Mum and dad, what the?

I am not at all interested in people’s views on this blog topic because I think I have come to the end of my tether when it comes to having enough of hearing and seeing how respect and standards have diminished over the last decade or so when it comes to Gen X, Y and Is (my youngest informs me that they are generation I ie Ipods, Ipads, Internet etc) and their standard of acceptable language v my standard.

Maybe being the daughter of an army officer might have something to do with my views but I have finally accepted that the world has certainly dropped its standards in too many ways and the respect we showed our elders whilst growing up have sadly, to a very decent degree, parted company with the next generations. My peers do not use bad language so someone has let the standards down and hence it has come from somewhere right?
I can start with my children’s peers. Thank goodness the majority of them are respectful and have fabulous manners. There are a minority however where calling me by my first name without asking my permission is just ‘the norm’ and I have a problem with that. Dropping explicit language at my feet whilst engaged in conversation with myself or my offspring does not seem to phase some at all. Yes, I can assure you I do not hesitate in standing my ground, expressing my displeasure in their offensive language and asking for them to watch their ‘P’s and Q’s’ whilst in my company. This is usually followed by a forthcoming apology from them and a very red face and our next encounter is always void of such behaviour, thank goodness. I think that is a lesson in respect is it not? So why do I have to do it and not their parents? I have brought up my children with a clear understanding about language which will not be tolerated neither in our home nor in my presence EVER! As a very learned gentleman said on TV recently, if you wouldn’t say it to your grandparents, don’t say it ever!

Now I will jump onto my high horse here and blatantly state that I blame mum and dad/guardians for this decline in good behaviour. As a child I was constantly reminded about respectful behaviour and my goodness I stand by it. Many will now think how, due to the increase in divorce, parenting has become harder and parents aren’t around enough to govern behaviour which is true to a point but I say RUBBISH to letting this be blamed for increased bad language in society. I was a single mum for eight years and if I can have well behaved children then there is no excuse. Just the simple words, ‘oh your girls are so lovely and polite’ makes all my hard work worthwhile and yes it is hard work to teach your children, but worth every minute of it. There are NO excuses. The simple words ‘shut up’ are spoken by children to parents and vice versa and I have been witness to this many times recently and have become the ‘norm.’ I dislike it intensely and unless using it in a frivolous manner, do not use it in my presence thank you. Once we allow the ‘odd’ bad word into our family life, the rest of those words will follow.  

Walking through shopping centres nearly brings me to despair when overhearing these younger people drop the F word or the S word etc etc as if they use it as often as we use the word AND. It is horrifying but understandably horrifying when, if they are walking with their elders, these elders are using the same words.....I ask you? As they say you learn what you live and ain’t that the truth.

Reading some tasteless comments on Facebook from some of the younger generations makes my blood boil and I can assure you that if it appears on my youngest's FB page from a friend of hers, I will put a comment on that comment. Yep, parenting is hard work and until mine are of legal age, I will continue to parent and voice my opinion and yes you lose the odd friend because of it but they come back with more respect and having learnt a lesson.

May be it should be a New Year’s resolution for families to have a swear tin in their homes for 2012 where monies are put into it by anyone who uses bad language or is it too late? Nope, it is never too late to improve ourselves.

Beware, anyone whose children/family members/friends are in my presence and utilise bad language when conversing with me, you will remember me forever. I will not tolerate it, never have and never will so watch out!

PS, It is now some two months on since I wrote the above and I recently noted my eldest had dropped the F word on her Facebook page. Appalled at this, I took a photo of it and then proceeded to block her and then informed her of this episode, ofcourse she was very red-faced (I told you I have standards.)  Why the photo? Because she is 18 and denies all wrong-doings in her life that she is responsible for .......Sherlock Holmes has nothing on me! This little darling lives out of home, her choice not mine, and reads my Facebook page to keep up to date with home life. Not any longer. Now she has to pick up the phone and communicate with me. Perish the thought of her talking to her mother. Will she be permitted to rejoin my FB? Possibly not. It is not because I want to punish her 'until the cows come home' but I don't particularly wish to have an eighteen year old watching over my shoulder.

Time for a little Christmas cheer and some green thoughts

As we approach the festive season I need to remind myself as well as hopefully you, my readers, that, although many human beings find the Christmas season to be an absolute pain in the proverbial.... Yes I am hearing you and say there is too much materialistic emphasis put on the season and quite frankly I agree. The world economy is not prepped to allow a season of spending, spending, spending, this year. The upside for those of us who look forward to putting up the Christmas tree and preparing those popular rum balls (my grandfather’s recipe - which naturally contains copious amounts of our fabulous Australian Bundaberg Rum and just enough Madeira cake, Cocoa powder, coconut and condensed milk to soak up that rum and hopefully hold together) is that I think we have learned that the year needs a little or should I say a lot of Christmas cheer to help us rid the roller coaster ride many of us have been on.

I can honestly tell you that I have had quite enough of this year and am, frankly, looking forward to farewelling 2011 and welcoming 2012 in with gusto. It seems there has been heavy clouds hanging over many many heads throughout the year all over the world and we were no exception. We were greeted at the beginning of the year with our dreadful floods which affected us both emotionally and physically (my car went under 5 metres of water) and caused such incredible devastation and loss of life; following this was the sudden and sad loss of a loved one to be then followed with a large negative influence which attempted to fracture our family unit; as well as constantly hearing from others the hardships the flood has brought upon so many; the Japanese earthquake; the New Zealand earthquake; the Bangkok floods; our local news constantly discussing whether the hydrologists should or shouldn’t release water from our large Wivenhoe dam as they predict another big wet season is about to greet us even though it has been our driest November in many many years and so it goes on and on. Accompanying this I can tell you that it was the quietest year I have had in my five years as a stallholder at our local market as we all understandably watch our pennies and through all of this, the constant of the GEC which we have all woken up with and gone to bed with for some two years now.  Quite frankly I have had enough and it is time for some fun.

Last evening we had our annual community BBQ around our apartment pool and which was a huge success and where the common theme of conversation was just as I have said, we all need some Christmas cheer to help turn the tides. Yep, I am talking some damn good belly laughs with some smiles thrown in for good luck.

So I am asking all who read this that although so many have suffered in so many ways this year and, including me, we may not have had the laughs and good fortune we had wished for on New Year’s day this year, as we all go about our Christmas shopping, albeit low key spending for many, can we all please make an effort to find a smile and pleasant comment or two for those we encounter whilst we enter into the festive season. I mean we all know Christmas shopping time seems to release in some of us the “Grinch” type attitude (and I am talking the pre-Cindy Lou Who-let’s-show this creature what can be achieved by being nice instead of angry period) with the “serve me first and quickly and let me get-the-hell-out-of-this-shop” type of human being. Yeah, it is true, shopping is tiring and boring and futile to many but have a thought of those behind the counters serving as well as the man or woman next to you in the line-up, not to mention that person who stole your car park seconds before you set foot inside the shop. That person next to you may have lost everything in the recent floods or in the GEC; they may have just heard the worst news possible about a loved one or about themselves, they may have even just lost their job and may be just about to lose their home. It is everywhere at the moment folks and no-one is immune from any of it.

So in this busy, exhausting and financially challenging Christmas season, instead of reminding yourself how much negativity life has allowed to land on your lap as I have just allowed myself to do, remember the saying ‘what doesn’t kill you only makes you stronger’ and let’s allow some green and positive thoughts creep in to our heads. Before you want to give the evil glare to that car park thief, don't! And remember, even the wealthiest of the wealthy aren’t wealthy every second of every day....just look at the stock market!

So keep those heads up, find that smile that costs nothing and do one or two random acts of kindness for someone this Christmas season and some ‘thank you’s, ‘cheers’ or a’ Merry Christmas’ to a stranger or two even though you really just don’t feel like it. Trust me, it will make you feel like a million dollars.

What the?

It was such a lovely morning yesterday, Sunday, that I, hubby and youngest daughter decided to visit the new Boggo Road Gaol Market, set up by the original Brisbane market trail blazer Ms Peta Hackworth. Peta set up the original Riverside Market many years ago and which kick-started the market world here in Brisbane and I thank you Peta for your foresight as I can now officially confess that I am indeed, a market junkie, I truly can't get enough of them!

On arriving at Boggo Road, hubby and I noted how the precinct had become modernised with the new to us Ecoscience building adorning the area, along with a new bus stop, just off Annerley Road. The old gaol has been looked after well, aesthetically speaking having clearly had an external gurneying in the near past and although they were conducting historical walks which meandered through the market area, these walks did not allow entry into the gaol.

Regardless, the market, though clearly in its early days, was substantial in the areas of fruit and veg, hot food stalls, craft stalls as well as having a couple of musicians/bands placed strategically throughtout the area and the surroundings were more than pleasant. Note: in these summer days, best to get to these markets in the earlier hours to avoid the heat. Note II: Don't be concerned, there are always adequate stalls ready to cure your hydration problems.

I felt in the mood for more market observing after our roaming at Boggo Road and not wanting to go home and conquer what was awaiting me in the laundry I encouraged hubby, with great success, to visit our old haunting grounds of Mitchelton, Blackwood Road Markets, run by Jan Power. On arrival, we noted that the set up was the same and I looked forward to seeing some familiar faces. Unfortunately this was not to be the case. Though the market had clearly expanded a little since my time there as a stall holder some two years ago, there were only three remaining original stalls which saddened both hubby and I. Not only was this a sad situation but what I found even more confronting which maddened me somewhat was that adorning market stall space at these markets are the local real estate chains and the local sitting politician! This young lady was handing out red carnations randomly to us to give to grandparents, as it was, she informed each person passing, grandparents day? Well I have since surfed this on the net and according to Wiki, yes it was National Australia’s Grandparents day, the first Sunday in November. Note to self for future reference!

It is a wonderful thing to see the weekend market life expand in our fair city, however as a stallholder for some 5 years now, I feel I must put my foot down and ask what the? According to Wiki, a market is any one of a variety of systems, institutions, procedures, social relations and infrastructures whereby parties engage in exchange. However in my eyes, this does not include real estate agents and pollies!! Don't these people like being on TV? So what are they doing occupying these wonderful markets?

Now we all know that in the good ol’ days, money was not factored into the original produce selling country market. Exchanging of goods was how it was done in the old days, alleviating the want for cash, and quite frankly this still exists in some situations. I for one exchange my products for other stallholder products and the almighty dollar does not enter the exchange which I truly love. Bring these days back I say! So how does a real estate agent and a politician exchange anything? The only things these people had were business cards and dehydrated flowers. Okay I will always settle for a flower, albeit dehydrated, but having these characters in a market place is just wrong in my eyes. No doubt they paid to have their stalls, I certainly hope so anyway. So this makes me question, and knowing how difficult it is to secure a spot at any popular market, did these characters take the place of a local producer eg farmer, butcher, candle stick maker, who are struggling to keep their heads above water especially in the present economic climate, or is it just that money talks and market organisers are much happier taking that almighty dollar from anyone who is willing to pay including politicians and real estate agents? I think someone may be missing the whole point of why we the people go to markets! It is to buy local products from our local supplies for affordable prices and to cut out that middle man, the BIG TWO, and save a pretty penny or two of the household budget.

Yes, I was extremely disappointed to see these groups now clearly working their way into the happy market place but I certainly hope that this is not a growing trend. As a stallholder I am not wanting to involve a middle man who I know will place another 300% on top of my asking price for my wares should I put them in their retail world and hence the markets is the ideal place for me and my gorgeous wares. Please leave the market stalls for us the local, hard-working producers, trying to make a penny and at the same time, make the public happy too. Keep the politicians on TV where they all seem to like it anyway!

My creative side.....made with love and now available for purchase

I just wanted to let you all know that I have an addition to my market stall where I sell my lovely handmade greeting cards....these new handmade by me, upcycled denim bling bags are now available.

Made with heaps of love, the bags are made from denim jeans I purchase from local charity shops, are adorned with bling procured from near and far, come with a lovely scarf and are all fully lined and hand stitched. They are available online at www.louisedempsterbags.com and from the Davies Park Markets, Montague Road, West End here in Brisbane each Saturday 6am - 1pm (weather permitting). Come and say hi and peruse the latest collection. Eftpos facilities available.

It's soccer or bust Australia!

Association football (also known as football or soccer) is the most widely played sport in the world. An estimated 3.5 billion have some interest in association football, either playing or watching it.


To say that the only codes of football in Australia are AFL, NRL and ARU is a fallacy my friends. History tells us of early evidence of soccer being played as a sport finds the occurrence in China and soccer is one of the most popular sports in Europe and the Americas.

In Australia, social football (soccer) has no specific start date since it was played sporadically across the country from the late 1870s between rival mining communities and visiting ship crews – mostly by English and Scottish natives. Organised football began with a game on Parramatta Oval (NSW) in August 1880 between Wanderers and Kings College. Wanderers won 5-0.

With a worldwide following in 2010 of Association football (also known as football or soccer) it is the most widely played sport in the world. An estimated 3.5 billion have some interest in association football, either playing or watching it ie 53 separate countries/teams compared to Australia’s 10 A-league teams.

I predicted this some three years ago and I predict this again in 2010: Australian soccer, or soon to be known as Australian football in the European scenario......will have the largest following population in Australia, far outweighing the rest of all the leagues.

As the saying goes my friends.....if you can’t beat them......join them.... and I have. Go the mighty Brisbane Roar.....Go Ange Postecoglou and the boys....Go the A-league. We love you all! Go Australian soccer, we are right behind you all!

As Australian as football, meat pies and being a passionate female supporter

This weekend is a huge weekend for Australian footy ( the shortened word for football for my overseas readers who are not ‘in the know’ re Australian slang.) Australia vs New Zealand in the Rugby League test (go Darren Lockyer) as well as the World Cup Rugby Union semi-final in New Zealand, again Australia vs New Zealand. Now I know that so many of my female readers will be about to close this blog and wander off to do something a little more exciting than reading about men’s football but I for one must state that I LOVE AUSTRALIAN FOOTY! Did I receive a little more testosterone than the normal female dose?(Females do have testosterone.) Nope I don’t think so. I grew up in a female-dominant family, two sisters and one bro. So why the great love of these male-dominated sports? I put it all down to great patriotism and a little male influence too.

My maternal grandfather was a keen sportsman in his younger days and I cannot remember a weekend when visiting both him and my darling grandmother that the television wasn’t on and featuring some form of a sporting event be it cricket, league, union, tennis, golf and being a made keen golfer (he lived across the road from the Ashgrove golf links here in Brisbane and frequented it very very often) I remember him often standing in front of the television, talking to the commentators and voicing his opinion to them as if they could hear him. Hilarious at the time and guess who has now picked up this habit?

My father too was a feather-weight boxing champ in his army days; a cross country enthusiast again in his army days; was a keen cricketer and a very good one (wicket keeper mostly) and I was fortunate enough to meet the great Sir Viv Richards because of dad's interest in cricket. Dad also found himself on the judiciary of the Mt Isa Rugby League back in the days when we lived in ‘The Isa’ (great times) and let me tell you this position evoked much passion from the offending players and their supporters but we won't go there! After having three fabulous daughters, came my brother eight years my younger who not only was a fine goalkeeper for his Hilton soccer club in Mt Isa but also represented North-West Queensland as captain for age team; he captained his secondary school ‘firsts’ in cricket and had an outstanding year and he also played Rugby Union at the same school. I am sure I will be reminded by family members who read this that I have missed some things out but regardless this is a fine list of sporting prowess on so many levels.

This fine list has clearly been a major contributor to my interest in a plethora of sports. To add to this fine list, I married a Scotsman who not only follows the great (cough, splatter) Aberdeen team (which is sad for him as I am a Celtic supporter, the great green and white – my grandmother was a Glaswegian lassie and me being Catholic...yep.....and of course then there is the fab Rod Stewart too….) Hubby represented Scotland in Volleyball, was a cross-country runner, naturally played soccer as a youngster growing up in Scotland (dah!) and is also a retired junior soccer referee. My youngest daughter also plays soccer (oh and can I mention that she received the award for ‘most improved’ for team this year…so so proud of you darling…...thanks Paul!)

Don’t get me wrong, my female siblings were also great sports people. We three girls were fabulous swimmers and we took many awards away with us at meets, my mother was an ace tennis player, so too my eldest sister and the list goes on too.

Hence these have been my connections to the sporting world and I guess this is where the passion has come from and yes passionate I am! I was sitting in a room at a family friend’s house last weekend and we watched the last half of the Australia vs South Africa World Cup Rugby game after having a scrumptious BBQ lunch and to my amazement - ‘tis true, I did not think we would make it after watching our thrashing by the fabulous Irish, and how lovely it was that I was wrong -we beat those Seeth Africins but was sadly disappointed by the lack of Australian support in the room!

Now let me tell you what happened:- whilst sitting in this room which was dominated by Scotsmen (who sadly?….I don’t think so…. are out of the cup whoop whoop!) I discovered by their clear lack of enthusiasm for the score that they were NOT supporting the great Australian Wallabies. Sacrilege!! Due to this obvious lack of support, I dutifully reminded them all that I thought that theirs was a ‘poor call’ and I asked them to think about what country they were all presently living in and which they chose to live in! What country they had all found wealth and a great lifestyle? What country provides sunshine to them for three quarters of the year as opposed to their mother country and what country’s economic climate has held up against all others including the UK in the present economic climate oh and what country were they all presently living in, oh did I already say that? Yes, you could hear a pin drop.

Karma happened to them as Australia went on to win that game resulting in me jumping up, punching the air with my fist whilst yelling jubilantly GO THE WALLABIES!!! My fellow viewers were silent. Wanting to make the most of their clear demise, I then regrouped and just prior to me momentarily leaving the room to seek out the bathroom, I counted out loud whilst pointing to each of these Scots, yes those ‘non-Australian supporting offenders,’ and informed them I would be returning with a tissue for each so that they could cry into it. Again, their response was complete silence.

Yep, I am a very passionate Australian and Queenslander and more than proud to support these male sports, female and all! It doesn't always 'go down' terribly well in male company at times when I quote players names; declare that I thought that that pass was a forward pass and then the referee agreeing with me and awards a penalty etc. I am known to regularly tell THE MOST BIASED NSW league TV commentator, Gus Gould, to 'be quiet Gus' during any game he is commentating where a Queensland team is participating, because Gus really, really, really dislikes Queensland and takes great joy in showing his clear bias....shame on you Gus! I am often momentarily disappointed when my wonderful Brisbane Roar soccer team miss goals but so proud of their achievements during last season after having such a poor start. They won the A-League premiership last year….Whoop! Whoop (take that Mark Bosnich....love you Adam Peacock!) Being competitive is healthy and without competition we wouldn’t be able to use the letters VS would we?

So let’s get together my fellow Aussie girls and you lads….show your support for our great Australian sports men and women we have produced and I say Go the Kangaroos, Go the Wallabies and go Australia. The land of the great!

The glass ceiling and women.....it is slowly being lifted

I am a suffragette from way-back-when. I was labelled with this word whilst working in the operating theatre during my nursing training days whilst I voiced my opinion to the ‘then’ surgical registrar whilst I assisted him during a procedure. He then referred to me from that day on as a suffragette, a label I feel proud to hold onto to this day – oh and might I add he dated me for a couple of months after that so he also felt comfortable with my outspoken approach to the powers of being a female.

The day women won the right to vote back in around 1893, was clearly a day when many men or maybe I should say most men swallowed with difficulty. History shows us that women seemed to have been created for the purpose of breeding and then child rearing, cooking, cleaning etc etc. However, thank goodness, gone are those days. Yes clearly we are required for breeding purposes and quite frankly any man who had to endure hours and hours of labour pains let alone birthing, in my and millions of other female’s opinions, would not be a good idea. However I must give credit where credit is due and let’s face it anatomically male musculature clearly allows our men to be physically more apt when it comes to laborious duties involving the expanding and contracting of the old muscles and that is a great thing. Don’t get me wrong, nobody adores men more than I and socially I usually feel more cerebrally stimulated listening to male conversation than those of my  own sex but there is no doubt that women are extremely capable at pulling in the dollars when it comes to employment as men are….just ask Westpac’s CEO Gail Kelly. There are more females than ever entering into the world or law, medicine, IT, engineering etc, and quite frankly I feel the boys feel very threatened by our presence in these male dominated professions.

We are repeatedly hearing the anecdotal comments regarding the corporate world allegedly trying to get rid of the ‘glass ceiling’ when it comes to women in corporate/CEO positions and indeed all top positions including political via the media, it is going to take an army of women to get this going. Mr Rupert Murdoch (born Keith Rupert Murdoch) and his News Ltd empire, clearly has a very strong hold on influencing our political views and controls most of what people read, watch and hear when it comes to Australian politics. Being a capitalist and as Australian political history shows us, capitalists and the Liberal party go hand-in-hand here in Australia, Mr Murdoch has, and this is not just my opinion but those of Australian advertising companies along with truly honest males, Rupert has a clear dislike for Ms Gillard and her Labor Party. We hear EVERY DAY AND I MEAN EVERY DAY currently Julia is clearly being pushed out by Rupert thanks to his media control. Julia cannot walk, talk, blink, breathe, dress, eat or do anything right in ‘his’ (the media’s) view. A recent male advertising guru agreed on national TV that Julia is being given an extraordinarily hard time and he believes it is mainly due to the fact that she is a WOMAN! Yes, admittance by a male.

Here is our first female Prime Minister, a graduate of law who became a partner at 29 at the firm she was employed by….is no mean feat. Clearly a tough and highly intelligent female who has had to contend with a male dominated political party from way back, during her uni student days and so knows that the boys are tough nuts to crack, but oh how she managed to do it at our last federal election.

During a recent TV interview an advertising mogul who admitted to the rough treatment of Julia by ‘the boys’, he was quick to state that he felt Julia was a very strong female and he had the utmost belief in her that she is strong enough for the clear ‘stirring of the pot’ she is currently enduring as a female prime minister and will no doubt have to endure this agitation for some time to come, maybe even forever.

Julia is lacking talent in presentation and marketing. Is Swanny any better at selling? No and this is the problem these two face. You cannot take away from the Howard and Costello or Hawke and Keating advertising campaign that they managed to ‘sell’ their party’s strategies hence their political longevity. Yes, they suffered from verbal diarrhoea and it worked. Yes, Julia needs to scrub up on her salesmanship big time, however, support/teachers for this absent talent come from the back rooms advisors of Labor. They are clearly not stepping up. Why? Because they want her out too maybe?

My thoughts…….hang in there Julia…..you are a forced to be reckoned with…..yes we do live in a world where it is clearly dominated by the attitude of “jobs for the boys” and the lack of CEO female positions talks for itself. Quite frankly whether you were Liberal or Labor, you would be given a damn hard time by many due to you being female. Yes, we have to change things and yes it will be left to the females to do so unfortunately. Are we not capable of managing these top positions? Absolutely not. Do the men feel threatened by females moving up the corporate ladder? Understandably and absolutely yes and that is a pill they are just going to have to learn to swallow. We gals are more than capable of holding these top jobs. Some would say no thank you and that is fine. Many would say yes please and to those ladies I say hold on because your day is fast approaching.