Here I was all set to knock out a Christmas column full of cheer and bonhomie but life, or more accurately, Daily Life has intervened.
I normally disapprove of intra-media byplays but Fairfax Media’s Daily Life section has become so full of cranky third wave feminism that someone needs to hold it up to the light. Among this waste of ink and kilobyte street corner psychobabble, comes a contribution from self described feminist Polly Dunning who tells her harrowing tale of giving birth to a shame boy. The good news is she’s slowly getting over it.
I’m not allowed to swear anymore, at least not at volume but this is sorely testing my already fragile grip on self-control.
At first blanch this was merely another addition from women who have recently given birth and have come to believe that having done so, they have unlocked the secrets of the universe. But on further reading this is a tale of a woman not just at war with men but also her own male child.
Full column here.
Merry Christmas all and thanks for another great year of columns providing the inspiration for “debate” Jack.
My candidate for Australian of the year was going to be Bill Leak but late change – the Western Australian cold case squad. What brilliant news 20 years on. All of my peers were hugely impacted by those terrible crimes. To finally have hope of answers has caused and outpouring of relief. It was quite shocking to realise how 20 years on it still affected us. Chiara went through law school at the same time I did. I knew her but not well. We had many friends in common though. Some have never gotten over her murder – lots of damaged lives. I am sure it is the same for Jane and Sarah and would be worse for their families.
Thanks Simon and best wishes to you, too. The arrest yesterday in WA was a really great development for the families and friends of the three Claremont victims. I know the accused has only been charged with two murders and sundry offences but I suspect there may be more charges to come. Investigations such as this one are notoriously difficult and painstaking. Well done to the WA Homicide squad.
Missed that Simon, but it’s great news. Such a mongrel act, I hope it’s the right person.
Merry Christmas, Jack and all!
Thank you, TBLS. Have a bumper Christmas yourself.
Best wishes for Christmas/New Year Mr Insider and to all your astute bloggers. May 2017 be a fabulous year for us all.
Thanks, HB. Go well over Christmas.
Rather quiet on the roads for a Christmas Eve, Warringah Mall seafood/Woollies not as bad as it usually is and plenty of parking Dan Murphys at Willoughby.
Heigh ho to the food preparation, still debating whether to make that over the top Nigella Lawson trifle……..someone’s got to do it.
Mad in certain places as expected, Tracy, like the Sydney Fish Market but relatively quiet in my retail backyards. Retailers are already saying this has not been a bumper year.
Got out of bed at 1:30am – drove straight in and was parked at the fish market by 2:00am and home in bed by a bit before 3:00am.
The place was packed but what I found surprising was the number of people tucking into loads of seafood from the many cookeries there.
The prices were not that much different from last year.
Went shopping at Prahran market Friday midday, followed by lunch at one of the nearby restaurants. Talk about slow, all outlets nearly deserted. Crossing Chapel St did not require extra life insurance, for the first time I can recall. Heard a report on the news that the average per capita spend at major department stores was in the order of $200 this Christmas. On-line is the go!
JTI et al,
Surely this (Dunning column) was parody….otherwise it jumped the shark by a fair margin!
Actually, the Pravda-on-the -harbour (“POTH”) site is better set up than the Oz (pity about the content though) on an IT basis and visually; albeit POTH’s worst IT feature is that you have to get in quickly to stop video playing (as opposed to activating it).
I do wish – as do numerous acquaintances – that an increasing part of the Oz was not devoted to carping about the competition. Get with it: the only people who care are in the industry and it is really petty generally. Make the very occasional pointed compparison but stop carping… it is not what the paying consumer wants. It is not quite as bad as TV but really the self- referential drivel that seeks to elevate journalists (or worse still, newsreaders) pains me.
Therre are a few one-trick ponies in Oz stable of opinion writers. A few of those might be due to be pensioned off. In both cases obviously present company excepted.
It is not so much a matter of knowing the angle/bias but virtual repeats that becomes boring to the more perceptive regular reader – as opposed to an echochamber of reinforcement of beliefs.
The Oz strives for a more intellectual balance (regardless of editorial policy) and that distinction should be maintained.
Regardless of bias politically (and clearly POTH has set itself a greenleft feminist agenda/niche) it really suffers from the fact that virtually no one can actually write English, much less set out a cogent coherent argument/opinion. To obtain the brighter left view one needs to read The Guardian these days – and that is not news (in both senses).
So much for the bitching…
To everyone here who has made me smile, annoyed me or informed me over the year past thanks and best wishes.
On occasion I have restrained myself from commenting when those with considerably less knowledge and experience in my field have indulged in verbal diarrhoea, but they would not be halted by facts (for which they substitute all sorts of halfbaked material – and not in jest I fear). Eventually, typically, that syndrome contributes to paying work for me so there is neither need for calling them on it, humiliating anyone or parading one’s own qualifications.
To the few who know me personally of whom at least two have suffered serious travails this year: health is one item we take for granted until it is not present but companionship and frienship shoud be valued and makes life a pleasure: thankyou for your presence.
Death and taxes may be certain but 2017 promises little dullness on the geopolitical scene
cheers in your favoured tipple
Absolutely agree that the intramedia byplay is of little interest to consumers, Voltaire. Normally I don’t engage but I just couldn’t let that one go through to the keeper. Best wishes to you and enjoy your own tippling.
I think you’ve said it better than the rest of us seemingly with similar concerns could.
The Fairfax website are horrendously resource-intensive – and those videos are horribly intrusive, too.
By the way, a pre-emptive Merry Christmas, Joyous Kwanzaa, Happy (C)Hanukkah, Happy Holidays, Seasons’/Seasoned Greetings, and all the rest to everyone on here and your friends, relatives, and all that malarkey.
Happy Saturnalia to you, too Rhys.
Somehow I forgot Festivus.
Get the airing of grievances and feats of strength out of the way early before stuffing your face.
Eid al-Adha’s been and gone.
What about Festivus?
The aluminum pole, the airing of grievances, the tests of strength, the miracles?
I see that arsehole who ran over and killed 12 people in that Berlin Christmas market has been found in Italy and pumped full of lead legally in a shoot-out with the Italian police. Apart from the potential loss of intelligence value, it’s good news otherwise. Less chance of rolling up any of the rest of any potential network of supporters and sympathisers.
My preferred solution would involve copious amounts of James Last and Kenny G after apprehension, but that’s probably very much against the Geneva Conventions.
I do not think these arseholes posses enough intelligence to be helpful to the police Rhys
That’s definitely hell Rhys, Kenny G on a loop 24/7. The Bay City Rollers on alternate weeks.
Jack, 2016 has been a strange year. For your good self, I’m delighted with the recent reports on your health, and also on the recovery of Mrs Eccles from hip replacement surgery. Well done, both of you. My own long term situation, I’ve alluded to in a previous post.
A bloody strange year, in fact. Still unanswered questions, which will no doubt remain that way, regarding Mr DT, Pebbles, Ez and Vez, and the world in which they lived. Or didn’t live….
Although the year is not quite at an end, my very best Season’s Greetings to you, and Mrs Jack, and the young Insiders. Thank you for continuing to keep the bar open for all those who inhabit this weird place, for your ready wit and incisive commentary and for keeping a steady hand on the tiller.
Thanks, Eccles. It sure has been a year of weirdness. We shall imbibe over the next few days, watch almost too much cricket, load up and go again in 2017. Best wishes to you and all chez Eccles.
Merry Christmas Jack and all on the blog. As HST used to say, “When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro”. That could cover all of us right here. See you in the Pro shop guys and gals. Have a great Christmas and may 2017 get even weirder!
Seriously, wishing everyone a healthy & hopefully a happy New Year. May your hangovers be small ones.
Here we are, Mack. Christmas morning. Best wishes to you and all. Snta has been and was very generous. Hope everyone has a terrific day.
And on a happier note, Jack, although this should have been posted in your last column, Eccles has ceased his career as a full time employee. No more teaching, no more class administration chores, just three days a week playing in the sandbox with millions of dollars worth of state of the art new toys, tasked with designing new medicines. You would be surprised by a full disclosure of one of them, but alas, Eccles is not yet at liberty to talk. Later ….
You’re a man of leisure now, Eccles. Enjoy.
Merry Christmas to you and your loved ones JTI.
I hope 2017 brings only the best news & you’re once again in good health. Thanks for the ‘over & above’ personal time you give here mate, it’s pretty great what you do for us all.
My very best, Bella
Thanks, Bella. Hope you have a wonderful Christmas.