The Mid-Weekend

[waitingman]

Hello Reader... it's my Saturday. How's your Tuesday going?

For my USAmerican friends, no Australia doesn't hate you for the way your President carried on about our Prime Minister. It's actually made our guy look a little better in the eyes of his nation - something he's been having some trouble with for a while now. He's probably wondering what to argue about next time he calls...

We are still a little shocked & incredulous that the Donald was allowed to get this far, but understand that's more to do with your, frankly incomprehensible, political system than your individual voting choice. And if the last guy to take a pop at a President only did it to impress Jodie Foster, surely you can find someone to do the job for a date with Beyoncé... or a Kardashian

Then there would only be that pesky Pence to worry about - & I'm sure he can be controlled more easily

Down here in Sydney, it's been hot. And humid. And hot. And everyone's gone back to work & school now, which means there's a lot of traffic around on our thoroughfares - which are mostly in a state of upheaval & disrepair due to some major construction works going on everywhere... at the same time. Which means a lot of sitting in overheating cars. Which means you can't use your air-conditioning for fear of melting your engine & making a bad traffic situation worse. Did I mention it's been hot?

Local Warming & First World problems aside (Hey... we're still allowed to have problems!!), it's pretty quiet 'round here. Other than a fairly rowdy, but entertaining, Chinese New Year's Day family dinner which finished at some ungodly hour (making going to work the next day such a joy...), the routine of eat, work, eat, watch a few episodes of 'Justified', sleep, repeat... goes on

Oh... & I did get to see one of only a few shows around the world that the David Bowie Celebration Band did... here at the Sydney Opera House last week. Past members of Bowie's studio & touring bands came together with some local heroes to blast through 3 hours worth of his best work. As a guitarist, it was a little piece of hog heaven when you had Earl Slick, Adrian Belew, Jerry Leonard & local boy Chris Cheney making the Concert Hall roof rattle a little

Comments

[waitingman.livejournal.com]

Both times we've travelled to the USA, I don't think I ever came across what is referred to as the 'Ugly American'... the type that votes for Trump, is a life memeber of the NRA & is probably a member of the KKK Reserve Army - even they wouldn't take him full-time. And we drove through the South too over about a week, so they had plenty of time to make themselves known to a mixed-race couple if they'd wanted to

They obviously exist - given your current Commander-in-Chief, but we were more ashamed of the Australians we met over there & the way they carried on & behaved

Yes... our large 'L' Liberal party that certainly isn't small 'l'. The irony continues with our Labor Party, who don't seem to work very well. Current Prime Minister Trunbull Turnbull is known to actually be a small 'l' liberal, but is at the mercy of the Party's dominant right-wing faction, who can't find a competent person of their own for the top job, but won't let anyone else do it any other way. This gives Turnbull an insurmountable credibility problem - we all know he's being forced to do & say things he doesn't believe in, or agree with, but he won't stand up to his own back-room boys & be his own man & damn the consequences... either let me do the job my way, or you can all fuck off!!

Maybe that's what Trump could teach him a little of, next time they chat. Not too much, but a little dose of that ebullience would go a long way