Woman and Child First

What Does Australia Day Actually Mean

Dunno.

Don't care.

That's wrong actually, I was just being my usual hilariously funny self. Australia Day means:

    - A public holiday

    - Knowing that all over the country today there are people having a really good time, drinking a lot of alcohol and then falling down.

    - Most radio stations are playing all oz music - a treat indeed.

    - This year, I'm older and more aware of people's sense of pride. Whilst a young un, I moved in a crowd where it was "uncool" to show this. How uncool was I? How much did I contribute to the national inferiority complex?

    - A long time ago, on this date, the First Fleet arrived in Sydney Cove, and decided to do something in this land.

    - It's mid summer and thousands of celebrations will be near large puddles of water to balance out the proportions of potential heat exhaustion cases. (Pacific Ocean being the favoured puddle).

    - There will be massive live musics occuring!

But me and mine are spending the day with friends and eating pies. And of course jumping in our fabulous pool  and drinking lots of alcohol.

C'est la vie!

Be Yourself If Only In Anonymity

"Unknown model in Dior day dress, 1948"

Vive le difference in zee new year, oui!

From Vintage Photographs

The New Year

 

"They say that time changes things, but you actually have to change them yourself."

--Andy Warhol

Sunday, December 31, 2006 .Taken from Theresa Duncan's blog Wit Of The Staircase

 

 

I've noticed other people's desires to really do something this year. You know - leave that crappy job for something that is more suitable to one's inner self; ditch the loser and go solo for a while etc. People I'm seeing want to aim higher.

A great book to support one's wish to do this is Jack Canfield's  How To Get From Where You Are To Where You Want To Be: The Success Principles (There's a link to success principles for adolescents as well).

I've read it and it's great. Full of success stories and commonsense ideas all with a good grounding in positive psychology. It's got all the visualization = attraction biznezz in it but it is very big on ACTION.

In other words, you can write positive affirmations till the cows come home (they are quite necessary) but you must DO whatever is necessary to achieve what you want.

"They say that time changes things, but you actually have to change them yourself."

--Andy Warhol

Sunday, December 31, 2006 .Taken from Theresa Duncan's blog Wit Of The Staircase

Confessional: Apologies to Chrissie Amphlett.

It's true that I'm a big supporter of Australian music, films and art. It's because I live here and it represents my own experience oftentimes. It's also because I know how hard it's been for us to get an identity of our own.

You might say I was always like it. I like to give the impression I have been. But a deep secret within surfaced two weeks ago.

I never appreciated Christina Amphlett (Divinyls) all those years ago. Oh I had a passing interest, but I admit at the time if it came to girl/bands -it was the B52's for me.

Little did I realize, that we had a precious gem-girl in the form of Ms Amphlett.

Last week, I hit up youtube for some old clips and found her. The sexy, pissed-off, inyaface and funny Christina Amphlett. She of a greatness in stage performance: Bless that girl. She was very freaking good.

Oz bands still have to "proove" themselves, but it aint so bad now. The Divinyls really did have a lot to give, and damn they gave it, in an small and difficult local industry. More admirable now in hindsight. From 1984:

Photo of Christina from here, where she talks about her own experience of Multiple Sclerosis.

There's A Playfulness

"Cave has also relied heavily on an inner circle...Interestingly, given that he has lived overseas for best part of the last 30 years, they are mostly Australian.

'Australians are just better people,' he laughs. 'There is a particular attitude that Australians have. It comes out of the way they see the world. There's a playfulness.' "

Rolling Stone Australia Special Issue 687 2008/09