Artfull Bras

Check out this travelling exhibition in support of breast cancer awareness and  uninsured victims.The art will be auctioned in October. Hopefully we Aussies will also be able to bid!

             

Artfull Bras

Just a little taster! Click on the link to  have a look at the rest.

Thoughts on suffering and disasters

Victorian death toll 108 and rising! I am feeling very, very sad and little guilty that I feel  so much more for  communities I have had some contact with. I guess that's human nature and I suppose we just couldn't go on if we had the same level of grief for everyone. Still it has raised, for me, the whole issue of how 100+ lives here in Victoria affects me so much more that a whole bunch more in another country especially when I don't know any of them. I know a little of it is about the sort of death they must have experienced but, I sure deep down in all of us, it is also about "my kind". I wonder if that's a primitive survival reaction, or are we just pretty well inured to deaths in the third world.

I have been struggling with this issue for a long time. How many Palestinians is one Israeli worth?  How many Afghanis or Iraqis should be allowed to die to protect how many Americans, Englishmen or Australians? What dictatorships should be protected because they are our allies, whilst we destroy other countries because their leaders are "dictators". How can we condone torture  when it serves our interests and still think we can hold the moral high ground over others? How can we  profess to believe in democracy and refuse to deal with elected leaderships we disagree with? Why are the actions of the powerless called "terrorism" and those of the powerful, self defence?

I know it's not as simple as that. I know some people are motivated by ideology alone, but   just as the "terrorists" take innocent lives, so do the actions of powerful governments, except when the powerful take the lives, the innocent somehow become reduced to "collateral damage" and it's called "protecting democracy".

Lets not forget tens of thousands of Indonesians were murdered and our governments knew of and condoned those actions because those people were apparently "communists". Let's not forget Nelson Mendela used to be labelled  a communist. It seems to me "terrorist" is the new "communist"- a convenient label used to dehumanise those we disagree with or fear, and to ignore the real problems to be solved. I'm not saying there aren't real threats but there is also the very real danger of ignoring great human need because we are too quick with the labels.

So here I am back at the beginning. When I grieve over some unknown lives more than I do over others, am I just participating in a process which reduces the world to "them" and "us"- "us" to be valued, supported and protected, "them" to be given a little charity if it doesn't cost too much, and never to our own detriment.

Greatest Victorian disaster ever.

After waking this morning to news of the utter devastation around Victoria and the loss of lives and houses including most of the two  townships of Kinglake and Marysville,I thought I needed a reminder that nature is always awesome but mainly beautiful.

I saw this video some time back but couldn't download it as the traffic was so heavy. I guess a lot of people were inspired too. I know that during times of disaster, most people come together,and I'm sure this will happen here. Wouldn't it be nice though, if we could just ignore all our differences and concentrate on our humanity, all the time.

If you are interested in seeing what has been happening here have a look at the ABC News link. There are lots of stories and links to video footage.

With floods in the north and the worst fires on record in the south, what more do the naysayers need to be convinced that climate change should be a priority. Surely it is better to be prepared and be wrong, than the other way around. And for those who think the economy should come first, one question: Just how much will these disasters cost us?

Technorati Tags: Victorian fires,climate change

Highest temperatures on record.

Today is one of those days that all people who live in fire prone areas just dread.  It is well over 40 celsius.  The forecast was for 44 and it feels hotter. There is a gale force wind and the air is very smoky. Outside, every now and then,  I can hear sirens but our fire siren hasn't gone off yet, thank God. Occasionally I can hear a helicopter, one of the fire spotters or water bombers, I expect. A cool change is supposed to come through in a couple of hours, but that can also be a very dangerous time, if there is any lightening.I do love living in the hills but, every summer, I ask myself if it is worth the anxiety.

That sky should be vivid blue, the grey is smoke not cloud.

I was supposed to go to a class with Jen Crossley today. I was all packed and ready to go, but I just couldn't leave my cat behind in the heat. I didn't want to leave the air conditioner on when I was out, and I didn't think my old Ceefa would survive the day without it. As it is, she won't stay in the one air conditioned room, but I force her in there for occasional breaks.

She is around 18 years old and although I am not really a cat lover, she is family and my son loves her dearly. Every time he rings I know to expect two questions, "How are you?" and "How is Ceefa?" She has cancer on her nose and, at the stage when it is distressing her, I will have to have her put down.  Ben loves her so much, he will fly home to be here when that happens. So, not to do my absolute best for her would feel like a betrayal of him, as well as an unkindness to her.

My poor, fluffy old girl trying to deal with the heat.

Postscript: The cool change came in but not before temperatures in Melbourne had reached a record 46.4 and some parts of the state reached 48 and 49. Officially 14 people have died in fires throughout the state but authorities believe it could be as high as 40.  My house is as hot as hades as the power went out late in the afternoon and now at almost midnight, I am still sweltering. But here we are lucky this time, so far - no major fires and no lightening strikes unlike some other parts of the state.

New Charms

I have now completed my second lot of charms and here they are. I rather like the look of the five of them in a group. I may use this pic to create  some background paper

Technorati Tags: charm

"Havin' a heat wave,........"

The temperatures here over the past couple of days reminds me of when I was in Egypt in 2007! Only a couple of degrees difference from the high forties, and one 50 degrees celsius day there, to the mid forties here. The main difference is that the air conditioning  in most places we were in was better that mine at home, though an hour or so outside was very challenging!

       

That's me, all covered up, at Abu Simbal. I'm guessing it was around 48 degrees. There was no shade and it was not cool inside as I thought it might be.

The first hot night I slept in my bedroom with a damp towel on top of me. The second and third, I abandoned my environmental scruples and slept on the floor in the living area with the ac on low. It's back in the thirties now, but I haven't turned the ac on yet. I'll wait until I am a melted blob and then give in. I guess I am very lucky to be able to have this moral dilemma when many have no choice at all.

There's a breeze building up and storms are forecast. Not a comforting feeling as lightning is often what starts bushfires and I live on the edge of one of Victoria's most dangerous areas for fires.

I have unexpectedly found myself with more time on my hands than I thought I would. So I went out and bought myself a Dremel work station. I want to start making more found object jewellery and the drill press makes it so much quicker and easier.

My new favourite toy. Now what needs a hole in it?

At the moment I have been making charms for a swap. The first set are mini dominos and I have made clay faces for a second set, which may or may not end up in the swap, depending upon what else I can come up with.

 

 

 

 

Technorati Tags: charms,dominos,clay