Author: Stilgherrian

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“Business Ethics”: starting a journey

Somewhere in the last fortnight, I decided that my business Prussia.Net should operate ethically. Not that it’s unethical now, but rather that I should consciously work to improve its status as a “good citizen”.

But what does that actually mean in practice?

After all, Westpac makes a big deal of being the world’s most responsible bank, but that’s like saying you’re the world’s most polite gang rapist. “Responsible” or not, they’re still about being a parasite on everyone else’s business transactions.

So far, I’ve figured three things…

  • I should be happy that I’ve given my office manager the flexibility she needs to be a good mother and community participant. And I am.
  • I should see what I can learn from the St James Ethics Centre.
  • I should be happy that I refused to do work for Hillsong Church today — though a soft drink company’s fine, hey, they just sell addictive alkaloid drugs to children.

But I also figure it’s a lot more than just saying stuff, it’s actually about making a real difference. Wish me luck.

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“Discount anal videos”

That was the content of the very first email I received in 2007. Sure, it was spam, so the subject matter was kinda predictable. But there are some sentences that should never contain the word “discount”, and that’s one of them.

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Carriageworks: an industrial cathedral for contemporary arts

Better late than never: over the next week I’ll post material collected earlier this year — starting off with a visit to Sydney’s newest contemporary performance space, Carriageworks on 21 January.

Our link to the Eveleigh Railway Workshops is weird. ’Pong was arrested for taking photos there, though eventually the charges were dropped. But now toxic waste has been removed (so they say), and space which was once full of sweaty tradesmen rebuilding rollingstock is now full of arty types enjoying the acting and sipping wine.

I must admit, I was worried it was just a facade job…

Photo of Carriageworks facade

… but once inside you see what Director Sue Hunt describes as “an industrial cathedral”.

Photo of Carriageworks interior

As the sun shifts through the afternoon, swathes of light streaming through the skylights turn the interior into a giant sundial. These cameraphone snapshots don’t do it justice. I may post more soon, but for now see more at the Carriageworks website.

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5 species of birds: delight!

Another reason to love this village: just walking to the post office, I encounter five different species of birds!

Rainbow lorikeets (noisy and obvious, but still pretty), Australian magpies (confident and my favourite), Australian ravens (with their languid calls), noisy miners (yes, they’re noisy!) and pigeons.

OK, the skyrat pigeons can go. But the rest are just wonderful — even the aggressive miners. And add to that the family of pied currawongs that live nearby and several other species and you have a wonderful community in which to live.