I consider Footscray as my home town, and when I eventually first got myself a passport, I insisted on including Footscray as my place of birth on it (I think I could have probably gone with the more generic Melbourne, but I was proud to insist on what is written on my birth certificate). However, …
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Network – Still prescient after 45 years
I’m mad as hell and I’m not going to take it anymore : The black comedy Network is probably one of the best scripted and acted movies in history. Peter Finch’s portrayal of demented news anchor Howard Beale is particularly compelling. The poetic and insightful nature of his on air tirade is just as relevant …
I feel nostalgic about my first trip to Italy this morning….
It’s now about 18 months since I returned from my most recent trip to Italy and about 4 1/2 years since my first trip there. These happy snaps are from inside St Peter In Chains, one of the many amazing churches in Rome I visited in August 2016, each of which has works by the …
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Haha is still not making me laugh
Just over two months ago I wrote a post about Liberal Party donor Huifeng ‘Haha’ Liu, who is accused by ASIO of being a threat to national security: Stop Laughing – This is Serious! Why ‘Haha’ is not funny. At the time, the only news media I could find reporting on this topic were the ABC …
On re-reading Machiavelli after 30 years
Time flies. It is now well over thirty years since, in History 101 (Medieval and Renaissance History), I first read Machiavelli. I not only read The Prince, but also an abridged version of The Discourses. I then wrote an essay on the cyclical nature of history in The Discourses, which got me a distinction, and …
Flow My Tears, The Crocodile Said
I am not usually inclined to watch the press conferences of politicians. I tend to regard politicians as a necessary evil – democracy being a better system than any of the alternatives, but still laden with insincerity and demagoguery. So why validate the individuals any more with attention than they already get? I did make …
Bitcoin is the new Tulip Mania
In the golden age of exploration, when Dutch ships came home to Europe laden with spices from the Far East, the Netherlands became a place of great and somewhat unexpected wealth. A large middle class, keen to enjoy its newfound riches, emerged. The recently introduced tulip, a beautiful and fascinating flower (I personally am more …
The Rapist Who Is Now A Cabinet Minister
Yesterday, I surmised in my posting that the alleged rapist who is now a Cabinet Minister was from NSW, given that the rape did occur in NSW in 1988. I conceded that it was a long shot that it might be someone visiting NSW. Information has now come to my attention that the long shot …
Sexual Predators in the Corridors of Power
Two major news stories over the past few days have gripped Canberra. The first is the alleged rape two years ago, in the office of a government minister in Parliament House, of Brittany Higgins, a junior press secretary, by another employee in the ministerial office, after some major social occasion. Since then, two other women …
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Home Separation Anxiety, or… Old is the New Normal
I have been working from home most of the time the past 10 1/2 months, with the occasional day each week in the office until the hard lockdown was suddenly imposed in late July, and not too many days back in the office since then. Now we are easing back into what semblance we can …
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Lost For Words! 