Views in Verse on political intransigence (and ALL that goes with it)

I watched the ABC's Q&A tonight...

A panel of big name & no-name Aussies up for comment on current issues

Conclusion - Talk is great guys but hey...

It's time to DO SOMETHING!



The Deputy Prime Minister Warren Truss was there as the spokesman for the 'everything that could go wrong has gone wrong ' nearly one year in office Coalition government of Tony Abbott. Given the array of issues tabled there was little that could really stick to Mr Truss as so much seemingly needs doing. Funnily enough a great smokescreen.

But look lets get a little more focussed here. A little John West. What are things that really matter?

There was an underlying fear of unemployment in the room - fear of an economic indicator increasingly peddled currently about that has about as much statistical accuracy as odds on the horses. However the dissonance remains. The mood in of late has been peppered by such things as closure of the car industry, offshore outsourcing and a realisation that manufacturing in the traditional sense is all but gone.

However, one needs to look through the whipped up scenarios of doom... and focus on the BIG issues. What must be done ...not what can't be ...nor what probably won't ever happen.

Nevertheless, my only really galling moment watching the program was when Mr Truss offhandedly expressed the view that we simply need to focus on the right types of industries so as to ensure employment. We - who is we? More importantly - when? The time to act has come. And his timing could not been worse than today.

Mr Truss's cavalier comment came on the same day that CSL, one of our largest and most successful biotechs (one of the industries we are talking of rebuilding on), advised the media that its' manufacturing will be moving offshore along with (firstly) 500 jobs. They cited all the usual reasons (all valid by the way - tax, red-tape, inflexible labour force). Thereby, the benefits of making these products, innovatively developed here over the past decades, will be lost to its' local workers.

The addressing of all these key issues are the 80/20 things that the Government needs to be getting on with - the rest, yes - just noise.

But Mr Truss, Mr Abbott (wherever you hide these days) Joe (perhaps its all getting too hard) and the remainder of the highly mandated new Government of 2013, it is time to hit these pressing 80/20 issues and FIX THEM!

No stress ...just do what has to be done.



One day at a time

Lots a trouble in the world my friend
That's something that we all know
Seems to me that we hear it each day
But it ain't gonna stop the show
Cause dwelling on the downward spin
Only makes your misery grow...

So when people say:
"Nice to see you old mate...
how are you going today?"
Might be the sky is falling in
But I just simply say...

 I've been living my life
One day at a time
Just watching the sun
Rise and fall
Life sure is good
When all that you do
Is done for your one and all
My family and friends
Mean the world to me
I listen when I hear them call
I'm living my life
One day at a time
Winter spring summer and fall

Too much talk about
religion and war
And money that's for sure
It's all just 'cock and bull'
The glass is half empty
Seems all of the time
whenever man is it full?

So when people say:
"Nice to see you old mate...
how are you going today?"
Might be the sky is falling in
But I just simply say...

 I've been living my life
One day at a time
Just watching the sun
Rise and fall
Life sure is sure good when
All that you do
Is done for your one and all
My family and friends
Mean the world to me
I listen when I hear them call
I'm living my life
One day at a time
Winter spring summer and fall



Sent from my iPhone - Grahame J Flynn

Views in Verse on change thru renewal (Bledisloe cup - rugby)

The Wallabies came close to beating the all conquering All Blacks in Sydney last night; but by trying to beat them at their own game only came up with an energy sapping draw (12-12 all). The result was as perennial as the rain that fell for the entire duration of the match.





In order to regain the beloved Bledisloe trophy, the Australian team now need to win twice in New Zealand cities over the coming months - a mountain too far one would think. Last nights game was a must win for the Wallabies.

The Australian Wallaby coach Ewen McKenzie could have taken a leaf out of the Michael Cheka book. Cheka, only a few weeks back, ended the domination of the NZ Crusaders in the Super XV competition by adopting to play an open rugby 'at all costs' mantra - to have lost last night was in effect no different to the resulting draw. It was worth the risk even in the rain. Paradigm shifts require courage not conservatism!

Kurtley Beale (#10) was a secondary player in the Waratahs make-up behind Bernard Foley; while the choice of the three Brumbies backs was rooted in the 'war of attrition style' the Brumbies play week in week out. They were not going to beat the All Blacks this way. All water under the bridge now.

McKenzie needed to look to major change in his fumbling Wallaby team - he got more of the same - sorry, the draw wasn't good enough! The best players languished on the bench. Wishful thinking only from here.

Renewal

Release
the past
It's spent
and gone
Accept
my friend
it's done!

Embrace
tomorrow
as a child
plays in rain
The future
holds promise
for some

For those
who open up
their hearts
and trust in
themselves
Good things will come
to them
as if by chance.

To lovers
who caste aside fear
the odd
chortled jeer
and boldly
march up to the floor
and dance

And to those who
take a
selfless route
in fulfilling
their pursuit
Reward will come
to them
with seeming grace...

Live to love 

the day
before wishing it away

on the past
...spent
but never
out of place!

From my I-pad - Grahame J Flynn

Views in verse on our 'OZ-strain' language

On - the Aussie and how we speak

Sometimes you do struggle to understand don't you ...?

"whatthehelldidesay?"

and are we proud of these our folklore 'stereotypes'?

or are we...just as happy to move on?






"Stone the crows - Barry's taken off for the mother-country". Australian Barry Humphries, well known throughout the world for his Dame Edna character,rarely lays claim to Barry McKenzie these days. Our Bonza Bazza incidentally spawned his (to be Dame) Auntie Edna way back there somewhere... yet Humphries seemingly left him behind. Why would he do that?

'Barry' was the ugly Aussie tourist abroad (Earl's Court London - to be exact). A product of the Humphries' vivid imagination largely founded I guess in impressions from his own father's background as a construction worker.

Bazza spoke in a rich Aussie slang - 'hit the frog and toad', 'rather eat a dog's eye','may your chickens turn into emus and kick your dunny down' and a so on. None of these unique to Humphries, mind you.

Surely fiction to the outsider ...but no, a legacy product of the Aussie at play both "in the bush" which in many ways spawned us all (see Eric Jolliffe) and into the cities. Yes, on construction sites, and in some ways in all working class homes for all us 'Baby Boomers' (as those marketeers like to refer to us these days).

To the point of today's chat - what of gen X & Y's? - what are they losing of our linguistic Ozzie heritage going forward? as these multi-cultural internet users explode on the global scene with a tighter language that has to be more or less correct English. These days,brevity too is 'the go'. And as for using colourful slang based imagery that has flowed through from our forefathers ...well,  not advised really...

I have found myself pulled up time and time again in the past decade to explain my slang which I have thrown-in to simply colour a 'yarn'. Thereby in explaining it, often losing the punch of what I was saying.

On speaking of a sportman's poor effort in game last weekend, I said to group of Gen Y's - "he dogged it" - the three looked back at me as though I was speaking another language - I guess I was. A friend only this week mentioned to her 30 yo daughter-in-law re a doctor they know "he's getting a bit long in the tooth". The d-i-l had no idea what she was talking about.

So I guess the colourful language of the 'bushie come to town', we everyday Aussies have learnt to 'hold dear' as we have urbanised ourselves these last hundred years is in truth condemned to the dustbin of history and gone the way of 'button up shoes' (whatever they were?).

Well, from there, I felt a touch of melancholy.

So I turned to the greatest Aussie poet I know, Banjo Paterson, just to get a sense of where his 'Clancy of the Overflow' would be without some expressive 'slang'. And ...much to my surprise despite the hundred years - there is no slang ...only correct English. (One clear abbreviation though... perhaps a sign of things to come)

So what do you make of this lot then?

I wonder whether people will be able to translate 'omg" in a 'hundred years to come' - our 'gen 100+ers'?

As for Barry McKenzie ...I liked his Uncle Les much better anyhow. Or ...maybe not!!!

Clancy of the Overflow

I had written him a letter which I had, for want of better

  Knowledge, sent to where I met him down the Lachlan, years ago,

He was shearing when I knew him, so I sent the letter to him,

  Just ‘on spec’, addressed as follows, ‘Clancy, of The Overflow’.

And an answer came directed in a writing unexpected,

  (And I think the same was written with a thumb-nail dipped in tar)

’Twas his shearing mate who wrote it, and verbatim I will quote it:

  ‘Clancy’s gone to Queensland droving, and we don’t know where he are.’

       . . . . .

In my wild erratic fancy visions come to me of Clancy

  Gone a-droving ‘down the Cooper’ where the Western drovers go;

As the stock are slowly stringing, Clancy rides behind them singing,

  For the drover’s life has pleasures that the townsfolk never know.

And the bush hath friends to meet him, and their kindly voices greet him

  In the murmur of the breezes and the river on its bars,

And he sees the vision splendid of the sunlit plains extended,

  And at night the wond’rous glory of the everlasting stars.

       . . . . .

I am sitting in my dingy little office, where a stingy

  Ray of sunlight struggles feebly down between the houses tall,

And the foetid air and gritty of the dusty, dirty city

  Through the open window floating, spreads its foulness over all

And in place of lowing cattle, I can hear the fiendish rattle

  Of the tramways and the ‘buses making hurry down the street,

And the language uninviting of the gutter children fighting,

  Comes fitfully and faintly through the ceaseless tramp of feet.

And the hurrying people daunt me, and their pallid faces haunt me

  As they shoulder one another in their rush and nervous haste,

With their eager eyes and greedy, and their stunted forms and weedy,

  For townsfolk have no time to grow, they have no time to waste.

And I somehow rather fancy that I’d like to change with Clancy,

  Like to take a turn at droving where the seasons come and go,

While he faced the round eternal of the cash-book and the journal

But I doubt he'd suit the office our Clancy of the Overflow

- our Andrew 'Banjo' Paterson 

17 February 1864 – 5 February 1941

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banjo_Paterson

Views in Verse on - Robin Williams

He Brought Us Joy!

Views in Verse on - Robin Williams


Life is jelly-bean colours,
Fireworks in the sky.
A silvery beam is shining...
Out of a wondering eye.

extract from 'Serendipity'
Grahame J Flynn

Views in verse - Batyr a new voice for depression in young people

A new place to go for young people 

facing depression - www.batyr.com.au




I was delighted to incidentally take part in a presentation by the CEO of Batyr last week as part of an industry function I was attending. The segment recognised the volunteer work done by many people who had built a new empowering webpage for this splendid innovation for Australian youth:


BATYR AIMS TO ENGAGE, EDUCATE AND EMPOWER YOUNG PEOPLE TO SPEAK OUT ABOUT MENTAL HEALTH ISSUES BY FOSTERING AN ENVIRONMENT WHERE  TALKING ABOUT THESE ISSUES AND SEEKING HELP IS NOT ONLY ACCEPTED, BUT IS ENCOURAGED AND SUPPORTED.

The programs connect secondary and tertiary students with young speakers who have successfully managed a social or mental health experience. We educate students about the support networks and systems available to them and empower students to reach out for help when they need it.

Despite 1 in 4 young people suffering a mental health issue by the end of adolescence, mental health issues are not openly discussed and remain the ’elephant in the room’.  Mental ill health holds a stigma that prevents open and frank exchanges and ultimately is a barrier to young people getting the help they need. Batyr speakers share their life experiences of issues such as depression, suicide, anxiety, stress, sexual assault, eating disorders, bullying and personal health.  They discuss the first hand benefits of reaching out, what avenues of support helped them and show students they are not alone and help is always available.

We use the four steps Look, Listen, Talk and Seek Help -as a simple way of educating students on what they can do for themselves or a friend they are worried about.  It’s about looking for changes in behaviour, the importance of listening to the person dealing with an issue, how to talk with them and where they can seek help when they need it.

Comment:

Where the Beyond Blue has great awareness with the adult population these wonderful folk have seen the screaming need for a service targetted at young people so that they not only know where to go ...but that they will be encouraged to go there!

Congratulations to all those who helped and to the founders of Batyr for persevering in a realm that receives precious little recognition - let alone support.

Dark Reptiles

Dawn breaks bitter light

Stirring stone refuge once more

intruding again on broken sleep

Red eyes stare down the door

Movement doesn't come easy

Reticent to leave the source

Where can one go to find refuge?

Fate steer me that safer course 

Inviting faces challenge the mask

The now freeing frame distracts

As routine brings timely release

In hiding the guarded facts

How can I improve  my position here?

Can warmth not ease the doubt?

As the stalking dog ...he pads nearby

He's always, always, about.

Over the shoulder a shadow looms

night can't be far away...

Bent in regression a constant curse; 

Call dark to shroud the day!

So bring me sleep to salve my life

In an all too brief reprieve

The gloom closes in yet sleep does not come

the subconscious defying the need

Where do you go; where do you go?

To escape this moribund place
Waiting for heat 
from much needed sun 
with a gripped gnarling face

   
epilogue:

    The ones that I love

    They take good care

    They know the struggle in me

    The ones that I love

    They know me well but

    Their love can't set me free


Forwarded from my I pad - Grahame J Flynn