'Chateau'

 

Seeing as we aren't talking about Trumpetfuck I thought I'd post a video by Angus & Julia Stone. I listened to this again on my way to work this morning and it's a great driving song because of the repetitive driving rhythm. Speeding through farmland with paddocks on either side it's also a good 'escape' song. 

For the non-Ozzies Julia and Angus Stone are singer-songwriter twins who were forging independent careers until they decided to form a duo in their early twenties. You'll catch glimpses of them on this video but they aren't the main characters.

There's more info here at the ABC - our national broadcaster. 

Another Conspiracy Theory?

Seems not a day goes by without yet another conspiracy theory so I decided to finish this and dedicate it to a dumb cause. This is how I see it - basically just meaningless confusion about what is or what isn't true, and everyone has a theory.

To demonstrate how pervasive this phenomenon is I will give you an example. I have just discovered - via my partner's relationship with Twitter - that Trump and Melania have contracted COVID. This is how the conversation goes in my head:

My first response is: 'Hell-yeh! I hope that fucker gets really sick'. 

Then: 'I hope Melania is OK. I hope they don't die - I'd feel bad and Trump would be a dead hero'.

But: 'I sure hope Trump gets sick enough to learn some compassion'

Followed by: 'Hey.......wait a minute. What if this is just false news? Trump is losing in the polls. He looked really stupid during the debate and his own party aren't happy that he didn't denounce right-wing extremists. I wouldn't put it past him to fake this, pretend to catch COVID, recover and come out a conquering hero'.

You see - it's impossible to know what the truth is any more. I'll have to wait and see what develops.

LATE EDIT: Obviously I'm not the only cynical one!!

Image 1: Author. Original idea. Hand drawn, digitally coloured.  

Image 2: New York Times, Facebook feed.

I Had a Dream

When I promised to do more positive posts I didn't realise how difficullt it would be. I've had several blog ideas but ditched them because they seemed too negative - so this is a bit of a compromise.

I watched about 10 minutes of the US debate-debacle yesterday because it was broadcast just before midday here in the west of Oz and I accidentally watched it while I had lunch. It was pretty much as I expected and I think Captain Scratchy sums it up perfectly. Despite commentators unsuccessfully trying to manage their biases I think Biden did OK - maybe because I hate Trump so much. Some commentators are saying Biden was weak but compared to the performance of the most ignorant, arrogant and stupid man I've seen on TV, Biden was a star. I'm relying on Trump to sabotage himself and I think, hope, I have read this correctly.

I know what happened with the 'popular vote' in the last US election but there are some indications that Biden might just win. I'm hopeful for a couple of reasons. One is the fact that the Democrats raised $4 million dollars in 1 hour during last night's debate - which is a record. The second is that a US commentator made the observation that in the last election Trump was the outsider. This time he is the 'status quo' - he is the boss of the swamp, the head of the institution that voters were rebelling against in the last election. 

I know he still has his stupid blind followers but somehow I don't think Trump's tactics will work this time and Biden may win. I think I dreamed this was true last night but that may just be wishful thinking. I'm hoping beyond all hope that my dream comes true.

Cartoon by Captain Scratchy on Instagram.

Inside the Music

 

A few years ago I suffered a bout of deep depression. It was the perfect emotional storm: I was 7 years into 10 years of research and writing for my thesis, my father died and I tore ligaments in my left ankle jumping off my board in shallow water. Luckily I had accrued sick leave and some long service leave so I was able to take a break from my job. 

For a couple of weeks I was on crutches - I couldn't walk on the beach and I couldn't surf. I couldn't do much for months so I stayed home and lay on the bed while my long-suffering patient partner brought me cups of tea and pretty much looked after everything. He didn't try to cheer me up - he was just there. He and I both understood without ever discussing it that I needed to stay in that black hole until I didn't need to be there any more. It was many many months before I climbed out.

Part of my recovery was a set of 10 Kum Nye yoga poses. I felt unmotivated and I hated them but I did them religiously every morning. I collated a playlist to listen to as I did them and this was on the list. It used to make me cry.

When I hear music like this nothing in the world really matters. Sometimes I still wish I could stay inside the music forever and never have to face the world again.

Music: 'The Legend of Jesse James (Mary's Song)', Nick Cave & Warren Ellis

Dogs

 

This is anthropomorphism at its most ridiculous but I swear that dogs have a sense of humour too.

Photos: Random Facebook memes. Unknown source.

Rat Year, 'Cat Year'

For some time I have been feeling world weary and despondent. In the scheme of things I am extremely lucky. We own our 5 acre bush block with a very modest 'shed' dwelling in a small coastal town, in a locked down state virtually unaffected by COVID. I still have a 2 day a week job that pays my bills and, because I know how to live frugally (when you are an artist you learn pretty quickly), I can afford good food, a decent car and a visit to our vegan cafe once a week.

In an attempt to claw back some peace of mind I have reduced my Facebook friends to 22 - just family and close friends. I check in regularly with my 80 year old mum 400km away on Messenger so I need to keep my Facebook account, otherwise I'd probably ditch it altogether. I've stopped watching current affairs, stopped following environmental pages on Facebook too, pulled out of 'groups', stopped signing endless petitions to politicians to try and get them to change their dimwitted minds, stopped talking to people about climate change - I'm either preaching to the converted or talking to a brick wall - and generally, decided to withdraw from the world as much as possible to live in a bubble.

Instead of listening to our national broadcaster on my 45 minute drive to work I put in my ear pods and listen to gems like this from Al Stewart. This guy has a formula and it works for me - great lyrics and a great melody, orchestral backing interspersed with emotive guitar, haunting saxophone and keyboard lead breaks. Wikipedia says he is a 'Scottish singer-songwriter and folk-rock musician who rose to prominence as part of the British folk revival in the 1960s and 1970s. He developed a unique style of combining folk-rock songs with delicately woven tales of characters and events from history'. He released Year of the Cat in 1976. This is high up on my list of 10 favourite songs - classics that I never tire of. I hope you enjoy it.

From now on I am going to try and blog about things that are more uplifting, enjoyable and sometimes still thought provoking but not depressing. I can't change the world - the next generation will have to do that. It's their world now and they are going to have to fight for it like we never did.

The New Crazy

I'm struggling to accept the new 'reality' - dealing with climate change deniers, despots running once democratic countries, COVID, and rampant destruction of the environment. We are facing a new reality where once respected scientists have no authority, where world leaders tell barefaced lies and make it up as they go and nobody seems to be able to stop them, where the populace invents its own reality because it doesn't like the one it is being presented with. 

I feel as though I am losing my mind - except I actually think I am one of the sane minority left on planet Earth.

This is happening now.

Even people I call friends - and there are only a few I call 'friend' - have started denying humanity's part in climate change ('it's just cyclical'), suggesting the whole COVID thing is a 'hoax' (including a now ex-friend who practised as a medical doctor for decades) and defend Trump because the media are misrepresenting him (even though he is condemned by his own filthy mouth and constant Tweets). 

What the absolute fuck? We have now officially returned to the Dark Ages when ignorance reigned and people were burnt at the stake for opposing the status quo. There is mass insanity in my country, maybe in every country. Once rational, decent people have lost their fucking minds.

This happened last year - and we weren't on the East coast where the fires were catastrophic.

I'm gobsmacked that people can't see the evidence before their eyes. And then I remember that they simply can't bear to - THAT reality is too frightening. And then I get really mad because I'm suffering because I CAN see what is happening and I can't lie to myself about it. I'm exhausted - I feel as though I and my fellow realists are bearing the burden of this when so many others are living in a delusional state of 'everything will be OK'.

I don't have any answers. The only way I know how to deal with this madness is to stop watching the news, go for walks on the beach and work on our bush block - watching the little birds, kangaroos, rare sightings of bandicoots, insects and frogs - trying to protect a virgin block that I know will one day be destroyed by climate change or developers who will smash the whole lot down to build more houses for ungrateful, stupid humans. I have a condition known as misanthropy.... and I'm not alone. 

I'm afraid I'll have to leave the last word to Munted Bear because he is so eloquent when it comes to matters like this.

image 1: Title unknown, David Sandlin

image 2: Screenshot, 'New York Times', September 2020, Facebook feed

image 3: Author, photo of rental property 2019

image 4: Author, original concept, hand drawn and digitally coloured