Following the series of election videos comes this triumph from Taiwan. This is a must-watch video!!
Especially for Julia’s laughter at the crucial moment.
Yes the commentary is in Taiwanese (i think), but you get the picture.

And a very good turn from Paul Keating on Radio national breakfast, before the election (while Rudd was still at the helm).
“Goodness of heart is a requirement for a good country”.

This is the ad that Gruen Nation pitched in their weekly competition. It was a strong winner, but because it now belongs to the ABC the Greens can’t show it on television. So you’ll need to watch it on the Greens site, on the ABC Youtubes, or right here!

Why am i so fascinated by the Australian election, in a year when the rest of the country is busy yawning?

i saw Alex Bhathal speak at the Greens campaign launch for Batman last night, at the Downunder Curry Cafe in Northcote. Very impressed with her dedication, passion and compassion. First and only thing that’s touched me this whole election. Alex spoke from the heart, which is such a rarity in politics.

(more after the break)
Read the rest of this entry »

Politics is a messy business.

Some say Julia should have waited longer before calling the election, to give herself time to sort things out with Kevin. Oh well. Too late now. Kevin’s much chirpier since he had his gall bladder removed anyway.

Some say it’s just a circus, and if you live in a safe seat, you have no power at the ballot box anyway. You always have some power. There’s only 100,000 people in any given seat. That means you have at least 0.001% of the overall say. Yeah. And anyway, your senate vote is crucial – whether your in a safe or marginal seat. Here’s a great site showing what happens when you let the party decide your preferences. http://belowtheline.org.au/

There are some good videos doing the rounds too.

EG Tony’s views on women from GetUp

Some say there’s no difference between the Labor and the Liberal parties. i totally disagree. Maybe the Australian Labor Party does look like a centre-right populist party full of power-crazed hacks, playing it safe and following the polls. But i’d still rather have them in government than the Liberals who are determined to make an art-form out of deliberate ignorance and mean-spirited prejudice. And i’ll be voting for the Greens – the party of dreamers, who genuinely think we can make this place sustainable.

Read the rest of this entry »

i’ve been listening to a lot of Kate Bush lately, after reading an article in Uncut magazine – “25 Years On – the inside story of Hounds of Love. And how it haunts the music of 2010.” Many many songwriters say the album had a huge impact on their musical creativity. For example, John Lydon (!) says, “Hounds of Love is beyond an album – it’s an opera”.

And Lee Scratch Perry says, “i no longer smoke weed, but you don’t need to if you have Kate Bush. Her music is all the high you need.”

Had a great musical evening with Jen and David lately, where we attempted to bash out Wuthering Heights on the keyboard. Got a bit trapped with some of the chords.. trying to work out the exact sequence of Ebm F# Ab C# during the chorus.

One of my highlights from the Falls Festival at New Year was this cover of Wuthering Heights by Wolfmother.. and here it is on TripleJ Like a Version. Nice one. i was really underwhelmed by the Wolfmother show until he launched into this song, which made up for the lacklustre quality of everything before it.

You can see from my latest ‘Loved Tracks’ from Last.fm, that Kate Bush has 3 in the most recent 10 right now*.

get_item_quantity(11);
$rss_items = $rss->get_items(0, $maxitems);
?>

<?php if ($maxitems == 0) echo '
• No items.

‘;
else
// Loop through each feed item and display each item as a hyperlink.
foreach ( $rss_items as $item ) : ?>

• <a href='get_permalink(); ?>’>get_title(); ?>

*Right now, meaning when i write this. Not when you’re reading it.

And my most loved tracks of all time at Last.fm – a lot of B(if)tek in the Top Ten! Because they are one of the best musical collaborations of the last 30 years and i love them.