I love my Kogan Agora Pro netbook

Some netbook hater nutters proclaimed the “death of the netbook.” Of course, that is absurd. The netbook was never a well-defined product: essentially, it was a name for a small laptop. What's in a name? that which we call a netbook. By any other name would be a small laptop. (With apologies to William Shakespeare.) Computer manufacturers will surely keep making small computers; they’ll just name them something else. Marketing and public relations will see to that.

Some three years ago I bought a Kogan Agora Pro netbook with the following specifications:

•     Intel Atom N270 (1.6GHz) CPU
•     2GB RAM
•     160GB hard drive
•     Widescreen 10.1" display (1024x600)
•     Intel GMA 950 graphics
•     3x USB 2.0, 1x VGA, 1x Ethernet, 1x SD/MMC/MS/MS Pro memory card
•     802.11b/g wireless
•     6-cell battery
•     1 USB Bluetooth dongle (something I've never used)

This gem of a portable computer came with a keyboard (unlike a tablet). A touchscreen keyboard is terrible if you’re a writer. It came preloaded with the gOS operating system, a variant of Ubuntu Linux, and supports Windows XP, Android, Google Chromium. In fact, it's possible to install all types of operating systems on this amazing computer. Whereas, I quickly installed Windows 7 Ultimate and it runs the latest versions of my favourite free-ware programmes, and others not so free. My netbook is up to date and speedy. Actually, it's an antidote to the tear-away-rampant-disposable consumerism associated with the tablet. The tablet is designed to quickly date as an expendable (expensive) commodity. Tablets are tailored towards consumption; the most popular apps in the Android or iOS market are games or other things for consuming instead of creating.

If you want to create something, you need a computer not a tablet. In my case, that computer is a Kogan Agora Pro netbook. I love my netbook, and refuse to apologize for that. It’s not expensive or disposable, and is good for production.

Common factors/characteristics

For may years I swam, each morning throughout the year, in the Highgate open air men bathing pond on Hampstead Heath, London. Swimming was an obsession. We were a tight-knit disparate bunch of all-weather-swimmers, and I often pondered over the mystery of the common factors/characteristics that brought us together each morning at 7:00. I never did find the answer other than the obsession we shared with swimming in all seasons - no matter if the pond was frozen over - which it often was in late winter. We were swimmers of all seasons.

Outside the pond's enclosure is a grassy lawn that fills with gay men sunbathing in summer - especially on Sundays. Women, when confronted by these blokes, would universally lament: "What a shame." Of course, my friends would warn me to not make eye contact with those blokes. I never made any extra effort to avoid eye contact. But, it made no difference. Anyhow, those gay men were not season swimmers like us.

Similarly, I'm about to set-of to resume my journey to Israel and my wonderings are now directed towards the men and women who make-up the Facebook group Confraternity of Pilgrims to Jerusalem. The numbers remain small but are significant and growing. Wish me bon voyage!

Review of the film “The Way” (2010), as an introduction to El Camino de Santiago de Compostela

“The Way”was written and directed by Emilio Estevez and filmed in Spain and France along the actual Camino de Santiago de Compostela. Runtime: 128 minutes; Starring: Martin Sheen, James Nesbitt, Deborah Unger and Yorick van Wageningen.

The Way depicts a spiritual journey. The scenery and sounds brought back many memories, and it was fun remembering the places I too had walked. The film gives an excellent representation of what the Camino is about and the encounters made along the way. It is a vivid, immersive experience that captures some of the route's most breathtaking vistas - a route that writer James A. Michener calls "the finest journey in Spain, and one of two or three in the world." He did it three times and mentions passing "through landscapes of exquisite beauty."

Martin Sheen plays Tom Avery, a California ophthalmologist. Tom is a widower estranged from his only son, Daniel (Emilio Estevez), a wanderer, who Tom rejects for his lack of focus. When Tom learns that Daniel has died in a storm whilst crossing the Pyrenees, he leaves immediately for St Jean Pied de Port (“St John at the Foot of the Pass”) to identify his son's body, oversees its cremation and decides on the spot to scatter the ashes along the Way that Daniel planned to trek and uses Daniel's rucksack and hiking gear, and thus begins to collect the truth about who his son was.

Daniel had only just begun the Camino Francés (the “French Way”) of 778-km from St Jean Pied de Port across the Pyrenees and northern Spain to the Cathedral of Santiago in Spain and is the most well-known and well-travelled of the pilgrim roads to Santiago. Three of the main routes through France (from Paris, Vézelay and Le Puy-en-Velay) feed into it on the French side of the Pyrenees while the fourth, from Arles, joins it 3-4 days later in Puente la Reina.

The Route. Some 778-km long, starting either in St Jean Pied de Port on the French side of both the mountains and the border or 27-km later in Roncesvalles in Spain.  It passes through Pamplona, Puente la Reina, Estella, Logroño, Burgos, León, Astorga, Ponferrada and Sarria before it reaches the “City of the Apostle” in the western reaches of Galicia. 

Waymarking. The route is well-waymarked throughout with yellow arrows painted on rocks, trees. buildings as well as with plaques and signposts bearing stylised shell symbols and the Council of Europe blue and gold shell logos.

Terrain. Varied, beginning with the ascent and/or descent of the Pyrenees then passing through the undulating meseta (tableland) of the central part of the route between Burgos and León. After that the Camino enters the Montes de León before entering Galicia, green, wooded and criss-crossed with old walled lanes.

Weather/When to go. The route is normally practicable throughout the year.  It is likely to snow in the Pyrenees, the Montes de Oca (before Burgos) and parts of the Montes de León and Galicia in winter and early spring. It also rains heavily in Navarre at that time and you can, unfortunately, expect torrential rain in Galicia at any time of the year, even during July and August.  Most parts of the route are extremely hot in the summer.  April-June and September-October are recommended.

What to see. Important cathedrals and abbeys in Pamplona, Burgos, León, Astorga and Santiago itself, plus many interesting smaller cathedrals, churches and other historic monuments. Many pilgrim, St James, St Roch and other related references, art and architecture along the way.

Accommodation. Plentiful, at frequent walking distances along the way, and of all types: albergues,  hostales, pensiones, casas rurales (B&Bs), plus some campsites (summer only).

Distinctive features of the route/General. Formerly a quiet, solitary route the Camino Francés has become extremely popular in recent years. In 2003 over 65,000 pilgrims of all ages, backgrounds, motivations, abilities and nationalities walked, cycled or rode all or part of this route. By 2010 this had reached 272,703. As a result accommodation is in short supply during the busy periods. In a few places along the route churches/religious orders have pilgrim services/vespers.

Guide Books. In 2000, we carried Alison Raju's Way of St James: Pyrenees -  Santiago - Finisterre. Of course, today there are many guide books to choose from. Yet, if starting from or passing through St Jean Pied de Port the pilgrim office will provide a credential (required for staying in albergues), maps and an up-to-date list of albergues en route to Santiago. They are a helpful bunch and speak a variety of languages.

Tom begins to understand the life that his son was trying to live. A life that was the polar opposite of his. We learn that the journey can be motivated by reasons outside a search for God. Even as Tom stops along the way to spread the ashes of his son, he is stubborn non-believer. But the loner eventually hooks up with three other pilgrims, a Dutchman (a splendidly funny Yorick van Wageningen) trying to lose weight, an emotionally wounded Canadian woman (Debora Kara Unger) trying to give up cigarettes, and an Irish writer (James Nesbitt) who tries to draw Tom out and record the story of father and son. This self-absorbed eye doctor begins to see the world with new eyes. The Way is a gift or homage from a son to his father.

Pilgrims often describe being changed by the experience of the Camino, and say its the best thing that’s ever happened to them. The Camino has a way of opening our eyes to the simplicity and pleasures of life. Maybe its the routine day to day repetitive activity that brings us to search deep within ourselves and find out who we really are.

Like Tom, you may not be keen to meet others but over time you accept that it's a long walk and making friends adds to the experience. Conversations on the Camino can last for days. The walking, and the nothing-to-do-but-walking makes for a gentle, rambling, stream-of-consciousness type conversation that’s precious and unique. You’ll never forget some of these talks. Also, talk to locals as much as possible. Many Spaniards can’t speak much if any English, most pilgrims can’t speak much if any Spanish, but they generally find they don’t mind and it’s fun conversing with people using the language of charades. Some days you may ask yourself why you’re on this hike. Some days can seem all but the same and other days can be more difficult than the last. You never know who you’ll meet or what kind of person they are and that mystery and knowledge that people are open to meeting you too makes it exciting and interesting.

Hand-in-hand with these I believe is the need to carry an open mind and heart on this pilgrimage.  Many speak of beautiful encounters with other travellers, places that deliver special meaning and events that touch uniquely and deeply.  Such circumstances and events seem most profound that in another situation might go unheeded. Making an unexpected stop or taking a secondary path, learning about the history of someone just met, stopping to hear vespers in an ancient church – it is in such circumstances the unique unfolds, bringing with it great personal value.

Prepare for the unpreparable-for. You will cry and scream and shout and hate people, things and trees. You will rail against the world, yourself, your shoes, your pack. You’ll be jealous, petty, hungry, thirsty, furious, ecstatic, joyful, silly, sick, stupid, inane and perfect. You’ll be intensely involved with the intricate workings and changes in your own body and you’ll be thrown up against a wide variety of people from all over the world. You’ll essentially be given a crash course in what it means to be human. Enjoy the hell out of it.

The Camino will touch an inner sense for you, suggest possibilities, a great journey of the heart to match the physical trek.  Each day there is something new to be experienced in every picturesque scene and encounters with other pilgrims.  Enjoy the basics of life on a long walk, a surprising amount goes on within, much of it subtle and gentle of spirit. This inner time is different to the everyday life of home and work, at least in my experience of the Camino de Santiago. The difference is invoked by the process of accepting simplicity, humility, peacefulness, meeting a kaleidoscope of the world’s citizens, and the absence of contemporary distractions and stress.

There will be long stretches of quiet. You need these long stretches of solitude to listen and talk to God. I relate to Tom as a fellow pilgrim, and like him realise there’s more to life than the pap and distractions dished-up by the dominant culture. Yet, everyone hikes the Camino with some purpose whatever that may be.  I'm sure that all, even if they don’t search for it, find a meaning suited to them after hiking the Camino.

The wandering monk Fa-yen was asked by Ti-ts'ang, "Where are you going?"
"Around on pilgrimage," said Fa-yen.
Ti-ts'ang asked, "What is the purpose of pilgrimage?"
"I don't know," replied Fa-yen.
Ti-ts'ang nodded and said, "Not knowing is nearest."

How do you discover meaningful purposes for your life and once discovered, how do you live purposefully so you can accomplish them? Many Western mental health approaches focus primarily on symptom reduction - how can we help this person to feel better? But preoccupation with feeling better often distracts us from accomplishing the important purposes of our life... Living purposefully means staying focused on what’s important and not being distracted... Distraction is one obstacle to a purposeful life. The other is a desire for comfort or pleasant feelings. Both lead us away from a life which offers fulfilment and meaning - a life we can look back on without regrets.

Implicit in Shoma Morita's method is an independence of thought and action, something a little alien to the Western ideal to "follow our whims and moods." Morita held that we can no more control our thoughts than we can control the weather, as both are phenomena of most amazingly complex natural systems. And if we have no hope of controlling our emotions, we can hardly be held responsible any more than we can be held responsible for feeling hot or cold. We do, however, have complete dominion over our behaviour, and for Morita, that is a sacred responsibility.

The underlying message of this is to plan as little as possible of your journey of the Camino beyond the physical logistics. But consider that expectations and over-planning can minimize the inner beauty and potential experiences of the journey: take earplugs, keep a journal, and pack ultra light.

Be open to what comes along.  Walk each day only when it arrives.  Listen to your inner voice as it calls out. In the quiet of walking Spain, that voice is clear and obvious, perhaps as it never has been before. This inner voice is the heart talking, connected with the outside world in ways that might never be fully appreciated, until it is given the opportunity.

The Camino is just such an opportunity, and the heart is an amazing guide. The best advice I can offer above all else, is to let it, and don't forget to carry a good wad of toilet paper.

Lies, propaganda and Australian politics

Lie: "The prime minister is elected by the Australian people."

The Australian prime minister is not directly elected by the constituents. Barring exceptional circumstances, the prime minister is always the leader of the political party or coalition with majority support in the House of Representatives. However, there is no fixed tenure for the position and any serving prime minister may have that position challenged and removed by members of their party or coalition. Further, the office of prime minister is not mentioned in the Constitution of Australia specifically and exists by an unwritten political convention. The conventions of the Westminster system were thought to be sufficiently entrenched that it was deemed unnecessary to detail them.

Australia’s print media

Put aside anything published by propagandists Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation or by John Fairfax Holdings. Below is a short list of Australian publications that maybe a trifle more truthful and less manipulative. I hope so as they are my sources for information about goings-on in Australia.

These corporations are profit-seeking businesses funded by advertisers who want their ads to appear in a supportive selling environment. These newspapers are also dependent on government and major business firms as information sources, and both efficiency and political considerations, and frequently overlapping interests, cause a degree of solidarity to prevail among government, major newspapers, and other corporate businesses. Government and large non-media business firms are also positioned (and sufficiently wealthy) to be able to pressure newspapers with threats of withdrawal of advertising, libel suits, and other direct and indirect modes of attack.

These factors linked together reflect the multi-levelled capability of the all powerful arcane, interconnected world of multinational corporations, government departments, think tanks and collectives to exert power over the flow of information. The corporate media is structured in a way that protects and furthers the interests of state-corporate power.

If these newspapers gets the bulk of their income from business advertisers, how likely do you think it is that they will tell the truth about any horrible things those advertisers might be doing?

Crikey
Crikey’s aim is very simple: to bring its readers the inside word on what’s really going on in politics, government, media, business, the arts, sport and other aspects of public life in Australia. Crikey reveals how the powerful operate behind the scenes, and it tackles the stories insiders are talking about but other media can’t or won’t cover.

Crikey sees its role as part of the so-called fourth estate that acts as a vital check and balance on the activities of government, the political system and the judiciary. In addition, Crikey believes the performance and activities of business, the media, PR and other important sectors are worthy of public scrutiny.

Crikey is a showcase for information that might otherwise remain suppressed. It’s a place where people can go - anonymously or not - with information they believe is in the public interest. If Crikey publishes such information, its status is identified. Crikey aims for full transparency in what it publishes, but we recognise that unconfirmed reports can often be the starting point for the disclosure of important information. Where published material cannot be 100% confirmed, Crikey aims to ensure its readers know it is unconfirmed or uncorroborated.

Crikey aims to be fair and open in its journalism. It does not seek to be malicious, prurient or invade an individual’s privacy unless the information is relevant to an individual’s public or corporate duties.

In order to achieve its editorial aspirations, Crikey must also operate as a business. Its primary sources of revenue are subscriptions and advertising. Crikey aims to be open and honest in all its commercial activities, and reserves the right to reject any advertising it regards as unethical or in any other way unsuitable.

Most importantly, Crikey is independent and is not part of a media empire.

Green Left Weekly
In these days of growing media concentration, Green Left Weekly is a proudly independent voice committed to human and civil rights, global peace and environmental sustainability, democracy and equality. By printing the news and ideas the mainstream media won't, Green Left Weekly exposes the lies and distortions of the power brokers and helps us to better understand the world around us.

Green Left Weekly, launched in 1990 by progressive activists to present the views excluded by the big business media, is now Australia's leading source of local, national and international news, analysis, and discussion and debate to strengthen the anti-capitalist movements.

Meanjin
Meanjin was founded in Brisbane by Clem Christesen (the name, pronounced Mee-an-jin, is derived from an Aboriginal word for the finger of land on which central Brisbane sits) in 1940. It moved to Melbourne in 1945 at the invitation of the University of Melbourne. It currently receives funding from the university, the Literature Fund of the Australia Council for the Arts, CAL and Arts Victoria as well as receiving vital support through subscriptions and other sales. At the beginning of 2008 Meanjin became an imprint of Melbourne University Publishing.

Known primarily as a literary magazine, Christesen ensured that Meanjin reflected the breadth of contemporary thinking, be it on literature, other art forms, or the broader issues of the times. This breadth has characterised Meanjin for more than 70 years, continuing under its eight subsequent editors – Jim Davidson, Judith Brett, Jenny Lee, Christina Thompson, Stephanie Holt, Ian Britain, Sophie Cunningham and Sally Heath. A list of the contributors to Meanjin includes Australian writers Judith Wright, Kylie Tennant, Manning Clark, Vance & Nettie Palmer, A D Hope, Dymphna Cusack, Martin Boyd, Alan Marshall, Dorothy Hewett, Peter Singer, Vincent Buckley, Donald Horne, Patrick White, Gwen Harwood, Bruce Dawe, David Malouf, Humphrey McQueen, Jack Hibberd, Roberta Sykes, Helen Garner, Alex Miller, Frank Moorhouse, John Morrison, Hal Porter, Rodney Hall, A A Phillips, Peter Carey, Alice Pung, Michelle de Kretser, J M Coetzee, Carmen Callil and Dorothy Porter. International authors published include Jean-Paul Satre, and Kurt Vonnegut.

Overland magazine
Overland, the most radical of Australia’s long-standing literary and cultural magazines, celebrated its 50th year in 2004.

Publishing features, fiction, poetry, reviews, comment, artwork and opinion pieces, Overland is committed to engaging with important literary, cultural and political issues in contemporary Australia. It has a tradition of publishing dissenting articles with a political and cultural focus.

With ‘culture that matters … since 1954’ as its motto, Overland is the only high-profile Australian literary magazine that sees the publication and advancement of new and marginal writers as part of its charter.

Produced quarterly, Overland was founded in 1954 under the editorship of Stephen Murray-Smith, with the motto ‘temper democratic, bias Australian’. At the time it incorporated The Realist Writer, the journal of the Melbourne Realist Writers’ Group.

Contributors over the years include Peter Carey, Patrick White, Garry Disher, Elizabeth Jolley, Stuart Macintyre, David Foster, Germaine Greer, Dorothy Hewett, Bob Ellis, Mark Davis, Sam Watson, David Williamson, Thomas Shapcott, Judith Wright, Rodney Hall, Gwen Harwood, Thea Astley, Alan Marshall, Xavier Herbert, Amanda Lohrey, Eric Beach, Bruce Dawe, Frank Moorhouse, Manning Clark, Humphrey McQueen, Christina Stead, Geoffrey Dutton, Max Harris, Chris Wallace-Crabbe, Nancy Cato, Frank Hardy, Lily Brett, Peter Porter, James McAuley, Geoffrey Serle, Graham Pitts, Desmond O’Grady, Robert Adamson, Ian Turner, Jack Hibberd, Dean Kiley, Christos Tsiolkas, Alex Buzo, Martin Flanagan, Marcia Langton, Fiona Capp, Margaret Simons, Linda Jaivin and many others.

Yet Overland also gives a voice to the experiences that are excluded from the mainstream media and publishing outlets. The magazine has been part of an ongoing attempt to document lesser-known stories and histories, dissect media hysteria and dishonesty, debunk the populist hype of politicians, give a voice to those whose stories are otherwise marginalised, misrepresented or ignored, and point public debate in alternative directions.

While Overland remains committed to the quarterly print journal, the journal’s project now also includes regular online publication.

The Daily Bludge
The Daily Bludge seeks to provide a fresh perspective on current affairs and political events in Australia and around the world.

We wish to expose our readers to a broad diversity of opinions, so if you are interested in contributing an article or in joining our team of bloggers please shoot us an e-mail at admin@dailybludge.com.au.

A rough guideline for article submissions are as follows:

• Feel free to write about any topic of your choosing
• Word length should generally be somewhere between 400 – 1000 words (longer is acceptable)
• Controversial points of view are welcome as long as you articulate your argument clearly
• If you need any sort of clarification please e-mail us at admin@dailybludge.com.au

If you have artistic skills and want to contribute the odd political cartoon, please do. If you have artistic skills, but aren’t quite sure what to draw feel free to contact us at admin@dailybludge.com.au - I’m sure we can throw around a few ideas.

Also, budding photojournalists out there are welcome to submit photos for use in articles or for addition to a soon-to-be-formed image gallery.