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Behind the lines

I stumble upon an unusual show in the State Library on my way to the bus and what a surprise. It’s strangely relevant without any reference to the dreaded COVID. But Behind the Lines is a political cartoon show based around the year 2019 so there is no pandemic, no stock market crash or storming of the Capitol.. It’s like stepping back in time without the final act. How refreshing to see everything lampooned so. Nothing is off the table. You are taken on a journey that is hilarious and informative and you are reminded of the loony politicians and their destiny of obscurity. Curator and writer, Jennifer Forest had to choose eighty odd pictures from over one thousand exhibits for the show and managed a fabulous selection. The Museum of Australian Democracy of Old Parliament House has a repository of images that defies its somewhat archaic title. Where cartoonists reign, political correctness is certainly absent. Nothing escapes the cutting satire of such traditional means as pen and paper regardless of updated communications such as messaging or YouTube. I guess everything is brought down to size. As I wander around perusing the pictures I can’t help feeling strangely uplifted. Is it because of the lifting of contagion restrictions or because of the lampooning? Who cares this is a gas.

Behind the Lines 2019 is a travelling exhibition developed by Museum of Australian Democracy at Old Parliament House

Just a few of the cartoons on display for Behind the Lines 2019

Diary entry (continued)

Sitting on a dune overlooking the beach and suddenly gripped with a powerful memory. I realize this is the home of a close friend, the child of a Fijian mother and Scottish father. I’m instantly transported to Melbourne in the early ’90s for no particular reason. I am living next door to a Bahai temple. A mutual friend needs a scratch band and asks me to help out. I’m not madly enthusiastic but the Bahai thing pricks my interest so I go along to the temple.

Diary entry

Western light streams through the window and the plane lunges left into heavy cloud and over rugged mountain ranges. We pop out the other side over the sea and I can see the coast line all the way up. It looks superb in the afternoon light. Strangely idyllic as the vegetation meets the deep beach. The sea looks restful as the waves break on the shore. Sky is dark with rain as it smothers the mountain peaks to the west with orange light breaking through. I imagine this is what it must have been like with the first tall ships. It looks stunning.

Tenet

Taking a chance on Tenet without preparedness other than breaking the Covid-19 lockdown would be unwise. It’s the combination of action and complexity that bedazzles to the point of bewilderment. Definitely some background on the story and ‘culture’ is necessary. It requires the genre initiated – the science fiction slash thriller slash action initiated.