the ’sham

Now this is a rather functional entry, simply announcing that the winner of the upcoming north-versus-south bowls comp at the Sham Bowlo would be awarded a beautiful bowling trophy. (In the end, the trophy was withheld due to a lack of rivalry, the two sides were too friendly.)

Less friendly, however, was the comment from the MVC (MarrickVille Crew) who told me I should respect the territory that they control. I’ll reproduce the whole exchange here because it’s pretty interesting.
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I enjoyed reading this go-on-listen-to-my-troubles entry. We were about due for one! There’s a kind of voyeuristic pleasure in watching the author gyre and gymble in his own excrement. Funnily, though, the “problems” presented by this esteemed author don’t really come across as insurmountable roadblocks at all.

Actually, the thing I like about these worry-confessions is that rather than “moving the plot along” they provide a small “breathing space” to reflect on what has been. And this one even foreshadows the events to come in the following week.

I also particularly liked this little excerpt, where I’m trying to create a metaphor for embodied documentary-making:

I’m trying to use text as a documentary tool. My eyes and ears are a camera, my mind the film stock, my keyboard an editing suite, the blog is the cinema where you watch it all played back again (and the comments are the seats from which you heckle).

Listen in to this episode the d word podcast. [mp3, 9min, 4mb].

Or read the original posting here.

This is an off-the-cuff reflection on the process of re-reading the blog, one year later. I muse that it seems that the further away from the date of the actual events depicted in the blog, the more they become like stories…the less it seems important that they were “real events” which actually occurred. Thinking, also, about the regularity of the really “good yarns” - they don’t seem to happen each and every day.

Listen in here. [2mb, mp3, 2.5min]

It’s been a week. I’ve just spoken to Chris in Perth, who knows my history (more than nearly anyone), and I feel clearer now about what needs to be done.

Following my post from yesterday, where I expressed concern that I was not “feeling the freshness” - that I was going through the motions a bit - that it all felt like a bit of “a job” (heaven forbid!) - I received several encouraging emails and comments, urging me to keep “powering along” with it. To all who wrote, thanks. It helps. At least I know what I’ve done so far hasn’t been entirely tedious, tepid, or turgid. However, I still think a change is called for.
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