Just About Now:05

[JUST ABOUT NOW IS A COLLECTION OF THINGS HAPPENING IN OUR SPACES & PLACES, PHYSICAL & DIGITAL, intersecting past, present, future, CREATIVITY, CULTURE & COMMUNITY INTO the NOW. STITCHED TOGETHER BY GEROME FOR WSKRA.COM]

This Page: Published January 2025
Jonathan Haidt, Oliver Burkeman, Rory Sutherland, Tracy Chapman, Yayoi Kusama.

Next Page:
Aldous Huxley, Ram Dass, Les Djinns, Yayoi Kusama.

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From Nudgestock 2024:

Jonathan Haidt: No Time Like the present

Oliver Burkeman: You’re Going to Die

Rory Sutherland: Are we now too impatient to be intelligent?

Jonathan Haidt on https://jonathanhaidt.com/
Oliver Burkeman on https://www.oliverburkeman.com/
Rory Sutherland on Wikipedia

Music: Tracy Chapman

Fast Car (1988)

Give Me One Reason (1995)

Why? (1988)

Freedom Now (1989)

Rape of the World (1995)

Tracy Chapman on Wikipedia
Tracy Chapman on Britannica

Why do the babies starve
There’s enough food to feed the world
Why when there’re so many of us
Are there people still alone

Why are the missiles called peace keepers
When they’re aimed to kill
Why is a woman still not safe
When she’s in her home

Love is hate
War is peace
No is yes
We’re all free

But somebody’s gonna have to answer
Time is coming soon
Amidst all these questions and contradictions
There’re some who seek the truth

But tell me why do the babies starve
There’s enough food to feed the world
Why when there’re so many of us
Are there people still alone

Why are the missiles called peace keepers
When they’re aimed to kill
Why is a woman still not safe
When she’s in her home

Love is hate
War is peace
No is yes
And we’re all free

But somebody’s gonna have to answer
The time is coming soon
When the blind remove their blinders
And the speechless speak the truth

Tell me why do the babies starve
There’s enough food to feed the world
Why when there’re so many of us
Are there people still alone

And why are the missiles called peace keepers
When they’re aimed to kill
Why is a woman still not safe
When she’s in her home

Love is hate
War is peace
No is yes
We’re all free

Why? (1988)
Music & Lyrics Tracy Chapman

You got a fast car
I want a ticket to anywhere
Maybe we make a deal
Maybe together we can get somewhere
Any place is better
Starting from zero got nothing to lose
Maybe we’ll make something
Me, myself, I got nothing to prove

You got a fast car
I got a plan to get us outta here
I been working at the convenience store
Managed to save just a little bit of money
Won’t have to drive too far
Just ‘cross the border and into the city
You and I can both get jobs
And finally see what it means to be living

See, my old man’s got a problem
He live with the bottle, that’s the way it is
He says his body’s too old for working
His body’s too young to look like his
My mama went off and left him
She wanted more from life than he could give
I said somebody’s got to take care of him
So I quit school and that’s what I did

You got a fast car
Is it fast enough so we can fly away?
We gotta make a decision
Leave tonight or live and die this way

So I remember when we were driving, driving in your car
Speed so fast it felt like I was drunk
City lights lay out before us
And your arm felt nice wrapped ’round my shoulder
And I-I had a feeling that I belonged
I-I had a feeling I could be someone, be someone, be someone

You got a fast car
We go cruising, entertain ourselves
You still ain’t got a job
And I work in the market as a checkout girl
I know things will get better
You’ll find work and I’ll get promoted
We’ll move out of the shelter
Buy a bigger house and live in the suburbs

So I remember when we were driving, driving in your car
Speed so fast it felt like I was drunk
City lights lay out before us
And your arm felt nice wrapped ’round my shoulder
And I-I had a feeling that I belonged
I-I had a feeling I could be someone, be someone, be someone

You got a fast car
I got a job that pays all our bills
You stay out drinking late at the bar
See more of your friends than you do of your kids
I’d always hoped for better
Thought maybe together you and me’d find it
I got no plans, I ain’t going nowhere
Take your fast car and keep on driving

So I remember when we were driving, driving in your car
Speed so fast it felt like I was drunk
City lights lay out before us
And your arm felt nice wrapped ’round my shoulder
And I-I had a feeling that I belonged
I-I had a feeling I could be someone, be someone, be someone

You got a fast car
Is it fast enough so you can fly away?
You gotta make a decision
Leave tonight or live and die this way

Fast Car (1988)
Music & Lyrics Tracy Chapman

Mother of us all
Place of our birth
How can we stand aside
And watch the rape of the world
This is the beginning of the end
This is the most heinous of crimes
This is the deadliest of sins
There is speculation all time
Mother of us all
Place of our birth
We’re all witness to the rape of the world
You’ve seen her stripped, mined
You’ve heard of bombs exploded underground
You know the sun shines
Hotter than ever before
Mother of us all
Place of our birth
We’re all witness to the rape of the world
Some claim to have crowned her Queen
With cities of concrete and steel
There is no glory no honour
In what results from the rape of the world
Mother of us all
Place of our birth
We’re all witness to the rape of the world
She has been clearcut
She has been dumped on
She has been poisoned and beaten up
We’ve been witness to the rape of the world
Mother of us all
Place of our birth
How can we stand aside
Watch the rape of the world
If you look, you will see it with your own eyes
If you listen, you will hear her cries
If you care, you will stand and testify
Stop the rape of the world
Stop the rape of the world
Mother of us all
Mother of us all
Mother of us all
Mother of us all
Mother of us all
Mother of us all
Mother of us all
Mother of us all

The Rape Of The World (1995)
Music & Lyrics Tracy Chapman

Throwed him in jail
And they kept him there
Hoping soon he’d die
That his body and spirit would waste away
And soon after that his mind

But every day is born a fool
One who thinks that he can rule
One who says tomorrow’s mine
One who wakes one day to find

The prison doors open the shackles broken
And chaos in the street
Everybody sing we’re free free free free
Everybody sing we’re free free free free
Everybody sing we’re free free free free

Oh they throwed him in jail
And they kept him there
Hoping his memory’d die
That the people forget how he once led
And fought for justice in their lives

But every day is born a man
Who hates what he can’t understand
Who thinks the answer is to kill
Who thinks his actions are god’s will

And he thinks he’s free free free free
Yes he thinks he’s free free free free
Oh, he thinks he’s free free free free

Soon must come the day
Oh, when the righteous have their way
Unjustly tried are free, oh
And people live in peace I say
Give the man release, oh
Go on and set your conscience free
Right the wrongs you made
Even a fool can have his day

Let us all be free, free, free, free
Let us all be free, free, free, free
Let us all be free, free, free, free

Free our bodies free our minds
Free our hearts
Freedom for everyone
And freedom now
Oh, freedom now
Freedom now
Freedom now

Let us all be free, free, free, free
Let us all be free, free, free, free
Let us all be free, free, free, free
Let us all be free
Let us all be
Let us all be free
Let us all be
Let us all be free

Freedom Now
Music & Lyrics Tracy Chapman

Yayoi Kusama in Melbourne

Yayoi Kusama, NGV International, until 21 April 2025

“With around 200 artworks on display, Yayoi Kusama is a large exhibition that covers most of the ground floor of NGV International.

A number of Yayoi Kusama artworks are on display in the public areas outside the ticketed exhibition area. These are free to visit and don’t require a ticket.

The ticketed exhibition areas are split into two parts. Part 1 is on your right as you enter from the Waterwall entrance on St Kilda Road. The entrance to Part 1 is past the NGV Garden Restaurant. The entrance to Part 2 is next to the Gallery Kitchen cafe. See page 11 for the Sensory Map for more information.

You can take a break in between the two parts of the exhibition and relax in the Great Hall, NGV Garden or Gallery Kitchen. It is recommended that you enter Part 2 by 4pm, to allow yourself an hour to see it before the Gallery closes at 5pm.

The exhibition follows a set path. “—NGV

More info: Yayoi Kusama Exhibition Access Guide