Nationalism = Racism

I was thinking to myself - 'Why do people always want the best for their country? ie. Why do they prefer government policies that benefit their own country as the expense of other countries?'. It is a concept that often goes completely unchallenged - of course Australians want the best for the Australia - we're Australian!! But what makes us Australian? The fact that we are born or raised (or both) on a certain piece of land and issued with an Australian passport, and possibly also growing up with Australian 'culture'. That is pretty much it. For other countries around the world there is a stronger case for ethnicity representing the nation, which only further supports my argument that desiring the best for your country, your people, your race, is racism.

I don't think there is valid argument (I would love someone to present me with one) why we should give priority to people who hold the same passport as us when it comes to foreign policy decisions. The problem is that it is virtually impossible for a unilateral move to this kind of utopian 'foreign' policy where governments are working together to better the world, not their country. It would take something more like a global government (my utopia) to ensure that 'nations' don't take advantage of the generous or the weak (as they do now).

Can you imagine a world where all production and distribution is coordinated in an ecologically sustainable and equitable way? The capacity of currently Third and Fourth world nations (generally in terms of their arable land) to feed themselves and the rest of the world goes untapped as they struggle with urbanisation, civil war, and population expansion (which is a result, not a cause of the poverty). It would be the ultimately efficient world, no-one would starve, the worlds ecosystems would be saved and restored somewhat, and.....it wouldn't be Brave New World if that's what is creeping into the minds of the visionless sceptics.

But for the foreseeable future (or maybe forever) we are caught in the globally destructive cycle of nations competing against each other - for the good of 'their' people.

Happy Birthday Mum and Christian!!

Boarding Morzine-Les Gets

We've just returned from a sensational week of snowboarding the Morzine-Les Gets resort in the French Alps.

The week began on Saturday afternoon when to my horror I realised that my passport was locked securely away at work. I leapt aboard the next Eastbound Hammersmith and City tube and sped (as fast as the H&C line can speed) my way to my work. To my disapointment the building was barred and chained [insert Fort Knox metaphor]. With only 66p left of credit on my mobile I managed to find the security company's sticker with their phone number and prepared my most panicked and desperate tone of voice. Luckily the young lady on the other end of the phone informed me that a security guard could drop around shortly and let me in to the premises - the visions of charging through glass windows with my shoulder and sprinting down alleyways to escape the authorities evaporated quickly.

Lucas and I treated ourselves and Tracy to a chinese dinner in celebration of Trakka's newly acquired job - good one Trace. Then headed to John and Lani's flat to try and get a few winks of sleep before embarking on our adrenalin-promised adventure.

Awake at 3:30am, mini-cab at 4:30am, flight at 6:30am, bus from Geneva airport at 11:00am, arrival at the little French alpine village of Morzine and our home for the next week - Chalet Charley. We then met up with our crew for the week - Damo, Amy, Ingrid, Tom, Tim, Tash, Damien and Kristen (making 12 of us in total). Supermarket was expertly located by Lucas and I, then boards and skis and boots were hired. All set for an early getaway onto those shining white slopes sitting at the back of our chalet - now where is the pub.....

As I explained to Lucas, there is only one night of a ski trip when you won't be feeling totally knackered - that is the first night. Therefore - the first night is the best night for exploring the nightlife of our village. We managed to explore two bars before making our way home around 3am (Lucas and I sharing the sofa-bed on the first night)

As you'd expect we woke up the next morning feeling bright as buttons and ready to take on the world. In case you can't tell I am being sarcastic (sorry - homer quote). We did manage to drag ourselves to the first chairlift very shortly after they began operating and any traces of a hangover melted away in the crisp sunny -7c morning.

The rest is history really - many of the group were begginers and soon got the hang of their respective skis/boards (despite some nasty looking bruises along the way). Each of us dragged ourselves back into the chalet exhausted and bruised every afternoon and shared our war stories over $2 bottles of Bordeaux while snacking on camembert, biscuits and baguettes only to thrust ourselves over the edge of some frighteningly steep and icy cliffs the following morning.

Now the first night is the only night when you won't be feeling exhausted - but the last night has to be the biggest. And it certainly was! Our team dominated the dance floor at the local bar until closing time when we relocated the party to our Chalet. Now I am an including sort of person, and when I knew that there were some lonely souls upstairs I charged up (making the most of the great acoustics by stomping on the wooden stairs) and told them how very welcome they were to join in the party with such illustrious snowboarding talents as were assembled downstairs. 'Not happy' was general vibe the following morning. But I felt warm for knowing that they weren't left out.

I've returned to London with a sinking feeling (and a twisted neck and strained hip flexor, will heal in a couple of chair bound office days), but after such an adrenalin filled week with a bunch of great people the only way to go was down and I'm still sitting on top of Pointe Nyon in comparison to the leaden feelings of the previous three months. With another six days of boarding in Italy next week I think the batteries and associated exuberance will have restored itself just enough to see myself slog through the last five months in this country.

A couple of new videos in the video gallery (right hand menu). A mini guitar session in Cuba that I recently discovered, and us about to hit the freestyle park on our boards.....

Two thousand and six

I'm not exactly sure what to write for my first post in 2006. The year of 2005 was such a huge year - I can still barely believe that this time last year I was heading back down to the farm to see my parents after a big night out in Brisbane with my brother and sister and all our friends. Actually in remembering that night the first thing that springs to mind is was the presence of John Arneil - I believe that last year the two of us were walking through the streets of Brisbane city at around 7am trying to figure out how we would get home. And again this year Johnny was in the middle of the action as we had turns carrying the other on their shoulders (this was after the bouncers kicked us off the ledge that we were using as a podium). I've been having a good run of new year's eve celebrations actually. The last three have all been memorable events for different reasons. This year was great because I had all my friends from London (consisting of family, friends from Australia, friends from travel, friends from work and other friends we've made in London) under our roof and having a great time. The photos are up....

Gosh I'm rambling now. I had a read of Tracy's blog and she keeps very much more to the point of what she writes about. Anyway - here's a quick summary of what Lucas and I plan for 2006 (should I go off on a tangent about our joint planning and how we are like a married couple? or can you all make that assumption already?):

January - ski trips and some working
February - working and saving (we think this will be the toughest month in 2006 - still freezing)
March - working and saving, my contract expires at the end of March as does our living arrangement in this place and our gym membership - the end of March will be time of change.
April - new house, new job for me, working and saving. Lucas's 25th birthday 'bash'.
May - working, saving, my birthday bonanza.
June - the last month of working and saving
July - Lucas travels to Canada for wedding etc. I do some travel around Europe.
August - GONE. Starting in Turkey we work our way down through the Middle East and then across, up, around and down as much of Asia as is possible.
September - Continuing....
October - Still going....
November - End of November I will fly back to Australia for a week or two for my sister's 21st Birthday and then head back to where we left off from.
December - Lucas will fly back to Australia for Christmas then pick up where we left off from....
2007 - Keep going.....no idea where or when it will end....hopefully never.

That first half of the year looks a tad tedious (apart from the skiing) - but I'm sure it will be filled with mini adventures, escapades and excitement.

For those of you still reading this - it's been a year and you are still with me - as Lucas and I have mentioned before - it means a lot to us that people are interested in what we are doing and every comment on the website or on the photos makes us feel far more connected to our home in Australia. I hope you all have a 2006 full of laughter and excitement.