That Happy Feeling

ANZAC Day 2008

A public holiday today for ANZAC Day remembrance.   The best way to describe ANZAC Day is that it's a bit like Memorial Day in the USA.   Its a day of remembrance for ex Servicemen and women , particularly those who have given their lives in the Service of their country, whether in times of war or during so call police actions and peace-keeping operations.

It started out as a March on 25 April 1916, a year to the day since Australians, British, French, and Indian troops landed at Gallipoli in Turkey, in a hare-brained Churchillian plan to storm the Dardanelles, take Constantinople/Istanbul, relieve the pressure on the Russians by attacking Germany from its Eastern and southern flanks and supposedly to shorten the war (World War 1).

The operation was basically a failure, and the troops, those who survived were evacuated in December 1915, sent to Egypt to regroup and await re-inforcements and then be sent headlong into the killing fields of France and Belgium.

The March by service personnel in London in 1916 was eventually replicated throuhout the length and breadth of Australia, and New Zealand, and each year in various parts of the world there are remembrance services for service personnel who have served Australia since that time.

Another part of the remembrance services is the Dawn Service.   It was dawn on 25/4/1916 when the original ANZAC landings took place, and in the 1920's a couple of ex servicemen on their way home from a night of celebration stopped at the Cenotaph in Martin Place in Sydney, where they saw a lady laying a wreath in remembrance of a loved one.   They stayed with her for a while, told their mates about it, and like topsy, it grew every year.   This morning their would have been about 20,000 plus at the Dawn Service in Sydney, with similar numbers in other capital citys and obviously smaller numbrs in country towns and regional areas.   The march itself attracts hundreds of thousands of spectactors with most of the city blocked to traffic, and spectactors lining city blocks from very early in the morning.   The march usually kicks off about 9am and its after 1pm before the last group have passed the saluting dais.

"They Shall Grow Not Old, as we that are left Grow Old, Age Shall Not Weary Them, Nor the Years Condemn.   At the Going Down of the Sun, and In the Morning, We Will Remember Them.   Lest We Forget.

Recharge

A quiet couple of weeks on the home front, and social side. Work has been chaotic, but I'm not going to talk about that here. I think I've managed to develop coping mechanisms to deal with the constant stress and pressure. Basically, I do what I can. If that's not sufficient, ....em.

I bought myself a new digital camera last week, and only got to take it out of the box on Friday afternoon. Its a Panasonic DMC TZ3 and I thinkI like it. I'd like it even more if it had a viewfinder, but we'll see how we cope. The weather is starting to turn this side of the equator. We're moving into autumn and this weekend it was low 20's Centigrade, maybe even high teens. Cold for here, but not too cold. Rain, intermittent.

A couple of beers last night at my favourite bar in town.

Working afternoon shifts this week. I'm also on cat feeding duty again. Last time one of the cats got a tick and died, so I'm really hoping that doesn't happen again. Diffferent cats.

Just finishing a glass of Barossa Valley Shiraz. A nice drop. I'm planning my next holiday for September this year. Its either a short 3 day stay in Cairns in the tropical north, or a longer stay in the Barossa, and right about now, the Barossa is the more favourable option.

Have a great week folks.

Take it easy G, we're thinking about you.

Subliminal - 30/3/04

From Subliminal Lunanina where you respond to the word listed. One word or more, I don't think it matters.

Stuffed ::Shirt
Gills :: Fish
Distance ::Learning
Panties ::On please!
Checkered ::Flag
Fill in ::Substitute
Taunting ::Teasing
Diner ::Paragon
Pizza ::Pan Fried, Super Supreme, No Mushrooms
Best friend ::He knows who he is.

I keep saying I'm going to do this regularly, then forget. Maybe I will try to keep the little grey cells active and have a go each week. Maybe on a Saturday night, after a couple of vinos.

Connections and Reconnections

Work was a little stressful, full on and over the top last week, so the weekend was something to look forward to. My brother is up from the country so yesterday I took him out to the Royal Easter Show. We walked around for a couple of hours, saw the cattle, the horses, a fairly lame show in the main arena and then came home. I put him on a bus to my other brother's place, and then went into town for a beer or three.

A fairly early night followed.

This afternoon was a choir soiree over at Balmain, overlooking Sydney Harbour. Good friends, great weather, fascinating conversation and a couple of glasses of wine. The idea was a fundraiser. Pay a fee for lunch and one glass, and buy the rest with the profits going to the choir. About 15-17 people showed up. The back yard was large and we could have catered for twice that number. Kudos to the hostess with the mostess, and the organising team.

And the weather was glorious - high 20's C, mid 70's F.

For a reason which escapes me, this year we put daylight savings back one week. Later- They're trying to harmonise the change for all the states as in the past states have changed daylight savings time both in autumn and spring on different dates which can cause confusion when you're flying from state tot state and you leave earlier than you arrive, or vice versa, even if the states are directly geographically similar (i.e. on top of one another). Obviously between the Eastern, and Western states and south Australia its different, but Victoria, NSW, and Queensland should all basically have the same time, which they don't usually do as a rule. Do you get my drift! - But all the computers, all the mobile phones, all the airport indicator boards were showing the time they should be showing next week, i.e. 1 hour back as we "fall" into autumn. Chaos reigned, flights missed and delayed etc. A little bit like Y2K, but Y2K was a bit of a fizzer.

Aint technology grand.

So This is Easter

Good Friday, so Happy Easter to those who celebrate the period. Happy Passover if that's a kosher expression (pardon the pun) and for the rest of you, enjoy your break.

In Sydney its been a cool, cloudy, intermittently rainy day, and the weekend promises to be fairly soggy. We'll just have to wait and see.

I felt very ordinary this morning when I woke up. I've got a tickle in the throat, and my voice has lowered itself an octave or two, and i feel like its going on me. We'll see what happens.

The plan for tomorrow is to go to the Royal Easter Show, which is a bit like a State Fair down under, if you want a comparison. Animal exhibits, the Country comes to Town etc. I'll take a jacket and a brolly and we'll see what happens. I might even have a good day.

Enjoy your break.

All Quiet

Things are pretty quiet here.   A busy week at work, but choir was a tonic on Thursday evening.   A couple of wines last night was a good way to end the week, along with dealing with paperwork and household clutter.   Managed to reduce both the paperwork and the clutter, and whether the wine bottle is now half full, or half empty depends upon your perspective.   

A beautiful day today; warm and sunny.   I'm killing some time in the city (Sydney) before waddling up to St Vinnies hospital to visit a friend.   Later this afternoon, I'll have a couple of cleansing coldies and a fairly early night.   

Tomorrow may be a beach day, or at least out in the sun again.

Have a good one folks.

Happy Mardi Gras - 2008

This is Mardi Gras weekend in Sydney. Last night, the Parade (similar to Pride Parades everywhere) and then the after party from about 10pm until 10am for approximately 18,000 hardy souls. The rain held off until after the Parade finished but from about 3am this morning it was coming down in buckets for a few hours, so lots of drenched costumes, makeup of all descriptions running, and the wet bedraggled look which follows people caught in the rain.

I watched the parade from a vantage point near the end of the route,not too far from Fox Studios where the party was in 4 different venues, each dance space a little different. After the parade, I met up with a choir friend, and we entered the former Sydney Showground which is now Fox Studios, where they made Happy Feet, a couple of the Superman series, (I think)and some Tom Cruise Mission Impossible stuff (but don't hold that against them.

My friend, was chaperoning the friend of a mutual friend (if you get my drift) and they both went off to watch the mutual friend perform with the choir in the 12pm show (1st show of the night). I retired to the cloak room which was run by MCC who had a team of volunteers trying to sort order out of chaos, trying to label and stow various bags, costumes and accoutrement which our community uses to party with (all the legal stuff). A bonus of this was that cloakroom volunteers were classed as Service crew and got a free ticket to the party, but by the time the shift finished at 3.30am, and I put in another hour just to help with the sorting I was as they say in the world of horses, knackered. So I didn't stay to party, but beat a hasty retreat, found somewhere warm to rest for a couple of hours, tried to sleep but couldn't and stayed in town for my usual Sunday roast at my cafeteria of choice.

So now I'm home, will try to kip for a couple of hours, and then watch a bit of tv etc before retiring for hopefully a goodnight sleep (possums in the roof permitting).

Have a great week folks.

Queens of the Sea

Today was a chance to take the ferry from Manly across to Circular Quay to catch a last glimpse of the Queen Elizabeth II, and a first of the Queen Victoria, two of the Cunard Lines superliners. Its 30 years to the day since the Queen Elizabeth II sailed into the harbour. The Queen Victoria got in yesterday and leaves tonight. When the QV leaves the International Terminal the QE2 will sail from its current berth at the Garden Island dockyard across to the International Terminal. The ships will pass each other either side of Fort Denison, just off Circular Quay and the Opera House. There'll be a ceremonial whistle salute, whereby the youngster, Victoria, salutes the ageing Elizabeth. Victoria will then continue its maiden round the world cruise and Elizabeth II will sail off, to retire later in the year from Cunard lines, and become a floating hotel in Dubai.

I would have like to have joined the thousands lining the harbour and foreshores at 6.30pm when that happens (*in about an hour) but traffic, trains, and buses after that will be bedlam, an absolute nightmare, so I'll watch it on the late news, see the photos tomorrow, and catch the stream on www.yahoo.com.au probably tomorrow as well.

A beautiful day today, a little windy, mid 20's Celsius, high 70's Fahrenheit. Have a great week folks.

Read That Line - What Line?

As the three week vacation draws to its inevitable end, I was finally able to get my eyes checked for new specs today.

Made and appointment with the testers for last Friday, got there - "Sorry we've tried to contact you, x call in sick". OK, no problems I made another appointment for today. Wasted some time in the city before my 11.30am appointment, only to arrive to "Aha, we've been trying to contact you, x had to go home sick". Forgettabadut!!! Walked across town to another branch of the same franchise, waited about half an eye, got the test, picked the frames, and they'll take about 5-7 working days, which will mean that hopefully by Saturday week I'll have new specs. This'll be great becasue i've had the current pair for about 5 years and I can notice a gradual degredation in my vision. Bifocals again, and both the near and longer vision is being strengthened so I'm looking forward to the new me.

Apart from that all is pretty quiet. I didn't say last week (forgot) but Sunday 10th February marked my 40th year of permanent employment (2 employers - Navy and Boys In Blue (law enforcement). 40 year old photograph is in the sidebar (bellbottoms and all). Retirement is stll a very faint light at the end of a very long tunnel, but I'm still enjoying the job (particularly whilst I'm on holidays from it).

Catch you later in the week.

On Your Bike

Enjoying the 2nd of 3 weeks recreation leave. Just pottering around. Last Friday I took the day train down to Melbourne, in Victoria for the weekend, just to get away for a few days. Came back on Monday's day train from Melbourne. Melbourne has a large Chinese population, so they do Chinese New Year in a big way. There's a fairly sizeable Chinatown in the middle of the city, with narrow streets, lots of restaurants and specialty shops etc. One of the wider streets was blocked off and there were a range of tented stalls and displays, and SBS radio pumping out the music. It was interesting, but crowded. Didn't do much else while I was there, but it was good to get away.

Picked up the bike from the repairer's yesterday (faulty derailleur)so have resolved to try to read at least 3-4 days a week, starting out at about 20 minutes a day. Hopefully that'll get the circulation moving and the weight down a bit, but we'll see. At the moment its a bit sore on the saddle and the legs are a bit shaky when i dismount, but that's to be expected in the early stages I suppose.

Choir is gearing up for a fairly hectic couple of weeks during the Mardi Gras season. Should be lots of fun.

Catch you over the next couple of days.