Friday, February 1

Persisting Down.

We had massive thunderstorms last night, but luckily we sustained no damage. Suburbs down in Sydney suffered a lot of damage, & a lot had not recovered from the last devastation, with trees down, roofs damaged or ripped off.

Our Daughter J said they lost power for 5 hours last night. We live 5 minutes north of her, & we didnt lose power at all. A lot of rain fell, & our back patio area was awash, & this morning there was further heavy rain.

Little SG went off to school in the rain, this morning happy as a lark, according to his father. We have our car back until Sunday. The lawnmower was returned too, & I was told it has spent the night in their dining room- a room they dont use, I might add!


Here are 2 cheery photos of the little gardens Mrs Nice Neighbour makes. She keeps her eye out for little items to make the gardens, & also grows all the plants herself. They make a nice change from the dingy dull grey day we have had today!
This one is a little Fountain Garden she made.
This one is a little Tea Pot garden. Very cute,
Since I have been taking photos for the Blog, I have noticed a lot of details on things, I may never otherwise have noticed for myself.
Last evening I walked into the bathroom, & saw this soft creamy moth lying on the tiles. On picking it up, I was struck by the wonderful colourings on the wings. This is a very badly focused photo, but the gold glowed with realistic gold glisters, & I didn't notice, until I looked closely.

It is probably a waste of time posting this, but you can see the spotted effect, a little. I tried to enhance it, or change it, but had no luck, & I could not get another photo, as the moth fell off my hand & disappeared.
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I have noticed there has been another Formerly Elevated Sporting Hero, in the nonsense news. This idiot, whom I will call Willie Numnutz, was once a much lauded Hero of some goofy ball sport. He was much photographed, was called handsome, & in the end he believed his own publicity.
He presented at the Sports Gala events, wearing one or other glamour puss on his arm. Eventually he was married to one of the pusses, or she may have even been his only Puss, at that time, & they were much photographed by the media, & said to be a "Golden Couple". Royalty of his particular code of balls.
The Gold Crown fell off when he was caught out, cheating with his 'Best Mate's Wife'. Princess Puss moved out. In Laws threatened beatings. Best Mate ran for cover, Best Mate's Wife hid out in the country.
Many Crocodile Tears were shed on public TV interviews, the whole sordid & sad affair was hashed & rehashed on slow media days. Juicy details kept coming to the surface. Spa pools, sneaky fumblings under the nose of spouses. It seemed the media were whipped into a frenzy, of wonderful quirky, kinky snippets, to be released slowly, so as to prolong the Public's lust for the Low Down Dirt. No doubt the Womens magazines had field days, courting exclusive interviews with the perpetrators of the Dirty Deeds. The Wounded Innocent, I am sure, featured prominently, & told their Side of The Story. I don't really know about that, as I don't buy or read those magazines, even in the wating rooms of Dentists & Doctors.
The Hero made tearful promises, when hauled over the coals by his Code. The I-don't-know-what-came-over-me, I-am-very-sorry-&-love-Princess-Puss-more-than-life, & Would-never-put-the-Game-into-disrepute-or-shame. (Though, to me, what the Hell the Code is doing, poking it's nose into the bedrooms, & knickers of the Players, rather defies explanation.) Fines were paid to the Club, I think, the Princess Puss came back to the marriage bed. All was seemingly forgiven.
But the Cracks in the Persona of Willie Numnutz had begun. They had merely been plastered over, or caked in a layer of heavy Max Factor. It was not long before Numnutz was at it again, with some other Puss. This time Princess Puss left for good. More juicy stories for the media to slather over.
I haven't followed the Numnutz saga fully. I have gaping holes in my knowledge of the story. He is however, back in the Media Spotlight. Another Miss Puss has been assaulted. Another Player in The Code has been assaulted- I think- as I say, my knowledge is shakey here.
Last night as I watched his ever balding image on the screen, I wondered how much blame should be attached to media, & a ghoulish public, for helping to create this 'monster'. He was lauded & lifted to false heights. He was made to believe he was 'Special' by continued publicity. As he spiralled into deeper & deeper murk, it seemed he craved attention, more & more. I think his Ball skills in the Code fell off. He was Let Go.
Is it ever really fair to elevate the players in these Codes to the ludicrous heights they are lifted? Their feet, after all are made of clay, just as ours are. Is the public just as guilty as the Press for creating these hideous monsters.
All because they happened to have a little talent in one part of their life.
I suppose it is akin to the movie world & the poor hunted creatures there, who become increasingly bizarre, & finally lose the plot.
Crowded House, Don't Dream It's Over.

21 comments:

Mary said...

I pay way more attention to things for potential photographs now I am blogging.

Oh that revolting footy player.

Didn't Paul Kelly write a song about it? I'm off to google that!

Mary said...

PS yes Paul Kelly wrote "Sure Got Me" about the love triangle.

Joyce said...

I think the media is responsible for many woes, such as Lady Diana and Brittney Spears. Not to mention over-rater sports "heroes".

Anonymous said...

Well yes it is a tricky one re the media. It seems to be generally felt that when people achieve celebrity status they cease to be human and don't care what is said about them or mind having no privacy - it the price they must pay for fame. But like you say we are all just the same deep down - and these celebrities have the same frailties as the rest of us. I have no idea why so many people want to know the intimate details of their private lives.

I have a big soft spot for Amy Winehouse and the impossibility of anyone actually reaching out and saving her (from the media and from herself) always makes me very sad.

I know nothing about these footballers though.

Glad the little one is enjoying school.

BBC said...

Big wind storms have blacked parts of this area this year, a few areas didn't have power for weeks, but I haven't lost power here.

I don't take very many great pictures, but that doesn't stop me from taking them.

Cute little gardens. I've been collecting things for a sort of Zen garden.

Mrs. Goodneedle said...

... all that glitters isn't gold at all... great post, Meggie!

Q said...

Thank you for moth photo! Such a beauty!
I do not do media, only blogs!
Hope you dry out soon.
Sherry

Tanya Brown said...

I'm happy to read that SG is enjoying his start at school. He seems like such a nice, bright little fellow. Reading about his exploits warms my heart.

A pox on Mitsubishi and the unethical lawnmower repairman from your previous post. I know that comments about the latter would have left a sour taste in my mouth if I was in your shoes. However, the fact remains that the lawnmower was a nice gift and you did a good thing. These days, when something breaks, one almost always hears the saw about "it'll be cheaper to buy another than fix it". It doesn't seem to have much to do with the quality of item, just the hourly wages of repairmen and a general mentality that goods are disposable. "Fine," I always tell them, "give it back and I'll have a go at it myself."

Adored your description of the Numnutz saga, as always.

ancient one said...

I blame the media. Even if we don't care, they push it on tv. They build people up to make them "stars"..then tear them down.

Rosie said...

Hi Meggie, I share your delight in trying to take photos for my blog. I look at things with much more attention to detail. However I have problems seeing well enough to know whether my shots are in focus. I am very short sighted, and I need reading glasses, and never seem to get the cobination of glasses and contact lenses correct! I point the camera, shoot, take a lot of photos and hope for the best. Sometimes the best happens...

The Sagittarian said...

Meggie, I'm not sure who you are referring to given there have been so many lately!! :-)
As for storms, I love them. When I was a kid my Nana used to take me and my cousin to Long Bay for holidays. It is a small Bay out the back of Akaroa, anyway I recall one night she was in another caravan playing cards with some other "oldies" and my cousin and I were in the 'van by ourselves when lightening storm struck. My cousin went nuts covering up everything silver as she was convinced we were going to be struck down dead!
I love you flower pix by the way, encouraged me to get into my garden and take some of my own...watch my Tale(s)! cheers, Amanda

Pauline said...

Good read - I always enjoy stopping by. I am going to try my hand at one of those little gardens!

Joke said...

We sent Florida weather down your way. I hope you liked it!

-J.

Jeanette said...

Hi Meggie, Oh I saw the wild storms on the news, pleased you were uneffected by them..All I will say about the footy star he is a Bloody Idiot,there goes his media jobs.. but the magazines will pay him big money for his stories...

smilnsigh said...

Sorry about the storms, but glad you escaped troubles.

Ahhh yes, the media. But... the media would not keep dishing out, that which no one paid any attention to. So, I guess everyone {who reads the stuff] shares in the *blame.*

What's to do? I don't know. Guess we can try to avoid clicking on the weird stories. And buying the printed versions of them... -sigh-

Mari-Nanci

Pam said...

Just catching up with blogs - I was interested in your post about burning letters. My dad died last year and had always talked about having all my mother's letters from when they were separated - before they were engaged - during the war. And when he died, my mother found them and destroyed them. I was so frustrated! I do take your point - they were her words - but on the other hand, they were family history too. Sigh.

Lucy said...

A sorry tale!

Those little gardens are sweet. they're lovely things to do with kids too, you only need moss and leaves and twigs...

Mike said...

Sports stars, movie stars, and politicians. My God how I wish they would all go away.

Sounds like your news media treats these people the same as ours does.

david santos said...

Hi Meggie

Excellent post!
Thank you.

Linda G. said...

I love those little gardens! It's really nice that they're made form "found" stuff:)

His Office, My Studio said...

This past summer we were without power for four days. Our neighbor behind us had power the whole time.