The Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area has many of these and the gravity-fed system is an engineering marvel.
Recently they've been enclosing some channels with pipes, which has led to our local channel dropping to a trickle.
Many birds seem to be enjoying the opportunity to fossick in the mud, also some humans too.
There are many sunken treasures, particularly witches hats and bits of metal.
When I shared this photo my friends commented that it's "monitoring the water level" and offers "sub bass"!
I have watched many of Emily's pedal reviews and enjoy her observations
One of the things that jumped out in this recent video is her recollection of an artist residency.
There's a lot in there about elitism in the arts, as well as the rationale for her new album.
If you have been on an artist residency though, then you might recognise Emily's comment about how it made her feel like an artist.
I think this is one of the best aspects of a residency, where the residents identify as the role after doing there own thing elsewhere and not considering it art.
The best residencies have an open-ended quality that allows room for this development to occur.
Or maybe it's just a question of where the audiences are located?
Personally I pay Disney little money and have enjoyed their franchises, and am becoming really curious to see if the Shogun series can survive going beyond the book with a second season.
Sure, the Marvel and Star Wars spin offs have been hit and miss.
I read Shogun for fun in high school and the TV mini-series at that time already felt dated.
So it's been fun to revisit the story but reminded me how much I wanted to see the battle just beyond the end of the book.
Rather than serving as a gentle way to change behaviours by suggesting something dangerous, it's become so polarising that it only succeeds in confirming biases in different directions across the gendered landscape.
In that way it reminds me of the crisises that feminism has encountered whenever someone with a marginal identity asks if a political movement representing 51% of the population can claim to reflect their particular margin.
Usually those moments see the margins considered, possibly shifted or given new labels, then the small number of people it impacted either follow the renewed movement or find their own splinter to support.
The feminst authors I've read are generally aiming to show solidarity with men where it will improve lives for everyone, such as reducing the burden of gender schema.
However, I think history shows that one doesn't simply change the rules and expect the game to adjust -- more often it leads to a new code of sports or church for believers.
So I wonder if masculinity is toxic enough to die or if it will just get more extreme?
The passing of Ozzy Osbourne has got me feeling sentimental
Feels like heresy but for the longest time I thought he was the worst singer in Black Sabbath's history and couldn't appreciate his solo work either.
My interest in heavy metal started in the mid-1980s when I began buying cheap vinyl, particularly Wasp's "Inside the Electric Circus."
That album didn't get a lot of listening, but was followed with an introduction to Motley Crue's "Theatre of Pain" and then things got progressively heavier with Guns n' Roses "Appetite for Destruction" and into Metallica just before "And Justice For All."
The pursuit of thrash metal and headbanging at the rollerskating rink was accompanied with learning to play guitar, then Faith No More's cover of 'War Pigs' made me realise I needed to learn about Sabbath.
Their earlier material had slower tempos and those blues shuffles that now make Van Halen sound like they can't keep time because everyone is so used to hearing quantised rhythms.
Many late nights were spent exploring the extensive catalogue of Sabbath and I remember for the longest time I thought their peak was 'Zero the Hero':
That monstrous overdubbed guitar riff and horror movie clip really rocked my teenage world.
The production sounds flat today, but the chord changes that build toward the chorus are fun.
Anyway, the interest in playing guitar was fuelled by nights at my cousin's bedsit apartment.
We would rock his Marshall half-stack into the early hours, messing with an Alesis effects unit and drum machine.
My cousin Chris was a fan of Ozzy's lesser-known guitarist, Jake E Lee.
In particular I remember there was a lot of rewinding the videotape of a live show to appreciate this solo in 'Killer of Giants':
Listening now I appreciate the melodic sensibility balanced with squealing pitchbends and fingertaps.
However, Ozzy's singing still grated on me.
How was it that someone who'd been at the birth of metal, launched so many careers and worked with so many of my favourite musicians could sound so flat and look so goofy?
Then 1991 saw the release of "No More Tears" and, amazingly, it still is amazing:
Those saturated colours of the MTV era, that remarkable riff from young Zakk Wylde and even the synthesisers sound gooder than I remember.
And, even as binge-drinking kid in denima jacket featuring Satan on numerous patches, that Beatles-esque segue in the middle was what made me pay attention.
I got the reference and it was audacious.
Years later, after recognising 'The Wizard' from being sampled by Cypress Hill, I realised I needed to reconsider Sabbath and found Ozzy's singing to be less of a problem for me.
I mean, I still think there are people who do covers of his material that elevates it -- such as Charles Bradley here:
However, for the little my experiences are worth sharing, I began to really dig Ozzy as I got older for the way his music took me back to these moments where I came to appreciate something that a younger me hadn't enjoyed.
I read his autobiography after finding a secondhand copy and it is one of the funniest things I've read since Ben Elton, although I would've liked more reflection on his trauma and those he inflicted.
Or even more detail about working with so many incredible musicians.
The role of Ozzy's music has become bittersweet as people I associate with it have died.
My cousin Chris was an influence for so many years and more recently the tune 'Mama I'm Coming Home' was such a poignant performance at Ozzy's last gig.
When I shared it with my partner, she reminded me it had also been the last post that a friend had made on Facebook and I realised that I'd forgotten that moment for a reason.
At the time I'd 'liked' the post and thought I was looking forward to her return to the Riverina.
Then, after events that don't need to be shared, I had gone back and unliked it for feeling as though I might have condoned suicidal ideation.
Sadly, it's another powerful feeling that I now associate with Ozzy's music.
