meanderings

24th november - Roma time.

Im sitting watching KLM, Alitalia et al take to the skies. others descend from whichever heaven it was they had temporarily inhabited. Tired. myself... I ascended from my fluffy white cloud at the tender time of 2.30am this morning. i heaved my home onto my back and ran for the night bus that would take me as close to the airport as possible before waiving a cab down. 15 euro's not bad for a cab ride but the 11 euro airport surcharge just killed me. $20 australian... 10 days in austria might well be 80% of my money in less than 20% of my time, a figure many of us take for granted (80/20). in real life, 20% of the worlds pop acquire 80% of its wealth, and i guess if we're using this computer then thats us.

nevertheless, more about damned euros soon.

The arrival in Austria of Uzza and Prince Petr was a welcome event to the small party of the aussie and the ruski. Ulrich's (uz) cousin Petr struck me as the noble type - someone who might one day lead the czech people (of which he is one) to some great and legendary victory against the marauding slovaks (or something, perhaps khazakstan!). Kazackstan being a reference to 'Borat' ofcourse; a movie that inspired an onslaught of all sorts of slavic and beyond accents for the next week. Ulrich's interpretations being the most delightful and with the Ruski Olga as fodder, the fun never stopped.

Some sightseeing and plenty of documentation (vis a vis Ulrichs camera and my bohemoth camera & tripod). Ask for ulrichs Austrian back catalogue.

Last Sunday night Tool! i had waited so long... in fact i had bought my tool ticket before i had booked and paid for my flights. The venue was mainly standing room and we couldn't push any further forward than the mixing desk which was a good spot to be in anyway. Over the heads of "6 foot +'s" made me contemplate the lives of short people. But the show was beyong words. 4th time seeing tool and this was by far the best. sometime, and ironically, they are criticised for being too perfect (technically at least), but this time they were more than that. they didnt just stick to original composition and included the songs i came to hear. 10000 days was the climax - a track maynard had broken down and cried when he first performed it live only a couple of months before. Mums and loved ones gone.

euros!? damn euros. i lost a whole heap that night out of my pocket but can not tell you just how many because of certain Mother type people who would frown and tisk.

Big thanks to Olga, Ulrich and Prince Petr. Salzburg is a beautiful city and the alps are spectacular.

him hows it going? will write on tunisia soon. will get some pictures up soon! still working out these tunisian keyboardsm,ect!

hisham
p.s. arabic is killing me.

globalising and globalisation

saturday afternoon in Vienna. Ulrich and Petr, his cous, are off seeing the main sites of the city on a walking tour. I railed against such an imposition to a designated lazy afternoon, and seeing as i did not have to get the map out of my jacket pocket whilst navigating the city centre i felt that such a decision could be justified. In the 4+ days here i have seen many churches, museums and palaces, as well as walked many miles and taken in a decent amount of cultural and historical information. enough is enough.

vienna is a beautiful city. its history is entwined with some of the most powerful empires in Roman, medieval and renaissance europe, the Hapsburgs for instance. The city was initially established as a Roman camp to keep watch over and launch campaigns against two barbarian nations to the north, around where the czech republic now lies. The city was also a bastion against the maruading Ottoman empire which threatened Christian Europe in the early 1500´s (1529?) and in 1683. Had it not been for the desperate last stand of the viennese and a rescue by several other nations (led by the Polish Prince), who had banded togerther in an unusual display of solidarity along religious lines, there might not be any need for the present ´war on terror´, as Europe may well have come been converted, or atleast come under Muslim dhimitude (rule) by those troublesome turks...

the viennese themselves have been welcoming and friendly. They are generally laid back, but still fashionably yuppified. in Europe, perhaps the term would be bohemian. the colder weather entails fuller, often furry coats. As of now, exchanges of communication with the locals have largely been few and generally limited to ordering food or drinks.

I won´t go on, as these euro´s will no doubt pile up sitting here at this computer. However, a cautionary word on debt and the effects of globalisation. Accodring to two sources (The Economist´ and some knowlegable person on abc radio in Australia), the western world is sitting on a precarious ledge, made unstable because of the weight of debt and the starkly understood forces of developing economies. These forces have kept inflation down and fooled the reserve banks in the developed world into keeping interest rates down as traditional theory would seem to justify. But the weight of debt is mounting and interest rates will have to rise significantly in times to come resulting in a unpayable loans and recession. One source believed a deep recession is immenent - within the next couple of years. So if you are looking at a loan or mortgage, etc, it might be wise to consider these macroeconomic tendencies and think twice.

I#ve attached some random pics.

Another tired Sunday evening in Melbourne: the result of a Saturday night bbq with friends before i head off overseas. Up until tonight, I had only been concerned with the day to day. I gave passing and relevant recognition to my plans to travel, but thus far study, exams, work and a little socialising had kept my head placed firmly in that strange place of 'normality'.

But this Sunday offered my super ego the inevitable opporunity to come to terms with a new contemplation. The responsibility I endeavour to give to my widowed Mum and my sick brother had given way to the enlightened self-interest (self-ish-ness?) of education, travel and relatives in the Middle East. The consequences of this realisation are not naturally positive and give me a lot to think about.

So with trepidation and anticipation I try to recall what it was that I was supposed to pack that is not strewn across my bedroom floor. I leave tomorrow night for Vienna, where I will be greeted by one crazy Ruski named Olga, Uzza the Czech Viking and his cousin. We will not be listening to the Viennese Symphony Orchestra play Mozart. Instead, the cultural delights of the Austrian capital will offer us the delectable, enlightening aural and esoteric spectacle of Tool at the Wiener Stadhalle. Melbourne, Tool, Tunisia... it makes sense.

Lots of love to my Mummy and Brother Omes. I'll pray for peace, health and happiness. Althuogh i miss you already you are never far away from my heart and thoughts xoxoxo