Welcome to the New World

Like almost everyone on the planet I took careful notice of the US Election as it unfolded, and was suitably appalled that Donald Trump is to be the new President. In fact I found the result thoroughly depressing and disheartening.

Anyway, life goes on and who knows what the future holds in the new world where the unthinkable has come to pass.

It’s one of those turning points in history, as happened after 9/11, and the world will never be the same again. There will be those born after the turning point who will not even wonder what the world was like before – not much chop to tell the truth.

As there is little the individual can do to change things, one can be thankful  for the small joys of life.

One of them is cats, who couldn’t give toss about the new world order as long they have food to eat, a place to sleep and a human slave to attend to those needs.

Which brings me to the resident cats and their political situation.

Willy

Actually they are pretty blase with each other these days, though not actually friends.

Talya has been over grooming for some years, that is ripping her fur out, so that great drifts of it are all over the house. Who knows why she does this, but I think originally she started off stressed and the over grooming has become a nervous habit.

Talya – you can see the fur is thin on her back

We have consulted the Vet several times about this behaviour and tried several “cures”, initially a chinese herbal happy pill, then cortisone tablets. Neither worked.

We now have her on clomicalm, an antidepressant that has certainly affected her behaviour in that she has become less anxious. She’s slightly zoned out, but still has a hearty appetite.

Her relationship with Willy has noticeably improved as stand offs in doorways are less aggressive than they used to be. The cats pass by each other peacefully and neither takes a swipe at the other.

Of course all that may change when she comes off the clomicalm; cross fingers it doesn’t.

The only stress the cats face is other cats invading their territory. Not so much the next door cats, with whom they have a truce, but a black and white cat from somewhere else that has been causing a fracas in the neighbourhood. If there is growling and howling, it is always that cat at the centre of it.

The above two photos were taken with the Nikon camera. I love the way it blurs out the background when you use the zoom lens.

It will be interesting to see how the new world comes to pass with  Donald Trump at the helm of global power.

Federal Election Shemozzle & Jerilderie Letter

Australia voted on Saturday and wouldn’t you know it the people’s voice resulted in a dead heat. Malcolm Turnbull, Mr Smooth himself, has not got the mandate he sought. But then, neither has the Labour Party, though I must admit I was impressed with Bill Shorten’s campaign  and thought it far more effective and informative than that of the Coalition.

Every time I saw the Coalition TV Ad with Turnbull mouthing the “jobs and growth” slogan, I was inclined to shout at him “Substance, Malcolm, substance; where is it?”.

And we’ve ended up with an even more barmy Senate than the last one. Who would have thought that Pauline Hanson could have got back in?  Blame the Queensland rednecks for that. I’m looking forward to seeing how she and the plain speaking Jacquie Lambie from Tasmania hit it off. I reckon Jacquie, being ex army, will have Pauline’s measure and win any battle of words. She’s the only politician who has made me laugh out loud during the last government with a few of her mordant witty comments.

At the weekend the winter weather was quite pleasant so it was no trial to go to Caulfield and watch a few races. I only stayed for three, as they weren’t all that exciting.

Jerilderie Letter was racing in the 4th, The Grand Hotel Frankston Handicap where he ran fourth less than a length from the winner. The race was over 1400 metres, so it was a bit too short for him. An extra 200 metres or so would have had him winning.

Jerilderie Letter in the mounting yard

He’s been nominated to run at Flemington next Saturday in a 1600 metre race. I won’t be attending, but will watch with interest to see how he fares.

The racing action starts to get interesting in early August, when the better class horses emerge from their winter breaks. I’m looking forward to seeing Winx and Chautauqua in particular, and it’s also mooted that the beautiful Lankan Rupee will resume in late spring as well, having had a long break recovering from the injury that put him out of contention last spring.

In the meantime, as we await the election result and endure another month of winter, I’ll be keeping myself amused with other things.

Winter Interlude

Grey cat, grey skies – Talya snapped on the Nikon D3300

I know I’ve been quiet on the blogging front of late, but I haven’t felt inspired to write anything.

Not that I’ve been doing anything interesting anyway, with the cold weather discouraging outdoor activity, such as going to the races.

However, I think I will go to the race meeting at Caulfield next Saturday, ostensibly to see Tasmanian Derby winner Jerilderie Letter having his first race on the mainland.  I love his name and it’s very appropriate to his breeding; by Irish sire Bushranger from Pirate’s Sirene whose grandsire is the great Zabeel.

For those who are unaware of the Jerilderie Letter significance, it is a famous letter written (or dictated) by the notorious Australian Bushranger Ned Kelly.

Saturday is also Federal Election Day, finally after months of campaigning.

I’m not in the least enthused by any of the candidates in my electorate, Batman. It has been a stalwart Labour seat forever, but could very well be won by the Greens this election. It doesn’t help that the Labour sitting member is in disgrace after lying about his 2.3 million property in Northcote, which he claims he overlooked when declaring his assets in the Parliamentary register of interests.

It’s going to be hard to decide who to put last on the ballot paper, with some truly awful candidates from various fundamentalist interest groups, taking up over half the ticket. I’m inclined to to add another box to the bottom of the ballot paper and mark it “none of the above”.

I reckon the Coalition (Liberals/Nationals) will probably win the election, though hope the Senate is as diverse as the previous one to keep the Government in check.

As the weather has been so chilly the cats have been staying indoors most of the time.

Willy, however, managed to injure his back left leg somehow, removing the skin, which caused a large wound that required stitching. He’s now running around with a shaved leg which looks pretty absurd, though he’s recovering well from the operation. It will take ages for the fur grow back.

Moon’s Rising – The Makybe Diva Stakes

Puissance de Lune – can he win his first Group 1?

It may be election day tomorrow, and though I will exercise my democratic right and place a vote for whoever (not Liberal),  my thoughts are more taken up with thoroughbred horse racing.  I’ve been bored out of my brain by the election campaign,  so I’m glad that part is done and dusted and I can settle down to hating whoever wins power, be it Rudd or Abbot.

There is a mare running tomorrow in the Let’s Elope Stakes called A Time For Julia who gets my vote as the omen bet for the day. There’s also Swing Vote and Ruud Awakening in the first at Flemington.

Racing in Melbourne this weekend is at Flemington and features the Group One Makybe Diva Stakes, run over 1600 metres. The field of 15 runners is made up of mostly imported stayers, starting their spring campaigns on their way to the big cups and include the exciting Puissance de Lune who already has a run under his belt and will start favourite. This race is Puissance de Lune’s hardest challenge yet, so it will be fascinating to see if he can prevail and thrash this mob as he thrashed his rivals in the P B Lawrence Stakes a few weeks ago.

His main rivals in the Makybe  Diva Stakes are Foreteller, who occasionally springs a surprise win, the well credentialed Sea Moon, who is a very interesting prospect having good form in the UK. I’m really attracted to Masked Marvel, simply because of his name, though his form looks iffy. This time last year I would have had Manighar as a top pick, but his form through autumn was less than inspiring, but he redeemed himself slightly when he ran second to Quintessential in the Eagle Farm Cup back in June, so he may have returned to form.

I’m looking forward to being present at Flemington for the race, utilising my season’s ticket, and will be getting there early to see the intriguing Cauthen in the second  race, the Henry Bucks Best Dressed Stakes (1400 metres). He’s up against a big field of smart three year olds, including Long John and Shamus Award who he beat at Moonee Valley a fortnight ago and will be trying to turn the tables on him in this race.

Another interesting race is the Group Two Danehill Stakes, also for three year olds and run over 1200  metres.  It has a much classier field than the Henry Bucks Best Dressed Stakes, that include top filly Gregers, Group One J J Atkins winner Romantic Touch, Vain Stakes winner Safe Guard, Quezette Stakes winner Kiss A Rose, Black Caviar relative Scandiva and highly promising youngsters Eclair Big Bang and Polanski.

Royal Randwick in Sydney hosts an interesting race card as well this Saturday and features several Group races which I will watch on course (hopefully) due to my interest in the participants. For instance, in the Group Two Furious Stakes Guelph who won the Group One  Sires Produce Stakes and Champagne Stakes in the autumn starts her spring campaign. Also champion sprinter Hay List returns after a long absence in the Group Three Concorde Stakes and old favourite Shoot Out steps out in the Group Three Tramway Stakes.

Hopefully Melbourne’s weather will play nice and produce a mild dry afternoon, despite the forecast for showers.

Politics: Cat & Otherwise

Watching the antics of the leaders of the major Australian political parties, in their attempts to woo voters in the upcoming Federal Election, I keep thinking how much more amusing and entertaining is the observation of cat politics.

 
Willy & Talya – up close but not personal on the bed

If politicians acted more like cats, I might be more inclined to vote for them.  I loathe both Abbott and Rudd and intend to write on my ballot paper “none of the above” as my protest against the ousting of Julia Gillard.

You won’t find either Rudd or Abbott playing with a toy mouse, and performing acrobatics, by swinging with her paws around the dining table, leaping in balletic pirouettes to pounce, as Talya does. Grey men in grey suits, Rudd and Abbott both fail to inspire me with any confidence in their ability to run the country. They certainly aren’t cute and entertaining, but they could try and be more interesting.

Yes, I’m bored with the election campaign and dread the outcome, which looks very much like a victory for the Coalition with – gasp of horror – the Mad Monk becoming the next Prime Minister.

To cheer myself up from the horrible prospect here are some more cat photos.

 
A recent Talya portrait – the Russian Princess

Willy arboreal on the grape vine waiting for cat slave assistance to get down

As for the state of cat politics, as you can see from the first photo, the two resident cats are tolerating each other quite well.  Willy was in a fight recently with another cat, possibly Monty next door, and was badly bitten on the leg and could hardly walk. He was not a happy cat for a few days, but a course of antibiotics has him back in action. The fur is still growing back on his tail after he cut it on something several months ago. He looked quite comical when he was alarmed and puffed up, his tail resembling that of a clipped poodle.

Tripping Down Memory Lane

The stars must be in a particularly significant alignment, as this last week has sent me back to remembering times past and even receiving, quite out of the blue, a communication from a childhood friend, who I have not seen nor heard from in over fifty years. 

She sent me this photo of us all as children in Woods Point

Then there was the documentary on ABC TV,  Whitlam: The Power & The Passion which heady period I remember very well.  Gough Whitlam will always be my favourite Prime Minister  and I recall how it felt when he won the 1972 election. A friend remarked at the time “Even the stars look different…” And too, how angry and betrayed we all felt when he was toppled.  The documentary captured the period vividly, and I wept once more when Gough spoke his famous words
“Well, may we say, “God Save the Queen” because nothing will save the Governor General”.

If ever there was a time to flog off my old posters from the Dismissal era, it is now. But I can’t bring myself to part with them.

That was the 1970s, however, stumbling across an old issue of the Melbourne University newspaper Farrago, I was transported back to the 1960s, 1967 in particular.

What struck me as I browsed through the pages of this ancient artefact, was how typical of the times was the content of the issue, which featured Prosh Week 1967.

What amused me the most, was the ads.

Genevieve was a cafe in Faraday Street Carlton where in those days you could purchase a coffee for 10 cents and a spaghetti bolognaise for 50 cents, staple food for the poor students we were at the time.

Peter Poynton’s was a popular drinking hole, also in Carlton, where my friends and I spent many a happy hour.

The Love In was a colourfully painted establishment on the corner of Faraday and Drummond Streets Carlton. As a group of us lived just up the road from it we naturally entered its portals to groove on the light shows, listen to the music and watch movies. It all looks rather innocent by today’s standards, serving only coffee and snacks and nothing stronger. We hadn’t at that stage indulged in any mind expanding drugs, alcohol being the drug of preference then.

The scanned page below has a review of the Love In written in somewhat purple prose.

You wish…

One of Carlton’s cultural establishments – Mondo Music, where you could buy the latest records. Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Heart’s Club Band was hot that year.

Discurio  was still going strong up to last year when it was sold to the Title Group (whoever they are).

Live music

Computer Dating 1960s style!

I wasn’t aware that you could become a computer programmer in the 1960s, though I do remember seeing CSIRAC or its successor, through a window in the Physics Department.

 

Cheap hair cuts and smokes

And look at the cost to travel for 30 days in China in 1967!

I remember 1967 as one of the best year’s of my life. It was full of parties, craziness and wild living and I met life long friends whom I still see frequently. Others have passed away, others beyond my ken.

Here’s an excerpt from my diary, describing what we did for Prosh Week in August 1967.

Prosh Day yesterday was quite exciting, though we must have got carried away for we did some mad things. We did a wild hippy dance and love in demonstration in the Town Square, charged through the streets of Melbourne, yelling “love, love love”, ate flowers for TV camera men (and we didn’t even get onto the news!). It seemed quite successful in all. There were students everywhere down the street, swarming in and out of shops, rattling cans on street corners – it felt good to be a student. There was a sort of comradeship about them all. People whom one  would never approach normally, were old friends. It was like a mad kaleidoscope dream, but all was deflated, flat by the end of the day.

The stern old Anne of today frowns on such frivolous behaviour, but I was so much younger then and lived life to the hilt in the fabulous 1960s.

And the winner is…

Julia Gillard!

Yes folks, Australia now has a Government after weeks of suspense (??), watching the Independents make up their minds.

It is my preferred outcome; I did vote for Labor after all. And Julia Gillard, now Prime Minister for real, is a refreshing change from the god botherers of the past. Besides living in sin, and being childless, she is also an atheist. What more could you ask of a Prime Minister!

However, she won’t have an easy time of it, bedding down as she must with a group of very independent Independents and a hostile Opposition. Challenging I’d say. Let’s hope she’s up to it and manages to go full term.

It will interesting to see what unfolds in the coming weeks, months and years.

2010 Spring Racing Season – Week 4 – Warwick Stakes

Metal Bender

The focus of racing shifts to Sydney this week and the running of the Warwick Stakes, a Group Two event over 1400 metres.

It features the resumption of several star performers of the Sydney and Queensland carnivals.
Most keenly anticipated is the return of Metal Bender, who proved he was back to his best when winning the Hollindale Stakes/Doomben Cup double in May. He’s up against the likes of Danleigh and Sniper’s Bullet who were beaten by Love Conquers All in the recent Missile Stakes, old trooper Theseo, Triple Honour and Australian Derby runner up Descardo who are all resuming. This race may be a little short for Metal Bender, but it will certainly be interesting watching him run.

The Group 3 Silver Shadow Stakes for three year old fillies also looks interesting with Solar Charged attempting to redeem her defeat at the hands of Obsequious who is also nominated. Chance Bye resumes here too with special boots on her hind feet to counter her tendency to injure herself when galloping.

Last week it was gratifying to see Shoot Out continue his winning ways in the Liston Stakes. He raced four wide the entire trip yet still managed to overtake Predatory Pricer close to the post for a comfortable win. After the race his trainer John Wallace stated bluntly that he would win the Cox Plate. He sounded very confident, as did Stathi Katsidis, Shoot Out’s jockey, who denied claims that the horse was peaking too early, saying that these races are just barrier trials for him.

Shoot Out will next race in the Memsie Stakes on 28 August and will face his toughest competition to date. So You Think was scratched from the Liston, but will run in the Memsie, as will Typhoon Tracy, along with the usual suspects Predatory Pricer, Heart of Dreams et al. It certainly appears on paper to be the first of the great races of the spring and will certainly sort out the wheat from the chaff. If Shoot Out wins it will surely signal him as a freakish beast to be compared to the great racehorses of the past. It’s been some years since there was a true champion of the turf, with many promising but failing to deliver such as Weekend Hussler, Haradasun, Whobegotyou etc.

Another sterling performance last Saturday was the run of Rebel Raider in the Group 3 Spring Stakes at Morphettville. He signalled he was back with a stunning win over an unsuitable (for him) short distance. We may yet see female jockey Claire Lindop take out the Melbourne Cup on this horse if he stays sound.

Panipique, who I have been following since I won a tidy sum on her in her first race earlier this year, proved she is still a force to contend with, beating Crystal Lily in the Quezette Stakes last Saturday.

Star Witness only managed third place in the Vain Stakes, it being won by the unfancied Toorak Toff with Soul running second. Perhaps the heavy track told against Star Witness. I hope that was the case.

And of course next Saturday Australia goes to the polls. It’s anyone’s guess who will win, but I am of course pinning my hopes on a Julia Gillard victory. I watched, in horrified fascination, a Liberal advertisement on the ABC the other night, talking head after talking head spouting nonsense. Some even had difficulty following the auto cue. Anyway, once the election’s out of the way we won’t have to put up with the constant barrage of political campaigning which I’ve tried to avoid seeing or hearing throughout the long tedious weeks since the election was called.

Update: Saturday Afternoon

Whooee! Metal Bender proved his class with a great win in the Warwick Stakes with stablemates Triple Honour and Danleigh taking out the minor placings, giving trainer Chris Waller the trifecta. I had a hunch about Metal Bender, so had a small bet on him. He was unwanted in the betting, so paid $15.00 for the win, no doubt odds longer than we'll ever see them in future.

My only other bet of the day was on Parables in the Silver Shadow Stakes and she brought home the bickkies in fine fashion during a troublesome race where she was first blocked for a run, then bumped, but when getting clear stormed to the line with a devastating sprint. She also paid well ($6.50)

Let's hope my luck continues in amore general sense with a Julia Gillard victory in the Federal elections. We'll hopefully know the result of that competition later tonight.

Cats and Politics

It has been a while since I last wrote about the cats.

Both are still happy and healthy though Ms Lizzie, being now a senior citizen, is less active and spends most of her days indoors. She had a close encounter with a brush tailed possum last week which we were astounded to witness. Due to a light illuminating the decking outside the backdoor, for once, it was a remarkable sight.

The possum came from the back yard and marched across the decking close to where Lizzie was sitting minding her own business. The encounter, thankfully, did not result in violence. The possum paused when it saw the cat and peered at her short sightedly, no doubt thinking she could be another of its kind, her colouring being very similar to that of the marsupial. Lizzie sat there, unmoving, and eventually the possum just ambled on its way and onto the fence and up into a tree with the cat showing no inclination to follow. It was gratifying to see that Lizzie at least is peaceful towards the native animals. She obviously realises she wouldn’t have a hope against a brush tailed possum – they’re formidable beasts.

Here’s a recent photo of Lizzie basking in the winter sun.

The wilful one, Willy, still runs wild in the streets, though he does spend more time at home now that it’s cold. He has been responsible for the importation of several rodents into the house, some which have evaded capture. We have no idea what happened to them, but presumably they’ve either escaped or been eaten or died, as the cats have lost interest in the places we suspected they were hiding. A mouse was hiding in the wall furnace and only revealed itself when B turned the heater on. A singed mouse shot through one of the vents and hid behind a bookcase. Lizzie dedicated a night to watching for it, and may very well have caught and eaten it. We haven’t heard a squeak.

Willy, handsome as ever.

As for politics, Australia will go to the polls in a Federal election on August 21, which should be interesting, but probably is not. The media thinks it is, and is now in full election mode, since the poll was announced by Julia Gillard.

I’m hoping Julia will win. It would be a shame if she were to inherit the post of PM only to lose it shortly afterwards. She’s quite impressive, cool and collected, and more than a match for Tony Abbott and his cohorts. As long as Julia can keep her troops in order, and not be second guessed by the Opposition, and if Tony Abbott somehow makes a fool of himself (shouldn’t be too hard), Labor might scrape in with Greens preferences. Perish the thought if Abbott & Co were successful – it’d be like the Howard years all over again, only worse.

Anyway, we’ll know in a month.

Aussie Politics – Australia’s First Woman Prime Minister

I certainly can’t let the momentous changes that swept through the Australian political landscape today go by without comment.

It happened very fast, the first intimations of change being mooted last night on the 7.00 o’clock news of a bid by disaffected members of the ruling Labor party to oust incumbent PM Kevin Rudd from the top seat.

This morning he went without a fight and handed the reins of power to his Deputy Julia Gillard. So we now have our first female Prime Minister. And what's more she is not a conventional female politician. She is unmarried, lives in a de facto relationship and is childless.

As far as I am concerned this is a good thing, as Julia Gillard has been admirable as Deputy PM and is an intelligent and astute politician. Also, what with the polls recently indicating a loss for Labor in the next elections, there’s now a chance we won’t have to put up with a government by the monk (Tony Abbott) and the bishop (Julie Bishop), a prospect too ghastly to imagine.

What a far cry it is from three years ago when Kevin Rudd assumed leadership of the Labor Party! He was seen as the great white hope to dislodge the Howard government, which indeed he did.

However, he has been disappointing of late and even a person such as myself, who has always supported Labor, was contemplating in the next elections, simply marking my ballot paper “none of the above”.

Here’s hoping Julia Gillard can affect a change in public opinion and policy. Even news of Kevin Rudd’s likely dethronement positively affected the British Stock Market last night (Australian time).

Labour Victory

The Labour Party was swept into power by a record breaking majority on Saturday. All my dread at a return to power by John Howard's party has been consigned to the dustbin. In fact it appears John Howard has lost his seat, to the likeable Maxine McKew, former ABC journalist, turned aspirant politician. At the beginning of the campaign she was given little hope of taking the electorate from him, but her hard work has paid off.

So we can look forward to a new era in Australian politics - hopefully a kinder, greener and more compassionate era.

It goes without saying, I was delighted with the result. I spent Saturday night glued to the television, watching the results come in, and persisted until John Howard conceded defeat.

It reminds me of the heady days when Gough Whitlam came to power. A friend of mine remarked at the time " Even the stars look different...". It's like that now.

Election Fever

Cartoon by Michael Leunig - click for larger image

Tomorrow Australians get an opportunity to throw John Howard’s Government from office. This chance only comes round every three years, so let’s hope the Australian electorate collectively make the right decision. It’s time for John Howard to go.

It’s looking good - touch wood – for a Labour victory. The headlines in yesterday’s newspapers read “Liberal race-hate scam exposed” a telling blow against the Coalition. In an act of incredible stupidity, some Liberal Party members were caught red handed distributing a scurrilous pamphlet, purportedly from the Islamic Australia Federation urging Australians to vote for Labour because of their support for Muslim causes, including support for the Bali bombers. All patently untrue, it was designed to incite anti Islamic feelings within the electorate and show Labour in a bad light.

Howard’s “pin-up” girl, Liberal MP Jackie Kelly, was involved in this scam and when questioned laughed the whole thing off as a joke and prank. It has caused the Coalition dire grief, yippee!

It seems that the election campaign has been going non-stop all year. It has certainly run its course. I am heartily sick of it, and gave up listening to both parties long ago. I’m no swinging voter and made up my mind at the start of the campaign. Being a single tax payer, there’s no money in it for me. My hip pocket won’t be affected at all as the pitch has been towards families, with individual tax payers being ignored as usual.

Kevin Rudd, the Labour leader, has run a very good campaign and has consistently been the preferred PM in opinion polls since he took over the Opposition leadership. Support for Labour and a change of government has been high throughout the campaign and the latest polls show a solid Labour victory. Let’s hope they are true to form.

Despite this hopeful outlook, I am still steeling myself for disappointment. It’s been so long - eleven years in fact - since Labour was in power, and each win by Howard has been devastating and depressing.

Tomorrow night, early or late, whatever, we’ll know.

APEC, Politics and Such

I’m glad I don’t live in Sydney at the moment as half the Sydney central business district is closed to the general public due to the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation summit. It all sounds like overkill to me and many other citizens, especially Sydneysiders. I read in the news today that security was removing cutlery from the tables of restaurants close to the event. As if someone was going to snatch up a butter knife and attack President Bush or the Chinese president! There are police snipers on the top of buildings and security personnel everywhere, rubbish bins are taped up, you name it, they’ve thought of everything. Unfortunately for the arm of the law police horses are suffering from EI or can’t be moved into the public arena due to the ban on horse movements throughout the state of NSW. Lucky for the horses, I say. It must be admitted that anarchists and terrorists could have been itching for the opportunity to blow up a whole bunch of world leaders in one hit. Tough luck for them - they haven't a snowflake's chance in hell of getting anywhere near them.

You can read comprehensive reportage on this event on the Sydney Morning Herald web site.

It has been nauseating to see Howard and Bush holding hands and grinning from every newsstand and putting up with a media obsessed with reporting every little thing Bush might care to utter in their hearing.

It will all go away after the weekend, then we can get back to the down and dirty election campaign that has been ongoing for months. So far, in the election campaign, things are not looking good for John Howard. Dare we hope for a change of government this time round? I almost don’t dare contemplate a Labour win, as I know I’ll be heartbroken all over again if Howard wins another term. The Opposition leader, Kevin Rudd has been playing it cool throughout this build up to the elections and has appealed to the electorate as sensible and responsible. The contemptible Minister for Foreign Affairs, Alexander Downer tried to sully his image by dredging up an incident where Rudd was reported to have attended a strip club. - Shock horror! So what, who cares, was the general opinion. It didn’t dint Rudd’s popularity one little bit, in fact it probably enhanced it by conveying the impression that our Kevin is just “a bit of a lad” and made him appear more the common man.

Australian politics has never been particular about religious preferences or moral codes. Take Bob Hawke for instance. He was an admitted Atheist and also a womaniser and drunk. Nobody really cared if he was any of those things - he was a popular Prime Minister. John Howard is always taking the high moral ground, but we all know he’s a terrible fibber and a hypocrite. He’s never been all that popular – I remember how astounded I was when he won the Liberal Party leadership and even more astonished when he won his first election. However, he had an aura of honesty and responsibility, which has effectively hoodwinked the population for years. He is also a very canny politician. That is why I am not willing to believe that Labour will win the forthcoming election –just yet.

Kevin Andrews vs Snoop Dogg

Do you reckon that this guy (he has the power)...

... should allow this guy to enter the country?
No? ....You're right.

This issue appealed to me as the two personalities involved appear to be chalk and cheese.

You can read about it here

The Brian Burke Kerfuffle

Gee, the Howard Government must have thought the Garuda aircrash was a blessing in disguise to avert attention from their failed attack on the new Opposition leader, Kevin Rudd. They'd accused him of consorting with Brian Burke, the unsavoury former Premier of Western Australia - an absolute no no according to the morally righteous Howard. Why, Howard even had to demote a Minister of his own team for having a 20 minute meeting with Brian Burke. But the shockingly depraved Rudd had had breakfast, lunch and tea with the man! This was Howard's insinuation in raising the accusation, backed up by the sneering Treasurer, Peter Costello.

It appears Howard is running scared. Dare we hope for a change of Government later this year? Cross fingers, it may come true.

It turns out that several more of Howard's ministers had dealings with Burke, including the minister who replaced the sacked minister. Talk about slung mud sticking to the slinger...

It has been totally absurd, the whole slanging match, this week in OZ politics.

The whole point of this entry is, as pointed out by B, is that Brian Burke bears a striking resemblance to the white spy in Mad Magazine's Spy vs Spy. Hence the "separated at birth" picture above. It kind of puts everything into some sort of crazy perspective.

Australia Day

Today is Australia Day. We get a public holiday for the occasion so it's popular for that reason.

I am not going to go all nationalistic and put the Australian flag on this entry.

I find it quite disturbing that the flag has become an issue in terms of The Big Day Out, where the organisers attempted to ban people wearing it in an attempt to curtail racist violence. The PM of course was all against this action by the organisers and forced them into an about face.

Since when have Australians become so nationalistic? It appears to be a fairly recent development and has escalated since the Cronulla riots of 2005.

In my youth, the only flags I was interested in waving were revolutionary flags when we marched our little feet off in the anti Vietnam war rallys of the early 70s.

Australia, being such a multicultural place, has never been all that nationalistic until recently. Yeah, we had to salute the flag when we were at primary school and parrot the words:

"I love God and my country, I will honor the flag, serve the Queen and cheerfully obey my teachers, parents and the law"

But that was more king & country sort of stuff.

My most vivid memory of one of these occasions was in Woods Point...
There was a epileptic child who threw fits and he succumbed to one during the patriotic ceremony, much to the fascinated interest of us children. I also remember this child every time I hear the song "Irene Goodnight" as he used to wander around the school and into classrooms where he'd say "I'd like to sing the children a song" and launch into "Irene Goodnight". Actually, I really like the song - it has great lyrics and was apparently written by Lead Belly.

Anyway to mark Australia Day in my own fashion, here are a couple of family photos from the 1930s.

The first is of my Uncle Edgar, my mother's older brother who died during the second world war. This photo is one of several sent to me some years ago by one of Edgar's old girlfriends, a lady called Betty Cox. I've never met her, but she rang me up and asked if I wanted the photos as she was getting on in years and wanted to pass them on to someone in the family before she died. I was only too delighted to take them as I have quite a collection of old family stuff donated through the years by various relatives. I seem to have taken on the mantle of family history keeper. One of these days I will have to pass it on to someone else.

The photo shows Edgar with Betty and another friend, out on the town in Manly (a suburb of Sydney) in 1932. It has a wonderful dated look with the three friends so stylishly dressed for a day out.

The second photo is of my parents (in the foreground) and was taken in 1936. As they weren't married until 1945, it's obvious they knew each other for a very long time before they did tie the knot. My mother in the photo must be 19 years old and my father 26 (he's the one missing a leg). The other people, as is written on the back of the photo, are Girlie (peculiar name), Aunt and Frank whoever they are.

It's a picture of an Australia that no longer exists. Like, I mean, can you imagine the above young people attending The Big Day Out draped in an Australian flag?

Oh Frabjous Day

There was good news on the political front today with the election of Kevin Rudd to lead the Labour Party into the next election. All of a sudden there is an optimistic light shining out from the doom and gloom of our recent expectations.

Kevin Rudd as leader represents a fresh approach from the Opposition, which hopefully will succeed in toppling Howard at the next election. I had quite resigned myself to seeing that lying rat staying in power forever. Every election in the past 10 years has been excruciating in this regard, our hopes of a Labour victory being dashed over and over again.

Mr Howard as well as being a consummate liar is a very canny politician. He gets away with telling whoppers, deceiving the Australian people in ways that smack of a 1984 disinformation campaign where everyone knows he’s lying, but it seems as if it doesn’t matter. He bribes the electorate to forget and actively encourages distrust and racism within the community. It’s high time he was tossed out, before Australia becomes a pariah on the world stage, if it isn’t one already.

Kevin Rudd’s deputy is Julia Gillard, a young politician whose career I have followed with interest. She has stood up to the worst the Federal Government can throw at her and has acquitted herself well against the likes of head kickers such as Tony Abbot. She has the potential to become Australia’s first woman Prime Minister.

We can finally live in hope again, for as I have mentioned before, I despaired of Labour ever winning under Kim Beasley.

That's not to say that I don't feel for Kim Beasley losing after trying so hard for all these years. It was doubly distressing for him that his younger brother died, which he only learned after the spill. What an awful day for him!

National Day of Action Revisited

Yesterday I got out of bed at 6.30am in order to make it to the rally at the MCG to protest the Howard Government’s draconian industrial laws. I got to the arena in good time and endured waiting for the show to begin in the freezing cold of the morning.

It was a pretty good turnout, I thought. They didn’t actually fill the “G” but more than half filled it. Above is a photo of part of the crowd near where I was sitting, colourful as ever.

We were entertained and harangued by a variety of politicians, trade union bosses, comedians etc. Unfortunately, the sound was so bad you couldn’t hear a word that was said. However, the atmosphere was enthusiastic and the crowd biddable.

After the scheduled show, which terminated with famous Aussie rocker Jimmy Barnes singing a few songs, one of them naturally “Working Class Man”, we all marched to Federation Square for more haranguing and entertainment.

Of course the Federal Government belittled the rally, sneering at the supposedly small numbers who took part. Actually there were about 50,000 + participating, so if I was Howard I wouldn’t sneer too openly. It could represent a backlash against his Government, which would throw it from power. I got a cool “Howard Hater” badge from the Socialists.

CD Launch at Manchester Lane

Well, I was disappointed to find, Manchester Lane is not like the Continental. It’s a classy joint, but not really my cup of tea as far as venues go. For a start it was extremely noisy in terms of chatter. The sound from the stage was too low so the chatter was all the more distracting. I foolishly assumed that people went there for the music. Obviously not. I’d prefer to go to the Northcote Social Club any day.

Despite these setbacks, Sunshine Harvester’s launch was good fun and Moana was in fine fettle as well as her ace little band, which was enhanced by the addition of a string bass and a banjo, played respectively by two very talented young local musicians.

I could go on, but as I appear to have succumbed to some sort of fluish lurgy, I feel a bit dopy and disinclined to elaborate. You’ll just have to settle for a picture of the band.

State Elections

The Victorian State Elections are being held this coming weekend, so this is a timely rave on the political situation in this state.

The two main contenders are the Liberal Party and the current incumbent Labour Party. The Labour leader is the bland Steve Bracks, a sort of non-threatening kind of guy. He’s quite popular with the electorate, though the rednecks in the regional areas think he is too Melbourne-centric and object to his policies regarding energy conservation and bans on logging and cattle grazing in various sensitive areas.

Being a State public servant, I’d prefer that Labour get re-elected. The last Liberal Government totally decimated the public service as well as selling off most of the State's assets, like the gas and electricity services. They also privatised public transport and closed schools and hospitals. So I will definitely not be voting Liberal, and wouldn’t in any case being a die-hard leftist.

The Liberal leader Ted Baillieu comes from a wealthy background. He’s quite a toff, though bland at the same time. He’s been going around demonstrating what an all-round regular guy he is, plunging into the surf for a swim, rocking it up in a band, while Bracksy is filmed reading stories to children in kindergartens.

It’s all been a bit of laugh, this election campaign, the lavish promises of both parties failing to impress me. Who cares, is the general consensus.

As I live in a solid Labour electorate, I can be fanciful in my choice of candidate. The current representative for my electorate has hardly set foot in the place since being placed in office. She’s retiring (ho hum) and another female candidate will be contesting in her place. Fiona someone or other...

As you no doubt gather, I’m disenchanted with Australian politics at the moment. There appears to be hardly any difference between the major parties. Federally, I don’t think Labour has a hope of winning unless they ditch the current leader Kim Beasley, who has been around so long – and has lost every election where he has been leader of the opposition – that the populace fail to hear or indeed comprehend any of his policies, which, in any case, are only slight variations on the Liberal policy. A new face to the fore would do wonders for the party’s chances, as long as they aren’t loopy like the last new face - Mark Latham - who went to pieces when he lost the last election.

Roll on Saturday – I will use my right to vote as wisely as I can.

National Day of Action

Today I participated in the National Day of Action, to protest the draconian new Work Laws recently brought in by the Howard Government. The laws are truly appalling, stripping workers of many of their entitlements, hard won through union action in the past. The rally was a big one, several thousands of people took over the main thoroughfares of the city.

It was a mass of brilliant colours and I regretted not bringing my camera. Each union group was colour coded, purple, crimson, blue etc. Giant beach balls were bounced through the crowd and loud speakers on the street shouted revolutionary exhortations against the Government.

Prominent union leaders and politicians gave speeches. Steve Bracks, the Victorian Premier, swore to protect Victorian workers from the new laws, and Kim Beasley, leader of the Federal Opposition vowed to ditch the laws on gaining Government. Workers who had been sacked or disadvantaged by the new laws also spoke to the crowd. It was all very enervating and made me nostalgic for the days of my youth when we always seemed to be marching our little feet off in protest against the war in Vietnam. That’s 40 years ago!

Forty years ago I was a student at Melbourne University. It was the fabulous sixties and a good time to be young, unless you were a young man. In those days there was a requirement for all young men of 20 years of age to register for National Service. They were selected through a ballot system and the unlucky ones were forced to do 3 years National Service in the army. My brothers were both called up and did the time. Others refused to obey the draft and spent time in jail or on the run. Or they fronted court to protest on the grounds of conscientious objection. A great many of the young men called up at that time went to Vietnam as part of the Australian army and when they returned they were vilified by the Nation, the war having become extremely unpopular by the mid 1970’s.

Anyway, through those years or at least during the late 60s I was a member of the Melbourne Anarchists. I joined the Anarchists I think because they sounded more fun than the other political groups on offer at that time - the Maoists, for instance. And we did have fun, snubbing our noses at ASIO (Australian Security Intelligence Organisation) agents and defying the police at demonstrations. I bet there is an ASIO file with my name on it, though I am not all that interested in finding out. Those days instilled a leftist political leaning in me, which I will never betray. Also those days spent protesting Australia’s involvement in the Vietnam War gave me a belief in people power. When Gough Whitlam came into power in 1972, he ended conscription and moved the Australian troops out of Vietnam.