tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32407372024-03-14T01:58:31.307+10:00The long slow {typecast} blogIs there anything more beautiful than a handsomely typed page?rino breebaarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08732964644950027323noreply@blogger.comBlogger206125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3240737.post-69136003450726389292023-05-02T18:22:00.002+10:002023-05-02T18:22:43.284+10:00Yet another interest rate hike...<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdofkMgoWT6R1lp_W4Hs0gueQGmue5jelulVyDKn5mDE2hr4Sz1dZsbLs1cyNBt7vkXP_bZmyW5At6bnAl32fYh4i5abVf62HDnW_v5s53s8AtOiCIx92mc-sNpV4SZOJq4tH_iwh_K33kQNVwZRnShiKNTtkQ63MBcZQkitIqxJGP3sWRhQ/s500/interest-rates.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="432" data-original-width="500" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdofkMgoWT6R1lp_W4Hs0gueQGmue5jelulVyDKn5mDE2hr4Sz1dZsbLs1cyNBt7vkXP_bZmyW5At6bnAl32fYh4i5abVf62HDnW_v5s53s8AtOiCIx92mc-sNpV4SZOJq4tH_iwh_K33kQNVwZRnShiKNTtkQ63MBcZQkitIqxJGP3sWRhQ/s16000/interest-rates.jpg" /></a></div><br /><p></p>rino breebaarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08732964644950027323noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3240737.post-31241451171330285162021-04-17T18:43:00.001+10:002021-04-17T18:43:29.731+10:00Coleman Hawkins Forever<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Mh_Qb3vgv68/YHqfiCRqIlI/AAAAAAAAAoQ/D2N8ZqsEEfcchBpYS_9KAlOodH4A4CzTQCLcBGAsYHQ/s750/coleman-hawkins.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Coleman Hawkins was a god" border="0" data-original-height="489" data-original-width="750" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Mh_Qb3vgv68/YHqfiCRqIlI/AAAAAAAAAoQ/D2N8ZqsEEfcchBpYS_9KAlOodH4A4CzTQCLcBGAsYHQ/s16000/coleman-hawkins.gif" /></a></div><br /><p></p>rino breebaarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08732964644950027323noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3240737.post-44331168415608809082021-03-20T14:20:00.002+10:002021-03-20T14:20:37.682+10:00Work less to avoid the bullshit of work<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-dbVg1xB6VMM/YFV3EN-T-QI/AAAAAAAAAn0/TckBJHadd8YVl1fSoLTS_5GlPyMHUSE7wCLcBGAsYHQ/s750/bullshit-jobs.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="On Graeber, bullshit jobs, working less" border="0" data-original-height="566" data-original-width="750" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-dbVg1xB6VMM/YFV3EN-T-QI/AAAAAAAAAn0/TckBJHadd8YVl1fSoLTS_5GlPyMHUSE7wCLcBGAsYHQ/s16000/bullshit-jobs.gif" /></a></div><p></p><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0 0 0 40px; padding: 0px;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0 0 0 40px; padding: 0px;"><h2 style="text-align: left;">>> <a href="https://slowreview.com/2021/03/17/10hh-work-life-revolution/" target="_blank">10HH: the work-life revolution</a></h2></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0 0 0 40px; padding: 0px;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0 0 0 40px; padding: 0px;"><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">{Also, yes, my ribbon is getting a bit patchy. It'll make more sense at the above link.}</span></p></blockquote></blockquote>rino breebaarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08732964644950027323noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3240737.post-52425640928189820962020-06-14T17:52:00.000+10:002020-06-14T17:52:25.288+10:00Obs from the COVID lockdown (& after)<div><br /></div><div>The COVID-19 outbreak happened, but it didn't happen equally. The thing I've found interesting is how different countries, and different styles of political leadership have handled the pandemic. When you combine variations in geography, urban density and planning, it's astounding that some countries deliberately chose an ad-hoc approach to infection control. That some countries had no effective leadership at all, or a bumbling version of autocratic belatedness. That some acted powerless as the virus spread and tore through their less privileged communities. That some leaders played the pandemic for political pinpoints.</div><div><br /></div><div>It's shown how uneven the global condition is, and that neither countries or (often) their states could coordinate or work towards a consistent and effective outbreak response. Borders were shut down, jurisdictions closed, and leadership defaulted en masse. Hospital managers were left to source their own protective equipment.</div><div><br /></div><div>Which kind of makes a mockery of the 'global village' and the smart/connected/globalised society and frictionless marketplace we've been trumpeting for the last decades. </div><div><br /></div><div>COVID-19 has shown up how unequal our societies are, how profoundly uncoordinated. You could also say it showed how depressingly deep we live in the capitalist model and mindset. How people's self-interest caused shortages of all kinds. How price gauging leapt in response. How much we previously depended on shopping and holidays and consumption for validation and identity. And how fragile these habits and industries are when faced with genuine collective threat. How it doesn't reward the things we value, but instead seeds value in commercial things. </div><div><br /></div><div>See this in the well-off people escaping the city for their coastal holiday homes. See it in the collapse of the AirBnB market which condoned landlord profiteering over the fair provision of rental housing stock. See in in the mass lay-offs and collapse of companies that somehow survived on the thinnest margins of profitability. See it in the entire arts industry pretty much shutting down. See it in the pervasive casualisation of labour from the gig economies to the primary care and service industries. Same story: politicians do not value the providers of essential work.</div><div><br /></div><div>See it in the broad lack of social support and planning for downturns or major events. See it in universities overexposed to the overseas student market, suddenly cutting their already-casualised workforce in half (at least they have nice gold-plated buildings left over). See it in the tech industries profiting from disinformation and the spread of lies that work against the health of whole nations. Need I go on... </div><div><br /></div><div>Oh yes: see it in the power of political lobbying, where privileged industries (like builders) get massive bailouts and incentives which also happen to benefit the rich landlord voter base. Whilst legitimate needs (like social and affordable housing in Australia), are ignored. Now, granted, Australia did introduce a generous and temporary support measure. But not everyone works with fair employers.</div><div><br /></div><div>But when these are withdrawn it'll show up clearly that the system doesn't work, and doesn't work equally for all. It'll show up the ongoing varieties of inequality in our societies. As America is experiencing now.</div><div><br /></div><div>I find it interesting to see how precarious and un-agile the modern economic system is. Capitalism is not robust and it certainly isn't sustainable -- but gee it's nice to take a sabbatical from it every now and then.</div><div><br /></div><div>More and more sectors are clamouring for support. The government won't be open to indulging all of them; but it will find new excuses for austerity. It will not plan for the future.</div><div><br /></div><div>A pandemic that affects all of us has not been experienced the same way. Some countries like New Zealand pulled together through sympathetic and effective leadership. Some people stayed and worked from home, luckily. Some people faced enormous risk doing the only job they could, for organisations that had to stay open. Some people went out regardless and chose to ignore social distancing, and some people got very sick.</div><div><br /></div><div>Add to which the virus itself does not affect all people in the same way.</div><div><br /></div><div>Maybe it should be called the Inequality Virus, for all that it's shown up in our society. </div><div><br /></div><div>It's certainly shown up how poor some nations are at acting collectively. Or more damningly: how fragmented, disenfranchised and divided our societies have become in the connected/digital age, that an ultimately containable virus could wreak such havoc. See it in how disinformation and untruths spread virally. </div><div><br /></div><div>Maybe we should re-word William Gibson's famous dictum, to say that <b>reality </b>is unevenly distributed.</div><div><br /></div><div>(Don't get me wrong: the vast majority of people adhered to lockdown and social distancing measures. This has been the core of many nations' recovery success. Sensible people seeing through bullshit and maintaining their common sense).</div><div><br /></div><div>Rather than a New Normal, I think we need a thorough revaluation of how we want to live. To live better and fairer and sustainably, in such a way that important jobs get remunerated properly, and socially negative ones don't. We cannot live with so may conflicting and unequal versions of reality. </div><div><br /></div><div>And maybe, rather than this sickly favouring of privileged sectors when there are hundreds of legitimate calls for support, we need to just get over it and sign on for a Universal Basic Income. Tax the industries that make and take the most but pay the least; and distribute that money to all the people equally. No questions, just a bottom line of basic support. All it takes is leadership and the vocal will of the people.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div>rino breebaarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08732964644950027323noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3240737.post-10848232011004510572020-04-08T10:59:00.002+10:002020-04-08T10:59:56.110+10:00Leonard Cohen was an island (part 1)<br />
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<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-36f8bdb9-7fff-c33d-d727-42d1a819d9c7" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">So, inevitably,</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">our mountain village addresses a valley</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">and Mediterranean bay.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">The water’s blue attenuates</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">and blurs the broader lines—</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">disturbed horizon, skies erased.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">There is no border, only hue — </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">reminding me of Hydra and Cohen landed there.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">Romanticism maybe —</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">a key, a house, an island;</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">ten years of intensity</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">with loving, drugs and song.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">A novel or two, then</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">throw your typer in the sea.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">‘Bohemian’ we say;</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">but he found some ancient sense,</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">a drawing basic pilgrimage,</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">a riddling on this island too.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">Alignment with the mode of myth</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">expressed in depth and light </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">that rinsed Homeric eyes</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">in time, those eyes, all time.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">Cohen was a poet after all,</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">he was simply tuning</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">those older iterations.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">A mode of search perhaps, desire:</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">what you see you then become.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">In this light,</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">what here can be envisioned</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">is not that far removed:</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">the past becomes the now,</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">the myth ascends the muse.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;"> </span><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">(Cyprus 2017)</span></span></div>
</blockquote>
rino breebaarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08732964644950027323noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3240737.post-49032849373224212452020-04-08T10:58:00.001+10:002020-04-08T10:58:12.351+10:00Leonard Cohen was an island (part 2) <br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-5087ae79-7fff-ef99-d8ca-481e94faccbc" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">I now know why</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">he chose an island of the blue:</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">it wasn’t for ease</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">or cheap squid and retsina.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">Callings are quiet voices</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">that barely move a thought of breath</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">in apprehension.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">Sense must arise from telling vagueness,</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">a murmur in the line of sight.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">Blue print of primitive life,</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">where </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">primitive </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">means to live by faith.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">White stone and horseshoe harbour</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">the set and setting for hunger,</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">and the ascetic who follows the wine.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">Everted exile: chosen, designed.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">All that mythic seriousness, yes,</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">though his laughter wasn’t a choice</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">but the deepest agreement</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">with the natural ordering.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">A diaspora of one</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">he used a liturgy of words</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">to mark the end of desire in song.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">(Curious concept;</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">it didn’t last long.)</span></div>
</blockquote>
rino breebaarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08732964644950027323noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3240737.post-79039140884828055712020-04-08T10:55:00.000+10:002020-04-08T10:55:52.154+10:00Leonard Cohen was an island (part 3, prose consideration)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-hIOvrSwKj1A/Xo0gx1tHyiI/AAAAAAAAAjM/ibGJ32yCYAEdIM54Cr1LQ2wVzU2gBD-QwCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/leonard3.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Leonard Cohen was an Island" border="0" data-original-height="817" data-original-width="750" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-hIOvrSwKj1A/Xo0gx1tHyiI/AAAAAAAAAjM/ibGJ32yCYAEdIM54Cr1LQ2wVzU2gBD-QwCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/leonard3.gif" title="" /></a></div>
<br />rino breebaarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08732964644950027323noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3240737.post-65446915905916894662020-03-15T15:08:00.001+10:002020-03-15T15:08:23.077+10:00New book: Transients<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0mR1YGoQJPs/Xm23mAYKkjI/AAAAAAAAAis/4xt2jcRw2KMYLi5T53o_3btZgCBrcKBcACLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/transients-post.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Transients - poetry - Rino Breebaart" border="0" data-original-height="602" data-original-width="750" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0mR1YGoQJPs/Xm23mAYKkjI/AAAAAAAAAis/4xt2jcRw2KMYLi5T53o_3btZgCBrcKBcACLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/transients-post.gif" title="" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Transients-Rino-Breebaart/dp/1660937019" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="300" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xqHcARZWuk8/Xm232almHZI/AAAAAAAAAiw/462BrRfPuNYvaSK4_8epwJkH_amdXLk9QCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/transients-cover.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<br />rino breebaarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08732964644950027323noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3240737.post-79486077925731715882018-10-07T15:28:00.000+10:002018-10-07T15:30:10.428+10:00What's wrong with Australia (brief but corrective list)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Sx1xh6cLARE/W7mXx65mYYI/AAAAAAAAAes/o3T_AOHGXjQzueu0OEKwYjU1bbPSyIDXgCLcBGAs/s1600/australia-is.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Australia is... the many wrongs of Australia" border="0" data-original-height="1019" data-original-width="750" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Sx1xh6cLARE/W7mXx65mYYI/AAAAAAAAAes/o3T_AOHGXjQzueu0OEKwYjU1bbPSyIDXgCLcBGAs/s1600/australia-is.gif" title="" /></a></div>
This is a corrective list to contrast the lifestyle positives, and not exhaustive. I'm focusing on the major problems. But notice how many of these problems have their source in politics: what Australia suffers most from is a system and culture of government that explicitly does <i>not </i>want to improve or better the nation, that shuns humanity and consensus, and dismisses the future: status quo Australis.rino breebaarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08732964644950027323noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3240737.post-29580835736195284072018-07-21T15:35:00.003+10:002018-07-21T15:35:49.251+10:00Basic statement of humanity<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-N7ks3ZbyFGs/W1LGFXa41EI/AAAAAAAAAeU/aRp4e2N5ipAgwOnRPuvB3cnF5hHtLvoPQCLcBGAs/s1600/basic-moral-statement.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Basic moral humanism" border="0" data-original-height="635" data-original-width="720" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-N7ks3ZbyFGs/W1LGFXa41EI/AAAAAAAAAeU/aRp4e2N5ipAgwOnRPuvB3cnF5hHtLvoPQCLcBGAs/s1600/basic-moral-statement.gif" title="" /></a></div>
<br />rino breebaarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08732964644950027323noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3240737.post-540465736576526862018-04-17T20:15:00.002+10:002018-04-17T20:15:51.423+10:00Attention hygiene<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-nA-w1zaeqcs/WtXIvawvTzI/AAAAAAAAAVk/2Qa-dWSDimANmoayrSVRaRPLTZn2JM5UACLcBGAs/s1600/attention-hygiene.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Attention hygiene" border="0" data-original-height="1128" data-original-width="730" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-nA-w1zaeqcs/WtXIvawvTzI/AAAAAAAAAVk/2Qa-dWSDimANmoayrSVRaRPLTZn2JM5UACLcBGAs/s1600/attention-hygiene.gif" title="" /></a></div>
Also available in <a href="https://medium.com/@rinosphere/attention-hygiene-a73f4d724234" target="_blank">handy digital format on Medium</a>.rino breebaarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08732964644950027323noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3240737.post-4569186605024523722018-03-02T20:11:00.000+10:002018-03-11T12:52:35.587+10:00On politics without vision [updated]Politics in our age is not defined by leadership or intelligence, but by bumbling incompetence. It's my default interpretation for why it goes wrong so often, and so spectacularly. As though it's regressing or degenerating somehow, in every sense of the term.<br />
<br />
My feeling is that if you want to be a moral, effective and productive person in society today, you're more likely to succeed by doing and thinking the exact <b>opposite </b>of what our leaders say and do.<br />
<br />
When we should have trustworthy and principled leaders with vision, we instead have media-egos, moral hypocrites working to their 'base' or party-room bottom line, or to thinly veiled corporate/industrial interests.<br />
<br />
Let me reiterate that the politicians in power do not have a vision. They see as far as the news cycle only. They are managers of spin and message, locked in a PR bubble that drones with buzzwords, dog whistles and polls.<br />
<br />
They are not the custodians of our future. They can't articulate — let alone imagine — what Australia could look like in five or ten years, and establish some guiding principles to make that happen. They can barely manage the fiscal aspects of government.<br />
<br />
They are not the productive enablers of society's improvement — and by that I mean everyone's improvement, not just the privileged few.<br />
<br />
Or look at Brexit (bumbling), Trumpism (insane incompetence), Barnaby Joyce (staggering hypocrisy*). Let's not talk about the streak of populism (government by the ignorant for the ignorant) or harmful conservatism**.<br />
<br />
Let's not talk about our offshore prison camps. Our significant energy problem. The cost of living and stagnant wages. Housing unaffordability. Lack of civic planning. Incompetent infrastructure development. The environment, jobs, our waste problem.<br />
<br />
I just want a <b>clear </b>and <b>fair </b>vision to align with, that respects consensus and our basic humanity, so that we can rally to solve these problems, and not just 'manage' them away. I don't mean an ‘ideology’ as of old, nor an 'image' - I mean a <b>vision</b>.<br />
<div>
<br />
Australia can be and deserves so much better.<br />
<br />
<hr />
<br />
* (Just) one example of Barnaby Joyce's condescending, paternalistic hypocrisy*** - in a scandal that had numerous gaffes and trainwrecks - the headline says it all:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<a href="https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/a-grey-area-barnaby-joyce-raises-doubts-over-whether-he-s-the-biological-father-of-vikki-campion-s-baby-20180303-p4z2ob.html">'A grey area': Barnaby Joyce raises doubts over whether he's the biological father of Vikki Campion's baby</a></blockquote>
Now hear Barnaby in 2012: "<b>The closer that mother and father figure is to the genetic make-up of the child, the better it is</b>."<br />
<br />
From the <a href="https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Hansard/Hansard_Display?bid=chamber/hansards/d1b86af2-b8ee-4367-ad53-c5359a072920/&sid=0198">full Hansard</a> (worth a read for its thick conservatism): <br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
...fathers matter... a study in the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry in 2006 found that living in a broken home at age eight increases the chances of children committing criminal offences in late adolescence. These findings are confirmed by a study in the Journal of Pediatrics, which found that children and families without a father are more likely to be in fair or poor health.<br />
...this is not a statement that every child who is in a broken home ends up in poor health or ends up with a criminal record. It is not saying that at all. It is just talking about the realities of the probabilities. Stability in structure that confirms and reaffirms both a mother and father figure is the best environment for a child to grow up in—and, the closer that mother and father figure is to the genetic make-up of the child, the better it is.</blockquote>
** Whose 'vision' is usually retrograde or isolationist or both.<br />
<br />
*** For context: Barnaby (deputy prime minister then), espouses conservative family values, voted against the marriage equality bill; Barnaby had an extramarital affair with a staffer, who then got pregnant and which made huge media waves when the story broke (it was an open secret in Parliament); Barnaby is leaving his wife and family to be with said staffer, made a complete hash of her career (and privacy and dignity), claims these are all strictly private matters in several interviews (one of which is a top 5 all-time trainwreck in itself), then says he's not sure of the baby's paternity... and keeps the story front and centre for weeks. This man has no awareness (ie completely tone deaf in the #MeToo era), has an out-of-control ego, is paternalistic and disrespectful to all the women in his life... this man doesn't see there's a problem with all this... This man has a classic manproblem. As well as just being a bumbling fool.</div>
rino breebaarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08732964644950027323noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3240737.post-75561157945097883202018-01-28T11:43:00.001+10:002018-01-28T11:43:37.448+10:00Thoughts on refugees, home, landscape<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-MBEbyJlyczE/Wm0qjzEC1OI/AAAAAAAAAUw/bPNYcsu-ah4cNGL0qDakuha8S32_Hx_nQCLcBGAs/s1600/refugees-memory-landscape.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="refugees, landscape, memory, home" border="0" data-original-height="478" data-original-width="750" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-MBEbyJlyczE/Wm0qjzEC1OI/AAAAAAAAAUw/bPNYcsu-ah4cNGL0qDakuha8S32_Hx_nQCLcBGAs/s1600/refugees-memory-landscape.gif" title="" /></a></div>
<br />rino breebaarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08732964644950027323noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3240737.post-75613931045737277252016-10-09T19:51:00.000+10:002016-10-09T19:51:22.432+10:00The Crisis of Authenticity<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-axewAzVYneo/V_oSyzzekjI/AAAAAAAAATw/OWUx642Y4sIjuwKtdL0DPOthSCE8wswLQCLcB/s1600/crisis-authenticity.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="The Crisis of Authenticity" border="0" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-axewAzVYneo/V_oSyzzekjI/AAAAAAAAATw/OWUx642Y4sIjuwKtdL0DPOthSCE8wswLQCLcB/s1600/crisis-authenticity.gif" title="" /></a></div>
<br />rino breebaarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08732964644950027323noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3240737.post-63025195214131181102016-03-26T11:00:00.000+10:002016-03-26T11:00:24.408+10:00Jokes from the notes<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-kfnfuAfUN1w/VvIQeCA7ajI/AAAAAAAAATc/ukmfbZ8hgrApHTo0DiQVRA4vYrrZmDLvQ/s1600/notes-jokes.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Jokes from the notes" border="0" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-kfnfuAfUN1w/VvIQeCA7ajI/AAAAAAAAATc/ukmfbZ8hgrApHTo0DiQVRA4vYrrZmDLvQ/s1600/notes-jokes.gif" title="" /></a></div>
<br />rino breebaarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08732964644950027323noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3240737.post-77211996010316822982016-03-23T13:40:00.002+10:002016-03-23T13:40:53.019+10:00Donald Trump is the loneliest man in the world<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-VsuLQw0pv44/VvIQFlcuL-I/AAAAAAAAATY/a8XjfBBFl1Qpmoj248QvveJqybNnIWwrg/s1600/donald-trump-lonely.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Donald Trump is a Lonely Man" border="0" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-VsuLQw0pv44/VvIQFlcuL-I/AAAAAAAAATY/a8XjfBBFl1Qpmoj248QvveJqybNnIWwrg/s1600/donald-trump-lonely.gif" title="" /></a></div>
<br />rino breebaarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08732964644950027323noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3240737.post-39348274445902958692016-01-14T19:24:00.002+10:002016-01-14T19:24:53.601+10:00Trolling smartphone obsessives<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-_fMiPkXuCc0/VpdpONo0lrI/AAAAAAAAATE/N5uFHFY1kjk/s1600/smartphones.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Smartphone trolling" border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-_fMiPkXuCc0/VpdpONo0lrI/AAAAAAAAATE/N5uFHFY1kjk/s1600/smartphones.gif" title="" /></a></div>
<br />rino breebaarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08732964644950027323noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3240737.post-10135060184390010072016-01-03T12:36:00.002+10:002016-01-03T12:36:38.194+10:00Australia (small notes)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-9UGmn-jTKPo/VoiJC4zUMoI/AAAAAAAAAS0/-V31BcOxTUg/s1600/australia.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Australia, some notes" border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-9UGmn-jTKPo/VoiJC4zUMoI/AAAAAAAAAS0/-V31BcOxTUg/s1600/australia.gif" title="" /></a></div>
<br />rino breebaarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08732964644950027323noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3240737.post-38848596485060252542015-06-04T20:43:00.000+10:002015-06-04T20:47:00.009+10:00Brisbane demolition: O'Reilly's Bonded Stores and Hotpoint House<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-QfSdE3Cbqmg/VXApNNfTYpI/AAAAAAAAARQ/-jNT8CHtQlU/s1600/brisbane-heritage1.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-QfSdE3Cbqmg/VXApNNfTYpI/AAAAAAAAARQ/-jNT8CHtQlU/s1600/brisbane-heritage1.gif" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-tvi8zXbAUJg/VXApStLKotI/AAAAAAAAARg/pmvuD87PFlA/s1600/bonded-stores.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-tvi8zXbAUJg/VXApStLKotI/AAAAAAAAARg/pmvuD87PFlA/s1600/bonded-stores.jpg" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-pgPKUPMYNSg/VXApQJXXFjI/AAAAAAAAARY/i03SaV6bnag/s1600/brisbane-heritage2.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-pgPKUPMYNSg/VXApQJXXFjI/AAAAAAAAARY/i03SaV6bnag/s1600/brisbane-heritage2.gif" /></a></div>
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<tr><td><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-9Gyi1XZzrE0/VXAqVbQM-sI/AAAAAAAAARo/AYJcWdj0yuA/s1600/dogpark1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-9Gyi1XZzrE0/VXAqVbQM-sI/AAAAAAAAARo/AYJcWdj0yuA/s320/dogpark1.jpg" width="320" /></a>
</td><td><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-em9lRzRpCaU/VXAqVlkTryI/AAAAAAAAARs/M3Sdh6F5j24/s1600/dogpark2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-em9lRzRpCaU/VXAqVlkTryI/AAAAAAAAARs/M3Sdh6F5j24/s320/dogpark2.jpg" width="320" /></a>
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<tr><td><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-xaUMxFYa03U/VXAq81NYp8I/AAAAAAAAAR4/mDyaSZy-jf4/s1600/demolition.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-xaUMxFYa03U/VXAq81NYp8I/AAAAAAAAAR4/mDyaSZy-jf4/s320/demolition.jpg" width="220" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Demolition in progress.</td></tr>
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</td><td><i><span style="font-size: x-small;">The Queensland Heritage Council has voted against State heritage listing of three brick buildings located at 105 to 113A Margaret Street in Brisbane city.</span></i><br />
<i><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></i>
<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">Queensland Heritage Council Chair, Professor Peter Coaldrake, said O’Reilly’s buildings, also known as the ‘Bonded Stores’, did not meet the threshold of heritage significance to the State as a whole.</span></i><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">and</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span>
<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">"We looked long and hard at how to reuse the facades but the buildings are of such poor quality design and in such a sad state of disrepair that demolition is the only economic option,'' Mr Robinson said.</span></i><br />
<i><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></i>
<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">Demolition approval had been given for previous applications by other developers and he expected demolition to occur within months, so that a "green pocket park'' could be ready before the G20 summit.</span></i><br />
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<a href="http://brisbaneheritage.org.au/category/the-bonded-stores/"><span style="font-size: x-small;">http://brisbaneheritage.org.au/category/the-bonded-stores/</span></a><br />
<span style="background: white; color: #292929;"><a href="http://brisbaneheritage.org.au/a-glimpse-inside-the-bonded-stores/"><span style="font-size: x-small;">http://brisbaneheritage.org.au/a-glimpse-inside-the-bonded-stores/</span></a></span><br />
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<a href="http://www.news.com.au/finance/real-estate/brisbane-heritage-buildings-to-be-knocked-down-and-replaced-by-dog-park/story-fndbalka-1226796382521"><span style="font-size: x-small;">http://www.news.com.au/finance/real-estate/brisbane-heritage-buildings-to-be-knocked-down-and-replaced-by-dog-park/story-fndbalka-1226796382521</span></a></div>
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rino breebaarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08732964644950027323noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3240737.post-91953924183198206792015-05-26T20:29:00.000+10:002015-07-14T13:34:23.590+10:00The collapsing feeling of self-publishing<small>
[Note: I tried giving this article away. One particular place, the *blog* of the <a href="http://www.qwc.asn.au/connect/blog/" target="_blank">Queensland Writer's Centre</a> — that is, a centre supporting writers — passed on it. Now, if you can't get a <i>blog </i>to accept your work, then you've been insulted. I present it below for you instead.]</small><br />
<br />
The publishing industry has changed, but very little has changed. Maybe I should be more specific and say the publishing process has changed, that the overall model of what's possible has opened up so that it's both more accessible and cheaper to produce books — especially outside of the regular
old channels — in digital or print. Anyone can get into the magic of books; which is a minor revolution, I'd say.
<br />
<br />
But what hasn't changed? Look at the bookshop window displays: lots of colourful books; lots of diversity. If you think about it, the books on display and reviewed in newspapers, journals and magazines are still largely, or rather almost all, representative of the standard publishing model. By which
I mean the large (consolidated, international) publishing houses and the medium trade presses, the industry players.<br />
<br />
The window display — our window on publishing — says the industry is healthy because there's so much great stuff being produced. There's familiar and prize-winning authors, authors who can't not get published; there's non-fiction and biographies by the dozen, profile-leveraging tie-ins,
young adult and bright fantasy. Now and then a renegade success story, a blockbuster everyone reads on planes or whenever they're not looking at their phone, because everyone else is.<br />
<a name='more'></a>Just because the display is so colourful, you mightn't notice the picture is incomplete, or not up to date and reflective of publishing currently.<br />
<br />
Like what about this pesky little thing called self-publishing.<br />
<br />
Let me start by saying I <i>love </i>self-publishing. In terms of the speed, control and the sheer realism of being able to produce, publish and distribute a book — this wonderfully aesthetic and portable powerhouse of idea and story — this is accessible <i>right now</i>. None of the digital technologies
can take away from the sheer magic of holding a book in your hands. Which, if you're of the generation that came of age before the internet, is still tangibly wonderful and real.
<br />
<br />
Of course, this rosy positivity has a dark backing — in the sheer bilge, crud and dross that's published by anyone and everyone with access to a computer. Which no one will ever read. Which will never be picked up or fought over. Which is forgettable, unartistic or strictly for hobbyists. Which,
like so much of the internet, is just banal chatter about nothing. And badly written: riddled with typos and dicky typesetting or just looking <i>cheap</i>.
<br />
<br />
Self-publishing — despite being equally colourful — hasn't changed anything in the industry. And so I mean to offer some insight for those interested in this avenue.<br />
<br />
<h3>
YOUR AUDIENCE
</h3>
The big difficulty, (beyond having to pay for everything) is that a self-publisher is responsible for creating an audience. That is, after the long and involved slog of writing and editing a book, you have to distribute, promote and market it. You have to get reviewed, noticed, talked about; you have
to create your readers.
<br />
<br />
The success stories of mega-popular Kindle authors get trotted out way too often, but they represent a random statistical pipe-dream. Writers know grand success isn't attainable for all — especially when you're competing with literally <i>millions </i>of other authors in an over-abundant market. Realistically,
your audience might be in the tens.
<br />
<br />
And for those, you have to hustle and stand out and get noticed. You have to harass people, almost bludgeon them into reading. Which means you'll need to consider hype, controversy, any and all buzz-worthy marketing tactics. You need to blog, tweet and reddit your heart out. You have to enter (mostly
paid) competitions in the hope of gaining something blurbable. You have to cadge Amazon reviews. Coverage, people! Raise your profile and raise your ranking! You need to give away freebies (digital and print), you need to ask favours (because marketing isn't cheap) and you'll need to schlepp your book to
shops, libraries, cafes, anywhere. You need to get people talking — and this is incredibly hard to do in a digital age without sounding desperate or crass or barkingly un-savvy. You might as well go door to door, while you're at it.
<br />
<br />
You need to establish and then prove your readership for any of the regular avenues of publishing & display to open up to you.Without press or reviews, a bookstore won't even take a sniff.
<br />
<br />
<h3>
REVIEWS, REVIEWS
</h3>
Every self-publishing how-to article tells you to get reviewed, get coverage — in any form — because reviews equals links which equal Google ranking which equal eyeballs, ultimately. Dozens of online review sites offer a professional, fee-based review service that exploit this specific digital
desperation: will read novel for cash.
<br />
<br />
The big question is how to get reviewed, seriously, without seeming like a self-published desperado hungry for eyeball-coverage. Because as self-publisher, you're tarred with the brush of random yahoodom. Who are you again, where are you from?
<br />
<br />
And this question of desperation is totally removed from anything to do with literary value or worth, the saleability or aesthetic pleasure of your book. A lot of crap is still marketed, and a lot of quality will always be ignored — this is not a meritocracy. It's the breaking in, the entering
the attention-market, that's the real brass ring.
<br />
<br />
How do you convince an editor of a print journal (or even a bookstore manager) that your book is worthy and robust enough for critique and notice — especially when they only review regular-model books? Subtle rhetorical appeals of support for local authors? All-round niceness? As a noob, you can't
guarantee the level of saleability the industry relies on so hard; you can't guarantee return on risk. You can see the bind of it all.
<br />
<br />
Now of course, there's a question of resourcing: literary journals and local bookstores are usually run on an oily rag, not big budgets and power lunches. They can't (on top of all the other editorial & business work) spend time sorting and sifting through potentially thousands of self-made works,
hungry for coverage. Attention is sacred; sales are holy — so we'll stick with our Wintons and Flanagans, thanks.
<br />
<br />
But surely, to invert the statistics of abundance, somewhere in that rich and dense digital slush pile, there's a genuine nugget worth reading and promoting. Surely — just one. Isn't it possible there's something they're missing out on? If only on an occasional, toeing-the-water basis?
<br />
<br />
The problem boils down to a dual combination of attention (how to get it) and expectation (what to expect from publishing). Let's be realistic, or rather, let's get real about what the paradigm shift in publishing really means.
<br />
<br />
<h3>
DOWNGRADE YOUR EXPECTATIONS
</h3>
The numbers don't lie: the potential is there — but realistically your audience is minimal. Microscopic. So get real about both <i>who </i>your target audience is, and be satisfied with their smallness. Don't worry about unlikely success stories and the talking-up of random fame; focus instead on the readers
that matter, the achievable readers. It's not about generating 10,000 rabid fans who'll follow your every word and whim: it might realistically be 100 only <i>mildly </i>interested people — but within that five score might be five who care about what you say, and of those, maybe one reader who's actually
changed by what you wrote. Who will tell someone else out of genuine excitement.
<br />
<br />
Remember it might take years to find that meaningful handful — that this is a long game. You're tossing a seed into the wind. The prevailing winds, the seasons of taste, the random soils where it lands… all need to connect and be fertile. If there's a significant idea or story in your
book, then it <i>might </i>take root. If there is an audience for your style, your angle, then people might take note. This requires a degree of trust and stoicism multiplied by ample good faith in time. The long time of the long tail. Call it a strategic faith you can prepare and lay the groundwork for. Here are some tenets:
<br />
<ul>
<li>
Do it to meet your own good taste.
</li>
<li>
You are most likely <i>not </i>going to be the subject of a bidding war involving six-figure advances.
</li>
<li>
Don't let the indifference of the world deflate you — it's just the normal, resting state of the world.
</li>
<li>
Don't let your audience-marketing hat depress the creative-brain-hat — that is, don't stop working. Onto the next book, the next idea: always be producing.
</li>
<li>
All aspects of the quality of the work rest with you. Cover image, editing, typesetting — these must be done professionally or look totally professional. Do not skimp on any factors of quality, on top of the quality of the text; that is, the meat of your book.
</li>
<li>
Send friendly and honest letters to all potentially helpful people, with a sample or taster — but not the whole work. There's a fine line (ask any advertising guru) between bludgeoning and cultivating interest. Work on the knowledge that people's attention span is precious and small, and that most
forms of marketing-bark are a turn-off.
</li>
<li>
Don't give away too many freebies. Even a book gifted in the spirit of giving confuses people (except for libraries — be generous with libraries). There is a wonky balance of free and freemium that's almost expected now, which you'll have to work out on your website/blog/feed. But don't expect
anything — just be surprised and thankful for what does come back.
</li>
</ul>
That seems to be about the base line of expectation and realisation here.
<br />
<br />
It's only a matter of time before bookstores make nodding, belated movements to the electronic and self-published factor. If the shopfront of culture — or rather the model of how we access culture — has shifted largely online, then the old-school, analogue distribute-and-display stores will
have to make some shifts too, and get creative about how to work with the ideas and lateral opportunities offered by books. To take small risks again.
<br />
<br />
I have some ideas about how this could work.rino breebaarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08732964644950027323noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3240737.post-7368886262581576572015-04-03T14:55:00.004+10:002015-04-03T14:55:53.652+10:00New book - The Humid Canopy<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-RMsYtS_TgUw/VR4bv6GwDyI/AAAAAAAAAQw/FWuZeDk9Ees/s1600/humid-canopy.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-RMsYtS_TgUw/VR4bv6GwDyI/AAAAAAAAAQw/FWuZeDk9Ees/s1600/humid-canopy.gif" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.lulu.com/shop/rino-breebaart/the-humid-canopy/paperback/product-22101292.html" target="_blank">The Humid Canopy by Rino Breebaart</a> - at lulu.com</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.lulu.com/shop/rino-breebaart/the-humid-canopy/paperback/product-22101292.html" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img alt="The Humid Canopy" border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-L02ch4uN_VE/VR4cyHqbN9I/AAAAAAAAAQ4/-2aW1Q-lcoc/s1600/humid-canopy-small.jpg" title="" /></a></div>
<br />rino breebaarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08732964644950027323noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3240737.post-38642513084668962842014-12-22T20:02:00.001+10:002014-12-22T20:02:52.761+10:00Field guide to suburban noise<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-oy66-JMzZNk/VJfr7D5RuWI/AAAAAAAAAQM/akNy5xZFxk4/s1600/field-guide-urban-noise.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Field guide to suburban noise" border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-oy66-JMzZNk/VJfr7D5RuWI/AAAAAAAAAQM/akNy5xZFxk4/s1600/field-guide-urban-noise.gif" title="" /></a></div>
<br />rino breebaarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08732964644950027323noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3240737.post-75276501893440246452014-11-02T14:05:00.001+10:002014-11-02T14:05:08.584+10:00Apple pie<iframe frameborder="no" height="166" scrolling="no" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/172833579&color=ff5500&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false" width="100%"></iframe>So, what cuisine is specifically Dutch? I would argue (cynically, exhaustively) that there isn't any such thing - that isn't somewhat Germanic or even Flemish in influence or source. On the latter score I'd indicate the rich assortment of condiments applied to fries - I'm sure chips & mayo is Flemish, as is chips and chilli sauce and mayo, but then, perhaps exceptionally, chips and satay sauce isn't. OK, I'd make a concession, chips AND mayo AND satay sauce is perhaps <i>uniquely </i>Dutch: 'patatje oorlog' (chips war) is a unique achievement for which the former Dutch occupation of Indonesia may have played a minor causal, historical role. For anyone traveling to Holland, I'd say head to the nearest 'friet tent' and get your hands on a serve of this truly authentic culinary wonder. It's a flavourgasm.<br />
By which preamble to say: the real test of Dutch food is apple pie (<b>appeltaart</b>). Almost any cafe in Holland serves and prides itself on its apple pie. Even train station restaurants, even the Hema department store. Sit down, order coffee and pie (koffie met gebak; there's usually a combo price), and dig into the true taste. House-made? Fresh? Not too soggy? Not too sweet or laden with cinnamon or sultanas? Evenly cooked, finely textured all the way through? A good match with cream? Does the pastry dough have good mouth-feel? Do you want a second piece, and is the view and the setting nice? Is there some vaguely German oompah music playing in the background somewhere...<br />
That's how you get the real cuisine, methinks. rino breebaarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08732964644950027323noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3240737.post-70804207233936598882014-10-08T15:30:00.000+10:002014-10-08T17:52:50.460+10:00A Venice list (travel note)<table border="0"><tbody>
<tr>
<td><iframe frameborder="no" height="166" scrolling="no" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/171011031&color=ff5500&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false" width="100%"></iframe></td><td><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/rinosim/15372616131" title="Simple house in Venice by Rino Breebaart"><img alt="Simple house in Venice" height="240" src="https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3885/15372616131_711c635bef_m.jpg" width="180" /></a></td></tr>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ak3Ky_sfKNM/VDPHRs9-2gI/AAAAAAAAAP0/BSQyYjZb0K0/s1600/venice2.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="A Venice list" border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ak3Ky_sfKNM/VDPHRs9-2gI/AAAAAAAAAP0/BSQyYjZb0K0/s1600/venice2.gif" title="" /></a></div>
rino breebaarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08732964644950027323noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3240737.post-85352046512423597562014-10-07T20:51:00.000+10:002014-10-07T20:51:35.064+10:00Venice: more to say (travel note & Henry James)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-gAkVm3Z5mJ0/VDPFV2FGsDI/AAAAAAAAAPs/nHeCkCEnsnU/s1600/venice1.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Venice, beauty, Henry James" border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-gAkVm3Z5mJ0/VDPFV2FGsDI/AAAAAAAAAPs/nHeCkCEnsnU/s1600/venice1.gif" title="" /></a></div>
rino breebaarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08732964644950027323noreply@blogger.com2