Sleep Out

Well, last Friday night about a dozen of us slept on the church lawns on Todd Mall in the centre of Alice. We did so to protest a buch of proposed Council By Laws which plan to ban people from sleeping on Todd River, confiscate and dispose of their sleeping items, and fine beggars (now there’s a good idea!!). It’s important to note that ALice has a terrible accommodation shortage and lots of people have to come in from remote communities for a range of reasons , including health care, going to court etc. It was an intersting evening. There was a bigger bunch of us who sat there earlier in the evening but then about half left before it was time to settle in for the night. We had some great placards asking for compassion, including “Begging for Respect” (which Martin wrote).  A lot of people approached us and sat down and talked to us, particularly aboriginal people. They would come up to us and ask where we were from and tell us their name and where they were from and tell us about their country and ask what we were doing. Most had no idea about the propsed by laws, despite plenty of publicity. Most were from out of town with nowhere to stay except to camp on the river bed. It was interesting just hanging there on a Friday night watching what happened. Some of it not so pretty - there was drunkenness and one fight between 2 women, one who was obviously pregnant.  However, I have to say, on the whole, it was a really nice vibe. One couple who seemed to be new migrants even offered for us all to come to their place for somewhere to sleep thinking we were from out of town with nowhere to stay.  A bunch of aboriginal people wanted to sleep with us that night. We lent them blankets and in the morning they all got up and left all the blankets. No one took anything, no one hassled us… not even the police, who just went past. The security guards kept a pretty close eye on us but didn’t aproach us. We possibly didn’t have the best sleep we ever had - the pub closed at 2am and the street cleaners started at about 6am and the Mall remains lit all night… but it was great to do it. I really felt we made more of a connection with people in the town. Some people said they would join us if we do it again. If 4 of us weren’t going to Africa in under a week, I think we would do it again next week. I hope some others might it pick up and run with it.

black arm band

well this desert festival clicks along. last night i sang in the asanta sana choir with about 4 other choirs. it is a thing morris stuart does up here training a whole lot of different choirs and then we all come together. they were all aboriginal choirs some school kids and others older women. teh older women make this amazing wail in harmony that sends chills down yor spine.

the night got better though. after the choir thing the black arm band played. this was a combination of about 30 unbelievably talented musos (mainly aboriginal including archie roach, ruby hunter. in the middle they reformed the warumpi band with neil murray and company to commemorate the lead singer who died two years ago. it was just the most amazing musical smorgasboard. it was like a whole festival in one band.

but the best thing of all was that i reckon the audience was pretty evenly split between black and white people all just enjoying the vibe together. i cried.

if the black arm band play near you you gotta go and see them. i dont know how they could get that many people together easily but i guess if they can do it in alice springs they can do it in sydney or melbourne.

dancing in the desert

its currently the alice springs festival and lots of good things happen at this time of year. stella talked me into going to some aboriginal dancing which I have to say mostly i find boring. anyway to be a good companionable husband i went. alas it was nearly finished but anyway there were heaps of people both blackfellas and white fellas which always makes my heart sing. the men were up dancing doing this very masculine stuff and i have to say i found the energy, the people, the dust flying with a full moon in the background over the telegrah station all quite sublime. it was all pretty jolly good. the guy then invited us to dance with them which i really wanted to do but hestitated because, you know, I didnt want to be first. Then the dancer said come on we’ve got to learn your langauge you can learn our dance. well about 200 people got up and we all danced around like total awkward whitefellas but it just felt fantastic being in the hands of blackmen showing us all what to do. it was all a real hoot and it felt like this is what black and white relations should be like.

The Age of Stupid

Last Friday night, a balmy evening in downtown Alice Springs. Olive Pink Botanical Gardens - vego curry and wine and live music under the stars. Sit and chat with friends at the end of a busy and emotional week and really enjoy the vibe. $10 movie shown after  - BYO chair or swag or just sit on the dirt and watch the screen on the side of a truck in the gardens. “The Age of Stupid” socks you between the eyes. Nothing new. Just all this global warming stuff and how incredibly stupid we are. The problem of oil and how pervasive it is. Unfortunately, I knew half the audience so, as usually happens, these movies just preach to the converted. It’s an important movie and hopefully many will see it and think and do something different.

My day with MK

Well, my workplace shifted last Friday to a new building that unfortunately resembles a prison because of so much security. I felt a bit depressed when we were moving, even though I now have a bigger office with a window. So much security always gets me down. Any way, a new building needs a good name and has to be smoked to get rid of any unwanted spirits. So I had to hunt out my friend, MK, who is a respected elder around town. I hadn’t seen her for ages but  she turned up to church this morning, dressed in black and with a shaved head. A family member of hers was murdered on Todd River by a bunch of young local white guys almost  a month ago and the funeral was last Thursday. It was an absolutely appalling crime and has had the whole town in shock.  The young man murdered was also family of our neighbours and we had met him a couple of times out here. He was very friendly and cheerful. Any way, I sat down with MK after church and we spoke about this and then I broached the subject of our building. She said she would come with me to look at it. She thought the huge fences would be OK if we painted them with nice pictures of people around campfires. I thought she had a point. Any way, I showed her around and she liked my room. We discussed some possibilities for a good name and arranged for a smoking later on in the week. Then she wanted to go to the markets so I took her there and we brought our fruit and vegies and some of her favourite tomato chutney. Then I bought Vietnamese spring rolls and coffee and we sat on the church lawns and had our lunch and watched the passing parade, most of whom waved at her and she gave money to a lot of them. She told me she was being flown to Melbourne next month because she has been selected to speak to some groups of people there. She had picked up an orange beanie from the church second hand store to keep warm in Melbourne. She said she really liked Melbourne because you can get good coffee there- “proper coffee - really fluffy .” She then said she needed to get some chicken to take home for the kids so I we did drive through KFC on the way home because it was getting hot and she liked the air conditioning in my car.  She helpd me slow my pace down and I came home feeling happy.

80 Years - 1929-2009

In the last couple of days both my Dad and the Ghan railway turned 80… and both were in Alice Springs! And my Dad loves trains so we could buy the man who is impossible to buy presents for a whole bunch of stuff with 80years written all over it from the Gahn’s birthday celebration, just a couple of days before Dad’s birthday celebration. He was chuff, chuff, chuff, chuffed. I know my family is in town because the cricket is on the TV and everyone except me is watching it. So remeiniscent of my childhood! Yes, my whole family came up here from NSW, Vic, and Qld for Dad’s 80th and we had a great time. Dad said it was the best birthday he ever had. We’ve tootled around a bunch of beautiful places here and had meals in front of fires and it’s been really nice. I’m just in wonder that we pulled it off.

Bird bath in the desert

We have a bird bath under the tree near our verandah. I just love it. Every morning there are some birds to watch while I have my breakfast. We get ring neck parrots, Major Mitchell cockatoos, crested pigeons, babblers, and a range of little birds. Then yesterday Keith and I were having lunch on the verandah and a Euro (local kangaroo) came down from the hill. S/he sensed our presence so was very cautious but s/he went to the bird bath and put her paws up on the bath and proceeded to have a big drink. It looked so cute! S/he then got water up her nose and sneezed a bit and kept rubbing her nose. Keith and I didn’t move, although I felt I should offer her a hankie. So we didn’t get the camera and take a photo but the picture is in my head and hopefully we will get to witness it again.

Sexual assault work is hard!

But what makes it hard isn’t what people might think.  I can listen to people’s stories and because there’s usually enough inspiring stuff in there as well, I actually feel priveleged. What’s hard is the attitudes of other people. It’s bad enough peoeple who have been abused have to go throug the abuse but then when peoeple around them say the most unhelpful things when they share some of their story, it really depresses me. And today I am really depressed and upset because I’m hearing those things from people who really should know better. Adults who sexually abuse children are committing a terrible crime with wide reaching consequences. If people who have been abused have the courage to report those crimes or confront the people who did it to them they shoulld be supported, not told they need to forgive and get over it or told that they are not being fair on the perpetrator and their family. I am feeling very cross today because people I know who I thought would know better have been saying these things to one of my clients! Any way, I have to get over it and remind myself that many people feel this way and I shouldn’t be surprised.

Home Alone

Well, tonight is perhaps the first night in months that there’s just me in the house. Even Keith is out - gone to choir practice. So I’ve got my glass of wine and my cheese and olives and a couple of home grown egg tomatoes and here I am in blog world again. Two nights ago there were 14 of us in the house. Makes sharing the one  bathroom pretty interesting! Fortunately most people’s bladders aren’t like mine. Any way, it’s certainly the time to be here in the centre. The weather is great - cool to warm days and cold nights with fires, and the mossies and flies have pretty much knocked off.  So we’ve had plenty of visitors. And the day 10 people arrived from Perth (about 2 weeks ago)  the builders decided to turn up and actually start working on the cabin that should have been built before they all came. Any way, we’ve survived!! Next influx will be my family all coming up for my Dad’s 80th birthday which will be fun. After that we will be doing our desert journey. This means going with our aboriginal neighbour out to his country for  a week with a bunch of people. We still have a few places for this so if anyone would like to come on a journey with us from 16th - 23rd August , let us know. It’s on the spiritjourneys.com website. Last year we had a pretty special time doing this.

slabs

slabs are good. we have a slab where was once a teapot with toast and jane. its a nice slab. for awhile it was wrapped in plastic like a christo installation (he wrapped up north head once so this is a small christo). we planned to polish the concrete which has become my way, particularly because it doesnt cost so much money. last weekend i did that so the builders could come and turn the slab into a building. grind grind, sweep sweep, hose hose. do that 20 times and you’re there. quite therapuetic. helps to temper my need for a quick result. after the grind sweep hose i am ready to paint the little thing trouble is the paint i get is wrong and the builder doesnt get to make a house for longer. i must get my paint from sydney. is anyone coming our way you could drop it off. still slabs are good and we get to enjoy it a bit more. i am hoping that everyone who reads this will sleep on this slab. thats my dream.