Thank goodness for a man called Kevin. If you can get elected to PM with a name like that in Australia then there is hope for someone called Barack in the US. In the land of immigrants Obama's name has been something of an albatross. I hope familiarity will breed content. It seems to have worked for Kev.
Now what do we do about Hillary?
Monday, December 3, 2007
Friday, November 30, 2007
Free the turkey!
Who needs turkey?
The Thanksgiving stuffing is more than bread and herbs. It can have apple, cranberries, nuts, meat, spices, and be made in a thousand ways. It's great with gravy, a heap of cranberry sauce, and vegies. Let the turkey live...
The Thanksgiving stuffing is more than bread and herbs. It can have apple, cranberries, nuts, meat, spices, and be made in a thousand ways. It's great with gravy, a heap of cranberry sauce, and vegies. Let the turkey live...
Monday, November 19, 2007
Living like a local?
Have I assimilated?
- I chew gum
- I listen to my iPod on the subway
- I dash out to shop at the supermarket when changing trains
- I give money to musically talented buskers
- I eat breakfast in a bodega
- I can say,'two eggs easy over, side of bacon, rye toast no butter, hold the home fries' really quickly
- I wish I had gumboots for rainy days
- I own more umbrellas than handbags
- I save pennies in a jar
- I buy Shea butter from the Africans on the street
- I drink strong, freshly ground coffee in the mornings when it's still dark
- I sleep less
It's a bit scary cos I could go on and on with a list like this. What would stop me would be the fact that so much of what I now do is so instinstive that I don't realise it's a habit of only a few years. How interesting it is to me to think about how culturally located so much of what I do is. And to think I thought I had an independent mind!
Sunday, November 18, 2007
October in Vermont
Ever had one of those, 'One day I'd like to do that", thoughts?
Something along that line for me, was to one day take a trip to Vermont in 'peak season', as they say in New England. Well I did it and now have had time to wonder why I'd always wanted to do it. I understand more easily why I wanted to see things like the Grand Canyon or Uluru. There's a size and scale aspect as well as a uniqueness about them that can only be experienced on site.
Autumn scenes seem to me to be different. I saw some great fall color in Minnesota, Wisconsin and Canada in 91. Have done so more recently, so why New England? Was it different?
Vermont did have a lot of hills. They do have a different mix of trees to other parts of this country. We stayed in a comfortable house in the Green Mountains near the Mad River Glen Ski Area. The Mad River itself looked calm. I think it was when I took a walk back down the mountain one evening that I realised how appealing the area was. It was completely quiet except for the sound of leaves drifting from branches and resting on the road and ground around me. There were lots of falling leaves. The sound was like wind blowing, yet I felt no air move. There was a sort of disconnect between what I heard and felt. Yet what I saw was a riot of color. Lots of orange and red and yellow swathes of light as the afternoon sun reflected through the trees and on the falling leaves. I thought of the death of each single leaf and the brightness of its fall. I thought of Les Murray's poem about the sounds of an axefall in the Australian bush. What is it to be a witness? Can I re-present this experience in my mind later any better than a calendar shot? Can any experience truly be shared? And what is it now but a memory, something faded and diminished because my senses cannot recall it in total. What do I feel when I look at a photo? Something of the cool air on my skin and the vivid color before my eyes.
And now, much later, what to make of a place that was nature in flux. Does it differ in memory in any way from say my vision of the side of a mountain in the Grampians after the bushfires when the first flush of green burst from the black trunks of gums?
What it leaves me with, is an urge to just get out there. To be in nature. It is always different, always a new light/hue/sound/feel. And the best part is how inconsequential I feel amongst it all. We may be destroying a lot of it, but whenever I venture into a totally natural landscape I feel witness to something larger than myself. Perhaps it's enough to be thinking of my place in the scheme of things.
Something along that line for me, was to one day take a trip to Vermont in 'peak season', as they say in New England. Well I did it and now have had time to wonder why I'd always wanted to do it. I understand more easily why I wanted to see things like the Grand Canyon or Uluru. There's a size and scale aspect as well as a uniqueness about them that can only be experienced on site.
Autumn scenes seem to me to be different. I saw some great fall color in Minnesota, Wisconsin and Canada in 91. Have done so more recently, so why New England? Was it different?
Vermont did have a lot of hills. They do have a different mix of trees to other parts of this country. We stayed in a comfortable house in the Green Mountains near the Mad River Glen Ski Area. The Mad River itself looked calm. I think it was when I took a walk back down the mountain one evening that I realised how appealing the area was. It was completely quiet except for the sound of leaves drifting from branches and resting on the road and ground around me. There were lots of falling leaves. The sound was like wind blowing, yet I felt no air move. There was a sort of disconnect between what I heard and felt. Yet what I saw was a riot of color. Lots of orange and red and yellow swathes of light as the afternoon sun reflected through the trees and on the falling leaves. I thought of the death of each single leaf and the brightness of its fall. I thought of Les Murray's poem about the sounds of an axefall in the Australian bush. What is it to be a witness? Can I re-present this experience in my mind later any better than a calendar shot? Can any experience truly be shared? And what is it now but a memory, something faded and diminished because my senses cannot recall it in total. What do I feel when I look at a photo? Something of the cool air on my skin and the vivid color before my eyes.
And now, much later, what to make of a place that was nature in flux. Does it differ in memory in any way from say my vision of the side of a mountain in the Grampians after the bushfires when the first flush of green burst from the black trunks of gums?
What it leaves me with, is an urge to just get out there. To be in nature. It is always different, always a new light/hue/sound/feel. And the best part is how inconsequential I feel amongst it all. We may be destroying a lot of it, but whenever I venture into a totally natural landscape I feel witness to something larger than myself. Perhaps it's enough to be thinking of my place in the scheme of things.
Films that resonate
Two films that have stuck with me for some days have almost nothing in common.
No Country For Old Men had images that stuck fast, something that I have experienced with previous Coen brothers films. I think taking my kids to see Barton Fink in 1991 may have been a mistake, but I like to imagine that they would be able to recall images from that unique film. Because I love the McCarthy book that this current film is based on, so watching it was a double pleasure. And such a literal screenplay! For an Aussie there was a lot that was familiar in the sparse Western landscapes and the evident battles to scratch a living from a dry, harsh landscape.
But what stuck? Javier Bardem is a chilling villain. An 'Other' that looks, sounds and moves like an alien. An outsider who blasts the fabric of society to shreds. It's hard to watch, harder not to watch. And then there's the humor. The drama/humor mix is classic Coen and took me on a road trip I won't easily forget. 5 stars Margaret!
By contrast, Southland Tales makes Donnie Darko look like Mary Poppins. The director has gone psycho with an apocalyptic story that is ambitiously pretentious, eccentric, wild, colorful and amazingly graphic. It doesn't really work but then again I'm not sure it should. After all, The Rock stars as a man who goes out to Kansas somewhere and travels through a rift in the time-space continuum. And comes back. And has no memory. And we see him hitch up with Sarah Michelle Gellar as a porn star. Now that's worth seeing the film for alone. There are amazingly fantastic bits, religious cant, the war on terror, big brother real and imagined and more pop cultural and media references than I could ever comprehend.
I wouldn't recommend this film to people unless they thought Leaving Las Vegas was hilarious, and believe that life really is a farce.
No Country For Old Men had images that stuck fast, something that I have experienced with previous Coen brothers films. I think taking my kids to see Barton Fink in 1991 may have been a mistake, but I like to imagine that they would be able to recall images from that unique film. Because I love the McCarthy book that this current film is based on, so watching it was a double pleasure. And such a literal screenplay! For an Aussie there was a lot that was familiar in the sparse Western landscapes and the evident battles to scratch a living from a dry, harsh landscape.
But what stuck? Javier Bardem is a chilling villain. An 'Other' that looks, sounds and moves like an alien. An outsider who blasts the fabric of society to shreds. It's hard to watch, harder not to watch. And then there's the humor. The drama/humor mix is classic Coen and took me on a road trip I won't easily forget. 5 stars Margaret!
By contrast, Southland Tales makes Donnie Darko look like Mary Poppins. The director has gone psycho with an apocalyptic story that is ambitiously pretentious, eccentric, wild, colorful and amazingly graphic. It doesn't really work but then again I'm not sure it should. After all, The Rock stars as a man who goes out to Kansas somewhere and travels through a rift in the time-space continuum. And comes back. And has no memory. And we see him hitch up with Sarah Michelle Gellar as a porn star. Now that's worth seeing the film for alone. There are amazingly fantastic bits, religious cant, the war on terror, big brother real and imagined and more pop cultural and media references than I could ever comprehend.
I wouldn't recommend this film to people unless they thought Leaving Las Vegas was hilarious, and believe that life really is a farce.
Monday, November 12, 2007
Blade Runner Final Cut
I have seen Blade Runner more times than any other film. Having taught it for nearly 20 years I know every line in 3 versions. Now we have one more. I can see why. With DVDs and freeze-frame some of the mistakes must have really annoyed Ridley Scott. So, only 4 replicants are now on earth, the stunt double is not so obvious when Zhora dies. And most importantly, the sound is now all encompassing. It fills the theater: you hear the rain gushing down; engines and machines roaring and whining; the whole cacophany in all its range and scope. Very impressive. The print seems brighter even though the smoky haze seems ever present and the soup below is as murky as ever. There's a little more clarity to the details and the externals of the buildings are crisper and more visible.
Seeing it on the big screen was a big experience. It still looks, sounds and feels good. And relevant.
Seeing it on the big screen was a big experience. It still looks, sounds and feels good. And relevant.
begin at the beginning
I am going to try blogging instead of emailing. This is to reduce my addiction to this computer. I am coming home from work, jumping on the computer and getting resentful of interruptions. I could stay on it all night until I am too tired to read any more. I read emails, reply to some, read The Age, ABC News, Alternative news sources, check YouTube, read blogs, reply to some, listen to public radio, check Facebook and search all sorts of things.
It's too much!
I have been reading Tim Ferriss. This guy has a book called The 4-hour Workweek. Now I wouldn't go that far, but he has interesting things to say about cutting out a lot of information. I would like to take up this challenge given that I also spend at least an hour or two a day reading hard copies of newspapers, magazines and books. Why do I feel a compulsion to do this? I'd like to find an answer.
So why a blog? This is the 3rd time I have started one. I like reading blogs as I can do it when it suits me. Email is harder to resist. So, it might be easier for others also to read at their leisure rather than feel they have to open an email because you never know what it might contain. Facebook can be just as insistent. But you can check the topic and read or not read. Simple?
So here I go with writing when I am in the mood and at times when I feel spacious.
But what to write?
I know I like to read personal stuff written by friends. I also like exploring links. William Gibson, has a character in Spook Country say, "when you look at blogs... you're most likely to find the real info... in the links. It's contextual, and not only who the blog's linked to, but who's linked to the blog."
But I won't go there. Facebook does that well enough and there are expert bloggers out there who have astonishing links. No, mine will be just me thinking about and re-arranging the world. Perception is all. You may prefer to read a book for this, but at least my comments will be brief. I hope!
It's too much!
I have been reading Tim Ferriss. This guy has a book called The 4-hour Workweek. Now I wouldn't go that far, but he has interesting things to say about cutting out a lot of information. I would like to take up this challenge given that I also spend at least an hour or two a day reading hard copies of newspapers, magazines and books. Why do I feel a compulsion to do this? I'd like to find an answer.
So why a blog? This is the 3rd time I have started one. I like reading blogs as I can do it when it suits me. Email is harder to resist. So, it might be easier for others also to read at their leisure rather than feel they have to open an email because you never know what it might contain. Facebook can be just as insistent. But you can check the topic and read or not read. Simple?
So here I go with writing when I am in the mood and at times when I feel spacious.
But what to write?
I know I like to read personal stuff written by friends. I also like exploring links. William Gibson, has a character in Spook Country say, "when you look at blogs... you're most likely to find the real info... in the links. It's contextual, and not only who the blog's linked to, but who's linked to the blog."
But I won't go there. Facebook does that well enough and there are expert bloggers out there who have astonishing links. No, mine will be just me thinking about and re-arranging the world. Perception is all. You may prefer to read a book for this, but at least my comments will be brief. I hope!
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