Getting Infected with Jack

Had one of those crazey nights recently.
A mate of mine put me on the door for this trance/bar mitzvah outfit Infected Mushroom.
This older guy came over and started chatting to us.
It was Jack Thompson one of Australia's great actors- you should see him as the bastard boss in The Assassination of Richard Nixon.
The guy is seventy and out at this gig.
he is really switched on and larger than life.
We shouted at each other for hours.
Infected Mushroom are good although most of it seems to be preprogramed.
It is quite like the stuff I was doing 15 years ago.
Actually the whole thing was a pale imitation of the sort of dance parties they used to have back then.
Which was probably an imitation of the great times they had back in the sixties.
And round and round it goes.
Also have the new Goldfrappe album on high rotation at the moment.
It's light and fluffy but it makes me feel good (and Alison is the bomb.)

Crazey Plant Lovers

Before
After




As you may have realised I am dedicated to changing the world in any small way I can.
My guide on the side at the moment is Bushcare Bob.
He is an interesting character, a botanist, ranger,shaman and teacher.
Extremely practical as well as quite fruity.
He is a quixotic optimist.
(Quixotic as in Don Quixoti chargin' windmills)
He will be a major character in my upcoming novel- the one I have yet to start.
Bob is a renegade gardener.
He will plant stuff anywhere he sees a space.
Bobs motto is it's easier to ask forgiveness than ask permission.
It's my motto too.
Recently we started an action at the local shops.
It's a sad little zone of empty dusty footpaths and cigarette butts.
The fair number of the shoppers seems down and out.
Little Aussie battlers.
Is the shopping centre like this because of the type of people who are there or are the people like this because it's so ugly?
Any way Saturday we took action.
We arrived with picks and shovels and a trailer load of plants.
At first I felt strange as though I was doing something wrong.
Pretty soon I relaxed.
Old ladies started praising our efforts.
Some people realised we weren't from the council, others just ignored us, other stopped to chat.
Will it survive the Saturday night drunken yobbos?
Or the clumsy feet of single mums and red faced plumbers?
I'm not sure.
So far so good.
You can see the before and after shots above.

Note the orchids in the tree.
Careful though renegade gardeners can strike anytime and any where!

New Curriculum

For me Xmas is like going to the dentist painful at the time but you soon get over it.
So I'm glad i didnt slag it off like I was going too.
Now it would just be churlish.
Tonight i'm off to see Can not buy my soul at the State Theatre.
It features the songs of one of Australia's great songwriters Kev Carmody.
The fact that he is aboriginal does have some bearing on his work.
I'm glad I got to go as I mixed and recorded on of the tracks on this record as well as working with Kev back in the day.
I have an embarrassing abundance of shows i'm off to including Byork and The Arcade Fire.
With out going to the Big day yob out.
Read Blind Faith Ben Eltons new book.
Mr Elton wrote Black adder one of the great British Comedies.
This book isnt that funny.
It's kind of put me off blogging and podcasting a bit.
It's set in a future world where privacy is forbidden.
Blogging and you tubing are compulsory.
London is nearly underwater and everyone is fat and seminaked.
It's a ridiculous nightmare dystopia.
And kind of close to the bone.
I might make it part of the curriculum.
Am taking the family to Tasmania next week.
I want to go there to see all the usual stuff- rainforests and wild rivers and also to check it out for a future escape plan.
I apologies to my students in advance.
This term has been a disaster as far as getting podcasts out on time.
Partly my fault , partly theirs, equipment dramas, overload, it hasn't been easy.
Hopefully I gave them something to think about in the maelstrom.
Note to self never teach two consecutive classes ever again.

Modern Sell- Ebb- Bratty

The era of Modern celebrity agueably began with T.E. Lawrence, the Geezer known as Lawrence of Arabia.
WW1 was an ugly unglamourous and unheroic war. It largely involved thousands of men charging over mud and barbed wire into the brutal maul of machine guns. It was faceless and horrific and unwinnable.
Enter our Lawrence famously played by Peter O'Toole in the movie.( A man so good looking Noel Coward quipped it should be called Florence of Arabia).
Lawrence was a man of substance, an archaeologist already fluent in Arabic language and customs. His story was appealing, heroic and he was extensively filmed and photographed.
He got close ups.
It is impossible for us to imagine the effect of seeing someones face 4 metres high on the big screen for the first time.
Imagine a genuine hero, a man who led the Bedouin across the uncrossable desert into Akabar, imagine studying his face, a tactical genius, who achieved the unthinkable ,looking up and staring into his 1000 yard stare.
Coz in real life the only people you are legally allowed to stare at close up are lovers or maybe your children and even then it's not often advisable.
If photography captures our soul then film magnifies and distills it.
Andy Warhol used this to some effect in his film portraits.
He filmed a close up portrait for 15 mins.
Warhol explored modern celebrity and mass production of images.
He coined the term superstar and first applied it to Edie Sedgwick, the first modern celebrity. Edie, as beautiful as she was, was famous for nothing really.
Couldnt really act or sing, wasn't even really a model.
She crashed and burned in true celebrity style.
Check out her story in Factory Girl.
Guy Pierce is awesome as Warhol too.
So in the 20th century we went from a people of substance to a people of no substance.
We celebrate their lack of substance, fame achieved by sunglasses, porno romps or turkeyslaps.
Their only achievement the random recognition of their face at the supermarket.
We bask in their vainglorious nothingness.
Hey everyone-Hooray for nothing!

The Big Night

You may or may not remember I've been making a film with my beautiful and clever wife.
As well as working 2 jobs and all the political stuff.
I MUST LEARN TO SAY NO!
Any way we had the premiere the other night.
Opened by thee Mayor who made a big speech and then racked off.
I gave a speech too in a packed theater.
It actually made sense and seemed funny and humble.
I couldnt look at my wife coz she was crying.
Anyway I sat through the film which was hard as i was so nervous.
There was something in the theater before us so I didn't get a chance to test the disk etc.
It played all the way through thank God!!!
So there was a bout a hundred people and they cheered and clapped at the end.
Big time.
Outside at the drinkies after party I was a bit like the anointed one.
Women were hugging and kissing me.
Men were crying and shaking my hand -it was all overwhelming.
I was grateful they liked it and we hadn't done the wrong thing.
We had told our story and their story too.
My boss was there and she loved and seemed to understand why I was so stressed out.
My professional filmmaker friend was there too.
He said it was great but was cagey about helping us polish it up to get it on TV.
He is trying to do a project on the same subject which is perhaps the source of his reluctance?
Dont get me wrong.
He's a good man but his business is to find other peoples stories.
I'm a happy amateur.
The word comes from the French amore: To love.
I did this film for love.
For the love of my son who was so cruelly bullied at school and for all the other Asperger kids through out the ages.
That is the point of the film .
That we need human diversity to survive.
Political, religious,philosophical, sexual and neurological.
We need different views and skills and ideas.
Look through out history.
The most vibrant places are the most diverse.
Ancient Rome, Renaissance Venice, Victorian London, Modern New York.
All melting pots.
Fascism and communism sell the same idea.
Strength through unity.
Nature proves this to be untrue.
The monoculture is weak and is swept away by a single infection or tiny bug.
The web of Natures God is vast,complex and intertwined.
Remember this always Grasshopper!

Can Rock change the world?

Well can it?
I grew up thinking for some strange reason that music could change the world.
I have no explanation for this except I was born in the sixties when music did seem to have that potential.
Is it now a spent force?
It definitely seems more vulgarly, cynically formularized and corporatised.
Watching "Don't look back" you can see Dylan was at least part prophet to the people at that time.
You can also see how simple and primitive the whole business back then.
No light show, an acoustic guitar and a couple of microphones plugged straight into a tiny, tinny PA.
Not a video screen, merchandise stall, coke sign or corporate sponsor in sight.
This week end we may see the unfolding of another experiment.
I cant think of another ex rock musician who became a minister of Government.
I'm speaking of course of Pete Garrett MP.
I first saw the Oils back in the late 70's when the released their first album.
I snuck in to a gig at the ANU, I was underage and embarrassingly got chosen out of the crowd by Pete to receive a copy of their self titled first album.
I really liked it especially the song Run by night.
They were post punk rock, honest and edgy with a slightly dangerous energy.
They went on to become one of Australia's most successful and most un -compromising bands.
10, 9,8.... was a masterpiece.
"US forces get the nod.."
Of course Pete was blessed with at least two great songwriters in the band but he was the enormous, bald bloke with all the hand action.
They were an amazing band live but for me the audience was often a scary rabble and I think the political message was often drowned in the beer and fights.
The band were undoubtedly aware of the paradox.
Pete ran in the short lived Nuclear Disarmament Party.
It was a quixotic idea but beautiful too.
I attended some meetings for this party and it was infiltrated from the beginning with spooks. There were endless arguments and in fighting.
Apparently Pete found the whole process horrible and draining and swore to leave politics alone forever.
I am glad he had a change of heart.
And it worked out well for him that this is his 2nd election.
He must be made of strong stuff to have survived the boredom, intrigues and party room chats that must be part of being a politician.
He has held his tongue and been in for the long haul.
Ignoring the stings and arrows of his former friends and admirers he is poised to go perhaps were rock has never gone before.
But soon we will see whether he still has the Spirit of Rock or is now bleached out cog in the machine,working for The Man.
I'm hoping it's the former we'll see some real rocking in parliament soon and some crazy dancing-hand action as well.
Can Rock, the rebel outsider, be the Power?

Melt,Baby,Melt.

Now I am between the Devil and the deep blue sea.
Ethics are something you have, morals are something you force on other people.
Obviously I'm not into moralizing.
The world is a complicated case.
People in glass houses....etc.
I don't approve of missionaries at school although I myself was influenced by some great teachers.
(I still have a thing for girls in overalls after my Art teacher Mrs Spence but that is a different story).
So for my International students you are welcome to watch the video from the link below.
For my Australian students who might vote please don't, not ever, ever, ever click on this link to see the video of the Ice Carving..
Will it take off?
It's definitely has some charm compared to other boring political youtube stuff.
Very tempted to write a tract on whether it's supposed to be boring.
Maybe tomorrow?

Meet Mr & Mrs Troll

Trolls lie in wait for the heroes to walk over their bridge and then demand tribute.
They are ugly and mean and won't listen to reason.
They usually end up being tricked or killed.
Recently a couple popped out in front of me.
As you know I have been working on a film on Aspergers.
This has a tiny budget that I haven't even bothered to invoice for yet.
I am doing this because my son has this disorder and I want to give a voice to a group who don't have one.
So I asked some of my ex students if they wanted to help me do some filming.
"There's no money but great experience"
I've worked for free on dozens of films so that's the deal.
Anyway I picked this student who had some small children coz I thought he'd be solid and understand what we were trying to do.
First week everything goes well.
Next week he's late. His wife strangely refused to drive him.
I give him some money and tell him to catch a cab.
Next week I call him on the Friday night. "Everything is good, see you there etc"
The guy never shows.
I am extremely pissed off.
I have to get my 15 year neighbour to operate a $6000 dollar camera.
She did her best.
Next week the guy rings up my wife and begs to be given another chance.
She arranges to get him picked up.
He is having bad problems with his family.
I don't believe this and organize a reliable person.
Just as well.
His lift beeps the horn and calls his phone but he doesn't appear.
Later we get a text message apologising coz "he has bad drug addiction problems".
Well that makes sense.
Then the plot thickens.
A couple of weeks later his wife rings up ( she is a singer apparently) and asks if I can help her record some songs.
I flatly decline after the way Mr Troll had mucked me around.
Who could blame me?
On monday my boss is banging on the studio door.
Your in a lot of trouble. Someone has filed an official complaint about your and your private practice with the head of the institute. The bosses bosses boss.
"What did I do?" I ask.
" I don't know "she replys in a Kafkaesque moment.
(Read "the Trial" if your not sure)
Makes it hard to defend yourself if you don't know what you have supposed to have done.
After a very long time I get to see the bosses boss.
I am in a total state.
"Is it Mr Troll" I ask?
"Yes "he says "He has accused you of misappropriating equipment and ripping off students to build your private film empire."
I am dumbstruck.
Was Mrs Troll involved?
Yes it was pay back for not wanting to work on her great album.
This is for World Disability day I say.
I have written approval from the director I say.
It's a charity project for heaven sake I say.
"Don't worry they withdrew the allegations" the bosses boss tells me.
"You were in the clear anyway"
I am a nervous wreck.
How could it all have gone so wrong?
A classic tale of betrayal and revenge.
Now of course it's my move.
Should I sue for defamation of character?
Should I report these self confessed drug addicts with children to DOCs or the police?
Should I link to Mrs Trolls myspace page to encourage a storm of comments?
No.
I wouldn't give them the steam off my piss but I wont make their troubled life any more troubled.
Mr and Mrs Troll I have crossed your bridge and I turn my back on you.

Hit her where it hurts?

Somewhere deep in the southern suburbs a crack team is cooking up a secret project.
If all goes well it should get some media coverage in Fridays paper.
Keep your fingers crossed for this one.
This is exclusive content.
This is a press leak.
If this falls into the wrong hands....
This message will self destruct in 15 seconds.

Oh the Irony

Couldn't resist this screen capture.
In 1998 a barrell of oil was $9.
Now it's $95.
If you need to study the implications of this I suggest LATOC might be a good place to start.
Driving a Hummer is the ultimate F**k anyone else statement.
Only a psycopath would buy one to drive around Sydney.
Of course it would squash my little graniemoblie like a tiny insect.That's the whole idea.
But you still will have to stop at all the same lights as everyone else even though you dressed up in 4 tonnes of steel.
And I so will laugh as you run out of petrol and abandon your monstosity on the side of the road.

A small Fluffy Blog

I am a big fan of the TV show Lost.
As you know I don't have TV reception cause the antenna is stuffed.
I had foxtel but it was such a waste of time I turned it off so a million channels of crud is only a phone call away.
We previously watched a lot of the 1960's Star Trek.
We watched the first season of Lost at Christmas, the whole family got into it.
We all sat around and bond around the TV, old style no arguments or channel surfing.
The show is great on DVD coz you can watch 3 in a slab. I imagine it would have been frustrating to watch on a week by week basis.
For those who never bothered it is The Prisoner( the cult British 60's show) meets Gilligan's Island with a large helping of Dallas perhaps.
It has mysterious hatch's, polar bears and everyone has lots of secrets.
The island itself has a whole bunch.
There is a whole industry of pundits exploring the shows enigmas.
For me is probably works well as a metaphor for my life but mostly as a overt fantasy.
I would love to be stranded on a desert island with lashings of mysteriousness. Who wouldn't?
I could even put up with the flashbacks.
Not sure about all those Americans with perfect smiles but then I could always join the others.
Or become a ghost?
It must be the only series where actors get killed but still keep coming back as ghosts and flashbacks.
Sadly we are approaching the end of the third series which will thankfully help me get the Aspy Doco finished in time.

Hypocrisy is the grease on the wheels of society

Look it's easy to point out other peoples hypocrisy.
Take Chris Martin.
Lead singer from Coldplay.
Very concerned about Climate change.
Writes songs about it.
But flys his family round on a private jet.
For lunch and back home for a nap .
And did you realise that flying is the big kahuna of carbon travel.
Thats coz your high up and the gases go straight in the mix.
Also the water vapour produced has an effect.
After 911 when flying was banned America experience noticeably warmer days and cooler nights.
It seems flying at night is worse.
So it's easy to point out someone else's faults.
So here are mine.
One of my jobs is based on cheap air travel.
That's right none of my international students swim over here.
But perhaps worse one of my best mates is the owner of over a million frequent flyer points.
How many trees does he have to plant to sort that out?
Enough to reforest Borneo no doubt.
So not only have I never mentioned this too him but I have twice flown to Japan on his largess merely to see music concerts!
HYPOCRITE!
So given the choice between saving the lives of some Bangladeshi I never met and the chance to see a Rock concert by some slightly ridiculous 70's dude without enough fans to play Australia, I bury the Bangladeshis every time.
Sorry.
And I'm doubly sorry because I think most of the western world will find it even harder to give up air travel than the morning traffic crush.
It wont happen voluntarily.
Which is why we are up the creek without a paddle.
Read this only if you have taken your prozac.
Otherwise shop, fly to rock concerts. buy blood diamonds but hear that sound, I think your wheels are starting to squeak.

Warmly Strange

The sun is just about to peek over the horizon in another strangely warm winter/early spring morning.
It is so warm that there are winter fire bans inSouth Australia.
Nothing to worry about of course.
As we can no longer say to the lady who lives next to the Acropolis.
China has introduced an animated net nanny to protect workers from doing naughty things on the internet like looking at pictures of naked people or the Dalai Lama.
I like these characters, very Astro Boy, whether that would soften the blow as the Thought Police crashed through the door is another thing altogether.
I think a little old lady tut-tuting would be equally effective, maybe more so.
Especially if she had an umbrella.
Of course I have no smirking Western leg to stand on as my country has a press freedom rating below Bolivia.Ask Geoffrey Robertson
Geoffrey is one of my heroes not just coz he is married to the chick that wrote Puberty Blues.
Why isn't he head of the labour party instead of Kevin Only Drunk Twice.
Who wants a PM who can't drink?
Bob Hawke was in the Guiness book of records for skulling a yard glass for crying out loud.
Bush the Younger was arrested for drink driving.
Even Our Fearless Leader John enjoys a good quaff of Grange most nights.
Back to censorship.
How can I be cutting edge if the Dept of Education blocks Myspace and Youtube?
Which in the music industry are the too most happening things going.
They wont install Itunes either.
So how do I show em anything ?
Speaking of Itunes I actually wrote my first review for this amazing harp playing chanteuse Joanna Newsom.
It's quite a fun thing to do.
I doubt it will do much for her record sales but I was hearted to see her on Johnny Dep's I tunes list/
I doubt whether many of my students will like her as she is as far away from Avril Lavigne as you can get.
Doco filming starts tomorrow so wish me luck!

Courage is a Telescope

About to start a new project- a little doco on Aspergers Syndrome which my son has.
It's a very interesting type of Autism.
Some might might say it's just a different way of looking at the world.
Humans tend to persecute any body who's different.
At school is the worst.
They will seek out and exterminate anyone who is a bit left of centre.
You remember the wierd kid who got hassled all the time.
I think back to my school days, there was a kid called Leo Mensen who probably had it. Couldn't socialize and spent every lunchtime by him self.
I never hurt him but other kids teased him mercilessly.
I wonder what he does now?
My partner is running these workshops for a whole bunch of these kids and I am filming it.
We will get some talking heads as well but mostly try and capture what it is like to perceive the world they way they do.
Of course lots of famous people probably had Aspergers- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Edison and maybe Bill Gates.
So maybe we need difference to move forward as a species?
I suspect having a whole bunch of hyper intelligent kids with no social skills may be like having a whole bunch of cats in a bag should make for interesting footage nevertheless

Clever and Silly

Had the malaria flu.
Hope you don't get it.
Thinking of becoming a Luddite.
They were a bunch of people who smashed up the machines in the dawn of the industrial age.
Would love to do that at times.
Especially my little computer lab.
Working with computers(Mac and the other silly ones) is like the War On Drugs- never ending and in the end futile.
The new operating system update means you have to upgrade this which causes conflict with that and you end up getting blamed for someones class that didnt go as planned.
I want to go back to pen and paper and bits of string. Maybe not just yet.
Because I just got a really good new deal from my Telco, I get unlimited local and national calls and 7 gig of Broadband for 89 bucks.
I'll save like 700 smackers a year if there isn't a hidden catch, which there must be.
They must be freaking out about Skype and the like coz I was just about to ditch the landline all together.
I need the internet to keep me informed of all the really bad news.
You want some -try this.
Yep it's a hoot.
I really don't want to panic the natives who no doubt are enjoying their consumerismo credit card tango so I steer you to this clever and silly little video clip.
Have you ever edited some video? Then this is for you.
Look out for the umbrella as the rainbow ball of death.

The power of the Arts

Saw the movie "The Lives of Others".
It won the Academy award for best foreign film.
Set in East Germany a senior Stasi officer is given the job to get some dirt on a famous playwright because his actor girlfriend is coveted by a senior party official.
East Germany was one of the most watched and spied upon places ever.
Every fifth person was an informer.
A very grey and sad looking place.
In the process of watching this couple and listening to their every word the Stasi guy realises how empty his life is and starts to protect them from the party.
It is Art that changes him, a piece of music, some literature he steals from their room.
He eventually ruins his career protecting these people who he comes to love and betrays the Party but redeems himself to himself.
A very powerful film although it could have finished a little earlier.
Art does change people.
It comes in under the radar.
Newspapers and TV shows only confirm what you already think you know.
There is a truth beyond science.
Science, for all it's miraculous works will never get to the big truth because that can never be contained by mere words or the logical mind.
For me the big truths can only be sensed for a moment out of the corner of ones heart when one is deeply immersed in Art or nature.

I wanna be a cave man

Totally buggered today after a big day out in the Royal.
Went for a long ride with my old mate Dan( see above).
He lived for a while in a cave.
It was a lifestyle choice.
He was quite comfortable apparently.
It was summmer so it was easy
So we decided to start Australian Cave Dwellers Magazine.
Should be big!
After much laughter we decided to explore these limestone caves I have always been meaning to check out.
Well worth the effort.(30 km bike ride plus 4km hike)
And now we have the cover shot for a most unlikely lifestyle mag.
Also has a great waterfeature.
I always offer to take my international students into the great ozzie bush for a little walk but unfortunatly they seem disinclined.
Maybe it's a result of all those most poisonous animal shows I dont know.
Maybe they are suspicious of my navigational skills?
Viva la cave man!

Is freedom of speech always good?

Don't like to speak in absolutes.
This is always wrong or right.
Everything is relative.
Isn't it?
So this so called right of free speech is always our top priority?
Only sometimes.
During war "Loose lips sink ships" .
So freedom of speech is curtailed heavily.
Our economic boom times are wholly dependant on China both in it's hunger for our raw materials and it's ability to produce incredibly cheap goods.
Nearly everything I own is made in China.
Probably most things everyone has are.
Read this story about a family who tried to survive without any thing made there.
But thirty years ago very little was coming out of China.
At school we taught of the terrible population explosion that would ruin the world and make a lot of people starve.
And what a hopeless case India and China were.
But both countries curbed their growing populations.
Something no western country has ever tried to do.
Peasants who would of had many children were forced to have only one or two.
Which meant that they could be educated instead of being sent to work in the fields.
This would never happen in an open society.
India which is the worlds largest democracy had the "Emergency" where civil rights were suspended and men were forcibly sterilized.
No western politician would even mention population control, not even The Greens.
The press would eat them alive.
It's an impossible sell.
But without enormous in puts from fossil fuels our planet can really only support a couple of billion people.
So the crunch will come eventually.
I of course am a complete hypocrite in this regard as I have three ankle biters to add to my footprint.
I could be accused of listening to our beloved treasurer who said have one for each parent and one for Australia.
Who said I'm perfect?

Here yestaday gone today

Well the doco on the Aboriginal students turned out pretty good.
I'll link to it later when the dust settles.
It was quite emotional playing it to a whole mob of Kooris and them really liking it.
I feel honoured to work with those kids even tho some of them probably thought I was just another uptight whitey.
I might have legs and end up on TV we'll see.
The song feature in the film is very sweet and I'll link to that too.
Now I have some sad news, sad for me anyway.
A lot of my old film clips were on Youtube, it was great to see them again until they just dissappeared.
Gone into the ether.
I of course never got copies of any of them.
Will they ever return?
Am I erased from history?
Perhaps.
Did I wear them out?
Does it mean something deeper?
Hardly the library of Alexandria but it was mildy important to me nevertheless.

Please allow me to excuse myself

What can i say?
Too busy to blog?
I have to learn to say no to things.
Currently I am trying to finish the Documentary on the Aboriginal youth hostel.
Why am i knocking myself out?
It has to be finished by Saturday week for the big birthday party they are having.
Hours of footage to trawl through.
Then chop together into some sort of story.
If you never made a film you have no idea how time consuming this is.
And fiddley.
Then a sound mix.
As well as a song to mix.
As well as teaching 24 hours.
And they just made me a blog and podcasting "champion".
Yes I know, what can I say?
Did I have to defeat any ogres?
or outfox any trolls?
I dont think so but what this totally bogus title means is more WORK!!!!!!
Random people (Read fellow teachers) ask me questions and get me to solve their podcasting, blogging dilemmas for them.
Note to self.
In a future life never go near computers.
Also in this life will avoid all lifts as I got caught in a lift and freaked out just like in a movie.
I knew I woz stuck before I knew I was stuck.
It all fed on itself like a giant De Ja Vu self forfilling prophecy.
Is this the first sign of a work related nervous break down?
I can only hope they put me in a warm safe place a long way from any thing with a screen.