Dry Paddock

Bought this painting by Elaine Heffer, who won the Paniz Prize last year

I've been making a habit of spending some of the money earned from my creative activities on artworks by locals.

This painting came to me via my exhibition at Wagga Wagga Art Gallery.

Music reaction videos

There's a tradition for music-lovers to dig through the crates, but I think one aspect missing from the discussion of reaction videos is how a generation of kids have almost the entire history of recorded music available to them

A couple of times recently my son has asked if I'd heard a particular band or track when I was his age, and I have to explain how seeking out new music involved weekly negotiations with a shop assistant to have them put on albums in a shop when I might only have money to buy one a month.

I wonder if reaction videos are to music videos, what reality television is to dramatic television? It seems as though these strip away the surreal imagery to provide a real(er) human face for music.

Then again, the whole rise of reaction videos suggests to me there are a lot of lonely viewers looking for a sense of connection. The Williams twins (shown in the video above) often have an unguarded and sometimes emotional reaction to some of the material they encounter.

Pick your battles