anger

Useless computer

The Top 10 Things That Really Piss Me Off About My New MacBook Pro 2019

I was a late adopter on the Apple bandwagon, holding out all through my first career as a computer engineer. I knew that Apple was cooler, but I was a nerd and didn’t want to pay the price of taking the plunge. Plus, I was into esoteric things like Linux and it ran best on an Intel platform, while Macs ran Motorola.

Much has changed since those days. Nowadays as a budding musician, I decided to get a bright shiny new MacBook Pro so that I could run Logic Pro like they do at college, and it isn’t available on Windows.

I paid top dollar and got the fastest model available with the fancy new Touch Bar, since I also want to do video editing in Final Cut Pro and don’t want to have to wait around. I compromised on the screen size because I want it to be easy to take to university with me next year, and to compensate for that I got a massive 32” 4K external screen which is great for working on complex songs with a zillion channels in Logic.

The lack of basic ethernet interface and video connecters is slightly inconvenient, obvious from the product description and relatively easily solved with an external multi-port adapter; so I’m only going to briefly complain about that here. I am going to complain at length about the following things I didn’t know about though: (more…)

By Graham Stoney, ago

Movin’ Out (Anthony’s Song) by Billy Joel

One of my favourite Billy Joel songs is Movin’ Out, also known as Anthony’s Song. For me, it’s about giving the flick to pleasing other people and setting my own direction in life. Last year I performed it on a grand piano with a group of fellow music students from Sydney TAFE at our end-of-year concert. Here’s the video:

If you want another live taste of this level of awesomeness, my final TAFE end-of-term concert is coming up at Foundry 616 in Harris St, Ultimo on November 28th. Click here for the details.… Continue reading…

By Graham Stoney, ago

A Show About Anger

I performed A Show About Anger at The Dive Bar in the King’s Cross Hotel as part of the 2018 Sydney Fringe Festival. To set the context, it started with this monologue:

I grew up in a house where anger wasn’t handled well. Let me take you back there:

Now don’t get me wrong; my Mum lets her anger flow freely. But she rarely uses the actual words: “I am angry”. Instead, her anger comes out as hurtful criticism, put-downs and emotional bullying.

Dad isn’t any better. He bottles up his anger so badly that he often seethes with resentment so loudly that I can hear him muttering to himself when I’m playing in the next room. It’s frightening.

All it takes is for Mum to walk in and say: “What’s wrong with you? You stupid creature!”

And BANG… the next round of World War 3 is back on again.

(more…)

By Graham Stoney, ago

What To Do When Social And Traditional Media Mocks You

I was on the way home from college last week feeling very tired and irritable as I lugged my acoustic guitar, case & backpack from train to bus after an intense day of musical collaboration. As my mind drifted through the things that have irritated me recently, I remembered a recent experience on the morning bus. In a misguided attempt to get it off my chest I posted the following message about it on the Bondi Local Loop Facebook group, which at the time had over 42,000 local members:

To the lady who abused me on the packed 389 from North Bondi the other morning as she alighted at Bondi Junction by shouting: “I hope your bag enjoyed the seat, you fucking prick”: I would have preferred you to ask me politely to please move over during the trip if you wanted the seat. That would have given me the opportunity to point out the full sized acoustic guitar case that you didn’t see was taking all the leg room on the seat beside me. That way you wouldn’t have had to spend the journey fuming at me for no good reason, and I wouldn’t have had to cop your misguided abuse. Please be more assertive in future, not passive and then aggressive. Thank you.

I failed to mention in my original rant that I have a chronic health condition that makes standing for long periods rather challenging. The bus in question didn’t have a luggage space suitable for a guitar, and I didn’t mention that either. Nor was the woman in question standing anywhere near me during the journey; she was behind me on the bus, and for all I know she may have already had a seat herself. Only at the very end did she express her disapproval, and she chose to do so in a manner that left me powerless to do anything about her complaint. I figured that even without this secret inside knowledge, it’s self-evident that abusing people on public transport isn’t an effective way to influence someone who is doing something you don’t like. (more…)

By Graham Stoney, ago

The Forgiveness Speech

Look, it's on my to-do list, OK!?!

Look, it’s on my to-do list, OK!?!

A form of unsolicited advice typically launched by anger denialists in response to me saying that I feel angry about something. Especially prominent when the anger is directed towards my mother in response to some form of destructive behaviour that she has indulged in for most of my life.

The launch of The Forgiveness Speech typically goes something like this:

Graham: “I feel angry when my mother criticises and belittles my father in front of me”

Denialist: “You need to learn to forgive”

(more…)

By Graham Stoney, ago

The Top 10 Things That Make Me Angry

I feel like this guy some times

I feel like this guy some times

I’ve been doing a lot of work around anger lately; an emotion that I used to suppress and internalise much to my detriment. It’s not healthy to suck down your rage. Now that I’ve started to release the internal pressure cooker, things have become a little explosive and everything seems to be pissing me off.

So for your amusement, here are my Top 10 Things That Make Me Angry: (more…)

By Graham Stoney, ago
Oscar Statue

2013 Oscars Stub My Big Toe

In a huge shock to legitimate movie fans worldwide, the epic blockbuster My Big Toe was completely snubbed by its peers as it failed to win a single Oscar at this year’s 85th Motion Picture Academy Awards ceremony in Hollywood.

Oscar Statue

My Big Toe failed to win one of these

The epic saga, which depicts the heroic story of one man’s quest to save the universe and gain enlightenment, had been expected to clean sweep the Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Cinematography, Best Director, Best Script, Best Music, and the coveted Best Anatomically Correct Feature film categories. The obligatory making-of documentary [intlink id=”616″ type=”post”]Inside My Big Toe: The Making of a Masterpiece[/intlink] had also been expected to pick up the Oscar for Best Documentary.

(more…)

By Graham Stoney, ago