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Thursday, October 26, 2006
Australian blokes face up to change
by Nick Bryant
In Australia right now, it is tough to be a bloke.
"I turned on my television expecting to see the Haka," said a crestfallen middle-aged rugby fan, describing a recent night in Melbourne when the All Blacks faced off against the Wallabies.
"Instead, I got I am Sixteen Going on Seventeen," he said.
The man in question, a sports-loving Aussie, was bemoaning the decision from one of the country's leading television networks.
Instead of showing the Bledisloe Cup - the South Pacific's most eagerly anticipated international rugby fixture of the year - it broadcast a re-run of The Sound of Music.
That decision came as Australians tried to come to terms with the loss of two great male icons.
Crocodile Hunter Steve Irwin - that great larrikin of larrikins - and the more quietly-spoken Peter Brock, a peerless racing driver known as the King of the Mountain, who was to Australian motor sport what Lance Armstrong was to international cycling.
Though less well known than the Croc Hunter outside of Australia, "Peter Perfect" - as he was also known - was arguably held in higher esteem within it.
Like Irwin, he was killed doing what he was famous for, in his case driving his race car.
'Nervous wrecks'
Mateship, bravery, a towering self-confidence and a fearsome determination to succeed - both men personified the spirit of Australian masculinity.
But Brock and Irwin were part of an endangered species, according to Mark Latham, the former leader of the Labor Party, whose latest musings on the "crisis in male identity" have sparked a rare moment of blokeish introspection.
"One of the saddest things I have seen in my lifetime has been the decline in Australian male culture," Latham writes in a new book.
"Australian mates and good blokes have been replaced by nervous wrecks, metrosexual knobs and toss-bags."
Latham cited a number of factors: The rise of feminism (remember it was Germaine Greer, the Australian-born author of the Female Eunuch who launched a vicious assault on Steve Irwin in the immediate aftermath of his death); changes to the family and in the workplace; and what he considers the namby pamby neo-conservatism of the John Howard government.
The government's treasurer Peter Costello shot back immediately.
Only days after proving his own macho credentials by taking a supersonic ride in a Royal Australian Air Force fighter jet, Costello assailed those of Latham.
Since stepping down from frontline politics, he asked pointedly, had not the former Labour leader been a stay-at-home dad?
'Real change'
Of course, Costello could have levelled similar accusations against macho heroes Steve Irwin and Peter Brock.
Brock was a vegan, who had an intense interest in New Age-style spirituality.
And away from the cameras, Steve Irwin was a sensitive and profoundly emotional family man, who regularly told his father, Bob, that he loved him and how he cherished their time together.
Prime Minister John Howard would appear to be a staunch defender of a less complicated version of Australia masculinity.
When video tapes from Iraq surfaced recently, showing an Australian soldier pointing a pistol at the head of a man wearing Arab clothing [thought to be another Australian soldier], the prime minister played down the incident.
"Through the ages soldiers have let off a bit of steam, haven't they," he said. "The difference is that we now have videos and internets, we didn't 50 or 100 years ago."
Taking the temperature this morning at Bondi beach, that great bastion of Australian masculinity, there was a surprising degree of support for the transformation of Australian man.
"The death of the larrikin and bad manners is bloody wonderful," said retired stockbroker John Ray, as he stepped from the surf.
"It's good to see the demise of those attitudes which said women are expendable, and that you're no good unless you go down the pub every night and get smashed. Over the past 20 years or so, there's been a real change in blokes' attitudes."
But the female perspective was a little different.
"There's no demise of the macho male in my household," said Sue Shaw, the mother of a 19-year-old boy. "My boy loves rugby and cars. That said, he waxes his body, so he does display metrosexual tendencies."
Metrosexuality vying with retrosexuality. No wonder men are so confused, as they strive to achieve the thinking man's manhood
Discuss..........
In Australia right now, it is tough to be a bloke.
"I turned on my television expecting to see the Haka," said a crestfallen middle-aged rugby fan, describing a recent night in Melbourne when the All Blacks faced off against the Wallabies.
"Instead, I got I am Sixteen Going on Seventeen," he said.
The man in question, a sports-loving Aussie, was bemoaning the decision from one of the country's leading television networks.
Instead of showing the Bledisloe Cup - the South Pacific's most eagerly anticipated international rugby fixture of the year - it broadcast a re-run of The Sound of Music.
That decision came as Australians tried to come to terms with the loss of two great male icons.
Crocodile Hunter Steve Irwin - that great larrikin of larrikins - and the more quietly-spoken Peter Brock, a peerless racing driver known as the King of the Mountain, who was to Australian motor sport what Lance Armstrong was to international cycling.
Though less well known than the Croc Hunter outside of Australia, "Peter Perfect" - as he was also known - was arguably held in higher esteem within it.
Like Irwin, he was killed doing what he was famous for, in his case driving his race car.
'Nervous wrecks'
Mateship, bravery, a towering self-confidence and a fearsome determination to succeed - both men personified the spirit of Australian masculinity.
But Brock and Irwin were part of an endangered species, according to Mark Latham, the former leader of the Labor Party, whose latest musings on the "crisis in male identity" have sparked a rare moment of blokeish introspection.
"One of the saddest things I have seen in my lifetime has been the decline in Australian male culture," Latham writes in a new book.
"Australian mates and good blokes have been replaced by nervous wrecks, metrosexual knobs and toss-bags."
Latham cited a number of factors: The rise of feminism (remember it was Germaine Greer, the Australian-born author of the Female Eunuch who launched a vicious assault on Steve Irwin in the immediate aftermath of his death); changes to the family and in the workplace; and what he considers the namby pamby neo-conservatism of the John Howard government.
The government's treasurer Peter Costello shot back immediately.
Only days after proving his own macho credentials by taking a supersonic ride in a Royal Australian Air Force fighter jet, Costello assailed those of Latham.
Since stepping down from frontline politics, he asked pointedly, had not the former Labour leader been a stay-at-home dad?
'Real change'
Of course, Costello could have levelled similar accusations against macho heroes Steve Irwin and Peter Brock.
Brock was a vegan, who had an intense interest in New Age-style spirituality.
And away from the cameras, Steve Irwin was a sensitive and profoundly emotional family man, who regularly told his father, Bob, that he loved him and how he cherished their time together.
Prime Minister John Howard would appear to be a staunch defender of a less complicated version of Australia masculinity.
When video tapes from Iraq surfaced recently, showing an Australian soldier pointing a pistol at the head of a man wearing Arab clothing [thought to be another Australian soldier], the prime minister played down the incident.
"Through the ages soldiers have let off a bit of steam, haven't they," he said. "The difference is that we now have videos and internets, we didn't 50 or 100 years ago."
Taking the temperature this morning at Bondi beach, that great bastion of Australian masculinity, there was a surprising degree of support for the transformation of Australian man.
"The death of the larrikin and bad manners is bloody wonderful," said retired stockbroker John Ray, as he stepped from the surf.
"It's good to see the demise of those attitudes which said women are expendable, and that you're no good unless you go down the pub every night and get smashed. Over the past 20 years or so, there's been a real change in blokes' attitudes."
But the female perspective was a little different.
"There's no demise of the macho male in my household," said Sue Shaw, the mother of a 19-year-old boy. "My boy loves rugby and cars. That said, he waxes his body, so he does display metrosexual tendencies."
Metrosexuality vying with retrosexuality. No wonder men are so confused, as they strive to achieve the thinking man's manhood
Discuss..........
LS at 10/26/2006 02:10:00 AM
1 comments
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Tuesday, October 24, 2006
12 years on..
Educate yourself with the click of a button -
Rwanda
12 years on and only twenty-five ringleaders convicted since 1997 via a slow legal system. A tenth of the population died in 100 days....
Rwanda
12 years on and only twenty-five ringleaders convicted since 1997 via a slow legal system. A tenth of the population died in 100 days....
LS at 10/24/2006 08:15:00 PM
0 comments
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Friday, October 20, 2006
Unlawful = Illegal doesn't it?
It scares me when the world's superpower makes laws that most citizens do not know nor understand too much about. On October 17th, Junior, signed the Military Commissions Act 2006 - "to continue to question terrorists and save lives..." - was what he muttered in regards to new sanctions allowed for the CIA / US Military.
Sure if you read it you might get a little confused by its mixed mumbo jumbo, however there is quite a measurement to the definition of who is an 'unlawful enemy combatant' and who isn't, thus giving the power of authority to the military to decide.
This new law contradicts the age old Geneva Conventions, with the decision of the President in regards to the permanent detention and torture of detainee's. So lets say you get picked up by the U.S military as an unlawful combatant, there is no justification for you, hopefully as an innocent bystander, to say that you are not. So you could be detained, not be legally represented by a civil lawyer due to the military nature of the law and find yourself possibly three years down the track still not knowing what the hell happened. Have a read Hamdi v Rumsfeld .
Why you ask, my concern about all this. The representation the USA has with (or over) its allies is a somewhat a big brother role. I would not be surprised the guinea pigs of some of the allies, and unfortunately I will say even Australia, could follow with a similar law. It is not bringing things into order, it is creating a central government controlled atmosphere.
But you're going to shrug your shoulders anyhow, unless of course you could be that one in a thousand people who this law may effect by.
Did the act of terrorism in western soils bring down the meaning of democracy and freedom?
Further reading material;
Comparison on Iraq and Vietnam
Re-assessment of Baghdad security
Appeal Lost
Now in this wake of certain US and UK soldiers I have met and know heading to or from Iraq it just makes me wonder where will this all end? A withdrawal is likely yes, but it's still all about infrastructure for the US and securing oil deposits.
Reminds me of a game that I play. With all the stupidity and one sided argument and struggle on who wants to or can lead, on top of who will follow you. You hope to come out with a small victory at the end of the day. But unfortunately I feel like I play on the side of the Iraqi's in this game, because the innocent ones are the forgotten ones and they then become the victims.
It isn't winning heart's and mind's anymore to the US government, it's about killing martyrs and drilling mines.
Sure if you read it you might get a little confused by its mixed mumbo jumbo, however there is quite a measurement to the definition of who is an 'unlawful enemy combatant' and who isn't, thus giving the power of authority to the military to decide.
This new law contradicts the age old Geneva Conventions, with the decision of the President in regards to the permanent detention and torture of detainee's. So lets say you get picked up by the U.S military as an unlawful combatant, there is no justification for you, hopefully as an innocent bystander, to say that you are not. So you could be detained, not be legally represented by a civil lawyer due to the military nature of the law and find yourself possibly three years down the track still not knowing what the hell happened. Have a read Hamdi v Rumsfeld .
Why you ask, my concern about all this. The representation the USA has with (or over) its allies is a somewhat a big brother role. I would not be surprised the guinea pigs of some of the allies, and unfortunately I will say even Australia, could follow with a similar law. It is not bringing things into order, it is creating a central government controlled atmosphere.
But you're going to shrug your shoulders anyhow, unless of course you could be that one in a thousand people who this law may effect by.
Did the act of terrorism in western soils bring down the meaning of democracy and freedom?
Further reading material;
Comparison on Iraq and Vietnam
Re-assessment of Baghdad security
Appeal Lost
Now in this wake of certain US and UK soldiers I have met and know heading to or from Iraq it just makes me wonder where will this all end? A withdrawal is likely yes, but it's still all about infrastructure for the US and securing oil deposits.
Reminds me of a game that I play. With all the stupidity and one sided argument and struggle on who wants to or can lead, on top of who will follow you. You hope to come out with a small victory at the end of the day. But unfortunately I feel like I play on the side of the Iraqi's in this game, because the innocent ones are the forgotten ones and they then become the victims.
It isn't winning heart's and mind's anymore to the US government, it's about killing martyrs and drilling mines.
LS at 10/20/2006 07:33:00 PM
0 comments
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Thursday, October 19, 2006
Compliment?
I have some weird friends. I love them so, but after reading this little email to me, I felt a little disturbed by it all. Having flashbacks to Clerks 2 - "Hey Fucko .... it's Inter-species Erotica!"
Lightbringer
There is a
They call it the" Fleshlight"
Lukas, lightbringer!
For people just staring awkardly - Luke does mean the bringer of light.... it shines out of my arse three times a day!
Lightbringer
There is a
They call it the" Fleshlight"
Lukas, lightbringer!
For people just staring awkardly - Luke does mean the bringer of light.... it shines out of my arse three times a day!
LS at 10/19/2006 03:12:00 AM
0 comments
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Friday, October 13, 2006
Paraskevidekatriaphobia
If you had this, you would lock yourself in your room and take a dose of sleeping pills and hope that the 14th came quicker.
Where does one get themselves to be frightful of a certain thing.
This is a interesting article relating to fears and phobia's - something to add to your useless information brain bank.
Where does one get themselves to be frightful of a certain thing.
This is a interesting article relating to fears and phobia's - something to add to your useless information brain bank.
LS at 10/13/2006 10:36:00 PM
0 comments
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Thursday, October 12, 2006
Stop the press!
Writing 400 words is sometimes a very impossible task for some. But I tend to write up to a thousand words when the steam is released from my head. So when I see an opportunity for a little bit of freelance work within a newspaper, I jump at the chance, have a read of some of my old entries and see which ones would get a smile from someone reading said trash about my infamous exploits.
Sure it's a little bit of an amusement to get yourself published in a paper, and sure you could think of your hopes being raised that a prospect is delivered soon after. Toying with the idea of re-working my 3 score minus one post, I managed to cut down a good 500-600 words before i re-read it again and thought that it would probably has lost all possible vitality if i did any more, that and it looked completely naked and bare from any entire thought.
So now I have to await and put myself back on the boil again until my next ejaculation of confused steam is released.
I bet you thought dirty thoughts when I wrote 'ejaculation' - didn't you!?
LS at 10/12/2006 09:15:00 PM
0 comments
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Thursday, October 05, 2006
Defining your music genre
Wow...
Updating the http://www.blogger.com/www.music-map.com which I have been using on and off for years to discover some new music. My boss comes up to me and shows me this brilliant link to a great avenue to find new music:
www.pandora.com
Not only will it create a personalised radio station for you that will play a number of songs but it will link it to similar music. So if you put in the band or even a song title it will link it to users worldwide who vote if they like or dislike the song which links to it (which you can do with the simple pop up boxes of thumbs up, thumbs down). Not only this, but it gives you a synopsis of bands, songs and links to other similar music.
The only drawback is that it will only play (full length mind you) about 6-7 songs before it cuts out because of licensing laws, however you can easily refresh it or click on one of the songs you have heard to open up another radio station.
Certainly worth the look and most definately worth the bookmark for people at home surfing.
Updating the http://www.blogger.com/www.music-map.com which I have been using on and off for years to discover some new music. My boss comes up to me and shows me this brilliant link to a great avenue to find new music:
www.pandora.com
Not only will it create a personalised radio station for you that will play a number of songs but it will link it to similar music. So if you put in the band or even a song title it will link it to users worldwide who vote if they like or dislike the song which links to it (which you can do with the simple pop up boxes of thumbs up, thumbs down). Not only this, but it gives you a synopsis of bands, songs and links to other similar music.
The only drawback is that it will only play (full length mind you) about 6-7 songs before it cuts out because of licensing laws, however you can easily refresh it or click on one of the songs you have heard to open up another radio station.
Certainly worth the look and most definately worth the bookmark for people at home surfing.
LS at 10/05/2006 11:17:00 PM
0 comments
_,.>-^`^-<.,_,.>-^`^-<.,_,.>-^`^-<.,_,.>-^`^-<.,_,.>-^`^-<.,_,.>-^`^-<.,_,.>-^`^-<.,_,.>-^`^-<.,_,.>-^`