‘The Youth’ – maybe they’re not so bad

I spend a ridiculous amount of time with ‘the youth’ and I actually get paid for trying to teach them something. Granted, I am sometimes blessed with minor breakthroughs and warm fuzzies, like seeing it click when a Chinese girl understood why I kept correcting her writing from ‘a honest girl’ to ‘an honest girl’. Damn those silent ‘h’ words – it’s a silly rule. English is a tricky language to explain sometimes and my regular retort: “Because what I’ve written is just right, OK? I don’t have time to explain it to you now!”  usually buys me some time.

But, I bitch all the time about how ‘the youth’ are rude and disrespectful and their parents aren’t disciplining them and how i’m sick of it. But today I was at Pacific Fair having coffee with my entire family (all 11 of them) and a group of kids starting calling out “Miss! Miss!” and then came up to me and told me how I must be rich to afford coffee and they’re so povo they have to go to Coles and buy HomeBrand. I was actually quite surprised and pleased that they thought they could approach me – especially because I was with my whole family. Maybe it was because I gave one of the girls a serve when she admitted that she’d ‘ghosted*’ me at Robina the weekend before. I’m fairly sure I would’ve steered clear of a teacher outside of the school grounds. Who knew they actually had lives and did things like went out for coffee and shopped! 

Anyway, it’s stuck with me. Perhaps some parents are doing the right thing. It’d just be nice to get some support when ‘the youth’ make my job difficult instead of telling me that their daughter “is a right little bitch at home too”. One parent actually said “Yeah, he’s really difficult. Anything you could do would be great.” Pass on the parenting to the teachers. We probably see more of your kids than you do anyway. What’ s happening to society?

Bring on the holidays. Two weeks to go. And I’ve just successfully lost another half hour or so of marking and reporting time.

I am a success.

*ghosting is when you follow someone without them knowing. It’s a stupid private joke that kids think is hilarious and is now a form of bullying. Geez, keep up people.

G.

Mummy? Weetbix?

So here are some photos of Annie. It’s been a while and most of you will see some changes since our last post.

Annie’s running and dancing and talking non-stop – must get that from Pete. She’s impressing us with her vocab. We’re pretty stoked with how she’s turning out.

It’s great that she can tell us what she wants to eat and play with and where she wants to go. We’re embarking on toilet training too – i’m looking forward to feeling rich once we stop buying nappies!

Annie LOVES drawing

“Paper? Paper?” I quickly removed all textas and permanent markers from her reach.

Nanna with her girls

These three spend a lot of time together. Nanna rocks.

Check out the perfect crayon grip!

She’s no Jeffrey Smart but she’s developing a fine appreciation for colour and circles.

Cuddles with grandpa

Grandpa getting cuddles for feeding her babycinos with marshmallows.  Sugar, sugar, sugar… CRASH.

Video coming soon.
G

Balnaves The Tally Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon 2000

Pulled out a cracker from The Cellar (my wine fridge) to go with our lamb roast. As a single-ish income family with a kid, rack of lamb, a new release and a shit-hot wine is as good as it gets – and tonight is unreal.

The wine: Balnaves ‘The Tally’ Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon 2002, Coonawarra, SA. It’s been in my Cellar for about two years but it feels like longer.
Colour: Ruby colour, no hint of youthful violet but not turning garnet yet. Throwing some sediment. Rich, star-bright.
Nose: Coonawarra Cabernet all the way. My first thought was Coonawarra rather than any particular character. Shows classic cassis and mint with tobacco, chocolate, blackberry and mint.
Palate: Rounded entry shows incredible suppleness in its mouthfeel, which opens up to a medium-bodied ripe wine showing medium acidity, medium-full tannin and medium-full intensity. Cigarbox spices underpin ripe blackcurrant, red cherry and blueberry notes. Seemless integration of oak and fruit. Acidity is in perfect balance with the still firm tannins. Sensational length. This is one of the best wines I’ve opened at home for a long time.

The Verdict: With great ripeness this wine just makes me think in terms of New World vs Old World. There is no way France could ever produce a wine like this.
But.

I’m not sure that this is where my tastes are any more. There is no questioning the power, intensity or balance of this wine. At this time in its life it’s showing beautiful balance between oak, acid, fruit and alcohol but it’s not what I’m interested in any more. I’ll still savour this wine, but don’t think I’ll be spending this kind of money ($100 two years ago) on Aussie wine.

In the future

This blog entry serves as a ‘note to self’ on children’s birthday parties.

In the future:

• I will not ask family members to sit at public parks reserving a spot for our daughter’s birthday party
• I will give someone our camera and ask them to take photos of the day so we end up with more than just a random few shots
• I will definitely make pass-the-parcel for the adults – even the kids loved watching it NB. the prizes were not of an adult nature (WINK), just scratchies and booze
• I will continue to make awesome cakes inspired by Women’s Weekly cookbooks
• I will triple the amount of fairy bread i think we will need. Who knew so many grown ups would still hold it near and dear!

So, overall the memories are pleasant but the photos are few and far between. So, here are a few of the few. Enjoy!

G.

Nabokov v Dostoevski

Yee-ah, it’s on. In fact, it’s no longer on, it was on in one man’s mind and later on in his classrooms – but that was many years ago in a land far away.

Having just read Crime & Punishment I was keen to read what my all-time favourite author and one-time Russian Literature lecturer at Cornell, Vladimir Nabokov had to say about the book. Turns out he reckons it’s far from perfect and I couldn’t help but be pleased to agree.

Nabokov says he read the book about five times, which is something to be admired in itself, but I’m pretty sure he didn’t have an Xbox or live next to the beach. He brings it all down to one sentence – a book that took me two months to read collapses in one sentence. Regardless of the reason, I love the way Nabokov demands perfection and consistency in all art.

[An aside: That's kind of interesting in itself because I'm drawn a lot to imperfect art - particularly in music. I love musicians like Elliott Smith and Conor Oberst (Bright Eyes) for their lack of consistency and often very dodgy live performances. It means that their works of Pure Genius (Elliott Smith - highlights of Either/Or; Figure 8; XO; Bright Eyes - I'm Wide Awake It's Morning) are given valuable human context. I guess it's like extended lees contact during maturation with a Chardonnay - gives mouthfeel and complexity to what's already there.]

I think the standard of living in pre-revolutionary Russia depicted in the book is the goldmine. The existential issues surrounding murder, guilt and redemption aren’t delt with by any original / deft / insightful measures. But having been to St Petersburg I really loved reading about the streets and ting.

I’ve read all but two of Nabokov’s 20-something works and only one of Dostoevksi’s so I’d naturally side with my main man. I read his critique of Crime & Punishment in Lectures on Russian Literature and the glowing spark of admiration I keep in my mind for Nab was immediately bellowed into a dancing flame of admiration, envy and dreams of literary eloquence and metaphysical illumination.

The point is, I can spend two months chewing through a rewarding yet ultimately unexciting work like Crime & Punishment and walk away unchanged, then I can read a five page critique of said work and feel ashamed for not being the potential man I could be if I focused on literature (and its matters) rather than watching TV, drinking too much wine and playing GTA San Andreas.

Hmm. Might return to Dostoevski in a few years, but not right now. I’ve got Nabokov to re-read. Or maybe I’ll flick through his book on Russian lit and find the dudes he rates and go from there.

Dang we’ve been slack

Yeah, this is the problem with being a perennial procrastinator and all-round lazy bugger and trying to be a blogger. The two don’t go that well together. The spirit is vaguely willing but the flesh is weak and spongey.

AND TO PROVE MY POINT – as of this paragraph we are on day two of writing this post. One small step for mankind is a giant leap for one man.

So what’s new at Casa de Rogers? Not much, mes amis. Annie had a great first birthday (photos to come… eventually), we’ve all been sick with this flu and that’s about it. Oh, and I read Crime & Punishment – the whole darned book.

Cop a load of this, Pixie Foto!

My ‘beached as bro’ Jordo took time out of his crazy, mega-buck-earning filming and leisurely surfing schedule to come up and visit last weekend. He brought his super dooper camera with him and while clocking up some quality time with his two favourite girls (i should stipulate, this is the 2 years and under category ONLY), he took some wicked shots. Like this:

and this

and also this

.

I think his two day intensive visit served as a contraceptive as he realised how much work it really is to have a kid. He tried to take a nap on the couch but was rudely interrupted by a frustrated baby who just realised the toy she wanted was out of reach. He was said to have confided in Pete “And this goes on ALL DAY!” to which Pete replied “And ALL NIGHT”.

Here are Jordo’s two favourites – Claudia (our niece, courtesy of Jess & Tony) and our frangipAnnie.

.

There’s something about candid photos. No nudey babies, no lambskin rug, no flowerpots in sight. Just the girls being themselves. And it was all free. Yep, life is pretty sweet.

Love ya Jordo.

G.

Not so small packages

Ok. Ok. So, we’ve been pretty slack at posting images of mini rogers. Thanks to those of you who have pestered and reminded us. She may not be the new Brangelina twins and to date there have been no cash-money values placed on these pics so here she is…for free.

Photo courtesy of the Godmother

By the beach. Clothes courtesy of the Foster family.

We bought a new BBQ and outdoor setting for our fancy new place. A-Ro (as affectionately named by the Bathgates) sat in the box and played patiently while I read instructions like a girl and P.G. used the tools (yes, a wrench and a screwdriver) to put them together.

Annie in a box

She looks quite different in all these photos but i assure you she’s the only one we’ve got…that i know of.

And you should leave a comment, even if it’s not related to the post so we know you stopped by and therefore keep posting.

Coming soon to casaderogers:

• video footage (if i can work out how to do it)
• the 1st birthday – so many decisions!
• more on wine, and
• puzzle mania!

Stay tuned.
G.

The Kooks – Konk

Just got the new album from The Kooks – Konk. It’s gold. These guys are bloody unreal. Just found out they are playing sold out shows in Sydney and Brisbane. How do I miss out on this information? I guess it’s the downside of living the life of a shut-in: no paper, no tv, no radio, no news websites. I definitely rate this band. I hope they stay fresh. This album’s pretty much the same sort of stuff as their debut album, Inside In Outside Out (or vice versa…). Album three will determine their future, but for now, let’s dig in and enjoy these guys. They are real rockstars.

blu

I’ve been doing a little bit of looking into the artist that did those animations I posted earlier . His name is blu and he’s got a sensational site. I originally thought he was using some sort of advanced animation technique for his wall art, but his site details his step-by-step process of what’s essentially stop animation of his larger than life graffiti across cityscapes. Some works span across two sites in two cities. What an amazing artist.

Anyway, it turns out he’s becoming something of a phenomenon – they don’t just let anyone turn the facade of London’s Tate Modern into a work of art.

The site is definitely worth a look.

Pete.