...to things noted

G'day Possums,

......there's another one almost gone.

My favourite shots from 2012

Giselle rehearsal

Says much, I think, of the ballet and rehearsal mood.

Giselle, Myrtah, Wilis.

This one was the most popular publicly...... to the extent that one couple looking at it on exhibition accurately described to me the scenario in some detail though they hadn't seen a performance before. I felt chuffed at that.

Giselle, Wilis.

Mood of the performance and the Romantic sensibility.

Summation of the year? ... wasn't bad photographically but the moments of bad faith, deception, plain rudeness and selfish bad manners that even Polly-Anna wouldn't countenance appear to be increasing year for year.... or is it that peoples' minds are narrowing?

Next year: another Ballarat International Foto Biennale exhibit... venues booked, forms signedand paid for .... Title: Meditations on RD.   More later......

....and hopefully, soon, some interesting location ballet stuff...generally I hate ballet shots on location so it will be a challenge to make something "other" of it.

..it aint cricket....

Politics or Wombat droppings

Annabel Crabbe, journalist, commentator, blogger and it seems, a terrific cook had a T.V. program called “Kitchen Cabinet” where she would visit politicians in their homes; they would cook lunch (she supplied dessert) and converse about aspects of the pollies life and work.

The programs’ real interest lay not so much in the conversations but the subtext messages radiated by the pollies.

Often this year I have commented on the appallingly poor behaviour emanating mostly from the conservative side of politics. Sophie “Pit-Bull” Mirabella, Kellie “ Shaddupa-ya Face” O’Dwyer, Tony “Rabbit” Abbot most readily coming to mind but Crabbe’s program shone a whole new light on some of those who would like to rule us.

It was the meal with Christopher “the Whyne” Pyne.  (He who fibbed, no lied about his initial involvement with “Slippery Pete’s” disgraced accuser’, Ashby)

Apparently Pyne can’t cook so he changed the venue to his old mate Amanda Vanstone’s home because she can.

(Psstt….Joe Hockey couldn’t cook either but that didn’t stop him attempting a BBQ, Chrissie.)

It was as if on one hand Pyne wanted to control the setting and on the other promote Vanstone again to the public (remember Mandy? Used to ship Australian’s offshore, not just asylum seekers) whilst diffusing Crabbe’s scrutiny of him.

It struck me just how little Pyne involved himself in the proceedings and how off-hand both were to Crabbe, too.

Crabbe had brought flowers as a token for Vanstone who noted them but offered no thanks (well, we didn’t see it on camera) and Vanstone then just left them on the kitchen bench until eventually she became aware the camera-man was “making a meal” of her lack of manners by shooting the scene with them in close-up at base of shot.

They disappeared but we never did find out if they got to a vase and water.

Although not as fiercely guarded as Bronwyn “Pompadour” Bishop during her meal/interview, there was still a palpable sense throughout of “we-can’t-wait-for-this-to-be-over” and I felt a real sense of “I-just-wish-this-person-would-go-away”, with Vanstone making most of the running and Pyne saying little.

You would think that if you felt it below your dignity to appear on these sorts of programs, you’d just say, “No thanks” and not appear; but if you do, you should at least appear to be polite!

I can only contrast this with the interviews Crabbe had with Penny Wong and Tanya Plibersek from Labor.

Both were impressive in their openness and engaging behaviour and presented themselves as highly intelligent and committed women; the exact opposite of what I saw from the conservatives.  Have a look and judge for yourself….   http://www.abc.net.au/tv/kitchencabinet/

....all honking away...

 Then there was Chris Uhlmann, spouting, no, spitting lines verbatim, spruiked from the Abbott’s and Hockey’s Liarbril script at Penny Wong about the lack of a surplus…. The ABC’s “7:30” has, under Sales and Uhlmann, become as relevant to current affairs as “Play School” is to quantum physics.  Balanced, thoughtful journalism? Nah, tabloid crap.

Are the producers of this program are plotting its demise?

arrest.. Paris, St Martin Canal...

 All of which segues into “Coot–With-Queer-Ideas” from the Institute of Pubic "Affaire's", Chris Berg, who bewailing that he thought that there was no talk on policy this year only muck raking: “This Mindless Pursuit of Scandal…..” (The Age 30-12-12) whilst doing his best to spend 95% of the article raking well over the muck, leaving policy to get a mention “en passant”… a typical, loony-right conflation propaganda technique, conveniently tarring the Government who actually did implement policy, with the same brush as the Liarbrils (the side that he most keenly supports) who are drowning in their “tactique-merde” have no policy to discuss. And the little bit of policy he mentioned ?…Well, it was mentioned.

He’s a queer coot who appears not able to discriminate between free-speech, truth and propaganda.

The Wombats’ look forward to more of IPA’s hysterical rantings on 774 this year… as they provide insight into what appear to be the foetid, amoral minds misting through our land at present.

Barren, deserted and the wide blue yonder....

Speaking of which, John Singleton (mate of Gina “our Biggest Miner” Reinhardt) has, like his mate bought into Fairfax press. As an old “Ad-man”, when he talks about the integrity of reporting and journalistic standards you know he knows exactly what he’s talking about: ‘cause he spent years doing the opposite! 

Can we expect further interesting editorial “lurches to the right” from Fairfax?  

In the “State of Tardis” (where all goes backward) Police Minister (I-know-Nuffin) Ryan extols the good behaviour of our partying youth, which is a signal indicating that again, the opposite is probably true and that the “Tardis State” has nothing of real value to say....particularly about "Overlandgate" and "Frankstongate".

“Big Bird” Baillieu, (Silvertail Incompetens) is keeping everything “commercial-in-confidence”, particularly the deal with Myki who now make a profit from Victorian public transport users. Sniff, Sniff?

future

I’ve got a feeling Petals, that this is going to be a loooong year.

Cheers,

Shane