Musical Dispatch from the Front — Thirroul

This Musical Dispatch from the Front is a guest post by my old—in both senses of that word—friend Frank Baarda,* a long-term resident of Yuendumu. For decades we have made our annual trek up and down the Stuart Highway.  I recall some memorable road: signs: Ki Ki – Australia’s Pistachio Capital Bordertown – Bob Hawke’s [...]

By |2024-02-26T12:53:35+09:30January 24th, 2024|Australian politics, Books, Fun stuff, Some places I've been, The Northern Myth, the Tanami Track, Yuendumu|Comments Off on Musical Dispatch from the Front — Thirroul

10 more years of “beads and mirrors” – Yuendumu’s 2008 ‘Statement from the Heart’

Yapa-patu nganimpa, Yurnturnu wardingki karndu nyarra wangkami ny arnpu statemcnt purdanyajaku manu yungurnkurlu pina kanyi Federal manu N.T. Government kirra ... Nyurru ngurla juku!

“Ceci n’est pas un ciel étoilé”. Seven celestial sisters for International Women’s Day

The story deals with women harassed by men. However the painting’s subject is centred on the ascension of the women to the rank of stars. Their metamorphosis sublimes their deed to deliberately refuse the status of a permanent victim and act in consequence ... In these paintings, there are neither stars nor women.

Intervention Sign Wars in the Tanami Desert…part 1,045

Pornography Drop-off Point. "This one is at the airstrip and is one of a pair. The other one is at the entrance to Yuendumu near the patronising “Look for People” sign. We inspect the bins daily. So far nothing has been placed in them. Anything we recover from the bins, we will incinerate."

ZING! – my name is Sarah Brown and I am a paintaholic…

Being here this evening, surrounded by her work, is not all of what Sarah is about. At her opening last year I described her in the best of possible ways as a “mongrel dog”. With that description, I was describing her as central Australia’s leading advocate and activist for Aboriginal people with end stage renal disease. I described her as that because, quite simply, she is completely unafraid in her dealings with bureaucrats and politicians in her battles with them. call her that as a token of real affection. The real puzzle is that she is both mongrel dog activist, mother, carer of people within the Western Desert Renal Dialysis family—yet still finds the time to create objects of beauty and wonder.

Bird of the week: When sluts rule…the genetic advantages of promiscuity

Female Superb Fairy-wrens Malurus cyaneus initiate extragroup fertilizations by forays to the territory of preferred males, just before sunrise, 2–4 days before egg laying. Over a prolonged breeding season, males advertise their availability to foraying females by singing during the dawn chorus.

Why am I in Columbus, Ohio?

I gave up attending conferences without presenting at them a long time ago and this year I'm giving two presentations tomorrow in a session dedicated to ethnoornithology and titled "Birds in historical, cultural & archaeological context" where we will "examine birds and human culture in a variety of contexts, including birds, humans and fire, birds and archaeology and what happens when birds, birders and sacred and ancient grounds meet."

Postcards from Balgo – Fire in the Great Sandy Desert

Out here fires can sometimes run for weeks - if not months - and burn-out huge tracts of land - I'll try to keep a watching eye on this fire over the coming weeks - if you have any information on its progress please log in and post a note about its progress.

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