Towering 10

 Recently I was featured as an Alumni of University of Technology, Sydney.  As my wife, son and daughter had all completed multiple degrees at this institution -- it was somewhat embarrassing for me having only completed a Postgraduate Software Engineering diploma.


The article was called 'Towering 10', and yes I can be described as 'tall' when I lived in Japan; but by this definition it was unusual company for me !

towering 

1. very tall; lofty

2. outstanding, as in importance or stature

3. (prenominal) very intense a towering rage

http://www.alumni.uts.edu.au/tower/002-a10/index.html

Abla's - food from the heart

We ventured down to Elgin Street to an institution named Abhla's -- has been around for 30 years and while there were many awards on the walls, this was not a place you came for the decor.  The service was bright and friendly, and they asked us would we like to start?  where there any dietary requirements etc

Then the degustation begins........the Mezze dips (wow - the Babaganous with texture and smoky flavours were amazing. Abla Amad the grand old lady herself started walking around and welcoming you into what then felt for a moment her home.  Ladies Fingers, Vine Leaves, Hummus, Falafel, Makaneek,  Kibbee, Tabouleh, her famous Chicken Almond Rice, Coffee and Baklawa.   The food goes on and on.

By the time you are ready to leave you realise that your car is parked too close and you need much more time to walk off this meal.  If I had to put this into words you feel like a well-fed Lebanese Prince and Princess.

Amazing.........and now I understand why you can't get a table and need to plan in advance.

Life...Unpacking......Belongings....and our Kids visit

Life in Melbourne is good....we have been unpacking 380 boxes that have finally arrived. The apartment is finally taking shape.  Fortunately most of these items have arrived in one piece, except for some few damaged items.

A great lesson in life is that 'material' items really don't matter that much.  We now have an apartment full of 'material' pieces, these are all nice belongings and it is good to see these again after nearly 5 months.

But, in the end the greatest joy we have is that in Melbourne our contact with our kids through proximity and their visits has been the most rewarding part of being back in Australia.  Mum is undergoing some treatments for a Tumor in her bladder, while that is not great news, however she is not in any discomfort.

We saw Mum at Easter in Sydney and when I tell her that we now live in Melbourne, I can sense her anxiety levels are much lower.  While she has dementia and probably at best a 5 minute memory, in the past she remembers that I am living overseas somewhere and that I'm sure makes her more uneasy.

It is great to be home - Life is indeed very good !

Whrooom .......the Australian Formula 1

Uncharacteristic for me (not being a petrol head) nor for Anna (definately) we wondered out to the Australian Grand Prix at Albert Park.

First being new to this, we forgot our ear plugs. That was soon fixed with the purchase of a Survival Kit - earplugs, sunscreen and tablets for headache. Well the day was overcast - so the sunscreen was redundant but yes the plugs were mandatory. 

We settled on Turn 2 on the bank and were impressed with the power of these machines.  As we walked around the track area we saw different cars being tuned and prepared. This is going to sound silly, but not being petrol-heads: what impressed us were that these were not made for any degree of comfort or safety -- it was all about speed !

With our man Mark Webber gunning for 'pole' the crowd revelled in his fast laps. Lewis Hamilton who had been arrested the prior night for 'hooning' in St Kilda was not impressive on the track and struggled.  Despite this the crowd seemed to not give him a hard time; which of course made alot of sense when I realised that that would be for them make him more worthy of hero worship.

To cap off the day I even took a photograph with a Driver from the Mercedes Grand Prix team who I spotted in the public area. Not exactly sure who he was but he was wearing the Petrobras uniform that Schumacher Mercedes team wears - perhaps he is a backup driver?

(Footnote: we will be back for the Sunday session - not in our original plan, but hey this is great)

Two Trobradours.....Two Friends.......Two Singer - Song Writers

After a period of 40 years Carole King and James Taylor were re-united on stage for a Trobadour Tour. This celebrates a gig they did together earlier in their careers, when you were just starting out.

It was clear early on that they were enjoying the concert as much as we were, we did not realise that this was their first concert of the global tour and the dialogue and jokes were also new to them.  James Taylor's dry humour was evident and at times Carole King's reaction made it clear that this was unrehearsed.

Boy what a repetoire !  But the best moments came from the duets they sang together, often with James playing his with the distinctive sounds of his acoustic guitar. James as an artist has recorded many many songs from Carol and he is clearly a better singer, she is no slouch and can belt out a tune - at CD perfect level. She has an incredible song writing career and it is hard to believe that she is nearing 70 years old.

Effortlessly they sang songs that tugged at your heartstrings and the crowd, although older was the largest Karoke group in town.  We had seen James in concert, just last year and for that event he was doing his Covers Album, but this concert was just so different.  They were playing for each other and there was a deep friendship and respect for each other. 

It seems cliched that "You're got a friend" is a signature song that they both recorded - they sang this together and you felt the love!  So my 'hats off' to the Two Trobradours each of their songs sounded ageless and they took us on a journey as their friends !

Dr Craig Venter

It was my privilege to hear Dr Craig Venter speak this week.  He is best known as the man you cracked the sequencing of the Genome.  On reading more about him in wikipedia, Craig was a average guy who scored C and D's at school.  His contribution to society is incredible: as he told his story about how they approached this task - he told his life's work in an hour. But below the blood, sweat and tears was both brillance and luck!

His work is a tricky combination of science and IT - his team does 1 million experiments each day using a
(in silica) approach which in layman's terms translates into: "on the computer".

Dr Venter also sequenced animals and moved onto sampling water from the core of the earth and has circumnavigated the world to sample water. He discovered millions of viruses and other bacteria - we have been accustomed to regard these as 'evil'. Indeed they perhaps provide the secret to our survival as a species.

The most staggering piece for me was when he discussed the engineered cell that takes carbon dioxide and converts this into methane. That discovery has incredible ramifications for all of us, if this can be commercialised and create a truly renewal energy source.

What an inspiring man........hearing him talk reminded me that we never really know what is possible!
Thanks Craig for restoring my belief in humanity.

George Michael

George was playing his last concert of a three year tour.  As it would be Melbourne was the location of this event and we with VIP tickets were fortunate to be within a stone throw from George. 

There was indeed little need for a seat as we and the entire ground danced and bopped during the duration of the show. George had last been in Australia 25 years ago .....so this was a rare performance.  He sang his repetoire from Wham through to his contemporary pieces. Oh yes ...George can still move !!!

When George started this series of concerts his own career was not in good shape, and indeed George's life had been bathed in controversy of drugs and sex scandals.  In the meantime the world has shifted and economies are generally in a unhealthy state. As George would sing: "These are the days of the open hands" (from Praying for Time), there is much that is wrong with the world and needs attention.

As George closed the evening with Careless Whispers.......the fact that he started an hour late, or that his voice is not as good as it once was - mattered.