This will hurt me...

The ballot for the next family holiday. November 2019. As a young lad – in the years before smart phones, the Internet and more than two television channels – I would spend hours pawing over atlases, encyclopaedias and novels from all over the globe. Sure, I might have been stuck in a dying, deindustrialising town (downgraded from a city, such was our fortune) on the north west of an island that served as the butt all the jokes of the rest of the state (which itself served as the punchline of the jokes of the rest of the country), at the arse end of the World; but that very same World was at my fingertips, with a little bit of help from a library card. While I may have lamented never getting the chance of crossing those seas and seeing much of that World myself, I tried to keep my mind and imagination open. Therefore, now we are of means, and my kids are old enough to survive a bit of discomfort, I am keen to help them see as much of the planet while I have some kind of infl...

Electioneering. East Derwent Highway, Geilston Bay. April 2013. Sunday Stealing: The 5000 Question Meme, Part Three A 51. Make up a definition for the following silly words... Fruitgoogle : A very private part of a lady. Ambytime : That point when a binge drinker passes the point of no return. Asscactus : A particularly intimidating sex toy. 52. What was the last thing you made with your own hands? I made an impressive space shuttle out of Klikko the other day. 53. What was your favourite toy as a child? Sand. 54. How many TV’s are in your house? Just the one. It’s rarely ever on these days, thankfully. 55. What is your favourite thing to do outside? Walking, swimming or taking photos. 56. How do you feel when you see a rainbow? I can’t say that I feel anything in particular. 57. Have you ever dreamt a dream that came true? Indeed I have. A naughty dream it was too… 58. Have you ever been to a psychic/ tarot reader? No. I don’t think that I could keep ...

I can’t really be bothered to enter too much into Alexander Downer’s latest theatrical outburst as he exits Australian politics, as I am more than aware that he's playing the same old kind of politics that he always has. That said, it is nice to see him go out as big a hypocrite as he has been throughout. His quote: "If Mr Rudd doesn't run a candidate in Mayo, well then he's slinking away in a cowardly way and he should be prepared to face up to the judgement of the people of Australia whenever that judgement is called to be made. I think they're treating the people of Mayo with contempt if they're not prepared to run a candidate when they're the Government of Australia." So let me get this straight, the guy who contested (and won) the seat of Mayo in the 2007 election, but whose party lost miserably and looks set for a good stretch in opposition. Perhaps understandably, he doesn’t like the taste of opposition so he bails out early, forcing a by-elect...

I have expended quite a few words on Robert Mugabe over the past few months, but really, I think that five words is all that you need: What an odious, obnoxious prick. His comment this time? Prior to his dodgy runoff election he comes out with : "Anyone who tries to undermine our land reform we will challenge. We are prepared to fight for our country or to go to war if we lose it - as happened to our forefathers." This is exactly the rhetoric that one could see in Spain prior to the Spanish General Election of 1936 (albeit from both sides in that case). We know what happened there .

To celebrate Henry’s upcoming appearance on WIN News tonight, and the forthcoming expansion of TEAM MCCRACKEN/FITZGERALD , I have decided to utilise the Photo of the day slot as a feature on the little bloke himself and how he fits into the TEAM . Think of it as a This is Your Life (thus far). So here is the first picture. Here we can see Henry at ten months. I remember this day well, because it was at this point that he really started to get his act together with the crawling. I have a video of the act that can be viewed here . Next up, we have Henry sort some our many excess books with Jen early last summer. Here he showcased his literary worth and selected those texts to go, and those to stay. True to form, he piled up the Hemingway in the MUST KEEP stack, and turfed most of the literary criticism, post-modernist theory and pretentious art wank out the door. Good boy Henry. Here you can see Henry and me on his first birthday. For some reason he was trying to slip away unnoticed, bu...

You may have heard that there has been an election going on in Zimbabwe. In what will be a test for democracy in southern Africa, the results may well decide the fate of liberal democracy in much of the under-developed world. The BBC has an interesting pictorial essay on the election, and it fits nicely with their streaming of 'on the ground' contributions and observations that have been solicited from all over the country. This is an excellent insight for those of us lucky enough to live in stable countries, and should remind us to be very thankful for our comparatively 'dull' electoral systems. The Times over the weekend featured an excellent article that spoke of the " the electricity of hope " that can be felt in the electoral processes of developing countries. In a result that has – to be frank – stunned me, independent monitoring groups have said that returns posted at about two-thirds of polling stations have given Tsvangirai 55% of the vote to Mugab...

Inspired by my post yesterday by what we should and shouldn't laugh about – or at least what we should feel guilty about laughing about – I made a comment on another site that prompted some more thought on the topic. Now I have to preface this with a statement about my sense of humour. I broadly accept the whole, "a joke is just a joke, don't get too precious about stuff" line. Indeed, I've told many an unsavoury joke and used it in defence of myself plenty of times. Also, I can't stand ultra sensitive types. These people generally bore me and appear to float about looking for something, anything , to get offended by, and thus giving themselves the opportunity to sermonise about their own moral superiority. Yet I couldn't help myself making such a comment at another website yesterday, when reading yet another angry little rant on how dreadful Hillary Clinton would be as President, and spotting an ad for a t-shirt in the side bar that the site itself appe...

I will be totally honest with you guys, there’s no stand out contender for mine in the current (long, dreary, tiresome) campaign. Bill Richardson is gone. I do like the other Bill, but Hillary not so much. Barack leaves me cold, and John McCain is just too darn flip floppy trying to be all things to all people, and consequently is nothing to no-one! But now there is a new player in the electoral race. He’s left his run late, but could be the man to save the United States of America from itself. Thus, I offer my endorsement to: So come on everybody, hop on the Wiggum-Wagon !

(With a nod to Kottke.org for the tip.) Apparently the rapper DMX has some fame in the world of music, although to be honest I'd struggle to identify him. I have heard of him though. Anyway, he revealed in an interview just published that he had never heard of Barack Obama, and it prompts an amusing little back and forth. People need to think of this the next time they wheel out a celebrity to pimp a politician or cause! The original discussion can be found at the XXL magazine's website . (Note: the interviewer is in maroon, DMX in green). " Are you following the presidential race? Not at all.   You're not? You know there's a Black guy running, Barack Obama and then there's Hillary Clinton. His name is Barack?!   Barack Obama, yeah. Barack?!   Barack. What the fuck is a Barack?! Barack Obama. Where he from, Africa?   Yeah, his dad is from Kenya. Barack Obama?   Yeah. What the fuck?! That ain't no fuckin' name, yo. That ain't that nigga's n...

People might have missed the surprising results coming out of the Malaysian elections held on the weekend. (As usual), the Australian media haven't really captured what happened particularly well, so I was pleased to see Andrew Leigh post the thoughts of his father, Professor Michael Leigh , who has studied Malaysian politics for some time now. For those of you interested, or even if you don't know anything about South East Asian politics, it's an easy and informative read: the Malaysian Election Roundup . [Amended 10:04 am] Trust me to post before looking at all the papers! Michael Leigh has an opinion piece in The Age this morning that expands upon his post on Andrew Leigh's blog, here is the link .

One of my new favourite websites is the always magnificent English Russia . The motto of the good people behind the website is "just because something cool happens daily on one sixth of the Earth surface". The other day, no doubt inspired by election fever in Russia , they posted some posters from Russian elections held in the 1990s, but mainly from Presidential Elections. One picture appealed to me in particular: I am told that the banner reads: Youth choose Zyuganov Now, for those of you wondering, the honey in the poster is Gennady Zyuganov, who has occupied the somewhat incongruous position as leader of the new Communist Party of the Russian Federation in post-communist Russia. You can see why the kids would all be rushing out to support Zyuganov; because he really is one cool looking cat! FYI, in the first round of the 1996 Presidential election –an election that I best associate with ' Mad Vlad' Zhirinovsky – Zyuganov finished second with 32%, trailing only Y...

First up, I think that Costello’s assessment of John Howard as an economic manager is pretty much spot on, but I would have thought that he’d be more careful in the manner in which he’d express himself. I applaud any politician brave enough to offer an honest critique, but you really have to wonder about the shrewdness of Costello continuing the criticism yesterday. After a number of standoffs over the leadership, again the Treasurer looks like an angry younger sibling sniping away, only not having the guts or power to challenge his older brother. Also, you can’t help but feel that he is having a bob each way by staying in the job as Treasurer, either not challenging more forthrightly on policy or the leadership, but also “expressing concerns” at Federal Government spending. Again, he really does come across as both disloyal and weak, not two traits that you’d want in a future PM. To do it in an election year compounds it. On this, I think that the smart money should be on him never b...