This installment of Dispatches is proudly brought to you by Stuart Robert M.P. A great man who achieves greater efficiencies via mate-ship and insider confidence. We hope Stewie can be at the pointy end of arms procurement or at the very least an insider on the next subs contract. He likes doing things sub….
Dear reader,
another scintillating snippet for that seraph of the southern land, the scribe from the near north, the Pericles of the parched bits, that Cicero of the spinifex, our scribe Frank who incidentally goes by the name of ‘Frank’.
In this stunning installment, (in which one may detect traces of irony) he points to the usage of buildings and how these buildings communicate a message to ordinary folk like us.
He finished, (spoiler alert in describing how Norwegians refer to Viking as ‘Norse’).
A great statesman and emblem of the Arts. Sir Les Patterson, internationally famous in Australia.
We felt it incumbent upon ourselves being an internationally acclaimed media outlet and were relieved to find that our twin Morse telecommunications transmitters, and our ham radio were well serviced and working efficiently. Without them and the semaphore and heliographs installed at great expense, there would be no communication. As it is, with our old Norse sets, we have tip top communication for that fateful day when unknown agencies may beat drums of war and knock out satellite communications, telephones, fax machines mobiles and fast food uber outlets for six. We prepare for war as we drift into another hapless year. And did you know that it’s just 81 years since the sinking of H.M battleships Prince of Wales and Repulse off the coast of Malaya, (as it was then called). And just 81 years and one day since Pearl Harbour, and exactly 42 years since John Lennon was shot outside his flat for making too much noise. Well, now you know you are invested in the eternal truth of Australian Foreign Policy Sucesses and the cost of producing art.
Frank writes, (this message was decoded from Norse into Morse)
HM Battleships Prince of Wales and Repulse. When the pointy end of Anglo Australian Foreign policy was blunted.
Yasu!
When Australia’s cultural Ambassador, Sir Les Patterson, was asked why he’d returned to the Lucky Country, he replied in his inimitable vulgar manner: “To find me roots”
When I reminisce about my school days, it isn’t those kinds of roots that come to mind. No, what I remember is English teachers opening our minds to an awareness of Latin and Greek roots.
I do wonder if contemporary (Latin) curricula (Latin) place the same emphasis (Latin and Greek) on Latin and Greek roots as they did back then. I hope so.
Which brings me to the Greek prefix ‘meta’
Just like in Biology we have plants and animals, in Geology we have igneous, metamorphic, and sedimentary, not to mention metasedimentary rocks. Then there is metabolism, metaphysics, metastable and that horrible word metastasis.
Which brings me to my favourite: metaphor.
Big building, small justice
From time to time I mention that the Warlpiri people are masters of metaphor.
Soon after an NT policeman pumped three bullets into a young Warlpiri man in Yuendumu, a dignified peaceful gathering took place on the lawns in front of the Alice Springs courthouse in solidarity with the young man’s family and the Yuendumu community.
At this gathering Jungarrayi pointed to the largest building in Alice Springs, namely the Supreme Court, and likened it to Captain Cook’s ship.
Three years later, when the coroner and a wiggery of barristers (don’t worry, I had to look it up) visited Yuendumu, family and community raised the matter of the trial of the policeman having been, contrary to convention, moved from Alice Springs to Darwin. This had placed us at a great disadvantage when it came to attending the court and expressing our support for that young man and his family. Japanangka during the coroner’s visit mentioned the Alice Springs Supreme Court building:
“What is it there for? It is just sitting there doing nothing” he exclaimed.
Big Police emblem, very small man
I should mention that the coronial inquest which has now gone into recess until next February, is held in the much more modest local court house, while the Supreme Court looms not all that far away, doing nothing, as mentioned.
The idea of a large building sitting there doing nothing tickled my sense of irony.
There is a multiplicity of metaphors available to us that set great store by them. To name just a few, there is Ursula Le Guin’s ‘The Word for World is Forest’ and Claire Coleman’s ‘Terra Nullius’, the Swedish TV series ‘Real Humans’ and Australia’s own ‘Cleverman’
Recently a friend alerted me to the Norwegian TV series ‘Beforeigners’, a veritable smorgasbord of metaphors, such as “We don’t use the ‘V’ word (Vikings), we call them Old Norse”
Yasu!
Frank
Old Norse was converted to Australian idiom in the 1940’s.
Life is a highway… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2FX5DKRt2xg&t=3s
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