In Which Al tricks his Audience.

Well no one guessed what this image was. Some people got part marks for the power-line in the background. But no one guessed a statue! I suspected when I cropped this part of the Digger's leg (wrapped in puttees) that people might guess a palm or coconut palm. It does look something like a palm taken out of context. This statue of a Digger (Oz lingo for an Aussie Soldier) is atop the war memorial in a tiny little town called Bonny Doon.
I guess he is suitable for an Australia Day post for two reasons: First copies of this statue (or a version very alike) are on memorials scattered through almost every small town across Oz (and many suburbs in bigger cities). He is an iconic Oz image. Second I actually posted a piccie featuring this Digger two years ago on Australia day. Which reminds me I showed a memorial of a different kind in that post. A memorial to three policemen murdered by “armed criminals” in 1878. I said I might post about those criminals later, but never did. Well strangely one of those three “armed criminals” has been back in the press again after over 130 years. I guess I should finally get around to keeping my promise and posting about them!

A Ramble

I hope you are all ready for this, but I am in a slightly rambling mode this afternoon

This week has (apart from Tuesday’s public holiday) been hectic. Things aren’t quite as mad as they were during the Christmas – New Year period. However, the side affects of us remaining open when other services were closed have been that some people who were not using our service have “discovered us” and have continued accessing us. This doesn’t necessarily mean longer days (although it can) but it does mean more, much more tiring days.

Roll on the weekend. I am mostly free this weekend, only having to work two hours on Sunday. Battery recharging is definitely called for.

I have been looking at what I want to talk about here on this blog over the next little while. This makes me sound terribly organised which is not actually the case. Usually it is more like a last minute “I did this today, people might like to hear that so I’ll post it.”

I began this blog saying I would talk about my publishing journey, battle, non-event, it seems like all three. I am still passionately involved in pushing my (first) book out there, but really in terms of posting it is only the occasional update.

I have raised the flag about posting a couple of things that I have not yet done.

A couple of people asked for my curry “recipe”. I am certainly planning to get that up and I have even almost written a recipe based on what I usually, or perhaps often do in the kitchen. Boy, is it hard to write a recipe when you’ve never done one before. To be totally honest I’ve had a slight crisis of confidence over it and I will not post it until I have a lazy enough afternoon to “test” it and make sure I haven’t forgotten to include something.

I have also said I would talk about the “armed criminals” who were mentioned in my previous post. Theirs is a fascinating tale which I think is well worth talking about when I get round to distilling it. I don’t want to declaim at great length in the style of my mythical “Uncle Harry”, but some stories need a bit of detail to remain faithful.

I also have a couple of nice things to say about work that I hope to post soon. Some of the things I have shared have been about quite harrowing events (and of course about some wonderful things). I always feel that there needs to be some balance and there are some really uplifting aspects about working with any group of people.

That is probably enough rambling for the minute.
I will wrap up by finishing with the things I was going to say on Tuesday evening before I ran out of steam.

To recap, we drove out to Mansfield on Australia Day.
From there we went a little further down to the north shore of Lake Eildon.
Deb and I had a very peaceful picnic sitting in the shade here:Lake Eildon is one of the areas that has really suffered after years of drought. If you click on the photo to enlarge it you will get a bit of an idea of just how empty the lake is. The water is maybe 30metres (about 100 feet) below full. Those patches of white spray on the left side are powerboats pulling water-skiers. The “twigs” in the water are the remains of huge trees that were drowned when the lake was formed, with the lake below 5% capacity they have been exposed.

As we ate we were pestered by this Australian Magpie and her almost grown chick. Did I say we went without any of our girls? A quiet day of just the parents can be most refreshing.
Mum is about to pop a chunk of bread in baby’s mouth.
I know, I know, I shouldn’t feed the wildlife, but I am a soft touch or I wouldn’t keep working for charities.
“Maggies” are normally very fetching glossy black birds with white highlights, but she is undergoing her summer moult and so looks quite ugly.

After our picnic we headed back into town where we stopped for coffee before hitting the road.

As we drove out of town we caught a glimpse of something through the trees.
We threw out the anchor and I waded through waist deep grass to investigate.

I was a little leery about the wisdom of what I was doing. I was wearing shorts and sandals. Normally when I bushwalk (hike) in any weather I wear good boots and usually jeans.

About the only dangerous wildlife in almost all of the Oz bush (apart from the places where you get crocs) are our snakes. So boots and thick pants are a good idea. As I have said before snakes are not interested in biting you. Yet walking through long grass without the right gear is probably not entirely sensible.

I took heart from the fact that despite our native snakes having incredibly toxic venom they almost exclusively bite idiots who are trying to kill them with a stick or similar implement.
By venom toxicity we have 19 of the top 25 most poisonous snakes in the world and 7 of the top 10 (including 1-5 on that list).
Despite this more people die every year in Oz from beestings than snakebite and I’m not about to stop looking at flowers.
Bottom line, leave snakes alone and odds are you will be sweet.

What did I find? This rather interesting (and I think quite attractive) Nineteenth Century industrial chimney. I haven’t done the research to find out, but I would guess this is the remains of a brickworks. Before railways came through in the late 1800s quite small towns often had their own brickworks. With the large distances involved it was usually more economical to build a local brickworks than to bring in bricks by cart.

Mansfield was connected to Melbourne by rail, but as with so many country towns the railway is gone having closed down due to competition with road freight in the 1950s, 60s and 70s. Of course with increasing fuel costs the wisdom of shutting down railways now seems questionable.

Now after inflicting rather a long ramble I am going to finish with two points

First, my posts seem to attract an incredible number of comments (especially given my traffic is still quite low). I want to say thank you all, I really appreciate your contributions. I have come to the blogosphere quite late but it seems to be largely a wonderful set of communities.

Secondly, I said above that there are a few things I want to post about soon.
However, I suppose I want to ask what is your perspective of how the blog is going?
Are their any things that you think I could do better?
Anything I could do more? Less?
Anything you think I could cover?
Anything that grates? (maybe a stupidish question, If you didn’t like the blog you just wouldn’t come back).
I would love to hear what you think.

A Day in Oz

Well down here in Oz it is “Australia Day”.

Australia Day (The 26th of January) is that day when all us Aussies have a public holiday to remember. What are we remembering?
Well Aussies of non-indigenous ancestry remember the day a guy called Captain Arthur Phillip, led eleven tall ships (which we Aussies call “The First Fleet”) into Sydney Cove and established the first permanent European settlement in Australia.
Aboriginal Australians tend to remember the day the invaders from Europe began most of the problems they are still dealing with today.

Interestingly our approach to this day, our second most important national day (ANZAC Day in April is easily our most important), probably says a lot about us. There are no particular ceremonies or events that we are expected to participate in. Yes there are events like re-enactments of the good captain’s landing at Sydney Cove, and other “patriotic” events around the country.

Sydney Cove Australia day 2008

However, as a whole most of us see the day as an excuse for a relaxed day away from the office (so to speak).

In fact a good number of us, when the day falls on a Tuesday or Thursday see it as a good excuse to “chuck a sickie” and have two days off at the company’s expense. A quick note about Oz English: most Aussies are entitled to some form of paid sick-leave as part of their working conditions; to “chuck a sickie” is to take a day off when you are not sick and claim it as sick-leave.

Of course the inherent risk of a “sickie” is that your boss will turn up on the beach next to you. Excuses like “the doctor told me to get some sun” are not likely to wash in such circumstances.

The head of the Retailers Association, says people who joined the mass sick day so are un-Australian.
I’d have to disagree, one thing most Aussies have had in common since day one is a shared disrespect for both convention and authority. The “sickie” is a time-honoured symbol of that attitude and is probably as “Australian” as almost anything.

In fact one of our former Prime Ministers Bob Hawke, endorsed the "sickie" saying in 1983, "I tell you what, any boss who sacks anyone for not turning up today is a bum."

Aussies would say the “sickie” is “as Australian as meat pies and Holden cars”. Of course this saying is absurd as the invention of meat pies vastly predates European settlement of Oz, and Holden is a local brand of the American company General Motors.

Judging by the amount of traffic that was not on the road when I was on my way to work yesterday the sickie is alive and well.

As you have all probably had enough of the vagaries of Oz culture, I will say a little about my Australia Day.

As many of you will already know, I take almost any day off as an excuse to get out of the city.

This time we struck a little father afield than usual, driving about two hours to Mansfield in the foothills of the Victorian section of the Australian Alps.

We stopped for a drink break at the war memorial park of a little place called Bonnie Doon.Then we drove on to Mansfield.

This interesting monument stands slap bang in the middle of the main street. Today it was festooned with flags (Australia Day remember). This rather elaborate memorial is to three policemen who: well read the thing for yourselves.I may post about the “Armed Criminals” at a later date so stay tuned.

I am getting a bit carried away, but it is late and I have an early start. I will have to complete my ramble in a further post.

So for now – Goodnight!

Remembering

The Eleventh of November is Remembrance Day. Commemorating the end of World War One, Remembrance Day is the second most important Memorial Day in Australia.

As it was in many places, WWI was greeted with enthusiasm in Australia.

Initially the Australian government promised 20,000 men as its contribution to the British Empire’s war effort.

Australia was never directly threatened during WWI, our involvement was entirely based on loyalty to the “Old Country” (Britain) and “Empire”. Patriotic events were held all over the country to drum up recruits, the most famous of which were recruitment marches such as the “Cooee march”. Men flocked to the call and by the time the war dragged to an end in 1918 over 330,000 recruits had been raised from a population of only 4.5 million. All Australian recruits in WWI were volunteers, as two plebiscites on conscription were defeated during the war.

The Diggers ("Digger" is Aussie for an Aussie soldier) first went into action alongside Kiwi troops as part of The Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) in the disastrous Gallipoli Campaign of 1915.

Gallipoli landings 25 April 1915

As a slight aside, ANZAC Day, commemorating the Gallipoli Landings, is easily the most significant memorial day in Oz. In fact ANZAC day is probably the most important public event in Oz in any given year. For many if not most Aussies ANZAC is more important than other times such as Easter, Christmas, or for that matter Remembrance Day.

Following the Failure of the Gallipoli Campaign the Diggers fought in the Palestinian Campaigns in the Middle East, with the 1st Light Horse Regiment playing a significant role.

Australian Light Horsemen

Diggers also played a role on the Western Front in France and Belgium, with five Australian Divisions eventually being formed into the Australian Corps under General John Monash.

Monash was a significant figure in a number of ways. Unlike many senior officers of the time, he argued a General’s primary responsibility was the safety and well-being of his men. Monash was also a great tactician and became a pioneer of combined operations. Finally as an Aussie of Jewish faith, the reverence he was held in post-war helped increase tolerance in Australian society.

The casualty rates for Australians soldiers in WWI were horrendous as the Diggers were often used as "shock troops", 64% of Aussies serving overseas in WWI became casualties.

Australian society, like so many others, was traumatised by the carnage. Arguably as the war came so soon after Federation (1901) the war may have had a deeper effect than elsewhere. Every Aussie town, city and state has a war memorial of some kind.

Here in Melbourne the Shrine of Remembrance is the memorial to Victorians who served in WWI. Situated South of the city on a raised point in “The King’s Domain” The Shrine looks up an avenue into the heart of the city.

Like so much of early Victorian Architecture The Shrine is built to a classical theme.

The whole structure is supposed to be based on the Mausoleum of Halicarnassus while the Northern and Southern entrances are reminiscent of the Parthenon.

Four Goddesses stand, one at each corner of the Shrine.

This is “Patriotism”

And this “Sacrifice”The Forecourt of The Shrine holds Victoria's WWII memorial.

While a short distance away Sir John Monash contemplates the changes that have come to his city.

As to Aussie society, in some ways we have changed immeasurably, in other ways not at all.
Loyalty to "Empire" has taken the Diggers to many wars in the first half of the Twentieth Century.
Since 1951 loyalty to "ANZUS" has taken us to many more, the latest in Iraq and Afghanistan where so many are still dying.

So I for one will pause for a minute on the "Eleventh hour, of the Eleventh Day of the Eleventh Month" to contemplate all those who fell in "The War to End All Wars" and also those who continue to fall until today.

The Light, Fantastic!

I haven’t posted for some days, it has been mad at work. To add to my woes, on Monday I was the victim of an assault. A man who has been using our service unfortunately had his bag stolen on our premises. I was on the spot and became the target as he vented his frustrations. He punched me on the jaw before I could move out of his way.
I hasten to add that I was not significantly injured (a minor bruise to the right side of my jaw).

Including Monday, I have been assaulted four times in the past decade. In addition I have witnessed a number of assaults on colleagues and clients. Unfortunately, this sort of event is a risk of working on the frontline of many community services.

In a situation like this there are two main issues: physical injuries; and the potential for psychological trauma. Neither can be taken lightly. Ten years ago for example, it took me twelve weeks to recover from injuries I sustained in an assault. On that occasion I also had symptoms of PTSD for months after. Over the years I have lost a number of colleagues, in a number of workplaces, due to stress related conditions (PTSD, anxiety disorder, depression) caused by actual violence, threatened violence, or verbal aggression and abuse.

In my experience there are several factors that minimise the impact of such trauma on people: personal resilience; a mutually supportive team environment; debriefing support and counselling as necessary (and for as long as necessary).
The first two are taken care of: I am reasonably resilient and have learnt (and taught) skills to cope with stress; and my team are a great bunch, who all step forward to support each other. As to the debrief (and counselling), well that hasn’t been handled so far. I’ve done my bit in terms of reporting the incident. But the silence from head office is deafening.

This is problematic to say the least. Don’t get me wrong in this instance I’m OK.
BUT and this is a very big but, overall long term outcomes for staff in these high stress workplaces depend on good institutional responses to such problems. I’ve worked for agencies that have excellent procedures and some with truly abysmal ones and the difference in staff outcomes is marked.

I’ve only been with the agency I’m with since earlier in the year and haven’t had to put their system to the test until recently (for Greg and now this incident). I’ll keep you posted.

Now I have had enough of that business.
To lighten the tone I am going to share a fair number of my piccies The only unifying theme will be light and my attempts to catch different scenes under different conditions.

This first photo is of some Silver Gulls wheeling overhead at Port Phillip Bay one sunset. The movement of birds in the foreground captures the vitality of these gulls. These birds are actually snowy white, the setting sun has dipped them in gold.

This picture was taken in broad daylight but the dappling of the canopy brings out the greys and whites of this big old Snow Gum’s bark.

I’m cheating a bit with this piccie as I’ve used it in an earlier post. It’s of evening light over Lake George in NSW. This time of day can be magic almost anywhere in the world, but I feel there is a subtle quality to the light in Australia that I have yet to see elsewhere.

This is one I took last weekend, I didn’t use it in my last post but on looking at it again I find the quality of the light in this pic amazing. To my eye it almost has the feel of a watercolour.

This one is taken looking west over Port Phillip Bay late afternoon in winter. I have deliberately underexposed this piccie to catch the sun, but it was fairly dim anyway.

The bricks of Old Ballarat Gaol looked warm in the sunset on this cold autumn day at Easter.

This normally unprepossessing pylon is tinted orangey red by another sunset. It is actually painted in a dark dull-grey colour.

The next two were taken at Wilsons Promontory in July. The first shows the setting sun, again under exposed.
The second shows a headland and two islands out to sea in the pale watery winter sunset. The dead shrubs and the burnt area in the foreground are more evidence of the February Bush Fires.

Once again sun warmed bricks in the ruins of Pascoe Vale Uniting Church.

The glare of a high summer sky lights the sandstone and wrought iron gateway of the Sydney Botanical Gardens.Finally an Aussie icon basks in the sun on Australia Day 2008.