New Zealand's first diabetic response dog is 6 months away from graduation after being trained by a woman who owes her life to a .
When Merenia Donne drove off a cliff and suffered severe head injuries a number of years ago, she was dragged from the wreck and pulled up the cliff by her dog, Nikki. When the german shepherd later died of a brain tumour, Donne set up a charity in Nikki's honour.
It costs $NZ50,000 to train a diabetic response dog, and Donne's Kotuku Foundation Assistance Animals Aotearoa (KFAA), is putting two-year-old german shepherd, Uni, through the course. Once he graduates, Uni will be able to use his highly sensitive nose to detect changes in a diabetic's blood chemistry and alert them of a low blood sugar level, or hypoglycemic reaction, by grasping a rubber rod or a toy that hangs from his collar or by stepping on a specially installed button inside the diabetics house.
As a diabetic, I look forward to the day Uni graduates - it's reassuring to know someone's got our back.
Thursday 28 March 2013
Tuesday 26 March 2013
Every heart beats true
I want to bring you a special blog today that has me bristling with pride - two old boys from the Pennant Hills Demons are co-captains of the Sydney Swans AFL side this season, and the below is an article detailing the importance of the club. As head coach Chris Yard says:
''In Sydney, it's done on love,'We're full of people who love being around Pennant Hills, it's a very sticky club.''
Enjoy the read.......
When their club was in its infancy in the 1970s and players were thin on the ground, the story goes that Pennant Hills footballers would stand by a busy local thoroughfare and wait for cars with interstate number plates to stop at a red light. ''Fancy a game of footy?'' they'd ask, hoping to land a few more Australian football refugees.
Any recruiting drive today might have a simpler, more powerful hook. ''Fancy a game at the club that produced the AFL premier's new co-captains?''
Not that you'll find any framed tributes to Jarrad McVeigh and Kieren Jack - or the other eight former Demons who've made it on to AFL lists - in the ''Penno'' clubrooms. Largely because there are no Penno clubrooms.
''There were two junior change rooms when we moved here [two years ago], we've knocked down a wall in one for our senior room, got a bit of storage, a canteen, very little viewing area,'' senior coach Chris Yard says of the facilities at Mike Kenny Oval. ''It's very low key, that's probably the best way to put it.''
Their old home ground didn't meet AFL Sydney requirements, but the same issues - taking a back seat not only to the rugby codes but to baseball or athletics when it comes to access for training - have followed them to neighbouring Cherrybrook. The current pre-season sweat has fallen on a high school rugby ground.
Yard says they make do with what they're thrown. Homely club rituals abide, like staying back on a Thursday night to hear the teams read out, with only takeaway pizza to combat the concrete block cold.
Those who hold the Demons dear would love to boast ''some of the niceties'' that are commonplace in more traditional football belts, as secretary Bob Wray says of a club he describes as ''resource poor''. Yet by providing what Yard calls ''a very warm, encouraging and nurturing environment'', Pennant Hills has wealth that can't be measured.
''In Sydney, it's done on love,'' Yard says. ''We're full of people who love being around Pennant Hills, it's a very sticky club.''
Danny Ryan is a life member, but hadn't heard of the club until he spotted an ad in The Age in the early 1990s offering work in exchange for play. He moved north, looked them up, and found a home away from home that endured for 15 years as a player and coach.
''It was a special time, when the club evolved from being easy-beats out of second division and a bunch of kids came through with some older blokes who'd played SANFL or WAFL or at a good level in Victoria,'' Ryan says. ''It was a bit of a Camelot time, where Pennant Hills as a club grew up.''
Founded in the mid-1960s as a juniors-only entity, Penno first ran out a senior team in 1971, and in little more than four decades has produced 10 top-flight players. Terry Thripp was the first - and the first Sydney local to play for the Swans (in 1983) - and the club's reputation for growing its own has blossomed.
Lenny Hayes played his junior footy in red and blue, Mark McVeigh juniors and seniors, little brother Jarrad juniors, while Jack was a skinny kid when Ryan spoke to his NSW Rams coach Rod Carter about whether he might be up to a run in the ones. He remembers a quiet, respectful kid with some question marks over his kicking, who ''really hooked into training''.
And carried that enthusiasm into games, as the couple of hundred diehards who saw Jack take on East Coast Eagles ruckman Gus Seebeck, a former Sandover medallist, will never forget. ''Kieren ran off the bench, 17 years old, four-foot-nothing, 70 kilos, and Seebeck's just going to steamroll him,'' Ryan recalls. Jack brought down the giant and won the free. Later that year, he was rookie-listed by the Swans, as younger brother Brandon is now.
The Demons are testament to an evolving AFL pathway in Sydney. Now anchored by the Swans' academy, talent continues to emerge from junior clubs such as Westbrook, Hornsby and Pennant Hills juniors, which all feed into Penno's senior program.
''We're 25 kilometres north-west of Sydney, so we miss the young professionals who land in the city for work, they end up in the eastern suburbs,'' Yard says. ''We rely very heavily on our junior base - that's something we're very proud of.''
When the Swans played St Kilda in a recent NAB Cup game, Yard pondered how grand it would have been had all five Penno boys - Hayes and Jackson Ferguson with the Saints, McVeigh and the two Jacks for Sydney - turned out. A recent presentation to council pointed out that the club boasts the fourth-highest number of players to reach AFL of any in NSW, including the Riverina. ''They're clubs that go back 100 years,'' says Wray. ''We've been around 40.''
Alumni are filling football fields of all sorts. Ryan and another Penno old boy went to see Blinder, the grassroots film written by former Demon Scott Didier. When Jack Thompson's coach read out the team, they laughed at the names of ex-teammates in the fictional line-up. There was no Jack or McVeigh, of course. They're real-life footy stars, leaders of the best team in the land. And their old club couldn't be prouder.
Monday 25 March 2013
Dinasour abduction in Canberra
Crimestoppers have appealed to the community in Canberra to help them locate a dinasour that was stolen on Thursday night.
The 1.6 metre Utahraptor is made of fibreglass and was stolen from outside the National Dinosaur Museum in Gold Creek.
Superintendent Brett Kidner says anyone who spots the life-like dinosaur statue should call CrimeStoppers.
"Its brown in colour with dark stripes across the back," he said.
"It would probably stick out fairly obviously on a trailer or possibly someone may have put it into the back of a truck."
Valued at $2,400, the museum is appealing to anyone with information to come forward. Ben Wardle ftom the museum is offering a no questions asked agreement if the dinasour is returned.
"Even if it was just returned anonymously," he said. "Its very popular and quite an attraction for us."
So if you are in Canberra and notice a 1.6 metre Utahraptor in someone's backyard, call it in.
"Its brown in colour with dark stripes across the back," he said.
"It would probably stick out fairly obviously on a trailer or possibly someone may have put it into the back of a truck."
Valued at $2,400, the museum is appealing to anyone with information to come forward. Ben Wardle ftom the museum is offering a no questions asked agreement if the dinasour is returned.
"Even if it was just returned anonymously," he said. "Its very popular and quite an attraction for us."
So if you are in Canberra and notice a 1.6 metre Utahraptor in someone's backyard, call it in.
Wednesday 20 March 2013
People remember good people
Decent people doing good things stick in people's minds more than brash "children in adult's bodies" who expect success to fall into their laps, according to a survey on Australia's most popular athletes.
The results speak more about the appreciation for simple, old fashioned good manners rather than an affinity with stars of yesteryear, although the fact that the top 6 athletes on the list have retired from their sports gives weight to the latter argument. Top of the list is Pat Rafter, Glenn McGrath comes in second, Cathy Freeman is third, then Ricky Ponting, Ian Thorpe and Steve Waugh round out the top 6.
5 of the top 6 athletes, (according to a survey of 7000 people, listed in the Sweeney Sports and Entertainment report) are as well known for being decent human beings as much as for their passion in representing Australia on the world stage, and their captivating ability in their chosen sport. Pat Rafter used to call out "sorry mate" if he tossed the ball in the air but didn't follow through with his serve. Glenn McGrath is a bloke from Narromine who has taken over 500 test wickets, bought a farm for his family and supported his wife with courage, strength and dignity as she battled breast cancer. Cathy Freeman won a gold medal for Australia at the Sydney Olympics, but now wants to "go bush" and spend time with her family:
"I just wanted to show I am proud of who I am and where I come from. I would love to one day go out to the bush and spend time with the elders of my culture, and get back to my roots" Freeman said after the Sydney Olympics.
With 5 gold medals, Ian Thorpe is Australia's most successful Olympian, but in many ways he defies the stereotype of Australian sportspeople. He is quiet, mild-mannered, thoughtful, and articulate. Former Australian cricket captain Steve Waugh supports 310 Indian children with leprosy in Udayan in India, and is associated with the Calcutta Girl's Foundation.
The results of this survey highlight the difference between being a larrikin and being a peanut - people remember larrikin, but nobody remembers a peanut.
---------------------
Australia's most popular athletes
(according to Sweeney Sports and Entertainment report)
The results speak more about the appreciation for simple, old fashioned good manners rather than an affinity with stars of yesteryear, although the fact that the top 6 athletes on the list have retired from their sports gives weight to the latter argument. Top of the list is Pat Rafter, Glenn McGrath comes in second, Cathy Freeman is third, then Ricky Ponting, Ian Thorpe and Steve Waugh round out the top 6.
5 of the top 6 athletes, (according to a survey of 7000 people, listed in the Sweeney Sports and Entertainment report) are as well known for being decent human beings as much as for their passion in representing Australia on the world stage, and their captivating ability in their chosen sport. Pat Rafter used to call out "sorry mate" if he tossed the ball in the air but didn't follow through with his serve. Glenn McGrath is a bloke from Narromine who has taken over 500 test wickets, bought a farm for his family and supported his wife with courage, strength and dignity as she battled breast cancer. Cathy Freeman won a gold medal for Australia at the Sydney Olympics, but now wants to "go bush" and spend time with her family:
"I just wanted to show I am proud of who I am and where I come from. I would love to one day go out to the bush and spend time with the elders of my culture, and get back to my roots" Freeman said after the Sydney Olympics.
With 5 gold medals, Ian Thorpe is Australia's most successful Olympian, but in many ways he defies the stereotype of Australian sportspeople. He is quiet, mild-mannered, thoughtful, and articulate. Former Australian cricket captain Steve Waugh supports 310 Indian children with leprosy in Udayan in India, and is associated with the Calcutta Girl's Foundation.
The results of this survey highlight the difference between being a larrikin and being a peanut - people remember larrikin, but nobody remembers a peanut.
---------------------
Australia's most popular athletes
(according to Sweeney Sports and Entertainment report)
Thursday 14 March 2013
A coffee with your neighbour could save your life
Having a cup of coffee and a chat with a neighbour might save your life during extreme weather events according to a US sociologist.
The findings compare survival rates between two communitites in Chicago, Englewood and Auburn Gresham, following the city's heatwave in July 1995. Both are mostly African-American communities, with high concentrations of poverty and elderly residents, but they differ greatly when it comes to community engagement. Between 1960 and 1990, Englewood lost fifty per cent of its residents and most of its commercial outlets, the community was essentially abandoned. Auburn Gresham by contrast is a tight-knit community where residents walk to dinner and the supermarket, they know their neighbours and they participate in block clubs and go to church.
In the socially disengaged neighbourhood of Englewood, 33 residents per 100,000 died during the '95 heatwave, but in the demographically identical suburb of Auburn Gresham, only 3 residents per 100,000 perished.
Accoding to Eric Klinenberg, a professor in sociology at New York University, the key difference in the number of residents who withstood the heatwave in the Chicago neighborhoods turned out to be the footpaths, stores, restaurants, and community organisations that bring people into contact with friends and neighbours. He said the advantages of living in an engaged community during a heatwave is as good as having a working air-conditioner in each room.
Given these results, being a good neighbour is more than just a matter of politeness, it could be a matter of survival.
The findings compare survival rates between two communitites in Chicago, Englewood and Auburn Gresham, following the city's heatwave in July 1995. Both are mostly African-American communities, with high concentrations of poverty and elderly residents, but they differ greatly when it comes to community engagement. Between 1960 and 1990, Englewood lost fifty per cent of its residents and most of its commercial outlets, the community was essentially abandoned. Auburn Gresham by contrast is a tight-knit community where residents walk to dinner and the supermarket, they know their neighbours and they participate in block clubs and go to church.
In the socially disengaged neighbourhood of Englewood, 33 residents per 100,000 died during the '95 heatwave, but in the demographically identical suburb of Auburn Gresham, only 3 residents per 100,000 perished.
Accoding to Eric Klinenberg, a professor in sociology at New York University, the key difference in the number of residents who withstood the heatwave in the Chicago neighborhoods turned out to be the footpaths, stores, restaurants, and community organisations that bring people into contact with friends and neighbours. He said the advantages of living in an engaged community during a heatwave is as good as having a working air-conditioner in each room.
Given these results, being a good neighbour is more than just a matter of politeness, it could be a matter of survival.
Monday 11 March 2013
We improvise, we make do, we get by
There is something beautiful about being Australian that I've never heard successfully described in words, but that's because it's something that's indescribable - it's WHO we are and WHAT we do that defines this beauty, not HOW we're described.
Two perfect examples of this come from the manager of the Pooncarrie hotel, and from a patchwork of images and video of road trips around Australia that have been collated into Triple J's "road trip relay."
The manager of the hotel in Pooncarrie (a town in South-West New South Wales with a population of about 50 people) was telling ABC Open about how when the general store and petrol station closed down, it made life tough for the residents. The entire time he was talking about the towns hardships, he had a smile on his face, and he told the interviewer that his hotel now stocks bread and milk to try and bridge the gap that's been left by the closing down of the general store.
When asked how the town would survive, he said "We improvise, we make do, we get by."
As well as strength in adversity, another intangible beauty of being Australian is how we can find fun in what would ordinarily be a mundane situation. Throwing a mates only pair of shoes onto the branch of a "shoe tree," coming across some wild emus and deciding you are an "Emu whisperer," or perfecting the art of waving to oncoming traffic are the kinds of stories Australians find funny and are captured in the "road trip relay" at: https://open.abc.net.au/features/road-trip-relay-52tb6on#/home. If you have a spare 12 minutes, have a look and consider the beauty of being Australian
Two perfect examples of this come from the manager of the Pooncarrie hotel, and from a patchwork of images and video of road trips around Australia that have been collated into Triple J's "road trip relay."
The manager of the hotel in Pooncarrie (a town in South-West New South Wales with a population of about 50 people) was telling ABC Open about how when the general store and petrol station closed down, it made life tough for the residents. The entire time he was talking about the towns hardships, he had a smile on his face, and he told the interviewer that his hotel now stocks bread and milk to try and bridge the gap that's been left by the closing down of the general store.
When asked how the town would survive, he said "We improvise, we make do, we get by."
As well as strength in adversity, another intangible beauty of being Australian is how we can find fun in what would ordinarily be a mundane situation. Throwing a mates only pair of shoes onto the branch of a "shoe tree," coming across some wild emus and deciding you are an "Emu whisperer," or perfecting the art of waving to oncoming traffic are the kinds of stories Australians find funny and are captured in the "road trip relay" at: https://open.abc.net.au/features/road-trip-relay-52tb6on#/home. If you have a spare 12 minutes, have a look and consider the beauty of being Australian
Thursday 7 March 2013
Chocolate or furry - Bilbies are in trouble
Whether you prefer your bilbies furry or chocolatey, after facing impending extinction, there has been some good news for the tiny marsupial.
The bilby's battle for survival was looking futile when one of the 2 species, the lesser bilby was recently declared extinct. Unfortunately for the surviving greater bilby, that didn't mean it was elevated to a life of luxury, a community with around 150 newborn bilbies was raided by feral cats in queensland after a specially-built bilby fence was damaged by floods.
The bilby's survival was dealt another blow more recently with the collapse of the major sponsor of the save the bilby fund, Darrel Lea. The Australian chocolate maker donated around $50,000 a year, and it's sale of chocolate bilbies in the lead-up to Easter was the biggest single revenue raiser for the bilby fund.
The good news for bilbies, is that a Melbourne-based chocolate manufacturer has committed to making chocolate bilbies for Easter. As well as production support, Fyna Foods Australia presented the save the bilby fund with a $10000 cheque.
There was also some good news on the bilby breeding front, with the birth of triplet baby bilbies on the Gold Coast. It is believed they are the first triplets born in captivity.
Things are looking up for lovers of animals and lovers of chocolate. I hate to spoil the surprise, but everyone in my family will be getting chocolate bilbies this easter.
The bilby's battle for survival was looking futile when one of the 2 species, the lesser bilby was recently declared extinct. Unfortunately for the surviving greater bilby, that didn't mean it was elevated to a life of luxury, a community with around 150 newborn bilbies was raided by feral cats in queensland after a specially-built bilby fence was damaged by floods.
The bilby's survival was dealt another blow more recently with the collapse of the major sponsor of the save the bilby fund, Darrel Lea. The Australian chocolate maker donated around $50,000 a year, and it's sale of chocolate bilbies in the lead-up to Easter was the biggest single revenue raiser for the bilby fund.
The good news for bilbies, is that a Melbourne-based chocolate manufacturer has committed to making chocolate bilbies for Easter. As well as production support, Fyna Foods Australia presented the save the bilby fund with a $10000 cheque.
There was also some good news on the bilby breeding front, with the birth of triplet baby bilbies on the Gold Coast. It is believed they are the first triplets born in captivity.
Things are looking up for lovers of animals and lovers of chocolate. I hate to spoil the surprise, but everyone in my family will be getting chocolate bilbies this easter.
Monday 4 March 2013
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