Protective Gear

You are probably getting sick of my worrying and complaining about the deadly creatures here in the land of Oz - but the dog park is a hotbed of animal rumors! Yesterday, a man was there with his Dingo, named Ruby. Ruby was the sweetest creature ever, and her owner said that Dingos are just misunderstood. Anyway, Ruby's owner told me about how he takes Ruby out to the bush for runs, but that he is careful now because of the snakes. "Snakes?" I query. He said that he recently saw up to six snakes on a nearby grassy ridge. He said, "Don't worry, I'm 31 now and I've probably only seen 20 or so snakes total." ....20?

And then there's the woman who found a snake rolled up comfortably in her patio umbrella. Now wouldn't that be a shocker at her first "barbie" of the year?

Anyway, I decided to outfit Sammy for the dangerous wild things here in Oz. Behold! These boots are made for stompin'!

Sammy Well Prepared
Originally uploaded by Judi Blue.

A favorite song

"Alexandra Leaving" is a song that I'm listening to a few times a day driving to and from work. It's by Leonard Cohen and was evidently inspired by this poem by a Greek Poet, Constantine P. Cavafy

"The God Forsakes Antony"

When suddenly, at the midnight hour,
An invisible troupe is heard passing
With exquisite music, with shouts --
Your fortune that fails you now, your works
That have failed, the plans of your life
That have all turned out to be illusions, do not mourn in vain.
As if long prepared, as if courageous,
Bid her farewell, the Alexandria that is leaving.
Above all do not be fooled, do not tell yourself
It was a dream, that your ears deceived you;
Do not stoop to such vain hopes.
As if long prepared, as if courageous,
As it becomes you who have been worthy of such a city,
Approach the window with firm step,
And with emotion, but not
With the entreaties and complaints of the coward,
As a last enjoyment listen to the sounds,
The exquisite instruments of the mystical troupe,
And bid her farewell, the Alexandria you are losing.

Constantine P. Cavafy (1911)

And here are the lyrics to Leonard Cohen's song, which I read to be quite different - a song about the end of life or the end of love or perhaps both:

"Alexandra Leaving"

Suddenly the night has grown colder.
The god of love preparing to depart.
Alexandra hoisted on his shoulder,
They slip between the sentries of the heart.

Upheld by the simplicities of pleasure,
They gain the light, they formlessly entwine;
And radiant beyond your widest measure
They fall among the voices and the wine.

It’s not a trick, your senses all deceiving,
A fitful dream, the morning will exhaust –
Say goodbye to Alexandra leaving.
Then say goodbye to Alexandra lost.

Even though she sleeps upon your satin;
Even though she wakes you with a kiss.
Do not say the moment was imagined;
Do not stoop to strategies like this.

As someone long prepared for this to happen,
Go firmly to the window. Drink it in.
Exquisite music. Alexandra laughing.
Your firm commitments tangible again.

And you who had the honor of her evening,
And by the honor had your own restored –
Say goodbye to Alexandra leaving;
Alexandra leaving with her lord.

Even though she sleeps upon your satin;
Even though she wakes you with a kiss.
Do not say the moment was imagined;
Do not stoop to strategies like this.

As someone long prepared for the occasion;
In full command of every plan you wrecked –
Do not choose a coward’s explanation
that hides behind the cause and the effect.

And you who were bewildered by a meaning;
Whose code was broken, crucifix uncrossed –
Say goodbye to Alexandra leaving.
Then say goodbye to Alexandra lost.

Say goodbye to Alexandra leaving.
Then say goodbye to Alexandra lost.

Tim

Update: See this version of the Cavafy poem for some helpful historical background.

He's not Jesus but he ain't Judas either.

So a guy in the audience shouts "Judas", and some other mad man stuff. The man on the stage pauses and says "I don't believe you" and then after another perfect pause "You're a liar". Then the band rips in "Like a Rolling Stone". It's Bob Dylan going and being electric. Totally amazing rock and roll. You can hear it on the soundtrack from the new Scorsese documentary. I haven't seen the film yet but the choice of music is perfect.

Tim

TA TA!!! The kitchen is done.

It's a great kitchen. It looks good. It works well. It's done. Yayyyyy!

BEFORE and AFTER:

KitchenWayBEFORE.JPG
Originally uploaded by Judi Blue.

NewKitchen5.JPG
Originally uploaded by Judi Blue.

Cheers! Judi

RIP

HERE HE LIES OUR POSSUM FRIEND
HE FINALLY REACHED HIS JOURNEY'S END
WHEN I RETURN FOR MY NEXT LIFE'S FEATURE
I WANT TO COME AS THIS BUSHY-TAILED CREATURE



During my short walk through our neighborhood "bush" this morning, I came across the carcass of a bushy-tailed possum. I don't know if it's OUR OFFICIAL POSSUM (of our balcony fame), but it is sad when any of these lovely animals die. Since he was near the back of someone's home, I worry that he might have been poisoned or attacked by their dogs (two whippets). I read that possums are frequently killed by household pets. The only living being that Sammy is proficient at killing is the fly. He will go to all lengths (even as I type) to track down these buzzing nuisances, maim them, and then throw them into the air with his mouth. There are fly carcasses all around our house. I think Sammy is performing a useful service, certainly until our new flyscreens are installed next week.

Along with death, there is of course new life. On this same morning's bushwalk in the little creek that runs along the trail, I spied a mom and dad duck with three tiny baby ducks!

Cheers, Judi

Brad Pitt as Achilles

Not bad, actually.

We watched "Troy" last night. Brad is not very sympathetic on the screen and is therefore a fine Achilles. Eric Bana is and is a really first rate Hector. Paris (Orlando Bloom) is wimpy, as required. The movie takes some liberties with the story, it has to be said. Most importantly there are no gods in this version of the IIiad. And Helen is not what one would hope for. If I couldn't persuade Judi to take the role, my vote would be Angelina Jolie, which may be what Brad thought as well. Brian Cox is a wonderful Agamemnon, and Peter O'Toole, wrecked face and all (when young he would have been a fine Paris), is perfect as Priam. There are many other fine actors as well. Sean Bean as Odysseus for example.

While I'm talking Achilles, the great novel by Elizabeth Cook is a must. Either I gave this to Zoe or she to me. In any event, we both love it. It's the story of Achilles life, imagined by a great poet.

Achilles: a novel

An astute Amazon reviewer singled out this beautiful passage as representing the quality of this wonderful book.

"His hair has grown again. The thick auburn lock he cut off and laid on Patroclus' corpse. (The other Myrmidons did the same till Patroclus looked like a great tawny eagle covered with soft plumes.)"


Tim

Update: After some thought, the only worthy Helen would be the young Elizabeth Taylor. No contest.

Sounds of down under...

The birds in Australia create 95% of the noise (more than cars, trains, airplanes....) I have not been able to identify all of the birds I hear, but Tim and I are beginning to identify certain bird sounds. For example, as I sit in bed this morning, outside the window I can hear the lesser "rubber sole on tile" bird. The sound this bird makes is squeak, squeak, squeak as if you are walking across the floor with your tennies on. Here are a couple more examples:

1. The "Ambulance Bird" - doo dah doo dah doo dah....
2. The "Which electronic device has a low battery bird" - beep beep beep (I have actually walked around the house looking for the dying and "beeping" electronic device: mobile phone, telephone, computer....)
3. The "Backing Up Truck warning" bird - dahh dahh dahh dahh............. dahh dahh dahh dahh.............
4. The 'Child-like "Oh No!" Bird' - I've mentioned this bird before -- the Australian Crow -- loudly whining OHHHH NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO, OHHHHHHH NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO....
5. The "Come Fido" Whistle Bird" - description unavailable at present
6. There are the "1500 Women Waiting to enter a Filene's basement sale" birds - These are the Sulphur Crested Cockatoos - Achkkkkkkksheto#######@%^& Achkkkkkkksheto#######@%^& Achkkkkkkksheto#######@%^& Achkkkkkkksheto#######@%^& Achkkkkkkksheto#######@%^& Achkkkkkkksheto#######@%^& Achkkkkkkksheto#######@%^& (a deafening sound every afternoon at around 3:30)

I guess that's all the science I have to impart to you at this time. Although, I heard a story on TV the other day (speaking of birds). It seems some rangers had to trap a female magpie after she sent 12 people to hospital for head wounds. They lured her into a trap using a handsome male magpie and relocated her to a place with less humans to hit on (so to speak). I don't think she was nesting, so what was she so mad about? Hmmmmmm, makes you wonder.

Cheers, Judi

Oh my gosh! How could I forget the "Tree Full of Monkeys" bird? The Kookaburra - OOOOO OOOOOO AHHHH AHHH OOO OOO AHH AHH OOH AHH OOH OOO AHH OOOOO OOOOOO AHHHH AHHH OOO OOO AHH AHH OOH AHH OOH OOO AHH

It actually works!

God loves the English

At least this week. Probably the greatest cricket test series between England and Australia finished this week with a close but convincing victory by the English. It's been 18 years England won a series and by now the inferiority complex was so deeply ingrained that it was hard for the English let alone the Australians to believe this could happen. However, due to some really great play by some new stars, England did win though not without a huge amount of drama. The best place to read about the test series is the Guardian. In fact it's a great place to read about sport in general.

The test series lasts for about 5-6 weeks and consists of 5 separate matches. The winner of a test series in cricket between England and Australia takes custody of the Ashes. This headline partially explains the origin of the Ashes.



As you can see, cricket is not taken lightly in England, or in Australia.

Nothing sweeter than to be an Englishman in Australia right now.

Tim

The Echidna Mating Dance

Tim found the following in LiveJournal. I think it's worth a read - if not for the information, at least for a good laugh.

Wind Chime of the Apocalypse ([info]eyeteeth) wrote,
@ 2005-09-10 01:52:00

Their cousin called monotreme...
Something the author just said about the romantic lead in this awful book made him seem to be a platypus. Without going into too much detail, I'll just say that he appears to have ankle spurs. The male platypus has these, and they are hollow and can inject poison, much like the fangs of a viper. Platypus poison usually isn't fatal to humans, though it can kill smaller animals, like dogs; the pain it causes, however, is excruciating, and not even morphine can dull it.

The platypus is one of two surviving types of creature called monotremes, which, in case you were unaware, are kind of marsupials plus, or maybe minus. They have fur, and some of them sometimes have pouches in which their young develop, but they also lay eggs and have bills, sort of like birds, and in the case of male platypuses poisonous ankles also. They also have teeth, but only when young. The platypus is the famous monotreme; less well known for some reason (though even weirder in my opinion) is the echidna, also known more descriptively as the spiny anteater. Together, they are the only surviving examples of the oldest mammals ever to exist. Echidnas and platypuses, as well as several extinct species of monotreme, shared the Earth with the dinosaurs.

Monotremes are really weird. Everything about them seems to have been thought up past some kind of deadline. Take the method by which they reproduce: after mating, the female lays an egg (echidna) or two (platypus). Then she carries them around until they hatch. Monotremes are mammalian, even if what they have is a kind of free demo version of mammalianism without the really useful features like live birth, so they lactate. But they have no nipples. The milk just leaks right out of glands in their skin, and the baby monotreme laps it up with sweeps of its tiny bill. (A baby echidna is called a puggle. There is no official name for a baby platypus, though "platypup" has been suggested.) The platypus doesn't even have a pouch, so after the eggs hatch -- after the female has incubated them by pressing them to her belly with her tail -- the babies must lap up these rivulets of milk while clinging to her fur for dear life.

Not that having a pouch simplifies the process any. The echidna (which comes in three varieties, short-beaked, long-beaked, and cyclops long-beaked) doesn't usually have a pouch but grows one as necessary. After mating there is a gestation period of about three weeks, and then the female lies down on her back, doubles over, and lays her egg right into her own temporary pouch. After a while the egg hatches in the pouch. And echidnas are covered with aggressive spines, which adds a new wrinkle, as the mother cannot carry her puggle once these start to develop. So she buries it. (Echidnas are good diggers; if you startle one it will sink as if by magic into the ground until only its spines are exposed. In this position it is all but unassailable.) Alternately, she hides it under a bush. Every five to ten days she unburies it and lets it nurse for a while before burying it again. Keep in mind that the puggle, like a joey, is still somewhat fetal while this is going on. It's a half-fetus half-baby thing buried in the dirt.

The echidna is therefore "born" three times -- once as an egg, once when the egg hatches, and once when the puggle is evicted from the pouch and hidden by its mother. It's a good thing placentalism came along, or we'd all have to go through something like this.

Echidna mating is mysterious and primordial. It is also rarely observed, but the following seem to be the basics. It begins when the female goes into estrus. Males, usually three or four of them, but sometimes as many as eleven, start following her around in a long single-file line called an "echidna train" (or even "echidna love train"). It seems very civilized, though it can go on for as long as six weeks, during which time the otherwise solitary animals eat and sleep in each other's company, and the males nip the female's tail, which seems to be a kind of foreplay. Eventually the female echidna climbs partway up a tree, or buries part of herself in the dirt, leaving the males to walk around and around her until they have created a circular rut in the ground. (Sometimes there's only one male, in which case, nothing daunted, he kind of walks back and forth by himself until he has created a little ditch.) Then they engage in a shoving contest. The males that get shoved out of the ditch acknowledge defeat and leave peacefully until only one, the best shover, is left. He gets to mate with the female -- very carefully, because they are both covered with spines. (Understandably, echidnas do it face to face, so don't listen to anyone who tells you that this is a uniquely human behavior.) The male's four-headed penis, which he does not use to urinate, emerges only during the act of mating; the rest of the time he is indistinguishable from a female echidna, as his testicles are also inside his body.

Basically what I'm trying to say is HOLY CRAP MONOTREMES ARE WEIRD WHY DO THEY EVEN EXIST. Also that I really admire them, these life-forms that seem to be built out of spare parts, that refuse to be daunted by the convoluted systems they must use to propagate themselves, that seem as if by rights they really ought to have died out millions of years ago but haven't. Life just won't give up! Life has webbed feet, a bill, a pouch that comes and goes, waterproof fur, spines, poisonous ankles -- whatever it takes. And life is a lot more interesting than the book I have to edit right now, but then so is string cheese. I only wish the male lead really were a platypus.

Cheers, Judi

Look

By virtue of watching a lot of cricket and cricket commentary this last few months, the penny dropped about a strange Australian phrase "Look". People here say "Look" where an "er" would do quite well. The result is an inappropriate emphasis. I had trouble with someone at work alway saying "Look..." at the beginning of any sentence. My immediate reaction was that I must have said something especially dumb or offensive. I now realize that it's just one of those verbal tics like "I guess" for an Amurican. Allan Border, the great Australian cricket ex-captain says "Look" all the bloody time so I finally caught on. Needless to say, I feel much better, right?

Tim

The original Doggy Heaven

Doggy Heaven was a place on the Rio Grande where I used to take the dogs. Here's a great picture of Karma and Sammy and a much younger Gavin (my son - not a dog!) with me there, probably in early Fall so the water was cold. The dogs didn't mind but Gavin and I used to get really chilled. We'd hardly ever see anyone there except for a few duck hunters.



Tim

It's a bird! It's a plane! It's Sammy!

and then again... we can't forget Karma - "Shake, shake, shake..."



or, The Big Guy... doing a favorite thing - wading.



Cheers, Judi

The news

I ain't echidna'ing you!

Yes yes. Another of Australia's wonderful little creatures has crossed our property lines and entered our new Ozzie lives. Last night, Sammy woke Tim up by indicating he heard a sound outside our bedroom door. Tim said it sounded like someone or something snoring, but he couldn't see anything with the "torch" (that's "flashlight" to you US folks!).

This afternoon I was painting in our bedroom -- white if you can imagine me painting anything that isn't outrageous! Sammy was sitting on the balcony outside our bedroom and every now and then would bark. I kept looking to see what attracted his attention, and hoped it wasn't our neighbor trying to enjoy the quiet of his backyard. After five or six episodes of seeing nothing -- I viewed something moving around a tree trunk just up the hill. I ran to get the binoculars, and then I saw it, "a porcupine!" Hmmmm, but this porcupine's nose must have been 8 inches long! I asked Ian (our kitchen cabinetry guy) if he knew of any kind of animal like this. His guess was a wombat. I looked wombat up on my handy little laptop, but nope - wombats have cute little guinea pig noses. Searching Australia and NSW mammals, I finally saw it. AN ECHIDNA!



I'll let you know if "the snorer" returns!

Hugs, Judi

Us and Them

Us and Them.

No more words necessary.

Tim

Great commencement speech

Normally they suck but here's a great one by David Foster Wallace.

Tim

Listen to this....

Stories like this make me want to go back to the US and kick some presidential ass.

Interview with the President of Jefferson Parrish

I didn't vote for the idiot that runs the country (or appears to). The US Government should be ashamed.

Stepping off of soapbox, I remain ....
Judi

Rain and Hurricanes

The lories might be wet and miserable, but I for one am VERY GLAD for the rain. I have heard and read all kinds of scary stories about bush fires, and since this has been an exceptionally warm and dry winter, there is cause to worry. Even knowing that rain encourages funnel web spiders to seek shelter in people's homes -- I think I'd rather deal with them than a huge roaring fire at my doorstep. There are always vacuums to deal with spiders!

Freedom Kitchens is removing our kitchen tomorrow and then the plumber and electrician will do their thing. Our new kitchen arrives on Thursday and I think Friday is install day (?) I cleaned out the cupboards and took off the cabinet doors. Now the kitchen looks a bit like it did when we first got our "stuff." Before and after photos are forthcoming.

One more thing. A POX on the idiots that are allowing the people in Mississippi and Louisiana to suffer more than needed. A POX on President Bush for his political dribble and good old boy assignments (e.g., FEMA Head, Michael "Hey Brownie!" Brown). A POX on those who siphoned money away from needed repairs of an area that was deemed high risk for disaster. Good Show for those people who are sending money, offers of help, and homes to shelter. Best of luck to the victims of Hurricane Katrina.

Hugs, Judi

Wet Sunday

I think it rained all night. Everything is soaked. The Lori's are a sight. Not their normal colorful selves.



Other birds are coming to the balcony for shelter. Here's a big magpie:



Tim

Two web sites

http://postsecret.blogspot.com/

http://www.overheardinnewyork.com/

Tim