Culture

  • Museworthy: Burnt Things

    Museworthy: Burnt Things eyes widening into screens where animals-run-in-herds, someone shootingthe scene from a helicopter (one is always shot), the split-secondof a blink, and darkness becomes the sort of sleep analogous to death,all we can

  • A reminder of who invented terror bombing

    A History of BombingBy Sven LindqvistGranta Books, 2001224 pages $39.95 (hb) REVIEW BY PHIL SHANNON When the first bomb was dropped from the air on November 1, 1911, the pattern for the subsequent history of aerial bombing was set. A European

  • Museworthy: The Brick Kiln

    The Brick Kiln the little boy squatted to pissin front of the huge mouth of the ovenhe was tired/of repaying the debthe was born/carrying the last obligationof his father/no more self-lostthan his son who in seven yearsdidn't wonder how many

  • A small ugly Satan

    Those who have followed the work of Green Left Weekly cartoonist Chris Kelly will have observed Prime Minister John Howard evolve from a small ugly man into a small ugly Satan (sorry Satan). Kelly has taken Howard's transition one stage further

  • Better than before, but...

    REVIEW BY MAX WATTS It is a simple, well-filmed story by Liz Thompson. During a war a man kills his near neighbour. After the war is over, the man is haunted by his deed. He feels deep regret and shame for what he has done. He seeks out the widow,

  • The other evolutionist

    Alfred Russel Wallace: A LifeBy Peter RabyChatto & Windus, 2001340 pages, $75 (hb) REVIEW BY PHIL SHANNON In an ironic illustration of the concept of "survival of the fittest", Charles Darwin's name has successfully survived as the originator of

  • By any means necessary

    A Force More Powerful: A Century of Nonviolent ConflictBy Peter Ackerman and Jack DuVallPalgrave, 2000505 pages., $35.00 (pb) REVIEW BY JONATHAN STRAUSS A Force More Powerful tells a lot of history: general strikes, boycotts, demonstrations,

  • A witness, not a victim

    A Place to StandJimmy Santiago BacaGrove Press, 2001US$24.95 (available at <http://www.amazon.com&#062; REVIEW BY BILL NEVINS Jimmy Santiago Baca loves good food. He has eaten in the finest restaurants of Santa Fe, LA and Europe. He still

  • An attempt to 'save' the family

    Wifework: What Marriage Really Means for WomenBy Susan MaushartText Publishing, Melbourne, 2001269 pages, $24.95 REVIEW BY ANGELA LUVERA Prime Minister John Howard's assertion that the family is the best welfare unit reflects his government's

  • Focus on activist theatre

    CANBERRA — The changing face of politics and grass roots activism are addressed in four works in the Festival of the Contemporary Arts theatre program. Canberra's fifth Festival of the Contemporary Arts (FoCA5) is being held from

  • Inspiring memories of M1

    M1: People Resist Corporate GlobalisationActively Radical TV, Sydney$30 individuals, $60 organisationsSend cheque to 73-75 Princes Highway, St Peters, NSW, 2044Phone (02) 9565 5522 REVIEW BY LAUREN CARROLL HARRIS Everyone who took part in this

  • Asylum seeking in Australia

    Blood drenched dreams danglingfrom the spikes of the razor wire —so close to freedom.Wild fearful eyes stareinto our collective consciousnessand sear our indifference.Batoned discipline enforcedby Wackenhut guards — Capitalism's storm troopers.