Drawn From Still Waters Top 5, 2008.

So its time to let the dust settle on 2008; and list my favourite CDs for the year. A couple of unlucky contenders which missed out were: Laura Marling (Alas I Cannot Swim) Martha Wainwright (I Know You're Married But I Have Feelings Too), and Coldplay's Viva La Vida.

:: 5 Colm Mac Con Iomaire (The Hare's Corner)
Colm is the fiddler from the great Irish band The Frames. Instrumental CD's can be a bore, but this one really works, and the interplay between instruments works so well

:: 4 Jon Foreman (Fall, Winter, Spring, Summer - EPs)
Another singer-songwriter whose songs are beautiful constructed, and reflect spiritual truths from the various seasons of our lives.

:: 3 Sigur Ros (with a buzz in our ears we play endlessly)
One of the more accessible albums from this great group. When I saw the band perform live earlier this year the accessibility of the band was highlighted by the increasing interaction between the band and the crowd.

:: 2 Conor Oberst (Conor Oberst)
The self-titled album was the first album for sometime which he did without his band Bright Eyes, I love the vivid pictures he paints with his song-lyrics in contrast to the great fun numbers like I Don't Wanna Die in a Hospital.

:: 1 Andrew Osenga - Letters to the Editor II
I really enjoy the honest and meaningful lyrics, and the style of music he performs. The Letters project is an EP involving collaborations with fans. I'm looking to hearing more from him during 2009 (Hopefully).

~~~

And on the horizon, for 2009, I'm hoping to hear more news of a Radiohead tour, and I am slowly getting more excited about seeing Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova in January. In terms of new albums -- confirmation of a new U2 album brings excitement, but not sure what other excitement 2009 will bring.

A British perspective...

So, the dust has barely settled on the second cricket test, and already there's one piece claiming its the worse year in Australian Sporting history... (which is to my mind quite a funny, but massive overstatement, there's been a number a great Australian achievements throughout 2008). Anyway have a read and make up your own mind. As for me, the article is another reason why, come the Ashes, I won't be cheering for England.

Assorts..

:: Religion, apparently promotes self control.

:: The NFL could teach Congress something about accountability

:: Santa Claus, paves the way for people to believe in God.

More on Responsibilities..

Earlier this month I wrote a little about responsibilities, and last week there was a piece in the Australian making the same point:

The Aussie whinge has been around forever but is it getting worse and it is a symptom of something bigger. Modern Australians live in a cultural bubble. They have lost the art of self-reliance and think the Government has magically to fix things when they're overseas [...] Australians appear overwhelmingly inclined to take less responsibility: for our children, our old people, ourselves. We are our own chief responsibility, not that of the Government. Now we hear a great deal about the ultimate nanny state illusion. a new charter of rights, but nothing about a charter of responsibilities.

We live in the most blessed country on earth and we have inherited a great tradition. As free-born, relatively rich, English-speaking Australians, we have every right anyone has wanted in the history of the world. Our political life and society are the culmination of the benevolent vision of the great 19th-century English social reformers and of the colonial founding fathers. Australians don't need any more rights, especially phony ones. It is about time we cultivated a few responsibilities.

~~~~

On the Cricket..

I have to admit, one of the funniest things about seeing Australia loses a Cricket Series is the amount (and tone) of ink that gets spilled about it. Its about the same when the All Blacks lose a Rugby test.

Here's a few links (all from CricInfo) about the Australian's series loss yesterday:

:: Its not funny anymore
:: Angry Aussie Media.


Perhaps its not that the tests were lost, but the positions from which they were lost (not many teams will successfully chase over 400, in the fourth innings); and not many have put together a partnership of over 150 runs for the 9th wicket. 

But the selectors do have questions to answer, why was Symonds picked if he could not bowl, and there are major questions about Ricky Ponting's captaincy (the defensive decisions he made on the third morning, when he should have gone for the jugular).

Anyway, none of this takes anything away from South Africa, who played great Cricket, and deserve the series win, and I think the mantle of the best team (for 2008 at least).

Christmas Reading..

Was catching up on some reading over the break, and this one Be Very Afraid, But not of Santa" was interesting (if a little sad) reading, a few stories shared in the article:

:: A Santa (AUS) sacked for having said "Ho, ho, ho" to the children waiting before him. - the reason "According to the store, he should have said "Ha, ha, ha" but he was a Bad Santa. "Ho, ho, ho" might be perceived as being derogatory to women, it was strongly argued. A ho is African-American vernacular for a prostitute, or at least a woman of loose morals, so you can't say it any more. Ha, ha, ha.

:: Another (US) Santa Claus was sacked because the children kept pointing out that he had extremely large breasts.


:: Another (UK) Santa Claus was sacked this year for having invited an elderly woman to sit on his lap.

"I do not know what the elderly woman was doing in the queue for the grotto but, of course, it is her right to queue up to meet Santa and get a present, just as it is your right and my right, the right of all people of whatever creed, colour, class or age. But you shouldn't have to put up with an outrage such as being invited to sit on Santa's lap, so Santa was sacked. A statement from Selfridges read: "We do not promote or proactively seek lap-sitting." Read that quote again and try to imagine the sort of person who wrote it: "Promote or proactively seek lap-sitting." 

:: And the funninest one  - "a boy was not allowed to attend his school's Christmas party because his parents had insisted, ever since he joined the school, that he should not be required to attend lessons in religious education. The school presumably thought they were being scrupulous in abiding by the parents' wishes but apparently not. The boy's mum, was incandescent at the cruelty inflicted on her poor son. Christmas parties, she said, "have got absolutely nothing to do with Jesus".

In seriousness the article concludes --

"But it is our fear of pedophilia, or fear of litigation provoked by the intimation of pedophilia (which is, when it comes down to it, much the same thing), that is the most corrosive and damaging. One of the most telling and important political contributions of 2008 came from an old semi-reformed radical Marxist, Frank Furedi, now a professor of sociology, who delivered an attack on the strange and ambivalent manner in which we view children these days. "We cannot organise the world around the default position that we are all pedophiles," Furedi lamented in a magazine interview. He talked, too, about the other side of the coin, the control children seem to have over parents these days. Furedi called it "reverse socialisation", the kids being told to tell their parents to eat healthier food, or recycle their rubbish properly, or not to smoke in the home. And much of it can be dragged back to what Furedi called the pre-political authority of parents disciplining, or failing to discipline, their kids. They do not have an idea any more of right or wrong, he suggested.

Well, indeed; but whose fault is that? Place it alongside all the stuff I mentioned above and it would seem to be the logical consequence of an agenda driven by the liberal middle-class Left over the past 30 years, in which the common denominator is the yearning for an artificial world that is entirely risk-free. Certainly there must be no risk to life or limb, even if that risk is vanishingly small. No risk, either, that anyone could possibly be offended by anything, no matter how barking mad you would have to be to take offence. No risk that anyone's sensibilities (religious or otherwise) might be offended, no matter how thin their skins may have become over the years. It is an aspiration towards a pretend world, a confection every bit as make-believe as Santa's grotto."

And following on another piece about singing Christmas Carols.

Links..

A couple of  interesting articles .. about the power of celebrities to draw attention to mental health issues, and another one about the "fun and games" associated with finalising the new issue of the DSM.

I also foudn this one interesting.. "while liberals show tremendous compassion in pushing for generous government spending to help the neediest people at home and abroad. Yet when it comes to individual contributions to charitable causes, liberals are cheapskates". [Kristof, NYT]

Who throws a shoe - II

Here's a link to other forms of insults from around the world.. [via the NYT]

Notes from 2008

Always intrigued in end-of-year lists, heres American radio station NPR's top 10 as voted by the listeners:

10. Sigur Rós: Album: Med Sud I Eyrum Vid Spilum Endalaust
09. Coldplay: Album: Viva la Vida
08. My Morning Jacket Album: Evil Urges
07. Flight of the Conchords Album: Flight of the Conchords
06. MGMT Album: Oracular Spectacular [Bonus Features]
05. Death Cab for Cutie Album: Narrow Stairs
04. TV on the Radio Album: Dear Science
03. Bon Iver Album: For Emma, Forever Ago
02. Vampire Weekend Album: Vampire Weekend
01. Fleet Foxes Album: Fleet Foxes [Bonus Tracks]
+++

Good Weekend..

I was going to title this post 'Links'; but I don't remember being able to find the articles  from the Good weekend on the SMH's website. But a couple of interesting reads, the first was about the authors resolution to buy any new books, and rather read the books she already owns. Thought that's a good resolution for me, to stop buying new books at least for the first half of the year - there's a lot of interesting ones to have a look at.

The other piece was 'Joy to the World'; the regular Christmas season article about money and happiness.The soundbyte of the article is that the key to feeling good; is to give and keep giving. Another few quote that hit me were, when 'God died, the GDP took over and economists became the new priests, and the second one from a Holocasut surivvor - Hermann Gruenwald - 'I have come to realise that during inhumane times, helping others makes as feel human again'.

Sporting Newsreel '08

It is great to have finished work for the year -and its been nice over this weekend to spend some time settled in listening to ABC describe Australia play South Africa in the first test. Especially great seeing as its been more competitive than the Kiwi's. Today has been quite a test for Ponting as a captain (I still favour the Aussies though). 

On the radio, they were talking about the highlights of the year, I was trying to think about what happenend - I recalled Manly winning the NRL, and Hawthorn the AFL; on top of that 2008 saw the Beijing Games, and the European Soccer Championships (won by Spain).

My highlights:

:: New Zealand stunning the Aussies and winning the Rugby League World Cup;

:: Mithcam's dive to win the Gold medal in the Mens 10m Platform Diving competition, with his last dive

:: Usain Bolt wins the 100m and 200m

:: Michael Phelps winning 8 gold-medals.

Popular music

Perhaps its a sign that I'm now a bit into my third-decade that the radio captures more of my attention, earlier this week they had a fascinating story about Andre Rieu and Classical music. Its in some ways the same argument that has been made about modern adaptions of Shakespeare (how they perhaps make people seek to explore more). The question they were asking was how many people who would go to Andre's shows in Australia would go and listen to the Philharmonic Orchestra (or equivalent), not really a debate about his music per se.

I don't think Andre is a new phenomena as The Three Tenors / The Ten Tenors / Bond and Ill Divo are examples of musicians that have tried to bridge the 'genre-gap'. I'm not convinced that Andre will drive people to hear the 'local' orchestra, as its him they are going to see, rather than the music ~and perhaps this is why people look down on Andre ~ because its about him; more than the music.

Anyway just some random thoughts; and I one thing I would like to do in the new year is visit the opera house to hear an orchestra rather than contemporary music, as I've done previously.

:: Post-script: Related to this is the furor that the British reality TV show [X-Factor] has caused with recording a version of Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah. With the writer of this article asking --

what is it that makes Burke's (the X Factor contestant) version inauthentic and Buckley's authentic? And why be so depressed over the X Factor version, when the song has been exposed to mainstream audiences via its use on both The OC and Shrek soundtracks? Should we be happy that he song has been exposed to new audiences.

As the article says, Buckley's sales are going up in the vain hope that it will displace the version by Burke. (Driven by facebook groups).

'Honestly ... who throws a shoe'

Yesterday morning, there was footage of an Iraqi journalist throwing not one - but both his shoes .. at President Bush, during a press conference. Today - the footage has circumnavigated the globe, and transformed into a game, be incorporated with footage of the three stooges; the Austin Powers film - to name a few. (Have a look at this article here).

Links... Loneliness and Childhood..

UNICEF recently released a report the state of children in the world, and a read a piece in the Guardian asked who is the best placed to bring up children.. And how now in developed countries the "majority of parents in the developed world are farming out the care of their children to paid workers. At the same time, neuroscientific research shows - surprise, surprise - that the architecture of the brain is formed largely through the interactions of the early years; love, it turns out, is as important for intellectual as for emotional development." Its interesting looking at how this is changed, and what it means.

Also from the UK, a few pieces about loneliness and the state of solitude. An interesting one about a teacher who was sacked for saying Santa Claus doesn't exist. While I am sure that its not the wisest thing to do in a class-room, I doubt making the same claim about Jesus Christ would have the same result.

Conversational Reading

Saw a couple of interesting pieces in the Australian this weekend -- Bob Carr writes about the case for cheaper books. Or why its beyond comprehension that parallel importing isn't being done for books - in his words "lower prices mean more sales, and more sales means more books in Australian homes". (no link)

There also was a review of an interesting book called the Art of Conversation, which argues that the great irony of the communication age is that we are forgetting how to communicate with each other. The money quote for me is that while how we communicate has changed; the nature of the communication hasn't really changed - I'm sure that in this age, people are writing the beautiful love emails, or having deep conversations on messenger, or facebook. It doesn't sound as romantic to me, but for those involved the experience would be different.

40 Inspirational Speeches from Hollywood...

This is great ..

Shame on you. This could be the greatest night of our lives, but you're going to let it be the worst. And I guarantee a week won't go by in your life you won't regret walking out, letting them get the best of you. Well, I'm not going home. We've come too far! And I'm going to stay right here and fight for this lost cause. A day may come when the courage of men fails... but it is not THIS day. The line must be drawn HERE. This far, no further! I'm not saying it's going to be easy. You're going to work harder than you ever worked before. But that's fine, we'll just get tougher with it! If a person grits his teeth and shows real determination, failure is not an option. That's how winning is done! Believe me when I say we can break this army here, and win just one for the Gipper. But I say to you what every warrior has known since the beginning of time: you've got to get mad. I mean plum mad dog mean. If you would be free men, then you must fight to fulfill that promise! Let us cut out their living guts one inch at a time, and they will know what we can do! Let no man forget how menacing we are. We are lions! You're like a big bear, man! This is YOUR time! Seize the day, never surrender, victory or death... that's the Chicago Way! Who's with me? Clap! Clap! Don't let Tink die! Clap! Alright! Let's fly! And gentlemen in England now abed shall know my name is the Lord when I tell our enemies that they may take our lives, but they'll never take our Independence Day! ::

More on the declaration

:: Matthew Jones from the Guardian writes about Article 18, which protects the right to practice whatever religion we choose. There is another interesting piece about the prevention of Genocide.

:: Jimmy Carter on Obama's Human Rights Opportunity

:: The BBC marks the 60th Anniversary.

60th Anniversary of Human Rights

Today the Universal Declaration of Human Rights turns 60. The declaration codifies what 'the society regards as the basic rights of 'being human'. I am sure we will see more talk about a Bill of Rights for Australia today (see here). The full text of the Declaration is available here.

I would like to see talk of our rights match with talk of our responsibilities - what we are accountable for; rather than what we are entitled too.

"Fair-use" in music...

Joe Satriani has lodged a claim in court that coldplay's song viva la vida 'uses substantial portions of his song If I Could Fly'. If you watch this video you can almost imagine the crowd's response during a joint performance (and Satriani come up at of the stage) - even if it had been modified to maximise the effect.I've always wondered if two people can "come-up-with" the same idea (read chord progression) at the same time. Interestingly enough its the second plagarism claim against Coldplay over Vida la Vida - have all three songs borrowed from somewhere else...

Red Pens and bubble wrap

I read with interest a piece about a new kit that was being handed around to schools in Queensland, and how to work with the children inclassroom - some of the points the kits made was that teachers should stop using "aggressive" red pens; as red is considered too confrontational, and teachers should leave wrong answers blank, as marking it wrong would have hurt the child's confidence. (more about this kit, and self esteem in education is here).

There's something flawed about wrapping kids in cotton wool, and making life rosey, and painless. I learned more from the comments on essay's which needed work; than that ones which were marked highly. We can't equip students to succeed if we don't allow them to fail.

Some Musical Fun ..

Via a U2 mailing list -- The Wiggles do U2

:: Corrected Link

Australian of the Year

So, I am not sure who the other nominations are, but I think Glen McGrath would be close to a 'safe' bet for Australian of the Year. Glen McGrath, AM was announced as the award recipient for New South Wales, and therefore a nominee for the national award -- we'll see though.

2008 -- Musically Speaking

Was thinking a little about the music this year. It's been a quieter year for me ... here's the CD's I've bought (released in 2008) this year:

Laura Marling (Alas I Cannot Swim), Conor Oberst (Conor Oberst), Martha Wainwright (I Know You're Married But I Have Feelings Too), Colm Mac Con Iomaire (The Hare's Corner), Lara Goudie (Out of the Depths), Sigur Ros (with a buzz in our ears we play endlessly), Andrew Osenga - Letters to the Editor II, Jon Foreman (Fall, Winter, Spring, Summer - EPs).

And as per usual, live CD's are ineligible for my end-of-year-list - if they were, The Swell Season would be shoe-ins. (thanks to Played Last Night.Com, the site from which The Swell make recordings of their concerts available). The one omission which will be on the list is Coldplay's Viva La Vida, though I will try and buy that soon.

I am also moderately keen to listen to the most recent CDs from R.E.M., Tim Finn, Belle and Sebastian and the Fleet Foxes (though I'm not sure what they will be like). I'm also keen to hear R.E.M.'s re-issued Murmur (with a concert from 1983).

Coffee and Community...

A few bits and pieces I saw this week...

:: This article complete with abstract coffee art is great..

:: On Twitter, and knowing//sharing..

:: Here's a dictionary to decipher Facebook status updates.

Grammys -- In Rainbows

I was intrigued to look through the Grammy Nominations today -- while everyone might be talking about Coldplay's seven; I was quite taken by fact that Radiohead (In Rainbows) got five. Radiohead were nominated in the below categories (and Nigel Godrich was nominated in the Producer of the Year category):

:: Album Of The Year
:: Best Alternative Music Album
:: Best Rock Song (for House of Cards)
:: Best Rock Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocals (for House of Cards)
:: Best Boxed Or Special Limited Edition Package

Will be interesting to see how they go.