Well, folk me

Apparently folk fashion is making a comeback (possibly after having been on an extended caravaning holiday to Bega).

I *knew* I should have bought that folksy shirt last Friday. But no, I resisted and now what do I find?

Well... That I've probably saved myself from looking psuedo-ethnic-hippy and fitting in, fashion-wise, around here all together too well. Also, there would have been repair work I'd have had to do to the shirt.

There's already a lot of things on my "to repair" list, so by the time I'd fixed it, folk would be out of fashion and the Tudor ruff would have made a reappearance. On the bottom of high-waisted leggings attached to an incredibly over-sized bag with an Olsen twin in it.

Aside: I note with interest that the "new romantic" fashion looks heavily influenced by dresses and so on from the 1970s. Except not in mission brown.

I miss smoking.

Now, let's get one thing clear. I've never smoked in my entire life, so I don't mean I miss me smoking. Nope, not even as a teenager doing the ooooh-rebellious-smoking thing (and I've not managed to set myself on fire yet, either).

What I miss is the way Germans smoke. Mainly because it made me laugh.

Here in Australia, often people mostly smoke in a way that's as surreptitious as possible, sneaking in a cigarette while looking around in a way that seems to imply they're expecting someone from the anti-smoking lobby (or just a random passer-by) to leap out and randomly assault them with a fire extinguisher.

After all, smoking is pretty restricted here and it does seem like not all that many people do it. Although, admittedly, our population is about one quarter of Germany's. Smoking in public areas has been banned in South Australia for ages, I think the laws restricting it more are starting soon (or have started) in Victoria, etc. Not many places allow it freely.

In Germany smoking is free-range, and lots of people do it. And it's done in the least surreptitious way possible, more like, "Yes. I am enjoying zis zigarette. Und ven I finish it, I might just have anozzer." *insert long, pleasure-filled draw on cigarette* "Und... I vill enjoy zat one too. If you don't like it, I shall extinguish it on your tongue."

Should have bought a gas mask from the Russian guys in Berlin, though. The smoking in restaurants is a bit gross. But the "smoking stations" at airports and train stations were amusing.

I think if you had to put up with it long-term, rather than simply on holidays, it would have become something really irritating. So hurrah for being back in Australia where smoking is a social evil!

For something different, although still somewhat sombre, another photo I took of the Denkmal für die ermordeten Juden Europas in Berlin. I think the overwhelming first impression was of coffins, then that thought gave way to pondering past horrors and loss.

Wandering around the memorial, considering it all, eventually led to being curled up on one of the slabs, crying onto my Mum's shoulder, because what happened to anyone Hitler wanted to get rid of was so horrible, the bravery of those who resisted and saved people's lives, the massive losses of life relating to war, potential snuffed out, future generations never given the chance...

And that human nature hasn't learned...

I'm really not sure what to think of the "send in the troops" solution to the problem of child sexual abuse in Aboriginal communities around Australia. Teams of troops and police being sent to the Northern Territory as part of the crack-down within days has led to a number Aboriginal and community leaders and groups delivering an open letter to the PM to ask if the methods for intervention could be changed (in some ways, I can see why people are seeing this as a rather scary response - imagine if the army was coming to sort your community out!) (also, it seems divisive).

I don't think anyone would disagree with there needing to be something done about the abuse of children in any community. But maybe something could have been done a little earlier instead of waiting for an election. I mean major crisis. I remember watching Lateline last year sometime before my ABC reception died (so it must have been early last year) and a woman talking about a study into abuse in Indigenous communities and how it had been found to be a major problem.

Nothing was done back then, by either State, Territory or Federal governments but bickering. This is something that should be above politics, though, and using it as a political tool of some variety just seems very cynical indeed... Particularly when it comes after years of sitting-on-hands (all while pointing fingers - most uncomfortable!!!).

The chief executive of Anglicare Australia, Dr Ray Cleary, has asked why it's taken so long for the government "to recognise something that the wisdom and experience of agencies like ours have been saying for 20 years." So successive governments have obviously failed to do something about the problem. After two decades of aid agencies acknowledging problems in Indigenous communities, though, you sort of think, "Well, why hasn't someone been listening and doing something about this??"

And this sudden reaction seems half-baked at the best, particularly when there seems to have been no real consultation with health professionals, governments, councils, Aboriginal leaders, etc. Okay, I hear you say abuse needs a quick reaction initially to help the people who are in the situation of being abused. Yes. But how to do it in consultation with Indigenous leaders and all without seeming like whitefella comes in, makes all the rules, rides out feeling brave and heroic while not much changes? Particularly when we have the history we do with the Stolen Generation and generally treating Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islanders as second-class citizens?

You also have to ask where the funding will come from, where the extra doctors necessary for the health checks for all children will come from (considering the current rural doctor crisis), how this will impact the police forces, just how banning alcohol and pornography and making the Aboriginal people clean their houses is going to stop children being raped?

Indigenous Affairs Minister, Mal Brough, reckons this will take about five years to sort out. There's more about that by Tim Colebatch here.

Little Children are Sacred is the report that's put a fire under the PM and it makes it pretty clear that this isn't something that will just be able to be cleared up nice and quickly - it's more likely going to take decades. The report says that sexual abuse is something that's often the result of social breakdown and wouldn't this imply that society will need to be rebuilt? The report itself says: "Put simply, the cumulative effects of poor health, alcohol, drug abuse, gambling, pornography, unemployment, poor education and housing and general disempowerment lead inexorably to family and other violence, and then on to sexual abuse of men and women and, finally, of children."

Yikes.

All of those things need to be worked on... Rebuilt, repaired, re-educated... And with cooperation and input from the Aboriginal communities. And it's going to take money, time, effort, willingness to change, etc, not just the army in there for five years and some health checks (plus making sure your house is neat). You can't just treat the symptom here, but have to work back through all of the problems that tumble into line behind it. And arguing that Aboriginal people just need to get some jobs is just blah. Rural employment is hard enough to get in most areas. So they should move to where the jobs are is the next argument. But how do you get a job without skills, education, etc? Unless you get one that pays you less than being on the dole and means you're away from your ancestral home.

Ugh. It's depressing. The cynical, tired side of me says it's still political points-scoring, more likely to further alienate the Aboriginal people and like the 2007 version of Children Overboard. Is the rest of the electorate going to see it as such? Who knows. There are more than enough people out there already prejudiced against Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

Okay, I think I can't ponder this more at the moment without my brain wanting to explode, so you can check out more thoughts about this that I've found interesting here, here and here.

Also, the Northern Territory Government's Inquiry report into child abuse can be found here (download the PDF file). Although the report is long and depressing, the section on Myths (4.2) is particularly interesting, noting that the perpetrators are a mix of Indigenous and non-Indigenous people. So what does this mean for the communities and Aboriginal people themselves, who seem to be the ones blame is being apportioned to? Hmm.

Scents and Scentsibility

Last night I was having some aimless time in the bathroom trying to organise things but not really succeeding.

Most of it involved putting perfumes into order (there are quite a lot now, with the most recent additions to the collection being the three I bought in Germany and then another since coming home).

I sprayed on a little of the newest one and suddenly I was back in Germany in a small town called Schwendi, in the town's Schlecker (I love their supermarket names. Nay, their supermarkets! They have nothing in them that you'd expect in a supermarket and everything you wouldn't! 'Tis like magic). That was the first place I tried the perfume on and didn't buy it there when I should have... (and ended up buying when I got home)

But the memories!

It was almost like I was seeing everything again from the day in my mind's eye. The discovery that pear and apple juice in their otherwise-attrocious sparkling mineral water made it delicious. Helping to clean the rooms hired for the reception in the castle thing there (and how dusky and cold it was compared to outside). The 1970s design of Andrea's dad's house. Meeting the families of our friends (and Tobi's oldest brother saying, "I will prefer to address you by the German version of your name"). Nivea Creme in lovely blue tins. Making the effort to speak German (with strangers), Spanish coming to my mind more rapidly. Perfect weather. The smell of cows. Andrea's dad having the same name as my grandpa. The Autobahn. Being very content.

It's amazing how a scent can do something like that. And it doesn't have to be perfume. Stuff like freshly-mowed grass or foods or paper or books or rain on hot asphalt or anything really. You smell it and bam, back comes a memory of another place or time or person.

Then again, there's just some scents that are perfume-only and can be most fascinating. Like Bvlgari's Aqva. Or Dior Higher. Men wearing those just smell too good! I'm sure even James Packer could seem attractive while scented-up with either of those. Or maybe not. No, it'd have to be not. I still have eyes.

I'm still waiting for the parcel I sent home to myself while on holidays to arrive - so not happy about it apparently having disappeared with a pair of my boots, two shirts (both good ones), a bag and a whole lot of chocolate!

I WANT MY THINGS, DAMMIT!

If they don't arrive this week (already a week longer than they said it should be for arrival), I think I'll cry and then see if there's any way possible of finding out just what the heck happened to them.

But dammit. I want my things!!! There's probably some guy in customs at the moment eating my chocolate and parading around in my boots and shirts, totting around the bag!

*ahem*

That may just be my vivid imagination, though.

In other thoughts, one thing I was really hoping to get in England was a perfume called Inis. You wouldn't believe it, but every place I looked for it had recently sold out of it, was waiting for the next lot of it to come from stockists, had discontinued stocking it just last week, blah blah.

Of all the times for that to be the case!

Oh well... Guess there's always ordering it online to resort to...

This monastery in Blaubeuren, near Ulm in Germany, was the first place we visited as tourists while staying with our friends. Not only was the area gorgeous, but the monastery itself - dating from something like 1085 - was exquisite. It felt so peaceful being there and the elegant simplicity of the artworks and architecture provided a perfect environment for reflection (and somehow it all drew your eyes upwards).

Add to that the visit to the Ulmer Münster, St Georg's church, Marienskirche, other beautiful churches around Germany, gorgeous cathedrals in England... The amazing works of art in terms of statues, paintings, just the simple decorations; the way the architects of the buildings manage to create spaces that feel truly peaceful and sacred (and jolly cold on occasion... but that's the magic of thick stone walls).

Then visiting the Pergamon and Altes Museums in Berlin, there was some amazing artwork from religions from even longer ago. Statues, vases, carvings, scrolls, special holders for sacred texts... Expressions of personal and public faith, people using their talents to glorify what they believe in.

Religion has created so many beautiful things.

And then it's also been so wrong sometimes. I think people like to seize on the wrong things and use them as their reasons for avoiding religious experiences, which can be beneficial. But even for me as a Christian, there are a lot of things I'm not comfortable with in Christian history - there seemed to be a lot of smiting going on and the use of a particular denominational belief to go wild on hating others from another denominational belief (and then add the way women tend to get the rough end of the stick courtesy of religious leaders going, "My God, it's a woman! Shouldn't she be back in the kitchen!?") (and Christian fundamentalists).

The recent honours given to Salman Rushdie by the Queen that have irritated peope in Iran, etc because they feel that The Satanic Verses were an insult to the prophet and the way in which the honours have renewed their flag-burning, fatwa-issuing desires have made me wonder how often religions - and no, I do not mean only Islam, even though the reaction of people in Iran has triggered the train of thought - are used to destroy rather than build up.

While we were in England, we went to Winchester Cathedral where the guide told us about how the Puritans came through and smashed the windows in the church, dug up and desecrated the graves of the Saxon kings and generally tried to wreck as much as they could because they thought icons, memorials, statues, etc were bad and their way of worship was the one true way. By getting rid of the windows that showed scenes from the Bible, destroying statues and so on, they were "purifying" the church.

One cannot help but feel angry about such desecration. I think people doing things like that says more about their own problems with faith and religious experiences than it does about those they're trying to make see the errors of their ways. If people feel so insecure knowing that there are other forms of worship out there or that people don't believe as they do or whatever it might be that they have to go out and act violently, how can that be expected to reflect well on their "faith"?

Reading more about the way in which people sought freedom with puritanism actually ended up being more repressed than ever, particularly with those who moved to America (witch trials anyone?), also raises questions about the way in which the beauty that can be part of religious experience can be utterly annihilated by a few people being morons.

And that's not something that's just confined to the past and no religion has a monopoly on it. There's fear of other expressions of faith and the desire to destroy the "foreign" or "other" things. Maybe that says more about our conditions as humans than about our religious experiences, though.

It's a shame that there's not more of an effort to stop and look at the potential for beauty.

Things that amused me...

> It instantly made me think of that old saying, "Does a bear s**t in the woods?" The answer would have to be, "You'd think so, but he'd probably be a bit wary of German toilet paper, which resembles sandpaper in terms of texture and isn't the sort of invigoration everyone appreciates."


> The British outdoor-reared sausage. I don't know why but I immediately thought of sausages roaming freely across the fields accompanied by "Borrrrrrrrrrrn freeeeeeee!!" all shot in slow motion. But then again, I probably have had too much of The Goodies.


> The ice-cream in the middle of the bottom row's name says it all.

The Frozen Chosen

So. From 30+ delicious Summer temperatures in Germany and England to brrr-inducing weather here and snow today! Had to go up at lunchtime (well, who wouldn't!?) and it was loads of fun. I *heart* snow THIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIS much! *stretches arms far apart*

More Berlin

> Near the Brandenburg Gate. For a small fee, these guys would give you either a Russian or American Berlin Wall-era passport stamp.

> Statue at the front of the Altes Museum.

> Hammer and anvil on glass at the front of a disused Soviet-looking appartment building in Berlin.

Photos from Berlin

> Denkmal für die ermordeten Juden Europas in Berlin. I bawled my eyes out there in public, which made other people stare at me curiously. The memorial consists of a 19,000 square meter site covered with 2711 concrete slabs.

> Berlin Wall remnants in Potsdammer Platz.

> Denkmal für die ermordeten Juden Europas. Maybe it made me cry because it was so horrible that all of these people were murdered without the country standing up for them and saying, "Enough!" Maybe it was because I was wondering whether I'd be brave enough to help rescue others. Maybe it was for those who lost their lives, those who were never given a potential for life...

Random images from Ulm (part 1)

Um Ulm herum...

> Ducks!

> A statue of King Wilhelm (I think it was??) near the church where Tobi and Andrea got married.

> Mehr Bildung für Faschisten. Very random, but I had to take a photo of that. It was on a lamp post on a path that ambled past the Danube.

> The Ulmer Münster, which features the tallest church spire in the world that apparently takes about an hour and a half to two hours to climb, apparently ending in a narrow staircase. No thanks... The church is beautiful, though, both inside and out.

> Roses in a rose garden near the Danube. Tobi teased me mercilessly about taking photos of flowers all the time on holidays (including telling his brothers, in German, all about me snapping lots of flower pics and looking surprised when I just said, in German, that flowers are beautiful and deserve to be photographed ;).

Because you can't go to Barvaria as a tourist and not go to Neuschwanstein...

The top two photos are of the castle (which you're not allowed to take photos inside of, so everyone snaps off about 300 photos of the outside, the mountains around it, trees, other tourists being tourists, etc) and the bottom one is the view straight down from Marienbrücke, the bridge that runs across the Pollät Gorge behind the castle.

We walked up the back Summer-route only way to the castle, through forests, up steep steps, along a little metal bridge on the gorge wall, following a rushing stream and featuring very few tourists indeed. The walk that way is meant to take around an hour to do, but we managed it in about 40 minutes. And by the time I got to the top, I was thinking, "Lord have mercy, not a good idea only three weeks after major surgery!"

But it was all good! You know how it is when you see beautiful things. It takes away any whinging you might have thought of doing about how hiking is unpleasantly hot-and-sweaty making.

Thankfully there was some time to rest when we arrived at the castle, as our tour didn't start for another half hour or so. We were in the 463rd tour group for the day. No, not kidding there. And I'd say there would have been another 463 tours after us, too.

Our tour group featured some tourists who could only be described as stereotypical American tourists, which did provide some amusement for the rest of the people in the tour group (including a large number of non-stereotypical American tourists, I might add). Of course we were all on an English-speaking guided tour. After the guide, who did have a German accent to her English but was perfectly easy to understand, had led us through the first room, an American lady behind us said in all seriousness to her companion, "But I thought we were on the English-speaking tour!"

Heh.

The castle inside - what's been completed of it - is gorgeous. Decadant, Wagnerian, intricate, painted and carved and gilded from a to z and the silver swan tap in Ludwig's bedroom that was fed by a spring 150 meters above the castle is worth the hike just to see.

Aaaaaaaaaand then the seriously steep hike up to Marienbrücke. So much hiking. No wonder none of the Germans are fat! But the view from the bridge is fantastic and probably the position the castle's most photographed from. And then down the steep, steep mountain to the touristy shops at the bottom to buy a reviving ice-cream and many touristy things like postcards and a Neuschwanstein keyring, made in France.

Which seems somewhat odd...

Why we didn't end up going to Rostock...

Very touristy, of course, to go to Stonehenge, but we weren't too far from it and it was on our way to seeing some family heritage stuff.

The strangest thing that happened there was standing near a guy and his mother, both of whom were talking in Russian with Russian accents (of course), and then him turning to me and saying in the most Cockney accent, "Would you mind takin' a photo of me and me mum?" 'Twas kind of hard not to look surprised... But I took a couple photos for them.

Stonehenge was really beautiful, though. There were lots of tourists there, of course, but somehow it had quite a strong spiritual feeling to it of some variety. Must have taken a lot of effort to put together and it's a shame that there's parts of it missing. Would have been interesting to see in its fullness.

The Fur Hat

I bought this simply enormous hat in Berlin at a stall run by a number of Russian men, selling all sorts of Soviet-era memorabilia from Babushka dolls to gas masks to Stasi hats to various furs.

And I did think of Taylor when I saw the hammer and sickle caps. But never ended up buying anything like that. Although I guess I would have looked somewhat less ridiculous wearing a Soviet military cap than a fur hat that's big enough to appear to be eating my head.

Oh well!

With the weather that I've come back to - like it being 5 degrees when I arrived at Melbourne airport on Friday - this kind of hat is definitely a welcome addition to life and makes things so much warmer. And isn't there talk of snow tomorrow down to 600 meters or something? Brrr.

Things I Love About Germany

> European down-filled pillows.

> Hot German men.

> The amazing countryside - green, lush, beautiful trees, rivers, cute little villages, all so post-card perfect.

> The history - everything has something historic connected to it almost. And there are so many old things! And so beautiful. Such wonderful artwork. The old buildings really are amazing.

> The bread. I cannot emphasise this enough. The bread is like multiorgasmic tastebud orgies of goodness.

> Getting to spend time with local people not as a tourist but as a friend; getting to know others, sharing time with them and having lots of fun.

> Laughing so hard and so long my face hurts.

> The fact that you're meant to drive like a maniac on the Autobahn. My favourite!

> Shops. All so interesting, little supermarkets that have strange assortments of things that make no sense, really cheap clothing and shoes, perfume at reasonable prices, bakeries with breads, cakes, etc. Oh! And scooters at the supermarket in the mall. For sale. At the supermarket! Awesomeness. I love scooters.

> Nice cars. Nice fast cars. Although the thing about almost everyone having two-door cars is a pain. There's no elegant way to enter or exit them if you have to sit in the back seat - you've got your arse sticking out awkwardly either way.

> Tod im Arsch. Hui. Tschüß. Also... Tod im Arsch is the best. Hummeln im Hintern is also good. Finster. Servus.

> Shoes for €12. Brand spankin' new ones. For €12. For reals!!! They have jeans here for like €4,50. So cool.

> Chocolate. The chocolate here really is that good. And was on sale for 59 cents a block. I know!!! While in Australia we're paying like $4 a block! Insanity!!! I want to live in Germany!

Yay, I'm in Germany!

And I'll write more when I can think of things to say in a cohesive fashion. It's been really busy since we got here, but so much fun. The people are friendly, the food is fantastic, the countryside is amazingly gorgeous, the men (up to around the age of 35) are seriously hot and it's all very, very good.

Seen so much and taken a ridiculous number of photos. Hurrah! And now I have to hurry up and get ready for the wedding and have some breakfast and so on.

Spork!

It's only a black, plastic spork. But it is indeed a spork.

Happy days.

And now, I return to packing. What does one take to Germany and England for Summer months? Apparently the relatives are saying it's been 12 degrees where they are in the UK and I'm like, "What?! It's nearly Winter here and 20 degrees!"

At least the camera case is packed.

The 21st Century is when it all changes...

In the words of Owen Newitt of The Vicar of Dibley, "Well, bugger me!"

Last night I saw ads on Channel 10 with a rather familiar face.

It was Captain Jack Harkness, that voraciously bi, time-traveling minx!

Those of you who've watched Dr Who would know who he is and how he ties into the story there. Dr Who has been on the ABC here in Australia, though, and I was really hoping they'd be the ones who'd be showing Torchwood - it would make more sense, really. Particularly since there are so many elements to the whole Torchwood Institute that really need a prior viewing on the past two series of Dr Who to make the most sense out of them (eg: battle of Canary Wharf, why Torchwood exists, etc).

But still, the series is rather good, even if it did make me want to do bodily harm to the character of Owen by the end of it. So if you're feeling like some nerdy goodness, definitely watch it :)

Of Joe Hockey, WorkChoices and Prettiness

Yesterday I was surprised to see Joe Hockey, Federal Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations, admitting that they "bungled" their industrial relations overhaul by not being careful about key aspects of the "WorkChoices" laws. Even more surprised to hear him say that the reason Julia Gillard, shadow minister for the same portfolio, is more popular because she's "prettier" than he is, as I heard on the news this morning.

Rather peculiar, and can we move on from how female politicians look or how many kids they have to what policies they present now please? If our politics were based purely on looks, I don't think John Howard would have been Prime Minister for quite so long - not with those eyebrows at least. But while on the topic of looks, Joe Hockey is rather cuddly-cute...

So it should be that we're looking fairly and squarely at "WorkChoices," which are seeming more and more like "WorkInflictions" when you hear more and more stories about rights of workers being abused by employers around Australia, with penalty rates being stripped, along with other employment conditions you'd think would be pretty standard to have included in any job - things like overtime, meal allowances, public holiday loading...

Also don't understand how making the laws more fair or getting rid of them would root the economy beyond repair as the government is saying would happen if Labor repeals the laws. It seems silly, seeing how it would really just take worker's rights back to around 2004 or so, not send our nation hurtling back into the middle ages - although I'm sure the way the government of the day handles thing does have an impact on the economy, surely so does the global economy, exports, imports, employment levels, natural resources, etc. The changes the government itself is introducing to its IR laws apparently aren't impressing many people anyways.

All that comes after the PM saying the other day that the current government is facing "annihilation" at the coming election, which was surprisingly frank. Although I think it comes mostly as an attempt to grab the underdog status and try to make voters think voting for the Liberals would be a good idea because of how long they've served us. His point that after 11 years of the Liberals leading the nation, Australians are looking for a change is right, has some merit though.

Personally, I used to be a supporter of the Liberals back in the day. But over the years I've drifted significantly toward the Labor party, although I haven't always liked their leaders (prime example being one Latham, Mark). This has occurred because I don't believe the Liberal government is doing the right thing in the areas of education, health care, social justice, the environment and so on and so I'm optimistically hoping Labor can provide real alternatives on these things.

In the past, Labor's looked strong in polls leading up to elections and still been thrashed.

Of course there was some news about the way Australians seem to be wanting the current government out on its ear come the election on the news this morning. I believe it was Tony Abbott, Federal health minister and roasaries vs ovaries debate-stirrer-upper extraordinaire, who was saying something about how disasterous a change of government would be if Australians chose to elect Kevin Rudd. We've had changes of government before and somehow the country hasn't fallen in a screaming heap, so I think that sort of line of argument is rather ridiculous. "The risk of Rudd" to Australia's economic prosperity and future seems a fatuous argument.

But then, I'm a person who works with words, not money, so who knows.

Shoe fashion is dead to me!

At least until next season...

You wouldn't think there could be much wrong with something like Top 100 Shoes.

Well, unless you don't like shoes, or you're a guy sans footfetish or heels aren't your thing or whatever, in which case you might rather spend the morning poking yourself with a spork than cast your eyes over said 100 shoes.

I like shoes, thus it piqued my interest. After all, I have more than 55 pairs of shoes currently (some of which really should go to the Salvos/St Vinnies). Shoes can be works of art. 100 shoes brings the possibilities of many beautiful things.

But this goes down in the "How Wrong I Was" category. I have now been witness to some of the ugliest shoes I have EVER seen, thanks to that Top 100.

Shoes that look like they would be more at home in a Dali painting, expressing his frustration about impotency and sexual disfunction. Shoes that combine elements of this, that and the other, none of which belong together. Shoes in colours I shudder at. Shoes that brought on the spontaneous urge to vomit. Shoes half-mummified. Shoes that would make Elton John go, "Oh, I say, a bit over the top...". Shoes that were flat-out revolting.

Although there were one or two (or three) cute exceptions, and a few good for curiousity's sake. And one exception to that colour thing.

But so much wrongness! Gah!

My eyes feel so violated!

Thank-you Amy!!!

Okay, so I know I said no more about the sick thing, but this is about getting well! And he's so cute. And he came with cookies and dried figs. Mmm... Again, thanks Amy!

I promise I won't write more about being ill, surgery, health issues, doctors, paying lots of money for stuff, realising being a doctor is the career path I should have chosen, etc, but I just have to say...

I thought hot doctors were a myth!

Although a friend, Deb, has had the luck of seeing one recently, I really was beginning to dispair of there being such things, at least here in Australia.

Today I had to go back to the hospital - one of the wounds is giving me grief and I've been having pain around the op site, so wanted it checked out.

The doctor was HOT!

Okay, he was probably old enough to be my dad, but he was seriously hot. And he liked my sense of humour (although maybe that was just because he found it amusing to poke my fat tummy and make me laugh...).

There should be more hot doctors.

Also, I think I have the most poked, prodded, examined and looked-at tummy in the area at the moment. But there still won't be post-surgery photos!

The Joy of Sects?

Tonight I actually watched Today/Tonight, that paragon of quality journalism *cough cough* (Side note: A Current Affair had a nice fluff-piece about Scientology - interesting to note that James Packer is reportedly into Scientology.)

It was because the doco John Sweeney had done about Scientology, Scientology and Me, was on it in full, and I was somewhat curious to see it following the shouty Scientology YouTube thing that had been on the news the other evening. Especially to find out what context it was in.

Rather peculiar, the entire thing!

Although I'm a Christian and that's vastly different to being a Scientologist, I really don't see why the Scientologists had to be so defensive about their beliefs or when questions were asked about being a "cult." You'd think that if they were open and had a bit of a laugh about the "cult" stuff, they'd have come across a lot more sanely. Or even if they'd just used the interviews to dispel some of the myths(?) about the religion and speak openly.

When people get ultra-serious, thin-lipped and angrily defensive about any subject, you kind of wonder what it is they're feeling they need to hide. I know Scientology's been called a "dangerous cult" regularly in the past and they probably are on the defensive from the out-set because of that. However, I'm sure there are a lot of people who are genuinely interested in what the belief system is of Scientology and what they have to offer in terms of spiritual experience and would have been interested in seeing what Scientologists had to say.

The creepy thing about it all was all of the "stalking" of the journalist that went on. He was half-way through an interview with a guy and the Scientologist guy, Tommy Davis, turns up, brandishing papers and going on about how the man is a pervert and degenerate and can't be trusted. Why barge in on an interview with no real purpose other than to call someone a perv?

Add to that the same Scientology guy knocking on the door of the loo when Mr Sweeney and his team were trying to have a break from being filmed by Scientology cameramen and demanding to know what they were doing... Just deeply odd.

John Sweeney has written some thoughts post-doco that are interesting to read (Row over Scientology video). I also found this pretty interesting, in terms of the comments. There's lots of pro-Scientology stuff out there, too if you do some google or technorati hunting.

According to Sandy Smith, Panorama (and Sweeney's) boss, the church originally agreed to be involved, lined up celebrities to interview and then sent lawyers letters to request the removal of the interviews. To my mind, it would have been better to have people who are currently in the religious group and feel positive about it taking part.

I know things are edited in production and angles are taken, but the way stuff was handled by the Scientologists was really poor form. And then trying really hard to discredit the BBC doco - why?

Everyone has different attitudes about things in life, obviously, regardless of how much you try to control other's pereceptions of what you're like as a person/group/religious organisation/ business/etc. Creepy or out-right rude behaviour isn't going to endear you to many people.

I guess my thoughts about the whole thing is that Tommy Davis didn't do Scientology any favours - especially with the stalking and personal-space invading finger-pointing stuff - and it would have been interesting to hear what Scientology celebs have to say about what they believe.

That said, John Travolta's still pretty spunky.

Hmm.

What can I say about surgery other than I remember nothing. And couldn't wake up properly for hours on end afterwards. And was apparently telling everyone I loved them. Which is unusual for me.

Now I'm back to telling everyone I hate them (just kidding!), especially with how I wasn't given painkillers on being discharged. So I went for more than 24 hours without sweet, sweet drugs. Oddly enough, that was nowhere near as painful as the whole gallbladder attack kind of thing. But I like the painkiller thing now I've got it.

Had to go back to the hospital to get everything sorted out, which didn't take too long and they had Brainiac on telly. Richard Hammond... Mmm!

Now I can't eat much for the next three or so months, am only allowed to introduce tiny bits of fat into my diet a little at a time, no chocolate, no biscuits, no nothing decadant. I'm going to take a spare suitcase to Germany just for yummy things, I think.

Thanks to everyone who sent messages and so on to me over the weekend :D And the nurses and doctors were all lovely, which was great. The cuts aren't that painful and you may be surprised, but I'm not posting photos *lol* I know, bit of a difference... But surgery photos are bound to be gross!

It's not the best photo, but there... The magical new nailpolish! Although it's used on my toes. But it's pink! And shiny!

And I'm having surgery tomorrow.

Eek.

Hopefully it goes well.

If it does, there will obviously be more blogs forthcoming. If not, well... I suppose it might be quiet 'round here!

Be good, y'all ;)

What a circus.

Woke up this morning around 2.30am, sick as a dog. Managed to get back to sleep, but woke up a few more hours later and am still sick.

Ring the local doctor when the medical group opens. Go in for appointment... Wait for doctor, musing over my gladness that I hadn't managed to lose an arm or been bitten by a red-bellied black snake or something "urgent."

See the doctor. Pain, pain, pain. Doctor tells me to get to hospital ASAP and so I head home to get organised to do so. I'm nearly all the way to the hospital when my phone rings.

It's my surgeon. He tells me not to come in. Surgery will be on Friday and there's no point to me coming in early. When I'm almost there. Noice. So handy. But I know that's not his fault though. Apparently my doctor hadn't contacted him earlier or something. I mean, it's two and-a-half hours later when I get the call. Which would have been handy if I was at the hospital. Or dead in a ditch or something.

Anyways. Fortunately it's near the bus station and I can grab public transport for the return trip home. While I'm waiting I get a call from the admissions officer confirming Friday and giving me instructions for what to do, when to be there, etc.

Rather an irritating day on the whole. And in some ways, I'm now thinking, "Well, I hope that what they've said is the problem actually is the problem. I don't want to be dealing with this sort of thing overseas."

So I bought hot, metallic pink nailpolish while I was waiting to head back home. Somewhat more cheering than all the crap today's managed to provide.

Ohh, it's the old skull and crossbones stockings taking over the world trick, eh?

Wintery weather means... (drum roll please, Raoul) ...time to break out the stockings. And so far, I've gotten loads of people commenting on how great they look. Happy days! Although this morning an old guy stared at them with mild puzzled horror as if he honestly believed my stockings were planning on single-leggedly take over the world.

Sometimes it's just fun to have quirky accessories. In addition to these little babies, I've also got red-back spider print stockings (which make everyone say "Ooh, you've got spiders on you!" like they're the first to say it) and some of the stripy black and white ones.

A girl can never have too many oddities, really, when it comes to accessories. And that is probably the most important fashion advice I have to impart at the moment. Apart from noting that it's never a good look to wear underwear over outerwear. It might look passable on superheroes, but it's never gonna work for a guy wandering around Newcastle with boxers over his jeans.

Overboard on Children?

I cannot believe that the fertility (or not) of women in politics is an issue.

Yet yesterday, Senator Bill Heffernan decided to stand by comments he made last year about Julia Gillard being "barren" and somehow believes he's right to say it about her because as a leader "You've got to understand your community. . . . One of the great understandings in a community is family and the relationship between mum, dads and a bucket of nappies."

I love the idea that there can be a mum and dads in a family - what would be handier than three or four husbands? But never mind that.

Maybe I'm just being optimistic, but I think Heffernan's really the one who's out of touch (I'd hate to think there's a lot of Australians out there who think the same about being "barren"). The latest figures show that there are 1,962,100 lone-person households in Australia today, compared to 1,798,400 houses occupied by couples living with children. The growth in the trend of living alone has been driven by people under the age of 35, although there's still a somewhat significant portion of alone-dwellers who are in the 65+ group. Almost a quarter of people living alone had never been married and were not in a defacto relationship.*

Not having squeezed offspring forth from your loins doesn't make you a lesser person, and I think in many ways, comments about "barrenness" and how women who haven't had children aren't capable of tying their shoelaces let alone being a deputy leader in a political party are highly insulting to all women. And yet there are probably a lot of people out there who'll nod their heads in agreement with what Heffernan's said instead of thinking to themselves, "Good Lord, what is this uncouth man saying and why doesn't he return post-haste to the rock he apparently belongs under?!"

The merits of women in politics sadly still seem to be based solely on their attributes as women, rather than their abilities. Looks, dress sense, family, how many young'uns they've popped out, what their weight is, whether or not they have fruit in their fruit bowls in the kitchen... It's insane, to say the least, and makes me sad that women are still being judged as objects, particularly by people who have a say in how our nation's run.

"Oh the naughty scamp!" seems to be the likely response from Libs who have possibly a modicum of decency, and Labor leader Kevin Rudd and frontbencher Jenny Macklin are saying an apology should be forthcoming. Perhaps an apology to priests could also be chucked in, seeing how Heffernan says of them, "like the rest of us, wake up with a horn at four in the morning." Or if not to priests, at least to people who had to read that quote and are blessed/cursed with having a vivid imagination.

Anyway. If there are people out there who really think Julia Gillard's childless state makes her less of a leader, I think it really reflects more on their own problems than anyone else's. Unfortunately, Heffernan making stupid comments and maintaining them rather than apologising or extracting himself from the 1850s probably encourages these people in their thinking that childless women are some variety of threat to society.

But then again, according to the writer of the letter to the editor that makes me want to scream the most today in the SMH, daring to get up the duff while you're working is something that means women shouldn't be employed - he'll never employ a woman of childbearing age (what about with childbearing hips?) if Labor wins the election and makes changes to the Industrial Relations laws. Possibly he thinks they should be locked in a cupboard somewhere. Hopefully his wife, if he has one, reads it and gives him a good dressing down when he gets home.

Update: The Heff has made an apology for his comments, even going so far as to say what he'd said was "totally inappropriate."

* The Power of 1, Katherine Fleming, The Bulletin, April 10, 2007.