Author Archives: Fordiebianco

Bill Bailey: Mumbler in Chief

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I adore Bill Bailey. Who doesn’t? How can you not love a multi instrumental polymath with a anarchic streak and the politic leanings of an European leftie who refuses to swear on stage and still makes you laugh harder than any of the other ‘comedians’ out there. I still insist that Part Troll is the best comedy DVD ever released and by now I think I know it by heart. Last month I went to the Royal Albert Hall to see the man do his thing with Anne Dudley and the BBC Concert Orchestra and last weekend me and the best girlfriend ever watched the newest release of the master, ‘Tinselworm’.

Both in the Royal Albert Hall and on Tinselworm Bill Bailey’s greatest fallacy comes to light: the Master of Comedy is a terrible mumbler! While live in the Royal Albert Hall the best girlfriend and I blamed the crap sound, in Tinselworm it finally became apparent that the man is slurring his gags, especially when they come at the end of an elaborately set up routine: the last, decisive part of the sentence becomes a meaningless ‘snmvrbbsssschnffff’. One routine we had to listen to 5 times before we finally understood the whole thing, and it turned out to be the most brillant aside in the whole show.

It must be the side-effect of repeating your gags again and again that you finally throw them away as unidentifiable asides. Shame, but if you’re motivated enough to listen to the man again and again, the best gags are hidden under layers of mumbling.

Ubuntu on the Aspire One

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Hello all,

after a short break from posting, Messagedfromtheouthouse is now back in action. Work unfortunately was a bit overwhelming over the last two weeks, but after a nice and quiet weekend filled with lounging on sofa and bed and some serious Indian cooking I am appropriately refreshed to get back to the important business of blogging. Anyway, I am sure you all remember that I recently bought an Aspire One, Acer’s answer to the EEEpc, the lovely little white laptop that is giving so much joy to the best girlfriend ever (and millions of happy clients all over the world). Faced with a serious shortage of EEE’s in my vicinity, I went for the Aspire One with it’s chunky 120MB HD and more generous sized keyboard. Fitted with ‘Linpus Lite’, I was moderately happy with the machine, though it’s ancient software suite and garish desktop design annoyed me slightly.That and it’s annoying fan, but that’s a different story.

This weekend I finally had the chance to change the operating system, and after much soul searching I went for Ubuntu’s Netbook Remix (NMR). And boy, the change is immense.

But first things first: the current NMR is based on Ubuntu’s Hardy Heron with some kernel tweaks for Intel’s weird little Atom processor and some proprietary drivers for the built in wifi. The installation is straightforward: download the image, transfer it unto a USB key, boot the AspireOne from the USB key and Robert is your mother’s brother. After the first boot all you have to do is add some personal details and everything just works. Firefox 3, Evolution, Open Office 2.4, all wrapped up in a very tasteful GUI, devoid of the terrible vomit green and orange colours that Linpus Lite was offering.

Battery management seems improved, wifi works, audio works (and somehow sounds not as flat. Maybe due to a different Alsa version?), webcam works, and now I have access to Ubuntu’s massive repositories and I don’t have to dabble with Fedora’s weird package management system anymore. A win-win situation.

Suddenly working with the AspireOne seems to be much more fun.

Good Bye, Helen. It was great to live in your country.

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So today New Zealand’s Labour government was voted off. Replaced  by a clone of David Cameron and a gaggle of unpleasant right wingers that make me pine for Michael Howard, the nine years of enlightenment that this small country has enjoyed under the outgoing administration will probably replaced by an orgy of privatisation, relaxation of the already far too liberal environmental policies and the return of stone age racial policies. In a time where America and Australia are electing progressives, New Zealand takes a step back and hands the keys to the country back to John Keys and his moronic neocons.

Janet Fitzsimons, the co-leader of the Green Party of Aotearoa, probably found the most appropriate words to summarise this election:

“I wonder in 20 years time whether there’ll be people who will look back to 2008 and say “I am really glad I voted for tax cuts rather for the future of our children”

I lived in a New Zealand that started to evolve into a proper western democracy (that saw the role of the state as more important than just to keep the streets repaired and the sewage working) thanks to Helen and her flock of ‘front-bums’ (quote John Tamihere) but is now quite likely to be run again by a bunch of farmers, lawyers and middle class businessmen who have tax relief and profit maximisation as the only important goal on their mind.

It’s going to be a very different country. With more cows. And streets to transport them on.

Certainly not a nicer one.

P.S. ..and the prize for biggest electoral bloodymindedness goes to the Waitaki electorate. They actually re-elected  Jacqui Dean.

Welcome back to the World, United States of America

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While the world is celebrating, there are still some die hard conservative air heads in the U.S. that didn’t get the memo: ‘Oiltrader’ in the comment section of the New York Post writes:

“My family and friends will never accept this criminal and terrorist lover as our President….. The entire world will just laugh at him and more importantly all of us for being so stupid as to elect a man like this….. Lets hope that the rest of the non-idiots in this country share our thoughts and intentions and show everyone everywhere that this man will never have a thing to say as President, but will only be a token figurehead…. NOTHING MORE!!!!!!”

Well, he’s right in one aspect: the world IS laughing, and it’s because we’re relieved and overjoyed. 8 years of disastrous foreign policies, the stoking of the hellfires of the Christian fringe and hapless fiscal policies are now over.

The world is once again ready to embrace a responsible, enlightened and proudly liberal United States, happy to be inspired by its stupendous creativity, multicultural society and technical brillance.

Welcome back, Americans, the world applauds you.

Well done.

“My Wife made me Canvas for Obama”

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Very nice little vignette of a conservative banker (who voted for Bush three times) who was made to go from door to door by his wife and spread the word for Obama. A funny and moving article, culminating in the paragraph:

“I’ve learned that this election is about the heart of America. It’s about the young people who are losing hope and the old people who have been forgotten. It’s about those who have worked all their lives and never fully realized the promise of America, but see that promise for their grandchildren in Barack Obama. The poor see a chance, when they often have few. I saw hope in the eyes and faces in those doorways”

It’s in the online offering of the now sadly out of print Christian Science Monitor. Have a peek, it’s worth it.