Goodbye Yellow Wiggle
Today, after many months of speculation as to the nature of the 'mystery illness',
Greg Page- better known as the Yellow Wiggle has announced his retirement from the massively successful children's group.
I have been watching LOTS of Wiggles recently- my 15month old daughter has become a huge fan. She cannot speak yet- but has devised a sign for the Wiggles (akin to the dance move for Dorothy the Dinasaur song). She has even begun to sing along- with similar sounds and in time with the music.
I'm sure there are some kids out there who will notice the transition from Greg to Sam- the new Yellow wiggle (Greg's understudy). I don't think J will- as long as they keep singing songs and dances she likes I think she wont even notice.
But best wishes to Greg as he continues to receive medical advice and treatment for his condition orthostatic intolerance, which is a chronic but not life threatening disease. It is unfortunte that it has caused him to stop doing the think that he loves and has been such a big part of most of his life- but in the end we all know that looking after your own health is the best thing you can do for not only yourself, but your family (and in Greg's case- his fans).
You can read the wiggles press release
here, and Greg's video message
here.The Yellow Skivvy has passed on to the next generation- Goodbye Greg and good Luck Sam- you have big shoes to fill.
Racist
I would like to believe that we live in a world of tolerance, but watching, listening or reading any mainstream media shows that I am naiieve in this hope. Even so, I think that I have been personally sheltered from any real expressions of racism. I see things on TV, and while I am disturbed by what is obvious racist behaviours- it does not affect me personally.
Until recently.
I had my first encounters with racist sentiments that I can remember.
I recently returned to work at the Podiatry firm I worked for before my baby was born. Since leaving, the dentist across the hall retired and sold his practice to another dentist. On Friday last, a gentleman cam into our office (because the dentist was closed) and asked if I knew anyhting about them.
Now I have seen the dentist- she seems a rather nice lady, but I don't know much about her. He asked me the usual questions- What happened to the old dentist? (he retired) Was this new dentist the lady who worked there before (no she was a different person altogether) and then the one that threw me- Is she Australian?
I answered that I could not tell him. He responded- her name does not sound Australian (it's Sabriman). Now this took me aback. Australia is a multicultural nation, full of immigrants who have since had children in this country who are AUSTRALIAN. What a surname's origin is does not define your nationality necessarily. In fact my surname is scottish in origin. One of the podiatrists is an Australian born and his surname is Sri Lankian.
So how did I respond to this. With veiled disgust (I was at the front reception of my work and could not afford to be rude). I told him that she was not of Anglo-Saxon descent, but that I could not say whether she was Australian or not.
The same day I overheard two patients talking at the front desk. One was relaying her recent visit to Melbourne and would you believe her taxi driver was BLACK!!!!!! the horror!
I could not believe that soemeone could still be so closed minded as to express that.
So my sheleted little world has been intruded upon by the opiniond of racists- whether they consider themselves is beside the point- their comments shocked me.
I the immortal words of
Nigel Powers - There are only two things I can't stand in this world. People who are intolerant of other people's cultures... and the Dutch.
Funny Stuff
My honey recently came home from a trip to the US for work. On his way home he found a shop seeling artwork by
Todd Goldman. He didnt get me one- because the one he would have got me they did not have in purple (my favourite colour).
This was the one he thought I would like:
Here are my other picks of the bunch.
This one...for obvious reasons
And this one- becasue I have always thought this to be true. A friend of mine S* will tell you I have said this on a number of occasions.
Go and have a look at the gallery- I think he is a very funny artist.
Spam!
Recently my email account has been receiving loads of spam. Apart from the emails conainting 'christmas specials', 'exquitite replica watches' and 'VIAgr@' there have been some pretty amusing subject lines.
Who opens these mail messages?
This is my 10 favourite absurd subject lines I have received:
Buying read bad Apparently
On somewhat so recommendation
No taxi a hunter
Vicarious visions build upon
Etc. labels fields. Gives
Proficient intolerant
Accepts cookies or cannot
Syringe merely
Rule accumulate giving
downI votive reason long
Tagged!
I got Tagged by
Cass- here goes.
1-Do you like the look and the contents of your blog?I have not really thought about the look for a while. But now that I got tagged I have changed it. Regarding the content- I used to update it almost daily, but have slacked off a bit. Being a stay at home mum does not give you as much time as you might think
2-Does your family know about your blog?Yes
3-Can you tell your friends about your blog? Do you consider it a private thing?Like Cass said - Yeah, they know. :)
4-Do you just read the blogs of those who comment on your blog? or you try to discover new blogs? I read the blogs of my friends- not as often as I would like. And occasionally I will surf for random blogs.
5-Did your blog positively affect (sic) your mind? Give an example.Yeah- it makes me think more on current events. Also, it gives me an outlet to express myself intellectually now- baby talk is not the same as intelligent adult conversation.
6-What does the number of visitors to your blog mean? Do you use a traffic counter? Not a lot. Those that want to will read my blog. I don’t hink I have a traffic conter. It would be really sad if I did I think (my traffic is not that high).
7-Did you imagine how other bloggers look like?Only the ones I don’t know. I am notorious for imagining people wrong though, so if I imagine you look like
Brad Pitt or
Angelina Jolie, don’t be offended. (mmmmm Angelina…..)
8-Do you think blogging has any real benefit?I enjoy it when I do- whether anyone else gets something out of it is gravy.
9-Do you think that the blogosphere is a stand alone community separated from the real world?No it is known about too widely. I can remember some times when I have been researching non related stuff on the net and been directed to blog.
10-Do some political blogs scare you? Do you avoid them?
I don’t read too many political blogs. But I don’t think ideas in themselves can be bad. It’s only when people *act* on their ideas that it can get scary.
11-Do you think that criticizing your blog is useful?Sure. Feedback on your thoughts is always useful if it is constructive or encourages discussion.
Comments like “you suck” or “you’re wrong” aren’t useful.
12-Have you ever thought about what would happen to your blog in case you died?Never thought about it.
13-Which blogger had the greatest impression on you?Mikey’s- I think some of the stuff he writes is very insightful
14-Which blogger do you think is the most similar to you?Heheh- Cass ‘cause she’s a girl
15-Name a song you want to listen to? I Write Sins Not Tragedies-
Panic! At The Disco
To Feed or not to Feed?
I was out having coffee with some other mothers after toddlers music class yesterday when one of the mothers told me something I could hardly believe.
She said that the day before she had been at the National Gallery. Her 6month old started screaming demanding to be fed. The parent's room was at the other end of the gallery- so instead of prolonging the screaming, she found a seat and proceeded to breastfeed. She was approached by a staff member who told her to "cover-up" - i.e. put a blanket or such over her to hide the fact she was breastfeeding because "some people are offended by that".
She was not really exposing herself at all- having discreetly arranged her clothing for feeding- so who could possibly be offended by that? When a mother feeds in this was- you don’t really see any more than you would if someone was wearing a skimpy singlet top.
Obviously these people who are offended by the thought of someone possibly feeding a child in their vicinity are the type of people who would advocate
modesty boards. I really thought this kind of situation was a thing of the past, but I was mistaken.
It is thins kind of attitude that, I believe has caused so many modern mothers to have problems breastfeeding. Our ancestors learnt about breastfeeding by watching other women in their tribes/family feeding. Prudish attitudes have resulted in many women never getting this kind of learning and support so they have problems feeding their infants.
I can attest to how difficult it is. I thought feeding would be simple and natural- You have baby, it knows what to do- latches on and that's it. It could not have been further from the truth. It took me and bub 5 weeks to get it right. 5 weeks of excruciating pain and many tears. But finally that 'click' happened and it worked. She is now 14months and just weaned. I can totally understand why some women just can't do it.
Feeding is something that is natural. Women's bodies naturally produce what an infant needs. It should not be considered something dirty or wrong. And women should not feel - or made to feel - bad for doing it in public. By all means if there is a conveniently located parents room use that. But if there is not one close enough feed where you have to. After all, adults eat where they will- why should infants be denied this?
