As a philosophy student I really enjoyed reading Zen, but when I read the "sequel" Lila, it seemed to me that the philosophy had been developed into a way to live your life. The sequel left a foul taste in my mouth, I can't think of anything specific, but it kinda ruined the whole magic of Zen for me. Zen counts as philosophy, to me anyway, but anything after that just seemed kinda hacked together.
posted to Ask Metafilter by robotot at 5:47 PM on October 1, 2008

Dinner and a movie at Govindas is always nice.

Or take them to Scotland Island.

my favourite place though is Taronga Zoo.
posted to Ask Metafilter by robotot at 9:05 PM on September 30, 2008

The only american foods that really freak me out (I'm Australian, duh) is that god-awful looking orange cheese slices, and Twinkies and Crispie Cremes.

On the other hand, those Reeses Peanut Butter things are the bomb!

If you like, maybe ask him to cook you dinner one night!
posted to Ask Metafilter by robotot at 5:14 PM on September 30, 2008

In the office I work in we had a new employee declare on a friday afternoon that if his soccer team won the grand final on sunday he'd probably be too hungover to come in on monday. Sure enough Monday came round, and he didn't turn up or call or anything, despite the manager calling his cell phone constantly.

On Tuesday when he arrived we all sat around dumbfounded as he did not even get a warning. This caused a mild mutiny in the ranks and the no-shower was eventually... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by robotot at 3:51 PM on September 30, 2008

My favourite is Yeshi. You must've liked it 'cos you've listed it twice.

I like it 'cos it's one letter away from Yoshi.

I'd steer clear of anything with funky spelling (Gyalchok), as they will spend a lot of time spelling it for people...and yes avoid anything with Wang in it.

On second skim over the list, I also liked Tempa...although they will get "temper, tempa" in a condescending voice every time they get... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by robotot at 11:25 PM on September 29, 2008

Here's a list of the most overused foley sound cliches.
posted to Ask Metafilter by robotot at 5:13 PM on September 29, 2008 marked best answer

Could be Mic Christopher? Except he died in 2001.
posted to Ask Metafilter by robotot at 5:02 PM on September 29, 2008

the Sydney Opera House with the Sydney Harbour Bridge behind it is pretty iconic, at least to Australians.

What about Machu Pichu, or the Easter Island Heads?
posted to Ask Metafilter by robotot at 4:59 PM on September 29, 2008

Sydney band Prop, play lovely music with moog, vibraphone, xylophones etc...they were around a fiar bit a few years back, not sure if they're still active, but they have at least one album out.
posted to Ask Metafilter by robotot at 4:35 PM on September 28, 2008

More info of Prop here. Looks like they have a couple of albums out. I can only speak for "Small Craft, Rough Seas" which should be exactly the sort of thing your looking for.
posted to Ask Metafilter by robotot at 4:37 PM on September 28, 2008 marked best answer

How appropriate, you fight like a cow!
posted to MetaFilter by robotot at 8:31 PM on September 18, 2008

Look for flyers and posters around Macquarie Uni, you might find students advertising for a spare room in a share house, checfk the local papers too, and flatmatefinder online. North Ryde and Epping are nice suburbs to live in, very leafy and burbsy. Lane Cove is a little bit closer to the city, and a little bit more expensive. Stick with Epping, North Ryde, Marsfield and Eastwood, cos you're more likely to find students with a spare room there, and they're all pretty easy to get around by... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by robotot at 8:10 PM on September 18, 2008

The stupidest part of that whole story is the fact that someone thought it was good enough to put on tv as "news".
posted to MetaFilter by robotot at 4:01 AM on September 14, 2008

The First Circle, has a chapter from the point of view of Josef Stalin.
posted to Ask Metafilter by robotot at 2:46 AM on September 14, 2008

Nice enough song, woulda been nice to hear a bit more from Kaki King though.
posted to MetaFilter by robotot at 3:54 AM on September 12, 2008

Virb might be a good one to check out. Think myspace without the webcam spam, annoying ads, and saturated marketplace. I don't know much about webdesign either but managed to set up a decent enough page there. Plus you can link it to a blog and have your blog updates automaticlly post to virb too.
No limit to the amount of songs you can put up too.
posted to Ask Metafilter by robotot at 3:52 PM on September 9, 2008

Also check out cllct. It's a website for people who want to give their music away for free. Not much in the way of flexibility of design, but it's a nother cool little community of musicians that hasn't grown to myspcae size yet, so there is still the chance that your music can be heard there, and not drowned out.
posted to Ask Metafilter by robotot at 3:54 PM on September 9, 2008

Looks interesting to download, which I am. I'll post some more once I've played some.
posted to MetaFilter by robotot at 4:36 AM on September 6, 2008

Bishop Allens "The Monitor" tells the story of the Monitor vs the Merrimack.
posted to Ask Metafilter by robotot at 3:59 PM on September 2, 2008

Cold Chisel's Khe Sanh.

Redgum's Only Nineteen, although not about any particular battle so much as the general psychological effect of war. A very powerful song nonetheless.
posted to Ask Metafilter by robotot at 4:06 PM on September 2, 2008

...and lastly Ratcat's Getting Away From This World is mostly about depression, but features the actual dialog from the ground crew at the fatal launch of the Challenger spacecraft.
posted to Ask Metafilter by robotot at 4:14 PM on September 2, 2008

I like the PCMCIA SSD. I didn't know such things existed. Where can I get one?
posted to Ask Metafilter by robotot at 9:51 PM on August 28, 2008

If you like Oddmusic then check out Clatterbox. Run by a friend of mine in Melbourne, it's a blog of experimental musical instruments and the people that create them.
posted to MetaFilter by robotot at 7:03 PM on August 28, 2008

Awesome! When my wife comes home from work she'll have undeniable proof that she married a nerd.
posted to MetaFilter by robotot at 7:24 PM on August 26, 2008

Australian Philosophy Teachers Network is back online, for those interested...


...or maybe it's just me.
posted to MetaFilter by robotot at 9:02 PM on August 24, 2008

Thanks Stacey,
expressscribe looks good, and the price is right.
posted to Ask Metafilter by robotot at 7:26 PM on August 21, 2008

Girl vs Pig? But it's in colour too...still it's entertaining.
posted to Ask Metafilter by robotot at 3:40 AM on August 13, 2008

I'd sooner label an open-faced sandwich a type of mini pizza. Especially if it was an open-faced melt.
posted to Ask Metafilter by robotot at 8:27 PM on August 3, 2008

"One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich" is one of those books that after reading had me sitting silently, mouth agape...shellshocked.

I'm sad that he's passed, but a bit confused. I'dassumed that he had died years ago.
RIP
posted to MetaFilter by robotot at 4:43 PM on August 3, 2008

Muppet theme song.
posted to Ask Metafilter by robotot at 1:34 AM on June 13, 2008

riding the clickstream.
posted to Ask Metafilter by robotot at 11:38 PM on May 27, 2008

Nice to hear from the model's perspective too.
posted to MetaFilter by robotot at 3:10 PM on May 25, 2008

it just keeps getting worse.
posted to MetaFilter by robotot at 7:15 PM on May 26, 2008

I worked ona credit card hotline several years ago and the first eight digits of credit card number could tell you a lot about the credit card.
Visa cards generally started with 4564, mastercards with 5163, the next four digits usually told you whether it was a gold card, silver card, had frequent flyer points.

Of course there was no real benefit for anyone outside of the workplace to know this stuff, it just made you that extra 1% more efficient if you could... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by robotot at 4:55 PM on May 26, 2008

I particularly liked the fake beards and moustaches on Sébastien Tellier (France's entry) backup singers.
posted to MetaFilter by robotot at 6:04 PM on May 25, 2008

Cute, until Artw reminded me of the aliens from Blindsight, and now I'm kinda freaked out.
posted to MetaFilter by robotot at 8:40 PM on May 19, 2008

One drunken night a friend of mine made about a half dozen "shots" of homemade Habanero chilli sauce, topped up with vodka. everyone slammed them down, and everbody burned...except me, cos I threw it back as far down my throat as I could, not much chilli hit my tongue. I could feel a wonderful fire in my belly for about an hour afterward, but my mouth was relatively burn free.

But god damn it hurt the next day. There is no avoiding that.
posted to Ask Metafilter by robotot at 7:59 PM on April 6, 2008

Or maybe she really is a robot? Although probably either a weird echo in the room you were in , or something going on with her vocal chords. I sometimes sound robot-ish if I have a cold and have a phlegmy throat.

Try holding a strong magnet near her head and see if she does anything else weird.
posted to Ask Metafilter by robotot at 3:18 PM on March 26, 2008

Very tasty.
posted to MeFi Music by robotot at 3:49 PM on March 25, 2008

Not sure about the glock. Sounds a bit like your mic was picking up some wind chimes playing outside. Maybe just cut them out until the solo bit, they sound a bit random everywhere else.

Like the lyrics, nice imagery. not sure about the repetition of "still unclaimed".

Plus it ends on an odd note, sounds unresolved.

Sorry to be such a critic. I really do like your song. I'll look out for any do-overs.
posted to MeFi Music by robotot at 3:46 PM on March 25, 2008

Very nice lyrics, and great vocals. Maybe a bit too much reverb on the voices, it gets a bit washy when the backing vocals come in. I'd get rid of the effects on the guitar/ bass - is that a chorus pedal I can hear? I think I'm allergic to chorus effects. Strip it down, keep it simple,get the levels right and then think about adding effects afterwards.
posted to MeFi Music by robotot at 3:40 PM on March 25, 2008

Cool song. I've got a degree in philosophy so I can totally appreciate the sentiment...barring the sheep.
posted to MeFi Music by robotot at 2:19 AM on March 17, 2008

"Mississippi Goddam" by Nina Simone
posted to Ask Metafilter by robotot at 1:42 AM on March 7, 2008

Seems like HYGIY Version 1 and 2 are unavailable at both links supplied by Decemberboy. Dammit.

Does anyone know anywhere else I can download them from?
posted to MetaFilter by robotot at 12:53 AM on March 3, 2008

never mind. its working today.
posted to MetaFilter by robotot at 11:48 PM on March 3, 2008

nthing Cloudstreet" and "Dirt Music" by Tim Winton, although they are about Perth not Brisbane.

"He died with a Felafel in his Hand", and "The Tasmanian Babes Fiasco" are great books (mostly set in Brisbane) by John Birmingham, who also wrote an awesome tome called "Leviathan" about the history and growth of Sydney from the time of the first European Settlers to now - which again doesn't really help you as you'll be in... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by robotot at 4:25 PM on March 3, 2008

I used to do a lot of automatic writing and user that as the basis for songs. Just sit down and write whatever comes to you. Give it a day or two, go back and read it and underline bits you like. Are you playing the instruments too? Guitar or whatever? I find its easier to fit the lyrics in if I can play along. It's really hard to try and fit lyrics into a song that I don't know the chords to.

Also, instead of full rhymes (clock..shock) try rhyming just the vowel... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by robotot at 8:58 PM on February 28, 2008

I'm june 14th. As a kid it was great 'cos it meant a present every six months, more or less. I always felt sorry for the kids with birthdays in January, having to wait 11 months till they got presents again. It's also good here in Australia because we get a public holiday in the first week of june, so there is always a long weekend on or near my birthday. It's like the Federal government giving me a birthday gift too.
posted to Ask Metafilter by robotot at 10:04 PM on February 22, 2008

If you like the people you work with, try to find that excitement outside of work. Do evening classes, learn something new that way.
posted to Ask Metafilter by robotot at 5:52 PM on February 20, 2008

Phillip Jose Farmer's "Stations of the Nightmare"
posted to Ask Metafilter by robotot at 12:24 PM on February 13, 2008 marked best answer