End of the Beginning

It's Xmas, which means holidays and a spell away from the computer. Admittedly, not so you'd notice here over the last few weeks... The only thing harder than justifying blogging when you have important, paid work to be doing, is justifying it when you have a mammoth unpaid project to finish so that it hopefully pays off.

That said, the eggs laid in the nest here over the last few months have been very worthwhile. I kicked off the blog at a time when I was feeling optimistic and experimental with my time, and over about 40 posts have managed to stroke the tip of the iceberg on several issues dear to my heart. Looking at my cloud of "labels", media streaks to prominence; rightly followed by USA, UN, economics & environment. I can stand by 100% of what I have written here, which was an important goal I learned after a few edited posts; and more importantly I've worked out what I want to do with the post.

See, posts like the last one, and King Tamaki... that's daily thought stuff. It's minutiae, and that's not really what I'm interested in - popping off what's on the top of my head just to make sure something is up here every day.
I've learned it's not even worth my time to make daily comments on significant events. I certainly have an opinion on the various mistakes in John Key trying to bring the Te tino Rangatiratanga flag into the tent of nationhood; but I'm more interested in its place in the pattern of behaviour that typifies his government.
Likewise for the Brash Gang's report on catching up with Australia. A current event post would focus on the realpolitik of the Right-wing agenda and fight on the details, but it's far more interesting to me to look at it in the context of power relations and the broader thinking that is needed for us - the vast majority of NZ taxpayers - to see that accepting Rightist thinking is keeping us in our own dark hole.

In short, as you might see from my posts, I am more interested in several themes, messages, questions - stories, if you will - and in showing how the little events and "issues" that arise - Brash's 2025 gang, or Hone Key's flag - thread into these stories. More often than not, they make more sense and better reading than the news stories that rise around them on the day.

So that's what I'll be doing in the new year. This blog won't be breaking news stories or fighting on party battlelines. It won't be posting daily. Probably one post a week, and it will be following a narrative. Not planned, but weaving in and out of my reading, research and current events.

For now, it's a holiday. I'm going to relax, kick my heels up and muse over the details. But if you're interested in globalism and internationalism; society and economy; justice and democracy, then I'll meet you back here Jan 12th.

And if you're stumbling across this site, in the meantime, have a read over past posts. See if they take.

Pre-Xmas Price Ridiculousness

I've been legitimately (but unfortunately) too busy to post the last week, although I've several pages of notes on various topics I want to explore. Too busy polishing my novel and exploring avenues of alternate income, and busy feeling panicked, depressed, annoyed at various things.
Yes, despite the rational-legal, adversarial framework of our society, feelings have legitimacy too.

I was just looking for Xmas presents, and found some gobsmacking prices online. Try Fishpond, for DVDs in particular. The whole of Season 2 Flight of the Conchords on DVD for.... $20?? Sure, that's the price I was waiting for, but they only released 6 weeks ago!
Snapped it up. Then, ever a sucker for paying no shipping, I picked up Neil Gaiman's "The Graveyard Book" for the same price. Neil Gaiman's coming for next year's International Festival of the Arts, so I was happy to tick this off my wish-list. Checking Amazon, I would have got it (inc shipping) for the same price in US dollars.

Crazy, crazy prices. Any others out there? I guess the psychology is they're front-loading our shopping baskets. I bought for myself; but in theory (I know Mothers fall for this), you can keep picking up presents all the way to the 25th, with the price going up as stocks run down and people get more desperate.

Waiting is virtuous; but waiting for Xmas is a trap. When things I've already committed to purchasing hit the right price point - that's the sweet spot.

ADDENDUM: Checking around a bit, it seems these prices are pretty consistent, so my view that the world tends towards madness remains intact. In this vein, it became a day where I took a browse through Neil Gaiman's blog and found his amazing Oracle. Which was kinda neat.