Not one photograph on the cover but...

Wow! It was a surprise to see NINE photographs I took on the front cover of The Irrigator this morning.

Super Chemical Brothers

This Super Mario-style homage (above) to the Chemical Brothers' Star Guitar video (below) performs a rare feat in taking a clever but somewhat subtle music video and making it into an even cleverer application of the idea.

Drunk octopus wants to fight you

Aside from my current fixation with octopi, I like this image for the way it gives you a new perspective on a coat hook. Not mine though, it was found here.

Merde in Australia

I've written elsewhere about the irony of the foreign-made Australia-branded junk that appears in catalogues in January but another side of this trend is the patriotic packaging that is becoming more common in our supermarkets.

It seems the foreign-owned food companies are those most likely to promote this misguided nationalistic marketing of their products, such as the US-owned Kraft renaming Vegemite as Australia.

Another example, this packet of chips. Smith's are owned by Pepsico. Dunno why they don't just call them Freedom Fries like Maccas did in the US after 11/9.

One way of dealing with shit

These mangled-looking toes are mine and I painted the toenails this morning after I was surprised at the level of resentment I felt from one of those blasts one gets from their past.

Painting toenails has been my solution for dealing with a variety of painful experiences. I first discovered it after I'd painted my toenails a Cadbury purple colour the day before getting dumped by a girlfriend.

The next day I looked at my feet, felt a surge of emotional anguish and decided that the purple on my nails would serve as a barometer for my feelings of hurt. As the months went by and the nail polish grew out, my feelings diminished.

Then one day about six months later, I looked at my feet and saw there was little purple left and judged this still reflected my feelings. Soon after I felt I was beyond feeling an emotional reaction when I saw my ex.

The opposite of love isn't hate, it's apathy.

Fanning the flames of fury

Shame to see Griffith's newspaper The Area News have sunk to class warfare in this article Fury as hundreds rort flood grants.

As you can see, they call people who applied for money they were entitled to receive "lowlifes" who "are exploiting the misery of flood victims" although it isn't clear how applying for a Federal government hand-out causes this misery.

It's true that the criteria used to assess these applications is wonky, based on local government boundaries and types of financial support, but it's totally misguided to link the payments to the misery of others.

The real source of misery in the region is the insurance companies who aren't honouring policies. I've heard a couple of stories now of farming families who are finding that a leading rural insurer is causing grief by haggling over the fine print in policies that people have had for decades.

If The Area News has any self-respect the newspaper will acknowledge they are exploiting emotionally-charged language. People will take hand-outs and who is this newspaper to make a moral judgment about it.

Mix and remix

Here's a bit of my weekend, sounds from circuit bent electronics over a house beat.

In the first video you can hear a La Dictee Magique and a Boss Pitchshifter 'Rabbit Hole Delay' with a Ravish drone and Kaoss Pad beat.

In the following video the Kaoss Pad triggers a pre-recorded loop of these instruments:
A) 'Rabbit Hole'
B) Ravish
C) La Dictee
D) and a Korg Wavedrum-mini

There's also a low pulsing sound from an LFO effect in the Kaoss Pad, which you can hear in the break

Apple II outfit

Awesome outfit Sam!

Adrift riff

This weekend I watched sea monkeys and re-worked a remix I did late last year. The video above captures both of these endeavours.

The remix is expected to be released in the next month or two and was the result of an interesting methodology, which you can read about at this post on my bassling blog.

Word to Microsoft

This is a remix I did of a picture a friend posted on Facebook. Photoshop users will spot the content aware fill, it's still a novelty for me.

It's not as good as Pete's picture but I like the Dada of it.

This is Pete's picture.

And this is my 'shopped version of Pete's picture.

As a sometime Word user, I think Pete's really caught something in this :)

Are you having a baby?

Here's the advice I've been giving to first-time fathers: wear a button-up shirt to the hospital.

Why wear a button-up shirt? Because you should have skin-to-skin contact with your child at the first opportunity.

If you're waiting for the first feed, open your shirt and put the baby on your chest. I know you'll have doubts but trust me, the bonding process has started and your baby wants to be close to you.

Your newborn has just been separated from the person it's been closest to for all of its short life and this is the chance for them to learn who you are.

The children I did this with seemed to recognise me much earlier and they also cried less while waiting to be breastfed. I encourage all fathers to try skin-to-skin contact because it's a magic start to the relationship you form with your child.

Hot and cold