I guess the one thing that I liked about this book was how McCullum opened it: while politics is an honourable profession, there are not many honourable politicians out there. However, while it is written as a farcial account from an older politician to a younger politician, there are many things in this book that probably hold true to politics today. Of course, as they say, a year is a long time in politics and a lot of things have happened between the time this book was written and now, however the basic principles about surviving in politics still hold true today as they did back when the book was written.

The problem with being an honourable politician is that if you are one then you are not going to get all that far, and the problem with modern politics is that it is not focused on the long term. In many cases politics always works in three year cycles, and of those three years, only two of them have any production in them (I am speaking of Australian federal politics here, where the electoral cycle lasts three years). However, when I look at some other countries where the cycle lasts six years I feel that it can create an entrenched system, meaning that once a president is elected you are stuck with that president for six years.

I remember back in 1999 when John Howard won his second election by the skin of his teeth, but then went jaunting around claiming that he had a mandate because the Australian people had given it to him. Basically, his attitude was that once he was elected he could pretty much do what he liked, whether the people actually wanted him to do it or not. In that instance it was the GST, and he had been open with that throughout the election, but then another five years down the track (and one more election victories) he introduced Workchoices, which to many people came out of left field.

Obviously here in Australia we do have the power to pressure our politicians to shift their position, but then again there are a lot of other factors involved as well. If a small group of people are put out by a decision, then it can be seen that the government does not care because they are only interested in keeping the majority happy, and of course as long as the majority are happy then they will continue to get elected. This was proven in the 1994 election because, despite joining in with an illegal war against Iraq, Howard still managed to win comfortably, but in a way that had a lot to do with his opponent. Even the worst prime minister can still win an election if his opponent is even more on the nose (take Paul Keating and John Hewson for example).

Mind you, this book is not about politics in general, but rather how to survive the cut throat world of parliament as a politician. In truth the best chance of getting elected is to be endorsed by one of the major political parties. This is not always the case though as there are a few independents that have been elected to the lower house, but they tend to be the exception as opposed to the rule. It will be interesting to see how much pull Bob Katter has next election, since when somebody does come up as a threat, such as Pauline Hanson, both parties can effectively unite to keep the loose cannon out (though it is clear that Bob Katter is much smarter, and more level headed, than Pauline Hanson, though on the other hand she does reflect the views of a lot of Australians).

The interesting thing about politics is that you don't actually need any qualifications to be one: all you need is to know the right people, and to have the support of the majority of the electorate. In fact there have been instances where the government has been so on the nose that even the most unlikely candidates have been elected simply because he (or she) must be better than the other guy. Then again that is the fickle nature of democratic elections. However, in developed democracies democratic elections are little more than institutionalised revolutions, though despite that neither party (and they are usually two) never brings about any change. In fact most of the time people vote for the status quo, and it is only when governments move to change too much (such as Workchoices) that the government will get thrown out. As such, in seeing that governments in our developed country actually do little to really change things, I wonder whether governments in the developing world actually do anything to lift the people of their countries out of the mire in which that they find themselves stuck.

John Birmingham wrote so much better when he was writing gonzo journalism rather than the sci-fi books that he seems to have written of late, but then again he seems to sell books, and the books that he did write early on pretty much set him up to the point where he could pretty much write what he wanted to, so I guess more power to him. Anyway, while I do not know what the experience of share housing is in England (and I understand that there is a lot of it there), the feel of this book is that it is distinctly Australian, and having been in a number of sharehouses myself I can seriously relate to what he is describing here (though I must admit he has probably embellished the stories somewhat, but then again why let the truth get in the way of a good yarn?).

I guess I should do what others have done when commenting on this book, and that is talk about some of my sharehousing experiences, and I must admit that I have had a lot. The average time that I have spent in a sharehouse is usually about six months, though there have been a couple where I have lasted about two years (though one of them had a somewhat itinerant population) and the shortest would probably have been about two weeks. Okay, I guess one may need to define the idea of a sharehouse as being one where you are sharing with more than one other person, though sometimes the actually definition of a person living in a house can be rather dubious. One house we had was originally intended for two of us, but as soon as my housemate picked up a girl (he always had to have a girlfriend) she immediately moved in, and then another guy decided to camp in the lounge, and within two days he had brought another friend around as well. Mind you, this particular house lasted two weeks before the police kicked in the door and arrested the lot of us.

Then there were the Findon Flats, a collection of about two hundred flats were while there were only two of us living in the flat, the entire place was like one community: there were always people coming and going. Mind you one of my friends was a small time drug dealer, so that is probably why there were always people coming and going. One of the cool things about living there was that people would come in, hang for about half-an-hour, smoke some weed, and then leave. However, the problem with living with drug dealers is that once somebody hooks onto you as a drug dealer they suddenly become frequent visitors. Oh, and the fact that your flat also becomes a target for thieves seems to outweigh the benefit of getting free drugs.

I also lived in what is pretty much termed as a party house. It was a large, two story, six bedroom house in one of the wealthier parts of Adelaide with a pool and a spa. The problem with the spa was that it always broke down. However, we actually had ten people squeezed into that house at one time, which made using the rather small kitchen an absolute pain. However that house brings back lots of memories, including the parties (which wouldn't be a party unless the cops rocked up at least once, and usually multiple times). I still remember the time that my mate and I decided to cook some pasta using dope butter, and suddenly having the sensation of being stoned hit us so hard that we were literally flat on our back for hours.

That house came to an end because the landlord simply could not get anybody into the house, and I was too much of a stoner (read lazy and paranoid) to actually attempt to get others to move into the place. We did finish my time in that house with the mother all all parties which only came to an end when my friend almost killed himself by flaking out on a concrete step. That friendship circle also came to an end pretty quickly also since the mother of all hangovers literally turned us all against each other.

Hey, I'm still sharehousing, this time in Melbourne, and I do desire to try to keep the tradition of it by not staying in the house for too long. Okay, now that I am 700 km away from my parents, I do not have the luxury of running back to their house when things go wrong, and moving can be a pain. At least I have learnt from my mistakes and can at least prepare myself to consider moving on before things get too bad. However, the problem is that I have found a good church within walking distance, though nothing is ever that permanent, and since Paul the Apostle never really set his roots down anywhere for too long, I don't think I need to either.

This book is about Australian's drug culture, or to be more precisely, the marijuana culture. According to the author (who wrote 'He Died with a Felafel in his Hand', which is all about share housing culture) he was approached by his publisher who gave him a heap of money to write this book, and also promised to pay any legal fees that might incur in his research. Thus he travels across Australia, visiting each of the major cities, to learn about the marijuana culture.

The impression that you get from this book is that not only is marijuana quite prevalent in Australia, but the government is also quite lenient with it. It ranges from a simple fine in South Australia, to a warning from the courts in other states. In any case, amongst the youth culture of the country, it is viewed as being an acceptable drug. Now, I have had arguments about the legality of it with people. Some argue that it is illegal in the same way that speeding is illegal. Well, if you travel over the speed limit a certain amount then you are fined, but no conviction is recorded (and these very same people themselves flaunt the road rules as if it was of no consequence). I still fall into the category of those who say that it is not criminal to possess, and certainly not illegal to use (some countries it is actually illegal, and can range in penalties from imprisonment to death being under the influence of the drug).

Now, Birmingham suggests that one reaches a stage in life where one simply becomes board, grows up, and moves on. Well, I would hope so. You see, marijuana is like any drug (and it doesn't necessarily need to be illegal, or even a pharmacuetical) in that it can take control of your life. Those who claim that marijuana is not addictive are probably addicts themselves who are in denial. While it may not create the sickness that heroin does, there is always going to be that craving, that desire to have more, and that desire to be under its influence, because reality is simply not the same. However, there are lots of other substances that are like that (take for instance the adrenalin junky).

Look, don't get me wrong, I think marijuana can be a dangerous substance and that it can act as a gateway drug. I have seen people throw their lives away because of this drug. Either they have gone onto harder substances, or simply just let themselves fall through the cracks. It is very demotivational: you smoke it and you simply do not want to do anything else. In fact, a lot of friends that I have had who have been pot heads have got up my nose simply because all they want to do is to lie back and smoke drugs.

From this book one wonders if he is trying to write an Australian version of Junky? I don't think so, and if he was, he failed. While Burroughs was writing about addiction, and the impact of junk on his life, Birmingham is doing something completely different: he was exploring an Australian subculture. He was not writing a tale of his life. He was travelling around Australia rather than reminiscing on his life. No, this is not an Australian Junky.

Obviously Birmingham made something more of his life: this is clear because he has become a successful author. Now, I likes his books where he was telling a story about his research, but I read two of his works of fiction and found them boring and uninteresting, and haven't read any since. This book is very interesting, especially how he does seem to know the drug culture in Australia and he does have a following among that cutlure. The problem he found, and many people find, is that once they get into that culture it is very difficult to get out. If all of your friends smoke drugs then simply deserting them is not always an option, but it is the choice one needs to make. Even marijuana is a very slippery slope into a pit of nothingness.