Celebrating half a century and 150 years!

No, I am not turning 50, or 150. Rather, Dad has hit the 50 milestone and despite his protests about it, I used logic and beat him into at least acknowledging it. The logic that I used was "But Dad, in cricket you cheer if someone gets half a century. That just takes 1 day, it takes 50 years for everyone else to reach that mark."
While using that argument (I use that term in the way it's used for writing an essay), Dad was listening to the cricket match - So there really wasn't any good comeback. The letter I left for him on his present today was "Because you have to celebrate when someone hits 50".

BUT!! Dad shares his birthday with the great Banjo Paterson. If you have never heard of him (and most probably haven't), you might know this instead...

The unofficial Australian national anthem - Waltzing Matilda

Or maybe...

The Man from Snowy River - featuring footage from the movie with the same name

And then there is

Hehehe! A Bush Christening

Yes, Andrew Barton (Banjo) Paterson has a long rap sheet (compared to some), but I know him best as a poet about the Australian bush. You could go into the whole debate about his 'romantic' bush and Henry Lawson's 'dangerous' bush, but I think the argument is invalid because both a true (in a way) and I don't particularly care. I prefer Banjo Paterson's poetry. And here's why;

In our family, Mum's dad (so my Pop - although I never got to meet him) was fan of Banjo Paterson's work and could recite all of the poems by heart. So Mum did read them to us when we were younger, although Trin and I never really did understand what was going on (although we did like them). Now that I'm old enough, and have done an art history course (in which the Australian art and the themes around it were briefly visited) I can understand why the poems are so important to an identity and culture (even though I live on the coast and not in the bush).

Of course I'm not an expert - other people are - but I can just understand it. It's funny how much I learn when I read for enjoyment or to research deeper. And so that is my scholar reasoning to why I like them, my emotional side is that the poems have sentimental value to Mum and me, and to put it simply, I just really like the poems. I haven't read all of them, but one day I will.

Mum's copy has her father's name in it, and no cover so it's very carefully handled.

So, in honour of Banjo Paterson's 150th Birthday (and Dad's) here is the face for Day 17 2014!

A bit hot isn't it? I suck at backgrounds. Anyway, Mum did the hand and then I turned my back for two seconds and BAM! There's a horse and jockey.

Day 17:*Wipe sweat from brow* Whew, I was starting to run low on ideas! Well, there's always tomorrow...
And hey, if any of you guys are interested in some of the other Banjo poems here's a link to Australian Geographic's Top 10.

Yikes! That was a longer post than I thought it would be! Well, have a wonderful day everyone!