Ok today I want to talk about X-Rays, why, well because yesterday I went and had an X- Ray of my right knee. It is still sore after I had the fall on the 17^th June it is getting better, it’s just slow and the doctor wanted me to have an X- Ray to see what is happening. This made me think of about X-Rays we take them for granted now days but how many of us know how long they have been around for.

I knew that the first X-Ray was in the late 1800’s but wasn’t sure when or who discovered/invented X-Rays. So I decided to do a little research and find out.

The year was 1895 and a German by the name of Wilhelm Conrad Rontgen was experimenting with vacuum tubes and cathode ray generators, he was testing the effect of firing the cathode ray (they are beans of electrons) within the tube and their remote effect on a nearby fluorescent screen. Understand that, nope, that’s ok neither do I………………

A shimmer of light was appearing, suggesting that an invisible ray was being produced in the tube. It was only when he attempted to track these rays when he noticed that a piece of cardboard did not hinder the effect. He tested with thin pieces of metal next, finding varying levels of transparency to the rays, however was shocked when he saw a skeletal hand on the screen – the shadow of his hand.

his wife’s hand

He spent the next weeks experimenting with these X-Rays, named after the common mathematical unknown, finally taking a famous image of his wife’s hand that shocked the world. Within a month, the technology was being used to image fracture bones, even though the rays were still a scientific mystery.

He was awarded the first Nobel Physics prize in 1901 for his discovery.

His discovery transformed medicine almost overnight. Within a year, the first radiology department opened in a Glasgow hospital, and the department head produced the first pictures of a kidney stone and a penny lodged in a child’s throat. Shortly after, an American physiologist used X-rays to trace food making its way through the digestive system. The public also embraced the new technology—even carnival barkers touted the wondrous rays that allowed viewing of one’s own skeleton.

Ok it’s Friday again and this week might be a little more difficult to guess the theme, or maybe not but let’s us see.

Dick Francis

Robert B Parker

Kerry Greenwood

Maureen Jennings

Ruth Rendell

Easy or what ?

I am going to do a number of posts about things that my mum has taught me, or things she has always said that I agree with.

On of those things is that she has already said will it matter in the long run, as a young women I didn’t get it but the older I have got the more I get it and now I usually think to myself does it really matter. Will it matter a year from now, or hell will it matter tomorrow so often the answer is no.

Of course that doesn’t mean I don’t get upset or angry over things that matter in the here and now that is normal, but how upset or mad I get depends on how important it will be tomorrow. I also think to myself a lot that “it’s done” so why bother getting so out of shape about it. Usually we can’t undo things, if it can be undone the do so if it can’t accept it has been done and try and work around it.

It is like going off your head because your child has flooded the bathroom floor when they had a bath or shower, it’s done all you can do is clean up the mess have a chat with your child and explain why it was wrong, if the child is old enough get them to clean up the mess that will help them understand why it was wrong, it is a big mess to clean up.

Going off your brain about it is not going to make the mess not be there and will achieve nothing expect making the child cry and giving yourself a headache.

How are you at letting things go?

Do you replay over and over things that have upset you or made you mad?

On this history Tuesday I thought I would tell you a bit about the history of Australia, we are going far far back in history.

The first settlers are thought to have arrived around 50,000 years ago. This would have most likely been at a time when the sea levels were low, the land was more humid and animals larger.

Although much of Australia became populated, the central dry areas didn’t attract settlers until around 25,000 years ago. The population grew proportionately quicker around 10,000 years ago as the climate improved.

At the time of British settlement at Sydney Cove it is estimated that 300,000 aboriginal people, speaking around 250 languages inhabited Australia.

On arrival, finding no obvious political structure, the Europeans took the land as their own. The Indigenous people were driven out of their homes and many killed. Various new European diseases spread rapidly amongst the indigenous people, killing many. The introduction of feral and domestic animals contributed to the destruction of natural habitats.

During the early part of the 20th century legislation’s were passed to segregate and protect Aboriginals. This involved restrictions on where they could live and work and families being broken up.

After World War II, assimilation became the governments aim. All rights were taken away from the Aboriginals and attempts made to ‘Europeanise’ them.

During the 1960’s the legislation was reviewed and the Federal Government passed legislation for all Aboriginals to be given citizen status. However, it wasn’t until 1972 that the indigenous people were given back limited rights to their own land. The situation has been steadily improving for Australia’s Indigenous people, although many feel more needs to be done.

I will speak more about our history in the weeks and months to come.

I am pretty sure many people know what the Australian flag looks like but since there are many different flags used here in Australia and yes I know in the past I have done a post about our flags but because on a certificate of participation that Blain got last Friday there was a flag we couldn’t post I have decided to do a couple of more posts about flags.

So I will start this off with the flag we didn’t recognised.

It was this one, anyone know what flag this is, no didn’t think so………….

It is the Torres Strait Islander Flag

It was back in May 1992 that a flag was adopted to represent the Torres Strait Islanders, it was designed by Bernard Namok and the copyright is owned by the Torres Strait Island Coordinating Council.

The green stripes represent the land, the blue stripe represents the sea and the black symbolises the people. The thing in the centre is a Dhari, a dancer’s headress with a 5 point star to symbolise the five island groups in Torres Strait.

Ok all I have to offer this Saturday afternoon, is how to waste a dozen eggs…………..

You break a dozen eggs into a large bowl add some double cream and some sour cream and take a stick blender and proceed to beat eggs and then remember you forgot the Parmesan cheese so turn to get it from the fridge and leave stick blender in bowl.

Blender falls over tipping the whole thing over the bench and kitchen floor………………….

Yell to someone to get towels, proceed to clean up and send husband to the shops for another dozen eggs while you clean up the bench and the floor, included having to move the microwave to clean under and behind it where the egg has run to.

Throw all the towels in the washing machine and wash them

Five things Friday, yes don’t faint I am doing it this week why because I woke up and realised I could draft a few posts and have them ready to post when the time arises. So here are this weeks five things.

Colouring pencils

Pens

Letter opener

Tweezers

Mail

Can you guess this weeks theme?

Ok I have time to do a quick post before I have to leave and go get the boys from school, I have been out most of the morning. It was Dawson’s presentation day at his school Wakefield and I of course went to it with mum and dad and Dawson’s mother and her father also went, for the first time in ages Dawson didn’t get an award.

There was a man and a woman talking about aboriginal things he was had to understand and she was hard to hear and they had some boys from another school there playing the didgeridoo.

Also I have posted the photos of Leo’s school again but this time if you look on the right side in front of the principal you will see Leo’s eyes I have written his name next to his eyes, yes his eyes are all you can see of him

Bet you can’t find Leo

Ok it is History Tuesday and this week I am going to write about another unheard of fella his name is Keith William Young aka Billy Young at the tender age of 15 Billy decided to join the army it was July of 1941.

Now it wasn’t any real sense of patriotism or adventure that made him decide to join up it, it was because he was hungry and broke and homeless, Billy was an orphan and the army offered him a food and blanket and five shillings a day.

Billy was a member of the 2/29^th Battalion that went to Singapore with the 8^th Division, he saw a lot of action as the Allies attempted to stop the advancing Japanese Army and was wounded in the thigh.

Two years later Billy found himself in the back of a canvas-covered truck on his was to the Sandakan POW camp as a prisoner of the dreaded Kenpeitai, Nippon’s version of the Gestapo and he was still only a kid at the age of around 17. He still owned nothing except the rags he wore, a soiled and bloody pyjama top, a pair of filthy shorts cut from a canvas kitbag and his greatest treasure a pencil stub.

During his time at Sandakan he often considered attempting to escape, it was after his mate Jimmy Brown wandered off from the airfield construction site with no intentions of escape, however, when they crept back they realised they had been missed and decided to escape to avoid the punishment that would be dealt out to them.

However, they were soon caught and received severe bashings before being taken to Kuching for a trial where they received a four year sentence at the infamous Outram Road Gaol back in Singapore.

Many died at this terrible gaol but both Billy and Jimmy managed to survive although they suffered two years of starvation, malnutrition, tropical diseases, along with bashings and the most inhumane conditions imaginable.

When Bill returned home he was determined to tell the story of what happened to all the servicemen in Sandakan and Ranau, this he did by numerous drawings, paintings, writing stories, poems and speaking at functions.

In 2003 Bill drove alone across from Sydney to Perth, across the Nullabor, to visit our Sandakan Exhibition in August 2003. He took with him six of his original paintings that are part of his “Bamboo Collection”, for display at the exhibition. Bill has also completed numerous other paintings, sketches and drawings depicting his time as a POW at Sandakan and later at Outram Road Gaol in Singapore.

He tells of his experiences as a young man at war who was only 19 years old when he returned from 4 years of hell. He tells his story to the memory, and to commemorate, the 2,500 Australian and British servicemen who died at Sandakan, on the Ranau Death Marches or at Ranau. And he tells of his experiences so as this shameful episode of World War Two will never again be repeated.

He has also written three books,Long Ago in Borneo,Return to a Dark Age and Once Upon a Time in Kuching, about his years as a POW of the Japanese.

In the October 1st 2003 edition of the Borneo Bugle tribute is paid by way of a photographic display of Bill’s visit to the West. The editorial in the newsletter sums up our feelings..

“The visit by Bill Young from Sydney was a special event indeed! He added such substance to both our exhibition and the Sandakan Day Service. Someone said to me, “When we talked to Bill it is as though we have known him and he has been our friend for so many years”. Yes indeed, what a wonderful man he is! Such is the character of Bill that he enthralls both children and adults alike. And the wonderful stories he can tell of his life experiences! As you stand listening to his stories and watch his beaming smile your mind drifts to thoughts of those other great Australians and their British mates who never did return from Sandakan. There are another 2,500 special characters like Bill who lie at Labuan.”

In 2004 Bill was recognised for his services towards the “Sandakan Story” by the Commonwealth of Australia when he was awarded the Order of Australia Medal (OAM).