dog mansion or mad house?

One might think that a person who would spend a fortune on the comfort of her dogs while she is away is devoted to them. See Daily Telegraph (UK)

Luxury £1.4 million doghouse built for two great Danes

By Graham Tibbetts
Last Updated: 12:01am GMT 24/11/2008

The dogs' owner, a surgeon, has asked her builders to design her house in the Cotswolds so that it can provide all the essentials her pets will need when she is away.

The entry system uses retina scans to verify the animals' identity and cameras will allow the owner to watch their movements from another room or via the internet.

Automatic dispensers will ensure the drinking and eating bowls - both self-cleaning - are filled with just the right amount of chilled, filtered water or dry food.

There will also be a spa bath and the climate of the house can be controlled remotely over the internet.

The home is being made from zinc, glass and limestone and will occupy two plots of land on an estate in Gloucestershire.

Jeremy Paxton, owner of Conservation Builders, said: "I have been very actively involved in this project.

We specialise in building unusual homes and bespoke houses.

"It's a very interesting house with fabulous architecture and unusual requirements."

He added: "Most houses are build with human specifics in mind then animals fit in around that, but this is the other way round.

"There is even a spa bath with a saline treatment built in because it's good for their coats."

No matter how much comforts she has built for her Great Danes, she is sadly misguided. Her intentions are thoughtful, but I think she has missed the point.

Her dogs would be much happier with human company to provide their meals, walk them, groom them and most importantly, talk to them.

£1.4 million will also hire the best live-in carers while she is away.

On the other hand, if she is going to be away that often, then she needs to think about whether her Great Danes are better off in another home, where they will have more regular human company.

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All that frenetic activity both at work and home has finally caught up with me. I fell asleep on the couch after work today.

books - finished reading

The Islamist by Ed Husain (Penguin 2007)

A very insightful book that is also very well-written. It should be read by everyone, especially those who pigeon-hole all Muslims as potential terrorists. This is not the case. There are extremists in every religion - radical Christian fundamentalists do as much damage to society with their hate.

Buddha would have no bar of it...

Yet another so-called 'Buddha Bar' has opened, this time in London.


Photograph: Sophia Evans (Guardian)

What is really wrong with the London venue placing a statue of Buddha there is that people on the upper level are looking down on Buddha. Goes to show really, how thoughtless and ignorant the proprietors are and totally not having any understanding.

A number of so-named 'Buddha-Bars' already exist, located in Paris, Subiaco (Western Australia), Adelaide, Byron Bay (New South Wales), Waikiki Honolulu and New York city, with many more elsewhere.

Misappropriating a religious symbol as interior decor with no connection to its religious teachings is highly offensive.

If the proprietors of these venues that serve alcohol are Christian, would they have statues of Jesus inside their bars and restaurants? No, of course not. It would be disrespectful. Catholics would be highly offended if a bar serving alcohol was called 'Virgin Mary Bar'.

Not only culturally inappropriate, but also highly insensitive.

A suitable response would be for monks and worshippers from the local Buddhist communities to enter these places without a reservation and to start burning incense and chanting and praying. After all, there is a statue of Buddha on the premises, so it must be a temple.

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Today was a horrid day weather-wise. I discovered a bank cheque in unopened mail from June this year. Oh, I must open all my mail on time.

the point of daylight saving

Most of Australia is on daylight time at the moment. I prefer it, as there is more daylight at the end of the day to do things, especially for folks who work in offices every day. It is amazing what one can do in one hour of daylight.

I always thought that daylight saving was about saving energy. Matthew Kotchen and Laura Grant thought otherwise and wrote in the New York Times

November 20, 2008

Op-Ed Contributor

What’s the Point of Daylight Time?

By MATTHEW J. KOTCHEN and LAURA E. GRANT

Santa Barbara, Calif.

WHY do we — along with 75 other countries — alternate between standard time and daylight time? Although many people believe it has an agricultural provenance, daylight time has always been a policy meant to save energy. As Benjamin Franklin argued, if people moved up their summer schedules by an hour, they could live by “sunshine rather than candles” in the evenings.

Energy conservation was the motivation for daylight time during World Wars I and II and the oil embargo of the 1970s, and it remains so today — even though there has been little scientific evidence to suggest daylight time actually helps us cut back on electricity use.

Recently, however, we were able to conduct a study in Indiana, where daylight time was instituted statewide only in 2006. Before that year, daylight time was in effect in just a handful of counties. This change of policy offered a unique, natural experiment to measure the overall effect on residential electricity consumption. We could compare the amount of energy used by households in the late-adopting counties during the two years before they switched to daylight time with the amounts they used during the year afterward — while using counties that always practiced daylight time as a control group.

We found that daylight time caused a 1 percent overall increase in residential electricity use, though the effect varied from month to month. The greatest increase occurred in late summer and early fall, when electricity use rose by 2 percent to 4 percent.

Daylight time costs Indiana households an average of $3.29 a year in higher electricity bills, or about $9 million for the whole state. We also calculated the health and other social costs of increased pollution emissions at $1.7 million to $5.5 million per year.

What explains this unexpected result? While daylight time reduces demand for household lighting, it increases demand for heating in the early spring and late fall (in the mornings) and, even more important, for cooling on summer evenings. Benjamin Franklin was right about candles, in other words, but he did not consider air-conditioners.

In regions of the United States where demand for air-conditioning is greater than in Indiana, this spike in cooling costs is likely to be even greater. Arizona, one of the hottest states, may have it right; it does not practice daylight time.

Eliminating daylight time would thus accord with President-elect Barack Obama’s stated goals of conserving resources, saving money, promoting energy security and reducing climate change. At the very least, we should abandon the notion that we are saving energy while enjoying the extra hour of sunlight on hot summer evenings.

Matthew J. Kotchen is a professor of economics and Laura E. Grant is a doctoral student in environmental science and management at the University of California, Santa Barbara.

A flaw with their argument is latitude and basing a study on just one state.

I prefer the morning to feel like the morning and not feel like the sun has been up for hours. Anyway, I like dawn/sunrise. It is the most peaceful part of the day. I'd rather see it at 6am than 5am.

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It was a cold and rainy day.

whales - part 5

A former Japanese government official has admitted that there is no point in continuing with whaling. Exclusively reported in the Sydney Morning Herald

Tomohiko Taniguchi was the official voice of Japan for the last three years. The spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Tokyo fronted the international media every day to answer, avoid and argue questions. Of the hundreds of matters he dealt with, the one he dreaded most was defending Japan's whaling program. It was part of his job to defend official policy.

"I was being summoned by CNN, BBC and ABC on this issue far more than any other issue," Taniguchi says. "I hated this issue because there's no point in Japan sticking to its position," he tells the Herald in flawless English.

No point? Today Taniguchi is an adviser to Japan's Minister for Foreign Affairs. But, since July, he is no longer an employed official, so he is free to speak his mind. And he does.

"The Japanese whaling industry generates revenues of 7.5 billion yen a year, which is $120 million at the current exchange rate. It's tiny."

...

"Japan has nil national interest in the whaling industry," Taniguchi continues. "The stake for Japan is near zero. If Australians criticise the Japanese auto industry, Japan must do everything possible to protect the auto industry. This is not the auto industry."

He is writing a long piece for a Japanese magazine, Wedge, to ask Japanese to consider the balance sheet of national interests. On the other side of the ledger, he contends, "this issue is doing substantial damage to Japan's image in Australia, the US, Canada, the UK, New Zealand," the entire English-speaking world.

...

Taniguchi hopes the whaling industry will fade away. Whale meat is not a big seller, an uneconomic activity. About 80 Japanese parliamentarians support whaling, but it is a core issue for only six to eight. With the Government's deficit worsening, the annual subsidy becomes harder to defend. But Taniguchi advises Australia, and others, not to press too hard, lest this only entrench Japanese political support for whaling.

...

Many countries have an ugly blemish that mars the total image and makes other peoples recoil in distaste. China has Tibet, the US has Guantanamo Bay, Turkey has Armenian genocide, and Japan has whaling. Uneconomic and increasingly costly to Japan's image, Taniguchi expects it will disappear in a few years. But in the meantime, he fears that escalation could damage the interests of Australia as well as Japan. "Japanese children would be horrified to learn that Australians routinely kill and even eat kangaroos, which they think are much cuter than whales."

Australians aren't against whaling because whales are cute! Kangaroos are not an endangered species, and provided they are harvested humanely, provide a good source of non-greenhouse generating protein in a sustainable manner.

Kangaroos are also confined to Australia, and do not cross global oceans and thus not a global concern, unless of course they are endangered or killed inhumanely.

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It has been another long week at work. This morning, I had multiple urgent tasks to be completed in the morning. No problem, but I deserve another holiday soon!

Tonight, I watched the Resident Evil: Extinction. The third in the series of movies about zombies and based on a computer game. I still don't understand the scientific logic of zombies. If zombies are technically dead and decomposing, why do they need to eat?

BNP - oh what irony

The Guardian yesterday reported that

The entire membership list of the British National party has been posted on the internet, identifying thousands of people as secret supporters of the far right and exposing many to the risk of dismissal from work, disciplinary action or vilification.

The BNP leader, Nick Griffin, claimed today that he knew the identity of the person who published the list, describing him as a "hardliner" senior employee who left the party last year.

In an ironic twist

The BNP leader admitted the party was relying on the Human Rights Act, based on EU legislation, which it opposes, to try to protect the privacy of its members.

A party that wishes to deny the rights of others now wants to use the same protection for themselves.

image from LOLGRIFFIN


I hope the names are leaked even further. Perhaps then, these misguided people will understand how it feels to be on the receiving end of hate.

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Nothing to report today.

Australia... more than the outback

Baz Luhrmann's film Australia premiered last night to much hype. There is a quintessential image that is always invoked in film to represent Australia.

The outback.

Telstra advertisement featuring verses from the song 'I am Australian' written by Bruce Woodley (of the Seekers)


1998 Qantas advertising featuring the song 'I still call Australia home' written by Peter Allen


Interestingly, it took a foreign film director to point out that most Australians have little association with the outback. From a review for his film Newcastle in the Sydney Morning Herald

WHEN Dan Castle set out to make an Australian surf movie, the US director expected such a surf-crazed country would be replete with gnarly surf films. Yet all he found were two films: Blackrock (1997) and Puberty Blues (1981).

Castle was "astounded and dumbfounded", he says. "Not just with the lack of surfing movies but with how few coastal films are made in Australia."

Why the reaction? "About 98 per cent of your culture, of your society, lives along the coast somewhere, yet every film-maker goes to the outback to make films about Australia.

"OK, that's a part of it," Castle qualifies. "But the psyche, the lifeblood of Australian culture has been, and always will be, on the coast. The myth of Australia might be in the outback but the drama of everyday lives is definitely on the coast."

Yet, when most Australians refer to the middle of nowhere, they think of the outback, in particular, the back of Bourke as a place they do not really want to visit. Woop Woop really. Yet images of the outback are etched into the national consciousness.

See also

- Qantas campaign, I still call Australia home since 1997 (The Inspiration Room)

- original song 'I am Australian' performed by The Seekers


- trailer for film 'Newcastle'


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Happy Wednesday

over-rated words 2

Over-used by the media, the word decimate is still used incorrectly.

Decimate comes from the Latin decimat, past participle of decimare meaning to take a tenth.

Most of the time, the media really means destroy. They should just say so, or use other words like annihilate, exterminate, destroy, or devastate.

Somebody please make them use a dictionary.

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This week should be a better one at work.

listen or read?

The BBC recently published an article called 'Can you listen as well as you read?', which I found interesting.

I would rather read a speech than listen to it. I lose attention while listening, as my brain switches off from time to time. Besides, I read much faster than people can speak and am impatient.

Still, I think neuro-linguistic programming is a load of rubbish based on dodgy pseudo-science.

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Today was a busy day, but I managed a late afternoon nap.

Tonight, the ABC screened ITV's remake of A Room With A View. What a waste of a production. There was no point in making another version when the excellent Merchant Ivory production is timeless, and now a classic, and definitely one of my most favourite films of all time.

The original and the best

from knackers yard to a decent life

I found this story about a mare who was rescued before she was due to become pet food very touching. From the Sydney Morning Herald.

The $600 mare and her $100,000 foal

Dam fine … owner Rebecca Bates leads Decency and foal Tyra, believed to be worth about $100,000 each thanks to their impressive pedigree.
Photo: Paul Harris

November 14, 2008

A horse once destined for the slaughterhouse is repaying the faith of its canny owners, writes Phil Wilkins.

Viewed's win in the Melbourne Cup had its annual reverberations across the thoroughbred industry, not least for a mare named Decency, now found at Woodwinds Farm in the mountains behind the Gold Coast, having been rescued two days before she was to be slaughtered in a dogger's yard in Brisbane.

Early last year, the powerful brown mare - who has a terrible scar extending from mid-belly to her flank after she was impaled on a stake while squeezing through a gate with other horses - was discovered in abattoirs by an astute young woman named Rebecca Bates, who was searching for a riding horse for a friend.

There was something about the doleful animal standing at death's door that attracted Rebecca's attention, something that caught her horse lover's eye.

She returned home and told husband Shannon: "I can't get this mare out of my head. She's so lovely, so quiet, so nice to ride. We have to save her. I've got a feeling there's something good about her pedigree."

They purchased her. Normally, a sale of her dubious circumstances would cost $400, but she was such a big mare, she cost $600. For want of a better name, they called the unknown, unnamed acquisition Mary, as in mare, mare Mary. They took her back to Woodwinds Farm, a fertile, 40-hectare stud - formerly a dairy farm until deregulation of the industry and drought forced the family to close down the bails - in the picturesque Numinbah Valley on the northern side of the range wrapping around Mt Warning.

Pursuing Rebecca's hunch, they began research. The mare's brands made her traceable through the Australian stud book, and to their delight they discovered she was New Zealand born and bred from a reputable stud farm, that she came to Australia as a yearling and was, in fact, the daughter of the well-credentialled stallion Defensive Play from an obscure mare named Lovers Knot. The word was around about her abattoir fate. "Mary" was listed as dead.

Further research authenticated Mary as the thoroughbred mare Decency, leaving unanswered the reason for her sad decline to the point she had been about to be put down for dogs' meat. The suspicion was she had a history of slipping foals, further complicated by her terrible belly wound. The Bates basically discounted her for breeding purposes and regarded her as a sale proposition to a nearby riding school.

The day before Decency was to be inspected for purchase by the trail farm operators in July last year, a quail burst out of the grass, startling her and sending her tumbling down a bank, leaving the mare with a fractured wither.

"She was so sore it put paid to her becoming a riding horse," Rebecca said. "We nursed her through the injury, and I looked at her and said, 'You don't want to leave us, do you? You just want to stay here. But that's all right. You're a lovely, big girl."'

In August last year, equine influenza struck, slamming shut all property gates, preventing movement of horses in Queensland and NSW, with Numinbah Valley classified as a buffer zone, further delaying the normalisation of horse transport.

The family's ambitions of utilising the new stud's two stallions for servicing mares flew out the window.

In desperation, they covered Decency with Tanabota, their Redoute's Choice-sired stallion.

Shortly after servicing, Rebecca took the mare for a short ride and came back, declaring to her mother-in-law Erica: "I've had a talk to Mary. She's going into foal. We'll be all right."

By October of last year, Decency was confirmed in foal. The following month, Efficient won the Melbourne Cup. Efficient was foaled by a mare of Defensive Play, the stallion that sired Decency. Now Decency has her own strapping brown filly foal, nicknamed Tyra, bouncing at her side.

"Decency could not be a better name for her," Rebecca said. "She has a wonderful temperament. She's a wonderful dam, everything about her. She's a totally decent mare."

Browsing through the weights for this year's Melbourne Cup, Shannon Bates spied the nomination of the five-year-old stallion Viewed, trained by Bart Cummings. Glancing at his breeding, he saw something that made his head spin. Viewed was out of Lovers Knot, the same mare that threw Decency.

So, if cheering was prolonged as Viewed and Bauer duelled along the Flemington straight, and joyous for Lovers Knot's canny owner-breeder Ian Johnson from Finch's Crossing Stud on the Hawkesbury River when Viewed muzzled his way to the Cup, it was even more thunderous in the community hall at Numinbah Valley as locals celebrated their "connection" with Viewed in the Cup sweep. "Having Defensive Play as her sire was our first payback for saving Decency, and then learning she was from the same dam as Viewed was our second payback," Erica said, still glowing in the reflected glory of the Cup, and brandishing a $5 each-way betting ticket that returned her $239.

So, the $600 rescue fee has been more than justified. How much more? One bloodstock agent suggested the broodmare value of Decency, now 11 years old, at about $100,000. Her foal, he thought, depending on her soundness, was also in the vicinity of $100,000. Such is life in the horse breeding game.

I still find it disturbing that some animals, once they have no 'economic' value, are killed. Rebecca Bates saved a life and now good fortune smiles on her. It is surely more than mere coincidence.

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It has been a very long week at work.

Naomi Klein on the Wall Street debacle

I wrote about the Wall Street mess on 21 September, referencing an excellent article from US News & World Report.

Naomi Klein has now written an excellent commentary in Rolling Stone magazine. Worth a read.

and a very apt illustration


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Today was a rather long day at work.

Philippe Starck about 'why design?'

Philippe Starck is considered to be one of the world's best designers. He has designed bathroom fittings (sinks, bathtubs, toilets, taps for Grohe), a mouse for Microsoft, furniture, interiors such as hotels and for Eurostar, toothbrushes, lamps, shoes, vehicles, etc.

In March 2007 he gave a talk to the TED conference Technology, Entertainment, Design).

He was also funny.

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Happy Wednesday.

it's a monarchy, stupid!

According to the Daily Telegraph, only 17 per cent of Brits want Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall to be Queen.

Public support falls for Queen Camilla

By Andrew Pierce

Last Updated: 12:01am GMT 10/11/2008

A Daily Telegraph/YouGov poll commissioned to mark the 60th birthday of the Prince this Friday showed that only 17 per cent wanted the Duchess to become Queen.

When the same question was asked on her 60th birthday in July 2007, the number in favour was 28 per cent. The drop in popular support will be a blow to the Prince, who wants his wife to also become his Queen on his accession.

The Duchess, 61, who performs only half the number of engagements as the Queen who is 82, will now be under pressure from within the Royal household to take a higher public profile.

The Duchess accompanied the Prince on a 10-day trip to the Far East at the end of last month but before they left it was announced she would not complete the final leg, to Indonesia, because of the heat and humidity.

When the marriage of the Prince and Camilla Parker Bowles, his long time companion, was announced in February 2005 a statement was released by Clarence House which tried to resolve the accession issue.

The statement said it "was intended that" the Duchess would be known as Princess Consort when the Prince succeeds to the throne. The statement was immediately challenged by constitutionalists and historians who argued that the wife of the Prince was automatically the Princess of Wales and on accession the Queen.

However, the new poll has delivered better news for the Prince who celebrates his birthday with a private dinner and concert at Buckingham Palace for members of the Royal Family on Thursday.

There will also be a party on Saturday for 200 friends at Highgrove, his Gloucestershire home, hosted by the Duchess. Rod Stewart will provide the cabaret.

In the poll, when asked if the Prince should succeed the Queen, 42 per cent were in favour compared to 35 per cent who thought Prince William should be the next King.

When the same question was asked in 2005 the positions were reversed with only 31 per cent backing the Prince with 42 per cent preferring his eldest son.

The poll also revealed strong backing from the public for the Prince to continue to speak out on issues such as global warming, genetically modified food, and organic farming.

Asked if he was right to speak out publicly on controversial issues, 68 per cent were in favour with only 24 per cent against.

More than half those polled thought he was doing a very good or "pretty" good job with 48 per cent regarding him as a force for good in the UK.

What a stupid poll.

Hello? It's called a monarchy. The people have absolutely NO say on the matter. Why poll them? They do NOT get to choose.

These people cannot have their cake and eat it too. If they want to have a say and choose the affairs of their head of state, then go republic.

Bloody hell! When will people ever learn?

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Today was a very busy day at work, and then some.

over two billion words in the Oxford English Corpus and some of them are rubbish

The Oxford English Corpus is at the heart of dictionary-making in Oxford in the 21st century and ensures that we can track and record the very latest developments in language today. By analysing the corpus and using special software, we can see words in context and find out how new words and senses are emerging, as well as spotting other trends in usage, spelling, world English, and so on. Using the corpus enables lexicographers to examine one word in detail by looking at all the different contexts in which it occurs.

The OEC now contains over two billion words. Some of these are just rubbish. One misuse that particularly irritates me include

Could of and would of

The Oxford English Corpus contains about 1,000 instances of could of and would of, as in I would of stopped her. About 850 of these occur in representations of direct speech (mostly from the Fiction domain, but also from interviews and courtroom transcripts).This leaves 150 instances of could of and would of as a genuine written form compared with 4 million instances of the standard English syntax would have and could have. However willing we may be to convert have to of in spoken English, the corpus shows that the habit has not spread into written English.

Jeremy Butterfield has collected words that are annoying in the book Damp Squid: The English Language Laid Bare.

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I was up very early this morning.

over-rated words 1

Used a lot in literature. Impressive the first time, but exceedingly pretentious thereafter.

Cacophony

Note to authors - you weren't the first to use this word, and if you read widely and were so impressed with it that you'd use it. Don't.

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Today was a busy day. I used to veg on weekends, but now spend most of it on home projects.

the first dog dilemma

Oh dear. The world's media and cyber-space are now focussing on which breed of dog the new President will adopt. From Associated Press

Who should be the first dog? Here are candidates

By LINDA LOMBARDI – 8 November 2008

WASHINGTON (AP) — Among the offices Barack Obama has yet to fill, one has a special importance to his family: first dog.

At his first postelection news conference on Friday, the president-elect called choosing a dog a "major issue" in the Obama household and a hot topic on his Web site.

"We have two criteria that have to be reconciled. One is that Malia is allergic, so it has to be hypoallergenic," he said. "On the other hand, our preference would be to get a shelter dog, but a lot of shelter dogs are mutts like me."

Add to that the strain of the inevitable attention that comes to a cute pup in the White House. On Thursday, President Bush's normally docile Scottish terrier Barney bit a Reuters reporter on the right index finger.

So, how to choose?

No breeds are completely hypoallergenic. However, some breeds have a tendency to cause fewer problems — mostly those that don't shed and need to have their coats trimmed regularly, or those that tend to shed less, said Stephen Zawistowski, an executive vice president for the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

Relatively common no-shed breeds include poodles, bichon frise, Portuguese water dogs and Maltese, but these breeds need professional grooming, which can be expensive. Other breeds that have a tendency to shed less are Schnauzers, Westies (West Highland white terriers) and Scottish terriers, Zawistowski says.

Purposely bred crosses like goldendoodles also have the no-shed coat, but random-bred mixes of dogs like poodles will also tend to have that coat, Zawistowski says.

The Obamas could adopt from either a shelter or a breed-specific rescue group. Gary Weitzman, director of the Washington Animal Rescue League, says that right now about a quarter of the 250 dogs in their shelter are purebred, but the number can be higher.

"In September we had 78 dachshunds — we'd just done a rescue from a dachshund puppy mill," he says.

An ideal first dog should also be good with kids and visitors. One advantage to adopting an adult dog is that personality traits are fully developed and good temperament testing can help choose a dog that's suitably sociable.

If the kids insist on a puppy, it's harder to predict. Almost any breed of dog can do well with children if raised with them.

Stanley Coren, a psychologist who has written a series of best-selling books on dogs, recommends breeds including beagles, cocker spaniels, golden retrievers, Labrador retrievers and poodles for families. But whatever breed is chosen, a puppy will need intensive socialization.

"Start introducing it to what it's going to be dealing with around the household," says Zawistowski. That includes children, but dogs can also be afraid of anything — men with mustaches, people with hats — if they're not used to them, he notes. "Those Secret Service guys look intimidating even on television."

A new dog can be a daunting choice, especially when made in the spotlight. But it's worth it — and for more than just the kids.

"I'd like to know that President Obama has a dog," Zawistowski says. "When he has a bad day, what's better than having a dog walk over and say, 'Hey, things aren't so bad?'"

There is one breed that will be out of the question. A pitbull terrier, particularly with lipstick.

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Today was a busy day, mainly focussed on outside activities. I did manage to have an afternoon nap on the couch though.

Africa is a continent made up of lots of countries

Just in case anybody else isn't aware...



Why would anybody make this up?



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So glad the work week is over.

the doctor will leave the house... err Tardis

The BBC has reported that David Tennant will be quitting the role of Doctor Who in 2010.

Oh.

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Happy Thursday.

hope and change

Congratulations to President-elect Barack Obama.

The rest of the world watched this election very closely and sighed with relief.

President Obama has charisma that even surpasses JFK.

Results map from CNN

Strangely, my favourite places are in blue. Always blue. I'll be sure never to visit Alaska.

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Today was a hectic day at work. My crisis management skills were put to heavy use.

when two Chinas need each other

Aside from the US presidential elections, an historic diplomatic event occurred. Reported by Reuters

FACTBOX - Taiwan, China sign trade, transit deals
Tue Nov 4, 2008 8:01am GMT

(Reuters) - Top officials from Taiwan and China signed deals on daily direct flights, new cargo routes and food safety Tuesday during Beijing's highest-level visit to its political rival in 60 years.

China negotiator Chen Yunlin and his Taiwan counterpart, P.K. Chiang, signed the following agreements to increase trade and tourism between the two longtime political rivals:

-- Daily direct China-Taiwan charter flights, up from Friday through Monday now and totalling 108 per week, to smooth passage for Taiwan investors in China and bring in more Taiwan-bound Chinese tourists

-- New, shorter direct Taiwan-China flight paths to save time (existing direct flights must detour through Hong Kong airspace for security reasons)

-- Sixteen new Chinese airports, in addition to the current five, that can accept direct flights to or from Taiwan

-- Sixty direct cargo flights per month between Taiwan and China, cutting out third countries or regions per the current practice mandated due to sovereignty concerns

-- A launch of direct sea cargo routes between 11 Taiwan ports and 63 China destinations, sparing costly detours, required due to sovereignty concerns, for Taiwan investors with China factories

-- An introduction of direct postal links between five Taiwan stations and eight China stations, reducing delivery time from the current seven to 10 days by sidestepping third countries

-- A framework to handle food safety issues by quickly notifying, removing and investigating tainted products, in light of China's contaminated milk powder scandal that has prompted product recalls around the world, including in Taiwan.

(Compiled by the Taipei Bureau)

An agreement is usually between two equal sides with national flags on the negotiating table. I wonder if Taiwan signed as Chinese Taipei and had to acknowledge that it was not a national government but a province.

Interestingly, some people in Taiwan were also sensitive to the issue. See Taiwan News article.

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Today was a public holiday. I meant to do much more at home, but it was mostly relaxing and not on the couch. Just more spring cleaning.

PPP indices

I always found the Economist Big Mac Index rather interesting as a measure of purchasing power parity and variations on the true market value of a country's currency.

The CommSec iPod index is also an interesting measure of the implications for trade as a result of currency exchange rates.

Aplia suggested an iTunes index.

The thing is, the 'market' does not set the prices of those items so that they could also fluctuate along with currency exchange rates. Rather, prices are set by the producer/manufacturer.

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Happy Monday!

Europe's biggest - Westfield London

The largest indoor shopping centre in Europe opened in London on Thursday.

Sarah Bell of BBC News wrote about shopping centre design. Kathryn Flett from The Observer/Guardian wrote about trying to avoid spending money.

Westfield is an Australian company. The mall next to my work building is a Westfield. It needs to be razed to the ground and re-designed. It is an ugly monstrosity.

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Today was another busy day. Thankfully, I had time for an afternoon nap.

headline of the month

I enjoy reading word play (puns) used in newspaper headlines. After all, writers also need a bit of fun.

This one from the Northern Territory News was very clever.

Gypsies, amps and thieves

REBEKAH CAVANAGH

October 29th, 2008

ROAMING Irish gypsies have targeted power-stricken Territorians by selling them dodgy generators that could be fatal.

I might assume that younger print journalists are unfamiliar with old Cher songs, so it was probably a quick-witted editor.

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Today was a very busy day. I was up at 6am and the front door had one coat of paint by 7.30am.

Nell, Declan, Olivia and Kim came over for dinner. Technically Olivia did and didn't as Nell brought over her own baby food. I made roast rolled shoulder of pork (marinated in the soy, preserved lemon and marmalade mix that I usually use), roast sweet potato and beetroot, with blanched asparagus.

Day for Daniel

I do like special days when it is about me.

Today was Day for Daniel, but it was not about me.

Day for Daniel is a day to honour Daniel Morcombe who was nearly 14 when he was abducted by two men while waiting for a bus. He is still on the missing persons list.

Name:	MORCOMBE, Daniel James
D.O.B:	1989
Height:	150 cm
Complexion:	Fair
Eye Colour:	Blue
Hair Colour:	Dark Brown
Build:	Proportionate
Tattoo(s)/Marks:	Nil
Last Heard:	The missing person was last seen at his residence at Palmwoods on 7 December 2003. He intended on walking to an undesignated bus stop on the Nambour connection Road near the Kiel Mountain overpass.

Day for Daniel is an event organised by the Daniel Morcombe Foundation (set up by his parents) to raise awareness of child safety.



Daniel's family continue to suffer the anguish of still not knowing what happened to their son. He will turn 19 in December and his parents have missed the best years of his life, growing from a boy into a man.

Through their tragedy, his parents have helped many others.

*****************
It has been a busy week at work.

holiday super walks

The UK Daily Telegraph has a dedicated travel writer who writes about walks. Impressive. Christopher Somerville has a monthly column called Walk of the Month.

He recently wrote about his top 50 walks - Hiking holidays: The world in 50 walks. A great list, but he left out the Camino de Santiago de Compostela and the Cinque Terre.

He listed three in Australia, but omitted Tasmania, in particular the well known Freycinet Peninsula Circuit.

I enjoyed the Cinque Terre walks. It took about five hours to walk through all five villages and some of it was very difficult, but the views were spectacular. I would return in a jiffy.

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Happy Thursday. This morning when I arrived at work, there was a Thursday cake on my desk. Actually, it was bread. Banana Bread.

African Danish

No, not a form of pastry.

When I visited Lisbon a few years ago, I noticed on the metro that most of the 'white' Portuguese people seemed to avoid those who looked African. It made me wonder if perhaps Portugal had a refugee program.

Then it dawned on me that African Portuguese have been there for a long long time. The Portuguese empire stretched to Africa. In 1441, African slaves were first brought to Lisbon, with slave trading becoming a lucrative in Portuguese commerce.

Knowing a bit of history helps to counter wrongful assumptions.

Anyway, Denmark has received African migrants for some time and some 45 000 Africans are now home in Copenhagen, many arriving later as refugees. I found a fascinating article by the BBC - Africans adapt to to Nordic chill (24 October 2008), which is worth reading.

Africans adapt to Nordic chill

The BBC's African Perspective programme is investigating what life is like for some of an estimated 20 million Africans who live in the diaspora.

Ellen Otzen visits Copenhagen, the capital of Denmark, to see how the 45,000 Africans there have adapted to their chilly Nordic home.

In a small, white house standing in the shadow of Copenhagen's oldest churches people from Cameroon, Botswana, Sierra Leone, Tanzania and Uganda meet each Wednesday night to sing in a gospel music choir.

Ugandan Joel Moses came to Denmark for love, 13 years ago.

Denmark is a very small country... I don't think the Danes were prepared for all of us Ugandan Peace Kabushenga

"I was once married to a Danish woman. She couldn't stand living in Africa and so I moved to her home," he explains.

"I love to sing and so I come every Wednesday even if I am tired, physically - it builds me up and gears me up for a new day.

"To be honest, I really come to do something as an African in a white community because there's a lot of things I do that are gone, not recognised. But I think I am recognised by reaching out to my fellow Africans."

Love broke down for Joel as it did for another Ugandan, Peace Kabushenga.

Dramatic

She is a project manager dealing with HIV/Aids among the ethnic minorities in Denmark.

She arrived in Copenhagen almost 30 years ago in 1979, as a diplomat's wife. Her life then was comfortable.

But it ended abruptly when their relationship broke down and her husband returned to Uganda.

"It was a dramatic change," says Peace, who found herself as a single mother far from home.

"I had to declare myself a refugee to live in Denmark. I had to live in a refugee camp while my papers were being processed.

"Strangely, I knew no other Africans," she recalls.

"It was my Danish friends who helped me. Of course I would've survived - I am strong; but they made it so much easier for me and most importantly, for my son."

Historic links

Denmark never had colonies in Africa but ties between the sea-faring Danes and Africa's Gold Coast, now Ghana, stretch way back in history.

The Ghanaian seat of government, in the capital, Accra, is housed in the original Christiansborg Castle - a slave fort built by the Danes in the 17th century.

After the 11th of September, Islam became a political issue and it is a big one here in Denmark, unfortunately Khadija Fara Somali social worker

Stored inside the Presbyterian Church in Accra's Osu district are records from the 1850s, chronicling families with Danish fathers and Ghanaian mothers.

Eighty Danish surnames, like Svanekær, Richter and Holm are still in use today in Ghana.

More recently the links are developmental ones. In the 1960s Danish doctors, vets and engineers were sent to Africa and in return African students came to study.

Then as oppressive regimes took over it was scared, political refugees, like rapper Al Agami, who started to head to Africa-friendly Denmark.

'Fear factor'

Al Agami was born in Uganda's capital, Kampala, but grew up in Denmark. He also spent three years living in Afghanistan. His father was a soldier.

"I am a political refugee. I wound up in Denmark because of my father's stress with the Idi Amin [a former Ugandan dictator] era."

Al Agami is now one of the biggest names in Danish rap music.

He recalls how Denmark in the 1970s was "very quiet" which he feels is a contradiction to his "can't sit still" personality.

He says it was weird because there were "no brown faced children" but there was "no fear factor", unlike now.

Somali Khadija Fara works as a social adviser. When she arrived in the 1980s, she says things were different; but it was during the 1990s that everything began changing.

"Many, many Somali refugees came to Denmark and they were the biggest minority group," Khadija says.

That is when the fear factor, as Al Agami calls it, set in.

Shift in attitude

Hostility, resentment and friction rose and two years ago, tension spilled over when Muslims took to the streets outraged by cartoons of the Prophet Muhammed in a Danish newspaper.

"After the 11th of September [2001], Islam became a political issue and it is a big one here in Denmark, unfortunately," explains Khadija.

"I wish people would instead use their energy on other things like integration and making the second generation immigrants from feeling marginalised."

Peace Kabushenga believes the problems have stemmed from the large number of immigrants arriving.

"You have to bear in mind that Denmark is a very small country and so many foreigners have come in. I don't think the Danes were prepared for all of us."

The resultant shift in attitude has caused Peace to worry for herself and her son.

"When he's out there I don't want him to feel like a foreigner. I would feel very sad if he told me, he was mistreated on the streets," she says.

"Yes, he has a black skin but he has his roots here and he is very, very Danish."

Tune into the BBC World Service to listen to African Perspective's Africans Abroad: Part I on Saturday 25 October at 1906 GMT in Africa. The programme will be available for a week on the website.

Part II of Africans Abroad - about chasing the American dream - will be broadcast on Saturday 1 November. Part III on Saturday 8 November will feature Africans who have voluntarily made the former slave island of Jamaica their home.

One should never assume that all Danes are white-skinned.

********************
Today was a very busy day at work. So much so that I was tired and fell asleep on the couch after work.

Gibraltar tunnel

Aside from scheduled and chartered flights, the only other way to travel between Spain and Morocco is by ferry. The ferry crossing from Algeciras to Tangier takes about 90 minutes.

In late 2003, Spain and Morocco agreed to build a 40 km tunnel between Spain and Morocco beneath the Straits of Gibraltar. Work on the tunnel may actually commence next year.

Linking the continents of Europe and Africa will be a major milestone.

Arriving in Tangier, whether by ferry or road/rail would still be a cultural awakening or shock for most people. I did not feel safe in Tangier when visiting during August 2000.

*******************
I still haven't finished de-cluttering and tidying.

Leo the lion heart

I liked this story about a little dog with a big heart. From the Herald Sun (Melbourne)

Lion-hearted Leo has courage licked

Kelly Ryan
October 27, 2008 12:00am

A TENACIOUS terrier dubbed Leo the Lion-hearted is being lauded for staying loyally by the side of four helpless kittens trapped in a burning house.

The gutsy bitzer had to be resuscitated by firefighters after refusing to abandon the kittens even as thick smoke and flames filled a Seddon weatherboard home on Saturday night.

Firemen had to dodge fallen power lines to enter the blazing building in Pilgrim St after three children rescued from the blaze screamed for their pets to be saved.

"One officer returned into the blazing house and re-emerged carrying the near-lifeless Leo," said MFB western zone commander Ken Brown.

"Another couple of firefighters grabbed the resuscitation equipment and . . . were able to revive him.

"The dog had remained stoically guarding the box of kittens, even though their mother had disappeared."

A family of seven escaped with their lives but have lost everything they owned in the suspicious blaze. Their home was not insured.

Mum Janine Kelly was with children Paul, 18, Tayla, 11, and Jayme, 5, when a stranger ran to the back of her home, yelling at them to get out because the front of the house was engulfed in flames.

Neighbour Rob Easterbrook, 43, tried to douse the flames but rubbish stacked on the veranda of the double-fronted home ignited.

"I panicked initially, because I was worried the kids could have been trapped inside," he said.

"But then they assured me they were all out."

The Sunshine hospital chef said three of the five children were screaming for their menagerie of pets to be saved.

Tayla said she carried Jayme out and then rescued another pet dog, Barney, who was fleeing the fire.

"But Leo was still inside standing over the kittens, and we were scared he would get burned," she said. "We couldn't find Sabrina (mother of the kittens) and we thought they would all die."

The children sobbed with relief when firefighters rescued and revived 11-month-old Leo.

"Then we were told there was a box of kittens still in there, and firefighters returned to grab them too," Cdr Brown said.

He said Leo licked the kittens with joy when he saw them. "It was a wonderful sight," he said.

The kittens were unharmed because a cover on their box stopped them suffering smoke inhalation.

Tayla was taken to the Royal Children's Hospital with smoke inhalation and released yesterday.

The shocked family then returned to their gutted home to try to salvage what little was not smoke or fire-damaged.

They found Leo sitting on a burnt mattress out front, faithfully waiting for his family to return.

Last night they were looking for a place to stay and supplies.

Cdr Brown said firefighters would nominate Leo for an RSPCA bravery medal.

Vision from Reuters


I wonder if Leo thought the kittens were part of his pack. Nevertheless, canine loyalty and protection has no equal amongst others in the animal kingdom.

********************
Happy Monday?

Banksy the vandal

Banksy painted a seven metre (23 feet) high mural on a building wall at Newman Street (near Oxford Circus) in London.



The local jurisdiction, the Westminster City Council doesn't like it, calling it graffiti and want it removed.

See
- Graffiti artist Banksy pulls off most audacious stunt to date - despite being watched by CCTV (Daily Mail, 14 April 2008)
- Writing is on the wall for Banksy's west end mural as council demands it be painted over (Daily Mail, 24 October 2008)
- Council orders Banksy art removal (BBC News, 24 October 2008)
- Westminster bid to remove Banksy art stalled (Local Government Chronicle, 24 October 2008)

Painting (stencil) on a wall without permission is vandalism. However, if the painting is a valued piece of art, then removing it is even worse.

***********
Today was another busy day of de-cluttering and spring cleaning.

if you chuck a sickie, don't brag about it on facebook

Poor Kyle Doyle. He did what is commonly done by Australian workers and that is to be too ill to work on the day following a heavy night of drinking. From The Age

Sickie faker busted by Facebook [*sic]

Asher Moses
October 23, 2008

A Sydney telco employee has learned the hard way the perils of sharing too much information on Facebook [*sic] after he was caught by his boss faking a sickie after a big night out.

In an email exchange doing the rounds of office blocks, Kyle Doyle was asked by his employer, AAPT, to provide a medical certificate verifying a day of sick leave in August.

Doyle, a call centre worker, protested, saying his contract stipulated he did not require a medical certificate for taking only one day off.

His boss replied that this was usually the case but in this instance the company had determined that the leave was not due to medical reasons.

"My leave was due to medical reasons, so you cannot deny leave based on a line manager's discretion, with no proof, please process leave as requested," Doyle responded.

The manager then sent Doyle a screen grab of Doyle's Facebook [*sic] profile, highlighting a status update written on the leave day in question.

"Kyle Doyle is not going to work, f--- it i'm still trashed. SICKIE WOO!," it read.

Sprung and with no room left to move, Doyle replied to the boss: "HAHAHA LMAO [laughing my ass off] epic fail. No worries man."

Doyle did not respond to a request for comment sent over Facebook [*sic] but a friend of his confirmed the incident was not a hoax.

The employer would not comment.

Update 24/10 - AAPT today released a statement saying it had completed an investigation of its email records and the exchange between Doyle and his boss "never occurred".

However, a spokeswoman confirmed that both are current employees with the company. AAPT would not give any further details and would not say whether the emails were part of a prank by Doyle or one of his colleagues.

"This issue will continue to be dealt with internally, as a matter of standard company process," AAPT's statement read.

I think that it is quite legitimate to have a sick day from work if a person is too ill to go to work, regardless of the cause. This includes being 'trashed'.

Silly boy, he should have written "Kyle Doyle is home and too unwell to go to work". It wasn't even a 'sickie' which is euphemism for taking a day off from work (to play golf, go fishing etc) and claiming sick leave for it.

*note to The Age, facebook is not capitalised. It makes it look funny.

**************
I was too tired to blog on Thursday and Friday nights.

Emily came over on Thursday night for dinner and I made a beef madras curry. She is a curry addict. On Friday late afternoon, Anthony came over after we had an after work beer. It's nice to have visitors.

suing God

Associated Press reported on 16 October about Nebraska state Senator Ernie Chambers' lawsuit against God being dismissed on grounds of no home address was listed to serve the lawsuit.

The story was widely reported in media outlets.

Strangely, not one of them mentioned the 2001 Australian film The Man Who Sued God. In the film, churches and synagogues as God's representatives were liable to the lawsuit against God. The only way out of it was if they proved that God did not exist.

************
Despite staying home today, I still have a mess to sort out following yesterday's burglary.

the banana diet

A story that seems to have picked up in the international media is Japan's latest diet trend. From Japan Times

Yes, we have no bananas, as dieters peel away stocks

By NATSUKO FUKUE

Staff writer

Dieting appears to be a nationwide trend. Spurred on by TV shows, people have taken various approaches, including upping their intake of "natto" fermented soybeans, which later proved fruitless, to adding agar to food.

Peel this: Only Ecuadorean bananas costing 8 remain available at the Granpark Tamachi branch of Daimaru Peacock in Minato Ward, Tokyo, on Sept. 30. The sign says bananas have become scarce due to a TV show boasting the dieting merits of the fruit. NATSUKO FUKUE PHOTO

Now it's bananas.

Bananas have been long known as a diet food. But when Tokyo Broadcasting System's TV show "Dream Press-sha" explained on Sept. 19 how former opera singer Kumiko Mori — who weighs in at more than 100 kg — lost 7 kg through the banana diet, there has been a run on the fruit.

According to Seven & I Holdings Co., which runs the supermarket chain Ito-Yokado, banana sales have been increasing since spring. But twice as many as usual were sold in late September.

Takashi Kobayashi, chief manager of the Granpark Tamachi branch of supermarket chain Daimaru Peacock, said his store is also seeing a run on bananas.

"Bananas have been selling really well, especially since the TV show on the banana diet aired on Sept. 19. These days, bananas are all gone by evening," Kobayashi said.

Hiromi Otaki, spokeswoman for Dole Japan Co., Japan's largest banana importer, said there was a 25 percent to 27 percent jump in banana shipments between June and August compared with the same period last year.

"Bananas are usually not consumed much in summer because juicy fruits, such as watermelon, are more popular. But this summer, bananas sold well," Otaki said.

"Unfortunately, even if there is more demand, we cannot supply more bananas immediately because it takes 10 to 15 months to grow them," she said.

According to Otaki, 90 percent of bananas in Japan come from the Philippines.

The craze traces its roots to the Morning banana diet introduced on mixi, a popular social networking Web site, in 2006 by Hitoshi Watanabe, who studied preventive medicine in Tokyo, and by his pharmacist wife, Sumiko.

According to their official Web site, the trick is to eat bananas along with room-temperature water for breakfast.

Anything can be eaten at lunch and dinner, and afternoon snacks are OK. Just avoid ice cream, dairy products and dessert after dinner, and dine before 8 p.m.

The Web site says bananas are good for losing weight because they help digestion and improve metabolism.

In January, Makino Publishing Ltd. featured the banana diet in its monthly magazine Sokai.

"We received good feedback from our readers, so we continued to run feature articles (on the diet) in April, August, September and October," chief editor Kazuhiko Murohashi said.

The company also published the book "Asa (morning) Banana Diet" by the Watanabes in May. It proved to be a huge hit, selling 230,000 copies.

"While Sokai is read mainly by people in their 40s and 50s, the book has wider readership, from teenagers to the elderly," Murohashi said. "I think that Japanese, including the elderly, care not only about their health but also about beauty."

TV celebrity Monta Mino, who is widely popular with housewives, dwelt on the diet three times in his popular TV show "Omoikkiri Terebi," adding further to the boom.

Yuko Takahashi in Kodaira, Tokyo, said her husband, Toshiaki, has been on a banana diet since summer, after they saw an ad for the diet book. He has since lost 3 kg.

"My husband didn't have breakfast before, but now he eats a banana every morning. It's quick and easy," she said.

A 40-year-old Japanese language instructor who only gave her last name, Yanagihara, also tried the banana diet for a month and lost 2 kg, but she thinks it is not effective.

"I tried many kinds of diet methods, like eating soybean cookies and drinking slimming tea. None worked really well. I usually lost 2 kg (with these diet methods), but I could easily gain the weight back.

"It sounds amazing that Kumiko Mori lost 7 kg, but it's easier to lose weight for her because she's big," she said.

Sayoko Ikeda, associate professor of the faculty of nutrition at Kobe Gakuin University, said eating bananas does not directly trigger weight loss.

"Eating only one kind of food in the long term is not healthy because you cannot get the necessary nutrition," she said, noting bananas may work for people who tend to overeat because the fruit is quite filling.

The Japan Times: Tuesday, Oct. 7, 2008

There is more...

Morning Banana Diet website

YouTube


If you ask me, the idea is bent.

***********
The house was burgled today while I was at work. My room was ransacked for small valuables. Kane was unharmed, but proven he has retired from guard duties.

wealth at whose price?

In South Africa, 300 people are killed each year for their body parts, which are used in traditional 'muti' medicine, including to attract wealth (Daily Telegraph). In Tanzania, albino baby body parts are used in potions to attract wealth (BBC News).

Greed knows no bounds. Such greedy people have no conscience and place no value in the life of others.

Just like bankers on Wall Street.

**************
The days are getting longer. Spring is in the air. No wonder I have a strange compulsion to tidy up.

She without arm, he without leg

is a ballet duet performed by Ma Li (馬麗) and Zhai Xiaowei (翟孝偉).



(thanks to Boing Boing)

Classical dance is usually premised on perfect bodies. An amputee piece certainly challenges the presumptions about body types and shapes in ballet.

Good stuff.

************
Today was a busy chore-filled day.

dragon toes

Chinese Dragons have five toes, Korean dragons four toes and Japanese dragons three toes.

According to Wikipedia

To explain this phenomenon, Chinese legend states that all Imperial dragons originated in China, and the further away from China a dragon went the fewer toes it had.

However, historical records show that ordinary Chinese dragons had four toes (this dragon was known as Mang), but the Imperial dragon had five (as in the Five elements of Chinese philosophy) (this dragon was known as Long). The four-clawed dragon was typically for nobility and certain high ranking officials. The three clawed dragon was used by the general public (widely seen on various Chinese goods in Ming dynasty). The Long, however, was only for select royalty closely associated with the Imperial family, usually in various symbolic colors, while it was a capital offense for anyone - other than the emperor himself - to ever use the completely gold-colored, five-clawed Long dragon motif. Improper use of claw number and/or colors was considered treason, punishable by execution of the offender's entire clan. Since most east Asian nations at one point or another were considered Chinese tributaries, they were only allowed four-clawed dragons. The five toes rule was enforced since 1336 AD (Yuan the second year). "(For commoners) It is forbidden to wear any cloth with patterns of Qilin, Male Fenghuang (Chinese phoenix), White rabbit, Lingzhi, Five-Toe Two-Horn Loong, Eight Loongs, Nine Loongs, Long-live, Fortune-longevity character and Golden Yellow etc." ("禁服麒麟、鸾凤、白兔、灵芝、双角五爪龙、八龙、九龙、万寿、福寿字、赭黄等服")^[10]

Another explanation is

The Chinese tradition states that dragons originated in China with five toes. As they travelled abroad they lost more toes the further they went from home. This is why Oriental dragons never reached the West - they would have run out of toes.

The Japanese tradition has a similar story that differs in one important respect: dragons originated in Japan. In this version of the legend, dragons grew more toes as they travelled further from home. Once they reached five toes they found it difficult to walk which is why they never reached the West.

Although this is the generally accepted toe count, some sources claim that in China only the Imperial Dragon actually had the full five toes and other Chinese dragons had just four.

I thought they had claws. Do other reptiles have toes?

*********
Today was busy. Still, I had time in the morning to watch Dragon Wars (D-War), hence today's topic.


Magnificent depiction. Fascinating mythology.

the other person

The BBC finally wrote about Peter Norman.



Peter Norman died in October 2006. The BBC should have written about him then.

Old web references, following his death.

- Sydney Morning Herald 10 October 2006
- Sydney Morning Herald 4 October 2006
- Black Athlete 5 October 2006
- Athletics Australia 4 October 2006
- San Jose State University Spartan Daily of 5 October 2006 (both Smith and Carlos were students here)

**************
Today has been full of farewells and birthdays. Farewells for a colleague (lunch) and Stella (after work drinks) and birthdays for Martin (formerly back neighbour) and Jim (Emily's new man) with after work drinks (thankfully and coincidentally, at the same place).

De Civilitate Morum Puerilium Libellus

Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus, a Dutch Renaissance humanist, wrote De Civilitate Morum Puerilium Libellus in 1536.

It was a best seller and translated into English by Robert Whittington in 1560 as De ciuilitate morum puerilium per des. Erasmum Roterodamum, libellus nunc primum conditus & editus. Roberto VVhitintoi interprete. A lytle booke of good maners for chyldren, now lately compiled and put forth by Erasmus Roterodam in latin tongue, with interpretation of the same into the vulgare englyshe tongue, by Robert VVhittinton poet laureat.

A new translation by Eleanor Merchant has just been published (amazon.co.uk). From the publisher description

When did you last tell your children to put their hand over their mouth when they yawn? When did you last suggest that when they are introduced to someone they should look them in the eye? Do you remind them that they should wait until everyone is served before they start eating? And not hoover up the best bit? Do you think that the children of today have disgraceful manners? Unlike, of course, when you were young? Well, that's what Erasmus of Rotterdam thought in 1530 when he published 'de Civilitate Morum Puerilium Libellus: A Handbook on Good Manners for Children'. After all, as William of Wykeham memorably said in the 1350s, Manners Makyth Man'. A Handbook on Good Manners for Children is considered to be the first treatise in Western Europe on the moral and practical education of children. It was a massive bestseller - indeed the biggest selling book of the sixteenth century - going into 130 editions over 300 years and being translated into 22 languages. In it, Erasmus concerns himself with matters such as how to dress, how to behave at table, how to converse with one's elders and contemporaries, how to address the opposite sex and much else. For example:'It's just as rude to lick greasy fingers as it is to wipe them on your clothing; use a cloth or napkin instead'. 'Some people, no sooner than they've sat down, immediately stick their hands into the dishes of food. This is the manner of wolves'. 'Making a raucous noise or shrieking intentionally when you sneeze, or showing off by carrying on sneezing on purpose, is very ill-mannered'. 'To fidget around in your seat, and to settle first on one buttock and then the next, gives the impression that you are repeatedly farting, or trying to fart'. The advice is as relevant today as it was 500 years ago.

Indeed.

I wonder if Mr Thackery used the book (in To Sir With Love).

***************
I mowed the back lawn after work.

what a meow is worth

The Daily Telegraph (UK) reported about a woman who spent thousands to ensure her cat could meow again.

Jean Kelly said the £10,000 bill for Cadbury's throat-corrective surgery was worth it to hear him miaow again
Photo: STEVE NICHOLSON

Why did she need to hear him meow? If she was close to her kitty, Jean would have been able to read Cadbury's mind, obviating the need to communicate by meowing.

****************
Back to work today.

I had a good time in Brisbane. It was good to catch up with a number of friends and family.

full service

will resume tomorrow.

Right Whale of a time

Brian Skerry's photographs are featured in the October 2008 National Geographic.



His notes are fascinating

It must have been pretty nerve-racking having such a large animal swim up to you.

It was amazing. I mean, I have to tell you there were days when I was at the bottom at 70 feet, and here comes this bus swimming down. I’m standing on the bottom, and as it comes down, I get on my knees, lean over backwards—my scuba tank is now digging into the sand. And of course their eyes are on the side of their heads, so it had to turn and look at me. It came within inches. Here’s this softball-size whale eye looking at me. But then it stops—stops on a dime. It’s just hovering there, and literally one flick of its tail, and it would have crushed me like a bug. But it doesn’t. It was just highly curious.

Awesome!

*************
Almost ready to go to Brisbane tomorrow.

Doctor Who in the Guardian

The Guardian online has a huge Doctor Who section under its media heading.

www.guardian.co.uk/media/doctorwho

Awesome!

******************
Happy Thursday!

eating kangaroo to save the planet

Reported in The Australian, the Australian government's chief climate change adviser has suggested we eat kangaroo to fight climate chang

Eat kangaroo to help combat climate change: Ross Garnaut
Samantha Maiden and Christian Kerr | October 01, 2008

AUSTRALIANS should replace beef and lamb on the dinner table with kangaroo to fight climate change, Kevin Rudd's chief climate change adviser says.

Professor Ross Garnaut has suggested in his final report on climate change that the nation's farmers should switch to the low-emission meat.

He also suggests Australian families should give up beef and eat more kangaroo.

"Sheep and cattle production is highly vulnerable to the biophysical impacts of climate change, such as water scarcity," he says.

"Australian marsupials emit negligible amounts of methane from enteric fermentation. This could be a source of international comparative advantage for Australia in livestock production.

"For most of Australia's human history of around 60,000 years, kangaroo was the main source of meat. It could again become important."

Professor Garnaut notes there are some barriers to this change, including livestock and farm-management issues, consumer resistance and the gradual nature of change in food tastes.

Michael Mulligan, president of the Kangaroo Industry Association, told the Taste of Kangaroo symposium at Sydney's Parliament House earlier this week that the national symbol had become a "more and more accepted everyday meat".

Professor Garnaut notes that researchers have modelled the potential for kangaroos to replace sheep and cattle for meat production in Australia's rangelands, where kangaroos are already harvested.

"They conclude that by 2020, beef cattle and sheep numbers in the rangelands could be reduced by seven million and 36 million respectively, and that this would create the opportunity for an increase in kangaroo numbers from 34 million today to 240million by 2020," he says.

But matters may be complicated by the treatment of agriculture under the proposed emissions trading scheme.

While Professor Garnaut has said agriculture should be included in an ETS as soon as possible, the Government's own Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme green paper says it will not be covered until at least 2015.

And a recipe was also included in the article

SPICY THAI KANGAROO SALAD

INGREDIENTS
1 tablespoon oil
400g kangaroo fillet, sliced thinly
2 eschalots, chopped finely
1 green onion, chopped
2 tablespoons lime juice
2 tablespoons fish sauce
2-3 teaspoons ground red chilli
2 tablespoons Oz Lemon
2 teaspoons sugar, or to taste
1/3 cup mint leaves
1/3 cup Thai basil leaves
Lettuce cups
Steamed jasmine rice

Khao koor
3 tablespoons uncooked jasmine rice

METHOD
Heat oil in a wok; cook kangaroo so that it seals but is still medium. Remove from heat and place in a bowl with the onions, lime juice, fish sauce, chilli, Oz Lemon, sugar and herbs; toss to combine. Serve with lettuce cups or jasmine rice and sprinkle with khao koor (ground toasted rice). To make khao koor, heat a wok until fairly hot; add uncooked jasmine rice. Toss rice until it starts to turn golden brown. Remove from heat and allow to cool. Grind to a fairly coarse powder with a mortar and pestle or a blender.
Serves 2-4

MIX & MAX
For this thrillingly flavoured 'roo dish, you need a red with bold personality, heaps of spiciness, perfume and a rich, almost sweet fullness - a Barossa grenache or a shiraz viognier blend.

Kangaroo is a very tasty meat. During cooking, the smell is a bit strong though.

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Midweek.