encephalitis

There are reports this morning that Murray Valley encephalitis virus has been detected in birds in the Riverland.

Local ABC radio interviewed a spokesperson from the SA department of health this morning, and mentioned information on their website but the old DOH hasn’t made the information easy to find. I’ll keep looking but in the meantime here is the link to some federal government information on the virus.

Unfortunately, that info is all a bit clincial, so here is today’s report from the Advertiser as well.

chai

Globalisation brings us some truly great developments – like being able to pick up a chai latte from Renmark Maccas early on a Thursday morning.

I visited India for three months in 2002 – my husband lived there for 18 months and the rest of his family were there for up to 10 years – and still remember the cries of hawkers on the trains: CHHAAAAAIIII, CHAAAAIIII, OMALET, OMALET (sic). At that time I had never come across chai – now it is everywhere.

It’s a bit like dukkah, which is a bit like George’s pesto rant in The Busboy episode of Seinfeld:

(Jerry, George, and Elaine are all eating at an Italian restaurant. George hasn’t eaten anything)

ELAINE: Do you want some of mine?

JERRY: Take some of mine.

GEORGE: Why do I get pesto? Why do I think I’ll like it? I keep trying to like it, like I have to like it.

JERRY: Who said you have to like it?

GEORGE: Everybody likes pesto. You walk into a restaurant, that’s all you hear – pesto, pesto, pesto.

JERRY: I don’t like pesto.

GEORGE: Where was pesto 10 years ago?

I know where chai was 10 years ago – in the thermos of thousands of Indians yelling CHAAIIII, CHAIIII as they travelled around the sub-continent. But I’m sure glad it’s here now – even if it passes only the most minimal of resemblances to its authentic spicy cousin.

big things

I read a letter to the editor in the Weekend Australian Magazine last night (my life seems to be perpetually running about three days late) that I thought was relevant to this week’s local media coverage of Berri’s Big Orange.

For those not in the know about Berri life – the Murray River town is home to an 85 tonne orange that closed earlier this year due to lack of support. This week it was reported that the owner of the orange has been approached about selling the giant replica and it being removed from the area.

Here is the letter…

As someone who lives a stone’s throw from the proposed site of the Stonehenge replica in Margaret River (Susan Maushart, April 19-20), why wouldn’t I applaud WA brewer Ross Smith’s bold initiative of bringing this 2500-tonne attraction to our part of the world? Margaret River doesn’t even have any massive replica prawns, pineapples or apples. All we have is stunning beaches, forests, the Cape Naturaliste to Cape Leeuwin Track, more than 200 wine operations, terrific cafés and restaurants, and a fabulous mediterranean climate. Of course it’s vital we have a Stonehenge replica, too.
Ian Parmenter
Margaret River, WA

welcome

Welcome to murray river life - a collection of local news and events, sometimes localised to the Riverland region of SA, and sometimes not. We may also touch on PR industry related news and often might just talk about nothing at all.

The biggest mistake people make in life is not trying to make a living at doing what they most enjoy. Malcolm Forbes.