I have to tell you about the arcane delights of eating ripe nectarines straight from the tree. Perhaps this does not equate to such pursuits as winning the national Lottery and then being able to make monetary advances to George Clooney(wasn't he just so beautiful in 'Burn Without Reading') Yes I am a bloke, no I only bat with a straight bat and I can say stuff like that because (a) it is true (b)it is 2009(c) and if my bat was only slightly out of shape he would be the first I would pay money to.
But eating ripe nectarines is one of life's real pleasures, and straight off the tree is sublimity in a nutshell. First off I have to explain all about this particular nectarine tree. I (we) built this house about 9yrs ago now and as befits the way she wants to live one of the first things we put in was a compost bin. Yes, yes, I know the chickens are supposed to eat all the kitchen scraps, for heavens sake there are only two of them, you want the poor little things to burst? They stuff themselves with pasta anyway and sometimes are just to full and would rather sit in the dust and burp.
The second thing was the fabled chicken house, and about two weeks after the chicken house was all ready ,carpeted and fully fitted out with hot and cold running chickens the first batch of compost was spread around. Wonder of wonders in about three weeks a little tree started growing in front of the chicken hut. Pretty soon this little sprout grew into what my canny eye knew was a nectarine tree. Quoth I to her in my best imitation of George, that girl, hurrrumph, is a nectarine tree. "OO she trilled, now we will have lovely nectarines" Oh no says I, this is a self sown tree and as such will never bear fruit, however, because I am full of bonhomie and love for my chickens I will let it grow to provide shade and such like to the hens."My hero" she replied, you are so knowledgeable about life and things" "come she said, I will anoint your brow with unguents and cooling oils then prepare a sumptuous repast for you"
Actually I do stretch the truth somewhat. all she really did say was "what do you know" and then walked off.
The tree grew and darn well grew ,by next season it was about six ft. tall, almost that across. She kept saying how good the compost must be (she is in charge of that), all I could repeat was that because it was self sown, blah blah yudder yudder. Did I tell you that I was on an orchard (we had 8thou trees) as such I knew all about what grows or what don't. As a male also I am full of all sorts of great knowledge like that, practical stuff that only males very much like George Clooney seem to possess.
Was 'bout this time 2003 the robbi waltzed out early one morn to get the eggs and with jaw dropping/ double take/ shock horror/ awe noted that there were four nectarines growing on the by now ten foot tree. You guessed it,each year the tree grows even bigger and fruits like bunches of grapes. To make matters really worse the damn thing is one of the old white varieties that is the very best and sought after fruits, one that you never see in the greengrocers either.
Robbi Humble pie is one of my very favourites, as well, hers too. Happens heaps at chez robbi.
Fantastic isn't it Hortense. You know me well enough now and can attest to the fact that when I am wrong I will admit to it.No, I never have my fingers crossed, well maybe that once I did.
Barack? nope, can't see him ever having that(humble pie) on the menu at the White House. he seems to be a pretty clever chappie, one not prone to just shooting off his mouth without considering the consequences. Just jumped right into work too didn't he, our new bloke here did that as well, just as he said he would. Only one difference there though, Barack doesn't need a paper to read from, our bloke can't open his mouth without reams of it spilling out, and none of it makes sense either. They still think(our government) that their silly carbon trading scheme can just go ahead full steam and not cause any downturn in our economy. The only folk who will win out of this will be the people who get the licences to do the carbon trading, the folk who will suffer will be the OZ public and the businesses that will go under.Sure we humans have wrecked the planet, are we wholly to blame for global warming, not on your nellie, just ask the 650 eminent scientists who say we are not and that the Earth could be actually heading for another mini ice age.
Oh Hortense, no, gelato is off the menu tomorrow but I promise we will do it all again on Sunday 'Tis the great bike race tomorrow, that top Texan Lance Armstrong will be there also about 133 other bike riders all in stretch Lycra, you are blushing Horty old girl, that is a maidenly blush I see. You only go there to read the lettering on the Lycra Hortense, yes I guessed that
Wednesday, 21 January 2009
Sunday, 18 January 2009
ink marks on a blank page Sunday 18th January
So, chickens don't know when it's Sunday. That might just come as a surprise to some folk, as I know it did and sort of didn't to me. Perhaps a fuller explanation would be in order. Since leaving the farm , building a new home in that hills village and then subsequently moving down here we have kept up the farming facade by having chickens in the back yard. She says it is so I can have some(one)thing to talk to during the days when she is off ministering to the sick etc. Actually how the chickens manage room and board at Chez robbi is by supplying the household with fresh eggs on a daily basis. Therein is my little epiphany about chickens not knowing it is Sunday.
More background information is as follows; when on the farm we had up to 20 chickens all running about the place laying furiously so what the crows didn't pinch I used to pick up each day.In all those years what with the crows swiping eggs and new chickens coming in there was never any need to know who laid what or when. Eggs just appeared, were gathered either by crows or self and life just tumbled on.
The shift to the village changed all that as it took a while to get a hen house going and then we sold that house to move and build here. Of course in between all that there was a sort of limp career to consolidate after being on the farm for so long, life was at that time a tad odd and mixed up for a goodly while. Once here and the garden done , hen house built ,two chickens were installed. two seemed to be an optimum number as we were unsure how the neighbours would react to hens bawking about the place early on a frosty morn. They appeared to be placated with the odd egg or three and also some nice plums or nectarines from the fruit trees.
You may or not know that chickens do not lay every day,even when as well cosseted as they are at Chezrobbi. These two lovely red hens laid two brown eggs everyday except, wait for it ,Sunday. This went on for some three years and when we had several trips to the UK for 3months at a time the folk who looked after the feeding and care reported that two eggs rolled in every day except Sunday. Some Sundays there would be one egg but most Sundays were eggless. That lot of chickens eventually had to go to a friends farm out in the sticks , a sort of old chickens home in the hills, where they could live out the rest of their days in peace,(or the pot) we hoped.What we didn't know wouldn't hurt , so to speak. Another two chickens joined the happy band here and they soon settled into the same routine, as did their main carer, me. Oh heck no, I don't lay the eggs, it's the chickens stupid!Two eggs a day excepting of course Sunday. Last year off we went to the UK for another couple of months so those red hens had an early retirement trip to Mt Pleasant. On return we off to the red hen shop for two more, but once they started laying, shock and horror the routine changed. Now , some of you might think and say, so what, do I really care diddly what day his chickens lay or didn't?
Perhaps it is retirement, or sloth, or just a general loss of neurons that stopped me from realising until last week that these hens didn't not lay an egg on any specific day( such as Sunday) but their particular habit was not to lay on alternate days.Are you confused, what I mean is one week they didn't lay on Monday, next week it was the Wednesday and so on. But there was always two eggs on a Sunday. I know , I checked on the calendar where all the egg production is marked down in a very efficient manner, as befits a well regulated household(she says I should get out more). There you have it, a conundrum Miss Marple would love to crack. Worrisome to a small degree and you dear folk can be rest assured that the matter has been discussed at length with the two red hens but as yet there is no actual consensus in sight.
Of course I'm not batty Hortense, the good folk know that I don't really talk to chickens at great length, just short little asides about the weather and such is all.
I should stick to rubbish I make up instead Horty old girl, is that a question old love or a demand? Maybe you are right perhaps a little comment on current affairs.Is it okay to say that word when one talks about an American president?. Tuesday the good folk in the US are going to do that thing they do so well, install a new one. What a cracker he looks as well Hortense, damn but he looks the goods. This is just one of the really great thing the Americans do isn't it, oh heck Horty it is far far better than inventing liquid white out. You were joking? write me a note next time Hortense. He is rather sweet and seems to be quite bright but he has a big job to do. Methinks Hamas might just be escalating the situation just to make it hot for the young fellow, and don't they look like a bunch of losers . As this is being written they have just sent five rockets into Israel,pathetic isn't it. There are always two ways of looking at any perplexing situation,so lets hope the chickens settle down into a better routine or a higher authority might just answer the call.
Missed out on Sunday Gelato this week Hortense, shame about that but it was all down to those pesky red hens y'see. Next week I promise.
More background information is as follows; when on the farm we had up to 20 chickens all running about the place laying furiously so what the crows didn't pinch I used to pick up each day.In all those years what with the crows swiping eggs and new chickens coming in there was never any need to know who laid what or when. Eggs just appeared, were gathered either by crows or self and life just tumbled on.
The shift to the village changed all that as it took a while to get a hen house going and then we sold that house to move and build here. Of course in between all that there was a sort of limp career to consolidate after being on the farm for so long, life was at that time a tad odd and mixed up for a goodly while. Once here and the garden done , hen house built ,two chickens were installed. two seemed to be an optimum number as we were unsure how the neighbours would react to hens bawking about the place early on a frosty morn. They appeared to be placated with the odd egg or three and also some nice plums or nectarines from the fruit trees.
You may or not know that chickens do not lay every day,even when as well cosseted as they are at Chezrobbi. These two lovely red hens laid two brown eggs everyday except, wait for it ,Sunday. This went on for some three years and when we had several trips to the UK for 3months at a time the folk who looked after the feeding and care reported that two eggs rolled in every day except Sunday. Some Sundays there would be one egg but most Sundays were eggless. That lot of chickens eventually had to go to a friends farm out in the sticks , a sort of old chickens home in the hills, where they could live out the rest of their days in peace,(or the pot) we hoped.What we didn't know wouldn't hurt , so to speak. Another two chickens joined the happy band here and they soon settled into the same routine, as did their main carer, me. Oh heck no, I don't lay the eggs, it's the chickens stupid!Two eggs a day excepting of course Sunday. Last year off we went to the UK for another couple of months so those red hens had an early retirement trip to Mt Pleasant. On return we off to the red hen shop for two more, but once they started laying, shock and horror the routine changed. Now , some of you might think and say, so what, do I really care diddly what day his chickens lay or didn't?
Perhaps it is retirement, or sloth, or just a general loss of neurons that stopped me from realising until last week that these hens didn't not lay an egg on any specific day( such as Sunday) but their particular habit was not to lay on alternate days.Are you confused, what I mean is one week they didn't lay on Monday, next week it was the Wednesday and so on. But there was always two eggs on a Sunday. I know , I checked on the calendar where all the egg production is marked down in a very efficient manner, as befits a well regulated household(she says I should get out more). There you have it, a conundrum Miss Marple would love to crack. Worrisome to a small degree and you dear folk can be rest assured that the matter has been discussed at length with the two red hens but as yet there is no actual consensus in sight.
Of course I'm not batty Hortense, the good folk know that I don't really talk to chickens at great length, just short little asides about the weather and such is all.
I should stick to rubbish I make up instead Horty old girl, is that a question old love or a demand? Maybe you are right perhaps a little comment on current affairs.Is it okay to say that word when one talks about an American president?. Tuesday the good folk in the US are going to do that thing they do so well, install a new one. What a cracker he looks as well Hortense, damn but he looks the goods. This is just one of the really great thing the Americans do isn't it, oh heck Horty it is far far better than inventing liquid white out. You were joking? write me a note next time Hortense. He is rather sweet and seems to be quite bright but he has a big job to do. Methinks Hamas might just be escalating the situation just to make it hot for the young fellow, and don't they look like a bunch of losers . As this is being written they have just sent five rockets into Israel,pathetic isn't it. There are always two ways of looking at any perplexing situation,so lets hope the chickens settle down into a better routine or a higher authority might just answer the call.
Missed out on Sunday Gelato this week Hortense, shame about that but it was all down to those pesky red hens y'see. Next week I promise.
Saturday, 10 January 2009
Ink marks on a blank page Sunday 11th Jan
Okay, so here I am on a quiet Sunday and it really isn't all that hot outside, but I thought I should perhaps get in out of the sun. Like most folk of direct English extraction I am easily burnt to a crisp. Already in my short life I have had some 20 skin lesions dry iced from my face and an active BCC gouged out of my neck. So in I came, what to do ,what to do, sang that crazy woman who I can never remember her name, but she warbled on about Heathcliff and has a huge castle somewhere in Ireland. Y'all know the woman I'm sure.
I have been busy of late though, scurrying down here most nights working away on my book. The days I spend mostly in heavy contemplation of my navel, as well of course reading about the times when things were young, real, and dinosaurs ruled. I have on my desk a pile of genuine dinosaur poop, yes indeed I do right next to the petrified wood and only an inch or so from the crustacea I found up in Coober Pedy. That's an arthropod to you folk, opalised it is and all. There might be a few of you who went to the movies and saw my hero Mel Gibson in the film series Mad Max. I think in the US they were re-badged as 'The Road Warrior'. Well the one Tina Turner was in was shot in Coober Pedy, on location just out some way of the town at a place called the 'Moon Plain' ,given that it looks a little like the surface of the Moon. That is where I found lots of lovely little fossils, all sorts of shells and little pieces of opalised bone, and lots of very very old oyster shell. Coober Pedy is of course some 3-400 miles from the now sea but back then of course lots of sea covered the land and even right the way up to Alice Springs you can find fossil sharks teeth and shells. I have to confess a little backsliding here folks, I do have another life, strange as it may seem. That life encompasses all sorts of weird and not so wonderful things, Paleontology is one, writing poetry and photography another one or three. Travel though is my real vice and the book I am writing is a series of photo books of my last visit to the UK. Some time ago I confessed to this very vice on here but then got distracted by Hortense, trying to save the world from itself and Gelato. Wonderful pursuits in themselves but I lust for my thoughts of England and greenery. To this end I shall devote this blog to a wonderful place and person,Bess of Hardwick, and endeavour to show you why on your very next vacation you should rush off to that green and sceptered isle.
The place: Hardwick Hall, Derbyshire
The Person: Elizabeth Shrewsbury (Bess of Hardwick)
Bess was born of humble origins in 1527 and by dint of four successful marriages to some of the richest men in England became a confidant of Elizabeth 1 and the second only to her as the richest woman in all of Britain. She died in 1608 at 80 yrs of age in her beautiful home, Hardwick Hall, which she had designed and built in 1573. The hall is set in some of the prettiest rolling downs and pasture country I have ever seen in England, the magnificent gardens and surrounds are maintained by the National Trust who have owned the property since the late 1960's. The Dukes of Cavendish who are the descendants of Bess had to gift Hardwick to the crown in order to pay the massive death duties that had built up over time. The house itself is almost as Bess had just left it with all the original furniture and wall hangings still in place. Her design for the exterior used, for the times, huge amount of glass and the wits of the day had a rhyme that went, in part" Hardwick Hall, more glass than wall" The Trust have done a remarkable job in keeping the place going as she would have run it as a working farm selling produce ,running free range pigs and the like. The on-site restaurant which is run from the original kitchen and scullery uses all their own produce so what you see all around is what you get.Have the Hardwick own pork sausages in red wine/onion gravy when you go,they are just superb! If I had a problem with the visit, then the day we spent there wasn't enough. Next time !
No Hortense I didn't have the Gelato as I am true to my very own Cocolat. We had some new flavours Friday after seeing that terrific movie 'Slum Dog Millionaire', didn't we Horty old girl, was just yummo too wasn't it.The film was well worth the ticket, so do yourselves a favour and go.
I have been busy of late though, scurrying down here most nights working away on my book. The days I spend mostly in heavy contemplation of my navel, as well of course reading about the times when things were young, real, and dinosaurs ruled. I have on my desk a pile of genuine dinosaur poop, yes indeed I do right next to the petrified wood and only an inch or so from the crustacea I found up in Coober Pedy. That's an arthropod to you folk, opalised it is and all. There might be a few of you who went to the movies and saw my hero Mel Gibson in the film series Mad Max. I think in the US they were re-badged as 'The Road Warrior'. Well the one Tina Turner was in was shot in Coober Pedy, on location just out some way of the town at a place called the 'Moon Plain' ,given that it looks a little like the surface of the Moon. That is where I found lots of lovely little fossils, all sorts of shells and little pieces of opalised bone, and lots of very very old oyster shell. Coober Pedy is of course some 3-400 miles from the now sea but back then of course lots of sea covered the land and even right the way up to Alice Springs you can find fossil sharks teeth and shells. I have to confess a little backsliding here folks, I do have another life, strange as it may seem. That life encompasses all sorts of weird and not so wonderful things, Paleontology is one, writing poetry and photography another one or three. Travel though is my real vice and the book I am writing is a series of photo books of my last visit to the UK. Some time ago I confessed to this very vice on here but then got distracted by Hortense, trying to save the world from itself and Gelato. Wonderful pursuits in themselves but I lust for my thoughts of England and greenery. To this end I shall devote this blog to a wonderful place and person,Bess of Hardwick, and endeavour to show you why on your very next vacation you should rush off to that green and sceptered isle.
The place: Hardwick Hall, Derbyshire
The Person: Elizabeth Shrewsbury (Bess of Hardwick)
Bess was born of humble origins in 1527 and by dint of four successful marriages to some of the richest men in England became a confidant of Elizabeth 1 and the second only to her as the richest woman in all of Britain. She died in 1608 at 80 yrs of age in her beautiful home, Hardwick Hall, which she had designed and built in 1573. The hall is set in some of the prettiest rolling downs and pasture country I have ever seen in England, the magnificent gardens and surrounds are maintained by the National Trust who have owned the property since the late 1960's. The Dukes of Cavendish who are the descendants of Bess had to gift Hardwick to the crown in order to pay the massive death duties that had built up over time. The house itself is almost as Bess had just left it with all the original furniture and wall hangings still in place. Her design for the exterior used, for the times, huge amount of glass and the wits of the day had a rhyme that went, in part" Hardwick Hall, more glass than wall" The Trust have done a remarkable job in keeping the place going as she would have run it as a working farm selling produce ,running free range pigs and the like. The on-site restaurant which is run from the original kitchen and scullery uses all their own produce so what you see all around is what you get.Have the Hardwick own pork sausages in red wine/onion gravy when you go,they are just superb! If I had a problem with the visit, then the day we spent there wasn't enough. Next time !
No Hortense I didn't have the Gelato as I am true to my very own Cocolat. We had some new flavours Friday after seeing that terrific movie 'Slum Dog Millionaire', didn't we Horty old girl, was just yummo too wasn't it.The film was well worth the ticket, so do yourselves a favour and go.
Wednesday, 31 December 2008
ink marks on a blank page thursday 1st Jan
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.
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.
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.
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