Things:

1.
The Australian Government's Budget for the upcomming financial year is only a few days old. And it doesn't seem all that bad really. I wasn't expecting a tax cut at all and still got one. The shift in tax brackets always favours the higher earners and the new shift is no different. Maybe with a little extra cash in their pockets the high earners will turn around and invest the money back into their own country. We can dream. What it did do was solidify the Liberal Party voting base. And, remeber that some plumbers, builders and other tradespeople earn over $75,000 a year, may even have extended it a bit.

The Budget also further pushed the Liberal's conservative agenda (and i can't believe those three words go together) of pushing for families with more than three kids where the wife stays at home and the father works. Notice i said wife and husband? Partners of differing or same gender or single parents don't fit into Mr Howard's ideal world. And i worry that maybe they don't fit into Beazley's either.

It is also a piece of political genius by the Libs to send the legislation for the tax cuts for lower earners to the senate while Labour still holds the power. If Labour does its usual thing of knocking it back on principle they will put themselves further into the hole.

2.
I worry that i live in a country where the government still allows one of its' nationals to be held by a foreign government in a third country without charge. Doesn't this raise the hars on the back of your neck? Your country couldn't give a stuff about you. You know what it reminds me of? Our policy on terrorists. We do not negotiate with terrorists for the release of hostages. Is the US a terrorist state and we have no affirmed it by our lack of negotiation? Or is our government too worried about annoying the US State Department?

I worry more that the people of this country seem to be just accepting this fact while they pull hair over a woman who has been charged and awaiting trial in a country just to the north. I am not saying she is guilty or deserves to be held but surely what is happening to David Hicks is much worse than Ms Corby and deserves as much, if not more, attention?

3.
I've been thinking about singles. They don't seem as strong as they once were. To me they should be a taste of what the band/group is trying to get out there. With the prevelance of mp3 players and the amount of time we spend infront of computers i would like to see it return.

Actually what i want is this. A fortnightly/monthly e-zine that shoots into my email box. It covers new music releases and with each release are two or three mp3s hotlinked to the review/article. Click on the hotlink and it gets zapped into your itunes library as an album. Each month 20 or so new tracks by bands. Heck i would probably pay 5 bucks a month to get that too.

I guess this is the way podcasting is going. But i just don't want to have to spend eight hours looking for it. I'm getting lazy in my old age.

Singles are what comic books for adults should be too. Something cheap and flimsy that has 60-70 pages of a larger paperback. Keep the single in print to drag people into the story and maybe even as a throw in at bookstores.

You just bought George P Pelecanos? How about this free 60page comic that is the first chunk of Sin CIty. Read it on the train on the way home, or in the toilet because you can lay it flat on the ground.

I just bought the first three chapters (heh) of The Ultimates for 6 bucks. Something to read on the bus and hand around. If i like it i'll get the big book when it ships.

I like colour and weight which is why i will pay 6 bucks. Kids don't. Comic books for kids need to be something different. Comic books for kids need to be 40 pages for 2 bucks on cheap, cheap paper. They don't want to lovingly caress it for eternity. They want to read it, share it and then forget about it.

Childhood is about living it, Adulthood is about collecting the things from your childhood so you can remember the bloody thing again.

4.
iPod good. Now Mr Jobs can you give me one with bluetooth so i can zip what i like to my friend?

Two years?

Bastard.