Lost Valentinos – Midnights (The Emperor Machine Remix)

Amazing 13 minute remix.

Lost Valentinos – Midnights (The Emperor Machine Remix) [audio:http://www.plasmoandtheinfinitesadness.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/lost-valentinos-midnights-the-emperor-machine-remix.mp3%5D

Part 2 makes me prance around like a faery, thinking that I’m in a skin-tight glitter outfit and having that vertigo feeling you get from being stuck in time on the Tardis (because I totally have).

P.S. I want to go do my grocery shopping in this outfit.

Japanese monkey suits - the recommended workwear for voice actors.
Japanese monkey suits - the recommended workwear for voice actors.

Australia’s Public Health System

There is a lot of media attention surrounding Australia’s deteriorating public health system. Stories like this appear in the papers regularly.

No cause has really struck a chord with me as much as this one. Besides fighting homophobia, because I’m tired of people treating gay people like they have a disease. If they did, they would bend metal objects and kick your ass anyway.

Don't ask me how I went from the Australian public healthy system to Ian Mckellen. Any excuse for a gorgeous picture of him up!
Don't ask me how I went from the Australian public healthy system to Ian Mckellen. Any excuse for a gorgeous picture of him up!

I think I might be dedicating my free time to campaigning for a better Australian public health system. A good start would be that I understand the system and get some objective data on it.

A Snippet of 90s Electro

I had a hankering for old 90s ambient electro. This stuff really does set a standard for music these days. The vocal samples used for The Orb‘s Little Fluffy Clouds is brilliant. The video for Papua New Guinea is just plain hectic. And the juxtaposition of the quieter Aphex Twin sounds and real-live footage of people falling to their deaths and general mayhem is quite… shocking.

If you’re normally not into this genre, this would be a good way to start. If not for the music, then for your curious minds craving something different.

Too many youtube + music posts lately. But it’s probably the only thing worth noting. If there is a time capsule buried somewhere from the 90s, it would be for the extraordinary contemporary music culture it has created. Alternative rock becomes more prolific, popular music groups for the more business-savvy and the increased accessiblility  of computers opened a floodgate to creating new electro sounds. It really is another age of experimentation.

My Bloody Valentine – To Here Knows When Live @ Fuji Rock 08

Headlining the Green stage at last year’s Fuji Rock Festival.

A music genre cut short by the rise of grunge (Nirvana) and Britpop/ rock (Oasis, Blur). Nevertheless, it has withstood the passage of time and is now experiencing a revival through the likes of bands such as M83 and Asobi Seksu.

Notes: 26/3 – 8/4

I went on a 12-day business adventure in Melbourne and Brisbane, covering mainly Pinin’s convention campaigns and understanding tokidoki a bit better as part of my potential agency work.

Just some notes:

  • A great start to seeing potential in volunteers and staff for sales roles is how they say hi back to you and giving them a quick sum to do. For example, I asked a girl is she could add seven and five. Her answer was thirteen. Therefore, she was not considered.
  • Don’t use young kids.  Because that screams child labour. Don’t use old asian men either. Because that screams creepy paedophile.
  • Attention to detail can be the difference in making budget,  such as more appropriate merchandising, signages and staff training.
  • Salesmanship is a craft; dare I say, an art form.
  • Buff aussie men + cat ears = good!
  • Being an equal-opportunity employer who employs all races is a good feeling.
  • Setting a goal to meet one new person each time you are out is crucial. Always bring a smile, a business card and nothing else.

Easy way out

I wish there was a 7-day gap where I can think about nothing but the best music, my favourite friends, easy cigarettes, yummy food, endless drinks and mind-bending toys. I was thinking of this in the context of ‘avoiding the relentless amount of work thrown at my face‘, but at this very second, I realised: can’t I do that as part of my work?

For the past 5-10 years, all the cliched, formulated plots in anime really contributed to my jadedness and Sid’s resentment of otakus. Then I saw Cromartie High, and then I was reminded why I got into Anime in the first place. Everything I like about it is because of that Japanese sense of humour which you can’t find elsewhere.

Is this the best time for small companies to recruit?

Well, the economy wasn’t as strong as it used to be. This means that companies are cutting back on staff, which means that more people, especially young and less-experienced ones, may miss out on getting jobs.

Does this mean this is the best time for small companies to recruit? That there are more bright minds out there in the job market then there either will be, who may be willing to work for less to seek potential opportunities within growing companies?

I’m sometimes overwhelmed by the possible prospects if the strengths of all the bright minds in my industry got together, it can create something pretty phenomenal in Australia. Now I feel slightly uneasy as this thinking may be an insult to the founding fathers of capitalism.

One of the largest things holding back one of my projects is the inability to recruit, attract or keep excellent staff. My business colleagues are suffering the same problems as well , and I think it’s one of those things that all businesses need to take into account. It also doesn’t help that the market in which my company caters for does not attract the brightest of young people (and if they are bright, they move on very, very quickly). It is rather frustrating. It makes me wonder if I should join them and move onto something else.