Resurrection

OK, no comments about delusions of grandeur please: what I'm about to say might sound like I think that I'm the Messiah. I'm don't. I just think it's kind of weird that my jamesroy.blogspot.com blog vanished some time around Good Friday. Gone. Dead. Given up the ghost. And then, three (or so) days after it went to blog heaven (no explanation has been forthcoming from the good people at Google, by the way) it has returned, brighter, more majestic and probably better for the experience.

Now, the tragedy is that all my groovy posts have gone, swallowed up by the everlasting fires of Google hell. Some might say that at least metaphorically, those posts were like my sins, which are now gone. I think that's stretching it a bit. But the hard fact is, all that old stuff was swept away on the Friday, and a reincarnation was back a few days later.

I'll let you make up your own mind.

Anyway, to recap on what went missing when my blog mysteriously vanished...

• Kevin Rudd's apology speech (good)
• Brendan Nelson's reply to above apology speech (bad)
• Some interesting adventures in bad architecture (weird)
• A response to something lili wilkinson said about something to do with editors, Mitchell & Webb, and something. Oh yeah, the American guy who says that books arouse him in odd ways.
  
• Some movie reviews: Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (3.5 stars); The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (3.5 stars); The Golden Compass (2.5 stars); Juno (4.5 stars); Hey Hey, It's Esther Blueburger (3.5 stars).
• An awesome Youtube video of Taylor Mali talking about teachers
• A couple of pretty schmicko reviews of Town, by yours truly (the book, not the reviews)
• A couple of photos from our school reunion
• Some random stuff about books, festivals and other writers (all good, of course)

So now you're up to speed. To paraphrase someone famous and wise (Confucius, Oscar Wilde or Walt Whitman, no doubt), this post is the first post of the rest of my blog.

The Apology vs the Apologist

With the historical events of today still fresh, I feel compelled to say something.

The speech in which Kevin Rudd reiterated his formal apology to the Stolen Generations, as they've become known, was both eloquent and moving. His manner, and the words he used, either paint him as a man of great compassion and understanding, or a fine actor. I'd like to believe that he is the former.

The standing ovation at the end of Rudd's speech wasn't in recognition of a fine performance. It was for the content and the intent of the speech, and what it represented. I felt so moved as I saw old and young in the gallery, their faces distorted with emotion. And when he reached the final words in his speech, the applause was, for the most part (I'm looking at you, Wilson Tuckey) spontaneous and heartfelt. Everyone sensed that this was historical in a very real sense. This is a step that had to made to move forward, and the speed with which Rudd delivered on his promise says more about the need for such a gesture, rather than any political motivation.

But then Brendan Nelson had to open his yap. When a short "The Opposition seconds the motion, and I like wish to extend an apology to the people who have been wronged in the past" would have done, he went on. And on. And on.

There is certainly a time for discussion of what happens from now on, but it wasn't today. We all know that many remote communities are struggling with violence, drug, alcohol and sexual abuse, truancy, poor life expectancy. We all know that these things are abhorrent. They need to be dealt with. By what made Nelson feel that today was the best day to drag that out? In what tiny, dark back-alley of his mind did he think that it would be helpful to start spruiking the good work the Howard government supposedly started with the NT intervention, and to do so today, of all days? Why mention that there will be no avenues for compensation, "nor should there be"? Did any of the invited people in the gallery walk out in disgust at that point, cursing the fact that their compensation plans had been scuttled so soon? Of course not, but they did turn their backs in the Great Hall, because they were hurt. They were hurt because they heard the Leader of the Opposition say "Yes, we're sorry it happened, but be careful you don't misunderstand the motives of those who did it." It was a grudging apology of the first order.

Yes, today Kevin Rudd's speech about the apology, whereas Brendan Nelson was about apologetics.

I just hope for Dr Nelson's sake that no one ever drags his children, grandchildren or loved ones out of his arms, never to be seen again.

Lady Cutler Award

Last night the annual NSW branch of the Children's Book Council of Australia held its presentation dinner for the Lady Cutler Award. This award is given to someone who has made an outstanding contribution to Australian children's literature. And the winner was the lady to the left, Susanne Gervay, who is not just a writer of wonderful books, but one of the most generous people in our little corner of the book world. She offers her hotel for a huge number of events, often free of charge, she mentors new authors, chairs and sits on a number of boards and committees, is very active within the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators, the whole time keeping her finger on the pulse of the industry. She then passes on whatever information she gleans, without fear or favour. There is a huge number of authors and illustrators who love and respect Susanne, not only for what she offers them and their careers, but for the amazing enthusiasm she brings to everything she does, often with scant regard for her own health or well-being.

It was a lovely night at the Drummoyne Sports Club, with ninety CBCA people (including the current national president, Bronwen Bennett), authors, illustrators, the latest Frustrated Writers winners, and several previous Lady Cutler awardees. Glenda Millard was the after-dinner speaker, and she spoke with humour, warmth and eloquence.

Special posthumous recognition was also given to John Winch and Joyce Fardell, both of whom passed away earlier this year.

So warm congrats to Susanne - this gong is greatly deserved.

Nicely put...

Steve Biddulph, writing in the Sydney Morning Herald about the deceit of the Howard government's economic prowess:

The big lie of Liberal supremacy was economic management. In fact, they knew how to generate income, but not how to spend it. We could have been building what Europe built in this past decade - superb hospitals, bullet trains, schools and training centres, low cost public transport of luxurious quality, magnificent public housing. We pissed it all away on tax giveaways and consumer goods. On bloated homes that we will not be able to cool or heat, or sell, and cars we won't be able to afford to drive. A party based on self interest may evaporate along with our rivers and lakes, and have no role to play in a world where we co-operate or die.

I couldn't have put it better myself.

(Full article here.)

A very good day

Far be it from me to revel in the misfortune of another, but this particular misfortune John Winston Howard brought on himself. It seems clear now that Howard had become such an empire builder, so blinded by his own ambition to emulate Sir Robert Menzies, that even when the best thing to do for his party was to step down, he refused to do so.

He had plenty of warning. But the polls were all wrong, apparently. When more than 80% of the 54% of Australians planning to vote Labor said that this was due to the draconian Work Choices legislation, he refused to believe it. When he was told by the public, and even by those whose counsel he actually sought that he was tired and failing to make an impact, he dismissed it. As much as I dislike Peter Costello, I have to admit that Howard should have handed over to him earlier. That would have taken the puff out of Labor's "New Leadership" platform. It's not all that Rudd had, but it was a pretty solid starting point.

And now he's gone. The people have spoken against him, and his colleagues. If just the seat of Lindsay had fallen, you could have claimed it was because of the laughable farce of those bogus Islamist brochures. If just Bennelong had fallen, you could have said it was a backlash against the man himself. If just marginals had fallen, you could blame swinging voters. But this was huge. Long-standing blue-ribbon Coalition seats turned red. Despite Michael Kroger's rather pathetic bleats of denial, this was the mother of all landslides. Over a decade of deceit (Tampa, children overboard, Haneef), arrogance and cynicism ("Those were non-core promises"), refusal to accept accountability (AWB scandal), brown-nosing (Dubya), war-mongering (Iraq), recessive industrial relations (AWAs), flip-flopping ("The GST will never be a part of our policy. Never ever."), paternalism (NT interventions) and an absurd refusal to simply offer an apology, we have at last seen the end of a morally compromised and cynical government. Best of all, their leader went as well, along with their deputy leader, and their treasurer. I agree with Allan Ramsey - if only Ruddock, Downer and Abbott would make our Christmas complete by disappearing as well.

Yes, Saturday was a good day. A very, very good day.

Trainspotting

Yes, I know it's petty, but I get really irritated by people who think that Thomas is a tank. OK, so maybe only a steam nerd like me would know that a tank engine is a real thing, ie a steam loco with self-contained tanks for water and coal, hence having no need for a conventional tender, but still. 'Do you want a Thomas the Tank showbag, Braden?" If by that you mean a mid-blue Belpaire 0-6-0 pannier-tank locomotive with bifurcated Walsy valve and a face on the end of the boiler, then give him his proper name. Otherwise you might be talking about Thomas the large, grey, caterpillar-tracked armoured mobile gun.

Oo, oo, I hear the 3801 coming up Lapstone Hill! Where's my notebook and box brownie - I want to catch it coming out of the tunnel!

Life's little oddities

A couple of months ago the family and I we were wandering around the cemetery in Gerroa on the South Coast, and I was reading the cremation plaques when I found this one:

"Robert Henderson*. Lived and died by principals."

It must be a hard life, being a schools inspector.

All in all, he's just another brick in the wall...

(* Not his real name.)