Wednesday, September 28, 2005

Wrapped up in vinegar and brown paper

About 20 years ago I had a bit of a life crisis. My hairdresser told me that my hair was starting to thin, a shock for a man in his mid-twenties. I guess that my sense of self was pretty thin, or that I didnt have a good grasp of what was important in life. I suppose that I panicked and focussed on my hair, looking for the hard evidence. It seems a little foolish now, but things spun out of control and I fell, without knowing it, into an anxiety syndrome. Of course, I didnt find out about my affliction for over three years, largely because doctors thought I was just over-stressed and needed to relax. Thats exactly what I would like to have done.

To cut a long story short, an anxiety syndrome occurs when a person has a physical reaction, such as a churning stomach, palpitation or panic attack, usually as a result of a period of sustained stress or shock or such like. In my case, the anxiety manifested itself as a band of pain or tension around my head. Such an attack can often panic the sufferer into other similar attacks, until the very fear of these disturbing symptoms brings on more and more bewildering assaults. Fear creates an ongoing cycle.

A wise doctor that I saw some three years after I fell into this pattern recognised the syndrome and gave me a wonderful book, Self-Help for your Nerves by Dr Claire Weekes. Within a few months I was a lot better. I fact, the book saved my life and my gratitude to the late author is boundless. I still suffer occasional bouts of the syndrome, in fact, I am at the present. But I know, despite their debilitating nature, that I will come through.

To anybody who suffers from nervous illness, I recommend this book.

Tuesday, September 27, 2005

Idling Away

Like everywhere else, Australian TV is beset by an endless (do you really mean without end? ed.) procession of reality-style TV shows. I give most of them short shrift, though I confess to enjoying Australian Idol, probably because I like music, sing in a choir and can occasionally be found connected to an ipod.

I'm aware of all the arguments against such a "competition"; the focus on pop/rock, the competence of the judges, the flawed voting system, to name but a few. There' s no doubt that the supposed end product, a dynamic new young pop talent, can hardly justify the huge costs in production and personnel. But this isnt really about that objective. It's more about entertainment and pulling in advertising revenue, all the while hoping that an attractive talent will emerge at the end of the process.

Still, there's something a little compelling about it all. In the initial phases, of course, most of us, if we are honest, get a kick out of seeing so many people making fools of themselves. ("But I am a great singer. I'm gonna prove you wrong!") I am always amazed at the lack of self-knowledge or the inflated self-opinion. Who is winding these people up, I wonder? Friends, family?

At the present, we are down to the last nine, meaning that we should be seeing performers who can sing well and have a stage presence, or at least, the makings of one. And by and large we do. Notwithstanding the often facile remarks of the judges (with the exception of Ms Hines) and the sometimes wayward voting patterns of a fickle public, there is some serious talent left in the competition. I'm not sure that I want to see or hear a packaged pop product at the end of it all, but I'm happy to sit through the process.

And by the way, my relationship with the ipod is strictly master/slave. It plays music at my command (supposing the batteries aren't flat) and it gets put away in a drawer like any other common item. It has not changed my life, it does not sleep with me, nor do I gaze at it in wonderment. It does the job well , though I imagine half a dozen similar mp3 devices do too. But the guff of an 'IT' obsessed media is the stuff of another blog.

Wednesday, September 21, 2005

Wholly family


Yesterday Nadia and I went to Nepean Hospital for her 12 week ultrasound. I suppose that we were both a little apprehensive. There are a lot of unpleasant stories and medical complications that seem to emerge from no-where when you begin researching pregnancy. So we were especially happy that the tiny baby was 1) actually there and 2) in very good health. I can't emphasize too much how utterly singular the experience is. No expecting father should miss it.

Today I took this photo of Nadia and Ruth, both wearing hats. Ruth is our 15 year old kelpie cross who just keeps going on and on. The day will come, we know, and sooner most probably. Until then she can amuse us with occasional burst of energy and silly photos. It's a wholly family of sorts, since I'm behind the lens and there really is a trio in front, if you think about it.

Saturday, September 17, 2005

Ever Closer Onions

The rejection of the proposed EU Constitution by both France and Holland some two months ago is a blow for proponents of ever closer union. It must really be gaulling (surely, galling, ed.) for the French and especially the increasingly impotent Chirac. The French President must be particularly piqued that the rejection by his own country plays directly in the hands of the perfidious British, who have only ever wanted a loosely confederated EU with a more dynamic market orientation.

There are many things to admire about France. I could go on about the food, the countryside, the elevation of high culture, the great writers, musicians and philosophers for longer than most people could tolerate. I'm also rather fond of Tin-Tin. But the French share with the Americans a singular arrogance about themselves and a national pride well in excess of the facts on the ground. Its strange then that these two republics, born about the same time and saturated in a not dissimilar hubris, should be at each others throats these days. A clashing of two mighty egos.

To jump back a paragraph, the point I set out to make was the beautiful irony of the French 'non'. The Blair Government has been sweating on the upcoming referendum (over the EU Constitution) for some time now and must have realised the difficulty if gaining a British yes vote. The consequences of a 'no' would have most damaging to Britain's perceived place in Europe. So imagine the delight in Downing St and Whitehall at the French result. Political union is dead and the French are holding the smoking gun! Sacre bleu!

Thursday, September 15, 2005

Rage from the grave

The memoirs of a former Federal Parliamentary Labor Leader have been set the media ablaze. Mark Latham headed the party at the previous Federal Election (2004), resigning three months later in a pique of recrimination, some of it, no doubt, brought on by ill health.

Latham was an interesting politician, candid, full of ideas and visions, if you like. But he was never really in control of himself, lacked discipline at critical junctures and seemed not, if reports are correct, to have been a team player.

At best, his memoirs seem ill judged and, if the adage about revenge is to be believed, has served his so-called opponents a very hot dish indeed. At worst it is a dummy spit of Olympian size, belittling both the man and his party and handing a free kick to the Government.

Biting the hand that has fed you is not an edifying site. Latham probably has some legitimate gripes about loyalty and performance, but this ungracious effort demonstrates one clear fact. He is a man who had no business trying to become Prime Minister.

Saturday, September 10, 2005

Gadding On

Tomorrow Japan goes to the polls to elect a new parliament. If you're even a little interested in Japanese politics, I'd recommend any number of news sites (such as the BBC) if you'd like a summary of what its all about. As I've said before, I'm in the unusual position of hoping that the government of Junichiro Koisumi is re-elected. It's unusual because my politics is left of centre and the LDP is a conservative party. But Koisumi is the kind of political shaker who is getting Japan to reflect on its position in the world and the way things are done. I'm not usually in favour of privatisation, but there is a case for Japan's lumbering postal service to be shunted into the modern era. There is also a strong case for reforming the financial sector and the scandalous pork barrelling that occurs, with the open complicity of parliamentarians.

Yesterday I had my weekly Japanese class with Keiko san, and as usual I fumbled my way through an hour of broken Japanese. Keiko is fairly long-suffering in my estimation. I do try hard but the more I learn about Japanese grammar and usage, the more choice I have on how to say things, the more confused I get. I hanker for those simple days of sentences without relative clauses and in which one can use the polite -masu form of the verb. Now I have to contend with a dog's breakfast (inu no asa gohan) of verbal and adjectival conjugations, all competing for time in the ancient CPU that is my brain. All the while, I know that the next chapter of my textbook is harbouring yet another layer of difficult stuff. Yes, I am slowly getting better - I guess I'm somewhere around the level of a three year old now. And yes, it's fun to do and an intellectual challenge. I will stop complaining now.

Australia is about to be assailed by new draconian anti-terror laws which, amongst other things, allow a person to be detained, without charge, for up to 12 days upon the suspicion of the authorities. Now lets get this in perspective. It was the Howard Government that decided, against the wishes of a solid majority of Australians, to go to war with the US and Britain in Iraq. The central reason for this war was the alleged stockpile of WMD that Saddam had secreted from the UN weapons inspectors. There was very little real evidence for the existence of these weapons and considerable evidence that the intelligence agencies of the US and Britain were using dodgy sources to make their claims. The British Government was even claiming that these hallucinations could be readied for active use within 40 minutes. Critics at the time not only dismissed much of this 'evidence' as political spin, but also noted that the countries participating would increase, rather than decrease, their exposure to terrorism.

And so we have the Australian Government arguing, without the least shame, that because of the increased risk of terrorist assault, its citizens civil liberties must needs be proscribed. And who will enforce these new laws? Why, the very people who told us that there were weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, that there would be no greater terrorist threat as a result of the war and who continue to act as if they weren't so absolutely, bloody wrong.

Democracy may be the least worst from of human governance (Churchill, I think), but sometimes it throws up such mediocrities, such fools. It's hard not to cry.

Wednesday, September 07, 2005

Hildegard

Hildegard of Bingen was a 12th century Christian mystic who embraced a far more wholistic and embracing faith than what we often hear about today. The Earth as God's good creation was fundamental to her perception of how life should be lived. In a way, she is an ancient flagbearer for the environmental movement. She exhorts us to "meet each creature with grace", a radical idea for her time and one that still seems not to have penetrated human sensibilities.

The air,
blowing everywhere
serves all creatures.

Ever is the firmament its support

Ever is it held
carried,
by the power of God.

(from Hildegard of Bingen, Gabrielle Uhlein, Bear and Company, 1983)

Tuesday, September 06, 2005

The Religious Left

You hear a lot, in fact, far too much about the religious right, especially in America. But where is the religious left, the party of Jesus, if you like? I'm a little tired of the right's myopic political agendas. I'm even more tired of their conflation of issues like abortion, homosexuality, prayer in schools and the like with genuine religious principles.

Correct me if I'm wrong (no really, go ahead) but I can find precious little that Jesus had to say to about sex (yes, he told a prostitute that she should give it up), though I can find a great deal that he said about religious hypocrisy and cant. Religious leaders of his time copped a bit of stick, as we say here. Nor did he ever ask his followers to get involved in politics; rather, the opposite('Render unto Caesar...)

So where is the assembly of voices of the religious left? The voices that will talk about tolerance, compassion and love. The voices that will repeat the Sermon on the Mount as if it were a manifesto that can be acted upon here and now.

They are somewhere surely. Stand up and speak out against the dark punishers, the pious naysayers..........

Conservative shenanigans

Further to my last post, the politics of hate (surely, happy Liberal family, ed.) in conservative circles has been jollied along by the Federal Health Minister, Tony Abbott. With characteristic charm, Abbott weighed into the debate over the resignation and attempted suicide of state leader John Brogden with comments alluding to to the latter's 'political death.'

It emerges that the information that tipped off The Daily Telegraph came from persons within Brogden's own party, the chief suspects being creatures from the far right. This gaggle of nasties includes some, like Abbott, who profess to have a Christian leaning. I'm not sure which Christ or New Testament they have been looking at. Their behaviour and public comments suggest that a vicious bigotry is emerging in the Liberal Party that is seeking to influence policy in ways anathema to most Australians. It also call to mind the illiberal attitudes of the likes of Jerry Falwell and Pat Buchanan in the US. I don't think this kind of imported pseudo-Christian ethical babble will play well in Australia.

If things weren't bad enough for George Bush over Iraq (excuse me for jumping topic), then along comes a hurricane that has blown away his flimsy claim to be a great crisis manager. If only Bin Laden could release a video claiming responsibility for Katrina, then maybe he could slip off the hook.

Bush: The terrorists have seized control of the weather. And we have found secret weather-making stations in the heart of terror central. (Cut to map of Iran)

But somehow I don't think this will happen. May his ratings continue to tumble.

Thursday, September 01, 2005

Catching up

Our broadband connection has been playing up this week, with unreliable and unpredictable connectivity. I guess that's technology...

We've had a wild week in local politics, by which I mean state politics. The leader of the conservative opposition party, the Liberal Party, resigned after allegations emerged that he had made racially dodgy remarks about the former Premier's wife. It was also alleged that on the same, somewhat beer-soaked evening, he chatted up a couple of female journos.

On the following evening, and apparently in response to newspaper headlines scheduled for the next day alleging further transgressions, the poor man tried to kill himself. He failed and is now in recuperation.

The role of the press in this matter has been the topic of hot debate today. To what extent should the fellow should have been let alone once he had resigned, rather than pursued with additional (unsubstantiated) allegations? How far should the media go in delving into the private life of public figures? Amid the collective hand-wringing today, there was a distinct wiff of hypocrisy in a number of media quarters.

But more on this later.......