clips on the internet

hmmm, as seen in my previous post there are clips available online from the recent competition held in melbourne. alot of competitors are getting upset about having their image (in whatever form) online and available for the wider swing community to access.
sure i feel sympathy for them - it's always wierd when you realise exactly how exposed you are. i'd like to say "yes, if they dont want them online - they should be allowed to request the removal." ..BUT there is another part of me that is just far too excited about moving into another phase in lindyhop multimedia use. it's like we are contributing in a whole other way than just observing what our international counterparts are dishing up. we're establishing an identity of our own. this can only mean great things for australia's visiting potential and perhaps even having our reputation preceeding us as we go globe hopping.
i think it will also put things into perspective alittle more for both sides of the coin. my mind keeps getting drawn back to a particular move that was recreated from the UHLS clips in the competition. it was a rather tricky move and got an amazing audience response in the original context but it's recreation actually had no value because the context was not appreciated at all. a move that is executed at slower tempos in a routine or class has more impact if it can be done at much higher speeds and socially. but if it is just performed for the sake of being performed then it has no impact at all. and just _looks like_ they are purely mimicking clips that can be found on the internet. would it not be nicer if australia were more aware of themselves in terms of holding their own weight. sure rip everyone else off - and make it your own - but when on display to the rest of the world, arent we more likely to want to improvise, extend and challenge ourselves to the limits.
i just went and watched all the footage available online (i still havent gotten around to looking at my own stuff yet) and well yeah, it's nothing to be ashamed of at all. it's pretty nice stuff. aussie's can hold their own! fucken yeah!

sure if i were on there (to a greater extent) i'm sure i'd be much less excited but i'd like to think that i'd be able to get over it ..eventually.

incidentally this whole thing reminded me of another situation where my image had been used without my permission:
-at mlx last year someone came up to me and said "hi my name is X. you must be Y, i know you from the AJC dvd." my reaction was pretty shocked as i hadnt really considered that something like that would either exist or have me on it.
it was somewhat shocking but it's not really doing anyone any harm. and if you think about it- if we all started getting upset about our image being used then there would be no images to use. ...coming from an ametuer film-making perspective at the very least.

*edited to remove t-shirt reference.

Melb Swing Fest

this is what i wrote a week or so back:

i'm sitting here in my pj's eating the biggest bowl of museli/yoghurt/pear you've ever seen and reading everyone's comments of the weekend just passed on SwingTalk and i'm thinking that if i dont post about it soon, the normal levels of sleep may overtake my memories and it will all be lost forever. what to do?? blog blog blog.
so, what is MSF??
The Melbourne Swing Festival as run by Swing Patrol in celebration of The Harlem Hot Shots and their South East Asian Tour. All nine members of the group were in town for the weekend - no Hannah, but the new face of Jenny which was still lovely.
I think I have a crush on each of them for different reasons. In fact I KNOW that I have crushes on them - I've been telling everyone I possibly can ..including my Squeeze.
Mattias was a bit of a crowd favourite which was no surprise really considering how much of a ladies man he is. I personally like to hang back and just watch him in action - not too excited about the prospect of actually flirting with him. I loved watching him in the disco outfit in the performance - it's his flirtiness that gives him that amazing stage pressence! He's certainly easy on the eyes!
Zackie is the sweetheart guy that you'd most definately like to sit down and get to know, he's much less caught up in the fame of it all and acknowledges everyone. I REALLY enjoyed the dances that we had - he made my nite on friday nite!!
Daniel is just beautiful! I suspect that if he did actually come out social dancing that i would not be able to get enough of him. i like his bouncy-ness and how playful he can be. if he were an animal he'd be a bunny or some kind of playful puppy - i'd just want run up and squeeze him.
Asa -Daniel's parter- is so cool in contrast with him. she seems to be a bit of an ass-kicker and would get his life under control. the fact that she is hubba-hubba-mamma only makes her COOL attitude even more likeable.
Frida was scatting in class one day and i was starring at her porcelain skin as she sung "goo gi di da gah!" and i suddenly thought she was like a dolly. a sassy dolly. of all the HHS's she was the one that let her personality show through the most in classes and made lots of jokes.
And Lennart is totally the eccentric, mad scientist of them all. i often wonder what his story actually is. why does he stay on and train up these young bucks?? he takes the piss out of himself alot - i've noticed.
i did not really get much of an idea of what Fatima and Jenny were like. next time.

i give the workshops a 10 out of 10!! i felt that it was certainly challenging enough even though the standard of the stream wasnt that high. alot of material was familiar stuff that i had maybe learnt before at another stage but was able to REALLY understand it and claim it as my own. i hope i can remember enough to document it for future reference!
i also have a renewed faith in all things old school! the old school swingout. the old school active follows. the old school rhythms. all things that i havent really been doing at all for the last year or 2. i've decided that i want to be much less of a passive follow and put more of myself into my dancing. it makes sense that i did it for a while (especially when competing with those passive follows for leads and dancing with leads that dont appreciate it) but it does not explain why i've forgotten completely how to play; i let it take over. i miss my other crazy girls like lotte, doz and linnea.
i cannot express how unbelievably inspired i was after watching the stage show on sat nite! amazing recreationist dancing and kick yo ass lindyhop. i had about 12 dances before being dragged away for food but they were probably some of the best dances i've had in the last year - and the craziest!! attired in tassles and heels i pulled out some truly stupid stuff - EXCELLENT!!
once again team Brunswick (well part thereof) was back in full form! serious punnage and silly car rides ahhoy!! special thanks to sam and dave for meals, chocolate and looking out for me in general. they kept me from reaching "critical mass".
some lovely faces back in town like perthies make for excellent fun.
the film festival wasnt THAT out of my league so next year i will definately have to enter a film of my own. i just need some more focus. plus Swing Kids sucks balls. i'd much rather be publicly humiliated than sit through that again!.

this is what i wrote today:
uh oh!! yes i am forgetting lots of stuff i learnt. oh dear.
what else happened over the weekend you ask? hmm well i didnt enjoy the competition so much with stomach cramps and upset belly for most of the evening. i missed alot of the events as i hid outside in the fresh air. so disappointed fans i will have to find another opportunity to flash my boobs in public places. there are clips available for your viewing pleasure here.
there are also now a million melbournians going to harrang this year. i'm such a trend setter - ha! ..well maybe i could make that claim if i knew that i was actually going this year: the job hunting is still going on.
since that weekend i've been doing lots of non-dancing type things. abit of yoga, abit of bike riding (i'm still seriously bad at it though). a few films, abit of work.
we finally test drove the new board game i got for xmas. settler fans will be pleased to hear that the cities and knight's extension set makes the whole game much harder and more complicated!!! i found it really hard to figure out my game plan cause there was just so much going on.

anyways, hope all are well. i'm sorry i dont post as often these days. i'll will try to make a better effort. mwuah!

quotes

there have been a few quotes or moments over this weekend that has just made me laugh laugh and laugh. this was one of them:

"you'd better not be thinking about red shoes as i kiss you!"

says one cheese to a ham.