Symposiasts

2010-05-20T21:14:00.003+10:00

Hi Elanor. Am I still allowed to write on this thing? At least, in non-diary form? I guess as we're both, like, students again, it would make sense to start having opinions on things and stuff. But it's been such a long time. The workforce has made me complacent, crushed my spirit, and made me happy with things like twitter, $19 bottles of red wine, and expensive scented candles.

So anyway, I feel the need to express an increasing unease about what's been going on of late. As everything's already been said by everyone on every other medium, this will either sound redundant or over-wrought, but basically I have a real fear that by the end of the year Tony Abbot will rule the country. And then I will have to leave.

I mean, I assume that even horrible bigoted Australians still think he's a bit nuts and not to be trusted with the nation. And even the most conservative types want to preserve their right to have secret abortions, and secret bottom drawer porn. But what scares me is that even people like me, who were always slightly uneasy with Rudd but willing to put up with him in order to make the country ever so slightly better, are disgusted in him. It was a very low bar we set. But actually, maybe that's not so alarming since we'll never vote Coalition, which means he doesn't need to earn our vote, and can focus his energies on trying to solidify the middle ground and alienating everyone in the process... but still. We didn't expect much and it's still turned to shit. Anyway, unease expressed.

On the flip side, the Liberals are hilarious at the moment -- maybe it's because Kerry O'Brien seems so invigorated and terrifying lately (Joe Hockey looked petrified on the 7.30 Report last night, as if he was expecting vivisection). They're acting like a pack of slimy, squabbling young libs (which they were I guess) spinning any kind of shit to win an argument. And I'm not being partisan here. That's just the way it is, which makes me even more uneasy: when they're so obviously lying, why can't Rudd argue the point. Everything's just trapped in this routine of spin being combated with more spin, with no one actually pointing out when stuff isn't actually true, or might be true, but also might be a reasonable non-evil response to things that are highly complex. Anyway, rambling. All of this has been said before, so I may as well go back to twitter.

I also have an opinion on this, which is similarly awful and hilarious.

Diary: Monday 27 July - Monday 3 August

2009-08-03T22:06:00.006+10:00

Monday 27 July
Saw Guest of Cindy Sherman at MIFF. It's a documentary about the New York art scene from the perspective of Paul H-O, who in the 1990s hosted the public access TV show GalleryBeat. The film traces how he then became the boyfriend of photographer Cindy Sherman, and his growing (somewhat churlish but not mean-spirited) discomfort at being a nobody attached to a huge art star. I felt a little uncomfortable at finding myself implicated, through watching it, in the furthering of a kind of opportunistic self-aggrandisement based on reflected glory. But it's kinda interesting, too.

Tuesday 28 July
Stayed at 3CR all day after the Breakfast Show to help out on reception/scrounge around for content for the Stick Together show. Then went to see Outrage and The Girlfriend Experience at MIFF.

Outrage is a documentary about closeted gay Republican politicians (who the film outs) and the damage they do to gay citizens because their closetedness and fear of discovery within a political party/base that clearly despises their true selves causes them to legislate in very anti-gay ways. You just feel bad all over. Anyway, on the upside, Washington DC is hella gay. On the downside, why are so many Republicans? The Girlfriend Experience is Steven Soderbergh's global financial crisis film, in which the brunt of the crash is borne by New York escort Chelsea in that she has to listen to all the rich guys freak out and whine.

After the film, went back to 3CR overnight to edit/produce that week's Stick Together, which I made using other people's interviews and a very elastic interpretation of the show's 'workplace and social justice issues' brief. I mean, the people in it have jobs...

Media from the Margins. We take a look at what media skills training can mean for prisoners in Britain, and the situation for women working as journalists in Iran, with Phil Maguire from the UK Prison Radio Association and Kathleen Currie from the International Women's Media Foundation.

The podcast sounds like this.

Wednesday 29 July
Saw Fish Tank at MIFF. I wanted to see it after reading about it earlier this year in this Observer article by Jason Solomons. And having seen it, I can't really add more to what Jason Solomons said, except that I agree. So, thanks for pointing me in its direction, sir.

Thursday 30 July
Saw United Red Army at MIFF. It began at 11am, and it still wasn't over by the time I had to leave at 2pm, as I had somewhere to be by 2.30pm. In short, it was THE WORST FILM EVER. It was even worse than that description can possibly convey. DEAR GOD. Avoid.

Raced to 3CR so that I would not be late to meet with Bea Viegas, who plays Juliana in the Balibo film, for our interview.

Friday 31 July
Worked at CASA House, then went to see The Exploding Girl at MIFF. It's about gentle people who dress well and spend their uni break at home in Brooklyn just, you know, hanging out. What's not to like?

Saturday 1 August
Saw A Lake at MIFF. My brother was with me and asked me beforehand what it was about. I recalled a vague sense that there would be snow, a young man, and like, atmosphere. A few minutes into the film I had to lean over to him to say, "Oh yeah, and he's painfully in love with his sister." A lot of people walked out of this film, and I really don't understand why. I liked all the blurriness and tension. I spent the film repeating "Be cool, Alexi" over and over, and held myself tensed because the woodchopping sounded so violent and I didn't want any axes to connect with people. I experienced a powerful sense of release when my fears of violence came to nothing.

Sunday 2 August
Started reading Perdido Street Station by China Miéville. It is a book of many treats, vocabulary-wise, but also, for instance, this explanation of Garuda social organisation:

The point is that you are an individual inasmuch as you exist in a social matrix of others who respect your individuality and your right to make choices. That's concrete individuality: an individuality that recognises that it owes its existence to a kind of communal respect on the part of all the other individualities, and that it had better therefore respect them similarly.

My favourite treat so far, though, has been this:

'...and then there were two,' sang Derkhan, a snatch of a children's counting song about a basket of kittens that died, one by one, grotesquely.

Oooh, I LIKE.

Monday 3 August
Saw Katalin Varga at MIFF. It was, I dunno, fine I guess. Except for that whole 'in summary, ladies, the consequences of going on a rape vengeance quest are a) forgiving the perpetrator and b) being violently murdered' thing.

Then went to 3CR to edit the Bea Viegas interview for tomorrow's Breakfast Show. Then home.

A promise

2009-08-01T16:25:00.014+10:00

I swear, I won't subject this blog to any more hysterical spasms brought on by reading the Twilight books. At least, not after this.

See, I finished the last book this afternoon, and I just wanted to give my final word about the experience. It took a week to read all four, and I have to say, it has been the most good-humoured week I can remember. More than good-humoured, really. Kinda joyous. But in a controlled way. The books didn't consume me. They made me happy and wrapped up in them when I was reading them, and then when I had to set them down to participate in my life, the happiness would colour the rest of my time, too. So I went to work, I made a few radio shows and did some interviews in preparation for a few more, I saw films at MIFF, I slept well and woke early. I functioned better than usual. And all the while, I was quietly ecstatic. It was a good feeling, you know, all that wandering around smiling inwardly and radiating contentment.

The only problem I've had is not being able to adequately explain to anyone why I've been so taken with these books. For instance, yesterday, I stayed at my desk at CASA House after hours to read a bit more while I waited for it to be time for my 7pm MIFF screening of The Exploding Girl. And as my boss was leaving she wondered why I was staying back, and I explained that I had some time to kill and would just read a bit of my book. And she looked at it with recognition before I could cover it. "I know, I know," I said, "I'm not supposed to be reading this. Teenagers are losing their minds over it. The thing is, I'M LOSING MY MIND OVER IT, TOO." And she said, "Teenagers, hmm, I know forty-year-olds who are obsessed." And she wondered why that was - she hadn't read the books and the reactions she'd seen bemused her. And I couldn't really explain mine, and then she talked about how she worried that it might be a cultural echo of some tendency to be thrilled by dangerous bad boys. And I found myself saying, "But, Edward isn't bad!" And she just looked at me. "Don't you think that's what all women in abusive relationships tell themselves?" Oh no! "But," I protested, "he feels such crushing guilt at even the thought of hurting her!" Again, she looked at me. "Elanor, you know that men commonly have that guilt when they hurt their partners. Sometimes, their apologetic despair is part of the problem. It makes women stay when they should leave." And I actually found myself saying, "But... but it's not like that." I knew how feeble that sounded. But I actually believe it. It's not like that. I mean, I don't want Edward Cullen to be my vampire boyfriend (I'm embarrassed to say that this lack of interest in him romantically stems from the powerful way your mind rejects any scenario that would separate him and Bella - they belong together, you guys). And I guess thrilling to a romantic fantasy from the sidelines, desperately hoping it all works out, does bond you in some way to that fantasy as a relationship model. I mean, you want all the characters you care about to get what they want - and in the Twilight books especially because they want what they want so much. And isn't it always like this? You don't want Mr Darcy for yourself, you want Elizabeth Bennett and Mr Darcy to be together, and you definitely want the way Elinor Dashwood suffers without Edward Ferrars to end, etc etc etc. As a reader, you just like to be there to see it. The Twilight books repay you by very effectively communicating how intensely happy this makes the characters - and the countervailing AGONY. It's like mainlining feelings. And I guess it's a fair question to ask - whether the pleasure afforded by this intensity obscures one's (my) perspective on the health of the relationship being modeled. But I really think Edward and Bella provide a good model - hear me out! - and do so especially in the context of intimate partner violence. I found it very difficult to make this point at the end of a long day at a sexual assault service, because I am, at heart, barracking for a romantic fantasy in which the boy is constantly fighting the powerful urge to kill his girlfriend but-love-makes-this-okay. Yes. This is - bluntly - the case I'm making. But here's the 'good relationship model' part that's not captured in that bluntness: 1) the books frame violence against Bella as the most abhorrent possibility ever to be entertained by anyone - and 'violence is abhorrent' is a good message, no?; and 2) there are no excuses for it. Even the super-special-one-of-a-kind-thirst for your girlfriend's blood doesn't grant you any leeway whatsoever re violence against her. To act violently/lose control/any of that shit - these are just not options that the book allows conceptually, or the Edward character allows behaviourally. For me, that underlines a strong message that perpetrators of violence make choices - to harm, to decide the parameters within which they justify their actions to themselves so that 'I would never hurt her' doesn't actually mean 'never', etc etc. So yes, I like Bella and Edward's relationship for a variety of punishingly lame reasons. But I think the least lame reason is that it's a relationship in which, ahem, 'Love means the restriction on intimate partner violence is absolute'. Seriously, you guys.

Anyway, I wasn't really thinking about these things yesterday while I was reading the final book - alone, at work, after hours. I was too engrossed. I do remember feeling glad that no other staff were around when I got to the end of the section being told from Jacob's perspective, so that nobody was there to witness me rock back in my seat gasping with shock/joy. And then I remember walking to Greater Union enveloped in an emotional high, trying to keep myself in check until I got into the darkness of the cinema so that I could grin ecstatically without freaking people out.

After the film I made my way home, still in full contemplation of how well the book was working out. I assumed this wouldn't be noticeable to anyone else - that my face didn't betray the gleeful responsiveness of my mind. But as I walked in the back door and set my bag down on the kitchen table, turning things over dreamily in my head, I came to understand that maybe my face doesn't lack expression in the way I think it does. My brother looked over at me. "Whoah," he said, "come back down to earth."

Tuesday things

2009-07-28T09:55:00.005+10:00

3CR Tuesday Breakfast Show

played my interview with Maureen Tolfree about her brother, Brian Peters - one of the Balibo Five. Brian Peters was a Channel Nine cameraman who went to East Timor in 1975 to report on the Indonesian invasion with Nine reporter Malcolm Rennie. They were killed by Indonesian troops on October 16, 1975 in the town of Balibo along with the Channel Seven news team of Greg Shackleton, Tony Stewart and Gary Cunningham. A new film, Balibo, tells the story of what happened to them and to another Australian journalist, Roger East, who went to East Timor to investigate their deaths before the Indonesian invasion in December 1975. Balibo is screening at the Melbourne International Film Festival, and to national audiences from August 13.
Steph was joined in the studio by Martin Baldock from Equal Love, to talk about the campaign and the national day of action this Saturday August 1, with the rally beginning at 1pm at Federation Square.
played an interview by Bree McKilligan from 3CR's Jump Cut with Melbourne filmmaker Kerry Negara about her documentary A Loving Friend, which looks at the response of the Australian art world to artist Donald Friend's self-avowed sexual relations with young boys in Bali. A Loving Friend screens at the Melbourne International Film Festival on Sunday August 2 at 2pm at Greater Union.

BREAKFAST PLAYLIST:
The Magnetic Fields - When My Boy Walks Down the Street - 69 Love Songs, Vol. 2

LISTENING Tuesday July 21-Tuesday July 28.
Last.fm says this week was spent in the company of:
The Whitest Boy Alive, Dreams and Rules
Miike Snow, Miike Snow
Bachelorette, Isolation Loops

Recent days

2009-07-27T16:55:00.011+10:00

Thursday 23 July
I went in to 3CR to meet Maureen Tolfree for an interview about her brother - Brian Peters (of the Balibo Five) - and about the film, Balibo. I'll play the interview on tomorrow's Tuesday Breakfast Show, and probably on my next Women On The Line. Anyway, I stayed at 3CR editing that until it was 3pm, when I went to a meeting about the 2010 Seeds of Dissent Calendar, then I went to the Trades Hall to record a talk by Carol Adams on The Sexual Politics of Meat: A Feminist-Vegetarian Critical Theory. It featured a slideshow of all these meat advertising images she's found or been sent by readers, and it was pretty fascinating.

Friday 24 July
Worked at CASA House, then met up with Guy, Leah and Amy for drinks/dinner. As Guy walked with me to the train station, I confessed the real extent of my humiliating Twilight film habit - "Ummmm, sometimes, I even put it on in the background while I'm doing other things, like the other day I was researching interviews..." - and it made him consider watching it. I went home and fell asleep watching it.

Saturday 25 July
I couldn't resist any longer - I got the Twilight book. It has had an absurdly powerful effect on me. I spent Saturday reading it, chortling with glee, and hugging it to my chest when overcome by the pleasure of it. It was an entirely enjoyable experience. Seriously, you guys.

Sunday 26 July
Woke early to continue reading Twilight. Then at 11am went to the Forum MIFF office to pick up our Mini Passes. Then had some time to kill before our first film, so went to the ACMI Lounge to drink coffee and read more Twilight - with some scrap paper deliberately placed over the front cover to hide its identity. It shames me that I feel shame about reading it, because it doesn't deserve such cowardice. Frankly. it's MARVELLOUS.

12.15pm: saw our first MIFF film, The Milk Of Sorrow. I recommend it. It's about living in crippling fear of rape, but it's tone is not at all harrowing. Yes, the placement of a certain potato made my uterus pang so I squirmed in my seat throughout the film and for sometime after. But mostly it's just kinda beautiful, with oddly lovely songs.

After the film we went and ate some eggs in Degraves Street, where I kept secretly reading Twilight while my little brother openly read Miranda July's No One Belongs Here More Than You - I think this made him feel cooler than me. Which I wouldn't normally mind - he does look way cooler than me, probably is - but dude, it's my copy of the Miranda July. Anyway, then we went to Dymocks so I could buy the remaining three books of the Twilight series. I also bought China Miéville's Perdido Street Station, because I'm seeing him at the Melbourne Writers Festival and I haven't read a thing. Also, I had a general sense that buying a China Miéville book alongside books 2, 3 & 4 of the Twilight series might make me seem less ridiculous?

We still had some time before my next film - Simon wasn't coming to it as our MIFF schedules differ this year. I see this as growth. Anyway, so we popped in to the Len Lye exhibition at ACMI. And I think I'll pop back in to it rather frequently as MIFF continues. It's a nice way to spend time - watching Colour Flight or waiting for one of the metal kinetic sculptures to come alive and cause delight. And it's free.

Anyway, it still wasn't 4.45pm - when I was due to go see Treeless Mountain - so we went back to the ACMI Lounge so I could finish the first Twilight book. Which I did. And, as I'd spent the last day smiling and sighing, my brother finally ventured to ask, "What's so great about it, anyway? Like, is it better than Harry Potter?"And I said something about how it was different - it's not so much about big themes of decency responding to fear and hatred in a society with the whole world at stake, it's more about feelings and caring about characters and enjoying how they care about others - like, it's their emotional world that's at stake. Also, there are vampires. He might still read it, I guess.

Treeless Mountain had sweet kids in it, and sometimes they were sad. Basically, it's a film about two young girls waiting for their mum to come back, and how they spend their time. I liked it, but it dragged a little, too.

Went home and started reading New Moon, the second book in the Twilight series. It got a little embarrassing really, what with me sitting on the couch in the living room in full view of my family, becoming shakily devastated. Fell asleep with the book on my chest.

Monday 27 July
Woke early - 5.45am - so I could fit in more New Moon reading before heading to work at CASA House. Had to relent for showering and dressing, but I got a lift in, so was able to continue reading until I stepped out onto Lonsdale Street. As I waited for my coffee, I caught myself smiling inwardly and radiating contentment. This is sad, isn't it.

Anyway, tonight I'm seeing Guest Of Cindy Sherman.

My Complete MIFF Schedule

2009-07-25T12:47:00.009+10:00

There have been some changes and additions (and there could always be more additions) but as far as I know my Melbourne International Film Festival this year looks like this:

Sunday 26 July:
The Milk Of Sorrow
Treeless Mountain

Monday 27 July:
Guest Of Cindy Sherman

Tuesday 28 July:
Outrage
The Girlfriend Experience

Wednesday 29 July:
Fish Tank

Thursday 30 July:
United Red Army

Friday 31 July:
The Exploding Girl

Saturday 1 August:
A Lake

Monday 3 August:
Katalin Varga

Tuesday 4 August:
The White Ribbon

Wednesday 5 August:
Antichrist

Thursday 6 August:
Defamation
Bluebeard

Friday 7 August:
The Art of Failure: Chuck Connelly Not for Sale

Sunday 9 August:
Dogtooth

Anyway, here's something I found out this morning - if you go to the MIFF website, and you leave the page idle for a little while, this hack message about Rebiya Kadeer comes up:

Click on the image if you want to get a better look.

I am not supposed to be a teenage girl, but

2009-07-21T11:31:00.010+10:00

... I must confess to a few things I did this week that made me wonder about my level of adult sophistication.

1. Last Wednesday night, I went with my family to the Westgarth Cinema to see Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. On its opening day. As is tradition in my family. Yes, I am still doing this. Largely because I want to. Clearly, I am not a grown-up yet. Also, I LOVED it. I thought it was GREAT. In the past I have always left a Harry Potter screening raking over the niggling disappointments I found in the film, but I had zero criticisms for this one. So it seems that as I get older, I have less critical responses to a children's film about a boy wizard (although obviously, Harry Potter's not really even about wizarding or magic or whatever - it's about confronting the rise of fascism...) <-- see I still say stuff like that! Anyway, as soon as we got home from the film, my brother started re-reading the final two books, and I was jealous of him. I sat reading my book, Ben Lewis' Hammer and Tickle: A History Of Communism Told Through Communist Jokes, while looking frequently over at him, asking him where he was up to and so forth. Then I finished that book and started my next one, Nick Davies' Flat Earth News, all the while still peering over my brother's shoulder at irritating intervals. He eventually went to his room and didn't come out. Anyway, this morning I exercised some restraint - I decided to stay here at 3CR doing volunteer reception instead of bunking off to go into the city to meet my brother and watch the Half-Blood Prince again. In response he decided that since I wasn't going to meet him, he might as well go and re-enrol in uni - just, you know, as an afterthought. As if having a future is what you settle for when movie plans fall through. Uh, we are so mature.

2. In the past week, I have watched Twilight, like, seven times. Probably more. And it's not like I've had a lot of spare time this week. I made time for Twilight. With disturbing frequency. And I can't really explain why I like to watch it so much, why I want to watch it so much, why I wish I was at home right now so I could watch it again. And dudes, I already watched it today - very early this morning before heading in to 3CR to do the Breakfast Show. What is the matter with me? Could somebody rational please tell me that Twilight is actually, like, good? Because I'm beginning to think so, and I'm at the point where I don't think I'm wrong.

Other things last week:

On Tuesday, after finishing up my day at 3CR, I went to the 3CR Promotions Sub-Committee meeting at Peko Peko, where Nicole and I swapped some TV. I gave her all my True Blood, plus season 3 of Big Love, and season 5 of The Wire, and she gave me Breaking Bad and Nurse Jackie. I haven't watched Breaking Bad yet, but I have watched Nurse Jackie and I LOVE IT. It contains a rather excellent cat joke, and Peter Facinelli doing robot laser 'pew-pews'. Recommend.

After the meeting I went back in to 3CR overnight to produce the Stick Together show, featuring the interview I did with Jeff Sparrow about Killing: Misadventures in Violence. It sounds like this. I got home at about 4am, watched Twilight, then slept for the rest of Wednesday until the aforementioned Harry Potter outing at 6pm.

On Thursday I stayed overnight at 3CR again, producing Women On The Line, featuring my interview with Malalai Joya. It sounds like this.

After the all-nighter, on Friday I worked at CASA. And then spent the weekend just, you know, reading books and watching Twilight. I think what I like about it is that the people in it are friendly, low-key, and prone to declarations of undying love.

Tuesday things

2009-07-21T09:20:00.003+10:00

3CR Tuesday Breakfast Show

played my interview, in two parts, with Malalai Joya, Afghanistan democracy and women's rights campaigner. She was in Melbourne last week to talk about the state of democracy in Afghanistan and her new memoir, Raising My Voice. You can support Malalai Joya's work and contribute to her safety by making a donation to the Defense Committee for Malalai Joya.
played my interview, in two parts, with Jeff Sparrow, author of Killing: Misadventures in Violence, about going to abbatoirs, death row and on kangaroo hunts where killing is part of the everyday, to see if these places could provide some insight into the experience and impacts of killing in combat zones.
Steph spoke to Michelle Carey, curator of the Post-Punk Underground program of the Melbourne International Film Festival.

BREAKFAST PLAYLIST:
The Mayfair Set - Dark House - Young One

LISTENING Tuesday July 14-Tuesday July 21.
Last.fm says this week was spent in the company of:
Yoko Ono & The Plastic Ono Band, Between My Head And The Sky
Joakim, Milky Ways
The Clean, Mister Pop
Low, I Could Live In Hope and Long Division and The Curtain Hits The Cast
Mount Eerie, Wind's Poem
Kes Band, Kes Band II
Camille Deane, Up Here
The Mayfair Set, Young One
Jay Reatard, Watch Me Fall
Deastro, Moondagger
Noah and the Whale, The First Days Of Spring
Deerhunter, Rainwater Cassette Exchange
Grand Salvo, Soil Creatures

Tuesday things

2009-07-14T16:22:00.005+10:00

3CR Tuesday Breakfast Show

Steph spoke to Fleur Watson, curator of the State of Design festival.
heard Steph's interview with Peter Stewart from Bundanoon about his town's decision to ban the sale of one-use bottled water.
I spoke to Rachel Maher for the monthly New Matilda update, today focussing on recent articles about media issues within China and Sri Lanka.

BREAKFAST PLAYLIST:
Kes Band - Amelia Airheart - Kes Band II
Aleks and the Ramps - Whiplash - Midnight Believer
The Mayfair Set - Let it Melt - Young One
The Bats - Like Water In Your Hands - The Guilty Office
Wreckless Eric - Excuse Me - Greatest Stiffs
CocoRosie - Joseph City - Coconuts, Plenty of Junk Food

LISTENING Tuesday July 7-Tuesday July 14.
Last.fm says this week was spent in the company of:
Beach House, Beach House, Devotion and Used To Be
Various, New Weird Australia Volume One
Mount Eerie, Wind's Poem
Kes Band, Kes Band II
Camille Deane, Up Here
The Mayfair Set, Young One

Later in the day I interviewed Jeff Sparrow over the phone about his new book, Killing: Misadventures in Violence, for this week's Stick Together. And then Malalai Joya came in to 3CR and I interviewed her for this week's Women On The Line. She gave me a hug. It made me think I need to start a list...

List of People With Whom I Am Proud To Have Had Actual Physical Contact
(I swear, I shook their hands at least):
Catharine MacKinnon
Ali Abunimah
Malalai Joya

...Uh, I can't think of any others just at the moment.

MIFF Mini Pass

2009-07-12T21:37:00.005+10:00

I bought my Film Festival Mini Pass and filled it up with this:

Sunday 26 July:
Treeless Mountain

Monday 27 July:
Guest Of Cindy Sherman

Tuesday 28 July:
Outrage
The Girlfriend Experience

Wednesday 29 July:
Fish Tank

Thursday 30 July:
United Red Army
Petition - The Court Of The Complainants

Monday 3 August:
Red Army/PFLP: Declaration Of War

Tuesday 4 August:
The White Ribbon

Wednesday 5 August:
Antichrist

Thursday 6 August:
Defamation
Bluebeard

Sunday 9 August:
Dogtooth

Other things I might buy tickets to. Please let me know if I shouldn't:

Alphaville
All Tomorrow's Parties
Double Take
Morphia
Unmade Beds
Everyone Else

Some things I've already seen, that you might like to also:

Looking For Eric
In The Loop

One note of disappointment:
I was really looking forward to seeing Spring Fever as part of the festival program, because I read a positive thing about it in The Observer during Cannes. But it is not. Please, WHY IS IT NOT?

Tuesday things

2009-07-07T18:17:00.004+10:00

At about 4am this morning, I finished watching season 4 of The Wire. Then I pottered about until it was time to go in to 3CR.

3CR Tuesday Breakfast Show
It's NAIDOC Week, which 3CR marks by doing live prison broadcasts with Indigenous men and women from inside four Victorian jails. So on Breakfast we did this:

Rachel spoke with Phil Maguire, Chief Executive of the UK Prison Radio Association, about establishing radio stations inside British prisons, making award-winning radio by and for prisoners.
Steph spoke to Lachie Type about the Students of Sustainability conference this week.
I spoke to Amy McQuire from the National Indigenous Times about the over-representation of Indigenous prisoners in Australian jails.

BREAKFAST PLAYLIST:
Dirty Projectors and David Byrne - Knotty Pine - Dark Was The Night
Miike Snow - Animal - Miike Snow
Beach House - Used To Be - Used To Be 7"
Lawrence Arabia - The Undesirables - Chant Darling
Grand Salvo - Brother - Soil Creatures
Lykke Li - Time Flies - Youth Novel

LISTENING Tuesday June 30-Tuesday July 7.
Last.fm says this week was spent in the company of:
Tenniscoats, Temporacha, Totemo Aimasho and Live Wanderus
Peter Broderick, Music For On Paper Wings
Vivian Girls, Vivian Girls
Palms, It's Midnight in Honolulu
and some Phil Collins and PJ Harvey & John Parish.

This Is Not The Trip

2009-07-04T18:50:00.015+10:00

Hello.

I do plan to bore you mercilessly in the coming while with detailed posts about each city I went to in ten weeks of travelling. But not just yet.

I've been back in Melbourne for three weeks now, and you will hear about that first.

P.S. There was a lot of saved TV to get through, as you'll notice.

Sunday 14 June
Asleep.

Monday 15 June
Back to work, my rostered shift at CASA House. In the evening, my sister arrived from Hobart to spend two weeks with us while she did some additional forecasting training (she's a meteorolgist, a forecaster at the Bureau of Meteorolgy), so we had family/travel chats. Then downloaded the new episode of True Blood. Watched it.

Tuesday 16 June
3CR Tuesday Breakfast Show

Rachel spoke to Vicki Fairfax and Jayne Lovelock about the Emerge Festival, celebrating Melbourne's multicultural diversity as part of Refugee Week. Vicki spoke about the Love Burma Love Freedom exhibition.
Steph spoke with Joe Lorback, activist with the Melbourne Anti-Intervention Action Collective about the latest on the intervention and the 2 year anniversary rally on 20 June.
Jess spoke with Andrew Scott, academic and author of Politics, Parties and Issues in Australia.
I spoke with Dr Caroline de Costa about charges being laid in Queensland against a woman and her boyfriend for 'procuring an abortion' using misoprostol. Caroline is an obstetrician based in Cairns and was one of the first doctors there to get the right to dispense medical abortion drugs. We didn't talk directly about the case, but focused on some of the issues it raises for abortion law reform in Queensland (see her previous Crikey article about law reform here), and the ongoing 'controversial' context in which medical abortion appears on the public radar in Australia.

BREAKFAST PLAYLIST:
Shugo Tokumaru - Rum Hee - Rum Hee
Tenniscoats - Rolling Train - Tan-Tan Therapy

Spent the rest of the day at 3CR planning that week's Stick Together show, reading up on the proposed Building Inspectorate, begging unionists to talk to me in the midst of tizz about introduction of the legislation in parliament the next day. Went home to catch up on Dollhouse. It's still really good, you guys.

Wednesday 17 June
At 12.30pm, interviewed Dave Noonan, National Secretary of the CFMEU Construction Division. Cobbled rest of Stick Together show around that. Finished with an hour to spare before the 6pm Community Radio Network broadcast. The synopsis went like this:

On today’s show, we get reaction to the Rudd Government’s tabling in Parliament of draft laws for a Building Industry Inspectorate to replace the Australian Building and Construction Commission. The ABCC’s coercive powers over construction workers will be retained, and we hear from Dave Noonan, National Secretary of the CFMEU Construction Division. Before that, we hear from the author of a new book looking at the union and community campaign that brought the Rudd Government into office. Kathie Muir has written the first history of the campaign, and her book is called, Worth Fighting For: Inside the Your Rights At Work Campaign.

The podcast went like this.

Thursday 18 June
Worked at CASA during the day. In the evening, went to the Corner Hotel to see Deerhunter. They looked much younger than I expected. (I suppose being ignorant of their - to my mind - extreme youth probably means I should read more music articles. But I was really struck by it. I had just assumed from listening to their music that they were, you know, mature. But they were quite endearingly not.) Google has since informed me that Bradford Cox is only one year younger than me... but he's just a kid! Anyway, it was their second Melbourne gig, and they were set loose from usual performance boundaries because an organiser had gamely told them to 'do whatever you want'. So it started pretty tight - they knew their stuff backwards and it still burst with vigour - got progressively looser as the night went on, almost broke apart, got adorably hilarious. This review acquaints you with how things proceeded. Somehow, it wasn't obnoxious at all. It was delightful. I can't remember precisely all the stage-talk that made me smile, but it really did. One bit I remember happened after Bradford Cox had been by himself doing Don't Fear The Reaper for ten minutes or so, had tired of it and so had stopped, then became uncomfortable with being on stage all alone. He went almost shyly to the microphone: "Please, come back out here, you guys."

Friday 19 June
Worked at CASA in the morning, then went to 3CR to get briefed about some radio training I'd deliver to Collingwood College students the following Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday. Met Leah and Guy for coffee, as Leah was about to fly away travelling. Went home to watch Silent Witness. Then Caprica.

Saturday 20 June
Damages Season 2. Then, Guy's Alcopops-themed birthday party. I chatted with Lauren's boyfriend Ben about Caprica, Battlestar Galactica, etc. Other people had conversations about Lady GaGa. I don't take part in these discussions yet, as I still haven't listened to any of her music. There are some foolish quotes out there, though. So I haven't yet moved beyond Guy's assessment that "she doesn't quite understand the concepts she's playing with", but it appears he may have. Anyway, at around 1am, the dancefloor kicked off, which was my cue to flee, as all my non-dancing, always-find-me-in-the-kitchen-at-parties type friends are currently overseas. COME BACK.

Sunday 21 June
We all went with my sister to Mordialloc to visit our grandma. On the way home, my brother and I got ourselves dropped off in the city to go see a film. We saw I Love You, Man. It was as you'd expect, as in, quite okay, as in, hey, I like to run with that post-Freaks and Geeks set and so does Terry Gross from NPR's Fresh Air and that relaxes me about enjoying it. When it was over, we decided to see Star Trek. Which was AWESOME. Well, it was.

Monday 22 June
Day 1 of delivering radio training to Collingwood College middle school students. I know they thought I was lame. They were astute in that way. Went home to watch more of Damages Season 2.

Tuesday 23 June
3CR Tuesday Breakfast Show

Rachel's interview with Azadeh, an Iranian theatre studies graduate and law reform campaigner in Tehran with the One Million Signatures campaign, about how the group is using street theatre as a way of highlighting injustices in Iranian law.
I spoke to Lyn Morgain from the ALSO Foundation about the Rural Forum on issues for GLBTIQ people in rural settings.
Steph spoke to Dr Shiv Chopra, a Health Canada whistleblower, about the food saftey issues raised in his book Corrupt to the Core. He would speak that night at the Green Building, 60 Leicester Street, Carlton.
Steph spoke to Rachel from The Share Hood, a neighbourhood resource sharing initiative and workshop.

BREAKFAST PLAYLIST:
Bachelorette - The National Grid - My Electric Family
Grizzly Bear - Two Weeks - Veckatimest
Aleks and the Ramps - Destroy The Universe With Jazz Hands - Midnight Believer

LISTENING Tuesday June 16-Tuesday June 23.
Last.fm says this week was spent in the company of:
Aleks and the Ramps, Midnight Believer
CocoRosie, Coconuts, Plenty of Junk Food
Bachelorette, My Electric Family
Matteah Baim, The Laughing Boy
and some The Mayfair Set and Get Back Guinozzi !

The rest of Tuesday was spent training kids in radio. Then burritos with Guy? I think so.

Wednesday 24 June
Final day of training Collingwood College kids in radio. We had them out on Smith Street interviewing John Clarke and other local folk. And they got their podcasts edited and finished in time, which had been a worry. Farewell, young people.

Thursday 25 June
Worked at CASA, then met with Guy and Lauren for long enough to witness the handover of Lauren's birthday present to Guy... A SLANKET. I only learned of the existence of these/the excitement they cause, when I got back to Melbourne and saw the late-night TV ad. In response to which I thought, "Hmm, my uppers arms DO get cold when I'm attempting to read under the doona... but perhaps this points to me being more of a Doona Suit than a Slanket kind of girl?" I've since looked at the Doona Suit, though, and it is NOT what I thought it would be. It's not even all-in-one! FAIL. Anyway, at the time I still didn't fully appreciate the Slanket's cultural significance, and so was not perhaps enthusiastic enough with my 'ooooh, beige' as Lauren presented it to Guy:
But then I caught up with 30 Rock. In which a Slanket features in a joke that made me laugh so much, I threw up. (This outcome was doubly pleasing to me as, in a previous 30 Rock episode, retaining the capacity to laugh so hard you throw up had been underlined as desirable.) Anyway, it took me fully twenty minutes to regain composure from the laughing fit, and twenty further minutes to recover from my spluttering, out-of-control attempts to repeat the line in question out loud to my brother. Impossible, it turns out.

Now, I don't want to ruin the immense joy of this one sentence for anyone. But I'm going to type it anyway. Because, COME ON. It made me throw up:

"Lemon, isn't there a Slanket somewhere you should be filling with your farts?"

Aaah, I like it when people understand couch.

Anyway, it's still Thursday, so after I left Lauren and Guy, I made my way to Carlton to meet Nicole and Bree for the preview screening of Balibo. Director Robert Connolly introduced the film, and talked about having just returned from Dili where it was screened for the cast and crew there. He said it had been strange to screen a film in which the current President of East Timor is depicted as a charismatic 25-year-old rebel leader, especially when José Ramos-Horta was also in the audience for the Dili screening. Connolly related how people cheered at some of Ramos-Horta's scenes, including Ramos-Horta. Now, I had no idea of Ramos-Horta's part in the Balibo story. Perhaps it is something I should have known. The film is based on Jill Jolliffe's book, and as the film's opening credits notified me of this, I felt bad that I hadn't read it. We've had her on the Breakfast Show a few times to talk about modern East Timor (the assassination attempt on Ramos-Horta for example) and I always feel guilty when I don't pay enough attention to the work guests have done. Actually, I think we had her on for the Balibo inquest and the Living Memory Project too. Damn! Anyway, it looks like a revised edition of the book is coming out, with a launch at Readings on August 13.

Getting back to the film itself, it begins with an East-Timorese woman, Juliana, travelling to Dili to give evidence at the Commission For Reception, Truth and Reconciliation in East Timor. Just FYI, this commission's findings and its cases for prosecution were massively undermined by the subsequent setting up of the Indonesia-Timor Leste Commission of Truth and Friendship. The latter's galling shortcomings are outlined in an open letter here, and in this report, Too Much Friendship, Too Little Truth. But anyway, I was watching a film. And I was hoping the commission being depicted in these early scenes was the first one (it was, according to the Balibo press kit). Anyway, Juliana speaks to the investigator about the massacre she witnessed as a child on the Dili Wharf on the day in 1975 when the Indonesian army invaded the city. She recalls seeing a man on the wharf, Roger East, who had been staying at her father's hotel. So the film takes us to Darwin earlier in 1975, where we meet Anthony LaPaglia's Roger East. He goes fishing, drinks beer, and goes to work where he's told that a young man in green fatigues has been waiting to see him since before the office opened.

Roger East: "Who is he?"
Co-worker: "He says his name is José Ramos-Horta."
Roger East: "Who?"

As you can guess, this lack of recognition gets a rather shocked laugh from the audience, and neatly communicates that we will be journeying through substantially different times.

As Ramos-Horta, Oscar Isaac is, as aforementioned, disarmingly charismatic. He's turned away at the office but finds East later on the pier eating fish and chips. You are won over by Ramos-Horta pretty easily in this fish and chip scene, and maybe I won't detail it because, you know, it's pleasurable. You might want to see it. Basically, he wants Roger East - a former foreign correspondent - to come to Dili to run the East Timor News Agency, and he needs a quick decision as flights out of Darwin to Dili are likely to be stopped in the next few days, what with the Indonesians advancing and all. Anyway, they talk, disagree and so forth. East thinks Ramos-Horta should be looking for a younger journalist, not someone who is 'past it' like him. Ramos-Horta says they've had younger journalists from Australia in East Timor already. Five in particular. They'd disappeared four weeks earlier and the Australian Government didn't seem to care much, etc. East does some digging, his interest piqued, and agrees to go to Dili if Ramos-Horta will get him full access to investigate the fate of the Balibo Five. The film flashes between East's journey to East Timor and that of the Balibo Five, and we're off. There is annoying stuff at the Dili hotel run by Juliana's father, bonding between the Australians and the child Juliana, pfft, but the film does well in mapping the various motivations the journalists had for being there - with Channel 7's team (Greg Shackleton, Gary Cunningham, Tony Stewart) arriving first, pursued by Channel 9's Malcolm Rennie and Brian Peters who are playing catch-up after an incensed Kerry Packer sends them in to prevent a Channel 7 exclusive on the invasion. They are confoundingly oblivious and self-involved to begin with - seeming not to register that what's happening might matter a fair bit to the people it's happening to - but eventually pay enough attention to the seriousness of what is going on. An example of this 'growth' comes when Shackleton's team reaches a Falintil garrison near the Indonesian front line. The garrison leader suggests that maybe they shouldn't dally as things there are tense. To which the Shackleton character replies, "Great. That's what we're after." I was like, DUDE, things being 'tense' means people could die. You're intruding into a precarious situation and taking up the time of the small number of guys who are all that stand beween a fledgling nation and the Indonesian Army, and they need to be ready to fight if things kick off. Check yourself... MATE. However, bombs raining down on them and a night spent sheltering with East Timorese villagers seems to open their eyes to the bleeding obvious, ie. the Indonesians are invading, people will be killed, all hopes of an independent East Timor dashed, and the international community is doing nothing about it. They are moved. It is so white. I mean, it's fine that they are moved, it's to be expected. It just made me squirm a bit - like, oh right, so now that they've discovered they have feelings about injustice, their feelings matter and should go on record in a piece to camera. I mean, I suppose that was good, really. And on the whole I think the film does well with such discomfiting aspects - yes, they behave very whitely and it took them a while to get it, and while we see that there are better informed and directly affected people who should be the voices we listen to on this story, the privileged weight that Australian reporting would carry is what we're stuck with. The film smoothes our hackles on this point. And eventually both news teams work together towards the aim of documenting the invasion itself as "proof of a violation".

Similar discomfiting moments arise in the parallel story of Roger East's pursuit of the truth about the Balibo Five. He, accompanied by Ramos-Horta, is pursuing a story about the fate of five white guys while the Indonesian army advances towards Dili. Sidenote: it's kind of amazing to see that it took actual walking through rural wilderness behind enemy lines for 14 hours to get to the site of the story. The thing is, at one point they literally walk through a landscape scattered with East Timorese corpses. So, why are they not the story? How is the Balibo Five's story more important than theirs? It's a constant question. And one that leads to a breaking point between Roger East and José Ramos-Horta. They brawl in the swimming pool of an abandoned church mission school, with East nearly drowning Ramos-Horta and memorably calling him a little shit. He calls José Ramos-Horta a little shit! Again, different times. Roger East's position is that getting to the bottom of the Balibo Five story is the only way what's happening to East Timor is going to matter internationally. As an answer to the film's constant question, it's maybe not enough. I don't think we as viewers should be satisfied with it, even if the film doesn't really move beyond it. But more on that later. So Roger East continues his trek and reaches Balibo, and we flash between what he finds, and what happened on the day the Balibo Five were killed. These scenes are dealt with excellently, and we watched them with horror. The principle point is that the Balibo Five were not collateral damage in the confusion of battle. They were trapped. They identified themselves as journalists from Australia, and were then murdered. And what they daringly filmed - which I have decided to hope was really what they managed to capture on film - was burnt with their bodies.

Returning to Dili - after a classic crappy bit where the local brown person draws fire away from the white person so that he can escape - Roger East sets about staring into his fish dinner and being sad. Until José Ramos-Horta comes by with witnesses to the Balibo killings who've come forward after hearing of East's quest. Not to deliver everything your news story needs on a platter or anything, Roger, but maybe you could take a break from your feelings and interview the witnesses (sorry about the snarking - it's just weird how frequently the film makes its central heroic Australian characters so very very annoying. Get a grip! You are not dealing with nearly as much stuff!). The interviews are done, and it's critically important that they happened at all - and that East filed the story - because the invasion of Dili is upon them, so we get to the scenes on Dili Wharf that Juliana was recounting to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission at the beginning of the film. We see the Dili Wharf massacre, and what happens to Roger East, and I have to say, the way it's done is LAME. Awkward visual metaphors involving fish and his repeated declarations that "I'm Australian". But why does that matter? Look around. What about everybody else? The final scene has Juliana in tears after recounting the horrors she saw, and the investigator saying a line that clanged for me as pretty insensitive scripting. He said, "Roger East was a very generous man, wasn't he?" And I was like, well, yeah. Credit him, of course. He did well. But she's talking about a day on which her dad died, a lot of people died, and to make a point that Roger East generously gave of himself... it felt odd. And then the investigator asks if Juliana can come back tomorrow to give more testimony, and she says she has decades worth of stories to tell, this was just one. But, you know, we won't be in the cinema to hear about any of the others.

So, the film ended on a note that made me bristle a bit, but I think it was mostly good. Before the end credits, we get an overview of José Ramos-Horta's time in exile as an advocate for East Timor, and the cheering crowds when he returned. And it's best to end there, I suppose, before we get to uncomfortable compromises post-independence, and so forth. A few names jumped out at me as the credits rolled. One was Alex Tilman, an East Timorese activist and actor who was in the ABC series, Answered By Fire. I saw him speak in 2006 at a forum with Vannessa Hearman, when he was a representative for Fretilin in Australia. In Balibo, he's listed as playing a Falintil driver or something, and I admit I didn't notice him when I watched the film. Another name was Jose Belo, who is listed as having played the camera operator recording Juliana's commission testimony. If it's the Jose Belo I'm thinking of, he's the editor of Tempo Semanal, an independent newspaper in East Timor. I thought it good that such an important figure in East Timorese journalism should be part of a film about Australian journalism and East Timor. And then I thought, hold on, how important do you have to be - and how much time do you have to spend as the man who gets Australian journalists up to speed on East Timor - for there to be more than a tiny part in a film about your country? And then I thought, hold on, isn't Jose Belo facing jail for criminal defamation as alleged by East Timor's Justice Minister? Where is President Ramos-Horta on that, I wondered. Thankfully, Ramos-Horta has made public statements against the defamation charges. So, phew. Not awkward for running into each other at film premieres and such.

That's pretty much all the thoughts I had about Balibo. Bree thought its style was 'too Hollywood'. I didn't really get to pursue with her what she meant by that, but I think it had something to do with the film's weakest moments, which were: 1) the kneeling over a dead body and screaming "NOOOOOOO", 2) the aforementioned problems with the Roger "I'm Australian" East wharf scene, with that whole mess about fish swimming upstream and a stretch for poetic meaning. But disregarding those, it's pretty good. Anyway, it's the opening night film at MIFF this year.

Friday 26 June
Worked at CASA. Didn't go to Mum Smokes as I'd intended. Just stayed home and watched Silent Witness (the one where they went to Zambia. Which was very shit. Silent Witness shouldn't be shit.)

Saturday 27 June
Didn't go to CastleTones as I'd intended. Watched Willow. It wasn't as good as I remembered. In fact, it wasn't good at all. I thought all the heroic red-head casting by Ron Howard was a nice touch, though. Then watched The Bad News Bears (the original). I had fond memories of this film, with kids smoking and cussing and whatnot. But there wasn't as much of that as I thought. Finally, watched Synecdoche, New York. Aaah, good. What a relief, I liked it very much. Charlie Kaufman makes good thingy.

Sunday 28 June
We decided to begin a dangerous course of action today. The Wire.

Monday 29 June
Felt sick, so didn't go into work. Ethernet cable broke, so didn't organise guests for the next morning's Breakfast Show. Just stayed in bed watching The Forsyte Saga (2002 version). Then it was time for more of The Wire. Just as I feared, it turns out I love The Wire too unhealthily. So I didn't get a lot of sleep before I went in to 3CR on Tuesday morning. Everybody, SHUT UP ABOUT IT. DO NOT TELL ME ANYTHING.

Tuesday 30 June
3CR Tuesday Breakfast Show
All my fellow co-hosts were away, so I did the show by myself. Lack of internet on Monday meant I didn't get interviews, so rebroadcast old recordings.

heard again the speech by Rachel Johnson from the International Solidarity Movement about what she saw in Gaza after Operation Cast Lead. Replayed in light of the Red Cross report into the humanitarian situation in Gaza 6 months on.
heard again the speech by Jeff Halper, coordinator of the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions - an organisation that works to stop the destruction of Palestinian homes in the occupied West Bank. Replayed in light of Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak's visit to the US to present his 'settlement freeze' plan.
heard again from Antony Loewenstein, author of Blogging Revolution, speaking about what he found when researching his book about the power and limitations of web-based dissent. Replayed because he talked about Iran/web stuff.
played Rachel's interview about sea piracy in Somalia, with Dr Carolin Liss, a researcher at the Asia Research Centre at Murdoch University in Perth, who completed a PhD on piracy.

BREAKFAST PLAYLIST:
Grand Salvo - Needles - Soil Creatures
Dirty Projectors - Cannibal Resources - Bitte Orca
Miike Snow - Animal - Miike Snow

LISTENING Tuesday June 23-Tuesday June 30.
Last.fm says this week was spent in the company of:
Dirty Projectors, Bitte Orca
Deerhunter, Microcastle
Grand Salvo, Soil Creatures
Miike Snow, Miike Snow
and some The Bats and Tahiti Boy & The Palmtree Family.

The rest of the week is mostly The Wire, a few meetings at 3CR, and more of The Wire. Yep, unhealthy.

2009-05-04T19:03:00.001+10:00

I'm always shocked when larger-than-life, slightly ridiculous characters reveal deep currents of prejudice (I'm talkin' about you, KAK). Don't know why, no rationale etc. And I know Pru Goward is conservative and horrid on many levels, but I just assumed that wouldn't apply to this, possibly because she gave birth to Katie (Kate?) Fisher. Re Where did I really come from:

There is nothing wrong with encouraging tolerance and diversity but why you would do that by talking about same-sex relationships? I find it a mystery," Ms Goward said.

That doesn't even make sense within its own internal logic -- there's nothing wrong with encouraging tolerance and diversity, but why would you actually want to encourage tolerance and diversity? And Ms, Goward, former Sex Discrimination Commissioner (albeit a Howard appointee), why would same-sex relationships be shocking or damaging to children when opposite-sex relationships are presumably just part of the rich fabric of life, or something. Do you only register discrimination within the scope of sex discrimination? Apologies for this rudimentary politics, but I think Goward needs to learn to love 'the gays', just like Katy Perry (although not Donna Summer as I have been duly informed). Surely you can't have said that, Pru? But to be fair, I was alerted to this by NW tweeting me a link to a News.com.au publication...

2009-04-05T08:38:00.004+10:00

One more thing Elanor. This is your meal.

2009-04-05T08:20:00.003+10:00

Goodbye Elanor, and good luck on your Aeroflot adventure. I won't say I'm worried, 'cause while, yes, 1994 was a bad year, I'm sure things have improved. I note their website boasts of a "New World of Safety", which is much better than an old world without safety. And here's the safety card you might get if you fly an ILYUSHIN 96-300, which incidentally has had no fatalities since it commenced operation in 1988.

But anyway. I'm actually sadder to think of the Australian goings-on you'll miss while abroad. Yes, you'll have lots of rich culture to observe, but you still may miss Australiana such as Joe Hockey accidentally threatening to block supply on Meet the Press this morning. I will attempt to keep you updated.

Where I will be for the next two months

2009-04-04T22:00:00.007+10:00

Sunday April 5
On some aeroplanes

Monday April 6
Moscow, Russia

Friday April 10
St Petersburg, Russia

Tuesday April 14
Warsaw, Poland

Friday April 17
Krakow, Poland (and Auschwitz-Birkenau)

Monday April 20
Berlin, Germany

Saturday April 25
Prague, Czech Republic

Monday April 27
Budapest, Hungary

Thursday April 30
Venice, Italy

Sunday May 3
Florence, Italy

Wednesday May 6
Rome, Italy

Saturday May 9
Madrid, Spain

Wednesday May 13
Avila, Spain

Thursday May 14
Madrid, Spain

Friday May 15
Toledo, Spain

Sunday May 17
Valencia, Spain

Tuesday May 19
Barcelona, Spain

Sunday May 24
Avignon, France - also a base for trips to Nimes, Arles, Aix-En-Provence, Marseille...

Saturday May 30
Paris, France

Wednesday June 3
York, England (including Castle Howard, ie. BRIDESHEAD)

Friday June 5
London, England

Thursday June 11
Hong Kong

Saturday June 13
Melbourne

Any suggestions about things in these places what are good?

The week of no sleep

2009-04-04T02:30:00.007+10:00

I haven't slept since Tuesday night. It's not a whole week of no sleep, I know. Only four days. But before I slept on Tuesday night, I hadn't slept since Saturday night. See, I've been finishing an editing project that is very time consuming, and requires extended hours in the studio that you can only really secure at 3CR at night.

Anyway, before I went to blessed bed on Tuesday night, I went and recorded the Women Working Together book launch, hoping for some sterling Zelda D'Aprano action to gift me with a bit of useful pre-produced content to tide over my share of Women On The Line shows, because I'll be absent from pitching in once my travels begin on Sunday. But it was not exactly what I had hoped for, in that it exposed me to the contradictory glibness of Moira Rayner, who did an A to Z of the enemies of feminism that included pot-shots at Paris Hilton's wish to have a child, followed by "J, is for judgemental. We shouldn't be judgemental of other women." Stellar. All hopes then rested on Zelda D'Aprano, who I had really enjoyed listening to and including in the Feminists Making Waves archive program I made a few years back as part of a series we did to mark Women On The Line's 20th anniversary. I died a little inside as I listened to Zelda say sentences like, "In low-cut tops, how can women expect men to take them seriously?" OH. DEAR.

On Thursday evening, went to the State Library to record Bob Ellis speak at the launch of Overland 194, on the topic - I had thought - of his essay that appears in the publication: Ruddism. But... no. He read from his diary. At length. It will apparently be published in book form in May. So instead we were treated to his musings on the death of Heath Ledger and some other things of which I have an incomplete memory. I was in a fog, fighting to keep myself conscious. I had not slept since Tuesday night, remember. And the thought that this will not do for my Stick Together radio purposes could only keep me roused intermittently. Andrew was there too, but the same night that was such a complete failure for my own purposes suited perfectly well for his article in Crikey. Something I do remember very clearly, though, is that the man fucking loves Kim Beazley... but not so much as to hesitate to bring 'father issues' to public notice. Question time was definitely the most interesting part of the evening - because the audience questions were good (which can be so rare at a public meeting, you know) and tended to prompt Bob to talk about what people had maybe come to hear him speak about. ie. THE AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY. Anyway, Ellis stated in passing that he thinks Penny Wong "has never drawn an honest breath" ... which shocked me a little. He seems to vehemently dislike her. Now, I don't like her emissions reduction target either, but I had always thought that Rudd's fault. He doesn't like Rudd either, of course. And yes, Andrew's Crikey article accurately stenographs Ellis' line that Penny Wong is the "lesbian Chinese bureaucrat Rudd wishes he was." Anyway, Ellis has "got a hell of a lot of time for Shorten" (compares him to early Hawke), and thinks "Maxine McKew is the best Prime Minister we'll never get." My head was cocked quizzically at this point, and my face scrunched to express an "Eh?" I mean, all I remember of Shorten's electoral campaign was his excessive use of football analogies. And did you see how bad Maxine's first appearance on Q&A was? We do not love the same people, Bob Ellis. But he was making a wider point, really, that Rudd might be keeping talent down at the voiceless Parliamentary Secretary level because he's a bit petty and doesn't want to foster others who could reasonably be expected to shine, or something. And Bob knows who loses in that equation: THE LEFT.

Anyway, here are some Bob Ellis quotes from the night:

“Rudd is so competitive, he would put a waste of space like Penny Wong in charge of the most important issue on earth, and sideline and humiliate – and daily humiliate - a man who’s cause it was. You know, it’s a terrible fate and it speaks ill of the Prime Minister and I would not be surprised if Garrett walks out of Parliament in the next election.”
When asked what he thought about the Greens: “Well, Bob Brown has never been wrong about anything, that I can think of, in about 35 years. And I can’t think of any other politician like that. It’s an extraordinary Party. I mean, that being said, there are an amazing number of not only Greens but Green candidates who are mentally incompetent. And, ah, beyond neurosis. And, ah, so far into early dementia that they cannot be readily invited to dinner in even McDonalds without humiliation. They are not, not a bright bunch as a rule. But the ones that were there twenty years ago are fantastic, I think. And history has shown how tragic it is that we weren’t listening back when Al Gore was. And that, ah, a corrupt judge put Bush not Gore in power, and the world will therefore end very soon.”
“The thing to say, I think, is that um, if we’d had our druthers there would have been a Green/Labor Party coalition fifteen years ago. Of course there would.”

UPDATE: Andrew has put my Bob Ellis recording on the Crikey blog.

After Bob Ellis, I went to Hamer Hall to see Lucinda Williams. We were hanging out for "Atonement" and "Sweet Side", but they were not forthcoming. There was, however, my singalong favourite, "Drunken Angel", as well as the excellent "Joy". But a bit too much samey other material. Her voice is bloody marvellous.

Then I went home to have a shower, because I stanked, having been editing in a studio since the early hours and then a day of more editing / hot weather / farewell afternoon tea / Programming Sub-Committee meeting / Bob Ellis / Lucinda Williams.

Anyway, once I'd had my shower, I went back to 3CR to produce this week's Women On The Line. Used my recording of Rachel Johnson's report back from Gaza. The show will be available at the Women On The Line website shortly, if I get around to updating it. Or, more definitely, as a 3CR Women On The Line Podcast.

After completing Women On The Line overnight, I went shopping yesterday and finally got me a winter coat to meet Moscow on its own terms. Then I went back to 3CR to continue the edit-a-thon. I'm at 3CR now. I really should be editing.

Anyway, I'm having some drinks with friends tonight to farewell myself and bid myself a good journey, and I doubt I will have slept by then either. Sleeping is what long-haul flights are for, right?

2009-04-01T13:51:00.001+10:00

April Fools.

Thanks Centrelink.

2009-03-31T20:54:00.004+10:00

Way to spoil the party. A bit revisionist though. Because couples weren't couples before, apparently.

2009-03-31T12:30:00.003+10:00

It's nice when a study day accords with some prime-time quality Oprah -- something to look forward to indeed. So anyway, today they're showing O's interview with the Octomom's father, Ed Doud (how much does Octomom sound like a Bond villain). There's been quite a bit of press about this interview, as it's supposed to herald the return of Oprah's tough journalist instincts. But I don't see any evidence of this so far. All I do see is how power works. In that Oprah is being tough on this guy because he's a normal person and not a celebrity. This has been mistaken for tough journo instincts. I am however reminded of a few more annoying things about Oprah:

1. She introduces stories along the following lines: "For SOME reason the press is ALL OVER this issue, even though it's COMPLETELY trivial, so we've decided to get to the bottom of it OURSELVES and see what all the fuss is about..."

2. She presents certain points of view as if they're commonsensical, and then bullies her guests until they agree with her.

3. She brings up God in topics that don't have anything to do with God.

4. Dr. Oz.

That's all, but I've still got 20 minutes to go... I did support her once, you know. So sad.

Blog Birthday: 6 Years, 1000 Posts

2009-03-31T11:12:00.005+10:00

Yes. This blog began six years ago today.

It took six years to reach 1000 posts.

You are now reading the 1000th post.

2009-03-31T10:40:00.003+10:00

LISTENING Tuesday March 24-Tuesday March 31.
Last.fm says this week was spent in the company of:
The Strange Boys, And Girls Club
PJ Harvey & John Parish, A Woman And A Man Walked By
Mozart, Piano Sonata No. 11 in A Major, K.331

My favourite song on A Woman And A Man Walked By is currently "April".

3CR Tuesday Breakfast Show Tuesday March 31

heard my recording of the talk last Wednesday night by Catherine Deveny, comedian and writer, who is on strike from her opinion column at The Age because of a wage cut. She spoke about women's representation in the media. She was speaking as part of Underground Talks @ the New International Book Shop.
heard - in two parts - Lucy's recording of Sheela Patel speaking on the politics of housing in India and grassroots activism around pavement dwellings in Mumbai. Sheela Patel is the chair of Slum Dwellers International and founder of the Mumbai based Society for the Promotion of Area Resource Centres (SPARC). She spoke as part of the Melbourne University School of Architecture, Building and Planning Dean's Lecture Series.
heard Lucy's interview about human trafficking with Thetis Mangahas, Program Manager of the ILO Greater Mekong Sub-regional Project to Combat Trafficking in Children and Women.

BREAKFAST PLAYLIST:
PJ Harvey & John Parish - Black Hearted Love - A Woman And A Man Walked By
Fulton Lights - The Way We Ride - The Way We Ride
Palms - Our Home - It's Midnight In Honolulu
Bachelorette - Down In The Street - The End Of Things

Critical Revisionism

2009-03-30T22:32:00.005+10:00

A few weeks ago, I wrote that the first episode of Dancing About Architecture was terrible, but that the second episode was way better. I just want to take this opportunity to emphasise the second point. Like, WAY. Because, while I still think you couldn't call that first episode good, it's now just a distant memory that has been overtaken by how KILLER the show has been Every. Week. Since. Then.

Now, I began watching Dancing About Architecture because I am an unabashed fan/acquaintance of Tim Finney. But the show would not be able to be as great as it now is if both Clem Bastow and Mia Timpano weren't regularly achieving Tim-level excellence. Which they are. Also, I like that the underlying approach of the show is music appreciation beyond the strictures of 'cool', which is a) how most people engage with music, and b) more interesting. See, even if the specific bands/musicians that people make their 'I love this. Why isn't this valued?' arguments for aren't bands/musicians that I can credit, I nonetheless enjoy hearing about how/why other people credit them. Especially if this is done intelligently. Which it is on Dancing About Architecture. That thing Tim said tonight, that 'not everything is good, but anything can be good', is kind of a neat summation of the pleasures of musical curiosity/massive levels of consumption. Tonight I also enjoyed Clem's shout-out to a guy she regards as a formative music-criticism-influencing spectre, 'now tragically lost to acadaemia', who also happens to be my friend Leah's boyfriend, Ramon. But anyway, Dancing About Architecture is the one show I look forward to every week, and if I am unavoidably out on a Monday night, I make sure that it is taped. Which makes me a little sad that next Monday night I will be in Moscow. I mean, I'm not sad exactly, it's just that one of the trade-offs of a lovely travelling spree is it requires that you suspend the regular pleasures of home. But I will leave strict instructions that Dancing About Architecture be taped in the two months that I am away. Because AH LUV EHT. And I just wanted to underline that. AH LUV EHT.

My Darling

2009-03-27T19:53:00.003+10:00

We have a new addition to the family. Let me introduce Pioneer DV-310-S. She has a USB port.

Because of you, dearest loveliest Pioneer DV-310-S, I will never burn or convert again. I will simply watch things on my television from my removeable hard drives. Sigh. You cost $99, plus all the available space in my heart. I love you.

I want that

2009-03-26T16:26:00.007+10:00

I almost feel a bit jealous.

I want Obama to look at me and behave as if he's listening.

That would be nice.

Two Films

2009-03-26T09:35:00.000+10:00

Watched Let The Right One In on the weekend. It's rather great. The kids are WONDERFUL. When the boy grins goofily, it's the most delightful thing to behold. And you just want them to be together, regardless of the mounting body count. So I was happy for them in the end. But then, as the credits rolled, a horrible thought occurred to me. And it was this: "When did she meet that old guy? How old was he when they met?" And I began to be overwhelmed by a crushing sadness at the thought that fifty years prior he might too have been a sweet and gentle kid with an open heart. And he might have spent fifty years devoted to keeping her safe and fed. And all the horrors that entailed. And I remembered that look he gave her in the taxi at the beginning of the film when they first arrived at their new flat - so loving. Devotion is the word. From that angle, the rest of the film - which I had been thinking of as a sweet flowering of friendship and gentleness and acceptance - came to seem like a drawn out act of cruelty.

Directly after Let The Right One In, we watched You, The Living. It was marvellous strange. And it won me over very early, in that first scene where that belligerently sad woman on a bench is all, "Go away, no one understands me," to her long-suffering partner. And he's all, "Don't be like that. There's a lovely roast in the oven. Life's not so bad. And we had a lovely picnic yesterday, didn't we? You liked it." Her response to this was priceless: 'Sure... YESTERDAY!" It was hilarioose.

Radio Things

2009-03-26T08:15:00.007+10:00

Over the weekend, I wrote the acquittal for Women On The Line's grant from the Community Broadcasting Foundation. Then on Tuesday I finished off the Stick Together grant acquittal. It's an annual task.

3CR Tuesday Breakfast Show Tuesday March 24

played part 1 of my recording of the talk last Tuesday night by Rachel Johnson, a member of the International Solidarity Movement, reporting back on the 5 weeks she spent in Gaza gathering civilian testimonies and providing international accompaniment to those still under attack. In this section she spoke about the destruction in Gaza and the impacts of Israel's use of white phosphorus. Huge amounts of awfulness. She spoke at the Unitarian Church at an event organised by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign.
Rachel spoke to Matt McCollough from Bicycles For Humanity - an organisation focused on making a difference through the re-distribution of dis-used bikes - about their KNOG bicycle roundup for 2009. Their bike collection last Sunday amassed hundreds of bikes to ship to Namibia, and if you want to donate a dis-used (sturdy/mountain) bike this coming Sunday 29 March, their shipping container will be open for donations from 1pm-5pm at 170 Edward Street, East Brunswick.
I spoke to Dean Mighell, ETU Victorian State Secretary and spokesperson for the Fair Work campaign, about the passage of Labor's Fair Work Bill on Friday and how it doesn't signal the death of WorkChoices.
played part 2 of my recording of the talk by Rachel Johnson. She spoke about the continuing targeting of civilians in Gaza, and Israeli attacks on agriculture, livestock and tunnel supply lines.

BREAKFAST PLAYLIST:
Mobius Band - Say You Will - Empire Of Love
Phosphorescent - Be Dark Night - Pride
Antsy Pants - The Mission - Antsy Pants
The Strange Boys - Most Things - And Boys Club
Vera November - Our Last Night Together - Four Songs By Arthur Russell

This week was my week to produce Stick Together, and I spent yesterday doing that, finishing the show at 4.45pm, in time to FTP it to the Community Radio Network for the 6pm broadcast. The show was this:

On today's program we ask if Labor’s Fair Work Bill means WorkChoices is finished, and look at worker protection campaigns in 2009.

On March 20, Labor’s Fair Work Bill was passed by the Federal Parliament. Some have marked the passage of the bill as ‘the death of WorkChoices’. Indeed, Deputy Prime Minister Julia Gillard called it “mission accomplished”. “The job is done,” she said. But is it? I spoke to Dean Mighell, Victorian State Secretary of the Electrical Trades Union and spokesperson for the Fair Work Campaign, which has been fighting for the complete abolition of WorkChoices.

In the current global financial crisis, what happens to workers and their entitlements if companies fail, and what protections do Australian workers have? The Australian Manufacturing Workers Union has a longstanding campaign for a national scheme to protect worker entitlements, and 3CR’s Helen Gwilliam spoke to Assistant National Secretary Glenn Thompson.

In late February the Federal Government announced it had signed a Free Trade Agreement with the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) and with New Zealand. Around the same time, Pacific Brands announced its plan to move its operations overseas, with massive job cuts in its Australian clothing manufacturing businesses. Both issues dovetail with particular impact on textile, clothing and footwear workers, and 3CR’s Jenny Denton spoke to TCFUA National Secretary Michele O’Neil.

As Australia opens up to free trade markets with weakened worker protections at home, the demand for cheap labour intensifies, contributing to an environment that allows slavery, human trafficking and exploitation in many industries to flourish. Globally, more than 27 million people are living in slavery today. In early March, the University of Technology in Sydney’s Anti-Slavery Project launched new guidelines for NGOs working with trafficked people. 3CR’s Lucy De Kretser spoke to Jennifer Burn, a senior lecturer in Law at the University of Technology in Sydney, and director of the Anti-Slavery Project.

The podcast won't be available until next week, after the show airs on 3CR on Sunday at 10am.

Then I went to the Trades Hall to record Catherine Deveny. She spoke about a variety of things, including women's representation in the media, internal politics at The Age including the recent baleful decision to get rid of the reader feedback unit, and being on strike from her opinion column.

The reader feedback thing maybe doesn't sound all that nefarious, but Deveny described it as a 'terrifying' development. Here's why: until very recently there were apparently three Age staff whose job it was to receive feedback from Age readers and each week collate that feedback into a report of what people liked and didn't like etc, which was disseminated throughout all staff at The Age. An open, responsive process. In this way, reader's rejections of things like the changes to the Green Guide format, the scrapping of the form guide etc, were taken on board and the decisions reversed. But then, at the same time that they announced that they were getting rid of the Education Age, they also got rid of that reader feedback process, so they could be deaf to readers' responses. I mean, I liked the changes to the Green Guide and I don't give a stuff about the form guide, but to shut down feedback when introducing a change that they know is going to be unpopular is kind of a dick move.

Still and all, I don't really see why Catherine Deveny is beloved by people. You can't always rely on what she says being true. I've only ever read her TV column, but I stopped doing that because she'd reach for a point and end up inaccurate. She's a bit slap dash, in my view. I prefer my heroines of public letters to be people whose thoroughness and perspective I can trust implicitly, eg. Chloe Hooper.

After Deveny, when I went back to 3CR to return some gear, Nicole informed me that she will be on Alan Brough's 774 show this Sunday talking about the Carlton Housing Estate Radio Training Project we delivered together last year, and the People's Tours we made. She'll be joined by Ruth, whose tour I found particularly fun to put together. Listen in for the promised shout out to me. Also, do you like my mad photographic skills, here capturing an early work by Ruth's daughter-->?

Listening

2009-03-26T07:42:00.000+10:00

LISTENING Tuesday March 17-Tuesday March 24.
Last.fm says this week was spent in the company of:
Ratatat, Classics
Mobius Band, Empire Of Love
Radiohead, Kid A and Amnesiac
Oh Astro, Champions Of Wonder
Cryptacize, Mythomania
Pomegranates, Everybody, Come Outside!
Grizzly Bear, Veckatimest
Kanye West, 808s & Heartbreak
PJ Harvey, White Chalk and Is This Desire?
Mozart, Requiem
Antonín Dvořák, From The New World

Big Love 3

2009-03-26T07:12:00.001+10:00

I realise I haven't mentioned how excellent season 3 of Big Love was. But it was WAY excellent. There were so many feelings and intense stuff, but I can't fault this lighter moment. It is my favourite thing.

Nicky: He totally made up an excuse to call me yesterday. I think he was flirting with me, do ya think?

Wanda (eagerly): Has he chased you at night? Has he tried to put you in the trunk?

Nicky: He's not really like that.

Wanda is so adorably nuts. More generally, Nicky is the best thing ever.

IT'S OVERRRR

2009-03-22T07:00:00.003+10:00

My initial response is to wail the following:

NOOOO!!! WHERE DID SHE GOOOO???

PLEASE, BRING HER BAAAACK.

MAKE THEM BE TOGETHERRRRR.

I don't want to hurt you, Battlestar Galactica. But you suck. Not entirely, but in one sense, ENTIRELY.

P.S. I love you.

P.P.S. I hate you.

P.P.P.S. C'mon! WHY?

It's Tuesday

2009-03-17T15:28:00.004+10:00

LISTENING Tuesday March 10-Tuesday March 17.
Last.fm says this week was spent in the company of:
Grizzly Bear, Veckatimest
Daniel Johnston, Daniel Johnston At Home Live
Seagull, Goodbye Weather
Inquiet, Ye-Ye Bears and Inq Beyong
Ratatat, Classics and LP3
Pikelet, Dictation EP
Soap&Skin, Lovetune For Vacuum
Burial, Untrue
Dan Deacon, Bromst
DM Stith, Heavy Ghost
Kanye West, 808s & Heartbreak
Animal Collective, Merriweather Post Pavilion
Adrian Johnston, Brideshead Revisited
Department Of Eagles, In Ear Park
Nirvana, MTV Unplugged In New York
Bullion, Young Heartache EP
Aleks And The Ramps, Pisces Vs Aquarius

3CR Tuesday Breakfast Show Tuesday March 17

played my recording of the talk delivered last Wednesday night by Jeff Halper, an Israeli activist, professor of anthropology, and coordinator of the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions. Last year, Jeff Halper was the only Israeli on the Free Gaza ships that broke the Israeli blockade of Gaza to deliver supplies. His most recent book is An Israeli in Palestine: Resisting Occupation, Redeeming Israel. He spoke at Melbourne University as a guest of Australians For Palestine and Women For Palestine. I edited his talk down to three parts for broadcast: in Part1, he spoke about Israeli politics and how the occupation is (not) discussed in Israeli public discourse; in Part 2, he spoke about Israel creating conditions on the ground that foreclose the possibility of a viable Palestinian state; and in Part 3, he went into detail about the "matrix of control" Israel is implementing in the West Bank - settlement blocks, house demolitions, and the separation wall - and how it impacts on Palestinian life/inflicts wounds both mortal and symbolic.
Rachel was joined in the studio by Maloti Ray from the Melbourne University Graduate Students Association to talk about their 'Fair Fares' campaign, to make international and postgraduate students eligible for concession fares on public transport. For more about the campaign and to sign the petition, go here.

BREAKFAST PLAYLIST:
Ratatat - Loud Pipes - Classics
Grand Salvo - I Am Dead - Death

2009-03-16T19:07:00.004+10:00

This lady.

I like her.

She gives good article.

(I mention it now because in Melbourne it appeared in Saturday's A2.)

She's a bit fantastic, don't you think?

Late January - 13 March 2009

2009-03-13T23:57:00.010+10:00

Late January

There was a heatwave in Melbourne, and I stayed inside a lot watching downloads/ shirking other responsibilities/ varying my diet between Calippos and Frosty Fruits. I watched Brideshead Revisited seven times. Honestly, it was very hot outside.

Before the heat made me a shut-in, I produced a Women On The Line program, "Perspectives on the Bush Legacy":

This week, we reflect on the presidency of George W. Bush. Barack Obama was sworn in as America’s 44th President on January 20 in Washington DC, and today’s Women On The Line is marking the occasion by getting perspectives on Bush’s legacy, and what opportunities for hope and change Obama might bring in the wake of it.

We hear from Amy Goodman, host and executive producer of Democracy Now!, an independent grass-roots daily news program broadcasting perspectives and voices rarely heard otherwise in the United States. Her latest book, co-written with her brother David, is Standing Up to the Madness: Ordinary Heroes in Extraordinary Times. She was in Washington DC for the inauguration festivities, and I spoke to her on the last day of George W. Bush’s presidency.

The nuclear launch codes have been transferred, but what was Bush’s contribution to the international effort to get rid of nuclear weapons? And will Obama’s presidency lead to a new direction for the US and the world? 3CR’s Rachel O’Connell spoke to Jessica Morrison, the Australian Director of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons.

The program is still available to download from the Women On The Line website, or just click here for the mp3.

LISTENING Tuesday January 20-Tuesday January 27.
Last.fm says this week was spent in the company of:
Linda McCartney, Wide Prairie
Antony & the Johnsons, The Crying Light
Alela Diane, To Be Still
Andrew Bird, Noble Beast
Warumpi Band, Big Name No Blankets
Beirut, March of the Zapotec and Realpeople Holland
Adrian Johnston, Brideshead Revisited
Fulton Lights, The Way We Ride
Bishop Allen, Grrr...
J. Tillman, Vacilando Territory Blues
Phosphorescent, Pride
Young Marble Giants, Colossal Youth
and some Kate Bush, Bachelorette, and Arthur Russell.

Yes, when I wasn't watching Brideshead Revisited, I was listening to its score by Adrian Johnston. A LOT. It's very good. So good on its own, in fact, that it made my brother relent and watch the film.

Gotta watch my stories

I engrossed myself in a new weekly TV consumption regime: The L Word season 6, Big Love season 3, Damages season 2, 30 Rock season 3, Flight of the Conchords season 2, Skins season 3, and United States of Tara. You should probably be watching these.

[DUDES, United States of Tara is sooooo good. Seriously. And I'm loving the new cast of Skins. Also, I enjoyed a recent Flight of the Conchords getting fresh with Australia-New Zealand relations, eg. a tentative new Jemaine composition which began,"Do Australians feel love? / Are they capable of love?"]

A film
I viewed Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist. As Norah's best friend, Ari Graynor is pretty great - a totes loveable binge drinker. Otherwise, the film mostly boils down to Nick and Norah having to make the same relationship choice - between someone who is mean to them, and someone they like. Which is not exactly difficult, is it... MAYBE WE'RE THE PIECES. Eiush.

A book
Reading The Audacity of Hope mostly left me feeling confident in Obama - if you subtract some frustration and the fact that 'we had words' a few times, our relationship remains sound. Well, we were definitely BFFs for the first few chapters.

I attached special importance to two lines in the book in particular. Firstly, my main worry has been that Obama might be susceptible to compromise for its own sake, so when he writes about needing "to distinguish between what can and cannot be compromised," I feel comforted. Secondly, I did a little dance to this healthy contempt for the alignment of compromise with 'reasonableness':

Others pursue a more "centrist" approach, figuring that so long as they split the difference with the conservative leadership, they must be acting reasonably - and failing to notice that with each passing year they are giving up more and more ground.

But that's book-talk. How was he doing on this front, post-book?

In the then-contemporaneous Senate stimulus deal, Ezra Klein restricted his furious criticism - of the 'dazzling display of the most analytically bankrupt strain of centrism: The belief that the right answer lies, by definition, somewhere between the answers that are already on the table' - to the Senators who demanded a $100 billion cut in spending for no substantiated reason (and proceeded to take it out of public works) before they would approve the bill. But Paul Krugman's despondency implicated Obama in a failure to challenge those Senators' presumption to reasonableness:

For rather than acknowledge the failure of his political strategy and the damage to his economic strategy, the president tried to put a postpartisan happy face on the whole thing. “Democrats and Republicans came together in the Senate and responded appropriately to the urgency this moment demands,” he declared on Saturday, and “the scale and scope of this plan is right.” No, they didn’t, and no, it isn’t.

But still, Tim Fernholz applauded Obama's remarks on the stimulus bill to Democratic members of Congress as "making explicit that bipartisanship entails an open mind but not a willingness to make bad policy."

Verdict: he's maintaining the distinction sometimes. Yay?

LISTENING Tuesday January 27-Tuesday February 3.
Last.fm says this week was spent in the company of:
NPR Fresh Air, featuring: John Lewis, Ta-Nehisi Coates, Shepard Fairey, Eric Foner, Darren Aronofsky
Adrian Johnston, Brideshead Revisited
This American Life, My Big Break
My Disco, Paradise
Monkey, Journey To The West
Paul McCartney, II
Bachelorette, The End Of Things and Isolation Loops
Kurt Vile, Constant Hitmaker
Pumice, Quo
Linda McCartney, Wide Prairie
Arthur Russell, Love Is Overtaking Me
Lotus Plaza, The Floodlight Collective
Dum Dum Girls, Dum Dum Girls
Marissa Nadler, Little Hells
Leonard Cohen, So Long, Marianne
Phosphorescent, Pride
and some Seagull, Grand Salvo, Alela Diane, Tactics, Radiohead and Broadcast.

Oh Eric Foner, you make me wish I could attend Columbia and take your course on the history of American Radicalism. I like you. But I have to make do with interviews on NPR, I guess. So I enjoyed learning about how not the whole Lincoln's 'team of rivals' thing is. Oh dear, Doris Kearns Goodwin.

With all due respect to Doris, who's a very good historian, I don't think this holds much water. Uh, first of all, every President did that in the 19th century - that's how you created a Cabinet. You brought in the leading figures of your party. The Secretary of State was supposed to be your main rival in the party... Second of all, Lincoln's Cabinet was basically dysfunctional. I don't think it's a good model for Obama - I hope that's not what he thought he was doing. It did consist of several people who thought they were better qualified to be President than Lincoln, and some of them were ambitious to succeed Lincoln in 1864. And the Cabinet didn't meet very frequently, Lincoln basically dealt with each member individually in terms of their own departments. When they did meet, they frequently couldn't make decisions. So, it's a wonderful idea, 'team of rivals', but actually when you get into the history, um, this analogy between Lincoln and Obama, it doesn't actually hold water.

And what will make Obama a great President? You. "You have to keep pressuring Obama on these issues. Lincoln needed the abolitionists, Roosevelt needed the Labor movement, Johnson needed the Civil Rights movement, and Obama needs you."

Anyway, I love the Marissa Nadler album. Most particularly I love "The Whole Is Wide", because it's great, and because I feel like I've loved it for a long time. I'm fairly sure it's the song I heard her play in 2006 and mistakenly referred to as "Sylvia".

Tuesday February 3
3CR Tuesday Breakfast Show

Jess spoke to Soazig Dollet, North Africa and Middle East reporter for Reporters Sans Frontieres. Soazig had just returned to Paris from Gaza, and spoke about press freedom issues.
I spoke to Stephen Cannon from the Victorian Water Forum and Watershed Victoria about that day's rally at 11.30am at Parliament House in Victoria calling for real solutions on water, climate change and public transport.
I spoke to Rachel Maher from New Matilda for the monthly New Matilda update. She spoke about the proposed internet filter/clean feed and articles about it on New Matilda, as well as upcoming community forums on the issue that New Matilda is organising for March.
Rachel spoke to Martin Thomas, UNICEF Australia spokesperson, about UNICEF's Humanitarian Action Report on the global situation for women and children, and the impacts of the global financial crisis, rising costs of living and climate change on the world's poorest.

BREAKFAST PLAYLIST:
Fulton Lights - The Way We Ride - The Way We Ride
Animal Collective - Also Frightened - Merriweather Post Pavilion
El Guincho - Polca Mazurca - Alegranza

Thursday February 5
Went to the Leonard Cohen concert. Where I saw Leonard Cohen. Who sang in my general direction. Leonard. Cohen. He's pretty wonderful, and his lower register made my whole body vibrate.

It was near-perfect. Yes, I lamented the lack of "Take This Longing", but this was balanced out by my complete underestimation of how "Chelsea Hotel #2" would make me beam and radiate. No, the imperfection was this One Other Thing: a certain member of Cohen's band tended to wank all over his area of stage. Hello there, Insufferable Saxophone Guy.

After Leonard, I went in to 3CR overnight to interview Phyllis Bennis, and produce that week's Women On The Line, "Law and War: Civilians and Reporters in Gaza":

We reflect on the situation for non-combatants in the recent Israeli assault on Gaza, particularly the international standards of protection that should apply to civilians and journalists.

Phyllis Bennis from the Institute for Policy Studies in Washington D.C discusses violations of international law, and Soazig Dollet of Reporters Sans Frontières reports back on her monitoring visit to Israel and Palestine during the conflict.

Phyllis Bennis is a Middle East fellow at the Institute for Policy Studies in Washington D.C, and author of many books including Understanding the Palestinian-Israeli Conflict: A Primer. She has been an outspoken critic of the Israeli assault on Gaza and its stated justifications. I asked Phyllis at what point international law came into play in the recent attack on Gaza.

Reporters Sans Frontières is a Paris-based NGO that advocates freedom of press. Soazig Dollet is RSF’s reporter for North Africa and the Middle East, and recently returned to Paris from Israel and Palestine, where RSF was monitoring access for foreign journalists to Gaza, and the safety of Palestinian journalists inside Gaza. Soazig Dollet spoke with 3CR’s Jess Letch.

The program is still available to download from the Women On The Line website, or just click here for the mp3.

Saturday February 7

I didn't really notice throughout this day that rather terrible bushfires were killing other people. I only knew that it was so hot that I took Premier Brumby's advice and remained indoors, watching all of Freaks and Geeks again. Its perfection is undiminished.

Sunday February 8

Anything that was said anywhere about anything now referenced the fires, or apologised for not talking about them directly by noting that this discussion of a non-fire topic was nonetheless happening in close temporal proximity to the fires having occurred. Facebook got annoying.

LISTENING Tuesday February 3-Tuesday February 10.
Last.fm says this week was spent in the company of:
Adrian Johnston, Brideshead Revisited
Animal Collective, Merriweather Post Pavilion
Marissa Nadler, Little Hells
U.S. Girls, Introducing... and Gravel Days and Cassingle #2
The Church Animals, The Bathtub EP
Various, The Lifted Brow 4
Soap&Skin, Lovetune For Vacuum
Leonard Cohen, The Essential Leonard Cohen
Nickel Eye, The Time Of The Assassins
Ben Kweller, Changing Horses
NPR Fresh Air, featuring: Bill Paxton, James Bobin, Antony Hegarty, Will Bunch 'The Reagan Myth', Demetri Martin
Grateful Dead, American Beauty
Ratatat, Classics and LP3
David Byrne & Brian Eno, Everything That Happens Will Happen Today

The Antony Hegarty interview on Fresh Air was pretty interesting. For example, Antony knew Vito Russo. Vito Russo! Anyway, I've realised that everything I know about him can be sourced from two things: his guest programming of Rage, and this NPR interview. I don't read much, do I.

I did think about seeing Antony & the Johnsons when I'm in Berlin. But can I spare €229? NO.

Anyway, Soap&Skin is something I highly recommend.

Tuesday February 10
3CR Tuesday Breakfast Show

played my interview with Phyllis Bennis, a fellow at the Institute for Policy Studies in Washington D.C, about international law and Israel's attack on Gaza.
Jess spoke to Robert Tickner, Australian Red Cross CEO, about the bushfires and emergency relief operations, and the best ways to help, ie. donating online to the Victorian bushfires appeal at redcross.org.au
heard Lucy's mix of AMARC audio from the World Social Forum in Belem, Brazil, featuring an interview with Andrew Miller from Amazon Watch.

BREAKFAST PLAYLIST:
Jana Hunter - Sirens - There's No Home
Animal Collective - My Girls - Merriweather Post Pavilion
Palms - Hang Your Head - It's Midnight In Honolulu
Tenniscoats - Rolling Train - Tan-Tan Therapy
Phosphorescent - A Picture Of Our Torn Up Praise - Pride
Antony & The Johnsons - Another World - The Crying Light

That night, I went to see David Byrne at Hamer Hall. I had been wondering if he would retain the Coolest Man Alive mantle I bestowed upon him in 2005, particularly in such proximity to my viewing of Leonard Cohen. But I have to say, HE DID. HE IS.

This photo is not from the Hamer Hall show, but it's the best one the internet could provide to express what the concert was like. More particularly, what THE DANCING was like. Because it was, quite simply, the Best. Dancing. Ever. Loose but not shoddy, chaotic precision, impressive spatial awareness, and not a repellant note in it. And it wasn't the dancing only. It was the dancers. They made dancing cool. Actually actually cool. But not 'too cool' either. Exuberant. Jumpy. SKILLS. The dude was totally my favourite. He very nearly became the Coolest Man Alive.

Also, I like the way non-professionals dance to Talking Heads. When Byrne said dancing was permitted, many complied and began to jiggle and jerk, run on the spot, create a party of one. What I want to underline is that they would do this only after they had considerately moved from their seats to an area where they wouldn't block the view of those who remained seated. People were just incapable of being dicks.

Music-wise, David Byrne mostly played from Fear Of Music and Everything That Happens Will Happen Today. So I was glad I'd listened to Fear Of Music while eating a rice ball in the Southgate food court beforehand, because it meant that I went into the concert freshly reminded of the greatness of songs like "Air", which made me hope he would play songs like "Air", which made me immesely gratified when it was played. Coolest Man Alive.

Thursday February 12
I finally did my edits for the 3CR Carlton Housing Estate project. The audio stories are now available at PeoplesTour.net. I did the ones by Joyce, Ruth, and Rosanna.

WEEKEND February 14-15
People are right. Underbelly is good. I finally watched Season 1. Maybe in a year's time I'll think about giving the currently airing Season 2 a go.

LISTENING Tuesday February 10-Tuesday February 17.
Last.fm says this week was spent in the company of:
Talking Heads, Fear Of Music
Soap&Skin, Lovetune For Vacuum
Fever Ray, Fever Ray
Harmonia, Deluxe
Adrian Johnston, Brideshead Revisited
Antony & the Johnsons, I Am A Bird Now
The Clean, Compilation
Animal Collective, Merriweather Post Pavilion
Various, Dark Was The Night
The Beatles, The White Album
DM Stith, Heavy Ghost
Akron/Family, Set 'Em Wild, Set 'Em Free
Dan Deacon, Bromst

Tuesday February 17
3CR Tuesday Breakfast Show

heard Lucy's interview with Melissa Reidy about her letter and zine campaign against The Biggest Loser and its promotion of negative body image and unsafe weight loss practices, DearDavidMott.com
heard Rachel's interview with Ruth Hiller, an Israeli peace activist who co-founded New Profile, the Movement for the Civilisation of Israeli Society. She spoke about the impact of militarisation on civil society and the concept of a de-militarised Israel.
I spoke to Lisa Farrance about the Hegel Summer School at Melbourne University. This year's conference looks at the question, "What has democracy come to mean in the 21st century?"

BREAKFAST PLAYLIST:
Talking Heads - Stay Hungry - More Songs About Buildings and Food
Animal Collective - Taste - Merriweather Post Pavilion
The Shirelles - Soldier Boy - Greatest Hits
Billy Bragg - Scholarship Is The Enemy Of Romance - Reaching To The Converted

Went to Guy and Marty's new house for dinner with Leah. We watched Australian Ladette To Lady, which contained this perfectly-formed remonstration of the whole despicable process: "I just think you're trying to turn us into decorative fuckdolls for the pleasure of men." Applause. Texting.

Wednesday February 18
Went to Solidarity Salon with Lucy and my brother to record two visiting First Nations women from Winnipeg, Nahanni Fontaine and Leslie Spillett. They were really cool. Winnipeg though, not as cool as I thought. What with the racism, police abuse and racial profiling. Damnit, can't we all just get along and eat orange jell-o at the Paddlewheel? And quit thumping indigenous people with phone books, eh?

Went out to dinner with my brother. Went home.

Here ends my life BEFORE Battlestar Galactica.

Yup, we started watching Battlestar Galactica season 1 when we got home. And. We. Just. Didn't. Stop.

Thursday February 19
Took a break from Battlestar Galactica to go see Tenniscoats at the Toff, supported by The Twerps and Kes Band (trio). Between the bands, my brother and I spent our time discussing Battlestar Galactica.

I hadn't seen The Twerps before. All I knew was that I'd seen the guy from Panel Of Judges wearing a Twerps t-shirt. Which meant I had high expectations of them. Which meant I was initially disappointed. But over the course of the set, it got really good. I like.

Kes Band played in trio format (ie. without the girls). It was excellent. The set began with "Who Knows", which made me happy. And there was some new stuff from the forthcoming instrumental album. And Lehmann Smith sang his "My Body Is No Good". I feel I'm not conveying enough how much I enjoy Kes Band / how much they enthrall and please with their mad skills. But it's A LOT.

Tenniscoats were a good thing. They didn't play "Rolling Train", which would have made me fall over in gladness, but it didn't really matter. Her voice, his guitar sounds = something. Also, sweetest encore ever. Forced to return to the stage because of our insistence but with nothing to play, she tinkled uncertainly on the piano for thirty seconds while he stood in the middle of the stage with nothing to do, until his smiling thank you bow signalled that we should admit it's over.

Friday February 20
Went shopping in the city ostensibly to buy boots and a camera for my trip to Russia and Europe. Instead bought seasons 2 and 3 of Battlestar Galactica on DVD.

Saturday February 21

Went to RRR to see My Disco, supported by Kes Band (trio) and Naked On The Vague. Was driven there by the same Taxi-Driving Cloud of Gloom and Dissatisfaction (T-DCGD) who had dropped me off at Camille and Ben's going away drinks the month before. My brother was new to that particular experience, and he couldn't help bursting out laughing at the end of the trip, when T-DCGD synthesised all the strands of his conversation with one final statement: "It's just depressing." The hilarity doesn't really come across in the text version, I know, but trust me. Hilarious. T-DCGD has an implacably low opinion of EVERYTHING. For example:

T-DCGD: Melbourne really has become a terrible place. It's worse than Sydney now.
Me: What, do you mean in terms of the traffic?
T-DCGD: No, in terms of EVERYTHING.

As we walked into RRR, I recounted some of T-DCGD's greatest hits from my January taxi ride, and Simon re-enacted the best moments of the one we'd just had, and so we made our way to a couch and amused each other to snorting laughter until Kes Band (trio) started. They played the same set as they had on Thursday night. And it didn't get old. It was just plain great.

Naked On The Vague were not something I had seen before. When they began, the vocal delay on her singing was so big that it caused everything she sang to be repeated distinctly, so new words would jumble over the repeated previous lines. I thought this was intentional and indeed, a good effect. But it wasn't intentional, and she requested it be fixed up before the second song. Which meant I wasn't really so taken by the rest of the set. They do have some adoring fans, though.

It was an all-ages show, and so when My Disco began, an eclectic group of youngsters that put me in mind of the new cast of Skins took up positions in front of us and launched into an adorably enthusiastic and idiosyncratic dance-fest. It was charmingly live and let live, and made me think positively about the next generation of young people. They seemed so at ease and confident, feeling secure both in letting their freak flags fly or in not doing anything. Not obnoxious at all. Even their stage invasion wasn't obnoxious. It was joyful, especially for the one to whom Ben Andrews lent his guitar for a short burst. Smiles all around. Anyway, the new My Disco stuff is FANTASTIC, especially one song that was played about third in the set-list? I can't really be more precise than that. They're going overseas to tour shortly, but are beginning their Europe stretch in London and ending in Moscow, whereas my trip begins in Moscow and ends in London, and as we criss-cross none of their gigs match up with my itinerary, damnit. Do see them if you can.

Sunday February 22
This had happened, and I proceeded to read it out aloud to my brother while we had a tea-break. Then the Galactica-fest resumed.

LISTENING Tuesday February 17-Tuesday February 24.
Last.fm says this week was spent in the company of:
Harmonia, Deluxe
Elvis Perkins In Dearland, Elvis Perkins In Dearland
DM Stith, Heavy Ghost
Dan Deacon, Bromst
Neko Case, Middle Cyclone
Pikelet, Not So Still
My Disco, Paradise
and some Lehmann Smith.

Tuesday February 24
3CR Tuesday Breakfast Show

played my recording of Nahanni Fontaine, the Director of Justice for the Southern Chiefs Organisation in Manitoba, speaking at Solidarity Salon about her advocacy and research to highlight racial profiling and police abuse against First Nations people in Winnipeg, Canada
played my recording of Leslie Spillett, of Grassroots Women Manitoba. She spoke about disappearances and violence against First Nations women in Manitoba
heard Lucy's interview with Paula Abood about her blog project, Race And The City, where she's posting a series of 10 essays as a starting point for interactive discussion about race
Rachel spoke to Tamar Hopkins from the Flemington and Kensington Legal Centre - and the FCLC Police Issues Working Group - about the police response to racially motivated violence directed at Indian students

By the way, Lucy used those recordings of Nahanni Fontaine and Leslie Spillett for an Accent of Women program she produced, the 3CR podcast of which can be downloaded here.

It was my week to prodcuce Stick Together, but I'd spent so much time watching Battlestar Galactica that I hadn't adequately prepared the program I wanted to do on the Employee Free Choice Act. So I just used other people's interviews to make a show about aid, with a very tenuous union link, the 3CR podcast of which can be downloaded here:

On today’s show, we look at the need for aid projects, big and small, outside our borders. We’ll hear how workers at Fairfax Media support a newspaper in East Timor, and how the global financial crisis is impacting on the world’s poorest.

Tempo Semanal is a weekly investigative newspaper in East Timor, founded in 2006. It’s supported by an Australian program run jointly by Union Aid Abroad APHEDA and Fairfax Media. Recently, criminal defamation charges were laid against the paper’s founder and director, Jose Belo, and the fines and prison term he faces threaten the survival of the paper, with broader repercussions for press freedom in East Timor. The defamation charges relate to corruption allegations published in Tempo Semanal in October last year against the Minister of Justice, Lucia Lobato. Ironically the subject of the allegations is the tendering of some services for Dili’s Becora Prison, in which Belo himself was imprisoned during the Indonesian occupation. Jock Cheetham from Fairfax Media coordinates the Fairfax side of the aid program, and he spoke to 3CR’s Jenny Denton.

The global financial crisis, the rising cost of living, and the effects of climate change are key concerns for much of the Western world as we look ahead in 2009. But inevitably these issues not only affect poorer regions of the world, their impact is magnified. Every year UNICEF releases its Humanitarian Action Report, assessing the global situation for the world’s women and children. 3CR’s Rachel O’Connell spoke to UNICEF Australia’s spokesperson, Martin Thomas.

Saturday February 28
Went to the Espy for Summertones. This is what happened:

Kes Band (trio): same set again, but with one new feature - a few notes of Nirvana's "Come As You Are" made an appearance in two songs. I don't know why. But it made me smile. Also, three Kes viewings in less than a fortnight mean I've maybe begun to prefer them as this trio.

High Places: no "Jump In (For Gilkey Elementary School)", but lots of excellent.

Lawrence Arabia: wore shorts to excite us with their thighs. Played only two songs from the Lawrence Arabia album, "Talk About Good Times" and "The Kinds Of Feelings That Happen On Summer Beaches" (yay). The rest were from new Chant Darling album, with which I was at the time unfamiliar. I can even remember resenting it, as I spent the set hoping that "Bloody Shins" or "The Thinnest Air" would be played, but they weren't.

At this point my brother left the Espy to get himself some dinner, and in his absence I got bothered by a guy. I didn't feel panicked about it, because I sort of saw him coming, so as he approached I just said to myself, "Just stop him in his tracks and you can get on with your evening." But it got annoying when my reasonable requests to desist with all the touching were ignored, all my stern "No"s and "Don't do that"s and "Stop"s. And when he accused me of being racist for objecting to his behaviour. And when pushing him away became a struggle to get my hands back from his grasp, and that weird moment when he pulled at my face and kissed it because I was "so beautiful". I really wish there was some advantage to my being ugly, but it seems there isn't. Which strikes me as unfair. I would think a fair trade for the loneliness and lack of external emotional life would be that I get exemption from harassment. Of course it doesn't, and I should know that, being employed as I am at a sexual assault service. But it is still Really. Annoying. Also, what is it with me and you, St Kilda?

The Ruby Suns: it was Ryan McPhun aided by Gus from Architecture In Helsinki. And it was great. I like simultaneous drumming.

Dan Deacon: it was just like that night at the Evelyn last year. It was pretty much exactly like that. Except there were also some songs I recognised from Bromst. Bromst is pretty great, people. Especially "Of The Mountains". But I don't think he played that.

Pivot: it was weird for me. See, they play their instruments like dicks, but I don't hate them for it. I usually would hate them for it. But I really don't.

The Stabs: they wore dresses - in order to look like Nirvana? I can remember thinking, "All I can think about is Nirvana in dresses. You know, when Nirvana would wear dresses." Maybe Kes Band put Nirvana in my head or something. Anyway, at the end, it looked like Matt got hit in the eye by a flying guitar.

Opted for public transport home, so left in time to get it.

Monday March 2
Watched Tim on the television in Dancing About Architecture. And well, the set is great. And the musical guest was Jessica Says, who I like. And who demonstrated the show's ability to get a much higher calibre artist on, especially when compared to the dreadful musical act on Studio A, the program that preceded Dancing About Architecture on Channel 31. And most of all, Tim was great. He really saved that Fall Out Boy discussion, something about burnishing edges... um, so the rest of the show needed to be much much better. Because, you couldn't really say it was good. Because, you Really. Felt. Every. Moment. Also, not nearly enough about music writing. I hardly need say this, but pointing out an overused term and using it in a sentence isn't, well, anything. Of course, Tim's was a fine sentence. I just thought the examples would be a precursor to a discussion, which didn't eventuate. But anyway, first show. First terrible show.

Happily, week 2 of Dancing About Architecture was entirely another story. In that, it was exactly what I had hoped the first week would be. RATHER GOOD. HOORAY.

LISTENING Tuesday February 24-Tuesday March 3.
Last.fm says this week was spent in the company of:
Yeah Yeah Yeahs, It's Blitz!
Bob Dylan, Time Out Of Mind
Cake, Comfort Eagle
Kes, The Grey Goose Wing
Kanye West, 808s & Heartbreak
Blank Dogs, Seconds 12"
Julie Doiron, I Can Wonder What You Did With Your Day
tUnE-YaRdS, BiRd-BrAiNs
My Disco, Cancer
NPR Fresh Air, featuring: Joss Whedon
Black Dice, Load Blown
and some Animal Collective, Antony & the Johnsons, Elvis Perkins, Dum Dum Girls, The Mayfair Set, Woods, and many repeats of Barry Gibb-Barbra Streisand's "Gulity", because its awesomeness was revealed between sets at Summertones.

Tuesday March 3
3CR Tuesday Breakfast Show

played Rachel's interview with Marie-Claire Faray-Kele, a research scientist and spokesperson for Common Cause UK - a platform for Congolese women in the UK - about life for women amidst the violence of the Democratic Republic of Congo.
I spoke to Rachel Maher from New Matilda for the monthly New Matilda update, today focusing on the recent two-week Urban Intervention series of articles.
Lucy spoke to Jennifer Burn, from the UTS Community Law Centre, about the Anti-Slavery Project and the announcement that day of new guidelines for NGOs working with trafficked people.

BREAKFAST PLAYLIST:
tUnE-YaRdS - News - BiRd-BrAiNs
Lawrence Arabia - The Kinds Of Feelings That Happen On Summer Beaches - Lawrence Arabia
Marissa Nadler - The Whole Is Wide - Little Hells
The Ruby Suns - There Are Birds - Sea Lion

During the day I interviewed Fozilitun Nessa about acid violence, her experience of having acid thrown in her face for refusing a proposal of marriage, and her work with the Bangladeshi Acid Survivors Foundation.

That evening I went to the Monash Law Chambers in the city to record Justice Richard Goldstone, who from 1994-1996 served as chief prosecutor of the UN International Criminal Tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and for Rwanda. He spoke about "The Current State of International Justice". He was a guest of the Castan Centre for Human Rights.

After that, I went to the Tote to see Lawrence Arabia, supported by Sly Hats and Guy Blackman. This was a week in which I would spend a lot of time in rooms with the same bunch of familiar people I don't know. Anyway, whereas I had resented the new Lawrence Arabia stuff a little at Summertones, I really didn't anymore. Also, they started with "Bloody Shins", so disarmed me from the beginning. I really like the Chant Darling album.

Wednesday March 4
Went to the Toff to see High Places, supported by Inquiet and ii. I love Inquiet. It's easy to do.

After High Places, went in overnight to 3CR to produce that week's Women On The Line program, "Acid Violence in Bangladesh, and Canada's First Nations":

We hear from three international activists who recently brought their message to Australia. Two First Nations women from Canada, Nahanni Fontaine and Leslie Spillet, talk about racial profiling, police abuse and the state of indigenous rights in Canada. And later in the program I speak to Fozilitun Nessa about being the victim of an acid attack almost a decade ago, and her work with the Bangladeshi Acid Survivors Foundation.

Canada is often looked to as an example of best practice in human rights and indigenous relations. It’s a reputation that rankles for our first two guests. Nahanni Fontaine is the Director of Justice for the Southern Chiefs Organisation, a political indigenous body representing 36 Southern First Nations in Manitoba. And Leslie Spillett is a long-time Winnipeg indigenous rights advocate, who serves on the board of Grassroots Women Manitoba. They spoke to 3CR’s Marisa Sposaro.

Acid violence is a particularly vicious and damaging form of violence in Bangladesh where acid is thrown in people’s faces. Nitric or sulphuric acid has a catastrophic effect on human flesh. It causes the skin tissue to melt, and when acid attacks the eyes, it damages them permanently. Last year in Bangladesh, 179 people survived acid attacks, and the overwhelming majority of victims are women.

In 2000, Fozilitun Nessa had just finished secondary school when a neighbour threw acid in her face for refusing his proposal of marriage. She now works with the Bangladeshi Acid Survivors Foundation, and has recently been in Australia as a guest of UNIFEM. For more information on acid violence, go to the Acid Survivors Foundation website, where you can also donate to support the work of the foundation.

The program is still available to download from the Women On The Line website, or just click here for the mp3.

Thursday March 5
Stayed at 3CR all day after finishing Women On The Line - had a 2010 Calendar meeting, and then a Programming Sub-Committee meeting, then went out for a drink with some 3CR staff. Which meant that when I got to the HiFi Bar to see Of Montreal supported by The Ruby Suns, I hadn't slept for about 30 hours. This sometimes happens.

Again, The Ruby Suns were great, and were joined on stage by more Melburnians - Aleks And The Ramps guy and Denim Owl. This meant two things - a third man for simultaneous drumming, and a lobster dance. I chatted to Dave a bit. His/Faux Pas' show is moving to Sunday nights on RRR sometime soon.

Of Montreal gave me the song I wanted most, first: "We Were Born The Mutants Again With Leafling". And yes, I liked it best when they played from Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer?, but that's the album I know best, love a bit. Oh, and the octave+ vocal leap in "Gronlandic Edit" was delivered supremely. Still, somehow for much of the gig, I wasn't feeling into it. It may have been the lack of sleep, but after a while I just wanted to slide down the wall I was leaning against and ignore the whole thing. Happily, I began watching this guy at the front who I'd seen at all the other gigs I'd been to that week. He was SO HAPPY and had his arms in the air the whole time and was singing along to all the songs with gusto. Watching him changed my mood entirely. So at the end of the night I felt happy and glad, even if I came late to it.

Friday March 6
Went to QV to host with Lucy a 3CR special broadcast from the Queen Victoria Women's Centre's International Women's Day event. We were there from 11am-1pm doing interviews etc, which Gab edited for broadcast on 3CR's annual 24 hours of women's radio on International Women's Day, Sunday 8 March.

My brother Simon came with me and killed time during the broadcast-gathering bit, so that we could go and see Watchmen at 1.45pm. Which we did. And except for the stupid masterplan - all that effort to bring about some plainly reprehensible nonsense, WHATEVERRR! - I liked everything about it. But my opinion doesn't really count, I suppose. Because I haven't read Watchmen. In fact, the only bit of graphic novel I've ever read was a few pages of Tank Girl I borrowed from a co-worker to read when I went on a break one time. And now I must admit to a crime even more egregious than not reading graphic novels, which is the central basis for my disqualification from having an opinion about the Watchmen movie - that is, my secret motivation for wanting to see it in the first place. Because, pretty much my main reason for seeing Watchmen was an extension of my Brideshead Revisited film obsession - because, er yes, Matthew Goode/ CHARLES RYDER is in it. So I take my disqualification as merited. But I'd still like to say some things about Watchmen, please.

As I said, I liked pretty much everything about it. Including Billy Crudup, who I usually don't like. It helped that I didn't recognise him as Dr Manhattan until they did the flashback to pre-blue skin. By that point it was too late not to like him, because of how gentle he was, and all his plainly visible hurt feelings. But then he was shown liquifying people, and I got a little conflicted. I got a little conflicted a lot during this film, actually. It's something I've been enjoying about Battlestar Galactica too. I find it interesting deciding which darker acts you can accept and those you reject - and how much frustration with decisions you can't countenance you're willing to take before getting jack of things entirely. For example, I almost turned against Watchmen as a film near the end, because we weren't in agreement when the question became "What's one more life when so many have died?" I was all, "I know! I know! VALUABLE." But the film was all, "NUH. EXPENDABLE." I was quite surprised by that. But it did set me up for an "EXACTLY, YOU DICKS" moment when the film ended at a point poised to unravel the nonsense rationalisation that mass civilian death is a workable method for peace as long as everyone keeps quiet about it. You can't possibly plan for all contingencies to make that okay. It's not okay. It's a stupid and obscenely presumptuous plan. Suck it. So anyway, I liked Watchmen.

Monday March 9
At this point, I've watched up to S04E18 of Battlestar Galactica. There are two episodes left to air. Ever. And I actually have to wait for them to air. It's been three hectic Galactica-drenched weeks, and I do stupid stuff now like say 'frak' without even thinking about it. I have also caught myself saying 'gods damnit'. So yeah, I'm that guy. Also, HAPPEN ALREADY STARPOLLO 4 EVA. Jeez.

While waiting for more Galactica, I actually watched Law & Order UK, just because Lee Adama is in it. I was intrigued, you see, because it means that the man who plays Lee Adama is actually English. As in, went-to-Cambridge English. It was quite disorienting watching him speak non-American.

I also began watching Dollhouse, Joss Whedon's new series. It has Helo from Galactica in it. But unlike Law & Order UK, the Galactica connection is not why I started watching it. The why is because of Buffy, Angel, Firefly, the audio commentary on Firefly, and that recent interview with Joss Whedon on NPR's Fresh Air. So basically, it's because of Joss Whedon. And how nice he is. Dollhouse is about identity and exploitation - "The Dollhouse" is a place housing people who've had their memories wiped for the purpose of having different personalities imprinted on them whenever a client wants to rent a person designed to their specifications. The show is about exploring the many and varied ways that that is a fucked up thing. I'm liking it.

LISTENING Tuesday March 3-Tuesday March 10.
Last.fm says this week was spent in the company of:
The Strange Boys, And Girls Club
Dan Deacon, Bromst
Lawrence Arabia, Chant Darling
Grizzly Bear, Veckatimest
Ratatat, Classics and LP3
Animal Collective, Merriweather Post Pavilion
Frida Hyvönen, Until Death Comes

I'm really loving the Grizzly Bear album. Especially "Two Weeks".

Tuesday March 10
3CR Tuesday Breakfast Show

played - in three parts - my recording of the talk delivered last Tuesday night by Justice Richard Goldstone, on "The Current State of International Justice".
played my interview with Fozilitun Nessa, an acid attack survivor from the Bangladeshi Acid Survivors Foundation. She was in Australia last week as a guest of UNIFEM.

BREAKFAST PLAYLIST:
Lawrence Arabia - The Beautiful Young Crew - Chant Darling
The Strange Boys - Then - And Girls Club
Alela Diane - White As Diamonds - To Be Still

Wednesday March 11
I went to Melbourne University to record Jeff Halper, an Israeli activist who is pretty adorable. And informative. He talked for two hours, but you didn't notice that. My brother came with me, and afterwards we walked down to the Old Bar to see Seagull. But Seagull had cancelled. So we just went out to dinner instead. I went home and watched The L Word finale. It was fine, until the weirdly smug strutting at the end. That was ODD.

Thursday March 12
Went to Peko Peko for a 3CR web meeting. Then went to 3CR to load the Jeff Halper audio onto a computer and hang out with Rachel who was there producing this week's Women On The Line. We were there until pretty damn late.

Friday March 13
My sister Rachel and her husband Damien are in town. So we've been sitting around the kitchen table as a family, chatting and amusing each other.

And that's pretty much it. Tomorrow I'm going in to 3CR for a Women On The Line working bee - to put our audio archives in order, write policy documents, maybe allocate grant acquittal duties. Then maybe I'll go and see Flying Scribble and The Motifs and Pikelet tomorrow night at the Wesley Anne. Maybe.

2009-03-04T20:04:00.003+10:00

My children...

Ha! It gets better. A ban on hailing cabs on Friday and Saturday nights?

2009-02-27T07:23:00.003+10:00

This makes me happy. I've been slightly concerned about Robert Doyle's apparent 'Action' plan to drag Melbourne back to the early nineties -- not necessarily that it would all come to fruition, but since his crazed ideas seemed to be coming out so fast it was only time before something got through. Smog up Swanston st again (just as the opel shops seemed poised to vanish), get rid of Super Stops because these big nasty stops that allow Melbourne to comply with its stated obligations to people with disabilities are keeping cars out of the city. And we want them back in the city, preferably in Swanston St. Then there was the theme park which would inexplicably serve to keep 'bogans' out of the city. And buskers are keeping tourists away, so they have to go too. Could this be his ultimate vision for Melbourne?

Unplanned Pregnancy: 90210

2009-01-24T14:12:00.011+10:00

You know how you groan inwardly when a character on a teen soap finds she's pregnant, and you await the awkward route to one of two conclusions - an accidental miscarriage or a decision to continue the pregnancy?

You know, how the closest anything ever got to abortion as a valid option was Julia Salinger on Party Of Five deciding to have an abortion, and even making an appointment for it. But wouldn't you know, on her way there she... tripped and fell down the stairs. (Note, New Zealand family planning doctor Margaret Sparrow has a few things to say about that being a particularly unreliable and dangerous method for ending pregnancy.)

Granted, there have been some teen abortions on TV. There was Degrassi's Heather or Erica - one of the twins had an abortion, I can't remember which. And she then faced a persecution campaign from fellow Degrassi students, mostly Liz I think. But, whatever, Degrassi was a teen issues drama rather than a soap. And, come on, it's Canadian. Also, Claire Fisher's abortion is not relevant to this discussion either. Six Feet Under was an adult drama.

So anyway, my point is, I take an interest in how teen soaps get from pregnancy to non-abortion. And the new 90210 just did it in the BEST. WAY. EVER.

There's a character, a student. A blood test reveals she's pregnant. There's a lot going on in her life, etc etc etc. Jennie Garth as guidance counsellor is 'there for her' in the "you should consider all your options, of course, but a lot of young women regret their decision to have an abortion" sense, and her best friend is 'there for her' in the "I think you should have an abortion" sense. So, all in all, not exactly how the Pregnancy Advisory Service would do it. I wasn't giving 90210 high marks at this point.

Anyway, the character is 'not dealing' with it - starts drinking a lot of coffee, driving all night etc. So, she nearly has a car accident, which leaves her pretty shaken up, alone in her car on the side of a coastal road. This proximity to death is decisive in some way, and she turns her car around having made, we presume, a Decision. I was rolling my eyes at this point, thinking, "Oh, I see where this is going."

BUT I REALLY DIDN'T. 'See where this is going', that is. Because, THIS is where it was going:

PREGNANT TEEN: Anyway, I was driving and driving, and somewhere around Big Sur I almost got killed.

FRIEND: What? What happened?

PREGNANT TEEN: A car accident, or this almost accident.

FRIEND: My god, are you okay?

PREGNANT TEEN: I pulled over, and suddenly it hit me, you know. Like, I have to take control of this situation. I have to make a choice. And I ended up going to this women's clinic that my hairdresser was talking about. I saw a doctor, and...

FRIEND: Did... did you...?

PREGNANT TEEN: I couldn't. I can't.

FRIEND: Honey, I understand. Honestly, I don't think I could either. I mean, it's one thing to talk about it but...

PREGNANT TEEN: No, I CAN'T. I'm too far along. It's not legal, it's not possible.

Abortion just isn't an option. Whether I like it or not, I'm having this baby.

Wait. You mean, abortion isn't simply a matter of choice? There are like, legal impediments to women exercising reproductive control? That, in fact, the decision can be entirely out of the woman's hands? Could this be the first no-choice-non-abortion in teen soap?

Touché, 90210. Touché.

Yes, I watched the inauguration very early this morning

2009-01-21T18:30:00.007+10:00

But before that, while waiting for the inauguration live feeds to begin transmitting on Australian television, I watched Oliver Stone's W. The best scene was that Iraq invasion staff meeting, with Colin Powell dissenting. The rest of the film was okay, sometimes good, sometimes not so much. So, 'patchy' is the verdict. Josh Brolin's George W performance was great. Thandie Newton's Condi was a poor caricature that took you out of the film. Also, I wasn't a fan of the dream sequences.

Anyway, we went with the CBS inauguration waiting-game on Channel 10, because of the Couric.

I loved the way she would gently but firmly puncture Andrew Card's hagiographic takes on Bush and Cheney. For example, she neatly broke in on a Cheney-praising session with, "But Andy, what about those who say he's shredded the Constitution?"

And later - my favourite bit - after Card was talking about how he's going to be flying with Bush to Dallas, and he thinks Bush'll look back on his presidency with pride, Katie charmingly wondered aloud, "Is the President as impervious to criticism as he seems?... Andy?"

I love that woman.

Anyway, to The Speech. I've watched it a few times now, and I like it more and more each time. Actually, I've come to think it's pretty great. For posterity, New Matilda has the text of the full speech.

Here are my favourite bits:

"the nagging fear that the next generation must lower its sights"
"that for far too long have strangled our politics"
"to choose our better history"
"men and women obscure in their labour"
"But our time of standing pat, of protecting narrow interests and putting off unpleasant decisions — that time has surely passed."
"when imagination is joined to common purpose, and necessity to courage"
"The question we ask today is not whether our government is too big or too small, but whether it works"
"to spend wisely, reform bad habits, and do our business in the light of day — because only then can we restore the vital trust between a people and their government."
"a nation cannot prosper long when it favours only the prosperous."
"As for our common defence, we reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals. Our Founding Fathers, faced with perils we can scarcely imagine, drafted a charter to assure the rule of law and the rights of man, [pointed close-up shot of George W] a charter expanded by the blood of generations. Those ideals still light the world, and we will not give them up for expedience's sake."
"And so to all other peoples and governments who are watching today, from the grandest capitals to the small village where my father was born: know that America is a friend of each nation and every man, woman, and child who seeks a future of peace and dignity" [NB: a great improvement on 'you are either with us, or you are with the terrorists']
"We will not apologise for our way of life, nor will we waver in its defence, and for those who seek to advance their aims by inducing terror and slaughtering innocents, we say to you now that our spirit is stronger and cannot be broken; you cannot outlast us, and we will defeat you." [NB: a great improvement on 'Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we. They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we']
"For we know that our patchwork heritage is a strength, not a weakness. We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus — and non-believers." [he said non-believers!!!]
"To those who cling to power through corruption and deceit and the silencing of dissent, know that you are on the wrong side of history"
"And to those nations like ours that enjoy relative plenty, we say we can no longer afford indifference to suffering outside our borders; nor can we consume the world's resources without regard to effect."
"Our challenges may be new. The instruments with which we meet them may be new. But those values upon which our success depends — hard work and honesty, courage and fair play, tolerance and curiosity, loyalty and patriotism — these things are old. These things are true. They have been the quiet force of progress throughout our history."

Mmmm, love that quiet force of progress.

Anyway, Ellen Fitzpatrick on NewsHour has nicely arranged my thoughts and expressed them:

JUDY WOODRUFF: And, Ellen, what about the speech? We've heard some comment about it already. How does it compare? You've studied other inaugural addresses.
ELLEN FITZPATRICK: I think it's actually -- I dissent a little bit, I think, from the sentiment that's shaping up and to say that I think it was an extraordinarily powerful speech.
And the pageantry and that element that Richard just mentioned was surely there, but embedded in it was a critique that we have strayed far from our founding. He asked us to choose our better history, and it was an unvarnished view of American history that he offered.
There was that phrase, "We have tasted the bitter swill of civil war and segregation, but we've triumphed over these tragedies and the hatred of our past."
And so, in that sense, he was seizing the historic occasion of his inauguration and using it as a way to call Americans back to their origins. And there was a critique here of where we've been.
He said, "We don't have to choose between our safety and our ideals." That, to me, was a reference to the abrogation, or so he would argue, I would say, from those ideals through the war on terror. So it was a very powerful cry to remake America by drawing on our fundamental historical values.

Also, I think it's the NewsHour's fault that I liked "Praise Song for the Day", the poem written for the occasion and read by Elizabeth Alexander. See, because of the NewsHour's Poetry Foundation endowment, and the poet profiles that go with it, I've been exposed to that similar way established American poets seem to read their stuff. It usually irritates me, as it did when Alexander began to read her inauguration poem. But I now realise that these NewsHour poet profiles, which I usually roll my eyes at, have corroded my intolerance somehow. Because as she kept reading, my harder feelings relented and relented and at about half-way through the poem, I was won over. Damn that NewsHour poetry endowment!

Then the inaugural benediction by Rev. Joseph Lowery - again, my feelings about him were framed by the NewsHour. He was on the day before the inauguration in a round-table discussion with Gwen Ifill, and he struck me as a very nice man. Oh, also a civil rights leader.

These were the bits I liked from his benediction:

"deliver us from the exploitation of the poor or the least of these and from favouritism toward the rich, the elite of these."
"to turn to each other and not on each other."

And, of course, his closing. What an adorable hippie:

Lord, in the memory of all the saints who from their labors rest, and in the joy of a new beginning, we ask you to help us work for that day when black will not be asked to get back, when brown can stick around -- (laughter) -- when yellow will be mellow -- (laughter) -- when the red man can get ahead, man -- (laughter) -- and when white will embrace what is right.
Let all those who do justice and love mercy say amen.

AUDIENCE: Amen!

REV. LOWERY: Say amen --

AUDIENCE: Amen!

REV. LOWERY: -- and amen.

AUDIENCE: Amen! (Cheers, applause.)

I was actually tempted to say 'Amen' myself, in the 'here here' sense. But I restrained myself to grinning.

Anyway, if you missed the inauguration, I commend to you the NewsHour coverage of it: Ray Suarez's summary, Gwen Ifill's report, the evaluation and analysis.

Did I mention that I like to watch the NewsHour?

Bush Breakfast

2009-01-20T11:56:00.005+10:00

3CR Tuesday Breakfast Show 20 January 2009
As today in America it’s still the 19th of January, which means it's George W. Bush’s last day in office as President of the United States, this morning we marked the occasion by getting perspectives on Bush’s legacy, and what opportunities for 'hope and change' Obama might bring in the wake of it.

I spoke to Amy Goodman, host and executive producer of Democracy Now! and most recently co-author of Standing Up to the Madness: Ordinary Heroes in Extraordinary Times. She's in Washington DC for the inauguration festivities, and spoke about the role of independent media in the Bush years.
I spoke to Dr Paul Sendziuk, who teaches history at the University of Adelaide and was a visiting scholar at New York University and Columbia University last year. He's the author of Learning to Trust: Australian Responses to AIDS, and in this article in Dissent Magazine last year, he laid out why the $15 billion President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief - where the bulk of funding goes to abstinence-until-marriage programs - probably shouldn't be considered a positive Bush legacy. Preventing HIV transmission by 'educating' people to distrust condoms? Not so awesome, it turns out.
Rachel spoke to Jessica Morrison, Australian Director of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons. She spoke about Bush's eight years of inaction on nuclear disarmament and looked ahead to what Obama's commitment might be to ridding the world of the threat posed by 27,000 nuclear weapons.
I spoke to Michael Otterman, a visiting scholar at the Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies at the University of Sydney, and author of American Torture: From the Cold War to Abu Ghraib and Beyond and the forthcoming Collateral Carnage: The Human Cost of the War in Iraq.

LISTENING Tuesday January 13-Tuesday January 20.
Last.fm says this week was spent in the company of:
Asobi Seksu, Hush
Animal Collective, Merriweather Post Pavilion and People EP and Prospect Hummer EP and Strawberry Jam and Sung Tongs and Water Curses EP
Coconut Records, Davy
Tim Hecker, An Imaginary Country
Vetiver, Tight Knit
Rockabye Baby!, Lullaby Renditions of Nirvana and Lullaby Renditions of Björk and Lullaby Renditions of Radiohead
Radiohead, In Rainbows
The Triffids, Australian Melodrama
Tactics, The Sound of the Sound Vol 1
Fulton Lights, The Way We Ride
Bachelorette, The End Of Things and Isolation Loops
and some Democracy Now!

Still boy-crazy

2009-01-19T00:47:00.006+10:00

Yes, I am reading The Audacity Of Hope and yes, I love him more and more as each paragraph goes by. STOP JUDGING ME. Thankfully, Andrew Rawnsley is in my corner in this article from the Guardian's Comment Is Free, expressing, basically, that he is also heartily jack of "those who want to get their disillusion in first." He concludes with:

To assume that he must fail before he has even tried is to surrender to an utterly barren pessimism. Better the audacity of hope than the timidity of cynicism. And I bet his inaugural speech is going to be just great.

Thank you. I needed that... No, you're right, I probably didn't. But still.

Week Two, 2009

2009-01-16T18:03:00.023+10:00

Thursday January 8
Was spending the evening adjusting the subtitles on my recently acquired Gomorrah so they actually matched up with people speaking, when I got a call from Bec offering spare tickets to that night's Bill Callahan gig at the Thornbury Theatre. YES PLEASE. So we went. I missed the support, The Middle East, but was entertained by an impromptu time-filling Henry Wagons performance. Then Bill Callahan came to the stage with Jim White and Mick Turner. I had really been looking forward to seeing Bill's hair again, but it had changed. It was halfway to shoulder-length. And he was bearded. And his shirt wasn't tucked in like I was used to. And he didn't have excellent shoes on. Rather, his feet were bare. I noted all of this, you see. And then didn't really think about it, because he was on stage AND performing with the cool ones from Dirty Three. So I was transfixed by things like Bathysphere, etc. But at certain other moments I caught myself thinking, "You look like a man who was broken up with by his girlfriend 3 months ago, or something. Consequently, I am reading sadness into everything you do." I have no idea if he has recently had a heart-rending break, but it's the impression I got. And this impression informed my other responses on the night. Let's catalogue some of them: 1) I respected that he didn't talk a lot, and that he only brought the legs out in a subdued fashion, which still made me smile. 2) I felt protective when that guy leaned over the bannister after Truth Serum and informed Bill, "Just so you know, that song was really boring." 3) I respected Bill's silence in response to that.

Friday January 9
I watched The Wrestler. Mickey Rourke's face was perfect for it. Evan Rachel Wood's inability to bring nuance to her same-old was not.

I also watched Vicky Cristina Barcelona. I liked Vicky the most, as I believe I was directed to. I also liked the words people used when they spoke to one another.

Saturday January 10
Watched the Brideshead Revisited film from last year, with Matthew Goode as Ryder. I felt suitably prepared for it - although I read the book quite a few years ago and it's a little hazy now, I had recently spent a bunch of Sunday nights watching the Granada series on ABC2. I had also read quite a lot of negative reviews about the film adaptation. But we'll get to that later. What I remembered from the book is that I liked Charles Ryder - yes, in formal company he is necessarily a little blank and polite, becoming gradually more comfortable and expressive as time goes on, but we were in his mind so we have some sense of him, even early on. What struck me about the Granada series is that it didn't display this, so we are left with very little grounds on which to understand Sebastian's particular attachment to him. Why would he like Jeremy Irons' silent lunch guest so particularly and from the outset, especially when our feelings are there to be won by Nickolas Grace's Anthony Blanche - he who is so entertaining/precise/bold and the slights against him so unheeded by others. So, what I liked about the film was that I could like Charles Ryder again, and could see why others did too. I concede there might have been a bit of cheating in this.

CHEAT #1: In the Granada series, Ryder just leaves Sebastian's vomit on his floor overnight and wakes to find Lunt, his Oxford-appointed servant, cleaning it up. He left vomit on the floor of his room overnight! Who does that? AND, who leaves it for someone else to clean up? (Sidenote: when we expressed these questions as a family watching the series, we realised that my brother Simon had done precisely that. Coming home one night and vomiting into the bathroom sink. And then JUST GOING TO BED AND LEAVING IT THERE. For me to wake up to in the morning. It took the combined efforts of my father and me to scrape, wipe and unblock. Oh, how we laughed at the memory.) Anyway, my point is, the film cheats on this point a little. Yes, Ryder leaves the vomit on the floor of his room all night (again, who does that?) but in this version wakes in the morning to clean it up himself. Good boy. But then, wouldn't you know, Lunt walks in and says, "No no sir, that's my job." It's still troubling, yes. But at least in the film there was some discussion demarcating the roles of Sir and servant, whereas in the TV series you got the feeling that Ryder blithely assumed what the extent of Lunt's duties were, and Lunt didn't really get to correct him on any of it. A minor point to focus on, maybe, but it really was an obstruction to liking Ryder early in the TV series, and one which the film version awkwardly stepped around.

CHEAT #2: There are no children in Charles Ryder's marriage to Celia. In the TV series, he seemed like such a shit to go away for two years and have no wish to see his children at all on his return. Not having children in the film version means you don't despise his callousness in leaving to paint and then leaving the marriage for Julia. Which I suppose is a cheat. But I think the film tried to even out this cheat by not mentioning Celia's adultery at all, so we weren't invited to blame her either.

CHEAT #3: The film rather dimmed the excellence of Anthony Blanche. As a real and substantial person, he wasn't there in the same way. I was glad the film retained his pointed criticism of Ryder's jungle paintings, "simple creamy English charm playing tigers", but it didn't deliver the same wallop as when the words issued forth from the Anthony Blanche brought alive to us by Nickolas Grace. He was just a copy. I think even the early blankness of Jeremy Irons' Ryder could have stacked up well against him.

What's not a cheat, however, is that the film manages to convey why Charles Ryder is worth spending time with. It translates that internal access we have to him in the book into words and behaviour that are apparent to others around him at the time. Yes, I grant that Jeremy Irons' narration explains the internals to us, I just think we still needed to see a basis for others connecting to him. The film does this well, I think. For example, I decided I liked Matthew Goode's Ryder when he actually said something at that initial lunch with the plovers' eggs. It had a different impact to watching Jeremy Irons eat lunch and say nothing of consequence, while his future self talked over the scene. Do you get me.

Oh, I have not said my main point yet, and it is this; I really liked this film. I don't know why people didn't like it. I want it to be praised, not derided. Because I think it did really well... Actually, more. I think it succeeded. There was a piercing clarity to the sadness that I had not expected considering the time constraints. Yes, there are some shortcomings, and I will name them now:

Aloysius not consulted nearly enough
Ryder's father not as hilarious as John Gielgud
the aforementioned Anthony Blanche problem

But otherwise I support the film entirely. One thing I thought would be a problem for me is the number of instances where people say to Ryder that all he wants is to possess Brideshead. Because I don't think that's true, I thought I would have a problem with this implication. But I found that actually, this was not a concrete implication made by the film. People are wrong if they think the film paints Ryder as heartlessly acquisitive. See, when things like that were said to or about him, they were presented as people's suspicions. So they were a question about him, rather than an answer, and one that we get to decide - or not decide - ourselves. I like that he himself is not sure. I think he's lovely.

Another concern I've heard expressed is, does the film quash the queer by showing Ryder's attraction to Julia early? I don't think so. It does bring it on early, yes. But I think the film shows the same amount of queer - actually, slightly more - as the TV series did. There was always something undecideable about whether the romantic friendship between Sebastian and Ryder was carnal or not. Both the TV series and the film display an ease with male affection, but what the film does - which the TV series never did - is have a scene where Sebastian kisses Ryder with something more than platonic intent. The kiss is not shown as unwelcome, but as a sign of anything more, it's still undecideable. So I don't think the queer was quashed. There was just more history provided to the - yes, carnal - relationship that later develops between Ryder and Julia.

Another criticism I've heard expressed is that Emma Thompson's Lady Marchmain is inaccurate. I can't really remember what she was like in the book, but in the TV series Lady Marchmain presented with very little force - I couldn't really see her shaping anybody's debilitating guilt. There is more force to the Emma Thompson version. It appears people object to this - I don't, because there's also more despair. I preferred it.

My final point: the last scene in the chapel is entirely PERFECT. Just EXACTLY. So, there you are.

Later that evening I went to the Napier to farewell my friend Camille and her boyfriend Ben, who are going to Berlin for a year on ostalgie-related PhD business. I'm still not really sure what a year's absence from Camille will feel like. Unless a psychological extrapolation can be drawn from the fact that I burnt her many many DVDs of many many TV shows and films that if watched will amount to hours and hours and hours of her time in Berlin, as if to make a passive-aggressive claim that my absence in her life had better be thiiiis big... But, Guy is the one studying psychology. Anyway, as I couldn't consciously conceive of what a year without Camille might be like, I didn't really try. I spent more thought on what a year without Ben would be like. And I discovered that I felt it as a loss. Because Ben submits to me seeking him out at parties to talk about music and politics somewhat, and is polite enough to engage with me at my level. I realise I have never even considered whether he minds or enjoys these exchanges, only that I do. And I will miss the opportunity to heedlessly impose myself like that.

Sunday January 11
For some reson, I bought tickets to the Black Keys/Gomez/Dr. Dog concert at the Palais. I can't remember why I did it. I think it was to make up for missing Dr. Dog last time. But still, a weird choice. Oh, maybe it was also because of that pretty hilarious interview the Black Keys gave last year on RRR's Breaking and Entering, where there was a discussion of Los Angeles as an addling place where people who should know better start to think things that aren't anything at all are actually a good idea, the main punchline I remember fondly being the Black Keys drummer telling host Simon, "Your mind is too open!" But otherwise, I can't really explain the impulse to buy tickets. I like the Black Keys fine, but I saw them enough a few years ago. Anyway, we went. If the aim was to see Dr. Dog, well, we only saw three songs. There was no aim associated with Gomez, but good lord, I found that I hate them. And the Black Keys live were as great as ever - giant inflatable dream-catcher aside. But being there just wasn't necessary. Oh well.

LISTENING Tuesday January 6-Tuesday January 13.
Last.fm says this week was spent in the company of:
Faux Pas, Inquiet "Rose Rose" remix versions 1-4 and Waterfalls EP
NPR Fresh Air, featuring Seth Rogan, Josh Brolin, Steve Martin, Carbon/Silicon, R.E.M., Jenna Fischer, Rainn Wilson
Smog, Dongs Of Sevotion and A River Ain't Too Much Love and Rain On Lens
Steve Martin, A Wild And Crazy Guy
Silver Apples, Silver Apples/Contact
Wreckless Eric & Amy Rigby, Wreckless Eric & Amy Rigby
Handsome Furs, Face Control
Tenniscoats, Tan-Tan Therapy

3CR Tuesday Breakfast Show 13 January 2009

I spoke to Jeff Sparrow, editor of Overland magazine, about the hoax on Keith Windschuttle and Quadrant. I wanted Jeff to help me value the hoax in a way that reflected well on me as a person. He did, thoughtfully and with substance.
I spoke to Damien Moyse, Energy and Water Advocate at the Alternative Technology Association, for the ATA monthly update. Today we discussed the Federal Government's decision to scrap the $8000 solar rebate scheme by the middle of this year, replacing it with an alternative solar credit incentive scheme. Damien talked about how some aspects of the plan might lead to the production of less renewable energy.
Lucy spoke to Damien Kingsbury, from Deakin University's School of International Studies, about the current escalations in government military action by Israel in Gaza and by the Sri Lankan government in the Tamil region, and how people's understanding of resistance movements and the scale of the violence is obscured by the framework of terrorism.
Lucy spoke to Ula Majewski from Still Wild Still Threatened, about the police action the day before against community forest protesters in the Florentine Valley in Tasmania, and the ongoing blockading actions to stop logging in Tasmania's old-growth forests.

BREAKFAST PLAYLIST:
Sly Hats - Windy Harmony - Liquorice Night
The Tokey Tones - Summerwind - Butterfly
Electrelane - The Valleys - The Power Out

That afternoon I went to see Slumdog Millionaire. People have collapsed telling me how much they loved it, but I have to admit, I didn't so much.

Wednesday January 14
I watched the NewsHour coverage of Hillary Clinton's confirmation testimony.

Some background to my lens on this: when Obama was announcing his selections, I clamped on to this article in Time to bolster my hope that his choices were not necessarily a bad thing. Especially this bit:

It's precisely because Obama intends to pursue a genuinely progressive foreign policy that he's surrounding himself with people who can guard his right flank at home. When George W. Bush wanted to sell the Iraq war, he trotted out Colin Powell--because Powell was nobody's idea of a hawk. Now Obama may be preparing to do the reverse. To give himself cover for a withdrawal from Iraq and a diplomatic push with Iran, he's surrounding himself with people like Gates, Clinton and Jones, who can't be lampooned as doves.

It could be true! You don't know everything! But still, when he announced Hillary, I was a little "hmmm" about it. Because I think Obama could be great if he combines how really really nice he is with some courage. And on international issues, there'll need to be courage to break out of the box, thinking-wise. And Hillary strikes me as someone firmly inside the box. (I realise it's unfair to only focus negatively on her, but I really have no idea about the Generals and so forth who are other Obama appointees.) But still, her confirmation testimony didn't inspire confidence. I'm so glad that the NewsHour had Phyllis Bennis on to better articulate my feelings:

GWEN IFILL: So, Phyllis Bennis, what did we learn today from Hillary Clinton at this hearing about what kind of secretary of state she would be?
PHYLLIS BENNIS: Well, I think, Gwen, that we learned that her stated commitment to making diplomacy the vanguard of foreign policy is a very important commitment, but it's one that is already somewhat undermined by specifics that she gave, for example, the idea of not talking to Hamas until certain criteria that externally are met.
At a moment of crisis, you need to talk to both sides. She said that we are not giving up on peace in the Middle East. But it seems to me that you are giving up on peace if you refuse to talk to both sides. It means you're even giving up on a cease-fire.
So, I think that was a bit problematic. She also said very little about the fundamental point that president-elect Obama had made such a stirring commitment to during his campaign, which was this idea that we need to change the mind-set that led to war.
He was very clear about that, and it was, in my view, one of the key reasons that his support grew so exponentially, that it wasn't only about ending the war in Iraq. It was also about changing the mind-set.
And it seems to me that Hillary Clinton, as we heard today, is not representing change. She's representing that same mind-set that leads to war, despite some words that indicate to the contrary.

Also, this bit:

GWEN IFILL: Phyllis Bennis, that hearing today went on for four or five hours. And that answer that you just referred to that she made about Hamas and Gaza was basically the only time the subject came up. Were you surprised at that?
PHYLLIS BENNIS: I was. I think that there -- we really learned very little detail about new policy ideas.
But that's particularly disturbing when you have this extraordinary crisis in Gaza right now. The -- the deaths of Palestinians is now over 950, more than 300 -- 3,500 injured. Thirteen Israelis, almost all of them soldiers, have been killed. But the numbers of Palestinians, it's about half civilians.
It's a dramatic crisis that cries out for real leadership. There's a United Nations resolution that has been passed. It would not have been untoward, I think, for the -- the -- the new incoming secretary of state to say that one of the goals of the new administration would be to implement all United Nations resolutions, including the one calling for an immediate cease-fire.
GWEN IFILL: Well, let me ask...
BENNETT: The fact that she didn't was unfortunate.

Anyway, I spent the rest of Wednesday evening listening to BBC Worldwide documentary podcasts, and to Philippe Sands on NPR's Fresh Air, and to Helen Thomas on Democracy Now! And then, uh, Matt Damon read me some of A People's History of the United States by Howard Zinn.

The BBC podcasts were:

Obama: Professor President (which underlined for me yet again how really really nice he is. Srsly guyz!)
Soft Jihad (which was pretty excellent. It's about some creepy campaigns against Islamic academics in America. BBC's Pascale Harter also made that doco about Roberto Saviano and the Camorra. I like her.)
The My Lai Tapes, Parts One & Two

I also finished reading John Berger's Hold Everything Dear. This is what I underlined while reading it, from "The Chorus In Our Heads":

it is not only animal and plant species which are being destroyed or made extinct today, but also set after set of our human priorities.

I found that "set after set" bit quite expressive.

Thursday January 15
I went to 3CR for some meetings. The sub-committees are starting up again for the year. Yesterday it was Programming, a planning session for 2009 priorities. And then Promotions/website group met up to go over some design changes. These things are not as dry as they sound, in the right company.

Friday January 16
Tonight I'm going to The Lifted Brow magazine launch at East Brunswick, to see Bachelorette et al.

And tomorrow I want to go to Tom's exhibition with his brother at Brunswick Bound.

And finally, the Gossip Girl update. As of S02E15, I cannot take any more of this Chuck-spiral. I will not say "I'm done" because that's not how I feel either. I just want Chuck and Blair to be happy. And that means being together. And still they are not. Quit toying with my feelings, Gossip Girl!

So there you are, until the next bit.

Week One, 2009

2009-01-06T20:44:00.006+10:00

On Friday at work a book was suggested to me, Hold Everything Dear by John Berger. So I bought it on the way to dinner with my brother, Camille and Ben. At the bookshop, I bumped into Colm who is another Stick Together producer, and he made me feel good about the purchase by calling the book "the best thing I read last year". So, no pressure. After dinner in St. Kilda, went to the Prince with my brother and Ben for Fleet Foxes. First support was Sly Hats and friends, and then Luluc. I thought I'd like Luluc more than I did, considering her contribution to Grand Salvo's Death. But, oh well. Fleet Foxes were just LOVELY. Of course they were, yes. But MORE. Because of the geniality. Robin Pecknold especially was adept at managing the strange excited inarticulacies crowd-people sometimes yell at stage-people they adore (and which I could never do, unless "I am quite enjoying this" is the kind of thing talented people want to hear. I'm firmly opposed to trying for wit in such situations). But see, it didn't matter that people didn't manage to express themselves well. Somehow, all the garbled acronym-based best intentions were gently, chuffedly received by the band and then transmitted back as something inclusive and polished, rather than perplexing. Thems got social skills. And pipes. Mykonos was the highlight for me.

On Saturday I watched Milk. I feel the experience is enhanced if you first watch the 1984 documentary, The Times Of Harvey Milk. Well, I found it enhanced things. Not sure if my brother would agree, as I rather annoyed him by repeatedly exclaiming, when watching scenes from the public record like debates, interviews and such, "Dude, that's exactly what he said. In real life. That's really what he said. Exactly." However, some of the film is actually written, and written well. Particularly an argumentative conversation between Dan White and Harvey Milk at Milk's birthday party. It's kind of everything, right there in one scene.

On Sunday we went to Chapter Music's 18th Birthday gig at the Tote. We saw Hit The Jackpot, Lakes, Sleepy Township, Henry Wagons, Primitive Calculators, Minimum Chips, Pikelet, Panel Of Judges, and Crayon Fields. The place was overrun with people I (let's hope, unobtrusively) admire. Now, to some short and not very illuminating recollections:

Hit The Jackpot - I really love that King Of The Pool song. Like, a lot.
Lakes - never heard/seen him before. I bought the album.
Sleepy Township - I liked it best when the drummer sang. He had white hair. It made me think of Daniel Johnston.
Henry Wagons - "Here's to Guy Blackman, who I was never less than happy in my dealings with back in the day. Having said that, we've got an album coming out on a different label in April."
Primitive Calculators - first gig in 29 years. "I started writing this song in 1977, and I finished it last night. It's called Love. It's about love." There was a third repetition of the word love in that sentence, but I can't remember how he worked it in. Anyway, I also really enjoyed the way he frequently (well, at least twice) yelled, "DENISE!"
Minimum Chips - I didn't so much see them, as sat on a couch and heard them in the middle distance. It's been ages since I saw them play, and now they don't, and yet I didn't really make enough of an attempt to 'see' them. What was I thinking? Oh yes, that sitting down is nice.
Pikelet - she's always better than the last time, and after a while you begin to wonder how that's actually possible.
Panel Of Judges - yay, All This Could Be Yours. Yay, As The Blowflies.
The Crayon Fields - only caught about half the set, so maybe missed the newer stuff. Old stuff still good.

On Monday after work I went to see Frost/Nixon at Cinema Nova. Beforehand, between the orecchiette con broccoli and the film, I purchased two Richard Yates books - Revolutionary Road and Eleven Kinds Of Loneliness - because I've been led to believe he's like Mad Men in book form. Over here, via here, however, the film adaptation of Revolutionary Road seems not to have impressed. Anyway, Frost/Nixon was very entertaining. It didn't seem to know how Australian people talk, but, no matter. Sam Rockwell is pretty excellent. For me, though, there was still a problem with the Nixon mea culpa, however cathartic it may have been. See, Nixon gets emotional while talking about how he let down the American people, which I find to be a sorta disingenuous wellspring for his contrition. Maybe my view is coloured because I recently listened to an NPR Fresh Air interview with Bob Woodward, in which I think he made quite a telling point about what - aside from those 18 and a half minutes - was really missing from the Nixon tapes:

On the tapes Nixon regularly orders lying to law enforecement, to the Grand Jury, to use the FBI, the IRS to 'screw' - as he puts it so eloquently or he has another version of that, uh, verb - any of his opponents. Not only is this criminal and abusive - and that is the basic foundation of our government, it is a government that is answerable. And Nixon became unanswerable, he became a power unto himself. Wire-tap, break in - he had the Secret Service wire-tap the telephone of his renegade brother. The list of things that went on that are horrifying doesn't stop. But then you go to the tapes and you listen to the tapes and I've listened to a number of them and I've read transcripts of them. The real nightmare is the dog that doesn't bark on the Nixon tapes. No one says, including Nixon or his innermost aides, 'What would be right? What would be good? What does the country need? What is the high purpose of the presidency that we're - you know, we're here to do good.' It's always about Nixon. And so in the end it's about the smallness of this man.

So as I was watching Frost/Nixon, I was just thinking, "But, dude! You didn't care about the American people. You rarely even thought of them." There's a niggling feeling you get, too, that Nixon casts such a pitiable figure, framed without an especially thorough context of what it was all about - what was undermined by Nixon, what was at stake - that you worry the film might form some pretext for another of those flimsy "What was the big deal anyway?" stories we sometimes get. Again, I submit as partial 'what was it all about', Bob Woodward on Fresh Air:

The real issue is, are we gonna have secret government in this country, or not. And that's where we were headed with Vietnam and Watergate. A level of secrecy and fear and surveillance unheard of. Outside of the constitutional and legal system we have.

I also rather relished the opportunity the film takes to remind people what a loyal Nixon aide Diane Sawyer was. See, I don't like her. I remember when I used to watch the NBC Today Show a lot - I thought Katie Couric was rather good. But I was made aware of the prevailing view that Katie was a lightweight while Diane was serious. Which I didn't understand. Whenever I watched Diane conduct interviews on her show, I felt she was sappy, and didn't strike me as much of a sharp cookie. So I felt the unfairness of this prestige she seemed to have over Katie, with some force (because, as I preferred Katie, I felt it as a slight on my own critical faculties). But HAH. Avenged. History has you on the mean, truth-obscuring side of a battle for the nation's soul. Or, something.

LISTENING Tuesday December 30-Tuesday January 6.
Last.fm says this week was spent in the company of:
Fleet Foxes, Fleet Foxes and Sun Giant EP
Stephen Sondheim, Assassins (2004 Broadway Revival Cast)
Lakes, Lakes
and some The Microphones, Animal Collective, Kes, Bachelorette, Ratatat, Fabulous Diamonds, Tactics, Deerhunter, Vetiver, Teeth & Tongue, Palms, Panel Of Judges, Public Enemy, CocoRosie, Radiohead, Arthur Russell, Nirvana, Meat Puppets, Townes Van Zandt, Grand Salvo, Nick Huggins, Primitive Calculators, M.I.A., Chairlift, NPR Fresh Air, and This American Life.

Today: 3CR Tuesday Breakfast Show

Lucy spoke to Sam Pavi, an activist in the Australian Tamil community, about the Sri Lankan government's intensified military campaign against the Tamil Tigers and its impacts on the struggle for an independent Tamil homeland in the north of Sri Lanka.
I spoke to Michael Shaik from Australians For Palestine, about Israeli troops entering Gaza over the weekend, the impacts on civilians in Gaza, and the response of the international community. There will be another 'Stop the War on Gaza' rally on Sunday January 18, at 2pm at the Victorian State Library.
I spoke to Greens Senator Christine Milne, about yesterday's announcement by Federal Environment Minister Peter Garrett to approve 13 of the 16 environmental assessment modules associated with the proposed Gunns pulp mill in Tasmania. He also gave Gunns a two-year extension for further study into the marine impacts of the proposed mill's effluent.
I spoke to Paul Oosting, Pulp Mill Campaigner for the Wilderness Society in Tasmania, also about Peter Garrett's announcement yesterday. The Wilderness Society had marked January 5 as the date that should have signaled the end of the road for the Gunns pulp mill. It called on Peter Garrett to end all approvals of the mill if the full Environmental Impact Management Plan was not approved by yesterday. That didn't happen. Instead, with 13 of the 16 modules approved, Gunns can now go ahead with construction of the mill but will need full approval to begin operating.

BREAKFAST PLAYLIST:
Smog - I Feel Like The Mother Of The World - A River Ain't Too Much To Love
Deerhunter - Agoraphobia - Microcastle
M.I.A. - Amazon - Arular
Woods - Military Madness - Some Shame
Nick Huggins - The Sea Adrift - Shipwreck LP

Now I'm going to sit here and watch the new Gossip Girl episode. Yes, it's got a lot to live up to, considering the last one contained the Best Moment of 2008. But I'm fairly sure I'll love it no matter what. And by 'no matter what', I submit, for example, that my favourite character began the show as a near date-rapist. It bothers me sometimes how readily I decided not to think about that.

Listening Log

2009-01-01T17:19:00.005+10:00

The Heretics episode of This American Life, is incredibly interesting, funny, moving. There are Christians in it, but they are really nice, and it's a window into something entirely foreign. I experienced similar - but less powerful - feelings when I read Body Piercing Saved My Life: Inside the Phenomenon of Christian Rock, which I thought would be about terrible, commercially-motivated people, but was instead mainly about people raised in a certain way - within Evangelical culture - who wanted to make/hear music, with the writer mostly spending time with those who also wanted to challenge the mainstream arm of that impulse.

Anyway, I say listen to Heretics. If only for the hilarious story a young pastor tells of growing up believing the Rapture could come at any moment - believing, in fact, it had come whenever he would turn around and his mother wouldn't be where he last saw her... and he'd think to himself, "Rapture". The way he said it made me laugh out loud. Anyway, the program is largely about a celebrated evangelical, Reverend Carlton Pearson, who gets shunned when he comes to believe there is no hell. As he says, "It's like I died. And they mourned me. And now, they're pretty much over it." Still, there's this great story he tells about the relief he now feels at not having to try to 'save' everyone he meets - because he's come to believe we're all already saved. However, before, he used to feel guilty if he didn't witness to pretty much every person he met, for example, the guy sitting next to him on a flight. So he'd have to figure out some way of getting the conversation around to salvation, so he'd put his Bible on his lap or wear his cross prominently, just to get some inquisitiveness going. If the person didn't bite, he'd have to get a little more direct, as in, turning to them and casually asking, "So... where are you going to spend eternity? I have to tell you, it's probably in hell." Again, I laughed out loud when, remembering encounters like this, he said, "Guys, it was just horrible." What a dear fellow.