Head on down to The No Vacancy Gallery in Melbourne from March 11.

I heart Kinokuniya! This Saturday, they are having a craft fair. You should all go, as I think it will be fun! Hopefully, see you there!

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Guess What?

I’m now on the radio! On Tuesday mornings I will be doing a segment with LIA over @ 2ser breakfast about the internets. Tune in tomoz from 6am to catch the show. Lia also has great taste in music and a lovely voice to wake up to.

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Here is the full list.

I am so so excited for a female to be up there for Best Director (Kathryn Bigelow, The Hurt Locker - image above). After reading this over at The Guardian, it made me think about how few women (aside from actresses obviously) have gone home with a golden statue. I know The Academy Awards are not the be all and end of film but for mainstream viewers, they hold a lot of sway.

I am a really disappointed that Samson and Delilah didn’t get the nod for Best Foreign Language film, as a win would go a long way in gaining international exposure for that film, and its brutal yet beautiful storytelling.

And props to District 9 for its best film nom, I re-watched it last week and still thought it was rad. Although the same can be said for it’s fellow nominee, Inglourious Basterds. I am pumped to see Precious, if only to see Mariah without make up. And how awesome that the horrible theme song from Avatar was rejected for Best Original Song (possibly as it was not that original, just a reworking of My Heart Will Go On).

As I am an editor myself, I am going to put money on District 9 for Best Editing - as I think that it really helped the low budget film go to that next level.

Ok, enough nerding out. What do you guys think of the nominations?

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BSG fans brace yourself, Caprica is here!

I started watching this last week but was kicked off Megavideo half way through the pilot. But from what I’ve seen, I am excited. I doubt it’s going to free-to-air in Aussie, cos that would be too cool!

So, who’s getting one? Does anyone even want/need one?

I do read more and more stuff online, but why get this when I have a lappy AND an iPhone? EXPLAIN YOURSELF JOBS!

Comedy duo Aamer Rahman and Nazeem Hussain perform under the banner Fear of a Brown Planet. A poke at modern Australia’s fears combined with a healthy dose of racial realism, their comedy is a unique, no hold back take on the issues. Taking the piss out of everyone, including themselves, can be seriously funny.

But what I really wanted to tell you was they are booked for Adelaide Fringe Festival (tix here) and The Melbourne International Comedy Festival (tix here), and they have a brand new fancy/cool website which includes video of their shows.

It’s funny.

The End

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This is me! I saw the Sea Shepherd in Circular Quay. It looks totes like a Pirate Ship and the dudes that man it were KOOL!

In Japan, people rarely talk about Whaling. Especially not with an Aussie like me. It’s kinda a touchy subject, but I had a few comments from co-workers about it being bad, or asking if I think it is bad (I had to work my way around the point in answering that one!). I did catch a vox-pop on TV asking people what they thought of it. As far as I could tell it was split 50/50 between young people and hippies on one side, and traditionalist on the other.

So with the latest confrontation on the high seas between Japanese whaling ships and some stealth protest vessels, where are we in The War on Whaling?

Although these Greenpeace activists do not in any way represent Australia’s foreign policy on whaling, our current government does support them (to a limit, I am sure) and has condemned whaling in our ‘backyard’. Yesterday a big Japanese boat collided with one of the activist’s stealth ships and tore it in half. The Japanese say it was coming towards them, the activist’s say it was sitting still. It probably was coming towards them, head on. These are the guys that jumped onto a ship and were captured for days. They’re mad as pants, and that’s why I like them.

But also revealed today is that Japan has been sending SPY PLANES from our airports to SPY on the Sea Shepherd! SPIES? Really? Is it a matter of pride, or do you guys really eat that much whale?

Regardless, I like the passion that these people have when it comes to stopping whaling. I like that our government semi-supports them, and I like that they do crazy stuff for what they believe in (cos it’s it’s something I believe in). I don’t usually do this on lovegeek, but if you feel strongly about it as well, you can donate to the cause here. After all, they did lose a 2 million dollar ship!

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Have you seen Avatar? Of course you have. The whole world has probably seen Avatar by now. It’s the most gigantic film ever made. Ever. The WHOLE MOVIE IS IN 3D! Amazeballs.

But what have the critics been saying? There are many readings of James Cameron’s masterpiece that have sprung up in print and online, and I’d like to cover just a few:

1. The Divine Doctrine

Ah, Miranda Divine. Beloved SMH columnist with a knack for making mountains out of molehills when it comes to defending right leaning ideology. Her review of Avatar was true to form, from her description of the Na’vi ‘running rampant around Pandora, raping fauna with their ponytails’, to her declaration that ‘ The snarling vipers of left-wing Hollywood have been let off the leash in a way previously unmatched in a high-priced blockbuster.’

Snarling Vipers? Harsh words even for you, Miranda. McCarthy would be itching from the grave to have a go at Cameron, right?

2. The White Gulit Fantasy Reading.

Annalee Newitz wrote an interesting piece over at i09. Describing the film as ‘emphatically a fantasy about race’, Newitz continues with a tirad against Jake Sully’s development from white, disabled marine to the ‘most awesome member’ of the Na’vi race. She sites other films such as Dances With Wolves and Dune, which depict hero journey’s that end in a white dude saving an otherwise helpless race , often from his own race of baddies from which he has deflected.

She also mentions Distict 9 as a very different lesson, in which Wikus becomes an Alien and can’t change back. ‘He has no other choice but to live in slums and eat cat food. And guess what? He really hates it.’ Continuing on to state ‘it’s only fun if they [The protagonist] can blithely ignore the fundamental experience of being an oppressed racial group.’

 3. The Jimmy Cameron Reading.

But what does the man himself think of the themes and ideas that are put forward in Avatar? It is no doubt that Cameron sees the film as an analogy for the war in Iraq (centering on resources and featuring mechanised warfare). It may also be a comment on our relationship, as humans, with our planet. He states that ‘We know what it feels like to launch the missiles, we don’t know what it is like for them to land on out home soil, not in America. I think there is a moral responsibility to understand that.’ Putting a human face on the current conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, so to speak. He’s also very general in stating ‘that maybe in the enjoying of it makes you think a little bit about the way you interact with nature and your fellow man.’

4. The ‘Who Cares. It’s Entertainment’ view point.

A lot of people just wana watch a god damn film and enjoy it, without this or that ideology being rammed down their throats. These people, justifiably, focus on the sheer awesomeness of the special effects and gigantic effort that Cameron has gone to create the world of Pandora. Including, but not limited to, inventing a language and song culture for the Na’vi and new technology in the form of motion-capture and 3d cameras. The filming of Avatar was so innovative that big shot directors such as Spielberg, Lucas and Peter Jackson were invited on set and allowed to play with these new tech toys. Nice.

And me? Well, I can’t get past the moral message of the film being very anti-war, anti-capitalist and pro-earth. But I think that is a nice change, considering the amount of war-glorifying dribble that Hollywood produced during the Bush years. As for the 3D?It was like FernGully on crack. Read: Awesome.

I saw the film @ George St. in Sydney, in their fancy V-Max Theater, it was so cool. Even our 3D glasses were kinda hipster. Also, Sam Worthington is a bit of a babe, no?

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