Well, it'll be Spring soon in Australia...and that means all of the wildlife is coming out of its holes and eating everything in sight

I've updated this posting with an "after" shot of the site of the former nice little 1930s brick house in our neighborhood which was demolished for probably something modernistic with cathedral ceilings, heated tile floors, and a soaker tub with jacuzzi.

First thing - if you are one of my 10 lucky relatives/friends who get an automatic e-mail when I post, if the videos don't work you need to go to the actual blog website (blogspot.com, "ikins down under") and see them there...they're worth it.

And if you received it twice it's because one of the videos didn't load properly.

Last Sunday was a glorious day in terms of weather - although it's really the equivalent of the beginning of March, it was really more like mid-April.  The cherry trees are in bloom, the Magpies are commencing their "swooping" behavior because they are protecting their nests (this also means the commencement of seeing bicyclers with straws sticking out of their bike helmets to fend them off), and spiders are appearing in all sorts of places.

I got up very early (hungry cats help) and decided to walk down to the lake, where the ballooners were out and floating about...

Here's an artsy video of a balloon reflected in the ripples of the Lake; Australia seems to be having that effect upon me.  next thing you know I'll be signing up for freestyle Martha Graham dance classes and dancing along the lake bank:

Untitled from Charles Ikins on Vimeo.

There was still frost on the field behind the house:

A flock of cockatoos flew in from the park across the lake and headed towards the house, so I started walking back.  I heard strange noises coming from the neighborhood, and there I encountered the 1930s-style house just down the street being torn down so someone could build another modernistic-style home in a neighborhood where that architecture really doesn't belong.  I love it when they complain here about not having "history" but don't make the connection with tearing a 70-year-old home down.  One by one, there goes your history.  I was thinking "Well, there goes someones memories."  That's the kitchen sink you see in the claw at the end of the video.  Kind of put a damper on my walk.

Untitled from Charles Ikins on Vimeo.


 Here's all that is left of the site now.  Yeah, "we don't have any history in this country."  I wonder why.

But I digress.  Back to the Cockatoos.  I wandered back home and there were the cockatoos sitting all over my back yard.  Now, I have been trying to get them to come in for a couple of weeks (the King Parrots too), with no success.  But once I put out two seed cakes, that allowed them, the Galas and the Rosellas to feed simultaneously.  The Rosellas have to feed on the ground because the Galas and the Cockatoos are much bigger than they are.  It was like Wild Kingdom in the back yard:

Rosellas, a Gala, and in the background a Cockatoo all in one shot.

Untitled from Charles Ikins on Vimeo.

It was such a beautiful day we decided to take the kayak out for a shakedown cruise, which meant unchaining it from the tree out back and seeing what had taken up residence in it during the winter.  Hose in hand, I wasn't disappointed:

That's your Huntsman spider.  Painful bite but not fatal.  I carefully relocated him and a compatriot at the other end of the kayak to a nearby wilderness preserve.  I don't like killing them because they are beneficial.  But I don't want a repeat of a few months ago when we were in the middle of the lake and one came crawling out of the hatch just behind Debbie.

I noted that the cherry trees and other fruit trees are beginning to bloom:

And the wattle:

Just like the flowers on the Order of Australia ribbon:

Lilac?

And more cherry with one of the pretty little wrens that are all over the place:

And even the lizards came out for a sunning:

And no morning here would be complete without a cat lay-in in sunspots in the living room:

So that's a weekend morning here in Australia.  It's starting to warm up so expect a lot more of these kinds of photographs.  Hopefully by then the election will be decided....

Election Update: Playing the Waiting Game...what's a 9-letter word for "form of government?

The negotiations with the Independents go on...the talking head shows and columns are having a field day.  Clark and Dawe, my favorite satirists, capture the mood as always.  The other night a friend theorized that there might be ANOTHER election because no deal sufficient to satisfy the Greens and Independents can be reached.  He think that if another election were held, those that were "punishing" Labor and the Liberals by voting for the Greens or others may say to themselves, "OK, I've had my protest vote, now let's get on with it."

The Greens are famous for not compromising on what is essentially a single issue for them - the environment (as you might imagine).

However, the government continues to run and this may have something to do with the fact that unlike the U.S., most of the senior positions in the government are NOT political appointments.  There's no "Plum Book" listing of available political jobs here.  The Caretaker Government is somewhat like what occurs between a US Presidential election (the losing Administration appointees have either already left or are about to) and the 20 January Inauguration.  That's when our government is actually run by those all those lazy, inefficient, time-serving government bureaucrats (who actually know something about what they are doing) you all like to complain about from time to time:

Wikipedia:
In Australia the term caretaker government is used to describe the government during a period that starts when the parliament is prorogued by the Governor-General prior to a general election, and continues for a short period after the election, until the next ministry is appointed. The caretaker government is expected to conduct itself in accordance with a series of well-defined conventions that are administered by the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet,^[1] although there is no law compelling the caretaker government to do so.
Under normal circumstances, there is no separate appointment of a caretaker government. The existing government simply assumes "caretaker mode". During the 1975 Australian constitutional crisis, the Governor-General, Sir John Kerr, appointed a new government headed by Malcolm Fraser, subject to Fraser's agreement that he would immediately advise a general election, and his government would operate on a caretaker basis in the meantime. This was a unique set of circumstances, leading to a unique solution.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caretaker_government_of_Australia

So no major decisions are allowed to be made under the caretaker government unless it directly affects things that can't wait, like Afghanistan, troop force protection (like approving the purchase of armored vehicles or flak jackets), etc.  So, it's really not that bad and frankly it simply validates the system.  Like they say, democracy may be messy and disorganized, but it's superior to every other messy, disorganized (and frequently violent) system...more later (if) things develop.  The major winners here will be the kransky stands and the school athletic teams trying to fund those new warmup suits if they decide to hold another election.

By the way, if any of you get a posting like this more than once it means I have done something to correct an error or have added information to it.  You get it automatically because you are on auto distribution - there's only 10 of you, because that's all I am allowed to put on auto distribution.  I have put mostly family on auto distribution.  Everybody else has to say to themselves "Hang on...I haven't checked Chuck and Debbie's blog lately to get the REAL story on the Australian Presidential Election or to check on the state of birdlife in their backyard..." (as I type this, it sounds like an aviary back there - yesterday we had sulphur-crested cockatoos).

Election Update: Australian parties seek backing of independents

Remember what I said below about the Greens and independent parties?  Well, this is now a historic election, as for the first time since 1943, Independents will decide which party controls Parliament (and thereby gets to select the new Prime Minister).  It looks like potentially Tony Abbott (the guy who was third-place in selection for Leader of his own party...) may have a one-seat majority but don't rule Julia out.  Nobody expected her to throw Kevin Rudd under the bus and she's very, very smart.  The Greens are now much more powerful and while that's not business-friendly, something needs to be done about the disappearing Murray River and Julia has promised she would do something about it if she got Greens support.  Good AP article provides a breakdown:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/08/22/AR2010082200428.html?hpid=moreheadlines


More later.

Election Day in Australia

Well, yesterday was the day everyone was waiting for.  I can't believe the campaign was SIX WEEKS long.  Who do these Australians think they are, anyway?  The 2012 Presidential Campaign began the DAY AFTER the election.  I just don't feel I can find out enough about a candidate unless I have FOUR YEARS to absorb all of the minutiae of the candidate's personal and professional life.  While I find their system of allowing the party to pick the Prime Minister strange, I really like their shortened campaign period.  The median is not littered with competing campaign signs, although they could very well show up at your door.

According the the Washington Post, it's too close to call and it could be a week before they know for sure:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/08/21/AR2010082100665.html

Another thing I like is compulsory voting - or you get a fine.  Now that may well bring in the "nutters" or the uninformed, but it still reminds the lazy that they do have a civic responsibility to execute (occasionally) - or it's less money for beer and chips down at the Footy Club.

We even got a ballot.

You have to mark it as they tell you or your ballot is "informal" and is discarded.  A friend of ours explained to us all the strategies for marking it in certain ways and frankly, it sounded like you were at the track and trying to win the Trifecta.

Interestingly, the "Liberal" candidate (think conservative) Tony Abbott only became his party's leader  3 years ago because the two leading guys couldn't get enough of a majority.  The "Labour" candidate Julia Gillard (the present PM) who recently did a Brutus on the Prime Minister and leader of the Party Kevin Rudd because he was slipping in the polls and she wanted to ensure a Labour win by calling an early election, has had to endure a lot of crap from the media here because she is unmarried, childless, and lives with her "partner" (her erstwhile male hairdresser).  The Australian media can really be a pain about this sort of thing and it's emblematic of a peculiar Australian habit know as the "Tall Poppy Syndrome" in which individual ambition and success is viewed with suspicion and thus you must of course be cut down to size to remind you that you aren't any more special than anyone else.  Historians may have pinpointed the likely reason for this, but when I mention it Australians get a little defensive, and I have to live here, so I will let Slate magazine describe it for me and the unfair way it is applied to Julia Gillard:

http://www.slate.com/id/2264377?wpisrc=xs_wp_0001

Here's some headlines on election day:

And not that this has anything to do with the election, but perhaps it's affecting Australian marriages?  It's probably Julia's fault.

Anyway, there was a hive of activity yesterday around the schools as people came in to vote.  The local charities use it as an opportunity to raise money and they set up "sausage sizzles" and coffee stands to capitalize on all the compulsory voters standing around.  So I wandered down to Yarralumla Primary School yesterday and was the object of some curiosity given I didn't HAVE to be there - but then I wanted a "kransky" (smoked sausage) with fried onions.  That's the line to vote in the background.

I almost forgot - there are also smaller parties such as the Greens and believe it or not a Hunting and Fishing Party.  The Greens do have influence because you need them to get a solid majority here.  They are pretty much single-issue - the environment - but that's OK because there are some problems here, like the once-might Murray River that's a shadow of its former self due to too much water being drained off for irrigation - that must be dealt with.

Strangely, I didn't see any Tony Abbott posters.  The women at my office say that she had lousy hair until she met her current partner, who seems like a regular guy (the "First Bloke").  Julia refers to her opponent Mr. Abbott as "Misterrabbit" which is pretty clever.  You do not want to get into an argument with this woman - at "Question Time" at Parliament she can be scathingly witty.

We went to the theater last night and at intermission here's what it looked like in the lobby as people watched the results, even the little girl below right:

So Australia awaits the results - it's extremely close. We'll report in with more news as it becomes available.

Here's my favorite pair of Australian satirists' take on the election:

Fun With Cats Part III: Honey, have you seen Karnak?

Growing up with this chest on chest in the formal living room of our house in Ohio, I don't think I ever imagined that someday it would be a cat's favorite exercise and hiding place.  Karnak has always loved hiding places and she has adopted this chest because it has so many options.  This would probably drive my Dad around the bend because this was one of his favorite pieces of furniture.  But she's doing no harm and it keeps her happy and exercised.

So the drawers stay open all of the time, except when company comes and then you have to check them before you shut them.

Road crews are the same in Australia...

Lots of guys standing around and of course, one guy with a clipboard.  Just like America! This is work at the roundabout in front of the Russell Offices complex in Canberra.  They are eliminating the huge roundabout and turning it into an "over and under" exchange (see the big hole when I pan right) because of all the car accidents at the former roundabout.  I was nearly hit several times.  The radio station you hear is RPH1, the station that Debbie volunteers at.  The station is for the visually impaired and they read the newspapers in the morning (Debbie's accent is popular), which is really useful on the drive to work.  1125 on your Australian AM dial.


Untitled from Charles Ikins on Vimeo.

Christmas in July in Australia

We noticed that even though Christmas is in December, just like where you are (I assume), down here it's cold in July and in the mountains it snows (pictures in a bit).  So many Australians yearn for some Christmas while it's cold (meanwhile, the Washington DC metropolitan area is wilting under a heat wave) that this is a very popular type of event and you see all kinds of organizations having them.  Because Debbie is a member/news reader of the local public radio station for the visually impaired (RPH 1, Turning Print Into Sound, 1125 on your Australian AM dial) we were provided the opportunity to attend this annual dinner put on by the Australian National University.  It was a traditional dinner held in the Great Hall (think Harry Potter - I kept expecting a white owl to swoop in and deliver the mail).  The paintings on the walls are by a noted Australian painter, Leonard French, and portray some of the history of Australia.  I don't normally like art of this type, but for some reason I very much like his colors and shapes (and the fact that for once I can understand what the artist was painting).

Now in the States this is normally a charity event, but not down here (at least at this one).  It's simply a traditional dinner for folks who want to experience a sort of English Christmas.

We went with our friend Janet from up the street (you can see her standing in front of me as the boar's head is carried by - it was at her initiative that we attended).  She is originally from South Africa and used to live next door to Archbishop Desmond Tutu, and has fascinating stories to tell.  Her husband, a scientist, is just coming out with a book and we'll be attending the book launch.  She also reads the news at RPH1.
 

The Great Hall at University House, ANU

Caroling in the Boar's Head (ewwww)! from Charles Ikins on Vimeo.

I don't know if anybody ate this or not.

Of course, they sang this crowd pleaser....

Christmas in July University House ANU July 2010 from Charles Ikins on Vimeo.

The food was soup, traditional roast turkey (roll), sweet potato, etc.  You would have thought it was December and in fact it made us a little homesick.  After dinner we sang traditional carols.  It really was a fun evening, and it was interesting watching the tables of foreign students taking this all in.

I guess at Christmas we'll be snorkeling on the Great Barrier Reef...