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Champion of the Pause

February 21st 2010 03:03
I often go to a cafe across the road from my college, called Pausa. In Italian, the name means 'break' - like cigarette break, lunch break, coffee break. I use the place for a combination of the three.

Matter of fact, I use just about everywhere as a combination of the three, if I can get away with it. Waiting at the doctor's surgery, all the cafes surrounding the workplace, the park around the corner, and of course my own back yard.

It is an institution and an association with those of the same character who often feel the need to just kick back for several minutes, take in the scenery and rejuvenate our physical and mental states. Without our designated break time, whether in leisure or work hours, society would simply not be able to function and connect as well as it now does.


Everyone sitting al fresco at your local cafe is there for exactly the same reason, where on a level of physical proximity it is considered a community, and on a more global scale it is seen as a culture. Whereas a community provides the opportunity to see - and maybe socialise with - the same people on a regular basis without the need for planning it, the culture allows us to relate across borders and oceans to those who take time off for the same reason as ourselves.

I'll be taking a long, well-planned and well-deserved Pausa from Sydney in the coming months. And hopefully take the time to use the culture and zoom in on a few different communites around the world, without being too much of an outsider.

Una tipi di pausa I did not mention above will also be utilised to my advantage, being the order beer from the bar type. Not to mention the gastronomical glimpses into how, and where, other nations get their feast on.

For the meantime, I'll keep taking my breaks, and will refuse do be told I can't do so. I trust you will all do the same.
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Fashion and Literature

January 31st 2010 09:24
Slowly but surely, the topic of who imitates who will rear its debatable bosom into our collective conscience.

Back in my late teens, I found myself a wonderful imitation of life in the novel The Count of Monte Cristo. Although the style oozed by the count was more felt in certain pockets of New York throughout the nineties, there stood myself as a Sydneysider acting like I had found a supply of unlimited credit which was to be used for the greater good.

I dunno. It just felt right.

These days I find myself moreso affected by the likes of Julian Fellowes and his modern day account of life as a ruined aristocrat. Definitely something post-punk romantic to it, maybe even borgiouse bohemian. There's also a twist of techie in effect, thanks to the speedy lifestyle of convenience that comes with mp3, camera phone and computer technology available at my discretion. But that is beside the point.


In both Monte Cristo and Past Imperfect, I have been influenced by a time that was, well, before my time. I was not imitating anything I had noticed on the street on a regular basis, and obviously have not kept up with the knowledge of up and coming fashion trends.

On the surface it would seem that I am doing my own thing, but it would be closer to the fact to say that my fashion sense tends to be directly affected by whatever literature I am reading at the time. I have since found a common ground in which to stick with my sense of style without chopping and changing too much (as us hetero males like to do).

That common ground is 1930's New York stuff, such as F Scott Fitzgerald, Damon Runyon, and that guy that wrote Catcher in the Rye (google can wait). It could well be that my sense of style was as such all along, with Alexandre Dumas and Fellowes infiltrating and wreaking havoc as I flightedly flirted with what has been, at times, disaster.

As the tennis match between fashion, art and literature continue - with the prize being nothing but simple recognition and a possible boom in the cost there of - we can rest easy knowing that another thought provoking topic has been brought up that is of little consequence to the result incurred.

So might we say, thank you and good night

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Some just aren't coming to the party

December 30th 2009 05:17
I have heard that women are more inclined to mill over small pieces and thoughts with others, while men prefer to let information sink in without a word being said. This backs the theory that many women prefer to indulge in small talk, and prefer to avoid those that don't, and can also be vice versa for males.

Often with blatant disregard for the subject of conversation, and not allowing for the subject's side of the story, men can find themselves pitted against the opposite sex when they are being talked about without their knowledge. Mind you, these are the same women who did the same thing to girlfriends in high school when a mutual decision is made to have one of the girls ousted.

As minds adapt to other environments outside of educational facilities, these thought processes are commonly expected to generate into a somewhat misplaced snub towards the male libido. While some may respond optimistically and come to the conclusion that it was probably a positive experience at least for the male, others feel that sex - not within the confines of a formal relationship - should be punished.

And hence, we find stronger bonds formed with girlfriends as they decide to mutually dispose of any contact with the man who went against their neocatholic ways. Forget opposites attract, this is all about two negative opinions forming to make a positive opinion detract.

But we must be reminded that for the most part, women are warm and reciprocating towards sexual success, especially if it is a successful outcome for both parties. There are also those who simply couldn't care less, and some who are disturbed by such a turn in the topic of conversation.

I tend to find myself whole-heartedly agreeing with the feminist theory of acceptance, and being accepted, towards the opposite sex. Like being attractive to, and attracting, the potential suitor.

So when I find myself in a situation involving attraction while turning away from one's libido, and yes women have libidos, I feel like I missed something. Possibly I am being ignorant.

But when mutual attraction is not met with mutual acceptance..you know. Invites may be sent to one and all, but some just aren't coming to the party.
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The Pretension of Promotion

November 28th 2009 23:33
For those of us who survived walking the streets of the inner suburbs of Sydney in the 1980's and 90's, it can be forgiven that one will feel out of the loop with the swell of over-promotion and population that has come to define this old town.

As another summer rolls in, the 'most popular beach in the world' is forced to deal with mass migration on a daily basis. From four corners of the world they have come, and it is commonplace for us to note that with every bus ride down to the beach there will always be a few people on the bus who receive a rush of adrenaline, curiousity and porous salt as they prepare themselves to see Bondi for the first time


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Italian Film Addiction

October 18th 2009 01:43
It all happens so fast. One week you are functioning perfectly without the need for excess, the next you are at odds with yourself - unsure why such a strong craving has developed over such a small period of time.

As it was with myself and this years Italian Film Festival. One simply cannot get enough of such refined cinema. The final film, for me, was the one to bring about the greatest insight about the Mediterranean boot-shaped country. Vincere (Win) is about Mussolini, the fascist leader who dragged Italy through the two world wars. Parallels with the current leader Silvio Berlusconi were obvious - wanted by women all over the country and maintaining a stronghold on most media sources


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Frustrated Authority

September 5th 2009 08:36
So much time, so little space. Such is the dilemma for those of us stuck in middle management roles, with the realisation that the contract did not give us the world but gave us the right amount of money to purchase it. And time, as for all workers, equals money.

Anxiety abounds as we begin to take heed of our limits - who we are capable of displaying authority over, and who we have actually been designated authority over. It is often the case that one is moreso than the other, and one may self criticize and analyze when pondering the fact that we have been given so much, or so little, power


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Beyond everything generation after generation afflicts upon the world, and what the world afflicts upon them, there is a common ground of neutrality where all external forces can be nullified. Between the age of 21 to 35, everyone will find themselves a trend setter and trail blazer - if only for 15 minutes out of those 15 years.

Being middle-youthed means one is at a time in life where it doesn't matter what has happened in the past, and it barely matters what will happen in the future. Everything is here, right now. After two decades of wanting to be at the centre of the universe, it can be noticed that you now ARE the centre of the universe. You have reached the point in life where everything you hold dear is always close at hand, from hobbies and interests to studies and work


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To write an Oscar-winning novel

June 27th 2009 06:47
I suppose it all comes down to knowing that point where what you're writing is no longer built for the movies. Maybe the author simply cannot see any actors taking up the characters in what's written. Maybe there is so much depth on the page that there is no need for another medium to be used to express the story. Maybe the thought of it is messing up the writer's voice and getting in the way of the final product.

Julian Fellowes is an Oscar winner, for his screenplay of Gosford Park, and his novel 'Past Imperfect' proves to provide enough articulation of the scenes so that it works quite well as a novel written by a scriptwriter. There's no getting past it - the wit and banter between characters makes for entertaining and attention-grabbing pieces of a story that is surprisingly warm, yet sentimentally traditional in its own way


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Back again with another ramble, this time from the other side of the equator. Beware, this is VERY urban guerilla style filming.

Enjoy


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Right Wing Intellectuals

April 28th 2009 04:12
Karl Rove and John Howard are about as far as the idea of the right wing thinking machinations has, and will, go.

Mr Rove was behind the reign of George W. Bush's uneasy combination of hardheadedness and simplistic economic policies, carried out through other suspicious looking fellows such as Ben Bernanke and Alan Greenspan. Ex US President Bush may well be going down in history best known as a stooge to the aforementioned characters


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