Archive for June, 2009

Utegate. The daily updates to this so called scandal leaves a unsavoury taste on the tip of ones tongue as the stink of faecal matter offends our nostrils while large quantities of it dribbles down the chins of our esteemed leaders. Quite frankly it is a telling insight into the farce that is the political sphere. How the media laps up the absolute bullshit spilling out of politicians mouths and then feeds it to the stupid punter in the street leaves one wondering the value in corporate media. When no better story can be thought of to peak the interest of average Joe other than some phony email I fear that the days of public scrutiny and accountability of leadership has all but vanished and what is left, is nonsense and mass appeal madness. If it wasn’t bad enough, to then label the affair with such an unoriginal title as Utegate, like it was the Australian equivalent of Watergate is unforgivable and only tells of the stupidity of those that report the “news”.

Was it supposed to be funny? Or was it just a joke on the “Aussie Battler”, to slap mud in our faces? Here we have the elite, Governmental prowess at its finest, slinging mud at each about some fake email concerning some insignificant car dealer. How gives a fuck? Really! We go from environmental disaster and carbon taxes to some fucking email that isn’t even authentic. I am so angry with seemingly intelligent people who write policy that affects us all, who then bicker like children and whose rebuttals amount to a statement of “You should resign”….“No! You should resign” Come on! And we continue to pay the salaries of these clowns. Yes the joke is on us.

NO! We should sack em all! Get rid of these useless bureaucrats and let Anarchy sort it out. Utegate. What a total waste of energy and  time.If the world gave a rats arse about Australia we’d certainly be the at the fore front of ridicule right about now.

Another day slips through my fingers like grains of sand gliding through the gaps. The feel of silkiness and warmth, the sand on a summer’s day. On a beach, looking and dreaming to the ocean and beyond. The days like those granules, silica falling through loose fingers, smooth to touch while heavy and slow to walk upon. The recurring thought.  I’m caught. In a prison. Gnaws away inside. Locked inside. A gaol. Keeps ankles shackled and a lack of courage assures me breaking these rusty irons is impossible. Trapped in this nightmare. In some strange land which I’m told is normal and appropriate but  this feeling churns. The base of my spine crawls. Unconvinced. Is it as it is made out to be? Inside it crawls. Everything feels wrong. Inside. Like an insect peering through its black glass eyes. The world spins is nothing wrong? Am I just crazy or does everyone appear without a face? A mask? It crawls. Plastic moulds. Human feature. Expressions rehearsed and lines mimed. Moving. Are there strings attached? To limbs? It crawls. Moving with a faint and barely perceptible jerkiness. An unseen puppeteer? Maybe. Maybe it’s just that sand, sands of time crawling from year to year. Am I an alien? Crawling. Amongst puppets or am I totally unaware? Have I died? Am I living as ghost? In this world of strange affairs? Maybe it’s just that sand, sand caught in my stare.

But if I’m real how do I know I’m real? If I’m real then am I free? If I’m free then how do I know I’m free? It feels wrong. Yet I stumble along. Uncertain. Alone. Perhaps it’s just a dream and soon I’ll awake. Will the waking world feel more real? More right? Or will it be the same. Will I still be caught in this lair? If I’m awake, will the world then fall asleep? Do I just pretend. Pretend that I’m alike. Those puppets. And walk with the same blank stare?

Maybe it’s just me. Me with that blank stare. Maybe it’s just that sand, sand blowing in my ear. Then why these questions? Does no one care? The disparity of want. Need. Filling the world with greed. It’s wrong. It’s right. Should I drink Sprite? Coke and cola. What about the fauna? Water. Water. Everywhere. 5 dollar container imported from over there. Consumer. Consumer. Everywhere. But not enough to eat? Does it feel fair? Rich Dad. Poor Dad. What’s on TV Dad? Media. Media. Everywhere. But the story still untold. Maybe it’s just been put on hold.

Codral. Cold and flu. Just say NO! Sudafed to clear your head. Meth lab and you’ll be waiting. Waiting for the Fed. To knock. Knock. Knock. Who’s there? Why it’s 20 years for Suda-ephedrine bought from Terry White just next door. Right. Wrong. Still a little long for singing the Codral song. Soldier On. Soldier On. But don’t get on. Money. Money.  Don’t worry. Terry’s got his money. From grim crim who just committed a big sin. But he’ll still be fed. But what about Pfizer? Still making bread. You’ll be glad to still have a clear head.

Right. Wrong. No matter. We still sing our song. Buy. Buy. Sell. Sell. You may believe it. You may not. Just be careful with what you sell. Hell. High Water. The dream. Is it what it seems? Buy. Buy. Sell. Sell. Carbon. Emission.

Was this our vision or just our prison.

Another one bites the dust. What I’m talking about is the selling out of the only online music store where you could get relatively cheap legal music downloads from independent labels. In July emusic is locking out a good portion of the global community from buying a subscription and one can only assume that it came about because they bowed down before their overlord – the Sony BMG media cartel. Apart from now charging extra for less, the new deal is that unless you live in the right country you won’t be able to buy from emusic , although existing customers will be grandfathered onto the the new higher cost plans. Unless you live in the US, Canada or the EU you won’t be able to join this exclusive club to get music that no one else is selling.

On the one hand there is a big push against piracy which is all well and good for media cartels like Sony, but locking out half the world of potential customers could prove costly to independent labels. While they may gain some new customers from the US, Canada and Europe by having the added bonus of Sony’s catalogue amongst the mix, which by the way is restricted to songs older than 2 years, they have essentially lost customers from Australia, New Zealand, Africa, Asia, India, South America and China who now have no recourse to legally buy from independent labels. Without a legal alternative places like Bit torrent, Usenet, Rapidshare, Megaupload et al will be the first and only point of call. Of course these markets probably have a fraction of the sales and perhaps in some places no sales compared to the large consumer base in the northern hemisphere, but these countries now won’t even be given the chance to pay independent labels. There just isn’t anywhere to purchase the music from.

I can hazard a guess as to why these restrictions are in place. The media cartel has its fingers in the pie all over the globe, with exclusive deals with major corporations, so contractually restrictions need to be placed. Either that or they are just maximising profits by price gouging certain markets. So now emusic has got a new consumer base at the expense of music lovers who want to do the right thing by artists. Hopefully the independent labels will still be able to compete with the new paradigm shift emusic has developed. They possibly face losing customers who aren’t too happy being ripped off by subsidising a deal made with Sony. I for one will probably cancel my subscription purely out of protest to this amalgamation with corporate media. What attracted me to emusic in the first place was that it supported the independent labels and lesser known artists. I could support them by legally buying their music but I certainly don’t want anything to do with Sony, not only because I’ll be restricted from buying anything Sony but because Sony want to be arseholes and lock me out of their cosy deal. So I’ll invariably vote with my wallet and cancel my subscription with emusic once it’s up for renewal. Come January my options will be somewhat limited and more than likely UseNet will get a bigger work out than it presently does.