Emigre's election experience

Live (more or less) from south pacific.

Could bore you with in depth analysis but you can read about that anywhere else and anyway final results still unavailable. So, bringing to you instead a diarist's account.

Fri 8 Oct: Read pre-election poll results, flick through minor articles of interest. Swing to co-alition. Greens will cream third party vote. Labour not going to bum out as badly as they could have. Somebody threw stale cheese at prime minister.

Sat 9 Oct: Did household chores. Went to polling booth in afternoon, slid past remainder eager campaigners, ticked box etc. (Noted eraseable pencil provided in booth. Hope Afghanistan didn't use pencils, already enough trouble with indelible ink). Cut and buffed toenails. Listened to 15 mins Abc in evening, switched off, listened to this weeks theme album. Looked for consolation, bad connection (dial-up) kept dropping out and couldn't access some sites (including at one point this one) must've been lot of traffic jamming stuff up. Went to bed.

Sun 10 Oct: Woke early(ish). Bought papers, confirmed worst fears/greatest hopes. Greens garnered substantial swing which again i can't give figures for because counting incomplete (so far looks like 7% of vote with 2% swing). Remembered to finish cold coffee. Laughed at news reports. Lol, nobody, online or off, can quote figures yet. Consequently lot of hazy pre-pared articles in Sunday papers (probably written based on Friday's poll results). Damnit, have to wait till Monday for stats. Dead quiet neighbourhood, even quieter then after 2001 elections (we don't celebrate democracy with gunshots over here, we stuff the the paper in the ballot box and go home to mourn). Abc site down late afternoon, probably knocked out by everybody else looking for unpublished results.

Ok favourite bit ~ predictions. Government is in for a shocker this term. In fact Labour ought to be thankful they're not "it" (you know what it's like after all the sugar coating's been licked off, just a goopy mushed up mess that no-one really wants to swallow). Traditional media winner over next three years will be, surprisingly, radio. You can listen to it while you blog. I guess the converse is true too, you could, theoretically, weblog while you talkback. Radio hosts (probably because they have such small and discerning audiences) tell almost more kooky jokes then webloggers.

Sorry to digress. Will go and look for blogs to count now but before i do, leaving you with a tune (had controversial lineup but ended up going with this one);

Shame ~ PJ Harvey

I don't need no rising moon
I don't need no ball and chain
I don't need anything but you
Such a shame, shame, shame
Shame, shame, shame
Shame is the shadow of love

You changed my life
We were as green as grass
And I was hypnotized
From the first 'til the last
Kiss of shame, shame, shame
Shame is the shadow of love

I jump for you into the fire
I jump for you into the flame
Try to go forward with my life
Just feel shame, shame, shame
Shame, shame, shame
Shame is the shadow of love

If you tell a lie
I still would take the blame
If you pass me by
It's such a shame, shame, shame.