Comments on: No news is good news at News

By: David

David — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 06:55:28 +0000

So now the divine Ms Devine is a pop psychologist. I thought that crap had gone out of fashion about 30 years ago.

By: Katz

Katz — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 06:41:51 +0000

… and how uncomfortably recent that era actually was, though TV interviewer types still tended to be earnest straight men in horn-rims who had no idea how to …

Absolutetly!

Donn A. Pennebaker’s biopic of Bob Dylan, “Don’t Look Back” (1965) was full of those types who interpreted their own distaste of Dylan as proof positive of their own moral rectitude and probably sanity.

So much has changed since then.

By: j_p_z

j_p_z — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 06:39:31 +0000

Dr. C — hmm, good point, thanks for the expanded context.

By: Pavlov's Cat

Pavlov's Cat — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 06:33:12 +0000

JPZ — it was a very long time ago. I distinctly remember that it was a straight (as it were) question, and Crisp’s answer was intended to be stinging — he was obviously genuinely appalled by the number of neglected and abandoned children. Don’t forget how very unusual Crisp was in an era when almost all gay men were still in the closet, and how uncomfortably recent that era actually was, though TV interviewer types still tended to be earnest straight men in horn-rims who had no idea how to talk to him.

And now for something completely different, here’s a link to the Devine piece that people are talking about (someone may have provided one up-thread, but if they did I couldn’t find it).

By: j_p_z

j_p_z — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 06:24:00 +0000

PC: “as the great Quentin Crisp once said about children when asked if he regretted not having any.”

Talk about fishing for a mot. Who on earth would ask Q. Crisp such a question expecting a straight (as it were) answer?

As leading questions go, file that one up there with “Dorothy, use the word ‘horticulture’ in a sentence” for yer regular pre-paid calling-card wit.

By: adrian

adrian — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 05:12:01 +0000

Declining from a very low base.

By: Rx

Rx — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 04:59:46 +0000

The Devine piece struck me as sad for two reasons.

One, the desperation of this right-commentator to fuel-up the unworthy Costello.

Two, her use of meandering tortuous logic to make a case for the narrative she was wishing to weave.

This is a commentator in decline, judging by this piece

By: Brother Can You Spare an Apostrophe

Brother Can You Spare an Apostrophe — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 03:06:03 +0000

Apostrophe nazi’s are well and good,
and obeying them isnt that hard,
the problem comes, as of course it should,
When youre hoisted by your own petard.

By: David

David — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 02:48:42 +0000

There’s room for an “object - name - signifier” stoush somewhere in the recent blizzard of quote marks and apostrophes.

By: Patrick B

Patrick B — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 01:57:29 +0000

““Ms Devine’s piece…””

Bugger …

By: Pavlov's Cat

Pavlov's Cat — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 01:24:59 +0000

Hm. I would have thought that there were plenty of spare apostrophes that had been left lying around, as the great Quentin Crisp once said about children when asked if he regretted not having any.

By: Brother Can You Spare an Apostrophe

Brother Can You Spare an Apostrophe — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 00:46:39 +0000

“Ms Devine’s piece…”

Oh the shame!

By: adrian

adrian — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 00:44:57 +0000

Ms Devines ‘piece’ in the Herald was the first article of hers I have read for at least 25 years, but it was worth it for comedy value alone. It’s about time the Herald did more genuine satire and Miranda’s just the person for the job.

Beginning with this question, Miranda shows a hitherto hidden gift for alliteration, not to mention humour:

“What does a younger brother do when he turns out bigger, blonder, better-looking and more successful than his big brother?”

The answer is of course: “Mostly, he gets tough and cunning.” As you do.

The rest of the article is a dire mixture of platitudes, half truths, cliches and confusion.

Really, you’d expect such drivel to be published on (some) blogs, but in a supposedly respected broadsheet, it makes a mockery of whatever journalistic standards remain.

By: Terry

Terry — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 00:26:27 +0000

Here’s a farewell song for Mr. Costello. Just think of Peter as the adult and Christopher Pyne (or, apparently, Tony Abbott) as the child:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uGQfpLoI5FQ

By: Spiros

Spiros — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 00:11:07 +0000

Well, I’m not a huge fan of the Keating shtick, which is really just “Now where were we before we were so rudely interrupted?”.

He just can’t accept that he is the day before yesterday’s man. Keating was at the height of his powers 20 years ago, which was a long time ago.

As for Peter “To be or not to be” Costello, it was Hewson who nailed him the other day. He just doesn’t have the cohones. After all he went through with Howard, he still thinks he can simply be handed the leadership.

By: grace pettigrew

grace pettigrew — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 23:57:02 +0000

Keating turned in another pearler last night.

I was rivetted by his explanation of the “destitution model” adopted overseas for retirees, in comparison with his planned “income replacement model” for superannuants…he sure has a way with words, no wonder the Press Gallery used to love him.

But I don’t expect News Ltd will have anything intelligent to say about this particular “narrative”. Costello’s eleven years at the helm spending the resource boom on pork-barrelling, and the prospect of more of the same, is apparently much more interesting.

By: Patrick B

Patrick B — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 23:46:25 +0000

Anyone seen La Devine’s piece in the SMH? Apparently Costello is going to rise to the top job because he in the 2nd son, the first being a total failure as he only became the head of a major charity. These days Devine, like Henderson, appears truly desperate and confused, they’re like a couple of elderly people suffering from the early stages of dementia.

By: God Almighty

God Almighty — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 23:34:52 +0000

Given that the PM is now officially running the country “at the behest of little press secretaries” one would imagine that the imaginatively titled “opposition organ” would have plenty to write about?

Maybe the one-term wonder should forget the story of the State Labor Governments and discard the press secretaries for policy advisors?

By: Dee Cee

Dee Cee — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 22:35:48 +0000

PS: Given that Greg Hunt has turned Penny Wong into Sadam Hussein - NewsLtd could create an enthralling beat-up with what’s she’s doing with the squillions the AWB’s paying her in bribes. Funding the ETS? Buying Cubby Downs? Towing icebergs from the Antarctic to meet Adelaide’s water needs?

The possibilities are endless!

By: Howard C

Howard C — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 22:35:41 +0000

Well, PJK ain’t running for anything soon, so he can use language like he did yesterday.

Personally, I think he’s just a cantankerous old fart who has been unable to got over the fact that JWH got the better of him.