Banned hunt

Dene leaders meet with Northwest Territories officials regarding the Bathurst caribou hunting ban.

Monday’s meeting marked the first time the public saw the government and Dene leaders debating the hunting ban in the same room.

Many who attended the meeting said hunters were being unfairly targeted for issues that were beyond their control.

“Managing hunting’s a Band-Aid solution,” said Daniel T’sellie.

“I think the two most important issues that people have touched on, in the long-term, will be development and climate change. Any conservation plan in the long term really has to take those into account.”

The phone went crazy yesterday with bookings for Bathurst. As a non petrol head I thought I would find out what this was all about.

There is the official:
The Bathurst1000 – is a 1,000-kilometre touring car race held annually at Mount Panorama Circuit in Bathurst, New South Wales, Australia. The race was traditionally run on the first Sunday in October but is now held on the second Sunday. It is known among fans and broadcasters as “The Great Race”, and is widely regarded as the pinnacle of Australian motor sport. Since 2000, the race, run exclusively for V8 Supercars and is now a round of the V8 Supercar Championship Series.

And then there this version:
You move in for 3 days and stay on the mountain. Its Holden vs Ford and it really is the Australian quintessential drive off. It the test of THE MAN – driving fast over a mountain for 3 days.
Testosterone, Speed, Excitement and The Wildest Adrenalin Rush you will have all Year.

This year you get to be on Tour with Jason Richards (Holden Driver). You will be part of his success team and be there when he wins Bathurst 2010. A word from the man himself.

” 2010 IS MY YEAR! AFTER COMING SO CLOSE TO BEING THE FASTEST GUY ON THE TRACK, I CAN TASTE THE VICTORY AS I PUSH MYSELF TO THE GREATEST HEIGHT – WINNER OF BATHURST 2010. COME AND JOIN ME ON MY TOUR AND BE A PART OF MY SUCCESS WITH YOUR SUPPORT. EVEN AS A SPECTATOR, THIS IS THE WILDEST ADRENALIN RUSH YOU WILL HAVE ALL YEAR!” JASON RICHARDS

Born on August 27, 1995, in Toronto, I am a fourteen year old with absolutely no point in life; yet. Living in Bloor West/ Junction area, I have grown up with plenty of art in my surroundings, which is right since I consider myself an artist. I specifically remember one day in the summer; me and my friend rode our bikes a few blocks down to the local donut shop. The shop lay right on the border between Malta Town, and the Junction, and was the usual hangout for old, Maltese men. I remember riding my bike past the park, towards the donut shop, and stopping dead on the street. My friend, stopped instinctively just as I did. Under our bikes, was a masterpiece in blue and white chalk. We weren’t the only ones to notice the drawing. Men, smoking cigarettes on the terrace of the shop looked at it too. Who had done this, how had they done it? We all asked the same thing.

This atmosphere allowed me to develop myself as an artist [artEEst]. With the Junction Arts Festival every summer, the streets are filled with young children thriving in art. Dance, poetry, food, paintings, and music, every year hundreds of families enjoy the arts exhibits and fun crafts in store. I guess I never really realized how lucky I was to live in such a neighborhood.

For me, the hardest thing about being an artist is focusing on one art form. I enjoy dancing, singing, acting, drawing, painting, sculpting, designing, playing piano, writing, composing, and even cooking. This long list  makes it hard for me to pick just one thing to focus on. I’m not saying I’m good at each one of these things, but I’m not bad at them, and I don’t want to have to miss out on growing my skills. As a student at an extraordinary arts school, this is a dilemma, and I’ve faced it for a couple of years now.

So, I’ve pushed myself to explore more of this place. Getting out of Bloor West, I’ve recently explored my love for singing at a small theatre on Bathurst. I’ve discovered my love for retro clothing, bouncy music, and strong, foreign foods in my personal favorite TO destination, Kensington Market. With my membership for the AGO [Art Gallery of Ontario], I have accustomed myself to all forms of visual art. And I’ve even gone out to see a few award winning films. Another thing I’ve found myself exploring in further detail, is the beauty of not only literature and fiction, but essay reading, and article research. Not too long ago, I finished reading a wonderful collection of essays by Malcolm Gladwell called ‘What the Dog Saw’. This collection really opened my eyes to the world of non-fiction, and heightened my dreams of becoming a great journalist such as Gladwell.

I guess, I’m just lost in this place filled with art. If I lived in a small town, I suppose I would not have found such a dilemma like what form of art I want to pursue, but in a place of many possibilities like Toronto, in this place of art and multiculturalism, what is a boy to do?

We have a family joke – the “Not me Brian” joke. It began when a neighbour of my father was hosing the path in the vicinity of Dad’s car when the alarm suddenly sounded. The neighbour shouted, “It wasn’t me Brian!” So now, whenever we want to deny responsibility, we say “Not, me Brian!”

When it comes to cutting greenhouse emissions, the “Not me, Brian!” approach seems to be winning the day. The big players all have excellent reasons why their own sector should be excluded from measures to combat carbon emissions -  or at least thoroughly compensated.

The fact is that it’s all of us. Yes, there are some who like to deny that there is even a problem, or argue that even if there is a problem it’s not our fault and there’s nothing we need to about it. But the majority consensus around the world is that there is a problem and the problem is us. The problem lies in just about everything we do. The way we eat, move, work and play is increasingly unsustainable. The net effect of our activities is to emit more carbon than we sequester.

With grazier Peter Spencer’s hunger strike in Canberra over the right to clear his own property, attention has turned to how agriculture fits with climate change. On a global level, farming is both a major contributor to greenhouse gas emissions (and we’re all a part of this because we all eat!) and stands to be enormously affected by it.

Locally, farmers are organizing themselves against climate change laws that ban land clearing, arguing that this could destroy their livelihoods. They argue that farmers should not have to bear the brunt of the economic pain caused by emissions reductions schemes; that this is unjust.

The issues are very complex, but one thing is clear: everyone has to get on board. It’s all of us, Brian! At the same time, we need to ensure government policies are fair. It’s clear that the massive compensation proposed for the coal lobby doesn’t fit with the attitude taken to agriculture. If we want land to remain uncleared, then we need to give this a monetary value. As long as we go on eating, we’ll need agriculture. We need to work with our farmers, not against them, as change occurs.

Tracy Sorensen is the publicity officer for Bathurst Community Climate Action Network. Visit www.bccan.org.au

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If you are interested in any of these files then please contact the Provincial Archives of New Brunswick.

“This series includes 10 documents relating to research on historic buildings in New Brunswick.  These items date between 1956 and 1967.”

1  Gunn, Dr. Gertrude, and Young, Dr. Murray, compilers.  “Historic Buildings of Fredericton for possible marking with plaques”.  Typescript, 2pp., n.d.

2  Letter from Bertha M. Marsh to Mrs. Moore of “the museum” enclosing a description and photo of the house of Col. Beverly Robinson which stood at the mouth of the Nashwaaksis Stream, York County; May 11, 1967.

3  A description by “J.L.N.” of “The Hermitage” which was originally the home of Thomas Baillie, Commissioner of Crown Lands, and later housed a Roman Catholic Seminary; n.d.

4  Description of “Madisco”, a house built by John Woolner near Bathurst, Gloucester County; n.d.

5  Deichmann, Anneke.  “The Historic Buildings of Fredericton”.  An essay submitted for the Eunice Robertson White History Essay Prize; May, 1960.

6  Memorandum to Mrs. Thompson from Robert Rogers, U.N.B. Librarian, concerning Dr. Bailey’s search for information on old buildings.  Enclosed is a list of buildings compiled from articles by Lilian Maxwell; April 12, 1956.

7  Correspondence and appended notes on “The Minchin Building, Corner St. John and King Streets, Fredericton, N.B.”  Includes history of building from 1829 to 1966, with photocopied pictures of its interior and exterior; June 1 and 10, 1966.

8  Typescript of radio program “Larry Looks at the News” on Belmont house at Lincoln; July 20, 1960.

9  Memo on 10 historic homes in Sunbury Co.; n.d.

10  Notes on historic houses of Fredericton; 1959.

MC300-MS42 York-Sunbury Historical Society Collection Description (page 203)

If you are interested in any of these files then please contact the Provincial Archives of New Brunswick.

“This series includes various types of financial documents, which record the transfer of money for goods and/or services.  They date between 1824 and 1924.  The series measures 2 centimeters.”

1  Receipt of Richard Saners and Co. to McDonald; August 7, 1825.

2  Promissory note of J. Armstrong, Saint John, to William Austen; September 15, 1824.

3  Letter from J. Armstrong to Thomas Price, regarding debt to Parker, Bowman and the Heirs of the Pagan Estate; c. 1825.

4  Receipt of the Bank of British North America, Fredericton, to Mrs. Prudence Moore; February 29, 1840.

5  Voucher to Samuel Fleming from the York Agricultural Society; 1849.

6  Bill to Alexander McDonald from L.H. DeVeber and Son; Saint John, July 17, 1843.

7  Invoice from Holdsworth and Daniel, Saint John, to McDonald; June 14, 1836.

8  Receipt from H.T. Stevens, The Moncton Times, to Thomas Reed; July 19, 1879.

9  Two invoices from James Huey, decorator, to Royal Trust Co.; Saint John, June 4, 1915.

10  Invoice from P. Campbell and Co., plumber, to the Royal Trust Co.; Saint John, September 18, 1917.

11  Invoice from M.D. and H.A. Austin, Commission Merchants, to the Fredericton Boom Co.; Indiantown, Saint John County, July 27, 1875.

12  Letter Bill from the Bermuda Post Office to New Brunswick for unpaid letters; November 30, 1861.

13  Receipt from Dunlap, Cooke and Co., Amherst N.S., tailors, to H.H. Weins, Bathurst; November 23, 1894.

14  Receipts to Fred R. Robinson, Nashwaaksis, from various firms, including:  John M. Wiley, druggist; Mack and Co., chemists and druggists; Express Line Steamer, Rothesay; R. Chestnut and Sons, Fredericton; John E. McCarthy, Fredericton butcher; George A. Burkhardt, Fredericton, photographer; James Fowler, Fredericton, watches and clocks; J.B. Laliberte, Quebec, furriers; 1867-1898.

15  Receipt from the Eastern Express Company to the Maritime Bank; Saint John, September 28, 1877.

16  Cheque drawn on MacLellan and Co., Bankers, Saint John; November 4, 1881.

17  Four bank transfers from H. Guy Beraut and Co. to George Guy and Co., merchants; Saint John, February 23, 1887.

18  Freight ticket from George W. Wheatley & Co., London, to James Domville, Saint John; October 13, 1876.

19  Cheque from Hon. W. Pugsley, Saint John, to John J. Foote, Quebec; April 1, 1895.

20  Cheque from Dunlop, Cooke and Co., Amherst, N.S., to B.C. Mullins, Bathurst; December 13, 1894.

21  Receipt from The Rideau Club to Hon. K.F. Burns; draft of K.F. Burns, and a receipt from Emerson and Fisher, Saint John, to K.F. Burns, Bathurst; 1894-1895.

22  Receipt from W.T. Stewart, Campbellton Livery and Boarding Stable, to T.M. Burns; March 21, 1895.

23  Three drafts from Stewart Brothers, Saint John, to Stewart Brothers, London; January 12, 1887.

24  Various cheques and receipts of the St. Lawrence Lumber Co., Bathurst; 1894-1895.

25  Receipts from the Petitcodiac Black Fox Co. Ltd., formerly the Sussex Silver Fox and Fur Co. Ltd., to Harry Fawcett and a letter to C.T. Munroe, Petitcodiac, from Lt.-Col. D.A. MacKinnon, Charlottetown, P.E.I., concerning foxes shipped; 1920-1924.

26  Various receipts to Lewis H. Heustis; 1844-1869.

27  Collection of bill headings of old Fredericton firms to Robert Winters; 1866-1895.

a  Water permit for Robert Winters; May 1, 1893.

b  Blank cheque, People’s Bank of New Brunswick; 18  .

28  Receipt from Lt.-Col. B.A. Robinson to Capt. C.H.S. Cronchite for military service; June 8, 1873.

29  Cheque drawn on Merchant’s Bank to Board of Works from B.E.[S.;     ]; Oct. 31, 1888.

30  Invoice from Wm. Boyd to Board of Works for hauling water to Government House; Oct. 1, 1863.

31  Receipt from Staples Drug Store; Aug. 7, 1933.

32  One cent Purchasers Cash Bond for McMurray’s Bookstore, Fredericton, N.B.; copywright 1924.

33  Coupon for $200 cash prize from the Saint John Candy Co.; n.d.

34  Instruction label for cleaning curtains, M.R.A. Ltd.; n.d.

35  Coupon from John Lovell & Son, Ltd., Montreal; n.d.

36  Ticket from weight machine from Metropolitan Stores; n.d.

37  Union Working Card (blank) for the Grand Council of Carpenters, Massachusetts; 1911.

In a few days, off to Grafton on the New South Wales north coast for round 2 (1st for 2010) of the Formula Powerboats, then a few days later to Bathurst for the Armor All 12 Hour, live on 2BS.

Wasn’t Tuesday night a scorcher?! For me it came at the end of a hot but pleasant afternoon down beside the Macquarie River helping to staff the Bathurst Community Climate Action Network stall. While we were there to answer questions from the general public, it was also good for BCCAN members to chat amongst ourselves about the state of the world.

One member, BCCAN Treasurer Greg Walker, had just returned from a brief trip to Changchun, a city of seven million people in northern China. Greg found no sign of scepticism about climate change in that country. Instead, the talk was all about what can be done to meet the challenge.

But the Chinese fear that the developed world will try to take advantage of the developing world. They argue that carbon emissions should be measured on a per capita basis, rather than a per-country basis. They also point out that the developed world should be responsible for consumption as well as production of manufactured goods. They argue that Western consumers have shifted production of “dirty” manufactured goods to the developing world and that global accounting for emissions must take account of this.

“China refuses to accept the West’s dictate that China must reduce its overall carbon emission level,” says Greg. “To do so would condemn tens of millions to remain in poverty or impose enormous cost on China to convert rapidly to renewable energy sources.”

At the same time, China has made enormous investment in renewable energy projects, with more wind farms in that country than in the US. There are new regulations to force carbon efficiency gains in housing and production and reforms in the coal industry to close low grade dirty coal mines.

But Greg’s overwhelming impression was of the pace of building and construction and the inevitable increase in total emissions. “China is the world’s greatest producer of automobiles, the greatest consumer of concrete and I understand is even more dependent on coal fired power than is Australia!”

More on Greg’s trip to China can be found in the latest newsletter on the BCCAN website.

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Congratulations to Conservation Volunteers Australia’s John Fry, who won this year’s Jo Ross memorial award for his lifelong efforts to improve the local environment.

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Tracy Sorensen is the publicity officer for Bathurst Community Climate Action Network (BCCAN). Visit www.bccan.org.au

How did the townships of the County of Lanark get the names they bear?  And how far back in time must one go to reach the days when the native Indians heard the tall forests of these townships ring to the first axe blows of surveyors and British settlers?

When the townships of this area were grouped together long ago to form the present County of Lanark their names already were the same as today.  They had been given when they first were surveyed and opened for settlement in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries.  The origins of some, such as the Scottish names of Dalhousie and Lanark, remain well known.  The sources of others long have been forgotten locally and possibly are unknown to all of their present residents.

Investigation shows that nearly all of the fourteen townships of Lanark County were named in honour of greater or lesser British public and military figures of the time when this county was receiving its first large influx of settlers.  Among them are the names of some of the leading men of that day who were associated with Canadian and British North American public affairs.  Some wider local knowledge of the origins of these historic names seems worth preserving.  They are among the oldest existing place names in the county, with such exceptions as those of the Indian-named Mississippi and the French-named Rideau.  Together they form a permanent part of the record of the early inhabitation of this district by our forefathers.

Southern Townships First Settled

The townships of Montague, North Elmsley and North Burgess, on the northern borders of the waterways of the Rideau, are both the oldest and the newest townships of Lanark County.  They were the first named and surveyed and received the county’s first settlers, but until about 1845 they remained a part of the adjoining district to the south which became the united counties of Leeds and Grenville.

Admiral Montagu and the American Revolution

Montague, the southeastern corner extending east along the Rideau River from Smiths Falls to beyond Merrickville and north to within two miles of Franktown, is the oldest township in Lanark County in point of date of settlement, naming and time of survey.  Before it was named and surveyed in about the year 1797, the first farm land to be occupied north of the Rideau River was cleared and settled in 1790 by Roger Stevens and his family.

He had been an officer in one of the voluntarily enlisted corps of those American colonists who strove to preserve a British North America from revolution and who as migrating loyalists had shaped momentously the future of Canada. This Lanark County pioneer location became lot number one in Concession A of  Montague township, near the mouth of Rideau Creek.  Three years later Stevens had met his death by drowning and his Montague associate William Merrick had begun building the first mill in Lanark County at Merrickville.

The member of the prominent Montague family for whom the township was named appears to have been Admiral Sir George Montagu (1750-1829).  He had been a British naval captain in the American Revolutionary War.  At the outset of the war he had charge of blockading the ports of Marblehead and Salem.  He captured the Washington, the first war vessel sent to sea from the revolting colonies, and he covered the embarkation of the main British force removed from Boston to New York.  During the American Revolution and in earlier periods dating from 1748 his father John Montagu, Fourth Earl of Sandwich (1718-1792), was first Lord of the Admiralty.

Chief Justice Elmsley

North Elmsley township was named for John Elmsley (1762-1805), Chief Justice of Upper Canada from 1796 to 1802, Speaker of this province’s Legislative Council in 1799 and Chief Justice of Lower Canada from 1802 until his early death.  His land ownership in Upper Canada was measured in thousands of acres, and he maintained residences at Quebec, York and Newark.  The home of one of his present descendants is in Lanark County at Appleton.

When the Canadian parliament buildings were destroyed in the Montreal riots of 1849 and Parliament began meeting for alternate periods of years at Toronto and Quebec, Elmsley Villa became the Toronto place of residence of the governor general Lord Elgin.  North Elmsley township extends south from Perth to Rideau Ferry and Smiths Falls to Rideau Ferry and Smiths Falls.  It contains the Tay Canal and is crossed by the highway running from Perth to Smiths Falls through Port Elmsley.

Bishop Burgess

North Burgess township borders the Rideau from North Elmsley west to the Narrows lock and bridge at the junction of the Big Rideau and Upper Rideau Lakes.  It extends north to the locally historic Scotch Line.  While sometimes said to have been named for a mythical Earl of Burgess, the township is recorded as having been given its name in honour of the Rev. Thomas Burgess, Bishop of Salisbury.  At Oxford University he had been a fellow student with Henry Addington (1757-1844), the late Viscount Sidmouth, English Prime Minister.  Allan’s Mills and Stanleyville are localities in North Burgess township.

North Elmsley and North Burgess townships were separated from their southern counterparts of the same names on the south side of the Rideau and were attached in 1845 to the jurisdiction which became the present Lanark County.  Before this division they were named in or about the year 1798 and were surveyed as townships at periods between 1800 and 1810.  Along their northern Scotch Line the first group of the county’s emigrants from Britain, natives of the south of Scotland, came to establish themselves as farmers in 1816.

Pioneers of 1816

Beckwith, Drummond and Bathurst townships, each named and initially surveyed in 1816, were the first townships of the county to be prepared for the opening of Lanark County for settlement by British emigrants and demobilized soldiers and sailors after the War of 1812-14 and the end of the long wars with France.  With South Sherbrooke they continued for nearly thirty years to form the southern extremity of the new district.  The fourth of the district’s new townships to be surveyed was Goulbourn, now part of Carleton County.

The Third Earl of Bathurst

Bathurst township, extending along the north side of the Scotch Line from Perth to Christie Lake and north to beyond Fallbrook was named for Henry Bathurst, Third Earl of Bathurst (1762-1834).  He was Secretary for War and the Colonies from 1812 to 1827, years which in Canada ran from the beginning of the War of 1812 to the start of the building of the Rideau Canal between Kingston and the site of Ottawa.  He had senior executive responsibility for the emigration and soldier settlement provisions which led to the founding of Lanark County.

The entire new district also was given his name.  It became later the counties of Lanark and Renfrew and a large part of the County of Carleton.  The earl of Bathurst entered the peerage as Baron Apsley and for several years was Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain.  Other places in Canada bearing his name are the town of Bathurst in New Brunswick and the Arctic’s Bathurst Islands and Bathurst Inlet.

Canada’s Defender Sir Gordon Drummond

In Drummond township in 1816 Perth was established as the new district’s regional administrative centre.  Extending eastward on the upper Mississippi Lake to the location known as Tennyson, Drummond township contains the present smaller communities of Balderson, Ferguson’s Falls and Innisville.  Drummond is the only township in the county to be named for a native of Canada.  General Sir Gordon Drummond (1771-1854) was born in the city of Quebec.  In his British army career he served in the Netherlands, Egypt, Ireland, Canada and the West Indies before returning to Canada in 1813 to become second in command of the forces engaged in this county’s defence in the War of 1812-14.  His vigour and ability as a leader played a large part in turning the balance in British Canada’s second successful war of independence against the power of its southern neighbours.  After becoming the administrator of Upper Canada in 1813 he was wounded at the conclusive winning battle of Lundy’s Lane.  He was commander in chief and administrator of Lower and Upper Canada in 1815 and 1816 when the first large scale settlements of Lanark County were begun.  In Quebec his name was given to the city of Drummondville in the County of Drummond.

Sir Sidney Beckwith Directed Settlement

Beckwith township gained its first few settlers in 1816, when the township was named and partly surveyed.  It received its largest single group of early residents from Perthshire in the Scottish Highlands in 1818, and became the location of the town of Carleton Place on the Mississippi and the smaller communities of Prospect, Franktown and Black’s Corners.  The township was named for Major General Sir Sidney Beckwith (1772-1831).  Entering the army at the age of nineteen, Sir Sidney Beckwith served in India, under Sir John Moore in the Spanish Peninsula, and in North America in and after the War of 1812-14.  He became commander in chief at Bom in 1829 and died two years later in India.

As quartermaster general of the British forces in Canada when the first main settlements in this county and district were made, Sir Sidney Beckwith headed the branch of the army in Canada which from 1815 to 1823 issued supplies to the several thousands of emigrants who, together with groups of demobilized soldiers, began the conversion of this section of Ontario into an inhabited region.  Under the immediate direction of his military department from 1816 to 1822 the farm sites then being granted in the present County of Lanark and other nearby areas were assigned individually through local offices opened at Perth, Richmond and Lanark.

Vegan, Vegetarian, Meat

♥♥1/2
$$$

Big Fat Burrito numero 2. The franchise has officially expanded from Kensington Market and has wrecked the infamous Lee’s Palace mural and replaced it with a shitty neon sign. BUT – the burritos are dece. They’re a little pricey, expect to pay 10 bucks for one with a drink. The options are pretty cool. You’ve got veggie, yam, ground beef, steak, chicken and pulled pork. All of which are delicious. They’re open late (for those drunken munchies) and they’ve also got a great sodapop collection in classic glass bottles.

The Cadia open cut gold mine near Orange is a dizzyingly impressive hole in the ground. It’s impossible to look down into it, with its tiny trucks crawling up the sides, without a sense of awe. Last week, the State Government said yes to an expansion of operations to the east of the existing site. At its peak, the new mine is expected to produce a billion dollars worth of gold and copper every year. That’s a lot of money in anybody’s books.

But the expanded mine comes amid continued disquiet about its impact on local water supplies. Local farmers – a tiny drop in the financial ocean when set beside the giant mine – are alarmed about the draw down effect on groundwater. While the company has named 16 properties likely to be affected and has offered compensation, farmers just outside the seven kilometre zone worry that they will also suffer. There are also fears about the mine’s use of surface water in its operations, particularly if conditions continue to get hotter and drier. The expanded mine will require about 6 megalitres per day of additional water, an increase of about 12 per cent on its existing use.

As we know here in Bathurst, Cadia has long been eyeing off our relatively abundant water supply. Locals here in Bathurst continue to worry that if supplies in Orange dwindle, we will be asked to help out our neighbours – nothing wrong with that, except that this would be an indirect benefit to the Cadia mine. While Bathurst council has rejected this idea outright, the State Government’s enthusiasm for Cadia could see our own wishes overruled in the interests of the wider economy.

In the short term, there can be no doubt that the world values gold and copper and that we’re onto a very good thing. But over the long term, a new set of values – increasingly to be given monetary value – are emerging: water and food security and biodiversity. We have now said “yes” to Cadia but perhaps they should be pressed harder to give more to the environmental side of the ledger. What about making them fund wind power technology to be used in their own operations with side benefits for the local region? Yes, it would cost a lot, but they are making a lot.

Tracy Sorensen is the publicity officer for Bathurst Community Climate Action Network. Visit www.bccan.org.au

First steps how to do  bridges and handstands

bridge

lets do it)

almost done)

handstands

bridge and handstands)

Happy New Year!* So far so good for me, as I continue to spend some hours sitting under the awning reading books, glancing up from time to time to watch the tomatoes grow. One book I’ve been looking at is Bertrand Russell’s In Praise of Idleness, written a few years before the Second World War. He outlines an idea that used to be popular but is now well out of fashion: that technology would liberate us all from long working hours. Everyone would be expected to put in, say, four hours a day and the rest of the time would be spent in leisure. Bertrand’s ideas about leisure didn’t include computer games (they hadn’t been invented yet) but did encompass some of the higher-order pursuits of human existence: reading, music, art and conversation.

As we know, things didn’t work out the way he was hoping. That’s because his ideas were based on a flawed premise: that once our basic needs were met, we’d ease off on our frantic work habits. The fact is that our “needs” keep shifting to encompass more and more stuff. Stuff like the Wii, a computer game that gets you on your feet, burning calories, as you hit a virtual tennis ball. Why the virtual tennis ball? Why not an actual tennis ball? Meanwhile, Mum and Dad are working overtime to make sure the kids have a Wii (and everything else) and when they finally get a bit of leisure, they feel that reading, art or even conversation are way too hard and all they can cope with is another cop show on telly. All of which adds to the sum total of carbon emissions, but there’s no time to think too deeply about that, because there’s so much to do!

We’re still on the treadmill, but there is a continuing disquiet. This was clear in the movie Avatar, in which the idea of development at all costs received a big hiding. In fact, it had its ass whupped, to use the language of the bad guys in the movie.

Thanks to Judy Walker for filling in for me in the weeks before Christmas. If you feel inspired to help make the world a more sustainable place in 2010, BCCAN would love more members!

Tracy Sorensen is the publicity officer for Bathurst Community Climate Action Network. Visit www.bccan.org.au

* This is the text of the BCCAN column written for Bathurst’s Western Advocate to be published on Thursday, January 7 2010.

Yes, that’s right – today I rode my bike to renew my driver’s licence.  The word “licence” comes up as a spelling error but this is how it’s spelled on the licence. Actually, have you noticed that the RTA steps neatly around potential possessive apostrophe problems (PPAPs) by calling the licence a “Driver Licence”? Have a look at your driver’s licence (if you live in New South Wales). The photo isn’t too bad; slightly untidy hair. It was wonderful, riding my bike on this gorgeous summer day. I found the cycle path that follows the highway, although at a certain point there I was riding over the crunchy gravel at the front of the Holden car yard, between the on-sale Holdens – a little short cut. When one rides a bike one is immediately outside mainstream experience. One is being a little bit different, a little bit daring, a little bit off the beaten track, even if it is just an unofficial path through the Holden car yard.

Only 8 hours left of 2009 and it’s time to reflect on the year that was. I thought 2009 would be a big one for me, but I don’t think I realised how life changing some of the events would be. When you face the year ahead you make goals, plans and set targets for yourself, having direction is a great thing. Often though, it’s the unexpected and the changes, the things we never could have foreseen that really make us.

I’m not making any really big new years resolutions. I made a list of plans and things I would ‘like to’ achieve as I feel this is a much more flexible and approachable way to look at our future. The list of resolutions can often be reflected upon at the end of the year as a list of failed attempts. We shouldn’t feel discouraged and let down if we don’t get to do everything that we set out to do. So I’m saying for 2010, give it all you got, have a blast and make mistakes, it’s the best way to learn. Most of all, enjoy! Nothing is a waste of time as long as we learn from it and at differently in the future.

These are of few of my highlights from 2009:

• Ringing in the New Year in London and spending New Year’s Day in Mexico
• Spending 4.5 months in Monterrey, Mexico on Student exchange
• Losing my Grandmother and having a tattoo done as a memorial to her
• Doing an 18 day road trip from the Cancun – Oaxaca, Mexico with 3 Aussies and a Belgian
• Visiting the incredible Mexico City, not once, not twice but 3 times!
• Facing a pending Pandemic (aka swine flu) and fleeing Mexico for the United states In April 2009
• Attending the Indy 500 qualifying weekend with my Cousin Bill and big brother James, May 2009
• Sitting on a crocodile and riding an airboat in the Everglades, Miami, USA with my new German friends
• Visiting all 4 Disneyworld parks in Orlando as well as the 2 Universal Studios parks over a period of 2 days.
• Attending the FAPAA 36^th Consecutive Council meeting in Bangkok, Thailand, for my work in Freight Forwarding.
• Competing in the Easter Uni Games, Australian University Sports Competition in Soccer for UTS, and getting the Wooden spoon. Bathurst, NSW, Australia

• Attending the UTS Ski Trip in Thredbo, Australia
• Competing in the Australian University Snow Sports Competition at Thredbo Australia.
• Breaking my back at the Australian Snow Sports Competition. Successfully fracturing 2 vertebrae, spending 1 week in hospital and 9.5 weeks in a back brace
• Starting my blog – http://lovellyinc.wordpress.com
• Attending my friend Khushboo’s wedding in Delhi, India
• Riding an elephant in Chitwan National Park, Nepal
• Visiting the charity www.roomtoread.com based in Kathmandu, Nepal
• Seeing the Taj Mahal for the Second time in my life. Agra, India
• Achieving my 5 yr dream of taking a vacation to the beaches of Goa, India
• Returning to my beloved Mumbai and learning about the great history of India
• Making it home in time for Christmas in Australia with family and friends

What a great year! 2009 has taught me a lot. I just can’t wait to see what 2010 holds.

HAVE A FANTASTIC NEW YEAR EVERYONE!

Upstanding supporters of Australia's auto industry

Holden and Ford are two Australian car manufacturers. To the untrained eye, they appear to be the same but make no mistake, they are very, very different.

When you arrive in Australia it is almost mandatory you chose between Holden or Ford, someone at the airport will ask you and you must answer, even if you don’t know what they’re talking about. If you aim to become a top aussie bloke you will need to choose one or the other, you will need to swear by your choice and you will have to prepare yourself for many arguments and even fight to the death. Yep, Holden and Ford have an intense rivalry in Australia, probably the most intense rivalry this country has ever known, there’s even an n race called Bathurst that celebrates this rivalry

In the case of chosing between Holden and Ford, it’s more about being less dislikable than more likeable and because this is the case you should always choose Holden, they seem to be more popular through sheer weight of numbers or maybe just because Holden fans usually have more teeth.

Either way its an important choice that you will need to make if you are to move forward in your quest of becoming a top aussie bloke.

fruity, originally uploaded by sizzled.

i swear this fence reminds me of painted novelty easter decorations like a house made of popsicle sticks or something.

I have no reason to have a great love for Tony Cochrane, the head honcho of V8 Supercars Australia. In my mind, he and his organisation have done a major disservice in the bigger picture of motorsport in Australia. Instead of the mixture of makes, models and years we used to have in the Australian Touring Car Series (ATCC), we have a bunch of purpose built beasts that have as much in common with their namesakes as Honda Formula 1 cars last year had to an Accord, a Mercedes McLaren with an “S” class or a Toyota F1 with a Corolla Seca. (I accept this is MY opinion and not necessarily that of anyone else. I appreciate tens of thousands love the V8s and think F1 is as boring as continental drift and that’s all that matters in real terms).

In case you didn’t know,  a V8 Supercar is a custom built hybrid American NASCAR – no more and no less. The only part that is from either marque is the engine and the shape of the lightweight body panels. As Dick Johnson once remarked earlier this year, “to make it a Holden we change the motor and the panels”. And even that is debatable in comparison as to what the public can buy.

Compare this to the UK and European Touring Car series where any driver can win on any given day, and the entrants are an assortment of everyday cars suitably homologated from a whole bunch of manufacturers – Vauxhall (Holden), Ford, Honda, Peugeot, Seat, Renault, Volkswagen, Audi, Mercedes, Toyota, Nissan and more. Rivalry is just as intense between fans and the racing much, much closer, and to me, more exciting. I could BUY one of these cars, but not a V8 Supercar sadly.

I also don’t agree with Cochrane’s almost blackmail approach to the fans and Government in Western Australia by demanding the Barbagallo circuit (nee Wanneroo Park) be upgraded by figures approaching $27 million dollars. This is the man who personally makes millions out of V8 Supercars as a business. Nice if you can get it; everyone pays to be a part of his circus – fans, teams, drivers, sponsors and promoters. It’s no secret Cochrane models himself on F1 supremo Bernie Eccleston. Apparently he even owns the TV rights and has on-sold those to Channel 7. As I say, nice if you can get it. Technically, if I as a journalist go to a V8 meeting, I cannot shoot video and use it.

But this piece is not intended as a hate case against Cochrane or V8 Supercars in general. Please read on.

I have been to most of the circuits in Australia many, many times. I have represented my own magazine Australasian Camcorder, as well as other publications including The Australian, The West Australian, The Sunday Times, IBM magazine, the Gold Coast Bulletin, VideoCamera magazine, PixelMag, WISH and many others at Eastern Creek, Oran Park, Sandown Park, Lakeside, Bathurst, the Gold Coast, Winton, Symmonds Plains and of course Barbagallo. In fact I was the WA correspondent for the publications Motoring Reporter and Auto Action for over 8 years in the 70s and 80s. In short, I am an “old timer” of the motor support photo/journalistic world and been freelance ever since.

Back then, I had a season media pass and could go anywhere on the circuit I wanted. I had signed a disclaimer saying I accepted that motor sport was dangerous, and if I got hurt, or there was damage to my equipment, that was my problem. These conditions were cheerfully accepted as this was a part of the job. It was exciting.  There were risks that got the adrenaline running and you worked hard to get the ‘money’ shot that could pay handsomely. And give major kudos and credibility. I got my fair share, and it was a fun living. In WA, after the meeting on a Sunday, you’d have a few drinks with the drivers at the Espana Tavern down the road from the circuit (now THERE were some stories that will never be told), get some quotes from them and team management, head home, bang out the story on a Remington typewriter, and get to the airport by midnight to get the story (on paper in duplicate) and photo negatives in an airbag to Sydney on the red-eye midnight flight.

I have also been involved over the years in the production of many events in my capacity as the PR Manager of CBS Records (now Sony Music), a director of an import company with product launches as part of its day-to-day running and even motor sport events on a National scale. One of my (to me) major events was actually a motor sport event at Barbagallo in the early 80s which as I understand it, has still the largest spectator crowd achieved for a local event involving no Eastern State or International drivers.

Because of this, I believe I can look at the Barbagallo situation with its potential loss of the V8s reasonably impartially as a spectator, but also critically as a journalist and someone with experience over 30 years in these matters.

Two years in a row, I have walked out of the V8s at Barbagallo in disgust. Not at the V8 Supercar’s organisation handling of the event, but the local handling. Last year (2008) it was agreed that I would pick up my accreditation pass at the circuit. To those not aware, media personnel need a special pass allowing them to have privileged access to areas of the circuit for interview and photographic rights. This also involves wearing a special vest so that you are immediately identifiable by the marshals (who are volunteers) and security personnel (privately contracted for money). Sadly and somewhat amazingly, in 2008, no-one at the circuit knew where I had to go, talk to or where to park to obtain these items so after two hours of wandering from official to official, I gave up and went home. Without this specialised access, you simply cannot do your job as a journo.

This year was a bit different. V8 Supercars kindly sent me a season pass (to circumvent the above situation) so problem solved in that area as I didn’t have to pick anything up. Except at Wanneroo today. Oh it was no problem getting into the circuit and parking. Even access to such places as the grid before the start was not an issue. Once the race had started however, every 10 metres or so, some security grunt or another (who oddly all look alike – you know, big, brawny, bald, wrap around black sunglasses and beard/moustache combo) would demand to see the plainly obvious pass around my neck, and of course I was wearing the highly identifiable special media vest/bib. This can be seen at 100 paces. So effectively, it was a case of give someone a uniform and they have to prove they have earned it.

But wait. To park my car, I had to go through three checkpoints showing my media pass. And then be directed by another person as to where to park. Imagine my surprise then when over the circuit –wide PA system, my registration number is called out saying the “black Monaro rego number such-and-such is illegally parked and unless moved immediately, will be towed away”.

With a recently purchased hotdog in hand, I raced back to the car, explained to the security person I had been told to park there, and then waited for a higher up security person to come and say I still needed a special windscreen sticker. Remember I had passed three check points to get to this point.

This higher up security person directed me back to the main office to get this pass. No. They don’t do this, and don’t know who does. They directed me to an accreditation office. This was closed. I checked three more officials and they all shrugged. Parking elsewhere was full apparently.

As an aside, let me tell you about the hotdog. It was so bad as to be inedible. Seriously, I swear it was left over from last year.  Or possibly the year before. And at $4.50 not exactly a bargain. And cold.

It was all too hard; after a wait in a queue of about 20 other blokes to go to the toilet, I went home. 140km away.

Let me give a comparison. At the first ever A1GP race in Australia at Eastern Creek, the media, who after all are the people who actually promote these types of meetings, write about them, praise them, supply images, TV shows, magazines and generally give the public who can’t get there all the information they are hungry for, were treated like kings and queens. We weren’t a bother, we were an asset and to be looked after acordingly. Security gorillas weren’t a hassle; they were there to help in fact and drive us around in golf carts to get the best shots, bring us drinks, umbrellas if it rained, open doors when we were weighed down by heavy equipment and more. All done cheerfully and with a smile. The PR Company in charge were UK based. All the staff was from the UK. I wonder if that was the difference.

Marshalls were also looked after. After all, without these tireless volunteers, race meetings cannot function; these guys and girls wave flags, drive rescue trucks, provide medical aid, supervise traffic and much, much more. They were fed and watered, special shelters were designed and built by the promoters to keep them out of the direct sun and rain, and rosters made up to give them breaks.

This was, out of hundreds of motor sport meetings of all classes I have been to, the very best. And the way it should be.

I have also had excellent experiences at Oran Park (now no longer on the V8 Supercar calendar sadly), Eastern Creek, Sandown, Symmons Plains and of course Bathurst. Not to the level of that A1GP, but at least, making life reasonably comfortable. But Barbagallo seems, for some reason, to be different.

The left hand doesn’t seem to know what the right hand is doing. One person says “park there” and the next says “you can’t park there”. You can’t access the inside of the circuit without a marshal’s say so – and only at two points and when there is no racing on. Even when you can, access points are extremely limited, so it is almost impossible to get any unique shot. And the latest innovation – accepted it is series wide and not just Barbagallo – you cannot go into the pits without wearing a full blast driver’s suit for fire protection. That’s worth $1800+ and of course, must be purchased from V8 Supercars.

The catering is horrible, circuit access is dismal, circuit viewing point navigation difficult and a whole bunch of people wearing hi-viz jackets say continually, “you can’t do that/you can’t go there/where is your pass”.

So in the context of one Mr Cochrane wanting extra facilities to bring his – admittedly popular – V8 circus back to Barbagallo, I feel it goes a damn sight deeper than simply upgrading the pit facilities. Yes Barbagallo has done an amazing job since the halcyon days of the late 70s and early 80s. Old timers will remember the Marlboro Holden Dealer Team of Brock, Harvey and Negus getting a 1-2-3, Jim Richards breaking the lap record in the rain in the Big M Falcon, Peter Williamson locking his keys in the Toyota Celica and just making the start, Alfie Constanza and Johnnie Walker in the F5000 race, locals Dick Ward in his amazing Fiat Abarth, Graeme Hooley and Tim Slako in Torana A9Xs taking it up to the factory teams and the staggering Lotus Elan of Trevor Hines walloping Toranas and Falcon Phase IIIs under braking into the last corner before pit straight (we were allowed to stand there then to take photos – and that was the very best spot on the circuit and no-one was EVER hurt). And I still somewhere have a shot of someone rowing a boat down the pits after a spectacularly heavy downpour!

But the mind set of the management/committee/promotions people seems to be on the wrong track. Pardon the pun. I do remember – and here’s a scoop – a company I worked for in the late 70s seriously, SERIOUSLY thinking of putting a major long distance race on at Wanneroo Park, as it was then, with over a million dollars prize money. I was sent to Bathurst to see how that was done, as it was the pinnacle in Australia of motor sport. Drivers were interviewed (and they loved the idea and the circuit), sponsors were attracted, but in the end, it died.

Why?

Because my bosses decided that the circuit management couldn’t handle it. They were amateurs in a big boy’s world. I have to say, 30 years later, despite all the best intentions, it still seems the same. I don’t blame them. This is BIG business. And being so close to Asia it could be HUGE business – bigger than any Eastern States circuit could even dream of, but they simply don’t seem to have the acumen, the will or the nous to pull it off.

Any influx of Government funds as suggested will not help in the long term. With correct thinking, Barbagallo has the opportunity to be a major player in world wide motor sport if it is done right, but it has to be looked at as an overall picture with a five year and ten year plan + and not as a bandaid package just to make sure the V8s come back each year.

Are we too far from the mainstream? Is Bahrain? Abu Dhabi? Shanghai? Singapore? Even Adelaide or Darwin? Of course not.

We need to start from scratch with the original circuit as a template and build from there. State of the art access, parking, accommodation, camping, driver training facilities even an entertainment precinct should all be considered. Why not include a velodrome, rallycross circuit, BMX track, motocross, drag strip and so on. There is enough land.

So in principle I agree with v8 Supercars and Tony Cochrane. Barbagallo is a fabulous layout, but is let down by an infrastructure that is old and tired. I suspect a smidgeon of the old West Australian “we know what we are doing and the East should keep out of our business” attitude, but the same problems and the same questions and lack of answers were being asked 25 years ago!

Is anyone prepared to accept the vision of the possibilities and get it fixed once and for all? Or will this go the way of the World Rally Championship and countless other events?

Well, as I haven’t done too much for the blog since I joined in a couple of weeks ago I tough I might be able to pull something off by stitching together some slow-mo videos of various motorsports. After 2 weeks and big technical difficulties, it’s ready. All of it is motorsports except for the Top Gear shots with the Exige, Mustang, Aston & Ferrari. I was inspired by another bloke called Mattzel who some of you might know, has his video featured on TG’s website.

Please note there may be some problems at first due to the fact that the video is still new and click that HQ button!

The Sunday after my embarrassing encounter, I’m sitting in church and trying desperately not to yawn through the sermon. Then I catch sight of something that fixes the yawns right up. Over the other side of the church, in the very front pew, is Mark. Mr Let-Me-Pretend-I’m-Manly. Paying attention, and NOT yawning. My stranger with a sense of humour is stalking me?

After church, Mrs Catrick pulls him straight over to me and starts to introduce us.

“Don’t worry, Auntie, we’ve already met.” he says, and holds out a hand. I take it uncertainly and shake.

“Oh, lovely!” she says, smiling – not picking up a hint of awkwardness, “at school, dears?”

“No, on the street!” Mark says, grinning at me, “a man tried to steal her bag and she -”

I cough and raise my eyebrows, hoping to God he’ll take a hint.

“ – asked him so nicely to leave her alone that he ran away!” he finishes, smirking at me.

I can’t help it. I laugh, and Mrs Catrick looks bemused but happy to see us getting along.

I grab us a few bikkies and slices from the morning tea spread, and we sit down on the steps of the church, a bit away from the adults.

“So…” I ask, trying to make sense of him turning up here and now, “Mrs Catrick’s your aunt?”

He nods.

“And you’re living with her because…?”

“My mum and dad are divorcing, and ducking flying crockery made studying hard.”

I sober. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be – they’re both arseholes. I’m happy to get out of there.”

I put a hand on his arm.

“So – Mrs Catrick thrown anything yet?”

He snorts.

“Give her time – I’m still on good behaviour, remember?”

“Wow – when do we see the real Mark?”

He shrugs.

“So,” I ask, “why didn’t you out me to Mrs Catrick? Burst of altruism?”

“Pure self-interest,” he says, “Aunt Rosie would never let me associate with such an unfeminine girlie if she knew!”

I sigh.

“I am a bad influence,” I say seriously, “I’m not sure I’m such a good person for you to be hanging with, you know.”

He laughs.

“Girl,” he says, “at my last church, I found out that half of my goody-goody mates were really on speed and pot and other stuff… all behind their parents’ backs. And most of them were having sex with boyfriends and girlfriends their parents didn’t even know about. So come on, tell me all the horrible things you’re into!”

I goggle at him.

“Drugs? Fuck! I mean – oh crap, see what I mean?”

We look at each other and laugh wryly.

“So,” he asks, raising an eyebrow, “where’s the happening joint?”

“What, for drugs and sex, or just hanging out?”

“Wow, you are a forward young lady! Aunt Rose’d have a coronary!”

I smirk.

“Well, there’s the beach…” I say, grinning slyly at him.

He frowns.

“I’m 400 k inland, and there’s a beach? Geez, and I thought the drug scene was intense in Sydney!”

“Come on, city boy.”

I take him down to the river beach. It’s autumn now, so the only people there have fishing rods and focus.

“I know it’s lame,” I say, “But… it’s my favourite spot. I come down here and watch the birds, and… chill, you know?”

“I like it!” he says, and lies down on the grass. “I need a straw hat, and I’ll feel just like Huckleberry Finn!”

God help us. Huck Finn?