The Borg On...

Australian Idol
Not that there's much to choose from, but my favourite Idol Judge is Mark Holden. I was pleased to see him get angry at mediocrity and ignorance. You might think I'm being uniformative, but Idol really has degenerated into a substandard competition. Gone are the days of Guy and Ricky Lee (her name, by the way, is best said in Engrish. Try it, and you'll see ;-)).

Rising Petrol Prices
I'm no economist, but I think perhaps it is the case that when the cost of a commidity goes up, and even though the average consumer does not directly benefit, at least someone in the nation does. It maybe the case then, that rich people benefit, and in an ideal world, these rich people require more labour; more dog groomers and thong wearing pool cleaners and the like, so employment increases, so the average consumer eventually benefits. Checks and balances, people. However, the rising cost of oil benefits no one in Australia because it is an external force. The only ones benifiting are the wealthy oil shieks in Saudia Arabia, and the only benefit that will have for Australians is more for the mosques over here and maybe these sheiks will want more Australian wives, although the only benefit from the latter will be an increase in our camel population ("What! My daughter is worth more than 500 camels!").

So Australians are going to loose on a number of fronts. I'm making a few (educated) assumptions here, but I suggest our losses will include more than paying a few extra cents for bread and milk. The oil shieks will keep funding terroism (dare I say) and eventually, unless we start using hybrid cars and trucks, Australia will just become another province in the Great Islamic Empire. (there are of course other contributing factors here, like Muslims having lots of children. They'll buy us out and breed us out. And yes, I'm using "us" "them" language. And no, I don't care that I'm possibly reinforcing predujices and hatred by doing so (not that I would want to do that, though!) - it already exists to such an extent that whatever I say won't do much. And it's a silly convention anyway - everyone thinks in those "us" "them" terms anyway, no matter how PC they like to think they are.)

What to do about it all? 1) If you're a Christian, pray for Muslims 2) Petition the Australian government to get proactive about alternate fuel (you don't have to be a hippy to be for alternate energy - you just have to have a brain) 3) If you're a Christian, have lots of children.

Postmodernity
Just a token comment because that's what you're expecting. ;-) In academic circles, it's defiently on the way out. But Enlightment nor Medieval ways of thinking are not hip either. A sort of Naturalistic Platonism (I've bastardized a McDowell term here) is the new pink.

Sharehouse Living
Our flat is cultivated kooky. You might think that the "cultivated" part is a bad thing, but if you're going to be a kooky sort of person, you're likely to be self-consciousl about it, anyway. Ergo, it is justified. Anyhow, we have a big pink "gaurd bunny" that sits in the tree outside (which I rescued from the rubbish, but didn't want to infect inside by bringing it in). It must be working, as we haven't yet been broken into. ;-) Any jewellery that oneone wears has special magical powers, which are discovered upon experiment. And we pretty much only speak in Engrish and Little Britian quotes.

Spring Time
Is making everyone crazy! It is the intoxicating mix of the bright sun, the anticipatory vibe, the chirpy birds, the warm air and hormones that is making not only the animals "go Spring time" at the zoo, but making more couples getting "Hotball and Neckey" on the street corners and just impairing everyone's judgments in general...