Record of meeting 21 October 2014

Reminder - Christmas lunch 12 noon Thursday 10 December 2015 –

The Lodge Sanctuary Point

The writers

Wendy, Juan, Helene, Leonie, Terry, Lynn, Cath and Di

We shared fond memories of Geoff

Words of the day                         

Callow = inexperienced

Prattle = talk like a child

Caprice = change of mind

Glib = fluent but insincere

Aquiline = curved like an eagles beak

Lesson = a single period of instruction

Redolent = reminiscence or strong smelling

Flunky or flunkey = servile person, manservant who wears a livery

Writing from words of the day

From the interesting collection of words we created a range of glib stories and poems - In King Charles’ Palace, They really stink, Like a small child, Makes my uncle mad, Water from the horse trough, Gentleman’s gentleman, The scent of frangipani and The young speaker.

Reading of homework

The writers present read out a range of interesting stories and poems on the topics - Ted and Brady, Anne Teak, Unexpected, A 50 year old letter, The fish walker and The pencil.

Exercise – the looser

The writers concocted great stories and poems on the topics -

Recognition of the tooth fairy, Don’t Loose her, The prize, In control, A bit of a looser, The plumber and the loo, The tooth fairy’s mother and the lawyer and Probably a man with an axe.

Homework

When I arrived home I found I had a boot full of blood

Tribute to Geoff Bolton 14 October 2015

Christmas lunch 2014

Geoff Bolton contributed his writing skills, wit and political commentary to the Bay and Basin Writers Group each Wednesday afternoon.

Geoff passed away on 5 October 2015 and he will be sadly missed by the group.

Tributes below 

• Farewell my frined - Terry
• Never forgotten - David R
• A quiet man - Leonie

Farewell my Friend

Some people tread lightly on this earth, their footprints barely visible

Yet for all their lightness their imprint is substantial

Such a man was our friend, Geoff, a quiet man, a gentle man

A man who walked in the background,

A man whom we knew for just a few short years,

A man of substance, a deep thinker, a fellow scribe

Geoffrey Bolton, you will be missed on our Wednesday meetings

We will miss your insights, your writings, your friendship

Farewell my friend, may you continue in the next life

Whatever, wherever that may be.

Terry McLafferty

NEVER FORGOTTEN

Like a ship in the night

Passing out of sight

He’s left with me a memory

A bright and shining light

Always unassuming

Quick witted and kind

Never lost for words

Never in a bind

Quiet and smooth and witty

Drinking in the atmosphere

Never making waves

Living without fear

A love of words and music

Lending a helping hand

A connoisseur of living

His footprints in the sand

Geoff left us a legacy

To be kind to one another

Treat each other with respect

Sister lover and brother

Friends are indispensible

Treat friendship like gold

The joie de vivre of living

As we all grow old

Gone but not forgotten

Geoff left a mark on me

His friendship has taught me

The way that I should be

Ó

David Rudder

14^th October 2015

With love and respect to my colleague and friend

Geoff Bolton

A quiet man

 Geoff was a quiet man, except when it came to putting pen to paper, then he was the ‘David’ who slayed the ‘Goliath’s’ of our political world. He made us laugh with his quick wit and with his antics about ‘Our Tony,’ the ‘Tony we must have.’ I can only say I am glad Tony was pulled from his throne before ‘Our Geoff’ passed away.

I imagine Geoff was to the other groups he belonged to, as valuable as he was to us and will be as sadly missed. He was a giver to the community, a person who was always endeavoring to improve things. I would often find email reminders from him about competitions and events he thought we would all enjoy or benefit from, and was grateful. His efforts with children in regard to music must have been truly valuable. One less at our table, Geoff was a prolific and true writer.  Leonie 

Record of meeting 7th October 2015  

The Writers 

Leonie, Cathy, Melissa :), Di, Terry, Juan, Lynn - Great to have a visit from Melissa 

Words of the day

Habituated - to make or become accustomed to something

Scales of Justice - symbol of modern law, fair distribution of law

Paucity - scarcity or small amount

Anachronism - attributing an event, object or custom to the wrong period

Acerbic - bitter or harsh 

Bonanza - rich vein of gold, abundance

Exigency - an urgent need or demand

Deontic - relating to duty and obligation as in ethical concepts

Given the eclectic choice of words some very inventive stories were written in the short space of 10 minutes. These were about TV Football commentators, court cases, fairness, Wild West and exploring the emotional aftermath when things are not fair.

Reading of Homework

The exercise was "Antique" and the description of the Hillbilly antique shop complete with accent to match was a gem, followed by a descriptive and poignant story of a chance discovery of a jewellery box. The poem on the antique shop on the hill in Milton galloped along with a Man from Snowy River lilt that Banjo would have been proud of. 

Other poems read were a moving tribute to trees and their importance in the environment and a very funny poem on the humble but not so loveable rat.

   
Exercise of the Day 

Write a descriptive essay on hands, the observation perhaps of someone sitting in a doctors waiting room, or watching someone's hand in the making of something. A potter, labourer, knitter, shipwright, builder, pianist, a cook an artist. Are they young hands worn before their time, gnarled, veined, beautiful, graceful. The majority of writers wrote from experience of either their mums or grandmothers. One with an intriguing twist was about blood on the hands of what turned about to be a worker in an abattoir.

Homework

You receive a letter from the past. Focus part of the story on the external appearance of the envelope, is it typed or handwritten, do you recognise the writing, can you see the postmark, if it has one? Are there faded letters on the envelope? Describe the letter itself, the feel, the smell, the paper, the emotions on reading it. Where are you when you receive it and where are you when you read it? What were you doing and what mood were you in before and after the letter came? 

Record of meeting 30 September 2015

The writers

Terry, Helene, David R, Leonie, Cath and welcome to Juan

Words of the day

Ineffable = too great or extreme for description

Soporific = sleep inducing

Peruke = a wig

Trauma = unpleasant experience, injury

Peluca = wig

Plethora = overabundance

Stories from words of the day

The six diligent writers created amazing stories and poems from words of the day - The antique shop, Send the audience to sleep, The jury, Boring Joe lost his wig, Watching an adult cartoon and A beautiful sunset.

Reading of homework

The writers present read out their entertaining homework on the topics - Fertile imagination, In her head, Doing it for her, Too many ideas in my head, Dead row inmate and The Death penalty.

Exercise - The place was a real dump

From the depleted numbers we used our creativity to describe a real dump in the following stories and poems - Away a few days, The fight at the airport, Person of interest and My first house sitting job.

Homework

Antique

Record of meeting 23 September 2015

The writers braving the icy windy afternoon

Terry, Cath, Wendy, David R, Helene

Geoff get well soon and happy birthdays to Wendy and David R.

Words of the day

Quell = to overcome

Febrile = nervous energy

Loblolly = male surgeons assistant on a warship

Compel = force someone to do something against their will

Zombie = are undead creatures, typically depicted as mindless reanimated human corpses with a hunger for human flesh

Stories from words of the day

From our weird words we created glorious and gory stories and poems -Dreams of porridge; When I get up; The ship lurched; The good ship Bess and What is that smell.

Reading of homework

Three dedicated writers read their homework - Living in the Lodge; A whiff of this and that; and The vote.

Other readings

Acrobatic read by David R a great poem set in a Big Top. Later he read  Holy Dooly a poem without the letter e.

Exercise 1 – Oulipo pronounced ulipo

David R explained the oulipo is a gathering of mainly French speaking writers and mathematicians who seek to create works using constrained writing techniques.

Four dedicated writers concentrated hard to write stories and poems not using the letter e - Too much coughing; Don’t run with scissors; Colour; and It's fun.

Exercise 2 - I can’t put my finger on it

We started our second exercise with the words "I can’t put my finger on it" and came up with the gems - I will never drift off again; Sent me into space; Going to Paris; and Singing and dancing.

Homework

It’s all in my head

Record of meeting 16 September 2015

 The writers

David C, Leonie, Di, Lynn, 

Terry, Cath, Wendy, Helene, 

David R, Geoff

The words of the day

Ardour = passion

Aesthete = lover of art

Cynophobia = fear of dogs

Plebiscite = national vote

Accolade = honour conferred

Antimacassars = prevent staining

Numchakus = danger sticks or chain sticks

Despumate = to clarify or purify a liquid

Chimera = fire breathing female monster

Incumbent = person holding the office

Stories from words of the day

From the diverse list of words we created a range of weird stories - The Coffee Bean, Beating the dogs, Meeting the old boss on a dark street, I deserve it, Barely fitted through the door, The Dali Lama, The rose garden, Could not be used and Never put animals down.

Reading of homework

A small number of dedicated writers read their homework as follows - Emails between ex PMs, He almost hit her, The good old days, The loop, The three bores and Kev’s ditty.

Recommendations and local information

Leonie recommended listening to music by a group called “Time for three”

David C announced Basin Bites has reopened as “G&T” and recommended a visit.

David R recommended “Tea at Tiffs” at Sanctuary Point at the location of the former Purple Bean and near The Lodge.

Geoff discussed self publishing his novel and is looking at Xlibris and Balboa Press and will let us know about his progress.

Wendy will further investigate Grease at the Entertainment centre to be produced by The Albatross Theatre Company in November.

Exercise 

We wrote stories and poems using three word sentences starting “On the road” with stories meandering across the landscape.

Homework

I smell a rat or 
a letter from 
Kevin Rudd to
Tony Abbott

Record of meeting 9 September meeting

Present

Terry, David C, Cath, Lynn, Leonie, Wendy, Elizabeth, Geoff

Apology – Helene … we’re missing you still !

Words of the day

Impunity = exempt from punishment, disregarding

Quiddity = real nature (of a thing); or fine distinction

Orientation = relative position, inclination, attitude

Excoriate = criticize, sensure; or remove part of skin

Malign = slander, speak evil of

Salubrity = enabling health, healthy

Adduce = quote, or cite as proof

Double-speak = obscure speech

Writing from W o D

The Usual Political Targets were attacked by the Usual Assailants (David, Terry, Geoff); Wendy urned a laugh with her tale; Leonie revealed medical infighting, and Cath wrote of (in)mates

Member works offered

Leonie brought us more of her period tales ; Terry continues with his detective drama -  we await more from both.

Homework

Elizabeth revealed more of farming life, focus on working dogs. David C on the hazards of single and/or post marital life. Leonie gave concern at the health systems, and how their government support is lacking.

Fast-write on topics including ‘after all these years’

Homework for 16 Sep

Message – “I have your key”