Miracles in bamboo

Bamboo as an extraordinary building material.  Greenschool Bali Indonesia.  Unique?

This part of town would be photographed over and over but that didn't stop this version.  A small slice of a large city.  Slides are included and they take their time.
Imagine knowing the subject matter and the vibes of a city, planning and making a series of presentable films to do it justice.  It would just be a personal challenge as there is an abundance of media to get lost in.         

Fajar Utama or Argomuria train

A one minute ride recorded in the latest hand held medium (!) for this express service is belting along.

                                                 more of the same

Pre construction

 Hunter Street West, Newcastle.
  House prices have doubled or tripled in recent times so most people in Sydney are excluded from the market.  Concerns, dismay, debate, lip service have resulted.
  Increased revenue from state stamp duty; double percentage profits to real estate agents; hefty long term bank loans to profit the banks;
the home reduced to an investment commodity;  negative gearing tax breaks for investors;
high demand for rental properties and profiteering;
liberal free market non-intervention policy of do nothing.
These must be a few of the points that prolong the situation.

                                        closer to the beach pictured yesterday

                                a terribly quiet evening.....

Beach goers and wheel chair with 'off road' tyres suitable for beach. And lifesavers.
Issues will disappear from the news cycle now the weather is cooler. Sustainable power and carbon emissions staved off for now.
South Australia has lowered carbon emissions which is the point of the whole exercise never acknowledged by the critics. Full marks to SA for grappling with the problem of alternative energy.
 The length of daylight saving could be increased in the Eastern states so as to have peak energy consumption during sunlight hours even drawing from South Australia where the peak is later who in turn draw from the west. Western Australia has sunlight when it is after sunset in the east.  The east should establish solar power in the West or buy their power to cover the peak in the east by way of a network.
 Lifesavers
 Our countryside is made up of extensive wooded areas of vegetation despite the land clearing activities. Surely the extent is significant in countering global warming.
Our endless yet lightweight forests and scrubby bad-lands will be lifesavers on the world scene in conjunction with similar regions around the globe. To a traveller of our country the vegetation of green  and 'shades of grey' is seen as a truly vast asset.  We must halt land clearing now.
  Trees soak up carbon dioxide and store it and release oxygen, they filter other gases and little pollutants, they are involved in the water cycle, in all, an amazing resource in combating global warming.
Halt all land clearing now.

Communications

 100% fiber to the home, yes, to the home, fiber optic network by Indi Home Fiber, photo taken last year in Indonesia and well outside a major city area. It can be seen the cables are above ground.
  Indonesia is represented as a tolerant society and, same as everywhere else, a minority, it is presumed, demonstrate in objection to Ahok and his pronouncement. The 'fever' is not a good look to an outsider who is taken aback by the size of the protests and sound grabs from the zealous leaders (via ABC reports).
  The Jakarta newspaper, on line, is ok tho it takes more effort to delved into the reasons for the unrest as the charge against Ahok has assumed much importance.
 Do his rivals want him discredited to leave the field open for nepotism with a military flavour. Do the ABC correspondents baulk at providing an in-depth report?  Does our media watch its Ps and Qs in Indonesia?  Has its budget been trimmed too much.
 It is difficult for an outsider to be well informed without effort. Tourists in Indonesia and elsewhere blindly forge ahead in ignorance. The little you know adds a useful bit of risk and challenge while not trivialising any big local concerns.
 Whose job is it to judge what constitutes a life and death issue?  It is tempting for an outsider to do so even while ill-informed.    
 

Around town, little huddles of technicians are seen working on the national broadband project.
Communication is all pervasive. Two texts messages have arrived to warn of the risk of fires today due to over the top temperatures and dry winds leading to extreme risk. At least we are not going bush today.

Redhead Bach to the south.

Just another local beach.  Redhead Beach.  No more toying with the computer and blogger during the heatwave.  We are told to be mindful of the electricity we use. Power failure at peak times in summer has occurred before this and is getting risky once again in NSW.
Lots of homes have solar and lots of improvements have reduced power consumption while computers and media and massive global data bases are increasingly chewing up  
 Amazingly, a government department is offering some people, discounted prices on certain energy efficient home appliances where the existing ones are not good that way. On the other hand, lately, federal parliament seems incapable of any sensible pronouncements about power.  
 Their keenness for coal use is above all else.  Is it possible that power failures in SA have occurred on purpose?  The failures have provided an outstanding opportunity to gloat about the risks of alternative energy instead of offering leadership and constructive appropriate comment or help. The rhetoric is unworthy.  At least, the SA leader is not fooled by this and says it like it is. 
 Our solar is doing its bit for the grid. Have we still got that genny? 
       

Live

This week, live, in Sydney, not only Guns N' Roses but Bruce Springsteen who is at Qudos Bank Arena which was earlier on an Olympic stadium.  Spotless (!) Stadium is nearby.  Almost every year stadia are given a new name, it is crazy.  The latest sponsor of Newcastle's stadium is in very large letters. This sponsor is a builder.

Back to school.  High School. This is getting beyond a joke.  Most schools have some temporary permanent demountable prefab class rooms but this?
Callaghan school, Waratah, has history.  It would have been a leading school in Newcastle as boys' high.
And really, the tent would be used during an event of some sort, that's all. 
  

Kids tubing on Sungai Bohorok.
 People flock to the picturesque river on weekend day trips to gather under the riverside shelters and liven up the village which is full of food and clothing stalls, rustic nooks, accommodation, market, orangutan rehab, treks and whatever. Feel free as it seems a regulation-free zone as to all safety matters.
       
Several casual videos and original sound track were put together while driven to madness by a heatwave!


 

 Natural bright morning sunshine, alone, lit the opposite view to yesterdays post.

Where do we stand?  What does it all mean?
 As a first for me, I watched the Presidential Inauguration and was very surprised how it resembled a church ceremony.
Sacred Readings and poem were presented and three invocations came from different religious leaders and benedictions followed later in proceedings from another three religions.
Now We Belong was from a fine Missouri chorale (some lyrics are telling in light of the ban).
The Oath was sworn, not on one, but two bibles.
America the Beautiful  from the splendid Mormon Tabernacle Choir, partitions God in each verse.
Earlier in the day, the president elect and others had attended a national prayer service in church.
Next day was a prayer breakfast I think and later a service at Washington National Cathedral with call to prayer from several religious leaders including an imam to round it all off.
Grand proceedings such as these have been alive since time immemorial and appeal to higher ideals.    Many would like to break with traditions. Others say that ritual is important in a well society.  A new form of ritual without religion is one way ahead. 



 

.....blinded by the light....

Riverside

1.45 minutes.  Slow day in the kampung.  Paddling with or without a bamboo raft.

Sepeda motor

Everyone has a motor bike hence mechanical repairs are in demand.

In the midst of the hottest of summers and issues of global warming, today, the Prime Minister promoted clean coal technology.  Yes, clean coal!  Right, the economy relies on minerals. Any darn fool technology will be advanced when we need to pay the due price and get out of coal mining and forgo that source of income and jobs. 
Never every do our leaders hint at possible change and the benefits.  Never ever do out leaders say anything positive about alternative energies and a safer brighter future.  Never ever a nudge or suggestion that our technology will need to change to renewable energy.
 Never ever use an opportunity to hint at lowering our energy consumption or that higher prices are what it takes in the manner we go about it. 
Politicians remain silent about climate change and renewable energy and thus steer us away into other directions which is obvious to anyone interested enough.  How often do they use the same tactic with other issues?  We can take note or be led by the nose.  
 

Pasar

A tourist aiming a camera at the market scene was not an everyday occurrence in what was a fairly rugged environment and somewhat out of the comfort zone of a fragile visitor yet progress was made.
 A book published about Indonesia in 1966 writes of a market not so far from this one and really nothing much has changed.  In that work of investigative journalism, as we call it, reference is made to a jungle still lively with tigers, elephants and rhinos and how 32 tigers had been shot to take precautions to protect the settlers livestock. What are the chances of finding animals like that?
Transmigration was witnessed with resettlement of large numbers from Java and Bali carrying belongings large and small to carve a new life. Starvation was not unknown where they came from.  Rubber plantation, and petroleum were a goer but no mention of palm oil.
 The book, which is not scholarly, is of a wide ranging tour with themes of President Sukarno's work, politics, Communism, education, enmity with Malaysia, and questions about British  and USA roles.
 One could rightly say the Republik is still developing. Many of us are relatively new to liberal democracy.
   The book was happened upon in Harry Hartog bookstore, Kotara, for new and used books.