Blogging politics, culture, sociology and life from Brisvegas
So, it’s over half way through June and time again to condemn. Here’s a twenty first open condemnation thread. What’s getting up your goat this month so far? Which evil political, cultural, social, musical, religious and other phenomena need condemnation? (Or loud denunciation?)
You can condemn anything you like except vintage Blondie. The track is “Rip her to shreds” from their eponymous 1976 debut lp.
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Larvatus Prodeo is an Australian group blog which discusses politics, sociology, culture, life, religion and science from a left of centre perspective. more»
I condemn the lack of condemnation in the first thirty minutes of this thread’s existence!
I condemn myself for not having worked myself up into a frenzy of condemnation over some minor trifle! Yet. Give me time.
Do I get brownie points for having bought the Blondie album when it first came out?
I condemn Iran.
There is clear evidence of insect contamination in about one in three of the Iranian pistachios I’m just eating. They looked so good and plump in the packet, but now I can’t bring myself to finish them.
Where Hillary the Obliterator when you need her?
Did you know that this song is supposed to be about Patti Smith?
I’m not in a condemning mood at the moment.
No I didn’t. So I stand condemned.
As much as I don’t like to admit it…I condemn M.Hardy for not being Myf.
I condemn myself for seriously considering staying in the Public Service rather than going back into the higher eductaion sector (not as an academic) like I always said I would.
I condemn Qantas and the Holiday Inn for their appalling customer service a couple of weeks ago.
I went to Sydney for a conference for two days. This was the day of the big fog in Melbourne; every flight in Australia was consequently thrown into chaos. Consequently, I ended up getting thrown on a 747 for the trip. We waited at the gate for an interminably long time; ostensibly to complete paperwork.
When we got to Sydney, we found out that what had happened was that a passenger hadn’t shown up after checking in luggage, therefore the luggage had to be unloaded. However, to land everything in Sydney before its curfew, they didn’t have time to reload the luggage, apparently. That’s fine, except that there were a couple more planes coming up from Melbourne; did they chuck the luggage in those planes?
Needless to say, Qantas couldn’t tell us when we landed in Sydney. In fact, they can’t tell us anything. Pretty poor, but I fill out the form, go to the hotel, and it’ll be delivered the next morning, right?
Wrong. As I had a conference to go to but there were some things I needed reasonably urgently in the bag, I called Qantas, discovered that they still didn’t know where our bags were, but got a tracking number and left an instruction to call my mobile when the bag was to be delivered. Furthermore, I called my hotel and asked them to call if a bag was delivered for me, fully expecting Qantas not to do it.
After the conference finished for the day, neither had called, and I was wondering where my bag had got to. Call Qantas back, wait on hold for 15 minutes, and discover that my bag has apparently been delivered to the hotel.
I understand that sometimes luggage gets lost, but would it be too hard to keep me informed so I can make plans to replace the urgent items, if necessary?
Now I know what I want to condemn.
I condemn the NSW Govt for allowing World Youth Day to take over Randwick racecourse for 10 weeks. This has meant 700 horses who normally live there have had to be relocated. It’s a major expense for the industry. Imagine having to move your business for 10 weeks. Add to that, most racehorse hate change and it’ll probably put many off their feed, many stablehands also live on course and have also had to be relocated and find new housing. And guess what? Not one cent of compensation from the state government.
As well, the training track has already been damaged by the builders and now it looks like it won’t be ready for racing when it was suppsed to be. Given that the horseracing industry has already lost a motza due to the horse flu, this is the last thing it needs. The industry protested long and loud to government, but to no avail.
I condemn my intertubes for getting broken on deadline day. And I condemn my ears for their inability to cope with a tech support dude whose heavy accent is enhanced by his heavy cold.
I condemn the invasion of the NT indigenous people and all who aided and abetted it.
I condemn latin roots… god damn second declension…
I condemn managed investment schemes that are set up to give tax breaks to the wealth whilst ripping the guts out of communities on the Monaro.
Pinus radiatas sucks!!!
I condemn Managed Investment Schemes. A very tidy tax break for the wealthy, but a blight on the landscape of the Monaro, where communities have been gutted as pine plantations replace agricultural pursuits that employed far more people.
I condemning right along with you Fine – I work in Randwick, so def. not looking forward to World Youth Day/Week. It’s the second half of the school holidays, so that is something.
But beyond my NIMBY-ness, I just don’t get the whole multi-billion spend on Homebush, Olympic Park and Bicentennial Park and all the stadia and multi-level car parks and purpose built bus & coach facilities and purpose built railway station, only for Randwick Racecourse to be resurrected.
There may have been a valid reason, anyone?
Lots of huge events have been staged at Randwick Racecourse (and still are – Easter Racing Carnival etc)but the biggest of course was Slade!
Live at Randwick in ‘73
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_VtpC2uigc
Cum and Feel the Noize
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VLsw668PVyY&feature=related
Re: Deb vs Patti. I vaguely remember either Chrissie Hynde slagging off Debbie or vice a versa when both acts were touring Oz in the 80’s. Debbie had apparently made mention of how many male members of the Pretenders had become err, deceased and it was reported that Chrissie responded on stage to the audience that Debbie was such a huge cunt that she used sheep for tampons….. Sisters are doing it for bleh.
I condemn the Go Betweens for not being as truly great as The Triffids.
Also, I condemn the following:
1. People on the Ipswich line train who have crowded the train vestibule when I get on at Roma St … and still haven’t vacated the premises when I get off two stops later. I bet none of ‘em get off before Indooroopilly. News, commuters. Two stops you can stand in the vestibule. Otherwise move further into the fucking train!
2. Petrol price whingers. Shut the fuck up already.
3. Iguanagate media pontificators. Seriously, this is the burning issue of the day?! STILL???
4. The creators of the E.R.A Research Journal Ranking Workbook. Because Japanese Sugar Beet Technologists Proceedings ranks on the same level as Canadian Poetry, Screen and Film Quarterly, and the Danish Yearbook of Musicology ranks with Antiquity? All while an Estonian history journal – in Estonian – ranked on the top of the pile (A*)??? WTF?
Slade roolz!!!
And I agree on the Go-Betweens v Triffids.
I condemn the world for not creating a band as good as Slade.
I condemn funny looking tigers.
I condemn blog comments that ask really good questions that leave you awake in bed at night, staring at the ceiling long after Big Dog has gone to bed, trying to figure out the bloody answer!
I condemn bad haircuts on Fox News presenters -they’re silly enough as it is.
I condemn low carb beer because now my better half drinks it (i.e. drinks mine), erroneously thinking that said beer is what contributes to keeping her bum the size she apparently wants it, rather than the 8 hours a week she spends in the gym.
I condemn producers in the music industry that mix CDs in such a way that clarity is lost – just so those weensters in the I-pod world can listen to a 192kbps mp3 that might sound 5% better, but which roots it for the rest of us that might happen to be sort of audiophilic.
I condemn Glenn Milne’s choice of brill cream.
And finally, I condemn the fact that the retail price of good American bourbon in Australia, in a phenomenon seemingly unique in the known universe, completely ignores the exchange rate.
I condemn the ABC for screeining the wanfest that is The Gruen Transfer. A test pattern would be more entertaining.
I doubly condemn Tyro Rex and Fine for claiming that the Triffids were a truly great band whilst the Go-Betweens were not.
I’d be happy to accept that both were truly great (but not prepared to concede that “Wide open road” is a better song than “Cattle and Cane”)
I condemn any programme with Wil Anderson in it and those that continue to encourage him.
Sorry for bringing an unnecessary geek element to the session but I condemn Firefox 3.0 for rendering half my add-ons useless. So much for the speed increase…
I condemn k-SAT and it’s NP-completeness.
I also condemn the polynomial heirachy.
I retrospectively condemn the Tasmanian Government for buckling to pressure from Gunns last year in order to speed up and corrupt the Bell Bay Pulp Mill planning process. Now Gunns want a six month extension while they seek further finance.
I condemn Madonna King for turning my ABC into a redneck tabloid talk-back hell in the mornings and for shamelessly pushing the agenda of her husband’s newspaper every day.
I agree with Alex on the bus about Firefox 3. Now I remember why I waited a few weeks before upgrading to Firefox 2!
But brickbats to those who condemn Gruen. I may have picked myself up of the floor, but I am still laughing at ‘The Pitch’ last night. Bastards, indeed!
GW at #13 — were you condemning Latin roots as such, or were you condemning the Fugazi song “Latin Roots”? Or perhaps, the notion of rooting Latins?
Geez, this thing has gotten so much bigger than both of us all of a sudden.
I condemn myself (again!) for not knowing what k-SAT is, despite a nodding acquaintance with the notion of NP-completeness. Perhaps Mick would care to enlighten me.
I condemn myself for calling The Gruen Transfer a ‘wanfest’ when I meant wankfest, although wanfest is probably more appropriate, given the languid air that seems to pervade the show.
I also condemn the SMH for plunging more downmarket by the day, so that it begins to make The Australian look good.
I also condemn ABC radio for not getting rid of Virginia Trioli sooner. Her replacement is a considerable improvement.
rf, I didn’t say that. I said that I thought the Triffids are better.
ANATHEMA!! ANATHEMA!!! I condemn every food nazi, drink nazi, anti-gay nazi, anti …. (here add ad infinitum) nazi – each person in this nation who arrogates to her/himself the right to prohibit another Aussie from following his/her conscience by trying to force them to comply with that particular nazi’s prejudices. ANATHEMA!! ANATHEMA!!
ANATHEMA!! ANATHEMA!! I condemn every politician who lets his/her own personal prejudices over-ride her/his duty to represent ALL of his/her electorate and votes to foist her/his own moral position on ALL Australians. ANATHEMA!! ANATHEMA!!
ANATHEMA!! ANATHEMA!! ANATHEMA!! I condemn Coalition Senators who use their blocking power in the Senate to delay the bill removing discrimination re superannuation & other such benefits from Gay couples – ostensibly because the Bill “needs to be scrutinsed” but in reality because of the power the Religious Right exerts over the party (& may cost them pre-selection). ANATHEMA!!! ANATHEMA!! ANATHEMA!!
LET THEM BE CAST FORTH FORTHWITH!!!!
Triffids are human-killing plants from outer space who arrive in asteroids.
I condemn extremely thick history books that contain heaps of interesting material and take weeks to take notes from. Even though I really enjoy them.
I condemn Belinda Neale for being silly enough to be caught on mike in a Senate Committee room.
I condemn the Coalition for blocking parts of the budget in the Senate, and not realising they’te no longer in government.
I condemn all the media that made a mountain out of a mole-hill when there are things going on that we should probably be informed about that are probably relevant.
I condemn McCain’s instant microwave meals that have broken plastic plate edges. I’ve bought 2 from Bi-Lo in Armidale recently.
I condemn people who use CAPITAL LETTERS!!!!, lots of explanation marks and repetition, as if these techniques somehow render their inanities more forceful and insightful, when it actually has the opposite effect.
I condemn Connex, operator of Melbourne’s metro train service, in the following terms,
I condemn section breaks (odd pages) that insert blank pages into contracts so that I have to spend precious internet surfing time trying to delete said section breaks.
I condemn those people shouting ‘enough already’ over the coverage of Iguanagate. We want more – bread and circuses!
Personal condemning update: I condemn the intertubes, the car and the plumbing for all going on the fritz at the same time.
Shorter DeeCee: I condemn microfascism!
I condemn sick children who refuse rests.
I also condemn that adblocker has not updated for Firefox 3.
I condemn my gas company and every other business which takes your telephone number and says someone will call you back and they never do.
I condemn World Youth Day for not being called World Catholic Youth Day.
I condemn the NSW government for bringing World Youth Day to Sydney.
I condemn the NSW Greens for not being an effective government-in-waiting when just about everyone in NSW wants to get rid of the ALP but doesn’t want the Libs.
I condemn myself for assuming that’s the fault of the Greens.
FDB, I’m with you on your condemn. Whenever I walk past one of those posters, I think – put the money into supplying a tram service which actually works, jerks. The athletes will cope without you.
I condemn in the highest possible terms, the Nazi ticket inspectors who, en masse, bully and harrass Melbourne communters. Usually I hate using the word ‘Nazi’ to describe something I don’t like. Usually I think it’s asinine. But these guys deserve it. Several commuters have ended up in hospital for not having a valid ticket. Citizens are actually scared of them.
I condemn media cartels. Check this site out…you can put the name of many American media moguls, corporations, companies, politicians in the search box…then when the relationship map comes up try CLICKING on the various names…it’s eye opening:
http://www.muckety.com/Query?name=ABC&SearchResult=5014321&SearchResult=5002218&graph=MucketyMap
(Muckety . com)…recommend w/ a pinch of salt of course.
“I condemn people who use CAPITAL LETTERS”
ME TOO
I condemn myself for being too tired to work out what else is annoying me.
Robert, I add my condemn to your condemn and raise you a condemn for Alitalia who lost my luggage, leaving me with only the clothes I stood up in for 6 weeks, thus forcing me to buy dodgy suitcases and horrendously expensive replacement undies and clothes.
I also condemn the deposed Rodent King for enjoying himself, watching cricket at Lords and not being driven to self-harm for losing his seat and for not having his luggage lost for all time. I also condemn him for thinking Hyacinth isn’t a waste of space.
And I condemn spurs in my heel which give me grief.
I condemn market democrats (whatever the hell they are, but they don’t sounbd nice.)
(geez, late for a condemnathon).
I condemn anyone who doesn’t think “Streets of your town” is better than either.
I condemn stomach bugs that find you panicked and confused about which end to point at the toilet.
More seriously, I condemn crypto-fascist John Humphreys of the LDP for these two lovely statements (30/30 tax plan discussion at Club Troppo):
What a lovely little sociopath.
I condemn this John Humphries guy as well. I’m no genius, but I ain’t retarded and I certainly can’t manage house-cleaning and have to have Homecare to do it. That was the dector’s decision, btw. So I’m all with David in loudly condemning this Humphries guy. Let’s hope Chris Ellison is not listening to him.
And you’re sitting at a keyboard??
“I condemn stomach bugs that find you panicked and confused about which end to point at the toilet.”
Whoa, synchronicity… Did you eat a kebab from near the corner of Nicholson and Scotchmer streets in Carlton North last night?
re: stomach bug – I’ve stopped panicking, it was two days ago (night before last).
Middle daughter had it too. It would have been funny, sort of, to an observer.
I condemn myself for the following description of what happened:
My stomach started growling about 1AM, middle daughter is whimpering. I get up to see daughter, realise she needs a towel and bucket and fetch them. She threw up and the smell set me off. I retch while trying to settle middle daughter and almost succeed, but have to abandon ship as Risotto attempts to make it’s escape by any means necessary. Baby, startled by the horrifying noise, starts crying. I run to bathroom. Wife awakes and tries to settle baby but middle child vomits about 5 seconds after baby settles and wakes again. Wife spent the night catching spew, I spent it on the toilet floor. Cold tiles brrrrrr.
Not kebabs FDB – apparently we’re far from the only family to be hit by it. I personally blame a complete lack of booze on the fateful evening as wife had scarfed the last of the box-o-magic before I had a chance. Had some Sheaf Stout to settle the stomach last night just in case. I condemn myself for not drinking Stout often enough.
Yes, I condemn you for that description too.
Yes, well… moving right along…
Sheaf Stout eh? Who makes it? I’ve been on the Cooper’s for a few weeks now.
Sheaf Stout is the el-cheapo CUB stout ($12-$14 for a six pack) – usually found right at the bottom of the fridge with the long lost last longneck of Dinner Ale, Reschs silver bullets and KB Lager.
I think the Coopers is better, but they don’t stock it in Armidale with any regularity and I had to take what I could get. I condemn whoever bought Tooths for killing all those funky brands of beer though. When I was growing up, those dimpled cans of Kids Beer, drunk by big moustached blokes in singlets and thongs was the shiznit, and Dinner Ale was the pinot noir of it’s age (along with Cold Duck) and poofters and girls drank Reschs and smoked Kool, so you could tell them from normal blokes.
When I did drink STOUT Coopers was great but Cascade was the nectar of the gods.
I condemn myself for product plugging and CAPITALAPALIA.
Hmm…
CUB it is, but you can’t get it in Carlton!
I’m guessing it’s the NSW version of Invalid Stout.
Me @ 49,
I meant Craig Emerson . I condemn Ceaig Emerson. I condemn him for telling petit-bougeosie withour consciences at the Sydney Institute that they don’t need to have consciences, more or less.
wtf are these Labor blokes doing propping up a Liberal Party think-tank.
I condemn Liberal Party think tanks.
FDB wrote:
I’ve never seen Invalid Stout – Sheaf is about the last of the Tooth’s brands to survive, but who knows (maybe they just relabel it). Old ad for sheaf
My grandfather used to swear by it if he was feeling a bit crook – it does have a settling effect for some reason – it’s not sweet (despite being 5.7%) which I think might contribute to the effect.
My Mum’s advice for an upset stomach has always been dry dinger ale with a touch of bitters. It works, too.
At 5.7% it can’t be a rebadged Invalid, so I guess I’ll have to keep a sharper eye out and give it a try.
Or brandy, which also works.
Or creme de menthe (with or without soda) if you can stand it — peppermint is a time-honoured fix for swishy tums.
As is ginger, as per that comment at #60 by Fine (I’m sure she meant to say ‘ginger’). So I guess a big strong brandy and dry ginger ale would be a double fix.
“I’ve never seen Invalid Stout….”
http://www.beerstore.com.au/detail.asp?beerID=89
Too bad they changed the bottles.
j_p_z @ 28 – oh there is no way i would condemn Fugazi.
Also, I condemn long debates about grammar. Srsly, ppl…
Pavlov’s cat wrote:
That sounds like a fine idea PC. Must add a brandy bottle to the list of fixers. I condemn myself for not having a fully stocked
liquor cabinetmedicine cabinet.(come to think of it, the other side of the family used to swear by brandy and brown sugar, and actually *did* have a bottle of brandy in the bathroom, covered in talcum powder).
“He stays up
three days in a row,
works ‘morning, noon and night,’
and then, towards dawn,
strolls out into the street
to look at City Hall,
and
feel the noise of art abate
in the silence of life.”
– Frank O’Hara, “A Young Poet”
Well now that the famous ‘noise of art’ has nearly abated from my system (temporarily) after completing the first part of a very troublesome, large bit of work, I’m in the mood for some lengthy cultural condemns. Do feel free to scroll straight past this if you must, or even delete it if need be.
(Some of these are reverse-condemns, which basically amount to endorsements, sorry if I’m not properly angry ‘n bitter enuf for this thread!)
I condemn the fact that Husker Du’s “Chartered Trips,” Genya Ravan’s (admittedly over-cooked but still amazing) “Jerry’s Pigeons,” and The Mats’ “I.O.U.” and “Alex Chilton” are not on some official government short list for Greatest Rock n Roll Song of All Time (naturally they’d all have to stand in line behind every single track on “Ramones Leave Home,” which is without question the greatest rock album ever recorded, and I condemn anyone who argues the point). I also condemn the fact that The Replacements song “Skyway” has not been given some sort of O. Henry Award for Greatest Joke Ever Told in a Rock N Roll Song; notice how he saves the punchline until the very last final word of the lyrics. Genius. (Those of you in sunny Australia may need to look up what a skyway is, and why they’re necessary in Minnesota, in order to get the joke.)
I also condemn the normally-accepted running order of songs on Hendrix’s “Electric Ladyland” album; quite by accident, I’ve discovered that the whole record is vastly more satisfying if you play it in basically reverse song order, starting with “Slight Return” and ending with “Crosstown Traffic” (I recommend that you delete the first two idiotic tracks, which I condemn, as well as the moronic “Little Miss Strange” and the banal “Long Hot Summer Night,” which I also heartily condemn).
I condemn the fact that I am no longer in touch with an old friend of mine, a very strange fellow for whom English was perhaps a fifth or sixth language, who spoke in odd cadences that sounded almost exactly the way that Jimi sounds on “Crosstown Traffic”.
And plus I condemn the fact that no enterprising symphony orchestra that I know of, has turned Edgar Winter’s “Frankenstein” into a kick-ass, fully-orchestrated, guaranteed moneymaking crowd-pleaser of an encore. Think of those pizzicato sounds! Those duels between strings and woodwinds! Ho-lee shit, mon.
To be continued…
I condemn Damien Leith for stating that he was in a ‘death metal’ band when the heaviest music they played was Pantera.
While I’m at it, I condemn the fact that while there are some good, workable, arguably ‘useable’ English translations of Cesar Vallejo out there, still there don’t seem to be any genuinely cool ones. With all the craziness and the humor and the real, irritating weirdness intact. I’m sorry, Eshleman and Sayers-Peden, I know y’all tried your best; but really. Once upon a time, what was needed was for say Ernie Bushmiller to translate Vallejo; or maybe George Herriman (how cool would that a’ been?!); but those days are past.
Here’s a bit of “Trilce; No. 34″ for those of you who might give a toss… (sorry no diacritical marks, I’m an idiot when it comes to hatemail, I mean html…)
Se acabo el extrano, con quien, tarde
la noche, regresabas parla y parla.
Ya no habra quien me aguarde,
dispuesto mi lugar, bueno lo malo.
…
Se acabo todo al fin: las vacaciones,
tu obediencia de pechos, tu manera
de pedirme que no me vaya fuera.
Y se acabo el diminutivo, para
mi mayoria en el dolor sin fin,
y nuestro haber nacido asi sin causa.
Maybe if the spirit moves me I’ll post my own exceedingly indiosyncratic (hey!, that’s a typo, natch, but Cesar woulda LOVED it!) translation of this poem in another day or two. But until then, you can condemn me for being a chickenshit!
Easy:
See the cab outside, go quietly you ‘tard,
A nosh is regrettably all she talks about offering
You have no chance to lower her guard,
Dispute with a luger, while good, is not recommended.
Is this like a Rorschach test? Cos there’s definitely norgs in there somewhere.
*’Scuse me, coming through*
Following a comment on the WA gas post wherein I said I was coming to this here post, may I slightly modify my original comment from that thread thus…
I hereby condemn the use of the word “crisis” used to describe any event or situation that involves all but the most minor inconvenience or loss to any particular group of people, be they WA residents (as I am) or something entirely different (eg Queenslanders). I blame the “Asian Economic Crisis”™ of 1997 or so for setting off the preponderance of crises in the modern era.
Actually, I think I got that last line wrong. I’m pretty sure it’s:
I wouldn’t touch her with yours.
Well, you shouldn’t be holding mine in the first place, David…
DR,
I’m impressed.
Paul, I’m a regular spanish savant (it’s spanish, right?).
I agree on the Emerson condemnation too, the bloody Henderson Aggrandisation Clinic needs to be shut down for gross offences against public decency. And I’ll throw in a random condemn against Piers Akerman, just because.
Thanks you guys/gals, I really needed a good laugh.
I condem all the things that are making me feel down (list is far too long).
That’s a shame Debbianne.
For you.
Usually works for me.
I condemn bathroom designers who put the washbasin more than a modest projectile vomit away from the toilet.
I condemn the world for putting the keys to recruitment offices in the hands of talentless, arrogant 20somethings.
I cndemn the peculiar but widespread belief that liquorice and chocolate are a nice combination.
I condemn the mouse that electrocuted itself inside my washing machine for causing a strong but worryingly untraceable smell of hot electricity for several days.
Intellectual Bogan, you’ll be prising bullets (chocolate ones of course) out my cold dead hands.
I condemn your peculiar disbelief in the righteousness of the chocolate-liquorice combo.
I condemn people who don’t like chilli beer…everyone needs some spice in their life…;)
I just sucked back the most delicious chilli beer from the Sunshine Coast Brewery.
And discovered a bunch of tomato songs:
http://www.roadtosurfdom.com/2008/06/20/tomato-music/#comments
Sorry IB, I’m w/ Jo on the choc & lic combination. Hmmm…why does that sound like somethin’ out of a Mickey Rourke, Kim Bassinger film?
I’ll back up IB in condemning chocolate bullets: they’re combining something that tastes good (licorice) with something that tastes okay (chocolate) to produce something that is an amalgamation of the worst qualities of both.
I am going to condemn the rain again – for continuing to fall here, on my sodden lawn which hasn’t dried out in months and my clean washing just when I thought I had a chance to put in dint in the pile (and I am scared to let my toddler wander into the laundry in chance a pile of dirty washing falls on him, he’d be lost forever). The rain should be falling elsewhere, on other people and places who need it.
I condemn La Guardia airport. What a schmozzle! And the public infrastructure of greater New York generally.
I also condemn Internet Exploder 7.0
I guess that’s obvious. How useless is it? ‘Highly’ is my assessment.