S@urday3/4/04.Melbourne(11.

30)→Str@hCreek(stubby)→Highl&s(Spiterisplace@G9x3onMap61ofV
icroadsCountryDirectory)→Ruffy(@A1x1onMap62)→Here(@6.00pm@C2x1&therrmozzies). Dan is
back from New York – he arrived midmorning after a 20 hour flight with only a stopover in
L.A., straight into a casting for a Just Jeans commercial and then meeting clients with
Steven. He looks and sounds in good nick and seems happy with his efforts – his folio has
some good pics & he made the front page of the New York Times Arts supplement in an
article on an American photograph-er who has just done an autobiography using 16
photos of unidentified men. Dan is number 4 and looking very Boticelli-ish. He’s going to
Sydney for Easter (13/4/04. ddnt do it)with Steven and an FRM client, and plans on Milan
(13/4/04. but now says will stay home 2 “do a course”)in June/July after beefing up a bit in the
gym – seems slender and elegant is out and pecs and abs are in. He loved New York –
found his bit of it (Brooklyn) to be violence-free and nice to live in, but found the neo-con
voice to be loud and insistent in the media. He had to take his boots off in the airports for
security checks. Given his tendency to have really smelly feet I bet the security staff
were glad when he put them back on! Left later than normal because proud dad had to
photocopy the Times article for distribution. Dennis’ studio is most impressive and nearly
finished – opening is set for 12th October, the 50th anniversary of his family’s arrival in
Australia to start a new life. Now Dennis will start his 2nd new life as the only painter here
with his very own, tailormade, huge studio. Good on him. Over coffee we got talking
about the Middle East mess, specifically the Palestinian-Israeli debate and I made the
comment that it was like a monkey trying to communicate with a canary – Margaret said
she hadnt heard it put that way before. Its about true though – their mutual situation is a
bit like the Aborigines and the first fleeters : no real point of contact possible due to an
inherently different world view. The difference is that the Palestinians are fighting back
and have the support of the Arab world. Food at the Ruffy Produce Store, in the sun, wat-
ching the yellow-tailed thornbills darting in and out of the oak trees, and two magpies
patrolling for the evening meal. Naan bread pizza with roasted veg (pumpkin, semi-dried
tomato) and fetta cheese and a plate of local specialties (2 kinds of cheese, chutney,
pickled cucumber, smoked chicken, ham, salami, greens and tomato relish) accompanied
by ciabatta bread and a dish of extra virgin olive oil. 2 coffees for me and 3 glasses
(14/4/04 askd the lady if the 3rd glass would put me ovr 0.05 & sh said probbly so I had it) of local
red for him. I know, I know – we are spoilt rotten. Our excuse is that we were celebrating
Dan’s safe homecoming. The light is fading now in the spot we have opted for tonight – a
minor road along one side of the cattle/sheep property “Brilliant” named after a gold
mine which operated here – it was all mining country once. The sulphur-crested
cockatoos are roosting close by and singing their evening lullaby, reminiscent of a cat
being throttled. But it sounds great to me. The red wine I drank was a 1st vintage shiraz calld
Elgo & its real good (take note Dur-e Dara & Juanita & Ren – all foodies) & this would b a gr8 place 4
an mprovised music evnt in xchange 4 free food & I offr my services as mprs-sario. The phone here is
57904387 & its opn 8-6 s@ & sun. The lady who I think is joint ownr wth Doug Maclean askd me
wher w wer headng & I said wd spnd the night nxt 2 a proprty calld ‘Brilliant’ (c ‘3/6/03 – 12/6/03’ p1)
ownd x Tom Jones who used 2 b on my mailn list & sh said Tom is havng breakfast here 2morrow so I
askd her 2 show Tom a copy of ‘16/2/04 – 27/2/04’ whch I had just givn her. Sh said sh liked my style
of writin (note th@, mum!) bcoz sh liked havng 2 work out what was being said. Some1 els had said
the same sh said. Thank u both. Dans pic is in The New York Times – The Arts N +E1, thursday,
dcembr 18, 2003. The rtcl is calld ‘Self-Portrait as Obscure Object of Desire’ & is bout “Jack Pierson’s
Autobiography, of Sorts, in Photographs of Unidentified Men” & I quote “Mr. Pierson is part of a group
of photographers known as the Boston School – David Armst-rong, Philip-Lorca di Corcia, Nan Goldin
and Mark Morrisroe, among others. All of them knew one another in the early 1980’s and
photographed their immediate circle of friends in situations that were, or appeared to be, casual or
intimate. Mr Pierson was often the subject of Mr Morrisroe’s photog-raphs, and the object of Mr
1
Morrisroe’s desire. The photographs in this self-portrait series take their cue from the template of
pictures of the artist taken 20 years ago. In an attempt to establish a myth-ology of self, Mr Pierson is
presenting new photographs of other men in the manner of his own por-trait, claiming their
appearance to represent his own identity. The book is published by the Cheim & Read gallery in
Chelsea, where the exhibition “Jack Pierson” featuring other works of his, runs thr-ough Jan.3.”
Finally I hav 2 draw the @ntion of my readrs (Zorca says sh mght b the only 1) 2 the fact th@ in a
piece I wrote last year (c ‘Sept 20’ p4) I refrrd dsparagingly 2 the new age craze of making prdictions
using the I Ching aftr K8 & Joe had made a set of readings @ a bbq @ our place 4 me, H, Dan,
Suzette & KApBaAuIlLA. They made the readngs in good faith & I shouldnt cast doubt on thm b4 they
r provd wrong (c ‘Oct 27’ p2 ). Ncidntlly & irrlevntly rcently w had nother bbq (=inox) @ our place in
Ivanhoe @ whch KApBaAuIlLA rgued fiercely th@ nlike mathm@ics st@istics is about the real world.
I (aŽrIūŽnYaSs → ZjIoZhYnS → a …z) objectd th@ words like ‘truth’ & ‘reality’ r “claims of ownrship”
words & I can rmmbr, Paul, whn som years ago b4 u had bcom a proffsor of st@s u woz arguin th@ it
woz the mathm@icians & scientsts who wer in the real world wheras humanties people & phlosofers
wer in cloud cuckoo l&. @ this r8 aftr your nxt promotion u may nd up in the real world all x yourslf &
in fact, x your dfnition, in the group of 4 who wer havin the dscussion u wer the only 1 th@ woz. 1 mor
point : Dans rturn from New York was a huge rlief aftr the way he rturnd from Paris (c ‘Feb 24’ pp 5-9)
last year. Thanks. Sunday4/4/04.→Merton(boughttheAge)→Strathbogie(viaGalls-
Gaprd&PollyMcQuinnWeir;cMap47@7.3xD2)→T@on(viaKithbrook,Boho,Swanpoolwherwreadtheppe
routfron2ftheT@ongTavern@5.2xC2Map48nxt2asignsaying“It’saboy!HarrySimon.CongratulationsNick
&Noami”)→Whitfield(@H2x5.8Map48viaMollyulla,GretaSouth,Myrrhee,&wr@thepubwherImdrinkinred
wine). For those of you keen on statistics, Strathbogie is 535m above sea level (a board in
the town says so), Gooram Falls is a 400m walk from the car park, 13ks from Merton on
the Euroa Road, and Polly McQuinn’s is 5.5 ks from Strat-hbogie and 6.5 from Merton. We
woke up to loud good mornings from the sheep and cattle on “Brilliant” and after
breakfast meandered about with the inten-tion of getting to the Whitfield pub for another
gourmet nosh-up. Too bad, the kitchen closed at 2.30pm and we arrived about 3. So its
sandwiches and packet soup for tea. The meanderings revealed the extremely pretty
Gooram Falls Res-erve where a substantial stream flows from a series of shallow falls
across gran-ite and sand & into reed beds downstream. Even in drought it’s really impr-
essive, and so close to Melbourne that you could drive up on a Saturday, sleep over and
come home Sunday night (though officially its not a camping spot). There are quite a few
of these little reserves tucked away in the area. Polly McQuinn’s is a roadside spot where
a weir has blocked a creek and the outfall spills over large sheets of granite into a big
reed edged pool where the Fisheries have a sign prohibiting recreational fishing in a bid
to safeguard a fish cal-led a Trout Cod. We walked in both places. Saw a big property
grazing alpacas, including several babies, one of which was creamy white with long, silk-
like fleece which rippled as is ran. The Tatong Tavern was fancy, but while we were there
the CFA fire alarm/siren came on and stayed on for quite a while – there was a grass fire
at Molyulla. We also saw quite a big pall of smoke in the for-ested hills nearby. Everything
is bone dry – the grass is straw coloured or graz-ed completely in some paddocks, and
most small creeks are empty. The only green patches are the vineyards, of which there
are quite a few. Just before Whitfield we stopped by the road to harvest some small
yellow clingstone peach-es from a young tree – delicious, though a bit tart. We are on the
lookout for walnuts, but have only seen a variety that are not yet ripe and the fallen ones
from last season can’t be opened because the surrounding covering is too tough to
break. We saw a large brown snake on the road which we nearly drove over, but it lived
to see another day. Since my last trip I did c@ch up with PETER THE WAITER (c ‘16/2/04 –
27/2/04’ p6) who has bn servng us @ the BOCADILLO BAR 4 1½ years. Th@ was on 23/3/04 & he
is ndeed TREASURER OF PASMINCO. He took on the waiterin x his own cho-ice so as not 2 b ‫ٱ‬.He
has also completed writin a script 4 a 15 min film whch will b shown (I was bout 2 pull out ‘Sculpting in
2
Time’ x TAaRnKdOrVeSyKY th@ BROcUhGrHiTsON from Parkhill Cell-ars had lent me but he had
lready read it & whn I told him Id cn ‘Nostalgia’ th@ mornin he said hed cn it 2). Bsides his fnance
dgree he has a dgree in sociology & a post grad dgree in phlosphy. His motto is – SERVICE. 1 night
whn he was takin a break out front 4 a smoke wth his waitrs towl hangin out back, lookin dreamy, H
had rmarkd “I’d like to introduce him to Kate”. He is 39 & his name is PAPA-pGeEtOeRrGIOU. The
phlosphy dgree (13/4/04. only the very best brains can srvive 1 of thos) tho-ugh is a trap, m8, – it
sucks u in 2 usin long words. As Heraclitus (ccording 2 Diogenes Laertius (CE. C 200) in his 8th book
‘Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers’ : “When somebody asked Hera-clitus to decree some
rules, he showed no interest because the government of the city was already bad. Instead he went to
the Temple of Artemis and played dice with children. Finally he became a misanthrope, withdrew from
the world, and lived in mountains feeding on grass and plants. However, having fallen in this way into
dropsy he came down to town and asked the doctors in a riddle if they could make a drought out of
rainy weather. When they did not understand he buried himself in a cow-stall, expecting that the
dropsy would be evaporated by the heat of the manure; but even so he failed to effect anything and
ended his life at the age of sixty.” Scholars place his death @ about 475 BCE.) known as The
Obscure Philosopher said (Fragment 93, Plutarch de Pyth. or. 21, 404 E) “ The lord whose oracle is
in Delphi neither speaks out nor conceals, but gives a sign.” Here is a txt pict-ure of
LfOrVaEnCkE gettin the info 4 me (Im drinkin my 2nd glass of Francesco Cab Merlot x $6 each) -
www.camargofoundation.org/fellowdeatails.asp?recno=427 - 9k – Cached – Similar Pages : LATO –
Greek texts – P … Plutarch, On Isis and Osiris. LacusCurtius (tr. FC Babbitt, 1936). Plutarch, On the
‘E’ at Delphi. Sir Thomas Browne site (tr. AO Prickard, 1918, adapted).…gainsford.tripod.com-
/lato/gk_p.htm – 60k – 13 Mar 2004 – Cached – Similar pages Book: CaMF : Translators Notes …
Priest translation, 1941, p. 101.4. Sophocles, Fragment 719. 5. Plutarch, Moralia, DE E apud Delph-
os, 392 A-E. (The E at Delphi, 17 and 18.). 6. … wn elib.com/Steiner/Books/GA008/English/RPC19-
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[PPT] GRECO-ROMAN RELIGIONS File Format : Microsoft Powerpoint 97 – View as HTML … But
God is, and He exists for the verlasting ages which are immoveable, timeless and undeviating” (Plut-
arch, The E at Delphi). Click to add title. …www3.baylor.edu/~Mike_Parsons/parsons/greco-roma-
n/GRECO-ROMAN.RELIGIONS.PPT - Similar pages . Its 5.05 & a group of young peopl woz walkin
past & 1 of thm said LABAS & it was DIlDiŽnYaTĖ & sh said “what a COINCIDENCE” so I gave her a
copy of ‘16/2/04 – 27/2/04’ but remmbrd l8r Id lready givn her mum 1 a coupl of weeks ago @ litho
house. Lukas, Justina & Lisa Skimbirauskas r also here. Lisa & Lina r Dans contmpries & they tell me
they wer his dancin partnrs in MALUNĖLIS. So I gave thm the foto of Dan in the New York Times. →
(6.00pm) Gentle Annie Reserve a few ks out of Whitfield. Iv bn here many times (c ‘11/11/02 – 20/11-
/02’ pp 2-4) on the bank of the King rivr but Iv nevr cn king parrots (Alisterus scapularis) in such
numbr. Theyr evrywhr in flocks up 2 about 30. In fact Im not sure if Iv cn thm here b4 @ all. (c
‘16/2/04 – 27/2/04’ p2). Monday 5/4/04. →Myrtle4d(viaCarboor,MurphiesLane,WhoroullyEast(NB-
Rob)→Bright(autumnfestvalapril24tomay9)→Harrietville(@7.7xB5Map50@SnowlineHotel(c’16/2/04to
27/2/04’p3))→AlpineN@ionalPark(bout20ksalongtheroad2Dargofromtheturnoff@MtBernard(b4uget2
HothamHeights)&bout1kalongtheKingsSpurTrack@D3x3.3Map65(c‘27/11/00–7/12/00’)).We are in a
clearing on the top of Victoria, circled by snow gums – its very isolated and peaceful.
These gums are still alive but most we’ve driven through have died as a result of the last
bushfires. It’s really dry here too – usually its soggy under-foot, John says. Dargo is
another 40ks on, and the area is called the Dargo High Plains. Checked out an op.shop at
Myrtleford – one of the most choc-a-block full of stuff I’ve seen – read the paper at the
3
Snowline Hotel in Harrietville on the outdoor verandah . On the Alpine Way two cops
were controlling traffic round a car that had been retrieved from the steep slope below –
it was pretty battered and the bloke who had gone down to attach it to the winch was
cov-ered in soot from the trunks of the trees burnt in the bushfires. No sign of occ-
upants, but everyone looked quite grim. We raided walnut trees before Myrtle-ford –
we’ve discovered they should be gathered while they are still in their bright green rind,
as long as it is cracking open of its own accord. The nuts are beautifully fresh (unlike last
years harvest which mostly came off the ground well after any rind had disappeared) and
taste quite different. Also found a plum tree of the yellow variety but though they were
ripe and tasty, they were too soft to lug about with us, so we ate a few on the spot and
left the rest for the birds and other “free loaders”. The trees in Bright are just beginning
to show their autumn colours. At Myrtleford I looked at a property guide newspaper
outside the real estate agents – a 3-bedroomed brick veneer, air-conditioned, with a
garage and carport, was going for $169k. It’s a neat, pretty town, too. I m itchin 2 strt quotin
from ‘Sculpting in Time’ x TAaRnKdOrVeSyKY (First University of Texas Press Edition © 1986 ISBN
0-292-77624-1) as he speaks 4 me though his language is mired in cartesian dualisms (strange then
th@ I should rcognize him). As I told BEdNaDnAiHeAlN & smLaEdVaYr @ AIOLI in Victoria st. Iv got
pages of quotes & x the time Im finshd ther wont b any point 4 Daniel or Smadar (grape flowr) 2 read
it 4 thmslvs. I was ntrojuicd 2 TAaRnKdOrVeSyKY x briLgAita & ŽVvIaR-iBdLaIsS who r in lov wth
him. Whn Vaidas feels low he looks @ a Tarkovsky film again – like drinkin a magic potion. If u r 2 b
ntrojuicd 2 an mportnt rtist it should b x som1 who is in lov. The 1st film they showd me was ‘Stalker’ &
I was abl 2 idntify wth the prt (@ our =nox bbq Gary said he idntifies wth the profssor who has a
portbl NUCULAR BOMB & wants 2 blow up the room wher all wishs r grantd (opium of the peopl?)
wheras Vaidas idntfies wth the writer & Chris doesnt idntify wth any of the roles (being an rt
connoisseur)) whch hardly evr happns 4 me. Tarkovsky is well qualfied 2 dpict such a role as russia
has a long histry of seers & visionries not all of whom were murdrers. In fact aPlUeS-xHaKnIdNer
“considered that every poet, every true artist – regardless of whether he wants to be or not –
is a prophet.” “They range themselves” says Tarkovsky “at the sites of possible or impending
historical cataclysms, like warning signs at the edge of precipices or quagmires. They define,
hyperbolise and transform the dialectical embryo of danger threatening society, and almost
always become the herald of a clash between old and new … A noble but sombre role! …Poets
distinguish that danger barrier sooner than their contemporaries and the earlier they do the
closer they are to genius. And so, often enough, they remain incomprehensible so long as the
Hegelian conflict is maturing within the womb of history. When the conflict at last takes place,
their contemporaries, shaken and moved, erect a monument to the man who gave expres-sion,
when it was still young, vital and full of hope, to this force which brought about the con-flict
and which has now become the clear and unequivocal symbol of a triumphant move forward” & he
says th@ Thoreau said in ‘Walden’ th@ “the works of great poets have never been read by
mankind, for only great poets can read them. They have only been read as the multitude read
the stars, at most astrologically, not astronomically. Most men have learned to cipher in order
to keep accounts and not be cheated in trade; but of reading as a noble intellectual exercise
they know little or nothing; yet this only is reading, in a high sense, not that which lulls us as a
luxury and suffers the nobler faculties to sleep the while, but what we have to stand on tiptoe
to read and devote our most alert and wakeful hours to.” (13/4/04. what an elitist wank-er! I
bet he spent a lot of time looking at his reflection in Walden pond, admir-ing the size of
his braincase – helenz) & ccording 2 TAaRnKdOrVeSyKY “The greatness and ambiguity of art
lies in not proving, not explaining and not answering questions even when it throws up warning
4
inscriptions like ‘Caution! Radiation! Danger! Its influence has to do with mor-al and ethical
upheaval. And those who remain indifferent to its emotional reasoning, and fail to believe it, run
the risk of radiation sickness … Little by little … Unbeknownst to themselves … With a foolish
smile on the broad, imperturbable face of the man convinced that the world is as flat as a
pancake and rests on three whales.” Oh yes! & H mght b ntrstd 2 learn th@ he also says “someone
…said, in order to write well you have to forget about grammar.” & th@ Goethe said “the less
accessible a work is to the intellect, the greater it is.” & th@ Tarkovsky says “The allotted
function of art is not, as is often assumed, to put across ideas, to propagate thoughts, to serve
as example. The aim of art is to prepare a person for death …” Ncidntlly Plato said the same O
phlsphy. Goodnight. Tuesday 6/4/04. →Dargo(walnutfestivaloneastersunday)→Kingswell-
Bridge(ontheWonnong@taRiverbut1stwedrove4or5ksfurthr2wherIvcampdb4(c‘27/11/00–7/12/00’)-.
Wr@8.1xC3Map65). Dargo is a tiny town with a store, a pub, a coffee/tea shoppe & a
winery. The pub is lovely with rough wooden tables and benches in the din-ing room and
an ourside area which must once have been stables. They don’t get the Age unless
someone brings some from Stratford (we are geographically in the Shire of Wellington,
Gippsland), so we were coffee-and paper-less today. That caused an early meal, at about
2pm. We’ve been trying to avoid eating too late because there is not much time lapse
between teatime (5ish) and sun-set (6.30) which is bedtime as it gets dark quickly after
that. So we’ve decided to eat around 3.30 or 4 to give us time to digest. That means only
2 meals a day (breakfast and main meal) which is good for us after all our indulgence at
Ruffy. It is horribly dry here – not a touch of green underfoot and the Wonn-ongatta River
is a shadow of its former self (according to John, who has seen it in full glory). Still, its
very picturesque, gurgling over stones in a fairly wide, shallow flow between banks lined
with willow and poplar as well as the gums. Europeans came to the area in numbers as a
result of the Dargo gold rush. In 1861 over 1000 were living and working along the banks
of the creeks and rivers looking for alluvial gold. The area was called the Dargo-Crooked
River Goldfields and Bull Town was the centre. A second rush occurred in 1865 and about
6 towns sprang up, of which Grant had a population of 2000 or more, with 22 (count em)
licenced hotels, 4 banks, a post office, churches, a stock exchange, stores and a
newspaper, the Crooked River Chronicle. Reef mining replaced alluvial mining and the
“Good Hope” mine produced over 47,591 oz. of gold. By 1870 it had petered out and the
mine closed in 1916, and with it the residents of the area dwindled. Now there are a few
scattered farms, but people seem few and far between. We had hoped to have a look at
the old gold field at Talbotville (one of the 6 aforementioned towns) but the store owner
at Dargo felt it was dubious unless we had a 4x4. So we’ve come up the Wonnon-gatta
(formerly Crooked) River valley instead. Wonnongatta Station was fam-ous in the area in
the early 1900s for the murder (unsolved) of its manager, who had left the station to
vote and wasn’t seen again until his body was dis-covered stuffed under a big log. The
only police station in the area closed down soon after and the crime was left
uninvestigated. Aftr c@chng up wth Peter the Waiter AKA Peter the TREASURER of PASMINCO
AKA PAPApGeEtOeRrGIOU I went 2 the MAKE IT UP CLUB & heard som of the worst musik Iv evr
bn subjectd 2 & left coz I woz bord SHITLESS. 2 guys wer playn lectronik boxs (computars) pressin
buttns, throwin switchs – a genr whch is particlrly poplar wth nnotiv musikians @ the momnt. If I had
known FtRoYmER & Stephanie wer gunna com on l8r I would hav stayd on but. Thos 2 dudes had no
connxn wth the audience whatver. THEY DID NOT KNOW WHEN 2 STOP. The danger of lectronik
boxs as musikal nstrumnts is th@ the way u practice wth the boxs may bcom your modus oper&i wth
peopl. 1ce u could talk abt playn a womn like a violin (or a fiddl) or dream of a violin morfing in2 1
(saDlAvLaIdor paintd the process); u can grip a cello wth your knees, straddl a bass wth your legs but
now evn lovrs press each othrs buttons or throw the rght switchs. It isnt nevitabl th@ lectronik muzik
5
turns muzikians in2 robots. I noticd last wensdy whn I was gettn me sophgus xamnd th@ the nurses
& quacks @ the Gastrontrology Unit on the 3rd floor @ The Royal Melbourne Hosptal had the human
(& humane) touch & woz bndn ovr backwrds 2 b senstiv 2 p8ients & they r constntly usin sophstic8d
lectroniks 2 achiev their purposes 2. 1 week l8r whn I went 2 the MAKE IT UP CLUB again the
DOORS WERE SHUT. Parently they aint bringin nough trade 2 the bar upstairs (so says the ownr
says Tom). The problm is nhernt 2 the kind of muzik but Tom reck-ns theyll srvive & shift elswher.
Rturning 2 TAaRnKdOrVeSyKY & ‘Stalker’. Bcoz Vaidas & Brigita r produx of the soviet educ8ion
systm they ddnt pick up a singl 1 of the bibilcal rfrnces whch r centrl 2 the theme. What is evn mor
xtrordinry is th@ the film, Tarkovskys last in the soviet union, got past their censrs. His mastry of
poetic symbolsm in vsual magery was such th@ he was abl 2 cue in the censrs in2 seeing it as a sci-
fi about telekinesis, xtratrrestrials & such. But I dont think it m@rs nor do I suggest 4 a momnt (though
it kept me agit8d 4 days) th@ I had a bettr ppreci8ion of the film than Vaidas or Brigita 4 I again gree
with Heraclitus whn he says (Fragment 54, Hippolytus Ref IX, 9,5) th@ “An unapparent harmony is
stronger than an apparent one.” Here r a few mor Tarkovsky quotes 2 flesh it out. He says th@ in
the Sistine Madonna Raphael “has concentrated his will on clarity of thought, on the intellectual
concept of his work, and paid the price : the painting is flabby and insipid.” & “The author cannot
therefore reckon on his work being understood in one particular way and according to his own
perception of it. All he can do is present his own image of the world, for people to be able to
look at it through his eyes, and be filled with his feelings, doubts and thoughts…” & “If there
are cinema – goers for whom it is important and rewarding to enter into a dialogue specifically
with me, that is the greatest stimulus I can have for my work. If there are some who talk the
same language as myself, then why should I neglect their inter-ests for the sake of some other
group of people who are alien and remote? They have their own ‘gods & idols’ and we have
nothing in common” & “All the artist can offer the audience is to be open and candid in his
combat with his material. And the audience will appreciate what our exer-tions mean.” I think Ive
driftd off the point. Wednesday 7/4/04. →(24ksback2Dargo/Str@4drdtook50-
mins→Briagolong(crap)→Boisdale→Maffra(petrl,Age,coffee,ATM,suprmrkt,mobilemessagebank)→H
eyfield→Licola(@Map82B5x3.5;crap;canofbeerasnostubbies@genrlstor)→(camping4thenight15ksup
sealdrdalongMacalisterrivr;Ivbnintheareab4(c‘27/11/00–7/12/00’).In the evening yesterday 4
large cattle came down to the Crooked (Wonnongatta) River to drink, splash-ing in
among the stones to stand knee deep in the water- very picturesque. There were cattle
on the Dargo High Plains too, obviously not all of them have been banned from the
National Park, as they were grazing not far from the Macmillan Walking Track. In Licola
there is an information board (“reclaim-ed from the National Parks”) with copies of letters
written by the head of the CFA there, L. R. Baraclough, to various government
departments before and after the recent fires, pointing out the disastrous effects
(financial : $11million spent on fighting it as well as losses in property and stock;
ecological : destruct-ion of watercourse vegetation in gullies, which causes later erosion
and creat-ion of rock and detritus “fans” which will not go away soon, as well as losses of
native animals and the large single trunked snow gums which had escaped many
previous “cool” fires; pollution of he Macalister River) of not cool burning and clearing
out fallen forest litter which the Aborigines had practic ed, and trying to create a mid-
storey of forest which the Parks ecologists/botanists/en-vironmentalists claim is the
“natural” forest condition. One comment on this Park personnel was scrawled across the
bottom of one of the reproduced letters : “Why are universities turning out slow lerners?”
I thought (though my ignor-ance of the issues is profound) that Mr. B. has a lot of good
points. It is impos-sible to return an environment to its natural state once it has been
tampered with (mining, forestry, cattle grazing and before them, no doubt Aboriginal
methods of improving hunting and gathering), so theorizing about what the forests
6
should look like seems a bit naïve. On the other hand, it is hard to feel sympathy for the
4x4 clubs who want to use it for their playground, or the cattlemen who want it for theirs.
Surely some moderate middle ground could be found if only all interested parties would
shut up and listen to each other. While people live cheek by jowl with national parks
there cant be rigid stances taken by either side. Here’s one for the environmentalists to
ponder – as we were driving to Maffra between 2 pine plantations an adult, healthy
looking emu knicked out of one, crossed the road, and disappeared into the other. And
here’s one for the tribesmen among you – on the same road, closer back to the
mountains, an aussie flag was flying at the side of the road, virtually in the middle of
nowhere. The house it belonged to was partially hidden by a rise on the roadside. What
was the point they were making – to prove they were true-blue aussies (but there are
only aussies in that area – nary a muslim or a black man to be seen) or to prove to the
passersby that they might not be? No doubt the owner was inside watching CNN or Days
of Our Lives or Oprah or any one of those aussie shows on TV. Flags are bits of material
wrapping up neuros-es, psychoses, paranoias and destructive tribalism, and should
never be flown except at half-mast to signal the death of compassion and humanity, or
upside down as the international signal of distress to show how we feel about what we
have lately become. Pictur the follwing : I m watchin the film ‘Nostalgia’ x Tarkovsky (lready cn x
the TREASURER OF PASMINCO elswher) abov Birds Gallery (bcoz ŽVIRBLIS means sparrow in
litho) @ 236 High St. Kew 3101. Australia Ph/Fax : 0398550327 Mobile : 0402 8781506. The film is
about a russian writr who goes 2 italia 2 rtrace the steps of a russian paintr 100s of years ago in the
days of serfdm who had bn snt ther x his ownr bcoz of his outst&ing talnt. The paintr had bcom succ-
essful, married & livd as a free man in italia but yearnd 2 rturn 2 russia though it would mean he
would 1nce again rvert 2 his st@us as serf. No mount of persuasion was abl 2 prvent him from rtur-
ning but a coupl of weeks aftr he was back he hangd himslf. The film, shot in italia, was the 1st of Tar-
kovskys films produced ovrseas & as he was doing it he realized he had a particlarly initm8 connex-
ion with its theme as it was during this time th@ he was dciding not 2 rturn 2 the soviet union & his
famly. It is wrth noting here th@ the most vvid chractr (in2 whos mouth Tarkovsky puts his own thgh-
ts) in the film, the madman who immol8s hmslf yearns 4 a past whch is being dstroyd x modrnty. Th-
@s 4 layrs of commntry on the theme of the title lready. Now cop this. The film is spokn in italian &
russian but the video of it in Vaidas possssion has no subtitles – it has a voiceover in russian. So as I
m watchin it & Vaidas is workin on a beautful object he is making out of cweed he is transl8ing 4 me
from the russian in2 litho bcoz lthough my language of choice is nglish ther is an ndrst&ing btween
me him & Brigita th@ my litho is bettr than their nglish so they r the only peopl I know wth whm I con-
vers in litho. Brigita brings out some green t & Vaidas pulls a chair ovr so w can use it as a tabl 4 a pl8
full of sliced dark rye bread, sections of smokd eel (ungurys) & squares of heavily saltd & smokd
bacon (lašiniai). Vaidas & Brigita couldnt GIVE A STUFF about balanced diet, vegies, nutrtionists,
dietitians, cholsterol etc. They eat ncompromising litho & I LOVE IT. @ the very nd of the film whch
Tarkovsky ddic8d 2 his mothr u can hear a beautful russian folk song (not 1 of thos crappy kalinka
type songs of the russian army choirs & visting nsmbls) sung in a crackd womans voice whch could
just as easily hav bn sung in the eastrn part of litho (O Vilnius (Vilna, Vilno) adjoining villages of diffrnt
language groups of10 sung the same melodies 2 words in bielorus (gudai) or polish (lenkai) or litho
(lietuvei). But I notice from the songs in yiddish (sung x a NY group) th@ u lent me, Alec, the jews
(žydai) drew mor widely 4 the source of their meldies as a couple of the songs r very famous Schub-
ert meldies & sevral r riginally meldies of russian rvolutionry songs) of the kind me & Brigita used 2
practice singin 2gethr on a tuesdy arvo b4 I gave it away bcoz I hav lost my voice (PRAGĖRIAU
BALSA). I had noted Brigita had a leaning 2wards songs from th@ part of litho & sh tells me th@s
wher her mum origin8s. Aftr the film has ndd I m tellng Vaidas my theory th@ the dog whch appeard
in ‘Stalker’ & the 1 whch coms 2 the bedside in ‘Nostalgia’ r really spirit dogs but not spirits of othr
dogs but spirits of a village no longr in xis10ce or the woodn house of some1s childhood. Vaidas tells
me th@ whn he has built a house (TROBA) on his rurl rtreat (SODYBA) in litho he is going 2 get a big
7
dog like 1 of thos & I can tell from the conviction in his voice he will. I ask u – how many layrs of NOS-
TALGIA is th@! Thursday 8/4/04. →Licola(crap)→Heyfield(ppr,ptrl)→Cowwar,Toongabbie,Glengarr-
y,Tyers→Walhalla(ehyehasherehyeh)→here(45ksnorthofWalhalla,afewkspastAberfeldyontheroad2Wo
odsPoint@4.5xG3Map81).We had a hairy 9ks on the Walhalla – Aberfeldy Rd, though we
were warned by a sign that said “9 Kilometres of narrow winding road” just before we got
to the relevant bit. The drop on the passenger side was straight down, with the trees
growing on the perpendicular on the not quite 90ºslope. Luckily we didn’t meet anyone
coming the other way, because back-ing up to the very few slightly wider sections would
have been a nightmare. Speaking of which, John had one last night, though not of the
usual thrash-ing, kicking, foul-mouthed variety. (I dreamt I was in the TV room in our Ivanhoe
hous & a large man wth vacnt (or zombieish or moronik) xpression (14/4/04. It was probably one
of those “low” readers Thoreau talks about, coming round to borrow my copies of
“Woman’s Day” – helenz) walkd past the window as if 2 entr O the back. The nxt momnt in the
dream was nighttime & I woz asleep but could hear him undr the hous tryng 2 opn the trapdoor in the
floor 2 get nside. In the dream I yelld very loudly probbly somthing like GET OUT OF HERE. @ any r8
it was somthing nnocuous H says & I dont rmmbr th@ I was prtclary ngry) Yesterday in the low-er
part of the Macalister valley on the way to Licola we passed a large paddock full of
sunflowers – photo opportunity! They looked really beautiful, all stand-ing to attention
facing the sun, with their big round faces fringed with a sin-gle row of golden petals.
Today we found 2 apple trees on the sides of roads – the first were a bit sour, but too
good to pass by, and the second were a differ-ent variety and much closer to ripe. Like
the peaches & the walnuts they are magnets for our in-built scavenger reflex. We
couldn’t wickedly waste the fruit going to ruin from birds and lack of interest from other
passersby, could we? Inspected Walhalla and the Walkyries (mostly campers) – it’s a tiny
town now, nestled in a really narrow, steep valley, doing its best to look like an 1890s
gold mining town. Since there were then over 40 shops, churches, banks and 25 pubs
and 2000 people living there, it is obviously a pale reminder of things past. There is a
railway station which runs a 2 carriage train on a single track to Thompson station 20
minutes away at the entrance to the valley. As usual, railway enthusiasts have
resurrected it with some help from the government, though taking it through to the next
town (Erica) would cost another $4mill-ion. They already have to find $43k extra to pay
for public liability insurance. Back in Melbourne a coupl of weeks ago, LfOrVaEnCkE told me th@
Paul Auster @ributes the sayng “the centre is everywhere, the circumference nowhere” 2 st
Augustine but Augustine @ributes it 2 st Basil. Scholars claim Basil nheritd it from the classcal greeks
& I m nclind 2 gree as it has the O of π-thagorian mystcism. L8ly Frank has come † a contmpry thinkr
who claims the sayng may prd8 histry. He rang me last week 2 tell me th@ Pascal & Borges hav refrd
2 it 2. I (aŽrIūŽnYaSs → ZjIoZhYnS → a … z) mght hav meant somethin simlar whn I wrote on
28/9/03 in ‘Sept 20’ p19 : “It feels as if Im looking outwards from the centre of the universe.
Perhaps each 1 of us is such a centre. It stretches away in infinite detail equally in every
direction no matter who u r. The stars go on 4ever.” (Saw lyrebird (Menura novaeholl&iae) back
on the road & can hear 1 nearx; spottd quail-thr-ush (Cinclosoma punctateum) r common in the area;
some king parrots flew x). Its gunna b cold on ths ridge 2night. I m eatng walnuts compulsivly. Friday
9/4/04. →WoodsPoint(strolldaO)→Jamieson-
→Mansfield(bought6buns;checkdmssagebank)→T@ong(viaSwanpool;readppr@T@ongTavernagain
aswdidlastsundysowevdonafullO)→stoppd4thenght½kbackalongSwanpoolrd@asmallpicnicareanxt2a
bridge).I’m glad to be out of the mountains – I was beginning to feel hemmed in. John
despairs of finding places I like, since I’m not really keen on extreme sit-uations, feeling
either too exposed or too compressed by them . I’m a lot like Goldilocks – not too hot or
cold, hard or soft, lumpy or smooth, but just right – like here : open, but with gentle hills
in the near distance which don’t throw shadows too soon to block out the benign warmth
of the sun until its time for bed. There were 25 more windy, narrow ks to negotiate from
8
where we were last night to Woods Point, though the drops were not as fierce. The town
is pretty, with heaps of old mining equipment scattered about for atmosphere. Like Grant
and Walhalla it’s a remnant of its former pub/church/shop/bank/house –strewn self. The
4x4 crowd was out in full swing, camping in every available flat spot along the creeks,
especially along the Goulburn, Victoria’s largest river, which we crossed just after Woods
Point as a mere trickle. Many of them have trail-bikes so it will be a roaring Easter break
for them. Mansfield was chockers – like Bourke St. on a weekday – with most shops open
and everyone in spending mood. So much for Easter contemplation and reflection. We
couldn’t wait to get off the main road and into quieter country, where we can actually
hear the birds singing and there is a constant hum from crickets. Kate left a mess-age on
John’s mobile – she caught up with Ben, Dan and Joe at Katie’s 21st which she said was
really enjoyable, attended by family and friends and cele-brated in “tradional” style.
Everyone is well. She may be co-hosting a dinner party with Rasa Blansjaar in the near
future. The only other Tarkovsky film Iv cn so far, on tuesday last week, was ‘SACRIFICE’. Its his
last & in ‘Sculpting in Time’ he says it most succeeds in xprssing his own point of view. @ the time he
was filmng he had lready bn diagnosed wth the canc-er whch was 2 kill him but he was still hopeful of
recovry. He says : “Has man any hope of survival in the face of all the patent sigs of impending
apocalyptic silence? Perhaps an answer to that ques-tion is to be found in the legend of the
parched tree deprived of the water of life, on which I based this film which has such a crucial
place in my artistic biography : the Monk, step by step and bucket by bucket, carried water up
the hill to water the dry old tree believing implicitly that his act was necessary and never for
an instant wavering in his belief in the miraculous pow-er of his own faith in God.” @ the time I
told Vaidas I liked it least of the 3 I had cn : it seemd 2 ber-gmanish (they had nfluencd each othr) 4
me & I was findng the yin/yang & the jungian male/female balances 2 4cd. Howver a few days later @
night I had 1 of those flashs of ndrst&ing I m subject 2 (15/4/04. EUREKA ! – in the right hemisphere
anterior superior temporal gyrus (whch has bn linkd in studies 2 the drawing 2gethr of dstntly rl8d
n4m8ion.)) & realizd th@ the film was PROPHETIC in a way whch could apply 2 me. But now a week
later again I m nabl 2 rcall what it was th@ I saw so clearly about its PROPHETIC nature. Prhaps the
realiz8ion had com in a DREAM (I was in bed) & as somtimes happns wth a dream u can rtain memry
of the feeling of it aftr losing the imagry & the th-ghts. In the case of Tarkovsky the prophetic lement
may b th@ havng givn the fullst xprssion of himslf of whch he was capabl ther was no longr any
reason, as he was soon 2 find out, 4 his life 2 contnue. Ther r of course far mor ovrt ways in whch it
can b cn 2 b profetic but I assure u his films hav mor lay-rs 2 thm than 1st meets the ey. I wll hav 2 c
‘SACRIFICE’ again in a mor sggestibl mood. I m putting in a longr quote from the final part of
‘Sculpting in Time’ 2 acquaint u furthr wth his point of view & prhaps ncourage u 2 c his films. The
section from whch I take the xrpt has the O of a LAST TEST-AMENT & I m sure x the time he was
writng it (‘Sculpting in Time’ was put 2gethr from notes writtn ovr a long period) he knew he was
dying. The things peopl say @ the nd can b mportnt : “It seems to me that our age is the final
climax of an entire historical cycle, in which supreme power has been weilded by the ‘grand
inquisitors’, leaders, ‘outstanding personalities’, who were motivated by the idea of transforming
society into a more ‘just’ and rational organization. They sought to possess the consciousness of
the masses, instilling them with new ideological and social ideas, bidding them to reform the
organizational structure of life for the sake of the happiness of the majority. Dostoievsky had
warned people of the ‘grand inquisitors’ who presume to take upon themselves the responsibility
for other peoples happiness. We ourselves have seen how the ass-ertion of class or group
interests, accompanied by the invocation of the good of humanity and the ‘general welfare’,
result in flagrant violations of the rights of the individual who is estrang-ed from society; and
how, on the strength of its ‘objective’, ‘scientific’ basis in ‘historical neces-sity’ this process
9
comes to be mistaken for the basic, subjective reality of people’s lives.” Its what he said but I
think he does it bettr in film. S@urday 10/4/04. I m writng @ a picnic tabl just out of T@ong; the
corellas (Cacatua postinator) r screechng, the gang gangs (Callocephalon fimbriatum) r creakng like
rusty hinges, ths mornngs dawn was greetd x 1 of the loudst & cheeriest assemblies of large rural
birds u could wish 2 hear but Im carryng a load as I always do ovr easter. I m in T@ong but still havnt
left Melbourne. I m quotng from my journl ntry 4 sunday 28/3/04 : “8 kugelis @ litho ho-use where I
met a remarkable guy called Earl Ewers who traces some of his rela@ivs back 2 Žagarė (Zhager). He
is from a small town in central NSW but lives in Canberra, +ress @ PO Box (deleted) Civic Square
ACT 2608. I gave him my last piece & promised 2 send the next. He has met up with Rose Zwi who
wrote ‘Last Walk in Naryshkin Park’ & struck up an instant rapport. He says he couldnt sleep 4 3
nights after reading the book. He is a torrent of words & has an encyclopedic memory 4 fa-cts which
ensures th@ he finds connections with everyone everywhere. He makes the kinds of links traced x
Paul Auster in his ‘Book of Memory’ look tame x comparison. I had a feeling I was lis10ing 2 a very
smart person who has a perfect memory 4 factual in4m8ion & lives in a world ddic8d 2 connec-ting it
up. He gave me a card saying “To Arunas Zizys With all best wishes from the “Canberra Kid” (Earl
Ewers) 27/03/04.” I asked him if he could send me a copy of the booklet he made up of his bac-kgO
which he had shown me & suggested he write a full account of the kinds of factual trails he was telling
me about. I think I was in the presence of an important historian but mayb he wasnt altogether on a
wavelength with thos O him. He talks even more than I do & I know there are things he was lea-ving
unsaid. He said people think hes a nut. Who isnt?” The card on the back of whch he wrote the note &
his +ress was of an historic tram in Bendigo whch had bn fotographd x him. He had other sim-lar
cheap 2 produce cards (of the kind u get in cafes) of vintage trams. Preserving thm has bn his ho-bby
& now he is trying 2 preserv a distant mmory of a branch of his family who, it is my guess, were
murdrd with most of the other jews (though Earl did not say his ancestors were jewish) of Žagarė (Zh-
ager) & surOing district on the 2nd of october in 1941 as dscribed in Rose Zwis book (Spinifex Press
504 Queensberry St. North Melb. © 1997. ISBN 187559728). Earls gr&fathr had bn the presdent of
the pre-war latvian communty of Sydney & he showd a foto of him in a group of about 30 wth a young
woman bside him (also a rel@iv of EeWa ErRlS) who was the 1st latvian in australia 2 acquire a tert-
iary qualfic8ion. W hav sevral things in common : earlier b4 &rius V had ntrojuicd us w had both bn
eating kugelis (cooked x Lilija & Mykolas); he told me about losing 3 nights sleep only a ½ hour or so
aftr the self appointd histrian who uses the wall space of litho house 2 llustr8 his lessns had drisively
n4med me th@ the 1s whch had made me lose 3 nights sleep (c ‘Sept 20’ p7) had bn taken off the
wall but th@ ther was plenty mor wher they had com from & I was 2 xpect mor histry lessons from
him (suit yourself); he is the 1st person I hav met whos reaction 2 Rose Zwis account corrsponds 2
mine. W also hav dffrnces : I found your haste, whn w had hardly bn ntrojuicd & u had don most of
the talkin, 2 rveal lurid “family skeletons” & 2 make persnal dsclosures unsettling & suspicious (but H
tells me som peopl tell evrything O thmslvs in the 1st 5 mins of meeting u). It was as if u wer nviting
me 2 reply in kind wth dsclosures of = w8. But I dont trade in such m@rs. Anything I hav 2 tell is av-
ailable =ly 4 any1 2 read in my writing wher I hav r@ld nough skeltons & whch x its nature is a 4m of
dsclosure (“case study” ccording 2 Gintas K & “dont u think u r being a bit self ndulgent”). As u left the
room u told me of 3 sayings x a dying rel@iv of yours. The last 1 was “never think th@ u know every-
thing” whch I gree with nreservedly but would put it mor strongly since my xperience is th@ I know
hardly anything. The middl saying I also agreed with but the 1st “always keep back something 4 you-
rself” can be nterprtd in various ways. It mght b good advice 4 a SPY but it also applies 2 the kind of
writing I do. I hav dlemmas about what 2 nclude & what 2 leave out all the time as what is out ther is
nfnit in dtail & I giv it shape x what I rport. My criteria 4 nclusion is not whthr its true (I hav no claims
on th@) but whthr I think it is capabl of hurting som1 (c ‘16/2/04 – 27/2/04’ p16). If I think it mght I
leave it out – somtimes I make mistakes. Th@ about sums up our meeting. L8r on my way 2 check
out the new magzine racks in the Redmond Barry reading room I met DRUaMlMeOcND out front of
the libary & he told me how his rel@ivs had rjectd offrs of compns8ion from germany & rfuse 2 lay
claim 2 substantial real est8 in central Prague out of rspect 4 the mmbers of ther family who wer mur-
10
drd. He told nother story whch mazed me. A relo of his dsnheritd his nxt of kin x making out his will 2
the commnist party of OZ in the xpect8ion the utopian st8 was about 2 take effect & look aftr thm. A
mirror image (but prhaps wth an +d vertical rversal) mght b the case of the lderly litho coupl who wer
dscovrd living in the limestone caves of creek beds th@ criss† Sydney their ntire lives since their arr-
ival in OZ in 49 in fear of commnist prsecution. I + som gratuitous commnts of my own. The LUNATIK
fringe (all commnities hav thm : evolution nsures it) of 2 commnities r lockd in a grotesque mbrace –
like in a badly m@chd marriage – they h8 each othr but dont know how 2 liv sepr8ly. Since it could b
th@ all things r necessry the purpos may b 2 make the PAST VIVID in the PRESENT. If it leads 2 dis-
cord, h8red, & @mpt 2 hurt in the PRESENT then u mght do well 2 1der x what useful criteria (othr
than no of rot8ions) it can b said th@ the PAST is in the PAST. My own dstress @ past evnts is pus-
hd in2 the backgO x my dstress @ presnt evnts & ncreasing loss of confidence in the FUTURE. BRO-
cUhGrHiTsON † the road @ Parkhill Cellars is dismayd x all this. Aftr he fnishs reading ‘I Left My Te-
ars in Moscow’ x Barbara Armonas Ill lend him ‘Last Walk in Naryshkin Park’ x Rose Zwi b4 I don8
both of thm 2 the tiny nglish language section of the littl libary @ litho house in Errol st. It would not
srprise me if they dont hav a copy of the rZoWsIe book. →Molyullah,Winton→Benalla(ptrl,sprmrkt-,
wtr,Age)→Glenrowan(pub,read)→somwher(inthenorthrntipofWarbyRangesSt8Park@about5xDMap34
).The sun was hot and strong this morning while John was wrestling with his entry. We
had a moment of indecision when we came across a Major Mitchell Trail marker – should
we get on the trail or go to the Murray? Decided against the MMT as a) it requires driving
through major towns in some sections (it is mostly “cross country” on minor roads, which
is its big attraction) and b) it requires a good navigator attentive to road signs, signposts
etc. who also has some sense of direction, so since the navigator would have been me,
we mutu-ally decided to head for the river. Checked out Glenrowan, the scene of Ned’s
last stand, but found it mercilessly commercial and crass (the recorded sound of
gunshots kept ringing out non-stop) though the pub was OK – we read the paper in the
beergarden. The town has made an attempt to mark historical spots, but the dominating
theme is “Stand and Deliver!”. Ned would approve. The Warby Ranges State Park is
tinder dry and there are big bullants, an odd looking species of brown fly, European
wasps (which we’ve seen in most of the places we’ve stopped for the night in) and the
good old Aussie blowie. They must all be parched. In the paddock adjacent there is a
herd of deer – this is the gourmet belt of Victoria and venison is on the menu. Sunday
11/4/04. →Peechelba-
(nvestig8dMcLaughlinsBendReserveafewks2thenorthonOvensrvr)→Yarrawonga(viabackrd;readpprwi
thcoffee@$3.80/mug)→Corowa→Rutherglen(strolldOfood&winetown)→Chiltern(beer@pub;bric-a-
bractown)→McLaughlinsBendReserve(@4.2xE4Map34).We are in a peachy spot off the
Peechelba road in river redgum forest, where one of the grasses/plants under-foot is
giving off a very pleasant peppermint fragrance as we walk around. This is a relatively
young forest, with few really big trees, but it is still impressive. River redgums are one of
my favourite trees as the big ones grow complicated, twisted branches , especially in
arid areas, which gives each tree a distinctive personality. Their forests are always alive
with cockatoo and /or corella calls, so they have their own dominant music. The ironbark
forest of this morning seemed much more uniform , though it’s the replacement forest
for the one the gold miners destroyed. This forest is being destroyed too by the
regulation of the Murray with its weirs and artificial lakes, like Lake Mulwala, which prev-
ents the natural cycle of flooding needed to re-seed the gums, and by the earl-ier
indiscriminate felling of trees in such quantities that many were left to rot where they
had been lopped. Much of Lake Mulwala looks quite surreal – a wide expanse of water
punctuated with the exclamation marks of grey, dead gums. Closer to the populated
areas (Yarrawonga and Bundalong) there are no standing ghosts (pushed over so the
water skiers and boaters can have a free run). Bundalong (12ks from Yarrawonga
upstream) was interesting – it’s a pleasure/leisure development where the rich can
11
practice idling, with large houses right on the water, like the keys developments in
coastal NSW – no shops, no pub but quite a few fluffy dogs. Yarrawonga is large,
comfortable and full of tourists packing the coffee shops, including us. We should have
opted for Coro-wa or Rutherglen or Chiltern – all smaller, more relaxed and probably
cheap-er. Corowa in particular had a great atmosphere and streetscape – still a country
town. Rutherglen is the centre of grape growing, so feels a bit more commercial, and
Chiltern is hanging in on the basis of its 19th century look and the “cuteness” of its ye
olde knick-knack shoppes. This morning in the Warby Range State Forest while we were
breakfasting we heard a strange noise a cross between a grunt and a bellow. Koala ,we
thought, then possibly a deer in rut, but it turned out to be a lonely emu in a pen on the
deer farm next door. Its easter. From ‘Good News Australia’ : “On that same day two of Jesus’
followers were going to a village named Emmaus, about eleven kilometres from Jerusalem, and they
were talking to each other about all the things that had happened. As they talked and discussed,
Jesus himself drew near and walked along with them; they saw him, but somehow did not recognise
him” (Luke 24. 13-16). 1 of the bibilcal rfrnces in Tarkovskys ‘Stalker’ is 2 this passage. The Stalker
hears these words in a dream & its as if in som way they apply 2 him & the 2 (the prof & the writer)
whm he is guiding 2 the room in the ‘zone’ wher u r grantd anything u wish. The idea th@ if he
appeard among us again jesus of nazareth may fail 2 b rcognized has bn poplarized in the film ‘Jesus
of Montreal’ a favourite of the baptists @ the nd of Miller st. West Melb. wher it has bn shown on their
film evenngs on sevral ccas-ions. The currncy of ths notion (any idea can find backing in the bible
from a single passage ncluding the claim th@ the nazarenes purpose was 2 encourage ÷ & strife)
derives from the fact th@ in the scientfic age wev ceased 2 blieve th@ the MIRACLES @ributed 2
JESUS could in fact hav takn pla-ce. W r nclined 2 say th@ what counts r the teachings & if a
rsurrected JESUS came wth the same message again w would either ignore him or lock him up as
our practices (whatver we may claim) r the opposit 2 what he taught. But it is as plain as the nose on
your face th@ what countd 4 the apos-tles & the 1st christians wer the MIRACLES & if the JESUS
they blieved in walkd among us 1ce mor pr4ming the same feats of healing, making the blind c, the
crippls walk & raising the dead he would b nstantly rcognizable & again b the centr of @ntion as he
was in galilee. Morover the christian dialectic rests ntirely on the cceptance of the MIRACLES & the
rsurrection othrwise no1 would bliev the claim 2 godhead. Nor should they as the things jesus said
can b said x any1 & probly hav bn (14/4/04. with the xeption only of the nstruction 2 turn the other
cheek, lov enmies, do good 2 thos th@ hate u etc, ie the whol pacifist thing whch w dont act on
anyway). 2 blieve th@ the nazarene mght walk among us again after 2000 years (or has bn among
us all the time) beggars credulity far mor (4 thos who may think ther r dgrees of mpossblity) than do
the miracles (whch some may contnd r not mposs-blities but only rare evnts) or the rsurrection after 1,
2 or 3 days (4 he may hav bn ncorrectly pronoun-ced dead). If u can blieve in the 2nd coming ther is
no reason 2 doubt the miracles & the rsurrection. The 3 notions r nterlinkd & st& or fall as a group.
But 2 blieve thm rquires u 2 viol8 the rules whch 4m language & the laws on whch science &
technolgy rely 2 construct the civlz8ion whch we know. The blief in miraclous powrs also sustains the
christians of africa, south america & othr mpovrishd regions wher peopl who hav non of the things we
take 4 grantd depnd on the knowledge th@ the deaths of their childrn & dear 1s r not in vain & th@
they will b reunitd in anothr life. The aged dying in our nurs-ing homes also in the nd oftn may com 2
accept the mpossible. Let som latte drinking western theolo-gian tell thm th@ a few rules 4 good
living is what JESUS OF NAZARETH was really about & c how they react. But I only hav words & I
hav made a commitmnt not 2 abuse meaning though I m an adm-irer of the xampl of the nazarenes
life & of many of his sayings. 4 me 2 prtnd th@ I blong 2 the same fr@ernty as thos early & blieving
christians would b comparable 2 a man blind from birth wer he 2 claim th@ his blief in the sun, moon
& stars was the same as th@ of the sighted mans. The blind man blieves in the words but the man
with sight marvels @ their beauty. (Heraclitus – “The things of which there is seeing and hearing
and perception, these do I prefer” (Fragment 55, Hippolytus Ref. IX 9,5)). Monday 12/4/04. In my
travls I hav met sevral on the road claimin 2 b JESUS (1 wth dreadlocks in a very colourful KOMBI
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VAN with his name WRIT LARGE on the side). The test is if they can per4m miracls – remov a tumor,
revers a dmntia, rvive a few dead peopl. If they cant dont blieve what they say unless it makes sens.
But it occurs 2 me th@ should w meet the real 1, the 1 who grants anythin u ask 4 in his name, would
w want 2 know him. In the ‘Stalker’ whn they finally reach the room in the ZONA wher u can get
whatver u wish the profssor & the writer rfuse 2 go in bcoz it dawns on thm they dont know what they
really want. In fact the prof has 2 b prvntd from BLO-WING IT UP with his littl portabl NUCULAR
BOMB. A spin on these consdr8ions is providd x LfOrV-aEnCkE wth a story he rang up 2 tell me a littl
b4 w left on the trip. Whn Empedocles was rturnin from a phlosphrs fest in Athens 2 his home town of
AKRAGAS he found out th@ it had bn takn ovr x a tyrant. So he raisd an rmy (he was rch) & ovrthrw
the tyrant. The good citzns of AKRAGAS wer so gr8ful they askd him 2 b their king but Empedocles
(a favourite of Franks) rplied : “MEN DONT NEED KINGS.” I suppose its a counterpoint 2 the
assertion th@ sheep need shepherds (pastors). But it may b th@ whn the wolf is away & the pasture
is hgh evn sheep dont need shepherds & thn ther also ma-yb times whn things fall apart (& they will,
my friends, like nevr b4) & thn evn the strongst men may fall down & BLEAT LIKE SHEEP.
→Eldorado→Beechworth(browsdinbric-a-bracstors)→Everton,Ma-
rkwood(walnuts),Milawa→Moyhu(readppr@pub)→T@ong(againaO).A nice walk in the redgum
forest to start the day. Once again John managed to return to the van with unerring
accuracy cross country without compass. I’ve come to expect no less. I had a close
encounter of the heart –thumping kind with a large black snake, no way sluggish after
the cold night, who moved much faster than I did to avoid a head-on collision by
whipping over the bank of the creek we were walking along. Beechworth was full of
people – its such a picturesque town with magnificent 19th century buildings. Filched
more walnuts off a tree over-hanging an orchard fence at Markwood, despite the bloke
leaning against a tree further from the fence who seemed to be keeping an eye on us – a
cunning-ly arranged scarecrow, but he didn’t fool us. I havnt left Melbourne completely bhind
yet. Grant, the BAD JOKE MAN, droppd in2 the BOCADILLO again (c ‘16/2/04 – 27/2/04’ p6) a day or
2 b4 his girlfriend was rriving from Helsinki & askd me not 2 take him off the mailing list as I had writtn
I was going 2. He says he reuses the stamps (2 x 50c) bcoz my mail usually coms without thm being
cancelld. How about th@! I write this stuff (like a kind of bleeding), H types it (though shes working
fulltime), it costs 2 produce the pieces, 4 the nvelope & stamps, & it takes a week of ‘storming’ aftr I
get home 2 get it out & thn anothr week 2 dstribute & THE BAD JOKE MAN asks 2 b kept on me mai-
ling list so he can steam off the stamps (15/4/04. I pay so u gain?). A few days l8r Zorca (libarian of
the czech libary O the corner from litho house in the SOKOL (hawk; SAKALAS in litho) club in Queen-
sberry st tells me (14/4/04. as I said) sh thinks sh mght b the only 1 who reads my stuff & sh 2 is re-
usin the stamps. Sh wants 2 stay on the mailing list 2. On th@ note I complete this ntry & the nxt
piece Ill b mailing out with a final set of quotes. “However”, said TAaRnKdOrVeSyKY, “ to return to
that minority audience in whom every artist unconsciously puts his hope – they will only respond
wholeheartedly to a picture when it expresses what the author has lived and suffered. I resp-
ect them too much to want – or indeed to be able – to deceive them : I trust in them, which is
why I dare to tell what is most important and precious to me.” & he says Van Gogh wrote in his
diary “When a man expresses clearly what he wants to say, is that strictly speaking not enough?
When he is able to express his thoughts beautifully, I won’t argue that its more pleasant to
listen to him; but it doesn’t add much to the beauty of the truth, which is beautiful in itself” &
he says th@ hHeErSmSaEnSn words (in ‘The Glass Bead Game’) “Truth has to be lived, not taug-
ht. Prepare for battle.” could serv as an epigraph 2 his film ‘RaUnBdLrYeOyV’ (whch I havnt cn yet
& in whch ncidentlly he bcomes 1 mor person 2 hav used the famous words from I Cor 13, 1-16 “Th-
ough I speak with the tongues of men and angels …. Whether there be prophesies, they shall
fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish

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away” x putting thm in2 the mouth of Rublyov). & 2 nd off heres 1 th@ was said either x MALmT-
iHcOkUSE or x HERACLITUS the OBSCURE (Fragment 59) : “The act of writing combines
straight, in the whole line, and crooked, in the shape of each letter.”

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