mike

Maybe at this point just make list of Writers Festivals/Prizes that aren’t completely awful. Seems like it wouldn’t take long to type up.

David Stratton, esteemed Australian film critic, dies aged 85 The international cinema expert was beloved for his film reviews, particularly on television with Margaret Pomeranz * David Stratton’s closing credits: ‘I’ve done the best I could’ David Stratton, the revered Australian film critic and beloved co-host of television programs The Movie Show and At The Movies with fellow critic Margaret Pomeranz, has died aged 85. Born in the English town of Trowbridge in 1939, Stratton was sent to live with his grandmother in Hampshire during the second world war. An avid filmgoer, she took Stratton to the cinema almost every day, which changed his life. In the 2017 documentary David Stratton: A Cinematic Life, Stratton said he watched “at least one” film he hadn’t seen every day, and had seen more than 25,000 films in his life. Continue reading...

David Stratton, esteemed Australian film critic, dies aged 85

Film critic David Stratton dies aged 85 His family announced his death on Thursday afternoon, saying he died peacefully in hospital near his home in the Blue Mountains.

Oh man, this sucks. RIP. www.abc.net.au/news/2025-08...

And here I am agonising over a couple of paragraphs like a doofus

People keep saying that if we uphold the law, the business models of AI companies wouldn’t be possible and they’d go out of business, to which I say: let’s do it

In the interests of fairness and the Australian economy, it’s time to start taxing the family home | Peter Siminski and Roger Wilkins for the Conversation Income from investing in owner-occupied housing is tax-free, while all other investments attract tax

I concede I’m not that smart, but this makes no sense? www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...

British 10-year-old defeats chess grandmaster Shocking her family and commentators, British 10-year-old Bodhana Sivanandan beats 60-year-old grandmaster Peter Wells in the last round of the 2025 British Chess Championships.

www.abc.net.au/news/2025-08...

More on Atlassian billionaire Scott Farquhar’s thoughts on AI and Australian art Australia should adopt US-style copyright law to allow artificial intelligence to suck up all creative content or risk harming investment in the industry in Australia, according to Atlassian founder, Scott Farquhar. Farquhar, the Tech Council of Australia CEO, told ABC’s 7.30 program on Tuesday: “all AI usage of mining or searching or going across data is probably illegal under Australian law and I think that hurts a lot of investment of these companies in Australia”. Scott Farquhar Image Scott Farquhar. Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAP

If your business model is based on stealing other peoples hard work, complaining about the laws so you can steal more is a really dumb take, no matter how rich you are.

Well, that’s a shame

I don’t think you’re ready

a long, light brown creature rests on her back. her eyes are drooping closed, her tongue sticks out a teeny bit, and she has no visible ears. her front paws (flippers?) are tucked up close to her body like a t-rex’s arms. the long noodle body has no other appendages within frame. (it's a chihuahua, or so we're told, but we would also have bought "potato" or "sea otter.")

We only rate dogs. This is a southern sleepy seal pup. Please read her a short but comforting bedtime story, and only send dogs. Thank you… 13/10 (credit Brie the Chi)

Who called it the AI industry and not a git repository?

Prime Minister refuses to denounce cake after terrorists seen sharing Swiss Roll

slightly diminish a band:

Piglets Piglets Piglets Piglets Piglets Piglets Piglets

Who called it the AI industry and not a git repository?

In these sexual assaults, which at least anecdotally seem to be exploding in number on both sides of the Atlantic, 2 things strike me:

1- They always seem to want to see breasts, which is bizarre on a number of levels
2- Anti-trans groups intended this. They wanted this & should be held to account

Transphobes are a public menace.

I'm leaving the Edinburgh Fringe, after 13 shows, with a sense of melancholy. A toast to all the artistes in that grand old city, risking everything to make strangers laugh. Absolutely pathetic behaviour, when you think about it. Have some respect for yourselves.

I miss romcoms from 2004 where the female protagonist lived in an open plan apartment with a balcony and her job was recipe writer for the local gazette or some shit. Nowadays romcoms are all "a man cheated on this chick who lives in a sewer coz the bank closed down".

Reports say Young Labour membership has plummeted from 100,000 dweebs to 30,000 actual sociopaths.

Ducks walking on Hydrangea petals.

“Shut up!” screamed Toad.

Ask him which one. See his brain melt.

Imagine thinking you had a shot with Emma Thompson

Utter tosh. There's nothing wrong with those authors, but the idea that you have to pass an entrance exam to be allowed to enjoy a genre is gatekeeping rubbish. It's like saying you can't enjoy the new Superman movie until you've first seen the 1948 theatrical serial.

Australia's decision to recognise Palestine is not just symbolic It is easy to reduce an assessment of the recognition of Palestine to claims that it is nothing more than symbolic, or that it will have little practical impact on the ground.

www.abc.net.au/news/2025-08...

Marc Maron is absolutely right here

“We’re only starving sick children”

He specifically honed in on photos of starving children published in the international media, which he said were actually suffering other diseases and conditions.

You get that that’s worse, right? www.abc.net.au/news/2025-08...

Australian Chamber Orchestra slams ANU plan as 'cultural vandalism' The Australian Chamber Orchestra's Richard Tognetti has warned that the ANU's plan to axe its School of Music would result in an "act of cultural vandalism", with another Canberra ensemble saying its ...

What are universities even for?

www.abc.net.au/news/2025-08...