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I read an interesting perspective tonight of one minor little example of cultural differences, and rather seemingly of relative insignificance, the circumstances of it’s existence can represent a major adjustment or acceptance of the way of doing things.

The item I’m speaking of, appeared in the latest edition of our the newsletter of our little Indigenous Hospitality House  [IHH] in North Carlton. I have referred to this establishment previously, but for the benefit of newer readers, it is a small establishment [ a converted former private residence]  close to the CBD operated by a group of permanent on-site residents, which offers a peaceful and homely atmosphere for Indigenous people who arte forced to be in Melbourne for short periods, while they support a family member who is a patient at one of Melbourne’s hospitals. It is a project that is overseen by Aboriginal and Islander Christian Congress and supported by the Church of All Nations, as well as Christians of various denominations, other groups, individuals and volunteers. It was established in 2001, and I played a very minor role in assisting with the clean up of the property at it’s time of establishment, and later in encouraging the involvement of our local church in Sunbury, in funding support. Since it’s establishment, the IHH has received over 1200 guests from across Australia.

The article I found of interest was written by one of the current ‘permanent’ support residents, Miriam, and was titles ‘Hospitality: a cross –cultural reflection’.

“Having grown up in Arab cultures, my concept of hospitality is very Arab. This has led to some great discussions with my new housemates about concepts of hospitality in Arab and Australian cultures, and the differences and similarities between them. In Arabic culture a new guest is treated like a king: distant, revered, and the centre of attention. All the best is offered to them, and they are not permitted to do anything for themselves – they are literally waited on, all as a way of conveying honor and respect. When guests become a bit more familiar, they become less of a centre of attention but are still not encouraged to do much for

themselves. When I arrived at IHH I came with that concept of hospitality and was surprised when I encountered a different model. I discovered that Australian hospitality consists of making the guest feel like one of the family – so they are not treated as special or distant, but rather allowed to fit right in and do everything for themselves so they don’t feel like a burden. When I asked an Arab I know who has lived in Australia for many years about his experiences, he explained he had encountered the same differences – specifically, he

commented on how bewildered he was by BYO bbq’s – ‘Why would you bother to invite me, then ask me to bring my own drink? Why wouldn’t I just buy the drink and have it at home?!’

I am realizing that though the focus is different the expressions of hospitality both come from the same place – a desire to make the guest feel loved and respected.

IHH is a good place to figure out how best to do that in the context of many different Indigenous cultures. “…the expressions of hospitality both come from the same place—a desire to make the guest feel loved and respecte”

Meanwhile, I was a little disappointed, when I called around at the family home tonight, that no-one from the family had attempted to contact Susie today. I sent her a message this evening, not really expecting a reply, a guess just a reminder that she was in my thoughts. There was no response, which was fair enough – might have had late lectures, been sleeping, etc, or simply not in the mood for any ‘conversation’; tonight. I did subsequently ask her mother to try and contact her later – never heard the outcome of that either. I had to assume that contact had been made, otherwise I would have heard. Nevertheless, this Dad went to bed tonight, still concerned, and worried as to how his girl was coping but not wishing to ‘push’ too much.

James called around at  my place later in the evening – to borrow a couple of my ‘Art’ reference books which he needed to assist him with an art assignment he was currently working on for his post graduate university teacher training course. I asked him to make sure they were returned  asap and safely  –  sometimes my books tend to become on permanent loan!! One of the books he borrowed had been an Art textbook of mine during my Year 11 of studies – way back in 1963 – Gombrich’s Story of Art [or similar title] – quite a substantial reference source in it’s time, and in my view at least, a valuable part of my book collection!

Later, I watched a rather depressing ’apparent ‘ true story movie on SBS TV, called ‘Lake Mungo’, but in the main, set in the western Victorian town of Ararat, about 200 kms from here.

Basically, the story  of  a teenager who drowns while swimming in the local dam. When her body is recovered and a verdict of accidental death is returned, her grieving family buries her.  The family then experiences a series of strange and inexplicable events centred in and around their home, and they seek the help of a psychic.  It is discovered that the daughter had led a secret double life, and a series of clues lead the family to Lake Mungo [in south west New South Wales] where her secret past emerges.  The ‘ghost’ aspect of the film, was determined to be the efforts of the teenager to reveal the truth about her life, to her family – until then, her ‘spirit’ or whatever could not rest.  I suggested at the beginning that this was a true story – but perhaps not. The ‘film’ [ a low budget variety] is presented in the form of a documentary with the family, various videos, and amateur films from hand held phones, etc, incorporated into the story – though in fact, all of the characters are actors!  Their performance certainly had this viewer thinking initially that all the material being used was original and authentic. In fact, as one online reviewer noted   ‘Anderson and company [the directors] have crafted an almost flawless impostor: a entirely fictional story brilliantly disguised as God’s honest truth. This feat has been attempted by many, though none have come close to executing their visions with the style and grace of Anderson’s eerie endeavor’  I have to agree. It had me fooled for a while.

During my ‘Showtime’ program tonight, I played a song for Susie – she couldn’t hear me of course, by then, she was safely back up in Bendigo –  but I simply felt the need to send some kind of message of  hope to counter her current feelings of despair. Maybe I will give her the words, after the passing of a few days.

The singer was Anne Sofie Von Otter [whom I’m hoping to go and see in concert towards the end of the year] – and the song ‘April After All’, with the words and music written by Ron Sexsmith, and Anne’s vocals joined by Elvis Costello. Just a short song, of less than 3 minutes, I felt the lyrics expressed what I somehow wanted to say – ‘But there’ll be other days’ and ‘Life goes up and down’ –  it’s just raining because ‘It’s April after all’!!  Obviously, a northern hemisphere April, but no matter, I think we are going to get a fair share of showers, in this southern April, this year. Published in 1997 by Ronboy Rhymes, these are how the lyrics go.

April After All

It’s really coming down;

It’s raining cats and hounds.

It’s falling on parades

And on the plans we’ve made.

But there’ll be other days

When things will turn our wsay,

And rain will start to fall,

It’s April after all.

Even the longest night,

Will lead you to daylight.

It’s the way May leads to June

And it’s how I’ve come to you.

The world goes spinning round,

Life goes up and down,

And rain is bound to fall;

It’s April after all.

But there’ll be other days,

Darling, come what may,

The rain has got to fall,

It’s April after all.

And tears are bound to fall.

It’s April after all.

I was disappointed to get home late this afternoon, and find Susie had already left, for the return to Bendigo, but I was also glad in a couple of ways – leaving any later, and she would have been driving into the western sun for  most of the trip, and she would also, for the first half of the journey, have been amongst the late afternoon traffic coming out of the city. Perhaps she still caught a bit of that!  And just the fact that she had made the effort to return to the university and  her studies after what had happened. The temptation just to stay down here, and just put everything aside must have been strong, but I’m pleased my girl was stronger, and able to withstand those feelings. Unfortunately, tonight she is alone – away from all family and friends with no-one up there to turn to. Though she has been getting a steady stream  of text messages this evening, and while they may seem like a nuisance, I feel they will be welcomed.  I’m particularly pleased, that eldest son, James, has been in regular contact tonight with his sister. He really ‘comes through’ at times like that!

But tonight, my own heart is aching for the loneliness and  pain of hurt that I know my daughter is feeling right now – and there is really little I can do about it. Sorry Susie. I guess most of us at some stage [I certainly have] have gone through the pain of a broken relationship, but until it actually happens, it’s difficult to really understand the depths of despair and personal loss that one feels.

Over the years, I have retained a little self made poster, thast Susan, aged 9 nines, gave to me for Father’s Day, in 1995.  It was ‘The DAD Award’, Awarded to Bill Kirk because you are the GREATEST Father in the World for the following reasons……………….1.  You always love me and care for me.  2. When I am worried, you cheer me up.  3. I love it when you take me places.  4. I love you because you are my Dad.  Happy Fathers’ Day, Love Susan.

Over the past couple of days, I haven’t really felt like the ‘Greatest Dad’ because I can’t stop my Susan from hurting………………………..

The day didn’t begin well, with a 90 minutes drive to the office in the morning – usually, just under an hour –  all good to put one in a fantastic mood for the rest of the day!

But of course. all of that was overshadowed by concerns for Susan – thankfully, she had a couple of days this week before she was due to return to Bendigo, but I have to assume that for her, this was a very long, lonely and unhappy Monday.  Visited by her Mum during the day, and then younger sister Jodie came over and joined Susan and I for an evening meal. I think my girl made an effort to eat, but didn’t really achieve much, and soon after, apologised, and went back up to bed.  Neither Jodie nor her Mum [nor myself] had achieved a great deal of conversation from her, and I guess none of us wanted to push, she would talk when she was ready to. Jodie herself had a heavy cold, so was not feeling 100% herself.  The only positive aspect was that Susie went out for a while later, to visit a girlfriend who lives nearby – one of those loyal team of friends from schooldays who all seem to have stuck with each through good and bad. At least there was potentially someone to share her pain with, and for that I was grateful, having been feeling somewhat inadequate myself, and wishing the impossible, to rid a daughter of the pain she was going through – of the sort that many of us experience in the world of relationships, sometimes early in life, sometimes later. For Susie, this was a new, and painfully unexpected occurence.  I feel a little useless at present, but of course, won’t hesitate to assist when it is needed.

Again, with not as much enthusiasm as usual, I watched the ABC’s QA & A program tonight, the pasnel for which included former Prime Minister and now Foreign Minister, Kevin Rudd, and Deputy Leader of the Liberal Party, Julie Bishop. Those two seem [not surprisingly] to bare the brunt of the questions, and responses – some of Julie’s comments, when they became negative, annoyed me, while I have to admit that I felt  Kevin Rudd handled himself quite well, particularly in responding to the kind of ‘grilling’ he got from host, Tony Jones, who seemed to be inputing more vigorous questions than time allowed from the audience, from where most of the questions should have been allowed to come.  In fact, the outcome was a series of ‘almost’ confessions from Mr Rudd, as indicated by this report, taken from a National Nine Newsonline item.

“Former prime minister Kevin Rudd says he made the wrong call when he decided to shelve the federal government’s emissions trading scheme (ETS).  But, he said, he was trying to find the middle ground after some members of cabinet argued the scheme should be scrapped for good.  Asked on ABC television why he delayed the scheme until 2013 despite calling climate change the greatest moral challenge of our time, he said he made a mistake. “The judgment I made then was wrong,” he said.  He said the decision had been swayed by the roadblock faced in the Senate, which had already twice blocked legislation setting up the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme (CPRS).  But, Mr Rudd said, he’d also faced the difficulty of placating party colleagues who wanted to “kill the ETS” completely. “You had some folk who wanted to get rid of it altogether, that is kill the ETS as a future proposition for the country. I couldn’t abide that,” he said on Monday. “There were others that said we should stick to the existing timetable, apart from the fact that the Senate couldn’t deliver it.  “I tried to find a way up the middle of all that, preserve the unity of the government.  “On balance it was the wrong call. We should have simply tried to sail straight ahead.”

Leaked cabinet documents have suggested it was his then deputy Julia Gillard, along with Treasurer Wayne Swan, who urged Mr Rudd to shelve emissions trading. Ms Gillard later toppled Mr Rudd as prime minister. Opposition deputy leader Julie Bishop said Mr Rudd’s mistake had been to trust his deputy. “She gave him the wrong advice, and he’s borne the consequences.”  [Later] asked later about what he’d learnt from his dramatic exit from the top job, Mr Rudd said: “I may in the future be a less trusting soul”.  The now-foreign minister was then asked why he had not explained Labor’s internal debate to Australians at the time, having chosen to instead blame opposition senators. “Guess what? Political leaders are not perfect,” Mr Rudd answered.  “I take responsibility for communicating the government’s message. “But no one gets it right every time, and I did not.”

Perhaps I saw more into his performance tonight than was justified, but I warmed to Kevin Rudd a little more because of his sudden preparedness to be more openly ‘forthright’ about past mistakes, and judgement calls, and his strength in resisting the attempts by Tony Jones to get as ‘bigger story’ out of the program, then would eventuate anyway. An interesting session.  Incidentally, the other panelists on tonight’s show, who didn’t really get much of a go, were Jeff Bleich [the current US Ambassador to Australia], Louise Adler [political publisher], and Robert Manne [writer and academic].

Another disappointment from this Monday was the news from the first day of horse racing’s ‘Jumps Season’, a subject uponwhich I have touched on previous occasions. Only Victoria and South Australia continue to allow the jumps to be part of the racing calender any more, it has been banned elsewhere in Australia. Today, on Day 1 of that season, at Warrnambool, three horses fell in the first jumps event, one of which had to be put down!! A terrible start for the industry, and plenty of ammunition for the anti-jumps protestors  –  of hich I am included, despite actually loving to watch the horses go over the jumps.

Woke up in the early hours of this morning, just as the World Cup Final was being played, in fact as it was finishing  –  India vs Sri Lanka. Great excitement amongst the large crowd, particularly as a supporter of India who won the championship. So finally, the 2011 World Cup Cricket competition was over, and India were the champions, after Australia had won the previous three world cups. A changing of the guard in more ways than one!  India won by 6 wickets, with the final scores –  India 4 for 277 defeated Sri Lanka 6 for 274.

It was just after that, as I tried to get another three hours sleep, that Susie came home  – at 3.30 am in the morning – I’d not heard from her all weekend, and the arrival at that time was a bit of a surprise. Anyway, I went back to sleep, until my ‘Sunday morning ‘ alarm woke me again, two hours later. We had all supposedly gained an extra night’s sleep overnight –  daylight saving officially ended at 2am this morning, with our clocks being wound back an hour, now back with official Eastern Australian Standard Time.   One should have felt a little brighter, on departing for the studio this morning  – not sure if that was the case.  Nevertheless, I enjoyed this morning’s program, which I started just before 6.30 am, and this week, featured Beethoven’s 5^th Symphony – over the past few months, I have been working through Beethoven’s nine symphonies, maybe playing one every 5/6 weeks, and today, I decided it was time for probably the most broadly popular of them. Even people who generally have no interest in classical music, etc, would have some time, if just by accident, heard some aspects of this particular composition, and could recognise it as belonging to Beethoven! Perhaps! Anyway, an inspiring piece of music, in my view.

Jack came in this morning – he had only done a couple of previous shows –  came in to fill the spot usually occupied by our country music presenters who were absent because of illness – he was confident he could manage this morning without another sit-in presenter as guidance. Anyway, I got him  on the way, pointed him into the direction of a pile of appropriate ‘country cds’ and eventually left him to it! Like a learner driver minus  a co-driver!   However, there were two or three of us from the committee this morning, to help him out, at short notice, should he get into trouble.  He didn’t need us!

ABC Radio’s Classic FM station’s monthly newsletter ‘Limelight’ had what I thought was an interesting little article in it this month, written by the Editor, and entitled ‘The elusive art of true listening’. I thought it worthwhile sharing with my readers on this occasion.

“When people ask me why I prefer classical music, as they often do, I refrain from telling them the simple truth – I like it, because it’s better. That’s a sure-fire way to seem like a snob. Instead, I proffer an argument about what classical music is better for. It’s better for listening. I’ll happily concede that the works of Megadeth are great for doing squats at the gym and that the experience of flailing your body around in a nightclub is enhanced by the beats of DJ Tiesto. But try sitting alone in a darkened room for an hour and doing nothing but listening, to say, Lady Gaga [without having a psychotic episode]. When you turn off all the senses extrinsic to listening, classical music comes into its own. Just using your ears…..Not driving to work, reading the paper, cutting your toenails, chatting on Facebook or eating low-fat granola breakfast cereal.

It’s a challenge, for me at least, to do nothing but listen. You need to set aside time for it. You need to concentrate on the music alone [and not on your next deadline]. But when it works, you open yourself up to the transcendent ecstasy good music can bring…………………….So perhaps it’s not so much a question of what music you listen to, but whether you really listen at all. I would argue that true listening brings people to fine music as inevitably as a perfect cadence brings resolution. For me, being a music lover is all about mastering this elusive, exquisite art – the art of listening”.  [Francis Merson].

Keep that thought in mind, as we read, from the same publication, a brief item called ‘Music vs Sex’  –  A new study published in Nature Neuroscience links enjoyment of music to the same pleasure-promoting compound that stimulates feelings of love, sexual desire and food cravings in the brain. Researchers have conducted tests to monitor dopamine release at peak emotional arousal during music listening. The results indicate that intense pleasure in response to music is heightened by dopamine flooding the listener’s system.{And for those wondering, ‘dopamine’ is  – a chemical found in the brain that acts as a neurotransmitter, and affects various bodily functions including mood, sleep, learning,  and voluntary movements].

On a personal front, I felt Susie was unhappy about something, but she was not communicating –  got home just before 7pm, found the meal I’d cooked for her untouched, and she was in bed. Part of a brief note about other matters, was mention of the fact that her boyfriend of 7 years had broken off the relationship. I could imagine [perhaps, though can we really, about another’s feelings] how she was feeling – that news while like a stab to the back, as it would be to the rest of the family when it became knowledge. I’ll leave it at that, but I would feel quite distressed for my girl over the next few days, and while it may not have outwardly been wanted, tried to make it clear in that time, that whatever support was needed, would be there.

I finished the night, with little enthusiasm, watching the 2nd MotoGP of the year, from Spain. Australia’s Casey Stoner, who won the first race a couple of weeks ago, and started from the front of the grid tonight, was fancied for further success – it was not to be, he was ‘taken out’ by the mistake of the Italian rider, Valentino Rossi [who went on to finish 5th in the race] in the early stage of the race, and for a justafiably very angry and disappointed young man, his race was over.

Weather wise, a strange day, mixture of  sunshiny periods, interspersed with cloudy overcast conditions, as rain threatened, at times almost felt like it was raining.  Between those periods, we managed to get a bit of work achieved in the back garden [fighting those blackberry bushes again], as well as the front lawns mowed. In fact, I guess I took advantage of the isolated house, and caught up on a bit of ‘old fashioned’ housework, all those things which need to be done, but which one [me] tends to put off, and off, and off!!!  Until today! Even found time to have a look at the big Group 1 horse races up at the Rosehill course in Sydney –  what a great program, five Group 1 races featuring some of the best horses in Australia [and New Zealand] at present. What a pity Black Caviar wasn’t running today. A couple of my tips, from yesterday morning on the radio, came through – must admit, my average of successes are rather low, a good reason why I don’t usually spend much money on the horses!!

Now after reading through it, chapter by chapter, since around November, I finally finished reading the biography published late last year, by former Prime Minister, John Howard –  ‘Lazarus Rising’. While it’s 710 pages had taken me quite a while to get through – occasional diversions to historical novels by Wilbur Smith, and Bryce Courtney, amongst other things –  I found it a relatively easy read, compared with some much ‘heavier’ biographies. In fact, Howard wrote his book in the style of biographical/cum history format that I believe I am trying to write my own family history. Quite often throughout the pages, he refers back to his own diary notes keep over many years, and  many personal recollections and circumstances that give the story a much more personal approach rather than a strictly political history. Whilst any non-Liberal supporter would probably accuse this comment of being somewhat biased, I genuinely felt that I was reading the story of a man who genuinely appears to believe deeply in the those things which his political life worked towards over almost 40 years of ups and downs, defeats and gains, successes and disappointments, etc.

I enjoyed John Howard’s ‘personal’ references to many significant events outside of politics in particular, and the way such events affected him and/or his family. Some examples – Cyclone Tracey, which devastated Darwin on Christmas Day, 1974;  the September 2001 Twin Towers atrocity in New York; the Bali Bombing a couple of years later which cost 88 Australian lives as well as over 120 from other countries; the Port Arthur murders of April 2006 [and the subsequent Gun Laws legislation]; his personal relationship as a ‘friend’ with George Bush;’ and so it goes on. I have over recent months included various quotations from the book in these pages, and probably will again on future occasions, when the circumstances warrant doing so, as I found so many fascinating little antidotes, Howard viewpoints, opinions of other leaders, and personalities in all fields of Australian society, especially in the sporting area.  I read somewhere one that one criticism of Howard was his apparent lack of interest in academic circles and the arts – certainly the latter aspect of Australian cultural life does get little mention in the book, and the arts generally don’t seem to have figured greatly in his life and lifestyle. That may be a misreading, but that impression comes through to this reader anyway.

I might finish this little reference to John Howard’s biography with a quotation from one of the closing chapters, entitled ‘The Tide Runs Out’, which is obviously referring to the election of November 2007, when he and the Coalition Government were thrown out of office. It reveals that he was a realist, who didn’t really hold out false hopes that things would always fall in his direction, as had been proved over many decades of political life, and the honesty of his strength of purpose in accepting defeat, together with his surprise at Costello’s response to the defeat,  He writes:-

“Election day, 24 November 2007, was a lovely summer day in Sydney. I had my customary morning walk, followed by hordes of press people. I thought that it was probably my last day as PM, but still held out a small amount of hope, based once again on that poll shift earlier in the week. Having being a member of the House of Representatives for 33 years and 6 months, which made me the 12^th longest-serving MP out of the more than 1100 who have been elected since Federation,  I had a good sense of the mood of the electorate, simply from moving around, talking to people on polling booths and observing their body language. By mid-afternoon I sensed that the Government was gone and that I would probably lose Bennelong [his seat]. Too many eyes were averted. There were two middle-aged women at Denistone East who simply said, ‘No thanks, Mr Howard’…….It was a different mood that of the two previous elections………………………..About 8.30 it was all over, even though the polling booths in WA had not closed. At about 9.30pm I rang Kevin Rudd, congratulated him and discussed transition arrangements. Peter Costello phoned. I told him that I would make my concession speech shortly and would say that I thought he should assume the leadership of the Liberal Party. He replied that he was not sure that he would take it on and intended to discuss it further with family and friends, Having other things on my mind, I did not think much more about Peter and the leadership. I was genuinely surprised when he walked away from the leadership the next day. As events were to prove, I had wrongly assumed that politics was so much part of his being that he could not walk away whilst the possibility of the ultimate prize was still there………………………………..The following morning I went on my normal walk, accompanied by an army of press people, which included a few strays who have come along for the ghoulish pleasure of watching me the day after my loss. I disappointed them and kept up my usual pace.  Later that morning, Janette and I attended Holy Communion at the local Anglican Church in Lavender Bay. If we had won the election we would have done the same thing. By these actions, I was saying in my own way that I fully accepted what had happened; it disappointed me, but that was the democratic process. For me and my family, life would go on, and it would continue to be a good life.” [pps 645-647 ‘Lazarus Rising’]

Writing in my own ‘Blog’ that night [24 November 2007], I noted “It’s 11.30pm Saturday – I feel a little flat, a bit washed out, a little disappointed, but optimistically philosophical. I feel proud to be in a nation which allows it’s people the freedom to change it’s government without fear or threat”. And later, in responding to a response to my blog from a friend, I replied that ‘It seems  that the desire of the majority of the Australian electorate is fairly clear, as all governments in Australia [Federal and State] [at that time] are now Labor controlled. That for the time being, is the will of the people in our democratic society. Let’s hope that the trust that has been placed in those who govern us will not be betrayed. At least I won’t have to go to work tomorrow morning as I did 3 years ago,  and be told that half of Australia’s population are idiots and imbeciles because they didn’t vote for Labor. This time, only about 48% of us are idiots  in that person’s eyes, lol”.

Blues update, Round 2, 2001 AFL Season:  by Saturday night [back to 2^nd April, 2011] my attention went to more important matters  –  it was the Carlton Football team’s second match for the AFL’s 2011 season, on tonight up in Brisbane. My elder son, James, came over to watch the game on the TV – he  brought his young dog with him [which answers to the name of Murphy, by coincidence, one of Carlton’s best players!!]. A very friendly kelpie [of the sheep dog variety], but not quite properly house trained as yet in some respects, as I would discover on two occasions through the evening!

This was a rather historic game tonight [quite apart from the fact that Carlton captain Chris Judd was playing his 200th game!] – we were playing against the Gold Coast Suns, a new team in the AFL Competition, and this was in fact their first game ever. Many of the pundits were predicting that as with one or two other first time interstate teams,  Carlton would be beaten tonight, but on form, and because of the relatively inexperience of the new team make-up, I couldn’t really see that. Just before the game started, I received a welcome little text message from my Collingwood supporting brother up in Brisbane, whom most of the family have not heard much from lately. I was pleased that football called briefly break that silence. Only brief, but a contact – “Good luck, first to play the Suns’.

As the game eventuated, it was the Suns who needed a bit of luck, but unfortunately for them, it didn’t come their way tonight, and as the score sheet below indicates, it was a rather one-sided affair, and for the Suns, a ‘rather rude welcome’ to the ranks of the AFL. For us Blues’ supporters, a pleasing outcome, which saw the team dominate in each quarter for a change – usually a poor one or two quarters, often leads to a disappointing result.

Carlton Blues:                   9.5.59                  15.7.97               21.10.136               FINAL:  26.15.171

Gold Coast Suns:               1.1.7                     3.5.23                 6.8.44                    FINAL:    7.10.52

[Carlton moves to 2^nd of the AFL Ladder after 2 rounds, behind last year’s premiers, Collingwood – these two teams come up against each other next Friday night, a real good test for the Blues to establish how good their form really is at present].

This date, in years gone past, often meant the playing of practical jokes on others, as an April Fool’s Day contribution. I have to admit that when I called in at the radio station this morning, for a brief sports report, before continuing to work, I would have loved to have created some form of  ‘April Fool’s joke’ for the morning’s host – but admitted to Ron that I simply couldn’t think of anything to impose upon him and/or his listeners!!!  I’m sure there will be something to ‘trick’ the readers in one or other of this morning’s newspapers, but with the one I have to hand, I haven’t ‘found’ anything yet!!  I guess that’s what makes such a thing, a success – if you can’t pick it!!!

It was quite chilly this morning – 5.5 degrees as I drove up the hill to the radio station, and later down to 5 degrees in the Airport area, but despite that, a clear sky and bright glaring early rising sunshine [the car drivers’ blinding variety] assured us that we were in for a beautiful Autumn Friday! That was indicated early by, initial count, at least five hot air balloons up over the city skyline – always a rather spectacular sight!  This morning I did something a little different – have been drinking very little coffee lately, just not enjoying the drink in it’s vasious guises, even the occasional morning cappuccino, and basically admitted this to various people, including the local Clifton Hill coffee house/cafe establishment where our organisation does much of our business for functions, etc – apologised to the manager, Ahmed, that he was not seeing so much of my custom lately! However, this morning, I called in with my paper, and settled down for 30 minutes to enjoy a cappuccino [which I did enjoy – perhaps it’s the take away varieties that my system is objecting to?] and a ‘light’ breakfast –  Iordered a poached egg with tomato, and I meant light, just one of each, but didn’t actually specify that so precisely. Now two eggs and two tomatoes on toast may not seem much to most people, but to this writer who seldom eats more than one bowl of cereal each morning, that little serving was probably enough to see me beyond lunch, and well into the afternoon!  All very pleasant but a little beyond the ‘light’ meal I’d had in mind!  Will remember to be a little more precise next time, though knowing Ahmed and his generosity, it probably won’t make much difference!!

Meanwhile, my day ahead looks like being another very quiet one – alone again, seems to becoming a trend, both at home and at work!  No wonder I was feeling lonely last night, and mentally very tired. Had a good walk earlier in the evening, but I believe I was asleep soon after 10 pm, rather unusual for this ‘historical’ night owl!!   I shall return >>>>>>>>>>>>>

After leaving work, doing a bit of shopping, having a haircut [well overdue, even if there isn’t a great deal on top these days]], I called in at Goonawarra to drop off a few bits and pieces – brief chats to James, Jodie, Nan and Val [and the dog!!]

Rather a coolish night – most of which I spent up at the radio station –  featuring two major areas tonight – a selection of music and songs from the Col Porter song book, a variety of artists, most of them probably from the same era of music that young Scott was playing earlier in the evening, 1946 to 1964, the main difference being the music genre – he was basically in the rock and blues format, my music tonight was basically jazz. Also played five lengthy tracks from a CD released by that great jazz pianist, Ahmad Jamal [whom I had the pleasure of seeing live at the Melbourne Recital Centre, last year], a recording which I think was basically recognising his 70^th birthday at the time, released in 2000. The arithmetic adds up – he will 82 this July, and was about to turn 81 when he visited Melbourne in 2010.

Didn’t hear anything from Susan, bit disappointing! She had suggested earlier in the week that she would not be home Friday or Saturday night. I think she must have called in briefly while I was at the radio station, but as it would turn out, I’d not see her until Sunday.

Yesterday, I made reference to the media report about Australia’s controversial plan for a refugee processing centre in East Timor, and the fact that proposal was effectively taken off the agenda by East Timorese authorities earlier this week.  I think it was obvious that the  plan would never proceed, when one considers the enormous developmental work still required in that new nation, with many problems of their own to be overcome. Thinking about that situation, took me back to a report I prepared for a church social justice group back in 2004, just four years after East Timor became an independent nation, albeit, not without some considerable sacrifice and loss of life over many years leading up to that time. I came across that report recently, and thought I’d include it on these pages. In many ways, some of the difficulties being faced at that time, are still concerns in this tiny nation.

So, writing in 2004………….”Over the period May 16-23, many churches around Australia will celebrate Simply Sharing Week. The theme this year, under the program co-ordinated by ForceTen is ‘Food for Life’, and particular emphasize has been placed on the basic needs of food and water in East Timor at this time..

Over many years, members of the Uniting Church, including individuals and groups here at St Andrews, have attempted to generate various means of support for the people of East Timor, one of Australia’s near neighbours. While East Timor, after many years of occupation and sometimes brutal suppression, became an independent nation four years ago, this young country still needs that kind of support. Just last year, the United Nations World Food Program launched an appeal for emergency food in East Timor. Under that program, food aid is described as “the provision of food for human consumption for development purposes, including grants and loans for the purchase of food.” In East Timor, malnutrition at the time was widespread, as thousands of families existed on wild roots and tubers, and made porridge from the stems of palm leaves. Much of this situation was a direct long term outcome of the occupation by Indonesia, and the terrible infrastructure and personal damage that was imposed upon this little nation in the years prior to independence.

It was noted in a newspaper article just two months ago, that in one of the world’s poorest nations, rebuilding needs a lot more than bricks and mortar. According to that report “The average life expectancy is only 57 years and 41 percent of the population live below the poverty line. Jobs are scarce and the health system is in desperate need of doctors, funds and equipment. There is no local government power base – budgets for the 13 districts are controlled by the central Government in Dili, which also elects the district administrators. And meetings between regional groups can resemble high noon at the Tower of Babel. About 33 languages are spoken in East Timor, many of them specific to isolated regions” [Australian, 3^rd Jan, 2004].

Meanwhile, on the wider scale, security continues to be a major influence in accentuating many of the country’s food, health & social problems. East Timor has turned to Australia as principal professional advisor to its national army,  and to provide support to its police forces.  My own brother is one of those advisors currently serving with the Defence Cooperation Program, in Metinaro, west of Dili, where he has been located since January, and trains the local forces in the defence of their small nation”.    While Ian was over in East Timor, he wrote a very moving summary of his time and activities there, and I will include that in a future contribution to these pages, in a few days.

Interestingly, on the subject of the refugee centre, our Prime Minister seems determined to proceed with negotiations despite the fact that the  East  delegate at this week’s ‘Bali People Smuggling Conference, has reaffirmed his nation’s hostility to a refugee processing centre on  it’s territory, and suggested that Australia should look elsewhere for a location for the centre. Dr Alberto Carlos said “For East Timor, it’s still not possible. Our land is very, very small…..the income is still very low. A lot of infrastructure needs to be built. That’s our main priority…..We would very, very much appreciate that initiative if Australia can find some other places in the region because we have a very, very limited space”.  Australia’s Immigration Minister, Chris Bowen says that Australia wants the centre in East Timor so it can transfer asylum seekers that reach Australia to the country for assessment of their claims and resettlement in other countries. But with East Timor [rightfully in my view] maintaining it’s resistance, Mr Bowen hinted that Australia has been approaching other countries as well.

On another subject, my admiration and respect for emergency services personnel, increased significantly today, after reading reports of yesterday’s terrible car accident. It’s not a job that I feel I could ever cope with  –  descriptions such as ‘two of the injured were not aware of the activity around them, the third was. He had his dead mate in his lap. Their legs were all entangled around the pole and caught in metal. It was really very distressing for everybody to work…to get them out……….It took several hours to separate all the men from each other and the twisted car’.  I could not imagine the stress of going home to one’s family, are dealing with that horror for some hours.  As one emergency officer said ‘Week in, week out, we seem to have a repeat of what we’re seen before. Unfortunately, you can’t put an old head on young shoulders, and we see the same mistakes again’.  Very sad indeed!

Did I note previously, that India won the 2nd Semi Final of the World Cup Cricket – well if not, I do so now – At the Chandigarb ground in India, the co-host for this tournament. India 260 defeated Pakistan 231. So the final this weekend – India versus Sri Lanka.

The news as I was driving into work this morning, was not something to lift one’s spirits – an overnight car smash down on the peninsula, involving a car load of young Naval  ratings, came into a very fast contact with a concrete telegraph pole, which spilt the station wagon concerned, in half, killing two and critically injuring the other three passengers.  These tragedies are happening on our roads all of the time, and yet the news reports of them,  never cease to leave  this writer depressed and upset about them, as though I was personally affected – touch wood, I never will be, but I continue to be disturbed.

It was another day when I virtually had the workplace to myself again –  I should like the peace and quiet that generally entails, but occasionally, the environment tends to become a little demoralising, and while it is a good opportunity to get many jobs completed without interruption, I found myself wishing I could be somewhere else today. And again, while it doesn’t affect me personally, the continuing crisis over in various parts of the Middle East and the Arab world of North Africa [Libya in particular],  together with the ongoing grim news coming out of Japan – not just the tragic stories coming from the aftermath of the earthquake and tsunami, but the growing concerns about the nuclear reactors – well, I feel for the people who going through all of those traumas at this time.

There was some good news coming through this morning  –  the Socceroos, under their new coach, early this morning, played a ‘friendly’ soccer match against Germany, over in Germany. Now of course, none of us fans here in Australia, can forget the 4-0 thrashing that Germany handed out to Australia, in last year’s World Cup, a result, that despite two good performances after that game, really made the difference in the Aussies continuing on in that tournament. Anyway, in this morning’s game, the Germans got off to another good start, and led 1-0 at halftime, but the 2^nd half saw a great comeback by the Socceroos, so that early in that half, Australia was leading Germany 2-1 on their own soil,. And apparently, despite a couple of chances late in the match, the Socceroos held on to win 2-1, against a team that had won 9 games in a row since the world Cup!!  Great effort boys!!!

A night at home, alone tonight, as is the norm during the week now. Went for a bit of a walk – would have to describe it as a ‘half-hearted’ effort – before returning to cook myself a meal, that I could spread over two nights! Your writer feeling a little lonely tonight. Over the last few weeks, I have been going through the various concerts and shows I would like to get to this year, but apart from the ASQ, I’ve not really done much about them as yet, wondering whether I should spent the money, with retirement coming up. One of  my favourite orchestras is of course the Melbourne Symphony –  I noticed that their season opener was on the radio, so decided, that while I attended to other things, I would listen to that concert – which featured the rather lengthy ‘Symphony No. 7’ composed by Gustav Mahler –  most of his symphonies are extra long [compared to other composers]\which is one reason why I seldom play them of a Sunday morning – take up too long a part of my two hour program, although occasionally I have spread a Mahler symphony over two Sunday mornings. I generally try and avoid doing that, but on occasions make an exception.

Interesting that the three major headline stories on the front page of today’s Australia were so varying in subject matter –we had Ricky Ponting’s ‘My journey as captain has changed my life’ story, as related yesterday,  to the Bali talks setback – ‘No hope for PM’s East Timor solution’ to her refugee problem – Julia Gillard wanted to establish a refugee processing centre in East Timor – an  idea I totally disagreed with, and which East Timor has obviously decided, they don’t want to be a party to the proposal as well.  Fair enough. Thirdly, former Prime Minister, Paul Keating has spoken out about the weekend’s New South Wales [NSW] election, claiming that NSW is a drag on the Prime Minister – he was speaking about the likely appointee to lead what is left of the NSW Labor Party following the election debacle. Keating said that Mr Robertson, a former head of Unions NSW, wore the political deaths of up to 25 NSW Labor MPs around his neck and was unfit to lead NSW Labor in the wake of Saturday’s election massacre. And strangely, while it seems the appointment will go ahead, there seems to be a general view that the former union boss was not worthy of the loyalty of his party colleagues.  I have to wonder why anyone would wish to take on a role of that nature under such hostile circumstances? On the other side of things, former Labor powerbroker Graham Richardson has backed Mr Robertson, praising him as the one bloke who stuck with Labor’s heartland – tradespeople, single mothers and pensioners, during Labor’s final term in office. Interesting to see how that all turns out!

Had a very pleasant evening last night – my second Monday out in a row, which of course meant that I missed most of Q & A again last night – well, the TV version anyway, but as it happens, the program is simulcast on the ABC radio at the same time, and just happened to be on air as I was driving home last night. I gathered that most of the questions and discussions were related in some way to the past weekend’s New South Wales election, which of course, as related on Saturday night, saw the biggest electoral defeat that I can recall in my time, that massive defeat to the Labor Party.

Anyway, back to last night. From the office, I drove northeast to the suburb of Heidelberg for a bit of a reunion dinner with a small group of people whom I spent a number of years with during the late 1960s/early ‘70s – I think we called ourselves Wesley Young Adults – associated with the inner city Wesley Methodist Mission/Church – most if not all of us, were people who had come down from country areas to either work or study [I was doing both], and with a church background in most cases [though not all], we tended to meet up at Wesley – in fact most of us eventually met our partners, etc in the group, and through various means, the basic group has kept in contact over the 40+ years since that time. Two of the guys present last night were former housemates of mine  – in those days, all the guys lived in one house, the girls in another, a suburb or two away, and  most of us hitched up at different times with the opposite sex, went out on dates etc, them went back to our respective house or flat, or whatever. No one bothers with that kind of arrangement these days, all much more civilised and mutually convenient nowadays!!  

Now, last night, we had dinner at the Old England Hotel, a rather large establishment [which also has it’s own Art Gallery – pity I didn’t get a chance to have a proper look at that].  Judging by the size and quantity of the various ‘restaurant’ style eating areas, does in fact specialise in meals – rather evident, not just by the prices, but also the quality of the meals. I actually only had one course [very good of me]  – a dish by the name of ‘chicken brei’, very tasty indeed, though I’, not completely sure of everything on that plate, but I enjoyed it anyway –  when our guest of honour asked me what I was eating, I had to say in all honesty., that I wasn’t sure, though I promised to fill her in later, after I noticed someone at the other end of the table was eating the same meal – unlike me, they are sure to know what they were eating!!!

Actually the meal was in honour of a couple down from Sydney for a few days, and that was the other point of the night –  a number of us present  had been involved in a trip up to Townsville, for Christmas 1971, where one of my former house mate,  Don [and eventually, best man at my wedding] had lived before he came down to Melbourne. One of the girls who travelled up with us, took a liking to Don’s brother, whom we all met for the first time on that visit, and he took a liking to her!  Anyway, to cut a long story short as they say, those two got married [as did another couple from that trip  – me!!], and it was they who were visiting Melbourne this week, and had suggested that would like to meet up with some old friends, as well as his brother & sister,  whilst they were here. The visit to Townsville in December 1971 happen to coincide with a cyclone that hit the town –  while many other buildings in Townsville were not so lucky, Don’s mother’s home, where we were staying, somehow survived, though at times we were not sure it would. Unfortunately, a number of people lost their lives that night [it was Christmas Eve] and much damage and flooding occurred in the town, as is prone to happen in cyclones. I’ve written about that experience elsewhere, but might reintroduce it one day, when I having a quiet week!

Interesting to note that most of those present last night had travelled [overseas] on various occasions, and now, generally retired in most cases, planned further trips. I was asked if had  journeyed overseas, or was I planning to.  Probably not was the response – something I should have done in my younger days, it’s probably too late now. Interested in going to Britain, mainly for the history and family connections, and with two major sporting events coming up in next few years  – Olympic Games in London, and Commonwealth Games in Scotland, the temptation is there.  A little fear of long distance flying is not helpful!

Ricky Ponting

captain of the Australian cricket team.  Many have described him as Australia’s best batsman, after Don Bradman. He made his debut in 1995 at the age of 17 years,, and since then,  has played in 152 Test matches [77 of them as Captain].  Test runs scored total 12,363,  scored 39 centuries, took 178 catches [all, Australian records] and had a highest score in a Test match of 257 runs.  He captained Australia in 77 Test matches [which is a world record].  He may still have Test match opportunities, as he is planning to continue as a player in the team [under new  ‘Captain in waiting’, Michael Clarke] while his form last, and he is selected. Writing in the ‘Australian’ newspaper, Ponting said    “Being captain of Australia has not only changed my life, it has also taught me the real significance of values, the true meaning of accountability, a deeper respect for mateship and an overwhelming feeling of national pride and responsibility. It has also taught me to become a teacher, a trusted confidant and a better friend. You develop skills that you never thought you had, ensuring you provide your team with the best possible environment and direction to be successful. You learn to take criticism on board, you learn to give feedback in a way that your players respond to, and you learn to set an example in your everyday performance around the team”.  That last little comment was seemingly occasionally forgotten by Ponting over the last year or so, as his patience and temper were sometimes tested beyond their limits, but we will forgive him for those moments, amongst many glorious ones. Not sure that he has been so popular in India, although personally I would not regard that as being something to be too worried about, even if the rest of the cricket world seems to often bend over backwards not to displease the Indians!!! I guess his biggest disappointment would have been the loss of three out of four Ashes series he played in as captain, though to balance, before this current World Cup, Australia had won the three previous World Cups under  Ponting’s leadership.

I finished my Tuesday with two hours at the radio station – a selection of great old and contemporary show tracks, and including a feature of songs by the great Judy Garland. I was pleased to note that both of the presenters, on prior to, and after my show, actually turned up this week!! Wonderful!

At home, another pest of a virus, hacker, or whatever, attacked my computer hard drive again, and left me wondering what I had lost again – seems like I need Jimmy’s help once more, but will have to wait until the weekend for that assistance. So one is writing this up on the laptop [to which I currently have not connected the internet, wise move probably], and will post my work, at the office first chance I get!

Incidentally, in thinking of cricket, the First Semi Final of the World Cup was played today – a brave effort by New Zealand to break the sub-continent dominance of the finals, but wasn’t could enough in the end – Sri Lanka won a place in this weekend’s Final.  The result of the 1st Semi Final, played at Colombo –  Sri Lanka 5 for 220 defeated New Zealand 217.  They will play the winner of Thursday’s game between India and Pakistan. What a match that will be – pity it wasn’t the final!

I find it inconceivable that a jury currently sitting in Melbourne is unable to agree on a murder  verdict, where there is no question that the crime was not committed, but because of the views of pychiatrists and pyschologists, etc, claims of insanity at the time appear to alter the ‘seriousness’ of the murder in question. I know all the experts out there will disagree with me, but I don’t care – murder is murder, and sane or not, the act was committed, a young girl’s trust in the security of a father, and her life, stolen from her. This is the report, this morning, that has stirred up my ire!!

“Jurors say they will never be able to reach a unanimous verdict in the murder trial of a man who threw his four-year-old daughter off Melbourne’s West Gate Bridge.  Justice Paul Coghlan urged the jury to continue trying to reach a verdict in the case of Arthur Phillip Freeman, who flung his daughter Darcey from the bridge on January 29, 2009. The jurors will now go into a fifth day of deliberations in the Victorian Supreme Court on Monday.

On Sunday, they told Justice Coghlan they could not come to a unanimous decision.  “The jury believe it will never agree unanimously on a verdict no matter how much further time the jury spends on deliberations,” the jury said in a written question.  “The jury therefore requests that you direct us how to act in this situation.” Justice Coghlan said he understood that it was a stressful case for the jurors but urged them to continue deliberations. “Do I understand that it is stressful for you, of course I do, extremely so,” he said. “This is a difficult case with hard issues and I thank you for the work you’ve done.” Jurors were asked to decide whether Freeman, 37, was “mad or bad”. During a two-week trial, they heard differing opinions regarding Freeman’s mental state on the day he killed Darcey. Graham Burrows, a psychiatrist called by the defence, said Freeman was in a dissociative state and suffering from possible psychosis when he killed Darcey. But two psychiatrists called by the prosecution found he was not mentally impaired at the time.The jurors will resume their deliberations at 10am (AEDT) on Monday.”

Of course he was ‘mad’ when he killed his daughter – no sane person sets out to murder their own child, no matter what degree of insanity you wish to place upon the act. But in my view, that can never be a justification to allow the perpetuator to escape what he/she justly deserves.

Further to the above, I received a couple of interesting responses on the subject from friends, which I thought I would add here.

• [R] It is a difficult crime to comprehend- I have wondered if he may be simply a psychopath- cannot see the child as someone with rights, just a thing to use- but then anger makes us all insane- in that state we are physically capable but unreachable by our rational brain – maybe his level of anger was unbelievably great  cause of some impulse control or other brain problem? It seems a common scenario, kill kids to punish partner  – points to some lack of empathy, emotional maturity, capacity to really love – whether can be termed insanity though … very difficult? How can his family recover from this?
• [Bill] Thanks for your thoughts R. I don’t believe I’m vindictive or revengeful by nature, but with children in particular, where as in this case, no means of defence [presumably trusting to the last moment] is available, I cannot agree with or justify the ‘defence case’ type arguments, withthe aim of lessening a sentence or level of conviction.
• [M] The thought of killing one’s own child is so incomprehensible that in my mind I can only associate it with some kind of mental instability. The question for me is: is it temporary insanity or a longterm mental problem. I’m not entirely convinced there is something called evil which can be distictinctly separated from mental illness/stunted mental development.
• [R] I suspect stunted emotional and mental development is responsible for most such crimes- a psychologist once told me that many,many people dont get beyond an emotional age of 3-5, which is disturbing 😦
  They don’t develop empathy and impulse  control to an adult level – act now, regret it later.

 Subject to all of the above, the judge in this case urged the jury, which on Sunday had stated it unlikely they could reach consensus, to keep trying.  They went back today, and did just that. Early this evening, they apparently reached concensus, as this report indicates –  ‘The man who threw his four-year-old daughter off Melbourne’s West Gate Bridge has been found guilty of murder. Arthur Phillip Freeman stared straight ahead and showed no emotion as a jury foreman announced he was guilty of murdering his daughter Darcey.  At the end of five days of difficult deliberations, the jury delivered its verdict just before 8.00pm (AEDT) on Monday after it had appeared it would be unable to reach a unanimous decision.  Several of the five men and seven women on the jury wept as Justice Coghlan thanked them for their service’.

So I suppose that was the headline I was hoping to see, and if the truth be known, the verdict that most people in our society would believe was the right one. Fromthe same report overnight [9 News],   ‘Jurors were asked by Freeman’s defence lawyer to decide whether the father of three was “mad” or “bad” when he killed Darcey.  Minutes before he killed Darcey, Freeman had telephoned his former partner Peta Barnes and told her to: “Say goodbye to your children”.  He then parked in the left-hand emergency lane of the bridge, put his hazard lights on, left his two sons in the car and picked up Darcey. He threw her over the bridge.  As Freeman drove off, Darcey’s older brother Ben urged him to turn back. “Darcey can’t swim,” he said.  Freeman drove to the Federal Law Courts complex where he started sobbing and shaking uncontrollably.  He was later arrested there’. While it would not have made any difference to the horror of what was done, I’ve often wondered – why the little girl, and not one of the two sons? Perhaps his mind at the time was telling him, that the loss of the daughter would hit her mother the most!  The outcome of the court case will be reported upon in some detail over the next day or so – for myself, I shall leave it there!