Word-whore. I write 'em. I talk 'em. Information, politics, media, and the cybers. I drink. I use bad words. All publication is a political act. All communication is propaganda. All art is pornography. All business is personal. All hail Eris! Vive les poissons rouges sauvages!
This is my fourth outing as guest co-host of Well May We Say, the Australian progressive politics podcast from Jeremy Sear-Pirko in Melbourne. This episode is titled “Anti-Vicsers” because… well I assume you’ve been following the COVID-19 news.
Continue reading “The 9pm Extra: Well May We Say episode 147, “Anti-Vicsers””
My week of Monday 28 May to Sunday 3 June 2018 began in the Blue Mountains, passed through the Gold Coast, and ended up in Brisbane. But I told you that last week.
None. But there will be two episodes quite soon. Trust me on this.
I’m staying on in Brisbane for a couple more days. On Monday, after a morning of writing, I’m having lunch with an infosec person, then recording an episode of The 9pm Probe with author and columnist John Birmingham. Tuesday includes more writing, as well as my afternoon flight back to Sydney.
Wednesday is a Sydney day, with a couple of medical appointments interrupting my scheduled writing. I’ll also be recording a review of a chicken and avocado pie — don’t ask — and eventually getting the train back up to Wentworth Falls.
The rest of the week is full of writing for Crikey and ZDNet, arranged as the mood takes me. Then there’s the Queen’s Birthday long weekend, but so far I haven’t planned anything for that.
Things I’ve pencilled in:
[Photo: Nested bridges on the Brisbane River. SA view from a CityCat ferry as it makes its way down the Brisbane River towards the CBD, photographed on 3 June 2018.]
There’s something symbolic and, indeed, deeply personal about the image illustrating this week’s Weekly Wrap, my five-year old photograph titled To boldly go….
A small boat heads out into the fog of San Francisco Bay on 10 December 2010. Even though it’s probably just crossing the bay to Marin County, or stopping near Alcatraz Island for a spot of fishing, it looks like there’s a vast and dangerous journey ahead.
It continues to be one of my personal favourites.
I’ve used this photo before, to illustrate Weekly Wrap 267: Chaos, then embracing the change, on 19 July 2015.
But I also used it four years earlier, on 24 January 2011, to illustrate Accommodation: into the unknown. I’d had to leave Enmore with no clear plan. I was worried. The image reflected my mood.
Less than a fortnight after that post, three strong men and a truck took away all my household possessions and office furniture, and put it into storage.
I took just two suitcases of clothing and my most important tools and documents, and headed to the Blue Mountains to stay at Bunjaree Cottages for “a few weeks”. I had a month of work-related travel coming up, I said, and I’d sort out my accommodation when I got back.
Five years later, I’m still at Bunjaree Cottages.
And it’s still temporary.
Oddly enough, I might end up managing my hunt for a new home more effectively and more cheaply by leaving the country next month. But even if that doesn’t happen, it looks like I’ll be in temporary digs for a while.
If you don’t like personal blog posts, stop reading now. Instead, read about this pro-intervention former CIA officer who runs his own private intelligence service.
If you’ve just tuned in, we were given notice to vacate the Enmore house by 3 February. The property owner refused my request to change that date or even negotiate. January is when I should be focussed on kicking off work for the year, especially given that freelance writing and production and my other billable work all but disappear during the so-called holiday season. I really should have kicked off the househunting too. But I was, erm, distracted to say the least during Artemis’ final days.
So, as I feared, the deadline approaches without the cashflows needed to cover moving house — you know, the usual annoyance of having to come up with a bond and additional rent, as well as any removalist costs. Friends have offered to help, so that’s good. But I will admit that I’m still very, very stressed. It’s affecting my productivity. Which affects my cashflows. Chicken. Egg. Etc.
Then last week a PR agency asked me whether I’d be available for a trip to San Francisco in February. I can’t say when or why or who’d be paying just yet, and in any event the offer hasn’t been confirmed. But it set me thinking. There could be another way.
Since my last post on this subject two months ago I’ve seen a substantial drop in advertising material in my letterbox. While I haven’t complained to the perpetrators who continued to ignore the “no advertising material” sign, let’s list them for posterity.
The new guilty parties are: 3 Mangoes Thai; Arthur, a builder; Australia Wide Tax Solutions; Bus Stop Espresso; Caldo Pizza; Domino’s Pizza (yet again, twice); Chadwick Plumbing; Civic Video; Essence of India restaurant; Green Ecovations: Hot’n’Spicy Thai; James Wilson Pest Management; Just Screw It (carpenters!); L J Hooker (the real estate agent, again); Lat-Dior African Eatery; Moon Koon Chinese Restaurant; Notes Live Music Restaurant and Bar; Patrick Coughlan, electrician; Pavarotti Gourmet Pizza; Ray White Real Estate; S & W Building Services; San Remo Pizza; Smiles (a dental clinic); Stanmore Natural Health; Steve’s Budget Gutter Cleaning; Thingk Baby [sic]; Urbane Inner West (another real estate agent); Yoga To Go.
I still want to know why real estate agents figure so prominently. And I still want to know why Domino’s customer service people never reply to their emails.
There’s been far less junk mail lately. Complaining to the major distributors, as described in my previous update and its comments, works. However there are still some serial offenders.
First, though, a pat on the head to Broadway Shopping Centre, Franklin’s and Mountain Designs who, as reported in the comments, responded quickly.
A slap on the wrist to De Sousa Real Estate; Domino’s Pizza (again! three times now!); Marrickville First National Real Estate; Prestige Cleaning Specialists; Raine & Horne Marrickville (a real estate agent again! twice!); and Ray White Newtown (yes, another real estate agent!), none of whom even acknowledged my email. Pathetic.
Since my last update, the new batch of rude pricks includes Banana Joe’s FoodWorks Marrickville; Camperdown Fitness; Domino’s Pizza (again); L J Hooker (a real estate agent); Lat-Dior African Eatery; Magic Tree Service; McGrath (a real estate agent, of course); Pinpoint Plumbing Services; Ray White Surry Hills & Alexandria (yes, another real estate agent); St Brendan’s Church, Annandale (OK, I suppose religious organisations are exempt); Sydney Antenna Specialists; and a builder-repairer called Michael.
I won’t contact these businesses his time, as some of the problems date back more than two months, and, quite frankly, I couldn’t be bothered. But I will get back into a routine of a roughly monthly post — for my own reference if nothing else.