Bored and loud.

Cocaine Nights - JG Ballard

Now don’t get me wrong, I fully support the idea of Earth Hour. Being able to plunge cities into darkness is a fantastic effort to raise awareness of how much electricity we actually use on a daily basis, and how much we can reduce it. Landmarks across the world will be dimmed and millions of houses will turn off their lights (sure), TVs (uh-oh), microwaves (what will we eat?!) and computers (Oh dear God help us, what is the world coming to?) for just one hour on Saturday night.

I’ve roped my house into participating in this. With there being 4 of us usually in on a Saturday night, there are laptops, a large TV, appliances left right and centre and the necessity for light so we don’t trip over the organised mess around the house (and don’t tell me we could just tidy it up!) So doing this will definitely make a difference, at least if only in our bill.

However, there was a report last year when this happened that power stations were actually using more power trying to support the lack of usage – they had to decrease the power they were supplying and by doing so, were using more. Something like that. So is this really the answer? One hour a year?

We need approach this in the same way we should approach a healthy lifestyle. No crash dieting, no week-long exercise binges followed by, ‘Well I deserved it’ pastries. Rather than a one hour switch off, we should be doing these things on a daily basis. Turning off the TV at the button (or even better, at the power-point), unplugging chargers that we’re not using and turning off lights when leaving a room. Doing this over long-term will surely provide greater help for the environment – a steady drop in the use of power. There’s all these stories emerging of celebrities who take cold showers, sold their cars and put out 2 carrier –bags of waste a week, but we don’t need to go that far to make a difference. Let’s be honest, in the middle of winter, that hot shower we’ll be having will be even sweeter knowing that because one person isn’t having one we can use twice as much hot water!! (I know, I know, that’s not how it works.) But if we all recycle what we can and perhaps get a compost bin if the garden will allow, then perhaps we won’t have to pay for that extra large rubbish bin from the council.

For the most part, I am a dirty little power-saving hippy. I turn off my power-points during the day when I’m out. I turn off my light whenever I leave the room. I take very short showers. I choose to use public transport when a car journey presents itself. However, sacrificing home comforts? Nuh uh. If we all do our little bit then those that do make an effort, won’t have to make their lives uncomfortable. And I can leave the light on when I go to get a drink in the middle of the night so I don’t trip over the stuff I left on the floor in the lounge.

So sure, take part in Earth Hour, but we have to do the little bits all year round, not just for an hour a year. For an idea of what to do, I think we’re playing Uno and poker by candlelight (or perhaps no light. That’d make it interesting!) Or maybe I’ll just go to bed, so that I can get up early the next morning and make the most of daylight.

My trip to Adelaide, and 2 more books.

‘Water for Elephants’ and ‘Life After Life’.

Despite having a very busy weekend, I did allot some time to go for my first swim here. Rising at 7.25am on a Sunday morning was hardly the best start to a day, but even so, it was refreshing to be up that early and having the rest of the day to get things done. I walked to the pool, but about 1 block away I remembered I didn’t have a towel. Oh noz, catastrophe!! Thankfully Coles is open on Sunday mornings, so I popped in and bought a new towel (well, I needed one anyway), and a banana for a snack afterward. As I’m going away next week to Adelaide, I decided it was best to get a pass which allows 10 swims for a cost rather than getting a membership which would then be wasted for a week while I’m away.

So, get into the pool and start swimming. And oh dear, it’s much harder than I remember! After my first length I switched to the slow lane as I had underestimated my skill and speed! I managed about 8 lengths I think, at a slow but steady pace. For my first session, I’m quite happy with that. My knees and ankles have not suffered in the slightest, although my wallet and skin have. Hopefully if I can keep on top of my eczema, swimming shouldn’t become too much of an issue for it.

My weekend also included a new purchase, of a Canon Powershot A720 IS, with case. It’s a beautiful little Powershot with virtually the same menu and design as the others I have used, but with a few noticeable differences. The screen is definitely bigger, and clearer. There is Image Stabilising. And that’s all I’ve noticed thus far! Bought to use as a convenient compact which I can carry around with me on nights out etc., it should do me proud with the high image quality and flexibility. I also forked out for a case so it won’t ‘die’ like my last one! The case is a small and very close fitting affair, made out of material similar to a wetsuit which works as a shock absorber. I’m disappointed I couldn’t afford (or justify the purchase of) a Canon G9, as it would have been a very beautiful purchase. But also, carrying around something worth so much and being so precious would have made me much more reluctant to use it. This is a comfortable and normal piece of equipment which I’m happy to use in all situations!

Also in my photography life, I did a photoshoot with a friend on Saturday afternoon in Fitzroy. They were just normal fashion shots in a gross urban environment, but I know I need more practice with taking photos of people and this was a great opportunity. Kim made a great model and managed to understand my ambiguous instructions! I will be going through them this week and will hopefully have some uploaded by the weekend.

With my computer finally being set up, I can actually get things done on it now. I have started to rip my CDs again to build up my playlist. I can burn and read CDs and DVDs. I can let it run for several hours and not have it overheat. It’s the simple pleasures in life.

One of two Jamie Oliver biographies I received for Christmas, although I believe they’re both by the same authors. This one covers his early life and first part of his career – until the end of the ‘Naked Chef’ series’. It does so in a glamourised manner, glorifying Jamie Oliver and making him sound so perfect. Don’t get me wrong, I believe he is a talented guy and probably just as nice as he appears on TV, but biographies are supposed to cover all aspects – the good and bad. This is the main reason I didn’t like this book, it was simply to perfect, and written in a similar manner to the celebrity gossip magazines.

I do however, like knowing more about people I admire and as I read this with a pinch of salt, I believe I do now know more about the person and his attitude to cooking. I’ll probably leave the other biography for a little while because it will simply be too overkill and my brain will more than likely disintegrate with lack of use!!

With more and more stories coming out about certain breeds of dogs attacking young children - and even in one case, an Alsatian killing it’s adult male owner, it makes me think about how stupid people can be (and trust me, it happens a lot!!)

Just because an animal has been ‘domesticated’ and may be a family pet, it is not safe. Most of the owners of these dogs in ‘unprovoked attacks’, claim that their pet is very good-natured and usually docile so it shouldn’t have to be on it’s lead all the time. Now, I’ve lived with cats all my life, and they could be perfectly happy and purring one minute, and then suddenly I’d have claws in my hand. There would appear to be no explanation for it - I’d been patting it for minutes already, I hadn’t changed the motion or anything, but it’s an animal - and as such, I am aware that they have unpredictable, inexplicable behaviour at times. And this is what dog owners seem to be forgetting.

All domesticated dogs have evolved from what was once, a wild dog. Now, would people approach a wild dog that wasn’t on a leash, with a small child in tow? Probably not. What people need to be remembering, is that as an animal, there will always be potential for a ‘regression’ to this wild behaviour, whether provoked or not, whether the calmest and most docile of dogs.

I don’t honestly know who in their right mind would have a dog, of a certain breed known to be aggressive at times, off it’s leash and in the vicinity of a small child. It just does not make sense. You can’t watch a child 100% of the time anyway, and with an animal (not the child, the dog!) around, you never know what could be happening. It makes much more sense to have the dog restrained or separate from the child at all times, and if situation calls for them to be together for any reason (and there shouldn’t be), watch them like a hawk. Have the child within your reach so you can save them at a moment’s notice from the behaviour of what is, and always will be, an animal. No matter what stupid jackets, hats and boots you make them wear.

So I finished my 365 photos of 2007, 1 picture everyday. Unfortunately after I’d uploaded them all my count reached 363. I’m not sure where it’s gone wrong, I think possibly when I flew over here. I’m still looking into it! Anyway, here are some of my favourites from the last couple months.

Flinder’s Street Station. An iconic station and view for Melbournians. This is the first proper photo I’ve taken at night here - I must do more!

Rain on the way to work. I’ve always found rain such a refreshing change - much more so when the country hasn’t been getting enough!!

Art in Richmond. Another thing I’ve been meaning to do - check out the graffiti in the city. Until then, small things like this can keep me satiated.

And another from Richmond. A view toward the city and the MCG.

This project has really made me think, it’s a lot of pressure to take a photo everyday especially when I usually go through phases of wanting to take photos. Trying to come up with something new each day - especially with the monotonous routine of work - is definitely a challenge, but one which I’ve relished and am glad to have completed. At the very least, thankfully I haven’t been put off taking photos!

‘Happy Baby’ and ‘The Book of Death’

Since the writing of this book, the memoirs of Traudl Junge have been made into a movie about Hitler’s private life (from her perspective), and his last days in the bunker in Berlin, up to and after his suicide. A movie entitled ‘Downfall’ (Der Untergang). Junge wrote her memoirs in 1947 as part of herself trying to come to terms with herself and her guilt. She started working for Hitler in her early 20s, and despite her absent father being a member of the party, she had little idea as to the political side of German life.

Her memoirs are written in a rather simple way, with little attempt to make it sound more fictional or more intelligent. She simply writes what has happened, as she remembers it, and does not try to justify herself which helps to make it seem like an account rather than a reflection of the time. As she describes instances she dined with Hitler and Eva, and socialised with his dietician and valets, the language used to describe Hitler is very unexpected. It is written affectionately, as she has mostly positive memories of these times. She was not involved in the meetings with the military, and knew nothing of the horrors of the war. She wrote reports of death-counts and damages for her boss, but asked no questions, which to some extent could put her to blame, that she chose to ignore what was happening.

While reading it, it puts the people involved in the horror of WWII, in a more personal light. You see that they were only human, and when faced with hardship, people will take any option they can to get out of it - in this case, the German people dismissed the racism and discrimination in the hope that Hitler would improve the financial state of their country. Recently pictures were released of the leaders of the Auschwitz camp at their summer house nearby, socialising with their wives and enjoying the weather - these have a similar effect. The people commiting the atrocities were simply that - people. And when pushed, some people can change immensely, in this case Hitler can order killing and torture in a meeting in one room, and then act as an amiable host in the next. Highly recommend it.