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The latest news from the Riley household

The Melbourne Zoo - 30 Aug 2008


We have rejoined FOTZ (Friends of the Zoo). And to make use of one of the first nice sunny days since we returned to Australia we headed out to the zoo. It has certainly changed in the last few years. There are far fewer animals, but the cages are much bigger and the spaces more authentic. I have to say it is a big improvement.

The marine section of the zoo is under renovation, so no seals and otters. The penguins were nesting and not to be seen. But the great thing about the zoo is that every visit is different. Different animals are different at different times. I am sure we will go again.

Giraffe
(For more Zoo Photos - click the icon above)



NGV Art Deco 1910–1939 - Melbourne Winter masterpieces - 24 Aug 2008

NGV
The National Gallery of Victoria (NGV) puts on big international shows over the winter. This year the show was on the theme of Art Deco and included a number of pieces from the Victoria and Albert museum in London.

We went on a Sunday afternoon and it was unfortunately too crowded which made it difficult to get to see some of the pieces. We need to go earlier to avoid the throng. I enjoyed the pieces that were on display. There were some paintings, but also posters, jewelry, furniture, clothing and projections of art deco buildings around Australia.


The Cloche hat is a 1925 straw, felt and velvet affair manufactured by Kilpin company of London.



Olympic Coverage - WORST ever - Aug 2008

OK, it is easy to be on the band wagon with this one, but I have to say that I was continually frustrated by the Olympic coverage. What amazed me the most was just how shameless it all was. After a few days we started getting the magic moments from the games. And the first "Magic Moment" was the celebration by an Italian fencer. Great, but considering that the coverage had not shown any of the fencing, it was like saying "Hey, there are wonderful things on in the Olympics, but you are not going to see them, lets just point out what you are missing". In my opinion, Stupid, insulting and lazy.

Low Lights
-----------
*For two nights football was broadcast instead of Olympics coverage. Melbourne is a football town, but this was really a poor choice.
*No timetable for when events were going to be shown. "Coming up" meant either after the next ad break or in three hours time.
*Ads through the live broadcast of the Opening Ceremony, (Not so in the UK)
*An incredibly small variety of Ads shown through incessant ad breaks. (Super boring)
*No indication of what was live and what had already been broadcast.
*Large percentage of prime time content was highlights while live events still going on.
*Usual jingoistic coverage.




Yasukuni - a Documentary - 2 Aug 2008




When we were in Japan, this documentary on the Yasukuni Shrine was released. Due to death threats and bomb threats to theatres as well as political interference, the movie was rarely shown in Japanese theatres. I was very keen to see the documentary and what the controversy was about.

The documentary focused on the 60th anniversary of the end of the Second World War and what happened at the shrine on that day. The movie started by showing veterans commemorating their comrades, then slowly progressed to all the controversial issues that surround the shrine. It was not as biased as a Michael Moore movie, but it was obviously biased. I think that this movie though was more truthful.

Many people in the movie spoke passionately about how it was wrong for protestors to complain about the shrine, as people should have the right to commemorate friends and ancestors. But the Shrine identifies itself and promotes a particular view on issues such as the denial of war crimes, revisionist history/schoolbooks and the including of convicted War criminals on the roles. I think that there will always be controversy on these issues and for the shrine to entwine them with the commemoration of family makes it difficult for those who are passionate about the issue to be clear headed.

To me, the aim of the documentary was to show how the uncomfortable views of the right are accepted far too easily. For me it is a tragedy that Japan has been caught in a situation where their version of Australia's 'Shrine of remembrance' and ANZAC/memorial day have been hijacked into the political realm.

Oh, technically, the camera work was terrible. Lots of jerky handhold camera stuff. But the way the film raised its key issues was very well done. And the movie was on as part of the Melbourne International Film Festival.


See a detailed and interesting review at TWITCH - here
See our Visit to Yasukuni shrine in Tokyo is here




Como House South Yarra - 20 July 2008

We live around the corner from a grand old home owned by the National Trust. We took an opportunity to visit the house, have a coffee and did the tour. I usually dislike tours. They bang on and on about boring things and drag out what might have been an interesting visit into an ongoing nightmare....but this was different. Our tour guide new the stories of the house well and spiced up the tour with quirky information that added to the experience rather than just statements of the obvious.

Como was not the grandest place we have seen and the garden was small, but if you are in the area and have an hour for a quirky little tour, then it is worth a visit.


Front of the house


Upstairs balcony


From the garden


Adam Hills - Live at the Athenaeum (Melbourne) - 10 July 2008

One of our favorite comedian's, Adam Hills, played in town this week. I bought his CD last year which was great . For me, the mark of a good comedian is the ability to work with a mix of current news, good stories and material from the audience, and Adam Hills did all this well.

We went to the show with friends and had a great laugh. Most of the material was fresh (to me) and funny. The packed theatre had a great night. I am looking forward to next years Comedy Festival.

Adam Hills - Live in the Suburbs cd - If you are looking for a laugh then I recommend it.


Moving Home - From Nagoya to South Yarra -June/July 2008

Here are a few photos of the packing before we left Japan. It was a fairly stressful experience, just making sure everything was done on time.

No-one likes moving


Yes lots of junk waiting in Japan to be picked up and sent home


WE ARE HOME in Australia - July 2008


Australian Flag
After two interesting and unforgettable years in Japan we are home.

Today is the first day in six weeks that I have been able to update the website. There was the usual saga of moving but after surviving the trip in the cargo container and a reformat into an English version of Windows everything seems ready to go.

There is lots of news to catch up with , but it will take a few posts to get it up and running.



Library Thing changes- 30 Jul 2008

This is my latest toy. I have used Amazon.com's tool but I wanted something less commercial. You can click on the "my library" to see what I have been reading.




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