“30 Days & Nights Of Literary Abandon”

Only 6 hours until NaNoWriMo kicks off.

I’ve built a workstation…

Follow my progress here.

[breaking news] – ZOMG!!!!1! Women Have Boobs!

A startling revelation is rocking the United States. Something that has been known for millenia throughout most of the world is only now becoming apparent to certain people in the US.

Women have breasts.

(It’s true. They do.)

Meghan McCain, daughter of Senator John McCain (R – AZ), posted a photo of herself on her Twitter account the other day. A photo which left little doubt that she was indeed equipped with boobs.

And going by the reaction of some of her Twitter followers, breast size is an indicator of sexual promiscuity.

News to me.

Hey, she’s blonde and beautiful and into pop art too. And she has a column in The Daily Beast, and is the daughter of a Republican senator who ran for president of the US last year. Going by some of her articles on the Beast and at her own personal blog, she seems to have interesting opinions on politics and womens’ issues and is pretty good at expressing them even if I don’t necessarily agree with her political views.

But no, let’s all just concentrate on her tits.

Welcome back to 1956.

If, say, Daisy Turnbull (the daughter of the current Opposition leader in Australia) posted a similar pic of herself on her Twitter account, I doubt that there’d be a backlash like this. She wouldn’t be labelled a “slut” as Meghan McCain has been, but there’d be a sexism of a different type. The “phwoooaaaar, check out the rack on that!” type, which is just as degrading.

For all the talk we do about how far we’ve come re. gender relations, it seems that we still have a long way to go.

Saturday early-AM randomness

I feel the compulsion to put a post here, but to be honest I’m really struggling from too much choice.

(And I’m knackered.)

I could, for instance, blog about corporations and lawyers trying to gag the press as demonstrted in the Trifagura case in the UK recently (and the subsequent People’s Victory™ via Twitter). Or John Ortved’s attempt to write an expose on the behind-the-scenes shennanigans of The Simpsons which was very nearly muzzled by Fox, Matt Groening, et. al.

Or how police in Manly praised the public for recently alerting them over a man with a camera near a children’s playground set in the middle of one of the most popular tourist spots in New South Wales. The man wasn’t taking photos of the kids, and when police came along to “question” him, they found no images of children on his camera. But hey, we live in such a culture of fear nowadays that it’s “better to be safe than sorry”, even if it means that someone doing something perfectly innocent and legal is set upon by law enforcement.

I could even write about John Birmingham’s writing tips in his blog. This and other writing resources I’ve gathered lately should serve me well when I embark on NaNoWriMo next month.

But I’ll mention that Matthew Good’s new album, Vancouver, is fantastic.

Instead, I’ll let y’all wade throuhg the linky bits above.

The Nuances of Race Relations

I just wish that people would take the time to consider the various nuances of the world around them and at least make some sort of effort to not see everything in terms of black and white (definitely no pun intended).

Once again, the issue of racism has been brought to the forefront in Australia. And while it’s hard for me to believe that Australia is a racist country (such a statement is a sweeping generalisation that itself is prejudiced, and is not my experience of Australia), I do think it’s fair to say that there are strong elements of racism here. I’ve seen it, even experienced it, and you only have to look at the comments section of virtually any story on any News Ltd. website to see it in action.

Channel 9, obviously bereft of ideas, has resurrected a long-running variety show from last century. Hey Hey It’s Saturday ran for many years (some may say many years part it’s use-by date) and has recently made a reappearance on Australian TV screens. Inexplicably, it’s being shown on a Wednesday night with the original title (along with most of it’s jokes, routines and age-old conventions) intact.

The original show ran from 1971 until 1999. Cheeky and subversive and somewhat cutting edge for much of it’s life, the gloss started to wear off after a while (as you’d expect for something that ran for such a long time). And it’s fairly safe to say that some of the shenanigans that were broadcast were fairly wide-ranging in terms of quality and appropriateness.

Hey Hey was such a high-rating groundbreaking show at it’s peak that practically any celebrity, local or international, with a new film or record to promote would end up on the show. I can recall seeing many overseas celebrities looking utterly bewildered at the chaos unfolding around them. We do have a different sense of humour to much of the rest of the world. Not everyone gets it.

Given that a lot of Hey Hey was broadcast in what might be called less enlightened times, it’s fair to assume that a considerable amount of material was shown “way back then” that would not be considered appropriate these days. (I did watch they show for a time, in the early 1990’s, but it was generally while drinking a lot of alcohol in the company of a group of friends. My memories of the show are hazy at best.)

One of the show’s regular spots was a “talent” segment named Red Faces. The general public were invited to perform live before a national TV audience. The acts consisted of pretty much anything and everything one could think of. In the irreverent style of the show (and some may say of Australian humour in general), the more pissweak and talent-free the act, the better.

In 1989, a group of medical students appeared on Red Faces and performed a tribute to the Jackson Five. The act consisted of the men wearing blackface and black curly wigs, singing Jackson Five songs.

Twenty years later, the producers of Hey Hey decided to invite the members of the original act (now all medical practitioners in Sydney) to recreate their tribute for the reunion show broadcast last Wednesday. This time, however, there was a twist; the 2009 version features five guys in blackface and curly wigs, and the guy “impersonating” Michael Jackson in exaggerated whiteface.

The blackface element of the routine did not impress Harry Connick, Jr., guest judge on this installment of Red Faces.

Since Wednesday night, the Net and the dead-tree media in Australia and elsewhere has been ablaze with accusations of racism and intolerance and Australia being stuck in the stone age and counter-accusations of Australia not being racist because of our multiculturalism, etc.. Virtually all the words and opinions that have been flung about, particularly those which have originated from within Australia, have failed to consider the context in which blackface is taken in the United States.

Blackface has a long history in vaudeville and stage shows in the United States and the United Kingdom. It was originally a parody of African people concocted for the entertainment of white people. White actors would blacken their skin, wear curly dark “gollywog” wigs and ragged clothes to convey a derogatory caricature of black people. It was inherently racist in nature and intent, a deliberate denigration of black people so that white people could have a laugh and feel superior.

During the 1950’s, the National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People (NAACP) started to work hard to bring these racist caricatures to an end. Even now, the “darky iconography” of yore is considered offensive to many people.

It’s not that the 6 guys who did the Jackson Jive routine were sending up black people or trying to set back race relations. They did not have malicious intent. However, they used a set of conventions that have racist connotations, if not here than certainly in the US (and the UK to a lesser extent).

So when Harry Connick, Jr. spoke up against the use of the blackface/”gollywog” look employed by the Jackson Jive blokes, this is what he was talking about. Even he says that he realises that no malice was intended, but the fact remains that blackface has racist meaning in the US particularly.

Ironically, Connick’s remarks have opened up a floodgate of criticism from Australians who insist that there was not one single racist element to the Jackson Jive routine. Many of these people who claim that there’s no racism in Australia have essentially branded Connick as an ignorant Yank who should fuck off back to where he bloody well came from.

Some people have even pointed to the below segment from a MadTV skit from 1996 in which they claim Connick appears in blackface, thus making him a hypocrite for criticising the Jackson Jive guys.

Yeah…

…except no. Harry Connick, Jr. is not wearing blackface.

We have a heartless tradition in this country of brushing off any offense caused, whether intentional or accidental. If it doesn’t offend some people, they deem it inoffensive to everyone. It seems to be okay to make “humourous” allusions to the Holocaust if it’s made clear that you’re “only joking”.

The people who say Australia is not racist make the claim that the Jackson Jive routine was a joke. Entertainment. The Jackson Five are black, so what’s the problem? No offense was intended. Can’t people take a bloody joke anymore? It’s “political correctness gone mad” (<- a Not Safe For Work link). Blackface isn’t offensive in Australia, even if it is in America.

So I guess that makes it “all white” then.

Cambodia, 2009

It’s been 50 days since I left Cambodia, and my so-called life here has been… tricky. Complex. Weird. Heartbreaking. Hence my slackitude in putting the following shots on this blog. They’ve been on my Flickr page for ages.

I will get around to writing about the trip at some point. Promise.

Independence Monument, at the junction of Sihanouk Boulevarde and Norodrom Boulevarde in Phnom Penh. A traditional Khmer design, built in 1954 to celebrate Cambodia ceasing to be a French colony. In the early 1990s, remnants of the Khmer Rouge forces would sit at the top of the monument and shoot anyone driving by at around dusk.

Some random graffiti I found in the lavatories at the Moc-Bai/Bavet border crossing. No idea what it says. Sorry if it’s rude.

Psar Thmei (or New Market, though most people call it Central Market).

A monk taking a walk along Street 13 (Phnom Penh).

A view of Phnom Penh from a boat on the Tonle Sap River.

The Silver Pagoda, in the Royal Palace complex.

Fresh fish at Psar Toul Tompong (also known as the Russian Market)

Me getting a shoeshine from one of the local kids. Cambodia is a country with zero social security/welfare. People do whatever they can to live.

Road rules are enforced, though somewhat elastic. People do ride their motos into unusual places.

Roadside scenery in Battambang province.

A drinks seller on a remote road in Battambang province.

Battambang

A motif that is common in Cambodia. While it’s no longer the “wild West” country of yore, weapons and drugs are still relatively plentiful.

Taking a break in Phnom Penh.

The treatment I did on this shot makes it look old, but it was taken in August 2009. (Phnom Penh)

These tyre repair setups are very common in Phnom Penh. Generally consisting of a compressor, a tyre repair kit and a hammock for the repairer to lounge in until a customer comes along. Not just for motos or bicycles. I saw a Lexus SUV having a tyre repaired at one of these places.

A lonely cyclo on Norodom Boulevarde.

Food sellers are everywhere in the capitol.

The Coca Cola delivery tuk-tuk.

I noticed that the vast majority of cyclo drivers are seriously old guys, and the moto/tuktuk guys are young ‘uns.

Woman selling prawns at Psar Kandal.

“Motobike, sir?”

Clouds threatening to spill rain on Phnom Penh.

When iBranding Goes Berserk

Kraft Foods, the American company that produced the iconic Australian food spread Vegemite, recently created a new line which combined Vegemite and cream cheese.

The product was sold sans a proper name for a number of months while a nationwide competition was launched and suggestions from the general public were taken for a name.

That was possibly their first mistake.

The winning name was announced yesterday.

Ready?

Vegemite iSnack2.0. Click yonder link. I shit you not.

Simon Talbot from Kraft Foods said: “The name Vegemite iSnack2.0 was chosen based on its personal call to action, relevance to snacking and clear identification of a new and different Vegemite to the original. We believe these three components completely encapsulate the new brand.”

Everyone else in the universe said: “You fucking what?”

I mean, forgoing the marketing iWank speak of Mr Talbot (a “personal call to action”? It’s not Che Guevara for God’s sake!), what the bloody hell are they trying to convey with that name? That it’s a computer component? An upgrade? Was iSnack1.0 so shite that they just went straight to v2.0 without releasing the first version? They may as well have named it Vegemite jCatapault3.7-q.

Actually, that sounds better than the winning entry…

It’s The Freakiest Show…

Approximately 1000 tonnes of topsoil was picked up several hundred kilometers west of Sydney by strong winds, and then dropped on the city just before sunrise.

The result was apocalyptic-looking.

Twitter and Facebook were ablaze with references to either waking up on Mars, or the impending apocalypse. I began to wonder what a Martian apocalypse might look like. Scary stuff indeed.

I placed a photo on Facebook and titled it “Life On Mars?” Not long afterwards, a friend of mine created a photo album on her Facebook page entitled “Life On Mars”.

And here’s the front page of mX this arvo…

See more shots on the Red Sydney Project page on Flickr.

Leaving Phnom Penh

A video of my extremely reluctant departure.

Contemplation in Cambodia

Phnom Penh, Cambodia – How can I write any more on the horrors of Tuol Sleng and Cheoung Ek? I’ve done so already, as have countless others. And they’ve done a far better job than me. I visited those placed for a second time recently. Their impact was not diminished by time or the fact that I knew what I was about to see. There are no further words (or photographs) that I could contribute.

Each time I come here I see things and hear stories of unimaginable terror. And then I see smiles of such heartfelt joy. I wonder how Cambodians can do that after all they’ve lost. Then I wonder how Westerners can’t do that after all we have.

Tuol Sleng and Cheoung Ek are not tourist attractions. They are memorials to the extermination of Khmer culture and reminders of humanity’s ability to be inhumane. Then, as I walk the streets of this city and see happy faces everywhere, monks and moto drivers and a celebration of all they had and lost and are now rebuilding.

I spent two days last week contributing in my own small way to that rebuilding process, thanks to the Tabitha Foundation. It’s something I wanted to do since my first visit to Cambodia in early 2005.

It will be hard to leave in six days. It will be hard to cope with the culture shock in Australia. Then again, it usually is.

Nothing Is Constant…

… especially when you factor in billions of dollars in “development”.

Witness the change to the Lakeside district in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Boeung Kak is being filled in so the land can be reclaimed and turned into some sort of money-spinning exercise.

(Both these shots were taken from the deck at the No. 9 Guesthouse)

February 2005

July 2009

All good, one might think, except the company doing so is not Cambodian (and hence very little of the benefits will reach the average citizen) and thousands of families living in poverty along the edge of the vanishing lake have now been displaced.