More Olympic Coverage

What an incredible Olympics. Yet unfortunately, it is unavoidable that I must blame it for my lack of studying for exams.

Firstly, congratulations to Matthew Mitcham- the legendary dive. But I know where he gets it from- there is no doubt some biological resemblance between him our great ‘Thorpedo’.

Here’s some thought for all you sitting on your backsides. Men’s 5000m track-Kenenisa Bekele ran it in 12:57.82. Now that number may mean nothing to you, but that’s an average pace of 15.25s every 100m. Incredible. I’m sure some people reading this can’t even run that fast over 100m.

I would like to pose a question. The two greats of the Olympics- Michael Phelps and Usain Bolt, who would you choose?

Me? Bolt- definitely. To be the fastest human on the planet. Nothing beats that. Literally.

But too much talk on the legends of the Olympics. Who else feels the misery of those whose years of training were just smashed in the last two weeks. Four years is a lifetime, much too long for another shot at glory- that’s if you can still shoot. Sometimes it’s hard to believe everyone who says- ‘all it needs is perseverance. If I can do it so can you.’ But how often do the failures become inspirational speakers? But finally there’s a whole article dedicated to them- front page of the SMH last Friday. They deserve recognition too.

Get energized for the closing ceremony tonight. Maybe China will yet again be able to prove their national identity- their ability to fake anything.

Her-cules

musical signs of bipolarity

You can all forgive my talent for feeling deeply philosophical one minute and then bubbly and irreverent the next, because I have discovered the joy that is Alphabeat. Yes, even the name conjures up images of 80's geekdom, which really nails it on the head, because Alphabeat is a singing dancing Danish popalicious band that smacks of totally uncool fun. Here's a review from popjustice about their newest single "Fantastic Six" which may make you snort:

"It sounds like an Arcade Fire track if Arcade Fire were barely out of their teens, had grown up in Copenhagen and sounded more like Junior Senior. It basically sounds nothing like an Arcade Fire track."

I've not heard any Arcade Fire, but that is beside the point. Personally I would recommend listening to "Fascination" which just makes you want to jump up and down smiling inanely and waving your arms like an ape. Go Alphabeat for bringing out the life-loving neanderthal in us all.

Clicky here to listen to "Fascination": http://angelmusicgroup.net/alphabeat/shop/bimbojones.html

[disco.read]

a frozen moment

Found this on a blog, talking about the different types of endings for short stories, and this one is the 'frozen moment' - where a tableau or scene is fossilised and preserved in unnerving beauty, as is the following:

“There is an endless road somewhere, and on that road speeds a hand-me-down rattletrap bus on an endless trip, and somewhere near the back of that bus, you and I are snugly squeezed into one of the two-seater benches, with you next to the window and me next to the aisle, holding hands like schoolchildren, talking, occasionally smiling at each other, looking like we will never let go.”

- “Passengers” by Luis Joaquin Katigbak

[disco.read]

Hair Trend Forecast: Pump up the Volume

In light of this season's (AW 2008) sleek, sophisticated looks, I think the next big thing will be VOLUME. As outrageous or uncannily weird as it might seem, the fashion and hair industry does have its slumps and booms as well...only possibly, in the sense of fabulous hair.

Currently on the streets, loose and pretty locks are in at the moment, especially with more 'casual' straight-cut fringes (- haha, not the bowl cut) that remind me of the days in primary school...Not saying they don't look hot, but yes, they do make you look a decade or two younger, unless a fringe is definitely for your face (you'll have to look at your face shape for that one).

But with runway looks all round, we can see a change from the 'clean' structured styles to the 'messy' structured styles - often being more voluminous cuts which make a statement. However, the bad news is yes, it is quite a difficult trend to work - you'll need to manage quite extremely-layered hair (the easiest option to create volume from thick hair) and/or maintain regularly, or otherwise you may risk the chance of getting a bird's nest of hair.

Alternatively, from what I've gathered, the best thing with this trend is that you could seriously walk out the door of your bedroom (with bed-hair), chuck on a thin headband (e.g. a ribbon) or braid it with a slight bouffant, pin loose strands, & voila! - statement hair.

Let's just say that hair trends can be quite unpredictable, so yes, this prediction is a mere speculation - so I don't really care if you agree with me or not...because I'm definitely NOT going full-blown with this trend *haha*.

~Louis Tiffon

The Olympics and a certain fish...

Not an avid sports fan myself (despite my raging athletic talents), it's funny how much I follow the Olympics when I can hardly differentiate between rugby leage, union and AFL. (short, shorter and shortest shorts respectively is all I can say).

So what is it about the Olympics that draws people like me? Is it the global-unity-sentiment? Is it simply some form of semi-nationalistic pride for China? Or is it the incessant news coverage? (As I sit here typing this, I can hear Lisa Miller from ABC news in Beijing reporting over the Australian women's gold medal in the 4x100m medely.)

Although there isn't a definite reason, there IS something about the elite sportspeople of the world coming together in a smorgasboard of muscle, medals and might. (haha alliteration. I had to think hard for 'might'... any other suggestions? 'Might' sounds dodgy to me)

So if any of you out there HAVE been following the Olympics like I have, you would know Grant Hackett snagged a measly silver in the mens 1500m freestyle to Oussama Mellouli. Now, I don't know about you, but seriously Grant? Silver? And to an unknown from Tunisia? TUNISIA?

Okay, well in all honesty I know Grant's probably beating himself up over this more than anyone else can, so I shall henceforth drop the exasperation.

Onto another swimming giant, Michael Phelps. Yes, he has won 8 gold medals, which makes him the greatest Olympian of all time. Yes, he deserves to be happy. But no, he should never, ever pull this face again:

Apparently, Phelps has an ability to isolate his individual muscles which conserves his energy and makes him swim harder and faster than his competitors. He also releases less lactic acid than most people, which speeds up his recovery period. And to cap it off, his arm span is a full 12cm longer than the average for his height. AND some speculate that he's actually a genetic abnormality, born to be a fish but turned out human.

Just joking.

So more Olympics coverage to come. I realise that I've spent this time blogging about all the activities in the Water Cube, and have left other sports out of the picture. But seriously, given Australia's talent in the pool (ahem, Stephanie Rice), everything else seems less interesting!

- Hurley Who?

Pininfarina, cars & more cars in Australia

I'd thought I'd never come around to appreciating the beauty of cars, but Pininfarina has definitely changed my mind. After being featured on luxuryculture.com, I had just realised the plainness & bland nature of Australian cars, so my question to ask is, how can Australian cars compare to the beauty of other (i.e. Italian) cars??? I mean, how could the Toyota Camry or Ford Focus compare to the cars below? The interiors here are rather...plain & are quite uniform throughout the country. However, if you travel overseas, cars are much more beautiful inside and out, so my question is, what is our country doing with our cars? - If they're not aesthetically that special nor functional - what are they?



Pininfarina has definitely changed my view on how cars are designed...maybe not just how they are designed, but how they infuse both functional and aesthetic qualities to produce amazing machines. One of my favourite vehicles by far is Pininfarina's Maserati Birdcage 75th...Just look below:
Haha, I guess I'll just have to wait until I can afford one.

~ Un-named

Chindogu

I'm sure everyone knows just how fantastic and kooky Japanese stuff can be but when they said 'necessity is the mother of invention' I'm thinking some Japanese people took that very very seriously...



Chindōgu, aka. 'useless inventions' is just another concept borne from this great country. This term was coined by Kenji Kawakami, a Japanese inventor, who published the book "101 Unuseless Japanese Inventions: The Art of Chindōgu" and his second book, "99 More Unuseless Japanese Inventions". (note it isn't useless, it's unuseless!)
Why is it unuseless? Well, according to Wikipedia: "Chindōgu cannot be regarded as 'useless' in an absolute sense, since they do actually solve a problem; however, in practical terms, they cannot positively be called 'useful'."
The one big thing about Chindōgu is that whoever attempts to use it may experience such difficulty or social embarrassment that it has really no use anyway. Kind of defeats the purpose when you look at it like that, huh?
Kawakami, as the big daddy of Chindōgu, laid down a few rules about inventing something 'unuseless'.
a. It must be possible to make (in spite of its absurdity)
b. It must be borne from necessity
c. It cannot be patented - the love should be shared


So, enjoy!

Apparently the one Chindōgu in the middle is a sign for sleepy commuters - the banner says at which station the person is supposed to get off so other commuters can wake her up when it's her stop. Hmmm... stylish AND practical?

Actually on second thoughts, I think would use that drink-holder despite committing social suicide in the process... what about you?!

- Hurley who?