i feel like a man with a ticket in tatts...

i'm one happy cookie this sunny friday arvo. obviously, being on the downward slide into a long weekend is good, but what's really put a bit of fizz in my step is that i've just bought a ticket to see weddings, parties, anything on march 28. yep, the weddo's are back together and doing a 10 year reunion tour. those who have known me for a while will know just how excited i'd be by this. i lost count of the number of times i saw the weddo's through the 90's but i never thought i'd see them again after they broke up in 1998. they are one of my favourite bands ever and i finally get to see them again. i'd better start saving up my 10 cent pieces now!

the eroding of freedom (or the slow road to ruin) pt 1

there's an old quote from a bloke called Lao Tzu about a journey of a thousand miles beginning with one step. along similar lines is the saying that one eats an elephant one bite at a time. it's equally true that the road to a state in which individual freedoms are a distant memory happens one piece of legislation at a time. for those with eyes to see, this past decade has been a frightening time for western society as we've seen our freedom constantly eroded. without wanting to go into many of the past excesses, this story caught my eye on the weekend.

under a new public health bill that is set to replace existing laws, people with sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) will be able to be detained without charge and forcibly made to undergo treatment. this is a truly horrendous piece of legislation that is wide open to abuse and has the potential to ostracise those who need help the most. i'd hoped leper colonies had finished in biblical times but i guess not.

the link to the story is below. bear in mind that the article was in the Sunday Times; a paper not known for high journalistic standards or even-handed reporting... but still, it's food for thought.

http://www.news.com.au/perthnow/story/0,21598,23263652-2761,00.html

sorry day

never could i have imagined an apology of such feeling, sincerity and power. i have rarely felt as proud to be an australian as i did this morning during mr rudd's speech. i arrived at the office at 6.30am to make sure i'd be there in time to watch this historic moment and, in line with murphy's law, found that the tele didn't work and there was no-one else there to get it going for me. so, it was back to the computer to watch it live online. i managed to get the vision streaming from the abc website and sat back with a coffee to witness what i've been waiting many years to see. mr rudd's speech was wonderful and 11 years overdue. it dealt with the past in an appropriate and sympathetic manner and addressed the truth of what happened and the motives behind it.

to give dr nelson the benefit of the doubt, i felt his speech was ill-considered and showed a grave lack of judgement. naturally many will be far more harsh and less forgiving in their assessment. there's no doubt he was under pressure from the redneck elements in his party to justify what happened but all he did was illuminate and magnify the stain on the soul of the liberal party. i should have guessed his speech wouldn't be a pinacle of statesmanship from his visible unease when mr rudd proposed putting aside partisan politics and having the government and opposition join together to introduce sustainable, bilateral policies that will benefit our aboriginal countrymen.

what was completely predictable was the disgraceful behaviour of wilson tuckey in boycotting the apology. in doing so, he demonstrated perfectly just how out of touch he is with modern australia. also predictable, and incredibly sad, was the absence of john howard from parliament house. he was the only living former prime minister not to attend today and i believe history will not be kind to him for this display of petulance.

yes, there were some negatives, but they were merely asides to what was a moving and wonderful day.

an exciting time

it's all too easy to coast through occasions of historical importance. events creep up on us and we get jaded from the media saturation. the lead up to tomorrow's apology to the victims of the stolen generation is one of these events. it's been headline news for the past couple of weeks and the subject of redneck outrage on news forums since mr rudd announced pre-election that he would finally say sorry.

for me, this is an event to savour. a number of years ago i was a member of ANTAR (Australians for Native Title and Reconciliation) and was involved in a Sorry Day event in freo. at the time there was a lot of optimism but the howard government did much to deflate that with their refusal to embrace reconciliation and to say sorry. today's welcome to parliament by a local indigenous elder is a significant move forward and tomorrow's apology is a significant step in redressing the wrongs of the past.

i'm sorry for what was done to our aboriginal brothers and sisters by our governments of the past. i'm sorry for the devastating ramifications of these actions and the results that are still being felt today. i'm sorry that it's still so hard for an aboriginal person to get a fair go in our modern australian society. i'm not personally responsible for the wrongs of the past... but i am sorry.

great lyrics

one of the big highlights of the BDO last weekend was billy bragg's performance and probably the highlight of that was when he sang 'there is power in a union'. it was spine-tingling to see the raised fists pumping the air and a sense of solidarity. i felt so inspired that i thought i'd post the lyrics here. unions have a bad name in WA due to a couple of unscrupulous leaders and a media that will take any opportunity to portray them in a bad light but, sadly, there is a very good reason for us to have them. until business leaders are prepared to fairly consider the rights and safety of their workers as a priority, the unions movement will always be needed.

There Is Power In A Union - Billy Bragg (1986)

There is power in a factory, power in the land
Power in the hands of a worker
But it all amounts to nothing if together we don't stand
There is power in a Union

Now the lessons of the past were all learned with workers' blood
The mistakes of the bosses we must pay for
From the cities and the farmlands to trenches full of mud
War has always been the bosses' way, sir

The Union forever defending our rights
Down with the blackleg, all workers unite
With our brothers and our sisters from many far off lands
There is power in a Union

Now I long for the morning that they realise
Brutality and unjust laws can not defeat us
But who'll defend the workers who cannot organise
When the bosses send their lackies out to cheat us?

Money speaks for money, the Devil for his own
Who comes to speak for the skin and the bone
What a comfort to the widow, a light to the child
There is power in a Union

The Union forever defending our rights
Down with the blackleg, all workers unite
With our brothers and our sisters together we will stand
There is power in a Union.

nathan bracken

no one can deny that nathan bracken's a pretty talented bowler and his performance in today's game against sri lanka certainly backs that up BUT, fair dinkum, what on earth is going on with that hair? the bloke looks like a big girl's blouse. i reckon punter needs to have a quiet word in his ear and let him know how ridiculous he looks.. or, better still, have a couple of the bigger players hold him down and sort it out with a pair of scissors. what's the world coming to when front line aussie bowlers have girls' hair cuts? even dizzy's mullet was better than this!!

a very musical weekend

what a weekend!

friday night was the first police concert in perth.. and what a great show it was. unfortunately the support act was the decidedly tepid fergie who was as exciting as watching coke lose its fizz. but as dull as fergie was, the police were equal in brilliance. all the big songs were pulled out of the case and they were fantastic. my fave police song is 'wrapped around your finger' and their performance of it highlighted it's brooding menace and intelligent lyrics.

then after a rest on saturday came the big day out on sunday. i rolled up and bumped into hooky who led me over to where beava and pepe were watching gyroscope. i've not seen gyroscope for many years and they were fantastic. from here i headed off to see dizzee rascal. what an amazing performance! even though it was stinking hot he managed to extract so much energy from the crowd. he was one of my two main highlights of the day. following that was highlight number two - billy bragg. his performance was nothing short of inspirational. i have to admit that of late i've lacked the energy to constantly feel like i'm battling against the xenophobic idiots that seem to be everywhere but listening to billy speak for a couple of minutes put the fire back in my belly. he's a guy who is passionate about his beliefs and infuses that into his audience. on top of his brilliant tirades were his wonderful songs - the saturday boy, a new england, sexuality, greetings to the new brunette, there is power in a union and more. i came away feeling energised and inspired and wishing i'd bought a ticket to his solo show before it sold out.

the three reasons i bought a ticket to the big day out were dizzee rascal, billy bragg and, most of all, arcade fire. so far dizzee and billy had completely rocked me and arcade fire was next. well, arcade fire were a disappointment for me. i can't put my finger on it but i really didn't get off on their set. it did get better as it went on but i came away hoping they return to perth soon and do a smaller indoor gig as i reckon they'd be a lot better there. still, as a fat bloke once sang, two outta three ain't bad.

the rest of the night was good. silverchair followed arcade fire and were enjoyable although not as fired up as the many other times i've seen them. paul kelly was fantastic and obviously really enjoying himself and the final act of the night - the stems - were great. i particularly loved when they pulled out 'tears me in two'.

it was a big weekend and left me so knackered that i slept through my alarm on monday morning and didn't wake up until 9am.