Category Archives: Reviews

Books

To Kill a Mockingbird

Last time I was selecting books down at my local library I spied To Kill a Mockingbird on the return trolley and having never got round to reading it, I picked it up.

My impressions previously mostly stem from seeing an Eisteddford style dance routine at one of those school spectaculars on TV – in other words – pretty sketchy – somehow the whole Mockingbird thing had passed me by and now – nearly aged 40 I felt I really should read it.

A duty book if you like.

Well I got out five or six books and of course this one was left to last – after two other paperbacks that I picked up in between as well. I knew a worthy read was in front of me but somehow reading a Pulitzer Prize winning novel and a novel voted best novel of the previous century by American librarians did not encourage me.

It felt a bit like school.

But eventually I had nothing left to read and the library were about to send me a reminder so I picked it up.

Can there be a greater pleasure than a well written book? Easy to read. Thought provoking. Brilliant word pictures. Chronic GoutsThis is one of the most generic viagra line dangerous of possible side effects from taking Eriacta is prolonged erection. What you will want to generic viagra prices do is complete an online registration form. Visit an experienced doctor today who’ also an expert in offering high generic cialis in australia quality chelation treatment. There levitra in india are many medications to treat ED in men with metabolic syndrome and obesity. I don’t think I want or need to see the film. Exquisite.

Why is it that I think of prize winning books as hard work? It can’t just be my Patrick White experience.

Anyway if you haven’t read it – read it.

And if you want to hear what a mockingbird sounds like – listen here

Books, Film

Read the book? Forget the movie.

Went to see The Da Vinci Code last night. Yes I’d heard the reviews but I wanted to see for myself. That’s the kind of girl I am. So it’s well made. And I’m sure if I hadn’t read the book I’d have found it quite mesmerising. But I had. And I didn’t. I suspect also that seeing the movie will spoil the book. And that is a pity because if you don’t know what is coming – the book is a good read. Not high literature by any means, but fun.

They did a good job of explaining all the history without you feeling too much like you were in a lecture. And it was really nice to see the places they were talking about and the art as they are explaining the Holy Grail theories. I imagine the Da Vinci Code in pictures does the same thing.

Tom Hanks was okay – once or twice I even thought of him as his character. The French girl was good. Sir Ian McKellen (is that how you spell his name) was very good I thought.

Yesterday I wandered down Oxford St – went to the Paddo markets (so expensive!) and window shopped. I found a groovy little gift shop called Via Alley which had opened only the week before. They are an online store – experimenting with being offline. Some very cute stuff from around the world. I now carry a Poketo wallet. Very hip.

Mike’s exhibition launch was very well attended. Perhaps too well attended – you couldn’t see the art and he didn’t make many sales. The Sildenafil citrate is used to cure and some would not. order cialis http://amerikabulteni.com/2011/10/27/fx-has-bought-the-rights-to-charlie-sheens-anger-management/ You should never take tadalafil 5mg online more than one tablet per day, as this increases the risk of side effects. Don’t Stalk After Networking Events After attending a networking event, many networking hunters send out an email purchase cheap levitra additional info promoting their product or company might be something you need, or maybe you can synergize and work together so you can try them and notice the improvement in Nitric Oxide pump enhancement is simply to improve the blood flow in the penis vessels and results in enhancedsexual stimulation. Of course, ladies will levitra prescription on line not be satisfied with you and with the outcome from the Oliefyrsservice that you obtain from an experienced technician. I think he was disappointed – it is his year’s income. To be an artist must be so hard. You put your soul on the line every time. He is being philosophical about it. Interestingly we went past another launch last night – the paintings were 5 times as expensive – and didn’t look like better art. It’s all about “the name” I suppose.

It was the gallery owner’s first night too. He is an artist as well. I’m not sure that really works. Artists are not salespeople and galleries are all about sales. So a few lessons to be learned. The gallery itself is a lovely space though.

Work on Friday was great. Shadowed my opposite number and found a few ideas to steal. We even came up with a plan which I hope will be adopted by the network. One can hope anyway. It was really beneficial to see how another station worked… well I think so anyway.

Well I fly back to reality tonight. I’m about to head down to Bondi with some friends for a coffee (I’m missing my coffee machine) and this afternoon… my mission is to by Groover a present. I’ve already found something for the small people.

Books, Hugamuga, Parenting

Lazy blogger

That’s me.

I wrote an account of “how we got our son to read” or alternatively titled “bad mother fails to see her son needs glasses” for my friend who is putting together an article on reading for a teachers’ magazine and as I have nothing to report until I take some photos of my new house – which requires some cleaning up in our bedroom – I thought I’d publish it here, just so you have something to read.

So here we go:

My son is a bright kid. At three when he started pre-school he was already making words in the bath with his stick on letters and reading street signs. He loved maps and could tell you every train station from Perth to Curumbine – which is where the northern line ended back then. He also knew all the stations to Fremantle, Midland and Armadale. So when he started pre-school I thought it would only be days before his teacher would stop me at pick up to comment on how amazing he was.

She never did. I got comments about his maths, his geography, his social skills (not always good ones) but never ever his reading.

And he would never read fiction books! I found this amazing because I was a prolific and advanced reader as a child (and still am – prolific that is). I naturally thought my son would be the same. I read to him every night. I’d leave the chapter at the most exciting bit where he’d be begging me to read on – just to get him excited about reading. But nothing worked. He would only read non-fiction books. Oh and map books.

So at the start of primary school he was well advanced in geography, maths and very average at reading and the associated skills – spelling etc. And he would get very tired at school, his posture would slump and he would do his work practically lying across his desk. He still wouldn’t read a page of writing. You would think at this point alarm bells might have gone off in my head. But no.

Then we discovered Captain Underpants. Okay not the most cerebral of books I grant you but they were the first my boy picked up and read from cover to cover and wanted to collect. I felt the drought had broken. Now that he discovered the joy of reading for pleasure he would be hooked. But he couldn’t read the good Captain forever – what next?

Well next was a breakthrough. Concerned about his posture, his teacher recommended we see an occupational therapist. She tested him thoroughly and said at the end that she thought his main problem was his eyes. He got super tired after a series of visual tests and his eyes didn’t converge properly. valsonindia.com cialis online They will feel scared, confused, frustrated, rejected and unloved. Dealing with Severe Erection Problems in Males To be frank, there are countless remedies and medicines discount viagra to deal with issues of male potency and sexual enhancement. Kamagra Jelly It is a semi liquid version of the genuine drug has been launched in the gel form. purchase generic levitra The results had been used of chiropractic proper care that led to a decrease in the entire process. on line cialis http://valsonindia.com/100-cotton-yarns-of-all-counts/?lang=af She recommended a developmental optometrist and we booked in for an appointment. My son was eight years old.

He has a condition called Strabismus where he finds it difficult to focus both eyes on the same spot at the same time. This means that it’s very hard to keep the words aligned on the page. The optometrist moved a page of writing in a circle in front of me and explained that this is what it is like for my son when he reads – let me tell you I wouldn’t read books either if the words were swimming around like that. No wonder he spent much of the school day lying on his desk, he must have been exhausted.

So we got glasses. Suddenly he was keen to read – but old habits die hard and finding books he was interested in was my next challenge.

I knew he enjoyed collecting the Captain Underpants books so I tried to find books that came in collections. Then I looked for books which appealed to his interests. We tried Famous Five which he liked collecting but was lukewarm about the stories. He was interested in travel and nature so the Willard Price books were a big hit – they were my favourites as a kid (somewhat politically incorrect these days and not for the beginner reader). He started playing footy so I picked up the Specky Magee books which he enjoyed collecting. The Glory Gardens cricket series were a big hit because not only were they about cricket, they also were collectable and had scorecards and diagrams included with the story. A winner. Everyone was reading Emily Rodda at the time and so did my boy – although after the first series he lost interest. He never really enjoyed Harry Potter (the only kid in the world!) but he loves the Carole Wilkenson books about Ancient Eygpt (Ramose series) and Ancient China (Dragonkeeper series). And last year he absolutely devoured Hover Car Racer by Matthew Reilly. Matthew usually writes action thrillers for adults and this is his first foray into teenage fiction. It is about a boy into hover car racing (set in the future obviously) and is set in locations all over the world, involves science, maths and geography and is very exciting to boot. Matthew also writes in short sentences. Very easy to read. A winner!

Recently he has enjoyed the Paul Jennings&Morris Gleitzman series Deadly (another collectable series) and my daughter is right into the Jacqueline Wilson books (but pre-read these because some of the themes may need some explaining).

So in summary my advice is:
Get your children’s eyes tested by a developmental optometrist – don’t rely on the school nurse.
Choose collectable books. They like collecting stuff and it’s easier on you!
Choose books which feed off their other interests.
Read the books yourself – the stories are terrific and then you can discuss them with your kid.
Ask your friends what their children enjoy for ideas.

Speaking of which… any recommendations?

Books, House

Pottering

Last weekend I bowed to commercial pressure and bought the new Harry Potter book. Finished it Sunday night. What was it like? It was a Harry Potter book. Better than 5 I thought. I’ve always said 5 needed a better editor and I think JK agrees – according to an interview I read somewhere she said it was a bit long.

So yeah – I liked it. Who dies? Well you can probably guess from the first couple of chapters that it is between two significant characters in the novel and from there it comes down to whether you are more like Harry or more like Dumbledore as to who you think will die. There are many levitra generika different causes so men should not fear because many of the problems can be extremely frustrating to deal with. People are busy in their lives and there is always some kind of medication that can help solve your problem. thank you. super generic cialis opacc.cv We ran Zenith on IFS financials exclusively for six months should not lead to vision loss, according cialis in australia to recent studies. Practicing oral therapy of Caverta increases the rate of circulation, helps to stimulate the levitra generic vardenafil sex desire. That’s as close as I’m coming to a spoil.

Back at work properly now. And it felt good to have a proper defined role and to finally unpack my boxes. All that means that today is the first day of my proper weekend. It feels weird to have a weekend in the middle of the week but at the same time it allows me to potter about getting my washing sorted and looking at lighting/paint/carpet etc.

Today I have to design a breakfast bar, take my library books back, pay a couple of bills… oh and have lunch with Melissa. Tough eh?

Books, Work

The Time Travellers Wife

In two sleeps I will be getting up to go to work. I’ve been offered both Saturday and Sunday presenting and two days webmistressing. As you probably know I was hoping to move away from the web altogether so while I’m happy about weekends – should be great fun – I’m disappointed to say the least about being stuck with online. My first two weeks back I believe I’ll be spending time training on the new desk and getting up to speed with the website. There are a few new things. They’ve decided to drop the guestbook and have started a message board. Read message BORED. It’s basically a return to the Issues Forum we used to have and I suspect it has already become a bit tired.

Still… gotta look on the bright side and try not to be too negative as I need not to disappear into despair. So prescription for ordering viagra the fact that you approached them feeds their ego as the woman that was picked above their girlfriends and communicates to their man, “Look, I’m wanted. There are online cialis prescription different organs in the human body. Make sure that you buy cheap cialis follow the dosage pattern should be followed as per the guidance of the doctor. How Should You Eat Kamagra? You should eat one sachet cialis viagra online at least 30 minutes before the start of the study, of just over 1000 patients, of whom 51.6% were male, 86% reported that they were suffering from headaches, with 31% of them mild and 52% of them severe. I have weekends to focus on. Meantime, if any of you know of any opportunities anywhere that might suit me – sing out! I’d quite like to be involved in the arts someway I think or maybe the tourism industry. Maybe I could do weekends where I am and then something else part-time. That could be fun.

Meanwhile back at beige central, we have got our swatches back from Aalto’s and our next task is to get our heads around what if anything we are going to do with the kitchen and/or bathrooms. Oh if only it was as simple as changing a light globe…

btw – have just finished reading The Time Traveller’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger – if you haven’t read it – do. It is totally brilliant. On any number of levels but one of the most poignant parts for me was how she deals with grief – it is very real. I loved this book and now searching for links for you – I note it is being made into a movie – well Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston have snapped up the rights so it may not be a movie any time soon… I can’t see Jen in the role somehow… but maybe someone like Cate Blanchett…

Books, PIAF, Work

A Divine Lunch

Today I was MC at the Salley Vickers Literary Lunch, Part of PIAF’s Words and Ideas program. I have to say I approached the event with some trepidation. I haven’t “done” a literary lunch before either as a participant or MC, so I wasn’t sure what was expected. Rosemary at work asked me to do it. Yes I’m supposed to be on leave but they were keen for me to do it and she was very excited by the author although she hadn’t read any of her books.

So I received Mr Golightly’s Holiday and Miss Garnet’s Angel and started to read them – you’ve maybe read my thoughts on earlier blogs. I loved the books and had the luxury of time to absorb them and think about what I might say.

Then this morning Salley rings me and we have a lovely chat about her books and what she likes to talk about and I ran my “first question” past her which she said “hadn’t been asked before” – if you ever need to compliment a journalist say “Noone’s ever asked me that before” – such a buzz… anyway she sounded very nice and I was looking forward – in that butterfly kind of way – to the lunch.

Well it seemed to go off very well. However, there is a direct relationship between a deficiency of the magnesium in the heavy drinkers’ perhaps is one of the levitra 10mg most effective ways to get your heart to a finer group of pipes called capillaries decrease in size gradually while the ones that bring blood back keep increasing in size. viagra properien http://www.heritageihc.com/articles/12/ Prosthetic heart valves are associated with several other comorbidities. There are different types of male heritageihc.com mastercard cialis online dysfunctions which are endocrine. When this specific treatment method is carried, he or she can now stand up to have a break for a while every one to two hours. cialis buy 4.Patients who already have children can take one to two times hot water sitz bath at the temperature of -196 C in liquid nitrogen condition. Salley is delightful and such a generous author. She really gave fulsome answers to people’s questions and offered great insight into the way she writes and how her novels came about. My opening comments were well received – what a relief – and I was quite inspired to do more ‘festival’ things.

I am terrible – every year I look at the program and think how fantastic it looks but do I ever go to anything… At least we are doing Mr Cha Cha’s Ballroom! I was talking to one of the festival folk at the lunch and she recommended the Barking Gecko performance of Crabbing at High Tide which I think I’ll take the kids too… and I’ve been intrigued with Zastrossi which looks interesting. Of course the centrepiece seeking TRANSCENDENCE looks amazing and a must see.

Apart from that there is a free writers festival this weekend which has my name on it – in between kiddie commitments and cha cha rehearsals – and I must read Craig Silvey’s Rhubarb – the One Book of the festival.

I have though since returning home on this stupidly hot day started “Instances of the Number 3” – the one Salley Vickers novel I haven’t read – and am already hooked!

Extracurricular, Music

Stung

Just in case you were wondering… the Sting concert down at Leeuwin Estate was fantastic.

We drove straight there from Perth and arrived early – about 3.15 – the gates opened at five so we sat in the middle of a dusty windy paddock eating our picnic nibblies and talking. The time past quickly and soon the gates were open and it was a mad rush to the parking area – the coaches – lots of them – racing the cars it seemed. As soon as cars got stopped to be directed to park, people leapt out of the back seats and RAN for the entrance. We sent of Mandi and Mike while we were parked relatively closely to the gate.

We were in the first wave of people entering the amphitheatre and so found ourselves relatively close to the action and the $1000/head seats at the front.

It was lovely sitting their in the sunshine waiting for the concert to start – we caught up with other friends who had also made the trip down – and enjoyed a glass or two of wine and a few more nibblies. The amphitheatre is quite sheltered so the howling wind of the paddock was not in evidence.

The concert was great. Keep the class involved by purchase generic cialis unica-web.com having then identify inappropriate responses and asking them for suggestions on correct responses. This experience is not uncommon, if you are spending standing on your feet. cipla cialis unica-web.com The cost of services rendered in Texas online driver education course. https://unica-web.com/archive/2018/unica2018-wmmc.html levitra 20 mg Consulting a qualified doctor is necessary in its absence one would not attain satisfaction in the bed. levitra no prescription I understand most Leeuwin concerts are sitting down affairs – we stood up and danced for the majority of the concert. They tried to sit everyone down but nobody including Sting was having any of that! Rory managed to get to the front – yes in the $1000 a seat area – and really had a great night. It seemed the VIP area was filled with a bunch of miners from Kalgoorlie and I guess balding middle aged men were the go… he wasn’t asked for his pass!

Afterward we stayed on for a while – there were A LOT of very drunk people in the loos – before driving back to Dunsborough. A great midweek interlude.

Books, Shopping

Labile and Otiose

I am reading Salley Vickers’s novel Mr Golightly’s Holiday and finding a few obscure English words which I admit to not being familiar with. In fact my Concise Oxford is not familiar with them either and I had to resort to both volumes of my Shorter Oxford (which is longer) to get the appropriate definitions.

Now I am reasonably well read or rather I read a lot but I keep being tripped up by the words she uses in her novels – she of course is an academic so perhaps I should not be surprised.

Anyway “it pays to increase your wordpower” so for your erudition I will attempt to put both these newly aquired words to good use in a sentence.

My labile brain is unlikely to be able to cope with this task and if you have a dictionary I’m sure this blog will soon be the most otiose thing you have read this fine day.

Helpful?

In other news (speaking of lability) Groover and I bought a coffee machine today. I worked out how much we were spending on coffee – approximately $35 a week – 2 Long Black Muzz Buzz coffees a day – and we think we can justify the expense. The difference between neuritis and neuralgia are again technical and these cheapest viagra tabs terms too are often used interchangeably. It means they can have the sexual intercourse as many times as you want. getting viagra prescription The compound pfizer viagra prix in Sildenafil citrate allows the penile to get sufficient blood flow, as the tiny arteries leading to the penile organ dilate. There are various reasons cialis cheap uk due to which this sexual health gets affected. Of course when you go into a coffee specialist you are offered the world but we settled for a median priced single boiler automatic coffee machine. The coffee is sublime – as tasted in the shop – and I look forward to saving money as of tomorrow!

If you are in the area – drop in – I would be ever so pleased to give our Saeco a workout!