CHRISTMAS PRESENT FOR UNSUSPECTING JAILBIRD FELINE

A much travelled cat , above,  now doing quality  time  in an apartment in  what used to be  Melbourne's grim  Pentridge Prison  is   going  to  get  an  unusual present from Santa, an arty mirror in the shape of an  odd  looking-ugly- Queensland  cat , which will probably cause  fur  to  fly . Could that  possibly be the ghost of a well known  Victorian  bushranger  reflected  in  the  mirror?

QUEEN IS NANNY TO DRACULA

Another  seemingly  never ending  amazing  story  from  the  devoted  wildlife  carers  of  Magnetic  Island , Queensland .

 

Face  to  face with  lovable  Dracula  in  bright  daylight .

In  what could  be a  pilot scheme for  the new  Abbott Paid Parental Leave (PPL) scheme, the  Queen of the  Jungle , slowly  recovering   from  her  knee  operation , now looks after  a  Coucal  during  the  day .   She  calls  the  bird  Dracula , yet  it has  another , less  scary  monicker ,  Prickles , because it  looked  like  a  bundle of  spikes as  a  babe . 

Dracula / Prickles  narrowly  escaped  the  blood  lust of a Kookaburra attacking  a Coucal   family  with  three  chicks.   While  the parents  seemed  able to defend  two  chicks from  the  merciless onslaught , the  third  one   looked  like succumbing  to  the  attack.

An  onlooker  saved  the  seemingly  doomed  bird  after   the rest of the  family escaped into the bush . It  was  taken  to  the couple who run the island’s  popular Mexican restaurant, Man Friday , Bev  and  Jason, who have long looked after many  injured  and  stressed  birds. In fact they have  just been  handed a  troubled  Galah .

   

Bev is shown here with the small  Coucal, looking like a Kiwi, soon  after it was  saved  .  As Prickles  grows , she regularly  takes  him down  to  the  Queen of  the  Jungle’s  residence and places  him  in what amounts to  day care  in  a large   aviary   so  that  he  can   get used  to  other birds and exercise . The  Queen  , shuffling about , talks  to  him through the wire , addressing him as  Dracula,  the name given to another of  his  kind, because he  was plain ugly , she   looked after  years  ago. The  Coucal  parades about in the same cage in  which Miss Wong , the Torres Strait  Pigeon, cavorted  before  eventually  escaping  to  the  rainforest  at  Mission  Beach .

Known as  the   Swamp Pheasant and Swamp Cuckoo as well as Coucal, the bird emits a loud whooping call -"Coop, coop", or "Book, book", according to What Bird Is That ?, and is the only Australian Cuckoo that does not deposit its eggs in nests of  other birds .

The Prime Minister's Office huffily informed this  blog no nanny who calls a child placed  in her care Dracula will get accreditation  under  the  revamped  PPL.  NEXT: Traumatised  Curlew  called  Motley  takes refuge in the wardrobe. 

ROUND THE RUGGED ROCKS THE RAGGED , RATTY RASCALS RUN

Trio with  B.O.

CANBERRA : The  Nixon Voodoogate years  are upon us as  fear, loathing and  infighting  grows  in  Coalition  circles . On  the  Federal scene , there  is leaking  against the  Prime Minister’s Office; Environment Minister Hunt , strangely , did not attend the Lima climate change talks ; even  the right wing media and cheerleaders  , to an extent , are  turning  against  the   Coalition. They could not turn a blind eye to the  obvious  disintegration .

In  Queensland  the polls continue to show that Campbell Newman  will  be ejected  and many more LNP seats will be lost . It seems fanciful that  the ALP  could  win enough  seats  to  gain power, but  you  never know .  An  astonishing Brisbane  newspaper claimed prominent  LNP identity  Dr  Flegg  , who recently  lost  endorsement for his safe seat in a  bloody battle , was  subjected to  voodoo!!!!  In a   number of  break ins , a  spooky  voodoo  doll   was supposedly  found in  his  house . Mind you,  the walking dead is  an apt decription for the LNP  where  there is  obvious  jockeying  going on  over  Newman’s body .  

In the Northern Territory, where the Tory brand goes under the name of the Country  Liberal  Party, the  disarray  and  infighting  is  patently obvious , Chief Minister Adam Giles  is  in  deep strife after sale of  TIO .  There  is  tag  wrestling  within  the  ranks .   

If  a  wild rumour  heard in  Darwin  is  true , it  is  another    case of  déjà  vu of which  modern  journalists  would  not  be  aware . However , a person trying to pass on the  information as a  news  tip , which  used to be part of basic  news gathering , was  given the  bum’s  rush  by  a media  chappy  who  seemed more interested  in  Kardashian  handbags  and  suchlike  crap.     Darwin  journalists  also  appear  to  be  deaf to or  unaware   of  another   scandalous  situation   down   the  track .  Strange  blundering by key people in industrial talks , somehow , is not picked up by the local scribes . Where are the contacts, the rounds the  getting out the office and nosing about  ?   It  is  a  situation  ripe  for a  troppo Deep Throat  to regularly  meet  a  journo in  one of Darwin’s dark carparks  to whisper  news  tips ... and  hand out  a free  handbag as  a reward .  

 NEXT:  The  march of  the  zombies  on  the   Queensland   election trail  and  the  battle  for  the  ADF  vote  in  Darwin  and  Townsville .

CYCLONE TRACY ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL #2

Under  Lucky  Milkwood

There is  an usual  relationship between  the  above large Milkwood tree in the Darwin  CBD  and  agronomist  Rob Wesley-Smith , shown  affectionately  patting   the  tree . Both went through the cyclone  together  and  Wesley-Smith  was  responsible for  the tree  being  Heritage  listed  to prevent it being chopped down when   the  city  rebuilt,  expanded.  A few days  ago,  Wesley-Smith  parked his  car in  the street  near  the  tree and  ate a meat pie ,   memories   of   the  terrible  night  -Christmas Eve 1974-flooding   back. 

Living in one of four units on the block, outside which was  the tree , he spent the night, after the roof was blown off , sitting on the floor  next to the refrigerator  as  the cyclonic winds  tore the city  apart.Through the louvres he could see the tree being stripped of all leaves, branches  breaking . Piles of  paper  and books were blown  out  when  a door blew open .

Emerging in the early morning  to a scene of  total devastation , the nearby Chinese temple flattened ,  he noticed that   a sheet of  corrugated iron was  imbedded  in  the  trunk .

With a camera, Wesley-Smith made his way  up to Smith Street , the main business  centre , and saw cars overturned , tangled wreckage, power lines down .Making his way down the street to the  Anglican Christ  Church , he saw that  it  was   badly  damaged – “gone”.  The distressed Bishop of Darwin, Ken Mason,  surveying  the  wreckage.

Looking over  the harbour , Wesley-Smith   said  there was  much low level grey cloud about  and nothing much could be  seen. His photographs  ended up in the  NT  archives .

 

Treading on a piece of glass with his heel , he made his way to the Darwin Hospital  where there were a lot of  injured people. He  told a  doctor  that  he obviously  had  a lot to  cope  with  , but  could he  just have a  look at  his  foot.

 

The  doctor said several  stitches were needed   and proceeded to  go into action. Without anaesthetic, pushing the needle through  the  leathery heel   was  so  painful   after the first  stitch , he chickened out ,  said  thanks,  hopped up and limped off  to make way for  more seriously  injured to receive attention. 

Subsequently, Wes  was informed that a workmate   who three days  before Cyclone Tracy  had  said  he was  not going to  die soon  was  killed by   flying iron, his  wife  scalped.

WES  SAT  HERE : An archaeological dig site in modern Darwin.

Little Darwin  was recently  taken  by  Wesley-Smith  to see the tree  with its heritage tag. It is now on a block being used by builders finishing a  26 storey hotel across  the road in  Wood Street. In pirate  stories  there is  an X  which  marks  the spot where  treasure  is buried. On  this trip he  was able to show  us the  remains of  the toilet  pipe  in  his  unit   that   terrible night , which is  visible on  the  old slab. He is worried by  the fig tree which has grown up next to and could  strangle  the  Milkwood . He will  raise the matter with  authorities to further  protect "his" tree . Wood  Street  resident  Melanie  Goehr has  been campaigning  to  have the block on which the Milkwood stands made into a park for   the  many children  in  surrounding  high rises . 

ARTIST SPEARED BY LATTER DAY SAVAGE OF DUTCH DESCENT

When  first glimpsed  from  afar  in  part  of  the NT Museum and  Art Gallery  in  Darwin  it seemed  to be an exhibition of  Chinese  artwork .  For example , this  framed  cameo  gave  the  appearance  of  a   Chinese Willow Pattern.  It  is , however, nothing  so  mundane ; it is another striking example of  the work  by  acclaimed  artist  Dr  Danie  Mellor  in a travelling  show , Exotic Lies, Sacred  Ties . There  is  much  blue  and white  in his paintings , inspired by his liking for Spode  china , popular in England in the  early 1800s.  Additionally, he makes use of  Swarovski crystals  on  the  borders which adds to the impact.

His mixed media pieces have a mythical quality and depict early Australian settings  with animals and Aboriginal  tribesmen . Born in Mackay  of indigenous and European heritage, he grew up in Scotland, travelled to South Africa and  came back to Australia. With an Australian father and  American grandfather , his   mother is of  Irish  and  Indigenous descent .

After  winning the  26th Telstra National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander  Art Award in 2009, the babbling, bombastic   columnist,  Andrew Bolt, who once worked for the ALP and  was friendly with a Darwin belly dancer ,  took  issue with him entering the competition and wrote ,  "This white university lecturer, with his nice Canberra studio, has by winning pushed aside real draw-in-the-dirt Aboriginal artists such as Dorothy Napangardi, Mitjili Napanangka Gibson and Walangkura Napanangka, who had also entered and could really have used that cash and recognition."Bolt  later lost  a racial discrimination  case brought by nine indigenous Australians ( not including Mellor ) over articles  that criticised  fair skinned  indigenous people , including  the  post which  had  attacked  Mellor .

     

It has  been pointed out that Mellor says he  is not concerned with the definition of Aboriginality, but with  historical interaction between cultures and the  re-imagining of  history.

DIARY OF A CURLEW CARER # 12

Miracle of  the  chick  which rose from the  dead .

 

About 9pm it seemed  that something was upsetting  the  Curlews up near the back fence.Totter out of the recliner  and go to investigate, turn on  the  outside  light . Immediately one  of  the adults  and one of the chicks  are  seen  near the mandarin tree, but there  is a lot of  shrieking  up  in a dark corner . Go inside and get  the  torch, come out  and  the adult bird  has  disappeared  , so has the  chick.  Walk towards  the back flashing the torch  and suddenly come upon a  chick  spread  out , motionless, seemingly dead . Oh no.  Poor little  chicky. Bend down and pat it , no response . Shine the  torch up close, bend down  and make  an  inspection . What is that sticking out  its  beak? ... a lizard. Had  it choked on its catch ?   Pull out the lizard.   Did not  like the idea  of applying  mouth to beak. By this stage  my wife had   come outside and  asked what was  wrong . Looks  as  though  the chick  choked  on  a  lizard,  I  announce, mournfully , in a CSI voice.

She says to  pick up  the chick and take it  up the back where the  parents  are and see what happens .  Take the  lifeless  bird , put it on  the  ground , give it a  pat . The other  chick  makes a  peep-peep sound ... and suddenly  up  jumps  the  lifeless one , standing about as  tall as  an emu , and  sprints  away  to  join  the  family.

There  are  times over  the coming  days when  the  fast  growing  chicks seem increasingly ungainly , unable to  handle their  long legs . Thus  when they sit down and roll over on a side , they  appear   dead    from  a  distance , causing   concern .     

AUSTRALIAN AVIATION SHAME

The shameful neglect of  a  rare connection with Australia's aviation history  in  Darwin continues . It consists   of  the  names of  pioneering aviators  scratched into the  wall of  The  Victoria  Hotel, where they  stayed  after long and dangerous  flights , with an associated  pictorial  display . The  scratchings   are  in a  glass case  in  which  gecko droppings and  spider webs are  visible, and  have  been  for  years . Little Darwin  drew  attention to this  unsatisfactory situation  years  ago.  At the  time  it also  pointed out gross spelling errors  in  the names of countries  in  Darwin's  war  memorial and the incorrect  reference to the United Nations .  Slow on  the uptake government  and civic  leaders and  a  sleepy media  took a  longtime  to respond before  the  glaring  cenotaph  errors were  corrected . However, the unsatisfactory  situation  still  exists  in respect of  the  faint, decaying   aviators  marks  inside  the glass case.  If spiders and geckos   can get in , so too can the air, contributing to the powdering  of  those  messages and signatures  left behind  by men who turned Darwin into the  gateway to Australia. An SOS  should  be sent to President  Obama   asking him if he  can arrange for the next detachment of Marines that fly in to  come armed with  experts who can   help  advise on how to  protect  this  most important link-  not  only with  Australian aviation- but that of  the globe.  Darwin clearly aint  up  to  the  job.  NEXT : Aviation souvenirs from Darwin's past .