Author: jkirkby8712

It was expensive as most theatre tickets are these days,  but I guess you could call it my annual visit to a live musical production – and this time, with my two lovely daughters, we went to Her Majesty’s Theatre in Exhibition Street, Melbourne to see ‘Dr Zhivago’ [the musical].

Based on the 1957 novel written by Boris Pasternak, tonight’s performance featured the music of that great modern US composer Lucy Simon,  lyrics by Michael Korie and Amy Powers, and starred Anthony Warlow and  Lucy Maunder in the lead roles of Dr Zhivago and Lara.  It follows part of the life of Yuri Zhivago (Anthony Warlow), a doctor and poet raised in a wealthy family after the collapse of his own and married to the daughter of the house, Tonia (Taneel Van Zyl). After a couple of chance meetings, the feisty Lara (Lucy Maunder) captures Yuri’s poetic heart and their troubled love story plays out against the bloodstained backdrops of World War I and the Russian Revolution.  Dr Zhivago, a man divided against himself – described by one writer as on the one hand, a dedicated husband, father and healer, on the other, a poet, dreamer and sensualist.

The novel is quite a lengthy one – which admittedly I’ve not read [yet] –  but I had seen the movie version on a number of occasions, so was familiar with the storyline. That film is probably the most famous adaptation of the story, and featured Omar Sharif as Zhivago, and Julie Christie as Lara. The movie won five Oscars, and is generally regarded as a classic popular film –  it’s attraction aided by the musical score of Maurice Jarre, in particular, the popular ‘Lara’s Theme’ As an odd aside, I recall the movie being screened on a regular basis of an Australia Day weekend at the Inverloch drive-in theatre – a beachside town where I attended a number of summer camps at that time each year with a church group I was involved with in my ‘younger days’. I’m sure I saw that film two or three times at that location!

 I was quite amazed at the compact manner in which such a lengthy story [as the novel is] could be presented over a period of  two and half hours [though of course, that is what has to happen in most such cases]. For example, one reviewer described this as creating  ‘some shaky elements, including pacing in the first act, simplification of politics and the rapid-fire ending’.  Not to be unexpected, under the circumstances!  My two daughters were [can I almost say surprisingly] impressed by the show – certainly Susan, who after the performance, promptly purchased a copy of the novel!

I must admit, I loved the method of scene changes, which happened quickly and at regular intervals – necessary because of the rapid pace at which the story was told –  with the actors themselves basically incorporating the changing time zones and background environment with the action of the moment. Added to that,  the technology of incorporating background black and white images, the projection of  scenes from the time of the story [World War I/Russian Revolution, etc] onto the backdrop of the stage settings, worked very well, ranging from the splendour and richness of the aristocracy, to grim and smokey visions of war and battlefield scenes.  This depiction was well balanced with many wonderful songs, ranging from ballads, quiet love songs to jaunty and rollicking chorus numbers, things just kept moving alone so rapidly – at times, you were thrown into a later era before you realised what had happened.

As would expected. Lucy Simon’s music was brilliant, all of it composed for the production, which had it’s world premier in Sydney back in February, with Melbourne the second ‘port of call’. In an article wriiten in ‘Limelight Magazine’ earlier this year, composer Lucy Simon stated that she had always had Anthony Warlow in mind for the role of Yuri Zhivago, after seeing him as Archibald Craven  in the 1995 Australian production of ’TheSecretGarden’  With that particular publication, I was lucky enough to receive a sample preview from the ABC,  prior to the show opening in Sydney, which featured two of the duets by Warlow and Maunder – one song in particular called ‘Now’, was beautiful, but I hadn’t realised the context of it in the show, until seeing it tonight.  Zhivago and Lucy have not revealed their developing feelings for each other, but this song arises from the contents of a letter they find in the uniform of a soldier who has just died after they tried to save him [as doctor and nurse, respectively, at that stage of the story] – a letter to the soldier’s ‘sweetheart’ back home, to whom he had never got the opportunity to relate how he felt.   Zhivago and Lara read [sing] this letter in parts, until eventually the words become their own to each other – a beautiful moment in the production.  I have just watched a video [about six times] of these two singing in rehearsal, and the passion and obvious love of what they are doing [singing] is just so revealing, and so  beautiful to watch and listen to!

Some of the lyrics [though not in any particular order] include:

I’m lying in this tent, and there’s not much light,

And I cannot write for long,

But these words I’ve never said, keep haunting me,

And I know they can’t be wrong.

And I’m still a little shy to speak my mind

But the truth just won’t stay down,

And here in the night, there’s no wrong and no right,

There is only the doubt,

I’m alone with my heart

But now, I need to tell you now,

I need to tell you how you make me feel.

And I don’t know if you’ll ever feel this way,

But I have to say what I have to say,

And I need to tell you now.

I love you, and I need to tell you, now!

The only time is now,

The time I need to tell you how you make me feel,

There may not ever be another day.

But I know my life can’t end this way,

I need to tell you now!

I love you, and I need to tell you, now!

Looking at the show from another perspective, but one which to some degree, complements my views above, a Sydney reviewer [Rebecca Whitton] wrote back in February that:-

‘Dr Zhivago is based on Boris Pasternak’s Pulitzer prize winning novel and was popularised through David Lean’s iconic 1965 film. Set in a period of monumental political change, it tells the story of Zhivago (Anthony Warlow) a doctor/poet torn between his good and loving wife Tonia (Taneel Van Zyl) and the strong willed beauty, Lara (Lucy Maunder) and of how Zhivago’s idealism and compassion are pitted against the brutality of the Russian Revolution and the Civil War.  Adapting a large, complex novel to the stage is difficult. There is a lot to condense into three hours: revolutions, the demise of the bourgeoisie, World War I, the Civil War, the new regime, not to mention the romantic plot. Michael Weller’s book contains no extraneous scenes or dialogue. Each scene cracks along impressively at lightning speed, deftly directed by McAnuff, nailing the key plot points and relationships in a heightened manner, very much in the style of grand opera’.

There is so much one could write about this production, and no doubt, in the weeks ahead, once I obtain a copy of the Australian cast recording CD, it will be getting good airplay on my radio programs.

Photo: Kurt Sneddon

Des McAnuff, Lucy Maunder, Anthony Warlow, Lucy Simon Photo: Shane O’Connor

The cold wintry spell continued today – periods of rain mixed with the occasional bout of sunshine but with it all, that chill to the air, Even so, I braved a brisk walk in that air after I returned home this evening

More literature from the ‘Get Up’ organisation today, with their latest campaign related to the Murray-Darling Basin.  To illustrate the significance of this region of Australia, it is an area which covers much of New South Wales and parts of southern Queensland, Victoria and into South Australia, and an important agricultural region which produces one third of Australia’s food supply, and supports over a third of Australia’s total gross value of agricultural production. Obviously then, a rather significant part of the continent! . For years now, governments, scientists and environmentalists have been arguing over the best ways to utilise the water flows etc in the Basin  The Murray-Darling Basin covers 1,061,469 square kilometres or approximately one-seventh (14%) of the total area of Australia (7,692,024 square kilometres).  It contains over 40% of all Australian farms, which produce wool, cotton, wheat, sheep, cattle, dairy produce, rice, oil-seed, wine, fruit and vegetables for both domestic and overseas markets. In addition to the ‘food basket’ aspect,  it has an important place in the cultural heritage of all Australians and includes many significant natural heritage features.   Certainly, the Basin’s most valuable resource is water, and most of it comes from a very small percentage of the Basin area  –  mainly along the southern and eastern rim, with almost 86% of the vast ‘catchment’ area contributes very little or no regular run-off to rivers. The three longest rivers in Australia all run through the Murray-Darling Basin, and provide much of this flow, which dried up severely during the decade of drought just past.  These three rivers are the Darling River [2,740 kms], the Murray River [2,520 kms, represents the major part of the border between Victoria and New South Wales] and the Murrumbidgee River [1,575 kms].

Now the current debate, according to Get Up again demonstrates a certain reluctance it seems, for authorities to recognise the value of science.  I can’t really comment on the right or wrong of the following, but according to this pro-active pressure group [who have over recent months achieved some significant gains through their public campaigns],  the most recent plans of the Murray Darling Basin Authority have resulted in key scientists walking away from the process in protest! I’ll let the organisation explain further.

‘Right now the Murray Darling Basin Authority is in the final stages of recommending how to deal with the water crisis in the Murray Darling. But shockingly, scientists tell us that the Authority is preparing to announce environmental water flows so low they won’t save our nation’s food bowl. Worse still, the Authority has cancelled all independent scientific review of the Government’s Murray Darling plan in an attempt to cover up its lack of environmental credibility.

The Wentworth Group of Scientists have just resigned from the process in protest¹ – but they need public support. That’s where GetUp members can make a difference. In a few weeks the Basin Authority will announce its plan. Let’s create a huge public petition to the Environment Minister, Tony Burke, demanding that the Government bring back scientific review before it’s too late:

The Murray Darling Basin has been sucked dry by decades of over extraction. Despite recent rain and floods the Murray Darling Basin is on the brink of ecosystem collapse. Already over 90% of the floodplain wetlands have been destroyed along with native fish and bird populations.

Without a basis in science the basin plan could lock in the death of over a quarter of the iconic river red gums on the Murray. This would spell disaster for the internationally recognised wetlands on the river.

Scientists and sustainable famers can’t fix this situation alone. Their voices are being ignored. But if we all join with them, we can’t be ignored so easily. Sign this petition to call on Environment Minister Tony Burke to bring back the science. We can’t let the opportunity to save our most precious waterways be wasted by bureaucrats wanting to take the easy option and ignore the science under pressure from the heavy irrigators. Please join the petition to help back up the scientists’.

The following was the statement provided to GetUp by the Wentworth Group of Concerned Scientists

In October 2010 the Murray Darling-Basin Authority (MDBA) in its Guide to the Proposed Basin Plan stated that reducing water diversions in the Murray-Darling Basin by 3,856 gigalitres would give a “high uncertainty” of achieving the objectives of the Water Act 2007 and 6,983 gigalitres would give a “low uncertainty”. These numbers represented the culmination of decades of research carried out across the Basin and broadly aligned with the findings of scientists across the Basin. This work was internationally peer reviewed.
The MDBA is now proposing a startling new volume to achieve the objectives of the Water Act. It is 1,000 gigalitres below what had previously been the “high uncertainty” value. Is this really possible?
This is a huge drop in such a short period of time. It is unclear what new knowledge could make this possible. It is puzzling that such a significant piece of knowledge was not identified in the two years of work that was undertaken by the Authority in the development of the Guide or over the past decades by scientists working across the Basin. Independent review is critical to good science. In the case of such a dramatic change independent review is essential. A robust independent review is not happening.   The Federal Government is spending over $8.9 billion on water reform. The Australian taxpayer must know what they are getting for their money and that they are going to get a healthy working river system for $8.9 billion.
No government should spend $8.9 billion based on mere opinion’.

A change of pace – the French Open Tennis championship began this week, and after the first couple of days, we have ‘no’ Australian men in the competition, and just two women to wave the flag!!! In fact both girls tonight have won their way into the 3^rd round of the Women’s Singles.  Sam Stosur defeated Simona Halep 6/0,6/2, while Anastasia Rodionova defeated Edina Gallovits-Hall 6/1,6/4. Our only male competitor, Bernard Tomic [the youngest male in the tournament] lost his first round match at the beginning of the week, and with Leyton Hewitt having pulled out with an injury before the tournament started, Tomic had been our only hope in the Men’s division!!  So once again, Australia depends on our girls.  Both Sam and Anastasia performed well in this tournament last year, with of course Sam being the runner-up in the Final. She is hoping to go one better this year!

When you subscribe to, or take an interest in a number of organisations, I always notice that from around April onwards, the annual requests and pleas for donations and/or other forms of support start to come in. I have no real objection to that – for many organisations, monetary assistance from members and others supporting their particular cause, is their only real form of regular income, and such requests are a necessary ‘evil’ of the whole process.  But obviously, in many cases, there are limits to what one can contribute, even though interested in a number of different areas.

For example, the following request received a few days ago, is certainly worthwhile, and to make such a venture possible, there must be a number of ‘wealthy’ donors out there. As an individual who may have to decide between three or four organisations each June to possibly provide support for – all no doubt worthy of such support –  I will give preference, where I have to make a choice,  to the organisation which depends totally on donations for the bulk of it’s income.  So while the Melbourne University fund raising campaigns have significant worth, I feel that an organisation such as that should in reality have various other avenues of fund sources.

“Melbourne University Fund Raising   –   Dear Mr Kirk,       Earlier this year, we launched The Melbourne Foundation for Business and Economics to help us fulfil our vision of providing a stimulating, challenging and distinctive learning experience for the brightest minds, regardless of their circumstances.   The stories of our remarkable students and graduates show clearly the impact that philanthropy can provide. In the coming week, a copy of this year’s Annual Appeal will land in your letterbox..   The Melbourne Foundation for Business and Economics has been created to provide the support necessary for the Faculty of Business and Economics to innovate and excel in an increasingly competitive marketplace.  Philanthropic support increases our capacity to attract talented staff and students, and conduct programs that make vital contributions to education, knowledge and society.    Alumni, friends and strong community and industry partnerships will play essential roles in helping us shape tomorrow’s leaders and contribute to the social and economic fabric of Australia and the region.  The Foundation watches over and stewards any and all gifts which are pledged to the Faculty of Business and Economics. The Foundation ensures any gift you make will be applied for greatest impact in the Faculty at any given time.  You can be safe in the knowledge that your support will play a critical role in maintaining the Faculty’s stature as a global leader in undergraduate and graduate business and economics education”.

So, all very impressive, and if the Foundation does really provide the opportunity for a disadvantaged potential student to undertake studies, I’m certainly in support of it. But often, I think many of these extra gifted students are people whose families don’t need financial assistance [in comparison to many] and the degrees of inequity in our society tend to be widened even further!!  Anyway, I think in my limited capacity to support these kind of things, I will allow someone with considerably more resources help out, while I  look after [in a very small way of course] organisations such as Frontier Services [of which I have referred to on numerous occasions over the years through these pages.

The other area of funding that always seems to be lacking is for our roads, and on this aspect, I hinted yesterday [but forgot to follow it up in the blog] about problems on the major road from Sunbury, through the small township of Bulla, to Melbourne Airport, and the northern suburbs of Melbourne [my daily route to work].  I guess knowing full well, the difficulties that our municipal council faces in getting action on the major ‘government’ controlled roads [such as this one], I still went ahead and posed the following ‘query’ to our local councillor[Ann], more out of a sense at the time of frustration and anger at the time being wasted – a query, which by it’s nature, probably deserved a more defensive & angry retort than I actually received, which was appreciated!!  J.  Admittedly, the names and locations won’t mean anything to some readers, but they are just part of putting the scenario into context.

So my serious question –    When is something going to be done about the insane situation through Bulla in the evenings at present – 25 minutes tonight from the airport turnoff to the Sunbury side of Bulla!!  The through traffic from the city is being sacrificed because of two roundabouts that should not be permitting vehicles to turn right onto the main road – harsh for Bulla residents, yes, but I guarantee 97% of cars coming through those two roundabouts are not Bulla people. Sense reigned two years ago, now insanity seems to have taken over with whoever is responsible.  Can something be done Ann, or do things just stay the shambles they currently are?

Pleasant response from our councillor – ‘Bill, as I understand it today there was an accident on Bulla Rd according to the radio so it may have made it worse today. There are smart lights at the Wildwood Rd Roundabout which should stage the right hand turns, and turning right from Greene St isn’t allowed between 4 and 8, however that doesn’t mean that people don’t use it [you are so right there???], can’t have police there every day to police it.  We can’t totally ban right hand turns from the Wildwood Road roundabout as most people use this legitimately, as a lot of our residents do work in the Somerton/Campberfield/Epping areas and this is a legit way for them to return home. We have a committee on Council that is called the Bulla Bypass Committee, however it is now becoming clear that no one is willing to fund a bypass of Bulla [ the small township between Sunbury and the Airport], so we are basically a committee that is pushing Vic Roads to ease congestion and make the road safer. Ultimately Sunbury Road is the responsibility of Vic Roads, and as a Council we can advocate on behalf of our residents, which we do very often, believe me’.

I replied to that explanation with ‘Thanks Ann, I concede that today was worse than normal, but the daily delays are still unacceptable in my view, and are a downgrade of the change that was affected a couple of years ago. I guess, like other things, we just live with it!! Fair enough, I understand the situation re Council/VicRoads, just doesn’t make it any less frustrating, and of course, being on the roads 2+hours a day, there are a lot of other frustrating places, just a pity, being so close to home, and in a ‘rural’ environment to face such delays. Thanks for explanation, however. I’ve had my gripe :-)’   Ann responded with ‘I agree it’s frustrating, we are doing all we can to improve the situation, and will keep doing so, what is the worrying thing is that the government have approved a massive expansion of the Urban Growth Boundary east and south of Goonawarra [on the Bulla side outskirts of Sunbury] and they haven’t  outlined any improvement in Sunbury Rd [to cater for such expansion –  not the only location this type of planning has missing elements of that nature!!].

So there you go, even at government levels, funding or lack of is the usual given reason for non-action, and I guess with the road network throughout the country constantly requiring major investment and capital infrastructure together with the basic maintenance and upkeep,  this should not come as too much of a surprise. That doesn’t help with driver frustration however!

Certainly this Tuesday evening, it was a relief to get off the roads, and into our little radio studio – two hours of relaxation with music!!  Featured some beautiful covers of love songs tonight, performed by Elton John!! Hopefully there were some listeners. Meanwhile, at home, I was disappointed [in one sense] to find Susie back from Bendigo already [though of course, glad to see her, but currently we are certainly not getting value for the monthly rent being paid for accommodation up there!!].  Mind you, I saw little of her – just briefly, after I returned home, as she was off again for an overnight stay with friends!!  Deserted again, such is life!

Beginning of  a very wintry week of cold winds, squally shows, and low temperatures.  And a day which saw me spend almost 4 hours on the roads with my trips to the city area and back – admittedly, I travelled the longer routes, but some of the traffic conditions really did frustrate this ‘old’ scribe, so much so about one section of the road local to the Sunbury district, that I voiced a little ‘whine’ to one of our councillors [a friend on Face Book]. I had to basically accept her response and explanation, because having past experience myself in the local government environment, I kind of knew the answers and the situation with respect to responsibilities for our roads, etc.  But sometimes, things become just so annoying, that you need ‘to get it off  your chest’!  So I did, and thank you Ann for tolerating my expression of complaint!!

This is a summary of that brief discussion, one of  three actual  talking points about which I became involved through Face Book tonight, the other two relating to tonight’s subject matter/panelists on Q & A [ABC TV] and,  a bit of a natter about presenters at our radio station, the details of which I won’t go into here!

Meanwhile, overnight, Australia’s F1 motor racing competitor, Mark Webber, began from the front of the grid in the Spanish Grand Prix, but unfortunately could only manage a 4^th position – I think I saw a few minutes of the race but drifted off to sleep before it finished so can’t really put my finger on what went wrong in that race for Mark  But it was another win for reigning world champion Sebastian Vettel, who has now  his fourth win in five races this season.   The 23-year-old German – winning his 13th Grand Prix – edged out 2008 world champion Lewis Hamilton in a McLaren by less than a second, while Hamilton’s team-mate and 2009 world champion Jenson Button was third.  Australia’s Mark Webber finished fourth after starting on pole.  Vettel used his natural speed and clever strategy to steal the lead after starting second behind team-mate Webber, resisted all that 2008 champion Hamilton could throw at him in the closing stages of the 66-lap contest. This was Vettel 13th career win – and extended his lead in the drivers’ world championship.   It was also the first time that a driver, who did not start from pole, had won the Spanish Grand Prix in 11 years. After five races this year, the overall standings show – 1. Sebastian Vettel (GER) 118;  2. Lewis Hamilton (ENG) 77;  3. Mark Webber (AUS) 67; 4. Jenson Button (ENG) 61and 5. Fernando Alonso (ESP) 51.

At the office front, it was Committee meeting day, so things were fairly hectic throughout the day as is normal on those occasions. These days, my roles are generally related to the external organisation, rather than  to the actual meeting. Gone are the days of sitting there as ‘Minute Secretary’ and gritting my teeth, unable to speak my mind, while the occasional member performs like an out of control school brat – I think those days, I would have been the only person present, were I a participating member [rather than having a purely  administrative role] to have told a few people to shut out, or get out!  Rare is the person who will say what everyone else is thinking, and actually act!!  Anyway, that kind of situation doesn’t generally arise these days with a much more cohesive committee of which all the membership works well together. Much like the current radio committee. I guess these things go in cycles!

Q and A tonight, on the ABC, had as panel to answer questions from the audience mostly representative of the Sydney Writers Festival [SWF], which I think was still happening.

Panellists: Gail Dines, author of Pornland: How Porn Has Hijacked Our Sexuality; Michael Cunningham, Pulitzer Prize winner and author of The Hours; Brendan Cowell, writer and actor; Leslie Cannold, ethicist and author of The Book of Rachael; and Howard Jacobson, winner of the Man Booker Prize for The Finkler Question.

‘Five of the best local and international authors from the SWF made this a feisty and enthralling Q&A episode, covering everything from pornography and sex to Israel and the power of words. Noted anti-pornography feminist Gail Dines was in a combative frame of mind from the beginning when Diana Taylor asked her about the likely outcome of freely-available mass porn. Gail outlined the potential harm and called for a movement of outraged women and men of goodwill to rise up and counter the porn industry, suggesting purveyors and manufacturers be sued for the harm done by their product. It was a point of view with which several other panellists and audience members took issue, and a vigorous debate erupted that encompassed technology, gayness and hair-free genitalia’ [ABC review].

That ‘area of topic’ tended to dominate the discussion to a large degree, but I thought an important point was made with the question as to what responsibility writers had to preserve and contribute to the health and moral fabric of society – a question which it was agreed, went to the heart of what being a writer was all about, what was it’s purpose. I gained the impression that not all present thought they had an obligation through their art to take on such responsibilities. As for the panel members, well I did not take to two of them –  Michael Cunningham, a self confessed gay, I felt overdid his insistence on making and projecting that fact, to the extent that it was often difficult at times to take his opinions seriously, he seemed determined to simply make fun of the topics being raised. As for Gail Dines, she was simply a ‘pain in the butt’, self-opinionated, constant talking over the others, but utterly determined that nobody else would speak while she was, and was also  totally dismissive of anyone else’s opinion. I didn’t take to that woman at all, , and I think the other woman on the panel, Leslie Canold, probably had a similar opinion of her fellow female feminist.

Not a good night out on the roads tonight, yet for a while this evening, I thought Susie was going to drive back from Bendigo, because when she had driven up there today, she left a bag of study books behind which she needed tomorrow. I offered to drive up there myself, but eventually she must have decided against the trip, could manage without the material – sent me a message [thankfully] at around 11pm to say she had changed her mind.  Quite obviously, had I not got that message, I would not have been sleeping until I’d heard from Susie!  Meanwhile, I was hoping this time she would stay up there for a few days, but  alas, I would be disappointed on that score by Tuesday!

Well, we did manage to get to the radio station on time this morning, and even managed to stay awake through some ‘sleep inducing’ but beautiful music as well – such as wind serenades by the American, Arthur Bird, or the Cuckoo in the heart of the Woods’ from Saint Saen’s ‘Carnival of the Animals’, or Isaac Stern on the violin with Rachmaninoff’s ‘Vocalise’, etc. As usual, a slight reluctance to get out in the morning of a Sunday, but once there, and ‘on deck’ I begin to enjoy myself!  Incidentally, that piece by Arthur Bird [American composer who lived between 1856 and 1923] won a prize as the best chamber work by an American  in 1901 [I assume it was a European originating award].  It went under the title of Serenade for Wind Instruments, and was written by the composer in 1898, and first performed 4 years later. The instruments it was written for were two flutes, two clarinets, two bassoons and two horns [sounds a bit like a collection for ‘Noah’s Ark’!]. It’s in four movements, the second of which, the Adagio features the beautiful sound of the English Horn.

With yesterday my son’s 27^th birthday, it reminded me of a similar occasion 5 years ago – I was out of work at the time, and had decided to make an effort to get stuck into the writing of my family biography, or at least continue to do so. Unfortunately [or fortunately, depending on one’s outlook] that campaign came to another halt, when a new job came along, but as I’ve mentioned in these pages over recent months, we are back on track again, even if there are various stages when I’m not sure at what point I am at, as I try and sort out the various directions my writing is taking me!! It’s moments like that, that I would love to have my own private little secretary to help me out – couldn’t pay her of course, she would have to do it for the love of the job [or for the love of the writer, lol].

Anyway, where was I?  A little indicative of my various attempts to get this story written!!!  Writing a few days after my son’s then, 22^nd birthday in 2006,  I noted that:-

‘Ironically, I got back to this document,  on Sunday the 30^th May, 1999 –  the anniversary of Mum’s [Betty Kirk]’ death, on the evening of that date in 1990, at the Royal Melbourne Hospital, from the combined affects of a heart attack and stroke.  I was sitting at the computer, over at 4 Tabor Court, Sunbury, looking out to the trees & shrubs in both mine and the neighbours’ properties, through the dining room window, to a cool and overcast morning with just the hint of  a gentle breeze moving through the leaves, in contrast to the strong winds that had prevailed over  the prior 36 hours. A sobering end to a rather disappointing weekend personally, which will probably be revealed somewhere ‘down the track’ of these writings. And perhaps, by design, it is seven years later, on the same anniversary, that ‘operation Family History’ is back in full swing again, I hope and trust, as I write from 6 Fisher Court in Sunbury, where I currently share a home [owned by one of my brothers, Robert, and his wife Evelyn], with my daughter, Susan, that all readers will enjoy the story of ‘The Coachbuilder’s Notebook’  which follows from hereon.  I will in fact,  end this chapter with an analogy [or if you prefer, a comparison]. Through the generations we will see the mix of various nationalities and family ancestral origins irrespective of the apparent predominance of a Scottish or English heritage.  Australia itself, is today  a nation of many heritages and races, a cosmopolitan mix that probably encompasses most, if not all, nations of the world, so it should be little surprise that as time passes, that ‘mix’  affects and influences  our family tree. In an article written for the Age newspaper in late June 2006, as the Australian football [soccer] team prepared to meet the challenge of Italy in the 2^nd round of 16 teams, Chris Johnston quoted Sydney University Professor of History, Richard Waterhouse who said:

“While it’s only a game, deep down ………it’s about nationhood and unity. Where we’ve had enormous success at an international level in sport before in team games, it’s always been in sports that have a largely Anglo-Celtic following like cricket and rugby. But football is a game in which Australians of all ethnic backgrounds support, so I think this is likely to unite Australians in ways that other sporting achievements have not done. In a sense, we’re allowing ourselves to express national pride…….it proposes a kind of national pride that’s inclusive.”

I’d like to think, that in writing this book, I can also demonstrate an element of ‘inclusiveness’ about it. Sure, I am a descendant of a particular branch of the children of William Kirk and Isabella Kennedy.  But I also have many ‘hundreds’ of ‘distant’ cousins out there who are descended from the same couple, and their forebears, hence my aim to incorporate within this document the family lines of those ‘cousins’ as well as my own.  I trust that I can go some of the way towards achieving that within the pages that follow.”

Know from whence you came. /    If you know whence you came,

there are absolutely no limitations/    to where you can go.    

[James Baldwin [1924-1987] US writer]

So there we have a brief quotation from my as yet unfinished ‘family biography’ which I will propbably still b talking about in 10 years time!!!  No, I am determined, that I will have the bulk of the document completed by the end of 2012!

Meanwhile, on this 22^nd day of May, 2011, after what has been a series of beautiful Autumn days, our weather is beginning to deteriorate considerably – prediction was today, a bit cloudy, and a few showers later on, with just 19 degrees.  Well., it’s only mid morning, and those showers are already here, and instead of the temperature rising as we move into the day, I think it is ‘falling’ outside [the rain certainly is anyway]. I’m rather glad I forced myself to mow the lawns yesterday, rather than putting that task off  until ‘today’ because quite obviously, it would not have been achieved!! And as I write this, I’m also becoming a little annoyed that the font seems to keep changing on this particularly document – I’m obviously doing something wrong with Microsoft Word – just wish it would stay as I set it up at the beginning, but no, it has a mind of it’s own!!  So if this contribution ends up looking like ‘a dog’s breakfast’ that is all over the place in style, size and format, forgive me folks, the system has taken control of your ‘personal essayist’.

This is the kind of article I like to come across – about chocolate. Now I do have a weakness for quality chocolate, but in the main, I simply not really allowed to eat it these days!!  So sad!   But on website www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au  I read recently that “Chocolate has a long history as a favoured food of many cultures, including Aztec and Mayan. These days chocolate is considered a luxury food that should be eaten sparingly as it can contribute to migraines, acne and obesity. New research, however, disputes these common beliefs and suggests that eating chocolate in moderation, as part of a nutritious well-balanced diet, may have health benefits.  New research indicates that there are components in cocoa beans [used to make chocolate] that may help prevent heart disease, cancer and other degenerative illnesses. It is worth considering this research, as the findings are very interesting,……[but]……more evidence is needed”.  There just had to be a catch to this somewhere along the pathway, and, it doesn’t actually mention any benefit to a diabetic!!  I mean I didn’t really expect it to, for obvious reasons [not the least of which is the fact that chocolate can contain as much as 50% content in the form of sugar!!!]!  All of a sudden, I’m not so excited about this article, and what it ‘promises’, and I’ve decided not to read any further into the detail! And of course, if I had read on, I would have found this little ‘proviso’ or reminder at the end  –    “While there may be some healthy things in chocolate, it does have other components that are not good for you when you have too much of them in your diet – such as fat and sugar. We should not talk about chocolate as some kind of ‘health food’.  [spoilt sports!!!!].    A well balanced diet with plenty of fruit, vegetables, nuts and wholegrain cereals is still the best way to look after your body. At the same time, the evidence so far can help take away the guilt of eating chocolate in moderation”.  [thankyou!].

And now, with the weather damp outside, I’ve decided to spend a few hours with a book – not exactly a ‘novel’, although  the author, Thomas Keneally has promoted it as such, which tends to make for a more readable ‘history’ –  apparently it’s the first volume of two he is writing, on the history of Australia from the times leading up to European settlement in January, 1788. This first volume takes us through to the gold uprisings at Eureka [in Ballarat] in the early 1850’s, around the time my original ancestor settler in this country [referred to above] arrived in Melbourne, from Scotland.  Because of it’s size, and the ‘historical’ material contained therein, this is a book that will probably take many months to get through [and no doubt from time to time, I shall stray to other books, more easily consumed in a shorter period].  However, history has always been my special fascination, so it is something to be persisted with.

The weekend has finished with another peaceful family dinner to celebrate Adam’s birthday. In line with doctor’s orders, I went easy on the ‘sweet’ things.  Stayed at the family home for a couple of hours tonight – the ‘guest of  the night’ was actually the first to leave, in fact all of the young people of the evening were still feeling the after affects of a heavy weekend of ‘partying’ etc!!  I think I’m the one who should be extra tired – I guess I will notice it more tomorrow morning, when it’s time to be on the way to the office!! Meanwhile, another interesting mini-series on the ABC tonight – wasn’t really intending to watch it, but, as Susie was going out [again], I mentioned what was on, and she intimated an interest in watching it, if I taped it for her! It was called  ‘The Kennedys’, a name which pretty well tells you immediately who the series was about.  It is a four part mini series, relating the story of the Kennedy family told through a series of flashbacks. An interesting critic’s view by Bridget McManus last week introduces it  –  “Unlike  American viewers, swayed by the enduring romance of their tragic political dynasty as the controversy surrounding the film suggests, Australians, berefit of public figures of comparative regal status [save perhaps for Dame Edna] are free to simply soak up the drama. Needless to say, there is an abundance of it. The sorrowful tale of lives destroyed in the ewake of a tyrannical patriarch’s vicarious ambitions is what emerges here…………………….engaging television that spans a fascinating period in history”.  I will tell my readers what ‘I think’ of it later!!’

My second son, Adam, turned 27 today. He worked overnight u ntil late this morning – I called at the local Bakers’ Delight this morning, and gave him one of Dad’s typical birthday gifts, a book [2 in fact!!].  He was intending to celebrate his birthday by a trip to a couple of pubs in the city with some mates, before they adjourned to the Melbourne Cricket Ground for tonight’s big Dreamtime match at the MCG, and annual game which celebrates Indigenous players in the competition, and generally, promotes the Indigenous cause. The two teams involved in this annual game are Essendon [the team that Adam supports] and Richmond, which both teams [as with Carlton] currently including a number of  Aboriginal players.

I’m finding it hard to comprehend that it is 27 years since that early morning rushed trip into the city, to be present at the birth of my second son.  When I left home nine years ago, it was Adam who came with me  –  not sure if there was any particular rfeason for him doing that, other than the anticipation of more independence for himself – the next 12 months or so, saw my ‘new’ home constantly occupied by groups of young people, mainly girls of course, and I can assure readers that the girls were not there for my benefit, lol!  Adam seemed to be able to easily attract friends, and looking at his birthday greetings at Face Book today, that has not changed much.

At the time of writing, Adam’s team are just behind, halfway into the game, which wouldn’t please him, as Essendon are the favourites. Meanwhile, some 21 hours into the 21st May, we are all still here, despite those ‘Doomsday’ predictions referred to yesterday.  A report I just read is noting that over in the USA where all this forecasting of the end of the world supposedly began, ‘some believers are shutting themselves inside to pray as they wait for the world’s end. Others are meeting with their children for tearful last lunches, and preparing to leave behind pets and be swept up to heaven’. Actually, I think the leader [Camping] predicted that the event would occur at 6pm in local time zones, so I guess that nearly 4 hours later, he must have got his calculations wrong again – he apparently blamed the failure of a similar prediction in 1994 on a mathematical error!!!  Well, say no more!!!

Is there something about Saturday nights that I am never allowed a decent sleep prior to my early Sunday morning radio shows??  Almost asleep at 11.20 pm, when I get a text message from Susan [at a gig in the city] relaying to be, a message from the birthday ‘boy’  –  obviously being a naughty boy, is a little drunk, his team lost,  he has run out of credit and money, and wants’ someone to pick him up from thje local train station at 12.20am!!!  I guess there is only one ‘someone’ available at this time of night, lol, and that happens to be poor old Dad!!! While most of the time these days, with one’s ‘kids’ now all adults, one feels generally unneeded as a parent, but every now and then, you never stop being a father, and doing the things you always did, when they were more dependant upon you!! Oh well, there would probably have been some other reason why there was little sleep tonight – at least this is a legitimate excuse 🙂  Train is due in 35 minutes, better get ready to be on the way!

I see we have some crazy sect [over in the USA I think] predicting that the beginning of the ‘end of the world’ starts tomorrow – 21^st May –  the day those people are calling ‘Judgement Day’.  That is according to Harold Camping, the 89 year old founder of a Christian cult that disseminates numerological interpretations of the Bible to followers via a network of FM radio stations in the US and podcasts on its website. Through a complex series of calculations, Mr Camping has arrived at the date of May 21, 2011 as his so-called Judgement Day, when only true believers will be spared – and that obviously includes ‘his’ believers!! But we have got a bit l,onger then tomorrow – apparently that is just the beginning of the end – the final ‘fiery ball of damnation’ won’t arrive until the 21 October  –  okay, that suggests I will only enjoy 3 days of retirement!!  It seems that ‘Familyradio.com’ claims that God wants us to know exactly 7,000 years after He destroyed the then known world with water [in Noah’s time], he plans to destroy the entire world altogether.

Some would suggest that the world is doing a good job of achieving that outcome itself without the intervention of God!!  Anyway, reading this, I don’t think I will lose anymore sleep than usual tonight, worrying about the correctness of Mr Camping’s predictions. I think of more likelihood is the scientific findings of Australian astronomers, which  recently reported that the universe is slowly fading into the distance. An invisible force thought to be pushing the cosmos ever faster apart does exist –  through a repulsive force known as dark energy which is beginning to dominate over the pull of gravity.  This dark energy idea was proposed by Albert Einstein over a century ago, and this four year study by the astronomers seems to be confirmation of Einstein’s ideas. Well, I’m sure a lot of people will dismiss these kind of scientific findings also. While I don’t claim to understand  this whole thing about the universe, big explosions, dark energy, etc, I would be much more prepared to put my faith in the scientific research, than the fanatical ravings of a crazed old man!

In any case, I’m hoping to have a few good years still ahead of me with some positive reports arising out of medical examinations of the past couple of days!! Following yesterday’s visit to the cardiologist, I met with my eye specialist this morning, and he was equally positive that there were no evident signs of future major problems in that area!   So Mr Camping, at your age, you are probably quite content to die tomorrow, but don’t try and con the rest of us into thinking we have to go with you!  [Incidentally, during this morning g’s eye examination, I was given a couple of doses of  eye drops  – wasn’t actually warned that these might affect my viewing for the rest of the day – I was driving, and did notice the ‘difference’ very quickly, quite a ‘blurry’ experience on the couple of short trips I needed to do during the rest of the day – Bill drove very carefully and precisely, and only for the bare minimum of time required – officially, probably shouldn’t have even done that!!].

Tonight, I’m watching my football team, here at home  – it would have been a good game [I hope] to see for real, but from reports I have heard, all tickets have already been sold, so from a comfort, traffic, and parking point of view, the lounge in front of the TV seems a much better option, particularly as I am  to be joined by younger daughter, Jodie, for company. The only ‘down point’ from that is that she needs to bring James’ dog with her – he has gone away again for a couple of days, leaving his very demanding young dog for everyone else to look after – which usually ends up meaning his 90 year old grandmother!! Jodie is attempting to avoid one night of that by bringing the dog over here!  That’s okay, I hope!!

And the football  – Carlton versus the unbeaten Geelong Cats, whose mentor of 60 years, Bob Davis, died earlier this week, incentive enough for the current top team in the competition to play at an even higher level. A tough game for my ‘Blues’, the coverage of which is going to be about 75 min utes behind real time because the television station’s ridiculous stand on programming!!

Susie was out somewhere for most of the night, but I had Jodie’s company to watch the game, which  turned out to be a very exciting game of football in front of a capacity crowd at the Telstra Dome [the smaller of the two major stadiums in Melbourne]and ended a very  tight match – these close finishes, week after week, can’t be too good for the ‘old’ heart, but as the scores below indicate, things didn’t quite work out the way I was hoping – tonight, Carlton was on the wrong side of a close finish! Had a chance to snatch a win with just over a minute to go, but a kick for goal by our ruckman, Warnock, to take the lead again  from a free kick, went astray, and it was too late for a second opportunity!  That seems to be Carlton’s main weakness at present –  the presence of a tall forward whose marking and kicking is consistently reliable. This was a rather disappointing outcome, although a good effort by the Blues against the top, and still undefeated team. Final scores, Round 0 of the AFL 2011 season –   with Carlton’s progressive figures now showing 5 wins, 1 draw & 2 losses.

Carlton Blues:    4.3.27         8.6.54        11.10.76                 Final:      14.16.100

Geelong Cats:     2.3.15        8.6.54         12.11.83                 FINAL:  15.12.102

Beginning with some Tuesday observations:   I mentioned on  Monday about a  fascinating Q & A program on ABC TV that night, in which I felt that even the two politicians on the panel  deserved a bit of praise in responding to a couple of self-preserving and bigoted questions from the audience!  A Face Book friend, in turn, commented that she was impressed with the two women,  [Judge Felicity Hampel , County Court of Victoria and Anna Rose, Youth Climate Coy], as well as Bill Shorten, the Government Labor Minister. As with myself, she was not however, particularly impressed with John Roskam from the Institute of Public Affairs, or as my friend put it, “the guy on extreme left of screen, from that extreme rightwing think tank was not particularly bright. That think tank guy was a last minute replacement for the tapir they were going to have on the panel” [tongue in cheek comment!!   The other panellist was the Opposition’s Leader in the Eric Abetz.

 A little summary of the ‘conversation’ which followed, by myself and others, follows here, and it basically dealt with the current debate within much of the community about the Chaplaincy program currently operating within Australian government schools. Looking at a program overview, we see that ‘the National School Chaplaincy Program supports schools and their communities to establish school chaplaincy and pastoral care services, or to enhance existing services. This voluntary program assists schools and their communities to support the spiritual wellbeing of students. This may include support and guidance about ethics, values, relationships, spirituality and religious issues, the provision of pastoral care and enhanced engagement with the broader community’.  The program is partially funded by governments, and from 2012-2014 an additional 1,000 schools will be provided with funding to support chaplaincy or pastoral care services.  This funding will be made available to schools, including in regional, remote and disadvantaged locations most in need of chaplaincy or pastoral care services. This funding is in addition to the funding announced by the Australian Government in August 2010 that will extend approximately 2,700 schools, currently funded under the Chaplaincy Program, to 2014. So the Program is funded until 2014, but recent announcements, and statements ‘unwisely’ made by representatives of the program have put under a bit of a cloud in future years.

My response to the remark at the end of the first paragraph was as follows.

“He was probably as intelligent as a tapir!!  I agree with all you say in your first note,   – was impressed by the Judge, with one exception – her knowledge of the Chaplaincy program was surprisingly weak – in fact overall, the understanding of the ‘aims’ of that program seemed to be poorly understood.  The fact that some chaplains have apparently ‘used’ it to try and ‘recruit’ kids to the church  is a sad cause of such misunderstandings [there are always bad eggs in every organisation who refuse to follow the rules] – in the majority of cases, it is a very valuable program for the welfare of our school kids, a godsend to some [excuse the pun] and the fact it is generally associated with the churches should not be used as a disparaging criticism of the value of chaplains. Those attacking it need to talk to some of the families that have benefited from a school having such a person on site”.

My correspondent replied that:  “Yes, tend to agree, for two reasons- if there is no real alternative to a warm, caring, skilled chaplain of any denomination- getting rid of them seems premature. Teachers may be concerned but hardly have the time to address such issues. I think rather, that school counsellers or chaplains should be mature and skilled in emotional issues and be chosen on that basis. I think, and this is second reason I agree with you- that some in our culture now have little actual exposure to the totality of church, Christian culture- although no longer involved in the church, I had years of exposure to intelligent, socially aware, giving people, who would not dream of trying to convert anyone or judging others based on belief etc. So they see the Christian church as monolithic- much as many see Islam in our culture.”

I then responded that your  “Last sentence, good point, we are all guilty at times of assuming impressions of intractability of other beliefs and cultures – usually those impressions are created because of the extreme views of ‘fringe’ representatives of that particular belief. Hence, the developing ‘ill-informed’ hysteria which immediately jumps to the conclusion that the Chaplaincy program is simply a ‘recruiting agency’ because a couple of it’s reps get out of line, or the odd parent decides to kick up a fuss because of some personal prejudice!! Mmmmmm, suddenly wondering here, why am I defending a program I have nothing to do with, lol? Simply because it does far more good than the perceived harm by a few individuals, who often can’t see beyond their own prejudices!

On this topic, the panel was asked by one in the audience  ‘Why is the Federal Government spending more than $200 million on a program that allows vulnerable school kids to be counselled by men who believe most of life’s problems can be resolved by talking to an invisible despot in the sky?’ Some interesting online responses to that question – as indicated above, I don’t believe the Q & A panel demonstrated a complete understanding of the Program, the very mention of, generated such comments as “It’s a disgrace that the Government of an atheist PM, who claims to be the administrator of an “education revolution”, and one of her ministers, Bill Shorten, can promote such inappropriate religious representation in the public school system. Just another opportunity for these parasites to infect young minds with their moralistic imperatives- which are driven by the perpetual agenda to recruit sheep into their churches. How dare the Australian Government direct yet more largesse with taxpayers money at churches. Where does it end? Vast land grants, massive asset wealth, untaxed profits, outrageous fiunding of their exclusive schools, on top of the fees families stupidly pay. And protected paedophilia in return. How dare they…the education revolution that goes round in perpetual circles. And no-one ever learns the truth, or learns from past mistakes and tragedies. The churches DO NOT belong anywhere in public education”.  Or   “I send my children to public schools as a choice to avoid indoctrination, and to have money wasted on chaplains in schools rather than trained counsellors is absurd. They constantly lie, saying they don’t preach but that is not true, they run Hillsong programs, they go on school camps and talk about god. Honestly they say it is optional, should I deny my children the right to go on school camps? This is a revolting policy that is divisive and is very inappropriate in a secular school system. If people want religion, go to church for goodness sake. I hear it is FREE of charge. Why are we tightening our belts on spending yet wasting money on such an awful policy?”

 This latter comment does of course go well beyond the question of the Chaplaincy, and the writer obviously has an inbuilt prejudice to anything remotely connected with a ‘church’! But, nevertheless, he is no doubt far from being on his own in those views, which is all the more of a pity in light of the recent poor publicity given to the program. Another friend expressed the view that  ‘the statement in 2008  by the ACCESSS CEO  [ACCESS is the organisation  that runs the Chaplaincy program] doesn’t help matters much, and muddies the waters further, and helps to erode support – ” Chaplains and chaplaincy have very much been copping it lately as a ‘religious fanatics’ and other similar descriptions, which I prefer not to remember because it upset me too much to read all the negative comments in response to the ACCESS CEO’s latest statement.  Actually my reaction to what she said was “are you with us or against us” because she confirmed all the fears of non Christians that we are in schools to convert – or in her words “make disciples of” students – exactly as you say in your first para Bill.   

THE Christian group that provides religious education and chaplains in Victorian government schools will be investigated after its chief executive told a conference: ”We need to go and make disciples.” The remarks appear to breach guidelines governing school religious programs, which ban trying to convert students to any one religion.  The federal and state governments said last night they would investigate Access Ministries after a recording of the speech by Evonne Paddison was brought to their attention. Despite repeatedly denying that Access Ministries tried to convert students, the recording reveals Dr Paddison told the 2008 conference that ”without Jesus, our students are lost”.  ”In Australia, we have a God-given open door to children and young people with the Gospel, our federal and state governments allow us to take the Christian faith into our schools and share it. We need to go and make disciples,” she told the Evangelical Fellowship in the Anglican Communion national conference in Melbourne. ”What really matters is seizing the God-given opportunity we have to reach kids in schools’.

That quotation fuelled my annoyance,  but I continue to  support the program,, so long as the guidelines are followed and participants are not on a recruiting campaign. – my understanding is  that recruitment to the church IS NOT the purpose of Chaplaincy – but most of the public think it is, and that perception is doing more harm than good in broad terms in the non-Christian community. And as my second contributing friend said:  ‘That is exactly my impression of what the CEO said – I nearly freaked when I heard it, I can see those against Chaplains thinking that her view is the real one and that Chaplains have all this time been hiding their real intentions which are to ‘indoctrinate’ the students.  Strange thing is though, that it’s only just been dragged to the surface – apparently she said all this in 2008!! – according to the following article, quoted above’.

This is obviously going to continue as a public concern, but the Program itself will continue until at least 2014, unless our atheist Prime Minister has a change of heart, and succumbs to the wishes of what is probably becoming a broad community view these days!   I think I might leave the subject at this point  -that all arose out of my regular Monday night TV viewing!!

It was in fact today,  that I received a brief text message from my second son, Adam, which simply said ‘Bob Davis just died’.  From the ‘ABC Grandstand’ report we read that   ‘Geelong Football Club legend Bob Davis has passed away due to illness aged 82. Known as “Woofa” and the “Geelong Flier”, due to his on-ground speed, Davis kicked 149 goals in 189 games for the Cats between 1948 and 1958. The half-forward won two premierships with the club (1951, 1952) as a player and coached the Cats to the VFL flag in 1963 over Hawthorn. Davis was the club’s best and fairest in 1957, named as captain of the All-Australian team in 1958 and is a member of Geelong’s team of the century. He was an inaugural inductee into the Australian football Hall of Fame in 1996 and represented Victoria 13 times. Although he was seen less often in public in recent years, Davis was on hand at the MCG to present the 2009 premiership cup to the Geelong team coached by Mark Thompson. “The elation that Bob shared with the players that day on the MCG is something that will live long in the memory,” the club said in a statement. “Bob will be deeply missed by all those who loved him, and indeed by all those that have been fortunate enough to know him or meet him”.

My interest in Bob Davis whom I recall meeting at least once [at my Uncle’s funeral in Ballarat a few years ago] was that he was a cousin of my [Uncle] Jack Davis, who was married to my late father’s sister, Margaret. Speaking about Bob during the week,  the AFL’s  chief executive Andrew Demetriou said Davis was one of the key foundation stones on which the game had built its current position.

“Bob Davis was a wonderful player in his time, whose skills and speed saw him star in two Cat premiership sides, won him a place in the club’s team of the century and earned him a place in the Hall of Fame as one of our on-field greats,” he said in a statement. “He coached his beloved club to a premiership in 1963, but perhaps his greatest contribution of all was to take our game into lounge rooms every weekend, as television developed in this country, and forged a powerful bond between our players and our fans.  “With his great mates Lou Richards and Jack Dyer, under the stewardship of Ron Casey, League Teams and World of Sport were a staple diet for generations of football supporters for nearly 30 years and brought our game up close to everyone who wished to be part of it’.  And while I don’t watch any of the ‘those’ kind of sporting panels these days, I do certainly recall lots of enjoyable Sunday lunch time programs, back in the days when Australia’s major football competition was just centred on Victorian teams, and we had six matches every Saturday afternoon – leaving Sundays free for shows such as World of Sport. Meanwhile, as the current Coach of the Geelong team said, Bob Davis was a legend of the club and it’s all the more disappointing for me that I never got the chance to spend much time with him,” he said.  “Everyone speaks very highly of not only his involvement and contribution to the club as a player and coach, but the time he spent at the club when his official duties had ended. It’s just a really sad day.”  It will be interesting to see how this loss will affect the Geelong players when they line up against my team on this coming Friday night –  hopefully, they won’t be too inspired!!

[Top Cat … Bob Davis enjoyed a successful television career after his playing and coaching days were over]. (Network Seven)

Tuesday night, saw your personal essayist on air for two hours, playing show and other music, and I made a point of featuring two of Australia’s best known soprano and tenor singers [usually best know for their work in opera, and the classics, etc but also fully able to sing some of the great songs from musical shows etc – talking of course about Yvonne Kenny and David Hobson, whom I had the pleasure of seeing on stage last week. Tonight was another one of those radio shows that I thought was ‘a beauty’ with some wonderful music for the whole two hours –  but left me wonderful if I was just listening to myself, in the absence of any feedback!! I do know there are listeners out there, but sometimes it really doesn’t feel like it!

Wednesday, and a quiet day at the office after yet another ‘long drive’ in the morning.. I’m a little worried about the way my car [the work car in fact] is running at present – can’t put my finger on, does doesn’t seem right, and as a consequence, I am avoiding the freeways and doing the long trip across the northern suburbs to my destination. After a few days of this, I’m starting top become a little frustrated at my own decisions to go the ‘long’ way. If things still feel ‘uncertain’ after this next weekend, I will get the car looked at, despite my ‘boss’ not really wanting to spend too much more money on the vehicle before I leave the job! That argument won’t buy with me – I’m the driver, and if something needs fixing, I will be insisting on it whilst I have charge of the vehicle!!  On the way to work, I called in at the radio station – for my now weekly ‘Wednesday’ morning sports report, host Ron having changed his mornings, again! It was an early, and a cold start to the day, although followed by a reasonably pleasant Autumn day –    admittedly, a morning on which I would have preferred to have remained in bed, or at least returned to that place after the radio visit.  Just simply not feeling well, and at the time, was not looking forward to the drive ahead. But with some time planned to be off for medical appointments over the next couple of days, I didn’t it appropriate to take some additional time, so we just kept going. Mind you, it was late afternoon, and almost time for the return journey by the time I began to feel ‘normal’ again.

Meanwhile, my Susie has been in Sunbury all this week – hopefully, that means the Bendigo campus is in mid-semester   break this week, and not that she has simply not returned.  That of coursed hasn’t prevented the accommodation in which she resides whilst in Bendigo from continuing as a financial commitment, whether occupied or not.

A very cold Wednesday – again, a commitment I wish I could have foregone – a General Members’ meeting of the local family history society – as a Committee member, one felt obliged to put in an appearance!! Glad I did, because it was a worthwhile exercise again. Although it meant a late night – home near 10pm., at which point we watched the taped episode of  tonight’s  ‘East West 101’, which again, contained  some superb acting!

Thursday, a short day at the office, in view of an appointment with my cardiologist‘ this afternoon. I’d forgotten how quickly the years were beginning to pass –  Dr Warren noted that it was 4 years ago since that  little ‘stent’ was placed inside my artery to clear up the 80% blockage that had been found there.  Annual visits to the Moreland clinic since then, have noted good progress reports, but this year, everything was ‘apparently’ perfect – cholesterol, blood pressure, ECG tests, etc – all ‘perfect’ says the doc, come back in twelve months!! I don’t mind being told that, and inwardly hope there will be no necessity to shorten the time between visits.

There was an interesting little piece in this morning’s ‘Age newspaper’, about the colour of this year’s Autumn leaves! Apparently, and I can’t admit to actually noticing this, but this year’s Autumn leaves have turned richer in colour, and more quickly this season. According to experts, following a sunny Summer [though not too hot] followed by some good rains and the subsequent cold snap, has meant that Victoria’s deciduous trees are producing  vivid reds, oranges and browns – must have a look at this phenomena  on my next walk through the local parklands.  Quoting from Melbourne University arborist, Greg Moore ‘in species such as claret ashes, liquid ambers and some oaks, the sugar generated by good growing conditions put extra pigments into the cells, which are often deep oranges and reds. The more sugars you have and the colder it is, the more pigments you get…….the sugars provide luscious foliage growth. You get extra pigments and all of those sorts of things, so the canopies [of the trees] look wonderful…………….particularly after struggling for the last few years in the dry [drought]’. How’s this for a beautiful ‘painting’ like description  –  ‘Dr Moore said a highlight was the combination of natives with exotic trees, such as the oaks at Marysville, which survived Black Saturday [Feb 2009]. You get the wonderful crisp greens of the natives in the forests on the hills, then you come into the town, where there might be poplars, elms or oaks, and the contrasting colours are just fantastic.\’.  I wonder if I can get a photo here  –   I’ll try anyway!  –  this picture from today’s ‘Age’ – ‘Autumn in Melbourne 

 I’m aware of a few readers out there who occasionally make the effort to ‘struggle’ through my ramblings and wanderings through these pages!! Although to be honest, I’m not really sure who you are!!!!

Unfortunately, I don’t have the time or the expertise to write the kind of ‘blog’ that would attract a far more wider audience, and probably, I don’t really want to. But I would really like to know just ‘who is reading’ me from time to time

So a plea from your ‘personal essayist’ – reveal yourself!! Tell me what you think, you like, don’t like, want more of, or less of!! No guarantees I will change my style, or could change my style but I have been known to respond to criticism, and try not to repeat the ‘error of my ways’, I don’t like to be told I’ve done the wrong thing twice!!

Anyway people, if you don’t want to respond through this forum, send me an email, Bill always answers his emails, unless they look like junk or spam, or people asking for money – of which Idon’t have much of in any case!! So that kind of request is a lost cause, I’m afraid!!

jkirkby@hotmail.com

A few items in the news gained my attention today, as I also noted there were 156 days to go before my official retirement – as someone would exclaim in an overnight email – Woopeeeee!!!!!!

The state funeral was held in Melbourne today of former boxing champion, Lionel Rose, who died last week, after a long illness  – it was held at the site of many of his triumphs, the old Festival Hall in West Melbourne, and a crowd of 2,000 turned up to pay their respects.    Community leaders have lauded Lionel Rose as a pioneer for Aboriginal achievement, at the former boxer’s state funeral at Melbourne’s Festival Hall.   Aboriginal elder Aunty Joy said Rose – who in 1968 became the first Aboriginal world champion in any sport – had shown indigenous people what was possible. Ms Joy said Rose excelled in the boxing ring at a young age and showed the world the tenacity and integrity of a young Aboriginal man.  “Lionel’s career has been an inspiration for many. “Lionel will be remembered making history and receiving recognition at the tender age of 19. Those momentous times were celebrated with enormous pride. “Lionel also sent a strong message especially to young people around the world to stand up and fight for … your rights and aspire to reach your dream.”
Among the mourners at the funeral are Rose’s long-time trainer Jack Rennie, who attended in a wheelchair, former world champion Johnny Famechon,  Aboriginal fighter Tony Mundine, and my favourite, Jeff Fenech. Rose’s god-daughter Bonnie Anderson sang the Eagles hit Desperado at the service.

Being a keen follower of marathon running, I was also interested [concerned] to learn today of the death of  a former Olympic champion from Beijing [2008] – as the following medias report explains  –   Kenyan Olympic marathon champion Sammy Wanjiru died early on Monday after jumping from a balcony, police said.  John Mbijiwe, the police chief in Kenya’s Central Province, said initial information indicated 24-year-old Wanjiru died after jumping from a balcony at his Rift Valley home, but the death is subject to further investigation.  In the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Wanjiru became the first Kenyan to win a gold medal in the marathon, finishing in an Olympic-record two hours, six minutes, 32 seconds.  Wanjiru has had a history of domestic problems. Last December, he was charged with wounding his security guard with a rifle and threatening to kill his wife and maid. He denied all charges and was released on bail. Wanjiru was the youngest runner to win four major marathons. He finished first in London in 2009 and the 2008 Olympics and won twice in Chicago.  He was forced to pull out of April’s London Marathon because of a right knee injury

While it is not really going to make much difference in the short term to Australia’s political future, it was interesting to note that weekend polls are coming up with the extraordinary result of Julia Gillard’s Labor Party falling well behind  the Coalition in terms of popularity – if an election were held this weekend, Tony Abbott  would be our Prime Minister next Monday!!! For many people, a frightening thought!@!!  But for Julia Gillard, her popularity level as Prime Minister is now lower than that of Kevin Rudd, when he was replaced by his own Party in the middle of last year!  However, there ‘won’t’ be an election this weekend  – that is not due for 2 years, and under present circumstances, there is no way Ms Gillard will call one, she would be crazy to do so!! Nor will the Independents or Greens’ members risk losing their nice cosy little positions of power at this point in time.  That’s why I would prefer to see Tony Abbott give up on his short term ambitions, ,and divert away from his constant  ‘attack’ mode, and concentrate on clearly establishing some good strong policies to give the electorate a feasible alternative to what we currently have!

Susie came home from ‘somewhere’ while Q & A was on tonight, and disappeared to her room. I would have happily  given the show away if she had wanted some conversation!  It was in fact a very interesting program tonight with four of the five panellists quite interesting to listen to  – Bill Shorten [Assistant Federal Treasurer], Eric Abetz [Opposition Senate leader], Judge Felicity Hampel [County Court of Victoria] – quite impressive. Anna Rose [Youth Climate Coy], and John Roskam [Institute of Public Affairs] – not very impressive at all!!  I do like to include brief notes on the show’s guests on those nights I get a chance to watch it, so tonight is no exception.

Bill Shorten – before entering Parliament Bill Shorten was one of Australia’s best-known trade union leaders. As secretary of the Australian Workers’ Union he was a major player in the national industrial relations debate and gained widespread prominence for his role on the scene of the Beaconsfield mine disaster in Tasmania in 2006.

Eric Abetz is a Liberal Senator from Tasmania, Opposition Senate leader and shadow minister for employment and workplace relations.  Renowned as a highly committed warrior for the Liberal Right, a reputation he won many years ago as a student politician, he is a ceaseless critic of progressive causes.  Eric was born in Germany in 1958, the youngest of six children. The family migrated to Australia in 1961.

Judge Felicity Hampel SC was appointed to the County Court of Victoria in 2005. In 1996, she was appointed Queen’s Counsel, converting to Senior Counsel in 2001. Felicity was born in Melbourne in 1955, the third of nine, predominantly female children. She has studied, worked and lived in Melbourne all her life. She was educated at Genazzano convent, and Monash Univeristy

John Roskam has been the executive director of the Institute of Public Affairs, widely regarded as Australia’s foremost free-market think-tank, since 2004. Before joining the IPA he taught political theory at the University of Melbourne.
Anna Rose is co-founder and Chair of the Australian Youth Climate Coalition (AYCC) and is a former Environment Minister’s joint Young Environmentalist of the Year. Her passion for social and environmental justice was sparked at the age of 14, when she set up recycling, composting and a school sport called “environmental campaigning” at her school in Newcastle. She became a climate change campaigner after experiencing the drought on her grandparent’s farm in North Western NSW, and connecting the dots to climate change.

The debate and questions covered many a familiar ground but there was one area relating to the ‘chaplaincy’ program in Australian schools which particularly attracted my attention, and on which I made a couple  of comments on Face Book, with a response or two. I briefly look at that in tomorrow’s  entry.