Anthony Bourke's Blog, page 33
March 14, 2011
A Lion Called Christian Documentary
I found out today that the 2009 documentary A Lion Called Christian is going to be shown on the Bio channel on Foxtel in Australia at 9.30pm on Thursday 17 March.
Click here to see a preview of the show. I hope you can watch it!
February 26, 2011
Middle East, Egypt, Politics, Penny Tweedie, Bundeena, etc
I wonder how the victims of the Queensland floods and cyclone are managing – it is alarming how quickly and easily they have dropped out of the news. I have been meaning to comment on the still appalling situation for many people in Haiti a year on, after what seemed such well organised promises of aid and assistance.
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Bundeena, Sydney NSW
BUNDEENA: I have been living in Bundeena, a small community on the southern edge of Sydney for several years. It has beautiful beaches, coastal walks and drives, and is surrounded by the Royal National Park. There are many varieties of birds (my favourites are the kookaburras), possums, and the occasional wallaby, snake or goanna. I am aware of the environmental damage cats can cause, and I promise I attempt to bring my very well fed cats in every night. Bundeena is just over an hour from the city, so I am close – and far, enough. Originally a fishing village, the community of a few thousand is seeing an increasing gentrification– and Vanity Fair is now for sale in the newsagent. People like myself are viewed as "city blow ins". Bundeena is however low-key, and it is possible to be pleasantly reclusive with no social pressures. Quite a few artists live here (there is an Art Trail to many artists' studios on the first Sunday of each month), and some are very well-known. It has been hot (often in the mid 30s), but it has been very relaxing here over summer, reading, gardening, working on some upcoming projects and exhibitions, seeing family and friends, and of course, just being with the cats. There has been time to reflect on the world, and try to digest the momentous events of the last few weeks and months.
Grand Pacific Drive towards Wollongong, NSW
EGYPT: Congratulations to the Egyptian people. Their revolution was more organized than it appeared – by an internet savvy group, and was secular and largely non-violent. We had not questioned or even thought about their decades of repression and it suited our governments to turn a blind eye for a useful ally. The USA funded the regime with an annual US$2billion. The revolution is not complete: the military is not going to relinquish their influence easily. Nor will the US! No-one can really predict the outcome and the wider implications for the Middle East – least of all me.
The Egyptian revolution appeared to be led by a youthful, educated middle class, supported by a down-trodden and repressed general population. Leaders are emerging in the vacuum. Islamic fundamentalists seem a small minority voice at this stage. I have had a friend visiting Egypt who said Facebook was finally useful. I urged him to take care and wondered – how would I have responded if I lived there – and would I have had the courage to be in Tahrir Square? Good luck to the Libyans – Gaddafi will go down with guns blazing (or chemical weapons) on his own population it seems. The West watches impotently – and the Libyans ask legitimately: "why isn't anybody helping us?"
LEADERSHIP: Poor Mr. Obama. No wonder he is going grey: inherited problems of the GFC, Iraq and Afghanistan, and the Republican obstruction of his legislation and attempted reforms. Now their repressive allies in the Middle East are all vulnerable in a shifting landscape. The US are trying to juggle their support for their long-term alliances, AND be seen to be supporting emerging democratic movements and human rights in the region. Democracy is fine – as long as it doesn't threaten their strategic interests it seems. Hard for them not to appear hypocritical. For the record: US annual funding – Egypt $2 billion, Israel $3 billion, Pakistan $7.5 billion.
The SMH Chief Correspondent, Paul McGeough, has been writing comprehensively, and I think insightfully, about the Middle East. For example, see his article SMH February 21 2011: "Lip service is all US pays in the drive for democracy". The US veto of a UN Security Council resolution to examine the legality of Israeli settlement buildings in occupied Palestine would not have gone down well on the "Arab street", especially at the moment, and is a good example of the USA's conflicting interests. However, the unrest has not been particularly aimed at the USA – except in Pakistan at the moment over the presumed CIA operative that has been arrested. Australia has also just been paying cautious "lip service" in support of these historic changes as well, despite the usual flurry of hyperactivity by our Foreign Minister – the ex PM Kevin Rudd.
I would like to see a very representative and uncorrupted United Nations type body with very strong international powers! I think many of us have realised our leaders are, well, only human like us after all, but it should make us all the more determined to effect change through our own personal, often local, efforts.
McGeough has written scathingly about Tony Blair who he likens to a "drowning sailor". Blair's quotes in defence of Mubarek did not look good – or the re-release of those photographs of him helping to ease Gaddafi back into international acceptance in 2004. Still in denial about Iraq – how has Blair got any credibility left in relation to the Middle East as "special representative" of the Middle East Quartet (UN,US,EU and Russia)? I would think some of his reported "consultancies" and relationships would normally constitute a conflict of interest. He is soon to visit Australia to earn even more money on the speaking circuit. Equally shameless it seems, the British PM David Cameron is visiting the Middle East with British arms dealers, looking for sales.
Water from the Queensland floods flowing into Lake Eyre, photograph by Kelly Barnes
POLITICS: Yes, obviously I'm pretty passionate, which can be very boring for people who aren't! Obviously politicians play such a comprehensive role in our lives and futures we can't just ignore them. We have to rely on them, for example, to respond to Climate Change, and the formulation and implementation of environmental and animal and wildlife conservation policies. They are susceptible to complaints from their electorates so I try to keep up the questions and pressure, especially by email. I try to read as widely as possible and it is often hard to get to the truth or a deep understanding of a subject. I view myself as a "trying to be informed" average citizen. I do wonder why some of my more conservative friends and acquaintances don't read anything much about subjects they have strong opinions about, or care about context. Why is there seemingly much more informed commentary from the Left rather than the Right, and why are "shock-jocks" on radio always from the Right ? I know I must appear biased, but I promise I try and keep an open mind!
LOCAL AUSTRALIAN ISSUES: (but with global echoes)
NBN: National Broadband Network. This is an example of a subject I find difficult to understand (like GM crops), especially given my own technical ignorance. I believe in essential national infrastructure, but is fibre the right option – especially as the US has opted for wireless? From recent articles it seems that a mixture is the answer. With wireless subject to range limitations, and slowdowns with too many subscribers, fibre should be "the work horse of the data downloads".
SURPLUS vs DEFICIT: The Opposition here in Australia has got the government very defensive about financial management – "waste", "big new taxes" etc., but unfortunately their criticism does not extend beyond these few effective but clichéd slogans. They fail to acknowledge that Australia was the only developed nation that did not go into recession during the GFC, unemployment is at 5%, but they endlessly squeal about the deficit. The government – already on a knife-edge with numbers, is hamstrung to actually govern and make some tough economic decisions – rather like Obama. I don't know why the conservatives are claiming the ascendancy on economic management here or in the US – the GFC developed on their watch, and in Australia the Liberal Party politicians haven't yet explained the $7 – $11 billion hole in their last election budget. In an article by the excellent economist Ross Gittins in the SMH February 14 2011: "Fiscal heaven is pollies worrying about deficits", he traces this relatively new obsession with surpluses. Our mining boom (and being the world's largest coal exporter), will take care of the deficit. But the Liberal Party were good hoarders, even though it was at the expense of infrastructure which was allowed to run down. Shouldn't an Opposition be offering constructive criticisms, and alternative policies? We are constantly in election mode and a 24 hour media cycle, and the government is too defensive to make any hard if necessary decisions.
"BIG NEW TAX": Last year we had people power Australia style when a group of mining millionaires and billionaires actually took to the streets with placards in a demonstration! It was surreal. They backed this up with a $22 million advertising campaign against a proposed mining super profits tax on our non-renewable resources. The tax was going to "ruin Australia" – investment would go elsewhere etc. These people have been made to look ridiculous with the recent publication of their company profits or personal wealth. Australia's richest person Gina Rinehart $9 billion, Andrew Forrest $6.9 billion, BHP $10.5 billion half-yearly profits, and huge profits for Rio Tinto and Xstrata. The tax, which was watered down, will probably now be passed.
"STOP THE BOATS": Our scandalously inhumane treatment of asylum seekers and refugees by both sides of parliament has been in the news lately. This "race to the bottom" as it has been described, has been fuelled and possibly led by the Shadow Minister for Immigration, Scott Morrison, and his electorate was the scene of the Cronulla race riots several years ago. He seems to think Muslim demonisation is a vote winner, and it has been reported that he recently suggested his party capitalise on public unease about Muslim immigration. His party has also recently recommended cutting Australian aid to Indonesian schools – a highly successful counter terrorism scheme started by his own party when in office. I used to send him critical emails – he has a long and unattractive track record in my opinion, but lately he has been generating enough negative attention of his own.
CARBON PRICE: I have been trying to chart on this blog the mixed fortunes of the Climate Change debate. From the heady, optimistic days of Copenhagen and a consensus by a majority of people for urgent action, to leaders being deposed, flaky climate change deniers effectively slowing the momentum, and policies subsequently dumped. Both parties have lost credibility on this issue, and this contributed to the Greens doing unexpectedly well at the last election. Despite promising not to introduce a carbon tax at the election, with the increased influence of the Greens, the Government has put Climate Change unexpectedly back on the agenda. They are going to set a price on carbon by July next year, which will lead on to an emissions trading scheme in due course. Many in the Opposition are climate change deniers, and their party has a pretend policy, but this issue which should have bi-partisan support, is going to be, again, a very ugly and divisive debate. This will test our PM's considerable negotiating (and compromising) skills. The Greens want much more ambitious cuts to our emissions, and no compensation as previously canvassed for the worst polluters (power, energy and transport industries). Those mining zillionaires will be back on the streets protesting!
From Penny Tweedie's book "Spirit of Arnhem Land"
Tom Noytuna, photograph by Penny Tweedie
PENNY TWEEDIE: Penny Tweedie (1940 -2011), an internationally admired photographer died recently. I am mostly familiar with her often extremely beautiful and intimate photography in Arnhem Land where she first visited in 1975. I staged an exhibition of her photographs in Sydney in the mid 1990s. For the invitation I used the photograph of Tom Noytuna decorated for a traditional ceremony on the telephone (above). Google her, or look out for her books This My Country (1985) and Aboriginal Australians: Spirit of Arnhem Land (1998). The Australian photographer, writer and blogger Robert McFarlane has a tribute to her on his very informative photography blog www.ozphotoreview.com.
MY PHOTOS: When I was angling for a compliment about some of my own photographs taken in India on my new Lumix DMC-LX5 which I adore, a friend replied: "you can't miss with a mountain view like that", "with digital anyone can take a good photograph these days" and "pity you cut the cat's ear off".
From Penny Tweedie's book "Spirit of Arnhem Land"
WHALES: Congratulations to the Sea Shepherd for terminating the Japanese whaling season in the Antarctic. Let's hope the Japanese are losing their taste for whale, and their pretend "scientific" expeditions.
WATCHING: The indefatigable David Attenborough's First Life documentary series about the origins of life, is starting on television here.
CAT NEWS: I love it when cats or dogs are named and in the news in their own right. Many others surreptitiously slip into photographs with their owners. Larry a tomcat has moved into Number 10 Downing Street in London, from Battersea Pound. The WikiLeaks leaker Daniel Domscheit-Berg, recently wrote that when Assange was staying with him in Germany "Julian was constantly battling for dominance, even with my tomcat….(He) would constantly attack the animal".
CHRISTIAN: The French edition of A Lion Called Christian, Un lion nommé Christian in paperback has just been released. I was recently interviewed for French television, and as I had been told previously that our story had been co-opted in defence of performing animals in circuses in France, I was of course anxious to refute this. I can't wait to see the footage of the very unexpected cameo of my shyest cat emerging from under the sofa!
January 21, 2011
New Year 2011
Southern swell by Australian Kah Kit Yoong, Runner Up "Wild Places" category / Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2010
WILDLIFE PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR 2010: This seems an appropriate photograph to lead with this year, with the power of water very much on all our minds with disastrous flooding in three states in Australia, and in several other countries. Currently showing at the Australian Museum, Sydney I did not find this exhibition as breath-takingly good as last year – but it is still quite inspirational. I love the wide participation and interest generated from many nationalities and from all age groups, and the spotlight on the often ravishing beauty of our increasingly endangered nature and wildlife. You can take your camera and practise your photography on selected museum specimens.
FLOODS: Much of Australia has had drought conditions for many years, and there have been debates about water use, the condition of river systems, irrigation and desalination plants. But many people have been fighting for their lives or losing everything in recent floods in Queensland, NSW and Victoria. There have also been floods in other countries including South Africa, Sri Lanka, The Philippines and landslides in Brazil where many lives have been lost. However, extraordinary qualities have been demonstrated – courage and heroism, stoic acceptance, outstanding leadership and great community spirit. Over 100,000 volunteers turned up at the weekend to clean up Brisbane!
Little owls on top by Ilia Shalamae, Highly Commended "Behaviour of Birds" category / Wildlife Photographer of The Year 2010
PETS: Animals have of course been as much at risk as the humans and their stories here have been equally poignant and heart breaking. At first, evacuation centres refused to take animals but that was swiftly overturned. Trapped horses "screamed". Some cows knew to head to higher ground before people sensed the imminent danger. Dogs have turned up days later. The veterinarian clinic at the University of Queensland became a "Noah's Ark". In Brazil there was that very upsetting photograph of a dog sitting for several days on the grave of the owner.
On another note, in Spain they have just celebrated the annual Luminarias religious festival held on the eve of St Anthony's Day which commemorates the patron saint of animals, but the photograph showed a man riding his horse through flames which seemed entirely inappropriate! Anthony is my Christian name, and I'd forgotten St Anthony was the patron saint of animals.
Swamp heaven by Mac Stone, Highly Commended "Animals in their Environment" category / Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2010
LEADERSHIP: The Premier of Queensland has earned wide admiration for her leadership during the crisis, managing to strike the right note and appearing "real", while our PM sounded awkward. Our government has become so enslaved to focus groups, polling and media cycles, like many governments in the world. They seem cowered and cautious, with most responses and actions seeming so scripted and careful at a time in our history requiring strong and intelligent leadership. Barack Obama also seems to have struck the right note talking about the shooting in America in Tucson when he said we must "remind ourselves of all the ways that our hopes and dreams are bound together".
The uprising in Tunisia, which has many other neighbouring despots feeling justifiably insecure, was partly provoked by information disclosed by WikiLeaks. This is why in principle I support WikiLeaks, which I hope will lead to more transparency, not less.
In a recent article "Time to turn traditional enemies into allies" (SMH 15-16th January 2011), Stephen Kinzer (author of Reset:Middle East), argues that there has to be a new paradigm for the Middle East as America's allies are failing them very badly. Pakistan and Saudi Arabia have proven to be too duplicitous. Kinzer argues that the West has much more commonality with countries like Turkey, the world's most democratic Muslim country. The US-Iran relationship he describes as the "most dysfunctional in today's world". Many people in Iran are well educated and would like democratic reform, and are against the radical Sunni groups like the Taliban and al-Qaeda. They could actually help to stabilise Iraq and Afghanistan. Kinzer writes that the wisest policy would be to "try drawing Iran and Israel out of their isolation, and ultimately make them feel safe enough so they can make the security concessions the world needs them to make". I remember Obama early in his presidency spoke initially in a conciliatory way about Iran, and was derided for it. I recently saw Annie Leibovitz's exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Art, and her photograph of Bush, Rice, Cheney, Rumsfeld etc was the most chilling photograph I have seen for along time, and the world is still paying the price for what they inflicted on us.
MISC. STATS: 30,000 deaths from guns in the US each year – and gun sales have recently escalated; 800 million Indians live on under $2 per day, and the legislated minimum wage is about $3 per day; according to the FAO, there were 100 million less undernourished people in the world last year, but still leaving 925 million, although this represents 1 in 7 as opposed to 1 in 4 40 years ago; the average life span has risen from 59 to 70 years, and people are healthier, wealthier and better educated. In Australia apparently we have less violent crime, and are smoking less and taking fewer drugs.
LAST BLOG: I have remembered a few other things I wanted to say about India: although I was in the tea estates of Darjeeling and Assam, I didn't have one cup of tea I enjoyed and loved getting back to my Dilmah! In my hotel in Mumbai the staff surprised me by singing Happy Birthday and producing a birthday cake which I found very touching, if embarrassing; and the exhibition of my Indian tribal art collection (Cross Art Projects, Sydney) is now in April.
Frozen moment by Fergus Gill, Winner of the 15-17 years category / Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2010
CHANEE / KALAWAIT: Click here for Chanee's latest news. He is seeking partners for a kloss gibbon conservation project.
SAVE THE BEES: Click here for AVAAZ's petition to ban toxic pesticides that seem to be responsible for billions of bees dying which is endangering our food chain.
Moon Bear - Mr Sunshine
FREE THE BEARS: Mary Hutton, founder of Free the Bears Fund Inc. sent this photograph to a friend of mine who made a donation. Mr Sunshine and his sister, freed from a cage, now live in an enclosure where they can roam and forage. Click here to view the Free the Bears website.
TARONGA FIELD CONSERVATION GRANTS PROGRAM: Click here for information about Partnerships for Conservation. They are partnering in projects that protect endangered species, save and regenerate natural habitats, and work with local communities. See information on the grants available in 2011.
WATCHING: I've been enjoying the cricket even if we were humiliated by our colonial masters the English, and tennis, which I especially like. I am about to go to Melbourne for the Australian Open.
PLAYS: I've been lucky enough to recently see Cate Blanchett in Uncle Vanya, although I did not enjoy the performance or play as much as A Streetcar Named Desire last year when she was unforgettable as Blanche. I've just seen Geoffrey Rush in The Diary of a Madman and his performance was also a "tour de force". I saw him having a fag at the stage door on the way in…
TONY FITZJOHN: I have adored reading Tony Fitzjohn's Born Wild. He had begun working for George Adamson between our 1971 and 1972 visits. Christian was the first lion he met and they became great friends and he says they learnt and grew up together. It was one of his life's "most valuable relationships". Whenever volatile Joy Adamson came to camp, he and Christian went and stayed down by the river, which I find particularly sweet. It was a miracle that Tony materialised, and with his personality and many practical skills he helped George maintain his lion rehabilitation program, and the camp at Kora, for many years up until George's murder. He describes the deteriorating situation and great dangers in the 1980s at Kora – indeed Kenya. In addition to photographs I hadn't seen before, I particularly liked more information about Christian and I cried, or sobbed, quite a few times. Tony felt that as he was the same age as us, he was a sort of substitute for us in Christians's mind. I didn't realise Christian had had such a hard time from the local wild lions. He luckily grew very big and somehow negotiated a "truce" with some of them, and was actually seen sitting with Scruffy, a particularly tough lion. Ultimately however, he had to find somewhere else to live. Tony writes very well about some of the unique qualities George had; "There was a quality of peace and stillness about him that clearly put the lions at ease. Everything he did, he did competently, deliberately and calmly". With his knowledge gained over many years, George could accurately anticipate most animal behaviour. The book also details information about the leopard program Tony initiated (a leopard fell in love with him), and everything he has achieved subsequently at Mkomazi Game Reserve in Tanzania. He continues George's work as Field Director of the George Adamson Wildlife Preservation Trust, and he describes the recent rehabilitation and plans for Kora. Christian was last seen heading for Meru National Park in 1973, an indication of his successful rehabilitation. I can only agree with Tony when he said: "We were proud of him but, God, I missed him".
December 22, 2010
India 2
Mount Kanchenjunga (again)
On my first weekend in Calcutta, luxuriating in the Oberoi Grand, I noticed a colour supplement in the newspapers – Indian tribal art had finally become fashionable, with an artist achieving $31,000 at a Sothebys auction in New York.
Indian tribal art finally comes of age
TRIBAL ART: I had been collecting this artist – Jangarh Singh Shyam from Madhya Pradesh, since the late 1980′s when I visited the Bharat Bhavan, an exciting gallery/museum complex in Bhopal. It was one of the first to collect contemporary Indian art (which was about to explode) and tribal artists – long marginalised and discriminated against because of their lowly caste status. On my many subsequent trips to India I continued to look for tribal art -I am after all a curator of Aboriginal art in Australia. I collected and exhibited paintings from the Warli tribals who live in the foothills of the Sahyadri mountains (north of Mumbai), Madhubani folk/village paintings from northern Bihar, and later, I was one of the first to arrange exhibitions of Khovar art from southern Bihar. In 1994, Jenny Kee, a famous London/Sydney fashion icon and artist, her boyfriend the late Danton Hughes, and I went on a "tribal tour" of Orissa to remote villages. Adventures included nearly being arrested for photographing near naked tribals at a weekly market high up in the mountains, to Jenny being swept up in a tribal wedding party walking along the road.
Jenny Kee in Orissa, 1994
When I organized the Australian/Indian Government artists exchange and exhibition at the Crafts Museum in New Delhi in 1999, I ensured that Jangarh Singh Shyam participated joining Aboriginal artist Djambawa Marawili. This was most enjoyable, despite language barriers, and a huge "collaborative" canvas (which had no evidence of any collaboration), is now probably wrapped somewhere in the basement of the Australian High Commission in Delhi! Extremely unfortunately, Jangarh committed suicide while feeling isolated on an artists's residency in Japan in 2001. His son is now getting recognized for his own art, but unfortunately, other tribal artists I saw this time seemed to be imitating Jangarh's unique visual vocabulary…
Later in January 2011, I am going to exhibit my collection of Indian art at the Cross Arts Projects, Kings Cross – a small exhibition to mostly work out what to do with it, and enjoy!
My mother, Pat Bourke, in Jaipur in 1990
MUM: Another adventure I had was with my mother who adored her trip to India in 1990 and was just ecstatic when she rode an elephant. She has long been truly fascinated by elephants which I am only now beginning to fully understand and share in her enthusiasm.
INDIA: I have been asked how different I found India after 10 years – and I didn't find it very different. What I had forgotten was just how alive Indians are! They are just going for it – often against great odds, and mostly with a smile on their faces. Traffic and queues (and queue jumpers) can of course test one's patience. There is apparently a huge increase in the middle class and it is good if more people have better lives and greater educational opportunities. The GNP is projected to be 9% for the coming year. Unfortunately, not everyone shares in this wealth, and the gap between rich and poor has widened. I noticed a lot of zippy little new cars and some new flyovers, and some instant suburbs, but basic infrastructure like roads seemed as run down as ever, and many open drains and worrying loose cables.
This woman slept on the pavement each night opposite my hotel
Many people were fascinated with a recent documentary (Kevin McCloud's Grand Tour) that looked at the slums of Mumbai, where it is expected over 8 million people will live by next year. There is 85% employment in the slums, and most interestingly, a very strong sense of community that has been lost in wider suburbia, and that architects and city planners would like to replicate. I noticed two women sleep on the pavement opposite my hotel each night, probably after a day of sorting garbage, and could only imagine what their lives are like.
80 million children between the ages of 6 and 14 don't go to school. Over a million schools have no buildings, or one teacher only, or no water or basic amenities.
But again, I can only reiterate my admiration for how well India works…given the challenges and the weight of the population.
Morning prayers
READING: I very much enjoyed reading Nine Lives by William Dalrymple. I had previously enjoyed his history of Delhi, The City of Djinns. He is interested in how modern India is impacting on the past and traditions, and looks at nine extraordinary lives, and their religious and spiritual experiences. These include a middle class woman who has found fulfillment living in a cremation ground, and a temple dancer who is worshipped as an incarnate deity for 2 months of the year, but is a prison warden for the remainder. One of the many unique things about India is how, unlike most other cultures, the present is not disconnected from the past. Their mythological stories and epics are renewed, reinterpreted and evolving, with the Ramayan for example, a very popular television serial in the 1980s.
I loved the quote in the book from Shah Abdul Lalif a C18th Sufi master (especially as there was a recent hysterical wave of share-buying in an Indian coal company): "Deal only with things that are good. If you trade coal, you will be covered in soot. But if you trade musk, you will smell of perfume".
One of my favourite writers is the grumpy but amusing VS Naipaul who I first read when I went to India. I loved his writing as a returning (for the first time) Trinidad-born Indian. An Area of Darkness (1964) – I love the quote, "To be in Bombay was to be exhausted", and then India: A Wounded Civilisation (1977). Aravind Adiga (The White Tiger) recently wrote that Naipaul's India: A Million Mutinies Now (1990) was "so compassionate, so insightful in it's vision of India as a land that grows through strife" that Indians forgave Naipaul his criticisms and fully embraced him.
Good news is that Vikram Seth is writing A Suitable Girl to be published in 2013!
HOLIDAY READING: Tony Fitzjohn's Born Wild, David Suzuki's The Legacy (I like his mantra of "clean air, clean water and clean food") and familiarising myself with the intelligent and very relevant work of Tim Jackson and Wade Davis, starting with their TED Talks.
COLABA: In Mumbai I rarely leave the beautiful harbour suburb of Colaba, near the now unfortunately infamous Taj Hotel, and the Gateway of India. Although people still sleep in the street there, or camp beside buildings, I did find it rather odd to see in this suburb with some of the most valuable real estate in the world, rather beautiful black and white goats tethered to fences. I then realised that it was Eid-ul-Azha (EID) and they were to be sacrificed. I was extremely upset.
Kittens at the Darjeeling Animal Shelter on Kukur Tihar
CAMPAIGNS: At the same time I was emailed about Australian sheep being sent to the Middle East, and for EID were also killed cruelly. You can watch a most disturbing report that was recently screened, and to add your voice of protest email the Australian Government, click here. We are complicit in this trade…and these "sacrifices".
TONY THE TIGER: Update
Go to YouTubePlay video
Unfortunately, I have just received this email and the permit has been renewed.
"Hi Ace
I want to apologize for not writing to you sooner. Between work being crazy (have been busy at both jobs) and the news about Tony, I got somewhat backed up with getting emails out.
The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries renewed their permit to Tony's owner Michael Sandlin on December 14, 2010. While it is very disappointing, I am not discouraged and will continue to do whatever I can to try to help Tony.
Here is the link to the article about the permit renewal:
http://www.2theadvocate.com/news/latest/112048634.html
I am trying to keep people on Tony's Facebook page interested and supportive, asking them to write to the contacts on this list and voice their objections to the permit renewal:
http://freetonythetiger.wordpress.com/2010/11/22/for-tony-louisiana-contact-list/
I don't want people to forget about Tony.
I want to thank you for caring and supporting Tony, and for giving his story more exposure on your blog. It means so much to me and I hope we can continue corresponding.
I hope your Mom is well. I have a rare day of from work today; just home with my cats trying to update things online and respond to emails.
Please keep in touch – have a great holiday.
FOR TONY ALWAYS
Dee DeSantis"
OPRAH: Australia has had Oprah fever and she got an unbelievable reception here. I've been enjoying remembering when we went on her show last year, actually sitting beside her, meeting attractive Gayle King, and fellow guest Facebooks' Mark Zuckerberg, this year's TIME Magazine Person of the Year. I promise I don't know anyone who goes around shouting Aussie Aussie Aussie, Oi Oi Oi!
I love Derek Cattani's Christmas card
Whatever your beliefs or indulgences, Merry Christmas, Season's Greetings etc, I hope you have an enjoyable break with your families and pets. I'm most appreciative that many of you find the time to read my blog, and respond and comment - I love your animal stories and photographs! Can I thank many of you for drawing my attention to interesting stories and issues and relevant campaigns. Let's try to make a difference next year, and I especially want Tony the tiger to be freed! My best wishes for a more peaceful and a more sustainable 2011.
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