Brunei Dreaming - an antidote to frustrations of the spirit!

This is a bit of a diversional, self-indulging posting! Money never seems enough! And being paid monthly causes no end of "o help" in the final fortnight! (I'm at the "o help" stage right now!) So, without offering misery details, I believe the best antidote is to think of something else in contrast. (And not start wistful thoughts on the digital camera I long to own this year!) I found an article in today's "The Age" about the Empire Hotel in Brunei by the sea. I am always drawn to the allure of waters. It looked like a dreamscape! Perfect dream food for the listless spirit. "The Age" 26.01.08 - The atrium near the check-in desks is 53 metres tall - the height of a 12-storey building - and appears to be modelled on a marble-and-gold tent. Precious stones by the hundred are inlaid into hectares of marble and 21-carat gold plating.

The Brunei Travel Mall says: The regal splendour of early majestic Royal courts, reminiscent of Brunei's Golden Age has re-emerged with the arrival of The Empire Hotel and Country Club. This bygone era now returns to tantalize and pamper discerning guests and provides an unsurpassed Bruneian experience.
The Empire is a grand, spacious, fully integrated, state-of-the-art, luxury 5 star hotel. Located on a magnificent stretch of Brunei's pristine coastline, caressed by the South China Sea, The Empire evokes an opulent yet tranquil ambience. The hotel meanders through 162 hectares of lush tropical gardens providing an idyllic sanctuary and is Brunei's only hotel on the beach.

~

M.I.C.E. BTN - Monday, 30 April 2007
German hotelier Manfred Keiler has been appointed general manager of the Empire Hotel and Country Club in Brunei. Keiler was previously general manager of the Intercontinental Grand in Mumbai, India.

~

The Empire even makes its own chocolate! Now I am totally mesmerised by exotic names like Saffron, Durian Ganache, Pandan Leaf and Kelapa!

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Gold-plated beauty

Fed by dark, velvet oils ~

For a little while

The ambrosia

Intoxicates

The hungry spirit

For a little

~

But sunlight is smiling

Kindly

Beyond my dusty window ~

And I can just see the haze

Of swaying olive greens

Gracing a gentle mountainside

Slipping quietly

To my favourite blue sea

~

A kookaburra's laughing song

Breaks my reverie

~

Indeed

I have all the riches I need

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Ticking off the Week Days - (or is that "weak" days?) - Option 1 - for Cafe Writing

Option One: Seven Things ~ In improvisation, one of our exercises is a game called “Seven Things,” in which we go around in a circle giving each other the challenge, “Give me seven things that [whatever].” We are not going to go around in a circle here, but if you’re drawn to lists, this prompt is for you.
List seven resolutions that you’ve made - for the New Year, or just for yourself - that you’ve actually kept. (They don’t have to all be from the same year, either.)
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Resolutions for me are those rushes in some swampy backwater. Sometimes I see them. Sometimes I don't. It all depends on the mood and the moment. But always, I know, like it or not, there is some little voice reminding me that there will be washing up to do eternally.
Wash the dishes,
dry the dishes,
turn the dishes
OVER...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1. Moon~day ~ This is shock day. The moon snickers quite unromantically as I try yet again to spring out of bed when the alarm goes off! Week-end seems so far away! One day, I'm going to beat that alarm and turn it off before it starts! One day!
~I resolve to bond with this day in a more friendly tone!
2. Mars~day ~ The heat is on! It's war! This is the day for getting the act together. Often, this is the day I organise my work schedule.
~I resolve to always improve on this day!
3. Mercury~day ~ Colloquially known as "hump day". More romantically, it is the time for the winged messenger to sprinkle some love dust. It's a day when a new surge of energy flows through the body! For me, I suddenly crave to write. So this day becomes a juggling act of work commitments and writing dreams.
~I resolve to practise tai chi more dilgently on this day.
4. Jupiter~day ~ Ahhhh!!! Day of thunder and lightning! New weathers! It's jolt day! When I just may see those rushes in the swamp.
~I resolve to give more time to my inner, higher spirit on this day.
5. Venus~day ~ Love is a beautiful song! But pity this day has sunk to P.O.E.T.S. day! Well, at least the anagram looks pretty! It's a funny day. It could be a melt-down, trying to complete work demands. But it also could be procrastination day. There's always Moon-day!
~I resolve to work on my shyness and eat lunch in the staffroom more regularly.
6. Saturn~day ~ The day of Father Time. It's the day I try to hide from his stony stare, willing me to face the weekly ritual of grocery shopping. Strangely, this is the day I have my best poetic impulses!
~I resolve to do the shopping first ~ sometimes!
7. Sun~day ~ Beautiful Sun~day! There is a freedom in Sun~day. A "to be or not to be"!
~I resolve to let Sun~day be Sun~day!
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I keep these resolutions turning over and over...
A little like cycles in a washing machine...
Yes! I am a victim to the weak impulses of the week!
~~~~~~~~
All my week's a circle
Sunrise and sundown
~~~~~~~~

Procrastination - "a Clayton's resolution" - Option 6 -Timed Writing - for Cafe Writing

Option Six: Timed Writing
Take nine minutes (you have to use all nine, you can’t go over), and interpret the topic Resolution.
Any format (fiction, essay, verse) is acceptable; and it’s expected that your writing will be raw, so don’t stress about editing.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Procrastination is a wonderful gift. It is far from wasting time but re-allocating time to incredible activities. Its a Clayton's resolution! The resolution you have when you're not having a resolution!
~ Isn't it far better to suddenly notice the cobweb in the corner of the room than open those study books?
~ Isn't it far better to put on some nail polish - on long neglected toes - than face the mountain of washing leering behind the laundry door?
~~~~~
And the ultimate! I loathe grocery shopping! I should have braved the Australia Day hordes yesterday! But it was too hot! Too many flies! I wanna write! And now, here it is nearly midday on a Sunday! I am writing pink notes in preference to dancing the grocery halls. I keep telling myself, the supermarket is air-conditioned! That should be enticing! But I only succeed in cringing about moving from my writer's throne. I love sitting here - blaise - bare feet propped on a paper loaded chair and still thinking about dressing for the new day! Nah! Not thinking about that at all! All part of the procrastination routine!
~ Sudden thought - pink jottings may be a little nauseous for the males.
~ CHANGE ~ Procrastination is the best way to make time stand still that I know. It is a luxury best tasted on the side roads. You know! The ones that seem to lead to some airy blind alley. It could be littered by garbage bins, waiting to be collected. But there could be some lucky dip, where someone discarded a winning lottery ticket without realising!
Woops! 9 mins of procrastinating trivia has flown!

Clockwork Orange - Option 2 - for Cafe Writing

Cafe Writing - Option Two: Pick Three ~ Pick at least three of the following eight words, and write a paragraph, scene, flash-fic, essay, blog entry or poem using them. It’s fine to change tenses, or pluralize if you want to, but please bold the words you choose.
breathless, change, elusive, pensive, reflect, surge, tide, vibrant

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Elusive

Clockwork Orange ~

Lunar cogs gyrating

Synching

~

The 21st aeon

Loads

A new

Vibrant

Corroboree

~

Earth time

Cached ~

Breathless

In the Big Ben

Towers

Of an Olympian

Aboriginal

Cosmos

~

Change

Is a vampire

Spilling

Lunar

Blood~

When

Screaming

Silent

Frozen

Fears

Surge

~

No tide

Waits

For

No man

~

Pensive cynics

Smile

(They think ~

Knowingly)

But how many

Have

Quietly booked

A trip to

Mongolian landscapes

(In August 2008)

To wonder

To reflect

The eclipse

Of solar power.

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"In silence and movement you can show the reflection of people" - Marcel Marceau ~ for Cafe Writing

It may be

In the silence

Of mystical blue

Veils
Where just one tree Bends
To catch

The whispers of the Wind
~~~~~~~

It may be

In the swirling cycles

Of starry nights

Where just the eyes

Lift

To hear

The music

Of legends

Of dreamings

~

It may be

In the longing

To travel

A cosmic

Silk road

~~~~~~~

It may be in the still breath of an earthly landscape
Or in the whirling, creative spirit of the endless skies ~

There you will find

The inner

Reflective light of

Namaste

~

The soul song

Of people

~~~~~~~~

Michael Leunig has the last philosphical word on Australia Day

Leunig cartoon attached to his article Our flagging enthusiasm ~ "The Age" 26.01.08.

Many Australians regard their flag and song and national day, not so much with awe, but rather, a casual, bemused affection, in the way that we may regard an eccentric uncle or a peculiar spinster aunty. They are ours but they are not us.

It is surely the old people who are the fruit of this land — the bitter and the sweet; ripe as they will ever be and soon to drop off the twig. You can meet them and see how life in this country has rendered and ripened their souls and know something profound and otherwise unknowable about our land. It's the character of the elders in any land that says it all and cuts through the delusional propaganda, the inflated ideologies and the ephemeral catchphrases about the national psyche. You may work it out for yourself. Those old people can be full of surprises.

David Mowaljarlai travelled the country and spoke urgently and eloquently of his concern for the wellbeing of white society, which he could see was suffering from a loss of spirit and an incomprehension of the land in which it lived.
His integrity and wisdom often included an important word from his Ngarinyin language: a word that could be very useful to this country in these depressed and anxious times. I use it often.
"Yorro-yorro" is the word — and it means "everything standing up alive" or "the spirit in the land that makes everything stand up alive".

It's a beautiful Wandjina country word to use on Australia Day — or any other day, for that matter. David Mowaljarlai gave it to us and left us with it.
When you've got yorro-yorro you don't need a flag.

~~~

But I have only shaved a little of the skin of the article. To experience the full mystery of its spirit, follow the link above!

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~ In the shadows of the recent passing of "The Bulletin", Leunig seems to be the last voice linking the old literary bush worlds with the parade of modern media. He also walks in the footsteps of more ancient drums!

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When you walk in the footsteps

Of ancient drums

The rhythms

Will live

In you

~

When you see

And protect

The joy of earth

Nature will cool you

In times of heat

And wrap you in warming suns

When the air

Seems cold

~

When you feel

The seasons of the skies

You will always know

The time for planting

The time for

Harvest

The time for dancing

In life-giving rains

~

When you walk in the footsteps

Of ancient drums

The rhythms

Will breathe

Through you

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Australia Day tribute - odd stories for being a convict settler

HMS Sirius - guardship of First Fleet - by John Allcott
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From The Age
~ TWO hundred and twenty years ago today, a young London-born solicitor's clerk, all of 18 years of age, arrived in Sydney Cove on the First Fleet. Matthew James Everingham's sin was pinching a few books worth 10 shillings, and for that he was given seven years.
~... an illiterate convict woman from the Second Fleet — one Elizabeth Rimes — whose crime was taking a bed sheet that didn't belong to her.
* Matthew and Elizabeth married.
~~~~
~ From Convict Tales

~ At the age of 18, in 1821, William Cox was sentenced to death for stealing a horse. This was changed to a life sentence in NSW.

~ Charles Lansbury was convicted at Oxford 12/4/1841 to 7 years transportation. He and 3 mates scuffled with a man at a party at a lady's house at midnight 12/1/1841. They stole his hanky and hid it in the snow.

~ Edward PUGH was born sometime between 1749 & 1766 (possibly February 1758) in the Parish St Marys, Shewsbury, Shropshire, England. Convicted on October 5th 1784 at Gloucester Quarter Sessions, England of stealing a great coat which belonged to one William Barnard. He was sentenced to 7 years and ordered to be transported to America but due to the American War of Independence was transported to New South Wales. He remained in gaol for nearly 3 years before being ordered to Portsmouth for the “Prince of Wales” on March 23rd 1787, with Betty Mason and Elizabeth Parker and probably fathered the child to Elizabeth, Ann (Nancy) Parker who went with them. Edward was received on the “Friendship” on April 17th 1787 and his occupation given by Ralph Clark as “House Carpenter” and his age 22 years.

~ OLD BAILEY SESSION PAPERS. 11th June 1829.1116. DAVID LANGLEY was indicted for stealing, on the 1st of May, 1 screw-cap, value 25s. , the goods of William Thomas Smallwood . JOHN CUTHBERT . On the 1st of May I was standing at my door, and saw the prisoner coming towards me - when he got past he ran, and dropped this screw-cap; I took him and the screw-cap to Mr. Smallwood. WILLIAM THOMAS SMALLWOOD. I am a brass-founder, and live in York-terrace. This brass cap is mine; it was cast from a pattern which I have in my hand - it was taken from my window that morning.

Prisoner's Defence. I did not see any thing of it till that gentleman caught me; two young men passed, and I suppose they dropped it. GUILTY . Aged 17. Confined Three Months .

~ David Langley was convicted at Middlesex on the 16 January 1830 for stealing 24lb of cheese, the property of Thomas Davidge. David was found guilty and transported for life. Prior to this charge, in June of 1820, he was imprisoned for 3 weeks for larceny, after being charged at the Old Bailey.David was transported aboard the 'David Lyon' which left Sheerness, London on the 2 May 1830, and arrived in Van Diemen's Land on the 19 August 1830.

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From Australian Government Culture and Recreation Portal
~ From Among the arrivals with the First Fleet was Mary Bryant (also known as Mary Broad).
In 1786 at age 21, Mary was found guilty of stealing a cloak and was sentenced to death. Luckily for Mary, her sentence was later changed to seven years transportation.
~ At 13 years of age, after being orphaned as a young girl, Mary Reibey (sometimes spelled Reiby) stole a horse as a childish prank. She was arrested and sentenced to transportation for seven years, arriving in New South Wales in October 1792.
~ Seventeen year old Esther Abrahams was sentenced to seven years transportation after stealing a piece of black lace when she was employed as an apprentice milliner.
~~~~
~In 1788, the eleven ships of the First Fleet landed their 'cargo' of around 780 British convicts at Botany Bay in New South Wales. Two more convict fleets arrived in 1790 and 1791, and the first free settlers arrived in 1793.
~ When the last shipment of convicts disembarked in Western Australia in 1868, the total number of transported convicts stood at around 162,000 men and women. They were transported here on 806 ships.
~ Men had usually been before the courts a few times before being transported, whereas women were more likely to be transported for a first offence.
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The chains are long and sinuous
But the links
Of shame
Are slowly
Breaking
~
Sails
Cursed to
Billow in
Fickle
Roaring
Winds
Are almost
Furled
~
Anchorage
Is the art of feeling
Home
~
And the artist
Tests
The pigments
Of sapphire island seas and
Dusky desert silence~
The tones
Of mountains rambling in
Cool eucalypt greens and
Iced white peaks~
The magical
Songlines
Of secret gems
Buried
Deep in
Marakoopa and
Solomon
Caves
~
The chains are long and sinuous
But the links of
New
Colours
Tones
Freedoms
Are slowly
Shaping
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