Self Referencing Haiku

Eat the word sandwich
The bread is five syllables
And the meat? Seven

Marx Weeps

Traveling the halls of university today I happened upon a poster created by the Socialist Alliance, rallying support against the senseless slaughter occurring in Lebanon as a result of the Israeli military's actions.

The poster included the following statement: "US imperialism unleashes its attack dog in the middle east"

It must be a strange world that socialists live in, where lifeless nouns can unleash forces, canine or otherwise. I agree wholeheartedly with their sentiment; however their messaging needs some refining.

'Ticks and Leeches'

I hate scalpers; they have music fans targeted for an ass fucking. They buy up all the tickets available for concerts - sometimes in quantities of up to 20 at a time - in a deliberate attempt to ensure the venue sells out, and then they sell those tickets on eBay for exorbitant prices. I've never purchased anything from eBay before, and that's for a good reason. I'm stubborn. I don't like being outbid.

I just paid $140.00 to see The Strokes.

Ps - I'm off to see TV on the radio tonight. It should be a good show, if their new album is anything by which to judge.

I wonder if anyone outside of Australia would understand the coolness that is Ratcat?

Possibly not.

But every occupant of this troubled globe should know and love Big Audio Dynamite.

Must remember to get Yeah yeah yeahs tickets tomorrow!

And also, tomorrow I'll tell you about yet another failed romantic (mis)adventure that I had on Thursday night.

Sleep, where for art thou?

Look at the gawd damned time! Sleeping pills work on me like US styled democracy works in the Middle East. I'm thinking about crushing them up and mixing them in with my Milo.

Help?

"The problem with the left"

Some Poondoodle over at group blog Larvatus Prodeo, a supposed Lefty, has written one of the stupidest posts I've ever read, about the apparent problems besieging the left:

"Don't bath for a few months and go on a demo about nucular (sic) power with paint dawbed (sic) signs and dogs on strings with the same old bollocky "2 4 6 8″ chants whilst bonging up a dooby and saving some whales."

When I read that paragraph for some strange reason images of corn fields filled with straw men came into my mind. I always love attempts to tar whole groups of people with simplistic stereotypes; but the least our straw man building quasi-leftist could do is get his terminology correct - how does one bong "up a dooby"? And, perhaps he’d be more engaged in nuclear issues if he discovered how to spell the word correctly…

Moving on to the next bit of dribble:

"I am as economically lefty as they come, and pretty bloody libertarian to boot. I care about people. I don't give a shit about:

Animals
Nuclear power if it's economically feasible
Global warming if there is no catastrophe"

See, the problem with the left is that the blogger in question doesn't share all the same beliefs and principles as those which some on the left espouse. An expectation of that ilk sounds more like right wing groupthink to me. That could be a problem for the left; or, it could be that our blogger has no fucking clue, which would be a major problem for him.

Okay, this is the last bit of dribble, I promise:

"I do care about:

Equity of rights and opportunities regardless of socioeconomic status, race, gender, any other label you can emboss on a strip of plastic that is bound to slice under your thumbnail when you peel the backing off. You know the drill, the higher taxes, more services kind of thing that we all know and love."

Well, whoopdeefuckingdoo – in a global warming scenario (and, by the way, isn’t the whole discussion about global warming centered on its catastrophic potential?) who will be the most likely to suffer? Could it be the small communities who rely on local ecosystems for their survival? Could it be the poor and the downwardly mobile? Sure you care about equality of rights and opportunities. Sure you care about people - just as long as they are washed and behave in a manner that conforms to your limited notion of respectability.

Me, I like to be clean. I like to smell nice. And, I don’t smoke as much dope as I used to. Taking a cursory examination of my leftist friends reveals that most of them are fairly similar to myself; but, that said, I don’t think for a second that cleanliness, attending a protest, or even smoking the occasional spliff invalidates a person’s belief structure – the only thing that should do that is the logic upon which their arguments are predicated.

And one last thing: how did women win universal suffrage? And that continuing fight for racial equality thing, how have inroads been made in that battle? Oh, and the workers, how did the workers manage to escape their Dickensian entrapments? Fuck me; it wasn’t through protests, was it?

"Once more into the breach dear friends"

When Shakespeare wrote that he wasn't talking about heading into war. Nope, the great poet was talking about the prospect of putting in another weekend stint at Revolver.

America, Fuck Yeah!

It's amazing watching Fox News's coverage of the 'London Bombings: A year on'. Americans interviewing other Americans about the terrible tragedy in London... I mean, they're doing a live shoot from England - the least they could do is rustle up a real live local. And the way that they are trying to insert the word terrorist into every little bit of dialogue, it's making me feel ill. The relationship between hard-line Islam and rightwing America can only be described as symbiotic. It is amazing to see two cultures so hatefully opposed to each other and yet so inextricably reliant upon one another.

If it's your first night on Noah's arc you have to fight

I'm house-sitting at the moment and with the house come two golden retrievers and six cats (don't ask). The dogs were easy to make friends with but the cats have taken a little time. The most skittish of the tribe, an orange ruffian with the beginnings of cataracts in its eyes, is just starting to accept me. I've always had far more amicable relations with animals than I do with humans.

As for the house, that's another story. This house is like the one that Tyler and Cornelius (Rupert, Jack, etc.) occupy in Fight Club. It's like an old mans lungs - it fills with the moisture of the mountain air, and it rattles and wheezes with any change in temperature. In certain parts of the house I can see strips of daylight coming through the floorboards; those nice airy vents also let in the freezing cold air. The shower hadn't been used in some time; when I first turned its taps it vomited forth a Bombay-esque deluge.

All in all the house suits the mood I've been in for the last month or so.

It sucks to be disappointed

It seems the great night that I had the other night with the new romantic interest was great only in the realm of my own imaginings. A phone call earlier on tonight shattered all such illusions.

I feel about as desirable as a bout of gastro right at this moment.

Music Tip

I've been hearing this cracking good tune over the airwaves the last couple of weeks, and for some reason I've continually missed the name of both track and band when the DJ has announced it. Well, no more. I saw the video clip on rage last night and it's by a Canadian(?) band called Metric. The song is called 'Monster Hospital'. The lead singer recalls all the best elements of Chrissy Amphlett, but they rock out far more than the Divinyls ever did.

Check it out if you get the chance.