A band for all seasons

I was listening to a Red Hot Chili Peppers song on my way home from the beach tonight, and it got me thinking that the Chilis are a particularly "summery" kind of band. By that, I mean when you hear their music, you tend to think of summer (at least I do anyway). Probably has something to do with them being from California.

But I wondered if other bands have a particular season that they make you think of

Here's a band for each season from my music collection that I've come up with:

• Summer: Red Hot Chili Peppers
• Autumn: The Music
• Winter: Radiohead
• Spring: Journey
  

You may agree or disagree with the above. Personally, I think it's easier to find examples of summer and winter (probably due to them being more seasonal extremes than transitions like autumn and spring).

But, I pose the question to you, what are some of your seasonal bands?

This worries me greatly

'Refudiate': Oxford Dictionary recognises mangled Palinism

The English language is getting mangled enough without Sarah Palin's help...

Because I love wacky Gridiron plays...

A friend sent me this today.
I love movies like The Waterboy and The Longest Yard because of the inventive set plays they use. It's the aspect of American Football I most enjoy.
This one is right up there - take a look for yourself:

Sport's greatest trick play?


EDIT: Larger version on YouTube here

Operating on your Operating System

So I installed Windows 7 on my laptop the other day, so it now dual boots with Ubuntu. Primarily this is so I can install some of the software I use at work to use at home as well (I know, this sounds like a stupid thing to do)

In the process of doing this, I also took the opportunity to re-jig my hard drive partitions a little to work better with the dual boot system and be able to share data across both OS's.

Without going into to much technical detail (this isn't a tech blog after all), I basically set up the main user "Documents" folders in both OS's to read from the same partition. However, after I did this, I found that in Ubuntu, I had issues with the system not being able to store passwords and so forth (eg. I had to manually type in my wireless network password everytime I logged in).

So, I did what I always do when I have a technical issue like this - I consulted the all-knowing Google! And then spent a few hours trawling through different blogs and forums trying to find an answer that solved my problem. Which I eventually did - turns out you couldn't actually do what I'd done in the way I did it, so I had to re-jig my settings a little again.

Anyway, what's the point of this little anecdote? Well, there's two actually. The first is, if you're having an issue with your computer, chances are, someone's had the same problem before, and they might have even put something on the Internet about it. If they have, then Google will find it, and then you can read about how to fix your problem. The only real thing that separates "technical" people from "non-technical" people is "technical" people know how to use Google!

The second point is, quite often I'm asked, "Why do you use Linux?". The biggest reason is, I got tired of Windows being crap. But the other main reason is, it's not just about being a braindead sheep - you can actually put some thought into it. Yes, it took me a few hours of research and fiddling with settings to fix a problem. And it was annoying while I was doing it. But at the end, I fixed it, and that gives you a real feeling of satisfaction. And that's something you just don't get with Windows!

Stalemate

Based on the prevailing trend of results during this year, I'd like to predict the following upcoming results:

- NRL Grand Final: draw
- Melbourne Cup: dead heat
- Victorian Parliamentary Election: hung parliament
- Boxing Day Test: tied test

We'll wait and see whether I have Nostradamus-like powers :)

JUDDY!

Congratulation to Chris Judd of the mighty Carlton Football Club - 2010 Brownlow Medallist!

And the best part of it all - the look on Eddie McGuire's face when he realised Dane Swan couldn't win it. Gold!!

Judd - you're a superstar! Now let's work on getting a medal on everyone in the team - it's premiership time!

Family Matters

Cat put me on to this:

http://awkwardfamilyphotos.com/

Must-see TV

Something I hope a lot of people are watching during this election campaign, is Gruen Nation.
As well as being pretty funny, it also helps deconstruct exactly how the political parties manipulate the electorate with their advertising.

As everyone knows, knowledge is power. Knowing all the tricks that can be employed against voters can only help people see through the spin and make a more informed decision.

One of the best parts of the show, as with the regular Gruen Transfer, is "The Pitch", where two ad agencies go up against each other to create competing ads. This week, one agency had to make a pro-Green ad, the other an anti-Green ad. Personally, I thought the pro-Green ad was one of the best ads I've seen this campaign, even though it's not a "real" ad! If the Greens have any sense (and some cash), they should commission it.

Remember, dear readers, see through the spin. Make sure your bullshit detector is active!

Addendum: evidently, the Greens are very interested in the ad, but the ABC won't let them have it!

A few reasons why the Internet is great

Today I spent my day at home, doing some preparation work for my role in this year's production of South Metro Showtime, the local Scout and Guide theatre production I've been involved with for the last 15 years (shameless plug: Aug 20-28 at the Alexander Theatre, tickets on sale now, www.southmetroshowtime.org.au)

While the majority of my years in the show have been spent on-stage, the last few I have helped backstage, mostly in the lighting area. This year, however, I've been made head of department for the newly created Video department, as we are introducing to our bag of tricks two large plasma screens with which to project extra content in addition to the human interaction on stage.

While a couple of pieces of this "non-human content" (as I have dubbed it) are being filmed, the majority of it are images and video either created by myself or the much more talented Matty B, or sourced from the vast repository of media that is the Internet.

While I was pulling all this content together today, it occurred to me; had we been attempting the same thing in my first show 15 years ago (leaving aside the fact that giant plasma screens weren't around then), it would have been much more difficult, as although the Internet existed, it was a vastly different and smaller landscape back then.

Let's review some of the tools I used this afternoon, and whether they were available 15 years ago:

• YouTube (material for background video montages) - created 2005


• Google Images (still images to use as backgrounds) - created 2001


• Google (used to research video conversion and editing methods) - created 1998


• OpenOffice Impress (creating slideshows for background information) - PowerPoint created 1987, OpenOffice created 2000

If you're any good at all at maths, you'll have worked out that only one of those tools was available for my first show in 1996, and that's Powerpoint (and it would have to have been the Microsoft version). And it isn't an Internet tool anyway (although a useful piece of software if you use it properly - I'll save my rant on bad Powerpoint Presentations for another day)

Had I been doing this in 1996, I would have had to film and edit versions of the videos I needed myself, create the images myself (either by hand, or an early version of Corel or Photoshop), and if I needed tips on how to do anything of this, I would have needed to take a trip to my local library and search the catalogue for a relevant reference book. All of which would have taken a lot more than an afternoon and evening.

So my point is, we've come along way in a few short years. The Internet is a great time-saving (or, sometimes, time-wasting!) invention, no doubt one of humanity great technical achievements. Watching some of my Venturers and how connected they are now, I honestly think they would struggle to exist in the same world I grew up in at their age not so long ago!

Incidentally, to find out the dates each of the tools listed above was created, I used Wikipedia, another great invention, created 2001

A week is a long time in football...

Just got home from a great game of football - great if you're a Blues supporter like me of course!
Carlton this week put the sword to Essendon, sweet for many reasons, not the least of which are that they've had the wood over us for quite a while, and my little bro supports them, so it's always good to get bragging rights over him too!

The really confounding thing about the whole exercise though is - how could we be so bad for the last few weeks, yet so good tonight?

Save for a couple of changes, the list is pretty much the same. The really frustrating thing from a supporter's point of view is just the inconsistency at present; the fact that we can be terrible one week and fantastic the next.

But, at least for a week, the heat is off us and back on Essendon, which is a good thing in my book!

Phones, Phones, Phones

Unless you've been living under the proverbial rock, you'll know that the new iPhone4 is now available in Australia.

Currently, I have an iPhone3G, on a contract that has about 6 months left to run. As such, I'm starting to think now about what phone I might like to get when the contract runs out.
My iPhone has served me pretty well, but it has a few drawbacks. The two biggest ones are:
- it's really slow these days
- it doesn't play well at all with Linux (which both my home computers run)

There are a lot more options available now in the "smartphone" market than there was when I got the iPhone. As well as addressing the issues above, any new phone needs to accomodate the following:
- sync to Google Calendar
- good email access
- Good music interface (my phone is also my portable music player)

With those requirements, I'd probably lean towards getting something running Android, but even within that sub-category, there's plenty of options (and probably even more by the time my contract runs out)

What's probably going to sway it for me is other people's experiences with any phones under consideration. So, I throw the issue open to my readers: what would you recommend?

Where content is king...

I promised something about the current election campaign.
This is something, but only a brief something. I'll have more at a later date I'm sure (probably as pollies from all sides sink to new levels of shamelessness and stupidity).

Anyway, news today is that the debate between Julia Gillard and Tony Abbott has been moved forward one hour from Sunday 19:30 to Sunday 18:30.
The reason? Sunday 19:30 is the finale of Masterchef season 2. And no one in their right mind wants to go up against that juggernaut.

Much has been made of the fact that a debate between two people who could potentially lead our country has been upstaged by a TV show, and what this might suggest about our society.
My thoughts were: what idiots in the campaigns didn't look at a TV schedule before agreeing on a date for the debate?!

Given how important TV has been in election campaigns around the world since it's invention 60-odd years ago, and the fact that you want to maximise your audience (thus maximise your opportunity to influence the electorate), you'd pay attention to what might take away from that.

One look at a TV schedule and all this could have been avoided. That's all I'm saying...

Walking, talking and chewing gum...

Disclaimer: this post is going to be (vaguely) about my work.
I say this because, I don't intend for this blog for me to pontificate or bitch and whine about my work life. This isn't an industry-related blog (although if you want to read one of those, my cousin writes an excellent one). Also, unlike many people, I don't have the delusion that the average person finds the minutae of what I do that interesting. Although (as consumers), they tend to like the end result.

But I digress.

I had a pretty disappointing day at work today. The nature of my job is such that each engineer works on many projects at once (anywhere between 15 and 25 generally, in various stages of development). Today, in my weekly meeting with our project management team, I found that 6 of my projects are running late, and moreover, some key points had been missed on some of them.

One could suggest that I have some time-management issues. One would not be the first to do so. But, after some reflection, I think my issue isn't so much with time management, as with multitasking management. The problem I find is, having to do 15 things at once on a multitude of projects, I'm not able to concentrate on one thing at a time long enough to effectively complete the task.

Obviously this is something I need to work on - when I find a good solution I'll let you know.

Bitter and unfulfilling

Just got home from the footy.
I don't know how it happened, but at some time in the last 6 weeks, Carlton has forgotten how to actually play football.

Here are some tips for my Carlton brethren:
a) Go hard at the ball, but also be mindful of where it's going; make sure you are where the ball is going to be
b) Lay tackles
c) Back yourselves to run and carry the football, and run in numbers (watch the St Kilda game from earlier in the year to remind yourselves how to do this)

If I was Brett Ratten, this week I'd put the Aussie Rules balls away, and get the boys playing basketball and rugby. I realise this sounds counter-intuitive, but basketball will help them with skills such as reading the play, and covering their man in defence, and rugby will obviously help with tackling. What Brett actually does remains to be seen, but whatever it is, I hope it works!

Also, it seems we're now in an election campaign. More on that later...

Time (mis)management

OK, so obviously, I've been severely lacking in the postage department.

There are two main reasons for this:
1) I haven't had time to sit down and write something decent
2) I haven't been able to think of anything to write (this could be related to point 1)

But then I thought maybe I'm being too picky about what I'm posting.

Anyway, consider this post a place-holder, I will post more shortly...

Bricks with wings

Ok, so this is pretty nerdy, but I think it's kinda cool.

The 2-sentence review version - a Pascoe Vale South man has built a replica Qantas Airbus A380 out of Lego. It splits down the middle to reveal the inner workings as well, including passengers and crew.

Makes me wish I still had my Lego...

Post the First

So, this is my first post on my own blog.
Despite having contributed to several different blogs over the journey, this is the first time I've set my own one up. I hope you enjoy it. If not, evidently there's millions upon millions of other blogs out there, so I'm sure you can find one that will work for you!

One of the main reasons behind setting this up was the demise of the main blog I used to contribute to, smeg.blogspot.com. When the smeg blog was given the axe, I found I had nowhere convenient to post my anything interesting I'd found, or that had come out of my addled brain. So, here is Existential Cheese - your one-stop shop for anything I feel like putting on the Internet.

What will you find on Existential Cheese? I'm glad you asked. Posts on this blog will fall under one of 3 categories:

1. Rants - straight from my brain to the screen via my keyboard, anything I feel the need to verbalise. I'll try and make them as amusing as possible


2. Random Internet Stuff - as the name suggests, random stuff I find on the Internet that I think is worth propagating


3. Guest Posts - occasionally, I'll try and get someone else to put a few words down here. This is because, (a) it means I don't have to think of anything, (b) it breaks up the monotony of having only my thoughts bombarding you, and, (c) a little cross-promotion is always good!

The aim will be to try and post at least one new thing on here each week. If I don't, well, too bad. It's my blog, I'll post when I want to. But I'll try!

Stay tuned...