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It was a rather cold start to the morning which saw your writer awake and about even earlier than usual for a Sunday morning – SBS was televising the Final from Wembley Stadium, London, of the Euro Champions football final between Manchester United and Barcelona. Had felt I’d like to watch what I could of it before leaving for the radio station this morning – I think it was around 4.45 am, when the match started [my time]. Unlike many major finals which tend to end up been dull defensive type games, this one was an excellent advertisement for the sport[ rather necessary in view of the current poor publicity and scandals over corruption at the senior levels of FIFA] – a great game to watch, the last party of which I missed, although in the end, the team from Spain proved far superior to Manchester United [whom I was barracking for] and eventually won the Championship Cup 3-1.

Now I don’t know whether it was the early arising, or other factors, but during my show this morning – 6.30am-9.00am –  I was feeling decidedly unwell, major headache, and quite nauseous, and couldn’t really combat either of those feelings, as I had unusually, today not brought any pain killers etc with me, and while the First Aid box in the studio contained all the usual necessary aids, there were no painkillers –  along the lines of the rules regarding such medications in First Aid kits at places of employment, etc, not allowed to provide them!!  I can see the point to that restriction to some degree, but at other times, it can be very inconvenient! Such as today! At one stage, I was wondering whether I could continue the program, or perhaps ask those presenters following me if they could come in early. However, we decided to battle on, and according to one listener I heard from later in the day, my discomfort was not evident through the radio waves! Later, although I was due to return at 4pm, I did not completely commit myself to that appearance – decided to wait and see how the day ‘panned’ out!!

During the morning, I heard that overnight,  Australia’s one surviving competitor in the French Open Tennis Championships  – Jarmila Gajdosova –  has lost her 3^rd Round match,  to the German 15^th seed  Andrea Petkovic 6/2,4/6,6/3 – looking at that score line, our girl was not disgraced, but obviously not in the same ‘league’ as her competitor. So with a week of the championships to go, no Aussies left! Interestingly, it is at this point, that our free to air commercial channel decides to start telecasting, initially highlights only, of the tournament!!  Meanwhile later into Sunday night, the Monaco F1 Grand Prix saw those chasing the championship leader, Sebastian Vettel fail to make any ground on his lead, as the German won the race, again. Australia’s Mark Webber could manage only a 4^th position, meaning that he has slipped further behind his Red Bull teammate, as did everyone else!  While in cycling in the big lead up event to the Tour de France [coming soon], Alberto Contador held the leader’s jersey for the bulk of the 94^th  Giro d’Italia [Tour of Italy] race, winning it for the second time.  Contador will be trying to win his 4^th Tour de France next month!  Finally, after this weekend’s round of AFL matches, the Carlton Blues are sitting in 4^th position on the competition ladder, with 2 or 3 winnable matches ahead of them [though that doesn’t guarantee the Blues will actually win!!].

Anyway, I took the rest of my Sunday fairly quietly, and felt fully able by late afternoon to return to the radio studio for a program of Australian folk & country/blues music. That included a couple of individual songs each, from country singer Kasey Chambers, and her not so famous but equally talented father, Bill Chambers.

Back home later,  for another meal alone, and while there were plenty of tasks I had on hand to accomplish, I ended up watching the second episode of a series on the ‘Kennedy family’ of the US. As Susie had indicated an interest in watching this series also, I continued to tape the show for her, for some future viewing.  Meanwhile, since Jodie’s visit on Friday night, I’d not heard from the family – sent as message to Susie partway through the day [assuming she is still up in Bendigo] but did not get a response.

Welcome to a cool overcast morning. The house is quiet, and will stay that way for the next few days. Susie is up in Bendigo for the weekend, and I have the two cats for company – which like Susie, are never really around when they are ‘here’ in any case, until they want something to eat!!  Four days until the ‘official’ Winter, although I think over the past few weeks we have been given a bit of a taste of what is to come!

Out in the back garden, the birds are very active – well noisy anyway, seem to be kicking up quite a fuss about something. Perhaps one of Susan’s cats is on the prowl, in which case they won’t be very popular with me! They well know that if I see them stalking, or with an unfortunate bird, there will be severe retribution, even if such actions are their natural instinct I suppose – nevertheless, I attempt to discourage them, as far as I can be aware of it, of such activities. I’m afraid that I am not a fan of cats – they are generally sneaky ‘dishonest’ creatures, with a mind of their own, and unless it’s suits some particular purpose or desire, pay no credence to human instructions, not what I call a loyal pet [compared to a dog]. However, the two felines at this residence belong to my daughter, and while she is rarely here, I tolerate their presence and look after them to the extent they allow me too!!!

The Get Up organisation, of which I am a ‘silent’ subscriber, are currently trying to readers such as myself to become involved and take part in a ‘protest march’ relating to climate change, in a current of weekends. Now this is basically in support of the Government’s plans to introduce a carbon tax as part of it’s ‘supposed attack’ on the climate problems of now and the future. I’m in two minds as to which side I want to support on this issue. As with other things, I have a preference for taking more note of the scientific evidence that is being put to us rather than the kind of hysteria that conservationists, and parties like the Greens try to ram down our throats. At the same time, I recognise the needs, and the necessary aim of trying to improve the environment for future generations – our children, and so on. I do get a little annoyed at the arguments over the costs of the various proposals, and the manner in which some viewpoints seem to be insistent on protecting the rights of those with all the influence and money – the big polluters such as the coal industry, etc. But at the same time, in the absence of immediate wide scale alternatives, we still tend to have to rely on their product to a large degree. The argument or aim needs to be to make those kind of industries more environmentally friendly in the way they produce their product, and I’m not sure that by forcing this upon them through policies such as a carbon tax, etc, is going to help the rest of us, with the likely increased costs then forced upon those areas, passed on to the rest of us –  though admittedly, increased power and energy costs seem to be a regular thing of life irrespective of carbon taxes, and one feels that whatever system is in place, we will continue to see annual increases in the figures showing on our utility invoices!!!

Anyway, I was interested in Get Up’s argument, though in no way convinced that I wanted to join their formal protest – in fact, I believe in my 64 years on this earth, I have purposely only taken part in three formal protest demonstrations, as generally, I don’t see that method as my means of protest – okay then, I prefer to do that through my writings, and will continue to do so  –  as a side note, what were those three demonstrations I took part in? No explanation here, just the subject, perhaps a later time, may be more appropriate to explain in more detail.  Back in 1967 – (1) outside Pentridge Prison [now closed], at the time when the last criminal in Australia was hung; [2) the march for reconciliation with the Indigeneous community, early 2000, and (3), in protest against Australia’s involvement in the invasion of Iraq. More on each of those at a later date! But for the current topic – I think I will leave that demonstration to the younger generations, and be content to support their cause through the ‘pen’, even if I’m not yet sure how far I support them!!!  To put Get Up’s arguments to the fore, I will copy their submission to people such as myself below, but reminding readers that this is just one side of the argument.

“Dear Bill,

I don’t mean this the wrong way — but we need to do better. So far, 3,440 people have RSVP’d to family climate rallies across Australia next weekend. But I just finished reading the Australian Climate Commission’s new climate science report – and frankly, I’m scared. The risks have never been more clear and the case for action has never been more urgent. Scientists know this, you and I know this, but the rest of Australia still needs to hear it.

The stakes are so high, and the opposition to climate action so vocal, that we need more than the usual suspects at these rallies. We need you, Bill.  So if you’re already planning on coming, thank you. But if not, I hope you’ll give this email just 90 seconds of your time and the chance to convince you.  I confess that rallies are not usually my thing. I sometimes wonder who is even watching and if it’s effective. But next weekend is an acid test of the community’s support for climate action, and we won’t succeed by staying home. Tacit support is not enough.
This isn’t about angry protest. Our family rallies have face-painting, balloons and ice-cream for the kids – and great live music before and after the rally. Think of it as a great impetus to get out of the house and start a sunny Sunday in a beautiful park with other families!  We’ve chosen next Sunday, June 5, for the national rallies because it’s right in the middle of the final, fragile negotiations of the multi-party climate committee. These are the negotiations that will decide what the price on pollution will be, how it will increase over time, and how much money will go to clean energy versus to big polluters.
The Government and Independents on the committee are under extraordinary pressure to give up on climate action. Climate deniers held a rally against the carbon price last week in the electorate of Independent MP Rob Oakeshott. The Daily Telegraph reported that over 3,000 people attended – even though the official police estimate was under 800. Right now, politicians and the media are gauging support for climate action by which side has the bigger rallies.
Some say putting a price on pollution will send our economy back to the Stone Age. They say they represent the majority of mainstream Australia. We know it’s rubbish – but unless we put our faces and voices in front of the TV cameras too, we know exactly what will happen next: an exasperating onslaught of one-sided media coverage against climate action, which will send politicians running scared.  I wish that policy were not so dependent on which groups protest the loudest. But if Australia’s climate policy were decided by science and reason, we would have put a price on pollution long ago.

Please join the urgent climate rallies happening across Australia on Sunday week, June 5, and don’t forget to bring a friend, or ten!  Where: Outside State Library  When: 11am Sunday June 5.  Hope to see you there,  Sam, for the GetUp team”.

On the other side of the fence – well there are many different views, but the following speech [made by Opposition leader, Tony Abbott, in an address made at a dinner in Adelaide on the 7^th March, more or less spelt out the kind of arguments that the Liberal Party are pushing in opposition to the Government’s carbon tax plans. The general view of anyone who pushes the kind of platform that the Liberals are promoting is that they are climate deniers [as GetUp says above], but I don’t accept that kind of broad brushed reflection on people who have different views, nor do I necessarily accept some of the generalising statements that appear below. However, it does provide another side to the issue, but unfortunately, also includes strong political and negative overtones, as would be expected from Tony Abbott. The task of readers is to try and draw the relevant facts or statistics from all the rhetoric, if we are to be convinced that the ‘NO’ side to the carbon tax debate has any relevance. That means ignoring claims of the Government simply ‘getting into bed’ with the Greens and their conservation demands [because the Government needs the support of the Greens in both houses of Parliament], ignoring the talk about Julia Gillard lying to the electorate before the last election, that there would be no carbon tax, and ignoring the constant negativity that Tony Abbott cannot seem to help himself from incorporating into any debate on public policy these days.  Perhaps I should have done that ‘precis’ for readers beforehand, in order to determine whether there is actually any ‘body of evidence’ contained within the speech. Anyway, those who care to, please read on, otherwise, join me again tomorrow, lol!!!

“The Prime Minister’s commitment to a carbon tax from the middle of next year and to an emissions trading scheme from 2017 is inevitably going to be the dominant issue of this parliament. Make no mistake. This new tax is designed to change your way of life. This new tax is designed to change the way our economy works. What’s the point of a carbon tax if it doesn’t make it harder for people to turn on their air conditioners or to drive their cars? After all, the only way that a carbon tax can reduce emissions – rather than just make them more expensive – is if people use less coal-produced electricity and less oil-powered transport.

If a carbon tax does not reduce the use of fossil fuels, it’s just another tax – not an environmental measure at all. Given people’s propensity to use their air conditioners and to drive their cars, if a carbon tax is to reduce electricity use and car use it will have to raise the price of daily life very considerably indeed. It’s no wonder that the Prime Minister prefers to talk about the principle of the carbon tax rather than nasty details like the level at which it would have to be imposed.

When the Prime Minister, Senator Brown, the Greens and other ministers talk blithely about a low carbon economy or a carbon constrained future, this is exactly what they mean. They mean an economy where much less electricity is generated by burning coal, where transport means less use of private cars and where industries that use lots of electricity like steel and aluminium scarcely exist in Australia. If this is to be more than just a hit on people’s cost of living, it must utterly transform the way we live and how we work.

Not for nothing was the old Soviet Union emblazoned with slogans such as “communism equals worker control plus electrification”. It’s odd that Julia Gillard seems to have forgotten her history. You can’t have a modern economy or rising standards of living without rising power consumption. The leaders of China and India certainly haven’t forgotten. That’s why they’ll never agree to any limitation on their carbon dioxide emissions that would lock their people permanently into the kind of poverty from which they are only now beginning to escape. That’s why a new coal-fired power station opens in China every fortnight. That’s why any unilateral step to tax emissions will hurt Australia’s economy without improving the world’s environment.

There was, of course, a stronger argument for putting a price on carbon when the whole world seemed to be moving in that direction. Pre-Copenhagen, it could have been argued that the costs of a carbon tax would be equally shared among all the world’s economies. Now that President Obama has abandoned his “cap and trade” scheme, it’s clear that the best way to reduce emissions is through measures that would be in the national interest regardless of international action. 

In the absence of wind that never stops blowing and sun that never stops shining; in the absence of hydrogen cars; and in the absence of nuclear power stations to supply most base load electricity, big reductions in emissions are currently impossible without a big increase in people’s cost of living or a significant change in their lifestyles. Eventually, technologies that we can hardly envisage today will make fossil fuels less important. In the meantime, though, making coal, oil and gas more expensive is the modern equivalent of hastening the computer age by a tax on typewriters.

Thanks much more to the closure of the coal industry and to deindustrialisation than to a widely scammed ETS, Europe has hardly increased its production of emissions over the past decade. It has, though, increased its consumption of emissions by about 50 per cent. Almost nothing has changed environmentally. What’s happened is that emissions-intensive activities have migrated from Europe to the rest of the world. The rest of the world is sustaining Europe’s standard of living by doing the things that Europeans are too environmentally vain to do.

It was to avoid this kind of debate in an election year that the current Prime Minister kyboshed her predecessor’s emissions trading scheme.  Along with the Treasurer, she sabotaged Kevin Rudd’s political standing and then seized the prime ministership herself because she wanted to avoid an election debate that couldn’t be won. The ETS had to be off the election agenda because, given a choice, the electorate was hardly likely to put preventing climate change ahead of protecting its standard of living.

Julia Gillard did not just depose the prime minister who’d championed an ETS. She did not just let it be known that this was one of the key factors why the government “had lost its way”. She went further. With her announcement that climate change policy would be put in the hands of a citizens’ assembly until what she called a “deep and lasting consensus” had been created, she deliberately built the impression that there would be no carbon price in the term of the current parliament.  The otherwise implausible citizens’ assembly now looks like a cynical ploy to reassure struggling families worried about cost of living pressures.

On her own admission, the Prime Minister always wanted to impose a carbon price. She just didn’t want to justify it to the electorate in an election campaign. She wanted to avoid it during the last election campaign, to impose it during this term of parliament, and to justify it during the next campaign as a done deal that couldn’t be undone without causing havoc.

As sure as night follows day, I said on at least 15 occasions during the campaign, there would be a carbon tax if this government is re-elected. The Prime Minister’s statement “there will be no carbon tax under a government I lead” should haunt her to the political grave because it was the culmination of a deliberate strategy to hoodwink voters.

The rationalisation that the Prime Minister has changed her position because circumstances have changed is false. She may not have anticipated a hung parliament but she certainly anticipated a hung Senate and knew that any carbon arrangements would have to be negotiated with the Greens who were the only group campaigning for a carbon tax.

The Prime Minister’s claim that voters will reject what she calls the politics of fear is false. If she believes it, why didn’t she make a carbon tax to be followed by an emissions trading scheme front and centre of her election campaign? Rejection of such a policy would not be evidence of an electorate that’s scared of the future but of an electorate that expects a level of basic honesty from its leaders.

The Prime Minister’s boast that she is taking a courageous decision is false. Courageous governments inform voters of their tough intentions before an election, not after one. If this is as important as she now says it is, why wasn’t it important enough to be an issue in last year’s election? Not only was her statement that there would be “no carbon tax under a government I lead” untruthful but it was specifically designed to stop voters from casting judgment when they had the chance. It wasn’t just a false statement. It was a deliberate deception.

Regardless of when the next election is held, the carbon tax will be the big issue. The Coalition will oppose it in opposition and rescind it in government, as we will the mining tax and as we would the flood tax were it still in place. The government claims that business wants certainty. Once a carbon tax is in place, the only certainty is that it will increase. There will be no carbon tax under the Coalition. It doesn’t get more certain than that.

We are against a carbon tax today, tomorrow, next week, next year, this term and next term. We are against it because it is a new tax from a government addicted to unnecessary new taxes and wasteful new spending. More fundamentally, though, we are against it because it won’t achieve its stated objectives and because we have a better plan that will. Our job is not to make a bad tax less damaging. Our job is to present voters with a clear alternative and we will.

For a government that denied it would bring in a carbon tax to bring one in without first seeking a new mandate would be a travesty of democracy. Only one single member of the House of Representatives went to the election supporting a carbon tax. Voters did not elect a parliament that supported a carbon tax.  Voters did not force a carbon tax on a reluctant prime minister. The opposite is the case. The Prime Minister is forcing a carbon tax on reluctant voters. Now that voters finally know the Prime Minister’s real intentions, now that they know what was fake and what was “real Julia”, they should have another chance to vote before a way-of-life-changing tax is brought in as a conspiracy of the parliament against the people.

In modelling the impact of Kevin Rudd’s emissions trading scheme on prices, the Treasury used a carbon price of $26 a tonne. This, remember, is the scheme that the Greens rejected because the carbon price wasn’t high enough. Even at $26 a tonne, a carbon tax would add an average of $300 a year to electricity bills (and $500 in NSW). It would add 6.5 cents to the cost of a litre of petrol. At this rate, a carbon tax would raise about $10 billion a year without materially reducing emissions because consumers have previously absorbed price rises of this magnitude.

A carbon tax of about $25 a tonne would close 16 coal mines and cost 10,000 jobs in coal mining (according to Access Economics). It would cost 24,000 jobs in mining generally (according to ACIL). It would cost 45,000 jobs in emissions-intensive industries (according to Frontier Economics). It’s “economic vandalism” according to the head of Bluescope Steel that will drive manufacturing jobs offshore.

A carbon tax would add 25 per cent to the price of electricity and up to five per cent to the cost of groceries because power and transport costs are embedded in the price. If these estimates are wrong, the government should give us the correct ones. The revelation that the government has not attempted to model an economy-wide carbon price since 2008 suggests that it’s scared of what the answer might be. It has been prepared to cite estimates of so-called green jobs that might be created under a carbon tax – but this assumed a carbon price of $45 a tonne – and didn’t net out the existing jobs that would be lost.

For the record, the Coalition holds that climate change is real and that mankind is contributing to it. We have a different policy to deal with it, that’s all, one which aims to reduce emissions, not just to make them more expensive. There is a better way. That’s the Coalition’s strong plan to reduce emissions that is economically responsible and that won’t cost Australian jobs. We support action on climate change but, unlike Labor, don’t think that it should reduce our standard of living.

Last February, the Coalition announced a direct action policy to reduce emissions by 5 per cent by 2020 through more tree planting, better soil and smarter technology. Our plan would cost $3.2 billion over the forward estimates period rather than the $40 billion that the government had sought to raise through its ETS. Our plan would cumulatively reduce emissions by some 600 million tonnes of carbon dioxide over the decade by purchasing abatements at an average cost of $15 a tonne. Our plan was backed by various experts in the field, including a former Labor treasurer of Queensland, who said that large scale emissions reductions were feasible at this price.

Our plan was fully funded from the budget through savings in other government spending. It did not involve a net increase in government spending, it did not involve a net increase in the tax burden on the public and it did not involve the government picking winners, merely selecting the most cost-effective forms of emissions reduction from the various proposals that the market would produce.

Our proposal is straight-forward, easy to understand, and practical to deliver. Yes, it implies the international recognition of emissions reduction through storage of carbon in the soil but the US government as well as our own is campaigning to bring this about. By contrast, the government’s proposal involves a new tax, a new slush fund and a new series of handouts designed to buy the next election.

The Prime Minister will insist that jobs will be protected in energy intensive industries and will insist that no one will be worse off because everyone will be compensated – except the rich. She will insist that this is a painless way to reduce emissions – just like she said before the last election that there will be no carbon tax under the government I lead. This is a dishonest government trying to do the wrong thing by stealth. I will do everything I humanly can to prevent them getting away with it and to give voters a chance to pass their verdict at the next election.

I have a plan for a modern, low emissions economy that maintains our standard of living, makes best use of Australia’s natural advantages in soil, sun and wind and doesn’t hit families at a time when they’re already doing it tough. That’s what I will be offering at the next election whenever it comes”.

Unfortunately Tony, the electorate is finding it difficult to understand precisely what ‘that plan’ is – we need less attack, more constructive forward planning!!

Another Friday night game for the Blues tonight –  this time at the Melbourne Cricket Ground [MCG]. I had considered going but after last night’s outing, decided against doing so, and at my age, lol, the open expanses of the MCG are a little chilly for my liking these days. That decision was confirmed after Jodie offered to come around to home,  and watch the game with me, after she finished work [as she did last week].  From memory, it is a special ‘charity game’ tonight, to do with the Olivia Newton-John foundation –  in fact, it is precisely that.  The Olivia Newton-John Cancer and Wellness Centre will combine leading medical treatment and research of international significance, integrated with the best of wellness care and support for patients and their families.  The Appeal is a major fundraiser for Austin Hospital  [Austin Health] one of Australia’s leading hospitals that provides extensive services for patient care and treatment, research and professional health education. Building on cancer expertise since 1882, the Austin Hospital, in collaboration with the global Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research,  seeks to bridge the gap between research, treatment and cancer care at the new Centre.  Olivia’s mission,  to help provide the best in cancer care and research, will be assisted tonight, at the MCG as the Carlton Blues take on the Melbourne Demons in a charity match [though part of the regular season fixture] for the Olivia Newton-John Cancer and Wellness Centre.  This is a major fundraising initiative in conjunction with the AFL, which will include a live performance by Olivia prior to the match.

As for the football side of things, the Blues have made one ‘compulsory’ change to the team that lost by 2 points to Geelong last week –  Rob Warnock, the player who missed that final kick for goal that would have won the game for Carlton had he kicked straight, was suffering from the immediate after affects of concussion at that time, and that injury has kept him out of the team this week. I’m happy with his replacement, Shaun Hampson, who played the first five games this year.  More about this match later.

Meanwhile, over in Paris, I think I mentioned the other day that we had just two girls left in the tournament – I was wrong, there is a third Aussie female player who has made it through to the 3^rd Round this weekend – Jarmila Gajdosova [formerly Groth, I think] defeated the crafty Spaniard, Anabel Medina Garrigues 7/6, 6/4, so she is the third Aussie player to make the final 32 in Paris, joining compatriots Samantha Stosur and Anastasia Rodionova.  Stosur and Rodionova play tonight, our time, while Jarmila’s third round match will be tomorrow night.  Stosur is first up on centre court against Argentine Gisela Dulko on Friday night (EST) while Anastasia Rodionova plays third seed Vera Zvonareva in the final match of the day on court one. Gajdosova is due to meet Germany’s world No.12 Andrea Petkovic in their third round clash on Saturday night at Roland Garros.

Of course. being Friday, my inbox has received the weekly ‘Liberal Party’ message, and sad to say, it is as negative as usual, in fact at present, the media seems to focusing on a bit of disunity within some sections of the Coalition Opposition, and much of it seems to be focused on Tony Abbott’s over-use [in some eyes, including mine], of his constant attacking and negative tactics towards the Government   An example follows, in today’s message –   ‘As the graph below shows [I’ve not included it here], the Labor Government has failed to deliver a single budget surplus since coming to office in 2007.  In fact, Labor hasn’t even delivered a surplus in the past 21 years.  Labor simply cannot manage money. It is creating successive budget deficits because it is spending beyond its means. This, coupled with a record $107 billion debt in 2011/12, will continue to put upward pressure on inflation and interest rates’.  I would personally like to see these messages project a little bit more in the way of positive approaches as to how the Opposition could or would do things better, or in a different way.  At the moment, that is not the kind of approach Tony Abbott is actually demonstrating.  It’s becoming a little repetitive, and disappointing!  I’m feeling that if he wants to remain the person in charge, leading up to the next potential election [still 2 years away] that attitude may need to change!

 To be continued >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Continuing. Interesting little exercise this morning, attempting to extract a ‘misguided’ possum out of the office kitchen area, where over the past two nights, it has enjoyed the feast of a few food items which had inadverttently being left where they shouldn’t have been!! I think our little friend had then been unable to find it’s way out of the building, and was discovered this morning, cowering between the back of a filing cabinet and an external window – noticed from outside!!! Now these creatures can be quite vicious when cornered or trapped, so the exercise of encouraging it to remove itself from the building through the now open doorway was not attempted without some caution [and concern for the possum itself]. All went well, except the possum, in it’s desire to get away quickly from this bunch of human creatures, mistook the glass window beside the doorway for a quick exit!!! Bang!!  I think our possum would have spent the rest of the morning with a headache – a brief retreat backwards, second attempt found the open doorway, and sprinted out towards the trees – no immediate relief there, as maintenance people were in the area, trimming the estate trees, so I imagine in it’s attempts to find a refuge, it would have needed to dodge a few more of us humans!!!

I enjoyed my younger daughter’s company at home tonight to watch the football, which had the expected result as far as my team was concerned, though it was not really a match that one would remember long into the future. Carlton seemed to be in control for the entire game, but only really dominated on the scoreboard  in the final quarter. However, that win moved the Blues up to third spot on the ladder, for the time being!  Quarter by quarter scores were as follows:

Carlton Blues:              3.4.22     5.8.38      8.12.60     FINAL:  13.15.93

Melbourne Demons:   1.2.8         3.4.22      4.7.31     Final:  6.10.46

Now the disappointing news overnight for Australia, came from the French Open Tennis, in Paris.  Our big hope in the Women’s tournament, and full of confidence at present – Sam Stosur – well, she went down, was defeated overnight, and I was rather disappointed to hear that news.  No free to air coverage of the tennius at present – I guess it’s on Pay TV, so I have to depend on news reports or the internet to keep up with results. In fact, both of our girls playing tonight, were defeated – Stosur, favourite to win her match,  lost in a shock loss to World No. 51 Argentine player, Gisela Dulko 6/4, 1/6, 6/3, while Anastacia Rodionova lost her 3rd round game against Vedra Zvonareva 6/2,6/3.  We still have one faint hope of further success – Jarmila Gajdosova plays tonight in her 3rd round game, although on rankings etc, we should noit depend too heavily on Jarmila. Meanwhile, I wonder what Sam’s explanation of her shock loss will be – she was in good form, had beaten her opponent twice in recent times, and was one of the hopes of reaching the final again!

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