..to the Fringe and other Border Farces

Shane on the Fringe

G’day Possums,

“The Fringe” 2015

This year there are 81 venues showing some 120 photographers works in this “Fringe” section of the Ballarat International Foto Biennale.

Whilst intending to see most of the shows on offer that may not be possible but I hope I’ll be able to provide a flavour of this years Biennale Fringe.

Julian Burnside AO, QC opening BIFB '15

A well attended first night of the Ballarat International Foto Biennale was opened by Julian Burnside AO QC who spoke elouently of the importance of the arts in a civilized society.
A refreshing aesthetic attitude in this Age of the Aspirational Bogan of “Bookshelves” Brandis.

So, on the first stroll through the Fringe we noted ….

Oli, Ahmad, John and Morganna- Unicorn Hotel

Some nice work in this venue, particularly the Still-Lives pictured.

Nice stuff too here from the Karden Disability Support Foundation in its “Snap-Flash” exhibition.

Arthur Creative Photo- Little Bird Café

Moorfoot in Police Lane

The BIFB director beneath some very under whelming work flapping in the breeze.

Leigh Lambert, Silver Light- Sebasstians

Melbourne Silver Mine Inc is always worth a look and I very much like the minimalism of Leigh lambert’s work.

Sandhya Porritt- The Ansonia

James Niven- The Ansonia

Spare and well seen.

Jan Wissfeld - Europa Café

Cool minimalism becoming painterly, and I suspect geared to the “tone” of the venue…successfully worked.

Eric Algra - Gallery on Sturt

Humanist observations of time working at the fabric of structure… fascinating

Tony Kearney Adelaide Photo Artists - The Lost Ones Gallery

Sandra Elms Adelaide Photo Artists - The Lost Ones Gallery

Always quality from the South Australians…downstairs…

Michelle Williams, Backspace Gallery

Lastly, work from these two, which I think more than rivals the quality of the “Core” program exhibits with some utterly brilliant printing quality and sensitivity to subject, medium and technique. Certainly the best of the first days veiwing.

Silvi Glattaeur, Backspace Gallery

Silvi Glattaeur, Backspace Gallery

A brave, dedicated recorder of work in a harsh climate and an ebullient guest in the "Core" program appropriately housed in Trades Hall.

Pang Xiangliang Trades Hall.

One interesting event to note is the Fringe Artist talks to the public… not quite what or why I made a very similar suggestion to the committee some four years ago but something in the right direction, none-the-less.

The criticisms again levelled at the program booklet design are depressingly similar to those made in the past; and to paraphrase Mr Burnside’s opening remarks……..it is a Winterhalter, not  a Monet!

1/ Having to “learn” how to navigate it.

2/ Odd hierarchy of fonts and sizes making reading difficult.

3/ Illogical venue numbering placements on map

4/ Constant back and forth referencing to find full info.

5/ Unhelpful to visitors when some venues do not even appear or are indicated on the map.

Wombat Droppings

Or Australia’s inexorable slide into Fascism

They must be good!  Greg “Sycophant” Sheridan from the Ugly American's rag said that both Bernie Sanders  and Jeremy Corbyn were "fruit cakes!"

But as they are both more popular with the young than other representatives from mainstream parties the prissy mincing criticism of them by “Sycophant” suggests the tide may be turning.

When a group like the CPA’s of the country, a mob not noted for their leftist leanings, accuse Anti-Treasurer, Joe “Eleventy” Hockey of “Rhetoric …and not providing solutions… only pre-election fiscal give-aways.” You sort of have proof that this ruling rabble is on the nose with more than just Bolshie Wombats. The same spokesman also added for emphasis, "...that  .It would be funny (not having any policy ideas ) only if it wasn't so tragic.”

It seems that with forecasting tax cuts in the time honoured Liarbril manner of bribing the electorate we can safely assume that the “Budget Emergency “ is over….

Dessicated Cadaver, Dyson Heydon is earning around $12,400.00 per day deciding whether or not he is biased.  It has, so far, taken him two weeks to not come to a decision on this matter which might suggest that there are some in the legal fraternity who value their integrity and good name enough not to be sullied by association with Rabid-the-Hun’s political witch-hunt.

One way to stop the RC is for the targeted "accused" not to turn up, claiming bias!

Rabid-the-Hun has used these RC's like the Popes used the threat and or the implementation of interdict. 

They have become so abused as to have has lost all meaning.

I think that Rabid-the-Hun in his vindictive and bullying soul has admitted unwittingly that he wants to destroy the Labor Party but with the admission  he has cruelled his own pitch of his vicious and unreflectively anal  political pugilism.

Then in Melbourne we had the Border Farce Follies.  A show so ineptly managed in showing off their $10,000,000.00 worth of black uniforms that the fascist thugs called it off because they were made to look foolish on “twitter.”

Right-Wing pundits like Brendan “Tosser” O’Neil instead railed against the social media rather  than discussing the real threat to democracy implied by this sort of police action. 

It is a re-run of Germany 1936

Will Rabid-the-Hun or Dodo Dutton have heads roll over the Border Farce Follies or will they just send in faithful Handy Andy to slash a few wrists?

These mongrels are so bereft of productive ideas that Keating's "Banana Republic" is being realised before our eyes.

I found another reason to dislike Peter Fitzsimon's work!  His press club address was all about the fascists setting themselves up as "real" Republican's....The republic debate is F####D before it even starts with “Eleventy” at the helm. These Xtian hypocrites are incompetent and foul everything they touch!

Hoo-roo Petals,

Shane

seeing an implosion.

G'day Petals,

The house of cards is imploding but more of that later in Wombat Droppings.







Mrs Wombat and I took a little trip t'other day to Trentham... they have a small market there on the weekend so we ambled around with the locals sampling the produce and having a gander.

" The Cosmo" burnt down quite a few years back which made a real hole in the town's economy but it has since been repaired and other places have opened and it is quite a thriving town again.

One of the appealing aspects of Trentham is that for me at least, it has a definite Australian country town feeling about it.
It would not be hard to imagine characters from a Norman Lindsay novel like "Redheap" coming down the street.

Then there were the dogs: so many in fact, that I suspect that the market is only an excuse for the dogs to catch up and socialize.

There are even facsimiles of them which confused some.

Well, it is in the Wombat State Forest, after all...

...with some essential reading....

...at the Two Fat Wombats.... casually ambling along the verandah roof...
...as you do.

There are good food places Like La Fermiere, (bookings essential) The Redbeard and the Trentham Bakeries, The Coliban, and the Plough Hotel as well as the Cosmo. Three or four good quality Galleries and a pottery; bookshops and clothing stores make it an interesting place to visit and browse through.

Although this venerable structure has seen better days the bracing suggests that someone is attempting to resuscitate it.

Trentham, worth  a visit.

And lastly my flyer for the Ballarat International Foto Biennale. August 22 till September 9.



Wombat Droppings
the chronicle of Australia's slide from egalitarianism into fascism

In his political ineptness, Rabid-the-Hun has shown us with startling clarity just how confused, biased and dishonest the Liarbril “message” is.

One the one hand we will need either a plebiscite or referendum on “marriage equality” but not on sending more troops to bomb Syria.

Royal Commissions can be ordered into past Prime Ministers but not into pollies rorting the system or bankers fleecing their clients.

He maintains our elected representatives cannot make some decisions but hospital / medical, education, environmental and pension funding can be stripped at an ideological political whim.

He pretends he is “Protecting our Borders” by maintaining concentration camps for refugees but with the Pacific Trade Deal the ruling rabble are trading our real sovereignty to China.

His Catholicism will always have priority over and above the national interest and his “middle of the pack” on climate action is not that, it is just very, very mediocre.

The backers of Rabid-the-Hun and his “intellectual” wing, “The-Coots-With-Queer-Ideas-From-a-Parallel-Universe”  (aka the IPA) must be sorely disappointed that their chosen one turned out to be a false “profit”. He has not only failed to facilitate their rancid agendas but has also glaringly exposed their real motives and their immaturely selfish theoretical underpinnings.

The real pity is … from where is the real vision for this nation to come?

The body language of the ruling rabble in the corridors and on the floor of parliament seems to be one of sullen resignation. They have been chastened by the public disgust at Bronny Pompadour-Kero’s disgraceful excesses, rattled by their leaders backward thinking both on Climate Targets and marriage equality and now are faced with such embarrassing evidence of their hubris as their Cap’ns pick of Royal Commissioner, Dyson Heydon, has been shown to be biased, partial and conflicted.

They will not “name and shame” tax dodging multi-nationals saying that the ATO will sort it but then the ATO has been stripped of 1400 workers and can’t reasonably cope with the load.

There is now a real sense that people have “turned off”.

Rabid-the-Hun announces what is really for State jurisdiction, a “war on Ice” and it sounds hollow and meaningless, “Eleventy” Hockey brays in parliament about jobs and growth but is only going through the motions as he nervously counts down the days to when General Motors, Ford and Toyota close up shop (something he is responsible for) and suddenly there are 500,000 more unemployed swelling the dole queues and there is precious little manufacturing left to soak up the rising tide of despair.

Kelly Shaddupp-a-ya-face O' Dwyer.... on QandA prattles on and on and on and on …and finally comes back to the original point having spent 5 minutes boringly embellishing a slogan!

This ruling rabble is so full of piss and wind it’s no wonder that they’re so dehydrated and breathless.

Hoo-roo Possums,

Shane.

...as the Ship of State Founders

Shane with Falling Pieces

G'day Possums,
Well, what a few weeks we've been having here in Straya!
What probably was the most biased, partisan and incompetent Speaker of Parliament (Bronwyn "Kero-Pompadour" Bishop) to ever to besmirch the Office has resigned, (been pushed, dragged) from the Chair, over her rorting of parliamentary entitlements. 
The already fragile Ship of State, the rustbucket SS Liarbril is again adrift, with no leadership coming from Cap'n Rabid-the-Hun.

rustbucket SS Liarbril

 Three years ago I was warning that this policy bereft ruling rabble would cause mayhem  by tearing down all that has made us such an enviable country in which to live . We are now seeing the grim results of their slavish adherence to the ideological flat-earthers of the IPA (the Coot's-With-Queer-Ideas-From-a-Parallel-Universe) unemployment is up, wages for the lower paid are under attack, medical services are being privatised, pensions are being eroded  the environment is being fracked, concentration camps are seen as good and racism is being promoted.
There has been a concerted racist campaign, one that has developed since the time "Little Johnny" Howard failed to deal with the rantings of Pauline Hanson and her xenophobic stutterings 20 years ago.  Now we have the tri-partite ravings of Miranda "Septic Tank"Devine and Andrew "Blot-on-the-Landscape"Bolt and Alan "Toilet-Boy" Jones virtually joining forces with their intellectual equivalents, the moronic nasty Nazi-Boys of "Reclaim Australia " in blaming an Aboriginal footballer who has suffered constant booing for 18 month that it is his own fault because he "outed" one of the rancid people who had called him an ape!

Andrew "Blot-on-the-Landscape"Bolt

 The appallingly low levels that these people, mostly employed by the "Ugly American," Murdoch stoop to, is a tactic to constantly target a subject in order to seemingly get the repeal of section 18C of the racial vilification act. It's almost as if their rabid intensity is to make 18C unworkable and therefore, useless. 

Brandis as Napoleon (with apologies to JL David)

But their chief supporter George "Bookshelves" Brandis is having his own problems, coming under attack not only from the Arts bodies he seems intent on destroying but also for his sloppy incompetence as Attorney General and inability to read and understand mail.

You could say that the recent Australian Cricket Team's efforts in the 3rd Ashes Test in England is symbolic of what a state this nation is in....and if you think I'm exaggerating here's one Graeme Henchel's ode on it...


 Graeme Henchel August 2, 2015 at 12:09 pm

Why is Abbott a Dead man Walking?

Was it justice, was it Karma?

Was it Murdoch, was it Palmer? Was it lying and conceit? Was it backbenchers fear of defeat? Was it Mathias and Joe’s cigars? Was it because we’ve stopped making cars? Was it climate change denial? Was it putting Julia on trial? Was it the daughter’s scholarship prize? Was it debt and deficit lies? Was it removing the Carbon Tax? Was it trying to give the RET the axe? Was it cutting Foreign aid? Was it being so retrograde? Was it the Minister for Women joke? Was it all the promises broke? Was it Brandis’s bigots rights? Was it prancing around in lycra tights? Was it cutting the SBS and the ABC? Was it costing more for university? Was it imposing a GP tax? Was it the disregard of facts? Was it the ridiculous Dames and Knights? Was it the threats and talk of fights? Was it Joe’s “lifters and leaners”? Was it cutting the pay of parliament’s cleaners? Was it punishing pensioners and the unemployed? Was it the total moral void? Was it the embarrassing G20 address? Was it the ongoing budget mess? Was it the book-launch travel rort? Was it knighting the Queen’s consort? Was it use of the sham inquiry stunt? Was it the weasel words of Hunt? Was it the 800 Million given to News? Was it longer unemployment queues? Was it a budget most unfair? Was it too much body hair? Was it nobbling the NBN? Was it lying again and again? Was it exploiting terrorist threats? Was it job applications of Eric Abetz? Was it the sex worker wink? Was it being too slow to think? Was it Joe’s “poor people don’t drive” Was it the polls taking a dive? Was it the surprises and constant excuses? Was it asylum seeker abuses? Was it the work of Peta and the IPA? Was it repeating slogans day after day? Was it the dog whistle of “Team Australia”? Was it the pungent smell of failure? Was it wimping Putin’s shirt front? Was it because Christopher Pyne is a pain? Was it Arthur’s memory at ICAC? Was it giving Mr Burns the sack? Was it ever declining polls? Was it funding Internet trolls? Was it Newman’s election loss? Was it the submarine double cross? Was it saying the “Adults are in charge”? Was it making the deficit more large? Was it the whole damn useless crew? Was it the ties of bogus blue? Was it the hubris and the swagger? Was it Malcolm and Julie’s dagger? Was it saying he would change? Was it becoming even more deranged? Was it eating an onion raw? Was it the data-retention law? Was it exploiting Dr Karl? Was it frequent smirking snarls? Was it the daughter’s low rent at Kirribilli? Was it “Fixer” Pyne being silly? Was it acting like a bar room yob? Was it offering Bjorn Lomborg a job? Was it saying “I suppose we must grieve” Was it the constant attempts to deceive? Was it ditching his gold plated PPL mess? Was it then making Labor’s PPL less? Was it saying the deficit is no longer trouble? Was it increasing your own deficit double? Was it a second budget based on deception? Was it threatening to call an early election? Was it trying to get Gillian Triggs out? Was it Dutton acting like a Brussel sprout? Was it “get a good job that pays good money” Was it laughing at things that just weren’t funny? Was it all the talk of double dipping? Was it cabinet leaks a constant dripping? Was it denying marriage equality? Was it Brandis reading poetry ? Was it paying people smugglers to turn around? Was it the dead cat bounce the polls have found? Was it saying how much he hated wind farms? Was it lying each day without any qualms? Was it Brandis controlling the Arts? Was it the emission of smelly brain farts? Was it the false outrage at QandA? Was it telling ministers to stay away? Was it Bishop’s ride in a chopper? Was it cos Abbott did nothing to stop her? Was it Shorten’s conference revival? Was it party room fears for their own survival? Why will Abbott get the shove? The answer is, all of the above.

Hoo-roo Petals,

Shane