mountain masala

college stuff

apart from being only half-working for the past week because I buggered my back somewhat, I've been flat out at college. apart from coming back after a 6 month break (!), and the usual startup of the year, we've taken over the Uniting Church's national distance education program, and a lot of the changeover work has yet to happen! plus the college is changing its name and focus as part of the synod's strategic plan, so there's a lot of activity leading up to a launch in a few weeks time. did I also mention a new college website that we're supposedly launching at the end of next week.... and, err...., some overdue work on the ministry of pastor... etc, etc...

so it's all happening. my plans for a weekly study day are currently out the window, and I'm postponing my PhD application until at least April, perhaps mid-year. a couple of writing projects to do in the meantime.

I'll post some of the college promo stuff soon so you can see it.

the new college name seems better with the logo....

decent posts with some content with resume shortly!

garageband noodling

garageband loop thing I threw together for the outro music for our Big Year Out promo video last year (some of the levels don't seem quite right in this mix....). this stuff is a lot of fun.

Download Byo-promo-outro

Pete's nice logo animation with me trying a "Lovers Electric" song intro with it. Their second single is out. Great to hear them being played on "so you think you can dance" and to see their TV performance as part of the Australia Day concert at parliament house. Great job Pete.

Download BYO Clip

bought a small behringer audio mixer and i'm trying to set up my home studio a bit better.  i really need some studio monitors as headphones and my acoustic amp don't really cut it. this week I'm joining a band for the first time in several years - well, a trio - so I'm hoping to get to use the computer as well as the stringed instruments, harmonicas, melodica, hand percussion. sean (gilbert - for those who know!), the main guy, is a songwriter, and they already play all the folky stuff that I like, so its a great match for me. plus I'm hoping to use those new FX pedals with the telecaster. woo hoo!

the band doesnt have a name... my last band was "the dead set chick magnets"... (thanks to jon nichol for that affirmation!)

Demetri Martin creates a 224-word palindrome poem

224-word palindrome poem

apology

I re-read my earlier post about seeking to understand firebugs rather than condemning. I'd like to take that back. I think that people should feel justifiably furious, angry, vengeful etc about ill-considered actions of fire-lighters and their horrendous consequences. some such people do have mental health issues, others undoubtedly act out of misguided but nevertheless fully-conscious choice.

and at this point, people need spaces to vent their fury, despair, and grief, not be told to 'understand'.

we have watched for days to hear the fate of good friends in victoria, and still offer our prayers for them, and for all those suffering and grieving.

forgive me for standing back and offering advice about the bigger picture. the media swarm has taken over that task anyway. i have no desire to add to that. this is appalling, complex, devastating.

the local newspapers here in adelaide said that if the same thing happened here, 300 people (or was it homes?) would be gone in the first hour. in a sense they're not scare-mongering (in another sense, of course they are!) i was at the supermarket and the young woman on the checkout wanted to talk about it, and how she'd have to stay and defend her house because the roads out weren't straight and were all tree-lined. the trauma and drama and possibility is in the air all around these parts as well.

comparing drugs

well I couldnt think of a post title! a week ago I tried to get a table out of our shed, and it was a bit stuck, and I broke many of the major rules of lifting things in the process. so I've had a crap back for a week. I've tried to defy its demands by sitting up and working, going to college, even playing at a church harvest festival on sunday in the "von mitchell" family band.

i have found it impossible to lie down while awake for more than an hour.... (although a long sleep is no problem!). the worst part has been working out how to compute while horizontal.

finally off to the doctor tomorrow.

yes I've been comparing drugs to see what works best, but I'd better hear the docs opinion tomorrow before I give you unsolicited advice.

new music

just downloaded my new music for the month from emusic.com. as usual I've trawled the music mags reading up on new CDs, and gone to see if emusic has anything that sounds interesting. (and some older stuff to).

"as is now" - paul weller - the modfather gets rocky
"a fourth spatial dimension" - stella polaris - electronic compilation
"plague songs" - a compilation of songs about each of the exodus plagues! - with eno, imogen heap, rufus wainwright and more!
"crossing the field" - jenny scheinman - jazz
"house with no home" - horse feathers - alt folky stuff
"eingya" - helios - great ambient soundscapes
"corduroy road" - goldmund - same guy as above -  more ambient piano stuff, think harold budd
"19" - adele - you know - duffy, gabrielle, amy.......

go check out helios and goldmund on itunes!

mental health and random acts

from interstate we don't comprehend the devastation of the fires here. we have many friends who have been too, too close to the flames. and we've lived in or been to too many towns that have been threatened or are now decimated.

the weather here in the Adelaide Hills last Saturday was as bad as it was in Victoria. These hills that have seen an "ash wednesday" could have easily been the same, and we have reflected on how easily the flames could have swept down the hill above us into our country town.

i can't comprehend nor easily forgive the actions of firebugs. people say that they're mad or crazy, and I have little doubt that to act in such a way is a sign of mental ill-health. i don't have any first-hand experience of this issue or these people. i hope that as a community we will try to understand what leads to these actions.

now is not the time, because many are grieving and angry. yet I hope that there might be a space to find answers rather than condemn.

pete's staying home

i should have reported by now that pete rollins won't be here in may. the man has no less than 3 books happening and those US publishers want his flesh, so he's doing regular book speaking tours in the US. (he was there for 6 weeks when I was there for 4 weeks. of course, I thought he was keith urban, but that's another story!).

more seriously, pete is flat out and not surprisingly needs to live in his home country occasionally.

I'm working on a possible replacement for may and will advise you all very soon.

no island

i havent blogged about the fires and floods. everyone is. so many friends and strangers east and north of here. we've been checking on them. mind-boggling. blog-mindling. (?) I don't have more to say. i just keep thinking of elijah in the cave after the holocaust, wondering in the silence if there is a god. and having to wait.

(i just found out that cheryl has used that same wondering in her worship reflections here.)

you have to go see the short film winner of new york tropfest, "mankind is no island" (yes, apparently in the US we're still all men..... at least we're not all white men!).

great clip. filmed entirely on a mobile phone.  and more importantly a springboard idea. send out that youth group with a camera!!!

although I have to say that I'd rather see a movie that engaged the issue rather than one that simply filmed advertisements. wouldn't you?

ocean without a shore

when we were in melbourne I spent some time at the national gallery of victoria (NGV)and the australian centre for the moving image (ACMI).The NGV has an installation of bill viola's work 'Ocean without a Shore' running for 12 months. for the uninitiated, bill viola is a world-renowned multimedia, video and installation artist and I plan to reference his work in my PhD thesis.

'ocean without a shore' was created for the 2008 venice bienniale. the piece was originally presented in a centuries old chapel above three altars. at the NGV it is in a darkened room on three walls. each of the three screens features a succession of people who appear and disappear, in ultra-slow motion (as is viola's signature). apparently there are 14 hours of video.

see images here.

the figures represent ghosts, or the dead, they walk slowly as shadowy figures towards some kind of barrier (which turns out to be a sheet of water - another viola signature). they push through the water and appear in full view, drenched and dripping, gazing in slow motion with varied expression, and then, with individuality, turn and leave.