Random thoughts and observations
A book about my grandmother’s family will be launched at Castlemaine on Sunday, March 6. The Wealth Beneath Their Feet has been written and compiled by Marjorie Theobald, a former Reader and Associate Professor at the University of Melbourne. The book describes the history of the Sutherland, Burgdorf, Robertson, Webber, Madigan, List and Watkins families on the Central Victorian Goldfields. My grandmother was Eleanor Sutherland and her mother was a Burgdorf.
I’m a strong supporter of retaining the current Australian flag. I believe it reflects our heritage, place in the world and future. But I’m not so rusted on to the states retaining their flags. In fact, I’m surprised South Australia hasn’t already changed its flag. According to Wikipedia, the current state flag of South Australia was officially adopted in 1904. The flag is based on the British Blue Ensign.
In yet another extraordinary twist to the amazing tale of bigamist Robert Winthrop, it transpires that his sister was a nun who’s buried less than a mile from where I live in Adelaide. Thanks to the detective work of Cheryl Lean it’s been established that Sister Mary Dominic Teresa Winthrop came to Adelaide from Devon, England. After reading this website I believe she must have been one of the original Dominicans who came to Adelaide in 1883. Mary died on August 8, 1919 at St Dominic’s Priory, North Adelaide, aged 67. She was laid to rest at West Terrace Cemetery.
I follow four parody accounts, or fake identities, on Twitter. They are all amusing and cleverly written. The author of the Fake Penny Wong account actually secured the user name @Penny_Wong. This seems to be a breach of the Twitter guidelines. I guess adding “fake” to the description has made it acceptable, or Penny Wong has not objected. The fake account makes much of perceived rivalry between Senator Wong and Peter Garrett. The @FakeFielding account is clearly identified as such and parodies the wacky fundamentalist Senator.
I’m not posting here much. That will be obvious to the few people who visit regularly. A combination of factors are responsible. Time is a major one, also the need to be cautious in the opinions I publish. With regards to time, I’m using some short messaging services more frequently, including Posterous and Twitter.I’m also hooked on the notebook/organiser application, Springpad. Most of the notes are private, but I’ve made some public. This blog will continue, but posts may be infrequent.
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