Sorry for the late responses to you all @pedant @janetteb @whisht @mudlark @winston @thane16

Thank you for the kind words but I hope, actually I believe, it’s something anyone could and should do. As I said, I have no training, it just takes a bit of nerve to go up and talk to a stranger. It might take even more nerve to call up a…[Read more]

@thane16 urgh. I hate those criteria sheets. They scare me and I have an hons degree in English. No wonder kids are suffering increasing rates of depression these days. The education system seems intent on intimidating them rather than encouraging them. Re’ essays. Our second son, (R.2) did really well because he worked out the formula. The…[Read more]

@thane16

Hi Syzygy,

well, yes, it’s true, you should always reference (said not in a sing song voice, but a sententious disapproving voice…)

but I am pleased to report the the blenkinsop archival skills revealed the source as the NY Times, Jan 19, 2017. (It’s a good article, as well.)

And if anyone on the right in Australian politics starts…[Read more]

@thane16 “Syzygy” – wonderful!

and on googling it, I discovered this….

I think its just right.

I’m now off to listen to more of them!
;¬)

@thane16

Hello syzygy! (it is always exciting to be at the birth of a new voice–time will tell whether the views of the new syzygy are different from those of the old Puro and Thane…)

Where does the Waleed Aly quote come from?

@thane16 Interesting words. There seem to be more and more right wing nutters gaining traction in our system though they maybe did not do as well as I feared. The problem, and it is one with democracy in general, is that so many people have no clue as to whom they are voting for or why. They are now totally alienated from politics. There is so…[Read more]

@thane16 and @blenkinsopthebrave

Indeed. Afraid I am loosing faith in compulsory voting too. A vote becomes worthless if the voter is ill informed and has no clue who they are voting for or why. Sorry always feel bitter after elections, and feel for the younger generation who are having their futures stomped on by the clowns that run this country…[Read more]

@thane16

Well, that was depressing news to wake up to.

Although, entirely predictable.

Anyway, here are a few thoughts on what are essential to know about to get a handle on what is distinctively Australian. (In light of the election, the following tend to be oriented towards politics in the broadest sense.)

Compulsory voting: the single most…[Read more]

@thane16 Today it was for Bob Hawke though I was at uni when he brought in HECS and felt utterly betrayed. Tomorrow I should be wearing it for Australia in general and for the future of my children.The first election I voted in was 1983. I was travelling and went into the embassy in Dublin to vote. (not a service available at embassies any more).…[Read more]

@thane16 and @janetteb

Oh, crikey. Where to start?

I started writing, but realized (a) it required a lot more thought, and (b) it is close to midnight where I am. So I will respond properly when…well, when we might know who  is the new government.

But before I go to bed I do want to say that in my lifetime, three Prime Ministers changed…[Read more]

@thane16

It Doris remembering to keep *acting* during the song in the performance that triggered the link.

If you click through to that video the uploader got a note from DeVito, who was very keen that all who did that tour got credit. Ellen Foley on the rekkid, of course.

This is the performance that “broke” Meatloaf, who up to this had…[Read more]

@thane16

So that’s where Meatloaf got the inspiration for this performance of Paradise By The Dashboard Light, featuring the sublime Karla DeVito

@winston I do wish you could send some of the rain down here. Last night we washed the car windows and laughed because the car is now so dusty that the clean windows looked like gaping holes in the dirt. We might have to stop relying on the rain to wash the car.

@mudlark and @thane16  I love violets. They do tend to come up in unexpected places…[Read more]

@thane16    A tuckeroo is a flowering tree!  They look like nice shade trees.

@mudlark and @thane16   We have periwinkles here and they are sold as ground cover and tend to grow in shady areas where nothing else wants to grow. I love the dark shiny leaf and the purple/blue colour. I don’t have them here because I am afraid they would get loose and invade the creek banks as a few other plants have done but the in-laws have s…[Read more]

@thane16  @janetteB

TV in reception areas is a menace, but in the clinics and outpatients departments in the hospital here (as far as my experience goes – six different clinics and outpatient departments and counting) the TVs in reception and waiting areas are generally tuned to the BBC News channel and have the sound off and subtitles only, so…[Read more]

@thane16  I feel for you. Being subjected to “talking heads” TV in reception rooms is torturous enough without the added horror of the upcoming election. We have been known to turn of screens when nobody else is looking, (Right now I am deploying a “head in the sand” tactic to the upcoming election. There are so many right wing horrors emerging…[Read more]

@thane16

How do you solve a problem like a vinca? On the assumption that your problem plants are catharanthus roseus and you grow them as annual bedding plants I was sufficiently intrigued to look up the recommended growing conditions and possible problems. In its original habitat it grew on sandy and limestone soils in woodland, grassland and…[Read more]

@thane16  @janetteB

I have a strong suspicion that we are not talking about the same plant. The vinca minor in @pedant ‘s photo and the vinca major which lurks at the back of my shrubbery – aka lesser and greater periwinkle – are the common varieties in these parts, native to Europe and adjacent regions,  and they are low growing hardy, e…[Read more]

@thane16

*Blushes*

No, hang on. That would imply that I have shame…