As you get older, you are less and less affected by news of the deaths of people known to you. It’s always a bit of a jolt, but having been around for well over half the average human life expectancy, I’ve reached a point of choice – get philosophical or get spooked. Not relishing the prospect of an existence even more haunted and death-obsessed than mine already is, I do my best to choose the former, but every so often a SIGNIFICANT death sits you back on your arse and you find yourself immersed in the dark stuff, almost as if any other choice is not yours to make.

Thus it was for me when news came through of the death of Ron Asheton, incendiary guitarist for legendary Detroit proto-punk band, The Stooges (second from left in this 1969 pic).

Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images

I was at the computer on the morning of January 7th. I routinely brought up the Sydney Morning Herald site (my default home page) for maybe the tenth time that day and there it was. I didn’t click on the headline at first. Not sure why. Didn’t want to acknowledge it, perhaps. Shock? Some sort of wilful disengagement? Doesn’t matter. Ron Asheton was dead. That mattered. Continue reading A Tribute To Ron Asheton (1948-2009) →

Food, Popular Culture, TV

The Boomtown Rap Awards For 2008

January 4, 2009 rolanstein 10 Comments

The Boomtown Rap Awards for 2008 are as disorganised, ill-conceived and random as the inaugural Awards last year – more so, since it has taken me a few days into the New Year to get this post up. The nominations arrive by way of an increasingly deficient cerebral RAM delivery service and, like the final listings, are merely a reflection of my own prejudices and tastes.

While I may be justly accused of narcissm here, I reject such charges. Why? As with last year’s Awards, I invite reader nominations and suggestions for additional awards not covered below (just post ’em in the Comments). This is a democratic interactive bitch-fest waiting to happen. Is it MY fault that no bastard took me up last year?

Awright, let’s get down and doity and kick off with the 2008 Boomtown Rap free-to-air TV Awards: The BR Bogeys. Continue reading The Boomtown Rap Awards For 2008 →

Media, Perth, Society

Tis The Season To Pickpocket, Falalalala la la la la

December 23, 2008 rolanstein Leave a comment

Thieves target Christmas shoppers!

Thus trumpeted news.com in today’s morning lead story on the Perthnow site (the online presence of Perth’s trashy Sunday Times newspaper). Here’s the pic that accompanied the story:

Sooo, the thief is
a) black and
b) wearing an Italia baseball cap.

Well, whaddayaexpect? Wouldn’t be One Of Us perpetrating this low act during the season of goodwill…but hang on.

When you read the text that links to the pic of the lightfingered dark foreign kid ripping off One Of Us, you find it’s nothing about Christmas-specific thievery. The report cites “police records” of “more than 3000 incidents reported in WA from July 1 last year to June 30 this year.” Oh. So this news is 6 months old, then. BUT, a police spokesman is reported as warning Us “to be extra vigilant during post-Christmas sales.” Uh huh. Especially of black foreign kids, yes?

Well, no. Acting Inspector of Police Neville Beard is quoted as attributing “a significant number of these thefts” to “organised individuals or groups”. Of course, there is the possibility that he’s referring to black foreign kids hunting in well-organised packs…

More likely, though, that Perthnow had zilch in sensational reports to jag early morning browsers with and resorted to fabricating a bullshit story out of old “news”. But how to really grab ’em…that is the question.

And the answer is to engage the WASP majority by depicting One Of Us – a burdened WASP Dad-type doing his last-minute Xmas shopping – as the hapless victim of The Other. Can’t make the little shit blatantly aboriginal (bah humbug to fucking PC restraints), but dark’ll do. And a fez woulda been better than that cap, but “Italia” does the job – signifies foreign, the alien within. Good enough. And we get to retain that sense of journalistic responsibility. Bit crass, resorting to Muslim-kickin’ comin’ inta Christmas. Plenty of opportunity fer more of that in the New Year!

Time for a coffee.

movie reviews + occasional other musings