Melbourne Beats

Lizkins wrote:reading Dead Man Running, tis about the Bandidos. So far there have been these moments like and others time its been

really good read so far, and i tell you this book gives such a good background history to Melbourne, Australia and America re bikie gangs and underworld crime that may not have hit the news.

ghetto kitty wrote:My reading habit is ridiculous. There is not enough books in the world.

ghetto kitty wrote:recently -
"Water For elephants"- Sara Gruen. awesome. about the carni/circus world in america in the 30's-40's, which was brutal and unforgiving, rough and terrifying. great characters, loved it.

"Burnt Shadows' - Kamila Shamsie. Loved this one, beautifully written and poignant story. one of those ones that weaves through time and places effortlessly, draws you right in. highly reccommend.

bought off ebay and re read all of Jeff Noon's books. Vurt really is a masterpiece but he kind of pushes the envelope of his ideas in Pollen heheh still mega fun though.

Tried to read the first of Neal Stephenson's Baroque trilogy, too heavy for bed, kept knocking me out. Will read upright one day.

finished Steig Larsson trilogy yesterday. Took me two weeks to do the last two books. Have been up till 3am every night reading the last one. Loved it.

and am now reading "the Slap" - great so far, Again, love any books set in melbourne and love stories told from different viewpoints, but its only gonna last the week.

browsing amazon or fishpond seems to get me nowhere, so srsly, i have been through all 15 pages of this thread tonight, realised that I have read most of the fiction mentioned by everyone and ordered 7 reccommedations I haven't read to keep me going through summer.

Under The Skin - Michael Faber
The End of Mr Y - Scarlette Thomas
The Quiet Girl - Peter Hoeg
The Passage - Justin Cronin
Hearts & minds - Amanda Craig
The post birthday world- Lionel Shriver
Kandy-Kolored Tangerine-Flake Streamline Baby - Tom Wolfe

My reading habit is ridiculous. There is not enough books in the world.

Feigan wrote:

Lizkins wrote:reading Dead Man Running, tis about the Bandidos. So far there have been these moments like and others time its been

really good read so far, and i tell you this book gives such a good background history to Melbourne, Australia and America re bikie gangs and underworld crime that may not have hit the news.

Is this the one about the guy who never got patched and turned informant?

quiet roar wrote:

ghetto kitty wrote:My reading habit is ridiculous. There is not enough books in the world.

Recent fiction highlights that you should buy from a local independent bookshop

quiet roar wrote:Yes, that's true. And if the local promoter provided for us older punters, I would care (and support!). As it is, I'm not too fussed because we aren't being catered for.

Are you saying your local indie bookshop is not stocking a range you like?

ghetto kitty wrote:

quiet roar wrote:Yes, that's true. And if the local promoter provided for us older punters, I would care (and support!). As it is, I'm not too fussed because we aren't being catered for.

Are you saying your local indie bookshop is not stocking a range you like?

oh what a crock of shit dude. not too fussed but want to post n post about it? would care and support but havent been to any of the arvo gigs ive been at lately? meh! grumpy old man syndrome imho.

im saying ALL bookshops in australia are retardedly overpriced.
new bestsellers in indo were $10.

over this convo.

ghetto kitty wrote:you guys - "The Slap' is totally awesome.

gnat wrote:. fucking massive twist in it.

system wrote:not sure if i've recommended it previously, but d.b.c. pierre's "lights out in wonderland" is a cracking read.

quiet roar wrote:Wow, big call, GM!

I liked it, too, but not that much.

mrj wrote:

gnat wrote:. fucking massive twist in it.

that must make it difficult to read. maybe iron the pages or something, that should help.

CoB wrote:

mrj wrote:

gnat wrote:. fucking massive twist in it.

that must make it difficult to read. maybe iron the pages or something, that should help.

*facepalm*
thinkin of getting some douglas adams books out.
maybe dirk gently?

FoundationStepper wrote:there was lots of argument about them being necessary to 'protect local content' (which I don't buy)

The Federal Government's economic advisory body the Productivity Commission has come up with a plan to cut the cost of books.

A key plank of the plan would see the scrapping of copyright provisions which prevent the import of a title if the book is produced here. It says the current restrictions mean Australian consumers are paying up to 35 per cent more for books than readers in other countries.

Under Australia's copyright laws if a locally based publisher owns the copyright on a book other companies are barred from importing copies from overseas. It's known as a parallel import restriction.

SABRA LANE: And the higher price that consumers are paying Australia, does that money find its way into the pockets of Australian authors and publishers?

MIKE WOODS: It does to some extent but in fact we investigated that fairly closely and more of the money flows to foreign authors and publishers in fact than it does to Australian authors, Australian writers. So more of the higher-price effect flows to the benefit offshore than it does to Australian writers.

FoundationStepper wrote:is this is the case, it seems another pretty clear cut case of propping up delicing manufacuring that will inevitably crumble (e.g. clothes) - something I don't agree with when it 'taxes' all consumers to do so (how much does each 'job saved' cost us each year?)

Sociopathic wrote:I dunno if I've posted this before.
But a guy call Paul Carter has 3 books out. I love him he's so funny he makes me look like a crazy person buy laighing until I cry on public transport.

He's now a former offshore and land base oil rig worker he's writen 2 books about his life on the rigs and his 3rd book is about him circumnavigating australia on a bio-oil fueled bike basically old cooking oil


1. Don't Tell Mum I Work on the Rigs...She Thinks I'm a Piano Player in a Whorehouse
2. This Is Not a Drill
3. Is That Thing Diesel?

So amazing to read and so funny.

gnat wrote: yeh i rec'd that book. i loved it bo. you don't have to like any of the characters- it's more the idea of people always seeking the greener grass, when it never is you know..

Feigan wrote:

Sociopathic wrote:I dunno if I've posted this before.
But a guy call Paul Carter has 3 books out. I love him he's so funny he makes me look like a crazy person buy laighing until I cry on public transport.

He's now a former offshore and land base oil rig worker he's writen 2 books about his life on the rigs and his 3rd book is about him circumnavigating australia on a bio-oil fueled bike basically old cooking oil


1. Don't Tell Mum I Work on the Rigs...She Thinks I'm a Piano Player in a Whorehouse
2. This Is Not a Drill
3. Is That Thing Diesel?

So amazing to read and so funny.

Have read the first and enjoyed it - didn't know there was two more.

will investigate.

FoundationStepper wrote:increased cost for consumables that 'improve' our quality of life also has an impact on everyone. if its really +30% this could have a significant impact in some areas too, like uni book costs for students.

the issue is less that we build a rigged system that 'protects' certain areas to a point (every country does this) its that there is no point doing this when the bigger forces of consumer choice, net access etc totally undermine those efforts. if that 'protection money' or efforts can be better/more effectively spent on another area with an actual future in australia then thats where it should go IMO

its not that cold hearted, its just recognising when we are pissing in the wind, and looking realistically at how much each job 'saved' actually costs everyone. sometimes its much more than a person in the field (thinking cars) actually earns which begs the question on whether $ are better put to something offering alternate employment/ cultural value etc