glittering generalities...

a curable social disease?

some australian stats: 105 thousand people per night. half of those are under 25. is it a disease? it could be argued yes. is it curable? yes. does everyone want to be "rescued"? most definitely no. nor should they be.


not quite zombies these are the homeless. those that most pretend not to see, not to slow down for like the uncomfortable accident site they represent. society's fearful poster people for failure: "if you don't work hard every day, this could be you".


the concept of home is relative. for most it represents a physical structure which provides shelter where other essentials such as food are prepared and enjoyed, belongings can be stashed and displayed, where competition continues. the survival of the fittest. of the joneses.


a home is a symbol. a state of mind. a refuge. this could be a cardboard box or it could be a palace. different horses for courses. some more hollow, less warm than others.

personally i think homelessness is a symbol of freedom, the end of servitude but certainly it doesn't ring true for all. an equally viable life choice is the decision to live as a nomad outside of the system we choose to operate in as a society. when i grow up i want to be a bag lady. through choice. not necessity.


but amongst that enormous number are an increasing percentage rendered helpless outside of their control through changed financial or personal circumstance. abuse or family breakdowns are often at the forefront of the increasing number of people seeking help for a homeless assistance service. the people to truck out into the far reaches of the west in dachau-like truckloads during the olympics [lest our visitors see].


the hunting ground staple for churches when no-one else is left to fill the unjust gap. religion loves to recruit from the bottom down with the needy and poor. it's the backbone. some actually believe in their own philanthropy & are blind to the buzzard mantle they wear.

which is why we all need to shut up. just for a day. that day is may 14. hush for homelessness. my friend mia is holding a silent film screening to help support the cause in conjunction with the national event.


ultimately home is where the heart is. if a heart is broken, then smashed & ground into the gutter then everything else can quickly be rendered obsolete. we could be there next too. and it might not be our choice [so work hard].

little red riding book

in the world today all culture, all literature and art belong to definite classes and are geared to definite political lines. there is in fact no such thing as art for art's sake, art that stands above classes, art that is detached from or independent of politics. proletarian literature and art are part of the whole proletarian revolutionary cause; they are as lenin said, cogs and wheels in the whole revolutionary machine. - mao zedong [tse tung], 1942

"before you can fly. you have to be free"...

last week i finally saw mao's last dancer. or the li cunxin story.

as an ardent admirer of bruce beresford's work [breaker morant, driving miss daisy] i arrived with shining eyes & dickin's-like great expectation. while the story did deliver in epic human proportions it left me cold & flat despite the calculated beauty & craftsmanship. the dancing [chi cao], the music are unquestionably beautiful. in a word; breath-taking. however i was unsold.

the film felt like an inferior rendition of mao's little red book, a piece of contrived propaganda which condemned the chinese government but then served as a fabled artifice to elevate western principles specifically the US in contrast. all i could think of was that it became what it most sought to separate itself from. the chairman's words haunted me. with a washington accent.

for those not familiar with the successful autobiography of li cunxin, mao's last dancer is a powerful story of an impoverished chinese boy working his tiny toned ass off against all odds in a harsh communist regime buoyed by the love of his parents to become one of the most accomplished ballet dancers in the world. after being headhunted by the houston ballet on a scholarship he eventually defected to the US under dramatic headline grabbing circumstances.

fade to black, back to screen: li cunxin now becomes a capitalist pig, ditches bare-boned morals & humility along with loving american wife who helped secure him legal course to stay in the country. consumed by his need to dance & be centre stage he wins another blonde ballerina who is obviously even prettier than the last. this is how it works in movies. behold the manifestation of the consumerist american dream. PS. li cunxin is now a stockbroker. an east meets west success story.

where had the money come from & who was the intended audience of this film? was bruce selling out to the americans... i mean why were li cunxin's parent's on stage so long for? was that a political commentary, accurate depiction of real events or merely a deliberate ploy to stage emotional overkill with a less than subtle audience. not quite hollywood but close enough.

i felt a stabbing pain but not as a result of the filmmaker's intention. did the houston ballet fund this film... funnily enough li cunxin was greatly involved in an EP capacity sourcing funding [his company financed the film] and "coincidentally" the americans love the political simplicity. like taking candy from a baby.

billy elliot leaves the big bad iron scarlet curtain wolf & discovers freedom, blonde chicks, hot dogs & defects. only in america. land of the free. shame elton wasn't around for the soundtrack. although christopher gordon's soundtrack is wholly brilliant. not quite guoyue but i'm sure mao would approve.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/oldtasty/ / CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

don't believe the media

eighteenth century playright carlo goldoni said something to the effect of, that in order to create real characters for theatre audiences it was vital to avoid the complete truth. noone believes it. truth & credibility are not equal.

a shift in modern media credibility first received widespread documentation in the 70s with various years polled in the new york post, NBC and CBS -- these were under the scope primarily because in that era they were the dominant news forces enjoying certain elitism & the largest international audiences.

post vietnam, the general populace voiced criticism of not only the status quo but about being fed questionable politically driven material which primarily served the government agenda. when the war was lost, the people began to ask questions.

since 1985 when 55% of people thought newspapers & broadcasters still maintained some believability the erosion has been exponential... now it is at 29% based on recent statistics [ref: pew 2008 - see below].

these days the gap between what are considered the three primary feeds of news: newspaper, television & online news decreases sharply but is increasingly politicized. the value of online media sources is on a slow upward surge thanks to the aggressive spread of social digital media networks in conjuction with increased access & use of the internet, despite a proliferation of low signal to noise issues with infotainment sites targeted towards varying generations/demographs.

in 2008 the benchmarking bi-ennial news consumption survey from the pew research center for the people & the press determined "virtually every news organization or program has seen its credibility marks decline”.

the public however continues to express skepticism re: all sources of media including online with over 25% believing news to be inaccurate & often biased. in the last ten years almost every news organisation or program has seen its credibility in decline.

key news audiences now blend online and traditional sources in an alchemic equation. but online sources as stand-alones still do not fare so well with google news & yahoo news [which source the same content pool as their traditional predecessors] receiving a consistently high positive response well above others. the drudge report & huffington post deserve mention but pale like wall-flowered bridesmaids behind their glitzier SE brides.

in a world where nothing should be assumed & everything should be questioned & checked over as propaganda is everywhere/everything -- this is a beautiful thing. when the people start to think then the cattle cullers' power diminishes and perhaps then we can exact real change & share knowledge as opposed to much regurgitated misinformation.