Sorry Apple, you’ve lost me…

Apple MacBook, iPad and iPhone

I’ve had this title for a post in my mind for some time. Apple’s offerings have always had a high price, but have made up for it in other ways. This is no longer the case. Yet as I write this, I still use Apple kit for my work and creative pursuits. So what gives?
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Vale Stuart Fraser

I was saddened to hear of Stuart Fraser’s passing earlier this week. Here are some reflections on the impact he, and his bandmates in Noiseworks, had on my musical and personal journey…
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Bicycle helmet laws: for our protection?

I have a personal view that it’s best to wear a helmet, and would encourage any cyclist I know to do so. I have had enough “near misses,” small tumbles that would have been a LOT worse if I wasn’t wearing one, and friends who have (literally) been saved by them to not do so. But I hold a paradoxical view: I don’t believe they should be mandatory.
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Joker: reflections

The other week I had the pleasure (not quite sure that’s the right word) of seeing Joker.

When I heard the studios were planning to do a movie featuring the Joker character, I met the news with trepidation. I am still awed by Heath Ledger’s performance in the Dark Knight, which for me had become the “definitive” portrayal of the character. I admire Jared Leto’s abilities, but Suicide Squad was not his finest moment, and that experience had left me a little concerned.

I’d read a few reviews and seen a few murmurings on Facebook that it was a film to watch, so I ventured forth.
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Technology, Humans, Music and Magic

As most people who know me will be aware, I love technology, and I love music. The two have been intertwined in my journey, since I was a teenager. From the outside it might seem like a cold and expressionless way of making “sounds,” rather than music. I’ve recently come across a few videos that to me really articulate some of the magic that can happen when music and technology collide…
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An inconvenient extinction

By now, I suspect most people have heard about the Extinction Rebellion, or “XR” for short. In the past few weeks, XR-related actions have begun to crop up here in Australia, too, along with hints of the inevitable backlash (even in the “echo chamber” that is my Facebook feed.) One friend’s comments really resonated with me, but in preparing my response realised it really wasn’t suited (read: too long! Soz, not soz…) for a Facebook comment.
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Covering the bases

When I first started out in my consulting business I found it quite confronting to charge an hourly rate that was high enough to cover the bases. I started with a lower rate, and quickly discovered it wasn’t enough, but I found it challenging to raise it, mostly due to my perspective on what the rate “meant.” I found a simple trick to help me shift my perspective, and better work out what I needed to charge to make the business stack up.
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Music and purpose

One of the mental barriers I’ve been wrestling with is what to do with my songs once they’re written? I have plenty to say, and I enjoy the writing process. But there is a big part of me that finds it hard to get motivated unless I have a clear “point” in doing it. That was the crux of my previous post—how to break free of that mentality, and find motivation and momentum…
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Making progress…

In rekindling this blog, I’ve been going through and cleaning up some recent posts.

I came across this one, Reconnecting with music, and reading it felt like I could have written last month, not 4 years ago!

Well kinda… it’s been a journey since then, but a slow one.
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