Thank you to those who contacted me last month with this astonishing news. After 12 years of deadlock, stalemate and impasse the two Macedonias have struck a deal; one will be called ‘North Macedonia’ and the other one won’t. I doubt it had much to do with my timely blog posting of early June, but you never know; stranger things have happened, I mean England might even reach the semi-finals of the World Cup?
And thanks to the many of you who sent in their own pronunciation of ‘Loughborough’. The winning entry was Lugger-burr-Ugger. I once saw a movie made in the countryside around that fine town, deep in the fox-hunting domain of Leicestershire [pronounced Lestershiyah]. It was bad beyond belief. It’s now widely considered the worst film ever made that doesn’t feature Madonna.
This past week I’ve mostly been making speeches. Sometimes I even write them myself. Tuesday I was surrounded by a throng of real academics and even more real HDR students at an ARC-funded international workshop on ‘Art and Conflict’ (so I had to brush up on my Baudrillard); then I introduced a conference crowd to the new MOMA show at the NGV (so I had to freshen up on my Braque and Brancusi); next night I introduced a speaker at the remarkable ‘About my Monster’ show at our very own RMIT Gallery [no time to mug up on anything: they were queuing 200 metres down Swanston street for goodness sake], and the next day I presented at a panel session on ‘The Value of Art’, as part of a global conference full of cultural economists. I’ve never encountered that particular tribe before. They were an analytic and exacting crowd. Quote of the day from one of them: ”You think we’re a tough gig; it’s a good job we’re not econometrists’. Indeed. If only I really knew the difference.
And talking of the World Cup, I’ve been reading about the fitness and dietary regimes of some of the soccer squads. They are so healthy, so well-balanced, so green! I mean I remember the days when most footballers thought Broccoli was the name of an attacking forward from AC Milan…
'On the edge of my seat...' 