Binnsy's Hovel

You’ll notice there are a bunch of new links over in the sidebar under the heading “Binnsy’s Hovel”. These links are all part of the Hovel itself, or pages made or belonging to me.

Who is Binnsy? is a short biography of myself.

My Work takes you to a folio of my written work, including short fiction, speeches, poetry and articles.

The Photo Hut is a collection of galleries of photos I’ve taken at various places and events, and some artistic photography work I’ve done too.

eBay Items for Sale takes you to my selling page on eBay, where you can bid on or buy items I’m currently selling.

Web Design & IT: I am in the midst of setting up an IT business to help individuals and small businesses get on their feet, with web design and graphic design services. Click here to see what I do or to make an enquiry.

The Best of the Hovel is a selection of, in my opinion, my best or most relevant posts under a given topic. Listed alphabetically, it’s easy to navigate and a blast to read, to be sure.

Bynzekistan is my nation on the webgame NationStates.

Contact Binnsy: See this little post to find out how to get in touch with me.

Until next time…

Over the past few days I’ve been cleaning out my computer of all the junk I’ve acquired over the past few years.

In doing so I’ve come across my “My Pictures” folder, and found a number of graphics that have some special significance or that I just like to have.

So, over in the Photo Hut for your enjoyment, is The Best of My Pictures.

Until next time…

Well, as we approach the end of another January, one of Australia’s great annual sporting fixtures draws to a close. Tonight saw Roger Federer take out the Australian Open, defeating Marcos Baghdatis in four sets. I’ve only ever been once to the tennis in Melbourne, and it’s up there with the Cup, the cricket one-dayers and Australian Rules footy as one of the most defining events in international sport.

It reaffirms my belief in the spectacle and power of sport to see how much sportspeople can be affected by victories. It shows an incredible amount of humility and dedication to a sport, to do what Roger Federer did tonight. He broke down amid his victory acceptance speech. He acknowledged Baghdatis and his team, his own support team and was obviously struck by the significance and importance of the presence of one Rod Laver in the stadium named after the Australian tennis legend.

Sport is an incredibly powerful thing. It can inspire, break hearts, encourage, destroy and bring joy at a stroke. Australia’s culture is so centred around sport, and that is one of the things that I feel makes this nation great. That we hold sport above politics, above conflict, above despair. On that note, have a belated happy Australia Day…

Today I purchased Eyes Wide Shut and Dr. Strangelove on eBay. In the wake of my visiting the Stanley Kubrick exhibition I’ve been struck with an unshakeable desire to watch all of his movies from both a normal moviegoer and film analysis point of view.

I have no doubt there will be some who read this that will be convinced that my desire to watch Eyes Wide Shut stems from a typical masculine vein. Perhaps on some subconscious and well-and-truly out-of-my-control level this is true. For me to deny that would probably be to deny some ingrained part of my psyche. Give me some credit: at least I recognise it. I will be watching the movie from a Kubrick fan’s perspective, and from a filmmaker’s point of view. Even without watching the movie, it’s clear that, polarisingly, one of the largest aspects of the film’s controversy, and its appeal, is its psychological and social exploration of sexuality. Much like A Clockwork Orange, Eyes Wide Shut probes the human mind and its basest and most atavistic desires. Rest assured there will be a mammoth analytical post following that particular viewing.

In an almost 360°, my desire to purchase the other film is from a social and political perspective, as well as my interest in Kubrick’s sense of humour. Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb, one of Kubrick’s earliest films, dated 1964, is a scathingly accurate yet hilarious satire on the nuclear arms race. Another thing I’m looking forward to with Strangelove is to see Peter Sellers play no less than three roles, and a much younger James Earl Jones in a small role. Again, expect much ranting, raving and intelligent or not-so-intelligent discussion over that film.

May I also add that I encourage debate and discussion in comments if anyone wants… should be fun!

Anyone interested in buying some Star Wars figures on eBay? They’re all presented as new, never taken out of the packaging, in excellent condition. Most of the ones up at the moment are from Collection I of the Episode I series, as well as a few rarities: A Power of the Jedi Sandtrooper figure, and a Power of the Force Princess Leia Organa as Jabba’s Prisoner figure (yes, the metal bikini in all its plastic glory).

To view all the items, click here.

Until next time…

Categories: Stanley Kubrick, Kubrick, Tennis, Sport, Australia, eBay, Eyes Wide Shut, Dr Strangelove

Long time no blog.

Tamworth was good, albeit very hot. Much music and fun. I caught up with a few old friends and met some fresh faces. I did the obligatory ‘Peely’ – i.e. a walk down Peel Street, the main street of Tamworth (which is closed off to traffic during the Festival), where all the busking is done and many a random stall can be found. It was a great experience, but it gets a bit much after a while. Far too many people, and although I like country music to a point, too much of it can start to erode your brain, I’m sure of it.

Random question… Anyone know how to go about starting a sole trader home-based business? Anyone? If so could you please email me? Thankyou!

The other week I found a game on eBay that I’d been seeking out for ages, Republic: The Revolution. In essence, the game is a political simulator. You are the leader of your own little political faction, and you have to make a slow and steady rise to power to overthrow the corrupt government. Super mad fun.

I’m also having a spat of buying Kubrick movies on eBay. Yarr.

Until next time…

Categories: Tamworth, Country Music, Business, eBay, Republic: The Revolution

Well, here I am back again from another holiday, this time to Melbourne to catch up with my Dad and all that side of the family. It was a good trip; I saw a lot of the city including the National Gallery, the Shrine of Remembrance and all the various Gardens.

I also went to see the simply brilliant Stanley Kubrick exhibition at the Australian Centre for the Moving Image in Federation Square. Comprising thousands of film artefacts and props from Kubrick’s various films, the exhibit was stunning. Of note were the spectacular sections from 2001: A Space Odyssey, The Shining, Full Metal Jacket and Eyes Wide Shut.

In other news, I’ve been offered a place to study my Bachelor of Communication at the University of Western Sydney. Hurrah!

Tomorrow morning I’m heading up to Tamworth to experience the Country Music Festival for the first time in five or six years. Should be grand.

Until next time…

I really don’t know why I’m blogging.

I really have nothing interesting to say.

But it’s one of those moments where I hope that if I start typing, the ball will start rolling, and my wild and wacky and wonderful intellect will spew forth like water from a broken dam wall and such.

Bynzekistan’s going down the gurgler. Civil rights and political freedoms are on a slow but certain decline, and despite desperate measures put in place by my good self and my beloved and widely-socially-accepted government, my economy remains practically down the toilet.

All I need to do is waste several billion government dollars on a super-efficient but over-tolled expressway, linking all corners of my kingdom, and I’m Morris Iemma.

I like the NSW Young Labor’s push for compulsory national service. Intriguing, considering their staunch admonition of the Howard government for stretching Australia’s military too thin. Oh, it’d be just wonderful. “Here, lads, you’ve done your HSC, you’ve got your 95.85, now go and join the army.”

That may have worked fifty years ago. But fortunately, since then, people have grown consciences, they realise the risks, and they have brains and commonsense enough not to blindly follow their governments into warzones. Thanks to wsacaucus.org for the premise.

After a visit to the city yesterday, I came home with The Google Story, by David A. Vise. I haven’t yet started reading it, mainly because I’m still in the middle of The Eyre Affair, but I’d like to posit my reasons for purchasing Vise’s pseudo-expose and the way in which I intend to approach it.

As I said in my post about Google the other day, there’s little doubt, and few people can deny, that Google has changed the face of not only the Internet, but the world. Modern society is so centred around information and how it is accessed, processed, stored and manipulated. Google has capitalised on this trend, and furthered the trend’s development.

This intrigues me, and I intend to read the book not from an economic, technological or ‘nerdy’ viewpoint. I hope to be able to interpret it from a social perspective: predominantly how Google has changed society.

The most startling example for me, before even finding the book, was that ‘Google’ has become part of our everyday language. If we want information on something, we go off and google it. It’s seamlessly integrated into our words, actions and our psyche. And this fascinates me.

Add to the fact that I want to learn as much as possible about the company, given the number of vacancies in their Sydney office…

Alterior motive? Me? Never!

MrLefty has a kitten…

…awww.

This was an intelligent-sounding post up until I post the picture of the cute widdle aminal. Then I just melt… ohgibooboo. So cute.

Ahem. The socialist perspectives on mankind’s ever-increasing reliance on pseudo-socioeconomic principles are based entirely on the need for a highly technologically advanced transnational capitalist organisation to govern the populace.

There, that fixed it. Ah, sweet redemption.

Until next time…

Possibly the most random spam email I have ever received:

There are men I could spend eternity with. but not this life.
Why then the worlds mine oyster, Which I with sword shall open.
The first and great commandment is: Don’t let them scare you.

Never advise anyone to go to war or to marry.
Life is a perpetual instruction in cause and effect.
Oh, the tangled webs we weave When we practice to deceive.
Intellectuals are the most intolerant of all people.

Oh, what marvellous things can happen when mass email advertisers are left to their own devices.

Until next time…

Have you all missed my indepth commentaries on anything from international politics to corporatisation? Well, here’s a technology-based one… the nerd in me is coming out again…

There can be little doubt that Google has forever changed the face of the Internet. A myriad of search engines came before it: Hotbot, Lycos, Webcrawler, Yahoo, among many others. But the technology behind the comprehensive web investigation powers of Google leaves them all for dead.

Indeed, some of the other most popular search engines today rely on the same or similar technology to Google’s.

It was a mere question of time… How long before Google diversifies? With the success of the search engine, how much time would it take before they branch out into other endeavours? I guess, for any software/hardware/web-based conglomerate, the big question really is: “How long until we can take a jab at Microsoft?”

Bill Gates’ empire covers an unfathomable range of applications and a staggering array of technologies. From the hardware itself: computers, laptops, palms, printers, mice, keyboards, modems, motherboards, cooling systems, servers… and of course the software: the operating systems (Windows being the most lasting and successful), the games (Flight Simulator, among many), the games systems: the Xbox and the mighty success of Halo. Microsoft has covered everything, and with the gentle eyes and shrewd cunning of Gates overseeing it all, it would be hard to appear even slightly competitive.

But Google’s taken a backdoor, in a way.

Sure, Microsoft has its MSN network, but that is far too diverse. Google took a simple search engine, and worked endlessly at it, making it more powerful than any other. And now, slowly, they’re branching out.

And before you ask, no, I haven’t yet read The Google Story, by David A. Vise and Mark Malseed, though I would very much like to…

Now, Google is offering a free software package that combines all the multimedia, office and personal management utilities you need (the same types of which have previously been released by Microsoft).

The biggest attraction to the offer – and probably the most challenging for Microsoft to match – is the cost: nothing.

The Linux revolution is another example of how the profits- and money-based success of Microsoft can be seriously challenged. By offering a free and open-sourced operating system and associated utilities package, Linux not only created one of the most user-friendly software systems in the world, but a global network of passionate users willing to help the company itself and each other in the pursuit of technological and procedural perfection.

Google is the next big challenge to Microsoft, going where Apple has tried before. Apple has diversified, giving up on taking jabs at Microsoft and trying to topple the immovable. Apple now makes squillions capitalising on the remnants of the controversies of the Napster saga.

And Google may just have what it takes, if not to overthrow the Gates empire, then to challenge it for a share of the throne.

Until next time…

It occurred to me that after all this talk of University and adulthood I never posted my HSC results up here. Which is probably most unfortunate given my ramblings during exams and all.

Anyhoo…

I got a UAI of 84.6, and scored very well in each of my subjects:

Ancient History: 80/100
English Advanced: 85/100
English Extension 1: 46/50
English Extension 2: 47/50
Studies of Religion I: 43/50 (Thank you, Llama…)
Mathematics: 70/100
Physics: 74/100

Overall, extremely happy. Bring on uni.

Until next time…

Whoa.

I know, it’s different.

It’s weird after having the Hovel look one way for over twelve months and then all of a sudden it’s completely different.

But I thought what the hell. Time for a change. And this theme fits I think. It’ll just take me a little while to get used to it.

In other news I’ve been approached by one A.P., who has offered me a position on the board of a new virtual airline. I won’t be getting back into flying anytime soon, however I’m there to advise and delegate where necessary. What fun. Everyone loves a little power…

Bynzekistan is still going, and has a population up around the 2.8 billion mark.

If anyone’s interested in purchasing a Nintendo 64 with 12 games, 2 controllers and a game tower, check out my latest attempt to sell it on eBay. The lot is going for a reserve of $50.

I recently mailed and emailed a bunch of businesses to see if they needed any part-timers, hoping to grab some work during and over university. So far I’ve heard that one real estate agent is considering my resume. That’s a start, eh?

I’m also reading the Thursday Next series of novels by Jasper Fforde… you’ll remember a few months ago I read The Big Over Easy, which I thought was both brilliant and hilarious. Now I’m in the middle of The Eyre Affair, and it’s proving to be just as good. Different in a lot of ways, but still very very good.

Anyhoo, I must be off. Places to see, people to go. I also want to have a shot at tweaking some of this new template. Oooh, the power…

Until next time…