Swan magazine april2014em

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IN THIS ISSUE FEATURES

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Art and Artists Judith Ann at Darlington 8 Chau’s Colourful Cloths 8 Art and Leisure New Director 11 Have You Ever wanted to Pot? 11 Business Card Board Community Fire and Fire Brigades City of Swan Youth Choir The Road to Recovery Registrations Open Milestone Achievements

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Education 18 Entertainment Macbeth at Marloo - Review 15 Kookaburra Outdoor Cinema 15

PAGE Gardening for Birds

Health Matters Communication Impairment Well, Well, Wellness

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Photo courtesy of 123RF

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MCC 23 Moondyne Joe Festival 14 Networking With Lesley Night Sky Notes From Parliament

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PC Surgeon Pets Secure Boundry Fences

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Rotary 25 SAFE 24

Finance 21 Food 10

The Idler The Voice of Swan Hills

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Gardening Bushfire Garden Open Cooler Nights A Green Pool

Weddings Couturier Gowns Highland Dress for Grooms What’s On

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COVER PICTURE: Bride of Summer

Printed in Western Australia by Vanguard Press using petroleum free inks and green electricity on plantation sourced paper. Both paper manufacturer and printer are certified to ISO14001, the highest environmental standard.

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HEALTH MATTERS COMMUNICATION IMPAIRMENT SIMONE DEMPSTER

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ational peak body Speech Pathology Australia states that over 1.1 million Australians are having difficulty communicating right now.

There will be someone you know who is experiencing these difficulties – a young child who is not talking like their peers or is difficult to understand, someone who stutters, a person who has literacy problems because they cannot process what they hear, or someone who has an intellectual or physical disability, autism, hearing loss, head injury, disease or progressive neurological disease that affects their ability to communicate.

WHAT IS COMMUNICATION IMPAIRMENT? Speech: saying the sounds in words so that people can understand what is being said.

For example, a child who doesn’t say words clearly or an adult who slurs their speech after a head injury.

Language: the exchange of ideas using words, usually in spoken or written form. For example, a child who has trouble understanding and following instructions or an adult who can’t find the right words after a stroke.

Literacy: reading and understanding what is read, and communicating in written form.

Social Communication: how we communicate - interpreting the context of a conversation, understanding non-verbal information and the social rules of communication that are needed to develop a relationship with another person.

Voice: using the vocal cords or voice box to create positive results over a lifetime for people produce speech. For example, a person who with communication difficulties and society as a frequently loses their voice or a person who has whole. had surgery for throat cancer.

SPEECH PATHOLOGISTS Fluency: commonly known as stuttering. This Speech pathology, previously called speech problem is usually first noticed when a child starts therapy, is the diagnosis, management and putting sentences together and can continue into treatment of individuals who are unable to adulthood. communicate effectively or who have difficulty with feeding and swallowing.

Using assessment tools, speech pathologists are able to diagnose each person’s specific problem and devise a treatment plan that best suits their needs.

Speech pathologists are specialists who work with people across their entire lifespan. An adult might visit a speech pathologist to help them understand and find the right words to use after a stroke, while a child might need treatment to help their expressive language or receptive language.

Speech pathologists also work with Augmentative and Alternative Communication (ACC), devices that help people who find it difficult to speak or This year marks the launch of the International write to communicate more easily.

Communication Project 2014 (ICP2014), which brings international professional bodies Killer facts about communication disorders and speech pathologists together to raise • Three in 1000 newborns have hearing loss, understanding of communication disorders and which without intervention can affect their how they impact on people’s lives. speech, language and literacy.

Communication disorders limit a person’s • Many children with autism, Down syndrome ability to participate fully in family life, their and cerebral palsy begin life with a communication community, education and professionally. disorder.

The negative impacts of communication • In the average primary classroom, three disorders are well documented and include a children have a communication disorder – that’s higher risk of literacy problems, lower academic 12% of children in Australian primary schools. achievement, low self-esteem, and mental health • Children with a language impairment are six problems. times more likely to have a reading problem than Studies have also shown that communication children without. difficulties can lead to behavioural issues and • 14% of 15 year olds have only basic literacy an increased vulnerability to participation in skills – that’s almost four in every Year 10 criminal behaviour. classroom.

Three key messages from the ICP2014 are: • 46% of young Australian offenders may have a • Communication is vital to life – it’s how we language impairment. connect with the world • There is a high correlation between • Communication professionals make a critical communication difficulties and poor mental difference – without access to key services, people health. with communication disorders are at a lifelong • 85% of those with Parkinson’s disease have disadvantage. voice, speech and/or swallowing difficulties.

• Early intervention is key – research shows that • At least 30% of people post-stroke suffer loss early identification and intervention programs of language (aphasia) – at least 15,000 people in Australia each year.

• Over 13,000 Australians use electronic communication aids to get their message across.

Courtesy of Splice Therapy Source: Speech Pathology Australia, Nation for Communication Campaign, 2014 and the International Communication Project 2014 (ICP2014)

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HEALTH MATTERS WELL, WELL, WELLNESS EDDIE ENEVER - Health Mentor, Naturopath

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f asked, could you define the term wellness? Is it being fit? Dis-ease free? Is it happiness? Wealth?

Or is it a combination of these?

My guess is if you were to ask ten people this question you would get ten very different answers.

So what is ‘wellness’? To understand wellness we need to look at what constitutes health. There are many facets of health which include, but not limited to, your emotional, mental, physical, spiritual and the often forgotten, social side of health.

These components of health are also in this day and age influenced by other factors such as finances, so financial health is also an important part of wellness. I think we are all aware of the influence money issues can have on your mental and emotional health. An absence of one or more of these components brings the organism out of balance and into a state of dis-ease.

I believe that true health is a balance of these five crucial components. Often in our patients we see two or more of these sides of health out of balance or even completely missing.

The job of a qualified holistic natural medicine practitioner is to provide the tools, knowledge, guidance and motivation to balance these facets of health.

Very often patients present with physical ailments such as digestive disturbances (bloating, diarrhoea, constipation and reflux) but when analysing what is going on in their lives as a whole we find high levels of stress, quite often inappropriate stress at that.

These stress levels put the body into a physiological stress response – the fight or flight response. The fight or flight response is a primordial condition our body goes into in response to stressors.

Back in the day, when we were strolling around the land hunting and gathering, if a sabre

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tooth tiger jumped out to challenge us our body would automatically jump into the fight or flight response. We have two options – fight, or run like hell.

When in this state our body’s resources are diverted from organ systems such as the digestive and reproductive systems into the muscles and the nervous system where they are required for a quick and powerful response.

This results in slowed, sluggish function of the gastro-intestinal and reproductive systems.

In the gut, digestive secretions are decreased leading to poor digestion in the stomach which has a knock on effect of fermentation in the intestines producing noxious gases that bloat and can also be a major cause of reflux. In the reproductive system, menstrual cycle is slowed, egg release is delayed and hence fertility is compromised.

Now, there aren’t too many sabre tooth tigers floating around these days, but the modern day sabre tooth tiger comes in disguise as your grumpy boss, bank manager, telco company or tax man, still causing this response – the end result is an emotional dis-ease manifesting as a physical ailment – gastro-oesophageal reflux disease, bloating, infertility etc.

Are you beginning to see how an imbalance in one facet of health affects the other facets of health? This is the beauty of seeing a qualified naturopath.

They look at you from a wholistic standpoint and treat the cause of your dis-ease rather than supress the symptoms which are just cries for help anyway.

If you are unhappy with your health in any of these areas, consider seeing a qualified naturopath to get you back on track, balanced and feeling 100%.

Balance is the key to wellness.

Courtesy of Mundaring Wellness Centre

COMMUNITY FIRE AND FIRE BRIGADES

arch 2014 saw the Darlington Volunteer Bush Fire Brigade celebrate its fortieth anniversary, with a formal dinner. Whilst the Darlington district has had a Fire Brigade on and off since 1948, the current Darlington Volunteer Bush Fire Brigade (Inc) was formed in 1974 and has faithfully served the Hills community ever since.

The DFB was involved in setting up aerial fire suppression, now an important part of DFES firefighting operations.

It was also a leader in establishing mobile command facilities with one of the first ‘Incident Control Vehicles’.

The Darlington Brigade has steadily grown, resulting in two major station extensions/ renovations and is the base for up to five vehicles and two trailers.

There are also strong links to the Mundaring Fire School, Australia’s only fully volunteer operated firefighter training facility.

LMDRF The first round of payments for the Lord Mayor’s Distress Relief Fund has been distributed to those impacted by the Parkerville fire.

A total of seventy applications were reviewed by the Shire’s Recovery Finance Sub-committee and sent to the LMDRF Board for approval.

Payments were made this week totalling $1,078,000.

The Shire expects to receive more applications for the Fund and further rounds of funding will be made when other claims are received.

As of 11 March, a total $2,419,623.77 had been donated to the LMDRF. Donations are still being accepted.

All funds go direct to those who have suffered personal hardship due to the damage caused by the fire.

Application forms are available online at www.mundaring.wa.gov.au or phone 9290 6628.

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COMMUNITY CITY OF SWAN YOUTH CHOIR

GARDENING BUSHFIRE GARDEN OPEN FUNDRAISER

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he City of Swan will soon have its very own youth choir with residents invited to audition for the chance to land one of the 100 available places.

The choir will have the opportunity to perform at venues around the City of Swan at official City functions and by invitation to other special events.

Auditions for the choir will be held from 10am till 4pm on May 4 2014 at the Midland Town Hall and are open to all eight to seventeen year olds who live within the City of Swan.

Organisers expect a high demand for places in the youth choir and so to ensure fairness the auditions will be run along the lines of the Australia’s Got Talent model.

In addition, those successful will need to commit to attending Monday night rehearsals at Woodlake Community Centre from 7:30pm to 8:30pm.

City youth wishing to audition for the choir will need to come along to the Midland Town Hall on May 4 at 10am sharp and stay right through until 4pm.

During this time participants will take part in both individual and group auditions.

Those attending the auditions are requested to bring their own lunch and drinks as these will not be provided.

For further information please call Patty Williams on 0428 882 778 or email forgottentreasure@bigpond.com

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ills people helping Hills people is the motivation behind a Bushfire Garden Open Fundraiser being held in Sawyers Valley on Saturday 12 April 2014.

The Hills Group, Gardeners’ Circle WA is hosting this event with the proceeds going to help the rebuilding of gardens damaged or destroyed by the bushfire that swept through Parkerville, Stoneville and Mt Helena, in the Shire of Mundaring, in January this year.

Fifty-seven homes were lost in the fire and another 203 properties affected, many of which were severely damaged.

The majority of the forty-one members of the Hills Group live in the Shire of Kalamunda, with others drawn from communities to the north and south along the Darling Scarp.

What they all have in common is a love of the Hills environment and an HILLS GROUP, GARDENERS’ CIRCLE W.A. appreciation of the inherent risk of bushfires. It’s for this reason that they are extending a helping hand to those fellow Hills folk who have been affected by the January fire.

Under the banner Autumn Colours the fundraiser gives a rare opportunity to enjoy the delights of a private arboretum of more than two “Autumn Colours” hundred predominantly deciduous trees.

This is a rare opportunity to enjoy the autumnal delights of a 5

The many varieties of unusual plantings include, Acers, Malus, Elms, acre property featuring an arboretum of more than 200 Prunus, and Pyrus, along with an oak walk. An extensive cottage garden, with predominantly deciduous trees, with many varieties of Acer, Malus, Elms, Prunus, Pyrus and an Oak Walk. A large cottage garden has roses, salvias, wind flowers and camellias, among many others, is beautifully roses, salvias, wind flowers and camellias, among many others and set on this five acre property. there’s a veggie patch, Olive Grove, Sandalwood Grove and walk-in netted orchard.

Those who take a leisurely walk along its rustic pathways will be rewarded with sightings of many unusual specimens in the lush and densely SATURDAY 12th April, 2014 planted garden beds.

Further away are a sandalwood grove, an olive grove, a veggie patch 10.00am – 4.00 pm and a netted walk-in orchard, all of which are worth exploring. at As well as the garden, other attractions on the day include plant 655 Fagan Street, SAWYERS VALLEY stalls operated by Hills nursery people and stalls selling donated garden paraphernalia, gardening books and magazines.

Adults - $5 entry. No charge for children.

Morning and afternoon teas will be available and, all being well, musical entertainment from Hills traditional folk group “Black Chook Morning & Afternoon Teas Chutney”, or “The Black Chooks”, as they are commonly known, will liven up Plants & functional & decorative garden the afternoon. Matthew Lunn will talk on Designing Fire Retardant Gardens items for sale. during the afternoon.

57 homes were lost and 203 properties severely damaged This Bushfire Garden Open Fundraiser is being held at 655 Fagan by the Parkerville bushfire that spread across the Eastern Street, Sawyers Valley, a little further east along Great Eastern Highway than Hills in January. Funds raised at this event will assist all those affected to re-establish their gardens. the Stonehouse, which has been a Hills landmark for many years.

Adult Entry is $5.00, with no charge for children. Free onsite parking For further information: Contact Leslie on 9295 0563 will be provided.

For further information contact Leslie Richardson on 9295 0563.

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GARDENING GARDENING FOR BIRDS COOLER NIGHTS GEOFF FRANCIS

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his series provides a list of gardening tips, including cultivation, soil types, fertilising ith cooler nights, the chainsaws are starting and mulching, and water-wise gardening, to make to get active again. A common problem sure that your native garden is a success and that arises, especially on smaller machines, is the attracts birdlife. chain de railing, or jumping off the bar.

The hard fact is that the only way a chain can jump off the cutter bar is when the chain is too MODIFYING SOIL CONDITIONS Clay soils - dig in compost or manure and add loose. A correctly tensioned chain cannot jump off the rails. Now of course, you may ask, why gypsum to make the soil more friable. Raising the soil level slightly will also assist drainage. Often does it get loose, or how tight should it be.

Firstly, the chain through normal use will the soil level only needs to be raised by about 30 “stretch” i.e. every individual rivet bearing wears cm. Sandy soils - dig in organic matter and keep a little leading to the chain increasing in length. well mulched.

Hence regular adjustment is essential.

This is more noticeable in a new chain as it FERTILISING “stretches” more as it beds in during the first ten Australian native plants have evolved in poor soils and are very sensitive to artificial fertilisers, minutes of use.

Lack of correct lubrication will also exacerbate especially phosphorus. the situation with each bearing wearing even Generally, clay soils are naturally fertile and shouldn't require any added fertiliser, while sandy more.

Now, in relation to tightness. You can tighten soils are low in fertility as nutrients leach out with the chain until there is no slack at all when the bar fast drainage. is supported upward. As long as you can turn the Only use low-phosphorus fertilizers especially chain (ALWAYS FORWARD), the machine can too. formulated for Australian native plants or mulch Smaller machines have narrower bars which instead. Both clay and sandy soil types respond tend to allow easier chain jumping off. The larger well to thick layers of organic matter used as nose on a bigger machine tends to reduce this mulch. behaviour.

Another common comment we hear is that “I MULCHING was only cutting small stuff”. Well unfortunately, WHAT DOES MULCHING DO? the smaller twigs also tend to aggravate the Mulch helps to maintain soil moisture and problem as the chain flicks as it hits the twigs. reduces or eliminates the need to water artificially.

Larger timber keeps the chain under tension and In addition, as mulch breaks down, nitrogen and reduces the tendency to “flick” . potassium are replenished in sandy soils.

In summary, keep the chain tight. adjust it as Mulch also provides humus (nutrient-rich soon as any slackness appears especially when earth formed when plant or animal material machine or chain is new. decays), which improves the soil, and can reduce Courtesy of Eastern Hills Saws and Mowers weed growth.

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A GREEN POOL GEOFF FRANCIS

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s the evenings cool and the strong heat of summer abates, it may well be worth considering some sort of heating to extend your pool’s usable season.

Some pool heater systems are quite expensive to run, but not all. In fact a solar heat pump costs as little as $2.00 per day to warm your pool water.

These solar heat pumps have some considerable advantages over the traditional panels on the roof. ie very simple to install, no climbing on roofs no likelyhood of wind damage etc.

A solar heat pump uses the principal of a refrigerator, but in reverse. They can extend the useable life of your pool by approximately six weeks in autumn and another six in spring before the warm weather really sets in.

Whatever heating system you choose, always combine it with a quality pool blanket. These not only help keep the pool cleaner, they also reduce evaporation and heat loss to the atmosphere.

Keep swimming Courtesy of Eastern Hills Pools Supplies

SAWS AND MOWERS

cnr

Grt Est Hwy & Chipper St, Mundaring

9295 2466

~ Sales ~ Spares ~

Repairs

WHAT CAN YOU USE? Any organic material that is free of disease is useful. Use leaf fall, grass clippings and path sweepings as mulch on garden beds. See what is available at your local nursery or local council, and ask what they recommend.

You could invest in a home mulcher and turn all your garden prunings into mulch, or a cheaper option is to just keep all garden clippings reasonably small and put them straight back onto the garden. Nothing needs to be wasted.

Continued in our nest issue.

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MOONDYNE JOE FESTIVAL LET JOE GO

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he town of Toodyay will step back in time yet again to celebrate for the thirtieth time the annual Moondyne Festival, bringing the infamous Avon Valley bushranger Moondyne Joe and his escapades to life.

The Festival celebrates Toodyay's colonial past and the town is transformed into a lively festival of community fun and entertainment.

Locals and guests dress in 19th century costume for a colourful procession down the main street, headed by the musket-firing Rifle and Artillery Regiment 1860 with the boisterous entourage of colonial Floozies yelling "Let Joe Go!" There will be the favourites from past years - street theatre of Joe and his gang wreaking havoc throughout the town. Joe may be found flaunting with the floozies, defying the tedious temperance ladies whilst trying to evade the local constabulary, intent on locking him up and throwing away the key.

As well as the street entertainment, there will be a variety of stalls, displays, performances and demonstrations. Arts Toodyay present their regular Art Exhibition in the CWA Hall, while the Irish and Highland Dancers and Toodyay Community Singers provide entertainment along the main street.

There will be vintage cars and bicycles on

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the Morscecodians Society, investigate with the Sherlock Holmes Society of WA, admire the displays of the Hand Tool Preservation Society of WA and Trachmach (restored farm machinery as well as bygone household items).

Visiting the Antique and Collectors Fair is also a must. The Festival flows through the main town site to the beautiful Duidgee Park resting on the banks of the Avon River which will be filled with specialty craft and tantalizing food stalls.

Events include the log chop, stilt walkers, Clydsedale cart rides, shearing, blacksmithing, cleavage and moustache competitions, woodturning, Kalamunda Pipe Band and the ever popular Swaggie Camp.

Enjoy Bush poetry and Moondyne Joe laments in the courtyard of the Newcastle Gaol throughout the day.

Families will be delighted joining in the circus school children's games in the park and perhaps having a ride on the Toodyay Miniature Railway, Lil Louie and the Toodyay Lions "Wiggly Worm". Face painting, balloon twisting and the delightful baby animal petting zoo will also delight visitors. Checking out the BMX bike demonstrations and workshops is also a must.

display and visitors can experience how to send and receive Morse Code Telegrams with

ENTERTAINMENT MACBETH AT MARLOO - REVIEW ROXY CALLAHAN

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hakespeare and I have never really gotten along very well. It's almost as if we speak a different language.

So when I was invited to the final dress rehearsal of Macbeth as part of a preview audience I was not entirely sure about what to expect. I studied Macbeth at school and roughly knew the plot but it seemed so confusing.

Macbeth is one of three plays put on at Marloo Theatre as part of the Shakespeare Anniversary Festival.

It's a lovely theatre, with a much bigger stage than you would expect. The stage was set as an Elizabethean theatre might be, with half-timbering and a raised smaller stage in the middle.

Macbeth is directed by Douglas SutherlandBruce, an award winning actor and director with long experience and his cast are the cream of local talent.

From the very first moment, I was hooked - creepy, discordant music that trailed off into bagpipes and eerie green light that brought the witches into focus and off we went.

The play seemed to go fast, but that was because I was so involved. The actors spoke their lines so that I understood, for the first real time, what the lines meant.

It's a big cast, and they were all good, but some were unbelievably good. Macbeth (Joe Isaia) was strong, then weak, then storming, then evil, but always riveting on stage. You just couldn't keep your eyes off him.... unless it was when Lady Macbeth was on stage.

Lady Macbeth is played by Joe's real life wife,

PROGRAMME Frozen PG USA. Director: Chris Buck & Jennifer Lee. Animated Comedy. (Ideal Family Movie) Screens: Fri 11th, Sat 12th & Sun 13th April.

Fearless optimist Anna teams up with rugged mountain man Kristoff and his loyal reindeer Sven on an epic journey encountering Everest-like conditions on the way.

A hilarious snowman Olaf joins them in a race to find Anna’s sister Elsa, whose icy powers have trapped the kingdom in an eternal winter. Laughs & slapstick a-plenty.

changes happened seamlessly, with the audience never being left in the dark and the special effects were stunning.

The supporting cast were all strong, the porter was vulgar and funny, McDuff was goodlooking and dashing and his sword fight with Macbeth was just scary. David Green was the fight choreographer and he and the actors must have spent many hours in practice.

There was one interval and the play ran for about two hours, which just flew by. Acting, direction, costume, lighting, sound effects were all very professional and I can thoroughly recommend Macbeth to you. My congratulations to everyone involved.

Macbeth runs until the 26th April and booking can be made on the TryBooking website.

Joe and Kylie Isaia as Lord and Lady Macbeth (Photo by Douglas Sutherland-Bruce)

Kylie, and she was just marvellous. She was sexy and attractive, but not evil at all. She seemed just to want to support and urge her husband rather want to be do it for the sake of herself or for sheer wickedness.

Towards the end I even felt very sorry for her as her husband goes mad (spoilers) and all her plans fall apart.

The cast was huge, with soldiers and kings and thanes as well as servants and witches all coming off and on with clockwork precision. The scene

David Green (Messenger) and Macbeth (Joe Isaia) in Marloo Theatre’s Macbeth (Photo by Amanda Minutillo)

(Easter) Stars: Tom Hanks & Emma Thompson.

Australian author of Mary Poppins P. L. Travers reflects upon her difficult childhood while meeting film maker Walt Disney who had long wanted to adapt Mary Poppins to the screen.

But Travers proved more difficult than Disney ever expected and so the long drawn out negotiations take place with much humor on both sides.

Hanks as Disney is brilliant & Emma Thompson as Travers is absolutely perfect. A multi layered film to enrapture the entire family.

Gallipoli (PG) Turkey.

Documentary. (Anzac Special) Director: Tolga Ornek.

Narrated by Sam Neill & Jeremy Irons.

Screens: Fri 25th, Sat 26th & Sun 27th April An Epic story of the battle that changed nations forever now being told from all sides of the conflict.

It all began as a show of strength against the Ottoman Empire by Great Britain and her allies.

From that it became one of the longest Saving Mr. Banks landing operations in history and one of the most (PG) USA. Drama controversial battles of WW1.

Director John Lee Hancock.

Profoundly affecting Turkey, Australia and Screens: Fri 18th, Sat 19th & Sun 20th April New Zealand.

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ART AND ARTISTS JUDITH ANN AT DARLINGTON FOR APRIL

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he pen is mightier than the sword - often said, but seldom illustrated.

Judith Ann, like Garbo and Cappuchine, she just goes by given names, is an artist whose calligraphic art works blend three dimensional low relief objects with the descriptive ethereal three lined Japanese Haiku poetry composed from observations and moments in life by herself.

Scribed expressively to create the power of the written word, the twenty-six letters of the alphabet dance on paper or canvas to flourish fluently by pen and brushwork authentically dipped in ink.

the most powerful form of communication; how modern form of expression not only on paper but you use the words, arrange the words and how also in a manner of endearment." you write the words deliver value, importance If you would like to see Judith Ann's work and impact. My intention is to push and pull my she is exhibiting at the Darlington Gallery for the nibs into alluring letters that deliver the "wow" month of April. factor with a message to evoke emotion."

Courtesy of Darlington Gallery Shape, along with the grace of line and curves, unite the flow of rhythm and movement enabling her to embellish the name on a place card, scribe hundreds of invitations or hand paint illuminated capital letters/initials and quotations into a leather hand bound book.

Her ardour and aim for beautiful writing inspires her to demonstrate, exhibit, teach and share; therefore enabling her to spread the word with a fashionable resurgence to an era of vogue elegance.

As Judith Ann herself says: "My quest evolves to add another feather to my quill, broaden one's nib and spread One of Judith Ann’s stunning works on display at Darlington Gallery this April the art of beautiful writing to dwell as a

CHAU’S COLOURFUL CLOTHS SASHA WASLEY

Judith Ann with an example of her calligraphic-based art

Creatively, Judith Ann's letter formations are inspired by several masterful influences; from the French wrought iron smith Edgar Brandt, to the organic, sinuous and sensuous curve of the gilded European Rococo style.

Embellishment is also motivated for her by designers William Morris, Tricia Guild and Caroline Quartermaine with their use of the glamorous, romantic patterns and colours.

Judith Ann's love and passion for beautiful writing evolved from watching her father's flowing signature in childhood.

She says: "I am a firm believer that words are Rosita Chau, Artist (Photograph courtesy of Sasha Wasley)

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osita Chau was born in bustling, industrial Hong Kong, and this environment led to Chau's passion for stillness and delicate beauty, expressed in her commitment to fine detail.

Later, Chau lived in Indonesia, where she was influenced by fabric printing methods, especially Batik, as well as the folkloric characters and the vivid colours of the Chinese culture.

A new exhibition entitled Coloured Cloths is an exploration of textures, colours and patterns by painter Rosita Chau.

Chau works with oil and acrylic on canvas to achieve unique and evocative representations, mostly of still life subjects. Her visual signature 8

is patterns-within-patterns, depicted as printed china, fabrics and artworks within her own paintings. When Chau migrated to Australia, she attended Claremont School of Art for two years.

She has been painting for the past nine years, six of which she has lived in the Perth hills.

Rosita cherishes tranquillity, which emerges in her loving dedication to the texture, reflection and shadow in her painting.

Vibrant colours and characters dance among composed settings with warmth and intelligence.

Within the patterns, smaller patterns play.

A selection of Chau's works will be on display at the Café 2 Gallery throughout April.

THE IDLER

The Idle Thoughts of an Idle Mind MANDURAH MOVE

would catch one, at the edge of the water with a gidgie, but we were always very careful about their spines – because a cobbler sting inflicts hours of excruciating pain that is only relieved by putting your hand or foot into almost boiling water.

Nowadays, there is a total ban on catching cobbler in the Swan and Canning Rivers until 2017, to help rebuild their stocks.

In the hills, Robbie, my Dad and I built frog gardens and a huge shade house. I struck up a friendship with Professor Mike Tyler, legendary man of frogs, and learned how to breed them.

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am a water person. My family all know that. I am obsessed with things that live in water. Frogs and tadpoles. Fish, and octopus and sharks.

Images and stories about them fill my Twitter stream and my Facebook pages. Grrk, The Motorbike Frog is a story, still half written.

Before I went to live in Stoneville with my beloved husband, Robbie, we had lived in South Perth and Como for years.

First, it was just the children and myself. We lived between the zoo and the Swan River, where we had easy access to the sandy shore. A curving pedestrian walk led over the Freeway at the end of our street.

My kids and I spent many a warm summer evening, paddling and picnicking on the river foreshore. We walked in the early morning light, to find the piles of weed and discarded jellyfish left behind by the prawning parties, who had long since decamped with their prize of sweet, juicy river prawns.

We kicked our way along the white sand, jumped over the blowies left to dry out and become the trophies of eight-year-old boys, and talked of futures yet to come.

At night, while we shone our torches into the water to see the red eyes of the prawns we would never catch – for we were too scared of standing on a cobbler to do much trawling of our own – we heard the lions roar behind us, in the Perth Zoo. Later, after several moves and changes in circumstances, we lived the other side of the zoo and fed the Indian Palm Squirrels atop the brick wall around our patio. We would curl our noses up when we moved the plant pots, finding whiskery noses of large rats that Muggins had brought home from the Zoo, for his midnight snack. He left their tails, as well. Too tough, I guess.

Some nights, Colin and I would climb out to the end of the depilated Coode Street jetty, a few hundred yards up from Mends Street, and spend the evening fishing.

It was a journey not undertaken lightly, with the jetty roped off, in a calamitous state of disrepair and many timbers missing. Especially at night, loaded up with gear, but it was a great adventure with my son.

I was never quite patient enough for him: cobbler suck at the bait and there is a knack in waiting for them to suck and nibble away long enough for the bait to be sufficiently in their mouth, before you give the line a sharp tug and hook the fish.

On more than one night, Colin sent me home, leaving him to fish in peace! Occasionally he

Robbie’s patience was endless, as we dug holes, ran cables for pumps, and put in ponds.

Warren found me a perfect fishpond on the side of the road and we quickly turned it into a breeding pond.

My back patio was a jungle of hanging baskets, ramrod rushes and verdant ferns. Dozens of motorbike frogs, sitting nose to tail, lined the timbers of the back verandah roof.

A five tiered fountain Robbie made from earthen ware bowls was soon a thriving mass of wriggling black bodies, regularly fed according to Mike’s instructions and, as their front and back legs appeared, they would be moved to the “birthing” houses.

These were broccoli foam packing boxes, with no lids, and they were set up inside with dirt, rocks and leaves on one side, and a shallow bowl of water on the other. In there, the tiny froglets could safely finish their metamorphosis and it was such fun to watch them jump up onto the edge of the foam box, and after a minute or so of getting their bearings, leap down onto the brick paving and hop away into the garden.

Almost every pot plant had its own resident frog or two, and they particularly liked to sit on the big philodendron leaves and overhang the above ground pond. We had a moaning frog, deep in the sand around the fishpond.

A slender tree frog took up residence on a large bulrush and little Crinea were everywhere.

Their calls varied, but were usually quite distinctive and we had lots of Quacking Frogs (Crinea Georgiana). Their gold or red eyelids matched with red inner thighs made them easy to identify.

One day, far away from the house, I turned over a rock when I was looking for a likely stone for the garden, and discovered a beautiful little Granite Frog who didn’t live near water at all.

Quacks, tkk tkk tkk, ribbit ribbit, and the Grrrrrrr of the motorbike frogs filled our nights with joy.

The next-door neighbours would prevail upon me to remove buckets of tadpoles from their outdoor spa in spawning season.

Black eggs, like native caviar, lined the edges of grass blades, from which tiny tadpoles would emerge and fall, plop, into the pond below.

I had a wild adventure in the inlet to a storm water drain where I had scrambled (or more truthfully, fallen) down a gravel bank, into a murky pool of water covered with duckweed,looking for native pigmy perch.

Leeches quickly attached themselves to my thigh and calf, and I escaped – bloodied and bruised – by dragging myself through a blackberry bramble. The fish were saved, but I can’t say the same for my dignity.

When a sudden hot spell was drying up the roadside creeks and puddles, and tadpoles that were only half way to becoming frogs were caught in the mud, I spent hours carefully moving them into safer waterholes and went back, day after day, to share the joy of their saved lives.

My dream was to be a marine biologist – but, my education was sparse and science and biology never in my curriculum.

To lie on the beach, with a snorkel and goggles and my face in a rock pool is my idea of heaven. When I sailed on the bark Europa up to the Houtman Abrolhos last August, we swam and snorkeled over the most amazing coral reefs, in the Leeuwin current, miles and miles off the coast of Geraldton.

Huge fan corals, stag corals of amazing colours and fish that brought me to the surface, spluttering with excitement over their size and colours, have brought me back to the sea.

Equipped with reef walking shoes, a waterproof camera and a new halogen headlamp from Warren, I can’t wait to make my Mandurah move.

www.facebook.com/StoriesMyNanaTells 9

FOOD

The Thoughts of an Ageing, Balding Foodie

The ‘roll with a hole’ is many hundreds of years old and the name was first used in 1610CE for a bread that, uniquely, is boiled before baking.

It has become the iconic Jewish food for non-Jews for various reasons, but mostly because they are just so delicious. Not to mention versatile.

The Kosher providore bakes them osher has a specific meaning - conforming to plain ($1.20) or Jewish dietary law - but also a more general meaning, which is to say ‘all right’, as in ‘Is with everything kosher?’

Which makes sense since the very word comes from the Hebrew word kashér, meaning “fit”.

And at The Kosher Providore in Mt Lawley, things are very kosher in every sense of the word. The shop is very small, but very busy

THE KOSHER PROVIDORE

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in terms of action and customers. In this one petite store is a bakery, a butchery and a grocery offering a very wide range of goodies for those needing and those choosing kosher food.

The bakery portion of The Kosher Providore is the only one making traditional bagels in Western Australia.

The story goes that the bagel was created in the shape of a stirrup to commemorate the victory of Poland’s King Jan III Sobieski over the Ottoman Turks in the Battle of Vienna in 1683, but alas, this is just a story.

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Sesame or Poppy seeds, with onion, black olives, sundried tomatoes or, unbeliveably, chocolate chip as well as using wholemeal or multi-grain flour ($1.30) or the ‘health’ bagel with nine grains at $1.50.

G e n e r a l l y , don’t treat bagels any different to any other bread, but if I may make a suggestion - just try it with a spread of cream cheese and a helping of smoked salmon (known as lox and a schmear). It is just superb.

Otherwise, lightly toasted with any spread.

But bagels are not the only things baked at The Kosher Providore. They produce a wide range from the plaited Challah loaf traditionally eaten on the Shabbat to French loaves, buns and rolls as well as cakes and sweet treats of all kinds.

The butchery is also covers a wide range in a

small space and includes D Jay’s range of jerkys and biltongs.

The remaining space is given over to cans, bottles, packets and chilled or frozen goodies, often suitable for those who are gluten intolerant, vegetarian and vegan. Many products are kosher as a byproduct of their manufacture and not specifically intended to comply with kashrut.

If you are Jewish, you probably shop at The Kosher Providore, if not, then you owe it to yourself to browse there at least once and you cannot call yourself well-rounded as a foodie if you have never had a bagel.

So do yourself a favour and try the boogie-woogie bagel boys at Providore K.

ART AND LEISURE NEW DIRECTOR FOR THE HILLS CHOIR JAN WOODLEY

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his past February The Hills Choir farewelled their much loved and respected Musical Director, Jean Bourgault, after thirteen years of dedicated service of imparting her vast musical knowledge to many singers.

After much consideration the choir has now appointed Elizabeth Aitken as the new Musical Director.

Elizabeth graduated from The Western Australian Academy of Peforming Arts (Performance) at Edith Cowan University in 2013 and is currently studying for an Honours degree majoring in Choral Conducting.

Elizabeth is young and vibrant and committed to achieving a high standard of performance from The Hills Choir.

Singers and people who have always wanted to sing are invited to come and join us for an exciting and challenging experience.

The Choir meets every Monday night from 7.30pm until 9.30 pm at the Uniting Church on Stoneville Road, Mundaring. For further information please ring Margaretha Wright our Secretary on 0414 303 985.

Jean Bourgault and Elizabeth Aitken

HAVE YOU EVER WANTED TO MAKE POTTERY?

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Guildford Town Hall Cnr James & Meadow Street 9:00am--3:00pm Held on the third Sunday of each month, with more than 50 stalls with a unique & varied range of handcrafted and produced wares to tempt and inspire.

Fresh Fruit & Veggies Face Painting Live Entertainment Sausage Sizzle For further information contact Bromwyn 6278 4652

ow that the weather has cooled, adult pottery classes are again being run on Wednesday evenings and Saturday mornings at Guildford Village Potters’ Club at 22 Meadow Street, Guildford.

The classes are organized in terms of eight weeks, coinciding with school terms. To join a Wednesday class, call Bernadette Wakefield on 6296 7850. For Saturday classes call Janice Bradley on 9454 6359.

During the school holidays, we run holiday pottery classes for children. There is a different hand building project organized for each twohour session, and every child has the opportunity to use a potters' wheel.

The next holiday classes are to be held on the 15th, 16th, 23rd and 24th of April. The handbuilding themes will be: Robot Pencil Holders; Bird Houses; Turtles; and Dragons.

Last year, several children celebrated their birthdays with pottery parties. These were sessions of two hours, in much the same format as the holiday classes, with the hand-building project chosen by the birthday child.

Parents whose children might enjoy such a party, or wish to sign up for the holiday classes, should consult Judy Nastov, telephone 9249 2362 or 0439 869 503. Email to judess59@yahoo.com. au There is more detailed information about the pottery classes on our

website: www.guildfordpotters.webs.com.

Our premises are in the house that was once the policeman's residence, next to the Old Jail and opposite the Anglican church, and its surrounding park.

The front three rooms display our pottery.

The largest, central room is reserved for exhibitions of work in other media by outside artists, or our own themed group exhibitions.

At the back of the house, a closed-in verandah is equipped with potters' wheels and a wedging bench so that members can make pottery when they are on roster.

Visitors are welcome to come into the area to watch us working. To be sure of a demonstration, phone a day ahead, so that the members on duty can come prepared.

Our founding members were trained at Midland and other TAFE colleges, enrolled in pottery courses that no longer run. Our most recent new members learned their craft in the club's own classes, and will continue to develop as they learn from the more experienced potters.

Since 1981, our members have been exploring new glazes, colours, texures and forms.

If, like us, you find the ubiquitous white china of the big retail chains a little boring, visit our gallery and take home something Western Australian.

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WEDDINGS COUTURIER GOWNS FOR EVERY BRIDE

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very Bride knows that it is the gown that makes the day glorious and the style and creating are the essence of a exquisite wedding dress.

That being so, it is vital that the dressmaker be experienced and have that ineffable thing called ‘flair’.

Of course, there are ‘off the peg’ dresses, but a made to measure uniquely designed gown is the essential for every bride wanting to dominate her day.

One option is the bespoke couturier, a perfect example being the one in Mundaring. A stunning contemporary studio set in the Jarrah forrest forms a delightful backdrop for unique creations and exquisite bridal fabrics.

In this intimate and relaxed setting you can lounge on a luxurious leather sofa, while telling Francisca how you see your wedding dress.

The process begins with browsing through a collection of magnificent silk fabrics, gorgeous delicate laces, and intricate beadwork segments, many of them bought overseas.

She will then create a design sketched with you in mind, capturing your personality and fashion style, all combined to fit the theme and look of your wedding.

Standing in front of floor-to-ceiling floating mirrors she will play and try various selected fabrics to see which dress line looks the most flattering.

Francisca can style your entire look: veil or headpiece, tulle embellished fingerless gloves, lace ankle decorations, decorated bridal shoes and more.

You may think this may be too rich for your pocket, but a designer dress from

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Francisca costs little more than a standard dress bought from a shop. For brides who want to look different and indulge in the luxury of having a dress created just for you, a visit to this designer studio could be very rewarding.

And not just brides. The Mother of the Brides may also avail themselves of this service.

Photograph Credits: Francisca Bonsel

WEDDINGS HIGHLAND DRESS FOR GROOMS

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he tartan and highland dress should always be the Montrose Doublet is the The dress sporran is typically worn with dignity and with an understanding usual choice. It is a close expensive, and made from and observation of the tradition they represent. fitting, double breasted jacket either horse hair, or various It is a uniform and an icon. People normally which only comes to the waist, furs: mink, muskrat, rabbit, or take immense care in correctly wearing proper and is worn with a belt. The seal-skin. The dress sporran Highland Dress, and that is what it deserves, Montrose is usually seen worn typically has an elaborate because men have died in war wearing it. with a lace jabot, and a fly plaid chrome or silver top with Men and women suffered on the engraving work, and fur death, transportation, privation, shoulder. tassles with chains, etc. and hardship because they wore The kilt The next question is - which Black WatchTartan the tartan when they refused looks best tartan. There is a lot of to obey the 18th century ban w h e n nonsense spoken about on tartan promulgated by the worn with knee-length hose tartans - clans, families, regions and so on.

Hanoverian Government after (socks), These are usually The truth is that you can pretty much pick any the 1745 Jacobite Rising failed. held up with an elastic garter. tartan you like, with the possible exception of It is important to stress Small strips of ribbon, known the Balmoral, which was designed for the Royal that Highland dress is referred as garter flashes, hang down family. to as "Scottish attire" both below turned-down tops of Best choice? Leave it to the bride.

Royal Stewart Tartan in Scotland, and by those of the socks. These are usually Scots descent or affiliation, red or green. around the world, and rightfully so. It is not a The shoes worn with the kilt can be anything ‘costume’, but attire, and it's important to from expensive "ghillie brogues", which lace remember this. up around the ankles and have open tops, Highland Dress is not just for special but for most occasions standard, black occasions, it can be worn at anytime, but dress shoes or brown shoes (in daywear it is spectacular for weddings. situations) can be worn.

The kilt is the most important item For formal affairs one typically sees the of highland dress. It must reach slightly black patent leather "Mary Jane" above the knee. There is often a shoes with a large buckle, or kilt pin attached to the front flap black patent "ghillie brogues". for decoration. What you do or The sgian dubh (skee-an don’t wear under the kilt is your doo), or ‘black knife’, is often own business. When asked worn by men in Highland what is worn under the kilt, dress. The knife is tucked especially by a lady, a typical into the top of the right kilt reply is "nothing worn, m'am, hose, with just the top of everything is in perfect the shaft showing. working order", (usually Although the accompanied by a wink). original purpose of Any ordinary shirt may the sgian dubh was be worn with the kilt. Some for skinning animals, men like to wear a lace it is nowadays largely jabot around the neckline, ceremonial, although it and sometimes frilled cuffs, does make a useful penand for very formal affairs a knife. fly plaid which is pinned to For formal, the shoulder with a brooch and full dress, affairs one drapes behind. typically will also see Others prefer a plain shirt a jeweled "dirk" hanging and tie, or an evening dress shirt from the belt. The dirk is a and bow tie. A belt is usually long knife, or a short sword, worn at the waist, over the kilt. depending on how one looks The buckle is often brass or silver, at it. The dirk was the weapon and sometimes has detailed carving of choice, and usually the first on it, or is set with a cairngorm, which deployed, by the Highlanders is a semi-precious amber-colored stone of old. Today, the dirk is found in the mountains of Scotland. ceremonial and typically is only Special kilt jackets can be bought, seen for full dress affairs and which are jackets and blazers with a only with a Montrose jacket. different cut that those worn with The sporran, or kilt purse, is made of trousers, and are usually leather or hide, sometimes with a design shorter to better show off on the flap. The sporran is hung high the kilt. Formal wear is in front of the kilt. The general rule is often black, although other that the top of the sporran should hang colours are sometimes worn. about one hands-width breadth below For weddings and other formal occasions the navel.

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WEDDINGS

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WEDDINGS

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THE VOICE OF SWAN HILLS LEST WE FORGET FRANK ALBAN MLA

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s we close in on 25 April 2015, the centenary of Australian troops landing at Gallipoli, I’m reminded of the rich history that the Swan Valley and its surrounding area have with The Great War. I’ve been privileged enough to attend a number of ANZAC services throughout my years as a resident of Guildford, as a former City of Swan Councillor and as a State Member of Parliament.

Stirling Square in Guildford hosts an obelisk.

Inscribed are, among the list of those who died

and machine gun fire as they advanced on enemy grounds.

Trooper Frederick Harold Weston, whose name is on the obelisk in Mundaring Memorial Gardens, was killed in action, aged only thirty, and

Ellenbrook RSL’s service with Premier Colin Barnett, 2012

for our country, the names of Gresley and Wilfred Harper from nearby Woodbridge House.

These men, aged thirty-one and twenty-five respectively at the time of their deaths, were born to a life of wealth and privilege, their father being a prominent member of society, both as politician and part-owner of The West Australian newspaper.

These brothers, as were many others, trained at the Blackboy Hills camp in Greenmount. In fact, large numbers of the Australian Imperial Force (now known as the 1st AIF) were trained at this camp before departure to Europe and the Middle East. For those familiar with the Commemorative Site as it is today, the current memorial and site is along the southern edge of the former camp which was of course, significantly larger.

The Harper men were at the Battle of the Nek, a small battle that was part of the Gallipoli campaign.

The 8th and 10th Light Horse regiments were to attack the enemy-held trenches; however it was, due to significant errors in the timing of the attack, a tragedy for the troops who were cut down by rifle

Unit 8 Vale Town Centre 31 Egerton Drive Aveley WA 6069 Phone: 9296 7688

Email: frank.alban@mp.wa.gov.au

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both Gresley and Wilfred Harper were too. All three men were of the 10th Light Horse Regiment of the Australian Army.

Journalist C.E.W. Bean, the war correspondent with Australian Imperial Showing my daughter Lara the obelisk at Stirling Square, Guildford Force (AIF) troops once stated; “The 10th went forward to meet death Located close to Aveley and Belhus residents, instantly… With that regiment went the flower Ellenbrook RSL will host a 6:00am dawn service of the youth of Western Australia, sons of the old at the Woodlake Village Memorial Amphitheatre, pioneering families, youngsters who flocked to Highpoint Boulevard, Ellenbrook, with a gunfire Perth with their own horses to secure enlistment in breakfast following at 7:00am at the Woodlake a mounted regiment.”

For those also seeking something later in the I do not believe a quote exists that better day, the Mundaring RSL always has an impressive encapsulates the commitment (and ensuing loss) march at 2:45pm from Mundaring Bendigo Bank, that Western Australia made during the first World followed by a 3:00pm service at Mundaring War. Memorial Gardens, Great Eastern Highway, This ANZAC Day there are a number of services Mundaring. and events in or nearby for Swan Hills residents, Lest we forget. some providing significant historical context to our country’s efforts in The Great War and I’d like to highlight some that I have attended over the years.

Parkerville, Stoneville and Mundaring residents might be interested in attending Bellevue RSL’s sunset service on Thursday 24 April, or the dawn service on ANZAC Day itself, at the Blackboy Hill Commemorative Site, adjacent to Innamincka Road, Greenmount.

Bullsbrook RSL will host a short march at 5:45am, with a dawn service at 6:00am to be held at 6 Hurd Road, Bullsbrook.

Blackboy Hill Commemorative Site, 2013

COMMUNITY

NOTES FROM PARLIAMENT

THE ROAD TO RECOVERY

Member for East Metropolitan R egion

HON ALYSSA HAYDEN MLC

RONNIE WOOD

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re our Politicians and World Leaders Mad? Why aren’t they taking massive action to slow and repair climate change?

On the 4th March this year the Australian Bureau of Meteorology and the CSIRO released a report on the State of the Climate.

It states: “Warming in Australia is consistent with warming observed across the globe in recent decades. Evidence that the Earth’s climate continues to warm is unequivocal.”

On February 27th 2014, the Royal Society and the US National Academy of Sciences (NAS) released a joint publication.

The report explains the clear evidence that humans are causing the climate to change, and addresses a variety of other key questions commonly asked about climate change science.

In that report NAS President Ralph J. Cicernone stated: “As two of the world’s leading scientific bodies, we feel a responsibility to evaluate and explain what is known about climate change, at least the physical side of it, to concerned citizens, educators, decision makers and leaders, and to advance public dialogue about how to respond to the threats of climate change.”

These scientists are concerned. They are providing information which is largely being ignored!

If you are concerned about climate change and its likely devastating effects and you would like to do something constructive to move our politicians and policy makers to take positive action, please join our newly formed activist letter writing group.

We will support each other to write letters to newspapers, politicians and policy makers.

We will sign and draft petitions. We will take positive, constructive action to encourage policy that supports reduction in the greenhouse gases that are causing Climate Change.

The two report mentioned above are: State of the Climate 2014 and Climate Change, Evidence & Causes, an overview from the Royal Society and the US National Academy of Sciences.

If you would like to join and put your passion and concern into action or to know more please contact me, Ronnie Wood, on 9299 8681, or email pgi@iinet.net.au.

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MOORDITJ MIA AGED CARE ABORIGINAL CENTRE

recently represented the Minister for Health and had the pleasure to officially open the Moorditj Mia building extension at the Aged Care Aboriginal Day Centre in Koongamia.

elders over the age of eighty participated in the design of the extension and contributed to consultations about the future direction of the service.

This centre was established in 2005 with Home and Community Care (HACC) funding and the group called itself Moorditj Mia meaning ‘excellent home’.

It has grown into a place that manages to interweave social connection and a passion for art and craft as well as important health and wellness services and information.

The State Government has been a proud supporter of Moorditj Mia since its inception and values the role it plays in Aboriginal health and wellbeing.

The women at Moorditj Mia have a strong commitment to support the young Aboriginal generation to ensure they get good messages and learn how to live a good, healthy and safe life. Aboriginal culture and identity are intimately linked with their stories.

Along with health programs and services, art is a central focus of the activities at the centre and in the wider community.

The Rise Network, (formerly known as Hills Community Support Group), has operated in the Swan and Mundaring regions for over thirty years.

It is a not-for-profit organisation providing a wide range of services to the communities of Swan and Mundaring, including Moordtij Mia. The Centre also receives funding through the Home and Community Care program.

The extension to the building has doubled the size of the Centre to cater for future growth and provides a light, comfortable and very creative atmosphere for members to gather, yarn, do art work and enhance their health and wellbeing.

It also makes for a great place to work for staff and volunteers. The Coordinator of Moorditj Mia, Annette Panaia, a very well respected community member, joined the program in 2008 and has overseen the Centre’s expansion.

Members of Moorditj Mia including three

Mr Bruce Callow, our very own wellrespected local resident was the architect for this outstanding project. The end result is certainly something that all involved can be very proud of.

Congratulations to all the members of Moorditj Mia, Rise Aged Care Divisional Manager Helen Dymond, staff and volunteers for their very caring and positive “can do” attitude to make the Centre such a success.

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Hon Alyssa Hayden MLC Ph: (08) 9274 8484 Fax: (08) 9274 7874 alyssa.hayden@mp.wa.gov.au

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EDUCATION

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GUILDFORD GRAMMAR SCHOOL NEWS GUILDFORD JEDI’S LEARN TO USE THE FORCE The boys in the Media X class had some fun last week in their lesson on special effects photography. The results speak for themselves!

CENTENARY OF THE CHAPEL Guildford Grammar School celebrated the Centenary of the Chapel in the week commencing 24 March, with a week of sensational music.

The celebrations commenced with a special Chapel Service, where a new mass, written specially for the Centenary, was

played for the first time for members of the School community by The Song Company, world renowned Didgeridoo player, William Barton, leading international organist, Daniel TrocmeLatter and several Guildford Grammar School choirs.

On Wednesday night William Barton showcased his musical skills at a community concert, and the celebrations concluded with an evening of chamber music in the Chapel.

To formally recognise the Centenary, a new history of the Chapel, A Goodly Heritage, has been released, and is now available for sale from the Clothing Shop.

YEAR 9 STUDENT WINS HBF JUNIOR SPORTS HERO AWARD Year 9 student, Lachlan Robertson, has been awarded first prize in the HBF Junior Sports Hero awards for 2013. As well as having his photo taken with cricket legend Mike Hussey, Lachlan also received a cheque for $1000.

SCHOOL TOURS If you are interested in learning more about an education at Guildford Grammar School, contact our Registrar today on 9377 9247 or registrar@ggs.wa.edu.au to arrange a personal tour.

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CARE AND FEEDING OF YOUR PC

YOUR PRIVACY IS A JOKE PART 1 P C SURGEON

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eorge Orwell is vindicated. Big Brother Snoopervision is with us in a way that exceeds his worst fears.

Thanks to whistle-blower, Edward Snowden, much of the ground covered by governmentsponsored security services’ surveillance has been clearly marked for us.

Many of us suspect those revelations are probably only a small part of what is going on.

It’s a fine line between the proactive prevention of terrorist activities, and respecting the privacy of the vast majority of the innocent population.

Sadly, our privacy has become a major casualty in the push for increasingly intrusive surveillance.

Words and acronyms have come into our awareness: Prism……NSA(US)… Room641A …GCHQ(UK)…Narusinsight…Echelon…

Pinwale…Stellar Wind…Mainway…

Tempora… The list goes on…

Some are simply codenames about which little is known; others are a bit more fleshed out.

All are associated to varying degrees with phone and internet tracking carried out by the USA, Australia, the UK, New Zealand, Canada just for starters.

birthday call to Auntie Joan was monitored, probably by special software.

Using Narusinsight, real-time analysis of network data reveals what individual users are doing, the applications they run, protocols they use, which web sites they visit.

It detects and monitors certain key phrases in emails, as well as keeping a log of visitors to certain websites.

Prism, one of Snowden’s dramatic revelations, apparently extracts information from US-based internet services: Google, Apple, Facebook, Microsoft, YouTube, Yahoo!, AOL, Skype and Paltalk.

It’s reported that those companies are not happy about it. All have denied that NSA has direct, open backdoor access to their servers.

(Really?)

All agreed they provide information in response to warrants and subpoenas that are absurdly easy to get via the US-based, secretive Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court.

In fact, The Wall Street Journal reported that between 2000 and 2012 only eleven applications were rejected – from a total of 21,600!!

Dropmire apparently monitors foreign embassies.

Fairview is based on alliances between the US and international telecoms providers to collect foreign (non-US) internet, phone and email data.

Yes, yours is included.

Echelon’s satellite, microwave and terrestrial data-collection network is operated by Australia, New Zealand, Canada, USA and the UK. These ‘five eyes’ share the information between themselves and possibly others.

Mainway monitors the four largest US telecoms providers. Who calls who and when is stored in a huge metadata database.

CodeNames Only Basically, apart from their codenames, we know little or nothing about Oakstar, Stormbrew, Main core reportedly stores the financial records of US citizens believe to be a national security Traffic Thief, Nucleon. threat.

CodeNames With Flesh Room641A is one of several ‘black rooms’ Boundless Informant draws on, and cothat monitor both US domestic and international ordinates, information from a variety of communications traffic. Yes – your recent innocent intelligence sources.

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X-Keyscore, an Australian/New Zealand-led initiative, reportedly monitors and translates email data.

Pinwale is a searchable database of stored emails from international sources Tempora, run by GCHQ, taps 200 fibre-optic backbones under the Atlantic and stores metadata from those lines Upstream, possibly related to Room 614A, similarly monitors data flowing across internet backbones in the US They’re All At It It’s not just governments watching us.

As mentioned in an earlier column, private companies also devote considerable time, effort and money into sucking up huge amounts of information about our online activities.

Facebook states: ‘When you choose to delete something you shared on Facebook, we remove it from the site.

Some of this information is permanently deleted from our servers; however, some things can only be deleted when you permanently delete your account.’

Google logs your internet searches for up to nine months. Thereafter it only deletes the last octet of your IP address.

Delete an email in Gmail. Fine. But a copy is kept on their servers for an indeterminate period.

Microsoft keeps search data for up to six months; Yahoo! for three.

As for cookies – I went into that in some detail in a previous article that you cut out and kept, of course.

But let me remind you about cross-site cookies, the worst of the lot. They track your internet activities and movements on a massive scale. That data can be made available to thirdparties for a host of reasons.

Final Thoughts Wikileaks founder, Julian Assange, recently told the South by Southwest (SXSW) conference that the NSA and GCHQ “…will soon have the ability to spy on the entire planet, as their capabilities double every 18 months.”

He added that the world is “moving into a new totalitarian world — not in the sense of Stalin or Pol Pot, but totalitarian in the sense that the surveillance is total.”

Should we all be comforted by that? Is that what we want?

Next month - Fight back!

Part 2 outlines some strategies for avoiding -- or reducing -- surveillance of innocent citizens’ activities.

FINANCE UKRAINE CRISIS - NO ROOM FOR WISHFUL THINKING STEVE BLIZARD

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t time of writing, Russia is mobilizing for war and may be poised for a springtime invasion of the Ukrainina heartland, after having annexed the Crimea Black Seat peninsular.

Reports of tens of thousands of Russian troops and military hardware, including artillery, tanks, warplanes and helicopters are massing and carrying out war “games” on all sides of already partially dismembered Ukraine.

President Barack Obama warned that the Russian troops massing along the border “may simply be an effort to intimidate Ukraine - or it may be that they’ve got additional plans.”

Conservative American assessments, based on satellite data, say Russia has massed between 40,000 and 50,000 troops within quick striking distance of Ukraine, including those stationed in Crimea.

If President Vladimir Putin gives his troops the order to march, the outcome will be much bloodier than Crimea’s near peaceful seizure.

Assuming a continuation of that reliable template, any invasion would most likely be aimed at seizing so-called “friendly” portions of eastern Ukraine where there are concentrations of ethnic Russians or Russian-speakers.

The goal would be to redraw frontiers, and daring Ukraine’s new government and the NATO Alliance to react.

The Ukrainian army only numbers 65,000 troops, compared with nearly 300,000 in Russia’s western and southern military districts.

As a spring invasion of Ukraine looms large, Yevhen Marchuk, a retired Ukrainian general and former defence minister, warned on late last month that the crisis is intensifying.

According to his calculations Russia has now moved to the “second phase” of its plan “to eliminate” the Ukraine nation.

“There are many signs of an imminent attack,” Marchuk told journalists at the Ukrainian Crisis Media Centre.

NATO’s senior commander and U.S. Air Force General Philip Breedlove, warned several days earlier that Russian forces massing on the Ukrainian border are “very, very sizable and very, very ready, and that is very worrisome.”

Russia’s huge troop deployments along

Ukraine’s borders, combined with others on alert and mobilized, give Putin the ability to move quickly into attack mode without the U.S. being able to predict when this will occur.

What makes this confrontation so dangerous is that US and EU policy appears to be motivated by wishful thinking that Putin is likely to be deterred by threats of sanctions to his economic interests and the personal wealth of his oligarch clique.

Unfortunately financial markets cannot afford to be so sentimental.

The balance of probabilities in such situations is usually tilted towards a peaceful outcome; in this case, Western acceptance of the Russian annexation of Crimea and the creation of a new national unity government in Kiev acceptable to Putin.

However, Kaletsky is recommending standing back and preparing portfolios for either eventuality.

Looking back to a comparable episode like, for example, the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis, investors were better off waiting for the confrontation to

While we should always recall in times like these the famous advice of Nathan Rothschild to “buy at the sound of gunfire”, Russia’s Crimea annexation and war footing form the most ominous geopolitical post-Cold War era’s emergency.

Anatole Kaletsky, co-chairman of GaveKal Research, and a leading global investment researcher, says “the key question investors must consider in deciding whether the Ukraine crisis is a Rothschild-style buying opportunity, or a last chance to bail out of risk-assets before it is too late”.

reach some kind of climax before putting on more risk.

After the S&P 500’s 6.5 percent fall between 16 and 23 October 1962, the market moved on to gain 30 percent once it became clear Khrushchev would be backing away from the brink.

Similarly, in the 1991 Gulf War, when it was not until the bombing of Baghdad actually began and a quick US victory appeared to be a certainty that equities bounced back, gaining 25 percent by the summer.

Thus, investors did well to buy at the sound of gunfire, but lost nothing by waiting six months after Saddam Hussein’s initial invasion of Kuwait in August 1990.

In finance and geopolitics, experience must always prevail over hope, and realism over wishful thinking.

Courtesy of Roxburgh Securities

W

herever you see this symbol you will be able to get more information by scanning it with your smartphone, laptop or iPad. The relevant can be downloaded free from your App Store.

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NETWORKING WITH LESLEY BEING REDUNDANT LESLEY DEWAR

I

n the past few years, you may have noticed a change in the use of the word “redundant”.

Its use was primarily to describe something (or someone) that had come to the end of a useful working life, and was being replaced, or displaced, by a new process, piece of equipment or person.

When company mergers take place, it is common to hear that some employees become redundant, because there are more employees than the two merged companies require for future operations.

Redundancies also occur when manufacturing and other business processes change radically, with the introduction of new technology or equipment. Think of conveyor belts making pit ponies redundant, for instance.

Now, much more frequently, it describes something fitted as a backup component or system – particularly with regard to IT and computer systems. Its use is in a very positive context. These two different uses of the same word can create a conflict in your mind, unless you understand the second meaning.

Everything wears out and breaks down, eventually. In the IT context, both the computers and the computer systems created to run them, or on them, can stop because of a failure of their own or due to external circumstances.

To help prevent this from damaging a business, we hear of “redundancy” being built in. This applies to the three major components of your IT system: hardware, data, and software.

HARDWARE Think of what happens when the power fails.

Computers shut down; their programmes stop running; work stops or is delayed until the power supply resumes. Depending on the size of the business, planned redundancy requires different actions.

In a smaller business, having a UPS (Uninterrupted Power Supply) for a server on a LAN (Local Area Network) allows the server to detect the interruption to the power and it will close its programmes down in an orderly fashion, protecting its data and systems.

This is a much better process than a “hard shutdown”, when the server just crashes shut, work is not backed up and you risk damaging the installed software programmes which will be used to reboot the system later. Having a UPS for each PC protects them, and allows a proper shut down in the same way, preserving work and programmes.

In this case, we would describe the UPS as being “redundant” –a critical part of the system (a duplicate power supply) being present to prevent overall failure of the main system. This is completely different meaning to the original use of the word “redundant” – as in obsolete, surplus, no longer required.

Generators (diesel, petrol, or gas) or very large banks of batteries, which maintain alternative power supplies in cases of emergency, have historically provided very large

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businesses, hospitals, data centres, banks and insurance companies, military bases and similar establishments with their “redundant” power supplies.

They are designed to kick in when main power supplies lag demand or fail. There is a great deal of research into new sources of power, other than using generators and batteries, particularly in the use of hydrogen fuel cells.

On Dec 5, 2013, the US military used a new type of redundant power supply, during a power outage at Joint Air and Naval Base Pearl HarborHickam (JBPHH), Hawaii.

“A containerized hydrogen fuel cell back-up power solution commissioned by Hydrogenics Corporation, proved successful when it quickly engaged to replace power to its designated areas during the outage which affected the base for nearly 12 hours.” ………

This real world event proved to be a demonstration of the utility of Hydrogen Fuel Cell technology.

“The Hydrogenics fuel cell systems produced very high quality electrical power all night long not a flicker, blip, dip or trip all night. No faults, warnings, nor any failures,” added Schultz. “We’re extremely pleased Hydrogenics backed up these proof-of concept trials. Our work resulted in a shining moment for fuel cells going toe-to-toe with our diesel counterparts.” (Quote from a Press Release dated Mar 4, 2014 by Hydrogenics).

DATA Loss of data is a huge risk for businesses. It is critical that records documenting all parts of their operations, as well as sensitive customer information, have protection against malicious or accidental loss.

Data loss includes any information being lost from an IT storage device: hard drive, thumb drive, tape drive, or cloud storage box, in any fashion. The costs and outcomes of major data loss in business are quite horrific.

REDUNDANCY 42% of all data loss results from hardware failures, including power surges and hard drive disc failures. Software corruption accounts for 13% of data loss, and human error (most usually the accidental deletion of an existing file) destroys 31% of data already in storage. In any given year, 6% of PCs will suffer data loss.

Creating redundant systems to guard against data loss is an essential part of staying in business.

There is a distinct difference between redundant data storage and data backup. “Data redundancy” is having the same data created in two separate places in the one system, mirrored on two discs and called a RAID 1 Array.

Should one disc fail, you replace it, while the other continues to operate without interruption to the business.

Thumb drives are notorious for data loss and are not to be relied upon, for long-term data storage.

BACKUP The other critical issue for prevention of data loss is data backup – quite a different operation from data redundancy. Depending of the type of data and operation, backup can be on tape, hard drives or to the cloud, or a combination of processes.

In large organizations, there may be a complete duplicate of the whole system, including software and data, running at a separate location to insure against system failure. This ensures the business can continue, in the event of a catastrophic failure.

• “60% of companies that lose their data will shut down within six months of the disaster.” Data loss statistics from www.BostonComputing.net SOFTWARE Software is code, written by humans, and can become extremely complex. Human error can arise, in the writing of complex code. Having software code written by more than one person to achieve the same result, particularly when failure is NOT an option, creates software redundancy.

With the programmes running, the same results should be the outcome. If not, there is either a bug (or an error) in one of the sets of software code, or a hardware failure. In either case, an alert issues so the error can be rectified.

Situations where high levels of software redundancy are required include medical monitoring, space travel, airline control systems, high-speed train controls, and nuclear power stations.

It is apparent that redundancy in software is not sufficient to ensure a catastrophic event does not occur when a major external impact arises, or human actions override automated processes, but it is critical for guarding against internal failures.

The next time your IT person or your software programmer starts chatting about making things in your business redundant, remember he may actually be trying to protect you, rather than pension you off! © Lesley Dewar This article is also published at http://storiesmynanatells.com/smart-tips

COMMUNITY REGISTRATIONS OPEN

R

egistrations are now open for winter sports at Swan Park and Altone Park Leisure Centres.

Indoor soccer has been extremely popular, with last year’s men’s league grand final at Swan Park played in front of packed grandstands. This year we have added extra grades on offer and will run a junior competition at Altone Park.

We also run mixed and women’s netball games and basketball competitions. Registrations are now open so sign up today for a winter full of fun. The winter season starts Monday, April 28.

More information on Swan Park Leisure Centre’s services, facilities and programs are available at www.swan.wa.gov.au/swanpark.

NIGHT SKY APRIL

COMMUNITY PERTH OBSERVATORY SUMMER LECTURE CHRIS COULSTOCK

GREG LOWE

E

arth, the moon and the sun will spend a couple of weeks in the same plane from mid to late April.

There'll probably be news stories about an eclipse of the moon on the 15th and an eclipse of the sun on the 29th.

No doubt, interested people will be phoning the Observatory for information. Unfortunately for us in WA, neither eclipse will be of any consequence.

For Perth, the lunar eclipse on the 15th will be over before moonrise and the solar eclipse on the 29th will (weather permitting) be just a partial eclipse, with the moon obscuring only about 40% of the sun.

The next total solar eclipses for us in the Perth area will be in 2066 and 2068. That's a bit too long for me to wait. I'm planning to go to Exmouth for the solar eclipse of May 20th, 2023.

The main phases of the moon in April are (new moon having already occurred on March 31st) first quarter on the 7th, full moon on the 15th, last quarter on the 22nd and new moon on the 29th.

The full moon on the 15th is the one that sets the date of Easter. Remember the rule? Easter Sunday is the Sunday after the full moon that follows the autumn equinox. The equinox was on March 21st. Easter Sunday has to be April 20th.

Jupiter's still the dominant evening planet but Mars is challenging. The red planet goes through opposition on the 9th, so early to mid April is the period when Mars is at its closest and brightest for 2014.

It won't quite get as bright as Jupiter this time. You'll find Jupiter in the NNW at dusk and brighter than any star. At the same time, Mars is in the eastern sky; it's low down at nightfall at the start of the month but steadily gains altitude as the weeks pass.

The distinct orange colour is the giveaway.

The waxing crescent moon brackets Jupiter from the 6th to the 7th. The full moon will be near Mars in the early morning hours of the 15th.

Saturn will be visible in the early evening by the end of the month. To begin with, it's rising in the ESE at about 8:40pm. By mid month, though, it's coming up about an hour earlier i.e. 7:40pm.

By month's end Saturn's rising at about 6:40pm the end of evening twilight.

Weather permitting (this is a recording), Saturn will be the star attraction in the Observatory's evening viewing sessions in April and on into May (the end of our viewing season is mid-May). The waning gibbous moon will be near Saturn on the evening of the 17th.

Venus is the mighty bright "morning star".

It rises in the east at about 3am in early April, 3:20am mid-month, and 3:40am by month's end.

It tends to blow the eyebrows off people who see it for the first time against a dark morning sky.

Dawn finds it well up in the eastern sky.

Watch for the waning crescent moon near Venus on the morning of the 26th.

Courtesy of Perth Observatory

T

he Perth Observatory’s Summer Lecture which was previewed in the February edition of Swan Magazine was very successful with 200 visitors, sitting under the stars on a perfect evening.

With Perth Observatory staff and volunteers ensuring that the evening ran smoothly and the food kept coming.

An innovation this year was entertainment whilst waiting for the lecture. Most people arrived early and enjoyed an excellent performance by the group Effulgent who sang mostly classical songs but added an upbeat backing.

A very appropriate start to the evening was a performance of Also Sprach Zarathustra by Richard Strauss, used as the theme music of 2001: A Space Odyssey, for percussion and electric guitars.

The program continued with a sequence of classical songs including works by Handel, Schubert and Carl Orff amongst others, which were sung by one of the Observatory volunteers, Megan Ladbrook. She concluded with the theme song to The Big Bang Theory and then The Galaxy Song from Monty Python. An impressive introduction to the evening.

The highlight of the evening was, of course, the lecture presented by Dr Gretchen BenedixBland, Senior Lecturer in Geology and Geophysics at Curtin University.

Her talk, Mars Today and its Geology, was a fascinating insight into the evolution of Mars.

She started by asking “Why study Mars” and demonstrated the similarities between Earth and Mars before moving on to examine how we have managed to develop our understanding of the planet.

It was intriguing to find out how much information had been collected, not only from the Mars Rovers and the orbiting satellites, but also from meteorites which originated on Mars and have landed on Earth.

Dr Benedix-Bland explained how it was ascertained that the meteorites came from Mars and how they left the planet – from impacts which

were large enough and powerful enough for the rocks to be ejected through the thin atmosphere of Mars into space.

Dr Benedix-Bland is currently engaged in finding the origination sites of these meteorites.

At the end of her talk, she responded to audience questions, and, in response to a young person’s question about living on Mars, explained some of the problems that we would encounter if we decide to try and colonise the planet.

Sadly, something that is not likely to happen for a long time!

MCC WE’RE GROWING

GEOFF FRANCIS very successful and well attended evening was held at the Chidlow Tavern recently.

The owners put on an excellent spread and gave us a short talk on the improvements they are making along with their ambition to make the Chidlow Tavern back to its former glory when it was in fact the last food stop before York on the long train trip.

Several new members were introduced and Rachael gave a short talk on the improvements to the Chamber's website.

Coming events are a Bowls afternoon at Mundaring Sporting club and Breakfast at Murphy's cafe on 16th April with Leilani Leyland of Bees Neez apiaries.

The annual Chamber Awards of Excellence dinner evening will be held at Sandalford Winery on Sat 4th October.

As the Chamber is growing, so are the activities. If you have a small business, whether it be home based or in the commercial areas around the hills, consider joining this growing group to keep in touch with fellow business and spread the word on your services.

It is by far the best way to grow.

A

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PETS SECURE BOUNDARY FENCES AT PROPERTIES CARLI ALLEN

N

ew residents to the Shire of Mundaring are urged to secure their boundary fences so dogs can’t roam the streets and potentially endanger the community.

Chief Executive Officer Jonathan Throssell said a spate of dog attacks had continued in the eastern area of the Shire, particularly Mount Helena.

“The Shire’s Community Safety Rangers have identified issues with people moving into the area with their dogs, without first making sure boundary fences are secure,” he said.

CHARLI

Charli’s looking for a home (Photo by Claire Weir Photography)

C “All owners are responsible for ensuring dogs can’t escape, especially when an animal is not familiar with a new area or has not previously encountered livestock.”

Mr Throssell said in addition to fees to claim impounded dogs, owners may face fines totalling thousands if their dog attacked another animal or human.

The Shire recently prosecuted three people through the courts for breaching the Dog Act 1976, with fines and costs totalling more than $12,000.

“These incidents create angst in the community and damage neighbour relationships,” Mr Throssell said. “It is simply not acceptable to put the community at risk.”

People should report dog attacks immediately to the Shire so Community Safety Rangers can take appropriate action. For more information call 9290 6629.

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harli is a delightful young lady who ended up at SAFE after having an unplanned litter of pups.

She is now ready to settle into a home where she will receive the leadership, cuddles, tummy rubs and attention she so loves and deserves.

This happy little soul loves people, but is so exuberant and playful that she would be best in a family with older children.

Charli is loyal, loving and affectionate, and responds to basic commands such as "come" and "sit". She is used to being an outdoor dog but enjoys being inside as well.

Charli needs a home with a dog-savvy, strong, pack leader. She can be protective when she has a human to "own”, and needs to be reminded she is not the boss.

SAFE Saving Animals From Euthanasia (SAFE) was founded by Sue Hedley in 2003. Since then SAFE has developed branches and networks across the state.

SAFE’s dedicated work has had a positive impact on people, pets and wildlife.

SAFE’s innovative foster care program provides temporary care for animals until a permanent home is found. This means there are no cages or time lines on an animal’s life.

Your donation or bequest can ensure SAFE can continue its life saving work.

Have a look at our website: www.safe.asn.au

With a strong pack leader, she is good on the lead, and plays well with other dogs.

Without that leadership, she will pull and be dog-reactive. (SAFE even had her temperament tested, and the human on the other end of the lead was what made the difference!) If you think you’re the one, give SAFE a call.

COMMUNITY MILESTONE ACHIEVEMENTS

S

wan Hills Goju Ryu Karate club keeps going from strength to strength, with the recognition of higher skills attained by Sensei Bob Allen and several of his students.

LISA SKRYPICHAYKO

hurdle to overcome - their own senior black belt gradings.

They performed a number of basic drills, partnered fighting exercises and kata (patterns performed to demonstrate fighting techniques) together and individually for Sensei Sal and the panel. At the conclusion of the testing, the group had just enough energy left for sighs of relief, smiles and hugs.

Chris Papmarkos of Morley was awarded his 5th dan and was recognised as a sensei in his own right. Leone Spiccia and Wolf Konrad of Mundaring, and Paul Crabtree of Swan View were recognised as 4th dan senior instructors, making a total of five across the Midland and Mount Helena dojos. Sensei Chris observed, "I have been doing karate for 30 years, and this is a very significant moment for me", adding "I'm proud to support Sensei Bob and our dojo, and I think it's fantastic that between Sensei Bob, myself and our senior instructors we have over 220 years combined

experience to offer the students".

Other students who graded include Damien Bell (who teaches karate at Swan Hills Goju Ryu's Bridgetown dojo), Tony Wray, Warren Hope and Lisa Skrypichayko of Stoneville, who were all promoted to 2nd dan. Warren, Lisa, Ben McDonald of Sawyers Valley and Michael Matthew of Stoneville, Tiela Agnew of Midland and Melinda Brezmen of Hovea all successfully completed their weapons gradings.

As their sore muscles recover, Swan Hills Goju Ryu karateka are already back on the mats, working tirelessly to help themselves and their fellow students to grow and improve.

Sensei Bob Allen teaches students of all ages at his Midland and Mt Helena dojos, and is a senior kata coach for the Western Australia Karate Federation.

ROTARY TEAM CHALLENGE GEOFF FRANCIS

A Sensei Chris Papamarkos performing Shisochin kata (Photo by Melinda Brezmen)

WA head of style for Goju Ryu Karate Australia, Sensei Bob was recently awarded his 6th degree black belt during his last visit to Okinawa, Japan, the birthplace of karate. "I am extremely honoured to have been awarded this very special rank, and will continue to do my best to follow the tradition of those who have gone before me", said Sensei Bob, adding "I hope I can pass along the valuable knowledge and spirit of karate which others have shared with me".

A very significant achievement in itself, Sensei Bob's promotion is a reflection of advancements in Goju Ryu Ryusyokai karate in general. Allen's own sensei and head of style for Goju Ryu Australia, Salvatore Ebanez, was awarded the rank of 9th dan, along with his Okinawan colleague, Tamaki Hidenobu.

This is the second highest level of achievement, generally awarded to only a select few after decades of dedicated practice. Late last year, Ryusyokai world head of style Shigetoshi Seneha was awarded the top rank 10th dan.

Bringing this to a local level, this month several of Sensei Bob's students achieved significant milestones of their own.

In early March, Sensei Sal Ebanez ran a series of gruelling but rewarding karate and kobudo (weapons) seminars at the Midland dojo for karateka of all ages and levels. Having survived this, selected senior students had one more

t the very active Rotary Club of Mundaring, we have some very interesting speakers.

Just last week a talk was given on the challenges of caring for disabled people when their parents or family are not able to continue and the person concerned wants to stay in their own home.

In a few weeks we have a talk by a local tree surgeon on managing trees in an urban environment.

In the meantime, the rotary board is working closely with the Shire of Mundaring on the fair distribution of funds raised for the victms of the horrific January fires.

This fund has been contributed to very generously by many other Rotary clubs around the state and several interstate clubs including Tasmania where they have had their own fair share of devastating fires over recent years.

Coming up on the 12th April is the Rotary "Team Challenge" event where people can Walk, Ride or Run from Notham, or Bakers Hill or Chidlow to Swanview.

This event is raising funds for M.S. research, a very good cause. Our club has three superbly athletic bike riders taking part as well as providing a sausage sizzle at the Swanview finish.

Should you like to support us, please get onto your computor and go to: http://www. mswaevents.org.au/Rotary-Team-challenge/ MUNDARING+MADDIES Another activity with which we are helping is serving morning tea at the ANZAC Dawn Service at Blackboy Hill Swanview.

Remember, too the Monthly Mundaring Sunday Markets Sunday April 13th on Nichol Street, Mundaring.

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WHAT’S ON IF YOU WOULD LIKE AN EVENT LISTED IN THIS COLUMN RING JAN ON 9298 8495 MUSTARD SEED - DISCOVERING COMPUTERS Teaching computer skills to all ages and abilities.

Monday afternoons - iPad and Android tablets and Mac computing.

Tuesday mornings and afternoons - Windows.

Wednesday mornings - Club morning.

We are fully equipped with computers, software, scanners, printers wi-fi broadband and projection equipment. Phone 9299 7236 for information.

AUSTRALIAN BREASTFEEDING ASSOC. Discussion groups, guest speakers, morning Enrol now and avoid our waiting list. $3 per tea. Free breastfeeding counselling. Expectant session. www.glenforrestuniting.org/computers/ mothers, mothers, babies and children welcome.

National Breastfeeding Helpline 1800 686 2686 is ELLENBROOK COMMUNITY WEIGHT LOSS CLUB a 24 hour 7 days a week service.

Swan/Mundaring Group meets every Monday, Every Wednesday evening 9:30-11:30am at the Gumnuts Family Centre, We meet from 6.45pm to 8.00pm at the 8 Mudalla Way, Koongamia. A qualified ABA Woodlake Community Hall, Meeting room 1. counsellor is present at each meeting to give Highpoint Blvd, Ellenbrook. Friendly support confidential information and support on group and low cost. Male and females of all ages breastfeeding issues. Contact Natalie 9572 4971. welcome Kalamunda Group meets fortnighly on a Contact Shirley 9276 7938 shirleysardelich@ Thursday, 9:30-11:30am at the Maida Vale Baptist aapt.net.au.

Church, Edney Road, High Wycombe.

GUILDFORD MARKET Contact Jenny 9252 1996.

Third Sunday of every month Northam Group meets each second Tuesday of At Guildford Town Hall, Corner of James and the month at the Bridgeley Community Centre, Meadow Streets. 9am - 3pm.

Situated in the heart of Guildford, within five Wellington Street, Northam 10am to Noon.

Fourth Tuesday each month at Toodyay Playgroup, minutes walking distance from the Guildford Stirling Terrace, Toodyay. Noon to 2pm. Please Train Station, a visit to the Guildford Market is sure to please. phone Louisa 9574 0229.

With a diverse and unique array of locally handcrafted products and produce, there will be THE HILLS CHOIR something of interest for all.

Monday Evenings Do you enjoy singing and joining with others From garden ornaments, homemade jams to make beautiful music? Come and join the Hills and relishes to handmade soy candles, cards, Choir. We meet from 7.30 to 9.30pm at the Uniting bags, cushions, children’s toys, bears, baby and Church on Stoneville Road, Mundaring. Our 2014 children’s wear to individually designed and crafted glassware, jewellery and beautifully made season commences on Monday 3 February.

Contact Margie on 9295 6103 for further wood products and so much more to tempt you.

Sausage sizzle, live music all day. information.

Make a day of it, stroll around the markets and then take the time to wander about the heritage SWAN VALLEY SQUARES – ELLENBROOK listed town of Guildford. Enjoy a picturesque Every Friday Night Modern Australian Square Dancing from Heritage Walk Trail or pay a visit to the antique, 8.00 pm – 10.00 pm Woodlake Community Hall, art and craft shops along the cafe strip.

1 Highpoint Blvd, Ellenbrook. Friendly, fun and Enquiries: Bromwyn, 6278 4252. low cost. No previous experience necessary. All Welcome. Contact Greg Fawell 0417 912 241 or SWAN HARMONY SINGERS Every Wednesday www.swanvalleysquares.weebly.com Come and sing with us! Swan Harmony Singers meet from 7-9pm at the Ascension Parish HILLS CHRONIC PAIN SUPPORT GROUP Church Hall, Spring Park Rd, Midland. We would 1st Wednesday of each month Hilltop Grove Estate, 1645 Jacoby Street, be delighted to welcome new members, especially Mahogany Creek. Morning tea provided, between men. No auditions. For more information, call Chris on 9298 9529 or 0435 062 728.

10.30 - 12.00 noon.

Enquiries Terina 9572 1655.

FORRESTFIELD GARDEN DAY & MARKETS Saturday, April 26th BINGO AT ELLENBROOK Woodlupine Community Centre, Hale Road Every Tuesday evening Eyes down 7.00pm at Valley Bowls Club, Cnr Forrestfield from 10.00am to 3:00pm Bob Melville (Melville Nursery) One hour talk Maffina Parade and Cashmore Ave, Ellenbrook.

Lots of games and prizes. Lucky number draw. and demonstration Continuous jackpot. Bars open. Tea and biscuits Garden Guru - One hour talk and demonstration Chef’s Toolbox - Demonstration by Sandy available. Enquiries Ray 6296 5580.

ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS Glen Forrest Group Every Monday evening We meet at 7.00pm at the Glen Forrest Uniting Church, Mc Glew Rd, Glen Forrest. Call Dermot 0488 905 211 or John 0448 074 536 or the Perth Office (all hours) 9325 3566.

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Thermomix Demonstration by Marlene Mary Kay Makeovers/make up stand Childrens workshop, face painting, jumping castle Stalls of all kinds Regular market dates last Saturday of every month Stall holders wanted apply now at forrestfieldmarkets@gmail.com more information call 0417442522 LA SALLE COLLEGE, MIDDLE SWAN – MEMORABILIA FOR 60th ANNIVERSARY La Salle College’s 60th Anniversary Community Mass and Open Day will be held on Sunday 22 June from 10am to 3pm. As part of this event the College would like to display significant items of memorabilia from over the years (photographs, publications, anniversary items, uniforms of De La Salle College). If you are able to assist with the use of these items, please call the Community Relations Department on 9449 0635 or email communityrelations@lasalle. wa.edu.au CANCER MORNING TEA Monday 19th May At Salvation Army Hall, Ellenbrook. Tickets $10.00. Lovely morning tea, raffles and auction.

Door Prize: Night @ Vines for two plus breakfast.

Contact Bev & Brian Chitty 9296 7640.

THE KALAMUNDA SCOTTISH COUNTRY DANCE GROUP (Inc) Thursday nights Which has been meeting for social dancing for twenty-eight years, is running a fifteen week course of beginner classes, from 3rd April 2014.

The classes will be held on at the Jack Healey Centre, cnr Mead Street and Canning Road, Kalamunda from 7pm - 8pm, just prior to the club’s usual social dancing night (which takes place from 8pm - 10pm).

You will learn the basics in a supportive and encouraging environment, and become competent to take part in social dancing at any of the Scottish Country Dance Groups in Perth.

Ages 17’s – 80+.

You don’t need a kilt, a partner or a Scottish accent, just a reasonable level of fitness, a love of Scottish music, and a pair of soft-soled shoes is helpful.

Dancing provides a great physical and mental exercise.

For further information please phone Rebecca Head 0409 329 705 or Jan Pittman 9574 6671.

BUSINESS CARD BOARD ACCOUNTANT

CANDLES

FIREBREAKS

AIRCONDITIONING

CARPET CLEANING

GARDENING

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CEILINGS

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BRICKPAVING

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GLASS

DRY CLEANERS

MAINTENANCE

Specialising in Brickpaving & Soakwells

FREE Quotes No job too big or too small Call Larry: 0431 057 124 or 6278 2301

BUILDING DESIGNER

FOR QUALITY & FRIENDLY SERVICE • Wedding & Evening Dresses • Doonas & Blankets • Curtains • Woolens/Silks etc • Alterations and Mending

Phone 9295 1488

Shop 5, Mundaring Shopping Centre 7025 Great Eastern Highway, Mundaring

Your business could be here in colour from as little as $80.

Ring Jan on 9298 8495 27

BUSINESS CARD BOARD MARKETS

PLUMBING AND GAS

TREE SERVICES

PLUMBING

TREE SERVICES

Guildford Town Hall, James Street 9:00am--3:00pm Held on the third Sunday of each

Bromwyn 6278 4652

PET SERVICES

Just Trees

Your Affordable Local Tree Service Pruning - Lopping - Removals - Mulching

9274 3236

~ Fully Insured

~ Call for a Free Quote

7B Bushby Street, Bellevue, WA 6056

PLASTERER

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STOCKFEED

TUITION

CALL FOR A FREE ASSESSMENT MUNDARING - 9295 6255 ELLENBROOK - 9297 3654

TV ANTENNAS

SWAN MAGAZINE Published by: Synhawk Publications Pty Ltd WEBSITE:

www.swanmagazine.com.au Editor: Jan Patrick editor@swanmagazine.com.au Office: 14 Ridge Road, Glen Forrest, Western Australia Phone: 9298 8495 E-mail: office@swanmagazine.com.au

THEATRE

WEB DESIGN

Sales: Linda Davey 0433 380 745 Postal Address: P.O. Box 554, Mundaring Western Australia 6073 MAY DEADLINES: Advertisements: 30th April Editorial: 20th April Copyright: Synhawk Publications Pty Ltd 2014 28

Your business could be here for $80.

Ring Jan on 9298 8495

29

MARLOO THEATRE Marloo Road, Greenmount www.marlootheatre.com

The Shakespeare Anniversary Festival 1564 ~ 2014 Garrick Theatre Presents

Darlington Theatre Players Presents

Kalamunda Dramatic Society Presents

Othello

A Midsummer Night’s Dream Try Booking

Marloo Theatre

Directed by: Peter Clark

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Directed by: Douglas Sutherland-Bruce

April 1 ~ 26 2014

Directed by: Lucy Eyre

(see website for details - www.marlootheatre.com)

BOOKINGS: www.trybooking.com/CUJW ADULT $23 CONC/CHILD $21