And while I'm mentioning Gina Rinehart's comments...

...I found this rather amusing (from Crikey). Sorry there's a naughty word in it. The dancing is lovely though.

Thoughts from the US Republican Convention 2012

(Image from here).

Earlier today, I turned on the TV over lunch to find a live broadcast on the ABC news channel from the Republican convention in Tampa, Florida. After warm up speaking acts that included Clint "Make my day" Eastwood, among others, I heard Mitt Romney's speech as he formally accepted his nomination as the Rupublican US Presidential candidate.

There were the usual outpourings of adulation from the wildly enthusiastic audience waving flags and signs, and applauding at just about every word that came out of his mouth. A few people there were even in costume. One guy looked like he might have come dressed as Christopher Columbus. I guess it's all part of the atmosphere.

Anyway, I thought Mitt was strong on style, but lacking on substance. I suppose that finer details weren't really necessary because at this point he's just accepting the nomination and quite clearly he was preaching to the converted. He did make a solid attempt to win over women voters, and the low income earners. But he seems to have the idea, in a similar vein to Gina Rinehart's recent comments, that people without much money just need to work harder and start up their own small business to get ahead. If only it was that simple.

And there were plenty of comments from Mitt and the other speakers I heard about repealing Obama's plans for healthcare reform if the Republicans get into the White House. One guy said that having two systems (ie private and public) "hadn't worked in any country it had been introduced in" or words to that effect. I'm not so sure it's been a failure here in Australia. I think it's great that people who can't afford private cover have a free healthcare system that they can access. It's not perfect, sure, but it means everyone's looked after. And a society that shows care and concern for the vulnerable is a good thing, I think.

I didn't end up being won over by much of what Mitt said. And he had this weird look that he seemed to deliberately put on during pauses in his speech when he was looking directly at the camera. A bit smirky and self-satisfied, I thought.

Or maybe it's his name that I can't get past. You know me, small things amusing small minds and all of that. But all along, I've found it rather amusing that his name is also the name of a well-known item of sporting equipment. Or for those of us in Australia, an oven glove.

I just noticed this bed....

....advertised in the latest Harvey Norman catalogue. It's called "Library." Imagine that. Combining two of my favourite pastimes....reading and sleeping.

Sadly, it's probably a bit too opulent to go with the rest of our home decor. But I think if I owned this bed, I would find it very difficult to ever leave it.

A bit off topic, but I always find it amusing that they choose to advertise beds in outdoor settings. I'm not sure if that's supposed to make them look more inviting. I suppose it's kind of cool to think about having a bed set up in your outdoor entertaining area so you can lie in it and read. And in this one, you could even pull the curtains around to stop the insects coming in. How practical for the great outdoors.

Win an iPad

Sorry folks, that title doesn't actually mean I am giving away an iPad.

But I have to say, I'm seeing the "win an iPad" slogan quite a lot lately. And it sucks me in every single time. I'm doing stuff I normally wouldn't be bothered about, but it suddenly seems worth doing if there's an iPad to be won.

I just updated my personal details for one of my super funds online because they're giving away 100 iPads for people who register. I was contemplating going to an information evening at our local high school (even though it's still a couple of years before any of our kids are ready to go there) because the school sign said you could go into a draw to win an iPad just by turning up. I ended up being unwell that night so I didn't get there, but I think the odds would have been good on a win there.

I can nominate my husband in an "I love my Physio" competition for World Physiotherapy Day (the 8th September, if anyone's interested) and win an iPad that way. Quote from the website that made me giggle: "Everyone should love a physiotherapist." Well, yes, I do actually. But I suspect my reasons for loving this one might not be the ones they're looking for in the competition.

We've decided that an iPad is a luxury item so we're highly unlikely to be able to justify buying ourselves one. So entering competitions is my only hope at the moment. And I'm hoping that in a few months, I'll be sharing news of a win with you all.

Knowing God

Why did I wait so long to read this?? What an amazing book.

I'm only about a third of the way into it (and I've had to read some of the chapters several times to get the full effect) but it is going well. I thought it would be much harder going than it is turning out to be.

There's so much gold to be mined in it that it's hard to know where to start on a review. But here's the short review for you. If you've never managed to get through it, pick it up and read it. Right now. Don't put it off any longer.

Happy belated birthday Claude

Last week it was Debussy's birthday. Here is some nice music of his to celebrate.

This year's Classic FM Top 100 is French music. I'm going to call it early and say I'm fairly confident Debussy will be heavily featured among the top ten.

Lemon and thyme roast chicken

Recipe and photo from here.

We've been on a quest for a while to find a nice roast chicken recipe. It's not easy. I quite enjoy a home cooked roast chicken, but Chris doesn't like roast chicken as much as he likes other roasted meats. He says it's because roast chicken was just about the only roast his family ever had when he was a kid, so it quickly became done to death for him.

Tonight we tried this one. It wasn't too bad. Unfortunately, in the picture from the magazine it all looks a bit burned. Not sure what was going on with the food styling there.

It was pretty easy to make. No stuffing involved. I don't mind eating stuffing, but making it adds extra time to the cooking that I'm mostly too lazy to bother with.  To cook the roast, you just heat the oven up to 200 degrees. Then you wash the chicken under cold water, pat it dry, and put it into a roasting dish breast side down. Then you stick a lemon that you've cut into quarters into the cavity, and put a couple of halved lemons, a whole clove of garlic cut in half crossways and some thyme around it. Add about three quarters of a cup of chicken stock to the dish, sprinkle more thyme on top, spray the chicken with some olive oil and season it with salt and pepper.

Then you cook it for an hour and fifteen minutes (that's for a 1.8kg chook, we had a 2.1kg one so we gave him a bit longer). After that you take it out, flip the chicken over so it's breast side up, and cook it for another fifteen minutes or so.

Serve with all the usual roast chicken accompaniments. We had potatoes, corn and beans. The juice in the pan would probably make a nice light gravy to go on the meat, or you could mix a regular gravy mix into the juices if you wanted to.

Usually with a 2kg roast we have leftover meat to use for sandwiches but most people went for seconds tonight so the carcass is pretty bare. I think that means it went down well.