Hello Cruel World

Thursday, December 25, 2008

Christmas Light Shows (via YouTube)
YouTube - El Paso Christmas Light Show 2007

"Over 120,000 lights in synch to the music of The Trans-Siberian Orchestra." (adrianh1969)

They say it's good to have a hobby. Hmmm. I'm amazed, but torn wondering if it'd be possible to put all this time, energy & expertise into something … "better"? … then, I guess it could have gone into something worse. And I suppose this is creating some kind of good in the world.

Does anyone else find the 'Birnham Wood moving to Dunsinane' moments rather disturbing?

El Paso Christmas Light Show 2006 (YouTube link) [www.youtube.com/ watch?v=qkmvkVtdUJg]
Music: Trans-Siberian Orchestra -

El Paso Christmas Light Show 2008 (YouTube link). This is the shortest, and starts off fairly quietly. It's possible I like this version best. [www.youtube.com/ watch?v=JZJfWMva8Sk&NR=1]

An altogether different version of A Christmas Story. Or, rather, a [C]HannuKwanzSolstMas tale. Father Christmas: The Untold Story (Whip of the Red Hunter )

Labels: Christmas, video, writing

[permalink][comment] - posted by Mez @ 12/25/2008 09:09:00 am

Friday, December 05, 2008

33-Year-Old Memories of an Australian November

What is happening in Canada, from Yarn Harlot (3-Dec-2008)
www.yarnharlot.ca/ blog/ archives/ 2008/ 12/ 03/ what_is_happening_in_canada.html

There is confusion over what's happening in Canada's government. This is a primer for non-Canadians (and some Canadians) about this mess

I may, someday, put up some links about 'The Dismissal' of November 11, 1975, Gough Whitlam, Sir John Kerr, Malcolm Fraser, et al. There's a shedload of material on't, including at least one television mini-series.

But we tend to forget it's not completely sui generis in Australian history, there were incidents in 1932 and 1808, for instance. I'm grateful to Epacris putting links to some material about these over at Making Light. Here 'tis.

From Australian Dictionary of Biography site:
Lang, John Thomas (Jack) (1876 - 1975)
Game, Sir Philip Woolcott (1876 - 1961)

Dismissal of a Premier - The Role of Governor Game (Dept of Education & Training)
Dismissal of Jack Lang (Interactive schooling, Year 10)

Dismissed From Office Lang Government (Original newspaper report, The Age, 14-May-1932)
Microphone, Reiss (Reisz) carbon granule, 1925 (not FDR's cigarette lighter … from Powerhouse Museum collection, explained on that page)

The Story of J T Lang by R. Dixon (1943) (somewhat partisan publication, from an interesting resource)
The Australian Republic Issue (Other Relevant Papers)
Library Catalogue record (1) Dismissal of a Premier - the Philip Game papers by Bethia Foott [sic]
Dismissal of a Premier: the Philip Game papers by Bethia Foote [sic] Library Catalogue record (2)

and the 'Rum Rebellion' of 1808

Captain Bligh's other mutiny (newspaper article)

'The Rum Rebellion' (same paper, multimedia piece with links elsewhere)

The Significance Of The Integrity System (Acessible by this page with link to PDF versions of speeches. Transcript also here or here) Or compare The coup of 1808 and the rule of law, an edited combination of two related speeches.

"The Governor's Man", a book by JHM Abbott ~1919 – historic fiction.

And this is one of the historic documents you can have a look at online — part of an exhibition IRL at the British Library: King Charles I's Death Warrant.

Labels: Australia, Canada, history, politics

[permalink][comment] - posted by Mez @ 12/05/2008 11:11:00 am

This is my blogchalk:
Australia, New South Wales, Sydney, English, photography, reading, natural history, land use, town planning, sustainability.