Trent Dalton’s stories of love and much more!Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ 
James Pillion
 

MY FAVOURITE THINGS | Healing, Pt. 1

β€œThe true mystery of the world is the visible, not invisible.”

β€” OSCAR WILDE
 

During a recent stay in Brisbane’s West End last month, I formed a curious bond with Mungo, the Airbnb’s host’s furry little friend. Mungo is a shih tsu mix, a weary old dame who spent the first four days of my stay barking down at me from the balcony above before working up the courage to come say hello. Slowly warming to my affections, her grumbling soon ceased as I plied her with cuddles and a back scratch. Yet just as soon as I stopped, she couldn’t help giving me an earful on the way out the door. It’s never easy doing away with bad habits, especially when we feel threatened or up against the world. Yet it’s only when we open ourselves to the unexpected that we come to glimpse our true potential, and invite the possibility of a good scratch behind the ears. 
 

Love Stories πŸ“š

A cheeky peek at Instagram turned me onto this heartfelt collection of anecdotal tales on love and loss. Much like Trent Dalton’s debut Boy Swallows Universe, this book has opened me up in the most unusual ways. Bittersweet stories from everyday Australians that left me brushing away tears of joy. Trent likes to paraphrase love, as defined by a given individual, at the end of each story. Which got me to thinking about what love means to me. As I see it, love is everything in the right place. An uplifting joie de vivre when the winds are blowing just right. It’s also the reason why I keep a cherished photo of Ridley, my former Sheepadoodle puppy, on my lock screen, to remind me that love is complicated. You can listen to Dalton wax nostalgic on the book here.

β€œEverywhere we go, we will never know how many minor miracles occur each day that help us avoid calamity.” β€” Jan Kubert
 

Roadrunner πŸ“Ή

Morgan Neville’s latest doco transported me up and out of my self-pity on a recent Saturday night. It’s surreal to think that I only came to better understand Anthony Bourdain after picking up Kitchen Confidential (a must read) in the wake of his suicide. All the same I’m grateful to have glimpsed the life of this bright star. A larger-than-life personality whose passion for writing and hunger for adventure rivals my own. As this documentary makes plain, there are so many reasons to find inspiration in the rollercoaster that was Anthony Bourdain, with his premature end serving as a cautionary tale. And as much as I struggle with cooking shows, it’s left me with a newfound appetite to tuck into some choice cuts (pun intended) of Parts Unknown.
 

Scene By Scene πŸ“Ί

Ashley Clark’s newsletter turned me onto this archived 1990s series, hosted by BBC journo Mark Cousins, and featuring some of my favourite filmmakers. Streaming these episodes made me realize how much of a vacuum exists for film-focused content in the age of streaming. A no-nonsense series about filmmakers, for filmmakers and film lovers alike. After streaming a few episodes, I was left to wonder whether heartfelt conversations with the likes of Martin Scorsese or Paul Schrader would survive the wrath of online trolls today. Especially when contemplating the late Jonathan Demme’s reflections on the making of his film Beloved. The interview also inspired me to blast Stop Making Sense, his 1984 live show extravaganza of Talking Heads at LA’s Pantages Theater.

β€œIf I’m prepared to accept that my ancestors β€” the slave-owning class β€” did unspeakable, horrendous human damage to people by literally enslaving, or tolerating the existence of a slave  … if we’re not in touch with that horror we’re functioning behind some kind of denial.” β€” Jonathan Demme
 

The Ishihara Test πŸ–₯

A conference dinner in Brisbane last month left me in the best of company and led to a dinner discussion that had me shaking my head in wonder. I was to discover that Napoleon’s diminutive stature was pure poppycock, (The Little Corporal was taller than many recent French presidents) that Winston Churchill carried a grudge against Australia to his grave, and that colour blindness is more endemic than we might think. My endless queries turned me onto the Ishihara test, a surprisingly straight forward test that takes less than a minute. While I was stunned to discover 1 in 12 men suffer from this condition (1 in 200 for women), I was even more surprised to pass with flying colors.
 

How To Change Your Mind πŸ“Ή

While the discovery of this new Netflix series initially left me rolling my eyes, I found myself won over by the scroll-over trailer, a teaser featuring esteemed mycologist Paul Stamets divulging the cosmic secrets of a psilocybin trip. After streaming the first half of this four-part series, an adaptation of Michael Pollan’s book of the same name, it left me musing over my own transcendent experiences with LSD and magic mushrooms. As the talking heads consistently remind, these psychedelic drugs have the ability to profoundly affect how we see the world, and our own place in it. A recent Longform interview got me reading Pollan’s new book, This Is Your Mind on Plants and inspired me to subscribe to his new weekly newsletter The Microdose.
 

Restoring Faith In National Heritage πŸ—ž

Paul Kelly’s article in last month’s Weekend Australian examines the decline in Christian fellowship (down to 40%) from last year’s census. This fallout, together with the rising hysteria of the internet, has led to our inability to find common ground on touchstone issues. The article left me musing over a recent Ted Gioia newsletter on sophistry, (his β€˜word of the year’ that I had to look up) which is defined as β€˜the use of clever but false arguments, especially with the intention of deceiving’. While such governance, here and abroad, is certainly inspiring new levels of partisanship, division and regressive tribalism, I took comfort in a recent Lowy Institute poll that found most Aussies still view immigration and multiculturalism as fundamental to being Australian.

"A free society is a moral achievement. We've forgotten that without a shared moral code to which we are all accountable, into which we are all educated and which we have internalised, we will lose trust in our public life on which our very freedom depends.” β€” Rabbi Jonathan Sacks
 

The Wrong Arm of the Law πŸŽ₯

Peter Sellers is the first and last reason to find a copy of this 1963 comedy of errors. Produced and distributed ahead of meteoric fame with Stanley Kubrick’s Dr. Strangelove, his follow-up to 1962’s Lolita, it features a storyline conspiratorially close to Blake Edwards’s uproarious The Pink Panther released the same year. As I found myself guffawing at this delightful crime caper, it dawned on me that this hidden gem delivers my favourite Sellers’ performance of all time. I personally savoured the plot twist, Aussie crims guised as a trio of London bobbies, and its colourful ensemble cast. It also led me to a Sunday night rewatch of The Pink Panther.
 

What We Gain From Pain πŸ“»

This episode of Hidden Brain offers a mixed bag of intellectual delights. Without revealing too many spoilers, Eranda Jayawickreme contends that trauma, and the very essence of suffering, has the potential to peel back the curtain on who we are. Helping us grow into our truest selves or else splintering the soul in irredeemable ways. Reflecting on my own relationship to pain, I was surprised to accept that my ability to weather and rise above personal tribulations stemmed from an unlikely outlook. When I started viewing every setback as a teachable lesson, I stopped taking things so personally and learned to appreciate the simple joys that Victor Frankl espouses in Man’s Search For Meaning.

 

Men πŸŽ₯

It’s hard to know how deliberate Alex Garland was in executing a first act whose look and feel β€” right down to the casting of its lead Jessie Buckley β€” was derivative of a Black Mirror episode. In typical Garland fashion however, plot lines are beholden to thematic curiousities, which has the effect of delivering a third act that promises to inspire ennui in certain viewers. All the same I enjoyed the subtle, or not so subtle, stabs at masculine missteps, from its mansplaining interludes to its diabolical sexism. A rich thematic undercurrent on the genesis of gender, of Adam and Eve’s Eden gone wrong, runs throughout. It also inspired a re-watch of Annihilation, which remains one hell of a psychedelic rollick, and serves up my favourite Natalie Portman performance to date. 
 

Rabbit Hole πŸ“»

I binge-listened to this eight-part series on a drive to Brisvegas a couple weeks back. The NY Times production, a modern examination of the internet and its aberrations, is equal parts chilling and compelling. It’s terrifying to accept that the most trusted news publication in the world lays the blame for much of the world’s turmoil at the feet of Silicon Valley. I found myself listening to Episode 5 on the rise of YouTube phenom Pewdiepie (I’d never heard of him) with my mouth hanging open. It’s hard to fathom the unprecedented power of these online celebs, whose fanbases eclipse many sovereign nations combined. It’s even harder to accept that the latest king of the jungle, TikTok, willfully lures it’s teenage audience to keep swiping for up to 6-8 hours a day.

 

Macpherson Robertson πŸ‘€

Trent Dalton’s sentimental Love Stories turned me onto the rags-to-riches tale of a quintessential Aussie bloke. An iconic entrepreneur whose name left me foundering yet whose mouth-watering creations I was intimately familiar with. Cherry Ripes, Crunchies and Freddo Frogs, childhood staples of every single household, were to make Robertson one wealthy bugger. The young upstart founded his fledgling company, MacRobertson’s, in the family bathroom in the 1880s, hawking his wares on street corners and local fairs. By the turn of the century, Robertson had cornered the market, prompting his favourite delicacies to be snapped up by Cadbury’s in the nineteen-sixties.
 

Ellis Larkins - Manhattan at Midnight 🎢

Adam Gopnik’s guest appearance on Alec Baldwin’s Here’s The Thing turned me onto the soothing sounds of Ellis Larkins. A jazz pianist moulded in the style of the great Art Tatum. Larkins was an institutional presence in New York nightspots for close to 40 years, accompanying the jazz greats of yesteryear. There’s something to be said for those passionate souls who deliberately shy from the spotlight to give their body and soul to the craft. While Manhattan at Midnight is the byproduct of such devotion, Larkins’s duet LPs with Ruby Braff, a jazz trumpeter, (Duets and The Grand Reunion are standouts) are sensational to boot.
 

Thanks for reading. To show your support, forward it to someone who’d like it or treat yourself to one of my books.

If you’re seeing this newsletter for the first time, you can read previous issues and subscribe here.
 

WRITING | @jamespillion
FILM | @jamespillionfilm

8 Stephen St
Bondi, NSW,
Australia

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