Art vs Border Worship

Remember when the last census was held and a bunch of people listed Jedi as their religion?

It was kind of funny but also kind of a mockery of our political system not to mention legitimate religions (on account of I assume many of those who registered as Jedi Knits don't actually adhere to any of the principals that such an order might require... if it actually existed).

Anyway with the very real Humanitarian crises our country appears committed to contributing to I happened to be reading an article the other day that referred to current attitudes toward immigration and providing asylum to those in need. The article written by Elenie Poulos referred to a social condition that the author has labeled 'Border Worship'. It is a scary situation which has already caused our leaders to condemn many people to a fate we should all be ashamed of. Maybe in this years Census, in the interests of producing a more accurate national profile, I wonder how many of us would qualify to register our religion as Xenophobe, Border Worshipers of the, media hyped justification, paranoid variety?

I was just wondering... that's all.

If you're into participating in the propaganda machine there's no end to the Government Spin, media manipulation, Scape Goat Politics and Downright Bastardry.... in the media.The truth, as I see it, is that as a Nation we are supporting policies that contribute to the unnecessary perpetuation of misery anguish and suffering of our fellow human beings and what is worse we are committing children to a future that is dominated by fear and uncertainty. God help them.

If you'd prefer to get to know just who it is that we're Locking up or having 'detained' in prison camps across Northern Australia, and now Malaysia, soon PNG, then head down to the Supreme Court in Darwin over the next week and check out the Exhibition 'Footprints of my heart' which features works of art created by Asylum Seekers who have been detained in the Darwin Detention Center. However if you attend please be on guard. You may be exposed to Works of Art that express Humanity, Love and true feeling. These are not qualities that those who would like to repel asylum seekers from our borders want you to know about!

Youth.... a future

Is there a future? What about the kids?
Toward the end of the film Napoleon Dynamite (which we watched last night on a VHS tape I got for $0.50!) there is a scene at a disco where they're playing the song Forever Young by Alphaville. I recall hearing it years and years ago; It was released back in 1984.

Not really being much into pop music I don't think I really bothered to listen to the lyrics back then. What a mistake that was!
While watching Napoleon Dynamite a sense of nostalgia for 1980s pop music created a portal of awareness that allowed the lyrics to sink through. Wham! The song hit that spot where the great ones live. Having realized I'd missed a real gem of a song I searched for it on Youtube today and found this cover by Youth Group which was release back in 2005. Being somewhat out of touch with fashion, popular music and culture I've only just re-discovered this song. It's obviously no secret to the rest of the world Youtube views are already touching on 5,000,000!

Forever Young - Youth Group (cover of a song by Alphaville)

Please watch on full screen Youtube! You will witness the magic and pure beauty of youth! "Like diamonds in the Sun!"

The lyrics are a haunting reminder of growing up during the Cold War and the music is even more pertinent to a time of youth and innocence as I listen to it now in 2010. In a post Iraq war, 9/11, abu ghraib and all the rest of the shit we've brought down on each other and the world since then, the 80s 'pop culture' was, in retrospect, a time of comparative innocence!

Growing up in suburban Melbourne during the 70s and 80s I think the video attached to this song by Youth Group is an absolute masterpiece! I wish I could describe how it made me feel to watch it!
Long hair, flannelet shirts, grazed knees and elbows! That was my youth! (I never actually had a skateboard but took turns on my mate's) The fresh faces of those kids reminded me so much of how life was back then... We played outside! Kids had resilience and were active.
(When I turned about 12 I remember the streets soon became deserted, video games and VCRS had arrived... it seemed like overnight the tanned healthy kids I used to play with became housebound and grey!

That's the raw, wild freedom of youth you're watching roll down that hill. Skateboards, a little bit of danger, some adrenalin and a whole bunch of FUN! They look so alive! All the hope and excitement of youth set to the abstractly optimistic modern tempo of 80s pop and the disturbing lyrics of a song that questions the possibility of there even being a future to look forward to!

The most haunting thing about the video is the fact that I have kids and watching it brought home to me just how much life for kids has changed! Already despite the plethora of new gadgets, games, toys and Plasma Screen TVs available for them to play with, the world of children seems so diminished from the days when I grew up.

It has been diminished, there is little reason to believe there is cause for optimism about the future. But who knows? Maybe even in this world of rapidly depleting wonders and beauty, it is in their youth where, wonder and beauty truly live?

Suppose the only thing that really exists is this very moment.

A wedding and a Melbourne bicycle explosion!!

Wow... The fixie culture I'd previously only read about on the Internet is well and truly alive in Melbourne!

Yesterday I played chauffeur at my Sisters wedding, I haven't driven in the City for several years and had no idea where I was going! Actually I don't get to see my family much so getting lost on the way to dropping the newly weds off at their Hotel was an unexpected opportunity to catch up... (Sorry guys!)
The wedding took place at about 4:30pm in a park down in Fitzroy. The park was absolutely pumped full of people having a good time, throwing Frisbees, having picnics, walking their dogs riding bikes and Showing off their latest fashion accessories including odd piercings, tattoos and really cool BIKES! (I wanted to take photos of all the action and the hardware but I was otherwise engaged)It was a great day and we are all very happy to have a new member of the family! Congratulations to both of you and thanks for including us in your plans! (Anyway that's their story so I'll stick to the bikes)

(Wedding in the Park)

There were fixies all over the place! They were all flash looking new bikes but all different. Every one that I saw close up had those two way hubs... (Plenty of people know all about these things but it's all new to me.. One way is a fixed wheel but if you flip the wheel over it is a single speed freewheel. How cool!) While in the inner suburbs of Melbourne I noticed heaps of young guys and girls riding fixies which was a bit of a worry. Having never come across them before I didn't know what to expect but after just an hour of watching them riding around I realized just how damaging the apparently mandatory bad attitude could prove to be for cyclists. A lot of the people I saw riding them had endangered themselves or other cyclists and pedestrians by riding into oncoming traffic (bicycle, motorized and pedestrian), through a bunch of other cyclists, or generally disregarding basic courtesies that are supposed to ensure the safety of road users... What a shame the fastest growing subculture among the cycling world of inner Melbourne has the potential to trash any good will that may have been developing there. (Of course I don't know that it is but have a hunch it could)
I wonder will this new fixie culture last or will the dangerous nature of the bikes and the lifestyle take it's toll?
I have to admit a couple of years ago I did want one but now they're so cool I doubt I'd pass the audition...

(Old fixie from long, long ago)

There were also heaps of 1960s - 80s ladies style bikes, which I am really into at the moment...!
Hey they're comfortable to ride, have great handle bar positioning and are really good for carrying children with because you can easily throw your leg over the centre bar. Oh Yeh and I saw a Christiania bike and one of those really long ones with the barrow at the front... I can't remember what theyre called right now.

Now I have to admit 20 years ago I would have really gone for the exhilleration and high paced action of a fixie... I would have been darting in and out of traffic just like the rest of them but as I get older I'm tending toward the slower laid back style of an old ladies bike... Or the upright sitting possition of the European cargo bikes that are getting around now. Basically I'm beyond caring about looking tough or cool or fast, I just want something that feels good! Damn there's a lot of feel good stuff around the inner suburbs of Melbourne right now!