NYE over and out

10.55pm and it looks like new year's eve 2006 is done for C and I.

We wandered out into the city to watch the 9pm "family" fireworks then retreated in to a cafe for a hot chocolate and to get some distance from the gathering crowds of minors waiting for the government-sanctioned street party to kick off.

Post hot chocolate we strolled home, musing about how little life might actually alter with the arrival of the 3rd pea. It's not like there'll be much of an existing party life to interrupt. It's for the best really.

The upshot is that C is fast asleep and I'm pondering whether to keep watching dodgy movies or join her.

There are at least 20 parties going currently underway in our building though, and I'm a notoriously light sleeper, so perhaps I'll wait a while till I'm struggling to stay awake despite the noise.

All the best for the new year and I hope the impending arrival of the 3rd pea doesn't spell the end of two peas, no pod. I'm sure we'll still make the time to post. It's way too much fun to stop. You'd better prepare for a nauseating amount of baby pictures...

Gingerbread

This might be a little late, but I figure that it is better late than never - so, here is my Christmas gingerbread recipe with accompanying photos.





Ingredients:
4 cups of plain flour
1 & 1/3 teaspoons of baking soda
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1 teaspoons of ground ginger
1 teaspoon of cinnamon
½ teaspoon of allspice
½ teaspoon of cloves
1/3 cup of vegan margarine
2/3 cup of brown sugar
2/3 cup of molasses
1/2 cup of water

Instructions:

1. Sift the flour, baking soda, salt, ginger, cinnamon, allspice, and cloves together.


2. In a separate bowl, cream the brown sugar, molasses, and 1/4 cup of water into the margarine.


3. Combine the wet and dry ingredients and add enough of the remaining water so that it all forms a dough that holds together without being sticky.


4. Break the dough in half and roll into two balls. Place each ball inside a plastic bag and put them in the fridge for an hour or so.


5. Preheat the oven to 180º C. Grease a few baking sheets with margarine and cover with a thin layer of flour.


6. Cover (part of) your kitchen bench with flour and roll out the dough, one ball at a time, on to the surface. (A rolling pin makes this easier, but you can also just use a glass jar.) The dough should be fairly even and a little under 1-cm thick. (If it crumbles in place, rub a small amount of margarine into the crumbly area to help smooth it together).


7. Use 'cookie cutters' to cut the dough into your preferred shapes and peal away the excess dough from around the edges. Use a butter knife to help remove the cut dough from the bench to avoid breaking your baby cookies.



8. Place cut dough on baking sheets (leaving around 3-cms between them so they don't stick together) and put into over for around 6-10 minutes (depending on how hot your oven is - mine only take 6 minutes). Check them regularly because they can burn easily.



9. Remove the gingerbread from the oven when it is firm to touch and place on a cooling rack to cool down.



10. Once cool, decorate your gingerbread with icing, sultanas, lollies, or leave them plain because they are yummy just as they are.

I hope that everyone had a lovely day on the 25th!

A Christmas Meme

I'm back! Yay.

And so I present you with a Christmas meme from Pavlov's Cat.

1) Do you have a tree, and if so what is hanging on it?

No, we just a have a pot plant which has a couple of candy canes at its base and a small piece of gold tinsel tied to it.

2) What's the most successful bit of Christmas cooking you've done so far?

I made a mushroom-nut tart that was quite yummy, but I think that the gingerbread was the most successful (post with recipe coming now that I can finally switch over to the new blogger).

3) And the least successful?

I didn't do enough cooking for anything to be a real failure this year.

4) Which bit of your Christmas shopping are you happiest with?

I bought my Mum and her partner a toilet from Oxfam Unwrapped. I think that this was my favourite present to give away.


5) Have you opened any of your presents yet? What was it / were they?

Yes. I received some beautiful jewellery from P., which he bought for me in Laos. It is a matching necklace and earrings made from silver and bamboo. I also received school supplies for children in Thailand, Carmen Lawrence's book on Fear and Politics, a parenting book, a thermos, Kiran Desai's The Inheritance of Loss, some moisturiser from Lush, a make your own cookbook and some vegan chocolate, a Christmas ornament, and a magazine subscription. I am also going to get a sewing machine from my parents, but I have to go and find the one that I want first.

Yes, I did very well.

I must say that our little one may have done even better - s/he received tons of books, clothes, nappy liners, Bunnykins crockery (the crockery was from me).

6) Do you have any bad Christmas associations that will have to be tackled?

Not really, although P. and I have managed to get quite bad food poisoning in two of the last three Christmases (once in China and once in Cambodia).

7) What's your favourite carol? Why?

Away in a Manger - because my brother and I sang it at a church Christmas concert while sitting on my grandfather's lap when I was very little.

8) Which part of your Christmas plans is most likely to go awry?

The part where I try to keep some of the day for myself, just to relax.

9) What's your most favourite thing about Christmas?

Giving gifts to people and catching up with family.

10) What's your least favourite thing about it?

The excess consumption and going to too many family events in one day (yes, this does seem a little inconsistence with my favourite parts, doesn't it?).

11) What Christmassy thing have you seen or heard in the street or on the teeve or in the blogosphere that has
(a) touched your heart

PC's encounter with the 'Merry Christmas to a Wonderful Mother' cards.

(b) hit a nerve

The sermon in church was about advent being a lot like pregnancy.

or (c) made you want to barf?

The lead stories in the news were cricket and sailing - and this was well before we even got to 'sport'. I quite like cricket, but there are simply more important things going on in the world.

12) Who do you wish you had contacted to say Happy Christmas but haven't so far?

Sally, Tiff, Mum's family who were in Sydney, those of Dad's family who were in Grafton,The Hivemind, Kristy, Armaniac, Aletia and probably a whole bunch of other people...

The last christmas

This year was the last time C and I will celebrate christmas without the 3rd Pea. It's hard to imagine how different things will be next year, but they'll surely be different.

C was going to post yesterday, but bloody blogger won't let her switch to (not)beta so she can't log into the blog and all her old posts are now labeled "anonymous". Hopefully they'll get it together one of these days and we'll have our blog back.

Back to christmas.

Despite not making an appearance till early next year, the 3rd Pea was the star of the show.

First thing on the day, C had me unwrapping all the things she'd bought 3rd Pea while I was away.





We then had breakfast with C's brother and his partner and a couple of friends before C headed off to church and I began the long and arduous trek across town on Canberra's famously inadequate buses.


At least they were running though.

We spent the rest of the day hopping from one family engagement to another. The one thing they all had in common, though, was food - and eating.


Oh, and that basically all anyone wanted to talk about with us was the 3rd Pea. Which is fine, of course, because the 3rd Pea is basically all we wanted to talk about too.

We're officially pottering for the rest of the week and plan to give the house a thorough 3rd Pea makeover.

Hope everyone had a lovely relaxing day and C promises she will post as soon as the powers that be deem her worthy.

29th Carnival of Feminists is up

If you would like a little holiday reading, then can I suggest a trip over to the imponderabilia of actual life, where an amazing Carnival of Feminists was posted yesterday. This Carnival is always pretty good, but Sandy Dunavan has really done a great job - it is dense with links and issues and well worth a look.

High IQ = Veg

According to a recent study in the UK, children who have a high IQ when tested at age 10 are more likely to become a vegetarian when they grow up.

"For each 15-point rise in IQ scores in the study, the likelihood of being a vegetarian rose by 38 percent. Even after adjusting to factors such as social class and education, the link was still consistent."

Unfortunately for me this study doesn't say very much about my IQ, since I became a vegetarian when I was 5. However, I least I know that I married well!

Thanks to Kristy for the link.

I guess you can't accuse him of greenwashing

Well, I was pretty disapointed to hear about Rudd's tour of Tasmania during which he has refused to meet with conservation groups and overturned Labor's policy of wishing to protect some of Tasmania's old growth forests. However, it did completely reaffirm my decison to abandon Labor and join the Greens.

I like MrLefty's summary of what this means for Australian democracy:

I think it's good that at the next Federal Election we'll have the choice between a Liberal Party that wants to log Tasmania's old-growth forests in the interests of logging companies, and a Labor Party that wants to log Tasmania's old-growth forests in the interests of logging workers. That's what democracy is all about!

And to think that I was pleased with getting rid of Beazley...

Suvarnabhumi surpasses expectations, but that wouldn't be hard

I'm online in Bangkok airport. Things have actually improved somewhat in the last month. More sections are open and looking almost finished. The Thai Lounge is quite comfy now and I get to blog wirelessly.

I still think I'll always think of it as 'snake pit' but it's growing on me - and not necessarily like a cancer.

Just after writing that sentence (in text edit) I flicked back over to firefox to discover that blogger isn't loading. It's been trying for about 5 minutes now. I'm on the verge of taking back all that praise.

If this post ever sees the light of day I'll be amazed. Still, I've got 5 hours to kill, and waiting for blogger to load is as good a way to spend them as any...

Christmas shopping

Every time I think that I am actually ready for Christmas, I realise that I have forgotten another person or item and have to go back to the dreaded shops, with their horrible queues, and lug yet more heavy bags back to our apartment. However, I really think that I am almost there now.



Most people will be receiving something from Oxfam Unwrapped or Baptist World Aid, but they take a while to post out their cards and the Oxfam shop has almost run out of everything 'unwrapped', so I have been forced back into the shops for those additional presents that always occur to you at the last minute.



Oh, and Paul and I have actually bought things for all of the kids (nephews, neice, cousins, etc.). We didn't think that they were quite ready for the joys of receiving schoolbooks for children overseas or clean water for communities in Northern Laos. We did try to stick with books though, since we think that they make the best presents and still love all of the books that we received as children.

Next on my list of things to do is to bake gingerbread. I have finally acquired all of the ingredients and my "Christmas Cookie Cutters" (acquired triumphantly a few years ago at St Vinnies) are at the ready. However, I think I need to go and buy a baking sheet or two, so baking may have to wait for a couple of days until I feel ready to face the shops again.

For wrapping this year, I decided to use scrap paper and cover it with cut out animal shapes. I think that it looks cute and the bonus is that I won't feel too concerned when it gets ripped to pieces within minutes of being received. I have arranged them all around a little plant that we received as a gift earlier this year and strung up some lights that we got in Bangkok for $2.50, and quite like the effect.



[BTW: In case you were wondering, the Mao poster is not up to indicate any admiration for of that particular mass murdering mad-man, but rather just because the propaganda amuses us...]

On the way, almost

It's way too late and I've just finished packing.

I've got just enough kip left to have breakfast at a cafe downtown and buy a bottle of water for the plane.

It feels like I'm on my way already, despite having to spend most of the day in the new (and as previously discussed) rather horrible Bangkok airport.

Apparently it used to be a swamp full of snakes - doesn't seem to have undergone much of a transformation, it's just that now getting bitten costs a whole lot more...

Here's one last picture from Vientiane for you (though there are a few more I'll post once I get home)



I quite like the juxtaposition here: communism and a 'do not pass' sign. I wonder if the government of Laos is secretly trying to say something...

Too easy

This quiz was clearly too easy. My grammar is appalling. I just happen to know where to put apostrophes.

Your Language Arts Grade: 100%

Way to go! You know not to trust the MS Grammar Check and you know "no" from "know." Now, go forth and spread the good word (or at least, the proper use of apostrophes).

Are You Gooder at Grammar?
Make a Quiz

Thanks for the diversion Ampersand Duck.

I'd like to thank the academy...

TIME has announced its annual person of the year awards and it looks like we all came up trumps. Well, those of us who engage in any meaningful way with any form of content-development ICT technology that is.

TIME puts it this way:

But look at 2006 through a different lens and you'll see another story, one that isn't about conflict or great men. It's a story about community and collaboration on a scale never seen before. It's about the cosmic compendium of knowledge Wikipedia and the million-channel people's network YouTube and the online metropolis MySpace. It's about the many wresting power from the few and helping one another for nothing and how that will not only change the world, but also change the way the world changes [...]

Who are these people? Seriously, who actually sits down after a long day at work and says, I'm not going to watch Lost tonight. I'm going to turn on my computer and make a movie starring my pet iguana? I'm going to mash up 50 Cent's vocals with Queen's instrumentals? I'm going to blog about my state of mind or the state of the nation or the steak-frites at the new bistro down the street? Who has that time and that energy and that passion?

The answer is, you do. And for seizing the reins of the global media, for founding and framing the new digital democracy, for working for nothing and beating the pros at their own game, TIME's Person of the Year for 2006 is you.

Aw, now I feel all warm and fuzzy.

I do believe that blogging is a powerful tool for social change and that the web is a massive leap in creating horizontal connections between people and communities, cutting out the medium of television (which rarely, if ever, tells it how it is or assists people generate a better understanding of the other beings that inhabit their world).

But seriously. Come on TIME. Get it together. That gushing diatribe was rather over the top, don't you think. I know that online content is fast becoming the lion's share of your business (and that flattery will get you everywhere). But give us some credit for our intelligence. The whole point of the blogsphere and other user generated content mediums is to re-write the news, to break mould of global corporate, uni-directional media.

We already know we're creating a new reality and we don't need a media behemoth (even one trying so hard to remodel itself into something it can never truly be) to tell us how important we are.

Some disasters are more equal than others

The International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies released its annual World Disasters report yesterday.

It's called Living and dying in the shadows and has some good things to say about the level of level of emergency humanitarian aid the world allocated to disasters in 2005 - it hit USD 17 billion, more than any other year on record.

That's all well and good, but things start to come apart at the seams a little when one pokes a stick under the rock of where the money actually went and who benefitted most.

Desipite the record sums allocated to disasters, the IFRC says "millions still missed out on vital, potentially life-saving aid because funds were directed at high-profile disasters, while countless other crises were neglected."

The list below (from Reuters Alertnet) shows the break down of the aid per person as it was disbursed in 2005.

Aid per person in 2005 crises

Indian Ocean Tsunami - $1241 (Up to 230,000 dead, 2.1 mln uprooted)

Darfur, Sudan - $431 (Conflict has displaced at least 2 mln)

South Asia quake - $310 (Kashmir quake kills 75,000 in Oct 2005)

Chechnya - $281 (Rebels have been struggling for autonomy from Russia since 1991)

Hurricane Stan, Guatemala - $224 (Hundreds die in mudslides in Oct 2005, crops destroyed)

Democratic Republic Congo - $213 (Some 1,200 people die each day)

Northern Uganda - $86 (1.7 mln uprooted by 20-year insurgency)

Somalia - $53 (Years of anarchy compounded by drought)

West Africa - $50 (Locust plague contributes to new hunger crisis)

Ivory Coast - $27 (Country is split between rebels and govt)

While no one is saying that people affected by the tsunami didn't deserve every cent of that $1241, what makes people suffering from a protracted conflict in west Africa any less deserving?
The table above doesn't include the US's Hurricane Katrina, which generated donations only slightly lower than the tsunami.

The IFRC argues that governments and private donors should allow aid agencies to use money as they see fit. In other words they should end the practice of earmarking funds for particular regions or disasters. This will be a difficult process and the IFRC faces an uphill battle.

Donor governments like to be able to politicise the funds they give to multilateral agencies and international NGOs, and announcing publicly that you are giving $1 billion to tsunami victims generates more and better publicity (and potentially votes) than annoucing you are giving that same amount to several humanitarian agencies for their critical work around the world.

The same issue is faced for private donations. People are often moved to give money by the images they see on television news. This means that in the aftermath of a large disaster more money flows in than at other times. The American Red Cross' experience after the 11 September 2001 attacks is illustrative.

As the donations rolled in the ARC discovered it had more money than it could sensibly to address the needs of the victims (over USD 500 million) and decided to use the left over funds for other (equally worthy) causes. Their plan to do so was greeted with massive public outrage and a reversal was speedily issued and all the money went to victims' families, who received about USD 18,000 each (which makes the tsunami amounts look piddling). See here, here and here, for example.

This highlights the difficulties faced by humanitarian organisations which would prefer to have the flexibility to maintain ongoing support to ongoing issues (Congo and Ivory Coast are just two examples) and respond to other disasters as they emerge.

That people are willing to give their time and money when big disasters occur is laudable, but until people realise that the daily cumulative total of death and destruction from ongoing humanitarian situations is far in excess of any single disaster and that supporting the organisations that are working to assist those in need who don't make the 6 o'clock news on an ongoing basis is far more effective than making a one off donation in the aftermath of a sensational (and frequently sensationalised) disaster.

Red Sun Burning

Ariel over at Jabberwocky has a fantastic post about a red sun in Melbourne, the bush fires and the future of our planet. I highly recommend reading it.

I should warn you that the post is actually quite depressing, but it also gives cause for hope. It is because we do want a future for our children that I still believe that we will wake up from our collective stupor and do something about this mess that we have created.

I would have commented, but Blogger Beta appears not to want me to comment on blogs anymore...

Eye of the storm

It is the beginning of the wet season in Darwin and another big storm has just come crashing down around the house.

I know that a lot of people love storms. They love to listen to the rain tumbling down on the roof, the trees shaking with the wind, and to simply experience the sheer power of the weather. However, I am not one of those people.

I feel deeply unsettled by storms. They remind me of my complete and utter lack of power over my surroundings and I don't find that remotely comforting. The sound of debris smashing into the house and the crash of the thunder scares me in a completely irrational way.

What struck me today, as the storm descended, is how much better off I am under this torrent of rain, than so many people across Australia right now who are facing the onslaught of the bushfires that are raging out of control. I cannot imagine the terror that I would feel, and or having the courage that our fire-fighters display under these circumstances.

I guess I just wanted to acknowledge my admiration for all of them, and to wish them good luck. It is going to be a long summer.

Perversion of justice

I woke this morning to the news that Augusto Pinochet died.

I'm not one to rejoice in the death of another human being, but the news initially bought a smile to my lips. That initial reaction lasted barely a moment before a sadness took over. It wasn't sadness for Pinochet's family or close friends and the loss they must be feeling, but a deep sorrow that all the people affected by his brutal dictatorship will never have the justice they deserve.

Yes, one of the century's great monster dictators is dead and unable to taunt his victims with the mere fact of his unrepentant freedom, and for this I am sure many in Chile and around the world are gladdened.

But the very nature of his death (in a hospital, of natural causes) is a slap in the face of those he tortured and the families of those he murdered and disappeared. That Pinochet never spent a day in prison for the crimes he committed and that he died a free man is a travesty of the concept of justice.

The people of Chile will never be truly free of the terror of Pinochet's regime because they will never really have closure. Seeing the man responsible for the brutal repression of an entire people put in prison would have enabled old wounds to begin to heal.

How will those wounds heal now?

A woman's work...

For quite a while now I have been struggling with the implications of my pregnancy – wondering what it will mean (and already does mean) for my identity, for my future choices, for my body and for my relationships. Now a number of posts, particularly a few recent ones from Ampersand Duck and Pavlov’s Cat (and also a post and comments thread over at Crazybrave), have prompted me to post about these issues.

I have to admit to having been shocked to the core by the impact of pregnancy on my body. I never understood that feeling ‘fatigued’ would involve falling daily into a deep black pit of exhaustion, or that the addition of the word ‘morning’ to sickness was such a cruel joke. Despite years of experience with (admittedly fairly mild) PMS, I also had no real understanding of the power of hormones to influence my outlook. Instead of the pure joy that I had anticipated, I felt sick with worry and doubts about the pregnancy; about my capacity to be a mother; to endure the loss of sleep; to successfully breastfeed; and to keep our child safe – none of which were assisted by feeling as though we couldn’t share the news with anyone except our closest family members. My brain was taken over by thoughts of how to deal with every possible problem and with my evident lack of capacity to cope as well as I had expected. My self-confidence plummeted as I realised that I was not glowing with prenatal health, but rather was a wreck who needed to sleep all day and could only stomach vegemite saladas.

Fortunately, the second and third trimesters have been a lot easier on my body – my blood pressure is stupidly low and so I get faint very easily, but my energy levels are much better and my appetite has returned. I also feel a lot clearer and happier about the pregnancy. The first ultrasound and the first little kicks did fill me with the excitement that I had expected earlier, and suddenly everything did feel OK again.

However, I am still trying to come to terms with the inevitable impacts of this choice on my life. My PhD is just starting to really come together, and I will have to set it aside and will never again have the freedom to come back to it with my full undivided attention. Future career decisions and relocations will also have an added dimension that I do not resent, but am aware of nonetheless.

The real issue for me, however, is identity. For all the real gains that we have made as women over the past decades, there is nothing like motherhood to bring the full force of society’s sexism down upon you. Issues that I have been able to side-step previously, will become harder to avoid and I don’t feel like having the battles that this may provoke. I am not interested in being defined solely as a ‘mother’, regardless of how much I know that I will love my child and cherish our relationship. No man is ever threatened with being reduced to the single identity of ‘father’. Their personal qualities, career ambitions, and autonomous hopes and dreams are rarely taken away from them just because they chose to breed.

I want to make it clear that I do not see this as a failure of feminism – as I know that this has been the belief of some. Instead, I see this of an indication of how far we have to go. The role of mother is still naturalised in a way that thoroughly devalues it – most particularly by those who claim to be upholding traditional family values. Because breeding is defined as a natural act (which it is, but bare with me here), women are expected to blossom in pregnancy, or to at least be stoic when they don’t. Their sacrifices – physical, emotional, career – are also continually undervalued. Men who take time off work to care for their young children are glorified as heroes, while women are placed in a no-win situation where we will be criticised by some for returning too early and by others for neglecting our careers for too long.

This is not the result of feminism – this is the continued impact of a patriarchal culture that remains fundamentally unchanged at its core. Workplaces are still built around the idea that there is a good women at home taking care of the household. Childcare is expensive and waiting lists are long. Maternity leave is not provided for most Australian workers, and part-time work is difficult to secure. Despite all the rhetoric of family values and the (ridiculous) urgings from the government that we breed, no real effort has been made to actually make our society one that is supportive of women’s choices – abortion is vilified, while the choice to have a child receives a 'baby bonus' and then nothing.

I say all this as a truly lucky person. I have a scholarship that provides paid maternity leave, a wonderfully supportive husband and extended family, and the freedom to go back part-time and to work from home – and, above all, I happen to love children and to genuinely want to be a mother. All of these things have made my decision easier, and yet I still struggle with the implications for my life. How it would feel to be facing a future without some of those supports is something that I find very difficult to even contemplate.

Human Rights Day 2006

Today, poverty prevails as the gravest human rights challenge in the world. Combating poverty, deprivation and exclusion is not a matter of charity, and it does not depend on how rich a country is.

By tackling poverty as a matter of human rights obligation, the world will have a better chance of abolishing this scourge in our lifetime... Poverty eradication is an achievable goal.

Louise Arbour, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights

Today is Human Rights Day. This year's theme is "Fighting Poverty: A matter of obligation not charity".

There's not much I can say about this that's new or innovative. It's pretty much all right here, and will only take you a minute to read.

If you have 10 minutes to spare today, read the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

If you have another 15, read the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

The Office of the UN's High Commissioner for Human Rights also has a handy fact sheet on the International Bill of Rights that these 3 documents make up. It lives here.

Human Rights have also come to play a stronger role in development thinking in recent years. The UK's Overseas Development Institute has a handy briefing paper outlining the thinking. Australia does not officially endorse the approach, and most likely won't, even with a change of government - we don't want to be obliged to actually do anything now do we?

If you still find yourself with some reading time and the inclination to continue perusing what the web has to offer on the topic of human rights and poverty, Amnesty International has a whole site devoted to the topic.

Happy Human Rights Day - and let's hope it can be a happier one for some of the millions of people living in desperate poverty; poverty we could easily end if we so chose.

Darwin (and Melbourne, and Kakadu)

Sorry about the long absence, I have not had any Internet connection since Saturday.

It has been kind of nice really, although I must admit to suffering from a few withdrawal symptoms...

On Sunday morning (ridiculously early), I fly down to Melbourne and jumped on the Sky Bus into town. From the Spencer St Station, I got a tram to Brunswick St and met fellow blogger Kristy at the Vegie Bar. One pot of chai and a large scrambled tofu later, we strolled down the street browsing in shops and mulling over Christmas presents for the 'hard to buy fors' on our lists.

I just love the eclectic nature of many of the shops and the gorgeous range of fabrics used on the clothes and accessories - it was a world of inspiration. I also went over to Lygon St and browsed Readers for a quite a while. It was good to see that the Borders across the road had not stolen any of its business.



It was great to meet Kristy too - after such a long time of reading her blog. Luckily for us, the conversation flowed freely and it felt completely normal to spend the good part of a day with a (sort of) complete stranger.

That night I got on a plane to Darwin, where I finally arrived just before midnight. Mum and AMD's new house is lovely - its a little two bedroom place set in a gorgeous tropical garden, with a big wooden deck and a pool. My room is a bungalow out in the backyard - it is spacious, and has its own little deck and an ensuite.

AMD had meetings in Kakadu on Wednesday and Thursday and so she took me with her out to the park on Tuesday afternoon. On arrival, we were given a private boat trip down Yellow River by a couple of Parks staff and it was just magical. The land out there is just beautiful and the river was teeming with birdlife. It was also teeming with crocodiles (big fellows) and I was quite glad that the boat was made of metal (it was designed to do croc surveys).

I spent the next couple of days doing some of the easier walks in the park - mostly to the amazing rock art sites, which were like open air galleries - and doing some PhD work during the heat of the day. It felt like such a privilege to be out there, but I did keep thinking that I wanted P to be there to share it with me.

[I'll post some photos soon. I am just feeling lazy today.]

Now, I am back in Darwin struggling through those bloody interview transcripts. At least tomorrow is Saturday.

Pictures of Vientiane

Being back in Vientiane has been a mixed blessing so far. I'm happy to be here catching up with friends and reacquainting myself with a place we (briefly) called home. I'm less happy about being away from C.



Still the work is interesting and it's much better to be doing it now than next year when the 3rd pea makes an entrance and everything changes.

I spent some of Saturday and Sunday afternoons wandering the back streets and managed to shoot a whole roll of film. I thought I'd post a few of my favourites so far.

The one at the top is of a couple of the ubiquitous monks that wander the streets of Vientiane.


Another common sight is of course tuk tuks, and this guy kindly let me take his picture - striking a pose in fact!


I was in an alley taking another photo when these two crossed my path. There is a large informal economy in Vientaine and many people make ends meet by collecting recyclables from other's waste. Anything recyclable can be taken to one of several centres in the city and exchanged for (modest amounts of) cash.


Tat Dam (black stupa) is one of my favourite Vientiane landmarks. It's rather old, but has been razed and rebuilt several times over the centuries. Granted, it doesn't look so old in this picture, but I really like the angle.



Speaking of old, this is one of the few colonial-era French villas that still litter parts of the city. This one is my favourite, but it looks like someone has beaten me to purchasing and renovating it as there was work going on in the front yard when I strolled by. Oh well, there goes that dream...


And while I'm on the topic of houses, I love this one too, but for different reasons. I'm not sure if you can see the giant lions on the roof, but take it from me: they are giant and quite spectacular.

WooHoo!!

It's all over the news, but just in case you've been living under a domestic rock (focused on ALP switch backing), here it is in capital letters:

BOLTON QUIT!

Well "quit" might be giving him, and the Bush administration, a little too much credit. His term at the UN (never confirmed by the way) is expiring (again) and there is no way the new congress is going to have a bar of confirming the appointment. Finally, the cronies have seen the writing on the wall, and the writing says "Get out of New York John Bolton".

I'm still in Vientiane and have come down with a nasty head cold. The last couple of days have been a blur of meetings which have barely penetrated through the cotton wool padding surrounding my brain.

I stumbled out of bed this morning to check email and the news and was jerked out of my self pity by the Guardian's headline: "US ambassador to UN John Bolton resigns".

All I can say at this point is two down, two to go (for now).

World Aids Day

Tomorrow is World Aids Day and I thought I'd post some excerpts from Kofi Annan's speech.

"In the 25 years since the first case was reported, AIDS has changed the world. It has killed 25 million people and infected 40 million more. It has become the world's leading cause of death among both women and men ages 15 to 59. It has inflicted the single greatest reversal in the history of human development. In other words, it has become the greatest challenge of our generation."

This year's theme is "accountability", and never has accountability been more important in the fight against Hiv and Aids. Governments and people lucky enough to remain free from infection need to do more to assist those peoples and countries that are bearing the full brunt of the epidemic. Many countries in Africa are suffering from massive rates of infection, such that almost no one is left untouched. But in the Asia Pacific region too, Aids is wercking havoc in those coutries least able to combat it. Cambodia, Burma, Thailand and PNG are suffering generalised epidemics (more than 1 per cent of the population over 15 years infected), and more must be done to ensure that universal access to treatment, care and prevention reaches these vulnerable peoples.

"But accountability applies not only to those who hold positions of power. It also applies to all of us. It requires business leaders to work for HIV prevention in the workplace and in the wider community, and to care for affected workers and their families. It requires health workers, community leaders and faith-based groups to listen and care, without passing judgment. It requires fathers, husbands, sons and brothers to support and affirm the rights of women. It requires teachers to nurture the dreams and aspirations of girls. It requires men to help ensure that other men assume their responsibility — and understand that real manhood means protecting others from risk. It requires every one of us to help bring AIDS out of the shadows, and spread the message that silence is death."

In recent years the infection rate in Australia has been on the rise again, mainly in the gay community. People have become blase about the risks, especially now that anti-retrovirals are so accessible. This complacency is deadly and while we can't afford it in Australia the world can afford it even less.

So make a donation, buy a ribbon, but most of all raise awareness.

Melbourne - Advice Sought

I have to admit that I am not very familiar with Melbourne. I have only been there a few times (since I lived there at the ripe old age of 2) and even then only for a couple of days.

I do intend to remedy this situation one day soon, but this Sunday I am actually carrying on my tradition of flying visits. I am flying up to Darwin to visit my Mum and my (cheap) flights have me arriving in Melbourne in the morning and not flying out again until around 8pm.

I am planning to get the Skybus into town and have a little look around and I thought that I would seek the advice of any Melbournians (or fans of the city) as to what I should do during my extremely brief visit.

Any ideas?

top 100 greenies

The British Environmental Agency has released a list of the top 100 green campaigners of all time. The people considered (by the agency) to have made the most positive environmental impact on the planet.

Topping the list was Rachel Carson, author of Silent Spring, the book that most people agree kicked off the modern environmental movement.

The rest of the list includes the usual suspects:

David Attenborough (4), William Morris (8), Al Gore (9), Vandana Shiva (13), Ansel Adams (14), Fritjof Capra (15), George Monbiot (23), David Bower (31), David Suzuki (35), and Stephen Jay Gould (78).

History gets it's fair share with Mahatma Gandhi coming in at 81, Charles Darwin at 87, and Samuel Taylor Coleridge at 95.

Religion makes an appearance too. St Francis of Assisi ranked a respectable 47, the Dalai Lama at 89, and his inspiration, Siddartha Gautama Buddha came in at 47.

Arnold Schwarzenegger was a surprise inclusion at 29, but his recent green turn might have had something to do with it (apparently he has even sold his humvee).

Two of my favourite entries were number 100: Father Christmas, for carbon-free delivery; and at number 55: the people of Bougainville, eco-revolutionaries.

While the list might seem a little naff, I think we could do with more of these positive associations. It's good for people to see that you can be recognised for doing something good for the environment.

I would have put David Suzuki above the Governator though.

Safely in Vientiane

I'm here. Nothing seems to have changed dramatically in the last 10 months or so. A few new buildings here and there, but essentially exactly as I remember it.

 

The new airport in Bangkok, though, is a whole other story. The place is just enormus and doesn't seem to be running smoothly just yet. There were tired and dispirited lost people everywhere you turned, and they were just the staff!

 

Things seemed to be just holding together - like everything might just fall apart any second.

 

Despite the size of the place there were huge cues everywhere, and while business class travellers (as I am lucky enough to be when jetting around for work) are shielded from most of it there is still a palpable sense of confusion in the air.

 

No digital camera here, as C is taking it on her trips while I'm away, so no first re-impression pictures have been made. I'll get some film for the SLR and make a few shots at some point though.

 

More from me as time permits - most likely in the sad and lonely evenings... (boohoo).

Bye bye

P just got in a taxi and was driven away to the airport. He has to go to Laos for work and he'll be there for the next month.

I will miss him. I hate it when we are apart. It just doesn't suit me.

To counter the home-aloneness I am going to spend the next week in Sydney with my Dad and then fly up to Darwin to visit my Mum for a couple of weeks. Somewhere in there I also plan to keep working on my PhD.

For now, I will just hope that P has a safe and comfy flight, and I will try to distract myself by doing some (dodgy) knitting.

Buy Nothing Day

Not to rain on C’s parade (and you should definitely make an exception for White Ribbon Day), but today is Buy Nothing Day.

Started by Canadian organisation, Adbusters, the day is organised every November to counter the shopping frenzy that Americans throw themselves into on the thanksgiving day long weekend.



The Ad Busters blurb goes like this:

Every November, for 24 hours, we remember that no one was born to shop. If you’ve never taken part in Buy Nothing Day, or if you’ve taken part in the past but haven’t really committed to doing it again, consider this: 2006 will go down as the year in which mainstream dialogue about global warming finally reached its critical mass. What better way to bring the Year of Global Warming to a close than to point in the direction of real alternatives to the unbridled consumption that has created this quagmire?

Excellent, I say.



While the day started with a definite US focus, it has spread in recent years and is now celebrated by increasing numbers of people in far flung places who are concerned about the US-led direction the world is striding in.

So, buy nothing tomorrow if you can, but more importantly, think about your level of consumption generally and explore areas where you can cut back. Every little bit helps the planet and, contrary to what neoliberal economists would have you believe, won't destroy the world economy.

You can even download these groovy posters, and others too, at the site and spread the word

White Ribbon Day

Tomorrow is White Ribbon Day, so today would be a good day to go out and buy one. They are selling them at the Body Shop and Harvey Norman, plus there may be people at your office who will make them available.

Wearing a White Ribbon makes a difference because:

• it is a visible sign that the wearer does not support or condone the use of violence against women or children;
• most men do not use violence. Most men treat women and girls with respect. But a minority of men treat women and girls with contempt and violence, and it is up to the majority of men to wear White Ribbons and help create a culture in which this is unacceptable;
• men, as community leaders and decision-makers, can play a key role in helping stop violence against women by speaking out and stepping in when male friends and relatives insult or attack women,and demonstrating their support and by wearing a White Ribbon;
• women can show their support for men and their commitment to working in partnership with men to end violence against women by wearing a White Ribbon.

Information from the White Ribbon Day website.

Vegan Chocolate Pie

This was such a simple recipe that I didn't really have very high expectations, but I must say this pie was simply delicious!




Ingredients

• 1/4 cup spelt flour
• 1/4 cup rice flour
• 1/2 cup almond meal
• 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil
• water
• 500g silken tofu
• 150g dark chocolate (preferably organic and fair trade)

Instructions

• Mix flour, almond meal and oil together and add water until you get the right consistency - it should stick together without being sticky.
• Press the pastry evenly into a pie dish or a shallow cake tin with the pastry and bake in oven for around 8 minutes on 180 celcius. (I placed some chickpeas on the base for the last few minutes to stop it from rising up too much)
• Melt the chocolate and then combine with tofu in a blender.
• Blend the mixture together and pour onto baked pie crust.
• Place in fridge for at least two hours while it hardens.
• Serve with strawberries or other yummy fruit.
• EAT - mmm yum.
  

Just life's essentials: water, electricity, the net...

Apparently the internet is now as important to business as water and electricity. It's great that the primacy of information (and access to it) is beginning to be more widely recognised as essential to business development as other infrastructure needs.

Still have a ways to go on convincing most people that it's also an essential part of human development. Small steps I guess.

Nuclear is green power: report

But only if we’re talking about the glowing green of radiation poisoning from cartoons.

The lofty taskforce appointed by the PM to explore the idea of Australia going nuclear has concluded that, yes, going nuclear would indeed reduce our emissions, but that it will cost a bucket more dosh to produce an equivalent amount of this "clean" energy.

The thing I really don’t understand is why is no one talking about the waste issue? How can we call nuclear energy clean when it produces massive amounts of highly dangerous chemical waste that has to be securely stored for thousands of years?

At least Mr Gore gave it a passing mention when he was in Victoria last week:

Even if you set aside the problem of long-term waste storage and the danger of operator accident and the vulnerability to terrorist attack, you still have two others that are more difficult [...] Nuclear power plants are the costliest to build and they take the longest time and at present they come in only one size — extra large [...] For eight years when I was in the White House, every problem of weapons proliferation was connected to a reactor program.

While the economic issue is certainly of concern (particularly among highly geared "middle Australia") it pails in comparison to the other issues Gore mentions. People seem happy to talk about issues of terrorism and weapons proliferation (particularly if those producing the weapons are North Korea and Iran - but apparently not the US and Israel), but the issue of waste seems to be off the agenda.

When will we learn?

Weekend-y stuff

This weekend P and I had planned to go to the cinema twice, to go out to dinner at least once and to generally get out and enjoy the world. The thing was that we just didn't end up being in the mood.

Instead, we basically stayed around the house being very domestic. The priority was trying to further the process of transforming my study into a nursery, and to that end we hung some beautiful embroidered pictures that we were given for our wedding.






Then we went out and bought some cute fabric to cover over some ugly pin boards and make them more fun for a little person.

We had borrowed a staple gun for this project, and by the time we were finished I was looking around wistfully hoping to find something else that I could staple. They are fun!


On the Sunday, we went out to P's sister's house and took home a hoard of baby clothes. At the rate that we are going, we may not have to buy anything for our munchkin except nappies, and these we will be ordering online from here.


We also acquired another bookcase for our bedroom, since we had run out of places to put our books. So far the top shelves are covered in books that we plan to read soon, while the lower shelf is supposed to be for our photos albums etc. but may get invaded if we make any new purchases...


And, finally, we printed and hung some of our photos in the living room. We have been meaning to do this since we moved in (in January), but somehow we never quite got around to it.


All up, we were extremely boring this weekend. But, I must say, it was really quite satisfying.

I love APEC outfits

Of course, the big question is: What are we going to make them wear next year?

Possible options:

• Stubbies, work boots, and a white singlet (AKA beater)

• Speedos and thongs

• Dry-as-a-bone, Akubra, and RW Williams boots

• or we could be really cruel and make them wear Ken Done shirts.

Any other suggestions?

A step backwards for Women's Rights

"The Nicaraguan president, Enrique Bolanos, has signed a bill banning abortion even when a woman's life is endangered."

Under the old law it was permissible for a woman to have an abortion only if her life was at risk (and three doctors had certified to this fact), so this change was a specific decision to elevate the lives of unborn feotuses above those of living women - nothing more, nothing less.

Bastards. I find this really disgusting.

Imagine the abortion debate if men got pregnant...

[Personally, I doubt that we would even have one - a debate that is.]

US pours scorn on international greenhouse tax proposal

Of course they do. No surprises there. What was surprising, however, was that Howard, who presented the US's "let's not really do anything about global warming at all" as his own "balanced approach", has claimed "strong and unanimous support".

The definition of "strong and unanimous support" appears to be that the US, Canada and Singapore all cried "yay", while no one else said anything.

The fact that on one else said anything, I imagine, is far from a silent accepting agreement that the superior white folks know best. Rather I expect it was of a symptom of being sick and tired of arguing around in circles and repeatedly banging ones head against the stupidity of the Bush/Howard position.

As the UN Convention on Climate Change in Nairobi shows the rest of the world is quite happy to move things along in the face of continued US-Australia hostility.

Despite increasing isolation we're still pushing the "technology will save us" line. Technology most certainly has a role to play (and this is openly acknowledged by the Kyoto signatories), but without some serious and rather speedy changes in the way we think about the world and our place in it things are going to get hotter and hotter.

What's wrong with America?

I'm not sure, but this just about sums it up for me.

At least there have been student protests at UCLA since Wednesday.

Unbelievable. Not that I think Australian police would behave any differently.

Via Jena.

*Update: the first link is now fixed so you can view the horror.

Chinese eggplant and greens

We made a yummy dinner the other night and so I thought that I would share the recipe with you.

Chinese Eggplant

Ingredients

• 1 whole eggplant chopped into cubes of about 5 cm2*
• 1 small red chilli, finely chopped
  
• 2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
• 1 tablespoon olive oil (or veg oil)
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce (or Bragg's)
  
• Water
• Sprinkle of sesame oil to taste
• 1 tablespoon of sesame seeds
  

*[Several chinese eggplants would also work here if available]
Instructions

• Heat a heavy-based pan over medium high
• Add oil, chilli and garlic. Stir for 30 seconds
• Add eggplant and stir so ingredients mix well
• Allow the eggplant to start to brown, add soy sauce and stir.
• Add sesame seeds and stir through.
  
• Add a small amount of water, and stir as the water steams off and then add some more.
• Repeat several times allowing the bitter juices to evaporate.
• Add a small amount of water, turn down heat to medium and cover with lid.
• Remove lid every now and then to stir and make sure that it is not sticking.
• Remove from heat when mixture is goey (but still has some shape).
• Sprinkle small amount of sesame oil to taste.

Greens

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• Small bunch of shallots, diced (remove ends)
  
• 1 small red chilli, finely sliced
  
• 2 cloves of garlic, finely sliced
• Ginger, finely sliced
  
• Button mushrooms, chopped in half or quarters
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce (or Bragg's)
• Asparagus, chopped in thirds (remove botton end)
  
• Snowpeas, chopped in half (remove ends)
  
• Baby buk choy, chopped coarsely (remove base)

Instructions

• Heat wok to medium.
• Add oil, shallots, chilli, garlic and ginger, stir.
• Add mushrooms and stir until lightly brown.
• Add soy sauce and stir through.
  
• Add asparagus and snowpeas, stir.
• Add buk choy and turn off the heat.
  
• Stir ingredients together and serve.

Serve over brown rice.

Tony Abbott finally comes clean

"I won't be rushing out to get my daughters vaccinated, maybe that's because I'm a cruel, callow, callous, heartless bastard but, look, I won't be."

Can you image if Gardasil was for prostate cancer? I find it very difficult to believe that a vaccine for a predominantly male disease would not have immediately been placed on the PBS.

[Quote from the Daily Telegraph via The Wo! Front]

Australia among biggest polluters

The Climate Change Performance Index 2007 has been released and Australia has come in at 47 amongst the 56 biggest polluters (1 being the least worst and 56 being the worst worst). Not a bad effort for a country of 20 million.

The full results are available here, and if you're interested in the way the index is calculated you can find more info here.

Oh, and UNEP, Greenpeace, WWF and others are promoting an international climate change symbol. It's quite cute:



And can be downloaded for use, here.

Gold, pure cartoon gold

From The Guardian's Steve Bell

Lunchtime Pitta Pizza

Not sure of what to have for lunch today, I decided to make a quick pizza on pitta bread. Since it turned out to be quite yummy, I thought that I would share it with you.




Ingredients:
2 x pitta bread
2 large tablespoons of tomato paste
3 cloves of garlic, sliced thinly
2 small red chillies, diced
5 sprigs of spring onions, diced
150 grams of firm tofu, crumbled
teaspoon of Bragg's
teaspoon of olive oil
2 teaspoons of nutritional yeast
2 handfuls of baby spinach
1 tomato, sliced
A few slices of red capsicum
4 button mushrooms, sliced thinly
6 kalamata olives, pitted and halved

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to about 180 degrees Celsius.
2. Fry half of the garlic, chili and spring onions in olive oil for about a minutes over medium heat before adding crumbled tofu. Let it brown and add Bragg's and nutritional yeast (optional, it would be yummy, but I had run out and didn't use it). Set aside.
3. Spread tomato paste evenly over the two pitta bread pieces. Top with remaining garlic, chili and spring onions - spread them around.
4. Cover based with baby spinach, top with mushrooms, olives, tomato, and capsicum (I only used this on P's - I am not a capsicum fan).
5. Sprinkle tofu mix on top and put into the oven for around 8 minutes.
6. Slice into quarters and serve.

Can I just add that the little one in my tummy appears to like the pizza very much. S/he is kicking up a storm right now...

U.S. Vetoes Security Council Resolution Assailing Israel for Attacks

John Bolton (please Democrats kick him out now) told the Council that the resolution "does not display an even-handed characterization of the recent events in Gaza, nor does it advance the cause of Israeli-Palestinian peace."

But of course they vetoed the resoultion condemning Israel. They always do.

Actually, this is an anniversary of sorts for the US, this veto marked the 40th resolution against Israel they have vetoed since 1972.

Now that's a record to be proud of.

And more presents for C

First Rumsfeld, now it looks like John Bolton, the US Ambassador to the UN, will be the next head on the chopping block. Bush has been trying to get Bolton, a close family friend (of course) confirmed in the position for almost two years, but has been blocked by a Republican Senate. Word on the street is that now that the Democrats are taking over Bolton hasn't got a hope in hell.

Bolton has been anti-UN for years and rather vocal about it. Two of my favourite quotes are:

The [U.N.] Secretariat building in New York has 38 stories. If you lost 10 stories today, it wouldn't make a bit of difference.

and

There is no such thing as the United Nations. There is an international community that occasionally can be led by the only real power left in the world and that is the United States when it suits our interest and we can get others to go along.

Way to be inclusive.

Unfortunately, this is exactly the way Cheney and Bush see the world and it's a measure of just how far right they are that the majority of Republicans senators don't agree with them, on this issue at least.

Oh, and speaking of Rumsfeld, it looks like he might be facing a lawsuit as the first hurdle of his retirement. The US-based Centre for Constitutional Rights is filing charges against Rumsfeld; the Attorney-General, Alberto Gonzales; the former CIA director, George Tenet; and several other senior figures in the Bush Administration. The charges are due to be filed in a German court as they have laws that allow for the prosecution of war crimes committed anywhere in the world.

It looks like C's birthday presents might be getting better and better...

Other birthday presents

As well as the perfect picnic basket and rug, I got a bunch of other great presents for my birthday:

• The Democrats won control of both houses after the midterm elections;
• Rumsfled stood down;
• Bolton's position is currently under threat; and
  
• Cheney is becoming isolated.

Non-political presents also included:

• A gorgeous pair of silver earings from Laos;
• Two prenatal massages (vouchers, actually);
• Frank Brennan's new book;
• A cute teddy bear book;
• A box of pachyderm paper (yep, made from elephant dung);
• Two beautiful vases;
• Two bunches of flowers;
• A jade plant;
• An embroidered hanky;
  
• A salad spinner; and
  
• A jar of almonds.

I am thinking of asking for a sewing machine from my parents (for Christmas too). Trouble is that I don't know what kind to get. Any suggestions?

Home again

Wednesday

• Arrived in around 7:30am and got a bus to Canberra (after clearing customs). Paul was waiting at the Jolimont Centre and we went home for snuggles.
• Went out for a walk to explore the new Canberra Centre. It wasn't really finished yet.

Thursday

• Woke up at 7am one year older. P tried to trick me into believing that he was going to work. He failed miserably and thus I missed out on my surprise picnic. Still got presented with the most perfect picnic basket in the world and taken out for coffee (decaf).

• Received calls all day from family and friends - including one from Dad in southern Timor Leste.
• P's parents dropped around and gave me a jumbo picnic rug and cooler bag - now thoroughly prepared for summer.
• Met a far-flung LPer for the first time for coffee at Parliament House.
• Purchased a large plastic container for paper making from our newly local Big W. Browsed our new local Borders (for ideas of what to order elsewhere).
• Met another friend who was visiting from Laos for cake (actually, I am not sure that she was visiting just for the cake).
• Went home for roast vegetable pizza and more snuggles.

Friday

• Began clearing out study in order to put in a new desk and create a nursery. House resembled a bomb site and I got so overwhelmed that I went to bed for a nap.
• Went out to Au Lac for a combined birthday dinner with 'the girls' (sorry Steve). Ate too much. Joined them at Trinity and Knightsbridge but stuck to cranberry juice. Went home smelling like cigarettes and looking forward to 1 December.

Saturday

• Got up at 7am to go to the Farmers Markets with K&P. Bought tomato and herb plants for the balcony as well as the usual array of fruit and veggies.
• Spent the morning making little cup cakes and sushi.

• Headed down to the lake for a birthday picnic with family and friends. Everyone brought yummy food and drinks (and icy poles!) and the weather was perfect.

Sunday

• Finished with our destruction of the study and then headed out to Fyshwick with P's parents.
• Sold a couple of boxes of unwanted books and got $93 credit in fabulous bookshop. Already plotting next trip.
• Purchased a new desk, filing cabinet and bookcase from Ex-Government Furniture shop.
• Went somewhat crazy in Bunnings and bought paint, gardening supplies, hammer, and paint brush.
• Returned home to disaster zone and finished the job. (Well, I actually napped while P did most of the work).

Monday

• AHHH! Must do work now.