Wednesday, August 29

This idea of talking to the iPad to save typing isn’t as easy as I thought it would be. Apart from the issue of having to correct the frequent errors, I find it really difficult to find a quiet spot where I can say what I want to say. I can’t say that my ramblings are of prime importance: enough to cut myself off from civilisation for that time.

However today I am driving the swimming bus so I have an interrupted hour while the ladies are in the pool so I can ramble on to my heart’s content. But of course I now have nothing to say.

One of the social things that we have set up in the last couple of months is a semi regular film afternoon. We invite another two couples to join us mid-morning, we watch a movie and have some lunch and then watch a second movie if we’re in the mood. Each time we’ve had it has been terrific. We’ve seen some great films but also enjoyed the chance to talk about them with like-minded people. A side issue is that we get a chance to see films more than once. The film Pride which we first saw at the Peace Festival has been a particular favourite and we’ve seen it three times now, each time enjoying it more than the time before. Marilyn is particularly keen on seeing a film more than once because she picks up nuances in the second viewing which she missed the first time around.

One of our recent efforts was to invite a couple of friends, the husband of whom is severely deaf. I don’t know what he does at home but we had to scrape around to find movies with subtitles and get Jamie to set up a better sound system so that Phil would have a speaker blaring in his good ear. As it happened they cancelled at the last minute because she was sick so we still have to go through that challenge sometime soon.

Our big news is that we are heading back to Dilston to live. It’s been terrific to be in Deloraine and to have the opportunity to get involved in lots of activities in this great little town. However, Jamie and Nera have bought a house in Hadspen, just out of Launceston and will be moving in September so we have made the decision that we will head on back to Dilston rather than rent it out to someone else. In many ways we will find it great to be home but in other ways we will miss the ease of having social contact in our town that we know well. I’ve resigned from Rotary so that’s one fewer connection holding us here.

Of course one of the issues of living in Deloraine is that we spend too much time driving up and down the road to Launceston. Last week I had four drives to Launceston. Of course, one of these was the swimming but, for one reason or another, we did the drive three more times. We hope that the move back to Dilston will reduce the number of trips on the highway.

We’ve given notice to vacate the premises here and we’ve already had three or four prospective renters coming to have a look. Each of them immediately falls in love with the place and is keen to move in so we have encouraged them to fill in the paperwork and we been promised a decision will be made by Thursday or Friday of this week. We don’t plan to leave here until October 12 so we still have lots of time to get organised.

Wednesday, August 15

Last week‘s peace festival was quite a revelation. When I think of anything to do with peace I always think about long-haired hippies with hand-knitted beanies sitting around smoking odd vegetation . But the Tamar Valley peace festival was something else again. We happened to meet some of the committee, all women, any one of whom would’ve looked at home in a Liberal ladies luncheon. The person we spoke to most is called Jo Archer and she is a member of the first family of Launceston. The Archers were among the early settlers who were given large land grants, and free convict labour and turned that largesse into a substantial fortune. Their name is still recognised as being important in this area.

But back to Brendan Nelson. As I said he was very articulate and very interesting. Apart from the liberal ladies committee, most of the participants were your average Launceston group who turn up to everything. Brendan and his offsider, and the local liberal politicians were the only ones dressed in suits which is not surprising. Brendan’s suit, no doubt expensive, did him no favours. Modern suits don’t flatter the human figure: often the jackets are too short, trousers are too narrow in the leg and too short so I was not impressed with the way he was dressed. However, he is glossy and that’s what really matters if you’re a politician or the director of a museum seeking public monies.

He spoke about his life in Launceston, going to school at the local catholic school and convincing his mother that he needed to go to a better school if you wanted to get on in life. Even at 12 or 13 years old he decided that the best place for him to be educated was in a Jesuit school, Jesuits being well known for their intellectual rigour and demanding the most of their people. Whatever it was about, it seems to have worked and he went on to do well at university qualifying as a doctor and opening his first practice in Hobart. From here he became interested in the AMA, became president of that organisation and then moved on to politics. Later, he became ambassador to Belgium and the Netherlands. Later he found himself out of a job and became director of the War Museum in Canberra.

He was at pains to say that this was not a sinecure for, in fact, like anybody else he had to apply for the job sit through an interview and then wait for the phone call or letter to arrive to let him know that he was successful. Of course, who knows what was going on behind-the-scenes. People like Brendan would not be out of work for long. There are plenty of cosy government jobs for those who have paid their dues in the various parties and Are now in need of some help.

I was interested to hear what he had to say about the museum. In recent years. When I’ve thought about it, I suppose I’ve become a little concerned about the narrow focus of what the War Museum is commemorating. To me it seems there is too much focus on World War one, especially of the Anzac campaign. Of course I understand that this year is the hundredth anniversary of the end of that war but this has been on my mind for much longer than just this year. It was good to hear Brendan Nelson talk about his wish to give more focus on Sir John Monash and the contribution he made to the battles in Northern France. I happen to have been reading a bit of the history of this time and Monash, who was Jewish, had a terrible time dealing with racism from influential people including Charles Bean who is credited with starting the War Memorial in Canberra and Keith Murdoch who was a respected war correspondent.

Monash was highly rated by other generals from other countries, even the Americans who are very reluctant to pass credit on to other people. However, the tactics he developed in the use of tanks were replicated by the Americans even during the Second World War so he’s a man worth celebrating.

Sunday, August 12

Yes,it's me again back after 6 months of not writing anything on the blog.  At the time, I was pretty involved in study and bored with the task of trying to find time to write down all the things that were running around in my brain.  I'm also finding it more and more difficult to type as the arthritis gradually takes over the joints of my fingers; however, chatting with a friend the other day he announced to me that he was writing a book and was using a program to convert his words into text so I thought I would give it ago with the blog and this is my first attempt.

One of the things we have become interested in is an old Art Deco theatre which has been restored in Launceston.  It was opened in 1937 and, for many years, was the store for the Saint Vincent de Paul Society.  A group of locals took it over a year or two ago and with a bit of a grant from the government have restored to its former glory.  Upstairs, there is traditional theatre seating but with upgraded sound, and downstairs is an open with lounges and lounge chairs and beanbags.  The screen has been made larger and it's really quite a good experience. There is a cafe in the foyer and if we don't fancy a movie we pop in to have a coffee from time to time.

On one of our visits we noticed that there was to be a fundraiser for the Tamar Valley Peace Trust who were organising a peace festival.  I've been to Peace Festivals before but this a modern version, more like a Community Festival to welcome new immigrants and involve local international groups.

The Star Theatre showed the film Pride with the proceeds going to the festival.  What a fantastic film!  It's a story about the coal miners' strikes in Britain during the 1980s and how a group of gays and lesbians in London raised money to help the miners.  It's based on real people and the film ends with a run-down on what has happened to them in the intervening 30-odd years.

It's the midst of winter here in Launceston and so we are often reluctant to go out at night but the Peace Festival had invited Brendan Nelson as a guest, so we braved the elements to hear him speak.  He spoke for an hour without pausing and without notes.  I hadn't remembered that he was brought up in Launceston, had his first GP practice in Hobart and became President of the AMA while still a resident in this state.  I could say a lot more about his talk, and might do so in the next post.