I have been deep into the archives of the State Library of South Australia, mostly looking at papers (magazines, newsletters etc) from the second half of the 1960s through the 1970s. No, I am not a strange strange man. Why do you ask? Anyway, this was the period, as the 'Great Acceleration' slowed slightly, where... Continue Reading →
John 18: 38 Pilate saith unto him, What is truth? And when he had said this, he went out again unto the Jews, and saith unto them, I find in him no fault at all. I did not buy a copy of Frank Hardy’s Power Without Glory (that’s a lie). I did not spend a... Continue Reading →
I met up with an old friend recently. Right at the end she asked if I wanted feedback on blog posts I had sent her. I knew roughly what was coming, because I have heard it once or thrice before. The main problems (before you get to the content) are around even understanding what the... Continue Reading →
Thanks to a rather brilliant writer (Beejay Silcox, since you ask), I read an 'Outback Noir' novel, by Garry Disher. It involves a cop (bent? Seems not, but who can tell and what is bent anyway) exiled from the bright lights of the (checks notes) big "city," Adelaide to - as the Americans say -... Continue Reading →
The dinner party from hell is hardly a novel topic for a play - whether it’s Albee or Bunuel or Bill Shakespeare - so the assessment is not ‘what’s new, pussycat?’ but ‘how well was it done?’ Fortunately the latest production, the Housewarming’ by “Famous Last Words Theatre” is well done indeed. It traces one... Continue Reading →
There is a fine new Australian film exploring old (ancient) anxieties about being lonely and lost in the vast ‘alien’ spaces of the Australian continent. It’s not quite as good as 1978’s Long Weekend, but it could (should) easily be on a double bill because it would hold its own and provoke further thoughts. Alphabet... Continue Reading →
I am in Adelaide. Lucky me, lucky Adelaide. Have read two rather good essays, about Australia's Place In the World. There are two quotes that speak to the same period, which covers me growing up (or taller, anyway) and then the mid-1990s pivot. From Hugh White's Quarterly Essay "Hard New World - our post-American future."... Continue Reading →
Went a bit quiet, for reasons of idleness, biography and geography. Will make up for lost time (which, actually, you know, you can't really do). Watch this space, for stuff on ANZAC/Australia, the responsibility of NGOs, some book reviews and rants etc.
A good friend recently pointed me at a very good (imo, ymmv obvs) article "education for democratic resilience." It's full of quotable bits but for now Imma riff on this - "I believe one reason is that too few Americans understand the nuts-and-bolts of associations. An initial meeting often draws many concerned people, who may... Continue Reading →
In the end, it was not even close. The victory of the Green Party in the Gorton and Denton bye-election is, I think that much abused word “historic.” But history has different meanings. In five years we might look back on this as the "moment that Labour changed"; unlikely when I narrated the vomit draft... Continue Reading →
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