Isaac trumps Pete

Isaac Newton (pictured) produced three Laws of Motion. The third one’s: ‘For every action there’s an equal and opposite reaction’ [1]. Or, loosely rephrased, actions have consequences. Farmdoc’s Blog readers know that Pete Seeger’s top of my heroes list – my hero-of-heroes [2]. Pete’s had a long association with Israel. In 1951, when Israel was three years old. with the Weavers he recorded ‘Tsena Tsena’ in Hebrew [3]. He first visited Israel in the 1960s. And so on. Now 91 years old, Pete’s been a lifelong traditional leftie. Good on him. ynetnews.com reports [4] that on 14 November he’ll participate in a virtual rally [5] to support the Arava Institute whose students include Israelis and Palestinians. Good on him again. But ynetnews also says Pete supports the boycott of Israeli products. How such a boycott can help bring Middle East peace when Israel’s enemies talk openly of destroying her and continue incitement to this end, escapes me. Peace will only come if Israel’s strong. A weakened Israel can’t, and won’t, contemplate peace. Pete, like everyone else, is entitled to his views. And to state them publicly. I’m leaving Pete on my heroes list – because I continue to admire his ‘old left’ naïve stance in the face of overwhelming evidence that it’s doomed to fail. But, invoking Newton’s third Law, I’m demoting him down the list. Pity.

The Grate Typo Hunt

Jeff Deck (pictured). Last week, a microsecond after I learned of his exploits, I added him to my list of heroes. Deck, an American, had been keen on spelling since junior high school when he won some spelling bees. After seeing lots of misspellings on signs around Boston where he lived, he decided he’d had enough. So in early 2008 he and some friends set off on a 3-month US-wide quest to repair misspellings on signs [1]. The target was to fix one error per day. (They found 400 and fixed 200.) The self-styled Typo Eradication Advancement League [TEAL] [2] blogged about their ‘2008 Typo Hunt Across America’ [3]. A book resulted: The Great Typo Hunt – Two friends changing the world, one correction at a time, by Deck and Benjamin D Herson [4], was published last week [5]. And thus the ‘Typo Hunt II: Book Tour’ [6]. Me? I’ve an above average interest in spelling. Call me a pedant or borderline OCD. I don’t mind. Clearly there are two types of spelling error: a mistake (where writer knew the correct spelling) and a non-mistake (where the writer didn’t). I can forgive the latter, but not the former. Because (before, during and) after all, the purpose of language is communication. And I reckon almost all misspelt signs still communicate the intended message. Be all this as it may, Deck’s still my hero. I hope the State Library of Tasmania buys a copy of his book for public loan.

Of men and their heroes

On this last day of autumn 2010, I write of heroes. I’ve written several previous Farmdocs’ Blog posts about heroes. (To access them, write ‘hero’ in the Google search box near the top of the left sidebar.) Whilst my heroes list changes ever changes (mostly by lengthening; but that’s another story), I’m fascinated by my children’s heroes – which tell me about my children and, vicariously, about myself:

What a marvellous story darling Kate told on her Foxs Lane blog two days ago [1]. Dreams do come true. It’s inspirational and poignant that one of darling Brendon’s is doing just that. To meet his hero Joel Salatin is one thing. To meet him on Brendon and Kate’s farm is another. And for Joel to be so complimentary – in pouring rain traipsing through mud – is close to if not the ultimate. Well done, Brenno. You’re a star – and a hero of mine. Not that you need it – at all – but my seal of approval’s on Joel as one of yours.

Staying with heroes, today’s the 80th birthday of one of mine: Clint Eastwood [2, 3]. Why’s Clint my hero? One – he’s tall and handsome, of course. Two – he usually plays iconoclasts or other non-mainstream nose-thumbers. Three – he’s now so powerful he can, and does, thumb his nose at Hollywood’s quirks. And four – his film parts are invariably age-appropriate. For a far more esoteric and eloquent homage to Clint, read David Denby’s New Yorker piece here [4]. Happy 80th, Clint.

farmdoc's blog post number 238

Regular readers of Farmdoc’s Blog will know my favourite hobbyhorse is the Formula 1 Grand Prix in Albert Park. In fact I’ve mentioned it in seven previous posts. So the current one is the eighth. Year by year over the last decade or more, I’ve noticed that regrettably the length and depth of Australian newspaper and magazine articles has gradually diminished, and investigative journalism has all but disappeared. (Incidentally I blame managements more than journalists.) But every now and again I come across an item that restores my faith – usually because it’s iconoclastic, and a bit cheeky too. And, I must admit, I enjoy items like that because I agree with them. An example appeared in the Age yesterday. It’s about the Grand Prix, and you can read it here. Tracee Hutchison (pictured) has written a bobby dazzler. It’s an eloquent and tongue-in-cheek version of my 5 July 2008 post. And I savour every delicious word of it. So I’m compelled to add Tracee to my list of heroes, alongside her Age colleague Catherine Deveny. I doubt it’s a coincidence that, excluding Thomas Friedman who’s a genius, my two favourite journalists are women. I think women have a different way of looking at the world than men. And as an honorary female, I like that way. So keep up the superb work, Tracee - and Catherine.

farmdoc's blog post number 83

George Monbiot changed his mind. That mightn’t tell you much, but it lets you know he’s not a politician. Monbiot is a 45-year-old journalist, author, academic, environmentalist and political activist. And blogger. In his 1 July 2008 blog post he wrote that he changed his mind about a matter – its nature is unimportant here – after he came across new evidence. How refreshing that someone has the honesty and integrity – and courage – to change his mind. Good for him. Me too, then. I previously wrote that I no longer have heroes. I now see that that’s nonsense. No person alive is so complete, perfect and self-contained that they can’t admire and learn from one or more others. Me included. So I’m back to having heroes, folks. One is Peter Cundall; if you want to know why, read this. Lest you think I have gender bias – which I don’t, because thanks to Sweetheart Vivienne and our darling daughters and granddaughters, I am an honorary female – another one is Catherine Deveny; if you want to know why, read anything she’s written, including this. Also I have enhanced the status of Dr Louis Glowinski from would-be hero to full hero. And Monbiot gets a hero guernsey too. Finally, I’ve changed my mind about who’d play me in a film of my life: exit Bruce Willis, enter Ed Harris.

farmdoc's blog post number 22

It’s natural, I reckon, for people to have heroes. I sure did. My role models included sportsmen (Bob Rose, Rod Laver, Ken Rosewall), folk singers (Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger, Tom Paxton), doctors (Ignaz Semmelweis, John Snow, Arthur Conan Doyle), environmentalists (Gustav Weindorfer, Bob Brown) and civil disobedients (Henry David Thoreau, Mahatma Gandhi). Also actors: I used to mull over the crucial question of who would play me in a film of my life. And the sequence probably reflects my life’s evolution: Clint Eastwood, Harrison Ford, Woody Harrelson, Tim Robbins, Bruce Willis. Why Bruce? Well there’s the (lack of) hair; and the delicious fact that this archetypal tough guy was too petrified to fly for months after 9/11. In recent years my list of heroes has gradually dwindled – to zero. I don’t have heroes now. I don’t need them. I am who I am – and who I always will be. More or less. Oh there will be changes, but not major ones, and not at all due to any heroes. I am content with who I am. If I was told I had only a short time to live, I would want to be physically closer to my darling family, but I wouldn’t do anything else different. My heroes have played a big role in forming the present me. Thanks, guys. Including you, Bruce.