dance beneath the diamond sky

I know, ok?

2009-08-26T14:42:00.000+10:00

I know.

But you see, there was a thesis, and then there's been teaching.
And there's been some resting, and there's going to be a wedding. And a new house. And some kind of overseas trip...

So - I know, and I'm sorry. But there's stuff happening out in the world.

I'll be back though - you can't get rid of me that easily.

Obama, Rudd, and the Politics of Cool [A response...]

2009-03-03T10:07:00.005+11:00

As a quick response to politics.tom ...

I wonder whether Rudd still has that 'game', that slight aura of 'cool' that he managed to scrape together during the campaign. More and more, I'm getting the impression that he ended up with a lot of reflected cool, simply by being cooler than his opponent.

Since coming to office the sense of humour, energy and inventiveness that characterised aspects of the Kevin07 campaign seem to be missing. Some of this is simply the difference between campaigning and governing, between being a challenger and a leader.

Joe Trippi, at a public lecture at Melbourne Uni last night, talked about the ability of the insurgent to be interesting, to take risks in order to grasp power. In his conception it is the the challenger who [even if only through desperation] can afford to be inventive, interesting and different. For Trippi, billed last night as "the man who invented internet politics" this was behind the strategy he planned for Howard Dean in the 2000 US election, and the bottom-up campaign style of Obama.

But as politics.tom points out, Obama hasn't lost it since coming to office - and I can't help but wish Rudd had tried a little harder to hold on to it.

One week to go...

2009-02-19T09:36:00.002+11:00

...and then I will be back to the frequent poster that you know and love. Ok, fair enough. I will BECOME the frequent poster that you always wished I could have been, back in the old days.

In the meantime, I have a paper cut. It is very deep, and it is on that little connecty bit between the index finger and the next finger on my left hand. This may not seem like a problem, but it really really is. For two reasons.

Firstly, it hurts. A lot. So I have those two fingers taped together with bandaids.

Which leads to problem two - it is very difficult to type with two fingers taped together. Honestly. Try it.

So, I'll be back, in the post-thesis world, when my incredibly serious paper cut had healed.

It's not me, it's my thesis...

2009-01-26T21:54:00.002+11:00

... which is due in about four weeks. Oh, dear, dear.

So I'm sorry for being neglectful.

But in the meantime - Obama. Mad Men. Anne Tyler. Bob Dylan at the Newport Folk Festival, 1963-5. Simon Schama's History of Britain. Clint Eastwood, Gran Torino. Don Watson's American Journeys. Movida.

I promise I'll be back.

Obama and the power of language

2008-11-11T08:23:00.005+11:00

Throughout the course of this thesis I've read many a victory speech - mostly workmanlike, grateful statements and thoughts for the future.

Not that it really needs to be said... but Obama gave a cracker the other night. Personal, powerful and political.

Listening from 'elsewhere' this particularly leapt out at me:

And to all those watching tonight from beyond our shores, from parliaments and palaces to those who are huddled around radios in the forgotten corners of our world - our stories are singular, but our destiny is shared, and a new dawn of American leadership is at hand. To those who would tear this world down - we will defeat you. To those who seek peace and security - we support you. And to all those who have wondered if Americas beacon still burns as bright - tonight we proved once more that the true strength of our nation comes not from our the might of our arms or the scale of our wealth, but from the enduring power of our ideals: democracy, liberty, opportunity, and unyielding hope.

But it's hard to deny that the most powerful part of this speech was when Obama made it real [and I also can't deny there were tears in my eyes]:

This election had many firsts and many stories that will be told for generations. But one thats on my mind tonight is about a woman who cast her ballot in Atlanta. Shes a lot like the millions of others who stood in line to make their voice heard in this election except for one thing - Ann Nixon Cooper is 106 years old.

She was born just a generation past slavery; a time when there were no cars on the road or planes in the sky; when someone like her couldnt vote for two reasons - because she was a woman and because of the color of her skin.

And tonight, I think about all that shes seen throughout her century in America - the heartache and the hope; the struggle and the progress; the times we were told that we cant, and the people who pressed on with that American creed: Yes we can.

At a time when womens voices were silenced and their hopes dismissed, she lived to see them stand up and speak out and reach for the ballot. Yes we can.

When there was despair in the dust bowl and depression across the land, she saw a nation conquer fear itself with a New Deal, new jobs and a new sense of common purpose. Yes we can.

When the bombs fell on our harbor and tyranny threatened the world, she was there to witness a generation rise to greatness and a democracy was saved. Yes we can.

She was there for the buses in Montgomery, the hoses in Birmingham, a bridge in Selma, and a preacher from Atlanta who told a people that We Shall Overcome. Yes we can.

A man touched down on the moon, a wall came down in Berlin, a world was connected by our own science and imagination. And this year, in this election, she touched her finger to a screen, and cast her vote, because after 106 years in America, through the best of times and the darkest of hours, she knows how America can change. Yes we can.

America, we have come so far. We have seen so much. But there is so much more to do. So tonight, let us ask ourselves - if our children should live to see the next century; if my daughters should be so lucky to live as long as Ann Nixon Cooper, what change will they see? What progress will we have made?

This is our chance to answer that call. This is our moment. This is our time - to put our people back to work and open doors of opportunity for our kids; to restore prosperity and promote the cause of peace; to reclaim the American Dream and reaffirm that fundamental truth - that out of many, we are one; that while we breathe, we hope, and where we are met with cynicism, and doubt, and those who tell us that we cant, we will respond with that timeless creed that sums up the spirit of a people: Yes We Can.

I understand the deep-seated and wide-ranging historical and cultural reasons why Australian politicians don't speak this way... but for a moment last Wednesday, damn I wished they would.

Couric and co, the Straight Talk Express, and West Wing imitating life

2008-10-31T08:35:00.004+11:00

In honour of our US politics-gender-media expert, who has left us to return to Chicago... a piece from Salon about the role of female newsreaders in this election.

Also, NY Times on the parallels between this campaign and the last two series of the West Wing.

And Eugene Jarecki in the Huffington Post on the derailed 'straight talk express'.

All worth a read to get you in the mood. Bring on election day...

Obama, Davies... and the news media.

2008-09-09T21:13:00.003+10:00

While wading through the buckets of coverage on the upcoming US election [does anybody else just LOVE Michelle Obama?] I came across Anne Davies in today's Age:

"In this election, the blogosphere has become the front line for smear and innuendo, whether it be allegations that Senator Obama is a Muslim or that Mrs Palin is a book-banning, gun-toting bigot."

This bothers me on so many immediate and deeper, need-to-be-thought-out levels that haven't even occurred to me yet. What leaps off the page is equating "Islam" with "smear and innuendo - or at least inferring that some people are using it in that way - without ANY thought, reflection or analysis of some of the inherent problems with that automatic assumption. One kind of smear: being a bigot. Another kind of smear: being a Muslim.

I suppose I wanted something - a sentence, anything - on the incredibly problematic nature of this equation, where culture or religion is essentially equated to intolerance or narrow-mindedness. [This isn't to say that Sarah Palin IS any of those things, but rather that a discourse that equates the two as similar kinds of allegations is deeply troubling.]

So do we just give up on the hope that the mainstream news media can be capable of this kind of deeper analysis, a place to draw out power relations, assumptions and social structures? Or perhaps that's an unrealistic expectation to begin with, and that's where research and scholarship comes in?

All I know is that this kind of reporting, which blends 'news' and 'analysis' and 'observation' is certainly not helping.

McCain, Palin... oh deary me.

2008-09-04T08:31:00.002+10:00

I wish I had time to blog properly on what Adrew's been calling "Bristol-gate".

i don't [see previous post for reasons why].

But there's lively discussion happening over on StandsAlone and I'm getting stuck in over there. Come join in if you're as mesmerised by this whole business as we are.

For now, I'm enjoying constant references to Levi as a "hockey jock". Wonderful sounding phrase, that one.

Things on my mind...

2008-09-02T08:27:00.003+10:00

... as we shuffle into spring:

Obama.

Palin.

Yoga.

Rearranging my entire thesis.

Discourse analysis.

Movietone News sound quality.

Rearranging my entire thesis.

The Whitlams with the MSO at Hamer Hall.

My brother's wedding.

Having a whole day off next week.

Oh, and rearranging my entire thesis. Lord help me.

Stany the Stingray: This is getting mean now...

2008-08-14T08:33:00.002+10:00

I am loving the Olympics.

There, I've said it. And I've shocked even myself.

I am not loving the tone of this article about "Stany the Stingray", wildcard entrant for the mens 50m freestyle.

My memory of coverage of Eric the Eel was that it was condescending in a somewhat affectionate manner. Not a lot that's affectionate about this:

According to the official start list, his ranking time for his heat is an astonishingly slow 1min 15 secs. In that time world record holder Eamon Sullivan could have finished his lap, climbed out of the pool, dried himself off and called Stephanie Rice to catch up on old times. American superstar Michael Phelps could have covered almost 150m of a 200m freestyle race and even the next lowest ranked swimmer in competition, Kareem Valentine of Antigua-Barbuda, could have completed a second lap.

But Kempompo Ngangola, who saw his listed heat time for the first time yesterday, insisted he was far faster than he'd been given credit for.
...

An electrical engineer by trade, Kempompo Ngangola said he hoped to finish the 50m in "22 or 23 seconds", which would place him in the top 200 in the world. He said a probable explanation for his 1min 15 sec entry time was that officials had mistakenly used his 100m time, although he said even that was a faster 1:03.

Confusingly, if that was true he would be world class over 50m but primary school carnival quality over 100m.

Gee whiz.

Keating and Rudd: Comments to come...

2008-08-04T08:20:00.003+10:00

So I'm simultaneously reading Memoirs of a Bleeding Heart and Inside Kevin07 - I promise more detailed thoughts in the future.

It's great reading them together though. Watson's book has an almost cinematic, epic scope about it compared to Jackman's much more focused work. Also, he's not afraid of drawing attention to the character flaws, mistakes and humanness of his subject - while Jackman's work is a little too congratulatory at times, giving me a sense of the campaign machine but not the man. Anyway, more to come.

In other news - Gustav, you're my hero! Congrats! Toothpaste for Dinner, below, for you.

Swimmers' Split: The Age and Facebook

2008-07-30T12:05:00.002+10:00

Is Facebook the new 'unconfirmed sources closes to the couple' that we love so much from celebrity stories in women's mags?

Today's Age, reporting on the break-up of 'swimming glamour couple' Stephanie Rice and Eamon Sullivan:

"News Ltd reported this morning that Rice and Sullivan had both changed their status on Facebook to 'no longer in a relationship'. Both sites are unavailable for public access today."

Fantastic work there - reporting on another news organisation's report on a status change on a website. Big news.

Hens' Night? Hen's Night?

2008-07-29T18:00:00.003+10:00

So apart from the initial confusion in the title [where does that apostrophe go? is just the girl getting married a hen, so its a possessive, or are they all hens, so needing a plural and possessive]...

I'm a little puzzled by the tradition. Quite separate from the fact that I just had a fantastic weekend... what's the point of this? Who invented it? Is it just the 'live a little before you settle down' thing... last night of freedom, out on the town with the girls...

I went to the most trusty source of information in the world (wide web) and found some fantastic "bachelorette party" facts:

- Many bachelorette parties have the ladies wear matching tops that are sometimes manually decorated.
- A variant of manual decoration is for the ladies wear plain white T-shirts on which comments can be written with magic marker. [Now doesn't that sound fun!!]
-It is estimated that less than 20% of all bachelorette parties include a stripper [sorry to be an academic for a moment but estimated BY WHOM?]
- The bachelorette is often intoxicated by the end of the night, as both her friends and men she meets in the bars will continually buy her drinks.

Hmm. Still no help on the background of the idea... although follow the link above for the picture that accompanies this classy caption: "This bride got stripped to her underwear and soaked with beer by her friends on her Hen Night". I wonder if "this bride" knows her friends also put her picture up on Wikipedia? Somehow doubt it.

I did get this though: The history of bachelor party is thought to have originated with a bachelor dinner that was traditional in ancient Sparta (5th century BC) where soldiers would toast each other on the eve of a friend’s wedding.[citation needed]

Ah, citation needed. Fills me with confidence.

Don't labour the point...

2008-06-20T11:01:00.004+10:00

Ok so I promise this blog will not turn into a war against The Age's photo department... and this I guess is more of an ethical pondering than a photoshop issue.

I'm wondering about the decision-making process behind publishing this image online in Husband murdered wife on honeymoon dive, coroner told [and by default, I guess, my own ethics in re-publishing it here?]...

Caption: A diver poses for a picture, unaware of the drama unfolding behind as a dive instructor tries to rescue Tina Watson, whose body lies on the sea bed.

Do we usually publish this kind of thing? Or is it just that I'm personally uncomfortable with this image being published?

Help me out here gang...

Ipod photoshop laziness

2008-06-10T13:06:00.002+10:00

The good people in The Age's photoshop department have clearly lost the energy to make their images even look real... as evidenced by the 'amazing floating earpiece' image used with Turn it up! Headphone listening threatens hearing
.

Just a creepy floating earpiece, levitating outside your ear...

Bruce, Rudd and pork-barrel politics

2008-06-04T08:54:00.006+10:00

More this morning from the lovely Stanley Bruce, Australian Prime Minister 1923-1929 (and the only PM pre-Howard to lose his own seat in a Federal Election).

In his 1925 policy launch speech at the Dandenong Shire Hall, Bruce began with a rant about electoral politics:

“In the past it has been the practice for the Prime Minister, in announcing the policy of the party which he leads, to recite in the greatest detail the record of the Government, to set out a defence of all it actions, and to make elaborate promises which are designed to attract different sections of the electors – to support the Government. Following closely upon the policy speech of the leader of the Opposition, in which he condemns all the actions of the Government and makes even more lavish promises.

This practice has lead to elections becoming contests in which parties endeavour to outbid each other for the people’s favour, and in which an appeal is made to the cupidity and the lowest instincts of the people. As a result great and vital problems, upon the solution of which the happiness of the people, the prosperity of the country depend, are lost in the welter of the party struggle.

That course I refuse to follow. The times are too critical. For any National leader to-day to deceive the people by promises which, either for financial or constitutional reasons, he could never redeem would constitute a betrayal of the obligations and duties resting upon him which should never be forgiven."

Wow. Well said Stanley - very nice sentiments [and yes Brie, he does look somewhat like John Cusack, who may be asked to play him in a movie entitled Red Scare: Election 1925].

Can we skip forward a number of years to everyone's favourite economic conservative, PM Kevin Rudd?

Here's some of his 2007 policy launch speech, as Opposition Leader from Brisbane:

"Remarkably as interest rates rose yet again last week, we now find Mr Howard running up the white flag on inflation, and running up a huge bill in a desperate bid to get re-elected. A bill he is happy to leave for us all to pay – once he heads off into retirement. Monday’s feeding frenzy of expenditure would actually make inflationary pressures worse.

Mr Howard spent nearly $10 billion on Monday. Trying to buy his way out of political trouble. And he did so little more than an hour after the Reserve Bank of Australia issued its monetary policy state ment warning of rising inflationary pressures. How irresponsible can you get?

...And now with this latest irresponsible and desperate pre-election splurge, Mr Howard is putting his own interests ahead of working families by risking further increases in their mortgage rates. I have no intention today of repeating Mr Howard’s irresponsible spending spree.

* Unlike Mr Howard, I will heed the warnings of the Reserve Bank.
* Unlike Mr Howard, I will not place in jeopardy households already struggling with mortgages.
* Unlike Mr Howard, I don’t stand before you with a bag full of irresponsible promises that could put upward pressure on inflation.

Today I am saying loud and clear that this sort of reckless spending must stop. I am determined that any commitments I make are first and foremost economically responsible. That’s why the commitments I announce today will cost less than one quarter of those Mr Howard announced on Monday."

Sounds familiar - and remarkably effective, both in 1925 and 2007.

That's all, folks.

Meme me up...

2008-05-26T19:53:00.005+10:00

By way of the lovely anna at little red boat a meme had caught my fancy. Take your name, follow it with likes to, pop it into google and see what you get...

Steph likes to spy on him from the darkness of her upstairs bathroom. [Wow. How's that for a top hit.]

Steph likes to get a snack to keep everything stable. [This seems to be from a relatively unsavoury website.]

Steph likes to help & do studio work with musicians.

Steph likes to say things using song titles. [Fair enough.]

Steph likes to relax and listen to music and indulge in her hidden talent: sewing.

Steph likes to spend time in her apartment in La Cala, Spain. [I wish!]

Steph likes to buy furniture sight unseen.

Steph likes to eat Fritos. She is quite the Frito Fan. [Well, sure.]

Steph likes to play the tough guy for the camera. [So, this one seemed to be about a man but close enough.]

Steph likes to think of herself as a pursuer of all life has to offer.

Steph likes to do the fancy-schmancy pages and keep everything all nice and neat and categorized.

Steph likes to proofread the local paper. [Actually, that sounds a lot like me.]

Much like boaty anna, I will not tag a follow-on memer. So meme-on at will. Or don't. I will not be offended.

My Daily Life: Election Policy Speeches

2008-05-22T08:34:00.003+10:00

So I don't really have time to talk right now. It's been a crazy week. Just wanted to call and say hi - oh, and share with you a little of what I've been up to.

Research on Australian federal election policy speeches for my background chapter:

The Meeting; A Large Attendance; A Vigorous Speech
The Town Hall this evening was crowded to the doors to hear Mr Barton deliver his address on the opening of the federal campaign. … The town was placarded with announcements that ladies would not be admitted to the hall, consequently they were absent.
Sydney Morning Herald, 18 January 1901

Federal Campaign; The Ministerial Cause…by our special reporters p.7
Ballarat, Thursday.
Mr Deakin opened the federal election campaign tonight in Her Majesty’s Theatre and while his reception was flattering the house was by no means crowded. In his opening remarks Mr Deakin gave vent to his poetic instincts and rhapsodied a good deal about the political union as compared with the disintegrated states…
… his poetic talent was able to invest such dry subject as the Patents Bill with romantic interest, while his flowers of rhetoric bloomed profusely and shed grateful fragrance over the High Court, the Public Service Act, and similar enactments…
But it was on preferential trade that he lavished his most profuse compliments. He descanted on it for nearly an hour at a rate of speed which defied anyone to assimilate one morsel of information before another was forced upon him.
… There have been few speeches delivered which were freer from interruption. It was too intensely interesting and seductive. There was scarcely room for cavil or questions while the flow of eloquence continued, and when he concluded there was an ovation of applause .
Sydney Morning Herald, 30 October 1903

Issues of the Elections; War on all Extremists
Mr Bruce had his speech prepared, and generally followed fairly closely the type written matter. Occasionally, however, he flung down his notes and gave his audience a little more homely talk. …
The Prime Minister spoke for two hours and was obviously wearied at the close. The speech was broadcast in Victoria and New South Wales. One striking illustration of modern developments in wireless was given by the spectacle of an overflow meeting of several hundreds listening to the speech coming through the loudspeaker, not 50 yards away from the hall. This second audience was distinctly more comfortable than those that compressed in the hall. Similarly over a wide area, hundreds of people heard all the Prime Minister had to say in the snug comfort of their drawing rooms.
Age, 6 October 1925

More recent stuff to come, I promise.

I am stuck in a lift.

2008-05-09T16:27:00.001+10:00

John Medley West. There are five of us sitting in the lift. It is very toasty in here.

Oh so stretchy me...

2008-05-01T21:22:00.003+10:00

... or reasons why i love yoga

Contrary to the implication in the title of this post, it is not because I am oh so very stretchy. I am nothing of the sort. Neither am I bendy. Shame when I'm trying to get into trichonasane. [The triangle pose, which I have most likely spelled incorrectly. I certainly attempt to 'do' it incorrectly even though it is a simple pose for most yoga novices.]

No... it is not my unbelievable Olympic-gymnast-like ability to be bendy like a pretzel. I cannot bend in a forwards direction. I cannot touch my toes, despite four years of yoga [or, admittedly, three years then a one year gap and then a class last week and tonight.]

So erm... no. It is the space, in my mind and my day. And the way that Shimon says 'foc-oos' when he's trying to get us to pay attention. And that feeling of letting go when you're been in a pose for a little while and your muscles just know that they can stretch a little further... so you breathe and the muscles relax and then all of a sudden an uncomfortable pose just becomes... comfy. In a very uncomfortable way. You know what I mean.

So now I am in a happy-post-yoga haze on my living room floor, trying to decide between a foul-mouthed chef [Gordon Ramsey] or a the British Ambassador to Washington [a new political-thriller thingy on the ABC]. No high culture for me tonight... but tomorrow night I'm off the the opera so it all balances itself out. :) OK, who am I kidding... they're going to talk about racism/terrorism and use the phrase 'in the West Wing'... so political thriller it is. And I have some leftover Easter chocolate too.

Lovely.

Driving Force

2008-04-17T17:57:00.004+10:00

I've been thinking about motivation for a few weeks... just a quiet, back of my mind kind of thing.

Things keep popping up and drawing me back to the question of why we do what we do - and whether some answers to that question are more ok than others.

A chat with two of most intuitive people I know - both big thinkers - about politics and power. Why do people run for public office, and what role does ego play in that decision? Is it ok to want "power" if you're planning to use that power to do good, heal the world... you know, generally fulfill all those idealistic dreams that filled your diaries when you were young [well, younger than you are now].

We talked about Barack Obama, about Bill Clinton - about the ways in which dedicated, passionate people negotiate wanting the capacity to effect change: for the sake of helping others; for the sake of making yourself feel good. Somehow I feel that a certain aspect of ego is required if we are going to make a real impact on the world - or even just on the people around us. The kind of ego that makes you put yourself forward; that causes you to believe that you are the person who can get the job done.

At school we had it drummed into us that 'leadership' was really all about 'service'... so maybe motivation does matter.

And then today, driving home, and they're chatting to two Melbourne architects who've taken up the 'sustainable design' challenge. One was clearly 'greener' than the other; he talked about corporate social responsibility, about the global consequences of local actions. The other talked about his hotel - the 'greenest in the world' in terms of economics: costs and savings. He admitted that part of the motivation for building the green hotel was to do with cost-saving and marketing... attracting customers who want to spend their $$ on a few nights in trendy carbon-friendly style.

So does the motivation matter? Both architects developed projects that give something back and 'the planet will thank them for their cooperation'. [Sorry. Childhood tv flashback]. I guess at least the second guy was honest about the mixture of forces that were driving his firm - yes we want to help the planet but it's also a catchy advertising strategy and it's saving us money as well.

Hmm. Just not sure.

And I guess it makes me think about what motivates me too... and the mixture of being a perfectionist, loving what I do and straight-up competitive drive that gets me out of bed every morning.

I guess that's all from me. Does what we achieve matter more than why we achieve it? Ben Harper comes to mind: "the unfinished work of our heroes must truly be our own..."

Pull yourself together

2008-03-12T19:59:00.002+11:00

The decision: you've been in the office since eight. You've actually been productive for a change... things are happening, they're clarifying. Rows and rows of numbers are turning into tables and graphs and making sense.

And what's even better is the knowledge that you have NO PLANS for the night. You are going to leave work at four, go home, maybe have a little or nap or finish off that Junot Diaz book you've been reading.

And then your email pings. Ghassan Hage is speaking tonight on 'ethnography and political emotion'. It's on your campus. It's at five. There's no excuse other than the evening of nothingness you'd been looking forward to. So, reluctantly, you go.

OK - enough of that. Like anything could come between me and my shameless intellectual crush. Hage was exploring 'political emotions' through his own reactions to recent Israeli-Lebanese conflict, and the reactions of his research interviewees; Southern-Lebanese diaspora Muslims in Australia, the US and France.

And as usual, he was musing on a different level to most of what I encounter. I'm not going to rehash it all here - keep an eye for publications coming out of this stream of thought.

One thing that struck me, though, was his discussion of the way humans deal with emotion. He discussed the Lacanian notion of 'fragmentation'; the idea that as we develop as humans we struggle against an early sense of being 'all over the place'. Our emotions become part of an ongoing project to develop a coherent sense of self, to be whole in our sense of who we are and where we fit in the world.

For Hage, the colloquial encouragement to 'pull yourself together' is connected to this - and our feelings, emotions and reactions link in to how well we are doing in this project to be whole. Or perhaps, how well we are able to acknowledge and accept that this fragmentation is part of what being human is about; to deal with knowing we aren't whole.

He argued that there's a sense of shame about not being 'together' or being publicly, openly seen to be struggling towards 'togetherness'.

And drawing the discussion back to the discussion of conflict and political emotion, he discussed how racism might be seen as a deliberate attempt to shatter a person's self of symbolic 'self', to get in the way of a person's attempt to be whole. And for the 'racist', as an attempt to pull themselves together through the very act of racism; gaining a sense of power over oneself and one's environment, over the very things that give your life meaning.

I've probably done Hage an injustice trying to think through this tiny portion of his paper here; but something about this really makes sense to me, in a first-academic-impression kind of way.

I'm going to think about it some more... feel free to join me.

Laneway Festival 08

2008-02-26T21:16:00.003+11:00

I have pics from St Jeromes Laneway fest. I want to let each of them tell however many words they're worth... a thousand each?

But blogger is being difficult. Petulant. Refusing to let me share them.

So for now - just digital silence.

Hopefully more words, soon.

Show a little Heretic Pride

2008-02-20T21:08:00.003+11:00

Why am I back??

A long summer draws to a close... as does a long journey of fieldwork, textual analysis and endless, endless coding.
And so I'm back here in time for the thesis-writing process to develop in earnest. March three is when the madness will begin and the results chapters will begin to take shape.

Now that's a scary thought.

In the meantime I have a birthday to look forward to... and a new Mountain Goats album to enjoy.

Heretic Pride is classic John Darnielle, but the production and instrumentation is rich and, at times, flawless. There's drums. And Peter Hughes does things with that bass that just make me happy. Annie Clark cameos with backing vocals on Autoclave - and who doesn't love a chorus that reminds listeners that, in truth, we're all just this "great, unstable mass of blood and foam".

I'm loving it. Join me. And we'll keep each other company in this year between candidature and submission.

Fingers crossed.

Canberra... home of politicians and sulphur-crested cockatoos

2007-05-03T17:21:00.000+10:00

I'll leave you to play spot-the-difference... although I can say I saw plenty of the latter and none of the former... the week before budget week is the 'calm before the storm'.

The thing I found most odd is the buildings I walked past in the ten minute stroll from the delightful Forrest Inn to the National Archives... enjoy pictoral tour below [although not in order, my memory's not that good]

The Italian Cultural Centre

The Jewish Memorial

The Minter Ellison Building [haha Adrew]

The Department of Communications, Information Technology and The Arts

Department Prime Minister and Cabinet

National Press Club

The National Archives Building

And of course, the Canberra sunset on the way home... [why of course? who knows...]

Just made me laugh...

2007-04-26T13:48:00.000+10:00

From today's Crikey newsletter:

Brilliant.

poking political fun

2007-03-07T16:51:00.000+11:00

Firstly.

Perhaps we're not supposed to say we love Paul Keating. But I do. I really, really do.

More than ten years since he left office, he hasn't lost that razor sharp wit in interviews - or, it seems, a particular delight in poking fun at Howard 'the dessicated coconut' and Costello who is, apparently, 'all tip and no iceberg'.

Just lovely.

Also - I've really been enjoying Bleak's cartoons in The Australian in the last few weeks. Not only because he draws Kevin Rudd as a delightful little ragamuffin in shorts with a loyal puppy-dog offsider [or, as Andrew pointed out, as TinTin... see below] ...

Tin Tin:

Bleak's Rudd:

... but because of the clarity he brings to the whole Brian Burke-Kevin Rudd-John Howard 'who said what to whom at what meeting' overblown scandal.

Here's March 6 and 7:

So who says Australian federal politics isn't interesting... or at least amusing.

Birthday Drinks!!

2007-02-23T22:43:00.000+11:00

Hey all -

For my day-of-birth celebrations we're having drinks and going to a gig next Friday night, March 2nd. I'm happy about being 23... about finally feeling like a normal person with energy... and about being confirmed and no longer a probationary candidate. So let's have some drinks and dance...

Yay... purple emerald then red riders at ding dong... yay.

See you around eight. xo

Rescued!

2006-11-03T08:12:00.000+11:00

After a few days of uncertainty, the cat perviously known as Costello has found a happy home with two crazy cat people...

Here's the newest edition to the one-eyed-man and miss knitty's family in all his feline glory!

Enjoy!

an original macfadden romance

2006-10-09T21:23:00.000+10:00

Perhaps I'm a little behind the times... are we all down with book crossing? If not...

Sunday I was in the city to pick Adrew up from the endpoint of the Melbourne marathon... he'd spent the morning running 42.2 kms [in under four hours might I add] from Frankston to the Arts Centre. I'd sent the morning eating pancakes with Kharen...

Anyway we're in the Botanic Gardens [he recovering, me eating fairy floss] when I stumble across a plastic ziplock bag.

Free Book! Thank you for finding me! I'm a special book, traveling around the world and making new friends. Please take me home with you, and look inside my cover to see how to Read and Release me at: www.bookcrossing.com.

The book inside, a special Mills & Boon called 'October Light' looked even more spectacular... let me share the back cover with you:

NO CHANCE FOR LOVE When famous architect Grant Jordan asked Coleen to become his assistant, she agreed without a moment's hesitation. Brilliant, arrogant, unbelievably attractive, Grant swept her off her feet. But what chance did she really have? He had his pick of the most elegant and sophisticated women. She knew she should be thankful just to work for Grant. After all, she spent more time with him than anyone else. But how could she stand to see him day after day, knowing she would never win the heart of the man she loved?

Wow. Indeed.

Will it be awful? Sure. Will I 'read and release'? Definitely... it seems from the website that the Bailleu foyer at Melb Uni is a 'book crossing hot spot'... look out for Eleanor Whindam's tale of love, desire and people being other people's assistant and then not wanting to be their assistant any more because they're secretly in love with them... coming soon to a campus library near you...

simply stunning

2006-10-02T08:48:00.000+10:00

Joan as Policewoman @ Northcote Social Club, 29 September

Phenomenal. What a crazy, charismatic woman and what simple, haunting songs.

That was really something special... and the album is quiet and intense. I Defy, the duet with Antony, is unlike anything I've heard all year. Just wow.

cause i
nor you
could ever
know what it's like
to have the night fall
and be felled by the night

APSA 2006... and other news

2006-09-25T23:09:00.000+10:00

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...

2006-09-01T10:13:00.000+10:00

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

--------------------------

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.

self promotion

2006-08-29T10:27:00.000+10:00

Hey -

Yes this is indulgent but I'm too excited to keep it to myself...

My first academic publication is now online at the Australasian Political Science Association Conference 2006 website... yay!

Now all I have to do is figure out how to turn a 17 000 word thesis that has been turned into an 8000 word conference paper into a 15 minute presentation.

Newcastle here we come...

come on in and worship...

2006-08-23T22:45:00.000+10:00

Another procrastination tool:

The Church Sign Generator.

I took as my inspiration my mum's favourite piece of graffiti from when she was young, on a Sydney railway bridge...

First piece of graffiti: What would you do if Jesus came to Parramatta?
Second piece in response: Move [can't remember who] to the centres and play him on the wing.

Ahh. Sorry for the rugby league reference Melbournians. Insert your own text at the link above...

just to keep updated...

2006-08-22T21:56:00.000+10:00

First things first:

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1 - The Mountain Goats - Get Lonely.

You should receive your order shortly.
If you do not receive your order, please contact us by replying to this email.

Regards,
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Doesn't that just make you happy?

On another [musical] note - I can't get Graceland out of the cd player in my car...

I blame going to see Ladysmith Black Mambazo a few weeks ago.
Which was phenomenal.
And now I can't stop listening to Paul Simon. The cd's a bit scratched - Mum bought it at KMart when it originally came out and little brother has my digitally remastered copy somewhere... and it's one of few albums I know every line, every note, and it never gets old.

And she said losing love
Is like a window in your heart
Everybody sees you're blown apart
Everybody sees the wind blow

patience...

2006-08-14T13:34:00.000+10:00

Hi Stephanie,

This email is to update you on the status of your JB Hi-Fi Online order # 153360, placed on Aug 9 2006 4:53PM.

Full details of this order are available. click here

ORDERED ITEM(S)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
DESCRIPTION: Get Lonely, The Mountain Goats
CURRENT STATUS: Backordered by supplier - awaiting receipt**.
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** We apologise that we have not been able to supply item(s) within the estimated timeframe. We offer these titles for sale in good faith based on our supplier catalogues but occasionally items can become unavailable for periods of time. Please advise us only if you would prefer to delete backordered item(s).

Please note, we do not charge your credit card until the items are dispatched from our warehouse.

Thank you for shopping at JB Hi-Fi Online.

JB Hi-Fi Online.

a special treat...

2006-08-14T08:46:00.000+10:00

...to make up for my silence.

Enjoy... and watch this space. Collaboration, music journalism and unashamed fandom will come together on some things you do for money before you know it.

In the meantime...

Can I also insert a small plug/invitation for a gig?

Red Riders single launch, Saturday 26 August - East Brunswick Club, Melbourne w/Dardanelles - tix 03 9388 9794 www.eastbrunswickclub.com

I'll be there so come along...

As promised...

2006-07-08T19:24:00.000+10:00

The newest member of my family... my cousin Ezekiel Stephen.

Isn't he the most beautiful thing? He's cute when he's happy, and adorable when he's angry...

With my Dad...

With my brother...

I defy you to resist his charms...

sydney... a taste of day one

2006-06-27T21:09:00.000+10:00

Just to give you an idea what a given non-holiday-day in Sydney is like...

Ryan's new flat...

...Guus, Guus, Guus "heartbreak"

World Cup Poetry

2006-06-23T13:51:00.000+10:00

I'm taking submissions for best/worst socceroo headlines and puns - but they must include the word "Guus".

So far...

"In Guus We Trust"

"Guus loves ya baby?"

"Guus your daddy?"

"Guus the boss?"

"No Guus No Glory"

"Guus on ya' Aussies"

"Have a Guus day"

"Guus who made round two?"

"Guus you didn't think we could do it!"

New one from Papa G: "Guus let the dogs out? Guus, Guus!"

From The Age "Ground Control to Major Guus"

Any ideas? Feel free to comment below...

Does anyone else fall for this stuff?

2006-06-15T17:43:00.000+10:00

So - I should be banned from the JB Hifi website. The attraction of having the entire Mountain Goats back catalogue delivered to my door; or being able to listen to Margot and the Nuclear So-and-Sos before it's released in Australia... I just can't help it!

Anyway... I came home to find 'Yell Fire' [the new one from Michael Franti and Spearhead] in my mailbox. Happy happy joy joy.

And yes... I was entirely sucked in by the little flashing "hot deal" symbol near it on the JB site... for the low low price of $23.99 [plus $2.50 postage and handling] I am now the proud owner of a limited edition [probably limited to how many they can sell] 'Yell Fire' cd and EXCLUSIVE dvd [that's right - music videos, interviews, never before seen live footage]. And... "Pre-order now and receive as a bonus the AUSTRALIAN ONLY 'Love Kamikaze' CD. Very limited offer while stock lasts - this offer is available ONLINE ONLY". That's THREE cds for the price of ONE!

I know. I'm aware.
Yes, yes I know.

But you know what? I'm so so happy right now.

warm toes...

2006-06-14T22:36:00.000+10:00

Yes, that's my first priority right now. I'm writing in bed, with the ibook on my knees and my electric blanket on.

It takes so little to make me happy [yes I'm a girl with simple tastes, just a warm blanket, a comfortable pillow and high-speed wireless internet and I'm content].

I've been silent, sorry. I've had my brain buried in my books, with Ghassan Hage and Chantal Mouffe for company. They're good company - challenging, noisy thinkers that I don't always agree with but whose opinions continue to surprise and challenge. Is it possible to have an intellectual crush on someone? Count me in...

Today was a really good day, for small reasons and big reasons.

Managed to drag myself out of bed early. Went into work and had my early coffee: sister-of-K was remarkably cheerful for 7:50 am and Bridget made me a very sweet coffee. You're allowed to have heaps of sugar if you don't put it in yourself. Anyway - I was productive, I did lots of work, I feel good about my contribution to my massive intellectual project.
I'm meeting my supervisor tomorrow morning so may revise this.

WARNING: Small rant alert

Have we noticed that, over the Queen's Bday weekend, someone has come along and changed the only cheap parking meters near UniMelb so that instead of being a very reasonable 60c/hour unlimited parking from 6am-4pm, they're now TWO DOLLARS an hour - so instead of around $5 it will now cost me $16 to park there all day. OH MY GOD! I understand - inflation, interest rates, new IR laws, whatever - but that's more than double!!!!!!!!! It's an extra $1.40 an hour. AAAAAAHHHH! I hate the City of Melbourne. Why? Why would you do this to me?

Ok, enough of that.

Had an afternoon drink with db, tomas` and mezerae. It was brilliant to leave my desk and chat...and despite the call of a free lecture series on 'Multiculturalism and Global Terrorism' I didn't want to leave. I think that when people you love don't live near you anymore, there's never enough time to say everything and ask everything - and I guess that's ok.

Remeber how spoilt we were to sit on the south lawn or in front of the state library and do nothing and not feel guilty, just because it was sunny... and you don't need to feel guilty because no-one has to study on a sunshiney day. We were spoilt, living in the same city and keeping the same hours.

But my moment of nostalgia doesn't mean I'm sorry - I'm proud to have friends that are brilliant, vibrant and interesting... friends that are brave enough to follow their dreams to other cities, other countries, other academic disciplines... who are brave enough to be passionate without being worried that people will think they're uncool... who have a 'master plan', who aren't ashamed to be ambitious... who are prepared to pay their dues and able to say 'I'm worthwhile and talented and I'm no longer an intern' when those dues have been paid... friends with something to say, to debate and challenge me, to make me laugh and make me think.

Wow- I guess blogging in bed makes me soppy. Shucks, guys.

don't think too hard...

2006-05-31T15:25:00.000+10:00

So there's a state election coming up...

To help with the difficult decision-making process that accompanies compulsory voting, here's a quick and easy solution which takes all the intellectual labour out of voting: the Australian Politics Test!! Just answer fifty easy questions and the quiz will tell you which political party best suits your needs!

Here's my results [I'm not ashamed to share]...

womp bop a loo la

2006-05-24T17:19:00.000+10:00

Welcome to the anonymous world of the blog... where anyone can attack you and it may be a friend being very funny, a friend who is in no way funny - or a "rabid random"...

Who am I quoting? Well, my munchkin friend has a secret admirer... or a secret attacker... or a secret messing-with-your-mind-how-funny-person.

Some of which is a little funny - because munckin [aka wompy, if you're trying to follow this thread] can delete these comments - but now she's had to switch on blog comment moderation and is screening MY comments. damn. that's frustrating.

It's also frustrating if you're a new comment-maker - for example, if you're mezerae [which i love. this should be your handle forever, it suits you. and henceforth, i shall steal this inspiration from wompy, call you mezerae, pretend i thought of it myself... and from this day forward thou shalt be known as mezerae and you're a virgin-blog-contributor and your first ever comment is "moderated"... ooh, what next, the thought police? Poor Miss Lin had no choice... but if we work together we can overcome this... but if we change our way of life, then the blogerists have won!

I want you to feel welcome mezerae... and loved...and free to join in the messiness and the ranting and the fun! [and the lack of punctuation too - embrace it]... and all you other [friends and randoms] who read but don't comment...

so reveal yourself mystery blog-comment-maker... your reign of terror has meant that all of us god-fearing, law-abiding citizens of the blogosphere are having our civil liberties, our inherent rights and freedoms, eroded because we want to feel safe inside the borders of our blogging world. we want sovereignty over our blogs, we don't want you coming in here and blowing up innocent civilians because of your fundamentalist-anonymous-commenting disregard for rules and traditions and borders and...

oh. wait. perhaps some of that was misdirected. perhaps i'm channeling some other frustration here. but please... reveal yourself, so that miss lin [aka wompy aka munchkin... follow those handles] can revoke the Atishoo! Atishoo! Patriot Act and we can all get back to the way things were. the good old days, when you didn't lock your screen door at night and our kids and the neighbours kids played cricket together on the road. ah. the good old days.

ok so i haven't slept for a while. but i stand by my rant. a womp bam boo

I said, are you listening?

2006-05-22T17:47:00.000+10:00

Laura at the Spanish Club Saturday 20 May 2006

If you're a member of an instrumental post-rock band do you come to loathe and detest both the phrase 'instrumental' and the phrase 'post-rock'? Do you get over it? I wonder...

Laura's return gig was on fire. New stuff, old stuff, stunning visuals. Impressive.

I've been going to see them play for a few years now... as they've moved up the bill to headline, the crowds have gotten bigger, the venues more spacious, and live they're getting smoother and tighter, with that tradmark 'wall of sound' growing ever more dense and complex. If you haven't caught them yet, you won't get a better 11:00 show for $10. Keep your eyes open.

Lior at the Corner Hotel Sunday 21 May 2006

And now for something completely different...

I've seen Lior play a few times over the summer and last night he was on with full band including strings, which was a treat. Last time he'll air the music from Autumn Flow before the new album in time for summer festival season. And? We'll the old stuff was smooth, the new stuffy messy. He was engaged and great fun, but over it from about half way through. You can tell this is the end of an ongoing tour for this album - in the faces of the band who looked like they'd relish the chance to play something other than silly 'Diego and the Village Girl'.

That said - Grey Ocean, Building Ships and Bedouin Song silenced the audience completely. You've got to give the man points for that kind of charismatic performance.

better now than never...

2006-05-16T22:06:00.000+10:00

so.

Thursday, 11 May 2006: Ben Harper and the Innocent Criminals @ Rod Laver Arena, Melbourne

I must admit I was a little dubious. While I've been a fan for a long time, and Ben's set at Myer Music Bowl [with Jack Johnson] a few years ago rocked my world... I've been less than impressed by Both Sides of the Gun. It's just... dull.

But live BHIC didn't fail to deliver. The stadium was full though I don't think sold out, and songs that sort of whimper and moan on the cd were absolutely cracking live. We got enough back-catalogue to keep us happy, too: Forever, Glory and Consequence, Another Lonely Day, Roses From My Friends, Burn One Down, Steal My Kisses, Walk Away come to mind.

The very wholesome, wide-eyed American Scott from Ringside played cute, non-offensive background music in support. Nothing to write home about [and yet here I am, posting about it...]

You come out of a Ben Harper gig a little elated after lifting your hands and chanting 'I believe in a better way'; a little disturbing after witnessing three ladies/fainting/passing out/having a fit of some unidentified description in general admission right near you; and remembering what a live "stadium" show is all about.

Saturday 13 Mayv 2006. The Whitlams @ The Corner Hotel, Melbourne

What is there to say about Tim Freedman? Give me a minute...

Kate Miller-Heidke was nothing of not surprising in support. Take a classically-trained opera singer, give her a Sarah Blasko-esque Australian accent and nymph-like quality, put her in the latest indie style with a retro high-waisted floral print dress and belt, get her to sing unpredictable songs about Australian Idol, and then imbue her entire performance with a cabaret, musical-theatre reminiscent theatrical touch. You will not come away disappointed.

As with the Whitlams. Little Cloud really does represent a return to their Eternal Nightcap 'good old days'... the kind of beauty that we saw glimpses of in "Blow Up the Pokies" and the fun from "Royal in the Afternoon", combined with the half-drink shouting-at-the-end-of-the-night irreverance of "I Will Not Go Quietly". It certainly wasn't the tightest performance we've ever seen [most obvious on the new stuff] but there's something about it that leaves you just a little happy. A little sad. Whatever. Tim Freedman, live, is what music is about.

you have visited 12 countries (5%)

2006-05-14T11:05:00.000+10:00

Gee thanks for this Scotland.

create your own visited countries map

Boy do I feel inadequate. But hey, I'm an Australian. It takes me 22 hours to get anywhere. That's got to count for something hey guys? Guys?

Chipping away...

2006-05-07T15:44:00.000+10:00

It's a moody day in Melbourne.

Wet, hail, wind and cold.

Perfect reason to stay at my desk and write.

Slowly, slowly.

So maybe I screamed a little bit...

2006-05-05T22:36:00.000+10:00

OK. I've been sick, and a little tired, so I took today off from all forms of offical or organised activities [study, work, and kind of social life] and esentially read in front of the tv on the couch. Just what I needed.

Then tonight I thought I'd finish off the day by relaxing a little more in front of a movie, then sleep.

The movie I chose? Well, Carrie was on foxtel so I thought "classic seventies thriller, sounds good"...

Yes well - constant references to God, the Devil, telekenetic powers, emotional abuse, and of course the spectacular pig's blood. Creepy, tense atmosphere throughout. Dark, dark angles and frames and lighting and sets. Oddly wonderul bit-part by a very young looking John Travotla. Entirely fruitcake religoius-nut-sexually-oppressed mother.

And Sissy Spacek. Wow. She's just odd-looking all the way through, and you're utterly petrified of her and at the same time feel so sorry for her - in a way, you can COMPLETELY sympathise with what leads her to massacre half of her school in a blaze of [you guessed it] pig's blood, high-pressure hoses and scorching soaring flames.

Carrie made me squirm in my seat - the eerie soundtrack [thanks to Psycho], and the way Spacek was cute-mousy-teased-girl one minute and blood-covered-eye-bulging-creature-of-Satan the next.
This is the kind of slightly-dated still petrifiying "horror movie" you don't want to admit to being scared of. But can't help it.

Loved it. Don't know how I'm going to sleep though.

um... are you sure about that?

2006-04-23T22:59:00.000+10:00

" Race as a category is undergoing a subtle but vitally important shift. By the end of the 21st century, most Americans will realise that race is a social construct, of little meaning or utility in and of itself.

...

The process of globalisation will also cause Americans to see their similarities and ignore their dimishing racial differences. The cultural values shared between a black American and a white American will be far more compelling than the racial similarities that one shares with a Nigerian and the other with a Croat.

...

Many cultural differences between white and black Americans remain. Yet through the internet, television, trade, and travel, the ties that bind Americans and distinguish us from other cultures and nations will be emphasised. "

Running on Race, Jeremy D. Mayer

Oh dear, Jeremy. I don't even know where to begin.

You're right, that's not true. I have a fair idea.

Running on Race is a close and detailed study of the issue of 'race' in American presidential election campaigns 1960-2001. Mayer's work is useful in framing what has clearly been a central and important issue in these election campaigns over the past decades; the election-by-election approach draws clear comparisons and highlights the continuities in the way this issue was mobilised, approached or avoided by different candidates.

Mayer anticipates that it might sound "hopelessly naive" to predict that white privilege, and the colour line that made it possible, will fade over the next century, thus diminishing in importance as an electoral issue.

What I think he misses is that, if anything, a lot of the forces he sees as being 'unifying' are actually working to fragment societies and people. Perhaps he would think I've got an overly pessimistic view of the influence of race, ethnicisim, nationalism, religion and the emotive power of these various issues.

But where Mayer sees hope for unification in globalisation - where the internet, trade and travel will overcome more local differences to show Americans what they have in common - I feel as through his universalism overlooks the structures of power that run throughout these global forces.

For those who feel alientated from these broad global processes, who feel threatened by international terrorism, economically insecure due to the decline of the working class as labour movements react to the global market, whose sense of personal and collective identity is challenged by appeals to cosmopolitanism... it is in these spaces that the longing for close, bounded definitions of identity and community resides, and that the strengthening of these bounded identities - apparent in the resurgence of ultranationalisms, the rise of religious affiliation and religious fundamentalism, the growth of US patriotism after 9/11 - finds its base.

I think it is in this context we need to understand racism and its continuing potency - something I don't think is going away, however much intellectuals and public commentators and politicians would like to tell us it is. The essentialising viewpoint that relies on ideas of biological 'race' (or culture or ethnicity) to distinguish between us and them affords a powerful way to be able to easily answer the questions: where do I belong? where can I feel safe? who belongs here with me, and who doesn't?

I think, when we underestimate people's fundamental need to belong, we fail to see why these forms of identity formation might continue to be powerful. As Etienne Balibar points out, racism is not simply an error or a form of 'false consciousness', and we shouldn't only think about it in this way, as through we can simply 'educate' people away from thinking wrongly. Racism offers a way to think about the world and answer questions about it and our place in it. Combined with ideas of national identity, familial identity, class identity [which Mayer sees as possibly replacing race as a central election issue], personal identity and so , racism is simply one of a suite of ideas that contributes to the basic human need to know who we are and where we belong.

But this doesn't mean it is any less important, or that it's going away any time soon - especially in electoral politics, where the competition for who will speak for the nation, and who is able to include themselves in the national 'we', is even more urgent.

listen up

2006-04-20T23:11:00.000+10:00

In the Aeroplane Over the Sea is one of the most completely inspiring rock records I've ever heard...everytime I finish listening to it I feel like I've lived through something I'll never quite understand, something really big. Ben Reed Parry, The Arcade Fire

If there was ever an album to cement the case for buying/listening to records as albums, in order, from start to finish, without wanting or needing to press skip, shuffle or put a few choice tracks on a playlist, In the Aeroplane Over the Sea is that album. No question.

I'd been enamoured with John Darnielle's spectacularly awkward cover of Two-Headed Boy for a while now, but the when I bought the re-issued album a few months ago I didn't really know what I was in for. I'm not sure I could have been prepared.

From the first strumming chords of The King of Carrot Flowers Part I to the final tortured lyrics of Two-Headed Boy Part II it's a little difficult to breathe. Jeff Magnum and Neutral Milk Hotel move through the most uncool of arrangements, subject matter and form, with special appearances by Anne Frank and her family, a brass band, an instrumental track, the awkwardness of puberty and, of course, communism. Why not.

As original members of the remarkable Elephant Six collective [along with Elf Power, the Essex Green and others] we're meant to expect something different, a little experimental and wistful and perhaps even nostalgic from NMH [above]. Aeroplane travels a dark turn through the human spirit, simple and sweet melodies masking gruesome and slightly disturbing lyrics. It's a trip you can't help but take too - and it's best taken lying on your bed with the blinds closed, trying to catch Magnum's lyrics through his mumbling and absorbing it all as a cycle, a narrative and a classically devestating tale.

Enjoy.

When I first started driving, In the Aeroplane Over the Sea was the only cassette I had in my Ford Fiesta for two years. It is amazing. Friendships can be gauged on the mutual love of Neutral Milk Hotel. Bob Hardy, Franz Ferdinand

a marathon effort

2006-04-15T17:59:00.000+10:00

there's something endlessly appealing about the television marathon...

this weekend there's more oc than you can poke a stick at.

yes it's a little sad. yes i've seen them all before. and no, i will not be switching off or doing something constructive instead.

as Manic Bubble says, easter saturday is a waste of time, nothingy kind of day any way - so why not fill it with a delicious, waste of time, nothingy kind of show?

california, here we come.

aussie aussie aussie

2006-03-20T20:29:00.000+11:00

so i'm having trouble reconciling the daytime and the night-time while the commonwealth games are on in [all over] my home town

i'm in the prelim stages of thesis - so i'm spending my days reading about race, identity, nationalism. today i read balibar and wallerstein on the relationship between racism and nationalism; they question whether the two are mutually dependent, whether one grows out of the other [which? how?]... then paul gilroy trying to put the politics back into discussions of race and nationalism - he's one of those eminently reasonable theorists whose language is very convincing despite the incredibly radical nature of his proposal to move entirely beyond racialised discourse in modern society... then a range of theorists responding to and critiquing charles taylor and the absence of any ideas of power in his 'politics of recognition'. phew

then i come home, watch australia win gold silver and bronze in every available event, watch the flags waved and the cheering, listen to athletes and spectators mumble most of the words of the national anthem, and of course the stunning parochialism of the commentators.

and i'm just not sure how to put it all together in my head. would welcome any suggestions.

laneway craziness

2006-02-27T13:02:00.000+11:00

So we spent yesterday at the St Jerome's Laneway Festival... great music, weather, people, location

The whole set up was delightfully eclectic, as was the line-up. We had the most fun people-watching, checking out awesome T-shirts and some inspired op-shop treasures being paraded around Caledonian Lane. This is thing I love about jeromes - despite the whinging of 'old skool' fans that it's sold out now, full of suits and trendy trucker hat people - well, yes it is but they all look a little uncomfortable, a little out of place and can't help but staring at the indie 'freaks', whoa re in their element and just stare right back.

Well the day rocked. I know it's much cooler to detest indie rock bands like Faker than to love them, but i do.

The ever-manic nathan was at his writhing, lurching, wandering best: jumping off everything, banging his head against a speaker and climbing above the tarp roof to sit on some kind of duct-thing high above the laneway. the crowed loved it - they probably got the best crowd reaction all day.

broken social scene were also great, but les savy fav were a little too insane to get into - it seemed they were so busy being cool and crazy they forgot to make good music too. shame.

well it was crowded and by the time the avalanches came on everyone was talking to everyone else... we met some gorgeous guyus and gals and had a blast. I'll be going along next year, no questions.

instant expert

2006-02-16T22:27:00.000+11:00

it's amazing how three days of late night olympics coverage allows you to shamelessly jump on the winter sports bandwagon.

i originally tuned in because i spent last new year's in turin and was hoping for the occasional glimpse of the town i fell in love with - wide steets, the sunset river and the best gelati in italy. but now i'm hooked...

a glimpse of freestyle moguls, halfpipe snowboarding or whatever and i feel entirely qualified to judge 'explosive runs', 'clean landings', whether or not someone has 'corked a 10-80' and whether they get lots of 'air' and are 'super-relaxed' on their jumps.

do people actually talk like this? real people? i hope so, because i'm embracing it whole-heartedly.
and i'm not using capital letters in this post either - because funky snowboarding people don't. or do they? i've got no idea. if an australian wins gold in any sport at all, no matter how random or obscure, it's our national duty to become obsessed with it.

count me in.

don't pretend you don't know what day it is

2006-02-14T10:28:00.000+11:00

ok so i know we're all over valentines day.

it's generation sex, according to this week's good weekend [the age, melbourne] and we don't care about love and romance, only casual partners and 'blowing a guy's mind'.

i say bah humbug to the cynicism. BAH HUMBUG to generation sex.

yes, valentine's day is commercial, and there's pressure to make presents and dates bigger and better every year. for your man to outdo your friend's man. and yes, most of the schlocky presents you see advertised are crass...and ugly... or hilariously cheesy.

well, i like being taken out for dinner.
i like being spoilt and made to feel like a girl.
and i don't see the problem with having a day where you remember to take time to just be together, to remind each other that you're in a relationship by choice and for a reason.

so, this post is a little soppy. big deal. i just woke to flowers being delivered to my door from someone who knows that i don't like roses and remembers to send tulips instead. i've never felt more special and happy and all that soppy valentine's stuff.

so sue me.

i'm spending valentines having a picnic with Kharen, Karen, Emma, Caitlin and maybe Kelly too. there'll be wine, cheese and girl talk. then we'll watch the oc. almost entirely perfect.

[relunctantly] returned

2006-01-30T11:02:00.000+11:00

Just spent a week in Adelaide... at Doris and Bill's sexy house on Henley Beach. Just perfect, and didn't really want to leave the sparkling sunshine to come home. Every morning, you wake up to waves and at night, the sun sinks below the beach in front of you. Perfect.

So we had an absolute blast. Caught up with Melbourne expat Tomas` who is hiding out in the sleepy city, and who took us out for the biggest oyster and cheese platter known to man. Then up to the appropriately named 'Mount Lofty' for a view over the city [and an ice block].

On a stinky 40+ day we caught a coach out to A Day on the Green to see Serena Ryder, Missy Higgins, Lior and the Whitlams. Of course, the coach blew a tire so six of us jumped ship and joined another [where the aircon wan't working].

These slightly comedic errors seem to follow Kharen around... but we finally get there. At Annie's Lane winery, we sat under olive trees and ate woodifre pizza... and of course, listened in. We sat behind rude rude people who spent more time arranging their chairs, prams, buckets of chicken, rugs, tents, bottles of wine and children than they did enjoying the day. Crazy people. But we did meet some lovely [very drunk] kids to dance with...

Also took a wine tour out to the Barossa Valley... sampled wine of every colour, sparkling, sweet... you name it. Got a little tispy. While we were waiting for the minibus we bumped into the ENTIRE Australian cricket team. I giggled like a fifteen year old [couldn't help it] but it was pretty cool. Check me out, starstruck teenager right here.

So it was a week spent on the beach, wandering vinatge and record stores in adelaide with dori, eating dhal at a brilliant vege place run by 'robed people' and waiting half an hour for the best vietnamese i've ever eaten.

Came back... went to big day out where i managed to randomly bump into scotland at the magic numbers. they - and the white stripes - just rocked. i was so far up the back for franz, but they still managed to get the crowd jumping with a slightly odd set that started off blistering then knid of petered out.

Much like this post, I suspect.

a birthday a week...

2006-01-19T16:41:00.000+11:00

So many january babies!

Happy birthday to you
Happy birthday to you
Happy birthday dear daniel
Happy birthday to you

How old are you now?
How old are you now?
How old are you daniel?
How old are you now?

[dan sings]

"I'm twenty-two today
I'm twenty-two today
I'm twenty-two dear family/friends/whoever
I'm twenty-two today"

hip hip hooray
hip hip hooray
hip hip hooray

blow out your candles... make a wish... cut your cake... if the knife comes out dirty you have to kiss the nearest girl... ooh, girl germs. gross.

North Melbourne treasure hunt

2006-01-11T22:28:00.000+11:00

My brilliant mate ay has been on the hunt in north melbourne, seeking blank lavender billboards.

Isn't it lucky when you just happen to have your paintbrush in your pocket!

To win the treasure hunt mystery prize [which may or may not be a chupa chup, your choice of flavour], simply find the billboard, snap the angels and send me the pic.

Hurry before the council comes along and cleans up.

And of course, happiest of birthdays to my beautiful best mate. Hope you have a great 22nd year... oh hold on, what about the year before you were one? Damn, I've mucked that up again.

where have you been?

2006-01-06T15:45:00.000+11:00

Yes, it's been a month. Sometimes I think that Christmas is over-rated... the excessive amounts of food, the stress to make everything perfect perfect perfect all the time...

After working full time all though December, then spending the last two weeks in Sydney - I'm appreciating my bed, my books, my own shower, my space. I do love Sydney's flashiness, her buzz and beauty and the care she takes with her appearance. I love wandering the QVB, the Strand Arcade, the little shops around Bondi and the ice cream near Manly. But I miss Melbourne's relaxed mood, her earthiness and funkiness and her music. It's nice to be home.

A few quick, blurry mobile-camera images of the last month...

Here's Cait and I [up] and Cait and George [down] at the St Jerome's Carpark Festival, here in Melb CBD. Was a brilliant day - scorching hot, but in a great space in the golden square carpark. Sons and Daughters were high, dirty and fantastic, and the Avalanches DJ set was blistering, full of breakdancers and men in odd costumes.

OK - Terrigal Beach, up on Sydney's north coast, on Boxing Day. Early early - spent the day on the beach, sunshine, crosswords, a shark alarm, iron-man races and a chicken burger and chips.

Right - my crazy little cousin Nicole, giving me her best 'I'm a sexy model'... she's about six.

Moving right along here... New Years Eve we had a BBQ, ate about five kilos of fresh prawns, drank a bottle of very fine tequila and another of gin, did some crazy karaoke...

Then NYDay it was the feelgood festival at luna park, right under the harbour bridge pylon at sydney harbour... Cait and Karen came to stay in Sydney for a bit, and we took my cousin Emma along to see Ember Swift, Lior, Ozomatli, The Beautiful Girls - it was 44deg that day, scorching, so we skipped boring Pete Murray and went for a midnight swim instead.

And that was how I spent the trip - music, sunshine, beaches and way too much very very good food.

Hope yours was fun family friends and all else that you treasure.

hello hello

2005-12-06T18:11:00.000+11:00

After 11 hours,four cups of bad thermos coffee, three bathroom runs and one 24-hour Safeway visit for water and natural confectionery company snakes, there are now eight of these beautiful objects in my [very excited] possession.

It was a marathon effort... not helped by the people down the front of the line who used a guitar and some questionable musicianship to work their way through the entire powderfinger songbook, complete with enthusiastic over-harmonising and dubious lyric remembering. Thankfully they fell asleep sometime around one, and we spent the rest of the night chatting away to random groupies [we, of course, were not groupies, but dedicated fans with well developed music taste]

Anyway there's been a second show announced for the next night - so all of you who missed out, rustle up a sleeping bag and a thermos and head to the nearest ticketmaster... it's going to go off!!

two days from freedom

2005-11-21T17:19:00.000+11:00

... but I will not complain, I will not whinge. I will stick it out and then I will rejoice and relax.

Spent last Thursday at the Half Moon Bay... a clear blue day with a beach that started off empty but filled slowly as people fled school, work to end up in the water or on the sand.

Perfection. Utter bliss.

Here's the view from my towel. If you look closely, you can see the wreck of the submarine straight ahead... the Cerberis. If you're a much better swimmer than me you can make it out there easily. Give it till summer and the wreck will be swarming with teenaged boys proving their manhood by launching themselves off it into the blue.

Andrew's a little dot out there in the water somewhere.

This is a few minutes before I went into the freezing Antarctic waves... got stung by a jellyfish... and was so distracted by the welt I neglected to reapply. Ended up having to keep my legs completely straight and soaking in aloe for three days coz it's too painful to bend the burnt backs of my knees.

It's gone down now (thank god). I don't usually burn so have forgotten - or never knew- how painful it was... combined with three days worth of cold showers :( I still haven't worked my way back up to full temperature yet. Too risky. Maybe tonight.

So a brilliantly painful day. It's my basic plan for the summer - leaving out the sting and the burn of course.

glutton for punishment

2005-11-14T16:06:00.001+11:00

It's official - I've let myself in for three more years of libraries, bibliographies, deadlines... and of course, 90 000 words.

That's right people - a letter from uni in the mail today confirmed my acceptance into the PhD program at Melbourne Uni, starting March next year. You know, it seemed like a really good idea until I realised I actually had to WRITE a PhD...

No - seriously. Am rapt. Ecstatic. Overjoyed. Petrified. Excited. All that jazz. Just give me three years - I'll be Dr. Deep in Thought. Seriously scary stuff.

Does it detract from my serious academic appearance that I spend an hour of potentially constructive time every day watching Jessica Fletcher trying to solve a murder? This morning, it was a Grandpa who murdered a Mexican drug-dealer because said drug dealer was indirectly responsible for the death of his grandson two years earlier in a high-speed police chase. Riveting.

Every episode, a friend or close personal acquaintance of Jessica's dies. Every episode, someone takes Jessica into a dark room, where a suspicious man in a dark suit warns her that she is becoming a nuisance, and [for her own safety] she should keep her nose out of other people's business. Every episode I think 'Oh, well he's the bad guy. He's behind all of these dastardly deeds and deceptions and double-double crossing'. And every episode the man in the dark suit is actually a CIA agent... or an undercover New York detective...or a British spy. He's a good guy, doing his best to muddle though all the misunderstandings and find the killer. And every episode I think 'Oh. Yeah. Why didn't I see that small white powdery mark on the mahogany dining table that proves Person X was really a jealous homicidal maniac?'

Love Jessica Fletcher. She's on the list of potential heroes.

sun-day

2005-11-13T16:10:00.000+11:00

So I've been meaning to start this for a while - but have been inspired by three cosmically-aligned happenings: i'm procrastinating from actual constructive study... one-eyed-man has translated words to action in brilliant fashion... and I'm anticipating future summer boredom. So.

I think it should be illegal to make people study on Sunday afternoons. Especially bright, cheerful ones.

I've spent the last few days playing with a brand new iBook, and am [not at all] ashamed to admit that I'm in love. I've decidedly jumped on the mac bandwagon, and I'm not looking back. Is it shameful and materialistic to be this excited over a laptop - so much so that I'm writing about it instead of more 'important' things? Hope not, can't help it.

Have just gotten pics from the races last weekend - usual mess of eyes closed, odd facial expressions and the like. This one's not too bad.

Had great fun - checking out not only the horses but the inappropriate outfits, badly applied fake tan and hair extensions galore. I love the way Melbourne goes a little nuts during Spring Carnival, so obsessed with something most of us don't think about once for the rest of the year. Kept an eye out for Stevie Nicks... but she was off in the corporate marquees, not slumming it in the carparks. Lost my money of course - but if you've got to bet big to win big, I wasn't even in the running.

There's a production of Kafka's Metamorphosis on at the Malthouse till the 20th. It's a modern interpretation - suburbia, range rovers and the rat race apparently. Going with Cait and Gus on Tuesday night so will report back.

Gigs coming up: Lior, Big Day Out to catch Franz Ferdinand, Magic Numbers. Wanted to see The Shins (missed them last time cause I was still in Europe) but it sold out in 24 hours. Shame