Since we don’t live by politix alone (I sincerely hope), what did people get up to this weekend? Join in, share some tales, regulars and lurkers all!
Life, Culture and Politics from BrisVegas
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Cool, somewhat rainy day in Adelaide. Did the obedience lesson, wanted to go through the practice ring but it was drizzling and instructress wanted to go inside where it was dry. I told her dry was overrated
To the farmers market, 10Kg of second grade Granny Smiths for making apple butter, yum! In afternoon cleaned up the bed where the tomatoes were, dug it over and planted a heap of lettuce, spinach, cauli, cabbage & onion seedlings.
Relaxing with a bottle of La Chouffe spiced Belgian ale and will start making pizzas soon: one with whole slices of pancetta–I hate pizza with everything shredded into anonymous slivers, ugh! Of course, I am using buffalo mozzarella, the ONLY cheese for pizza!
I took Leo (aka ironically as the savage one) on RSPCA’s million paws walk. He loved it.
Oh, BTW, did go through the practice ring–the chief instructor offered. In only a LIGHT drizzle of rain did the heeling, the stand for exam (Demi solid as a rock in this as always) the drop from a distance (stand Demi, tell her to stay, move off a few metres, do the signal for drop) and the recall–the first time John was only a metre or two away and Demi ran to him, not me
She loves John 
Apart from that faux pas Demi did well, I got told off plenty. I have to heel with more pizzazz, tend to slow down apparently if I think Demi is lagging, exactly the wrong thing to do!
Will enter the Whyalla trials I think, even tho it means I have to drive 500Km or so starting at 5.00pm Saturday of the Queens Birthday weekend here in SA.
I had a fantastic breakfast (black beans! chocolate mole! chorizo!) at North, dropped our house-guest Bec at the airport, went to the Save the MMOP open day, had a drink with some Twitter people, and am now getting ready for a cosy night at home.
So that’s what you do with pancetta Jovial Monk @1. I bought a big discounted lump of this once and wondered what to do with something that tasted like..well plenty of texture but taste? I’m now wiser, many thanks.
Pancetta is airdried pork. treat it as bacon then become a bit more imaginative
Crisps up very quickly in a hot skillet.
David Attenborough’s wonderful program on the great apes of Rwanda has just finished. One of the comments was that to help ensure the survival of the apes, the health and standard of living of the people living close to the mountains has to be improved. Sounds simple and straightforward.
In the discussion on the topic “Why Swine Flu and Why Now” (LP 30/04/09), there were comments saying that to protect us all from world wide pandemics, it was essential to improve the health and standard of living of people all over the world. This drew some very strident retorts – that this was just “idealogical blinkers” and anti-capitalist.
Always enjoyed your programs, David. Never thought of you as putting anything other than a naturalist and environmental story. Love your commitment to humanity, David – after all, without nature (which we are just one small part) we are nothing.
Very reassuring – don’t you think so “Peter”?
Mervyn.
We just finished watching that also.
“Life on Earth” was a major influence on our lives in several ways and we in this house regard those scenes of David and his new gorilla friends as probably the pinnacle of television moments.
Hannah’s Dad – Absolutely, mate. Absolutely. The look on his face!
As a parent, rolling round the floor with kids, has to be one of the highlights of life too. Less than 2% DNA difference but the same fun – ?
I also liked the comments about what may be going through the gorilla’s minds – when they look at us humans too.
And what a life – travelling the world seeing the most astonishing sights that any single human is likely to be privileged enough to be part of – and bringing it to the rest of us. Superb.
My partner, my child and I went to the launch of Tatjana Lukic’s newly published book of poetry la, la, la (Five Islands Press, 2009) at the Paperchain Bookstore in Manuka, one of Canberra’s inner suburbs.
Tatjana Lukic grew up in the former Yugoslavia, where she published four collections of poetry, received a number of national poetry awards and worked as a college teacher, poetry editor and sociologist-researcher. Her life was profoundly affected by the wars in the former Yugoslavia during the 1990s and, with her young family, she fled to Australia as a refugee in 1992. For almost ten years after her arrival in Australia Tatjana Lukic did not write any poetry. Instead, she learned English, studied (I first met her when she was a postgraduate student in sociology at the Australian National University) and worked for a variety of government departments. She did start writing poetry again, though, and her new poems, this time written in English, have since been published in literary journals and magazines in Australia, the United States and western and eastern Europe.
Three poems from the book were read at the launch. Just as an example, here is one of these three.
nothing else
no, i was not at the square when a grenade hit
yes, someone dear to me was hit there
no, i did not sleep in a cellar
yes, i phone every night those who were sleeping there
no, i was not a man and they did not take me to the camp
yes, i met someone coming out of the wires with a bullet in his chest
no, i did not see anyone dying
yes, i saw the corpses floating along the river
no, i did not starve
yes, i sold a wedding ring and bought bread and milk
no, nobody forced me out of my home
yes, someone changed the locks and lay in my bed
no, i did not buy a tiny pistol i spotted in the shop
yes, i liked it, it would fit in my wallet
no, i did not choose the river bank i happened to be at
yes, i know, i could learn to swim
no, i was not scared
yes, i did cry watching the planes passing by
no, they did not hear me, i was far below
yes, i knew they would drop a bomb in your backyard
no, in fact i did not know, i worried they might do that
yes, i remember everything
no, it was not cold, it was a beautiful summer
i walked my baby in a stroller and sang to her
the whole day
what did i sing?
about a cloud and a bird,
a wish and a star,
la la la,
yes, nothing else
There was bugger all lazy about my Sunday, cos I spent it performing (the second-ever gig for my band 15-11 Enterprises). It was problematic but I was left in a generally good mood by the whole day (I was one of four bands on this bill), so I’m not actually as bothered by those problems as I might otherwise have been.
I must say poetry is not my forte at all, but that one by Tatjana Lukic above has something special to it.
Shook out cobwebs to M.A.N.D.Y on Friday. Gathered wool on Saturday. Finishing up a paper now on Sunday. Rabies jab on Monday…
Chess with my son.
My Girlfriend and I worked cleaning up on Sunday while I was in and out watching the Warriors get beat,then Parra got beat,the SOUTHs won,
Tonight its the Storm,watch Rugby league in Perth sometimes makes this backwoods place seem reasonable,hicks and more hicks in Perth I,m afraid,never change we want to remain living in the past here 1950 was a good year
I went to Craft ACT on Saturday to hear Geoff Page and Alan Gould read some of Rosemary Dobson’s poems at the exhibition Books to Hold or Let Go. Rosemary was there as well. The exhibition showed the bookbinding skills of a number of very talented bookbinders and was inspired by the book Poems to Hold or Let Go produced and designed by Ampersand Duck in collaboration with Rosemary Dobson and artist Rosalind Atkins. I feel inspired to read more of Rosemary’s poems. The creativity and craftmanship of the bookbinders was something to behold
I watched the rain falling into the tanks, gardens and reservoirs of Adelaide and putting us all a little less at the mercy of eastern-staters who don’t care about killing the river as long as they get to waste as much water on excessive and inappropriate irrigation as a federal government who needs their votes will let them they like.
And then, this morning, I wondered why the strikeout tags work here in preview but not en blog.
“[watching] Rugby league in Perth sometimes makes this backwoods place seem reasonable”
As a Perthling I agree it’s a bit of a backwater, but I wouldn’t touch your ‘solution’ with a winged keel.
*ahem*
Saturday morning went to the Rotary book sale and got some great books. Did a post on my blog about it (which is linked to at Saturday Salon.) Finished reading and note taking from Buel’s In Irons. Its taken me all week. e-mails woith a mate also interested in the American Revolution. Reading David Levering Lewis’s God’s Crucible. Islam and the Making of Modern Europe, 570-1215. Nice to read a book for just fun. Saturday night TV.
Sunday, onn line, reading as above. Also loved the Attenborough program, but found Fora on ABC2 a bit dissapointing this week. Thought Dirt-Game was bit of a non-event this week, too.Hanging out for Dr. Who. No comment on the Eurovisiuon song contest.
Went back to the Rotary Book Sale this morning.Doing an update on the post on my blog later.
Helped out on the Australian Breastfeeding Association stand at the Pregnancy, Babies & Children Expo at Rose Hill Racecourse. Never seen so many pregnant women at once, and they all came to our stand; it was busy as Pitt St. Many were thrilled to hear that we were around and that we had an advocacy role (eg, submissions for paid maternity leave, which was very obviously a hit with many women).
Not so thrilling: giant flashy stands for artificial breast milk. And did you know you can get your baby’s fingerprints embossed onto a really ugly piece of jewellery?
Meanwhile the rest of the family was celebrating our friends’ official adoption of their foster children.
Then we went to a farewell for some friends who are returning to the NT to Christian ministry work with Aboriginal people. In the six months they have been away from their little community, there have been eight deaths, including that of a baby.
Amazing fact I found out recently: land rights claims depend on proof of a spiritual connection to the land, ie, continuing traditional religious practices. Thus some Aboriginal people are maintaining these practices, against their own personal convictions, in order to keep their land. I’m horrified, but I can see that my solution (just take people’s word for it, give the land back, and pay the rent!) won’t go down well in some quarters…
Thanks for asking. I did my best to avoid each and every blog with advertising, especially the blinking kind breaking up the posts. Failed though, obviously
Has anyone seen Sydnecdoche ?
And if not then, has anyone seen Synecdoche?
“Sydnecdoche, NSW” would be a good remake of “Synecdoche, NY”.
Not much rain in my part of Adelaide. I worked in the garden. Like PC, I spent a bit of time thinking about being at the arse end of a dodgy catchment, and did the sums on how I could become self-sufficient for water and what that would cost me…I’d like to do it before the desalination plant is up and running….just my passive protest about desal I guess. I thought a little about the political cynicism of the Fed Env Minister giving the okay to dam the lower lakes without an EPA..a fact they chose to announce on the day of the budget. fuckers.
“giving the okay to dam the lower lakes without an EPA..a fact they chose to announce on the day of the budget.”
oops, I was kind of tired when I wrote that..long day…I meant EIS not EPA. ugh.