Welcome to the 3rd World, Australia

The previous government of Australia toyed with the idea of censoring the internet. It was always under the familiar cry of "Won't somebody think of the children". Eventually they were convinced that global internet censorship was

a) Not feasible from an infrastructure perspective

b) would come at great cost to our personal freedom, and

c) would make us an international laughing stock

They were right on all three counts. And so they put the responsibility for web content monitoring and filtering back where it belongs - with the parents and adults of Australia.

The new government, under Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, has seen fit to ignore this logic, and under increasing pressure from a fascist, vocal, right-wing Christian fundamentalist minority, announced that they would pursue an agenda of global internet censorship.

Originally this would be in the form of a "clean feed" that all ISPs would be obliged to supply on request as a service offering. There would be no charge to the user for this service, and all a user had to do was request that it be enabled for their internet account.

This I had no problem with. Yes, as a well educated adult I could see all the flaws in the practical application of this service, but as a concept I could understand the appeal.

But this was not enough for the oppressive forces of the religious right. And so the original proposal was modified. Now the censored feed would be the default option, and a user would have to opt out to get an uncensored feed.

OK. Not an ideal situation, as now it would be possible to easily report on all those who requested an uncensored feed, and if necessary treat their motives with unwarranted suspicion, but at least there would be an option there for the adults and free thinkers in our open society.

Well not any more. Yesterday the government announced that there would be censorship for all. Not option for an unfiltered feed. The clean feed option is still the default position, but now if you choose to opt out of the clean feed, you get a less censored feed.

Yes, this government can now stand proudly beside the governments of China and North Korea as an oppressive force in the free world. Again, this has been announced with all the right words - blocking child pornography (which it won't), blocking pro-anorexia and euthanasia sites (hello, freedom of thought and speech - not any more) - but what it really creates is an infrastructure for oppression and group think. Once this infrastructure is in place, it becomes far too easy to simply expand it's scope to appease any minority that wields any amount of influence.

How long will it be before Australians can no longer visit sites that have anything to do with

Evolution
The Exclusive Brethren and their cult like practices
Scientology
Anything that challenges the concept of global warming, no matter how scientifically based it may be

These are all likely targets because of the types of groups who are driving this government behind the scenes.

I have not always been proud of things our government has done over the years. There have been times when I have simply had to shake my head in wonder at the decisions that have been made. But today, as I write this, I am truly scared for this countries future, and ashamed to call myself Australian.

We are no longer a first world country with freedom and liberty. We are an oppressed people slowly being forced further and further under a religious doctrine being wielded by the faceless and the unelected.

Further reading :

No Clean Feed
Mandatory Internet Censorship : Conroy's Bait and Switch
Wild claims Hysteria Enthusiastic commentary on internet censorship: Ludlam in Senate Estimates
Internet Censorship and Civil Liberties in Australia

Not Quite Hollywood

Australia has one of the oldest film industries in the world. We boast one of the earliest feature length films, and for such a young and relatively small country, we have contributed in many important ways to the world film industry. Directors such as Peter Weir and Andrew Dominic, actors such as Peter Finch, Cate Blanchette, Russell Crowe and Naomi Watts, and DoPs such as Dean Semler have all contributed (and continue to contribute) to this art form.

As with film in all countries, the Australian industry has been cyclical and trend driven. During the 50s and 60s we made outback movies. During the 70s and 80s it was costume and historical dramas, often based around our military history. During the 90s it was quirky comedies and musicals, and into the 2000s we are desperately trying to create our own indy-type films.

Unfortunately, Australian movie critics have, historically, been our industry's greatest enemy. They have sat back, poe-faced, praising the most inane art films or tired historical dramas, believing that to truly critique and find them wanting is to be unsupportive. And yet god forbid we should ever produce a genre picture. Then the critics come out, all guns blazing. You see, while it is worthy and arty to create a sub-standard rip-off of the latest trendy indy film, create a horror or action piece, and you are simply mimicking the worst that Hollywood has to offer.

Then along comes Not Quite Hollywood, which doesn't just give the critics a gentle tweak, but punches them fully on the nose by celebrating a period in Australian film making that many critics have erased from their memory. You see, during the 70's and early 80's, Australia had a thriving, low budget genre business going on. Everything from action and karate movies to b-grade horror and nudie films. The critics could not stand them, but out of this almost underground movement came films like Patrick, Mad Max and Mad Max 2 : The Road Warrior, Razorback and of course, the infamous Turkeyshoot, amongst others. Around the world these films had a cult following, and in some cases, much more. Patrick reached the number one position in Italy for months, and spawned an italian sequel. Mad Max 2 inspired countless European rip-offs, and is still cited as having one of the greatest car chases ever filmed.

I urge you to go to the Not Quite Hollywood website and have a browse. Watch the wondrous trailers on offer, read about our forgotten film heritage. Then go and see Not Quite Hollywood when it hits a cinema near you. Hopefully it will inspire you to head out and look for our lost treasures (You never know where they will turn up - I found a copy of Patrick for $5.00 at the local newsagent !).

Australia should be as proud of their genre history as they (rightfully) are of the other contributions they have made to world film. A world without Mad Max would be a lesser place indeed.

Listen Up !

I recently decided it was time to stop trying to use my phone for things other than, well, being a phone. After all, a phone is a phone. I have yet to see a mobile phone (cell phone, for you Yanks) that did anything well, other than make calls (Note to all Apple fan-boys - this includes the over-grown Mac called the iPhone, OK). So I went out and got me an iPod.

OK - Full disclosure - I don't much like Apple. I don't like the company. I don't like the way it does business. I think it's OS is over-rated, sluggish and boring, and I think iTunes is un-necessarily intrusive and DRM based. However they do have the edge when it comes to purdy toys. Also, it didn't cost me anything.

So anyway, now I have this iPod (80 GB classic), so I start to fill it up. Movies - check. Music - check. What about podcasts ?

So I went looking for something to try. There is no shortage of topics and agendas out there in podcast land. Anything you can think of, someone is talking about it. And when it comes to film, there is plenty to wade through. Unfortunately, most of it is dross. Two I did find, however, are a great listen for people who love film.

Watching The Directors is now, unfortunately, no more. However it's back catalog is still available from it's website (for a short time), and through iTunes. I urge you to download all that you can before it is gone for good. Created by Joe and Melissa Johnston, WTD was a monthly podcast that covered the work, usually of a single director, either in it's entirety, or across a shorter time span (Hitchcock, for instance, got three shows). The tone is conversational, the detail is good without getting too technical, and overall it is a great listen. Running times of 60 - 80 minutes means it isn't to taxing either.

The Hollywood Saloon is a slightly different beast. Andy and John cover a wide range of topics, from car chases to David Fincher. They often go into more technical detail, have a great love for their subject matter, and will even wear their fan-boy hearts on their sleeves. They also are not afraid to push the running time envelope, with their Halloween podcast clocking in at 2 hours 50 minutes (a great listing for fans of Carpenter's original and the subsequent sequels), and their James Bond series, released in the wake of Casino Royale, runs to almost 6 hours over three shows. these guys are opinionated, knowledgeable, and hate Brett Ratner.