APSA 2006... and other news

Writing from my room in the apartment in Newcastle - so far this conference has been a blast.

Nowhere near as boring as academic conferences are made out to be - in fact, not boring in the slightest. Met brilliant people - heard some great ideas and some not-so-great ones... ate great food and drank some good wine. No complaints so far.

The apartments are brilliant - here's some pics of my little room and the night view from my window - sorry for the poor quality taken from my mobile.







Gave my paper this moring, and that was great fun. There were about 20 people in the room - double what I'd expected - and had some great advice and discussions coming out of it. Also, met some other Melb Uni postgrads - there's five of us here - so that's been brilliant. We bonded at M.J. Finnegans, which appears to be Newcastle's pumping hot spot. Nothign like an irish pub to bring politics academics out of their rooms for a drink.

And in other news...

New Ray album is an absolute cracker. Quiet, brilliant with moments of pain and moments of beauty. Love every moment esp. 'Can I Stay'- can't wait till he tours it... and speaking of tours. Upcoming tix in my possession:

Joan as Policewoman @Northcote Social Club
Laura Album Launch @ Corner
Kate Miller-Heidke @ Northcote Social Club
Teddy Thompson @ Corner
U2 @ Telstra Dome
Mountain Goats @ Corner

Feel free to join us - so far these gigs are being attended by a mixture of Adrew, Miss Lin the Munchkin and me...

I'll rejoin the state on Thursday in time for Joan, and the Storm's [fingers crossed] victory in the first-ever all inter-state NRL Grand Final. C'mon Storm!

a moment of brilliance...

There's a very distinct joy you get when reading a academic writer who seems to 'get' what you're trying to do and what you want to achieve in your own work... usually I get that geeky buzz when reading Ghassan Hage but see below:


There is an important affective dimension in voting and what is at stake there is a question of identification. In order to act politically people need to be able to identify with a collective identity which provides an idea of themselves they can valorise. Political discourse has to offer not only policies but also identities which can help people make sense of what they are experiencing as well as giving them hope for the future.

Chantal Mouffe, 'On The Political', p.25

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And some poetry for gustav...


Though I know that evenin's empire has returned into sand,
Vanished from my hand,
Left me blindly here to stand but still not sleeping.
My weariness amazes me, I'm branded on my feet,
I have no one to meet
And the ancient empty street's too dead for dreaming.

Take me on a trip upon your magic swirlin' ship,
My senses have been stripped, my hands can't feel to grip,
My toes too numb to step, wait only for my boot heels
To be wanderin'.
I'm ready to go anywhere, I'm ready for to fade
Into my own parade, cast your dancing spell my way,
I promise to go under it.

Though you might hear laughin', spinnin', swingin' madly across the sun,
It's not aimed at anyone, it's just escapin' on the run
And but for the sky there are no fences facin'.
And if you hear vague traces of skippin' reels of rhyme
To your tambourine in time, it's just a ragged clown behind,
I wouldn't pay it any mind, it's just a shadow you're
Seein' that he's chasing.

Then take me disappearin' through the smoke rings of my mind,
Down the foggy ruins of time, far past the frozen leaves,
The haunted, frightened trees, out to the windy beach,
Far from the twisted reach of crazy sorrow.
Yes, to dance beneath the diamond sky with one hand waving free,
Silhouetted by the sea, circled by the circus sands,
With all memory and fate driven deep beneath the waves,
Let me forget about today until tomorrow.