tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37442962012-01-10T18:59:37.298+08:00Charmed by a girl's soft ears, I piled up leaves & burnt them, How innocent her face, In rising smoke I longed to roam, The spiral of those ears, But she clung stiffly to, The tram car strap, Downy hair, Fragrant with leaf smoke - TakahashiBorisEarThhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01324388771842649765noreply@blogger.comBlogger671100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3744296.post-1129916113516296382005-10-22T01:31:00.000+08:002005-10-22T01:36:17.423+08:00

Watching the Beatles anthology on DVD.Missing what John would have said about the world we live in today. remembering New York 1989 and Central Park, Strawberry Fields, Imagine. John was witty and cynical and a truth teller and looking back ... well, bagism, the long straggly hair, the naked Two Virgins album cover: this was all so honest & meant to shock us & move us away from fluffy image of

BorisEarThhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01324388771842649765noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3744296.post-1122285571894343952005-07-25T17:56:00.000+08:002005-07-25T17:59:31.900+08:00

On we don't say I don't know enough in the Guardian.Empathy, the end not justifying the means, the grey uncertain areas and humility are the enemies of the fanatic and the fundamentalists.

BorisEarThhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01324388771842649765noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3744296.post-1121874564356596262005-07-20T23:47:00.000+08:002005-07-20T23:49:24.363+08:00

I hope England are competitive and the match goes to the fifth day and Warney gets 10 & Gilchrist a double century & Petersen a double century.Unfortunately, John Howard will be attending.http://sport.guardian.co.uk/ashes2005/story/0,15993,1530621,00.html

BorisEarThhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01324388771842649765noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3744296.post-1118988268598201142005-06-17T14:01:00.000+08:002005-06-17T14:04:28.603+08:00

The Iraq War still disgusts me.The Downing Street Memo shows:1) Bush wanted to go to War2) Bush was fixing the intelligence to support his case3) Plans for the chaotic aftermath were neglectedA web site with more memos and information can be found here.

BorisEarThhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01324388771842649765noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3744296.post-1118639282796491442005-06-13T13:05:00.000+08:002005-06-13T13:08:02.800+08:00

Michael Duffy in the SMH on moral Confusion:"The Chen affair has largely been framed as a balancing act between human rights and Australia's trade interests. But it's also a balancing act between the treatment of different social and ethnic types of refugee. The basic rule has been that poor Muslims come to Australia by boat and we lock them up (even though most are later proved to be genuine

BorisEarThhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01324388771842649765noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3744296.post-1118456619868393852005-06-11T10:21:00.000+08:002005-06-11T10:23:39.873+08:00

Mark Ruffalo on We Don't Live Here Anymore:"Well, it's honest," he says of the film. "The way I see it, almost every interaction in a human being's life has some bittersweet shit in it. They have this thing called the grey itch. It's when a man - I think it's particular to men, although probably women have something similar - comes to the end of youth, or what your perception of your youth is.

BorisEarThhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01324388771842649765noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3744296.post-1118383272802740922005-06-10T13:56:00.000+08:002005-06-10T14:07:56.153+08:00

Now I know why I am irrepressibly melancholy & none of my romantic relationships work. Because life is not like the Movies:Alain de Botton:"[On some movies, they are] enjoyable because they reflect our deep-seated wish for intense, conflict-free love, and irritating because we know these relationships to be untrue to genuine experience. In their lack of realism, the love scenes seem almost to

BorisEarThhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01324388771842649765noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3744296.post-1118244441462721712005-06-08T23:23:00.000+08:002005-06-09T22:40:13.526+08:00

So it has been a while since I visited Hong Kong.In Hong Kong:1) Maundy lives..2) My cousin Dominique lives there too.3) Ant & Bz & young Matisse live there too too.Here's a picture of Ant & Bz in Eindhoven taken in 2002..

BorisEarThhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01324388771842649765noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3744296.post-1118225016099388172005-06-08T17:54:00.000+08:002005-06-09T22:43:48.206+08:00

Wow, it's nearly a year since I was in Hong Kong and then China with Mandy..I can't believe how quickly time has flown and how many servings of Peking Duck we ate during our trip. I think in 15 days we had Peking Duck about 5 times!Here is a man from Beijing with the strangest face..

BorisEarThhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01324388771842649765noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3744296.post-1117775649460530442005-06-03T12:57:00.000+08:002005-06-03T13:56:21.603+08:00

Top Ten songs of all time:1) The Smiths - How Soon is NowListening to this LP in the garage where Jerry was sleeping while we were living at Meadowvale Crescent.2) New Order - TemptationJust for the line 'I've never felt anything like this before' & the way its said.Peter Brown: "TEMPTATION IS THE SOUND OF ADOLESCENCE and all it entails. It’s the happy, dumb accident when everything goes right

BorisEarThhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01324388771842649765noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3744296.post-1117715207928354602005-06-02T20:14:00.000+08:002005-06-02T20:26:47.933+08:00

I am currently reading Jonathan Coe's The CLosed Circle.I am currently listening to:Bloc Party, Silent Alarm - there just a bunch of kidsMoby, Hotel - he has an interesting journal.Morrisey, You are the Quarry - How soon is now?Morrisey is still incredible.I can't help thinking about rock/pop star as brand?

BorisEarThhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01324388771842649765noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3744296.post-1117464712557925842005-05-30T22:48:00.000+08:002005-06-01T19:13:38.083+08:00

Christine Rau, Cornelia's sister in the Herald:"In investigating Cornelia’s case, our eyes have been opened to another country, another Australia unrecognisable to most of us, where people deemed not worthy of our proper care are treated without respect.The way she was mistreated by the federal government under the Migration Act is not unusual in detention centres. The only difference about

BorisEarThhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01324388771842649765noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3744296.post-1113458641076869482005-04-14T13:44:00.000+08:002005-04-14T14:04:01.076+08:00

"Well, for instance, what it means to be a man. In a city. In a century. In transition. In a mass. Transformed by science. Under organised power. Subject to tremendous controls. In a condition caused by mechanisation. After the late failure of radical hopes. In a society that was no community and devalued the person. Owing to the multiplied power of numbers which made the self negligible. Which

BorisEarThhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01324388771842649765noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3744296.post-1112757822804763562005-04-06T11:16:00.000+08:002005-04-06T11:27:42.740+08:00

Saul Bellow has died. He is being described as: Melancholic, a Jewish, immigrant, intellectual idealist. The Twain of the 20th century.I love the stories in 'Him With His Foot in His Mouth'. I can see that book in the bookshelf at Middle Cove.For lunch today, Dim Sum at Neptune's.Neptune's would be interesting to write about: Like a large school gym turned into a huge Chinese restaurant, about 50

BorisEarThhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01324388771842649765noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3744296.post-1112691289207874982005-04-05T16:50:00.000+08:002005-04-05T16:54:49.210+08:00

It's raining in Singers. I am looking for signs of life. Thats why I bought them.I bought 6 orchids over the weekend. My colleagues at my place of employment scoff and suggest they will attract mosquitos.I am about to go to Spinelli's to buy a double skinny large mocha.I am thinking about the slug that slithers out of Nakato's mouth in Kafka on the Shore. I am thinking that's inside me.I am

BorisEarThhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01324388771842649765noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3744296.post-1112500382281407622005-04-03T11:51:00.000+08:002005-04-05T16:55:45.603+08:00

Listening to Sarah Vaughn.Reading Ian McEwan Saturday.About to go to Brunch at Au Jardin in the Singapore Botanic Gardens.Taking the Rolleiflex.

BorisEarThhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01324388771842649765noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3744296.post-1112166284442306542005-03-30T14:51:00.000+08:002005-03-30T16:49:59.030+08:00

Goodbye Paul Hester. You were a chirpy, cheeky chap full of life and energy.With the news of your death comes an overwhelming sense of sadness.Paul Russell, I'm thinking of you and your gentleness and kindness and amazing drawings.Therea Mullins, I'm thinking of you and your elegant, long white gloves.Rod Davidson, I'm thinking of you and the good times when you played footy with a golden,

BorisEarThhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01324388771842649765noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3744296.post-1111468009635334392005-03-22T13:03:00.000+08:002005-03-22T13:06:49.636+08:00

On the whole depressed. Down about Rima.From Salon's review of Ian McEwan's Saturday: 'Her notion "that people can't 'live' without stories is simply not true. He is living proof." Henry, like many a scientific man, doesn't want the world "reinvented; he wants it explained." 'There is no explanation. I want reinvention. It's time to move on again. All the signs are there.Similar to 1994, 1997 and

BorisEarThhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01324388771842649765noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3744296.post-1110966497022678002005-03-16T17:44:00.000+08:002005-03-22T13:03:37.026+08:00

John Faulkner NSW Labour Senator on the Iraq War Dead quoted in the SMH:"It is the duty of the Australian government, the US government, the British Government to try. It is their responsibility to take account of the dead, of their names, their ages, their families and the ways and reasons they died.It is their duty to take account of numbers like 98,000; or 41,000; or 55 murders a month; or

BorisEarThhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01324388771842649765noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3744296.post-1110607938685351012005-03-12T13:21:00.000+08:002005-03-12T14:12:18.690+08:00

Today at Turf City watching Charlie's football team, the Gunners, in his cup final versus the Bombers. They won on penalties after their goalie Ben saved 3 penalties.At work, wading through spreadsheets.Amused by Leunig's rejected cartoon.Depressed as my relationship with Rima appears doomed.I did however manage to get my photos to fade nicely into each other.Reading Kafka on the Shore.Listening

BorisEarThhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01324388771842649765noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3744296.post-1109672657462642782005-03-01T18:15:00.000+08:002005-03-01T18:28:22.613+08:00

Bored at work so I checked out Moby's webdiary which is always interesting ie he eats Chinese food on the backseat of a taxi on the way home from rehearsals.I watched Rabbit Proof Fence last night with Rima. She couldn't believe that forced assimilation happened in Australia.The Chief Protector of Aborigines in WA said in 1937:"Are we going to have a population of 1,000,000 blacks in the

BorisEarThhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01324388771842649765noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3744296.post-1105773292912289342005-01-15T15:12:00.000+08:002005-03-01T18:55:28.720+08:00

I watched Japanese Story Last Night.Roger Ebert: "What does another person mean to us, really, if they are not available to share our lives, and we cannot really know them -- but we cherish them for the transient joy they have shared with us? Who was he, really?"My favorite Japanes things:1) Haruki Murakami2) Kenzo 3) Yukio Mishima 4) Shinjuku 5) Tokyo Train stations6) Tokyo Leica shops 7) Salmon

BorisEarThhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01324388771842649765noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3744296.post-1105702824399070512005-01-14T19:36:00.000+08:002005-01-14T19:40:24.400+08:00

While I recognise what Harry did was in poor taste ... wasn't that the point? People are being awfully pious about the Nazis when Mao Tse Tung, Stalin & other despot memorabilia does not carry the same stigma. Poor Harry. Sometime soon he's going to go really nutty because we've pushed him to far. The fake condemnation, the self righteous judgement thats so much easier to give than anything

BorisEarThhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01324388771842649765noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3744296.post-1105607439242103982005-01-13T17:01:00.000+08:002005-01-13T17:10:39.243+08:00

I think John Howard has done the right thing with the Aid Package for Indonesia ... But it's not $1 million. It's less than that but it's a great start. And he has skewered Mark Latham in the process. But as Anne Summer's notes: "Although we are close to Asia and many of us travel there, we have not always been so big-hearted. We are, after all, the same people who in October 2001 averted our

BorisEarThhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01324388771842649765noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3744296.post-1104643834269024702005-01-02T13:27:00.000+08:002005-01-13T18:41:45.006+08:00

John Quiggan: "... But with Indonesia being the country hit hardest by the [Tsunami] disaster, Australia in particular is faced with a challenge, an opportunity and a test. We can, if we want, send a few emergency missions, then return to business as usual. Or, we can make it a major policy priority to help our neighbours, and particularly Indonesia, rebuild over the next few years." Let's see

BorisEarThhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01324388771842649765noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3744296.post-1099723395536662792004-11-06T14:39:00.000+08:002004-11-06T14:43:15.536+08:00

I can't believe it. I'm stunned & depressed. So you've won. It's your world now. Go on do what you will with it. I predict a war with Iran within a year & nuclear war within 5 years. Maureen Dowd of The New York Times: "Bush got re-elected along fault lines of fear, intolerance, ignorance and religious rule. He doesn't want to heal rifts, he wants to bring any riffraff who disagree to heel. He

BorisEarThhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01324388771842649765noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3744296.post-1094540895824793602004-09-07T14:33:00.000+08:002004-09-07T15:08:15.823+08:00

Last night I watched Last Life in the Universe. I miss Thailand. The little spirit houses, the carping women, the tough, skinny girls. The dogs. Thaniya Plaza - its gof shops, camera shop, the Barbican and Thai girls in silk dresses for Japanese. In the middle of the night, I was woken by a mosquito bite. I switched the light on and lay on my bed, waiting for the mosquito to eat me ... then I

BorisEarThhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01324388771842649765noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3744296.post-1092636008741357852004-08-16T13:57:00.000+08:002004-08-18T13:03:49.210+08:00

John Howard must be kicked out so Australians can draw a line in the sand and move away from the arrogance, fawning stupidity and sleaziness of his government. From Crikey: "I'll accept responsibility for what happens under my Government," the Prime Minister told Laurie Oakes on Sunday. Fine. So that means he accepts responsibility for: * Politicisation of the public service * Degradation of

BorisEarThhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01324388771842649765noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3744296.post-1092304205597917712004-08-12T17:48:00.000+08:002004-08-16T14:07:54.580+08:00

I went to Singapore Idol Last night at Mediacorps studios to watch my friend Jeassea sing like the star she is. Tonite we're going again to check out the opposition. I'll write more on this tomorrow or the next day. Today DPM Lee became PM.

BorisEarThhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01324388771842649765noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3744296.post-1092130994641916892004-08-10T17:34:00.000+08:002004-08-10T17:57:37.026+08:00

Excerpts from Charles Taylor in Salon on rootlessness : "It's as if our anxieties about the headlong pace of technology, of living under the threat of terrorism, of an economy that leaves most of us unsettled long past the age when our parents and grandparents had achieved some semblance of security, about being overwhelmed with choices we're not sure we even want to avail ourselves of, had

BorisEarThhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01324388771842649765noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3744296.post-1091772596027531542004-08-06T14:02:00.000+08:002004-08-06T14:12:43.080+08:00

Bruce Springsteen stands up for what he believes in an article in the NY Times reproduced in the Guardian. Fahrenheit 9/11 begins showing in Singapore today. I've put a few Shanghai photos on the web. The photographer as violater of enjoyable times. In the streets the bras are drying. And in the parks on sunny days they wear pyjamas. Tonite I am going over to Charlie and Lilys place to play

BorisEarThhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01324388771842649765noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3744296.post-1091671276471187972004-08-05T09:59:00.000+08:002004-08-05T12:47:44.680+08:00

Henri Cartier Bresson, Goodbye at 95. Thankyou for your inspiration. "I'm not interested in my photographs, nor other people's," "There is something appalling about photographing people. It is certainly some sort of violation; so if sensitivity is lacking, there can be something barbaric about it." "I'm not an actor," he insisted. "What does it mean, 'celebrity'? I call myself an artisan.

BorisEarThhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01324388771842649765noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3744296.post-1091510802199682462004-08-03T13:23:00.000+08:002004-08-03T13:49:36.680+08:00

Boris advises what made him the man he is today: 1) The films of Woody Allen & Wim Wenders. In particular Manhattan and Annie Hall. 2) The short stories of J D Salinger, the teaching of Sue Woolfe, the otherness of Paul Auster and Haruki Murakami. 3) Leica Photography, Capa and daido moriyama photos. 4) The places Coromandel Valley , Kiribilli & McMahons Point. 5) The feeling of England 1977

BorisEarThhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01324388771842649765noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3744296.post-1090906100144614582004-07-27T13:23:00.000+08:002004-08-03T13:23:43.503+08:00

Currently: 1) My Leica M6, plenty of film and an interesting city to wander around in where the people are 2) The books of Haruki Murakami 3) The music of The Smiths and Morrissey. Check out this unique Morrissey comic. 4) The graphic novels of Joe Sacco and Adrian Tomine 5) Rima's sweetness and sense of humour 6) Training with Rizam 7) The fact my golf game has suddenly become greatly

BorisEarThhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01324388771842649765noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3744296.post-1090819707284481102004-07-26T13:21:00.000+08:002004-07-26T13:33:27.976+08:00

John Howard will do whatever the US Government asks Australia to do. What else is new. Do we as Australians have any independent, self respect left?     Alexander Downer insults Spain and the Philippines.   When will Alexander realise that the spanish kicked out their conservative government because they lied and tried to make political capital out of the Madrid bombings (by pointing the

BorisEarThhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01324388771842649765noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3744296.post-1090477813679802772004-07-22T14:19:00.000+08:002004-07-22T14:30:13.680+08:00

Last night's Paella causing mysterious digestive disturbances. Sending SMSs trying to find out how my friend went in Singapore Idol. Concerned about the battery life in my ipod. Gym tonite. But I don't seem to be losing weight. Snore ......

BorisEarThhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01324388771842649765noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3744296.post-1089854804460072412004-07-15T09:10:00.000+08:002004-07-15T09:26:44.460+08:00

Tom Happold in the Guardian: "We are told that Iraq has weapons of mass destruction. On that information, we invade said clear and present threat. Then we fail to find any WMDs, and discover that much of our intelligence was "seriously flawed". But nobody is to blame. In brief, that's the conclusion of Lord Butler's report. If democracy is based on accountability - the notion that politicians

BorisEarThhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01324388771842649765noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3744296.post-1089737924373167092004-07-14T00:35:00.000+08:002004-07-14T13:56:00.006+08:00

I have recently finished reading the Wind Up Bird Chronicle. "I saw myself as the wind-up bird, flying through the summer sky, lighting on the branch of a huge tree somewhere, winding the world's spring. If there really was no more wind-up bird, someone would have to take on its duties. Someone would have to wind the world's spring in its place. Otherwise, the spring would run down and the

BorisEarThhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01324388771842649765noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3744296.post-1086925138757991502004-06-11T11:36:00.000+08:002004-06-11T12:00:36.516+08:00

So we have a chance to show our national identity. A letter writer to Crikey: "Has any one else noticed or is it just me? The Bush Administration is now formally campaigning in Australian politics. On their own, the comments by the President at the joint press conference last week condemning Labor policy on Iraq could have been seen as an unwitting intervention. But the cumulative effect of

BorisEarThhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01324388771842649765noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3744296.post-1086325905450535312004-06-04T13:10:00.000+08:002004-06-04T13:11:45.450+08:00

"Many years ago, I was so innocent I still considered it possible that we could become the humane and reasonable America so many members of my generation used to dream of. We dreamed of such an America during the Great Depression, when there were no jobs. And then we fought and often died for that dream during the Second World War, when there was no peace. But I know now that there is not a

BorisEarThhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01324388771842649765noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3744296.post-1086240636765746702004-06-03T13:29:00.000+08:002004-06-03T13:30:36.766+08:00

Margo Kingston in the SMH: "Last week The Sydney Morning Herald revealed that last year Australian Major George O'Kane at the US military headquarters in Baghdad helped draft a response to the first Red Cross report on abuses in Abu Ghraib prison. He reported back regularly to his superiors. The Howard Government had claimed ignorance until the pictures of the horror were released last month. As

BorisEarThhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01324388771842649765noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3744296.post-1085128866665520222004-05-21T16:37:00.000+08:002004-05-21T16:41:06.666+08:00

Michael Berg: "George Bush never looked into my son's eyes. George Bush doesn't know my son, and he is the worse for it. George Bush, though a father himself, cannot feel my pain, or that of my family, or of the world that grieves for Nick, because he is a policymaker, and he doesn't have to bear the consequences of his acts. George Bush can see neither the heart of Nick nor that of the American

BorisEarThhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01324388771842649765noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3744296.post-1083955762528305632004-05-08T02:43:00.000+08:002004-05-18T13:48:40.566+08:00

Who are we ... that we let this happen ... in our name? That we accept this, that we justify this on the basis of non existent weapons of mass destruction. Our leaders must be kicked out. We should tolerate this unjustified unjust war no longer. In fighting monsters we have become monsters. If we treat people worse than dogs how can we expect them to behave like princes. Donald Rumsfeld,

BorisEarThhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01324388771842649765noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3744296.post-1082090588453640132004-04-16T12:43:00.000+08:002004-04-16T12:47:00.640+08:00

This is amazing! Read this article in the SMH on Little Johnnie's criticism of an Australian hostage just released in Iraq. The sanctimonius hypocrisy of Downer & Little Johnnie knows no bounds. "I think people have to understand that when they take unnecessary risks, they're not only putting their own lives at stake but they're also putting at stake the lives of many other people and it is

BorisEarThhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01324388771842649765noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3744296.post-1080797501354115362004-04-01T13:31:00.000+08:002004-04-01T13:41:04.090+08:00

I am sitting at my desk in my windowless office in Singapore Land Tower, listening to New Order's Substance on my iPod. My eyes are stinging because I've been looking at computer screens to intensely & to long. I had an apple an hour ago. Now I'm waiting to have a late lunch at the Fullarton with some old friends I haven't seen for something like 7 years. Temptation then Blue Monday, 'I thought

BorisEarThhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01324388771842649765noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3744296.post-1080106737391709372004-03-24T13:38:00.000+08:002004-03-24T13:42:19.293+08:00

An interesting article in the Guardian on the Australian spin on 'political spin': "We are asked to believe that the war in Iraq was waged as part of a battle against Islamist terrorism, but at the same time are told that Islamist terrorists could not possibly be provoked by it. One month after the Bali bomb, a taped statement by Osama Bin Laden was released. "We warned Australia before not to

BorisEarThhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01324388771842649765noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3744296.post-1078377102704384002004-03-04T13:11:00.000+08:002004-03-04T13:18:16.200+08:00

1) Hillary Bray in Crikey: "There were compelling reasons to go to war against Saddam Hussein's regime. So why did John Howard, Alexander Downer and Robert Hill - along with some bigger names like George W Bush and Tony Blair - have to invent others? Why did they lie to us - and why are they still lying? " 2) Tim Garton Ash in the Guardian, on why it matters how they lied & that they don't get

BorisEarThhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01324388771842649765noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3744296.post-1077771930557052672004-02-26T13:05:00.000+08:002004-03-04T13:11:45.233+08:00

Over pumpkin soup & potate salad, I read an interesting debate in the Guardian between Gary Younge and David Goodheart on identity, race and migration. Gary Younge makes some good points: "In a world that has placed a huge premium on the free movement of capital, we should not be surprised if what follows is a desire for the free movement of labour. As free trade and deregulation force

BorisEarThhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01324388771842649765noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3744296.post-1077258358744881512004-02-20T14:25:00.000+08:002004-02-20T14:34:30.436+08:00

On the moral bankruptcy of the current Australian government, Julian Burnside QC at an RACV dinner reported in Crikey: "Australia has made a choice with terrible consequences. We have chosen a government which shows contempt for human rights, whilst posturing as champions of decency and family values; a government of hypocrites whose dishonesty has made us relaxed and comfortable only by

BorisEarThhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01324388771842649765noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3744296.post-1076664721481640132004-02-13T17:32:00.000+08:002004-02-13T17:34:30.826+08:00

" ... my ambivalent attitude to that narrow strip of the 1980s, after post-punk but before dance, that held my teenage years. We had the worst of 80s excess - truly terrible clothes, the high watermark of Thatcherism, Reagan, Aids, the miner's strike, the Style Council and the Alarm. But we also had the Smiths - so there." This Charming Shrine, Will Woodward in the Guardian Ahhh the Eighties, I

BorisEarThhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01324388771842649765noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3744296.post-1076301286445170162004-02-09T12:34:00.000+08:002004-02-09T12:45:47.216+08:00

Gary Younge in the Guardian on the murder of democratic accountability: "The premise for this war was not security but politics - it's the politicians who should be in the dock. The fact that they will not be reflects badly not just on the governments concerned but on all of us. If a country can be led to war on false pretexts and there are no substantive consequences as a result, there is

BorisEarThhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01324388771842649765noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3744296.post-1076157071730699852004-02-07T20:28:00.000+08:002004-02-08T13:14:44.873+08:00

The most powerful man in the world ... but then I realised it's not funny at all. They never let Hans Blix finish his work. Bush, Blair & Howard lied. They went to war. People died. The world is not a safer place. It makes you sick. Howard is more culpable - if only for the simple reason that Australia goes to war because America says we should irrespective of what the Australian people

BorisEarThhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01324388771842649765noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3744296.post-1072705933326912642003-12-29T21:40:00.000+08:002003-12-30T10:15:13.700+08:00

Today in the Herald, Robert Manne, A Year of Eroding Values. But my respect for Ian Chappell soars. And Father Brennan to.

BorisEarThhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01324388771842649765noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3744296.post-1072705227603132892003-12-29T21:39:00.000+08:002003-12-30T10:15:52.950+08:00

One of my favourite articles of 2003: Arundhati Roy in the Guardian.

BorisEarThhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01324388771842649765noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3744296.post-1068989225981595632003-11-16T21:25:00.000+08:002003-11-17T20:05:00.920+08:00

I found this posted by Bob Harris the 'stand in' on Tom Tomorrow's, This Modern World Blog. "At the opening ceremonies a few weeks ago, Aussie Prime Minister John Howard, recently censured for lying about Iraq, stepped out to declare the games officially open -- and the entire stadium of cheering fans suddenly unleashed a cathartic chorus of boos. Howard looked humiliated, and didn't even speak

BorisEarThhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01324388771842649765noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3744296.post-1067053074073253712003-10-25T11:30:00.000+08:002003-10-27T18:44:18.513+08:00

Interesting article in the Herald on why so many Australians are leaving Australia. So why did I leave Australia? 1) Money, tax??? Avoid my creditors?? 2) Career opportunities & excitement??? 3) The lure of wild Bangkok??? 4) The mediocrity & narrow mindedness of John Howard's government??? 5) Because Australia's not yet a republic??? 6) Its always easier to imagine a revolution in someone

BorisEarThhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01324388771842649765noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3744296.post-1066961575650966712003-10-24T10:12:00.000+08:002003-10-24T10:14:24.683+08:00

So George W has been and gone. Bob Brown has been accused of bad manners & being a national disgrace by John Howard on John Laws radio show. What is a disgrace is the Iraqi & US and British deaths arising from the Iraqi war. It is a disgrace that Australia supported George W's preventive war & lied to the Australian public about the reasons for war & locked out the Australian public from its

BorisEarThhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01324388771842649765noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3744296.post-1062166329061552152003-08-29T22:12:00.000+08:002003-09-03T21:01:50.336+08:00

Here is a wonderful picture of John Howard. Actually, John Howard's tough gun legislation was the best thing he has ever done in Australian politics.

BorisEarThhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01324388771842649765noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3744296.post-1062034518198474172003-08-28T09:35:00.000+08:002003-08-28T09:35:18.203+08:00

Margo Kingston's web diary captures some powerful thoughts on the current state of Australia. At the moment, Pauline Hanson's treatment by the political elites and Tony Abbott's lying is the subject of debate. The following is from a contributor to Margo (Margo wrote a fascinating book on Pauline Hanson) a few years ago: "... Antony Loewenstein has a deep understanding of what is going on. He

BorisEarThhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01324388771842649765noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3744296.post-1061700983593729192003-08-24T12:56:00.000+08:002003-08-28T09:36:22.310+08:00

I am feeling strange about Pauline in jail especially when the man most responsible for taking her views & ideas into the Australian mainstream roams free. Its always easy to turn people into sheep by stirring up their insecurities & fears.

BorisEarThhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01324388771842649765noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3744296.post-1059135099754427482003-07-25T20:11:00.000+08:002003-08-28T09:37:12.893+08:00

This article in the Guardian sent me back to the early 1980s: - Fred Perry shirts - Winkle pickers aka bowling shoes - gigantic green army overcoats - Vespas - The Jam, Pretty Green, Dreaming of Mondays - The Specials, Mirror in the Bathroom - Tie pins - Drainpipe trousers

BorisEarThhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01324388771842649765noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3744296.post-1058151990078344792003-07-14T11:06:00.000+08:002003-07-16T13:16:04.016+08:00

In the SMH & Age this morning, Malcolm Fraser on Australia's relations with the US: "Do we really serve Australia's interests by such uncritical support and by such an apparent loss of our own sense of purpose and independence?" Are we Australians kidding ourselves that we are a 'mature' nation? Why do we have: - A Prime Minister ready & willing to fight other countries wars? - A Prime

BorisEarThhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01324388771842649765noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3744296.post-1057284706581347462003-07-04T10:11:00.000+08:002003-07-04T10:11:46.590+08:00

"to see in a thousandth of a second that which the ordinary person passes without notice – this is the theory of photo reporting. And to photograph what we see during the next thousandth of a second. – that is the practical side of photo reporting." Martin Munkacsi The photo of these african kids running into the sea sparked some fire in the imagination of Henri Cartier Bresson which inspired

BorisEarThhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01324388771842649765noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3744296.post-1057044254977393512003-07-01T15:24:00.000+08:002003-07-01T15:24:40.823+08:00

I have put a photo of Jessica Lynch on my web site. This shot was taken when I was watching CNN in the Shangri La Hotel in Jakarta. I can't find a photo of Rachel Corrie.

BorisEarThhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01324388771842649765noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3744296.post-1057023001424605672003-07-01T09:30:00.000+08:002003-07-01T09:30:01.396+08:00

Margo Kingston writes another fine piece about John Howard: "And what is his agenda? In my view he wants to smash the "social contract" in Australia to smithereens. He wants to establish Australia as a US style democracy where people fend for themselves and save for their needs, including health and education. He also wants the US model of a corporatist state run by government in partnership

BorisEarThhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01324388771842649765noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3744296.post-1056951236497519892003-06-30T13:33:00.000+08:002003-06-30T13:38:33.270+08:00

Yesterday, I watched City of God. I enjoyed it immensely: photography, violence, sad, misshapen romance, chooks, humour & vivid characters. In the lift, going down after the movie an American lady said to her friends "Well. That was altogether a bit much." I went home and tried to write some more of a story in progress. --- Last night's dream involved rock climbing over an elaborate, finely

BorisEarThhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01324388771842649765noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3744296.post-1056799546744717272003-06-28T19:25:00.000+08:002003-06-28T20:22:09.530+08:00

Last night's dream involved two women and the eating of live lizards. We three drank glasses of water filled with squirming, drowning, spluttering, snub nosed, baby-faced, sky blue lizards. The lizards were each the size of large shrews, skin the texture of slimy soaked putty and ... patterned ... well, what can I say, almost like the willow pattern - an intricate, asian weave of meandering

BorisEarThhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01324388771842649765noreply@blogger.com0