Author: jkirkby8712

A bit of an unusual sleep/lie-n this morning, not very late, but more so than usual [useful, after initially thinking I would be in the dental chair at 8am!]. In fact, I went up to the radio station at around 10am for one or two admin and finance matters – pleased to find the people I wanted to see, were available today.

Meanwhile, a little weekly report from the Blues!! Carlton will use its fourth NAB Cup match, this Sunday against North Melbourne at Visy Park, as final preparation for season 2012.  Captain Chris Judd will lead the team again this week and, with the return of Murphy, Gibbs, Kreuzer, Scotland, Simpson, Carrazzo, Betts and Garlett, who all missed last week’s game in Maroochydore, it will be Judd’s first game alongside these established senior players in 2012.  Joining Judd for his second game of the pre-season will be Jarrad Waite. However both Andrew Walker and Nick Duigan, who played against Brisbane last weekend, will be missing on Sunday. Michael Jamison who is yet to play a pre-season game will also miss Sunday’s game and he is expected to resume playing in the Northern Blues season opener on March 24. Making his first appearance for 2012 will be Mitch Robinson who missed last week’s game with a tight back after being rested in the first two weeks of the NAB Cup.  Judd said fans can expect to see a similar style of football to what will be played this season. “Obviously the NAB Cup gives us an opportunity to trial a few things that we wouldn’t ordinarily get to do in the season,” he said. “It is a luxury we have taken full advantage of this year and it is fair to say that it has been an incredibly beneficial past month for us, especially in relation to giving some of the younger guys a run.” With the Carlton team taking on a more familiar look this week, Judd said it was time to put the final pieces in place. “The boys are almost ready to go, so the focus this week will be putting our energies into fine tuning some structural aspects of our game and make sure we are ready for the season opener against Richmond.”…………………Well, let’s hope the team performances from this point onwards are a little more encouraging, than has been revealed so far in the pre-season matches!!!

The Archibald Prize is due to be awarded for this year, at the end of March –  there are 41 final contenders. Rather than doing the usual tipping –  the horses, football, elections –  I’m going to nominate the winner from one of these six  – Father Bob McGuire [by Luke Cornish], Angus McDonald [by Tim McGuire], John Wood by [Raelene Sharp], Melody – Missy Higgins [by Kate Tucker] , Self portrait [by Natasha Bienick] or Self portrait [by Jenny Sages] – the ‘Australian’ article on Friday didn’t have the view that many of the 41 were worth winning, and knowing my luck with tipping, one of the more outrageous portraits will no doubt be selected!! Right or wrong, I shall return to this status with the outcome!! My first choice as below:

This morning was my final session at the gymnasium  in my first 8 week’s segment of my ‘Lift For Life’ program. Made an appointment to come in next week for a new assessment, and to make a start on the next phase of the program.  More money would change hands as well of course. Nothing is for free these days!!!

Another interesting set of figures put out through the National Seniors organisation this week – money worries are the top concern when it comes to growing older, according to a new survey released this week. National Seniors Australia surveyed 1,800 members and found their biggest concern about getting older was the value of their savings and investments not keeping up with inflation. This was followed by being unable to receive proper care when they are no longer able to look after themselves and thirdly by not being able to maintain a reasonable standard of living for their rest of their lives. National Seniors Australia chief executive Michael O’Neill said the findings were important for the government to acknowledge as it considers the Productivity Commission’s (PC) final report, Caring for Older Australians. “We want to make sure that those who cannot afford aged care are properly looked after because we don’t believe money should be the criterion for receiving quality care,’’ O’Neill said.  The respondents’ top three priorities for aged care reform were to address workforce shortages in aged care (24%), improve the quality of life for aged care residents (21%) and increase the number of residential care places (17%).

I’d like to see a survey of the make-up of the kind of National Seniors people who are both members of the organisation, and take part in these surveys. When I look at some of the things promoted –  expensive touring holidays, special wine offers, and so on, that seems to me to be catering for a specific financial level, and not particularly your average senior citizen. While I guess that is simplifying things a little, the concern about ‘savings and investments’ also points in that direction, and even the annual cost of membership – not necessarily high, but for many people, the direct personal benefits that they could derive from such an annual fee, seem fairly limited in my view and hardly worth the extra expense. Not quite so for myself – I ‘m not particularly  interested in those kind of  ‘special’ offers, but I do find many of the articles in the monthly magazine, and the regular email supplements, to be quite interesting, and usually of relevance. My point being that the kind of survey referred to – yes, possibly indicative of the views of ‘members’ but not necessarily of the majority of senior citizens in general who feel there is no value in paying another annual fee for another organisation that they can’t see themselves gaining much from.  Mind you, I’m sure that the top three priorities for aged care reform, as listed in the last sentence of the above paragraph are real enough indeed.  In respect to the first item, for eg, I read somewhere else today, that a survey of Human Resource managers [or in my day, Personnel Officers] revealed that there is a large scale ‘practice’ in many organisations to resist the employment of older workers, and I would imagine that would become even more prevalent, once the worker in question gets beyond the official age of retirement.

In speaking of senior citizens, a much respected member of my ‘extended’ family – namely the mother of my former wife – celebrated her 91^st birthday today, and I was lucky enough to be invited to join the small family group to dinner at the local bowling club restaurant. Only member of her ‘Sunbury’ family missing, was my second son Adam – he had a cricket selection meeting tonight. While his ‘D’ Grade team missed out on the final four for this weekend’ semi-final games, two of the teams in the Club would be competing. I think Adam said that he was the Selection chairman, so he had a reasonable excuse for his absence from the dinner party. Not that I was really the life of the ‘party’ tonight myself – had been feeling slightly off color throughout the day, and when it came to eating a meal this evening, I simply couldn’t manage very much of my food! Rather a waste, which left me feeling a little guilty, but sometimes you just know when you have to stop!  However, ‘Nan’ or Win [the lady of the moment] appear to enjoy the night out at her favourite spot, and that had been the whole point of the night. The occasion included Shirley, James, Susan, Jodie & her boyfriend, Ash [plus yours truly of course].

Meanwhile, Adam’s horse had another run this afternoon at the Melton Harness racing – he did mention it to me last night in a text message, but alas, I forgot all about it  – discovered later, via one of his Face Book entries that ‘Dimensions’ had come in third today – getting closer to that elusive win!!  In the meantime, my attention was a little distracted this afternoon by the arrival of the ‘tree contractor’ who had decided that today was his opportunity to get rid of the large tree in my back garden, that I’d only recently discovered was dying, and threatening to partially collapse into the neighbour’s property!  For the cost of $400, it all seem to be over very quickly, but I figured there was no way I would ever be able to get rid of the thing, let alone cut it down, and I suppose the aspects of personal danger and safety are built into the cost of a job of that nature. Anyway, by mid-afternoon, the tree had disappeared, as had all remains of it, which satisfied me!!

Up until later this evening, I was under the worrying impression that I had a dentist appointment first thing in the morning. I was actually thinking that it was rather surprising that the surgery had not rung me to confirm the appointment, as is normal practice. I checked my diary – the appointment was for Friday of next week!! Well, at least I found myself feeling a little more relaxed for the remainder of the evening!!!

Early start, with phone call to 3NRG with the weekend cricket results on the local scene, and a few tips for today’s horse races down at Sale, in Gippsland. Later on in the morning, a trip to the radio station, but a bit disappointed to find no-one from the administration [as I’d been led to believe] nor were the mid-Wednesday morning presenters on air, once again!!  It’s a pity that one or two of our ‘top’ shows are so irregular in their appearances. Such is life!!  Anyway, couldn’t do or plan a few things I’d planned.  Made up for it, by a visit to the Blues Plus coffee lounge, a bit of shopping, and ‘lashing out’ at Collins/ABC store by purchasing the latest CD featuring my favourite Australian jazz singer – Katie Noonan –  called ‘first seed ripening’, and recorded by ‘Elixir’, and featuring Katie, who does all of the singing [14 tracks], which my mind has already slotted two or three tracks into next Monday night’s program!

Also received an email from the musical band/group ‘The Little Stevies’, which had the following news of interest –   Hey folks,    As you may already know we’re playing a show in Melbourne for the Brunswick Music Festival this Sunday. But what you probably don’t know is that this show will be our last in Melbourne for a while, and a very special one.  You see, over the last six months Byll has been working on a very special side-project – a collaboration which is due out in June. She’s been having trouble keeping it a secret lately, seeing as it’s getting so big, and if you’ve seen her recently you might know what it is. Yes, that’s right, you guessed it – there’s a little Little Stevie on the way! So once the little fella arrives the big Little Stevies will be taking a well-deserved break. Furthermore, as one Little Stevie arrives, another says goodbye. When the Stevies return it will be, sadly, without Robin. He’s off on some new adventures in distant lands, no doubt with a video camera in hand, and we wish all the very best to our dear friend and co-founding member.  Never fear though, mother Byll and auntie Beth have a brand new album in the pipeline which we plan to release early next year, with live shows to follow. So make sure you come down on Sunday for our last show with Robin and join us when we sing The Tram Song louder and harder than ever before (but not too loud as to send Byll into labor). Details: Sunday March 18^th  Doors: 7:30pm (10pm curfew)  Phoenix Public House, 133 Sydney Rd Brunswick  With support from Immigrant Union   Presented by The Brunswick Music Festival. Over and Out –  The Little Stevies..  I like to go to that, but not the right kind of venue to really alone at my age, mores the pity!! No doubt I will keep an eye open for the new CD.

I play music from the Little Stevies quite often on a Monday night – bit of a mixture of pop/folk genres, I’m selective with the tracks I play on the show, those that I think fit the general mode of that night [Monday nights].

Meanwhile, late this afternoon, it was a trip [by train] into the city – first concert by the newly configured Australian String Quartet [ASQ], with two new members at the Melbourne Recital Centre. I didn’t buy an annual subscription this year, was not sure how often I would go, and wanted to try some other musicians. However, decided to buy a ticket last week, for their first concert of the 2012 season.

It was the debut season for new line-up featuring new members Kristian Winther (violin) and Stephen King (viola)., joining the remaining members,  Anne Horton (violin), and Rachel  Johnston (cello). Kristian Winther and Stephen King were appointed to the ASQ in September following an extensive  search. Both Winther and King are regarded as two of the most sought after classical musicians in  Australia. According to ASQ Executive Officer, Alison Beare there is great anticipation for the 2012 season.  “Kristian, Anne, Stephen and Rachel are all committed to the future of chamber music in Australia and  abroad. They are an innovative group, with new ideas and territory to explore. The foundations have  been set, and the future is incredibly bright”, said Alison Beare. From what I would hear tonight, they seemed to have quickly melded together as a great new quartet.

The ASQ subscription season comprises of three national tours; Towards Light (March), Legacy (June) and Sunrise (September). The season focuses on celebrating Australian music on a grand scale with works from Peter Sculthorpe  and a new viola and string quartet commission from Brett Dean, which has been co – commissioned by  the ASQ. 2012 is also peppered with the great classics.  Tonight’s concert – ‘T o w a r d s   l i g h t’ featured  Peter Sculthorpe’s, String Quartet No 11;  Dvoˇrák’s, String Quartet No 10   in E flat major, Op 51; and,  Shostakovich’s, Piano Quintet, Op 57, and had a guest performer [another reason I decided to go tonight – love to hear the piano join the ASQ] –  Daniel de Borah, on the piano.

So tonight’s program began with a work by the doyen of Australian composers, Peter Sculthorpe,  one of many compositions inspired by the  starkly beautiful landscape of Kakadu and its  inhabitants.

From Australia’s unique interior, we travelled to the sunlit uplands of old Bohemia: few  composers wrote music in all genres which  radiated such spontaneous warmth and  charm as Antonin Dvoˇrák. Even by his exalted  standards, the Op 51 String Quartet is full  of gorgeous melodies where exuberance is  masterfully fused with poignant tenderness.

The program culminated, in the second half, with one of Dmitri  Shostakovich’s towering chamber masterpieces:  the Piano Quintet, Op 57, composed during  the fateful year 1940 and described as “a  last ray of hope” for Russia. It is a work of grand symphonic proportions combining the  composer’s hallmark skittish humour and  austere dignity with an underlying tension. Tonight’s guest,  Australian pianist Daniel de Borah (formerly  Hill) was 3rd Prize winner at the Sydney  International Piano Competition in 2004 and  has since appeared as soloist with the English  Chamber Orchestra, the London Mozart  Players, and with the Royal Philharmonic  Orchestra at the Barbican and Cadogan Hall,  London. In Australia he has performed with  the Sydney, Adelaide and Canberra Symphony  Orchestras, the Australian Chamber Orchestra  and Orchestra Victoria. He has given recitals on four continents and has featured alongside  many leading soloists including Rivka Golani  (viola), Li-Wei Qin (cello), Thomas Indermühle (oboe) and Andrew Goodwin (tenor) at the  Australian Festival of Chamber Music in  Townsville, the Canberra International Music  Festival, the Oxford Lieder Festival and  London’s Wigmore Hall. Daniel now divides his  time between Melbourne and London.

I must say that I found this music the most inspiring of the evening –  in particular , I think during the first movement – a wonderfully soothing [almost whispering] duet with the two violins, absolutely exquisite few moments, followed by the viola joining in, almost unnoticed, as with the cello also, then suddenly the strings almost seem to briefly disappear, as the piano exerted it’s role, yet still in a peaceful and quiet, but not keeping the strings down for long!  In musical technical terms, obviously not a very good description of what was happening I suppose, but nevertheless, as I sat there listening to the two violins initially, I could not help thinking that it was most beautiful passage I’d heard for many a long time!  The music itself  – a Quintet for strings and piano (two violins, viola and cello)., is in five separate movements, and usually last about 30 minutes, but I felt it was a bit longer tonight. It is one of Dmitri Shostakovich’s best known chamber works, which he began composing  in the summer of 1940 [when he was about 34]  and completed it on September 14 of the same year. It was written for the Beethoven Quartet, as were most of his string quartets, and premiered by them with Shostakovich himself at the piano on November 23, 1940 at the Moscow Conservatory, to great success. In 1941, it was awarded the Stalin Prize.

Earlier, the Sculthorpe work ‘Jabiru Dreaming’ provided a very contemporary piece of classic music – one of a series of three works that Peter Sculthorpe composed from 1988 – this one, described as a gift from Australia to France, marking the Bicentenary of the [French] Revolution, was actually premiered in Paris in June 1989. Sculthorpe based it on three short Indigenous melodies transcribed by members of Nicolaus Baudin’s French Exploratory Expedition to Australia in 1802. The first movement sees Sculthorpe refer directly to the Indigenous music of the Kakadu region in the Northern Territory. The second movement is based on dance chants transcribed  by the Baudin expedition In writing this, and the other two pieces, Sculthorpe noted that “Flying over Nourlangie Rock, I could see across the great floodplains to the abandoned remains of early white settlement, to the Arafura Sea and, in my imagination, to Torres Strait and even the islands of Indonesia. The music of these places, and of Kakadu itself, fused in my mind”.

Then it was back to the traditional classics, with  Antonin Dvorak’s String Quartet No. 10. Dvorak had quoted a banned Slavic song in his third string quartet [for political reasons], but in No. 10, the ethnic elements are integrated into the overall form of the music, which gives a mix of themes from folk-tunes, slow elegiac music played off against the rhythms of Czech dance music, and even a third movement emphasising almost a lullaby-like theme. Music for the times, written nearly 110 years, prior to the Australian, Peter Sculthorpe, yet both in their own ways drawing on the music of indigenous and folk based memories.

That was the Australian String Quartet, 2012 variety and their first concert for the year. As I left the concert hall, and walked past the Arts Centre underground car-park, I must admit to a wishful thought  in wishing I had my car with me, meaning I would have been home an hour earlier than walking into the city and then waiting for the 10.15 train to Sunbury. Really however, I didn’t mind, I was these days avoiding the hazzle, of driving into the city during peak hours, and the subsequent expense associated with both that, and the parking! A worthwhile option!

 

 

 

A lovely surprise phone call this morning [highlight of my day]..  A couple of weeks ago, my little notice appeared in the weekend paper, seeking contact with my former work associates from my first job in Melbourne. There was only a small group of them, and up until day, I’d only made direct contact with one, discovered the former boss had passed on, and the lady in the office [who was much older than the rest of us when we were there] was apparently in a nursing home, down in Tasmania. This morning, my ‘favourite’ little English switchboard operator from those days rang me, having being told of my advertisement by a friend  – in actual fact, I misunderstand the name she gave on the phone initially, thought she was another caller from the nursing or medical side of the institution we worked at, and I began to apologise for my misleading advert in which I had forgotten to specific the ‘administration’ side of the staff!!  Then the ‘bell rang’ –  it was Penny!!

We had a pleasant little conversation, remembering old times and the people from Kew Cottages – like the other contact I’d made, she was interested in being part of a reunion – was apparently actually thinking along the same lines a few weeks ago [must have known something was in the air!!].  Penny and I spent a bit of time together over the few years I was at the Cottages, and after I left, and I seem to recall, that as a naïve 19 year old down in the big city from the country, she had a few things to teach me!!  Always loved her beautiful English accent, and in contrast to the ‘white skinned pale colouring’ that one might have expected of an English person in those days, Penny always looked as though she had a permanent suntan throughout the year!  At the time I met her, I don’t think she had been in Australia for very long – came here, I understood, following a disappointing broken relationship. Her sister, named Dianne I think, had come out either with her, or shortly thereafter, and I met her on the odd occasion – in fact, was looking recently at some photos of Penny and Dianne in the Ballarat Botanical Gardens, where I had presumably taken them both for a day trip back in the late 1960s!  Memories!!

I didn’t go anywhere today, bit of work in the garden until it became too hot, more family history research and tidy up of records, and another phone call, this time from Joyce Wheeler at the church – thinks she was hoping that I might be able to help out with setting up the book stall at St Andrews on Friday morning  –  would have done so, but remembered I had a dental appointment that morning, may not be in the right state of ‘mind’ to be unpacking boxes of books, etc. Otherwise, would be happy to help, had already thought of offering some time, selling the books – but of course, their real need is the unpacking and packing at beginning and end!!  All this is for the Sunbury Festival this coming weekend –  I will be ‘on duty’ at the radio station  stall on the Village Green throughout Saturday.

Lot’s going on the world, but I didn’t even buy a newspaper today. Contacted Susie to see if she would be back from Bendigo today – no, not until late tomorrow, at which point, I decided to leave the fish I’d been planning to cook for us, in the freezer! Turned the TV on for just one hour today –  to watch Question Time from the House of Representatives. Not quite a volatile as normal, this afternoon in that venue!

I was very pleased with the reports coming out of Turkey concerning the World Indoor Athletics Championships. Sally Pearson’s wish list of successes continued as she won the Indoor 60 metres Hurdles title in a blistering  7.73 seconds, apparently the equal 4^th fastest time in history over the five hurdles that make up that distance. The World 100 metres hurdles champion, now has the Olympic Gold medal firmly in her sights, although one must always be careful to be wary of such assumptions. However, if her form and success continues as it has done over the past year or so, Sally’s confidence must be at a good level. As Pearson said herself, after winning the 60 metre event “It means I’m in fantastic shape and everything is going to go hopefully smoothly towards the Olympic Games”.

Another promising Australian performance came in the Men’s Long Jump event, which Pearson’s teammate, Henry Frayne [whose principal event is the Triple Jump] who just lost that event on a count back, claiming the Indoor Silver Medal with a leap of 8.23 metres. Frayne has been selected to compete in both events at the Olympics in the Australian athletics team. Meanwhile, we now have three Aussie girls qualified for the Olympic Marathon, always one of my favourite Olympic events – they are Jess Trengove, Benita Willis and Lisa Weightman, and their team selections will be ratified by Athletics Australia in May.  Unfortunately, Craig Mottram finished 11^th of 12 starters in the final of the 3000 metres event – hoping for a better outcome from Craig who is on a bit of a comeback trail, certainly indicates the need for some considerable improvement  – his time was 7.48.23 behind the winner [Bernard Legat of the USA] in 7.41.44.  Henry Frayne apparently didn’t qualify for the Triple Jump final.

As already noted this weekend, today is a public holiday in Victoria. Today is Labour Day – officially commemorates the granting of the 8 hour working day for Australians, and recognises the contributions of workers towards the nation’s economy. I’m not sure that many Australians actually give that origin much thought these days – simply another holiday to make a long weekend!!  The occasion is recognised on different Mondays in March by the various states – for Victorians, that means the second Monday of the month.  The history of Labour Day in Australia spans over a century. It is an important annual event that remembers those who struggled and succeeded to ensure decent and fair working conditions in Australia. During the mid to late 1800s the working day was long and arduous, where some employees would work up to 12 hours a day, six days a week.  Many Australians saw the need for better working conditions and in the 1850s there was a strong push for this. On April 21, 1856, stonemasons at the University of Melbourne marched to Parliament House to push for an eight-hour working day. An agreement with employers for a 48-hour week was eventually reached and Australian workers welcomed the new eight-hour day. A victory march was held on May 12 that year and each year after that. In 1856 the new work regulations were recognized in New South Wales, followed by Queensland in 1858 and South Australia in 1873. In 1874, Tasmania joined the other states in adopting the shorter eight-hour working day. In 1879 the Victorian Government made one further step towards better conditions for employees by proclaiming a paid public holiday that year. In light of the labour movement’s successful push for an eight-hour day, a large May Day meeting was held in Melbourne in 1890. On May 1 that year a local newspaper made reference to that day as May Day.

I spent most of my ‘Public Holiday’ [which was indeed a beautiful Autumn day in this part of the world] inside [a bad choice of plans] working on my family history records. Susie drove up to Bendigo, late morning – think she has a couple of days this week at the university up there. In many ways for myself, I would have preferred to have been in Ballarat at the Begonia Festival, but had planned for a week or so of no ‘commitments’ of that sort, instead working and catching up on home commitments.  Not that all planned gets achieved, as usual!  But I did enjoy the relative quietness of home, and the general area. Even James commented this evening, when he called around, how quiet the area was, great for study purposes, which he had another year of, ahead of him. Not sure if that was a hint, but I didn’t take it!!!

I did spend an hour at the gymnasium this morning, where I discovered that my particular program was not scheduled for today, as a public holiday, but I went through the program in any case seeing as how I was there!!  This evening, spent 5 minutes ‘proof reading’ another of my son’s university assignments  – he writes and researches very well, but as I read through his material, I was glad that I don’t have that degree of study commitment anymore! I got that finished just prior to heading off to the radio station for another late night Monday show.

Meantime, the highlight of the Melbourne Moomba Festival, which finished with a burst of fireworks tonight, was record crowds in the city area this morning to witness a reinvigorated annual ‘Moomba Parade’. I didn’t see any of it of course, but it is certainly an event that brings the crowds, families in particular I guess, for a day out. As is often the case in March in Melbourne, the weather was beautiful. I only have to think back to the 2006 Commonwealth Games which were held during the second half of March, and which saw ten days of glorious Melbourne Autumn weather. I think we are expecting 2 or 3 days this week of 30 degree days!

 

Another enjoyable two and half  hours of presenting classical music on the radio this morning, beginning at 6.30am.  It was Program No. 299 of this particular show, and I would spend a part of this Sunday afternoon, putting together the format for my 300^th program, next week, which I was planning to extend for a full three hours, from 6am! [if I can get up!!].

In fact, most of today at home, I was actually either working on future radio shows [putting the program formats together], or quietly enjoying the not over-hot sunshine out in the back garden  –  but not working today, just sitting in the sun, reading, and actually for a change, enjoying the occasional company of Susie’s two cats [mother and daughter] who after all their years with us, still seem to ‘enjoy’ the occasional cat fight/roll on the grass – never really sure whether they are playing, or one initiates the activity out of annoyance, because when it ends, they never seen very friendly. Meanwhile, in some ways, I would like to eventually see these cats leave the property [with Susie of course, if she eventually makes such a move], as I want to encourage more birdlife into my back garden – there are quite a few birds around much of the time, but of course they are discouraged by the presence of the cats, and the need to be always wary of ‘that’ ever lurking danger. Generally, the cats seem to ignore the birds, particularly a small group of doves which seem to be around a bit lately. But I think that is wariness on the part of the cats – they are aware also of my ‘hostile’ response to them, if I ever see any sign of ‘bird stalking’ going on by these felines. I’m sure there are the occasional unfortunate local birds that become the victim’s of Susie’s two pets, but these days, they are generally very careful not to allow me to become aware of such activity.

While I was relaxing in the quiet solitude of a  peaceful Sunbury garden backyard, the Moomba Festival was in full swing in Melbourne, no doubt the city packed with thousands enjoying a beautiful Melbourne Autumn day [which it was], while down in Ballarat, they were celebrating the Begonia Festival –  to be honest, I would have liked to have been down there this weekend, but had simply felt like a peaceful and relatively restful ‘long’ weekend at home, which apart from a couple of visits to the gymnasium, was exactly what I was doing.  Got onto a bit of family history work this evening, not having done very much in that area so far this year.

This evening, I watched a brief interesting little program called ‘Compass’ on the ABC – was dealing with cases of sperm donors in the USA, and the attempts by some of the resultant children in such instances to find out the identity of the donor of their originating sperm. That part comes next week, but the fascinating aspect of tonight’s show was the finding by these children [where the donor had made multiple donations over a period of time] that they had many half -sisters or brothers from this donor.  The similarities in looks, habits, mannerisms, etc, were fascinating to see, and it was heart-warming for eg, to witness the benefit accrued a single child of a couple to suddenly to discover a whole new family of brothers and sisters out in the community. Rather an emotional little documentary. Later, I watched an episode of ‘Great Expectations’ – always enjoy the BBC renditions of the old classics!

It was not a good night’s sleep overnight, nor was I feeling particularly well, would I get to the gymnasium this morning?  Well, we did make it, just before 9am,  on a surprisingly cool morning, I’d really thought the weather was warming up yesterday. By the time I exited from that morning’s gym activities, I found it still quite chilly out in the air, and many people were walking around the streets in what was almost winter clothing. I was in shorts, and a tee shirt!!

Earlier, I had placed my Saturday morning piece of poetry onto my Face Book account – it was a verse or two from the pen of Australia’s best known poet, Henry Lawson, called ‘The Song of the Darling River’ [one of the major river systems in Australia which flows down from it’s source in northern New South Wales, through the western part of the state,  and eventually joins up with the Murray River. A length of 2,740 kilometres [the longest river in Australia], it is often described as the lifeblood of outback New South Wales, and is a key component of the Murray-Darling Basin, and Australia’s  ‘food-bowl’. It flows through a generally arid region of the country, and experiences booms, busts, floods and droughts. This poem was written with a view to the breaking of a drought, it’s affects via the river on the environment, but indicating a lack of recognition of it’s relevance in the overall picture. Anyway, a few lines here:-

I rise in the drought from the Queensland rain,

I fill my branches again and again;

I hold my billabongs back in vain,

For my life and my peoples the South Seas drain;

And the land grows old and the people never

Will see the worth of the Darling River.

I drown dry gullies and lave bare hills,

I turn drought-ruts into rippling rills –

I form fair islands and glades all green

Till every bend is a sylvan scene.

 

O this is the hymn of the Darling River

 

[from ‘The Song Of The Darling River’ by Henry Lawson, Feb 1899]

 

In the meantime, I was reading an article about the current terrible internal situation in Syria this afternoon, and couldn’t help myself, had to make a comment on my Face Book account!  ‘

When you read in today’s ‘Age’ the descriptions of the degrees and levels of torture carried by the Syrian ‘authorities’ against their own people when in detention, one is left wondering at just what stage of degradation, humanity is heading towards in 2012, while the rest of the world sits back and ‘watches’! Sickening!!!

Not surprisingly, it created some reaction from a couple of friends, suggesting that perhaps more consultation was in order rather than just going in ‘all guns blazing’ – the latter was not really my intention, I just wanted to see a more ‘worldwide’ consolidated attempt to ‘do something’ to stop the internal killing and bloodshed happening with a similar determination to what had been undertaken in places like Iraq and Libya, while at the same time learning from the errors of judgement made in those examples. Some of the responses, and my attempts at reply, follow here.

Do you think more could be done diplomatically, Bill?    In this case, I replied,  it doesn’t seem as though talking is helping much – I could say much more, but am getting so angry about these kind of situations, that best I remain mute!! Except, apart from the ‘supposed’ WMD, I wonder what is the difference between the oppression of the people in Syria today, and the cruel manner in which Saddam ruled his ‘people’ at the beginning of the 2000’s, or Gaddafi last year – the difference seems to be the kind of response of the so-called peacemakers [UN, etc]

But do you think the way the US intervened in Iraq improved things?  Or from another friend –   Look at what is going on in Iraq now, do you think we really helped over there, sometimes I wonder? Is it all political? God help us all!

My response to the first question was, no,  not for the million + civilians who died or became refugees, and you know anyway, that I didn’t approve of the way that intervention took place – but does that mean we just sit back and allow another nation to murder and torture it’s people, and create a new batch of thousands of refugees, because the UN is too scared to act because of mistakes of the past [or more likely, Syria doesn’t have the resources that the western world needs to the same degree as Iraq, Libya, etc!! Think I’ll put the paper away, and watch the horses, and hope that none of them fall over!!  And yes, true  – God help us all!! We don’t seem to be able to satisfactorily help ourselves or others!

From a longtime friend  –  I know you didn’t , Bill- you were at the anti- war rally with us!
I just get concerned our interventions are not well thought out- Libya still has a way to go- without established democratic institutions the rebels become perpetrators of atrocities later and not much stops another dictator coming to power or anarchy reigning *sigh* can relate to your frustration though, I really can 😦

Yes, it is indeed a frustrating scenario, and even more so for those of us on the outside looking in, helpless to personally do anything, or help in any way, other than voice our concerns as is happening here, because we live in a democratic country that allows us to do just that, express our opinions.  Yet another comment from a reader of my account –    ‘Syria is looked upon favourably because its regime is not aggressive towards Israel. If they are overthrown it is not guaranteed that the next Government will have the same benign attitude toward Israel. I’m pretty sure this is probably a factor in the thinking of the US.’    I threw off a one-liner to that – Yes, at the risk of fearing offending the Israelis, everyone else can rot in hell! [which earned me a light-hearted ribbing from that longtime friend   You antisemite you, Bill ;)……………..the original comment in reference to Israel  was countered with   ‘Israel is a toughie. Yes, they are selfish. Yes, they are delusional. Yes, they are paranoid. Yes, they probably wouldn’t exist if they weren’t all these things.’

It’s interesting, that by coincidence, as we were going through this little discussion, that I was sorting through some old personal papers, and came across a ‘letter’ which I’d written to a group of friends at the church [including the writer above who had commented on my opposition to the invasion of Iraq], and I thought it a perfect time to include into the above discussion, and on this page. It adds a bit of length to this contribution, but I will include it in any case, just as I added it to the Face Book discussion!

At the risk of boring everyone, if not already achieved, and in view of the mention of  Iraq in the context of the current situation in Syria, this is what I wrote to a group of friends, 9 years ago [18 March 2003] –

“I had intended to make no further comments on this subject. But I have just sat here with some of my work colleagues, and listened to George W Bush, give Saddam Hussein and his sons, 48 hours to get out of Iraq, at which point, Bush’s ‘policy of aggression’ against the people of Iraq will commence failing that demand. Earlier we heard John Howard indicate Cabinet endorsement of the American President’s request that Australia provide military assistance in any ‘war’ against Iraq. Bush claims to be setting a course for safety, as opposed to drifting along to ‘tragedy’. We will all judge that view on our own perceptions of it’s ‘rightness’ or otherwise, in the context of how the so-called ‘coalition of the willing’ intends to achieve that safely!  It deeply saddens me to realise, that despite the wide divisions of opinion within the Australian populace, virtually no individual members of our government have had the personal courage or strength to stand up against JH and voice a protest. His Cabinet and Party it seems are 100% supportive of Australia’s decision to ‘go in’ with America! I cannot believe or accept that not one Liberal Parliamentarian has a different point of view, and that on a matter of such moral and humanitarian significance, they all remain silent?  That may sound naïve, but surely we all have a conscience of some degree……………..Forget for a moment, the spin about the ‘war against weapons of mass destruction’ and against strategic military targets in Iraq, and let us think for one moment of the people who will really suffer from these imminent attacks. When it is all over, it won’t be the bodies of George W Bush, John Howard or Tony Blair lying like a slab of carcasses of bloodied meat in the streets and fields of Iraw, but ordinary families, children, mothers, etc, like you and myself – it will be their limbs, heads, mangled and bloodied bodies that will lie rotting under the bombs and western weapons of mass destruction fired in the name of peace!!!………….John Howard accepts there will be civilian casualties and that saddens him! But not enough, obviously! Our government is wrong, and I voted for them!!……………….I don’t expect all my readers to agree with me, and there are many of the arguments for ‘this war’ that it is not easy to argue against. But the ability to express a different opinion is the nature of ‘this’ democracy ‘we’ live in. This approach against Iraq is the wrong way to go, yet I admit I don’t have an alternative other than the continuation of peaceful mediation [something Bush has never been capable of, with his constant aggressive rhetoric!!!]  Maybe, but without trying, nothing is achieved. But then, it seems from the postering and war mongering speeches we have listened to over recent months, that a peaceful solution has never been the intention!………………My 18 year old son’s immediate response to Bush’s speech – perhaps typical of what you’d expect to hear from that generation – was simply ‘he’s the most contradictory hypocritical president ever, he’s only protecting US oil in Iraq’. Obviously, there’s far more to it than that, but it’s an opinion shared in many parts of the world……………….I feel angry and despairing. I pray for the lives and freedom of the perhaps many thousands of innocents who will die within the next few days, in the name of ‘Western freedom’ [or as Bush described it ‘collateral damage’]. Right now, put yourselves in the home of a normal Iraqi family, and think about it……………..May God – whoever he/she may be –  forgive us all!”

That anger and despair seems to have never gone away, just pointing in a different direction!!!

To another subject, much more warming to my heart – sport!!! I noticed overnight that our Sally Pearson had run her way [as anticipated] into the finals of the 60 metres Hurdles event at the World Indoor Athletics championships, currently underway in Instanbul [Turkey].  More on that in a day or so, but she is our big hope [maybe our ‘only’ hope] for an Olympic Gold medal in London later this year!

In the meantime, son James  [with his friendly and exuberant dog, Murphy] came over to visit this afternoon –  though ostensibly to watch the Carlton football match against Brisbane, on my computer – no TV coverage available, but we eventually able to pick up both the picture and sound of the game through the Carlton FC website.  I think he watched more of the game than I did, particularly the second half, when I was busy preparing a meal for Susie & myself [the former at work today]. The first two quarters of the game were quite even, and the halftime score showed Brisbane 6.6.42 to Carlton 6.4.40.  But from that point onwards, we really should have turned the game off –  that seems to have been what the Blues did, because they failed to score even a solitary point in the second half.Unbelievable, and yet the Carlton website still allowed themselves to feel optimistic –  ‘Blues were out-gunned in the second half, failing to add to our half-time score. There were, however, plenty of positives to come out of the match. Andrew Collins and Ed Curnow both continued their fantastic NAB Cup form, Zach Tuohy was moved into the midfield with great effect and Marcus Davies showed plenty of dash off half-back’.  Mind you, as my son reminded us, almost half of the regular Carlton players who would participate in the main season in a few weeks had been ‘rested’ for this game, so difficult to say have serious the team management was about this game – more interested in giving the young guys a guy.  Good move from that perspective, but not a good view as a fan and spectator to witness such a one-sided thrashing, in the end!!  Full time scores showed Brisbane: 15.14.104 defeated Carlton 6.4.40  [9.8 to Nil in the second half!!].

Susie home from work after 8 pm, remained quiet, and after eating, went out again, presumably around to nearby Rachel’s place, as she left her car behind. She was back in the early hours of the morning, while I had my usual unsatisfactory Saturday night sleep, having been worried all day by that persistent ‘upset’ stomach!!  Enough!!

 

 

 

 

 

I’m not sure that the following little bit of research information is actually working for me!!  A report by the National Seniors organisation, entitled ‘Grow older, sleep better’ tells us that contrary to popular belief, getting older does not necessarily mean getting less sleep, US researchers say. A study of nearly 156,000 Americans by the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania shows insomnia may be a sign of underlying illness, not simply ageing. The researchers found that poor general health and depression were linked to sleep disturbances and tiredness. The study revealed a slight rise in sleep disturbances during middle age but most people reported fewer problems as they grew older, with 80-year-olds sleeping better than those in their 50s [oh well, there’s still hope for me, a while before I get to the 89s!!].  Last year, another study showed older people could withstand sleep deprivation better than younger people and healthy older people did not have more trouble falling asleep. So for me health might be the problem, but really, I think lack of sleep is just something I’ve gone through life with  –  a habit of late to bed, early to rise, and don’t seem to be able to get out of that pattern!

Meanwhile, here’s another report that affects my age grouping, according to some more research. The Global Financial Crisis [GFC] has hit Baby Boomers hard – particularly if they are older single women in poor health and on lower incomes. New research out this week has shown such people are some of the worst off among the 5.5 million people born between 1946 and 1965, with many of the eldest already retired. Baby Boomers’ expectations were surveyed by National Seniors, through its Productive Ageing Centre. Researchers found the 40% of survey participants rated themselves “worse off” after the onset of the GFC in late 2007, despite Australia weathering the financial storm better than most other countries. Of those living alone, a total of 45% of women reported being negatively affected by the GFC, compared to 38% of men. Socio-economic status, health and age also played a big part in Boomers’ financial security.  Around half those still working said they had been affected by the GFC and would delay their retirement, compared with 27% who rated themselves financially secure.  But retirees whose health did not permit a return to work had no choice but to cut spending and wait until economic conditions improved, along with their incomes.

These surveys aren’t always that comforting, I must admit, and so often, a similar survey conducted by somebody else will come up with a completely different outcome. I think that like the politicians [at least when they are on the negative side of a survey], we should simply claim to take no notice of such polls, at least until they become more favorable to us.

Something much more favourable, and of particular interest to a Blues fan,  is that the Carlton football team have one more game to play in the pre-season competition, and  Blues skipper Chris Judd will make his 2012 debut in Maroochydore [Queensland]  this weekend, as Carlton squares off against the Brisbane Lions in Round three of the NAB [pre-season]  Cup.   Jarrad Waite, Andrew Walker and Nick Duigan will also return to the line-up for the first time this year.  Unfortunately Mitch Robinson, who was due to return to the team for his first official match of 2012, was ruled out of the side after suffering stiffness in his back at training on Wednesday. Mitch has completed all the pre-season training and was scheduled to play the next two NAB Cup matches in his preparation for the opening round of the season.   On another positive note, Nick Heyne, who joined Carlton via the Rookie Draft in December last year, will make his Carlton debut on Saturday. Nick played his junior football at Orbost-Snowy Rovers and the Gippsland Under 18s before being drafted by St Kilda with selection 48 in the 2008 National Draft. He played three games for St Kilda in 2010. Carlton’s first selection in last year’s National Draft, Josh Bootsma, is also in the team for Saturday. He made his Carlton debut in Adelaide in round one of the NAB Cup and was rested last Sunday against the Western Bulldogs. After playing in the first two rounds, reigning John Nicholls medal winner Marc Muphy will be rested, along with teammates Bryce Gibbs, Andrew Carrazzo, Eddie Betts and Kade Simpson.  Senior Coach Brett Ratten said the plan was always to ensure that most players would play at least one or two NAB Cup games.  “Right now it is all about practicing our structures and preparing for the season ahead, so it is great to have these senior guys back in the team so we can give the other boys who have had big pre-seasons a bit of a rest before Round one,” he said.  “It also gives an opportunity for some of the younger boys to have a hit-out at AFL level, which is a really valuable experience so early in their careers.”

In the meantime, the main football season commences towards the end of March, and thanks to my children giving me a ‘Season members’ ticket [for home games], I will be able to get to a number of matches this year – not so much of the television supporter during 2012!!  . The opposition football code of rugby league, have already begun their main season, with Round 2 of the N.R.L. to be played  this weekend.  Speaking of this weekend, for those employed, it is a long weekend, with the Labor Day holiday due on Monday. It is also Melbourne’s Moomba Festival. When I was much, much, much younger, I would generally spend most of this particular weekend in the city and environs, enjoying the Moomba festivities. These days, I think you would have to pay me to go into the city!! Too crowded, too hectic a pace of life!!

I spent a large part of today out in the garden, digging out more weeds and/or mowing the lawns. I was ‘interrupted’ late morning by a visit from eldest son, James; he had an assignment due at the university at some stage today – he wanted me to check it over [proof read] it before he took it in. I must admit I was expecting to have a printed copy to read, but no, it was on his computer, so I needed to read from the screen. For those purposes, I generally prefer a hard copy, don’t really find it easy reading a lot of material from a screen. However, couldn’t be avoided today, especially as my printer is still not working!

By early afternoon, it was becoming quite warm, and not surprisingly, by late afternoon, your personal essayist was feeling somewhat stuffed [a rather rude definition for ‘exhausted’].  Then I couldn’t really relax until a late visit from the ‘tree man’ who came to give me a quote for the removal of a dead or dying tree that I’d only just realised was in it’s last stages of active life. That quote wasn’t quite as high as I’d anticipated, although it still grates a little to have to pay somebody to come and remove a tree from one’s property. Anyway, that will happen in a couple of weeks!

Another quiet day in my week, kept it relatively free again, about from this morning’s visit to the gymnasium, and a brief stopover in the town later.  I did receive a wonderfully detailed email response to my letter sent off yesterday to a former work associate at my first place of employment here in Melbourne, back in the late 1960s.  David Bull, was my boss’s deputy, and he wrote back with as detailed a description of his life since we last met, as I had sent him.

Whether readers are associated with the Christian Church [in Western Christianity in particular] or not, you may have heard mention from time to time of the ‘period of Lent’ –  the observance of the liturgical season from Ash Wednesday up until Easter. The traditional purpose of Lent is the penitential preparation of the believer—through prayer, penance, repentance, almsgiving, and self-denial. Its institutional purpose is heightened in the annual commemoration of Holy Week, marking the Death and Resurrection of Jesus, which recalls the events of the Passion of Christ on Good Friday, which then culminates in the celebration on Easter Sunday of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ.

The word ‘Lent’ is derived from the Old English ‘lencten’ which means ‘lengthen’. It refers to the lengthening of the daylight hours that occurs in the northern hemisphere at this time of here as Spring approaches. In that part of the world, it is in this period of transition from late winter to early spring that the season of Lent falls. Irrespective of its origins, and a different season, the occasion is also recognised in the southern hemisphere. For the Christian churches wherever, Lent is a season of penitence, reflection and prayer, so worship during this time is traditionally solemn and restrained. While I’m not sure if I can remember things going this far, we see the sombre colours of purple and black replacing the brighter white and green of the Epiphany season [the time following the Christmas season]. Flowers are generally removed from the sanctuary. Songs of praise and expressions of joy are removed from the liturgy until Easter. Such practices as churches holding special mid-week worship services and offering devotional activities to help their members concentrate on the traditional Lenten disciplines of fasting, almsgiving and prayer, go back to the early days of the church, and are meant to help Christians to recall and be thankful for Christ’s atonement of death on the cross.  According to an article in Wikipedia,  the Synoptic gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke indicate that, Jesus spent forty days fasting in the desert before the beginning of His public ministry, where He endure temptation by Satan.   Thus, Lent is described as being forty days long, though different denominations calculate the forty days differently. In many of the Christian churches, Lent is regarded as being forty days long, but the Sundays between Shrove Tuesday and Easter Sunday are not typically regarded as being part of Lent; thus, the date of Shrove Tuesday will typically be slightly more than forty days before Easter Sunday.

Now, I know Lent has been observed in my church environments, but I have to admit to not really been made so aware of much of the above, it was just generally the period leading up to Easter, and so the emphasise was on that period of the Christian faith, really, the preparation time for the major ‘festival’ in the Christian faith.  As for the ‘fasting’ aspect, I would be surprised if any strict adherence to anything of that nature is followed these days.  Anyway, I have included this little piece for my own interest, as much as anyone’s

Today/.tonight saw the penultimate final of this summer’s One Day International [ODI] Cricket series, which this year involved Australia, India and Sri Lanka. The top two teams ended up as Australia and Sri Lanka, and with each team having won a final each in the best of three series, today’s game was the decider.  Well, it turned out to be a match for the bowlers, as indicated both by the low team scores, and the fact that the Man of Match was a bowler –  taking 5 wickets, and scoring 29 runs! The whole Series had been tight all along, with some close results, and neither of these two teams dominating the other, with wins shared amongst them.  The Australian innings was a poor 231 runs, and in view of the demonstrated strength of the Sri Lankan batting, that was just not going to be enough!  I didn’t watch a great deal of the game, but did see the final 40 minutes or so, with Sri Lankan despite losing wickets as did Australia, always in with a chance to reach the Australian score. Thankfully, it didn’t quite happen, and Sri Lanka just fell short, scoring 215 runs. And that Man of the Match – Clint McKay, brought back into the team for this match, and taking 5 wickets for 28 runs. With Michael Clarke out of the game injured, the acting captain role was performed by Shane Watson. Meanwhile, for the Australian one day cricket, they fly out of Australia early tomorrow morning, for the Caribbean, to play a series on one day matches against the West Indies, followed by a Test Match series. Sadly, the West Indies tours are never covered by Free to Air television, and the ABC radio also doesn’t always provide a full description of the Test matches. That has always been a tour that excited a lot of imagination and I guess is one place I would have liked to gone to watch the Australian cricket team!

 

 

 

The voice was not too powerful when I rang through the local sports report this morning – for a while there, I didn’t think I’d need to, as Ron was unusually getting on air. But eventually he voice appeared, and I dutifully rang him at 6.45am. Just managed to get through my little spiel before the voice started to crack up completely. After that, intended to have a bit of a rare sleep in  – not allowed!  The street workers, machines and all, had returned, right outside my windows, and they were not quiet. So gave the ‘rest’ idea away, and got up and did some work instead!! Probably a more useful occupation of my time in any case!!

It was a quick response – to the National Bowel Cancer Screening Program Test I undertook last week, and posted the test kit on Friday morning last.  Results notification.  The second sentence was what I wanted to read. ‘We are pleased to advise you that the result of your faecal occult blood test was NEGATIVE.’.  The letter went on to say that ‘This may mean that you do not need to have any further investigations at this time. However, no test is 100% accurate so if you have, or develop, any of the symptoms described ……Bowel cancer can develop with few, if any, warning symptoms…………….The National Health and Medical Research Council guidelines for the prevention, early detection and management of colorectal cancer, recommended that you screen every two years…….’   One little weight off the mind!!!

Visit to the radio station briefly this afternoon – Treasurer’s duties and some printing tasks.

Lengthy phone call to Heather tonight for a bit of a chat, although I had to cut things short, as my voice and throat were becoming a ‘squeaky problem’. Later sat down for 30 minutes and watch a light-hearted, yet serious, interview series – tonight, journalist Annabelle Crabb interviewing and having dinner with Senator Penny Wong – the latter did actually come over as a little more relaxed than her usual stern and reserved authoritarian nature in Parliament. Born in Malaysia, a father who loved cooking and food, such trait inherited by a brother, who actually committed suicide not long after Penny entered parliament. Interestingly, was a member of the Uniting Church, not sure if she is still so involved. Generally, she ‘evaded’ too much detail in responding to her ‘reputation’ as the only lesbian Senator [as confessed anyway], and her dinner companion did not press that issue, gets plenty of publicity anyway. On the question of why she doesn’t publicly protest against her own Party’s policy against recognising gay marriages  –  you join the Labor Party, and a member, parliamentarian, Minister, you are there to support it’s policies. If you disagree with them, you argue that issue within the Party, and then accept the decision, you don’t argue external to the Party.

Earlier this evening, Helen from the church dropped off some of the recent church newsletters, and the two editions of ‘Crosslight’ which have been published this year [a kind gesture, in view of the fact that I don’t get there very often myself these days].  Reading some of that literature, I was reminded that one of the longstanding members of the Uniting Church, was recently [as part of the Australia Day celebrations in Sunbury] was awarded the municipality’s ‘Hume Citizen of the Year’ – Elwyn Davis was recognised  for her valuable contribution to the community as a member of various groups, and particularly for her tireless work for the Leprosy Mission [TLM]. The TLM was founded in 1813 by Wellesley Bailey who described it as ‘A Mission born and cradled in prayer. It has been brought up on prayer, it has been nourished by prayer, and prayer had been the foundations of its success since the first moments of its life’. A couple of Sundays ago, it was officially World Leprosy Day. Unfortunately, leprosy is still prevalent today, although multi-drug therapy tablets ensure the patient is non-infectious after 48 hours. However, stigma associated with the disease is still a real problem. The work of the TLM continues to provide support for sufferers, in an attempt to rid that stigma, and to provide physical, mental, social and spiritual needs. Elwyn has been very active for many years with TLM, and that has included visits, and organised treks/walks,  to those parts of the world where leprosy is still a problem. I recall her coming onto one of my radio shows a few years ago, to talk about one of those trips, while on a different subject, Elwyn was one of my contributors to a local magazine that I started to produce back in 2002 for church members and other friends. On that occasion, she was writing about  her recent  trip to Arnhem Land, in the Northern Territory, and in particular, the cultural exchange program between girls from the Methodist Ladies College in Melbourne,  and the Ngukurr School in Arnhem Land. Quite an interesting little piece, and during a quiet ‘writing’ period over the next few days, I might include her ‘story’ on these pages.