not the popular view I know

Yes: Bushfires are tragic. Yes: Many have died in horrible ways and this is sad and sickening. Yes: It will take a lot for these communities to rebuild.

HOWEVER.

Carl and Lisa from some morning breakfast news show are on the TV at 9.15pm with hoards of screaming crowds like they're at some fucking Coldplay gig, yelling and screaming and doing the two fingered salutes to the cameras.

$45 million has been raised. That's right, millions of dollars. Many, many millions. For families who have insurance (or should have). And businesses who have insurance (or should have). And services, such as schools, that will have government support. That is why I very happily pay tax.

Thousands starve in Africa. Millions are washed way by floods in the sub-continent or squasedy by oriental earthquakes. Do people give a shit??? Hell no! And I can understand that these people need food and clothing and shelter now, and that this needs to be provided. But 45 million worth?

Look around you people. The Red Cross has enough for this. Give to the homeless guy near your work, or the family in another country who have nothing to lose in the first place. Or give blood or something practical. No amount of money will bring back the dead, which is the real tragedy here.

I have a fold-out couch that any (small-ish) family is welcome to until their house is ready to move back into. I make a mean pasta sauce and the liquor cabinet is fully stocked. Just let me know.

Outrageous I know!

PS: There are many of you who have enquired about my well-being either through this blog, text, phone and email. I thank you all, particularly Marilla, who as I have mentioned previously, rocks! and enquired on this site. So I am glad to be able to tell you that the fires are a good two days drive from my house. May it always be so.

Burn Down The Disco. Hang The Blessed DJ.

Everyone in Australia, and many people from elsewhere, are aware of the horrible, horrible bushfires that have ravaged the state of Victoria over recent days.

Every time you turn on the news there's another horror story. Homes lost, family, friends, animals torched by the incoming flames. The total, utter destruction of the whole region is almost unbelievable. The death toll is impossible to keep up with, as every time you hear it it's crept up by 1, 2, 5, 10, 20 more people, almost to the stage where the numbers are no longer able to be processed.

What is even more incomprehendible is the likelihood that these fires were deliberately lit. Some man or woman went out into the country side, in the middle of drought, during some of the hottest weather on record, when the wind was blowing a gale and set light to the tinder dry Australian scrub.

When they catch this person, I'm not sure the police could, or would want to, stop the public from tearing this individual limb from limb.

But it makes me think - what makes someone an arsonist? Obviously no one wakes up one morning and says 'I think today I'll become an arsonist' - any more than someone chooses to be gay or straight or male or female. Surely it's something in them, whether it be nature or nurture. And either way, as a society, don't we have an obligation to contribute to doing something about this? If it's nurture, can we work towards building a society that values our communities and creates environments where all children can be cared for to reduce the number of people who feel that this is the only way that they can demonstrate their power? If it's nature, create attitudes within the community that allows these people to put their hands up and say 'hey, I've been having these thoughts and I know they're wrong but I'm having a lot of trouble controlling them and I need help'? Either way wouldn't we have fewer drug addicts, homeless youth, paedophiles, rapists, wife beaters etc too?

Yes, I know there's no magic wand to wave to make all of this happen, but unless we as a society start to value each other, from the word go, there is either no way to stop people becoming those who lit these fires, or if they're born that way there's little hope of them not fulfilling this self-made prophecy.

Of course we are all responsible for our actions, and this person/people decided to light these fires, and totally and utterly deserve to punished as roundly as our legal system allows for what they have done and the pain they have caused. But wouldn't it be in everyone's interests if we prevented it happening in the first place?

Also, I think I'm becoming AFM, I seem to keep using song lyrics for my post titles.

All over the shop

mmmm... I suspect that this post will be all over the shop, so I think I shall try to order it's contents in a numerically stratified manner, in order to encourage orderly reading.

1. The Full English
2. Sheherazade Goldsmith
3. ODI
4. The Weather (naturally)
5. Fire
6. Why Marilla Rocks

1. The Full English
For many reasons I have been hunting around in blog-o-sphere slightly more than normal. Some of this can be attributed to laziness and procrastination. So, no great surprises there. However I have just come across the London Review of Breakfasts. I recently bumped into an old lover (lover is such a funny word. This guy didn't really qualify as a boyfriend, but lover sounds so Casablanca). However this guy had recently been to the UK for the first time. We concurred 'there's a lot of bad food in Britain', and that this would make a good name for an album. The English Breakfast is one of life's great challenges. When it's good, my word they transcend the divine, but when they're bad they leave you let down emotionally and physically, and crushed for days. My mate BBITW makes a very good breakfast. So does Uncle J. And so do I it must be said. However if you're ever lost and alone south of the river, look up Cafe Rossi, just near the Borough Markets. They do bubble and squeak that you'd crawl over hot coals on your tongue for. Good fried slice too. Continental bread.

This lovely site has also given me a new catchphrase: "the quotidian side of luxury". This will not surprise my friends, it's the pretentious over-educated drivel I normally come out with.

2. Sheherazade Goldsmith
You may remember a little while ago I made some environmentally conscious NYRs. I can report that the stinky weather has made me drive more than I said I would, but that I am riding to work a lot which is cutting down on my carbon emissions. I have a bloke coming to see me about installing rain water tanks next week. I am also have two vegetarian days a week. Most people think of me as a tofu kind girl. And I do love tofu a lot. I also love steak and sausages and lemon and thyme chicken, so this is a big deal for me.

3. ODI
If you don't know what ODI stands for, this probably won't interest you. It's currently 0/92 in the eighteenth. This may even turn into a proper match. That'd be something! Not sure what to make of the hoo-ha about the song in the dressing room. I think tradition is important, and without tradition cricket is... ... well it's the IPL. Shudder.

4. The Weather

I had to sleep under the covers last night. It was very exciting. I also, finally, finished putting up my bamboo blinds, which involved re-stringing them and putting in the little butterfly things you tie the cord around. I can now finally dine al fresco without burning my retinae out.

5. Fire
Unfortunately half of Australia is on fire. I remember the Ash Wednesday bushfires of 1983. I was still in primary school, and my school was in the foot hills so many of my friends had to leave early to get home before the roads were closed. Once the sun went down you could see the fire front moving across the hills, and frankly down the hills. I was terrified and had to go and stay at my father's house in the city. One of his close friends lost their house in those fires. Back then I was probably too young to realise just how many people not only lost their homes, but their lives, being too caught up in my own angst. This year entire towns have been wiped off the face of the earth, and still living in the foot hills I would be naive to think it couldn't happen to me. I'd have to be unlucky, really unlucky, but I guess it's possible. Also having a friend in the CFS I know how hard it is for them, so my best thoughts are with you all.

6. Why Marilla Rocks.
Marilla knows why she rocks. Cheers hen. Will get around to returning the favour and sharing your generosity with the world soon.

Over And Out