There is a question that often pops into the upper front left piece of my brain. And it goes a bit like this:

• How does the music of today stack up against the classics?
• Are the likes of Beethoven, Tchaikovsky, and Bach just the popstars of yesteryear or are they the untouchable titans of the “art”?
• What artists could stand shoulder to shoulder with these musical “deities”?

Whew. Deep huh?

Anyhoo, the way I’ve been trying to break it all down is by looking at what music is trying to achieve. What did the masters of classical music hope to gain from their latest release?

As the majority were men, I would have to say it was, in order of importance:

1. To pick up “the ladies” or “man ladies” depending upon the composer’s desires or if it’s Tuesday.
2. To gain power and fame so he can get the ladies/man ladies.
3. To get the cash. So he can impress the ladies/man ladies.
4. To “rock out” with his mates.
5. To contribute something beautiful to the world.

One would argue that the skills of these classical composers were superior to the “composers” of today. Yes one would, wouldn’t one. Would a woodchuck wood if a woodchuck could chuck wood? Wah?

Skills, yes, I digress.

And I think the answer is no.

Sure they could piece together bits of songs to be played by different instruments. This would build their songs into the thundering power ballads of old. Like Wagner’s Ride of the Valkyries. This apparently hit number three in the Ye Olde Billboardian Charts and had a video clip featuring female Scandinavian warriors riding in helicopters over Vietnam. I think.

I digress again. The point is that the composer built mood, emotion, power, anger, and blah into his music through instrument choice, tempo, and volume. Why make it any more complicated than that.

I’m sure his ability to read and write music notations was far superior to most musicians today, but hey, that’s what guitar tablature was invented for. It’s a bit of musical evolution.

Today’s artists are a little more restricted. It’s hard to find a dozen cellists and a piccolo player at short notice. They also compensate in other ways, and I’m not talking aluminium foil covered zucchinis here.

Synthesizers, 4-tracks, computers and Marshall stacks have replaced the orchestra with dramatic results. The composer of today now has the multiple instruments and the volume.

So by my reckoning the modern and the ye olde are on equal footing. Now to the rocking out bit. How does the music compare.

In the red corner is Beethoven and co. In the white are the modern artists like Mogwai, Nine Inch Nails and the Britney clones (or at least the people that write her err…music).

The red corner has the Swan Lakes, Four seasons, Canons in D major, the Valkyries, Boleros, and the Cello Concerto number 1′s in C major of course. These all make us cry, laugh, feel strong and want to dance.

In the white corner we have, in my mind, our own modern day classics.

• Sigur Ros – Hoppipollo. Beautifully emotive.
• Mogwai – Christmas Steps. Rising fury. Builds and builds. Smashes and fades.
• Sigur Ros – Svefn G Englar. The song that made them. Ethereal.
• Nine Inch Nails – Hurt. Beautifully interpreted by Johnny Cash. Showcases love and regret. Revenge and repose. Or does it?
• The Presets – Talk like that. Camp fantastic. Motivating and bawdy.
• Beastie Boys – Shake your rump. Rump*aah*. These boys can play. Just seminal.

A lot of what could be termed “epic orchestral” music these days comes from the much maligned Post-Rock genre, but bands like The Presets show that with modern tastes comes modern classics. Just take a listen to my “album of 2008″ Apocalypso and find out.

Like “they” say: Music is the shorthand of emotion. No matter who composed it. Nuff sed!

Ross Gittins. Obviously wants to play with the big boys. Sick of being pigeon-holed into the business section, he’s now decided to do what he thinks the big boys do. Have an opinion about life in an inappropriate way.

In his article today titled, “The punters love a good disaster“, he’s launched into a tirade against the people who have opened their hearts up to those affected by Melbourne’s bush fires.

Apparently, well according to him, he has nothing against Victorians. What? Is this some sort of manly state of origin/egalitarian type comment?

He also has nothing against bush fires. Well the rest of us do. They kill people and animals, and destroy homes.

He’s sick of the “emotional extravaganza” surrounding one of Australia’s darkest peacetime weeks.

Sure, I agree the media coverage has been slapped on thickly, but as part of the national grieving process we need to feel that we’re still connected. We need to see the recovery. We need to see that the little we’ve given may just help in some little way.

Oh, sorry Ross Gittins I’ve obviously neglected to mention, in that business sense, that our donations would be tax deductible. I’m sure Ross Gittins that I should also mention that you can even earn frequent flyer points if you donate by credit card. Because that’s what’s important to you. Is it?

Okay, Grinch Gittins. You’ve had your say. People like me will trash you. You’ll gain notoriety in an Andrew Bolt climate change denying kind of way. You’ll benefit from the suffering of others in the same way that, according to you, the major media outlets have cashed in. The circle is complete.

Ross Gittins. Have a heart. Be positive. Lord knows that’s what we need in this day and age.

Just a quick observation.

Last week I took note of the page that the Herald Sun newspaper first mentions the Gaza conflict.

Day 1: page 15

Day 2: page 17

Day 3: page 21.

I then took note of the pages that Paris Hilton was featured.

Day 1: page 1

Day 2: page1

Day 3: page 1

It’s great to see where the Herald Sun pictorial’s priorities lie.

Well I suppose that’s why they’re the paper that gives Andrew Bolt the time of day. Jeez I’m catty. At least he speaks his mind I suppose.

My suggestion: Look at the front page of the Herald Sun, The Age, The Australian, etc and choose the one that best suits you conscience. Do these heiresses really deserve to be front page news?

One of my favourites sites gives me no information. It doesn’t tell me about sport or health or cheese or check my mail. It doesn’t do anything except act as a little drop box for whatever I want to drop there. Hence the name drop.io.

Simply genius. It even has a little FireFox plug-in that lets you drag a file from your desktop onto a little red symbol and voila. You get a unique web address that links to a page containing your file. This making no sense to you? Be patient, grasshopper.

Instead of me explaining it all to you just take a peek at the video:

Easy as pie. Useful too. Have visitors pay to access the drop via an Amazon service, have complete access control including passwords and other guest permissions. Set drop expiry conditions. Plus more. As the video says, 100mb drops for free. Genius.

Here’s the thing. Doctors and Div 1 nurses can call ESTA, 000, Triple Zero, and say they want an ambulance. Just say when.

The question they get asked by the call taker is “how long can the patient medically wait for the arrival or the ambulance” and here lies the rub. Some Doctors take the proverbial p*ss.

What’s got me so irate stems from a job a couple of days ago. Big guy, did some extracurricular work for a charity and damages himself. Sciatica time. We pop him up to the local private hospital. Job done.

Next day we get a call back to the same address. The patient has released himself the night before and now, at peak hour time he can’t get back up off the bed.

His Dr had seen him earlier in the day and said to wait it out to see if the back improves. Nup. So what does the Dr do. He calls for the ambulance and says that the patient must be seen in the next 20 minutes. 20 minutes!

This bloke has been lying there all day. Now all of a sudden the Dr thinks it’s a medical emergency? Because the Dr has said it’s a medical emergency (20 minute time frame) an emergency ambulance has to be dispatched.

Let me put it in perspective, the following jobs would be regarded as a “Code 2″ just like our sciatica man:

• 98 year old grandma has fallen and broken her hip.
• A 12 year old who has dislocated their knee during a football match.
• A person who has burns to their entire arm.

So overall the Dr screws the system. For all I know there was a cardiac arrest just around the corner that we were unable to attend due to us having already arrived to see this fella. Don’t get me wrong, he was in pain, he needed to go to hospital, but what’s so wrong with waiting a little longer and going with a non-emergency ambulance.

Show some commonsense people. Ambulance is a privilege (even if you have to pay for it) and not a right.