Roland Boer's Blog, page 83

Humour in the face of death, part 6

Like most couples who have been together for a long time (50 years in this case), my parents have developed a complex pattern of mutual antagonism and continual struggles over control. My father thinks he is control, my mother encourages him in this impression but then quietly works behind the scenes. Of course, my father is not silly and knows what is going on, but being stone deaf he misses the content. This picture says it all:

The only way to cope is to see the funny side of what we call 'Th

A rare case of honest labelling

It was refreshing to find this label at the supermarket the other day. At first I wasn't quite sure I had read correctly. There was beef, chicken, pork ... and then at the end:


Think of the other possibilities: dead cow's arse (rump steak), chook's arse gland (parson's nose), stomach with undigested matter (green tripe), slaughtered pig ...

Humour in the Face of Death, Part 5

It looks like yesterday's Everest climb (the 70 stairs up to the 'treehouse') was the last climb, since my father took a huge slide today after the effort. I forgot to mention that yesterday was even more 'draining', since the community nurse who dropped by in the morning was precisely the sort of person he can't stand: a woman who takes no bullshit (of which he has ample) from him and tells it like it is. What a strain that must have been!

Still, my mother thought that if he had climbed the stai

French cycling mafia warns Green Jersey in the Tour

Gotta love this. The world's fastest sprinter, Englishman Mark Cavendish, has won four stages of the Tour de France and is a contender for the coveted Green Jersey (for sprinters). But in doing so, he has pissed off a number of French riders due to his dishing out racial abuse. It's the old channel rivalry: the pommies complain about the smell of garlic wafting across the channel and the Frenchies can't believe how barbaric the pommies are.

So an anonymous French rider had this warning for Cavend

Humour in the Face of Death, Part 4

I've arrived back after an exhausting afternoon at my parents' place. My father is a stubborn old fart, so much so that even a mule would turned tail ages ago. He had been told by the palliative care team that he is too frail and that the cancer is too far gone for him to make it up and down the 70 or so rough-cut stairs to the 'tree-house' where they live. Of course, that was just the reason he needed to show them how wrong they were. So up he stood, clothes hanging off a skeleton, red beenie i

One more sexy man from the Bible and Critical Theory Seminar

One of my female readers was disappointed that only one sexy man appeared in my initial collection of pictures from the Bible and Critical Theory Seminar, so here is another (James):

Humour in the Face of Death, Part 3

My father is pretty weak these days, but the old bugger is lingering on. He's doped up on morphine for the pain, which has him insisting that since the cancer is in his abdomen, there's little point in taking tablets through his mouth. But a few days ago he expressed a wish for a cigar and cognac, or at least cognac. So I thought I'd get him some. Soon enough I found out that cognac is the most expensive alcohol in Australia, but I gritted my teeth and purchased a bottle.

When I turned up with th

The Bible and Critical Theory Rocks!

Great papers, lively discussion, fiery debates, moments of discovery, and a stunning location - the Bible and Critical Theory this year anounced a new phase. A couple of years ago it seemed moribund and stuck. How things can change!

They came from the USA, New Zealand, Perth, Melbourne, Brisbane, Sydney and even Newcastle. The venue - the Grand Hotel:

Darren Jorgensen started us off with a great paper on Ted Strehlow, Aboriginal songs and poetry and Bible translation, and we were off:


From there we

The best Bible and Critical Theory Seminar ever

Out of some 15 seminars over 12 years this one was arguably the best one ever. It's late now, so a full report tomorrow, but it will include:

* the fabulous Grand Hotel

* antics of the party animals who hit the nightclubs

* the quality of the alcohol

* someone who heard of the fact that sex happens at the seminar and the desire to return

* a fiery argument or two

* swooning over sexy singers

* some hopeless and love-stricken romantics

* above all, fantastic papers, generous discussion and no intellectua

Snippets from the Bible and Critical Theory Seminar

Heard on the first evening: a princess (who will remain unnamed) complains about the fact that she is sleeping in a dorm room at the local youth hostel for the first time in her life. The man next to her mentions the lovely room in the pub in which he is sleeping.

'Oh, you're so nice', says princess, rubbing the man's arm seductively, 'do you have room?'

'I'm gay!' says man.

'Oh, bugger', says princess.