Our new look

24 May

I find this blue enchanting. And everything is down the side, as requested. I think the other one was a little subdued for our raucous natures. I felt I’d have to live up to it’s elegant restraint, and I might not always be able to do that. It would have been so hard to write “fuck” on that background.

83 Responses to “Our new look”

  1. Jennifer Wilson May 24, 2012 at 9:02 am #

    Is this working? Somebody say something.

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  2. Lyn May 24, 2012 at 9:42 am #

    Hi Jennifer
    Well done Congratulations. Your new Blog looks Superlative
    Cheers Lyn

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  3. samjandwich May 24, 2012 at 9:47 am #

    Lovely!

    But perhaps a little innocuous for a political and social affairs blog? It will be interesting to see whether the look causes the content to change, in tone if not in values?

    Or perhaps you’re trying to get us all to chill out? 🙂

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    • Hypocritophobe May 24, 2012 at 10:15 am #

      Maybe a border to liven it up.
      Swastikas down one side,peace sings down the other?

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      • Jennifer Wilson May 24, 2012 at 11:16 am #

        I can’t be doing with swastikas. That is one line I just can’t cross. Or peace signs either. That’s another line I just can’t cross. 🙂

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        • Hypocritophobe May 24, 2012 at 11:21 am #

          What about a ‘wooly’ backdrop?

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          • Hypocritophobe May 24, 2012 at 11:24 am #

            Or give the layout a few days to get all the feedback on how it performs over time.
            Why throw the baby carrots out with the chook scraps?

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  4. Jennifer Wilson May 24, 2012 at 9:51 am #

    Bland! You mean bland! Aaaaaargh!

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    • Hypocritophobe May 24, 2012 at 10:14 am #

      Bland?
      That would require more beige,and fawn.
      Maybe you could put up some ‘drapes’?

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    • samjandwich May 24, 2012 at 10:42 am #

      Not bland – more meditative. Like we are all sitting in the lotus position, up in the sky, everyone on their own lily-pad cloud, and contemplating the woes of the world from this place of detatched peace and beauty.

      Actually I agee with Lyn’s comment below: if you put the articles and all that other stuff on the side instead of at the bottom, it will make it seem more accessible!

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  5. AJ May 24, 2012 at 10:13 am #

    Its clean, light but more arty than I care for for a blog with its intent.

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    • helvityni May 24, 2012 at 10:16 pm #

      Aj, not arty at all, just nice and clear…what do you think it’s Jen’s blog intent…spell it out.

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  6. Lyn May 24, 2012 at 10:14 am #

    Hi Jennifer

    I tweeted your New Look with your link for you and these replies came back.

    I have re-tweeted to you.
    Here are the tweets for you:

    HannahQuinn‏@NannaHannah
    @lynlinking Designing web pages is about making it quick and easy for the reader. People tend to scan and if you don’t catch them quickly…

    HannahQuinn‏@NannaHannah
    @lynlinking It’s a clean look but I prefer the articles on the side rather than at the bottom. I think most will, and won’t scroll down

    Cheers Lyn

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    • Jennifer Wilson May 24, 2012 at 11:15 am #

      Thanks Lyn! My nearest and dearest are complaining bitterly about the lack of sidebars!

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      • Hypocritophobe May 24, 2012 at 3:55 pm #

        “the lack of sidebars”

        See my comment re. hairdresser terminology posted somewhere below.

        This colour scheme,font etc is easier on the eye,but the theme is an eency weency, teeny weeny smidgin sterile, and it’s lacking a few baa lambs.
        Bar lambs?Bard lambs?Bar lamps?Basted lambs?Bastard lambs?

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  7. hudsongodfrey May 24, 2012 at 10:42 am #

    On the upside I like the cleaner aesthetic of the thing, there’s a sense of greater calmness whereas the previous colour scheme was perhaps a little aggressive.

    On the downside this theme sacrifices a few ways to interact with the blog that were provided before. It therefore requires more work of the user to navigate. If the purpose is to engage others then I think a little work needs to be done to drive some of that functionality back into this or whatever other theme that you choose to adopt.

    Things like the latest posts, tweets and blogroll sidebars while detracting from the purity of the aesthetic in being removed created an immediate disconnection for me in terms of where to look and how to immediately navigate the site.

    Sorry to be so technical it just happens that I’ve been through this myself in the past with WordPress blogs and forums I’ve set up for others and know the territory a little.

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    • Hypocritophobe May 24, 2012 at 11:01 am #

      Agree with most of HGs input.

      Another plus is the ‘reply to’ is easier to see the name of the person selected.
      A downer is that I can now see just how filthy my monitors screen is.
      More work!

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    • Jennifer Wilson May 24, 2012 at 11:14 am #

      I was torn. I love the clean lines but also concerned about info being at the end of the site. Will try to find a theme that accommodates both.

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      • hudsongodfrey May 24, 2012 at 12:25 pm #

        I think you’ll find that a lot of the mastery of it is in the customisation of various themes. I know that a some themes are better than others in terns of the numbers of widgets and sidebars that they support.

        A colleague of mine who does this as his main line of business uses alahaulpa for pretty much everything he does. I’ve tried with a few and it obviously does take work to get them not to look too much like either the vanilla flavoured version that everyone else has or something that is too heavily dominated by the designer’s aesthetics and therefore says nothing whatsoever about you.

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        • Hypocritophobe May 24, 2012 at 12:41 pm #

          Hmmm

          “the vanilla flavoured version that everyone else has or something that is too heavily dominated by the designer’s aesthetics and therefore says nothing whatsoever about you.”

          You could almost be describing the modus operandi of hairdressers.

          “Oh yes Trixxy,it REALLY suits you!!!”

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          • hudsongodfrey May 24, 2012 at 1:01 pm #

            Faaabulous! She has such a good head for baldness 🙂

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        • AJ May 24, 2012 at 12:50 pm #

          On a realted issue, if you look at how the new theme has handled the porting over of data (Use the Joe Hockey comments thread as an example) the comments appear to be strangely excessively indented and the comment narrowed. It looks a bit odd to me.

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          • hudsongodfrey May 24, 2012 at 1:00 pm #

            There might be a setting somewhere to make the middle strip wider.

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          • Hypocritophobe May 24, 2012 at 1:06 pm #

            @AJ

            I
            think
            I
            see
            what
            you
            mean
            !

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          • helvityni May 24, 2012 at 10:13 pm #

            AJ, I thought you like the narrow lanes…

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  8. silkworm May 24, 2012 at 11:04 am #

    The text colour is a little light and makes it difficult to read. I’ve heard that the text that is easiest to read is dark brown on a light tan background.

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  9. Jennifer Wilson May 24, 2012 at 11:13 am #

    Thank you everybody!! I will attend to your suggestions ASAP

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  10. Hypocritophobe May 24, 2012 at 1:21 pm #

    Who needs parents?

    http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-05-24/mosquito-alarm-trials/4030558?section=wa

    I wonder what the optimal level is for deterring the likes of TA?
    We could set one up at Parliament House and restore the quality again.
    Mind you Pyne’s inane obsequious, pusillanimous nasal screeching keeps a hefty % of Australians as far away from Canberra as they can possibly be.

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  11. Catching up May 24, 2012 at 2:18 pm #

    Testing

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  12. samjandwich May 24, 2012 at 3:39 pm #

    If I’m good do I get a “24 May” sticker like yours??

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  13. Lyn May 24, 2012 at 4:29 pm #

    Hi Jennifer

    Here is another Tweet for you:
    Equitist‏@OzEquitist

    I like overall feel – except I’d prefer articles at the side! MT @lynlinking Is this working?..”Our new look”.. https://noplaceforsheep.com/2012/05/24/our-new-look/ #AusPol

    Cheers lyn

    View conversation Reply
    Retweet

    F

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  14. samjandwich May 24, 2012 at 4:34 pm #

    Well here’s what I think of this one, via borrowed words:

    Leave your stepping stones behind, something calls for you
    Forget the dead you’ve left, they will not follow you
    The vagabond who’s rapping at your door
    Is standing in the clothes that you once wore
    Strike another match, go start anew
    And it’s all over now, baby blue

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    • Jennifer Wilson May 24, 2012 at 4:42 pm #

      And today is Dylan’s birthday.
      Happy birthday Bob Dylan
      Happy birthday to you!

      I really like this version of Sheep.

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      • samjandwich May 24, 2012 at 4:48 pm #

        ehr, you do? oh well I suppose I’ll have to get used to it then.

        Maybe I’m secretly conservative?!

        but happy birthday from me to, Bob Dylan!

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    • Hypocritophobe May 24, 2012 at 4:52 pm #

      Mr Bonnet, Baby blue.

      It’s all over?
      For this theme?

      OR given the occasin is JW Tangled Up In it?

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      • Jennifer Wilson May 24, 2012 at 5:33 pm #

        Hypo do you like this theme? Be honest. I can take it.

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        • Jennifer Wilson May 24, 2012 at 5:35 pm #

          I think the comments work better. And the blue is very restful on the eye. I could change it to pink or lilac. Or green,

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          • Hypocritophobe May 24, 2012 at 5:46 pm #

            So far so good.Maybe you could play with the tones and shades

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          • Hypocritophobe May 24, 2012 at 6:20 pm #

            Lilac is for 1970s toilets and bathrooms and for some reason it can create the smell of lavender just by looking at it.

            Or was that the magic mushies?

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            • Hypocritophobe May 24, 2012 at 7:40 pm #

              OMG

              My avatar background is lilac.HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!
              I smell lavender.

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            • Jennifer Wilson May 24, 2012 at 10:49 pm #

              ha ha! You can make our own avvie you know sans lilac. This one is automatic.

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  15. Fit&Proper Ms Praxis (@MsPraxis) May 24, 2012 at 5:35 pm #

    I like what you’ve done with the place. Agree the original change was a little…austere.

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    • Jennifer Wilson May 24, 2012 at 5:37 pm #

      Yes, I did like it, but I couldn’t live up to it and when Andrew Elder made that reference to Ikea bench tops…well…

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  16. doug quixote May 24, 2012 at 7:10 pm #

    Good day Jennifer! This is quite a shock, but I like the larger print size and it is quite pretty. One can tell it is a blog site by a woman, but then it always was. We blokes are privileged to be so welcomed by your benign hosting.

    Is it really easier to say ‘fuck’ on this background?

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    • Jennifer Wilson May 24, 2012 at 7:32 pm #

      It is a shock, but we needed a change.
      It’s never that hard to say “fuck” but some environments are more conducive! I also like the comments arrangements here better.

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  17. hudsongodfrey May 24, 2012 at 7:17 pm #

    This seems to have done the trick there’s a balance of familiarity and freshness that I think makes a real improvement. A little bit of colour and not too much stridency. I rather like it.

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    • Jennifer Wilson May 24, 2012 at 7:29 pm #

      Woo Hoo! We have lift off then!

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      • Hypocritophobe May 24, 2012 at 7:37 pm #

        Can we still have a iddy biddy baa lamb somewhere,for old times sake??????????

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        • Jennifer Wilson May 24, 2012 at 7:40 pm #

          We never had a baa lamb before! But I will see what I can do.

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          • Hypocritophobe May 24, 2012 at 9:11 pm #

            JW
            About Lambkins
            Maybe one with teeth(keep everyone happy) or a sheep whose undercoat of wolfendom is showing through his/her/hogget/wether outer fleece??.
            Or one on a big shiny hook?
            Better still something like your ‘Tweet sheep avatar’ with a red circle slash thingy which denotes NO, added.

            Hey,either way I’m only aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaasking.
            Maybe DQs right and I need to Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarden up.

            It seems the rest of the mob/gang/pack/clowder/flock/posse are quite content within the blue ‘azure’ walls of the new sheepy Zendom.
            Actually it looks like powder blue???

            And given our cries for *democracy* I too,shall abide by the will of the many.

            *(Disclaimer: As per our current *democracy*, I reserve the right to buy out and/or use whatever means is at my disposal {legal or otherwise}, to have my *democratic* way.
            It may involve media bribery, use of deliberately, ethically barren Trojan Horses,and/or liaising with spineless, political poltergeists. It may involve the loss of, or creation of, crucial documents, on demand. It may even involve Tawny Port soaked, late night games of Canberrian Twister with very comfortable ‘pre-bed time footwear’.
            However it may also involve a modicum of truth, and/or corporations and individuals with principles,loyalty,scruples,values,honesty,a work ethic,commitment to family and a knowledge of ‘fairness in practise’.
            Such as prostitution, backyard abattoirs or career criminals)

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            • Jennifer Wilson May 24, 2012 at 10:59 pm #

              Tim Wilson of the IPA is doing his best to insult me on Twitter right now. He really isn’t very good at it.

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        • doug quixote May 24, 2012 at 8:26 pm #

          Come on, Hypo – take the bull by the horns, grab a hold of the tiger’s tail, take a donkey by the ears, come the raw prawn, wrestle the crocodile, pull the cat’s tail, stare down the rhino – but there is noplaceforsheep!

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  18. doug quixote May 24, 2012 at 8:31 pm #

    Leigh Sales is back from Monday!

    Hurrah!

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  19. paul walter May 24, 2012 at 9:02 pm #

    It is a very nice teal colour.
    Doug,
    if
    Sales is back, does it mean Sturmbannfuhrer Uhlmann will go away?

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    • Hypocritophobe May 24, 2012 at 9:21 pm #

      No.

      He will write her words down, and make sure she utters them one and all, with not a word more or less beyond the script.

      The talking head may change.The mission does not.

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      • helvityni May 24, 2012 at 10:11 pm #

        Hypo, Uhlmann has been warned, he has been somewhat calmer…

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        • Hypocritophobe May 24, 2012 at 10:17 pm #

          Hi Helvi,
          Welcome back.Enjoy the heater.
          I really think Chris is a good person.
          It’s just the way his church dresses him………………..

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    • doug quixote May 24, 2012 at 9:25 pm #

      That is the (greater) upside, paul. He’s back off to Canberra; doubtless he’ll still emerge often enough to remind us of his SS credentials.

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      • paul walter May 24, 2012 at 9:46 pm #

        Maybe I should just go to bed.
        Classic winter’s night in Adelaide the rain is steady and it’s quite cold.
        The 730 Report was odd. Ewart seemed sober, even mildly chastened whilst Uhlmann, by contrast, radiated a futility-signifying anality.
        Maybe there are developing hums of protest at the abandonment of the fair go principle as to Thomson within some organisations?
        Watching Abbott in Parliament snarling away reminded me of a Dobermann on a leash.
        Ewart was right to say it’s a unpleasant parliament.

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        • helvityni May 24, 2012 at 10:08 pm #

          Back from Sydney, it was cold and miserable over there…so happy to be back in Bowral, we have heaters here over here…

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  20. doug quixote May 24, 2012 at 9:29 pm #

    Certainly a vibrant blue on my screen : perhaps cyan? see :

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shades_of_cyan#Variations_of_cyan

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    • Hypocritophobe May 24, 2012 at 10:11 pm #

      Nils Ovinus is that the Latin term?
      ______________________________________________________
      About the colour.Close to cyan.Not unlike Argentine flag blue.
      But I reckon it’s closer to “mulesing blue” than teal.
      (And besides teal is a duck, and sheep are ovine.Their beaks work differently.
      And sheep take way longer to hatch.They don’t have webbed feet.etc)

      Mulesing Blue;Adj; The colour a newborn sheeps ass goes, when you shred the skin off with a knife, on a sub zero spring morning.
      _____________
      The Mulesing blue formula can be found in the “Paint” software program
      as follows.

      Hue 123
      Sat 240
      Lum 179
      Red 125
      Grn 245
      Blue 255
      ___________________________
      Its official NPFS and mulesing have two things in common.
      And I ladies and gents just wasted way too much time!

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    • Jennifer Wilson May 24, 2012 at 10:51 pm #

      Oooooh cyan. I like that.

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  21. helvityni May 24, 2012 at 10:05 pm #

    This is fantastic, Jennifer. A very good look, it’s fast, it’s nice…thank you Jen…

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  22. gerard oosterman May 24, 2012 at 10:38 pm #

    It looks nice and loads so much better. Did you get the new ABC’s editor’s e-mail address? My twitter has gone strange and it doesn’t seem able to get fixed. Is Pakistan involved?

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  23. paul walter May 25, 2012 at 12:39 am #

    And here was me thinking Nils Ovinus was the ’99 world winter cross country skiing championship.

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  24. paul walter May 25, 2012 at 12:41 am #

    appropos typos, after “championship” comes “winner”.

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    • Hypocritophobe May 25, 2012 at 9:22 am #

      It could also almost appear to denote being ‘deliberately barren’ at first glance.

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      • Hypocritophobe May 25, 2012 at 11:47 am #

        Clarification
        ‘It (Nils Ovinus) could also almost appear to denote being ‘deliberately barren’ at first glance.”

        but then it would be
        Nils Ovum,perhaps?

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  25. Julia May 28, 2012 at 3:11 pm #

    It’s blue…a pretty non-distracting cool blue. I like it. Same colour blue as the local kids’ footy team’s shorts.
    Was it Jennifer’s turn to do the club’s laundry and NPFS fell in the washing machine with the shorts?
    🙂

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    • Jennifer Wilson May 28, 2012 at 5:25 pm #

      I love this blue. It’s almost the colour of the Argentine flag I think.

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      • Doug Quixote May 29, 2012 at 7:03 pm #

        Perhaps, but I think “electric cyan” which is very close to aqua :

        http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyan#Electric_cyan_.28web_color_aqua.29

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      • hudsongodfrey May 29, 2012 at 9:19 pm #

        It’s not nearly as dark a blue as the Argentine Flag in any official version thereof appears to be. But as names go you could call it halfway between Electric Blue and Sky Blue, based on simply interrogating the RGB values and comparing them with available colour charts.

        Too technical?

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        • Hypocritophobe May 29, 2012 at 9:47 pm #

          Way too technical HG,but nice work.(It’s important to nail it!)
          Upon reflection,I now consider this blue to be almost identical to the blue parts the budgie my grandmother had (Georgie Boy).
          He would fly around her house on many days and ladnd on your shoulder only to do the sideways shuffle parrots do, and home in on an ear,nose or teeth (plaque if available)
          Georgie Boy did not say a lot,perhaps he was a girl? (irony)
          What I do remember was the constant rythmic chant of what they wanted GB to sing.
          “Ride a cock-horse to Banbury Cross,
          To see a fine lady upon a white horse;
          Rings on her fingers and bells on her toes,
          And she shall have music wherever she goes”

          I remember GB nodding enthusiastically and mouthing (beaking) something, but I was way too smitten with a creature so small and fragile who had time for us humans, to notice his/her speech impediment.

          The household budgie, and the swinging, creaking fly-wire door.
          Laminex table,beer in a glass.Buffalo lawn,painted concrete paths…….
          Australian icons long since passed.
          Sigh………………….

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          • Hypocritophobe May 29, 2012 at 11:32 pm #

            http://letsfindyourpet.com.au/search_lost_pets_database_detail_view.php?id=142

            This is Georgie Boy blue!

            The one in the front on the LH picture and alone in the RH pic.

            Sadly Sweetie was lost???

            and here-scroll down to the chart on the right 310 sky blue-
            close(no cigar) but it’s Georgie’s blue.
            http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Budgerigar_Mutation

            In the end it must be a pretty good blue,JW.
            Lots of us have connected with it and conjured up stuff-related to it!

            And blue is such an oft used Aussie word.
            Think of the different uses in the colloquial slang!

            Fight.Got in a blue
            Cops-Boys in blue.
            Mistake.Made a blue
            Feeling blue(not just Aussie)
            Red head
            Blue movie(Aussie or more???)
            (Once in) a blue moon.

            Black and Blue – Matt Taylor
            Blue Sky Mining- The Oils (How appropriate!)

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        • Jennifer Wilson May 30, 2012 at 6:29 am #

          No not at all! Electric Blue – there’s a song about that

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  26. Hypocritophobe June 6, 2012 at 5:50 pm #

    This blue is getting even easier on the eye as it ‘runs itself’ in.

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