Archive for November, 2004

I am like Hasselhoff in here…

by tealou on November 26, 2004 in Uncategorized with 3 Comments

How many times have you heard the oft-said phrase “They’re big in Japan”? We all know about the Mr. Sparkle fiasco, and my own favourite singer, Lisa Loeb, having quite a significant market over there. I am also the first to snigger when I hear about David Hasselhoff having quite the reputation for being big everywhere it doesn’t count (ooooh a double entrendre!).

But never, not for one second, did I think that I, little old Lou¡¬ would be big in Japan. Of course, if I went there I would be big, because I am a 5’8 fat white woman, but I never thought that I would have a following.

Let us rewind back to 2001. As you all know I am a pretty decent fan of Lisa Loeb. I think she’s had a hard run, been given a rough time by record companies over the years, and as a result, has been, ironically, relegated to the “big in Japan” group of artists. Over the years I have managed to establish myself as the fan who produces “Educational Purposes Only” tabs for the Lisa Loeb fan community – its a job that I enjoy, and given my moderate amount of musical talent, I manage to pull it off.

So, it should come as no surprise to people that when a project to produce a Tribute CD from fans for Lisa’s birthday came about, I was happy to contribute. I have contributed a couple of covers, mostly done on my crappy computer, shared them, and they have appeared on 3 CDs that we have given to Lisa for her birthday (1999, 2000 & 2001). Most notable is I Wish, even though I have done a heap of others. It’s just a bit of fun that I didn’t even think about.

Until now.

A friend of mine, and fellow Lisa fan, has told me that when you search for “Lou¡ Smith” on Japanese peer-to-peer networks, it comes up with 500+ results on 50+ pages. 523 people have my version of “I Wish” in their shared folders. In case you don’t believe me, here is the evidence.

So, there you have it. I was suprised to know that 10 people had heard it, let alone over 500. Maybe its time to start thinking about touring? Or maybe its just proof that anyone can be big in Japan?

Parents don't see "fat" children.

by tealou on November 26, 2004 in Uncategorized with 2 Comments

OK, you should all know by now that I am not easily outraged, but I think I have another nominee for the worst news story of 2004.

Parents don’t see fat children

There are a couple of reasons why I am outraged by this “study”. Superficially it relates to what people judge as “fat”. But, in a much more sinister fashion, it disguises horrible prejudice against overweight people as “research” – implying that they are somehow lazy, ignorant or stupid. Not only that, it imposes this obscene idea of what a “normal” body is onto CHILDREN. It is breeding a generation of anorexics.

Why can’t people see these things for what they are? It is prejudice, pure and simple – a moral outrage by elites about an issue that has no scientific basis whatsoever.

What about those parents, like me, who refuse to believe that my child is going to die because they’re carrying some extra weight (In my case, my daughter is actually underweight for her age, but I am talking generally here)? What about those who see these “studies” as an imposition of a consumer culture, devoted to diet pills, gurus and McSalads?

The arbitrary definition of obesity (ok, not so arbitrary when you factor in who created it and who benefits from it, but bullshit all the same) is exactly that. A number. But that is entirely beside the point, because, according to many “obesity” studies, “maximum longevity is associated with above average weight” (andres, Haskew & Ernsberger), and that body mass does “not correlate well with increased risk, and that indeed the correlation sometimes [runs] in the opposite direction” (Campos).

I saw on Compass last night that there may be a non-weight related reason why people are getting diabetes more often (aside from increased screening inflating the figures), and it is potentially linked to germ exposure as a child. It should come as no surprise that mothers obsessed with Pine-O-Cleen wipes and overly sterile conditions are also those that support this idea that obesity is to blame: They have been programmed to consume cleaning products, diet pills, low fat cookies and Oprah’s books, in search of this elusive “perfect motherhood”. And its biting them on the arse.

One day I hope that people will wake up from their collective consumer fog to realise they have been had. They have been manipulated all in the name of consumption. I am not saying I have escaped it, but at least I can see this prejudice for what it is: imposing anorexic thought onto children who are otherwise perfectly healthy (although they could get out more – but more because TV rots their brain and makes them a part of this ridiculous culture). The blame needs to shift AWAY from parents and onto the people that are responsible – the food companies, the drug companies, the media companies, that create this hysterical consumer culture that both encourages overeating and despises it.

Doomed before you start, maybe?

by tealou on November 16, 2004 in Uncategorized with No comments

Premier waits for train advice

OK, I’m not one to make fun of tragedies… but surely, naming it the “Tilt Train” is asking for trouble?

C’mon Queenslanders, enlighten me…

(Can’t stop thinking about the Chaser’s “Tilt Australia” campaign….

Well and Truly Past It

by tealou on November 15, 2004 in Uncategorized with 1 Comment

Exams are funny things. I remember, years ago, as a fresh faced first year student, cramming until the last minute, a look of sheer terror on my face as I contemplated the possibility of failing an exam. Having not slept for weeks, trying to get my head around Aristotle, Macchiavelli and New Right Politics, I went into exams, worried that I might fail.

Fast forward to today. I am studying a Unit (and “study” is putting it very lightly) about the Internation Global Political Economy – a concept I have become quite familiar with over the past 8 years of my life. I did no study. My Reader and textbooks are all pretty much unopened, save for the odd coffee stain where I got momentary episdes of guilt and fell asleep with coffee in my hand. I walked into the exam today with a completey different approach to the one I took in 1997, having done absolutely no study whatsoever, and walking in with a Distinction average (for basically writing shit about globalisation – “oh the ills! what about the poor?! What about the NIKE FACTORIES?! The RIAA are EEEEVIL!” and so forth), and a pretty good sense of the crap I needed to spit forth in order to pass. I answered all the questions in an hour, and left, free as a bird, whilst the anxious pen scratchings of second-year Politics students drilled into my brain like Chinese water torture.

For the last week I have realised that I am done in this area of study for a couple of years. I just don’t feel challenged, or feel like I need to put any sort of effort in anymore. There is something drastically wrong when a person who is committed to the lifelong pursuit of learning and excellence walks into an exam and doesn’t give a fuck. I really don’t. I know that in my hour of writing I wrote just enough to get by, just enough to have the lecturer think that I am not a complete retard, and life goes on.

This isn’t what education is about. So I have pulled out of my Masters, to study something different, most likely doing a year of Dip Ed to reinvigorate my interests in a more interesting area.

Christ, I’m bored.

by tealou on November 10, 2004 in Motherhood Rules! with No comments

It’s not that I have nothing to do, I mean, I could spring clean the house, read a book, watch TV, write out more job applications, study for my exam next week…

I’m just bored. My life is boring. I haven’t been intellectually inspired or challenged in at least 12 months. I am tired of writing the same old essays about the same old topics, where people on either side are never going to agree anyway. I am tired of working day in, day out and getting absolutely nowhere. I am tired of spending hours and hours reading books, newspapers, and research in my subject area, only to have some moron on the internet decide that everything I do doesn’t matter, because this is a democracy and, as a man, his opinion is more important than mine. And the worst part is, I don’t even care anymore. I went to write a research paper on the effects of advertising on children, and then I realised that I don’t care. I just don’t have it in me to debate “issues” anymore.

And I sit and I wonder, surely there is more to life than this?

I used to imagine myself evenually being free from my life: no shitty childhood, no abusive family, none of the constant struggling for everything. And I thought that the key to this was getting an education and working hard. So I work hard, study hard, at the expense of friendships and hobbies, thinking that eventually it would pay off. Instead, I end up with a degree that is useless, and find myself working for people who find me “so great”, and “highly competitive” that they don’t want me there. So, having sacrificed everything to get ahead in life, I am not even ahead! I really don’t get it.

Save for the few small pleasures (like my daughter), I often wonder if life is going to continue to be this disappointing. Is this what every 25 year old goes through? Is it a sort of rite of passage to suddenly realise that the world is..well… just fucked – no matter how much you think you can escape its realities? If that’s the case, what sort of lie am I leading with my daughter, letting her believe that the world is wonderful, people are nice, and that you can change your destiny if you work hard enough?

Maybe some people are just born to have it hard, every step of the way. I actually joked to my husband that I wouldn’t get a research position that I wanted “because I never get anything I want”. Maybe that’s just the way things are? Maybe I am just meant to work hard for ever and ever, and eventually just end up writing a novel about it? Maybe this is all part of a huge journey and i’ll reah a point when I am fifty and actually happy…

Sometimes I think I should just become a breeder. They seem to have it so easy, cooking and cleaning and sewing and baking. And then I remember that I am infertile… fuck it.

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