The Spirit of JAN PALACH is in Sydney this week ...

Audiences only really like two parts of a show — the beginning and the end.  You should prolong the former by rolling directly through your first three numbers without pausing.  Then make sure you end suddenly and unexpectedly.  Audiences rewards who stop early and punish those who stay late…

Finally, there’s nothing an audience enjoys more than hearing something familiar.  If you think your songwriting and all-round musical excellence are enough to entertain a bunch of strangers for an hour with songs they have never heard before, bully for you.  The Beatles didn’t, but what the hell do they know?

That is from the entertaining and insightful David Hepworth book Nothing is Real: The Beatles Were Underrated and Other Sweeping Statements About Pop.  He lists the following as the three best blues songs ever:

Memphis Jug Band: K.C. Moan

B.B. King: You Upset me Baby

Blind Willie Johnson: Dark Was the Night

By the way, Paul and the Beatles really did record both “I’m Down” and “Yesterday” in the same day.
Jan Palach loved the Beatles as the of Bohemian youth loved them ...

ONLY 2 DAYS TO THE OPENING NIGHT Dendy Opera Quays: 27th of March You definitely don't want to miss out.  See below the opening and closing nights events.

Opening Night ·        'Beton' cocktail on arrival (Becherovka & Tonic) ·        Film: JAN PALACH | Jan Palach ·        DJ Live Music ·        Catering - traditional central European open sandwiches "chlebíčky", cocktail snitzels  "řízečky" with sourdough bread ·        Czech & Slovak cakes ·        Wine & beer Jan Palach The electrifying opening night feature Jan Palach by Robert Sedláček re-enacts a short period in Jan’s life, culminating in his protest against the Soviet occupation of Prague on the 16th of January, 1969. It is the story of an ordinary young student living in 1960s Czechoslovakia, full of the hopes and dreams of youth who wanted to study history but instead he became a part of history himself.

The 2019 Sydney Czech and Slovak Film Festival | FilmInk

One escapes communism only to find the Chinese Communists are found in every walk of life in Australia and now even inside major and minor political parties 🎉 the hard core irony of Animal Farm and 1985 in 2019 AD 

Chinese state TV lauds Liberal candidate Scott Yung

By Nick Bonyhady

China's state-run broadcaster CCTV 4 aired a laudatory piece on the Liberal candidate for Kogarah, 26-year-old Scott Yung, in the dying days of the NSW election as the candidate posted endorsements from big-name Chinese celebrities.

Polarisation and the use of technology in political campaigns and communication
The report offers a comprehensive overview of the relationship between technology, democracy and the polarisation of public discourse. Technology is inherently political, and the ways in which it is designed and used have ongoing implications for participation, deliberation, and democracy. Algorithms, automation, big data analytics and artificial intelligence are becoming increasingly embedded in everyday life in democratic societies; this report provides an in-depth analysis of the technological affordances that enhance and undermine political decision-making, both now and in the future.

Czech Out the Report