do nice things. And I like that. We've also learnt to really enjoy grownup christmases without kids...so I guess this is mostly a story about the good things about christmas.
11) What Christmassy thing have you seen or heard in the street or on the teeve or in the blogosphere that has
(a) touched your heart
Ummm a version of 'from little things big things grow' being sung by Paul Kelly. Not quite Archie Roach, pav, but still, it's a wonderful song.
(b) hit a nerve
...nothing?
or (c) made you want to barf?
I felt a little nausious afte eating too much last night.
12) Who do you wish you had contacted to say Happy Christmas but haven't so far?
Most everyone. I have been super slack this past six months, generally. I owe my friends some communication.
"christmas meme" was posted by dogpossum on December 24, 2006 11:19 PM in the category clicky | Comments (1)
Skater Docklands
I had to blog this: Galaxy's little brother is blowing my brain with these photos.
"Skater Docklands" was posted by dogpossum on December 24, 2006 10:10 PM in the category clicky | Comments (1)
droolz
druling on yr pants
i fail l33t speak. txt on ur cat
"droolz" was posted by dogpossum on December 24, 2006 9:56 PM in the category clicky
saturday night fever
What do hip young kids do when they're visiting their ps for christmas?
A night on the town? Host fabulous parties?
"saturday night fever" was posted by dogpossum on December 24, 2006 12:25 AM in the category clicky | Comments (1)
December 23, 2006
feminists in serious dancing clobber
The Carnival of Feminists is on. I've been (very kindly) linked - way down there at the bottom in the unclassifiables - so welcome all of you who've wandered over here via Sandy.
In case you're wondering, I'm not sure who those ladies are there on the left - I found this pic on this site via googs. But I like the thought of feminists in spangles, serious makeup and hardcore dancing clobber.
"feminists in serious dancing clobber" was posted by dogpossum on December 23, 2006 3:10 PM in the category clicky
November 19, 2006
why not. i've got things to do
Now I'm going to do the other questions, because I'm watching rage (Goddess bless ABC2) and should be doing stupid mlx volunteer door sheets.
1. When you looked at yourself in the mirror today, what was the first thing you thought?
'woah - you look tired, girl'
It's allergy season. I always look tired in allergy season.
4. Favorite planet?
Neptune. No reason.
5. Who is the 4th person on your missed call list on your cell phone?
I don't know. I didn't know I had a missed call list. I wouldn't know how to find it.
6. What is your favorite ring tone on your phone?
There's more than one?
I HATE it when people call me when I'm riding my bike.
8. Do you “label” yourself?
I'm not sure what that means. But I don't think I do.
12. What does your watch look like?
It's a nice 'ladies'' (ie, it's smaller) diving watch. Black face with slivery bits. It went through the wash the other day so I took it in to get it fixed up. The strap had broken in two places and was being held together with a blue rubber band. I have had it for many years and love it very much. A watch is more convenient than a mobile phone for telling the time when you're riding a bike.
13. What were you doing at midnight last night?
Lying in bed just about to fall deeply asleep.
14. What did your last text message you received on your cell say?
I'm not exactly sure, but it was the girl I was meeting yesterday telling me she was walking to the cafe and could I please order her a peppermint tea. I did.
16. What's a word that you say a lot?
Cockwit. It's something I say when I ride my bike and get scared by scary drivers.
18. Last furry thing you touched?
My pink, fluffy slippers - they're kind of like eskimo boots but pink. They stink.
21. Favorite age you have been so far?
I am loving my 30s, so 30, 31 and (as of last week), 32.
22. Your worst enemy?
The Man.
23. What is your current desktop picture?
That's me - DJ Snoopdoggydogpossum.
24. What was the last thing you said to someone?
"Goodnight - I love you" to The Squeeze before I went to sleep. He's still in bed now.
25. If you had to choose between a million bucks or to be able to fly what would it be?
I think the money. Mostly because I think that if I could fly, I'd become a crap walker/dancer/bike rider. Though it depends on how I could fly. If it's a magic thing, then I don't want it (for those reasons). If it's a flying-like-a-bird thing, I don't think I want that either as I'd have to get really light bones and get more aerodynamic.
26. Do you like someone?
Sure. I like lots of people. But I like The Squeeze in a kissing way.
27. The last song you listened to?
Bones by... I think it was the Killers. Or another one of those retro-chic boybands. It was quite dull. I'm not impressed by any of the boybands I've seen today - Wolf Mother, Eskimo Joe, etc etc. They all look about 16, wear too much black and are far too mopey. That shit lit my fire when I was 16. But now I am a Woman and I have other priorities.
.... they're actually showing that Blur concert (or parts thereof) again right now, so I'm busy preferring that Britpop action - lively blokes who're actually old enough to grow facial hair.
28. What time of day were you born?
Midnight. After a very long labour. I have trouble changing my sleep pattern, but can be a late nighter or an early bird. I do my best thinking and writing in the morning when I'm in early bird mode.
29. What's your favorite number?
11. Because I was born on the 11/11/74. I know that's a dumb reason.
30. Where did you live in 1987?
Gladstone Street, Brighton, Brisbane. A rough-as-guts area on the seafront. With my parents and brother.
31. Are you jealous of anyone?
All the people whose blogs I read and make me think 'gee, I wish I could get it together and write interesting posts'. Also, people who are fitter than I am. Also, people who can go travelling. I'd like to go somewhere interesting - thesis is done, time to move.
32. Is anyone jealous of you?
Who knows.
33. Where were you when 9/11 happened?
Dunno. I didn't realise it had happened for a couple of days because I didn't ever watch telly then.
The first time I saw the footage was on one of those massive screens in a lecture theatre. It brought tears to my eyes - I couldn't believe someone would really choose to kill themselves and a plane load of passengers to smash into a building and kill lots of other people.
It was a bit embarassing as I was a tutor in that lecture's subject.
35. Do you consider yourself kind?
Yeah, I can be kind. But I can also be scary. I am a bit stressy and premenstrual at the moment, so I am being horrible to The Squeeze (he has started rebelling, as of yesterday). But I was raised by hippies with really strict Rules about how we were to treat other people. So I feel incredible guilt when I say insulting things about people's weight or how they look, so I don't do it.
36. If you had to get a tattoo, where would it be?
Tattoos suck. I'm still waiting for my perfect skin. So why would I fuck it up with some ink. If I had to get a tattoo I wouldn't be in a position to choose.
37. If you could be fluent in any other language, what would it be?
Italian, a Chinese language or French.
38. Would you move for the person you loved?
Yeah, sure. I like moving.
40. Whats your life motto?
Don't lick knives.
It's just a Rule.
42. Whats your favorite town/city?
I'm pretty easy going on towns - I like big cities. But I also like pretty cities. So I'm very fond of Hobart. ...Actually, I thought Amsterdam was really lovely. Tiny, but interesting. I'm also very fond of Cardiff.
44. When was the last time you wrote a letter to someone on paper and mailed it?
Job application a few weeks ago.
45. Can you change the oil on a car?
Nope, but I can put air in my bike tires.
46. Your first love: what is the last thing you heard about him/her?
Can't remember who my first love was.
47. How far back do you know about your ancestry?
Grandparent's parents. They're all English, Irish or Welsh. Not much to tell, really.
48. The last time you dressed fancy, what did you wear and why did you dress fancy?
Wore 'vintage' yesterday for Spiegeltent gig (I have to). This week it was 3/4 black trousers (my new ones, side button fly, in a FABULOUS stretch cotton, ), black boots, white collared shirt, black waistcoat, maroon tie, tied in a double windsor and very short, a la 1930s. Oh, and the paper boy's hat I made the other week. Kieran called me Oliver a few times. Young swingers today know nothing about history. I was going to wear my pin striped suit, but my bosom was too enormous to fit in the jacket without stretching the buttons scarily. I was a bit shitty as I really wanted to wear the spats as well.
I got hit on by a dyke chick from the Mornington Peninsula. I reckon she's going to come to MLX so I guess I've sold myself for swing dance. Again. But I was looking pretty hawt. In a sweaty, tired, way. But there was that enormous bosom thing.
50. Have you been burned by love?
I'm not sure. I've been treated like shit by a couple of arsehole (cockwit fucker) blokes. But I've also been treated damn well by love.
"why not. i've got things to do" was posted by dogpossum on November 19, 2006 9:48 AM in the category clicky
November 18, 2006
everyone else is doing it so why shouldn't I?
Everyone else is doing the last 15 questions of the procrastination meme, so I'm going to start with those and see if I can be bothered doing the first questions some other time.
1. What shirt are you wearing?
I am not wearing a shirt. I am wearing only a really threadbare, holey bit of vaguely hawaiin print fabric which my mother gave me. Because we lived in Fiji, my family (ie my bro, me ma and me pa) wear sulus. These are like sarongs, yet Fijian.
So now I am sitting here under a blanket wearing only a sulu. Because I came home from a very hot ride back from DJing at the goldfishbowl... uh, Spiegeltent, had a wash and a lie down.
2. What brand of shoes are you currently wearing?
No brand - I am wearing shoes of human skin. Which I made myself.
3. Bright or Dark Room?
Pretty dark because the sun is going down, but just turned on reading-in-bed light.
4. What do you think about the person who took this survey before you?
They all rock. Like John Bon Jovi.
5. Where is your nearest 7-11?
The nearest 7-11 is... um... oh, I know. It's on Melville Road, about ... look, I don't know how far away it is as I've only been there once, at about midnight to buy crisps. I was with my two (much younger and hawter) female friends. A cab driver tried to pick them up. Not literally.
6. Who told you he/she loved you last?
The Squeeze. When asked to quantify said Love, he guesstimated 'twelveteen'.
7. How many drugs have you done in the last three days?
I took a couple of panadeines a little while ago because I had a nasty DJing-in-a-hot-room/riding-the-crimson-wave/hellooo-stress-and-tension headache. Now I feel much better.
I also had my first coffee in about sixty millions years at Don whatsits on Brunswick Street earlier on because they're supposed to do good coffee there and I was waiting to meet the chick who'll be coordinating the door sales at all our MLX events. It made me shakey and a bit anxious. I will go back to tea. I would have had a tea, but they only had crap T2 which I'm off as they use too many artificial flavours.
8. How many rolls of film do you need developed?
What?
0
I have a photographer-partner who does all that camera business. I do the dancing and play the music. He records it all for posterity. So he may have some film lying about (in fact, I know he does).
9. What do you do when vending machines steal your money?
I don't use them. But I wasted a $2 coin on a bung ticket machine on the tram the other day and was upset. I thought about trying to get it out with a bobby pin but was too shy because it was a crowded tram.
10. Are you touchy feely?
Depends. Dancers kiss a lot, so I kiss them. We are very touchy feely because you can't partner dance without touching or feeling someone. At MLX there will be so much touching and feeling and kissing my skin will vibrate for weeks afterward and I will not be able to understand how people are letting other people know how they feel at the CSAA conference the week after.
I have recently decided I like the lip-kiss. That means kissing hello on the lips. I have a couple of friends who do it and I like the looks on people's faces when they do it. I also like it when I have visiting friends from Europe who do 1, 2, 3 or 4 cheek kisses.
Sometimes I meet people who I do not want to touch at all. I think we should all pay very close attention to those feelings.
11. Name three things that you have on you at all times?
Underarm hair. Sweat. Big eyebrows.
12. What was the last thing you paid for with cash?
Big bottle of water at a little newsagent in a foyeur (sp?) on Swanston Street. I knew I'd need a big bottle for dancing and couldn't be bothered carrying my usual bottle in with me from home. The closest toilets to the Speegs are in the Arts Center and they have bullshit arty sinks where you can't fill your bottle.
13. Does anything hurt on your body right now?
My headache has mostly gone, but i have a sore knee from riding my bike with poor core strength.
14. How much cash do you have on you?
$0. See question 1.
15. What's a word that rhymes with “DOOR?”
Poor.
"everyone else is doing it so why shouldn't I?" was posted by dogpossum on November 18, 2006 8:27 PM in the category clicky
November 16, 2006
how could i leave this job undone?
You should go here and read B's giant panda story.
I know how the protagonist feels. But for me, it's standing on the pavement outside the fabric shop, thinking about just getting on my bike and riding and riding and never coming back. Then thinking of my poor students' papers piled up on our dining room table, and how they've all tried so much harder with this assignment, and obviously all studied their guts out for the quiz. How could I leave this job undone?
"how could i leave this job undone?" was posted by dogpossum on November 16, 2006 5:59 PM in the category clicky
November 15, 2006
Laura would like this
Because she loves Dan Brown.
"Laura would like this" was posted by dogpossum on November 15, 2006 4:58 PM in the category clicky | Comments (1)
this is some weird shit
Not being a big fan of bananas, this guy's arguments fail to convince me to become a creationist.
"this is some weird shit" was posted by dogpossum on November 15, 2006 9:57 AM in the category clicky | Comments (1)
October 25, 2006
the post where i wonder if i've gone too full-disclosure
I've been rea