There is an oblong of land (as a child I preferred the word ‘oblong’ over rectangle) in Maribyrnong, bordered by Rosamond Road, Williamsons Road, Wests Road, and Raleigh Road (fun fact – the latter three roads are named after early land owners from colonial times). This land has mostly been industrial until recently, although it …
Author Archives: Ernest Zanatta
Neoliberalism and its Malcontents
Keanu Reeves is one of my favourite actors. He has done quite a lot of interesting roles, starting with playing the stoner boyfriend of Martha Plimpton in the 1989 film Parenthood, where he says ‘Let’s record our love’ whilst brandishing a polaroid camera. Since that role, he has belied typecasting as a stoner, despite his …
The Factory Of Sadness Remains Open
Why the Cleveland Browns? Why not the Dallas Cowboys (who have a famous team of cheerleaders) or the Green Bay Packers or the New England Patriots? If one is going to root for (to use that quaint American word they use instead of ‘barrack’) an NFL team, something which is not exactly normal for an …
Why Teams Need Their Rivalries
The AFL does not do ‘Rivalry Round’ anymore, or at least not at the moment. When they did do them, typically we would see the interstate clubs would each play their local rival, Carlton Vs Collingwood (obviously), Essendon Vs Richmond (mostly because of the Kevin Sheedy link, but possibly because of that infamous melee in …
Not Everyone Likes Rock N Roll….
I just finished reading Land Of The Long Weekend, the late Ronald Conway’s 1978 critique of 1970s Australian society, culture and consumerism. It was heavy going. Whilst I am quite well read, Conway was even more read, in the way of an autodidact, and fond of quoting his interpretations of many famed authors and philosophers …
In Which I Deeply Regret Installing Solar Panels
I have just finished emailing a preliminary enquiry to Consumer Affairs Victoria about my recently installed white elephant solar panels. I deeply regret getting solar panels now, two months on, as they have still not been attached to my electricity account due to the failure of the solar installation company to provide Jemena (ie the …
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Trump On Greenland: The Return Of Manifest Destiny (or is it Manifest Insanity?)
In the first half of the 19th Century, many Americans were gripped with a sense of Manifest Destiny, an idea that they were destined to control the entire North American continent. This led them in the 1840s to provoke a war with Mexico as a pretense to conquer large and valuable tracts of land, including …
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Vale Charlie of Charlie’s Pizza
There is very little left of the Footscray that I remember as a child. Growing up on Gordon Street, we were forced to move north when the hospital expanded when I was seven. That side of the street got bulldozed. Years later, the Baptist Church over the street closed down and then got redeveloped as …
Adding Wesfarmers To My Share Portfolio
A few years ago, during the years of Plague and the isolation that ensued, a close friend of mine emailed me with the suggestion that I don’t need to bother with shares. Unlike most people, he pointed out, I belong to a defined benefit superannuation fund with a generous pension on offer, and in which …
Bernie Finn Returns – Yet Again!
I have written about former local state upper house MP Bernie Finn on various occasions in the past, particularly when I suggested he get given a knighthood (I was being facetious, if you don’t quite know how to read my tone!). I will be honest and concede that his first coming as an MP in …
Lost For Words! 