whitebait

urban humour flashback

Whitebait just read of an amusing joke which circulated round the late 1970s/early 1980s--presumably originating from Sydney--that editor Jim Davison mentions in his introduction to The Sydney-Melbourne Book (1986).

The joke identifies what a group of three people would be identified as in the respective state capital cities -- a deputation in Perth, a quorum in Melbourne, an illegal march in Brisbane, relatives in Hobart, and a thoroughly modern marriage in Adelaide.

(A bit of historical knowledge of the Australian political landscape of the time is required here--except for the Hobart crack. Can anyone explain the drift of the Perth reference to Whitebait?)

a sad day

Particulary a sad day, of course, in Singapore where Melburnian Van Nguyen was hung today in prison. And it was very brave of the small protest group of locals gathered outside of the prison to be there. And even accounting for the simplicity and inaccuracy of opinion polls this bloggeur is sad and angry at the degree of lack of empathy and perspective that appears to reside in Australia. Whitebait's outright opposition to the death penalty period was stated a couple of days ago but not at all articulated with a decent explanation. For that you might look to Pavlov's Cat* and particularly the discussion in the comments.

And a different sadness haunts parts of the energetic and enthusiastic Singaporean blogosphere (which Whitebait has enjoyed reading recently) where tributes can be found for Sondra, aka Idler of Idle Days who died from a rare blood disorder. That body of sociologists worrying about the loss of 'authentic' senses of community in the age of technology and the mediatization of everyday life could learn a lot from moments like this.

(*Pavlov's Cat - go no further for a new Adelaide-based blog full of the same smart and elegant writing on all sorts of topics you get at sites like The View From Elsewhere. A regular read from now for sure. Whitebait especially loves the Pynchon reference of one recent post on the online monikers and images we use - 'Gravatar's Rainbow'.)

new photos

Have you noticed that Fraulein Dr Dr has a couple of great photo albums (from her recent travels to Hiroshima and Nagasaki) lurking there in the toolbar on the right? And she is showing Whitebait up by adding useful captions. Damn - will have to lift my game. So, his city categories are starting to really expand out ... the blog equivalent of that Lemon Jelly track, Ramblin' Man (for those with real player you can listen here). It is a deleriously odd track, purportedly narrated by Charlton Heston (but to my ears I can't hear the voice as his - cue Statue of Liberty in the sand ...' nooooooo'!). Much of the Lemon Jelly track features the narrator delightedly naming the places (mostly cities) he enjoys, er, ramblin' in (Adelaide persons be pleased that you make it in the list along with Sydney).

Speaking of 'urban music', Whitebait is really enjoying the recent Nick Warren mix that is part of the continuing Global Underground series.  I have only managed to check out the second disc of Shanghai #28 so far and it is great.  It starts out very breaks and guitar-oriented (which won't appeal to some) beforeheading into electro and other territory. Love the mixing (in terms of the mood transition) from the big guitar of Fly Guitar (Astero Breaks Remix) to the more subdued, funky  breaks of Conversations (Shiloh Remix). Check out some brief samples (win media and real player) here for a flavour.