Render Unto Caesar
Bush II’s radical fundamentalist outlook explains a lot of his opposition to gay marriage. He is also a typically short-sighted politician in this respect and a rampant homophobe. John Howard has decided to weigh in with his support for Bush II’s position, but he’s taken the take that government should support male-female-only marriage because it is required for the “survival of the species.” Marriage is a civil contract between two persons to engage in mutual support, and traditionally that has entailed support of any offspring. Religions have sought to endorse this contractual obligation by adding quasi-mystical elements. People make these commitments outside of marriage, too (which is one of the factors that imperil institutional religions). Acknowledging that homosexuals can and often do commit themselves to monogamous relationships by allowing them to register their pledge with the state imperils nothing, at least no further than it is already affected. Governments, despite Howard’s statement, are not often engaged in ensuring the survival of the species, but rather the maximization of an on-going tax base: they ensure their own survival. Because of the significance of the Religious Right in politics, particularly during the Reagan administration, there is a perception that political survival depends on catering to the requirements of fundamentalists, at least in part, a practice that has two effects: first, a “Catch-22,” wherein the influence of the Religious Right increases even while politicians strive to distance themselves from it, because they also seek to placate it (like a stray dog, the more you feed it, the more likely it is to follow you home, the very situation that has put Bush II in office); second, a rise in violent activism – the same conditions faced by the Saudis, among others – and there were enough anti-abortion-related bombings and shootings in the U.S. to give anyone concern. Governments should build and maintain roads and bridges, fund courts and schools, provide for a reasonable level of national defense, and seek to generally improve the quality of life among their constituent populations. Instead, we see them seeking to qualify what life is. Clinton may have had the education to engage in philosophical debate, but I don’t see any evidence that Bush II or Howard can manage it.

Mobs & Collective Activity
O.k., so everybody’s heard about the Flash Mob phenomenon, and if you’ve been following it in the major newspapers et al., then you’ll also have encountered references to Smart Mobs, which are a political version, not yet a phenomenon, but expected at some point, as a result of the same technology and connectedness that has given us it’s precursor. There is a smaller version, however, and it’s been around a while now, called an Art Collective. Evidently, Art Collectives are experiencing a resurgence (although it’s not entirely clear from the article what they actually do). Flash Mobs seem to exist between these two. They have an artistic element and appear to be trending toward a political content. They are absurdist and activist. (You could also say they’re Happenings for the Attention Deficit Disorder generation.) Can we expect Flash to morph into Smart? It seems more likely that they’ll fade away like any other fad, perhaps to have moments of recurrence over the years, like the Art Collectives. But have a look over at Flock Smart, and you might change your mind about that.

Dentistry
What with the familial connection I have with the dental arts – Mom was a professional hygienist and performed or instigated our tooth care – I take a certain interest beyond the usual, so last night’s trip for a check-up and cleaning was notable. I have not ever had someone else do all the work for me: even rinse-and-spit. The equipment was the cleanest and most modern I’ve run across and the professionalism was top-notch. We’ve all seen the Simpsons joke about the “Big Book of British Smiles,” used to terrorize small children into brushing regularly, but clearly Australia has gone to some lengths, at least lately, to ensure there’s no corresponding Australian edition. Good news, too, since tooth decay equals heart disease.

Remarkable Story from Woking
Last night looking at the night sky to the east, M and I could see an unmoving, reddish object in the sky. Is it a satellite? Yes, probably; certainly not a plane. Hmm. Maybe it was Mars. Or maybe it was one of those cylinders launched back in the ‘30s by Orson Wells and in 1898 by H. G. Wells. There are definite advantages to living in a place with lower levels of waste light than you get in Europe and North America

Events of the Day
In the words of 50 Cent (who picked that name?): “It’s your birthday, we’re going to party like it’s your birthday. . . .” Yes, it’s M.’s birthday today, although we had the party on Saturday. We had a good crowd, quite a mix, and everybody had a good time. It started early and ran late, always a good sign. We didn’t do presents, but some turned up anyway, and they were all very thoughtful. (I think Spirited Away was supposed to be for my birthday instead, though.)

Papers? Show Me Your Papers
I’m one of those people who believe that my right to travel within the U.S. does not require the use of identification, but the potential for internal security documentation requirements will soon reach the point where we all throw up our hands and give in. The Transportation Security Administration is about to impose new restrictions on persons seeking to travel on any commercial flight in the country. I especially like that they’re targeting “violent felons” so we don’t have to fly next to an “ax murderer.” Do they believe their own lies? This is very obviously another one of the civil liberty infringements the Bush Administration is attempting under the banner of keeping us safe from terrorists, but the killers who flew the planes in the terror attacks of September 11 wouldn’t have been picked up this way, would they? It’s of particular interest that they mention locating members of the Animal Liberation Front, an extreme activist group (who haven’t killed anyone, by the way). Read the Department of Homeland Security’s press release, but keep your blood pressure medication handy.

Return to Bali
Although the Kuta Club, the primary target in last year’s terror attack on Australians, has not been rebuilt (and it won’t be, not until after twelve months have passed, so as to ensure no evil spirits remain), the other bombing site in Bali, Paddy’s Irish Pub, reopened its doors on Saturday, full of the sound of ‘Strine, once again. It’s a very nice thing for Bali, and for those of us feeling the effects of September 11 and October 12 it’s a very heartening event, especially when so many of the survivors were able and willing to return to Bali for the celebration.

Bad Ideas
John M. Poindexter has been fired by the Pentagon. As a leader in the production of bad ideas – beginning with the Iran/Contra arms for hostages scam, and proceeding to proposing that the Pentagon maintain electronic surveillance (internet, telephone, television, etc.) of all Americans to weed out the terrorists – the convicted felon and Admiral lost all credibility by proposing the almost immediately discredited idea of a “futures market” in terror attack intelligence. A brilliant idea, isn’t it, as anybody who managed to do well in such a scheme would have to be a terrorist themselves, and therefore prosecutable for insider trading. As much trouble as I have understanding how he got a job in the first place, I’m still amazed it took this long to fire him. Good riddance. (Who’s next?)

There’s Still Nothing Better
Sliced bread is 75 years old. And if it’s Wonder™, it’s probably still fresh. (via Manic, at Bloggerheads.)

Nothing Better to Do
What, exactly, is wrong with George II? I understand why his cowardice would exhibit itself by perpetuating the terror threat and perpetrating illegal warfare (he is a failed oilman, after all, whose self-worth is based at least in part on legitimizing his father’s term in office and portraying himself as a capable businessman), but why is he so afraid of homosexuals? On the other hand, because this is being proposed as a Constitutional amendment, it’s unlikely to pass.

Update: Making abstinence the primary focus of AIDS prevention further demonstrates our idiot president's homophobia, as it suggests that gays wouldn't contract HIV if they weren't gay, a result that could be achieved by not having sex.

SPF 30+
I have my doubts about going out in the summer without a hat and “sunnies” this year, but NASA’s telling me the ozone hole’s getting smaller. Well, it’s not getting bigger at the same rate, anyway. While the reduction in the use of CFCs is being credited, scientists are also indicating that the rise of greenhouse gases may also be acting to restore the ozone layer. So it’s getting hotter and less breathable, but we’re better protected from UV rays? That’s not a viable trade-off to me. Maybe if more people signed up with Skyfish and signed the recognition of responsibility, we’d get some action around here. Maybe a few more First World nations could sign the Kyoto Accords, too.

Lobbying to Prevent Change
It is simply a part of doing business that corporations will form or ally themselves with lobbying groups to push forward their agenda by influencing legislators to protect entrenched practices even in the face of public opposition. As we witness giant mergers taking place year after year, we also see these business giants becoming increasingly dominant in society, to the point where they wield a measure of influence comparable to small countries. They ensure their position by campaign finance programs so that short-sighted politicians act on their behalf. Even before the events of September 11, legislation was sought in the Senate – sponsored by Jesse Helms – to enshrine animal experimentation in law. That effort pretty much died in committee, but a new effort is underway by the American Legislative Exchange Council: the Animal and Ecological Terrorism Act, a measure by all indications even more draconian than the USA Patriot Act. This time the campaign appears to be more insidious, not only because ALEC has a pretty good lobbying record at getting bills voted on, but also in that their efforts are being directed toward the States, effectively bypassing the national news sources (as well as providing the federal government with the appearance of a national public-based groundswell). Texas and New York have already introduced bills modelled on ALEC’s proposal, and there are indications other States legislators are interested in seeing a positive outcome. It appears patently unconstitutional to me, as – using language from the Texas bill – defining an animal rights group as “two or more persons organized for the purpose of supporting any politically motivated activity intended to obstruct or deter any person from participating in an activity involving animals or... natural resources” would seem to violate the Bill of Rights’ protection of free association. And making out such a group to be terrorists is exploitive of the climate of fear the Bush Administration has sought to impose on the country. Organizations such as Earth First! and the Animal Liberation Front have been reported as having acted in a manner classifiable as criminal under existing statutes, but laws as broadly written as this could put you in jeopardy for signing a World Wildlife Fund petition. While the political focus is on Washington for the most part, State legislation like this can make progress. I usually feel I can rely on the courts to ensure such acts do not last on the books, but while they are there, they can do more damage to our freedoms and to our progress as thoughtful, caring beings with a commitment to the environment and to ethical behavior than is often realized. Keep an eye on these people: they’re dangerous.

Flash Animation
I use the term “Flash” both in the Registered Trademark sense and the Britishism denoting something as particularly notable in a stylish fashion. Samorost is an animated on-line game, in which you attempt to save the character’s planet (or whatever) from destruction by a blithe group of tea-pickers (whose foreman is a Fred Schneider look-alike stoned caterpillar). You’ve got to mouse around to find the click-points, sort of like Myst, and then figure out how to make things work the way you want them to. Hours of fun for those with broadband.

Reforestation
Plant a tree on Kangaroo Island. You’ll need 99 friends to join you (NEC plants one tree for every 100 “leaves” posted). Ecological, but.

If Man Was Meant to Fly . . .
He’d have a flying suit. Add this to the list of superhero clothes: imagine swooping down like Daredevil from a rooftop you ascended like Spiderman, but with more control, and zapping your opponent at a touch, and he or she never even saw you coming. Yea!

Update: Did I say Daredevil? I meant Crossfire.

The View from Here
I’ve only worked in 6 different buildings in NYC and most were more often characterized by the lack of a view than an inspiring or panoramic vista as the movies would have you believe. That had as much to do with being located on lower floors than were available as it did with the close proximity of other, larger buildings blocking the windows from across the street. When I worked at 140 Broadway, the view was of apartments across Liberty Street – entertaining in its way, especially early in the morning, when residents were still at home. At Scholastic, in Soho, we had a dance studio across the way, the one used in Center Stage during an especially egregious scene involving what looks more like aerobics than modern dance, but also there was a rooftop garden, which later figured in providing the single most indelible witnessing of my tenure in that city. The World Trade Center offered extensive views of the Jersey shoreline swamps and petroleum processing stations, but also the Tappen Zee bridge on especially clear days and clouds at your feet some rainy mornings. It was also the most unobstructed view I ever had, although that sometimes made it somehow less interesting than those with some art deco monolith in the way, such as when I worked at Chase Plaza, just off Wall Street. One view I never had was the kind I get now: trees. And birds. (The birds are a bit of a worry sometimes, as they’ll get pretty noisy, and it can sound like you’re in a Tarzan movie as a result – except for the kookaburras, which sound like nothing else.) Now that I live in a country where deciduous trees are the exception, I get lush verdure all year ‘round, admittedly as a result of being out in the suburbs in a landscaped industrial park (not the prettiest one I’ve ever seen, which was about an hour north of Atlanta, Georgia, where office blocks towered up from the edges of heavily wooded State Park land). My preference is for the dynamism of the city, and even more for a view of the water. Unlike NYC’s harbor, Sydney’s is dominated by the Bridge, and pictures don’t do it justice. Yesterday morning, running down the last stretch of Macquarie Street onto the Opera House plaza, the Harbour Bridge’s arc ended in a bit of obscuring cloud tinged pink with the sunrise. As massive as the structure is, it’s like a frame to the Harbour (always capitalized), one of those heavy, ornate frames you’ll see appearing to swallow up an impressionist painting, except that, as with the painting, the frame removes itself from conscious perception without actually disappearing, thereby setting the painting off from all else around it. For such a simple seeming structure, the Harbour Bridge is a visionary piece of architecture, imposing without being an imposition. Perhaps it is a function of life in Sydney that I should find myself mediating on a job change just to get closer to the Harbour; something to explore later.

Etymology & Anthropology
People have been asking me for years what my last name means in the original German, and I have never had a clue. Well, we always thought the first syllable means “old” or “other,” but since I don’t speak German and never met anyone who does – funny, isn’t it? – there was no way to be sure. Vitalog is a compendium of names that allows you to search for the meaning of your surname. Mine, of course, remains obscure, but there are at least hints toward a meaning, the first syllable potentially being a prefix used to designate the younger of two persons otherwise similar, and the last two being German for “plowman.” I admit to hoping for better.

Is It Drafty in Here?
I suppose that since open criticism of Bush II’s Imperium is cause for disciplinary action (but probably not discharge) in the military, plans to increase the size of the standing armed forces shouldn’t be unexpected. I am admittedly somewhat torn in my sympathies for those who are presently in the National Guard (some I know joined specifically because they needed the extra paycheck, but didn’t they have to know it could come to this?), but I am grinding my teeth to nubs over the prospect of Bush’s oil greed getting the U.S. in so deep that we have to return to the draft. I may not be the only one thinking this way.

Afro-Beat King
The Times has always loved Fela, so it’s no wonder they make such a point of reporting on the latest exhibit at the New Museum, “Black President.” I remember reading about him in the Times long before I actually found any of his music. I got to see him perform only once; although concerts were scheduled more often than you’d expect, the Nigerian government would toss him in jail or deny exit visas to his wives or band members, so I count myself lucky. In the two hours of that one concert, I think he played maybe five songs, an example of one of the things I love most about the music: he never gave up on a swinging groove. Hypnotic isn’t descriptive enough; Fela’s music is compelling.

Eulogy
John Clayton, M.’s grandfather, died on Saturday morning. We had been warned by his doctors that it could happen soon, but they also said he could last for months, even a year, and we thought we’d have more time, and weren’t really prepared. I don’t suppose anyone ever is. John and M. were very close; he’d been the most stable and reliably present grown-up male in her life, and they’d doted on one another. I only got to spend time with him on visits out to Windsor over these last eight months or so, and didn’t get to hear half the stories he’d have had to tell: his childhood in Burma, which his family left when we was still little, fleeing the Japanese invasion prior to World War II; his years driving taxis on the Central Coast. . . . There’d have been more, besides. He was a bit of a rake in his day, sporting an Elvis pompadour and getting in a little trouble here and there as a young man. Like many Australians, his love for sports had its particular focal points, not least being horse racing, but also Aussie Rules. The night he died, his team, the Sydney Swans, trounced St. Kilda. The first half would have been an anxious one for him, as the score was pretty tight, but the second would have been very satisfying, as the Saints never got close to the spread again. It’s silly, but it’s sort of comforting that it worked out that way. Rest in Peace, Johnny.

Art of Noise
Album cover graphics have long been at the pinnacle of effective marketing techniques, and the better the art, the better the music. Well that’s one idea. Sometimes, the opposite holds true. But album covers have been more than just songs-and-sidemen listings, with multitudes of coffee-table books for sale and web sites devoted to them. CDs spoiled all that, although there are hints of a come-back, now that digital manipulations are making even the small-scale glossies in the jewel boxes more distinct and more distinctive. I’m trying to think of a new CD I’ve purchased where the cover art wouldn’t be improved by being a square foot of cardboard, and only Sigur Ros’s ( ) comes to mind. Exit Art, in Soho, NYC, had a show devoted to album covers, and covered not only history but an entire aesthetic range as well, and it was worth attending, so I’ll recommend the show at Punch, in San Francisco, sight unseen.

I Got the Music in Me
You are what you listen to according to researchers at the University of Texas. Well, I’m no fan of Jennifer Lopez and don’t think I’ve ever heard Harold Melvin and the Bluenotes, but they all sound a bit like newspaper horoscope analyses to me anyway.

Mob
A bit more information on the Insta-Mob phenomenon. “Bill” sounds like a clever and sociable person, but I need 150 people to run an event of my own, plus a couple of digital camcorders. I probably should have a collaborator experienced in such things, too. And more friends. Cheese Bikini, where the group is referred to as a “Flash Mob,” cribbing from science fiction author Larry Niven, has transcripts of the invitations, and photos of Mob 3. (See also The Official Record.)

Can’t You See I’m Winning?
The Horn & Hardart Automat was a wonderful place, although my experience of them was brief and very late in the game. Steve Stollman’s collection of information and images of those dining facilities is a nice little resource, whether your interest is in recipes, getting the parts to build one, or just nostalgia, and, hey, I think that’s my dad getting some pie in that picture! (Thanks to Lester Norton, a.k.a. Solonor Rasreth, at Solonor’s Ink Well, where you can also see the joke referred to in the title here.)

Free Speech Zone
Following Lester Norton’s lead, I’m declaring this ‘blog as a Free Speech Zone. It’s stupid, I know, but John Ashcroft is the devil’s minion and I support the right of every American to speak in public on whatever issue they choose wherever they choose. We don’t need no Hyde Park Speaker’s Corner, this is America, baby! Free Brett Bursey! Maybe it’ll become a trend.

Rendering Unto Caesar
I’ve spent hours working over the forms and reading the instructions and after ranging from a whopping tax bill to a whoo-hoo refund and everything in between, it looks like Australia’s gonna owe me a nice bit of dough, which result I’ve come to after loading up the e-tax software, stepping through all the questions, filling in all the fields, and letting the program figure it out for me, which is the second best part of using the software (because I don’t actually have to do math). The third best part is that they pay within 3 weeks of filing. I’ll bet the IRS can’t beat that.

Meta
My Five is a ‘blog content project not unlike the Friday Five, except that it’s more open-ended regarding when you post, it updates on Mondays, and it isn’t topical. Instead, you’re only required to use the five suggested words in a single post. I think this may be a little more creative than the Friday Five, since my habits of a given week generally lead to enough posts that I’m not at a loss for material, even if I only reflect on some news item, or someone else’s ‘blog – which may be very boring for some, sorry – so I like the challenge, like the one presented to Ravel, that he use a single strand of melody to construct a symphonic composition, and which produced the “Bolero.” (Got ‘em.) (Found at Witty Banter.)

The Nigerian Banking Fraud Email Scam
I’ve only gotten one email of this kind, although people I know have had dozens. They are beyond belief, as is that anyone would fall for one. On the other hand, recent revelations about weapons of mass destruction in Iraq suggest there’s a patsy in the White House, just waiting to be bilked. (Eschaton, via Kenneth Miles, the Unaustralian.)

Partially Hydrogenated
The latest development in the food wars is the FDA’s requirement that nutrition labels include information on trans fats, which are the result of processing vegetable oils in such a way as to increase their self-life. I can see this affecting the fast food fat fight. McDonald’s, for example, uses partially hydrogenated vegetable oil to cook its fries (when it isn’t using lard, a practice they only recently stopped following a Hindu class action lawsuit), although just last year they announced they would use a trans fat-free oil instead, indicating to me at least that they saw the writing on the wall. I remained in blissful ignorance of these issues for many years, unlike most vegetarians and vegans. I still don’t particularly care personally, but I do see these developments as positive in the long-term overall. Meanwhile, if you read the labels carefully, you don’t have to wait until 2006 to find the trans fats.

Watching the Watchers
The events of September 11 were not only horrifying, they were frightening, and one group that became very frightened indeed is the politically incestuous elite presently holding office in the White House. George Bush was so severely affected that he now regards everyone in the world as a potential threat to his continued wealth and ability to hold power. This is a problem for America and the world because even before that day, Bush had gathered around himself a group of political extremists fully prepared to put into effect any measures they could conceive of to ensure their own participation and pre-eminence in the power and wealth structure the Bush administration promised. It is in the nature of the military and intelligence organizations that act as the enforcement arms of American policy that they should ensure the continued well-being of the administration regardless of their overall political tenor. The Pentagon and CIA will act according to whatever restraints or lack thereof is established by the liberalism or conservatism of the Executive in office. It is also in the nature of these branches of government that they should seek to maintain the level of public funding to which they are accustomed, and this is done the same way it is in any enterprise: by spending as much or more of any budget as possible. Spending money justifies spending more. If the expenditures exceed the budget, then the following fiscal period’s budget must need to be increased. If funding increases, spending will rise to meet it. George Bush’s fear and the military’s compulsion to justify their existence and spending levels meet in CTS, the Combat Zones That See technology currently under development by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), and which is discussed in an admittedly hyperbolic article in the Village Voice. It’s probably too late, but cowards like Bush don’t belong in the Oval Office, because they will make things worse instead of better.

Happenings Happening
They’re called Insta-mobs these days, but they sound like happenings to me. A little planning and an SMS/email list of willing participants is all that appears to be needed to create these performance pieces. Sydney artists may want to check in with Flocksmart.com, although it appears they need some encouragement towards an international resourcing commitment. (Via Arts Journal.com.)

As Lovely as a Tree
There is a Literature Nobel waiting for the author of Wocky Jivvy. Excuse me while I set out to write the next winning entry for the Wergle Flomp Poetry Contest. (Via Making Light.)

Consumerism
Which do I buy first, the CD or the book?

Love It or Leave It
I’ve been seeing a bit about America in the various journals and weblogs I read, and it prompts some amount of reflection on my part as well. I am, after all, living in a different country than I was born in without being an ex-pat or an exile. I don’t regard myself particularly as an immigrant either, if only because I do not intend to relinquish my citizenship. I moved to a country where I already spoke the language and arrived with a work permit – how lucky is that? When I was travelling up to Connecticut for work, I’d see a dozen or so Mexican or South American itinerants on a dozen or so various street corners waiting to be selected for a day’s labor, a common enough sight across the U.S. The English available to those men or to the shopkeepers in Queens and elsewhere is limited, and how many across the country have sufficient Spanish or Korean to make a conversation? Across Europe, though, how many have enough Turkish or Ibo to speak to the laborers who come to live in those countries? Arabic may be a common linguistic currency among the Arab nations, but I seriously question how far that will get anyone below a certain level of privilege and the education that comes with it. Koranic instruction in a madrassa will only get you so far, if you even manage that much. And how many of these immigrant laborers actually have government-issued visas? In Germany, France, and Britain you can read in the papers about the trials and discrimination against immigrants that sometimes erupt into violence. The same thing happens in the U.S. It happens in Australia, too. When it happens anywhere, there is an outcry, and rightly so. When it happens in the U.S. there’s an outcry everywhere. Fair enough, because the U.S. touts its tolerance, it’s welcome to immigrants, its status as the best place on earth. I sometimes think the other Western nations do a better job, except of course for the National Front and the Holocaust deniers, both of whom have their incarnations in the States, but who have an easier time being heard in Europe, just as the Islamofascists apparently do in the Middle East and Indonesia. Certainly the U.S. stands as a paradise compared to Africa and South America, and much of the South Pacific is incapable of sustaining itself as fully functioning nations. Yes, the President of my country is an idiot and his administration is intent upon enriching a selected few (I didn’t vote for him, really, and I won’t when he stands for re-election either), but look at some of the other world leaders and tell me you don’t have any complaints. The days of “love it or leave it” are long past, or should be, so I worry when I see abusive legislation like the US Patriots Act, especially when I don’t feel I can entirely trust the Supreme Court. Similarly, it concerns me when I see ASIO get expanded powers of arrest and detention, here in Australia, especially when the treatment of immigrants, refugees among them, is so troubling. Whether it’s John Ashcroft of Phillip Ruddock, I’m concerned by what I see. But again, I’m lucky. I’m a citizen of a country where I am free to speak out, to gather with like-minded others and to speak collectively, and I live in another country where I have the same rights, among people who act on those rights, just as they do in the country I left. There are surveillance cameras everywhere – in Sydney, New York, Hamburg, Glasgow . . . – and there are city leaders who deny permits to protest marchers, employing police to contain rallies, subjecting Nobel Prize winners to house arrest, but in the nations of the West, that isn’t the end of the story. We all focus on the negative events, and we should – eternal vigilance, remember – but we should also remember and hold firmly to the principles that make up our freedoms and those that allow us to enshrine them. Laws are made by people; they do not exist separately from us in some distinct, ethereal sphere. The Rule of Law is a collective agreement, and it’s a good one, but only insofar as the laws are also good. That’s why Constitutional amendments banning flag desecration or Gay marriage are so offensive. That the U.S. Constitution is drawn broadly enough to allow such amendments is dangerous only insofar as there are those who would abuse the Rule of Law to impose their own limited scope of vision out of selfishness – that’s tyranny, the other kind of Rule of Law. But Prohibition was repealed, and the amendments necessary to ensure civil rights for all still stand. Look, it’s not perfect. I can’t point to a single government or system that is. Compulsory voting sounds good, and maybe it mostly works; there are as many systems as there are democratic governments. Parliaments and Prime Ministers seem to manage to get things done (or not) just as much as the U.S. Congress and President. At the time, back in 1776, America was ruled from overseas by a government not significantly different from that of any other European power. Jefferson and Adams and Franklin and the rest sought to supply a better option, a “more perfect union.” A lot of other countries followed suit over the ensuing decades, either by evolution or by revolution and we’ve been making improvements ever since, not without mistakes, but not without progress either. It’s when the errors are born of hubris that we stumble worst, just like anybody else.

Meta
I note that Rana has added us to her list of Fellow Travellers, a gratifying development. And I’m going to try that method of dosing the cat. (I think only sweaters take a verb form of "pill," and as for bathing her, my preferred method – other than letting the beast do it herself – is to get a pack of “cat wipes” and rub her down. It becomes a battle for supremacy, but I’ll take the hits.)

Hamburglars
Is Fast Food addictive? If it is, I suppose there’s an argument to be made that the burger mills bear some measure of responsibility for making you fat, but what’s the difference between fast food and short order cooking? Should Jacques Pepin pull his cloche down over his face like a balaclava and run for cover? (Probably not, as it’s the deep pockets that get targeted in these situations, and Michelin stars aren’t enough of a portfolio to get you in trouble just yet.) Food is essential. We can’t get by on vitamin pills and space sticks. Butter and eggs are just ingredients, of course, and from the range of products, soy has pretty much supplanted most meat and dairy food items quite successfully. Well, maybe not so much dairy, but it’s getting there. But the lawsuits are moving ahead, attempting to assign blame the way the anti-smoking suits did. The difference I see is that the cigarette companies spent years denying and hiding the truth about their products: not that smoking would kill you – the packets have the warnings, and everyone who smoked read them and believed them – but that tobacco had no addictive quality. So smokers read the warnings and didn’t care too much, because they had to have a cigarette. I quit a couple of years ago now, thanks to M., who provided an inarguable incentive and also Allen Carr’s “Easy Way” (which uses a very forthright method of deprogramming you into a mindset from which it is, indeed, easy to quit), and I’m a little amazed at how simple it was to just ignore the addiction even while acknowledging it. It’s a pretty minor jones, but it’s no less real. Do hamburgers have a similar addictive component, or french fries? Is it all that sugar? Good luck to the plaintiffs; it’s going to be a long time before they see a dime. On the other hand, PETA is suing KFC, and this seems a more honest approach and more likely to prevail. Now, just mentioning PETA is enough to set some people off, but they are consistent and determined, and there’s more than a little in favor of their argument. Animals are cruelly treated as they are processed into food, and there’s no excuse for it. Peter Singer (another red flag for many people indeed, and someone who is inevitably trotted out in these discussions –see, I’m doing it, too) argues we can have it both ways, promoting as he does the “quality of life” method of raising animals for food, and both McDonalds and Burger King have been moving lately toward something like this approach, although the scale of production they require makes it more than just difficult for them to pursue their business model and follow Singer’s proposed methodology. KFC’s promises, whether fulfilled or not, as the lawsuit may yet prove, are also a step in this direction. I’ll be very interested in how this turns out: credit where credit’s due, we seem to come closer all the time toward PETA’s vision of the world every day, so while this will probably be tossed out or settled, I expect the litigation will have an effect, unlike the obesity suits.

Be Careful What You Ask For
”Give me a sign” seems more usually to be met with silence than the requested overt indication requested, but not this time. I’d think about retiring.

Holden Caulfield, ‘03
Igby Goes Down is a nice enough contemporization of Catcher in the Rye, but a bit disordered and cluttered finally. It inspired no great nostalgia for NYC, even though much of the film was set in neighborhoods M. and I frequented. There wasn’t a shot in the film we didn’t recognize, and that was entertaining, although I did mistake Georgetown for Brooklyn Heights. Honest mistake.

There are quite a few other movies yet to be seen this winter, other than the “blockbusters,” such as Lost in LaMancha, 25th Hour, Man Without a Past, maybe even Travelling Birds (Winged Migration in the States, which is a sillier title), though that one may be an Imax kind of film.

Health & Fitness
I’ve begun a new regimen: get up early and run down to the Opera House and back. It’s a bit chilly out there right now, but if I can turn this into a routine, it will stand me in good stead for summer. It’s also a bit dark, at least at first: the sun’s well up in the sky by the time I get to the harbour. Still, as I crest the final hill, the sails of the Opera House appear, poking up above the palms in the conservatory gardens, and I can well imagine them as the sails of a tremendous vessel from the earliest days of exploration and colonization of this continent. They offer an uncanny moment for me each time. The spread of the harbour and the vast scale of the Harbour Bridge also cause me to reflect on Sydney vis a vis other cities I have seen. Like most downtowns, Sydney’s CBD is an agglomeration of skyscrapers, with smaller buildings scattered among them as well. Open public spaces are not unusual either, offering welcome greenery. But the vast cut of the harbour into the city seems to have provided and prevailed upon the city builders to continue an openness that strikes me as quite unique. Remember the first time you ate in a restaurant with an open kitchen? It seemed bigger than the rooms you’d been in previously, and the dining experience seemed more integrated – you could feel that you were truly a part of the entire enterprise, its intent. As I enter the plaza spread along the harbour and in front of the Opera House, even dominated by the “Coat Hanger” as it is, that openness and integration is very much the experience, carried visually, but sensed and felt, not as if you are being embraced by the city, but that you are embracing it. I can’t say I ever got this feeling in NYC, neither at Battery Park nor on the Brooklyn Promenade. Looking out over New York Harbor from the Battery, I would get a sense of possibility, but turning around or standing on the Promenade I would more usually feel the weight of the city, its density, and its power. I rather like the feeling I get here, that I provide the definition of Sydney that I want. It isn’t so much about me, about what possibilities are on offer for me to be or do, but rather about what the place will be because of me. Of course, then I have to swing around and head back uphill. . . .

Geeks to the Rescue
The ”Soft Walls” anti-hijacking concept sounds like the kind of workable solution that would eventually have quite a range of possible applications, but I don’t understand the reported resistance from pilots. It certainly sounds better than being shot down to me.

Macaroni
I never did understand the lyrics to Yankee Doodle, but leaving that aside, Happy Fourth of July, my fellow Americans. And don’t forget the price of liberty is eternal vigilance.

Marketing
I read with interest about Jason Wilson, who sells what he writes directly, taking up position on King Street in Newtown, Sydney (although I wouldn’t have normally characterized a writer as a “busker”; it’s not like he does a little dance if you buy a story). It’s catching on, apparently, as pointed on in the International Herald Tribune’s recent piece on Adrian Brune, who’s doing the same thing in New York (occupying the usual venue for these activities: the subway). It reminds of me the early 80’s, back in the day when I harbored some literary pretentions, which were usually satisfied by the desperate struggle to keep up with the underground literary scene, one that was exploding out from everywhere, not just the Lower East Side and East Village neighborhoods they’d retreated to following the initial yuppie boom. I wonder if this doesn’t now constitute a trend, and if so, does that have implications for understanding the time we are now a-livin’ in? (Sorry, Mr. Dylan.) The Beats had the initial throes of the Cold War and the buttoned-down social mores to drum against, and the hippie/Yippie factions were electrified by Vietnam and political malfeasance well into the 1970’s. I’m not sure precisely what drivers were at work during the 80’s, when I was chasing down long-gone journals of bad poetry (usually; there was some good stuff, too, but as always when there’s a bit of a glut going on, there’s more bad than good). Perhaps we’re on the verge of a new exciting time in literature, although I admit to having been looking lately more to the internet as a (re)source than to the street. (Props to Gianna at She Sells Sanctuary for the IHT link.)

Liberty & Liberia
I note with some trepidation that the photo accompanying the Times article on intervening in Liberia, that GWB is standing in front of a mural depicting the Rough Rider himself, Theodore Roosevelt. Sub-Saharan Africa is the most violently troubled region on the face of the earth – yes, even more than the Middle East – and as such it has been one of the most grievous failures of U.S. foreign policy that all we’ve ever done is supply foreign aid to undeserving governments or impose economic sanctions on the countries best able to endure them. Non-intervention in Rwanda was a moral failure, and the Somalia pull-out was a failure of courage. Liberia is the nearest thing in Africa to a state created by the U.S., although it is not so in the imperialist sense the rest of the continent was subdivided into nations by the Europeans, an ethical distinction offering some relief to our national conscience. Nevertheless, as such, and also in light of previous inaction, the situation there, as in the former Zimbabwe, requires out response. We are undeniably stretched thin as a result of The Idiot’s Iraqi adventurism, coupled with the dangerous militarist foreign policies espoused toward North Korea and Iran. Unfortunately, having alienated most the United Nations, it will likely be difficult for the U.S. to move that body’s constituents toward standing up for peace. The world becomes more dangerous, a situation that is only exacerbated by the words and actions of the Bush scion. My support for action in Liberia is therefore tempered by my dismay at the international undertakings so far committed by this administration.

Does Whatever a Spider Can
Spiderman Gloves that really work. Well, someday, and only if they can get the price down a bit. Meanwhile, I guess we can't expect to accessorize with gecko tape gloves just yet. I wonder if they're taking pre-sales orders?

”The Calla Lilies Are in Bloom”
Such a curious flower, suitable for any occasion. . . . I place them here in memory of [somebody who] has died.”

Qualifications
Rana ought to come to Australia, from the sound of things regarding her interests. There is the issue of getting a visa, though. I, of course, was lucky, and married into the country, but, look: deserts (or desertification, anyway), linguistic puzzles (who came up with drongo, and isn’t spit the dummy a lovely phrase) . . . and so much more.

South Seas
It occurs to me somehow that I am severely remiss in what I am reading for pleasure. There is, of course, the wealth of Australian literature that I need to pursue, novels and stories and poetry that often doesn’t make much splash in the fecund output of American publishing, The Thorn Birds notwithstanding. M.’s collection will provide something to carry on the train with me for no little time yet to come, but leaving that aside, I think it’s about time I picked up Joseph Conrad again. Conrad’s been a long-time favorite of mine, but other than re-reading Nostromo about a year ago, I’ve mostly been thinking of his oeuvre as “why don’t I have a copy of Heart of Darkness anywhere?” But I do, actually, as I have in my possession the Viking Portable Conrad, which collects and arranges all his short fiction, including that novella. Although Conrad’s settings are more “out of Australia” than in it, the islands of the Pacific affording him his seafaring adventures more than the continental landmasses could, Australia is the result of English imperialism in the South Seas, so I wouldn’t wonder if Youth and Victory and such other tales won’t offer me a similar narrative point of view to that which settled this country prior to Federation but following colonization. Maybe it’s just the palm trees, although I never got this feeling in Los Angeles.

Obit
Faced with the death of someone so old and so successful [note: irony. ed.], it's difficult to say anything about Strom Thurmond. When he was alive, I regarded him as an ancient racist, whose life perpetuated attitudes that should have long passed from the political scene. Simplistic, I know, as Thurmond was not solely responsible for racial prejudice in the U.S. - he was only 100, after all. Now that he's dead, I have to acknowledge his war record and that he probably did believe he wasn't a bigot. He was, though, and if he'd had the sense to retire years ago, I wouldn't be in this position. Even after getting kicked out of paradise, Lucifer probably still regarded himself as an angel, and so it was with Thurmond.

The Arch-Enemy of Evil
Doc Savage was a character from the pulp fiction days of the 1930’s & ‘40’s. In my lifetime, Bantam Books repackaged and republished the books, at first in single-volume editions, later doubling up to maximize profitability (which couldn’t have been very great to start with), but unfortunately losing in the process the truly ludicrous, somewhat lurid cover art, many of which The Barrister and I collected over the years (and which I’ve imported to Australia, where Doc is a complete unknown, despite the execrable Ron Ely high-camp movie - where will I ever get Up from Earth’s Center now?). Anyway, it’s great fun to locate this collection of covers from the original books. (There’s also a fan site and a pulp resources site, whatever that means.) What a shame, though, to miss the pulp art exhibition at the Brooklyn Museum.

Foreign Entanglements
When the CIA fact book says a government is “parliamentary democracy tending toward anarchy,” they’re not referring to the kind of non-system advocated by the anti-globalists, but rather the kind often seen in African nations, Liberia notably, i.e., every man for himself, especially if he’s got a gun. The conditions in the Solomon Islands are such that Australia and New Zealand are now preparing to provide peace-keeping troops, but not until the government there passes legislation to authorize the formal request for assistance. This is the kind of situation that has put and kept Marines in Haiti and NATO in the Balkans, and it is the kind of action that constitutes taking responsibility for improving the world as if superpower nations aren’t required. Similarly, Japan is freezing financial aid to Myanmar until they release Aung San Suu Kyi. Most aid dried up in 1988, when they first put her under arrest, so it’s not clear how this will help. Now, if China would step up to work on North Korea, and if the Middle East would grow up, and if the UN would intervene just about everywhere in Africa. . . .

Costs
Sure, now they want to cut the Stamp Duty. Of course, the GST (Goods and Services Tax) imposed more than two years ago was supposed to eliminate stamp duty, but that’s different, isn’t it?

Sorry
We used to hear in college that displaying the Canadian Maple Leaf would fool Europeans into being nice to us, but apparently the position of Americans abroad has gotten more extreme. I think the French sounds classy.

Stars
Nothing beats a fortune-telling parrot. Even if I have no idea which star-sign I’m supposed to pick. (Via Frogs & Ravens, which also has a nice haiku about squirrels.)

Meta
BlogStreet has a few nice little tools for making ‘bloggers feel like they’re part of a community, instead of just the latest version of homepagers.

Meg Hourihan, world-famous ‘blogger, provided a link to a nice-looking Flash™ app (only US$5 for non-commercial use) that strikes me as a fun thing to have on a ‘blog. If one is travelling more than I’m doing.

And speaking of Megnut, she pointed me to the latest example of big media’s interest in ‘blogs, which doesn’t really offer a lot of advice on increasing traffic, but is still kinda interesting. The Sydney Morning Herald has also recently cottened on to ‘blogging, so it may yet become more of a phenomenon here than it has apparently been so far.

Middle-Child Syndrome
That’s all that can explain:

“You're the United Nations! Most people think you're ineffective, but you are trying to completely save the world from itself, so there's always going to be a long way to go. You're always the one trying to get friends to talk to each other, enemies to talk to each other, anyone who can to just talk instead of beating each other about the head and torso. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't, and you get very schizophrenic as a result. But your heart is in the right place, and sometimes also in New York.” Country
Quiz results, from Blue Pyramid.

Downtime
Enforced non-blogging status, as Blogger upgrades their users to a new version. An email would have been nice, but I’m getting it free, so I won’t complain. The new interface is very pretty.

CityStats
The Skyscraper Page is a nice little project, offering pictures and statistics on buildings of cities around the world, Sydney among them. Like the Skyscraper Museum, the site services the urban fascination with building tall. (Via Gawker.)

The Nuclear Winter of Our Discontent
Andrew Denton is something like the Dick Cavett of Australia: bright, witty, and gets good interviews on television. Last night on the ABC, he interviewed Dr. Helen Caldicott, a renowned anti-nuke activist. Dr. Caldicott is a pediatrician, and her activism stems from her medical practice. I haven’t previously heard any of what she’s got to say, but her intelligence was evident last night, and although she is obviously a very compassionate person, she doesn’t much suffer fools. Her account of meeting with Ronald Reagan was priceless, recounting that his foreign policy was derived from the Reader’s Digest and describing him otherwise as a “nice old man.” Nuclear war is an unimaginable event for most people, so vast and devastating that we often fail to grasp just how terrible it would be, despite the accounts available from Hiroshima, Nagasaki, and the atomic testing we spent 30 years thereafter on. Dr. Caldicott’s analysis of the current situation is worth keeping in mind. After the Cold War, the world thought it was safe, but we are as close to disaster as ever. We must not allow the Bush government to produce more weapons, let alone a policy that would encourage their use, but this is the path the U.S. is presently undertaking. It’s too easy for us to let the news accounts fall into the pile of “it’s just the Pentagon’s war games, not an active plan,” when in fact it is a plan and Bush wants to fight and win a nuclear war. Why else build a useless missile shield? We also need to encourage and support the Russians in accounting for and locking away or destroying the radioactive materials in their country, as the accessibility by terrorists is a very serious concern.

Denton also interviewed the Wiggles, which was a great relief.

Albert Schweitzer
"There are two means of refuge from the miseries of life: music and cats.”

Le Royale, avec Frommage Bleu
What is it about globalization that leads to overreaction? I suppose, given M. Bove’s level of support, the police might have had an expectation of resistance, possibly involving a number of supporters, but he’d said he wouldn’t resist, so why 80 men? I guess the dog was there because the cops had one and wanted to get the use of him, but it reminds me of a scene in one of the Martin Beck stories, although in that one, at least there was the satisfaction of the dog biting the police commissioner. Good luck this Bastille Day, M. Bove.

Libraries On-Line
Sometimes, Flash™ animation isn’t just clever animation. Sometimes, there’s an tool in there, as there is in Whichbook, an on-line resource for selecting books according to up to four “mood” criteria, or plot, character, or setting combinations. This may be worth exploring to see the depth and breadth of the recommendations.

Legion of Doom
If you had to be a supervillain, what name would you use? The Barrister, who can project rays of elucidation or obfuscation, depending on his mood. Dragonfly is already is use, probably by more than one villain, but the insect is also called a Darning Needle, and that kind of works for another in that particular household. This diabolical pair have kids, too, and I suppose names for them must be employed as well, but I don’t know if I dare: it might get back to them. As per the Barrister’s comments previous, avoiding nomenclature based on physical characteristics is important, except, perhaps, insofar as it is descriptive also of behavior, but I’m going to leave off to apply more thought to the process before I get in too deep.

Music Wherever She Goes
Weekends with unscheduled time are becoming hard to find. We have, of course, the chores, which are important, as they become unmanageable if left too long, and visits out to Windsor, which swallow entire days, so this past weekend involved taking the opportunity it presented to do some prep-work for 4 August, on which we expect to entertain a hoard of new/old (depending on which of us you are, I am . . . never mind) friends, gathered for the express purpose of celebrating M.’s birthday, which this year also constitutes a milestone of sorts (depending on whether you regard such things in such way, which I do not, but so what?). So we spent an inordinate amount of time visiting with George, who has a terrific stereo setup, including two DJ-quality turntables and mixer, producing hours of party music for the event. Very successful we were, too. As a result of nicking my little brother’s LP collection off to Australia with me (I inherited them decades ago, when he became a travelling man and couldn’t lug them around anymore – if he’d wanted them, there were ways to get them back, but now they’re mine), plus years of non-marital status spent collecting CDs galore, I have an extensive if only marginally eclectic music collection, and this served us well enough, but George is the archivist, and as such, although he has a particular taste for Soul, which has led to some interesting gaps from the 80’s, he’s got exactly what’s needed in his collection to ensure you can have a crisp copy of Buddy Holly doing “Well, All Right” instead of settling for the Blind Faith cover, when the mix calls for the original, or an obscure B-side Kinks that never made it to LP. I don’t think I ever knew “Hanging on the Telephone,” although I prefer Blondie’s version to that of The Nerves’ original.

Naming Conventions
I had a chat with M., who was preturbed by a previous post’s failure to explicitly mention and thereby hint toward her natal celebration in just over a month’s time, about why I try not to use people’s names and personal details here. It is, of course, my attempt at being polite. I don’t want to use anyone’s name in such a way that it becomes part of the public record via what I write here, especially not with direct reference to personal details that might be embarrassing or where that person’s preference would be for non-disclosure. There’s an African admonishment, What if a snake hears you? such creatures being able thus to take advantage of knowing who you are, and snakes abound on the internet, as we all know, so reticence seems appropriate. Nevertheless, as at the beginning of this paragraph and throughout other posts, even immediately adjacent ones, references to others are necessary, they’re part of the story. I enjoy the practice of nicknames, A.’s being an example of the use of the apt coinage, B.’s exemplifying the use of initials in similar fashion. But most of the people reading this won’t ever know any of these people or would be confused, perhaps, by the diminutives or initials, so I’m left in a quandary. Shall I refer to George as “The Archivist,” which makes him sound like a supervillain’s henchman in a comic book? Would I be able to come home – ever – if I apply a nickname to my beloved spouse? (Perhaps “Beloved Spouse” is the nickname to use? I don’t think “Fifi” is going to cut it.) If A. and B. are both lawyers, can I call one “The Attorney” but not the other? Can I use “Opposing Counsel” for one without offense? It would, of course, be easier if everyone had ‘blogs, because then the onus of identification would reside with the referent, but alas, I must bear the burden of naming names alone. I shall ponder the question, but suggestions wouldn’t be unwelcome.

I Saw It on Star Trek
No, really. Aliens stole Spock’s brain, after using a machine to enhance their intelligence to the requisite level. Although the device reported in the Times only seems to improve one’s ability to draw cartoons, it won’t be long now. (Yes, it will. I'm not that unrealistic.)

Under Western Eyes, et al.
Last night the ABC presented a program done in conjunction with the BBC called, What the World Thinks of America. The presentation consisted of the survey results from 11 countries, including the U.S. itself, and panellists in Australia and the U.K., including a variety of fairly distinguished politicos, statesmen, cultural commentators, and so forth, among them Bob Carr, the NSW Premier, and Benazir Bhutto, former PM of Pakistan. Reports from Brazil, South Korea, Russia, and France were presented to offer brief analysis of specific questions from the survey. It was a well-balanced presentation, although the answers were not too surprising, or at least not always. South Koreans, for example, responded in large numbers that they felt the world was made more dangerous because of U.S. policies and actions. Of course, that only seems surprising because the expectation is that our military is keeping them safe from the starving marauders of the North, whereas the reality also has to take into account that the reluctance of the U.S. to relinquish its aggressively anti-communist stance there is a significant factor in antagonising North Korea. But I digress.

It was no surprise to learn that the populations polled hold a negative view of G. W. Bush. It was no surprise that the U.S. polled as positive. But GW ought to look to his future, because he only turned up 51% of the American people in his favor, and the overwhelming negativity of the rest of the world is bound to have an effect. The biggest negative factors at work were, of course, the Iraq War and the influence of American culture. The military is scary; I can see that. There is no military force on the planet so well-financed and equipped. American culture, however, comes in for it based on how people perceive movies, television, and fast food. It is dismaying to hear that that is all we offer the world in the minds of many. And, as M. says, there is no recognition in these kinds of responses of any ownership by the receiving countries. Don’t like McDonalds? Don’t eat the stuff. In some measure, these aspects of American culture only exist – even in America – because consumers accept them. This is why I support efforts within Australia to reject the free trade agreement currently being negotiated unless subsidies are allowed to remain in force of Australian television and film. Canada has workable protections in place in this regard, as does France, and there’s simply no reason to just roll over on the issue. Again, I ramble.

These are not new issues; neither are the responses new. There were two aspects of this presentation that were revelatory. The first was the responses given to whether or not respondents would care to live in the U.S. I think it was something like 67% said no. Given a little thought, this isn’t so surprising. Most people would like to stay home rather than pick up and relocate someplace strange and potentially difficult, even if they perceive it as offering opportunities for prosperity beyond what they might have otherwise. But Americans have long perceived their country as the destination of choice for immigrants. We have been taught that everyone would like to live in the U.S. or someplace like it if they could. We’ve also learned that we prefer our own country over all others. Well, folks, it ain’t necessarily so. We may turn a blind eye to what’s on offer elsewhere, but when these people say they don’t want to live here, it isn’t simply a question of they don’t know any better. In fact, many of them are fully aware of what’s on offer in the U.S. and would rather stay where they are just the same, thank you very much. America needs to think about what that means.

Of course, one thing I do love about America (and there are many things) – something not very many of the people polled responded to as something they’d like more of themselves – is our freedom of expression, particularly because it not only allows me to say what I think, but also to hear what others think. So the other intriguing aspect of the program was the fact of it. This was a global poll, a global program. It happened, and I’ll bet the Nielsens (U.K./Australian equivalents) were terrific. GWB doesn’t read the papers and he doesn’t watch the news by all accounts, so I hope someone on the staff was paying attention to this, because he really ought to know about it. That America is an arrogant nation was the ultimate appraisal. That, and we should sign the Kyoto Accords. A nation with the kind of power the U.S. wields is indeed arrogant, when it is regarded as a stumbling block to world peace and prosperity, instead of a leader.

Henry Ford: 100 Years of Backseat Squabbling
I’ve just finished reading Roger Angell’s New Yorker piece on driving, and it’s brought up a desire to hire a car and head for . . . someplace. This is, of course, highly strange, as those who know me will aver, given that I have never had a driving license, an even stranger circumstance because I grew up on Long Island, where car culture dominates all other forms. This isn’t to say that I haven’t ever driven a car. I have, many times, if always illegally. I have even done a little bit of middle-distance driving, once notably taking the wheel in a blinding snow storm on the NY State Thruway. The long-distance driving Mr. Angell describes is something in my lief always left to others, my parents, much like he experienced, and much as he tells it, full of animals and children – mostly me – getting nastily ill. This is not to say that driving hasn’t had its sublime moments, although none of them included women, as unfortunate as that may have been then. Still, I have been behind the wheel with the radio on and the windows open, heading for some place, whether home or away, where I wanted to be. Mr. Angell’s article leaves aside the other notable automobile experience that comes from hitchhiking, which I’ve done my share of and which is for the most part sadly passed away, and many of my best experiences travelling by car have come from caging rides in this fashion. Now here I am in Sydney, a city where you can really use a car sometimes, although it isn’t really necessary, especially if you live, as I do, in Surry Hills, where the CBD is just over there and Darlinghurst and Paddington are just over there the other way and there’s plenty of what’s wanted in between. (We’re also just a few blocks from Central Station, so long distance travel is no further off than just as far as you can carry your luggage without hurting yourself, not to mention that the airport is one of the most accessible on the planet, allowing very long distances to be traversed with ease.) Car culture is significant here, but no more so than beach/surf culture, the various performing and non-performing arts, et al. But Sydney aside, I’m in Australia, and it would be unforgivable not to drive the Pacific Highway south, visiting Melbourne and Adelaide, and all the roadside attractions in between, heading up to Brisbane and out to the Red Middle. I’ll leave crossing the Nullarbor to trains, though, and visit Perth that way. In fact, these scenarios demand driving to some extent, for although it is possible to avail oneself of the other methods, like the coast of California, Big Sur notably, you’ll miss some of the best bits if you don’t drive. It’s going to happen; I’m going to make sure of it. If I keep bringing lunches to work, we can save enough money for the $40 per week the lessons will cost. It’s not like Epping is noted for its culinary offerings anyway. That will wait until I get home.

Counter Culture
It was bound to happen, I suppose, that culture shock would afflict both M and me. I’ve had a few culture shock tantrums over the last few months, but walking down Pitt Street to the State Theatre for last Sunday’s Film Festival entry gave M her first reverse culture shock tantrum. We set out early. George had been by, having been in the neighborhood to attend a photographic exhibition in a small gallery down the street from us. He stopped off to visit for a bit because the photos had been of NYC, taken by an Irish ex-pat living in Sydney who’d gone back for a couple of months on a photo safari. We figured we’d fit it in before the movie and dinner. Some of the photos were very good, very NYC, inspiring a bit of nostalgia, for lack of a better expression, but most were a little too photographic for my taste. As we headed into town, we were keeping our eye out for a restaurant to have dinner prior to the film, and talking of NYC, our heads full of the last two years, our eyes full of Sydney. I really like this city. Really. It’s much more dynamic than I think it gets credit for sometimes. There’s a lot going on, some of it out of the way. Construction is apparently booming, and although that’s mostly been true in the suburbs, like Ashfield and Zetland, it’s happening in the CBD, too. There’s something about those skyscraper cranes that gives a city a dynamic, but temporary feel, and that may be part of why we don’t always sense the full urban power of this place. That, and the advantages of the harbour and nearby beaches tend to give an outward focus to the residents. Rugby and AFL (that’s Australian Football League, otherwise known as Aussie Rules) being in season now doesn’t help, either, as the culture of Australia is sports-mad, leaving lots of empty seats in the cinemas showing anything less than a Hollywood blockbuster, although cricket, the summer sport, has a laconic effect of its own that’s as hard to understand as the rules thereof. Meanwhile, as M’s boots, which weren’t, apparently, made for walking, began to exert their full effect on her feet, we continued to not find the Greek restaurant we’d been looking for. In fact, we weren’t finding any restaurants at all, meanwhile getting ever closer to the State and a level of hunger that would soon become insupportable. We’d have been happy enough to venture across to one side or the other of Pitt if there’d been any indication of a nice place to eat nearby and if M’s boots weren’t threatening to take her toes off, but conditions as they were sent M into a rage against all things Australian, Sydney in particular. “Half way around the world and you can’t get a decent meal anywhere!” she raged. “This wouldn’t happen in NY!” Of course, once we’d finally settled on a café we wouldn’t have otherwise looked at twice and boosted our blood sugar to normal levels, we settled down and managed to recall that yes, indeed, this would happen in NYC, and in fact had, more than once, if not in the particular of restaurants, at least in other amenities or necessities. NYC is no different than anyplace else, and you can go for blocks without seeing anything but convenience stores or bodegas. Cafés encountered in these areas are more often than not exactly the kind of place you never want to eat. Then you’ll suddenly find yourself surrounded by a lovely array of restaurants, varieties of ethnic foods disporting themselves up and down the avenue. (That doesn’t sound appetizing, does it? But you know what I mean.) Sydney’s much the same, although it can be more like L.A., requiring you to venture a bit further sometimes than NYC might. Still, if you read Calvin Trillan, you’ll know that if you want the best Chinese or Korean food, you sometimes have to venture into parts of Queens you didn’t even want to know existed prior to that particular dining urge. Until we’re as familiar with Sydney as we’ve been with NYC, I think we’ll just have to take a bit more care in planning our excursions, especially on Sunday nights.

The State Theatre, by the way, is a beautiful, ornate entertainment emporium, harkening back to the glory days, painted in gold tones and encrusted with crenallations beyond imagination. The stage is set back and appears narrow at first, especially from the further ends of the arced rows of seats, but the sight-lines are actually quite good, even for films. This is the kind of structure that gets pulled down in favor of cinema multiplexes all the time, so it's particularly valuable that the State has survived. It sounds a bit 1984, but long live the State.

Politics: Co-opting Everything?
Howard Dean has a weblog. It reads for the most part like a collection of press releases, or worse, but there are occasional personal moments offering some relief from the spin. I may vote in the MoveOn.org primary on June 24, but mostly because I find the internet campaign fascinating. (What a geek.) It is kinda interesting, really, although the content is just as awful as you’d expect. There’s a fair amount of “runaway train” analogies and the kind of foamer enthusiasm you probably remember from any time you ever spent working on a campaign yourself or even just from political movies. “Oh, he’s wonderful, just wonderful,” kind of expressions that you have to push hard to get past to any real content.

Foolishness
Which X-Men Character Are You? Well, it appears that I’m most like Professor X, which is kind of disappointing. (Link via the incomprehensible Bonnie Loves Clyde, which must be one of the most ludicrous ‘blogs out there and a very good reason for Google to sift such content from their central source material. Thanks, Kate, for providing this morning’s comic relief.)

So There
The Council of Europe is proposing a regulation that on-line content providers, including ‘bloggers, will have to provide a right of reply when they are the object of criticism. Although I already am currently providing a comments feature via Squawkbox, I think the Council and its constituent members are idiots. They are, however, welcome to comment.

Meet ‘n’ Greet
Although I think the Howard Dean campaign’s use of the internet is fascinating and tends to make me like him as a candidate, I don’t think Sydney is a likely rally site. Besides, I’m not really done with the other candidates; for example, John Kerry sounds like he’s got an energy plan that fits right in with my Shell-Economist essay entry. Slate’s got profiles of the candidates that are fun, if not terrifically interesting or always relevant. Who cares if Carol Moseley-Braun is Catholic but attends an Episcopal Church? Bob Graham, however, is the man we have to thank for the USA Patriot Act, and he stole his campaign theme song from Dick Gephardt, while Dennis Kuchinch is a vegan Catholic who could use a higher-paying job. Joe Liberman and Al Sharpton can just stay home, as far as I’m concerned, thanks very much, although at least Al’s entertaining. (Thanks to the well-balanced Watchblog for the links.)

Dressed for Success
I suppose I ought to admit that winter is actually upon us, although I have the word of an interested party that August 4 is always the worst day of the season, so there's time yet before Jack Frost is nipping at my nose (and he won't here, anyway, as there's only snow in the mountains well south of here). I resist the idea that it is cold now, even though 19 still sounds chilly indeed to my ears. It’s still green out there, with lots of bird activity, but the blue sky has that winter brightness to it that you know doesn’t mean warm. Summer, in my single season’s experience here, is white, so anything else should warn me off shorts and t-shirts. And 19, for those of you who need to convert but haven’t worked it out yet, is 66, plenty warm enough. But housing is a different matter than being out in the afternoon sun, and following the setting of said celestial object, the temperature drops some few degrees. Indoors, whether house or apartment, Sydney is not constructed as a city in a temperate zone. Insulation and double-pane windows are not as common as in areas that acknowledge seasonal temperature variations, even though the native Sydneysiders feel the cold quite keenly, by all accounts. The result, then, is that in summer heat is trapped indoors to the point where it can be more oppressive to stay home than to go out and in winter it can feel colder indoors than the weather you’re trying to shelter from. All this is to say, in the end, that I need to stop going around barefooted at night, except it’s a matter of pride that I’m not cold.

Meta Matters
There’s a level of maintenance that sometimes gets past me in ‘blogging, but in pursuing the administrative tasks that make running one of these things fun – that is, other than writing-to-entertain, oneself or otherwise – I am sometimes reminded to perform the reciprocation well-mannered ‘bloggers engage in, i.e., adding to the index of ‘blogs I follow. There are others than those listed here, but I don’t always regard them as being more than research tools for my cross-acculturation. I check in pretty much daily with Jeff and Katia.

Heavy Meta
Abbie has a posse and is far and away the best thing to happen to 'blogging since all those warbloggers shut up. They didn't? Who cares? Abbie has a posse. I'm gonna get Buu-buu to start one.

Homework
The leading U.S.-bashing news analysis publication and one of the top oil companies have banded together for the fourth time to offer $20,000 in prizes for an essay on the topic: “Do We Need Nature?”. I wonder if the question isn’t “Does Nature Need Us?” but I’m considering picking up where I left off twenty years ago and submitting a liberal cri de coeur. 2,000 words is too long for ‘blogging. But with the kind of dough they’re handing out, I imagine there will be a lot of competition. I’d like to see some of the more toadying submissions: Dominion Over the Animals! Is there Oil on Mars? Maybe I should submit one of those.

Trends in Graffiti
Hyperbole aside, the ubiquity of corporate branding, whether in films or as a political technique, reduces life to lifestyle and choices to none. Resistance is futile? Fight the power!

Meta
See, that’s what I like about Jeff: not only is he entertaining, he keeps coming across with these little technical items I can use to enhance how my own ‘blog works, like keeping down the Google junk by preventing them from archiving my blather. Well, it was their idea. Thanks.

Varieties of Kryptonite
It’s been done, of course many times, that Superman is re-imagined as powerless, tiny, married, not adopted by the Kents, etc., all as a terrible dream or due to exposure to red kryptonite (green was the kind most common, as I’m sure everyone knows, and exposure was potentially deadly, but there was also gold and white, each with its own specific effect). But now we have Superman as Red Kryptonite, i.e., tool of the Soviet empire. He’s never been my favorite character – too pure, too perfect – but this could be interesting, and as much a phenomenon as back when they last killed him off.

Roam No More
When I first happened upon Wander Lust, over at Outside Counsel, I was sufficiently taken with the idea to add it to my ‘blog template. I saw this as a utility, one that the self-referential nature of the internet was getting better at, which was more than a little necessary, because it more often seems still that the web consists of nothing more than a few subscription-based or registration-required news sites, a lot of 'blogs, and an endless amount of dead-ends. WL brought a level of connectedness to at least the 'blogs, and outside of any commercial imperative, establishing a more communal feeling. I got a lot of hits off WL, too. And now, it’s over, as I discovered upon reading Aussie Lass, one of the ‘blogs that turned up as a result of someone wandering through. I didn’t find many other sites I visited regularly via WL, but it was still fun, something to do while having lunch, when the weather wasn’t up to scratch. Should I leave the link on, in case they change their minds? Just for a week.

Feedback Back
Comments are back up. Technical difficulties at squawkbox, apparently, but no loss of content by appearances. So go ahead, criticize.

No Spoon
For the Queen’s Birthday, a public holiday here, we went to see the Matrix Reloaded, which was just as disappointing as everyone has said it would be, and just as entertaining, although the fact that Buffy, which we watched late last night, was just a full of extended fight sequences, leaving us a little overdone on the kung fu stuff. Never mind, the point is, really, that the Matrix movies constitute an entirely self-referential narrative, with occasional touches to keep the brighter audience members happy, such as naming one character Persephone and having her aid the humans in their quest to free a character from its exile in “hell.” Nice, that, even if it is ultimately pointless, just as all the internet and systems architecture bits are just a clever use of computer jargon in service to Vedic cosmology. The effects are nice, but. We also attended the screening of See What Happens, a biopic of D. A. Pennebaker, the documentarian who produced Don’t Look Back and The War Room, among other features. This was part of the Sydney Film Festival, for which we’ll also go see George Clooney’s directorial debut, Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, being the filmic biography of Chuck Barris, best known in my generation for The Gong Show, one of the most incredibly tasteless pieces of pre-Survivor television programming ever. In any event, See What Happens is a good enough movie, and I’m inclined to be very open indeed to picking up on any of Pennebaker’s work I can locate, Monterey Pop included. I also happened on a bathroom scale, and it even displayed pounds: must get out running very soon.

Commentary
There’s no indication of what’s happened, but comments are down for now. This may be what happens when using resources located by paying attention to fictional internet characters.

Opening
We went last night into deepest Paddington, Sydney’s trendiest suburb, the kind of area where fashion rules, but tastefully, except along Oxford Street, where the shops are that they put out for the people who come to the neighborhood to obtain the haute couture they read about in the papers, because that way they can keep the riff-raff out of the interior areas where they keep the good stuff. (That’s any city, isn’t it?) Mixed in among the restored terrace homes are the art galleries, and last night’s show for Astrid Spielman was held in one of them, a strange, white block that juts up from its Sutherland Street location. It was a double-header, although I didn’t think much of the other artist exhibiting there (an overdone variation on Joseph Cornell is putting it kindly). Astrid is a performance artist who has expanded into video and digital forms. Her pieces last night were travel-themed, examining airports as decorated interiors and the effect they have, or fail to, in a reassessment of public space and personal interaction; an exploration of their juxtaposition of familiar and strange, which is what a lot of good art does and what triggers that sense of the uncanny you get looking at it. Pretty, too. We really want to have one of the prints from the exhibition, but it will take some serious budgetary manoeuvres to accomplish it, I think.

Living in Interesting Times
Back in the office after an enforced hiatus of two days so management could regroup itself and decide how to continue the project. Those bonuses we heard about in March are gone, despite what new management says to the contrary (which wasn’t much and mostly focussed on “working out what was promised to whom,” and those line have plenty of room between them for a variety of interpretations), although the six-month salary review will proceed on schedule. The office block we’re in is small, as these things go, but much larger now than last week, with cubicles galore. Perhaps they'll rent out the upper floor. Now, although two days at home is two days’ more chores, it is nice that the curtains are all up and looking good and that the running around town from one end to another could be done while the weather was so nice, and I did get time to visit a doctor, as I’d been meaning to, and to sit out on the balcony and use the outdoor furniture that otherwise has been two weeks of not used yet. So the corporate pause had the positive effect desired, depending on your point of view. I relaxed and let my mind focus on other matters, for the most part, and they, well, they planned what they’d do next. They might have tried that earlier, but perhaps they get paid too much. Oh, yeah, that’s what they said about us.

Meta
Steal These Buttons offers a selection of predefined buttons to employ on your ‘blog, if you don’t already, as well as a handy little tool for making some of your own. I’ll probably mouse around some of these over the next few days and see if there’s anything among them I want to use or delve into. I’m intrigued by the wealth of “Dean for President” buttons available. This could spark an on-line campaigning meme. Thanks to Rob W. for the heads-up.

Dot-Com Days
The email and phones went out just after noon on Friday, and we all got the word just before or just after that there’d be a mass meeting after lunch. Actually, there were three meetings, plus some individual asides, but it became clear very quickly that we were faced with a shut down at worst, a layoff at best, and no one knew what was happening or to whom. I was lucky, though, and get to stay on, but a 50% cut in staff is hard to take even if you do get to keep your job. Some took it harder than others, but it was tough all around. I had read stories of the dot-com deaths on-line and was amazed, appalled. The terminations were so brutal. I’d been through a tap-on-the-shoulder period in a financial company that had taken over another, and the big law firm retrenching of the late eighties. I hear my former employer has also just completed a layoff, although only 4%. I wonder if there is anyway to reduce staff, other than hiring freezes and attrition, that don’t brutalize the workforce. I’m lucky, though, not just because the angel passed by, but also because Meera’s been so supportive, helping me through a bit of a scare, and working out what we’d need to do, what we’re going to do, and how we’re going overall. This is a important as I am still new to Australia and business here, and not eligible for unemployment benefits for another year.

The Number of the Beast
Some many years ago now, following the delivery of direct-dial capabilities to the majority of homes with a telephone, television and movie production companies began instituting the practice of using “555” as the exchange prefix in all telephone numbers spoken or shown on screen. This was made the general practice pretty much for the obvious reason: people call the numbers to see what will happen, especially if there’s a good laugh to be had doing it. Calling God is obvious, so why wouldn’t Bruce Almighty use “555”? Too close to “666”? (Andrea pointed out to me recently that Bruce was filmed in Buffalo, NY, just like The Natural, but my favorite is still Buffalo 66, because it’s just like that. Go Bills.)

Benefits of the Space Program
It is not the result of anything NASA’s actually done, except insofar as it’s inspired a variety of artists, but Copernica is a very nice little on-line application, fun to play with a little when you’ve got time. Try to find the Robert Rauchenberg and William Wegman.

Furniture
The weather forecast says it will be clear by Saturday, so I’m hopeful we’ll be able to spend a little time sitting at the new table on the balcony sipping coffee. This is the one key piece of furniture (other than a bed in the guest bedroom) we’d been waiting for, and it looks great. The manufacturers warn that it will continue to exude sap for days on end unless we hose it down, which we can do, luckily, as there’s a drain in the floor. But I’m getting a section of newspaper and spending an hour before we start, sap or not.

Thanks for Helping
Just in case Australians didn’t already feel their participation in the war on Iraq cost them enough in security, the US is billing them for the bombs, too. Also the chow and the phone calls. All on the principle “user pays.” I’m sure John Howard will make good on the bills, but if I were Simon Crean, I’d be playing this one big. Except he’s not in favor of a republic any more than Howard is, so I don’t really expect this to go anywhere at all.