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Well, a part of it anyway –  20 years ago, I’d be out there all day for a week, now about 4 hours at a time is my limit!! The years seem to be catching me up. Even managed a walk afterwards –  mmmm, that was a bit of a struggle, because the old post ‘lawn mowing’ curse hit me –  the crook ankle, which by evening was difficult to walk on!!  Curses!  Anyway, at least by the end of the day, my lawn areas were looking much tidier – my actions must have created a virus of some sort before it was not long after I began, that he neighbour was out with his mower, though he [despite being in his 20s] seemed to be under the supervision of his mother, who followed him around as he mowed!! Not sure if I would have appreciated that degree of attention – certainly, in my various employment roles, I have never appreciated someone ‘looking over my shoulder’!

World Cup cricket – Australia is playing Sri Lanka tonight, and by 9pm our time, with the Asian team batting,  the Aussies have picked up a couple of wickets. Score 2 for 69. Decided to watch a bit of the TV coverage of this one, but not for too long – early start on Sunday mornings for Bill.  I needn’t have worried –  rain interrupted the Sri Lanka innings, and steadily increased, until it was necessary to abandon the game. A pity as the match was sizing up to be quite an exciting event. When play stopped, Sri Lanka after 32.5 overs were in a strong position at 3 for 146 runs.  However, that outcome means Ricky Ponting’s record of never having lost a World Cup game as captain of Australia is retained!

Susie returned from Bendigo sometime yesterday – to go to a concert last night [no idea where], and it was beyond  my bedtime by the time she returned home – in fact, it’s likely to be Saturday before ‘I catch up with her’!!  She and friends have gone to another of those 12 hour concerts – ‘Soundwave’ I think this one was called, and although I was partially awake, it was well after midnight before she got home tonight.

After another quiet day at the office yesterday, today was a little more ‘lively’, but I have basically being on my own for most of the week, apart from Committee meeting day on Monday. Speaking of meetings, we had a Radio Station committee meeting tonight  – a couple of absentees, however a useful meeting. We now have Maureen helping Mike in the studio office four mornings a week, so we currently have a rather handy little ‘administration section’ [unpaid of course] which depends on the voluntary goodwill of those concerned. Also includes a couple of ‘work for the dole’ equivalent young people helping out, so hopefully a few of those kind of tasks that tend to get neglected in a voluntary organisation now have a little team to attack them.

Some missing World Cup Cricket results:

• Match 16: South Africa 5 for 351 defeated [thrashed]  Netherlands 120, played at Mohali on 3^rd March.
• Match 17: Pakistan 184 defeated Canada 138. At Colombo on 3^rd March
• Match 18:  New Zealand  0 for 166 defeated  Zimbabwe 162  at Ahmedabad on 4^th March
• Match 19: West Indies  1 for 59 defeated Bangladesh  58, at Mirpur on 4^th March

Meanwhile, in the Australian Football League pre season competition, Essendon had a big win over last year’s Grand Finalists, St Kilda, to earn a place in next weekend’s Pre-Season Grand Final – the Bomber’s first grand final appearance of any sort for 10 years. Adam came back early from his day at ‘Soundwave’, ostensibly because he had to work in the early hours of tomorrow morning, but also to watch his beloved Essendon keep winning for him this year!

I noticed an article in the local [Northcote area where I work] community newspaper this week which was asking the question ‘Are we racist?’ This was how the paper put the story.

‘Darebin Council will try to measure racism across its municipality. Councillors have asked for a report that will set the boundaries for a racism inquiry.  The call comes just days after the Federal Government vowed to establish a National Anti-Racism Partnership and Strategy. Cr Gaetano Greco called for the inquiry and a community forum to discuss multiculturalism and racism at a meeting last week. “I think it is important for us to be one of the first to measure the extent of racism in the city,” Cr Greco said.“From that, we can develop strategies at local community level.” Councillors Stanley Chiang and Trent McCarthy applauded the moves to combat racism. “We can show our city strives to support multiculturalism and show racism absolutely has no place in our city,” Cr Chiang said. It comes as new research from the University of Western Sydney shows that residents from northern middle Melbourne, including Darebin, have racist experiences above the state and national average, particularly at work, in shops and restaurants and at sporting events. The Challenging Racism project showed residents in the area also experienced high levels of racism at educational institutions and in the housing rentals and buying market.

Of the residents surveyed from this region, 83 per cent agreed there was racial prejudice in Australia, but only 11.2 per cent self-identify as being racist. Additionally, 25.5 per cent of respondents said they would be at least “slightly concerned” if a relative married someone of Muslim faith, 13.3 per cent someone of Jewish faith and 24.9 per cent someone of Aboriginal background’.’

Well, that’s the way the local paper presents it, but let’s take these facts in relation to the total survey, on a nation wide basis, because I don’t believe those findings from a localised area are indicative of the way the Australian population as a whole feels. The research that led to ‘these’ findings presents a different total picture, while noting that there is anxiety about race relations, and it is more of an issue in some areas.

Quoting from a recent report, a project based at the University of Western Sydney, stated that the results of 12 years of research by the ‘Challenging Racism Project’, released on the 21^st February, provide a national picture of racism, ethnic relations and cultural diversity in Australia. In surveying more than 12,500 people from all States and Territories across Australia, the national results of  the Project revealed that  86.8% of respondents agree that it is a good thing for a society to be made up of people from different cultures; 84.4% believe all races are equal; and, 78.1% feel secure with people of different ethnic origins. Other findings included 11.2% believe it is not a good idea for people of different races to marry each other, while 12.3% admit to being prejudiced against other cultures. However,  lead researcher, Professor Kevin Dunn from the University of Western Sydney’s School of Social Sciences, says the findings indicate that the majority of Australians are positive about living in a multicultural country and that community relations in Australia are generally good. “However, there are clearly a significant number of Australians that still have a level of anxiety or discomfort about cultural difference, which makes the case for a nation-wide commitment to challenging racism that much stronger,” says Professor Dunn.  The Challenging Racism data also revealed that the frequency of racism varies substantially from place to place. “Each region of the country has its own strengths and challenges, as well as its own capacity to address  those challenges. In fact, the differences between regions are to such a degree that to compare them would be like comparing apples to oranges,” says Professor Dunn. Rather than attempting to make direct comparisons between suburbs or places, the research team focused on the more constructive goal of addressing the nature of racism and developing anti-racism strategies that can be implemented at the local level. “Governments, community groups and individuals can visit the Challenging Racism website to look up the regional profile of their area and find out which anti-racism strategies are most appropriate to them,” says Professor Dunn.

With that in mind, I guess in retrospect, that was a partial aim of the local newspaper report on it’s area of influence, and the article originally referred to included a survey questionnaire on the subject, perhaps in an attempt to assess the specific needs and actions that should be taken in the Darebin area [a reasonably northern inner suburban area of Melbourne, with surprisingly [in view of the project results for that district], quite a large population of non-Australian born residents.  Certainly, at the public housing estate where I work, there is a proportionately high number of  Muslim families from different parts of the Middle East, and parts of Africa, together with a number of Asian families.

An important finding of the Challenging Racism Project is that Australians are in large part secure with cultural difference. However, as indicated above, the findings indicated that there are still pockets of the country that hold on to ‘old-fashioned’ racist views.  The presence of any form of racism is harmful for both the targets of the prejudice and for Australian society as a whole. To assist in counteracting the existence of racism, the Challenging Racism Project team have compiled a list of useful, practical anti-racism initiatives and strategies – that local governments and individuals can access and use to address cultural prejudices in their own backyards.  There are always the exceptions, and the presence of people like Pauline Hanson in Federal politics in the early years of the Howard government had the unsettling affect of appealing to these groups. About one-in-ten Australians have very problematic views on diversity and on ethnic difference. They believe that some races are naturally inferior or superior, and they believe in the need to keep groups separated. These separatists and supremacists are a destructive minority and many of them were attracted to the ‘views’ expressed by Hanson and the ‘One Nation’ Party [in fact, still are by the remnants of that organisation, as we saw on Q & A a couple of weeks ago]. That is not to say that discrimination does not exist – the project results indicated that 66% of respondents had experienced  racism of some sort – but that is possibly a meaningless results in terms of racism, because the respondents presumably came from all cultures of Australian life, so I’m not sure how the figure was determined.  Of further interest, from a 2006 survey of 4010 Australians on the experience of racism and on attitudes to anti-racism the Challenging Racism Project found that most Australians want action against racism [85.6% in fact].

I guess I have a particular gripe about Australians [in 2011] being called racists, and a year or so ago,  when we had a number of physical assaults and robberies committed against Indian nationals, I became quite annoyed with the ‘generated’ uproar in India and the broad assumption that Australia was racist because of the actions of a few thugs.  It particularly annoyed me coming from a country which I consider to be one of the most racists and intolerant nations in the world in terms of different cultures, castes, religions, etc!  Nevertheless, the Project is an important example of the real concern that is shown by the majority of Australians to the need to ensure our country is welcoming to all cultures and nationalities. With almost 50% of the population having being born outside of Australia, but broadly speaking, living in a peaceful environment with each other, that says more than a few survey results to my mind.

The falling leaves drift by the window
The autumn leaves of red and gold
I see your lips, the summer kisses
The sun-burned hands I used to hold

Since you went away the days grow long
And soon I’ll hear old winter’s song
But I miss you most of all my darling
When autumn leaves start to fall

[lyrics by Johnny Mercer]

But I miss you most of all
My darling
When autumn leaves
Start to fall

I’m not sure what brought that on – certainly not the drive to work this morning, which like most such trips lately, seems to add more stress and hazzle than my system needs.  October can’t come quickly enough for me this year, if for no other reason than to rid myself of these two one-hour+ drives per day!!

Meanwhile, with Susie up in Bendigo these days, it was nice to get a brief visit from youngest daughter, Jodie last night. She hasn’t been too good of late – a problem with her right foot, which she thinks medication is  assisting but is a very slow response. That and another medical problem, still not resolved either, has probably kept the poor girl a bit low in spirits and activity over the past couple of weeks or so. Promised she would keep me informed of the outcome of any results as soon as available. Jodie also came with news of the date of her University Graduation ceremony, late in March – she was worried about obtaining an extra ticket so that her Nan [Win Seipolt] could join Shirley, myself and Jodie’s boyfriend, Ash.. Had applied for one but not yet heard from the organisers.  I don’t recall a specific restriction on numbers when Susie graduated last October, or perhaps she found it easier to get the numbers she wanted. Certainly, there was a restriction when I graduated from Melbourne University in 1977 –  present with myself was Shirley, my Mother and one other – my youngest sister I think!  Must check that out!  Jodie also told me of plans for the birthday celebrations in a couple of week’s for Win Seopolt’s 90^th birthday, for which I noticed that Jodie’s Facebook family invitation to the planned dinner would accept no excuses for non-attendance.  Although Win [or Nan to my ‘kids’, and Shirley’s mother] was not aware of it, one of her few surviving siblings was coming down again from Queensland for the occasion, arriving in a few days  – Val had always been a favourite down here with the family, and has been a regular visitor to Sunbury over recent years, particularly since her husband, Ern, passed away a few years ago now.

Relatively speaking, another cool March day, and while I think there will be plenty of  warmer days still ahead, it’s strange that this rather unseasonal climate is continuing in the manner it has. Oddly enough, despite years of drought,  plagues of locusts and more recently an excess of rabbits, together with the more recent excessive rains and subsequent flooding of many parts of Victoria, it’s interesting to read such reports as  wool prices reaching a 20 year high as growers reap the rewards apparently of sticking with sheep despite the adverse conditions. Mind you, that report was dampened a little by the comment from one wool manager that ‘prices were good but really only where they should have been for the past 20 years. ‘We are only back to where we were in 1991 though and you have to remember that. But it is a great boost for producers, as is the fact their wool yields will yield a lot higher this year because there is not the dust around, nor is there much vegetable matter in the fleeces’.  Even  cattle markets seem to be producing good prices – although not knowledgeable at all in this area, I’m feeling a little surprised that so much ‘success’ seems to be coming out of the farming sector in view of recent weeks!  But then again, perhaps we are only hearing the good stories – I think there are some areas in northern Victoria where the flood waters haven’t really disappeared as yet!   However, somewhere else where there is good money, appears to be in horses –  on Monday, at the opening day of Melbourne’s Premier Yearling Sale, there were 131 horses sold for a gross return of  $8.95 million!! That’s an average of about $68,305 per horse, with the top price paid being $310,000.  Not all good news however – for example, out in Port Phillip Bay, we have a number of grain export ships lying idle off  Melbourne –  flood damage to the Victorian rail network to the main source areas of the state, a shortage of road transport, and a late harvest, have caused a backlog in grain shipments out of Victoria and other states.

Over in New Zealand, a week out now from the terrible earthquake around Christchurch, we still haven’t been advised  of a final terrible death toll. I don’t believe all of the major damaged buildings have been cleared of rubble as yet, but it is likely that the greater percentage of those who died, did so underneath the major television building [CTV building], which apart from the damage caused by the initial earthquake, had a substantial number of fires burning throughout it for some days. Outside of Christchurch and the port city of Lyttelton, it seems that New Zealand farmers were spared the worst of the earthquake. According to a report in the Weekly Times this week, the quake caused only minimal damage to agricultural, residential and farming  properties, and this enabled many farmers to switch their focus on providing relief and support to the larger urban areas shaken by the quake.

On the cricket front, there is an interesting ‘British’ match going on at present – England versus Ireland – a game the English would certainly not want to lose. At the time of writing, England are 2 for 198 after 33 of the scheduled 50 overs. Should end up with over 300 runs.  Yesterday, in  Match 14: Sri Lanka  1 for 146 defeated  Kenya 142   (Group B at Colombo (Sri Lanka), Tuesday 1 March].

Postscript –  an astounding result- Ireland defeated England overnight, my ‘English’ cricket fans will not be happy.  Match 15:  Ireland 7 for 329 defeated England 8 for 327!!!

There was a period some 40 years ago, when I wrote quite a bit of poetry [well, I called it poetry!!], but these days, it would be a struggle to come up with something, I must have been in the right frame of mind in those days. I tried to find something to represent the first day of Autumn in this part of the world [Australia], but have had to resort to promoting a piece by one of our Australian poets of year’s past   –  actually, Adam Lindsay Gordon was born in the Azores, but as a young man, emigrated to South Australia after a brief period in the English Army which was apparently family tradition.  This is a sample of his talent in writing.

A Song of Autumn’

By Adam Lindsay Gordon [1833-1870]

‘WHERE shall we go for our garlands glad
At the falling of the year,
When the burnt-up banks are yellow and sad,
When the boughs are yellow and sere?
Where are the old ones that once we had,
And when are the new ones near?
What shall we do for our garlands glad
At the falling of the year?’
‘Child! can I tell where the garlands go?
Can I say where the lost leaves veer
On the brown-burnt banks, when the wild winds blow,
When they drift through the dead-wood drear?
Girl! when the garlands of next year glow,
You may gather again, my dear—
But I go where the last year’s lost leaves go
At the falling of the year.’

Looking through some ‘old’ writings last night, I came across part of an entry for this equivalent day, seven years ago,. At that time, I was working in East Melbourne, and travelling to work each day by train and tram. I was living close enough to the Sunbury Railway Station at that stage to be able to walk there. Looking back on that year, I was probably getting more ‘walking exercise’ than I realised at the time. Interesting to note also, that it was cool that morning as well.

________________________________________________________________

Meanwhile, last night’s World Cup cricket matches saw the following results.

Match 12: Canada 123 defeated by   Zimbabwe  9 for 298 (Group A match at  Nagpur (India), Monday 28 February]      Match 13: Netherlands   115 defeated by  West Indies  8 for 330 (Group A match at  Delhi (India), Monday 28 February.

It’s probably no surprise, after the way I have described much of the last 3 months, that the last day of Summer here in Victoria anyway, was cool, overcast, with periods of scattered showers throughout the day. I was quite surprised when driving home to see that the temperature was not even 18 degrees!! Personally, while we could of course do without the floods and cyclones, etc, I would be quite content to have a summer  of the kind we have had this year, as a regular thing. Apart from a few odd days, not too hot, suits me fine!!

Rather busy at the office, with a committee meeting in progress for a few hours, and yours truly suddenly the catering & luncheon officer for the day!! I must say, it makes for a more peaceful day in comparison to some of the committee meetings of three years when I attended as official minute taker, etc – in fact, even though I ‘kept out of the regular fireworks’ it was usually a rather stressful environment in which to work.  These days, we have a much more cooperative committee [all public tenant volunteers] who generally work pretty well together now that most of the ‘troublemakers’ have moved on [or being moved on]!  I think there were a few potential problems with one member this time, but that seems to have been sorted out and solved in an amicable manner, something that probably wouldn’t have been possible or likely a few years ago.

Now summer generally means ‘cricket’ in most of the nations where that sport is popular, and I think It’s time I caught up with the last couple of results of the ICC World Cup Cricket competition.  I think we left on Saturday night with Pakistan defeating Sri Lanka in Match No. 10. Yesterday, there was a real thriller of a game involving one of the host nations [India] and the England team.  It was always going to be a tall order for England to chase down a massive India score of 338 [including  a score of 120 by Sachin Tendulkar – his 5^th World Cup cricket century, a record previously shared by him with India’s Sourav Ganguly, and Australia’s Mark Waugh and Ricky Ponting. In fact, in One Day International matches, it was Tendulkar’s 47^th hundred!!  Obviously after that score, it was not surprising that my English friend, Maureen, noted on Facebook that ‘ I see england are getting killed bill?’ All the more reason why she would have enjoyed what followed.  England captain Andrew Strauss went on to score 158 runs, and in the process helping England to equal  India’s score of 338 in 50 overs by losing eight wickets  – they didn’t quite win, but the match was an amazing tied result..

Match 11: India  338  tied with England 8 for 338  (Group B game at Bangalore (India), on Sunday 27 February.

Two other games on today – Canada vs Zimbabwe, and Netherlands vs West Indies – we will catch up with those results later.

Meanwhile, it’s Monday night  – which means Q & A on the television – the ABC panel program of public identities facing a live audience, an hour of television I always look forward to.  Tonight’s panel consists of Bill Shorten – Assistant Treasurer,  Malcolm Turnbull – Shadow Communications Minister,  Samah Hadid – UN Youth Representative,  Piers Akerman – Political commentator , and Gretel Killeen – Comedian and former Big Brother host. As usual, with the help of the ABC, I like to record a little bio of these people, which usually includes, as in this case, a couple of names I’m not familiar with.

‘Before entering Parliament Bill Shorten was one of Australia’s best-known trade union leaders. As secretary of the Australian Workers’ Union he was a major player in the national industrial relations debate and gained widespread prominence for his role on the scene of the Beaconsfield mine disaster in Tasmania in 2006.
As a key member of the Victorian ALP’s right-wing Centre Unity faction for more than 20 years, Bill was always expected to pursue a career in Parliament. He was elected to the seat of Maribynong, covering Melbourne’s outer northern suburbs, in the 2007 election and was promoted straight to a senior role as Parliamentary Secretary for Disabilities and Children’s Services. He has since also assumed responsibility for Victorian Bushfire Reconstruction. Bill is one of a new breed of Labor politicians who are expected to take senior leadership roles in the party in coming years. Born in Melbourne in 1967, Bill graduated in arts and law from Monash University and – unusually for a trade union leader – completed a Masters in Business Administration from Melbourne University. Apart from his union and political activities he also served as interim CEO of the Australian Netball Players’ Association and on the advisory board of the Australian Cricketers’ Association. After the 2010 election he was promoted to the ministry to the position of Assistant Treasurer and Minister for Financial Services and Superannuation’.  [Note: watch out for this man as a future leader of the Labor Party, and  even a Prime Minister, providing Labor stay in power long enough for that to happen. He was convincing enough tonight to retain the impression]……………………………………….

‘Malcolm Turnbull is the Opposition’s spokesman for communications, having been replaced as Opposition Leader by Tony Abbott in a knife-edge leadership vote late in 2009. His leadership imploded on the issue of climate change, with conservatives in the Liberal Party rebelling against his stated intention of supporting Labor’s emissions trading scheme. Though frequently described as the richest man in Parliament and regarded by many as having a privileged background, Malcolm’s early years were spent in comparatively humble circumstances. Born in Sydney in 1954, he grew up in a single-parent household with his father, Bruce, after his parents separated. They lived in a series of flats, mostly rented.  Malcolm attended Vaucluse Public School and, with the aid of a scholarship, Sydney Grammar, to which in later life he donated a new scholarship program in his father’s name to help underprivileged students. After graduating from Sydney University with an arts-law degree, he won a Rhodes Scholarship and completed a further degree at Oxford. Malcolm worked as a journalist, lawyer and in business, and became widely known in the late 1990s for leading the Australian republican cause. He entered Parliament in 2004 and represents the seat of Wentworth which covers Sydney’s Eastern Suburbs. Malcolm and his wife Lucy have two adult children and live in Point Piper in Sydney’.  [I have to say that as time goes on, I’m becoming less keen on Tony Abbott remaining as leader and would like to see Malcolm Turnbull do a John Howard ‘Lazarus’ and return to the leadership. I believe that is an inevitable outcome eventually. He too was impressive on the program tonight and responded better I thought to criticisms of ‘inadequacies’ amongst his Party then did Mr Shorten].

‘Samah Hadid is a 22 year old human rights advocate from Sydney and is the Australian Youth Representative to the UN.  She is currently completing her Masters in Human Rights Law and Policy at the University of New South Wales. Samah serves as the Youth Representative on the Australian National Commission for UNESCO. She is also the co chair of the Multicultural Youth Network , member of Amnesty International’s Diversity Steering Committee and Action Partner for Oxfam International Youth Partnerships. Samah has previously been a member of Bankstown Council’s Youth Advisory Committee, the National Youth Roundtable and selected as a participant to the Prime Minister’s 2020 Summit and a member of the UN Expert Group on Youth.  She has been a volunteer with the Muslim Women Association for 7 years. In 2009 she completed a fellowship with the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. Samah has been recognized for her volunteer work as the CRC Young Volunteer of the year, UWS Young Woman from the West, finalist for NSW young person of the year and received a human rights commendation award. Samah is also a co author of the book The Future by Us. As the Australian Youth Representative to the UN Samah hopes to profile the voices of indigenous and minority youth and promote the valuable role young people make to Australia and on an international scale.  Samah is also a performance artist and playwright , she is currently developing The Burka Monologues’. [An attractive young lady, hair hidden behind a scarf, and obviously a good choice for the roles she currently undertakes with her display of high intelligence and knowledge. My only negative for Samah, was her obvious bias towards the government, other than that, good to listen to, and watch!!]

‘For more than 15 years the Labor-baiting columns of Piers Akerman in the Sydney Daily Telegraph have made him one of Australia’s best-known commentators. He is regarded as a trend-setter, in that conservative columnists are now common but were a rarity when Piers first burst into print. Born in Papua New Guinea in 1950, Piers was raised in Perth and pursued a career in journalism. He worked at a variety of newspapers – mostly in the News Ltd group – in a number of cities and spent a long period in the US during the 1970s and 80s. He met his wife, Suzanne, a solicitor, while covering the 1974 America’s Cup yacht races at Newport, Rhode Island.  After returning to Australia he was made editor of The Adelaide Advertiser in 1988 and Melbourne’s Herald-Sun from 1990-92. His confrontational approach as editor challenged the established order in both cities and caused considerable controversy. Piers began writing his columns after his stint at the Herald-Sun, and ever since has maintained his assault on Labor and all soft-Left causes while staunchly supporting the coalition – especially under John Howard. He is a committed climate-change sceptic and a voracious critic of most green causes’.  [Despite this man’s very strong bias towards the Coalition, I’m afraid I didn’t really take to him, and some of his responses, almost too anti-Labor, and one could not imagine a great deal of balance in his newspaper articles. Nevertheless, obviously very successful and well credited in his field, I just didn’t like him].

‘Gretel Killeen’s career began shortly after she dropped out of law studies at university and accidentally performed stand-up comedy at a poetry reading. This led to comedy writing for radio station 2JJJ, regular spots on TV, and work as one of Australia’s top voice artists for over seventeen years. For the next seven years Gretel hosted the Logie Award winning Big Brother for which she received a MO Award, and during this time she also hosted TV broadcasts for The Logies, The Sydney Mardi Gras, the Sydney New Year’s Eve Concert and several Australia Day Live broadcasts.  In theatre and stage Gretel has been a producer at Sydney’s 90’s cult venue, The Harold Park Hotel, performed as the narrator in The Rocky Horror Show, and entertained the troops in the Middle-East, the Solomon Islands, East Timor and Egypt. Gretel recently returned from Afghanistan where she was the host and producer of segments for the ABC Australia Day live telecast. The author of more than twenty books, including best-sellers, Gretel has written for many of Australia’s leading publications, was a regular columnist with the Australian newspaper’s magazine and a weekly columnist with The Sun Herald.  While a Goodwill Ambassador for UNICEF Gretel wrote and directed TV commercials for unexploded ordnance awareness in Laos and the need for financial aid in Bangladesh, and wrote and directed a documentary on AIDS Orphans in Zambia.  Currently directing her first feature film Gretel’s greatest achievement will always be her role as the single mother of her two children’. [I knew nothing about this lady before tonight – made her ‘angry’ passion in respect to the way in which Labor have just introduced the ‘carbon tax’ plan, very obvious in one of the few opportunities she had to say much on the program].

That in fact was the unfortunate aspect of as panel of five guests with two of them, high profile politicians included – most of  the questions were directed to either Malcolm or Bill, and the bulk of subsequent cross discussion tended to involve them as well. Quite rightly – as it was a program involving questions from the audience –  the host Tony Jones, on a number of occasions had to  cut short ‘questions’ coming from the others on the panel to the two politicians – I guess they were just trying to get more involvement in the overall process. However both women were very articulate in expressing their views when the opportunity arose. Piers simply kept interrupting, especially if Bill shorten was talking.  I think the best question of the night, the first one, was ‘With the announcement by Ju-Liar that there would NOW be a carbon tax, and Christine Milne, boasting: “It’s happening because we have shared power in Australia.” My question to the panel is, WHO do you believe is running the country? Since Bob Brown is calling the shots, should he just officially be declared PM?’ The bulk of the discussion tonight however was around the issue of carbon tax, promises broken, Islam and the One Nation views, Islam and the question of foreign aid, and a subject which created the only real aspect of bipartisanship between the two politicians, on the proposed funding options for disability care and support.

The other ‘big event’ today was the Academy Awards – the Oscars – where Australia had three actors in the final five nominations for individual performances. All missed out on the Oscar. Performance by an Actress in a leading role, won by Natalie Portman [Black Swan] – Nicole Kidman missed out [in Rabbit Hole]. Performance by an Actress in a supporting Role went to Melissa Leo [The Fighter], no luck for Jackie Weaver [in Animal Kingdom], while the award for Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role [our best hope] went to Christian Bale [The Fighter] – Geoffrey Rush’s performance as the speech Therapist to the King in The King’s Speech wasn’t quite good enough. Interestingly, Colin Firth who played the King in that film, also missed the Oscar for the Leading Actor role.  The King’s Speech, amongst four Oscars picked up the Original Screenplay Oscar.  A film, as I noted a couple of weeks okay, well worth a visit to. Aussies did win three Oscars however – Kirk Baxter in the Best Editing category [The Social Network]; David Elsey [British born Aussie] won the Oscar for best make-up for his work in the horror film, The Wolfman, while Shaun Tan won an Oscar for his animated short film, The Lost Thing [all of 15 minutes in duration apparently].  As I mentioned earlier,. I didn’t bother to try and watch the very late delayed telecast by our Channel 9 tonight – don’t know why they bother to do these things so long after the event sometimes.

Late phone call from Susan – wanted to ‘borrow’ my debit card for urgent purchase of some study books.  Were you asleep?  No. watching ‘Q & A’!  Oh yes of course, it’s Monday night!!!

Well, after my rare Sunday morning off last week from my early radio show [I was in Ballarat over the weekend], it was back as normal this morning, for what was actually my 249^th ‘Classic’ music program. I guess I had better plan something special for No. 250 next week. Amongst other things this morning, I played a recording of Max Bruch’s Violin Concerto No. 1. This is a wonderful piece of music. Though were it not for the 3^rd [and final] movement, it would be little known outside of strict classical circles  –  that final movement is probably the piece of music from Bruch that gets the most airplay, and while the average listener may not be able to identify the composer or the music, they would in all likelihood have heard the piece. The whole concerto continues to be performed and recorded by many violinists and is arguably Bruch’s most famous composition. First written in 1866, it was completed in it’s present form the following year. While the first two movements, as far as I’m concerned, have their own beauty, especially the Adagio which is considered by many to be the heart of the composition,  the finale seems to really bring the music to life. This is a description that appears in Wikipedia that I felt provides a good summary.

“The third movement, the finale, opens with an extremely intense, yet quiet, orchestral introduction that yields to the soloist’s statement of the exuberant theme in brilliant double stops. It is very much like a dance that moves at a comfortably fast and energetic tempo. The second subject is a fine example of Romantic lyricism, a slower melody which cuts into the movement several times, before the dance theme returns with its fireworks. The piece ends with a huge accelerando, leading to a fiery finish that gets higher as it gets faster and louder and eventually concludes with two short, yet grand, chords”.  Appropriately officially titled ‘Allegro energico’, it certainly probably attracted my attention many years ago with that energy reflected in the tempo.

There are numerous concerts happening at any time in the city and general metropolitan area. I usually refer to most of these during my programs, but because of time, and the overall cost involved, it is difficult myself to get to very many throughout the year. In 2010, I did make an effort with a number of such outings, and while I had great plans to be an active concert goer this year, I find myself unwilling to commit to too much for those reasons – cost and time. There’s a couple of places I would have liked to have gone to this afternoon/evening, including a concert by Katie Noonan, one of favourite Australian singers. However I do see that she is joining up with a new combo later in the year, and might try and get the opportunity to catch up with her then.  The Australian Chamber Orchestra is performing today too I think – I actually went to one of their concerts a couple of years ago, when Katie Noonan was performing with the orchestra, rather an unusual combination, but it worked really well!!

Anyway, twelve hours after this morning’s program, and I’ve just farewelled my daughter who is currently driving back up to her ‘student home’ in Bendigo. I find it difficult not to worry while I know she is out on the road, but was at least thankful that she left with still some period of daylight remaining. Though as the months move along, that will not be possible, to leave in daylight if she keeps her Sunday afternoon work shift down here! Oh well, one can only assume all will be well!

I was thinking about the extreme climatic disasters we have had this year, this afternoon, and the affect of things like bushfires, floods, cyclones, etc, on many of our rural folk, some of whom tend to be quite isolated at the best of times, and how when major towns and communities are affected, we often forget those live on the farms and the less populated areas. Stressful times, such of the nature of those mentioned, or just simply the daily routine of rural life, means many of these people never get the opportunity to ‘pause, reflect and take some much needed time out’ –  the notion of four weeks annual leave for example, is non-existent! With that in mind, I read recently of an initiative created by an organisation arising out of the Uniting Church in Australia [UCA] called ‘Uniting Church Camping’  – an item in the February edition of ‘Crosslight’ [a newsletter of the Victorian & Tasmanian UCA] referred to the ‘Take a Break Program’. This was initially born out of a response to couples and families affected by the drought, and has been operating for the past five years, offering holidays to families in crisis.

The programs give such families, particularly from the rural environment the chance to have a holiday at one of the organisation’s ‘Take a Break’ camps in various parts of Victoria.  All of the camps are funded by donations, and are made available to struggling couples and families, free of charge.  As one grateful recipient said ‘There’s not a lot of money around in the country at the moment and priorities are the basic essentials, not holidays’.’We’ve had a chance to meet families in a similar situation. Lots of families are suffering hardships in the country. We wouldn’t have had the money to get away this year, we’ve so grateful for the opportunity’. As noted in the article, ‘Rural life, with the constant demands of working farms. Can take its toll on families, especially when time away from stress and hardship simply isn’t possible.’  Unfortunately, there are I imagine, only a limited number of families able to take advantage of such a program, but it does remind one, that there are so many little groups and organisations out there in our communities trying in various ways to make life easier for those who particularly are likely to feel the affects of floods etc, more so in general, than us town and city folk [there are of course exceptions to that ‘rule’ as we have seen in the past couple of months, Charlton in central Victoria, or Brisbane, Toowoomba, etc up in Queensland].

My Saturday began with a very early morning delivery of  new washing machine  – I had been asked to fill in at the radio station for the early shift, but had to decline because of this expected delivery, but I hadn’t really anticipated it would be this early!!  Now I’m waiting for my son to come and collect ‘his’ machine [reason for my purchase] to add to his new ‘bachelor pad’ as I saw him refer to it on Face-book the other day! I discovered later that visit would not be until tomorrow.

While I think of it, last night’s second ICC World Cup Cricket match for the day,  resulted in a win for one of  the host nations:  Match  9: Bangladesh  205 defeated Ireland  178  (Group B @ Mirpur (Bangladesh), Friday 25 February].   I see there is only one game scheduled for Saturday,  Sri Lanka vs Pakistan.

Tony Abbott [leader of the Opposition] had this message for the ‘Party faithful’ on Thursday –

“Julia Gillard today announced a carbon tax. This is a fundamental breach of faith with the Australian people.  Days before the election, Ms Gillard declared to the Australian public that “there will be no carbon tax under the government I lead.”  Today she has broken her promise – and all Australians will now pay for that broken promise with higher electricity and petrol prices. Let us be clear, what the Prime Minister announced today is a carbon tax. From the middle of next year, Australian families will pay $300 more for power each year. And they will pay 6½ cents more per litre for petrol.  There’s a better way to tackle climate change than a massive new electricity and petrol tax. We have a plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by direct action, without driving up electricity and petrol prices”.  I fear that over future months, we are going to hear more about the ‘broken promises’ than about Opposition alternative ‘better ways’.

In fact this whole question of ‘broken promises’ by politicians is a bit overdone in my view. We all know they do it, and for many reasons.  Now I’m not judging one way or the other the Labor Government’s decision this week to introduce a ‘carbon tax’ as a means towards combating climate change etc from the 1^st July next year [although I think the urgency of the decision has a lot to do with Labor’s desire to retain the support of the Greens’ Party on that and many other issues.  Political, economic and international circumstances do change over time, and I think it is only correct that government’s react in order to meet those changed circumstances, and at times, that may mean a government has to change it’s direction, it’s plans, and of necessity, ‘break a promise’ that it may have made to the electorate at an earlier time. In this case, I’m not sure if it is justified or not, and there seem to be many different scientific, economic and broad based views on the need for a price on carbon in the manner proposed.

But the question of ‘broken promises’ comes up at an interesting time from my perspective  – I’ve been reading for some months now, John Howard’s autobiography, published last year, called ‘Lazarus Rising’, and he raises this very question in respect to the introduction of a General Services Tax [GST] after the 1998 election.  One of the criticisms levelled at he, and the Coalition Government at the time, was that in the lead up to the 1996 election, when Howard came to power,  he gave assurances that a GST proposal was ruled out in the next term of government if he won that election, and it was described as a broken promise to subsequently introduce such a tax. Howard defends that action in his  book in a chapter headed ‘The Holy Grail of Tax Reform’ and under the circumstances, I consider that defence was fully justified. He writes [on page 305] that:

“Taxation reform was a large piece of unfinished economic business for our country. It was something that I had believed in for a long time……………….I was again doing what I relished most in politics: campaigning for a much-needed reform.

I said that any changes would not take effect until after the next election and, as a consequence, any major taxation alterations would be the centrepiece of the economic debate in the next election campaign. This rendered nonsensical those arguments from the Labor Party that I was being dishonourable in advocating taxation reform when I had previously ruled out a GST. Those critics conveniently overlooked the fact that I was giving the electorate the opportunity to reject the Government if it did not like our taxation proposals. Surely a political party is entitled to change it’s position on a major policy issue without being accused of bad faith, if it submits the change for adjudication at an election?

Debate on taxation reform had occurred fitfully in Australia over some 15 to 20 years. It was not a new issue. Experience had told me, however,  that if ever it was going to be achieved, it had to be delivered by an incumbent government, in a strong political position and in the early stages of its time in office. The Howard Government in 1997 met those criteria.  The enthusiasm of the back bench…saw taxation reform as a cause to fight for, something positive to advocate for the future benefit of the country”.

Perhaps it might do Tony Abbott well to take note of his former leader’s words that ‘Surely a political party is entitled to change it’s position on a major policy issue without being accused of bad faith, if it submits the change for adjudication at an election?’ Maybe the essential difference here is that the Labor proposal has come early in it’s period in office, and unless the Coalition can force an early election, the Labor Government obviously has no intention of taking their decision to the people through an election – I suppose that is Abbott’s point, that the electorate have been misled!  Well, be that as it may, I really would like to see a less negative approach on his part to that and various other aspects of the Government’s programs.  A while ago, we were suggesting that the Prime Minister was been given poor advice as to the manner in which she should respond to major issues in the public. In Tony Abbott’s case it appears to be his ‘own advice to self’ that is causing him many problems these days.

My youngest brother [train driver up in Rockhampton, Queensland] was having a birthday today – 53 years old today,  I think he is!  He must have been working today –  I’m assuming that the rail lines on which he principally travels up there have been repaired and/or were not damaged in the recent Queensland floods – the Rockhampton area was one of the first hit areas early in January.  Anyway, I sent him a greeting this morning, suggesting that he was slowly catching up on me, although I kept slipping away from him J

I believe it will be late  Monday morning, our time when the annual Oscars [Academy Awards], and us Aussies have vague hopes of some successes  – in particular in the case of Geoffrey Rush for his role as the speech therapist in the movie ‘The King’s Speech’ for the award of the Best Supporting Oscar.  I think one of our commercial channels usually does a delayed telecast of the Oscars here on Monday night, but I will certainly not be waiting until then to seek out the results. The King’s Speech heads into the Oscar ceremony with 12 nominations – more than any other film. Australia’s other acting nominees, Nicole Kidman (Rabbit Hole) and Jacki Weaver (Animal Kingdom), are apparently not rated as having much of a chance, however they are in the last five in each instance, and to me that rates as a good performance base.

Meanwhile, at the time of writing, Pakistan were 3 for 127 in their World Cup Match No. 10 at Colombo in Sri Lanka [Saturday 26 February] against Sri Lanka.  Eventually, Pakistan, who won the toss and elected to bat, made  7-277 from their 50 overs, while the Sri Lankans in response, were never able to score freely in the run chase, eventually reaching 9-266.

I’m sometimes quite moved by a piece of reporting. Such was the case this morning. In all honesty, my general impression of Japan is often based on that country’s pre-war activities [eg, in China], and the brutality they displayed during World War II, whether it be in POW camps or towards the civilian populations that happened to get in their way. Today’s generation is of course, a different category of Japanese, but nevertheless, there is often in the background, a lingering memory of times past. So I have to be equally honest, and note that the article reprinted below, from today’s ‘Australian’ newspaper, gave me a new perspective on the people of Japan today, and left this reader feeling quite emotional.  The article, written by journalists  James Madden and Rowan Callick was headed  ‘We don’t use the word dead’  –  Japan goes in where others give up hope.

‘CHRISTCHURCH police operations commander Dave Lawry was “100 per cent” certain: everyone in the Canterbury Television building reduced to a smouldering pile of rubble in Tuesday’s earthquake was dead. “The sad fact is that we’re moving the resources we’ve got to other sites where there is a higher probability of life survivability,” he said on Wednesday night. But that wasn’t good enough for the Japanese, with up to 50 of their citizens — mainly foreign-language students — entombed in the building. “At this stage, we don’t use the word dead,” Takashi Ato, first secretary at the Japanese embassy in Wellington, told The Australian yesterday.

The students’ family members began arriving in Christchurch yesterday, Mr Ato said, “and they want to see the fight (for the students’ lives) as a matter of course”. Confronted with the New Zealanders’ decision to move the search effort to other buildings in the shattered city, the Asian power flexed its diplomatic muscle to ensure its 67-strong team of experienced emergency workers assumed control of the rescue effort at the CTV building.  But, sadly, the grim initial assessment of the New Zealand authorities appears to be realistic. Up to 120 people are believed to have been trapped in the CTV building when it collapsed. Yesterday only bodies were retrieved, some of them Japanese students. The official death toll from the Christchurch earthquake reached 98 last night, with a further 226 people still missing. Two babies were named among the dead — nine-month-old Jayden Harris and five-month-old Baxter Gowland. Baxter was born two weeks after the first earthquake shook Christchurch in September. The second one, technically an aftershock, cost him his life when he was crushed by a television. Authorities expect the death toll to rise sharply in coming days, as the desperate rescue effort becomes a recovery mission.

“The situation is much worse than we first feared,” New Zealand Prime Minister John Key said. “We are very fearful tonight that the death toll could be much greater than any of us have ever feared,” he said, adding words of concern for the dozens of “international people that are caught up in this tremendous tragedy”.  Mr Ato said yesterday the search would go on for the students trapped in the concrete tomb at the CTV building. “The New Zealand authorities have repeatedly maintained that there is no sign of life at the CTV building, but we hope the students are waiting for us,” he said. “That is the main reason we have dispatched the rescue team. That was their announcement, but we would like to make sure of making the best effort possible.”

A further 23 bodies were pulled from the CTV building yesterday — some by Australian rescue teams — bringing the number of bodies found at the site to 47. Among the 23 bodies retrieved yesterday, several were Japanese students.  It is understood the students were on the bottom floor of the building when it collapsed, and a rescue worker told The Australian it was obvious those on the bottom floor were crushed before they could even try to escape. “It’s true, they had no chance,” he said. Last night, Christchurch police superintendent Dave Cliff said authorities had not given up on finding anyone alive at the CTV building, rather they had been forced to prioritise the sites where it was most likely that people could have survived. “Because of the use of dogs, the camera equipment and the sonic equipment, plus the fact there have been two fires at the CTV site, it was assessed that more pressing locations existed,” he said. “It’s better to use the resources at that point to look at other locations where people may have survived.” Authorities said up to 22 people were feared to have died inside Christchurch Cathedral, the city’s landmark [and later today, search and rescue workers are preparing to start removing bodies from under piles of rubble at Christchurch’s cathedral.   Meanwhile, the search continues for 14 people feared trapped in the Pyne Gould Guinness building’

Sadly, it appears that the hopes of the Japanese rescuers will be in vain, and by tonight, the reports were that ‘authorities were conceding it was unlikely they will find any more survivors from Christchurch’s devastating earthquake, which has left more than 100 dead and hundreds more missing. As rain hampered the painstaking search of the city centre, Foreign Minister Murray McCully admitted: “The rescue focus is drawing towards a conclusion.” “We’re getting to the end of that period in which you can still have hope,” McCully said. No one has been found alive since the last of 70 survivors was pulled from underneath rubble was rescued from a collapsed office building on Wednesday afternoon’. There may well be the ‘odd’ miracle finding still likely but it seems that will be a rare occurrence..  Police said 113 were dead and 228 missing after Tuesday’s earthquake laid waste to central Christchurch and several suburbs in New Zealand’s worst disaster in 80 years.

Meanwhile, on the local scene, a busier than preferred Friday with a sudden desire on the part of some to get documentation prepared and despatched for the Association’s next General Meeting. I’m usually well prepared for these things well in advance, it’s a pity others can’t avoid leaving everything to the last minute, and then expecting everything else to be dropped!!!  Oh well, I just went along with the flow, but at my own pace – we still achieved the same outcome that the affect of the feverish push of one thought was needed!!  Too old to be hurried these days!!

James was coming to see me tonight – to discuss his thoughts about pulling out of his university course, after less than a week. But a late message – have to make it another night, ‘I’m off to a game of poker’!! What are those other priorities that have suddenly become so important? In the meantime, Susie returned this afternoon from her first [part] week up in Bendigo. I thought she was going to give up her Friday night shift at the local Big W store, but not yet apparently – already gone by the time I got home [after reluctantly visiting an electrical goods store to purchase a new washing machine  –  younger son, Adam, in moving ‘home’ again suddenly realised he wants ‘his’ washing machine back that we have been ‘caring for’ over the past few years!  I really didn’t want to spend money on something like that at this stage of the year – but – ‘life wasn’t meant to be easy’ – and probably better to make that purchase now while I’m on a full income!

The ICC World Cup Cricket continued yesterday, and two matches today. Match 07: South Africa 3-223 defeated the West Indies 222  (Group B game@ Delhi (India), Thursday 24 February………………………………….Matches 8 and 9 results shortly [Australia is playing New Zealand as I write – the Kiwis all out for 206, while Australia are racing towards victory on 3 for 283 – and despite the telecast being advertised as a delayed one at 11.30 tonight, I’ve just discovered there is a direct coverage on right now!  Amazing!

Match No.8: Australia  Australia 3 for 207 defeated  New Zealand 206  (Group A @ Nagpur (India), Friday 25 February

Match 09: Bangladesh v Ireland (Group B @ Mirpur (Bangladesh), Friday 25 February

Amongst the various pieces of correspondence and news I receive from time to time are the regular newsletters from my old university – Melbourne University – and while I feel beyond  actually participating in any of their Alumina activities these days, I’m always interested in keeping in touch with what is happening at the university. That was where I completed my Bachelor of Commerce Degree back in the early 1970s, a course I undertook on a part time basis whilst I was working over a period of  7 years [took me a year longer than it should have  when I had to repeat a couple of subjects – must have been some major distractions around at that time – a story for another day!].

Anyway, recent news from the Vice Chancellor of the university [Glyn Davis] advises that the current Chancellor, the Hon Justice Alex Chernov [who has filled that role for the past two years] is to be the next Governor of Victoria, as from April. He will take over from the present Governor, whom I met [at a distance] during the community awards ceremony at Government House back on the 1^st October [Professor David de Kretser, AC]. He is expected to  serve the people of Victoria with the same graciousness and dedication he brings to his University role.  Mr Davis describes Justice Chernov as  been an exemplary Chancellor, who  has invested an enormous amount of time doing voluntary work for this University in Australia and around the world, and has proved engaged and enthusiastic about the University. He has also been impeccable in respecting the difference between governance and management, leading a talented Council that remains focused on strategy, committed to rigorous financial and administrative scrutiny but respectful of academic judgment in making curriculum and research choices.  Readers unfamiliar with the role of ‘Governor’ might be interested in the following summary of how it came about.

Australia is a constitutional monarchy, a federation and a parliamentary democracy. Each of these terms describes a different aspect of its form of government. The Queen [of the United Kingdom] is formally Australia’s head of state, but she is represented by the Governor-General of the Commonwealth of Australia and the Governors of each of the six States. They exercise all the constitutional powers of a head of state in their respective spheres.

Australia became a federation on 1st January 1901 after the people of the six Australian colonies agreed and the Parliament of the United Kingdom consented that there should be a Federal Government for the whole nation as well as a Government in each of the States (as the colonies were to be called). The Commonwealth Constitution gives the Commonwealth powers over specific subjects, including foreign affairs, defence and international and interstate trade. Powers not allocated to the Commonwealth are exercised by the States. Some responsibilities, such as for education and health, are, in practice, shared.  The States and the Commonwealth each have democratically-elected parliamentary systems based on that of the United Kingdom.

Thus the State of Victoria has a Governor who, appointed by the Queen, acts as head of state; a Parliament in Melbourne with an upper House, the Legislative Council, and a lower House, the Legislative Assembly; a Government or Cabinet comprising the Premier and other Ministers who are drawn from both Houses but must have the confidence and support of the majority of the Legislative Assembly; a system of law courts; and a public service, for each department of which a Minister is responsible to Parliament.  At the Commonwealth level, the Governor-General corresponds to the Governor of a State and the Prime Minister to the Premier. The Governor-General, in relation to the Governors is treated as the first among equals, but has no control or supervision over them.

The Premier of Victoria, not the Government, chooses who is to be appointed Governor. The Queen on the advice (mandatory request) of the Premier appoints that person as Governor. If the Premier advised it, the Queen would dismiss the Governor. The Governor is appointed ‘at pleasure’ and could be dismissed at any time. Before appointment Governors usually arrange with the Premier a domestic agreement on the term of office which is to be served.  Although the Governor could be dismissed during the arranged period of service, this has not happened in Australia during the last 75 years. A Premier knows that such a dismissal would draw the damnation of the community and history unless good reason for it could positively be shown. There is a sophisticated balance between the powers of Governor and Premier. The Governor has power to dismiss the Premier but is equally aware of the enormous disapproval of public opinion and posterity which would be aroused unless the clearest constitutional reasons for doing so could be shown to exist.
That information is just part of quite a detailed explanation and description of the role of the Governor of Victoria on the relevant Victorian Government website. I was aware that a new Governor was to be appointed this year. I’m wondering who recommended this appointment – the present new Premier, Ted Bailleau, or his predecessor, John Brumby, defeated at last November’s State election!

On matters closer to home, I was a little disappointed to receive a text from my eldest son today – he has just commenced a return to university to undertaken a teaching qualification, and already has decided to ‘defer’ his studies for a year –  well, he did ask me for my opinion, which I will give him, however, I get the feeling that it will not really matter what I say, as he has probably already made up his mind.  I indicate ‘disappointment’ mainly because to my mind, such a decision is a continuation of similar decisions to discontinue with plans etc, over the past dozen or so years, rather than making an effort to persist for a while at least. However, his direction these days is really beyond my control, all one can do is advise and suggest options as best as possible, but the eventual decision has to be his own.  Whilst I had felt that a return to studies at near age 30 was a bit of a risk, I had been quite pleased at the reason for doing so – he has always been very good working and communicating with younger children, and I felt the plan to teach at the Primary school level was an excellent career choice and he would have been well suited to such a role. But, perhaps that is not what ‘fate’ has in store for James!

Meanwhile,  in Australia’s World Cup cricket match the other day, it seems that our captain, Ricky Ponting, was a little bit upset after he was run out. As a result, he has been reprimanded by the International Cricket Council after damaging a television set in the team dressing room following his dismissal against Zimbabwe on Monday.  The report of the incident noted that  Ponting was charged with a level one breach of the ICC code of conduct under clause 2.1.2, which covers “abuse of cricket equipment or clothing, ground equipment or fixtures and fittings during an international match”.  He accepted the charge and the sanction issued by the match referee, Roshan Mahanama, negating the need for a formal hearing, and apologised for his action  The ICC settled for the low-level charge and minimum sanction – level one offences can carry punishments up to a fine of 50% of the player’s match fee – after accepting that the damage was accidental.  Their statement noted that “the damage occurred when he threw down a piece of equipment which bounced off his kit bag and hit the corner of the television”.  Mahanama added: “Ricky knows that his action was in breach of the code, involving a brief moment of frustration. That said, it was clear that the damage he caused was purely accidental and without malice, he apologised shortly after the incident at the ground and immediately agreed to pay for the damage.”  I would imagine that cricket fans over in India, whom I don’t think really like Ricky Ponting very much, might have been hoping that he would be suspended for a couple of matches!! Admittedly, over recent seasons, he has lost his ‘cool’ on a few occasions as a very competitive player, who sometimes finds it difficult to accept a decision that he perceives to be unfair or wrong!  Hopefully, he will take this opportunity and learn to remain a little calmer in the future!

I have just remembered that I have to be up at the radio station early in the morning to give a brief local sports report, so perhaps I should aim for an earlier night than I’ve been having recently!!