After 18 months settling into Melbourne, how would you describe the experience? Well, after successfully integrating into the local community and culture, using the succinct Australian vernacular, Melbourne is pretty well a dud-root of a place. My job is good, usually, but the pay is poorer than equivalent rates in Queensland by a few dollars every hour...and I've had an easy time compared with most. I wouldn't recommend Melbourne to anyone I liked. I landed a permanent job at 64 because I'm very lucky and kind of ...um...brilliant... so I can't really complain about that. If one hits town at 23 years old, I'd expect it'd take 50 years to start to make a living beyond the massive costs of the place. If one doesn't need to come here, then one should not come here. If 2 people are coming to Melbourne to start a life, unconnected to anyone here, to rent a place, find jobs etc I'd suggest having around $60,000US in cash. If buying a place etc, then about $1.8 millionUS. If you don't have that, then it's best stay where you are. If you depend on starting up in the Uber-type economy, then expect $8 an hour, no superannuation, no sick leave, no holidays, no future...and you are stuck here. I wouldn't advise it to anyone I loved, liked, or even disliked. This is a hard town.

We had The American Century here in Australia, thus the movies, the views, the way things are set up etc in this long ago outpost of England. Like the time when the English got weak, we now face the weakness of the American empire. In its place is New China. China is a much more powerful and long lasting entity than England or the US and thus will make a bigger impact here financially, socially, artistically and culturally, over the next couple of hundred years. This is natural for a small vassal state like Australia. This is not The Asian Century at all...this is the China three century period and its been building up for 30 years already. This is not the Asian century that Australia has hated to be part of. The other countries of Asia don't really matter. The other countries in Asia are simply border towns. China IS Asia.

Australia is a Sick Fuck of a Country. A few years back Australia, the rich First World Nation, was in negotiations with East Timor, the poorest and newest tiny country in South East Asia, regarding gas drilling rights in the sea between Timor and Australia. So Australia, using its massive technical capacities, bugged the East Timor Government's meeting rooms and passed on the information to the gas and oil drilling companies... we, and our government, did do that. It has been proven. We screwed some of the poorest and most destroyed people on earth to the wall and cheated them of their future...and even then, the resultant profit didn't flow to Australia at all, but rather to the international oil and gas drilling companies. We did that...our security apparatus, asio, asis, our federal police and asd, did that to the poorest country in south east asia...our nearest neighbour. That's the kind of country Australia really is. Now, the courts in Australia are seriously prosecuting the poor whistle blowing bastards who came out and said 'hey! this is wrong!' and those guys are going to go to gaol for a long time. This is Australia. This is what Australia does. This is what Australia is.

A few years back Australia, the rich First World Nation, was in negotiations with East Timor, the poorest and newest tiny country in South East Asia, regarding gas drilling rights in the sea between Timor and Australia. So Australia, using its massive technical capacities, bugged the East Timor Government's meeting rooms and passed on the information to the gas and oil drilling companies... we, and our government, did do that. It has been proven. We screwed some of the poorest people on earth to the wall and cheated them...and even then, the resultant profit didn't flow to Australia at all, but rather to the international oil and gas drilling companies. We did that...for them. that's the kind of country Australia really is. Now, the courts in Australia are seriously prosecuting the poor whistle blowing bastards who came out and said 'hey! this is wrong!' and those guys are going to gaol for a long time. This is Australia. This is what Australia does.

When you look around the world you see a bit how things have changed these past ten years. America, Australia and the UK have always been basically both intolerant and dependent upon immigrants. Now Europe is becoming intolerant of immigrants. Now, if America, the UK, Australia and Europe hadn't bombed the fuck out of them to make them have to run away from their burning homes, maybe things would be different, but we did exactly do that and for no good reason at all, except for our own sense of moral righteousness and money. Now, we have to work things out... because we have to...and we have to share more than we used to do...because we have to...because they are us now.

On Passings, as they are called now.

Looking back

as we do

puts us in

the memory stew

of tears and fears

and funny ears

and everything to do.

Looking ahead, Phil,

you see you're ill

and so buy insurance

for those you filled.

But they've made their own way

and made their own pay

and should be happy

to foot your bill.

And if they're not

just hang around

and be a problem for a pound

like a noisy tomb

as they grieve and weave

and lounge the leaving room.

poem for daughter:light on light, the sailor's light, to look out bright upon the water, to see the stars and see the sight and hold in arms a perfect daughter. where will you go, what will you see, when clouds are on the water? i will love you all through the time that gails upon the border.