'Lies', 'Once' and personal clips

Last night I went to see 'Once', I have reviewed it on 'Falling Brick'.
This is a track from the film called 'Lies'.
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This YouTube clip is a scene from the film that particularly touched me. On IMDb I read about the film, it mentioned in the trivia the clip was of the director, John Carney's real girlfriend. This added to the appeal of the film for me. It was a very real and amazing film.

I love to make clips for people I love. I have just finished making one and sent it to Andy in Tasmania. I want to edit it already! Little snippets of our time together through my eyes. He probably hasn't even seen it yet. Lucky he never reads my blog - would blow the surprise.

Last Christmas I made one for Jane and we added a Christmas message to the end of the collage. She lives interstate, so it was fun to do. I love that too. I made one for my Pa's funeral that is particularly special to me. I have promised family members to distribute it to them. I must do that soon.

I started off making them for my homeroom class and giving a copy to each child as a gift for the end of the year. A couple of my year 9s have told me they still watch them and treasure the one I made for them in year 7. They are just really collages of photos and small videos taken with a still camera. The limitation of 30 seconds that my digital camera has, makes for easy editing. I then edit them in Microsoft Movie Maker. As I said, it is a very simple and inexpensive way to give a meaningful gift. Microsoft also have a program called Photo Story, if you only have photos.

This year at school, my digital storytelling class is making a clip for each homeroom. They are doing a great job. Some of them are using Flash and I am getting them to teach me about it as I haven't used it before.

Beautiful World by Colin Hay

I heard this song for the first time today and just loved it. I heard it on a remix (Shift Happens) of that great clip : Did You Know/Shift Happens . For anyone who is interested the original presentation can be accessed at this blog The Fischbowl.


Getting back to Colin Hay, I recognised his voice, which pleased me. When my pa died I listened to his song "Waiting For My Real Life to Begin" over and over. I'm not sure why, I just found it quite soothing and comforting. I guess my pa was always a bit of a dreamer and perhaps it embraced that. This song 'Beautiful World' is lovely.

I showed the clip to my year 9 students today in the Careers class to assist them in thinking about the kinds of jobs that may be available in the future. They responded so well to it, I shared it with my year 9 English class as well. They found it interesting and inspiring.

Big Day Out and holiday stuff....

Tonight I am feeling so very tired. I have to stay up or wake up to attempt to get 'Big Day Out' tickets for my son. We have a little Christmas traditional at stake here. The event has sold out in Sydney, so I need to be on it. 12.01am - is the time the tickets go on sale. Blah!

I booked some flights for my holidays last night. I'm going West to stay with Jane as soon as school closes. Well actually the next day! I'm excited. We've planned a road trip across the Nullabor, so it should be a great adventure.

My friends have been awesome lately. They are always great but I appreciate the way they have stayed in touch and showed a lot of care for me. I have been missing Andy plenty, yet can't complain because he's stayed in touch too.

So tonight, I'll be watching mega episodes of 'Gilmour Girls' and keeping up for the beginning of my Christmas shopping. Blah, it's too early really to even think about that frenzy.

BTW, Jaycee asked about gifts for teachers in a comment last month and I noticed this great post today on one of my favourite blogs Zen Habits:30 Frugal Gift Ideas to Show you appreciate Someone. I looked over the list and rather than reinvent the wheel, I reckon there's some great things listed there. Especially the homemade food stuff. I've had a few students over the years bring in homemade food for me. I've loved it every time and Christmas being what it is with extra visitors and celebrations, there's always room for extra food!

MSN & Joanna Newsom

Years ago (probably 10) I had MSN and I used it occasionally. I found it a little invasive to be honest. The way it would pop up whenever I logged on to the Internet was kind of annoying. My kids used it a lot, so I stopped altogether and when I got my own laptop, I didn't put it on. It was kind of part of the freedom of having my own computer.
I have re-installed it this week. It's changed. It's great!
Finally now I have friends and people I know on MSN that I can chat to with it. I like that. I am not that much into chatting to random people.

I am loving Joanna Newsom this week. Especially this song:

Timmy Curran Download

My younger brother by the same name, Tim, is the music guru in my family. He always puts me on to really good stuff and makes the best CD mixes for all of us for Xmas. He emailed me this great link to Timmy Curran's latest CD, Word of Mouth, which is available on that site for free download. I have listened to it and I like it. Enjoy!

Mr Wong Delivers Prize

I got my black nano iPod today. It's 8 GB! I am thrilled with it. It's my first iPod. I have been happily listening to Kate Bush today among others. Thanks Mister Wong. In case you missed my previous post, Mister Wong is a new bookmarking tool that began in Europe and has recently launched in English speaking countries. I was invited to beta test and won this iPod as a result.

I've found Gnod

Gnod is amazing. I love it. If you click on this image and have a look at the authors on the list, they consist of many that I have read. You can also explore maps of music and films. When you click on another name in the map, it takes you to another map. I would have adored this when I was a kid and ran out of books by my favourite author. The closer the names to one another, the more closely linked they are. This is a great recommendation for when you are looking for something like.....

Joss Stone CD

I just bought a Joss Stone CD that I have been wanting for ages and I can't play it on my computer in Media Player. I don't have any other CD player! What is the point of buying a CD if you can't play it? Grrrrrrr.

So, even though I have the CD, I still have the pleasure of listening to it, to look forward to.

Smiling at This Right Now

Today I have felt very tired. It's a bit of a worry, it's only the first week of the term! I found this popular video and it brought a smile to my face and gave me hope for the future, so I have to share it.

Be Here Now

As Mason Jennings so beautifully sings it in this song. I want to try to be here now a little more. I remember when I first heard this song, driving with Andy in a National Park, somewhere between here and Wollongong. My brother Tim, with his awesome music taste had given it to me for Christmas. I really appreciate Tim's music taste and his selections he gives us all for Christmas.

I found my gratitude rock today and used it. It was given to me by some great kids on camp at Tamboritha last year. I had told them about gratitude rocks, so they found this massive rock and wrote "gratitude rock" on it and gave it to me. It always makes me smile and remember.

I had to go to the drs today and whilst I was waiting there was this beautiful baby girl lying in her capsule with her eyes glued on her mother. The mum didn't seem to notice and I remembered when my kids were babies, I wouldn't have noticed either. You could almost see the adoration as a tangible thing coming from that baby girl. It was so beautiful to watch. I was feeling a little stressed at the time and I am sure it totally calmed me to watch this.

Stretch

I predict.....

I want to participate in the ProBlogger Group Writing Project and the topic is 'Reviews and Predictions', so I am very excited about reading what other bloggers offer on this topic. I love predictions! I enjoy reading Darren Rowse's blog, I like his approach to writing and sharing and there are usually a couple of useful things to me each week even though I don't expect to be a 'problogger'.
My grand prediction for 2007 is that TED Talks will be worth tuning into. I just received their program for 2007 and I am delighted to see some of the upcoming talks.
The 9th of March for example boasts of Edward DeBono, Dan Goleman J.J. Abrams, Tracy Chapman and Isabel Allende. This is just one of the days. Icons. Geniuses. Mavericks. That just about covers it. There are some amazing visionary people on this list, too many to mention. I am looking forward to enjoying these talks next year.
On the topic of Isabel Allende, my kids bought me Ines of my Soul for my birthday and I am saving it for my holiday reading. I love her books! I enjoyed 'My Invented Country' this year and absolutely loved it. I enjoyed the whole concept that she had created this place and was able to recognise this. I also loved, as always with her writing, reading about Chile. It is definately on my list of places I want to go.
I predict Amanda Bloom will be in my CD collection in the future. I want more songs to listen to from her and I hope I will be able to add her CD to my Christmas list next year. In the meantime, listen to this podcast. There are some awesome Aussie women who are unsigned and very enjoyable. I have enjoyed this podcast.

Cloudbursting by Kate Bush

I wish Kate would bring her machine here and make some rain. Our town is drying up. All the people who cut their lawns really short, now have dead lawns. Ours still has a little green because we keep it long and leave the clippings on it, which I think helps to keep the grass alive.
It's less smoky here today though than yesterday. I got a clip of the smoke coming from the nearby hills, but am having some issues with Revver right now so I can't put it up. I will probably put it on Blip TV later tonight if I haven't sorted it out and post it here tomorrow or later.
This blog post Cloudbursting on the blog "Cool Looking Stuff" is a great compilation of clips associated with Kate Bush's great song from the 'Hounds of Love' album, Cloudbusting. There is an interview on the post that explains where she got her inspiration. I just love to learn about the inspiration behind the art. Whatever the art! It truly helps me to learn to draw from my own different sources when I am creating.

All roads lead to David Bowie

In the days before the final bell went at school, I gave each class an overview of what they would be learning next year and the topics that would be covered. Many of my students really weren't interested as they could smell the holidays by that stage and the thought of next years learning wasn't a priority. So I explained to them about the RAS antenae and how it could help them to do better next year.
I did a course once that was about learning and I only vaguely remember the facilitator talking about your Reticular Activating System or RAS being like antenae and once you decided to learn something you would begin to notice it everywhere. The example that was given was when you buy a new car that you feel is rare and distinctive and then you start to see it everywhere. I have had that experience! I have also found that often when I was studying at uni, information and knowledge that I needed would seem to come to me from all different sources that I wouldn't have expected. If you are interesting in learning more about this there is an interesting discussion here.
Getting back to the topic, lately I have been seeing David Bowie everywhere. Well not in person, unfortunately, yet I rather fear that if I did he would make a song about me and it would hurt my feelings like the YouTube clip my brother sent me where he sang about a 'Chubby Little Fat Guy'. I would put it on here, except I thought it was a little sad and cruel. I have no sense of humour sometimes.
I have been reading him on blogs everywhere. Just little snippets or photos. So I think my RAS on David Bowie is in action. The wonder of it is, that I don't know why other than having been a fan for so many years. I have never been to a concert sadly. I was very close to going to one in 1983, yet it was the night before my HSC (now VCE)English exam. Why didn't I just go anyway? It would have improved my performance. I know that now!

Instead I will put this interview from Rove that was filmed about 8 months ago and shows all the things I love about him. He is healthy, interested and creative with a dry sense of humour that I love. Rove is great also. 'The two names are synonymous with sin and fun.' Enjoy!

Johnny Cash - Hurt

This clip is really good. It makes me think about the big questions. Johnny Cash's music is moving and touches your heart and soul.

David Bowie - im afraid of americans

nine inch nails & david bowie I'm afraid of americans I'm a fan of David Bowie. I have been for a long time. One of my students in their "Person I Admire" year 9 oral presentation, spoke about David Bowie. It was well-reseached and well delivered and she wasn't aware I was a fan. Her excellent taste paid off!

Amanda Bloom - WoW

Last night I heard Amanda Bloom's 'Magdeline' on the radio. It is an amazing song. I loved it on first hearing. I remember the first time I heard Tori Amos and it was a similar experience. She is like Kate Bush. I love Kate Bush.
The lyrics of 'Magdeline' are moving and you can read all about them on her myspace blog.

She is a Sydney woman. Her voice is magic and I look forward to hearing more. I would buy a CD of hers today if I could. The Triple J radio announcer said last night she was classically trained. You can hear that discipline and excellence. I can't say enough. If you go to Triple J Unearthed, you can download Magdeline and listen for yourself. I am going to register today and vote.

Camille lyrics

I love that song "Ta Douleur" and have been listening to it quite a bit. It occured to me the lyrics may not be great and not understanding French, my curiosity got the better of me. So of course I found the lyrics and went to babel fish. The translation was funny. Do it for a laugh.

[I know you're suffering, but trust me, I'm gonna take away your pain.]

The translation is funny. I get the gist of it though and it's ok.

Camille

I heard this artist on triple J so many times on my way to work and it has taken incredible effort to track down the name. I can't find much online about her but I discovered this clip on YouTube


Enjoy, I hadn't seen the clip, I quite like the naked knitting theme in the video. There is another cool clip of the song but can't put it here, so if you're interested click here. It's playful and I really like it.

Listen Up!

Tonight I have discovered a new website that has downloadable audio files of audio books. Librivox:

LibriVox volunteers record chapters of books in the public domain and release the audio files back onto the net (via podcast and catalog). Our goal is to make all public domain books available as free audio books. We are a totally volunteer, open source, free content, public domain project.

The Internet is really making life interesting. Pandora is another great listening site that customises radio stations to your taste musically. I have actually discovered some new artists that I like on Pandora. You enter the artist you enjoy and it selects other similar artists as well as your favourite and plays a range of music.