Cadel Evans bike race - people's race

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This morning from 7.10 a.m. about two thousand bikes past out house on the first leg of the people's race - short and long course. In lycra, with helmets, some chatting loudly, one man guffawing in a deep voice and alongside him rode a bodyguard on a motorbike. I suppose that was Tony Abbott.  Then about two hours later some came back down Boundary Rd, six missed the turn into Myers and blithely rode on to Ryrie, so would they be disqualified? A few minutes later men in orange guided the cyclists into the correct street. Near our house was a strange notice. I thought the race started at Eastern Beach not on our road.

AUSTRALIA’S lycra-loving leader got back on his bike this morning, trying to ride out the storm after a rough week.

Prime Minister Tony Abbott pedalled along Victoria’s southwest coast as part of the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race.

A keen cyclist, Mr Abbott was the first to cross the finish line in the 65km People’s Ride, even though he said “it felt like 165km”.

Order of Australia medal to Rotary Donation in Kind worker

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I was pleased to read that our friend who works tirelessly for Rotary Donation in Kind in Geelong has been honoured with a special medal for the Australia Day awards.
Mr Anton Johan Van Doornik, North Shore
For service to the community of Geelong.

Anton is a wonderful inspiration to all of us volunteers at the depot in North Geelong.  Go to the website for more information about Donation in Kind. 

Rotary 9780 Donations In Kind

rotarydonations.org.au/

What is Rotary Donations In Kind (DIK)? How can your club or ... Anton van Doornik, Phone/fax: 03 5278 5544, Mobile: 0412 256 878. Ron Smith, Phone: 03 ..

Regarding Australia Day

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Keith Fagg: Australia Day not a celebration for some of us

• KEITH FAGG
• GEELONG ADVERTISER
• JANUARY 25, 2015 12:00AM

1

Not all in our community will feel like a party on Australia Day.

Keith Fagg.

ON January 26, there’ll be parties, flashing lights, fireworks — sounds like a Victoria Police drink-driving advertisement.

Australia Day activities — Geelong has plenty — typically brim with a strong celebratory spirit.

But not all in our community will feel like a party. Reflect for a moment on our post-1788 history and you’ll understand why.

Captain Philip and the First Fleet are deeply etched in our nation’s story. Much of our national character has been attributed to our early convict roots.

Establishing a penal colony in a distant land, about as far away as you could get from the mother country, must have been a rather appealing prospect to 18th century British parliamentarians.

After all, why spend all those pounds sterling supporting Captain Cook and his merry band of explorers if you couldn’t do something sterling with the lands they discovered.

However, those same explorers and parliamentarians inflicted one of the worst acts of disrespect possible to an indigenous people — they essentially denied their existence. Whether this was unwitting or simply convenient is much debated.

The declaration that the land Cook claimed for England was ‘terra nullius’ — land belonging to no one — was the fundamental cause of the dislocation Aboriginal people have experienced from the very start of European occupation.

For most colonial powers of that era, there was scant appreciation of indigenous peoples or cultures. In the case of Australia, denying the traditional occupants connection to the land was the ultimate insult, later institutionalised in our constitution, which even denied Aboriginal people the right to vote.

The rest is history. Despite some well-meaning but often misguided efforts, that story is mostly very sad, often tragic and not one we can be proud of.

It took the decade-long Mabo High Court case for terra nullius to be overturned in 1992. That decision confirmed native title at common law did exist based on the traditional connection to and occupation of the land.

While this decision was historic, many terra nullius implications still have a sadly long, destructive tail, with too many areas of social and economic inequity remaining.

Is it any wonder then that many Aboriginal people cannot accept January 26 as a celebration although many graciously engage in activities.

Reconciliation must remain a priority for our nation.

The Parliament’s Stolen Generations apology in 2008 was a huge step forward but only a one of many still needed.

Noel Pearson wrote these powerful words in his 2014 essay A Rightful Place:

“As long as we have a constitution that characterises Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples on the basis of race, it will always have deleterious implications for their citizenship.

It must be removed. The day we come to regard ourselves as people with a distinct heritage, with distinct cultures and languages but not of a distinct race, will be a day of psychological liberation. And it will also be liberating for those in the wider community.”

All Australians love and celebrate our country — there is no better place in the world to come home to.

That said, our national identity needs a mature appreciation of where we have come. Committing to build better understanding of our indigenous heritage is a worthy test of our national character.

Taking up opportunities to learn more offered by the Wathaurong Community or the Narana Aboriginal Cultural Centre are among local, practical things we in Geelong can do.

Celebrating Australia should not be confined to January 26 but rather be an ongoing state of mind.

The Seasons Cafe in Douro Street

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We only got to know Douro Street, North Geelong, with our many trips to the Recycling place there, but there's a very neat cafe not far away. KCommercial is a not-for-profit institution that trains and employs people with a disability and is to be commended.  They not only do excellent catering - mainly sending out to functions, but a landscaping program, and a printery.  Today Peceli and I decided to check out the cafe. It's small - only for about sixteen people to sit down but during the lunch hour it was very busy with workers coming in for takeway lunches. The meal was economical and I'm glad that our church uses KCommercial for the  morning or afternoon tea supplies when our church people are looking after bereaved people after a funeral in our church or at Hepners. Also our women's group will be going there later in the year, I hope for a speaker to tell us about their projects or we can tour the building before eating lunch.

http://www.kommercial.org.au/

 

From Review magazine in Geelong

 

Seasons in North Geelong is a café with a difference … from its food offerings, to the staff who work there. The café is part of Karingal Kommercial’s food services, which employs people with a disability to prepare and serve food at the Douro Street café. Seasons also offers both a gourmet food range and corporate and event catering. 

Seasons Cafe by Karingal

14:15:PM 25/06/2014
Julia Millard

Seasons in North Geelong is a café with a difference … from its food offerings, to the staff who work there. The café is part of Karingal Kommercial’s food services, which employs people with a disability to prepare and serve food at the Douro Street café. Seasons also offers both a gourmet food range and corporate and event catering.

As an Australian disability enterprise, Karingal Kommerical operates a range of businesses in the Geelong region. There are three divisions: hospitality, business and environmental solutions.

Karingal Kommerical manager Lisa Couper says hospitality has about 25 crew members and 20 staff working across Geelong with local businesses, including Alcoa and CSIRO.

“At Seasons we have two front-of-house crew members and two supporting employees, as well as those working in the kitchen to prepare the food,” she says. “Additionally there are five qualified chefs on site, who are providing a lot of support to the crew as well as helping to deliver great food to customers.  We also hold accredited training days on site. It’s regular employment and it’s just like a regular commercial kitchen. But, while it’s funded through the Victorian government and essentially supported employment, it also needs to be commercially viable.”

Couper says the main goal at Seasons is to provide healthy, nutritious food to people who work in or visit the businesses in the surrounding area. Healthy food might be the focus, but fried food is also available. “People can either order from the bain marie, which offers quick access, or from the sit-down menu,” she says. “The bain marie offers people a variety of food and it changes every day. There is pizza, soup, mains and burgers. There are also two different salads each day to select from.

“What’s great about this café is that everything is made on site, including our catering range. The only thing we order in is our bread from a local supplier. We even make our own pizza bases.”

Couper says Seasons is getting plenty of customers and is a great spot to stop in and grab something to eat. “We seat about 16 people and wanted the café to be really bright, modern and airy. It’s a big investment for this area of Geelong,” she says. “We have a takeaway window for people who don’t want to come in.”

Breakfast starts from 6.30am for those who are up bright and early; lunch follows from 11.30am. There are about five breakfast options and six options for lunch on the sit-down menu, plus bain marie food and selections in the display cabinet.

“We have focaccias, wraps, sandwiches, salads and yoghurts. We also have slices made on site,” Couper says. Typical slices include lemon, cherry, caramel, peppermint and hedgehog. Couper says the most popular, so far, is the choc fudge brownie.

Kommercial has run its catering service for about five years. A refrigerated van delivers catering orders throughout the Geelong region. Catering pieces can also be bought from the fridge at Seasons“We have an online ordering system, which is fantastic,” Couper says. “People can also purchase sweets and savoury boxes from our fridge. You can get a box of 12 or 16 pieces. For the sweets, it includes cupcakes, cheesecakes and various slices, and for the savoury it’s a range of pastries, meatballs and more.”

The Seasons Gourmet Food range is also popular. It includes jams, chutneys, mueslis, biscuits, sauces, dessert sauces, salad dressings and there are plans for more to come. “At Christmas we will introduce stuffing mixes, too,” Couper says.

If you are looking for somewhere to hold your next meeting, Karingal offers three meeting rooms at no cost to groups who use its catering services. One room can accommodate 60 people, and the others 10-20.

“It’s an exciting time and we are really proud of the new facility. It’s really rewarding to be a part of this,” Couper says.

» ... Seasons Café – at 77-79 Douro Street, North Geelong – is open Monday to Friday, 6.30am to 3pm. For more information or to order online, visit: www.kommercial.org.au/catering/

Making a border

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I tried to work out how to make a fuzzy border for an image and at last found a method using Gimp. I don't have photoshop and that is where google was sending me. Gimp have an easy method by going to filter, decor, fuzzy border, etc. Here are some examples. I think it's a useful tool for softening a picture rather than having a hard edge all the time.

Dog Rocks Batesford

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This afternoon we drove to Batesford, about 15 minutes out of Geelong to see the Dog Rocks. I wanted to wander around the rocks close up but didn't want to tear my good clothes clambering over a fence. There was a suggested car park but that was quite a way from the actual rock formations.  Anyway here are some photos. There are plenty of photos of this place on Flickr and the internet as it's a favourite place for local photographers, especially in stormy weather or at sunset. We drove home via Ceres, a delightful little hamlet without a bunch of shops - artists live there and keep the place beautiful.

  I took better photos on a previous occasion when the light was more interesting. Today it was rather dull.  Below are the photos taken when it was a bit stormy.

Picasso never had it so easy

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I made a quick pen sketch of old power house bits and pieces and scanned it, then reversed the colours. From those two images I quickly made several 'Picasso' type abstracts - no meaning, just exploring line and shape.

Back at the Power House

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We drove back to Mackey Street this afternoon to have another look at the paintings on the walls and just about everywhere. The lease is for two years so the curator might have some more work in mind. We spoke with two people there, a young man from Leeds England who was busy painting and a woman who is doing her Masters in sculpture and architecture at Deakin.  Here are some of my edits/reconstructions of some of the artwork. I really like to use the painting of the hand.

Powerhouse powers on

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The artists got their brushes and cans ready at the weekend for a huge paint-in.

Artists produce quick creations at the `Powerhouse’ in Geelong

• MARGARET LINLEY
• GEELONG ADVERTISER
• JANUARY 11, 2015 6:26PM

BE THE FIRST TO RESPOND

Lilly Nappa just lets here artwork happen. Picture: Paul Loughnan

MORE than 1000 people visited Geelong’s newest arts hub on Sunday to see street artists at work.

The old power station in North Geelong, now transformed into a street art mecca called Powerhouse, hosted its first competition with 35 artists using found objects as a base for their work.

The artists were given just under six hours to produce a piece of art on timber panels, old doors, a steam engine plate and even an old car bonnet.

Curator Ian Ballis says about 11,000 visitors had been to the Mackey St site in the past few weeks. Paul Loughnan

Geelong’s Lilly Napa, who paints under the name Cool Hand Lil and works as a bank teller by day, used her panel to create an intricate piece featuring acrylic, shellac, gold spray and collage with the female body as her inspiration.

“I never have goals, I just let it happen,’’ she said. “I usually do erotic sort of work but this being a family place I like to keep it tame.’’

For Kat Maclagan, of Northcote, inspiration came from a National Geographic photo of two wolves. She chose the car bonnet to paint.

“The rejuvenation of things is interesting,’’ she said. “Something gets broken and then something else replaces it. The old and young wolf represent that too.”

Overall winner Jack Douglas. Picture: Paul Loughnan

Overall winner, Jack Douglas, of South Melbourne, layered his paint to create a work on timber with a large heart and sharks’ teeth.

“This is all done freehand and I had a rough idea before I started,” he said. “Winning is a big confidence booster for me.”

Judge Danny Grmusa described Powerhouse as a ground breaking project.

“There wouldn’t be many joints like this around the world,” he said.

Curator of Powerhouse, Ian Ballis, said there had been 11,000 visitors to the site since he had begun counting visitations a few weeks ago.

“There are all sorts of people coming here for a look,” he said. “There are older people, families, young people. Everyone wants to see the art.”

All of the art pieces will remain on display at the Powerhouse.

In black and white

from w
I altered some of the recent pictures I made at Van Loon's Nursery - and they are now in black and white.

At Van Loon's nursery

from w
Today we drove to Van Loon's Nursery in the Wallington area to buy plants for the back garden and I did some quick sketches and coloured them at home with felt-pen so they are simplified and bold rather than sensitive and detailed.  Here are the results - some reversing the colours.