*commit no nuisance

The Plea

2005-10-07T09:02:00.000+10:30

Please let me sleep. In the night-time, when it's dark and everyone else is taking their part in natural bodily mechanisms. When the entire world is saying sleep let me listen. Let me hear the words and rest awhile. Not hide away in wakeful solitude, and not wander aimlessly through priviledged thoughts. Please let me sleep.

2005-10-07T08:42:00.000+10:30

I am an addict, justified by Kate Moss. I am a writer addicted to words. I am a dreamer, but I can't sleep. And when I do I don't dream. I am European, though I have barely spent more than a fortnight there, nor speak any of their languages to any level of proficiency. I am Australian, though I loathe the place and have no passion for cricket. I am committed, though I sometimes get a little

2005-09-01T22:48:00.000+10:30

Blah blah blah wow this is so amazing like time i can see it it is a pendulum swinging slowly in tune with all the cosmos or something greater than i can see it is a lot to take it the available truth of reality downloaded uploaded swapped and traded made into a commodity bought and sold in the bazaar strange isn't it how we conjure up sleight of hand to disguise the bland nature of ordered

2005-05-15T00:08:00.000+10:30

Do you know what happened today in history? I'll tell you. On this day in 1948, three years after the end of the Second World War and with their Empire crumbling, British troops pulled out of Mandate Palestine. The next day, 15 May, 1948, the State of Israel was proclaimed. They didn't take their time, didn't ask anyone's permission, they just arrived, bedraggled, exhausted and and ready to die,

2005-04-23T19:45:00.000+10:30

Paris in the Springtime?I finally made it to Paris, almost a year to the day after I left Australia with that very idea on my mind. It was grand, really. Not the romantic ideal I had cultivated while swilling caffeine in Rue Babs and writing earnestly in my Moleskine, but the most comfortable place I had been since that fateful departure. I walked the streets, the beautiful streets, with Kara on

2005-03-29T21:05:00.000+10:30

Another new linkVoices from the Bethlehem ghetto

2005-03-21T04:44:00.000+11:00

Fences and WallsBeit Hanina, East JerusalemThe Wall dwarfs humans and carsWhat do you think of this?

2005-03-17T20:44:00.000+11:00

Yet another tedious updateAdded some more links in the sidebar. My mate Hammy is getting a project underway called the Australian Centre for Democracy and Justice, and yes it is spelt CENTRE not CENTER as everyone else seems to be doing it these days. It certainly sounds important, and has a kewl looking logo, as designed by Stu, bringing me to the design link of the week. Stu's site is very

2005-03-08T18:53:00.000+11:00

It's amazing what spending half an hour a day reading the blogs of friends can do for an expat's sense of alienation. The effect can go either way - a further feeling of isolation or a sense that no matter what oceans stand in our way a quickly typed, badly spelled message can engander togetherness, familiarity and love. I don't always write so much anymore, my bad, and I'm not sure why. I check

2005-02-18T19:44:00.000+11:00

News just inIn a development that is sure to shock the entire community affiliated with this modest blog, Ali is no longer with fingernail.After months of cultivating his right pinky finger, a freak accident with a filing cabinet brought the entire project to nothing.A shocked Ali said "I just wanted to see the look on my parents faces when they saw my 3cm (roughly one inch) fingernail. Plus, it

2005-02-16T18:54:00.000+11:00

Wanna see a collection of images from Egypt? Then boogie on down to CNN Photography. Hover over each image for a brief description.

Links

2005-02-09T20:31:00.000+11:00

I've found some really interesting sites in the last couple o' months, some of which I will dispense now... Rafah Pundits - a group blog based in Rafah, Gaza that discusses most all issues associated with Israel - Palestine. I am now an occasional contributor. Orthodox Anarchist is an American Jew who is living in al-Quds for a year, studying the Torah and DJing in secret destinations. He

2005-02-04T18:54:00.000+11:00

Oft times I find myself really struggling to post on my other blog. It is not that I have nothing to say, nor the words to say it. I have a dilemma of identification. What I see here, what I hear and read in the newspapers, what I experience, it all affects me. Sometimes it makes me angry, sometimes it makes me determined to make sense of it, and sometimes I give up hope completely. I am trying

2005-01-28T18:25:00.000+11:00

Sometimes it's not easy to be cheery When your living room gets flooded every time it rains. When it rains more often than you would expect, and it is cold and windy besides. When your shower won't get hot, or cuts out if you have the audacity to also have the heater on in the bedroom. Sometimes it's not easy to be cheery. When you return home to discover someone has been there and helped

2005-01-13T22:24:00.000+11:00

Thanks guys...for the support, the love, the hugs...and the inflatable, three-quarter size blowup doll of Yasser Arafat. I wouldn't get through the long, cold nights without it. And sorry that I've been so caught up in occupation politics, discriminatory land policies, children dying unnecessarily, people being arrested, checkpoints being erected, my bags being detected and other stories

Egyptian holidays

2005-01-06T08:29:00.000+11:00

Or vacations. Can be fun, when interspersed with interminable bus trips of the twelve hour, pharmaceutically-aided variety. Deserts can also be fun, when not being hassled for a tip from a guy that makes your camel so mad she wants to bite the other camel's hindquarters, and who knows no more English than 'Money for me' and 'OK', and could not possibly understand that yes the sand was nice, the

Added link

2004-10-12T20:00:00.000+10:30

Look everybody, I've added a link, that's progress right? Sorry to all my loyal fans that have seen no action on this site for quite some time. I don't promise it will be rectified anytime soon. I'm busy. But sorry all the same. Check out Rafah Pundits if you need something to read. Oh, and I added another one a little while ago, Free As Trees. It's by this crazy sexy girl I ran into a couple of

2004-09-12T02:59:00.000+10:30

A day on the Ganga: Body floating down the river in the dawn light, relatives running along the bank. A young boy, in some pain, suddenly turns to the river and deposits a healthy dose of curried gravy from his distended rectum. In the afternoon, a district away from the old city, silk sellers offer all manor of friendliness until there is a refusal to see their shop, and disinterested, they drop

2004-08-18T20:44:00.000+10:30

Just sat down with the best coffee I've tasted since leaving Melbourne. Short, strong, from an authentic espresso machine. It almost brings a tear to my eye. Unlike seeing a hessian sack on a market street, hiding a human form from the bustling crowds. Or the woman crouched on haunches, staring blankly at the street, the boy gesturing with his crotch at K from a rooftop. Unforgettable images rush

2004-08-12T17:30:00.000+10:30

To see more pics of Myanmar, go to www.cnnphotography.blogspot.com

2004-08-12T17:29:00.000+10:30

C'est moi a Birmanie

Buses

2004-06-24T12:00:00.000+10:30

Gotta love em. I would never think to catch one in Australia, too full of lonely, talkative, blue-haired pensioners, too bulky and lethargic. And no way to avoid the fare. In Malaysia one travels in air-conditioned cocoons, reclining Buddha-style in a Muslim country. In Laos the Buddhist mantra 'life is suffering' is a more apt description of long distance travel. Eight hours perched on a couple

2004-06-13T12:14:00.000+10:30

A sunset I turn around for, rich and vibrant pinkyelloworange. Glitters light on the Mekong as the day gracefully secedes to the night again. Gone now, a moment later at the eternity gate. Jittering birds and jabbering boys compete with Gus, my humanising of the baby monkey on the post across the way, restrained by wide ribbon around his stomach. Gus' occasional plaintive cries, or his supreme

and then...

2004-06-04T16:43:00.000+10:30

It was an epic journey it was early morning all of Bangkok laid out in dawn splendour 22 baht breakfast including coffee now wait at the end of the line for a due companion who's never heard of the messiah and wouldn't know one if his anthem blared from the nearest street stall selling blessing. We've planned an experience a prison visit. Service to a criminal on good behaviour or desperate to

...sssomething else

2004-06-04T16:30:00.000+10:30

The silence in my head is wanting to speak I cannot focus on the sounds of my soul Blaring through the subwoofer of my subconscious Submerged in subtle substitution I could not forget the subterfuge This is too easy, myself as my subject Subjected to all manner of surveillance A summer lost, a sunshine found Somewhere else, starting with a shooting star Sending out cigarette smoke signals And

www.mykeru.com

2004-06-02T18:37:00.000+10:30

Found this site while surfing aimlessly this morning, waking from an oversleep. On the basis of the story I read, This Is America, this site becomes my first new link in a long time. This Mykeru also has some really kewl pictures/arty photoshop things, etc, a lot of anger and a lot of sense. As he puts it, "serenity through viciousness". And now I'm in the mood for linking, up pops Back to

2004-05-30T18:51:00.000+10:30

Can you guess where on my body this is?

2004-05-27T03:04:00.000+10:30

Nothing, everything, all at once A world discovered, all at once The prime of life, the damage done No time now, the needle beckons

2004-05-10T19:26:00.000+10:30

Leaving Sabah in my wake from a dream wanderlust ready for anything on an airasia flight food is optional for survival of the fittest and the not so fitting unwitting characters in an alphabet that cannot form regular sentences

Sabah

2004-05-04T21:39:00.000+10:30

I've been here almost a week now, and it is so idyllic. Just people lounging around, laughing, being hot and sticky, laughing. I might not be able to climb Mt Kinabalu, apparently you have to book accomodation six months in advance! If not, I'm taking off for the east coast - orang-utan sanctuary and jungle, coast, snorkelling, etc. Don't be too jealous.

The Art of Titles

2004-04-28T14:15:00.000+10:30

It's OK everyone, the titles are back. And Roland, that is an expression indicative of my current state of mind, represented graphically through the juxtaposition of solidity (the road, the hidden, steely gaze) and fluidity (the ocean, the blur of movement in my leg). What is "with it?" Why Art is with it.

Titles don't show up, do they?

2004-04-23T18:23:00.000+10:30

In case people were getting concerned, the images I sent are now unavailable, because my web shell has been shut down. Why? Because I was using the space for storage, made obvious by the number and size of the images I was holding there. No matter, I just need to resize the pics before putting them in a secret location, and linking to said location. I've got you Angelfire mofos right where I want

Where in the world...

2004-04-18T15:25:00.001+10:30

Do you find cigarettes for $2.50 a pack? Do motorcycles, or should that be motosikals, outnumber cars? Does every person you come across ask 'where you from?' or 'where you going?' Asia, that's where. I just read the travel advice of the Australian government and it made me laugh a little. For Malaysia it says "Australians in Malaysia should exercise a high degree of caution, particularly in

2004-04-18T15:25:00.000+10:30

I just wrote a long-ish blog and my session expired and brought me back to a blank page. Pooey. Now I have to go.

Malacca, Melaka

2004-04-12T18:58:00.000+10:30

However you spell it the meaning is the same. I'm here now, and such history. I've seen the oldest European building in SE Asia, I've seen the port and the old Portugese settlement. Yesterday in KL, Ibrahim and I went to the National History Museum where a lot of the emphasis was on Melacca as the building block of the Malaysian nation. At one time the Malays controlled both sides of the straits

Hello World

2004-04-09T13:13:00.000+10:30

For all who care, I have arrived shaken but safely in the steamy Kuala Lumpur. Got to KL Sentral just before one in the morning and had no choice but to let someone find me a room, ending up in a double room (two double beds!) for the bargain price of RM70. At least he said it was a bargain. Now have a map of KL and dropped my bag for an exploration, but to tell the truth I just don't know where

The State of the Blog

2004-03-31T12:00:00.000+10:30

Once upon a time I would write what I wanted on this blog. No-one read it, no matter how much I sold the idea to friends and strangers. So I "self-published" elaborately futile prose and had a great time compiling my online scrapbook. A little later I decided a "self-respecting" web log needed to be political, tackling the nitty-gritty issues that are supposed to interest and enrage us as plugged

Dashing

2004-03-29T12:54:00.000+10:30

I've just returned from an excellent weekend with Jess down in Lorne. A little bit of ocean, and little bit of forest, and a whole lot of casual bliss. Still to come, organizing insurance and whatnot, and partying like I never wanna leave. All night Saturday, all day Sunday.

2004-03-23T15:41:00.000+11:00

You're a Dracula vampire! You're all tradition and appearances. You aregentlemanly toward your victims and probablyhideously rich. You owe your image to BramStoker and Bela Lugosi. You get all the goodlines, such as "I do not drink...wine." What type of vampire are you? brought to you by Quizilla

Drunkeness, travel insurance and friendship

2004-03-22T16:15:00.000+11:00

Hello world, I spent the weekend in a whirlwind - being drunk and disorderly at Walsh on Friday after refereeing (au revoir Markus), recovering with J on Saturday then a film at the French Film Festival, early morning wake up call on Sunday to sell junk with Theo and Val and Jess at Camberwell Market, rushing to Werribee to try to cheer up my dad, racing back to catch La Dolce Vita at the Astor

Location: Tullamarine

2004-03-17T07:21:00.000+11:00

So here I am, strangely, standing at an internet connection that is costing me $2 for 20 minutes (no less) in the international terminal of Melbourne Airport. A practice run, with my mum and bro jetting off for a whirlwind, organised tour of Vietnam from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh. The drive here was hilarious, in retrospect. C howling for the heater, more speed, grumbling about row Z. M panicked and

The Fog of Life

2004-03-08T16:05:00.000+11:00

Just back from watching Errol Morris' "academy award winning" new documentary 'The Fog of War', followed by a video link Q&A with the man himself. It was an amazingly honest interview-based film focussing on Robert S. McNamara, who among other things, was US Secretary of Defense for most of the Vietnam War. The film was organised into eleven ironic 'lessons' that Morris learnt, the last of which

Not last words, this is not goodbye

2004-03-03T14:09:00.000+11:00

OK that last blog was not the last words to anyone, I mean, give me a little credit. There is still 36 days until it's time for last words. C'est vrai, I have finally booked a ticket, got a date, the world can return to equilibrium. Thursday 8 April at 5.10pm I am flying from Tullamarine to Kuala Lumpur airport. Earlier than anticipated by most (including myself), and more than likely a tad

Partir et rentrer

2004-03-02T15:29:00.000+11:00

Back at Walsh for the first in a while. Borrowed coffee and R's "infernal racket" (my mother's favourite phrase) Aphex Twin delicacies scratching my eardrums. Just rang the immigration service trying to get onto DFAT for passport advice and had a lovely chat with a young man who was of little help to me. Rang the proper number (as prominently displayed in the 'Handy Hints for Australian

Net tech puberty blues

2004-02-28T12:52:00.000+11:00

The recent popularity of blogs I am somewhat attached to has made mine own feel alone, unpopular, useless. Commit No Nuisance wishes to live by its name, travel along the paths of its binary existence with as little resistance as possible. This blog admits to being slightly naive; of course no self-respecting web journal can ever hope to resist the real world it hopes to visit sporadically. All

Stilted goodbyes

2004-02-26T16:08:00.000+11:00

Two weeks later I'm back, delayed by a infected laptop and a turn of events in my personal stratosphere. I'm moving in with J, out of Walsh two months premature. I never did think this might happen, but now it has always had a cloud of inevitability to it. If you want the lowdown on the erupting bunfight, go to J's blog and read the comments. I went to see Graham Kent yesterday, the boss of the

2004-02-12T14:03:00.000+11:00

A Terrible Beauty Nothing much happens, and everything happens at once. I feel now that I should jot observations to sate the appetite of a young lady I am close to that waits on every word I type here. I want also, for my own reasons, to write here more often, let the uncaring world know exactly where I stand. Only problem (or most immediate problem) is that I don't really know where I am

2004-02-07T14:05:00.000+11:00

Progression Yo wassup mofos? I'm having a tip top day. Refereed four games of basketball, grammar school kids and grammar school pay. No wonder their fees are so high. I checked my emails last night as J slept, and discovered that two respectable media organisations will give me the time of day this week. I've also booked an interview with the esteemed Australian filmmaker Rolf de Heer on the

2004-02-01T14:49:00.000+11:00

Happy Birthday Mum Another long wait between drinks, becoming a signature move of mine. As would be expected, much has occured in the interim. Last week I got business cards printed...totally sweet. Feels almost professional. Made over a hundred dollars selling old clothes and CDs at St Andrew's Market on Saturday, oh, saw Aphex Twin on psychedelics on Tuesday, that was nice. Jimmy was a glowing,

2004-01-22T18:26:00.000+11:00

Letting Go Today was the last I spent as a phone monkey. At lunchtime I was pulled into the manager's fishbowl to be made accountable for my actions. Apparently I had failed to follow protocol in regards to Trade Practice compliance and was no longer required by the organisation. ‘Twas a shame, only in that every fortnight they were paying me a tidy sum (by my standards) to convince incoming

2004-01-15T21:55:00.000+11:00

Trawling I've had a chance to meander aimlessly through the realms of cyberspace today, the first time in a while. So I decided to return to an old favourite blog of mine, Riverbend. As devout readers of this page may be aware, it is my intention to track down this impressive blogger and shake her hand. Apart from this I will mention that her recent blogs, especially the New Year themed one, are

2004-01-10T11:57:00.000+11:00

Wanna know my opinion about Lars von Trier's new film Dogville? Click here.

2004-01-09T23:30:00.000+11:00

"our borders remain open to visitors but closed to terrorists" The US has recently decided that anyone with the gall to attempt a visit to their virgin soils must first undergo a strict screening process which will include having their photograph and fingerprint recorded by the newly appointed Homeland Security department. One would assume that these records are henceforth accessible by all

2003-12-29T18:49:00.000+11:00

Naughty It is a strange feeling indeed to be blogging, and to be getting paid (not) to do it. I'm working back late tonight, it seems the best option for this window where I'm not expected anywhere in particular. I was to see Dogville with my housemates tonight, but one is under the influence, and the other seems disinterested, so I'll probably wait until my beloved, my bespottled, my bedraggled

2003-12-26T18:25:00.000+11:00

Vitty For the last three months my sharehouse has been sharing its space with an extremely amicable young German who goes by the name of Vitty [pronounced Witty, its very German, yah?]. A quietly intense man in the English tongue, it is obvious that in German he is a talkative, intense young man. He admitted as much last night, when he and Roland were analysing my current situation and its dire

2003-12-22T09:08:00.000+11:00

May 2 A day of departure, extension and annihilation. The day I have chosen, from the numerous potentialities, to be my Ground Zero. Now that has been decided, I can feel an itinerary coagulated in my head. It runs thus; Arrive in KL, either travel to Sabah or explore a bit of Malaysia then up through Thailand in May/June. Snooze in Bangkok then turn right into Cambodia. Out the other side to Ho

2003-12-16T17:16:00.000+11:00

Caught So Saddam has been caught in a rathole near Tikrit. I guess that's a good thing. If it results in a lessening of 'terrorist activities', perhaps there is a chance for a successful occupation, a la Japan [I'm not sure the Japanese would considered two atomic bombs a successful occupation, but you know what I mean]. If it doesn't, if the shootings and violence contiues, or escalates, I will

2003-12-10T22:33:00.000+11:00

It’s because Now she’s all my world, yet another guide that is taking me towards the centre of me. Her world is another universe, an unknown, and for some reason she resonates my inner sanctum, unconsciously. (N.B. adj. Relating to that part of the mind which is inaccessible to the conscious mind but which affects behaviour, emotions, etc.) I listen to the echo and feel it may be some part of me

2003-11-29T14:30:00.000+11:00

Give Thanks Baghdad was honoured with the presence of its occupying power's commander-in-chief yesterday. Oh glory to his turkey! I think what he said he has said before, but that didn't seem to ruffle his soldiers' feathers. They lapped up the empty words of justification, they adored the feeling that what they are doing is worthy, that 'no thug is going to stop the mighty U.S. of A. from

2003-11-24T00:09:00.000+11:00

Respite I have been a little distracted this past week, so apologies to all my loyal fans...It's been too much to even drag myself to the computer. The world outside of my view just hasn't really entered my consciousness this week. It's been a refreshing break, and I thank my present location that I even have the opportunity to step back and ignore the world for a while. But I'm back into it now.

2003-11-08T01:23:00.000+11:00

I certify that this entry is a wholesale theft of content from a fellow blogger. I hope he is happy with a link on my site. This sort of debauchery should be aired for all the world to see. He called it... The Planet of the Insane <

2003-11-04T20:34:00.000+11:00

Healing Iraq? I'm always interested in finding new blogs as I source my daily allowance of 'public opinion' on our worldwide hyperhighway, and I have been proud to link two Iraqi bloggers, Riverbend and Salam Pax, on my blog for some time now. It is infinitely important to hear of life on the other side (as if there even is an 'other side' on a spherical globe') and the internet and blogging has

2003-11-01T21:31:00.000+11:00

Halloween I'm struggling, I really am. It was a long night, full of wigs and atrocious makeup. I really should have watched The Rocky Horror Picture Show again. It felt so good to catch up with some old friends that might just have been gone an eternity. For a minute there, I lost myself. And special thanks to the people that throw in a mix tape. I hope you all got one back. Sometimes it doesn't

2003-10-31T14:37:00.000+11:00

This last week I have been desperately editing and rewriting my final undergraduate essay. It's called Iranian Balloons: Pahani and the West and in it I have aimed to connect the recent festival interest in Iranian film to a cultural history heavily burdened by the machinations of imperialism. Enjoy (or not)

2003-10-25T05:01:00.000+10:30

I would like to thank Zeyad for getting me on to a commenting service, as well as being a none too uninteresting blogger.

2003-10-25T02:52:00.000+10:30

Tourists, the lot of them I want to forget the Americans running all over the world creating havoc for a moment to focus on a threat a lot closer to home, and with a deeper historical relationship with this sometimes beautiful land. I'm talking, of course, of the humble British backpacker, resplendant in his or her matching rugby sweaters and thongs. A story. I was coming home from the bar, and

2003-10-24T16:02:00.000+10:30

Google...and Commit No Nuisance It seems that to get an mention in the Google directory it is not enough to merely title one's blog Commit No Nuisance. One has to instead mention the phrase (Commit No Nuisance) a number of times within an entry for it to arouse attention. So, apart from an obvious exhaltion for the world to "Commit No Nuisance" I will also say to Google, please, Commit No

2003-10-23T15:07:00.000+10:30

Michel Houellebecq ...is an often profound, sometimes enraging writer. Allow me to explain. "It's curious to think of all these human beings who live out their whole lives without feeling the need to make the slightest comment, the slightest objection, the slightest remark. Not that these comments, these objections, these remarks are addressed to anyone in particular, nor intended to have any

2003-10-16T18:50:00.000+10:30

Yesterday was my last day of classes...ever. Today the entire teaching staff at my university went on strike, angry at proposed changes to higher education as espoused in Education Minister Brendan Nelson's review. These are changes that neither students, academic staff, nor vice-chancellors support. I am lucky to have finished my degree as these changes are being debated. I would not have gone

2003-10-15T01:27:00.000+10:30

Le Enterrement, une histoire pour Rachel A crowd of roughly forty mourners had gathered when the black Ducati came to a halt some thirty metres from the freshly dug hole. Each one watched in their own version of espionage as the rider disembarked, removed his helmet, and began to cross the distance between them. For his older sister, situated at the nucleus of this atomic grouping, the chasm

2003-10-13T11:10:00.000+10:30

Bugs I am still working through the bugs that accumulate once one downloads freeware of the internet, and am awaiting delivery of my free(^) mail order bride courtesy of eBay and the Shoppers Network. Once she arrives I'll set her to work updating this site daily in my absence, and ensuring the pics and audio are streamed to you 24/7. *CNN (^)conditions apply

2003-10-08T01:22:00.000+10:30

Absence I apologise to my legion of tech-savvy fans, for I have been well and truly grounded this last week. For thirty-six of the last forty-eight hours I have been staring at this screen and trying to get voiceovers and grabs and music to all fall harmoniously into place. It has not been easy. It has not been fun. But it might produce results in the form of access to *cnn radio via *cnn web.

2003-10-02T18:31:00.000+10:30

Guevara and Yorke I opened up the ‘puter with good intentions. But then all of a sudden I put Radiohead on…and a pictorial biography of che was handed to me…I had a little smoke…and the smoke got in my eyes. Who's in bunker, who's in bunker? / Women and children first / Women and children first / Women and children / I'll laugh until my head comes off / I swallow till I burst / Until I burst /

2003-10-01T02:42:00.000+10:30

Contacts and Contracts Slowly, ever so slowly, the word is getting out about cronyism in the Bu'shit regime. A NYTimes article today did more than insinuate that reconstruction and renetworking in Baghdad is being controlled by a mafia-like organisation. Unfortunately for the free world, the links go right on up the chain to men like Dick Cheney and families like the Bushs. Where are the local

2003-09-28T12:32:00.000+10:30

Sheep Agriculture Minister Warren Truss sure has been a nice guy recently. He thinks so much of the Iraqi people that he's going to send them 50,000 live sheep for the end of Ramadan. The ship left Australia about five weeks ago, destined for Saudi Arabia. But Saudi authorities said that 6% of the animals had Scabby Mouth disease, something that doesn't sound particularly appetising. The

2003-09-24T02:41:00.000+10:30

It's good to see that the U.N. is talking...again. It's good to see that W Bush thinks we shouldn't "rush democracy" in Iraq. It's good to see that the US-implemented Governing Council of Iraq has decided to close al-Jazeera and al-Arabiya stations there, because they "promote terror". It's all good.

2003-09-21T14:08:00.000+10:30

I look out the window of my little sharehouse in inner Melbourne, see the early Spring sun starting to gain ascendancy over the biting Winter wind, and I am sad. I can't fully explicate my malaise. Perhaps, in part, it is a Western guilt that my life can be so comfortable. Even as a univeristy student struggling to get (officially) educated, I live a less than hand-to-mouth existence. I have

2003-09-18T01:15:00.000+10:30

I've tried to find the al-Jazeera website in English quite a few times in the last couple of years. After an initial success just after the WTC attacks, I have since be unable to find a search engine that can give me access to the network. Finally I've found the link. For me, it is a small victory in the War on Dissent. *cnn p.s. I thank 'our woman in Mosul', Riverbend, for both her très chic

2003-09-16T18:20:00.000+10:30

Do I have to pick a side? A little while ago, what, maybe two years ago today, I heard George Dubya making his point known. America was under attack. If this did not particularly unsettle you, his speech following shortly after that day should have. Because this President would from this day forward make no distinction between "terrorists, and those that harbour terrorists. You are either with us

2003-09-15T01:03:00.000+10:30

Letter from Ariel Sharon to a Palestinian soldier, I don't understand...you say in your letter that you don't think friendship will work and when you know that is all that is on offer you still call [out to] me! I've come to terms with the fact that maybe friendship isn't an option, I've realised that if you still have feelings [of nationhood] then maybe it is unfair of me to expect you to put

2003-09-09T12:55:00.000+10:30

"The virtual outlawing of history by the dominant culture has reduced the process of democracy to farce. The result is a mishmash of cynicism, despair and escapism." Tariq Ali

2003-09-09T12:22:00.000+10:30

When did American democracy become so transparently farcical? Today, from Iraq, Rumsfeld scolds such 'dissenters' as Al Jazeera and, oh, the American Democrats, for encouraging terrorism by the very act of dissent. At the same time, George W. Bush can ask, with a straight face, for $87 billion (of which $66b will be for military operations) in the next year for U.S. costs in Iraq and Afghanistan

2003-09-01T12:53:00.000+10:30

Spring has sprung! On the very first day of September the ground is wet from a night rain, but the sun is glistening in the puddles and warming my back. Footy finals fever has surprisingly hit my athlete-adverse housemate, although to his defense it is the politics rather than the display of masculine physical prowess that has really got his juices flowing. Yet I feel even he may be unaware that

2003-08-29T16:35:00.000+10:30

In lieu of any substantial input from my quarters, I would like to draw your attention to two people who have managed to continue blogging their thoughts to the world through the bombings and occupation of their country. Most of you would be familiar with the first, a man who goes by the name 'Salam Pax'. A fixer and translator for the NYTimes by day, he has amassed a worldwide following since

2003-06-19T16:08:00.000+10:30

For those of you interested in the sexual politics of filmic representation, peruse my essay on Catherine Breillat's Romance

2003-05-01T14:13:00.000+10:30

In fact it seems that *cnn is in a permanent state of hibernation. I apologise sincerely to all my loyal fans out there and promise to attempt to rectify the situation just as soon as I have something to say. It's obvious that no one is listening to the *cnn ideal anyway. Most are too busy tuned into the Cable News Network TM. Just you wait though, I can almost feel inspiration coming on right

2002-10-12T16:53:00.000+10:30

The post-pre-emptive strike landscape is permeating my dreams, colouring them red and grey. The *cnn lens can only develop so much, and its choices tell their own story.

2002-10-10T13:49:00.000+10:30

Well it seems that *cnn slept through September. Suddenly the sun is shining, the air smells sweet, and the phyically present *cnn photographic laboratory has come into existence. Fully functional as a material-gathering, negative developing, print processing image centre, the *cnnlab is taking orders now. Email cnncollective@yahoo.fr to enquire.

2002-08-18T22:15:00.000+10:30

Salut, *cnn is an analysis of "film, art, culture, world, words, images, with a conscience." Is it worthwhile? I am assured that what we need is a conscience (and not necessarily love da dada dada) especially now in 2002 as the world will 'never be the same'. Of course it will, but that doesn't lessen the need for analysis, it doesn't mitigate the desire for a way of living that is always aware

2002-08-09T14:10:00.000+10:30

A word: A salad roll of film developed treat on Wednesdays, flush for a day after pay. Shortlived I know, but when it's all you've got in the world you cling to it with insane desperation. And the coffee calls words forth, puts them in order and makes something of this hand-to-mouth life. To have it known I wouldn't want it any other way. As it stands character traits are designed by cash flow.

2002-08-07T13:57:00.000+10:30

Salut. Melbournites take note. The Melbourne International Film Festival is drawing to a close. Although the promo material was bland, the programme was anything but. A lot of great films were on offer, including the new Jean-Luc Godard film, In Praise Of Love. Being a youngster I had never seen a JLG film in a theatre, having had to suffice with video. His black and white imagery is brilliant on

2002-08-06T16:04:00.000+10:30

Salut. Welcome to *cnn. Here reads the initial test transmission of a new-found blog. *cnn focusses on art and culture, news and politics, it reminds constantly of history, context, interconnectedness. Words and images find new expression. I am optimistic. Send correspondence to cnncollective@yahoo.fr