Not Dead Just Moved

As the title implies, I'm not dead! I'm just moving to a new blog at wordpress, which is what - like Ivan -I should have done to begin with. The pretentious title has been changed to another pretentious title, Kierkeguardians, and there's a short post up already on philosophy called Thinking the Limits.

"Every so often I ride past a primary school on my way to the city. (I say this so you don’t think I’m some kind of perverted child-watcher.) Every time, if there are any children out on the oval, at least one is always walking along the line of the fence. I remember people, including myself, do the same in high school: gravitate to the limit of where we were allowed to be. You often see caged animals – other caged animals, I mean – patrol the edges of where they can go. It doesn’t even have to be an artificial cage. Consider the attraction of cliff-top walks, for instance. Like probing at a loose tooth or scratching at a scab, this appears to be a basic animal instinct."

Read the rest of it over at my new home (how many links to my new blog can I fit in this post?). Expect more philosophy, less hip-hop, and more frothingly contrarian posts on politics.

Capitalism And You

I've written a little, mostly whimsical article about McDonald's restaurants in Melbourne. Given that it touches on capitalism, I figured it might be of some interest to you radical types.

If 'Coca-Cola' is the most recognised word in the world, then McDonald's golden arches would have to be the most recognized symbol. There are McDonald's restaurants in one hundred and nineteen countries, and economist Thomas Friedman once famously said that no country with a McDonald's has ever gone to war with one another.

He was wrong, of course – take the US invasion of Panama, or the 2006 Lebanon War – but McDonald's has nonetheless gained a certain currency among capitalist, free-market types. Even in liberal Melbourne, where 'capitalism' is a dirty word, street corners throughout the CBD blossom with fibreglass-fronted, golden-arched fast food restaurants.

The rest of the article is here.

I Get Plagarized

I write articles about things to do in major Australian cities. One of those articles - about some strange illegal things to do in Melbourne, so it might have some interest for you filthy anarchists - was recently copied almost word-for-word on the site of one guy who has since taken the article down for good and will remain unnamed. Apparently he paid for some freelance content that he didn't know had been stolen from me. Here's a tip for people soliciting articles: do a quick Google before you put work up on your website, just in case the writer has, ah, cut corners.

Ron Paul Is Not a Libertarian

Or is he? Thanks to Clarissa for the idea - we'll see if it's a formula for guaranteed success.

There's a link up in the sidebar now (or will be soon) to the place where I write reviews about my city.  If you want to read more of my incredible prose style and piercing insights, you're clearly a person of calculated and discerning tastes, and your wait is over.

Shameless Self-Promotion

Some days ago I wrote an article for WeekendNotes (sort of like an online guide for cities) about ways to take your date out in Melbourne when you're broke.  If you're interested - or if you feel like doing me a favour and getting my pageviews up - here it is:

Top 5 Dates For When You're Broke