Tag: 2009
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Songs of the 00s
Have you seen this video? It was recorded in 2005 at New York University’s annual talent competition, Ultraviolet Live. It’s sung by a young woman called Stefani Germanotta. Or, as she’s now known, Lady Gaga. Hard to recognise her, isn’t it? It’s a good performance, notably without any of the histrionics she’s become known for.…
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Books of the 00s
It’s hard to believe it’s almost the end of another decade, isn’t it? The 00s have gone by so quickly and so much has happened in the last ten years. From tsunamis to bushfires; Afghanistan to Iraq; 9/11 to Katrina; the millennium to the GFC. I was still in high school in 1999. It feels…
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These Are the Voyages…
Click here to take the “Which Star Trek character am I?” quiz This is just a quick update as it’s been a while since my last post. To be honest I didn’t realise it had been so long; I’ve had a lot on my mind these last few months and haven’t felt up to blogging…
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One Week Later
Image: Fire in Upper Ferntree Gully ~ jsarcadia This is a follow up to the poem I posted earlier about Black Saturday and the bushfires in Victoria. I wrote the poem as a way of trying to move through the horror I felt in the days following the tragedy. There were so many images, so…
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Hell on Earth
Image: Smoke Clouds ~ Jety Red sunrise burningWind howling among the trees:Nature is unleashed The beauty of fire:An unstoppable furyDancing on the wind Eucalypt forest:Ancient trees of memoryScorched by angry flames Smoke clouding the sky:Embers falling like raindropsIn the darkest light Twenty years of lifeReduced to rubble and ash:We have each other A fallen tree…
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Great Southern Land
Today was Australia Day, which is Australia’s official national day. It’s a public holiday and commemorates the arrival of Captain Phillip and the First Fleet in 1788. For most people it is an opportunity to display our national pride and you’ll often see flags in windows and people wearing green and gold at barbecues and…
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We Shall Overcome
If there’s one good thing about having insomnia it’s that when something happens in the world, you get to see it at the same time as everyone else. Early yesterday morning, while most Australians were still fast asleep, I experienced a moment in history I’ll never forget. To see an African American in the White…