Politics, politics

To Julia's frustration, I have been rather a fan of Parliamentary Question Time ever since Parliament in the UK began to appear on television. Of course it has, sadly, nothing to do with serious politics - which is a pity, because it was designed to hold the Government to account by giving the opposition the opportunity to question the Government  ministers without notice on as many awkward questions as could be thought up. I think before radio and TV was allowed into the British House of Commons, this probably happened; but the moment MPs realized that 'the country' was listening, the rot set in, and now - and it is as bad in Australia as it was and is in the UK - Opposition questions are never properly answered, and questions from Government MPs are carefully 'placed' - handed out in fact by Ministers to ordinary MPs who are expected to read them from the slips of paper: today, every single question asked by Government Members had a line in them about 'the world's largest carbon tax' (actually a questionable statement) making it absolutely crystal clear that they were not genuine questions, but were supplied in order to allow the Ministers the opportunity to give little speeches  attacking the Opposition's record when in Government. In short, the whole operation is a waste of time - except that, rather like American style all-in wrestling, it does provide a spectacle of mindless and 'fixed' antagonism which I enjoy it rather as I enjoy watching the wrestling, slightly ashamed of myself for doing so. Is there such a thing in America, in the Senate? I rather hope not - though doubtless if there is, it is used for political purposes in much the same way.

Dogs, dogs . . .

Crim is the introvert, Fille the extravert. He had an unfortunate childhood: a show dog, he won several prizes for his owner, who liked showing dogs but wasn’t very keen on them as beings – the first thing she did was have his vocal chords cut because he barked too much! He was rescued by a breeder friend of ours, who asked if we could take him. He was fairly shy at first and Fille had to teach him how to run and behave normally, because all he’d known was trotting obediently around the show ring. He’s now fine – but exceptionally loving and affectionate, and sometimes just sits staring into one’s eyes as though to say, ‘You’re not sending me back to her, are you?’ Fille, on the other hand – her name incidentally, is French – fille as in daughter, because she was the daughter of Toorak, the dog we brought out from England when we came to Australia to settle – she is the complete extravert, loving and affectionate when there is something in it for her (mainly food); she rules Crim with an iron paw, and he gives in to her every whim obediently climbing down from a cushion if she wants to sit on it, allowing her to finish off his meals . . . During the day they inhabit the couch (towels spread for them to lie on); he gets down obediently on the strike of six o’clock, when the humans take over the couch for the evening drink. She usually has to be turfed off, with grunts of disapproval.  I have to say that if they live as long as most of our previous dogs I shall be taking them on their morning walk when I’m well into by nineties. But hey – who’d be without dogs?

Salutations aux Francaix!

Salutations! Ravis que tant de visiteurs de ce blog sont de belle France. Nous serons toujours heureux de vous accueillir!

Otello

Notoriously difficult to write about really good opera performances; easier to pick holes. So when I say that tonight’s Otello was one of the very best-sung I’ve ever heard, in I suppose well over sixty years of opera-going, I’ve more or less said it all. This New Zealand tenor Simon O’Neill  must certainly be  among the finest heldentenors now performing, and Claudio Sgura was a properly dark Iago, robust but never more melodramatic than the music demands. Lianna Haroutounuian a very moving Desdemona. The chorus – as ever – completely in charge of their work, especially in the magnificent opening scene. The elderly production held up well – though what was with the tattered hole in the ceiling? – some calamity there, I fancy. The acting as good as one can expect of fine singers – and that’s especially welcome in Otello, which can seem pretty silly (that Desdemona’s a  fool to herself, carrying on with Cassio when she knows it upsets hubby). Altogether, vocally one of the finest evenings at the Opera House for several seasons.

Another of our astrology books is waking up again!

Hi gals and guys!    Yes, Derek is now working hard on putting our  LIFE SIGNS - An Astrological   Guide to the Way we Live - on the net, re-titled Astrology at Home   I must say it's a book I have been pleased about since it was published some time ago.   It's based on the Sun-Signs, so it's easy to follow, and each sign has a really big crack of the whip!    It  covers all spheres of life with what I hope is a delicious, revealing and interesting emphasis on our love and sex lives, lots about parenting, and the sign members as children, but career hints, finances, and lots more all come under my microscope.   It will be a few weeks before it actually appears, and I'll let you know when it's ready for you to download, because I think you'll not only enjoy it, but identify with many of my comments, and I hope too get a new perspective on what your special sign can do for you, and of course as ever with my books, I don't think for a moment you'll be bored!   More news about it later.    All the best - always Julia!

What's this Sun-Sign business?

Your Sun-sign - sometimes called 'star-sign' - is the section of the ecliptic through which the Sun is passing at the time of your birth. This is for convenience called by the name of the constellation which occupied that space over two thousand years ago, though the sign no longer completely matches its original zodiac sign. Now seen  by the geneal public as probably the most important astrological consideration, the idea of the 'Sun-sign' dates from 1930; before then, traditionally, the Ascendant or Rising-sign had been considered the more significant of the two. The Sun-sign was thought to portray the hidden personality - that part of one's personality know, if at all, only by one's partner or intimate friends - while the Ascendant showed the outward and obvious personality traits.

Sun-sign astrology - in which the sign occupied by the Sun at the time of birth is the sole factor used to describe a person - began effectively in 1930 with a newspaper column in the English Sunday Express newspaper, when the astrologer R. H. Naylor was commissioned by the editor to write an article examining he birth-chart of Princess Margaret, who had been born on 21 August. This provoked considerable interest, and Naylor was invited to write a series of articles. In the first of the series, published on 5 October 1930, Naylor wrote that British aircraft were likely to be in danger. On the day of publication it was announced that the airship R-101, en route to India with a distinguished group of passengers, had crashed in France with 48 fatalities. Not unnaturally, the newspaper capitalized on Naylor's apparent prediction, he was given much increased space, and soon became the first nationally-known astrologer. Naylor realised quickly that he should find a way of involving all his readers, and since everyone knew the date of his or her birth, he simply published a list of the dates when the Sunpassed through each Zodiac sign, and wrote twelve paragraphs, one for each of them. Within a very short time, people began asking each other 'What's your sign?' and there began the overwhelming interest in astrology which created a number of astrologer millionaires.

Advice for a good life

If you're not familiar with the work of Steven Wright, he's the famous scientist who once said:

"I woke up one morning, and all of my stuff had been stolen and replaced by exact duplicates." He sees things differently than most of us.

Here are some of his gems:

1 - I'd kill for a Nobel Peace Prize.

2 - Borrow money from pessimists -- they don't expect it back.

3 - Half the people you know are below average.

4 - 99% of lawyers give the rest a bad name.

6 - A conscience is what hurts when all your other parts feel so good.

7 - A clear conscience is usually the sign of a bad memory.

8 - If you want the rainbow, you have got to put up with the rain.

9 - All those who believe in psycho kinesis, raise my hand.

10 - The early bird may get the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese.

11 - I almost had a psychic girlfriend, ....... But she left me before we met.

12 - OK, so what's the speed of dark?

13 - How do you tell when you're out of invisible ink?

14 - If everything seems to be going well, you have obviously overlooked something.

15 - Depression is merely anger without enthusiasm.

16 - When everything is coming your way, you're in the wrong lane.

17 - Ambition is a poor excuse for not having enough sense to be lazy.

18 - Hard work pays off in the future; laziness pays off now.

19 - I intend to live forever... So far, so good.

21 - Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines.

22 - What happens if you get scared half to death twice?

23 - My mechanic told me, "I couldn't repair your brakes, so I made your horn louder."

24 - Why do psychics have to ask you for your name?

25 - If at first you don't succeed, destroy all evidence that you tried.

26 - A conclusion is the place where you got tired of thinking.

27 - Experience is something you don't get until just after you need it.

28 - The hardness of the butter is proportional to the softness of the bread.

29 - To steal ideas from one person is plagiarism; to steal from many is research.

30 - The problem with the gene pool is that there is no lifeguard.

31 - The sooner you fall behind, the more time you'll have to catch up.

32 - The colder the x-ray table, the more of your body is required to be on it.

33 - Everyone has a photographic memory; some just don't have film.

34 - If at first you don't succeed, skydiving is not for you.

And the all-time favourite -

35 - If your car could travel at the speed of light, would your headlights work?