March, 2012

Yesterday evening a large crowd at the Wheeler Centre was treated to an exemplary lecture on the crucial masterpiece by that fugitive great of Australian literature, Christina Stead (1902-1983). Like so many of her ilk — arts leaning proto-bohos — in that earlier time she had high-tailed it out of the lowlands of Australia to [...]

This week, America’s intelligentsia have been thrilled, ravished and agonised by the long-awaited return of Madmen and the sudden death new mini-series, Obamacare v Supreme Court. SCOTUS normally allocates an hour for these kinds of legal challenges; with Obamacare/ACA they have put aside three days. (And the verdict is …) Things always connect, so I’m [...]

It’s understandable, but poor strategy. Electorates should vote out governments by interesting rather than huge margins. You don’t want them to take you for granted, and right away. You want them on edge, because they might get tossed the very next time. Queenslanders are now stuck with the LNP for ages. But maybe everyone is [...]

Surfing across My Kitchen Rules I’m often transfixed. Unreality TV This is Unreality TV delivered with frank efficiency. The post-event filmed asides from teammates — It all depended on the pigeon breast; and it wasn’t cooked! — then anachronistically slotted back into the cooking sequence; the cliffhangers — ad break before verdict — are handled [...]

Just a note to say that the excellent designer, Sandy Cull, has posted a (long-promised) piece from me on the design blog, About Book Design. (She is a VBP [very busy person]; how she keeps that blog-ball in the air, too, is admirable.) An extract: After he had put in his prescription at the pharmacy [...]

Adorable little beast “Your little rag of a girl is a most adorable little beast…and the way it is done is wonderful; I do not think that particular thing could have been done better.” — H.G. Wells to Henry Handel Richardson on Laura in The Getting of Wisdom. In the second session of the Wheeler [...]

The 2012 Oscar for the vast territory of Best Foreign Film went to A Separation. I’m happy to claim that it is a perfect story. Is it it a perfect film? Well, its art aims for transparency; there are no moments of Look At Me filmmaking; it’s always look at them, look at this; acting, [...]

You may seen these posters advertising an ice cream bar. I’ve quizzed friends, none of whom have managed either a convincing rationale or a straight face. Can anyone explain this slogan?What is the ice-cream-consumer appeal in the idea of Licking Cold Man Nuts? Is it being deployed in Bob Katter‘s electorate? You might as well [...]

Yes, ok, the headline is trolling. Alternatively, it might have been: The Return of the Cringe It might make trouble no matter how it’s contextualised. But it’s what he said — check it out on their video page next week; it should be posted by then. Yes, we have no classics The who is the [...]

Being fully middle-class with fully middle of the road tastes I occasionally listen to NPR’s All Songs Considered, which fits snugly amongst Stuff White People Like, being self-consciously mainstream alt. In the sonic arena I must be whitish as I find their selections tolerable and every now and again appealing; luck prevents me from regular [...]