old man emu

I watched a video about the causes of WWI. At one part it was talking about Kaiser Wilhelm. It said that he was bombastic. Liked pomp and circumstance and getting about in lavish uniforms. He would make a proclamation today and rescind it tomorrow. As I was hearing this I could only think of Trump.

Getting back to celebrating positives. I told you that I had located a source of Styrofoam insulation so that I could complete the renovation of another room. Well, knowing that I could get enough to finish the job was stimulus enough to get me back to work. So today I completed 2/3 of the installation. Styrofoam is easy to work with. You only need a hand saw to cut it to size, and the frame of my wall has spaces of many sizes. You do end up with a lot of little balls of Styrofoam, but if you go gently with the broom, you can get it all together and vacuum it up. I feel really good that I have started back at the reno after a hiatus of several months. That the job went along easily was another good thing. And for you lovers of words, 'hiatus' is the short word that means "bone idleness".

Callipygian - A slang word, completely avoided in epic poetry and higher literature. Modern translation: "nice arse" kallipygos, the name of a statue of Aphrodite at Syracuse.

Here's my theory. Initially we began to be spoon-fed our entertainment by television. Before 1956 our entertainment came from reading or listening to the radio. These were the sources of many sayings. Who now can readily pull quotes from the Classics, or even the Bible? After 1956 the television replaced these former sources of entertainment. We didn't have the production experience of the USA or Britain, so we were swamped by their cultures. Even now, the theatrical culture of the British in both drama and comedy is rarely seen on free-to-air TV. As time has passed and new forms for delivering entertainment have been developed, the input from our own culture has diminished. "That's not a knife. "That's a knife" might have been uttered by a supposedly Australian character, but the words are American. When was the last time told you that a certainty was "London to a brick on". Put down your glasses. It's all over bar the shouting. Bluey and Curley have passed on. Ginger Meggs ceased to appear in Australian newspapers in 2023. Anthony Albanese called the decision “...just another step in the decline of modern media. The only light sputtering in the television literary window is Bluey. At least her popularity in the USA is firing back Australian words to American children.

I think that the creation of witty sayings is something that has been lost from the Australian culture. Say one in the presence of younger people and you'll see displays of bafflement. Are they heard being used by the Younger Generation? All I hear are Americanisms.

If I had brought it home today, I would have to use it this weekend. I've got a lot of prep work to do in the wall this weekend. I'll pick up the insulation, next week and will have something to keep me going over the Long Weekend.

I've had a ripper of a day today. First I went to Woolies to get some groceries. Several of the things I wanted were on really great specials - better that 50% off. Then I went to Officeworks to buy a new desk chair. I got one on Clearance that was originally priced at $449 for $149, which was the amount I had intended spending on a chair. On the way home I popped into a hardware store to see if they had the type of insulation I want to put into a wall. I've been chasing this stuff at Bunnings outlets all over the place without success. The hardware store I went to has enough for my needs and they say it's a slow mover. I couldn't get a pack because the back of my car was filled with the new desk chair.

Continuing the sentence: but no Juans ...knows how to tune them.

I don't have a flight bag. I have a barf bag.

Well, the drier air is definitely warm. Warm in the sense that the temperature is around 20C during the day, which is warm for late May.

Looking at the radar, it seems that the Great Divide is doing just that - dividing the flooded east from the dry west. I'm glad in a way that the heavy rain has passed my place by. There's been enough to freshen the ground and maybe give the recently planted wheat a sprouting boost. But the area is not immune from very serious flooding if it rains heavily in the headwaters of the Castlereagh River.

The description of the Napier Nomad brought to my mind the ditty: "How much wood would a woodchuck chuck, if a woodchuck would chuck wood?"

Correct, Jerry. From Red's reference: As a result of her defection, together with the severe drop in Liberal Party vote in New South Wales, from 1 July 2025 The Nationals will hold only four seats in the Senate. “This is below what is required to maintain party status in the Senate as a party that is ‘part of the Government or the Opposition’ under the Parliamentary Business Resources Regulations 2017.

Very light. Lucky to get 5mm. Not enough to make puddles or start flowing. However, better than a poke in the eye with a blunt stick. The cloud is breaking up and any wind is coming from the WNW. 60 kms away at Dubbo Airport the wind is still SSE and it is raining. Dubbo is in a different rain pattern area. It is in the Macquarie River catchment and Gilgandra is in the Castlereagh catchment. The border between the two is about 30 kms south of Gilgandra.

How does that work? There is a number of seats occupied by the only person elected from a Party.

No. It was a typo.

I bet when he was colouring-in he strayed outside the lines.

No problem if you don't use them. But is that showing my Luddite side?

One of the openings she uses in answering a question is "I spoke to the President about that this morning." I makes me wonder how she does it if he's not in Washington. And is she clairvoyant to know what questions the press gang are going to ask? Another gem is "The President is working on that every day." Must distract him from his golf swing.

I think I'll Leav it at that.

Trump has embraced cryptocurrency for the USA. https://finance.yahoo.com/personal-finance/investing/article/trump-has-called-for-a-strategic-bitcoin-reserve-how-it-would-work-120036806.html He also has a company that deals in cryptocurrency. Never let it be said that there is a hint of conflict of interest in whatever he does.

Barnaby reckons that soon they will kiss and make up.

I can't find the current figures for the number of seats that are now held by either the Libs or Nationals, but I have a feeling that the Nationals have more. If that's the case, wouldn't they become the Opposition, and put the Libs on the crossbenches?

Wow! The Liberal NCP coalition is no longer. Obviously they will both vote against anything Labor proposes, but now there does not appear to be a way that those of a conservative political bent will be able to gain government.

At the moment I'm watching a patch of rain skillfully skirting around my place as it does with regular monotony. The wind is blowing strongly and it is overcast. When knows when it will rain here.