George
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Post by George on Jan 11, 2010 20:52:12 GMT 10
I've been mostly out of Sydney for the past month, so my much-delayed meeting with Judy Lattas is still unrealised.
I hope to rectify that before the end of Jan.
The delay is becoming quite ridiculously ongoing.
I believe a website is either imminent, or already online somewhere, but possibly not quite ready.
I'll have more definitive answers in the near future.
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George
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Post by George on Jan 24, 2010 16:58:34 GMT 10
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Post by Jason Mckerra on Jan 24, 2010 17:26:53 GMT 10
My offer remains open. If there is anything I can do to help, let me know. :-)
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George
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Post by George on Feb 6, 2010 19:33:42 GMT 10
Latest update re the conference: * We're now expecting about 50 attendees. * SBS Television will be covering the event. * An expanded website with online registration will be up in the next 2 weeks. * Registration fee will be AUD $25 per person.
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George
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Post by George on Feb 6, 2010 19:47:29 GMT 10
Also, I've just acquired a new superfast notebook computer with wireless internet, so there is a possibility that we may be able to conduct some web-based video conferencing with people from interstate and overseas - however, this is subject to wireless signal strength on Dangar Island, which I've yet to determine.
Judy advises that mobile coverage there is good-patchy, depending on carrier.
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Post by Jason Mckerra on Feb 19, 2010 15:53:43 GMT 10
I propose we create a short video promoting the conference. What is the ultimate (preferably public domain) micronational tune, that I can put a few images too!
My attempt at a promo vid is being uploaded to youtube as we speak...
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Post by Jason Mckerra on Feb 20, 2010 10:10:56 GMT 10
It's far from perfect, but anyway...
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Chas Jago
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Post by Chas Jago on Feb 20, 2010 12:19:00 GMT 10
Well worth the watch! good work.
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a1
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Post by a1 on Feb 22, 2010 13:49:03 GMT 10
Been told that the website will be up tomorrow.
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George
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Post by George on Feb 22, 2010 19:50:12 GMT 10
Have you been in touch with Judy? If so, that'll save me a call.
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George
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Post by George on Feb 23, 2010 11:03:22 GMT 10
I've just spoken with Judy about the website.
All things being equal it should be up later today, as Mr Fish indicated. The delay was caused by the guy who was working on it being sacked by the university before xmas - and nobody informing Judy until yesterday.
The AUD $25 registration fee will be payable to Macquarie University, but it will need to be processed via direct deposit. Credit card or B-Pay payments are unfortunately not an option this time round.
As far as attendees go, I'm doing a ring-around that includes Prince Paul of Wy and Prince Vasudeo of Dubeldeka today.
Judy has also been contacted by a previously unknown territorial micronation from northern Queensland who are keen to send some of their people down for the conference.
Stand by for further updates.
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George
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Post by George on Feb 23, 2010 11:33:24 GMT 10
I'm delighted to announce that the Minister of State of Atlantium, the Right Honourable Count Derek Gould, will be attending PoliNation. You can read a short bio of Count Derek here: www.atlantium.org/biographies.htmlIn summary, Count Derek spent over 2 decades as a senior bureaucrat in the Hong Kong colonial administration - quite a number of them as 2IC of the Hong Kong Department of Health. He is a respected international authority on public policy and administration, is a visiting lecturer in public administration at several universities in Hong Kong and Australia, and has published several books on the subject. He now divides his time between Hong Kong, southeast Queensland, where he owns a semi-rural property, and Sydney. As Atlantium's Minister of State he the second most senior member of the Imperial Administration, effectively serving as our head of government.
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George
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Post by George on Feb 23, 2010 12:38:01 GMT 10
I've just gotten off the phone with George Muirhead, from the former Principality of Marlborough - which was national headline news in Australia for a brief period in the early 1990s. He is a very intelligent, articulate fellow who has obviously given a great deal of thought to the nature of statehood in the modern world, and I'm very much hoping he will be attending PoliNation.
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George
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Post by George on Feb 23, 2010 14:44:04 GMT 10
I've just gotten off the phone to Prince Vasudeo of Dubeldeka.
He is very keen to attend PoliNation.
I'll also be dropping in to visit him in person, in Mittagong early next week.
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George
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Post by George on Feb 25, 2010 8:20:42 GMT 10
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George
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Post by George on Mar 2, 2010 16:47:00 GMT 10
Earlier today I had the pleasure of speaking to Prince Paul of Wy - better known as Paul Ashton Delprat - one of Australia's leading contemporary artists. Mr Delprat has a wonderful, incisive sense of humour, and a finely-honed sense of the absurd. He is also one of the very few micronationalists I've encountered who understand that what they are engaged in is a piece of theatre designed for a public audience - not a worldwide "movement" effecting political change. I look forward to entertaining his august presence at PoliNation.
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George
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Post by George on Mar 3, 2010 20:33:35 GMT 10
Today I managed to speak with John, the Duke of Avram.
Unfortunately, due to pre-existing commitments, it does not appear that he will be able to attend PoliNation.
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Chas Jago
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Post by Chas Jago on Mar 5, 2010 7:37:44 GMT 10
Can I ask what is the purpose behind the conference? is it just a meet and greet or does it have some other purpose?
The reason I ask is that from what I understand there is only a small handful of nations attending and these nations only represent a very small section of the greater community.
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George
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Post by George on Mar 5, 2010 14:22:22 GMT 10
It's an academic conference, convened under the auspices of one of Australia's leading universities.
As the primary academic convenor, Judy Lattas' interest in the subject is primarily sociological and historical. This is reflected in her published papers, which deal largely with the micronation phenomenon as it has historically manifested itself in Australia.
As co-convenor, my interest is in properly documenting and contextualising an historical phenomenon that I believe is deserving of more scholarly interest than it has hitherto been shown. While my private research over the past three decades has not been limited to Australian micronations, the fact that I live here means that I've had personal contact with more Australian micronation founders than I have with those from elsewhere, and hence have a greater personal familiarity with their general circumstances and personalities.
As a consequence - and given the fact that the event is being conducted in Australia - it's no surprise that most of the micronations likely to attend will be (a) from Australia, and (b) have an historically documented basis in the real world.
As far as broader involvement goes, this is obviously constrained by Australia's relative isolation from the rest of the world, combined with the fact that most micronationalists appear to live in a state of penury.
In any case, it is not a conference of micronations, it is a conference about micronations - and at least as far as my own conference paper goes - most of the major ones will certainly be covered. As with any academic conference, the purpose of PoliNation is to advance academic and community interest in, and exchange knowledge of the subject, by bringing together people possessing a range of perspectives, attitudes and historical knowledge.
This outcome will be largely achieved through the formal presentation of academic papers on themes related to the conference subject.
I will be presenting a paper on micronational symbols and symbolism.
Jason will be presenting a paper exploring the British Israelist links to one particular subset of Australian micronations.
Stephen Szabo from the Heraldry Society of Australia will be presenting a paper on the awards and honours of the Principality of Breffni, a supposed Irish principality that conducted public inverstitures in the Sydney suburb of Balmain in the 1980s.
Paul Delprat, Vasudeo Khandekar and (hopefully) George Muirhead will present detailed, first-person historical accounts of the circumstances surounding the creation of their respective micronations, before a public audience for the first time.
Subsequent to the conference these and other relevant papers and essays will be compiled into a book to be published by Macquarie University. This publication will then serve as an academic-standard reference, which future researches may either draw upon, or else use as the springboard for further study.
Entirely aside from which, the event will also most certainly constitute the largest-ever gathering of micronation leaders in Australia - and quite possibly the world.
If anyone is under the impression that PoliNation is merely an excuse for a couple of virtual kinglets to lie around sipping lattes and shootin' the breeze, they are seriously deluded.
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Chas Jago
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Post by Chas Jago on Mar 5, 2010 16:08:58 GMT 10
Thanks for that, no offence was intended by my questions, just I was asked to pose the questions to you in respect to the conference.
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Post by Jason Mckerra on Mar 5, 2010 16:28:14 GMT 10
Jason will be presenting on British Israelists if he gets of his arse and does some research/writing in time, which considering my schedule isn't looking promising.
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George
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Post by George on Mar 5, 2010 18:49:58 GMT 10
No worries Chas.
People seem to be confusing "conference" with "convention". There's a subtle but very important distinction between the two.
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George
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Post by George on Mar 5, 2010 18:52:19 GMT 10
Jason will be presenting on British Israelists if he gets of his arse and does some research/writing in time, which considering my schedule isn't looking promising. You're on my list, which makes delivery non-negotiable. :-P
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CJ Miller
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Post by CJ Miller on Mar 10, 2010 11:37:58 GMT 10
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George
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Post by George on Mar 10, 2010 11:56:48 GMT 10
We'd be happy to display the real fabric flag of any interested micronation at the conference... but for that to happen you'll need to send it to us - along with your return postal address, so we can return it afterwards.
Flags can be sent directly to me at:
George Cruickshank PO Box 633 Potts Point NSW 1335 Australia
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Peter
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Post by Peter on Mar 10, 2010 22:09:59 GMT 10
That would be excellent, I will have to find out where exactly are our flags roaming right now.
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Post by Bokonton on Mar 11, 2010 4:17:08 GMT 10
*looking over steepled fingers at address* E-e-e-xcellent.
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George
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Post by George on Mar 11, 2010 5:38:56 GMT 10
I should have thought of something this simple earlier in the piece.
A display of flags always looks good on film... and the added bonus is that I can refer to them directly as I deliver my paper :-)
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scott
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Post by scott on Mar 11, 2010 13:10:11 GMT 10
Well, if I had the money to get a flag made..or the skill to do it myself, I would send one. Would love to see my flag on the television.
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George
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Post by George on Mar 11, 2010 13:34:24 GMT 10
Give it a go... Jason managed it OK. :-)
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