Doughman and the karate tournament

I had a very strange dream this morning. I was in a Will Ferrell movie. He was a villain called Doughman and I was fighting him. At one I almost defeated him but a small nodule of dough remained and began expanding into two plates of flat dough. I kept pounding them but Ferrell's face would appear in the dough to taunt me. So I turned them into two plates of pasta with a tomato sauce. The solution was to eat the pasta in the hope that the stomach acid would kill him.

I woke up then, but you know exactly what would have happened. Yes, Doughman would have become Spewman.

You should note that this dream occurred prior to me taking a big strike to the head at the karate tournament.

I was definitely the Doughman there. Somehow I summoned up the courage to join Alex in competing in our dojo's annual tournament. He's been doing it for almost a year now and has a red belt but I had to give it away for six months due to a foot injury and haven't even graded yet. No other senior white belts were in attendance today. Senior, that makes me feel really old now, especially when Alex is still a Pee Wee!

Me on the left getting belted

Alex in gladiator

Alex did well, adding another silver in kumite to the one he won at the warm up tournament last term. And he won both his matches in the gladiator, though his team did not progress.

Me, I got a bronze in the kata, but that's because there were only three of us competing. And a bumped head in kumite where there were four. But I did score a couple of points and I'm satisfied with that.

The things we do to set a good example for our kids...

So I may not be great at karate, but I reckon I could write a pretty decent movie script. In my sleep.

Leigh Creek

This month sees the closure of South Australia's last coal fired powerstation and the subsequant cessation of mining at Leigh Creek. Whilst it gladdens me to see another step towards cleaner energy the Leigh Creek operation does hold some special memories for me.

I was nine years old when my family began their big move away from Melbourne on a trip that was supposed to take us all around Australia. By Easter of 1984 we had got as far as the Flinders Ranges in South Australia.

We drove across from Rawnsley Bluff outside of Hawker to the town of Leigh Creek on the other side of the ranges. At that time the town was brand new, the population shifted from old Leigh Creek, now a giant hole in the ground, dug up for coal.

The town was sterile, souless from all appearances, many of the buildings prefabricated. But interestingly different from the bluestone and sandstone historic towns that we had been passing through on the trip.

We went on a guided tour of the mine and were overwhelmed by the size of the machinery in use. Dump trucks with tyres taller than the height of a person.

As we walked along we were allowed to pick up some pieces of coal. I cracked them open to see the imprint of ancient leaves. It truly brought home to me that this was fossil fuel, made from the stuff of life that had died hundreds of millions of years ago.

What a contrast between the town and the reason for its existence!

Stardust and satay

We are all star dust, the stuff of exploding stars. But this post has nothing to do with astronomy. On Saturday we took Alex to Stardust Circus, his first such event under a tent.

I think I was about Alex's age when I first attended a circus, as part of a school outing. It may have been Stardust or, more likely I think, Silver's Circus.

I don't know if circuses have shrunk or perhaps we have just got bigger, but the Big Top didn't seem so big now.

Along the roadside there were animal rights protestors waving placards against the treatment of circus animals. Outside I overhead circus staff claiming it gave them free publicity, but inside the ringmaster was careful to explain that the animals were kept well.

I will not delve into the ethics of showing the lions, including a 8 month old cub, rhesus monkeys, ponies, pigs and other beast, but I found myself liking those components least of all anyway. Except for the dogs. But then I know how much dogs love the interactions and challenges, assuming that they were treated well.

Animal feats seem so unnecessary when compared with the displays of human acrobatics and the clown humour, both of which Alex loved best as well.

The performances seemed less spectacular and less polished than I recall, but perhaps again that is through the eyes of an adult.

I had to laugh at the music in the introduction to the trapeze act. Back at my first circus they played the disco version of Star Wars before the trapeze. A decade or so later, at a Silver's Circus performance in Queensland it was the same.

This time they played the full orchestral main title to Star Wars. It's good that somethings don't really change.

There was a gorgeous rainbow on our way home.

Sunday saw us at the Malaysian Festival at Pyrmont Bay Park. We had a pleasant, though packed, tram ride down there and enjoyed some Malaysian snacks. The satay from Loong Fong was really good and I love the Seremban siu pau from Sweet Rita's Nyonya Treats. Pity I can't find a restaurant for them both, Loong Fong only serves bak kwa at their Chatswoord outlet. Bak kwa is a form of sweet and spicy pork jerky that I have utterly gone off after being force fed it for our daily breakfast (along with almond jelly) by one of B's Aunts during my first trip to Singapore.

The construction work around Darling Harbour is very impressive, but I hope they return the family atmosphere once they are done. We had to purchase a Chinese costume for Alex's Mandarin class presentation. Fortunately, there is a small stall at Paddy's Markets that sells such things.

And so ended the first week of school holidays.

Arncliffe revisited

It was six years ago, almost to the day, that I visited Arncliffe in Sydney's south and remarked upon the English appearance of a disused kiosk building adjacent to the station. I happened by Arncliffe on Thursday last week and noticed in passing that the building has either been demolished and replaced or rendered to look like a generic McMansion from anywhere in a newer Sydney suburb.

August 2009

August 2015

Admonishment

Caucasian
Cocky Asian
Just labels
Inaccurate
Lies

Moon

The Moon waxes gibbous at the zenith, in the claws of Scorpio ready to be struck by the stellar tail. The stars themselves look close enough to touch in a sky cleansed by the fearsome winds. As residents cower inside darkened houses, sheltering from the icy gale, who knows what fey creatures roam the world outside. This is a night for the spirits to make their presence felt as the world sleeps beneath them.

Time

Was early yesterday
River of red lanterns
Rain