...i laze for a few days and suddenly Israel is attacking Palestine.
Even though i'm not there, even if i have nothing there, it really disturbs me. like war should.
It would be greatly appreaciated if someone told me how it became this way, i'm still in a daze...
thank you
p.s. happy new year's eve AC members!
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Saturday, December 13, 2008
The AC partay the only way they know how
#1 lesson learned 2008: Don't send out invitations to a party a mere 48 hours before you plan to hold it.
After that, the whole group joined in what must be the most powerful rendition of "My Heart Will Go On" since 1997:
It seems that 5-minute guitary solos don't really translate well to karaoke.
Then our precious two hours of karaoke time ran out. To end the evening, I announced some awards for contribution to the AC:
Julia, for her work organising food and drink and fundraising for the Oxjam while busy with debating and exams, as well as organising our banner-holdings.
Jo, for her amazing illustrations on the first edition of our zine (coming out soon!) and for the amazing amount of smart, thought-provoking posts she has written for her blog.
Ellen and Helena, for being the AC's most enthusiastic members.
Romana, for best excuse for not turning up to a meeting: "I have to cook waffles at lunchtime."
Elsie, for looking the most annoyed that she hadn't got an award yet.
Harry, for being the AC's only male member (sort of).
Eloise, for being cool.
Of course, I would have had many, many more awards to give out to the AC, because each member has contributed to the group in their own way. But I only had five chocolate bars.
Thanks to everyone who showed up, I had a fantastic time and I hope you did too!
Thanks to everyone who RSVP'd, even if they couldn't make it.
Thanks to everyone who didn't RSVP too, because if I invited you it means that you're in the AC and I love you anyway!
That's all for the year, have a safe and relaxing holiday, a Merry Christmas and a happy New Year.
Ka kite!
This is lesson was learned in a painful manner as the (diminished) AC crew consisting of me, Romana, Elsie, Helena and Jo walked in to Taste of Korea and asked for the 7.30 karaoke reservation.
"I thought you said 20 people were coming," glowered the waitress, obviously expecting a huge party of adults buying hundreds of dollars worth of alcoholic beverages, instead of the five measly underage patrons she saw before her.
"They're coming!" we insisted, slightly desperately.
And they did, sort of. Julia, Ellen and Eloise showed up later on, and eventually out of desperation for more people (I was paranoid that the waitress thought I was a deluded, unpopular loser who thought I had more friends than I really did), I forced my boyfriend to join us. Which brought our tally up to 9, which wasn't really enough for the ginormous room we were given:
The neon decorations were totally worth the exorbitant cost. And despite our small numbers, by jove, we rocked the house.
The night of karaoke (which means "empty orchestra" in Japanese, isn't that hauntingly beautiful?) began with the immortal Anastasia classic, "Once Upon a December", then by possibly the worst rendition of "Born in the USA" ever, sung my Romana and myself. Bruce Springsteen would be literally be rolling in his grave if he heard it (and were dead). Nevertheless, the Viet Cong references pleased the history nerds no end.
Next, the talented team of Elsie and Julia sang "Californication", with backing vocals from Helena and Eloise:
What a gorgeous bunch of ladies! (I'm serious. And I'm sorry for the photo. But I had to share.)
Meanwhile, the shyer people lurked in the background:
And Jo (dressed as her blogging alter-ego HeadSurgeon) basked in the glorious ambience of our surroundings:
After that, the whole group joined in what must be the most powerful rendition of "My Heart Will Go On" since 1997: 
They joined in too. Romana's just being SILLY.
Then came my long awaited (by me) performance of Prince's immortal epic, "Purple Rain". I don't have a photo, but it went a little like this:
It seems that 5-minute guitary solos don't really translate well to karaoke.
Then a variety of fun and engaging group singalongs occured.
"All the Small Things" by blink182:
"Going Under" by Evanescence:
Other performances included "Holiday", "Our Time is Running Out", "Thriller" and a (reportedly) epic rap of "Gangsters Paradise" that I sadly missed out on by going to the toilet.
We finished the evening off with a totally rocking performance of "Anarchy in the UK". Some epic headbanging action ensued:
Then our precious two hours of karaoke time ran out. To end the evening, I announced some awards for contribution to the AC:
Julia, for her work organising food and drink and fundraising for the Oxjam while busy with debating and exams, as well as organising our banner-holdings.
Jo, for her amazing illustrations on the first edition of our zine (coming out soon!) and for the amazing amount of smart, thought-provoking posts she has written for her blog.
Ellen and Helena, for being the AC's most enthusiastic members.
Romana, for best excuse for not turning up to a meeting: "I have to cook waffles at lunchtime."
Elsie, for looking the most annoyed that she hadn't got an award yet.
Harry, for being the AC's only male member (sort of).
Eloise, for being cool.
Of course, I would have had many, many more awards to give out to the AC, because each member has contributed to the group in their own way. But I only had five chocolate bars.
Thanks to everyone who showed up, I had a fantastic time and I hope you did too!
Thanks to everyone who RSVP'd, even if they couldn't make it.
Thanks to everyone who didn't RSVP too, because if I invited you it means that you're in the AC and I love you anyway!
That's all for the year, have a safe and relaxing holiday, a Merry Christmas and a happy New Year.
Ka kite!
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Happy sexagesimal birthday UDHR!
Okay, so, apparently, in NZ, it is 4:04 am on the 10th of December. Wake up my pretties! Today is the sixtieth anniversary of the signing of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
On the 10th december, 1948, the UDHR was adopted and proclaimed by the UN general assembly. Since then, it has set the Guiness World Record for the most translated document, having been translated into over 300 languages worldwide.
On this tremendous occasion, I thought you might like to familiarize yourself with the contents of the UDHR. To read it in English, click here.
(please do, or the UN might get me)(also, knowledge is power, and knowing your rights is very powerful)
But here are some of the awesomest articles:
Article 1: All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.
Article 4: No one shall be held in slavery or servitude; slavery and the slave trade shall be prohibited in all their forms.
Article 18: Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance.
Article 19: Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.
Article 24: Everyone has the right to rest and leisure, including reasonable limitation of working hours and periodic holidays with pay.
Article 26 i: Everyone has the right to education. Education shall be free, at least in the elementary and fundamental stages. Elementary education shall be compulsory. Technical and professional education shall be made generally available and higher education shall be equally accessible to all on the basis of merit.
Happy reading, and hugs and kisses from New York.
Article 26 i: Everyone has the right to education. Education shall be free, at least in the elementary and fundamental stages. Elementary education shall be compulsory. Technical and professional education shall be made generally available and higher education shall be equally accessible to all on the basis of merit.
Happy reading, and hugs and kisses from New York.
Monday, December 8, 2008
Hi!
I'm the HeadSurgeon, today I'm taking a break from cutting up people and is here to help you understand le financial crisis and effects with this simple-as-a-pimple guide. edit: whoops actually...its not understandable gabble...
To answer Ellen; yes! they are linked of course- you'll see why hopefully at the end of this, and i just have to add, we can all be a bit relieved as New Zealand seems to be comming out of the recession.
first we need to know some key words! Then its all KOOL from thereon, hopefully.
subprime mortgages: basically, during the years 2006-2007 or so, houses in the U.S were "subprime"- this means that the buyer only needed a small amount or none downpayment to buy a house. Thus, those who did not have the money for a house or income to actually pay the house back- were allowed a house!
Mortgage backed security: to first get into this, we have to get into asset backed security. Asset backed security is a way of debt security (which is BANK NOTES, therefore cash!) that is based on a set of assets(the assets which in this case are houses!). So, guessing you are confused- think a cashflow, and asset backed security enables more new cash to enter this flow [the flow and the stuff in the flow is debt security stuff then].
so were does mortgage backed security fit in?well- it is the asset! It is where they source the money to get into the flow! Because mortgage back securities gets the cash cause, ya know, people have to pay their mortgages, and the people earn money from interest ect, so it contributes to the cashflow, and therefore the cashflow is dependent on the mortgage payments for the cash! So, companies can invest in these mortgages to get cash from interest/from the people who brought the house but can't actually afford it for their own cashflow. In short, it is a financial product to produce money. phew. hope i didn't confuse anyone.
err, i think thats about what ya need to know, now, here's how it fits with the Financial crisis as i understand it...
so in the past few years, with the majority of houses being brought were issued with mortgages that were "subprime". People who had bad credit history/unstable income/not enough money annually to actually afford a house/you get what i mean- were encouraged to take on hefty mortgages because of the seemingly continuing rise in price houses so- "before it gets real expensive- we'll get it at the ok-expensive price right now!!" and also because...no needed or little down payment!...but then.... interest rate (i'm sure you all know what this is) increased...and the price of houses decreased. So "Oh no!" for the people who already had low credit already, and had taken on these mortgages were in trouble- since they have to pay more now with increase in interest rate, which is rather unhelpful and unthoughtful as they are already tight on cash. Also..."oh no" for those who invested- okay lets go a lil off tangent and talk about the investors.
okay...so...le financial products- the mortgage backed securities allowed many people and companies to invest in the american housemarket. Say, there is a company called "Tomworks Inc.", the company had initially borrowed money from a finance company to expand their business. When the company saw other companies investing in subprime mortgages and all the wonderful possibilities of money, the company decides to take a nice dig too to make more money by investing in some assets/subprime mortgages[property]. So, all is good and stuff, they thought they could get away...but then interest rates go up...and the house prices went down! ..and it wasn't changing...Oh noes! The price of the Companie's assets are now worth less, and on top of that...the people who brought their assets can't pay them back so they have to take the houses away/they go in foreclosure! So the company have all these houses, that are worth considerably less(and empty) and doing nothing. Not earning them money anymore. This became a big problem in the US because many companies and major banks invested in them greatly...
Also, addressing Ellen- most sub-prime mortgages are widely owned by financial companies! ;) thats why alot have closed down, their prime business is money and subprime mortgages looked like easy money- it spread like a "nasty rumour"! and remember cashflow guys! (so finance companies lending out money it loans from the bank/subprime mortgages, and the company paying the bank back with subprime mortgage money and the lenders interest from the money they borrow). Mortgage delinquincy increased (which is home-owners being delinquints and not paying their mortgage installments on time!)- and thus this ended up in foreclosure- the houses were seized :(...a-lot of houses actually, a million or so.
Right, so with this happening- as i said before many companies and major banks invested in them, they were bound to be financially in trouble. So...since this is a decline in capital (Wealth in the form of money or property owned by a person or business in this context) this put a strain on credit, especially as these companies and banks- as well as, lets not forget, the people who owned a house with a subprime mortgage-own banks(other banks for the banks...@_@, like the Central banks) money as well. This places a strain because the banks are therefore getting peanuts back (so yeh, finance companies around the world and ALOT of small businesses are closing down because banks are weary of lending money to help out these business refinance themselves back into production/ people who wish to start businesses or wish to appply for a finance will find it a hard time to since the banks are weary, and they would have set the "standards" a bit higher- those who have less money would most definately have a hard problem borrowing. And the people, who would've lost trust in the companies who have fallen (this also include people who have invested in stocks- how people buy a certain percentage of a company [to support it, as well as reap the rewards if the company begins succesful]. remember Forrest Gump investing stocks on "Apple" and he got stinkin' rich? Well vice versa that if a company actually went under. So- this also made a big hoo-ha on wall street as we know, people not wanting to buy stocks/invest (therefore companies finding it harder to support themselves as well as young companies taking off) ritey, back on track...uhm..right trust. Yeh. And then there was recession...but i'm sure you guys can see where recession fits in ;) and the government bailout plan for the big finance companies!
Summary:The financial crises came from greedy lil people who seduced buyers who could not afford houses, and then when they had to pay bigger mortgages they could not pay, and this became a problem for the greedy people since housing prices went down and thus their assets worth less. When the greedy peoples assets went into foreclosure it is exactly like "you are screwed" who would give them the money back for the assets? they were worth less and they could not turn these assets into money! So therefore, they could not pay back the banks and stuff money they owned for buying the assets. Banks not getting money back were unhappy, as were the banks who had invested in the subprime mortgages, getting no cash here and left with empty houses. So banks doesn't want to borrow money out, as they have less of it. And ect.
man. I'm really @_@. I hope this was understandable and brain friendly....even i can't bring myself to read it. Maybe i'll continue this with an effects, but i think its a tad obvious really.
I'm the HeadSurgeon, today I'm taking a break from cutting up people and is here to help you understand le financial crisis and effects with this simple-as-a-pimple guide. edit: whoops actually...its not understandable gabble...
To answer Ellen; yes! they are linked of course- you'll see why hopefully at the end of this, and i just have to add, we can all be a bit relieved as New Zealand seems to be comming out of the recession.
first we need to know some key words! Then its all KOOL from thereon, hopefully.
subprime mortgages: basically, during the years 2006-2007 or so, houses in the U.S were "subprime"- this means that the buyer only needed a small amount or none downpayment to buy a house. Thus, those who did not have the money for a house or income to actually pay the house back- were allowed a house!
Mortgage backed security: to first get into this, we have to get into asset backed security. Asset backed security is a way of debt security (which is BANK NOTES, therefore cash!) that is based on a set of assets(the assets which in this case are houses!). So, guessing you are confused- think a cashflow, and asset backed security enables more new cash to enter this flow [the flow and the stuff in the flow is debt security stuff then].
so were does mortgage backed security fit in?well- it is the asset! It is where they source the money to get into the flow! Because mortgage back securities gets the cash cause, ya know, people have to pay their mortgages, and the people earn money from interest ect, so it contributes to the cashflow, and therefore the cashflow is dependent on the mortgage payments for the cash! So, companies can invest in these mortgages to get cash from interest/from the people who brought the house but can't actually afford it for their own cashflow. In short, it is a financial product to produce money. phew. hope i didn't confuse anyone.
err, i think thats about what ya need to know, now, here's how it fits with the Financial crisis as i understand it...
so in the past few years, with the majority of houses being brought were issued with mortgages that were "subprime". People who had bad credit history/unstable income/not enough money annually to actually afford a house/you get what i mean- were encouraged to take on hefty mortgages because of the seemingly continuing rise in price houses so- "before it gets real expensive- we'll get it at the ok-expensive price right now!!" and also because...no needed or little down payment!...but then.... interest rate (i'm sure you all know what this is) increased...and the price of houses decreased. So "Oh no!" for the people who already had low credit already, and had taken on these mortgages were in trouble- since they have to pay more now with increase in interest rate, which is rather unhelpful and unthoughtful as they are already tight on cash. Also..."oh no" for those who invested- okay lets go a lil off tangent and talk about the investors.
okay...so...le financial products- the mortgage backed securities allowed many people and companies to invest in the american housemarket. Say, there is a company called "Tomworks Inc.", the company had initially borrowed money from a finance company to expand their business. When the company saw other companies investing in subprime mortgages and all the wonderful possibilities of money, the company decides to take a nice dig too to make more money by investing in some assets/subprime mortgages[property]. So, all is good and stuff, they thought they could get away...but then interest rates go up...and the house prices went down! ..and it wasn't changing...Oh noes! The price of the Companie's assets are now worth less, and on top of that...the people who brought their assets can't pay them back so they have to take the houses away/they go in foreclosure! So the company have all these houses, that are worth considerably less(and empty) and doing nothing. Not earning them money anymore. This became a big problem in the US because many companies and major banks invested in them greatly...
Also, addressing Ellen- most sub-prime mortgages are widely owned by financial companies! ;) thats why alot have closed down, their prime business is money and subprime mortgages looked like easy money- it spread like a "nasty rumour"! and remember cashflow guys! (so finance companies lending out money it loans from the bank/subprime mortgages, and the company paying the bank back with subprime mortgage money and the lenders interest from the money they borrow). Mortgage delinquincy increased (which is home-owners being delinquints and not paying their mortgage installments on time!)- and thus this ended up in foreclosure- the houses were seized :(...a-lot of houses actually, a million or so.
Right, so with this happening- as i said before many companies and major banks invested in them, they were bound to be financially in trouble. So...since this is a decline in capital (Wealth in the form of money or property owned by a person or business in this context) this put a strain on credit, especially as these companies and banks- as well as, lets not forget, the people who owned a house with a subprime mortgage-own banks(other banks for the banks...@_@, like the Central banks) money as well. This places a strain because the banks are therefore getting peanuts back (so yeh, finance companies around the world and ALOT of small businesses are closing down because banks are weary of lending money to help out these business refinance themselves back into production/ people who wish to start businesses or wish to appply for a finance will find it a hard time to since the banks are weary, and they would have set the "standards" a bit higher- those who have less money would most definately have a hard problem borrowing. And the people, who would've lost trust in the companies who have fallen (this also include people who have invested in stocks- how people buy a certain percentage of a company [to support it, as well as reap the rewards if the company begins succesful]. remember Forrest Gump investing stocks on "Apple" and he got stinkin' rich? Well vice versa that if a company actually went under. So- this also made a big hoo-ha on wall street as we know, people not wanting to buy stocks/invest (therefore companies finding it harder to support themselves as well as young companies taking off) ritey, back on track...uhm..right trust. Yeh. And then there was recession...but i'm sure you guys can see where recession fits in ;) and the government bailout plan for the big finance companies!
Summary:The financial crises came from greedy lil people who seduced buyers who could not afford houses, and then when they had to pay bigger mortgages they could not pay, and this became a problem for the greedy people since housing prices went down and thus their assets worth less. When the greedy peoples assets went into foreclosure it is exactly like "you are screwed" who would give them the money back for the assets? they were worth less and they could not turn these assets into money! So therefore, they could not pay back the banks and stuff money they owned for buying the assets. Banks not getting money back were unhappy, as were the banks who had invested in the subprime mortgages, getting no cash here and left with empty houses. So banks doesn't want to borrow money out, as they have less of it. And ect.
man. I'm really @_@. I hope this was understandable and brain friendly....even i can't bring myself to read it. Maybe i'll continue this with an effects, but i think its a tad obvious really.
In addition...
In addition to Romanas blog etc here is visual something to help you under stand the fanancial crisis. I am still very confused. I understand how it has began (sort of) but what are the effects? In my opinion it is effecting us everywhere from propety delvelopments to small scale bisnesses. Of course fanancial companies have failed. They are all linked yes? Would somebody like to publish a blog on the EFFECTS of the crisis? Because we all know historical event happens through cause and effect. We have the cause down which is furthur enforced by this flow chart.
http://flowingdata.com/2008/11/25/visual-guide-to-the-financial-crisis/
http://flowingdata.com/2008/11/25/visual-guide-to-the-financial-crisis/
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
Arrr....Pirating!
I don't think any of us can honestly cross our hearts and hope to die that you have not downloaded music before, ever ever ever, illegally[maybe with the exception of ms Judge...hmmm]. I sure have. Still do. I'll get to that later.
With the economic crisis and "credit crunch" this is generating, the music industry [especially that of CD stores ect.] will be effected greatly, not that it hasn't already because of illegal downloading. Of course, a "cure" to this is the holding of live concerts and of such, which is one of the best ways for bands/artists to generate revenue, and of course, you can now also very handily buy songs seperately or the whole album online to ease ye self of guilt.
Of course, the main thing about buying cd's is that we don't really need to, because we can hop on limewire or browse torrent sites where you can download an ENTIRE bands discography easily (easily, given you have broadband). So with the economic crisis, buying cd's and such is something that is not a necessary commodity when we can get it for "free", and thus, with this thinking, the artists who produce these cd's will be for the poorer times 10 during these times.
I always feel guilty when i download albums, and i know having the actual tangible album in thee hands feels great. When i download albums I have this little room in my mind of this scene:
Abandmember: Let's have noodles again, tonight.
Bbandmember: Yeh.
Cbandmember: I thought i could make a living with music
Abandmember: thats what we all thought. I didn't think i could live of noodles, but hey...
Cbandmember: Actually, i got a part-time job this week- at the convenience store
Bbandmember: Ah, i just went for an job interview at Farmers...and don't you think that writing songs that will "sell" is so stressful?
A,B & C: ....
Dbandmember: Alright lets place our activities on "Hiatus" then.
A,B & C: Alrighty
and we all know Hiatus is a euphemism for "disbanding"!!!*cough*malice mizer*cough*...
So, i try my best to buy albums. I spent Yen350,00 or so, give or take on albums and concert dvds when i was in Japan. Right now...I'm horrible. But i'm planning on buying what i have downloaded, and loved intensely from this particular site that gives free shipping :D as the main reason i don't buy cd's is because the cd's i want to buy can only be brought online and i have to change them to NZ dollars and pay for shipping...but...excuses!
However, upsides of downloading is that is is absolutely universal and no matter where you are given you have have a port or wi-fi near you, music from all the spaces within this world can reach you. Music now has fingertips to extend and touch many, which is undeniably good for an artist. I mean visual kei is crazy popular in Europe. This was only possible through downloads and, strangely, all these spanish blog sites that have entire discography of some bands uploaded onto megaupload and mediashare ect. This made is able for these visual bands to actually have europe tours.
Also, iPod's/mp3's have entirely revolutionised the music industry- as it made it more uneccesary to buy CD's but also a way which makes way for buying songs online...hmmm...
my take: buy what you love. If you listen to a certain artist alot, instead of downloading more of their albums, go and see whats avaliable at the Cd store.
"my take" redux for us poorer students who may not actually afford to pay $35 for 1 cd(!): ??umm...send fanmail to make up for your lack of financial support?
well we just have to make sure we arn't pirates all the time...or...communists!!
With the economic crisis and "credit crunch" this is generating, the music industry [especially that of CD stores ect.] will be effected greatly, not that it hasn't already because of illegal downloading. Of course, a "cure" to this is the holding of live concerts and of such, which is one of the best ways for bands/artists to generate revenue, and of course, you can now also very handily buy songs seperately or the whole album online to ease ye self of guilt.
Of course, the main thing about buying cd's is that we don't really need to, because we can hop on limewire or browse torrent sites where you can download an ENTIRE bands discography easily (easily, given you have broadband). So with the economic crisis, buying cd's and such is something that is not a necessary commodity when we can get it for "free", and thus, with this thinking, the artists who produce these cd's will be for the poorer times 10 during these times.
I always feel guilty when i download albums, and i know having the actual tangible album in thee hands feels great. When i download albums I have this little room in my mind of this scene:
Abandmember: Let's have noodles again, tonight.
Bbandmember: Yeh.
Cbandmember: I thought i could make a living with music
Abandmember: thats what we all thought. I didn't think i could live of noodles, but hey...
Cbandmember: Actually, i got a part-time job this week- at the convenience store
Bbandmember: Ah, i just went for an job interview at Farmers...and don't you think that writing songs that will "sell" is so stressful?
A,B & C: ....
Dbandmember: Alright lets place our activities on "Hiatus" then.
A,B & C: Alrighty
and we all know Hiatus is a euphemism for "disbanding"!!!*cough*malice mizer*cough*...
So, i try my best to buy albums. I spent Yen350,00 or so, give or take on albums and concert dvds when i was in Japan. Right now...I'm horrible. But i'm planning on buying what i have downloaded, and loved intensely from this particular site that gives free shipping :D as the main reason i don't buy cd's is because the cd's i want to buy can only be brought online and i have to change them to NZ dollars and pay for shipping...but...excuses!
However, upsides of downloading is that is is absolutely universal and no matter where you are given you have have a port or wi-fi near you, music from all the spaces within this world can reach you. Music now has fingertips to extend and touch many, which is undeniably good for an artist. I mean visual kei is crazy popular in Europe. This was only possible through downloads and, strangely, all these spanish blog sites that have entire discography of some bands uploaded onto megaupload and mediashare ect. This made is able for these visual bands to actually have europe tours.
Also, iPod's/mp3's have entirely revolutionised the music industry- as it made it more uneccesary to buy CD's but also a way which makes way for buying songs online...hmmm...
my take: buy what you love. If you listen to a certain artist alot, instead of downloading more of their albums, go and see whats avaliable at the Cd store.
"my take" redux for us poorer students who may not actually afford to pay $35 for 1 cd(!): ??umm...send fanmail to make up for your lack of financial support?
well we just have to make sure we arn't pirates all the time...or...communists!!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
