Bought a pack of discounted chips and they left me unsettled
They even twisted the slogan "Life's pretty straight without..."
While I've never been to New Zealand, I wonder if the experience is like going to Shelbyville?
Twisted
The thing that drains you
While I can relate to some of what Mr Valbrun is raising in the comment shown, my feeling is that it began in the early '20s.
That's the 2020s because it was this decade when quarantines were lifted in a rush to normalise life as a new coronavirus was still circulating.
We're still seeing the impacts that it has on lives.
It could just be me, but the more that I look around the more that I see signs everywhere.
In the UK there's been a significant rise in graduates who are unable to work due to health reasons.
It must be devastating to be at the beginning of your adult life and not have the energy to pursue your ambitions.
It was seeing these patterns in data that began giving me an insight into the disconnected attitudes that I see in people.
I hope it gives me patience by recognising that people don't have the energy and possibly are lacking in other capacities as well.
Social identity
It makes sense given that imitation is a large part of how we learn and the gauge by which progress is evaluated.
As
a teenager I remember trying to provoke a reaction from my father, who
studied honours in psychology before being conscripted into the army
near the end of the Vietnam War.
I grew my hair, pierced an ear and pursued various ways to appear obnoxious like wearing t-shirts with offensive slogans.
His
response was frustrating at the time of being a rebellious young adult,
as he'd opine something droll like "I see you've moved from one social
norm to another as a way of asserting your individuality."
So the idea in this post that my friend shared on Facebook reflects something of that lesson.
However,
one of the experiences that probably had a more profound effect on me
than the wisdom of my father was living with divorced parents.
On
weekends I'd be in my father's house and discovering new technology
like computers, compact discs and video tapes, then during the week I'd
live with my mother who was surviving on a government benefit.
In
some ways mum's demonstrations of being able to survive on less in an
affluent society have probably had a more profound impact on me, I
think.
I still do a lot of shopping at
secondhand stores, seek out discounted items at the supermarket and when
I took out a loan on a house I made sure I could make repayments while
on unemployment benefits, because I sooned tired of full-time work and
have never really returned.
It's the idea of a
social identity that probably underpins my creative practices, but I am
wondering whether I have a couple of identities from the modelling I saw
as a child.
Heatwave
There I overheard a guy explain "I'm not here because I like reading."
Conditioning
I used to have a problem with my ringtone after setting it to something unobtrusive that sounded like crickets
In summer the cicadas would have me reaching for my phone to answer calls when it wasn't ringing and missing others.
I'm like Pavlov's dog salivating at the gate when I hear similar small electronic noises.
Australia Day
Every now and then you get a glimpse of how our Asian neighbours view our nation as a remnant of the colonial powers that have largely left the region.
The recent referendum on reconciliation, which proposed constitutional recognition for a First Nations advisory to the Federal Parliament, was thought to have been unsuccessful in part because questions remain as to whether a Treaty or a Truth-telling is first required to move forward.
Likewise it is the reconciliation of Australia's position in the Commonwealth and this legacy of colonial brutality that remains to be addressed.
Many of our country's residents, for example, do not ponder the genocide that allowed a legal term like Terra Nullius to exist until 1992.
The treatment of Tasmanian Aborigines that saw their culture almost entirely eradicated from the island state was so shocking that it inspired HG Wells to write War of the Worlds.
This is something that's been gaining discussion recently, particularly in the book Question 7 by Richard Flanagan.
For those of us on the mainland of Australia it is worth considering the question of whether smallpox was deliberately released in the late 18th Century to unleash a genocide in the fledgling colony of New South Wales.
First Fleet surgeon John White brought sealed bottles containing "variolous matter" (pus and scabs from infected individuals) with him, intending to use it for future inoculations in the new colony.
There were no recorded cases of active smallpox among the colonists or convicts during the long voyage.
Then a major smallpox epidemic broke out among the Aboriginal population of Sydney in April 1789, about 15 months after the First Fleet arrived.
This killed an estimated 50% to 90% of the Indigenous population around the Sydney area and spread inland, leaving dead bodies in campsites across the landscape.
Recently I learned that some marines in the First Fleet had served in North America where British forces had previously used smallpox-laden items against Native Americans.
The use of germ warfare was known and feared enough that George Washington sent smallpox survivors into Boston to occupy it after the city was evacuated by the British in 1776, since they were immune to reinfection and wouldn’t fall prey to smallpox-tainted items left behind.
It is this question of whether Australia waged a civil war through the early centuries of the colony that remains to be answered by the nation as it moves toward becoming an integrated society, along with many other important reforms to create equity among citizens.
Changing the date would assist in creating a new and more inclusive way to celebrate a national day.
Dawn's haiga
I know the quote from Oscar Wilde has a barb in its tail, but I think that recognising one's influence is a pleasing experience.
So I share with you the haiga that my mother penned after a visit to Narrandera yesterday, where we saw my exhibition Zen Roo and looked for koalas and ate a meal at the Red Door Cafe.
It was also pleasing to have my brother and son along for the drive, as the latter asked if there was a picture of him in the exhibition and I was able to identify one and also one that I think he might've taken (which I really should've acknowledged but I guess he's still my minor).
My love for Willie
One of the weirdest things for me so far this year is Willie Nelson
I
never would've expected to be listening to Willie on repeat, yet his
album Teatro is the one I keep reaching to load into the stereo.
My partner wasn't impressed at first, saying that his music reminds her of an abusive ex.
Yet yesterday she wrote a post on Facebook saying how it now reminded her of a friend whose death she grieves.
It's a similar connection for me, I think.
My interest in Teatro arose from watching Rich Beato's interview with producer Daniel Lanois.
Around
the time my father died, I spent a lot of time distracting myself by
watching Beato interviews and the one with Lanois is a highlight.
It's
clear that this old slide guitar player has a funky streak,
particularly when describing the importance of getting a good groove in a
song -- such as Peter Gabriel's hit Sledgehammer.
Teatro was only briefly touched on during the interview, but the track caught my interest and I ordered the album.
Now
as I listen to it I find myself imagining it as something I would've
shared with my father and wondering if he might've appreciated Willie's
music.
The other thing I realise while
listening to the music repeatedly and having an emotional experience is
the way it is conditioning me.
A few years ago I
wrote about how an album by The Avalanches had begun moving me to tears
through being the soundtrack of my son leaving home.
I'm
coming to embrace the role of music in sharing these significant
moments in my life and realise how it's creating the kinds of
connections that I once had with music as a younger adult.
Maybe it's my sentimental streak, but I appreciate the opportunity to create a stimulus that produces a physical reaction.
Zen Roo exhibition
I’m running a series of haiku workshops that will develop a collaborative project with Naviar Records and result with an exhibition in Griffith during May
The workshops begin on 27 February and we’re soliciting Japanese-style short poems (haiku, senryu, renga and tanka) to be considered for the exhibition.
See https://ree.org.au/stay-cool/ for details and links to the Facebook events.
A selection of the contributed poems will be shared with the Naviar community, who respond with music and soundscapes to haiku that are shared each week.
It’s really exciting to hear how the mood of a poem informs a piece of music and when I ran a similar project with Naviar in 2017 we ended up with over five hours of audio that became a rich soundtrack to the prose and photography.
If you feel like getting involved, join a Zoom workshop in coming weeks and we'll discuss the styles of poetry.
This project began with an exhibition that opened last weekend and I made this short video.
Happy new year
Recently a friend invited me to join a ceremony to acknowledge the transition into a new year
The purpose was to draw energy that hadn't been used in the previous cycle and reclaim its potential in the next one.
There were a number of steps to open new beginnings, as well as steps to show gratitude for the abundance in my life.
I
found it useful as a process of reflection, prompted by a series of
rounds in which an offering of seeds were placed into a fire.
We chose to use chia seed, since there was a large bag of it and this gave a dramatic popping sound in the flames.
The
rounds addressed:
- unrealised love,
- clarity that wasn't used,
- energy for manifestation,
- powers that weren't accessed,
- ancestors who passed,
- misused potential,
- wasted medicine, and then,
- calling on energy, and
- evoking mother earth.
It was suggested that
journaling on these themes would help to instill these concepts within a
personal context and I was surprised to arrive at a series of words
that begin with "A" since it is the beginning of the alphabet:
- aloofness,
- ambition,
- attention,
- allowing,
- authority,
- ambivalence,
- art,
- altruism, and
- awe.
After the seeds had been given we were encouraged to sit quietly in the Dreamtime, where past and future meet.
There we were told to invite these two tenses to stop rejecting the other, allowing timelessness to reconcile.
Then
we went to bed, where my friend and I had restless nights and it seemed
fitting that calling on energy would have this result.
My
friend said it was good to hold this ceremony between the calendar new
year and the beginning of the Year of the Snake as a process of
"shedding skin" to begin anew.
While I am
ambivalent about some of the aspects of adopting ritual practices, there
are benefits in prompting reflection and symbolically releasing one's
history to chart a path forward.
Top five
Each year, when I remember, I share the top new posts on this blog
These results reflect the popular additions during the year and I acknowledge that some older material might have had more visitors than current preoccupations.
It's interesting to see that, when I returned to making these lists last year, I made a resolution to post more in 2025.
This year I've posted the most since 2017.
12 tones of Christmas
I've been cultivating a friendship with a local guitarist
The right-handed guitar had a left-handed neck, which isn't uncommon since it gives a strong Hendrix vibe.
It
also was missing a couple of screws and resisted adding more, an issue
that revealed two had already snapped off in the heel of the neck.
I swapped that neck for the next one, which was also branded Fender and it felt like that was meant to be.
I realised it was a style of guitar that suggested it was late 1980s or early '90s when shredding was popular.
After
filing off the broken screws on the warped left-handed neck, I was able
to revive a busted guitar that I already owned and it now has a good
character despite some intonation issues that I continue to tweak.
Anyway,
as I reflected on now having two more working guitars, I offered my new
friend the "Grungemaster" guitar he'd admired when visiting.
They
say it's difficult to make new friends in middle age and I'm grateful
for how my new fixation on pulling apart guitars has created so much
joy in recent months.
My mind is often pondering the possibilities of modifications and there are so many to explore.
And it's wonderful to have found someone interested in hearing the results, as it must bore my family.
Still life
While visiting my sister I woke from a dream about being at a school and teachers asking I to build a pop-up skull
I think I mentioned it to her, but it was still surprising when she suggested we make art on Saturday afternoon.
She identified there were the flowers given to her after our father's death and a collection of animal skulls to choose from.
Reminds me that I should draw more often.
Spilt Milk in Canberra
Took my son to this music festival in Canberra and it felt like the first time I'd been to something like the Big Day Out in decades
This guy was a highlight of Spilt Milk and it seems unusual for a local act to compete with the headliners, which were also hiphop amongst a heavily pop lineup.
I mean, some of the other bands I'd heard on those rare moments I listen to Triple J but mostly one could tell when they were playing a single because everyone would whip out their phone to film it.
One of the strengths of Genesis' set was his wide variety of influences and tempo shifts, as well as energetic movement across the stage he held on his own.
(And occasionally I'd look to see what the sound guy was doing, because I kept recognising his VSTs.)
Recent performances
The "performative reading" fad led me to contemplate which book I took to jury duty yesterday
Sitting at the courthouse gave me a couple of hours of reading time and, aside from being the only person I saw reading a book, I was also the only person wearing a mask.
Anyway, dear reader, my performances didn't stop there.
The case involved a couple who'd been arrested with a commercial quantity of cannabis and the judge clearly did not want any jurors who didn't want to be there.
He implored people to come forward if they have sleep apnoea!
So I raised my hand and took the opportunity to tell the room that I supported drug law reform and in particular thought cannabis should be decriminalised.
The judge told me I was dismissed.
Careless classic
Currently revisiting the Primus drummer auditions with my son and thought to investigate this band
George Michael's poignant song is beautifully rendered in a soulful way, and the rest of their set is great too.
Another modern classic for your delection!
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