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This is a little exercise in creative writing.  The brief was to reimagine the Three Pigs from a different perspective.   The original is a parable about the virtues of forward thinking, providence and hard work, so that only the most abstemious pig survives the metaphorical wolf.  I thought it was a bit tough on the middle pig who is just trying to find a balance between work and play.   So here is my version:

 


 

I know it’s a bit alternative but I like my little wooden house.  It took next to no time to build and after all I just need a place to lay my head.  And our forest has lots of nuts to eat. Yes, I got plenty of nut'in; and the nut'ins plenty for me.
So what’s the point of a lock on the door when the things that I prize, like the stars in the skies, are all are free.

 

They call me Porky. My best sow and I have formed a duo: ‘Porky and Best’.  She and I perform/squeal Gersh-swine songs down at the Wallow, our local hangout frequented by the more laid-back porcine-Porsche crowd.

 

I got the sun; I got the moon; I got the shade of a tree.

I’m not like nerd-pig, my pseudo-intellectual brother, who’s got no time to dance and play and sing the night away. 

 “You call that a house,” he said. “It’s more like a pile of sticks.  You don’t need windows.  I can see right through the walls.”

Then he went on to speculate what would happen to it, and me, in a bushfire. “Smoked pork! Tinder ‘n Crackling!” he concluded. 

What a boar, always expecting the worst!  What happened to 'live for today'? 

But we both agreed, it's a palace compared to hippy-pig, our other brother’s place. 

As an alternative lifestyle in-activist he decided on straw-bales.  Some of his friends from the commune even contributed a load but after he smoked a bit, and chilled, it was all too hard. 

So, he just piled the bails in a sort of U and stretched the tarp, that came with the load, as a make-shift roof.  When he gets the munchies, he eats his house.

 

 

“Did you choose this spot deliberately?” asked nerd-pig meaningfully when we both went to see.  “Naw,” hippy-pig grunted: “That’s just where they fell off the truck.”

“As I thought,” said nerd-pig sarcastically, “Right in the watercourse down the hill.  You’ll drown in the first good storm.”

Nerd-pig really gets up my snout sometimes. He can be a real swine. His favourite saying is: “Two legs good, four legs better.”  As if we need to be better than birds.

He’s building a huge brick sty on top of the hill, complete with a fireplace in the kitchen.  He has no time for enjoyment.  But he has invited me around to dinner tonight, so he’s not all work and no play.

Speaking of birds, what did that little bird just say?  “Hippy-pig is gone - in a huff and a puff!”  Well, the puff is not unexpected. What’s that: “Big Bad Wolf blew in, no door, no roof!”     

Wait 'til I tell nerd-pig tonight. I’m longing to see his beady little eyes, when he finds out he was wrong about the drowning.

“Hey bro,” I squeal at his big oak door. “Can I come in?” 

“Yes of course,” he replies.  “You’re just in time for wolf, leek and potato stew.”

Well, that’s a surprise. Wasn’t I supposed to get eaten first? 

Obviously, the electric fence I put around my house worked as planned.  I'm not completely stupid, incompetent or helpless.  

 

 

Consequently, the shocked and disoriented Big Bad staggered up the hill; onto nerd-pig’s roof; and straight down the chimney into his cooking pot.

“What delicious swill bro,” I grunt piggishly, as I get my snout into his trough.  “This puts hairs on my chinny chin chin!”

 

 


 

 

 

 

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Travel

Poland

Poland

 

 

Berlin

We were to drive to Poland from Berlin.  In September and October 2014 were in Berlin to meet and spend some time with my new grandson, Leander.  But because we were concerned that we might be a burden to entertain for a whole month-and-a-half, what with the demands of a five month old baby and so on, we had pre-planned a number of side-trips.  The last of these was to Poland. 

To pick up the car that I had booked months before, we caught the U-Bahn from Magdalenenstraße, close to Emily's home in Lichtenberg, to Alexanderplatz.  Quick - about 15 minutes - and easy.

Read more: Poland

Fiction, Recollections & News

Reminiscing about the 50’s

 

This article was written in 2012 and already some of the changes noted have changed.
For example, in the decade that followed, 'same sex' marriage became legal. And sadly, several of those friends and relations I've mentioned, including my brother, died. 
No doubt, in another decade, there will be yet more change.

 

 

Elsewhere on this site, in the article Cars, Radios, TV and other Pastimes,   I've talked about aspects of my childhood in semi-rural Thornleigh on the outskirts of Sydney, Australia. I've mentioned various aspects of school and things we did as kids.

A great many things have changed.  I’ve already described how the population grew exponentially. Motor vehicles finally replaced the horse in everyday life.  We moved from imperial measurements and currency to decimal currency and metric measures.  The nation gained its self-confidence particularly in the arts and culture.  I’ve talked about the later war in Vietnam and Australia embracing of Asia in place of Europe.

Here are some more reminiscences about that world that has gone forever.

Read more: Reminiscing about the 50’s

Opinions and Philosophy

Climate Change - a Myth?

 

 

 

Back in 2015 a number of friends and acquaintances told me that Climate Change is a myth.

Half a decade on and some still hold that view.  So here I've republished a slightly longer version of the same article.

Obviously the doubters are talking about 'Anthropogenic Global Warming', not disclaiming actual changes to the climate.  For those of us of a 'certain age' our own experience is sufficient to be quite sure of that the climate is continuously changing. During our lifetimes the climate has been anything but constant.  Else what is drought and flood relief about?  And the ski seasons have definitely been variable. 

Read more: Climate Change - a Myth?

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