Etchings Indigenous: Black and Sexy
(anthology)
Ilura Press, Melbourne, 2010
ISBN: 9781921325137
PB, 176 pp

There is an underlying tension in this collection of work by Aboriginal writers and artists, that reflects the real tension between Aborigines and the wider community in Australia.  This wider community is certainly not homogeneous, with its sometimes disparate ethnic groups, the result of waves of migration from different parts of the world.  I myself was part of such a wave in 1955.  As a society, we manage to eventually feel fairly comfortable with each ‘new’ ethnic group that comes to this country.  We accept the differences or cease to notice them. (more…)

Recently, sitting here at my kitchen table, dog prostrate at my feet, I have spent quiet days immersing myself in Etchings Indigenous: Black and Sexy, a project from Ilura Press.  I’ve read it through several times and contemplated the stories, poems, interviews, reviews, photography and art, trying to get my head and heart around it all in order to write a review.  It has not been easy. (more…)

There are still people out there who do real science: they observe something, wonder why it happens, form an hypothesis, test the hypothesis, revise the hypothesis and retest it, etc. (more…)

Having a new camera reminds me how much I try to capture, instead of simply enjoying, experience.  Photography as an art has its place, but coming around a bend in a road and witnessing a breath-stopping scene and whipping out the camera is questionable behaviour. (more…)

No-one tells the truth and that’s the truth.  Whatever we aver to be so is at best an interpretation, filtered through our own limited experience and understanding.  I’m not confusing the truth with facts, although the boundary between the two may be blurred.

If two cars are stationary at an intersection, both with crumpled bodies, that is a fact.  People looking at this would be unlikely to disagree about it.  Discovering a coherent truth about how the two cars came to be there in that way is nigh on impossible.  It depends on observations and memories and both of these are subjective and subject to errors, even deliberate falsification. (more…)

Some nights ago, I was walking my dog through the local streets.  As I usually do on such outings, I was musing on life, the universe and everything.  I looked up at the part of that universe I could see and immediately saw a very bright star where a bright star ought not to be.

As I stared at it to identify its position amongst the stars I know, it moved.  In fact, it was moving steadily.  Must be a plane, I thought, with its landing lights on.  But no, it wasn’t because, as it moved overhead, the brightness didn’t change and there were no flashing navigation lights to go with it.  It was obviously a satellite, but a brighter one than I had ever seen.  It was Iridium 66. (more…)

The Australian language is changing before our ears.  Nouns and verbs are being increasingly substitution for each other and the subjunctive seems to have gone out the door.  If only it weren’t so.

We now frequently hear people on ‘proper’ radio (the ABC) say that there is “a divide” between A and B.  Recently, on the same radio station, a politician said: “We will division the proceeds fairly.” (more…)

t’s good for you.  It’s bad for you.  It will kill you.  It’s been proven safe.  Don’t combine X with Y or Z.  Let’s not jump to conclusions until all the data is in.  It’s best to be cautious.

It’s a wonder any of us survives. (more…)

Sitting here at my kitchen table, dog at my feet, mug of tea and shortbreads in front of me, I’ve drifted into thinking about connections – connections with people, places, pooches …

I have relatives in Europe and the USA, and possibly in South America.  There are people I know through travelling and writing and there are people I know through connections on the internet.  Some of these connections intersect, split and join in unpredictable ways. (more…)

Some years ago, a group of Australian Aborigines celebrated India’s Independence Day – 26^th January [1].  They thought this much more appropriate then celebrating that day as the date the Aborigines lost their independence when the First Fleet landed in Sydney Cove (although some sources say it was 25^th January).  Indian independence was seen as symbolic – the kicking out of the British. (more…)