Blogging politics, culture, sociology and life from Brisvegas
Well we’ve had almost a week of 2009 so it must be time again to condemn. Here’s a 32nd open condemnation thread. What’s getting up your goat this year so far? Which evil political, cultural, social, musical, religious, *specifically 2009* and other phenomena need condemnation? (Or loud denunciation?)
You can condemn anything you like except the news that M. Ward has a new album out in February. [Via Three Imaginary Girls]
Please read the comments policy. If you would like an icon beside your comment, please register a Gravatar.
There is a Comments Preview function below the typing box which activates when you start typing.
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 Quadrant editors who place whoopee cushions on their own seats, deny they were responsible and blame everyone else for the farting sound emanating from their backsides.
I condemn George Bush not giving *himself* the Presidential Medal of Freedom while he was handing them out. You so know he wanted to. Now he has to rely on the Hall-of-Fame-entry-not-granted factor.
I condemn Cricket Australia for not scheduling a five-test series against South Africa.
Forget one-dayers, play more Twenty20 to provide the hit and giggle factor, and use the extra time for more real cricket.
I condemn John and Janette Howard for accepting Bush’s invitation to stay at Blair House while accepting his tin-pot medal, thereby preventing president-elect Obama from moving in, as has apparently been permitted in the past prior to inauguration. This appalling gaucherie is all over the media in the US today, and makes Australia look like crap. Thanks Janette, you loathesome little frump.
Oh, and I condemn Frost/Nixon for cheating. It not only fudged the events surrounding the interviews (arguably fair enough), it apparently fudged the interviews themselves to make Nixon’s “confession” more dramatic than it really was.
Grace, that’s a bit unfair. Much as I find the Howards loathsome, surely the blame goes to Bush for extending the invitation in the first place.
Rubbish Robert. The Howards should have stepped back, its simply good manners, and they are reknowned for lacking any.
i condemn Yo Gabba Gabba for being so damn funny and bewitching my daughter so that she watchs it againandagianandagain . . . . to the extent that . . . well i’m sure that you can guess the rest.
I condemn university payroll offices for their incorrigibly officious prioritisation of conformity to bureaucratic protocol over their supposed raison d’etre of ensuring that university staff are promptly and fairly paid for the work they do.
I condemn the idiots at the Kanangra campsite who decided a campfire in 40kt winds was a smart idea.
I also condemn the idiots who decided to play loud music at 8am in another bush campsite. Some people just don’t get the whole “serenity” thang.
I condemn, without exception or qualification, any person who responds to the current situation in Gaza with anti-semitic, anti-Arabic and/or anti-Islamic vilification or incitement. I also condemn any protagonist in the debate about this issue in Australia, from whatever perspective, who can’t make their contribution to the debate with sufficient civility and equanimity to avoid encouraging the kind of rancorous environment which encourages such attacks.
I second Paul Norton @ #9.
In spades.
Also, I condemn either this blog or my browser for not letting me make a comment on the ‘Who is Sharon Gould?’ post.
I condemn myself for two spelling errors at #9 (since corrected).
I condemn Bush for granting the Howards political asylum.
I condemn shabby, lilly-livered fence-sitters with pickets up their self-righteous arses who imagine they are staking out the high moral ground. I also condemn any man who creates or adds to fear such as this.
Caroline, speaking as someone who sits on the fence quite a lot, usually out of distaste for the simplicity yet bogginess of the terrain on either side, could I ask you to elaborate? Why is refusing to take sides on everything bad, exactly?
I condemn JWH and Jeannette for being too stupid to realise President-elects stay at Blair House before their inauguration.
I condemn myself for being uncharacteristically charitable to Ratty and Mrs. ratty.
I condemn QUT’s alumni library database subscription for being both overpriced and totally useless, meaning I can’t do any research from home any more. How the bleep am I supposed to keep with the Joneses professionally wihtout spending my weekends locked up in V block?
No wonder the private consultants I work with mostly don’t seem to know any more than an undergrad, their learning process stopped completely on graduation…
I condemn 2009 for arriving far sooner than it should have.
I condemn not being able to condemn the news of the new M. Ward album. Still, I suppose I’ll find a way of avoiding it even so.
I condemn myself for having only just gotten around to becoming addicted to the West Wing, and consequently staying up far too late in the evenings watching old episodes!
I condemn Paul Norton at #11 for not defining his terms.
This loose undisciplined usage of bogeyman words like “anti-semitic” and the perennially hysterical “Islamophobic” is a fatuous attempt to pre-emptively seize moral high ground without a flag, and without explaining the purpose of the mission; it closes rather than opens avenues to honest discussion by creating a vague undefinable climate of fear (”was that antisemitic? Am I bad for having the wrong opinion?”); it’s the doing of intellectual authoritarianism. How unsurprising.
– j_p_z, who also condemns the third reel of the Batman movie, except for Heath Ledger’s great line about “you’re just too much fun”
Oops, looking back, I see that Paul Norton did not use the word “Islamophobic,” and offered the qualifier “vilification” which has a functional meaning, which thereby renders about half my previous comment irrelevant. I apologize to Paul and condemn myself for reading too hastily. Thumb in own eye and it ain’t the first time either.
– j_p_z again, who also condemns “Burn After Reading”
Condemning Desipis for saying 2009 came too soon – it should have arrived Juanuary last year and saved us a lot of trouble.
Condemning the Brisbane library system for not having any West Wing DVDs available.
Condemning my housemates for being indescribably filthy – 3 months’ of dishes in the sink and dirty clothes on the floor of their rooms makes the whole house stink.
Condemning the fact that vegan cheese, ordered online, can’t be shipped to Australia, and no one makes fake dairy products here.
I condemn everyone who uses these ‘condemn’ threads as just an opportunity for smart-arsed remarks like this one.
Incidentally my understanding of the Blair House issue is that the Howards were already booked in before the Obama camp moved their schedule up. And besides it’s not like the next Emperor of the West is gonna be stuck calling up motels on the outskirts of DC at the last minute. “Sorry, we’re all booked out for the inauguration Mr…O’Bara was it?”
Besides I bet the Hay-Adams has a better chef than Blair House. And probably less ear-ridden walls. It certainly has a great bar – where I once saw Ted Kennedy being carefully levered into a seat.
Also I mildly condemn Roger Donaldson for not being a bit more sparky with Clement and La Frenais’s great script for “The Bank Job”. I mean it was good but it could have great like ‘No Way Out’. However Peter Bowles was marvelous in it. The next aging Leslie Phillips.
?Money may be your god but it’s not mine. It’s freezing and I’m fucking off”.
Although credit should also go to the original thieves for coming up with the line in the first place.
“who also condemns the third reel of the Batman movie…”
I echo that condemnation. They tried to pack too much in at the end – squidging together three separate ‘A’ storylines and two different takes on the Prisoner’s Dilemma – to the point where the titular hero became the most boring and redundant character.
However what I did like about ‘The Dark Knight’ was that there was no attempt to give the Joker a back story beyond his own gleefully everchanging yarns. He was just Loki incarnate. No rubber duckie moments.
Let psycho bad guys just be psycho bad guys.
Has anyone condemned the cold spell in Europe yet? If not I’m condemning the living crap out of it.
Oh Mick, did Putin cut off your gas again?
Who needs the Red Army anymore when you can just turn a tap.
By the way Mick, just had a good dekko at your site and yer seriously into the theory gruntwork for quantum computing now aren’t you?
So if you ever get homesick (or cold), perhaps VESKI could hook you up with QCV.
I could tell you more except Alice, Bob, Carol, Dave and Eve might be listening.
I condemn Keith Windschuttle for the egregious and redundant ‘c’ in his surname.
Have to disagree with you there, Zarquon. Try pronouncing it with a hard “ch”, such that it sounds “wind scuttle”. See?
Far be it from me, though, to make fun of anyone’s name…
Coming soon to a Hoyts Megaplex Greater Onion independent theatre near you: Joker Rising, starring Zac Efron.
Why is fence-sitting bad exactly? Hmmm. You are asking me philosophical question Pav? In a rudimentary way, it comes down to a choice between two sides; one we’d like to consider as good and usually (but not always) the one we choose and the other we reject as being bad. And if you refuse to choose between good and bad by fence sitting? To paraphrase badly, bad things happen when good people sit on fences.
But when it comes to cricket (for instance). I am a fence sitter (actually I’m not there at all) because I couldn’t give a toss. (But rarely would I back the Australians as I consider them bad sports). I guess its comes down to context and a choice between what we think is important and what is not. My comment was in the context of this thread and reading # 9 irritated me, as it does close down discussion. By saying I condemn Israel and think it is hugely wrong, bad, etc, in what its doing in Gaza is not at all the same as saying Hitler was right, nor is it necessarily anti-semitic. But the world is full of complete idiots who can’t seem to distinguish this subtlety.
I condemn all who use the word “obligated” instead of “obliged”. The ICB also stands/sits/reclines languidly condemned for neglecting to include the “six-and-out” rule and at least two family pets from 20/20 cricket matches, which should ideally be played with a daggy old tennis ball and with old metal rubbish bins for wickets. Oh, and with a rule that any batsman that hits a six must then go into the grandstand and negotiate with the spectator who has the ball for the return of the ball, otherwise the match cannot continue.
I also condemn Mark for causing me to wonder how exactly a “performance-oriented coffee house” operates. Are the customers judged on the way they make their order before they get served? And is supply of the second coffee dependent on how you go about drinking the first?
I can see myself losing sleep whilst pondering this…
I condemn ABC1 for putting on a whole night of tennis on a Friday night, instead of Friday Night Crime. And for all their repeats. Fortunately I have just been given a DVD box set of Hollywood’s Golden Years so I might watch ‘Going My Way’ tonight. Never seen it.
I further condemn the misguided patriots at the cricket and other big events who “proudly” wear the national flag as a Superman-style cape, dragging it in the dirt behind them and spilling all sorts of food- and drink-stuffs over it in the process.
I condemn terangeree for taking FB updates out of context! You’ll just have to watch s1ep17 to see what a “performance oriented coffee house” is like!
I sit condemned.
Actually, if it’s any consolation, the coffee house was pretty lame…
I condemn it!
Do nasty rack-renters and property developers turn into saints overnight when confronted with the example of a good priest. (I have it on good authority from Bing Crosby’s ex-daughter-in-law (don’t ask how I know her) that Bing Crosby was alush. I condemn Hollywood for filling our heads, and our parents’ and grandparents’ heads, with silly ideas that are completely out of touch with reality.
I condemn Mark Regev, previously known as Mark Freiberg, from Melbourne for the kind of turd polishing spin that forced me to turn off the radio and television more than once during the week.
http://www.thefirstpost.co.uk/people,1822,who-is-mark-regev-israels-spokesman-for-war,68413
I condemn the ad agency that is refusing to place pro-atheism ads on public transport.
boo @ 45,
I also condemn that ad agency. An e-mail I was sent on the issue noted that even the Catholic parish priest at Paddington thought atheists had a right to advertise. Apparently the atheists are taking the ad agency to the Anti-Dscrimination Board. The same ad agency apparently places ads on the sides of buses quoting the Gospel of John.
I condemn any behind the scenes arm-twisting of the ad agency by fundy Xtans.
So, Mark, I take it that my concept of a “performance-oriented coffee house” was better than that shown in the Los Angeles Suburban Postcode Show?
I think so, terangeree. But I still don’t add my condemn to the 90210 version. It was kinda sweet.
Too much sugar ruins a good coffee, you know.
i condemn this http://news.theage.com.au/world/hide-the-hunny-british-writer-pens-new-winniethepooh-book-20090110-7e3w.html .as if anybody is going to take their manure. disny, deseny, diseny, you know, the mouse people, have been making up new pooh stories for yonks. i have been known to destroy them, tombs such as ‘ Rabbit’s bad mood’ have crossed the threshold of my home and i have smiled . . . politly, and the offending article has been quietly fed to the worms or, if i am in a foul mood, given to the salvos.
I condemn the journo who decided to report about a rock-climbers death by using unacknowledged quotes from the Chockstone website. Then writing an article demonstrating a complete and utter lack understanding for both the sport and the family of the deceased.
I condemn the recent suggestion by some food-fascists that Vegemite should be banned because it has too much salt in it.
I am not alone in my condemnation. Kochie on Channel 7’s Sunrise condemned it. He even went so far to suggest that the only criterion for Australian citizenship should beto eat a Vegemite sandwich. If you spit it out, you don’t get citizenship.
Even Julia Gillard as acting PM had to go on TV and condemn the proposed ban on Vegemite, and assure us all Vegemite would not be banned.
“Munches on Vegemite on toast after having written this”.
Oh for crying out loud. Next it’ll be the Diet Police come round to see how many chocolate Paddle Pops I’ve got left in the freezer since last week’s inspection.
Who are these food fascists of whom you speak, Paul B? Why don’t they just demand a ban on salt and be done with it?
The Vegemite sandwich test is far too restrictive, even if you *are* trying to go for Anglo/whitey norms. This is a policy failure on the part of the Sunrise team showing generational ineptitude.
I condemn any Anglocentric citizenship sandwich test which does not also include devon (aka fritz, I believe, in SA) with tomato sauce, made first thing in the morning and allowed to warm before lunch.
Devon is indeed called fritz in SA. There is a TV ad in which a couple of blond young men are leaping about in lederhosen to the music of an accordion, slapping their thighs and squirting each other from those squeezy bottles of tomato sauce, with the caption ‘Only South Australians get it.’
What the ad is actually for, I’m not (as so often) entirely sure (one of these days companies are going to wake up to the fact that memorable ads are memorable for their memorability rather than for the advertised product); it could be a smallgoods company, or a brand of tomato sauce, or even South Australia itself.
I hope it’s for SA, itself. One of the scariest days of my life was spent in Hahndorf. *Shivers*
Now now, Hahndorf is not what it used to be. And you were obviously in all the wrong (ie icky touristy souverniry — they are diminishing fast) places. The Beerenberg farm where you can pick your own berries and buy yummy Beerenberg stuff, Hans Heysen’s old house which is lovely and the attached shop which is like a very very good gallery shop, the ice cream place, the chocolate place, the cafe run by the cheesemakers from Udder Delights whose name I have forgotten, and Hahndorf Hill, Nepenthe and Shaw & Smith wineries are the places to go. Also, the drive down the main street under the canopy of trees is lovely.
I do condemn mass-produced koala keyrings and Australian flag beer mats though.
The only thing I can remember is fat men in leather shorts slapping each others’ thighs. I wish I’d found the ice cream shop.
And what’s wrong with mass-produced koala keyrings? Teaching otherwise-unemployable and potentially-delinquent young koalas to make keyrings during church services is something that contributes greatly to the stability of Australian society.
If it weren’t for this, our streets wouldn’t be safe to walk down and we’d all have to restrict ourselves to walking up the streets instead.
The Gillard/vegemite story:
http://www.themercury.com.au/article/2009/01/09/48835_food-wine.html
Hahndorf … a plastic cuckoo clock preserved in aspic. I condemn it.
PC @ 53,
seems it was the Gummint. That wasn’t exactly clear in the story I saw on TV.
Liam @ 54,
Warm Devon? chilled Devon with cold tomato sorze, okay, but sun-warmed devon?
I condemn sun-warmed devon. Yuk. Just the thought of it is enough to put me off my Vegemite sandwiches.
I condemn myself for sometimes having too much salt on my chips, even if it was because I was brought up on vegemite and cheese or vegemite and lettuce sandwiches.
Well, I was in Hahndorf last Friday night (on my way to somewhere else, admittedly) and I saw no such cuckoo clock — just beautiful food, wine, 19th century stone buildings and scenery. I grant that there is still the occasional and regrettable teatowel featuring a Teutonic maiden in a dirndl, a lace-up bodice and puffed sleeves, but she is nowhere near as ubiquitous as of yore.
I condemn her, all the same.
Hahndorf aside, I’ll never condemn Servalan.
And I’ll never condemn Avon.
I will condemn Blake though. And Tarrant.
I condemn Bonds, for discontinuing their line in two-colour t-shirts. Particularly the ones that were blue, with green neck and sleeve hems.
You will condemn Avon after you see this.
I condemn East Coast Australia, for increasing it’s greenhouse gas emissions in 2008 by 1.3% over 2007 levels. NSW’s went down .5 million tonnes, Qld takes the eco-criminal cake with a 2.2 million tonne increase. Makes Kev look like he’s dreaming with -5%, what?