Politics - the intellectual vs the visceral

My interest in politics comes in two flavours, the intellectual and the visceral.

The intellectual interest is that part of me that says I could do this better, or with less ego, that this could be done better. This makes we what to be involved in politics but it lacks the urgency to turn the vague desire into something more concrete.

The visceral interest is that part of me that says we must do this better because the way we are doing it now is evil. This visceral urge turns a vague desire into real action.

Because governments, even nice ones in relatively honest first world western liberal democracies, can be evil. In the Australian context I believe the Howard government had some policies that were essentially evil. I am not using that word lightly, the willing fanning of racist fears, the imprisoning of children as a deterrent, and a range of other policies were, by any of my moral measures - EVIL. These were the things that turned me from a passive voter to an active citizen involved in politics, ultimately joining the Australian Labor Party and even running for council as a Labor member in local government elections.

But Howard has gone and my visceral urge is missing and so I'm wondering if I can find my desire to get involved in politics again.

Australian Rules Football - one of my passions

Australian Rules Football is a truly unique sport. Played only in Australia and even then its not universal. It is definitely 'the' football code in Victoria, South Australia, West Australia, and Tasmania but is probably only the third football code after League and Union in New South Wales and Queensland. The rules are complex, the fields are huge, there's no offside so players can be where-ever they want whenever they want.

All this makes the game almost impossible to truly understand unless you've grown up with it but to learn more you can go to the AFL website or, like the rest of the world visit Wikipedia.

But its a magnificent game. It requires special skills, power, endurance, courage and intelligence. Its not enough to to some of these, you need all of them. Its a topic I'll discuss a lot if you follow this blog.

By the way, if you are going to follow this amazing, exasperating, magnificent game you should really torture yourself and support the Richmond Football Club - the mighty Tigers.

Teens, media and the future

Mark Day in the Australian recently ran an article on the question of the future of the media considering the attitudes of kids. Particularly in the context of his recent experience with his own grandson and more specifically in relation to an article written by a 15 tear old boy in the UK in the UK financial times.

In this case my natural bias against young people comes to the fore again and my extreme skepticism of their opinions is mirrored by Mark Day. I think its easy to get swept up by a single well written article and lose sight of larger trends. Harry Potter, the Twilight books, give an indication that text isn't dead. In fact, having discovered reading late my 13 year old daughter has gone further and discovered sites on the net like quizilla to help her write her own work. Right now she's writing a 10,000 word novella based on characters from some of her favorite characters from a collection of books, cartoons and films. These stories are shared with hundreds of other girls who are writing their own and the kids spend hours poring through some amazingly dense words.

I think we need to be careful in thinking that our kids have given up on text and that by extension traditional reporting, quality journalism and considered commentary has no place in an internet future. The best thing about kids is that they grow out of it, sure some parts of childhood is like a virus you never shake but in the main we all get over it.

Culture and Sport

I'm a fan of novels, film, theater. Not a fan of opera and ballet but I enjoy reading classics like Hemingway, Conrad and even the odd Russian. So all in all I don't consider my inner life a cultural wasteland.

And yet I love a good sporting match. Especially Australian Rules Football. A great game has everything a great Shakespearean play could hope for plus the bonus of not knowing the ending. There are heroes and villains, hidden motives and plot twists we can only unravel after years of critical reading. The casts are huge, the characters multidimensional, complex and ambiguous. What more can one ask for, really.

Ok, I can ask for one more thing - that following my team, the Richmond Tigers, be less of a comic tragedy.

Mineshaft Gap Clothing on line

One of the things that got Mineshaft Gap going in my mind in the first instance was the growing divide between my photos and my clothing. Well the separation is as complete as its going to get. All the tees have been removed from my pmacimagery site, rebranded and moved here.

I'll be adding more very soon but if there is a soul out there interested check out the Mineshaft Gap Clothing line.

China, Stern Hu and the west's dilemma

China's rehabilitation in the eye's of the world has been the result of a combination of greed and hope. The west has wanted to sell China resources and has wanted the cheap clothes and electronics that flowed back. In this exchange the west has been largely willing to overlook that in all practical senses nothing in the Chinese political system has changed.

But its not all bad, along with the greed, has been the hope (and its only hope) that as we traded, the wealth China was accumulating would be spread, wages rise, civil society would strengthen and the strict authoritarian rule in China gradually dissolve. Perhaps that hope was misplaced.
The Stern Hu affair yet again underscore that China is not a nation capable of being trusted in the community of nations, China either does not understand or simply does not acknowledge the rule of law. Through the confusion of state security laws and basic commerce China has joined nations like North Korea and Zimbabwe.

And yet, China is already powerful and becoming increasingly rich. What are we to do? If civilizing China (both for the benefit of its own citizens and, as shown by the Hu affair, our own) risks some of our own wealth are we prepared to undertake the task?

My top five cars for sale today

Hey, I warned you all. I love my cars - in fact I even love cars that arent mine. Therefore like a lot of guys in my position I cruise the classifieds looking for cool cars for sale. Beware, this will be a recurring theme so if I bore you bad luck.

Anyway, since I've surfing the net, I may as well use that opportunity to blog as well. So here it is, my top five most interesting used cars on the market in Australia today (in some vague sort of order top to bottom).

1. 1972 Maserati Ghibli SS. So beautiful and so cool it makes Ferrari's and Lambo's look like try hards.

2. 1969 Jensen Interceptor. Big US muscle in a car that can actually go round corners, stop and look really special.

3. 1973 BMW 3.0 CSL. The basis of the batmobile, one of the best looking (and most successful) touring cars of all time. Fast, light, chuckable the beemer that marked the companies arrival in the big time.

4. 1981 De Tomaso Longchamp. Not particularly fast, or good looking, or great handling so what gives. Well like the Jensen, a big powerful car with simple mechanics but for gods sakes its De Tomaso. Its an Italian sportscar with virtually no hassles and cheaper to buy than a 3 year old Commodore or Falcon.

5. 2002 Elfin Type 3 Clubman. I love these little clubman's. Ok, nothing else to say.

So there you go, five really interesting cars you can buy right now (if you've got the spare cash). Yeah I know they aren't dirt cheap but they aren't ferociously expensive either. The dearest is just over 100 grand and the cheapest just over 30.

Ok - yet another blog.

Mineshaft Gap.

Ok, what’s this blog about.

Like many people the idea of blogging is kind of attractive to me. And like many people I’ve lacked the commitment to see it through and I’ve contributed my fair share to the fleet of Marie Celeste like ghost blogs floating the high seas of the net. But this time it will be different (I promise - ok I hope).

I actually do have a blog (Pmac Imagery) that has stayed alive (barely) and which I’ll be working to get off life support but I think I need/want another. PMac Imagery is a photography blog – I want to limit it to photography type topics. But I have ideas, thoughts, and opinions on a whole range of things outside photography. That’s where Mineshaft Gap comes in. The concept for this blog (and associated bits and pieces) is that this is a home for whatever thoughts have survived my war with reality and how I see the world now.

So what exactly am I going to talk about?

Easy – stuff that interests me! That might be cars, politics, religion, philosophy, god alone knows. I’m deliberately going to keep it pretty flexible as I think that will be the key to me having some remote chance of keeping this project alive.

I think that if I’m able to just be me – and therefore write about what I’m really, actually thinking and feeling I’m likely to be committed to do it. But there is more.

I am interested in having this blog be read by someone else. I’m not after a book deal or looking to retire on the proceeds of internet ads but I do want to matter to someone else – if I can do that I’ll be happy. To that end I recently heard an interview with the guy that created the “Stuff White People Like” blog (really cool site, although it seems I’m only about half white) and he said something that really resonated with me. That is that the key to a really successful blog is to not try to be successful. Work hard – sure, present well – absolutely, but don’t chase a “market” with your ideas.

So that’s the plan. I’ll work to write stuff worth reading about stuff I’m interested in. That’s my only promise.