Reflections #1 Day #1 - Rainy Day Woman Blues #13 & #35

the dude 

The day started magnificently. I received a lanyard and a t-shirt. It rapidly went down hill after that. There is actually an expectation that I will actually do stuff. No shit. Actually. (Surely they're not serious? They are serious. And don't call me Shirley.) 

Thinking, is it overrated? It is with a certain Jackie Gleason-bug-eyed-sense of Huh? that I have to now channel my inner stoned Lloyd Bridges and equally stoned Jeff Bridges and see if I can come up with something creative, sort of coherent, and vaguely presentable, so as to address the requirements of this subject... Hmmmmm... this could get ugly... 

First of all, let's step through this. I declare that I am more of a life-stylist than anything else. To suggest that I am a student of any sort would be a grave insult to all the real students. The only real ambition I have left these days is to one day own a coat like this.

This is presently available on Ebay for $135 USD. It is a vintage 1940s Utica DuxBak... It is rather sad but I do honestly metaphorically cream my pants at the prospect of owning something like this. (Even sadder, there is some literal truth in there as well!)

There is a neat website - The Fedora Lounge - that has a really cool history on the Duxbak of Utica. 

Or else I could go with a brand spanking new Woolrich Classic. At $409 AUD it's bit of a bargain. (I seriously can't afford that...) 

Now back to the blog. 

I don't really have any interest in networking. (It just seems unseemly...)

I also suspect social media is simply exacerbating a pre-existing condition within society-at-large of gormlessness that sadly is all too excited at the prospect of any opportunity to publicly express itself. (Blogging is of course excluded from that because nobody will ever actually read this!) (So in this space of privileged anti-social aloofness I can be as fucking gormless as I want...)

The assessments look interesting, but I have to find a voice, perhaps even a persona, to wrap all of this in.  

I am tossing up between going all out gonzo...

And spending the next four days completely off my nut a la 'Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas'...

... or perhaps approaching it with a more sensible-single-malt-Scotch-informed-Martha Gellhorn-inspired sense of heroism. Not that I am expecting a bloodbath at the Benders-bash, but if war does break out between the fascists and the communists I want to be prepared. 

It is all a bit like one of those choose your own adventure books. I now have to start working through options, committing myself to some decisions, and see where it all leads me.

But whatever happens I am claiming this Bendigo Writers Festival as my very own. I am Jason, an anti-writer inaction. (No. I am Jason, an anti-writer inaction...)

Subjective Bias

this is not a picture of andrew bolt hanging upside down in collins street melbourne after unhinged and increasingly disgruntled one nation voters discover that bolt is indeed the neoliberal elite's sock puppet of choice... for more gruesome pictures of executed fascists who are not andrew bolt check out this web page 

Speaking of the unhinged One Nation, I have spent some time this weekend trying to wrap my head around newly confirmed senator, Malcolm Roberts. I must confess I fucking well give up trying to fathom him. All I can say is that neoliberalism is in meltdown and this is the sort of loon we end up with. 

pauline and malcolm in happier days... australia has some seriously bat-shit crazy times ahead of it. (photo taken from here)

Sorry Nat, but we do. Fortunately there are also some good things to look forward to. Like the Bendigo Writers Festival - although I believe an IPA poltergeist has also infiltrated that. It is believed Rod Serling has been conjured from the dead to to properly introduce Chris Berg and give context to the curious audience. 

But let us leave voodoo economics and zombie commentators behind and focus on the life affirming good things on offer at the Benders Scribblers-fest 2016.

My Rough Schedule for the Event - thus far - subject to tinkering

So here is what I am thinking of checking out.

Friday 

Indira Naidoo and Peter Singer

Saturday 

Peter Singer 

Helen Garner

Not sure - I might just get some lunch

Nationalism: the good the bad and the ugly

The Fifth Estate - with Kerry O'Brien

I have a feeling Julian Assange is on at some stage Saturday night so I would like to check that out - just out of curiosity. (Assange sort of irritates me but I quite like Robert Manne)

Sunday

Kerry O'Brien

Anne Summers

Sarah Ferguson

Hugh Mackay

And a great big pint of pale ale at the Rifle Brigade...

  

The Wall

I remember the cold war. (The threat of nuclear annihilation... it hasn't really gone away, in fact it is probably more of a threat nowadays, but we just don't talk about it...)

I also remember World War 2 being remembered as much more tangible and understandable history than it obviously is now. (It was vivid... now it seems distant and the further out from it we get the more perilous it becomes that we'll make the same mistakes. Its lessons are fading...) 

That was then this is now. (Popular culture, celebrity culture, consumerism, wage slavery, debt obligation to finance capital, and self-indulgent narcissism, happily distracts from any meaningful contemplative pursuits...)

The world in which I entered adolescence was one where totalitarianism, fascism, Nazism and holocaust were discussed in meaningful ways to contextualize political arguments. (Perhaps it wasn't but I would I like think it was... but at least there were still many in authority - such as business, politics, the media etc - whose lives were informed by the horrors of WW2...) 

They were also used as cheap insults! (Words are so often cheapened by misuse...) 

But I was fully aware of the shadows in which I came to know myself. (Perhaps that gives me a sense of obligation...)  

Political correctness is a much maligned term. Present day 'conservatives' complain about political correctness going mad. Not only is the ABC - the public broadcaster -  accused of being 'leftist' but it is sneered at for being 'politically correct', at least in the minds of the IPA type folk who have peculiarly selective views on 'free speech'. 

But the ABC Charter is simply a response of inclusive democracy to the horrors of fascist selective genocide and mass-murder.  

The ABC Charter - like so much in the public sphere of democracy - does not so much have a left-wing bias as much as a predisposition towards life and diversity and respect and tolerance. (So perhaps it does have a left-wing bias?) (I suspect many 'conservative' commentators use "left-wing" as an insult when what they are referring to is in fact bog-standard historically informed good-sense...)

The best way to understand the role of Australia's public broadcaster - and therefore to make sense of its critics from the Murdoch press and other 'conservatives' - is to consider the people who were targeted by the Nazis. (The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum has a page - Victims of the Nazi Era - that is worth checking out.)

The totalitarian desire to crush diversity should always be resisted. 

(food for thought - here is what Trotsky said in response to what is fascism - 

through the fascist agency, capitalism sets in motion the masses of the crazed petty bourgeoisie and the bands of declassed and demoralized lumpenproletariat - all the countless human beings whom finance capital itself brought to desperation and frenzy

 from fascism the bourgeoisie demands a thorough job; once it has resorted to methods of civil war, it insists on having peace for a period of years. And the fascist agency, by utilizing the petty bourgeoisie as a battering ram, by overwhelming all obstacles in its path, does a thorough job. After fascism is victorious, finance capital directly and immediately gathers into its hands, as in a vise of steel, all the organs and institutions of sovereignty, the executive, administrative, and educational powers of the state: the entire apparatus together with the army, the municipalities, the universities, the schools, the press, the trade unions, and the cooperatives. When a state turns fascist, it does not mean only that the forms and methods of government are changed... but it means first of all for the most part that workers organizations are annihilated; that the proletariat is reduced to an amorphous state; and that a system of administration is created which penetrates deeply into the masses and which serves to frustrate the independent crystallization of the proletariat. Therein precisely is the gist of fascism... (page 7, Fascism: what is it and how to fight it)

In recent years and through reflection on personal experience I have come to view so-called 'neoliberalism' as simply being the means by which fascism is allowed to flourish. (Not such an outrageous claim. Karl Polyani's 'The Great Transformation' - in part - looks at the rise in fascism, the nobbling of the democratic state, and the failures of the 'free-market'. A free pdf download can be viewed here)

History repeats. 

In the words of Tony Benn

Every single generation has to fight the same battles again and again and again. There are no final victories and there are no final defeats. And therefore a little bit of history may help. 

I have this sense of dread that whatever lessons were learned from WW2 will be forgotten...

I worry that we will forget that our modern understanding of human rights is born out of the Nuremberg trials at the end of WW2. (A timeline for the development for human rights can be viewed here and the influence of the Nuremberg trials on international law can be read here)... (All the while corporate capitalism profits from detention centres and prisons...)   

I fear that extremist organisations like the Institute of Public Affairs - who undoubtedly can trace some of its membership lineage through proto-fascist groups like the 'New Guard' - will continue to have purchase on the government of the day and pursue their troubling agenda. 

There are important reasons why racial discrimination - in particular the stirring of race hate - and human rights have repercussion and protection in law. (That really shouldn't be that difficult to understand...) 

Let's finish with a little song. Here is 'In the Flesh' by Pink Floyd. (A celebrity morphing into a demagogue bringing a crowd to a rapture of hate... people can be so easily manipulated). 

And here are the lyrics - (from this website)

In The Flesh (Waters) 1:36 

So ya

Thought ya

Might like to 

Go to the show.

To feel that warm thrill of confusion,

That space cadet glow.

I've got some bad news for you sunshine,

Pink isn't well, he stayed back at the hotel

And they sent us along as a surrogate band

We're gonna find out where you folks really stand.

Are there any queers in the theater tonight?

Get them up against the wall!

There's one in the spotlight, he don't look right to me,

Get him up against the wall!

That one looks Jewish!

And that one's a coon!

Who let all of this riff-raff into the room?

There's one smoking a joint,

And another with spots!

If I had my way, 

I'd have all of you shot!

A Song for Sonia #asamother

Anyway, there appears to be some themes developing here in this humble blog. In particular the relevance of Pink Floyd's 'The Wall' to contemporary global affairs.

Donald Trump wants to build a wall.

Sonia Kruger wants to hide behind one. And Sonia's desire to hide behind a wall should be given added respect because she is after all a mother. (Mama's gonna make all of your nightmares come true, Mama's gonna put all of her fears into you...)

And so we find ourselves dedicating this Pink Floyd track to Australia's favourite breakfast television bigot.

And thanks to this website - here - are the lyrics .

Mother, do you think they'll drop the bomb?
Mother, do you think they'll like this song?
Mother, do you think they'll try to break my balls?
Ooh, aah, mother, should I build the wall?

Mother, should I run for president?
Mother, should I trust the government?
Mother, will they put me in the firing line?
Ooh, aah, is it just a waste of time?

Hush now, baby, baby, don't you cry
Mama's gonna make all of your nightmares come true
Mama's gonna put all of her fears into you
Mama's gonna keep you right here under her wing
She won't let you fly but she might let you sing
Mama's gonna keep baby cozy and warm

Ooh, babe, ooh, babe, ooh, babe
Of course Mama's gonna help build the wall

Mother, do you think she's good enough? (For me?)
Mother, do you think she's dangerous? (Tell me?)
Mother, will she tear your little boy apart?
Ooh, aah, mother, will she break my heart?

Hush now, baby, baby, don't you cry
Mama's gonna check out all your girlfriends for you
Mama won't let anyone dirty get through
Mama's gonna wait up till you get in
Mama will always find out where you've been
Mamma's gonna keep baby healthy and clean

Ooh, babe, ooh, babe, ooh, babe
You'll always be a baby to me

Mother, didn't need to be so high

We have nothing to fear but fear and probably Sonia Kruger

I deleted the original post because I didn't like it. It was an alcohol fueled rant that just wasn't very good.

I then redid it and I quite liked it, but then I accidentally deleted it and now I can't really be bothered trying to do it again. 

It did include this clip from the movie 'Network'.

LIFE IS BULLSHIT - AND I CAN'T BELIEVE I FUCKING DELETED THE BLOG POST 

Anyway my opinion on Sonia Kruger and Pauline Hanson is less than favourable. In some sort of way I labelled them as tools of manipulation for neoliberal capitalism and they are the consequence of celebrity culture and mass consumerism. (Or something like that!)

They also seem to revel in celebrating ignorance. 

I questioned the motives of corporate media - especially Channel 9 - for promoting their hate speech. (Ratings? Designed social media outrage? Simple attention seeking and brand promotion?)

Kruger and Hanson provide a handy distraction for people from thinking to deeply about the world.

And I added something about 

Capitalism needs unthinking consumers to perpetuate it. Perpetually consuming and not thinking. Capitalism. And antagonism. And every now and then outright hate. 

ANYWAY LIFE IS A LEARNING EXPERIENCE AND I'LL BE EXTRA CAREFUL IN FUTURE WHEN EDITING DRAFTS NOT TO DELETE THEM - FUCK IT ALL!

A portrait of a 1970s radical

It all seems perfectly obvious now. Of course I was going to find myself at a writers festival at some stage in life.



Just look at me here.

me 

It looks as though I've just taken time out from my Marxist revolutionary comrades to have a portrait taken for posterity. Viva la revolucion! 

I was the Che Guevara of Grade Prep at Laurel Street Primary School, ca late 1970s.

There is the functional yet groovy skivvy. The funky jacket - I totally wish I still owned that jacket - and a haircut of serious intellectual reckoning.  

The severe Brando-esque under-bite - that would later be prettified by bourgeois orthodontics - and an attitude that sneers I am rebelling against whatever you've got.*

The 1970s was such a classic period. I feel sorry for those that missed it. And for those who were there and have gone all vague about it here is a reminder.  

In 1973 - when I was born - Natalie Wood had her photograph taken. She is so lovely.

the lovely natalie wood in 1973

In 1974, Richard Nixon was forced to resign due to the Watergate scandal 

1975 - Australia's prime minister, Gough Whitlam, was sensationally dismissed by the Governor General, Sir John Kerr. 

What can said about 1976? the Apple computer company was formed by Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak. 

And an earthquake in Tangshan China killed over 240,000 people. 

Elvis Presley died in 1977. 

Elvis live at Madison Square Gardens is still worth a listen.

1978 saw the very first Garfield comic strip published. 

Back in 1979 I would eat fish fingers smothered in tomato sauce followed by ice cream with chocolate topping and watch The Goodies, Dr Who - which I seriously didn't understand - and The Sullivans on television. I didn't really understand The Sullivans either. But I liked the war stuff. 

the goodies - it's whatever turns you on

Pink Floyd released 'The Wall'. Needless to say I did not really understand this either. But I liked the marching hammers. 

 

this clip - above - is actually from the 1982 movie 

and here are the marching hammers

So this is some of the stuff happening during my childhood. 

*To be honest I was probably a bit anxious about having my photo taken!

Mad as Hell

The only thing - other than 'Gardening Australia' - I make a concerted effort to watch each week on the television is Shaun Micallef's 'Mad as Hell'.

After bit of a wobbly start in its first season or two, it has settled into being a regular laugh-out-loud entertainment highlight. 

Some of the words I find myself using to describe it are irreverent, anarchic, clever, subversive, and coy. 

It has memorable characters such as the Kraken, Darius Horsham, the Greens Spokes-gollum, and, of course, Caspar Jonquil. 

The writing is tight and jam-packed with pop-culture references. It is an inter-textural tour-de-force. The show aims high and anticipates that it is speaking to a well-read, switched on audience. It is a clever television program delighting in the creative possibilities of absurdist sensibilities and flamboyant word-play. 



 Micallef's title, 'Mad as Hell', is obviously provided by those famous lines preached by Peter Finch in Sydney Lumet's classic of 1970s cinema, 'Network'. (If you have never seen 'Network' then please check it out. It is just as relevant now - if not more so - than when it first appeared forty years ago).

Exquisitely written by Paddy Chayefsky, 'Network' contains a number of superbly acted set pieces. 

There is of course Finch's call to arms.

And there is Ned Beatty's "The world is a business" soliloquy. ("It is the international system of currency which determines the totality of life on this planet.")

But my favourite is probably when William Holden addresses his wife, played stunningly by Beatrice Straight. Holden has had an affair with a much younger work colleague - played by Faye Dunaway - and his long term marriage is probably coming to an end. Holden is in fine form - perhaps the best of his career - and the dialogue is raw yet refined. It is a stunning blend of intelligence and emotion. This is mature movie making founded on beautiful poetic writing.   

The writing in both Micallef's 'Mad as Hell' and Lumet's 'Network' - each in their distinct ways for their respective genres - often leaves me gobsmacked with awe and appreciation. I often find myself asking, "How did they come up with that?"