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Gary, Author at The Panic Manual

Documentary Review: Taming of the Queue (Josh Freed, 2017)

Posted on June 12, 2017 by Gary in Everything, Movies, Reviews | Leave a comment

Taming of the Queue (not the CFHI conference series of the same name, or blog-posts of the same name) is a rather short but succinct documentary on the modern, post-WW2 idea of lining up for services, purchases, transport, and pretty much everything else in life that requires waiting amongst other people. It is a popular psychology attempt at rationalizing common issues with queues and how “researchers and social engineers” have tried to alter the queue-scape. In 3 chapters and several … →

Hot Docs Review: Do Donkeys Act? (David Redmon and Ashley Sabin, 2017)

Posted on May 3, 2017 by Gary in Everything, Hot Docs, Reviews | Leave a comment

In your younger days, at zoos, did you ever imagine the fate of the animals that brightened your half-day, in 10 to 20 years? It’s a strange question, in spirit similar to “if a tree falls in the woods and no one is around, does it make a sound”? If we go further with the anthropomorphization – does the tree hurt? Do Donkeys Act if no one is watching? This film is a meditation on these oblique questions, seen from … →

SXSW Review; Matt Maeson, Agnes Obel, March 17, St. David’s Sanctuary

Posted on March 25, 2017 by Gary in Concerts, Everything, Music, South By Southwest | Leave a comment

  I saw two acts as part of the “traditional” (for me) Communion Night at St. David’s Sanctuary this year. Matt Maeson As with each new generation of pop music, Matt Maeson’s songs are full of emphasis. They are overt and attention seeking. It’s something worth putting on Instagram but may not stay with you by happy hour Saturday evening. Even though they were delivered in a church with just a guitar, the dramatic pauses, the obvious epic-tempo, the produced … →

SXSW Review: Totally Mild, All Our Exes Live In Texas, March 16, Brush Square Park

Posted on March 25, 2017 by Gary in Everything, Music, Reviews, South By Southwest | Leave a comment

I will admit that I had never heard of them until this year’s SXSW, but Melbourne-based Totally Mild ended up on my list on the strength of “Move On” from their last album, Down Time. It’s a bubbly vocalized piece with a music video that showed the band members drinking and regurgitating milk. Hearty, mind-bending, sardonic stuff. Since then, they have delivered another short album titled Alive in Denmark. The lead vocalist Elizabeth Mitchell has a naturally high-pitched and clear … →