The Mount Kembla Chronicle

On Vox: What is a "normal" Christmas?

Not everybody has a normal Christmas, despite the best attempts of the barrage of advertisers that have been swamping us over the past few weeks.

Just speaking at random, I have met the following folk who don't have a "normal" Christmas:

The lady taxi driver who jointly owns a taxi with her husband.  She does day shift (3am to 3pm), he does night shift (3pm to 3am).  They are together once per week on Sundays, and otherwise just pass each other at change of shift.  They hope to have a "normal" Christmas yesterday afternoon.

The lady at the fruit shop, where her family celebrates Orthodox Christmas on January 6.  Yesterday was a welcome day off after the pre-December-25 rush but otherwise nothing special.

Our friends who are single, divorced, or have no children (and the last point includes us).

If you believe the flood of advertisers there's somethin gwrong with us.  But I don't think so.

Merry Christmas, everyone!  (From your friendly local curmudgeon.)

PS (December 29):  The picture is of Pauline with 2 Australian Federal Police Officers on guard outside Admiralty House, the Sydney residence of the Governor-General of Australia.  I bet these 2 blokes don't have a normal Christmas either.

Originally posted on jecd.vox.com

On Vox: What is a "normal" Christmas?

Not everybody has a normal Christmas, despite the best attempts of the barrage of advertisers that have been swamping us over the past few weeks.

Just speaking at random, I have met the following folk who don't have a "normal" Christmas:

The lady taxi driver who jointly owns a taxi with her husband.  She does day shift (3am to 3pm), he does night shift (3pm to 3am).  They are together once per week on Sundays, and otherwise just pass each other at change of shift.  They hope to have a "normal" Christmas yesterday afternoon.

The lady at the fruit shop, where her family celebrates Orthodox Christmas on January 6.  Yesterday was a welcome day off after the pre-December-25 rush but otherwise nothing special.

Our friends who are single, divorced, or have no children (and the last point includes us).

If you believe the flood of advertisers there's somethin gwrong with us.  But I don't think so.

Merry Christmas, everyone!  (From your friendly local curmudgeon.)

PS (December 29):  The picture is of Pauline with 2 Australian Federal Police Officers on guard outside Admiralty House, the Sydney residence of the Governor-General of Australia.  I bet these 2 blokes don't have a normal Christmas either.

Originally posted on jecd.vox.com

On Vox: Hail and greetings to Chairman Rudd

In honour of Kevin Rudd's victory as Prime Minister yesterday, I re-present hmatkin's homage to our new Prime Minister on YouTube.

http://www.youtube.com/v/ptccZze7VxQ&rel=1"> name="wmode" value="transparent">http://www.youtube.com/v/ptccZze7VxQ&rel=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="355">

• I think this is item is very funny at an ironic level, given
• our new Prime Minister's fluency in Mandarin
• the neo-communist bogey which his political opponents kept dragging out in an attempt to discredit his side of things
• at an entirely different level, the "Chinglish" captions and their apparent discrepancy to the soundtrack (which a YouTube correspondent states is a commentary on the China-Vietnam war of the 1970s)

This film reminds me of every high school history lesson I had to sit through in the 1970s, when the late Brother Rupert of the Marist Brothers warmed us spotty and beardless lads of the red menace about to sweep down from the north.  (And Kevin Rudd is am ex-Marist boy too.)

This is very well done!  Enjoy.

 

Originally posted on jecd.vox.com

On Vox: QotD: My First Single

Music-wise, what was the first 45, single or download you bought? 
Submitted by Paddy Melt Wagon.

Lily the Pink by The Scaffold.  45RPM, bought from a record shop in Sydney for $1 (Australian) = 1.5 weeks' pocket money.  How embarassing.

Originally posted on jecd.vox.com

On Vox: Ode to an overly spinning politician

I'm desparately trying to avoid any reference to the current federal election campaign in Australia.  But this is too good to pass up.

 

Malcolm Turnbull flips 2 children

Politicians are very good at spin, but The Honourable Malcolm Turnbull MP got a little bit out of hand with this yesterday when he flipped 2 children over at Fox Studios in Sydney. 

Now Mr Turnbull is a big bloke.  I actually met him once, and i suspect that he has similar weight battles to me because he is of strikingly similar build.

But blokes of our dimensions usually (or at least should) know how to harness and control The Awesome Power At Their Command.  Not so Malcolm.

The ensuing photo op of weeping children, paramedics tending broken limbs (no!  Just joking here) must be every politician's public relations nightmare.

• "Turnbull's powerful spin leaves toddlers in tears" by Bonny Symons-Brown, News.com.au, 19th October 2007
• < h ref="http://www.aec.gov.au/Elections/federal_elections/2007/">Australian Electoral Commission: election 2007 website
• Google website for Australian federal election 2007
• ABC [Australia] website for Australian federal election 2007
• FederalElection.com.au

Originally posted on jecd.vox.com

On Vox: Vale - Frank Hyde and Marcel Marceau

Doesn't the world sometimes work in a mysteriously symmetrical way?

Today the newspapers report the obituatres of:

Frank Hyde

• Frank Hyde, a man who made a living by using his voice
• Marcel Marceau, a man who made a living by NOT using his voice.

Marcel Marceau

A letter in a British newspaper (can't find the citation, sorry!) suggested that we should observe a minute's noise to honour the memory of Marceau.

As for Frank Hyde's footy calls - what a way to bring a verbal experience to life!

Radio in its most innovative form is described as "theare of the mind".  Truly, Mr Hyde was a 1st rate director in this theatre.

Originally posted on jecd.vox.com

On Vox: Yomigaeru-ga-ii, Iron Chefs!: sardines and ham

The Featured Ingredient on tonight's episode of Iron Chef (Ryōri no tetsujin - 料理の鉄人, "Ironmen of Cooking") is ...

1. Sardines
2. Ham

Ingredient # 1 was straightforward (and it was already dead ,so it didn't try to run away).  Ingredient # 2 refers to the bad acting of Iron Chef Michiba Rokusaba. 

I do not doubt that he was, at this stage of the series, ill.  Indeed, he did have to drop out soon after.  But the bad acting was so bad that it put me off the pendin gSardine Battle.

And he didn't look like he was in hospital, unless Japanese hospitals are particularly homely.

This man is one of the Ryōri no tetsujin - 料理の鉄人, "Ironmen of Cooking" !!!! He shouldn't be showing weakness like this (and in such an unconvincing manner).  His opponents will rub his face in their sashimi.

By the way, the propaganda-style poster of Michiba san comes from Dashiell Dunn's website www.maestrosync.com.  His posters and his website are well worth reading.

 

Originally posted on jecd.vox.com

On Vox: Vale - Frank Hyde and Marcel marceau

Marcel Marceau

Sometimes the universe works in a strangely symmetrical fashion.

Yesterday's newspapers report the passing of 2 men who were at opposite ends of the vocal spectrum - Marcel Marceau and Frank Hyde.

A letter-writer to a British newspaper (I lost the citation - sorry!) suggests that we all observe one minute's noise to mark the passing of Marcel marceau.

And as for Frank Hyde ... well, when radio is described as "theatre of the mind", Frank must have been a5-start director in that theatre.

Frank Hyde

Originally posted on jecd.vox.com

On Vox: apec

Is'nt it interesting?  Once upon a time, when great leaders descended upon our shores, we were encouraged to flock into the streets and cheer them.

I recall seeing H M Queen Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, drive through Parramatta in 1970.  The crowds were 8 or so deep, and I had to shimmy up a tree to but see her passing by.  (I was a skinny and fit kid then, and downtown Parramatta had trees then.)

Now we are told to bugger off.  Stay away!  is the message.  We're not even allowed to look at the fireworks, in a city with a culture of harbour fireworks.

An article by Andrew Herd in Znet sums up this new and very uncomfortable aspect of Australian democracy:

Sydney is a public space. It is not a space for world’s powerful to use as they wish, when they wish. The arrest of the Chaser group personified the removal of rights that all Australians should have: to walk or drive down the main street of Sydney, or any other city or town.

World leaders at APEC Sydney Conference,Sydney

As for The Chaser people gatecrashing the security system - well, good luck to them, I say.  (The radio shock jocks and the Sydney Daily Telegraph seem to disapprove, so all the more reason to support The Chaser people.)

The only funnier thing than this is the vision of the politicians and senior policemen working themselves up in righteous indignation about the gag.

One of the reasons that dictators like Stalin and Hitler and Kim Il Sung succeed is that no one is allowed to publicly laugh at them.  For this reason alone, The Chaser people perform a valuable community service.  (And indeed, the Chaser people might all be looking at Community Service or worse after their day in court.)

By the way, in a desparate attempt to prove to you that I'm not a leftie ratbag, I invite you to send a greeting to H M Queen Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, and HRH The Duke of Edinburgh on the occasion of their 60th wedding anniversary.  You'll even get your name on a microsite. (This makes me wonder - dwill the Queen send herself a telegram for this occasion?)

Originally posted on jecd.vox.com

On Vox: Crowd participation and Bob Dylan: you think I'm over the hill...

Reader advisory:  Cranky Old Man rant following.

What is it with this "mosh pit" thingy at concerts?

I am not used to this, beyond cowering in terror at the sight of such phenomena on tabloid current-affairs shows when they go on about the Youthful Forces of Darkness at events like the Big Day Out and most silverchair concerts.

At the Bob Dylan concert last week, from our side-on-to-stage seats I noticed a throng of people hanging about at the front barrier.  Well, tough luck if we had shelled out big bucks foer front-row seats, I thought.

Whilst travelling home tonight,  I listened to an ABC Radio reporter in Perth talking about some biffo that erupted at the Dylan concert in that city.

The cause of the problem was the mosh pit that developed in the front row at the concert venue.

Apparently the people who had paid large sums of money to get front-row seats were being blocked out by these people who insist on standing about the front rows.

This (apparently - but G-d knows why) is a standard feature of modern concerts.

It is also something that people of ( ahem ) my years (and older ) are, understandably (I believe), not used to - especially at Bob Dylan concerts, which probably, it is fair to say, attracts a concertgoer of a certain vintage and infrequency .  (Ah yes, in with the false teeth, out with the Zimmer frame, up with the hearing aid, and let's boogaloo 'til we puke.)

Why is this?  Why does this happen?  Is the front-of-stage fair game at most concerts?  If so, then maybe they need to tell us when we buy the tickets.

And whilst I'm on my soapbox, what about these people who pay out the money and don't even listen to what's going on?

Two drunken young blokes (in dinner suits no less) at one point sat down behind us in some spare seats and proceeded to talk loudly about everything except what was going on in the concert - the weather, the lousy state of Sydney trains, you name it.

When Pauline exasperatedly asked them to pipe down, they politely and directly declined ("No sorry, we cannot be quiet").

I was at the point of summoning an usher when they abruptly wandered off.  Presumably, the combined effects of the beer (which we could smell) and their short attention spans drove them to do something else, eg walk about.

Oh well, another mug of cocoa and its off to bed I go.

 

Originally posted on jecd.vox.com