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Referendum, the Arts, China Visit
Oct. 16th, 2023 08:04 pmMany people - around 40% - are bitterly disappointed with Australia's failure to establish constitutional recognition of indigenous people and an advisory council. The results do not surprise me; after all, Australia was the country that voted against constitutional civil rights in 1988. This referendum was lost because of political partisanship, wilful ignorance and apathy, a misguided and naive "progressive no" and, it must be acknowledged, an enduring level of racism toward ATSI people - all of which are illustrated in geodemographics. For my own part, I did a short stint at a local polling booth which voted almost 70% in favour of the referendum.
I have been fortunate enough in recent days to attend three dramatic events with my dear friend Mel S. The first was Till Tales, consisting of some colourful stories that come from working at the Brunswick second-hand store, "Scavangers". The second was a very lucky last-minute purchase of a ticket to Stickybeak at Trades Hall, exploring the dysfunctional and often toxic relationship between three suburban households. The final event was the classic musical "Chess" at the National Theatre in St Kilda, with its troubled romance, cold-war drama, and, of course, choreography. I have also been blessed in recent days with a visit from Paula MCF from Adelaide, a good friend of well over 20 years now, who shares a love of anarchism, the arts, and working-class history. She has also been quite kind in looking after me in my failures as a host due to a rather debilitating stomach illness from which I have mostly recovered.
This coming week I'll be in Wuxi, China, to attend the "International Conference on Green and Innovation-driven Development in Cities and Towns". Apart from the conference, and the very minimal time I will have for sightseeing, I'll be completing three final assignments for climate change adaption, climate change mitigation, and international policy, as well as preparation for the final exam for the paleoclimatology paper. After that - assuming I do well enough - then it is on to the research paper, and that will be another master's degree completed.
I have been fortunate enough in recent days to attend three dramatic events with my dear friend Mel S. The first was Till Tales, consisting of some colourful stories that come from working at the Brunswick second-hand store, "Scavangers". The second was a very lucky last-minute purchase of a ticket to Stickybeak at Trades Hall, exploring the dysfunctional and often toxic relationship between three suburban households. The final event was the classic musical "Chess" at the National Theatre in St Kilda, with its troubled romance, cold-war drama, and, of course, choreography. I have also been blessed in recent days with a visit from Paula MCF from Adelaide, a good friend of well over 20 years now, who shares a love of anarchism, the arts, and working-class history. She has also been quite kind in looking after me in my failures as a host due to a rather debilitating stomach illness from which I have mostly recovered.
This coming week I'll be in Wuxi, China, to attend the "International Conference on Green and Innovation-driven Development in Cities and Towns". Apart from the conference, and the very minimal time I will have for sightseeing, I'll be completing three final assignments for climate change adaption, climate change mitigation, and international policy, as well as preparation for the final exam for the paleoclimatology paper. After that - assuming I do well enough - then it is on to the research paper, and that will be another master's degree completed.
