marx and marzipan

I’ve been stewing on this all morning, and several times gone to post a comment on various forums, but stopped myself because of the hate mail it would no doubt bring out. Really, the only appropriate place for my anti social vitriol is my own blog, isn’t it?

When I was a girl, an environmentalist was not some guy who carried on like a galah and stuffed around with crocodiles and sting rays and sharks and other beasties and made people “think about wildlife” (while they were sitting on their asses watching television, between trips to the shop in their four wheel drives). Environmentalists were:

• people like Rachel Carson, without whose work the USA would be even more of a stinking wreck than it is today
• the people who stopped the damning of the Franklin River in Tasmania.
• the people who try to stem the tide of wood chipping and general deforestation all over Australia. Ever been to Queenstown? Do yourself a favour some time and check it out. It’s what the whole world would look like if it weren’t for people like Bob Brown. And on that subject, if Bob Brown dropped dead tomorrow, do you think Howard would describe Bob Brown’s death as “a huge loss to Australia”? I don’t.
• the people who saved Terania Creek
• Download free music

I could go on, but I think you get my point. It just makes me ill to see this guy described as an environmentalist. He was just this goofy bloke who appealed to people outside Australia because of the retrograde, reductive and demeaning stereotype of “Australia” that he represented. And it’s very much time we said vale to all of that. Music Portal

Not totally unexpected news in the paper this morning:

But last year Mr Howard said ID cards were back on the agenda because the world was now a very different place.

Concern about individual rights had to be balanced against protecting people from terrorism, he said.

“You have to put that against the right all of us have to expect of our Government that it takes all reasonable measures to protect us against the behaviour of terrorists,” Mr Howard said.

“I think when people talk about civil liberties they sometimes forget that action taken to protect the citizen against physical attack is a blow in favour and not a blow against civil liberties.”

How awkward are those two sentences? While the first is just a horrible construction, it’s the second that makes me really angry. And the problem is that it will just wash over 99% of Australians becuase they don’t actually know what civil liberties are. You see, civil liberties are fundamental rights of the individual, such as privacy, and freedom of speech and religion, protected by law against government interference. So, to attempt to portray the introduction of an identity card as “a blow in favour” of civil liberties really is double speak at its best.

But look, while interest rates remain steady, who gives a damn?

On a lighter note, if you want to see what would happen to people like Howard and his cohorts in a better world, check out V for Vendetta: “A revolution without dancing is a revolution not worth having”. Quite so…

I’ve been to quite a few big outdoor musical events in the last couple of years, but none of them even came close to The Great Escape on Saturday. Newington Armory was a great venue (if a little cool in the evening, but there’s nothing like freezing your ass off to give you a good excuse to spend $70 on a bit of merchandising), and it was just crowded enough to have a critical mass of people, but not so crowded that you had to cue for 5 hours at every turn.

Highlights included….

No bacon served here

Absence of cops and sniffer dogs and the heavy hand of the state. As a result people drank less booze but smoked more dope and probably took more pills than they would at other events where invasive searches have become the standard. Did the world end? Not as far as I can tell. Did the whole event have a calm atmosphere completely unmarred by the pissed violent idiots you get at The Big Day Out these days? Well, yes. Were there lots of guys hugging each other saying “I’m not gay mate, but I love you!” after the Black Keys? Um, yes….

A Ride on the Sizzler

I baulked initially at the $5 price tag, but here’s a hint for those looking for value for money: be sure to ask The Carney Guy who is operating the ride before you get on, in a voice filled with trepidation, “How long does it go for?”, and you’ll get a good 10 minutes of being a human Spirograph.

The Bird

I can’t speak highly enough about these guys. If you haven’t seen The Bird, do not miss your next opportunity to catch drum and bass meets dub played on real live instruments.

The Black Keys

Did anything bad ever come out of Akron Ohio? I don’t think so. Strip the pretension away from The White Stripes and you’ll find The Black Keys. Down home and dirty, lo-fi and completely uncooked. These guys are great.

Sweet random guy who took our photo

Having taken my camera and stepped back so far that he was more or less standing in Parramatta Mall:

“Should I zoom in?”

Maxine: “Well, you could come a bit closer, that would have the same effect.”

Bernard Fanning

I didn’t actually see this because it happened on Sunday, and don’t get me wrong, I can’t bear Bernard Fanning and I think “that song” is limp limp limp, BUT….dedicating it to the poor bastards across the road in Silverwater is an OK gesture. Now, if he can just pour some of the cold hard readies he’s made from peddling his soft music to the Austalian public into funding methadone programs in prisons then the world might be a genuinely better place.

And while we’re on matters prison related, is it just me, or does the statistic from the story above of 97 out of 100 opiate addicted prisoners being reincarcerated within a year of their release tell us we’re doing something wrong?

This expression was one of my parents’ favourite admonitions of my teenage years. Not that it ever had any positive effect then or now, as evidenced by the fact I have spent the whole weekend hanging out and having a good time, and posting flickr photos of course, rather than dealing with my looming and immutable deadlines.

But, why should I get mine right when the US government can do such a poor job of it? Go here and input the amount of money you paid in tax last year to see how the government is going to spent it, with predictable results….

Someone more cleverer than me should do one of these for Australia: surely all you need to find out is the perecentage of the budget spent in the various areas, add in a bit of Javascript or somesuch and you’d be done. In fact, I would love someone to create one especially for mobile devices so that I could —– — – — — of the next person who wants to have a whinge to me about how they’re tired of paying all their taxes to dole bludgers and layabouts.

And yes, you are more than welcome to play hangman to work out the missing letters in that statement…..