Posts by Heather Gaye

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  • Hard News: A revolting piece of shit,

    @Robbie pfff! Actually, the more I think about it the more the metaphor works, but not with Canadia. Also, series 4 is the best to date.

    American shows have always been big into renegades fighting against The Establishment as a desirable archetype (and as America's perception of itself), but given Dexter's near-perpetual mental torment, fear of being discovered, & overtly questionable moral code (one he even questions himself) I think this show is further from that ideal than pretty much any other mainstream american personality-cult on TV.

    Morningside • Since Nov 2006 • 533 posts Report

  • Hard News: A revolting piece of shit,

    @Robbie, so who does Lundy represent?

    Morningside • Since Nov 2006 • 533 posts Report

  • Hard News: A revolting piece of shit,

    @Stephen no, that was just a bonus

    Morningside • Since Nov 2006 • 533 posts Report

  • Hard News: A revolting piece of shit,

    RE: other "good" tv shows vs this vid. I was originally going to compare this vid (unfavourably) to Dexter until I realised that it's nothing like Dexter, except for the presence of a guy with a knife.

    Those using the phrase "within context" are touching on what I think the difference is. What makes Dexter good isn't that it's got stabbings, but that it's a thought experiment. The premise is "within the context of our most fundamental legal and moral structure, if a man has these overpowering immoral desires and lacked the conscience to tether them, what environment and behaviour would be required for him to function as a normal human being, and what might be the outcome?". I find that supremely fascinating. Obviously the writer was going for some shock value - the book/show didn't become Big Love - & I wholeheartedly endorse a person's choice to avoid the show based on its depictions of violence, but I believe in the exploration of uncomfortable visceral and emotional terrain for the sake of challenging thought processes - particularly the ones that are so ingrained we don't even realise they're there.

    The premise of the dirty sesh vid is to show someone getting murdered.

    Morningside • Since Nov 2006 • 533 posts Report

  • Hard News: A revolting piece of shit,

    OT, but on the subject of "groundbreaking"... if you haven't already heard about this viral, check it out. Something genuinely beautiful & creepy, for the feminists & those not partial to Lady Gaga. Watch all the vids, in order. Google iamamiwhoami and you'll find a stack of crazies insisting that it's definitely christina aguilera (it's not, obviously), and somewhere, someone that's done some great work deciphering the series as the birth of a mandrake.

    Morningside • Since Nov 2006 • 533 posts Report

  • Hard News: A revolting piece of shit,

    ...oh, just realised that my Jesus Jones nostalgia trip had been triggered by intermittent exposure that marker pen ad that just came on..

    Morningside • Since Nov 2006 • 533 posts Report

  • Hard News: A revolting piece of shit,

    Luddite Journo described the vid as "triggering" which is wholly apt. I like plenty of controversial stuff based on whether it challenges my thinking, or makes me laugh uncomfortably, but this vid isn't clever, or funny, or remotely original, it's just horrible. It seems like someone with no imagination ripped off Saw, sans the twist at the end that apparently justified the means (disclaimer: never saw Saw, just a single scene when my flatmate rented it that made me feel sick). Even beyond that, the music gives a very blasé treatment to the whole video which makes it even worse.

    For those curious & tossing up whether to watch, maybe this will satisfy your curiosity without requiring you to bleach your brain (much):
    SPOILER ALERT
    Mix of two songs: first song (he's rapping about how he's got a stack of screws loose & should either kill himself or a few more women or something), a guy in a black hood repeatedly stabs a young struggling woman behind clear plastic curtains, and there's a montage of graphic photos of mutilated female bodies. Then the song changes and we get a storyline of same girl & her boyfriend having a picnic, bf investigates a hooded figure, disappears, girl gets scared, stops a passing car, guy takes her to his house to use his (disconnected) phone, re-appears in black hood. The final shot is after the music ends: the girl is screaming and being dragged into a back room by her hair.

    The "soft" version excludes the prefixed song with all the stabbing and the end bit with the girl screaming. It's still misogynistic, but I can imagine it getting airplay after the watershed.
    END OF SPOILER

    FWIW: To my knowledge, the selection process for funding is based entirely on the quality of the track (for the NZOA-mandated definition of quality - note that their job is to get kiwi acts on commercial stations). NZOA listens to all the submitted songs back to back with no background notes, and make a shortlist. Then basically commercial station reps feed back whether/which songs they'd play on their station, and that feedback is used to determine the final funding decision. "Forever", the main track is relatively innocuous (particularly compared to the prefix song in the longer video), and suitably commercial, so I'm not surprised it got funded. File under Definitely Not My Cuppa Tea.

    Yeesh, usually I'm defending NZOA when they "overlook" a worthy band... speaking of which, one thing Robbie did get right: Homebrew are awesome.

    ...and on that note, an ad for the RWC just came on with The Feelers singing Right Here Right Now. Curiously enough, this thread's the first I heard of that song selection, but in a fit of nostalgia I bought Jesus Jones' Doubt last week. Feelers != the awesomeness that is Jesus Jones.

    Morningside • Since Nov 2006 • 533 posts Report

  • Up Front: Do My Homework For Me,

    Bull... I spend half my waking hours examining, cutting apart, putting together, removing or rearranging female reproductive organs... Women don't ejaculate

    "I was hacking away at her g-spot for hours, & she never came once"

    PS @ George Darroch - heh - "mainstream"

    Morningside • Since Nov 2006 • 533 posts Report

  • Hard News: Hell's Bells,

    RE: Laneway. I was in a bad mood anyway, the line-up was ace, but britomart must be the single worst venue for an outdoor gig ever conceived; wind tunnel & echo chamber; and there was no space to just sit. Maybe if they'd predicted the obvious problems with trying to overlap bands, they could've just put the two stages together at one end, BDO style, & had more empty space that was clear from stage/audience, thoroughfare & food queues, and that would've been much more pleasant; especially if they'd been able to provide some kind of extra seating. I felt like a fucken hobo sitting on the asphalt. Also, I thought it was pretty weird to need a couple of security guards whose sole job appeared to be trying to convince people to stop standing on the britomart skylights.

    Food (don't get me started on the "burger" I had): they'd made it explicit in the FAQs that there would be substantial food, including vegetarian options, but I thought those options were pretty bloody sparse. Then I got a lovely belgian waffle on a paper plate with plastic cutlery, but the only place I could find to eat it without making a big mess of myself & my paper plate was on the ground. See "fucken hobo", above. Again, maybe by adjusting their floor plan they could've fit in a couple of extra caravans as well as some tables (that is, if space was the determining factor for their lack of food options).

    I couldn't for the life of me grok the liquor voucher thing; apparently it turned out to be the swiz it seemed, so I'm thankful I didn't bother.

    I'm perfectly ok with the idea that every festival's going to have teething problems, but I think someone didn't anticipate the extra work that'd be needed to make it a pleasant, workable space. Compare it to gigs at Albert park or Myers park - I just find them a whole lot less claustrophobic.

    That said, I seem to be the only person complaining about the echo chamber & the poor use of space & sitting on the asphalt, so it's possible I was just in a worse mood than even I realised.

    Morningside • Since Nov 2006 • 533 posts Report

  • Hard News: Be the party of good science,

    ...more reputable source.

    It's official.

    *coff*

    Morningside • Since Nov 2006 • 533 posts Report

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