There are pleasures and then there are pleasures. Should that come across as being a little obtuse or even inscrutable isn't really meant to be. At the moment we here in OZ are blessed with the presence of Paris Hilton and her sister,why I am at a loss to know. She was paid $100k by someone to swan about the place and just be, well here. Her first stop was Melbourne where she spent the night swanning and the next day, yes you guessed, swanning about the shops. That folk get some degree of pleasure seeing her here is a given, ergo some dolt paid her all that money to come. I give no reasons for maintaining a degree of animosity towards such creatures as Ms. Hilton and ,it would seem, her equally vacuous sister. There are more pressing and deserving people in this world to concern myself with and if I had $100k to splash about there would be I think more positive things to do with that sort of money than the Misses Hilton's.
Pleasure..... a state of gratification, but there are degrees of. Today for instance we went 100 metres down to the end of our road and there is a remnant of the farm that used to be here on this spot 80 years ago. The last bit of the orchard that was here, a massive old Mulberry tree. Each year about this time,even in a dry year, the tree fruits well and we go pick Mulberries. Normally it goes like this, one for the bucket, three for the robbi. But folks it is pleasure, with a capital P, and that don't stand for Paris. No cost involved, just get into some old clothes and enjoy.
So, as we have established there are some differences as to pleasures. There is the Paris Hilton kind where she can do odd things on video, get into trouble that causes her to be locked up. Then gets heavily into the Bible becomes a sort of saint and a role model for impressionable women . Or , one can go out on a nice day in the park, walk the dogs, go pick Mulberries and gross out on fresh healthy juicy fruit. I only have one thing to say about the latter, it didn't and will never earn me $100k but it sure was fun.
Yes indeed Hortense it was rather fun at that. I got really well covered in Mulberry juice as well, oh indeed you have seen the photo.Would you believe Horty old girl I also got some in my hair, and on my jeans shirt face and arms, grub robbi that I am. I should think about more serious things Hortense, like? Oh the poor Hamas folk Horty, it is a terrible shame isn't it. I mean what have Hamas done to deserve that Hortense. Yes I know , all they do is lob a few hundred rockets into Israel Horty, in a sort of indiscriminate fashion , nothing really serious Horty, all done in the hope they just might knock over a few bits of Israel. Just boyish enthusiasm really Hortense, and then they go put their offices and arms dumps in the Palestinians homes and schools Hortense. Funny about all that really, I mean it isn't actually funny, odd more than hilarious. I often wonder how I would feel as it is I live in South Australia, the neighbouring state is Victoria, if all of a sudden the boys in Victoria started lobbing rockets at me and mine , just because I lived there next to them. I mean Horty old girl, all my pleasures in life come from going down the end of the road and picking a few Mulberries, weird little things like that. Yasser Arafat, he ran that place for a few years didn't he, then he upped and died, Hamas sort of rolled in, took over. They didn't get elected or stuff like that, they just rolled in and killed a few folk and took over, just a bit of boyish good fun. Yasser managed to save a bit of money too , some 2 or 3 billion $'s, frugal sort of fellow no doubt. In all of this we could forget the ones in the middle, the normal folk from Palestine ,the Gaza folk.They must be suffering very badly but perhaps the man who runs Hamas might from his hide-out in Syria will want to send some money for food and the necessities of life rather than new rockets and ammo.There is fault on the Israel side of course,one has to acknowledge that, some terrible right wing hardliners espouse all sorts of foul gibberish. In this world no person or group of are perfect and Israel must have some awful hard cases too because that really nice little man from Iran has vowed to wipe them off the face of the Earth, not my words Hortense , his. Of course Hortense what do I know about all this, in the words of that immortal philosopher Sergeant Schultz " Ooooowww, I know noooothing"
But I do know that it is holiday time and already I have had three servings of Cocolat Gelato this week , time for another when we take Princess Chloe to the airport don'tcha just know it.
Wednesday, 31 December 2008
Friday, 19 December 2008
ink marks on a blank page Sat 20th December
Actually no, I'm not going to go through the Saturnalia thing, once is enough as I am sure that the folks who get this far into my blogs are smart enough to remember I have done all that before. This time there is something a lot more pressing and I believe aligned , to what a blog is all about.
We have here in Australia, for a small population, an odd system of government.It is democratic and follows the Westminster system and is based on the English model of governance with a federal government at the top then State and territory based elected parliamentarians and a local system of Councils for the various district suburbs /shires. Basically the Federal Gov. makes the laws which brings in taxes etc to run the place and therefore organises the wars and other calamities, they have a house of Representatives, a house of review, the Senate, the whole shebang is presided over by a Governor General (this time a woman) who has no real power but is the Queen's representative in OZ. State govs.are run in much the same tradition excepting Queensland which has no upper house. There are six states and two territories each with a system of Government. The party in power at the moment federally is the Labour party(left wing) and they are also the party in power in all bar one state(Western Australia). State elections are held mostly every four years ,federally each three.The largest state is New South Wales which is also the oldest ,richest and most corrupt. The Labour party machine in that state has so much power it dumped the serving Premier without having to call an election and installed a puppet Premier who is heavily beholden to the union movement.This state was also hugely in debt even before the global fiscal crisis and is at the moment running on empty. The rest of the states are just about in the same position and although the mining boom made Western Australia very rich it too is close to deficit. The conservative ruling party there has just won office in the last few months so has had little time to do anything positive.The position in the two major manufacturing/population and finance states,NSW and Victoria, is akin to the Chicago era of Mayor Richard Daley, especially in NSW.
Life will go on here as it did in the US under Richard Nixon as it should , then does even in dire times. The people muddle through regardless of how inept or corrupt the Government of the day is.
What has started me off on this rant about government ,especially our federal one, is the fact that in 2009 the Minister in charge of Communications (read internet) is going to move in the house that we in Australia will have a mandatory system of federally placed filters on ALL ISP's in the country.Ostensibly this is to combat 'child porn' but according to EVERY provider and technical person the effect will be to almost shut down peer to peer transfers, social networks(facebook etc) music video downloads, blogs,TV shows and ad infinitum. Of course i do not suggest that filters will block everything, the persons who traffic in child porn can already circumnavigate any blocks people put on them, they wont be affected at all. What it will do is SLOW down 'normal' traffic so that it will be useless trying to download a cd or a movie. If for instance family want to send pics of their little kids in the bath to other members of family, or in the family pool, does that constitute something that a filter will block. Who gets to decide how the filters are set? what parameters will be used to define 'unconscionable' images and or conduct? What about the gamers who use the net, games that have rape,car chases /crashes/ death by machine gun or any death that is used gratiously in a video game, to set up a score, will these be filtered?
I have just watched a 2006 version of 'Anne of Greengables' on dvd with my two young g/daughters. This was a heartfelt and warm film but did have scenes in it which might cross the boundaries of a filter. Perhaps it should have been filtered as there were several scenes( also some of child exploitation) that had me misty eyed and caused a catch in my throat. I am against any behaviour that occurs where someone who is not , by the level of intelligence,age or social ability, able to make his/hers mind up on a situation that is presented to them as a fait accompli ,familial, threat or for financial reward asked to perform / take part in or watch an act.
That is MY filter and one that I will defend with all I can to uphold.(Shades of Dreyfuss)
Wow Hortense all that is a trifle heady ,dontcha just know.you agree, goodness are we aligning our planets Horty old girl? Of course you can say something, you would like to say that the labour party federally is bit hypocritical. Why is that Hortense do you think.Oh, because in the State Labour Government of New South Wales they have had one Minister go to jail for possessing and dealing in child porn in 2008?Another one for dealing corruptly with kids, whilst in the Federal labour party they had an MP who was investigated by Police for abusing her position and causing a nuisance whilst drunk in a public place.All this in 2008 Hortense whilst the holier than thou Minister was preparing to stop you and I from doing things on facebook, tut tut Horty. Well if it wasn't all about on the public record and actually in the courts I would never believe it old girl, even down to that bit where the Australian Labour Prime Minister , saying to the world in general about President Bush telling him over the phone he didn't know what day of the week it was. Funny isn't it as well Hortense, our Prime Minister used Facebook in all manner of ways to get himself elected, even down to calling the then Prime Minister a dill, well yes not just like that,we all knew what he meant though.Heck, almost forgot about the ex-labour Senator who has been sending lots of monies into Swiss bank accounts and had an investment burn down where he and other collected 15 times the value of the property through insurance. Tut Tut, but it is all in the court system Hortense.
Sunday tomorrow, gelato at Cocolat !! yea har....
We have here in Australia, for a small population, an odd system of government.It is democratic and follows the Westminster system and is based on the English model of governance with a federal government at the top then State and territory based elected parliamentarians and a local system of Councils for the various district suburbs /shires. Basically the Federal Gov. makes the laws which brings in taxes etc to run the place and therefore organises the wars and other calamities, they have a house of Representatives, a house of review, the Senate, the whole shebang is presided over by a Governor General (this time a woman) who has no real power but is the Queen's representative in OZ. State govs.are run in much the same tradition excepting Queensland which has no upper house. There are six states and two territories each with a system of Government. The party in power at the moment federally is the Labour party(left wing) and they are also the party in power in all bar one state(Western Australia). State elections are held mostly every four years ,federally each three.The largest state is New South Wales which is also the oldest ,richest and most corrupt. The Labour party machine in that state has so much power it dumped the serving Premier without having to call an election and installed a puppet Premier who is heavily beholden to the union movement.This state was also hugely in debt even before the global fiscal crisis and is at the moment running on empty. The rest of the states are just about in the same position and although the mining boom made Western Australia very rich it too is close to deficit. The conservative ruling party there has just won office in the last few months so has had little time to do anything positive.The position in the two major manufacturing/population and finance states,NSW and Victoria, is akin to the Chicago era of Mayor Richard Daley, especially in NSW.
Life will go on here as it did in the US under Richard Nixon as it should , then does even in dire times. The people muddle through regardless of how inept or corrupt the Government of the day is.
What has started me off on this rant about government ,especially our federal one, is the fact that in 2009 the Minister in charge of Communications (read internet) is going to move in the house that we in Australia will have a mandatory system of federally placed filters on ALL ISP's in the country.Ostensibly this is to combat 'child porn' but according to EVERY provider and technical person the effect will be to almost shut down peer to peer transfers, social networks(facebook etc) music video downloads, blogs,TV shows and ad infinitum. Of course i do not suggest that filters will block everything, the persons who traffic in child porn can already circumnavigate any blocks people put on them, they wont be affected at all. What it will do is SLOW down 'normal' traffic so that it will be useless trying to download a cd or a movie. If for instance family want to send pics of their little kids in the bath to other members of family, or in the family pool, does that constitute something that a filter will block. Who gets to decide how the filters are set? what parameters will be used to define 'unconscionable' images and or conduct? What about the gamers who use the net, games that have rape,car chases /crashes/ death by machine gun or any death that is used gratiously in a video game, to set up a score, will these be filtered?
I have just watched a 2006 version of 'Anne of Greengables' on dvd with my two young g/daughters. This was a heartfelt and warm film but did have scenes in it which might cross the boundaries of a filter. Perhaps it should have been filtered as there were several scenes( also some of child exploitation) that had me misty eyed and caused a catch in my throat. I am against any behaviour that occurs where someone who is not , by the level of intelligence,age or social ability, able to make his/hers mind up on a situation that is presented to them as a fait accompli ,familial, threat or for financial reward asked to perform / take part in or watch an act.
That is MY filter and one that I will defend with all I can to uphold.(Shades of Dreyfuss)
Wow Hortense all that is a trifle heady ,dontcha just know.you agree, goodness are we aligning our planets Horty old girl? Of course you can say something, you would like to say that the labour party federally is bit hypocritical. Why is that Hortense do you think.Oh, because in the State Labour Government of New South Wales they have had one Minister go to jail for possessing and dealing in child porn in 2008?Another one for dealing corruptly with kids, whilst in the Federal labour party they had an MP who was investigated by Police for abusing her position and causing a nuisance whilst drunk in a public place.All this in 2008 Hortense whilst the holier than thou Minister was preparing to stop you and I from doing things on facebook, tut tut Horty. Well if it wasn't all about on the public record and actually in the courts I would never believe it old girl, even down to that bit where the Australian Labour Prime Minister , saying to the world in general about President Bush telling him over the phone he didn't know what day of the week it was. Funny isn't it as well Hortense, our Prime Minister used Facebook in all manner of ways to get himself elected, even down to calling the then Prime Minister a dill, well yes not just like that,we all knew what he meant though.Heck, almost forgot about the ex-labour Senator who has been sending lots of monies into Swiss bank accounts and had an investment burn down where he and other collected 15 times the value of the property through insurance. Tut Tut, but it is all in the court system Hortense.
Sunday tomorrow, gelato at Cocolat !! yea har....
Tuesday, 16 December 2008
ink marks on a blank page Wednesday Dec 17th
The name comes from the Middle English Wednes dei, which is from Old English language Wēdnes dæg, meaning the day of the English god Woden (Wodan) who was a god of the Anglo-Saxons in England until about the 7th century. Wēdnes dæg is like the Old Norse Oðinsdagr ("Odin's day"), which is an early translation of the Latin dies Mercurii ("Mercury's day"), and reflects the widespread association of Woden with Mercury going back to Tacitus.
That is a quote from Wiki although I knew that anyway being the clever dick that I am. One of the things that I revere in my life is a set of books that my Father owned. They are a little dated now of course as he died in 1942 but I still read them each and every one at least once a year. These books are amongst some of the first that I ever learned to read,as befits the times when they were published (early 1930's) the print was large ,readable, plus even for scholarly tomes they were simplistic in language. In the main,there are six, they were historical but dealt with myth ,legend and ancient stories of the gods of Egypt,Babylon,the Celts and of course Norse heroes . The picture I am posting of Ishtar is one of my very favourites,as a young boy of six I fantasied about seeing the picture in its reality. The painter was Ernest Wallcousins who was an illustrator of historical books but the painting itself I was never able to see although on subsequent trips to London I have seen several works of his but never that particular one. The cynics amongst some of you that may read this will of course come to the most obvious reason why I used to glorm over this plate, yes she is naked, yes I was attracted to the fact she was naked but also I loved the metaphor within this picture. At the time I did not understand what it was that drew me to it but I had a very fortunate upbringing in that my Grandfather, who we lived with, was a very intelligent man who took the time to explain to a young boy just what it was he should see in this painting.
When he saw how interested I became in trying to learn he drew a large copy of the picture then marked off sections to explain just what the story (narrative) in the visual related to the actual script on the page. His enthusiasm was so infectious as even I could see at such a young age (eight) that a small colour plate could contain points of a story that took a whole chapter to tell the reader in words. I loved being ABLE to read,followed the comic strips in the Sunday papers avidly to the point that 58 years down the track I am still reading the Phantom each day. The importance of the so-called comic strips in teaching people to read metaphor cannot be over emphasised enough which is just one small reason why the popularity of the Japanese cult Manga comics has grown exponentially into a phenomena worldwide where the market in the US alone was over $500mill in 2007. In OZ as with countries all over the world we are faced with the growth of texting as a form of communication.
Some learned folk within the communication world,educators who have communication doctorates, are telling us dinosaurs that text type spelling is okay and should in fact be encouraged as it is a form of evolved English. Well that it might be that ur is a form of you are, gr8 also a form of great. I would argue that yes, it is a subliminal form of the 'proper' useage but is also a dead end for to know that gr8 means great then you first have to understand just what the word great in the whole form means. So to say that the txt gr8 will become the standard eventually for great is just pandering to the users of text(txt) is also a grave disservice to education . Understanding of how metaphor shapes our life go read some good works on Shakespeare and how he shaped(created) words to create then complete the meaning of what he was trying to convey within his spoken word,the sub text in other words, for many of the folk who witnessed his plays could not read. Gr8,Txt all the other so called txt words are in themselves metaphors for to use them it is imperative that the user knows what the whole word means. The simple word great has many meanings ,the semiotic explanation of such a small word can run into pages which can become meaningless .
Yes Hortense I did get a little carried away.Yes it might have been boring,and no I cannot apologise for that as it is just one of the subjects I do like to get my teeth into. Hortense do you really mean that, I should just stick to stuff I know nothing about?, at least that might be entertaining you think. Perhaps we should talk at great length about that fellow in New York who ripped everyone off to the tune of billions.wasn't that all about trust Horty, all those folk who lost money actually trusted him, the securities people TRUSTED him.Trust is wonderful isn't it Hortense. Who do you trust Horty? I know you don't trust me 'cos I pushed you in the mud that time when I said I wouldn't, but we are still great friends are we not, we are but you still don't trust me.Well Hortense that is the way of it isn't it, you live and learn just what to put your trust in, but you do know I wouldn't push you in the mud again don't you.That isn't just because you walloped me with your handbag after and I'm scared of you, well perhaps. A good walloping might just do some folk a lot of good then Hortense. What about gelato tomorrow my lovely friend
That is a quote from Wiki although I knew that anyway being the clever dick that I am. One of the things that I revere in my life is a set of books that my Father owned. They are a little dated now of course as he died in 1942 but I still read them each and every one at least once a year. These books are amongst some of the first that I ever learned to read,as befits the times when they were published (early 1930's) the print was large ,readable, plus even for scholarly tomes they were simplistic in language. In the main,there are six, they were historical but dealt with myth ,legend and ancient stories of the gods of Egypt,Babylon,the Celts and of course Norse heroes . The picture I am posting of Ishtar is one of my very favourites,as a young boy of six I fantasied about seeing the picture in its reality. The painter was Ernest Wallcousins who was an illustrator of historical books but the painting itself I was never able to see although on subsequent trips to London I have seen several works of his but never that particular one. The cynics amongst some of you that may read this will of course come to the most obvious reason why I used to glorm over this plate, yes she is naked, yes I was attracted to the fact she was naked but also I loved the metaphor within this picture. At the time I did not understand what it was that drew me to it but I had a very fortunate upbringing in that my Grandfather, who we lived with, was a very intelligent man who took the time to explain to a young boy just what it was he should see in this painting.
When he saw how interested I became in trying to learn he drew a large copy of the picture then marked off sections to explain just what the story (narrative) in the visual related to the actual script on the page. His enthusiasm was so infectious as even I could see at such a young age (eight) that a small colour plate could contain points of a story that took a whole chapter to tell the reader in words. I loved being ABLE to read,followed the comic strips in the Sunday papers avidly to the point that 58 years down the track I am still reading the Phantom each day. The importance of the so-called comic strips in teaching people to read metaphor cannot be over emphasised enough which is just one small reason why the popularity of the Japanese cult Manga comics has grown exponentially into a phenomena worldwide where the market in the US alone was over $500mill in 2007. In OZ as with countries all over the world we are faced with the growth of texting as a form of communication.
Some learned folk within the communication world,educators who have communication doctorates, are telling us dinosaurs that text type spelling is okay and should in fact be encouraged as it is a form of evolved English. Well that it might be that ur is a form of you are, gr8 also a form of great. I would argue that yes, it is a subliminal form of the 'proper' useage but is also a dead end for to know that gr8 means great then you first have to understand just what the word great in the whole form means. So to say that the txt gr8 will become the standard eventually for great is just pandering to the users of text(txt) is also a grave disservice to education . Understanding of how metaphor shapes our life go read some good works on Shakespeare and how he shaped(created) words to create then complete the meaning of what he was trying to convey within his spoken word,the sub text in other words, for many of the folk who witnessed his plays could not read. Gr8,Txt all the other so called txt words are in themselves metaphors for to use them it is imperative that the user knows what the whole word means. The simple word great has many meanings ,the semiotic explanation of such a small word can run into pages which can become meaningless .
Yes Hortense I did get a little carried away.Yes it might have been boring,and no I cannot apologise for that as it is just one of the subjects I do like to get my teeth into. Hortense do you really mean that, I should just stick to stuff I know nothing about?, at least that might be entertaining you think. Perhaps we should talk at great length about that fellow in New York who ripped everyone off to the tune of billions.wasn't that all about trust Horty, all those folk who lost money actually trusted him, the securities people TRUSTED him.Trust is wonderful isn't it Hortense. Who do you trust Horty? I know you don't trust me 'cos I pushed you in the mud that time when I said I wouldn't, but we are still great friends are we not, we are but you still don't trust me.Well Hortense that is the way of it isn't it, you live and learn just what to put your trust in, but you do know I wouldn't push you in the mud again don't you.That isn't just because you walloped me with your handbag after and I'm scared of you, well perhaps. A good walloping might just do some folk a lot of good then Hortense. What about gelato tomorrow my lovely friend
Friday, 12 December 2008
ink marks on a blank page Sat Dec 13th
Saturday rolls from the tongue easier than, dies Saturni ("Saturn's Day"), or even as wiki will have us know from the Old English as Sæternesdæg. Imagine saying that after a few hearty ones on a fast Sæternesdæg's night. Not that I do these days, have hearty ones, I mean. Which is a good thing really as I cannot even say it in the fullness of my sobriety. That sort of reels in my grump for the week, hard drinking or as the pollies will call it 'binge drinking'. As a young chap in the fullness of my 'nothing can harm me mode' I was prone to the imbibing of far to much alcohol in a single sitting than was good for me or anyone else. That I eventually saw the error of my ways and now do not partake at all is one of the very best things I have ever done, not just for me, but those closest and dearest to me. If the individual can handle drinking and not have drink handle them, that's fine go right ahead,I'll even step up to the bar and buy you some. Once anyone starts to drink just for the sake of getting out of control, then STOP. End of the don't overdo it lecture, just enjoy yourselves this season.
What I did want to babble on about is the lizard that lives under the flat rock in my front garden. This is a large lizard (Blue tongue) that is native to this area and normally you will see one or two of these in just about every garden. Blue tongues are lovely things and live under rocks and logs in the garden and forage for snails and insects . At home here we are blessed with the one you see pictured (Stumpy) and also one out in the back garden that lives in our garden shed. Stumpy has been here for some years as before this house was built 7+ years ago we owned another house on this block for many years and there was always a blue tongue living under a small shrub, so I guess it is the same lizard as they are quite territorial and prefer the same locale. We hadn't ever lived here before building this place but had seen the lizard whilst visiting.
We call her Stumpy as one day at breakfast I looked out of the window and saw her dragging past sans the best part of her tail.She managed to struggle under her rock to I thought, perhaps die, so rather than just let her pass away we decided to see if she would take food and in doing so she might 'rest and recuperate'. The lizard man at our museum told me that they loved eating strawberries and grapes so I got some grapes and put them in front of her little cave. Wonder of wonders the grapes started to go and one Sunday morn we saw her eating one. That was four years ago and she has had a litter of young each year.This last year though I have been worried about her as she has taken to living in a drain pipe that opens onto the road and several times I have had to fetch her off the road and put her back under her normal rock.I get worried that we might come out to get the letters one am and find that some loony has squashed her . Today she crept out and was sunning herself so I decided to feed her some strawberries and then a few grapes, to my surprise she took the grapes from my fingers and then gobbled up the strawberries before returning to her cave. She looked a little fat around the midriff area so hopefully she will have another litter, this is normally the month they give birth.They are reptiles but birth live young.
Yes I know Hortense, a little mawkish and sentimental but I am a Pisces and we are like that.
That was one time when I did know just what I was talking about Horty, you are right, but I cannot take full credit in the knowing,.That lovely reptile man at the museum told me what to feed it and also that the tail would never grow back to a point, would always be a stump.
I should get back to muttering about things I know ought about, a lot less vomit making and mushy? Well what about this then Hortense, talk about things that live under flat rocks. What about that Mugabe bloke eh? just what rock does he crawl out from under. No Cholera in Zimbabwe ! gee , I really don't know if he actually lives in the real world that chap, and ugh, his name is Robert for goodness sake. Best I get into something else Horty, I can't talk about Sunday gelato now can I? not after all those news pics of the poor little buggers over there.
What I did want to babble on about is the lizard that lives under the flat rock in my front garden. This is a large lizard (Blue tongue) that is native to this area and normally you will see one or two of these in just about every garden. Blue tongues are lovely things and live under rocks and logs in the garden and forage for snails and insects . At home here we are blessed with the one you see pictured (Stumpy) and also one out in the back garden that lives in our garden shed. Stumpy has been here for some years as before this house was built 7+ years ago we owned another house on this block for many years and there was always a blue tongue living under a small shrub, so I guess it is the same lizard as they are quite territorial and prefer the same locale. We hadn't ever lived here before building this place but had seen the lizard whilst visiting.
We call her Stumpy as one day at breakfast I looked out of the window and saw her dragging past sans the best part of her tail.She managed to struggle under her rock to I thought, perhaps die, so rather than just let her pass away we decided to see if she would take food and in doing so she might 'rest and recuperate'. The lizard man at our museum told me that they loved eating strawberries and grapes so I got some grapes and put them in front of her little cave. Wonder of wonders the grapes started to go and one Sunday morn we saw her eating one. That was four years ago and she has had a litter of young each year.This last year though I have been worried about her as she has taken to living in a drain pipe that opens onto the road and several times I have had to fetch her off the road and put her back under her normal rock.I get worried that we might come out to get the letters one am and find that some loony has squashed her . Today she crept out and was sunning herself so I decided to feed her some strawberries and then a few grapes, to my surprise she took the grapes from my fingers and then gobbled up the strawberries before returning to her cave. She looked a little fat around the midriff area so hopefully she will have another litter, this is normally the month they give birth.They are reptiles but birth live young.
Yes I know Hortense, a little mawkish and sentimental but I am a Pisces and we are like that.
That was one time when I did know just what I was talking about Horty, you are right, but I cannot take full credit in the knowing,.That lovely reptile man at the museum told me what to feed it and also that the tail would never grow back to a point, would always be a stump.
I should get back to muttering about things I know ought about, a lot less vomit making and mushy? Well what about this then Hortense, talk about things that live under flat rocks. What about that Mugabe bloke eh? just what rock does he crawl out from under. No Cholera in Zimbabwe ! gee , I really don't know if he actually lives in the real world that chap, and ugh, his name is Robert for goodness sake. Best I get into something else Horty, I can't talk about Sunday gelato now can I? not after all those news pics of the poor little buggers over there.
Friday, 5 December 2008
ink marks on a blank page Sat December 6th.
There is a chorus of voices saying"is it really the 6th of?" 'fraid so kiddies, and I hope you have all been extra good this year 'cos you know just what will happen don't you? The big bad world wide recession is coming to a country near you ,that's what, so if the folks you elected last time haven't done their job right...you had better watch out, no pressies for you lot! All this time you thought it was the bankers and politicians who had made the mistakes that got us in this mess when it was REALLY YOUR fault for electing the pollies who made the regulations so slack that allowed all this to happen, so there!! see it was YOU the voter, such naughty people.
Sometimes i don't know why I say stuff like that, perhaps there is a curly bit in my mind that stores rubbish and at a completely inappropriate time says,righto cretin, write me down real quick without even thinking. Make a complete ass of yourself , I'll deny everything so what, wasn't me, dolly did it. So I do, what do I know about the world anyway.
But what I do know is this: There is a large window in front of the robbi breakfast table, if you are really good and have elected the right one this time I shall take some pictures one day and show y'all the super view there is from my chair.
What happens on a regular basis is this ; we have these native birds in the garden (Manorina melanocephala ) noisy miner to you, and they have a nasty habit of attacking the other native birds who used to fly in and sup from the flowering plants. They also like to gang up on a sweet little bird who fossicks around on the ground like a mad thing. This little bird is an introduced species (Turdus merula) the common English blackbird and is an inoffensive sweet thing with a lovely song.
The noisy miners have learnt, and very quickly too, that if they see a blackbird in the front garden they can call two or three of their bretheren and make the blackbird fly up in panic. Then by careful sheperding can drive said bird at full speed into the large clear window where it will usually hit same so hard it breaks its neck. One such happening occured just as I drove up from a visit to the shops,the result is pictured. Okay I hear you say, David Attenborough has done that, we saw it on the discovery channel last week. Yes I can quote you on that,but how did the birds learn that, do they watch David too? What my question for the week is kiddies, how is this so. This house has only been here for 7 years, the noisy miners only moved in en masse about two years ago and I never saw them practising rounding up other species etc, and as they only do it to blackbirds what is happening here. Does Alfred Hitchcock's movie 'the birds' have star billing at the noisy miner's roost of a night, or are these the Einstein's of the avian world.
Is that scary or is it not Hortense? and why do I talk about stuff that I know diddly about? 'cos i can Hortense, nope ,read my lips Horty do I care?
Cogitate on this Hortense old fruit, when those gunmen stormed into Mumbai the other day shooting up the train station and a hundred or so innocent civilians,an academic from a Uni here was on TV saying one of the reasons they do stuff like that is because they are POOR and have no money or jobs so should be helped and understood, not shot at. Now then Hortense what I want to know is just how poor are they when a round for an AK47 costs a minimum of 28centsAUD even if you load 'em yourself,a rocket propelled grenade costs $1200 each and stun grenades cost around $340AUD a time. I know this stuff as it is I am a nosy basket so made it my business to find out. Don't even mention the training costs and rubber duckies ,fuel etc and ammo they used in training not to even talk about the mobile phones and comm gear they had.Well that is true Hortense, what the heck would I know, best I stick to knowing what day it is tomorrow,yea Sunday of course and the OZ dollar being what it is we should go spend our last few on some Gelato,a plan?
Sometimes i don't know why I say stuff like that, perhaps there is a curly bit in my mind that stores rubbish and at a completely inappropriate time says,righto cretin, write me down real quick without even thinking. Make a complete ass of yourself , I'll deny everything so what, wasn't me, dolly did it. So I do, what do I know about the world anyway.
But what I do know is this: There is a large window in front of the robbi breakfast table, if you are really good and have elected the right one this time I shall take some pictures one day and show y'all the super view there is from my chair.
What happens on a regular basis is this ; we have these native birds in the garden (Manorina melanocephala ) noisy miner to you, and they have a nasty habit of attacking the other native birds who used to fly in and sup from the flowering plants. They also like to gang up on a sweet little bird who fossicks around on the ground like a mad thing. This little bird is an introduced species (Turdus merula) the common English blackbird and is an inoffensive sweet thing with a lovely song.
The noisy miners have learnt, and very quickly too, that if they see a blackbird in the front garden they can call two or three of their bretheren and make the blackbird fly up in panic. Then by careful sheperding can drive said bird at full speed into the large clear window where it will usually hit same so hard it breaks its neck. One such happening occured just as I drove up from a visit to the shops,the result is pictured. Okay I hear you say, David Attenborough has done that, we saw it on the discovery channel last week. Yes I can quote you on that,but how did the birds learn that, do they watch David too? What my question for the week is kiddies, how is this so. This house has only been here for 7 years, the noisy miners only moved in en masse about two years ago and I never saw them practising rounding up other species etc, and as they only do it to blackbirds what is happening here. Does Alfred Hitchcock's movie 'the birds' have star billing at the noisy miner's roost of a night, or are these the Einstein's of the avian world.
Is that scary or is it not Hortense? and why do I talk about stuff that I know diddly about? 'cos i can Hortense, nope ,read my lips Horty do I care?
Cogitate on this Hortense old fruit, when those gunmen stormed into Mumbai the other day shooting up the train station and a hundred or so innocent civilians,an academic from a Uni here was on TV saying one of the reasons they do stuff like that is because they are POOR and have no money or jobs so should be helped and understood, not shot at. Now then Hortense what I want to know is just how poor are they when a round for an AK47 costs a minimum of 28centsAUD even if you load 'em yourself,a rocket propelled grenade costs $1200 each and stun grenades cost around $340AUD a time. I know this stuff as it is I am a nosy basket so made it my business to find out. Don't even mention the training costs and rubber duckies ,fuel etc and ammo they used in training not to even talk about the mobile phones and comm gear they had.Well that is true Hortense, what the heck would I know, best I stick to knowing what day it is tomorrow,yea Sunday of course and the OZ dollar being what it is we should go spend our last few on some Gelato,a plan?
Thursday, 27 November 2008
Ink marks on a blank page Friday Nov 28th
Much ado about very little methinks.What am I talking about? why the critics response to the film Australia actually. Now I would say that wouldn't I? as an Australian it is my duty to champion what is of this country and who is of the country. The pure fact of the matter, and from one who has actually seen the movie, the critics both here and abroad have missed the point entirely. yes the film is long, no there aren't any deep and meaningful metaphors to ponder over that answer all of life's questions, there are metaphors a plenty but none that are full of unintelligible gabble that film critiques generally consist of. I can speak with some authority on this, unlike my usual protestations , as in doing my last degree I also took a year of film studies.
That doesn't give me carte blanche and sweeping powers of deconstruction I know, but what it does give is a little understanding about how film might work.As a 21st century film 'Australia' does have shortcomings, but as a film that highlights a place ( the Northern Territory) and society of the times in which it's set, the film and the direction does that admirably. My maternal grandfather was the controller of wharves and railways (in Darwin)during this period in history so I have first hand knowledge of just what it was like to be there and the cattle country in that era. For myself I also know just what it was like to be a drover, muster/drive cattle and sheep long distances, as I did just that in the 1950's. Australia at that time(1950's) was still very much a frontier country way up in the bush so what it must have been like in the 40's was more of the same only harder.The film captures that spirit and hardship so well I relived most of the worst times,and there were plenty, the best times(some) and all of the hardships. Like the time we took 5thousand head of sheep to a rail head, only arrived with three thousand and I had a horse die under me . The year it rained after 7 years of no rain at all, was March 14Th 3 days after my 14Th birthday. The first night out mustering I was told to get into my 'swag'(sleeping gear of canvas) early because I was the horse tailer. You might well ponder as I did what that was. The horses are unsaddled after work and let loose but one horse has hobbles and a bell so that it cannot wander far. The horse tailer takes out a bridle at about 4am and listens for the bell, finds the horse then catches it, bridles up and rides bareback around in the dark looking for the un-hobbled horses. When you find the 'mob' and on a big muster there could be fifty you round them up and drive them back to camp.
Australia the film, captures most of the hardships of this life and also the absolute grandeur of the country, so for just that it gets my 100% tick of approval for I know about these things. What I don't know about is kissing Nicole Kidman so on that I cannot speak with any authority. I once acted in a film produced by Twentieth Century Fox so the very sight of those searchlights and that opening music makes me edgy with anticipation. The film was 'Kangaroo' and there are scenes in 'Australia' that are reminiscent of 'my' movie as well so once again I was on similar territory. One of the problems of Australian society is just how parochial they once and possibly still are, conditions in OZ didn't change much for years and what was fashion in clothes/furniture etc(in the late 40's) was still fashion almost up to the 70's. In a previous blog there was mention of the 'laconic' OZ bush manner, and the main male character gets to express that quite often also with the dry sense of humour which is part and parcel of Australia.
This then is a BIG movie,not Werner Fassbinder or even Cohen Bros, but a great look and a good rollicking yarn full of real characters, and the young kid who plays Nulla, a star in the making. If you are searching for metaphor and meaning it is there, in huge dollops because what this film is all about stares you right in the face. The message is there all across the screen. 'AUSTRALIA', the narrative of this film is just that, the country and the land itself. Go see it, if you don't enjoy then come here, look for yourself, and you will see just what the critics missed.
No Hortense I didn't get billing on the credits although everyone else did, and yes I did cry, four separate times. Yes I know I shouted out when I recognised that lady I had met last year. A bit gauche Hortense, I did cringe too but possibly not as much as the Citibank exec who was trying to explain why Citibank were spending lots of that money nice Congress gave them buying up bad debts . They were really bad debts too Horty, and you want to know what is so funny? These were debts that Citibank created in the first place then on-sold to bankers all 'round the world so that eventually it all turned toxic and created the fiscal mess we are now in. Yes Hortense I do know that when all the dust settles Citibank will make oodles of money out of these debts, but first they have to lay off lots of workers over Christmas . Why is that? what would I know Hortense, I do know that Gelato is cheaper today than it will be tomorrow, let's go!!
That doesn't give me carte blanche and sweeping powers of deconstruction I know, but what it does give is a little understanding about how film might work.As a 21st century film 'Australia' does have shortcomings, but as a film that highlights a place ( the Northern Territory) and society of the times in which it's set, the film and the direction does that admirably. My maternal grandfather was the controller of wharves and railways (in Darwin)during this period in history so I have first hand knowledge of just what it was like to be there and the cattle country in that era. For myself I also know just what it was like to be a drover, muster/drive cattle and sheep long distances, as I did just that in the 1950's. Australia at that time(1950's) was still very much a frontier country way up in the bush so what it must have been like in the 40's was more of the same only harder.The film captures that spirit and hardship so well I relived most of the worst times,and there were plenty, the best times(some) and all of the hardships. Like the time we took 5thousand head of sheep to a rail head, only arrived with three thousand and I had a horse die under me . The year it rained after 7 years of no rain at all, was March 14Th 3 days after my 14Th birthday. The first night out mustering I was told to get into my 'swag'(sleeping gear of canvas) early because I was the horse tailer. You might well ponder as I did what that was. The horses are unsaddled after work and let loose but one horse has hobbles and a bell so that it cannot wander far. The horse tailer takes out a bridle at about 4am and listens for the bell, finds the horse then catches it, bridles up and rides bareback around in the dark looking for the un-hobbled horses. When you find the 'mob' and on a big muster there could be fifty you round them up and drive them back to camp.
Australia the film, captures most of the hardships of this life and also the absolute grandeur of the country, so for just that it gets my 100% tick of approval for I know about these things. What I don't know about is kissing Nicole Kidman so on that I cannot speak with any authority. I once acted in a film produced by Twentieth Century Fox so the very sight of those searchlights and that opening music makes me edgy with anticipation. The film was 'Kangaroo' and there are scenes in 'Australia' that are reminiscent of 'my' movie as well so once again I was on similar territory. One of the problems of Australian society is just how parochial they once and possibly still are, conditions in OZ didn't change much for years and what was fashion in clothes/furniture etc(in the late 40's) was still fashion almost up to the 70's. In a previous blog there was mention of the 'laconic' OZ bush manner, and the main male character gets to express that quite often also with the dry sense of humour which is part and parcel of Australia.
This then is a BIG movie,not Werner Fassbinder or even Cohen Bros, but a great look and a good rollicking yarn full of real characters, and the young kid who plays Nulla, a star in the making. If you are searching for metaphor and meaning it is there, in huge dollops because what this film is all about stares you right in the face. The message is there all across the screen. 'AUSTRALIA', the narrative of this film is just that, the country and the land itself. Go see it, if you don't enjoy then come here, look for yourself, and you will see just what the critics missed.
No Hortense I didn't get billing on the credits although everyone else did, and yes I did cry, four separate times. Yes I know I shouted out when I recognised that lady I had met last year. A bit gauche Hortense, I did cringe too but possibly not as much as the Citibank exec who was trying to explain why Citibank were spending lots of that money nice Congress gave them buying up bad debts . They were really bad debts too Horty, and you want to know what is so funny? These were debts that Citibank created in the first place then on-sold to bankers all 'round the world so that eventually it all turned toxic and created the fiscal mess we are now in. Yes Hortense I do know that when all the dust settles Citibank will make oodles of money out of these debts, but first they have to lay off lots of workers over Christmas . Why is that? what would I know Hortense, I do know that Gelato is cheaper today than it will be tomorrow, let's go!!
Saturday, 22 November 2008
ink marks on a blank page Sun Nov 23rd
I am by nature, and perhaps now that I no longer work in the real world a somewhat solitary person.Not to say by the word solitary that I do not like my fellow humans, I do, but years of working odd hours and being at the beck and call of the telephone cut many of my acquaintances loose so to speak. Folk seem not to want to bother with a person if one is not around or sleeping when they wish to be sociable. Then of course was the period in my early 40's when we lived on a farm and that cut us adrift even more so. Farms being of a necessity to be well away from so called 'normal' civilisation. Then during that time I went back to University to do a degree, in the process of that I mixed with humans who were very much younger than I was so tended not to make friends as one could hardly bring someone home who was only afew years older than my son.
Australian rural society is much like rural human gatherings all over the world, the folk who have been born and brought up in that community have an initial distrust of the interlopers and tend to not accept them until they have 'proved ' themselves worthy and then remain in that community for a good settling in period. In the town that I dragged my family to, the normal settling in period before the family finished being called 'blow-ins' was about twenty five years.
Our case was somewhat different as my wife is in the medical field so was quickly snapped up by the local hospital, when I say local, it was in another town about 25kms away which in Australia is really on the doorstep so she became a native almost immediately. For me, being accepted took a little longer as I still had this weird job that no one local could understand and of course I was studying at Uni. At this time in OZ farming types had a great distrust of 'them what went to Universities' after all what couldn't you learn about life by sticking your arm up a cows back passage.The eldest (son) joined the local football/cricket team so he seemed destined to become a local even quicker than his mother and the youngest(girl) was ensconced in the local primary school so she also was a part of the local community. What to do about father, me , robbi. About two to three years after arriving several curious and I believe completely Australian character traits rescued me from oblivion as a person in my own right and not the husband of and or the father of.
Firstly, the local 'pillars of ' owned a very large farm and dairy, then used to deliver their milk in bulk to the surrounding farms. Because I was home during the day a lot I became quite friendly with this terrific fellow who used to be our 'milko'. Now this is where it gets into the OZ country character.As you well know I can talk the leg off a chair but owing to the fact that when he was in my kitchen yarning and drinking coffee I had either been at work half the night or had just got out of bed so was very tired and thus spoke in very short but succinct sentences. We soon became firm buddies and I looked forward to the delivery of milk as much as he looked to the coffee and yarn at my place. One of the character traits in country and rural Australia is that the archetypal OZ male is supposed to be tall,rake thin and laconic to the point of being monosyllabic. I am neither tall or rake thin but because of lack of sleep etc I was a trifle laconic and spoke little but by the standards of the conversation, with great pith. Naturally as he was a milkman he went into many kitchens around the district so spread the word that robbi was 'okay', ergo it wasn't long (about 2years) before I got a little nod with the index finger crooked to the forehead as I went about my business in the town. Three years down the track and the local post office couple started calling me rob and handing me the letters personally so I knew that I was on the way to becoming a local.
The second and most major thing that catapulted me into being part of the local scene came about purely by chance and no it wasn't the time I almost burnt down my hay shed and the local volunteer firemen had to rescue me. My son had arranged to go fox hunting, the skins were valuable and they are regarded here as vermin, but on the night in question when his friend drove in to pick him up he was ill with the flu. This lad was about 18 and tall ,rake thin,laconic etc etc but for some reason turned to me and asked" You ever shot foxes Mr S?" "why don't you go with me" I thought it might be perhaps a test of the family honour so said I would but could I take my own rifle.Their farm was about thirty minutes away through very forested hilly dirt roads and this kid drove like an absolute madman so through the whole journey I just kept my mouth firmly shut in a very silent scream. We drove around the paddocks for what seemed hours and not one fox did we see when he tuned and said, "we should go back I don't think there is any about tonight"By this time I had regained my composure and voice so I agreed but said I would just shine the spotlight over to the left along that bare hill.Fantastic, a very large very healthy fox but really so far up the hill when he turned and sat all we could see were the two coals of its eyes.
"Oh hell" the kid said," he's miles away and normally what we do is shoot so the bullet just goes in between the ears so it doesn't mark the pelt,get more for it that way".me under my breath, Oh YEAH ?"Right between the ears you say" was my reply. Lined up the shot and squeezed the trigger,boom, and foxie loxie went down.
Yes Hortense you are right, the kid ran up the hill and ten minutes later came back with said beast dead as, right between the ears. He never said diddley except a laconic ,"well we best be getting you home, it's late and I think he's the only one out tonight". On the way back Horty he drove ever so slow and careful but not one word about foxy or really anything at all.
Two days later Hortense I went into the town for letters and everyone in the district seemed to be there, the couple in the post office even put a rubber band around my letters, an unheard of courtesy for a newcomer and the garage man actually came out to wipe my windscreen. My boy came home from school and spoke to me for more than two seconds and my little girl caught us all by surprise at dinner with"daddy did well at fox hunting , didn't he"
What is my point Hortense? well I guess Americans are a lot like Australians old girl and that is just how it is going to be for that nice man come the 20th of , best he savour the moment as I did .
Yes I know, it is Sunday the day is blue skies , gelato is there for the eating
Australian rural society is much like rural human gatherings all over the world, the folk who have been born and brought up in that community have an initial distrust of the interlopers and tend to not accept them until they have 'proved ' themselves worthy and then remain in that community for a good settling in period. In the town that I dragged my family to, the normal settling in period before the family finished being called 'blow-ins' was about twenty five years.
Our case was somewhat different as my wife is in the medical field so was quickly snapped up by the local hospital, when I say local, it was in another town about 25kms away which in Australia is really on the doorstep so she became a native almost immediately. For me, being accepted took a little longer as I still had this weird job that no one local could understand and of course I was studying at Uni. At this time in OZ farming types had a great distrust of 'them what went to Universities' after all what couldn't you learn about life by sticking your arm up a cows back passage.The eldest (son) joined the local football/cricket team so he seemed destined to become a local even quicker than his mother and the youngest(girl) was ensconced in the local primary school so she also was a part of the local community. What to do about father, me , robbi. About two to three years after arriving several curious and I believe completely Australian character traits rescued me from oblivion as a person in my own right and not the husband of and or the father of.
Firstly, the local 'pillars of ' owned a very large farm and dairy, then used to deliver their milk in bulk to the surrounding farms. Because I was home during the day a lot I became quite friendly with this terrific fellow who used to be our 'milko'. Now this is where it gets into the OZ country character.As you well know I can talk the leg off a chair but owing to the fact that when he was in my kitchen yarning and drinking coffee I had either been at work half the night or had just got out of bed so was very tired and thus spoke in very short but succinct sentences. We soon became firm buddies and I looked forward to the delivery of milk as much as he looked to the coffee and yarn at my place. One of the character traits in country and rural Australia is that the archetypal OZ male is supposed to be tall,rake thin and laconic to the point of being monosyllabic. I am neither tall or rake thin but because of lack of sleep etc I was a trifle laconic and spoke little but by the standards of the conversation, with great pith. Naturally as he was a milkman he went into many kitchens around the district so spread the word that robbi was 'okay', ergo it wasn't long (about 2years) before I got a little nod with the index finger crooked to the forehead as I went about my business in the town. Three years down the track and the local post office couple started calling me rob and handing me the letters personally so I knew that I was on the way to becoming a local.
The second and most major thing that catapulted me into being part of the local scene came about purely by chance and no it wasn't the time I almost burnt down my hay shed and the local volunteer firemen had to rescue me. My son had arranged to go fox hunting, the skins were valuable and they are regarded here as vermin, but on the night in question when his friend drove in to pick him up he was ill with the flu. This lad was about 18 and tall ,rake thin,laconic etc etc but for some reason turned to me and asked" You ever shot foxes Mr S?" "why don't you go with me" I thought it might be perhaps a test of the family honour so said I would but could I take my own rifle.Their farm was about thirty minutes away through very forested hilly dirt roads and this kid drove like an absolute madman so through the whole journey I just kept my mouth firmly shut in a very silent scream. We drove around the paddocks for what seemed hours and not one fox did we see when he tuned and said, "we should go back I don't think there is any about tonight"By this time I had regained my composure and voice so I agreed but said I would just shine the spotlight over to the left along that bare hill.Fantastic, a very large very healthy fox but really so far up the hill when he turned and sat all we could see were the two coals of its eyes.
"Oh hell" the kid said," he's miles away and normally what we do is shoot so the bullet just goes in between the ears so it doesn't mark the pelt,get more for it that way".me under my breath, Oh YEAH ?"Right between the ears you say" was my reply. Lined up the shot and squeezed the trigger,boom, and foxie loxie went down.
Yes Hortense you are right, the kid ran up the hill and ten minutes later came back with said beast dead as, right between the ears. He never said diddley except a laconic ,"well we best be getting you home, it's late and I think he's the only one out tonight". On the way back Horty he drove ever so slow and careful but not one word about foxy or really anything at all.
Two days later Hortense I went into the town for letters and everyone in the district seemed to be there, the couple in the post office even put a rubber band around my letters, an unheard of courtesy for a newcomer and the garage man actually came out to wipe my windscreen. My boy came home from school and spoke to me for more than two seconds and my little girl caught us all by surprise at dinner with"daddy did well at fox hunting , didn't he"
What is my point Hortense? well I guess Americans are a lot like Australians old girl and that is just how it is going to be for that nice man come the 20th of , best he savour the moment as I did .
Yes I know, it is Sunday the day is blue skies , gelato is there for the eating
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