On Iron Maidens and the power of music
I’ve just finished watching an oldish (8 years) doco about Iron Maiden’s 2008 “Somewhere Back In Time†world tour and it got me reflecting on the wonder that is music. …
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America’s UnFantastic Four
How the hell, in a nation of 320 million, did we end up with these four anti-superhero losers as the last ones standing in the 2016 election contest? …
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Fox dog-whispers dead baby
As a rule I never assume that celebrities are necessarily smart and/or sane, but once in a while a story pops up on the news that makes even me go …
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On first dates and communist restaurants
A first date tonight. She likes Vietnamese. Not too many options in Brisbane inner north. Her: “What’s that Vietnamese place that was named after some dictator that attracted all the …
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The Girl With A Feminist Tattoo
Take a look around the world and it puts everything in perspective; suddenly, all the huge “controversies†at home turn from mountains into molehills and all the activists seem less …
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Trump no longer ronery, endorsed by the Norks
Well, maybe not. I hate it when the headline is more exciting than the story itself. Like this one: “North Korea says Trump isn’t screwy at all, a wise choice …
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Miss Turkey gets turkey slapped by the Islamists
From the freedom of speech files in a country which wants to join the European Union: A former Miss Turkey was handed a 14-month suspended prison sentence on Tuesday for …
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The attack of 1000ft blockbuster atrocities
I woke up this morning to the number one celebrity story in the news being Kate Beckinsale recounting how the director Michael Bay was an ass to her during and …
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Exodus: Gods, kings and Scotts
Hollywood doesn’t do Bible well. Hollywood doesn’t do religion well in general. Hollywood doesn’t do well anything that’s out of its comfort zone – patriotism, conservatism, family values. You would …
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The Daily Outrage
Today’s Daily Outrage courtesy of students at Oberlin College, Ohio, the institution renowned as the first in the nation (in 1835) to open admission to women and all races: “A …
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In defence of Barnaby
He might be a tomatohead but he’s our tomatohead – and he’s right. Unless you have been in a quarantine yourself for the past few months, I’m sure you’re familiar …
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On missing the 1990s
I miss the ’90s. I never thought I would say that, but there it is. As a Gen X, I’m a child of the ’80s, albeit as experienced on the …
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Silicon is a left-wing element
Sometime later today I will finish reading Walter Isaacson’s “The Innovators: How a Group of Hackers, Geniuses, and Geeks Created the Digital Revolution”, his bigger picture follow up to the …
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On losing respect for your bookshelf
I love books. I have been reading them since I was 5 years old and seriously collecting them since I acquired my first bookshelf a few months after settling in …
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Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness
Every news and commentary outlet needs a good slogan. All the news that’s fit to print. We report, you decide. Speaking for the Workers’ Party of Korea. For a while …
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