WOMEN are better educated, men are outnumbered, kids more techno-savvy and twenty-somethings ... well, they just won't leave home.
The latest census picture painted of Australia also reveals that youngsters are less likely to believe in religion.
This grouping of people born since 1986 has been dubbed the iGeneration because 80 per cent have access to the internet and they are obsessed with technology such as iPods and iPhones, the Herald Sun reports.
The 2006 census report shows that:
* THE number of people in their late 20s who still live with their parents has surged 50 per cent since the 1980s. Almost a third live at home.
* IN the 20 years from 1986 to 2006 the number of women working jumped 64 per cent, from 2.6 million to 4.2 million.
* WOMEN have drawn level in education. Just two generations previously 39 per cent of men had a qualification compared with just 14 per cent of women.
* SINGLE women outnumber single men by 100/99, but as they age survival rates kick in - there are only 69 men aged 75 to every 100 women.
* MARRIAGE seems out of fashion with the young. The proportion of people aged under 35 who have tied the knot has plummeted from 75 per cent to less than half since the 1980s.
* ONE in four members of the iGeneration profess to having no religion, compared with one in five aged over 80; in 1971, 6.7 per cent of all people said they had no religion, compared with 18.7 per cent in 2006.
* MORE Australians choose to live in the city. Just 12 per cent of the population is in rural areas, compared with 42 per cent in 1911. The vast majority of the population - 85 per cent - lives within 50km of the coastline.
* HALF of mothers with children aged under five are in the paid workforce, up from 20 per cent in 1971.
* MORE people live alone.
* PEOPLE whose parents were born overseas are more likely to be financially successful than those whose families have been in Australia for generations.
A report by Australian Statistician Brian Pink shows that many hard-working children of migrants enjoy prosperity their parents could only dream of before they moved to Australia.
Australians whose parents were born overseas were more likely to earn at least $1000 a week than people whose parents were born in Australia.
The census also found children of migrants from several ethnic groups were more likely to study for university qualifications than those from older Australians families.
More than 48 per cent of Chinese, 32 per cent of Poles, 27 per cent of Greeks, and 25 per cent of Croatians had university qualifications, compared with 22.7 per cent of those with so-called "Australian ancestry".
The report contrasts the different experiences of age groups, ranging from the iGeneration to the oldest generation - people aged 80-plus.
The older group lived through the Great Depression and World War II and had limited educational opportunities. Generations X and Y (born 1966-86) are the most educated: a quarter hold university degrees.
But it was also the first generation to experience high rates of parental separation and divorce, and has faced higher university costs and less job stability than the postwar baby boomers.
- with AAP
(the above article and images is from the news.com website and I believed it would be an interesting snapshot of what comprises the general populous.)
What makes Aussies?
Happy Australia Day!
I love Public Holidays. Any country wide excuse for a "day-off" is always welcome. I just wanted to get in and wish everyone a happy Australia Day.
They have also just completed the G'Day USA day in LA and Baz luhrman director of the new film epic, Australia, was honoured. And the Australian actor Heath Ledger has been nominated for an academy award together with a couple of other Aussies. Good luck to them all! It will be emceed by the talented Aussie actor Hugh Jackman.
Have a great day everyone.
The Brewster Brothers Trio
The photography and Graphic art I was working on for the Brewster Brothers Trio in their latest CD called
Wounded Healeris complete and out in stores and has already started selling well. It is a bit of a thrill to see artwork that I created being appreciated and along with the great music, selling well!
Creating something that is commercially available is a humbling experience. It is a hell of a calling card mind you! The Brewsters are Australian musical legends in their own right and this music they create is wonderful. It hovers around the style of Pink Floyd, Bob Dylan and is reminscent of other influences but the songs and style is uniquely theirs. I commend them to you.
I am proud to be associated with these great artists and their music. I hope our association can continue for many years to come.
Here is the press release, and the pages of the CD cover and the inside CD Booklet. I am giving away 3 copies with postage paid to anywhere in the world! The lucky 3 people who will be chosen at random on the 8th of February 2009 who can answer the following questions in an email to me, so I can contact you and get your postal address will win a copy.
What are the names of the Band members? and who is the lead singer?
(Gotta pick harder questions next time.)
email me at: Timeline@bigpond.com
The Brewster Brothers Trio will release their definitive new album ‘ Wounded Healer ' in January 2009 having completed their successful ‘Night Attack' tour with The Angels.
Their first appearance will be at The Tamworth Country Music Festival in January 2009 where they will perform six shows over the festival. The Trio will then tour NSW, Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to promote their new album.
‘Wounded Healer' is aptly named, and comes at a particularly interesting time, as John recovers from quintuple heart bypass surgery after suffering a heart attack whilst on the Queensland leg of The Angels tour. John is making an incredibly quick recovery and brings a new vigor and enlightened outlook to his music. ‘ Wounded Healer ' was recorded at the famous Whitehouse Studios in Bowral, NSW.
Recent Interview with John Brewster.
“We absolutely love the sound of The Brewster Brothers Trio and joining forces with Paul Robert Burton has had a big impact on both our live shows and repertoire. ‘Wounded Healer' is to us the definitive Brewster Brothers. We have re-worked, re-arranged and re-recorded our favourite tunes from our back catalogue as well as some new songs. Both Rick & I love our first album ‘Shadows Fall' and ‘Live at Port Fairy' , but we really wanted to capture what we are doing now as we feel it is really special. We have, I think, seven new versions of our most popular live tunes and four previously unreleased tracks including a great rendition of one of our old Angels' classics, ‘Face the Day' . Rick has penned the title track ‘Wounded Healer' and also a personal favourite of mine, ‘In A Heartbeat' . This song strikes a big chord with me as it is about how suddenly in life things can just change, and only about a week after finishing it I had a heart attack and we were all left wondering if I would even be able to perform it......talk about baring your all in song.......it's all too spooky sometimes.”
‘ Wounded Healer' will be available through MGM, all good record stores and at:
www.brewsterbrothers.com
The Front Cover
The Back Cover
A new image for a new President
I am posting this article here which I think is a wonderful visual comment, and an angle that I myself would have utilised, being an angle I use at EVERY opportunity because I love the drama of the angle. Enjoy a "different" view of the events of earlier today. I join with the hopes and wishes of many Americans and many people around the world who wish President Obama, continued wisdom, hope and courage to lead the most powerful nation on earth.
FIRST LOOK: New View Of The Inauguration
By Donald R. Winslow
© 2009 News Photographer magazine
WASHINGTON, DC (January 20, 2009) - In a new view of an American Presidential Inauguration that's never been shot or seen before, photographer Chuck Kennedy from the McClatchy-Tribune Photo Service today made this image of President Barack Obama taking the oath of office as the 44th President of the United States. (More story beneath the photograph.)
McClatchy-Tribune Photo Service managing editor George Bridges said that Kennedy began lobbying for the remote camera position shortly after election day.
"He took photos from previous inaugurations showing that there is a lot of equipment there (speakers, mikes, teleprompters) so a camera there would not be a distraction," Bridges told News Photographer magazine moments after the inauguration wrapped up.
"When the stand was being built Chuck went out and did test photos to show to the Joint Congressional Inaugural Committee and the Senate Press Photographers’ Gallery to show how dramatic the images could be."
The camera was a Canon EOS 5D Mark II with wireless transmitter attached and mounted inside a Pelican case customized by Kennedy. It was mounted on a camera plate that was screwed into the platform and then mounted on a Bogen arm. The camera was wired via Ethernet for transmission through a DSL line at Kennedy's position on the balustrade above and behind the platform. The camera was trigged via a hardwire to eliminate radio interference.
McClatchy senior photo editor Linda Epstein said that Kennedy's remote shot with a wide-angle lens is closer than any camera has been before during the inaugural oath. "It's a shot that's never been gotten," she said. The pool photo was sent to all McClatchy newspapers and the McClatchy-Tribune News Service.
A Wonderful Life
I have been thinking of late that for many years I have tried so hard to be the person I thought others, society, friends and family expected me to be. I struggled, I tried and became quite disillusioned within myself as to alter the perception of what or who I thought I was, or was becoming at least. In trying to live the life others thought or expected, I sucked at it and failed miserably. I can state however that in the last 12 months I have inwardly started becoming the person I am, yes there are still expectations of others, and yes there are people who believe and have openly told me that I would amount to little, one said I would be a social misfit and still others have said "it will all work out" and the famous Australian expression, "she'll be right mate!" the magical statement or panacea for all that is wrong or difficult. On almost each of the occasions where people have commented or thought things I should be doing or should have done, I paused internally to reflect and can sincerely state that I have thankfully arrived at a point where my life is mine. Today is mine. I am free of the past, I am free of the shackles of thought and expectation that I believed held me back. True it is there are people who want to take me to task over this or that, but I am free of feeling shackled to thoughts or ideologies that I once allowed to dominate or dictate to me how I acted or reacted or lived.
What caused the change?
Coming to a realisation that as I have stated previously on the blog, that "if it's to be, it's up to me" (anonymous).There is no one singular moment that anything miraculous occurred. Over time I have just become so truly aware that I am a person of worth, if only to myself and that there need be no excuse, no fear of comparison, just be me, and I am doing "me" so much better than I was trying to do or be someone else.
A quote from a dear persons website I am borrowing because it says what I think and feel is this;
I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I needed to be.
- Douglas Adams -
A regular visitor to the blog, Goldenrod, made a reference to me in answer to a comment I made on her blog that touched me and I will share it here. It was in answer to the word Druthers -
druther |ˈdrəðər| informal
noun (usu. one's druthers)
a person's preference in a matter : if I had my druthers, I would prefer to be a photographer.
adverb
rather; by preference.
ORIGIN late 19th cent.: from a U.S. regional pronunciation of I'd rather, contraction of would rather. Compare with ruther .
Goldenrods question was this;
How would you like to pass on from this life? What would your druthers be? This is a serious question, and is by no means intended to be a joke.
My shortened answer was this;
My Druthers, never heard that before, would be to die after a momentous photo shoot, and have the images be a testament to the work I loved the most, and have those images be spectacular!
Then Goldenrod wrote;
You, Craig, are a wonderful photographer in your own right, altho you don't seem to have internalized the wide recognition you have already achieved and are currently receiving, and so I would very much like to see you get your druther to expire at the end of your most successful photo shoot ever ... ... hopefully, this will be when you're well into your toothless and addlepated 90's, barely able to get around even with the aid of a walker, and needing to have your prohibitively-expensive camera carried around and supported for this last shoot by magnificent-looking, scantily-clad, and very sexy young Sherpas!
I have reflected on what she wrote for a few hours and am grateful for what she wrote. I have read widely and have discovered that there are a great many people whose biographies I have watched and read that highlighted often the different people's ability to see greatness in others and find it hard to see internally the same application.
In a major way I was glad to learn this, there have been times in my life when I felt "strung out" or "on a limb" thinking I was from mars or something, but there are people like me, who felt or feel similar which I found comforting. I have learned that the line between success and failure, life and death, hitting the mark and missing it, is a very fine line.
I am trying to live my life to be open to as many thoughts, as many experiences, and as many moments of inspiration as I can.
In a way I am glad I do not see easily within me the "wide recognition" that Goldenrod referred to, because I think that helps keep me grounded, helps keep me hungry and helps keep me focussed on trying always to DO better and to BE better! I am not in competition with others, just myself. I have learned to be comfortable being who I am, always striving to take better images and to reach a wider audience, but I am truly and honestly happy being "lil ole me". Oh and if the sexy looking scantily clad young Sherpas are female Goldenrod, I shall die a happy man! Hoping of course my eyes don't give out, which would be ironic wouldn't it!!
I thought this song describes a little of what I am feeling.
Here I go out to see again
the sunshine fills my hair
and dreams hang in the air
Gulls in the sky and in my blue eyes
you know it feels unfair
there's magic everywhere
Look at me standing
here on my own again
up straight in the sunshine
No need to run and hide
it's a wonderful, wonderful life
No need to laugh and cry
it's a wonderful, wonderful life
Sun in your eyes
the heat is in your hair
they seem to hate you
because you're there
and I need a friend
Oh, I need a friend
to make me happy
not stand here on my own
Look at me standing
here on my own again
up straight in the sunshine
No need to run and hide
it's a wonderful, wonderful life
No need to laugh and cry
it's a wonderful, wonderful life
I need a friend
oh, I need friend
to make me happy
not so alone.......
Look at me here
here on my own again
up straight in the sunshine
No need to run and hide
it's a wonderful, wonderful life
No need to laugh and cry
it's a wonderful, wonderful life
No need to run and hide
it's a wonderful, wonderful life
No need to run and hide
it's a wonderful, wonderful life
wonderful life, wonderful life
Robert Downey Jnr.
Something I have not shared too often, for no reason at all, but I am a very big fan of Robert Downey Jnr. I think of all the actors I have seen, his versatility is amazing. I even like his singing voice. I don't know if there are too many of you who have actually heard him sing. Really. I am not a big fan of his latest film Tropic Thunder where he plays an Australian method actor, he sort of has the accent right, thanks to Mel Gibson I guess! but overall I am so impressed with him. I have felt his life has been a roller coaster at times and I have despaired when such a talented individual has been incarcerated and had his rich and full life hindered and ruined on occasion. I don't condone his behaviour at times, but with my faults I am the last to condemn him. I am really proud of his talent and would like to chance to share a meal with him one day!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Downey,_Jr.
A sad story
What a sad indictment on an element of society who not only urges a troubled teen to suicide, but then horribly takes images of the deceased once done. I apologise for the sad nature of the message today but am truly saddened by a seeming lust for sensationalism and morbid entertainment to people who actually enjoy reveling in the tragedy of others. It is a real shame we cannot legislate against stupidity. Whilst I certainly do not wish some horrible fate for those that urged this boy to die, I hope that one day they privately come to realise what they participated in has caused pain and anguish and feel a profound remorse for their actions.
The story and pictures were from Ninemsn.com.au
Cop just centimetres from saving troubled teen
06:00 AEST Fri Jan 16 2009
By ninemsn staff
A British police officer has told how his efforts to save a teenager from leaping off a shopping centre car park were dashed by onlookers urging the troubled boy to jump.
Detective Inspector Barry Thacker was just centimetres from pulling Shaun Dykes away from the ledge before one last heckle caused Dykes to jump to his death 18m below.
The 17-year-old boy spent an hour and a half talking to the trained negotiator on the top level of a Westfield shopping centre carpark in the town of Derby on September 27 last year.
Detective Inspector Thacker yesterday told an inquest into Dykes's death that a crowd gathered below the ledge and started hurling abuse at the teen and urging him to kill himself, Britain’s Daily Telegraph newspaper reports.
"Shaun was engaging with us but once the shouts came up he would disengage, close his eyes and count down to ten," Detective Inspector Thacker told the inquest.
"The shouts were things like 'Jump', 'Get on with it' and 'Come on — stop wasting time'."
The negotiator told of how he nearly got Dykes to come down but one last taunt was the final straw.
"I had been sat with my arms out towards Shaun — he bent down to reach down to my hand when there was a shout of 'You're wasting taxpayers' money'," Thacker said.
"He stood up, said 'It's gone too far', and started counting down."
Detective Inspector Thacker said he and another officer then tried to get the boy to re-engage but he said "No" and leapt off the building.
The teen died instantly from severe injuries.
Newspaper reports at the time claimed that onlookers took photos of the boy's dead body.
The court heard that Dykes, from Kilburn, had split with his boyfriend just days before and had a history of depression and suicide attempts.
* If you need support or information about suicide prevention contact Lifeline on 13 11 14 or SANE Helpline on 1800 18 SANE (7263).
Here's to the Heroes in my life
I wanted to pay a small tribute to the heroes in my Iife today, people who have in my mind contributed to the way I think and feel, people whose everyday life has made such a difference to mine. There are so many it would be impossible to list them all here. I honestly cannot fully praise them all here in this post. I am grateful for people in my family Marcelina, Denzel, Mum, dad, sisters, brothers, family and friends. Even many, many aquaintances who are even more numerous to mention.
I have been particularly touched by people who have faced incredible odds and won recently. I watched a dear lady the other evening who is a breast cancer survivor. I am filled with respect for her, for the quiet dignity with which she carries herself and I have pondered the thoughts and the strength and depth of understanding she has discovered within herself. She is in remission and is on medication which is expensive and no doubt onerous and still she smiles and has a care and "air" about her which is humbling.
I also saw a documentary on a woman who is a paraplegic who was trying out for the Australian equestrian show jumping team for Beijing and listening to her inspiring determination to overcome the incredible odds and prejudices to triumph and achieve heights that pushed her and tested her resolve. She never made it to the Beijing team, but said she will try for the international championships in two years and then London in 2012. What an inspiring person.
My life and my experience pales in comparison to these heroes that impact my life. There are quite literally hundreds, but I just wanted to mention a couple of examples here to express outwardly the gratitude I feel for my life, the chance to live it, and interact and be touched by so many true heroes.
Here's a small and personal tribute to them and the many hundreds I have not named here. Thank you for being the people you are.
Here's to the heroes
Those few who dare
Heading for glory
Living a prayer
Here's to the heroes
Who change our lives
Thanks to the heroes
Freedom survives
Here's to the heroes
Who never rest
They are the chosen
We are the blessed
Here's to the heroes
Who aim so high
Here's to the heroes
Who do or die
Mia monacha prosefchi (A single prayer)
Pera os pera alithini (Truthful throughout)
Gia panta mesa stin kardia mou (Forever in my heart)
Here's to the heroes
Who aim so high
Here's to the heroes
Who do or die
R U Negative or Positive - you be the judge!
In recent times I have been somewhat curious about a particular aspect of human behaviour, and fascinated by the ease and speed to which we seem to adhere to the negative aspects much more than the positive, permit me to explain.
If I say to someone a comment like, "get a life" or "no, the dress doesn't look good on you" that single comment will distort considerably every other positive comment I make for some time. In a similar yet different context, I have been offering praise to people, genuinely, and when I have done, they spend an inordinate amount of time justifying why my reasoning is flawed, and try to convince me I am wrong. For example, I saw a mature woman whom I know and respect and said to her "____, you look great today!" and for the next 15 minutes I stood there listening to the fact that her dress was from Katies (a female clothing store here) and that it was only $10 but she appreciated the comment, but in reality she had just pulled it from the dryer and had not had a lot of time to iron it, and then there was the beetroot stain that had not been fully removed and proceded to show me and on and on it went as I stood there listening to the constant stream of dribble trying to understand what motivated this sort of response.
Have we forgotten how to accept warm and genuine praise?
A friend of mine is married to a wonderful lady with a PHD in multi lingual philosophy and is an international key note speaker and has even authored two books thus far in her field. She agreed with my thoughts and then added, that there are people whose culture is not "allowed" to receive praise without putting themselves down, almost as though it is important to make themselves lesser than the one who compliments. I found that interesting, but she agreed with my observation that I do not understand why people do that, as we wondered how such a situation could ever be taught or imbued by a nation or culture to begin with.
Another person fascinated by the topic also offered that there are many people who were subjected to a host of traumatic things growing up, she was one such individual, whose early childhood experiences have not only helped shape but downright condition and define her adult responses now. Another interesting insight. We all universally accept that it is easier as humans to embrace with reckless abandon any bad or negative comment about us, and instantly become defensive or angered or even dejected, and yet when a compliment or word of praise is placed in our direction we almost dismiss it as baseless.
What is this that causes us to do this and feel this way?
I do not offer all the answers, and as I found and discovered we all have different influences and yet even with cultural differences expressed, we still feel similar. I accept praise with a warm and gracious thank you when it is offered in my direction. I have found a particular excitement when praise is offered in my direction when it comes from a person who in my mind has a "weight" attached to their comment. For example, when I have photographed some rock bands, artists and media personalities who have had literally thousands of images taken of them, and who have seen many of them, then turn around and say to me that my pictures are very different and that they love them. That is gratifying and so that separates their comment somewhat in my mind, and without allowing it to elevate my pride or ego, I simply feel the depth of that praise even more.
To further illustrate the point of my post, when a comment is passed between people often without understanding the full sentence or true meaning of what was asked, we take offence before asking for clarification first. Someone once asked me when I worked in a retail store, "which is the best video recorder" (that tells you it was along time ago) I then said "well that largely depends on what your needs, and budget are". The man then said "Are you being rude to me?" I answered simply, "I think if I was sir, we would both be in no doubt about it!" and the perplexed look on his face wasn't sure whether to take offence or not, but within a few sentences I explained further, he bought the product with a smile and became a regular customer. To further clarify this, people generally ask blanket statements that rarely actually state what they want! I want the BEST video recorder! we had 30 on display ranging from $299 to $2,999 so what possibly is the best? NOT the most expensive, which is why I think a good person whether in sales or basic communication can identify accurately WHAT a person really wants and provide it.
A friend said to me the other week that "the future Craig will be for the communicators". He had resisted the speaking circuit being an authority in his field and he is getting now almost $10,000 for a two hour booking. He said "I used to think that was obscene, but I have learned that people yearn for individuals to clarify and communicate what they want and are willing to pay well to get it." I need to learn how to speak better in public, $10K for two hours speaking. I would be a millionaire in no time! Ok, yes I will keep dreaming!
I digress, my mum got back from interstate recently and then when I dropped her home from the airport said, "gee they didn't even water my plants" (the plants had started to wilt) and then went inside and said, "they locked both locks, I only lock the bottom one", and then added "Gee you think they would have put a meal in the fridge for me to help me out" THEY referred to people who were looking after her home while she was away. I asked only one question of her, "did you communicate that to them?" to which she responded "no I didn't", as the impact of what I said fell lightly upon her, she then laughed. I then added, that many of the problems of relationships of many descriptions has a lot to do with what we expect others to know and what we actually want them to know. As I said that, I could see this smirk on her face as though she was thinking, here is this man, my son no less, telling me how to live! (the look said it all!) Our lives could be much better if we changed one or two things. I also said that I would have locked both locks as well if I was asked to look after her house. It is as though she was looking for the negative, rather than thinking WOW, my house is still safe and wonderfully comfortable to return to, thanks to the people who gave the house that lived in look during my absence. I offer this example not to criticise her, but to illustrate the point of this post.
I try each and every day to count the actual things or blessings I am grateful for. I don't always, but there are so many things that happen on a daily basis, often the smallest ones, that unless I reflect on them at the end of the day, my life goes by faster and faster with lesser and lesser meaning. Like the feeling I had NOT to drive when the traffic lights turned green the other day as a car from the right hand side sped through their red light and would have collected and possibly killed me had I gone straight away. I am grateful for so many inconsequential things. Like ripples in a pond that spread outward to fill the pond, each of these seemingly disconnected comments and events helps to form my life. I am grateful for the many private emails I have been sent by friends and people I had not even known read my blog in support of the negative aspects I addressed a few posts ago, and I am so thankful for you all.
I hope that from this post if there is anything to be taken away from it at all, is my hope that we choose more actively to be positive and look to the lighter and kinder aspects of life. I heard a statement the other day that I have not been able to get out of my mind, "Don't sweat the small stuff!" and yeah I agree. I have started to try and de-clutter my life from not only the temporal possessions but also the emotions and beliefs about myself and what I thought was important that simply is not.
I want to be a more effective communicator, so that the richness of my life experience becomes better and richer for me and those with whom I associate.
Australia, I am standing in it!
I have not really expressed this previously, but I am very proud to live in this country and after becoming a citizen of this great land, as I was born in New Zealand, I could not be happier. I am very proud of my Maori and New Zealand heritage, but have adopted this country as home.
Thought I would add a couple of film clips which are both television commercials the first from the National airline, QANTAS, which for those who didn't know, is short for the Queensland and Northern Territory Air Service (it's original service route) and was written by the late Peter Allen, who resided mostly in the US and wrote the song for Australia's bicentennary concert. I will never forget that performance, it was amazing. I will include a 3 minute clip below that which shows a little bit about him.
The next clip is from a Telstra commercial a national telephone company, that charges the most on their services than the competition! I guess though, that these ads must cost a bomb and they have to be paid for by someone. Call me a sucker!
This song was written by a member from the seekers, and will show a clip below that for background.
Natures blessing
I had the wonderful opportunity of going out and photographing some bushland, some unique trees and scenes with two very dear friends. We were photographers and perhaps keen observers wanting to enhance our experience and capture something of what we saw. I really loved it and think they did also. Nature is like a balm to the soul. I find it refreshing and liberating. The sounds of the birds are just beautiful. It is not often I get to hear Kookaburra birds "laugh" but they are so intrinsically apart of the Australian natural landscape it would not be the same without them. At the end of the pictures I will add a couple of clips that you might find interesting.
Moss or blue green algae is on the top of the water which can give a false impression that it is grass and can be walked on. Do so at your own risk!
some of this ivy looked like love hearts. How wonderful.
These were some big bloody ants! and they are fangs or pincers in front of them. I have never seen these ants before. I put obstacles in their way and they kept on marching over and under in a course directly toward me, unlike any other "normal" ants who would go in a different direction. They were agro ants!! Can you imagine if they were our size, we would be in a heap of trouble! I loved seeing and capturing them.
Some neglected farm machinery. They were made in England and obviously transported here by ship in the 1900's. It was like looking back in time and thoughts of whose hands made them, if they could speak what stories of yesteryear would they tell?
The bark peeling away from another Eucalypt tree
This is the natural colour of the tree! A Eucalypt.
I love the forest floor, though in summer you have to exercise some extra caution if there are any snakes and whatever. 
A beautiful eucalypt with flaking bark. It resembles the doppling effect of an oil painting.
This is a plant, native to Australia called a Kangaroo Paw, as they resemble Kangaroo Paws.
How I would love a driveway like this to my home!
A weathered log, which had character and charm.The Laughing Kookaburra
Koalas may be and look cute and cuddly, but they are very noisy creatures when they are angry or aroused. They sound like a combination of lions and pigs! Have a listen.
and in Australia we have lots of white pointer sharks, 8 of the 10 worlds deadliest snakes, the deadliest spider and a host of other nasties as well, but you know what? It is a great place to live. I have played this on the blog before, but here is an encore presentation by the Scared Weird Little Guys and someone called Drizella. Any relation to cruella?
Enjoy
Henry David Thoreau - a man for all seasons
I have long been impressed with this man and the things that he espoused and encouraged as the tenets for a successful life. Permit me to share a few things about him. For the purposes of clarity I will be using text and images from a variety of sources but will quote the references for all items that are available.
I was impressed to learn that as it states in the bio below, he left his home and the comforts of his life to go to a small property called Walden Pond owned by his friend Ralph Waldo Emmerson, which still exists today in a relatively untouched form. He resided there for two years and two months and made a small farm lot of about 2 1/2 acres growing beans and turnips to sustain himself. He built a small cabin, obtained from an old railway siding, a replica of which is there today, and commenced getting in touch with who he was, the people around him and he loved it. I love that he did that. His experiment was initiated by wanting to understand the things that mankind needs to live by. He kept meticulous financial records, showing that his profit of that time was a mere $8.00. He had neither a clock or a calendar in his little cabin. He spent his time reading and writing and discovering the wonder of nature. He was not a hermit, he walked to the town of concord on most days. He often invited towns folk to his little cabin for enlightening conversation. He mixed with the indians and loved to ponder the wonders of eternity.
Once his experiment on Walden Pond was complete, he left there without regret. He realised that part of his life had ended and he was keen to enter the next phase of his life.
BIO
Henry David Thoreau was a complex man of many talents who worked hard to shape his craft and his life, seeing little difference between them. Born in 1817, one of his first memories was of staying awake at night "looking through the stars to see if I could see God behind them." One might say he never stopped looking into nature for ultimate Truth.
Henry grew up very close to his older brother John, who taught school to help pay for Henry's tuition at Harvard. While there, Henry read a small book by his Concord neighbor, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Nature, and in a sense he never finished exploring its ideas -- although always definitely on his own terms, just as he explored everything! He and his brother taught school for a while but in 1842, John cut himself while shaving and died of lockjaw in his brother's arms, an untimely death which traumatized the 25 year old Henry. He worked for several years as a surveyor and making pencils with his father, but at the age of 28 in 1845, wanting to write his first book, he went to Walden pond and built his cabin on land owned by Emerson
While at Walden, Thoreau did an incredible amount of reading and writing, yet he also spent much time "sauntering" in nature. He gave a lecture and was imprisoned briefly for not paying his poll tax, but mostly he wrote a book as a memorial to a river trip he had taken with his brother, A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers.
After two years (and two months), Thoreau returned to Concord -- a bare two miles away which he had visited frequently during his stay at the pond, having completed his experiment in living and his book. Unfortunately, few people were interested in purchasing his book, so he spent the next nine years, surveying and making pencils at times but primarily writing and rewriting (creating seven full drafts) Walden before trying to publish it. He supported himself by surveying and making a few lectures, often on his experience at Walden pond.
Many readers mistake Henry's tone in Walden and other works, thinking he was a cranky hermit. That was far from the case, as one of his young neighbors and Edward Emerson attest. He found greater joy in his daily life than most people ever would.
He traveled often, to the Maine woods and to Cape Cod several times, and was particularly interested in the frontier and Indians. He opposed the government for waging the Mexican war (to extend slavery) eloquently in Resistance to Civil Government, based on his brief experience in jail; he lectured against slavery in an abolitionist lecture, Slavery in Massachusetts. He even supported John Brown's efforts to end slavery after meeting him in Concord, as in A Plea for Captain John Brown.
Thoreau died of tuberculosis in 1862, at the age of 44. His last words were said to be "Moose" and "Indian." Not only did he leave his two books and numerous essays, but he also left a huge Journal , published later in 20 volumes, which may have been his major work-in-progress. Many memorials were penned by his friends, including Emerson's eulogy and Louisa May Alcott's poem, "Thoreau's Flute."
Over the years, Thoreau's reputation has been strong, although he is often cast into roles -- the hermit in the wilderness, the prophet of passive resistance (so dear to Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King) -- that he would have surely seen as somewhat alien. His work is so rich, and so full of the complex contradictions that he explored, that his readers keep reshaping his image to fit their own needs. Perhaps he would have appreciated that, for he seems to have wanted most to use words to force his readers to rethink their own lives creatively, different though they may be, even as he spent his life rethinking his, always asking questions, always looking to nature for greater intensity and meaning for his life.
Ann Woodlief
Just a few of his many, many quotes.
Aim above morality. Be not simply good, be good for something.
A man is rich in proportion to the number of things he can afford to let alone.
An early-morning walk is a blessing for the whole day.
As you simplify your life, the laws of the universe will be simpler; solitude will not be solitude, poverty will not be poverty, nor weakness weakness.
Could a greater miracle take place than for us to look through each other's eyes for an instant?
Do not worry if you have built your castles in the air. They are where they should be. Now put the foundations under them.
Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you have imagined.
How could youths better learn to live than by at once trying the experiment of living?
A US tribute stamp 1967 honouring Thoreau
Aware he was dying, Thoreau's last words were "Now comes good sailing", followed by two lone words, "moose" and "Indian".[29] He died on May 6, 1862 at age 44. He died of tuberculosis and had also contracted Bronchitis. He leaves a legacy of wisdom, strength and hope that has gone far beyond the geographical plots of ground that he trod. He is truly a man for all seasons.
The family graves in Sleepy Hollow Cemetary.
Bio by Ann Woodlief
content for paragraph 2-3 by Tom Perry
quotes by H. D Thoreau
Maxham daguerreotype of Henry David Thoreau made in 1856.
The first picture was a portrait done in 1854
the last paragraph info
and stamp, gravestone, pencil plaque pictures from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_David_Thoreau
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