Bright Charitable Foundation
I’ve recently developed a web site for a local community organisation, the Bright and District Charitable Foundation. It’s all HTML, which was a change for me after working with PHP scripts for content management.
HTML offers more design flexibility, and this can be beneficial for sites that want to make an eye-catching impression and won’t change their content much.
I’m a trustee of the foundation, and also produced a new flyer for them. The web site is being hosted free by Alpinelink.
Eureka 150th anniversary
It’s been funny to hear ALP leaders claim the Eureka Stockade as some sort of defining moment in the rise of organised labor.
Mark Latham apparently said something about Eureka representing the spirit of independent workers, and I heard Kevin Rudd this morning rave about how Eureka foreshadowed the rights of working men, which he implied wouldn’t have occurred without the rebellion.
Joe Hockey rightly replied to Rudd that Eureka was a protest against excessive taxes. My great-great grandfather James Evans, a carrier, signed a petition against the cost of mining licences, which was a prelude to the stockade.
The government at the time was milking money from men who, in many cases, didn’t find much of the elusive yellow stuff.
Eureka is significant because it’s the only instance of military action against free men in Australia where lives were claimed. No more no less. That fact is a credit to the lawfulness and cohesion of our predominantly Anglo-Irish society.
Alpine News
I’m undecided about the future of Alpine News. With looming changes to my employment and business arrangements, I’ve
decided to tinker again with a local online news service.
The standard of local news coverage in traditional media is appalling. I don’t have the time or resources to remedy that overnight, but perhaps in time …
Letting people know about the site and encouraging contributions is my immediate challenge, hence this blog entry.
Enquiries from potential sponsors would be welcome.
The Fitzroy jumper
I read in the Herald-Sun on Sunday that the Lions will play one of their Melbourne games next season in the old maroon Fitzroy jumper.
A deal was apparently struck between the Lions and the remnants of the old Fitzroy Football Club because Brisbane reneged on a merger promise to play at least six games a year in Melbourne.
The AFL draw for 2005 has only five Lions games in Melbourne. Under the deal, a Fitzroy guernsey will be worn at one of these games in addition to whatever is decided for the heritage round.
This was terrific news. I’ve been saying for several years that the Lions should play at least one game a year in a Fitzroy jumper. I’ve also said consistently that I don’t care if they also play one Brisbane game a year in a Bears jumper (as long as it’s not the koala version).
However, my enthusiasm is not shared by many Brisbane-based supporters. I checked out a footy forum yesterday and most Bears people are ranting against the idea.
Their argument seems to be that the Lions is a new club, forget about the past.
They clearly don’t understand what it means to be a Fitzroy person. The club was more than a football team; it was a spiritual being that pervaded the lives of those who embraced it. The spirit was manifest in the jumper.
The Bears people should also bear in mind that the merger was not Fitzroy’s choice. Dyson Hore-Lacey negotiated an agreement with North Melbourne that most of us supported. I thought it made sense for two inner Melbourne clubs with small supporter bases to come together.
Unfortunately for everyone involved, Fitzroy’s demise coincided with a North Melbourne premiership year. The other Melbourne clubs, particularly Richmond, feared the proposed merger would create a superpower and it was vetoed.
I’ve slowly come around to supporting the Lions, but I urge Brisbane people to continue showing respect for Fitzroy’s past. Wearing the jumper occasionally in Melbourne is a symbolic gesture that should be
endorsed.
Domain of the dog walker
I’ve switched my jogging from lunch time to early morning because of work and rising temperatures.
I run 5km three or four times a week depending on the weather and how I feel. The usual route is from home to a marker along the golf course and back.
I’ve noticed different groups of people using the trail and road at different times of the morning.
Between 6am and 6.45am is pretty quiet. From 6.30am to 7am the tradesmen are buzzing off in utes and vans to jobs and building sites.
The period to 7.30am is the domain of the dog walker. As regular as an English batting collapse the same people are out there every morning with their pooches.
Funnily enough, the time from about 7.45am to 8.30 is fairly quiet again, after which the cyclists, general walkers and cars increase.
I suspect that in a capital city the joggers and dog walkers would have to be out much earlier to complete their exercise before going to work.
Bike ride to Beechworth
I enjoyed a bike ride to Beechworth today for the first time this year. I started at Tarrawingee and met with some Alpine Health staff at Everton before tackling the hill.
The pace was sedate and we had a good break for lunch in Beechworth before rolling back down. The total trip was 47km.
Nearly walking
The twins can both stand now and are beginning to take some tentative steps. It won’t be long before they’re walking. They both enjoy the swing as well.
The full-size picture of Margaret can be seen here.
Cloudstreet by Tim Winton
Cloudstreet by Tim Winton is the best Australian novel I’ve read in several years. I preface that by saying I don’t read many Australian novels, having been disappointed in the past and wishing to “travel” through my reading.
That said, Winton’s Western Australian setting is unique enough for me to enjoy the experience and his writing is simply superb.
The book traces the fortunes and misfortunes of two rural families who move to the big smoke of Perth after different tragedies. Chronic gambler and loser Sam Pickles lost one hand in a boating accident, while the vivacious favorite son in the Lamb family, named Fish, became retarded after nearly drowning. The time setting is over two decades from 1945.
The relevance of the timeframe is that Sam inherited a large house in Perth, with a sensible covenant that he couldn’t sell it for 20 years. Everyone expected him to sell the house when the time came to cover his gambling debts.
The Pickles need money and rent out half the house to the Lambs. It’s literally split down the middle, including the back yard.
The Lambs are industrious and teetotal. The Pickles are mostly lazy and the mother, Dolly, is an alcoholic. The Lambs convert their front room into a general store and although they live poor, accumulate money and do well for themselves in their own eccentric way.
The families gradually become closer together over time. The marriage of Rose Pickles to Quick Lamb consolidates the union.
A strength of this novel is Winton’s clever development of characters and their sensitive portrayal, including the less desirable ones. Even the minor players have personalities that become likeable. The retarded boy, Fish, commands love as much as pity.
There is much humor. Sam’s philosophy in life is to believe in the “shifting shadow” of luck. He wins rarely and becomes resigned to handing over his salary from the Mint each week to the bookies. A pig given to the Lambs for Christmas fare becomes a pet and “talks” to Fish.
Part of the appeal of this book for me was the credibility of the characters; their language and idiosyncrasies. I saw some of my father’s family from the same era in both families.
Winton writes with a tight narrative, which always flows logically and in a captivating way that teases you into turning the next page.
His use of dreams and a cameo “Blackfella” confused me a little, but didn’t distract from the overall mood. I understood the imagery of a resident ghost in the house. She represented the spirit of the home, which was initially dark and gloomy. She disappeared when Rose and Quick created a window in the library and moved in with their baby Harry, thereby bringing the families together in love and happiness.
The cover of this book describes it as a “modern Australian classic”. I have to agree.
Porepunkah master plan
I spoke yesterday to consultants who are preparing a Porepunkah
master plan for Alpine Shire Council. I gave them my views on the
infrastructure improvements needed to keep pace with our growing
population.
In the eight years that we’ve lived here, I estimate that 50-60 new
houses have been built and some new subdivisions have recently been
approved. The only new infrastructure I could think of though, was the
rail trail and the Station Street roundabout, both arguably for the
benefit of visitors as much as residents.
Some of the priorities should be:
- Footpaths, especially towards and around the primary school;
- A roundabout at the Nicholson Street, Bailey Street intersection;
- Full bitumen seal of the rail trail;
- Changerooms at the oval;
- Skate ramp for kids at the oval or picnic ground;
- Widen Service Street so it can handle two cars side by side;
- Drainage.
I thought it curious the consultants hadn’t been told by council
about the Porepunkah traffic study. Completed about three years ago,
this report recommended several works, only one of which has been
completed.
It bothers me that council requires consultant’s reports before it
will act, and then half the time ignores the consultant’s reports
anyway.
Small towns are disadvantaged by the politics of Alpine Shire.
Council feels obliged to spread projects between the three population
centres of Bright, Myrtleford and Mount Beauty. Porepunkah is wrongly
perceived as a suburb of Bright and misses out to "big brother" on
improvements.
Shane Warne diet
I’ve suffered an attack of gastro in the past 24 hours, which knocked me for six. I lost nearly 3kg in that time, most of it fluid I suppose, hence I’ve dubbed it the Shane Warne diet.
I’ll spare you the details, but can say that I appear to be on the road to recovery.
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