Have you ever heard people say ‘If it’s not on facebook, it’s not real’? You’re not really in a relationship until you’ve acknowledged it on facebook. I guess the corollary is that you haven’t broken up until you’ve acknowledged it on facebook. So what happens if only one person in a new / broken couple… Continue reading Facebook Valentine
Author: mag
Dragon Bones Not Yet Shipping
Amazon US was scheduled to start shipping Dragon Bones this week, but it’s still being printed. They sent out a message to everyone who’d pre-ordered, apologising that they hadn’t been able to find the book and asking them to confirm if they still wanted Amazon to track it down. If the reader didn’t confirm within… Continue reading Dragon Bones Not Yet Shipping
Arrested For Smoking
When I arrived in Bhutan at the beginning of 2005, Bhutan had just ratified the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control and the nation-wide ban on tobacco had just been introduced. It seemed a rather odd law at the time, but I was supportive. As a non-smoker, I find cigarette smoke more intrusive and irritating… Continue reading Arrested For Smoking
Aussie Attitude About-Face
After my recent post about loving the Aussie attitude to adversity, it seems that we’re in the middle of a major turn-around. Prime Minister Julia Gillard is driving a change in the culture in a way that may not be so small. Last year she promised to turn her government’s spending habits around and to… Continue reading Aussie Attitude About-Face
Gone To Print
Dragon Bones has gone to print. Thank you to everyone who pushed and supported me along the way. A special thanks to the people who kindly offered their photos for the cover. The designer chose to use other photos, but that doesn’t reflect on the photos you shared. They were all fantastic.
When It Rains It Pours
After a decade of drought (with rain appearing only for my return trips) Australia finally has water again – lots of it. Over the past few months large areas of Queensland have been under water. According to one local blogger, the submerged area is greater than France and Germany combined. In 12 hours of January… Continue reading When It Rains It Pours
Site Design
I’ve designed a new look for the site that will fit better with the social network plugins and makes better use of new features of WordPress and CSS3. With a book on the way, this seems the right time to make the change. In preparation, I’m making changes to the metadata (category names, tags etc)… Continue reading Site Design
Plans for the Old Swan Brewery
During the course on Aboriginal interests that I did over the last 6 months, I took particular interest in the conflict over plans for the old Swan Brewery in Perth. Edge of Empire: Postcolonialism and the City by Jane Jacobs was written in 1996 so the issue is long since resolved, but it could easily… Continue reading Plans for the Old Swan Brewery
Reviewing the Edits
My publisher sent me the edited version of my manuscript last week. It came as a pdf locked with a password and the formatting all as it will appear in the final version. It looks beautiful. I’m also glad that the endless knot image I chose as a section break has stayed in the print… Continue reading Reviewing the Edits
Intervention
The more I learn about the NT intervention, the angrier I become. Last night I read The Emergency We Had To Have by Larissa Behrendt, the first chapter in Coercive Reconciliation: Stabilise, Normalise, Exit Aboriginal Australia. The book is a critical view of the intervention, written by experts in the weeks following its announcement. The… Continue reading Intervention