Platitudes, Playing Perth and a World Heritage Park [19.11.2008]

You might like to check out my latest Radio National program - a voice-piece for Lingua Franca broadcast this week - an essay in defence of platitudes. There is a transcript available on the RN website and for a while you can also listen to the program online.

I had a very enjoyable, if somewhat rain-drenched, week of gigs with Paul Kelly at The Quarry in Perth recently. (click here for a review of the A-Z shows in The Australian newspaper). The Quarry is a stunningly beautiful outdoor venue and will be well-used in the forthcoming Perth International Arts Festival, February/March 2009. If you're flying Qantas early next year, keep an eye out for an article i'm writing about the Perth Festival for 'The Australian Way' inflight magazine.

Also just back from visiting Mildura and Mungo National Park in southern New South Wales. We took a tour of the park with Graham Clark, a traditional owner who runs Harry Nanya Tours, who told us all about the history of the lake as one of the oldest sites of human occupation, dating back around 60,000 years. You can still see ancient Aboriginal middens revealed by the winds blowing across the dry lake bed to the Walls of China, a crescent of white sand dunes which turns a lurid shade of orange/pink at sunset. Amazing place.