You must be kidding?

'Caribbean', Double Bay, Kawana Island.

January 8 already? Get away! Oh well, I might as well fess up and say that I have been having a good time and the days have just got away from me, so sorry for the big gap between blogs.

(Our BBQ spot beside the beach)

Many thanks for the emails and updated contact details from near and far. Much appreciated.

Christmas came and went enjoyably - hooray! Roman, a friend from Switzerland, joined us for Christmas. Like a good boy I bought loads of prawns and oysters for Christmas lunch, alas Roman announces he doesn't like seafood (I had asked Rene to check with him prior to coming if he liked seafood - he didn't). OK, Plan B - some smoked cooked turkey I just happened to buy 'just in case' something like this happened. Anyway, we went on the beach on Christmas Day but it wasn't great for swimming so we had a swim in the pool. That was our last swim until around four days ago, the weather turned bad and we had strong winds and lots of heavy showers, sometimes really raining, for the next fortnight.

New Year's Eve was delightful. It was spent with 14 or so friends at Di and Torquil's in Brisbane. The night before was our 5th anniversary, so I arranged a night at a leading hotel in South Bank and we also headed to the Treasury Casino. After the morning of New Year's Eve spent at the Andy Warhol exhibition at GoMA on South Bank, I thought at 3:30pm how on earth I'd stay awake until midnight? No worries! Rene and I saw 3am - we had a brilliant night.

The rain in the region has produced another 4 months of storage for our dams, so that's good, but far from enough. The best thing is that the populace at large are feeling very optimistic about good soaking rains coming soon (this is our rainy season). The 8 day Woodford Folk Festival near to us here in the hinterland of the Sunshine Coast was a very muddy affair, but the loyal fans adored it still. Me? No way Jose!

A few days ago I tried to go for a walk in the light rain and strong wind (it was warm though) down to the local beach. Alas, when I reached there it was gone! Just dunes and a dramatic drop to the flat sand that was being pounded by the waves (I love this rough weather). Although the beach was eroded, it'll return soon enough. All the beaches here on the Sunshine Coast have dunes left to protect them. Over at Mooloolaba Beach it was fine, fairly normal beach conditions (although closed to swimmers). Our beach (Warana) was not suitable for swimming anyway, but the ever present lifesavers were still on duty checking the beach goers. What a superb job they do.

Whilst it was pouring one day Rene and I ventured to the local cineplex to see a film. After much fun fighting for a car park space we ended up at the foyer of the 12 screen complex only to find the largest assembly of humanity I'd seen in years. Scratch one film, but Rene did some serious clothes shopping instead. I'd already done some earlier at Myer and David Jones so I had enough, but Rene was out for more. Both our wardrobes needed sprucing up. Consider it done.

We've had a swag of visitors over the past few weeks. Some have been for the day, others have stayed over. It's been lovely, and the feeling of holidaying at a resort rather than living a normal life in an apartment is having a relaxing effect on me. I still have 2 weeks to go of vacation, but I'm actually ready to go back to work now.

GALLERY

The official launch of our temporary Kawana Island gallery is Saturday January 26. If you are around the Sunshine Coast on the Australia Day weekend, consider yourself invited to it, between 4-6pm. Email me if you want some more details. Rene is enjoying having the apartment next door to work in. It is slow at this time of the year, but I can tell you that one painting has been sold to The Netherlands already, very good to have that 'first' out of the way.

Rene's lovely sister had her birthday recently. I think her partner spoils her a bit, don't you think? I love this picture.

Our apartments are situated at beautiful Double Bay on Kawana Island. Very nice location. Here are some pictures that I quickly took this afternoon.

MURDER

I read on a Dutch website where in 2007 there was a decline in homicides in The Netherlands - 147 for 17m population. I couldn't find our 2007 figures but over the last decade we've averaged 315/year for 21m people. A per capita figure of nearly double for Australia would seem rather alarming to me, I really can't conjecture any reason for the difference (from Expatica.nl):Record low murder rate once again 02/01/2008 00:00
147 murders were committed in the Netherlands last year.
2 January 2008
AMSTERDAM – 147 murders were committed in the Netherlands last year, one fewer than in 2006 and therefore a record low, according to the annual report from Elsevier.
There has been a declining trend in the murder rate since 2002. In the 1990s there were an average of 250 murders a year.
The number of murders in Amsterdam rose from 15 in 2006 to 26 last year, but only a few cases were crime world assassinations. In February 40-year-old Turkish businessman and drug criminal Nedim Imac was shot and killed in Amsterdam-West. The public prosecution department believes the crime was connected with other underworld killings.
The number of murders in Rotterdam rose from 15 to 19. The numbers for Utrecht and The Hague remained virtually the same, with three and five murder victims, respectively.
The weekly publication reported that the large number of victims of muggings, stabbings and shootings, especially in Amsterdam and Rotterdam, was notable. In other cities the motives for murder were primarily relationship-driven. In most cases the victim was the murderer’s partner.
The study classified murder as the deliberate killing of another human being, not necessarily the definition used by the justice department.

Mind you, we Aussies take New Year's Eve wayyy too casually compared to Holland. There was nothing reported anywhere across Australia other than a usual arrests for drunken and disorderly behaviour (feel free to correct me) but in The Netherlands there were riots, burned cars and 20 school fires as well as homes burnt down to welcome in 2008 (from Expatica.nl):
Massive celebrations, fires, riots and extreme fog characterised the Dutch New Year's festivities.
2 January 2008
AMSTERDAM - Massive celebrations, fires, riots and extreme fog characterised the Dutch New Year's festivities.
At Dam Square in Amsterdam and on the banks of the river Maas in Rotterdam tens of thousands of people gathered at both festive countdowns of the old year and the subsequent special fireworks shows.
A police spokesman said Tuesday there was more fist- fighting and rioting in many cities than in previous years, particularly in Amsterdam.
In Rotterdam the situation remained under control with just 85 arrests.
Three people were arrested - two German 18-year olds in Amsterdam and one Dutch national in Maastricht - after firing shots into the air with real guns.
In The Hague, the military police had to control rioters, while in Utrecht, in the centre of the country, the police were understaffed and unable to control the situation.
Dozens of cars went up in flames and rioters threw fireworks at civil guards.
In southern Vlaardingen, a firework explosion caused damage to tens of homes. Elsewhere in the town, four people sustained knife wounds during a fight.
In Rozenburg, also in the south, 30 people were arrested after rioting near a mall.
A police spokesman said on Tuesday that a record number of buildings went up in flames during the night in the Netherlands.
Extremely dense fog resulted in chaos on the roads and many traffic accidents during the night, particularly in the east and north of the country. On the highway near Putten some 30 cars collided. One person died.
Shortly after midnight the police issued a warning to all drivers to stay off the roads.
Many schools set on fire New Year's Eve 04/01/2008 00:00
More than 20 schools were set on fire on New Year's Eve this week.
4 January 2008
APELDOORN – More than 20 schools were set on fire on New Year's Eve this week, compared to less than ten during the festivities a year earlier.
Most of the fires were the result of "heavier fireworks" set off deliberately in the direction of the buildings. A spokesperson for insurance company Centraal Beheer Achmea said this on Friday.
Most of the schools affected are primary schools. The spokesperson from Achmea says this is evidence that primary schools are not adequately secure.
"More should be done to prevent these situations, by setting up camera surveillance for instance." More schools should also install sprinkler installations, the insurance company says, to spare society the high costs of the damage caused by these kinds of fires.
At the request of broadcaster NOS, Achmea, which insures most of the schools in the Netherlands, investigated how many schools suffered fire damage during New Year's Eve festivities. An initial estimate places that number at about 20, compared to seven last year. The total damage is reportedly between EUR 20 and 25 million.
"It causes a lot of damage for society, aside from the fire damage. Children cannot return to school immediately, for instance, and childcare has to be arranged," the spokesperson said.

MELBOURNE

The beautiful city of Melbourne, Victoria's capital, got a write up this week in the New York Times. It makes for a good read (in fact the NYT Travel section archives are a mine of useful information). Here's the link: http://travel.nytimes.com/2008/01/06/travel/06hours.html?ex=1200200400&en=0a69ed550494b26d&ei=5070&emc=eta1

VOIP

After much trouble we have a wifi internet connection plus a VOIP phone line that gives us overseas (10 countries), local and national calls for free - all thanks to not being able to get a landline connection on the island. We've used the net based phone to call home phones already in America and Holland, and the quality is great. I can highly recommend it (it's like Skype, only you phone to another phone, not a computer).

Hey, I'm overdue for a dip in the pool. Just a note, our apartment balconies are the two surrounded by blue in the pool picture. One is with our office apartment, the one to the right of it is our home apartment. I like the one of Rene (below) standing on his office balcony. Just like Beatrix, he has his working apartment and residential apartment separated :)

That's about all for now, thanks for reading this. Have a terrific remainder of your week. We're heading off to Brisbane staying with friends and shopping and buying a new iMac for Rene's business.

Yuletide Greetings From the Sunshine Coast

Night before last the coast had 95mm of rain. What a lovely Christmas present. Still in drought, but with the prospect of the break coming sooner rather than later, it feels very good to be alive.

Our new apartment complex has an enormous underground water storage area, resulting in loads of water to put on gardens, wash cars and fill the swimming pool. Even a trip to Toowoomba last week for my ex boss's retirement farewell party saw one double taking as one glanced at the surrounding landscape covered in various shades of green. We still have to have LOADS more heavy rain to fill the dams, but the ground surface around South East Queensland is looking pretty lush and green.

I sincerely hope you and yours are in for a brilliant Christmas. I won't bore you with my annual treatise on how I loathe and detest the whole holiday season. It's not gay, it's not being male, it's not about not having family to share it with (my sister in law invited Rene and I to join them plus 15 others for Christmas lunch - thanks Kathy darlin') - I just passionately dislike intensely the whole commercial side of the industry called 'celebration', the compulsion to spend it with folk you'd never see other than at weddings and funerals etc. It's like Mother's Day and Father's Day etc etc. - Hallmark Heaven = Langdale Loathing!

Good, now that's out of the way....let's talk about positive things. I wasn't really looking forward to my ex boss's farewell. No real idea why, just wasn't. I went as a sort of duty thing, after all he had been a terrific guy to work for, and I did really like my 11+ years at his school (I've been gone 41/2 years now already!) so I went. Rene came too. Guess what? I had a ball. Yes, I truly enjoyed seeing all my former colleagues, swapping stories, catching up on the gossip, making a short speech where I mentioned the word 'arseholes' out loud.....yes, a very good time (even Rene enjoyed himself). We stayed at our friend Kay's new home outside Toowoomba at Highfields - wow, how her new garden has grown! (I think there's a pic or two here somewhere on the page).

I've had some lovely emails from folk around the place. I must specially mention Cary in Toowoomba who has filled me in on all the news from school and home. It was just lovely to see him and his lovely partner Anne the other night at the staff party. He's another 'late bloomer', except he went in the more conventional direction (unlike me haha).

We've had a few visitors recently, and one couple even stayed the night - that's a challenge for the first timers because we haven't quite fine-tuned this apartment yet. In the morning our visitors Polly and Kit went with us across the road to the beach side cafe for a coffee followed by a walk to the tip of the island and halfway around it. Very civilised. Mind you, coming back Polly yells at me "STOP!" (which I did immediately). Just before our complex, on the pathway outside, was a very dangerous red belly black snake. I just wasn't looking for a snake in the middle of suburbia, but there it was, sunning itself. I told the manager of the site about it, he alerted Australia Zoo (Steve Irwin's place down the road from us) and they would send someone, but 20 minutes later we went back with a camera only to discover it was recently deceased - covered in ants. Now, when we saw it earlier there were no ants on it, so it had just died I guess. Maybe hit by a car, crawled as far away as it could to die? Who knows, but it did give me a scare the first time I saw it. It's only the fifth snake I've seen in 43 years in Australia - don't go thinking we live with them and come in contact frequently, we just don't. Anyway, I won't be so casual in future. Not a fan of reptiles, not at all.

We have a guest for Christmas. Yes, Roman, a Swiss friend, is coming to stay with us for a night or two. That's lovely, especially since there was a line in the movie last night along the lines of "Happiness is only happiness if it is shared" (or something like that).

Speaking of the movie, last night Rene and I saw "Into the Wild", Sean Penn's latest film. I really admire this director's view of the world, and especially his decision to not make easy films. This film (at around 150 minutes) is a solid commitment from the film goer, but what a rewarding effort it is in the end. This morning I'm still thinking and thinking about it. Should you get the opportunity, please go and see it. To those friends of mine who assiduously avoid American cinema these days, make the effort. An astute review can be seen here http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/09/21/arts/flik22.php

This was the first movie we'd seen here on the Sunshine Coast. It was a very nice complex of 12 screens situated on the edge of a large shopping centre (260 shops), alongside the River Walk - a group of outdoor eateries and coffee shops either side of a river. For a large shopping centre it's quite good, but it is still huge. Anyway, we had dinner and a few beers at 'The Pig and Whistle', a British style pub (they never are, but they do try to pull it off). A short 7 minute drive home and we were in the underground car park of our apartment complex.

There is an enormous amount of growth here on the coast. Motorway construction (there's one going through the middle section of the coast north/south), estates, amalgamation of the three Sunshine Coast local government councils into one super council, lots of development and optimism. I went to visit a friend of mine who lives in a new independent living retirement community behind Caloundra at Little Mountain, and as I left around 4:45pm there would have been two dozen roos grazing behind the complex in the fields. Very lovely to witness. Rene and I have been to the local beach once (Kawana Waters) and it's divine - like all the others stretching along the eastern seaboard. We've used the pool often, and are genuinely feeling more relaxed and settled.

We now have VOIP - a regular telephone working over the internet, sort of like Skype, but we have a regular phone number and we phone people direct to their phones, not computers. We got this because we simply can't get a land line - no ports available at the local exchange. How pathetic! Thank God Howard has gone. I hope the Labor Government does a better job with telecommunications infrastructure as well as many other things. Take protection away from Qantas to ensure it has to compete with service and price and not decay to the extent it has (you've no doubt heard about Qantas' pathetic service on the ground in Brisbane Airport - cost cutting gone berserk). Anyway (ranting aside) we get VOIP for $19.95/month and have free calls to anywhere in Australia plus 10 overseas countries. These countries include USA, UK and Holland. We'll give it a try, we've only had it on for two days, but I'll report back later. The phone number will be found on the email sent out to subscribers (friends) of this blog.

Rene's hard at work next door in the gallery apartment (yes, we have two here - one we own, the other we rent). He's really enjoying being able to have a large space that he doesn't have to clean up every day. If he's mid job (you know, the frame not finished yet) he just leaves it tidily where he was working and walks away. It's a preview of how our new home will be when it is finished (the builder starts at the end of next month).

Lastly (I'm sure there's more, but for now) here are a few items of interest about The Netherlands. You already know they are a wealthy nation, but did you know they make the world's best ice cream? Tot ziens for now and have a very happy Christmas and above all a healthy and prosperous New Year.

Amsterdam - An ice-cream parlour in the Dutch city of Amersfoort, in the central Netherlands, was on Monday named the world's best ice-cream maker.Gelateria Mazzoli, owned by Ermanno Mazzoli, won the Longarone de Coppa d'Oro for its banana-flavoured ice-cream.Eighty professional ice-cream makers competed for the international award, the most prestigious in the traditional ice-cream industry.Another Dutch ice-cream parlour, La Femigi in the small southern Netherlands town of Malden, came in second. (source Expatica NL)

LUXEMBOURG – The Dutch are in the top three of richest EU nationalities. The purchasing power of the Dutch is 31 percent higher than the EU average, European statistics bureau Eurostat reported on Monday.
The richest EU citizens are the Luxembourgers, the residents of the Grand Duchy enjoy a whopping 280 percent more purchasing power than average. The Irish come in second place with 44 percent more than the average.
The poorest are Bulgarians and Romanians. They have only 37 and 39 percent of the average EU purchasing power, respectively. Even poorer are EU candidate members Macedonia and Turkey. The average purchasing power in these countries is 28 and 31 percent of the EU average, respectively. (Source Expatica NL)

The longest hop ... Qantas first flew the "Kangaroo Route" between Sydney and London on December 1, 1947, creating "one of the most important events in the history of Australian commercial aviation", according to the Daily Mirror newspaper.

Where to begin?

I had a very pleasant day today, very nice indeed. I comment on this fact to merely explain that I have not been a very happy Vegemite for the past three weeks or so. Yes, various parts have been delightful, but in the main I haven't had a very wonderful time. Why? Because we moved yet again - the 9th in the past 5 years for me.

I liked my stay in Mount Gravatt, Polly and Kit were great to live with, I think Rene and I were great house guests - but enough was enough! Folk are not meant to stay as guests for nine weeks.

The two apartments have taken a fortnight to straighten out, with Rene's office in the one bedroom apartment (which we own) getting curtains hung today and the neighbouring two bedroom apartment (which we rent) being more than adequate and spacious.

Today we swam in the lovely pool for the second time this week instead of just looking at it from our deck. It is around 25m long (I guess) and two lanes wide and being a lap pool it is consistently deep all the way. I have yet to play a game of tennis on the large full sized court, but we've seen some people using it in daylight and at night.

Peter and Bernadette are friends from Brisbane and have been staying up the coast here redecorating their beautiful apartment, so their presence has enabled us to have many lovely dinners and drinks out and about around Mooloolaba. They've gone back to Brisbane this week so we are alone here again, but we have friends visiting, starting this week, plus we have a trip to Toowoomba later this week for my former principal's retirement party.

School ended yesterday for the year and I have seven weeks vacation ahead of me. That's nice because I found the commuting to Brisbane from the Sunshine Coast (a 100km each way) a bit of a drag.

I am going from four schools down to more time at just two schools next year, so that'll be a good change.

The Saturday after we moved there was a federal election for the government of Australia. It was won, predictably, by Kevin Rudd and the Labor Party. Maxine McKew, in the former Prime Minister's seat of Bennelong, defeated John Howard, who had held it for 33 years. The Labor victory was larger than many had predicted, but it was obvious that the conservatives would be thrown out. I'm happy.

Moving has not been without its 'issues'. My beautiful big fridge does not fit into the alcove in the 2 bed apartment but does fit the 1 bed apartment kitchen (go figure!). We now own a small bar fridge (all fridge, no freezer) and we move between the two fridges when entertaining large groups. This small fridge will go into the office in the gallery in our new house, so it's a solution, but I think an unnecessary expense.

Do you own a phone (you know, the land line type)? Of course you do, except we don't. The Telstra exchange on the island isn't large enough to cope with demand so nobody (except the building managers) in our 63 apartment building can have a land line just yet. More ports in the exchange are coming, but so is Christmas. Solution? Yes, we have got wifi internet from Buderim Mountain via a local company which has an aerial on the roof and delivers it by cable to each apartment. This week we'll also take delivery of a modem which will allow VOIP to work, so we'll have a wifi internet based telephone for $19.95 a month that will allow free local and interstate calls PLUS free overseas calls to the USA, UK and The Netherlands. If you don't know how this works, it's sort of like Skype but operates using land line telephone numbers - we'll be issued a regular 8 digit plus the state area code (07) telephone number, and we'll use our regular phone set up in the two apartments totally wifi. In addition I have got the totally new, very schmick for me, Motorola Razr2 V8 mobile phone that is SO very cool - I'm still finding out how to set all the features. It has a camera for photos and even video - and above all BIG keys and a superbly brilliant screen for the person with slightly impaired vision.

The previous paragraph about the woes of getting connected in this late 2007 Australia have been downplayed considerably because I have been HUGELY pissed off at most of the crap concerning telecommunications, Telstra, Optus, shareholders and the Federal Government that have been plaguing my life for the past month. You guys reading this in Europe or America must be thinking we are SOOO backward here in Oz, and you'd be right. Between politics, screwing the consumer, placing shareholders returns above service to customers and generally fiddling while Rome burns, I have been trying and trying to get the basic services connected that the average person in a First World country would take for granted. I won't mention the fact that at our new home in Nundah I also cannot be guaranteed a landline connection of my choice come next June when we expect to move in - presently I must choose Telstra, since Optus has opted out of using Telstra exchanges for new connections until their own new exchanges are on line.

Speaking of the new house, it has been approved, the builder is ordering materials this week ready to start late next month. We have selected colours, finishes, the kitchen (stone benchtops and 2 pack cupboards) along with a myriad of last minute decisions. It is almost on budget. Rene allowed me to choose the air conditioning system and brand, so it's a ducted system with seven zones throughout the upstairs and downstairs digitally controlled - it even has a digital scroll on the coolant delivery so that it can reduce to just 10% when not working hard during the hot daytimes - but I hasten to add I wouldn't know a digital scroll if I fell over one.

We walked today to a little BBQ party at a park at one end of the island today to mark the last block of land being sold on Kawana Island. We walked on after lunch around the perimeter of the western end of the island and marvelled at how much work has been done to make it a positive balance between development and conservation. Having protected wetlands on one side along with a national park ensures it isn't totally a sea of roofs.

There's more to say, but I'm due to get to bed seeing as though we have things to do in the morning. Have a wonderful remainder of your weekend and catch you again very soon.
(PS the block we are in is the incomplete building in the very middle of the Google Earth picture of Kawana Island).

Australia votes next Saturday

Australia goes to the polls this Saturday to vote for the next federal government. It is an important democratic right and vital to ensure the people get the government they deserve. Nobody should be in any doubt as to my thoughts on this election, but should you still be wavering as to where to place your vote, this site http://howshouldivote.com.au can help you make up your mind. This is just for Australian readers of this blog, you fortunate folk who live offshore and thus have been not bombarded with mountains of promises, sound bites and crappy rhetoric from our likely candidates can let November 24 float past you in a blur. We cannot. Compulsory voting means every Australian must vote or find themselves fined for not exercising their democratic right. Don't you just love democracy?

Spring in Brisbane

Spring in Brisbane is different from spring in Toowoomba where I once lived because we basically only have two distinct seasons in Brisbane, Toowoomba has four. This photo was taken by Rene in New Farm Park this week and shows the last of the jacarandas in bloom (love those purple flowers) and the vibrant poincianas that are just everywhere at present. Simply stunning.

Are you my 1000th Visitor?

I just checked my site meter and I was at 999 as at 10am EAST on the 16th. You are probably my 1000th visitor since I began my blog earlier this year. Congratulations! You are most welcome.

It took over 75 minutes yesterday afternoon to get from Nundah to Mt Gravatt, leaving at 4pm. The trip at night is 20 minutes. There was a delay/accident/incident on EVERY major arterial route through and around the city at that time. The impressive tunnel system and additional bridges currently under construction can't come soon enough. Brisbane/Queensland has been so slow to react to the need for more infrastructure. I had a chuckle to myself as I passed the Governor in her white limousine also stuck in the enormous traffic jam known as Fortitude Valley. The car looked very obvious in the crowd with its silver crest replacing the number plate. I couldn't stare as I drove passed slowly because the traffic was too heavy, but I'm sure the chauffeur was taking the strain from Quentin on that long slog home (or to the next appointment). Here's a link to the upgrade of the main Gateway Motorway - www.gup.com.au and also here's a link to the impressive new tunnels being built under our city (we have three of the largest German-built borers in the world about to start work 24 hours a day) http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/07/15/1978965.htm

http://www.rivercitymotorway.com.au/

Rene has been working on improving his website, and now it'll feature more information on the artists and subjects. It's a work in progress, but looks to me to be very impressive indeed. We're picking up fliers today (four types) to leave at cinemas, theatres, bookshops, restaurants, cafes etc.

This Sunday sees the 43rd anniversary of our family's arrival in Australia. It is a very long time ago but is worth mentioning. I work with New Australians every day and am often reminded of just how very fortunate and smart my parents were to select Australia, and in particular Queensland, to move to. I'll post a picture of our family in 1964 on the weekend.

Enough - have a brilliant weekend doing whatever you do.

Oh, late edit - we have our second apartment confirmed at Kawana (we needed ours for Rene's business and one to live in and have some space) - definitely moving this coming Friday (yahooo!!)

It's the 10th already?

The tinny sounds of Christmas carols playing over the PA system in a store this week reminded me of how tacky this whole 'Christmas' thing has become (as if I need reminding). I could do my 'grumpy old man' routine about it, but I'll refrain for now. Suffice to say I have been plotting ways of enjoying the Yuletide season and not getting caught up in the whole charade. How about we try to put the Christ back into Christmas? My, oh my! How radical.

My god daughter Amy returned from Wales last week and it's only today that I'll be seeing her following the landing here on Terra Australis. Rene and I are off to The MacDonald's for a BBQ get-together with Torquil's 60th birthday as the focus, but no doubt overshadowed by the return of the prodigal daughter. Since we moved to the other side of Planet Earth (known as Mt Gravatt) we have only ventured north for work and business, thus haven't seen them for a fortnight, so the evening should be just delightful.

The apartment on the Sunshine Coast at Kawana is finally ours. It settled yesterday. We are just waiting for a neighbouring 2 bedroom apartment to become available for moving into to signal yet another move, this time for just over seven months. I could do without the commute, but it'll be sort of a fun break to live on the coast for a while.

The Californian fires recently highlighted the climatic similarities between the continental USA and Australia. Devastating pictures emerged from the countryside, so reminiscent of the ones we see here each summer in Australia. The authorities seemed better prepared than for Hurricane Katrina. All those homes, but more than that, all that family history just lost. The light loss of life is the best news to come out of there, amazing when one considers the picture below.

The selection of the fittings/colours for our new house has been a very extensive and intensive thing. Last Sunday we spent 4.5 hours selecting colours and deciding what fixtures go where - laundry, bathrooms, kitchen, light points and power points etc. Yesterday we spent 3.5 hours just selecting lights. We followed that with 2.5 hours selecting tiles, features (we're going for rock) and the carpet (NZ wool). We followed that with a brief call into the timber floor supplier to select the type of floor/timber. This morning we selected the sinks/vanities/tap ware etc for three bathrooms/ kitchen/ laundry - that was after two previous visits to the plumbing supply place plus a special trip to a manufacturer's showroom on other days.

If I mention all the features it would be too much for here, it's enough to say that the home will be very special indeed and just what we want. I should also mention that I reckon much decorating is done through attrition. As the sessions went on (and on) I found myself agreeing quite readily to some things - but in hindsight we still like all our decisions. Oh, all things are not perfect though - Rene and I had a disagreement over door handles (kitchen cupboards etc). Still no agreement, but no urgency either. We'll talk with the cabinetmaker later. All in all, considering the hundreds of decisions and hours of deliberation we did well to come down to one disagreement.

The election continues with much fuss but very little new content. The Human Rights Commission has outlined 58 pieces of legislation that is discriminatory towards same sex couples. The Government has been very slow to resolve these issues (although it has gone some way in this direction) but the Labor Opposition is far more prepared to address these inequalities in their first term of office, therefore above everything else that's why I'll vote Labor in the House of Representatives. I'm not sure to go Labor or Greens in the Senate. A year ago the Prime Minister was not acknowledging that Climate Change was a real issue. He now uses it and his economic record as reasons for maintaining the status quo after 11 years of government. The constant reference to the past interest levels under previous Labor governments in interviews irritates me beyond belief when they selectively chose rates of 17% housing interest rates from the early 90's etc etc but somehow never refer back to the 4/5 budgets that saw a deficit when Howard was Treasurer plus the rates of 22% for houses waayyy back then as well. Surely the Australian public are not THAT stupid not to understand that we need change for the sake of change - Australian Labor is no Socialist / Communist government in waiting. Heck, Labor has in the past been the best Liberal government this country has ever seen (who floated the dollar, introduced more private banks and reduced/eliminated tariffs to boost productivity and the 'level playing field' in the 90's?).

Never let it be said you never knew where I stood on issues.

The BIG news is that last Monday Centred Art went live on the web. Yes, if you click on http://www.centredart.com.au/ you will see the site up and running - after an enormous amount of effort from Rene. For our Dutch visitors, it's all in Dutch with euro prices as well. Check it out, better still consider a purchase - did I mention it's close to Christmas? Darn, there's that corrupting capitalist slant coming into the Yuletide season again. Anyway, enjoy the colour and variety that is the Dreaming told in a 21st century way.

Incidentally, the gallery space on the ground floor of our house has a huge tiled area with (I think) 24 spots helping light the space. I can't wait to see it finished.

In 1958 I was living in South Africa. The world of the future was glimpsed in comics and occasionally on serials on the big screen at the kid's movie sessions. Well, here are a couple of clips from a film made by Chevrolet in 1958 forecasting what the future of design would look like. It makes fascinating viewing. Enjoy (hold that cringe).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_br4n4eCWME

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mx63IaAPxME

Hey, what do you know? Brisbane has made it this week to the travel pages of The New York Times for the first time since 1988. Yes, we do exist (not that we need the NYT to prove it). These articles are always a bit slanted, but it gives a good review to the city I now call home. Check it out:

http://travel.nytimes.com/2007/11/04/travel/4next.html

Enough for now, there's loads I've left out (like the end of school's only 4 weeks away) but I'll take this opportunity to wish you the very best for the coming week and hopefully I'll update this a little quicker next time. Ciao!

PS I love this picture - too bad it isn't clearer, but I had one of these moments this week and it makes me chuckle every time I see it.