Beautiful afternoon here. Sun on the green leaves in the trees in the yard, moderate climate, hot sun, cool shade. It has been said that Nature should really design the world as people design the best golf courses, and I agree...except, it should be the best backyards.This one is lovely. One doesn't have to own a golf course, nor a back yard. The important thing is occupying it for awhile and smelling the sunshine that only falls in that yard in particular.

One of the things about both being 63 and having an old complex trauma-PTSD from age 9 is that every now and then my mythical Egyptian Minor-Deity, Phil, the Dog, puts on a black coat and becomes the tedious, generic, Black Dog of Depression, and roams about the place and he is a dark critter indeed in that get-up. At the same time, he is so well known to me over the many decades that he has a name...Black Phil. It's amazing that even though all is going pretty damn well, the weather great, the family fine, that Black Phil turns up and I guess it is to be expected after moving house to a very different and new environment, new challenges etc. A big adjustment often smacks of some disorder or syndrome response, naturally enough, and it all takes quite some time, and it is very bleak, to be sure. One of the consolations of having such an intimate knowledge of Black Phil, is that, one day, should I die in Melbourne, in this most liveable of cities, Black Phil will die also. I remain happy to be alive and optimistic, and sometimes funny, and curious, in my own way. Black Phil is a cunt of a dog, but he is deeply acknowledged within, and even respected, and sometimes when acknowledged, and personally respected, he doesn't make such a awful mess of me. "I'm feeling better now" I said. "I'm sorry about that." "Why do you say that?" I asked and Black Phil responded (echoing Austin Powers): "I'm sorry that bug up your arse had to die." Happy New Year Comrades! JAIYO!

One of the things about both being 63 and having an old complex trauma-PTSD from age 9 is that every now and then my mythical Egyptian Minor-Deity, Phil, the Dog, puts on a black coat and becomes the tedious, generic, Black Dog of Depression, and roams about the place and he is a dark critter indeed in that get-up.
At the same time, he is so well known to me over the many decades that he has a name...Black Phil.
It's amazing that even though all is going pretty damn well, the weather great, the family fine, that Black Phil turns up and I guess it is to be expected after moving house to a very different and new environment, new challenges etc. A big adjustment often smacks of some disorder or syndrome response, naturally enough, and it all takes quite some time, and it is very bleak, to be sure.
One of the consolations of having such an intimate knowledge of Black Phil, is that, one day, should I die in Melbourne, in this most liveable of cities, Black Phil will die also.
I remain happy to be alive and optimistic, and sometimes funny, and curious, in my own way.
Black Phil is a cunt of a dog, but he is deeply acknowledged within, and even respected, and sometimes when acknowledged, and personally respected, he doesn't make such a awful mess of me.

"I'm feeling better now" I said.
"I'm sorry about that."
"Why do you say that?" I asked
and Black Phil responded (echoing Austin Powers): "I'm sorry that bug up your arse had to die."

Happy New Year Comrades! JAIYO!

Close the gap | James Fitzpatrick | TEDxPerth

Close the gap | James Fitzpatrick | TEDxPerth

Well, the Australian of the Year has been announced and he seems to be moderately worthy, I guess. Some kind of scientist involved in some kind of ... science. Good for him. Still, I would have preferred it be me, or maybe Wanyi, Ellie, Bonnie, or Viv, or Eileen, or Richard, or Penny, or Coral, or Siobhan, or Jordy, or Sarah, or Florence, or my brother Laurie, or my nephew James, or Ivy Rose, or Heidi, or Deb, or Sarah or Katie . I really don't know what is wrong with these judges. What were they thinking? It will take a long, long time to fix up Australia, that's for sure.

The winner, after me and my brother Laurie, should have been our nephew, James Fitzpatrick.

Australia can do very well in the world but only if China does very well. That's a truth. We should arrange our views to gel with reality rather than with rhetoric and racism.

It is interesting to note that it was China who first said "Trump will win" not based upon what was good or bad for China, but simply based upon the highest quality scientific analysis of the situation. They are doing this all the time, analysing every country, but mostly analysing China. They have more people, and much brighter people, analysing the Australian economy than Australia has. They know what is coming for Australia because they have bothered to invest in knowledge rather than in political rhetoric...and they make very good decisions based upon their analysis rather than upon our outlook, or what we say or what we do in the short, medium, or long term. Because they have this massive amount of knowledge about us, it may be useful, for Australia, to be close to them rather than to plan how to bring them down. They don't need us, but we as a small people, do need them...and we do need their knowledge. You don't get that knowledge by having a US Military Strike force based in Darwin with the sole purpose of stopping China trading ...with us.... That's not how you do business with China. America, as the only Super Power on earth, can fuck around with China, for sure, but we can't do that because we are not a world super power. We are where we are, an entire nation with a population less than one major Chinese city.