Boxing Day or crazy mad shopping day

by Chip Sansom

Naked in a shower

Recently, I was talking about moulting trees. Now, the rains have arrived; whether it will be for a short visit or stay for awhile, we will have to wait and see. The weather boys and girls tell us that the monsoon is just off the coast. It has been raining, from heavy to drizzle, since Sunday, the frogs have been singing harmoniously and everything feels damp. But it is definitely cooler! Funny people that we are, we now run the airconditioning to prevent everything turning mouldy. Blue suede shoes are not back in fashion just yet!

From the Bureau of Meteorology this morning:

Issued at 5:00 am CST on Tuesday 16 December 2008

Current Weather Summary and Future Developments:
A monsoon trough lies just off the north coast with a tropical low located in the Timor Sea. The low and trough are expected to develop, with squally monsoonal showers and storms about the north and west coasts over the next few days. Widespread showers and storms elsewhere in the north. To the south, fine with a dry southeast flow, tending warmer northerly with storms extending down the western border from mid-week ahead of a trough approaching from the west.


Meanwhile, back to those trees. It would appear that they love the rain cooling their new skin. This is the eucalyptus alba (salmon gum) which has finished moulting.












To the right, see the flowers of the melaleuca (paperback or ti tree) which is also showing the appreciation of the rain. If the rain continues for a period of time, its combination with high tides, will see the tidal creek (behind the trees) right up to the path.









In the next photo, you can also see a cycad looking appreciative of the rain.

Sweet and Deadly for the Waistline … how to let sugar kill you sweetly but surely

“If the definition of insanity is to continue doing the same thing and expect a different outcome, then as a society we are not only getting fatter but crazier.

Governments spend a fortune on programs that tell people to eat less fatty food and exercise more in order to lose weight, while consumers fork out ever-increasing amounts on gym memberships, packaged meals, books, magazines and the advice of experts. Despite decades of this kind of activity we are now fatter than at any other time in history. ”
David Gillespie from the Weekend Australian 29-30 November 2008. *

For a long time I have noticed the wrappers from the lollies that fill up the lolly jar in the office are big on advertizing 98% fat free. Yeah, maybe, but how much sugar is there in there? 100% or more if they could put it in there!

But fat free has been the big sell catchcry for a long time.









98% fat free seems to be a well used one, it must hit the ears best.

Less fat, low fat, no fat; but we are still fat!

David Gillespie is not the first person to write about the sugar kill, and he probably won’t be the last; but it is worth looking at and thinking about.

Read the labels next time you are tempted to grab that processed product off the shelf in the supermarket, or better still, read the labels on the ones in the pantry and fridge. And then take a moment to wonder why that product has sugar in it. Then have a look at the other ones beside it; maybe one of them doesn’t have sugar, and it might even taste better too. Yes, it will take a while to change your brain, but your body will definitely thank you for it.

Luckily I had returned to a doctor, whom I had known for a long while, for a diagnosis of what was wrong with me; he was smack in the moosh blunt to me, and put things pretty clearly early enough - fix it now!

You could go cold turkey. Interesting experience. I did it, and it was a shock to me to experience the headaches as the body screamed out for the sugar hit for about five days. I told no-one else about the headaches for a long time. I didn’t want to admit that I was a sugar addict. A warning … if you do it too slowly you are going to have to be really tough with yourself and make sure the sugar intake is really moving down, not down and up.

I could list a lot of brands that that I use now that actually taste like the real thing, without the sugar; and there are other books out there that do it too, but you can just read the labels and do a bit of thinking.

You will probably have to do a bit of cooking too. Those fresh vegies and fruit are quite good too if they aren’t too much added to. Peel and slice apples or pears and cook them (without sugar), maybe like grandma used to, and you’ll be amazed that they taste good, you know, really like apples or pears! You don't have to become a hermit, just a thinking person again, rather than a retail controlled robot. Put yourself in charge.

Give it a go; cut the sugar, eat reasonable amounts of good food and your body will thank you.




* David Gillespie is the author of Sweet Poison: Why Sugar Makes us Fat (Penguin)







Read the whole article here:
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,24717513-23289,00.html

Moulting Trees

As I have said a few times lately, it is rather tropical here at the moment (that’s how the locals sarcastically describe damn hot, at this time of the year, when speaking to a tourist!)

We all know that cats moult, usually all over the best chair in the place, and dogs moult as the weather warms up, but trees?

I looked up a definition:
Moulting noun
periodic shedding of the cuticle in arthropods or the outer skin in reptiles.
(Dictionary.com)

Hmmm … I am not sure which category a tree would fit into, but I am still sure that they are moulting.

I have searched further, and lo and behold, cuticle is the connection to the plant kingdom …
Cuticle noun
Botany. a very thin hyaline film covering the surface of plants, derived from the outer surfaces of the epidermal cells.

I knew it! I have been watching them, and they are definitely moulting; you can even see the pile of skin on the ground below them!

I guess they too will feel cooler when the rains come.

The storms, they are a’brewing

About three weeks ago, I posted about our pre-monsoon storm season.

http://veronicas-secrets.blogspot.com/2008/11/gunumeleng-next-season-in-year.html

This afternoon, I was out and about in the car and couldn’t resist taking some photos of the afternoon cumulonimbus storm cloud build up.

We have had some storms, which have been a pleasant, if short lived, break from the very humid and hot conditions we have been experiencing since the beginning of November. As I sit here writing, at just before midnight, the thermometer still sits on 29.6˚C, and I won’t tell you the humidity. All I can say is thank God for airconditioning! However, we haven’t had a lot of rain and the personalities are still strained. This doesn’t help as we move towards Christmas, with its added hustle and bustle as people plan their Christmas activities. For some, it will be a break away to join family in slightly cooler climes, or a holiday break in one of our neighbouring Asian countries.

Enjoy the cloud photos; hopefully, soon they will deliver some cooling rain.

Sunday Sails

The tide is not as far out today, and wind power has taken over from motor (well, that wasn’t much use last weekend anyway!).

Perhaps not free to fly like Tuesday’s pee wee (incidentally, his technique is slowly improving); but once you have spent a small fortune on kite, board, stinger suit and UV cream, it is about as free as it gets. The breeze is here today and the kite surfers are out there making the best of it.

Last night was hot – minimum 29.6°C and very humid - so the breeze and water in your face could appear cooling I guess.

Birds on the Wing …Oh to be free to fly

This afternoon when I returned home there was a very noisy pee wee (Magpie-lark - Grallina cyanoleuca) sitting in the back windscreen washer of our car having a lot to say about the state of the universe.

Usually, when a bird does that, it is trying to distract you from a mate sitting on eggs or its own youngster nearby. I stopped and it didn’t take too long to see that there was a reasonably young bird hopping along on the ground nearby. Kids these days; they think they are big enough to fly the coop far before they can!

I kept an eye on him for a while and soon, with a certain amount of encouragement from mother, he had managed to “fly” up to a low branch in a hibiscus. I felt better about that, as several of the neighbours have cats, and if he had still been on the ground come nightfall, he would have probably been in a fairly precarious position.

Mum seemed quite a bit happier about the situation also, and decided it was time to organise dinner. His flying skills weren’t very well honed as yet and a lot of wing flapping took place before he attempted take off. Level flying wasn’t a lot better, actually it didn’t exist. There may have even been some other type of CAT (clear air turbulence) problem! However, he managed, over a period of time to flutter and scratch his way higher up the tree, until he made it to a palm leaf of reasonable height and protection, when he rested.

Even though it was almost dark, I was able to get a photo of him practising his take offs, with claws still firmly attached to the branch.

Gunumeleng - The pre-monsoon storm season

Gunumeleng, the next season in the year, according to the aboriginal people from the Kakadu area, can last from mid-October to late December, and may, in fact, last from a few weeks to several months. It is the pre-monsoon season of hot weather that becomes more and more humid. Thunderstorms build in the afternoons and scattered showers bring a tinge of green to the dry land. As the streams begin to run, acidic water that washes from the floodplains can cause fish to die in billabongs with low oxygen levels. Waterbirds spread out as surface water and new growth become more widespread. Barramundi move from the waterholes downstream to the estuaries to breed.

We are still waiting for the rains. We definitely have the heat and humidity and a lot less breeze in the early evening than we had in October.

http://veronicas-secrets.blogspot.com/2008/09/colours-in-dry-tropics.html

The trees, however, seem to get the message when it is their time to shine, almost as if they can feel the rains coming.

The umbrella tree (Schefflera actinophylla) is native to northern Queensland, north of the tropic of Capricorn. In the close up of the flower there is a brightly coloured rainbow lorikeet, feasting on the nectar.

The red poinciana (Delonix regia) is an old favourite in Darwin, and some would try to call it a weed, but at this time of the year it can put on a spectacular display. As the flowers fall there is a red carpet beneath it.

The orange poinciana is relatively rare, with a few specimins in Darwin which are equally colourful.

In the picture with the “grounded buoy” you will see the following: to the left of the buoy, a yellow/orange bougainvillea, then moving to the right, a large red poinciana, a pinkish/orange bougainvillea, a purple bougainvillea intertwined with an orange poinciana. If you look at the ground below you will notice that none of the plants are getting very much TLC, and they are still putting on quite a good performance, with very little rain.

The day the tide went out ... and out

We have large tidal ranges here in Darwin. The range can be around eight metres. This situation can result in catching people out. Cars regularly go swimming; usually when they have become bogged when loading or unloading a boat from a trailer.

Tide Times for Saturday 15 November 2008
Low 12.48 am 2.41m

High 6.15 am 6.92m

Low 1.10 pm 0.13m

High 7.49 pm 7.75m

Today, almost on low tide, I noticed a boat sitting high and dry, about halfway out on one of our local beaches.

I am still not sure if they ran out of fuel, or simply, got caught by the tide. By the time I parked and found the camera, the occupants had decided to abandon ship and walk (slurp, slurp) across the mudflats. Not an appealing activity, especially when it is as hot and humid as hades in the middle of the day. Most people seek the shade, with a cool drink in hand, at that time of the day; that is if they can’t hide in airconditioning – a bit difficult if you have decided to go for a run in the * tinny, I suppose.

I may have to go back before sunset and see what progress has been made with the tour.

* local lingo for metal runabout boat, usually with an outboard engine – now you know exactly what I mean don’t you?

The following photos tell some of the story. (Usual deal, click on photo to enlarge)

Abandon ship!

Swamp Draining Interrupted

" When you’re up to your backside in crocodiles, it’s difficult to remember that the object of the exercise is to drain the swamp."

Happy, fulfilled, stretched but supported people generally achieve the most at work and get the most from life. They drain a lot of swamps – and have a pretty good time doing it (strange though it may seem, for some of us, swamp drainage is a Very Enjoyable Occupation).

However, many of us face a few crocodiles … those subversive or even submersive, obstacles that get in the way of a productive, high achieving but low-stress kind of life.

Some of them we make ourselves, some of them are placed there by other people.

Some of them just are.

Sometimes there are seemingly pretty fish in the swamp, to lull us into a false sense of security. They can turn out to be just that; seemingly pretty fish, but really piranha in goldfish clothing, and even the crocodile should perhaps watch out.








Copyright 2008 Swamp Productions Pty Ltd


No, it hasn't been a good day!

Tord – Good Memories of a Friend

Three years ago we lost a friend. It felt too hard, at the time, to think of good memories. But, time heals and the memories come.

· The ever present cameras, a snap here, a video there …
· The disappearing walker … to have a few moments alone with nature – but scaring the heck out of those with him, especially when there are big crocodiles nearby!
· Reading the brochures thoroughly and asking questions that you are supposed to be able to answer, but you haven’t read those brochures yet
· A real environmentalist

And most of all, a very good friend. We remember you. Here’s to you mate. Skål!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

The only good thing to come out of Tennant Creek is the Stuart Highway – I think Harmony James has changed that theory…

… I am sad to say that the Territory is losing a rising star, as Harmony James moves onwards to Brisbane to further her careers.

Last night, she performed at the Darwin Entertainment Centre in the Studio Theatre, which was set up cabaret style for her performance. She was backed by well known Darwin performers Mike Foley, on bass and Mark Smith on drums. I think that she enjoyed the experience and I can happily say that I feel that the audience did also.

So, maybe when she is a big star in the big smoke she will remember a smallish gig in Darwin.












Picture © Harmony James

She sang songs from her EP Harmony, as well as some old ones – You’re No Good (from way back in 1964, I think and recorded by names such as Linda Ronstadt and Reba McEntire); and a good version of Cootamundra Wattle (John Williamson), a hauntingly, sad song with some good advice for all of us. This was interspersed with songs she is planning to add to her new album, which should be released in about five months.

There was a particularly impressive song, perhaps called Some People Give (not sure of the name); the words are well thought out and the music and composition are well done. The song came from a blunt reminder that things aren’t always what they appear on the surface.

There was also a reference to Greek mythology (Icarus) with a song about flying too close to the sun. We all do a bit of that at times, I think, and feel a little singed! Or maybe it just feels like that, in Darwin in November!

To listen to Harmony; click below and check out the video clip. And listen out for her new album.

http://www.harmonyjames.com/lyrics3.htm

Her last song was So Long, Wish Me Goodbye; hopefully it will only be Adieu. Good luck Harmony, with the next step in the adventure; and don’t forget your followers in Darwin, because we won’t forget your voice.

Three Decades of Memories

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Hill Street Blues, Greens, Yellows and Reds

One of my long time favourite Singapore bulldings, the Old Hill Street Police Station Building was designed by F. Dorrington Ward, the Government Architect attached to the Public Works Department. It was built in the Neo-Classical style fashionable for public buildings in the 1930s, started in 1931 and officially opened in 1934. At the time it was constructed, the six-storey building was the largest building in Singapore up to that time, and because of it's height, was regarded as a skyscraper.

Today the building is occupied by the Ministry of Information, Communication and the Arts (MICA). The main courtyard, formerly the police parade ground, has been converted into an airconditioned atrium, called the ARTrium, for art activities. The spacious area, with its vibrant colours and ample space, regularly features artistic performances and houses art galleries … but more about that later.

If you look at the left, in the background of the picture, you will see a dot on the side of the tallest building. Now take a closer look at the same building.

Old and the new - Elgin Bridge Singapore

This was the bridge where Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles once stood and decided which areas were to be set aside for Chinese commerce, Malay-Arabic settlements and the colonial seat. It was originally a wooden structure, replaced by an iron one and then, in 1926 replaced again.

It is named after Lord Elgin, a governor general of India.

Behind is the high rise of the commercial district.

Looking down on reality

Rooftops in Singapore

Smoko break

Cloisters of past power

Chijmes - Singapore

Built in the gothic style, with buildings in the complex built as early as 1840, Chijmes was formerly one of the last cloistered convents in the world.

If those walls could speak.

A slow boat to Chinatown?

...on the Singapore River for the River Festival.

Progress

A bare wall in May now has decoration. There is also a picture of what will eventually be hiding the bare wall.

Colours in the dry tropics

At this time of the year, as the dry season draws to a hot finish, the colours we mainly see around are the dry browns and even the burnt out blacks. Some of our plants, however, try valiantly to show some colour to the remaining visitors and locals, as they struggle towards the “green season” when the wet arrives.

The aboriginal people from the Kakadu area call this time of the year Gurrung, and consider that it is from mid-August to mid-October, and is hot and dry. It is still 'goose time' but also time for Bininj/Mungguy (the name of the people) to hunt file snakes and long-necked turtles. Sea turtles lay their eggs on the sandy beaches of Field Island and West Alligator Head and goannas rob their nests sometimes. White-breasted wood swallows arrive as thunderclouds build, signalling the return of Gunumeleng - the pre-monsoon season of hot weather that becomes more and more humid.
From: Department of the Environment and Water Resources website.

I have looked around for some colour, and following are a few photos to show some of the variations.
















Even the palms try white with the brown.






















Red seeds of the Carpentaria palm are offset by the white Torres Strait Pigeons feasting
















Fire by the sea - a pandanus suffers
















One defiant plant survives the burn




















A bright yellow native tree as a street planting





and a bright orange vine on a fence adds some colour





















Even pastels - pink and white frangipani