Thursday, March 31, 2011

Cutting remarks

Who ever said "the fastest way to a man's heart is through his stomach" may not have meant that absolutely literally- but now that I have that mental image - it isn't going away.

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

The definition of disappointment

I was very excited for a few moments there. In looking up a puzzle answer, I came across the suggested word "epigaeous" - wow! What a fantastic word for a game of Scrabble - there's at least one of every vowel and it sounds great (or would if I knew how to produce it ... but, alas, if there is mo definition for it - and there appears not to be - it doesn't count! Oops, always good to get a second - or third opinion - it apparently means "Growing on, or close to, the ground.". (If we play Scrabble together ... you never saw this!)

Saturday, March 26, 2011

Giving it up for Lent?

According to a recent study church-goers are more likely to put on weight than their non-church-going associates. While this did not appear to be limited to any one denomination - and there was no clear "winner", it appears that a likely reason for people gaining pounds for piety is that they are more likely to have a bigger social network and eat more often. But this may not be as big a problem as it would seem because other research suggests organized religion will soon be extinct in nine countries.

Getting it right?

What responsibility do bloggers have to make sure that what they post is right? I read a blog today which highlighted the tussle between Prime Minister Julia Gillard and Opposition Leader Tony Abbott in today's election. Well, no gold stars here because it is not a Federal election but a NSW State election which has little to do with the ongoing leadership of Australia. So what do bloggers do, if anything, to ensure their personal opinion/comment is based on some sort of fact?

New experiences

It's a challenge sometimes to want to try new and/or exciting things (because, let's be truthful here, some new things are NOT exciting) but it's often worth the effort. Must try harder!

Friday, March 25, 2011

Really?

Heard on the radio this morning: "Carmel will come back to haunt him.". It's not what they said (karma!!!!) but it is what I heard.

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Where there's a will ...

I'm not sure I heard it correctly but I thought it said that a man had been stabbed 27 times and then bundled into the boot of a car - and then he escaped at Uki (a small town in northern NSW) and has survived. Another man has been charged with attempted murder. But wow - what a will to live the man who was stabbed must have. And what presence of mind to know/remember that you can open a boot from inside it.

Thursday, March 10, 2011

Look out - he's got a ...

... towel! It makes a change from the towel animals Lisa saw on her Alaskan cruise but it's a shame when people use towels not for good but for evil. A man - described in the press as "a speed-fueled bank robber" - used a towel disguised as a gun to "threaten a teller" and carry out "an armed robbery" in Broadbeach QLD last year. After William Edward Hamilton, 33, pleaded guilty, he was sentenced to six years' jail time. I can't help but wonder whether he will be permitted to have terry-towelling in there with him - you'd have to be concerned that given his obviously well-honed towel skills he would be able to fashion some sort of escape equipment ... like a shovel or perhaps even a helicopter!

But what can be done about it?

A parliamentary committee in Queensland is reportedly examining whether death poses a pollution hazard. Hmmm - it can certainly pose a personal hazard. Their concern is that both burial and cremation release "carcinogens with significant impacts on the environment". Will they need to come up with alternatives? I've always thought embalming a loved one and having them encased in a transparent coffee table may be a (good?) talking point but it isn't for me; or perhaps sending them heaven-ward ... and out of Earth's atmosphere. The report I read didn't give the committee's terms of reference nor a timeframe for completion of the study but I suspect there will be lots of people dying for their findings.

Tuesday, March 08, 2011

Health check

Queensland Health is confident that it's new payroll system - introduced a year ago and plagued with problems - is now "under control". When the system first went "live" - without the benefit of running in tandem with the old system for even one pay run - thousands of nurses and hospital workers were underpaid, overpaid or just not paid at all. The good news is, now that the system's "under control" only 31 staff members reported they had not been paid in the last pay cycle. Hmmm ... this could mean to some that the system still doesn't have its clean bill of health! And could it really be true that the problems with the system have pushed the price of implementing it from $60 million to $210 million?

Sunday, March 06, 2011

Get the picture

Photos are amazing things and I'm sure that many a treatise has been based on then. But have they been based on the original - as in unedited - version or on the effect after the pic has been through some photo editing software? I used to be a puritan about not editing pics but somewhere over the last while I seem to have lost that - as I noticed this evening as I cropped and adjusted the contrast/brightness of a plc taken with the iPhone and really in need of some help. The only problem was working out which software to use - even though I had been determined not to use one, I had kept downloading programs - just in case!