Wednesday & Thursday January 21 & 22, 2009 (diary)

I have been working hard on transferring files and installing applications on my new Asus laptop, which does not leave much time to think about my Blog. So perhaps a few short entries will do for now.
The weather and beach are as good as usual, although we get a bit of rain Thursday morning. Seawater temperature remains warm at 24° C and there are good waves for body surfing.

Wednesday I have an appointment with my GP Jenny Cooke (doctor) for my yearly checkup. To my great surprise my blood pressure is way down, 128 over 87. I have not had such good results for the last 20 years I believe. Partly due of course due to my regular medication, but perhaps also as a result of my present healthy lifestyle, with both walking and swimming every day. I have also stopped drinking coffee for several months now and only drink tea instead now.
Thursday morning I go in for my blood samples to be taken. I will hear the results next week.

Friday January 23, 2009 (diary)

In the morning I bring my two laptops plus printer to Kinmat in Woombye for installation of the final bits and pieces I could not do myself. This includes the printer software, which still manages to elude me. Then on to a morning's bridge at the Diddilliba Hall, followed by a wonderful swim. The water is so nice and warm you just don't feel like getting out off it at all. Lunch as usual at the Surf Club while watching the Australian Open Tennis Championships, one of the four "Grand Slam" tournaments with all the world's top players attending of course.

A sudden extended downpour of rain keeps me at the Club a bit longer than usual, but finally the rain drops to a drizzle and I manage to get into my car reasonably dry. I collect my now fully installed computer, then on to home where I can finally print out the CD labels I designed a few weeks ago with a nifty little Click'N Design application. The result as you can see is quite nice and I am pleased. The CD contains 12 songs including four of Erik Satie's compositions and four of my own. In fact all my improvisations on this CD have a Satie- esque feel to it, hence the title.

All songs are also online in MP3 format and you are of course welcome to download them for free. In fact 5,000 copies have been downloaded already so far and is proceeding at a rate of 50+ each day.
The songs on the CD however are all in WAV format, 10 times bulkier and therefore of much superior sound quality than the MP3s. The CD can be purchased from my online shop (Item 14) for AUD$15 (US$10 or €8). This price includes Airmail postage worldwide.

As I finish printing labels Doug returns from Brisbane. It has taken him 3 hours (it usually takes only 1) due to the heavy traffic for this Australia Day long weekend. Everybody it seems is heading for the Sunshine Coast. Babette too left this morning visiting her mother Antien on Kangaroo Island for the long weekend.
To calm Doug down, who is quite upset, I take him for dinner at the Thai Parnit Restaurant in Nambour, where we once again enjoy an excellent meal.

Saturday January 24, 2009 (diary)

Awareness 24 continues from January 18
Erik Satie, the eccentric French impressionist composer (1866-1925) wrote underneath his self portrait (shown below)

This is how, over the ages, many brilliant artists, scientists, innovators who were at the forefront of breathtaking new directions in their field must have felt : born at the wrong time.
Take Vincent van Gogh, who barely sold a painting during his life, or Galileo, who was placed under house arrest by the Catholic Church, because he claimed that the earth rotated around the sun, not the other way around.
Or take even Alfred Wegener, who observed that the earth's continents could be nicely joined together like a jigsaw puzzle, and formulated the theory of Continental Drift, 150 years before it was finally accepted by geologists during the second half of the previous (20th) Century.

The fact of the matter is that the opinions, understanding and awareness of the general public, the authorities, the church are always well, at times hundreds of years, behind the most intelligent and creative front runners. The sad paradox is that, although these geniuses personally may feel they were born at the wrong time, from the point of view of humanity as a whole they were born at the right time, because they moved humanity forward, pushed it onto a new level of awareness.

Perhaps on a more gradual scale we all have our place in time, some ahead, others somewhat behind the awareness of humanity in general at a certain time. If this is so, how do you, dear reader, feel about yourself. Are you born at the right time ?

I personally am in two minds about it. Born in 1937 I have lived through an era of unprecedented change and progress of the modern world, and I would not have missed that for anything. At the other hand however I sometimes feel strongly that I do not belong to this present time, so full of greed, selfishness and incredible hatred. True, there is some good as well, but generally I feel that in terms of human attitudes I would prefer to be born 500 or even 1,000 years ahead from now, in the hope that by that time a less materialistic, more generous and well meaning humanity has evolved.
From the general humanity's point of view of course I am born at the right time, to help in whatever small way I can to set an example of generosity, goodwill and greater awareness.
Will you too, dear reader, put your shoulder behind the wheel and join me in making that effort ?
Awareness 25 continues on January 27

Sunday January 25, 2009 (diary)

We seem to be in a weather pattern at present with a descent downpour of rain every morning, then, before midday, the sun comes out for a lovely day. A bit more humidity perhaps due to the early rain.
After writing yesterday's blog I am off to the beach. Mooloolaba is full with visitors and cars are driving around flying small Australian flags from plastic poles clamped onto their windows : it is Australia Day.
I only manage to park my car about 500 meters from the beach, and therefore take my clothing in a bag with me so I don't have to walk all the way back to change after my swim. The water, still at 24° C, is wonderful as usual but, suddenly remembering that I have a fair bit of cash with me in my bag, I don't stay in very long.

The Surf Club too is chockablock full when I arrive, all tables are occupied and there is an endless cue for ordering meals. So I sit on a stool near the bar with a beer watching tennis on one of the screens, then leave.

On a hunch I drive to Maroochydore's Sunshine Plaza (the main shopping center around here) to check out their food halls and surprise surprise, a new Japanese shop has opened in the Fresh Food Hall (opposite Coles) since I was here last.
It is Hikaru - Homestyle Japanese Food (07 5451 1654), very nice meals and for only AUD $ 6.90 (€ 3,50) per dish quite cheap too. They offer a dozen different rice dishes with chicken, pork, beef or fish, plus a variety of sushis.
I have a most interesting interesting dish of pork covered by an egg which has been fried by simply pouring a hot mild soya sauce over it. I will return here again to sample several of their dishes, especially their sushi filled with octopus salad.