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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

 

 

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

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

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

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

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

As has been the habit lately, I awoke straight from a dream, at 7.38 am, later than usual, but then it had been early morning when I got to bed, after last night’s radio show, so the extra sleep should be useful. This dream, which again as usual, basically disappeared apart from the closing moments as soon as I awoke – involved my late father. From memory, the first time in over 26 years that he has come into my dreams. Initially, it was just taken for granted that he was part of the group I was with at some public function of some sort – in fact, it may have been other people at first, but my dreams seem to change as they go along, and the people involved change during the course of events as well. Anyway, he was there at the end, part of a small group of us, and as the show, function or whatever began to come to an end [by now it was some kind of religious rally or meeting], members of the group began to take their leave, until there was just Dad, myself and a third person, don’t know who that was. But I suddenly got the feeling that Dad and this other person were about to leave also. I put my arm around his shoulders, querying whether he would be around for long this time. Dad replied that yes, he would be ‘down here’ for a few more days – I recall a remark about not having to get up early in the morning for a change, as he had no rushing commitment [that was probably my own thought – no need to rush up this Tuesday morning as I had nothing set planned for the day].  Then suddenly I was alone again, at which point I guess I awoke, and realised I had tears in my eyes, with the realisation that Dad had gone again!

Following on from yesterday’s Press Club address, this morning’s ‘Financial Review’ had a good coverage of the response to that address, in which Treasurer Wayne Swan had attached the rich echelons of our society by claiming they were self-centred and greedy in their wealth generation, with no regard been given to their ‘public’ responsibilities. One article was headed  ‘Swan playing man rather than ball’, and followed with the sentence that ‘Big business is furious with Treasurer Wayne Swan for picking a fight with the ‘billionaire’s club’, but is refusing to wade into a public slanging match with the government’. In another article, the journalist began with the comment that ‘Treasurer Wayne Swan has stepped up his campaign against business leaders, saying they should have a responsibility to the public, not merely to their shareholders and employees’. He says the super-rich have benefited mightily from our society, it’s opportunities and it’s rule of law, and he considers they have social responsibilities and must consider the public good in their actions, naming certain specific individuals in his address. Needless to say, there were some rather strong responses to Swan’s claims, and if some of the rich entrepreneurs he named were not prepared to come out in public defence of themselves, full page advertisements in the national newspapers detailing the achievements and opportunities that  major corporations had created for the broader Australian community spelt out that opposition quite clearly.  One spokesperson for that sector was quoted as saying that ‘HE [Swan] is focusing on the high-worth individuals – but it has an affect on the whole business community when you see that kind of outburst, and it is an outburst. I find it very counter-productive and not very useful to building and rebuilding relationships with business’. On the opposite of views, another said ‘I agree the Treasurer. I hardly think that Twiggy Forrest, Clive Palmer or Gina Rinehart represent business. Personally, I see them as being like lottery winners who confuse their good fortune with skill’.  Interesting point of debate, which will no doubt continue to be pushed by the Deputy PM – also a good tactic to divert attention from the recent leadership problems of the Labor Party.

As for the flood situation, as of last night, nearly 4,000 residents in New South Wales [NSW] are temporarily homeless after a further 1,200 were ordered to evacuate properties in the Riverina region of NSW following the biggest rainfalls in the state in more than 120 years. In Victoria, flooded  roads  have blocked access with many towns partially cut off around the Benalla, Shepparton and Numurkah areas.  I have elderly relatives in that latter town, am wondering how they are faring, as I seem to recall the street they lived in was relatively flat and low lying. And as mentioned yesterday, parts of the NSW city of Wagga Wagga are either isolated and/or other flood waters or threat thereof, as water levels rise.  This seems to becoming an annual somewhere in parts of eastern Australia, since the drought broke a couple of years ago – climate always seems to have different threats to offer regardless of the season, and after 10 years of drought, many communities have suffered, and now are, in ways they could not have imagined three years ago.

There was no rain that I was aware of today  – I got out into the garden for a while this afternoon. Was disappointed to find something I’d not noticed previously – one of my trees beside the garden shed was practically dead apart from a couple of branches. Of particular concern was one large branch which was spread over the roof of the shed, and was partially split, and leaning across the neighbour’s side fence. If and when that branch actually does split in two completely, most of it is going to end in the neighbour’s property. I can only assume they haven’t noticed it either, but obviously, I’m going to have to do something about it, and fairly quickly!!  More money out of the bank!!

In the meantime, I didn’t realise that the second of the ODI Finals cricket matches between Australia and Sri Lanka was played today – maybe a good thing, because after Sunday’s win, the Australians were thrashed to day. This MSN report explains how.

‘Tillakaratne Dilshan flayed a match-winning century as Sri Lanka downed Australia by eight wickets on Tuesday night to level the tri-series finals. Dilshan’s superb 106 ensured Sri Lanka achieved their 272 run target with 34 balls to spare in the second final at Adelaide Oval. The Lankans cruised to 2-274 from 44.2 overs in reply to Australia’s 6-271 which featured tons to Michael Clarke and David Warner. Both nations now have a win each and Thursday’s Adelaide decider in the three-match series will be held amid fitness concerns over Clarke. The Australian captain limped the through the latter stages of his sterling 117 from 91 balls, hobbled by left hamstring tightness.  Clarke fielded until the 38th over of the emphatic Lankan run chase before leaving for treatment – he has a history of back-related hamstring injuries and only returned from a right hamstring strain last Sunday. Clarke’s century and an even 100 by Warner underpinned an Australian total aided by six dropped catches by the tourists. But Lankan linchpins Dilshan and Mahela Jayawardene (80 from 76 balls) made light work in the third highest successful one-day run chase on Adelaide Oval. The duo plundered a 179-run opening partnership from just 165 balls as Sri Lanka defeated Australia for the fourth time in six clashes this series. Dilshan and Jayawardene rattled Australia’s bowlers after Brett Lee set an off-tone with three wides in a nine-ball opening over. Jayawardene escaped when caught behind off a Clint McKay no ball in the next over and Australia never recovered before a 15,309-strong crowd. Dilshan’s good fortune included being given not out on 77 edging to wicketkeeper Matthew Wade from Shane Watson’s bowling. The 35-year-old capitalised to post his ton from 110 deliveries, while evergreen Kumar Sangakkara mopped up with 53 not out. Earlier, Clarke and Warner – who passed a pre-game fitness test on his injured groin – used stealth rather than strength to build their 184-run partnership. But a waning Clarke, frequently flexing his back and unable to push his running between wickets, launched an audacious late flurry. The skipper struck four sixes and reached his ton from only 81 balls – beating Warner to the milestone. Warner, following his 163 in Sunday’s first final in Brisbane, belied his powerhouse reputation and struck just four fours and one six in logging a century from 138 balls’.

So that result leads us into a decider 3^rd game, in the 3 match series, to again be played in Adelaide, this Thursday. Perhaps I should try and remember it is on this time.

Good thing I’m writing, and not talking. Last night on the radio, my voice kept fading, with the feel of a slight infection or something in the front. Tonight, that voice is almost non-existent, but thankfully, nobody has rung me on the phone, and though Susie is home, there is not generally a great volume of conversation between us, so I don’t have to use it much. I’m wondering if tomorrow morning’s phone call through to the radio talkback, with my sports report is going to be very successful?  We will just have to wait & see!

It was the first program for the year of the ABC Book Club, and with the 200^th anniversary of Charles Dickins’ death being recognised this year [or was it his birth?], one book of discussion tonight was what probably his greatest novel ‘Great Expectations’ [although my schooldays text was David Copperfield]. One of the panel guests was the star of  a show which is currently performing in Australia called ‘Dickins’ Women’, a rather large lady, whose name I have forgotten!!  Anyway, here is a little excerpt from Chapter One, part of which that lady read aloud tonight, with much enthusiasm and force.

‘Ours was the marsh country, down by the river, within, as the river wound, twenty miles of the sea. My first most vivid and broad impression of the identity of things, seems to me to have been gained on a memorable raw afternoon towards evening. At such a time I found out for certain, that this bleak place overgrown with nettles was the churchyard; and that Philip Pirrip, late of this parish, and also Georgiana wife of the above, were dead and buried; and that Alexander, Bartholomew, Abraham, Tobias, and Roger, infant children of the aforesaid, were also dead and buried; and that the dark fl at wilderness beyond the churchyard, intersected with dykes and mounds and gates, with scattered cattle feeding on it, was the marshes; and that the low leaden line beyond, was the river; and that the distant savage lair from which the wind was rushing, was the sea; and that the small bundle of shivers growing afraid of it all and beginning to cry, was Pip.

“Hold your noise!” cried a terrible voice, as a man started up from among the graves at the side of the church porch. “Keep still, you little devil, or I’ll cut your throat!”
A fearful man, all in coarse grey, with a great iron on his leg. A man with no hat, and with broken shoes, and with an old rag tied round his head. A man who had been soaked in water, and smothered in mud, and lamed by stones, and cut by flints, and stung by nettles, and torn by briars; who limped, and shivered, and glared and growled; and whose teeth chattered in his head as he seized me by the chin.
“O! Don’t cut my throat, sir,” I pleaded in terror. “Pray don’t do it, sir.”
“Tell us your name!” said the man. “Quick!”
“Pip, sir.”
“Once more,” said the man, staring at me. “Give it mouth!”
“Pip. Pip, sir!”
“Show us where you live,” said the man. “Pint out the place!”
I pointed to where our village lay, on the flat in-shore among the alder-trees and pollards, a mile or more from the church.
The man, after looking at me for a moment, turned me upside down and emptied my pockets. There was nothing in them but a piece of bread. When the church came to itself—for he was so sudden and strong that he made it go head over heels before me, and I saw the steeple under my feet—when the church came to itself, I say, I was seated on a high tombstone, trembling, while he ate the bread ravenously.
“You young dog,” said the man, licking his lips, “what fat cheeks you ha’ got.”
I believe they were fat, though I was at that time undersized for my years, and not strong.
“Darn Me if I couldn’t eat ’em,” said the man, with a threatening shake of his head, “and if I han’t half a mind to’t!”
I earnestly expressed my hope that he wouldn’t, and held tighter to the tombstone on which he had put me; partly, to keep myself upon it; partly, to keep myself from crying.
“Now then, lookee here!” said the man. “Where’s your mother?”
“There, sir!” said I.
He started, made a short run, and stopped and looked over his shoulder.
“There, sir!” I timidly explained. “Also Georgiana. That’s my mother.”
“Oh!” said he, coming back. “And is that your father alonger your mother?”
“Yes, sir,” said I, “him too; late of this parish.”

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A little warmer today, although overall, the day and evening remained basically coolish. Up in the northern regions of Victoria and much of southern New South Wales, many of the towns were either now isolated by floodwaters, or underwater, and for many, the situation was getting worse by the minute. One of those areas under threat was the city of Wagga Wagga, where my brother had been posted many years ago in the Army, and had lived there – with two different wives and family [at different periods of course]. As far as I’m aware, the second family are still living in the city, and I was wondering later tonight whether they were affected or not?  Have no idea where they live, and as I write this, I’m actually struggling to recall the name of partner number two! The names of her two children from her first marriage were Michelle and Ben,  and she would have another girl and boy with Ian before he eventually separated himself from that relationship, and went off on his own.

A tough session at the gymnasium later this morning, hopefully of use to my body in the long run.  Only a few more sessions, and the first stage of this little program will have concluded. Will I continue? No doubt about it!

Meanwhile, I was straight home afterwards in time to ‘share my lunch’ with the National Press Club Address in Canberra [on the TV]  – the guest speaker was Deputy Prime Minister & Treasurer, Wayne Swan  My Face Book comments on this briefly, were as follows.  ‘Inequality isn’t just unfair, it’s also very inefficient’ [Wayne Swan, National Press Club Address today, in Canberra], and I followed that quote up with the comment that ‘ ‘Of course the main emphasise of his address would be described in Tuesday’s Financial Review as to ‘deliver a political sermon against the evils of the rampart rich’ – I couldn’t help thinking that many of those in the Press Club room probably quite easily slotted into the category of ‘elites’ he was referring to. Geoff Kitney in the Review said “The people he was appealing to rarely make it to join the corporate lunches. They are better defined as the cut lunches, the workers who clock on and off for a quick sandwich and a hot cuppa”.  I’m not a Wayne Swan fan [as you know] but this was a good speech. Ironically, the only time I attended a National Press Club lunch in Canberra, the speaker was Paul Keating, the PM I have disliked the most [after Whitlam] over recent decades.  Needless to say, with Swan attacking certain sectors of the top rich category, he was going to attract plenty of criticism and/or comment over the next few days.

Message from Adam today – his horse was running in Race 4 at the Bendigo Harness races this afternoon – Dimensions.  I notice that Adam drove up for the race, probably wished he’d not bothered afterwards – the horse didn’t finish in the top 3 placings, in fact I couldn’t find out where it finished, but not as successful as hoped for.  My minor bets in support, would have been a nice useful addition to the bank account, had the horse come in!!

A few weeks ago, I placed a notice in a column called ‘Desperately Seeking’ in one of the weekend papers, trying to contact the first group of people I worked with in my initial permanent job placing, when I came to Melbourne in 1966. It read as follows, as appearing in yesterday’s paper:-

 

Yesterday, I received a couple of phone calls from people who had some connection with the Cottages, although they were more related to the nursing and medical sides of the institution – I realised afterwards that my notice should have specified the ‘administration’ aspect, which was what I was interested in. I do recall being friendly with a couple of nurses – in fact, went to a show with one at some stage, though can’t recall their names!! Today, I was a bit luckier, with consecutive calls coming from the brother of Des Nugent [who was in fact my boss at the time], and then soon afterwards, from Des’s daughter, Annette, who had been 10 years old at the time I worked at the Cottages [the boss and his family had lived in the residence adjacent to the office, so we came into contact with his family fairly regularly. She even remembered by surname which had not been included in the notice.  Annette had information about one or two of my co-workers, and some interesting details about her own family. Des, sadly, had died back in 2005.  Meanwhile tonight, just as I was about to go on air at the radio, I received a third call for the day from a lady who used to work with the David Bull I was seeking, and she was able to give me an address for him.  That was all rather a useful start to my little ‘project’ although two or three of the other fellow workers, I was particularly keen to catch up with.  Hoping for more contact over a day or so!

In the meantime, my other ‘old friend’ from the past, Heather in Ballarat, apparently received my long awaited promised letter today  – forgotten why I’d promised a ‘postal’ letter [she’s not on the internet] but I’d been unable to print it out, either here at home or the radio station, but finally posted it off yesterday. A quick message this evening to say it had arrived!!!  And with that, more questions asked of Bill!!! Those responses will have to wait.  As for tonight’s show, enjoyable in presenting as usual, although my voice was very weak tonight, kept trying to fade away as though there was an infection in the throat or chest – certainly, that area of the body had been worrying me all day, right through from Sunday night!!  Annoying!

 

 

 

I was not expecting her home until later today, but Susie returned from wherever she went yesterday – Nyora as it turned out, on the eastern side of the city towards Phillip Island –  at about 4am this morning. I’d not slept much, wondering if she was okay, and while the mind relaxed a little when I realised she had returned, there was the concern about her driving through the rural and city areas at that time of night/early morning. Anyway, it was another 90 minutes, and I had to be up and preparing to go to the radio station – in fact, I went back to sleep, and ended up having to leave the house less than ten minutes after waking again!!

Nevertheless, started on time, on air before 6.30am, and rather enjoyed this morning’s program of classical music. Featured a couple of beautiful pieces of music by the Estonian born composer [in 1935], Arvo Part – two compositions for violin [Tasmin Little] and piano [Martin Roscoe –  Spiegel im Spiegel [from 1978] and Fratres [1980].  This morning, it was Sunday Classics program No. 298, a show which I began in February 2006, and I sometimes find it hard to believe that I have continued to manage to get up early on a Sunday morning virtually continuous since that first program. The only Sundays I have missed have been the odd day of sickness, or when interstate or in Ballarat.  Quite proud of that record, but must admit to finding the early Sunday rising is becoming more difficult as time passes – particularly, when most Saturday nights, for one reason or another, I find it difficult to sleep!!  Like last night!

Email news from the home of the Blues this weekend –   This Sunday Carlton will play the Western Bulldogs in round 2 of the NAB Cup, Carlton’s first match in Melbourne for 2012.   While the Blues didn’t come away from Adelaide with victories, there was plenty gained from the trip, in particular the experience for a number of the young players at the Club.   Carlton’s 29-man squad for Sunday’s NAB Cup match against the Western Bulldogs at Etihad Stadium is a mixture of youth and experience as the Blues prepare for the 2012 season. As indicated earlier in the week a number of senior players who did not play in round one of the NAB Cup are being held back until Round three and Carlton will go into this week’s without Judd, Waite, Walker, Robinson, Duigan, Warnock and Jamison. Of these players, only Jamison and Warnock are expected not to play in round three of the NAB Cup in Maroochydore against Brisbane the following week. While the first round of the NAB Cup consisted of two games, each being of two 20-minute halves, tonight’s twilight game against the Western Bulldogs, and the remaining NAB Cup games, will be full-scale matches.

Well, I decided it was an easy outing by train this afternoon, down to the Edihad Stadium which is located within walking distance of the Southern Cross Station, although I was still in two minds about whether to go, until James rang with the query ‘was I still planning to go to the football?’ Actually, there was quite an interesting ODI cricket 1^st finals match on the TV between Australia and Sri Lanka  – conflicting interests! Nevertheless, met James at the Sunbury station, and we joined the crowds getting onto an already crowded train that had come through from Bendigo, for a relatively swift trip into the city. There with plenty of time to spare, and this game James the opportunity to purchase for me my promised birthday present from last October from each of the four ‘children’, my Carlton Member’s ticket for the 2012 season. I was happy with a general admission ticket to each of the 11 home games for Carlton, not sure if I will get to them all, but at least the option was there. Actually forgot to use my concession card when we made that purchase – James, always keen to save himself some money, went back outside the stadium before the game started, and was surprisingly able to get the change affected, I wasn’t sure they would do it after the original transaction had been finalised.

Anyway, here to watch a game of football. Carlton started off well, but for most of the four quarters, the Bulldogs seemed to have just enough brilliance on the forward line to make better use of their opportunities, and were in front, just, at the end of each quarter as the scores below show. Serious injuries to a player from each team, marred the game a little, and the smallish crowd of just over 10,500, tended to take away a bit of the normal atmosphere of the Edihad Stadium, though remembering that it was a game in the pre-season competition. The Blues got in front midway through the last quarter, and while the Bulldogs hit the front again late in the quarter, we felt there was still plenty of time for Carlton to regain the lead. Not so, the quarter was a little shorter than anticipated.  However, despite the lost, it was quite a young team on the field for the Blues with a number of our better players not yet ready to play. Yet with backline problems, added to tonight by the injury to Jeremy Laidler, we do look a little vulnerable as the main season approaches, and the team having lost it’s first three pre-season games, one more next weekend, up in Brisbane.  Final scores tonight were:

Carlton Blues:                 0.4.1.25      0.7.1.43      0.10.3.63      Final:      0.11.4.70

Western Bulldogs:          0.5.2.32      0.8.3.51      0.10.5.65       FINAL:  0.11.8.74
It was an extremely crowded train home to Sunbury, James & I lucky to get a seat, as when we got off the train at Sunbury, discovered people sitting all over the passageways and door entrances  – it was the regular Sunday night train to Bendigo, but V Line didn’t seem to have added any carriages to account for the football crowd, even though they scheduled the train departure time to go 20 minutes later than usual!

‘Old’ Bill feeling a little weary by the time I got back to Sunbury, and home.  No energy for much, other than a bit of food – ended up watching the closing stages of the cricket match – first Final between Australia and Sri Lanka.  Gutsy team the Sri Lankans  – halfway through the innings, there was no chance that they were going to catch the Australian score of 6 for 321, when they had 6 down for 144. But a century partnership and some great middle order batting gave the visitors a definite chance of winning, and gave Michael Clarke, the Aussie captain, a real scare!! Sri Lanka  finished up on a score of 306, losing the game by  15 runs with just 4 balls to be bowled. The teams go to Adelaide now, with Australia leading 1-0 in the best of 3 series.

Incidentally, today was Clean Up Australia Day  –  an annual event which began in 1989. Every year hundreds of thousands of Australians get stuck in and clean up their local environment – parks, beaches, bushland, streets, etc –  by collecting and removing rubbish on one of the Clean Up days. It involves campaigns and projects  to collect and remove rubbish from the local environments, promote the recycling of materials, and provide education on climate change issues.  I admit that I’ve not been involved in this for many years, but in it’s early stages, we often worked as part of a school group organisation in different parts of Sunbury.

Awake to another coolish overcast day, drizzling rain as this early indication of wintry weather [3 months before it is due] arrives on our doorsteps. I didn’t hear Susie arrive home early this morning from her day long rock concert yesterday, though I did wake once she was in the house [and returned to another restless sleep, feeling more relaxed]. I say restless, because over recent weeks, I seem to be having nightly dreams, although generally as soon as I awake, the memories of what or who the dreams were about, have disappeared completely – I simply know they were of people in my past life, coming back, maybe to ‘haunt’ me, or remind me of past mistakes and misjudgements or  failures!!!  Interesting concept!

Meanwhile, the weather outside does not promise too much cricket for son Adam today, for Day One of their final season round of matches this 2011/2012. I’m presuming he is playing in the D Grade game over at the Melton Recreation Reserve against St Anthonys. That may well end up a one day game next weekend if this widespread rain continues.

It’s becoming a regular thing on a Saturday morning now, to post to my Face Book status, a little piece of verse, usually from one of the classic poets. This morning it was the turn of Lord Alfred Tennyson, with two verses from his 1842 poem ‘The Blackbird’. This is what I posted.  It was pleasing to find at least two friends [both of them local] found my contribution presumably to their satisfaction – in fact Ruth wondered ‘So poetic this morning, Bill – is it Alfred’s birthday today or something?’  I simply replied that no, it was just another of my Saturday morning poetic status contributions from my collection of classic poets, a bit of culture for my status!!  In actual fact, Tennyson was born 33 years before he wrote this poem – on the 6th August 1809 – perhaps I should remember that date and post some of his work then. Meanwhile, here are verses 1 and 3 from ‘The Blackbird’

O Blackbird! sing me something well:
While all the neighbours shoot thee round,
I keep smooth plats of fruitful ground,
Where thou may’st warble, eat and dwell.

Yet, tho’ I spared thee all the spring,
Thy sole delight is, sitting still,
With that gold dagger of thy bill,
To fret the summer jenneting.

[Alfred Lord Tennyson, 1842]

 

In the meantime,  it was a wet arrival at the gymnasium this morning, though thankfully dry inside – not so for the swimming carnival going on out in the main pool [as with last Thursday], another rather cold and wet morning to be engaged in open air swimming races! Anyway, back in the gym, I don’t know whether it was because I slightly increased the levels of some of my exercises or not, but by the end of that hour, I was feeling a little more exhausted than usual – maybe just the end of a week thing. Didn’t think I deserved an iced coffee this morning, and in view of the fact it was raining still, outside, decided to avoid to avoid the shopping area, and return straight home [buying a rare cappuccino, which I seldom drink these days, along the way].

An interesting little first paragraph to an article on the front of today’s ‘Age’ newspaper – ‘Gillard gets her man’ – ‘If an antidote is needed to the poison unleashed in the months leading up to [last] Monday’s emphatic 71-31 vote to topple Rudd, it arrived in the form of one of the nation’s most successful premiers’  –  a very insightful introduction to a feature article headed ‘The Carr Coup’ by journalist Michael Gordon, which says a lot about Prime Minister Gillard’s announcement yesterday to appoint former New South Wales [NSW] Labor Premier, Bob Carr to the vacant NSW Senate seat created by the resignation on Monday last of Senator Mark Arbib, and the immediate appointment of Carr as Foreign Minister, to replace the defeated Kevin Rudd [now on the back bench].

The ‘Age’ Saturday magazine ‘Good Weekend’ also had a feature of particular interest to me –  on Malcolm Turnbull, whom Tony Abbott defeated at Liberal leader a couple of years go, but whose public preference as Liberal leader has always, even today, far exceeded that of Abbott.  Certainly, Turnbull would be my immediate choice as Opposition leader.  In that article, and in speaking about the parliamentary situation of the past 18 months or so, Turnbull’s views are promising.  ‘Turnbull has watched with dismay as the political discourse has been ‘dumbed down’ in what he believes is a disastrous way. “The political debate has not been very edifying, I must say.  It has not been a great period of political discourse, the nastiness of it all,” he says, stabbing distractedly at his food. :Elements of the media have contributed to that and politicians have also…..There is a tendency to try to dumb everything down and turn everything into a one paragraph press release or even less, just a slogan. It’s depriving us of a substantive policy debate”  He doesn’t need to mention  that his own leader has often stood accused of sloganeering. He does contrast his own contribution. “The only thing I can do is not fall into that. I try to talk about policy issues intelligently. I try very hard to avoid thought bubbles. I make sure my speeches are well researched and footnoted. I make sure I am not talking through my hat”. And the voters seem to like it. Polls show that despite Abbott positioning the Coalition for a resounding electoral victory, Turnbull is the people’s clear choice for the Liberal leader’s job.’……………..

But outcomes don’t work that way in Australian politics anyway –  a few days ago, Kevin Rudd was the ‘people’s’ choice over Julia Gillard – but they did not have the say, in the Labor Caucas room!!

Later in that same article, the writer, Lenore Taylor, notes that ‘But social commentator Hugh McKay says Turnbull – “possibly the only politician on either side seen as a man true to his convictions” – would be powerfully attractive to an electorate utterly disenchanted with politicians of all persuasions, the almost pefect antidote to the disillusion of the times. “He may be seen as arrogant, but he is also seen as a man of substance and that is exactly what people are yearning for”  McKay says’.

By 2pm, I have to be happy with my ‘Betting Club’ tips so far this afternoon  –  first two selections have come through as winners, which means I’m in front – so far!!!  After that however, it all began to go downhill!! And in fact continued that way  – today I was a ‘loser’, didn’t get back all of my $40 I’d been entrusted with. Couple of horses came close, but not close enough!!  And it kept raining  –  here we are Saturday night, and it is still raining!

Bit quiet in my home tonight  – Susie went off somewhere this afternoon with pillows, sleeping bag etc, presumably not back until the morrow, didn’t press for an exclamation, and none was forthcoming.  Had a brief phone chat with my Ballarat friend, then settled down to a bit of reading, although these days, night time reading doesn’t prove very successful!!

Found the following little quotation somewhere, thought it worth sharing –   “Our thoughts ought by instinct to fly upwards from animals, men and natural objects to their creator. If created things are so utterly lovely, how gloriously beautiful must he be who made them! The wisdom of the worker is revealed in his handiwork.”
Anthony of Padua (1195-1231) Franciscan.   I guess you can take that from whatever source gives the reader comfort, though it was included in a message from a Uniting Church group.

 

 

Actually, they were Dad’s cousins, well Linton Kirk, & wife Glenis, both in their late 80s and very much independent & remaining in their own home, down in one of the coastal suburbs between the CBD and Frankston.  Left the car behind, and enjoyed a pleasant enough ‘2 train’ trip from Sunbury to the city, and then, headed southeast on the Frankston line via a suburban train.  It was three years ago, almost, that I visited them for the first time, and this is how long a return promised trip has taken me. From the station, it was a short walk across the road, certainly very convenient for public transport use for the couple concerned.

I didn’t want to tire them with a long visit, no more than an hour. Arrived at 11am, and left at 3 pm! My hosts insisted that I remain for a slow leisurely lunch, much discussion, and sharing of family photographs from the old days  – I in fact had most of the photos, has Linton was unable to find anything from the pre-war [World War II] when he and Dad were particularly close. Interestingly enough, I did have one photo of Dad, that Linton himself claimed to have  taken, in the late 1930s  –  on Lake Wendouree in Ballarat in an old style rowing boat!  I also had two or three photos of his grandparents [my great grandparents] which Linton had not seem before, and I recall him mentioning last August that he didn’t think he had any pictures of his parents generation, the era I was particularly interested in.

They were a delightful couple – being married for well over 60 years, something which would put most married couples to shame today.  He had worked in the dairy industry most of his career in accounting, finance and business, and travelled the world at different times, including spending quite a bit of time in China.  I gathered that financially, they were very comfortable, and also determined to live out their lives if at all possible in their own home,  despite it’s large size which I imagine would require a fair degree of upkeep. A philosophy I kind of agreed with – rather than pay a fortune and sell the family assets etc, they would prefer to pay for personal assistance in their own home.  I probably won’t have that choice anyway, but think that is the way I would like to go, when it becomes necessary for such a decision.

Meanwhile the original family member in Australia, whose life we dedicated in the ceremony up at the Charlton Cemetery last September, had eight children, and one of them was our respective great grandfather & grandfather respectively.  Perhaps age has dimmed his memory, but I was a little surprised that Linton didn’t appear to have much knowledge of the generation of his grandfather, but there were various points of interest came out in discussion regarding his father’s generation, and I’m sure we could add to that with further discussions at a later date should that be possible, remembering that he is about a year younger than Dad, who would have 91 years old this September.

Anyway, a pleasant 4 hours indeed, but eventually I took my leave. My original intention, thinking it would be a short stay, was to return to the city and go and see a movie. However, at this stage I decided to return to Sunbury, just before the peak hour crowds hit the trains. The one I was on, was crowded enough anyway! Meanwhile, I believe that three of my four ‘kids’ were attending an all-day/night rock concert at the Melbourne Showgrounds. I think Susie was going in there alone initially, but hopefully she will meet up with some of the others, as I think she had arranged to give Jodie and Ash, at least, a ride home from the Sunbury station. At Flinders Street and Southern Cross this morning, I’d noticed quite a crowd of ‘young’ people obviously heading to the same venue!!

On the political front today, Julia Gillard finally came ‘out of hiding’ and announced her reshuffled Ministry. This report today from news.com

BOB Carr today was announced as the new Minister for Foreign Affairs by Prime Minister Julia Gillard after a week of confidential negotiation and evasion on the appointment.

In a brash display of defiance and contempt for critics, the Prime Minister confounded reports earlier this week that she had been rolled by ministers, led by Defence Minister Stephen Smith.

There were reports Ms Gillard had wanted to sign up Mr Carr on Tuesday but that the rebel ministers angrily forced her to back down and demanded the ministry, the most powerful after Treasury, go to one of them.

The former NSW Premier himself had earlier acknowledged that an initial offer had not gone ahead. He said today he had “warring emotions” until yesterday when the “distinctive voice of Prime Minister Gillard roused me from my slumber”.

“I am an unbounded admirer of this Prime Minister, and I suspect the more I see of her the more impressed I will be by her steadfastness under pressure,” he told reporters.

“I think I might have moved on from it (getting the Foreign Affairs job). But when the Prime Minister put that offer to me on Thursday, late on the Thursday morning, no part of me could say no.

“She asked me to serve my country and I would have been incapable of saying no to that.”

Mr Carr appeared with the Prime Minister in Canberra today as she announced the new ministry following Kevin Rudd’s return to the back bench, and the resignation of senator Mark Arbib, whose Upper House post will be taken by Mr Carr.

Ms Gillard said she had held “many conversations” with Mr Carr since Monday evening and made a formal offer yesterday. She was delighted he had accepted.

For the first time, small business was given a cabinet representative with the task given to Brendan O’Connor.

The major casualty of the reshuffle was Rob McClelland, a former Attorney-General who for the first time in 14 years is off the Labor front bench.

He was also one of five ministers who opposed Ms Gillard in Monday’s leadership ballot. He has lost his Emergency services role to Attorney General Nicola Roxon.

The Prime Minister rejected reports he might quit Parliament to force a by-election in his Sydney seat of Barton, which has a seven percent margin.

“Mr McClelland was ‘a great Labor man from a great Labor family, and he will continue to serve the Labor Party’,” said Ms Gillard.

Mr McClelland comes from a prominent Labor family. His father Doug represented NSW in the Senate for 25 years. He has held Barton since 1996 and had been on the Labor front bench, in Opposition and government, since 1998.

Western Sydney MP David Bradbury was promoted to the ministry as Assistant Treasurer, the post held by Senator Arbib. ACT Senator Kate Lundy gained Senator Arbib’s other responsibility of sport.

Defence Minister Stephen Smith, the man considered the front-runner for Foreign Affairs, today congratulated Bob Carr and discounted reports he had confronted the Prime Minister to get the job instead.

Mr Smith said he repeatedly – in public and private – since 2010 had deferred to Ms Gillard’s right to select the ministry.

But he admitted to one special request.

“After the 2010 election, I asked the Prime Minister if I could serve as Defence Minister and continue to make a contribution to our national security interests. I am very happy and privileged to serve as Defence Minister,” said Mr Smith.

“There are lots of challenges in Defence – transition in Afghanistan, capability, budget and cultural issues. I personally look forward to getting on with the job.”

Mr Smith said the Prime Minister “now has a very strong new team”. He said he had known Mr Carr for several years “and look forward very much to working with him”.
As for this writer, I would have a quiet Friday evening at home, after a reasonably busy week. I did do one thing this morning, that depending upon the results that arise from it, might have a major bearing of a negative nature on my immediate future.  A few days ago, I received an invitation from the Australian Government to participate in the National Bowel Cancer Screening Program.  There are some things that you feel might best be not known, but that is obviously not a sensible or even brave attitude.   So I completed the required ‘tests’, and this morning, posted off the relevant material, etc.  On this occasion, I have to hope for a ‘negative’ result!!  Bowel cancer is a malignant growth that develops most commonly inside the large bowel.  Surprisingly, to me, it is one of Australia’s most common cancers, especially for people over 50. In 207, approximately 14,200 new cases of bowel cancer were diagnosed. It is also a major cause of cancer deaths with around 80 Australians dying from bowel cancer each week.  There are various causes, but the most common ones are diet and age as contributing factors.  A few rather sobering thoughts to dwell upon.  Meanwhile, on a brighter note, after last week’s successful little betting spree for our ‘club’, I remain in the ‘selection chair’ so I had to devote my thoughts for a while this evening to picking some more winners for tomorrow’s races at Flemington.  I don’t really anticipate the same degree of success this weekend!!

First day of Autumn, and for some of us, it probably felt like the first day of winter – a day of cool breezes, drizzling cold rain, particularly this morning, as I went off to the gymnasium, and to the north of the State, and southern New South Wales, serious threats of major flooding following heavy rainfall in those areas, and more predicted this weekend.

Meanwhile the media continues to dominate our print sources, TV screens, and radios with such issues as possible changes to the Federal Labor leadership team and Ministry, questions about the old issue of independence for Scotland, and the role and outcome of the Oscars [held earlier this week, of which I noticed there were a couple of films in particular that I must go and have a look at], together with ongoing reports and analysis of the complex and serious situation which continues over in Syria!  While I’ve not necessarily referred to each of those subjects, they are the kind of issues that I try and keep up to date with progress and outcomes.  One of the movies I was referring to was a new ‘black & white’ movie  – one that everybody is talking about called ‘The Artist’, which picked up five awards at the Oscars, with barely a word of dialogue in the movie – it’s a ‘silent’ one [as of the old days].  Amongst those awards was that of Best Picture, but for many people, the movie’s greatest triumph was in the category of Best Original Score.  Limelight Magazine, for one, has commented on this apparently in its next issue [March] where the magazine caught up with French composer Ludovic Bource about the challenges and risks involved in writing music for a silent film, letting the characters speak through lush orchestral atmosphere, and penning a “love letter” to the classic film scores of Hollywood’s golden age. I’m looking forward to having a read of that, perhaps before I go and see the movie.

In the meantime, this Thursday night meant business – a shorter than usual committee meeting at the radio station, three missing members [one simply forgot!!].  Strange that we were here last Saturday in sweltering heat – tonight, one could almost say it was cold, certainly still damp outside. No heater on however!  Personally, I was not unhappy to have an early night, and home in time to watch a taped version of tonight’s episode of ‘The Straits’ – a well put together drama, but I felt the emphasise on violence and extreme language, was beginning to turn me off the show a little. However, now that I have begun to watch the series, may as well see it through to the end!

Autumn in Melbourne is generally the most pleasant, and in some ways, beautiful time of the year in this part of the world, perhaps its beautify typified in the photograph below.

 

As sources such as Wikipedia describe it, the 29 February has special significance, not the least of which is that it only occurs every four years, and the following ‘might’ make the reason why, somewhat clear!!

‘February 29, known as a leap day in the Gregorian calendar, is a date that occurs in most years that are evenly divisible by 4, such as 2004, 2008, 2012 and 2016. Years that are evenly divisible by 100 but not by 400 do not contain a leap day; thus 1900 did not contain a leap day while 2000 did. Years containing a leap day are called leap years. February 29 is the 60th day of the Gregorian calendar in such a year, with 306 days remaining until the end of that year.  Although most years of the modern calendar have 365 days, a complete revolution around the sun takes approximately 365 days and 6 hours. Every four years, during which an extra 24 hours have accumulated, one extra day is added to keep the count coordinated with the sun’s apparent position’.

Similarly, the BBC New Magazine gives us 10 ‘things’ of interest about the 29 February – do you want to know what they are? I do!!  Although they only apply until 2016 – things may change then!!

1. The leap year’s extra day is necessary because of the “messiness” of our Solar System. One Earth year (a complete orbit around the Sun) does not take an exact number of whole days (one complete spin of the Earth on its axis). In fact, it takes 365.2422 days, give or take.

2. Until Julius Caesar came to power, people observed a 355-day calendar – with an extra 22-day month every two years. But it was a convoluted solution to the problem and feast days began sliding into different seasons. So Caesar ordered his astronomer, Sosigenes, to simplify things. Sosigenes opted for the 365-day year with an extra day every four years to scoop up the extra hours. This is how the 29 February was born. It was then fine-tuned by Pope Gregory XIII (see below).

3. Every fourth year is a leap year, as a rule of thumb. But that’s not the end of the story. A year that is divisible by 100, but not by 400, is not. So 2000 was a leap year, as was 1600. But 1700, 1800 and 1900 are not leap years. “It seems a bit arbitrary,” says Ian Stewart, emeritus professor of mathematics at Warwick University. But there’s a good reason behind it.

“The year is 365 days and a quarter long – but not exactly. If it was exactly, then you could say it was every four years. But it is very slightly less.” The answer arrived at by Pope Gregory XIII and his astronomers when they introduced the Gregorian calendar in 1582, was to lose three leap days every 400 years. The maths has hung together ever since. It will need to be rethought in about 10,000 years’ time, Stewart warns. But by then mankind might have come up with a new system.

4. Why is February 29, not February 31, a leap year day? All the other months have 30 or 31 days, but February suffered from the ego of Roman Emperor Caesar Augustus, says Stewart. Under Julius Caesar, February had 30 days, but when Caesar Augustus was emperor he was peeved that his month – August – had only 29 days, whereas the month named after his predecessor Julius – July – had 31. “He pinched a couple of days for August to make it the same as July. And it was poor old February that lost out,” says Prof Stewart.

5. The tradition of a woman proposing on a leap year has been attributed to various historical figures. One, although much disputed, was St Bridget in the 5th Century. She is said to have complained to St Patrick that women had to wait too long for their suitors to propose. St Patrick then supposedly gave women a single day in a leap year to pop the question – the last day of the shortest month. Another popular story is that Queen Margaret of Scotland brought in a law setting fines for men who turned down marriage proposals put by women on a leap year. Sceptics have pointed out that Margaret was five years old at the time and living far away in Norway. The tradition is not thought to have become commonplace until the 19th Century.

It is believed that the right of every woman to propose on this day goes back to the times when the leap year day was not recognised by English law. It was believed that if the day had no legal status, it was acceptable to break with tradition.

6. A prayer has been written by a female cleric for people planning a leap year day marriage proposal. The prayer, for 29 February, asks for blessings on the engaged couple. It reminds them that wedding plans should not overtake preparations for a lifetime together. The prayer has been taken from Pocket Prayers of Blessing by the Venerable Jan McFarlane, Archdeacon of Norwich:

“God of love, please bless N and N as they prepare for the commitment of marriage. May the plans for the wedding not overtake the more important preparation for their lifetime together. Please bless their family and friends as they prepare for this special day and may your blessing be upon them now and always. Amen.”

7. The practice of women proposing in a leap year is different around the world. In Denmark, it is not supposed to be 29 but 24 February, which hails back to the time of Julius Caesar. A refusal to marry by Danish men means they must give the woman 12 pairs of gloves. In Finland, it is not gloves but fabric for a skirt and in Greece, marriage in a leap year is considered unlucky, leading many couples to avoid it.

8. The chance of being born on a leap day is often said to be one in 1,461. Four years is 1,460 days and adding one for the leap year you have 1,461. So, odds of 1/1,461.

But Stewart points out that is very slightly out, owing to the loss of the three leap years every 400 years. In any case, babies are more likely to be born at certain times of the year rather than others, due to a range of other factors, he says. Babies born on 29 February are known as “leapers” or “leaplings”.

9. Other calendars apart from the Gregorian require leap years. The modern Iranian calendar is a solar calendar with eight leap days inserted into a 33-year cycle. The Indian National Calendar and the Revised Bangla Calendar of Bangladesh arrange their leap years so that the leap day is always close to 29 February in the Gregorian calendar.

10. Explorer Christopher Columbus used the lunar eclipse of 29 February 1504 to his advantage during his final trip to the West Indies. After several months of being stranded with his crew on the island of Jamaica, relations with the indigenous population broke down and they refused to continue helping with food and provisions. Columbus, knowing a lunar eclipse was due, consulted his almanac and then gathered the native chiefs on 29 February. He told that God was to punish them by painting the Moon red. During the eclipse, he said that God would withdraw the punishment if they starting co-operating again. The panicked chiefs agreed and the Moon began emerging from its shadow.

Also of a supernatural nature, on 29 February 1692 the first warrants were issued in the Salem witchcraft trials in Massachusetts.

And what did your personal essayist do on this 29^th day of February?  Not very much actually!  An early morning call to the radio station this morning, with my weekly local sporting results segment.  A morning visit to the doctor [making up for last week’s aborted visit] – think that I actually got in on time this week, but probably ate up somebody else’s time by exceeding the 10 minute appointment [not that the doctor in question ever takes any notice of the time he devotes to his clients].  Amongst a number of matters discussed, there was no argument that I was not going to accept his giving me the flu injection, which had apparently just become available for 2012. I was actually going to ask about that – but doctor got in first, and had the needle in my arm before I was aware of what was happening!!  And later today, a couple of hours devoted to preparing the financial statements for tomorrow night’s monthly committee meeting.

Of course the other significant event about today  – it was the last day of Summer [officially] here in Australia, and in many ways, the weather of the last couple of days, made that obvious. In fact as of today, much of Victoria had been placed on flood alert, with more heavy rain predicted for the rest of the week. As far as many in the farming community were concerned, Monday’s weather break after a dry summer came earlier than desired, with such products as lucerne flattened, stock taken to higher ground. As the Weekly Times noted today – ‘The end of a long, not so hot, dry summer came with some of the most widespread thunderstorms yet seen in Victoria. Nothing will likely top the February 2011flooding rain in terms of numbers but as a single deluge, it created history in many areas……………as one agronomist said “It was the heaviest rain I’d seen, heavier than the flooding rains last year”………….Most agree the rain has come too early to be classed as a break.’.