Planet Surface


Vortex

Animals Have Had Enough!

After being neglected, abused, hunted, live exported, experimented upon, sent to space and eaten, these two at least think animals should be given a break.

Priscilla Presley Needs To Relax

I wish Priscilla Presley would just drop everything and relax. She has just started her own line of linen and is down under to promote it. This is crazy. Why bother doing anything (Scientology, Naked Gun, touring with Lisa Marie, constantly recapping her marriage to Elvis) when you have so much money. "I WISH that he knew what Scientology was before he died," Priscilla Presley said last week, adding that the church's staunch anti-drug policies could have "helped Elvis a lot" in fighting his addiction to prescription drugs. Just stop worrying and relax!

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Space Pictures

Looking Out Of My Spaceship (all I see is my brain), 2001.


U.F.O., 2002.


Found On Mars, 2003.

SILENT RUNNING

I did this painting a few years ago as a tribute to SILENT RUNNING. Each circle represents different sections of the ship (the forest section for example). Troy told me that this picture reminds him of the Tree of Life from the teachings of the KABBALAH (as pictured). If I flipped it on its side and cut off three circles I guess it looks very similar.

SIX FEET UNDER

The thing that is most enchanting about SIX FEET UNDER is that it leads you to tangents that you never thought possible. This is true of an episode in the 3rd season where Ruth befriends the apprentice nerd, Arthur. He mentions his interest in a film called SILENT RUNNING. She is captivated by Arthur's broad range of interests so bolts to the nearest video store and rents it. I have thought about SILENT RUNNING (dir. Douglas Trumbull 1971) only a handful of times since I saw it when I was 10. It was such a powerful film for me and having it resurface again is a wonderful surprise. Briefly it is a SCI-FI film starring Bruce Dern. He is the forest ranger on a ship containing the last of Earth's forests. Orders come from earth to jettison these forests because they are not high on the list of things Earth cares about anymore. Joan Baez sings some haunting songs that makes this prospect unbearable.

Outer World

Moon

Death

I was listening to Phillip Adams on ABC radio national yesterday and he was interviewing Sandra M. Gilbert who wrote: Death's Door: Modern Dying and the Ways We Grieve, Publisher: Norton. This was all well and good but what struck me most was she mentioned that during her research she came across online cemeteries. People have plots set up for loved ones and also reserve plots for themselves. How could this be? It had never occurred to me before that someone would have set up a site like this. So simple and obvious, they will flock in their millions. I went to many sites but stayed with this one for a while - http://www.cemetery.org/. Once you open this pandoras box it is hard to close it. At first the remarkable thing is that it looks so kitsch it leads one into a false sense of security. Then you enter different memorial sections. One notably was suicide. This section was depicted by a template of Edvard Munch's The Scream. How ridiculously blatant I thought but went ahead anyway with poking around. The paths and streams of consciousness that one is lead through can be baffling because it is a surprisingly moving experience. Later, I was looking forward to watching the 3rd season of SIX FEET UNDER that I had just been given. What joy!

Whirlpool

Feather Trees

Basically Boobless

It seems that Channel Nine's Today show is basically boobless. Jessica Rowe and Sharyn Ghidella are so flat they are almost concaved. Maybe Richard Wilkins has some man boobs tucked away in his Kiwi thermals but that's about it.

Walk The Line

I was so impressed with WALK THE LINE. Joaquin Pheonix was superb yet there were traces of his performance in GLADIATOR. The failed attempts to generate any gratifying response from the fathers in both films were treated the same way. Reese Witherspoon was cute with fleeting moments of depth. The excitement of finally leading up to the prison performance was worth the wait. Its hard to imagine that both of these actors sang through their respective roles convincingly despite both claiming to have never really sung seriously before. I would say there must have been a lot of sound manipulation going on.

Scientology: What A Blast

Here is Tom Cruise giving Scientology cult leader Mr. David Miscavige a salute of some sort and receiving a medal for his work as an ambassador for 'freedom'. I just hope he got through to Eddie Maguire about CURB YOUR ENTHUSIAM'S time slot.

New Pictures

Is It The Lesser Of Two Evils?

When will anyone tell Jessica Rowe to stop laughing? I have an ache on both sides of my mouth just looking at her. I'm starting to think that ol' Grimshaw wasn't so bad after all.

CSI: Cliffhanger

See I wouldn't normally talk about CSI Las Vegas, Miami, New York etc., because what would be the point - everyone just scratches their collective heads and wonders how it was possible that they all took over. The cliffhanger for CSI (the main one) is the exception. Getting Quentin Tarantino to direct it was a piece of white rabbit magic that had me sweating like the guy (who looks like a robotic version of Tom Cruise) in the glass coffin. Yes, Tarantino allowed the stupid one liners and red herring teasers but mainly this was his sadistic baby. One scene that has to be highly praised is the imagined autopsy of the poor guy in the box. Its funny how Tarantino used the most wooden actor out of the lot to star in this excruciating tale. But then he has always had this knack for reshaping an actor (Darryl Hannah for instance). Lucky Carnivale finished last week or I would have had such an inner battle of wills. You say tape one and watch the other, forget it. Watching shows live is the only way.

Intestines

Kerry Packers Memorial Service

If only I could see what's going on today with Jamie Packer, Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes my life would come full circle. I wonder what they really think of eachother. When I saw Jamie talk of his Dad on the telly I couldn't help wondering 'who the hell are you?' These Scientologist's are baffling because they are so polite and respectful yet they have this other 'V' side. There was this show over a decade ago called 'V' and when you least expected it the alien invaders would open their mouths as wide as can be and swallow the nearest rat. Which brings me to who the hell changed the programming schedule on Channel 9? CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM was already in a ridiculous time slot at 11pm Wednesday nights and now its on at Midnight. This all coincided with the death of Kerry Packer. Since he kicked the bucket Eddie Maguire has taken over and stuffed things up. I can only hope that while Tom Cruise is trying to convert him at the memorial service today he also considers changing his mind about the new time slot.

Look At Them Now

I was talking with Troy at work about Rock Profiles and he came up with a few memories - duets in fact. The first one was Suzi Quatro with Chris Norman STUMBLIN' IN. The second one was Stevie Nicks and Tom Petty STOP DRAGGING MY HEART AROUND. I cant remember how many times I have seen that film clip but it is deeply embedded into my unconscious. I remember thinking how ugly Tom Petty was and wondering if they had pashed or slept together. She was still wearing all the hippy garb, and her hair was tittering on the edge of dreadlocks ( the deep aroma of incense and flaky skin wafting). She had long since been America's sweetheart and he was reviving his career which finally bit the dust with the Traveling Wilburys.

Rock Profiles

It happened again. I was watching the telly again last night and there was the same film clip playing (unannounced and untitled) of Nick Cave strutting his stuff with all those back up singers and so on. It was also on at the same time - between SOUTH PARK and that dumb British thing. I thought to myself this is in the same tradition as the old ROCK PROFILES that were played between shows on Channel 10. My main memories of those profiles where the Ted Mulray gang and Rod Stewart. Rod Stewart really did it for me though. When he sang SAILING I remember thinking about how skinny he was and how big his nose was and how big his dick must be (proportionally). He was scrawny but in a sexy way and really proud of himself in his sailors suit. So I hope this tradition continues on SBS (but please don't play that World Music track with all the stupid camera angle tricks - you know the one with that kid singing).

Carnivale

This Week's Freak

Tattooed Man AKA Jeremy
"My name is Jeremy Howard I’ve been hooked to Carnivale since I saw the first preview. Carnivale has ment so much to me I had to show it… Please check out my back and call me the tattooed man. Yes it is real.
The pain was unbelievable. I just kept telling myself that pain is an unfortunate side effect. Carnivale has been that important to me and even if it never comes back on the air I feel like I’m part of it because of my tattoo.
I hope Clancy does get a kick out of it. Brother Justin is my favorite character and the way Clancy played him was perfect. The conflict that he had with who he was and good and evil was just amazing.
Thanks and keep up the good fight, Jeremy.

Friday Night

Dear Readers,

Friday night we by-passed the dear ol' Greyhound which I was a bit peeved about because you never know who you will run in to. We rushed to meet some friends at the Dalton Bar and who do you think we had the pleasure of seeing? If it wasn't dear Dr. Carl and Izzy from 'Neighbours'. They were there with their respective partners ofcourse (Jennifer Hanson looking strangely pink and booted up) and this surfy dood that was with Izzy. I dont know how she gets the time to 'av a chat with all that singing but then there were alot of fire works at one stage between the ol' Doc and herself. And he was certainly wearing beer goggles and pointy shoes that night.

Joan Didion

The Year Of Magical Thinking

I saw an interview with Joan Didion on 'Good Morning America'. What impressed me most about her story was that her life was so full of grief (her husband had suddenly died in the previous year and her daughter had just died of complications due to pneumonia - yet at the time of publication her daughter was still alive) and how she managed to write it all down and make sense of it. If anyone has endured a tenth of what she has endured they are bound to buy this book and eat it up. Didion attempts to somehow put grieving into perspective by calling the lunacy one can feel after a severe shock like this 'magical thinking'. That sounds just great doesn't it? Coining a phrase like 'magical' for someone's response to pain. Except it is a title that bewitches one into thinking that she has a special take on the whole deal. I kept turning the pages wondering when she was going to get to the bit about how she really felt and how 'magical' or 'crazy' she really was. Instead most of her reflections where about what restaurant they went to for some period of their married life and what hotel she stayed in when her daughter was near death in hospital with severe pneumonia. She is void of any human response to anything - so maybe she has magical powers after all- that make her the most boring person I have had the misfortune of reading about. I'm sure she is simply thrilled that her book has become a bestseller and that it will facilitate the lifestyle she is accustomed to.

Chrissy Amphlett

When I first picked up 'Pleasure and Pain' I thought to myself that even though this is going to be a basic read at least I can get the goss on some eighties antics. This could not be further from the truth. It is dull, lacking in any real insight, and not really worth the paper its printed on. The only curious thing about the ordeal which was her life was that she hooked up with that Marc McEntee creep. What was she thinking? And why is the word 'Genius!' bandied around so much to describe McEntee and every other musician Amphlett came across?

When someone sits down and decides to write about their miserable lives don't they realize that their sweet reflections on how far they have come is the least of out concerns. There has to be more meat in the sandwich.

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New Pic For The Day

O.J. Simpson

Last night there was a program on SBS about OJ's trial. A lot of the footage I'd seen before but what struck me a few years down the track was how dumb everyone seemed. Everyone just focused on race and not the bloody murder. Noone except 'The National Enquirer' seemed to be doing any relevant investigative journalism. Apparently they were the only reporters that kept getting the scoops on everything - interviewing housekeepers, delivery men, gardeners and so on. These people seemed to know the take on everything.

My strongest memory of the whole ordeal was OJ driving the van down the highway and being followed by police on choppers. The funniest memory though is Ruby Wax interviewing him a few years ago. He grabbed a huge knife and pretended to stab her 'Psycho' style.

Feet

I take great pleasure in viewing on a daily basis my cotton bud full of or lack of ear wax. A friend at work knows this and thought I might be into Chinese foot squares that are tied to the foot and left over night. These pads are full of herbs that draw the toxins out of the body and into the pad. You can tell whether you are fully loaded with toxins by how brown the pad is by the morning. Light brown is good, black is something to worry about. I'll post the results.

Occasionally I'll throw in a picture or two

Who knows what this is but I'll occasionally throw in a picture and see what happens. By the way 'Curb Your Enthusiasm' is on tomorrow night at about 11pm Channel 9. This show is the funniest thing I have ever seen. You will remember what its like to laugh so hard that nothing comes out.

H B O

Where do I begin with HBO? Thank goodness someone has the sense to make shows that are filled with stuff we all want to see on the telly. I actually ignored 'Carnivale' when it was first on - I think the time slot was conflicting with something else or something so now with its second run on channel 2, Im giving it my full attention. It is magnificent. It terrifies me I must admit but who cares. Would someone give them an Emmy or Golden Globe for using the father out of 'The Waltons'?

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Last Night's Telly

After watching South Park last night, without any intro SBS ran a recent film clip of Nick Cave. It was electric to say the least but what I kept thinking was is Nick Cave worried about his receding hair line. Can he still do what he does and have no hair on top at all. Then I stopped worrying about that and noticed the back up singers. This set up on stage was probably repulsive to him 20 years ago but now it works. Who would of thought. After that they ran this show called GARTH MARENGHI'S DARKPLACE - Hell Hath Fury. I thought I was going to get into it but I was wasting my time. If they were more subtle with the sight gags it might have been funnier. Moving to Garth Marenghi being interviewed constantly was a drag as well.

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