Some things I see: May 2013

Monday 27 May 2013

Middle Head

This is the so-called "Middle Head" in Sydney Harbour, looking back at the city centre, and then towards North Head and South Head and the Pacific Ocean beyond.

Onwards and upwards

Back to walking after having a cold for two weeks.

Tuesday 21 May 2013

I read that last week, there has been a celebration in Nimbin, a seaside village on the north coast of New South Wales, in honour of the 40th anniversary of the Aquarius festival there in 1973.

I suppose the Seventies were my decade. I left school in 1969, so I was a witness, mostly from the sidelines, of the age of "turn on, tune in and drop out". In those days, everyone believed we were at the most critical time in history, when all the old certainties would be swept aside, national self interest and wars would be replaced by self realisation, we would make love, not war.

My memories of those times feel like a window into a past age, and when I look around today, I cannot help the feeling that nothing much has changed after all. The Nimbin festival last week only warranted a half page article buried in the paper, next to the football results, the Eurovision song contest and the rumours about the next iPhone.

It is graceless to mock other people's enthusiasms, but I have to agree with the description in the article linked above that the devotees in Nimbin are the "Aged of Aquarius". It seems the hippies have somehow changed from virile, long haired Adonis'es and Amazons (to mix the continents a little), into greybeards.

When people talk of declining church attendance, I think this should also include the empty pews in the chapels of hippies, like Nimbin.

If you take a random group of 18 year olds, how many would be interested in an alternative lifestyle today? Not many, from my experience. I think there were many more 18 year olds in Commerce lectures at university than in the streets of Nimbin last week.

What happened? I think the brief answer is that enthusiasm never lasts if it is not based on reality. The other message I take from this is that every age thinks they are special and are about to make great changes to society. Some things change, but some things always stay the same.

Friday 17 May 2013

Puppets on Strings

Its that time of year again!!!
The finalists in the Eurovision song contest in Malmo in Sweden are listed below, with links to videos of their performances.
I have heard the favourite is Emmelie de Forest from Denmark. Emmelie is related to Queen Victoria, so she is probably also a relative of any royalty which may be in the audience.

The United Kingdom is showing its commitment to recycling by its representative, Bonnie Tyler, after Engelbert Humperdinck last year.

Sweden

SVT

Robin Stjernberg

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Monday 27 May 2013

Tuesday 21 May 2013

Friday 17 May 2013

Tuesday 14 May 2013

Wednesday 8 May 2013

Wednesday 1 May 2013