Welcome to the mullers and packers union blog site
A site of much good cheer and thought.
Greetings Earthlings
Greetings Earthlings
I blog therefore I am
I'm presuming to draw a real cross-section of what passes as humanity, to these pages.
In the words of the political rulers of the day: Let's have a conversation people!
I'm interested in the freedom we have in our daily lives, and of course this could mean we will chat about the freedom of associations, freedom of thought, of speech, of expression, creative or otherwise, freedom of movement, freedom of the press, as we know it, and I'm wondering if there is more or less freedom, more or less independence, online.
Should be as easy as shooting fish in a barrel-no?
The mullers and packers union was a smallish social (read apolitical) club I was part of, in the early 80's, here in Sydney.
We did not grow out of any university campus or movement.
We were about fun-all sorts of silliness and fun.
Of course there are drug associations embedded in the name.
To mull up and to pack a cone; two of hundreds of references, that in my culture, can only mean one thing-marijuana.
Importantly, the mullers and packers union was born out of our early contact with the TradeUnion labor movement here in Sydney at that point in history.
Some were delegates, most were members because as The Painters and Dockers motto used to menace:
Touch one Touch all.
. Ah the goodold days.
My reasons, back then, for playing on the mpua team were myriad-a crush on the head honcho, a dissatisfaction with a mob called NORML(National Organisation for the Reformation of Marijuana Laws) and a lifelong love of silliness and fun.
Resurrecting the mpua for my own nefarious purposes, all these years later, is also a way of honouring all of us that ever felt a little postal in the face of a post-colonial world.
As Janis Joplin wailed all those years ago: Freedom's just another word for nothing left to lose... and, like Janis, I've always felt I've nothing to lose, and everything to gain, in speaking out, in acting up, in reaching out, and in trying, on a daily basis, to try and find a little of whatever gets me through the night.
This site (like the mpua) is not special interest-we've got heaps of axes to grind, lotsa soapboxes to stand upon, and a veritable plethora of viewpoints to espouse, oppose, rant, rave and giggle about. The mpua doesn't care about religious beliefs(organised/disorganised, or non-existent) sexualities, ethnicities, your income, your postcode, or wether your'e a solid citizen, an outlaw or a criminal. What this new improved mpua cares about is what your freedom means to you, and in turn, to all of us.
Can my freedoms impinge upon yours? Does it matter a damn if they do?
Is freedom political?
Is it government sanctioned and/or regulated?
Can it be driven by market forces?
Is there power to be had in freedom?
Can freedom last forever, or like a state of grace, is freedom ephemeral and arbitrary?
Is freedom a westerndemocratic ideal only?
Can it ever be achieved by force-at the checkpoint of destruction-down the barrel of a gun?
(The carrot and the stick, so to speak)
And after all those questions, here's a few more.....
What's the opposite of freedom?
Is it captivity? Is it repression? Is it oppression?
Is it poverty? Is it apathy?
Is it as 'simple' as the examples set by Guantanamo Bay or Xmas Island?
Is it government regulated?
Is it a permanent place of hardship?
Is it a state of mind?
Is it State sanctioned and regulated from one election year to the next? Is it dependant on opinion polls and a leader's popularity and charisma? Is it censorship?
Is it war or famine or pestilence, even?
Is it the lack of a phone jack or modem?
Can it be driven by market forces?
Or is it all of this and more? Or none of the above? Or who gives a rats arse?! Is the price of freedom really eternal vigilance?
Is revolution a pipe dream and if so, what's the price of admission, please!
Remember kiddies-there's extra points for originality and for creativity of thought, and special prizes for humour.
Our mission, should we choose to accept it; is to have a bex, a good lie down, and a bit of a think about what's important to us and why. Have a chat, have a post, have a cone, have a martini, but for Allah's sake don't you be coming back here with the notion that Freedom is that shop over at The Mooreorless Park Supacentre!
I wish you Godspeed on this voyage of discovery gentlemen-May the new world be ours as together we conquer our fears.
From the book of the desert I say by way of farewell: May you go in peace/may peace be upon you Roughly translated from the Arabic greeting:
Assalaamou Alaykion
(may I be forgiven for my clumsy whitebread phonetics)
And remember people: where there's dope there's hope : ) and where there's love there's the possibility of life....
Or at the very least a warm body.
And always remember what the Beatles sang on that white album of theirs:In the words of the political rulers of the day: Let's have a conversation people!
I'm interested in the freedom we have in our daily lives, and of course this could mean we will chat about the freedom of associations, freedom of thought, of speech, of expression, creative or otherwise, freedom of movement, freedom of the press, as we know it, and I'm wondering if there is more or less freedom, more or less independence, online.
Should be as easy as shooting fish in a barrel-no?
The mullers and packers union was a smallish social (read apolitical) club I was part of, in the early 80's, here in Sydney.
We did not grow out of any university campus or movement.
We were about fun-all sorts of silliness and fun.
I think it was Red Emma Goldman who first posited the phrase:
It's not my revolution if I can't dance to it.Of course there are drug associations embedded in the name.
To mull up and to pack a cone; two of hundreds of references, that in my culture, can only mean one thing-marijuana.
Importantly, the mullers and packers union was born out of our early contact with the TradeUnion labor movement here in Sydney at that point in history.
Some were delegates, most were members because as The Painters and Dockers motto used to menace:
Touch one Touch all.
. Ah the goodold days.
My reasons, back then, for playing on the mpua team were myriad-a crush on the head honcho, a dissatisfaction with a mob called NORML(National Organisation for the Reformation of Marijuana Laws) and a lifelong love of silliness and fun.
Resurrecting the mpua for my own nefarious purposes, all these years later, is also a way of honouring all of us that ever felt a little postal in the face of a post-colonial world.
As Janis Joplin wailed all those years ago: Freedom's just another word for nothing left to lose... and, like Janis, I've always felt I've nothing to lose, and everything to gain, in speaking out, in acting up, in reaching out, and in trying, on a daily basis, to try and find a little of whatever gets me through the night.
This site (like the mpua) is not special interest-we've got heaps of axes to grind, lotsa soapboxes to stand upon, and a veritable plethora of viewpoints to espouse, oppose, rant, rave and giggle about. The mpua doesn't care about religious beliefs(organised/disorganised, or non-existent) sexualities, ethnicities, your income, your postcode, or wether your'e a solid citizen, an outlaw or a criminal. What this new improved mpua cares about is what your freedom means to you, and in turn, to all of us.
Can my freedoms impinge upon yours? Does it matter a damn if they do?
Is freedom political?
Is it government sanctioned and/or regulated?
Can it be driven by market forces?
Is there power to be had in freedom?
Can freedom last forever, or like a state of grace, is freedom ephemeral and arbitrary?
Is freedom a westerndemocratic ideal only?
Can it ever be achieved by force-at the checkpoint of destruction-down the barrel of a gun?
(The carrot and the stick, so to speak)
And after all those questions, here's a few more.....
What's the opposite of freedom?
Is it captivity? Is it repression? Is it oppression?
Is it poverty? Is it apathy?
Is it as 'simple' as the examples set by Guantanamo Bay or Xmas Island?
Is it government regulated?
Is it a permanent place of hardship?
Is it a state of mind?
Is it State sanctioned and regulated from one election year to the next? Is it dependant on opinion polls and a leader's popularity and charisma? Is it censorship?
Is it war or famine or pestilence, even?
Is it the lack of a phone jack or modem?
Can it be driven by market forces?
Or is it all of this and more? Or none of the above? Or who gives a rats arse?! Is the price of freedom really eternal vigilance?
Is revolution a pipe dream and if so, what's the price of admission, please!
Remember kiddies-there's extra points for originality and for creativity of thought, and special prizes for humour.
Our mission, should we choose to accept it; is to have a bex, a good lie down, and a bit of a think about what's important to us and why. Have a chat, have a post, have a cone, have a martini, but for Allah's sake don't you be coming back here with the notion that Freedom is that shop over at The Mooreorless Park Supacentre!
I wish you Godspeed on this voyage of discovery gentlemen-May the new world be ours as together we conquer our fears.
From the book of the desert I say by way of farewell: May you go in peace/may peace be upon you Roughly translated from the Arabic greeting:
Assalaamou Alaykion
(may I be forgiven for my clumsy whitebread phonetics)
And remember people: where there's dope there's hope : ) and where there's love there's the possibility of life....
Or at the very least a warm body.
happiness is a warm gun...
*** The mullers and packers union of australia retains any and all intellectual copyright in this and all or any subsequent posts..The mullers and packers union of australia, also respects, acknowledges, and sources, to the best of it's ability, all and any other copyrights in play, that are used in the commission of the creative goals of the author and the mullers and packers union of australia, and all who sail with her. ***
