Word-whore. I write 'em. I talk 'em. Information, politics, media, and the cybers. I drink. I use bad words. All publication is a political act. All communication is propaganda. All art is pornography. All business is personal. All hail Eris! Vive les poissons rouges sauvages!
… like sitting in high vantage points around ’Pong’s desk while he’s working.
That’s Artemis on the left and Apollo on the right. Artemis had spent all afternoon asleep on my jacket, near where I was working. Apollo had been sleeping on my other jacket on the office floor. I think they now expect to be fed or something.
’Pong and I have returned home safely from Cowra, a 655km round trip, thanks to the wonders of Matthew Hall and the Success Whale. All hail the Success Whale! (Except Stephen Stockwell, unbeliever.)
The journey home was enlivened with an interesting experiment. Instead of me broadcasting Stilgherrian Live — bright TV lights in a moving car at night would be a plan full of FAIL — we created an inside-out radio station. Some of my followers on Twitter took up the offer to send us links to music — which we streamed live from YouTube. The audience chose the music and we listened to it.
This experiment in crowdsourcing a playlist was remarkably successful. I’ll publish the music later. But even more remarkable was the power of the hyperconnectivity. Even though we were driving through rural New South Wales, we were still in touch with our friends — wherever they were too — doing the usual things we do of an evening, like swap links and tell each other bad jokes.
I’ll have much more to say about this soon. But for now I must rest.
We’re made is safely to Cowra, thanks to our driver Matthew Hall and our trusty new mascot, Success Whale — but I think I’m going colour-blind.
The photo above shows Success Whale sitting on the bed at the luxurious Alabaster Motel. As you may see, all three and a half stars of colour are certainly on display! The clash of styles almost makes me vomit — but at least that proves we’re arrived. Somewhere.
So many things happened along the way. We saw cows. And sheep. And crows. And currawongs. The Navman satellite navigation toy told us to “Go to nearest road”, despite being on a rather fine highway. We did the world’s slowest lap of Mount Panorama race track (thankfully I forgot to press “record”). And much more I’ll tell you soon, I promise.
Road Trip! ’Pong and I are about to leave for Cowra for his OLPC video shoot and my “interpretation” of the journey in words and pictures. Our driver is Matthew Hall.
You can follow our adventures on Twitter by searching for all tweets containing the hashtag #rtcowra. Wish us luck! More soon.
’Pong and I need a driver this Monday lunchtime 13 October through to the night of Tuesday 14 this Wednesday lunchtime 15 October through to the night of Thursday 16 for our “road trip” to Cowra to film a project related to One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) (pictured) which is happening nearby.
This is a paid gig, although you probably won’t make enough to retire just yet. You’ll need a driver’s license that’ll satisfy our hire car company, and we’ll cover all food and refreshments, plus overnight accommodation at the delightfully named and oh-so-luxurious Alabaster Motel.
We’ll also have mobile broadband Internet access along the way, testing out our Telstra NextG card. I’ll also be taking advantage of that to produce a special edition of Stilgherrian Live. May the gods have mercy upon our souls. And yours.
The shooting schedule is pretty relaxed, so you’ll probably have time to explore the wonders of Cowra while we’re filming at the school. This gig might well suit a photographer. But I will admit that everything’s rather… um… flexible at the moment.
If you’re interested, please email stil@stilgherrian.com or phone +61 407 623 600. If you get voicemail it just means I’m at the gym pub or the goddam battery has run out again.
[Update Sunday 12 October: The dates have just been changed. This is turning into a… fascinating project. I am not stressed at all, no Sir!]
Oops, I almost forgot! Stilgherrian Live is on again tonight from 9.30pm Sydney time. That means I need nominations for “Cnut of the Week”.
It’s the same rules as usual. We’re after people who’ve been in the news this week, futilely trying to hold back the tide of digital change.
Maybe journalist Mark Day is a contender for regurgitating the journalists versus bloggers “debate” in The Australian today with Blogs can’t match probing reports. No, Mark, they can’t, no more than cheese on toast can “match” an 11-course degustation menu. “A does not equal B” is hardly an insight.
But who do you nominate?
P.S. I may be “on air” slightly late, as ’Pong and I are going to the launch of the Marrickville Contemporary Art Prize exhibition. We’ve been told that we should be there, so it sounds like he’s won something.