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

My recent post wrongly implied that my UK work Visa had been approved, alas that wasn't the case.

Now it is! And I am really excited.

The last 12 months has contained a lot of challenges, things that I have wanted slipped through my fingers. Opportunities that appeared to offer me the things I real|y wanted, ended up taking away far more.

Dramatic? True? this time it's Both!

So what about the UK? Could this latest venture turn sour? Of course it could. But I don't think it will this time. Not because of any mystical "rightness" or because I am somehow more deserving now, Or even because I "learned" something.

I think this has sorted out and come through because I have sorted out my head and put in the effort. I am ready for this change and it shows in the results.

I can deal with the out come of my decisions, whatever they may be.

"Come what may" doesn't mean - provided its good, it means regardless of what happens I will come through OK.

So here I go to London - Come what may.

The day is coming soon when I will depart these sun burnt shores to follow in the footsteps of some of my countries great cultural exports, Edna Everage, Clive James and Kylie Minogue. That impending departure has had me  thinking about my countries obsession with travel

Like them, and thousands before me, I am leaving this Great Southern Land to seek my fortune in the "mother country", whose green and pleasant shores have long held a fascination for Australians. Steeped in history and rich in cultural significance, two things noticeably lacking from a place only 2200 years old (to us whities), for Anglos (or skips as the Wogs call us) England has an attraction that is hard to define, and impossible to deny.

The land from which (some of) my forbears were exiled, supposedly to the remotest, most unforgiving place on earth, is still called home by some in the, now, incredibly multi-cultural and diverse Australia. While we eventually thrived, how we arrived here and the unforgiving landscape left us with a lingering desire for Another County .

For Australia's in the 50's & 60's there was a sense of pilgrimage about the voyage back to England, partially because of the immense distance, cost and time involved in the voyage but mostly because it was like returning to the house of parents who had cast us out of. We return to Blighty as prodigal sons & daughters, either as a supplicant. Desperately trying to conform, or as the brash, uncultured antipodeans out to gain acceptance by force.

Australians returned to England to rejoin a world they felt cast them out, abandoned them. A world of culture and refinement, the like of which, in the 1950's, was hard to imagine would ever come here.

Nowadays things are very different. It seems the whole world is beating a path to our door ad you can't throw a rock without hitting an enormous, up coming talent.

The galleries, salons, opera houses, recording studios, films & television programs of the old world and the new world are full of the children of the New New World. Children of no revolution - apart from an internal one, that has led us to find a buoyant joy in who we are, and where we have come from.

The old drive to travel is still there, but n0w it is motivated by the desire to explore, to adventure. to learn, to experience - all under pinned by a sense of play that is palpable and With none of perception of smug, entitlement that makes the average American so painful - and unpopular.

So with my long hermitage nearly over I am preparing to pick up the bags my countries past has packed for me and walk the ether way down the yellow brick road.

This is a new thing I am going to try for a few weeks to see if I like it - namely my favourite web cam views and other vistas (not the operating system).

Currently I am very interested in the UK, not at least because I am planning a holiday there in June/July.

In 2001 I lived in London for a few months and absolutely loved it, so I am really looking forward to heading back. 

And you never know what opportunities Cool Britannia might hold for a likely lad. 

In the last week I had the alarming experience of finding myself agreeing, in general principals, with three positions being taken by Federal Liberal politicians. First, and most disturbing, was agreeing with Amanda Vanstone over Taj Aldin Alhilali comments on Egyptian morning television over Australia. Basically if you don't like the countries values, and you are not willing to engage in the process of representative democracy, then why the hell are you here?

Now I don't think that someones disagreeing with the government is a reason to ban them from the country, but Alhilali statements in Egypt certainly damage whatever minimal ground he gained with his apparently heart felt apologies over the "meat out for cats" statement. And on morning television, I mean really. Its like making major policy announcements on Kerry Ann.

Second Minister was the Environment Minister (and his youthful ward) banning Japanese Whalers from Australian ports. Excellent! 'Bout bloody time, but excellent.

Finally I found myself cheering Guy Barnett, arch-conservative from Tasweja who is getting pretty het up over David Hicks. Given Guys voting record, i suspect me cheering for him is as disturbing for him as it is for me. But every voice raised to bring David Hicks to trial - and back to Australia, even if he is imprisoned - is a voice I will support.

Fortunately the Libs and be depended on to not maintain a streak of left leaning, namby pamby, human rights cry baby, tree hugging behaviour for too long. And of course it would be the likes of Alexander Downer who changed things back to "normal".

If you haven't been following the news Alex, referred to by a former Prime Minister as the "Idiot son of the Adelaide aristocracy", decided to go public on a comment passed to him by an anonymous visitor† to Guantanamo Bay.

Showing his signature epilady sharp wit, Mr Downer told ABC radio from New York that "There was no suggestion that he [David] was suffering from mental illness, though no doubt he doesn't like being in Guantanamo Bay but that would, I suppose, be a definition of mental illness".

MWAH HA HA HA HA - my sides are splitting. Hilarious to make light hearted jokes about someone trapped in a detention centre for 5 years with no trial. Particularly since Mr Downer is no doubt staying somewhere nice and comfy in New York.

But is just gets better. Mr Downer refused to tell who had passed on this assessment, just that it was from a representative from another country. At the time I thought it was probably somewhere tiny, like Tobago or something, but most likely it was from the the UK. Imagine my jaw dropping surprise when it turned out to be from Public Affairs Officer with the US Embassy in Canberra.

So lets all pause for a moments embarrassed silence - the kind that follows someone at a black tie event proclaiming loudly that they just soiled them selves and giggling in a high pitched and arrhythmic way.

Cough. Shuffle.

So thats the background, but whats it going to mean? In my book we are increasingly seeing a turning of the tide in Australia and that Mr Teflon, aka John Howard, may not be able to dodge these bullets for much longer. Australia position on David Hicks is becoming increasingly untenable and even the most hardened Liberal Supporter is starting to question the policies that have gotten us, and David here.

Because its NOT about David, he is just the case in point. Its about Australia's place in the world. Are we the sort of country to leave one of our people trapped in a black box facility, in solitary, and with no access to a legal system that gives him a fair chance of defending himself?

If the situation was reversed, the Americans wouldn't have stood for it. If their popular culture is to be believed, they would have stormed where ever their citizen was being kept and forcibly taken him home by now.

Why cant David, at the very least, come back to Australia to wait trial? In almost 6 years surely he has no more intelligence of relevance. Its not like he was in command or a position of authority, he was a foot soldier for Christs sake. Whatever his crimes, the poor man and his family deserve some resolution.

You can read more about Davids case or about  the details of the new US Tribunal system and make up your own mind on the substance of the matter, but he has been there for nearly 6 years without a trial, isn't that long enough? If you haven't written to your local member, please do so now. If you haven't signed a petition, please do so now.

If conservative liberals like Guy Barnett are starting to publicly question the policy around David Hicks, now is the time to raise your voice.

† Anonymous to the public, one presumes that the folks at Guantanamo knew who it was, unless they were doing the whole French Lieutenants Woman thing with the big hooded robe. Highly unlikely since that would just be impractical in Cuban heat

Cool Britannia is back, and its got its hand in my pocket.

I came across a BBC series, Hustle, the other day and once I watched one episode, I was hooked. 

Hustle follows a group of London-based Grifters, con artists, as they dupe the greedy and self obsessed. Despite their trade, they adhere to a strict moral code, when possible only conning those who they feel deserve it (and can afford to lose the money), citing the (sometimes) first rule of the con, "You can never cheat an honest man". For the gang, the money is really just a way of keeping score†, the point of the con is to show that they can do it. 

Hustle is another wonderful example of the BBC's creative energy. The comedy-drama series is made by Kudos Film & Television and originally airing on BBC One in the United Kingdom. Created by Tony Jordan (who also wrote many of the scripts). The show is fast paced and cleverly scripted using a number of quite unusual and quirky techniques to create and incredibly engaging story telling style.

One of these tricks is breaking the fourth wall, or recognising the audience, where a character will smiles at the camera as the con begins to take shape or make a comment to the audience. Other tricks include fantasy sequences - scenes shot like a Hollywood musical or a silent movie; and stopping time, interacting with other characters that are frozen in place, discussing the con either with each other, or even with the audience

In each episode the team plays a confidence game on an unsuspecting "mark" who clearly deserves it. This conceit is a little obvious but it does mean that the Mickey Stone and his team retain a Robin Hood aura that makes them lovable larrikans rather than criminals.

I have just finished watching the third series and I am sad that its going to be next year until I can see any more, but this is a show worth waiting for.  

† That and maintaining a lavish lifestyle

Everyone remembers Thunderbirds - well provided you grew up in the English speaking world serviced by the BBC - not the American speaking world which is of course, a dark cultural wasteland.

Thunderbirds standouts as a cultural reference point for everyone who grew up around the time I did. Strange and slightly creepy as the "SuperMarionation" is, Gerry Anderson's vision of the near future was creative, insightful and brightly coloured on many levels. It did not succumb to the American tendency to cast everything into start black and white. Thunderbirds actors might have been wooden, but his characters and stories certainly are not.

Important lessons in film making, and something that the makers of the drearily average movie "Thunderbirds " should have kept in mind - story, story, story people. In this at least I agree with Gerry Anderson, Jonathan Frakes and Bill Paxon need to be actively restrained - if not just killed outright. 

Captain Scarlet was another of Anderson's creations and the story is actually quite dark and conflicted. The alien "Mysterons" only attack Earth because they were provoked - quiet violently.

Dateline: the day after tomorrow. Spectrum agents Captain Scarlet and Captain Black are assigned to investigate the source of unexplained extraterrestrial signals which have been detected emanating from Mars. They discover a strange and fantastic alien city but when their Bison Alien Terrain Vehicle is approached by a glowing green sphere, Black assumes that they are under attack and launches missiles which destroy the city. Miraculously, the city reforms and its alien occupants, the Mysterons, are disgusted by the violence of the Earthmen, pledging to crush their world. Black is apparently killed but Scarlet is returned to Earth as the Mysterons' instrument of destruction… 

Creepy - huh. But very much in Gerry Anderson's style.

One thing that stands out in all his shows is that he clearly has a MAJOR boner for tricksy vehicles, particularly cars with more than four wheels. Nothing of course will ever beat Lady Penelope's Pink Roller - but the Angel Fighter came close. My Dad made me a model of this when I was about 5 and I played with it until it was shrapnel - all with my fathers constant loving repairs to it. I suspect my interest in the model gave my father some kind of hope of some incipient butchness - but little did he know, I loved it because it was FABULOUS - not cause it blew stuff up.

Interestingly Gerry Anderson managed to talk ITV in the UK into popping for a remake of 'Scarlet' or as they like to call it - Gerry Anderson's New Captain Scarlet. I am working on getting my hands on a copy for review but it looks pretty good from the trailer. I will admit that the CGI is attempting to be a little too realistic, and like most things that do it looks a little creepy because its not perfect enough. 'The Incredibles" worked because they built flaws in, so it avoided creepiness. Final Fantasy DID NOT work because it tried to be perfect and since it wasn't  - creepy.

So once again I am going to get to fly with Destiny Angel in one of the best looking aircraft I have ever seen - although I am not sure i will be rushing around the backyard making whoosing and blam-blam-blam noises. Ok, maybe I will, but only if I can get another model Angel Fighter. 

I had a thought the other day, about the nature of our world governments. And I am wondering if we haven't ended up back in some kind of monarchy.

I know that here in Australia, like many other countries† such as the US, the UK, Canada and Germany are nominally democracies of one stripe or another, but looking at how we talk about our government it feels like or heads of state are starting to regain the roles traditional place as all powerful monarch. We talk about the Bush Administration, or the Howard government as if the head of state is all powerful.

Meh!

The other day I heard that Director of Reconciliation Australia, Mick Dodson, has refused to deal with the Aboriginal Affairs Minister, Mal Brough, rather he will only deal with Mr Howard.

One - J'Ho shouldn't  be a one stop shop for everyones problems, no matter what he or random 16 year old school boys think.

Two - Dude! Can you not like work with someone to get a resolution. Phah. You can't pick your family, so stop getting your panties bunched about Mal Brough and get ON WITH IT. There are enough problems for Indigenous Australians with out you pulling a prissy. 

I am going to circle back to the whole "Head of State as Monarch" thing‡, but not tonight. Tonight we are going to have a little look at what happens when two of these new age Monarchs meet and greet.

No matter how powerful people become, basic school yard behaviour never seems far away. We know that the US is a little miffed at the Krauts about the whole not invading Iraq thing - cause, you know, that went so well. And if the Germans had joined in the blame would be spread a little thinner.

I also think that the US is still a little smug about the whole World War II thing.

At the recent G8 summit George Bush just didn't seem to be able to keep his hands to himself. He just had to step into Chancellor Merkels personal space with a bit of inappropriate behavior that in any other context would have earned any other person a trip to HR and some pretty serious counselling - that is IF the other party didn't press charges. In this case, since he is carrying the nuclear football it seems that we all shrug and look the other way.

Merkel at least clearly didn't appreciate the "gesture" but was able to give George a very clear NO MEANS NO. I must admit that I have an increased appreciation for George Bush's cultural illiteracy and rank stupidity courage. As anyone who has spent any time in Germany will be aware, you DON"T mess with the Hamburg Girls - they will FUCK YOU UP.

Given that Angela Merkel, a good Hamburger Fraulein, wiped the floor with cutely named, long standing incumbent of the role Gerhard Schröder. His good hair and craggy good looks (think Emilio Zegna model past his prime) was never going to save him once she got traction. Sorry dude. Personally I think its been a good transition for him. In my opinion, he was always going to be much happier following his musical career.

Covering the world from the tinyist, not to mention coldest flat in christendom is not an easy charge, but we here at Brave Creatures are deeply committed to boldy pursue the stories, the truth you need, no matter the cost.

Well enough of the truth to give you a general and fairly well slanted picture - or to get a gag out. Given the quality of journalism at the momnent we feel we are running well within the pack.

To improve the serivice to you are unpaying, but deeply devoted audiaqcne we here at Brave Creatures are starting to partner with other new affiliates to bring you more depth and insight on an issue, And in this case we are crossing live to New York City for some of Americas most hard hitting journalism on the Merkel Massage incident.

Thanks Jon .

† I dont include France in this list because they are too busy having sex and Italy because they are pretty much crazy.

‡ Oh and dont you know Betty Windsor is excited

Thanks to friends in the UK with DVD recorders, I have been keeping a pretty close tab on the latest series of Doctor Who. If you haven't seen it at all, and you have even a vague liking for science fiction, its well worth tuning in. Even the Americans seem to be getting it this time around.

For me one of the big changes to the series was the upgrading of the "Doctors Companion" from helpless-waif-in-need-of-saving to a fully fleshed character in their own right. Even the marvelous Sarah-Jane Smith was a bit of a screaming ankle turning, at least when compared to the ballsy Rose Tyler. But then Rose has more of a vested interest in being the Doctors equal, and lets face it in 2006 and female characters have come some distance to becoming equals in most situations. But Rose is a standout, even over shadowing Janeway in my books.

Interestingly enough, another thread thats turned up in the series is some romantic and sexual interest. The Doctor has pretty much been a eunuch up until now, apart from that sad telly movie. In the last two series there has been love interest aplenty with Madame de Pompadour, the bisexual Captain Jack, some clear admissions of feelings for good ol Sarah-Jane and of course our girl Rose.

The new series has been really wonderful, fast paced, interesting, camp and funny with enough drama and excitement to make tuning in a pleasure. On top of which I have really engaged with the growing relationship between Doctor and Rose. It was even helped along by the Doctors unexpected regeneration at the end of 2005 - that was a surprise. Given that Russel T. Davies , of Queer as Folk fame, is involved its not so surprising that its so hot a show.

And now Billie Piper has decided to move on from the series, apparently because she wants to avoid being typecast as Rose. Which is really a sadness. Perhaps the void in my viewing pleasure will be filled with the return of Captain Jack in the upcoming spinoff - Torchwood. Fingers crossed that Jack lays off the foundation.

Exploring YouTube the other day I came across the following  which provides a fitting tribute to the relationship between the Doctor and Rose. I am constantly amazed by the things that people are cooking up at home now a days.

The following video will absolutely give away the surprises around Rose dying, so if you have'nt seen the final episode of the 2006 series, Doomsday, then you might want to NOT watch this.