veganarky

I am finding myself much more observant and reflective than I am normally aware of. What I am noting are the small things, the everyday and also the seemingly ubiquitous which mean very little to non-Australians. For example, an article the Sydney mainstream press about a rugby league commentator caught my eye with some resonating content. The source of this resonance is very much located in my leaving Australia in a month, unsure when (or if) I will return. The article is about the life/career of Ray Warren. I am not a sporty person, though the ubiquitousness of the footy in eastern Australia…

A conversation I had recently spurred me to think back to the music that had an impact on my person. I recall the early 1990s as a key turning point. The conversation referred to having a dark side, and I have been pondering a tangent of that notion. Like many ‘youth’ of that time and generation, I was impacted on by bands which emerged in the early 90s and lyrically reflected on not fitting in with constructed social stereotypes. Most people instantly think of Nirvana, and I cannot deny the influence. Arguably the song most remembered from that time is Nirvana’s Smells Like Teen Spirit. For m…

I would not say it is uncommon to find myself more than frustrated with opinions published in the mainstream press. A piece in today’s Sydney Morning Herald by John Passant, whose blog En Passant has the byline ‘revolutionary reflection on this world of ours’ did get me riled a little. The limited writings of his I have glanced at speak of tired same‐old card carrying socialist rantings that literally equate the working class with religious icons. For example, apparently working class men do not benefit from women’s oppression — what cave is he living in! His piece in the today’…

I recently watched The People Speak (2009), and have once again reflected on the amazing and inspirational contribution of Howard Zinn (1922-2010). I was a little taken aback by how frail he seemed when on stage for the documentary. I guess the last footage of his I had seen was in the film based on his autobiography You Can’t be Neutral on a Moving Train (2004). In The People Speak, he summed up what we can all do quite simply: If we live now as we think human beings should live. In defiance of all that is bad around us, that in itself is a marvellous victory. We can and should do this ever…