PINNED DOWN

At the moment, I'm all about a few pin curls.

BRAIN DRAIN

Not only are human beings getting fatter and slower, it seems our brains are going the same way. For instance, I only can remember 2 phone numbers and one is my own, that's the mental equivalent of a fat person on an electric scooter. If you weren't already aware, there was Neuro Leadership Summit in Sydney a few weeks back... I had it pencilled in my diary months ago, did you?

Anway, the Summit brought two of the world's leading "neuroplasticians" to our shores and I luckily caught a bit of press about it when they were here and subsequently became obsessed.

Basically, Jeffrey Schwartz and Norman Doidge are pioneers in the field of nueroplasticity. In stripped back, maximum basic, lay lady terms neuro plastic means that the brain (unlike thought and taught for decades) is not a static organ incapable of picking up stuff or changing once you grow up. 

The brain has amazing facilities to "rewire" or retrain itself, say for instance after a massive stroke, brain damage or even to compensate for faulty wiring in the noggin, which may result in some form of mental illness or torment. Basically these dudes are all about the importance of brain training and regular exercise in order to keep one happy and overcome its limitations. And in this day of age our brains have plenty of junk in their trunks, we need to tone up. 

Radio National's awesome program All in the Mind has an interview with Doidge and Schwartz, where they talk about the ramifications of their work, a woman with half a brain and curing mental illness without drugs. You can listen to/read the transcript here. Do it!

All this stuff just wants me get hold of Doidge's book, do the Ancient Greek thing and rote learn some excerpts of Odyssey AND make like Olivia Newton John and get a Nintendo DS, RIGHT NOW.

MOVIES I LOVED AS A KID #2

Young Einstein came out in 1988 during that weird period in history when Americans really couldn't get enough of us Australians. Yahoo Serious, low budget... what else do you want me to say?

Watched this one a couple of hundred times as a youngin. It's been a long time between drinks but I still remember whole scenes from this. 

There is a bit where Albert Einstein (Serious) leaves his wooden shack in Tasmania, almost dies in the desert and comes across a skeleton all to the strains of Ice House. And he invents the electric guitar and makes a surfboard, splits the atom, hooks up with Marie Curie and eats lots of apples. 

Basically it's pretty weird/shit. I can't make an accurate reading because I haven't seen it since I was about 5.

I loved the soundtrack as a kid...  Models, Ice House, The Saints and The Lime Spiders to name a few. I've been revisiting a lot of 80s Australian stuff recently so it sort of reminded me of this.

Maybe you should see it if you haven't already, or maybe you shouldn't. 

Merril Schindler from The Los Angeles Magazine said it was "the hottest thing to emerge from Australia since Crocodile Dundee". 

Just putting it out there.

KICK IN THE DOOR

I just spent a dreamy weekend in an unusually warm and sunny Melbourne. Amongst much drinking, eating and shopping I managed to attend the Flip Out festival at the Corner Hotel. 

I finally caught Beaches... can't wait much longer for the album because their surfy instrumental stuff just kills me. Eddy Current Suppression Ring closed the festival at about 1am and I have to say I haven't enjoyed a band so much in a loooong time. They really just escaped my radar, have to admit I hardly have much of radar thing going these days. Every song was amazing, the crowd was nuts, eating out of their hands. I went out and bought the album the next day. It's just so nice when you see a band you really know nothing about and they just blow you away, you like every song and you just can't wait to see them again. Off the chains.

Also I was surfin the net the other day and the new Love of Diagrams demos sound amazinggg. You really should listen to them. 

Did I go hyper link hyper in this post or what? Snaps to me.

Watch. Observe.

VIGNETTES, OR SOMETHING

Reverse Garbage Haul #1. I don't have pierced ears and it's a real nightmare trip trying to find dangly clip ons a'la Margaret Pomeranz. They just don't exist. But last month a bunch of us hit up Reverse Garbage and I wallowed in the splendour that is their new jewellery room. I bought shitloads! So many dangly clip ons, so cheap. Notice the straw flower pair, they're bigger than my face. Oh if you could have seen me, deadstock blissville.

Reverse Garbage Haul #2. Ok so I have a hairbow addiction, it beats crack. I really did almost have a heart attack when I saw the tub o' hairbows for 50 cents each. That's right, 50c! Is anything 50c anymore? Not much methinks. I'm still on a buzz from this. So many hairbows, so little time.

Poppies tonight. Dropping as I type.

Poppies last week. I went out for about an hour and in that time the red poppy opened up. Nice.

The start of any good sick day includes = comfy bed, pot of creme brulee tea, banana muffins with matching banana patterned muffin holders (it's all in the details folks), maple syrup flavoured porridge with dates and AN ENTIRE SEASON OF TWIN PEAKS to smash.

One of two little angry Japanese masks I picked up in Katoomba a few months back.