Monday, June 29, 2009

Hot Trip to Broken Hill





Good friend Paul rode down to South Australia from Queensland last summer. On a whim we decided to ride back to Broken Hill with him, stay the night and return home. It was a very hot 2 days, over 40degrees as we passed through Olary. The top photo taken at the Silverton Hotel is about 25km from Broken Hill. In the picture you can see the black Ford Falcon used in a Mad Max Movie. The movie was filmed around the Broken Hill area and if you watch the movie you will recognize the scenery. I love the picture of Paul giving me the "bird" as we are riding side by side on the Barrier Highway. Was there any RoadKill, yes you could smell it even if you couldn't see it on the roadside.........hot decomposing flesh.





Sunday, June 28, 2009

The Making of Steinway L1037


On Sunday I accidentally caught a fascinating programme on ABC1 called "Note By Note - The Making of Steinway L1037". This documentary was about the making of a Steinway Grand Piano (#L1037) and you follow the process from timber selection to every step through the factory, until it is sold. Several things struck me about this story. I didn't know how much work was involved with the making, it took almost 12 months to complete one piano. The people that work in the factory are all crafstmen that are proud of their work, many have been there for most of their working life. Everything is put together by hand, and moves through each stage with precision and accountability. The ownership of the pianos is shown by each and every person through each step of the process. All the people I saw working on the product looked like they loved their jobs, which is rare these days. The attention to detail and finish was superb. I was also amazed to learn that each and every instrument had a sound of their own, all depending on the wood selected, the way it's assembled and the individual sound from each sound board. It is great to see there is still companies that operate on this level. I now look at the piano that stands accross this very room with a different light. I should take off a few panels and study the workings. Steinway suggest a piano be tuned 3 to 4 times a year. Our piano hasn't been tuned for 40 years at least.........but it still sounds okay for "Chop Sticks".

Friday, June 26, 2009

Something to consider

Society puts many severe restraints in our paths and there are those that refuse to conform to these constraints. The non conformers are tolerated for a time until society needs scapegoats then it does not matter if the non conformers are guilty or not. Because people that do not conform make easy targets for blame.

Thursday, June 25, 2009

People come into your life for a Reason


People come into your life for a Reason, a Season or a Lifetime. When you know which one it is for a person, you will know what to do for that person.

When someone is in your life for a REASON, it is usually to meet a need you have expressed. They have come to assist you through a difficulty, to provide you with guidance and support, to aid you physically, emotionally or spiritually. They may seem like a Godsend and they are! They are there for the reason you need them to be. Then without any wrong doing on your part or at an inconvenient time, this person will say or do something to bring the relationship to an end. Sometimes they die. Sometimes they walk away. Sometimes they act up and force you to take a stand. What we must realize is that our need has been met, our desire fulfilled, their work is done. The prayer you sent up has been answered and now it is time to move on.

Some people come into your life for a SEASON, because your turn has come to share, grow or learn. They bring you an experience of peace or make you laugh. They may teach you something you have never done. They usually give you an unbelievable amount of joy. Believe it! It is real! But only for a season.

LIFETIME relationships teach you lifetime lessons: Things you must build upon in order to have a solid emotional foundation. Your job is to accept the lesson, love the person and put what you have learnt to use in all other relationships and areas of your life.

It is said that love is blind, but friendship is clairvoyant.

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Three things that have taken me 50 years to learn

When trouble arises and things look bad, there is always one individual who perceives a solution and is willing to take command. Very often, that individual is crazy.
There comes a time when you should stop expecting other people to make a big deal about your birthday. That time is age 11.
The one thing that unites all human beings, regardless of age, gender, religion, economic status or ethnic background, is that, deep down inside, we ALL believe that we are above average drivers.

Feeling cold and miserable........


Sit, relax and stare at this cosy picture for a while

Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Thought for the day......

Only a Biker knows why a dog sticks his head out of a car window.

Funeral Blues


Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone,
Prevent the dog from barking with a juicy bone,
Silence the pianos and with muffled drum
Bring out the coffin, let the mourners come.

Let aeroplanes circle moaning overhead
Scribbling on the sky the message He Is Dead.
Put crepe bows round the white necks of public doves,
Let the traffic policemen wear black cotton gloves.

He was my North, my South, my East and West.
My working week and my Sunday rest,
My noon, my midnight, my talk, my song;
I thought that love would last forever; I was wrong.

The stars are not wanted now: put out every one;
Pack up the moon and dismantle the sun;
Pour away the ocean and sweep up the wood;
For nothing now can ever come to any good.

-- W. H. Auden

Lighthouse Keeper


Lighthouse Keeper

Being a lighthouse keeper
is all one needs to be;
to live in peace and quiet
while keeping an eye on the sea,

To watch the changing colours
of the ocean and the sky,
the undecisive tide as
the world of blue rolls by,

To sit there in the evenings,
Having a pipe, a drink,
and to decide at leisure
who’ll live and who will sink.

Frank L Ludwig.

Wednesday's photos....














50 years of valuable junk makes a good photo opportunity........

Alas Smith and Jones


Or is that "Alas Jones and Smith"

Posters from around the world.......











Interesting images and colours....... I hope the Arty Party poster passes the nudity police. It is art........




Monday, June 22, 2009

On the way to work......










On the way to work yesterday I decided to take the camera and leave a bit earlier. The sun was setting as I left home and there was the potential for a few good shots as I approached town. As you can see it's an industrial town, with the grain silos, industrial images and the well known fast food outlet enticing the passer by to pull in and buy a small tasteless burger. A small city with one large industry is common these days. In the past there was the other employers, like the railways, waterworks and highways departments. All good places for a school leaver to score an apprenticeship. You could make a choice, become a clerk in the railways or a bank or take an apprenticeship in trades like boilermaker, fitter, carpenter or electrician. Nowdays the emphasis is on tertiary studies, which means the kids of tomorrow have to leave town to attend the University of choice..........is this progress?

The Draughtsman


I painted this back in the 70's.......where has the inspiration gone? I no longer paint pictures but use the camera as a medium. I do love the smell of mineral turps and linseed oil in the morning. Camera's do not create the same senses, well not in the digital world. Developing your own prints also conjures up memories of toxic smells. Were the dark rooms of the past covered by OHS&W guidelines? Probably not. Bit like glue or petrol sniffing, brain destroying.

Fashion Display

No comment apart from it's a random picture taken at night wandering through the Mall.

Thursday, June 18, 2009

Windows of your mind.........









A favourite journey I like to take is the discovery of old and derelict ruins around the state of South Australia. Interest in this subject was spawned by a book by George Farwell, called “Ghost Towns of Australia”. I have visited some of the sites mentioned, places like Waukaringa, Hammond, Silverton, Innamincka and many others around the state, particularly the mid north and the Flinders Ranges. A recent trip to Birdsville was another source of material for learning and recording, with the camera always at hand. Port Arthur is the last chapter of Farwell’s book and hopefully we will be able to visit this site in March 2010.
What has truck me about these deserted buildings and settlements is the method and materials used in the construction of buildings. Mostly the stone in the immediate area is used, so you get a varied style of stone construction depending on the countryside. In the Yorke Peninsula there is a lot of white limestone which is more rounded, therefore much more mortar is required to bond the stone. In the north of the state the stone is harder and flatter and appears to be a friendlier stone to use with building. The stone fits closer together so there is less mortar. Over time the mortar can erode and the wall takes on the appearance of dry stone walling. Depending on the age of the deserted buildings, all that may be left is a section of wall and single window. Or it could still have some of the timber beams and rafters still intact, in various stages of decay. Visiting these sites I have recorded “windows”............When you look at these crumbling structures and glance out from a particular window you begin to wonder at the memories that have since been lost to time. A room could have belonged to a child, and you can see the view that he or she may have grown to love by looking out of this window. Was the time spent in the room a happy time for the child? Maybe it was sad, depending on the situation of the family at the time. Maybe there were dust storms destroying the crops, maybe a shooting star was spotted at night, maybe they were lucky to have a window facing the east and they could wake to the morning sunrise. So many dreams and memories, if only the windows could record the changing scenes on a never ending spool to be rewound later in time............

Wednesday, June 17, 2009

Sleepless in see attle

Some of my best thoughts happen at 3am
Some of my clearest thoughts happen at 3am
Some of my saddest thoughts happen at 3am
It's 3am.......I cannot sleep.
Aaaaaaaaaaarrrrrggghhhhhhhhh!!!!

Monday, June 15, 2009

Speedway memories



As a young fella, Easter time couldn't come around quick enough. There was the annual visit from the rellies from the city and the Easter Egg hunt on the Sunday morning.
However the big event for me was the Speedway on the Saturday, the Port Pirie Long Track Speedway. This was part of the national racing scene and the mile long track was legendary in it's time. The excitement would begin with the usual article in the local paper, advertising the coming event. Usually accompanied with a photo of a hopeful local who was going to enter the event that year. On the big day we would be taken to the track with friends or family, and the cars would be queing up at the gate. Slowly crawling forward as the money and programmes were changing hands. Once we were past the gate the next stage was to find a park on the fence. You had to be early to get any prime positions. As you approached the track sitting in the car you could hear the roar of the bikes practicing for the coming events. The loud PA system would be heard but what they were saying was often muffled by the roar or the motors or the cheering of the spectators. Walking past the pits was heaven. There were the machines all lined up ready to race, last minute adjustments, last minute polishing. The riders clad in full leathers, often open to the waist until it was their turn to race. The smell of racing fuel, hot chips, hamburgers, and dust permeated the nose. Smells that are forever stamped in your mind. The time for the first race would come. Bikes were wheeled out to the track by the mechanics with the rider steering the bike. Once on the track the rider would straddle the machine and with a quick push the bike would fire up with an almighty roar. The mechanic would watch to see if the bike was running sweet and then vacate the track. Several bikes would be warming up, and coming to the start line.......blat blat blat blat with each twist of the throttle. The starter would line the bikes up accross the track and the roar of the bikes would increase as they were revved harder and harder ready to pounce. The crowd would be glued to the action, waiting for the jump, loudspeaker blaring unable to be heard. The roar of the motors would be at fever pitch and bang the cord would drop and they would be away. Standing there watching with the crowd a tingle would travel down your spine. The race was on in earnest and the first corner was always the most exciting as the bikes would be jockeying for positions. As the bikes sped around the sweeping bend dirt would be sprayed from the spinning rear tyres over the fence and into the crowd. No one cared the race was on. The races were usually over a 3 or 4 lap period and went for approx 3 to 5 minutes if I remember. The atmosphere was electric and the finish line was where it all ended. Crowd cheering as the local boy won, just beating the favourite from the big city...........Not all the riders had a good day, some came off their bikes, some okay some picked up by the St Johns volunteers and taken to the hospital. It was all part of the excitement.................... those were the days.

Don't you hate downloading with Dial Up.......


Don't touch.........Ouch !!


Sunday, June 14, 2009

Sunset........

To be enjoyed with a glass of red......

Saturday, June 13, 2009

Graffiti or directions....????


My last post was about using graffiti to convey a message of hate.
This message found on a lawn at Renmark is probably less sinsiter.
Is it to entice photographers to stop and capture????
Mmmmmmmmmmmmm
Maybe there is a hidden camera recording people capturing the moment.

Graffiti tells a story




For a couple of years we have witnessed graffiti on a corner near home. As legend has it, the messages are written by one person who has a hatred of his neighbour. Something to do with "poaching" his partner. Messages are usually left on long weekends to have longer coverage. Council graffiti removal "artists" do not work on weekends. Apparantly the Police have a good idea of the culprit, but the offender has to be caught in graffiti action. Another local even posted a typed written message and stuck it to the board, asking that the graffiti should cease, suggesting that the warring factions talk it out. Didn't make any difference. Here are a couple of examples. The question is, does he know how to spell "Phill", as quite often this name is misspelt.


Friday, June 12, 2009

Quote of the day

Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt..... Abraham Lincoln (something to remember at your next team meeting)

Black Betty Images......





























Thursday, June 11, 2009

Sailing at Kangaroo Island







Thankyou Greg for the idyllic afternoon at American River.......



Quote of the day

Some cause happiness where ever they go, others whenever they go.....Oscar Wilde

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Windmills of my mind

Wind farms have appeared on the local landscape
over the last couple of years.
Some say they are ugly, others say they
are gracefull.
Sheep are not worried grazing under them,
Cattle do not like the noise of the blades.
I haven't heard of any birds being killed as yet.
Better than coal or nuclear.......
Great photo opportunites.









Tuesday, June 9, 2009

Weewell Hover wee




Well this is the first of my short stories......got to start somewhere.......

Just this last weekend the family went walking down the road. Both my daughters were visiting for a chill-out session with the parents, and to catch up with an old family friend we hadn't seen for many years.
Approaching a neighbours farm house we spotted a Jack Russel dog looking towards us and barking, daring us to get any closer.
I was initially surprised to see the dog on the road as I knew the neighbours had lost a previous dog to traffic. They had since built a strong fence with gates and the dog was safe from the speeding vehicles.
The closer we got to the little dog he was torn between keeping us at bay and wanting to jump all over us and licking us to death. It was amusing to see him torn between two evils, Guard or Greet, Greet or Guard.........what shall I do?????
Eventually he weakened, forgot the guard dog instinct and greeted us with wild enthusism.
This little dog then decided he was our walking mate and he would take charge. All the time we were thinking, he will get past his comfort zone and return home.......but no, soldier on he went.
He ran from roadside to roadside, racing to the lead, then scouting back to the rear, checking checking.
Busy busy he was, and at every moment of dashing past he would brush your leg to make you notice his excellent work.
In fact he was so busy he didn't have time for a toilet break. In fact I saw him, stop, squat, squeeze out a crap, turn sniff the offending blob, and then bound away, with that not quite dry ass feeling.
Petrus and I watched this with amusement and laughed at the conenience of it all, crap and run, no trousers to drop, no worries...........
My two daughters must have witnessed a similar incident in the execution of a number 1......
Silly little dog ended up following us home. The girls decided that they would return the little dog to the neighbour Jim, in the car.
Waving goodbye this nameless dog looked as happy as larry sitting on Lana's lap as Michelle drove away.
Little did we know that the girls had been plotting a name for this little rascal...........temporary but it caused a laugh...........Weewell Hover wee.







Sunday, June 7, 2009

The chariot is waiting.....to take you on my journey


This is a view of the Port Germein Gorge..........