Skip to main content

Genuine tragedies in the world are not conflicts between right and wrong. They are conflicts between two rights.


A farewell to Summer. Opossum Bay, February 2010.

Above is a 'farewell to summer shot' that I took earlier this year. I am anxiously and eagerly awaiting the 'welcome of summer shot'.

But first...

Things That Annoy Me #3,432,237

Number 3,432,237 on the list of things that annoy me is people who carp on about how terrible everybody apart from they themselves is concerning the protection of the environment. Generally, the target of most bile in his regard tend to be a) “the government”, and b), “the lower classes”.

People that exemplify annoyance #3,432,237 typically choose to
  • drive their car everywhere, print out every e-mail they receive;

  • switch on every light in the building and leave them on upon leaving;

  • buy pre-packaged meals each day;

  • purchase new and innovative gizmos and gadgets (that they cannot use) before quickly discarding them for even newer and more innovative gizmos and gadgets;

  • assuage all potential guilt for their wanton and reckless consumption by scrawling a 1 next to the name of a particular political party once every three years.

Often, but not always, their culpability in contributing to the World’s ills is also avoided (it seems) by sporadically ruing the death of whales and dolphins coupled with a vaguely ‘yellow peril-esque’ tirade against the Japanese.

Comments

Roddy said…
You are right!
You do know that the beginning of summer heralds the end of another year.
smudgeon said…
I agree - there's a certain smugness about people who think voting Green and slapping a Wilderness Society sticker on the back of the Rav means they're "saving the environment/whales/Daintree/etc".
Very annoying.

Excellent rant, by the way.
Kris McCracken said…
Roddy, if it is not one year, it's another.

Me, a very slap-worthy trait...
Carola said…
Yes, Kris you are right, and comment from "me" tells it all. In Germany it is the same. Show how green you are by buying certain products, and then driving all the time with the car. They have allways a reason to drive with the car. But pretend to be totally green, haha.
And I wait for your summer welcome shot.
Kris McCracken said…
Carola, Tasmanians all drive far too much. Also, it seems that for many to be ‘Green’ is more about looking like you’re doing the right thing, more than doing the right thing itself!

Popular posts from this blog

If you want to be loved, be lovable.

Henry admires the view.

Zeal, n. A certain nervous disorder afflicting the young and inexperienced. A passion that goeth before a sprawl.

Here I have tried my hand at the homemade sepia-toned photo. I wasn’t happy with the way that the sun had washed out some of the colours in the original, so had a bit of a fiddle because I like the look on Henry’s face, and didn’t want to pass on posting it. I have a tip for those of you burdened with the great, unceasing weight of parenthood. I have a new recipe, in the vein of the quick microwaved chocolate cake . Get this, microwaved potato chips . I gave them a run on Sunday, Henry liked the so much I did it again last night. Tonight, I shall be experimenting with sweet potato. I think that the ground is open for me to exploit opportunities in the swede, turnip, carrot and maybe even explore in the area of pumpkins. Radical, I know. I’m a boundary-pusher by nature. It's pretty simple, take the potato. Slice it thinly (it doesn't have to be too thin, but thin enough). Lay the slices on the microwave plate, whack a bit of salt over the top and nuke the buggers for five minut

Ah, Joe, you never knew the whole of it...

I still have the robot on the job. Here you can see the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery . And here is a poem: Soliloquy for One Dead Bruce Dawe Ah, no, Joe, you never knew the whole of it, the whistling which is only the wind in the chimney's smoking belly, the footsteps on the muddy path that are always somebody else's. I think of your limbs down there, softly becoming mineral, the life of grasses, and the old love of you thrusts the tears up into my eyes, with the family aware and looking everywhere else. Sometimes when summer is over the land, when the heat quickens the deaf timbers, and birds are thick in the plumbs again, my heart sickens, Joe, calling for the water of your voice and the gone agony of your nearness. I try hard to forget, saying: If God wills, it must be so, because of His goodness, because- but the grasshopper memory leaps in the long thicket, knowing no ease. Ah, Joe, you never knew the whole of it... I like Bruce Dawe. He just my be my favourite Austral