Such a big and interesting topic! You can see an outline history here.
I am of course prompted by ABC screening Samson and Delilah (2009) last night.

Almost unprecedented was the unanimous five stars from Margaret and David on The Movie Show earlier this year! I can see what they meant, but in many ways it isn’t [...]

Posted in Australia, Australia and Australian, Indigenous Australians, music, Sunday music

We had the Tongans in today. The singing was wonderful.

It was a special day, though I missed the afternoon’s activities as I had Sunday Lunch at the Shakespeare with Sirdan and B2. That too was good.
Posted in Christianity, personal, religion, Sirdan, South Sydney Uniting Church

Miriam Makeba (4 March 1932 - 10 November 2008)
Posted in Africa, human rights, music, Sunday music

Sydney’s amazing Lord Mayor, Clover Moore, is a very busy woman. (She is also my local representative in the NSW Parliament, and remarkably approachable, as I can testify from experience.)
Her latest email newsletter tells what she is up to now:
MAYORS CALL FOR LOW-CARBON CITIES
The deep greenhouse gas reductions needed to avert dangerous global warming will [...]

I am a regular reader of Jim Wallis and friends, which is not to say I always agree with what I find there but it is good to see a Christian presence that is worth anyone’s reading!

Posted in Christianity, climate change, environment Tagged: Copenhagen

Like most of us I do find this challenging. See if these help.

The last one is critical of the idea.
Posted in Australia, climate change, environment Tagged: Copenhagen

I said yesterday that I thought Malcolm Turnbull’s defiant press conference speech last night is one of his best. Here is what he said.

I appreciated his allusion to that well-known leftist plotter against capitalism Margaret Thatcher. Here (I quote from my entry of 2007 Miranda asks a question or two on climate change) is an [...]

At one level this is a fairly generic love-triangle story, but in sharp contradiction to this reviewer I found the characters quite well developed and sympathetic. The great triumph of the book, however, is that it provides more understanding of contemporary China and Chinese than a thousand ponderous tomes and learned articles might deliver. Having [...]

… played on the Chinese hammered dulcimer, an amazing instrument.

Posted in Chinese and China, music, Sunday music

A rather powerful combination…

I’ll have more to say on Louis Nowra’s Ice later.

Posted in Best read of 2009, Fiction, music, OzLit, personal, reading

The region to our north and north-west continues to be hit by earthquakes and typhoons. Take time out to help. Most readers will know what organisations to contact to make donations. Some are listed in this article. The Uniting Church offers a direct donation facility here.

Posted in Australia, environment, events, humanity, Indonesia, South-East Asia [...]

Posted in environment, events, humanity

A lovely classic, but also a classic put-down in its way.
When you are old and grey and full of sleep, And nodding by the fire, take down this book, And slowly read, and dream of the soft look [...]

This was taken at interval and is totally noir. At one point a shadowy Sirdan may be seen — or intuited…
Enjoy.

Posted in Australia and Australian, events, personal, Sirdan

Why? I’ll tell you later…

Posted in events, music

… or perhaps “Quick go the shears…”

Yes, that is SO Australian. But it tells of time past rather more than time present, and is more true of 1909, even 1959, than of 2009. All things must pass, as the article I linked to above in The Australian notes.
THEY are becoming icons of a passing era. [...]

It has to be at this time seventy years later: W H Auden’s “September 1 1939”.
Auden and Isherwood sailed to New York in January 1939, entering on temporary visas. Their departure from Britain was later seen by many there as a betrayal and Auden’s reputation suffered. In April 1939 Isherwood moved to California, and he [...]

Seventy years ago today World War II was declared.

I am strictly speaking not a baby boomer as I was born during World War II and even have a memory of the end of the war. Looking back, there is no doubt World War II profoundly affected all of us for years to come.
Take two men: [...]