Ok - pretty tragic I know!!
May...and now it is November.
But hey, a lot has happened.
I got married, went to Prague and Vienna on honeymoon, changed jobs soon after returning, moved interstate from Sydney to Adelaide - I think I can be cut some slack (granted some would argue I should have been blogging all this...).
Anyhoo, one of the reasons for setting up this blog has actually come to fruition....
Absinthe.com.au is now live.
That's right, it's done, it's a happening thing. Just waiting for your subscription.
Go on.
Absinthe.com.au - for todays modern antipodean neo-libertine.
Monday, November 05, 2007
Thursday, May 17, 2007
I don't want to cause no fuss, but can I buy your Magic Bus?
Something for all you creative types - Lady J, Teigs, Hamish et al..
It's Art!
It's Music!
It's created by Pete Townshend! (Who? That's right baby!)
It's the Life-House Method - no, not a new form of Catholic friendly contraception.
The Method is software that creates music, allowing you to 'sit' for a musical portrait just as if you were being painted. The software 'paints' your music. It will only take a few minutes of your time.
What will it reveal about our little network? - is the music to Teigans soul a smoking haze of rasta-dub beats? Is An American in Melbourne a military marching band deep inside?
It's Art!
It's Music!
It's created by Pete Townshend! (Who? That's right baby!)
It's the Life-House Method - no, not a new form of Catholic friendly contraception.
The Method is software that creates music, allowing you to 'sit' for a musical portrait just as if you were being painted. The software 'paints' your music. It will only take a few minutes of your time.
What will it reveal about our little network? - is the music to Teigans soul a smoking haze of rasta-dub beats? Is An American in Melbourne a military marching band deep inside?
Wednesday, April 25, 2007
Hip to be on the square
What a strange period of silence - the reality of self-imposed censorship and blogging kicks in after a while of starting a blog, and it is a curious little mind trip to overcome.
I'm seemingly over it now, so lets see if I can get back on the horse.
Today is ANZAC day. If you don't know what ANZAC day is, being an overseas visitor to my humble electronic establishment, basically it is our day for honouring our military dead. It is characterised best not by any great military victory, rather by the remembrance of getting our asses kicked by the Turks thanks to the lack of military foresight of the British (theme one - I shall return). To many it also characterises the time when our national identity was forged as a people, quite independent to the British Empire mentality (theme 2 - see, not holding back today).
On another sociological theme, it also seems to characterise a trend to linking the current Gen X & Y's in actually taking an interest in what happened to Gran and Gramps during the war years (theme 3 - its going to be a long post).
Lets start with 3 and go to 1.
3 - I have wondered whether the current "younger" attitudes in opposing military conflict such as Iraq are being fueled at all by a genuine interest, and growing communication, between the WW2 generation and the current X&Y's? Arguably many a veteran is all to well aware of the politics of the middle east because they fought in it - they know first hand the tribalism, the sectarianism and most of all they were around when the Western World carved it up into its regions. They were a witness to what we are now inheriting as a consequence.
The linking between the generations is quite acute for me. You see, I'm a Freemason. That's right, I like nothing more than donning an apron, penguin suit and engaging in silly handshakes every month with like minded souls. While this may lead to another post in time - the immediate point here is that I'm a younger Mason, and Master of a Lodge that's over 100 years old, in an global institution where the average age is now 80. The consequence of this is that I am now in the position of having people I feel a close bond to, literally dying every 2 to 3 months, of coronary heart disease, strokes or degenerating into a dementia haze.
Imagine if you were to join a local club or organisation - and each month the numbers starting getting less because everyone starting dying on you - it does have a sort of profound effect upon one. It's a bit like having lots of "grandfathers" who are there with their life & war stories, their old wisdom - and then one day they're gone. Some people only experience the loss of "grandfather" figure once or twice, I'm experiencing it on a regular basis.
2 - Ok, this national identity thing. I do have a problem with this concept that ANZAC day somehow defines national identity and culture, because the day is as much about New Zealand veterans as Australians. And the last 10 odd years of work travel I have done to NZ has only impressed upon me that New Zealanders are not the same as Australians culturally, and that we as Australians have a blissful ignorance and disinterest in his fact. This has been most acutely highlighted by a blogging friend.
1 - Something Vodou and musically related to ANZAC day. When one starts engaging in Vodou, one of the first tasks is getting to know who your ancestors are, because ancestor reverence and remembrance is a key part of the tradition. For me this involved a period of obsessive genealogy searching on the internet, because I kept finding the family links and lines thanks to this great electronic age of databases and search engines. So besides finding the mandatory convict relative, I did find the gravesite in France where my great uncle was buried, who died in the trenches in WW1 around 23 years of age. I didn't know he died so young, and actually pinpointing his grave had quite an unexpected emotional effect upon me, especially as none of my family knew where he was buried. I have a photo of him with his regiment on my ancestor altar, so ANZAC day now has a Vodoun relevance for me as well in a curious way - there is a full glass of rum and a candle burning for him on it now.
The age of his death also hit a point for me - when returning from a recent holiday in Egypt and Jordan, I had the unfortunate experience of having an 8 hour stopover in Kuwait, which was buffered by being put up in a complimentary hotel room. In the hotel were lots of US service men and women on transfer to and from Iraq - and what struck me was that they were only really only 'kids', largely 18 - 20. This really depressed and disturbed me. And I guess this raises a point, when we think of the ANZAC veterans we don't largely think of them as kids who went to war. Maybe that's why they can relate well to Gen X&Y today because their memories of conflict are the memories of a teenager, and they missed out on the things we largely take for granted.
I'll close on the Turkish connection - I spent a number of years recently learning middle eastern music in the Sydney Turkish community out in the Western suburbs as the token white anglo saxon from the inner city. I for one am a great advocate of multiculturalism and opponent of overt assimilation into this mythical "stereotypical" Australian identity that keeps getting raved on about. "Assimilation" would mean I would not have had the opportunity to go and learn the music I did in context to the cultural identity in which it exists. I didn't speak a word of Turkish, (and granted most people assumed I was possibly a Caucasian looking Lebanese), but I was embraced nonetheless into the community because I was willing to walk over the cultural bridge halfway. And this is part of the problem with the multicultural debate, there is the assumption that those coming to Australia are expected to cross the length of the bridge themselves, rather than us making the effort to meet them halfway - and as a consequence I think most Australians are missing out on a lot of unique experiences that would shape them as individuals.
The Australian Turkish community feel a connection to ANZAC day too, not because it shaped some national identity, but because it did open a bridge to Australia in a unique relationship - one that pretences of assimilation can only undermine. The founder of the Turkish Republic (and reputed Freemason), Mustafah Kemal Ataturk, who was a commander at Gallipoli when the Australian and New Zealand forces landed, gave a tribute to the ANZACS in 1934 that I think captures that relationship:
Those heroes that shed their blood and lost their lives... You are now lying in the soil of a friendly country. Therefore rest in peace. There is no difference between the Johnnies and the Mehmets to us where they lie side by side now here in this country of ours... you, the mothers, who sent their sons from faraway countries wipe away your tears; your sons are now lying in our bosom and are in peace. After having lost their lives on this land. They have become our sons as well.
I'm seemingly over it now, so lets see if I can get back on the horse.
Today is ANZAC day. If you don't know what ANZAC day is, being an overseas visitor to my humble electronic establishment, basically it is our day for honouring our military dead. It is characterised best not by any great military victory, rather by the remembrance of getting our asses kicked by the Turks thanks to the lack of military foresight of the British (theme one - I shall return). To many it also characterises the time when our national identity was forged as a people, quite independent to the British Empire mentality (theme 2 - see, not holding back today).
On another sociological theme, it also seems to characterise a trend to linking the current Gen X & Y's in actually taking an interest in what happened to Gran and Gramps during the war years (theme 3 - its going to be a long post).
Lets start with 3 and go to 1.
3 - I have wondered whether the current "younger" attitudes in opposing military conflict such as Iraq are being fueled at all by a genuine interest, and growing communication, between the WW2 generation and the current X&Y's? Arguably many a veteran is all to well aware of the politics of the middle east because they fought in it - they know first hand the tribalism, the sectarianism and most of all they were around when the Western World carved it up into its regions. They were a witness to what we are now inheriting as a consequence.
The linking between the generations is quite acute for me. You see, I'm a Freemason. That's right, I like nothing more than donning an apron, penguin suit and engaging in silly handshakes every month with like minded souls. While this may lead to another post in time - the immediate point here is that I'm a younger Mason, and Master of a Lodge that's over 100 years old, in an global institution where the average age is now 80. The consequence of this is that I am now in the position of having people I feel a close bond to, literally dying every 2 to 3 months, of coronary heart disease, strokes or degenerating into a dementia haze.
Imagine if you were to join a local club or organisation - and each month the numbers starting getting less because everyone starting dying on you - it does have a sort of profound effect upon one. It's a bit like having lots of "grandfathers" who are there with their life & war stories, their old wisdom - and then one day they're gone. Some people only experience the loss of "grandfather" figure once or twice, I'm experiencing it on a regular basis.
2 - Ok, this national identity thing. I do have a problem with this concept that ANZAC day somehow defines national identity and culture, because the day is as much about New Zealand veterans as Australians. And the last 10 odd years of work travel I have done to NZ has only impressed upon me that New Zealanders are not the same as Australians culturally, and that we as Australians have a blissful ignorance and disinterest in his fact. This has been most acutely highlighted by a blogging friend.
1 - Something Vodou and musically related to ANZAC day. When one starts engaging in Vodou, one of the first tasks is getting to know who your ancestors are, because ancestor reverence and remembrance is a key part of the tradition. For me this involved a period of obsessive genealogy searching on the internet, because I kept finding the family links and lines thanks to this great electronic age of databases and search engines. So besides finding the mandatory convict relative, I did find the gravesite in France where my great uncle was buried, who died in the trenches in WW1 around 23 years of age. I didn't know he died so young, and actually pinpointing his grave had quite an unexpected emotional effect upon me, especially as none of my family knew where he was buried. I have a photo of him with his regiment on my ancestor altar, so ANZAC day now has a Vodoun relevance for me as well in a curious way - there is a full glass of rum and a candle burning for him on it now.
The age of his death also hit a point for me - when returning from a recent holiday in Egypt and Jordan, I had the unfortunate experience of having an 8 hour stopover in Kuwait, which was buffered by being put up in a complimentary hotel room. In the hotel were lots of US service men and women on transfer to and from Iraq - and what struck me was that they were only really only 'kids', largely 18 - 20. This really depressed and disturbed me. And I guess this raises a point, when we think of the ANZAC veterans we don't largely think of them as kids who went to war. Maybe that's why they can relate well to Gen X&Y today because their memories of conflict are the memories of a teenager, and they missed out on the things we largely take for granted.
I'll close on the Turkish connection - I spent a number of years recently learning middle eastern music in the Sydney Turkish community out in the Western suburbs as the token white anglo saxon from the inner city. I for one am a great advocate of multiculturalism and opponent of overt assimilation into this mythical "stereotypical" Australian identity that keeps getting raved on about. "Assimilation" would mean I would not have had the opportunity to go and learn the music I did in context to the cultural identity in which it exists. I didn't speak a word of Turkish, (and granted most people assumed I was possibly a Caucasian looking Lebanese), but I was embraced nonetheless into the community because I was willing to walk over the cultural bridge halfway. And this is part of the problem with the multicultural debate, there is the assumption that those coming to Australia are expected to cross the length of the bridge themselves, rather than us making the effort to meet them halfway - and as a consequence I think most Australians are missing out on a lot of unique experiences that would shape them as individuals.
The Australian Turkish community feel a connection to ANZAC day too, not because it shaped some national identity, but because it did open a bridge to Australia in a unique relationship - one that pretences of assimilation can only undermine. The founder of the Turkish Republic (and reputed Freemason), Mustafah Kemal Ataturk, who was a commander at Gallipoli when the Australian and New Zealand forces landed, gave a tribute to the ANZACS in 1934 that I think captures that relationship:
Those heroes that shed their blood and lost their lives... You are now lying in the soil of a friendly country. Therefore rest in peace. There is no difference between the Johnnies and the Mehmets to us where they lie side by side now here in this country of ours... you, the mothers, who sent their sons from faraway countries wipe away your tears; your sons are now lying in our bosom and are in peace. After having lost their lives on this land. They have become our sons as well.
Friday, March 23, 2007
The GS1 Conspiracy Continues
MOSCOW (Reuters) - A hundred residents of a Russian village have refused to switch to new passports because they believe the documents' bar codes contain satanic symbols, state television reported Wednesday.
"We believe these new passports are sinful," Valentina Yepifanova, an elderly resident of the village Bogolyubovo, told Rossiya television as she clutched an old, tattered passport she said she wanted to keep.
"They have these bar codes and people say they contain three sixes. We are against that."
Some residents of Bogolyubovo, which means "God-loving" in Russian, have also stopped collecting their pensions at the local post office because the payment slips also have bar codes that might contain the mark of the devil, Rossiya TV reported.
Tuesday, March 06, 2007
I want to be, Anarchy
"A British newspaper claims that Britney Spears has attempted to hang herself with a sheet, scrawled the number 666 across her skull and claimed to be the Antichrist since entering rehab."
Come on, admit it, you always suspected it didn't you?
Well, at least if not the Antichrist, maybe the Whore of Babylon?
I always thought an enterprising DJ could do a good mash up between "Slave for you" and maybe something by Slayer....
Yes - I've been quiet...busy....usual unpredictable programming will return very soon
Come on, admit it, you always suspected it didn't you?
Well, at least if not the Antichrist, maybe the Whore of Babylon?
I always thought an enterprising DJ could do a good mash up between "Slave for you" and maybe something by Slayer....
Yes - I've been quiet...busy....usual unpredictable programming will return very soon
Saturday, February 10, 2007
Head Like A Hole
Teigan has thrown down the gauntlet....bizarre fringe groups with paranoid delusions, and we aren't talking about the 'Cam.
I'll see your tin foil hats and raise you a Black and Decker, Sir!.
In the wierd way the net works, while searching for an online book by Renaissance intellectual Elias Ashmole, called "The Way of Bliss", I encountered an article on Salon.com on the joys of trepanning.
If you don't know what that is, best just turn away now...go on...what, you still here? Ok...
It appears there is an international society for those who derive pleasure and a more balanced life by drilling a hole into their own skull.
The only reason I mention it is because they have an cool blinking all-seeing eye on their website that has esoteric secret society overtones - quite apart from the whacky need to install cranial evaporative airconditioning.
Take that T.
I'll see your tin foil hats and raise you a Black and Decker, Sir!.
In the wierd way the net works, while searching for an online book by Renaissance intellectual Elias Ashmole, called "The Way of Bliss", I encountered an article on Salon.com on the joys of trepanning.
If you don't know what that is, best just turn away now...go on...what, you still here? Ok...
It appears there is an international society for those who derive pleasure and a more balanced life by drilling a hole into their own skull.
The only reason I mention it is because they have an cool blinking all-seeing eye on their website that has esoteric secret society overtones - quite apart from the whacky need to install cranial evaporative airconditioning.
Take that T.
Thursday, February 08, 2007
Rocks in the water, Rocks in the sun
By bizarre twist of chance, I get to continue recent themes of Haiti and Iceland in one post.
Icelandic born, US educated and now Melbournian resident Christina Simons has just opened a photographic exhibition called "The Haiti Project" at the Ubergallery in Fitzroy St, St Kilda -capturing the current social situations in Haiti.
It's open until the end of February, and as I am unlikely to make a work trip to Melbourne by then, perhaps one of my fine fellow bloggers might like to go and review (go on, I'll pimp yer blog!).
While raising the social situation in Haiti I'll give a plug to a worthy Haitian charity called the Star Thrower Foundation run by a Canadian expat who focusses on getting kids a basic education and has a realistic approach to aid, in that sometimes you can generally only help one person at a time.
Icelandic born, US educated and now Melbournian resident Christina Simons has just opened a photographic exhibition called "The Haiti Project" at the Ubergallery in Fitzroy St, St Kilda -capturing the current social situations in Haiti.
It's open until the end of February, and as I am unlikely to make a work trip to Melbourne by then, perhaps one of my fine fellow bloggers might like to go and review (go on, I'll pimp yer blog!).
While raising the social situation in Haiti I'll give a plug to a worthy Haitian charity called the Star Thrower Foundation run by a Canadian expat who focusses on getting kids a basic education and has a realistic approach to aid, in that sometimes you can generally only help one person at a time.
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