Going underground - Satanic verse - family values

Tomorrow I start orientation at my new job - which means I'm over at my unit more permanently, where technological basics like a phone line, ADSL connection and a working front door buzzer are still to be arranged. So I'm posting this just to tide the blog over as it might be a while before the next post.

Things I will hopefully get around to blogging about - the Australian government's new proposed legislation that will encourage/force couples to see family counselling before applying for divorce sounds like an interesting move. Need some time to think on it.

Salman Rushdie wrote an interesting article here and draws a damning link between the "corruption of language" and the corruption of morality by the Bush government. A few things came to me while reading this. Firstly, I realized the article raises similar concerns that were in the George Clooney film Goodnight and Good Luck, which I referenced in my first post. (Although I should have seen that coming, as many reviewers of the film pointed out the film's relevance to the current political landscape). However, secondly - and more importantly - amid all this valid criticism of the Bush government is the slightly depressing notion, for myself at least, that we're simply playing catch-up. I guess it's a fair enough plan for the critical press to uncover each and every dirty trick the Bush administration pulls - but despite how much certain journalists and writers scream to the wind, it's never quite enough shame to make them stop.

Maybe we should try something more passive-aggressive, that seems to work for me. (oops, too flippant? too candid? hmm. It's on my new-year's resolution list of to-eradicate-habits. Sigh. ;)

See you when I resurface.

PS: bite-sized review of Chicken Little - 3.5/5 - hugely entertaining and concise animation from a Pixar-less Disney studios; cute old-school style cartoon models rendered to 3D; positive but not treacly family values; continuous stream of pop-culture references for the adults; voices by Zach Braff, Joan Cusack; Steve Zahn and an awesome cameo by Adam "1960s Batman" West