theeconomist:

Daily chart: the world’s biggest armed forces. In absolute numbers, America, China and India keep the biggest militaries. But the most heavily militarised country of all is North Korea, where there are 49 military personnel for every 1,000 people.

New militarisation figures from The Economist don’t yield any surprises.. China, the US and potential ‘great game’ rival India have the largest militaries. Though I do wonder how North Korea manages to feed and arm such a substantial standing army.

With some time to spare before my handball match, I made it to the new-ish Museum of Australian Democracy, at the Old Parliament House. While checking out the old Cabinet room, I was treated to a private showing of a multimedia exhibit about historically important Cabinet decisions - I managed to select the dissolution of the Communist Party in 1950, a well-worn subject in Federal Constitutional Law. That, alongside the gallery of Prime Ministers, made the visit worthwhile.

A brief stop-over at the National Archives soon followed. Apart from the permanent display and an exhibit on sustainable architecture in the outback, the Archives were also displaying Cabinet documents from 1981 (as they are kept secret for 30 years). Interesting little tidbit - changes to the Archives Act enforced from this year will mean that the period of secrecy will reduce to 20 years (phased in over the next ten years). More exciting revelations to come!

While the game itself was a bit of a let down, it didn’t dampen my spirit, as I walked my way back to Civic to hop on the coach to Sydney, stopping off at Parliament House for a peek and at Mooseheads for a quick bite.

(photos via OPH, NAA, pacensepatoso)

an Australian, a Welshman and an American walk into a bar…

With the weekend’s handball match against Canberra, I begrudgingly boarded a coach down to Canberra on Friday to reacquaint myself with our nation’s capital.

Dropping off my stuff at the one and only hostel in town, I headed southward to the shores of Lake Burley Griffin to enjoy one of my favourite trails ‘round the Lake, and onto Aspen Island, home of the National Carillon.

The National Gallery was next, and to be fair, a little disappointing with most of the temporary exhibitions closed. The new entrance wing with The Aboriginal Memorial and the stunning Skyspace work by James Turrell definitely made it worth a visit, however.

Bypassing the High Court (as it wasn’t in session), I headed to the National Portrait Gallery, an unexpected delight! The Gallery’s cheery staff guided me through the remarkably fresh permanent collection, as well as two temporary exhibitions, the first on the link between portraiture and psychology, with some stunning images from the Cunningham Dax collection (of portraits created by mental health patients in the 1950s and 1960s). The second concerned the celebrity photographic portraiture of Stuart Campbell.

After a brief stop at the National Library (one of my favourite places in Canberra.. yes, I am a bit of nerd, I guess), I headed back to Civic to get ready for game day.

a thursday evening of extreme contrasts in content and company…

first stop - Anthony Mason, former chief justice of the High Court of Australia, is now one of the non-permanent judges of Hong Kong’s Court of Final Appeal (alongside other Australian judges like Brennan, McHugh and Gleeson and judges from other Commonwealth countries).

He stopped by the Law School for a talk on the rule of law in Hong Kong, where somewhat unusually (thanks to Article 158), the Court has the power of final adjudication, but not final interpretation of Hong Kong’s Basic Law (the power of which is granted to the Standing Committee, one of the PRC’s legislative organs).

His speech, rendered like a judgement in its precision, provided some fascinating insights into legal concepts that we often take for granted. Pity about some of the audience, though (alternately sleeping/asking inane questions).

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second stop - 3things’ Hip Hop Approach at the Oxford Art Factory. Swapping our micro-quiches for frozen mojitos, Sophia and I stepped down into one of Darlinghurst’s most famous basements to hear MC Kween G, Tuka, The Last Kinection and Dialectrix share their sounds as well as their 3things with the pumped crowd - freestylin’ social justice at its best! See more at 3things.org.au!

best of british - a great end to a great semester!

Before exam mania set in, I managed to sneak into three of the Sydney Film Festival’s screenings - as it turns out, all three had different takes on the quasi-documentary genre.

the troll hunter - this Norwegian take on the found-footage thriller (a la The Blair Witch Project) makes the best of the stunning fjordland in which it was filmed. Tinged with some dark humour and a dash of pathos, I really enjoyed the film, despite some problems with the projection.

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how to start your own country - this doco explored micro-nations and the personalities behind them, from the UK’s Principality of Sealand to our very own Hutt River Province. While the academic commentary (including from professors at The Hague!) was welcome, it is difficult to see the creators of micro-nations as more than eccentrics or attention-seekers. More interesting (but perhaps less entertaining) discussions could have been had about sovereignty in the context of Kosovo, South Ossetia or even Taiwan.

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animals distract me - I don’t know what it is about Isabella Rossellini, but I just find her so captivating to watch, to listen to. From Blue Velvet to her role as a Derevko sister on Alias, to the captivating Green Porno, she has something special that I just can’t put my finger on. Everything from her portrayal of a demodex (above) to the cameos (including Andre Leon Talley!) was disarmingly charming. Loved it!

studiokillers:

Goldie Foxx: Some of you cool cats may have already heard this on tumblr, but just in case you haven’t, here’s a rather feisty Manhattan Clique remix of “Ode To The Bouncer” to soothe your ears.

This fiery new collective is apparently from Denmark, Finland and the UK. Soothing indeed.

The stunning Walsh Bay precinct, sitting in the shadow of the Harbour Bridge, played the perfect host to this year’s Sydney Writer’s Festival. I managed to catch just a few events from the Festival’s loaded schedule -

the Chaser’s empty vessel - Emily and I scored a table right at the front of the packed out debut of The Chaser’s Empty Vessel - a hybrid of The Chaser and Q&A with a hint of late-night cheekiness. The Chaser crew interviewed Sonia Falero, who authored a novel about the state of Indian ‘dance bars’ (a difficult subject to make light of), George Megalogenis (a writer for The Australian, *groan*) and scruffy actor Brendan Cowell. A mixed bag, apart from Robot Child (the support band featuring Waleed Aly), which kept the evening flowing.

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Turning Japanese with David Mitchell - Having moved mountains to get to the precinct on time, I was just a tad disappointed to hear that this talk, featuring one of my favourite authors, David Mitchell, was full. Nonetheless, I was happy to sit outside on the wharves and take in the sunlight listening to the event simulcast through the PA system.

from Unguided Tours.

One of my favourite artsy hangouts, the Art Gallery of New South Wales, has had an impressive line-up of exhibitions and events this year, not least the stunning Archibald Prize, won by Ben Quilty with a portrait of legendary Australian painter Margaret Olley.

The Gallery’s late-night program, Art After Hours, has also charmed. It’s not quite the same as the YBCA (drag queens in the elevators might be a little off-putting for the AG’s more mature and/or distinguished visitors), but fun nonetheless.

The Anne Landa Award for Video and New Media Art was one of the gems I discovered late one Wednesday evening.  Curated around the concept of ‘unguided tours’, it had everything from an action-packed video of suburban cats to a map of discarded condoms to an interactive ‘game’ with real joy-‘sticks’ to the stunning From Orbit in the main foyer - truly an experience for all of the senses.

The opening of the new contemporary galleries, a major milestone for the AGNSW, brought with it all the pomp and circumstance it deserved. A reading of beat poet Allen Ginsberg’s Howl, accompanied by jazzy notes, brought back memories of sunny San Francisco. A peaceful moment amongst the craziness of an open day.

On the road to a half-marathon - another year, another Mother’s Day Classic. This year, Lawson, Mum and I all completed the 8km course around the Domain, Hyde Park and Mrs. Macquarie’s Chair - the first step in getting to a half-marathon in the latter half of 2011.

My time? A respectable 37:28!