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.

Another week gone

Yes, the 26th of October already, and tomorrow Rene's birthday. Yesterday he received a wonderful package from Holland - a photo in a frame. The photograph was of the entire Dings Clan, including pets. Tomorrow night there are eight of us going to a favourite restaurant of ours for dinner. We have our own wine (if you don't know, it's BYO wine even though it's fully licensed). We have our own room at the restaurant, and I just know Rene'll have a terrific time.

Sunday night we're going with a Taiwanese friend of ours to a Sunnybank restaurant to have crab. It's a tough life!

Today Rene and I sorted out things with our financial advisor, which lead to a second trip into the city to see a bank manager. We've had terrific service from both people today and above all it was very personal but efficient. Quite impressed! Oh, we also went in and out twice on the bus for the first time (we always used the train from Clayfield). The buses were fast, efficient, and the dedicated express lanes - they're elevated or tunneled where necessary - meant a short 15 minute trip each way. If only we had them everywhere. There are a couple of new ones being built now, and a major northern one matching the tunnels being built at present for the cars crossing Brisbane for something like 11 kilometres. Major activity and expenditure, but absolutely essential.

We should be moving to the Sunshine Coast somewhere around the 12th of November (Kay, if you're reading this in Prague or Italy - it'll be safe to come home again haha) and we'll have one apartment for the business and a neighbouring apartment in the same complex to live in.

A week on Sunday will see the exciting and challenging selection process for the exterior colours/ interior fittings for the house. We have been collecting catalogues and brochures, website links and all sorts of stuff in order to make up our minds quickly and correctly. It'll be a lot of fun. Done this twice before from scratch and it is a really lovely feeling to have a blank sheet and get everything just where you want it.

The Federal Election campaign continues with lots of pork barrelling from both sides. I'm still hoping for a thrashing for Howard, but I'll settle merely for a defeat of any size.

Rene today showed me the beta version of his website for Centred Art. It's looking great. Look out for the official launch any day now.

Deborah Kerr died last week. The impression of her was always that of being a star without that brashness that seems to accompany so many people courting the term these days (OH, I'M SOUNDING OLD!) but you get my drift. Apart from "The King and I", that famous kiss and other well known movies, the one that has always stayed in my mind is one I last saw on B&W television waaay back in 1969 when I was going to the University of Queensland here in Brisbane. It was called "The Innocents" and was a chilling drama involving seemingly innocent, yet wicked, children. No, I haven't seen it since, but when I saw it on TV here in '69 it was the second time I had seen it, and it made the hairs on my neck stand up. Not sure if it's available on DVD, but worth a look if you like being frightened.

I smell cooking - we sure eat well here in this house. The other day we had tortilla soup with all the Mexican trimmings (awesome!), Spanish rice and tortillas, last night I cooked tuna steaks (yumm) and I think tonight we're having BBQ'd steaks plus oven roasted vegetables.

I love my life!

(ciao for now, have a brilliant weekend)

and to think you thought I was missing.

Well, sort of missing I guess. I have been busy with many things, and blogging just didn't seem that important - until now.

I have been for the day (last Friday) to the Sydney Motor Show, very enjoyable experience but too much to do on one day. I did bump into our house designer at Sydney airport coming home. He and his wife were rerouted home from a brief holiday in Fiji via Sydney, so was surprised but pleased to meet them and have a drink in a bar to pass the time.

Our new apartment is one bedroom, and we inspected it the other day and found it to be very small - VERY small, so our plan is to use it for Rene's business until June and we'll attempt to rent a 2 bedroom apartment in addition until our home is built. We won't have to pay for storage either, so we'll offset some of the cost. I think it'll work.

We also attended the Multicultural Festival at Roma Street Parklands at the weekend and found it to be a very enjoyable distraction. A couple from my past came back to visit me whilst walking through the railway tunnel at Roma Street. A couple of teachers that I worked with over 34 years ago in Dirranbandi saw me and heard my voice, recognised it, and introduced themselves. I was really surprised to see them after all this time. They both looked exceedingly well and I was flattered that they recognised me.

I've been commuting for over a week and a half now from Mount Gravatt on the Southside of the city to schools on the Northside. The commute has been very tedious and slow, but seeing as though it is for a few weeks only, it's more than tolerable. I'm really impressed with the courtesy and patience of the drivers as a whole.

Kit's wife Polly arrived back Sunday from working for seven weeks back in the US. Now we're a household of four instead of three and it is really delightful to be so welcome here in Mount Gravatt. Dinners are shared and we dine exceedingly well, and once again the recycle bin is on a hiding to nothing to escape being extra full again this week. Incidentally Polly arrived back nearly recovered from a seriously sprained ankle (reputedly from dancing outside at night - hmmmm) plus sporting a viciously black finger nail attached to a strapped, alas broken, finger that was the result of her encounter with public transport (a train I think?) in Boston. Now when is that girl going to learn that dancing and public transport just aren't safe any more?

Decisions are looming on colours/materials for our new house. We hope to have that hurdle out of the way by mid November, then we won't have to think about it anymore.

The Iraqi family I teach have had a miraculous turn of events happen in their lives. Their father, who was kidnapped three years ago in Baghdad, has been found by US troops alive, but imprisoned underground, during a house sweep in mid August. He was released after questioning two days later and it took him three weeks to find contact his family here in Brisbane. We at the school only found out last week. Today I helped write a letter from my school to support his repatriation with his wife and five daughters here in Australia. It just goes to show that one should never give up hope, even though it may seem to be impossible to consider.

That's all for now. We are in the midst of a federal election campaign that will culminate with the polls on November 24. Those of you overseas, please think of us poor sods Down Under enduring the rhetoric and vitriol of a lot of people whom you really wouldn't like as friends. There is little difference at present between the policies of either of the two major parties, therefore I just want a new crew in Canberra because the old crew is too tainted by the past ('children overboard' is but one example). Oh well, at least we are fortunate enough to have relatively minor issues to distract us unlike many other nations.

It's such a tough life - not!

I would never like you to think for one moment I ever take my good fortune lightly. I really appreciate my friends, the great food and wine we get to partake of, the interesting work I do and above all the opportunity to travel meet fascinating people.

Last Wednesday night Rene and I were with four dear friends enjoying a delicious dinner at Azafran (in Annerley - try it, I heartily recommend it). We had earlier on been to see our house designer at a display village, discussed at length this 'finish' or that 'look' - the sort of thing that besots one when in the throes of building - we were having drinks, chatting away, really loving the service from two very smart, attractive young waitresses, and I was overwhelmed by a feeling of deep satisfaction. Here I was, in just about the safest, most stunning country on planet Earth, surrounded by people I like/love/adore, eating great food, sharing great stories from here and around the world, about to launch into yet another round of 'change' (which I usually enjoy), and I felt blissfully happy. It's a good zone to be in, and I really appreciate the opportunity to share this bliss with Rene and my friends.

Enough gushing, I've just reread the above and consider it a load of @#*%, but I'm leaving it in because they are my thoughts, and this is my forum to express them in.

Our team came equal third at the trivia night last Tuesday - not our best effort. However, it was enjoyable and helped make this fortnight off for the Spring vacation enjoyable.

Back to work tomorrow. I have a workshop and social and emotional competencies of 5-7 year olds on Tuesday. I think this will be particularly interesting in the light of the events with one of my refugee families at the end of last term. Our federal immigration minister currently has made pronouncements regarding African immigration reductions for 2008, due to lack of integration of these communities. He, of course, makes Rita Verdonk (his Dutch counterpart, now departed I think) appear Left Wing by comparison, and his public announcements regarding many issues (including overseas doctors) appear to be either ill-advised or at least very badly managed. My work with refugees is federally funded, and this funding falls far short of what is needed to assist these families in a holistic manner. A person from a camp with a non literate background is going to be much harder to settle and assimilate than the French, Italian or German immigrant child who arrives with similar funding for ESL (let's just use this one example). Yet after one year it ceases - the European child assimilates gradually over time (still takes a long time) but for many (not all) African refugees this assimilation will take generations to accomplish, and to assist in this, much more family support needs to be put into place, with assured funding from the government that wonderfully decided to allow them into this country in the first place.

Oh dear, I'm in my 'going back to work' frame of mind again. No matter, a new election in November/December will assuredly see the conservative government of John Howard thrown out and, hopefully, see a more humanitarian 'left of centre' government in its place. Mind you, all governments seem the same to me these days, all hovering around the middle. Oh for the days of Jack Lang (pre War Labor premier of NSW) - oh, forget that, that was during The Depression and the world was different then, no sub-prime jitters affecting the stock exchange, just extreme middle and upper class greed - thinks... the wealthy have never had it better in Australia....hmmmm, is there much difference between the greed of the Twenties and that of the Noughties?

Must sign off, about to depart for Doug's Seafood Cafe at Sandgate. We're taking Kit (our house mate) for the first time to this wonderful piece of Australian life - dining on fabulous fish and chips/salad beside the Bay for what is almost nothing.

Have a terrific week, write if you can, all notes gratefully received. If you disagree with a statement, discuss it with me, I'm always open to a great debate (or a little one). Ciao!