Photographed the beautiful National Trust Property, the Eclipse Theatre, which sits on the New England Highway, Tenterfield. It sort of represents what the Country Independents care about. A cultural metaphor. Motorists speed past The Eclipse which nourishes her country just as the lovely Sydney Opera House nourishes Sydney. One of the movies shown recently at the Eclipse out there on the Queensland border was Twilight Eclipse. How's that for a cultural statement? Wonder what the National Broadband Network will do to the Eclipse Theatre? Could go digital, eh? Could be on an Australian architectural heritage trail? After all, Australia's a country, not a city now. Wink. Wink.
That's why we have seen the annunciation of Country Independents who have today anointed a Gillard Labor Government.
Wanted to publish Dorothea Mackellar's My Country - which I would have thought belonged to Australia not to "estate" - but they reserve the right to refuse use.
""Dear Lisa,
Thank you for your enquiry.
I have contacted the Estate regarding this permission. I will get back to you when I get a response.
Regards""" - - -
"""Dear Lisa,
Best wishes ----- """
"
Stradbroke Weather: Squalls from Lisa Yallamas on Vimeo.
Two whales frolicked in Brisbane's Moreton Bay off Brisbane but the beaches were closed. Squally weather marred the first October weekend on Stradbroke Island.
As we waited in the car in a queue for the Big Red Cat - a ferry - the kids were concerned about driving a car onto a boat.
"Can we move around?" "Do we keep our seat belts on?" "Are you sure we can drive on to a boat?"
The Big Red Cat has a little cafe that does a roaring trade and has an enclosed observation deck as a major drawcard - why else would you pay $20 for hot chocolate and tea for five people? The view.
The cafe was calling completed order numbers out before the last car drove on to the Big Red Cat! I felt sorry for the old Stradbroke Island Ferry - we dubbed it the Blue Dog.
The Blue Dog chases the Big Red Cat over Moreton Bay ;)
Whales too far off for a Flip camera - which is now dead. Interesting phenomenon with Flips you erase the video and it tells you it's still a full disc.
My niece invented Pig Parooney and then plays the part.
So I've finally edited a little piece for her.
Don't make fun of Pig's name ... or ... or ... beware the curse ...
As the sun went down and the moon came up over the Harvest Feast on Churchill Island the guest of honour was soon to be toasted - only the lamb was roasted on this occasion for 30 hours and it was delicious. David Williamson was the head of the Australian Writers' Guild for 13 years - the longest serving president ever.
I turned on my FlipVideo camera to take a very wobbly picture when it became evident that the award presentation to Australia's most successful playwright was indeed a special celebration - though I know from conversations the following day that quite a few conference goers didn't actually know much about him.
I knew his plays having interviewed him for Dead White Males in his Sydney home and then for Heretic in the Sydney Opera House at a time a David Williamson play meant a box office bonanza and every state theatre company wanted to stage his premieres.
I've taken some comic license with a kind of laugh track commentary here which I hope will not offend anyone. It's only a 2-hour edit on iMovie.
The AWG's current president, Tim Pye, presented him with a trophy.
The inscription on his trophy reads:
David Williamson AO
A luminary of Australian stage and screen and champion of writers.
Australian Writers’ Guild 17 February 2011
David Williamson:
Lefka left Red for the open road and met another Red Coat. That Red Coat, a student besotted by the hatching of emergent culture, was a bookworm.
This is a reworking of two previous videos: Emergent Culture and Leaf Blows Red Off.
I visited Ghirardelli Square the before week Australia's Darrell Lea went into administration.
It was standing room only in the chocolate shop and ice-creamery where the line for a table went out the door and into the square and a gorgeous summer Saturday.
The locals are proud of their homegrown chocolate brand. Ghirardelli's employs a small army to keep the traffic flowing through the shop. And tourists walk away with any number of gimmick chocolate boxes from milk pails to the famous San Francisco trams or a red, white and blue canister in the shape of a star.
I did think of Darrell Lea standing there in that chocolate shop but it was a bitter-sweet moment. I haven't bought Darrell Lea for a few years now because the quality fell. The rocky road was full of coconut and no jelly (only at Christmas time, for some reason).
Their famous nougart Easter eggs are unrecognizable. I did feel sad when they went under but it made me think of how clever Ghirardelli Chocolates are.
Here's a quick video I edited together:
I thought of this again last week when I made chocolate cake for dinner ;)
This recipe keeps for three days - yummier on the third day, if it lasts that long. I haven't made it for 12 months. After quadrupling the recipe to make my mother's birthday cake last year was a tricky business that was enough to put me off chocolate cake for a year.
Recipe for Chocolate Cake
Simple Chocolate Almond Cake - from Robert Linxe's La Maison Du Chocolat
(My favourite cook book)
1/2 vanilla bean (though I use a whole one)
200g chocolate (proper: half ordinary, half cuana)
5 eggs
1 stick + 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 2/3 cup confectioner's sugar (castor sugar)
pinch salt
1 1/2 tablespoons granulated sugar (castor ok)
3/4 cup plain flour
3/4 cup ground almonds
Method:
1. Split vanilla bean lengthwise and scrape out seeds with knife. Put bean and seeds into double boiler with chocolate (break into pieces). Melt over low heat.
2. Separate eggs. Whites in large bowl. Yolks in small bowl.
3. Add butter into melted chocolate and stir in sugar and egg yolks. Remove from heat.
4. Add flour and mix. Set aside.
5. Pre-heat oven 180º (400º) & grease 10 inch pan - line with greaseproof paper.
6. Add pinch salt to egg whites, beat, adding in granulated sugar.
7. Fold egg whites into chocolate mix.
8. Pour batter into pan. Bake 20 minutes.