And while I was away, the election happened. It was good good news! The Liberals lost, and lost big. John Howard lost his seat!! I wasn't expecting that, but it's great news. The Labor party is in power, and Kevin Rudd is prime minister.
Already they are dismantling the Howard legacy - they're ratifying the Kyoto Protocol and talking about bringing down the disclosure limit on political donations.
I'm so relieved that John Howard lost - I thought he was going to creep back in. I'm so happy to be wrong about that. Now its' just a matter of waiting to see how the Rudd government goes - will it keep its' promises, how much of the Howard legacy will it undo, how will the economy run, will the country start to take back its values of fairness and honesty etc?
Interesting times...
Thursday, December 6, 2007
Celebrate good times!
Home again
I'm back! Yep, made it home from China in one piece. What a trip - I'm very glad to be home.
The job was a bit of a mess. I spent most of my time in the office, unfortunately, up to 11 hours a day for 6 days of the week. I got my part of the work done, and managed to help out slightly on some other parts but its still a mess. And I'm glad to be back out of there.
I couldn't access blogger while in China - or rather, I couldn't view my blog, or any blog with the words blogspot or wordpress in the address. Oh well, I guess I didn't miss too much there, but the Great Firewall of China exists, and it doesn't like me.
Shanghai is an impressive city. Dirty, though. I couldn't believe how polluted the air is. While I was there, there were quite a few days that weren't cloudy. But even on the clearest of days with the sun shining the sky wasn't blue. All I could see was grey skies, with a faint blue tinge directly overhead. All around the horizon was grey and hazy. The buildings just faded away into the haze, and visibility was very bad. The day I went up to the viewing deck of the Oriental Pearl TV tower I could barely see across the river to the Bund. Anything beyond the Bund was invisible in the haze. Very disappointing. It does make me wonder how the olympics will go in Beijing next year, though.
The other thing I really didn't like was the aggressive approach taken by street selles. Wandering along Nanjing Road I just couldn't get away from people trying to sell me watches, dvds, t-shirts, shoes, belts, bags or in some cases, girls. As soon as I got rid of one seller, another would appear beside me and follow me down the road. If I got rid of him, then there would be another by my side in a matter of seconds. It really took all the fun out of just wandering around the city. I was always having to fend off their approaches. That happened pretty much everywhere I went in shanghai by myself - Nanjing Road, the Old Town, the French Concession, anywhere with shops and tourists.
The city does have an amazing history, though. I'd have liked to see a bit more of it, but didn't have a chance on this trip. Too much work going on for me to play the tourist. The shopping was good, but not as cheap as other parts of Asia. I did buy a few dodgy DVDs, which I haven't actually tried out yet. They work fine in the computer but whether they play on the dvd player I don't know yet. I bought a couple of items at BlueShanghaiWhite, which does a modern take on traditional Chinese pottery. I bought a vase and a couple of coffee cups that I thought were quite attractive. They had some lovely candle holders too, which I should have bought. Ah well - unfortunately it doesn't look like you can order them over the internet. But apart from that I didn't do much shopping because the aggressive approach of the sellers on the street just turned me right off. In some cases, in the Old Market area (YuYuan markets) they'd even come out of the shops and try and drag me in. I just wanted to browse and see what I could find but they kept throwing things in my face and dragging me here and there - I don't like that approach at all and so just didn't buy anything from them.
Still, I'd like to go back and take a longer look at the place. As far as Asian cities go its one of the better ones to end up in, I think.
Friday, November 23, 2007
China China China
Well, I'm in Shanghai, although all I've seen of it so far is the hotel and the office. The hotel is fine, but nothing special. It's the Rainbow Hotel, out in Hongqiao. But it is just a hotel - the only advantage is that it's only 5 minutes walk to the office.
I'm still not thrilled about being here for work. I'd love to come here and explore on a holiday, but getting thrown into the project like this at the last minute is not something I wanted. Ah well... it's a new city, new job. I'll get out and explore a bit over the weekend.
As for this blog - I can log in and add posts. But I can't actually just view it as a web page. Or any blog, for that matter. Any website that has blogspot or wordpress in the address doesn't work from here. I guess that's the Great Firewall in action. There's probably a way around it but I'll just live with it for now. Got to love that firewall!
Saturday, November 17, 2007
Voting done - can we just finish the election now?
While I was in town getting my Chinese visa the other day I also went and voted. I'll be out of the country on election day and so will miss all the excitement (what a shame!)
I didn't realise it was so easy to vote early, but they had a polling station set up at city hall. They didn't even ask for any ID - just rocked up, filled out the form which they checked against the electoral roll and away I went. I guess I could have voted for someone else too if I had their name, address, and date of birth. Too easy.
Anyway, I voted. It's done. First preference for the Australian Democrats - vote 1 for Andrew Bartlett in the senate, and the local Democrats candidate Jennifer Cluse in the lower house.
And then I preferenced the Greens and Labor in the lower house. In the senate I voted above the line for the first time. There were 65 candidates. I could wallpapered the booth with that form, it was so big. I've always voted below the line before, but that was when I was living in Tassie. Numbering the 20-30 candidates in that form isn't too much of a strain, but numbering 65 here in Queensland is asking a bit much. Anyway... its a good thing I liked the Democrats ticket.
So good luck to the Democrats. It'd be a sad day for Australia if they lost all their seats, I think. They've done an excellent job over the years.
Still, it's not looking good. 1996 was the first election I voted in, and I voted Democrats then too. That was the year they lost their Tasmanian seat to Bob Brown. Now this is the first time I've voted in Queensland, and it looks very much like the Democrats could go down to the Greens here too. I must be a political jinx of some kind... maybe I should have voted for Howard after all!
Election pending
One of the good things about going away is that I will miss the final week of the election. But here's a fun piece of election commentary that puts the entertainment back into the game.
In other news - Queer Penguin is writing a series on why he's preferencing Labor at this election. Its a pretty good list of the reasons for not voting Howard this time around. Parts 1,2 and 3 are up so far.
What a crazy week
Well, it's been a bit of a crazy week around here. Sometimes work just sucks, you know?
It began on Monday, when one of our company managers rang and asked me (again) to go to China. Normally I would jump at a chance like that - company sponsored travel to somewhere I haven't been before is always a nice perk. But I'd been trying to avoid this job, because of the chaos that seems to be happening over there at the moment. I'd been asked before to look at some of this project work, and had decided I really didn't want to get involved. They're at a point in the project where they are presenting the results to our customer, and basically it doesn't work. Or so I've heard. So - results? One unhappy customer, some very stressed project staff, no time to sort it out. And that's when they ask me to go there - just in time to present it to the customer again without any real information or preparation. How fair is that? I wanted to stay as far away from this sort of mess as possible.
If they'd actually asked me a couple of months ago, when I could have made a difference by getting in early and working on it, then it would all have been ok. I could have prepared, maybe even helped them avoid some problems. Who knows? But its all a bit late now... anyway...
So I'm off to China on Wednesday. I guess I am excited about it - I do love travelling when I get the chance. I rushed into Brisbane on Thursday and applied for the visa. Fortunately they can do it overnight, instead of the normal four working days. I picked it back up on Friday morning. There were fairly long queues each day, which I wasn't expecting. Apparently China is quite the destination at the moment. But they were fast, and pretty efficient. Only complaint - they wouldn't accept my company AMEX card as payment. Just a minor pain, when it comes to reporting the expenses for the trip.
On top of all that excitement, I've been rushing around putting the finishing touches on my current project, trying to do some troubleshooting for a site in New Zealand and dealing with another strange request from a local customer. They always want to do things that are just not part of the standard system. Which is fine, because we get to charge them lots of money for making it work the way they want. Its just the timing that sucks.
So I'll be away for a few weeks. Good fun :)
Thursday, November 8, 2007
Sorry means... not sorry??
John Howard at his best - again! Yesterday he said he was sorry that interest rates have gone up again. But now he's saying that he's not apologising for it. So sorry no longer means sorry, in Howard-speak.
Sounds familiar, though. The last time he said sorry for anything was when petrol prices were rising. He was very quick to say sorry then. And he was very quick to say it now, too, even though he has just admitted he didn't really mean it.
It's interesting that he chose to say sorry both times for something that isn't technically his fault. There are plenty of things he could apologise for (even in the Howard-speak sense of the word!), but he's chosen to say sorry only when something has hurt voters in his marginal seats. So much for demonstrating leadership, Australian values, morality, taking responsibility...
The guy is a fraud and I really really want him gone from government.
Wednesday, November 7, 2007
Interest rates rises are good for you
Interest rates rose today, by 0.25%. And since this is an election campaign, Peter Costello has to jump in and tell us this is a good thing. Or, ate least, that rising interest rates are a sign of good economic management.
Well, if everything is so good (as the Labor party ads keep reminding us, according to John Howard we've never had it so good) then maybe Peter Costello and John Howard can pay my mortgage for me. That'd be nice!
And anyway, if rising interest rates are a sign of good economic management, what did they mean when they promised to keep rates at record lows during the last election? Does that mean Howard and Costello were promising to give us bad economic management?
These guys really need to pick a line and stick to it. At the rate they're backflipping at the moment they'd outperform most circus acrobats!
Thanks, John Howard!
(Of course, I know the government doesn't directly control interest rates. But when they claim low rates as their responsibility but try to dodge the blame for higher rates, then they deserve everything they get! I really really hope they get voted out)
Monday, November 5, 2007
The Liberal Party tells the truth!
Found on Road to Surfdom - a good laugh. And a lot of reasons not to vote for John Howard.
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Tasmanian Politics
I came across this site the other day. It's always interesting to keep up with whats going on back home in Tassie, and this looks like a good way of doing it.
Tasmanian politics might not rate much attention unless you live there, but I'm still concerned and interested in it. The current Tasmanian state government is a bit of a disgrace and the whole pulp mill decision process was disgusting. Anyway...
It'll be interesting to read this site as it develops.
Kondalilla Falls
On Sunday I drove up to Montville and Kondalilla Falls National Park. I was planning to do the Falls circuit with a friend, but I was very disappointed to get there and find the track was closed.
Anyway, we walked out to the top of the falls and had a look at the swimming hole there. I was surprised how close it was to the car park. I'd assumed that the walk out was longer than it actually was - it was only about a 15 minute walk out to the top of the falls. It was pretty easy going. The track is well maintained and mostly level, apart from the short descent to the creek.
We thought about going swimming here, but decided against it. The pool was pretty busy, and so we decided to head for the beach at Caloundra instead.
The track to the base of the falls was closed. I was pretty disappointed about this, as that was the part of the track I was actually interested in. According to the sign, the track has been closed due to geological instability, meaning that they think there could be rockfalls. And that's fair enough, but it would have been nice if there was a notice on the website. I got my information about the park from the website and the track closure wasn't mentioned anywhere...
Still, it was a nice short walk to the top of the falls, just not very spectacular. Lunch at Montville was nice, though.
And the weather at Kings Beach, in Caloundra, was great. Not to windy, or hot, and just enough surf to make it interesting. I really don't get to the beach often enough, and Sunday was a great day for it. So a couple of hours at the beach made up for the disappointment that was Kondalilla.
I really need to find some good bushwalking areas around Brisbane...
Saturday, October 27, 2007
Laugh out loud Howard moments
He really is ubelievable.
After spending all of the 2004 election campaign telling us that interest rates would always be low under his government, he's now denying it. Apparently we have to forget everything he promised last time, because that's all in the past. I burst out laughing when I heard that - is this guy serious??
He might have a point though, technically. Its hard to say now, three years later, whether he personally ever made the claim that interest rates would remain at record lows under his government. He might be right when he says that all he ever said was that rates would be lower under him than under Labor.
But it really doesn't matter if it was his words or a Liberal party ad. It's basically the same thing. And he wasn't actually out there correcting peoples misunderstanding, was he? No, he was very happy for us to believe that he'd promised to keep rates at record lows, even if that's now what he technically said.
And now he wants us to forget he even said that! Apparently the past doesn't matter and we have to concentrate on the future - while at the same time we have to remember that interest rates got to 17% under the last Labor government. So which is it? Is the past important or not? If we can remember Labors interest rates, can we remember his (broken) promises? Or if we forget his lies, can we forget Labors rates?
He really is a tricky politician. He has a way of telling the truth that makes lying look honest. He has to go, and so does his government.
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
Say It Out Loud
I finished reading "Say It Out Loud" just last night. It's a biography of Adam Sutton, described as a gay Australian cowboy.
I'm not usually a fan of biographies. My non-fiction reading is usually historical or religious. This book appealed to me, though, and when I saw it on sale at Borders I decided to pick it up. I guess my first interest came when I saw Adam interviewed for Australian Story last year.
Both the book and the tv program tell the story of Adams life so far. It's told in Adams voice, giving it very personal feel. In some ways it's an easy book to read - the language is plain spoken and straightforward. But in others it's quite hard - it's the story of his pain and confusion while growing up and coming out. In the process he's led a pretty amazing life, and it sounds like quite a rollercoaster.
Part of the reason it was so gripping for me was that I can relate to parts of the story. Mostly the parts about being gay and coming out. Apart from those struggles, his life makes a much more interesting story than mine does, that's for sure.
I think this book is worth at least 4 stars. Definitely worth reading. His life story is interesting in itself, and the courage Adam has displayed in living his life and then sharing it with everyone like this is pretty inspiring stuff.
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
Debating greatness
I made myself sit through the great debate between John Howard and Kevin Rudd on Sunday night. Actually, it wasn't that hard in the end. I thought it was quite an impressive performance, and all the associated drama over the worm on channel 9 was even more entertaining than the debate itself.
Anyway, it was obviously Kevin Rudds night. I was quite impressed by what I saw of him in this debate. He doesn't always come across well in the 30-second soundbites used on the evening news, but this format suited him. He was able to make his points, clearly and with conviction. Before the debate I was hoping he would win the election basically because he wasn't John Howard. Now I'm much more confident that he can really run the government and be an effective leader.
John Howard, on the other hand, was pretty bad. He is not a good debater - he may be a clever politician but public speaking really isn't his strong point. He looked tired, old and angry. He almost lost his temper a couple of times. It was a really bad look. And to top it all off, even when he was speaking with conviction he wasn't convincing. On his strong points of the economy, I'd heard it all before. His attacks on unions were nothing new and just fell pretty flat. If you weren't convinced by his rhetoric before the debate, nothing he said would change your mind.
Even when he was talking about his new policies on climate change and reconciliation he was not believable. His main problem here is that after 11 years most people know that he really doesn't believe in them as issues. At one point he accused Kevin Rudd of having an election campaign conversion to economic conservatism. I almost laughed at that, since that charge is much more likely to stick to him because of his new position on Aboriginal affairs and climate change. Less than convincing stuff.
So, Kevin won the night. Convincingly. But it's still a long way to election day, and John Howard is a tricky and clever campaigner. And its a huge job for Labor to win the 16 seats it needs. Here's hoping they can do it!
Sunday, October 21, 2007
Resident Evil
I went to see Resident Evil: Extinction last night. I wasn't impressed.
Zombie/Horror movies have never been my thing. I don't like pointless death and destruction in my movies or books. And that's what this movie seemed to be - lots of pointless deaths, gratuitous blood and guts, and very little in the way of actual character or story to hold it all together.
I guess part of the problem is that I didn't see the first two movies, or play the computer game it's all based on. But having seen this one I have no desire to go back and see them.
The ultimate bad guy in this movie starts out as just amoral, although in pursuit of a worthy goal (saving the human race, of course!). At the end though, he mutates into the strongest and most intelligent of the zombies. And then the heroin manages to kill him off in just a few minutes. Not exactly the worlds greatest threat at that point...
Overall, it was a silly movie, and a waste of time. There were probably better things to do with my time last night. If I want to watch a zombie movie that's actually clever, I'll watch Shaun of the Dead instead.
Saturday, October 20, 2007
Ok ok - can't get away from politics this week!
Here's an ad just for John Howard - he'll love this one.
So what have those evil unions done for us? Lets find out...
Seen via Road to Surfdom
Turn off the phones!
It's been a really busy week, in all sorts of ways.
I've been snowed under at work this week, and so I'm very glad its now Saturday morning. Still, weeks like this are the fun ones - keeps me from getting bored at work, which is an increasing problem lately.
On the downside, weeks like this at work mean that I get almost nothing done outside of work. Try getting to the bank when you're working 10+ hours a day! It just doesn't happen. I have to say that bank hours are awful, and they need to make more of an effort to be available and open when people can actually get there. Bank business hours of 9am to 4pm are just incredibly inconvenient for anyone with an actual job to do...
Still, I guess they have no motivation to change, do they? They're making huge profits and there's not a whole lot of competition. And it's so inconvenient trying to change banks, moving accounts, loans, credit cards... once they've got you sucked in you're pretty much trapped and just have to put up with the crappy service.
Ok - that rant is over now...
This week also saw the beginning of the election campaign. Finally! The J-Ho finally called it, for November 24th. All that means is we've got six weeks (five, now) of electioneering, dirty politics, awful ads, and generally getting harrassed by our so-called leaders. Up until this week I was actually interested in the election - I want John Howard gone, and was getting really frustrated that he hadn't called it. Now I've lost interest - I just want to get to polling day, cast my vote, and hopefully get to watch John Howard concede defeat. Go Kevin! There are so many reasons to want the Liberals gone - just the fact that they're not really liberal in anyway is enough, though... I'll probably write a bit more about that later.
I'm just hanging on now for the election to be over. I just don't want to watch, becauswe it'd be too painful watching Kevin Rudd self-destruct. I really really really hope that doesn't happen, though. So I'll stick my head in the sand for the next few weeks, and hold my breath. It'll all be over soon, but I'm not sure I can face another three years of Howard and Friends. I'm just scared that he'll find some dirty little rabbit in a hat somewhere and pull off another win. That's a scary thought...
Anyway, back to my relaxing recovery weekend. I'm off for lunch with friends in the city today, then the movies tonight, and tomorrow - well, we'll see. If its a nice day it might be another trip to the beach for me!
Can't wait...
Thursday, October 11, 2007
Stormy weather
Well, it's been a busy week so far. Lots of exciting things have been going on, including a long long bike ride on Sunday, which really wore me out. Anyway...
But the best thing about this week has been all the storms. We've had storms every day this week since Sunday. It's now Thursday and they're forecasting more storms this afternoon.
I love weather like this - as long as I'm home, that is. I love to just sit around and watch the lightning flash across the horizon, with the rain pelting on the tin roof. There's nothing quite like the sound of rain on the roof to make me glad I'm home and safe inside. And the lightning has been impressive. I was watching it on Tuesday night from the balcony and it was lighting up the street almost like daylight. I haven't seen a storm like that for quite a while now.
Maybe the Queensland drought has finally broken? Here's hoping...
Wednesday, October 3, 2007
Undoing Howards legacy
Paul Kelly, in the Australian, has an interesting article explaining what Kevin Rudd plans to do with the public service if he gets elected. The article is here.
As he explains, John Howard has tried to intimidate and control the public service while he's been in office. He doesn't want impartial or independent advice - he just wants the public servants to do exactly what he wants without question or dissent. This makes for bad policy, and Paul Kelly identifies this as a blunder. I agree. The public service should be free to give impartial and independent advice to the government. Obviously, it should also impartially and competently implement government policies after they've been passed by Parliament, but that's not what John Howard has asked for. It looks to me like he's tried to turn the Australian public service into another arm of the Liberal Party, with the aim of keeping the Liberal Party in power. That's just an abuse of our system of government, in my opinion.
According to the article, Kevin Rudd wants to restore the independence of the public service while also lifting its standards. That's a great aim, and if he can pull it off that will be fantastic. It'll be interesting to see if he can do it, though. A compliant public service would undoubtedly make life easier for any government, even if it means public policy suffers. But I think its a good idea, and I hope he gets a chance to do it. John Howards legacy of abuse towards our system of government and democracy needs to be undone, and this is one step towards doing that.
And on that note, here's another article over at The Road to Surfdom on a similar topic - the abuses of power committed by the Howard Government.
Tuesday, October 2, 2007
The lost plot
Here are two more stories that show how badly John Howard and his government have lost the plot on all things climate change.
The first is about solar power and the second is on the future of Australia as global warming kicks in.
The story about solar power is interesting, and frustrating, and a good example of lost opportunities. The Australian company couldn't find support for its Australian product in Australia, so does the sensible thing and moves offshore. Then it gets picked up by an American company, lands a huge contract providing clean renewable energy on a huge scale.
I've always thought that Australia is the logical place for solar power to take off. We've got a large amount of space, and lots of sunny weather. It should be an obvious combination. But we've got a government that talks about solar power being inefficient, expensive and unable to provide baseload power, and so they've not invested in it or provided any significant subsidies for research and development. And now, an Australian company is going to provide all those things to the Americans. I guess that'd be a shock to John Howard and friends, although they'll probably waffle on about how it's still not in production and there's a lot of risks etc etc. And in the meantime, our country loses out on the benefits of the project, and we waste our money on trying to develop clean coal technology that will take at least as long as solar power to provide any decent returns or environmental benefits.
The second story shows what this could cost us. While we're basically refusing to take any serious action on climate change or reducing our emmissions, our country is going to get hotter and dryer and the seas will continue to rise. That's bad news all around, and yet our government has continued to deny there's a problem. Until recently, that is, when they realised they might actually lose this election. Now we've got some token acknowledgement of the problem for them but their only action seems to be more political spin. As in dressing up already existing schemes and presenting it as something new. Anyway... bring on the election, lets get a new government!
Sunday, September 30, 2007
Summer comes early?
It's been a beautiful Brisbane weekend. Unbelievable, really, considering it's still September. It got to 30 degrees yesterday, and is going the same way today.
So what do you do on such a summery weekend? That's right - you head for the beach.
And that's exactly what I did yesterday. I went and sat on the beach at Bribie Island for a few hours. Of course, I got stuck in the traditional summer-weekend traffic jam on the Bruce Highway. All the way from the Narangba to Caboolture was stop/go. Very frustrating.
Still, it was worth it, I think. The beach was great. There was a fairly gentle cool breeze blowing down the beach and that felt great on my skin. The water was still pretty cool though; it is still September after all. But that just made it all the more refreshing, and it was so nice being back in the ocean again. The last time was in Vietnam, at Mui Ne, so not that long ago really, but it just felt different here. Cleaner, for a start...
Today I didn't feel like driving all that way again. I've been out on the bike instead, for an hour or so along the bike track. Not quite as relaxing as sitting on the beach, but still good. And I needed the exercise, too. I went out before it got too hot this morning. It's warmed up a lot now, though, and I think I'll be heading off to the air-conditioned shopping centre for coffee with some friends soon. That'll be nice, too.
A great weekend - shame about work tomorrow, really...
Saturday, September 29, 2007
Stardust
I went to see Stardust last night. I wanted to see this movie because I enjoyed the book. It's another screen adaptation - this one from a book by Neil Gaiman. I thought it was pretty good overall - a good night out.
It's been years now since I read the book, but from memory I think the movie was pretty faithful to it. The witches, with Michelle Pfeiffer leading them were evil and fun at the same time. The love story between Tristan and Yvaine was well handled. And the scenery was lovely. I think the effects owed quite a bit to Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings, but I guess there's only so many ways to show magic onscreen.
I couldn't remember the Captain Shakespeare character from the book, though. I'm going to have to re-read the book now - maybe they inserted him into the movie to make it easier for the characters to cross Stormhold, rather than having them walk the whole way. But maybe I'm wrong; like I said I'll need to re-read it now and find out for sure.
I think I might even have to buy the DVD when it comes out. I love this kind of movie - simple story, a hint of magic and dreams that captures the imagination. It might not work so well if you're not familiar with the book, but it is worth seeing.
Friday, September 28, 2007
Telling it like it is
Politics the fun way! This is the ad created by GetUp! and hopefully will be screened during the AFL grand final tomorrow. Spoofing John Howards taxpayer funded election campaign ads. Good for them.
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
The politics of fear
Here's a new scare campaign being run against the Labor party. No prizes for guessing that the government is behind it. Bring on the election!
Personally, I don't care if Labor is in power right across the country. Maybe that will be an incentive for the Liberals to get their acts together and actually offer some quality opposition. I just can't wait to get rid of John Howard and friends from Canberra. I think they've been a very damaging government, especially over the last 5-6 years. The sooner we get rid of them the better.
As for the Labor government being run by the unions, I think that's probably a bit overstated. Yes, there are a lot of union officials in the party. Hopefully that means that they will be concerned about the rights of employees more than the current government. They will hopefully care more about fairness - I know John Howard talks a lot about a fair go and mateship, but if he has to talk it up so much I think it just means that the concept is in trouble. You don't have to talk about something that is taken for granted by everyone; you only have to keep emphasisng it and encouraging it when the idea is in trouble. So John Howard has, I think, pretty much killed off the idea of a fair go at the political level. It's still alive and well for most people in their everyday lives, but it isn't reflected in our national politics. Hopefully Labor can do something to restore that.
Anyway, enough political crap - bring on the election and get it over with!
Recovery is slow, unfortunately
Well, after being all proud of myself for not getting sick while overseas, what happens? That's right - I catch a cold! Dammit!
I spent all weekend in bed with a cold, and ended up taking Monday off work since I was feeling pretty bad. I dragged myself back to work yesterday, though.
It always seems to happen when I travel these days. Once I get off the plane, I get sick. I guess I'm just lucky I didn't get sick on the way over to Vietnam, so it could be worse. But each time I've travelled this year I've ended up catching a cold. Very frustrating, especially since I've got at least two more trips this year involving planes and airports. Ah well...
So I lay around all weekend feeling miserable. Very unexciting - although it did give me a chance to finish two books. The first was "First among Sequels" by Jasper Fforde and the other was the new Terry Pratchett book "Making Money". I was a little bit disappointed with the Fforde book - it started slowly, but it did get better. Of course, the Pratchett was excellent and made me feel much better.
Ah well - here's hoping I can kick the rest of this cold soon. It's supposed to be a hot and sunny weekend. I might wander off to the beach if it looks good!
Friday, September 21, 2007
The road never ends... updated again!
On a related note - the people that brought you the map of visited countries now also bring you a map showing all the important places you've visited. Apparently I've been to 17 of the top 100 destinations! Cool!
Here's the map.
visited 17 destinations out of a beenda's top 100 destinations.
create your own map
The road never ends... updated
Since I've now been to another three countries on my latest trip (Vietnam, Cambodia, Malaysia) I thought it was time to update this map. Here's the new version.
Create your own visited countries map
Thursday, September 20, 2007
Photos! and more photos! Vietnam and Cambodia
So here's a few of my holiday photos. Thought I'd post them here, just to see if the slide show thing works. Enjoy!
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
Stamping Butterflies
This book was my holiday reading on the trip through Vietnam and Cambodia. Mostly it was for reading while on planes or in airports, since I didn't plan on having a lot of downtime while over there. But a day or so by the pool in Mui Ne saw me get through it all.
The book is by Jon Grimwood - an author I hadn't heard of before. I came across him while browsing through LibraryThing and saw some good reviews. I'm glad I did, because I thought it was a pretty good book.
The story is convoluted, so may not have been the best choice for a relaxing holiday novel. On the other hand, these are the sorts of books that I find really interesting to read, so it still worked for me. The story is told in three parts. There's one stream set in Marrakech in the 1970's. Then there's one set in the current day or very near future, revolving around an assassination attempt on the most popular US president in history (that's not GW Bush, obviously enough, even though the book was written in 2004). And finally there's the story set in the far future in an empire of 2023 worlds.
I thought all three parts worked well. The first two streams became linked fairly early on in the book, sharing characters and history. It was well written and realistic in describing its events and locations. His writing style is descriptive and detailed, while not slowing down the pace of the book. The link with the third, future, stream wasn't obvious until very close to the end of the book. Hints were dropped before then, of course, but the link wasn't obvious to me until the end. The suspense was maintained very well right to the final pages.
Overall, I thought the first two story streams were the best. I couldn't relate quite as well to the future stream or characters. I think that was because they were the ones I felt the least sympathy for - particularly the Emperor. They just didn't seem as realistic as the others.
I enjoyed this book. I will be looking for other books by the same author now, as I think he's definitely one to read more of.
Stamping Butterflies, by Jon Courtenay Grimwood
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
All Templed Out...
And the final email from Cambodia...
Well,the sunrise over Angkor Wat was a bit of a washout. It is the wet season, so there are plenty of clouds hanging around. Basically the sun rose into a cloud bank, with very few colours or spectacular effects. It just got gradually lighter, and not much else. Still, it was worth a try I guess...We wont be trying it tomorrow,though - once was enough!
For the rest of today we toured a few more temples. I've got temple fatigue now. There seems to be o end of them after a while, and they begin to look all the same. They're all beautiful in their own way, but trying to cram them into two days is way too much. We managed to see all the main temples, including the one where the movie Tomb Raider was shot. There are no signs pointing it out, but the tour guides don't let you miss any of the important movie sites !
After that, it was just a final trip around the markets looking for souvenirs, then a quick swim in the hotel pool. That part of the day was great. I can always spend time by the pool, or the beach... but after two days of solid walking around temples and jungle it was nice just to kick back for an hour or so.
It's not all relaxation and natural beauty though. At every temple entrance there were bands of musicians playing. They are all victims of land mines, and make a living selling CDs of their music to tourists. There are lots of beggars around with missing limbs too - we saw one boy about 16 working in one of the markets and he had two false feet. It was a shock to see that as he was walking quite normally, until you looked down at them. They're still working at clearing landmines from all across the country (and in Vietnam too) and wont be finished for years yet. The markets are full of books about the Khmer Rouge and Pol Pot - the fighting wasn't all that long ago. It's all pretty sad - like I said earlier, this part of the world has had a very rough time over the last 50-100 years. And they're all still incredibly poor. I spent $15 tonight on dinner - the average monthly wage is $40. Anyway...
So the trip is almost over. Tomorrow morning we head for the airport and a flight to Kuala Lumpur. Then on Friday night we're on a plane home... not looking forward to getting home. Maybe I'll just take a plane and head on somewhere else...
Cambodia - Angkor Wat
From the first part of our stop in Cambodia...
Just a quick one tonight, as it's late and I want to go to bed. we're off to see the
sunrise over Angkor Wat in the morning, starting from the hotel at 5am... not my idea of agood time to get out of bed while I'm on holiday! But it should be worth it, I think.
Anyway, we're in Cambodia now. We're in Siem Reap, which is the town just next to
the whole Angkor Wat area. We spent today exploring some of the temples. We'll check out a few more tomorrow before heading off on Thursday. This place is just amazing. Its hard to believe they carved this huge temple complext out of the jungle over 1000 years ago. We''ve all taken lots of photos, of course, but they just don't give you the whole picture.
They also don't give you the heat, and the humidity. I hate the humidity - it just
drains me completely after a while. And we've been walking all day today, climbing over stone temples out in the sun.
The final few days of Vietnam were great, too. The two day on the beach at Mui Ne were the best - not too hot or wet, and we just sat by the pool for most of our time there. That's more like a holiday. The Mekong Delta was hot, wet and sticky - interesting, but I'm in no hurry to go back there.
Anyway, I'm off to bed. Just a few more days until we head home - wish I could extend
the trip another week or two.
Vietnam part 2 - Tunnels and Temples
Part two - Cu Chi and Cao Dai.
So - part two of the trip!
Yesterday we went off to see the Cu Chi tunnels and the Cao Dai temple. Both were
interesting, but the tunnels were definitely the highlight. It was a full day trip, on the bus most of the time. That in itself was really nice after all the walking we'd done on the previous day. My feet are complaining about this trip already, even if the rest of me isn't :)
Anyway, we started at the Cao Dai temple. Cao Dai means High Tower, and is a religion that is unique to Vietnam. Basically you take all the religions you can think of and mix them up together. They have a pope, who is picked by conducting a seance with the ancestors. Their saints include Victor Hugo, the french poet. The temple was decorated with pink dragons for some reason, with a great eye sitting on top of a globe, symbolising the One God that rules over all. They pray and have a service in the temple four times a day, and we got to see one of the services which involved a lot of chanting, gongs and incense.
After lunch we went off to the Cu Chi tunnels. This was the main highlight of the day. THe tunnels were used during the war by the local guerillas, and stretched for around 250km all through the area. The original tunnels were 60cm, by 80cm - just enough room for a small person to crawl through on their stomach. They've also put in a few lights - definitely not an original feature. Fortunately, they've enlarged them for tourists, so this section was 120 * 160cm. I could get through these if I crouched. Still, it was pitch black in sections and went for aroudn 100m. It was all very claustrophobic. I can't imagine using them to live in and fight from. Apparetnly they tunneled into the nearby US base during the war and would pop up at night and shoot at them from inside the base. It took quite a while for the Americans to catch on, but they couldn't clear all the tunnels.
There was also a museum area, showing the different types of booby traps used by the
guerillas. They involved pits full of bamboo spikes and rusty nails in various combinations. It all looked very nasty. And there was a ruined American tank, blown up by a landmine and left where it was destroyed. The entire back half of the tank was a twisted ruin.
It was quite a sobering experience all around. Everywhere we've been so far there are
reminders of the war - from the markets with army surplus, to old planes and tanks, museums - it's just everywhere. In that respect its been a holiday that makes you think about all that's happened.
But from here on it gets lighter. Tomorrow we're off on a twoday tour of the Mekong
delta. And that's followed by two days on the beach at Mui Ne. Both should be great side trips. I think we've seen most of what Saigon ahs to offer, so it'll be a good to move on,
Hopefully I'll get another chance at the internet in a couple of days. Talk to you then
Hi from Vietnam
Well, I'm back from holiday! Here's a couple of emails I sent to friends while I was away - but forgot to post them here. Oh well - better late than never, I guess.
Just a quick hello to say that we all made it safe and sound to Ho Chi Minh City. It's been a big two days, of course, with all the travelling etc. Flying from Brisbane to Vietnam via Melbourne really is the long way of doing things. Anyway...
We got to the hotel around lunch time on Sunday. After a quick lunch we went for a walk to some nearby markets, and attempted to get used to the traffic. I'd just about forgotten what it was like to have to step out into endless streams of traffic just to try and cross the road. They do avoid you though - those little scooters that everybody rides are pretty manouverable. I managed to avoid spending too much money at the markets, although I'll probably go back there at least once before we leave.
Today we toured some of the museums. The Fine Art museum was mostly modern art (post-war) so it's all about the glories of the communists and beating the Americans. Some of it is pretty good, even if the message isn't exactly subtle. The Reunification Palace was interesting - it's the old South Vietnamese presidential palace, and is pretty much exactly as it was in 1975. The final museum for the day was the War Remnants museum. Again a very one-sided story, but intense. It's full of photos and stories of abuses committed by various invaders of Vietnam (French, American, etc). Again, not exaclty subtle, but very powerful. People did awful things in this country.
Anyway, thats about it so far, apart from eating some great and cheap food! Tomorrow we're off to see the tunnels used by the VietCong and a couple of temples. Then later in the week we're off to the Mekong Delta for a couple of days, followed by an overnight trip to one of the nearby national parks. Should be good I'll let you know how it all goes, of course!
Friday, August 31, 2007
Spring Break!
It's the start of spring tomorrow. I can't wait for summer to come back - I'm definitely no fan of winter. Anyway, I'm heading off overseas tomorrow. I've taken a couple of weeks off work to go traveling. I've been really looking forward to the break.
In the meantime, though, here's a few spring photos taken around my place.
Thursday, August 30, 2007
Life in the alternative universe
That would be politics, of course - it seems to bear little resemblance to real life, and yet people take it all so very seriously. A couple of interesting statements have been made this week. Andrew Bartlett picks up on one, made by Julia Gillard.
She made a statement saying that Labor would expect the Senate to pass their new IR laws almost immediately, if they were elected. She said that in that case Labor would have a mandate to pass its IR package, and so the Senate should just pass it - just rubber-stamp it, in effect.
This means, I guess, that Labor has learnt nothing from the example of John Howard. Over the last few years the coalition has had the numbers in the Senate, and have used them to rubber-stamp all sorts of awful legislation. WorkChoices is the one causing all the political grief at the moment, but others include the anti-terror laws, and the land-snatch currently underway in the Northern Territory. They've cut debates short, refused to consider amendments, given virtually no notice of upcoming debates or legislation and have guillotined bills through. It's been a disgraceful abuse of the Senate and Parliament.
As I said in my comment on Andrew Bartlett's blog (comment #11 in the linked post), I think this will be John Howards lasting legacy. His government will be remembered as a case study in what happens when a government has total control. (The other example would be Queensland, where there is only one house of parliament) Hopefully that will be a warning to voters, who will never let this situation happen again. Because the Senate has acted as a rubber stamp for the Howard government, lots of dodgy legislation has passed into law without proper review. That means a lot of work will have to be done in the future to undo the damage.
Unfortunately, from Julia Gillards comment, it appears that Labor doesn't see the problem. They would happily use the Senate as a rubber stamp if they had the numbers. The instinct for power would be too hard to resist. As much as I agree that WorkChoices should go, and I hope Labor wins government, they should be willing to work with the Senate rather than insisting that their version of IR laws be forced through untouched. It would show that they take our democracy seriously, and that they have respect for our style of government - a respect that has been lacking in the current Howard government. But I'm cynical, so I don't expect Labor would be any better. They'll bluster, and if they have the numbers they will use them, just like Howard has. The only way to ensure they don't is to make sure neither major party has the numbers in the Senate.
I'm hoping that the balance of power will rest with the Democrats, independents, Greens and any other minor parties elected. That sort of grouping would ensure proper debates, review and compromise - giving a much better chance at a balanced outcome. I just hope enough people have learnt the lesson from Howards abuses and vote Democrat/independent/Green in the Senate...
In other news, Malcolm Turnbull has delayed his decision on the Gunns pulp mill for thirty days. That should put it nicely into the whole election time frame - providing a wedge opportunity, maybe? Hmmm...
Cyberslacking off
Yep - that's me! One of the 20% of workers who are cyberslacking. Gotta love that internet :)
Continued around the bend...Wednesday, August 29, 2007
Great Gunns... again!
It seems like everyone is talking about the Gunns pulp mill now. There are reports in all the papers about it. The Australian has had a good run with the story, as have other media outlets such as the ABC. It's a bit late, though - the mill is virtually approved, and now the media starts talking about it... but better late than never.
I guess the main reason it's suddenly become a story is that Geoffrey Cousins is running a large publicity campaign about it in Malcom Turnbulls electorate in Sydney. The papers obviously don't think it's a story unless there's a Sydney angle, right? Anyway...
Still, the debate goes on. There is a vote due any time now in the Tasmanian upper house, giving final approval from the state. And there are reports of new environmental concerns. This latest report finds that the mill will not meet 15 environmental conditions. That has to be disturbing for anyone who's interested in the project.
There are even reports that Malcolm Turnbull might be considering telling Gunns to move the mill to another site (Hampshire, rather than the Tamar Valley) I think that would probably be a good idea, although I doubt Gunns would consider it. They'd probably just pull the plug on the whole thing rather than try and re-design the whole mill so that it could be done at the Hampshire site. It'd almost be as bad as starting from scratch again.
I can understand why Gunns is frustrated. This project was originally proposed several years ago now, and should have been resolved before this. Now it's got caught up in all the election-year politicking. Since the federal government has to sign off on the assessment before the mill can go ahead, it's become a federal issue. Neither side of politics will want to make a committment before the election because whatever they decide will annoy some voters. And those voters are in a marginal seat which might turn out to be critical to the election result...
So what's going to happen? I've got no idea. What should happen? Everyone should forget about the politics and focus on the actual effects of the mill. I still think the whole approvals process has been a sham so far - maybe the federal government process will be better, but since this is an election year I think the final decision will have more to do with electioneering than an actual assessment of the mill on its merits. Hopefully, I'm just being too cynical here, though...
And I still think the mill is dubious on all sorts of environmental grounds. I don't think the approvals process has taken these fully into consideration.
Basically, the whole thing stinks. The Lennon state government really needs to go, in my opinion. Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be an opposition. Anyway...
Previous entries: Gunns part 1, Gunns part 2.
Also: An interesting piece in today's Crikey about the politics of the mill and Geoffrey Cousins. Like I said, Tassie only gets national attention when there is an outsider involved...
Update 2: An article by Warwick Raverty in New Matilda lays out the good, the bad and the ugly sides of the mill. And here's a conflicting view from Jennifer Marohasy, pointing out that the mill is supposed to be built in Tasmanias largest industrial estate. It's true that Bell Bay, with the Rio Tinto aluminium smelter is in the same area, along with other industries. I think, though, that the mill will be built further upriver than Bell Bay, away from the rest of the industrial sites. And that doesn't answer the other environmental problems, either. Still, it's an interesting point, and I can't comment much more than that since it's been a long time since I've been through the area.
Monday, August 27, 2007
Self-inspection...?
I don't know why I get sucked into doing these personality tests. I guess it's a good way of killing some time, and I might just learn something. Or maybe it's just a way of working out what I already know...
I came across this one while browsing around Dogfight at Bankstown. Like I said, I was killing time, so went and did the test. And surprise, surprise, it told me I'm introverted. Well, duh! I think I'd already worked that bit out.
In other news, it told me that I'm a very rare type. Apparently, only 1% of the population fit this personality type. I don't know if that's true or not, but after reading through the rest of the description, they might be right. The description they've provided does actually feel quite a bit like me.
One thing they did mention was that INFJ types are better at expressing themselves on paper than in person. I've often thought that about myself - this blog being a case in point. Writing things down like this helps clarify my thoughts, as well as lets me express them - something I definitely have trouble doing in person (all that introversion again!) That actually can be a real problem, because it makes it hard to let people know what I'm thinking and feeling when I'm around them, making that special connection just so much harder than it should be. Anyway... something to work on, maybe.
Here's the full list of character traits for an INFJ personality:
creative, smart, focus on fantasy more than reality, attracted to sad things, fears doing the wrong thing, observer, avoidant, fears drawing attention to self, anxious, cautious, somewhat easily frightened, easily offended, private, easily hurt, socially uncomfortable, emotionally moody, does not like to be looked at, fearful, perfectionist, can sabotage self, can be wounded at the core, values solitude, guarded, does not like crowds, organized, second guesses self, more likely to support marijuana legalization, focuses on peoples hidden motives, prone to crying, not competitive, prone to feelings of loneliness, not spontaneous, prone to sadness, longs for a stabilizing relationship, fears rejection in relationships, frequently worried, can feel victimized, prone to intimidation, lower energy, strict with self
I recognise a bit of that - observer, yes; fears drawing attention to self, yes; cautious, yes; does not like crowds, yes; but what's with the "more likely to support marijuana legalisation"? When did that become a character trait?? Very weird.
Ok - so that's more than enough introspection for the day. I'm still reeling from a tough weekend - I don't need to spend more time thinking about myself right now. Will write more about that later, maybe...
Friday, August 24, 2007
Rasterbator...
Something to check out later - when I get a decent printer at home!
The Rasterbator.
Looks like I could have some fun with that.
Diaspora
I picked up this book by Greg Egan at a second hand bookshop last weekend in Maleny. I've read books by Egan in the past and, while I can't remember them in any great detail, I do remember enjoying them. This one followed the same pattern. I enjoyed it, but I can see why I find them hard to remember.
It's a science fiction book, set in a distant future when humans have split into different species. Some have migrated into space and have created robot bodies, others have uploaded themselves into computers known as polises, and others have remained in physical bodies and are known as "fleshers". They've taken to genetic engineering in a big way and have improved their body types in many ways, so there's very few "classical" humans around anymore. The three types of humanity have very little to do with each other.
The plot follows the citizens of a polis. The earth faces a catastrophe on a galactic scale, that can't be avoided. It's the story of how they discover and cope with this catastrophe.
It's a hard science fiction book, and contains a lot of physics and computing information. Most of this went straight over my head - I found my eyes glazing and skipping ahead until the technical terms were over. In a way these details are important because they are part of the response to the catastrophe and do drive the story forward. Without them it wouldn't be the same book, and the story wouldn't work so well. I have no way of judging if the physics discussed makes any sense, though, so disregarded most of it.
But they're also irrelevant, too. The story works because I found the characters interesting. The way they coped with strange environments and challenges was fascinating. Living in a virtual world, such as a polis, would be strange in ways I can't imagine, but Egan makes the experience believable. Exciting, even. There are so many ideas included in this book - different ways of being human, post-human, what it means to be and intelligent and conscious being, identity. There's a lot of food for thought here, if that's what you're looking for.
So, overall, it's a good book but with lots of eye-glazing moments. Mostly one for the fans of hard science fiction, though.
Diaspora, by Greg Egan.
Tuesday, August 21, 2007
Miss Saigon
It was a busy weekend. On Saturday I was climbing Mt Beerwah, then on Sunday it was off to see Miss Saigon at QPAC. It turned out to be another good day, and an excellent performance.
It's been a long time since I've been to a show like this. The last one was Stomp, about this time last year. The theatre isn't a place I spend a lot of time. I'm glad I went to see this one, though.
The story is set in Saigon, starting at the end of the Vietnam war and following the lives of Kim and Chris over the next few years. I didn't know much about the story going into the show, except that it was a love story. I didn't expect a happy ending, though.
The action starts in a Saigon bar/brothel. Chris is there, with a few other US soldiers. He's having a bit of an emotional crisis when he meets Kim, a Vietnamese girl who's fled the countryside looking for safety in the city. They fall in love, but are almost immediately separated by the fall of Saigon. This sets up all the tragedies that follow in both their lives, until we finally witness their reunion.
The desparation of the girls in Saigon is clearly shown, as well as their opinion of the US soldiers they entertain. Personally, I don't think this situation has changed much in Asia, although circumstances are not as desperate now as they were then. There are still plenty of girls working in places like that all across Asia, still getting taken advantage of by tourists and the bar owners. And they probably still despise their customers, while also looking for the one who might marry them and take them out of there. As the Engineer says repeatedly in the show, men are always the same.
One of my favourite sequences from the show was the American Dream, sung by the Engineer. It was funny, cynical, and well executed. The striptease by the animated Statue of Liberty shown on the screen above the stage drove the point home.
The show was very well done. The set changes were very smoothly done. The pace of the set changes was pretty fast, so doing it all so smoothly was very impressive. The cast were great - the singing was passionate, and high quality. And, as the Brisbane Times review pointed out, the guys looked suitably buff when they took their shirts off!
Overall it was a powerful performance. The story alone is powerful, and almost had me in tears at the end. Combine that with the excellent performances, music and sets, it becomes an experience I'll remember for a long time.
Monday, August 20, 2007
Climbing Mt Beerwah
I went off on Saturday to climb Mt Beerwah, in the Glasshouse Mountains. Somebody, who shall remain nameless for now, told me that it was just a steep bushwalk. Hah! Last time I trust him...
It was actually a great day for climbing a mountain. It was overcast, not too hot or windy, not raining. Perfect weather, in fact, for this sort of thing.
The walk starts easily enough. It's an easy walk from the carpark to the base of the mountain. But then it gets... difficult. The sign by the carpark should have warned me - it says the walk is for experienced climbers only. And here's me with vertigo! I really, really should have taken the hint.
Anyway... from the base of the mountain, the track becomes a steep scramble, or rock climb. The path goes pretty much straight up a rock slope, and it is climbing. At this point it is definitely not a walk. I'm not good with heights, and this was very tough. I wanted to give up at several points, but was silly enough to force myself onwards and upwards.
The rock slope ends, eventually. You come off the slope directly underneath the overhanging cliffs, with some beautiful erosion patterns int he rock. You might even get to admire them after you've recovered from the climb up what is practically a cliff face! 
From this point on, though, it's actually quite easy. Its still steep, but it's an actual walk from here. The views are spectacular. The track winds around from the western face, with views inland to the hills and across plantations and farms, to the climb to the summit. Along the way there are some great views back along the cliff face and towards the other Glasshouse Mountains.
From the summit there are views in all directions. It was hazy and smoky on Saturday, with a couple of fires burning back towards the coast. On a clear day there would be views back to Brisbane, and up the coast towards Noosa. On Saturday, though, most of this was obscured by the smoke. Still, it was very impressive. 
Fortunately, it was much easier to get down than it was to get up. I've noticed this before - I struggled on the climb up, feeling dizzy, sweaty palms on the climb up the rock face, but on the way down I didn't get vertigo at all. It was still tough on my ankles and knees, but I felt fine. I felt a lot more in control on the descent.
All up, I'm glad I managed to complete the climb. It was probably pretty silly, but it's also a bit embarrassing. There were lots of other people on the mountain, too. There were young kids practically running up the slope, and teenage girls in old sneakers who had no trouble with it. To me, they seemed to be taking some insane risks, but they were all fine and made it up and back quicker than I did. Anyway... I guess that's vertigo for you.
I don't think I'll be rushing out to do it again, but I'm glad I did it at least this once.
Friday, August 17, 2007
The road never ends...
This is a map of the countries I've been to over the last 10 years or so. There's a lot of red on this map, but that's because I've been to some large countries even if I haven't spent a whole lot of time in them (3 days in China - does that really count?)
Anyway - go create your own map at the link below.
Create your own visited countries map
And while you're there, they've got 7 rules for travelling!
Thursday, August 16, 2007
John Howard keeps a straight face while...
In other political news, John Howard announced today he'll be over-riding some parts of Peter Beatties new laws on council amalgamations. That's not particularly surprising, as Howard's been looking for a fight up here. But I can't believe he managed to keep a straight face while saying things like this:
He said the "arbitrary jackbooted fashion" in which Queensland sought to impose amalgamations was "beyond the pale".
And this, from the Australian:
Mr Howard said he was acting because the “arrogant” Beattie Government was behaving in a “dictatorial fashion’’, particularly the “outrageous’’ trampling of peoples rights.
This really is a case of the pot calling the kettle black. Just a few days ago, Howard said the Beattie government was power mad. He may be right, but can John Howard really say that without looking at his own record? The federal government has spent most of the last few years grabbing more power for itself, acting arbitrarily and riding all over peoples rights. And now he complains about the Queensland governement doing the same thing...
Queensland does have an accountability problem in government, though. With only one house of state parliament, there is no effective opposition. The government of the day can do what it likes almost with impunity. That really needs to change - either with the creation of an upper house, or an electoral system of proportional representation that could create minority/coalition-style governments.
Anyway - back to reality after this weird episode in Howard's Australia...
Links (upper house for QLD): Online Opinion, Andrew Bartlett
Meanwhile, it's beginning to look like Howard shot himself in the foot of the Mersey Hospital bribe down there in Tassie. Hah! Can't make his promises stick for more than a couple of weeks now, can he?
Links : The Australian, Brisbane Times
Greens vs Democrats
There's a post over at Online Opinion that's worth reading about the differences between the Greens and the Democrats. I've posted a comment there, which I'll copy here.
This is a very interesting article. I agree - the Greens haven't been asked the hard questions, and the media does need to do more work here.
To me, it seems that the Greens are very good at managing the media. If you want someone to wave a protest banner in front of a tv camera, the Greens will be there every time. They're at their best when they're instinctively saying "No!" to any proposal put forward. Beyond that, though, they find it very hard to negotiate and reach a satisfactory conclusion for both parties. They just seem to thrive on conflict.
Their record in the Tasmanian parliament shows this, I think. Even during the Labor-Green accord, when they had the balance of power, they found it very hard to reach agreement with anyone, and it didn't last very long. From memory, Bob Brown and Christine Milne (both now Senators) were in state parliament for that period.
The Democrats, on the other hand, haven't been so good at getting attention in the media - they're more willing to talk than fight. As
Malcolm says in this article, the Democrats have achieved quite a bit, but haven't been recognised for it.
I think it would be a sad day if the Democrats lost their seats to the Greens, even if it would mean more drama on the nightly news
So, that's my comment on the article. I do like the Greens, and they'll get my preference before the ALP or Liberals, but I do think the Democrats are better.
Wednesday, August 15, 2007
Is it gay day?
It must be gay day or something... lots of gay-related stories floating around this morning. Here's a few...
First, a couple of Democrats articles, here and here.
Then, there's these stories from the Brisbane Times. An opinion article from a boy still in high school, and a blog entry from JB.
Not a bad way to start the reading day.
I enjoyed the opinion article by Daniel Swain. High school feels like a long time ago now, but I can still remember some of it. I wasn't teased of picked on at school for being gay, or if I was I didn't notice it. I did know I was gay, but went out of my way not to let it show back then. Maybe I was good at hiding, or maybe the other guys just didn't care. Or maybe, since it was a small school and there was no mention of homosexuality at all from the teachers, no-one even thought about it as a possibility. I don't know, but I'm glad I wasn't teased or abused.
I didn't discover the internet until I was at uni, but it was a huge help in terms of coming out, getting information and meeting people. There was absolutely no way I was going to walk into a gay bar or any place like that, so the relative anonymity of the net was fantastic. There was a sense of freedom online that I wouldn't allow myself back in the real world.
I'm glad things are changing for the kids in school today. That's really encouraging. And I really admire the kids who are coming out while still at school. I wish I could have done that - life would have been very different if I had. Anyway...
Back onto the politics of equal rights, marriage and adoption... this is another reason I usually support the Democrats. They actually try and do something about rights for gay and lesbian people. Their position is that there should be equal rights for all, regardless of sexual preference, and that gay couples should have equal rights with straight couples. To me, that just seems so obvious that it shouldn't need to be debated, but the current government doesn't see it. And the Labor party doesn't seem much better. I hope the Democrats will still be in a position after the next election to keep raising this issue.
But I don't expect it to be a big issue at the election, and don't expect anything much to change after it. Maybe I'm wrong, though... here's hoping...
Tuesday, August 14, 2007
Eucalyptus
I took Eucalyptus with me to Hobart over the weekend, and managed to finish it off last night after I got home. It made good airport and plane reading.
Written by Murray Bail, it won the Miles Franklin award in 1999. I picked up this copy at the Lifeline Book Fair here in Brisbane earlier this year. I'm glad I did - it's worthy of the prize, and the $3 I paid for it.
It tells the story of Ellen and her father, and how she finds her husband-to-be. A love story, in other words. On the face of it, it doesn't sound like a story that I'd normally be interested in, but when I saw it on sale I thought I'd give it a chance.
Bail's writing style is beautiful. He never names an actual location, but just gives a general location somewhere west of the mountains in NSW. The way he describes it, the town and property could be any typical small town in the bush. The river, the town, the people, are all described briefly but at the same time he manages to catch the atmosphere of rural Australia - slow-paced, open, barren yet fertile at the same time. He hangs the whole story on the many species of Eucalyptus, which uniquely places the story as Australian.
The characters are curious - they manage to be convincing, while at the same time being little more than caricatures. Ellen is beautiful, but passive, doing almost nothing to control her destiny. Her father, Holland, only appears to have a passion for his trees. The fact the he decides to marry his daughter to the first man who can correctly name all the trees he's planted sets him out as odd. It also suggests that the story is set in an earlier time. Just as with the location, there's no actual date set, but some of the stories told suggest that it's set in recent times - definitely post-war. Anyway...
The story winds on, passing quickly over early suitors. It slows down as Mr Cave appears and starts slowly and deliberately working his way through the trees, just as Ellen meets someone who actually interests her. As it looks like Mr Cave will succeed, she starts showing some independence finally.
The conclusion left me wondering what happened next, while at the same time it was exactly the right spot to leave the story.
It's hard to say why I liked this book so much. The writing just drew me onwards into the story. It frustrated me, confused me, made me want more, and drew a picture of an Australian setting that was recognisable without being too cliched or sentimental. Overall, it was an beautiful book to read, and certainly distracted me nicely from the airport lounges and announcements. Definitely worth reading.
Reach for the - earth?
This is an interesting read - how to live on earth like we're reaching for the stars...
Continued around the bend...But it's a non-core promise!
John Howard and his government do it again. That is, they force a major piece of legislation through Parliament with virtually no debate. See Crikey for more info. I'm sure I remember John Howard promising to be humble when it came to using his Senate majority after the 2004 election. Guess that was a non-core promise after all...
I'm not surprised anymore. After all, they've done this many times now. WorkChoices, for example. There's no way on earth that they'd have been able to pass that legislation if they hadn't had a Senate majority in their own right. The same goes for the anti-terrorism laws, although I guess that's debatable. The Labor party doesn't seem too concerned about those ones, so those laws might have passed anyway.
But even if they had, I'm sure there would have been a much more detailed debate. At the moment, the government is just not allowing debate, let alone amendments. They don't have to, so they don't. That is not being humble, it's not respecting parliament, or democracy. In my opinion, this government has abused it's power and isn't sorry for doing so.
Between WorkChoices, anti-terror laws and now this, we've been given a perfect example of a government that's out of control and obsessed with it's own power. This should become the classic case-study of why we, as voters, should never, never, give the government of the day control of the Senate. All of these pieces of legislation should be seriously looked at again, and amended, when John Howard and the Liberals finally loses government.
Other things to look at would be: closisng the electoral rolls the day the election is called, the raised disclosure limits on political donations, and probably a review of every other piece of legislation passed since the 2004 election.
On that note, in the Senate I'll be voting for the Democrats, then Greens/Independent before either of the major parties.
Links : Andrew Bartlett, Crikey, The Age.
Monday, August 13, 2007
LibraryThing
I came across this really interesting site the other day, while browsing through Ampersand Duck's blog. I've always wanted a good way of cataloging my books. And here it is - LibraryThing! Such a good idea.
Anyway, browse my library. It'll probably tell you more about me than I ever could.
South, south, south!
So, I spent the weekend in Hobart. It seems like a long way to go for a weekend, I know, but it's always fun. I love going home to Tassie, even if it is just for a few days.
I flew down from Brisbane on Saturday morning. I love the fact that there are direct flights from Brisbane to Hobart. It's only been possible for a few years, really, and the direct flights just save so much time. I flew Virgin, of course - I don't know why I even bother checking the Qantas prices anymore, as they are always more expensive. There's really not much to pick between them, anyway, except that you have to pay for your own food on Virgin. Thats certainly no big deal when you're talking about saving anything up to $100 on the flight.
Anyway... I love flying. I always get a window seat if I can. On the flight down to Hobart we went right over Sydney, and I had a wonderful view of the western suburbs. Not Sydneys most attractive view, I have to say - suburbs stretching off into the mountains. Victoria was covered in cloud, but that started breaking up as we flew over Bass Strait. We took the normal flight path to Hobart, so I had a lovely view of Flinders Island and the north-east coast of Tassie. I could see the snow on Ben Lomond, just peaking out between the clouds. Everything looked wet, which surprised me. I thought it had been pretty dry in Tassie, just like pretty much everywhere else. But apparently it had been raining all week, something I probably would have known if I'd bothered to watch the news last week. There were floods all over the place, too. I think it's now rained and flooded pretty much everywhere in the country except here in Brisbane. Oh well...
I didn't actually do much over the weekend. The whole point of going down there was to spend some time with my parents, and catch up with all the family. We had a big family dinner on Saturday night, which was great. That doesn't happen often enough, at least for me now that I live so far away from everyone else. Sunday I just hung around with my parents, and grandfather. I braved the cold, briefly, and went for a walk along the beach and around the neighbourhood with dad. Things are changing, of course - more houses going up, people moving on, etc. The place is still home, though, so the good parts haven't changed. Walking along the beach, even when it's freezing cold in the middle of winter, just makes me feel at home. Lying in bed at night, all I could hear was the waves on the beach. That's the sound of home for me, and is something I do miss here in Brisbane.
Unfortunately, it was an early flight out this morning. Monday is always a bad day to fly - too many people, higher prices etc. And I couldn't get the direct flight back to Brisbane so I had to change planes in Sydney. Another window seat for me, of course. For some reason we took a different flight path than I was expecting. Flying out of Tasmania we went right over the top of Ben Lomond. I could see Jacobs Ladder, all covered in snow. Since it was so soon after sunrise, the snow on the mountains looked stunning, but Launceston was still hidden in the shadows.
I also got a fantastic view of the ranges around Mt Kosciuszko. There's an impressive amount of snow on them at the moment, and with fog curling through the surrounding valleys it looked spectacular.
Then we flew right over the top of Canberra - right over the top of Parliament House. I was looking straight down on the flagpole. Can't say I've seen it from that angle before, and wouldn't it be interesting to send John Howard a message from that angle?
Hmmm...
Sydney is always nice to fly into, and this time was no exception. We came in over the western suburbs, circled around, and got a perfect view of the city, the Harbour Bridge and the Opera House. All the cliches in one short flight!
But that's why I love flying, even when the planes are full of more kids than a daycare centre. I love being able to look down and put a name to places I've never been and probably wont get to see from the ground. Looking down and wondering what people do in all these little towns we fly over. Dreaming about walking on all those beaches, in all those bays, on all those islands...
But it was just one weekend. I can't wait for a real holiday. I need a proper break... soon, soon, soon :)
