Falling Short
SANFL 2nd Semi-Final, Adelaide Oval, 18 September 2021 It was hard to watch, hard to take, and hard to write about, but there is a clear and bright silver lining out of Glenelg’s loss to the Eagles on Saturday night. Sure, the opposition was better on the night and deserved to win. They beat the Bays for 3 quarters and while they were fully up for it, Eagles were handed the initiative by their opponents, who were playing in a static, clumsy and tentative manner, confirming fears over the last few weeks that the Tigers had lost their Mojo. In…
Continue Reading →A Loss Redeem’d
Norwood Grand March, Norwood Oval Glenelg v Port Adelaide, Alberton Oval (Saturday 4 September 2021) A rather surreal day marked the end of the minor round in the South Australian National League competition for 2021. At the end of it, there were clear winners and clear losers; in some cases, it was hard to tell. First, L and P attended the Memorial Gardens outside Norwood Oval (or Cooper’s Stadium, as it is badged in corporate-speak), she in her Fortis in Procella top (see below). From the Latin, it means “Forward into the Abyss” or something…seriously, it means something like “Strength…
Continue Reading →Wentworth
Remake series 1 – 3 (Foxtel) It is not Covid-19, but FLU-68 that is destroying Australian television. Fervid Ludicrous Upscaling first infected Australian drama series writers (and directors) in 1968, causing them to throw Charlie Cousens off a silo in the eponymous town of Bellbird (ABC 1967-1977). Each generation of writers catches it from the last and is less able to resist its degenerative depredations, no matter how many doses of Edge of Darkness (BBC 1985) or Better Call Saul (Sony etc., 2015-2019) vaccine they have had. Perhaps there’s been a switch a la The Young Doctors (1976-1983) and the syringes are filled with Erinsborough tap water. Australian tv…
Continue Reading →Ex Machina
(Directed by Alex Garland) (2015) Caleb Smith (Domnhall Gleeson), a lowly programmer with a Google-like company, wins a week-long visit to the fabulous home of Nathan Bateman, the remote Bezos-Jobs-like founder of the company. Bateman (Oscar Isaac) is a cool guy. He asks Caleb to spend time with Ava (Alicia Vikander) the humanoid robot built by Bateman. He wants Caleb to determine whether Ava is conscious and aware. Can she have a really, truly relationship with Caleb? Wow! What an opportunity! Not only is Ava a stunningly advanced type of AI, she’s pretty, except for the robot body bit. (But…
Continue Reading →The New Manchurian Candidate
Fierce Pashtuns, over time Teach us what we should mark well: All invaders, in their prime Find Afghanistan is Hell. Since Alexander and Genghis Khan Empires laid plans to attack But a donkey borne to Mecca by divan Remains a donkey, when it comes back. Regression, Poverty, Heroin, Despair Its GDP, after the Great Game; Until a parochial tribe assumed the care Of benighted lands, to general shame. For a very few years the only folks To be pained by this, were local tribes Who stood as Shia or told the wrong jokes Or encouraged girls to read or be…
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