David Lynch has a right to children

For family movie night this week I picked Mulholland Drive (2001) 

I expected they were going to hate it. 

So it was a surprise when they all seemed to enjoy it and we spent some time discussing what it might mean. 

The other surprise was when my younger kids started laughing during this scene, saying "I want to see your manager"!

Bad love in the Riverina

Sharing another of the Wiradjuri stories recorded by Bill Gammage and discussing how the moral is similar to a famous story written by Shakespeare


Zoom is a threat to patriarchy

Okay, so the title of this post is kinda joking but seemed like good clickbait to lead into some observations

I've been late to using Zoom, the telecommunications software that's become popular as Covid-19 has disrupted a variety of social settings.

Last night I joined a communications circle and it was interesting to hear many of those attending saying how Zoom surprised them in overcoming the absence of a physical space.

I resisted Zoom for a long time but am now beginning to see that it has some benefits, although it wasn't a great substitute for actually attending a life-drawing class.

So there are two things that I've been thinking about with Zoom and how they both level the metaphoric playing field in terms of changing social interactions.

The first is that it forces people to listen to each other.

I haven't seen a Zoom argument yet, but wonder whether it's possible to shout down someone you disagree with?

The second is that laptop speakers and mobile phones are terrible for those deep, masculine voices which would normally evoke authority and promote physical dominance.

Thinking about these two observations led to some amusement for me in thinking that Zoom might have a bigger impact on society than decades of equal opportunity policies.

I've heard some observations from women over the years that they'll be in a meeting and put forward an idea, only to find there's no response until a male in the room says the same idea.

It makes me wonder if Zoom can change this phenomena.

And that Zoom life-drawing class, it did get me drawing -- so maybe it worked?

Wiradjuri legend about the moon



Historian Bill Gammage recorded a Wiradjuri legend, which discusses the night sky and offers an insight into caring for Country.

Grape expectations

 I bought four packs of sultanas to compare and contrast

They were all around $5 each, except the $4.50 Turkish brand Fuel from Aldi.

The results varied greatly.

Those shrunken little Black & Gold brand fruit had bold flavour like a Shiraz wine for the intense acidity.

The Australian Sweet Vine fruit from Aldi were swollen and juicy in comparison, but the flavours weren’t as strong alongside the others (maybe I’d call it a Merlot).

That Turkish brand were nuanced and kinda mellow in comparison (like a Cabernet.

While the Woolies homebrand seemed to balance the sweet flavour in a fruit that was not too dried (like a blended wine, I guess).

Red Earth Ecology video

My partner Jo runs and ecology walk at Burning Seed, which is the NSW regional Burning Man event.

This year we've decided to create a series of videos that visit the site through different seasons.