To Brisbane

Having spent enough time basking in the familiarity of an Asianized metropolitan Sydney, we decided to drive North to Brisbane via a detour to Toowoomba to see a friend before I arrive at Brisbane to spend time with my Aussie mate Daryll.The drive was approx. 850 kms via the Pacific Coast H'way. After the first 5 hours, we arrived at Port MacQuarie, a quaint little seaside holiday resort cum port. Home also to McQuarie University, there's a huge student population here. Spent the night at a motel after waking up the proprietress, who showed up in a bath robe. Haggled with her over the price of the accomodations, got the price we wanted, no breakfast and a room overlooking the main road. Pretty decent place to sleep in. Up at six the next morning and Coffs Harbour was our destination for breakfast.I drove most of the way up the coast, beautiful stretches of land and seascape interrupted by turfs of green meadows and forested creeks. Because of the strict speed limits, we drove at a leisurely pace taking in the expansive vistas and it was such a breeze that we made Coffs Harbour earlier than expected and decided to make for the much heralded Byron Bay for lunch instead. Lennox Head needs special mention as the sweeping views to the sea are spectacular.
Byron Bay was lovely as lunch, Fish Heads was the name of the restaurant where we had fresh Pacific rock oysters washed down with a very very nice bottle of Sauvignon Blanc Semillion- Three Sisters from Victoria. Very satisfied. To wear down the effects of the alcohol, we took in the sights and side streets of Byron Bay.

Sydney

View from the apt. Finger Wharf in the foreground.

Had to attend a conference one weekend in Sydney. Gladly jumped at the chance and returned to a city I was last at 25 years ago. After a successful meeting, we moved into a friends studio apartment on Victoria St. in Potts Point very close to King's Cross. The balcony opened up to a view of the Harbour Bridge and part of the Opera House. 

And right in the forefront on the suburb of Wooloomooloo lies one of the most expensive piece of real estate in Sydney, Finger Wharf, an apartment complex on the pier where Russel Crowe lives. He supposedly bought his waterfront apartment for A$14M.

Sydney, city by the bay, hasn't changed much except for the skyline. The Harbour Bridge used to charge A$O.20c toll when I last visited now charges A$3.00. They still use the same unmanned toll collection mechanism. Just throw the coins into a large collection basket. 

More cosmopolitan now with a larger mix of Chinese, Koreans, Vietnamese, Thais, Malaysians, Singaporeans, Indonesians. Sydney is even more chic, stylish, charming, exciting than ever before.

may i feel

Following my earlier post on the poetry of ee cummings here, 

I've stumbled upon yet another one of his love poems that borders more on the physical side of love that America's second most popular poet writes prolific. 

 

may i feel said he 

may i feel said he (i'll squeal said she, just once said he) 

it's fun said she (may i touch said he, how much said she, a lot said he) 

why not said she (let's go said he, not too far said she, what's too far said he, where you are said she) 

may i stay said he (which way said she, like this said he, if you kiss said she, may i move said he, is it love said she) 

if you're willing said he (but you're killing said she, but it's life said he, but your wife said she, now said he) 

ow said she (tiptop said he, don't stop said she, oh no said he) go slow said she, (cccome? said he, ummm said she) you're divine! said he (you are Mine said she)

Cummings always considered himself just as much a painter as he was a poet or writer. Especially in his later years, spent at his home in New Hampshire, Cummings would paint during the day and then write at night. Beginning with his years at Harvard and continuing on into the 1920s, Cummings identified with the artistic movements of Cubism, Dada, and Surrealism. He particularly admired the work of Pablo Picasso. 

 It's also his birthday today. Happy Birthday Edward Estlin Cummings. What a love fiend you are.

Best Picture

A picture tells a story. Some paint a vivid tale, some go on to document an event or a special moment. A good picture should actually ignite feelings in you to do things. Very few do all that I've mentioned. And this is one of the few. It just transforms my imagination and makes me want to don white cotton robes and traverse the desert with a camel train.
Look closely. Can you find the camels?
This is an aerial photograph of a herd of camels crossing the desert. The black parts are the shadows and the 'white' camels.
This is one of the best pictures of 2005 voted by National Geographic.

Imagine

Today is John Lennon's Birthday.

Imagine there's no Heaven
It's easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us only sky
Imagine all the people
Living for today

Imagine there's no countries
It isn't hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people
Living life in peace

You may say that I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will be as one

Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man
Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world

You may say that I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will live as one


Who would have thought the Beatles, a 60's boy band, would make such an impact on the greater good.
What you have started, just like what Gandhi and Jon did, will never die.
'And the world will live as one.......................'

Happy Birthday John Lennon

World Population-2006

According to reference.com;

In 2006, the world population will exceed 6,500,000,000 and the United States population will exceed 300,000,000. Worldwide, there are 4.1 births per second and 1.8 deaths per second. In the United States, there is one birth every eight seconds and one death every 13 seconds. China has the world's largest population with over 1,300,000,000 people. One out of every five people in the world live in China.


It's getting to be abit crowded don't you think? Six point five billion people with more than twice the number of newborns over deaths per second and birth is escalating faster than death by 5 secs. Which means more people are coming than going. With improved healthcare, the average life expectancy will increase. But then again, people want to live forever but nobody wants to grow old. Think about it.
And if there are five in your family, how do you decide who goes to China?

Gentleness is Strength

"There is nothing as gentle as strength, and nothing as strong as gentleness".
-Frances de Sales


Perhaps in the quest for God and in finding justification for my gentle nature, I have arrived at some fundamental issues that are very real for me and further cements my belief in the greater good.Gentleness is Strength

by Robert Perry

We all love to be on the receiving end of gentleness. It feels wonderful to be treated gently. Yet, on the giving end, we wonder if being gentle can get the job done. We live in a world resistant to change, even change for its own good. If we are going to make a positive difference, surely at times we must act strongly, even harshly.

This reflects our underlying attitude that gentleness is weak, an attitude that is perfectly understandable. We probably all have had the experience of trying gently to get a certain result while no one listens, only to finally get that result when we start shouting.

A Course in Miracles, however, claims that gentleness is strength. In fact, it says that if we want to make a positive difference in the world we will "need the strength of gentleness" (Manual, p. 13). It says that if our tactics are harmful, we will actually be too weak to accomplish what we came here for. This is a total reversal of how we see things. How can it be?

True gentleness is more than just a matter of behavior. It flows from an inner gentleness, a gentle way of seeing. Do you look upon the world through gentle eyes? As people do their crazy dance, do you look on them with narrow, unforgiving eyes, or do you "look with gentle graciousness" (Text, p. 407)?

This kind of seeing gives rise to the gentleness that is truly strong. Real gentleness has the power to reach inside people and cause change. Perhaps we can remember a time in our own lives when one gentle touch reached us as nothing else could, when one gentle word was more effective than all the shouting. The power of gentleness is the power of love.

More than that, says A Course in Miracles, the power of gentleness is the power of God. According to the Course, God is perfect gentleness yet also infinite power. True gentleness, then, is more than mild behavior, more than mere timidity. It is a state of mind that mirrors the nature of God, and so taps into His infinite power. This is why the truly gentle have been known to perform miracles.

And this is why they will one day inherit the earth. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus taught that "the meek shall inherit the earth." The word "meek" here is the translation of a Greek word that actually means "gentle but strong," which is why many translations now say "the gentle" rather than "the meek." A Course in Miracles makes the exact same point. After speaking of the strength that comes from never attacking-from gentleness-it says, "This is what is meant by 'the meek shall inherit the earth.' They will literally take it over because of their strength" (Text, p. 20). Can you imagine a world ruled by the gentle? What a wonderful world it would be.

I believe it would be a world of infinite power because like God, our true nature, perfect gentleness is also infinite power. And if it's true that we all love to be at the receiving end of gentleness, we should be the change that we want to be. And yes, what a wonderful world it would be.....

Terry Fox Run 2006- More pictures

Well you know what they say;
Better late than never. Photos still say alot. See how much fun Summer is having? Not half as much as mummy!!! Isn't she lovely?