Three Things #3

A snapshot of what’s happening in my world.
Reading…
Looking…
Thinking…

READING: Two of my favourite genres tend to clash––crime and quirky. Today’s quirky is “The Lucky Galah” by Tracy Sorensen. Oh, and just maybe there’s a crime.

Reviews: “Subtle, disarming and insightful” says author Rosalie Ham.
“A fresh and surprising novel – thoroughly Australian, joyful and magnificently original” says novelist Charlotte Wood.
Blurb says “A magnificent novel about fate, Australia and what it means to be human…it just happens to be narrated by a galah called Lucky…this is one rare bird.”

Title: “The Lucky Galah” by Tracy Sorensen
Category: Historical fiction / adult
Publication Date: 27-02-2018
Publisher: Pan Macmillan Australia Pty Ltd
Pages: 304
Author: http://squawkingalah.com.au/

Background: A galah is a small pink and grey Australian native cockatoo with quite a piercing squawk. If an Australian says “you’re a galah” it generally means you are silly. If “you’re a lucky galah” it means you’ve won something. In this novel, Lucky is an astute galah who receives transmissions from a satellite dish in Port Badminton, a remote coastal town in Western Australia, which beams messages between Apollo 11 and Houston, Texas. Lucky also picks up revealing transference from radar technician Evan Johnson and his wife Linda, and domestic dissonance from the town’s anomalous inhabitants.

Evocatively set in 1969 prior to the moon landing and “one small step…” Lucky’s view of the human world and its minutiae makes absorbing reading. I choked up, nodded wisely and laughed out loud throughout this book. An original plot, cleverly conceived characters, tightly written, 5-Star rating from me. GBW.

LOOKING: “Curious Affection” Gallery Of Modern Art Exhibition by Patricia Piccinini from 24 March to 5 August 2018––Confronting work regarding genetic engineering, DNA modification and organ harvesting with ‘warm’ overtones. Having read about this subject (and many will remember the real mouse which grew a human ear on its back) I was enticed into visiting GOMA on Brisbane’s South Bank on a fine winter’s day.

Sensory overload, yet not as creepy as I thought it would be, and like most art there is more to it than meets the eye. Patricia Piccinini’s works are complex. The guided tour, the perfect melding of lighting and sounds enhanced every display and took up a complete floor of the Gallery.

I can’t sufficiently convey the ambience nor startling ‘future’ creativity, but I’ve decided on a pictorial of my photographs in a future post. Stay tuned! GBW.

POSTSCRIPT: Here is my review https://thoughtsbecomewords.com/2018/07/22/curious-affection-hybrids-of-patricia-piccininis-biotechnology-art/

THINKING:



VIEWS LIKES AND FALSEHOODS

Bloggers are so darn nice, offering advice and encouraging aspiring writers to do their best.

Here are my thoughts on the flip side of those Views and Likes.

When I hit Publish, my post is sent out into the world.

It appears at the top of the WordPress Reader until the northern hemisphere wakes up and starts typing.

I amuse myself by waiting to see who will Like my efforts without actually visiting my blog site.

First up, unless I've been Liked by the fastest human reader in the universe, I get a tiny square to say "..." likes my post.

As you may have experienced, it's a spammer.

If not, I give a sardonic laugh when someone clicks Like without viewing.

Sure, people do it - but do people know the stats reflect this deception?

What I don't understand is why a reader/blogger bothers when it breeds an equally dismissive response.

I know, twice I have returned the favour.

Forget about using the old "time poor" excuse, please.

Or harbour the misapprehension that my blogger sense of self needs constant validation.

Be firm, rise above that Like of self-promotion. 

My opinion is "Follow a blogger and genuinely read their posts".

Otherwise the Like gesture is hollow.

♥ Gretchen Bernet-Ward

500 Likes – Thank you!

One post with three acts READING, LOOKING, THINKING an idea started by Book Jotter, innovative blogger Paula Bardell-Hedley. Her invitation to participate offers a slight change from ‘Thinking’ to ‘Doing’ if that suits your purpose but I’m sticking with the first format. I can love, like or loathe in three short bursts! GBW.

Postscript: Every Saturday I change my Home page Photo Of The Week.