Newsletter
Newsletter 364
Monday, November 9th, 2020 Newsletter,This week there’s only been one big story: the downfall of Mad King Donald, but oh.. what a painful, bloody process. I’m less addicted to the TV screen than most, but I found myself watching CNN for hours while virtually nothing was happening. And yet, it was gripping. I’ve been holding off this newsletter until […]
Newsletter 363
Monday, November 2nd, 2020 Newsletter,Nietzsche says somewhere we have not got rid of God so long as we still believe in grammar. I thought of this when reading the accounts of Melbourne performance artist, Casey Jenkins, who was given a $25,000 grant from the Australia Council, only to have it rescinded after a media storm blew up about the […]
Newsletter 362
Monday, October 26th, 2020 Newsletter,I’m running a little late again, partly because I’ve had a week of non-stop writing, but also because I was transfixed by the final debate between Donald Trump and Joe Biden. It wasn’t because of the dazzling eloquence on display. It was fascinating just to see Trump trying to act responsibly – even though he […]
Newsletter 361
Friday, October 23rd, 2020 Newsletter,It’s strange there aren’t more comments on Donald Trump’s choice of music for his superspreader rallies. If I were a QAnon conspiracy theorist I’d think there was something fishy about a orange-tinted, bouffant-headed President dancing around to the Village People song, The YMCA – a frothy gay anthem from pre-AIDS days. Is Trump hinting that […]
Newsletter 360
Tuesday, October 13th, 2020 Newsletter,Another week of madness in America, with Donald Trump taking time out from his COVD-19 infection to do a quick lap of honour around Walter Reed Hospital. The more of this stuff I see, the more sceptical I become about Trump’s re-election chances. If the polls were any indication he’d already be a write-off even […]
Newsletter 359
Wednesday, October 7th, 2020 Newsletter,There was a global sense of anticipation prior to the first Presidential debate this week, but it quickly degenerated into an historic shambles. I’m sure I’m only voicing the majority view if I say that – from a distance – the United States looks more and more demented. You think things have reached an impossibly […]
Newsletter 358
Tuesday, September 29th, 2020 Newsletter,Having watched the new David Attenborough film twice this week in preparation for a review, I need no further convincing that the planet is well and truly buggered. Attenborough looks at all the diabolical things we’ve done to the natural world, gives a very clear account of exactly what will happen if we carry on […]
Newsletter 356
Monday, September 14th, 2020 Newsletter,As the COVID-19 restrictions drag on and on it seems as if state and federal governments have lost the plot – presuming there was ever a plot to lose. The draconian border restrictions have become laughable, as they are causing a lot of grief and stress to perfectly healthy people. We obviously need to be […]
Newsletter 355
Monday, September 7th, 2020 Newsletter,Last week I received an extraordinary document in my email which read like a User’s Guide to Nepotism in the Australian (read Melbourne) Art Scene. It wasn’t simply a list of perceived conflicts of interest, it was a devastating indictment of the way art prizes are awarded, academic positions filled, and decisions made as to […]
Newsletter 353
Monday, August 31st, 2020 Newsletter,It’s always interesting to study the photos the newspapers run of somebody they really can’t stand. There are figures, such as Donald Trump, who look more frightful when they’re smiling than when they’re scowling or making faces. In other cases, a few discreet decisions have been made. Scummo with his baseball cap eating a meat […]