Friends of the Armchair Traveller

  Yesterday   I sent a recent Guardian article to my friend David King, on a subject we've often discussed in the past, the problem of proliferation of plastic waste. Hello David, just wondering if you've seen this article recently published in Guardian. I had no idea the situation was as bad as it has been described here: Despite  national packaging targets  set by governments in 2018 for 70%  of plastic packaging to be recycled by 2025, only about 6% of used and  discarded soft plastics were being   baled, sorted, shredded, washed,  melted –  or chemically processed – and turned into new products,  according to data   published in December by Soft Plastics Stewardship Australia.  The rest has headed to landfill. What a stupid species we are. pt So the question is "Why are we so stupid?" Going to waste: two years after REDcycle’s collapse, Australia’s soft plastics are hitting the environment hard Almost 95% of Australia’s so...

This morning another gift arrived from Aeon Of course Aeon were only forwarding something already out there in YouTube land,  but I probably would not have come across it except for the friendly service of Aeon  which has often sent me these rare gifts and now I forward this to my friends: Not everyone is able to live in such a splendid creation as this spectacular house built by Frank Lloyd Wright. Billions of humans alive on the planet today live in  hovels, or tents, and have no proper place to call home. This is one of the great conundrums of my life: how do we reconcile these two extremes? Even though we are all aware of this polarity in human existence, I still favour the  trailblazers who show us there are other ways humans can live, if they have the right sort of economic conditions and political leadership. Sadly we live in a world where political leadership seems bent upon destruction of people and their homes, even their hovels and tents, and where global ...

  A ward in a major hospital in Gaza, image courtesy of Médecins Sans Frontières Australia Well, I hope I will never have to be admitted to a hospital with facilities devastated like this. In fact I have a great aversion to hospitals even when they are relatively clean and well run as I have found here in Australia. Even at my worst moment in 2015 at the Royal Melbourne Hospital, I was never confronted with a ward such as we see in the image above. The procedure I was in hospital for required an operation in the middle of the night, in a theatre which was "under construction"... it was being "renovated" while still being used for serious operations! I was aghast at the situation but had I had no choice, it was an emergency and I was happy to be looked after by people who cared about my wellbeing and did their best under the circumstances. The news we endure every day and night shows us that we are a most privileged society... it's far from perfect here, but you ...

  Professor Des Ball: The insurgent intellectual These days have been momentous days, weeks and months and years. In the past couple of days the news has included the McBride case: Jailed whistleblower David McBride loses appeal against  severity of sentence, flags High Court challenge Former military lawyer David McBride has lost his appeal  against the severity of his sentence.  ( Four Corners: Nick Wiggins ) ands also the Richard Boyle case: Whistleblower protections failed 'superhero' Richard Boyle, calls grow for urgent reforms Whistleblower Richard Boyle with wife Louise Beaston outside  the  SA Supreme Court.   ( ABC News: Olivia Mason ) and then yesterday a visit to my home in Kyneton from John Hughes, lots of goodies as in wonderful   pastries from Italian bakery Monelli  near his home, plus a film John has worked on for many years about Des Ball. This film is called Twilight Time and is voluminous in the history it covers from...

Recently our friend Kim has sent me two new or reworked pieces. I find them both engaging works with mixed qualities, edgy! First:                                              Wine And Then Valium.                                    A piece of Video Art. On Sale For $5 Million.   and yesterday this one arrived in the mail:                 Surreal Relationship, LOVE AND FIGHT.                                          #shortvideo   #romantic   #love   #hate Thank you Kim, pt

  As I mentioned in my previous posting, and as I also mentioned when I spoke at Nigel's Memorial last week, Nigel had a lifelong passion for music of many genres.  I could list thousands of numbers he sent me, but in this blog I will present just a sample of the sorts of musical items which he sent to me. TEE-SET  "Ma Belle Amie"  Alela Diane, "The Rifle" The Waifs, "London Still" Gerry Humphrys & The Loved Ones,  "Blueberry Hill" Big Bill Bissonnette & Sammy Rimington, "Porter's Love Song" Mae West,  "My Old Flame" The Red Onions,    " Miss Hannah" Woody Allen,  "In The Evenin' " Harry Dean Stanton,  "Cancion Mixteca" Annette Hanshaw "That's Just My Way Of Forgetting You" Leon Redbone & Robert Gordon  "Melancholy Baby" Lazy Ade Monsbourgh,  "Ragtime Dance" Alela Diana,  "The Pirate's Gospel" Tuba Skinny "What's ...