Eva and friends traveling down the coastline to Byron Bay

Woz said:

This may be too Australian - however, patriotism I believe, has caused more harm than good in latter years. Patriotism has become an excuse to hate, an excuse to suspect, an excuse to rape, an excuse to kill and to plunder. We need to redefine patriotism and nationalism. And in so doing we may redefine our image in the rest of the world.

Kangaroo Said:

Amen

Australia Day

Australian National Anthem - Advance Australia Fair

Waltzing Matilda

Just a little bit of Patriotism for the best Country in the Hemisphere, I say

WHEN YOU'VE GOT YORRO YORRO, YOU DON'T NEED A FLAG

Woz submitted today's thread header about patriotism at DCP

This may be too Australian - however, patriotism I believe, has caused more harm than good in latter years. Patriotism has become an excuse to hate, an excuse to suspect, an excuse to rape, an excuse to kill and to plunder. We need to redefine patriotism and nationalism. And in so doing we may redefine our image in the rest of the world.
The headline and quoted passages for this post are from Australian artist, cartoonist and writer, Michael Leunig. He is writing on Australia Day January 26, 2008. Leunig is remarkable in his talent for stating the most gigantic conundrum in a tiny little drawing or a few words.
Since 9/11/2001 our leaders have urged us all to rise up in our fervor of nationalistic pride and hate and invade countries to kill others. And we've acquiesced. Out of fear. His story of his Aboriginal friend who taught him the meaning of yorro yorro, is worth sharing
.......
Earnest nationalism has never taken root in Australia and most seem to like it that way.
IT'S AUSTRALIA DAY AND ALL the flags and words are flying in the breeze. It is a day of fantasy, because nobody really seems to understand what it's all about and nobody seems to care too much, either. Perhaps it suits the temperament of the bewildering Australian landmass that the national song, the national day and the national flag are all rather wonky and not up to the task of nationalism somehow, and seem quite naturally and pleasantly just a bit insignificant.
The citizens, in their wisdom, seem mostly content with this quaintly ramshackle situation, sensing that the failure of earnest nationalism to take root in Australia is a blessing that constitutes for them a very special and delightful freedom.
Many Australians regard their flag and song and national day, not so much with awe, but rather, a casual, bemused affection, in the way that we may regard an eccentric uncle or a peculiar spinster aunty. They are ours but they are not us.
---snip---
Many Australians regard their flag and song and national day, not so much with awe, but rather, a casual, bemused affection, in the way that we may regard an eccentric uncle or a peculiar spinster aunty. They are ours but they are not us.
Perhaps it is a sign of political health and great good fortune that these symbolic national devices continue to be slightly lame and pleasantly uninspiring to the nation. In spite of the perfunctory efforts of weary public officials and headmasters to solemnise the Australian identity and its symbols, it appears that the citizens of the southern land are inclined to be a shrugging, winking sort of people rather than the saluting kind; a people who don't want nationalistic things to function too well — with the obvious exception of sport.
Our dawdling and dysfunctional national song, for instance, works about as well as they want a national anthem to work and I suspect that many Australians quite enjoy its wacky dullness and the fact that they can't remember the words and regard this mass forgetfulness a wonderful, convivial joke.
My youngest son grew up believing the opening line for the anthem was:
"Australians all eat ostriches

For we are young at three".
I think this is a great improvement on the official version and no doubt there are other fabulous and worthy variations floating about in the minds of Australian children.
How wise and liberal of the government, to bestow to its people an anthem with a do-it-yourself component; an anthem wherein the citizens may innovate and roam or giggle and get lost and feel completely free. How inspiring can you get!
* * *
But of course there are those who take nationalism and its artefacts terribly seriously, and for them Australia Day is an important feast, with no shortage of flags and fulsome speeches to satisfy the strongest appetite for national identity.
There is an experiment with American-style patriotism but this will fizzle out and the urban masses will continue to head off to the fleshpots and beaches to celebrate their globalism where there are only three identities: the rich, the poor and the frantic slaves in the middle. And so it will proceed.
* * *
---snip---
* * *
I once lived in a small town in central Victoria, and there it was my good fortune to dwell in a house across the street from a little old lady named Mrs Heggie. She was a bright soul and I often found her rustling about like a wren in her front garden and took delight in chatting with her about whatever was at hand. One autumn morning we were talking about the news: a ghastly story of a young woman taken by a crocodile in the Prince Regent River of north-west Australia.
"Frightful creatures those big crocodiles," offered my neighbour, and I told her how I had only just recently met an old indigenous man from that country and how much he had enchanted me as he spoke about the beautiful dangers of life up there in the Kimberley.
"Oh yes, and who would that be?" inquired Mrs Heggie in the most excited and unusually pointed way.
"David Mowaljarlai was his name," I replied.
"Oh, and how is David these days?" she inquired in a matter-of-fact voice.
After a moment of blank incomprehension, I told her that he seemed fine and thought that perhaps she had misheard me or was having a mixed-up dotty moment and inquiring after somebody in her imagination.
"Do you know of David Mowaljarlai?" I asked.
"Oh yes, he was such a lovely young man; he rescued me from the plane crash."
What then followed in the sunshine of our quiet little street was Mrs Heggie's astonishing story. She had worked on a mission in Kimberley during the 1930s where cyclones and pirates could suddenly descend from the sea to terrorise the community, and where the giant black crocodiles roamed freely along the river banks and shores of a wild land.
One day she had made a long and difficult journey in the region to attend to some practical business and was offered a quick ride back to the mission in a biplane piloted by a Salvation Army missionary.
"He was a good pilot but a dreadful navigator," recalled Mrs Heggie.
The plane got lost and ran out of fuel, resulting in an emergency landing on a mangrove flat surrounded by deep water and crocodiles in the Prince Regent River.
"We sat on the wings for nearly a week listening to the crocodiles underneath us at night and drank water we collected from the fabric of the plane. The Salvation Army man lost his nerve and I had to spend all my energy trying to calm him down. He was a terrible sook and this annoyed me very much.
"I told him that David from the mission would find us, as I believed he would. David and I had a special understanding of each other and he always seemed to know where I'd be.
"One morning I looked up and there across the water at the edge of the bush was David with his lovely smile. He had found us. He had the most beautiful smile. But you know, to this day, whenever the Salvation Army people come collecting at my door, I give them a donation but I always feel annoyed because of that pilot behaving like a frightened child — he really wasn't much help."
In later life David Mowaljarlai travelled the country and spoke urgently and eloquently of his concern for the wellbeing of white society, which he could see was suffering from a loss of spirit and an incomprehension of the land in which it lived.
His integrity and wisdom often included an important word from his Ngarinyin language: a word that could be very useful to this country in these depressed and anxious times. I use it often.
"Yorro-yorro" is the word — and it means "everything standing up alive" or "the spirit in the land that makes everything stand up alive".
Mrs Heggie had lots of yorro-yorro.
"Each day faces you like a murderer," said Mowaljarlai also — but he said it as an enlivening truth to stimulate the spirit and to remind us of yorro-yorro.
It's a beautiful Wandjina country word to use on Australia Day — or any other day, for that matter. David Mowaljarlai gave it to us and left us with it.
When you've got yorro-yorro you don't need a flag.

Thanks for all the Christmas Cards, and Birthday Wishes everyone, much appreciated.

Ledger another great who died too young

Martin FlanaganJanuary 25, 2008


WHEN I recently interviewed the American journalist Lewis Lapham, he asked me a question — why is it that the good American actors nowadays are Australian?
I guessed that maybe it was because we were less sophisticated. Like frontier types, we were closer to our primary feelings and emotions. Around the same time, I interviewed the West Coast Eagles footballer David Wirrpanda, an emerging leader in the Aboriginal community. Heath Ledger, who grew up in Perth, was an Eagles' fan, and an ambassador for the David Wirrpanda Foundation, which seeks to assist indigenous kids.
Wirrpanda, who is friends with the Ledger family, yesterday described the actor as "an easygoing, loveable character".
Wirrpanda said that what particularly interested him about Heath Ledger was his spirituality, the fact that he maintained such private aims for his public achievements.
Wirrpanda's view is consistent with the testimony of those who knew Ledger and have spoken since his death.
He was down to earth, and preserved a sense of his own ordinariness. Whatever else fame did to Heath Ledger, it did not make him ashamed of his origins. He played Ned Kelly as if he meant it. In an interview at the time, he said he had to believe in someone to portray them. The film wasn't great. Ledger alone was seriously worth watching, and what he produced was a portrait of a man driven to make a stand by conditions unique to this country. One tale that emerged had it that the studios directed that Ned be played without a beard. Ledger refused. Any Australian with any feeling for that story will understand why. How would the Americans feel if they were directed to make a film with General George Custer in a business suit?
It was while he was in Australia doing interviews for the Ned Kelly film that Ledger flatly declared his opposition to the Iraq war. The first decade of the 21st century stands to be remembered as a time when many public voices remained silent because they were too timid or too distracted.
Ledger's statements did not amount to a smart career move, but he said his career was unimportant compared with a war fought, as he saw it, for oil.
He later participated in demonstrations against the war.
I had not intended to see Brokeback Mountain. I was in Darwin, and an interview fell through. I went to the pictures and watched an unforgettably compelling portrait of masculinity. The day after Ledger's death, the film critic for The New York Times, A. O. Scott, said Ledger's role as Ennis Del Mar in Brokeback Mountain was "more or less equivalent to what Jim Stark in Rebel Without a Cause was for James Dean".
Scott said Ledger possessed "the ability to signal an inner emotional state without overtly showing it (which) is what distinguishes great screen acting from movie-star posing".
Scott went on: "In retrospect, the best thing that happened to him — the lucky break for his admirers, at any rate — may have been his disinclination to realise his movie-star potential." He said Ledger had entered the pantheon alongside James Dean, Montgomery Clift and Marilyn Monroe as stars who produced something magical on screen, and died young. If that is right, Heath Ledger is destined for a certain sort of global immortality.
As Ledger knew, perhaps to his great cost, fame is a sort of madness. It is important under those circumstances, in assessing both the man and the artist, to remember the place, the people and the history from which he came.
Video Ledger's life on camera
Photos Tributes for Heath
LinkHere

Thanks Cetin for the birthday wishes.

Hey Simone just found your Christmas email at hotmail

Hello Roselyn!!! How are you?? I`ve been fine.I spent my Christmas working because here in Japan they don`t celebrate Christmas. Oh yes!! I`m still here in Japan!! I still didn`t go back to Brazil. And how was your Christmas?!! Did you meet with your parents?I miss the days I was in Brisbane!! We`ve had good times. I won`t forget your funny cousin!!Give my regards to him and his wife.Well, I just have been studying english reading books, writing to some friends and watching some videos on You Tube!!! Hahaha!! I think I still can understand you, my friend!!!An what about the new year?? Where are you going to spend it? Well, I`m planning to go to meet some friends and eat a lot of food!!I hope to hear from you soon!!Take care of your healthy!!Kisses and Hugs!!Simone

Hey Kev and Val, Simone sends her regards.

Diga NÃO à caça às baleias: em busca do Nishin-maru
A frota baleeira japonesa "Nishin-maru", que pretende matar cerca de mil baleias na Antártica, partiu semana passada do porto de Shimonoseki, do sul do Japão, rumo às geleiras. O governo japonês alega fins científicos, mas já foi comprovado que não é necessário sacrificar nenhuma baleia para obter informações sobre seu ciclo de vida.
O Greenpeace (ONG em defesa do meio ambiente), está na cola dos japoneses com seu navio Esperanza, para evitar que uma tragédia aconteça. Uma bióloga brasileira (Leandra Gonçalves) faz parte da equipe, e através de seu blog, é possível acompanhar o desenrolar dos acontecimentos. Vocês podem encontrar o blog e mais notícias através do site http://www.greenpeace.org.br/.
Uma pesquisa realizada com os japoneses, revelou que 95% nunca comeram ou raramente comem carne de baleia. Por isso, para os estrangeiros que moram aqui no Japão, não incentivem à caça: não consumam carne de baleia. Nós nos deparamos com a dificuldade de não entender a caligrafia japonesa. Então, ao comprar carne nos mercados, tenha certeza do tipo de carne que está comprando.
Vamos lutar e torcer para que haja um final feliz para nossas baleias!!!

Whale activists 'captured'

THE war between whalers and protesters escalated last night when two activists — an Australian and a Briton — stormed a Japanese ship and were detained on board by crew members.
The drama at sea came hours after the Federal Court in Sydney found that whaling in Australian Antarctic waters was illegal — a ruling that could place pressure on the Rudd Government to take more action to stop the hunt.
In a daring protest, Australian Benjamin Potts, 28, and Briton Giles Lane, 35, boarded the moving Japanese whale catcher, Yushin Maru No. 2, just inside the Australian Antarctic Sanctuary in the Southern Ocean. The pair, from the Sea Shepherd protest vessel Steve Irwin, were reported to have been tied to the whaling ship's radar mast and left out in the cold for several hours after delivering a letter to the captain saying that the crew was "illegally killing whales".
Japan's Institute of Cetacean Research confirmed that two activists had been "taken into custody" and were being held in a "secure room" on the ship.
But the head of the institute, Minoru Morimoto, denied the men had been tied up. "Any accusations that we have tied them up or assaulted them are completely untrue," he said.
"It is illegal to board another country's vessels on the high seas. As a result, at this stage, they are being held in custody while decisions are made on their future." Link

Emerald, Q'ld. The Fairbairn Dam is now 2.4 metres over the spillway

Minor rain in the coal fields

Sadly a loss for Australia

Heath Ledger dies in tragic final act

THE family of actor Heath Ledger, who has died of an apparent drug overdose, says they have been told by police his death was accidental.

Swinging Night out for Alexandre, Eva and Friends oppppppps, Alexandres' a little under the weather there, Hahahaha didn't feel to well next morning

Night Lights over Brisbane

Alexandre and Eva visit Surfers Paradise at the Gold Coast

Festival in Alexandres' City

LinkHere

Your Friking Crazy Cuz

FIRST DARWIN AWARDS OF 2008

Can you spot the danger?

............ Yes...that's right, you guessed it............

You shouldn't have glass near swimming pools because if it gets broken you can cut your feet.

Just thought I should let you know.

Just heard from Lea, she has arrived back in Switzerland.

Hello Rossi..

How is it going? I’m already back in Switzerland. I arrived yesterday morning. My travel right across Australia was awesome. I had an eventful time. I visited the Outback ( Uluru, Kings Canyon) and it was really hot in the sun up to 54 degrees. The Great Barrier Reef was very nice as well, it was colourful and we have seen sharks, turtles and big rays. The first time diving was scary for me, but after 5 minutes i enjoyed every second.The great Ocean Road was very beautiful, special the sunsets(look at the pictures)But not only Australia is a very nice country, Switzerland, too(I took this picture yesterday next to my house)I wish you a great time and I hope I will hear something from you soon....

All the best Lea

Lea Uluru Northern Territories

12 Apostles Melbourne

Sydney Opera House

Sunset next to Leas' Home in Switzerland

Hear from you when you get to Africa, Have a wonderful trip and working holiday, and send plenty of pics of your adventure.

Peace Rossi