.. to Baldessin, Ballet and Boofheads.

G’day Possums,

No: 1 daughter and I went back to “the-other-side” last weekend and visited an exhibition in St Andrews.

On the way we stopped off to look at the first Wombat burrow in Hurstbridge, which sadly, time and present occupant/owner seem to be taking their toll.

If you have the time next weekend, visit Baldessin Print Gallery in St. Andrews. 90 Shaftsbury St.  Saturday 30^th Nov and Sunday 1^st December

There is a tantalising mix of photography, photo-gravure and mixed media with works by Silvi Glattauer, Karen Goldfinch, Tess Williams and Paul Hails where the artists approach to image making is very stimulating.

(My apologies for the reflections on these pics of mine.)

Karena Goldfinch Artist and..a knitter for the Leadbeater Possum

Karena Goldfinch

Paul hails

Silvi Glattauer

Tess Williams

Then, I went off to photograph an early rehearsal for a new ballet “The Red Sails” a fairy-tale work that had me thinking “Red-Shoes” meets Federico Fellini in St. Petersburg.

It has, even at this unfinished stage, a dreamlike quality and an exuberance, which indicates that the cast enjoy the choreography and the story line which augers well for a performance that I’m looking forward to photographing.

Ballet Theatre of Australia, 19^th December, 7:30pm

Phone: 9243 9191 for bookings.

The Red Sails, Ballet

The Red Sails, Ballet

The Red Sails, Ballet

The Red Sails, Ballet

The Red Sails, Ballet

The Red Sails, Ballet

The Red Sails, Ballet

The Red Sails, Ballet

The Red Sails, Ballet

The Red Sails, Ballet

The Red Sails, Ballet

The Red Sails, Ballet

The Red Sails, Ballet

The Red Sails, Ballet

      Wombat Droppings or the Low-down on Oz politics

Having insulted the Indonesians, Malaysians and Papua New Guineans when in opposition, prime miniature “Rabbott”, now unable to grasp the fact that leadership is his, continues in his thuggish ways and makes matters so much worse.

It is interesting to note how many times Bogan behaviour and the Liarbril party and its apparatchiks seem to coincide.

Piers “Toad-Hall” Akerman’s recent slagging off at Labor deputy leader Tanya Plibersek’s warranted verbal disdain of Scott “Drone” Morrison’s inability to democratically answer questions in parliament was he said, the rantings of Labor’s. “…Shrew-de-Jour”. Hmmm….his arguments may have had more weight  if  “Toad-Hall” hadn’t been “done” for allegedly sexually harassing his 5 female staff  earlier in his “career” and having to pay costs to another woman (Shirley Stott Despoja) on a similar matter.

Then there was the defamation action of $200,000.00 awarded against him for "The inaccuracies of fact by the defendant [Akerman] on this topic are gross". “The Drone” Morrison,  (his nasty side already mentioned in another post) Steve “slit-her-throat” Ciobo,  Cory “Beastiality” Bernardi and “Rabbott” himself and his misogynist, bullying Uni behaviour… and Liarbril “strategist” Mark Textor’s brilliant soothing of international tension with his Boganisms.

This is not a government but a right-wing-bogan rabble.

Liarbril, Fellow-Traveller from the ABC, Leigh “Hissy-Fit” Sales continues her own inept frolic, this time trying to divert attention from Pyne “The Whyne’s" lying over breaking promises on Gonski school funding by conflating and badgering/blaming Labor leader Shorten over “Rabbotts’ foreign policy stuff-ups; showing all the manners of an Australian cricketer and then, like the love-child of Alan “Bondi” Jones, shutting down loquacious “far-north” pollie, Bob Katter when he refuses to further the mantra she wanted to run.

And lets not discuss another lacklustre Q and A with a celebrity…. an American Comedian who, in answer to a very dull question said, “…some people might not find me interesting…”.

He was correct.

Sales’ interview was so riveting, I can’t remember his name!

I imagine that with her wit, empathy, charisma and objectivity, Sales is being groomed as a possible Liarbril candidate to further the tradition of Sophie “Pit-Bull” Mirabella.

Here in the “Tardis-State” (Where-All-Goes-Backward), Pretend Premier, Dennis (Inutilus Rusticus) Napthine allowed his chief mouthpiece for concreting parkland, destroying homes, habitat and communitys for a one-shop-solves-nothing “East-West” tunnel folly, on talk-back radio to bat for his side.

Poor chap had quite a few talk-back maidens bowl him over and he only convinced many that something really, really STINKS with this whole project.

Geoff “Fiddles” Shaw, alleged rorter of govt. car allowance (ex Liarbril) berates parliament, “… as being a rabble”… geez Geoff, isn’t that “Pot calling Kettle “black-bum”? And how about using your parliamentary privlege, Geoff, to attack the Magistrate deciding your case? Ethical use of seperation of powers?

Inutilis-Rusticus’ Speaker, sends two Labor pollies on a six day holiday (in a five day parliament) in order to restore democracy… and not to avoid speakers'  manifestations of competence…or otherwise... hmmmm. Louise "Dozy" Asher manager of Government businee said,"Look over there, a Rabbit"

Once upon a time, Liarbrils were Assistant-Managers to “Big-Business”.

Now, I’m afraid they are rather less than Office-Boys.

And let’s not discuss IBAC’s interesting turning over of turds from Peter “I-Know-Nuffin” Ryan’s tenure as Police Minister…..or the fifth Chairman of the Building Authority to resign in two years… or the Ambulance crisis… or the hospital waiting lists….or the court waiting lists…or the shambles of appeals tribunal. Ahh,  Liarbrils… such Good Managers, so Economically Responsible….

     Can anyone with half a brain, really believe this any more?

Cheers fellow Echidnas, the bad news is… It’s all too late!

Shane

Sitedfigures
The Australian Index

...seeing the cat belled.

 G'day Petals

Shane in the mix

We've been working on a new book of the last performance photographed... it was also meant to be entered into a competition as part of the Ballarat International Foto Biennale (17-8-13 to 15-9-13) but I have decided that as the end result was probably not really worth the effort....I'll give the comp a miss.... but here are a couple of shots from what should be at the printers tomorrow

Visually, this book is I think, one of the nicest I've put my name to and it will have the intermission video included as well.

I have presented some of the shots, like this one of Bec R, according to the idea that all theatre is a "conceit" that our willingness to participate in the conceit is where we derive our pleasure in  performance.

Bec Reeves, Triptych

Bec Reeves.

 It is interesting to note too, how the performance predicates the presentation of a book and its layout according to shot selection and story.

The rhythm of the performance is similar to the dynamic of the class and what you shoot to a great degree is informed by this.

It can often become more than the mere recording of an event. 

Olivia and Gus

 And there are some other things that have happened as a result of taking some people for classes in "Looking at Photographs"....

Cup and Egg

Light

Cafe Table

Wombat Droppings

Well, that’s been a week!

Starting off with Judith Sloane’s blog troll-ism ( re: degrees for child-care workers being only for “….dim-wits from second or third rate university’s”) being queried in public and her inability to effectively defend herself and further credibility as the “Q and A” audience groaned with disbelief at her assertion that ex PM “Little Johnny” Howard had suffered vilification equivalent to Julia Gillard!

View the compilation below to see how low the “right” have sunk in this country and do a “compare and contrast” Sloane’s oft repeated assertion.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tsECK-gRCGc

I searched for the site to read the article ..something called Catalepsy …or something… and was astounded by the comments supporting the honoury profs’ troll-isms. It was full of the most bilious malevolent, vitriolic and noxious rantings. And woe-be-tide any who dared disagree or criticize in this troll kingdom; they were immediately attacked and vilified. I could only visualise it all as a Hieronymus Bosch painting with the “…weeping and gnashing of teeth” of the damned and forgotten.  A very nasty place.

Then “Big Red”Gillard gets rolled and Kev’s back as PM!

Oi!

An immediate 16% jump in the for Labor only goes to show that it’s all about personality, not policy and how politically sophisticated the electorate isn’t.

But Kev did a couple of things: first he makes a joke of the Tow-back-the-Boats idea forcing the Liarbrils to attempt explaining their policy (they can’t) and secondly: he invites “Rabbott” Abbott to a series of policy debates that has the Liarbrils all running for cover in fright at having to publicly explain anything in more than a three word slogan.

Labor has finally “Belled the Cat” and the Liarbrils smell of funk!

Julie “Death-Stare” Bishop spits that Kev’s joke on the Boats is the most dreadful thing since the crucifixion which oddly enough is exactly the line played in Rupert “The Ugly American” ( He-Who–Lies-to-British-Parliamentary-Enquiries) Murdoch’s rag, The Australian… but this ‘aint news, they’ve been writing the script for three years!

Joe “Oh- What-a- Feeling” Hockey (opposition treasurer) ties himself up in knots again and looks suitably and unimaginatively Liarbril-ly stupid in interview, opining that Oz doesn’t have the population to support a “Very Fast Rail” system, which, being said immediately after a French fellow involved in this infrastructure in Europe thinks that Oz is ideally placed right now to benefit from this development, indicates where this country will head under the Liarbrils.

Sophie “Pit-Bull” Mirabella is verbally and conceptually mauled on “Q and A” by Tanya Plibersek, particularly after her “…total solution” to the refugee problem; Tony Windsor awarding “Pit-Bull” The-Most-Unpopular-Woman-in-Parliament prize was very funny; and given a straw poll Mrs Wombat and I held yesterday at lunch with 8 men and women, we did, too.  I wonder if she goes to a lonely home to cry herself to sleep.

And then there was this….  
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/video/2013/jul/01/michaelia-cash-labor-sisterhood-penny-wong

Oi, These coarse women….!!

Leigh Sales (7:30 Report, ABC), was positively ugly again, salivating over tragedy, confusing being a player with being a reporter. In feeding the parents of a young man who died installing Pink Insulation batts in a Government sponsored work scheme, prompting them every opportunity to swipe at Rudd, “Do you want to say more?” ….”What would you like to say to PM Rudd?” etc , Sales’ crass tabloid techniques again dilute the quality of ABC journalism.

A coroner’s report three years after the event? Timed to co-incide with an election?

Where the management and work practices of the business owners and the OH and S in Queensland barely rate a mention in reporting? Give us a break!

Sales’ puerile question: “Do you think you get better at acting with experience?” to Russell Crowe, “belled” that cat, too.

New minister in Rudd government, Ed Husic takes Oath of Office on the Koran: which releases a tsunami of mis-spelled Bogan vitriol on FB which not only shows a frightening lack of knowledge of the country’s constitution; the embarrassing level of cultural sensitivity and awareness current in Australia but also how the conservative’s attitude have legitimised these morons’ comments. 

Below is a pic of local federal member Catherine King (Minister, Regional Development) officially opening the local landmark, The Half Church with the owners Kathy and Marlene.

Catherine King opening local landmark

Cheers Possums…. and to finish with a feline metaphor… I hope the poll results are not a “Dead-Cat’s-Bounce”.

Shane.

The Australian Index