L'eclipse


In which everything under the Sun is obscured by the Moon.

I return to a rainy Sydney. This is odd, because - as I've heard tell - it's been raining more-or-less continuously since Thursday. That would make this the fifth straight day of rain - and I assume that's a bit unusual for these parts. But it's spring rain, and nothing is more blessed.

There's so much to say about Melbourne; the horrid weather - ranging from 15 to 35 in a single day (Melbournians say, "Melbourne has four seasons - in a single day!") - the lovely cafes and shops, the very European feel (like Milan), the very pleasant people. More wonderful Australians just brimming with all sorts of ideas. Funky neighborhoods (Fitzroy and Carlton) where you can cafe hop, all day long. And so on.

To say that my SPAA talk was a success would be an understatement. It was such a success, I made page 3 of THE AGE (the Melbourne daily), the Sydney Morning Herald, and I was interviewed on "triple-M" (MMM) a nationwide rock-and-roll radio station. That was fun, and odd, because I got to trash FOX News (which they receive here, on cable) and trash FOXTEL, all in just 36 hours time.

I have to admit, I let Kim Williams and the FOXTEL crowd have it, with both barrels, in the middle of my talk. It was such a talking point that Kim Williams was compelled to comment (though he had not heard my speech) that "anyone who said that would have to be incredibly stupid". Heheh. I believe that means I've struck home, and perhaps, with my small lever and my bully pulpit, have begun to slowly change the course of Australian interactive TV.

That is one good thing about Australia - one person can, perhaps, just perhaps, effect some positive change. It remains to be seen if in the next weeks or months whether this change will play out in the programming available through FOXTEL, but at least we've got them thinking about it, and on the defensive. Which is where they need to be. It means they're open - to all sorts of interesting and outlandish ideas.

I also gave a kick-ass lecture at RMIT, titled "The Age of Active Materials ," which is more of my Intelligence + Activity themes explored in The Playful World. I am hoping it's a good thing that I can spin the ideas taken from a book and continue working with them, even now, three years later. It means the ideas are still fresh. I hope. The talk was for about 40 design students at Lab3000, a lab at RMIT which focuses on the issues involved in design. Just the folks I want to be talking to.

While ferrying between RMIT and SPAA, I got a call on my mobile; Louise at AFTRS informed me that today's iTV day had been cancelled. Why? Because they only had eight registrations. Perhaps because it was too close to SPAA. No one really knows. They'll try to do it next semester. But today I still get to talk to the students. Whee! Some actual lecturing. Something I haven't really had a chance to do at AFTRS. This could be a *lot* of fun. Here's hoping.

And over it all, the eclipse of the sun - which is a total eclipse, for folks in Antarctica - is now proceeding. About 22 minutes to totality - in this part of the world, about 30% of the sun's disk will be covered. Not bad. But, being as cloudy as it is, it's not possible to know or tell. It'll just look as though the clouds are thickening, I suppose. And there's a pity. But, either way, I'm listening to Dark Side of the Moon, because, well, that's the album to listen to during an eclipse. (Another possibility would be Within the Realm of a Dying Sun, but that's better suited for Yule.)

I've realized that I have just 4 weeks left at AFTRS, before it closes for the holidays, and my on-site consultancy comes to a close. That doesn't give me much time to get my work completed, so I need to hit the ground running this week, and get as much work done as possible. All eyes are on me now, given the tremendous impact I had at SPAA, and it's important that I maintain my focus, and my political agility. I wouldn't want to sink the ship now, at such a delicate moment. That would simply be a shame, and an unnecessary loss. This battle is mine to lose now, so I must maintain my forward momentum, continue gathering allies, and approach everyone with openness, listening to them, as the hard word of curriculum redesign begins.

What else is there to say? I am happy to report that I'm wearing my black Levi's today. This is the first day I've been able to wear them comfortably for several months - really, since March. The Atkins diet appears to be doing its trick, and though it was impossible to count my carbohydrates in Melbourne, I was able to maintain a low-carbohydrate diet while on the road, and that's very good news, because it means that with common sense, I should be able to practice this diet anywhere I go. This week I can be very nice and strict, and splurge a little bit on Friday night, when we celebrate Thanksgiving. I have to try to swim every day this week - which may be a bit problematic, given the prevailing weather - so that I lose even more weight before I head to Queensland this weekend. Whee!

Ten minutes to totality. "...But the Sun is eclipsed by the Moon."

Posted: Mon - November 24, 2003 at 08:36 AM        

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