Is It Odd To Photograph Pylons? (via PurpleT Photography)

I was impressed with this blogger’s photography and philosophy. It’s worth a read!

Being someone who has environmental leanings, i have often found it rather disturbing that here in the UK, applications for wind turbines can be rejected with one of the main reasons being that people complain they will be able to see them. “I’ll be able to see them from my house!” “I’ll be able to see them on the hill over there, it’s just not right!” Yet mention to these same people that you can see the line of electricity pylons from their hou … Read More

via PurpleT Photography

Australian Election 2010

So, another Federal election is around the corner.

One interesting issue that has been highlighted in the Australian media is the problematic reluctance of young Australians to enrol to vote. Perhaps they  (the 17-25 year old age group) do not realise that enrolling to vote is a legal requirement for all eligible citizens aged 17 and over?

I’m sure that they’re not, on the whole, politically apathetic. Perhaps it seems like such a hassle – getting up on a Saturday morning once every couple of years, lining up for a few minutes at one of the many polling centres around the country, and getting one’s name ticked off the list? The lure of the standard sausage sizzle that is found at a lot of voting centres mustn’t be strong enough!

I guess I can’t speculate on the reasons why a lot of young people are moralising and justifying their deliberate avoidance of enrolling to vote. I’m not much older than the above-mentioned demographic, and yet I cannot understand the desire to avoid voting. Politics affects our daily lives.

I, for one, want a say in how my country is run.

Here’s a few suggestions from my end:

– learn some of the history of the struggles faced by different people groups, including socio-ecnomic groups, ethnicities and genders, in securing the right and freedom to vote. Maybe you’ll realise what a privilege it is.

– refusal to participate in democratic process surely negates the right to complain about the process.

– get educated. Learn the broad policy overviews of the different political parties. It’s not that hard. The Liberals and Labor are similar, yes, but sit on opposite sides of the political fence. The Australian Liberals are more conservative, the Labor party more left wing. Family First and the Greens provide alternative viewpoints. There’s a heaps of other minor parties too. Find an issue you care about and see what the parties are saying about it.

Homelessness? Taxes? The breakdown of the family unit? Environment? Health care? Marriage and divorce? Social justice? Refugees? Racism? Crime?

(On the issue of how Australian politics is affecting the needs of the homeless, go have a look at the Swags for the Homeless website.)

Have a look at the ACL Make It Count website to see some of the issues addressed by the two major parties.

After all that, Enrol to Vote as soon as possible!

There are lot of political parties in Australia, and here are links to a few of their websites. I am listing them alphabetically and not making any references to my own preferred politicians. Feel free to add more in the comments section.

Australian Democrats

Australian Labor

Christian Democratic Party

Family First

Liberal Party of Australia

The Greens

Landcare Awards

Here’s a random bit of Aussie information for you.

As I write this, voting is open for the Victorian LandCare Heroes Awards – with a people’s choice category. I have just jumped onto the site to vote for some people who own a property formerly owned by members of my family – the work these people have done to the land is astounding.

LandCare is an Australian land management system, in which volunteers seek to use sustainable and environmentally friendly land management practices where possible. Australians from many walks of life can be involved, many of whom are farmers and Indigenous Australians.

I encourage you to go and check out the nominees for the awards at http://vic.landcareheroes.com/nominees/victorian-landcare-awards-nominees, and consider voting for your favourite!

More information on what LandCare* can be found at http://www.landcareonline.com/.

*I am not personally involved in LandCare. Some of my extended family members are, and it’s amazing to see what they have done with their land. I was able to study LandCare during a unit on rural Australian sociology back in 2008, as part of my university studies;and was impressed with the way it fosters community development and participation, as well as encouraging farmers to develop sustainable practices.

Wild Donkeys

10.02 am – Thursday 29 May 2008

The world is full of amazing creatures. Just read the Bible – Job 39 – for a sense of their wonder. This was inspired by Job 39:5-8. I’m drawing from memory. There’s many species and subspecies of wild ass, onager, donkey, etc., each unique and with incredible endurance and swiftness of foot… or hoof.

Random extra information: on this passage of Scripture!

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Job 39

5 “Who let the wild donkey go free? Who untied its ropes? 6 I gave it the wasteland as its home, the salt flats as its habitat. 7 It laughs at the commotion in the town; it does not hear a driver’s shout. 8 It ranges the hills for its pasture and searches for any green thing. (Today’s New International Version, from http://bible.crosswalk.com/.)

==

From ICR’s Online Study Bible reference to Strong’s Concordance:

6501

arp , peh’-reh: or pereh (Jeremiah 2:24) {peh’-reh}; from 06500 in the secondary sense of running wild; the onager:–wild (ass).

Job 39:5
Who hath sent out the wild ass free? or who hath loosed the bands of the wild ass?

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Wikipedia on wild asses…

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

280. Whale

Pencil and pen on paper, August 2008.

Saving Rainforests

For anyone who’s concerned, here’s a quick video from a group of people seeking to protect native Australian rainforest from logging in the Gippsland region of Victoria.

For Green Energy

Australian Accredited Green Energy Information:

http://www.greenpower.gov.au/

Against Nuclear Energy

Some links to information on nuclear energy:

http://www.greenpeace.org/international/campaigns/nuclear – Greenpeace

http://www.antinuclear.net/ – antinuclear Australia

Dust Mite Protection

AllergEnd Plus bedding covers have been of great benefit to us. We use their Plus range because it is cotton. As some members of our household have been diagnosed by an allergy specialist doctor as having polyester allergy, we generally opt for 100% cotton bed linen.

http://www.allergend.com.au/index.htm

Cleaners

Due to the high levels of allergy problems in our household, we’ve had to look into finding products and brands that will help. So, lately I’ve been switching to plant-based, organic, petroleum-free products.

Here is a Victorian-based company whose cleaning products and haircare products I’ve been using recently:

http://www.naturesorganics.com.au/

I’ll add more products as I find them. I’m not into all this commercial stuff, but if it can help other allergy sufferers, then it’ll be worthwhile.

(Disclaimer: Check the ingredients on the labels for yourself. No responsibility taken for anyone following these links.)

Global Warming

13 March 2008 – around 3pm

So, tell me, is global warming the reason we’re having 38 degrees Celsius days in Autumn, or is it just a hot summer? My husband tells me it’s because we’re in Australia – but I’ve lived in this state all my life and it always seemed a lot colder and greener than in recent years.

Figure 1.1: scorching hot sun beaming down on parched ground and heat rising from road.

224. Painting Whales

Humpback Whale, acrylic on canvas, January-April 2008, 8×8″ (approx 203×203 mm).

This is a rare case of me working on a piece for more than one session. Being notoriously impatient, I tend to prefer to get a drawing completed within a day of starting. This was a deliberate effort for me to try and develop more patience. This painting was developed over the space of a few months, one layer at a time. I’m not sure how successful it is – I am an amateur painter!

It was inspired by a photograph of a humpback whale, Megaptera novaeangliae, and started around the time that the Australian news was dealing with the issue of whales being killed in our territory, against our laws. In Australia, whales are generally considered a vital part of the oceanic ecosystem, so it cause quite a stir when all these animals were being locally slaughtered earlier this year. Strangely enough, at the same time I have been reading the classic piece of literature, Moby Dick. I have found it a fascinating snapshot into human perspectives regarding whales – not to mention all the other deep themes explored in the text. The chapter devoted to arguing that whales are fish, not mammals, was particularly interesting. I wondered if perhaps describing whales as fish alleviates the burden of massacres when these intelligent, family-living, social creatures are cut to pieces.

More information –

– you might find the Animal Liberation Victoria website an interesting source of information regarding the 2008 slaughter of whales in Australian waters. Try http://alv.org.au/storyarchive/0607seashepherd/seashepherd.php or search for “whaling” at http://alv.org.au/.

– The Australian Government has online information regarding Australian legal policy directed towards cetacean conservation. Go to http://www.environment.gov.au/coasts/species/cetaceans/index.html.

(Links accessed 27 April 2008 10.46 am Australian Eastern Standard Time)

202. Sable Antelope

 Antelope Sketch – Pencil on paper.

This is one of my sketches, “from the vaults.” Drawn in 2005, it was inspired by a nature reference book photograph of a Sable Antelope  (Hippotragus niger).

Sad For The Whales

Friday 4 January 2008 – 2.30 pm

Thinking about whales. Maybe it’s because they’re being slaughtered in our oceans. Or because I’m reading Moby Dick. How sad they are subjected to such cruelties.