Pain ... it can get to you

The Boxer

Now the years are rolling by me
They are rocking evenly
And I am older than I once was
And younger than I'll be, but that's not unusual.
No, it isn't strange
After changes upon changes
We are more or less the same
After changes we are more or less the same

In the clearing stands a boxer, and a fighter by his trade
And he carries the reminders of every glove that laid him down or cut him
til he cried out in his anger and his shame
I am leaving, I am leaving, but the fighter still remains
Yes he still remains.

Paul Simon is reported as saying: “I think the song was about me: everybody's beating me up, and I'm telling you now I'm going to go away if you don't stop."

I can relate.

Some lovely rain

It is two months since we got our first teasing rain of the season. 12 mm of gentle rain at the beginning of September and only one other fall in October. Last night we had our first storm of the season; firstly, reasonably gentle wind, and then out of (apparently) nowhere, a steady 44 mm of rain followed by a bit of lightning and some thunder.

www.swamp.com.au

There was one bad result, the small amount of wind dislodged some birds eggs from a nest high in the African Mahogany tree in our front yard. All that hard work for nothing. I wonder will the mother try again or perhaps some survived. It is far too high to even guess.

The garden really appreciated the drink.

The Office Fascinator

Sadly, for him, and his followers, it was not to be Bart's Bakers Dozen this year.












photo from News.com.au




Shocking, ridden by Corey Brown and trained by Mark Kavanagh has won the 2009 Melbourne Cup. His owner, Laurence Eales, revealed at the presentation that he had a pre-written acceptance speech in his pocket. If only he had shared that with us beforehand ...

Oh well, there is always next year!










Even Google got in on the act.


Fashions on the field were spectacular as usual (click on the link below for some of them)

http://www.news.com.au/entertainment/gallery/0,23607,5061780-5017766,00.html#



The fascinators were out at the office Cup luncheon too.













At the last minute, I decided that I should have a statement on my head also and set to work with a few minutes and available props and actually produced an appropriately named office fascinator, which took out the prize. Yeaha! You will see bits of stationery and packing tape, as well as racing form, betting tickets and reminders.





















And ... it won't have to be thrown at the back of the cupboard and forgotten about; turn it over and it's a carry tray for 4 cups of coffee! Very versatile!

Unlucky for some; 13 the baker's dozen?

Bart Cummings has three contenders in this year's Melbourne Cup: the favourite Viewed, Roman Emperor and Allez Wonder.

He is reported to be wondering if he released his autobiography too soon.

And is Michelle Payne wondering if she can become the first female jockey to win the Cup, on a Cummings trained horse Allez Wonder?

She is the youngest of 10 children, eight of whom became jockeys, with her now retired brother Patrick the most successful of the siblings so far.

It won’t be a four leaf clover on her silks when she rides tomorrow, but it could be a lucky clover to match the “lucky for some” number 13 win for Bart Cummings if she crosses the line first tomorrow.

Incidentally, Allez Wonder starts from barrier 13.

picture from News.com.au

Shake, rattle and roll

At 12.10 am on Sunday morning as I was getting ready to go to the airport for a quick interstate trip, things started to move for me.

Quickly I realized that it was an earthquake and as we live in a concrete house, I decided it was time to move outside.

Once my heartbeat had gone back to normal, I gathered by gear and headed to the airport, figuring that if I was on a plane, in the air, I wouldn't notice any aftershocks! There were two aftershocks on Sunday, but people hardly noticed them.

It was a 6.9 shake located 230 km (145 miles) NNW of Saumlaki, Tanimbar Islands, in Indonesia - 700 km north of us.

A quick look at the earthquake page tonight shows 28 earthquakes in the region in the last week and that large yellow one north of Darwin is the one that shook us up.

picture from U.S. Geological Survey

The Global Village … the big picture … we are really but a small thumbnail

Here I have been, having a bit of a moan since the weather warmed up, got more tropical. But where do I live … in the tropics!

In the last week, however, in several other places around the equator there has been a bit more than just humidity happening.

Last week it was floods in the Philippines, caused by Tropical Storm Ketsana.

http://www.radioaustralia.net.au/asiapac/stories/200909/s2699997.htm

Three days ago there was a 8.0 earthquake in American Samoa, which initiated a monstrous tsunami which swept ashore killing hundreds and injuring many more, and destroying villages before it.

http://www.news.com.au/features/0,,5019260,00.html

Two days ago there was a 7.6 earthquake off Padang in Sumatra, Indonesia, collapsing buildings and causing another tsunami. The death toll increases with each news broadcast, but is at least 1000, with many, many more still trapped.

Look at the earthquake map on the link below and see what I mean.

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/eqcenter/recenteqsww/

It will update by the minute, but I am sure you will get the picture; when I copied this link there had been 73 aftershocks in Samoa and 5 in Sumatra.

All this is happening so relatively close to us.

This is all too glum and I felt I would post the latest Swamp cartoon to lift our spirits. It sort of seemed relevant really. It hasn't been a good week.











Copyright 2009 Swamp Productions Pty Ltd

Get out of the heat ...Boots and all

When you live in the tropics, the build up has started, it's hot and it just won't rain to give you a break, what do you do for some sanity?

You look for something to do in airconditioned premises, that's what you do!

Now I know that you know that girls just love to go shopping; but right at the moment that is a bit of a chore for me ... so I have to think of something else.

Ahha ...go to the movies!

So we have just been to the movies to see Charlie and Boots. It's an Australian movie starring Paul Hogan (Crocodile Dundee), Shane Jacobson (Kenny), Roy Billing, Rebecca Asha, and Morgan Griffin.

A father and son travel from Victoria to Cape York to fulfill their lifelong ambition to fish off Australia's northern tip.

If you know any of the male actors, you will realize that it is going to be funny, but there is a bit of a message there also.

They cover quite a bit of distance and even visit the country town I called next door when I was growing up. I even recognised some of the scenery, particularly the Warrambungle Mountains.

It's worth a watch ... don't leave when the credits start rolling; wait until the absolute end for the cameo line from Paul Hogan.

click below for the trailer.
http://media.smh.com.au/entertainment/trailer-park/trailer--charlie-and-boots-711608.html