Magickal Graphics

a time for change...

elizabeth evatt - first female judge of an australian high court and first chief justice of the family court of australia - stated many years ago that "we are not by constitution a christian country" - that statement has stayed with me  for many years and often helped reinforce my beliefs - 'smash the church, smash the state' was an imperative of the womyn's movement in the 70s and often helped sustain me... the separation of church and state - it is an absolute necessity in a free world...

although with the amount of christian 'celebrations' we adhere to you would never know we were a multicultural, multi-belief population, a non-christian country... you'd never know more than a third of the population doesn't believe in any religion at all - but then, you have to wonder how many ordinary people within the percentage of those considered christian  only identify with religion at certain times - christmas, easter - perhaps it's just easier for them to go through the motions - after all, let's face it, no child is born religious - it's purely an indoctrinated, learned behaviour from parents!!!!! what can i say - stop fucking brainwashing your kids with a mysoginistic patriarchal religious fantasy...


i'm surprised at the number of people that have said to me recently they're not christian, they just celebrate christmas because they always have... here's something novel - let's change it - let's still have a holiday, but at some other time of the year for something more worthwhile... perhaps international womyns day,  or any one of the struggles that have been fought by ordinary people - maybe a time special to our indigenous population, or new years day for new beginnings... maybe a children's day seeing so many people say "it's just for the kids anyway"... perhaps we could all just choose a time that means something significant to us - now that would truly be political and religious equality...

for some of us the last week has been a time to hide away - i certainly find it hard to listen to all of the talk of murdered non-human animals being basted and trussed and stuffed for human consumption - all i can think of is the horror of their lives and the grotesqueness of their deaths for this over-indulgent time of gluttony... huh, and this the so-called christian time of compassion - but for who? definitely not the animals - nor most humans from what's happening in the world today!!!!

so while many consumed misery and death while bonding with family, i decided it was time to watch a documentary i'd bought a while ago - 'earthlings' narrated by joaquin phoenix - it's about nature, animals and humankind - i wept for the animals, and felt despair for humanity...

i gained some respect for joaquin phoenix after listening to his narration, which encouraged me to read something about him - i learned he'd been a vegan since he was 3 - now that doesn't really say much but for the fact he's now 36 and still vegan!!! he won an humanitarian award for his social justice work including his contribution to this documentary... thank fuck, all is not lost with this generation - there is hope in the world yet!!!

do you consider yourself a compassionate person? then why not view 'earthlings' online... it's only right that you watch it - after all, if you eat or wear animals then you are complicit in the horror that is their life because you 'benefit' by them, so you owe them that much at least - to see what brutality is inflicted on them for you... to see what savagery humans are capable of - perhaps if you see, the world might change rather than stay stuck in this rut...

roll on new year - and hopefully a new, compassionate world where people take a stand against speciesism, rather than go along with 'tradition' - after all, we are all earthlings...

my generation - or, another one bites the dust...

what a lovely day i had monday... caught up with larry the librarian and got to meet his little adopted girl lottie who came for the visit too... she is a real sweetie and will be a wonderful, loyal companion... of course i didn't answer the phone when it rang - hey, i had visitors and as they weren't staying long i did the courteous thing and let the phone go to message bank - i also wasn't ready to deal with an emergency should there have been one!!!

eventually i checked the messages... my mother had rung - there'd been another death in the (extended) family - yet another from 'my generation'...

you have to wonder how much grief a person can cope with - how resilient we are... my dear childhood friend jennie has had such a hard couple of years... her mother (aunty al) died on the 18th december, 2008 - then her beautiful elderly canine companion cara died 12 months ago - on top of that benji, another furry friend and companion, died only 4 weeks ago... and just yesterday her only sibling - her brother jeff - died at 52 years of age... i'm thinking of you jen - your pain was palpable last night when we spoke...

jeff contracted an infection in hospital so, of course, they opted for antibiotic treatment - you'd think he was in the right place, being in hospital already (but not for anything life-threatening!)... not so - unfortunately they couldn't get the drip into his arm on the first try, so they then attempted to insert it into the other arm - they bungled that one too, with a 'clot' quickly developing - he was dead within 10 minutes... so very, very sad... goodbye jeff...

death leaves a heartache no one can heal,
love leaves a memory no one can steal ~ the quote garden

homophobia - still around and still brutal...

on receiving my latest email update from change.org i read with horror the story of millicent gaika, a 30 year old south african womon who was beaten, strangled, tortured and raped for five hours by a man as he screamed that he would “cure” her of her lesbianism...

'corrective rape' they call it - a term used to describe the rape of a lesbian with the aim of 'turning' her heterosexual - the implication being that this form of rape is justifiable because it's a 'rehabilitation process' - a necessary punishment - and therefore not a crime against womyn...

sadly the horrifying reality is that "more than 500 “corrective rapes” are reported in South Africa each year, and more than 30 South African lesbians have been murdered because of their sexuality over the past decade. Worse, for every 100 men charged with rape in South Africa, 96 of them walk free..." you can read more here or sign the petition below to have this heinous brutality declared a hate crime...

Petitions by Change.org|Start a Petition »

and still more violently acted out homophobia with this disturbing article from reuters uk office...

"Girl killed gay man in "Clockwork Orange" attack.  An 18-year-old girl was facing jail on Thursday after being found guilty of a homophobic attack which one witness described as being like something out of the film "A Clockwork Orange. 

Former public schoolgirl Ruby Thomas was convicted of the manslaughter of 62-year-old Ian Baynham, who died 18 days after the drink-fuelled assault in Trafalgar Square." ... read more here


shameful isn't it that there is so much violent abuse in this world - so many more horrifying stories waiting to be heard... the brutal and callous treatment of any sentient being is hard to fathom in this world full of incredible beauty and natural wonder...

for those who were touched by tony the tiger's plight, an update...

sadly, this beautiful boy is to be psychologically and physically tormented for another 12 months... the action to free tony from his concrete and steel prison has been unsuccessful with the renewal of the truck stop owner's permit to keep him as a 'roadside attraction' for yet another year - but the fight to have him surrendered to a big cat sanctuary will continue throughout 2011... read more of tony's story here...

as it's that time of year - yes, summer! - nature's flourishing and abundant time (thanks Lily for sharing your lovely garden bounty of herbs and veg with me!) - i'd be remiss if i didn't wish you a happy summer solstice for tuesday 21 december...

simply magical...

it caught my attention earlier in the week when i heard of the death  of norman hetherington, puppeteer and creator of mr squiggle - one of australia's longest running childrens television programs... ohhh such childhood memories he helped create – magical moments of a black and white era of visual wonders - a very different technological world to now…

it was a time when simple pleasures exhilarated a child… mr squiggle entered our lives in 1959 (television only began transmission here in 1956!) – i was 4 years old – i was enthralled by this moon-dwelling marionette with a pencil nose who arrived in a rocket - and the grumpy talking blackboard used as an easel by mr squiggle... and of course the presenters - always female (obviously more empathetic to other-worldly beings!!!) - one of the longest stints being patricia lovell - 'miss pat' from 1960-1975...

i was totally mesmerised by that pencil nose and how quickly a few squiggles could be turned into a wonderful work of art (like i said, i was 4 – and i didn’t know someone else was pulling the strings!!)

simplicity is enduring though – after 40 years in production mr squiggle only ended in 1999 - although its black and white mystique was replaced by colour in the 70s, i guess it still held a unique appeal for kids...

it was a real family affair - margaret, norman's life companion and business partner, wrote the scripts, while he operated and voiced the puppets, with daughter rebecca a puppeteering assistant in the 80s and presenter in the 90s... here's a clip from a 1996 television report - a mini documentary about the beginnings and making of mr squiggle... enjoy...

and congratulations to larry the librarian and partner who have recently adopted lovely lottie - i certainly hope to meet her in the near future...

a cruel existence...

meet "tony the tiger"... this magnificent boy has suffered - you certainly couldn't call it living - in a chain link and concrete enclosure at a truck stop in louisiana for all of his 10 years - a life of misery spent as a 'roadside attraction', his only protection being a cage and sign asking people not to throw things at him...

i can't begin to imagine the psychological trauma of being subjected to constant harassment, noise, flood lights and exhaust fumes in a space no bigger than a couple of parking spots - 24 hours a day, 7 days a week... then there's the living on concrete - their natural habitat ranges from tropical forests to birch woodlands, mangrove swamps and tall grass jungles... and to do it alone, with no other tigers to interact with - in 2003, after repeated violations of the animal welfare act, three other tigers were removed, but tony was left behind...

the "owner's" permit to keep tony comes up for renewal on december 14 - please sign wspa's petition letting the louisiana dept of wildlife & fisheries know this treatment is cruel and inhumane and that tony should be surrendered to a big cat sanctuary - a tiger's lifespan in captivity can be anywhere from 16-20 years so please help him experience something better than the horror he has endured...