Unlike most of my friends at primary school, I was banned from watching TV in the morning when I was younger. Dad used to yammer on about how watching TV encouraged the propagation of alpha waves within the brain (which is scientifically sound), leading to a lower conscious state, making learning more difficult, especially during morning classes. Whether this is a load of shit or not, I grew up with extremely limited access (holidays and when I was being very sneaky) to morning cartoons like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Samurai Pizza Cats, Inspector Gadget or the greatest of them all – Transformers. So when Hannah invited me last week to a opening night screening of the new Transformers movie, I was ambivalent about the whole prospect, considering I was never a massive fan of the series, but that ambivalence upset me quite a lot – I should have been bouncing off the walls in anticipation!

Anyway I dragged myself along this evening. I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect, but all things considered, it’s quite a good film. I mean, it certainly beats the crap out of Pirates 3 and the second Fantastic Four film (the two other movies I’ve seen this week). Just the right levels of corniness, a lot of sentimentality and a solid two hours of machines beating the shit out of each other while trashing desert landscapes, the Hoover dam and what looks like downtown Los Angeles. All in all, the perfect robot movie.

So, the movie released in Australia, New Zealand and the Philippines today, will open in the US on July 3, and the UK July 28. Coming from a non-fan, its pretty bloody good – I can pretty much guarantee you won’t hate it. Oh and yay for Australia getting something first!

Pete

This evening I have discovered the essence of awesomeness. I’ve been working all day, and got home at about 5 to plonk my feet up and watch a bit of mindless telly, when what should I see but a promo for the first day of competition at Wimbledon, which starts tonight. Having spent the last month freaking out about exams, and in particular the last week, the passing of Roland Garros and the traditional leadups to Wimbledon (Queens, Nottingham, Ordina) has attracted little attention from myself. It doesn’t help that free-to-air TV in Australia only really the grand slams, and has dumped Roland Garros in recent years anyway. Anyway the result is that Wimbledon has snuck up on me this year, and I couldn’t be happier.

Giggedy.

Pete

Including this post, there have been 891 various sized rants and raves in this blog, which is an average of 0.48 posts a day – close enough to one every two days. Of course in recent years it’s become a lot less often than that, but in the good ol’ days while I was burning off teenage angst I would post each and every day, or close enough to it. Ahh those were the days.

So to celebrate this milestone there will be a party game for anyone willing. If you have a bit of time up their sleeves (you’re reading this blog, of course you do) see if you can dig up these posts I’ve listed as sort of ‘highlights’. Think of it like a less fun ‘Where’s Wally?’. Bonus points if you don’t use the search function.

- Collapsing in the kitchen after a formal, spinning mum into a 6 month frenzy over illicit drugs;
- A single post containing three photos of a glistening, muscle ripped Pete fresh out of a pool in year 12;
- Being held up by three African kids with knives in Cape Town;
- The releases of two (almost three) Harry Potter books;
- The night Australia made it into last year’s soccer World Cup Finals;
- Comparisons of hair volume throughout the years;
- An attack of Bush’s Iraq War that was spookily prophetic and absurdly wrong at the same time;
- A brilliantly drawn cat enclosure decorated in pink and green.

If you can get all of those (especially without cheating) you are impressive, although you clearly have too much time on your hands.

Anyway happy birthday, old chap – I’ve got to head out and drink to your health.

Pete

I have an unnatural obsession with several women around the world. Actually I should really clarify that – I sound like a stalker. There are several female celebrities out there in celebland that I find particularly intriguing, interesting, and attractive, even though they are not classically beautiful by long shots. One of them I have written about before – Katy Steele from Little Birdy. She’s not terribly attractive, has that arrogant rockchick way about her, looks like a dick whenever she’s on TV, and comes from Perth, but she holds a special place in my heart. Another one is Drew Barrymore. Although she is admittedly better looking than Katy, her performances (which I have seen most of thanks to Kel, my Drew-buddy who agrees to appear like she’s dragging me along to films to ensure I’m not actually seen going to chick flicks on my own volition) are by and large not exactly Oscar winning material, even though she apparently commands one of the highest per-film salary for Hollywood actresses. Money aside, I still find her incredibly attractive, for no real discernible reason.

A third example of this odd phenomenon going on in my brain is the attraction towards Meg White of the White Stripes. I know even less about her than the other two, due to her extraordinarily private nature, but something about her (particularly when she’s behind a drum kit, which is fortunate) is incredibly attractive.

Wait for it…… waaaait. SEGUE!

I remember the first White Stripes video I saw, the Lego based ‘Fell in Love with a Girl‘ in 2002 (which I am aware makes me a bit of a bandwagon fan of theirs) and from that moment I knew the quirky, lo-fi, grungey music they produced would go a long way.

Now, five years after I first remember noticing the band (and apparently ten years since formation), the White Stripes have released their sixth album. The result, at least from a first listen is pretty damn impressive. Apparently recorded in three weeks (the longest time taken for the White Stripes), and still true to the bands form, using analog recording methods to acheive that lofi sound they are renowned for. There’s no piano, which disappointed me a little, but bagpipes peep in during ‘Prickly Thorn…’, and the gutar riffs – oh my dear lord – are so incredible that they are almost too much, at least for the first part of the album.

It really is amazing just how much sound can be squeezed out of a guitar, a drum kit and minimalistic post-production. If this doesn’t bring widespread popularity for the White Stripes, then the majority of this world is simply missing out. On grannytunes today is the 2nd track from the album, ‘You Don’t Know What Love Is (You Just Do As You’re Told)’. Although its fairly run-of-the-mill song for most of it, the guitar solo at the end is utterly beautiful. It helps that the song itself is also quite decent, if not a bit country in places.

Pete

Just as a side note, I have my final exam tomorrow so the flow of entries here may dry up somewhat as I cease needing to waste time procrastinating. Then again it may not, I have a bit of a habit of erratic posting, so much so that it confuses even me.

This next week promises to be a big’un. I turn 22 on Tuesday, which pushes me that bit closer to being an adult old man. Then I have my final exam for the semester on Wednesday, which is just perfectly timed to effectively rule out any birthday shenanigans, replaced by hard study. However, perhaps the most impressive anniversary during the next week is the celebration of this very blog’s own 5th birthday, on Saturday night to be precise.

Now I don’t know about you, but without trying to gloat I’m not aware of too many personal blogs lasting longer than a few months. It seems that sometimes the pettiness and pride of the owners catches up with them, or the lustre of keeping what is in essence a very public diary vanishes after a couple of weeks, or alternately the bloggers themselves ‘grow up’ and out of the angsty teenage crap that most blogs around the place seem to be chock full of. Then of course there’s the perpetual fear of ‘real’ friends stumbling over your blog, which makes the whole experience less enjoyable and must push many people away from writing. Regardless of the reasons, most people I know who have attempted to keep a blog have stopped well short of five years. So, am I shameless? Do I not care what people think of me? Have I failed to grow up?

In what seemed like an intensely introspective entry a couple of weeks ago, long time friend and fellow blogger (and Melbournian!) Nadine made the realisation that although she has occasionally considered closing down her own blog, the reason she persists is for the memories – as a kind of investment of sorts. Although I do share this sentiment, I feel that blogging is also therapeutic. I’ve always been a scientist of sorts, and although I enjoyed the ‘softer’ literature, humanities and arts subjects at school, the opportunity to express my creative side was never truly realised, and certainly not now at university. So not only can I look back on these entries (embarrassing as they may be) in years to come, the investment in time and effort also pays off now – the blog allows me to write, something which I enjoy, but I wouldn’t otherwise do.

There are other benefits as well. I have no doubt that maintaining the site has increased my written eloquence, something that surely contributes to the high scores I seem able to pluck out of my arse when it comes to writing essays – I passed 2nd year Anatomy without turning up to a assessment task worth 20%, due to a spectacular 2500 word paper on Colles’ fractures, that was prepared in a single night.

Right, now I am just bragging. Time to wrap it up. Happy birthday dialagranny.com (or more specifically PETEblog, as egotistical as the name is). Here’s to another five years.

Pete

I spent Saturday night at home this week. I can’t say I’m disappointed either – I am now that little bit more prepared for my exam on Wednesday, I saved money, but most importantly I caught a ripper movie on SBS.

Jeux d’enfants (Games of Children), or the English title ‘Love Me if You Dare’ is a 2003 French film based on the dysfunctional relationship between childhood best friends Julien and Sophie. The two meet as outcasts at school, and start a game based around out-daring each other. This includes releasing the handbrake on a schoolbus, peeing on the floor of the headmaster’s office while being reprimanded, wearing superman style underwear-on-the-outside for a maths exam, dressing colourfully and singing gaily during a funeral, etcetera. As the two grow up, the childish games continue, but deeper feelings predictably enter the mix, however the line between real life and game blurs with neither brave enough to confront the other directly.

The genre of the film is difficult to pick. It’s got the hallmarks of a romantic comedy, but with dark edges. The writing is good, soundtrack well picked, production values surprisingly good, and overall watchability very high. It also helps that the actor playing Sophie has the balance perfectly struck between serious acting prowess and understated good looks. Anyway if you get a chance, I can highly recommend the film, if not for the story itself then for the very cool, swankified version of Edith Piaf’s ‘La Vie en Rose’ by French pop star Zazie.

Maybe I should immerse myself more in French cinema.

Pete

Not exactly what I was hoping for when I set out for a night at the footy this evening. Bad, no, TERRIBLE football from a team that has actually shown promise this year and a bloody cold 8 degrees outside with an oppressive fog that just made the evening less bearable. We may have posted a record AFL crowd for the Dome, but what a dull and depressing match to mark the occasion with.

Pete

A few things to get off my chest this evening.

Firstly, Apple’s Safari web browser was released for Windows yesterday. Not sure if I’m a fan yet, because the tabs don’t work as well as firefox’s, my backwards and forwards thumb buttons don’t work (probably more a logitech thing though) and most irritatingly, the google toolbar doesn’t exist, with its pagerank and awesome type-anything-into-the-address-bar-and-it-will-google-search-for-you usability. Oh well, it is only a beta, so maybe Safari will cane it on Windows just like iTunes afterall.

Secondly (and this refers to Formula 1 girlies), Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso seem to be having a bit of a falling out. Hamilton, McLaren’s star recruit won his first race at the Canadian Grand Prix on Sunday, and Alonso is sick of it, claiming that Hamilton is given preferential treatment by McLaren staff. Now I never liked Alonso – he comes across as an arrogant fuck, and he rained on Schumacher’s parade when it came to the German’s retirement last year – but I never picked him to be a selfish, childlike whinger. Hamilton is now 8 points clear of last year’s drivers champion, so he better get used to drivers being better than him (or at least giving him a run for his money), especially now that F1 seems to be levelling the playing field more and more each year.

Thirdly, the space shuttle Atlantis is up at the ISS this week, and apart from a photo in the paper this morning of a Russian, and a couple of split second mentions on the News on Monday night, I haven’t heard jack about it. What’s happening – are people losing interest in the space program now that there have been three missions in a row with no loss of life? When I talked to my little brother about this I was blown away by his response. Not only did he not know about the mission currently underway (I lie, he had heard something about the mission) but he couldn’t give a toss about space at all, much less the ISS or the shuttle program. I was of the understanding that boys of all shapes and sizes were fascinated by (in increasing order of awesomeness): Policemen, dinosaurs, fire and explosions, bodily functions and space. As far as I was concerned those were universal constants. Am I wrong, or is Rich just a poor example of mankind?

Pete

It’s been quite some time since the last odd, strangely captivating Japanese flash game featured here. So it is with great pomp and circumstance that I present – the ladybird merging game!

Click on the lower writing to start. The controls are simple enough – all you need is the left mouse button.

As a side note: while browsing through the archives to find the link to the aforementionedwoman-smashing cyclist Japanese flash game (posted June ’05) I couldn’t resist having a go, and inadvertently smashed my previous record, as well as the records posted by other people in the comments. The new record stands at 5249.55m. Don’t believe me?

Pete

If you ever find yourself sitting on a computer, bored with Facebook or whatever other ultra-cool social networking site you happen to be building status with at the moment, and in need of killing a couple of hours in the name of complete and utter rubbish, look no further than Uncyclopedia. Started as a satirical poke at its grander, more factual cousin wikipedia, uncyclopedia is completely absurd and chock-a-block full of utter bollocks, but is interestingly almost as broad and detailed as its pompous relative. The article on ‘Melbourne‘ currently starts with:

Melbourne (Melburnus planis) is a city in Australia, best known for being the greatest (and flattest, hence planis) city in the entire world. Even more than Greatville, Kentucky. It was founded in 1835 by Batman himself, who bargained with the local Aboriginal leaders and bought all the land in the area, in exchange for three blankets, a handful of beans and a broken iPod. Melbourne is often known as AC/DCburg outside of Australia.

At first a small pastoral settlement, the city boomed when prospectors discovered some chicken nuggets in central Victoria. This triggered a chicken rush, as thousands of hopeful miners descended on the chickenfields from all over the world, hoping for some taste of those secret herbs and spices. Melbourne became one of the largest and wealthiest cities in the world, and was nicknamed Finger Lickin’ Good Melbourne.

Melbourne was the biggest city in Australia for the next 40 years, the nation’s capital for 27 years, and its most important city for 110 years. It even hosted the Olympics first! Then in the 1970s Melbourne got pwned by Sydney. Nobody can understand why, but that bastard Howard probably had something to do with it.

Today, Melbourne is regarded as Australia’s cultural and prostitute capital. In contrast to its showoff, right-wing cousin to the east-northeast, Melbourne lacks any world-famous landmarks and feels unloved, hence the need for a large sex industry. The Shannon Noll classic, But What About Me, saw its greatest success in insecure Melbourne as most Melburnians thought it was about their city and it was proposed as the city anthem. On the plus side, the city does have trams, and it also enjoys low crime rates due to the continuing presence of Batman.

Brilliant. I hold the view that the funniest jokes around always have a grain of truth in them, and its good to see that this holds true with uncyclopedia (The batman reference, goths and emos later in the article etc.). It’d be nice if most of the articles didn’t read as if they were written by 13 year old kids (I’m sure 80% of them were), but then how can you possible manage to attract the anal-retentive editor types that frequent and constantly tidy wikipedia to a satirical encyclopedia? Anyway it’s still a good laugh, and well worth a couple of minutes of your time.

Pete