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Electrical storms are pretty common back home (and apparently Darwin is the Lightning Capital of the world!) so I'm not too fussed when we have an electrical storm in the big smoke. HOWEVER, we don't have too many Sydney Harbour Bridges spanning the Katherine River. This picture is pretty impressive! Taken from The Sydney Morning Herald.

Had a pretty eventful week. My back that I sprained last week hasn't given me too many problems but that's because I've had quite alot of treatment on it (and getting a back rub about every second day isn't something that I'm going to complain about much...) What's been frustrating is that rehearsal director is erring on the side of caution and not pushing me in rehearsals much, which is bad because I really do need the practise! And if my back fails now, it'd probably be better to know sooner than later. On the plus side, wow have I got a great team to support me and my ageing body, I think I'm getting great treatment from the two guys that I'm seeing, my osteo and my masseur. They've been indispensible. Got one more massage before the opening of clan which at this moment, according to the Countdown block on this page, is only two days, twenty hours, 52 minutes and two seconds away!

I had a massage on the Tuesday and the guy that I see is in Woolloomooloo. Great. The place is jam-packed with people saying hello to Mary, I've never seen so many people down there. Afterwards I had to go back to the Opera House to see a show at 7:30 which, of course, happened to be the time when the OTHER Queen was docking. Cabbed it but Macquarie Street was jam-packed with cars and people. Made it to the show just in time, though I guess it didn't help that I was busy taking photos.

Snuck into The Studio late for David Hoyle's SOS, while he was busy bitching about the two Queens and encouraging us to take matters into our own hands and blow them up. Ooops! I had my camera hanging off my neck and hoped that he wouldn't ask me to show him the pictures that I'd taken. Brilliant show by the way, he urged us to "kill, if necessary" people like John Howard and the gay clones, to blow up those big floating bits of metal the Queens, to level the Pyramids of Egypt (he much preferred the modern Sydney Opera House, which he was thankful to be performing in). We the people of Australia that, apparently, waited for the pedestrian crossing lights to turn green, had to be wary of being complacent because life here is so easy, that the most we have to worry about is kids on skateboards knocking us down on the street. Singing is his forte but there was, er, contemporary dance and abstract painting in there for good measure.

[On the Friday, David and two other guys got gay-bashed in North Hyde park by a group of ten guys. Bloody appalling. But, with only one more show to do for this season (and it might be a bit morbid to say this but) it would have been intriguing to see his last show, to hear what he had to say about it. Apparently he didn't dwell too much on it though.]

On the same idea of Australians being too complacent, we went and saw The Gates of Egypt. Could barely keep my eyes open for the first twenty minutes though less because of the show and more because I was pretty tired. But the show itself was pretty ordinary anyway. Yes, we the people that wait for the lights to turn green and only need to worry about wayward skateboarders must not become apathetic citizens of the world but... I just don't know. I'm supposed to care more about what's going on in the world, yes, but I certainly couldn't care all that much for the play.

Though this week we did have a chance to show how much we do care about what's going on in the world, with the arrival of Dick Cheney. "Kill, if necessary" is what we were told by David Hoyle and, I'm telling you, if I had a rocket launcher I would have shot down a couple of helicopters. They were giving me the shits. On the Friday morning the noise from the helicopters over the harbour was disrupting the meditative mood of our morning yoga class. Sounded like we were in a war zone (sorry for the hyperbole). 350 Anti-war protesters clashed with the police as they marched down George Street, disrupting traffic but apparently it's okay for ONE person (the US Vice-President, yes, but still just the ONE person) to cause road closures through the city. Put him in an unmarked car and make him wait in traffic like the rest of us, I reckon.

Last night we had a cocktail party, which was modestly attended but there was good food and, with less people arriving than expected, there was more alcohol to go around. Wasn't feeling too well the day after.

And finally, my parents called me up about the website I'm doing for their shop (Johnny's Electronics). The layout is pretty much finished and all I need is content. Dad asked if I had a couple of spare weeks to fly up and take photos for the site. AS IF! Have you seen our Bangarra schedule? Besides, there's nothing stopping him from taking the pictures himself and emailing them to me...

And now it's next week. Gotta go to bed now.

FLOOD ADVICE

ISSUED AT 3.30 PM THURSDAY 6 TH APRIL 2006.

At 3.05 pm the height of the Katherine River at the railway bridge was 18.89 metres and rising.

Water is flowing into the CBD from the Lindsay Street end but is expected to stabilize when the water level is on a par with the river level. It is not known what the exact level will be in the CBD when it stabilises, however it is expected to remain at that level for about 24 hours.

People, particularly those in low houses are advised that driving out of the Katherine North and Katherine South areas will not be possible for much longer.

We strongly advise to evacuate now.

Residents evacuating are advised to go to the Evacuation Centre at Casuarina Primary School in Casuarina Street.

People who wish to drive their own vehicles are strongly advised to leave them at the grain board yard opposite Dalgeteys in Crawford Street. A bus will then convey you to an evacuation centre. Pets can be left at the Council Depot beside Mitre 10.

People who have friends in higher areas are free to stay with them if they wish.

The next flood advice will be issued at 10.00 pm Thursday 6 th April 2006.

Road Report Number is 1800246199

The Katherine River is on the rise again. The parents, who own a shop on the main street and lost alot of stock in the 1998 Australia Day floods, say they're prepared: they've raised stuff up off the ground and moved the rest. Its been raining constantly and the water is still rising but hopefully it won't be as bad as the last big flood.

Tags: Katherine River, Northern Territory, Australia, Katherine, Flood.

Dear all

The ACTU has posted a petition on their site for Barnaby Joyce - please sign it and distribute it to as many people as possible so that the target of 10,000 signatures can be met by Friday 25 November (update: The target has been revised to 20,000, and may possibly again be revised to 50,000, since the initial target was met so rapidly).

To get his radical industrial relations legislation through the Senate, John Howard needs the vote of one critical Senator: Barnaby Joyce.

Senator Joyce has expressed grave concerns about WorkChoices, and declared last month: “I am always prepared to cross the floor, otherwise you aren’t doing your job.”

With the Senate sitting again from November 28, we now have less than a week to let Senator Joyce know that the concerns he holds about WorkChoices are valid. If Senator Joyce votes No, the Government’s legislation will be torn up.

Please sign the petition below and urge Senator Joyce to take a stand

Tags: WorkChoices, Industrial Relations, John Howard, Petition