Margaret L Ruwoldt

@emelaarghh

Bibliophibian. Dilettante. Free-range nerd. She/her. Living on unceded Wadawurrung country.

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Margaret L Ruwoldt@emelaarghh· Jul 18

ofc this doesn’t help with the confusion 😏

Margaret L Ruwoldt@emelaarghh· Jul 17

The Spirit Of ANZAC is… uh, buff.

“The Spirit of ANZAC” by Wallace Anderson (1888–1975) is a bronze sculpture of a male soldier half-sitting/leaning against a large chunky wheel of the sort used in manufacturing. He’s gazing nobly off to the side, his head turned so you can see the sunrise pin on his slouch hat. He’s wearing Army-style shorts and lace-up boots, no shirt, and identification tags on a chain around his neck. This young White man is slender with toned muscles and clearly in good health.

The sculpture was commissioned in 1928 by the directors of the Returned Soldiers And Sailors Co-Operative Woollen Mill, known as the Diggers’ Mill, in Newtown, a suburb of Geelong.

Wallace Anderson studied at the Gordon Technical Institute in Geelong and served in the Australian Air Force during World War I. He later worked as an artist at the War Memorial in Canberra.

The sculpture sits on a concrete bench overlooking Johnston Park. In front of the bench, five concrete plaques commemorate local men who received the Victoria Cross for gallantry in WWI.

Photo by me.

Margaret L Ruwoldt@emelaarghh· Jul 16

The old Sandridge railway bridge in Narrm Melbourne cannot support vehicle traffic, so it’s been converted into a pedestrian and cycle path. A kinetic sculpture called “The Travellers” describes the history of the place and its people: First Nations, colonisers, migrants.

Photo of the Sandridge Bridge in 2015 showing its steel piers and siding. Image by Bernard Spragg, via Wikipedia.

The Sandridge Bridge is a historic former railway bridge over the Yarra River in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The 178.4 metres (585 ft) long bridge which runs diagonally to the river's banks was redeveloped in 2006 as a new pedestrian and cycle path featuring public art. It is the third bridge on the site and is listed on the Victorian Heritage Register.

Photo by Wikipedia contributor Donaldytong showing the pedestrian and cycle path on Sandridge Bridge. The sculpture by Nadim Karam is visible on the left: it’s a series of curvy shapes made of shiny steel bars, interspersed with translucent panels etched with text and illustrations.

Photo by Wikipedia contributor Vincent Quatch showing the sculpture on Sandridge Bridge in Narrm Melbourne.

Margaret L Ruwoldt@emelaarghh· Jul 16

On time, relativity, analysis, legacy, and writing. Amongst other things. “But Fielding lived when the days were longer (for time, like money, is measured by our needs), when summer afternoons were spacious, and the clock ticked slowly in the winter evenings.”

Excerpt from “Middlemarch” by George Eliot.

“A great historian, as he insisted on calling himself, who had the happiness to be dead a hundred and twenty years ago, and so to take his place among the colossi whose huge legs our living pettiness is observed to walk under, glories in his copious remarks and digressions as the least imitable part of his work, and especially in those initial chapters to the successive books of his history, where he seems to bring his arm-chair to the proscenium and chat with us in all the lusty ease of his fine English. But Fielding lived when the days were longer (for time, like money, is measured by our needs), when summer afternoons were spacious, and the clock ticked slowly in the winter evenings.”

Margaret L Ruwoldt@emelaarghh· Jul 15

Bit of a Westwood vibe…

Runway model wearing a wedding dress designed by Vivienne Westwood. It’s made of taffeta with a blue and red tartan pattern; the fitted corset bodice flares into an extravagant hooped skirt, enlivened by angular folds and draping. The long veil is made of the same fabric.

Margaret L Ruwoldt@emelaarghh· Jul 15

Curse you, ABC Classic, for compelling me to spend 15 minutes in the supermarket car park with volume cranked to 11.

Snapshot of the ABC Classic website’s ’recently played’ list:
15 Jul 2026 at 2:15 pm
14:06
Boléro
Composer
Ravel, Maurice
Performers
Eivind Aadland (conductor), ANAM
Musicians, Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra
ABC Classic Concert Recording

Margaret L Ruwoldt@emelaarghh· Jul 13

Reasons to marry (or not)

Excerpt from “Middlemarch” by George Eliot.

“What has that to do with Miss Brooke's marrying him? She does not do it for my amusement.”
“He has got no good red blood in his body,” said Sir James.
'No. Somebody put a drop under a magnifying-glass, and it was all semicolons and parentheses,” said Mrs Cadwallader.

Margaret L Ruwoldt@emelaarghh· Jul 12

A pair of black swans, swimming casually across calm water.

Photo from the Australian Museum website.

Margaret L Ruwoldt@emelaarghh· Jul 12

The ginge is strong in our family… I’ll spare you the full photo album and instead nominate this unrelated pair (👇🏻)

Title card for the podcast “Eleanor and Alasdair Read That” in which two red-headed comedians discuss classic children’s books. Eleanor Morton and Alasdair Beckett-King also have YouTube channels and are here on BlueSky.

Margaret L Ruwoldt@emelaarghh· Jul 10

Stiff upper lip Suck it up, princess

Quote from “Middlemarch” by George Eliot: “We mortals, men and women, devour many a disappointment between breakfast and dinner-time; keep back the tears and look a little pale about the lips, and in answer to inquiries say, 'Oh, nothing!' Pride helps us; and pride is not a bad thing when it only urges us to hide our own hurts — not to hurt others.”

Margaret L Ruwoldt@emelaarghh· Jul 7

And today the You Yangs are hiding. #Wadawurrung Country

View across Port Phillip, looking north from Geelong. In the foreground is a limestone sculpture by Jacinta Leitch (2014) in the shape of a sofa and small side table. The sculpture sits on an open lawn area, at the edge of a small bluff that hides the narrow strip of rocky beach below. The bay is a clam, pale blue. Humidity is high on this cold, bright winter day: the sky is mostly white, rising to a pale blue dotted with a few fluffy white clouds. Across the calm bay, the horizon is largely flat and featureless: the You Yang hills are completely obscured by the white haze.

The “Reflection Seat” developed in partnership with Care Leavers Australia Network It’s a place of quiet reflection, particularly for the thousands of children placed into orphanages and children's homes throughout the Geelong region.

Photo by me.

Margaret L Ruwoldt@emelaarghh· Jul 7

TIL the original tree huggers were women in India resisting capitalist exploitation and inspired by poetry 🌱💪🏽

Excerpt from “The Nutmeg’s Curse” by Amitav Ghosh, noting that the label ‘tree hugged’ to describe an environmental activist came from a women-led protest in India.

“But within this grim and steadily darkening picture, there are also a few points of light, emanating mainly from grassroots resistance movements — and it is no coincidence that some of them exemplify the possibilities of vitalist forms of politics. One of the most notable of these was the Chipko movement of the mountain region of Uttarakhand. Starting in early 1973, groups of villagers, most of them women, began to literally embrace trees in order to protect them from timber merchants. Folk poetry played a major part in inspiring the protesters and their movement, which eventually attracted so much support that the regional government was forced to enact protective legislation. The movement also inspired others around the world, and tree-hugging became a global tactic of protest.”

Margaret L Ruwoldt@emelaarghh· Jul 6

“For those who experience the Earth…as a living, vital entity, a landscape doesn't spring to life because its inhabitants happen to share a common origin. It is, rather, the vitality of the place itself that creates commonalities between the people who dwell in it, no matter what their origin.”

In “The Nutmeg’s Curse“ Amitav Ghosh describes how the Dutch East India Company committed genocide on Banda islands in Indonesia, then brought slaves and indentured servants from multiple countries and cultures to work the nutmeg plantations. Today the descendants of those people believe the original ‘founding spirits’ of the islands are still there, watching and guarding the land.

Multiculturalism can heal centuries-old wounds, can unite and give strength to a society. And it’s intimately linked to an understanding and acceptance that the humans are part of — belong to — the natural environment.

Margaret L Ruwoldt@emelaarghh· Jul 5

Well, that was a fun way to spend a lazy weekend.

Photo of a dark bookshelf: miscellaneous volumes crowd around a small diorama of a fantasy bookshop called Shakespeare. The interior of the shop is illuminated, revealing a red leather wingback chair, well-stocked shelves, a few plants and a staircase leading up to the first floor.

Margaret L Ruwoldt@emelaarghh· Jul 4

Reflective

Smoked-glass windows on the western facade reflect the external concrete buttresses and the streetscape. State Government Offices building, Little Malop Street, Geelong. Photo by me.

Margaret L Ruwoldt@emelaarghh· Jul 4

Brutal

Photo (by me) of the State Government Offices building in Little Malop Street, Geelong. It’s five storeys, built of brownish-grey concrete. The upper floors overhang the lower floors and are supported by diagonal concrete beams that rise from ground level to the roof.

Margaret L Ruwoldt@emelaarghh· Jul 4

#NAIDOC Week starts tomorrow and, with excellent timing, offline pal James sent me this photo 😍 The artist, Matt Adnate, has several other pieces around the city. www.adnate.com.au #Narrm Melbourne #HosierLane #StreetArt

Photo by James Phyland of a large painted mural in an inner-city laneway. It’s a portrait of a young Aboriginal person gazing past you, their face painted with ceremonial markings.

Margaret L Ruwoldt@emelaarghh· Jul 3

POV: you’re reading a careful, clear-eyed argument about the role of racism in colonialism, climate change and patterns of migration, when suddenly… [SOUND FX: phonograph needle scratch]

Excerpt from “The Nutmeg’s Curse” by Amitav Ghosh.

“A science-fictional imagining of a sojourner's journey would feature a harmless and curious extraterrestrial who is stranded on an unfamiliar planet and yearns to go back home (and the great Indian filmmaker Satyajit Ray did indeed write such a script, even before Steven Spielberg made E.T.). This is a far cry from the predatory settler-aliens of War of the Worlds and Independence Day, and it may well provide a better frame for interpreting the long-concealed evidence of extraterrestrial visitations that has been revealed by the US government in recent years.”

Margaret L Ruwoldt@emelaarghh· Jul 1

Whether escaping war, disaster or poverty, asylum seekers know that “every aspect of their plight is rooted in unyielding, intractable, and historically rooted forms of class and racial injustice. They know that if they were wealthy or White they would not have to risk their lives on rickety boats.”

Excerpt from “The Nutmeg’s Curse” by Amitav Ghosh.

“It is largely in affluent countries, then, and mainly among the more privileged, that climate change is perceived as a techno-economic concern oriented toward the future; for the have-nots of the world, in rich and poor countries alike, it is primarily a matter of justice, rooted in histories of race, class, and geopolitics. From this perspective, climate negotiations are not just about emissions and greenhouse gases; they hinge precisely upon issues that are not, and can never be, discussed — issues that are ultimately related to the global distribution of power.”

Margaret L Ruwoldt@emelaarghh· Jul 1

Cracking crema #CafeLife

Outdoor table at the neighborhood cafe. A copy of “The Nutmeg’s Curse” by Amitav Ghosh. A cup of coffee with a medium-thick crema: a narrow gap in the crema exposes the black liquid below. It looks like a tiny river meandering across a broad delta. Photo by me.

Margaret L Ruwoldt@emelaarghh· Jun 30

#Rone at Chadstone shopping centre in Narrm Melbourne until 12 July. Tickets are free, bookings essential. www.chadstone.com.au/light-to-nig...

Photo by me. You’re crouching in a suburban driveway, alongside a timber house that needs painting. It’s dark outside. Light spills from the back porch, across the neat lawn, and illuminates the 1970s Peugeot parked beside the Hills Hoist. A clump of marigolds flourishes on the edge of the driveway, perhaps the remnants of a long-ago garden bed. Art installation by Rone, 2026.

Margaret L Ruwoldt@emelaarghh· Jun 30

Divestment and disarmament. #FossilFuels #ClimateChange

Excerpt from “The Nutmeg’s Curse” by Amitav Ghosh.

“The US military's positive response to the findings of climate science is sometimes welcomed by those who regard the denialism of the political sphere as the primary obstacle to mitigatory action on global warming. But this is to mistake the disease for the cure.
The job of the world's dominant military establishments is precisely to defend the most important drivers of climate change — the carbon economy and the systems of extraction, production, and consumption that it supports. Nor can these establishments be expected to address the unseen drivers of the planetary crisis, such as inequities of class, race, and geopolitical power: their very mission is to preserve the hierarchies that favor the status quo.”

Margaret L Ruwoldt@emelaarghh· Jun 29

Photo of a 2015 article (part thereof) published in the Seattle Times newspaper. The headline reads: “China may be using sea to hide its submarines”.

Margaret L Ruwoldt@emelaarghh· Jun 29

Academic independence has a hidden price: the quiet assertion of geopolitical superiority. In Western capitalist societies, says Amitav Ghosh, that power is based on control over extraction and consumption of fossil fuels. * especially USA ** my summary of his words

Excerpt from “The Nutmeg’s Curse” by Amitav Ghosh.

“Consider, just as an example, an imaginary professor in environmental studies who teaches at a major American university.
Because of her intellectual and ethical commitments, the professor has made many lifestyle changes, giving up flying, becoming a vegan, solarizing her house, and so on. She is not only willing, but eager to make every possible sacrifice in order to shrink her carbon footprint. But when asked, ‘Are you also willing to shrink the geopolitical footprint that is concealed within your carbon footprint?’ she dismisses the question as meaningless because she does not conceive of herself as having a geopolitical footprint at all, perhaps because such a notion is not quantifiable. Yet her university does in fact wield significant geopolitical power, and through it, so does she. She plays a role, for instance, in setting the research agenda for innumerable universities around the world: by granting scholarships to overseas students and by issuing invitations to foreign professors; by publishing in, and editing, prestigious American journals; and through her connections with American foundations and think tanks that provide funding for educational institutions in many other countries. Although she may not recognize it, influence of this kind is also linked to the power that lies concealed within the US military's carbon footprint.
Would this professor, eager as she is to make sacrifices to shrink her carbon footprint, be willing to put up with an inversion in her circumstances whereby foreign powers would exercise an influence within her university equivalent to that which she wields in relation to foreign institutions? In other words, would she be willing to sacrifice any part of the power quotient that is hidden within her carbon footprint?”

Excerpt continues: “In other words, would she be willing to sacrifice any part of the power quotient that is hidden within her carbon footprint? I suspect not: her peers' responses to Chinese and Russian attempts to increase their international influence in the spheres of education, information, and media strongly suggest otherwise. Indeed, she would probably be willing to take to the barricades to resist such a change. For her, and for many in her circumstances, making lifestyle sacrifices will be much easier psychologically than adjusting to a significantly altered geopolitical order.”

Margaret L Ruwoldt@emelaarghh· Jun 27

“Performance is at once an expression for both the artist and the viewer together. With shared energy we are able to take flight.” — Kylie Minogue AO OBE, singer and actor Footpath plaque at the Arts Centre, Narrm Melbourne.

Photo (by me) of an oval-shaped bronze plaque set into bluestone paving. The words inscribed on the plaque are: “Performance is at once an expression for both the artist and the viewer together. With shared energy we are able to take flight.” The quote is attributed to Kylie Minogue AO OBE, singer and actor.

Margaret L Ruwoldt@emelaarghh· Jun 26

The Postmodern Jukebox crew continue jiving as the audience filters out of Hamer Hall. Great show tonight — if you have a chance, do catch them on their current Aust & Aotearoa NZ tour. postmodernjukebox.com/tour-dates?r...

Stage at Hamer Hsll. An Art Deco backdrop frames the five dancers, three singers, master of ceremonies, the band and members of their their tech team as they frolic playfully. The house lights are up and the on-stage party continues as the audience filters out into the night. Photo by James P.

Margaret L Ruwoldt@emelaarghh· Jun 24

Striking photography by Lana Zulch: mostly wildlife and landscapes, plus some humans in their habitats. lanazulchphotography.com

Photo by Lana Zulch of a flat, arid landscape covered by widely-spaced trees. The light is golden, either dawn or sunset, and there’s some low mist or haze under the forest canopy. An elephant, silhouetted, stands on its hind legs and reaches up with its trunk to tug leaves off the lower branches.

Margaret L Ruwoldt@emelaarghh· Jun 24

Dangerous taxonomy

Excerpt from “The Nutmeg’s Curse “ by Amitav Ghosh, quoting Janet Biehl and Peter Staudenmaier (1995) “Ecofascism Revisited: lessons from the German experience.”

“It was by cataloging, classifying, and (not least) naming the environmental endowments of empires that these specialists made it possible for imperial policy-makers in Europe to decide how best to make use of those resources. It is in this sense that, historically speaking, ‘science and empire are cause and effect of one another.’”

Margaret L Ruwoldt@emelaarghh· Jun 22

Nutmeg, mace and cloves came originally from the Maluku islands of Indonesia. They’re now farmed in USA, Barbados and elsewhere — but only the islanders still sing songs about the trees and their spices.

Excerpt from “The Nutmeg’s Curse: parables for a planet in crisis” by Amitav Ghosh.

“Which is only to say that what the Earth is really exhausted of is not its resources; what it has lost is meaning. Conquered, inert, supine, the Earth can no longer ennoble, nor delight, nor produce new aspirations. All it can inspire in its would-be conqueror's mind is the kind of contempt that arises from familiarity.
Over time this contempt has come to be planted so deep within cultures of modernity that it has become a part of its unseen foundations.”

Margaret L Ruwoldt@emelaarghh· Jun 20

Varying the routine a bit today. #CafeLife #Wadawurrung country