b r a v e c r e a t u r e s

The media landscape in Australia has just changed, and to be honest I am not quite sure what it means yet. My gut is that its not going to be good for diversity of voices or the local industry.

One thing I am fairly certain about is that power will be concentrated - the media barons are going to be spending the next year or so carving up the available pot of outlets into ever decreasing bundles of "impartiality".

I know its probably cynical of me, and not at all in keeping with my recent resurgence of pollyannaism, but I really feel like Helen Coonan is a bit of a melon head†. Or she is sleeping with the ghost of Kerry Packer. Or something. I am not entirely sure how anyone could have looked at the changes she has rammed through and thought it was going to result in anything other than a merger frenzy.

So its something else the next generation is going to have to struggle with, but at least we have Canada to compare ourselves to. It appears that given the same pressures, population size and problems, Canada has come up with the EXACT OPPOSITE solution. So we are going to get to see who is right - although not in a time frame that will mean that La Coonan will have to face the (DRM protected) music if she is wrong.

Meanwhile all of this kuffuffle reminds me of an appearance that Jon Stewart, host of the wonderful "Daily Show", made on Crossfire. An appearance that apparently resulted in Crossfire being taken off the air.

Maybe there is hope of reclaiming the media landscape.

Enjoy. 

† No offence to Helen. Her head really doesnt look at all like a Melon.

I bet you thought I would never get around to you. Not so, you have been on my mind since I started the whole Blog Crush thing (actually stole the idea from someone else). So here it is.

I adore reading Queer Penguin. He is smart and funny and cuttingly insightful. And of course we share a left leaning pop culturist bent so the things he says resonate loud and clear with me. Sam is my watchbird on Australian politics since it appears that he reads every newspaper, every journal and listens to every announcement from our leadership. He seems to catch every nuance, slip and faux pas that pops out of the mouths of the powers that be.

Dare I say it, but QP is the Australian Jon Stewart in training.

Keep it up boy, with that mouth of yours, you are going to go a long way. 

This is actually a long standing blog crush, but I thought I would bring my simmering passion back to the fore.

Juan, aka Boozhy , is by far the most talented of the New York, gay blogging set†. He is also, along with Jon Stewart, one of my main sources of commentary on politics and current events in the US. He is witty, insightful and politically astute, not to mention kind of cute.

To be honest, when I get stuck trying to write something myself, Juan is one of the places I go to get the sort of "tone" I am looking for back in my head - not that I am any where NEAR as good a writer as he is, but it helps to have a great example to follow.

Interestingly, and slightly creepily, enough in a six four two degrees of seperation kind of way it turns out tht its a minor miracle that he and I havent met already. He made mention in a post that he had met a friends mother when walking another friends dog - blah blah blah, and said first friend is one of my nearest and dearest in the US.

Spooky, huh!

I guess there are only so many fags on the planet and I am about running out.

† No Billy, I am not including you n that - you are in a league of your own.

I recently had a couple of reason to pause and reassess my presence on the internet. I had never thought particularly deeply on it, but lets face it this is a pretty much completely public space, just about anyone could be reading this. I guess that's part of the thrill.

The three incidents in question are quite different and quite instructive. The first was a mail from Harley over at Gayety who I have been subsequently corresponding with. He was a little surprised that I was so public about aspects of my life and wondered if I was concerned that my present or future employers might have trouble with some of my publicly declared antics.

Now Harley works for the government so its understandable that he might be a little careful on that score, although funnily enough he has been pretty open about some of his exploits as well. We talked it back and forward a bit and in the end I decided to remove a little bit of identifying detail but basically fuck-em-if-they-cant-take-a-joke. And given that most of my favorite jobs I have been hired at least partially because I will, and I am quoting here, add a little colour around the place. I recently used the phrase in a meeting "working with that vendor was like being raped on a beach by a recently released 300 lb convicted multiple murderer. Brutal, fast, abrasive, disorienting and really not what we had been hoping for. Plus no flowers after, not even a card." Given that, I suspect work has an idea of how my mind operates.

The second was a post over from Darien over at At Worst, My Best in which he kind of took me to task for an earlier post of mine that he seems to have disagreed with. In truth I did come across a little slutty, but in my defense I was kind of going for yuks, or as Jon Stewart likes to call them, snicks. I didn't much enjoy the implications of what he wrote, i.e. I am a perhaps a little shallow or in fact something of a "Ho", but it's his opinion, its his blog and basically what he things has precious little real impact on me. But at the VERY SAME TIME I really do appreciate his opinion, enjoy talking to him and want to maintain a conversation. He is a great writer (I think), seems like a good guy, has a well informed set of opinions that don't always match mine and he is happy to share with me. He is a good conversationalist. Regardless of what Darien says of me in the course of these partially public conversations, and of course there are some limits, I don't feel that I need to cut him off because he has displeased me.

So at last we come to our final example. I posted something I thought was fairly innocuous as a comment on a blog that I read occasionally. There was some sort of power thing going on with the New York Blogging Fagarati. They get all snippy with each other and one had used his evil power to block another from some bar because the second had said semi-mean things (actually quite funny) in HIS blog.

It was all like "oh no YOU DINAUT!!!" (insert own head waggle). Got that? It is kind of he said/she said, I know. Anyway I get a mail telling me to go away basically. I am not planning on reveling who this is or quoting the entire email� but here is a snip "My blog is an account of my life — which spans two blocks. It is not an international review. … I think we'd all be better off if you just ignored me. Just quit coming to my site."

Snap! Girlfriends been told. Now this is the FIRST time I have commented I think and certainly the first time I have received an email. And while I am perfectly capable of being a nasty piece of shit when I want to be, I was pretty mild - I have confirmed this with both Barbie and Miss Manners.

So what's the deal Chaniel? If you are posting your life on the internet, are you expecting no one but your friends to read it? It is a public internet last time I checked. And if you don't expect people to read it, then why would you have blog ads on your site? That does imply some expectations of readers or at the very least tweaked out friends who sit there and click manically until their meth wears off. So is the expectation that no one is going to challenge him? No one is going to argue, or in my case tease? Lordy, that must be an amazing life. I am forever getting teased so I suppose its my expectation of life. But then I am kind of funny looking, annoying, socially abrasive and, as Barbie is so often at pains to remind me, completely lacking in fashion sense‡.

Maybe my feeling about this will change once I have had an blogsquatter giving me grief or an internet stalker, but at this point I am left with a few questions. Am I weird that I like the conversation this blog brings me? Is it strange that I don't get particularly upset when I am challenged? Is it really something to boast about to say that your life can be defined by two city blocks, regardless of the city? If that's all your world is, do you really need a blog to communicate? Is ego stroking all that a blog is about?

Na, thought not.

as tempting as that is

‡ I really DIDN'T know that Birkenstocks were the new loafer

OK, I am starting to suspect that I am reading too many blogs - or something. I am starting to relate WAY too much to people I have never even met. But god damn it, its voyeristicalicious. Here are a couple of my current faves.

First there is Sam [The Adventures of QueerPenguin], that 20 something, lefty think tank who just writes right - ya know.

Then there is Jaun [Boozy] who along with Jon Stewart ensures that I do not miss a drop of the shit storm raining down on America any of Persident Bush's fine policy making.

And last but in no way least there is Oliver [Thought Not]. Handsome, funny, great beard, arty and loves dogs. What more could anyone ask for? How about open access to his particularly fine "tattoo".

Thanks to RJR [Proceed at your own risk] for this fine public service. Oh dont think I know how silly that is, finding someone in New York attractive and I have not even spoken to the man. But given I am never having sex again, I might as well never have sex again with someone totally hot from New York.

At least it has an internationally tragic air to it. N'est pas?

OK, OK. I am DEFINATELY reading too many blogs.

Oh my god!! I am so excited, and I really don’t usually get excited about any of the Oscar related trivia that the media shove at us for months prior to the event in an attempt to create MORE hype. This time however I am excited and its because the host for this year is actually someone funny - namely Jon Stewart , the host of Comedy Centrals Daily Show.

Even thought the Daily Show is actually a fake news program, it is also possibly the most insightful journalism on television and in during three years I spent in the US was my best and most reliable source of news. That and NPR ’s “All things Considered“.

Actually, truth be told, I have weatched the occasional bit of an Oscars award show, but i am not really one of those sorts of fags. Funnyu, given my career aspirations, you would think i would be. I guess the attraction of movies for me is the story telling, not the actors or the “glamour”. The fact is I cant think of a single Hollywood star that I would fuck, but then that list is pretty short now a days.

Occasionally, there has beena laugh out loud moment at the Oscars. Case in point, Matt Stone and Trey Parker sending up J’Lo and (that hack) Gwyneth Paltrow in 2000 by wearing knock offs of their recent signature dresses. It was indeed a magical, magical night.

There was also a moment one year, dont ask me which, when Dave Letterman was hosting that really needs to go down in the guerilla comedy archives . Steve Martin� came out to present an award and it� was completley clear by his walk that he knew that he had 30 seconds to be funnier than Letterman was going to be all night. Not being so fond of Letterman I dont see this as a particularly high bar to get over, but none the less given the situation it was pretty impressive.

Martin as FEIRCELY sharp and straight to the point. He had me gasping for air in under 10 seconds, and by the time he announced the winner I think I was about to keel oveer due to lack of oxygen I was laughing so hard.

With Stewart now in the drivers seat I will at last I have a reason to watch the Oscar’s, and even thought the network will no doubt overscript and dumb-down Stewart’s razor sharp wit and fearless delivery, I am sure it will make excellent viewing. Now if we only had Tivo in this country, I could skip over the tedious speeches.