Female Bowerbird

Halloween!

Water Dragon Swimming at Towradgi Creek

                           Spring is with Us!

With Spring comes an increase in wildlife and also also the desire of south coast, NSW humans to shrug off winter and get out and about more. Since many of us have had our two jabs that has become increasingly possible.

The shops are open for business and I have my government certificate saying I am two jabs bullet proof. I look forward to a meal in a restaurant and visiting friends I haven't been able to see live in a long time. 

Water Dragons can be found in waterways. This one was located at Towradgi Creek.

                         This one was found at a different part of Towradgi Creek. 

                         They may look fierce but they are harmless.  

Part of Fairy Meadow and not far from the shops, this is an excellent place to find wildlife including Black Cockatoos. 

Here we have a Sacred Kingfisher recently found in Corrimal. 

They are small and elusive. 

Sometimes all you see is a flash of blue indicating they are about.

 And sometimes you get lucky. 

A play worth seeing come December.  

A good holiday read if you like Science Fiction. 

 

Lyn is one of the best writers around.  

More Hail Stones hit the South Coast of NSW, Australia!

 TALK TO THE HAND and Other delights!

   After much wondering if my play, in Short and Sweet, will ever be seen this year, it is now officially to be shown in early December at the Phoenix Theatre in Coniston, not far from Coniston train station. This is a fun play where hands do most of the talking.

      Friend Lyn McConchie, who has over thirty books under her belt, now has a new one  out through publisher Barbara Custer. Lyn is accomplished in many fields. Her farm and her understanding of animals, including horses and humans, does feature in much of her work including her Sherlock Holmes books. She has a vast understanding of weaponry and of how they are used. How does a society end and how to rebuild? Good questions asked by Lyn and answered. 

     Dragon Queen making headway. A few more reviews would come in handy. It is science fiction in which the dragons are human mutations with scale and tails. There is the quest for a better life. 

     Apparently people like the cover of Second-Hand Creeps and the artist responsible has received an award. Sales for this anthology have been particularly good in Canada. I have a short story in here I am quite proud of. 

   Here is an anthology Lyn McConchie talked me into contributing to some years ago. I have a number of stories within but Lyn remains the supreme cat lover. 

     Here we have unusual street art atop one of the towers of the old coke works at Corrimal. The coke works is being considered for redevelopment. This will mean lots of new homes and the possibility of traffic jams of a morning and of an afternoon along Railway Street, Corrimal, NSW, Australia. A second road to take the strain off of Railway Street in the future has been proposed. Will this be enough? Only time will tell. 

     Here we have two Galahs photographed in Corrimal. And so birding continues.

 

                          Spring 2021! 

On the South Coast of NSW, Australia! 

                 White Sulphur-crested Cockatoos are in abundance 

on the south coast of New South Wales. 

They are not, however, the only cockatoos around. 

           Black Yellow- tailed Cockatoos made an appearance 

at Fairy Meadow last Sunday. Their high pitched call is unmistakable.

 I got some nice photos of a couple of them eating. 

It is because of the wet weather there is plenty of food for them.  

                               Black Yellow-tailed Cockatoos are larger than the more common Sulphur-crested Cockatoo.

Spring also comes with its curiosities.

 This painted stone was found on the same bush walk at Fairy Meadow. 

At first it was mistaken by my companion for a strange, unknown bug.

 

In Corrimal yesterday I came upon a scruffy looking Kookaburra. 

There were also two Galahs to be seen. 

I got the impression they were nesting close by. 

                   Sometimes looking up you catch sight of a bird in flight. 

On this occasion it was a pelican.

      There have been less birds sighted by me this year than in previous years

 thanks  in part to the pandemic. 

There have been more foot and bike traffic than in previous years. 

                    It is understandable since everyone needs exercise 

and a lot of team sports

 have been cancelled.  

                  Sydney, New South Wales, Australia!

     Sydney has much to offer the visitor. 

By December, the shops should be in full swing

 and ready for the silly season.

The University of Technology building isn't far away from Central train station and close by one of the oldest techs around. 

I have an MA in Professional Writing from 

The University of Technology Sydney. 

The Lion's heads at Town Hall are something to behold. Each is an individual head in its own right. And Town Hall is not short of lion's heads. 

Want to know the time when you are in Sydney but don't have a phone or a watch? Not a problem. Plenty of clocks such as this one close by Central.

Not far from central there is a building where you will find the three wise monkeys.  With Covid 19 scuttlebutt around they do make sense.   

 

There are wonders to behold in Chinatown. This spidery design is amazing. 

There are guardians at the entrance to Chinatown that are stupendous.

This is one of the oldest ferries plying the waters of Sydney Harbour. 

With any luck, by December, we will all be fine to travel on her

 or one of her sister craft.

Yours truly, a few years ago under the famous Luna Park mouth.

Luna Park, just for fun. 

Sydney from the harbour. All lit up and looking splendid. 

Hurstville bus station. In memory of times past that took place elsewhere. 

The Martian Embassy, a place where kids can hang out at Redfern. It is near the train station. If you have books you don't need or want anymore, and they are clean, you might care to donate them here at the Martian Embassy. 

The Martian Embassy was created to give urban kids something to do and somewhere to be. One of the places that may well have fallen on tough times because of Covid 19 but will hopefully be up and running for Christmas.  

Inside the old post office building at Martin Place, there is modern art. 

Make of it what you will. It is striking!

Perhaps modern sculpture is more to your liking. You will find that, too, inside the old post office building in Martin Place. 

Queen Victory is outside the old post office building in Martin Place and no doubt looks down on those who would enter.

At Martin Place, remembering those who have fallen for their country.

A rather naughty statue found at Darling Harbour.

A bridge magnificent in design at Darling Harbour with look out post and places to rest on the way across.

Seagulls are a common sight at Darling Harbour. 

On the way to Central station and back to my digs in the Wollongong area there is this mural of a more relaxed time on the train when it was an art to read the Sydney Morning Herald. This was back when it was a broadsheet. 

 

Nowadays mot people get their information either from television or the internet. 

The Sydney Morning Herald no doubt best exist on the internet like all the other major newspapers. 

  This picture found close to Central Train Station reminds me of the old American television show Casey Jones. It is possible to board an old steam engine driven train in winter in New South Wales just for a fun run.

 

  

 James Bond, Discovery 

     and Doctor Who

The Cold War over? Where does that leave Bond?

It seems to me that the Bond movie franchise may not survive the latest film to come out if it is as WOKE as people say it is. Will the next 007 be a woman and, if so, where does that leave Bond? 

Growing up in the 1960s and 1970s it was hard to miss the sexual revolution that was going on. 

Prior to this time, people thought married women should stay at home and look after the kids. 

Monetary necessities in the 1970s, however, meant that more and more women had to get out there and at least have a part time job to help pay the bills. 

By the time I was past my teens, it was becoming more and more mandatory for that part time job to be a full time one. And there were plenty of women who didn't want to stay at home and mind the kids anyway but be out in the world earning a living and keeping up acquired skills. 

Now many of us, via computer linkups, work from home. 

What does any of this have to do with the James Bond movies? For many of us, growing up in the 1960s and 1970s, those films were an escape from the real world.

 Even a ten year old would know that the movie Bond, unlike the Bond in the novels, was as fictional as you can get. A spy that sticks out, no matter how good, would always be under scrutiny, and unable to function and would quickly be chopped down. In the movies, this was partly resolved in  You Only Live Twice when Bond's death is faked so he can continue with his missions. 

Spies I understand, are as inconspicuous as it is possible for them to be. They blend in. That's how they stay alive in enemy territory and come back with the goods. Also, from what I have read, there's a lot of fact checking involved. Dull stuff that would find most of us yawning with boredom. 

Trick photography, with cameras hidden in most unusual objects, such as in a shoe, date back to at least the early Twentieth Century. They were part of the spy game. Then, by the 2nd World War, came really small cameras that could easily be hidden anywhere. Writers get that right in both the movies and in the spy novels.

Bond, in the 1960s and 1970s, was all about fast cars, fast women, quick thinking and all sorts of gimmicks. Bond often went up against guys stronger than him and managed to win anyway.

 In terms of writing, I always preferred The Saint to Bond but The Saint was also about fast cars, fast women, and quick thinking as well. Mind you, The Saint started out as a thief, robbing gangsters and, even getting into the 1950s, he had the inclination to steal and, at times, kill when justified to do so. 

Back in the day there seemed to be absolutely nothing wrong with getting away from your life for a while and imagining you were Bond, doing the near impossible, and getting away with it. 

So what has changed? Apparently there are those who think escape into a fictional world for a few hours is bad. Bond is no good because he cares more about the mission than the cars, women and gadgets. 

And so Bond, in the Craig era, had him more down to earth able to care more about the women, even if his performances were wooden, and the storylines kept raising the question of why Bond should even exist at all. 

 Unlike the 1960s and 1970s, Bond during the Craig era, could not be out to prevent the Russians and Americans from getting into a war with each other that would result in mass destruction on a global scale. Bonds missions could never be that ludicrously big ever again. And so the fun went away. 

Bond is designated 007 with a license to kill. Even Ian Fleming said that license would never apply in the real world and that is fine with me. Is it now possible this 007 designation will be given to a woman? If that happens, what about James Bond? In comedy a female 007 would be okay but, other than that, it might mean an end to this long running series of motion pictures. Is it time for Bond to walk  away? I don't know. 

Discovery, the latest Star Trek television series isn't my cup of tea for various reasons. Diversity is fine but, when it comes to damaging Spok, a much loved character, I bow out.  I get the impression a lot of people feel the same way. Also, I felt they brought in the Mirror Universe too early. 

We didn't know the crew of Discovery well enough to be confronted with their opposites. I think the modern Star Trek movies are great but there we have some respect for the original characters. 

As for Doctor Who, I don't know if Davies can save the show. The Timeless Child should be gotten rid of but I do have my doubts that will happen. I remain a William Hartnell fan. To me he is the first Doctor Who.        

Hail stones on the south coast of NSW, Australia!