I have lately been reading the collected short stories of Angela Carter I had forgotten how impossibly good she was at times, indeed there was a time when people discussed her work, films were made of her stories, numerous theses were written and her influence wide. But she seems now to have completely fallen off the map. But still her refashioning of European fairytale and folklore is obvious as an influence on writers I read now like Gaiman and Willingham. Maybe she is discussed still, but I don't hear of it as I'm Antipodean bound, and the only literary discussion I get to hear here is:
Oh the new Peter Carey's not very good is it (to which I disagree, but without enthusiasm)
and
Oh isn't the new Tim Winton marvellous (this is of course said in the sure knowledge that neither of us will actually read his work).
Carted died in 1992 and I presume also that once a writer is dead that they fall away from attention, it happens to so many, who now reads Angus Wilson (that great gay stylist of the heart), Anthony Burgess (ignored apart from his least work A Clockwork whatever) or Stevie Smith (now reduced to a one liner - not waving but drowning) all of whom were considered up until the 1980s as incomparable in their oeuvre. But I suppose that is the way, some writers fade as they must and make way for the new. Who indeed remembers and has bothered to read all the one time greats of even the earlier part of the last century, HG Wells, JB Priestley, Laurie Lee, Grahame Greene, Wyndham Lewis, Aldous Huxley etc. etc. - oh yeh, I forgots that would be me.
Thursday, July 10, 2008
Tourettes on buses
So anybody who goes frequently on public transport (particularly in car designed places) will know that there are two main types of user in peak hours, the green types who choose public transport as a lifestyle choice and those who have to use it by necessity - including the disabled.
There is a joke that goes:
Bus stops at bus stop, Man 1 gets on pulls face at other passengers, rifles through his many plastic bags and starts swearing. Man 2 at the back of the bus calls out, 'it's alright mate this ones covered', Man 1 says 'OK cheers mate' and gets off.
This is funny because it is always known that one mad person on a bus is always present, and that maybe they have a system going.
This morning however, the system obviously wasn't working as I was treated to 2, yes 2, people with Tourettes on my bus (318 to Civic if you must know). The first Tourettes got on at Woden, and started shouting Teeeeveeeeee Teeeeeeveeeee which was then followed by long chants of wankwankwankwankwankwankwank, which seemed to start off another further down the bus who started saying Fuck repeatedly in a very growly way, this went on till we got to Parliament House (no they weren't politicians, they just calmed down a bit by then).
I wish I had had the sense to have joined in, but like rejoinders, they only come to you after the event.
There is a joke that goes:
Bus stops at bus stop, Man 1 gets on pulls face at other passengers, rifles through his many plastic bags and starts swearing. Man 2 at the back of the bus calls out, 'it's alright mate this ones covered', Man 1 says 'OK cheers mate' and gets off.
This is funny because it is always known that one mad person on a bus is always present, and that maybe they have a system going.
This morning however, the system obviously wasn't working as I was treated to 2, yes 2, people with Tourettes on my bus (318 to Civic if you must know). The first Tourettes got on at Woden, and started shouting Teeeeveeeeee Teeeeeeveeeee which was then followed by long chants of wankwankwankwankwankwankwank, which seemed to start off another further down the bus who started saying Fuck repeatedly in a very growly way, this went on till we got to Parliament House (no they weren't politicians, they just calmed down a bit by then).
I wish I had had the sense to have joined in, but like rejoinders, they only come to you after the event.
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
Lorre
I caught by accident the end of The Mask of Dimitrios last night on the TV. Greenstreet was masterful as ever (him and Alistair Sim are the greatest British actors in my book) Peter Lorre also starred. If there is one man I wanted to look like it would be Lorre, he has the best face and hair and hands.
Coming and going
Interesting interpretation of meetings and departures here. The small intimate exchanges are well placed within the large expanse of the railway station, which is impressive in its Victorian (I presume) grandness.
Reminded me slightly of the scene in the Fisher King (Gilliam) set in Grand Central station (only I suppose because it also has a station in it) but here the space is I think better used as a place to contain the action. Tho the camera work could have been improved.
Reminded me slightly of the scene in the Fisher King (Gilliam) set in Grand Central station (only I suppose because it also has a station in it) but here the space is I think better used as a place to contain the action. Tho the camera work could have been improved.
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
See they are real people just like us
So of all the useful websites, this one here I found lists the religious affiliation of comic book characters. It's the sort of thing you need to know.
That the lovely Harley Quinn is Jewish comes as no surprise to me at all.
That the lovely Harley Quinn is Jewish comes as no surprise to me at all.
Dance on video a few ill-thought out words
Dance has a special, if sometimes little exposed, place in Australian culture, the primacy of dance within Aboriginal culture is well known, within the later British and Irish settler culture dance was also significant and we still have now a vast array of access to ‘bush’ and folk dancing.
On the Internet there is an ever growing collection of dance videos, featuring a wide range of dance performances including cultural dance groups, school productions, and professional dance companies. By far the largest number of videos is comprised of amateur footage shot from within the audience, of these the most popular subject matter is American high school dance performances and ballroom dancing competitions. The videos emanating from Australia, of which there are also many are similarly primarily made up of what are essentially home movies of amateur productions filmed generally by a family member.
A dance performance has traditionally been comprised of a production shared by dancers and a physically attendant audience, and this is how dance traditionally as an art form has been read. The videos which are on YouTube, which are filmed from within the audience, also record that audience, and so they become part of the record of the performance for the later video viewer. This physical audience can now be heard - the normal rumble of people, their applause, laughter or other signifiers of either rapt or bored attendance, in this way they can become an interesting and additional feature of the whole of the performance.
Whether this makes the video a more complete record of the dance performance or gets in the way of what the dance is trying to convey is debatable.
In some ways the addition of audience reactions could be likened to that of a laughter track on a television comedy, it could either annoy and distract, or, by leading allow viewers to enter more wholeheartedly into the experience.
Maybe video can encapsulate the entire performance, but it would be a given that the later video viewer will not have the immediate connection with the dancers, and will know that this performance was not originally directed at them, whether this makes an emotional difference and detracts from the dance experience is for each individual to decide.
Tho it should be said that access to a video’d performance is better than no access, for very few people by choice, cost or location in Australia get access to see a wide variety of dance.
The other type of video performance available is that done directly for the video viewer. There are videos produced by dance companies specifically for a distributed audience (mostly these are excerpts or rehearsal footage, created as advertisement for commercial productions) and an even larger number are done by individual dancers (mostly within the confines of their own homes) to display a particular dance or routine that they have self developed. They lack the cogency of contrived performance - the backdrop/sets/staging, but there is also something magical about viewing a video, of a person within their own space, see them press play on their sound system and commence to dance, purely to display their skill and in the knowledge that it is done directly for you the unknown viewer.
Addendum - when talking here of dance videos, I am not talking of screen dance - the art of choreographed and directed dance films. Within these films a conscious effort is made to develop a dialogue between the dancer and camera that privileges the viewer. They record not a performance as such but a dance which is contrived for the filmed space. For non ill-thought words on this subject go here. What I was trying to discuss was the relatively very recent phenomenon of performances (being recorded on video - not created for video) being uploaded to video hosting sites. In these films there is one camera, it generally does not move, it is stationed either by the lone dancer, or by the recording audience member and captures only that which is within scope.
On the Internet there is an ever growing collection of dance videos, featuring a wide range of dance performances including cultural dance groups, school productions, and professional dance companies. By far the largest number of videos is comprised of amateur footage shot from within the audience, of these the most popular subject matter is American high school dance performances and ballroom dancing competitions. The videos emanating from Australia, of which there are also many are similarly primarily made up of what are essentially home movies of amateur productions filmed generally by a family member.
A dance performance has traditionally been comprised of a production shared by dancers and a physically attendant audience, and this is how dance traditionally as an art form has been read. The videos which are on YouTube, which are filmed from within the audience, also record that audience, and so they become part of the record of the performance for the later video viewer. This physical audience can now be heard - the normal rumble of people, their applause, laughter or other signifiers of either rapt or bored attendance, in this way they can become an interesting and additional feature of the whole of the performance.
Whether this makes the video a more complete record of the dance performance or gets in the way of what the dance is trying to convey is debatable.
In some ways the addition of audience reactions could be likened to that of a laughter track on a television comedy, it could either annoy and distract, or, by leading allow viewers to enter more wholeheartedly into the experience.
Maybe video can encapsulate the entire performance, but it would be a given that the later video viewer will not have the immediate connection with the dancers, and will know that this performance was not originally directed at them, whether this makes an emotional difference and detracts from the dance experience is for each individual to decide.
Tho it should be said that access to a video’d performance is better than no access, for very few people by choice, cost or location in Australia get access to see a wide variety of dance.
The other type of video performance available is that done directly for the video viewer. There are videos produced by dance companies specifically for a distributed audience (mostly these are excerpts or rehearsal footage, created as advertisement for commercial productions) and an even larger number are done by individual dancers (mostly within the confines of their own homes) to display a particular dance or routine that they have self developed. They lack the cogency of contrived performance - the backdrop/sets/staging, but there is also something magical about viewing a video, of a person within their own space, see them press play on their sound system and commence to dance, purely to display their skill and in the knowledge that it is done directly for you the unknown viewer.
Addendum - when talking here of dance videos, I am not talking of screen dance - the art of choreographed and directed dance films. Within these films a conscious effort is made to develop a dialogue between the dancer and camera that privileges the viewer. They record not a performance as such but a dance which is contrived for the filmed space. For non ill-thought words on this subject go here. What I was trying to discuss was the relatively very recent phenomenon of performances (being recorded on video - not created for video) being uploaded to video hosting sites. In these films there is one camera, it generally does not move, it is stationed either by the lone dancer, or by the recording audience member and captures only that which is within scope.
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Monday, July 7, 2008
Supreme Master Ching Hai
Watching TV I was surprised to see an ad promoting vegetarianism, I haven't seen one before. So I checked who put it there and its the Supreme Master Ching Hai Association. So not only vege, but run by a woman too. I haven't bothered to check on the religious aspects of this (that would always be disappointing), but the Association runs my local vegetarian restaurant, and the food is very good indeed.
Kangaroo cull video
I know I said I wasn't going to continue on the animals stuff, but there you go. I was just pointed to some videos of the kangaroo cull that recently happened here in Canberra. So here's one. The footage is of guards and vehicles driving the kangaroos into the killing pens.
I also noticed there are a few Japanese videos on YouTube deriding Australia for opposing killing whales whilst conducting the biggest land slaughter of animals of anywhere in the world (over 3 million kangaroos are killed each year here).
I also noticed there are a few Japanese videos on YouTube deriding Australia for opposing killing whales whilst conducting the biggest land slaughter of animals of anywhere in the world (over 3 million kangaroos are killed each year here).
86 years
I did the life expectancy calculator on this site, it says I will live to be 86.
So many years of holidays to come, maybe.
Tho today after a stint at climbing inspired by Martin it doesn't feel that way. I'm quite used to hanging, chin ups etc and so haven't any problem with my arms, but some muscles somewhere in my sides (rarely used I presume) are very unhappy today. I will need to work on getting my feet sorted out as well, as I am seemingly just using my arms to pull myself up, and should get some better technique for foot placement. Still I got up (and round which was trickier) as far as I wanted.
So many years of holidays to come, maybe.
Tho today after a stint at climbing inspired by Martin it doesn't feel that way. I'm quite used to hanging, chin ups etc and so haven't any problem with my arms, but some muscles somewhere in my sides (rarely used I presume) are very unhappy today. I will need to work on getting my feet sorted out as well, as I am seemingly just using my arms to pull myself up, and should get some better technique for foot placement. Still I got up (and round which was trickier) as far as I wanted.
Sunday, July 6, 2008
Dancers have nothing to say?
I was listening last night to the song/live recording Alternatives by Alternative TV (as you do - or not if you are unfortunate enough not to have lived through late 1970s punk). When I was much amused to hear the words:
'Can the dancers please get off the stage, the only people we want on the stage is people who want to say something'
Do dancers really have nothing to say, does dancing say nothing in itself, or did Mark Perry misspeak. There are so many places to go with this.
Anyway, so in reference to this maybe, I have been working on a dance archival project, the results aren't spectacular as yet, but we were starting from a low base. It has been very good tho to get to see so many dance performance examples. That I haven't archived that many is mainly due to the performers not yet giving archival permission when requested.
'Can the dancers please get off the stage, the only people we want on the stage is people who want to say something'
Do dancers really have nothing to say, does dancing say nothing in itself, or did Mark Perry misspeak. There are so many places to go with this.
Anyway, so in reference to this maybe, I have been working on a dance archival project, the results aren't spectacular as yet, but we were starting from a low base. It has been very good tho to get to see so many dance performance examples. That I haven't archived that many is mainly due to the performers not yet giving archival permission when requested.
Saturday, July 5, 2008
Desire Paths
I have always thought that people created pathways which subvert design (planning) were important, now I find that they have a name - Desire Paths - and one that is so fantastically descriptive.
If you aren't sure what they look like there is a Flickr group devoted to the subject.
If only they all led to one's real desires, rather than amenities. Most I see lead to an entrance not accessible from the carpark, or quite frequently a bus stop. So in my car centric city, these paths are cut by us walkers, cyclists and bus users.
I do actually have a Desire Path that me and the kids have created from the house to the nearest playground around the back, I must take a photo for the group sometime.
If you aren't sure what they look like there is a Flickr group devoted to the subject.
If only they all led to one's real desires, rather than amenities. Most I see lead to an entrance not accessible from the carpark, or quite frequently a bus stop. So in my car centric city, these paths are cut by us walkers, cyclists and bus users.
I do actually have a Desire Path that me and the kids have created from the house to the nearest playground around the back, I must take a photo for the group sometime.
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