From today it’s on for young and old… literally.
The 2009 Every Generation Festival will be running for the entire month of October, aiming to bring together the community from young and old in a celebration of life.
Council of the Ageing General Manager of National Programs, Debra Petrys, spoke to Peter this morning about what we should expect to see.
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Today the country’s biggest ever vaccination program gets underway with the Federal Government making available 5 million doses of a Swine flu vaccine to the general public, and another 16 million on order.
Although all Australians are being urged to get themselves vaccinated, earlier this week Meryl Dorey from the Australian Vaccination Network called the scheme unsafe, untested and unnecessary.
Former federal health minister Dr Michael Wooldridge disagrees and here’s what he has to say about it:
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Swine Flu
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Maybe one of you remembers that general jerk I told you all about… They were actually pretty tolerable today. Faaaabulous. But still my internal conflict isn’t resolved.
Prepare for some extreme vagueness…
So now I can’t even look at him with a straight face. As in, my face contorts as soon as I see him. Eye contact? Out. Of. The. Question. I mean, we’ve had eye contact a few times, now, but it’s… indescribable. *is slapped* No, honestly! Not in a good way, either. In a what-the-heck-are-you-trying-to-say way… which isn’t exactly all that comforting.
And… I kind of wish I could look at him with a straight face again. Some part of me wants to go back and erase this. According to one of my recent dreams, I should be taking part in some rather scandalous activities soon. Eeps.
Vagueness may or may not stop here.
So we had Aca-Deca practice today, which was fun… ish. We spent the time doing interviews, thanks to someone’s feminine wiles. Or so we had planned it. I don’t actually know who decided to do interviews. But they were so serious. I had to inject a bit of myself into the questions. You do understand how I had to ask, “Do you know how to read an analog clock?” Mm-hm, I thought so.
And, to anyone who thinks I’m psychotic because I confessed that I locked myself into my room for five hours just writing: I am. Partially. However, I’m not a control freak like how it might have appeared… *flashback*
Interviewer: “So why do you like writing?”
Swanktown: “I like having control over the outcome of my story. I like being responsible for someone, and having a world with any rules I like.”
…Yeah, that was what it was like. I’m not that crazy, sheesh. xD I do understand how insane I sounded, though. Don’t worry; I won’t do that in an actual interview.
So today was pretty nice, overall. A bit confusing, which means I should be posting some more poetry soon.
Jess asked me for these caps earlier. Since I’ve been curled up in my comforter reading all afternoon busy this afternoon *cough* I totally forgot. Lucky for me, I have a great affiliate, ROBsessed, who e-mailed me these caps. Thank you so much Goz!
More caps and the interview after the jump!
Here is the interview:
By Bill Saporito
Since his debut in 1979’s Roger and Me, documentary filmmaker/agitator Michael Moore has aimed his blunderbuss of a lens against large American corporations and the institutions that he believes have flat-out screwed the working class. In his latest film, Capitalism, Moore ridicules the business philosophy that has blown up the economy, resulted in 6 million job losses and required more than a $1 trillion in bailout money to keep the banks afloat — while millions of people have lost their homes to foreclosure. He’s a man who has made perpetual outrage an art form in every sense of the word. He had some choice words for TIME’s business editor, Bill Saporito.
Michael Moore, director/writer/producer/star of the documentary Capitalism: A Love Story
What brought you back to a film about the economy?
I’ve been thinking about this for about the entire 20 years I’ve been making movies. Most of the subject matter all comes back to the simple theme of an economic system that is unfair and unjust, in which a few people with a lot of money are making decisions that cause a lot misery and heartache for millions of people.
So it wasn’t a specific incident?
The Republicans and the Right Wing gave permission for all of us to use words we haven’t used before: capitalism and socialism. So let’s have a discourse. They called Obama a socialist because he told Joe the plumber he wanted to spread the wealth around. Then we had the crash and a month later Bush is talking about the glories of capitalism. I don’t’ remember in my lifetime where the President starts off a speech says, “And now class, today’s topic is capitalism.” They started using these words, so now it’s on the table. Let’s talk about it.
Bank of America wants to give back the TARP money it borrowed. In one very funny sequence in Capitalism, you back up an armored truck to various banks and demand the return of our money. Maybe you were just a tad early?
And the AIG money? I don’t think we’re going to see any of that. You cannot steal money, and then invest the money and then give it back. You can’t, let’s say you are the president of the Kiwanis. You can’t take the organization’s money, go make a profitable investment and then slip it back. It’s a felony. It’s as if you beat up your spouse and then take your spouse to the hospital and then say: ‘How about that: I took her all the way down to the hospital. That’s the kind of guy I am.’
You’ve called the TARP program part of a financial coup d’etat. But if we get our money back, with interest, and the banking system reverts to doing what it should do, haven’t the citizens won?
If you give me $700 billion per year, hey I have some good ideas. I can make some money with that, for me and for you. I’m going to have my best quarter if you gave me that money. I wonder how many people in the inner cities would love a little bailout money to get out the hole they are in and have one of their best years ever. This wasn’t a gift; it was a theft. They stole the people’s money by gambling with it. They took the pension funds of working people and gambled away their money, and went back to the same working people and asked for $700 billion more of their money.
Capitalism documents, very powerfully, sheriffs departments evicting families after their homes have been sold in foreclosure. Clearly, lots of people got put into bad mortgages by sleazeball operators. But didn’t ordinary homeowners get greedy too?
That’s a completely a diversionary tactic— how greedy can you get that you’d want a roof over you head? The FBI has said that 80% of mortgage fraud has been instituted by banks, not the people, not the home buyer; that’s an FBI’s statistic. The No. 1 cause of bankruptcies is medical bills. The mass media has done a pretty good job of placing blame on lower income people. For two hours this week I’m going to give the other side and here’s the other side: don’t blame the victim.
Real wages have not increased in a decade. You would think that labor unions would have been able to take advantage of the situation and recruit more members? Why haven’t they?
This is the crux of the problem: because the Republicans and the right wing have been successful in almost eliminating unions, everyone else has suffered as a result. Because unions fought for good pay and benefits, so many other people who weren’t union members benefited. By decimating the working class the corporations may have increased profits short term. But what they found is that [by forcing down wages] they couldn’t sell their products to their employees three years down the road. The wealthy have never liked to pay for the labor that enriches them. Ever since slavery was eliminated, they have been trying to keep it as close to slavery as they can without violating the slave laws. When you have a United or a Continental pilot having to walk dogs as a side job [to supplement their salaries], you have admitted on the spot that capitalism doesn’t work. What will historians and anthropologists call it? They are not going to call us employees or associates. They are going to call us wage slaves.
But aren’t you really a model capitalist? You raise money. You hire people. You create a product and sell it to the public, bearing the risk and gaining the rewards that goes along with it.
Capitalism would have never let me be a filmmaker, living in Flint, Michigan with a high school education. I was going to have to make that happen myself. My last movie, I gave it away for free on the Internet: Slacker Uprising. If I were a capitalist I would not give my employees health insurance with no deductible, which I do, including dental, and paid pregnancy leave. That’s not called capitalism, that’s called being a Christian and someone who believes in democracy, so that everyone should get a fair slice of the pie.
What do you want people to feel when they walk out of the theater?
I want what all filmmakers want: I want people to walk out and say to each other: ‘Wow, that was great way to spend two hours. That was exhilarating. I haven’t seen anything like that in a while’.
we luckily got 2 interviews: one with privatezack and one with me
Privatezack: When did you join roblox?
Gordonrox24: January of 2008. 21 months ago… I think.
Privatezack: When and why did you become a mod?
Gordonrox24: I became a mod about three weeks ago.
Privatezack: What is your favorite game on Roblox?
Gordonrox24: Miked ultimate paintball CTF.
Privatezack: What game do you think deserves to be on the front page?
Gordonrox24: Mine lol. Nah, I’m not sure.
Privatezack: Do you like being a mod?
Gordonrox24: Yep!
Privatezack: What’s your favorite section of the forum?
Gordonrox4: I like Scripters / Building help because everyone is so helpful.
Privatezack: What’s your favorite hat?
Gordonrox24: Either the Valkyrie Helm or the Fedora, or the Crown of Warlords.
Privatezack: If you could would you be admin?
Gordonrox24: Nah to much work.
Privatezack: Who do you think deserves to be a mod?
Gordonrox24: I’m not
Speckledorf: How long have you played roblox?
Gordonrox24: I have been playing Roblox since my brother introduced me to it in January of 2008. He has been playing since October of 2006, and I guess I have been here for 21 months.
Speckledorf: What is your favourite game?
Gordonrox24: My favorite game is defiantly Miked’s Ultimate Paintball.
Speckledorf: Who is your favourite player?
Gordonrox24: My favorite player is either AdmiralKnight or hollyrox. They don’t really play anymore, but we used to be paintball buddies.
Speckledorf: How long have you been on the forums?
Gordonrox24: I have been on the forums for probably a year.
Speckledorf: Have you ever had any moderation actions against you?
Gordonrox24: Not that I can remember.
Speckledorf: What was your reaction to be invited to the forum modship?
Gordonrox24: I thought it was cool. Another neat challenge to tackle.
Speckledorf: What’s the best part about being one?
Gordonrox24: I would have to say all of the helpful people there.
Speckledorf: What’s your favourite thing about the forums?
Gordonrox24: The mass Chaos caused by the ban Hammer gear lol
Speckledorf: What’s is the worst thing about being a forum mod?
Gordonrox24: Probably all the people following you around, asking for the ban hammer and asking for you to make them a moderator.
Privatezack and tatoberry
PS:
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On 9/25/2009 at 7:28 PM gordonrox24 wrote:
Gahh *dies*
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On 9/25/2009 at 7:16 PM speckledorf wrote:
thank you for your cooperation
too bad we posioned your water
When the members of Sweden’s Scar Symmetry announced they were parting ways with vocalist Christian Älvestam last year, it seemed to signal the end of the band.
Älvestam’s departure couldn’t have come at a worse time. The band had just released “Holographic Universe,” a blistering piece of melodic death metal. With the proper promotion and touring, Scar Symmetry seemed poised to ride “Holographic Universe” to a new level of success.
Instead, the band was left without a vocalist – and with a larger problem: Many of the songs on “Holographic” were so complicated vocally that they would be impossible for one vocalist to reproduce live.
Guitarist Jonas Kjellgren said, despite Älvestam’s departure, the band never seriously considered breaking up.
“It was before he left that we were afraid we were going to break up,” Kjellgren said during a Sept. 20 phone interview. “He didn’t want to do any touring at all and we didn’t want to be just a studio project.”
Faced with the problem of having to reproduce the songs live, Kjellgren and the rest of Scar Symmetry made a unique decision – they hired twovocalists, Lars Palmqvist for clean vocals and Roberth Karlsson for gutteral roars.
“It’s not so weird,” Kjellgren said. “I don’t know why the norm is one vocalist.”
With the new singers on board, the members of Scar Symmetry played a few shows, but skipped major touring. Instead, the band went back into the studio and recorded “Dark Matter Dimensions,” a melodic death metal album that showcases the band’s trademark tight musicianship while demonstrating the vocal power of Karlsson and Palmqvist.
The band’s first appearance with two singers was daunting, Kjellgren said.
“It was in Spain,” he said. “We had rehearsed one time, or not (even) one time. I was so nervous – everyone was so nervous – but it went really well and the audience went bananas.”
Performing with the new lineup is “still very nervous, because it’s still so fresh and new,” Kjellgren said. “It feels new. It feels like a new band.”
The new vocalists are not yet contributing to the songwriting process, Kjellgren said.
“It’s always Henrik” Ohlsson who writes the lyrics, Kjellgren said. “We all have our different roles in the band. Me and Per (Nilsson) write the music, Roberth and Lars get to front the band and Ken (Seil) takes care of all the groupies and liquor.
“We asked Roberth and Lars if they wanted to change the lyrics (for the new songs) and they said no,” Kjellgren said. “It would have been forced for them to write the lyrics for Scar Symmetry.”
A band with two frontmen could create problems – especially if the two compete to be the leader and try to outshine the other. But Kjellgren said Karlsson and Palmqvist are not the kind of guys who resort to diva behavior.
“It’s a really dangerous thing that could be if you had two vocalists and they’re both prima donnas,” Kjellgren said. “But (Karlsson and Palmqvist) have been in the same band before – and they’re best friends since they were kids, so it works well.”
While a one-year turnaround might seem fast between albums, Kjellgren said the band wanted to get into the studio quickly once Karlsson and Palmqvist were on board.
“We wanted to have new songs our new singers were singing on,” Kjellgren said. “Since we didn’t do much touring for ‘Holographic Universe,’ we had time to write new material.
“It didn’t feel like one year” between albums, Kjellgren said. “It feels like it has been forever, because we recorded ‘Holographic Universe’ in December 2007.”
Since the band had to dramatically curtail its touring plans for “Holographic Universe,” the group will tour extensively for “Dark Matter Dimensions,” Kjellgren said.
“We’ll start with a European tour with Behemoth and Devildriver and then we’ll go to South America,” Kjellgren said. “Then, another European tour in January and then we’ll hopefully come to the U.S. We’ll tour as much as possible, because it’s so damn fun.”
The new Scar Symmetry album, “Dark Matter Dimensions,” is streaming in its entirety on the band’s MySpace page.
