Al-Sadr has moved from a mosque in Kufa to his main office in Najaf
(The NYT had him "holed up " in Kufa, now in "an Alley"
charming Dashiell Hammett jargon for USA's new #1 villian)

Which war are we in again?
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I missed the Bruno Lawrence doco on SBS
Who will write the definitive story about Ponsonby 1968-1975?
Something like Helen Garner did for Melbourne with "Monkey Grip" 1977
(another fine first novel by a woman)

It would have to include Jim Baxter,Bruno Lawrence,Shelly Lodge,Tim Shadbolt
Dean Buchannan,Brigid Lowry,Frank Pound,Auckland Motorcycles,The Purple House,
The Pink House,Raewyn Annear, Woozle, Freemans Bay,Tony Fomison,Ponsonby
Ice9, TrafficLight, Orangebarrel, Durban Poison, Sumatran black,
LedZepplin Western Springs Concert 1972
Barry Crump, Sam Hunt
Coromandel Communes (Wilderlands is non googleable)
West Coast mining towns (Blackball)
Seaweed gatherers at Ahipara

Dean Parker formerly of Vermont St is a fairly fine writer
Dean in The Listener
But maybe no-one can capture those days
(Pynchon failed to capture Washington State)
Take a walk down Ponsonby Rd

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SUVs continued...
Some MonkeyWrenchingtips (from Dave Foreman)
If SUVs or motorbikes are polluting you favourite wilderness,
cut some rebar (steel reinforcing rod) at an angle,
hammer into the ground leaving 15cm spike, disguise with leaves
place in pairs , to puncture two tyres, so the SUV cant use a spare,
place deep in the trail so the driver has a long walk out.

To burn a SUV (or a bulldozer or a tank):
Use kerosine (petrol flashes too readily)
You need to soak a blanket in kero and throw it over the vehicle
- makes more heat than simply pouring kerosine over the vehicle
kero may be hard to light, so ignite it with a bottle of meths.
- watch out for exploding reactive armour on tanks

To sabotage secretly, dont put sugar in the fuel,
put grinding powder in the lubrication

To stop logging, put ceramic spikes in trees
- they cant be detected magnetically.
Warning: if loggers catch you they will be cross,
because at the sawmill, all hell breaks loose when
a big saw hits one of those spikes.
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Dr. Thomas Szasz has a new book "Pharmacracy," "invasive rule of medicine.."
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Weekend musing with big sibs on Beef Fat culture.
Bought in packets it was "Suet" to be hand rubbed
into the dry ingredients of Xmas pudding
Decanted from the Roast, it was "dripping",
usually one or two handleless cups
with solidifying drippng were in the "safe"
(a screened box opening onto the South side of the house)
cool enough in Wellington to store the Roast,
wrapped in newspaper, tightly to keep out blowies
- Un Wellington there was little household wildlife,
no mossies, no roaches, no ants,few flys
the occasional blowie, and the occasional fat furry spider.
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