Allsorts

Well, I like to have at least a post every weekend now that we're back on to regular scheduling. I normally have some idea for what I'm going to do during the week, sometimes a few. If I have a really good idea, it'll go up the same day. Well, when I have one. One day, I hope.

Anyway, I'm going to do something a little different here. I'm just going to talk. I don't know what about, we'll find out, and just see what comes up. If, during this post, I come up with a great idea for a post, I'll either delete this or draft this and put it up later, depending on how far I get. Well, here goes.

Well, election day in Canberra. Polls closed about two hours ago and so far my party (The Greens) is behind the god-damn independents in percentages. That's really sad, but far from unexpected. I hope there will be a swing at some point, but I'm a realist rather than a nutter, so I don't really expect it.

I'm going through a few different books at the moment. It feels like a bleeding age since I last wrote about books here. Anyway, I'm currently re-reading The Great Gatsby, which is one of the greatest books of all time, if you haven't read it.

I'm also reading "Into The Wild", about a kid called Chris McCandless. I can't say I'm much of a fan. McCandless was a real guy who died in Alaska, so I don't want to say anything disrespectful, but the book does not portray him in a positive light in my opinion. The book's chronology is choppy and confusing, the part of the book where the author talks about his own experiences in Alaska seem out of place and self-glorifying and just dull. I like the references to London and Kerouac, and I can clearly see how their work is relevant to McCandless' life, but I really don't think you should reference better books in your own. I'm going to stop here before I say something I'm going to regret.

Going back to Gatsby, I admire Fitzgerald's work for many reasons, and although some of the symbolism may be a touch overboard by modern standards, it's fun to just sink your teeth into. Just read a chapter twice, and you'll come up with something different the second time. Clearly, Fitzgerald has been a major inspiration for many people. Just look at Regina Spektor's "Poor Little Rich Boy" in which Fitzgerald is referenced or Paul Dempsey's "Fast Friends", which is about attempting to make a real friend at one of Gatsby's parties. Gatsby or Fitzgerald aren't directly referenced, as far as I'm aware, but the book is apparently the inspiration.

On the literary front, I've been reading several biographies of Fidel Castro for comparative purposes. The four I've chosen are very different. Each is by an author of a different nationality (American, English, German and French (with Castro himself, so Cuban). What surprised me the most was that none of the books are blatantly pro-Cuba/anti-Cuba. Sure, Castro's autobiography with Ramonet is far from critical of Cuban government, but I'll give that one a free pass, as if Castro says something critical of himself, he'll give a lot of critics free ammo. The other three, which are not autobiographies, are pretty even-handed. Even the American (which to be fair, is actually a collection of famous historical figures, but I just read the Castro entry), whilst more critical than the others, is at the very least relenting on several counts, although still calling him a tyrannical dictator, if memory serves. The one thing about Castro's autobiography is that he manages to make himself look somewhat evasive on several counts. Most questions related to dissidents and human rights abuses go along the lines of:

"What do you say about the case of [insert dissident here], who was [insert mistreatment here]?"

"Listen, have I mentioned how many doctors Cuba has? It's a lot!"

It just gets embarrassing by the end. One of my favourite sections is where Ramonet asks Castro about a debate he had with the Spanish leader Aznar, in which Ramonet claims many thought Castro was a little aggressive. Castro responds, as usual, with a drawn out speech denying being aggressive and attacking European policies against Cuba. Ramonet then responds "You called him 'a little Fuhrer'." This is by about chapter 20, around 500 pages in, and you know by now that is exactly what Castro wold call someone if they pissed him off.

Another of the Castro biographies I looked at was the creatively titled "Castro" by Reinhard Kleist (you have no idea how many times I typed Reinhold Messner. Damn you, BFF!). This is actually a graphic novel. I know many would call it a comic book, but considering this is about an actual historical figure and goes for over 200 pages, I think I can get away with graphic novel. I really like how the whole thing is put together. A large amount of Castro's life is really interesting when presented graphically, and a lot that you would think would be difficult, Kleist handles well. There are a few really small things that get me. Firstly, why make the protagonist a fictional character? This would be a great way to interest kids, or at least teenagers, in history (perhaps with less graphic execution scenes), but inserting fictional characters just casts the entire thing into doubt, especially for newcomers to Castro's life. The other thing I don't quite agree with is the portrayal of Castro as a tragic character who, although having high ideals, is eventually corrupted by power until he is basically Batista. I don't think Castro's ideals have ever changed a great deal, at least not since the 1960's. They just looked better new. You put any governmental system based around a single man's idea of right and wrong, and you get a lot of grey called white and a lot of grey called black. Nothing's really changed about Castro, just what he has to do. I'm not defending all of his actions for a second, but I just think many of the abuses of power aren't to be like Batista,but to ensure Castro's own beliefs. The book is still bloody marvellous, with a great use of silent scenes, a fair portrayal of Castro, I feel, and interesting characters, real or imagined.  I've never been a big comic person, and I've never been an art person, but I really respect the lack of colour in the comic. Really, half the bloody book would have been various shades of green, considering the famous fatigues and the Sierra Maestra hideout.

The odd thing about these books is that none of them support the Americans. They don't all necessarily condemn the Americans in the Playa Giron / Bay of Pigs affair, or in their multiple assassination attempts, but none try to justify the actions. I suppose it's just the fact the world's moving forward. Bye bye, McCarthyism. You will not be missed in the slightest.

Anyway, poll results keep coming in from the ACT election. Greens look to be taking the balance of power. Mwa ha ha ha! It's just as we planned! I love it when the fact parties can't get their shit together actually gives a minority authority. It's going to be fun watching Liberals trying to kiss Green arse to get any of their policies approved. Make 'em cry, Hunter!

I haven't been doing anything new in regards to listening to music. In related news, I have an unusually large amount of money remaining this week (read: any money). I've just been listening to more Regina Spektor and Sia. I really think some of Spektor's best stuff was when it was just her with her piano, or without.

The musical highlight of my week was this morning, when I woke up to BFF's "Erase Me" on the radio. It's fantastic to know I helped put some of the money towards that sort of magic travel around the world.

What else? Well, I've been listening to Before Too Long, the Paul Kelly tribute album. I recommend it to any fan of Kelly's work. If you are unfamiliar with Kelly and like the artists listed, I don't really advise it as much. The thing is all of these artists are really trying to be faithful to Kelly, as they god damn should be, meaning their personal styles really take a back seat. Washington is pretty much the same, I think her and Kelly's styles are fundamentally similar, so there's that, but Ozi Batla hardly raps, Paul Dempsey isn't very soulful and most of the rest is just a Paul Kelly song with a different voice, with no significant changes. I can't see any real problem, but just a heads up if interested.

One artist on the album I detest is Adalita. I cannot stand her cover of "Everything's Turning to White". I have a long standing dislike of spoken word music, if that's the correct phrase. You can read out lyrics while music plays in the background? Good on you! I can do that too! I think it all started with William Shatner. I still have nightmares about his cover of "Bohemian Rhapsody" and the accompanying video (Willy in the sky with exploding zodiac signs. Beware). Now, I don't know anything about Adalita or her musical career, but I really hold her name against her. My Mp3 player picks the first song alphabetically by artist name, so I had to throw in the 8in8 album to stop hearing that song every time I turned my music on. I'm aware that Kelly's original version of ETTW (yeah, ETTW. I'm that lazy), he did do some spoken word. That does not mean you should do the whole first half of the song like that. It's only one track out of two fantastic CD's of covers, but I feel it's a significant dampener on the whole project.

Well, I've said enough for a post. If you enjoyed or detested or felt nothing towards this, please let me know for future posts. I had enough fun and things to say to justify doing it again if there is any demand, or if I'm that lazy again.

Feedback welcome

H. Rourke