Twit-mage

It can be perhaps be argued (she wrote in "fair and balanced" tone) that The Australian showed itself to be strangely credulous the other day when it took KRudd's frequent - and frequently banal - post(ur)ings on the Chirp about current holiday happiness as a sign of  increased relaxation with his fate, perhaps even of a new found indifference to political life. I may be wrong of course (and yes, I hear the chorus of "You don't says?!" greeting this admission), but I can't help thinking that the more a sacked politician ( and they don't come more sacked than the KRuddster) preens his @oneness (if I dare betray my own immersion in twitspeak and use this txt msge style shortening 4 1nc) with the Universe on Twitter the more said sacked politician may be inviting his many followers to (in the words of that great commentator on Australian manners and mores)  "Look at moi! Look at moi!" 'Tis not enough to be happy - one must be seen to be happy. I tweet therefore I am (yes, I know someone's already Descarted this one, yes I know this applies to me too, tweetermanque as I am). Nevertheless one is entitled to question whether this is really not just a case of: see how relaxed and comfortable I am (thanks @John) doing the shopping (and being crap at it - and being charmingly, self deprecatingly prepared to admit I'm crap at it).  Then again, who knows? Perhaps St Kev is undergoing a different kind of conversion and a segement as a price watch commentator awaits on his beloved Sunrise or, dare we say it, the lovesome Kerri-Ann? Perhaps even a soft shoe shuffle reprise from happier times (well for Kev if not La Kennel) for the twinkle toes twosome - this time on Dancing with the Stars? I await with breathless anticipation - and not a little programmatic specificity - a KRudd_tweet to this effect.

To Like or not to Like? Farewell Facebook.

As appears to be the case with many people, I am concerned about the threat to privacy that Facebook's "instant personalization" gambit will pose, and accordingly I recently joined a Facebook group titled "Leave Facebook Day" and another called "Petition: Facebook Respect my Privacy": http://www.eweekeurope.co.uk/news/critics-hit-out-at-facebook-instant-personalisation-6796 Actually I didn't quite join these groups - I "liked" them, which is what one now seems to be encouraged to do by FB. Apparently the increasingly ubiquitous "liking" has become a synonym for "joining" or "supporting" and, harmless though it may seem, I rather suspect that if this  banalisation of language is any indicator we are heading towards a semantic shift that cuts to the heart of the vocabulary of democracy itself. Imagine if, one day, voting becomes "liking"? Or, in the parlance of another social networking site, You Tube, "favouriting". Who will you "like" in the next election? Which candidate or party will you "favourite" (and how will this selecting be done; who will have access to your choices)? Well, to be honest I rarely "like" any of the political talent on offer (although I might be persuaded sufficiently by their policies to think them better than the other options available) and, old fashioned girl that I am, tend to think of "favourites" as a code word for the mistresses or pet politicians of 17th century monarchs (I heart Nell Gwyn). Selecting a government to run a country is not the same thing as putting five stars against your favourite rock band or, for that matter, choosing a playdate you "like" for your Super-Poke pet. Speaking of which, I'm afraid my Super-Poke pet Arthur has probably died of neglect by now (or, poor love, been buried in his own virtual excrement). And, unless Facebook changes its views on selling our privacy up excrement creek, my account may suffer a swifter and more definite demise.

Write a book in a day? Yer on mate!

I'm busy assembling the dream team! Forget fantasy footy comps, although I'm sure my team could kick, mark, handball, crumb, tackle and, if necessary, sledge with the best of them. Believe me, much as I love Aussie Rules, chasing the Sherrin around a paddock for 2 hours in a colourful singlet and bum-hugging shorts has nothing on this. What's at sake here is the stuff of real heroics (performed by real style mavens). I'm talking Write-a-Book-in-a-Day, the fundraising comp in which a team of writers puts together a children's book in 12 hour marathon, working from a scenario provided by the comp organisers: http://kspf.iinet.net.au/bookinaday/
 It's all for the aid of sweet charity, in this instance Princess Margaret Hospital for Children in WA. As playing coach, I've drafted my crew from a handy little pool of creatives - likely types who've been toughened up to full match fitness - and I'm breaching all metaphorical salary caps. We're going to write up (and raise) a storm - and I don't mean Melbourne! Stay tuned.

X-Wray, dotdotdash, Propel Youth Arts WA and all that...

It's been a slow six weeks in micro blogging land, as anyone may easily guess from the deafening silence (is that white noise Mr De Lillo?) on this blog. However, taking advantage of the relaxed, writer friendly vibe of X-Wray cafe in Fremantle: http://yourrestaurants.com.au/guide/xwray/  I'm inspired - having trotted out the requisite words on a "more serious" project - to put mouse to blog with a few thoughts.
Firstly, do try the chocolate biscotti if you come to XWray - an invariably delcious companion piece for the uniformly excellent range of coffees. Alas, I must confess that chocolate is now off my diet so I have had to turn to the almond shortbread instead. You should be so unlucky dear reader to find yourself in my predicament - it's a fine substitute with, perhaps, just a hint of ginger (or am I delusional from the slog of research) to tang up the mellow shortbread taste.
Secondly -thanks to that brilliant organisation Propel Youth Arts WA for all the diligent work they put in to sponsoring, facilitating and promoting young creative types. And, I should add, for helping out an old codger like me by putting up info about my questionnaire on Informal Learning and the Emergent Writer (all part of that "more serious" project) on both their website and newsletter. What is the questionnaire about? Well, here's a link to the relevant section of the Propel Arts news page: http://www.propel.org.au/news?News%5Bstart%5D=5
Thirdly, but by no means lastly, Issue 3 of dotdotdash (titled Home) has hit the streets, having bolted through the window of its launch venue, The Loft at The Brass Monkey, on April 1. The dear thing has set a cracking pace - I see it now in red sneakers, laces on one shoe nearly undone, puddle-splashed but persistent, heading down from Planet Books on Beaufort St, past the partially eponymousWilliam Topp, then speeding over to Oxford Books in Leederville to drape itself across the display rack at the expense of all those lesser publications.
And it's an absolute beaut too. Congratulations to the mercurial SJ Finch and the team. Buy it. Read it. Now: http://www.dotdotdash.org/

zines, microblogging n'stuff

I can start this thing off with a timely microblog (thanks Tom Cho for reminding me yesterday of this bonsai/bonzer possibility) about the zines table at the Perth Writers Festival. Off to the book sale tent after a deliciously convivial session featuring Patrick Gale, Marina Endicott and Shani Mootoo, I stumbled upon admirable Perth zinesters Anna and Steve (well he was off in parking chaos at that point actually) fronting (or backing) a long table full of excellent local (and a bit of imported) zine produce.  God you've gotta love them, turning up on a stinking hot day, deprived off any tent cover, hauling boxes from the parking lot in outer Mongolia and peppered with questions by punters who thought they were the information tent. I snapped up 10 zines for $25 - didn't make it into the Dymocks book tent either - didn't need to. (Well, the micro has become macro-ish - but anyway, that's 1 done).
Check out the Perth Zine Collective here: perthzinecollective.wordpress.com/