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’s SMH, first pu…

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…