Rubénerd Blog :)

Did you know, if you do a Google Video Search for politicians on Google Video Search (well that was a redundant sentence addition), the first result you get is a video titled "Politicians avoiding questions"

I think that says it all, sadly.

Ever since I saw his thorough, well constructed, passionate and fast paced rebuttal of Bill O’Reilly’s Malmedy massacre faux pas and subsequent refusal to apologise, I’ve been a bit of a Keith Olbermann fan. His Countdown programme focuses on five American news stories from that day along with the reoccurring Worst Person in The World and other tongue in cheek segments.

Read this post >

Are you a conspiracy theorist who believes your intellect is greater than the rest of us duped “sheeple”?

The following video is from the always entertaining Angry Aussie who is great other than he uses Georgia on his blog… hey, we can’t all be perfect ^_^. I guess I should throw in a strong language and Not Safe For Work warning too. And I really do mean this!

You’ll need to temporarily allow RubenerdShow.com (UPDATE: now Rubenerd.com) in NoScript if you use it to view the video. If you’re on a platform that Adobe refuses to support with Flash (don’t get me started!) you can download the MPEG4 file instead.

For the benefit of those who haven’t visited Adelaide, Rundle Mall (Google Maps view) is a fresco-styled, outdoor shopping street closed off from traffic. It runs parallel to North Terrace, from King William Street to Pultney Street, and according to Wikipedia, it was the first such shopping street to open in Australia.

As part of a rebranding and promotion effort, The People’s Republic of Animation was commissioned along with Clemenger BBDO Adelaide to create a television commercial and related material. The result was a commercial and banners in the mall itself emphasising the different seasons that can be experienced outdoors in the mall as opposed to enclosed shopping centres.

According to the site, the scenery drew inspiration from artist Tadahiro Uesugi:

The biggest artistic inspiration for us was the Japanese artist Tadahiro Uesugi. Tadahiro’s work captures the colours and light quality of each season and this was something we wanted to replicate in the commercial. We made the ad in a way that if you were to pause on any frame it would look like a piece of artwork in it’s own right.

Along with the different scenery, a character called Ginger was created who’s clothes change along with the seasons on the mall banners, along with the hundreds of other animated characters in the background of the television commercial. I thought it was creative and fun, and above all different!

According to James Calvert, who directed the TVC:

Recreating the Adelaide institution that is Rundle Mall turned out to be one of the most challenging yet rewarding jobs I have had to do as an animation director. Our main character “Ginger” had to walk down the Mall in one continuous shot, while around her the seasons changed. Ginger had to change costumes and so did each of our 100 background characters.

It seems though others don’t approve. In today’s Adelaide Advertiser paper, Tory Shepard writes in an article Children exposed to bizarre body images:

Toys such as Bratz and animated creations such as Ginger – the face of the Rundle Mall advertising campaign – have tiny bodies with long legs, stick-thin arms and waists less than half the size of their heads.

Nutrition and body image experts warn that body shapes such as these – which are similar to Barbie’s outrageous dimensions – would not be physically possible in real life.

Butterfly Foundation general manager Julie Thomson said the cartoon-like body shapes were “quite dangerous”. “They’re obviously fantasy, but when they’re being presented in a way that they’re somehow or another based in reality, that’s actually quite dangerous.”

As I discussed rather haphazardly on Rubenerd Show 250, I can’t help but think that such comments take such material far too literally. This is a cartoon, not a retouched photograph in a sleazy lad’s magazine! They also don’t seem give much credit to the intelligence of the people whom they’re discussing. I would go even go as far as to say that they’re being condescending.

I also can’t help but feel they’re playing the favoritism guitar. Favouritism guitar? For example, why is there no mention in this article about how men are subjected in advertising as well? Why didn’t I read about the men in cologne advertisements without shirts and testosterone and steroid pumped rugby players who wear tiny shorts? Are they just taking this issue too far?

Fortunately for me the comments section in the online version of the article is full of people who feel the same way:

What an absolute joke this story is, just like with any animation these dolls (as horrible as they may be) are a stylised representation…nothing more. Can’t believe the Advertiser sees it fit for a front page story! ~ Jamie G

I think that children might just be able to tell the difference between animated and real images, unlike these ranting “experts”. As one animated and overweight character would say; “Doh!” ~ Leslie of Northfield SA

What about the boy Bratz dolls? Aren’t they just as bad for the young boys? ~ SC

Can’t wait for my 6 year old daughter to tell me she is deperate to be like Lisa from the Simpsons – you know smart but with only 4 fingers. Oh yeah dreading the day that happens! GET REAL. ~ Cheryl Gee

Umm…. It’s called a ‘Caricature’. Look it up in the dictionary. ~ Leigh of Adelaide

These were my favourites though:

I would suggest that the saturation of advertisements selling consumption lifestyles out of many people’s grasp contribute more to low self esteem than some mis-proportionate dolls. ~ sa_paperboy of livejournal

Let’s ban all cartoons and animated movies to save our kids from "bizarre body images"!! And while we’re at it, ban stupid "news" stories, in case they have an adverse "subliminal impact" and people take them seriously! ~ A Smith of rural SA

What’s your opinion?

For about a year now my MacBook Pro exhibited horrible grinding, rattling sounds on the right hand side of the unit, just below the power button. After doing a bit of research I realised that I had a damaged fan (Apple unit number 922-7194), and while I could have tried lubricating the existing one, I decided to play it safe and just buy a replacement. PBParts.com had the best overall price for the unit and international shipping to Australia, and had the unit to me in less than 2 weeks with economy mail.

Rather than take photos as I usually do for such projects, I decided to edit together a crappy little video showing what I did, and so you could hear the difference yourself! I just can’t believe how whisper quiet this MacBook Pro is again, I literally cannot hear it unless I turn off every other appliance and peripheral in the room!

Apologies to my readers on BSD, alas because my current host’s bandwidth quota is almost used up, I’ve had to uploaded the video on YouTube.

The random music and iLife rant at 0200 episode!

Insomnia is a bitch, I’m related to Kevin Rudd, Jamiroquai’s virtual insanity, recording a podcast at 0200, great welcome back forum posts, thanking y’all, viagra, TedPod passes 100 episodes, alphabetical order sucks, jetlag, evil sleeping cycles, shocking people, really disappointing iLife 2008 release, dumbing down iMovie, subtle Final Cut Express persuasion speculation, stealing bread and shirts, British Apple advertisements, MacBreak Weekly ratholes, wiping operating systems, big arse apple juicers, self consciousness and why I can’t do video, age and cynicism, online newspapers, genealogy and family trees, convicts going to Australia, Mary Wade to us, living in Singapore, maddening mysterious Champs-Élysées song, Avril Lavigne tries to sing Japanese, slurred stress importance, sitting in a Singaporean coffee shop and making the ultimate kickarse juice!

Download MP3 to listen ↓ 42:00 minutes, 19.20MiB

You can also stream this episode and view its Internet Archive page.

One of the best Jon Stewart clips I have ever seen! In this scene Jon attempts to figure out what George W. Bush’s job actually is given his low approval ratings, the fact he’s a bit “intellectually challenged” and the fact that Bush himself seems to be unable to explain it himself!

It involves avocados, crows’ nests, power cords, deep analysis and a cache of random clips of Bush saying what his job is. Very funny!

February 2009 Update: Removed by request :-(

You can watch The Daily Show with Jon Stewart in Australia on The Comedy Channel and intermittently on Thursday and Sundays on SBS.

Don’t try watching it on SBS in Singapore… because SBS is a transport company not a television network.