From 'Dubbo' Dave

Rod Hard sent the following note from Dave Kesby:


Dear friends,

I know that it looks like a lot of people up there but it’s the same rules as before.

You have either sent an email you have contacted Elissa by phone or at school to enquire about my health or whatever but thanks you for your interest.

I have also included a couple of old mates I met at my old alma mater reunion, the fabulous  Dubbo High, who don’t even know I have been crook.

This is my version of events.


Elissa is slightly different, especially on the 2 month part so be aware of that.

As you know I spent 21 days most of November in the Sydney Adventist  Hospital... they put various stents inside me some with complete anaesthetic, and others with local anaesthetic.. I dealt mainly with an Interventionist Radiologist by the name of Dr Liang, who Elissa had complete faith in.


They had plans to do this massive operation on me where they would go behind the liver and take the tumour out. I would have been in hospital for about 5 weeks and have a recovery period of about 6 months. Elissa and I agreed to this they would have had to get a special
Liver surgeon in to do this..they then decided that it was too risky and  that there was no guarantee it would work

The   oncologist  who was managing me announced that he would see me this day, it was about 3 or 4 days before I left hospital.  Elissa arrived early, about 7am. He stated there was not much more they could do for me and that they would try to get the jaundice down but to go home get my affairs in order I then said,
“How long have I got..a couple of months?” and my version is he agreed. He said come and see him in a fortnight.

The  oncologist left, Elissa & I  kissed cuddled  and cried told each other we loved our 38 years together..we were proud of our 2  boys and all was good.

For the next 3 days in hospital I was visited by Social workers, chaplains etc.

I left hospital on Monday  29th November weighing 68kgs I still have the jaundice, I live on a drug called maxolon which helps keep food down and I have a cocktail of drugs at night that give me a good night sleep.

That’s the bad news. The good news is that since I have been home I have put myself on a high fat diet (Homer Simpson would be proud of me) I am doing little jobs around the house and with the beautiful Elissa.

Getting better each day. In hospital I had to weigh myself each day which gave me the shits as I lost a kilo each day  ..now I weigh myself each Monday and I have put on 2 kilos knocking on the door of 71 kilos.

I haven’t given up alcohol ..it has given up on me..have tried a red wine and my favourite beer, Carlsberg, got as far as the throat and have had to spit it out the throat has said “No way Jose”

Thanks for reading so far. We now get to the crux of the story ..yesterday 14th  December we go and visit  the oncologist.. Elissa decided that we would fill-in the day before the visit by sitting under the trees at Newport.

It was beautiful ...at 4pm we go to the oncologist I tell him with the help of lovely Elissa I am getting better each day all is good when do I start to die and he says you will have” many months”..Elissa and I left the surgery.

Couldn’t believe it..he gave us all these permutations which I won’t go into but at the moment all is good I have Jack & Miah  and my grand kids coming around on Christmas eve, my other  son Pete and his lovely wife Beau, rock in from Dubai so we plan a party on Christmas Eve.


On Boxing Day Pete and Beau go with us to my sisters place in Canberra where they all play golf with all the cousins and we have a “Hooley “ at night so all is good.

Once again thanks for your interest. Elissa has been fantastic as before the last time I wrote to you she is out earning a dollar at Cherrybrook, but when you are as crook as I was in October she was the rock and I love her.

Well that’s all... will keep you in the loop. Hope I haven’t left anybody out

Dave Kesby

THE BURRA CONECTION

On our recent coach trip to Lake Eyre we had a short stop in Burra. I rang Val to let her know we were passing through and she waved to us from her lovely old home and then drove to meet us at the Town Hall rest stop. Following is an excerpt from my blog.

Val and Diane in Burra-old room mates from the 60's

Then we drove on further south and stopped at a historic mining town, Burra, which is still thriving today on tourism. It so happens that I have an old friend living in this far away place. We used to room together when we were at teachers' college. Her home is the oldest hotel building in Australia that has not had the original floor plan altered. It was fun to catch up with her even if it was for only half an hour.

Burra is a fascinating historical copper mining town with many wonderful buildings to see. Unfortunately, we were not there long enough.

submitted by Diane Bohlen.

Old 16mm movie footage Bill Bohlen shot in 1967 - 68 in TPNG

A note from Dave Kesbey

I finally found how to get to the photos I just wish I was not in the Haus Sik at the time . 


I was really happy to see people enjoying the Sunday morning coffee.  I spent 21 days in the Haus Sik came home on Monday  and as they say in rugby league circles, "Elissa and I are taking it one game at a time".


Dubbo Dave 

1962-63 Reunion Sydney 2010 Cont.

The festivities continued on Saturday night. The Sydney team had organised an excellent dinner cruise on Sydney harbour.

Bob, Janelle, Rod and Henry waiting to board at Darling Harbour

There was lot of reminiscing going on during the meal.

Peter and Wendy

Rod enjoys a glass of red

Henry and Bob in great spirit

Margaret, Diane, Bill B and Colin B.

On Sunday morning, some gathered at Chowder Bay for morning tea

Bob, Keith and Les

Bill W

Bill B and Lorraine

Rod, Lorraine and Warwick

Rod and David

Photos by Ian McLean

A great time was had by all

1962-63 Reunion Sydney 2010

Finally some pictures from the recent Sydney Reunion.

Les, Colin, Ian and Rod at the Meet and Greet on Friday night

Henry, Janell and Keith at the Meet and Greet on Friday night

Wendy, Margaret and Diane, Friday night

Ingrid and Bill W at the Oaks

A pleasant Saturday lunch meeting under the big Oak tree

Janelle and Lorraine, Saturday lunch

More pictures to follow of the Saturday night cruise and Sunday brunch 

Henry reports

Just back from Dave Argent's funeral and submit the following for the interest of your readers.

On Friday 5th Janelle and I travelled from Brisbane to the beautiful Nambucca Valley which, like all of the country in between looked great after good rains. We were told to get to Bowraville ...does this ring a bell with anyone?  Well right now there is a "Sniff" tragic from there playing ducks and drakes to the highest bidder - the Bronos having pulled out of the race and the Rabbitos and The Storm now trying to sort out what might be the final outcome. A big Aboriginal community near Bowraville so they probably have a pretty good side- all sporting facilities are in the town except the premier footy code, AFL, but give it a few years and.....

As we pulled up in front of the hostelry where our reservations had been made Rod Hard and the Big Bob "Moose" Davis leaned over the balcony and welcomed us with words which were pretty clearly aided by an early start on the 'red'.  As I was more than 500 kms away from Godzilla I was in the mood and had enough courage to join them ('red' and all alcohol being off the menu as part of the strategy of regaining my health)  From the balcony and after a couple of glasses we had time to look the town over and it was a very neat place with substantial buildings - many erected in the early 20th Century. The place we stayed in was built of very solid timber (the town obviously prospered on its timber getting- two sawmills still operating there) as not even Bob's trip to the ablutions at night (15 yards away from the bedrooms -four poster beds) did NOT  manage to elicit one creak!!

The following day we travelled quite a distance to C3 Nambucca Valley, WIRRIMBI, where we joined a large gathering of people to support Kerry and the family through the ceremony and later the burial. This place is the home of some Calathumpian religious sect - as preferred by the Argents when the Anglicans refused approval for the now popular power-point presentation of birth to death and limited the time for eulogies. In all it was a very nice service and the atmosphere less funereal which I am sure was a great help to Kerry who has been a tower of strength matching Dave's great last fight..

Dave had a favourite niece, an attractive MD who liked sport and betting, a beer and could play the piano - as it seems all of the Argents can. She advised that despite her classical training, after three beers she had to get off the keyboard as her playing deteriorated so badly....Dave by contrast could not read a note of music (it got in the way of his spontaneity) but by his thirteenth beer he would have shamed Liberace.  Fortunately, as part of the powerpoint there was Dave playing a known piece and one he had created  only a few weeks before his affliction took him from the family...wonderful clip to have.

From the ASOPA side Rod,. Bob, Janelle and I represented the 1962 intake while Glen Warwick was of the 1963 intake. Glen had known Dave before he went to ASOPA and was staying with his mother in the area - over the years in PNG, and since, Glen has  been very close to the Dave and Kerry family and I was pretty certain he would do the honours for us all in the eulogy stakes- he didn't offer. Without a voice I was out of the game so up jumps fearless Big Bob and lays 'em in the aisles lightening the atmosphere with some amusing memories  - and most appreciated was his desciption of those invited to join Dave on "The Drive" - a look for femmes around Sydney town. Their first sortie occurred in a Town Hall Saturday Night Dance and after half an hour Dave said to Bob, " I have found THE ONE" - no need to look any further.."

And it turned out to be so. Dave and Kerry were married less than three months later in January 1963. "The Drive" died right there", reported Bob.

It was then off to the cemetery about 20 kms away and guess where?  Argents'Hill. It turns out that the place was originally settled by an Argent 110 years ago- at least-  and Dave had been brought from Tassy to Argents' Hill to join the family. All of the big number of  Argents present had put down their $2 to reserving their plot. Unfortunately Dave's older brother  and a nephew have recently preceded him to this peaceful resting place among the gum trees....the nephew due to a freak accident on a skate board at age 17.

So, here was I (as his best man) thinking I knew the guy-  contact for wedding anniversary and birthday 47 times and called into the three or four places he had settled over the years and had no idea of his background. Who else do you know who will be buried in a cemetery carrying your family name? And a composer to boot..........isn't it great to receive these surprises but so late in the day, Dave!!!!

With so many talented Argent musicians present readers can probably guess the course the after interment ceremony  took...a wonderful variety of instrumentals and voices.

I am confident that the day would have helped Kerry a great deal after such a long and protracted period of watching   a courageous husband's battle and then the huge job of arranging to get Dave from Tasmania to the home cemetery.

Janelle and I had to take off early but I understand that Bob and Rod were entertaining Kerry back at our digs after the afternoon nibbles and entertainment in such idyllic surrounds.

We all hope that Kerry will be able to make the necessary adjustments to her new circumstances and will spend some time with her daughter's family before returning to Tasmania and making arrangements for the move back to the Wauchope area where her son and  daughter's families live.

I am sure that she would appreciate hearing from others of our ASOPA intake and others of the Argent friends.

What a girl.

And what a loss with Davy Baby not with us to add to the stories we associate with Dave Argent. It was nice knowing you mate.


Henry Bodman

'BROIL THE BIGGY' BY DUBBO DAVE

Dave and Elissa at reunion 2007

When Jack & Pete were about 3 or 4 their favourite characters on TV were Bert

& Ernie and when something big was on like a big hamburger Ernie would yell

out "Broil the biggy" well that became part of the language in the Kesby

house for about 4 or 5 years..If something big was coming up like going to

Cumberland Oval to see the mighty Eels or of to Sydney Football Ground to

see the Socceroos You knew it was big if either Jack or Pete would make the

utterance "broil the biggy" we were in for something big. Both Venues are

now gone.

Well I think we are in for a broil the biggy moment next week

All the tests ,scans, ultrasounds have been done and what has been worked

out that the little bugger that is giving me so much grief is not attatched

to my liver but is hiding behind the liver he might not even be cancerous

but we have to assume that he is.

Well the plan is to go in there and get the bugger out. The surgeon said it

might be a "piece of cake" but he won't know that until he gets in there.

Elissa asked how often to you do these operations .He said he did one 10

days ago and he is doing another one this Friday. I asked if the bloke he

did 10 days ago was still alive he said he was. Because I can't get the job

done this week I asked could I have some junk for this week . he said what

do you mean . I said heroin. He declined so we settled on Valium and other

things I took 2 of his blue pills this morning they kept me asleep for 4

hours

Well on Friday the 12th of November I go to the Sydney Adventist Hospital

for about 10 days . I will have

2 Surgeons

1 specialist anesthetist

1 specialist Intensivist..he or she will look after me in the Intensive care

section where I will be for up to 2 days

There is one other but I forget and I want to finish the email off before going back to bed.

He hopes I won't have a bag but I will have weep holes on my side for up to

2 months after the operation to drain the shit out of my system
( I knewyou wanted to know about that)

Well thanks for reading my story . 

Dave( Elissa also but she is out earning a dollar at Cherrybrook)

David Argent 1942 - 2010 by Bob Davis

I cast my mind back to February 1962 and I am in this weatherboard and corrugated iron hut situated out on Middle Head in Sydney, having been shepherded in with 56, (I think – I mean it was 48 years ago!) other equally bewildered and wary people, either in their late teens or early twenties.  I plonk myself down at a table towards the rear of the room, (where I was to spend a large part of the next two years as it eventuated), and then beside me a tall, athletic-looking, dark haired man also plonks himself down with a gritty, resigned look on his face. He turns and looks at me with big brown eyes and grunts, “G’day.”   I responded in an equally loquacious manner and thus began our friendship.  Neither Dave or I were all that big on words – we thought we were men of deeds.  After all ‘actions speak louder than words’ was an adage instilled in both of us by our respective upbringing. However I decided then and there that if I were ever going to be in a fight with this bloke, I’d rather have him on my side than on the opposite side.

Over the ensuing months, groups and friendships emerged and developed (or exploded.)  I discovered that Dave and I had a lot of things in common – a love of all sport and rugby in particular, cards and 500 in particular, beer, (Tooheys of course,) and table tennis - (Dave thought he had a match winning backhand.)  It soon became apparent that we both had very competitive natures in most things, although it would be fair to say that this did not extend to our academic studies. 

David was a taciturn person, private and close.  He took time to develop relationships but they lasted a lifetime.  He did not suffer fools easily and had little time for those with airs and graces.  He was a country boy - what you saw was what you got. But he was as soft as marshmellow if ever you could crack that front he put up.  I rather suspect that few people ever did manage to crack his façade and that was just fine with Dave.

After six months or so at college Dave came to the conclusion that while life in Sydney had its moments there was definitely something lacking and so he started up a student movement he named “The Drive”.  Essentially the object of this movement was to uncover some female companionship which was in a somewhat short supply as the majority of us had descended on Sydney from other states or the country or overseas and so our social contacts in the big smoke were very limited to say the least.  The first foray of the founding members of “The Drive” was to the Lane Cove town hall where weekly dances were held.  I was one of Dave’s mates chosen for this initial skirmish, mainly I think because I had a reasonably reliable vehicle.  It was at this dance that David met Kerry.  Not long afterwards I recall Dave saying something along the lines of  “She’s the one”.  That occasion also saw the end of “The Drive.”  Dave had met his life-long-companion-to-be and he and Kerry were married a few months later.  I think this was the smartest move Dave ever made and I know he knew it.

We certainly did not share a common interest in music – Dave had quite some talent in this area whilst I had none.  In retrospect and looking back on things I believe that Dave should have become a music teacher.  At any rate he managed to pass some of his musical genes to his daughter Michelle who was able to make music her career.  Some of his sporting genes were picked up by his son Jonathon, who represented the mid coast region in athletics.

After college and our dispatch to various parts of Papua New Guinea our paths crossed  all too infrequently.  There ensued quite long periods of little or no communication between the two of us but I know that David taught in the New Ireland District, Western Highlands District of PNG, as well as Bulolo (Morobe District.).  On returning to Australia  he had a brief respite from teaching as an insurance salesman for a couple of years until he returned to teaching once again.  This time he taught at a school for disadvantaged children in Sydney where most of the children had disabilities of various kinds.  It takes a special kind of person to adapt to this very demanding role and I know from discussions with David that it was here that he found his true métier.  He told me that the nine years he had at this school was the most rewarding and satisfying of his teaching career.  He truly believed that he was able to make a difference in these children’s lives.  He finished his teaching at Kempsey High School in 1990.  After a short stint at Portland, Dave and family returned to the mid coast region at Wauchope and bought a property large enough to produce crops of native flowers.  Alas, competition from large companies made this venture largely unsuccessful. It was here in Wauchope that I caught up with Dave and Kerry once again  We had a great week together – much of which I must confess, was spent at the Wauchope Country Club consuming considerable quantities of the amber fluid and reminiscing  long into the early hours.

Then there was the first reunion of ASOPIANS at Port Macquarie in 2002.  Most of our year group managed to gather there and celebrate the 40^th anniversary of our first year in teachers’ college.

Dave and Kerry then decided that a change of scenery was required and they sold up and moved to Smithton (on the northwest coast of Tasmania.)  I visited the Argents at Smithton and spent another great week, most of which was spent at the Smithton RSL  Club doing the same sorts of things we had done at the Wauchope Country Club.  Dave didn’t take too kindly to the local beer (Boags) and the management of the club decided that Dave’s patronage was definitely worth hanging on to and they decided to install a VB tap. (They wouldn’t come at Tooheys as Tasmanians generally don’t acknowledge that there are any other states worthy of consideration outside of their own and Victoria.)  David was duly grateful and settled for the odd glass of VB every now and then.

Dave and Kerry attended the next reunion of the 62-63 ASOPIANS, which was held in Sydney not far from our old stamping grounds when we were college students.  It was a nostalgic return to the past.

A few years ago Dave’s health took a turn for the worse and this subsequently saw a significant decline in the amount of VB sold at the Smithton RSL.  Unfortunately things went from bad to worse with David’s ailments and he finally succumbed on the 31^st of October 2010 after a brave battle.  He is to be buried in the family plot at a place called Argent’s Hill near Bowraville NSW. (Fancy having a place named after your family!!) Dave leaves behind Kerry, his wife of 48 years, son Jonathon, daughter Michelle, their respective spouses and six grandchildren.

He will be lovingly remembered and not just by his family.

I am really going to miss hearing Dave’s voice around Christmas time when he’d ring up with his annual call – “Moose, thought I’d ring instead of sending a card. How are you going?”

Bob Davis

A TRIBUTE TO DAVE

Dave Argent arrived at ASOPA early in 1962, no doubt, eyeing up those who would join him as a member of the 1962 intake - just as the other 60 qualifiers were also looking over the field.

Depending on where one fitted into the intake they would have observed a burly, good looking young buck with a great smile and startling eyes (the girls). The "short strides brigade" would have seen the burly bloke and probably recognised the hidden athlete while the veterans waited to see how he went in the bar before passing judgement. He seemed to pass all measures of those tests.

Events in the canteen were where Dave's personality established itself and he demonstrated his willingness to live dangerously when he snapped a cigarette out of the lips of one "Moose" Davis.....the distance he kept between himself and Moose after that event was the greatest in their 48 years association.

In the lecture room he also established his presence in spectacular fashion by refusing to complete Rossy's psych test   "I know my IQ and don't see who else needs to know" was impressive - even if it did jeopardise his continuation on the course.

Where Dave flourished (and was unassailably superior to his peers) was in the area of music where he proved a superior pianist of the entertaining kind- needless to say he made short work of the flute used to measure classroom suitability in that discipline.

But it was on the "sniff" field where Dave made his reputation - at ASOPA he was a key player in the college's success at a high provincial level. In Papua New Guinea, very senior officers managed to arrange transport so that Dave would be available for the weekend 'sniff' game in the District Centres......and often the transport home went missing for a week or so.

Dave and Kerry also managed to establish a well deserved reputation as great card players and cleaned out a couple of communities at postings in the Islands and Highlands.

Despite all of the attractions and skills which went to make up the personality of Dave Argent, it took less than twelve months for Kerry to bring him to heel and they were married early in 1963.

Inevitably, family followed and the Argent family's devotion to its members has been amply demonstrated in the past difficult two years of Dave's ill health.

Dave will be very much missed by his family and those others of us who had the good luck to know him well.


by Henry Bodman

Dave (second from left) and his mates carrying Henry during ASOPA days.

VALE DAVID ARGENT

It was with shock and sadness that we heard of Dave's death on 31 October at Smithton in Tasmania, where he and his wife Kerry had settled in retirement. 

Dave was at ASOPA in 1962/63 and I remember him as a loveable larrikin nicknamed Kurt. I was in awe of how he passed exams when he missed so many lectures. In fact he wasn't even recognised by Les Peterkin, the PE lecturer, when Dave turned up for the last lesson of the term so that he could pass the ropes course.

In P/NG he worked in New Ireland, Mt Hagen and Keltiga, where he had Pius Wingti (later to become Prime Minister) in his school.

Our thoughts and sympathy go out to Kerry and her family.

For a more in depth tribute to Dave Argent see Kieth's blog here

 Dave and his mates from ASOPA at the Pt Macquarie reunion in 2002

posted by diane bohlen

Richard and Judith are off again

HOPE you all have a great time at the Sydney ASOPA bash. Sorry we can't be
there but had to delay this year's o/s jaunt until after youngest
granddaughter's 1st birthday.

So, NO MORE E-MAILS (not even a reply to this e-mail, thanks) until the end
of next month.
This laptop will be going into its case at 5 pm and linger there until our
return.

Cheers and best wishes: RICHARD & JUDYTH

Father Of My Children (M)

Richard Jones sent his latest movie review:

GREGOIRE Canvel seems to be a successful, if harried, Paris film producer with a loving family.

But all is not as it seems with Gregoire (Louis-Do de Lencquesaing). In order to produce edgy, arthouse films his film company struggles constantly with the demands of pushy directors.

One particular Swede regularly hassles Gregoire and places extra strain on the production company’s overworked staff.

Then there’s the seven-figure sum the producer owes his bank, plus the fact film funding agencies won’t extend any more credit to his firm.

And on the way home for a family dinner with Italian-borne wife Sylvia (Chiara Caselli) and their three daughters he’s pulled over for speeding.

He really should also have been booked for speaking on his mobile phone while driving, but that’s conveniently overlooked.

The second half of Mia Hansen-Love’s movie focuses on Sylvia and 15-year-old daughter Clemence (Alice de Lencquesaing) as they try to deal with their changing circumstances.

Meanwhile Gregoire’s other “family” -- the staff at his film production outfit -- are struggling, too, and it all falls to him to sort things out. 

Butchard Gardens, Vancouver Island

by Bill Bohlen

On our recent tour of Canada and Alaska, we visited the famous Butchard Gardens near Victoria on Vancouver Island. It was summer and a glorious day, here is a little film I cut of that great garden

BOHLENS IN CANADA

Bill and Diane went on a Scenic Tours jaunt to Canada and Alaska last month. The tour was very well organised and the accommodation pretty swanky.

The Empress Hotel in Victoria.

Butchart Gardens in Victoria.

The Sea to Sky Highway from Vancouver to Whistler. A very scenic drive.

They swung from Peak2Peak in a gondola at Whistler.

To find out more about this fantastic gondola ride - CLICK HERE

Enjoyed the magic scenery at Lake Louise in Alberta.

Emerald Lake

The famous Banff Springs Hotel was their home for a few nights.

Inception (M)

Richard Jones sent us his latest movie Review:

Inception (M)

WE all dream, with some of our reveries scary while others are fuzzy, warm and full of fluffy white clouds.

Imagine, then, a time not so far in the future where there’s a technology allowing us to enter and control our dreams.

So-called lucid dreams: the types in which we are completely aware we are dreaming.

In Christopher Nolan’s new film Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio) is an inception expert. He’s able to steal ideas and secrets from the minds of his subjects by entering their dreams.

It’s something of a double-edged sword for Cobb. He’s haunted by the memory of his dead wife (Marion Cotillard) who continually infiltrates his own dream scapes.

Unaware of this problem businessman Saito (Ken Watanabe) hires Cobb to break into the innermost recesses of a rival, the heir to a business empire.

Saito wants Cobb to plant an idea in the brain of Fischer (Cillian Murphy) which will result in the collapse of his corporate world.

It’s an elaborate and costly form of industrial espionage, but Saito is prepared to foot the bill.

Cobb, however, can’t do the planting of an idea without a skilled team. He assembles a group which includes his regular assistant Arthur (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), set designer Ariadne (Ellen Page) and an identity forger (Tom Hardy).

Nolan lets the story unfold in a quite complicated way. He plays with the concept that his characters could be in their own real world, somebody’s else’s mind or perhaps a fantasy of their own making.

Be warned, though. This is a film like Hidden or even 2001: A Space Odyssey you’ll want to see more than once.

But the first viewing is amazing enough as we try to work out just exactly what’s happening among the many layers of consciousness.

The Bohlens are traveling in Canada and Alaska

A postcard from Canada where Bill and Diane Bohlen (Speakman 62/63) are traveling by coach, train and cruise-liner. 

Greeting everyone

Richard Jones latest review - The White Ribbon

THE WHITE RIBBON (M)

TWELVE months before the start of the First World War, a chain of horrific events unfold in a small German rural village.

The local doctor (Rainer Bock) is thrown from his horse and badly injured after his mount trips on a wire stretched across a road, a farmer’s wife is killed in what appears to be a work accident and her son holds the baron (Ulrich Tukur) responsible.

Still, the village’s orderliness continues to be disrupted. A barn is burnt down, an intellectually disabled child is bashed and the pet bird of the Lutheran pastor (Burghart Klaussner) is impaled upon a pair of scissors.

Tension in the village escalates. There’s not only mystery but also malice abroad. Who is responsible for these ongoing accidents, dramas and even fatalities?

Director Michael Haneke’s stark black and white imagery outlines for us an almost feudal world, one of class bullying, authoritarianism and resentment.

The women, even the village midwife, are clearly second-class citizens while the children are required to unswervingly obey and follow the lead of their elders.

Haneke, director of French mystery Hidden, is a master of creating intrigue and subterfuge. So much so that as with Hidden, I will have to see The White Ribbon a second time to catch up with all its subtle nuances.

Incidentally, The White Ribbon was Germany‘s entry in this year’s Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. That particular Oscar went to the Argentinian movie The Secret In Their Eyes, but having seen all three I firmly believe the south American film should have run third to The White Ribbon and France’s A Prophet.

  

News Update - Henry Bodman

Rod Hard sent me the following update on Henry:

Well folks,

Just took the next big step towards becoming bionic man with the

addition of an implanted device* which is quite an amzing thing. This

particular one caters to three different challenges, a heart which

stops, a too slow pulse rate and a pumping station which doesn't send

through enough blood with each beat and throws thre rest of the system

out of whack. I qualify for all three.

It is the latest and greatest and should it "go off" I'm told I'll know but so too will someone in Yankeeland (and also  the star who inserted it here in Brisbane).All I have to do is call an ambulance and get to the Wesley asap.

You've all seen the TV procedure in hospitals (which Kerry Packer also experienced)  "Hands free? Zap." Well this little gadget does all of

that as soon as it discerns the need.

When it is safely established (10 days) I believe I'll get the next

round of chemo etc which promises to be pretty hefty.

The readings of myeloma "progress" are encouraging as are the blood

tests -thanks largely to the strict food intake which Marcelle is

controlling. (I hate the stuff which is more mud than food!!!!)  Haven't

had a real drink for eight weeks!!!

As they haven't interfered with me for 10 days (except for the gadget)

I'm feeling pretty cheeky at the moment. Watch 'em chamge that!!!!!!!!

Cheers and beers,

Henry B

* The device is called an 'Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillator' (ICD). I too have one of those, the second one just replaced on 16 July 10 - (Bill Bohlen)

For more information on the ICD device - CLICK HERE  

I, Don Giovanni

Richard Jones' Movie Review

WHEN the great composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart wrote his opera Don Giovanni he engaged the librettist Lorenzo da Ponte.

Da Ponte was something of an unusual choice. He was the protégé of the great libertine, Casanova, or so the folklore goes.

The route Spanish director Carlos Saura takes us to the eventual staging of Mozart’s opera starts two decades earlier.

The librettist da Ponte (Lorenzo Balducci) is living in Venice. He’s a close friend of Casanova (Tobias Moretti), but despite his earlier career as a priest finds himself exiled from Venice because of his licentious behavior.

Da Ponte ends up in Vienna in 1781 collaborating with Mozart (Lino Guanciale). Casanova had engineered the meeting between the two through the Viennese court’s in-house composer Salieri.

As Mozart and da Ponte go to work on the new opera, it becomes clear that even though the fictional Don Giovanni is the key character, he’s really modelled on Casanova.Composer and librettist get down to work. Mozart is plagued by ill health while da Ponte has some competing, romantic interests in his life.

Besotted by the beautiful Annetta (Emilia Verginelli) he also has a couple of demanding divas to contend with, not to mention Casanova’s treacherous wheelings and dealings.

Da Ponte’s problems with Annetta are of his own making. Aware of his reputation she is determined not to just become another one of his trophies.

Mozart also has a problem. His is one of perception. Just how are his audiences going to take to Don Giovanni.

The opera’s central character is a thoroughly modern man  -- a free thinker who defies God and organized religion.

Well folks,

Things often seem to go in threes and my visit yesterday to my hematologist saw me redirected to a heart specialist , presumably to see what strength of “zapping” I might be able to absorb in the coming week

The heart specialist told me in very clear terms that I have a very “dicky ticker” (with full acknowledgment of “Allo Allo’s” references to “dicky tickers”).

This has come as a surprise as, throughout my life,  I have always enjoyed a lot more puff than my peers . The analogy with an eight cylinder car has me running on two and I now know why, lately, I have had a few giddy fits.

So we have a twelve month old undiagnosed mass in the throat which is interfering with a vocal chord (no voice), a smouldering myeloma which has suddenly become a multiple myeloma (for which I have been pretty thoroughly zapped and fed tonnes of tablets) and now a “dicky ticker” for which I am likely to be carrying around metal which will set off the airport security systems from here on in.

Apart from that, the world doesn’t seem such a bad place and I have to thank Janelle and Marcelle for being able to say that seriously….very attentive and covering the many bases which I am now not even getting close to.

You can probably imagine how comfortable I am not being in control.

I will be in the Wesley for the coming week – starting 4.00pm Monday. Probably a good idea to be in touch with Janelle if you are contemplating visits.

BOHLENS GO ON MYSTERY TOUR

Diane (Speakman 62/63) and Bill Bohlen were recently invited on a mystery tour, here is Diane's report:

We were invited to join a group on friends to go on a tour to celebrate two birthdays. One of the group organised the trip but kept the destinations a secret, so we didn't know where we were going until we got there. Fun! Fun! Fun!
Here are some of the places we visited:

Gympie

Maryborough

Bargara

Town of 1770 and Bustard Bay

Cania Gorge

Carnarvon Gorge

Bunya Mountains

Somerset Dam.