“IDF will fuck the Arabs!”, “Why is school out in Gaza? There are no children left there!” Maccabi Tel Aviv football fans chanting on 8 November, as reported by The Times of Israel. Yet the BBC just compared them to Jewish victims of the Nazi pogroms. Why this story matters is because of the outsized Continue reading »
Arts and Sport
Every two years, a musical feat of world standard is achieved by a young Australian in an unlikely Victorian country town. Shepparton, home of irrigation and stone fruit, population almost 70,600, or an average AFL crowd, hosts it. Those who have recently accomplished this stupendous achievement are unknown. Have you heard of Alex Zhang or Continue reading »
Organisational management, especially when it comes to large entities, has little to recommend it. Arrange the schedules. Pamper sponsors and behave simperingly. Ensure a diet of pills to null the embarrassment. Mind the assets and fret over the brand. Sigh over ledgers and order spreadsheets. When it comes to the classical music industry, all of Continue reading »
A well-known Australian band, The Cat Empire, has decided not to perform three shows scheduled with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra over the treatment meted out to Australian-British classical pianist Jayson Gillham. In addition, MSO musicians passed a vote of no-confidence in senior management following which the board said it would carry out an independent review Continue reading »
Since the Taliban returned to power in Afghanistan almost three years ago, women’s sport has been cast into darkness there. Afghani women are not allowed to play any sport, and those who were contracted by the Afghanistan Cricket Board in 2020 are no longer recognised at home – or indeed internationally, because the International Cricket Continue reading »
One of the charms of sport is seeing underdogs upsetting the established order by overcoming teams they seemingly have no chance of beating. All sports have examples of such upsets. Long-term realities about relative strengths can fall in the short run. Ah, the glorious uncertainty of sport! On occasions, the underdogs even do it against Continue reading »
Two significant acts invited to play WOMADelaide 2024 have been treated in vastly different ways in recent months by the Director, Ian Scobie. One head-line act, renowned reggae singer/songwriter, Ziggy Marley, has faced strong calls to be cancelled due to his support of the apartheid state of Israeli, yet his inclusion was defended by WOMADelaide’ Continue reading »
We’d cross a long rope across the street and I used to have a dozen kids skipping down there. Even Mrs Munro came out – seventeen stone and she had no shoes on. She’d come out and skip. Bernie Johnson was born in 1906, and he contributed this gem when interviewed by the National Library Continue reading »
Where are all our rock stars? The battle for your freedom is raging. Led by Australia’s own Julian Assange, from behind his grey cell walls. Day X, Julian’s final appeal (20-21st Feb 24), is just around the corner and the global community rally behind him to make sure his keepers know the whole world is Continue reading »
A while ago I was – reluctantly – watching some television footage about the catastrophe in Gaza. To my amazement, a fleeting image appeared of two little girls, about 7 or 8, playing a hand-clapping game. I don’t know what nationality the girls were, or the location of their play. They could have been Israeli Continue reading »