’Pong’s photos on King Street

Suwannakorn image

One for the diary: the Suwannakorn series of photographs by my better half ’Pong will be on display at the European Grill, 506 King Street, during Newtown’s Walking the Street Exhibition from next Saturday 7 October.

Personally, I’d much rather have seen some of the urban abstracts on display, but hey that’s my taste. Maybe I just don’t like blue. But then the choice was also influenced by the display space available in the venue.

Odd ideas about “Freedom”

This is what George W Bush said at the Bob Riley for Governor lunch in Alabama yesterday:

There is an Almighty, and a gift of that Almighty to every man, woman and child on the face of the Earth is freedom.

And this, apparently, is part of his argument for legislation which intends to legitimise evidence gained through torture, create “military commissions” where hearsay is admissible as evidence and other “tools necessary to protect the American people in this war on terror” and keep people like David Hicks imprisoned without charge or trial for another four years.

Ah yes, freedom…

The whole speech is worth reading because it’s a fine example of how to do propaganda. And perhaps I’ll write more about that another time, if anyone’s interested?

Or would more Steve Irwin jokes be more suitable?

25% Irrigated

Irrigated farms generate a quarter of Australia’s agricultural production, according to figures released today by the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

The gross value of irrigated production was $9 billion in 2003-04. Irrigated horticulture made up 52% of that, followed by irrigated pastures (24%) and irrigated broadacre crops (24%).

So what happens when global warming dries out the canals? $12/kg bananas will be remembered as the good times, and forget cheap wines from Mudgee.