The Kilbot Factory blog

Four weeks into the new year and I am almost ready to get out of the holiday mode and focus on the work at hand… not today obviously, it’s a Friday, but after this weekend it’s back to all things work-like and technical, including this ‘ere website. First of all I gots to bring the site up to date with all the events of the last month, apologies if you find it a little dated but such things are important for posterity.

New Year's Report.

All a bit of a blur really, but then again if it wasn’t I’d want my money back (he says jabbing an elbow in her chest).

My night started in the afternoon with a little hair prep… mum was kind enough to put in a little red fin, not so much for new years eve but for the Perth Cup the next day, where the red fin would compliment my reddish suit. Next it was to Barney’s for a few warm-up G&T’s, and I seem to remember Fancy Dave whipping up the first of his “Punch Fancy’s”. Around 11pm we packed a station wagon and Curtis T. did the drive to City Beach for New Year's at Tony, Gav and Devo’s, a quiet house party with good conversations and some more of Fancy’s gin mixes. At 3am we headed back to Barney’s so Curtis T., Cass and Andrew could take over the reigns at RTR. Fancy mixed up the last “Fancy Gin Punch”, I actually didn’t remember drinking this punch until the next day when I went outside and saw the empty bucket with ladle. At 8am me and Barney suited up and ventured out into the early morning sun with Roly Nattrass and headed to the Perth Cup.

A New Years Eve / New Years Day Report will be coming shortly, but I think it prudent at this time of year to reflect on the meaning of Christmas and New Years and to remember why we are celebrating, indeed to remember why we are here.

And so I would like to read a section from the Bible, The Bartender's Bible by Gary Regan, Chapter 4, Verse 1;

Gin
The word gin is merely a corruption of the Dutch for juniper - jenever - or from the French word for juniper - genièvre. Gin is a versatile yet distinctive beverage, the main ingredient in a Tom Collins, a Martini, and a Singapore Sling. Gin, a wonderfully perfumed potion, is probably the most notorious of liquors, and, for some reason, gin drinkers are seen as serious drinkers, people who like the taste of alcohol and do not try to disguise it. This attitude is much appreciated by gin distillers, who go to great lengths to make their gin distinctive and jealously guard their recipes.

Gin was first developed in the seventeenth century by a Dutch doctor, who combined alcohol with the juniper berry to concoct a remedy for kidney complaints. Apparently, although it did nothing for the kidneys, the “tonic” was very popular due to its amnesia-inducing qualities. It made the patient forget or, at the very least, not care about his/her complaint.

Then came William III, another Dutchman, who married Mary II and became King of England in 1689. William had a personal grudge against the French because they were threatening his native Holland. Vengefully he raised excise duties on all French wines and brandies. This action made gin, the cheaper Dutch liquor, more accessible to the English public, thus hurting the French and benefiting Holland in one fell swoop.

His adopted country took to the gin very quickly. They were soon making it themselves, and for a large part of the eighteenth century, gin became the solace of the English poor. Soldiers drank it before going into battle, and their drunken bravery came to be known as “Dutch Courage.” Juniper berries were erroneously believed to have the power to induce abortion, and thus gin earned the name “Mother's Ruin.” If a person was living a debauched life, he/she was said to be on “Gin Lane.”

The Kilbot Fam spent Christmas at my sister's farm* situated in Morawa, in the heart of the Australian Outback**. This sort of country is best captured in photos***, and if you click on the Full Story link you can take a pictorial journey through life on the farm.

* in fairness to my brother in-law it is really his farm, and in fairness to his kin it is really the Agar family farm.
** if you look at a map of Western Australia is hardly the heart of anything, it is not even that far from Perth on the grand scale of things… but it is out of mobile range and the country store didn't sell Marlboro Reds Soft Pack, so y'know you pretty much fend for yourself out there.
*** actually, photos don't capture a scratch of the Australian Outback, how can you fit 360 degrees of flat, burnt ground into a 800px by 600px photo? You can't, but my brother-in-law did a pretty good job****.
**** It was 42 degrees up there - my blood has become too thick for the mid west - so I sent my brother-in-law out with my dad to take some photos while I sat at the homestead and sipped on pina coladas.

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Sunset… you can see the inspiration for the Aboriginal flag, black earth, red sky and the setting yellow sun</center>

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The Windmill… an Australian icon</center>

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If you look real careful, and use a little imagination, you can see a kangaroo in with the sheep</center>

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One of the sheep dogs having a swim</center>

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Christmas dinner!</center>