Essays and observations on work, technology, suburban Australia, creativity and modern life.
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The mysterious art of ball slapping and the decay of man
It was a normal Sunday evening trawling the socials in front of the fire. Time not well spent, but Dostoevsky was denser and more meaningful than the fluff available on X (formerly Twitter). In the old days, we watched the Sunday movie on the TV, now we watch the world burn in what my wife…
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The shit fuckery of late capitalism in Australia
The Melbourne Cup is Australia’s version of the Kentucky Derby, The Epsom Derby, and Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe a couple of times. It’s a national celebration of buffoonery, alcohol abuse, and questionable fashion choices. Oh, and gambling. The first time I attended was when I was nineteen and worked the bar in corporate marquees.…
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Adrift in a sea of intoxication
My first alcoholic drink was sometime in Wagga Wagga, a large town in the Riverina district of NSW on the west coast of Australia. Rich farming country that bred healthy football players and at least one famous cricket player. Anyway, the first drink was from a long neck of Crown Lager or Fosters while our…
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A brief history of working from the (home) office
When I started my working career in an engineering business, I worked in the office, with no exceptions. The working day started at 8:30 am in the office and finished anytime after 5.30 pm, often later. Technology limitations meant that calls, invoices, meetings, and customer support all happened from a building filled with co-workers (hopefully)…
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Paying attention to how we pay attention
There is a special type of braggadocious social post that manages to get the bile rising in the throat faster than a greenwash post from a fossil fuel company. I’m thinking of the disciplined time schedule post that says, look how busy I am, look how successful I am, and consequently, look at how much…
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Reveries of a solitary walker
Reveries of a solitary walker or Les rêveries du Promeneur Solitaire by Jean Jacques Rousseau is one of the first modern love stories dedicated to the art of walking. Written near the end of his life, Rousseau reflects on his life and his perceived persecutions for his ideas. The writing is quite beautiful with Rousseau…
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Getting in action, focusing on the real problems
My poor little website has been struggling recently, and initially, I thought it was due to DDOS attacks after looking at the logs of strange p0rn related requests. Initially (in late October), I blocked IP addresses, added CloudFlare, reviewed logs. The website was still broken and I thought the only solution would be to migrate…
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“Melbourne bashing, definitely. Thanks for asking. I hope I cleared it up for you.”
So in the midst of a snap COVID related lockdown (no friends over, don’t leave the house, don’t travel more than 5 Kms from your house etc) I saw the following tweet from Dave Graney, a Melbourne musician who I have seen perform a number of times. He is a good entertainer and a very…
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COVID conspiracy theories and ‘truth’
When I was a student I quickly became enamoured with contemporary European philosophy that emerged in the second half of the twentieth century. Compared to the stuffy concept of an absolute truth, long socks, and a privileged path from school to luxury SUV and trophy wife touted by the teachers at my privileged single-sex bluestone…
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Sorry, satire is dead
After watching the Channel Four series Years and Years and then observing the British General Election I was confused. Was Years and Years a drama or a documentary? Was this one of those unique moments Trumpian moments when art imitates life? Or is everything just fucked and fucked up? Who could have thought that a…
