Recapping 2010

So, it's January 2011. A new year, with new resolutions. Or, if you don't believe in new year's resolutions, at least there is the chance to enjoy the Sydney summer, what with its heat, humidity, and people sporting skin-cancer-inducing tans from their weekends at the beach.

It's probably a good time to recap on my top five memories of 2010, so here goes:

5) Work can be fun!

I've worked at the University for nine whole years now, and none of them were as awesome as the last. Don't get me wrong, work is still work and I'm not so enthusiastic as to take up residence in the office, but a couple of factors made it worthwhile for me to get up and get to the daily grind.

The people, for one. The staff turnover rate is still high and I question whether the organised events were successful (cough cough xmas party), but the relationships seemed to have truly developed in the past year, enough that it feels like more of a community instead of just small "teams" of people under one roof. Or maybe it's just me.

Sporting events are good. Especially when it branches across the whole workplace, because in all seriousness there is a good chance that I wouldn't ever have talked to a bunch of the badminton players, eg. those that I don't work close to. Because there usually isn't a reason to. I have thoroughly enjoyed the experience though, and I'm glad I started playing badminton when I did. If you're reading this, I recommend you sign up to some sort of social/sporting event in your office. You might not care about those people now, but give them a chance, you may be surprised!

The other thing that made work bearable (enjoyable?) was my rather haphazard discovery that I knew how to work on databases. Those who know me will know that I have no previous programming experience, yet somehow I found myself developing enhancements and modules to the existing application database at work to the extent that it is now a crutch in our daily operations. It's just simple stuff in Access, but I'm proud of it, a little of which is a good thing. In short, learning new skills is fun, and google is an awesome teacher.

4) Gleek

It's official. Season 1 got me interested, but Season 2 ep 3 completely sold me. What is this, a show for teenagers that deals with issues like teen pregnancies, coming out, growing up with disabilities, bullying, and now religion? Not just religion, but a thoughtful if brief dialogue about faith, atheism, and the friction between homosexuality and the church.

Fine. It's camp. There is more singing than acting. The production isn't perfect (though it's actually very well done for something that has to be filmed weekly) and the plot is occasionally just whack. But for all its drawbacks, the show (sometimes) has heart, and courage to go where other mainstream shows won't even dream of going. If kids are watching this, fantastic. They probably aren't being made to think about these serious issues any other way.

Did I tell you? I'm now a total Gleek.

3) Marriage Equality rallies

Ah yes, these. I'm no activist. With the development of social networking, I'm not even sure that traditional offline activist-y stuff even work. But somehow, as I stood there in the midst of an attentive crowd trying to catch the words of various politicians and community spokespeople, I felt both saddened and heartened at the same time.

It was a shame that none of my heterosexual friends came with me to support the cause (even if the yelling is just falling on deaf ears). While I was out there in a crowd of progressive people gay and straight, I felt strangely isolated. It struck me that a lot of my friends are getting married. Even my long-term flatmates are now married to each other. And there I was wondering if any of them respect my desire to be able to do the same. Or is it friends with gay guy = OK, but support marriage equality = not OK?

Which makes me even more appreciative of the people who would get out of their houses and away from their weekend activities on a Saturday morning to rally for a cause that isn't even innovative or groundbreaking in the developed Western hemisphere. That's right, we're just catching up - who would even bother? Well apparently a healthy crowd of a couple of thousand progressive-minded people in Sydney care, and more in Melbourne, Brisbane, Canberra, Adelaide, all across Australia. Heartwarming, to be sure.

2) Do I dare to dream?

A crush that never quite developed into anything. This one was different though, because for a while we were fairly close and in him I saw something that I had been missing for a long time - the right to dream and the will to fight for that dream.

It rocked the foundations of my world when I realised that I hadn't done anything "worthwhile" with my life for a couple of years. I was an emotional wreck. Not a pleasant memory, but beneficial.

Work + games (by games I mean mostly WoW) are occasionally good, but they are easy traps to fall into. It was time travel the world, and find a purpose (thanks Avenue Q for that reference). I stopped gaming for a few months - a lifetime for me - did the Europe trip, and whilst no, I still haven't found a singular purpose to propel myself towards, I do have somewhat of a two-year plan now. Yuk, that sounds like something from a self-help book, someone slap me now!

I won't ever quit my games, but it was most certainly a great wake-up call for me to get out there and make sure I'm always challenging the status quo.

1) Trip to Europe

And that leads to the most memorable experience of 2010. I'm not sure you can understand how awesome this was for me. The trip was by no means perfect, but the fact that I was there in Europe, visiting these cities that I had wanted to visit since I was young, that was enough.

Paris, at once beautiful yet cold, seemingly geared more towards tourists who spend a night or two there and no longer. London, far too crowded and not my favourite place, but the hospitality of my friends made this stop great. Madrid, where I had no expectations of grandeur but found more to love than anywhere else. Berlin, where I met a fantastic bunch of good-looking people and was never in bed before the sun rose. Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Tilburg, my friends' hometowns with architecture that has lasted the centuries.

I'll have to go back there, maybe in a couple of years.

Honorable Mention: this blog

Another concept that I've never really reconciled my personality with is the diary. Why put thoughts on paper when you don't have to? The more secrets you have, the more easily you can manipulate people, the better off you are.

This blog flies in the face of that belief. It was more experimental than anything, a way to express my ideas without having to bore people who didn't actually want to know. It eventually became a bit of a diary with my Europe trip.

It's been periodically active and inactive, and even this post doesn't guarantee that I'll continue posting in the future. It has, however, been a great outlet for my thoughts and a fair bit of fun. Should I ever feel the need to vomit text onto a webpage, I'll be back :)

The Final 2PP Count

For anyone who's wondering why we think a number of journos are educationally challenged, Pollbludger points out some of the more amusing commentary we've been provided with over the last few weeks here.

Essentially, despite a number of political commentators warning that the two-party preferred count isn't finalised (including ABC's Anthony Green), these journalists decided to run with their own fictionalised version of events. Last I checked, their jobs are to report on facts not fiction - they should probably be fired for lack of due diligence.

A number of coalition MPs have also used the 2PP figure like so (though I think Abbott has been careful to always say "it looks like we're winning the 2PP"). And while that is no less erroneous, it's at least to be expected from the opposition.

The Authoritarian Monster raises its Head

I missed this last night - apparently the New Zealand parliament unanimously passed the Canterbury Earthquake Response and Recovery Bill allowing the Governor-General to make Orders-in-Council at the advice of the Minister for Canterbury Earthquake Recovery, effectively allowing him to repeal or modify any existing law without consulting Parliament, his Government, or even the Cabinet.

While the intention is undoubtedly good, there has nonetheless been a bit of an uproar by online commentators over whether or not New Zealand is now a dictatorship, as the nation's legislation can now be changed at the whim of a single man.

I'd have to agree that removing a lot of obstacles during the rebuilding process is a wonderful idea, but I can't shake the ominous feeling that the disaster has softened the Kiwi opposition to authoritarianism. It's a scary thought that the seeds have now been sown, and all it takes is for someone to step in and harvest them at an opportune time.

Here's the take on the situation from various blogs:

From those more than a little concerned...
Kiwipolitico
Andrew Geddis
No Right Turn
Not PC

To those who voted for it or think it's good...
Greens
Labour
National
Kiwiblog

Aussie Politics - state of play

I really didn't want to make a comment on the election result until things were finalised, but seeing as the end looks like it's still a week away I can't really wait any longer.

Firstly, I gotta say, Aussie media is strongly biased, with News Ltd supporting the Coalition and SMH and the Age backing Labor. Personally I read the right-wing Oz because I like to see what outrageous things are being said about the Left. But you only need to switch to the other website to go from one party about to form government, to the other one having the advantage. No wonder the public are confused.

Secondly, I don't understand the desire that Aussies feel about having to form a government asap. I'd prefer an agreement between the parties that work, and which will hold for a good two to three years rather than something that'll just crash and burn within the year. And look, in New Zealand negotiations often take two weeks or more, and in the Netherlands it's been more than two months and there's still no agreement on who forms government. Patience, Australia, good things take time.

Now on to the Greens. I'm a rusted-on Greens voter, I can't envision voting for anyone else in the forseeable future. And it is because of this that I'm worried for the party as we look ahead to the next election.

With sole balance of power in the senate, it becomes very easy for one of the major parties to blackmail the Greens into voting for bad legislation, or alternatively if they don't cooperate, they can just as easily blame the Greens for inaction. Additionally, with most of the Greens coming from a Labor base, it will only take a small shift to the left by Labor and the Greens vote are at risk of collapsing.

I strongly believe that to maintain a strong status as the third party in the Australian political landscape, the Greens need to appeal to a broader range of voters. The real winning quality of the party is their social and environmental policies, and the pragmatic stance to take would therefore be to appeal to both social liberals and classical liberals.

Yet, the success of the NSW Greens in getting a senator up is that they are very heavily socialist in economic policy. Whilst Bob Brown can win votes from both social and classical liberals, the presence of Lee Rhiannon in the senate has the potential to turn off a lot of classical liberal voters. It's really a double-edged sword. As it is, the Greens already struggle in NSW, and I'm not sure that having a so-called "red-green" in the federal senate is really a good idea.

Don't get me wrong, I'd belong to what is commonly referred to as the red-green faction, that is, I believe in the ideal of anarcho-communism. Yet from a practical vote-winning point of view, I just don't see socialist economic policy appealing to the masses in this day and age. Malcolm Turnbull offhandedly attacked the Greens last month on Q&A with "there is none more pure than the impotent", yet it rings truer than it would first seem. Call it what you will, horse-trading or otherwise, but the Greens can't remain a mainstay in Australian politics if they are not willing to compromise on certain legislation.

We aren't likely to see anarchism nor communism in this country any time soon, and most certainly not a combination of both. In the meantime, I just hope that the Greens will be willing to make some sacrifices to appeal to the Liberal base. There are environmental and social votes to be gained, if only the party would take a break from offering such divisive economic policies...

Day 24 in Europe (Rotterdam)

The weather on Wednesday wasn't so friendly, but it did present us with a wonderful opportunity to see some windmills in action. We drove to Kinderdijk and I got uncharacteristically excited over the fact we were looking at real windmills. Yes I know, silly.

We returned to Rotterdam for a quick tour of the city centre. I was taking pictures of the Stadhuis there when a line of roller-skaters came rolling past and continued doing so, and I amusingly noted that in ten minutes I'd seen more people in Rotterdam than I had in the rest of the time I was there.

We finished off my stay with a great dinner of all-you-can-eat sushi! I don't remember seeing this in Australia. For some reason we get heaps of all-you-can-eat Korean BBQ but not Japanese sushi. Hmmmm...

Day 23 in Europe (Rotterdam)

I didn't actually do much in these two days because firstly I was really exhausted from the lack of sleep in Berlin and from the eight hour train trip, and secondly there really isn't that much to do in Rotterdam. I'm very grateful for my mate taking a couple of days off work so I could go check out some cool stuff around the place.

The Netherlands turned out a very fine day on Tuesday and the option was there to go check out Dutch beaches.  while I was in Rotterdam so we decided to drive to Scheveningen, a town next to the sea.

Australian beaches are world famous, but the beach near Scheveningen I found to be just as nice as Sydney's. The flat landscape of the Netherlands offers a beach that seems endless, and as an added bonus the Kurhuis offers a wonderful backdrop to the whole setting. There's even a bungee tower for those who find sunbathing too boring!

We spent a lazy three hours sitting at a café next to the beach, enjoying some Dutch pancakes and a beautiful summer afternoon. Choice!

Day 22 in Europe (Berlin to Rotterdam)

Another travel day, another day with very little to write about. Many hours on the train, hooray. :/

Before that, I had realised I didn't have any pics of the Reichstag so I walked out the station, took a long range pic, turned around, snapped another pic of the Hauptbahnhof, then BAM onto the train. Just had to add a couple of ticks to my checklist, y'know.

Fast forward six hours and I find myself rushing out of one train and into another. I double checked the destination of this new train. It says . Interesting. Well I need to go to Rotterdam so this should be fine right?

Wrong. Apparently the meaning was that the first two carriages were heading to Rotterdam and the latter two were heading to Den Haag. Oops.

Anyway I eventually got into Rotterdam some 40 minutes later than I expected, where I'm staying with an old friend from my Macquarie Uni days. All good, except, what was there to do in Rotterdam again?...