Fool's Paradise – Infinity on a Shoestring Gender: Male (last time I looked); Writer; Thinker; Studier of the Human Condition (and chickens' entrails); Wonderer; Laugher; Listener; Character; Recent Optimist; Part-of-the-Solution Aspirant; Sarsaparilla, Cocoa, and ex-White Black Tea Imbiber (no sugar - plenty sweet enough); Twenty Eight Thousand and Twelfth Living Wonder of the World; Amateur Worm Farmer Extraordinaire and Professional Worm Admirer; Humus Assist and Humorist; Play Up; Yes-Hoper...
And I reckon: Reality is actually far better than the best any of us can imagine, the universe is friendly and funny, laughter is a powerful medicine as well as an efficacious antidote for self-importance, and the best is yet to come, despite any and all appearances to the contrary...
Friday: To avoid a 20 to 30 minute queue later in the day, I stayed up doing various chores so I could drive to the service station with a good price 3 kms down the road; worth it, being on empty and being 13 cents lower than every one else within cooee. And so I hit the sack around 7 this morning.
I arrived at Guildford about 4 p.m., and my first call with Bob was Centrepoint in Midland to buy him his annual birthday cigar, being one week late this time. We then walked the John George Walk Trail, but my mind was racked with a very recent relationship issue, taking some of the tranquillity out of the beautiful walk. We finished with his swim at Swan Aquatic and the obligatory cup of tea at Fish Market Reserve on dark.
Once home I was pleased and surprised to reach Mum on her hospital phone, being close to 9 o'clock. She may come out tomorrow, but we all feel that would be too soon. We acknowledged Dad's passing 21 years ago today.
With Cadbury spread out on my lap, moulting a bit, I settled in to watch Aunty. Janny had returned The Dear Leader to his place a bit before 9.
Lateline: The (Leigh) Sales Graph: My 'In other news…' and Abecedarian Project websites went a little mad today, and the searches which brought the flurry of visitors were mainly for 'Leigh Sales'. And this is best explained by tonight's Lateline being her last: Ms Sales moves next year into the big chair being vacated by Kezza the Great this month, who has hosted the 7.30 Report since 1788, when he was a young starry-eyed journalist for the BBC, embedded with the First Fleet. Kerry O'Brien went on to cover many events of world significance, including the Voyage of the Beagle and the Sinking of the Rudd.
Ms Sales was in a buoyant mood, and who could blame her, with a couple of the Chaser's guests, Craig Reucassel and Julian Morrow, to interview for a review on the year in Australian politics in the main, and the inimitable Stephen Long for his opinion on the year to come for the global economy, though she did have a short serious interview beforehand with James Ball, who is working for WikiLeaks. (Mr Ball's archetypical geek appearance softened the cut of the subject matter somewhat, fortunately; he would've made a good companion for Godwin Grech in the cold damp basement of Treasury in Langton Crescent in Canberra, never seeing the sun other than on the desktop artwork.)
What an offer! Leigh Sales committed to put a word in for James Ball with Treasury, to try and get Godwin Grech's old office, 10 floors beneath Langton Crescent, Canberra
Caught out! Julian Morrow underestimated Leigh Sales' mischievousness, losing his hairpiece in a deft piece of handwork by the talented journalist
Friday: Uber 'late' to bed (sunrise), so uber late up. And with a disturbance, an hour before my one p.m. rising, when Missus Inkletter came in to let me know she was taking our over the road neighbour Deelia, who's approaching her eighties, to the doctor, for she had become quite ill.
I also had the alabaster dragon phone Bob's people (my people got in touch with Bob's people) to see if he wanted to go to the city today, as I had not planned to see him this week, and Bob was keen, so when I surfaced it was a mad rush for me to get crank up and get ready and arrive at Guildford before three.
And so we spent three hours doing the things Bob enjoys in Perth CBD, which is changing at a rate of knots again these days, with so many new skyscrapers and other projects steaming ahead. They've even ripped up half of St Georges Terrace (I can't quite get over the missing apostrophe, while also on the same terrace is St George's Cathedral, where my parents married) out front of London Court! (Some historically formed typos are worth keeping, but some aren't, and I for one wish Perth City Council would rename it.) I was struck by how thin the road base is.
And so I was rather whacked when I got home about half seven, and by half eight, after din dins, Cadbury spent the next four hours on my lap as we watched news and docos on Aunty and SBS. That cat will be the best informed feline on current affairs and politics in Australia, before the year is out.
Lateline: The Missing (Leigh) Sales Graph, instead The Tick(y Fullerton) Check Mark: Ticky Fullerton anchored Lateline tonight in Leigh Sales' stead, who is gallivanting around the United States for a while, where she will doubtless rediscover that North America has an abundance of political pricks and dickheads just as does Australia. Speaking of political pricks and dickheads, Ms Fullerton's guests tonight for the Friday night fight club were Shadow Attorney-General George Brandis and, well, I could stop there.
I won't keep you in suspense for long as to the identity of the other politician, but first, a note on Ms Fullerton's appearance: she looked fantastic, and was a just-controlled fire, as the photo demonstrates:
Her bright red jacket only failed to ignite Ticky Fullerton's hair because it is so much shorter now
The other polly was Minister for Trade Craig Emerson. Both men were on-screen, and both looked superb.
Mr Brandis opting for a black and white theme (Freudian slip?), with even a bold striped tie in black and white upon his white shirt and surrounded by his dark suit jacket; Mr Emerson came close to imitating Mr Brandis, except that Mr Emerson's tie had a dash of fire in it also:
There's nothing quite like black and white in politics: Craig Emerson and George Brandis were predictably starstruck by their own side's performances
This interview highlighted to me the fact that practice makes perfect, for these two boys got stuck into each other with overtalking a few times while completely ignoring Ms Fullerton's attempts to pull them into line. Leigh Sales is getting so much practice at controlling unruly politicians that she would have pulled them into line more quickly and probably with good humour; Ms Fullerton's interlocutors over at Lateline Business are usually in a more docile frame of mind.
Some delights for me were the use of the term 'shirtfronted' by Ms Fullerton in reference to Peter Slipper's acceptance of the Deputy Speaker role, as well as her rhyme "despairing of pairing", in regard to the obstinance of Tony Abbott's stand on pairing with the Speaker.
Mr Brandis kept up the imbecilic Opposition line that Prime Minister Gillard broke a pre-election commitment to not introduce a carbon tax: George, like I advised Joe Hockey the other day, do your best to understand what a hung parliament means and the changes it forces upon the whole of the new Government's agenda, and when you've done that, stop insulting our intelligence with your side's stupid and disingenuous line. Had you formed government you would be in the identical predicament.
Mr Emerson is spot on with his early remark that Tony Abbott (and his cohorts) "…is still sulking as a result of the Australian people not electing him, he's obviously angry with that." I haven't an abundance of respect for any Opposition we've had for decades, however, the Coalition in opposition over the last three years have been the pits of bitterness, petulance at being turfed out, and smallness of many kinds. And that has been under three different leaders, which suggests the problem is deeper than their leaders.
Sadly, yet again, I have to award the interview to Mr Emerson in terms of mature behaviour and believable statements, but not by a country mile. I say 'sadly', because Australia would be far better served by a higher calibre Opposition, which also implies, of course, by a higher calibre Government.
Well done Ms Fullerton, being thrown back into the bear pit of Lateline and performing professionally.
Oh how nice it would have been to sweeten things up with a chat with Stephen Long; hurry back Mr Long!
I managed a slower than usual late walk, on this humid cool night, around four a.m. Some hoons appeared to be yelling out at me from the local shops carpark at one stage of the walk. I am pleasantly surprised at how little untoward behaviour I encounter in the dead of night around this patch of our suburb.
Very late, well, time is so blurred and smeared around my life these days, very early, till and after sunrise, I wrote more on 'After the Rain', exhausting myself but feeling strangely alive.
Friday: I picked up Mum at Melville and got her to the skin specialist for her 11.30 appointment.
He decided to shave the skin cancer growth off her left leg, rather than excise it. The needles for anaesthetic hurt Mum greatly, as did the needles for the excision two months ago behind her ear. However, the shaving procedure meant she could walk and carry on, whereas a deep incision would have been a different story.
The growth was an inch or so from where she had the deep incision to remove a cancer near her ankle a couple of years back, which necessitated her resting with her leg up for many days.
When I got back home, about half three, I took Janny shopping, and so this spent the day. I was so tired I had to sleep for an hour till nearly seven.
During the evening, with Cadbury on my lap, I saw some live coverage a few times from the BBC on ABC24 of el Papa on his visit to London, from Edinburgh the day before. The irony of the grandiosity of it all is so stark, with both sides of the Christian schism so far removed from much that Jesus lived for.
Lateline: The (Leigh) Sales Graph: Sad to learn, sweetened with some Shakespeare from Leigh Sales, that Stephen Long will be away for a few weeks Four Cornering; his riposte was also Shakespearian. Stay safe Stephen and come back with more wisdom with which to scent this economic coil.
Shakespeare's sentiments blossomed during Stephen Long's LATELINE appearance with Leigh Sales
Mr Long was asked, during his 3 minutes of glory, by Ms Sales what's going on with this mob of businesses backing a carbon tax, and that mob opposing one; as per usual, we got his wisdom illuminating the matter: there is no unanimity, just prejudices in the newspapers' reporting on BHP's stance so far, and schisms (great word, Stephen!) within the business world.
And Ms Sales put the question of why the Aussie dollar is going gangbusters, and of course, we received very sensible reasons, such as our comparitively high interest rates and the dollar's link with our high priced commodities.
I can never get enough of Stephen Long's straight talking common sense; if only our politicians could be so candid. I look forward to Mr Long's 4 Corners report.
Ms Sales' long interview was the Friday night fight club, with Scott Morrison and Tony Burke, in-studio, and all behaved most civilly, (and each was presented superbly, with Ms Sales, unsurprisingly, being the most soothing to the eye):
Beauty and the beasts: Leigh Sales attempting to tease some manner of political sense from Scott Morrison and Tony Burke on LATELINE
although the performances were predictable, on the subject of immigration and asylum seekers, especially the boat arrivals. And as ever, it seems the Opposition is having a struggle with bitterness and smallness, even though it was very well controlled by Mr Morrison. I keep noting in this blog how small and negative this last three years long Opposition has been; it's as if they think it's somehow justified.
Thankfully, Ms Sales' good sense of humour helps to lift the tone and keep it up at more acceptable levels. She began funnily with a remark that the interview was almost over due to the length of the pollies' titles.
A wonderful moment occurred when Mr Morrison said "…the Coalition's very united on it (climate change)", and Ms Sales interjected while wrestling with her own laughter: "Well really? …You've got Malcolm Turnbull in your ranks. We've had Tony Abbott previously say climate change is crap and now embracing direction action?" Mr Morrison steamed ahead trying to make nothing of that fact, while the smile that staked its claim on Mr Burke's moosh was a sight to behold. I recommend you watch the podcast just for this sight:
Priceless moment: Tony Burke and Leigh Sales catch Scott Morrison with his rhetorical pants around his ankles!
*
I managed a very late walk, on this relatively warm evening. Janny spent some hours awake in the middle of the night. It's a nuisance when this happens, coz she either wants to gab on with me, or get me to write emails for her, and I can't get my writing done. The burdens of husbandhood…
I was still at the keyboard till well after sunrise.
Friday: I had high hopes of taking Bob swimming today, but a poor quality of sleep in the first few hours put paid to that, and I realised I'd be dangerous on the road if I tried, so Janny contacted his people (I got my people to contact his people) and rearranged for Wednesday coming. Thus I returned to sleep till dark.
During din dins, given a guest, he who cannot be graciously differed or debated or examined with, but who insists on a preponderance of spontaneous opinions, the shine was taken a tad from the TV watching over the ensuing hour. Just one of the small crosses to bear…
Lateline: The (Leigh) Sales Graph: Doubtless fortified with two or three Pramin, Leigh Sales, looking really good by the way, did a sterling job of interviewing a couple of our federal politicians still in limbo, Christopher Pyne and Tony Burke (the medication needed due to the former, according to some severe commentators), both men, as usual, looking crisply turned out. I wish I couldn't say it, but as per usually usual, the Labor man was less small, bitter, nasty, hysterical, arrogant, and hyperbolic than the Coalition man.
I have been pining (pun intended: see above) away for my weekly Stephen Long fix, and at long last he returned to give us The Long View: It is difficult to overestimate the quality of Mr Long's assessments; they are usually confined to things economic, but even when he strays from his specialty, the pearls of wisdom keep coming. Oh, by the way, I wouldn't blame him for gloating tonight, because he was given over 4 minutes! He went white shirt tonight, with a most fetching tie, within the background of his dark blue suit. His mum had less curls to tousle, given the shearing he must have recently undergone.
Ms Sales quizzed Mr Long on the hullabaloo surrounding the Coalition's election costings finally submitted to and chewed over by Treasury. And true to his habit, Mr Long set about telling it more as it is, and in fact came out very fair for both sides, and supported the Opposition's suggestion of a budget office to cost both sides' election commitments.
There was a funny and joyous moment when Ms Sales asked Mr Long to the effect why Australia's financial world hadn't imploded due to the political uncertainty during this limbo, and his answer was embarrassingly true to our politicians' detriment: the economy is run by Treasury and the Reserve Bank.
Stephen Long reveals Australian federal politicians' worst kept secret, to Leigh Sales delight: economically speaking, they're irrelevant!
Mr Long came up with a pair of gems as he expounded on the reasons for the steady course freighter Australia is plying – that we won't be ending up with a "Julia Chavez or Adolf Abbott".
Posts
