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I notice on the news as I drove in this morning, that despite the expectations, desires and wishes of the Egyptian people, their President has decided ‘not’ to step down, although he will not contest the elections due in September. I doubt that will satisfactory for the thousands of demonstrators who had gathered in Cairo’s centre this morning [last night over there], having been led to believe by the military and other indicators, that their maligned would announce his immediate resignation when he addressed the ‘nation’. This report has just appeared on news video sources:-

‘There is fury in Egypt this morning after president Hosni Mubarak defied predictions that he would resign and instead pledged to stay on as president until later this year. Mr Mubarak used a feverishly anticipated televised speech to the nation to say he would delegate power to his deputy Omar Suleiman and proposed constitutional reforms, but said the transition to end his 30-year-reign would last until September’s elections. His speech was met with furious chants of “Down, Down with Mubarak” among the more than 200,000 people who packed Cairo’s Tahrir Square on the 17th day of massive nationwide protests demanding the strongman’s overthrow. ABC correspondent Mark Willacy said hundreds of young men started surging towards the exits of Tahrir Square as Mr Mubarak confirmed that he was staying on. It was not clear where they were heading. There were reports that some protesters were marching towards the presidential palace. Hopes had run high that Mr Mubarak would step down immediately after the military leadership had announced hours earlier that it would step in to ensure the country’s security and see that the people’s “legitimate” demands were met. But by the end of his speech Mr Mubarak remained the country’s president’ 

His speech included the following points:- . “Mistakes are likely in any regime, but it is important to admit to those mistakes,” he said. “I cannot find any embarrassment in listening to the youth of my homeland and responding to them. I cannot and will not accept to be dictated orders from the outside, no matter what the source is. “I will safeguard the authority of the people until the September elections. “I will continue to observe the implementation step by step, hour by hour… to ensure the proper implementation which will be supported by the intrepid armed forces.””This will go by day by day until the path of peaceful transition in September.”  When I called in at the radio station early this morning to give my weekly little sports update, the host asked me on arrival whether there was any news from Egypt, and at that point, I’d not heard the outcome of Mubaruk speech. I personally have little knowledge of the Egyptian leader, simply learning about the situation from the media, etc, but as indicated by Ron’s question this morning, there is a broad interest in that situation from Australians even though there is no direct effect on this country in specific terms.  I think that the people in Cairo who were hoping for an end to the ‘Mubaruk regime’ are not likely to just accept their President’s speech in view of the extent of protests, etc which have been going on for the last 3 weeks or so – unfortunately, we can expect to hear much more on this matter, and the fear is that much of that activity will not be good. The Preside4nt’s words that “This will go by day by day until the path of peaceful transition in September” may turn out to be quite prophetic!!

Closer to home, in correspondence with a long standing friend yesterday, I learnt that that she was quite unwell, and in fact, by the tone of her words, at a quite low ebb in spirits, almost in a state of depression.  Must be a bit of a problem at our age levels perhaps –  certainly, from time to time, I have concerns and doubts about my immediate future, health issues, future companionship, and so on, and certainly, tiredness is particular burden many of us have to manage from time to time. In many ways, I’m thankful that I have many activities and interests to turn to, and even if tired, levels of personal commitment are an aid in overcoming desires to do nothing, and simply keep going. This morning, for example, after a warm and humid night, which  resulted in a restless and unsatisfactory sleep, the temptation was there, to stay where I was – not get up earlier than normal as required today ,in order to,  and as well as the usual morning activities, ensure that I had adequate material prepared for a 10 minute sports session on my colleague Ron’s breakfast radio show, as a brief stop off to another ‘painful drive’ in heavy traffic of over an hour –  if anything about a daily routine is to create feelings of ‘low spirits’, those daily drives,  in the morning and afternoon, are providing the ‘perfect’ stimulus for such negativity!!  Anyway, my friend sounds in far worse a situation,  with words such as “ But my life has come to a stop. I move from my bed to the couch & back again & that is my day at  present…………………. I feel completely lost as to my situation & do not know where to turn to now. I just want to weep, but can’t. It’s awful!”.  Unfortunately, there is little I can do, other than offer words of encouragement as a friend – she has husband and other family to turn to, and I guess that encouragement has to be to get her to use them for whatever support is needed. This kind of situation makes one very aware, that despite Australia being a relatively affluent and economically strong country, there are many in our nation who probably suffer in relative silence, and aspects of depression would seem to be a major contributing factor to that kind of situation.

Reporting in the weekly rural newspaper ‘The Weekly Times’ yesterday,  things were not sounding too optimistic for our country folk. As Fiona Myers and Andrew Mole wrote – ‘Victoria is awash – again. Falls of up to 240mm at the weekend have closed roads, flooded rivers, swamped farms, drowned vineyards and vegetable crops and created havoc. And there are fears further falls predicted for this weekend could mean more flooding for the already sodden north of the state. Victorian Agriculture Minister Peter Walsh said floods during December and last month were estimated to cost $1.5 – $2 billion and weekend rain would ‘add to this’. “The major damage from the recent rain would be to dried fruit, wine grapes and table grapes in the Sunraysia [district] and the vegetable crops south east of Melbourne” Mr Walsh said.  He described the rain as “soul destroying and depressing….I said I would never complain about rain again, but it is starting to wear a bit thin”.

I guess that is the nature of our climate here in Australia, where not more than twelve months ago, most of the south east of the continent was desperate for rain, but now we have too much. In fact, one week into our last ‘official’ month of summer, many would suggest that apart from a few odd days, we have not really had as normal summer. A read a friend complaining the other day that ‘she was cold’ and was ‘rugging’ up as if it was winter – I did suggest to her that the word cold was a bit of an over reaction, ‘cool’ perhaps, but not cold. However, it has certainly been a cooler summer overall than we would normally experience, and of course, the rain has been far in excess than what would normally be anticipated at this time of year.

One of the political consequences of the Queensland floods and cyclones in particular relates to debates about the imposition of a flood levy on the Australian taxpayer and/or the creation of  ongoing disaster re3lief funds, etc, and whether the government should forget about trying to reduce the current deficit in the near future, and concentrate on flood and storm reconstruction works and repairs. Plenty of people in the community have opinions on this area, and over the next few days, it will feature as the principal point of debate in Federal Parliament. A group which probably doesn’t get much recognition in the broad community unless you are specifically involved in that sector are the Certified Public Accountants [CPA], who issued a statement on the 3^rd February regarding what they see as  the approach that should be taken towards the Federal budget. The CPA view is that:-

‘The next Federal Budget must be far-sighted and allow for important decisions on key issues such as infrastructure, tax, superannuation and comprehensive measures to absorb the cost of natural disaster recovery, CPA Australia has said in its Pre-Budget submission.  ‘The Australian economy faces a number of challenges, both domestic and global. While it weathered the global downturn, it is clear that more must be done to improve productivity and boost international competitiveness. This budget presents the ideal opportunity to lay the groundwork,’ said CPA Australia CEO Alex Malley.  ‘Among the challenges we face are ensuring Australia’s capacity to make the necessary investments in much needed infrastructure — including roads, rail, ports and broadband.’ ‘We strongly support the aim to return the Budget to surplus, but there is the real danger that trying to do so in record time for its own sake would come at the expense of a far-sighted, measured approach, with serious consequences for Australia’s economic strength over the next five to ten years,’ said Mr Malley.  ‘Extending the return-to-surplus deadline would enable the government to address the immediate issue while ensuring a solid platform for sustainable economic growth and addressing medium to longer-term challenges.’ “These issues cannot be viewed in isolation. They are all interrelated and together have significant implications for Australia’s ongoing economic health,’ Mr Malley said.  ‘As such the next Budget must take a big picture and longer term view based on sound business and economic practice.’

So the CPA is looking beyond just a solution to the  costs of the natural disasters, but more of a long term aspects. I imagine that if our major political parties, and their representatives were not so concerned about maintaining control of government, and protecting their Seats, etc, within the confines of the short term political cycle, we might see some semblance of the kind of scenario the CPA is proposing. – establishing long term platforms rather than rushing to get the budgets back into surplus. In many of these things, there is a real case for a lot more bipartisanship amongst our politicians, because I think we would see better results and outcomes, but of course we are not going to see that happen.

On the international scene, I was interested to note the story about the Palestine National Orchestra creating history, by performing in Israel! The orchestra, which is made up of  Palestinian and foreign musicians performed in Israel for the first time in the history of the Jewish state, described as ‘a landmark cultural event for residents of a region wracked by conflict for generations’. The group debuted on New Year’s Eve in the West Bank city of Ramallah to a packed audience, and then,  were on the road to Jerusalem and Haifa.  Some of the Palestinian performers, who began life as refugees in neighbouring Arab states, set foot in their ancestral homeland for the first time in their life. I’ve referred previously to the importance of sport in bringing ‘warring’ nations together, albeit usually for just a brief time, but had overlooked the sharing joint relevance of music as a similar factor. In the broad spectrum of overall situation between places like Israel and Palestine, it is perhaps just a very small pebble of hope in a huge rock pile, but as the words from various sources will tell us ‘from little things, big things grow’. We can only hope!

Here’s an interesting little quote from Australian pianist, conductor, writer, and radio personality, Guy Noble. Writing in the February edition of ABC Classic FM’s ‘Limelight Magazine’, Noble says [in the context an article entitled ‘Bad news is bad news]’ that:-

“The media tells us everything that’s wrong with the world, but not how to fix it. The news should be renamed ‘Things That Went Wrong Today;  the 7.30 Report updated to Reasons Why Things Went Wrong, and Four Corners might as well be called Things That Are Going To Go Wrong That You Don’t Even Know About Yet. I can’t keep up with all the things I have to be concerned about. I’ve started a list of T^hings To Worry About so I don’t forget any of them. Recently, I mislaid my list and became worried that I wasn’t worrying enough about the things I had to worry about”…………Well, life is hard enough without being alerted by the media every day of the year to all the awful things that could happen to us. Radio and TV should carry warnings not just about the possibility of violence or sex scenes but also whether the following program is going to depress the hell out of you. H for Happy, M for Moderately Depressing, and A for Avoid At All Costs If You’re Having A Bad Day”  Guy Noble concludes his article with the sure advice that ‘music is the best anti-depressive of all!. I can vouch for that!@!

Meanwhile, back a little closer to home, last night’s ‘Family History Society committee meeting left this member feeling as little tired by the time I’ escaped’ – it went a little longer than had been anticipated, but it was at least promising that the society was still operating, as late last year, that seemed unlikely because of a sudden drop off of members, and a lack of interest by others. However, with the AGM in November last seeing the re-emergence  of some members, and a perceived new enthusiasm, here we are at the beginning of another year with the promise of a new approach to the group’s activities and aims. However, as I was one of those who was keen to see the group keep operating, and in doing so, had opted to be a part of the committee, following my brief role in the closing months of 2010 as acting President, I guess I have given myself some extra jobs, in this, my planned last year of full time employment!   However, both that, and my roles at the radio station should have some more time available to be allocated to them after this year, so I do consider my ongoing interest to be worthwhile.

Certainly, not much spare time at home in the evening this week – because tonight, we have the Radio Member’s bi-monthly General Meeting – let’s hope we get more than just the committee turning up to that one! I was pleased to hear that our Station Manager was back on air this morning after his long period of illness. I think he still has some time of the recovery phase to get through yet, but as Mike put it himself, he needs to slowly work himself back into his various roles. No better way to start, then sitting up in the studio doing what comes naturally – entertaining the listeners with one of his regular programs. Incidentally, tonight’s  meeting – well, fairly successful despite the low number of members who turned up. Plans made, amongst other things, for our participation in Sunfest [the annual Sunbury Festival, in the middle of March] – in fact the meeting I was at last night were making similar plans!  Seems like I might be in two places at once that day!

I often find cyclists on the roads to be a real menace – some of them – though that is not to suggest that motorists are not without fault.  However I do find myself getting annoyed with some cyclists [hopefully the minority] who seem to think the roads are made entirely for them – they ignore red lights where they can get away with doing so, assume that the motorist is always aware that the bike is ‘there’ and that the cyclist can actually seen, or often, where a bike lane has been provided on busy but narrow roads, instead of riding in the middle of that lane, seem to tempt fate by placing their cycle right on or slightly over the traffic line of that lane, meaning that even though a bike lane has been provided, a motorist such as myself becomes very apprehensive about passing the cyclist in heavy traffic because of the fear of either the cyclist swaying in front of the car, or creating some slight coming together, which would obviously be disastrous for the cyclist. It is those riders in particular who really do get my ‘ire’ up – because of the assumption on the part of the cyclist that whatever he or she does, the motorist will get out of the way, and if they don’t, the driver ‘must’ be at fault anyway!!!  I would imagine that the best and safest cyclists on our roads, are those that also drive a motor vehicle – they have the knowledge, and perhaps the sense, to be aware of the road situation from both aspects.

And why am I raising this topic, on this particular morning?  Simply because, as I drove through the inner Melbourne suburb of Clifton Hill not far from my employment, I came across an ambulance, etc, at one of the many roundabout intersections attending to a cyclist who was down on the road, presumably having just being struck by a motor vehicle – I didn’t stop to ‘look’ or take close note of obviously in the prevailing traffic conditions, but that appeared to be the scenario. I immediately felt pity for the cyclist concerned, his/her day ruined [though, pray to God, to be given the opportunity to ride again, even live], but also an element of pity for the vehicle driver, although of course I had no knowledge of the circumstances of that particular case. In that particular area,  there are numerous roundabouts that have been constructed at most of the intersections in that heavily built up residential area, with narrow but busy through roads. When driving through there, I am especially nervous when approaching these intersections – not for fear of other vehicles, which will generally be obvious – but wary of cyclists, some of whom, knowing they officially have the ‘right of way’ charge through these intersections as though they are invincible, and simply assuming that the motorists have seen them, irrespective of who is in the right. But these people are not always clearly visible until the very last moment – often, because of the small size of a bike in relation to a motor vehicle, the initial view has been obscured by some aspect of the roundabout structure, or the colours they are wearing, just some minor aspect that obscures the driver’s vision. Perhaps something like that occurred this morning! Perhaps the car driver was at fault! I don’t know of course, but certainly, this morning’s incident stirred up my emotions a little!!

Something else which stirred up my emotions, again occurred whilst driving – on my way home yesterday afternoon –  tuned into our Sunbury station, and was annoyed to discover that the presenter who should have been on air prior to myself this evening, was not there, again! I switched over to the parliamentary broadcast from Canberra, where I’d remembered that today, as the first day of Parliament sitting for 2011 was going to be dedicated to a day of condolence motions for the victims of Australia’s various natural disasters of recent weeks, and the recent deaths of soldiers in Afghanistan. Earlier in the day, Julia Gillard apparently became emotionally upset [rare display for her to display genuine emotion, if that’s what it was] – questions would be asked in the media afterwards as to whether this was the real Julia, and would it change the public perception of her demeanour, even Tony Abbott remarked later in Parliament that ‘the Prime Minister has a decent heart’!  Anyway, I didn’t hear or see Julia’s performance, but I did tune in just as the Liberal National Party member for the Federal seat of Wright began to talk – Scott Buchholz –  that was an extremely emotional 20 minutes because, in speaking to the condolence motion for Queensland’s flood victims [from the first of the tragedies up there in January], he was obviously upset and having an immense difficulty in controlling his emotions even before he started to speak. That was one of the most genuine and heart felt speeches I’ve ever heard from the parliamentary chambers, and because he wasn’t Julia Gillard, his response rated no individual reference in this morning’s media. The Brisbane Courier Mail noted that ‘Scott Buchholz, Member for Wright the region taking in the Lockyer Valley towns of Grantham, Murphys Creek and Helidon cried as he recalled the harrowing moments his constituents were swamped by the inland tsunami. He told of locals clambering on to roofs as water rose to their chests”, and he was one of many MPs who apparently spoke in emotional terms about those events.  Reading a little bit about the man later, it is perhaps no real surprise that he reacted in the manner he did –  Scott Buchholz is described as a man who has the knack of getting people to do things – not just talk. A man of deeply held traditional family values, and a man interested in serving his community. He has been active in Lifeline Community Care, for eg, as a director, amongst other strong community involvements, and quite obviously through his speech revealed that passion and dedication to the people he serves.

TRIBUTE: An emotional Prime Minister Julia Gillard held back her tears during her condolence speech to the parliament, holding an Australian flag that was retrieved from Murphy’s Creek by an Australian Army Blackhawk helicopter crew, who were searching for missing people. Picture: Gary Ramage. Source: The Courier-Mail

To be continued >>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Yesterday, I was speaking of the ABC Program, Q & A. Last night, it was SBS’s turn with another ‘Late Session’ chat, and as usual, another intriguing little group of appropriately chosen ‘dinner’ guests [of varying age ranges] with host Waheed Aly, and a subject along the lines of ‘the nature of age and wisdom’. While one of my friends described this late night program as too light weight and flippant for that time of night, I, as I have noted on past weeks, enjoyed the interchange of ideas, and the presentation of a range of noted guests in such an informal and relaxed setting- so much so, that we had Jenny Lee relating her one night stands with people like John Lennon [he was hot], and Keith Richards [the Rolling Stones] in her younger wild days as a ‘rock groupie’ – personally, that was all a bit too much detail, but nevertheless, an aspect of a program which brings out the ‘real’ personalities of these people that we would not normally see. This week’s guests were: Jenny Kee, Ross Wilson, Benjamin Law, Libbi Gorr and Kamahl, and in more detail, as follows, as I like to recall [compliments of Wikipedia, and other bio sources].

Jenny Kee is an Australian fashion designer. ‘She was born in Bondi to a Cantonese father and a mother of partially Italian descent. Kee started her career in fashion in modelling, at one time featuring as the face of Canadian Airlines advertisement. ^]She was married to Australian artist Michael Ramsden for 21 yearsIn 1965 she moved to London and became involved in the Swinging London and underground scene^..  There she sold ethnic and retro clothes, cast-off Dior clothes, and Indian embroideries to a hippy clientele. While being interviewed for TV series Talking Heads, she claims that during her time in London, she had a brief sexual encounter with John Lennon^.  She was involved with the filmaker Philippe Mora and starred in his film, Passion Play, shot in The Pheasantry (1967–68), playing Mary Magdalene.  In 2006, she published her autobiography and account of her life in swinging London, A Big Life’. Interestingly, her past ‘hippy’ younger lifestyle doesn’t seem to have faded, if only I felt as lively as she came over on the TV tonight!!  The Sydney Morning Herald had this to say about her – ‘At 64 and with the aid of a fortifying glass of shiraz, the fashion designer turned artist Jenny Kee still makes for one of the most entertaining and engaging dinner party guests Sydney has to offer’……the report went on ‘can confidently report that Kee delivers in spades, including the revelation she slept with four of the world’s biggest rock stars in the 1960s, that she now considers the 2001 suicide of her partner, the artist Danton Hughes, a ”blessing”, and that her old chum Germaine Greer has grown into a ”bitter” old lady.  Kee kept her dining companions, which included Libbi Gorr, Ross Wilson and Kamahl, enthralled, especially when it came to the top of her list of conquests as a rock groupie: bedding John Lennon.She described Lennon as ”this amazing, energetic, extraordinary, funny, funny … beyond funny” man.She says Lennon was the third man she had ever slept with and had met him after sneaking into the Sydney hotel he and the rest of the Beatles were staying at during their 1964 tour.”I was his first little Asian experience,” Kee says, referring to Lennon’s later relationship with Yoko Ono’. Well, that article was pulling no punches!!

‘Lisbeth Joanne “Libbi” Gorr (born 24 March 1965) is an Australian broadcaster, writer, voice artist and journalist. She is also known for the satirical character that she created called “Elle McFeast”. Gorr was born in Melbourne and educated at the Methodist Ladies’ College. When she was an arts and law student at the University of Melbourne, she began working in comedy. After graduating she became an articled clerk with the Melbourne law firm Phillips Fox. She also performed with the all-women cabaret group The Hot Bagels. Gorr got her first regular media gig as the voice of Sportsgirl fashion chain, when she was asked to “sound” like a photo of supermodel Elle MacPherson. In 2010, Gorr signed her first book deal with major Australian publishing house, Harper Collins’.  Now this lady, I have heard on the radio, but never had any interest in watching the TV show ‘Elle McFeast live’ [not my kind of entertainment].

‘Benjamin Law is a Brisbane-based freelance writer. He is a senior contributor to frankie magazine and has also written for The Monthly, The Courier Mail, Qweekend, Sunday Life, Cleo, Crikey, The Big Issue, New Matilda, Kill Your Darlings, ABC Unleashed and the Australian Associated Press.His essays have been anthologised in Growing Up Asian in Australia, The Best Australian Essays 2008, The Best Australian Essays 2009 and the forthcoming Voracious: New Australian Food Writing.The Family Law (2010) is his debut book, and is published by Black Inc. Books. A French edition will be published by Belfond in 2012. The TV rights have been sold to Matchbox Pictures.He’s currently working on his second book, a collection of non-fiction looking at queer people and communities throughout Asia. It has the working title of Gaysia.’ A slightly built  man of Asian apperarance, interesting man, very quiet, but before reading the above, I had little knowledge of him , and unusually for this program, not a great revealed about his personal life, that I picked up anyway.

‘Ross Andrew Wilson  [born 18 November 1947, Melbourne, Victoria) is an Australian singer-songwriter, guitarist and producer who fronted the groups Daddy Cool and Mondo Rock, and produced albums by Australian band Skyhooks, He has also performed solo, and as a judge on celebrity singing TV series It Takes Two from 2005.  Wilson .as individually inducted into the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) Hall of Fame in 1989 and again as a member of Daddy Cool in 2006’.  Now I’ve played the music from his two bands from time to time on my radio shows, and really enjoyed listening to him sing tonight –  his solo performance [although many years after the original] of ‘Cool World’ was great tonight, and interesting to watch the enthusiastic response of the other guests – especially Jenny Kee who was ’almost’ up on the dinner table jiving away to the music!!  Great to see!

‘Kamahl is the stage name of Kandiah Kamalesvaran (Tamil: கந்தையா கமலேஸ்வரன்; born 13 November 1934), an Australian singer and recording artist, perhaps best-known for “The Elephant Song”, and his repertoire of popular music. Born in Malaysia to Tamil Hindu parents, he is of Sri Lankan Tamil heritage. He grew up in Brickfields, Kuala Lumpur and studied at the Victoria Institution. He arrived in Adelaide, South Australia in 1953 to receive a higher education at King’s College (now Pembroke School), however, his arrival was not without prejudice on the part of an Australia still influenced by the White Australia Policy. This experience gave bite to his well-known quote: “Why are people so unkind?”^[ At his first public performance in 1958 he shortened his name to Kamal, but the Master of Ceremonies announced him as “Camel”. After that he changed the spelling to Kamahl. As he made his way into the Australian music industry, Rupert Murdoch was an early important mentor. Murdoch tipped Kamahl £10 at a concert in December 1958 and encouraged him to move to Sydney. Without asking, Murdoch arranged for Kamahl to perform a six-week season at the Hotel Australia in Sydney. After that season, he boarded with the Murdochs for two years’.  After my mother passed away, in 1990, I ‘inherited’ most of her vinyl recordings which included a number by Kamahl, and I occasionally play a track or two on the radio.  In many ways, his singing was maligned by some, but his popularity to a certain generation can never be denied. Now aged 76, he was obviously slowing down, but ‘sang’ for the dinner party last night –  with a reference again to that quote of his ‘Why are people so unkind? The ‘chorus’ lyrics with a strong element of sadness about them, went like this:-

What would I do without my music?

What would I do without my song?

What would I do without my music?

To lift me up when all my dreams are gone.

To give me hope, so I can carry on.

‘The Late Session’ finished off with that ‘Mondo Rock’ man, Ross Wilson singing ‘That Old Country Road’ with Waheed Aly accompanying him on the guitar, and a guest pianist who had been waiting ‘in the wings’ for that moment.

All in all, I learnt plenty about the guests, although not sure if I gained much about the topic of ageing and wisdom, except interesting to learn from people like Waheed and  Benjamin that getting to 30 years was a traumatic event [the latter not there yet] while Jenny Kee considers her life now is as good as it ever was, and she believes it will continue to be so when she gets to Kamahl’s age!! Sounds like a lady who has enjoyed life, and continues to do so.

On another aspect of yesterday, I was disappointed to once again find that neither of the radio presenters due to be on air both prior to and after my program tonight had turned up for their shows!!  Back to my old ‘gripe’ about commitment, and my belief that some form of ultimation needs to be given to some of these people sometimes. However, that is matter for future consideration – in the meantime, I’m beginning to feel like a ‘lone island’ of a Tuesday evening this year. Nevertheless, as usual, I enjoyed the program I presented tonight, which included a selection of music from the movie ‘Marie Antionette’, and the musical/operetta ‘Naughty Marietta’ which doesn’t generally get a great deal of airplay these days.  A break from the show music, halfway through the show, with a little selection of jazz – summer music!!

Last night on the ABC, we saw the return of the weekly open panel discussion – Q & A –   what exactly is Q & A? It’s about democracy in action – on Q&A the audience gets to ask the questions.  It doesn’t matter who you are, or where you’re from – everyone can have a go and take it up to our politicians and opinion makers.   It’s about encouraging people to engage with politics and society, and is happening  live to air as viewers watch. As one viewer noted, it puts punters, pollies and pundits together in the studio to thrash out the hot issues of the week, and encourages the audience, both within the studio, and external, via the web etc, to engage with politicians and other respected members of society. Tonight’s panel guests for example were Graham Richardson [former Labor minister], Amanda Vanstone [former Liberal minister under John Howard], David Williamson [renowned Australian playwright], Catherine Deveney [comedian and social commentator, who did not impress me one iota] and  Gerard Henderson [historian and conservative commentator, an interesting man].

The show overall, is hosted by one of the ABC’s most respected journalists, Tony Jones, whose aim with the program is to put the Australian public directly in touch with the politicians and playmakers – to give them the opportunity to get some answers, eye to eye. Tony Jones has won pretty much every award an Australian journalist could wish for. He’s covered the seminal news events of the last two decades – from the fall of communism in Eastern Europe, through the collapse of apartheid in South Africa, to the rise of the Taliban and, closer to home, the revelations of sexual abuse in remote Aboriginal communities.

Now I make mention of this because, together with Tuesday night’s ‘The Late Session’ , Q & A is probably my favourite current piece of TV viewing at present, and as with both productions [on different channels] I enjoy the interaction between the various guests, and in tonight’s case, the audiences as well, and the opportunity to see some of these people perform outside of their comfort zones, being expected to respond to a range of questions which I think I can safely assume they have not been previously made aware of. Of course the fact the topics of discussion so often refer to issues of the day should mean that the participants have a fair idea of the subjects that are going to be thrown up at them.

Some examples of the kind of questions asked tonight of the panel included:

On the proposed Flood Levy, Australian of the Year, Simon McKeon, is known for his philanthropy and his propensity to give to those in need. If generosity is an Australian value worthy of our highest honour, why is it that 41% of Australians in the most recent Newspoll are so against the Flood Levy – against helping their fellow Australians?  [Here, broad agreement seemed to be that Australians in the main were not opposed to supporting those affected by the floods, etc, but the means by which the government was suggesting it be done].

Floods and climate change: Gerard Henderson, you have criticized Bob Brown recently for suggesting the coal industry should be taxed for their role in contributing to the effects of climate change. However there is an overwhelming scientific consensus that natural disasters such as these will become both more frequent and more severe as a result of greenhouse gas emissions.
Is it not both fair and prudent then that we tax the coal industry and other big polluters, to help pay for the damage they cause, and to discourage further pollution?  [Henderson made it very clear that the coal industry had his full support, and that it’s demise would be to the detriment of most Australians, but he did not have full support for that argument]

Gillard, the Actor? According to David Williamson, Labour’s biggest problem is that Julia Gillard can’t act. Mark Latham, in a recent column wrote, ‘she is not a naturally empathetic person – displaying… noticeable discomfort around infant children.’  Isn’t it worrying that we should be critiquing our leaders by their ability to ‘act’ in the sense of theatre, rather than in the sense of ‘deed’?  [Seemed to be a general view of agreement, however it was felt that she was been very poorly advised as to how she should act and speak – there were two different Gillards – the strong politician in Parliament, compared to the other Julia Gillard as she seems to be getting presented, as wooden and uncaring – quite a few differing views arising from this question, including the obvious comparison in performances between her and the Queensland Premier over the past three weeks]

Labor’s Demise: A video question to Graham Richardson: In your days, NSW right would have generated policy initiatives & worked to generate public support for government policies. Is it a major concern for Labour & indeed Australia that the labour political operatives seem to be purely concerned with preserving their power base in the party as opposed to assisting Gillard to establish policy platforms & win public support for her policies?

Egypt and Islam: Will the protests in Egypt bring about democracy, or simply be a catalyst for another Islamist regime?

Assange and the Nobel Prize: Does the panel agree that Julian Assange has earned the Nobel Peace Prize for promoting the democratic right of citizens to be informed of what is done in their name? If not why not? [General agreement and feeling that this suggestion should be regarded as a ‘joke’]

Coalition’s response to the flood levy: How does the Liberal party respond to commentary in major newspapers that Tony Abbott is playing politics in times of intense human suffering, rather than presenting a united front to rectify the damage in Victoria and Queensland?

Anyway, my purpose here because of space and time, was merely to indicate the kind of questions presented to our panel, and one notices that in most cases, they are questions that are probably on the lips or minds of the average Australian voter and/or citizen. I find it an interesting and useful hour of television, and no doubt will continue to be a regular Monday night fan!

Incidentally, yesterdayday was the anniversary of the tragic Black Saturday bushfires in Victoria, on February 7^th, 2009. I said plenty in my contributions at that time in regard to that terrible natural disaster, and won’t go over it again here, particularly in light of the dramatic climate events that have been going on in Australia since the beginning of this year. In speaking of bush fires, over in Perth where major bushfires have been ravaging some of that city’s outer suburbs, at least 70 homes had been destroyed by the end of today. So we have massive losses of property on both sides of the continent, and from opposite  extremes of climatic consequences.

A few days ago, I asked my brother, Robert, how the Tour Down Under [TDU] experience compared with the Tour De France [TDF], and his interesting reply came back over the weekend – the following are the bits of relevance I’d like to include in today’s contribution to these pages.

“Terrain is the obvious one – sure there are climbs in S.A. but nothing of the length and constant steepness that you encounter in the Pyrenees and Alps (although S.A. does have a mini monster called Checker Hill; it’s very short at 1 km but over the last 600 metres pitches up to a 22% grade – to put in perspective a typical steep climb would have an average grade of about 9%; even the pros have to hit “granny gear” to get over Checker Hill);

 [The] Pros [professional riders] love TDU because of weather (particularly those from Europe) and as they get to stay in the same hotel (Adelaide Hilton) all week; and travelling with Trek we get to stay there also;

[The] Opportunity to mix with and talk to pros is much greater; obviously helps staying in the same hotel. Great access with Trek boys including – drinks with Radio Shack team (minus Lance, but he did send his bike!), dinner at Teams’ village with Phil Liggett / Paul Sherwen as hosts + a great talk by Anna Mears about coming back from a broken neck to win gold, and “Legends dinner” – intimate dinner with Lance Armstrong & Mark Cavendish (+ about 2,000 others);

[You] Get to see more of the race live as a number of the stages include loops, so if you get to the right spot you can see the race pass 2-3 times. Plus with Trek we get great “finish line” seats for the opening criterium race and the final day race around Adelaide streets – came past us about 20 times in the final 90 km race and never cease to be amazed at just how fast they go. My usual Sat/Sun morning ride is 90 km and takes me 3 hours (average 30 kph); they did the 90 km in 1 hour 54 min at average 48 kph!!;

> Crowds are big in S.A. but clearly nothing like TDF where people are camped out for days on the mountain stages. Which means greater informality with roads not closed until just prior to the pros coming through versus some hours before in TDF.

Saturday stage you saw on TV was in McLaren Vale – stage does an initial loop taking in south coast (beautiful riding along here) and then two loops of a famous TDU climb called “Old Willunga Hill” – it’s a great climb to ride crowded with spectators and is followed by a fast 20km of flat/downhill into Willunga itself – on this section we boys managed to get up to 45 kph on the flat and 60+ on the downhill. Willunga Hill is a great spot to watch the race, which is where I headed after riding the stage during the morning. Best memory of that day was a battered and bandaged Mark Cavendish almost riding over my toes as he tailed the field up the climb (twice) looking very miserable. I’m not his biggest fan, but to give him credit he turned up to the Legends dinner that same night and was philosophical about his bad luck crashing so early (and finished the Tour despite being dead last – probably a first for the fastest road sprinter in the world.

For a Tour that was promoted as having 6-7 of the worlds best sprinters in attendance (including Cavendish, Robbie McEwen, Robbie Hunter – South African, had nice chat, Farrar, Greipel, Alan Davis), it was the young Aussies who came to the fore with young Cameron Meyer winning – while 23 he looks about 10 on the podium; saw his mother being interviewed on the final day just in front of us; needless to say she was proud as punch And the not so young Aussies also did well. Robbie McEwen getting 2nd in 2-3 stages and briefly in the yellow jersey; and that war-horse Stuart O’Grady is amazing – always on the attack including on the last day – was in every attack around the Adelaide street circuit (after spotting him in the Hilton bar at 1.30 am that same morning – you recall he and Andy Schleck were sent home from the Giro last year by their team for going out for a few beers – he says he only had one!)

Was happy with my own ride, usually putting in a bit extra than what was planned for each day. I know the Trek guide (Dave) well and he told me the group’s name for me was the “energizer bunny” plus they kept calling for me to be drug tested! Need to be in shape, as possibly doing something bigger with Trek later in the year but ride is not confirmed yet, so will tell you about that later. In the meantime, doing a ride with Evelyn in Japan in May (on island of Shikoku, south east of Tokyo).

Will this man never stop – the more he relates about his riding feats, the more depressed I become about my own physical abilities these days [or lack thereof!!], and remembering that he is only 28 months younger than myself!  Nevertheless, I did appreciate the foregoing summary of his week in South Australia, and while I doubt he will ever think to keep a record of things of that nature, I will at least have his thoughts recorded, if called for at some future time

After all the scenes over the past few weeks from Queensland, Brisbane, then northern and central Victoria, followed  by Queensland again,  it was almost inevitable, but still a complete shock, to see the pictures on the TV screens last night –  of the streets, freeways, railway tracks, houses and businesses flooded and under water – here in the south eastern suburban areas of ‘Melbourne’, and in parts of the CBD.  The huge thunderstorms that swept across much of Victoria  late yesterday afternoon and throughout the night, caused chaos, especially in parts of Melbourne with the  volumes of rain that accompanied them. It wasn’t un til late evening that the storms reached Sunbury, and I was rather grateful of that, and looking at some of the scenes of flooded roads, etc, was thankful I was not out in that weather. It seems that many of the flooded roads etc, were still causing massive traffic congestion late this afternoon.  I just have to repeat again  – the contrast between my entries of 12-14 months ago, when the decade long drought appeared as though it was going to go on, and rainfall was such a rare commodity – and now, we seemed to have been swamped with flooding rains [literally] since Christmas over much of Australia, with not even Melbourne been spared this time!

Those were my thoughts as I went to bed last night, with the news that a further belt of storms and heavy rainfall was expected to sweep across the state within the next 24 hours or so – thoughts that were disturbed by some clowns in the neighbourhood setting off some rather powerful sounding fire crackers. This is generally a very quiet neighbourhood, our home situated in a court, where under normal circumstances, any vehicles driving into our street at night would belong to residents of the court. So any kind of noise of that nature – which sounded much stronger than a firecracker – would be completely unexpected and out of the ordinary.

Sunday morning began as always – at 3NRG for my program of classical music for 2 hours. While I can’t claim that any night of the week is on average a ‘good night’s sleep’, Saturday nights in particular never seem to produce a decent sleep, for one reason or another, and last night was no exception!! But the news headlines this morning confirmed my concerns about the weekend’s weather here in Victoria  –   ‘VICTORIA SWAMPED – Storm havoc across state – Emergency grants announced – More wild weather to come’. Now, it is Gippsland’s turn, as thousands of residents in Victoria’s west Gippsland have evacuated their homes as the Bunyip River threatens to rise to its highest peak in 40 years. Victoria’s State Emergency Service (SES) says the river is expected to exceed the predicted flood level of 7.2 metres, above the 1971 flood record.Residents in the townships of Koo Wee Rup, Iona, Cora Lynn and Bayles and surrounding areas were advised to evacuate their homes by 9.30pm (AEDT) on Saturday or risk inundation and possible isolation. The SES said anyone who chose to stay in their homes risked becoming trapped in floodwaters, or cut off by road congestion or closures in the area. People are urged not to drive, ride or play in floodwaters.

The flood alerts come after emergency services received more than 3500 calls for help, people were plucked from rescues trapped cars and inundated homes, while several major roads and train lines were closed when the deluge began on Friday evening. In some parts of the state 100 to 150 millimetres fell in just a few hours, causing severe flash flooding. Some towns have been inundated by floodwaters even before they recovered from flooding that occurred last month [just two weeks ago], while in places like Creswick, about 16 kms north of Ballarat, they have faced their third flood in the town since September last!  We have a number of public tenants who come from that area, and Committee secretary, Russell, has already had his home inundated twice – I wonder if he was struck again, yesterday?

Meanwhile, up in Sydney, they are breaking records of a different nature!  As the following report indicates:- ‘Sydney has never experienced such consistently high temperatures since records were first kept in 1858. Sydney’s heatwave has shattered a 150-year-old record, but the big sweat isn’t over yet. In dozens of suburbs on Saturday the temperature soared into the mid to high 30s for the sixth day running and over much of NSW. As thousands flocked to beaches and the harbour foreshores to cool off, the mercury climbed above the 38-degree mark while Observatory Hill recorded a peak of 41.5 degrees. Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) senior forecaster Neale Fraser said that Saturday was officially the sixth successive day that the Sydney area had sweltered in 30-plus temperatures. Since records were first kept in 1858, Sydney had never experienced such consistently high temperatures. “We’ve had runs of hot weather for three or four days but you get a southerly change that keeps it below 30 then it warms up again,” Mr Fraser told AAP. The heat led to another spate of bushfires and more health warnings.

To perhaps rub ‘salt in the national wound’, over in Western Australia, one hundred and fifty firefighters and five helicopters are battling to control a bushfire that is threatening homes in Perth’s northeast suburbs. An earlier report indicated that the Fire and Emergency Services Authority (FESA) issued an emergency warning early on Sunday for Brigadoon, Baskerville, Millendon, Red Hill and Herne Hill, in the city of Swan. The fire, which started at 9.14pm (WST) on Saturday, had burnt 800 hectares by 8.20am. A FESA spokeswoman said there had been no reports of homes being burnt yet but they were being impacted by embers, as flames stretched higher than roof tops and spot fires started up to a kilometre ahead of the main fire. FESA said in a statement there was a threat to lives and homes and people were being warned they needed to act immediately to survive. If the way was clear people should leave immediately for a safer place and take their survival kits with them.

[As a subsequent unpleasant postscript, the overnight news would report that more than 40 houses were likely to have been destroyed as those bushfires remained out of control in Roleystone, in the Perth hillsand that number was expected to be revised upwards in the light of day. At least there were no reports of loss of life, as of late tonight.  However, at that point, neither of the two main fires outside Perth were under control, and unpredictable and strong winds were expected through to Monday morning.  It seems that at present, no parts of this continent are being spared any respite in the unusual and extreme weather conditions].

So just maybe, it is destiny that my music matinee this afternoon was to be entitled ‘Music From The Heavens’ – some attempt to balance all those other elements that the ‘heavens’ have imposed upon us,  The program in fact was not devised by myself on this occasion, but put together by my work associate who was to be my guest presenter for the afternoon – essentially something quite different to what I normally do, although the regular program itself makes a point of having a different format and genre of music each time it is broadcast. That has been my aim. Today,  it was to consist principally of music from the ‘different’ faiths from around the world – such as  music from Islam,  , a Siddha Yoga chant, Gregorian chants some traditional Christian music, Pentecostal hymns, and overall, an emphasis on the development of interfaith dialogues, and the  multi-religious nature  of some world programs these days, as especially revealed here in Melbourne. Perhaps I was going ‘out on a bit of a limb’ in presenting today’s format, but one of the aims of community is to allow all sectors of a community radius to have the opportunity to be heard. And although Mark was not of our community – he lives on the other side of Melbourne in one of our coastal suburbs –  the music that we were going to play today, is certainly representative of many in the community.

Well indeed we did – quite a wide variety of religious based music throughout the program. With the program basically prepared by someone else ’new to the business’, I had to be reliant on Mark’s organisation of what we were going to do – not everything ran as smoothly organised as I am used to, however the hiccups were minor, and overall it was a successful joint venture.  In addition to the music, we included a few other ‘chatty’ bits and pieces including a section of ‘inspirational quotes’  -here’s a couple of examples:-

• ‘I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work’ [Thomas Alva Edison]
• ‘The journey of a thousand milers begins with one step’ [Miyamoto Musashi]
• ‘Twenty years from now, you will be more disappointed by the things you did not do than by the things you did do. So, throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbour. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover’ [Mark Twain]……………….Jessica Watson comes to mind.  And finally,
• ‘I like living. I have sometimes been wildly, despairingly, acutely miserable, racked with sorrow, but through it all I still know quite certainly that just to be alive is a grand thing’ [Agatha Christie]

Mark had also brought along with him, a taped recording of an interview he did with a Catholic Priest, a few days ago –  the Rev Dr, John Dupuche, who was born in 1940 in Melbourne, to French parents who had come to Australia on business but were prevented from returning to France by the outbreak of World War II. During his young years, the family language and culture was French. He was ordained as a priest in 1974, and is currently a Parish Priest in the south eastern suburb of Beaumaris.   His particular relevance to today’s program was through his role as Chair of the Catholic Interfaith Committee of the Archdiocese of Melbourne, and his heavy involvement in interreligious relations. He had a particular interest in the interface between Christianity and Kashmir Shaivism  –  a branch of Indian thought that I had not previously heard of, to be honest!  Anyway, it was quite an interesting between Mark & the priest, with particular emphasise on the work that is going on these days to try and bring a lot of the separate religions and faiths closer together [including the Islamic faith] in more cooperative and sharing ways. Interestingly, Father Dupuche has recently established an interfaith household with a number of like minded representatives of some of these other ‘faiths’. Quite an interesting man. The taped recording of about 20 minutes was quite successful, the only problem being that both speakers on it did so with very quiet voices, and for all listeners to hear it clearly, some adjustment of the volume would be necessary.

As an interesting sideline to all of this, I noticed in one of last week’s local papers a notation about  our local municipality’s citizen of the year, viz; “Tibetan  refugee Thubten Loden was named Hume Council’s Citizen of the Year last week. Venerable Geshe Acharya Thubten Loden, 88, established the Tibetan Buddhist Society and helped establish the Peaceful Land of Joy Meditation Centre in Yuroke. He became a monk when he was seven and received his full training at Sera Je Monastery in Tibet before coming to Australia in 1976”.  Local recognition and acceptance of the work undertaken in our society by a representative of another culture and religion – excellent example to refer to during the program today.

Is there no end to these variable and unusual climatic extremes we seem to be experiencing this Summer down here in the land of sunshine and beaches?   Late yesterday, and overnight,  Victoria has been battered by thunderstorms producing flash floods across the state as the effects of tropical cyclone activity up in the northern states continue to wreak havoc on infrastructure and property.  Although I obviously missed the worst of the weather, on my return home yesterday in humid and uncomfortable conditions,  public transport was brought to a standstill along tram routes and several train lines, while hundreds of roads, including parts of the Monash Freeway and the Calder Highway [the road I travelled by, as far as Sunbury], were closed, traffic jamming as workers fought to drive home through the deluge. The Metropolitan Fire Brigade was overwhelmed by calls for help from disabled people seeking assistance. The State Emergency Service (SES) took calls from more than 1500 people for assistance and rescued 49 people from cars and homes after heavy rain inundated suburbs and towns on Friday evening. Emergency warnings for flash flooding were issued for the metropolitan, central, east, southwest, northwest and northeast parts of the state.  Here in Sunbury, it really started to come down [the rain] around about the time Susie was due to leave her work – not surprisingly, by the time she walked in the door at 10.30pm, she was soaking, drenched to the skin almost!

When I awoke this morning, it was still raining steadily, although I don’t think it had continued through the night.  It did not look good for the local cricketing teams with the second day of a two day game due to be played today – I think Adam’s game is here in Sunbury, and even if the rain stops, I imagine the various sporting ovals will be partially under water in many areas. Certainly, it seems more rain is due today  – the day I was finally going to get my lawns mowed, following the return of my machine during the week.  Not today!! The Bureau is forecasting widespread rain in Victoria over the weekend, including a flood watch for the greater Melbourne  water catchment areas.

Away from the weather, which admittedly has not just dominated my ‘blog’ over recent weeks, but most of the media outlets here!  However, I did mention a couple of days ago, the inclusion of a good article about our local radio station which appeared in this week’s ‘Weekly – Your Community Voice’, and I wanted to share that article with my readers, far and afield.

More than two thirds of the 59 fully licensed community radio stations in Victoria are in country areas. The stations, mostly run by volunteers, offer a range of programs and services often not found on commercial channels. Reporter [for the ‘Voice’] Charlotte Cullum Jenkins spoke to some of the people behind Sunbury’s station 3NRG.

Every Monday at 7pm Alan Olsen takes his seat behind the mixing desk, broadcasting to the people of Sunbury songs made famous by the likes of Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash and Patsy Cline.   ‘‘I love music and I’ve always listened to radio. I guess why I got involved in radio is because I have a certain following in music. I do a country show. I was brought up on country music.   ‘‘Community radio were the only stations that would play what I would listen to. You’d never get that on commercial. I was looking for an alternative. But community radio stations back in the ’60s were few and far between. I was playing music through a tape recorder that I fitted to the car I had, that’s how I got to hear what I wanted to hear.

‘‘Community radio was always my favourite interest, even back then. It was that little bit of difference that I enjoyed. Presenters were more down to earth, you could relate to what they were about … I like to listen to someone who is fair dinkum and that’s how I got into community radio.’’\ Olsen joined 3NRG in 1994 and his show has been on air for 16 years.  ‘‘To me there are big differences between community and commercial radio … We involve the community and we try to get the community involved with the station. We do live outdoor broadcasts, anything that might be of interest. We ask people and we can broadcast it. We also try to get people to become presenters, which adds content for the listener.’’ The catchment area of the station is about 55,000 people.

Listener surveys reveal there are about 7000 regular and 12,000 casual listeners. But does Olsen ever wonder how many people are tuning in?  ‘‘It goes across your mind all the time when you’re doing radio — who is listening? Am I giving them the entertainment they like? Unless you get feedback you don’t know. I guess the best way to know is if no one rings in and asks you to do things another way you must be doing something right.’’ Olsen’s passion for country music and radio is what landed him behind the desk and he is now the station president, overseeing the running of the station.

All presenters at 3NRG go through a training program, teaching the fundamentals of on-air radio. ‘‘When you’re on air you’re talking to people — you don’t know who you’re talking to or where it’s going.  It’s not that same as talking to someone on the street or your neighbour. The course of conversation has to differ because people are listening and you can easily offend. It doesn’t matter what you say, it may offend someone somewhere.’’ The station has between 60 and 80 volunteers, 40 of those are on-air presenters — covering about 86 per cent of on air time a week.

The Community Broadcasting Association of Australia, the national body for community radio stations, has set out some of the broadcasting guidelines that the station adheres to and supports the running of the station. ‘‘Community radio is based on the principles of access and participation to members of the community in a local area. It provides a broad range of programs produced and presented by people who are part of the local community, provides training and experience in broadcasting and in many communities forms an important part of the social framework and information network so critical to maintaining a strong sense of community,’’ the general manager of the Community Broadcasting Association of Australia, Kath Letch, says. ‘‘Community radio stations play a vital role in small communities throughout Australia, with 75 per cent of stations located in regional and remote areas. According to our industry research, approximately 30 per cent of regional community radio services are the only radio services providing information specific to their local community or region.’’ Community radio offers a variety of programs to cater to many interests. But one of the challenges that community radio stations face is raising the money to run them. Mostly they rely on sponsors and membership.

It costs about $15,000 each year to run 3NRG. Station manager Mike Cherriman says there are also grants available from local, state and federal governments and community groups. Funding is a huge challenge … we have just enough money to manage our affairs so we’re not attractive to grant givers, which is a bit of a catch-22, so we rely on grant givers. ‘‘As a manager there’s a lot of networking, a lot of getting out there and helping people understand what community radio is, why it’s there, what it can do for them, engaging various community centres — providing them a platform to promote themselves. We offer the opportunity to anyone who wants to come along and stand on their soapbox and be heard. The airwaves are there for that.’’ Olsen’s hope is to see more young presenters working at the station. ‘‘I think the station is going to boom down the track. Mike is drumming up more and more sponsors.’’’

So there you have it, a little synopsis of our local radio station which, as will have been noted over the years of my writings involves quite a deal of my non-working time. Many of the points that Alan has referred to are matters I’ve mused over myself from time to time – the prime example being I think, the constant wondering as to whether ‘anyone is listening’!!  Alan will be the first to tell you that ‘yes Bill, they are out there, you would be surprised’, but then again, they are words from the presenter of one of the two or three most popular programs on the station  – however, one can be assured that just because those programs all happen to concentrate on ‘country’ music, the rest of us are not in any hurry whatsoever to change ‘our’ preferred genres of music, etc!!! We like to think [tongue in cheek] that our listeners are he quieter types who prefer to sit back and enjoy the music without rushing to the phone every five minutes!!!  True or not, that is the optimism which keeps this presenter on air, and will in fact see me on air for two programs tomorrow, neither of which have any semblance whatsoever to country music!!!  Meanwhile we still hope, with plans in the future pipeline to be able to one day broadcast or stream our programs online through the internet, so that will mean my friends overseas can finally listen to Bill on air – hope it’s not too long in coming!!

One of my main purposes in writing these contributions [I prefer that description, to the word ‘blog’] is to share the kind of issues that I take note or, or that have some kind of affect on the way I feel about things.  Sometimes that ‘sharing’ will be through my own views, or on occasions, the comments of friends, family, journalists, political commentators, reviewers, etc – items which have created in myself and instant reaction of interest, and which I feel at the time, others may like to have brought to their attention.

My writings could also be interpreted as a form of personal history – not so much of day to day happenings as they occur to me [those these will creep in from time to time] – but of my responses to events that occur on a local,  national or even international basis. It is my feelings about such ‘events’ [ranging from politics, sport, social issues, the arts, books, etc]  which form my ‘profile’’ I suppose it could be said  –  I will never claim to be an expert in any aspect that might come through these pages, far from it in fact, but I will claim a genuine interest, and where applicable, concern as the case may be.  I have preferred to call myself  [to those in the past who have been an occasional or even regular reader of my ‘blogs’] your ‘personal essayist’, a term which many contributions ago, I tried to describe.  Perhaps I should resurrect that definition, although I will probably come up with a slightly different interpretation to what appeared previously – I’ll try and find that in my records later – but for now, this is what I consider the most appropriate way to describe my current writings.

I think it’s generally understood that the popular blog can form the basis of a personal essay, either by being designed with that purpose in mind, or purely by accidental development, as they grow into a series of memoirs about the writer’s life, or  the writer’s efforts to communicate certain ideas,  thoughts and experiences on a range of   subjects that might interest him or her. A very public recent example of this was the blog written by Australia’s young ‘around the world’ solo sailor, ‘Jessica Watson’. The blog, which was literally read by millions during the course of her trip, eventually formed a large basis of the book that she produced late last year on the story behind her solo adventure. In many ways, this is how I regard my own writings – as the story of my life [boring as that may seem to the average reader] which incorporates, not just things that happen to me, but events and issues that occur and influence different aspects of my whole reason for existing on this earth. I’ve admitted above to not being an expert in any particular subject, but I do have a personal interest in ‘many’ different aspects of human existence, and I’m sure this is reflected over the years through my writings. I read somewhere that   ‘What makes personal essays so attractive is that they’re wide open. There are no rules to follow or structure to which we must adhere. You simply write your ideas, and since they’re yours, you can put all the focus on making the language interesting’. Of course what is interesting is a question of ‘perception’ –  what is interesting to one person, will be irrelevant to someone else, and I recognize that through my writings – how and what I write about, is my choice,  and if no-one wants to read a particular piece, that is their choice, it is a means of commenting upon  something myself [or submitting the views of others] as an ongoing aspect of my ‘life’s interests’.

Some views are that a ‘personal essay’[or blog] should only reflect a ‘personal evaluation of the facts’, your personal attitude to a problem. I go further than that, and like to include other views and reports on an issue [things I’ve read, and want to share and/or record for future ‘biographical’ interest]. I don’t believe I need apologise for taking that approach. Perhaps I could be described as my ‘own gatekeeper’, previously the role of editors and publisher, in permitting written material to be distributed as widely as the internet now allows.  Certainly, blogging has become a readily accessible and often free platform for writers to self publish. My dream has always been to write a book – whether that be a ‘family history’, a ‘personal biography’ or an historical novel. My habit of becoming interested and involved in so many ‘other’ things has basically prevented that from occurring [to this point in time]. It’s still on the ‘drawing board’!

In concluding this ‘attempted’ redefinition of the ‘personal essayist’, I’ll go to another writer, Annie Dillard [in ‘To Fashion A Text’, 1988] where she describes the personal essay as something which ‘is all over the map….There’s nothing you can’t do with it. No subject matter is forbidden, no structure is prescribed. You get to make up your own form every time’. Well now, that probably describes ‘this writer’ to a tee – you could get a bit of something from anywhere at any time!!!

Here’s an example of how I like to share the views of friends, while of course as a matter of courtesy, ensuring that those views are ‘available’ to be shared on a wider distribution, than might originally have been intended.  A couple of days ago, I received an email from a friend here of the radio station, who has been away for a few weeks,  fruit picking etc, with his wife and others.  Jack had some rather strong words to say about the ‘farmers’ and their representatives in that area of our agricultural industries, and I must say, that in the absence of any knowledge to the contrary, I was rather disgusted by what I read.  Like the writer, I feel that this kind of thing should not be permitted to take place in Australia, and one has to wonder why the authorities appear to turn a blind eye to what goes on in this particular industry. Some of our society seem to consider the arrival on our shores of a few hundred desperate refugees as some kind of forbidding evil facing this country, but it’s obvious that any ‘evil’ [if you want to call it that]  which we really should be showing concern and compassion about in around us in other guises.  Consider Jack’s comments from a couple of days ago!
 
“Following a month of “grape-picking” we have returned to the comforts of Melbourne. BUT will again be “away” for a while in Tassie. I have walked off two grape picking jobs. While even  Orr was so upset with the “supervisor’s attitudes”  towards her she, too, followed. That was after being left to find her own way back “home” in a 4 km walk from the work in the 40 degree heat. If  ever there is a case for supporting unions in the workforce the conditions of “fruit-pickers” certainly justifies their support.  Employers take FULL advantage of those poor-souls who are desperately looking for money.
 
We were awake every morning by 5 a.m. Worked in temperatures of 40 degrees until around 4 p.m. – no such thing as “meal or even toilet breaks“. The pay was $2.20 for a 10 kg box of grapes…but the box had to be  to the “quality-controls” of the employee.  So that they can demand a prices of up to  $60 or $70 for the box at the wholesale market.  Grapes too small in the bunch and the threat was “loss of job and  NO pay”…should a bad-grape sneak through, (caused by the rains) the same threats applied. Packing of your picking – had to be to the standards of a frustrated  Italian woman, wife of the boss.  Most of those doing the picking held NO VISAS to work in Australia as they are  illegal immigrants to this country  and the Australian Taxation Office never received any tax payments.   All of which – as I understand, is the employers’ responsibility.
 
Is it only in the Mildura-region that such blatant disregard of  our Australian working ethics can go on so uncontrolled?  If  YOU have worked all your working life, and paid the required taxation – as I have, then how and why should these illegal foreigners  and their employers,  be allowed to employ workers without them making their  contributions to the Australian economy?? Screaming about “boat-people and  their smugglers” then turning a blind eye to more obvious breaches of employment as takes place in the fruit growing areas of this country”.

Well said Jack, a man who is quite strong in his views, but generally can be relied upon to project those views in a truthful manner as far as he sees things.

To end the week, a couple of quotations relating to art –  from an article in the February 2010 edition of the Certified Public Accountant’s  magazine ‘In The Black’, entitled ‘Collecting: Art for Art’s Sake’…………………………….by Michael Reid [art dealer & author] – “I never talk of art as an investment, but as a way to store value”  ……………………and from Corbett Lyon  [proprietor of Lyon House-museum – art collections, open to the public one day a week] –  “It’s about being a custodian’
 

I found this brief response to my enquiry on line yesterday of my brother, up in Rockhampton, Queensland  –  “Hi Bill no wind in rocky but been humid and rainy last 24hours” [Colin]. Didn’t really expect him to have been affected by the cyclone, however wanted to be sure. When I went to bed last night, I almost felt guilty that I was able to do so without any fear of the night, because up north, there was every indication, that thousands of people were in for a terrifying night in the darkness as the cyclone hit the coast. Overnight, about 175,00 people were without power, either through planned switch offs or as a consequence of transmission lines being hit and damaged by the winds.

As daylight came in Queensland this morning, and the winds slowly began to weaken [though still with gusts up to 100 kph] people began to venture out into the streets to assess the damage. Little known of many of the smaller and more isolated communities around the coast, and grave fears are held for property damage in those places. Potentially, a lot of structural damage to essential services was anticipated. There were reports of the devastation of banana plantations – 90% of Australia’s banana production comes from the affected area –  while sugarcane production is likely to be similarly affected. Premier Anna Bligh has said this morning, that at this stage, there have been no reports of any deaths or serious injuries as a result of Cyclone Yasi,. She said Cairns had been spared the worst of the monster storm, with the smaller communities of Mission Beach, Tully, Tully Heads, and Cardwell bearing Yasi’s full force.  The category five Yasi crossed the coast at Mission Beach around midnight (AEDT). It was early this morning downgraded to a category three and is still considered dangerous.  This following report from 7 News gives some idea of the overnight situation, and indications that the town of Tully has borne the brunt of the storm.

“North Queensland residents are expecting daylight to reveal widespread destruction from Cyclone Yasi, after a terrifying night where the region was battered by the worst tropical storm in living memory. Early reports suggest the communities of Mission Beach, where the category five monster made landfall about midnight (AEST), nearby Tully, and Innisfail, 50km north of ground zero, are the worst hit. But Yasi’s fury has been felt hundreds of kilometres away, in Cairns to the north, and Townsville to the south, and all the places in between. And Yasi, with its wind gusts of up to 290km/h, is far from done with north Queensland. Yasi was downgraded to a category four at 3am (AEST) then to a category three at 4.50am, but the Bureau of Meteorology warns that it is still dangerous as it makes its way inland, where it is expected to hit Georgetown – 400km from the coast – later on Thursday morning. “Over the next 12 hours, as the system continues to be fairly intense and moving towards Georgetown, there’s still going to be fairly strong and damaging wind gusts up to 125km/h as it spreads inland,” a BoM statement said. The BoM warns other inland towns are also in the firing line, with communities including Charters Towers, Hughenden and Julia Creek at risk of very strong winds on Thursday, extending possibly as far west as Mt Isa on Friday. Tully, just inland from Mission Beach, appears to have suffered a devastating event, with locals describing scenes of widespread destruction and worse than Cyclone Larry in 2006”.

Google map shows the area expected to be hardest hit by Cyclone Yasi as it crossed the coast last night.

Obviously, as the morning progresses, more detailed reports of the damage caused will become available as emergency personnel, police etc get out into the communities. There was one story last night of a call for help from a group of six adults [all in their 60s] from an isolated community on the coast, who had earlier in the day decided to ignore suggestions to evacuate and get out of the area. Waters from the ocean surges were threatening to engulf their 2 storey residence, but at the height of the cyclone approach, no emergency personnel were able to attempt to go to their assistance. The public had been repeatedly warned, that if they chose to ignore evacuation procedures, they would be likely to be left to fend for themselves until it was safe for emergency personnel to venture out. Fair enough!

Meanwhile, in breaking news, there are reports of another ‘serious incident’ involving Australian troops in Afghanistan –  waiting for further information on that, but when they say that a further announcement will be made after next of kin have been notified, it makes it seem obvious that deaths are involved!  [9.05 am, Thursday].

As the day progressed, the news from up north became more depressing – stories of almost the total disintegration of small towns, and in particular houses and businesses, hard to imagine the trauma of returning to your home only to find a virtual pile of rubble where your whole life has collapsed into!  While thankfully at this stage [and much of this is due to preparation and warnings] there has been no reported loss of life or serious injury,  the anticipated widespread destruction has obviously occurred in many towns and communities. Apocalyptic is one word being used to sum up the scene at Mission Beach. “Nothing’s been spared. The devastation is phenomenal, like nothing I’ve ever experienced,” a veteran of at least five cyclones told the ABC.  Cairns and Townsville, where thousands spent a very long, nervous night in powerless evacuation centres, appear to have been spared any serious structural damage, and worst-case scenarios about damaging storm surges. However I note in Townsville [the city where I went through a cyclone back in 1971] has suffered flooding in some parts, and now faces a serious water shortage issue due to contamination and damage of the water supply. While in Tully, just inland from Mission Beach, is among the worst hit with roofs torn from homes, and banana and cane crops decimated.  Cassowary Coast Councillor and Tully resident Ross Sorbello said there were scenes of mass devastation in the town.

Major General Peter Cosgrove, who led the recovery effort after Cyclone Larry, said the main priority must be counting heads.  “It’s particularly important in rural communities where you have farmers that are isolated. Emergency workers have to make sure people are safe,” he told the Nine Network.  The premier said a major logistical task was now looming, initially to free up evacuation centres for people whose homes had been hit, and then to rehouse those people. “We don’t know the extent of it yet, but we are planning for a very significant homelessness problem, for potentially, you know, several thousand people,” she said.

On another front, as indicated earlier, Australia has lost another soldier in Afghanistan, our 22^nd death since the launch of operations in 2001, and the first for 2011. Corporal Richard Edward Atkinson, 22, a member of the Darwin-based 1st Combat Engineer Regiment, died in the explosion of an insurgent improvised explosive device (IED) about 9.30am Afghanistan time on Wednesday. Another Australian soldier was seriously wounded. He was treated at the scene then flown by US helicopter to the hospital at the main base at Tarin Kowt. He is now in a satisfactory condition.  This was Corporal Atkinson’s first deployment to Afghanistan but he had previously assisted in Operation Padang Assist, a humanitarian mission to Indonesia following the 2009 earthquake. Both soldiers, members of the Australian Mentoring Task Force (MTF-2) were participating in a foot security patrol with the Afghan National Army at the time of the incident. The incident occurred in the Tangi Valley near Deh Rahwod, about 30 kilometres west of Tarin Kowt – the same area where Australia’s last fatality occurred and a known insurgent hotspot.

Of course the other world hot spot [amongst many] at the present time is over in Egypt, and I was disturbed at the recent news from Cairo that partisans of President Hosni Mubarak had  stormed a crowded anti-regime rally in central Cairo, sparking pandemonium in which at least 500 people were hurt and one killed, witnesses say. Pictures on the TV tonight showed participants from both sides sending vollies of stones across the crowds, while we saw the unusual sight reminiscent of the ‘Charge of the Light Brigade’ where I believe supporters of the present regime charged into the crowds on horses and camels. At this point it appears that the military have not taken sides, merely trying to maintain some semblance of peace. The real concern I think will be created when and if the army forces decide they have to ‘stand’ on the side of the government [or vice versa]. If not already serious, there is potential for the situation in Egypt to become quite critical. Now there are reports of western journalists being targeted and attacked, and robbed of their camera equipment, etc by pro-government supporters – presumably being upset at the truth of the situation there being revealed to the world!! Tension had been rising from early morning when Mubarak supporters began staging their own rallies around Cairo, saying the president represented stability amid growing insecurity, and branding as “traitors” those who want his departure.  Reports I read, indicated that they also gathered for a rally near the square, where thousands of anti-regime supporters pressed on with demands the 82-year-old president step down immediately. Not satisfied with Mubarak’s insistence late on Tuesday that he would serve out the rest of his term and ignoring army appeals for them to go home, the protesters vowed to stay in the square until he left. Witnesses and reporters said bands of Mubarak supporters raided the square early afternoon without warning, some on camels and horses, creating mayhem that quickly degenerated into violent clashes.

Meanwhile, on the ‘home front’ news of a more pleasant nature – at our radio committee meeting tonight, it was wonderful to see our Station Manager, who has been seriously ill [almost to the  point of death] over the past couple of months, come to the meeting, and as his recovery process and health continues to improve, he has plans to be back on air with his regular programs within a couple of weeks. Tonight’s meeting also included some discussion about the excellent article that appeared in this week’s local paper, promoting the station, and hopefully bringing it into the public’s mind within the local community more than recent surveys have indicated. I intend to transcribe that article over the next day or so.

At 10 am this morning, the Queensland Premier Ana Blyth was warning residents of tropical North Queensland, that if they have not yet evacuated their homes, or made adequate preparations, they have just three hours of a ‘window of opportunity’ to do so – tropical cyclone Yasi has been upgraded to category five as it nears the north Queensland coast.

Reports this morning, indicated that the Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) in Brisbane said that at 5am AEDT Yasi was about 650km northeast of Cairns and the same distance northeast of Townsville, moving west southwest at 30km/h. The cyclone has now reached category five and will continue to move in a west-southwesterly direction during today,” the BoM said on its website this morning.  Winds with gusts to 90km/h are expected on coastal islands later this morning, then extend on to the coast during the day. Gusts over 125km/h are expected between Cooktown and Ingham this afternoon, and gusts reaching above 280km/h between Port Douglas and Cardwell this evening.   Tens of thousands of people have been evacuated from low-lying areas as the cyclone approaches, with its full fury expected to hit the region around Cairns sometime after 10pm today. The Australian Defence Force was called in to evacuate hundreds of patients from two Cairns hospitals who started arriving in Brisbane on Tuesday evening.

Queensland Premier Anna Bligh said on Tuesday mandatory evacuation orders were being given in council areas from Cook to Hinchinbrook for people in flood-risk areas. Cairns Airport will close at 10am (AEDT) today. Yasi is expected to be Queensland’s worst cyclone, covering something approaching twice the physical size of Cyclone Larry, which devastated Innisfail in 2006 and left a $1.5 billion damage bill.

Further updates to follow!

Ten  hours later, which just 2 to 3 hours before landfall of the cyclone, a storm which is believed to be the strongest storm in the last 92 years – presumably that applies to North Queensland, doesn’t take account of Darwin’s Cyclone Tracy on Christmas Eve/Day 1974, which admittedly took everyone by surprise in a town that was not ready or prepared for a cyclone that year. In Queensland today, it would be fifficult not to be aware of what was coming – and by now, this evening, the advice is, if you have not evacuated away from potential areas likely to be worst hit, then you should stay where you are, in most cases, in homes. Predictions are now that this is likely to be the most catastrophic cyclone ever to hit Queensland, with 300 kmh winds, associated with huge ‘tidal waves’ [in some areas estimated at likely to reach 8-9 metres], a combination  that is expected to devastate a vast stretch of highly populated coastline. In fact, evacuations in far north Queensland have now ceased, with residents being warned to prepare for isolation in their homes as Cyclone Yasi bears down. That isolation and accompanying terror could last for up to 24 hours.

While my brother Colin & wife Angela are a few hundred kilometres south of the expected southern perimeter of the cyclonic area, I would expect that they too [in Rockhampton] are likely to experience some fairly wide weather. I guess they are also grateful at this time, that they didn’t decide to settle on the coast [as was suggested to them] but instead located inland. Premier Anna Bligh, who was very prominent during the recent Queensland flood crisis,  told reporters in Brisbane people should stay in their homes and bunker down for the biggest cyclone since World War I and prepare to “become a first-responder”.”No one should be leaving home now. The time for movement and evacuation has now passed,” she said.”We expect to see very dramatic acceleration of wind and wind gusts over the next 24 hours. It is now time for all movement and evacuations to cease.” More than 10,600 people are in evacuation centres, including school halls and shopping centres, to ride out the storm.

Already, electricity has gone down – 3000 properties in Airlie Beach – and the streets in the northern towns are deserted. People are now being urged to remain in their homes, buttress the smallest room in the house with mattresses and doonas, and stay there. They should take enclosed shoes, food and drinking water to last until the cyclone completely passes. “This is, I know, an incredibly frightening time,” the Premier said.  Meanwhile, disaster co-ordinator Ian Stewart warned people the emergency services may not be able to respond to calls at the height of the cyclone, as it would be life-threatening to them. “People are going to be virtually isolated for some time,” he said. “Understand that for some point it becomes too dangerous.”

Meanwhile, thousands of kilometres away down here in Victoria another vicious heat day seems to be producing storms of it’s own as I see the lightning flashing outside to the tune of huge claps of thunder. Down in East Gippsland, they are probably hoping for rain, as they battle a series of bushfires which have broken out in that part of the state – ironically, the areas that didn’t get as much rain as the rest of Victoria over the past few weeks!

Today seems to be all about the weather!  But why that, because it is certainly what is dominating the news today. Though I must say I’m getting sick of hearing Julia Gillard tell us what great displays of mateship Queenslanders are displaying, how tough they are, they will get through all this, blah blah blah  –  no different to the rest of Australia, yet the way she is carrying on, it’s as if they are a separate breed performing acts of ‘bravery and courage’ that the rest of Australia hasn’t got. Of course they are, but no different to anywhere else in the country in the same circumstances, as we’re already seen down here in Victoria and other parts of the eastern states over the past few weeks. She sounds so pathetic the way she carries on sometimes, would be  creating a better impression, in my view by keeping her mouth shut sometimes!! To me, her method of trying to sound supportive and sympathetic comes out in another way – the word mushy comes to mind, but I’m actually searching for something else, I heard the word used last night to describe the woman, and I thought it fitted perfectly –  one of those solutions that is on the tip of your tongue, but you can’t draw it out!! Later maybe@

In the meantime, Tony Abbott continues to voice opposition to the PM’s flood levy proposals. I get annoyed occasionally at his ‘opposition for the sake of opposing’ but I do think that this plan like others of recent years by Labor  [take the East Timor refugee processing centre, which will never happen anyway] have been put forward without a great deal of thought and planning. Abbott writes [and in doing so, he rightfully points to the ‘Australian’ character instead of just Queensland]:-