lifeasdaddy

H.M.A.S. Edward. Australia's newest submarine.

Kids just love playing with cardboard boxes and pretending.

For the past couple of years as my profile photograph in the top right hand corner of this blog I've used a pic of Edward sitting in a cardboard box.  Drawn on the outside is a Big Red Car.

Nowadays Edward is quite interested in submarines, so I thought I would make one for him.

Here's how to make a cardboard submarine.

I used a large cardboard carton which enclosed a table we recently bought.  I slit the carton along one length and folded it to create a flat base.  I drew the rough outline of a cigar shaped submarine  with conning tower on the parts of the cardboard sheet which would become the sides of the vessel. Then cut it out using a small pruning saw.  This is the best tool for cutting through thick cardboard.

Then I folded the sides upwards and secured them with tape across the top and around the nose area.  The back of the submarine was left open to give children easy access to the inside. 

A piece of excess carboard was rolled up to make a tube about 10cm in diameter for the periscope. In turn, the periscope was also taped in place.

Finally came painting.  As you can see, the classical cigar shape was emphasised with a black outline.  The writing is in red colour because that's Ed's favourite colour.  The green, red and yellow splotches are just to create some visual interest and break up the solid surface so it looks a bit less like a cardboard box from the outside.

The submarine was designated number B5 because it will be Ed's fifth birthday.  

H.M.A.S. was used because Edward understands they are the prefixes for all Australian Navy ships and submarines. 

And "Edward" - well all kids love seeing their names written on things.

As well as playing with boxes, kids also like making tunnels out of things, so by leaving the back of the submarine open and having the ceiling of the conning tower arching over the top a bit of a tunnel feel is created too.

A finishing touch is a tin foil cake pan at the top of the periscope to represent the lens.

Does Julia Gillard really believe the rubbish coming out of her mouth?

Last night CFK Childcare Centres Limited voluntarily appointed an administrator due to the company's dire financial straits.

Today on ABC radio's The World Today programme The Hon Julia Gillard, Deputy Prime Minister; Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations; Minister for Education; Minister for Social Inclusion was interviewed as the Minister responsible for childcare centres with the education portfolio.

I was listening.

The transcript of the interview is not yet available on the ABC website, but there is another news item here which contains the quote I heard,

...Ms Gillard says parents should not be anxious.

"Can I say to those anxious mums and dads two things, firstly my department is in urgent discussions with the administrator so we can get the full information here for people," she said.

"Secondly, no childcare centre in this country can close without giving 30 days notice."

Let's just review Ms. Gillard's ludicrous statement again:

 

"... no childcare centre in this country can close without giving 30 days notice."

Oh, really Ms. Gillard?

So, a childcare centre run by a public company whose shares ahve been suspended from trading, whose board of directors have appointed an adminsitrator and is in such dire financial straits that it has been losing $400,000 per month won't close it's doors beause it has not given 30 days notice to the governement and parents.

Do you really believe that rubbish which came out of your mouth Ms. Gillard?

Kevin Rudd plumbs new depths in oratory.

At 11am today there was a ceremony at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra to commemorate those lost in HMAS Sydney (II) 67 years ago.

Amongst the Prime Minister's remarks were these pearlers:

"What finally would the warriors of Sydney say to us today at this the dawn of our pacific century?

I believe they would also say this, be warriors for peace.

I believe they would cry as one, may there be no more wars.

I will believe they would say to our peoples our diplomats and our statesman, let us strain every sinew, not only to preserve the peace, as if war was somehow our natural human condition, but to build together a new habit, a new culture, a new practice of peace for the future."

What tosh.

 

See the whole catastrophe here.

 

Bring back Don Watson or even Graham Freudenberg as speechwriter.

 

 

"When the legend becomes fact, print the legend." World War One serviceman's identity problem.

That's a quote from The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance.

I was just listening to Richard Glover's radio programme and apparently in honour of Remembrance Day yesterday he featured the reading of a letter from a World War One serviceman James "Jim" Downey which has only recently been opened.

The man's family could not stand to open the letter until now because he died Palestine one week after writing the letter.  The letter was dated 23/4/1918.

Here's a link to the text of the letter.

But there are a few problems identifying Jim Downey.

Here's the text of the comment I have made on the ABC website for Richard Glover's programme.  The comment has not yet appeared on the website, as comments are moderated.

This is a very interesting letter.  Poignant of course.

However some of the biographical details may need further research.

All World War One Australian military service records are digitised and available on the National Archives of Australia website.

I've just done a check for James Downey in World War One.  None of the Downey surnames with James as first or second names died in WWI.

I have also checked the Australian War Memorial website's Roll of Honour.

Lachlan James Downey was a lieutenant in the Light Horse, but he did not die until 16 October 1918.

All of the other people named Downey did not die within one week or even a couple of weeks of 28/04/1918
whether they had a "James" in their name or not.

Further research required.

See Roll of Honour here.

Now, Jim Downey could have been serving with another nation's forces, however his letter is laced with Australianisms of the period.

I wonder who he really is?

Let's check the Commonwealth War Graves Commission records.

I've just listened to the interview with Kyle Wilkinson, and he said that his great uncle died of wounds on 1 May 1918.

http://www.cwgc.org/debt_of_honour.asp?menuid=14

Here's the search process,

Search for: Casualty,

surname: Downey

Initials:  [ I left this blank ]

War: First World War

Year of Death: From 1918 to 1918

Force: Army

Nationality: Unknown

Then I hit search, and here are the results.

There are 28 records with the name of Downey, but none died on 01 May 1918.

I have also searched the Australian War Memorial's section on Australian Red Cross Wounded and Missing Enquiry Bureau files for "Downey" and there are six results, none died on 01 May 1918, nor are consistent with a 'Jim" Downey.

How mysterious.

ADDED:

Possible solution.  Instead of the spelling "Downey" given on the ABC website, maybe his surname had the spelling "Downie".

I've searched for "Downie" at the CWGC and come up with this relevant result:

Name:	DOWNIE, JAMES
Initials:	J
Nationality:	New Zealand
Rank:	Trooper
Regiment/Service:	Canterbury Mounted Rifles, N.Z.E.F.
Date of Death:	01/05/1918
Service No:	17393
Casualty Type:	Commonwealth War Dead
Grave/Memorial Reference:	J. 5.
Cemetery:	JERUSALEM WAR CEMETERY, Israel

So, he may have been serving with the New Zealand Expeditionary Force.

ADDED 14 Nov 2008:

The moderator of comments on Richard Glover's website has seen fit to permit three comments, although not mine as shown above - perhaps believing I'm some kind of crank.  So I've left another comment today (awaiting moderation) giving what I believe to the the correct identity of the late Jim Downie.

11 November 1918

11 November 1918, originally uploaded by National Archives of Australia.

Lest we forget.

Nazi symbolism featured in new Perth Mint issue.

The Perth Mint (also known as Gold Corporation), which is owned by the West Australian Government, is a bullion supplier and manufacturer of collectables.  Many of the collectable coins are also legal tender although their bullion value frequently exceeds their face value.

In honour of the discovery of HMAS Sydney (II)'s wreck the mint has just released a commemorative $1 coin made from pure silver.  Senator Nick Sherry presided over the coin's launch on 3 November 2008.

Senator Sherry's media release, which reads like an advertisement complete with embedded hotlink to the Perth Mint's website, also describes a premium coin, medallion and badge set.  It says that the set includes " ... a gold and silver-plated replica of the Kriegsmarine’s (German Navy’s) Auxiliary Cruiser Badge."

I've included the Perth Mint's photograph of this Kriegsmarine badge at top left.

You can see that it includes the familiar symbolism of the Nazi regieme of an eagle's talons gripping the swastika.

I expect the inclusion of the Nazi eagle and swastika to be controversial.

John McCain's concession speech

It's probably the best and most gracious concession speech I've ever heard.  He also elequently sums up the historical significance of Obama's victory better than anything else I've read or heard in the past 24 hours.

McCain's speech writing team did a great job, and he proved himself a big man by delivering it.

Text of the speech can be found at the transcript here,  here, here, and here.  I'm giving you four options here, because those links seem perishable to me.

Australia's gift to the U.S. Presidential election: The Australian Ballot

... turns out to be the standardised ballot paper according to this New Yorker item by Jill Lepore.

Although Ms. Lepore credits Mr. Chapman of Victoria or Mr. Dutton of
South Australia with the invention of the secret ballot paper method of voting, it was actually first enacted by the Australian then colony of Tasmania on 7 February 1856.