In 2004-2007 I went to Iran three times. This is the story of what I saw on my first nine-day work trip, where I had three very different experiences in three different large cities. I suppose my lasting impression is of a very ancient culture undergoing its own process of modernisation while out of touch with the world, of a substantial divide in the population, and of a culture of risk-taking and conspiracy theories.

Oddly, when I first posted this story online,, it was instantly routed to a...

Flood, J (2024). “Big Dog and Man.” Hecate, vol. 47 no. 1/2, 2021 [2013], pp. 183–198.

Alf was the biggest dog, the most respected dog, and he would always win a fight. He was a loyal and fair companion, and a Pig Dog, there to cover your back fearlessly when the boars broke out of the brush. He was what Merv wanted to be, and never could be.

One of 70 or so posts that eventually ended up in the Unravelling the Code book. This 2007 piece tells the story of the Monmouth Rebellion, the Bloody Assizes, and John Coad who escaped hanging by being transported to the West Indies

I have finished promoting the serialised "Buffalo Gals" for now. I am investigating a shorter version for the African market, and am conducting market research before the...

Two days ago, I had a 45 minute radio interview on Community Radio Blue Mountains. "Rights, Rorts and Rants". I spoke on my work visits to Gaza (in "Buffalo Gals") and to Iran...

My last words to Dorothy Hewett

HAIL DOROTHY

I always loved you Joe.
We went through so much
together

Yes we did
I said

JF

And so I come to the end of commentary on the longest book I will ever write, the two-volume Buffalo Gals saga – a semi-fictionalised tale about my greatest, my most rewarding and possibly my most foolish life adventure. This is a book I have intended to write for 30 years and now it is done.

It has not been easy to find readers for Buffalo Gals, let alone buyers. There have been some volunteers, but they have found parts of the book uncomfortable and have not provided feedback .

While I have...

A goddess on the mountaintop was burning like a silver flame
Black as the dark night she was, and Venus was her name. “Venus”, Shocking Blue.

Buffalo Gals is highly cinematic, with its rapid changes in magnificent scenery and colourful indoor locations such as Heron Court, Gigiri and Palais des Nations.

Perhaps it will become a movie. If so, it is usual to provide a summary of the major characters for a cinematic treatment, and I have begun this process.

Although the Buffalo Gals are based on...

In the earlier book The Phenomenon, Jack at age 28 has had only one partner. Circumstances force him into an eighteen-year quest to find out what he really wants.

The Standard newspaper in Nairobi suggests such a search might be dangerous: “People get married when they are not ready for it, resulting into most of them thinking that they have selected wrong lovers. Such behaviour has proved so serious that some men have lost their private parts when they are found red handed making love with...