A Rococo Miasma of Whimsy

G'day Possums,

Art imitates life and what better at imitating the flatness of current Oz life than photography; so Mrs Wombat and I toddled off up the road t'other day to the eighth Ballarat International Foto Biennale.

Art also reflects the mores and practices that manifest societally as culture and the contemporary parallels exhibited are ominous in the extreme.

We parked opposite the Mining Exchange and given that that venue usually displays a cornucopia of imagery, headed there...oops, there was only Fiona Foley's "Who are these strangers and where are they going?"  A lack of labels made one look harder for context and deciding that we were looking at an installation utilising objects, video and photographs, proceeded.

Fiona Foley: "Who are these strangers and where are they going?"

Reality #1. Although Network Noine will not admit it paid The Red Terror from the Deep north to disrespect the indigenous custodians of Uluru by climbing their sacred site.....particularly after her insult turned to farce when, A/ she didn't have the bottle to go up much further than 40 metres , B/ couldn't walk down and had to, more aptly and toddler-like, slide down on her derriere, it still provided this repulsive woman all the publicity she craved.

 Reality#2 Defending their traditional Gomeroi country from mining, a family is suing Faux Environment Minister, Real Estate Ley after she rejected their heritage protection bid in favour of a controversial Chinese coal project. Acknowledging the project could cause "mental health impacts … a sense of dislocation, displacement and dispossession," but said by way of digital salute, the social and economic value of the project took priority.

So, invasion, dispossession, manipulation, slavery, despoliation and arrogant acceptance are the theme but installation is theatrical and apart from the ominously flattened midden "runway" of oyster shells leading to the empty tent this exhibit was too far spread in this huge space to be effective; and for my taste the staged photo's too prosaic and really, pretty ordinary and in some cases "cute," (Black KKK ???) to be much other than presenting a "very worthy" exhibit.

And then popping into the Central Highlands Waterworks historical exhibit next was a trifle surreal .....viewing all those Victorian workers and worthies digging up Wadawurrong country with such gusto.....

....and followed in turn by sublime Israeli arrogance with "Soldiers" where Adi Nes makes banal cartoonish pastiches of old master works and themes like "The Pieta" and "The Last Supper".....Haw, Haw, nudge, nudge.. wink, wink...you xtians...

but he provides at least some reality by showing four soldiers pissing on what I assume is most likely,  "occupied territory."

 

Adi Nes: Soldiers

Reality# 3. Coming into the open and phoning the Ruling Rabble's private militia Deputy Plod Gaughan, Obersturmfuhrer  Pezzi Pezzullo congratulated his AFP bovver-boys for their teamwork in raiding Annika Smethurst's undies drawer and said "Well done, tomorrow is another day." By which, he obviously meant that the successful rehearsal at A.S's meant "go-go-go" for invading the ABC the next day!

Obersturmfuhrer Pezzi thought negative commentary about his congratulatory epistle to fellow professionals was not meant to indicate "a supposed attitude to press freedom" ....whatever that is!

Reality #4 Its been a very quiet anniversary for Scummo, The Happy-Clapper, Liar from the Shire, Hypocrite and Pentacostal Prime Miniature ... as he has done nothing in 12 months worthy of  celebration.

Visiting Timor-Leste, Scummo assiduously avoided the demonstrations against the secret star chamber proceeding against the whistle blower and his lawyer who "blew" Oz's perfidy in bugging the Timor Gap oil treaty talks.

Also playing down this episode from his taxpayer funded retreat in London was Bookshelves Brandis, who knew that by proceeding when Plastic Attorney General he was dragging Little-Johnny, Fishnets-that-Batter and himself through the mire of their own corruption and obviously sees the Unxtian Porter's stupidity in not understanding even that in his slavish roll-over to Potato-Head's fascist vanity and fantasies as even poorer judgment than the event itself.

The New York times allegedly called these works "shrewd send-ups of the pervasive macho, military presence in Israeli life...".... now, who says the American's don't understand irony?

There were the Watchtowers dotted down Sturt St, the Missiles in Police Lane, Boy-o Xmas cards at The Forge and the Blind Radius series Part2, Dolls in the Trade Union and photographs of dioramas downstairs there too... Gosh, If I had have known I was making art by photographing these for a children's book I would have entered, too!

http://shanewombat.blogspot.com/2019/03/legacys-and-how-cat-got-belled.html

Portraits in The Town Hall were lacklustre in the main... and Petals, neither Mrs Wombat nor I were moved enough to even vote in the public choice. 

Consuelo Cavaniglia: I came Back, Toward Myself

The Bauhaus was interesting although it was a pity Ruff hadn't given a nod to the influence of  Kandinsky and in  the overall curation, acknowledgment at least to  Laszlo Moholy-Nagy, particularly his work "Vision in Motion."

Zoe Croggon

 In talking earlier about the nature of the works, they're ominous for the very reason that they hold no "bite", they're almost all "throw-away-lines," disinterestedly whimsical in only noting an event or action without serious passion or involvement and seemingly produced for an audience of jaded over-sophisticated tastes and of the lightest touch. "Rococo"?

The curation similarly seemed haphazard and uneven, aesthetically unsure whether it was exhibiting sculpture, installation art or photography and I'll not be seeing the "show-stopper" because I thought conceptual art's "process over form and content" died in the last century's early seventies and besides, "Where's Wally?"  holds little interest after the first time.

But for the rest ....there's always tomorrow.... to coin a phrase....

Hoo-roo Petals,

Shane.

The madness continues...

Shane Chillin' in the sun

G'day Petals,

We took a little jaunt to Daylesford t'other day and did a sampling of the Mineral Springs there. It was very interesting that each of the five springs we sampled had different flavours and strengths .... some pics of the scenery follow.... the madness that continues...

 "According to The Age, there will be a new show (on tele?) for pollies, it will be an un-moderated “journalist-free zone”, with the two politicians independently setting the program’s entire agenda and deciding what topics to discuss. Pyne told Fairfax he wanted to ‘showcase his sense of humour’, and “go into the important issues in depth and communicate to the public our policy positions and the reasons for them” — you know, like a press conference, minus all the journalists -and any hard-hitting questions."  Which is really problematic as Chwissie-the-Whyne-and-Perfect-Prat-of-a-Prefect, Pyne has a sense of humour only an addled right wing conservative could understand and hasn't had a coherent policy stance since entering parliament 23 years ago.

Who needs the X -Files for a fantasy trip?

 

Daylesford

Speaking of fantasy trips...Rabid-the-Hun has gone to Murdoch-land to deliver a speech to a  group of xtian fascists who actually like that he stands for values that are not fair, inclusive or sympathetic.

 He was followed by Captain Catlic, "Medieval" Andrews who was attending a "prayer-Meeting" in Washington rather than doing his duty as an elected representative here in Oz.

As both are attending right wing fundamentalist religious hate groups, one wonders whether they should be gaoled on return to Oz as they would like to do  to those who go away and fight for ISIS.

Any hope that Malcon "Truffles" Turdball-Fop can be trusted finally went out the window when it was announced that CSIRO is to lose another 230 scientists from the climate modelling division; a unit regarded as one of the world's best, which leaves Truffles clarion call to innovation as tattered as is his bowdlerized tin can and copper wire broadband scheme. Then on "Insiders" he trots out the same B/S of stopping-the -boats, (all 23 of them), never mentions that we are paying the people smugglers to turn around and take them back and supports the incarceration of children in concentration camps. What a monumental bore... loquacious pap dribbles from his mouth every time he opens it! 

It never ceases to amaze me that the only thing these mongrel Liarbrils are good at, (besides lining their own pockets) is destroying things!

 

from Mt Franklin

In 21/2 years there has not been a single positive policy outcome that has benefited the nation and now they are promoting the "reform" of the tax system by which they mean hiking the GST up by 50%!

There is not one single thing they have done which was part of a policy agenda put before the people at the last election. In their typically shambolic fashion the ruling rabble just keep putting  forward IPA thought bubbles in place of real policy that would benefit the nation and its future.

As Shorten has said of Truffles and the ruling rabble: ".... they talk a lot but they don't make decisions..." The relief of not having Rabid-the-Hun stirring up hate, fear and loathing is being superseded by a similar Kafka-esque quality of fantasy in that Truffles keeps talking but says nothing.

And aping Trump the Frump... Senator David Leyonhjelm opined on Truffles popularity that .." He could probably threaten to kill you first-born and still get elected."  Loopy Leyonhjelm certainly has a way with words....

 

tree roots

We're off to a rally tomorrow about the concentration camps we are running for refugees and their children.... it will be interesting to see if it's mentioned in the MSM or whether the  Border Farce SS storm troopers will attend, too.

What a country we've become.

Hoo-roo, Possums,

Shane

Selling the farm.

Shane on Straya Day

G'day Possums,

I've been spending a bit of time by the seaside and Bay taking pics for a competition so they are peppered through today's rant.
All of them were shot on the lowest ISO I could set: 50 and I also had a neutral density filter washing off 8 stops so that I could achieve the slow shutter speed necessary for the types of reflections I wanted off the water in bright sunlight. Most exposures were around f22 @1/2 second.

Melbourne from Pt Ormond

So it's Australia Day... or Invasion Day if you think the indigenous inhabitants were dispossessed from their land but whichever side of the fence you're on the country is now in a decline from which it will take generations to recover.
Because the most incompetent ruling rabble ever in this country to have a pretense of governing,  has in the past 2 1/2 years virtually wiped out heavy manufacturing; the result of this lack of capacity  means that Australia can now be classified as the newest of 143 countries to be termed "Third World."
What an achievement!

Water Reflections

Malcon "Truffles" Turdball-Fop, our newest of 6 Prime Miniature's in 5 years has told that we are in the most exciting of times and that we are going to be very innovative, creative and wildly successful.
Which is difficult for some of us to believe as he's still following the policy agenda written by the "Coots-With-Queer-Ideas-From-a-Parallel-Universe" (IPA). Ripping apart public education, ripping apart Medicare, ripping apart the ABC, the CSIRO, Defense Building, Environmental Standards, Alternative energy development, outsourcing the public service to Thailand, sacking tax office investigators, failing to chase up the 600 companies who pay no tax and literally selling off the farm to the Chinese and developing new Coal Mines.

Port Phillip from Elwood Canal

No advanced nation on earth became advanced from a position of supplicant!
No nation became advanced without a balanced economy of food and material production which  balanced with trade. Every nation which relies on raw material export for its prosperity is wholly vulnerable to market forces.
Which is exactly what the Quislings of the IPA promulgate in their distorted version of sound policy.... policy which suits its donors like "The Ugly American," Murdoch, "Our Biggest Miner,"Rinehart, assorted Tobacco companies and probably the odd Polish Land-Mine Manufacturer, People Smugglers, Drug Dealer and of course, Tax Cheats!

The Sheeple love "Truffles." They don't seem to mind that prosperity for them will be harder to achieve. They seem ignorant of the fact that we have become under the ruling rabble in 2 1/2 years the White Trash of Asia!

Wind-Surfer, Altona

Ex Prime Miniature, Rabid-the-Hun has, 1#  Said he'll recontest his parliamentary seat for preselection and 2# Is off to The Ugly American's Home to prosletyse to Anti-Abortionists and anti Equal Marriage wowsers.
As for "1" there will be so little "talent" in the Liarbril Party that Rabid is a "shoe-in" for pre-selection, which in reminding us all what a nasty, venal and corrupt lot of mongrels they are is to Labor's advantage and for "2" The "Merican's of the ilk he'll be talking to just might find him more erudite than Trump or Palin and invite him to stay!

Williamstown

Senator Eric "Vichy" Abetz (Uncle Otto's Great Nephew) and one of Rabid's most rabid supporters has been frothing at the mouth attempting to convince us that Rabid should be returned to the Front Bench.. as he's "... only public service in mind..." Which sort of begs the question: how did Rabid accumulate wealth to the tune of $80,000,000.00 in 22 years of parliamentary attendance?

St Kilda

It's all downhill from here!

Hoo-Roo Petals,
Shane.

P.S.  Call me a "Jeremiah" if you want but having just watched the news and seen what we call "celebrations of Australia Day"... I couldn't help thinking that there was a tone of desperation in the sheer number and variety of festivities. Then a military man  (retired), as Aussie of the Year who has made ONE call on gender issues has been nominated by a writer of historical self-portraits (Fitzsimons) as our first President of a Republic...I feel a fit-up!
I also  feel that the desperation implies that we, well and truly, have lost our way in the miasma of commercialist pap, advertising and spin!

And that Mitch Hooke, a mining advocate who was responsible for a campaign against fair taxes being paid by this destructive industry get's a gong ....shows how bereft of social consciousness this ruling rabble still is... what a farce. What a joke they expect us to believe in! It's a wonder they didn't give an OA to "Kero-Bath" Bishop for services to transport!
Vale, Australia you had potential once... 

….Wreathing the end

….Wreathing the end of

Onion soul-eating Fishing boats Imported

distasteful sinking ethics

Shane with bouquet

G’day Petals,

It’s all Wombat Droppings this week…but leavened with some studio flower pics taken from Mrs Wombat’s own Giverny.

It might be 18 months until the rust-bucket, SS Liarbril is due for overhaul but it’s never too soon to prepare as it limps to another becalming.

Qwissie the-Whyne-and-Perfect-Prat-of-a-Prefect Pyne, (Assistant PE tutor) has seen the crew for the second time, vote down his fee increases for playing deck-quoits. 

With this following the ignominy of back-pedalling his threat to 1700 Research Scientists of walking-the-plank for not getting his way has led to an alarming display of cognitive dissonance in the main dining area.

Whyning “proof” that the world is flat and why Dolce and Gabbana and not Zahia Dehar should design the uniforms for 2016‘s prep students, Qwissie was at his high pitched and feverish, Orwellian best.

Attempting to alleviate the discomfort of seeing and hearing this, Dining Room MC, Bronwyn Kerosene-Pompador Bishop expelled that half of the dining room laughing too loudly for Qwissie to be heard.

 It’s being whispered that Qwissie’s Cognitive Dissonance is both a contagious and terminal condition. He may have to quarantined.

Rose

Captain Rabid-the-Hun has upset the Irish in steerage by eating raw Onions on St Paddy’s Day instead of a Praitie: The Celts also objected to his tie, as being more like a shade of baby-poo than genuine Shamrock Green.

We may (or may not) feel a little sympathy as Captain Rabid-the-Hun is a Pom not Dinky-Di and Easter being upon us gives the Irish less tolerance with Poms than is usual.

Fuschia

Breaking news from the Life-Boat Officer: Peter Dodo Dutton is concluding arrangements for those-people-who-don’t-look-like-us and would-never-fit-in-anyway, to be dropped off at an Island not of their choice, who cannot possibly afford them, who have practises more culturally foreign than our TardisLand  (where all goes backward) for a lot of money that we now have since the budget emergency that wasn’t, didn’t happen.

Dodo has expressed delight at how hairy his chest has become since ignoring United Nations Human Rights conventions.

800 Leaners in 1^st Class, are throwing a celebratory party after being informed by Captain Rabid and his Purser’s Assistant, Josh Ashley-et-Martin Frydenberg that they can do their own customs checks in an effort to make themselves feel more secure.

Costs for this cutting of red-tape will be divided between paying passengers, pensioners, Indigenous people with Life-style issues, the unemployed, community legal services, education and the ill.

Aster

Rabid and Josh were also adamant that cognitive dissonance had nothing to do with policy promises or supporting violence against women and then cutting funding to women’s refuges, protecting Medi-care whilst making it user-pays or protecting our food production whilst promoting Fracking. They also think they’re sane.

Anemone

The storm is coming…..

Hoo-roo Possums,

Shane.

...seeing a House of Cards

Shane with House of cards

G'day Possums,

A few more from France and some recent ballet stuff....

BTA, Tamra

BTA, Tamra

BTA, Rebecca

Tuilleries, Paris, Night

Vezelay Panorama

St Martin Canal, Paris.

The Weekly Wombat Droppings

This week on “The Chunder Channel 000, Liarbril”

6.00   Play-Skool for Pretend Pollies. This week Jimmy “Little-but-Loud” Paterson and Chrissie “Bunter” Berg vie for the “Scatology Prize” hosted by the well known charitable organization, “The Coots-With-Queer-Ideas-from-a-Parallel-Universe” (aka IPA). Similar in format and content to “Celebrity Blank-Minds” these neophytes brandish words at each other across various ABC forums in the vain hope of finding a cogent concept that will finally deliver them relevance in the real world of real adults and intellectuals. 

More Da-Da than Dali, this  was the vehicle  that elevated Timmy “Twat-Freedom-Man” Wilson  to notice and a $300,000.00 position of unqualified ignorance by having similarly language challenged friends in high places.

(PG, L, H)

6.30   The Carbon Free High-Jinks Hour. Hosted by our Second Biggest Miner, Clive “Titanic” Palmer with special guests. This week our favourite Big-Pup plays a double entendre back-flip by accepting climate change and having his guest, Al “Inconvenient Truth” Gore deny the existence of a Carbon Pricing scheme. Sashaying one step forward and two steps back Clive demonstrates his knack for being as good for political life as Popcorn is for nutrition.

(MA, V, L.)

7.30   From the Heart.  A feel-good program of mawkish mutual admiration.

This week Jason A Wilson pens a thank you note to Head Plonker from “The Coots-With-Queer-Ideas-from-a-Parallel-Universe” (aka, IPA), John Roskam.

In this reviewers mind, public recognition for amateur organizations similar to that which JR heads should occur more often to bring these shy cabals out to wider scrutiny and notice.  http://jasonawilson.tumblr.com/post/89901662170/thankyou-note-to-john-roskam

(PG, A, H, V.)

8.00 Rank Rats. Highly financed (Public Subscription) Saga of a Much Maligned Union Hero, Cathy Jackson explaining how her alleged $1.3 Million spending on three union credit cards with no expenditure details bears no comparison to Thommo’s  $10 grand whatsoever.

Produced by the Liarbril Party, The BCA, IPA and featuring a truly Dickensian cast

of dodgy lawyers, Ex-Union bag-men and other shady “colourful” characters. Funded by the mug taxpayer in place of investigating either Paedophile behaviour or shonky financial advice from a "what" Bank.

(M, R, A.)

10.00 Fiscal Follies.  How to make a simple analysis of the economically under-educated d. Disect ex-priest, “Rabbutt-the-Hun” and Joe “Cereal/Toyota-Killer” Hockey’s interpretation of “The Coots-With-Queer-Ideas-from-a-Parallel-Universe” (aka, IPA’s) Right-Wing-Free-Market-Thought Bubble of a Budget. A somewhat treasonous piece by one, John Kelly who will probably have fiscal retribution meted out to him.

 http://theaimn.com/ridiculous-debt-deficit-scam/

Also; something else to put the meat on the bones before the animal is devoured.

http://www.businessinsider.com.au/these-two-budget-charts-show-how-much-money-joe-hockey-is-cutting-from-hospitals-and-schools-2014-5

PG, A, V.

10.15   Mayhem for Murdoch’s Minions.  Enthralling and long running UK Court-Room drama exposing and detailing the lives, tribulations and trials of amateur journalists’ Andy and Beccy who “Apprentice-like,” try to anticipate their Master’s (The Ugly American) every wish.

This week: “The Verdict.” The prosecution lawyer in “Mayhem” shows admirable restraint at the Beccy’s verdict. His quietly acerbic, "She was paid an awful lot to be very incompetent..." is a moment to watch.

If the Poms as punishment, transport her Down-Under, it can only be as payback for “Rabbutt-the-Hun” having Downer seek asylum in Britain, not because the “Australian” needs more receptionists.

(MA15+, N, S, V)

12.30   The Slippery Pete Affair.  Another long running political/bedroom-farce again sponsored by the “Liarbril Party” and again funded by the taxpayer.

Episode #69: “The Withdrawal.” James decides that it’s all, ”…. too, too much..” and elects not to perform in the High Court as he still “feels for Pete.”

This may not be the consummation of these proceedings as the roles and machinations of Chwissie “The Whyne-and-Perfect-Prat-of-a-Prefect” Pyne and Mal “Mongrel” Brough in this bedroom farce have not yet been fully explored.

(MA15+, N, S, V)

1.00  Late Prayers for Believable Hypocrites:  Homilies of a piquant IPA nature for those who think they believe. Hosted by The-New-Cashed-Up-Faith-Pushers and with the School Chaplain Chorus. Salvation Donations (Cash, Brown Paper Bag only) may be sent to, “A. Sinodinas, c/o Liarbril Party Room, Parliament House, Canberra, 2600.” 

1.05   Close.

Hoo-roo Petals,

Shane

Viewing Reactionary Aspirational Bogans or minds that evolution skipped

  G'day Possums, it's been a bit busy of late... and the rant is a week behind....

Shane with ballet books


but there has been some more ballet stuff and a film.....

 hope you enjoy..............

class group

Jete...TB

EL Jete

OG Jete

Passing

OG

TB

EL

Jack.... Class

  ... and the film about Jack  .... here's a link...            http://youtu.be/UnHv9sWYH2s

Wombat Droppings; Low Down Oz politics.

Coal Seam Gas (Metgasco chief executive) Peter Henderson told the media group that the present system ‘serves us well’…..as long as people are stupid and keep believing what they read and watch in the “Ugly American’s” press.. like,  we’re running out of gas.. that no, the world price we’re going to get isn’t going to push up local prices and when in 30 years we’ve buggered off with the profits and left your water tables and farmlands a mess, you’ll thank us… or not……we really don’t give a F**K!

Prime Miniature, “Rabbutt-the-Hun’s” department-of-Credlin has reportedly became more bizarre by declaring that its own advice on how staff should use Facebook and Twitter is a secret… even though this was after it was widely reported across the country.

The Credlin Department's leaked Social Media Policy attracted controversy because it urges public servants to dob on colleagues who use the internet to criticise politicians or policies, even if they do so anonymously, in their own time, on their own computers and in their own homes.

This advice goes further than guidelines issued by the Public Service Commission and other departments, which do not explicitly tell staff to inform on each other…. as they erroneously believe that we still live in a democracy.

Commissioner of Freedom-of-Speech Bubbles, Timmy “Twat” Wilson (ex Liarbril and fellow traveller with “Coot’s-With-Queer-Ideas-from-a-Parallel-Universe”) said that this was just a robust demonstration of the natural strength of our noble historically bigotted individualism but that we all needed to be on the same page of the Horst Wessel song book.

(Copies still available… $5.00 / Foolscap sheet)

"Timmy Twat", style maker

Artists’ on Government grants will only be able to make “Noice-things,” taste-suitable for Reactionary Aspirational Bogans and the “Coot’s-With-Queer-Ideas-from-a-Parallel-Universe”, who are running the show for their unidentified backers….shhhh, democracy at sleep.

The Prime Miniature’s Chief Border Protection Sheriff, Scott “The Drone” Morrison, has Canute-like, been proudly trumpeting “the boats have stopped, the boats have stopped”…, except that it's the Patrol boats!  Seems they've developed serious structural cracks and most are now laid up as not fit to go to sea. His boss “Rabbutt-the-Hun” meanwhile, has been steely-jawed, double-clasp hand-shaking in a bandy legged, duck waddling manner around Asia and signing away Oz’s sovereignty to Korean big business. Not seeing the irony of this, “The Drone” Morrison went shopping for another Orange Life-boat as a get-a-way vehicle for Arfur “The Spiv” Sinodinas who is having trouble remembering why he only worked 2.5 hours for a zillion Sheckels and a share of the take from a well known “bent” pollie and his NSW mafioso.

In response to the IPCC report on Climate Change “Rabbutt-the-Hun” quoted Dorothea Mackellar’s 1907 poem “My Country”:,

“I love a Sunburnt Country …A Land of Sweeping Plains .. a land of Droughts and Flooding rains”…. Even Charlie Chaplin couldnt've written that script for that purpose!

Wonderful news: In the Tardis State, “Where-All-Goes-Backward” (Victoria). Independent Schools have now more than 60% more funding than their State counterparts. This means that for 40% of the school population the “Age of Entitlement” happily, is not over.  Those parents “Making-a-Hip-Pocket-Choice-to-Secure-Social-Standing” should be well pleased that the “…burden is being lifted…” by those less well able to afford the expensive but often dubious benefits of private education.

Federal Non-Environment Minister Greg “Ozone-Hole-Wiki” Hunt has decided not to make a ruling protecting the endangered southern brown Bandicoot because, A/ He’s the local member and, B/ if he upsets the developers who want to concrete the rare grassland habitat of the Bandicoot, he might well become a very endangered species, himself.

There was no comment from the parliamentary secretary for the environment, Simon “Mincer” Birmingham as to whether he would receive pro-rata of the Non-minister’s salary for bravely making an environmentally moronic decision that the Non-minister “Ozone-Hole-Wiki” hasn’t the “balls” to face.

John Stuart Mill once wrote that not all conservatives are stupid, but most people who are stupid are conservative.

(actually …scientifically proven… believe it or not… but then so is Climate Change.

What Crap! )

As the “Coot’s-With-Queer-Ideas-from-a-Parallel-Universe” (IPA) are much more than conservative it must follow that they are much, much more than stupid.

This (or something like it) is a new piece from their philosophic fantasist, Arrant-Alana-Dill:  Work is about dignity. Having a job is about dignity. Payment for work is crass socialism. Any job is better than no job. Payment for work is soooo C19th. Civilization is an aberrant concept in the modern commodity market. Self-respect like education, is only for those who can afford it ….. And he’s really paid to think this stuff up and is still allowed to deliver such tripe on public radio?

(I don’t write this stuff our governments do… and as much as I’d like to see the other side writing some of this script…. they are MIA),

Cheers Petals,

Shane

...ranting into the Abyss of the new Dark Age

G’day Possums,

This is me with Jeff (“Boof-Head”, “Foot-in-Mouth”, “Bully-Boy”) Kennett: The Dorian Gray of Tardis State (“Where-All-Goes-Backward”) politics. It was made some years ago as a fund-raiser item when this eminence grise’ was leading the Liarbril pack and selling off the most profitable, publicly owned bits of the Tardis State (“Where-All-Goes-Backward”) to overseas private interests so he could destroy Unionism. 

Ya wanna complain ‘bout your electricity, transport, water, councils, building approval times, hospital waiting lists, emergency ward crisis… see “Boof-Head!”

He has Hob-nail Boots …all the better for kicking you when you’re down. He’s sitting on a coffin with a “V” on it… an explanation shouldn’t be necessary.

He’s also either opening a bottle of Liarbril fund-raiser wine, allegedly, sold illegally from his parliamentary office (shades of “Fiddles” Shaw)…or he’s ..  well let’s just not go there, eh?

And he’s got a bunch of Crown Casino chits in his back pocket;  although now is not the time to depress you with the social costs of 
gambling or back-scratching, is it?

Again…see “Boof-head”… he’s got a sinecure; the Farthest Azure.

I’ve been thinking it might be time to re-constitute the clay and model a Federal series a’la “Rubbery Figures” meets “I am not an Animal” for filmic purposes….. …contributions as to characters, content, chorus, costume, cynicism and scenarios most welcome.

I viewed the Ballarat Photographic National Show t’other day at BFAG. Whilst I can be positive about this show to the extent that all the work exhibited was very worthy, very well made, very solid technically and very well presented, I could only hear conversations about HDR technique and lenses and cameras. Nothing in this exhibition struck me as having a feeling for an idea or concept that was pursued with that brio of aesthetic vigour which allows chance, happenstance, influence and that tenuous personal search for the sublime which informs and creates something that exists independently outside of you.

It was all too formally correct, too overworked and ultimately, repellingly dull.

I’ve no samples to show here, as BFAG in its wisdom, A/; wouldn’t allow photo’s, although B/; I didn’t have a camera with me but would have used it if I had; C/; wasn’t willing to part with $12.50 for an illustrated program and D/; I’m not intending to return. 

It’s a good photo show but it ain’t what art is made from!

Them following are some of my favourites from work this year...an eclectic selection

The sleep of reason..outdoor gallery Ballarat exhibition

 Personal highlights re this blog from 2013: Fairfax journo writing about the bitchy, vituperative election campaign and the 3 years preceeding it …bemoans “Sophie Mirabella  being called “Pit-Bull”…. I think I was the first with that phrase.  And some weeks ago on Late-Night-Live with Phillip Adams, (may he be well),  “…and now let’s go to the Tardis State of Victoria…” Eureka!

Someone is reading.... and the image below featured on ABC's website as an illo for their French 100 Classical music...

Tuilleries

Wombat Droppings or Low-Down Australian Politics

Australia quickly need to take stock of what sort of country they want because the one we are fast getting is not how I think we would generally define ourselves.

We are allowing one of the worlds best health systems be “Americanized”, our environment blasted for multi-national profit, our education system being ripped to privatised shreds,  a welfare system that succours the middle-class, not the needy and a incompetent pretend government too willing to sell off our sovereignty.

“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities.” Voltaire

Jack And Alexandra

Some think that “choice” in Education, Health, Services and Transport is essential for the well-being of society when the opposite is true. 

Lake Mungo Dunes

Choice is about selectivity, exclusivity, class and ultimately, selfishness. It is a definition of division within society and a tacit acknowledgement that some are “better”, more worthy and of more value to the society than others primarily because of their wealth.
 

Olivia and Gus

It is much easier to think this way when wealth is spread disproportionately. Your belonging to, being in and only having to consider a small group is much easier to deal with than having to reasonably consider society as an equitable whole. The exclusiveness of your group defines its simpler parameters, its notions of  “well-being”, like its wealth cannot to be shared, as that would deny it the charm of its exclusivity.

It is therefore a self-referential, selfish system.

“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities.” Voltaire

St Kilda

A divided society is neither a happy one nor a safe one. Historically, inequality fosters resentment and ultimately, retribution. All that is not new but what is it’s sad to say is that the arguments for maintaining contemporary inequality that have been raised to near philosophic levels are: “Individual Aspiration” and the “Economy”. It’s now almost a holy virtue for an individual to “Aspire” but unfortunately as the “Economy” can only afford so much Individual Aspiration there is not enough of it to go around. Ergo: most will have to miss out.

There is a sense of mindlessness in this place and when the inevitable backlash occurs our ugliness will be fully revealed.

“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities.” Voltaire

Frogmore, Trentham

Scott “The Drone” Morrison goes to water over high court challenge to his visa changes for refugees and hides from journalists by not having weekly (or should that be weakly?) press briefings. Were the journo’s not laughing at his “stand-up “ any more?

Advance Australia Fair

“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities.” Voltaire

The Dalai Lama’s answer to the question of what surprised him most about humanity was: “Man, because he sacrifices his health in order to make money. Then he sacrifices money to recuperate his health. And then he is so anxious about the future that he does not enjoy the present; the result being that he does not live in the present or the future; he lives as if he is never going to die, and then dies having never really lived.”    There's a person who has made a real choice.

Mildura, Grand

“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities.” Voltaire

Myrniong

“John Howard and Julia Gillard both had their share of haters.  Alas, I fear many otherwise decent Australians have become angry little haters. It is easy to think that who and what we dislike says something about us. In a small way it does. The narcissistic think it important that the world knows their view. They are in fact talking about themselves.” Amanda “Il Patrone” Vanstone (she of Cornelia Rau and Vivian Solon infamy, amongst other indiscretions as a minister) obfuscating hypocritically and inaccurately again.  Perhaps Mandy was really thinking of Scott Morrison, or Cory Bernardi or even Steve Ciobo. Maybe even Alan “Bondi’ Jones or the Queensland restaurateur and his sexist, misogynist menu? Or perhaps this is a pathetic attempt to tell us subtly that Andrew Bolt is a decent writer and requires more freedom to express himself?
And for Mandy to equate the vileness meted out to Gillard by the Murdoch press and minions with the treatment “Little Johnny” received only indicates her sheer political (liarbril) blindness to actuality.  Which parts of the vile torrents pouring from her conservative side of politics could she  compare and contrast with Labor's actions?
 
“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities.” Voltaire

Heather “Leer” Ridout, Peter “Children Overboard-Rottweiler” Reith,  Michael “Thug” Kroger and Peter “I-Had-a-Baton-Once” Costello came to mind t’other day when Coca-Cola-Amatil, owners of the Ardmona  canneries in Shepparton sacked 70 of its full time maintenance staff to replace them with contract workers. CCA did this it seems to curry favour with “Rabbott” in order to get $25,000,000.00 as a bailout package.

It has an eerie resemblance to an interstate plastics manufacturer who, back in 2005 bought a second business in “The Tardis State” (Where-All-Goes-Backward) and was promptly conned by the afore-mentioned to “experiment” with Industrial Relations by “offering” his workers the “choice” to be self-employed. 
This was gleefully abetted by “The-Coots-with-Queer-Ideas-from-a-Parallel-Universe,” the IPA.

Rehearsal

Needless to say the “experiment” failed. The business folded and 80 workers lost their jobs. Sadder to note, the original interstate business, a family one, of 60 years productive service folded the next year, with its 80 workers losing their jobs, too.

I’m sure the ideological mongrels from the IPA were well satisfied with their “experiment” as were Ridout, Kroger, Costello and Reith!  Pity they've never had to run a business or feel responsible for 160 losing their livelihoods.

Let’s keep an eye on Shepparton and the tenor of the town.

“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities.” Voltaire

Cheers Petals,
Shane.



Sitedfgures