(no subject)

[darren_stranger]

Answers to interview questions from bar_bar_ella:

1. How nervous are you about Saturday night? :)

I'm not nervous about the actual dj-ing, seeing as it's all about the sort of music i do know reasonably well, or people turning up, which is looking good too.  What i'm actually most nervous about is someone nicking my case with all my best cds packed inside (it's twice the size of the last one, filled with all those cds i gave up on taking to Heresy because they weren't Rammstein, Placebo or Love Will Tear Us Apart).  I wonder how well i could dance with a 10kg suitcase handcuffed to my wrist.

2. What sort of thoughts go through one's mind when one is refereeing a martial arts contest?

In roughly descending order of stressfulness - worrying about keeping out of the fighters' way, watching for accidents and injuries, being responsible for the fighters' safety, being ready to jump in between them at the first sign of a problem, watching i don't get hit in the process, deciding whether a knocked-down fighter is really okay to continue despite what s/he says, deciding whether to pull the plug if one fighter's losing really badly and in danger of getting hurt, watching for prohibited acts, deciding which are accidental slip-ups and which are deliberate cheats and how lenient to be with the former, worrying about making a bad call, working out how strict to be with different ages and skill levels, deciding when it's better to let something pass and let them play on, trying to be consistent, trying to be fair, remembering the correct penalties for each breach of rules, together with the appropriate Korean words and hand signals for a given situation, keeping an eye on the time, keeping an eye on the score to make sure the right points and penalties go up, keeping out of the corner judges' line of sight, keeping an ear open in case someone needs to get my attention, trying to take notice of which fighter is performing best in case of a tie, maintaining an appearance of being calm, collected and in control the whole time, not getting frustrated or rattled, not letting it show when i do get frustrated or rattled, ignoring the heckling from the peanut gallery, not letting coaches intimidate me, not treating fighters differently because their coach is a drama queen, not acting like an authoritarian wanker, not acting like an uncertain novice, not kicking myself over mistakes, always acting with proper ettiquette and generally being responsible for managing the match from start to finish and keeping everything running like clockwork.  Apart from those few things, it's a piece o'piss.

3. In 25 words or less, what could Family First mean for the immediate future of the Australian political/social landscape?

Depends whether they bring humanitarian and ethical values into the mix or are just a front for sex-phobic, conservative wowserism.  Too early to tell yet.

4. Can you remember what Elaine was wearing the first time you met? (and simply saying "black" won't cut it, I'm afraid *grin*)

I don't remember what she wore the night i first spoke to her, but i can  still picture the moment i first noticed her a few weeks earlier - at the Sarah Sands, peering at the stage as the Borderland were playing, holding a small handbag down at arm's length, wearing the long black slip/dress and lacy cardigan outfit she usually wore at the time, hair spiked up at the front in her trademark Statue of Liberty style.  The image is etched on my retina still, despite not knowing its significance at the time.

5. Where do you hope The Strangers will be (physically/metaphysically/emotionally/whatever) in ten years time?

Ha! I've read too many Greylock typos and wondered for a second why you were asking me about The Stranglers. :)   In ten years i hope we'll both be happy working in fields that we find meaningful and fulfilling, pursuing numerous other interests, both individually and together, living largely stress-free lives in a place we feel comfortably at home, and enjoying the company of good friends and faithful feline companions.  And John Howard won't still be Prime Minster.  Please, God, don't let John Howard still be Prime Minister.

Interview questions will follow for those that requested them, but may take a while (have to get my head around things that are not All About Me).

Comments

[greylock.livejournal.com]

Ha! I've read too many Greylock typos and wondered for a second why you were asking me about The Stranglers. :)

I did the same thing.

[p-cat.livejournal.com]

I hope that your answer to question five comes true, and sooner than the two years referred to in the question.

On a selfish note - particularly the bit about Howard!

[greylock.livejournal.com]

You're a Costello man too, huh?

[p-cat.livejournal.com]

*slap*

Lindsay Tanner for President!

[greylock.livejournal.com]

Sir Joh for God!

[p-cat.livejournal.com]

*pokes you in the eye*

[reddragdiva]

"What i'm actually most nervous about is someone nicking my case with all my best cds packed inside"

A spindle of CD-Rs costs approximately Fuck All per disk. TAKE THE BACKUPS.

[strang-er.livejournal.com]

I have been making compilations to CDR, but the ones i've made lately act funny on the computer at work, so i'm only going to try out a couple tomorrow night to see they play okay on the club's system.

[strang-er.livejournal.com]

That thought would have horrified me more a few days ago, before pondering such concepts as:

Prime Minister Tony Abbott.
Prime Minister Alexander Downer.
or
(i can barely bring myself to type it)
Prime Minister Phillip Ruddock.

yeaerghhh!

X(~