Postscript

This is the last time I will post here. Everything that I have written over the last few years can now be found at my new site et cetera, which is here: http://home.exetel.com.au/brad/wordpress/. It's still very much under construction, but at least it doesn't have ads, and is not so much at the aesthetic whim of third parties. I would say goodbye, if I thought I had any readers...

Brad.

Blurred

Currently addicated to Blurred, by Billband.  Originally heard some snatches of it on Difficult Listening on RTR, one of the few radio shows in Australia that plays anything interesting (some of the others are Methodology, AudioDaze, RadioAlice and The Space in Between on 2SER; we're spoiled in Sydney) -- it sounds like Steve Reich and Aphex Twin scoring the jazzband in heaven, all stuttering rhythms, shifting loops and cadences. And the production is brilliant. You even get a free magnet from Innova when you buy it.

Failure

"If you are trying to work hard, look good and save enough money for your house, it takes a lot of energy. You almost need to go home and be a failure with someone" (Stephanie Donald)

"No Education Proposals Were Ranked"

"Copenhagen Consensus: Putting the World to Rights", in The Economist, 3 June 2004.

Very interesting article on a high-profile cost-benefit analysis of possible means of aiding developing countries. HIV/Aids was a clear priority; it's intriguing that education was left off.

His Heart Is In The Right Place

Ah, Richard Rorty, casually leaning back in his armchair, and laughing good-naturedly at anyone who thinks metaphysical foundations are required, for, well, anything at all (and he's right), has a new review out:

Richard Rorty, "Philosophical Convictions", in The Nation, 27 May 2004.

Mostly familiar themes, here; probably the most interesting thing about the review is Rorty's recommendation of "Jürgen Habermas's magisterial The Philosophical Discourse of Modernity".  Adding it the list and sighing... at least it's (more than) a little shorter than The Theory of Communicative Action.

Players

Oh yeah and I have a new review out too, though I'm expecting a somewhat smaller readership than Prof. Rorty -- it's a short riff on DeLillo's Players, which I bought in Milan for the flight home, recently.