“If the family were a boat, it would be a canoe that makes no progress unless everyone paddles.”
– Letty Cottin Pogrebin
I try to make a difference …
And I do so (and get the proverbial for it) because somewhere deep
down I think making the world a fairer place is what makes my life worth
living – and this is how I try to achieve it
a good apple and tomato
quickens the brain
not unlike Proust's
famed madeleine
“The first draft is just you telling yourself the story.”― Terry Pratchett
Dan Hitchens, via The
Spectator
It’s not just that
Britain’s new PM admires the writer’s essays and poetry – the influence goes
far deeper.
Faced with a ten-hour drive, with my best half, from Sydney to the idyllic Byron Bay Biro Festival, we threw some CDs in the car. CDs that reminded us about the Tassie drive 11k km Darwin, Olgas, Kakadu, Broken Hill, Kings Canyon, Alice Spring the old Mazda Tribute is showing 270,000 km on the dial .. .21,000 images on Nikon and Laika tell the stories
Crank up classics from the Boss, the Dead and Prince, and even some Whitesnake (and there's plenty more where that came from). So grab your keys, call up a few of your favorite travel buddies, roll down the windows and crank up the volume. It's road trip time!Byron Bay Writers Festival ... Podcasts from the BBWF
Joseph O’Neil – August 15, 2019 Issue – Reviewing: This America: The Case for the Nation by Jill Lepore Liveright, 150 pp., and This Land Is Our Land: An Immigrant’s Manifesto by Suketu Mehta Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 306 pp.
Lorraine Hansberry, the Love of Freedom, and the Freedom of Love
“Ahead of her time, Lorraine’s witness and wisdom help us understand the world, its problems and its possibilities. In her lonely reckonings, her impassioned reaching for justice, and the seriousness of her craft, she teaches us how to more ethically, more lovingly, witness one another today.”
ASKING THE IMPORTANT QUESTIONS: You can’t copyright a cocktail, so what’s a creative bartender to do?
Heading to Byron
Movie-Credit Style Book Credits For All Of The People Who Make That Book Happen?
Yes, writing can be lonely – but producing a published book is a community affair. – The Guardian (UK)
How Do We Measure What’s Popular In Music?
We used to be able to look to Billboard charts. But there are so many ways people are accessing music it’s become almost impossible to tell what the “top” music is by how many are listening. – The New York Times
Guests announced so far include local literary luminary Robert Drewe, prominent Australian artist Tracey Moffatt, deputy Labor leader Tanya Plibersek, You Am I front man Tim Rogers, crime sensation Jane Harper, Greenpeace CEO David Ritter and wellness writer Sarah Wilson.
Byron Bay has been growing in popularity since the Age of Aquarius in the '60s, when surfers discovered the empty waves and people looking for a new way of life moved in. Ever since, the name conjures up a mirage of a laid-back, sun-drenched, dolphin-playing, free-spirited Nirvana.
Now the sign welcoming you to Byron, as you queue in heavy traffic with a herd of others seeking a slice of paradise, reads Cheer up, Slow down, Chill out.
But with the passion comes fire — things are not always chilled out in paradise.
Emotions have flared since US magazine Vanity Fair came to town. Their cutting article underlined the hypocrisy behind the staged and sponsored Instagram posts of a clique of Byron "mum lifestyle influencers" or, as they refer to themselves, "murfers" (mum surfers), condemning them for being white and privileged (just, as I suspect, is the magazine's primary readership).
UM: The Lexus GXOR Concept Is for Overlanders Who Want a Bit of Luxury. “The GXOR looks much more rugged and ready for adventure than the standard GX, which is a luxed-up version of the Toyota Land Cruiser Prado that isn’t sold in the United States. The GXOR is lifted on an Icon suspension system, there are frame sliders from CBI and a full ‘underbody armor’ kit, and the stock F Sport wheels are wrapped in General all-terrain tires sized 275/70-18. A custom ‘stealth’ front bumper houses a Warn winch, and there’s a safari snorkel to provide the engine with air while wading through water. Lexus painted the GXOR in a matte gray to give it a more sinister look. . . . The GXOR is towing an intense-looking X1H off-road trailer from Patriot Campers, which costs upward of $50,000. The trailer contains an electrically operated pop-up tent, a slide-out kitchen, a hot-water system, and a lot more.”
As Bluesfest Turns 30, Here's A Look Back At Its Most Memorable ...
Most of modern rock and roll is a product of guilt.
~Captain Beefheart
