Forgot to mention

We have been in Adelaide Street for one year. The year has flown by. Despite the drought our little gardens have flourished. This is the courtyard at the back. The bushes have already received one pruning. We are both feeling really settled in our home. It certainly meets all of our needs.

They talk about Eurowhite?

The talk in airline circles is all about boring Eurowhite liveries. Well, the new German Wings logojet for Park Inns certainly doesn't fit that bill. I love it (taken at Shannon, Ire, yesterday).

Shakespeare's so much fun?

My dear old Mum would have loved what Rene and I saw on Friday night, The Complete Works of Shakespeare - Abridged. It was a hilarious night full of sight gags, one liners and even a couple of digs at The University of Southern Queensland (one guy even attended for TWO whole days and got a degree) - brilliant! The second half of the show was Hamlet, done once, then a second time - this time much faster. Finally, Hamlet done in reverse - quite clever. A couple from Denver and another from Canada were in the audience and sitting suitably far apart whilst well rehearsed ad libbing kept the audience in stitches. The comedian Frank Woodley was one of the stars, but all three actors shone. It's a shame that poor Rene missed about 75% of the dialogue due to the speed of the language, softness of Frank's voice and some Aussie accents, but that's life when you are listening to English as a second language. I had no difficulty at all.

For a review of Shakespeare read this http://www.timeoff.com.au/index.php?area=Encore&pg=29&subarea=151&sel=5292&PHPSESSID=50e42875a52e8c968840014e7c7dca00

This morning Rene and I are off to The Marriott to meet friends from Toowoomba for breakfast. They are down on a 'girls weekend away'. They saw the show 'Queen' last night, which I gather was music from the rock group. Should have been terrific. Must dash.....

Happy Koninginnedag

Tomorrow, April 30, is the Queen's birthday in The Netherlands. The weather forecast is set to be excellent, around the high 20's compared to 11.5C last year. To my Dutch friends I say paint the town orange and have a marvellous day and have a drink or three for me - wish I was there.

Up and Running (sort of...)

I have spent a large part of today getting my new PC up and running and it's terrific. I have the world's largest monitor (well, at 22" it seems that to me) and the clarity is amazing. Vista Home Premium is going to take a while to get used to, but it has a great look.

I was pleased to get it 90% up and running by myself, but there was an issue with the wireless network adaptor (but a phone call helped there) and Rene had to help me a couple of times. Anyway, I have to transfer email files and contacts plus favourites and some files....not an easy job, well, easy but enormously time consuming. As to specs, well, it has LOTS and LOTS of power and memory plus storage, certainly enough for quite a while.

The Lives of Others

This Anzac Day afternoon we followed the crowds to the cinemas to see a late afternoon screening of 'The Lives of Others', this year's best foreign film Oscar winner from Germany. The story is based on the East German government's spying by the Stasi on the populace. Set in 1984, it is incredibly involved, intriguing and superbly acted. Rene, Kay1 and I saw it and talked about it a lot while dinner was being prepared. At 2h13m it isn't a short film, but it is totally engrossing. It looked brilliant on the extra wide cinema screen, and along with an almost full house, it was memorable. I'm sure we can all remember what we were doing in the mid to late 80's quite vividly, I certainly can. It is scary to think this sort of thing went on so recently. Travelling to Berlin and Potsdam in late 2004 and knowing someone who has lived through this turbulent time in German history made it hit home all the harder for me. Don't miss it, go see it!

Anzac Day 2007

We, along with the Cronk family, had a brunch at our friends, Di and Torquil's, home this morning to celebrate Anzac Day. Di and Torquil were at Gallipoli in Turkey last year, at Anzac Cove, where Australians and New Zealanders went into battle under their own flag and not Britain's for the first time in April 1915. I'm attending a school service tomorrow morning but I've been explaining the significance of the occasion to all my ESL students for nearly a week now. The freedom and prosperity we enjoy today in this country is as a result of the sacrifices made by generations of men and women. Today Australian Defence Forces are involved in Afghanistan, Iraq, East Timor, The Solomons and several other peace keeping places around the world. Lest we forget.

Friday was brilliant

Friday started off being very good indeed. A meeting with the people organising the three week camp in Korea for Brisbane home stays went well. They want me to design the orientation program for three hours per day from July 17 until August 2. A mixture of lectures and tutorials plus workshops on Australian culture, schooling, homes and diet. Around 40 of the 300 students aged 8-12 will come directly to Brisbane following the 3 week camp. The remainder possibly will come on later home stay programs in Brisbane. Now all I have to do is get the three weeks leave from my employer Brisbane Catholic Education. Here's hoping.

Later five friends joined us for coffee at a favourite coffee house nearby, then home for drinks and dinner. We are all meeting up again this Wednesday for an Anzac Day breakfast at one of their homes. Anzac Day is a national holiday to remember the fallen in all conflicts, our sort of Remembrance or Veterans Day. ANZAC stands for Australia and New Zealand Army Corps.

Michelle's engagement party

Around 60+ people attended my niece Michelle's engagement party in a large reserve on the edge of Brisbane yesterday. My brother Steve and my sister in law Adele were very proud of their only daughter's party. At the party I found out that my nephew Simon is getting married on August 25. Busy times ahead for the Langdale family of Aspley.

Sunday night and it's actually raining

It's just after 10pm and it's been raining for the past 15 minutes or so. I've checked the radar and it won't last much longer, but it's the first rain of any sort for over three weeks. This picture taken yesterday of our friend's lawn in Brisbane is testimony to the degree of drought here in South East Queensland. Click on the picture and you'll notice dead shrubs in the background as well as very brown grass. Our postage stamp lawn in the front of our house hasn't been mown for a month and not even the weeds have grown in that time.

Friday sounds good

Business meeting with my Korean contacts at 9am, friends meeting at the 'Coffee Guy' at Kedron at 3pm, seven folk for dinner at home starting late afternoon (it's all done, with a platter ordered - from the Red Deli, Clayfield -plus pasta sauce defrosting as I type). Oh, I really hope you all have a truly wonderful weekend. Rene and I are attending my niece's engagement party at a park on Saturday afternoon. Rene tells me there'll be 70 people there. Is it just me, or do the weekends come around incredibly quickly these days?

Such sadness in this world

Rene and I have a wonderful life. Blessed with enough money, good friends and minus many of the health issues that plague some peoples' lives, we are extraordinarily lucky and fortunate. I'm glad I live in this country, devoid of the major plagues of contemporary society. What makes major news domestically here is very trite compared to that of many nations on this planet.

The shootings in Virginia the other day are terrible, but if we compare that single incident to Port Arthur (Tasmania) some 10 years ago, well, we had 36 deaths from one deranged gunman. It can and does happen anywhere. We were all taxed additionally for a couple of years while we paid for a 'buy back' scheme for weapons. What will happen after this in the States? Well, I hope I don't sound too cynical, but a big fat 'O' is what will happen.

Today at a meeting I heard about what has happened to some of the people I interact with via my job, the refugees from Iraq and Sudan. For some the nightmares continue, even here in comparatively safe Brisbane. I can't imagine what goes on in the minds of the people who inflict torture and murder upon innocent lives. Even the thought of possibly some redemption in another life doesn't help balance the sheer bastardry of this lifetime.

Happy Birthday Lin

A lovely Dutch friend of ours, Linda, has a birthday today. She picked a very nice week to have it in, with Holland still enjoying superb spring weather. Happy Birthday Linda!

Dinner, beer and wine

Instead of cooking tonight we decided to go out for dinner, a delightful Asian place a couple of blocks away. It was very good food, as usual. I just love where we live in Brisbane.

Is it me or is it getting hot around here?

This evening in Brisbane I read from the Dutch Expatica website:

AMSTERDAM – The KNMI meteorological institute reports that Sunday was the warmed day ever recorded in the month of April. The temperature reached 28.9 degrees at the measuring station in De Bilt (Utrecht), beating the record of 27.8 degrees from 21 April 1968.
The highest temperature measured at a weather station was 29.7 degrees in Westdorpe in Zeeland, the KNMI reported. Though temperatures in Rotterdam reportedly reached as high as 34 degrees during Sunday's marathon.

Saturday's weather also broke records: it became the earliest summer day in history with 27.5 degrees in De Bilt.

Meanwhile here in Brisbane the weather has been beautifully warm during the day with refreshingly cool nights. Today was 17-29. Of course, no rain in sight.

Japanese Treehouse

In today's New York Times (http://www.nytimes.com) there's an article about tree houses. This one is from Japan, built for Nestle for a commercial now featuring on Japanese television. You can subscribe and get a free email every day with news from the States, very high quality stuff.

I noted that "The Chasers" item on Hilary Clinton (ABC TV last night) got big coverage via You Tube and hence has been getting lots of airtime. It is seriously cheeky. You can see it here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-BOMOVV2pf0 . Now if you are not Australian you'll wonder where our television gets away with doing this stuff overseas? Well, I sometimes wonder too, but it is SO very clever and funny.

We had a lovely lunch on the Redcliffe peninsula today. That's three days this week I've done lunch out. I love holidays! Shame the week is going so fast.

Oh, bought my new computer system yesterday. More details later. Thanks for the advice I received.

QANTAS 707B

John Travolta's (ex Qantas) Boeing 707B pictured at Munich on April 1. It is an exact livery/model of the aircraft that flew our family to Australia via USA in 1964. Very classical aircraft indeed, and beautifully restored and maintained.

Tuesday

A business lunch filled the middle of the day. Planning for the Korean trip has started. Interesting. Started looking for a new car afterwards. I really loathe car salespeople. This evening we watched a couple of films; "Thank you For Smoking" plus "The Last of the Blonde Bombshells", a BBC film starring Judi Dench, Ian Holm, Joan Simms (final appearance in film) and a load more well known faces. A band from the WWII era reunite for one last gig. Felt a bit nostalgic for the stories my Mum used to tell me about her days in ENSA entertaining the troops during the War. She met Dad during one of those gigs. I rememeber telling the minister after Dad's death that Mum entertained the troops during the War; but vertically, not horizontally. He looked bemused as we all fell about laughing. We Pommies have a weird sense of humour :)

From the Dutch 'Expatica' website

AMSTERDAM – On May 2, Queen Beatrix is to unveil four enormous monumental statues against aggression and violence on the Maas bridge at Venlo. The cast-iron images were made by the American, Shinkichi Tajiri, and belong to his series ‘Guards’.

At the end of World War II, there was heavy fighting to secure the Maas bridge between the allied forces and the Germans. Finally, the bridge was destroyed by bombs, as was the greater part of the town of Venlo.

The new Maas bridge is now fifty years old. The municipality will celebrate its anniversary with the placing of the Tajiri statues, because the sculptor designs his ‘guards’ to secure communities from violence and war.

Munich March 28

Found this picture on Airliners.net (my favourite site). The size comparison can only be appreciated by clicking on the picture and enlarging it. The double bridges are built especially for the A380.

Silly me, I thought it would be so simple.

I'm trying to select a new desk top computer for home. Being a bit useless, I'd prefer a system package with everything in it at once. I don't really know enough about them to buy components separately. I do know I want a bluetooth keyboard and mouse. The fewer wires the better. I want a large flat screen monitor (19") so I can easily read it and fit more onto the page without having to scroll. I want 1Gb of something to operate Vista easily, and a dual-core processor. Rene put me onto a comparison site but I just can't get it to compare apples with apples. Oh well, just as well I'm on holidays to do this, it is taking ages. Of course I could just go to Dell and buy it on-line, tailored to my needs and budget. Don't be surprised if I do just that. Any advice or special offers? Contact me please before the week is out. Cheers!

Easter Saturday

A very relaxing day. Rene and I went over to our friend Kay's place here in Brisbane and met her Aunty Anne visiting from Sydney. Lunch, cards, dinner and more cards meant that the day disappeared delightfully. I think it was around 27 today, but although I had brought my cossie with me, the pool felt a bit too cool for a dip.

Rene received this picture today (above) of his sister's new puppy in Holland. Splinter is just 4 weeks old, and when old enough will go home with Claartje and her partner Jan. One very lucky puppy who'll be loved and spoilt to death.

Easter Greetings

I hope you have a very happy Easter break. We here in Australia have a four day break, but our schools are also on an extended break for a further week. I'm totally over Easter eggs. Six times I've set up in different schools and places the materials for dyeing eggs. Results were great. Yesterday I had a 'cook off' with the mum of an Italian student of mine; who could cook the better bolognaise sauce? The principal judged. I lost...just!

My Korean students enjoyed the eggs, but they also enjoyed the Easter egg hunt. One of their mums went and hid over 60 eggs around the garden. Great fun.

Tonight Rene and I went to friends Di and Torquil's place (the ones for whom we house sat) for a lovely dinner and drinks. For the first time this year it was cool walking home. We might even get rain later today (Friday). That would be terrific. Next week Brisbane and South East Queensland enter Level 5 water restrictions. The drought here is awful, and every time we think we'll get decent rain, it never eventuates. It must rain sometime, and one can only hope it is soon.

Solomons Earthquake

It was disturbing to hear on the radio as I drove to work about the devastating 8.1 earthquake yesterday morning in the Solomon Islands. The current death toll is set at 24 with 13 villages destroyed. The news yesterday also carried warnings of a potential tsunami hitting the North Queensland coast at around 9:30am. There was some degree of panic and furious phone calling to friends and relatives. Unfortunately a 10m wave did hit the Solomons, but nowhere else.

Our school received an email from Central Office reassuring staff and students not to think the very worst and flood agencies with calls. Concern was understandable, with several parents serving in The Solomons with the Australian Army and one teacher's husband working for the Australian Federal Police over there.

The Islands have had their fair share of sorrow and disruption to life over these past few years. Our friend Polly has been involved in some of the dispute resolution between feuding factions. Today the depth of the damage is becoming more apparent. Let's hope the small country can recover quickly from this latest setback.

Korea in July

This evening the person in charge of the Korean students I tutor asked me if I'd like to work in Korea at an orientation camp for two to three weeks in July. I'll be responsible for the induction course for the new batch of homestay students coming here in late July. In January I did an abridged version here in Brisbane, this time they are trying it in Korea. More details to follow when I get them myself. Quite excited.

They're Engaged!

Niece Michelle announced her engagement to boyfriend Dave with an invitation in today's mail to a party later this month. That makes two of middle brother Steven and Adele's children to be engaged. Congratulations!

STOP PRESS...

Friday last - visited Gallery of Modern Art (GOMA), the new $100m addition to the Cultural Centre. Very impressive. Evening at BBQ at friends nearby, walked, drank freely and with gusto.

Saturday - helped brother and sister in law from Toowoomba find a car here in Brisbane. They pick up their Mitsubishi 380 this Wednesday. Beaut car!

Sunday - went to Indian Festival at Portside. Indian film festival on too. Loads and loads of cars and people, disappointing array of things to see, taste, enjoy. Left early. Afternoon spent with friends Polly and Kit in Mt Gravatt. Polly leaves Wednesday for yet another working trip to the States, away 8 weeks. Nice chance to catch up.

Mythbusters in New Mexico

Tonight's episode of Mythbusters on SBS featured a myth about a person being swept by a vortex behind a speeding express train as it roared through a station. The railroad that kindly loaned its rolling stock for the episode (which aired last November in The States) is from New Mexico and the train is a new commuter train serving Albuquerque called The Rail Runner (the road runner is the state's emblem). I just loved the roaring train - I love my big boys toys. The line will ultimately link Santa Fe commuters to the city.