pelican

We have pelicans in South Perth, but I went all the way to Monkey Mia, Western Autralia to take a picture of this one.

I was supposed to notice the dolphins, but I didn’t feel part of the ‘Dolphin Interaction Area’ that morning and sat off to the side on the beach.

Like the dolphins, the pelicans keep to the schedule such that the DEC have to have a pelican decoy. It was quite humorous seeing the patient birds line up in a very orderly fashion for the bucket handler. Actually, they were much more polite than the line up for our own breakfast at the Boughshed Resturant after the dolphin feeding finished.

Suprisingly, people left the ‘Dolphin Interaction Area’ as soon as the DEC people finished their formalities. The dolphins were much more visible without the line of people on the shore.

not bad for a paper Aussie

Bold is been there and done that.

1. Heard a kookaburra in person. Visit the Somerville Theatre during the festival. Not only will you hear one, you’re more likely to get your picnic swooped out of your hands.
2. Slept under the stars
3. Seen a koala. These are not cuddly, really!
4. Visited Melbourne
5. Watched a summer thunderstorm
6. Worn a pair of thongs. Current pair are blue with white spots.
7. Been to Uluru (Ayer’s Rock). Walked round once, and climbed twice.
8. Visited Cape York. Would have except the cyclone made the roads a bit wet for our car that was not insured for ‘off-road’.
9. Held a snake. I think it was a Carpet Python. Was told not to pick up the Brown Snake.
10. Sang along with Khe Sanh. It’s what you did when Cold Chisel played in the pub.
11. Drank VB. Prefer Coopers these days.
12. Visited Sydney
13. Have seen a shark. In Dongara on a field trip, got one caught in our net – twice. Only a little Grey Nurse. Just a bit longer than the broom stick I was told to hold to keep it at a distance.
14. Have used Aussie slang naturally in a conversation
15. Had an actual conversation with an indigenous Australian (Aboriginal).
16. Eaten hot chips from the bag at the beach
17. Walked/climbed over the Sydney Harbour Bridge. Got out the car to stand at one end and have a look, that’s all.
18. Used an outside dunny, and checked under the seat before sitting down. Didn’t have a seat.
19. Seen Chloe in Young & Jackson’s.
20. Slept on an overnight train or bus
21. Been to Sydney’s Mardi Gras
22. Have gone bush-bashing. It is how I learnt to drive.
23. Taken a sickie
24. Been to see a game of Aussie Rules football. ‘East Perth’ came to Newman.
25. Have seen wild camels
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Had a Tim Tam Slam
28. Ridden in a tram in Melbourne
29. Been at an ANZAC day Dawn Service. Prefer to think of all that stuff on the 11th November.
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Held a wombat. And worried that it was going to piss all over me.
32. Been on a roadtrip of 800km or more
33. Seen the Great Australian Bight in person
34. Had a really bad sunburn
35. Visited an Aboriginal community
36. Seen a redback spider. I think they are really pretty. Only squash them if I think the cats are going to be near.
37. Have watched Paul Hogan
38. Seen Blue Polls in person
39. Wandered barefoot in the bush/outback
40. Eaten Vegemite
41. Thrown a boomerang
42. Seen the Kimberlies (used to seeing it as the Kimberleys).
43. Given a hitch-hiker a lift. I’m not usually the one driving.
44. Been to Perth
45. Have tried Lemon, Lime and Bitters. Used to be my drink of choice if didn’t like the house wine or not drinking beer.
46. Tried playing a didgeridoo
47. Seen dinosaur footprints. Went looking for them in Broome, but didn’t see them.
48. Eaten Tim Tams
49. Been to Darwin. Before Cyclone Tracy.
50. Touched a kangaroo. Dead and alive.
51. Visited the Great Barrier Reef. It was here that I decided to give skindiving a go, and decided it wasn’t for me.
52. Listened to Kevin Bloody Wilson
53. Killed a Cane Toad. The ones we could step on, but the big ones we grabbed by the hind legs simply tossed out the pool. They were better swimmers than we were.
54. Gone to a drive-in theatre. Most memorable film at the drive-in was ‘Jaws’. It took me a long time before I would go open swimming.
55. Have read and own books by Australian authors. Tim Winton is my current favourite.
56. Visited Adelaide
57. Know the story behind “Eternity”
58. Been camping
59. Visited Brisbane
60. Been in an outback pub. Is there anything else in the outback?
61. Know what the term “Waltzing Matilda” actually means
62. Gone whale watching. Being so close you can eye each other is a pretty amazing experience.
63. Listened to Slim Dusty. Inadvertently.
64. Own five or more Australian movies or TV series. I go out to the theatre or borrow DVDs from the library.
65. Sang along to Down Under
66. Have stopped specifically to look at an historic marker by the side of the road.
67. Eaten a 4′n’20 pie
68. Surfed at Bondi. Haven’t surfed at any beaches. Surfing is in the same list as water skiing and skindiving.
69. Watched the cricket on Boxing Day. There is usually nothing else on the telly, but I usually get books for Christmas anyway.
70. Visited Hobart
71. Eaten kangaroo. Tending to do it more frequently.
72. Seen a quokka
73. Visited Canberra
74. Visited rainforests
75 Used a Victa lawnmower.
76. Travelled on a tram in Adelaide
77. Watch canefields burning. Only smelt them.
78. Used a Hills hoist
79. Visited the Olgas
80. Used native Australian plants in cooking.
81. Visited the snow. Not in Australia.
82. Chosen a side in Holden VS Ford. Holden
83. Visited the desert. Lived on the edge.
84. Been water skiing. Need strong knees.
85. Read The Phantom. Wasn’t aware that this was a particularly Australian thing, but yeah, one of the few comics that came into the newsagent in Newman.
86. Visited Parliament House. Old and new.
87. Gone spotlighting or pig-shooting. Bunnies and roos.
88. Crossed the Nullarbor. When it was dirt.
89. Avoided swimming in areas because of crocodiles. I don’t want to get close enough to tell the difference between a saltwater or a freshwater crocodile. But I remember swimming in Katherine Gorge with crocodiles, but I was not convinced it was ok.
90. Listened to AC/DC. Still have the cassettes.
91. Called someone a dag
92. Voted in a Federal Election
93. Have been swimming and stayed between the flags. Also make sure that there are people further out than me.
94. Had a possum in your roof
95. Visited the outback
96. Travelled over corrugated roads. Even been on what is called Corrugation Road.
97. Hit a kangaroo while driving. Don’t drive at hoppy time.
98. Been well outside any mobile phone coverage. If I had one, I’d leave it at home.
99. Seen an emu.
100. Have woken to the smell of bushfires

From dalekboy via Planet UCC.

sourdough croissants

Yum!

If you had asked me before today whether I like croissants, I would have given you a straight no.

Today, I can tell you I like very much the sourdough croissants that I made with Yoke this morning.

We tasted and scoffed plain sourdough croissants, sourdough croissants with chocolate filling (i.e. shaved bitter chocolate), and sourdough croissants with an almond filling.

The workshop also consisted of making a Tarte Tatin and slow-roasted vegetable quiche both made with croissant dough. We had the quiche and Tarte Tatin for lunch. Phew!

The making does not require any special kitchen equipment (unlike the Wholegrain, Sprouted Wholegrain and Essene Sourdough breads), but I will need to clear the end of the kitchen bench to be able to roll out the dough 75 cm x 30 cm, and a wider rolling pin will make the task that much easier. Like in previous workshops, all the dough was made with organic or biodynamic ingredients and wholemeal wheat or spelt flours.

Fortunately, the pre-formed dough and formed croissants can be frozen or refrigerated so I don’t have to eat 32 croissants all at once. Knowing what goes into them, I think they will be a special treat! However, I’m looking forward to having some dough ready in the freezer and refrigerator. And just so you know, it takes hours for the dough to become something you can eat from the freezer or refrigerator.

organic and biodynamic weekend

Saturday was mostly taken up with Yoke’s ‘Wholegrain, Sprouted Wholegrain and Essene Sourdough’ workshop. A dozen of us ate and baked our way through:

• wholemeal sourdough sandwich bread
• multigrain sourdough bread (sweet and moist)
• black rice sourdough ciabatta (very sweet and dramatic looking)
• quinoa spelt sourdough bread (would look great with red quinoa)
• light rye spelt sourdough bread
• dark rye spelt bread
• essene bread (we made wafers and decided these may have been early ryvita but much tastier)

Yoke demonstrated making a multigrain sourdough bread dough, which we got to take home to bake. Also, we had the choice of what dough to make ourselves to bake at home. I made a quinoa spelt sourdough bread with 50% cooked quinoa and 50% sprouted quinoa. Apart from being a bit big for my small loaf tin and the difficulty of getting it out, the crust was crisp and the bread was delicious. We had it with Borlotti Bean soup on Sunday.

Now I need a kitchen gadget, i.e. a juicer/grinder to pulverise the sprouted grains. Having seen Yoke’s Samson – it was so quiet and steady, I’ll wait until I can save up for something similar. However, apart from the essene bread and multigrain, I can bake the other breads from the workshop and perfect these. What is really great about them, is that they require a lot of starter. Great for the those days, when it is plentiful and raring to go.

Armed with sun hats and umbrellas, on Sunday we went up to the WA Biodynamic Festival at High Vale Biodynamic Orchard in Pickering Brook. It did rain while we took a tour of the orchard, but the weather was warm and we missed the very heavy downpour. The guide’s presentation was interesting and he answered many questions clearly and succinctly. A article written about biodynamic vs traditional farming was posted with a photographic display of the farm that explained that a biodynamic farmer’s enthusiasm for the health of the soil is what makes them different to traditional farmers that rely on products brought onto the farm.

One of the reasons we went to the Biodynamic Festival, is that they promised tasting of their core cider. It was worth the drive. Unfortunately, we could only taste it. Distribution is not happening until January next year. We’ll be watching out for it.

Over Saturday and Sunday, I emptied the worm factory tray ready to plant seedlings, and moved the compost bin for the first time. Also planted two lots of cucumbers (bush crop and burpless), sweet corn, basil, and red onions. I planted the seedlings in the worm castings, and spread the compost around the plants. The compost is very black and a nice crumbly texture, and very wormful. Hopefully the worms will find new homes before the neighbourhood magpies come on their rounds. There were so many snails, that I opted for the snail pellets. Not sure what the biodynamic or organic gardening technique is for snails. Strange as it may seem, I have found that they prefer my basil seedlings to beer. Perhaps they are not Australian snails

flexitarianism

October is Vegetarian Awareness Month, and according to this article I can consider myself a “flexitarian”. That is, I eat at least four meatless meals per week.

Interestingly, this Saturday I am going to one of Yoke’s workshops on “TEMPEH: Exploring the traditional and the new way to cook with tempeh”. So hopefully, I will be able to add another food to my growing vegan/vegetarian menu plans.

Since enjoying Yoke’s Sourdough Breakmaking class in June, I have been nurturing my sourdough starter and baking bread. So I’m happy to recommend these thoroughly informative and hands-on classes [1].

Flexitarianism started for me when I began to read further about food miles and seek local food. Exploring and trying the foods available from Loose Produce has certainly made me more aware of fresh tasty food closer to home. Whether this is the sacks of rye flour delivered by the farmer himself to the shop so that I can purchase in smaller quantities to feed my sourdough starter, or the taste sensation of organic fetta cheese from Albany.

[1] As of a week ago, there were still places for the Tempeh workshops. Conducted in Ardross (suburb in Perth, Western Australia) on Thurs 23 Oct or Sat 25 Oct 10am – 2pm. Cost $110. Excerpt from Yoke’s email:

“TEMPEH: Exploring the traditional and the new way to cook with tempeh, a most important source of digestible protein and b-vitamin for vegetarians and vegans.

I was born in Solo, Java island (Indonesia) – the birthplace of tempeh, so it’s about time that I show you how easy it is to create simple, tasty, nutritious meals and snacks with tempeh. Most people dont like tempeh because they dont know how to cook it. Lets go beyond tempeh burger and learn how versatile and tasty tempeh really is. Class includes: fragrant coconut rice and authentic pandan leaf infused black rice coconut pudding. Hands-on class, wheat-free, dairy free and vegan.”

science and poverty

Last week I attended a talk by Prof Peter Quinn titled ‘An overview of modern astronomy and our quest to find the dawn of creation’. It was great to see Peter in action having listened to him on my computer for several weeks during the creation of a storyboard for a video. Face to a voice and all that.

Although I was by now familiar with the content, the questions from the audience (secondary school science teachers) were the most interesting. Peter finished his talk with information about the Square Kilometre Array (SKA). Being that there is much interest in the project as Australia has been shortlisted as one of the two sites identified as potential locations for the SKA.

The question that I have thought the most about was comparing the number of dollars to be spent on science versus that on solving world poverty. The teacher that posed the question asked how do we resolve the amount of money spent on the SKA when $X can address poverty. He also recounted that at another event he attended an audience member had symbolically shown a bowl of rice to question the cost of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC).

Peter I thought effectively addressed the question, but there is still no answer. In Australia 1.5% of GDP is spent on science. That’s every little bit of science research you can think of including the SKA. Globally, the average spent on science is 2.0% of GDP.

So I think the question of solving world poverty would be better addressed to the people that handle 98% of GDP given that a piece of a larger pie is that much greater. Also, I don’t think you can skimp on science to solve world poverty, and 1.5% of GDP is already too little for science.

you put your right paw out

Curled up in her new Snooza Cuddler, Midnight looked like a liquorice allsort.

By the time I grabbed the camera, a bit of stretching went on and a paw came out.

I visited the manufacturer’s website to see about a larger Cuddler for Shelby, and I like that Snooza collects beds that pets no longer need.

simple answer

First day at uni, then off to Limited Edition.

H got to place his first red spot, on a piece entitled ‘Snaked’ (Acrylic on canvas).

I’m not so keen on the frame, but I like the painting because it could be a photograph, textile, or a painting. You have to look up close, and then away, to see what you want to see.

Our next door neighbour kindly collected the piece for us when the exhibition closed the following week. That’s the one annoying thing about art exhibitions. You don’t usually get to walk out with your purchase.

I didn’t realise how difficult it would be to take a photograph of a picture. But here it is out of square, fingerprints and all.

The speeches could have turned the art exhibition into a second wake, but fortunately we were told not to ask how a painting was named or what was the inspiration – as no one alive knows. This made everyone laugh and the tension leaving the room was palpable. Sue went on to say that she thought that Nigel may have enjoyed peoples’ discomfort as they themselves attempted to interpret his paintings. I must admit I enjoy exhibitions more when I can experience it for myself rather than being told.

shaping progress

The global theme for International Women’s Day 2008 (IWD) is ‘Shaping Progress’.

The Australian Government Office for Women, provides notice and links of what is happening around Australia, including the ABC who will host and archive a panel discussion which will be advertised on IWD, i.e. Saturday 8 March.

The Western Australian Department for Communities, Office for Women’s Policy has further honed the global theme to ‘Discover a world of opportunity in science and technology’. There is quite a list of IWD events happening in Western Australia through to early next week, although ‘invitation only’ events I think should have been listed separately.

Events that caught my eye were the UNIFEM IWD Breakfast Friday 6 March including fundraising for East Timor and the launch of UNIFEM WA at the Perth Town Hall. And the ‘Science & Technology – Part of Our Lives’ panel discussion in East Perth on Monday 10 March hosted by the National Council of Women of WA. Includes afternoon tea and launch of the NCWWA bursary to be awarded to a female student of science and technology.

Other women related items that have come to my notice within the last couple of days (email or radio):

• Autralian Women’s History Forum (incorporating Women’s History Month)
• Princessess and Pornstars: Sex and Power and Identiy, Emily Maguire
• International Women’s Day – Women in Leadership, Late Night Live, ABC
• Anne Summer’s blog and web site

murundak

As I came away from The Black Arm Band’s performance of Murundak at the Fremantle Arts Centre, I overheard people saying that the event was “awesome” and “fantastic”. Overall, it felt flat to me.

I did not go because of the folk or world music. Although my taste in music is somewhat eclectic, this is one genre that I will change stations from. My expectation was that it was a social commentary through the history of indigenous music. It was in a sense, as Rachel Maza-Long provided narration between the songs, and the screens on either side of the stage displayed what was on stage (from roving camera) and film-clips of indigenous children and family, communities, and political rallies. But for some reason this felt too well orchestrated, and I would have preferred for the music to tell the story by the performers getting up and playing and or singing their part in the story.

The evening began with the Welcome to Country. This also included a potted description of indigenous history and the meaning of ‘murundak’. Although the programme and reviews state that murundak means ‘alive’ in Woiwurrung, the indigenous woman that read the introduction said that it meant ’savage and strong’. I thought that this was a great start to what promised to be a special and powerful event.

Highlights of the evening included being able to put faces to names such as Ruby Hunter and Archie Roach, Mark Atkins’ amazing didgeridoo playing, Kutcha Edwards singing ‘Is This What We Deserve?’, and at least knowing one song (Yothu Yindi’s Treaty) led by Shellie Morris.

Reflecting on Murundak this morning, I have sought out references to The Black Arm Band, individual artists [1], and the History Wars while listening online to Murandak, Mark Atkins, and Paul Kelly. Also, thinking about what I learnt in school about indigenous life did not match my experience as a child in the Pilbara. It’s no wonder that I’m confused – still.

One of the hopes that I have for the future is that Sorry also means that history and cultural studies texts will be rewritten to include all history and cultures.

[1] The Black Arm Band: Archie Roach, Ruby Hunter (*), Bart Willoughby, Stephen Pigram, Peter Rotumah, Kutcha Edwards, Mark Atkins (Maguari Productions), Lou Bennett, Joe Geia, Emma Donovan, Dan Sultan, Ursula Yovich (Vibes Australia), Rachael Maza-Long (*), Shellie Morris, David Arden and Shane Howard. Special Guests (Perth): John Butler, Jessie Lloyd and Della Rae Morrison.

* The Black Arm Band web site also includes biographies and links to other people involved in the music and production.