December 2009
1. Opposition leadership spill.
The issue of whether or not to support the Government's Emissions Trading Scheme stretched the Liberal Party as far as it could go, culminating in a tightly fought leadership spill that saw Malcolm Turnbull deposed, Tony Abbott victorious, and Joe Hockey out of contention, or - as I rather think - waiting in the wings for the moment when the Libs look like having half a chance at getting a majority.
The leadership spill also left me very confused. Generally, on basically any issue if the Libs are on one side and Labor on the other, then I'm with Labor. But not on the ETS. And I also love Malcolm Turnbull (my favourite Lib!) and loathe Tony Abbott, so generally if one of them's saying one thing, and the other disagrees, I'd be with Malcolm. But . . . not on the ETS.
And then if I had my druthers, I'd rather Turnbull was the leader of the opposition, because I hate Abbott so much. But then I think the Mad Monk is less likely to get a good result in an election than Turnbull, so I should be glad that it's him leading now . . .
Like I said, confusing.
2. Pineapples have seeds.
Pineapples! Have seeds! I really can't stress enough how amazing I find that. I have been on this planet for 28 and half years, and I only just found that out, despite the rather large number of fresh pineapples I have seen/cut/eaten in my time.
SEEDS! Amazing.
3. Mary MacKillop expected to be canonised.
The Vatican recognised a second miracle attributed to Mary MacKillop, making it virtually certain that in 2010 she will be canonised, and become Australia's first saint. In addition, she would be in exclusive company as one of the only saints to have been previously excommunicated from (and then accpeted back to) the Church.
4. Avatar revolutionises cinema.
Honestly, if you haven't seen Avatar, and you're wondering whether all the fuss is justified - yes, it is. Emphatically so.
Sure the story is a bit basic, and a little bit Fern Gully. And it is possibly, in the way of these things, a bit long. But the visual effects - particularly the motion capture and compositing - are stunning. Completely convincing, such that it is possible to forget at various points that the big blue people are not carrying/touching/kissing the humans. In fact, the humans would have been in an entirely blank green set.
So if you haven't seen it, do go, straight away. This is the Citizen Kane of this generation, and in 20 years you're going to want to say, "I was there when . . .".
Tuesday, 12 January 2010
The Year in Review: November 2009
November 2009
1. "Freddo Boy" retardedness.
Australia proved that we have our share of hang ups that make us act like retarded dickheads - in this case, on the issue of what to do about indigenous offenders. It's a thorny issue, and one that is particularly difficult to solve - mostly because police and politicians insist on treating it as a law and order issue, rather than addressing wider social issues that are the root of the problem.
Case in point - a 12-year-old Aboriginal boy was charged with receiving stolen goods after a friend of his gave him a stolen Freddo frog. Largely due to a huge outcry over the sheer ridiculousness of the matter, the police referred the matter to a Juvenile Justice Team, and the charges were subsequently dismissed by a magistrate.
However, the police insisted that they were correct to charge the boy, on the basis of his having come to the attention of police in the past, though he was never charged. But for me, that kind of makes it even less dignified for the police - it makes it look like they were clutching at any excuse to charge the boy, regardless of how ridiculously petty the incident was.
2. Asylum seeker retardness.
Another issue that Australians are particularly retarded on are asylum seekers. We're faced with the problem of having lots of boats full of illegal immigrants trying to make their way to our shores, but instead of working out an effective management plan, we try and make it into a Somebody Else's Problem.
Unfortunately our new approach fails to work, because actually, it isn't somebody else's problem. It's our problem and we need to deal with it. This was thrown into stark relief with the Oceanic Viking standoff, which saw asylum seekers rescued by the Australian Navy taken to Indonesia, and told they had to get off. But they refused, and left us with no idea what to do.
We tried to force them off, we tried to get New Zealand to take them, but finally we were forced to offer that we would assess their status, and, if found to be refugees, we would process and resettle them within 3 months. After this offer was given, the asylum seekers left the ship . . . but a little too late for our dignity.
3. Thierry Henry retardedness.
During the playoffs for the 2010 World Cup, Frenchman Henry turned himself from a sporting hero into a dirty cheat. Unseen by the ref, he twice handled the ball in the penalty area, setting up the goal that allowed France to qualify at the expense of Ireland.
Now of course it can by no means be said that cheating that robbed Ireland of their spot in the World Cup. What it did do was rob Ireland of their chance to play their way into the World Cup, fair and square. And for most people (possbily not the French) it robs them of the chance to appreciate Henry for the first class sportsman that he is - being blinded by how classless he has proved himself to be in sportsmanship.
1. "Freddo Boy" retardedness.
Australia proved that we have our share of hang ups that make us act like retarded dickheads - in this case, on the issue of what to do about indigenous offenders. It's a thorny issue, and one that is particularly difficult to solve - mostly because police and politicians insist on treating it as a law and order issue, rather than addressing wider social issues that are the root of the problem.
Case in point - a 12-year-old Aboriginal boy was charged with receiving stolen goods after a friend of his gave him a stolen Freddo frog. Largely due to a huge outcry over the sheer ridiculousness of the matter, the police referred the matter to a Juvenile Justice Team, and the charges were subsequently dismissed by a magistrate.
However, the police insisted that they were correct to charge the boy, on the basis of his having come to the attention of police in the past, though he was never charged. But for me, that kind of makes it even less dignified for the police - it makes it look like they were clutching at any excuse to charge the boy, regardless of how ridiculously petty the incident was.
2. Asylum seeker retardness.
Another issue that Australians are particularly retarded on are asylum seekers. We're faced with the problem of having lots of boats full of illegal immigrants trying to make their way to our shores, but instead of working out an effective management plan, we try and make it into a Somebody Else's Problem.
Unfortunately our new approach fails to work, because actually, it isn't somebody else's problem. It's our problem and we need to deal with it. This was thrown into stark relief with the Oceanic Viking standoff, which saw asylum seekers rescued by the Australian Navy taken to Indonesia, and told they had to get off. But they refused, and left us with no idea what to do.
We tried to force them off, we tried to get New Zealand to take them, but finally we were forced to offer that we would assess their status, and, if found to be refugees, we would process and resettle them within 3 months. After this offer was given, the asylum seekers left the ship . . . but a little too late for our dignity.
3. Thierry Henry retardedness.
During the playoffs for the 2010 World Cup, Frenchman Henry turned himself from a sporting hero into a dirty cheat. Unseen by the ref, he twice handled the ball in the penalty area, setting up the goal that allowed France to qualify at the expense of Ireland.
Now of course it can by no means be said that cheating that robbed Ireland of their spot in the World Cup. What it did do was rob Ireland of their chance to play their way into the World Cup, fair and square. And for most people (possbily not the French) it robs them of the chance to appreciate Henry for the first class sportsman that he is - being blinded by how classless he has proved himself to be in sportsmanship.
Sunday, 10 January 2010
The Year in Review: October 2009
October 2009
1. "Balloon boy" retardedness.
The "balloon boy" incident started off dumb and just got worse and worse. Initially it seemed that a six year old boy had stowed away on a home-made helium balloon. The balloon eventually landed hours later, near the Denver airport, causing the airport to be closed down while National Guard helicopters and local police pursued it. On arrival at the landing site, there was no sign of the boy, prompting fears that he had fallen or wandered off, and causing a huge search and rescue operation to be launched.
But it then transpired that the boy had apparently been hiding in the garage at home. Which might make you think that it was a whole lot of fuss over a kid being naughty - still, not much you can do about it except ground him.
But it then transpired that actually, the whole thing may have been a hoax cooked up by the parents. And so an investigation was pursued, to get to the bottom of the matter.
And then, it turned out that indeed it had been a hoax all along, and that the parents had gone through with it in order to try and make themselves more marketable for a reality TV show. Which actually kind of makes sense when you consider that these people believe in aliens, and named their child "Falcon".
2. Nobel peace (sur)prize.
In a move that shocked, well, just about everyone, the Nobel Prize for peace was awarded to Barack Obama "for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples". To be honest, it was a little bit hard to see what the man had actually done to earn the prize - though I quite like Michael Moore's take on it.
3. Castle doctrine my ass.
In personal news, October saw my house (which I had been in for about a month and a half) get broken into. It wasn't a surprise, really - I'm not in the best neighbourhood - but it was something of a shock to come in and see the back door just open.
Fortunately, all of the (collarless) cats were still inside, and in fact the only thing taken was my eMac computer, which was so old that in getting it replaced by my insurers, I'm actually getting a far superior model.
Still, the incident left me feeling like my house was not really all that safe, and shook me up a bit. Though I can say, it still hasn't led me to buy a samurai sword.
1. "Balloon boy" retardedness.
The "balloon boy" incident started off dumb and just got worse and worse. Initially it seemed that a six year old boy had stowed away on a home-made helium balloon. The balloon eventually landed hours later, near the Denver airport, causing the airport to be closed down while National Guard helicopters and local police pursued it. On arrival at the landing site, there was no sign of the boy, prompting fears that he had fallen or wandered off, and causing a huge search and rescue operation to be launched.
But it then transpired that the boy had apparently been hiding in the garage at home. Which might make you think that it was a whole lot of fuss over a kid being naughty - still, not much you can do about it except ground him.
But it then transpired that actually, the whole thing may have been a hoax cooked up by the parents. And so an investigation was pursued, to get to the bottom of the matter.
And then, it turned out that indeed it had been a hoax all along, and that the parents had gone through with it in order to try and make themselves more marketable for a reality TV show. Which actually kind of makes sense when you consider that these people believe in aliens, and named their child "Falcon".
2. Nobel peace (sur)prize.
In a move that shocked, well, just about everyone, the Nobel Prize for peace was awarded to Barack Obama "for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples". To be honest, it was a little bit hard to see what the man had actually done to earn the prize - though I quite like Michael Moore's take on it.
3. Castle doctrine my ass.
In personal news, October saw my house (which I had been in for about a month and a half) get broken into. It wasn't a surprise, really - I'm not in the best neighbourhood - but it was something of a shock to come in and see the back door just open.
Fortunately, all of the (collarless) cats were still inside, and in fact the only thing taken was my eMac computer, which was so old that in getting it replaced by my insurers, I'm actually getting a far superior model.
Still, the incident left me feeling like my house was not really all that safe, and shook me up a bit. Though I can say, it still hasn't led me to buy a samurai sword.
Saturday, 9 January 2010
The Year in Review: September 2009
September 2009
1. Samurai death.
Proving that no matter how insane I think the US is, they can always go one better, a university student dealt with an intruder in his house by breaking out his samurai sword and killing the guy . . . and then wasn't charged with anything at all. This is because it's legal to have a samurai sword in Maryland, the state where the incident occurred, and apparently they also have some version of what is known as "Castle Doctrine".
The castle doctrine basically says, if someone illegally enters your house, you have the right to do whatever you want to them to "defend" yourself and your property, so long as you don't do it with an implement that is illegal.
So the erstwhile burglar loses his right not be murdered, while the 20 year old has an horrific death on his conscience, over a couple of hundred bucks' worth of electronic equipment?? I think that US in general may have a problem with excessive force.
2. He's like the wind.
Poor old Patrick Swayze lost his battle with pancreatic cancer, his passing prompting the most frequent playings of (I've Had) The Time of My Life since 1987.
3. Silvio Berlusconi puts up his nomination for the dumbest world leader ever.
OK, so there's pretty much no way that anyone but George W. Bush would win that award, if it ever came down to it, but Italy's PM Berlusconi would have to be in the top 10. Not only does he incessantly refer to both Barack and Michelle Obama as "suntanned", he insists that anyone who thinks that might be a bit rascist would have to be an "imbecile". Quite.
1. Samurai death.
Proving that no matter how insane I think the US is, they can always go one better, a university student dealt with an intruder in his house by breaking out his samurai sword and killing the guy . . . and then wasn't charged with anything at all. This is because it's legal to have a samurai sword in Maryland, the state where the incident occurred, and apparently they also have some version of what is known as "Castle Doctrine".
The castle doctrine basically says, if someone illegally enters your house, you have the right to do whatever you want to them to "defend" yourself and your property, so long as you don't do it with an implement that is illegal.
So the erstwhile burglar loses his right not be murdered, while the 20 year old has an horrific death on his conscience, over a couple of hundred bucks' worth of electronic equipment?? I think that US in general may have a problem with excessive force.
2. He's like the wind.
Poor old Patrick Swayze lost his battle with pancreatic cancer, his passing prompting the most frequent playings of (I've Had) The Time of My Life since 1987.
3. Silvio Berlusconi puts up his nomination for the dumbest world leader ever.
OK, so there's pretty much no way that anyone but George W. Bush would win that award, if it ever came down to it, but Italy's PM Berlusconi would have to be in the top 10. Not only does he incessantly refer to both Barack and Michelle Obama as "suntanned", he insists that anyone who thinks that might be a bit rascist would have to be an "imbecile". Quite.
Friday, 8 January 2010
The Year in Review: August 2009
August 2009
1. Australia loses the Ashes. Again.
For the second time in a row, Australia lost the Ashes in England. This second time hurt less than the first, possibly because it's less of a shock when it hasn't been so many years between losses, or possibly because this time we really were pretty much outplayed (as opposed to last time, when we didn't have McGrath, and the Poms cheated as much as possible . . .).
Basically, this time around we brought it more or less entirely on ourselves, with conservative captaincy that failed to go for the jugular in the very first test, and the indifferent form of various players that time and again saw us unable to perform to our best. In fact, what we were really missing . . . was McGrath.
Compare this to the English having a couple of players that nobody much rated (even the English) bringing some of the best performances of the tour, and Strauss leading from the front as the Man of the Series, and you pretty much have a situation in which it was always going to be hard for Australia to retain the Ashes. But of course, all this simply means that we're gearing up for another 5-nil drubbing when the Poms make it back over here.
Even without McGrath.
2. Triple J's Hottest 100 of All Time.
Triple J announced the results of their poll "The Hottest 100 of All Time". With over half a million votes, the poll was pretty massive, and the top ten came out pretty much exactly how you would think it would, with the #1 position going to Nirvana's Smells Like Teen Spirit.
In fact, the entire list turned out pretty much how you would expect it to, though for me TV On The Radio's Wolf Like Me appearing in the list - even at #99 - is a bit weird. But even though the list is pretty predictable, that didn't stop various people scenting a conspiracy. This included Triple J's own show, Hack, who did an investigative report into the results that was never aired due to the fact that they had used incomplete data to fuel their allegations.
One of the big points that a lot of people made was that there were hardly any women on the list, and this was therefore very suspicious. Or at the very least, biased. I would argue (as a woman, and a feminist) that this is because an awful lot of music that women put out is thoroughly shit*. I'm not saying women can't make awesome, popular, moving, anthemic musical masterpieces. It's more like, they just don't. I mean, really, if I made a list of my personal "Greatest songs of all time" I'm sure they would largely be by male composers and performers - and I think most people would say the same.
*When I say "shit", I mean "not my cup of tea" rather than say, "poorly composed and/or executed."
Wednesday, 6 January 2010
The Year in Review: July 2009
July 2009
1. Three new dinosaur species found in Australia.
Australia has never been a particularly rich ground for finding actual dinosaurs - our largely polar position for the ages associated with dinosaur life means that for much of that time, the Australian landmass was a bit cold and dark to support too many species, with our prehistoric fauna tending much more towards marine invertebrates and mega marsupials.
So it was very exciting when the remains of three new dinosaur species were discovered in Queensland, including a new carnivore something along the lines of a large velociraptor. Unfortunately, in all the excitement somebody thought that it was appropriate, rather than say, stupid, to nickname the dinosaurs "Banjo", "Clancy" and "Matilda" due to their being found in a (prehistoric) billabong at Winton, where Banjo Patterson composed 'Waltzing Matilda'.
2. Hotel bombings in Jakarta.
The first terrorism bombings since 2005, the attacks on the JW Marriott and Ritz-Carlton hotels in Jakarta happened 5 minutes apart, killing 7, inlcuding three Australians and injuring more than 50.
After the attacks, an unexploded bomb was found in the Marriott that had been set to go off before the other bomb in the lobby. Police investigating the bombings believed that the first bomb had been intended to cause people to panic and evacuate through the lobby, in order to maximise the effect of the lobby bomb. Had the timer on the first bomb not malfunctioned, the casualties at the Marriot may well have been much higher.
3. Williams swapsies at Wimbledon.
To nobody's surprise, the line up for the Women's Singles final at Wimbledon was a repeat of 2008 (and indeed other years) with the Williams sisters once again facing off. In 2008, it was Venus who was victorious, but in 2009 Serena turned the tables and defeated her sister. So that's nice and even of them, really.
1. Three new dinosaur species found in Australia.
Australia has never been a particularly rich ground for finding actual dinosaurs - our largely polar position for the ages associated with dinosaur life means that for much of that time, the Australian landmass was a bit cold and dark to support too many species, with our prehistoric fauna tending much more towards marine invertebrates and mega marsupials.
So it was very exciting when the remains of three new dinosaur species were discovered in Queensland, including a new carnivore something along the lines of a large velociraptor. Unfortunately, in all the excitement somebody thought that it was appropriate, rather than say, stupid, to nickname the dinosaurs "Banjo", "Clancy" and "Matilda" due to their being found in a (prehistoric) billabong at Winton, where Banjo Patterson composed 'Waltzing Matilda'.
2. Hotel bombings in Jakarta.
The first terrorism bombings since 2005, the attacks on the JW Marriott and Ritz-Carlton hotels in Jakarta happened 5 minutes apart, killing 7, inlcuding three Australians and injuring more than 50.
After the attacks, an unexploded bomb was found in the Marriott that had been set to go off before the other bomb in the lobby. Police investigating the bombings believed that the first bomb had been intended to cause people to panic and evacuate through the lobby, in order to maximise the effect of the lobby bomb. Had the timer on the first bomb not malfunctioned, the casualties at the Marriot may well have been much higher.
3. Williams swapsies at Wimbledon.
To nobody's surprise, the line up for the Women's Singles final at Wimbledon was a repeat of 2008 (and indeed other years) with the Williams sisters once again facing off. In 2008, it was Venus who was victorious, but in 2009 Serena turned the tables and defeated her sister. So that's nice and even of them, really.
Tuesday, 5 January 2010
The Year in Review: June 2009
June 2009
1. Home ownership.
For me, the most important event of June was that I bought a house. It was something that I had imagined to be out of my grasp, but ironically the unstable financial situation worked greatly in my favour - causing the bottom of the (ridiculously out-of-control) property market to drop out. At the same time, the government was still offering a doubled first home owner's grant of $14,000 - meaning I could just afford to get into my own home. Hooray!
2. Murder of George Tiller.
Confirming that there is no level of insanity or stupidity too great for an extremist to master, abortion doctor George Tiller was shot dead (alledgedly) by "pro-life" nutjob Scott Roeder. While he was at a church service, no less.
Well, indeed. We take right to life so seriously that we'll kill you if you don't agree.
3. The Chaser finally oversteps the mark.
The Chaser's War on Everything did a very dark sketch lampooning the Make-a-Wish Foundation, which met with virtually universal condemnation. Personally, I wasn't that bothered by it, though I can imagine if you were a parent of a critically ill child, or a critically ill child yourself, you'd find it pretty hurtful.
What I found extraordinary is that the ABC immediately distanced themselves from the whole thing, basically trying to imply that the Chaser operates in a vacuum, far from any sort of standards, legal advice, classification advice. This is obviously not how things operate - several different people would have had to both see and approve the sketch before it went live - so it seems a bit disingenous for Auntie to imply otherwise.
The other part that about the controversy that outraged me was Kevin Rudd's response. He came out and said the sketch was "beyond the pale" and that the Chaser boys should "hang their heads in shame". Which is fine, except he also said: "I didn't see that but it's been described to me." In which case, Kev, you're not entitled to an opinion, and you should hang your head in shame for jumping on the band wagon without being in possession of all of the facts.
4. The "King of Pop" dies.
I think regardless of what you thought of him, it was really kind of surreal to find out that Michael Jackson was dead. It was a sad end to a very sad life, with MJ passing away at the relatively young age of 51.
1. Home ownership.
For me, the most important event of June was that I bought a house. It was something that I had imagined to be out of my grasp, but ironically the unstable financial situation worked greatly in my favour - causing the bottom of the (ridiculously out-of-control) property market to drop out. At the same time, the government was still offering a doubled first home owner's grant of $14,000 - meaning I could just afford to get into my own home. Hooray!
2. Murder of George Tiller.
Confirming that there is no level of insanity or stupidity too great for an extremist to master, abortion doctor George Tiller was shot dead (alledgedly) by "pro-life" nutjob Scott Roeder. While he was at a church service, no less.
Well, indeed. We take right to life so seriously that we'll kill you if you don't agree.
3. The Chaser finally oversteps the mark.
The Chaser's War on Everything did a very dark sketch lampooning the Make-a-Wish Foundation, which met with virtually universal condemnation. Personally, I wasn't that bothered by it, though I can imagine if you were a parent of a critically ill child, or a critically ill child yourself, you'd find it pretty hurtful.
What I found extraordinary is that the ABC immediately distanced themselves from the whole thing, basically trying to imply that the Chaser operates in a vacuum, far from any sort of standards, legal advice, classification advice. This is obviously not how things operate - several different people would have had to both see and approve the sketch before it went live - so it seems a bit disingenous for Auntie to imply otherwise.
The other part that about the controversy that outraged me was Kevin Rudd's response. He came out and said the sketch was "beyond the pale" and that the Chaser boys should "hang their heads in shame". Which is fine, except he also said: "I didn't see that but it's been described to me." In which case, Kev, you're not entitled to an opinion, and you should hang your head in shame for jumping on the band wagon without being in possession of all of the facts.
4. The "King of Pop" dies.
I think regardless of what you thought of him, it was really kind of surreal to find out that Michael Jackson was dead. It was a sad end to a very sad life, with MJ passing away at the relatively young age of 51.
The Year in Review: May 2009
May 2009
1. Daylight savings is defeated in Western Australia.
The latest referendum in Western Australia on the issue of daylight savings got voted upon and once again was voted down. The message seems pretty clear - if you put daylight savings to a vote, it will go down - but I seriously doubt this will stop the issue raising its head once again in the future.
Pro-daylight savings publications, i.e. the two main newspapers in WA, were quick to point out that the majority of people living in Perth wanted daylight savings, and by implication that our thriving metrop was being held back by our bumpkin provincial cousins.
While it's true that a large portion of country residents voted "no" - just over 70% - it's a bit of an exaggeration to say that the majority of Perth voted "yes". In a literal sense, this is true - but with results of 50.6% "yes" and 49.40% "no", it's hardly a landslide to be bragging about.
In the lead up to the referendum, there was a lot of pressure being put on by the "yes" campaign that took a "for the greater good" line. It's economically bad for WA to be another hour behind, they cried. To which I thought, well, we've coped with that handicap for a good few years now. And anyway, aren't many of our most lucrative economic dealings with China, who are in the same timezone as us?
It's good for families, allowing busy parents to spend more time with their kids, they said. To which I thought, well I don't have any kids anyway, and if I did I seriously hope I wouldn't be keeping them up until 9.30 just because I'm unable to prioritise my family/work situation.
But the best thing about a referendum like this is, I don't have to consider the bigger picture. I, as an individual, am being asked whether I, as an individual, like daylight savings or not. I don't, and so I voted "no". Democracy in action!
2. "I'm in looooooooove/with a fairytaaallllllle".
The Eurovision Song Contest was once again everything you might hope it would be - with the notable exception that Terry Wogan had resigned his post as commentator. Having commentated every year since 1980, Wogan was as much an instituition as the competition itself, with his trademark sarcasm and snideish comments.
In the UK, Wogan was replaced by Graham Norton. However for the Australian broadcast which also usually used the Wogan commentary, SBS sent over two of its own "personalities" to cover the event. Being neither as witty nor as interesting as a) Wogan or b) the each thought themselves, this was something of a fail for me, and I expect I will have to be disappointed again this year too.
And after the controversy in 2008 of French entrant Sebastién Tellier having sung his song in English (for the first time ever from a French entrant, in a move that was considered blasphemous by pretty much all of France), 2009's entry was a return to a familiar French Eurovision theme - a ballad by a woman in a pretty dress, sung in French. Which appeared to work, with France placing 8th, although to the casual observer (i.e., me) there was little difference between this song and the female French ballad-with-pretty-dress of 2006 (22nd), 2003 (18th), 2000 (23rd - although acutally this was one of my favourites), 1999 (19th), 1998 (24th - also a favourite, those seem to end up down the list . . . ), or indeed even 2001 (4th) and 2002 (5th). Possibly one has to be European to distinguish whether it's crap or not.
1. Daylight savings is defeated in Western Australia.
The latest referendum in Western Australia on the issue of daylight savings got voted upon and once again was voted down. The message seems pretty clear - if you put daylight savings to a vote, it will go down - but I seriously doubt this will stop the issue raising its head once again in the future.
Pro-daylight savings publications, i.e. the two main newspapers in WA, were quick to point out that the majority of people living in Perth wanted daylight savings, and by implication that our thriving metrop was being held back by our bumpkin provincial cousins.
While it's true that a large portion of country residents voted "no" - just over 70% - it's a bit of an exaggeration to say that the majority of Perth voted "yes". In a literal sense, this is true - but with results of 50.6% "yes" and 49.40% "no", it's hardly a landslide to be bragging about.
In the lead up to the referendum, there was a lot of pressure being put on by the "yes" campaign that took a "for the greater good" line. It's economically bad for WA to be another hour behind, they cried. To which I thought, well, we've coped with that handicap for a good few years now. And anyway, aren't many of our most lucrative economic dealings with China, who are in the same timezone as us?
It's good for families, allowing busy parents to spend more time with their kids, they said. To which I thought, well I don't have any kids anyway, and if I did I seriously hope I wouldn't be keeping them up until 9.30 just because I'm unable to prioritise my family/work situation.
But the best thing about a referendum like this is, I don't have to consider the bigger picture. I, as an individual, am being asked whether I, as an individual, like daylight savings or not. I don't, and so I voted "no". Democracy in action!
2. "I'm in looooooooove/with a fairytaaallllllle".
The Eurovision Song Contest was once again everything you might hope it would be - with the notable exception that Terry Wogan had resigned his post as commentator. Having commentated every year since 1980, Wogan was as much an instituition as the competition itself, with his trademark sarcasm and snideish comments.
In the UK, Wogan was replaced by Graham Norton. However for the Australian broadcast which also usually used the Wogan commentary, SBS sent over two of its own "personalities" to cover the event. Being neither as witty nor as interesting as a) Wogan or b) the each thought themselves, this was something of a fail for me, and I expect I will have to be disappointed again this year too.
And after the controversy in 2008 of French entrant Sebastién Tellier having sung his song in English (for the first time ever from a French entrant, in a move that was considered blasphemous by pretty much all of France), 2009's entry was a return to a familiar French Eurovision theme - a ballad by a woman in a pretty dress, sung in French. Which appeared to work, with France placing 8th, although to the casual observer (i.e., me) there was little difference between this song and the female French ballad-with-pretty-dress of 2006 (22nd), 2003 (18th), 2000 (23rd - although acutally this was one of my favourites), 1999 (19th), 1998 (24th - also a favourite, those seem to end up down the list . . . ), or indeed even 2001 (4th) and 2002 (5th). Possibly one has to be European to distinguish whether it's crap or not.
Sunday, 3 January 2010
The Year in Review: April 2009
April 2009
1. Swine flu epidemic.
Like bird flu, it once again seemed the end of days was nigh when swine flu came along. Dangerous killer flu! Sweeping the world! Vaccinations in development but months away!
The epidemic that began in Mexico swiftly spread to become a global pandemic, but fortunately in many cases turned out to be not as serious as the initial toll from Mexico suggested it might be. Although the worldwide death toll from swine flu is almost 13,000, many deaths were of people who were particularly vulnerable to serious diseases - such as the elderly, the very young, or those who were already unwell - and for many the swine flu was merely like a nasty remix of regular non-porcine flu.
2. Asylum seeker boat explosion.
A boat carrying Afghan asylum seekers exploded while being escorted to Christmas Island by the Australian navy, killing 5 and injuring many others. As per usual, it took no time for the humanitarians of the right to demonise the asylum seekers, with Colin Barnett claiming that the explosion had been deliberately caused by one or more of the people aboard - though when questioned more closely, he refused to back this claim with any evidence.
As it turns out, it may very well have been one of the asylum seekers who caused the explosion, or it may not. An inquest this month may reveal more about the events. In the meantime, the surviving asylum seekers have been proven to be genuine refugees, and accordingly granted refugee status in Australia.
3. Twitter.
In April, I signed up to Twitter out of curiosity. At the time, I still wasn't sure exactly what it was or what was the point of it. I don't use it so much, as I know only a few people on it, and haven't really ever contributed in a way that would see me meeting new people, so it's not a time-that-should-be-spent-doing-something-else vortex for me, as it has proved to be for other people.
But it's excellent for keeping up with what Neil Gaiman is doing.
1. Swine flu epidemic.
Like bird flu, it once again seemed the end of days was nigh when swine flu came along. Dangerous killer flu! Sweeping the world! Vaccinations in development but months away!
The epidemic that began in Mexico swiftly spread to become a global pandemic, but fortunately in many cases turned out to be not as serious as the initial toll from Mexico suggested it might be. Although the worldwide death toll from swine flu is almost 13,000, many deaths were of people who were particularly vulnerable to serious diseases - such as the elderly, the very young, or those who were already unwell - and for many the swine flu was merely like a nasty remix of regular non-porcine flu.
2. Asylum seeker boat explosion.
A boat carrying Afghan asylum seekers exploded while being escorted to Christmas Island by the Australian navy, killing 5 and injuring many others. As per usual, it took no time for the humanitarians of the right to demonise the asylum seekers, with Colin Barnett claiming that the explosion had been deliberately caused by one or more of the people aboard - though when questioned more closely, he refused to back this claim with any evidence.
As it turns out, it may very well have been one of the asylum seekers who caused the explosion, or it may not. An inquest this month may reveal more about the events. In the meantime, the surviving asylum seekers have been proven to be genuine refugees, and accordingly granted refugee status in Australia.
3. Twitter.
In April, I signed up to Twitter out of curiosity. At the time, I still wasn't sure exactly what it was or what was the point of it. I don't use it so much, as I know only a few people on it, and haven't really ever contributed in a way that would see me meeting new people, so it's not a time-that-should-be-spent-doing-something-else vortex for me, as it has proved to be for other people.
But it's excellent for keeping up with what Neil Gaiman is doing.
The Year in Review: March 2009
March 2009
1. World's Greatest Shave.
The World's Greatest Shave is a fundraising event held every year to raise funds for The Leukaemia Foundation, who provide support for those with leukaemia and blood diseases and their families. People joining in the World's Greatest Shave can choose to shave their hair off, or take the less extreme step of dying their hair.
In 2009, I joined in for the first time by shaving my head. I went down to a number three, with a kickass mullet on the way. I was pleased to discover that I don't have a badly shaped head for being largely bald - just really very round, like a bowling ball.
Check out my sister's photos of the event on her (poorly updated) blog.
2. Watchmen released in cinemas.
Though it largely got a bit of a pasting from critics, I thought Watchmen was brilliant. One of the chief criticisms of it was that it was too faithful to the text, which was what I found so good about it. As far as I'm concerned, the comic is pretty much perfection - so why would you want to mess with that? The movie beautifully augments the comic, adding the extra dimension of the visuals changing within the frame.
The one beef I have with the film was the casting of Matthew Goode as Adrian Veidt, which was both awful and thrown into even starker relief against the fact that the rest of the casting was perfection itself - better than any other adaptation I've seen.
3. Shooting attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team in Lahore.
Pakistan's status as a venue for international cricket was thrown into even further jeopardy after 12 gunmen opened fire on the Sri Lankan's team bus and a minivan travelling behind the bus carrying several officials, including the match umpires. Six Pakistani policemen and two civilians were killed in the attack, which also injured several of the Sri Lankan players and caused the tour to be abandoned.
Australia and New Zealand both played Pakistan in 2009, but in the neutral territory of the United Arab Emirates. And Pakistan had been due to host some of the matches in the 2011 World Cup, which the ICC removed and redistributed amongst the other co-hosts, India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh after an unsuccesssful attempt by Pakistan to convince the ICC to hold these matches in the UAE. This has led to serious concerns for the future of cricket in Pakistan. Will the team always have to be abroad? Could a permanent venue for the team's "home" games be made in an a neutral location?
Whichever way, it's very sad to see terrorism once again rearing its ugly head to spoil things that people should be able to enjoy.
1. World's Greatest Shave.
The World's Greatest Shave is a fundraising event held every year to raise funds for The Leukaemia Foundation, who provide support for those with leukaemia and blood diseases and their families. People joining in the World's Greatest Shave can choose to shave their hair off, or take the less extreme step of dying their hair.
In 2009, I joined in for the first time by shaving my head. I went down to a number three, with a kickass mullet on the way. I was pleased to discover that I don't have a badly shaped head for being largely bald - just really very round, like a bowling ball.
Check out my sister's photos of the event on her (poorly updated) blog.
2. Watchmen released in cinemas.
Though it largely got a bit of a pasting from critics, I thought Watchmen was brilliant. One of the chief criticisms of it was that it was too faithful to the text, which was what I found so good about it. As far as I'm concerned, the comic is pretty much perfection - so why would you want to mess with that? The movie beautifully augments the comic, adding the extra dimension of the visuals changing within the frame.
The one beef I have with the film was the casting of Matthew Goode as Adrian Veidt, which was both awful and thrown into even starker relief against the fact that the rest of the casting was perfection itself - better than any other adaptation I've seen.
3. Shooting attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team in Lahore.
Pakistan's status as a venue for international cricket was thrown into even further jeopardy after 12 gunmen opened fire on the Sri Lankan's team bus and a minivan travelling behind the bus carrying several officials, including the match umpires. Six Pakistani policemen and two civilians were killed in the attack, which also injured several of the Sri Lankan players and caused the tour to be abandoned.
Australia and New Zealand both played Pakistan in 2009, but in the neutral territory of the United Arab Emirates. And Pakistan had been due to host some of the matches in the 2011 World Cup, which the ICC removed and redistributed amongst the other co-hosts, India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh after an unsuccesssful attempt by Pakistan to convince the ICC to hold these matches in the UAE. This has led to serious concerns for the future of cricket in Pakistan. Will the team always have to be abroad? Could a permanent venue for the team's "home" games be made in an a neutral location?
Whichever way, it's very sad to see terrorism once again rearing its ugly head to spoil things that people should be able to enjoy.
Friday, 1 January 2010
The Year in Review: February 2009
February 2009
1. Black Saturday Bushfires.
The bushfires of the 7th of February in Victoria resulted in an unprecedented loss of life - 173 people were killed in the highest bushfire death toll in Australian history. The potential for this devastation was known in the lead up to the actual day, with predictions of extreme bushfire weather conditions - but even with pre-emptive moves such as a total fire ban for the entire state and the deployment of firefighting personnel, diaster was not averted.
Disturbingly, investigations showed that several of the fires were deliberately lit, including the fire that razed the town of Marysville to the ground, killing 34.
2. Flooding in Queensland.
It was an awful irony - while Victoria was burning, Queensland was receiving huge amounts of rain courtesy of pressure systems caused by Tropical Cyclone Ellie. Floodwaters rose to their peak in the town of Ingham, where flooding of up to 12.5 metres affected 3000 homes in the area. Some residents were trapped in their homes, while others from lower-lying areas were evacuated to the local high school.
3. The 81st Academy Awards
It was something of a forgone conclusion perhaps - anyone who has a keen enough eye to have observed Denzel Washington's Best Actor win for Training Day in the same year as Halle Berry's Best Actress nod and Sydney Poitier's induction into the Hall of Fame knows that the Academy isn't above favouring dramatic effect over merit - so it seemed fairly obvious that Heath Ledger would take away the Best Supporting Actor statuette, simply from the "dramatic effect" side of things.
The interesting thing here is that actually, Ledger's Joker is a fine performance. At once amusing and menacing, he manages to make The Joker completely unhinged without seeming over the top, helping to make The Dark Knight a pretty serious, grown-up film. Had he been alive, he may very well have found himself reading his acceptance speech on the basis of merit.
The other part of this Awards that I loved was that Kate Winslet finally took home the Best Actress Oscar - and for a part in a Nazi film. Go Ricky Gervais.
4. Kevin Rudd is stimulating.
The ALP came up with the Stimulus Package to combat the effects of the GFC. Basically, if you worked in Australia in the previous financial year, you got given $900. I'm not sufficiently across economics to know whether this was a good financial move or not, but it certainly provided ample opportunity for everyone to make gently crude puns. And therefore, in my opinion, was largely a success.
1. Black Saturday Bushfires.
The bushfires of the 7th of February in Victoria resulted in an unprecedented loss of life - 173 people were killed in the highest bushfire death toll in Australian history. The potential for this devastation was known in the lead up to the actual day, with predictions of extreme bushfire weather conditions - but even with pre-emptive moves such as a total fire ban for the entire state and the deployment of firefighting personnel, diaster was not averted.
Disturbingly, investigations showed that several of the fires were deliberately lit, including the fire that razed the town of Marysville to the ground, killing 34.
2. Flooding in Queensland.
It was an awful irony - while Victoria was burning, Queensland was receiving huge amounts of rain courtesy of pressure systems caused by Tropical Cyclone Ellie. Floodwaters rose to their peak in the town of Ingham, where flooding of up to 12.5 metres affected 3000 homes in the area. Some residents were trapped in their homes, while others from lower-lying areas were evacuated to the local high school.
3. The 81st Academy Awards
It was something of a forgone conclusion perhaps - anyone who has a keen enough eye to have observed Denzel Washington's Best Actor win for Training Day in the same year as Halle Berry's Best Actress nod and Sydney Poitier's induction into the Hall of Fame knows that the Academy isn't above favouring dramatic effect over merit - so it seemed fairly obvious that Heath Ledger would take away the Best Supporting Actor statuette, simply from the "dramatic effect" side of things.
The interesting thing here is that actually, Ledger's Joker is a fine performance. At once amusing and menacing, he manages to make The Joker completely unhinged without seeming over the top, helping to make The Dark Knight a pretty serious, grown-up film. Had he been alive, he may very well have found himself reading his acceptance speech on the basis of merit.
The other part of this Awards that I loved was that Kate Winslet finally took home the Best Actress Oscar - and for a part in a Nazi film. Go Ricky Gervais.
4. Kevin Rudd is stimulating.
The ALP came up with the Stimulus Package to combat the effects of the GFC. Basically, if you worked in Australia in the previous financial year, you got given $900. I'm not sufficiently across economics to know whether this was a good financial move or not, but it certainly provided ample opportunity for everyone to make gently crude puns. And therefore, in my opinion, was largely a success.
The Year in Review: January 2009
So I've decided to try and make a start on practising regular blog writing by giving a review of some of the highlights/lowlights/no-particular-strong-feelings-either-way-lights of 2009, both for me personally, and for the world in general.
The idea I have is that I will write about each month of 2009 on the corresponding day of January 2010 (e.g., I'm writing about January on today, the first, July would be on the 7th, December on the 12th, etc). Though I'm making no guarantees about that - it could be very difficult as I have no internet access at home, and I'm planning on handing this computer (at work) over for upgrading/maintenance in the next couple of days. But we shall see.
So, without further ado, here is the year in review.
January
1. Return of the prodigal daughter.
On a personal level, the most significant part of January was that my time overseas came to an end. I spent New Year's at Hogmanay in Edinburgh, then meandered back south to London via Whitby and Middlesborough to catch my flight back home. Post-Whitby this was complete with an extremely heavy and gigantic ammonite that I found there - all the way back to Australia in my hand luggage.
See my Flickr photostream of Whitby.
I had a great time overseas, but by the time I left I was really ready to be home. I think the longest I stayed in any one place was about a week, and the constant moving araound, not to mention the schlepping of my giant and very heavy suitcase everywhere, had me really ready to just be in one place. And if it's got to be one place, there's no place like home, right?
2. Barama: A New Hope.
I heard a journalist stumbling over his words one time call Barack Obama "Barama" - which I enjoyed so much that I like to resurrect it every now and then. As far as nicknames go, I think it's a catchy one.
This was a significant event, not just for the US, but pretty much for the whole world. Regardless of how the term of office actually turns out, it's moments like these that keep people believing in government - moments of idealism when it seems that politicians can make the world a better place - can, and will, and will erase the mistakes of the past with their vision of the glorious future. Of course, in actuality it rarely turns out like that - we discover that every politician must compromise, we don't agree with the decisions they make, we want them to go further with things . . . But there'll always be that moment of heady optimism when it seems anything is possible.
3. Global Financial Crisis
The continuation of the GFC meant that worldwide, jobs were folding, banks were foreclosing, and it seemed the sky was going to fall on our heads. Like other places in the world, wide-scale recession seemed imminent for Australia, and there was a general feeling of waiting for the storm of impending doom to hit.
The idea I have is that I will write about each month of 2009 on the corresponding day of January 2010 (e.g., I'm writing about January on today, the first, July would be on the 7th, December on the 12th, etc). Though I'm making no guarantees about that - it could be very difficult as I have no internet access at home, and I'm planning on handing this computer (at work) over for upgrading/maintenance in the next couple of days. But we shall see.
So, without further ado, here is the year in review.
January
1. Return of the prodigal daughter.
On a personal level, the most significant part of January was that my time overseas came to an end. I spent New Year's at Hogmanay in Edinburgh, then meandered back south to London via Whitby and Middlesborough to catch my flight back home. Post-Whitby this was complete with an extremely heavy and gigantic ammonite that I found there - all the way back to Australia in my hand luggage.
See my Flickr photostream of Whitby.
I had a great time overseas, but by the time I left I was really ready to be home. I think the longest I stayed in any one place was about a week, and the constant moving araound, not to mention the schlepping of my giant and very heavy suitcase everywhere, had me really ready to just be in one place. And if it's got to be one place, there's no place like home, right?
2. Barama: A New Hope.
I heard a journalist stumbling over his words one time call Barack Obama "Barama" - which I enjoyed so much that I like to resurrect it every now and then. As far as nicknames go, I think it's a catchy one.
This was a significant event, not just for the US, but pretty much for the whole world. Regardless of how the term of office actually turns out, it's moments like these that keep people believing in government - moments of idealism when it seems that politicians can make the world a better place - can, and will, and will erase the mistakes of the past with their vision of the glorious future. Of course, in actuality it rarely turns out like that - we discover that every politician must compromise, we don't agree with the decisions they make, we want them to go further with things . . . But there'll always be that moment of heady optimism when it seems anything is possible.
3. Global Financial Crisis
The continuation of the GFC meant that worldwide, jobs were folding, banks were foreclosing, and it seemed the sky was going to fall on our heads. Like other places in the world, wide-scale recession seemed imminent for Australia, and there was a general feeling of waiting for the storm of impending doom to hit.
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