My tales from the road are up here, featuring me dancing badly and wearing anti-masturbation gloves!

When I was a wide-eyed little thing I entered and won an essay on human rights run by the Castan Centre for Human Rights (based in the Monash Law Faculty). It was an awesome experience for me, I learnt a lot and I think it’s really important we have places that celebrate, discuss and bemoan the degradation of human rights in Australia and around the world.

Plus if it means a few slick young law students with dollar signs in their eyes are reminded about fighting the good fight for the little people during the studies, that’s nothing but good news.

The Centre is running its annual appeal at the moment so if you have a dollar or two to chip in, you can do so here.

Today we heard the news that comedy impresario John Pinder has passed away at the age of 70.

I met John very briefly a few years ago when I was lucky to enough to perform at his World’s Funniest Island venture. He looked exactly like what you want your comedy impresarios to look like: whacky glasses, a big smile, the centre of attention. WFI didn’t turn out to be a successful festival, but the very notion of taking over Cockatoo Island in Sydney Harbour with a huge weekend of comedy shows, Big Day Out style, might give you an idea of this man’s passion for comedy and his ambitious thinking.

If you’ve ever been to the Melbourne International Comedy Festival or watched something on the Comedy Channel or if you just generally appreciate the fact that today’s Australian comedians have places to tell their jokes, lease take the time to read this lovely obituary for John by Melbourne arts writer Richard Watts.

(Illustration by Bill Leak)