Monday, February 02, 2004

I believe it was Eric Cartman who once remarked, “Goddammit, Democrats piss me off.” Well, I certainly can’t speak for all Democrats, but certainly the voting Democrats of New Hampshire piss me off. Who was it that said “The People have spoken … the bastards”?

The first thing that strikes a traveler entering New Hampshire is the force of the warning delivered from each and every car’s number plate. NH couldn’t simply settle on a simple slogan like most states. Nup, in NH it’s ‘Live Free or Die.’

Let’s not even begin to consider the basic contradictions inherent in that order, because folks in NH take the choice between a Free Life and Death very seriously. This state has no taxes – income or sale. Instead, it makes its money out of Govt-owned Liquor Stores lining the sides of freeways, hoping to make a couple of bucks by selling tax-free booze to New Yorkers heading up to Vermont for the weekend. And I’m told there exists somewhere on the NH-Massachusetts (MA) border a unique mall – the mall itself is in NH and so tax free, and the parking lot is in MA.

If democracy is the essence of freedom, then these guys take elections very seriously. I was still being told by voters the day before the Primary that they were not sure who they were supporting because they still had not met every candidate. And these guys knew more about the issues probably than the candidates.

And is it any wonder – let’s face it, NH does very well out of being the first Primary state. Not only does it allow a small, backward, racially pure and generally unrepresentative state to hold a bizarrely disproportionate level of influence over national and international politics, the NH Primary is like Manchester’s answer to the Sundance Film Festival. A small town suddenly gets swamped by thousands upon thousands of outsiders. And the locals make a lot of money out of it. A Kerry volunteer told me his brother owns a downtown Manchester pizza shop and ordinarily takes in $500 over a weekend. In three days before the Primary, he took in $15,000.

The Clark campaign was a great experience and was full of great people form a variety diverse backgrounds and places. All held a single and unwavering determination to see Wes Clark get the nomination, in the belief that he was the only guy who could beat George Bush. These were my sort of people, people who truly belong in the NSW Labor Right – idealists with a dogged commitment to pragmatism.

The campaign held a few amusing moments. Around 50 volunteers slept on the floor of a salubrious rented establishment that became known simply as ‘The Crackhouse.’ There was Truman, the Clark campaign dog. And of course, there was the transformation of the word ‘Clark’ into a verb – ‘This area has already been Clarked,’ or ‘After that speech, I’m am so Clarked up.’ And who will ever forget General Clark's reaction to an endorsement from the hip-hop group Outkast - "I don't know much about hip-hop, but I do know that Outkast can shake it like a poloroid picture."

I’ve returned to civilisation here in Montreal, and how great is it to once again be in a country with universal health care! Now all Canada needs is a fair industrial relations system and it will be, well, Australia. I’ll conclude by saying that never realised until I spent a bit of time in the US just how lucky we are at home, and just how unbelievable it is that our current Federal Govt wants to Americanise all the great things we have in health, education and industrial relations.

OK, I’ll get off my soapbox now …

PS - THERE ARE NEW PICTURES UPLOADED ON MY PIC SITE - CLICK ON LINK ON LEFT. ALSO, SOME FRIENDS FROM THE CLARK CAMPAIGN HAVE ALSO SETUP THEIR OWN NH CLARK CAMPAIGN PIC SITE

Saturday, January 24, 2004

Well friends, it's 12.30pm and I'm still working on the campaign trail here in Manchester, New Hampshire. What a strange part of the world this indeed is, and what a strange time to be here. I'm constantly amazed that this state, with it's small, mostly white population, with it's biggest city at just 100,000 people (Think Manchester, NH, think Tamworth - without the hats and mullets), has such a huge influence over who is going to be President of the United States.

Being in such a small place at such a politically hot time reminds me of NUS Conferences, for all of you involved in those. The city is basically taken over by politico's wearing their respective colours for their respective candidates, and let me tell you, just as each faction is full of people with different psychological profiles, so too is each campaign distinct by the nature of its volunteers. Time magazine recently gave an analysis of the different types of people on each campaign, but I think it's a bit off. Here's my analysis.

CLARK VOLUNTEERS
Of course, the coolest people in town. But in all seriousness, I think Clark people can be distinguished by being from pretty diverse backgrounds, geographically (I'm here, right?) and career-wise (very few staffers or people who actually work in politics). Pragmatism is the name of the game round here - nearly everyone's working for Clark because 'he's the only guy that can beat Bush.' Lots of Arkansans too - folks looking to reclaim the Whitehouse for Arkansas.

DEAN VOLUNTEERS
I think Time magazine hit the nail on the head with this one - "They're basically the rich kids on campus who pretend they have no money (the Dean campaign parking lot is full of SUVs and Saabs). It's their insularity — plus the Saabs — that make them universally hated among the other volunteers." Easily the most obnoxious and angry, like the man himself (yeeee-haa!!!). There's nothing more fun than mocking Deaniacs by taking off that historic Iowa caucus nite speech (Can you smell what Howard Dean is cookin'?)

LIEBERMAN VOLUNTEERS
Guys, you can volunteer for Bush in November if you like, and you can take those nice crisp, well-ironed, Ralph Laurent Polo clothes with you too. Think wets in Australian Young Libs. Only a wee bit nerdier. And probably more conservative.

KERRY VOLUNTEERS
If you're not a firefighter, a girl looking to pick up a firefighter, then you're part of the Boston political establishment. Career advancement is the name of the game here - Kerry for President - because Kerry gives us jobs. Heaps of Vietnam Vets - no ceilng fans allowed in the Kerry headquarters. Also, keep away from big media events where news helicopters might be hovering. I'll bet in the Kerry office, the Forrest Gump soundtrack is on all day, every day.

KUCINICH VOLUNTEERS
The National Broad Left of the US primaries. They even have a peace bus. Maybe Kucinich would be polling more than 1% if his volunteers stopped getting stoned, got up before noon, and didn't spend the afternoon hanging out in cafe's dicussing Chomsky, post-modernism and the essentially anarcho-syndicalist tendencies of socialist capitalism. Yeah. Groovy.

EDWARDS VOLUNTEERS
Can you guys be any nicer? There's a place for people as polite, nice and friendly as Edwards folk - it's called Canada. But I guess Edwards folk are so nice because (in southern accent) 'it's the raaght thang to doo.'

SHARPTON VOLUNTEERS
Sharpton needs no volunteers. He has Jesus.

I'll try and keep you all posted as much as possible. If I can't, then hopefully my next post will be accompanied by a headline that reads 'Clark wins New Hampshire.'

Monday, January 19, 2004

Being here in Montreal over the last two weeks has exposed me to the coldest temperatures and conditions I'm ever likely to experience in my entire life. On a few days, it has gone to around 30 degrees celsius below zero, and -40 with you take account of windchill. It produces some interesting outcomes - here's a few of my observations:

GOOD THINGS ABOUT THE COLD WEATHER

1. Hearing the many and varied adjectives by which CNN newscasters can describe the cold weather - 'bitter', 'vicious', 'wicked', 'arctic blast' to mention just a few.

2. Having CNN newsreaders blame Canada for the cold weather "It's come down from Canada ... "

3. Laughing at Americans who complain about their puny, stupid cold. You call minus 20 celsius cold weather? Huh!

4. It's so cold that you don't want to go outside. You start doing novel things you probably wouldn't ordinarily do, like learn a language like French, for example. Go self help!

5. Frozen eyelashes - not so good when it happens to me, but absolutely adorable on an attractive young lady.

6. Watching your breath travel for two metres before finally melting into the ether is pretty cool.

7. How much better do 17th century French-style, stone cathedrals look sprinkled with snow?

EVIL THINGS ABOUT THE COLD WEATHER

1. For all of those who like me are from non-snow parts of the world, snow is not fun. It is not fluffy, comfy and playful. It is basically frozen water. So it melts. It gets slushy. It mixes with dirt and makes frozen slush. It gets on your shoes. When you get inside it melts. Your shoes get wet. The bottom of your pants get wet. If its snowing, your coat gets wet. It's hard to walk through, kind of like walking through sand. It slows traffic. It leaves mess everywhere. It rains, snow melts then freezes, turning to ice. Mike falls on his arse.

2. Wearing glasses in the cold. It's so cold that your nose will get frostbite if you don't cover it. So you wrap your head up with a scarf. No problems there. But as soon as you start breathing, your glasses fog up. They'll also fog up whenever you go inside.

3. Another thing about the scarf head wrap - breathing through the scarf. The moisture in your breath immediately condenses on your scarf, leaving you with a visable mess on your now soggy woollen scarf.

4. Feeling your snot freeze when you breath in is not fun. Having your snot melt and start running as soon as you step inside isn't either.

5. Dealing with all these clothes! I'm at a restaurant, bar or cafe - what on Earth do I do with a wet coat, two fleecies, a soggy scarf, a tuque (beanie) and a pair of gloves!

6. Paying for cloak room usage.

7. Getting dressed everytime I walk in and out of a place.

ANYHOW, I hope you're all enjoying your warm weather at home. In spite of the unique challenges of Montreal's winter, I'm having a great time. I'll be heading off this week for New Hampshire to work on the Democrat presidential primary campaign for Retired General Wes Clark. Go Clark!

Thursday, January 08, 2004

I hope everyone had a great Christmas and an even better New Year's celebration.

After Christmas in The Sault, my New Year was spent with Andrea and a few of her undergraduate friends in Toronto. We also celebrated Andrea's birthday there on the 29 December. Toronto is an interesting city, with a lot more of a US feel than Montreal. It's very diverse in the same way Sydney is as well, but it's total addiction to massive, over-the-top freeways (though I know we're getting there - go Bob!), and it's attitude make it a lot more US. Mind you, the streetcars (aka trams - there were none named Desire), make parts of it feel like Melbourne.

Toronto would definately be a great city to live in, in terms of nightlife and general entertainment, but it isn't the most touristy city. So as you'll gather from the new photos I've just posted (check out link on left), and the total lack of any from Toronto, there ain't a lot to see, ogle at, and take photos of. Nevertheless, we did have a great time. It's the sort of city that's good to walk around in, have a meal, go out, and just take in everything it has to offer.

We took the opportunity while in TO to take a day trip out to Niagara Falls (see photos). While the Falls themselves were absolutely stunning, the town of Niagara Falls left a lot to be desired. For some reason, when nature produces something as beautiful as the Niagara Falls, humanity has to come along and build a town whose hideousness rivals only Surfers Paradise for sheer cheesiness and general Evil. It even has Ripley's Believe it or Not. And a casino.

And so earlier this week we returned to an absolutely freezing Montreal - it's currently -26 degrees celsius outside, and -36 counting windchill (Yes, thankyou everyone for your kind text messages, emails and posts about how hot it is back home - I hope you all enjoy sweating in your suits on crowded afternoon trains). I'm enjoying having the opportunity of exploring this amazing city while Andrea is working everyday. It has an incredible cross British-French feel in terms of architecture, monuments, people and of course language. Photos to come soon. I'm also taking the opportunity to try and teach myself French (let's see how much I can remember from Introductory French from 1st year).

Anyway, keep the comments coming - it's always good to read about what everyone's doing back home, and I'll do my best to keep posting.

Mike

Tuesday, December 23, 2003

Wishing everyone at home and abroad a very Merry Christmas!

I'm spending the business end of the holiday season here in Sault Sainte Marie (pronounced 'soo') with Andrea and her family. 'The Sault,' as it's known to the locals, is a lovely little steel city in the heart of America's Great Lakes. The city spans the St Mary's River, which is actually the border between Canada and the US - so you can literally look across the river and see the States, or if you're feeling game, cross the appropriately named International Bridge and either walk or drive across to Sault Sainte Marie, Michigan, USA.

Sorry to all my hoardes of readers who've been chewing at the bit for an update to this page over the last week - but the sad truth is that the last week has been relatively unexciting. Since my last post, Andrea fell quite ill with the flu, and being the good boyfriend I am, I spent the next three days keeping her company at home. It was also a welcome break after the hectic and busy time we had in NYC.

A very exciting local announcement was made during the week - check out this link. Man, I love this country ...

Of the relatively little I saw of Montreal last week, I liked - the city has an amazingly fused European-North American feel to it. It mixes sky scrapers with Paris-style street lamps, and big department stores with the constant sound of people speaking French. I can't wait to get back and really discover and get stuck into the heart of the place.

As Andrea's health began to improve, we had to make our way to Toronto to meet up with Andrea's friend Shannon (another local of The Sault) so we could all drive to The Sault. We were only in Toronto for one day before renting a car and making the seven hour journey west to The Sault yesterday, so we didn't get to see much of the big city.

Andrea and I will be here for Christmas and Boxing Day before heading back to Toronto, we're we'll be spending a week. I'm hoping to take a few photos here, so I'll be sure to post a few soon.

Wishing you all a safe and happy Christmas a wonderful New Year.

Mike

Tuesday, December 16, 2003

Montreal has well and truly put on one of its finest weather performances for the lad who could once boast he’d never seen snow. Our train from New York gently glided into one of a hell of a snowstorm that didn’t let up until late yesterday, with at least a foot of snow falling.

As we left our hostel in NYC, the snow was already falling. The result was an amazing rail journey, a truly North American experience – who could ask for more than to be riding through a snow-covered New York state, sitting next to a beautiful Canadian woman, while listening to Simon and Garfunkel? If only I’d had some Kerouac with me.

Fortunately, my Bohemian tendencies had already been fulfilled the day before on our final day in NYC at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA). We viewed original paintings from Picasso, Matisse, and Warhol, amongst others, before heading the NY Museum of Natural History for something completely different.

For our final evening, we headed back to Arthur’s Tavern in Greenwich Village to enjoy some more jazz. Being a Saturday night, the place was packed, and so Arthur’s intimate and communal feel was enlivened (sorry for the drunken text messages, those unfortunate enough to receive them).

We’ll be here in Montreal for four days before heading off to Toronto, then Sault Sainte Marie (Andrea’s hometown in Western Ontario) for Christmas.

In the meantime, a few features have been added to this blog – pics from New York are finally uploaded, so click on the link left to have a look. I’ve also added a ‘fall on my arse’ count. With the snow here comes slippery sidewalks. You’ll notice I’ve hit the deck once so far, but I cannot escape the reality that once again, at any time, I’ll be lying horizontally on some street in Montreal.

And it won’t be from extreme drunkenness. Until then …

Friday, December 12, 2003

In blitzkrieg fashion, Andrea and I have nearly conquered all of Manhatten Island in just four days here in New York City.

After Tuesday's successful day securing Midtown (see earlier post), on Wednesday we moved onto Lower Manhatten, completing a walk across the Brooklyn Bridge and then moving through the NY Financial District. The Financial District is home to the World Trade Centre where, not surprisingly, there is very little to see (but I guess that's kinda the point of it now, huh?); Wall Street and the NY Stock Exchange (who would've thought such a short and narrow Street could've inspired such a great film? And there's the whole centre of the global economy thing too, I guess); and the ferry across to Staten Island, complete with magnificent views of the Statue of Liberty (thankfully, the ferry didn't crash this time). The Staten Island ferry is about as close to the Statue of Liberty you'll get these days as because of the ongoing and apparently never ending threat of terrorism, it's been decided that in order to defend a Free America, people can't visit the Statue of Liberty anymore. Hmmm ...

Today and yesterday we conquered Uptown, visiting the Metropolitan Museum (I think I finally got Van Goghed and Moneted out!) and exploring Central Park, including a visit to the John Lennon memorial site 'Strawberry Fields.'

The nitelife has been fantastic. After dinners in Little Italy (sorry Team Canberra, I've found a Pescatore better than that at La Rustica, Kingston), it's just a quick walk up to Greenwich Village. The Village was once the hangout of Beat Writers like Kerouac, Ginsberg & Co, and folk musicians like Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel (it's also allegedly the place where Bob Dylan smoked his first joint). Nowadays the village is a little less funky and organic, but has a heap of great jazz bars, cafes and restaurants. Like the rest of Manhatten, it seriously doesn't ever sleep.

Anyway, this will be my last post until I get to Montreal early next week. I'll upload some photos at that stage when I get access to Andrea's office computer. 'Til then, enjoy summer, because it's fricken freezing here, Mr Bigglesworth!