This book was a finalist for this years Miles Franklin Award.

The story revolves around Max a German academic.

After his wife dies and he retires he has no purpose for living.

At his last lecture he meets an Aboriginal academic, who sets him a challenge and he comes to Australia and travels with an aboriginal elder and eventually finds new purpose in his life.

I could relate to much of the story as it relates to an older persons search for meaning in life.

I have only recently discovered Alex Miller"s work, but he has won two Miles Franklin awards and is a  beautiful writer.

 I attended a Govt seminar on Wednesday and it was to do with ageing and nutrition. I became aware that many more seniors these days rely on home grown food to supplement their budgets. It's also a great hobby activity as we age. 

It is so important to so many, that we plan to write a new course on such for the Greypath Lyceum . 

As I can not be sure of finding a course writer for such, I will write it myself by default if needs be. 

I would greatly value anyone's input on such matters as, best varieties, crop rotation, picking, most beneficial plants food wise, watering, mulching, seasonality , useful images and more.  

If you have a contribution to make, please make comment here and also mail me direct. Thanks Ray  

This is a website for a simple word game.

Your participation will help feed the world.

www.freerice.com

A new Buster Bold and Wendy X adventure has just blasted off! Fire up your imagination and write part of the story. Click here to go to the story page.

I've been on Megs Coffee shop chatline a few times and have found a few things that could be improved. For instance when a username comes up on the chatline it could have the sex of the person "M" or "F" and where they are from, eg: "Qld" or "UK" or "Ger" and it would save the chatline users asking the others those questions. And sometimes it "times you out" unvolantarily.

We welcome Andy Youngman who has taken over from Mike Hambidge as our Guest blogger. (Home page under the SIG's tab) . While Andy has some months to go yet of course, we would like to have a queue of interesting people lined up to do a blog stint in the future.

 I have in mind people who live a different life to the rest of us.

 For example a Canadian Indian Princess, (No kidding - Lakashima did our creative writers course a couple of years ago), an Aussie Nun in a Senegal school ( I know one and we are working on it), a NT Policeman, someone who travels the trains every day and makes acerbic observations, a Union Rep in the Pilbara, or whoever

All odd examples, but I expect you know what I am trying to say.

If you know of anyone, do mail me and I'll contact them. 

 Ray

The main theme of this book has to do with racism.  It has various subplots, involving a hidden billionaire, a love triangle, a secret assassination, stocks, and banking systems.

One bank in particular had a little box at the end of the home loan application, asking for nationality/race.

Usually most people ignored this box, so the interviewing bank officer would fill it in (permission to do so in fine print).

If the applicant belonged to a minority (African/American or Hispanic) and had applied for a home loan in an all white, upper middleclass neighborhood, the loan was refused.

However, if he applied for a home loan in a known minority area, his application was granted.

Unravelling the intrique behind these actions, the background to banking practices (U.S.), and the considerable effort the perpetrators made to continue these illegal practices and to avoid discovery, is absolutely fascinating.The writer's background in mergers, acquisitions, corporate finance, ensures factual accuracy, although the novel is entirely fictional.