It's the Equinox at 3 p.m. in the afternoon, as a tautology... Went for a walk with the ABC Radio James again, was excellent talking about celestial clocks, and baby howling clocks and daylight saving, and how to keep everyone satisfied with having daylight every day, so I thought well you could just have so many hours after dawn as the time to run everything, milk the cows an hour after dawn? Do they know what the time dawn is? They do when they get to the abattoir, their time is up...

So I tagged along with some new friends and we went all over the place, even got in some sessions at the real pub, and saw again some of the regulars and other people you'd really like to meet as well, like Wendy on her banjo, sitting out a lot of songs for the session etiquette of not playing if you don't know the music, which I reckon it's wrong not to encourage anyone at any stage to bring an instrument and join in regardless, where else can they ever get into the magic of some of those great sessions, besides no-one can hear the struggles amongst all the other noises, so I play anyway, bugger the purists, no use letting the elite having it all their own way, besides kids get locked out with that attitude, and they need all the encouragement they can get, it bridges gaps...

The weather was perfect, with the festival down in the valley under the escarpment, the sun goes down and the temperature drops like rock, but snug clothes and heaters here and there are good enough, there's all the snack shops set up in the Village Green park outside, and plenty of other free entertainment like Irish and Ceili Dancers and Morris Dancers and in the Kid's concerts with Pat Drummond putting the schoolkids and their teachers through the action songs, 90% of the kids played instruments already... While in the World Tent there were the Dancing Nights with all the drumming...

It's always refreshing to see this whole sub-culture of Folk Music Festivals turn up for these events, seems to bring out the real people from all over the place, nothing like the dumb-downed Sydney City living in fear and locked up and unsmiling faces looking blank... There seems to be something magic about outdoor festivals... Although the politics of money always comes up in the upper echelons where sponsorships and insurance and endless opinions get pushed, but seeing the people running the thing making the decisions, the organisers walking the tightrope, they do a good job... Even when you do get roped in to volunteer...

Then it's meet the neighbours and find out any other aspects of the festival cause you haven't got a program and don't get a lot of use out of them anyway cause you can just do an Ad Hoc festival by just wandering about from venue to venue and hanging around the acts you like, I had a couple of favourites, like JigZag with Carolyn on the fiddle, doing the Tipsy Gypsy, fantastic they are, and they had the Sommers Family of BlueGrass with all having the same frozen look on their face and the only sister on the Banjo with a classic nasal country voice, she would have won the Miss Dignity with Pigtails Competition, but when she did break into a smile the world lightened up, they all would have got a politeness award...

Now with these Music Festivals, firstly you have to pack, you have to a have a lit of things to take, and you have to fit it all in and leave nothing out, which you do anyway, then it's the drive and finding the forks in the road, you always take a fork in the road, or chuck a Uooey further on, then it's selecting a good spot, some shade and some view and some space, and where the rain wont run underneath, then it's the tent poles and construction, you learn by experience and next thing it's laid out and the goodies transferred inside, only takes a few hours from home and you've moved in....

Another great talent came from Mick Conway's National Junk Band, who did all sorts of jokes spectacular magic stuff and ridiculous interpretations of great music, amazing band they are, like he'd play a musical saw held in his groin? And Cantolibre were good with Latin American stuff, excellent... And so many more to see, you just can't get to see it all...

Inspections wins, looking back over the last few days with the Worlds Worst Weapons seems to have been influenced by commonsense, so it's gone against George Dubbya-Dubbya-III's cowboys and lynch mob and setting stupid precedents, suddenly it all became what the United Nations would say and do in it's own name was the way it went, and then they say OK send in the Inspectors...

The last Folk Music Festival was fabulous, had a good campsite, met so many more decent good people, did all the venues, saw so many shows, ate bluddy tripe which I never will again, the whole atmosphere was good the whole time, all these kids running about a Musical Festival gives a sense of community, seems the schools get behind cultural things more down there, 90% of the kids in the audiences had instruments they reckoned, the politics of the festival goes on and on, the whole thing went off without a hitch... Gees they're good to let people be with others doing the same things and being part of an experience...

The band was good, even without Mark fiddling, was funny the version they did of Scotland the Brave had the patriotic people holding themselves back but the mickey is taken out of everything... The fiddler was Chris? With the neat hair, he was good though, he sort of let down today and entertained as well... And the bass player was the person reputed on ABC Radio to drive the bands and keep them organised was a grrrrl who was given the dissmssives by that Greg, he's a classic... And she was singing some really awesome song like Enya or something, but the bar was buzzing... I should have lissened...

But they all were into the war thing, the vendors on the stalls reckoned the city was deserted of tourists particularly Americans, they're nowhere, all gone home, the streets are empty, bit of a blessing really... I was telling Houie and he miss-hears so much, War on Tourism is it? Spose it is really...

The Pommy was back from Edinburgh, he did the Fringes bit of the Comedy Festival, and then the Piper and some Scots turned up so it looks like there's going to some more at the coming festival, he'd been doing busking and had the kilt and all, it’s a good idea I reckon, has a pouch at the front like a toll bag... Anyway it was a good time and sang that favourite song again... Well it goes well in that pub...

The same goes for the underclass in America, that Free Trade jargon is a fraud... You can still have capitalist profits in a welfare state, just divide up the Services for Public Servants and the manufacturing for Private Production, it's a nice simple distinction to provide full employment... You should be able to see the wood now cause all the trees have been cut down anyway...

Went shopping and got the things I needed, but the theme is Made in China, and the Chinese have got all the technology and know-how and jobs and will be making money, and there were some brand-names which were once made in Australia but no longer, so all our boys are left out in the cold cause of importers getting a cut, smugglers, bring back the tariff walls and fortress Australia, same goes for all countries, why sacrifice your standard of living and  knowledge and security for some rich greedy geeks wanting to stop paying taxes...

I did the wharf again it's full of weed like seagrass and there's this fine woolly green veils covering it half way down and it's lifeless for other things, not many signs of crabs a few tiny fish, it was right on the ebb coming in again, changes so fast really, some ducks were browsing, that green teal and the brown hen? And some cormorants skimmed past, and one gull, pretty thin on things I reckon...

Amanda came up with Bob and Betty Stringbag and then James on the ABC had all these others pop up like, Bob and Pat Rabbittrap, Toni and Toni Terrace, Mr and Mrs Cardigan, Carlo and Boris ? and Paul and Patty Punter, it's an illusory description of people, says so much in a label I guess... So many more...

I reckon Natasha should join the Greens and be done with the gang of five Democrats, they're dead meat. And after all I prefer Natasha to be there cause she's a new demographic...

I think George Dubbya-Dubbya-III's war idea is not getting much support, seems it's him and Cheney and that goose they have for State? He's a nutcase as well, as well? They're all nutcases... WWW Worlds Worst Weapons, seems he pas these personifications of evil going and seems he makes claims of the bad record for Saddam when almost every claim could also be made against the US Empire as well, the port calling the kettle black...

Seems Australia are the only ones being the lapdog, and the world is speaking, no war on Iraq, and ratify the Kyoto Protocol, and then Bob Brown said how the great opportunity to have the first world move onto new green technology so the developing countries could skip the polluting stage... Yep, cause they're too busy with their heads in the troughs and oil wells and coal mines...

But I been just grooving with music, the other day I had a really good one, but then I got tired or something, and lost it again... but I can still play and do more to things I hear, I can't find the tones on the old Enrico, and even the bow sounds weaker, so I've migrated across, pretty well, I can feel the difference in the strings and spacings and fingerboard clearance and the bow weight and the textures, it's so different, the new one has a difference like listening to a little AM radio as against a sound system speaker set...

Seeing that Hump-Back Whale freed from the fishing nets was one of the best news stories anyway, there seemed to be a happiness amongst the pod once the net was cut away by some divers, and the whale had watched them and cooperated they reckon, and then took off with a glee at being free... They mentioned looking into the whales eyes, there being a mind in a brain that once walked and then slithered back into the water world, what an evolution it's had...

My first day weaned off PayTV, it's a dud... Looking through that commercial business window at the world, just shows more of that lifestyle people would rather do without, besides radio seems to fill the breach, with the ABC public Broadcaster of course... How can the People stand those Commercial Talkback Hosts, what an indictment, but there is at least a huge discount being made now on Talkback Opinion, like who the hell are they anyway and there's so few, and it turns out it's the broadcasters opinion that gets rammed down their necks, so be it, it's looking more and more like a chookyard, they reckon if you lower the space over head for a rooster they don't crow cause they can't preen up to do it... Wonder what Parrots do, but not much...

So the talk was of Diana, Princess of Roles, like was she going to become an icon in death? Nope, like what did she ever do? Will she be seen like stars in old movies, nope, besides I reckon Diana was in the Role of the Princess Storyline, and people wanted her to be Little Miss Princess Perfect, turns out she did things the fairytales didn't have in the script so she's a goner... Like those worshippers she had are really thinking about what they would do if they were the Princess, if they could play that role in their life, they wouldn't have run away with an Arab after leaving a Pommy Prince... Anyway who is the next one? Who is the current Princess of the Media? There's no one, cept maybe Kylie Minogue, just can't get her out of their minds...

This weather, surreal, so clear blue and clean and mild and balmy, perfect day to walk with the James Valentine ABC radio, and walking through lands soon to be privatised... The plants, animals and ambience turned over to suburbia...

Meanwhile Labor is disappearing up it's own methodologies, and poor Simon Crean seemingly can't win, although I reckon he is a good performer, much better than lovely Kim Beazely, but there seems to be changes for the good, but bugger all differentiation...

Surely some politician can sweep up all the people who feel dudded by this latest economical system, you know the Rationalist, user pays, competitive, unprotected, deregulated, corrupted, holy market driven, warmongering, globalised world, in a word, Rampant Republican Capitalism, surely someone could capture the disenchanted...

I found this other atheist on the net, and he'd tried making a formal sort of Ethics, formulating it is that path you go down when you try to do the royal prerogatives of the king, like if parliament runs everything, what does the power of the king do... Well it's ethics, is what he does, all in one word... They just need me for king is all... And a big dose of ethics...

The Australian Democrats have been splitting, they revolted under poor Natasha Spot Destroyer, who actually represented the Democrats Party Membership in taking a more Anti-Government stance, and then came Aiden Eachway Ridgway to waffle away the leadership and have this Grieg step in, who became the man of the moment, likeable more willing, there is now a 3-4 split, with the Gang of Four Assassins and ex-leader Meg talking about what to do with the Telstra money that they swore they'd never sell...

Another question popped up out of the Government flying the idea to teach people how to run their family or lose their welfare, make them attend courses, and just what sort of advice would they give? Like how to iron cargo pants pockets? Then this fem... Lib or ex says Well everyone 's busy telling women to work or not work and to have kids or not and now it's how to live on welfare, well what are men doing? What are men supposed to do in life, we never hear anything about that... Well men should have solid secure jobs and the responsibility of looking after families, paint pigs pink, leap tall buildings in a single bound...

Yeah wondering about who you can trust now... On the media there's a few like Quentin Dempster, cause he started me thinking, and I do have a list, I will have to build one... Out of all the people you hear and see, who can you trust? Pilger? He represents the anti- West World side, and that Canadian debunker John Ralston Saul, and Ralph Nader? But he split the Democrats vote... Christopher Hitchens? Some of the BBC people seem decent, then there's Tony Jones on Lateline and there's no one from Economics, they're into voodoo talk and language to lock people out of the discussion...