I have no problem talking to people about salary but I have trouble telling people what I want for xmas. It's weird. Am I weird? I feel weird...

I like music. I like monkeys. I don't like The Monkees. But how do you know I don't already have the music? Or the monkey?

I still hold that I'd prefer xmas was all year and if you find something you think someone you love would like, just bloody buy it then and there. Don't wait for an excuse. Don't expect something in return.

It's easier said than done. I can't follow my own advice. I follow the traditions like everyone else.

A year ago in two days Peter left Midnight Oil. I'm surprised we haven't been lumped with a b-sides album yet. I don't suppose it would sell very well. I don't think Oils were big on b-sides / rarities.

Google search...

"Best Of The B-Sides" CD Oils CD. Mostly live tracks apparently. Possibly a bootleg? Nope... looks like an official 8 track promo. Given most of it is live I'm thinking an official b-sides CD is unlikely.

Oils are Sony? No chance of their b-sides ending up in a decent online digital music store then.

Replacing an iPod's battery will cost you US$225 and they only last 18 months. At least, that's one user's experience [via AnthonyJHicks] and he wants you to know about it.

Update: I've read recently that you can get a new battery for $100 from Apple and $50 from a third party official supplier. It's still a lot of cash, but not $225.

The DVD Forum have approved the next standard of DVD (via Josh). The Toshiba/NEC next-gen DVD have five times as much space. Standard DVD can hold about 2 hours of analog TV while the next-gen DVD will hold "more than" two hours of digital HD TV (or ten hours of standard TV you'd assume). Blue-ray, the other HD DVD format can hold three hours of digital HD TV.

The Register adds to the story:

However, while the Forum voted 8:6 to support the Toshiba/NEC format, it only agreed to use the read-only implementation. The two companies also offered a rewritable version, but that failed to gain a majority vote.

The victory was achieved only through new voting rules that ignore abstentions. In two past ballots, based on previous regulations, the Toshiba/NEC format did not achieve a majority vote.

I'm apathetic about govern-mental matters. I don't care who runs the Labor party because I think it's impossible to tell who could run a country better from two second sound bites and embarrassed pictures of them putting their bins out before work.

You can't even say what someone would have done if they were in control unless you've seen them in control (ie. the ruling government). Whatever they say as the opposition is 99% "we'd have done the opposite" rubbish. So vote for a third party and hope the shock to the system does more good than bad?

Or maybe I have no idea what I'm talking about...

Saw Texas Chainsaw Massacre (remake) yesterday. Firstly, my experience was tainted by the first 5 or 10 minutes of the film being displayed in the wrong aspect ratio. The image was squashed so everyone's face was wider than it should be. It was amusing for about five seconds but I almost walked out. Twenty points to the guy in front of me that did walk out and complain, to have the picture fixed a minute later. Very bad job Chadstone Hoyts. I expect a lot more for my $10.50.

The aspect ratio carnage ruined one of the more shocking moments of the film, the impressive "hitchhiker cuts his hand" replacement and it took a long while for the shock levels to return.

The old film worked so well because there was no explanation. There was no build up music. There was no tension. Just pure horror. It's really not that scary a film. Just shocking in it's calm telling of the story.

As expected, in the new version there is a lot more blood, a lot of unnecessary explanation and annoying story expansion, a lot more characters, tryhard moody music and impressively, more screaming. It's the exact same story with some minor changes, a lot of extra scenes and a lot more "plot".

It's still a very shocking film. They've tapped right into the heart of the fear in the original film and harshed-it-up a couple of notches for the post-MTV generation. I liked a few of the plot additions, particularly the sheriff character. Police are scary.

But otherwise, they have turned it into an almost standard teen horror flick, if a little more shocking and less-self-moking than usual. Lots of stupid teenagers. Lots of false starts (oh it was just a cat). Lots of hipsters that I'm sure didn't exist in the 70s. Now it's a popcorn flick and nothing more.

The gig on Saturday night was fun, if a little (lot) loose. Not too many people there. Parking in St Kilda on a Saturday night is an effing nightmare. I'm starting to see why we haven't played there before. At least the Espy has a loading bay.

Leigh (our drummer) should be back in town now. Jam tomorrow, gig Wednesday. More unpracticed fun. Due to the extremeness of the situation I might try to sneak a new song in.