Hard News by Russell Brown

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Hard News: Some time last week

43 Responses

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  • giovanni tiso, in reply to Robyn Gallagher,

    It's hard work, but it's paying off.

    Fantastic.

    Wellington • Since Jun 2007 • 7473 posts Report Reply

  • Andre Alessi, in reply to Robyn Gallagher,

    There are always going to be people who are genuinely distressed when a site changes its design, more due to the fact that it's changed, that it's different, not familiar, and they have to get to know it all over again.

    I was a regular on Fark when they rolled out what they thought was a relatively minor design change to the threads (basically tidying up the look of posts and threads a bit, and adding in some functionality that had previously only been available via 3rd party Firefox addons.)

    The outcry was immense, and completely disproportionate to the changes made, but things weren't helped when one of the admins posted "You'll get over it."

    Some folks are still bitter about that (though personally I found the whole thing funny.)

    Devonport, New Zealand • Since Nov 2006 • 864 posts Report Reply

  • Robyn Gallagher, in reply to giovanni tiso,

    And no, I'm not "really upset".

    Sorry, I didn't mean to imply that was a description of you.

    Since Nov 2006 • 1946 posts Report Reply

  • Lyndon Hood,

    quite another to have the technique and emotional intelligence to hold 300 people in a public square with nothing more than her voice and a battered ukulele.

    Agreed. She and Jason Webley both left me with the impression they’ve had plenty of practise playing unruly spaces. And I could hear her at the back. An interestingly old-school set of skills for an internet celebrity.

    Incidentally, if I have this right Amanda Palmer was in Iceland for the volcano, Australia for the floods and New Zealand for the earthquake. (There may have been another one on the list.)

    Jason Webley was in Christchurch. If you heard him in the square this pic seems kind of blackly droll http://twitpic.com/42o2e8 .

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 1115 posts Report Reply

  • Gareth Ward, in reply to Russell Brown,

    How can you be angry at a whale?

    I've always thought Captain Ahab would appreciate the linkage of white whale to failure...

    Auckland, NZ • Since Mar 2007 • 1727 posts Report Reply

  • Bart Janssen, in reply to giovanni tiso,

    Or is any change a good change?

    I'm with Gio on this. I could care less about how twitter looks and so in this case the design matters not a whit to me.

    But as the place I have worked in has evolved from a research institute that mostly just did science into a business that ... er ... well does something ... I've seen our "design staff" change everything about how we are presented. It seems very much as though every new set of managers needs to "change the look".

    I love design when it affects and responds to function. I love design when it genuinely changes the way people feel (which could be argued as function anyway). I hate design when it is simply about changing regularly because each new designer needs to make their point.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 4461 posts Report Reply

  • Russell Brown, in reply to Lyndon Hood,

    Agreed. She and Jason Webley both left me with the impression they’ve had plenty of practise playing unruly spaces. And I could hear her at the back. An interestingly old-school set of skills for an internet celebrity

    And yet, as I said, very well-suited to the new world of flashmobs and ninja gigs. She's really expert at making things happen around her.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report Reply

  • recordari, in reply to Peter Darlington,

    Opened my eyes to his much wider than anticipated influences.

    If you want some 'influences' off the new album, open a link to 'Bloom', and then open one to Pharoah Saunders 'The creator has a master plan'. Might be just me, but if I knew how, I'd be making a remix.

    AUCKLAND • Since Dec 2009 • 2607 posts Report Reply

  • andin,

    'Map of Tasmania'
    That is a good song.

    raglan • Since Mar 2007 • 1891 posts Report Reply

  • Jackie Clark, in reply to andin,

    Thanks for reminding me to get it off itunes. That'll do nicely when I go walking tomorrow as one of my "dance like no-one's watching" tracks. Actually, there you go Christchurchians. Want a little giggle? Think of me at 6.30 tomorrow morning dancing along Dominion Rd with CeeLo Green and Amanda Palmer providing part of the soundtrack. Well, them, and quite a lot of Earth, Wind and Fire.

    Mt Eden, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 3136 posts Report Reply

  • SteveH, in reply to Jackie Clark,

    Thanks for reminding me to get it off itunes.

    Instead of paying Apple for it, why not get it here: http://music.amandapalmer.net/album/amanda-palmer-goes-down-under
    $.69 USD plus whatever you feel like paying. For the entire album.

    Since Sep 2009 • 444 posts Report Reply

  • Jackie Clark, in reply to SteveH,

    Thanks Steve, but I already paid $1.79 for it. All good.

    Mt Eden, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 3136 posts Report Reply

  • George Darroch,

    And yet, as I said, very well-suited to the new world of flashmobs and ninja gigs. She's really expert at making things happen around her.

    The best people make things happen in every circumstance.

    I kicked back against the Palmer hype in my internet with friends in Australia telling me about their insanely amazing musical-outing/hot-tub Palmer experiences (narrated by AP herself ), until I actually saw a little. She's good at what she does.

    WLG • Since Nov 2006 • 2264 posts Report Reply

  • Russell Brown,

    Thanks for reminding me to get it off itunes.

    Nooo!!

    Buy it direct from Amanda via Bandcamp, where she lets you name your price and most of it goes to her.

    ETA: SteveH, snap.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report Reply

  • Craig Ranapia,

    Manda Paler was fascinating -- and she asks a really good question about the "performative" nature of creative people on social media. There's an interesting case study in her own life: Her husband, Neil Gaiman, recently marked his 11th anniversary as a blogger -- which started out with a fascinating behind the curtain record of how American Gods was put together. But for a man who, fairly or not, gets snarked for being incapable of taking a crap without Tweeting and live blogging, there was some genuine surprise on the internet when it came out that he and Palmer had (IIRC) been dating for several months and it had been quite a while since Gaiman quietly dissolved his first marriage..

    North Shore, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 12370 posts Report Reply

  • Jackie Clark, in reply to Russell Brown,

    Oh well, never mind. And meanwhile, enjoy giving your pepeha at the wedding today.

    Mt Eden, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 3136 posts Report Reply

  • tim kong,

    Just wanted to follow up on Robyn's post about the http://eq.org.nz project.

    It's been amazing to be a part of something really powerful and scarily scattered. Yet at its simplest level, it's caring people doing really cool shit.

    There's a number of KiwiFoo folk in there, but volunteers from Switzerland, Buenos Aires, Australia and Chch itself are all doing work where they can.

    It is making a difference - my parents used it to check which roads were blocked, and the Volunteer Student Army are using the data to actively help people on the ground.

    How eq.org.nz came about is a brief overview of the people and talent involved. And the timeframe, is just crazy.

    There's a John Cage quote that I like - it's Rule 10 from Sister Corita's Rules - that are stuck above my desk.

    “We’re breaking all of the rules, even our own rules and how do we do that? By leaving plenty of room for X quantities.” - John Cage

    This event has shown that new rules, new thinking, new ways of doing and connecting around our country and world can make change and make a difference. The eq.org.nz project has had plenty of room for X - and the X is all of us.

    If you're one of the volunteers - many thanks - if you'd like to help out - please check http://volunteer.eq.org.nz

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 153 posts Report Reply

  • Sacha, in reply to tim kong,

    Thanks, Tim. Really glad you ran with the full Foo experience too.

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report Reply

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