Thursday, August 28th ....

I don't often get comments on what I've written and I suppose it's enough for me to imagine the readers gnashing their teeth in frustration at wasting their time once again on perusing my nonsense.  I certainly don't want comments like the one that came through on Tuesday.

Where did that come from?  All I can hope is that he or she keeps taking the medication until he or she feels better.

Thursday, August 28th ....

I had an early start with the Community Car this morning and listening to the radio in those early hours often throws up little gems which you don't hear about otherwise.  This morning I caught part of an interview with a fellow called Jim Fitzpatrick who has written a history of the bicycle in Australia. After listening to some of his tales, I might be tempted to read the book although I don't list cycling as one of the passions of my life.

The cycling craze caught on in Australia in the 1890’s.  We know that must be right because Banjo Paterson wrote Mulga Bill's Bicycle in 1896. 

    'Twas Mulga Bill from Eaglehawk who caught the cycling craze.

I didn't know that bicycles were used in the Boer War (great for running down the Boer sharpshooters on the veldt) or that both Australia and New Zealand had Bicycle battalions in World War 1.  There is the famous story of how the Japanese invaded Singapore on bicycles in World War 2 and the legend that the noise of the thousands of bicycles crossing the causeway sounded like tanks so the Allied generals rushed to surrender.

There'a also the story of the family of shearers who used to get the ferry across from Tasmania each year and cycle up to Queensland for the shearing season

There's certainly a resurgence of bike riding in Australia and I'm astounded at the number of members of our Rotary club who ride regularly.  One group of 6 men and their wives recently had a trip to Europe.  They hired a canal boat, with a captain, and sailed from one town to next.  Each morning, they unloaded their bicycles and travelled around seeing the sights.  They said it was the best holiday they ever had, and it would never have occurred to me to attempt such a thing.

Tuesday, August 26th ....

A lovely comment in today's Australian:  

So sad to hear of the death of Richard Attenborough.  I grew up with his nature documentaries.  My favourite was Jurassic Park.

Monday, August 25th ....

I sat down today to watch the first episode of Dr Who.  The new doctor is Peter Capaldi, a Scottish actor we first saw in Local Hero which came out in 1983.  There's been a lot of water under the bridge since then but he still thinks that being Dr Who is the highlight of his career.  

The episode was pretty good and ended up with the Tardis parked in a mall somewhere.  'Where are we?' says the Doctor. 'I think it's Glasgow.' says his companion. 'That would be appropriate, as you're Scottish.'

And it was.  In fact, it was in the Buchanan Street Mall in Glasgow.  I was there in April last year and took a photograph of the Tardis which was just sitting there.  I'm sure they weren't making the episode then but maybe it's a permanent fixture.  Here's my photograph.

Sunday, August 24th ....

I don't have as much to say as I thought.

Saturday, August 23rd ....

Madeleine has come to stay for the weekend, and she and Nera are involved in cooking.  We've already enjoyed some savoury muffins but I've been promised some sweet cupcakes as well.

However, Marilyn has offered to give both girls some driving practice, so everything has been put on hold until they're bored with that.  I'm delighted that Marilyn has taken on that project because I'm not sure that I would have he patience any more.

Instead, I've been working on the family tree; it's got a bit away from me and I'm having to refresh my memory about the connections.  I'm looking at thirteen generations in just one line so there are hundreds of people and dozens of surnames to put into some sort of order.  I think I'll make some time to do some more tomorrow.

Following up on my previous comments on Nova Scotia lobsters, I was interested to read that the largest lobster ever caught off Nova Scotia was between 90cm and 1.2m long and weighed over 20kg. It was probably over 100 years old.

Thursday, August 21st ....

I've had a fugitive memory lurking in the back of my brain. Somehow, I remember a floral clock in the park near where we lived in Scotland. I haven’t been able to find any record of it on the Internet and, even when I visited Blantyre last year, there was no mention of it in any of the documents I turned up at the library.

Yet, lo and behold, I found a new website today, called The Blantyre Project, and there is the clock, as I remember it. I’ll need to spend a little more time on the website because it appears to have lots of interesting stuff.

I’m writing this post in a new app called Matcha. It claims to have all the bells and whistles but I can’t say I’m noting any difference to Blogger, although it does have auto-correction and that can be a bonus.

Tuesday, August 19th ....

It was our regular Probus meeting this morning; a good roll-up and interesting guest speakers.  Michael Bennett is a local farmer and his wife, Maureen, is an historian, very knowledgeable about families of the area.

Many years ago, Michael and his brother, John, established Ashgrove Cheese and that's a real success story.  As part of the set-up phase, Michael was awarded a Nuffield Scholarship to travel to Europe to look at cheese-making.  Apparently, Nuffield scholars keep in touch and have regular reunions, and this year they gathered on Nova Scotia.  He and Maureen were invited to talk about the trip.

Having two guest speakers is a bit like a tennis match: one speaks and then the other.  If they are polite, it can be quite worthwhile.  If they both have something to say, it can be more like a rugby match as they tussle for the microphone.  It wasn't quite as bad as that although there were a few tense moments.

They certainly had a lot to talk about.  It seems to be an extraordinary place.  One of the big industries is lobster fishing with dozens of boats making a living from this resource.  It's well-regulated but there seems to be no shortage and, while our crayfish can fetch $150 per kilo, the Nova Scotian are lucky to get $15 or $16.  The story is that the lobsters were kept in check by the cod but now that cod have been fished out, there are no predators. So the fishermen are making hay while the sun shines if you'll excuse a mixed metaphor.

We also saw a farmer collecting maple syrup - very primitive methods but that's just how they do it.

Nova Scotia is certainly a place to visit.  More Scottish than Scotland and some of the road signs are in Gaelic.  Unbelievable! 

Sunday, August 17th ....

I made a throw-away comment the other day about how interesting it might be for our politicians to look to Europe for inspiration, rather than the US.  It occurred to me that we rarely hear about Europe except in derogatory terms: welfare society, the old man of the world, and so on, so I got on-line and downloaded a book, Europe's Promise by Steven Hill, subtitled Why the European Way is the Best Hope in an Insecure Age.  Mr Hill is an American writer, and advocate for electoral reform in the US.

He has written a very clear and compelling account of the development of Europe following the wholesale destruction of World War 2.  European leaders at the end of the war realised that Europe needed to be re-invented, following centuries of warfare.  All the old institutions had been destroyed, leaving a clean slate on which to draw up a new vision.

It's important to realise that these were Conservative leaders like Winston Churchill, Konrad Adenauer, and Jean Monnet.  It wasn't a socialist revolution although many Americans sneer at what they have tagged 'creeping socialism'.

Churchill and the others were not interested in soviet-style communism but they were also determined not to adopt the Wall Street capitalism of USA.  They were prescient enough to realise the problems that were developing under that model.  Instead, they planned a new beast: social capitalism, where the undoubted benefits of the capitalist model provided the energy and resources for the development of a fairer society with benefits across the spectrum.  His book is 519 pages and, while it doesn't avoid talking about the inevitable problems, it demonstrates the extraordinary success in the 27 countries of the European Union and countries like Switzerland and Norway which haven't chosen to join yet.

Some of the elements which underpin the successes are:  birth to grave support from government to supplement the relatively high wages; fewer working hours and more holidays to achieve a better work/life balance; development of advanced technologies; investment in alternative energies, superior public transport; free education at all levels, a fair sharing of the nation's resources. Sure, their taxes are a little higher but the benefits are obvious.  From time to time, the ups and downs of the economy put pressure on the largesse but the benefits to the people are a much higher priority than military spending, for example and, if cuts need to be made, they are made in lower priority areas.

As I read the book, I couldn't help but be impressed by the different attitudes between Australia and Europe.  European economies work for the benefit of society; Australia seems to expect our society to work for the benefit of the economy.

I've avoided talking about the US in this post but, clearly, that is a failed society and we should be avoiding adopting any ideas in Australia which are based on that corrupt model.

Saturday, August 16th....

Here are four odes to staying young and beautiful, three romantic and one realistic. I wonder which one will stick in your mind and drive you mad over the next few days.

1. Nat King Cole

Stay as sweet as you are,

Don't let a thing ever change you.

Stay as sweet as you are,

Don't let a soul rearrange you.

Don't ever lose

All the charm you possess,

Your loveliness, darling,

The way you say "yes".

2. Billy Joel

Don't go changing, to try and please me

You never let me down before

Don't imagine you're too familiar

And I don't see you anymore

I would not leave you in times of trouble

We never could have come this far

I took the good times, I'll take the bad times

I'll take you just the way you are.

3. Bruno Mars

Ohhhhh ohhhhhh ohhhhhh ohhhhhhh

Oh, her eyes, her eyes

Make the stars look like they're not shinin'

Her hair, her hair

Falls perfectly without her trying

She's so beautiful

And I tell her everyday

Yeah

I know, I know

When I compliment her she won't believe me

And it's so, it's so

Sad to think that she don't see what I see

But every time she asks me, "Do I look okay?"

I say,

When I see your face (face, face...)

There's not a thing that I would change

'Cause you're amazing (amazing)

Just the way you are (are)

And when you smile (smile, smile...)

The whole world stops and stares for a while

'Cause, girl, you're amazing (amazing)

Just the way you are (are).

4. Shel Silverstein

If you’re sloppy, that’s just fine.
If you’re moody, I won’t mind.
If you’re fat, that’s fine with me.
If you’re skinny, let it be.
If you’re bossy, that’s all all right.
If you’re nasty, I won’t fight
If you're rough,  well that’s just you.
If you're mean, that’s all right too.
Whatever you are is all okay.
I don’t like you anyway.

Friday, August 15th ....

Jamie went in for his wrist operation this morning.  It's now 5.30 and there is no news yet.  Marilyn and Nera are still at the hospital and, no doubt I'll hear when he gets back to the ward.  It's been 6 months since he had the accident so it's about time it was repaired.

I'm watching The Drum which is always interesting. What impresses me is that the producers try to get a balance of panelists so there is usually a reasonable discussion of all sides.  Paul Sheehan from the Sydney Morning Herald is on tonight and he is always good value.  He has a knack for looking at the big picture and doesn't get distracted by the day-to-day spot fires which take up so much media attention.  

His advice to the Prime Minister is that he has lost the Battle of the Budget and, if he wants to win back the votes he has squandered, he needs to draft a new budget. 

At the moment, the Abbot Government is being held to ransom by the likes of Clive Palmer.  There's no future in feeding that ego.  The first priority should be to make Clive and Jacqui et al irrelevant.  If they don't, we're going nowhere.  

The book I'm reading at the moment has a reference to a street artist called Banksy who has gained notoriety for his quirky street art around London. There's a lot to be found on the internet and I've copied a couple here, and more on my Pinterest page.

Friday, August 15th ...

I found myself as a volunteer bus driver this afternoon taking a group into the Aquatic Centre in Launceston for a hydro-therapy session.  The bus and the therapist are provided and the participants pay $7 for entry to the pool. There's enough in the kitty to buy the driver a coffee.

The cafe at the pool is pretty good and one of their specialities is a blackberry and custard muffin.  I think I'll volunteer next week as well.

While I was there, I glanced through the local paper, which I've stopped buying. It's mostly rubbish but there was one interesting comment article about a move in Germany to provide free holidays each year for disadvantaged families.  What's interesting is that similar schemes are being discussed in other European countries as well and the UK has already put a scheme in place where families who are struggling can apply for a couple of weeks at a holiday camp, free of charge.

It's based on the premise that a holiday is as much a human right as the right to work.  The fact that many families can't afford one is mostly not their own fault.  Not everyone has a high-paying job and, when things are tight, holidays are the first thing to go.  The social benefits of a break are well noted, especially for children. 

Germany is looking at a voucher scheme which could provide travel and/or accommodation and food. Around $700 would be the maximum money available and all that would be spent within Germany, stimulating the local tourism market.  I think it has a lot to recommend it.

I wonder what our Treasurer would make of it?  'Poor people don't usually take holidays and, if they do, they are not as long as people with more money.  I've got ABS figures to prove it.'

It surprises me that, too often, Australia looks to the US for inspiration, when countries in Northern Europe are showing much more imagination.  I don't mean the rust-belt countries like Spain, Italy or Greece, or the UK which is still trying to get over Thatcherism.  I'm talking about the Scandinavian countries, the Baltic States, Germany and Switzerland, all of which could teach us a lot.

Wednesday, August 13th ....

Jack Lang, the controversial Premier of NSW in the 1930s, apparently advised Paul Keating: always bet on the horse called Self Interest; at least you can be sure it's trying.  When you look at the current crop of politicians you can see the truth of that statement. Obeid, Sinodinos, and the sad gang of NSW  members who have been found bending the rules, certainly put their own self-interest before the welfare of their constituents.  How can Kevin Rudd justify spending over $500000 in overseas travel in less than three months and how can our current Prime Minister hold his head up in regard to his numerous claims for attending Ironman events?  And how can his office administration expenses add up to over $200000 pa?

Poor old Peter Slipper gets his career and life ruined over rorted  taxi rides around wineries while Barnaby Joyce and George Brandis are allowed to pay back expenses claimed for attending a mate's wedding.  You could write a book!

So, when I read this week that Saul Eslake was encouraging the government to look at negative gearing as a potential area for tax reform, I wondered how we could overcome the self interest issue.  Australia is one of only a few developed nations which allow negative gearing, which Saul Eslake says is a waste of money.  Investors claimed $13.2 billion in losses in 2010-11, and that amount is rising.  Apart from the enormous amount of lost tax revenue, there is evidence that negative gearing reduces housing affordability.  Cashed-up investors compete with first-home buyers for available homes and prices rise accordingly.

Stopping investors from negatively-gearing property losses against their income would add $4 billion dollars a year to the budget in the short term, and about $2 billion dollars a year in the long term. 

It's a no-brainer, right?

Sadly, members of parliament are among the most enthusiastic investment property buyers in Australia.  Barry O'Sullivan, a Nationals senator, owns 80 rented properties, Clive Palmer has 12.  On average, each MP owns 2.5 properties, or a total of 563 across the board.

So, will Barry or Clive, or any of the other 94% of current politicians who own investment properties vote to take away their entitlements?  Pigs might fly!

Monday, August 11th ....

I came across a reference to Bertrand Russell in something I was reading this week.  What an extraordinary man!  He spent years of his life coming up with a definition of the number 1 and proving that 1+1=2.  He went to gaol for his pacifist beliefs during World War 1 when even the Bishop of London was preaching, 'Kill Germans!  Kill the good as well as the bad.'  He was intolerant of people who blindly accepted what they were told, especially by clergymen and politicians, and commented that it was worthwhile occasionally putting a question mark after things that you believed in most fervently.

His quotes are all over the Internet but one I liked especially is:

The problem with the world is that the ignorant are cocksure and the intelligent are full of doubt.

Jamie's major assignment for his IT course is to design a complex computer network.  For practice, he has networked our house using an operating system called Ubuntu.  I was amazed to discover that our household has 17 devices:  mobile phones, tablets, desktops, laptops, net books, etc.  It's extraordinary that 4 adults need so many gadgets just to get by.

I came across a website called Illustrated Lyrics.  The name is self-explanatory and here is a sample of their work.  If you don't see the whole poster, try clicking on it.

Sunday, August 10th ....

I've been reading The Hundred-year Old Man Who Climbed Out of the Window and Disappeared, on the recommendation of our friend, Jim, from Kangaroo Valley.  Jim's generally pretty reliable in his recommendations but I'm not sure about this one.

On the surface, it's rubbish - poorly written and with a very far-fetched story-line but, there are elements to like.  The author tries too hard to be funny but his trick of putting Allan at the centre of last century's history is pretty interesting. If you can suspend disbelief long enough to accept that Allan knew General Franco, Stalin and Herbert Einstein (Alfred's supposed half-brother) it's worth persevering.

I had another load of wood delivered yesterday and left it there hoping that it would stack itself overnight, but with no success.  It's sitting half-in and half-out of the garage at the moment and I'll stack it as the mood strikes me.  On the other hand, a load normally lasts about six weeks and I can probably live with it lying on the floor for that time if I have to.

When I re-started this blog, I hoped to avoid too much political comment but the stupidity of the last couple of weeks is too much to resist.  Eric Abetz scores two strikes for his ludicrous 'policy' of expecting people on Newstart to apply for 40 jobs a month, and his unbelievable gaffe of linking abortion and breast cancer.  George Brandis wants to keep the metadata of messages on the Internet, and he doesn't even know what it is!  And he neglected to ask the only man in cabinet who might have some idea before he went on air to display his ignorance.

And my personal favourite:  Christopher Pyne stating that women won't be affected by the increase in HECS because they won't be able to earn the high salaries like Dentists or Lawyers, for example.  If he were on top of his portfolio, or had bothered to check his facts, he would know that 58% of Dentistry graduates are women, and 61% of Law graduates.  Or does he believe that women should still be paid less than men? 

It's getting harder every day to keep up the pretence that the adults are in charge.

Monday, August 4th ....

I went to bed last night with the hope that the watches I had rashly bid on yesterday would be snapped up by nerds in another time zone.  Happily, this was the case so I don't have the embarrassment of having to justify owning a number of cheap watches.  Still, I have enjoyed the exercise and when a nice little black-faced watch looked set to be sold for a bid of 99c, I couldn't resist chipping in another 5c and was delighted to take ownership for a total of $1.04 (plus postage).

It seemed that, if I was going in to the business of watch ownership, I should look at owning some of the tools for opening the back to replace the battery, remove links from the chain and so on.  A 16-piece kit is available for a reasonable price, complete with detailed instructions.

I found the instructions so entertaining, I have copied them here:

Demolition of a friend has a set of tools to watch, you can watch easily removed the bottom cover together, but also watch strap length adjustment, forceps can watch the demolition of small parts, you can also watch the pointer is a distortion of twisted (but to highly skilled) . another hammer with plastic, you can watch on hammering. enjoy the fun of watch
  
 These include:
* Feet to open the table key (use: Open the bottom cover and tighten the screws bud directly aligned with the tool in front of the bottom cover the gap of two feet turn right direction switch. You can easily open the watch case back.)

* Open base knife (use: press the bottom of the watch for the bottom cover must be one of the tools used, pry the end of knife.)

* Split strap device (use: If your watch is new, then removed when the strap is the most convenient to use.)

* Ear Health grant (use: dedicated to dismantling strap watch cases and students between the ears, or belt of Health ears the most methods.)

* Red Clamp (use: assembly and disassembly is inevitable to use the pliers watches, such as the demolition of strap in the starting folder to folder, pins, etc..)

* Folding plastic seat strap (use: demolition watch chain, will watch chain sandwiched plastic seat racks. Very easy to load or open the strap.)

* Screwdriver (use: for internal assembly and disassembly machines use.)

* Rubber hammer (use: split strap installed after the hairpin, etc., when used for tapping.)

* King fell (use: If your watch band is too tight or too just bought a strip, you must bring it fell smaller.)

* Sharp tweezers (Use: Some folders and other small accessories and spare parts, etc.)

I particularly appreciate the Ear Health grant and can't wait to use it.

Sunday, August 3rd ....

I wrote a blog during the week but, somehow, I managed to lose it before it was saved.  Probably a good thing; it was just some nonsensical ramblings about an old Scottish song and the problems  in Gaza.  I'm sure my comments on the Israeli/Palestinian situation are not going to change anything.

Today, I had a bit of luck.  I was browsing eBay and noted a couple of interesting auctions, so I made a couple of bids.  With only 34min to go, I bid $1.04 for an ebook reader.  Unfortunately, there was a knock at the door and I missed the chance to raise the bid and somebody else won it for $1.29!  

However, I also made a bid on a watch.  There was 1 hour 40 minutes to go and my bid was $7.50.  I sweated on it and couldn't believe my luck when mine was the winning bid.  It came with free postage, too.  

In the excitement of the bidding, I also bid on 2 other watches:  a transparent, skeleton steampunk style ($10.13) and a sports LCD ($12.00).   Both auctions finish tomorrow so I'm not too concerned.  I don't really want any more watches;  I can only look at one at a time.

One of the drawbacks of watching the Commonwealth Games is the constant stream of ads.  Channel 10 in Tassie seems to have only local ads and the average production cost is about $100, so they're pretty ordinary.  Animal Tuckerbox is having an advertising blitz at the moment and their ad features a funny voice.  This is a standard Tasmanian strategy, to have a funny, irritating voice-over to catch the attention.  It makes me want to scream.

As I get older, I think I am moving further away from the average Australian.  I can't stand bogan ads, I despair of the values being demonstrated by our politicians and, when the delightful Jacqui Lambie spouts her own brand of wisdom, I want to cringe.  To cap it all, I was astounded when a commentator  on The Drum last week said that Jacqui spoke fluent middle-Australian and her comments on radio about her taste in men had cemented her chances of re-election.

Stop the world, I want to get off!