Adam Luke

Archive for the ‘Thoughts’ Category

Just taking a video

I came across this video (there’s also a part one and part two). A pretty courageous guy, Surveillance Camera Man, is “just taking a video” of random people in public. It seems creepy and harass-y, but it’s also somehow entertaining. Watching the array of reactions is just compelling.

It raises an interesting point, though. At any time of the day, we could have multiple cameras watching us, so why get so offended about one more? Well, maybe because it’s going to end up on YouTube, but they don’t know that. I usually shy away from video cameras and I definitely wouldn’t want a stranger filming me on the street. But still, I’m obviously filmed in public by CCTV cameras all the time, and I don’t give it a second (or first!) thought. Maybe we don’t mind being filmed in that way because we don’t expect anybody to be watching or paying attention to the footage. Or maybe we think it’s fine because it’s under the guise of “security”. I don’t know how much public security cameras actually enhance security, though. But that’s probably a different topic.

I was reminded of so many cringeworthy things while typing this post

well, my day was going ok, but then i remembered something stupid i said when i was 14

This comic showed up in my feed reader recently. It’s brief, but it holds so much meaning for me! And I know a lot of people can relate. Sometimes it’s just unfortunately hard to forget about all the dumb shit you’ve said and done in your life. And when, for some reason, it gets dragged into your short-term memory, you hate yourself and everything else for that brief moment, grimacing and cursing under your breath (semi-involuntarily!). You know it’s irrational hang onto crappy moments from the past so much, because probably no-one else remembers them so vividly as you, and they’re even less likely to care.

But I can’t help ruminating ok. Nedroid depicts this situation amusingly  too.

Single Songs Versus Albums

You know those weeks where nothing seems to go right? I just had one.

But in other news, today’s idea for blog entry came from a conversation among me, Flamboyant Gaga Fanboy (who went to both Lady Gaga’s Melbourne shows), and Top 40 Girl:

Top 40 Girl: What was the highlight of the show?

Flamboyant Gaga Fanboy: Definitely “So Happy I Could Die”.

Me: Really? [as I learnt when I saw The Decemberists, show highlights can come from unexpected songs, but I was still incredulous, because it's a pretty crappy song. But then again, most Lady Gaga songs are!]

Top 40 Girl: I don’t know that song.

Me: How do I know it and you don’t?

Flamboyant Gaga Fanboy: How do you know it?

My point is that people don’t listen to entire albums anymore, and it’s sad. What with the rise of the iTunes Store and peer-to-peer software, people mainly just listen to lead singles, which are really not always the best songs of the album. Albums should be listened to in full!

But anyway, I have sort of a reputation for listening to obscure music. In fact, Lady Gaga is the only thing I know about Top 40-type music. It’s hard not to know her music. Here’s an example conversation:

Friend: You know that “Sexy Bitch” song?

Me: No.

Friend: Oh…

I often listen to gapless albums, and concept albums; songs from which are not exactly meant to be listened to out of context. I do it anyway, but perhaps it’s another reason I find it disappointing that people aren’t listening to entire albums…

Focus Questions: What about you? Do you listen to entire albums, or just a few songs?

In Which I Present You With More Metablogging

Blogging from one of my university’s libraries like a boss.

The inspiration for today’s blog entry comes from a conversation that happened last night:

Mother, talking about Facebook, Twitter, blogs: “What surprises me is that people want to share everything with everyone.”

Sister: “What surprises me, is that they think people care enough to read it.”

Little do they know, am I right? I am right, because there is always someone who wants to read it.1 I have people who subscribe to and read this blog (albeit a small number), without me even having to hold them at gunpoint. I enjoy the fact that I’m writing to an audience. Writing for an audience, even.

Further, the more personal the blog is (i.e., the more details that are given out about the bloggers’ personal lives), the more interesting it generally is. Since being told I’m a bit elusive online, I’m endeavouring to talk about it more, continuing my “thoughts about random topics” approach I had when I began, but also sharing more personal thoughts and details. I’ve mentioned before that if I told Real Life friends about this blog, most of them wouldn’t understand the concept of blogging, and the speech I quoted above supports my hypothesis.

I guess you have to be a blogger to understand blogging.


  1. provided you can write with correct spelling and grammar, and can write something in at least a vaguely-interesting style, perhaps