Vale Michele Huston

Today I heard that Michele Huston passed away. I am very sad. I will miss her very much: the sound of her voice, her laugh, her wit and her wise advice when I needed it.

We worked together for some years at the Australian War Memorial and continued to collaborate after she left the Memorial to work at the National Library of Australia. I enjoyed working with her and talking with her immensely.

She encouraged and championed new thinking from perspectives well away from the traditional areas in cultural institutions.

The Australian library sector has lost much with her passing, but she leaves a legacy in the people she encouraged and in many of the web initiatives she set in place.

There is a wonderful photo of Michele by Russ Weakley on Flickr with one of the talents she nurtured at both the Memorial and at NLA, Paul Hagon.

Farewell my friend. My sympathies to her loving family.

An update & some analysis

I think that some people may have wondered why I put my brother's eulogy up on this blog about a month ago. There seems to be a lot of online tributes these days elsewhere, although they sometimes get ruined by idiots on Facebook, and I think that posting it has helped my grieving.

I talked it over with my sister very seriously before we decided to go ahead and in retrospect I believe it was a good idea. There were a lot of folk who simply could not make it to the funeral service and we decided that we wanted more people to know about him because he was such a decent and modest man.

I looked at Google analytics this morning and it has had 304 views since it went up. It has had 244 unique views (& therefore about 60 repeat views) and the average time spent on it was just under six minutes. These figures are both on the high side compared to the usual for my run of-the-mill posts.

Maybe I should apologise for continually mentioning his loss, but grief is such an all consuming thing that it still dominates most of my thoughts and activities. What has helped me is coming to work as much as I could and spending time with family and friends. The people at work have really been wonderfully supportive and my friends have offered very helpful advice.

The image is from a Deus bike swap meet I attended with my brother last year. Muz loved Colnagos.

A collection of thoughts

It has been raining on and off for ages in Sidknee.

I don't like riding or running when it is wet and cold.

I bought a new red and white umbrella.

I should not complain as Sidknee weather is actually pretty mild.

There is a mystery leak in my house that is ruining the carpet in the spare bedroom.

I've been riding indoors watching recorded shows and DVDs.

I watch a lot of Vampire and crime flicks.

Then I walk to the light rail and catch a tram to work.

I like the light rail.

I miss having my bike in my office, but don't know why.

I listen to music while walking and check email and Twitter on the tram.

Currently I'm enjoying the new Cloud Control and Midnight Juggernauts albums.

My walking track is so dark at night that I'm now taking a torch with me.

I think the walk in the weather is a good reminder of the benefits provided by shelter at home and at work.

I'm lucky.

My friends at work have been fantastically supportive since my brother's death.

Friends surrounded me at a talk yesterday.

I'm very lucky.

Inclement weather seems more appropriate for grieving.

Soon I think I'll be able to concentrate enough to read books again.

That doesn't mean I'll ever finish them.

I think they are getting closer to finding the source of the leak at home.

When you have a leak in your house you don't enjoy the sound of rain as much.

Recovery via Belvoir, the ACO & At The Movies

I think I'm slowly starting to improve in spirit and mind after the unexpected death of my brother Murray in early May. For a while it was all surreal, unsettling and confusing. I could not really concentrate on much at all. I could not read or even watch movies. One night I left a live concert at the Enmore Theatre (see image left) in a complete state of confused anxiety.

The support from my friends and family has been amazing and really helpful in aiding my own recovery. I'm now beginning to see some things more clearly again, but I find my emotions are still in over-drive.

So, I think I'll try and post something each day on this blog as part of my recovery and in line with the #blogeverydayofjune hashtag on Twitter. Maybe someone will notice whether the posts become more or less coherent over the month. This first post is probably going to be a bit of a mess but I did warn you that my emotions are still in over-drive. Mind the step . . .

I saw The Power of Yes by Company B at Belvoir St Theatre on Friday night and really enjoyed it. I tweeted after it that it was "Brilliant, funny, but sadly all too true" and I stand by that comment. Maybe it is the lapsed economist in me? I also saw the ACO's Romantic Symphony concert that mixed music by Schubert, Brahms and Johnny Greenwood (the lead guitarist from Radiohead) on Saturday night. There was a lot of energy apparent on both stages. What both Company B and the ACO do is really challenging because they must keep their products or output fresh and entertaining and up to the demands of very critical audiences with high expectations of satisfaction. Maybe they are measured by paying bums on seats, but I think the performers also know themselves when they are doing self-satisfying and fulfilling work.

I don't think the kind of management theory that emanates from Harvard Business School that, along with a culture of sheer greed, gambling and competition, has almost destroyed the finance industry can be applied neatly to rescue or to keep afloat libraries and other cultural institutions. This is especially the case given the kind of second rate management "experts" (who didn't make it to the finance industry) who tend to regard it so highly in such institutions. We don't simply have clients and stakeholders and we don't need to worry about bottom lines and shareholder returns in exactly the the same way as a merchant bank does. Our outputs are different and we should be able to focus on more specific qualitative indicators that are much harder to measure.

Obviously, just focusing on ticks in corporate governance boxes (designed by finance managers) does not work either. We are services providers, but not in the same way as a retail store or a call centre. What we do is less tangible, but not less important. I think we have more to learn from successful artists and maybe from the Artistic Directors and General Managers of successful arts organisations like the ACO than we do from sundry second rate management consultants, accountants or auditors. That lot should not be steering our course.

On a happier note, On Sunday afternoon I caught up with At The Movies on ABC TV. I've been a fan for years, even though I don't always agree with David's or Margaret's ratings. David was reporting from the 2010 Cannes Film Festival and I really liked what the actor Melanie Thierry had to say about her Director Bertrand Tavernier (not to the bishop!) in the film The Princess of Montpensier. I think it is what we have been trying to do at UTS and what distinguishes us from many other workplaces. (Maybe I'm just a bit silly about this kind of thing in my present state, but it is how I like to work when I'm happier.)

Bertrand's directing consists mostly in the confidence and freedom he gave us. He never imposes anything. He hates marks on the ground. He just can't stand them. He's so cheerful when he's shooting, so happy. His obsession is that energy flows, that every moment, every second is fresh. He communicates so well. He is so positive, so cheerful. He jumps around all day long, getting excited about every scene, rubbing his hands and muttering, "This is fantastic! I love my actors! I'm crazy about them." And just that gives you so much confidence that you'll do anything. And that's an important aspect of directing.

What a fantastic way to direct.