Wow.

Federal parliament has managed to do something blindingly obviously correct. Which is nice.

We really must catch up sometime...

No excuses, but I have been in deep Gilmore Girls Season 5 (fantastic!) ingesting mode. Last month I was in deep L Word Season 2 (brilliant! amazing!) ingesting mode and still managed to blog a bit, hence the ‘no excuses’. But I have a few hours now while the first episodes of GG Season 6 are downloading, so I might as well blog something before heading back into it.

When last we ‘spoke’ it was the middle of the day on Wednesday 1 February. So let us begin approximately there.

The Night Of Wednesday 1 February (or, The Night Of Elanor’s Do-Over Triumph)

We need some backstory for this little tale. See, about a year ago, I was on the St Kilda Beach tram heading to a gig on Fitzroy St, which may or may not have been the Scissor Sisters. I think it was. Anyway, I was standing against the door of the tram because there weren’t seats, but the tram was by no means full. And this innocuous-looking thirty-something business-suited guy got on and took up a position in front of me. He used his right hand to grasp one of the straps hanging from the roof, and, with his left hand, was holding against his thigh a black document wallet. Seems like a pointless story so far, right? WELL. He was standing much closer to me than was necessary, and, as we rattled along, I began to notice that, ‘due to the sway and jolt of the tram’, this whole setup meant that the knuckles of his left hand were quite frequently brushing against my vaginal area. Which made me uncomfortable. So I kept recoiling further and further into the corner I was in, but somehow, those darn blameless sways and jolts kept forcing his hand into that vicinity again and again, and even forced it to remain there. And I was feeling more and more humiliated and having an argument in my head, like, “FUCK. What an asshole. Or is he really an asshole? This doesn’t feel like an hilarious mix up, a completely unintentional and innocent situation, but what if it is? Am I being paranoid? What should I do? Oh, I feel so YUCK and angry and shamed and flushed and AT A LOSS. But what is the matter with me? I know this is a fucked up situation, don’t I? I mean, I’m really quite sure of that now. And I’m an empowered female, right? I should be able to handle this, instead of getting increasingly distressed and unable to make eye contact with anybody, including him.” I felt completely unable to say anything, and felt even more stupid for it. And then I realised what a weak failure I was, because the fear of a simple “Excuse me, please move away, you’re making me feel uncomfortable” being met with “Calm down you ugly paranoid bitch. AS IF I would ever sexually harass YOU”, was keeping me in my enraged and upset silence. So, me and my vaginal area continued to be the undisputed losers in this battle of wills. GOD DAMNIT. When I finally got off the tram, I felt ashamed and violated and angry, and it took all I had not to break down crying and run down the street to the safety of the Prince. But the fucker was following me, which in my weak and cowardly mind meant I had to affect a show of nonchalance and walk without any apparent concerns or troubles in the world. I am a mixed up kid, obviously.

So, that was the backstory. And that incident bugged me a lot. I mean, when that harassment stuff used to happen to me as a kid, I could at least acknowledge that, hey, I WAS A KID. I didn’t know so much stuff. I wasn’t as strong as I am now. And obviously, if those incidents of childhood were to be repeated now, boy, would I show those fuckers what’s what. But no. Even when I was 23, and a freakin lefty-pinko-feminist radio presenter to boot, I was still caught unawares and immobilised, just as if I were still eight years old, or thereabouts. It pained me. It felt so wrong, so unfair, so fucked up. With the added bonus that I felt bad about myself as well as detesting the bastard. But let’s move on to the DO-OVER TRIUMPH part of this story, shall we.

So, on the night of Wednesday February 1, 2006, I was on the St Kilda Beach tram going to see M.I.A at the Prince. Once again, I was standing against a door as there were no seats, but the tram was by no means full. And wouldn’t you know it, but that same innocuous-looking thirty-something business-suited guy got on. And he took up a position in front of me, his right hand hanging onto a strap from the roof, and surprise surprise, with his left hand he was clasping against his thigh that goddamn black document wallet. I say ‘surprise surprise’ only in an ironic way, because that was the beauty of this thing. It wasn’t a surprise. Every action merely confirmed all suspicions and left no cause for doubt or anxiety. And I rejoiced as the words DO OVER rang in my head. Because, for serious, how many times in your life do you actually get the opportunity to revisit a past humiliation and come out the WINNER? I don’t think it’s ever happened to me, at least. So, the sway and jolt of the tram began, and he was of course too close, and he was doing his thing again, but I wasn’t some debutante in this game anymore. There were no feelings of uncertainty or humiliation or powerlessless this time around. It was the same situation, I guess, but it felt so different. I had knowledge here, I had power. So I kept my face impassive, and took every opportunity ‘with the jolt of the tram’ to jab him in his side with my clenched fist. It took a few goes before he began to realise, ‘Hey, I’ve had a funny idea. Isn’t it just as simple and comfortable to hold my document wallet up against my chest, and to give this young lady some room? Dear me, it’s quite fine.’ Yes, this is what he said to himself, while sneaking furtive glances at cool calm and collected moi, before deciding to get off the tram at ‘his stop’. I know this probably seems like a tiny thing to you, but I was beaming and wanted to do a little dance and shout VICTORY IS MINE! Because, it was. Mine. I mean, I can make no claims to having made the situation any better for any of the other girls he harasses in this fashion, and quite regularly I would presume. But I stood up for myself. I defended myself. And I felt like a queen when I got off that tram to go and see M.I.A.

M.I.A was, of course, amazing. And better than at Big Day Out, of course. The support was crap though. Some boy hip-hoppers called Suburban Intellect, who, while I appreciated that there is something charming about giving shout-outs to Endeavour Hills, really weren’t what you would call exciting, or the best fit for M.I.A. She made people very happy, had great dance moves, great songs, and yes, great slow-mo running. You really can’t fault the woman [although when I spoke to Catherine on Saturday night she had a more thoughtful, ambivalent take on it].


Thursday February 2

Went to see Sleater-Kinney at the Corner. I was deeply deeply tired, but it was good. I found that I didn’t love The Grates so much as I thought, but, whatever. Sleater-Kinney put on a good gig, and I was too tired to really think more than that. I believe I enjoyed them more at Big Day Out, go figure.


Friday February 3 / Saturday February 4

A blur of work and then other work, and probably some Gilmore Girls watching. Also, this might have been when I watched Welcome To The Dollhouse and agreed, with everyone else who saw it back when that was a timely thing to do, that it is SUPER. Also watched Harold and Maude. That kid is damn hilarious! What a good thing that film is. Also watched Breakfast At Tiffany’s, but found it to be arse. And watched The OC season premiere and found it to be silly and way below what it should be. Disappointing.


Sunday February 5

Went to dinner at Guy and Camille’s house. Broke the news to Camille that Breakfast At Tiffany’s sucked, which is not her opinion of it at all. Ate some dahl and cous cous and yoghurt and french vanilla slice. Dropped The OC at Simon’s girlfriend’s place and didn’t want to pre-judge anything for him. He has since messaged that it was amazing. Simon, I disagree. But let’s explore that.


Monday February 6

This might have been the day when I bought a best of Nancy Sinatra, and the guy at JB HiFi asked if I lived in Abbotsford, and I said no, and he said, “Oh, I thought you were the girl who lives above me.” See how I tell you everything. Got home from work and watched Desperate Housewives. I really don’t love this show like I’m supposed to.


Tuesday February 7

Did the Breakfast Show, worked, got home and looked over Guy’s AMAZING conference paper, which would be delivered on Thursday. I believe I watched Prison Break and didn’t love it. I really need to find some TV that is actually on the TV to be into (apart from Wonder Falls).


Wednesday February 8

Uneventful. Just working, Gilmore Girls-ing, L Word Season 3-ing, and so forth. Oh yeah, and I think we got a new VCR on this day, and I tuned it disregarding the instructions. I am that much of a technical whiz. Dad of course required that it be christened with Sleepless In Seattle. He has three movies that he loves to watch a lot, and they are; Sleepless, Housesitter, and Accidental Hero. I personally don’t understand what he sees in Accidental Hero. But he has been going through a significant family trauma of late, so we allow him his entertainments. I quite enjoy them too, as they’re quite rare little treats. He usually busies himself by reading many many books at the kitchen table, ignoring the audio visual side of culture except to express disapproval. But when things get morose, as they have in recent months, we get to revisit his favourites - thus Sleepless, or, and this is what I particularly enjoy, his records. I don’t want you to think that I’m enjoying my father’s pain, just that I’m enjoying the Melanie Safka, Jeannie Lewis, Sondheim, Manhatten Transfer, and Sammy Davis Jr that most usually accompany his pain. I’m pretty over the Peter Sellers at this point, though.


Thursday February 9

Hurrah, the RU486 vote went as it should have in the Senate. After work, went to Brunswick St to meet up for Camille’s birthday dinner, realised I was an hour early so went to their place to wait it out. Then dinner and pleasantness and great food and a split down the middle of the table.


Friday February 10

After work, went shopping and bought a lot of black things, which I haven’t done for a while. I’ve been on a ‘colour’ stretch, which may have been noticeable to no-one else but me. But I found good black pieces on this day, and they won’t be denied. Also, got a free watch with my Priceline purchases, so now I have a watch. I have been looking for a watch for a while, but was never able to settle on one I liked. Priceline has made it so easy, as, because the watch is free, I have no apologies to make for it. Liberating. I also bought a big fishnet covered pearl necklace, just in case Laurie was right, and Erin’s party on Saturday was ghetto-themed. It wasn’t, but I would wear the necklace anyway.

Later, went to see Deerhoof at the Northcote Social Club. I walked in for the last two songs of the support, My Disco. Very fucking good. Deerhoof were super extra fucking good. They didn’t play the song Dave wanted, but they played both the ones I was after, and more, of course. Truly, this band are the real deal in good things, and I found myself very attracted to that bassist/singer guy in the grey jumper. Just saying. They look like decent, honourable people with impeccable opinions and confidence in what they are doing, in a good way. Also, thank you so much Dave for mentioning Low’s Things We Lost In The Fire in passing. Fucking lovely.


Saturday February 11

Finished the last episodes of Gilmore Girls Season 6. Discovered that the show has been taken off the TV. Also discovered that I’m quite disconnected from the outrage I should be feeling at such an event. Stupid broadband - as necessary as running water though it may be – has removed me from the depressive rages of The People, who simply ask that good shows be put on TV and carried through to their conclusions. And I’m sorry Green Guide letter writers, but advising everyone to ‘get the DVD’ is not the solution. Making the TV networks program in a sane fashion is the solution. Stop dismissing The People’s concerns, you stinkingly smug TV-from-the-internet-on-demand folk. You make me ashamed to be one of you. Another thing that makes me ashamed is the ad on Channel 9 with the slow, ‘moving’ music with accompanying slow ‘significant’ talking, in an ad about how Monday night is Australian night on Channel 9 because Bert’s Family Feud, Temptation: The New Sale Of The Century, and Who Wants To Be A Millionaire are on. INSANE. These are GAME SHOWS. They do not get syrupy treatment. That is MADNESS.

Went to Erin’s birthday party, and it was like being back in the day. People were talking about the blog, like what used to happen circa 2004. It was pretty damn old school. Anyways, great music, great people, great cat.


Sunday February 12

Spent the day watching DVDs. We have been on that free trial with Bigpond Movies, where they send us DVDs in the mail. It is a great thing, and it makes me feel quite thrilled to be doing something (other than downloading) that I read about and presented on for my uni studies, BUT IN A REAL WORLD SETTING. Anyway, on this day I watched Withnail & I, Five Easy Pieces, and Tarnation. During this marathon I began to notice that all my random snatches at culture have had a habit of synching up in recent weeks. For example, the brother in Welcome To The Dollhouse whose face was so familiar but it took me a while to place him. He’s the dude who gets shot through the cheeks in Ride With The Devil (the video of which recently arrived from Amazon.co.uk). Or, finding the vocal woman Jack Nicholson has sex with at one point in Five Easy Pieces very familiar, only to realise that she's Sally Struthers, as in, from the Gilmore Girls (most recently). Or, the EG article I read mid-marathon, in which Clem Bastow wrote about that scene in Sleepless in Seattle where Tom Hanks and Victor Garber pretend to blubber about The Dirty Dozen. Except that in her article she wrote that they were blubbering about something called 'Three Easy Pieces', and, as I had JUST finished watching Five Easy Pieces, I was in a position (aside from the fact that I know Sleepless by heart and had had a refresher earlier in the week, c/- Dad’s pain) to know that she was wrong upon wrong in her throwaway pop-cultural reference. And such an occurrence I find weird. You know, like, out of randomness, suddenly knowing things just at the very moment when it’s useful to know them. Like sure, pop culture is laced with pop culture and if you have enough ‘cultural capital’ you can join the dots, but it’s so vast you see, so it’s weird when things synch up, even down to minutes. Anyway, the synching thing I want to focus on from this day is that Tarnation is positively dripping with Low, a band that, as I said, I only discovered existed on Friday night and of course downloaded immediately. So, when I sat down to watch Tarnation, I had just been all in my brother’s face about how Low is so great, you gotta listen to Low, and then the movie starts, and I’m like “It’s Low it’s Low it’s Low.” There was some Magnetic Fields in there too. And I decided, hey, if you’re going to make a feature-length music video clip of your dysfunctional family (which is still very moving and I would recommend you watch, by the way), you’ve got to have good taste in music. Which the guy definitely had, is my point.

Finished the day by speaking to my sister in Darwin. The thing we do each week is I reel off what I’ve seen and listened to etc, and she goes through the motions of being jealous. However, this time around, she’d already seen Jarhead, which I won’t be seeing until Tuesday night. Basically her review is that it has some disturbing scenes which freak you out even more about just who is allowed to get trained to use guns and, in the context of defence and such, given a pass to kill people. Also, I asked her if Sarsgaard is all wise and honourable and hot and decent in it, and she said he was. Anyway, as I was rattling through my bits, another weird synching moment happened, which was quite fortuitous actually. We discovered that we are both reading Philip Roth for the first time. I am reading Portnoy’s Complaint, and she is reading The Plot Against America. I tell her that I am enjoying how blog-like the exclamatory hysterics of Portnoy’s Complaint are, which of course means that the writing style I’m currently hitched to is so passé as to have been utilised by Roth in the late 1960s [stand back, people, I am not comparing myself to Roth. That dude is cool.]. Anyway, we moved on to a discussion of her book and, long story short, in the course of this discussion I managed to save my sister from potential humiliation. And this was a nice end to the weekend. I won’t go into it here because I really couldn’t bear anyone thinking ill of my big sister. That would suck completely. The point is, I SAVED HER, and it gave me a nice feeling, much like when I used to carry her over seaweed, or have her hang on to me for dear life on the Parliament station escalator.

Watched the finale of Carnivale, which I was enjoying up until the terrible stuff at the end. NO! I didn't want that to happen! That is the OPPOSITE of what I wanted to happen! Then I watched that thing on Compass about women's experiences of abortion/adoption/unwed mother-ness in the 60s. It was a very good program. But boy I couldn't sleep for a while. I had that standard phantom reaction I get to such things where the walls of my uterus feel like they are bruised or something and I feel quite unwell.


Monday 13 February

Oh my god. Now we can add “YOUR VP SHOT A 78-YEAR-OLD MAN” to the things about America that sound (and are) really bad when you break it down.

Anyway, must to bed, as I have radio in the morning. As it will be Valentine’s Day, I’m planning on playing some love-but-not-love songs, but at the moment I’m in a pickle as to precisely which Magnetic Fields song to play. I’m leaning towards I Don’t Believe You, but I Thought You Were My Boyfriend and The Saddest Story Ever Told both have their charms too…

Went to see Franz Ferdinand last night.

They seem to be at the top of their game and all, but I guess I'm no longer totally jazzed about them. Also, twas hilariously contemptible that the lame-o couple in front of me actually decided to make out after that Eleanor Friedberger-inspired love song. I mean, dudes, yes, it is a love song I suppose, but it is very specifically not about you. Weirdness. Makes me think of those people who make out to REM's The One I Love. Anyways, Cut Copy supported and were, of course, great.

Moving on, a mini-identity crisis has just come upon me. See, I was picking up the mail this morning in my temporary professional capacity, and got a message from Laurie saying how she can't believe it, but The OC is actually a good show. And I was like, yeah... hey, what? Bit random, no? And then I just checked the blog and read Simon's comment on Monday's post:

In other, more important news: did anyone tape the OC, I repeat, did ANYONE tape the OC???!!!

To which I now reply:

OH. GOD. I. DID. NOT. EVEN. KNOW. IT. WAS. ON.

JESUS!

Thus the identity crisis. I mean, I DIDN'T KNOW... ME! And I can't even remember the last time I read the Green Guide back-to-front, or even at all. This is truly shocking.

However, all I can say is, thank goodness for LimeWire.

LimeWire, Simon. LimeWire.

So, the weekend.

Saw Walk The Line on Saturday afternoon. It’s great great great. Great. Loved it.


Mmmmm. Intense love. Can’t beat it.

Then on Saturday night I saw The White Stripes at Festy Hall. They were, of course, fantastic. As if they wouldn’t be. I was especially glad they played Red Rain. However, the support act, The Greenhornes, were a bit so-so. Not much to get excited about, but the drum sound was good. Anyway, I’m loving Jack’s new pants, and the extra belt with like, garter things hanging off the back. That’s pretty excellent.

On Sunday, it was Big Day Out, and these are the acts I saw:

The Grates

British India

Sarah Blasko

Cut Copy

Sleater-Kinney

The Go! Team

Kings Of Leon

M.I.A.

Iggy & The Stooges

The White Stripes

The Grates were fine, and well-dressed. British India was also fine, and I think they dressed well too. And Sarah Blasko was also fine and well-dressed. But things didn’t really get super exciting until Cut Copy. You really cannot see this band too many times. And during Sleater-Kinney there were two levels of fun: 1) discovering that Sleater-Kinney are damn great, and 2) watching Jack White watch Sleater-Kinney. He was nodding his head and everything, like a normal person. REVELATION. The Go! Team were better when I saw them at the Corner last year, but that’s true of most things Big Day Out [see: The Grates]. For example, watching the Kings Of Leon, from a great distance and in intense heat, is not so much fun as watching them, you know, inside somewhere. And being able to see them play, for the most part. However, the glimpses I got of them in their scanty black singlets/waistcoats will have to be enough for me this time around, as a few months ago I had to make the heartbreaking decision between seeing them and M.I.A, after evil scheduling put both sideshows on the same night. And I chose M.I.A. Who was great too, by the way. With the dancing, and the running in slow-motion, and the great songs, etc. Before she was on, I also saw a bit of LCD Soundsystem dude being a DJ. So, you know, I'm ticking off boxes. And then I saw IGGY POP… from a great distance. But I still saw him, and heard him. And he was funny. And played I Wanna Be Your Dog twice, for some reason. Also, for some reason, there were strange homophobic text messages running along the top of the big screen during the Stooges' set. People were using the opportunity of big screen texting to say, like, how some guy was gay and liked it up the ass or something. HA HA. Sure, there were a whole bunch of different messages, from "I lost my shoe" to "RIP some friend who died recently. Rock on!", etc, but the homo stuff was a theme often repeated. Which I found a little odd. What's up with the kids today, etc etc? Anyway, finished the day with The White Stripes, this time from a much greater distance than the night before. But damn, when he wears that hat, he looks so hot and eerie. Especially from a great distance with bright lights behind him and dark clouds amassing, etc.

POST-BROKEBACK POST

I saw it this afternoon, and I wasn't going to blog about it until tomorrow, need my rest and all that. But I can't get to sleep as I keep welling up with tears and wanting to discreetly expel some kind of noise, so my throat's all tight etc etc. So I might as well do this now. First of all, I was already about to break up as the first screenshot came on, so I may have been a little overly 'on' for this outing. And when it finished, I didn't quite know what to say. I wasn't as blown away as I thought I'd be, I was just quite seriously affected by it. It is a lovely film, okay. And it breaks your heart quite a bit, especially Jake Gyllenhaal. He's so open and... I'm sorry, but I'm going to cry again. And that's the thing. It's not the constant impassioned tragedy I was expecting, but, at the same time, it is, if you get my meaning. And I like it more for that. The whole thing. All the parts. It's like, you think you're just going along, watching the everyday lives of people, biding your time until you get to the good stuff, when the two of them meet up again so you can get some feeling, but the parts in between are just as much a part of the tragedy as the intense heartbreaking outbursts that make you cry and cry. So yes, what a relief. It's a great film. It felt honest and true. I love fiction like that, where the characters feel real and are allowed to be themselves. A bunch of decent people living with undercurrents of dissatisfaction and frustration and hope and longing and mundanity and bliss and loss, fighting little battles for pride and dignity and missing out on so much joy. And that's really fucking sad, okay?

DUDE'S GOT ISSUES.

I'VE GOT ISSUES WITH DUDE.

Here is a grab bag of today's ickiness.

ICK #1

Approaching his 10th anniversary as Prime Minister, Mr Howard also hailed research showing that fewer Australians were ashamed of the nation's past. "I welcome this corrective in our national sense of self."

Ucking feck! An incorrect lack of shame is not a corrective. I BLAME YOU FOR THIS.

"Young people are at risk of being disinherited from their community if that community lacks the courage and confidence to teach its history."

True. However, you don't mean it like I mean it, do you. See, I think we are being disinherited of our history because your view - that history should be tailored so that it instils feelings of pride in people - is holding sway in the public discourse. Which is backwards and wrong. We SHOULD KNOW, at a very immediate and ingrained level, what it took to get us here, and how intertwined our 'achievement' is with the systematic and ideologically supported abuse of indigenous peoples, for ONE thing. So dude, YOU are the one that lacks courage and confidence. YOU are the one who is ripping us off. You'd prefer to give people a false impression, and then crow that the false impression has taken root. INSANE, dude. The study of history is supposed to be a thoughtful and critical engagement with the past, placing heavy emphasis on, you know, facts-slash-the evaluation of a variety of possible veracities. This is not dodgy relativism, it's JUST THE WAY IT IS. And so, to flip it up on ya, I think you'll find that understanding that there is more to history than one overriding 'structured narrative' [structured by who? etc etc] actually IS true blue, Aussie as, realism and balance. DICK.

He warned that, in the search for the right balance in the age of terrorism between the legitimate interest of the community and individual civil rights, a bill of rights was not the way to go. "I believe it would lessen our ability to manage and resolve conflict in a free society."

PLEASE EXPLAIN. What on earth does that mean? Having rights makes things too complicated when you need to lock people up incommunicado?

ICK #2

I have bolded the most objectionable bits. And have sometimes been unable to restrain myself from commenting on them. These comments are italicised in square brackets. (Full scale ick can be read here.)

No country has absorbed as many people from as many nations and as many cultures as Australia and done it so well. The strength of a culturally diverse community, united by an overriding and unifying commitment to Australia, is one of our greatest achievements and one of our greatest national assets.
Some have questioned my optimism, especially in the wake of the violence in Sydney earlier this summer. These events brought shame on all involved. Australians, whatever their background, deserve to be treated with tolerance and with respect.
Racial intolerance is incompatible with the kind of society we are and want to be. Within limits, all Australians have the right to express their culture and beliefs and to participate freely in our national life. And all Australians have a civic responsibility to support the basic structures and values of Australian society which guarantee us our freedom and equality.
The criminal behaviour of last December should be met with the full force of the law. I do not believe it calls for either national self-flagellation or moral panic. Our response should reflect this nation's unswerving commitment to racial equality, coupled with an absolute determination to ensure that all sections of the Australian community are fully integrated into the mainstream of our national life.
On these bedrock principles rest both rights and responsibilities that apply to all Australians. In the 21st century, maintaining our social cohesion will remain the highest test of the Australian achievement. It demands the best Australian ideals of tolerance and decency, as well as the best Australian traditions of realism and balance.
Australia's ethnic diversity is one of the enduring strengths of our nation. Yet our celebration of diversity must not be at the expense of the common values that bind us together as one people - respect for the freedom and dignity of the individual, a commitment to the rule of law, the equality of men and women and a spirit of egalitarianism that embraces tolerance, fair play and compassion for those in need. [GAH! That you of all people can speak of fairness and compassion.]
Nor should it be at the expense of ongoing pride in what are commonly regarded as the values, traditions and accomplishments of the old Australia.
A sense of shared values is our social cement. Without it we risk becoming a society governed by coercion rather than consent. [DUDE, you've already made it one of those. To an unprecedented degree. Anti-terrorism bill, much?] That is not an Australia I want to live in. [Me neither. And yet, we do. BECAUSE OF YOU] Again, our goal must be to strive for a balance in questions of national identity and cultural diversity. And for the most part I think we achieve it. We've drawn back from being too obsessed with diversity to a point where Australians are now better able to appreciate the enduring values of the national character that we proudly celebrate and preserve. [Most honest you've ever been about your agenda.]
We've moved on from a time when multiculturalism, in the words of the historian Gregory Melleuish, came to be associated with "the transformation of Australia from a bad old Australia that was xenophobic, racist and monocultural to a good new Australia that is culturally diverse, tolerant and exciting". [WHY, WHY, WHY DID WE MOVE ON FROM THAT TIME? Again, I blame you.] Such a view was always a distortion and a caricature.
Most nations experience some level of cultural diversity while also having a dominant cultural pattern running through them. Our dominant pattern comprises Judeo-Christian ethics, the progressive spirit of the Enlightenment and the institutions and values of British political culture. Its democratic and egalitarian temper also bears the imprint of distinct Irish and non-conformist traditions. [Quit trying to stamp them out then, if you love them so much.] Of course, each wave of new settlers to Australia influences our culture and character, helping to forge new attitudes and traditions. From our art and literature to our scholarship and diplomacy, greater cultural diversity has changed how we see ourselves and how we view the world. It has contributed to our more enterprising and entrepreneurial society. We should have faith in what we have achieved and what we have become.
I believe the time has also come for root and branch renewal of the teaching of Australian history in our schools, both in terms of the numbers learning and the way it is taught. For many years, fewer than one in four senior secondary students in Australia has taken a history subject, and only a fraction of this study relates to Australian history. Real concerns also surround the teaching of Australian history in lower secondary and primary schools.
Too often, Australian history has fallen victim in an ever more crowded curriculum to subjects deemed more "relevant" to today. Too often, it is taught without any sense of structured narrative, replaced by a fragmented stew of "themes" and "issues". And too often, history, along with other subjects in the humanities, has succumbed to a postmodern culture of relativism where any objective record of achievement is questioned or repudiated. [Questioning is GOOD.]
Part of preparing young Australians to be informed and active citizens is to teach them the central currents of our nation's development. [Racism, exploitation, violence... So that we may tackle them and stop the pattern from repeating. Denial. Isn't. Working.] The subject matter should include indigenous history as part of the whole national inheritance. It should also cover the great and enduring heritage of Western civilisation, those nations that became the major tributaries of European settlement and in turn a sense of the original ways in which Australians from diverse backgrounds have created our own distinct history.
In the end, young people are at risk of being disinherited from their community if that community lacks the courage and confidence to teach its history. [True.] This applies as much to the children of seventh generation Australians or indigenous children as it does to those of recent migrants, young Australian Muslims, or any other category one might want to mention.
When it comes to being an Australian, there is no hierarchy of descent. Whether our ancestors were here thousands of years ago, whether they came on the First Fleet or in the 19th century, or whether we or our ancestors are among the millions of Australians who have come to our shores since the Second World War, we are all equally Australians - one no better than the other.
So let us indeed celebrate our diversity. But we should also affirm the sentiment that propelled our nation to Federation 105 years ago - one People, One Destiny.

ICK #3

"The other observation I will make is there is no reluctance on the part of those who are already Australian in accepting people who have chosen to make this country home."

AS LONG AS you are prepared to change and we don't have to for a second. Also, we reserve the right to turn on you the moment you start to think maybe that's unfair.


ICK #4

Patriotism is spiking. The Australian flag is outside more public buildings and suburban homes than ever before, according to Melbourne's oldest flag manufacturer, Evan Evans. Sales have increased three-fold in the past five years, with the most notable rise among private rather than corporate buyers.

CREEPY. CHILLS.


COUNTER-ICK #1

Dr Kwan attributes much of the current rise in patriotism, especially among the young, to the activity of conservative lobby groups and policies of the Federal Government…

…Dr Kwan said Americans' preoccupation with their flag, "Old Glory", began in the 1880s as their cities were flooded with non-English-speaking immigrants. She wonders whether the same thing might be happening in Australia, as our migrant intake has shifted from mainly Anglo-Saxon to larger numbers of people from Asia and the Middle East.
"Groups pushing the anti-change-to-the-flag line have an attitude of hanging on to what they see as the old Australia, an Anglo-Saxon Australia," she said.

COUNTER-ICK #2

Even so, the xenophobia that has typified much of Australian history and was the dark undercurrent at Cronulla, is now part, for a significant number of Australians, of what it means to be Australian. This is borne out in the acceptance of mandatory detention and in suspicion displacing charity towards asylum seekers.

Anyway, let's not think about that now. Today isn't even Australia Day, really. Because....

IT'S BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN DAY!

Petitions.

Sign this. And don’t say it’s naff. Sure, “With fire in our bellies and love in our hearts”, is naff, but war is naffer, yo. I mean, for serious.


And most definitely sign this one. Because there is absolutely no reason at all to deny women access to mifepristone. And, there is extra extra no reason for this to be the ONLY drug which requires the Health Minister to go before parliament and ask for it to be approved. Bastard. Harradine. Bastard. In conclusion, it's safer than a surgical abortion, it's safer than continuing a pregnancy. Dr Caroline de Costa told me that. And yes, she's a DOCTOR. So don't believe the haters. FIGHT the haters.

New musical obsession.

Went to see Antony and the Johnsons tonight, and while it was lovely to find out that he is also a warmly funny man, all I can really say is COCO!!!!!! ROSIE!!!!!!!!!!!!!

CocoRosie. CocoRosie. CocoRosie. CocoRosie. CocoRosie. CocoRosie. CocoRosie. CocoRosie. CocoRosie. CocoRosie. CocoRosie. CocoRosie. CocoRosie. CocoRosie. CocoRosie. CocoRosie. CocoRosie. CocoRosie. CocoRosie. CocoRosie. CocoRosie. CocoRosie. CocoRosie. CocoRosie. CocoRosie. CocoRosie. CocoRosie. CocoRosie. CocoRosie. CocoRosie. CocoRosie. CocoRosie. CocoRosie. CocoRosie. CocoRosie. CocoRosie. CocoRosie. CocoRosie. CocoRosie. CocoRosie. CocoRosie. CocoRosie.

Quite possibly, most probably, THE BEST THING I HAVE EVER SEEN... EVER.

And I'm seeing them again on Sunday night at the Northcote Social Club. You really should too. I MEAN IT. It will most likely be the best experience of your entire life. NO JOKE. For example, they make me feel like that childhood period when I wore tracksuit pants on my head in public was my coolest ever. POWERFUL.

Some things I have lately consumed:

Wolf Creek. I saw it at the Moonlight Cinema the other night. I only mention the venue because it appears to make an impression on people, and they say things like, "You're brave/Are you crazy?". However, I don't think the setting really made a lot of difference. The film was okay. Not super scary in any spooky way. More about how some guy is really cruel and mean, and that is quite a bad thing - how people can be so mean. The main thing I liked about the film was the young male lead's discomfort with the sexism from other men that he was expected to respond to in kind, or to not make a fuss about. It really pissed him off, and I thought that was done really well. Otherwise, it was basically an okay movie, and it makes me get phantom twinges in my mid-spine area every once in a while.

Good Night And Good Luck. This is bloody terrific. You will love it. It's so honourable and you really appreciate the precision of the language and the thinking etc. It is near perfect, the only flaw occuring in the first few moments of the film, when words appear on screen to situate the time and context, and, unforgiveably, this happens:

"...in the 1940's and 1950's..."

Shameful, I know. Indefensible. However, don't let that turn you off this fantastic, GREAT movie.

Broken Flowers. This was so-so. I liked its pace, and Bill Murray is still cool and there's a lovely warmth to the home of his neighbour, and the visit to Frances Conroy is particularly good, and I like the lack of resolution, especially the awkwardness of dealing in reality [well, the character's reality] with something that only seems likely because of the expectation of narrative resolution, so that even Bill Murray's character believes for a moment, 'huh, nothing's really happened. At all... And why should it? But, wait a second, out of nowhere, could this be...?' etc, and then all he does is freak out some kid. That was cool. But still, I think I expected it to be better. It seems quite a slight film.

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. Best Potter movie yet. I'm sorry, but I really enjoy the books, have a real fondness for them, etc. And all the movies so far have been EXTREME disappointments. But I was gleeful when I walked out of this one. You see, THEY'VE FINALLY FIGURED OUT HOW TO MAKE A POTTER MOVIE. Thank fuck.

King Kong. I thought this was really good, but way too fucking long. I usually don't have a problem with length, but in this one you really felt the length of some scenes. They really dragged after a while, so even if they were action-packed, you were like, 'it's been 15 minutes. Enough already. Kill that giant beast, please. Oh god, now there's another giant beast to kill. Could you make it a quickie, please? Holy fuck, we are still on this fucking island.' There was also a laughable sub-plot involving little Jimmy and his wish to be brave and his self-sacrificing mentor dude being all, "Run Jimmy. It's not cowardly to run", etc. Which was all pretty funny. All that said, it's definitely a good movie. The three leads (Kong, Naomi Watts, and Adrien Brody) were all very appealing. The scene in which Naomi was freaking out in Kong's paw was really great - shown first from her perspective of being totally shitscared and thinking Kong meant to dash her brains out against some rock, and then zooming out to see that he was behaving quite naturally, just swinging his arms and displaying no intent to harm [big race relations/culture clash subtext here if I am not mistaken]. I actually found the film very emotionally powerful [translation: I cried], especially from the scene where Kong is finally subdued on the island onwards. You really felt the themes of dignity and pity etc, etc. Sad.

LETTERMAN IS MY HERO.

EVEN MORE THAN USUAL, I MEAN.

UPDATE: Although I’m deeply indebted to the link above for the transcript, I can’t really handle the typos, so I’m posting up my proofed and enhanced version of it. I just really want you all to experience the thing. Here it is.

Letterman: Our first guest is the host of cable television's number one news program, The O'Reilly Factor. It can be seen five nights a week on Fox News. Ladies and gentlemen, here's Bill O'Reilly. Bill come on out. Welcome back.

O'Reilly: Thank you.

Letterman: Happy New Year. Welcome back to the show. Tell me and people what you did before the O'Reilly Factor, Fox News thing.

O'Reilly: I was running the deli downstairs with that guy they have.

[OUTRAGE! Rupert Jee is NOT ‘that guy they have’, you insensitive boob! – Elanor reads Dave’s mind too.]

Letterman: Is that a fact? [YOU COCK]

O'Reilly: So, you can build on that career he's making.

Letterman: Yeah, but seriously. [If you go there again, I will cut you. Rupert Jee is quintuple the man you are. Move along, creep.]

O'Reilly: I did a show called Inside Edition. Then, before that, I was a correspondent for ABC News, Peter Jennings, and before that CBS News.

Letterman: So, you're a life-long news journalist? [Best. Joke. Ever.]

O'Reilly: Yeah.

Letterman: How were your holidays? Good?

[laughter]

O'Reilly: I had a nice Winter Solstice, yeah.

[long pause and laughter]

Letterman: Okay.

O'Reilly: You can't say - you can't say Christmas.

Letterman: You can't say Christmas?

O'Reilly: No.

Letterman: Why is that?

O'Reilly: Because it is politically incorrect and we did a lot of reporting on this and uh, that was the big thing we were doing leading up to that. While you were in St. Barts, we were leading up to the Christmas holidays by saying ‘hey, how come we can't say Christmas?’

Letterman: I wasn't aware that you couldn't say Christmas. When did this happen?

O'Reilly: Sears Kmart started it, said no more Christmas. It's all Happy Holidays or Winter Solstice. I actually got a card from a friend of mine, it said have a Blessed Winter. I live in New York. You know what you can do with your blessed winter. You know what I'm talking about? Are you with me Dave?

[Absolutely not.]

Letterman: I wasn't aware that this had happened.

O'Reilly: You weren't aware of the Big Giant Controversy over Christmas?

Letterman: Well, I ignore stuff like that. It doesn't really affect me. I go ahead and do what I wanna do, and you know, I say Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, Happy New Year, Happy Hanukkah.

O'Reilly: Here's why it matters - you with me on this?

Letterman: Yeah.

[Except not.]

O'Reilly: Okay. Ridgewood elementary school in Dodgeville, Wisconsin. The song Silent Night… Silent Night, you know? Knocked out the words and told the little kids to sing: ‘cold in the night, no one in sight, winter winds wind and bite, how I wish I was happy and warm, safe with my family, out of the storm.’ They replaced the words to Silent Night with that. Now, with all due respect, I even think the baby Jesus would say, ‘gimme a break’. You know? You want another one?

Letterman: No, but let’s - I don't…

O'Reilly: Whoa, whoa, whoa. When great tradition…

Letterman: But what does this prove? It proves that one community…

O'Reilly: It proves there are pinheads at the Ridgewell, uh, elementary school in Wisconsin.

Letterman: Right.

O'Reilly: That's what it proves.

Letterman: Right.

O'Reilly: Here’s another one. You want another one? Or are you bored with this?

Letterman: I'm kinda - think we should move on… I mean, but isn't this the kind of thing, uh, once or twice every twenty years, somebody gets outraged and says ‘oh by god, we gotta put diapers on horses’? Isn't it just about… it's just, So What. Let it go, it'll take care of itself.

O’Reilly: No. There is a movement in this country by politically correct people to erode traditions and this Christmas tradition is the most cherished in the country. Look. How absurd is it?

Letterman: But I don't -

[talking over each other]

Letterman: I don't feel threatened.

O'Reilly: It's not matter of you feel threatened.

Letterman: I don't think this is an actual threat. I think this is something that happened here and it happened there and so people like you are trying to make us think that it's a threat.

O'Reilly: Wrong.

Letterman: Because nobody said Happy Holidays to me and then said ‘Merry Christmas… oh I can't say Merry Christmas’.

O'Reilly: Well, here's why it gets to be more than that, because it's in court. There are lawsuits. In Plano, Texas, another grammar school, umm the kids were told not to bring in any Christmas colours, like napkins that are red and green. That's in court. That's being litigated. Now, you can say ‘oh that's just a little thing, it doesn't affect you’, but it isn't. The erosion of the culture and the protection of tradition is important in this country.

Letterman: Yeah, but are we really describing an erosion here? It’s two examples, one in Wisconsin and one in Texas.

O'Reilly: I got a million of them.

Letterman: Oh you got a million of them. Okay. Fine.

O'Reilly: Umm and they're funny ones. Memphis, Tennessee - bible belt - library they have a little display where you can, say you are in a duck hunting club you can bring in a dead duck and put it there and advertise your duck hunting club. We kill ducks. Show up at 9 o’clock and we'll blow some ducks out of the air. Okay. There was a church that wanted to advertise a Christmas pageant so they brought in the manger scene and the library said, ‘you can have the manger scene in Memphis, Tennessee, but you can't have the baby Jesus, Joseph, or Mary or the wise men. We’re not sure about the shepherds’. That was a big debate. Now how stupid and crazy is this?

Letterman: I don't believe you.

O'Reilly: It's true

Letterman: I don't believe you. I don't...I don't believe you.

O'Reilly: You think I'm making this up?

Letterman: I do.

O'Reilly: Then I could write for your show. This mine?

[referring to mug of beverage]

Letterman: Yes. Let’s talk about your friends in the Bush Administration. Things seem to be darker now…

O'Reilly: [interjects] They don't like me.

Letterman: …than they might have been a year before. How do things look to you?

O'Reilly: It's pretty rough, but they're not my friends in the Bush Administration. They're not kicking the door down to be on my show. In fact you have an easier time getting President Bush to come on here than I have getting him to come on the Factor. But I think that the Iraq thing has been full of unintended consequences, and it’s a vital thing for the country and it's brutal, it’s absolutely brutal. We should all take it very seriously. This simplistic stuff about hating Bush or ‘he lied’ and all this stuff, does the country no good at all. We've got to win this thing. You have to win it. And even though it's a screw-up, giant, massive, all right - right now, for everybody's protection, it's best for the world to have a democracy in that country functioning and friendly to the West, is it not?

David Letterman: Yes, absolutely.

O'Reilly: Okay, so let's stop with the lying and the this and the that and the undermining and ‘let's get him’. That is putting us all in danger. So our philosophy is, we call it as we see it. Sometimes you agree, sometimes you don't. Robust debate is good. But we believe that the United States, particularly the military, are doing a noble thing. A noble thing. The soldiers and Marines are noble. They're not terrorists. And when people call them that, like Cindy Sheehan, called the insurgents 'freedom fighters’, we don't like that. It is a vitally important time in American history. And we should all take it very seriously. Be very careful with what we say.

Letterman: Well, and you should be very careful with what you say also.

[audience applause]

O'Reilly: Give me an example.

Letterman: How can you possibly take exception with the motivation and the position of someone like Cindy Sheehan?

O'Reilly: Because I think she’s run by far-left elements in this country. I feel bad for the woman.

Letterman: Have you lost family members in armed conflict?

O'Reilly: No, I have not.

Letterman: Well, then you can hardly speak for her, can you?

[applause]

O'Reilly: I'm not speaking for her. Let me ask you this question.

Letterman: Let's go back to your little red and green stories.

O'Reilly: This is important, this is important. Cindy Sheehan lost a son, a professional soldier in Iraq, correct? She has a right to grieve any way she wants, she has a right to say whatever she wants. When she says to The Public that the insurgents and terrorists are 'freedom fighters’ how do you think, David Letterman, that makes people who lost loved ones, by these people blowing the hell out of them, how do you think they feel? What about their feelings, sir?

Letterman: What about, why are we there in the first place? [applause] The President himself, less than a month ago, said we are there because of a mistake made in intelligence. Well, whose intelligence? Was it just somebody got off a bus and handed it to him?

O'Reilly: No.

Letterman: No, it was the intelligence gathered by his administration.

O'Reilly: By the CIA.

Letterman: Yeah, so why are we there in the first place? I agree to you, with you, that we have to support the troops. They are there, they are the best and the brightest of this country. [audience applause] There's no doubt about that. And I also agree that now we're in it it's going to take a long, long time. People who expect it's going to be solved and wrapped up in a couple of years – unrealistic. It's not going to happen. However, however, that does not eliminate the legitimate speculation and concern and questioning of why the hell are we there to begin with?

O'Reilly: If you want to question that, and then revamp an intelligence agency that's obviously flawed, the CIA, okay. But remember, MI-6 in Britain [he pronounces it 'M-one-six'. Wrong.] said the same thing. Putin's people in Russia said the same thing, and so did Mubarak's intelligence agency in Egypt.

Letterman: Well then that makes it all right?

O'Reilly: No it doesn't make it right.

Letterman: That the intelligence across the board makes it alright that we're there?

O'Reilly: It doesn't make it right.

Letterman: See, I'm very concerned about people like yourself, who don't have nothing but endless sympathy for a woman like Cindy Sheehan. Honest to christ!

[audience applause]

O'Reilly: No, I'm sorry.

Letterman: Honest to christ!

O'Reilly: No way. [waits for applause to die down] No way you're going to get me, no way that a terrorist who blows up women and children…

Letterman: [interjects] Do you have children?

O'Reilly: Yes I do. I have a son the same age as yours. No way a terrorist who blows up women and children is going to be called a ‘freedom fighter’ on my program.

[mild audience applause]

Letterman: I'm not smart enough to debate you point to point on this, but I have the feeling, I have the feeling about 60 percent of what you say is crap. [audience laughter. Paul yells “AAA-AH!” in a so-Paul way.] But I don't know that for a fact.

[more audience applause]

Paul Shaffer: Sixty percent.

Letterman: Sixty percent. I'm just spit-balling here.

O'Reilly: Listen, I respect your opinion. You should respect mine.

[not going to happen]

Letterman: Well, ah, I, okay. But I think you're - […scum]

O'Reilly: Our analysis is based on the best evidence we can get.

Letterman: Yeah, but I think there's something - this fair and balanced. I'm not sure that it's, I don't think that you represent an objective viewpoint.

O'Reilly: Well, you're going to have to give me an example if you're going to make those claims.

Letterman: [delivered impeccably] Well, I don't watch your show so that would be impossible.

O'Reilly: Then why would you come to that conclusion if you don't watch the program?

Letterman: Because of things that I've read, things that I know.

O'Reilly: Oh come on, you're going to take things that you've read? You know what they say about you? Come on. Watch it for a couple, look, watch it for a half hour. You'll get addicted. You'll be a Factor Fan, we'll send you a hat.

Letterman: You'll send me a hat. Well, send Cindy Sheehan a hat.

O'Reilly: I'll be happy to.

Letterman: Uh, Bill, it's always a pleasure.

O'Reilly: Thank you very much. Happy New Year.

Letterman: Same to you.

2005

For Guy, it was the Official Year of Kate Bush, and he said so as early as January 7.


He was undoubtedly correct. It definitely became the Year of Kate Bush for me, under Guy’s influence, which was not at all shameful and corrupting in this instance. Thanks mister. I’m truly indebted. I do want that Yoko Ono anthology, too. Don’t think I’ve forgotten.

But I have to say that 2005 wasn’t all pleasant like that. There was also a despicable lack of TV-watching on my part, which I will have to correct, coupled with a despicable lack of film-seeing and gig-going, and most egregiously, book-reading. And there was Tom and Katie to be reckoned with, as well as a rage verging on madness regarding completely indefensible legislation. But I don’t want to talk about that now. I want to make lists. LISTS OF THINGS GOOD.

2005 ALBUMS

Kate Bush, Aerial

The Knife, Deep Cuts

The Drones, Wait Long By The River And The Bodies Of Your Enemies Will Float By

Arcade Fire, Funeral

Antony & The Johnsons, I Am A Bird Now

The White Stripes, Get Behind Me Satan

Metric, Live It Out

Martha Wainwright, Martha Wainwright

M.I.A, Arular

The Fiery Furnaces, Rehearsing My Choir

Stephen Malkmus, Face The Truth

LCD Soundsystem, LCD Soundsystem

Art Brut, Bang Bang Rock & Roll

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Howl

The Duke Spirit, Cuts Across The Land

The Futureheads, The Futureheads

The Kills, No Wow

The Rogers Sisters, Three Fingers

Wolf Parade, Apologies To The Queen Mary

Sons And Daughters, The Repulsion Box

Beck, Guero *

*(I have been working on a dictum to organise my thoughts on religious types. So far, it has developed into this – If There Must Be Catholics, They Should At Least Be Jesuits. If There Must Be Scientologists, They Should At Least Be Beck.)

NOT 2005 ALBUMS – BUT VITAL TO ME IN 2005

Electrelane, The Power Out

Talking Heads, Best Of

The Breeders, Last Splash

Joanna Newsom, The Milk-Eyed Mender

Gary Numan, Premier Hits

Patti Smith, Horses

Kate Bush, The Kick Inside/Hounds Of Love/The Dreaming

2005 GIGS

Le Tigre/Minimum Chips/Ninety Nine – Corner Hotel

David Byrne/Architecture In Helsinki – Regent Theatre

REM/Bright Eyes – Rod Laver Arena

Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds - Melbourne Town Hall

Joanna Newsom/Smog - The Athenaeum

The Hives – Corner Hotel

Interpol – The Metro

The Rogers Sisters/Love Of Diagrams – Northcote Social Club

Whirlwind Heat – Northcote Social Club

Cut Copy/Pnau – HiFi Bar

Martha Wainwright – Northcote Social Club

New Buffalo – Northcote Social Club

Midnight Juggernauts/Damn Arms – Northcote Social Club

Scissor Sisters – Prince Of Wales

The Futureheads (supporting QOTSA) – The Palace

The Grates (supporting The Go! Team) – Corner Hotel

Sons And Daughters – Corner Hotel



2005 FILMS

Me And You And Everyone We Know

Look Both Ways

The Proposition

Sin City

Mysterious Skin

A Very Long Engagement

Turtles Can Fly

Thumbsucker

Gay Republicans

Rash

Punk: Attitude


2005 TV

Arrested Development

Nighty Night

I Am Not An Animal

Auschwitz: The Nazis And The Final Solution

North And South

Lateline

The Late Show With David Letterman



BEST SYMPOSIASTS MOMENT OF 2005

I did rather like Batman freakiness in an art/life way.

Anyways, I actually felt very fulfilled and happy this year, enormous rage aside. I perhaps should have blogged about it more, but I am lazy. However, that’s all in the past. So 2005. So over. Let’s look to the future shall we? Because…

ONLY 26 SLEEPS TO GO!

Got to love Sons and Daughters.

That is all.

CLASSIC AUSTRALIANA

Sun... Beach... Surf... Beer... Flags... Chants... Bashings... Thugs and Dickheads

BAD!

YOU DON'T KNOW THE HISTORY OF SONOGRAPHY.

I DO

From today's Age:

'The SDMS said use of such a machine required knowledge, hand-eye coordination and pattern recognition and that "reading the manufacturer's manual or having a one hour orientation is not sufficient".'

Good lord I LOVE The Society of Diagnostic Medical Sonography.

Pretty Pretty Calendar.

Hey people, please go to Readings in Lygon Street tomorrow night at 6pm to make up a crowd for the launch of this lovely calendar. I'm not asking this of you because I helped out with producing it, but only because I know you want to be where lefties are.

Also, please buy the calendar. Phillip Adams thinks it's fab, apparently. So you desperately need to own one now. There are details and stockists and stuff at the 3CR website. You really do want one.

Mass.

What a pleasant day out that was.

It's time [to go]...

Oh yes, it's the 30th anniversary of the Whitlam Dismissal today. A watershed moment, a national disgrace, etc. My dad left the country in disgust, so he SAYS (he also had the travelling bug, mind). Anyway, on Tuesday morning's radio show, I interviewed my legendary Politics teacher from school. It was a completely legitimate interview too, because he also runs whitlamdismissal.com, and even features in today's Age article about the Dismissal's dimming legacy wif da yoof [ignore fucking Marcel White, please]. Anyway, when Mr Farnsworth says "the kids are less interested in politics generally", he's not talking about ME, obviously. I'm sure I was his favourite student EVER. But I have a few friends who will fight me on that. Anyway, Happy Dismissal Anniversary, you fucked country!

EXTREME FIERY FURNACES APPRECIATION!!!!

Before we get back to Extreme Kate Bush Appreciation (more is coming), I would just like to sneak in some Extreme Fiery Furnaces Appreciaion. There is a new album, and it is fantastic. Oh yes, we do love us a concept album, especially when it's done by one of the best bands around. I was going to point you in the direction of this entirely correct EG review, but then I found the following 'From The Artist' note on Amazon, which I think gives a better sense of it:

Dear Listener, Tracks 3 and 4 take place in the 40s; tracks 5 and 6 in the 20s and 30s; track 7 in the later 50s; track 8 starts in the very early 40s; track 9 goes back and forth; track 10 takes place in the early 60s; the final track takes place in the early 90s. Track 2 takes place a few years ago; track 1 took place when it was recorded. The action depicted in "The Wayward Granddaughter" and "Slavin' Away" does not include the character Olga Sarantos plays on the rest of the record. "Slavin' Away" imagines that character--the main character-- fantasizing, a bit remotely, about the hard lot of other women. Now, I wouldn't guess that the Main Character actually thought the woman concerned was riding around in a Norton side-car and operating her own cottage industry trinket assembly/sweatshop: but it might have pleased her to picture it so. "The Wayward Granddaughter" is about a different Greek-American grandmother and her popular granddaughter ("Connie"). They're from Chicago's south suburbs and don't figure in the rest of the record; I wanted to have another (slightly younger) grandmother and family in there for perspective or comparison's sake, so to speak. Thank you for your time, Matthew Friedberger

I offer this for your consideration because it's very fucking good.

EXTREME KATE BUSH APPRECIATION!!!!

Was anyone else awake really late last night? Did you SEE every single Kate Bush video clip being played in succession on Rage? Did you? BECAUSE I DID. And it was the BEST THING EVER.


Wuthering Heights - The Man With The Child In His Eyes - Hammer Horror - Wow - Breathing - Babooshka - Army Dreamers - Sat In Your Lap - Suspended In Gaffa - The Dreaming - Running Up That Hill - Cloudbusting - Hounds of Love - The Big Sky - Experiment IV - Don't Give Up - The Sensual World - Love and Anger - This Woman's Work - Rocket Man - Rubberband Girl - Moments Of Pleasure - And So Is Love - The Man I Love - King Of The Mountain - Wuthering Heights (Studio Version)


Seriously, it was the most exciting and enjoyable television I have watched in my entire life. And I even taped some of it, so now I can watch Kate Bush videos whenever I want. SCREAM! Because they are AMAZING. The dancing, the trenchcoats, the gold fluttering confetti, Donald Sutherland being Kate's dad. And watching them all in one go was like an education. I am a better person now. And the new clip for King Of The Mountain makes so much SENSE now. There's a trenchcoat, there's an Elvis suit flying around. It [needs more dancing, but] WORKS! Would really like some kind of DVD with all of Kate Bush's video clips on it to be made and distributed, á la Björk. Please.

Now, if someone had passed on Dave's message about Aerial being in Polyester already, I might be listening to it now. But I'm not. Which only means MORE EXTREME KATE BUSH APPRECIATION WILL FOLLOW.