Sunday Selections #122

Sunday Selections was originally brought to us by Kim, of Frogpondsrock, as an ongoing meme where participants could post previously unused photos languishing in their files. 

The meme is now continued by River at Drifting through life.  The rules are so simple as to be almost non-existent.  Post some photos under the title Sunday Selections and link back to River.

Like River I generally run with a theme. Just for a change I am back in the garden this week.  Some years ago I was given a Tree dahlia.  Each year it is a bit of a race - will they flower, or will the frost kill them first.

This year they did flower.  For two days.  And a neighbour has just given me some red ones.  They didn't flower this year, but I have high hopes for next year.

Skywhale

In March of this year my city, Canberra, turned 100.  I realise that by international standards we are babies, but it is still a significant anniversary.  We have had a year long celebration.  Which is marvellous.  There has been, and will be, something to please everyone.

Canberra is known for being full of politicians.  True, it was established as the seat of government.   And public servants.  Also true.  It is also widely criticised for being dull, dull, dull and boring to boot.  Arguable.

One of the presents that we gave ourselves is Skywhale who featured in yesterday's Sunday Selections.  She is a true innovation.  An internationally renowned artist Patricia Piccanini (herself brought up in Canberra) was commissioned to design a balloon  (we love our balloons).  She agreed stipulating that she would not (could not?) develop a balloon which is either caricature or kitsch, and the Skywhale was born.  


This quote by the artist from the link above says it all for me.

'For me, the Skywhale is a work that celebrates the wonder of nature. This might seem weird given that the Skywhale doesn't actually exist in nature, however for me she captures the qualities of nature that I find most amazing. The thing about nature is its extraordinary capacity to find ways to adapt to any environment. There is no place on Earth without life, and that life will be perfectly adapted to that place. There is no creature that I might think of that will be as extraordinary or unlikely as a real one living somewhere.
The Skywhale may appear fantastic but think about the blue whale – an air breathing mammal that lives in the ocean – and it doesn't seem so far-fetched. I think that when we look up at the Skywhale and wonder what it is 'for', it might remind us that nature is not necessarily 'for us'. It just 'is' and we're just lucky enough to be around to see it.'

Criticism of the Skywhale has been loud.  'She is ugly'.  'She is a waste of money'  'What is it anyway?' 'Why does it have breasts'  'Ugly, ugly, ugly'  and so on and so forth.

However, yesterday in the early morning when Skywhale was finally inflated the crowd burst into spontaneous applause - followed by three cheers.  And today some very, very lucky people were able to go for tethered rides in her.  My eyes turned emerald green when I read about that.  I have been on balloon flights.  I have loved them.  I thought my diminished mobility meant that this was something I can no longer do.  And if I had been there today when the public was invited to play, I would have done my damnedest to get in that basket.

Yes she is different.  Yes she is quirky.  And the overwhelming feeling I get from her is one of benevolence.  She reminds me at least as much of a turtle from some angles as she does a whale.  She is a lot of things, but gentle is high on the list for me.  I don't think she is beautiful.  She doesn't have to be - but I do think she is a joy and a delight.   My only reservation?  We don't own her.  She is owned by the company who built her.

Rather a lot of photos follow.  I swear that she is wearing lipstick, and I like her eyes.  She is very, very large and takes a long time to inflate.

We have a LOT of public art in Canberra.  Some of it I adore, some of it I don't like and some of it I don't understand.  AND I LOVE THAT IT IS HERE.  Each and every piece of it.

Sunday Selections #121

Sunday Selections was originally brought to us by Kim, of Frogpondsrock, as an ongoing meme where participants could post previously unused photos languishing in their files. 

The meme is now continued by River at Drifting through life.  The rules are so simple as to be almost non-existent.  Post some photos under the title Sunday Selections and link back to River.

Like River I generally run with a theme. And this week it is a doozy.

Canberra turned 100 in March this year.  We have been celebrating ALL year.  One of the presents we gave ourselves was a balloon.  And what a balloon.

On Monday I got up very early and checked on line.  Yes, it was going to fly.  So I woke the smaller portion up (and remember this is someone who springs out of bed at the crack of noon).  He, reluctantly, headed into the shower, and I went back on line to see where the balloon was flying from.  Oops.  Cancelled due to impending rain.  Not a happy chappy.

Yesterday morning we tried again.  First we headed off to where we were told the balloon would (probably) be inflated.

It was very pretty (albeit chilly) but there were no balloons.  We waited.  I took a photo of a squid which was lurking on top of our interactive science museum Questacon, and waited some more.

Eventually we  were told that the balloon was on the other side of town and might be flying.  So off we went.

And it wasn't there either.  So we turned on the radio and got further clues.  Not very good ones.  Finally we found the spot where the action, if there was any, was going to happen.

And shortly afterwards things did start to move...

 These balloons are lovely but they are NOT our birthday balloon.  Our birthday balloon is called Skywhale, is huge (more than twice as big as other balloons) and is the subject of rather a lot of controversy.  And criticism.

The next two photos are of the lady herself - and in the next few days I will devote a whole post and many more photos to her.  Stay tuned (please).

Quite a lot of 'Something for Nothing'!

Woo Hoo.

A little while ago our electricity company sent a letter offering a 'free energy saving audit'.  All we had to do was ring them and make an appointment.

Today their representative called around.  He arrived five minutes early.  Which was a shock in itself.  Tradespeople NEVER arrive on time - and rarely will commit themselves to a time of arrival anyway.

Slowly, because they are expensive we have been replacing incandescent light globes with long life energy saving bulbs.  Today ACTEW's representative replaced all of the ones we hadn't got to yet.  The internal and external lights are now all energy savers.  He replaced a dozen of them.  Free.

He also fitted draft excluders to all the external doors. No more door snakes for the cats to drag away from the doors and attack.   Again, free.

And finally he provided and fitted 'Automatic Power-Down' switches to both PCs and the television, speakers and associated recorders.  And, you guessed it, that was also free.

Not only will our power bills be reduced we think we probably saved well over a $100 (and possibly nearer to $200) on the price of the products.  As I said  - woo hoo.  I am happy to bad-mouth companies who don't do the right thing, so it seems more than fair to thank them when they do.  And I am very, very pleased with the service offered and provided. 

And it is raining gently.  Joy and bliss.

Sunday Selections #120

Sunday Selections was originally brought to us by Kim, of Frogpondsrock, as an ongoing meme where participants could post previously unused photos languishing in their files. 

The meme is now continued by River at Drifting through life.  The rules are so simple as to be almost non-existent.  Post some photos under the title Sunday Selections and link back to River.

Like River I generally run with a theme.  This week the King Parrots are back!  They go into the hills around town to rear their chicks and return in Autumn - hungry.  And we are very, very glad to see them.  The male has the red/orange head and the female the green.  For such vivid birds their camouflage is surprisingly good.  As always, clicking on the photos will embiggen them.

You can see the flash of blue on the female's back here - it is usually hidden, but there is a quite a lot of blue in their plumage.

Grow up!

This was sent to me by a dear friend - who knows me very well although we have never met.

I would love a unicorn - almost as much as I yearn to have a dragon (or two) in my world.

My inner child is frequently the largest and healthiest part of me.  And delights in frivolity, whimsy and magic.

And, speaking of health, I am sorry I have been largely absent from the blogosphere.  I had an unfortunate reaction to some medication and have spent most of the last fortnight dealing (not well) with constant nausea, headaches and uncontrollable shivering.  It is now nearly out of my system and I am looking forward to a cup of tea.  Normal service is about to be resumed.

NOT the word I would have chosen...

Just after the New Year, a book stall at my local shopping centre closed down.  Which was probably not entirely a bad thing.

I loved that shop.  She stocked an electic range of books and I often bought several books at a time, and bought something most weeks.  No will power - or at least not where books or plants are concerned.  Her prices were always good, and the closing down sale had some most excellent bargains.  So I went the rats and bought many, many books. 

One of them was this one.

A memoir.  I do like memoirs, diaries, biographies and autobiographies.  Stanley Johnson sounded like an interesting man, who leads a rich and varied life.  His curriculum vitae includes exploration, travel, writing (poetry, fiction and non-fiction) and training as a spy. 

I was right.  He is an excellent story teller and I thoroughly enjoyed reading about his world.  However, I had some early doubts.  On the first page he describes his mother as 'by nature an optimist' and goes on to give an anecdote which he believes illustrates this quality.

'She was always ready to look on the bright side of life.  I remember being woken by her one night when I was about four years old.  My father was a pilot in the RAF during the war and we were living in a little cottage near the runway at Chivenor in North Devon where his squadron was posted.

"Look, darling!  Come quickly!"  She hustled me to the window.  "There is a wonderful bonfire on the runway?  A plane has crashed and, quite soon the depth charges will explode!"

I can't remember where the depth charges did explode that night....'

No, I wouldn't describe that as optimism.  Flakiness?  Space cadetship? 

What do you think?

And, the next day they found out it was her husband's plane which had crashed.  He survived (which naturally she assumed he would) but was badly injured.