Rats of Tobruk

I just watched the sale of the Rats of Tobruk hall in Albert Park for 1,730 000 dollars.

Every time a building gets sold in my suburb, every time a shop closes and a chain opens, we call it the ‘end of the era’. In fact, just last week I jokingly suggested that the installing of new check-out counters at the local IGA should be marked with a minutes silence for the old ones. The changes in Albert Park have been so slow and at the same time so fast that we have had many ends of many eras. The only difference this time that somehow, this time, I think it might be true. The sale of this building is indeed an end of an era.

My experience of the Rats building at the end of my street, was, for a long time, one of mild confusion. As a small child walking home form the school bus I was always slightly bemused. What is that building? Who are the rats? Why would rats need a building anyway? Despite not understanding its importance I always enjoyed seeing the building with is wrought iron gates and its mysterious stained glass windows. It was a hallmark of my neighbourhood. A familiar sight that meant that home was 'not long now'.

Having studied much world war two history I now have a much better understanding about the Rats of Tobruk, their significance, and why that little hall has been an important meeting place for 50 years.

As a cultural heritage student I have a much better understanding of what the building means. Standing next to the new owner of this place as he bid (or at least the man sent to bid for them) I looked at him, wondering what is in store for the Rats of Tobruk. I am curious and hopeful that they might be able to do justice to the important site they now hold and a little sad that it can no longer be the place that I remember.

Bully Boys

5 teenage boys from Xavier College bully their classmate by sticking him in the 'wheelie bin of terror' and pushing and kicking the bin until he falls flat on the ground. They video it and distribute it to their mates. Xavier development director Graham Sharp describes it as "a prank that got out of hand".

Nice.

Now thats what I call developing 'reflective, compassionate and articulate men of Christian faith and hope, who will give service and leadership in our world'.

Well at least we can rest assured that, given its Xavier, half these boys will probaly be drafted into the AFL in the next couple of years. One can only wonder what they'll be able to do once they have a massive disposable income and too much free time.

Political Inclusion?

Julia Gillard spoke at the Melbourne University Centre for Public Policy last night, on the topic of ‘Labor's framework for social inclusion’. She spoke knowledgably and engagingly about what is essentially weet-bix dry public policy. It clearly not a particularly sexy topic because, the public lecture was not nearly as packed out with punters (and whackos) that an event like this would usually be.

I have long been a fan, but that was based almost entirely on the fact that she was a woman and a Melbournian. There was no rational basis on which I had formed my opinion.

Last night I was hugely impressed with her as a speaker and even more impressed with the depth of her knowledge of policy and ideas outside her own portfolios. During a Q&A session she fielded questions about gay & lesbian policy, the budget, indigenous affairs, women’s affairs, infrastructure and IR with ease and it was quite apparent that unlike certain minister within the current administration, she actually reads things that are given to her.*

Its not really a surprise to me that the punters didn’t turn out in droves to this lecture, because social policy, and particularly policy surrounding social inclusion, is just not sexy. This is for two reasons. One, is that its really, really hard to find anything that works and twice as hard to pay for it. And two, its about helping the old, the poor, the uneducated, the disabled, migrants and aboriginal people, and most of the population couldn’t give a stuff about any of them.

But it turns out Julia Gillard does. She actually believes in social policy and that we have an obligation to invest in social inclusion while the economy is strong enough to pay for it. It warmed my heart to see someone working within the government (or at least the alternative government**) talking about the things I care about and saying the sorts of things I like to hear. It has been a long time.

Like Tom, I am struggling to contain my pessimism (the dees season is quite obviously ruined and its only round 3) about the coming election and my disillusionment with the political climate in general, but last night’s lecture was a nice reminder that some of my values are also held by some of the politicians, some of the time.

*She also had this very clever way of mentioning the shadow minister for whichever portfolio she was talking about, a bit of a ‘getting to know the gang’ kind of a thing.

** I am enjoying the way Special K has started calling it the ‘alternative government’ makes it sound like they actually are an ‘alternative’ not just an ‘opposition’.

You can now get a transcript of this lecture from here.

You light up my life

Oh, my god, are you for reals?

This is quite possibly the silliest thing I have ever heard.

The game is now so fast and so controlled that nobody in the stands can tell whats going on. So what we'll do is turn the lights on and off to make it more theatrical... so the supporters dont get bored.

Problems with game? Nah.

Chappelli on Woolmer

There isn't much that Ian Chappell says that I find myself diagreeing with. His recent article in The Bulletin on the death of Bob Woolmer is no excpetion.

I have struggled to find anything to say about Woolmer, the World Cup, and the match fixing, betting scandals and dodgy dealings that continue unabated in international cricket.

Lucky there are those more qualifyed and articulate to say what I mean for me.

Take your canvas bag, take your canvas bag...

I study at one university and work at another, and these two institutions could not be more different either geographically or ideologically. Yet, despite these differences, a fashion phenomenon seems to sweeping the student body at both institutions.

It is entirely unexplainable; it is… the country road canvas bag.

For those who are not in the know (ie. Me until a week ago), it looks like this…




Once the purview of Toorak gym-goers and weekend trips to Lorne, it appears the humble country road bag is now the hottest fashion accessory for the undergraduate set.

Why? Well, I’m not entirely sure.

All I can tell you as that it is not gender specific, that the most prevalent colours are ‘army’ and ‘deep lake’* and that they retail on ebay for a whopping 70+ bucks.

It may come as a surprise to you, but fashion has always been something of a mystery to me. And why anyone would pay that much for a canvas bag to carry their school books around in is probably going to remain a mystery, I fear.


*Yes these are actual colours (well, in the retail sense of the word 'colour'). Thank you to ebay for providing both the image and all of the information I could ever want about country road canvas bags.

Genius

I just recieved an email from the Rights at Work campaign against the IR legislation. They have an innovative new way to get supporters to cough up some hard currency for their ad campaigns. I for one, think it genius.

Check it out at http://www.rightsatwork.com.au/campaigns/bbq.

I would personally love to try the 'Non-Core Promises Spicy Beef Patties'.

Honda's earth dream

I'm guessing not to many people watch the Australian GP yesterday. Thats okay, you didn't miss very much. When the winning driver laps pretty much every other car in the race, you can tell there is going to be yet another long and boring season of Formula One ahead.

One mildly interesting thing that I did notice during yesterday's race was the shiny new Honda paint job, entirely sans advertising. It looks like this:



There is a URL on the back of the car, www.myearthdream.com.

There was very little publicity about this as a part of the reaceday coverage, so until I went to the site I had no real idea what Honda was up to. Have a quiz and see for youself.

While I'm not sure if this campaign is the most effective way to change the world, it is interesting to note that environmental concerns are even making an impact on one of the most environmentally devastating sports around.

Quality Keating

"All tip and no iceberg."









"Desiccated coconut."








Thank you for brightening my day Mr Keating.

And the partially sucked lifesaver* goes to…

Melbourne Victory had a rather successful win over Adelaide last night wouldn’t you say?




I had the opportunity to watch the game on Foxtel (not quite like being there, but there was air-conditioning involved), and while I am yet to be convince that the skill level of both the players and the commentators is in any way superior to the NSL, I must admit it was nice to see the round ball game going so well.

The crowd was great in size and in attitude, despite being alternately soaked in sweat, then rain and also by those strange mist-making machines that were brought in to help cool the players. Sadly, the mist-machine had no such effect on Ross Aloisi who went to some effort to stupidly get sent off in the first half, marking the end of Adelaide’s chances for success.

The man seen smiling in all of the post game photography, Archie Thompson, did a wonderful job, scoring a hat-trick in the first half, and casually finishing off his tally sheet with another two goals in the second half. Christian Sarkies did well to come on as Archie’s replacement and really stick the boot into the miserable Adelaide. But frankly all awards must go to Fred, a player whose class and skill with the ball continues to set Victory apart from the rest. With service like that its no wonder Thompson walked away with 5.

However, I would like point out something to television news producers. When producing a sports news story, I would appreciate it if you could tell me about the result of the game before you tell me about how well-behaved the crowd was. Victory crowds have proved themselves over two seasons to be free from organised violence and it is insulting to both the fans and the team that race violence (or lack thereof) is more important than the results of the game.

* am I really the only person who thinks this is the worst sporting trophy ever produced?

Picture from The Age online.

Sharks Circling

In one of the best mental pictures I have encountered in a while, Kelvin Thompson* described this man

as being like this man



Apparently it had something to do with Howard never admitting he is wrong, not because of the massive laugh track surge every time Howard enters a room.

Seems like a slightly skew-wiff analogy to me, but it did get me to thinking... is it possible the Howard government just might


before the next election?






* shadow attorney-general. No I hadn’t remember his name either

The Road Ahead

I am new to the whole commuter bicycling thing.

I have long been a partially comatose morning commuter sitting in the tram watching poor cyclists flog their guts out getting up the Swanston Street hill. But now it is me on the bike getting hot a sweaty while pedestrians and tram goers look on in sympathy.

I still have the L-plates on, but I am quickly learning the road rules from a cyclists perspective.

Road Rule 1
Bike lanes are more like guidelines rather actual rules. Drivers can feel free to pull up in the bike lane during peak hour – particularly if they are a taxi.

Road Rule 2
Councils are under absolutely no obligation to maintain the road in the bike lane. Terrible patch up jobs, half done maintenance work and potholes are perfectly acceptable terrain for cyclists.

Road Rule 3
When a driver parks and gets out of their car they are required to pretend cyclists do not exist. They must appear shocked and annoyed when a cyclist almost kills themselves trying not to run into said driver.

Road Rule 4
If you are riding in a pack after a bunch up at the lights, road rules no longer apply.

Road Rule 5
If you wear spandex shorts and your lower legs look like two football socks full of cricket balls you do not have to stop for red lights. In fact, you can pretty much pick and choose which road rules you would like to obey.

I seem to be getting the hang of it, I think. Am I missing anything?

You be Riff and I'll be Bernardo

I would like to second Tom’s excellent piece about the ‘riots’ at the Australian Open on Monday.

I witnessed many such fights during my days attending the local soccer and trust me when I tell you this violence has very little to do with race.

These are 16-25 year old boys, with more testosterone than brain cells who get together and decide to they want to fight. So they call up their mates. Then they call up the guys they want to fight.

That’s right, the whole thing is usually prearranged. They arrange a time and a place and meet up to fight. Or they go to a place where they know each other is going to be (like the tennis). It’s more like a first date than riot.

Its the live action version of the Jets and the Sharks. And the choreography is often just as good (although, perhaps will a little less boxstep).



The whole thing is designed for one purpose only – to show your own mates how tough you are.

Its about aggression, its about masculinity, its about boredom, its not about race.

The many things I have wanted to say

Mustering the energy to blog is rather difficult at this time of year. Particularly since I have just bought a fabulous, extremely expensive and ridiculously fast new bike, and now have to expend all of my spare energy riding it to work every day. I do have several things to say though. So, in no particular order:

Jim Courier is not a good commentator.

Could the Ashes series have been more dull? (I missed the Adelaide test, so I cannot vouch for the ‘game of the century’ status of that particular outing, but the rest of it was crap.)

I love Sports Night.

Three days of the boxing day test is not enough – I say we make them bat again. And again!

If I have to hear Jim Courier and JA trading sexual innuendo while commentating again I will be sick.

Tony Grieg makes me so angry I want to scream.

If you don’t have an air conditioner, I find a wet towel placed in the freeze for 20 minutes to be a delightful alternative (uses less power too).

20/20 is really good fun to watch. But its not cricket.

Ejecting the entire Greek, Serb and Croatian support group from the tennis on Monday because a couple of testosterone fuelled little boys had a punch-on isn’t really fair.

The media beat up surrounding said ‘riot’ was absurd and there is absolutely no way it can be compared to the events last summer at Cronulla.

Marat Safin is a grumpy, grumpy man. Not so much personally aggressive on the court (like our friend Lleyton) but genuinely pissed off that the world exists at all.

If I hear another person start a conversation with ‘Gee, its hot, isn’t it…’, I will have to evict them from the planet.

SBS’s editing out of two segments from this weeks episode of Top Gear to fit in advertising is about the most disrespectful thing a television station can do to its audience. I thought SBS thought better of us than that. Apparently not.

And…Wow, lots of white dresses at the Golden Globes this year.

Here ends today’s musing/ranting.

Have Mercy

The Melbourne Zoo has new tiger cubs. Awwwwww.

Retirement

One of my greatest irritations with sports journalism is the pre-emptive retirement story. I just don’t understand why sports journalists cant wait until a player has actually announced their retirement before they begin eulogising their career.

Endless articles have appeared in the papers today to celebrate the career of Shane Warne, but the man hasn’t announced a single thing yet. If I were him I would have hoped that those doing the celebrating would respect me enough to let me announce my retirement before they start talking about it. Sadly this is rarely the case.

Still, we knew his retirement was coming, and all I’d like to say on the matter is this: given that he is quite probably the dumbest man to have ever strolled the face of the earth, he is an absolute genius.







Photo credit: The Age

Christmas Cheer is OVER

The new print ad campaign by Coke has officially turned me off Christmas.

I have been looking for a copy of it on the web all day with no luck, so you'll have to check it out for yourself (the flinders street tram stop and station are delightfully adorned at present).

All that I hate about consumerism is artfully captured in this ad.



...Come to think of it, that was probably their intention.

Home James

I'm sorry I have been so remarkably absent. I am now back in the country and have caught up on my work, my emails, my Christmas shopping and my sleep.

I had a really wonderful time in Laos and now feel the need to tell you all about it...

Anyone thinking about going to Laos...add Viengxay to your destination list. Its a long way from anywhere and you'll need to prepare yourself for a very small plane flight or a very long drive to get there, but if you want to understand the country you are visiting then you need to go there.

Between 1964 and 1973 the leaders of the Lao community revolution, their families, the revolutionary forces soldiers, party cadre and supporters ( around 20,000 people in all) set up Viengxay in northern Laos as their base. The US government saw Laos as the key to preventing the spread of communism in Asia (Dominoes anyone?) and subsequently bombed Lao, and the Pathet Lao forces mercilessly during the daylight hours for those 9 long years. The natural terrain of the Viengxay area, small floodplains surrounded by limetone karst formations created a natural fortress, and from the safety of over 200 caves (set within the limestone karst) the communist party fought and won a war of independence against the Royal Lao Government.

The leaders of the Lao nation suffered years of struggle in those caves, withstanding US attack and then fighting a massive ground war against RLG forces. The experiences of those men undoubtedly shaped the nation that Lao became of the next 30 years and will continue to shape the nation for many governments to come. If you are war buff, a history buff, or a communism buff, Viengxay is a town which illustrates, better than any other I've seen, a nation's heritage writ large on its landscape.

Sorry, enough propaganda... I had a great time. I spent a lot of money on silk ( I could have spent twice as much without even blinking) and spent absoutely no money on anything else. I fell in love with the country and its people and developed a lifelong hatred of the country and its buses. I dot sick, and I got well. I drank way to much backyard brewed booze and ate things I know I wouldn't have if I had asked what they were. I saw turkens (the results of turkey/chicken love affairs) and churkeys (the alternate coupling) and worked with a wonderful group of talented students and Lao people to develop a new heritage interpretation plan for the caves and surrounding heritage sites. All in all a very good time.

its nice to be back, and having not been bombarded with christmas carols and bad commercials since the middle of November, I have been captured with the Christmas spirit (It might also have something to do with the cold rice and undistinguishable meat product I have eated for every meal over the last month). Bring on Christmas lunch!

Mildly Distracted

Well, last week was an important one for races wasn’t it? I won’t go into the details but donkeys won one, and Japanese horses won the other. It was pretty impressive all round, and should change the face of their respective races for a few years to come.

Sadly my attention to sporting matters has been less than undivided over the last few weeks as I have been preparing for a particularly challenging expedition to remote Laos. I won’t go into the details of what I am doing there (trust me, you’ll be bored) but I thought it might be fun to tell you a little bit about the place. I have stolen these travel photos from the interweb to give you an idea (I will try and bring back my own photos though).

I will be going here…



First I will fly into Vientiane where there will be some chatting (probably just smiling politely, as I don't speak a word of Lao) with governmenty types before flying to Xieng Khuang province, where I will see the Plain of Jars…



Then I will get on a long and windy bus ride to get to Vieng Xai/Vieng Xay/Viengsai (it all depends how you feel like spelling it that day).

Its in Hua Phan province (simmilarly irritating spelling variations are avaliable if required). Hua Phan is the province on the far north eastern bit of the map. You'll notice that Vieng Xai is not big enough to get labelled on this map (or in fact any others I could find on the interwebs).

Vieng Xai was the birthplace of the Pathet Laos, the Lao Communist Party. They took power in 1975 and have stayed there ever since. Their governmental strategy would be better described as 'authoritarian market economy' than 'communist' these days though.

Vieng Xai will probably look like this…



and this...



Think Halong Bay in Vietnam, only without all the water.

Apparently I will be eating this…



but hopefully I won’t have to spend too much time here…



Its all very nerve racking and very exciting, so you'll have to forgive me my distraction. I promise to be wholly obsessed by first world sporting concerns (The Ashes) upon my return.

And the really exciting thing is that by the time I get back this...



will be up and running. Wheee!



Note: Apologies for excess bracketing. I once read a novel which was as bracket obsessed as I have been in the above post. I threw it out.

Best Category Ever

It has been a good long while since I strolled over to Cute Overload for a visit. So when I stopped by this morning I discovered my new favourite category, Cats ‘n Racks.

Here's one from Cute Overload to get your started:



Classic.

Plus I was getting jealous of Tom’s cute cats.