Rubénerd!

How did David Garrett become one of the world's fastest (and coolest) violinists in the world? The answer may shock and surprise you!

He should do a rendition of Surfin' Bird

To the story that prompted the writing of post, on the somewhat camelCased Channel NewsAsia:

How do you become one of the fastest violinists in the world?

Funny, I remember asking the same question.

"Practice," said German virtuoso violinist David Garrett, who once held the Guinness World Record for Fastest Violin Player and has made fusing hit rock songs with classical music his calling card in the music industry. ~ CNA

Stop the presses!

I've been a huge fan since hearing his rendition of Smooth Criminal. I feared for his safety however, I've seen people rubbing two sticks of wood together to start a fire do it slower. Listen to a few tracks and see for yourself. Well, hear for yourself, unless you're one of those amazing people who can taste colours, and see sound. Rumour has it he doesn't need smoke machines at his performances, and that he typically goes through two hundred and nine bows an hour.

Some of the claims in that paragraph were erroneous

Granted this was written before his record was broken, but this post from Our Three Strand Life summarises his work and even my own emotions pretty darn well well:

Garrett, a 30-year-old German-American classical violinist, began playing at the age of 4, was recording by the age of 13, was the youngest soloist ever at 14 and by 17 was playing world-wide. Not to mention, Garrett is listed in the Guinness Book of World Record as the world's fastest violinist, playing 13 notes a second. Interested yet?

What sets Garrett apart for me (other than his insane talent of course) is his ability to take both timeless classics and current rock hits and make them brand new. From Beethoven to Metallica, David Garrett plays it all.

And I am loving it.

I hear you!

He's also rather attractive. I'm just saying.

Yesterday's photo of the day on Wikipedia is an amazingly detailed night shot of Bangkok, taken by Benh Lieu Song. More desktop background material!

I've been to Bangkok heaps of times: on school camps, en route to other places, and for holidays. If you follow the Thai-Malay Peninsula, its the next city along from Singapore and Kuala Lumpur. It's an overwhelming place, its so gigantic and busy and loud and colourful. There are huge, modern buildings alongside museums housing the King's royal barges and ancient temples. The people are friendly and the food is amazing. One step down the wrong street, and you can become completely lost.

It's a shame how many (most?) Westerners only think of the sex trade and pretty boys when Bangkok is brought up.

According to TodayOnline (and they would know... right?) The Simpsons may potentially be getting the can after 23 years. As a reporter asked Krusty during one of his many retirement press conferences "Why now? Why not [years] ago?"

I was saying Boo Earns

The Simpsons is one of the defining television shows of our generation. People hundreds of years from now will be studying it to learn about pop culture, societal attitudes and humour of the 1990s and 2000s. Phrases such as d'oh! have entered our lexicon. Practically everyone in their 20s in the English speaking world (and a substantial number outside it) know all the characters, can spout random lines from episodes ad nauseum, or at the very least have watched it. I'd hazard a guess that Homer Simpson is more well known than most politicians, and certainly as much as any celebrity.

I saw my first episode when my family had a brief stint living in Brisbane in the mid 1990s. I was too young to understand many of the jokes, but the show still appealed to me, despite the episode being about American football of all things! My favourite character instantly became Kent Brockman; hearing what he had to say in an authoritative news voice cracked me up far too much! I attribute the series to my fascination with voices, an interest that landed my sister and I our first paid jobs at Discovery Channel Asia as voice-over actors.

Even now in my mid 20s, the Simpsons is one of the few television programmes I watch on a regular basis, often times even older episodes I've seen hundreds, possibly trillions, of times before. The episodes have a timeless quality and a way to make me smile that very few things do. I still quote them even now!

Nacho nacho man!

Normally I don't agree with the consensus of the general public when it comes to media (though I was doing this before the hipsters! Oh, wait...), but I'll be blunt when I say the last couple of seasons have been virtually unwatachable. Once heartwarming, biting and hilarious, the show's decline in quality has been observable to all but apparently the show's PR folk.

The financial struggles of the working class were eschewed (gesundheit) for zanier plots that had more potential for jokes, but detracted from the believability that made the show unique.

The move to high definition and the further saturation reminded me of Lisa's statement to Randal Kurtis "Better effects don't make for better storytelling".

The movie was mildly funny, though could have just been an episode.

I could go on, but as with the episodes themselves, you've probably already seen these arguments listed thousands of times. All I'll add is: I have fond memories of growing up with The Simpsons, but perhaps it really is time to move on. I'll miss its reassuring presence, if not its later story lines.

Smell you later with Dr Farnsworth's Smell-o-scope, assuming you don't settle this "pay" dispute. Thank you for all the entertainment, laughs and good times :)

If this was just a PR move to generate free press and to reinvigorate public support for the show... touché.

My first Vimeo upload with my new[ish] account. Dancing dolls at Ken's Sushi Bar Dining in Bexley North tonight.

I love that you can customise the colours, and the UI is much slicker than YouTube.

These latest moves by the Australian government to launch a media inquiry are seemingly well intentioned, but woefully misguided.

The question of whether media is biased and distorts the truth is a distraction from the real question: do people have the skills to disseminate facts and objectively analyse what they're told in the media?

Give a man a fish...

Ah let's see now, what do you folks have here? Hmm, a Krusty Burger... that doesn't sound too appetising...

The super talented and friendly independent musician extraordinaire Marian Call is taking signed preorders for her new album Something Fierce. As a bonus to those who order, you can download several bonus tracks as MP3, AAC and even FLAC files!

I was not paid for this post, just a fan trying to spread the love. I've got my copy, and you should too! :)

They were out in full force this weekend in Earlwood. Over two days I had flyers handed to me about an End of The World seminar by the Jehovah's Witnesses, a Baptist pledge drive and an invitation for a "dianetic reading" for the low, low price of $1500. Pieces of Sweet Stars Yoko couldn't wait!

Ironically, just as people did with material from The Greens, these flyers were littered all around the street shortly after. Seems "Ruining The Earth" is a self fulfilling prophecy.