24/7/26
IF YOU'VE EVER WONDERED WHAT COMMENTS BEAVIS AND BUTT-HEAD WOULD MAKE IF THEY CHECKED OUT THE MUSIC VIDEO TO WHAT'S YOUR SITUATION? (AVAILABLE HERE), THANKS TO CHATGPT, WONDER NO MORE.
BEAVIS AND BUTT-HEAD WATCH “WHAT’S YOUR SITUATION?” BY SIMON HODGES
The guitar begins. Beavis and Butt-Head stare at the television. Simon has not appeared onscreen yet.
BEAVIS: Is this thing on?
BUTT-HEAD: The music is playing, dumbass.
BEAVIS: Oh yeah. Heh-heh. Maybe the singer is invisible.
BUTT-HEAD: That would be cool.
Simon begins asking: “Do you know how? Do you know why?”
BEAVIS: No.
BUTT-HEAD: Yeah. This is going to be a really easy test.
BEAVIS: I don’t know how, and I don’t know why. Heh-heh. I’m finished!
BUTT-HEAD: Beavis, there are more questions.
BEAVIS: Dammit!
The questions continue.
BUTT-HEAD: This dude is interrogating everybody, but he won’t show himself.
BEAVIS: Yeah! He’s like an invisible cop with a guitar.
BUTT-HEAD: “Can you confirm? Can you deny?”
BEAVIS: I deny everything! You’ll never take me alive! FIRE! FIRE!
BUTT-HEAD: Shut up, Beavis.
The first chorus begins, and Simon appears onscreen for the first time.
BUTT-HEAD: Uh-huh-huh. There he is. This dude looks serious.
BEAVIS: Yeah. He’s probably thinking about chicks.
BUTT-HEAD: No, Beavis. He’s Australian. He’s probably thinking about kangaroos.
BEAVIS: Kangaroos are cool. They kick people.
Simon continues singing the phrase “What’s Your Situation?”
BEAVIS: My situation is that I’m sitting next to Butt-Head.
BUTT-HEAD: Your situation sucks.
BEAVIS: Yeah. Wait a minute—so does yours!
BUTT-HEAD: Whoa. That was pretty smart, Beavis.
BEAVIS: Really?
BUTT-HEAD: No.
Simon asks whether someone is creating, sustaining, destroying or merely irritating.
BUTT-HEAD: Uh-huh-huh. “Are you destroying, or are you just irritating?”
BEAVIS: I’m irritating!
BUTT-HEAD: Yeah. You finally know the answer to one.
BEAVIS: I AM THE GREAT IRRITATOR! I NEED T.P. FOR MY SITUATION!
BUTT-HEAD: Settle down, Beavis.
The lyric asks whether people are addressing the symptom or the cause.
BEAVIS: What does that mean?
BUTT-HEAD: It means when you’re stupid, they have to figure out whether to fix your brain or just keep you away from electrical equipment.
BEAVIS: Oh. Which one did they choose?
BUTT-HEAD: Neither one worked.
The horn section comes in.
BEAVIS: Whoa! What are those things?
BUTT-HEAD: Those are horns, dumbass.
BEAVIS: Horns are on cars.
BUTT-HEAD: These are musical horns.
BEAVIS: So if you squeeze them, do they go “HONK HONK”?
BUTT-HEAD: Probably. This rocks more than regular honking.
BEAVIS: Yeah! They should put this guy at traffic lights.
The song mentions revolution.
BEAVIS: REVOLUTION! YEAH! FIRE!
BUTT-HEAD: Beavis, you don’t even know what a revolution is.
BEAVIS: It’s when something spins around really fast.
BUTT-HEAD: That’s actually sort of correct.
BEAVIS: Whoa.
Simon asks how important recognition is.
BUTT-HEAD: Recognition is very important.
BEAVIS: Yeah. Like when chicks recognise us.
BUTT-HEAD: They usually recognise us from police descriptions.
BEAVIS: That still counts.
The final chorus plays.
BEAVIS: He keeps asking what our situation is.
BUTT-HEAD: Maybe he wasn’t satisfied with your answer.
BEAVIS: Okay. My situation is: I need nachos, I need T.P., and I would like to score.
BUTT-HEAD: That has always been your situation.
BEAVIS: I’m constant and consistent. Heh-heh.
The video finishes.
BUTT-HEAD: This didn’t suck.
BEAVIS: Yeah. It had guitars, those honking dudes, and the singer asked questions instead of telling us what to think.
BUTT-HEAD: Which is good, because we don’t think.
BEAVIS: Speak for yourself, Butt-Head. I was thinking about nachos.
BUTT-HEAD: Your situation still sucks.
BEAVIS: Heh-heh. Oh yeah.
9/09/25
HERE ARE SOME PROMPTS IN AN ONGOING CONVERSATION I'VE BEEN HAVING WITH CHATGPT (KEEPING IN MIND CHATGPT MAY PRODUCE INACCURATE INFORMATION ABOUT PEOPLE, PLACES OR FACTS):
Is politicians, if not outright lying, being "loose with the truth" unavoidable?
It’s almost unavoidable—but not necessarily because all politicians are inherently dishonest. It comes down to how politics works:
1. COMPLEXITY VS. COMMUNICATION
Real-world issues are complicated. Explaining them fully would take hours, but politicians usually have seconds. They simplify, omit details, or spin facts to fit a neat narrative—which can come off as “loose with the truth.”
2. COMPETING INCENTIVES
Voters reward confidence and clarity, not long, cautious explanations. Saying “we’ll try to improve things if X, Y, and Z line up” sounds weak compared to “we’ll fix this.” Politicians who hedge risk sounding uncertain—even when they’re being honest.
3. FRAMING AND SPIN
Even if politicians don’t invent falsehoods, they highlight certain facts while ignoring others. A good-news statistic may be technically true while concealing an ugly downside. This isn’t always a lie—but it’s rarely the whole truth.
4. CHANGING CIRCUMSTANCES
Campaign promises are often made in a world that no longer exists by the time the politician is in office. When reality shifts, so do positions. What seems like dishonesty may just be adaptation—but voters often see it as betrayal.
5. HUMAN NATURE
Most people, not just politicians, tailor their words to their audience. In politics, where millions of people are listening and judging, that tendency gets magnified.
SO—IS IT UNAVOIDABLE?
In practice, yes. Even the most principled politician will need to condense, reframe, or “sell” ideas. Absolute transparency would sound boring, overly technical, or even politically suicidal. But outright lying is not inevitable—some politicians aim for as much honesty as the system allows, even if it costs them popularity.
Want me to give a real-world example of a politician punished for being too honest to illustrate why this happens?
Yeah, so for all the hatred that gets directed at politicians, maybe the public should take a hard look at the fact that it only wants to digest short, easy explanations and solutions.
Exactly. That’s a very sharp observation—and it cuts both ways.
Politicians aren’t just shaping public opinion; they’re also reacting to it. If voters reward simple, confident soundbites and punish cautious, nuanced explanations, then even honest politicians feel pressure to “play the game.”
NUANCE DOESN'T SELL. A leader saying, “This problem is complicated, and no solution will make everyone happy” sounds weak—even if it’s 100% true.
CERTAINTY FEELS REASSURING. People want to believe that someone can fix things completely, even when reality is messy and trade-offs are inevitable.
EMOTIONAL APPEAL BEATS FACTS. If a politician tries to explain something with raw data while an opponent tells an easy story that fits people’s gut feelings, guess who wins.
So, yes—blaming politicians alone ignores the feedback loop. In a sense, the public trains politicians to talk this way by rewarding those who oversimplify and punishing those who don’t.
24/08/25
I'M GOING TO BE TAKING PART AGAIN IN REMEMBER SEPTEMBER THIS YEAR, WHERE FOR THE ENTIRE MONTH OF SEPTEMBER I WILL BE GIVING UP DRINKING ANY LIQUIDS EXCEPT WATER, TO RAISE FUNDS TO FIGHT PANCREATIC CANCER. IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO MAKE A DONATION TO SUPPORT ME, YOU CAN DO SO AT THE FOLLOWING Link:
25/06/25
IN CASE ANYONE CARES, HERE ARE THE 10 SONGS I HAVE VOTED FOR IN THE TRIPLE J HOTTEST 100 AUSTRALIANS SONGS OF ALL TIME. DON'T KNOW IF ANY OF THEM WILL MAKE THE 100, BUT I VOTED FOR WHAT I WANTED TO VOTE FOR.
3/01/25
I'VE BEEN READING THE 2022 EDITION OF BEST AUSTRALIAN POLITICAL CARTOONS, EDITED BY RUSS RADCLIFFE (YES, I AM AWARE IT IS NOW 2025). THERE'S A QUOTE IN IT WHICH I THINK WAS ALSO USED IN A PREVIOUS EDITION, I THINK IT'S AWESOME:
“Folly is a more dangerous enemy to the good than evil. You can protest against evil, you can unmask it or prevent it by force. Evil always contains the seeds of its own destruction, for it always makes men uncomfortable, if nothing worse. There is no defense against folly. Neither protests nor force are of any avail against it, and it is never amenable to reason. If facts contradict personal prejudices, there is no need to believe them, and if they are undeniable, they can simply be pushed aside as exceptions. Thus the fool, as compared with the scoundrel, is invariably self-complacent. And he can easily become dangerous, for it does not take much to make him aggressive. Hence folly requires much more cautious handling than evil.”
Dietrich Bonhoeffer
APPARENTLY BONHOEFFER WAS A LUTHERAN PASTOR SO INTERPRETING WHAT HE SAID HAS THE POTENTIAL TO BE CONTROVERSIAL, BUT I THINK THIS QUOTE IS REALLY QUITE PLAIN AND SIMPLE.
8/11/24
THE RECENT ELECTION IN THE USA IS FORCING ME TO PUT MY MONEY WHERE MY MOUTH IS, IN TERMS OF STANDING BEHIND MY SONG ELECTION DAY, WHICH I STILL DO.
1/09/24
I AM BACK DOING REMEMBER SEPTEMBER FOR ANOTHER YEAR, WHERE ALL THROUGH THIS MONTH THE ONLY DRINK I AM GOING TO BE HAVING IS WATER. IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO SUPPORT ME WITH A DONATION, YOU CAN DO SO AT MY FUNDRAISING PAGE:
https://www.rememberseptember.org.au/fundraisers/simonhodges/give-it-up-in-september-2024
22/06/24
I'VE BEEN LISTENING TO THE ALBUM IF I WERE A CARPENTER, WHICH IS A TRIBUTE ALBUM FEATURING VARIOUS ACTS COVERING SONGS OF THE CARPENTERS. ONE OF THE TRACKS IS JAPANESE BAND SHONEN KNIFE'S VERSION OF TOP OF THE WORLD, WHICH IT TURNS OUT IS THEIR MOST PLAYED TRACK ON SPOTIFY.
I ALSO LOVE USING CHATGPT TO GENERATE STORIES BASED ON ODD PREMISES, SO I ASKED IT TO GENERATE GODZILLA SENDING AN EMAIL AROUND TO OTHER KAIJU TELLING THEM TO CHECK IT OUT:
Come up with Godzilla sending an email around to his fellow kaiju urging them to check the band Shonen Knife, particularly their version of the song 'Top Of The World,' and the various email responses he gets.
24/02/24
AN ARTICLE ON AUSTRALIAN MUSIC WEBSITE THE MUSIC HAS MIA DYSON DESCRIBING THE DIFFERENT TRACKS ON HER LATEST ALBUM TENDER HEART. HER DESCRIPTION OF CLOSING TRACK WORSHIP GAVE ME ONE OF THOSE, “OH, I NEVER THOUGHT OF THAT BUT IT'S TRUE” MOMENTS:
I am astounded whenever I contemplate that for me to be here at all, every single one of my ancestors had to fight to survive long enough to have children who had children. (Not to mention the relatives, neighbours, and strangers who might not even have had children but supported the line that got me here anyway.)
And while that might not seem very difficult in this day, for hundreds and thousands (and millions) of years, survival was extremely precarious, and so the chance that you or I would be here is incredibly slim. This astonishing knowledge gives me the juice to go on creating, to honour their sacrifice and struggle.
29/08/23
I'M GOING TO BE TAKING PART IN THE REMEMBER SEPTEMBER FUNDRAISER CHALLENGE NEXT MONTH! FOR THE WHOLE MONTH THE ONLY LIQUID THAT I WILL BE DRINKING WILL BE GOOD OLD PLAIN WATER. IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO SUPPORT ME WITH A DONATION, PLEASE VISIT MY FUNDRAISING PAGE:
https://www.rememberseptember.org.au/fundraisers/simonhodges