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
Larvatus Prodeo was an Australian group blog which discussed politics, sociology, culture, life, religion and science from a left of centre perspective. more»
Vacuuming, Rose Street Markets, and the pleasant hypnotic qualities of test match cricket (even not a particularly compelling one).
Should we open a betting market on when the first real “foot-in-mouth” moment comes from Abbott? Or what the first 2pp polling result post-spill will be? Surely the Libs will get a bounce – even if undeservedly so given the absurd ructions of the last week.
The family and I just watched one of the most awesomely awful Hammer Horror films ever – the Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires. Fangs meets martial arts meets zombies, all on a shoestring special effects budget.
Promotional tagline: Deadly Horrors! Dragon Thrills! The First Kung Fu Horror Spectacular!
Stupendously and gloriously naff.
As usual, Circulating Library will be live-blogging the new Doctor Who episode, “The Waters of Mars” tonight at 7:30PM, EST (ie, Queensland Time, not Daylight Savings Time).
Dusted off and putting together what seems like miles of afx racing track (actually 2 x 200-250 track sections intertwined, in a design I’m making up as I go) in readiness for the visit of my nephews this week.
I’m little boy enough to be conduct some “intense testing” once it’s completed.
Just finished watching the aforementioned “Waters of Mars”. Holy hell.
Out to a club last night which a friend of mine has been co-running for over five years, but he’s now stepping aside to focus on his PhD. A great night out, apart from one particular dickhead…
Spent a fair bit of today and yesterday taking notes from various historirs of the Seven Years’ War about the 1758 Siege of Louisbourg. Commenting on LP. This afternoon put a new post on my blog. Watched Dr. Who, Waters of Mars. Will watch John Adams at 9.30 on SBS,
Coogee beach for the bulk of the day. Northern end, under the trees, with the kids. Then a school end of yr performance at an inner west school with an awesome music program. Just discovered – out of tea. No!
Thanks to whoever suggested the John Adams film on SBS! Great stuff. Interesting to think that Jane Austen lived and died within his long life span. I had watched Pride and Prejudice just before on ABC 2 and was a bit disoriented to be reminded that there was all that sturm and drang across the Atlantic while the English establishment largely carried on with their cotillions and match making. Army officers existed it seemed to provide dance partners for pretty girls, not to fight wars to maintain Empire.
So when are we going to finally declare our own independence? Wouldn’t the Republic be a rather useful wedge issue now that Tony Abbott is Opposition leader? He’s such a wily and muscular operator that climate change, abortion law reform and work choices may not be enough to flick him off fast.
Midnight here. Good night.
Not a great weekend – my 87 year old father who was visiting my mother in hospital who had broken her arm a week or so ago, had a minor stroke in her ward, which while being unfortunate in respect of the stroke, was ideal as he was seen to by nurses and doctors within one minute and code-blued down to ER. Ten minutes later he would have been driving home…it doesn’t bear thinking about.
Consequently, I spent most of yesterday and some of today at POWH. He was fine btw. within a hour or two with no signs of speech slurring and full movement back, but tests found a dissected carotid artery, which is usually a young person’s stroke factor. He’s now in the stroke ward getting anti-coagulants pumped through. Most likely not a surgical option at his age but will know more after the consultant and team have been through this morning. So, one on Level 3 and one on Level 6.
Also he’s been Mum’s carer for the past couple of years as she’s deteriorated and had a broken hip last year, and now she can’t be discharged to go home tomorrow…so this week will be a series of conferences and now joint conferences with the medico’s, OT’s and social workers to work out the planning and extra community care requirements including me and sibling’s extra involvement.
She has been in the geriatric ward and suddenly she doesn’t look very old or sickly compared to the other occupants. So many old dears are just the living dead, lying there prostrate with mouths agape, sucking air… “let go” is all I can think as I walk past them.
I think my generation and those boomers above should be the first to really push for end-of-life options having had to care for this current older generation who are being artificially kept alive way past their use-by dates with a pharmacy of drugs and machines that go beep and the many more in nursing homes whose minds have gone long before the rest. It’s just so undignified to end your life in the grip of dementia. And it seems so many of the current elderly generation have been unprepared for their own inevitable mortality or rather the awful decline towards and/or not having other options discussed and debated across society and available.
Luckily, at this stage, both of mine still have their marbles and degrees of independence. The old man was charming the nurses in ER and even the registrar was having a good old chuckle as they were discussing his case. He’ll be well looked after on the ward.
The attention and care at POWH (public teaching hospital) btw. has been first rate – so much for ‘NSW the failed state’ meme on another thread, which I’ve meaning to address in respect of the OTT hysteria and hyperbole.
A wheel of life weekend.
Some great stuff on Radio National: Bill Harney http://www.abc.net.au/rn/hindsight/stories/2009/2755655.htm
Helene Chung http://www.abc.net.au/rn/ockhamsrazor/stories/2009/2761820.htm
Yeh, I heard a little bit of Helen Chung while taking a shower yesterday CMMC….told to stop looking so Chinese by Mr White of senior ABC management, wasn’t she?
Wow, jo, you sound like you have a lot on your hands. My partner has parents moving to the delicate stage of life and we are bracing ourself. My own folks drinking and smoking meant they left me long ago. Although I do have one ancient aunt who did same, and does still, looking close to making the century.
Good to hear the public hospital is doing fine. Tony says he wants to tackle Rudd on that service issue. He better watch out.
Spent a goodly part of Friday night at Two Metre Tall Brewing. Was not unpleasant. Saturday put down first soft ginger ale. Good even now. Began a batch of real ale with extra malt and some kind of flash foreign yeast recommended by brewing bloke.
Sunday up over the hill to Collins Cap. Luverly views but soreish feet. Slow cooked wallaby casserole for dinner.
Patricia WA @ 8,
‘John Adams’ gets even better. A blow by blow description of the politics of the American Revolution and the founding of the Republic. Watched it all on line a year or so ago. Hanks is apparently also going to make a telemovie of Macullough’s history of the second year of the revolution, 1776. Don’t know if its in production yet as I haven’t checked out American Revolution blogs recently.
Jo,
Hope all goes well for you. What a terrible weekend.
Jo,sorry to hear of your dad’s turn for the worse. You have reminded me again to talk regularly and matter of factly about this to my own daughter. Both her dad (divorced from me some forty years ago) and I have enjoyed long and healthy lives, and both with clear ideas on how we would like it all to end without long and lingering incapacity. Still when her dad died at 85 just recently I watched her quite unjustifiably turn herself inside out with guilt about not spending enough time with him and not realising how he was ill and likely to go so suddenly. He was not a great one for sharing his feelings or fears so it was quite a shock.
Considering what an anti-social, cantankerous and contrary, could be charming, old reprobate he was she did a wonderful job of watching over him during his final years, organising him into living just down the road from here. Of course that guilt moved into pure grief as the need for a coroner’s report into his sudden death without medical attendance meant a long delay before his cremation. When she and her brother were finally able to organise a wake for him they and I and others who knew him were able to truly celebrate his life.
I somehow have found myself living next door to her (how did that happen!) and after a long and interesting working life away I’m happy to become a useful Nana with my limited range of lunchbox cakes and the hanging out of the family washing a daily chance for a quick chat.
Jo, you sound just like my daughter, involved and concerned and appreciative of your Dad and his ability still to charm and enjoy people around him. Death comes to us all in different ways that we can’t control and thinking about it, talking about it from time to time, being prepared for it seems to help deal with not just our own death, but with the grief of losing someone we love.
So many of us were saddened when Matt Price died recently still quite a young man. His success as a journalist was his ability to really share himself, his thoughts and his feelings with his readers. We all felt we knew him well. It seems he managed that with his family too. I was moved particularly by his advice to us all about keeping loved ones close. You are doing a great job of that, Jo. Take particular care of yourself right now.
Thanks to the magic of time zones I’m doing this Sunday a second time. I’m posting this at 30 000 feet, somewhere between San Francisco and New York. Airborne wifi is the cat’s pyjamas.
Went to the QVB Tea Rooms on Sat with a bunch of friends. Yummy, though I don’t believe their scones are as good as mine. Just finishing when the Geek rang up to say his Mum had collapsed, and was in hospital. So my planned afternoon of city shopping sans children turned into lots of hospital stuff instead. Fortunately my MIL was discharged later — it looked like a heart problem at first, then they diagnosed dehydration. We’re unconvinced — it just wasn’t that hot a day yesterday. Today her Dr has told her that it was probably a sudden drop in blood pressure, but there are no plans to change her medication — as far as I can make out, her BP is not really controllable, so I suppose the meds must have suddenly kicked in.
So my sympathies to you, Jo, as one who expects will one day to be in similar conferences.
I’m trusting that things are going as well as they can for Jo. I found myself thinking about her a lot yesterday, particularly her parents and her description of them in their late eighties still having “their marbles and degrees of independence” and with her dad still able to charm. I hope Jo reads this and is able to tell her Dad how helpful their example has been for me.
My interest was initially one of concern for someone who had shared her anxiety with us, but more selfishly now for myself because I too would love to be like them in a decade or so. I recently found the book “The Brain That Changes Itself” and yesterday started reading it, turning quickly to the Index and references to “age-related cognitive decline”.
After an hour or so I was blessing the genetic heritage which has kept me physically sound and still inclined to moderate exercise. I also bless the hard to know sister-in-law who shyly shared her love of crossword puzzles and gave me a new friend for life, the Times cryptic and its easier cousins. I still struggle with them but I love the wit and ingenuity of those who devise them. Now I learn that these simple pleasures have all helped me retain the plasticity of my aging brain!
But I’m resisting developing the new habits of mental and physical activity which Dr. Norman Doidge suggests will rejuvenate my aging brain by helping it change itself as some parts atrophy with age. I used to love dancing and I have always wanted to play the piano, but slow progress in reading music frustrated my old perfectionist. Dancing means getting dressed up and meeting new people. I get enough social contact just walking the dog! Nor do I want to travel more or learn yet another language. So, is this resistance or contentment? Until today I thought it was the wisdom and acceptance of old age.
We are all pre-occupied with Copenhagen. Comment on Larvatus Prodeo today is mainly about national and global resistance to change so vital to human survival. Perhaps my concern about personal resistance to change can take a back seat for a while.
Thanks all for your kind words esp. Patricia WA.
Will spend some time later tonight reading your posts again Patricia. Am ex-hausted. Also had a Yr 6 presentation day today (my daughter got the Creative Arts Prize
). I think I was on the mobile for about three hours straight this morning getting Mum organised into the local rehab hospital (working both ends).
But enough family details, I had wanted to broaden any discussion into one around end-of-life issues, esp. in respect of ‘age-related cognitive decline’ as you said and how this can be managed better esp. when it heads into full-blown dementia.
At nurse’s station this morning…a women in her sixties next to me relaying that her “Mum’s just pulled her nappy off and pulled her drip out”.