I went out to local restaurant Rhubarb Rhubarb the other night. I wish I'd been there sooner, and more often. It is fantastic. It was one of the best meals I've had in a long time.
Everything about the meal was pretty much perfect. Even the portion size was nicely judged to leave us satisfied without feeling like we'd eaten too much. I had the ocean trout wrapped in pastry and the fish was tender, tasty and fresh. Highl recommended.
I'll definitely be going back.
Tuesday, March 4, 2008
Rhubarb Rhubarb
Thursday, February 21, 2008
The Apology
Last week, Kevin Rudd apologised to the Stolen Generations on behalf of the Government. About time!
He'd promised that an apology would be one of the first things his new government did. I'm glad he followed through. It's well overdue, since I think it should have been offered years ago. Still, there was no way John Howard would have done this, and even if he had I don't think it would have been as full or as moving as the one offered by Rudd.
I didn't hear the speech directly, but I have read it now. There was a bit of controversy over Brendan Nelsons speech, but I haven't heard or read it so can't really say if it was justified. As the leader of the Liberal party, though, he was always going to get a rough reception on this issue, so it may have been better than reported.
Anyway, here's one link to the full text of the speech. And here's the link directly to the Prime Ministers site.
Monday, February 11, 2008
Interest rate rocket rides
And the other article that got my attention this week was about rising interest rates. Again.
The Reserve Bank lifted rates by 0.25%. My bank then lifted rates by 0.29%. After an earlier rise of 0.1%. I've only had my home loan for 18 months and already rates have gone up almost 2%. It's beginning to hurt.
I've already said that this is my year for not spending money. I don't think that's going to be a choice, really, since everyone is expecting at least one more rise in the next month or so.
Can I still blame John Howard for this??
Sir John and the Jihad
Two news articles got my attention this week. One was about John Howard (groan! hasnt' he disappeared yet?) and the other was about Islamic law in the UK.
First to John Howard. Apparently there are rumours going around that he's about to be knighted by the Queen. Sir John. My first reaction was "Oh God not another John Howard story!" I really am sick of hearing about this man. Now that he's lost the election I was hoping that there would be a Howard-free zone for at least a few more months. But it seems that's not to be - he's still regularly making it into the news.
I hope this rumour is false. It's far too soon to talk about giving him a knighthood. For a start, his time in office is still very recent. It's too soon for his legacy to be judged impartially, to see if he actually merits the honour. For what its worth, I think his first two terms (1996-2001) were competent to average. If he'd lost in 2001 he'd have gone down in history as unremarkable. After 2001, though, I think he and his government went from average to bad and then after 2004 to out-of-control. His legacy from this time will ensure his place in history, and not just as our second longest serving prime minister. The policies implemented during this time were controversial to say the least. In my opinion, many of them have damaged Australia - the rule of law, democracy, reputation, social cohesion, and so on. In some respects an over-reaction was natural after the September 11 attacks. But that over-reaction continued was too long and did too much damage. I think John Howards legacy will come to be seen as largely negative due to his actions since 2001.
Overall, then, I'd say he doesn't deserve a knighthood. And certainly he shouldn't get one yet, until some time has passed and we can all be a bit more impartial in judging him.
The other story was from the UK, where Rowan Williams (Archbishop of Canterbury) seems to have claimed that some elements of Islamic law should be included into the laws of England.
At first I thought this was a bit of a beat-up, with the whole thing being taken out of context. But it seems that he did actually raise the idea of recognising some aspects of Sharia law into the civil law of the UK. He said this would be in the interests of social cohesion and help with community relations in integrating the large and growing Islamic community.
Personally I think its a bad idea. I don't think any specifically religious laws should be included into the law of the state, even (or especially) if they're only designed to apply to one group of people. I think that's a dangerous path to go down.
In my opinion, the state law should be as neutral as possible when it comes to religion and religious rules. It should create an area of legal space in which everyone is judged by the same rules and has equal rights before the law. It should be a space that everyone in the country can recognise as the basis of pretty much all interactions.
After that, if people choose to live to a higher standard (Islamic, Christian, Hindu, Jewish, Buddhist, whatever...) that is up to them. If these people then choose to apply the standards of their religion to interactions between themselves, that's fine with me. That only applies, of course, if all the people involved choose freely to apply those standards. If there's any dispute about that, then the state law is the area to resolve these problems. It can't be used to enforce purely religious standards if a person chooses not to submit to those standards - that's a matter of conscience.
So if religious groups in the UK want to set up their own religious courts, that's fine. But they should have no legal standing in the wider civil law system. Any issue that falls under the wider civil law should still be dealt with that way. If people then choose to follow an extra religious judgement, that's their right but should not be their obligation.
So - incorporating religious law into the basic law of the land is a bad idea. I'm not surprised that the Archbishop has got a lot of criticism. At best his ideas were poorly expressed. At worst, I think they were pretty silly.
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
The Unconscious Civilization
This is one of the books I picked up at Bookfest this January. It's been on my list of books to read for a few years now, so when I saw it on the table I grabbed it. I also grabbed "On Equilibrium" which is now on my to-be-read list. I'll get around to that book one of these days...
I find these types of books to be pretty challenging books to read. It's a book of political philosophy dealing with the history of democracy in Western countries.
John Ralston Saul, the author, seems to be saying that democracy is in trouble. He is saying that Western countries in particualar have allowed themselves to be changed from true democracies into corporatist states - run for and by the big corporations. His main idea, if I've understood this correctly, is that we've done this more or less unconsciously without actually thinking or caring about the consequences.
The evidence seems to be pretty clear. A lot of political effort over the last couple of decades (this book was released in 1996) has gone into economic reform, and the main beneficiaries of that reform seem to be the big corporations and businesses. Governments, elected and otherwise, have handed over a lot of their economic power to these businesses in the name of efficiency and free trade and globalisation.
He also argues that our education systems have been corporatised, too, with the effect that education now is mostly technical. It's aimed at turning out people with good technical skills that are useful to business rather than turning out people with a general education - the focus is on the immediate task in hand rather than the broader goals of equiping people with the skills to be able to think through the consequences of their actions.
Maybe he's being a bit alarmist, maybe I've just misunderstood him. After all, my education is puerly technical - and IT degree with basically no units from the Arts or Humanities faculties. I'm one of the people who haven't been equipped with the intellectual tools to fully assess the state of our society. In general though, I'd agree with a lot of what he said in this book.
As I said, it's the kind of book that I find hard to read and understand in one go.I will have to re-read this, maybe after I've read "On Equilibrium" so that I can get a better handle on his style of argument.
4 stars (provisional on re-reading)
Warholing
"Art is what you can get away with." So said Andy Warhol, according to one of the quotes wallpapered around GOMA on Sunday. And it's very true, too - he got away with quite a lot!
I spent Sunday at the Gallery of Modern Art here in Brisbane, looking through the Andy Warhol exhibition. Like a lot of other people, I'd heard of Andy Warhol without really knowing anything about his work. He was famous for saying that everyone in the future would be famous for 15 minutes. And that, I think, is his 15 minutes summed up right there.
I spent around three hours in the exhibition. Maybe I just didn't get it, but a lot of it, the early works in particular, didn't impress me all that much. His later works, on the other hand, I thought were much better. At least, they appealed to me a bit more. Maybe that just means I'm more in touch with the spirit of the 80's than the 60's...
And I guess that's the point, isn't it? He was a pop artist, consciously so. He was speaking very much in the language and images of the day, reacting to the events immediately around him. He captured a moment in time, sometimes memorably as with his portraits, and then time moved on. The image doesn't speak as loudly any more and will probably continue to fade as we get further away from his time and the ideas that inspired him.
Overall, it's an interesting exhibition. It's more interesting for it's historical value than it's artistic value, I think, but still I'm glad I went.
I bought a fridge magnet at the Andy Warhol Supermarket on the way out. Pop art at its best!
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Bookfesting! Lots and lots of bookfesting!
The full list of books from bookfest...
Rushing To Paradise J.G. Ballard
The Multiple Effects of Rainshadow Thea Astley
The Great World David MALOUF
Earth (A Bantam spectra book) David Brin
The Double Tongue William Golding
The Doubleman Christopher J. Koch
Out of Ireland Christopher Koch
Oyster Janette Turner Hospital
Farewell Symphony Edmund White
Earthly Powers Anthony burgess
Brightness Reef (Uplift) David Brin
Infinity's Shore (The Second Uplift Trilogy #2) David Brin
Heaven's Reach (The Second Uplift Trilogy #3) David Brin
The Unconscious Civilization John Ralston Saul
On equilibrium John Ralston Saul
Love in a dark time Colm Toibin
Emergency Sex (and Other Desperate Measures): True Stories from a War Zone Kenneth; Postlewait, Heidi; Thomson, Andrew Cain
True stories Inga Clendinnen
Not for publication Chris Masters
Is Australia an Asian country? : can Australia survive in an East Asian future? Stephen FitzGerald
The Future of the Wild: Radical Conservation for a Crowded World Jonathan S. Adams
Vital signs, vibrant society : securing Australia's economic and social wellbeing Craig Emerson
At Swim, Two Boys Jamie O'Neill
The Invention of Sodomy in Christian Theology (The Chicago Series on Sexuality, History, and Society) Mark D. Jordan
The Life and Death of Planet Earth Peter Douglas Ward
Red shoes Carmel Bird
Queensland, words and all Manfred Jurgensen
Through the Kaleidoscope J.V. Stevenson
Foreign correspondence Geraldine Brooks
Dear Australian : an anthology based on a selection of the most memorable letters to The Australian, 1964-1981 Phil Pearman
Reflections Tasmania Heather Lethborg
So that's the full list. There's a couple of photos,too, somehwere. So many books! So much goodness!
Monday, January 21, 2008
Bookfesting
I only made on new years resolution this year, and that was to stop spending so much money. This year is all going to be about saving. So in the name of saving, I went shopping! Yes, it's that time of the year again - the Lifeline Bookfest.
All up I made two trips to the Bookfest. The first was on the opening day, Saturday the 12th of January. I spent about five hours wandering around the convention center halls. This time I thought ahead and took the car, even if it did mean paying for parking. Last year I caught the train in and so had to carry my single bag of books home again. This time when I had a full bag I could just run downstairs, dump it in the car and then keep shopping.
The second trip was on the final day, Saturday 19th. Half price day, which is even better than the already-bargain prices of the first trip.
They always have a great range of books, particularly in the hardback fiction, which is where I spent most of my time. There, and on the science/politics/technical tables in the high quality section. I also browsed the science fiction and paperback tables, but the condition of most of the books on those tables was a bit offputting - I like my books to be in good condition. Anyway... and finally there's the lucky dip section of unpriced books, which is mostly rubbish but occaisonally there's something worth grabbing.
Over the two trips I spent around $100 and came home with 30 books. Not bad, really, although now I need a new bookcase. Its a shame they weren't selling them, too! And that's how I'm saving money this year - I bought enough reading material here to keep me going for quite a while. I suppose I could always just use the library more, but I do like owning my books. So it was shopping to save money - i love it!
The full list of books, and photos, will be coming soon...
Apart from that, it's been a very quiet week. Why did I have to go back to work?
Thursday, January 10, 2008
Hells Gates - holiday reading
I picked up Hells Gates by Paul Collins while I was in Hobart. I really do love a good second hand book shop, and the Imperial Bookshop in Collins St, Hobart, is a good one. I picked up this book to add to my collection of books about Tasmania, and Tasmanian history. This one tells the fascinating story of the convict, Alexander Pearce.
The title, Hells Gates, refers to two things. First, Hells Gates is the entrance to Macquarie Harbour on Tasmanias west coast. It's a narrow channel, and the tide roars in and out through it, across a series of shallow sand bars. It's a very dangerous crossing for any ships and so early sailors christened it Hells Gates.
Inside the harbour, though, is Sarah Island. This was the site of a convict station that imprisoned the worst of the worst convicts. It was one of the harshest convict regimes in colonial Australia, and the convicts called it a hell on earth. So Hells Gates was an appropriate name for them too.
The book follows the life of Alexander Pearce, from his early life and conviction in Ireland, through his transportation to Van Diemens Land and his continuing troubles with the law, to his exile at Sarah Island and eventual escape, recapture and execution. Along the way the author shows what life was like in colonial Tasmania. For convicts like Pearce, who could not adjust to the regime and serve their time, it was a very harsh existence.
The main event in the history is Pearce's escape from Sarah Island, a place that was supposed to be completely secure and isolated. The rainforests and mountains of the west coast of Tasmania were supposed to be uncrossable, and so provided the best prison walls available. But Pearce and his companions proved this to be wrong. But to do this, we also see what it cost them - they descended into some of the worst possible human behaivour. Only Pearce survived the escape attempt, and only by turning murderer and cannibal.
That's the heart of this book. It shows us how the worst of human nature can be brought out in people. It also includes a fascinating comparison between colonial and convict attitudes to the local environment compared to contemporary attitudes. The convicts and early settlers saw the pristine rainforests and rugged mountains as hostile and imprisoning, unnatural. Today we look at the same landscape and see beauty, unspoiled wilderness that inspires us. It's still the same place, almost unchanged, and still just as harsh, but how we look at it has changed dramatically. It's an interesting conclusion to the book, making us think about how society and people do change through time.
I think this is a good book, and I will be re-reading it at some point. It's a fascinating story in itself, and it combines that with being well written. Maybe it's just because I enjoy reading about Tasmanian history that I think this is such a good book, but I do think other people would enjoy it too.
3.5 stars, I think.
Tuesday, January 8, 2008
Brisbane weather sucks - should have stayed in Hobart!
I came back from Hobart to spend a couple of days on the beach before heading back to work this week. And guess what it does? That's right - it rains right up until Monday morning. Not happy!!! Anyway...
This is what Kedron Brook looked like on Sunday afternoon after a very heavy storm went through. It's the first time I've seen it break its banks since moving up here. It went down again pretty quickly though, but looked impressive while it lasted.
Now if it would just rain like that over Wivenhoe Dam...
Monday, January 7, 2008
Holiday reading
On a slightly happier topic...
Over the holiday I read:
"By Hook or By Crook" by David Crystal - a book exploring the languages of Britain while driving through Wales. Not bad; well-written, even if not all that memorable in the end.
"Stars in my pocket like grains of sand" by Samuel R Delany. I've wanted to read this for a while now, but haven't been able to find a copy. Apparently the Brisbane City Library system has almost none of his books. So I picked this one up second hand at Salamanca Markets and read it. It was good. Science fiction, of course, set in a distant future with humanity spread across 6000 star systems, and explores the differences in human cultures that have evolved. I'll need to read it again to get a better idea of what its about.
I also picked up "Hells Gates" by Paul Collins, and "Pashazade"and "Effendi" by Jon Courtenay Grimwood, but haven't read them yet.
I hate QANTAS (or, Christmas holidays continued...)
I haven't had a good year with QANTAS. They've now officially managed to stuff me around twice this year (out of two trips, that's a pretty impressive record).
I don't think I wrote about the first stuff-up when it happened. It was a the end of my Vietnam/Cambodia trip, trying to get home to Brisbane. Since I was travelling with friends from Melbourne, our international flight left from there. And returned there. That was fine - I didn't mind that, and it actually saved a bit of money. But from Melbourne back to Brisbane I booked a QANTAS domestic flight. I'd left around 2.5 hours between the international arrival time and the domestic departure, but our Malaysian Airlines flight got in to Melbourne quite a bit earlier than scheduled. That was great - I thought I'd be able to get home earlier than planned. When I went to check in with QANTAS, though, the woman on the checkin desk was pretty rude. I asked if I could get on an earlier flight, since I was now over 3.5 hours early for my booked flight. She checked my backpack through, said she was busy, and told me to go to the service desk. I thought that was a bit strange, especially since she checked my luggage in, but went to the service desk anyway. When I asked about earlier flights they said of course they could do that, right up until they realised that my luggage was checked in. At that point there was apparently nothing they could do. So, because the woman on the check-in desk couldn't be bothered spending 30 seconds to give me some good advice, I was stuck in Melbourne airport with nothing to do for hours. And hours. After a long international flight. I was tired, bored, and now angry. So - strike one against QANTAS.
The second problem was coming home again to Brisbane, this time from Hobart after Christmas. I booked the return trip with QANTAS, but they put me on JetStar for a flight to Melbourne, then connecting to a QANTAS flight to Brisbane. I'm never doing that again. First of all, because I was changing from JetStar to QANTAS and it was all on one booking, I couldn't use the web check-in function. Not a big deal, but a bit annoying. Then, even though I'd booked the whole trip through QANTAS, they can't transfer luggage between the airlines. So I had to get off in Melbourne, collect my suitcase, and then re-checkin with the QANTAS flight. That was very annoying - especially since JetStar was running a bit late at this point. And just to top it off, JetStar enforces its 20kg baggage limit. QANTAS lets you take up to 32kg without charge, but JetStar doesn't. I had 22.5kg in my suitcase, and so had to pay excess baggage charges for the first time ever. Not happy there, either!
I assumed, that since it was all on a QANTAS ticket and they chose to put me on JetStar (since QANTAS flights to/from Hobart are now few and far between) then QANTAS rules should apply. And that they'd take care of tranferring my luggage. Wrong on all counts. This is the last time I ever take a booking with tranfers between QANTAS and JetStar - it's really not worth the hassle. Next time if QANTAS offers me flight options with these transfers I'll fly Virgin instead. Every time!
I could have avoided all this, of course, if I'd fully read all the terms and conditions, rather than just assuming that QANTAS would do what I thought was the right thing. Silly me! It was all in the fine print, of course. Still, it is definitely the worst travel option I could have come up with, and it wont be happening again.
Thanks, QANTAS! It wasn't a good year for you, I'm afraid!
Happy New Year 2008
I have had a very lazy holiday over Christmas and New Year. It's been great. But now I'm back at work, and trying to get into the swing of 2008.
I don't make new year resolutions. I really can't see the point in setting goals that I almost certainly will forget about. I've made resolutions in the past and pretty much given up on them within days. Or weeks at the most... So, no resolutions for this year. I'll just be concentrating on longer-term goals that I've already thought about.
Actually, I didn't stay awake long enough on New Years Eve to even see the new year in. How slack is that? I was in bed by 11 and fast asleep. I'll blame my friends for being too lazy to go out for the night - that's my excuse. I guess we're all a little bit over the whole party scene, dodging drunken teenagers on the waterfront or in the nightclubs. Anyway... (the new year is making me feel old, can you tell?)
The two weeks holiday itself was very good, though. I went to Tassie for 10 days, before spending a final few days at home in Brisbane before heading back to work this morning. As usual, the weather in Hobart was pretty average. A lot of it was cold and overcast, with a couple of good days over the weekend. It even broke 30 degrees on new years eve, so I jumped in the water and went swimming. The Tasmanian water is always so refreshingly cold, isn't it? But then on New Years day, for our family bbq, the temperature didn't even make it to 20. We still had a good time though - fresh salmon and sausages on the bbq, with some of mums salads and raspberry ice cream cake. Yum! It's just a shame we couldn't include a swim at the beach as part of the fun.
I love going home to Hobart for a holiday. I don't feel like a tourist there, and so there's no pressure to go off sightseeing, there's no list of attractions to see or activities to do. I spent my time catching up with family and friends, and then doing nothing. Just a few days of lazing around the house doing nothing, walking on the beach, reading or watching the cricket made for a fantastic holiday, a holiday that felt twice as long as it actually was. After what had been a pretty hectic couple of months leading up to Christmas I needed that break.
It was particularly good to see my grandfather again. He's looking quite a bit older and frailer than he did even a few months ago, unfortunately. Old age really is unfair, isn't it? It's certainly not his mind that's slowing up, but his body just can't keep up anymore. Still, he's doing pretty well, and is a lot better than many people his age. I just hope I take after him!
I also caught up with a few friends while in Tassie. If I was making new year resolutions, one would be to make more of an effort to keep in touch with these people. I really don't see them or talk to them often enough. I'm hoping that at least a few of them will come and visit me sometime this year.
So that was my Christmas. It was fun, the best holiday I've had for a while now. I just wish, really wish, I wasn't back at work this morning!
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