You don't need to hear all the lyrics - Matt Berninger

Bloodbuzz Ohio (Live Directors Cut) - The National
You don't need to hear all the lyrics. In fact, the things you mishear are automatically like you are putting yourself into it. If you do that, you know, you think it says one thing. I think it is more engaging when you don't know. So that is how it is with me and music. Michael Stipe and his lyrics for so long were impressionistic and you could not hear what many of the words were and I think that was part of their power. Because they sucked you into it.

Matt Berninger (from The National - Bloodbuzz Ohio (Live Directors Cut))

Lyrics

Stand up straight at the foot of your love
I lift my shirt up
Stand up straight at the foot of your love
I lift my shirt up

I was carried to Ohio in a swarm of bees
I never married, but Ohio don't remember me

Lay my head on the hood of your car
I take it too far
Lay my head on the hood of your car
I take it too far

I still owe money to the money to the money I owe
I never thought about love when I thought about home
I still owe money to the money to the money I owe
The floors are falling out from everybody I know

I'm on a blood buzz
Yes, I am
I'm on a blood...buzz
I'm on a blood buzz
God, I am
I'm on a blood...buzz

I was carried to Ohio in a swarm of bees
I never married, but Ohio don't remember me

I still owe money to the money to the money I owe
I never thought about love when I thought about home
I still owe money to the money to the money I owe
The floors are falling out from everybody I know

I'm on a blood buzz
Yes, I am
I'm on a blood...buzz
I'm on a blood buzz
God, I am
I'm on a blood buzz.

So many great lines in this one:

• I was carried to Ohio in a swarm of bees


• I still owe money to the money to the money I owe


• The floors are falling out from everybody I know


• I never thought about love when I thought about home
  

"We are all Chemical Reactions" - May Street / St Peters (Sun 23 Jan 2011)

We are all Chemical Reactions by Stormie Mills - May Street / St Peters (Sun 23 Jan 2011)
We are all Chemical Reactions by Stormie Mills - May Street / St Peters (Sun 23 Jan 2011)
We are all Chemical Reactions by Stormie Mills - May Street / St Peters (Sun 23 Jan 2011)
We are all Chemical Reactions by Stormie Mills - May Street / St Peters (Sun 23 Jan 2011)

"We are all Chemical Reactions" #3a - May Street / St Peters (Sun 23 Jan 2011)

We are all Chemical Reactions #3a by Stormie Mills - May Street / St Peters (Sun 23 Jan 2011)

Bloody Gum - Royal National Park (Sun 28 Jan 2001)

Bloody Gum - Royal National Park (Sun 28 Jan 2001)
I took this photo 10 years to the minute (Blogger's time is 19 hours behind Sydney time). It was the first photo that I took with my little IXUS that I thought was more than just a record of an event or a place (and BTW there is nothing the matter with that).

It was a Sunday, the last day of a long weekend (Australia Day was Friday). Jenny and I decided to do a Sunday afternoon drive down into the Royal National Park and end up at Stanwell Top to watch the hang gliders and to have an ice cream.

Along the way we stopped to look at various features and land marks, mainly the coast line.

For some reason I randomly pulled up into a small dirt parking area along the road in a forested area of the Park. I was drawn to the large Gum Trees at the edge of the parking area and noticed the sap oozing from the bark.

Looking at the photos I took that day, most were of the trees from a distance. The above photo was the only one I took up close to the trees. I set the camera to macro mode and I am pretty sure I would have held the camera about 15 to 20 cm from the side of the tree. I remember getting back to Sylvania and looking through the photos from that day and this was the one that caught my eye. It was beyond anything I had captured up til then.

Around the same time I found photo.net and this was one of the first photo's I submitted to my portfolio. Amazingly, I received a number of critiques which were very helpful and they helped guide me along my photographic journey, particularly this one:

this is a great piece. My only complaint is it's on digital. It would make a wonderful Ilfochrome if it were on film -- gallery quality.
Matthew Kees (22 Sep 2001).

In many ways the photo and the positive feedback I received help me explore photography in a way I had never expected when I first bought the little camera a few months earlier.

I have tagged many of the photos I have taken with the little IXUS, here. Many have become my Favourite Photo's, which I have randomly rambled about on this blog over the last year or so.

Makes me wonder where the last 10 years have gone.

Finally, if I have added up correctly this should be my 300th post.

"We are all Chemical Reactions" #2 - May Street / St Peters (Sun 23 Jan 2011)

We are all Chemical Reactions #2 by Stormie Mills - May Street / St Peters (Sun 23 Jan 2011)

"We are all Chemical Reactions" #1 - May Street / St Peters (Sun 23 Jan 2011)

We are all Chemical Reactions #1 by Stormie Mills - May Street / St Peters (Sun 23 Jan 2011)

"We are all Chemical Reactions" #0 - May Street / St Peters (Sun 23 Jan 2011)

We are all Chemical Reactions #0 by Stormie Mills - May Street / St Peters (Sun 23 Jan 2011)

'England' by The National on Q TV (youtube)

'England' (High Violet) by The National on Q TV (youtube)
England

Someone send a runner
Through the weather that I'm under
For the feeling that I lost today
Someone send a runner
For the feeling that I lost today

Someone send a runner
Through the weather that I'm under
For the feeling that I lost today
Someone send a runner
For the feeling that I lost today

You must be somewhere in London
You must be loving your life in the rain
You must be somewhere in London
Walking Abbey Lane

I don't even think to make
I don't even think to make
I don't even think to make corrections

Famous angels never come through England
England gets the ones you never need
I'm in a Los Angeles cathedral
Minor singing airheads sing for me

Put an ocean and a river
Between everybody else,
Between everything, yourself, and home
Put an ocean and a river
Between everything, yourself, and home

You must be somewhere in London
You must be loving your life in the rain
You must be somewhere in London
Walking Abbey Lane

I don't even think to make
I don't even think to make
I don't even think to make corrections

Famous angels never come through England
England gets the ones you never need
I'm in a Los Angeles cathedral
Minor singing airheads sing for me

Afraid of the house, stay the night with the sinners
Afraid of the house, stay the night with the sinners
Afraid of the house, 'cause they're desperate to entertain

[ Thanks to LottieP yet again for a recent Facebook Entry and National Velvet (11 Jun 2010).

Nice to find some new music. After listening and watching some Youtube videos, bought National Violet and Boxer and now have them on my iPhone. Brilliant Band.

I will try to write what this song means to me at some stage. Particularly the line You must be somewhere in London. In some ways I have already started.]

Jenny - You must be somewhere in London (29 Aug 2005)

Jenny - You must be somewhere in London - The Eye / London (29 Aug 2005)
Was looking through some photos from our trip to Europe in 2005 and I was struck by this one. I remember it as if it was just yesterday. I was so excited to be in London (it was my first time there) and here we were on the Bank Holiday Weekend with weather that would rival the best summer day back in Sydney.

Decided to do the London Eye at sunset. We queued for some time and our timing was perfect as we were lucky enough to be on the Eye when the sunset over the Horizon as we looked out across London (photo to come). Jenny's face glowed as she looked out and I captured this photo as she glanced across to me.

I had completely forgotten about the photo until today. So glad I had a camera with me for the last 10 years.

Neil Armfield by Adam Cullen - National Portrait Gallery / Canberra (Sat 01 Jan 2011)

Neil Armfield by Adam Cullen - National Portrait Gallery / Canberra (Sat 01 Jan 2011)
On our return from Jindabyne for our Annual Walk in the Mountains, we spent a few days in Canberra to celebrate the New Year and to visit the various Galleries. This year I would stay on in Canberra for the Australian Dragon Boat Grand Masters Seclection Camp from 02 to 05 Jan 2011 (see here).

On Sat 01 Jan 2011, we went to the National Portrait Gallery which made it the third time we have been there since the new Gallery opened in late 2008. Jenny was with us for the first visit in early Jan 2009.

The Entrance Hall features new or recently acquired works and this year I was delighted to find the above portrait of Neil Armfield by Adam Cullen. Definitely put a smile on my face when I found Neil's portrait included a yellow dog just like our Gerald (specifically here and here).

Gerald the Dog with Neil Armfield by Adam Cullen - National Portrait Gallery / Canberra (Sat 01 Jan 2011)
Geoff and Gerald - Newtown - Sat 20 Mar 2010 - (picasa)
Neil Armfield by Adam Cullen - National Portrait Gallery / Canberra (Sat 01 Jan 2011)

Using the Past - Some Advice from Ken Burns, Vern Gambetta and LottieP

The following three quotes are about the past and future, and how we might relate them to each other (if that makes any sense). There is some good advice in all three quotes and I thought that I put them here for future reference, so that they will become part of my past :-). Here they are:

As you pursue your goals in life, that is to say your future, pursue your past. Let it be your guide. Insist on having a past and then you will have a future.
Ken Burns - 2004 Commencement Yale Class Day Speech (as pdf)

Vern Gambetta wisely adds:

Be careful that you are not living in the past, learn from the past, use it as a reference point.

And finally, LottieP warns:

"nostalgia is the enemy of the future"

With the past in mind I thought I would dig into archive.org and drag out something from my past (it might explain the where eljeiffel came from). Here it is:

elj.com (Eiffel Liberty): Two Years On .. by Geoff Eldridge (04 Jul 1999)

Today is Indepedence Day in the USA which celebrates the 223rd birthday, being founded on 4 Jul 1776, with the signing of the Declaration of Independence. This also represents a time of reflection for myself with elj.com (Eiffel Liberty).

It is two years ago since I registered elj.com. The name Eiffel Liberty was easy to come up with. It represented a vision and a hope for Eiffel that somehow it might be liberated from its miserable place in the language landscape (I thought how could such a great contribution, be so categorically and overwhelmingly dismissed by the programming community). Also, Emma Lazarus's words struck a chord with me, particularly

Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost, to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!

Just as America provided opportunity for many from other lands, I thought Eiffel could provide the same kind of opportunities for the syntactically and semantically battered from the other language landscapes :-)

Also, the name Eiffel Liberty made what a I thought was a nice connection between two famous landmarks that Gustave Eiffel had contributed to, being the Eiffel Tower and the Statue of Liberty "Eiffel undertook the challenge of creating the steel structure because of the enormous challenge it afforded him".

The 4 Jul 1997 was to be the launch date for the Eiffel Liberty Journal. However, I came down with a very bad cold (too many late nights preparing for the initial launch) and I decided to publish the launch issue of the Eiffel Liberty Journal, not from my newly acquired elj.com but from my progsoc web pages (this would remain the case for another six months).

It was fun putting together the first issue as I received cooperation from all I contacted. These included:

• Bertrand Meyer who allowed to me publish some small extracts from OOSC2.



• John Potter (my Software Engineering Lecturer who introduced me to Eiffel in the spring of 1993) who specially wrote an article on
  Project Bruce: Translating from Eiffel to Java



• Victor Putz who wrote a great article titled Toymakers and tools: Why one game developer is switching to Eiffel. Victor is a game programmer by night and a helicopter pilot/instructor by day. I remember Victor making a special trip (about 30 km each way) to send me the article because of flooding in his area which made his normal internet access impossible. BTW, I have found that Victor shares and
  articulates (much better than I ever could) my own vision for Eiffel.

Also Bertrand Meyer's classic newsgroup posting from early May 97, Avoiding the second historic mistake (I remember Bertrand once referring to this as collective hypnosis :-) gave the opportunity to publish a few articles from the newsgroup thread that ensued - eg Jeffrey Stulin's If Eiffel is so great, why isn't it popular? and Thomas Beale's Eiffel: An Industry Experience.

I was delighted when Bjarne Stroustrup allowed me to publish Why C++ is not just an Object-Oriented Programming Language and Melier Page Jones allowed me to publish Object Orientation: Making the Transition

Two years on, elj.com has changed from a random journal to a daily random news update covering the Eiffel and related worlds. In many ways elj.com is really just a log of the links and resources I have stumbled across and that I might learn from (or even get a laugh from).

Eiffel certainly enjoys a wider exposure than it did back in 1997. I hope elj.com has helped in a small way. It is hard tell what impact elj.com has had as there is little feedback. However, occasionally I do get a note saying that elj.com helped someone get started with Eiffel, which seems to make it all worthwhile. I guess elj.com could have been much more effective but there is only so much time.

For a number of reasons I renamed Eiffel Liberty to elj.com Extraordinarily Large Jumble in Feb 99 (some of the reasoning behind this was that elj.com was and still is, an Extraordinarily Large Jumble of seemingly random links and more significantly there was little or no Eiffel news). Fortunately, there now appears to be more Eiffel news than I can handle/report manually and I am making efforts to address this through a more automated Eiffel news feed at elj-daily.

elj.com has amassed an incredible amount of links, quotes and resources relating to Eiffel and related worlds. The time has come for elj.com to be able to extract the information from this mass. A keyword/search facility is on the way.

I believe that for [open source] projects to thrive, information needs to readily at hand. I hope the new elj.com that you will see over the coming weeks/months (depends on how much time I get to work on this) will reflect the ability to provide this information efficiently and effectively.

Finally, I would like to acknowledge the support that Jenny has given me over the last few years. She has had to cope (in more ways than one) with more than anyone should reasonably have to tolerate.

Funny to read this after all these years. Shows how strongly I felt about the Eiffel programming language and method (and still do, but not just as visible). I even chose to start this blog with some posts on Eiffel - not the language, but it's inspiration, the Eiffel Tower and it's creator, Gustave Eiffel.

I had better stop here as I think I might be getting a bit nostalgic. Anyway, hoping all of this might help me find the inspiration to get a future project off the ground.

Icarus - Paste Up - Newtown/Redfern (Dec 2010)

Icarus - Paste Up - Wilson Street / Newtown (Dec 2010)
This Paste-Up has been there for quite a while - it has virtually fallen apart. I have photographed it quite a few times over the last few months and there is another one in a small park off Little Eveleigh Street (see below). You can see the Green Bone Head I featured here recently (02 Dec 2010).

Each time I pass it, something has gone missing (i.e. various parts of her body) or there have been various additions via the caring use of coloured textas. She is now careful adorned with earrings and some more than necessary shoes.

I have had a lot fun watching and photographing this poster.

It has made me think about what may have inspired its creator to design this piece. For me, when I first saw it (it was the one in Little Eveleigh Street, which I pass it on the way to the gym), I instantly thought of Icarus of Greek Mythology fame. Icarus attempted to escape Crete using wings, made of feathers and wax, his craftsman father had made for him. Icarus did not heed his father's warnings to not fly too close to the sun or sea, and as a result of the wax melting from flying too close to the Sun, he plummetted to his death into the Icarian Sea.

The Myth has inspired many derivative works in all fields of the Arts, including a Poem by W. H. Auden, titled Musée des Beaux Arts (poem), which is named after the museum in Brussels that houses the painting Landscape with the Fall of Icarus by Pieter Bruegel the Elder.

For some reason the Poem and Painting have made me think a lot about what has happened over the last year and a half. Hard to explain but there is something there, particularly the painting where one can barely make out the legs of Icarus just after his impact with the water.

Life goes on ...

[Thank you to LottieP for technical advice on Icarus, the Poem and Painting. The shoes are for you LottieP.]

Icarus - Paste Up - Wilson Street / Newtown (Dec 2010)
Icarus - Paste Up - Wilson Street / Newtown (Dec 2010)
Icarus - Shoes - Paste Up - Wilson Street / Newtown (Dec 2010)
Icarus - Paste Up - Little Eveleigh Street / Redfern (Dec 2010)
Landscape with the Fall of Icarus by Pieter Bruegel the Elder
Musée des Beaux Arts (poem)
by W. H. Auden (1938).

About suffering they were never wrong,
The Old Masters; how well, they understood
Its human position; how it takes place
While someone else is eating or opening a window or just walking dully along;
How, when the aged are reverently, passionately waiting
For the miraculous birth, there always must be
Children who did not specially want it to happen, skating
On a pond at the edge of the wood:
They never forgot
That even the dreadful martyrdom must run its course
Anyhow in a corner, some untidy spot
Where the dogs go on with their doggy life and the torturer's horse
Scratches its innocent behind on a tree.
In Breughel's Icarus, for instance: how everything turns away
Quite leisurely from the disaster; the ploughman may
Have heard the splash, the forsaken cry,
But for him it was not an important failure; the sun shone
As it had to on the white legs disappearing into the green
Water; and the expensive delicate ship that must have seen
Something amazing, a boy falling out of the sky,
had somewhere to get to and sailed calmly on.

But for him it was not an important failure; the sun shone by ThePoetryPost (06 Apr 2010)

Competition Anxiety by Drew Ginn (12 March 2007)

Been meaning to bring this one out for a while.

Drew Ginn on Racing Anxiety (12 March 2007)

[..] some of the strategies that I (i.e. Drew Ginn) use to prepare and deal with racing anxiety.

• Develop a routine, but be adaptable and flexible


• Take time to enjoy the build up to the race


• Go for a walk and enjoy taking in the sights and sounds around you


• Visualise the race and run through your race plan, but don’t dwell on it


• Give your self plenty of time to go to the toilet, a few times if needed


• Make sure your system is up and running on land and on the water


• A few deep breaths at specific times always helps


• Remind your self why your there and look forward to being the best you can


• Let go of the result and focus on the process that will enable you to perform

Drew indicates the Racing Anxiety post was his most popular blog post.

Somehow the following photos seem right for me.

"Visualise the race and run through your race plan, but don’t dwell on it" Drew Ginn
Boat and Oar - Cooks River / Tempe - Sat 01 Sep 2001 (picasa)
"Go for a walk and enjoy taking in the sights and sounds around you" Drew Ginn
Jenny and Joanne - Glen Coe / Scotland - Sep 2005 (picasa - from this post)
"Let go of the result and focus on the process that will enable you to perform" Drew Ginn
Geoff - post 200m Senior Open Final "letting go" - Racice/Prague 2009 - 28 Aug 2009 (picasa from here - photo by Lisa)

You must be somewhere in London (Fri 04 Sep 2009)

A Seat - Grosvenor Square / Mayfair / London (Fri 04 Sep 2009)
The seat has the following inscription:

"To Blton M. Hyder Jr., my father, who first brought me to London,
and for Lewis P. Grimman Jr., a dear friend, who allowed me to appreciate London."

It all seems to fit together [see Grosvenor Square reference in the recent Ceremony post and a future post (coming soon)].

AG Kayaking X (andersg79)

AG Kayaking X by andersg79
A 2008 youtube video from Anders Gustafsson (twitter). Just about to pass 10,000 views on youtube.

First video closing in on 10000 views - today? Suitable named "X" today X stands for 10-thousand. analog79 (09 Jan 2011)

Backing song is Rebellion (Lies) by Arcade Fire (youtube video)

The experiences you create are the moments that define you.

The experiences you create are the moments that define you.

Seth Godin - Soles (06 Jan 2011)

Such a simple sentence - such a strong message.

The Hawkesbury Canoe Classic being just one recent example for me (I am still trying to write something up about the night. The words and motivation will come to me at some stage) ..

Team Vela - Geoff Eldridge, Jo Petterson, Alasdair Grant, Charlotte Pache, Rachel Mosen and Graeme Bacon - Windsor - Sat 23 Oct 2010 (picasa)
HCC 2010 - Photo Collage - Pacific Dragons and Friends - Sat/Sun 23/24 Oct 2010 (picasa)

Poster - Erskineville (Fri 07 Jan 2011)

Poster - Erskineville (Fri 07 Jan 2011)
Beauty is eternity gazing at itself in a mirror.

But you are eternity and you are the mirror.

The quote is from Khalil Gibran (The Prophet - 1923) who features in a current exhibition at the State Library of New South Wales.

The poster appeared next to the Syke1 poster featured here back on Fri 29 Oct 2010 (where have the last few months gone).

Poster - Erskineville (Fri 07 Jan 2011)
The rain over the last week or so has made the poster fall apart. The photo below by Gotocab from his 29 Dec 2010 cab shift shows the poster in its original state.

New Order - Ceremony (youtube video)

New Order - Ceremony (video by OKSauceOK)
In June 2007 just after I had been selected in the Australian Masters Dragon Boat Team, I bought an MP3 player to use at the Gym while I trained. Did not have any music CD's, so one night after training I wandered into a Music Store in King Street Newtown. Was not looking for anything in particular, but I noticed a Double CD Set by New Order and bought a copy on pure speculation.

When I listened to the songs, I was familiar with quite a few of them. One song I had not heard of was Ceremony. I was instantly drawn to the song. It has a complicated history which you can follow on wikipedia. I love the bass guitar that drives the song. The lyrics are a bit of a mystery to me, but I guess like most things you can make it mean what you want for you. My feeling is that you need to have an understanding of the life and death of the song's author, Ian Curtis and the band Joy Division, the predecessor to New Order. A sad story really.

It's almost 4 years since I first heard the song, but I still enjoy it as much as the first time I heard it.

There are many Ceremony Videos on Youtube. I picked the one above because I liked the video. It reminded me of my time in London and a Park (Grosvenor Square which featured in Episode 8 of Series 7 of Spooks I had seen a month early back in Sydney - I recognised the Park instantly from the Spooks Episode) I sat in before I went to see the Murray Fredericks Exhibition in Mayfair. I have a few photos I might dig out of the archives.

Ceremony

This is why events unnerve me,
Define it all, a different story,
Notice whom for wheels are turning,
Turn again and turn towards this time,
All she ask's the strength to hold me,
Then again the same old story,
Word will travel, oh so quickly,
Travel first and lean towards this time.

Oh, I'll break them down, no mercy shown,
Heaven knows, it's got to be this time,
What she heard, these things she said,
The times she cried,
Too frail to wake this time.

I break them down, no mercy shown,
Heaven knows, it's got to be this time,
Avenues all lined with trees,
Picture me and then you start watching,
Watching forever, forever,
Watching love grow, forever,
Letting me know, forever.

Australian Grand Masters Selection Squad 2011 - Canberra (Wed 05 Jan 2011)

Australian Grand Masters Selection Squad 2011 - Canberra - Wed 05 Jan 2011- (picasa - original)
"Coming together is a beginning.
Keeping together is progress.
Working together is success."
Henry Ford

Great to meet to so many people from across the whole Australian Dragon Boat Community. A fantastic 4 days (Sun 02 Jan 2011 to Wed 05 Jan 2010). Good luck to all. See you all in Canberra at the Australian National Dragon Boat Championships.

"When we are dreaming alone, it is only a dream. But when we are dreaming with others, it is the beginning of reality."
Hélder Câmara

Photo - Table and Chairs - Jindabyne (Thu 30 Dec 2010)

Photo - Table and Chairs - Jindabyne - Thu 30 Dec 2010 (picasa)
A photo of some chairs and table on the balcony of the apartment we stayed in during our recent trip to Jindabyne.

I like the simplicity and complexity of this photo. There are only a few tones (the part of the simplicity) and it is hard to tell what is a shadow, and what is the chair and table (the part of the complexity).