ponderosa

tom decko, png artist

Last Friday I went to an art exhibition opening in the local uni’s infamous-new-library-with-no-books (the story gets more farcical the more I learn about it. The building, for instance, has been sitting there for 2 years, but there were disputes about payment – the compensation – and so someone “hid” the keys and no one had access…for 2 years?!!!).

You’ve been to one opening in your life then you’ve been to them all. Basic ingredients: cheap wine; a few pretentious geezers wheezing their way around, either muttering Very Important analyses to themselves, heads bent in close, or throwing out comments designed to intimidate; a few people uncomfortable, not sure how to “properly” look at “art”; a few hovering near the wine and/or food; a boring speech. If you are at a “contemporary” exhibition opening, then there’s gotta be at least a few pieces of welded-sculpture or the like. And if you’re at a “cultural” opening, then there’s gotta be a few people in costume, singing or doing a welcome dance etc.

So we had all of these. But most of the art was really good, and it was a chance to explore the library (every single shelf on the ground floor bears a big sticker saying: “Donated by the people of Japan” and bearing the J flag). (And yes there were a lot of empty shelves. And a LOT of very old books.). And I had forgotten until today that there was a photographer around who’d taken photographs of myself and two friends looking at a particular painting. All terribly posed but it was funny at the time; we thought the photographer was from some island newspaper. But no: The National, it turns out. There is P with glasses on looking reasonably intelligent, but next to her is someone with a big white face staring rather vacantly – me.

I can still hear everyone at work laughing.

Yeah yeah yeah.


The night before I went to the final in a public lecture series at the local uni, on gender and leadership. A very worthy topic here in the highlands, but … well a bit of a yawn. My boss got me to go to two, I skipped another, but went to this one; attendance (mine) specifically requested by coordinator, but I wasn’t doing her any favours by going: a friend was taking part as a panel member in the final session, and went to support her; my workplace was officially thanked for attending each time I went, and thanked first, before all others who’d actually helped in some way. Coordinator has submitted her phd thesis to my work for publication and is trying to curry favour (thesis is unpublishable; won’t stand on its own, not matter how much flattery). Realised two other things:

- I loathe powerpoint; whether your content is good or bad it turns everything into dot-pointed superficial fluff. I don’t think I’ve really come across a situation in which it was a useful tool. It ought to be banned; someone send out a bug disabling it, please…
- I would never take on an academic teaching position in a uni in a developing country. Ok, not quite never: if radical changes were allowed, then it might be possible. But not…well, not in the current PNG. (Something I will only elaborate on off-screen.) It’s work for some, but not for me.