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Showing posts from May, 2008

Virtual Greenie

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Zeitgeisters, Those of you who ever seen Lil Green Patch on Facebook or read my learned recent entry on’t, will know that it’s the perplexing application where the act of using the app is supposed to stimulate sponsors into donating money to save square feet of rainforest. You also earn "Green Bucks" which can be used inside the application. Part of the way it works is much like a game and the idea is for you to travel to other Lil Green Patches and tend them; thus adding to your Green Bucks, the Social Networking Aspect of Facebook and somehow saving our planet from destruction. When you go to someone’s patch you are often confronted with a task like weeding it, watering it, removing a neighbours’ dog, dealing with rabbits (as above). And you are equipped with specific implements for specific jobs (as below). Today I went to two patches to discover that a “wily fox had paused in the garden”. I looked at my implements and couldn’t work out which I was supposed to use. Was I

Eurovision 2008: Part 2

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Ukraine's Ani Lorak France's Sebastien Tellier Hi Zeitgeisters, This is the second part of my Eurovision re-cap. Part 1 is here on my mrtrivia.net site . We return now to the Belgrade Arena where the flags of various European countries are waving, the audience is screaming and a Scandanavian nation is about to blitz the Eurovison Song Contest (ESC) stage. 16. Denmark Denmark’s entry was the lyrically uninspired, but musically quite catchy ‘ All Night Long ’. It was sung by SIMON MATHEW and he had an actual band backing him up. They played a 1970s style number that sounded like the sort of thing Mika might do if they decided to give up their career and enter the Eurovision Song Contest. The old-timey vibe continued with the band’s apparel. They had flat caps and braces, which were the height of 1930s-style retro-chic when Gilbert O’Sullivan dressed this way, back in 1972 and sang Alone Again (Naturally) . Or maybe they were knocking off Chas and Dave . Can’t say for sure. 17.

Take Two Aspirins

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Zeities, I phoned the Doctor today, feeling poorly. I was put in a phone queue for about five minutes and listened to the customised message about the services my Medical Centre provides. They look forward to seeing me, apparently, which is awesome. Then an allegedly human voice came on and quite snippily replied that the whole practice was booked out tomorrow, what about Monday? I said okay while not really feeling it was. I then told dronebot which doctor I usually see, figuring that I wanted the same one who had been following my test results for the last year or so. I was told he was on leave. So, the breakdown. 1. We’re too busy to answer you now, so wait. 2. We’re too busy to see you tomorrow, so wait until Monday. 3. The doctor, exhausted from his busy schedule isn’t here so wait until he’s back, if you really feel you need to talk to the guy who has been advising on your treatment. Yeah, it’s way better than struggling to find a doctor in the Third World or in regional Australi

Marketing, Huh?!

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Creativity and commercialism collide Zeitgeisterinos, Most of us have developed effective filters for advertising. We know when we’re being sold to or marketed at. So it’s pleasant to see something new. I say new in the sense that this piece of advertising makes no sense at all. Yesterday, I was walking from the Perth train station and into the city when I spied this in Myer’s window. After walking on for half a dozen steps, I turned back and took another look because it didn’t compute. As far as I can tell the message is: “after shopping for great fashion why not visit our cafĂ© and enjoy a hot beverage and a…” And a what? What IS that? A bagel with sesame seeds? A donut with sprinkles? Why is it circling that mannequin like a doughy life preserver or the rings of Saturn rendered in pastry? I figured the interpretation of this mercantile art installation was beyond me, so I whipped out the trusty Nokia and took a photo. Seriously, what the heck is going on here? Mr Trivia

Boom Times in Perth

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A Steve Parish image of Perth, W.A. Hi Zeitgeisters, Those of you who are full of joy, need to turn away from this ‘blog post now, because today Mr Trivia is not full of joy, but piss and vinegar and he is referring to himself in the third person - never a good sign. Perth , Western Australia , the glittering city ‘twixt the ‘scarp (Darling Escarpment) and the Sea ( Indian Ocean ) where I dwellest, is going through something of a transition at the moment. According to Channel 7’s never-sensationalist and always-accurate TODAY TONIGHT program, our state is in the midst of a Boom. Everyone says this. In fact, they utter this piece of wisdom whenever possible. It fills in breaks in conversations and the moments between television programs. WA is in the midst of a Boom. Everyone says that. In the TODAY TONIGHT piece, the Pilbara was shown as a place where a shrewd landlord can make a stack of money renting out even a one bedroom fibroshack for $1000 dollars a week.

Green

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Hi Zeitgeisters, Check out this slightly dodgy badge of my Green pride. If you're on Facebook you can add the 'Li'l Green Patch' Application and save square feet of rain forest. According to the app's creators when one uses it, advertisers donate money to a Rain Forest charity. Feeling a little cynical about this proposition? Have some doubts that merely messing in cyberspace can save real world ecosystems? Click on this weird little character below, do some research and make up your own mind. Elevate the Insignificant Mr Trivia