Weirdness

This Week's Songs


Recently, I have been doing cover versions. There are a couple of reasons for this. One of them is that there is another competition going on at iComp where the prize is a beer in Melbourne for the most unusual cover. Not that I am so hard-up for a beer but I thought I might have some fun.

The other reason is that people just like listening to cover versions more than they care to admit. So it's a bit of *fan service* when you do a cover. Last year when I posted an old version of 'Tempus Fugit' at X-mas, quite a number of people got a kick out of it. So in the future I'm actually thinking of doing more, not fewer.

Here's 'Jumpin Jack Flash' as you've never heard it.
And here's 'Message In a Bottle' as you've never heard it.

I'm sure I'll never live these covers down, but heck, they're 'done' now. Make sure you donload them because I'll be taking them down when the comp is over for 'jumpin' jack', and on the 17th September for 'Message'.

In my old band Satellite City, we used to play 'Jumpin' Jack Flash' as 'Jumpin' Ewok Flash' with totally different lyrics. Which brings me to this next thing today...

Chewbacca Is Ambidextrous?
Last September Chebacca threw the first pitch at Fenway and he was a lefty (Princess Leia looks quite fat too, there, but we'll skip that). Anyway, today, Chewbaca made an appearance with Wicket the Ewok in Kansas City, throwing out the first pitch:


He's throwing on the right. The only explanation for this might be that he is ambidextrous! :)
As for the game, the Yankees were down 5-1 in the 7th but stormed back with 10runs in the 8th for an eventual 12-5 win.

“I tell you, I’ve been here a month and a couple of days, and I’ve seen some crazy things,” said Bobby Abreu, who broke a 5-5 tie with a double to deep center. “This team has come back at any time, no matter what.”

---

The Yankees lead the Boston Red Sox by nine games in the division. They trail the Detroit Tigers by two games in the race for the best record in the league, which would ensure home-field advantage throughout the postseason.

Hudson had an appropriate first name. It was “Star Wars” night at Kauffman Stadium, with Chewbacca throwing out the first pitch and an Ewok dancing to “Super Freak” for reasons unknown.

The Evil Empire — that is, the Yankees — had never faced Hudson as a starter before, and he was impressive. Melky Cabrera had gone 35 plate appearances without a strikeout, but he struck out on a 94-mile-an-hour fastball to end the second inning with a runner on third.

Hudson was fearless, knocking down Jeter with a high fastball in the third inning. He used a variety of pitches to pile up seven strikeouts through the fifth inning, when the Yankees scored.

Yep, crazy, as Bobby Abreu says. Boson lost again, all's well in the bread-and-circuses part of the Universe.

When You're Fat, You Blame Everything Else
That's the only conclusion I can draw from this article.

POOR urban design is discouraging Australian children from playing outdoors, an international obesity conference has been told.

A study by Deakin University researchers has found that the vast majority of children exceed standards that recommend only two hours of television watching or other electronic entertainment a day.

Dr Jo Salmon has told the International Congress on Obesity in Sydney that local and state government policies on urban design actually discourage children from outdoor activity.

“Many aspects of the physical environment present barriers to children from being outside and directly contribute to their declining levels of physical activity,” Dr Salmon said.

Her work has shown that from the age of nine, children are less likely to play in parks because they think playground equipment is for much younger children.

“Small changes to urban design, such as age-appropriate playground equipment in public spaces and increasing the frequency of traffic light signals to favour pedestrians' use of roads, could have a significant impact on overall activity levels across the day,” she said.

Dr Salmon, a senior research fellow at the university's school of exercise and nutrition sciences, said parental safety concerns also kept children confined to the home.

“(Parents' attitudes) result in many children not being familiar with their neighbours or even walking to the local shops,” she said.

“Children who know their neighbours and have strong social networks within their neighbourhood are much more likely to be active.”

Better urban design policies will boost physical activity levels in children and strengthen social networks in neighbourhoods, Dr Salmon said.

For heaven's sakes, if you are obese, you only need to look in the mirror to recognise there is a problem. Blaming Urban Design is like blaming the people around you for not stopping you from gluttony.