Reanimated Residue

Hello world!

reanimatedresidue — Tue, 04 Jan 2011 08:26:59 +0000

Welcome to WordPress.com. This is your first post. Edit or delete it and start blogging!

Nosey Neighbours

reanimatedresidue — Sun, 02 Nov 2008 08:25:57 +0000

This is probably going to be the most boring post ever made on my blog and of little interest to many, but it seems our neighbours want us naked in front of the whole world so here we are. This is a public declaration of the inside of our house as of Sunday November 2nd 2008 – bar the bedrooms of occupants nine years and up, who have requested some semblance of personal liberty and privacy.

Wasn’t that fun?

Larrikin cashing in on Kookaburra from Down Under?

reanimatedresidue — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 01:20:03 +0000

Sunday Herald Sun
Men at Work sued over Down Under
Written by Nui Te Koha and Sue Hewitt

October 12, 2008 12:00am

TWO of Australia’s most loved anthems are locked in a courtroom showdown.

Publishing company Larrikin Music claims Men At Work’s global hit Down Under rips off the popular children’s song, Kookaburra.

"This is a battle between two icons," Larrikin Music Publishing managing director, Norm Lurie, said yesterday.
"We claim the song Down Under contains the ‘Kookaburra Sits in the Old Gum Tree’ refrain.
"That refrain is an integral part of Down Under and we are not being compensated for that song.
"The Kookaburra aspect of that song has never been acknowledged."

The matter is scheduled to be heard in the Federal Court in November.

In a statement of claim lodged in court, Larrikin is seeking compensation from Down Under’s songwriters, Colin Hay and Ron Strykert, along with record and entertainment giants Sony BMG Music Entertainment, Sony DADC Australia, EMI Songs Australia and EMI Music Publishing.

In a strange twist to the tale, Mr Lurie said he launched the court fight after an alleged Kookaburra connection was raised on the ABC TV quiz show, Spicks and Specks. He said the question: ‘What children’s song is contained in the song Down Under?’ was posed on the show, and answered: ‘Kookaburra‘.
"The next day, my email and phone lit up with people asking: ‘Do you know about this?’.

In court documents, Larrikin said Kookaburra was written by Toorak college teacher Marion Sinclair in 1934 for a girl guide jamboree in Melbourne. She signed over her copyright to the Libraries Board of South Australia in 1987, a year before her death, it said. In 2000, Larrikin took over the copyright in an agreement backdated to 1990, it said.

Larrikin, in court documents, claimed that in 1981 Hay and Strykert wrote Down Under using a "substantial part of Kookaburra" — the flute section.

In a statement of defence, Sony BMG and Sony DADC said since 1983, when Down Under was the unofficial anthem of Australia’s challenge for the America’s Cup, the song was known.

Sony’s statement said the owners of the Kookaburra copyright should have known Down Under, including the alleged flute rip-off, had been played regularly for nearly 30 years.

Sony BMG said in a statement yesterday: "This is properly a dispute between two rival music publishers, Larrikin and EMI Music Publishing. Sony has, at all times, fulfilled all its obligations."

Music industry commentator Molly Meldrum said: "I used to sing Kookaburra when growing up, but it does not remind me of Down Under.

Source:

Men at Work sued over Down Under - Sunday Herald Sun (Oct 12th 2008).

These copyright legal litigations are getting absurd.

For the majority of Australian children Kookaburra is a popular folk song taught at schools across the country. And it’s not like Down Under has been a secret for the last, what? 27 years!

The song Down Under falls into the Pop Art category, if any song ever did. Down Under is afterall, a song about Australia. It is a comment on Australian culture, referencing a number of popular cultural icons, to the point it is recognised as an iconic national symbol itself. Regardless of the Kookaburra refrain, Down Under is clearly its own song, an individual creation in it’s own right.

Larrikin did not own the copyright of Kookaburra in 1981 when Down Under was released, and certainly Marion’s estate will not benefit from any court decision as she signed the rights to Kookaburra away in 1987. In fact, Larrikin Music itself was owned and operated by an Australian, Warren Fahey, for Australian recording artists until it was sold to Festival in 1995.

Previous to the Spick and Specks program Larrikin were obviously ignorant of the Kookaburra refrain in Down Under. Larrikin Music have lost no revenue because of Down Under. It’s clear as day that Larrikin are simply trying to cash in. Whatever the result, the only people who are going to make any real money out of this are the legal professionals bantering about this pedantic bullshit.

So much time and money is wasted in these pointless legal processes. The courts are a place for justice, not opportunitist motions for profitable gain. We KNOW what the RIGHT result for this court battle should be, but the system is going to allow the charade to play out anyway.

Who are the real larrikins here? The recording industry giants? The courts? The lawyers? Perhaps it is us – the everyday apathetic Aussie - if we start allowing our legal system to languish about with Clayton’s cases like this one.

"Intellectual Property is the oil of the 21st century" – Mark Getty, chairman of Getty Images.

Catching Up

reanimatedresidue — Mon, 12 May 2008 01:41:38 +0000

A whole year goes by and I’ve hardly touched my space … well it’s time to revamp and catch up! Some of the new features are pretty cool, like improved image embedding for articles, the guestbook, and also the ability to customise the theme. Certainly some features are still lacking – such as spellcheck and HTML buttons similar to the old MSN groups – which could be useful tools for speeding up article publishing with nicer layouts.

Moving on with this update, let’s begin with some of the happenings in my life over the past year which have kept me from keeping up-to-date with my online blog duties. Firstly, it’s been a busy year moving our family of ten to a larger house and adjusting to a new town.

I completed my Certificate IV in Information Technology (Website Design) and Reanimated Residue Multimedia Studios has been busy with various web development projects since. Our website has undergone a massive transformation also - though far from complete, I’m quite happy with it now – however things have progressed so rapidily for us that it’s already in need of another overhaul so you might notice a number of changes occuring over the next couple of months.

We’ve had another Christmas go by already, so here’s a couple of pics from Christmas 2007. The first is a natural Aussie Christmas Door Wreath. The kids collected the native fauna from the park, including gum leaves and nuts, which I then assembled into a welcoming decoration more suited to the aussie festive season. The second pic is our traditional Xmas Eve photo of the completed tree. You can see our new aquarium in this photo – a hobby of my husband’s – but more about that later. And taken at about 5:30am on Christmas Morning, is the third photo of myself, sporting new sunnies and a Virgo coffee mug.


Aussie Christmas Door Wreath December 2007	Christmas Eve 2007
PoizonMyst – Christmas Day 2007

As always, Nanna and Pop sent gifts including these beautiful hand-crafted soft toys for the triplets. I thought they were really special and that I should share them with you.

The tag attached reads:

Barbara Sansoni designs

"Our products are about creation & design. They are about the inspiration and influence at work behind our intense passion for colour and textiles", Barbara Sansoni, founder of Barefoot Sri lanka.

In 1958, Barbara Sansoni, a colourist & artist, created the Barefoot concept out of a need for a rehabilition program for young Sri lankan woman who had limited schooling and skills. Today Barefoot is a premier textile design company exporting exquisite hand woven fabrics, toys, linen, and clothing worldwide.

Barefoot Artisans are dedicaed weavers and needlewomen who, without time constraints of mass production, are able to produce premium quality workmanship. Barefoot Sri lanka apposes exploitive practices. Each artisan earns a real wage enabling them to support their families with self-respect and dignity.

100% hand woven fabric – 100% hand made – 100% natural fibres
Swiss dyes used are non-toxic & colourfast.

It’s always good to highlight a worthy cause and the everyday people who are implementing inspirational working solutions. These toys are top quality products and I have no doubt they will last until the girls want to pass them on to their own children. So if you are looking for a unique gift for that special occasion, give Barefoot a look. You can also visit Barefoot Australia.

In August last year Reanimated Residue Multimedia Studios invested in some environmentally friendly personal transportation vehicles in the form of three Dyno electric bicycles. They have saved us so much money in taxi fares and have completed some 2000km each already. These bikes have changed our life. Here’s a couple of pics. Read a complete review and Q&A on our website.


DYNO CX 24V 200 Electric Bicycle	PoizonMyst – Proud owner October 2007

I mentioned earlier my husband’s hobby so heres a couple of pics from our aquarium. These pics are a bit old – again around Oct/Nov 2007 – so the fish have grown somewhat since and need a new tank already. I tell you it’s a scarey thing to feed these critters, let alone putting your whole arm in the tank to rearrange the neighbourhood ornaments. I’ve always enjoyed watching the community interaction of fish. I can sit for hours captivated by their little domestic disputes and mating rituals. Hmmm … I think I mite have been watching too many David Attenborough documentaries lately.

Anyway, when I get a new camera I’ll be able to share some newer photos, but for now let me introduce you to our tank of territorial predators.


Electric Blue Cichlid	Green Terror & Convicts

Well that’s a pretty good start for an update … but I’ve got plenty of new stuff to write about so I’ll be back a few more times over the coming weeks. I hope all the mum’s out there had a fabulous day yesterday for Mother’s Day 2008! Anyway, until next time, Cheers!

Triplet Breakfast Milkshake

reanimatedresidue — Sat, 10 Nov 2007 01:12:26 +0000

Into a measuring jug combine:

3 Weetbix
2 Bananas
250 grams Strawberry Yogurt
100 mls Heinz Multigrain Mix
Fill to 900 mls with Milk and blend with an electric hand mixer.

Poor into Dinky cups and serve.

Bin Laden Arrested at Apec?

reanimatedresidue — Fri, 07 Sep 2007 08:30:17 +0000

Would APEC security notice if Osama Bin Laden arrived at APEC in the Canadian diplomatic convoy? Apparently not.

Okay, so it wasn’t exactly Osama Bin Laden, but rather a popular Australian media personality dressed as the world’s most wanted man, who managed to infiltrate the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) security red-zone before being arrested 10 metres from the Sydney’s InterContinental Hotel, where American President George Bush has been staying during the summit.

The stunt made world headlines when several team members of the successful Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) satire television program, Chaser’s War on Everything, were arrested and charged under section 19 of the APEC Meeting Act 2007 on Thursday September 6th, after being waved through security checkpoints with a fake motorcade consisting of three hire cars flying Canadian flags accompanied by a motorcycle escort and security guards on foot.

Canada was chosen by the Chaser team because they thought it was a country that would not be heavily scrutinized by police in a comedy sketch intending to mock the overkill that is APEC security. But the lads got more material for their efforts than expected as they were welcomed through two security checkpoints with team members wearing no more than an “insecurity” id blatantly stating the convoy as a joke.

The Chaser crew was denied media accreditation prior to the summit, and in an article published on September 2nd, executive producer and cast member Julian Morrow warned, “We’re hoping at least three of the team will be arrested,” in plans to “play with APEC”. Morrow was among the 11 detained, which also included the 3 hire car drivers. NSW Police Commissioner Andrew Scipione says The Chaser team were specifically told not to conduct “dangerous stunts” during APEC week. Speaking for the first time since his arrest Morrow said, "lucky it was us and not Al Qaeda."

The skit has thrown doubt over the effectiveness of the AU$170 million security operation which has had large portions of the Sydney CBD in lockdown since the start of the conference on September 2nd. It involves some 3500 officers, including riot police and military personnel. Authorities and organisers are in desperate denial hoping to save face over the bungle, with Foreign Affairs Minister Alexander Downer quoted as saying “The point is they were in any case arrested, so I think the security works”, while NSW Police Minister David Campbell said, “I think this reinforces that APEC security has been successful by the mere fact that 11 people have been arrested”.

What both fail to mention is that “When The Chaser reached the perimeter of what they thought was the APEC restricted zone, they voluntarily turned around,” said The Chaser in a statement released today. It was only when Chaser comedian Chas Licciardello emerged from the vehicle wearing a long white robe and fake beard stating “I’m an important world leader. Why don’t I have a seat at the APEC table?” that Police finally realised and moved in to conduct arrests.

Also revealed yesterday, two police identification passes were incorrectly issued to staff members of the government Opposition which theoretically gave them unrestricted access to all APEC secure zones. The passes were eventually revoked and new passes issued in replacement, but again the error confirms uncertainty in what is the biggest security operation the country has ever seen.

The Chaser team was released on bail to appear in court on October 4th and face a maximum of six months jail for entering a secure area.

Twas the night before Christmas

reanimatedresidue — Sun, 24 Dec 2006 17:13:52 +0000

Well Okay … so it’s actually Christmas morning now. I’ve just finished wrapping all the pressies and stacking them around the tree for the kids to wake up to in the morning. Here is what it looks like now.

Merry Christmas Everyone!

Christmas is here!

reanimatedresidue — Fri, 22 Dec 2006 13:27:07 +0000

Its been ages since Ive left a post … spose I should drop by more often, but it’s been a busy year, what with seven kids and lots of projects to undertake. So it’s that time again and all the lil kiddies are excited. Pointing at big pressies on top of the cupboard, "oOo thats a big present Mummy" …. "Yes it is, and it’s not yours." says I lol. How mean am I? hehehe. Anyway here’s some pre-christmas pics …

Miss 7 at the community Christmas Party – December 14th 06

Local Santa at the Community Christmas Party – Dec 14th 06

This Year’s Christmas Tree – Dec 22nd 06

Wasnt that exciting? I think so, I love Christmas … I mean who doesnt? Even though I dont get all the pressies I want anymore … i love watching the kids open theirs and get everything their hearts desire. Ahhhh the spirit of giving. Can’t put any pressies unda the tree yet cause they wouldnt survive til Christmas day. Hopefully I can take some more pics on Christmas Eve when its all laden with gifts.

So as I said, Ive been undertaking many projects this year. I completed my first semester in a Certificate IV Information Technology (Website Design), so my next project is to spiffy up the Reanimated Residue website before classes start again. My kids have been bugging me for a homepage on the web too, so that is also to come. I’ve also got to add some links to other communities we run or are involved in, as well as some stuff for our new internet radio station, Radio Residue (thats a "listen" link btw).

We’ve been involved in a community of radio stations for a few months now over at radio-forums.net - a pretty cool concept of numerous radio stations and listeners interacting via forums while on air. We’ve also been trying to get some video happening through the same station, and recently unleashed "The Videodrome" … a b-grade movie TV show. First night was riddled with issues but things will certainly improve as we smooth things out. Currently we support 1500/256 and up connections for the video nights. So head on over to radio-forums.net and get involved. Radio Residue’s dedicated forums at the site can be found here - that’s where you can find out all about our station, chat with the DJs and other listeners, and find out when our shows are scheduled to be on. Hope to see you there!

So it’s almost to time finish up here … I’ll leave you with one last photo. The triplets will be 11 months old at the end of this year, so I thought I’d show an update picture. They’re crawling around now, and babbling baby words, laughing, and exploring. They are such good lil girls – hardly ever crying and always sleeping through the night. So here it is, taken Dec 14th, three lil faces all the same … Havent they grown?!?

The Triplets - Dec 14th 06

DVD Review: Classic Albums – U2 – The Joshua Tree

reanimatedresidue — Sun, 19 Nov 2006 13:20:57 +0000

At first impression, this Eagle Vision release from the Classic Albums series could be perceived as a “making of” documentary. The band and producers unveil old studio recordings of the most poignant tracks from The Joshua Tree, sharing musical snippets that did not make it to the final cut, and anecdotes of how those songs were born.

In its essence this documentary is U2 reminiscing about recording their most successful studio release, The Joshua Tree. Of course, expect the usual vanity to exude from Bono and the boys, but nonetheless their drive to create to the best of their abilities, and passion for their chosen subject matter, is powerfully sincere. They describe the album as highly influenced by American folk and blues culture, with their urge to draw on political messages born of their Irish heritage and experiences.

Fans may appreciate a demure Bono in the presence of producer Daniel Lanois, Adam’s misguided assertion that The Joshua Tree was one of the first techno albums on the music scene, Larry’s quiet offence at being the ignored drummer, and an exuberant Edge proudly demonstrating his atmospheric melodic riffs.

We learn that mixing the album was an art in and of itself with producers, Steve Lillywhite, Brian Eno, and Daniel Lanois, developing and injecting their own ideas into the music. They lament over their difficulties in creating “Where the Streets Have No Name”, seemingly a work of great difficulty and contention for both band and producers.

Along with cuts of concert footage from the Popmart tour, Classic Albums: U2 – The Joshua Tree includes potent live performances of “Mothers of the Disappeared” and “Running to Stand Still”. The 60 minute documentary closes with the full-length music video of “The Sweetest Thing”, crafted as an apology to Bono’s wife for forgetting her birthday while on tour. The song was not included as a track on the album, but was recorded during the same studio sessions, and released as a b-side for the 1987 single, “Where the Streets Have No Name”.

With this, their fifth album release, The Joshua Tree won a 1988 Grammy Award for Album of the Year, and established U2 as one of rocks most significant musical artists, filling arenas world-wide to this day.

DVD Review: Queen Under Review 1980-1991

reanimatedresidue — Mon, 06 Nov 2006 08:06:30 +0000

I am not certain that a hardcore Queen fanatic would garner much from this, the next instalment in the Chrome Dreams Media “Queen Under Review” series, a critical analysis of the band from 1980 until the death of Freddie Mercury in 1991. Other than the satisfaction the brilliant genius from Queen during this period is finally recognised by influential critics, Queen Under Review 1980-1991 is probably more enlightening to those of us who were too young to experience the earlier achievements of Queen in the 1970’s, only to discover them during the course of their temperate popularity in the 1980’s.

The in-depth discussion on this DVD, from acclaimed music journalists and other experts within the industry, is a positive accolade to a powerful revolutionary band. This is an educational journey through each album release, and their twenty chart topping singles, between 1980 and 1991. Dialogue focuses on Queen’s bold experimentation with a multitude of challenging genres, when others were looking back at an era of punk and new-wave pop was hitting the music scene.

I have always loved the music of Queen, but I don’t know Queen as a loyal fan would. They grabbed my attention from the first day I heard their music and I have always taken it for granted that they were considered legends in the same way I viewed Led Zeppelin or The Stones. I assumed it was a just a given that Queen were highly commended artists throughout their career. It was quite surprising to learn that their popularity had somewhat waned in the United States following the release of the “Flash Gordon” soundtrack album in 1980.

Queen Under Review 1980-1991 features snippets of Queen as an exuberant live act, including stadium performances such as that which stole the show at the Wembley Stadium “Live Aid” concert on July 13th, 1985 – often hailed as one of the greatest live sets of all time. Unfortunately the documentary is deprived of any interviews with remaining band members. Radio broadcaster and journalist, Paul Gambaccini, probably offers the closest connectivity, with an occasional revealing anecdote concerning his close friend, Freddie Mercury.

Overall, Queen Under Review 1980-1991 presents a intriguing retrospective on the music and personality of a band who were ultimately groundbreaking, extravagant, flamboyant, and an undeniable influential force on the landscape of contemporary rock music.