(no subject)
All right, for real this time. If you're curious about what the heck one of my interests means, comment here and this time I really will explain it. :-)
2005-06-01
Entry tags:
Refugees
With several Liberal MPs expressing their support for the private members' bills, I think there's real hope that the end of mandatory detention (at least as we know it) could be nigh. Christian and Islamic leaders also support the bills. Even if the bills don't end up being introduced, or aren't passed, the government will probably need to offer a compromise solution which changes the current system.
Australians can sign an online petition supporting the bills - the signatures will be presented in Parliament.
Email, fax, or phone your local member - whatever party they belong to - and let them know you support the bill. Find your MP's details here.
ETA: Amnesty International gives a good summary of the situation and urges everyone to contact their MP.
Australians can sign an online petition supporting the bills - the signatures will be presented in Parliament.
Email, fax, or phone your local member - whatever party they belong to - and let them know you support the bill. Find your MP's details here.
ETA: Amnesty International gives a good summary of the situation and urges everyone to contact their MP.
Data Extract 105
Tell you something that bugs me to this day.
I edited the Doctor Who Club of Australia's newsletter, Data Extract, for a couple of years in the mid nineties. My first issue was number 105. Before it came out, the outgoing editor, Dallas Jones, played a prank on me - he sent part of the readership a parody issue 105, all about Kate Orman. He even sent a copy to Virgin Publishing.
The problem was that a hell of a lot of people didn't realise it was a parody. There was no disclaimer, and it was done anonymously (there was a bit of a thing for anonymous joke zines in Sydney at the time). Virgin were bewildered - I was incredibly embarrassed and phoned them to explain. More than a few fans were outraged by what they thought was a massive piece of self-aggrandisement. Others were just confused, ringing a bookshop to ask about a non-existent signing by Sylvester McCoy.
AFAIK Dallas never owned up publicly. I did tell aggrieved fans privately who had perpetrated the lark, so the word must have got around. I'm not sure anyone believed me, though. I believe some DE readers cancelled their subscriptions in disgust. Talk about getting off on the wrong foot.
I'm wading through a lot of history as I work on stuff for Inside the TARDIS. I haven't thought about that joke DE 105 for ages, but there's still a trace of a bad taste in my mouth from it.
I edited the Doctor Who Club of Australia's newsletter, Data Extract, for a couple of years in the mid nineties. My first issue was number 105. Before it came out, the outgoing editor, Dallas Jones, played a prank on me - he sent part of the readership a parody issue 105, all about Kate Orman. He even sent a copy to Virgin Publishing.
The problem was that a hell of a lot of people didn't realise it was a parody. There was no disclaimer, and it was done anonymously (there was a bit of a thing for anonymous joke zines in Sydney at the time). Virgin were bewildered - I was incredibly embarrassed and phoned them to explain. More than a few fans were outraged by what they thought was a massive piece of self-aggrandisement. Others were just confused, ringing a bookshop to ask about a non-existent signing by Sylvester McCoy.
AFAIK Dallas never owned up publicly. I did tell aggrieved fans privately who had perpetrated the lark, so the word must have got around. I'm not sure anyone believed me, though. I believe some DE readers cancelled their subscriptions in disgust. Talk about getting off on the wrong foot.
I'm wading through a lot of history as I work on stuff for Inside the TARDIS. I haven't thought about that joke DE 105 for ages, but there's still a trace of a bad taste in my mouth from it.
(no subject)
It's me or this bleeping history of Doctor Who tonight. I finish it or it finishes me. I've been at the bloody thing for three days now.
Dark Circus was a bloody good little fanzine.
ETA: Finished the beggar. *falls over*
Dark Circus was a bloody good little fanzine.
ETA: Finished the beggar. *falls over*