World's oldest blogger makes final post

 

July 15, 2008

 

The Australian woman renowned as the world's oldest internet blogger has made her final post, aged 108.

 

Olive Riley, of Woy Woy on NSW's central coast, died in a nursing home just after 6am yesterday.

 

She will be mourned by family and an international readership in the thousands.

 

"It was mind blowing to her," her great grandson Darren Stone, of Brisbane, told AAP last night.

 

"She had people communicating with her from as far away as Russia and America on a continual basis, not just once in a while."

 

Olive had posted more than 70 entries on her blog, or as she jokingly labelled it, her "blob", since February last year.

 

The ardent Sydney Swans AFL fan shared her day-to-day musings and her life's experiences raising three children on her own, living through two world wars and the Depression, her work as a station cook in rural Queensland and as an egg sorter and barmaid in Sydney.

 

In her final post, dated June 26, an increasingly frail Olive noted she couldn't "shake off that bad cough".

 

She also: "read a whole swag of email messages and comments from my internet friends today, and I was so pleased to hear from you. Thank you, one and all."

 

Olive's musing live on at http://www.allaboutolive.com.au and more recently at http://worldsoldestblogger.blogspot.com.

 

She was born in 1899, and would have turned 109 on October 20.

 

"She enjoyed the notoriety - it kept her mind fresh," Mr Stone said.

 

"What kept her going was the memories she had, and being able to recall those memories so strongly."

 

Olive's funeral will be held at Palmdale Cemetery, on the NSW Central Coast, late this week.

 

AAP

 

 

This story was found at: http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2008/07/14/1215887459476.html

 

I hope that I can go out, blogging to the end!  

 We went to the Picasso and His collection exhibition at the Gallery of Modern Art, this afternoon. First we (Daughters and I) stopped for lunch at Gardenway and have a superb meal and a lovely glass of wine, as well as a wander through the gift shop. I also wandered through the plants and bought two grevillea shrubs that I will plant next weekend. They both get flowers that attract birds so hope to encourage more native bird life - not just crows and magpies!

The Picasso exhibition has many of Picasso's own works but also about 40 works by other artists that Picasso owned. So we got to see works by Braque, Cezanne, Matisse, Reniour and Rosseau, among others. I am not a fan of Picasso, leaning more towards the Impressionist school in my tastes, but it was all very interesting.

 Afterwards we just happened to find ourselves next door at the Queensland State Library and of course had to stop at their restaurant for coffee and cake. I have tea and cheesecake to be exact ...fat bastard afternoon!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Now with the new Arts and library complex open it is such a thrill to wander around there and also to walk along the River. Brisbane really is a beautiful city.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We arrived home about 6pm, after figthing our way through the traffic jam caused by the football crowd making their way home. We had a great time, but we are all so exhasted...how come fun wears you out so much?

Back to Monday, tomorrow.

Cane toad lickers may get cure for overdose soon

Researchers may have a lead on how to treat people who lick cane toads and overdose on the toxins.

Menzies School of Health Researcher Bart Currie says people licking the pests for a high is quite common, but sometimes they get more then they bargained for.

"[There have been] quite a lot of deaths in other parts of the world from people trying to use cane toad venom for recreational purposes and what it does is stop the heart."

But Dr Currie says the key to finding a treatment for the poison might be found in the Territory's slatey grey and keelback snake populations that are able to eat the toads without dying.

"If we could figure out first of all how the venom is working on that animal and then secondly what component of the animal protects it against that venom".

He is hoping further studies will produce a treatment for people with cane toad poisoning.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/07/11/2301133.htm?section=justin

Is there NOTHING that someone, somewhere, at some time, wont try, and then share that experience?

Banana man seeking sticker buddy

A Sydney man who collects banana stickers is on a national search for a fellow Australian who shares his passion.

Robert "Hank" Atkins has collected more than 400 of the little labels found on bananas sold in supermarkets.

He stores them in an album and records the place he bought it from and the date of purchase.

Mr Atkins says he has been collecting for six years but is yet to find another Australian he can trade with.

"At the moment I trade labels with three people in America, one in England and one in Czechoslovakia," he said.

"But I'm hoping to find someone in Australia because there must be labels here that I haven't got that are Australian."

 

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/07/09/2298923.htm

US military planned nerve gas test on Aust troops

The US was planning to test Sarin and VX nerve gas on up to 200 Australian combat troops. Defence files have revealed the United States military was planning to test deadly nerve gas on Australian troops in a far north Queensland rainforest in the 1960s.

Australian Defence Department files obtained by Channel Nine show the US was planning to test Sarin and VX nerve gas on up to 200 Australian combat troops by aerial bombing areas around Lockhart River.

The plan never went ahead, but American survey teams inspected the proposed testing site.

The prime minister at the time, Harold Holt, vetoed the plan.

His former staffer, Peter Bailey, says the Australian government was concerned that its Cold War alliance with the US would be damaged if it did not acquiesce.

"If they weren't pretty good and pretty faithful to the Americans we would be dumped, so I think ministers were very aware that this was probably our one main support," he said.

Former Democrats Senator Lyn Allison has told Channel Nine the current Government should make the documents public.

"There's apparently a whole unit which the minister says didn't conduct testing but I think we need to know what they were doing and it is time for these documents to be released," she said.

"Let us have a look at what was being contemplated just 40 odd years ago - it's not the deepest, darkest history of Australia we're talking about."

 http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/07/06/2295601.htm

 As if England testing their bombs and doing nuclear tests on our serving men wasn't enough, America thought they could just murder 200 of our men as well! Wasn't it only a few months ago that Cheney was trying to pressure Howard into taking all their nuclear waste and burying it in our country too? When are we going to stop being used as canon fodder and scientific experiements and respected as a nation? Enough! If it's not good enough for your back yard it is not good enough for ours.

"If somebody exposes themself to a World Youth Day participant they face a fine of $1,100, but if they wear an anti-Catholic t-shirt, the fine could be $5,500," she said.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/07/01/2290436.htm?section=justin

What if, like I, you are a Catholic, lapsed may it be, and wear an anti-Catholic t-shirt, do you still get fined? I could wear the t-shirt and expose myself at the same time and go for the full menu.

 

Did they start the Spanish Inquisition and no one told me? This is Australia right? When did we adopt a national religion?

Is the UN nothing but a graveyard for old politicians? Our former foreign minister Alexander Downer is resigning from parliament and is taking a part-time job with the UN.  The man was part of a government that tried to reintroduce the white Australia policy through slight of hand and the UN hires him!

 

To use the words of Greg Norman’s former wife, when commenting on the nuptials of Norman and Chris Everett – “they deserve each other”.

 

 

A fashion parade with a difference is expected to draw thousands of people to the annual Townsville Show in north Queensland.

 

There will be more than show bags on offer when the event starts tomorrow.

 

It is not quite the bearded lady or the strong man, but the pied piper fashion parade is expected to be one of the big drawcards of the show.

 

Handler Brian Harrington trains ducks to strut the catwalk in tiny, handmade outfits.

 

Mr Harrington says he has his favourite.

 

"I've got a little duck called Sarah, if she was a human, she'd be on top money, just the way she walks and the way she presents each outfit," he said.

 

Mr Harrington says he is inspired by the cartoon character Daisy Duck.

 

He plans to unveil some new duck dresses with an Asian theme at the weekend show.

I passed....