Blue Mountains

As a response to a comment on my Australia Day post by Grandmére Mimi.

The Blue Mountains is densely populated by oil bearing Eucalyptus trees. The atmosphere is filled with finely dispersed droplets of oil, which, in combination with dust particles and water vapour, scatter short-wave length rays of light which are predominantly blue in colour.

Street people

Thanks to Episcopal Padre for the following video which intrigued me as it is partly shot in my home city.


I recognise one man sitting on the ground, he is nearly always to be found in the most upmarket shopping precinct. I am fairly sure some of the others are men who sleep in the porch of the court buildings next to our church.
Sadly they are one of the reasons, our church has to employ a security guard on Sunday.
Women in all Anglican churches in Sydney are advised to carry their purses with them to the communion rail and most churches arrange for one sidesperson to take communion first and another last so there is always someone watching from the back of the church. So sad.
When I was growing up in Sydney, it was most unusual to have someone ask you for money in the street or on trains. While expected, it was rather a shock when I first visited Asia in 1974 and even when I went onto Europe later. However, even today, Sydney is nothing like San Francisco or Paris which are the worse for this activity in Western cities I have recently visited.
I guess the growth in such activity can be put down to drugs and also the fact that mentally ill persons are no longer locked up in asylums.

To my mind, there is no need for people to beg in Australia. Our social security system, while it has its faults, should see that people have at least the bare necessities especially when augmented by the many charities run by church and other groups.
I realise that mental problems exacerbated by drugs mean that some people are unable to organise their life even to accept the help that is available.
I soon learnt in Asia that if you give money, you are soon surrounded and having to push people away.
In Australia, I am very suspicious of anyone asking for money as I am fairly sure how it will be spent. I prefer to give to charities who are equipped to provide real assistance. I do speak to the men outside our church when they greet me.
Perhaps I should offer my services to a charity to help but I am not sure I am well equipped.

I have a friend from school days. We met in the first year of high school. He was very effeminate, had a terrible home life about which he only told me in later years while we were at university. He was academically brilliant gaining a doctorate in chemistry and a masters in English. He tried teaching but the students made mincemeat of him. As students we use to think it was a joke to hold his hands still, he could not continue talking. He did have some government office jobs but they were probably difficult for someone of his mental capacity.

I reconnected with him a few years ago. He told me he suffers from bipolar disorder, has been unemployed for years and lives in government housing. I visited him, his apartment is stacked high with newspapers with narrow passageways from room to room, a real fire hazard. He tells me marijuana is a help to his condition. We went out for lunch and I discovered he has been banned from all the local hotels but I was able to buy wine at a bottle shop. He wanted 2 bottles and when I pointed out that I was driving and 2 glasses would be my maximum, he said he would drink the rest.
We actually talked for several hours so I probably drank more than 2 glasses.

After lunch he asked me to help him transport a 2nd hand TV he wished to buy so we went to the shop and during the price haggling there was some misunderstanding with the shop owner which led to my friend becoming verbally violent and claiming it was my presence that stopped him being physically violent.
Needless to say, I was very embarrassed and have never visited him again although I feel guilty about that.
However, despite his obvious problems, social welfare does provide him with a home and food, he does not need to beg. Perhaps I am too judgemental.

Happy Australia Day

About 25 seconds in are views of the Blue Mountains with the Three Sisters which are about 15km from my home.

Heat, Monet and Nixon

That is a mixture of topics but it describes my Thursday.
We are in the middle of a heatwave here, heat is what is driving me to live in Dunedin.
Last week one day reached 42'C (108'F) in Penrith about 20km from here and was probably about 37'C (99'F)here. Thankfully it cooled down over the weekend but the temperatures have risen again since Tuesday and each day has been in the mid 30's.(high 80'sF). We are waiting for a cool change late this afternoon. Fortunately the humidity has been high, not fortunate for comfort but for bushfire risk although a complete fire ban has just been imposed. My nearest town has already gone over 30'C (86'F) at 9am.
I hate lying at night under a fan trying to get to sleep. My neighbour complained she has not been able to turn off the aircon but I do not have that. There have been thunderstorms around in the evening but they have all missed my place. While they can cause damage, they usually cool the air and the rain is nice. I spent several hours watering on Wednesday evening (we can only water certain hours Wednesday and Sunday).

On Thursday I decide to escape the heat and go to the art gallery and movie. My train journey of nearly 2 hours each way was in blissful airconditioning. Unfortunately about one third of our suburban trains are still not airconditioned and on my 3 journeys around the city, I struck the jackpot - all non air con but only about 10 mins each time.
I went first to my church to sample the coffee cart which has been operating in the grounds since July. Not sure of its purpose, suppose to advertise the church to people, it is located in the main legal office area and near an important tourist precinct. The church is the oldest in the city. Anyway it was good coffee.

Then I walked the 10 minutes to the Art Gallery (not too hot at 11am and it is near the harbour). Discovering that the Monet and the Impressionists exhibition was closing on the weekend had been the main reason for my decision to go to the city. I love Monet and have visited Giverny twice. Most of the paintings were on loan from the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston.

I liked , among many, Seacoast at Trouville and Fisherman's Cottage on the Cliffs at Varengeville and Snow at Argenteuil had me envious.I then returned to the city, waiting 20 minutes for a bus that was 10 minutes late, fortunately there was a cool breeze off the harbour and the bus was airconditioned but I could have walked in that time.
After lunch and an hour perusing a CD sale where I spent $25 on 3 cds, I caught a train out to the cinema where I saw Frost/Nixon.

I intend posting about my recent movies soon. A number of them were included in the Oscar nominations. I see that Frank Langella has been nominated for his role as Nixon with which I heartily concur. I believe there were some historical inaccuracies but would not know myself. I was travelling around Europe at the time of the resignation and in those days most places I stayed did not have TV. I always thought Nixon was a bigger crook even than George W Bush :-).
It was not top of the list of movies for me to see, mainly chosen by time to fit in with the Art gallery visit but I did enjoy it, although Frost irritated me.

When I exited the cinema just before 5, it seemed to be the hottest time of the day and, after another non-airconditioned suburban train trip, I was glad to reach Central station and board my airconditoned train for the trip home. Arriving home at 7pm, it was becoming cooler although the sun does not set until 8pm at the moment.

Bishop Gene Robinson writes from the Inauguration

If you haven't already, please read Bishop Gene's reports from Washington this week - his role last Sunday and his close to the centre view of the Inauguration day activities.
To me, a foreigner , watching on TV many thousands of miles away (at 4am) it has been wonderful to know that an openly gay man, an Episcopalian(Anglican) bishop has been so close, taken an important role and actually met and spoken with President Obama.
The fact that I met and received a hug from Bishop Gene in October 2007 has made me feel even closer "I danced with a man who danced with a girl who danced with the Prince of Wales "


Obviously the day was unbelievable because a Black man became President of the United States of America and I can remember reading about the segregation back in the 60's as well as having visited museums and sites in Birmingham, Alabama.
I also remember that I voted in 1967 to allow Aborigines to be counted as people in the Australian census and of course it is just last year that our Commonwealth government finally said sorry for all the wrongs of the past.
However I can also see some changes in the open acknowledgement and acceptance of a gay person at such an event. I also remember that in the 1960's and 70's gay sexuality was a criminal offence and, as a teacher, it was imperative that I keep my sexuality hidden.

The hope of our time

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd says the American people chose the right man when they elected Barack Obama as President.

Mr Rudd says Mr Obama's election during a turbulent economic spell shows Americans rise to their best during tough times.

"They have set Barack Obama the mighty task of rebuilding the American economy and leading the recovery of the international economy: a great task for a man I believe to be a great man," Mr Rudd said.

"I believe from everything I have seen, read and heard and from the conversations that I have had with him that the American people have chosen well."

Mr Rudd says Australia will work side-by-side with Mr Obama to overcome the global financial crisis.

"These are dark times but a new age and a new optimism - tempered by the magnitude of the challenges ahead - is about to dawn across the Pacific," he said.

"Barack Obama truly is the hope of our time and I say this to the new President of the United States and through him to the new people, that Australia as always stands ready to work with America in the great challenges that lie ahead."

A Marvellous Cartoon for my USA friends

In today's( 19/01/09 )Sydney Morning Herald on the last days of Bush

For The Bible Tells me so

I am excited that our church will be showing this film in a seminar on Saturday Jan 31. It is the first event for 2009 organised by the St James Institute. My sister has agreed to attend with me. This is more of an advertisement, I am sure I will have more to say afterwards.
Details and booking form can be downloaded from the Church website.
However:
THE BIBLE, SEXUALITY & INCLUSION
Saturday 31 January 2009 from 1.00pm till 5.00pm
Interpreting the Bible is not just for scholars and preachers. Christians must apply their faith to their lives on a daily basis. For them the dilemmas and choices are matters not of theory but of practice.
What if there is an apparent conflict between two differently perceived duties?
This is the situation faced by traditional believers when they discover that a child, their partner or someone close to them is gay; or that they themselves are gay. They may believe that homosexuality is wrong, yet they cannot cast off the bonds of love. They may find that the adage to hate the sin but love the sinner is too facile and inappropriate when it comes to those close to them.
This seminar is staged in two parts. In the first we will view a video, For the Bible Tells Me So. Produced in the USA, this video recounts the experiences of some Christian parents with gay children. It includes Bishop Gene Robinson of New Hampshire and his parents. In the second part we will discuss the implications of the video for parents, partners and individuals.
The discussion will be led by Professor Michael Horsburgh.
Michael Horsburgh is a former head of Social Work at the University of Sydney and formerly chaired the Academic Board of the Sydney College of Divinity. He is a longstanding parishioner of St James’, a diocesan reader and frequent preacher.
Cost $32 ($16 for those eligible to a discount)
Venue St James’ Hall, Level 1, 169 Phillip Street, Sydney

Different Bishop Robinsons

"Confronting Power and Sex in the Catholic Church: Reclaiming the Spirit of Jesus"
There is a good critique of this book here.
I do not know a lot about him but he seems to represent the many reasonable people I met and worked with while teaching in a Senior Catholic High School including another Auxiliary Bishop, now retired.
Such people cannot be too public while still actively working due to the suppression of ideas by the Roman Catholic Hierarchy especially as seen in the current Archbishop of Sydney, Cardinal Pell.

Now we have a new Bishop-Elect of Canberra & Goulburn, Stuart Robinson.
I have been suspicious of him from the start, he was a rector in the Diocese of Sydney and not from one of the recognised Anglo-catholic and/or liberal parishes.
I have read that "He has been influenced by a variety of Christian traditions, has greatly benefited from Sydney's evangelicalism, and is proud to call himself an Anglican"
and
"Stuart has also served as National Mission Facilitator for the General Synod of the Anglican Church of Australia. This role has enabled him to encourage mission in 19 of Australia's 23 dioceses. He has planted churches in Sydney's West, in Belgium, and in Sydney's inner-city. He has served on Boards that promote evangelism and church planting. He has spoken and written about mission and evangelism. His ministry has been characterized by training others, both clergy and lay, to be involved in mission, and to do evangelism better. His role with the General Synod and Church Army has seen him promote 'fresh expressions' of Church throughout Australia, in order to see Christ's mission continued more effectively."

However the same article called his election a 'pendulum swing' for the Diocese.

Now I read an interview he conducted with the Canberra Times
The most important statement for me.
'On whether he would ordain homosexual people, he said that outside marriage, sexual congress was inappropriate.

But celibate people who had a same-sex attraction may well be ordained ''as long as they take the notion of being celibate seriously''.

''If somebody, in a discreet way, tells me they have same-sex attractions and are not in any way seeking to be in a same-sex relationship and are seeking to honour Christ in their life, that is a person I can confidently ordain and confidently encourage to be involved in Christian ministry.''

In principle, he believed a register of same-sex unions would be fair and just. But people on that register would effectively be denied ordination.'

Oh Thank you very much, Bishop. My sexuality is acceptable as long as I never practice it but force myself to a loveless life. Oh yes and be discreet about it. From what I read, there are a number of these discreet bishops around and most of them cause more trouble than they are worth.

Yes Stuart, you come from and are a child of Sydney and represent their Gospel of Hate views and I will have none of it.

On the other hand there is another Bishop, Gene Robinson of New Hampshire.

I do not need to introduce him except to say that he is a true Bishop of the Gospel Of God's Love. I have included his wonderful blessing. I had seen this before but it has recently been posted by both Franiam and Grandmere Mimi. I am posting it on my own blog largely so I can regularly find it and receive this blessing when I need it most.

My mother's maiden name was Robinson and I am currently researching her ancestry but doubt there is any connection to any of the Bishops. :-)

Pirates of Penzance

Continuing with my time in Musical Theatre. I told you how it all began when the school where I was teaching put on Pirates of Penzance and I took the role of a pirate (seen on the left of photo behind the Pirate King - a student) in the first act. Then I was a policeman in the 2nd Act (on the right with truncheon at head below)

One of the other teachers had great difficulty keeping in time with the choreographed steps. We would practise with him interminably while off-stage but then, because he was out of step, he brought the house down. It was very difficult to maintain composure when you can see the School office ladies stuffing handkerchiefs in their mouths and tears of laughter running down their faces in front of you. The school theatre was very small.

Then having been in the Gondoliers and South Pacific in my local society, I was surprised when the next year (1987) they decided to stage the Pirates. As I said at the time, at least I knew the words. I was able to use the same costume as a pirate.


and then you can see me being admired by the ladies in their night dresses below. The painted on moustache is not very convincing.

I have searched and found a recent production of the University of Iowa singing the pirate king song in Act 1 and When a felon's not engaged in his employment sung by the police in Act 2. I chose these as not being as professional as some of the others available where the on stage antics were far beyond my athletic ability.