Has anyone else noticed that Missy Higgins, in her latest incarnation, presenting her latest album On A Clear Night, seems quite disinterested in the whole process. Not just bemused either. The monotony of being Missy seems to be getting her done and she probably wishes we'd all just leave her and her music the hell alone.
Missy was on Sunrise last week; approachable, gorgeous smiles and a cheeky joke here and there, but she let slip that she never wanted to be famous. "I wanted to be successful but I didn't realise that fame necessarily came with it."
This now puts her recent behaviour in perspective. In my last job I got to meet her a few times as photographer, and watched a two recent interviews from behind the camera. I got a feeling then that Missy was looking over it. During her live appearance on Live Earth, I got the same vibe. And it goes beyond her having to recycle Scar, or The Special Two another twenty times.
The most convincing evidence is Missy's most recent songs. The first single, Steer, is rather pleasant pop but lacks the swing or originality of Scar. The video was the real let down. Playing out a metaphor of a girl employed to be a crash test dummy (Steer, get it?) was not profound or even clever. It felt thrown together.
Remember the compelling clip for Scar? We all watched it over and over. Steer hardly keeps you to the end of one viewing.
Missy's second single is Where I Stood. Song's so sad it feels like it was meant to embody a kind of depression or fatalism. Fun!
The video features a very disappointing clip of Missy moping about in Sydney's Museum station, pining for a lover I presume. But, unless Missy is an outrageously good actor, the overwhelming impression you're left with is that Missy is bored to tears by all of it. The musical cycle, the publicity, interviews, the performances, the rigmorol of fame. This clip. This take. This angle.
Still, if you are feeling sorry for Missy, do what I do and go back to hear her at her sparkiest - on the Sound of White.
Read about the Edun story here. 
I only own a tee so far, but now, with Arida on board, maybe it won't take a trip to NYC to score more.
Yes, ethically produced clothes cost more - protecting all workers, from grower to sower - but so does organic milk. So don't waste too much time on it.
How irritating that this courageous singer/songwriter who refuses to rock like his contemporaries also takes a good photo. I just found Ben has a new website up. Which he also oversees, regularly posts on, and does well. Check it all out.
This is one artist whose music i still pay for.
2) The Piper Podcast
John Piper, another minister high on my chart, wrote the inspired book Desiring God, and now makes his sermons podcasts. Nothing classy there, except you have probably never heard any string of messages so clear and driven by his close connection with God that you can't help but listen,be moved and then be moved to action.
Biggest bugger - who has 40minutes to hear one in full?
Gimme - Desiring God
3) The Daily Show With John Stewart
Because we should all lighten up and satire is the last remaining vestige of good reporting. In fact, it's getting just as much flack as journalism, surely enough proof that it is to be taken at least as seriously.
Plus, if satire is the one of the best ways to hold those in power accountable, as i believe it is, then it is also the best way to keep religious and moral leaders under an equally strong microscope. Remember Christians, you can't laugh at jokes about gays, politicians or any other groups, if you can't let others laugh at your group.
Biggest bugger - too many American-only in-jokes
Gimme - Don't pay $2 to iTunes, watch best bits on comedy central's website
Here was I, lookin for tips on how to stop while i am rollerblading, and i find this phenomenal group of frenchies who know no fear on 8 wheels.
This has not helped my courage.
I may or may not have a fascination with retro outfits for the iPod. My iPod has more attachments than a dialysis machine. It is, by the way, on ebay right now. Buy it! Someone!
