Margaret Whitlam is dead. Tony Abbott picks up her still-warm corpse and uses it to thump her grieving husband. British comedian Bill Bailey says what I think about classical music. And we top the party goat for Harmony Day.
In this episode of the Edict, you’ll hear how Harmony Day is just made up by the Australian government — and you can check out the material at the official website. I’ll introduce you to the joys of 3 Word Quotes. The ABC TV broadcast of Last Night of the Proms inspires me to quote Bill Bailey from British TV program TV Heaven Telly Hell. And I reflect upon Tony Abbott’s lame tribute to Margaret Whitlam.
You can listen to the podcast below. But if you want all of the episodes, now and in the future, subscribe to the podcast feed, or even subscribe automatically in iTunes.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 29:20 — 19.2MB)
[Update 22 March 2012: While I did mention it in the podcast, I forgot to mention here that because this is episode 20 it brings us to the end of series 1 of The 9pm Edict. It’s time for a rethink. That rethink also includes a bit of a think about Stilgherrian Live, the live video program I used to do. Some people want the Edict to continue. Some want Live to return. I’ll write more about this soon.]
[Credits: Margaret Whitlam tributes by Julia Gillard and Tony Abbott from ABC News. Last Night of the Proms from ABC TV. TV Heaven Telly Hell via YouTube. Beep sound by junggle via Freesound.org, used under a Creative Commons Attribution license. The 9pm Edict theme by mansardian, Edict fanfare by neonaeon, all from The Freesound Project. Photograph of Stilgherrian taken 29 March 2009 by misswired, used by permission.]
Play up! Play up! And play the game!
By Sir Henry Newbolt
There’s a breathless hush in the close to-night
Ten to make and the match to win
A bumping pitch and a blinding light,
An hour to play, and the last man in.
And it’s not for the sake of a ribboned coat.
Or the selfish hope of a season’s fame,
But his captain’s hand on his shoulder smote
“Play up! Play up! And play the game!”
The sand of the desert is sodden red-
Red with the wreck of the square that broke
The gatling’s jammed and the colonel dead,
And the regiment blind with dust and smoke.
The river of death has brimmed its banks,
And England’s far and Honor a name,
But the voice of a schoolboy rallies the ranks-
“Play up! Play up! And play the game!”
Hiya,
I just wish you’d post more interesting stuff here, again. Multimedia is great, but I can’t view or listen at work.
What I actually came by to post was this:
http://threatpost.com/en_us/blogs/inadequate-pay-outdated-approaches-and-bureaucracy-all-contribute-foreign-ownership-federal-sy
Wasn’t sure if you’d seen it?
“wear an orange shirt for Harmony Day” nice for the Irish proddos or Hindus. but is a colour, any colour, appropriate for Harmony and inclusion? It may offend. and that’s a dangerous place for the pollies.
@Nick Hodge: A handy poem, that one. Thank you. Did you not point to that in another context recently? Or is my memory playing tricks?
@kazari: Ah, well, the thing about an audio podcast is that the performance is part of the message. Or something. But you’re right, I do post fewer lengthy written piece here — mostly because I now write more elsewhere, for money.
Thanks for the pointer to that article, I hadn’t caught that one yet. Appreciated.
@Mr Black: Oh please don’t go down that path, we’ll end up with rainbow t-shirts! 😉
Was just listentining to Episode #20. Your comments about the AIS and elite sport in general are spot on.