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Morgan Bell

Sydney, New South Wales, AUSTRALIA


Joined March 4th 2008

Number of Posts:
473

Number of Comments:
6825

Karma:
10



Bio
Morgan Bell is a young Australian woman who is currently working as a professional freelance journalist.

Morgan was born in Melbourne, Victoria in 1981.

She attended primary school in the regional areas of New South Wales including the Northern Rivers and South Coast, and she lived in Newcastle during her high school years.

Morgan is university educated in engineering, town planning and literature and has lived in various sharehouses and apartments with a colourful array of friends, strangers and landlords since moving to Sydney in 2000.

Morgan is passionate about gay rights and has her finger on the pulse of issues affecting the queer community in Sydney, Newcastle and Melbourne.

Morgan enjoys socialising on the Oxford St scene and spent many years living in Darlinghurst and Surry Hills and maintaining a diverse network of gay, lesbian, bisexual, asexual and transgendered friends.

Morgan enjoys the visual and performing arts and can often be found at a stage show, cinema, gallery, or drag routine, she enjoys independant music and film, contemporary dance, musical theatre and dining out at cafes and restaurants in the city.

Morgan is a self-professed feminist and nerd and enjoys writing about developments in science, IT and communications, and the role of women in engineering and other non-traditional vocations and fields.
Favourite quote
"It often happens that the real tragedies in life occur in such an inartistic manner that they hurt us by their crude violence, their absolute incoherence, their absurd meaning, their entire lack of style. They affect us just as vulgarity affects us. They give us an impression of sheer brute force, and we revolt against that. Sometimes, however, a tragedy that posesses artistic elements of beauty crosses our lives. If these elements of beauty are real, the whole thing simply appeals to our sense of dramatic effect. Suddenly we find that we are no longer the actors, but the spectators of the play. Or rather we are both. We watch ourselves and the meer wonder of the spectacle enthralls us."

from "Dorian Gray" by Oscar Wilde

Blogs

Morgan Bell's Blogs

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1281 Post(s)
Muse Politics (Member)
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Padsoc (Member)
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Blogs I Follow

Acceptable Etiquette
( 71 | 13 | 1202 )
Bloggercises
( 127 | 15 | 47 )
Consumption Malfunction
( 209 | 21 | 34 )
Earlsthoughts
( 10 | 3 | 808 )
Good and Bad News
( 183 | 37 | 1032 )
make believe
( 1 | 1 | 3390 )
Newly Old
( 83 | 5 | 80 )
Pop Musicology
( 738 | 99 | 1229 )
Salty Popcorn
( 1040 | 172 | 4 )
Sound Pet
( 392 | 23 | 1011 )
THE WINDMILLS OF MY MIND
( 80 | 13 | 548 )
Total Randomness
( 367 | 175 | 7 )
ZENtertainment
( 198 | 37 | 389 )
Amateur Artist
( 116 | 11 | 1194 )
Budget Centsability
( 193 | 12 | 296 )
Cook Focus
( 54 | 4 | 597 )
Flick Wit
( 206 | 90 | 19 )
Infognito
( 258 | 46 | 17 )
Music Zone
( 47 | 8 | 1708 )
Optomystic Opportunism
( 60 | 2 | 122 )
Pop Rock Factory
( 72 | 8 | 87 )
Secret Sydney
( 217 | 36 | 1119 )
The Blog of Lists
( 363 | 96 | 13 )
Thought Zone
( 98 | 55 | 721 )
Vyoos
( 236 | 32 | 25 )
Beta Girl Blog
( 271 | 61 | 406 )
Check this out...
( 15 | 2 | 153 )
Daily Freelance Writing Jobs
( 0 | 1 | 6834 )
Food Leaf
( 56 | 2 | 531 )
Light Within
( 55 | 8 | 1557 )
My Life My Muse
( 113 | 40 | 443 )
Pop Culturist
( 258 | 175 | 15 )
Rhythmatism
( 132 | 11 | 1067 )
Secular Humanity
( 84 | 34 | 691 )
The Social Critic
( 150 | 75 | 892 )
TOP 10 INFORMER
( 2 | 1 | 1137 )
Writers Forum
( 119 | 66 | 1132 )

Recent Posts

The Mayonnaise Jar and Coffee

January 6th 2012 09:17
OK so I just wanted to see what the new "Repost" feature did on here, because I haven't had a good proper look around Orble in a long while.

I did actually enjoy reading this little story so check it out.

heart coffee



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Top 11 of 2011

January 5th 2012 01:41
I am following Jason's lead again this year. After reading his Top 11 of 2011 I decided to borrow the concept and create one of my own.

As usual I encounter the dilemma of having seen few films that were released in the USA/UK in 2011. We have a bit of a time lag here in Australia, and for those of us who watch most of our films of DVD this means being 3-12 months behind depending of the popularity of the film in other parts of the world. Indie films can be years behind. So this is the Top 11 films I saw as DVD "New Releases" or in the cinema in 2011.

See also my Top 10 of 2010.


1. Anonymous

Anonymous



2. The King's Speech

The Kings Speech



3. A Vicious Kind

A Vicious Kind



4. Everything Must Go

Everything Must Go



5. The Disappearance of Alice Creed

The Disappearance of Alice Creed



6. Cracks

Cracks



7. The Ghost Writer

The Ghost Writer



8. Sucker Punch

Sucker Punch



9. Due Date

Due Date



10. Made In Dagenham

Made In Dagenham



11. Bad Teacher

Bad Teacher



It should be noted that the Huffington Post is also copying Jason and put out a Top 11 films of 2011: 11 great films you may have missed, of which I had seen zero.




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Occupy Reality

November 16th 2011 08:25
This commentary is so good. It is funny, because it is frustration at absurd reality. I have watched it many times now, and whenever I need an example for delusional behaviour, or people with no self awareness, i find myself referring to it.

It reminds me of a little analogy come private joke that was generated from a period of share-housing, which can be summarised as "throwing your own pot in the yard".

The story is about a boy in a share-house, he is one of four people, and he owns the majority of the kitchen ware. Fed up with his three housemates never doing the dishes he grabs a cardboard box and hurls all the dirty plates and pots in. Then in a sweeping gestures storms out to the backdoor and throws the box of pots into the yard announcing "if nobody is going to take responsibility for cleaning them i am throwing them out". He threw his own pots in the yard.

It is the self defeating attitude that is common in these stories, and comical.



Video by TheAmazingAtheist.


Occupy Reality
Reality Check Ahead




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Genderbread

September 21st 2011 10:33
A cute diagram of sex, gender, orientation, and expression, and the spectrum that exists within each of them.

I find visual aids like this to be really useful when introducing noobs to queer theory and the complexity of diversity when it comes to human identity


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Love Week - Asexuals Party Hardest (feat. Morgan Bell)

July 25th 2011 12:37
Last week I was interviewed for Hack on Triple J on the topic of Asexuality for Love Week.

The program aired last Tuesday 19 July 2011


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Paris would like group text

June 7th 2011 14:01
My local writing group now comes with added Facebook.

CLICKHERE to visit. By "liking" the page you will be spreading the word about the importance of local level creative writing, and grassroots arts collaboratives in regional centres


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Newcastle Writers Group

May 18th 2011 13:16
What have I been up to lately?

Well I joined a local creative writing group called Newcastle Writers Group, and I feel all the better for it


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That song from Step Brothers

March 22nd 2011 08:01
Question

What is that song from the beginning of the Step Brothers movie where Dale and Brennan first meet


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Luhrmann to direct DiCaprio in Gatsby

February 22nd 2011 10:25
Empire Online reports that Baz Luhrmann is set to direct a 3D version of The Great Gatsby.

Tobey Maguire is in to play the film’s narrator/central figure Nick Carraway, Leonardo DiCaprio is the enigmatic and ultimately tragic Gatsby and Carey Mulligan is attached as the haunted, beautiful Daisy Buchanan.

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Marian Rennie - bringing figuratism back

January 25th 2011 08:25
To view more of Marian Rennie's collections visit her website.

"The controlled vibrancy of her colours give the paintings their power."

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Recent Comments

Comment by Morgan Bell
on J. EDGAR: A Review

January 24th 2012 09:56


Deep Pencil
Business News
Movie Train
Well this looks very interesting. I didn't know it was speculated that he was a homo, although it was widely speculated he was a cross-dresser, so that's kind of two sides of the same coin (if one was true the other would inevitably be speculated).

[ Delete ] [ Ignore ]

Comment by Morgan Bell
on Top 11 of 2011

January 6th 2012 09:07


Deep Pencil
Business News
Movie Train
Hi Jason,

Yeah i noticed around the interwebs that Sucker Punch was despised and reviled, i saw it more as moving visual art, or an extended music video clip, very clever use of music to leave an impression.

Feminists went bonkers over how misogynist it was, but i thought it was a case of art reflecting life. However, i do enjoy the melodramatic and contrived, so my treasure is often other peoples trash.

Actually misogyny is kind of a loose running theme in my list, particularly A Vicious Kind (all women are whores), Bad Teacher (the amoral gold-digger), Made In Dagenham (women dont deserve equal pay), Alice Creed (the humiliated female victim), Due Date (questioning the wifes fidelity), Cracks (the psychopath woman who knows only the company of other women), and even Anonymous (the petty and incestuous woman).

So its a year of self-loathing for Ms Bell lol

Of course they all treated the subject matter differently, some with disapproval of the espoused views of an individual character, some with general acceptance, some with female triumph over a wrong.

Due Date was an obvious new version of Trains, Planes, & Automobiles, but i laughed my arse of throughout, the first time ive ever found Zach Galifianakis funny, and it was a great character study of Robert Downey Jrs role.

Rhys Ifans in Anonymous was the performance of the year IMO.

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Comment by Morgan Bell
on Melancholia

January 5th 2012 02:41


Deep Pencil
Business News
Movie Train
Not a fan of Dunst, but if LVT can get some quality acting out of Nicole Kidman in Dogville then nothing is impossible. Im very keen to see this one.

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Comment by Morgan Bell
on 2011: A Film Odyssey

January 5th 2012 02:34


Deep Pencil
Business News
Movie Train
I am really keen to see Melancholia.

Great review of 2011, Gosling was in a lot of stuff, i saw a new release dvd this year called All The Good Things with him in it . . . it was terrible lol

My top 11 for 2011 is here.

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Comment by Morgan Bell
on Preserving your wedding flowers

January 5th 2012 02:29


Deep Pencil
Business News
Movie Train
I recently had a wedding bouquet preserved and framed as a gift for a family member. The one i got had a black and white portrait of the bride and groom in the background. The place hand painted the preserved flowers. It was called Framed Wedding Flowers. They are in Australia and did everything via post.

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Comment by Morgan Bell
on Top 11 of 2011

January 5th 2012 01:53


Deep Pencil
Business News
Movie Train
Have not seen Snowntown yet. A lady on my facebook said she watched Snowtown and the wallstreet doco Inside Job and they both made her really angry, so I dodged them in the interest of keeping my blood pressure down.

My 10 yo step nephew was watching the Apes over xmas, i think family movies are a lot darker now since Harry Potter and LOTR.

Red Dog, excellent move casting Josh Lucas, I love him, one of the most underrated actors, I always keep an eye out for films he's in.

Here is my Top 11 of 2011, even though the vast majority were from the previous year

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Comment by Morgan Bell
on Top 11 of 2011

January 5th 2012 00:44


Deep Pencil
Business News
Movie Train
Anonymous is definitely in my top 11, in fact this has inspired me to create a "Top 11" post.

Im usually almost a year behind with film watching, so i just do the ones ive seen this year lol

I also enjoyed (from your list) Rise of the Planet of the Apes and Red Dog as good solid family movies.

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Comment by Morgan Bell
on PARANORMAL ACTIVITY 3: A Review

November 19th 2011 10:33


Deep Pencil
Business News
Movie Train
Hated the first two, and reluctantly went to see this with friends. I had extremely low expectations, but this was head and shoulders above the first two.

The actors are better. There was a more complex plot. And the rotating fan camera created amazing suspense, it was a fantastic device.

Finally an installation that used more tricks than a fan blowing the sheets off a bed.

For all the skeptics out there, this Paranormal Activity is semi decent. I would put it at the same level as The Last Exorcism. Entertaining but no masterpiece, basically a good popcorn film.

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Comment by Morgan Bell
on What's Your Favourite All-Time TV Show?

November 19th 2011 04:46


Deep Pencil
Business News
Movie Train
I think all time favourite would be Northern Exposure. Closely followed by Battlestar Galactica.

For a long-running "comfort TV" series I would choose MASH.

My recent favourites include Sons of Anarchy and Big Love.

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Comment by Morgan Bell
on BREAKING DAWN: A Review

November 19th 2011 04:36


Deep Pencil
Business News
Movie Train
I think she's getting uglier as the series goes on. However I have endured the first three so I might as well complete my torture regime.

The first one was actually really good, and then they have been progressively getting worse. The last one was unbearable.

I was interested to see what you thought about it though. Good review, as usual

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