Magpies strut, did you know? They carry themselves with the arrogance of the snottiest aristocrat, prancing about as though the very ground beneath their feet was laid down with the sole purpose of them one day gracing it with their presence.
australia
An Isolated Scene
The tent stood tall in the clearing, a grunting roo its only company. A rusty pot lay abandoned in the mud, ants feasting beneath the mould and grime. Frost coated grass stretched to a horizon made sharp by the early… Read More ›
Father’s Day
For those living in Australia, September 2nd was Father’s Day. We didn’t do much this year, what with moving costs on the horizon and being a bit short of cash. Earth was given control of the television for the day,… Read More ›
Top Ten Beer Commercials
I have always loved watching well-made commercials. As a child, it was not unknown for me to ask Nanna Carmen to fast forward through the shows she recorded for me in order to skip to the ads. There are a… Read More ›
Top Ten MAFMAD Winners
MAFMAD, short for Make A Film, Make A Difference, was a campaign run by the Transport Accident Commission in Victoria, Australia from 2003 to 2013. It called on young people under the age of twenty-five to make a short film… Read More ›
The Man From Ironbark by A. B. ‘Banjo’ Paterson
It was the man from Ironbark who struck the Sydney town, He wandered over street and park, he wandered up and down. He loitered here, he loitered there, till he was like to drop, Until at last in sheer despair… Read More ›
Top Ten YouTube Channels I Discovered This Year
With billions of visitors daily, YouTube is one of the most well-known and popular video streaming sites on the internet. With millions of channels on the site, and more being added every day, there is always something new to discover…. Read More ›
My Country by Dorothea Mackellar
My Country The love of field and coppice, Of green and shaded lanes. Of ordered woods and gardens Is running in your veins, Strong love of grey-blue distance Brown streams and soft dim skies I know but cannot share it,… Read More ›
A Bush Christening By Banjo Patterson
A Bush Christening On the outer Barcoo where the churches are few, And men of religion are scanty, On a road never cross’d ‘cept by folk that are lost, One Michael Magee had a shanty. Now this Mike was the… Read More ›
Phar Lap In The Melbourne Museum by Peter Porter
Unfortunately, this poem is more recent than I had realised and is still under copyright. However, it can be read at the Australian Poetry Library, where you can also download it for a small (around $2) fee. I highly recommend… Read More ›
Top Ten Australian Inventions
Australia has always been a creative country. Present us with a problem and we will find a solution. I suspect that it goes all the way back to the days of squatters and homesteads and drovers. In those days, supply… Read More ›
Three Developments
“The twentieth century has been characterized by three developments of great political importance: the growth of democracy, the growth of corporate power, and the growth of corporate propaganda as a means of protecting corporate power against democracy. “ — Alex… Read More ›
Top Ten Big Things in Australia
All around the world artists, businesses and governments erect giant versions of animals or items that are relevant to them, and Australia is no exception. Inevitably, these giant sculptures attract tourists and, indeed, there are many people who make a… Read More ›
Baby Dingo
“Valkyrie walked to the back door, which hadn’t been closed properly, shut it and locked it. There was now a baby in the house, after all. She couldn’t take the chance that a wild animal might wander in and make… Read More ›
Christmas Comes But Once A Year
Karen woke to the sound of whispering. Rolling over and glancing at the window, she groaned as she saw it was still dark out. “It’s too damned early,” she grumbled to herself. Hoping to get some more rest, she closed… Read More ›
The Suspected Wharfie
There was a certain wharfie on the Melbourne waterfront who was suspected of stealing. Each day he left the wharf where he worked, pushing a wheelbarrow filled with straw. So a police detective was detailed to watch him. The detective… Read More ›
Top Ten Australian Films (1950 – 2000)
The Story of the Kelly Gang, the earliest feature film ever made, was released in 1906 and the Australian film industry has been producing outstanding cinema ever since. Though many gems have remained undiscovered by audiences outside of Australia, the… Read More ›
Diggers of Two Wars
On a footpath in Tel Aviv one day in October, 1942, an old English colonel and a young American major were discussing the war situation in general when they were approached by four youthful Aussie soldiers who had been imbibing… Read More ›
Refugee Bigotry
I came across a post on Facebook tonight and it really pissed me off. The post itself annoyed me, but the comments (all in support, of course) really made me cross! I was even more pissed off by the fact… Read More ›
Hail Abbott
I have heard many people critisise the Abbott Government, and many more sing his praises. I have even seen him referred to as ‘Hitler’. This may seem a bit extreme, but could Abbott be a dictator in the making? You… Read More ›
Ration Sheet
While preparing for my ration challenge, I had a lot of trouble finding a suitable ration book template, so I created my own. It isn’t perfect (and it is 2 sheets rather than a booklet), but it suitable for my… Read More ›
Rationing References
When researching my rationing challenge, I used the following websites: New Point Ration Chart Remember When… Food Investigators Episode 5: The WWII Diet 1301.0 – Year Book, Australia, 1944 – 45, Australian Bureau of Statistics John Curtin Prime Ministerial Library… Read More ›
Rationing – The Rules
Here are the rules I will be following for our Wartime Ration Challenge.
The Rations – Points
At the same time as the ordinary rationing, Britain and America had a kind of parallel rationing system. This involved a points system, whereby a certain number of points were given each month, to be spent on various extras such… Read More ›
The Rations – Food
As stated in a previous post, I will be forcing my family to live of WWII rations for a little while. It will be a great learning experience for the children and may even end up with us being happier,… Read More ›
Supersizers and World War Two
My children and I have been watching a lot of Supersizers episodes lately, and we are all absolutely fascinated by the dishes that were considered normal in times past. Many of the dishes that past generations considered to be delicacies… Read More ›
Lemon Lamingtons
Butterfly was tasked with purchasing some snacks from Coles yesterday and one of the things she came home with was Lemon Lamingtons. For those who don’t know, lamingtons are a popular Australian snack consisting of squares of sponge cake dipped… Read More ›
Unusual Commands
There was a certain Australian sar’major during World War I who gave his commands in a most unorthodox manner. “Slope arms — you, too!” “Present arms — you, too!” “Forward march — you, too!” After the parade one day, a… Read More ›
Taxes
Well, it that time of year again. The time when people frantically search for lost receipts, impatiently await this years group certificates and lose their sanity in their attempts to correctly fill in their tax form. I began this years… Read More ›
Rafferty's Rules is Closing Down 