hold your head high

I've made a lot of choices
Most have not been wise
But I have some really good friends
I've been fortunate to find
They get me through the lonely days
When I want to stay inside myself
They get me out of my shell
Out into the world

I am coming back, I'm coming back again
I had lost everything and then I got it back again
I dug myself so deep, deep into a hole
Then getting out was so far beyond my control

In the past I've always had trouble on my mind
I'm gonna take that feeling and leave it far behind
As I go down this path traveling through my fate
Lately I have begun to awake

It all started out in Jackson and we moved across the land
And all the dehydration turned the soil into sand
And then one day they hauled me away
And I was out there, out on my own

The thieves, they came and went
They took everything in sight
And then we got it back again
Oh, I had to fight

And I, then I woke up from the middle of the strangest dream
And everyone was there that I ever knew and they all began to sing
Hold you head high, just as high as you can
Things will work out soon, things will come round again
You see I've got this fascination with all the wrong ways to go
I get lost even in the places that I know

Hold your head high, just as high as you can
Things will work out soon, things will come round again
Hold your head high, just as high as you can
Things will work out soon, things will come round again

random picture show

just some photographs that have tickled me lately...

soul

i love this clip. rob machado carves while band of horses do their thing and amplify the view.

atmospheric fairground

for fleeting moments you hang,
all charcoal and fire.

you remind me to be...

like a floating wisp,
a calligrapher's light touch.
something lies behind and beyond,
the still beauty of me.

act two shows me more.
orbital brilliance.

a shotgun blasts into blackness.
white gems above your stage.

how deep do we go?

photo: golden bay, new zealand. january 2010.

time lapses fucking rule

For a period of 365 days I'd like to perceive our world this way.

LA Light from Colin Rich.

Manhattan in motion from Mindrelic.

Night Sky from Colin Rich.

444

I have a recurring relationship with the number 444.

Generally, I encounter the three digits in the context of time - either 4:44pm or 4:44am. But this combination also often reveals itself in other formats that bring the three 4s mysteriously together.

Today I've been thinking about Bon Iver, Blood Bank alot. When I'm obsessing over a particular song I'll often lose myself in the YouTube matrix, sifting through performances at different venues, photo montages, user created videos etc.

This live version of Blood Bank was easily my favourite. Length of video? 4m 44s.

Update 1: OK, as soon as I embedded the video into this blog post it changed from 4:44 to 4:45. Some things can't be explained.

Update 2: No. 4 to one side, this is a lyrical and musical masterpiece.

new york's finest

Les Savy Fav - total nutters and tight punked out tunes.

Quiet

This Will Destroy You are a binaural trip; it's easy to get lost with them in the night sky.

Welcome to web design hell

This is brilliant.

No one does observational humour quite like The Oatmeal.

When you're this Close Up, it looks ugly

I've got to question the role of our state broadcaster, Television New Zealand.

The day following Waitangi Day, I watched a story on Close Up of a dispute between local Iwi and land owners about Maungatautari Sanctuary.

Before the story even starts, it's fair to assume that it was always going to be a dispute of a complex nature. When it comes to disagreement over land ownership, is there any other kind?

And here lies my point.

What is Close Up possibly hoping to achieve in devoting just 12 minutes to a story that actually warrants an hour-long documentary in order to inform their audience with a fair perspective on the facts and opinions from both sides?

It pissed me off. Lots.

Surely all this ordinary piece of journalism does is agitate negative misconceptions and racist attitudes. Is this in line with the TVNZ Charter?

It's the sort of crappy sensationalised piece that Close Up execs know will rate well and watch well in the heartland of New Zealand.

Our state broadcaster needs to take a far more responsible role in informing and educating New Zealanders about land and race issues than this throwaway segment aired the day after Waitangi Day.

Clever twitter crack up

Humourous take on a not so humourous situation...

Shopfitters in Australia

Sorry - another SEO post here

Wikipedia definition of shopfitting

Shop fitting (shopfitting) is the trade of fitting out retail and service shops and stores with equipment and merchandise. The trade applies to all kinds of outlets from a small corner shop to hypermarkets.

A shopfitter executes planning, design of shop layout, and most importantly physically stocks the shop with equipment and goods.

A shop fitting firm typically incorporates professional expertise in interior design, manufacturing of bespoke furniture, signage and fittings (with own or outsourced facilities) and purchasing of retail equipment.

Shop fitting cycle begins with a survey and measurement of available space and preparing design drawings for submission to the client.

Alternatively, the client may have their own drawings prepared by an independent interior designer. The shop fitter arranges for purchase of standard equipment and merchandize or production of bespoke, delivers and physically installs them — until the shop is ready for daily operation.

There are different requirements to the different branches and types of shop. Fashion shop design requires up-to-the-minute awareness of current trends in colour and style to create stores that will draw customers in.

Successful pub, nightclub and bar design creates entertaining environments that also help customers relax and feel at ease. Cosmetics shops have small size products with high prices, and needs store design constructed to display the countless types of perfume and personal care products in an inviting manner.

Melbourne shopfitters
Sydney shopfitters
Brisbane shopfitters