Just one more chapter

Last night I, along with thousands of other people in Sydney, sat in a theatre at Macquarie University to listen to Dr. Robert Fisk speak.

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He is an intense man who delivered an intense experience. His entire body activated and animated by what he has seen and heard- informed by more than three decades of observation, investigation and reporting of conflicts in the Middle East and eastern Europe. The turning of sand into blood.

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Dr. Fisk spoke for an hour and a half then took questions from the audience. One such question came from a young woman who timidly prefaced hers with [me paraphrasing] this is a personal question…given that the wars go on and innocent people keep getting killed, how do you keep doing what you do year after year?

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He paused and then answered that he feels as though his life is similiar to reading a brilliant historical novel that you can’t put down. He can see the clock in the background and knows that it is getting late and he should put the book down. He finds himself so engrossed in the story, and how it unfolds that he cannot bring himself to stop reading. Just one more chapter. Then, before he knows it, the first crack of dawn is visible through the curtains.

Is it any wonder this man received a standing ovation?

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15 Responses to “Just one more chapter”

  1. 12thharmonic Blog » Robert Fisk - Lecture & Interview available soon! Says:

    […] Photos are courtesy of Weez at Machine Gun Keyboard and Suki of Suki has an Opinion – There was a good turn out of Sydney bloggers at the event – something of a blogosphere social actually! […]

  2. Christine Keeler Says:

    Maureen Dowd, Robert Fisk … why don’t any of these people come to the north coast? Just think – a scout hall! Three adoring fans! Possibly a stalker! Scones!

  3. joe2 Says:

    Suki,there are more than a few ‘goodies’ left in the world who are prepared to speak out………..

    Fisk,Chomsky,Pilger,etc

    We need them more and more. Can i just remind people of Scott Parkin. Young and out of the country for what? So far they would not dare

  4. joe2 Says:

    Lost transmission in mid- flight,there,but have concerns about those who do not have a high profile,visiting.

  5. Suki Says:

    Christine,
    If you have an MP3 player you can kick the scouts out of the hall, call your two friends, eat the scones and listen to Fisk.

    Here (47.2 MB) and watch for last night here.

  6. Christine Keeler Says:

    Suki, you are a goddess

  7. weezil Says:

    I’ve been wondering if this government has the chutzpah to ‘Parkinise’ Robert Fisk. Not yet…

    Don’t miss this 4th Estate/MGK exclusive podcast- Antony Loewenstein interviews Fisk.

  8. Jennifer Says:

    He is getting a standing ovation for living his life in a Nietzschean groove of passionate involvement. Nothing more to say really — except for noting similarities with Lawrence of Arabia. (Aren’t they close?)

  9. David Heidelberg Says:

    Christine, you think you’ve got problems. Living in Bundaberg, we’re lucky to get carrier pigeons communication with the outside world!

  10. Jennifer Says:

    Living in Bundaberg, we’re lucky to get carrier pigeons communication with the outside world!

    Anyone who lives in an alcoholic drink will have all sorts of communication problems.

  11. tigtog Says:

    Weez, sadly your link to the Loewenstein Fisk interview podcast is broken.

    I notice Radio National is broadcasting Fisk’s speech on Sunday arvo and again on Tuesday night.

  12. Suki Says:

    Thanks tigtog,

    Have passed it onto weez who will look into it.
    There is no such thing as too much Fisk.

  13. weez Says:

    TT, I just checked the links that I have posted and they appear to be working. Could you please check again? Perhaps the Fourth Estate Radio website was temporarily unavailable.

    While Fisk was in Sydney, he also delivered the same lecture at Sydney Uni as he gave at Mac U. The version recorded at Sydney Uni is the one that ABC will be airing.

  14. tigtog Says:

    Weez, the links on MGK are fine, it’s the link you posted in the comments above on this shao thread (Mar 12) that seems to be broken. But now that you’ve posted the MGK links directly above that shouldn’t matter.

  15. weez Says:

    TT, ah, I see what you mean! When I wrote the comment, I put in the [a] tag but didn’t put in the xhref=www.url.etc part!

    I’ve gone back & fixed the link in the comment so it goes to Fourth Estate Radio.

    Sorry for the confusion & thanks for pointing that out!

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