Time to go back

After a long break from my blog and website I think its time to have a think about getting back into it. I do enjoy face book for the most part but it gets to a point where you get lost. At least here i can set the pace.

The Victorian Bushfires

The fires have been very bad, some are still out of control. There are 107 dead so far and there will be more before the week is done.I am glad we are not in Kalorama now even though there was only one fire there its always a nervous time. The fires have been close but we where not that worried here just watchful.I find it hard to believe that those towns are gone.I was up there for lunch two weeks ago and now its just smoke and ash its so sad.All those families without a home to go.There are also lots of dead animals.Its great the way people are willing to give during these tough times.
To all those people giving there time and risking their lives to make us safe I thank you all so very very much.

 
 
 
 

Victorian fires

 
 
 
 

poison food

Lots of everyday foods have poisons apart from the humble kidney bean,rhubarb leaves are poisonous and should never be eaten.
Tomatoes, They contain an alkaloid that interferes with
cholinergic nerves and cause some serious gastrointestinal distress.
Fruit seeds (Cyanide)
What are they found in? Apple seeds, cherry stones, and the kernels inside the pits of apricots, nectarines, peaches, and plums.
Mushrooms & fungi (Mycotoxins)
What are they found in? Poisonous mushrooms, as well as mold on corn, peanuts, barley, wheat, oats, and beans.
We live in a toxic world, but we live.

Is spelling really vital

 

movie review

Body of lies
Synopsis” Body of Lies" is based on "Washington Post" columnist David Ignatius' 2007 novel about a CIA operative, Roger Ferris, who uncovers a lead on a major terrorist leader suspected to be operating out of Jordan. When Ferris devises a plan to infiltrate his network, he must first win the backing of cunning CIA veteran Ed Hoffman and the collegial, but perhaps suspect, head of Jordanian intelligence. Although ostensibly his allies, Ferris questions how far he can really trust these men without putting his entire operation--and his life--on the line.

Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Russell Crowe, Vince Colosimo, Clara Khoury, Jameel Khoury, Oscar Isaac, Mark Strong, Golshifte Farahani, Simon McBurney, Ali Suliman director: Ridley Scott

This movie started off well and I had high hopes of watching Crowe and DiCaprio on the big screen doing what they do best. Unfortunatly this was not to be. An over weight (they say he put the extra kilos on for the movie) Crowe was not at his best. DiCaprio was fairly good but not brillant. One surprise was another Aussie actor Vince Colosimo (from Underbelly,Alphonse Gangitano ) in what I think was his first Hollywood movie.
My rating out of five stars is two and a half. Wait for it on DVD

cork art

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Largest ever cork mosaic
Source: Arben Celi, Reuters
Published: Friday, September 5, 2008 7:37 AEST

People inspect the largest ever mosaic made of corks created by Albanian artist Saimir Strati in Tirana, Albania, on September 4, 2008. Working 14 hours a day for 28 days, Strati glued 229,764 corks of various shapes and colours over a plastic banner measuring 12.94 metres by 7.1 metres to make the artpiece 'Romeo with a crown of grapes playing the guitar while dancing with the sea and the sun'.

Sad days

Jenny my first highschool girlfriend,Sadly passed away this month.There will always be a place in my heart for you J.J .If there is a heaven thats where you will be.
R.I.P

Movies I can watch more than once

These are movies that I can and do watch over and over, most are not blockbuster movies and special effects but they all have either good actors or a good story.I my opinion these few have both, yes most are old movies and maybe I just like a story.

There To kill a mockingbird
Atticus Finch (Peck), a lawyer in the Depression-era South, defends a black man against an undeserved rape charge, and his kids against prejudice.
.........................................
Arsenic and old lace 1944
Mortimer Bruster is a newspaperman and author known for his diatribes against marriage. We watch him being married at city hall in the opening scene. Now all that is required is a quick trip home to tell Mortimer's two maiden aunts. While trying to break the news, he finds out his aunts' hobby; killing lonely old men and burying them in the cellar

..............................
12 Angry Men" focuses on a jury's deliberations in a capital murder case. A 12-man jury is sent to begin deliberations in the first-degree murder trial of an 18-year-old Latino accused in the stabbing death of his father, where a guilty verdict means an automatic death sentence. The case appears to be open-and-shut: The defendant has a weak alibi; a knife he claimed to have lost is found at the murder scene; and several witnesses either heard screaming, saw the killing or the boy fleeing the scene. Eleven of the jurors immediately vote guilty; only Juror No. 8 (Mr. Davis) casts a not guilty vote.
............................................
Tucker.The man and his dream.1988
When they tried to buy him, he refused. When they tried to bully him, he resisted. When they tried to break him, he became an American legend. The true story of Preston Tucker.

...............................................
Arlington road 1999
When Michael Faraday, single father, accidentally stumbles across a little lie from his new neigbour, he gets suspicious. As a university professor who gives classes on terrorism history and whose wife got killed in the line of FBI-duty, his fatherly protection instincts arise much faster than in normal people. Grant, his son, became the best friend of Brady Lang. Only that Brady's father did not always carry the name Lang. Digging deeper and deeper, Michael Faraday excavates a very interesting and frightening history. But what we didn't think of: From whose point of view is that history frightening? Written by Julian Reischl {julianreischl@mac.com

Heath Ledger

Would the raves about the late Heath Ledger be the same if he had not died?
You won't have any trouble believing that aphorism when you see Heath Ledger's mesmerizing performance as the Joker in "The Dark Knight," Christopher Nolan's hotly anticipated and often brilliantly executed follow-up to "Batman Begins."

His face caked in cracked white greasepaint, his smile a grotesque red lipstick scar, kohl rimming his eyes, the Joker is a cruel kind of clown, the kind that is only interested in the last laugh.

Slouched in his purple suit, Ledger gives him a lopsided shuffle, a permanently craning neck and an insinuating, deceptively neighborly voice. But there's something reptilian about the way his tongue flicks through his pursed lips like a pickpocket. He's hungry for trouble, a maniac for mayhem -- and in Gotham City, where crime is still running wild, he can make himself right at home.

Ledger dominates this movie as a living presence, a live wire, dangerous and unpredictable. It's an astonishing performance, as extravagant and free ("deranged" might be a better word) as his Ennis Del Mar in "Brokeback Mountain" was inhibited and tongue-tied.

Take the test

An exclusive insight into the likely content of a new 'Aussie values' test for potential Australian citizens which will come into effect later this year.

Sample questions devised by the Federal Government:

1. Which colours are represented on the Australian flag?

a. Green and yellow

b. Red, black and yellow

c. Blue, red and white

d. Orange and purple

2. Indigenous people have lived in Australia for ...

a. At least 40,000 years

b. About 8000 years

c. About 800 years

d. Less that 400 years

3. Australia's national flower is the ...

a. Rose

b. Wattle

c. Kangaroo paw

d. Banksia

4. Which is a popular sport in Australia?

a. Ice hockey

b. Water polo

c. Cricket

d. Table tennis

5. Australia's political system is a ...

a. Parliamentary democracy

b. Monarchy

c. Dictatorship

d. Socialist state

6. The Capital of Australia is...

a. Sydney

b. Melbourne

c. Hobart

d. Canberra

7. Which animals are on the Australian Coat of Arms?

a. Wombat and echidna

b. Kangaroo and emu

c. Kangaroo and dingo

d. Lion and unicorn

8. Where did the first European settlers to Australia come from?

a. Spain

b. France

c. England

d. Ireland

9. Who is Australia's head of state?

a. Prime Minister John Howard

b. Queen Elizabeth II

c. Governor General Michael Jeffery

d. Premier Steve Bracks

10. Who was the first Prime Minister of Australia?

a. Sir Edmund Barton

b. Sir Henry Parkes

c. John Curtin

d. Sir Robert Menzies

11. What song is Australia's national anthem?

a. God Save the Queen

b. Star Spangled Banner

c. Advance Australia Fair

d. Waltzing Matilda

12. What do you call the elected head of a state government?

a. Governor

b. Premier

c. Mayor

d. Prime Minister

13. Which federal political party or parties are in power?

a. Australian Labor Party

b. Australian Democrats and the Australian Greens

c. National Party

d. Liberal Party and National Party

14. Which of the following are Australian values?

a. Men and women are equal

b. `A fair go'

c. Mateship

d. All of the above

15. Australia's values are based on the ...

a. Teachings of the Koran

b. The Judaeo-Christian tradition

c. Catholicism

d. Secularism

16. What does Anzac Day commemorate?

a. The Gallipoli landing

b. Armistice Day

c. The Battle of the Somme

d. Victory in the Pacific

17. In what year did the first European settlers arrive?

a. 1801

b. 1770

c. 1788

d. 1505

18. How many states are there in Australia?

a. 5

b. 6

c. 7

d. 8

19. Australian soldiers fought in ...

a. World War I and World War II

b. Korean War

c. Vietnam War

d. All of the above

20. What is Australia's biggest river system?

a. The Murray Darling

b. The Murrumbidgee

c The Yarra

d. The Mississippi



Answers:

1) C, 2) A, 3) B, 4) C, 5) A, 6) D, 7) B, 8) C, 9) B, 10) A, 11) C, 12) B, 13) D, 14) D, 15) B, 16) A, 17) C, 18) B, 19) D, 20) A

So long, farewell and goodbye

Tomorrow (Friday 27th June) will be a bit of a sad day; one that I knew was near. It’s the last day any of us can call this old house the family home. That familiar feeling that can only come from a home you have lived in for a long time will be gone. You get to know every creaking board every scratch and who made it. You know what needs fixing but never seem to get it done. As I enter the lounge room (I rarely go in there now) and look at the bare mantle and photo free walls I feel a little bit alone as though I am leaving a friend behind. I can remember the cold and wet Saturday morning we first moved into 1215 main road kalorama way back in 1967 and seeing this house of many doors, its seemed so big and I guess it was when compared to our other home. The yard was overgrown with walnut, lemon and apple trees, hydrangeas and rhododendrons where scattered everywhere. Now the new owners will make it their home and they want to renovate rather that rebuild that makes it ok. Now we move on, lets see what tomorrow brings.

A nation of fatties

Australia is the world's most overweight nation, ahead of the supersized Americans. "As we send our athletes off to the Olympics let's reflect on the fact that we would win the gold medal problem now in the world fat Olympics if there was such a thing.

A topic that’s always I the news is obesity and today they say Australians have the highest percentage of obese people in the world. My question is why is this so? Is it the foods we eat or the amount we put on our plates? Blaming it on to much time on the computer is wrong; kids do in fact play more organized sport now than we ever did.
I have my own ideas on why we are so overweight; these are not facts but beliefs. We now have these huge dinner plates, a few weeks ago I found some plates that have not been used in years and was surprised at how small these where yet we seemed to get by on the smaller portions .We also snacked far less on things like potato chips, it was more like a piece of fruit or if we had a sandwich it was not over filled and the bread in our house was usually a rye bread.
That’s not to say we ate a low fat diet, foods like sausages or fried eggs where part of our weekend diet, it was just done in moderation and to a large degree we ate in seasonal foods. This is where I maybe completely wrong. I think a major cause to our allergies comes from the preservatives we put in our foods. It gives the food a longer self life but I believe its one of the reasons so many kids have things like asthma, when I was a child very few kids had things like asthma, diabetes or where obese, yes we walked everywhere and we ate less. We also had roast dinners and dipping bread into the roast juices was a treat, I even had dripping on toast with salt. We did not however have a pantry full of snack foods like chips party shapes biscuits (cookies) or huge bottles of soft drink in the refrigerator
The bottom line was we ate what was in season we ate less of it and did not snack an hour before dinner an after school snack was something small not a meal, I see kids eating hamburgers on their way home from school at 4pm its little wonder we are in so much trouble.

My movie review

I saw this movie today and did not have expectations. All I knew before seeing the movie was it is not meant to be an accurate depiction of Mongolian history or the history of Genghis khan. The story does however give us a different look other than that of Hollywood. I did find that parts of the story were glossed over ‘not considered important I guess’ like how he got his followers, I think we are meant to use our imagination there. The actors did a good job and for those who worry about literal translations in the sub titles, stop thinking about it so much, its very hard to translate from one language to another accurately. I am told there is not much written in history about Genghis khan,
The movie was worth the price of admittance and is the first installment of the trilogy so go see it and be your own judge after all you might spend two hours watching a good movie.