tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-192688872024-03-19T20:34:33.010+11:00Lazy Luddite LogIntended to be more a website than a weblog in the sense that I want to post particular topics that are non-time specific rather than just have lots of "today I did this..." kind of stuff. Constructive comments on all my posts are welcome.Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12710148812664294219noreply@blogger.comBlogger399125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19268887.post-59359249990713010332024-03-17T15:43:00.009+11:002024-03-19T20:33:59.188+11:00Hey HiArtificial Intelligence (AI) has been a big media topic over the past year or so. I cannot say I have a fantastic grasp of exactly what it is or what distinguishes AI from other kinds of computer activity. Even the question of exactly what <em>intelligence</em> could be is beyond me. I even think of a <a href = https://lazyludditelog.blogspot.com/2008/11/memory-insurance.html>choose your own adventure</a> book as a simulation of intelligence in paper form.<br><br>
The key distinction to draw however is that the writer of such a book or program understands exactly how it works and what it can do. The latest generation of AI is different - even its own programmers cannot understand exactly how it works or what results it will produce. Another factor that has made it controversial is that it can engage in seemingly creative acts that till recently only humans can do. Now machines can do much more than manual work or the purely logical processing of information. The Internet is a big factor here and AI can draw on a massive body of human-generated creativity in its own complex act of regurgitation.<br><br>
My concern over this is tempered by an older worry over how mobile Internet can <a href = https://lazyludditelog.blogspot.com/2018/06/to-old-for-telepathy.html>alter</a> human interactions. And my own work as an integration aide in adult eduation is intensely human-facing so will still be a job for some time to come. But I may as well get a passing familiarity with some of the latest AI tools. To that end I played with two particular applications.<br><br>
* * * * * <br><br>
I chatted with something now called Gemini - a generative AI chatbot that can hold a conversation and produce written content on command. I acted as if it were a person and complimented it on its polite manner. I also asked it what it would do if someone were rude to it. It told me it would ultimately end such a conversation. I was impressed. Evidentally its programmers at Google have put various parameteres on its behaviour. It results in some overly repetitive language as it apologetically stipulates what it can and cannot do. I can relate. I asked it for feedback on my own writing and it advised that I could be more succinct and use more active language. This is true. Next I gave it some more substantive tasks.<br><br>
I asked for a description of a medieval fantasy village. It did pretty well but some aspects of the setting felt more Midsomer Murders than The Forgotten Realms. I asked it to describe a mid-sized faster-than-light spaceship that uses centrifugal force to simulate gravity. Once more it did well but completely neglected the bit involving spinning circular forms. It can definitely produce flowing and grammatical word-count that a human can then tidy and personalize (assuming that they bother).<br><br>
Next I asked it to make some judgements on matters non-fictional. What characteristics both unite and distinguish classical liberalism, demoratic socialism and traditional conservatism? It did well in drawing on academic definitions but there were some nuances I felt needed adjusting. Hardly surprising given my own qualifications. I asked it if my statement 'funk is to soul as metal is to rock' made sense and it gave grounds for saying that it did. However it cannot recommend a flowing selection of tracks to save its life.<br><br>
One thing I neglected to do was ask it about patently dodgy topics - it would be interesting to see how it responded to a conspiracy theory or bogus conception of the world. But I'm wary of even entertaining such notions online. I prefer these tools to be for fun.<br><br>
<a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/72515521@N00/53592508793/in/album-72157601964190420/" title="The Sub-Culture Kids Action Figure Selection"><img src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53592508793_58a641760f_w.jpg" width="400" height="358" alt="The Sub-Culture Kids Action Figure Selection"/></a><script async src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js" charset="utf-8"></script><br><br>
I recently resumed <a href = https://lazyludditelog.blogspot.com/2019/11/gaming-anecdotes.html>GMing</a> some role-play games and hunted online for free artwork to illustrate characters or locales. I noticed something was suddenly different. There was a lot of content from a handful of new websites. It was superficially decent but the closer I looked the more flaws I noticed. The overly idealized yet creepy faces. The deformed hands. The accidentally Escheresque architecture. I realized what I was seeing was a host of collaborations between AI and users describing what they were imagining. And then I decided, if you cannot beat them, join them, and started experimenting at a website called Night Café.<br><br>
The resulting pictures were fine for my purposes of printing them as small grey images to flash at players as I described non-player characters. But then I moved onto something I hoped would work with the flaws of this new method. Toys are caricatures of reality. They are mass-produced and simplistic. They depend on commonly understood concepts and imagery. Hence I created The Sub-Culture Kids Action Figure Selection.<br><br>
These are depictions of retro action figures depicting youthful members of well-known sub-cultures from a <a href = https://lazyludditelog.blogspot.com/2023/05/representative-cast.html>variety</a> of backgrounds. They were produced by wrangling text over several fiddly and frustrating iterations. Nonetheless this method of producing images with colour and perspective was far quicker than anything I could do manually. And some of them are better than others.<br><br>
Raving Rina is the best - even the characteristic AI mistake of blending her headphones with her hairstyle somehow works. Skating Suzana comes complete with an accessory. Hugo Hearts Hip-Hop and Grungy Gus are decent variations on each other but the latter needs more long and lank hair that I never managed to coax from the AI. Feral Faris looks like a hippy but is supposed to be of the more recent iteration of feral. Finally Gothic Greta seems like she comes from another toy line altogether - her proportions are too mature but older drafts of her looked far too childish.<br><br>
It seems like I'm blaming my tools. I jumped right in rather than looking for elaborate instructions or getting advice from the Night Café 'community' of users. But the whole attraction of this stuff is in time-saving. If I wanted I could use such imagery as drafts from which to hand-draw something that I can more exactly control. For now I have some sense of what the latest applications of AI can and cannot do.Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12710148812664294219noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19268887.post-4774496965408899852024-02-18T16:52:00.027+11:002024-02-23T23:42:24.403+11:00Star Trek DollsI have expounded on the demographics of various Star Trek <a href = https://lazyludditelog.blogspot.com/2009/06/future-progress.html>crew</a> but here I will do something frivolous and re-imagine an old toy line. A company called Mego made a range of Star Trek <a href = https://thetoycollectorsguide.com/star-trek-1974-1977/>dolls</a> in 1974-1976. If this is nostalgia then it is vicarious - at the time I was playing with plush toys and wooden blocks. I never even knew of Star Trek till I was obsessed with Star Wars action figures from 1978 on. But the messy history of toys can be fun. Mego made five original Enterprise crew and nine aliens for them to encounter. My concept is to change that to seven crew and seven aliens (even if the aliens may stand in for entire species rather than individual characters). But which ones?<br><br>
The 80s Star Trek movies fixed in our imaginations the seven key characters as Kirk, Spock, McCoy, Scott, Uhura, Sulu and Chekov. But in the 70s things were somewhat different. The Filmation cartoon, for instance, dropped Chekov in favour of Nurse Chapel. I choose this small step forward for gender equality even if it is a small step backwards for Détente. But what of the aliens?<br><br>
Mego made some odd and arbitrary choices for the alien dolls. A few are recurring antagonists. Others are chosen seemingly at whim from stand-alone episodes. And others were wholly invented by the toy-makers. Sometimes I like to use more objective selection criteria and for these imaginings I suggest that an alien must have featured in more than one episode. It transpires that very few fit that restriction. The 60s were a time of stand-alone episodic story-telling. Yes the Klingons were in several episodes, but the Romulans, Andorians, Tellaraites and Orions are in only a few each. The Talosians get in on a technicality by featuring in the only two-part story. And the Salt Vampire creeps in only by having its costume re-used as a taxidermy display item. Nonetheless, I think this is a fun selection.<br><br>
Here are the resulting toy lists...<br><br>
<em>The Crew: Kirk, Spock, McCoy,<br>
Scott, Uhura, Sulu, Chapel<br><br>
The Aliens: Klingon, Romulan, Orion,<br>
Andorian, Tellarite, Talosian, Salt Vampire<br><br></em>
The Tellarite could have been a modification of the Mugato they did make. The Orion dancer could have been adapted from the existing Mego Batgirl, since Yvonne Craig played both. And apparently stuntwoman Sandra Gimpel played both a Talosian and the Salt Vampire, so they could have shared a body sculpt.<br><br>
The range could be completed with the <em>Enterprise Bridge And Transporter</em> they made along with a playset inspired by the <em>Rigel Seven</em> fortress (possibly by just adapting some medieval playset). I would never have gotten into the line however - the action figure scale pioneered by Kenner Star Wars toys was that much more convenient <em>and</em> fun.Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12710148812664294219noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19268887.post-43082898325144424042024-01-20T17:41:00.021+11:002024-02-24T00:47:32.140+11:00Joiners And Non-JoinersMonths have passed and finally I post about the recent referendum proposing a constitutionally enshrined Indigenous advisory body to the Commonwealth. I had written other things online (a few comments in The Guardian and a few with friends on Facebook) at the time. My focus here is on what the results say for more than Indigenous representation but for civil society as a whole.<br><br>
It is tempting to compare the referendum with past electoral events. The 1999 Republican Referendum concerned a key aspect of Australian identity <em>but</em> had the same implications for all Australians. The 2017 Same Sex Marriage <a href = https://lazyludditelog.blogspot.com/2017/12/same-sex-marraige-victory.html>postal survey</a> (intended as a plebiscite) concerned particular Australians <em>but</em> was imposed on them by the political game-playing of our last Federal Liberal-National Government. In contrast the recent referendum for an Indigenous <em>Voice</em> was developed and proposed by the Indigenous community itself.<br><br>
Pursuing that proposal was an election promise of the recently elected federal Labor Government. Once that happened there pretty much had to be a referendum even if its chances looked shaky. And those of us committed to a kind of reform that is informed by those directly affected by it had to take a stand.<br><br>
The problem then was a lack of bipartisanship. History showed that referenda only pass if both major parties support them. And the conservative Liberal-National Opposition at a federal level soon decided to oppose the proposal. The conventional wisdom then is that if only we could have <em>had</em> bipartisan agreement then the referendum would have passed. I wonder. We needed to get a "majority of votes in a majority of states" but fell short of even a majority in the electorate overall. I want to look more closely then at the political landscape.<br><br>
Labor were united as a <em>party</em> behind the Voice but surveys showed many recent Labor <em>voters</em> decided to vote No. Would bipartisanship have swayed them? Possibly if (as I suspect) many more than we assume are swinging voters. Nonetheless it shows political sides are rarely monolithic. That is even more so with Liberal-Nationals. A National federal parliamentarian became an independent to campaign for the Voice. A Liberal federal shadow minister moved to the backbench to do likewise. And at a state level whole party divisions including state leaders prominently supported the Voice. Conversely the Voice supporting Greens lost a senator to independence over the radical notion that constructive reform is never satisfactory. Votes went in all directions from the perspective of party politics. And that is just one way of looking at society.<br><br>
There is a complex array of interconnected voluntary associations that seek to involve and advocate for many distinct yet overlapping groups within wider society. An impressive number of such organizations endorsed the Voice. These crossed all sorts of historical divides - labour and capital, Christian and Muslim, nerdy academics and sporty jocks. I noted this and had hoped it would have an impact on the campaign. And I think it did. Such organizations draw on and communicate with those who tend to get involved in the connective structures of society. One intersting survey even suggested that Yes voters were more likely to be involved in various community groups.<br><br>
There were plenty of volunteers for the Yes case and my hunch is we had a better face-to-face campaign than the No case. Estimates say there were something like eighty thousand Yes volunteers (almost one for every ten Indigenous Australians). It defintely felt to me like we had a better presence on the ground. And this made sense to focus on as a way of circumventing the political distortions of the World Wide Web. Yet is seems those distortions now seep into all other aspects of life. And how many of us are even aware of let alone pay heed to the organizations we have formed to advocate for us? We lost despite that on-the-ground campaign and all those endorsing groups. Suddenly it looked to me like the Yes and No votes were populated by <em>joiners and non-joiners</em> respectively.<br><br>
To put it starkly this could even be described as a divide between civil society and mass society. Some <a href = https://lazyludditelog.blogspot.com/2019/10/individuality.html>individuals</a> are still integrated into various forms of community (something Indigenous Australians have long understood) while a growing number are loosened from such links and must form others for themselves. Some of my thinking is informed by reading Disconnected by Australian academic and politican Andrew Leigh. And maybe I'm exaggerating. This was just one vote and what it suggests hardly aligns with a host of <a href = https://lazyludditelog.blogspot.com/2022/12/two-for-one.html>recent</a> Australian elections. But I do worry about the seeming drift from pluralism to populism in our political relations.<br><br>
Cultural forces could be part of why we lost. However I cannot overlook institutions. Our electoral rules are among the best in the world (never mind what some suspicious No voters felt in bringing pens they 'trusted' to the ballot box). But there is one key flaw in how we conduct referenda. In every committee or general meeting I have ever been to there is always the option of <em>abstaining</em> in a reductionist yes-no vote. But in referenda we only get two boxes to choose between. Voting informally is an option but is hardly one that electoral commissioners can advise. There should explicitly be a third box for those who cannot decide and do not wish their vote to be counted in calculating a majority. The slogan "if you don't know then vote no" would then become the truly uninvolved "if you don't know then don't vote".Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12710148812664294219noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19268887.post-65879180369261629672023-12-20T17:22:00.017+11:002024-01-11T22:06:23.238+11:00How BazaarOne activity I enjoy is visiting bazaars - spaces in which many stall-holders gather and sell second hand items of any kind one can imagine. It started over a decade ago with me discovering the Chapel Street Bazaar. I would go looking for particular items to buy - select old Transformers mostly. Rarely would I find exactly what I wanted. But it hardly mattered because most of the fun came from simply <em>seeing</em> all this dodgy old stuff.<br><br>
Somewhat more recently I was introduced to the larger Waverley Bazaar closer to home. This warehouse setting for browsing old tat then moved to even larger premises in Clayton past the newly constructed M-City (which incidentally is a <em>right-sized</em> shopping centre featuring just one supermarket, one department store, and a cinema). Here one can stroll for an hour slowly taking in all the consumer novelty of several decades past. Few things are truly <em>antique</em> but there is plenty of <em>retro</em> stuff to satisfy. I go for the <a href = https://lazyludditelog.blogspot.com/2018/11/odds-and-ends.html>toys</a> but stay for other things. Here I will share a handful of the many <a href = https://www.flickr.com/photos/72515521@N00/albums/72177720313496362/>photos</a> I've taken to give a sense of the nostalgia.<br><br>
<a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/72515521@N00/53409392256/in/album-72177720313496362/" title="Bazaar Crafts"><img src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53409392256_8019be7e62_w.jpg" width="300" height="400" alt="Bazaar Crafts"/></a><script async src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js" charset="utf-8"></script><br><br>
There are plenty of old vinyl records but this one has been turned into - what - a bowl of some kind? Possibly an ash tray? Who can say for sure. Somebody adapted it into a minor work of craft and you could utilize it any way you wish.<br><br>
<a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/72515521@N00/53409728079/in/album-72177720313496362/" title="Bazaar Statue"><img src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53409728079_672e83c363_w.jpg" width="400" height="364" alt="Bazaar Statue"/></a><script async src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js" charset="utf-8"></script><br><br>
I saw this nude statue at Chapel Street and then later at Waverley. I have to allow for the possibility than even something this large and particular was mass produced. They could have been two separate copies. And yet I fancy that she was following me around. I suspect that some items pass hands from stall-holder to stall-holder and just move about. What a jolly good sport.<br><br>
<a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/72515521@N00/53409728449/in/album-72177720313496362/" title="Bazaar Games"><img src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53409728449_197e58446e_w.jpg" width="400" height="300" alt="Bazaar Games"/></a><script async src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js" charset="utf-8"></script><br><br>
I suppose a plastic plaything had to be part of my survey. I never had nor played Mousetrap but always enjoyed the ads and indeed any such gizmos. It has been fun reliving both my own childhood and the childhoods of others in coming across games like this colourful contraption.<br><br>
<a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/72515521@N00/53408471132/in/album-72177720313496362/" title="Bazaar Map"><img src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53408471132_b1cc5103dc_w.jpg" width="400" height="325" alt="Bazaar Map"/></a><script async src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js" charset="utf-8"></script><br><br>
Here we have a sliver of the history of how history is depicted. Some may find it holds a dated message but it works well as a presentation of information. We see how the Spanish and Portuguese aspired to divide the world between them in the 1500s. And our spherical planet is rendered here on paper in such a way that the colonizing powers expand from the approximate centre of that process. Plenty of maps have been <em>called</em> 'Eurocentric' but this one literally is.<br><br>
<a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/72515521@N00/53409834280/in/album-72177720313496362/" title="Bazaar Tech"><img src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53409834280_bc0d51936b_w.jpg" width="300" height="400" alt="Bazaar Tech"/></a><script async src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js" charset="utf-8"></script><br><br>
I cannot even tell you what this is. Definitely a machine. Most likely a computer (I think it says so in writing). Something computerized then. But what does it do? I want to say it worked in a factory or garage but the truth is I merely like the way it looks. Others can tell me what its function was. I wonder if anyone will ever buy it.<br><br>
<a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/72515521@N00/53409728949/in/album-72177720313496362/" title="Bazaar Texidermy"><img src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53409728949_26ac0f45bc_w.jpg" width="400" height="300" alt="Bazaar Texidermy"/></a><script async src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js" charset="utf-8"></script><br><br>
Sometimes it is difficult to tell what an item is. This massive strangling snake <em>could</em> just be a model but I suspect it is a cumbersome piece of taxidermy. One becomes accustomed to seeing markedly different things at a bazaar but sometimes I am still utterly surprised. And in this case a tad spooked. The way it just lolls about among household items and clothes racks is incongruous.<br><br>
* * * * *<br><br>
A bazaar often acts as a museum while it is always a store. The many stall-holders stock the shelves but everything is managed and transacted via one front desk. At the Waverley Bazaar they even have the space for a basic cafe and I usually make a purchase there - I think of it as a voluntary entry fee. After all, I want them to stay open. And now and then I'll buy a gift or bring a friend to share in the experience. Even if it has become a part of my everyday life it still feels just a bit bizarre.Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12710148812664294219noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19268887.post-55607225872796342002023-11-23T19:55:00.025+11:002024-02-03T22:38:52.433+11:00SidebarringHere is a bit of a 'housekeeping' update for this weblog. It occurred to me that my use of Internet tools has become somewhat more sophisticated since I added sidebar links here. I access frequently used websites in other ways. Besides, some of them I use far less frequently now. But what changes have I just made?<br><br>
<em>Weather</em> and <em>Transport</em> go to public websites in my nation or state for such information. <em>Trivia</em> links to Wikipedia. I'm keeping those three even just as 'legacy features'. <em>Choraldom</em> linked to <a href = https://lazyludditelog.blogspot.com/2020/06/we-as-you.html>MonUCS</a> but my musical involvement is far more ad-hoc now. <em>News & Net</em> took me to Yahoo but the truth is I pretty much never used it for news, and I know how to communicate online, so that's been replaced with <em>The News</em> provided by The Guardian Australia. I've also added <em>Better News</em> for the Future Crunch positive news aggregator. It also acts as a funding platform for targetted philanthropy and so contributes to the very progress it draws attention to. That in effect replaced a <em>Human Rights</em> link to <a href = https://lazyludditelog.blogspot.com/2012/11/rights-for-humans.html>Amnesty International</a> (AI).<br><br>
AI still does a lot of worthwhile advocacy for political prisoners and even criminals facing death row. However in recent times it has made some rash and risky statements which demonstrate a vulnerability to manipulation. The temptation to instantly gratify online audiences risks diminishing it focus and therefore its effectiveness. I saw this in both world and national news (ask me for particulars) and then experienced a small instance of it personally.<br><br>
I received an invitation to an AI picnic for supporters of an Indigenous Voice to Parliament. This came in the closing weeks of that national referendum campaign and on a day that I was committed to volunteering for the Yes case at a local polling place. I wondered why they would divert potential helpers away from the frontline work of changing minds and asked them so in an email. That was several weeks back and I'm yet to receive a response. I can only guess at the same performative root cause as in those recent media incidents. It all seems strangely inward-looking.<br><br>
But this was supposed to be just a housekeeping entry.Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12710148812664294219noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19268887.post-3937807379690426932023-10-22T16:30:00.004+11:002024-02-23T23:48:29.947+11:00Media DietDiet refers simply to the totality of what one consumes. However it also has connotations of consciously curating that consumption. I aspire to <a href = https://lazyludditelog.blogspot.com/2023/04/aphoristic.html>moderation in all things</a> for both food <em>and</em> media. It can be difficult.<br><br>
By media I refer to a whole host of content and methods of delivery. Most of them are now electronic in nature even if they emulate older forms. Much of my discussion will refer to things delivered online. One thing I try to do is keep distinct kinds of content separate. Such an act may be artifical but deliberate schemas are among the greatest of human tools. Information, news, analysis, opinion, advertising and entertainment <em>should</em> all be distinct things. Such distinction is harder to come by these days but still can be found if one is selective.<br><br>
For facts my key source is Wikipedia. Yes it can be edited by anyone but it also has a large body of informed contributors who help keep each other honest. Sometimes looking back on an issue following weeks is better than hoping to make sense of it in a minute-by-minute news feed. Besides which, trivia is a joy all its own, and this is a great launching pad to a whole world of facts.<br><br>
For news and views I'm a Guardian Australia reader. This is hardly surprising for someone of my ideology but I find that it has the integrity to rise above its own editorial position. I also find that its comments sections (themselves moderated) attract a variety of opinion-holders who by-and-large still understand the value of respectful debate. Its critics of music and movies tend to pretentiousness but I can always skip that.<br><br>
There is always room for some course correction. Any news source will tend to focus on crisis. To compensate for that I subscribe to <a href = https://lazyludditelog.blogspot.com/2018/08/cat-saves-firefighter.html>Future Crunch</a> for positive news from a progressive bent.<br><br>
Sometimes I want more wide-ranging debate so dip into a few heterodox sites (but never so much that I fall into a 'rabbit hole'). At other times I want to listen to a kind of discussion that is defined by an abundance of respect and calm consideration. For that the <a href = https://www.abc.net.au/listen/programs/theminefield>Minefield</a> podcast on ABC is an excellent example.<br><br>
The ABC and SBS still provide free entertainment and I go there for things like murder mysteries (which are somehow relaxing viewing - a topic unto itself as to why that may be so). But since the last <a href = https://lazyludditelog.blogspot.com/2021/08/curios.html>lockdown</a> I have succumbed to the draw of subscriber streaming services (particularly for a regular dose of fantasy and science fiction). It started with accessing Netflix while house-sitting but I have since been jumping (one service at a time) from Disney to Paramount to Prime and back. And it is all too easy to watch episode after episode of whatever has been designed to draw you in and back for more. In the long run I will try to curb this tendency.<br><br>
Luckily life has returned to normal and I'm once more out-and-about. While on public transport or killing time between shifts, I still carry a novel to read, rather than try to interact with the tiny interface of a smartphone. I had to get lint removed from the orifices of my device recently and, while awaiting service at the Apple Store, I very delibrately sat there reading a novel, which amused me at any rate.Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12710148812664294219noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19268887.post-86396373274464237552023-09-25T15:45:00.005+10:002023-09-27T22:29:15.738+10:00MomentsI'm sharing a few anecdotes from over my life that were special in some way. I'm wary of using words like 'wondrous' or 'numinous' but they spring to mind nonetheless. May as well just dive into the most recent and then work backwards.<br><br>
<em>Carmina And Friends</em><br><br>
For me choral performance is something of a chore. The incentive of friendships was always necessary to keep me involved and so I drifted as others did likewise. But in all that musical work there were instances that made performance worthwhile in itself. The phenemenon is well documented. A musical phrase or change seems to resonate the whole self along with those of ones peers. For an exhilerating moment one feels like part of some gestalt entity. I have experienced this a few times but never recorded those moments in writing, even if I'm sure we shared smiles and comments afterwards. I reckon it happened in Carmina Burana but that is just to put a name to this experience.<br><br>
<em>Satisfying Sketching</em><br><br>
A decade or more ago I did a bunch of life drawing with friends volunteering as models. It was at a time in which my life was changing somewhat and collaborations like that helped me settling into a new life phase. That context may be all one needs to understand what happened next. I was drawing a friend while chatting, and as my pencil carefully drew a contour, I suddenly noticed I was enitrely content. It was hardly just that experience but rather its location in the wider context of a life that was coming together at that time (or possibly of a person who was getting better at existing in whatever life presented to him). It was more to do with the relaxed atmosphere than the use of skill.<br><br>
<em>Sunshine In Winter</em><br><br>
Some of these anecdotes are defined by sharing something with others. This one however is a solitary moment. I was interstate for a choral festival but was yet to meet anyone. I had just navigated public transport to a campus and had time to kill while others rehearsed in a hall close by. I found a spot to sit overlooking an ornamental lake. I had just left a wintry Melbourne and was enjoying the sunshine of a more northerly latitude as it glinted off the water. Lush grounds and sandstone walls were my setting as I felt a keen sense that it would be a good weekend. And indeed it was. I cannot say it was prescience but it was more of a felling than just the shrewd assessment of conditions.<br><br>
<em>Stars In The Waves</em><br><br>
I was at a FOME camp at the turn of the century. We stayed in a holiday house in a small coastal town. On the first night we walked over the dunes to the ocean beach and waded into the surf waves. I deliberately aimed to only go into the knees but the waves amended this to my waist. Others went in further and I monitored them. I was likely one of the better swimmers there but also one of the more cautious. The attraction of that particular night was
that the waves were lit from within by phosphorescent plankton, seemingly emulating the star-filled sky. Some of the glowing dots even got stuck to our bathers in the surpringly lukewarm waters. I recently chatted about this with others online and they too remembered this as a magical moment.<br><br>
<em>Everything Will Be Alright</em><br><br>
Way back in the 90s I was walking among remnant bushland along the Yarraman Creek. I sometimes did this as a way of taking a rest from essay-writing. On this occassion I was also suffering the remorse of an ended romance. I was in a pitiful state. As I turned from one track into another and passed the local billabong I suddenly experienced something that was bereft of sense data or words and yet affected me as if I had just recieved a message. And that message? I translated it as "everything will be alright". I later told a friend who declared that "the universe gave you a hug". I have since called this my 'pantheist moment' (or possibly the word is 'panentheist' but at the level of my experience it hardly matters). I wonder sometimes how long that assurance was supposed to last. Life had naturally been up and down many times since then. But even thinking of it can centre me now.<br><br>
* * * * *<br><br>
The moments I have described were just a rarity or intensity of internal personal experience. All of them can be understood as the products of a complex thinking organ we are yet to fully understand. But to varying degrees they felt to me like something more than that and something more than just me. A momentary unity with something bigger? An awareness of something that I am always part of but rarely consider? And yet also these were moments that served to help me be someone who does things his own way. It is these instances that prevent me from succumbing to the insistent overtures of militant atheists to be just like them. Rationality combines with these few fleeting experiences to hold me balanced in a state of curious agnosticism.Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12710148812664294219noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19268887.post-86970738514035582002023-08-18T21:54:00.019+10:002024-02-03T22:47:41.517+11:00Grayskull SceneI never collected Masters Of The Universe <a href = https://lazyludditelog.blogspot.com/2018/11/odds-and-ends.html>toys</a> but I can still talk about them. Here I will explore my concept of the 'modest but well-rounded collection' with reference to the dominent <em>sword and sorcery cum space opera</em> toyline of the 80s (there were others that drew on both sub-genres to get the kids excited).<br><br>
Of course a collection must have its hero and villain. These are He-Man and Skeletor and they seem to represent life and death respectively. Both can have a mount in Battle Cat and Panthor. But they also need off-siders and troops.<br><br>
I continue with the scheme of each hero having a villainous counterpart. But that can take a bit of thinking for the oldest toys in the line. It is simplest to have Teela stand opposite Evil-Lyn as the token women but I think there is a more interesting way. Man-At-Arms is a master of technology while Evil-Lyn is a mistress of the magical arts. In contrast Teela and Beast Man are both aggressive warriors. And the next two are easily sorted by habitat - Stratos occupies the sky while Merman inhabits the sea.<br><br>
Now we get to some of the more gimmicky figures of the first few years of Masters Of The Universe. Ram-Man can bounce into barriers while Trap Jaw has an array of attachments for his mechanical arm. Man-E-Faces has three visages rotating to face forward while Triklops has a three-eyed visor that does the same thing. I notice that both Trap Jaw and Man-E-Faces have green faces and want to ret-con them as of the same origin. This also gives the heroes a definite alien in the group and re-colouring the body of Man-E-Faces to hide his tan could support that.<br><br>
Now I have two opposing sides comprising seven characters each (if you include those feline pets). But it is time to turn to neutrality and the centrepiece of any collection. Castle Grayskull is regarded as one of the best <a href = https://lazyludditelog.blogspot.com/2014/12/playsets.html>playsets</a> of all time and what a compelling thing it is. In the cartoon I discovered that this fortress is the source of He-Man's power. But on the box art in a toy store I saw Skeletor emerging from its skull-like frontage to repel his rivals. From this dissonance I seek to find resonance. What if Grayskull is a prize that will grant its power to whomever can overcome its defences? Those defences (other than the fortress itself) could include the neutral Zodac and the falcon Zoar. The cosmic warrior seems to be served by this pet but in truth it is his boss - The Sorceress in disguise - whose motives are mysterious to both sides that seek to take her job.<br><br>
All I need to do now is throw in a few of the vehicles the toyline sported. Both the Dragon Walker and Roton (tools of good and evil respectively) are fun beast-inspired machines. But maybe all side could also do with a Sky Sled to zip about on. I may as well produce some lists now.<br><br>
<em>Heroes: He Man, Battle Cat, Man-At-Arms, Teela,<br> Stratos, Ram Man, Man-E-Faces, Dragon Walker<br><br>
Neutrals: Castle Grayskull, Zodac, Zoar, Skysleds<br><br>
Villains: Skeletor, Panthor, Evil-Lyn, Beast Man,<br> Merman, Trap Jaw, Triklops, Roton</em><br><br>
This could all fit on a shelf and be impressive but <em>also</em> be a scene one could take in at a glance. This is a fraction of the full toy line but I reckon it packs most of the evocative punch of a much larger collection. I will likely never have it (there are other and better things on which to spend) but enjoy imagining such an image. And hey maybe in retirement I shall operate a stall in a <a href = https://lazyludditelog.blogspot.com/2023/12/how-bazaar.html>bazaar</a> which includes displays like this.Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12710148812664294219noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19268887.post-42821266106861134382023-07-26T21:17:00.008+10:002023-09-25T13:38:52.519+10:00Queen Song LinkagesAs a <a href = https://lazyludditelog.blogspot.com/search?q=queen+guitar+bass+drums>Queen superfan</a> I'm familiar with all original studio recordings of my favourite band. One thing I noticed was all the cross-cutting connections between songs both within and between albums. Of course, you can find all kinds of similarity between any two things, but here I'll only touch on what seemes more noteworthy to me.<br><br>
Some connections are well-known. We Will Rock You and We Are The Champions from 1977 go together on both album and later Greatest Hits. As a result they tend to be played together on both radio and at sporting events. Was this intended by song writers Freddie Mercury and Brian May or did it just take on a life of its own?<br><br>
Another one many know of is Bicycle Race and Fat Bottomed Girls from 1978 each name-dropping the other - we are told that "fat bottomed girls will be riding today" and then they are exhorted to "get on your bikes and ride". Ah yes.<br><br>
But there are other more obscure links I enjoy. In 1974 Queen released two albums. Seven Seas Of Rhye ends the first album with a bunch of friends singing I Do Like to Be Beside the Seaside. Brighton Rock starts the next album with somebody whistling the same old tune to a background of carnival sounds.<br><br>
So far these are all deliberate associations on the part of the band. Others are more incidental observations. The Prophet Song (1975) is known for a kind of <em>round</em> sung by Freddie Mercury with echos of himself but the same trick was performed on guitar by Brian May back in Brighton Rock.<br><br>
Some of the oldest Queen discs were almost concept albums suffused with common themes and moods. A lot of progressive or glam acts were into science fiction but Queen seemed more into fantasy - look no further than the amazing White Queen and March Of The Black Queen (both 1974).<br><br>
Most of this fey vibe was set by Mercury and May while Roger Taylor tended to interupt it with songs describing the everyday life of young to aging rock-and-rollers - check both Tenement Funster (1974) and Drowse (1976). Once John Deacon got into writing he diverted things further with the most cheerfully love-struck of songs - consider You're My Best Friend (1975) and You And I (1976).<br><br>
Sometimes one song seems to be a test-run for another one. The magnificent Death On Two Legs (1975) seems to musically evoke silent era moustache-twirling villains but then so does Flick Of The Wrist (1974) and I dig both. At other times a song harks back to a more successful one - Man On The Prowl (1984) belongs on the same jukebox as Crazy Little Thing Called Love (1980).<br><br>
A ran this topic by a friend with huge technical understanding of music and she talks of songs linked by common chord progressions and such things are beyond me. I can however discern and name musical <a href = http://55-05.blogspot.com/>genres</a>. One easy way to find song links is to follow the interest in particular genres by different band members. Mercury flirts with jazz on tracks like Bring Back That Leroy Brown (1974) and Good Old Fashioned Lover Boy (1976). May does a similar thing for folk with '39 (1975) and Long Away (1976) and both also hint at his love of astronomy.<br><br>
Band members had particular preferences - May and Taylor always loved rocking guitar and drums while Mercury and Deacon were drawn ever more to soulful vocals and base lines. However they also influenced one another. Metal was always in the blood of the band - examples can be found in both the 70s (Stone Cold Crazy) and 80s (Gimme The Prize). But they played with all manner of genres. Funk is one of my favourites and cool examples include the studio crafted Another One Bites The Dust and the more jam-worthy Dragon Attack (both from 1980).<br><br>
Over time Queen moved away from concept albums and eccentric variety but never entirely abandoned these characteristics. There were albums associated with the movies Flash Gordon (1980) and Highlander (1986). Innuendo (1991) resonates with otherwordly atmosphere. And there are still connections here and there. The songs She Does Me (1989) and Delilah (1991) are both likely about the cats that were constant companions for Freddie in his dying days.<br><br>
Even the posthumously constructed album Made In Heaven (1995) feels more coherent than it should be, given it drew on draft or solo tracks from over more than a decade. I suppose that is simply a testament to the talent and inspiration of all members of Queen working together.Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12710148812664294219noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19268887.post-38475079237397074942023-06-29T21:52:00.003+10:002023-07-06T19:33:17.698+10:00LagmanEver since I went to a Uyghur restaurant (<a href = https://lazyludditelog.blogspot.com/2016/07/smalltime-operators.html>now closed</a>) I have been a fan of a dish called lamb lagman. More recenlty I attempted to approximate the meal at home. It took a while but I’m now making something I enjoy eating.<br><br>
These are the ingredients for a vegetarian version using mushrooms.<br><br>
* A few field mushrooms chopped into chunks sauteed in water with Vegemite dissolved into it. Seems odd but I think this makes the fungus just a bit more tasty.<br><br>
* Diced onion, celery and capsicum. By coincidence this is <a href = https://lazyludditelog.blogspot.com/2006/09/cajun-kangaroo.html>the trinity</a> of cajun cuisine. I started chopping them rather fine but more recently have allowed larger chunks. I also play with varying the colour combinations using particular varieties.<br><br>
* Diced tomato - this was the missing ingredient for me. I somehow overlooked it from my restaurant experience till I looked at recipies online. A modest amount gives the dish the necessary degree of wetness and tang.<br><br>
* Soft noodles like Udon that are cut into finger-length pieces. Nothing will ever have the texture I encounted of those pulled noodles at the restaurant so this is the best I have managed.<br><br>
* Garlic, ginger, coriander, soy sauce, harissa spice mix and sesame oil are the rest of the ingredients.<br><br>
I combine these in various ways at various stages in the cooking. I am far from sure that this matters all that much. I suspect that many things which are codified in cookery are just done for the heck of it and what works for you is all that needs to work.<br><br>
Have I succeeded in combining the spiciness of Turkish food with the textures of Chinese food? That is a simplification but, even if accurate, I cannot be sure I have. However, my results are indeed tasty.Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12710148812664294219noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19268887.post-70836313819748114572023-05-24T17:12:00.015+10:002024-02-03T22:28:20.440+11:00Representative CastI often use the word 'representative' and usually I'm referring to the trustees or delegates elected to represent the citizenry of a polity. Here however I refer to it in the statistical sense of a small group whose demographic composition seems to reflect that of wider society. And my focus will be its use in fiction.<br><br>
I longed for a variety of looks in fictional characters long before I understood such concepts. As a kid I watched old black-and-white repeats alongside newer full-colour programs. In a story you have to rapidly understand who the various characters are and that got easier with the newer shows. Gone were the identical unforms of masculine and femine grooming and dress. Gone was the need to focus solely on who was blond or brunette and who was fat or thin. Suddenly the distinct looks of sub-cultures and the recogition of diverse origins made it easier to keep track of who was who.<br><br>
Incorporating this into storytelling tends to be haphazard. Who one wants characters to be and in what proportions is personal. This is how I have <a href = https://lazyludditelog.blogspot.com/2018/12/story-hall.html>usually</a> done it. But what if such decisions were informed by population statistics? I first did this as a footnote to my description of a spaceship. Its eight person crew were international and so I looked at population figures by continent. This gave me a framework of two east Asians, two south Asians, one other Asian, one African, one South American and one person that I called 'north Trans-Atlantic' in origin. Within that I developed a specific set of origins which also included religion and sex-specific names (as described in the first comment to <a href = https://lazyludditelog.blogspot.com/2021/01/momentum.html>Momentum</a>).<br><br>
A whole Earth spaceship is one thing but what of other more mundane settings? In a globalized world you can find anybody in any story with any ancestry. And yet locales still have distinct population profiles. The largest minority in the US is Latin while the largest in the UK is Desi. Do the core casts of television shows reflect that? I suspect they could do better and census data could be something that is worth writers glancing at.<br><br>
How old is globalization? How long is a piece of string? We are the walkers and humanity has been travelling slowly but surely over the planet. Even in ancient times we occupied all but one continent. Trading centres have long been cosmopolitan and many large nations were defined by shared culture and language rather than by a common ancestry. And yet distance and natural barriers do play a role.<br><br>
I got thinking about this while watching a historical fiction inspired by Scandinavian lore. Characters (as represented by those acting them) looked like they originated in particular parts of the world. Most were from north of the Alps as was apt for the setting. One or two characters however were from south of the Sahara. This in itself was fine but what jarred for me was what was missing. Why were Mediterraneans absent? It was this georagphic <em>gap</em> in demographics that stretched credulity. What was needed was more diversity rather than a kind of tokenism that feels lumpy rather than smooth.<br><br>
And yet the size of a cast affects how much it can reflect diversity to a fine degree. Most shows will have an <a href = https://lazyludditelog.blogspot.com/2017/11/ensembles.html>ensemble</a> of just five to ten regular cast members - it gets difficult to remember more. Am I suggesting then that a demographic can only be represented if it commands a tenth to a fifth of a given poluation? Hardly. It is merely a method. In my spaceship I took whole continents and then narrowed in on national origins that are in some cases small (Iceland is a tiny part of the combined North American and European sphere). Groups of friends consist of unique combinations of individuals. Creators will draw on both personal anecdotes and imagination to design such groups. But if ever they are at a loss then a bit of empericism can come in handy.Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12710148812664294219noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19268887.post-30184004079662473362023-04-29T21:34:00.014+10:002024-01-26T22:05:16.445+11:00AphoristicI'm intent on writing something philosophical here but life and laziness keep on intervening. Once I do it there <em>will</em> be aphorisms. Something like this:<br><br>
<em>Why do today what you can put off till tomorrow...</em><br><br>
Okay I'm back now. My wanting to do something 'philosophical' is spurred by the fact that this blog has a sorting <em>label</em> called that and I try to cover all such tags from time-to-time. This may seem artificial but then I think artificiality is natural to humans. The distinctions we draw over the complexity of life are useful as long as we acknowledge they are simply tools.<br><br>
Aphorisms are also tools. They encapsulate in a short statement a concept that guides action. At other times I have criticized the simplification inherent in meme-worthy sloganeering <em>but</em> it depends on how one uses them. Are they all you are saying or do they serve to give flowing and evolving conversations some structure and direction? I'm fine with the later and here will comment on a few I have adopted or adapted.<br><br>
<em>Moderation in all things.</em><br><br>
Well in most things anyway. If this were a <em>political</em> post I would note that I'm a progressive who values liberty and equality over stability and that this contrasts with a <a href = http://politicalobjectivestest.blogspot.com/2007/04/moderate.html>true moderate</a> who seeks to optimise all three values. But this philosophical post focuses more on the personal. Besides which I interpret this aphorism as referring to an approximate rather than an absolute balance of forces in ones life. This 'happy medium' is a space in which to move rather than an exact coordinate in which to be stuck. Other statements support this notion.<br><br>
<em>Variety is the spice of life.</em><br><br>
And...<br><br>
<em>The poison is in the dose.</em><br><br>
If you are only having so much of anything it is likely you will also be having something of everything. And most things are fine in moderation - even a bit of excess is okay as long as it only happens sometimes.<br><br>
I neglect to attribute any of these sayings to the thinkers that may have originated them. That is deliberate because there is a tendency to assess them on the basis of who uttered them. This can be taken to extremes.<br><br>
Recently I saw some astounding comments online suggested that 'forgiveness' is a problem because of its role in religious thinking. The risk of abandoning such a value is that it will simply give way to vengeance as an alternative driver of action. This is arguably an even more traditional concept and I hardly think that trading in iron age for bronze age thinking will serve us well.<br><br>
The chellenge is that, for much of history, slow and deliberate thinking was almost monopolized by magico-religious specialists, and they inevitably stumbled upon some profoundly worthwhile concepts. Religion can be <a href = https://lazyludditelog.blogspot.com/2009/10/supernatural-moral.html>oppressive</a> but it would be a mistake to...<br><br>
<em>Throw the baby out with the bath water.</em><br><br>
But you can always modify statements to better fit your own circumstances and objectives. Besides, you also find that the same basic concept was often conceived of in isolation at different times and places. Consider the Serenity Prayer.<br><br>
<em>God, grant me the serenity<br>
to accept the things I cannot change,<br>
the courage to change the things I can,<br>
and the wisdom to know the difference.</em><br><br>
This was devised by Christian theologian Reinhold Niebuhr in the 30s. But if you like you can also use it in other forms.<br><br>
<em>If there's a remedy when trouble strikes,<br>
What reason is there for dejection?<br>
And if there is no help for it,<br>
What use is there in being glum?</em><br><br>
And...<br><br>
<em>Make the best use of what is in your power,<br>
and take the rest as it happens.</em><br><br>
The first is from Buddhist scholar Shantideva in eighth century India. The last is from Stoic philosopher Epictetus in first century Greece. Wisdom is universal and will occur in different forms over and over. Yet some feel the prayer is too complacent and even make clever remixes of it.<br><br>
<em>I'm no longer accepting the things I cannot change.<br>
I'm changing the things I cannot accept.</em><br><br>
And yet the original never specifies what exactly can or cannot be changed - that is left for you to decide - contention has been exaggerated but it also demonstrates how versatile these adages can be.<br><br>
There are plenty more aphorisms I could discuss but that risks an over-long and poorly focused post. I can always do sequals to this as the mood takes me. I will do so in moderation.Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12710148812664294219noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19268887.post-35182975869258179482023-03-22T16:38:00.013+11:002023-07-13T18:59:42.020+10:00Scrambling ChambersDuring the Victorian <a href = https://lazyludditelog.blogspot.com/2022/09/guidance-restated.html>state</a> election last year, there was renewed discussion of our problem with group voting tickets, although the impact of 'vote whispering' was somewhat blunted in the <a href = https://lazyludditelog.blogspot.com/2022/12/two-for-one.html>2022 results</a>. Nonetheless, I and many others want to abolish that practice, and indeed we are the only state in Australia to still use it. I also noticed a few wanting more extensive reform to how we elect our Legislative Council, with the odd commentator wishing for just one state-wide electorate that proportionally elects all Members of the Legislative Council (MLCs). I'm reasonably content with the current 'five members per eight regions' model <em>but</em> exploring new <a href = https://lazyludditelog.blogspot.com/2021/06/chamber-practice.html>parliamentary models</a> does interest me. Here, then, are my suggesions.<br><br>
If you elected all 40 MLCs from one state-wide electorate at every election then each could be elected on a quota of only 2.4%. This seems rather to low to me. It brings to mind a rule in Germany stating that a party there must have at minimum 5% of the vote to elect representatives - this law is a response to past German experiences of forms of totalitarianism. While Australians can possibly be more relaxed about extremism, it is still worth having a somewhat more stringent test of public support.<br><br>
One way to do that is to resume the practice of electing <em>half</em> of our MLCs at each election to overlapping eight year terms, as is done in New South Wales. This would give us a quota of 4.8% for campaigners to work towards. But eight years is a long time and entrenched upper house members are remembered by some as a relic of traditional authority. In response I would say that today such longer terms can have a more reformist character - what our world needs is more long-term thinking to address challenges like climate change.<br><br>
But now that I have messed with our upper house I'm suddenly tempted to do the same with our lower house. And once more I draw some inspiration from Germany. I recently discovered that one chamber there - the Bundesrat - is never elected directly but rather can change composition every time there is a state ('lander') election within Germany. It is a true 'states house' in that those separate governments determine the composition of each state delegation there. What if Victoria had a chamber for <em>local</em> government representation. Stay with me here.<br><br>
We have 79 local governments across Victoria. What if the mayor of each sat in a Victorian municipal assembly to replace our current Legislative Assembly? Or alternately each municipality could directly elect one Member of the Municipal Assembly (MMA) every four years. These areas directly affect the lives of Victorians in a way that ever-changing local electorates cannot. They more fully understand local concerns. They tend to be more independent of party machines (although that would likely change). And voters are far more likely to know municipality than electorate names. Local elections are currently held between state elections but they could always be harmonized.<br><br>
And now I have one more concept to bring into play. There is a lot of interest right now in forms of indigenous consultation or representation and Victoria will be undertaking a treaty process. My suggestion is that Victoria adopt one more municipality but that it be <em>demographic</em> rather than geographic - a statewide 'community hall' for all Indigenous Australians residing in Victoria. Our current indigenous population of 66,000 falls well within the range of populations had by our various local government areas. Such a government could have a hand in designing and managing services specific to its constituents as well as advocating for them in Spring Street. Anyone enrolled to vote in this demographic municipality would only get marginally more representation than any other Victorian (40 MLCs <em>and</em> 2 MMAs rather than 1 MMA).<br><br>
With these changes I have also improved the 'nexus' to one chamber having exactly half the membership of the other (with 80 MMAs and 40 MLCs). Only problem is I seem to have switched the funtions of upper and lower houses (compared with what happpens at a federal level). Which originates legislation and which reviews it? Maybe both could do either. Which majority forms government? Maybe that could be determined by a joint sitting. For it to work you would have to entrench local government in the state constitution and set parameters for maximimum and mimimum sizes.<br><br>
My concepts may have started modestly but turned rather extravagant by the end. Be aware however that my hands are far from the levels of power.Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12710148812664294219noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19268887.post-79703870076161157822023-02-25T17:09:00.012+11:002023-09-12T15:50:47.837+10:00The Hex HomeDuring my recent <a href = https://lazyludditelog.blogspot.com/2023/01/tassie.html>holiday</a> I mostly looked out the coach windows but, during one stretch of our journey, I did some doodling of a concept in which a home is defined by an array of connected hexagons. Been watching reviews of mid-century <a href = https://lazyludditelog.blogspot.com/2020/05/architectural.html>architecture</a> and that influenced this. Each hexagon is either a structure or the space between them. The result is a quick-and-dirty plan for a home distributed across three structures and four yards - <a href = https://www.flickr.com/photos/72515521@N00/albums/72177720306268603/with/52709732624/>The Hex Home</a>.<br><br>
Each structure is a two storey hexagonal prism topped with a roof shaped like a hexagonal pyramid. Both brick and timber will go into these forms (yet to decide on exact arrangement). You <em>could</em> fit one home into such a stucture but I'm using three to form a bigger home with a total of eight bedrooms (the two on the ground floor described as 'guest rooms'). There are many shared spaces of general or specific purpose. The centre of the home is a courtyard sporting a saltwater relaxation pool. The dining room and two living rooms face onto this space and glass concertina doorways allow these to become one unified space. Likewise the three structures each sport a balcony overlooking this same space (with shade cloths positioned in such a way to allow this view).<br><br>
<a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/72515521@N00/52708950592/in/album-72177720306268603/" title="Hex Home Lower"><img src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52708950592_edfefdb2a7.jpg" width="393" height="500" alt="Hex Home Lower"></a><script async src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js" charset="utf-8"></script><br><br>
<em>1. Entry Yard (gravel) - 2. Pool Courtyard (decking and planters) - 3. Side Yards (lawn and garden beds) - 4. Dining Area - 5. Kitchen - 6. Living Areas - 7. Laundry - 8. Walkthru Bathrooms - 9. Library - 10. Arts & Crafts - 11. Bedrooms - 12. Landing (toilet and shower closet to each side) - 13. Covered Balcony
14. - Shade Cloths<br><br>
* Storage (including walk-in pantry, storeroom, wardrobes etc).<br><br></em>
<a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/72515521@N00/52709732624/in/album-72177720306268603/" title="Hex Home Upper"><img src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52709732624_03ec29b7b8_w.jpg" width="400" height="397" alt="Hex Home Upper"></a><script async src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js" charset="utf-8"></script><br><br>
From the courtyard one can walk into two lawned gardens and one gravel yard. The last is also the first area that guests step into on visiting the Hex Home. Here vehicles can be parked but there can be a garage close by (in the same position as the 'Hex Home' banner in the sketches) of even conventional shape. The two living rooms can be differentiated by furniture selection (for instance to be for lounging and rumpus respectively). From the three indoor common areas one can access another three shared spaces - the kitchen, the library, and an arts-and-crafts room. Dining and kitchen are spearated only by a bench. The living areas and beyond are only partitioned by decorative shelves. Those common spaces share bathrooms with the guest rooms.<br><br>
Inside the lower levels one can walk around in a circuit. This cannot be done on the upper levels (unless you wanted to install secret communicating doors between the bedrooms). Each upper level is identical in floor plan. The landings access small separate shower and toilet chambers to either side. From each covered balcony one can enter two bedrooms. More concertina glass panels allow each balcony to be shut away from the elements. Spiral staircases save on space. There is a store room close to the laundry while the kitchen has a walk-in pantry. Bedrooms and some common rooms have inset storage too.<br><br>
Such an extended family home or holiday house would be awesome to share with others and play host to many fine gatherings. For me it was even fun just to imagine and plan.Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12710148812664294219noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19268887.post-39133684830246695732023-01-24T17:01:00.001+11:002023-02-13T19:05:06.979+11:00TassieI went recently to Tasmania for a short one person holiday. The genesis of this experience was the cancellation of my planned European <a href = https://lazyludditelog.blogspot.com/2020/03/coronapost.html>holiday</a> in 2020. I still had a credit with the tour company Intrepid Travel for a six day tour of northern Italy. It feels too soon to go overseas but I also wanted to use that credit sooner rather than later, so turned it into an Australian experience.<br><br>
I’d been to Tassie before both as a <a href = https://lazyludditelog.blogspot.com/2012/08/interstatedness.html>tourist</a> and a <a href = https://lazyludditelog.blogspot.com/2009/07/twixt-snow-and-spray_8345.html>participant</a> in a festival, but it had been a long time, and that southern isle seemed like a good place to visit during summer.<br><br>
To be on time for my rendezvous with the tour group, I had to be in Hobart an extra night and so, following my flight, stayed in one of those odd self-service hotels in which you are given a key code to get inside and barely see anyone. I spent some of the late afternoon exploring an array of aging courts and shopping arcades, delighting in the dense yet relatively low-rise city centre and the welcoming local culture. I found dinner in Franklin Square with some food vans and free live music.<br><br>
The next morning, I met at a neighbourning hotel driveway with a tour guide and his group of tourists. We were fifteen in number and an interesting mix of demographics and groupings. Everyone was an adult but among us were parent-child and friend-friend combos as well as several sole travellers. Most were Australian but a few were international visitors. We proved to be chatty at times but were also content to be silent at other times. This suited me as just staring out the window at passing sceney was partly why I was there. Besides, our tour guide did much of the talking for us.<br><br>
Our itinerary involved driving clockwise around the island to the west cost and then back to the east coast. We stopped in numerous small towns for lunch or bathroom rests. I admired the Tasmanian tendency to reuse aging architecture (rather than the trend of only preserving truly old ‘heritage’ and otherwise replacing old with new). One small town service station, still sporting an obsolete petrol pump out front, turned out to be a laundromat. I was also surprised that the valley of Queenstown, which I had once percieved as a harsh Martian wasteland, was now recovering from its toxic mining past with fast growing trees lining the hills.<br><br>
The otherwise lush landscape of Tasmania was our key attraction, and we visited numerous rainforest waterfalls and ocean beaches, lucky to have some very sunny weather. The biggest walk of all was around Dove Lake in Cradle Mountain National Park. I’d been there once years ago, but somehow had only remembered the easy parts of the walk. There was a lot more up and down than I could recall and it was a long hot walk. I got some fantastic photos but was happy once it was over.<br><br>
Our first two nights were spent at a motel in the west coast town of Stahan. I had my own room and it was a welcome contrast to hours together in a mini-bus. Mobile reception out west was shocking so I used a free public phone outside the local general store cum eatery and, strangely, this is one of my fondest moments. We saw a comedic play in an alfresco theatre called The Ship That Never Was (inspired by the historic event of some convicts commandeering a ship they had been forced to construct). I was one of a few hapless audience members drawn into the semi-improvized show.<br><br>
We spent one night in Launceston in a hotel that was water and wind mill themed. That was cute. I wandered the streets that evening looking for an eatery that was both open and willing to accept more customers. Eventually found a nice pub and got a savoury salad to compensate for all the bakery products I had been having. Back home, the hoons street-race in cars, but in ‘Lonnie’ it seems they prefer challenging each other in utes and even trucks.<br><br>
Our final two nights were spent in the east coast town of Bicheno. From here we took in the Bay of Fires, lazed about the Freycinet Lodge, and visited NatureWorld fauna park. This last included witnessing some Tasmanian Devils fed Wallaby leg but, somehow, I was far more taken with the Cape Barren Geese wandering about.<br><br>
On the drive back to Hobart we visited the township of Richmond, known for its heritage bridge and other structures, which was lovely but, as I was saying, I enjoy merely mature old architecture too, and saw plenty of that. All-in-all, it was a good experience, one I suspect I needed more than I always wanted, in getting away from Melbourne and having a bit of an experience.
Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12710148812664294219noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19268887.post-18829216307468701012022-12-25T17:29:00.015+11:002024-03-17T18:57:30.490+11:00Two For OneIn 2022 Victorians faced a federal election in May and then our own state election in November. In this post I will discuss both my personal experiences as a citizen and my feelings on how both went politically. As a <a href = https://lazyludditelog.blogspot.com/2020/07/citizen.html>progressive swinging voter</a> I chose to offer support to both the Greens and the Reason Party (making sure to keep such work separate in distinct electorates). But I set some pretty strict limits because I have a history of saying yes too much. In each election I decided on approximately six hours of volunteering at pre-poll centres (preferably over two days) and 500 pamphlets worth of letterboxing. This is a level of involvement I’m happy to do.<br><br>
Letterboxing is pretty basic. I walk anyway, and enjoy seeing unknown back streets. I usually get into a pretty good flow but this can be hampered by those pesky sprung slot-covers that result in much fiddling. Still, a few hours of walking and a drink at a local cafe is a nice way to contribute to candidate recognition.<br><br>
Offering How-To-Vote (HTV) cards to voters is far more important and pre-poll has ceased to be the open secret it once was. Huge numbers of voters get it done at early voting centres so having a presence is vital. Once more, I get into the flow of things pretty well, and find this is a far simpler task than anything like door-knocking. At polling places voters come to you and expect some interaction. Many welcome it. Furthermore, the campaigners for other groups are almost always polite-to-chatty.<br><br>
There are exceptions, however, and I noticed something interesting. A handful of campaigners, usually those working for alternative micro-parties, behave face-to-face as if they are in some combative online space. They utter slogans robotically. They talk <em>at or past you</em> rather than to you. And in discussion they constantly loop back to the same dull assertions even if you have addressed those. I must admit, I was scared that everyone would become like this, given how many of us seem to act online but, that is yet to happen, which I’ll get back to later.<br><br>
Speaking of curious behaviour, I witnessed some at a federal meet-the-candidates forum, which I had visited in a neigbhouring marginal electorate. This event was hosted by <a href = https://lazyludditelog.blogspot.com/2020/01/the-environmental-front.html>climate strike</a> teens (and what looked like their grandparents in the background making the coffee and staffing the info stall). The oddest thing was a candidate for a rural-centric conservative micro-party who insisted that the worst greenhouse gas was Nitrous Oxide and that the problem of carbon emissions was a furphy. This got a few exchanged glances among the audience and I later looked into it. If you have the same <em>quantity</em> of NO2 as CO2 then, yes, the former has more impact on the climate, but as a civilisation we produce <em>far</em> more of the latter, hence the justified focus on carbon. Here we had encountered something more interesting than just blanket climate change denial, and in a twisted way I think it shows how far we have come. The sheer force of fact and opinion acknowledging human-driven climate change is such that even the staunchest naysayers are having to change. Here, then, was a way for former climate deniers to enter into a more environmental milieu while seeming distinctive and saving face.<br><br>
We all make mistakes, and I placed a bet predicting minority Labor government during the federal campaign. Pollsters and pundits had been foreshadowing a very close election so I was following that, but there was also an element of wishful thinking. Yes, I wanted a change of government. But I also find the negotiation necessitated by hung parliaments both interesting and enriching to our democracy. The swing of House Of Representative seats to Labor was marked, however, and that is okay, because a Senate in which nobody has a majority still involves negotiation. I was less sure or just less motivated to bet in the state election, but there are other ways of enjoying campaigns.<br><br>
Voting in Australia is compulsory and our election procedures are designed for ease-of-access. Moreover, our culture has developed incentives to vote, in the form of local non-profit barbecues, cake stalls and plant sales at polling places. I tend to vote before election day, but in May still visited the closest school for some sizzling sausage and fried onion on white bread with tomato sauce and a soft drink. In November I missed out on this, but I did visit some politically switched-on friends for dinner and viewing of Victorian election night coverage, which was a good bit of spectator sport, and a chance to express opinions in a relaxed atmosphere.<br><br>
Federally we had a change of government and we sure needed it. The Morrison <a href = https://lazyludditelog.blogspot.com/2019/01/ally-or-supporter.html>Coalition government</a> was the worst Australians had endured in a long time. We saw marginal electorates help form the new Albanese Labor government, but it went further than that. Safe Coalition electorates have become vulnerable to grassroots campaigns run by moderate to small-l liberal independents (a trend started several years ago with Cathy McGowan in rural Victoria and Kerryn Phelps in Sydney).<br><br>
There is a growing interest in the electorate for accountability, inclusion and sustainability. Such concerns now cut across political divides, with the new 'teal' independents to the right and the Greens to the left, to put it simply. There are now several such independents in the House Of Representatives, but as Labor won a majority in that chamber, there are limits to what they can do. However, the like-minded David Pocock was elected to the Senate, and has already played a role in legislative reform with Labor and the resurgent Greens.<br><br>
But what of other and smaller parties? There are some, like the two Lambie Network senators, who have clannish instincts but, once exposed to genuine debate, can mature towards a more engaged civic mindset. There are two One Nation senators who, as always, are locked into stunted bigotry. And the United Australia Party (UAP) returned, this time as the party-of-choice for those who <a href = https://lazyludditelog.blogspot.com/2021/12/protestation.html>protested</a> government intervention into our lives during the most risky phase of global pandemic. The sole UAP senator was elected in Victoria, a state which had never supported that party.<br><br>
Similarly, in the Victorian state election, a One Nation candidate was elected for the first time. This, combined with the state sending a UAP member to the Senate, suggests that our lockdowns of 2020-21, the longest in the nation, did have some electoral impact, which will now last up to six years federally and four years at a state level, till more elections come around. I feel this is a small price to pay for all the lives saved during lockdowns.<br><br>
I will admit, however, that till the results came rolling in, both in May and then in November, I was concerned. One can never tell what masses of strangers are thinking, and those opposed to health-and-safety measures seemed confident that tomorrow belonged to them. That hope all-but-fizzled. Too much of debate is couched in terms of 'good or bad' but I think most voters understood that some things are 'harsh but necessary' and had bounced back emotionally. However, the angry <a href = https://lazyludditelog.blogspot.com/2021/02/populist-poetry.html>populists</a> who felt they had their finger on the pulse never truly engaged with anyone who felt differently, just as I had noticed while pre-polling. I’m relieved that those who did well in elections this year showed that they <em>can</em> ‘read the room’ in face-to-face campaigns, even if they play it differently online, and understand that sometimes tone and setting <em>do</em> matter.<br><br>
At a state level we re-elected the Andrews Labor Government with a bigger majority. On the Coalition side, the Liberal Party went backwards but the Nationals grew somewhat, noting that independent candidates had lost the element of surprise for them. The Greens came back in force but the replication of the May 'teal wave' never occurred in November (I suspect because there was no Coalition government to turn away from this time). And, among other parties, there were some interesting developments.<br><br>
One is the revival of the Democratic Labour Party (DLP) for a third time in Victoria this century. They <a href = https://lazyludditelog.blogspot.com/2006/12/sometimes-they-come-back-for-more.html>returned</a> at a state level back in 2006 then federally in 2014 with one Senator John Madigan. On both those occasions they were removed from public office by internal party ructions followed by poor election results. 2022 is more interesting however, because Adem Somyurek, the sole new representative of this historically Christian party, is Muslim. The involvement of a former Labor representative in Democratic Labour might be opportunistic, and further ructions might occur, but there is another possibility. Adherents of this minority perspective, combining traditional cultural values with economic redistribution, can be found across all world religions and, in an Australian context are more likely to exist in recent migrant groups, but they rarely work together because of sectarian divisions and a lack of political inclusion. However, I wonder if this latest development could result in communication crossing lines of creed. I'm personally at odds with this particular strand of community belief, but still find it interesting to observe and speculate.<br><br>
The one big pity for me with the state election was the loss of Fiona Patten, sole representative of the Reason Party, sitting between shades of green and teal, and a very effective legislator for harm-minimization across a range of issues. But maybe there is some compensation in another new development, the election of two Legalise Cannabis members, which is both heartening and amusing in the same breath. Overall, I enter holidays feeling more politically positive than I have for some time.Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12710148812664294219noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19268887.post-59112700797424331822022-11-28T17:35:00.005+11:002024-02-17T15:50:07.547+11:00Coffee RevivalFor much of my suburban life, the preference of most consumers has been to drive to shops on major roads rather than walk to shops in back-streets. As a result, the former thrived at the expense of that latter. A case-in-point is a set of back-street shops close to the <a href = https://lazyludditelog.blogspot.com/2013/09/omnibus-post.html>Scotchman's Creek</a>. For a long time they comprised a functioning but sleepy milkbar, a few accountants hiding behind venetian blinds, and a few more permanenty vacant stores. I never saw them in the heyday I assume they had once had. They were nothing like my imaginary <a href = https://lazyludditelog.blogspot.com/2019/06/seven-shops.html>seven shops</a>. But sometimes truth can be stranger than fiction and those local shops have turned into something distinctive.<br><br>
It all started with the final closure of that old <a href = https://lazyludditelog.blogspot.com/2011/09/milkbar-fetish.html>milkbar</a>. I had sort of been expecting this since the 'servo' has become the contemporary convenience store and there's a major intersection pretty close by. But another time I walked that way, I noticed the milkbar was now a trendy and <em>busy</em> cafe. The vibe there stood in sharp contrast to the sedate residential streets. Within a matter of months more shops opened in those empty structures. Now we have an art gallery, an ornaments and decor store, a music academy, a pet products store, a computer repairer, an activeware shop, and there is still one accountant.<br><br>
Oh, and there's a second cafe, this one specializing in home-made vegetarian food. The operators do far more than that, however, and seem intent on fostering personal connections between locals, whether by facilitating chatter over food or hosting <em>open mike</em> evenings. My contributions so far have been to recite some <a href = https://lazyludditelog.blogspot.com/2008/01/feet-on-seat.html>poetry</a> and read a very <a href = https://lazyludditelog.blogspot.com/2012/06/word-limit.html>short story</a> of mine. I think they have me pegged as something of a comedian, which I dispute. Anyway, this is a welcome addition to my life, particularly since friends stopped hosting soirées some time ago, and I wonder at this phenomenal growth of a set of back-street shops.<br><br>
Coffee seems to be the answer. We have shifted this century into a culture that expects someone close to home to make a decent coffee for us. This want has become a seeming need. Once we visit a cafe we then take interest in other shops and start spending there too. Pandemic may have boosted this localism but the trend can be traced back further than that. It works well for me, as a walker, and I hope this trend will become a fixture of our lives.Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12710148812664294219noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19268887.post-61691909168816967282022-10-30T18:56:00.005+11:002023-11-03T19:46:42.088+11:00More Recipe ConceptsI am long past bothering with precise cooking instructions. Basic descriptions are sufficient in most cases. Lately I have done a few new dishes and will describe them here.<br><br>
<em>Party Snacks</em><br><br>
I catered for a recent party Lukas and I co-hosted and made three snacks (partly guided by my <a href = https://lazyludditelog.blogspot.com/2015/10/food-chart-scrambled.html>six food groups</a>). They were...<br><br>
* Parmesan Chips with Corn Dip: A company mass produces this new product driven by a very old process. Have you ever notice how melted cheese slides off toast in a griller and forms a crisp thin layer? Well they have taken that and turned it into chips made of pure cheese. They are tasty by themselves but I decided to make a dip to complement them. I simply take some pureed corn and add some smokey paprika seasoning to it. The joke is that normally we put corn chips into a cheesy dip and I'm simply reversing the process. Very moreish if the party was anything to go by.<br><br>
* Crudités with Hummus: So basic but welcome by those wanting some vegetables and legumes in a night of potential over-indulgence. I cut vege-sticks from carrot and celary and served it with a shop-made chickpea dip. The hardest part of this is ensuring an even proportion of sticks to dip.<br><br>
* Marinated Mushrooms in Shell Pasta: I got some marinated mushrooms (in olive oil and rosemary) from the deli and then mixed them into a dish of freshly cooked shell pasta. This can be served later cold. The cutest thing with this is that the button mushrooms tend to go hiding within the shells.<br><br>
<em>Pandemic Snack Pack</em><br><br>
This started as something referenced in a <a href = https://lazyludditelog.blogspot.com/2019/06/seven-shops.html>short expository fiction</a> of mine. I took frozen potato wedges rather than fat chips (choosing ones in beer batter). Then I cooked some mushrooms - lately I have taken to using a shallow mix of reducing water and dissolved Vegemite then pan grilling them. I also mixed in some chickpeas I had soaked for some days. These ingredients were then mixed with mayonnaise, minced garlic and a hint of chilli and thrown on top of the oven-baked wedges. Finally they were decorated with flaked parsley. I had a tasty meal but it would have been better to share with friends. Maybe another time.<br><br>
<em>Dan Burger 1.0</em><br><br>
Ever since seeing science-fiction depictions of meat substitutes (from The Green Death to Soylent Green) I have found the concept interesting. Finally decided to try and make my own burger patties using beans and fungus - the experimental Dan Burger.<br><br>
The ingredients that provide protein, fleshy texture and umami flavour are butter beans, button mushrooms, kidney beans and shitake mushrooms. These were finely chopped or mashed and cooked in a small anount of reducing water. Together they comprised four fifths of the ingredients.<br><br>
This is vegetarian but far from vegan as it includes both egg mayonnaise and butter. The former was mixed with wholemeal crumbs and a dash of chilli sauce. The latter had finely chopped shallot and minced garlic fried in it. With all ingredients sorted it then came time to form them into patties and pan fry them.<br><br>
That proved challenging. The mix formed disc-like shapes well but its texture stayed pasty till eventually it turned a tad crumbly. I would have to work on proportions to produce a firm burger texture. However the looked and tasted good so I should return to this one sometime for version 2.0.<br><br>
<em>Okay now I'm hungry so better go cook something or other.</em>Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12710148812664294219noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19268887.post-8337877682476568772022-09-16T20:44:00.010+10:002023-01-19T12:25:07.700+11:00Guidance RestatedThis post acts as a supplement to <a href = https://lazyludditelog.blogspot.com/2022/02/civic-guidance.html>another one</a> that describes Australian political institutions and electoral processes. This time my civic guidance focuses on the state of Victoria specifically because we also have an election in 2022. The original post gave the basics of Australian democracy while this one looks at those things that are distinct in Victoria.<br><br>
<em>Victoria</em><br><br>
Victoria has a very similar set of political institutions and practices to that of the Australian commonwealth. They draw on a common heritage (the Victorian parliament is older). However they have overlapping characteristics and have developed differently over time. Much terminology is distinct. Victoria has a Governor (rather than a Governor General) and a Premier (rather than a Prime Minister). State governments have distinct areas of responsibility (including portfolios for hospitals, schools and public transport).<br><br>
<em>Parliament</em><br><br>
The Victorian Parliament is located at Spring Street in the capital City of Melbourne (the media sometimes will refer to the government as simply 'Spring Street'). There are two chambers of debate - the Legislative Assembly and the Legislative Council.<br><br>
The Legislative Assembly is similar in function to the House Of Representatives in Canberra but is smaller. There are 88 Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs) each elected from a separate electoral <em>district</em> (each electorate having a similar number of voters residing in it). The party or grouping with a majority in this chamber forms government.<br><br>
The Legislative Council is similar in function to the Senate in Canberra and acts as a chamber of review. There are 40 Members of the Legislative Council (MLCs). They are drawn from 8 electoral <em>regions</em> which elect 5 members each. Five regions cover all of metropolitan Melbourne. The other three regions cover rural Victoria including its provincial towns.<br><br>
The state of Victoria has a written constitution that can be altered by parliamentary legislation (except for a few sections of it that can only be altered by referendum).<br><br>
<em>State Elections</em><br><br>
The Victorian Parliament has fixed four year terms and the state election is held in November every four years. All members of both chambers face re-election each time. Elections are conducted by the politicially non-aligned Victorian Electoral Commission. MLAs are elected by preferential voting. MLCs are elected by a combination of preferential voting and proportional representation.<br><br>
Ballot papers for the Legislative Council give voters the option of voting 'below or above the line'. Voting below the line is the standard method of giving <em>every</em> candidate a preference. Voting above the line however allows a voter to place only a '1' in the box of one party political group. By giving a party this vote the citizen is saying that their preferences must be distributed according to a pre-lodged order decided by that party. Most voters choose this option because it is easier and quicker.<br><br>
Many voters however never know how a party has decided to distribute its preferences. They can check but rarely think to. Parties decide preferences according to ideology but also electoral strategy. Complex arrays of agreements to exchange preferences complicate voting intentions in a process dubbed 'preference whispering' by the media. Voters may accidentally vote for candidates they never wished to elect. This practice was once common across Australia but now only persists in Victoria.<br><br>
<em>Mindful Voting</em><br><br>
It is important for voters to seek information like these <a href = https://lazyludditelog.blogspot.com/2022/03/your-clumps.html>party</a> preference agreements. In this and other ways voters can be more mindful of the power they have in determining election outcomes. Take a look and what independent and party candidates say and do in deciding how to vote in Victorian state elections.Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12710148812664294219noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19268887.post-63011295551019124322022-08-28T20:35:00.105+10:002023-08-10T00:00:54.796+10:00Who And WhoIn this entry I will offer a comparative commentary on both the original and revived series of Doctor Who (now that there has been plenty of both). I find that each incarnation of the program exposes the pros and cons of the other.<br><br>
The starkest difference between the original and revived series is one of duration and speed. The old show is too slow while the new one is too fast. The original series usually had short 25 minute episodes but one serialized story would take many episodes to tell. Particularly in the black-and-white era a story could take several episodes. A lot of that felt like padding and most of the cliff-hangers were underwhelming. I think the optimal length for the old show was four episodes. In contrast the new show has 40 minute episodes and usually tells a story in that short time. This is too quick and is also accented by a kind of editing and incidental music that seems to celebrate a sense of panic. I prefer the length of a two-parter (80 minutes is close to the 100 minutes of four old episodes) featuring one truly chilling cliffhanger. The problem however is that the new show tends to reserve two-parters for 'epic' adventures in which the Doctor resets the cosmos or scares off an army with a speech!<br><br>
The new show plays with long story arcs across whole seasons and beyond. This contributes to a sense of momentum and draws one back to the show just to discover the tantalizing secrets hinted at. But it can be frustrating and sometimes I miss more isolated 'monster of the week' tales. Or how about 'planet of the week'? The new show is far more centred on Earth than the old show was and sometimes wild adventures on exotic worlds become joking references made in passing. This is a pity because they now have the special effects to do more than ever in depicting a whole universe of wonders.<br><br>
The effects were pretty basic in the original series and even the brunt of jokes. However the producers compensated with some creative design. The revived series has continued the tradition of a unique quirky look but is far better rendered. However sometimes they take lazy shortcuts. Too many monsters were things like a computer graphics wasp of gigantic size rather than an original wasp-like alien critter. Overall I'm happy with the new look beyond some very fussy preferences over continuity. I more consistently have issues with character behaviour and interactions.<br><br>
Like many newer shows, the revived series focuses on 'feels' but I think this is sometimes at the expense of 'thinks'. The original series characters never seemed to have lives of their own and this lacked realism. But this was simply a story-telling convention that let the adventures be the focus (much in the same way nobody went to the loo in older stuff). In the revived series everyone has lives back home and faces consequences from travelling with the Doctor. This was fresh and new but I feel it has sometimes gone too far. Much of that is due to the central character. We have seen the Doctor become both a willing figure of romance and a childlike savant puzzled by personal interactions. Both I think detract from what the character should be - a paranormally perceptive alien you can admire but never truly relate to.<br><br>
The civilization that character comes from is so advanced that its technology may as well be magic. In science fiction of that kind it is important to define the limits of your setting but I think the revived series has complicated matters with more than a hint of magical realism. We are told that Clara 'blew in on a leaf' and I undertood that to be a poetic way of describing the cause-and-effect that resulted in her birth. But kids watching this fantastic space adventure could easily take it literally. Or maybe we are supposed to since Clara became more of a cosmic phenomenon than a person. As an adult I am confused - possibly I need something more blatant.<br><br>
On the other hand, I wish the messaging in the revived series was subtler. Doctor Who has always had ethical content but in the original series this was demonstrated in actions and as part of conversations. In the revived series it tends to take the form of speeches directed right to the camera. Be kind (but only ever give someone one chance to be good) we are told and it feels like a lecture. Even kids I suspect want something more sophisticated than this.<br><br>
Another trend the revived series embraces is regular references to both contemporary culture and its own legacy beyond story confines. I find this detracts from both the timeless quality of the show <em>and</em> my sense of immersion. On some level the Doctor seems to be aware that he is fictitious. I will still happily watch this fiction as new seasons are released. But I wish for something that more harmoniously blended aspects of the old and new. However the program in all its forms continues to entertain.Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12710148812664294219noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19268887.post-31121845984641103062022-07-27T17:20:00.010+10:002023-01-13T09:07:28.982+11:00Music SourcesA decade ago I made a large party playlist of tracks representing four decades of popular (if sometimes eccentric) music. More recently I decided to add another decade worth of tracks and found that the way I discover music had changed. Or possibly it had reverted to far older ways of encountering music.<br><br>
In the family home the only radio that played was talk-back radio. There were, however, a few other ways to be exposed to music. School gave me a random mix of sing-alongs derived from nursury rhymes, golden oldies and footy anthems. Visits to shopping centres exposed me to whatever was charting or deemed suitable for shoppers. This included a surprising number of novelty instrumentals that tend to be dismissed today as 'musak'. But there were also pop songs by artists now all-but-forgotten like The Captain And Tennille. Added to this were TV ads for record compilations of easy listening favourites by the likes of Nana Mouskouri and Kamahl. Indeed the selection wafting on the waves was surprisingly multicultural - moreso than a contemporary lens would imagine. But TV was more important for me in another way.<br><br>
TV themes and movie scores were possibly the biggest part of my childhood musically. And before the 90s they rarely pushed cross-promotional songs. Once more instrumentals were central to all this. And it was via this medium that I developed a taste for folk, classical and jazz. This was all pretty passive listening however. It was only in my mid-teens that I started following the charts from a mix of TV and FM radio.<br><br>
I first watched Rage at a sleep-over and from around 1888 to 1992 I actively watched such programs and tuned into hit stations (for which we had a stereo 'boom box' added to the household inventory). After that my explorations continued to be deliberate but diverged into two parallel tracks. Have I related that here in another entry? Sorry if I have.<br><br>
One track was to notice whatever my uni friends were into and played at parties. This took me away from charting songs and into the tastes of various sub-cultures from goth to feral. That was interesting as some things I assumed were new and very 90s were in fact 80s but innovative (like Violent Femmes). This went on for a while and involved a lot of sharing of CDs till the era of online music access.<br><br>
The other track was possibly started by a coffee table book I came across on the history of rock-and-roll. In its front cover was an overly elaborate 'family tree' of popular blues-based genres and suddenly I was hooked into exploring this <a href = https://lazyludditelog.blogspot.com/2006/02/musical-genres-1955-2005.html>history</a>. Another thing that reinforced this was an excellent BBC documentary series Dancing In The Street. The focus of such history was on artists who may have been popular but were also deemed important in the development of those various branching genres. This then became a big driver of my tastes getting older at the same time I was also keeping track of current trends. My 90s were as much about the 60s as they were of themselves. Since then I have 'lost touch' a bit.<br><br>
Younger friends allowed me to keep somewhat abreast with newer artists into the present century but I will admit I lack interest in the newer iterations of older forms. And so in expanding that playlist to cover five decades I fell back on those older childhood sources of music. A few tracks come from movies (like Skyfall by Adele) while one or two had been played in shops (like Cool Kids by Echosmith). To find songs that fit in with the older selection I also hunted for tracks by newer bands who played in a consciously retro way (like Panic Station by Muse). Then there were new tracks by old artists (Sting and Shaggy collaborated on an album and that was a fun discovery made for my by the YouTube algorithm). Finally I wanted a bit more linguistic diversity to match my existing variety of genres and drew on artists like Youssou N’Dour.<br><br>
I think it worked. It could be worth continuing this practice to stay even somewhat 'up-do-date'. On the other hand things have changed now. Media fragmentation means that we are losing a common experience of music 'everyone' knows. If that is so then maybe my preference for stuff that 'was good then and is still good now' is just another part of that fragmentation and that is as okay as any of it.Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12710148812664294219noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19268887.post-50105384881705953352022-06-25T18:55:00.009+10:002022-07-27T17:42:30.267+10:00Three Courses<em>This is another lazy reproduction of something I originally posted to Facebook, inspired by an eccentric British game show. I noticed it's been a while since I blogged about food, during lockdowns, so here's something short...</em><br><br>
Been enjoying lots of TV shows, including Taskmaster. In one segment, contestants had to devise and serve a meal using a list of twenty six ingredients, each starting with a different letter of the Latin alphabet. In more time than it took for them to do the entire task, I only managed to prepare lists of what I feel would make a palatable three course meal, rather than the crazy things they made on-the-fly...<br><br>
Vegetable Soup - water, celery, dutch carrot, mushrooms, onion, kernels of corn, stock, punctured jalapeño to soak in the soup and finally, a bit of xanthan gum.<br><br>
Pasta Primavera with Pine Nuts - pinch of salt, fettuccine, pine nuts, bell peppers, zucchini, garlic-infused olive oil, tomato puree, Italian herbs, topped with some shredded Edam cheese.<br><br>
Yoghurt Delight - plain yoghurt, honey with pinch of nutmeg, raspberries, quince jam, apple slices dipped in lemon juice, decorated with cocktail umbrella.<br><br>
All served with choice of water or white wine.<br><br>
<a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/72515521@N00/52170360452/in/photostream/" title="Three Courses"><img src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52170360452_2ee4c513e6_w.jpg" width="400" height="135" alt="Three Courses"></a><script async src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js" charset="utf-8"></script><br><br>
<em>I did all these over a week, since cooking a three course meal for just yourself is a bit much. They all were fine, although in some cases I would switch a few ingredients around in future. Seems I have a thing for green and orange in my food. It resulted in me having some ingredients that it will take ages for me to use. I guess I could always take the bag of cocktail umbrellas to a party or two next month...</em>Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12710148812664294219noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19268887.post-46753232839271148502022-05-30T20:08:00.010+10:002023-12-18T22:52:14.958+11:00Monster MashI was invited a while back to participate in an online <a href = https://lazyludditelog.blogspot.com/2019/11/gaming-anecdotes.html>role-play game</a>. It would have been a free-form with a setting inspired by schlocky monster movies of the past. These plans evaporated (as often happens in role-playing) but I did develop a few characters that I potentially could have played. May as well describe the critters here...<br><br>
<em>Thuban Of Alpha Draconis</em><br><br>
Thuban is one of the reptilian aliens that secretly rule the world. This specimen has lived for a thousand years, often hibernating, shedding skins periodically and, with them, human-seeming guises of whatever sex. Currently, Thuban can appear as a mild-mannered office clerk named Ian. Ironically, he was very much that within Draconian society, till he became impatient with the slow progress of the group project he was directing. The task was to give the gift of telepathy to humans, a boon that had helped the aliens themselves advance, but it was something very few humans could develop. The next best thing, then, was mobile Internet. Ian fast-tracked its introduction before safety evaluation was complete, and within a decade it had caused a marked regression in the functioning of both human groups and individuals. In consequnce, Thuban was exiled by the Schematic Hegemony, and now lives full-time among the Terran primates. Refusing to repent his mistake, Ian now lurks online, contributing exposés to the Reptilian conspiracy theory, with a focus on the minutiae of Draconian internal politics. Humans conspiracy theorists find it insufficiently sensationalist, so his missives have little impact. The Schematic Hegemony consider Thuban a minor problem, even though he is mind-controlling a few humans to commit petty crimes for him.<br><br>
<em>The Lumpy Peril</em><br><br>
The colloquially dubbed Lumpy Peril is a large, abstract, modern sculpture located in a public plaza, made of cement and purposely rusted iron. At night it animates and stalks the lanes and alleys off the plaza. It is relatively docile but also very clumsy. Its movements cause damage to property and scare petty criminals. However, security cameras malfunction in its presence and nobody has yet proved the existance of this shambling oddity. Nor do those who know the truth about the Lumpy Peril understand how it functions. Thuban speculates that its animation is the product of some nanites that escaped from a Draconian project facility. Reneer however assumes a rival occultist has turned the work of supposed art into a golem of some sort. Both characters think they could make use of Lumpy.<br><br>
<em>Reneer The Relatively Revived</em><br><br>
Reneer was an alchemist and aspiring necromancer who, in 1500s Amsterdam, felt sure he had discovered the combination of ingredients and incantations that would preserve his life indefinitely. Something went amiss, however, and it took decades for Reneer to discover that he still aged but never died. He was an undead corpse with a malevolent cunning and a host of dire spells at his disposal. He worked on embalming himself to preserve bodily function in his new state. He periodically replaced body parts with substitutes he fashioned for himself. Nothing however could prevent his mind from degrading beyond its natural term and the result was a profound insanity. Reneer now believes that he is the narrator of the story through which he walks, with gnarled cane and wheezing breath, a habit he never abandoned despite no longer needing oxygen. His favourite activity is watching late-night horror movies in the cinema a block from the plaza, enshroud in the illusion of a living gentleman of indeterminate age and fine couture. Beyond that, he is attracted to any kind of calamity or mishap, and will hang about describing the situation like some skeletal reporter.<br><br>
* * * * *<br><br>
I can see these three characters all crossing paths in some scenario and it could be a lot of kooky or creepy fun.Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12710148812664294219noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19268887.post-11622769788762301962022-04-24T21:32:00.011+10:002023-06-04T22:59:59.841+10:00Star WasA tale told in instalments tends to foster speculation between those instalments of what comes next. I have very much felt this in relation to Star Wars. It started with the very first trailer for the exciting new movie. The ad flashed many images that gave a vivid impression of the setting but gave away none of the story. Even as a five year old I could tell that this was more than just a space adventure. It also seemed to have something old-worldy about it including clashing laser swords. I saw one such figure in all-black armour - was that the black knight of space? There were glimpses of figures in white armour and I wondered whether the duel would be between a black and white knight like in Chess. I somehow forgot that one of those dualists was dressed in dowdy browns.<br><br>
The story later named A New Hope was more than I could have imagined and aspects of it got confused in my memory. Back in 1977 you saw a movie at the cinema and then had scant other media to help reinforce your memory of it. I assumed that the small ship was boarding the larger in the opening battle. I also assumed that the humans serving Vader were converts from the human crew he had captured. I never understood that the stormtroopers were also human - the white armour was effectively dehumanizing. I do however remember a cousin musing that they were the 'clones' referenced by Kenobi.<br><br>
I would be speculating on what was to follow for decades to come. The fact that the original standalone movie was given the designation of Episode IV drove one to wonder at its past. We knew there had been Clone Wars and that Vader and Anakin had both been apprentices of Kenobi. Would we see a war in which <em>both</em> sides used clone soldiers? I still think that concept is more interesting than 'the war of the clones and droids' that we eventually got. On the other hand, the revelation that Vader <em>was</em> Anakin was such a wonderful shock in 1980 and allowed for redemption to be central to the saga.<br><br>
Initially Vader seemed to be the key villain. I overlooked how much sway Tarkin had over him and missed the importance of the Emperor. But finally there was word that we would meet this über-villain in 1983 and I wondered what kind of armour such a figure would wear. I was influenced by Battle Of The Planets into imagining someone in garish and eleborate purple and red (like a cross between the imperial advisors and royal guards that we did see). The shadowy Palpatine in modest cloak was much more intriguing. Here was somebody interested in power rather than glory (and I have never been sure the later depicted statue of him made sense).<br><br>
The Kenner <a href = https://lazyludditelog.blogspot.com/2010/02/collections.html>action figures</a> helped turn enthusiasm into fanaticism and also sometimes provided what we now call 'spoilers'. I saw Chief Chirpa and wondered what a Chirpa was. I saw both Klaatu and Gamorean Guard and wondered if they were a gangster and his bodyguard sharing the same green hide. I made the mistake of assuming that a character who got a figure was necessarily important. Kenner was never that logical in its character choices. But the original trilogy resolved well and made a whole lot of sense by the time I was twelve.<br><br>
Then there was a long hiatus. I never got very into the expanded universe of novels. I focused more on filling all the gaps in what I knew of the original trilogy. But eventually the prequel trilogy arrived and it was exciting once more. Things I liked about them included the way they presented a more opulent and cosmopolitan galaxy. By now I was an adult so I understood all the inter-war deco designs as a way of showing that this was a civilization yet to fall into conflict. Things were smaller but more crafted and that was nifty. But I think I wanted a rather different story. Remember that two-sided clone war I imagined as a child? I also imagined that the Galactic War starts with a civil war on one planet. All that ineptly depicted stuff involving commercial interests would have made more sense as a truly political clash between the civil and military elites of a particular world - and rather than make it Naboo how about it be Alderaan that must be saved from its own coup d'etat?<br><br>
The thing with only having two Sith was interesting. It was like applying the concept of terrorist cells to the old sorcerer-and-apprentice relationship and got me <a href = https://lazyludditelog.blogspot.com/2013/11/perfect-imperfect.html>speculating</a> on other Sith characters. But it was difficult for the story-tellers to justify and so eventually we see other dark side Force users effectively swelling the Sith ranks in ever-expanding ancillary media. One of the best things in the prequels was seeing Jedi in numbers working together. Kenobi and Skywalker in action were a marvel to see. But the ill-fated young Jedi was too young at the start - once more the impression left by the original movies was that he should be a brash adult rather than a surly youth.<br><br>
And then we had another hiatus. I was okay with that. There was plenty of other stuff in which to be interested. But of course I was all set to see the sequal trilogy once it came long. It was fun but it stretched credulity for me as a political historian. If (as we tend to assume) the Galactic Empire is analogous to the Third Reich (specifically) and to fascism (more generally) then why had it so quickly arisen from its own ashes? In <em>our</em> own primitive world it took twice as long for movements deemed fascist to even re-surface. The fact that they surfaced while the sequel trilogy was made possibly answers my question. But motives outside the story need justification inside the story. Why was the New Republic so flimsy as to let the First Order form in its own back yard? I wish to have seen <em>that</em> story told - espionage and political intrigue culminating in exposing and thwarting plots to throw the galaxy into a new dark age. I guess I wanted a cold war rather than another world war but maybe that would have been too much like the prequels.<br><br>
It <em>is</em> an assumption that the original trilogy is a surrogate for World War II. What if it were World War I? The original 'stormtroopers' of history were elite German forces in the Great War rather than the later <a href = https://lazyludditelog.blogspot.com/2019/08/night-of-long-knives.html>Nazi</a> party paramilitary. The Galactic Empire are authoritarian and the Sith some kind of 'meritocracy of evil' but are they truly Nazis? Some draw attention to how humanocentric they are. But once more we need to look outside of the story for an explanation. Latex masks and other markers of 'alien' nature are expensive even in a blockbuster. Both sides are dominated by what look like humans. Jump back into the story and we find that an imperial officer calls Chewbacca a 'thing' but then the republican diplomat Leia calls him a 'big walking carpet'. It seems that everyone is a little bit <em>species</em>ist (and who knows what slurs the Wookies have for the seemingly ubiqitous humans).<br><br>
I do wish there were more aliens prominently depicted in the movies. Maz Katana was cool but then very quickly sidelined. The self-sacrifice that logically belonged to Admiral Ackbar fell to another character we had only just met. For me Holdo felt more like a politician than a military commander and she would have worked very well as part of the Cold War story I never got to see. But it was all a bit of a mess. Many scenes felt like they belonged in other movies. The space gangsters preyed upon by loose rathtars felt like Red Dwarf. The never-ending mirrors into which Rey stared felt rather Harry Potter. They were cool but did they fit? I guess it is impossible to say. If you insist a setting looks only like those parts of a setting you have already seen then it will never get bigger. But then in an odd way the sequel trilogy made that galaxy seem smaller than it had been. It was a bit rushed and crammed and as a result more became less.<br><br>
My overall assessment of these three sets of three movies? Episodes VII to IX were created by an ever-changing committee seeking to sell tickets to a fractious array of fans in an era of too much chatter. Episodes I to III were created by an <em>auteur</em> with lots of imagination but too much power. Episodes IV to VI were created by the same creative figure who once faced limitations set by both his relative youth and a few self-possessed collaborators who could curb his excesses. It is this that makes the original Star Wars trilogy the best and surely it is more than nostalgia driving me to make such rationalizations.Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12710148812664294219noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19268887.post-78343345419093061192022-03-26T13:23:00.010+11:002022-08-30T16:31:05.960+10:00Your ClumpsClose to a decade ago I started sharing my ‘clumps’ method of sorting upper house preferences. Friends on Facebook found it useful but, since then everyone has become so much more political than they were. So, this time all I will do is a ‘how to do a how to’. These are the basic steps I take to get my <a href = https://lazyludditelog.blogspot.com/2019/04/>clumps</a> together.<br><br>
1. The Australian or state electoral commissions list currently registered political parties and with those names you can do some research of your own of party websites. Checking these primary sources can inform you of what they stand for.<br><br>
2. You will also want to check independent secondary sources. Wikipedia is usually pretty good at providing information on parties - often they will have a whole page dedicated to one political party. If there is a side-bar of quick facts then look for links on ‘ideology’. This provides a useful way of clumping parties and tends to be more accurate than party names.*<br><br>
3. You might also want to consider criteria other than ideology for sorting preferences. Some considerations include how a party serves your demographic interests, how dogmatic or pragmatic it is, and the conduct of its candidates.<br><br>
4. However there are other motives in yourself of which to be wary. A party might fall further below your expectations of it compared with another party but still be better than that other party. A leader might project a persona that grates with you more than a rival leader but still be better at the job. An advertising campaign may look dumb to you but obscure a worthwhile policy platform. Ask yourself whether these are the best ways to make judgements.<br><br>
5. Another way to do this is to identify your most trusted political party and then simply follow the preferences they recommend (noting however that they also factor tactics into these). And if you do that you might want to take the next step of volunteering for that party. Even seemingly slick campaigns tend to be short-staffed and very much in need of helpers.<br><br>
* Supplementary to Step 2<br><br>
Many will know how to compare different ideological stances. However, if you want to get a better sense of how much you agree with them, try <a href = https://www.gotoquiz.com/what_is_your_political_ideology_17>this online test</a> I found. All such tests are flawed but I think this one works better than most and can even be fun. The percentages it gives you could form the basis of a ranking of political parties (with parameters like “75% or above is good while 50% or below is bad”).<br><br>
In the following lists I try to align most of the terms found in the Vetriutan Test with similar or overlapping terms found in the Wikipedia side-bars of parties.<br><br>
Paleoconservative - Social Conservative, Agrarian, Nationalist, Conservative<br><br>
Neoconservative - Fiscal Conservative, Nationalist, <br>Liberal Conservative<br><br>
Market Liberal - Classical Liberal, Economic Liberal, Libertarian<br><br>
Social Liberal - Civil Libertarian, Secular Liberal, Progressive<br><br>
Social Democrat - Progressive, Green Politics, Protectionist<br><br>
Christian Democrat - Protectionist, Centrist, Regionalist, <br>Social Conservative<br><br>
Note that a person of any theological position can still get the ‘Christian Democrat’ result. It is a nominally religious form of moderate conservatism popular in continental Europe and Latin America. Angela Merkel was a far better example of that politics than our own Fred Nile (whose old party of the same tag better fit what is here called ‘Paleoconservative’).<br><br>
Some of you might have also taken the <a href = https://votecompass.abc.net.au/>ABC Vote Compass</a> (for Federal elections). In this hastily drawn sketch I try to superimpose the Vetriutan Test terms over it.<br><br><a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/72515521@N00/51961860435/in/album-72157601964349288/" title="Vetriutan Test with ABC Vote Compass overlay"><img src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51961860435_670dc52b41_w.jpg" width="328" height="400" alt="Vetriutan Test with ABC Vote Compass overlay"></a><script async src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12710148812664294219noreply@blogger.com0