Defrag

I spent some hours yesterday doing a defragment of Moses (the tablet PC). You would think I would schedule this very important maintenance task rather than thinking about it only after noticing Mo being a bit not itself. In the end I let it run overnight which seems to have worked. Now I can concentrate on a couple of little tasks I have been deferring.

Time's not up

In the news this week - Emma Tillman who took out the title of world's oldest living person last week - and held it for four days. The current oldest living person is believed to live in Japan. So what does it take to make it that far - there are lots of attributions - good, clean leaving, a scotch a day - you've heard it all before. But maybe luck has something to do with it - like for the 100 year-old woman in Sydney this week who spent 15 hours trapped under a grandfather clock. She had apparently got up in the middle of the night, tripped, grabbed the clock to steady herself - and pulled it down on top of her. Neighbours heard her cries for help and she was taken to hospital where she is in a serious but stable condition. It's likely that she will be kept in hospital for a couple of days but she is expected to make a full recovery. Obviously, when time came crashing down on her, her time wasn't up yet.

Treatment options

Last year I blogged about the 50,000 people who die of snake bite in India each year because of the lack of proper treatment. Seems a similar situation may now exist in Peru where rabid bats have killed 11 children since Christmas Day. The report, which quotes the regional health director, said many vicitims were poor people who slept out in the open although others slept under mosquito netting. Pity it wasn't bat netting - or that treatment isn't available.

Touching on typing

Most of us have an inner touch typist waiting to get out - trust me it's faster to get ideas out if you're not pecking at the keys searching for the next letter.  Help is at hand.  Actually help is knowing where to put your hands and a NSW woman has come up with a great idea which will have you putting your fingers on the right keys faster than you can type "The quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog."  The system she's developed relies on practice ... and labels which are colour coded and numbered which are stuck on the keys.  Even better, they're resilient enough not to wear out quickly - and use an adhesive that is supposed to NOT leave a gooey sticky mess on the keys when you remove them.  The Keyboard Genius is being sold through OfficeWorks in Australia, and will be distributed overseas by Kalnin.

Safe saw

Some time ago I was intrigued by news of the suicide pill - and I wondered how it had been tested.  Now there's the safe saw.  It has an automatic cut-off which grabs on to and immobilises the blade if it comes into contact with human flesh. This feature was demonstrated with a hotdog. But how is a hotdog like a finger - besides the obvious: shape?  It's cold, cooked and not alive.  Yes, the test was impressive, with just a nick on the hotdog - but on the basis of that, would you be game enough to use your finger to put it to the test - or just take their word for it?  And if it worked as well as suggested, wouldn't you think, for demonstration purposes, they would be prepared to ... well, perhaps not. (Thanks Vinicio for the videos.)

Silence is ...

probably an odd choice for a mobile phone ringtone.  But you can have it if you wish.  A San Francisco conceptual artists Jonathon Keats inspired by John Cag'es '50's piece - four minutes of silence composed for piano - has developed "My Cage".  It's a stream of silence compressed to a standard ringtone format.  (Of course there could be a small problem of knowing if you'd activated it or whether it just wasn't working!)

Lighting the way

Some people scoff at technology and gadgets but they can be useful.  I know I use my Palm and phone as torches (when I'm not using my headlamp).  I hadn't thought of using the iPod - but that's what helped a newbie mushroom picker who became lost in the woods in Oregon last November.  He used the light from his iPod nano screen as a flashlight and a beacon that rescuers used to spot him (then ... it's just taken me this long to post this).

On tour

Chances are that if you escaped from jail and were on the lam, you'd try to remain inconspicuous.  You'd probably steal cars to get as far away as possible.  Chances are that you wouldn't steal a singer's tour bus but that's apparently what one recent escapee in the States has done.  The short-version Yahoo report didn't mention if Crystal Gayle was in the bus when it was stolen, or how soon afterwards they were able to apprehend the escapee. However, since then, I have read the longer report:  she wasn't on the bus, and she expressed concern for the escapee for was trying to reach his terminally ill mother.  As well as the bus, he is suspected of stealing a pick-up truck, then the cab of a tractor-trailer, when he allegedly hooked to a Wal-Mart trailer with $300,000 in merchandise. Even though he parked the truck within 50m of his mother's home, it is unclear if he saw her before his re-capture.

Stunning good looks

Taser, makers of the stun gun, have launched a "consumer friendly" model. It comes in a variety of colours, and fits in a handbag to appeal to the safety and fashion conscious. Yes, you're going to be worried about the colour of the weapon that incapacitates a target by shooting a dart that pierces the skin and delivers a paralysing jolt of electricity. More good news - the newer model is likely to be significantly cheaper than the current model. Of course, just because one is safety and fashion conscious doesn't guarantee a conscience. Human rights group Amnesty International has long campaigned against the use of Tasers, which they claim have been linked to more than 150 deaths in the US and Canada since 2001.

Snake tales

There were stories of two snakes in the "odd news" today - one from Malaysia about a rather large snake - 7m - that had eaten a number of dogs guarding an orchard. Villagers who found the huge python did not harm it. Instead, they tied it to a tree then handed to wildlife officials. The other was about an Israeli health retreat - which could have make use of a 7m python. A newly introduced treatment is snake massage where those willing to pay the price, can have six non-venomous but very active snakes "run" loose over their bodies. Sound like something you wouldn't enjoy? The spa operator believes that once people get over any initial misgivings, they find physical contact with the snakes to be soothing. Right.

If you go down to the woods today ...

you could find that there has been a massacre of sorts. Where: a patch of bush (forest?) south of Perth, WA, at a place called Gnomesville. Why is it called that? Because it's home to about a thousand of them. Or was before persons unknown took it upon themselves to lop off the heads or smash several dozen of the locals. Emergency workers in WA are offering a reward for information on the "Gnomesville Massacre". Six orange-colored gnomes depicting emergency workers were among those destroyed, Gnomesville is apparently a popular tourist attraction, easily reached by buses visiting nearby vineyards.

Surfeit of smells

Had a less than wonderful start to the day with the discovery that one of the mini watermelons we bought at the markets on Saturday had exuded a foul-smelling clear foamy liquid - and lots of it. It had pooled in the bottom of a bag and seeped through that and spread over the kitchen floor. So I cleaned it up, all the while lamenting our choice of generic paper towels and not the more expensive absorbent type. Putting the disinfectant and paper towels away, I whiffed another something awful. It turned out to be the cat litter tray and a very fresh deposit which, had it been a smidgen to the left, would have been out of the tray. So I cleaned that up but then I heard one of my least favourite sounds - a cat vomiting. There are few things I hate more than cleaning up after a cat especially if non-absorbent paper towel is in the mix. Luckily there were no other surprises around the house this morning.

It's a sale

We go out to a fruit and vegetable market early on a Saturday morning sometimes. You can hire a trolley - which we do - by leaving a $10 deposit, of which $7 is refunded when you return it. This morning my partner returned it with instructions to sell it to someone for $8 if she could. This had happened to me once before. By buying someone else's trolley you save a couple of dollars on the deal - and while we've never done it, we have sold ours and made a dollar. And every dollar helps. Alas the whole concept was lost on my partner who was indeed approached by a trolley buyer. How much they asked - and they received the cheery reply "$7". It was only after the transaction was concluded that the penny dropped that I hadn't been making a joke. Ah well. Maybe we'll start on our fortune next time. And to be fair, the first time it happened I had to have it explained to me.

Tall storey

It may seem like a tall story but a man in the US has survived a fall from a 17th floor window at a Minneapolis hotel. Yes, he had some broken bones and internal injuries but he is expected to recover. The man, Joshua Hanson, 29, had returned to the hotel after a night of drinking and crashed through the floor-to-ceiling window at the end of a corridor. The report suggests he was running at the time. A roof awning, one floor above the ground, broke his fall.

Word for today

A new word on the news has attracted my attention. Upskirting. This is the act of photographing up someone's skirt. There has been a bit of it about at the Australian Open with a couple (three?) charged. There was also someone caught in a youth hostel - with a camera poked under a bathroom door. In one case the camera was concealed in a shoe. So is this a new phenomonem? Or just getting more coverage? And is there a reason for Upskirter interest in the tennis?

Where ...

Listening to Dr Karl (Kruszelnkicki) via pod the other day and the question was asked:

If time travel is possible - where are all the time travellers?

Reading choices

I have been pondering reading matter of late. I have just finished "Lullaby" by Chuck Palahniuk and even though the concept of the book was brilliant, the more I read, the more I questioned whether I would be able to recommend it to anyone. It may have had something to do with the necrophilia. Not that I'm a prude - or maybe I'll have to review that given my concerns about the 3rd World Products series. I'd stumbled across Book 1 through Fictionwise and about a third-way through I realised I was enjoying it enough to want to read more. So back to Fictionwise - and sure enough, there are eight more in the series - and all nine of them are in the one category - Erotica. Now you would have thought I'd have noticed a little thing like that while I was reading - and sure enough, a short while later, I chanced across the first almost gratuitous bonkfest in Book 1. Now I'm unsure whether I want to keep reading - because the further I read the more bonks there are - and, it seems, less story.

Truth in advertising

My young nephew is selling his car. Well he wants to and has a notice in its window to attract interest. Unfortunately he seems to have done too good a job. Each time he looks at the notice he thinks "I wouldn't mind owning that". One of the key features is the six-speaker sound system - which may or may not be a four-speaker system with another two wired in and knocking around in the back of the station wagon. Still he has had a bit of success with previous sales - and on complaints. I wonder if this could be the key to a career?

Water choices

We are currently in drought in varying degrees around Australia. Globally we are being warned of the dangers of a pandemic. It would be incredibly fraught if these challenges were to happen at the same time. If it takes 20 seconds to thoroughly wash your hands and if that represents x litres of water - where x is the actual amount (which I would include if I knew how to calculate x) - would we have enough water to survive the pandemic? Hmmm.

Another 15 minutes

American Idol is back with bumper ratings and more opportunities for people to be on television. But is it worth it? Especially if it takes the form of humiliation tv where Idol failed try-outs are featured complete with less than polite comments from the panel of judges. I'd like to say that no-one finds this behaviour funny but I don't believe that would be true. The Idol formula seems to call for at least one rude judge - and for them not to hold back. This is supposedly "entertainment" and for some it does seem to be. Even or perhaps especially, as Rosie "O'Donnell commented on the program The View earlier this week, when you are making fun of a person's physical appearance. But it behoves the question: if people know a joke will be made at their expense - and surely anyone who has seen the program knows that everyone is fair game - why would you do it? Why would you put yourself in that position? Does it all come back to the 15 minutes - or any minutes - of fame? Has this become the American Dream ... okay, to be fair - not just American?

15 minutes

Mobile Phones have been in the news of late but more for non-call related features. There was the story of a phone catching fire in a man's pocket causing him severe burns and $75,000 worth of property damage. (More recent reports say the phone may not have been the ignition agent although there have been no other options, not even spontaneous human combustion, offered). Another story related to mobile phone video capabilities. Images of Saddam Hussein's hanging were recorded via a mobile phone and posted on the internet. There are numerous stories of "happy slapping" - where an attack on a random victim is filmed by the assailants on their mobile phones and distributed, including posting to the net.
In another recent story it's not specified if the recording media was a mobile phone when three teenagers beat another girl while being videotaped, and then turned the camera on themselves to brag about the incident before posting the video online. Or if a US man used a mobile phone when he kidnapped, raped and tortured his wife, then hung her from a tree to film a two-hour bondage pornography video.
Have these incidents always happened? Or has the ability for people to broadcast to a wider audience quite easily and cheaply led to more people wanting and making/taking their "15 minutes" of fame? And then the public broadcasters give air time to the "newsworthy" ones?

Drinking contest

How many people does it take to stage a radio contest? Well if you don't count contestants - and if you take recent head lines as an indication - then 10 would seem a reasonable number. That's how many people were sacked this week after a woman died following a radio contest where people were asked to "Hold your Wee for a Wii". The contestants were required to drink as much water as they could, at a fairly rapid rate, without going to the toilet.
Unfortunately, too much water too quickly without elimination leads to water intoxication - where the body's balance of electrolytes is disrupted - causing brain swelling, seizures, coma or even death.
Jennifer Lea Strange is reported to have drunk around 2 gallons of water. (The reports I read do not indicate if this was enough for her to win the Nintendo game console). She reportedly did not look well, and called in sick to work after the contest. She was found dead at her home about five hours later.
Reports coming in now suggest that charges may be laid in relation to her death.

Television

I am watching the entire 7 seasons of Buffy and am enjoying it immensely. What an amazing mind Joss Wheldon must be - to conceive of Buffy and the other characters and their lives as teenagers and how they would grow and mature over the course of the show. I also love the way there are small references to future incidents which a first time viewer may not fully understand. Good stuff. At this stage - not taking into account that the first season was shorter than the others - I am half way through. So it must be time to start thinking about the next series to turn my attention to. By that I mean a series new to me, not a re-watch. And at this stage it may be Babylon 5. Let's see why some folk like it so. Oh, and that I found the first season for under $30 helped.

Happy whistler

It could be fair to say that happy people whistle. But how hard is it to smile and whistle at the same time? And have you ever whistled spontaneously while you were sad?

Real estate opportunity

Now is your chance to buy Bran Castle, formerly home to 15th Century prince Vlad Tepes also known as Vlad the Impaler - who inspired the Dracula character in Bram Stoker's novel. Word is that you can snare the castle for about $A99 million. Bargain.

Sky writing

Well you would probably think it would be fairly easy to find out how they form the letters in skywriting but for some reason this seems not to have made it on to the web. You can find out how high up the planes go and how big the letters are but nowhere can you find out if they do the letters flat, vertically or at an angle. Nor how they know how to form the letters. Do they work on a grid system or freehand? (Ta for having a look as well Deb.) But the news is that there is a new type of skywriting called sky typing where several planes fly parallel to each other and, controlled by a computer, they leave dot matrix style printing in their wake. I would like to see that.

What's in a name?

I started a new blog the other day and realised how many blogs there must be out there because it was fairly difficult to come up with a name I was happy with. Blogger kept offering options of course - and that was okay but not the same as just being able to have your first pic (sic heh heh). In the end I didn't mind but that was a chunk of time that I will never get back. Curious? Check out the link on the left. (I tried posting this from the mobile phone email account - a couple of times - but it didn't seem to work - but don't be surprised if it shows up again!)

The Dream

Back in September last year U.S. citizen (and mogul) Steve Wynn had just contracted to sell his Picasso "Le Reve " (The Dream) when he managed to put a hole in it with his elbow. The cost of the damage? He's saying the incident wiped $54 million off the painting's value. But will his insurer Lloyd's of London make a speedy settlement? Not so far. So Mr Wynn is suing them to move things along.
I suppose it makes sense that you would insure your artwork - and that you'd take out some sort of accidental insurance - but at what stage does personal responsibility get factored in? And is the insured value a set amount i.e. what Mr Wynn paid for it or is the value market price? Me thinks it would be unwise to dabble in these things without knowing.

Mole 1 - Man 0

A German man, a retired construction foreman, developed a high voltage device - a 380-volt cable and metal spikes rammed into the ground - to eradicate moles in his garden. Well that was the plan. Unfortunately all did not go as planned and he ended up electrocuting himself instead. The moles survived.

Recipe for ... ?

First take one TV cult show (Jackass). Add a drunk person; coffee table; hand; staple gun. You get the picture. Surprisingly, Jonathan Maybery, from Swansea, UK, says he was so busy laughing he didn't feel any pain while performing the stunt. I'm guessing that didn't last. And it will certainly give the paramedics who attended something to talk about: unable to separate Jonathan's hand, stapled, from the table, they took him and it to hospital.

Law and order

News in The Daily Telegraph (10 Jan 07) of a NSW Police office worker who pushed a woman in front of a train after she was criticised for coughing and spitting. The attack happened during the festive season and it has been suggested that the alleged attacker, Suzanne Kiloh, had consumed alcohol. Both women involved in the incident had been sitting at Circular Quay railway station when Kiloh began to "cough loudly and spit". Margaret Schestopalov, sitting nearby, allegedly said "Can you please stop spitting and cover your mouth" - which would seem a reasonable request for anybody, let alone someone had been hospitalised recently for respiratory illness. A couple of minutes later, Schestopalov stood to board an approaching train. It was then, according to court documents, that Kiloh stood up and walked with increasing speed [towards Ms Schestopalov] and with both her hands pushed [her] in the back causing her to propel forward and land face forward on railway tracks. Even though the train driver hit the emergency brakes, the front of the train travelled over Ms Schestopalov, who was severely injured in the incident. She is still in hospital more than a month after the incident. Facing court yesterday for the first time, Suzanne Kiloh's charges have been upgraded to include attempted murder.
The moral of the story: even though you may work with the law, it doesn't necessarily mean you're above it.

Milk with that?

Good news is that what scientists have long claimed - that tea is good for you - has been confirmed. But the European Heart Journal also had some bad news: while tea helps improve blood flow by increasing the ability of arteries to relax and expand, if you're partial to a wee drop of milk in your beverage, this counteracts the benefit!

Going Potty

The next and supposedly final instalment of the Harry Potter story has just become available for pre-order - and has topped the best seller list. Of course it matters not that the author is still writing the book nor that, once she finishes, it will still be at least another six months or so before it is edited and published. I will probably put an order in soon and hunker down for the wait ... Usually when I place a pre-order, it's for the very next week. (And who said I was an impulse buyer?)

Plane sailing

Thanks to "RainMan" (the movie) most of the world is aware that Qantas has an excellent safety record - notwithstanding that on a March 2006 flight from Singapore to Frankfurt, flew and successfully landed with a 3m hole in its fuselage. The hole was apparently the result of an exploding tyre on takeoff. The crew and passengers were unaware of the damage until the hole was noticed by ground staff and waiting passengers after it landed. No mention as made of anything that might have fallen out of the plane in transit (lost luggage anyone?) or where exactly on the plane the hole was (which is quite odd because it could also be about where the hole was not).
So if this happen with the "safest" airline, what can we expect from an airline in Mexico which doesn't have ticketing arrangements with Qantas and which we haven't previously heard about ... although this latter may not bea bad thing. You would think that if it had a dismal safety record, word would have reached us by now. Although it could be that news of incidents - similar the Qantas fuselage hole (a near miss?) - was not released.

Hey Scooby

What do Scooby-Doo, Muttley and Astro (the Jetson's dog not Boy) have in common? Besides the obvious ... that they're all cartoon dogs! They were all the work of animator Iwao Takamoto who recently died of heart failure, aged 81. As MSNBC reports: it was his creation of Scooby-Doo, the cowardly dog with an adventurous heart, that captivated audiences and endured for generations. Takamoto said he created Scooby-Doo after talking with a Great Dane breeder and named him after Frank Sinatra’s final phrase in “Strangers in the Night.” The breeder “showed me some pictures and talked about the important points of a Great Dane, like a straight back, straight legs, small chin and such." Of course, anyone familiar with Scooby knows he's nothing like this - because Takamoto decided to go completely counter to this and gave him a hump back, bowed legs, big chin - and the wrong color. Takamoto also worked on “Josie and the Pussy Cats,” “The Great Grape Ape Show,” “Harlem Globe Trotters” and “The Secret Squirrel Show.” Brings back some memories, doesn't it?

''Plutoed'

As you walk down the street carrying your murse, contemplating your next blog entry - because it's not a flog - does a feeling of truthiness come over you because you know you are about to be plutoed? And if so, do you thank all things good for the existence of the American Dialect Society and its continuing quest to find the word of the year. This year is is plutoed. As MSNBC reports: to "pluto" is "to demote or devalue someone or something," much like what happened to the former planet last year when the General Assembly of the International Astronomical Union decided Pluto didn't meet its definition of a planet. Other contenders this year were "climate canary" (an organism or species whose poor health or declining numbers hint at a larger environmental catastrophe on the horizon), as well as murse (man's purse), flog (a fake blog that promotes products) and macaca (an American citizen treated as an alien). "Truthiness" was top word last year. The word is credited to Comedy Central satirist Stephen Colbert, who defined it as "truth that comes from the gut, not books." Last month, an online survey by dictionary publisher Merriam-Webster also declared truthiness to be its word of theyear.The challenge ... today see if you can weave plutoed and truthiness into at least one conversation. (Thanks Vinnie, I managed one!)

Sky-writing

Apparently there is a guy who does most of the sky-writing along Australia's Eastern Seaboard. I know this because my boss met him over the holiday break. He was at the Camden airport and was in town to do skywriting for the start of the Sydney-Hobart Race and also to do a big question mark above the harbour on New Year's Eve. I have always been enthralled by skywriters and how they draw their symbols in the sky - how they know how to form the letters. So I asked the boss if he'd found out how it was done - and he said yes ... he had - but what he'd found out was how they made the smoke - not how they used it. But he thinks he will see him out at the airport again and, if he does, he will certainly ask more questions!

Life's little mysteries

From the U.S. comes a tale of two cities - New York where a strange odour hung in the air, and Austin where birds didn't. Both are mysteries and big ones considering quite a few city blocks were closed in Austin where the bird bodies littered the streets. At time of writing (which is to say I'm not going on to the web to check out what's been happening with these stories) no apparent cause had been discovered for either of these ... but it is curious, isn't it. Is there something in the air?

Peoples names

Going through my Contacts to tidy up in the move from Pocket PC to Palm, l realised that there are some people whose last name l never use and was surprised to find there was a surname! At first l thought l had inadvertently merged two names was my confusion.
(And on the subject of names, let's say a big hello to Pantaloma and Zerfina, two cats who shared the waiting room with us at the vet's the other evening.)

Heart attack

Well, he may have thought he was going for the heart, but it turns out it was really a part of a lung - which is certainly no consolation to the man, a fellow prison inmate, who was killed in the process. The attack happened last week in a French prison and apparently followed an unsuccessful request for isolation by the (now) self-confessed killer who is said to be schizophrenic. No reason has been given for the attack but according to a report in The Daily Telegraph, a saucepan with traces of fat and onions was being examined. So where did the onion come from?

Power

How does power work? As in electricity. I have often wondered if electrical power varies - especially between home and the office. I have noticed that both the laptop and the Palm charge faster in the office. And seem to hold their charge better. Of course this could be some kind of aberration but it doesn't feel like it. This may give the Palm the new lease of (battery) life I've been looking for - especially now that I am using it more.

Advertising vs packaging?

Which works better at getting the message across to teenagers ... pastel-coloured, fruit-flavoured cigarettes in packs which illuminate under fluorescent lights OR pictures of people whose mouths or limbs are affected by cigarette-related diseases and/or graphic representations of the chemicals inhaled while smoking cigarettes. Tough one isn't it? Which is probably why there are moves afoot to ban the funky packaging ... although I would also appreciate it if they would pull the graphic ads as well - or work out a way of them being visible only to current smokers. Wouldn't that be interesting - truly targetted marketing!

All coming out in the Wash?

Hmmm. Hate to sound cynical but did you hear about the death of the newly-elected mayor of a town in Louisiana who was found dead a couple of days before he was due to take office? The body of Gerald Washington was found on the weekend, shot once in the chest. But was it the suicide the coroner claims, or does it have more to do with that Wash (as Gerald was known) was the first black mayor-elect in the mainly white town? Wash's family has demanded a state police inquiry into his death.

Car No Go

am sitting waiting for roadside assistance. When leaving my brother's place last night (after a wonderful post-Xmas celebration) the car was hesitant to start, and this morning when we were about to set off to visit Sooz's Dad, it simply refused to go. Thank goodness for roadside assistance organisations - and keeping one's membership up to date.
The good news is that the expected 90 minute wait was about 20, and the wait while Vaughan (the previously unnamed patrol-man) procured a new battery for the car, was even shorter! The even better news is that the alternator is AOK, so it was just a dud battery - 3 years and 2 days after the last one - which tells you that their records are fairly wonderful because he was the one who told me!

Oversized and on the road

On the drive up, we came across a few oversized cargo loads - and it was amazing that they could actually get some of them over the bridges we traversed. Perhaps the biggest was the house - cut in two - making its way down the highway. It seemed that the bigger the load - the further ahead went the lead car - sometimes to block traffic coming in the other direction so the load could be taken onto the other side of the road - definitely making it easier in some places where the bridge on the road north was enclosed, but in the other direction was open.
And just so we can share the view from the vehicle, here's what it looked like in front of us. If you look at the bridge, you can see another wide load!

Advertising

It may have been because people were more receptive to reading about drinks at the post-Christmas dinner table, but at one stage someone noticed this on the back of a beverage bottle. And to think there are people making a living out of doing this!

Titanic - The Musical

I read in one of the papers while I was in holiday (not sure which one, I was reading 4 a day at one stage there) that Titanic … The Musical has sunk. Maybe it will have a revival in a few years time for the 100th anniversary of the tragedy.

Christmas lights

While we were in Toowoomba, we took Mum and Dad for our annual pilgrimage of the Christmas lights. There were some spectacular ones this year - including one in Wagga Street with a carousel with the three wise men, television sets for raising awareness for donations to charity, lights depicting moving trains and Christmas puddings - and a fake chimney on the roof complete with man in Santa Claus suit. Truly wonderful. I would be able to provide more details but I was the one who was driving at the time - Dad was unable to get out of the vehicle and the streets weren't wide enough to stop - so we did a crawl by through vehicular and pedestrian traffic. In another part of town, where several houses in the same street had turned their hands to exterior illumination, there were children in Santa suits handing out candy canes - which were put to good use in decorating Mum and Dad's yukka cum Christmas tree.

Holidays

We are on "the great trip north" … with stops to see family and friends. We are roughly half-way - ie almost on our way back - distance-wise at least. We have seen many things so far on our trip including cows, Christmas lights … and there were other things - like the huge bottle of Bundaberg Rum, and cows … and some calves.

Just the shot

We had a coffee in a little cafe in Grafton on Saturday afternoon (as part of the great trip north) and when I asked for my usual (a large flat white weak very hot), it came as a mug of hot milk with a small jug of coffee on the side. That way I could make it to the exact strength I required. What a good idea. I told them so and said that lot of people didn't like it that way - they'd rather just get their coffee pre-made.

Happy Birthday Lizzie!!!

We have been thinking of you ... and hope you had a wonderful day.

Bright idea

If I put my mind to it, I could probably be quite a naughty person. As I was parking the car across the road from Sydney University (we're going to Carolfest there tonight), I noticed I was quite near to the speed camera pointing along Parramatta Road. By quite near, I mean next to, and at roughly the same level (the street where I park is slightly elevated). It occurred to me in a moment of inspiration that I could probably set myself up near the camera with my own camera - and just "flash" passing drivers to make them think they had been "caught" speeding. After I stopped laughing, I realised that it would actually be a fairly terrible thing to do - and it wouldn't work during the daytime unless one had a pretty strong flash. Can't help wondering how effective it would be at night though. *Scratches chin thoughtfully*.

Lime on the line

I should have posted the photograph of this new Mercedes Benz maxi cab last week - when I caught it from Summer Hill to Marrickville. At that stage it was 8 days old ... and a magnificient ride to boot. It is part of Sydney's newest taxi fleet, which was officially launched this week by Macquarie Bank.

Real-life TV

What do Erik Estrada (remember him from CHiPs?), La Toya Jackson, son-of-Ozzy Jack Osbourne, pro wrestler Trish Stratus and Jackass star Jason Acuna have in common. If you suggested something to do with the police you might be right - depending on which side of the badge you thought they'd be on. They are the five "celebrities" who will be featured on the CBS reality series Armed and Famous, as they train to become police officers in Muncie, Ind., reports Variety. I'm not quite sure how this gets to be called "reality", or whether it will make good "television" but I think I'm glad that I'm not planning a visit to Indiana in the near future.

Please explain

No wonder some call it the Silly Season ... "Jesus is the rizzle for the sizzle" seems to lack all reason!

Christmas lights

This the season to be jolly ... and for exterior illumination and decoration! First up ... Deb and Paul's ... great showing - and a wonderful outing for the experiment dish Black Forest Trifle (mmmm).

And then ... the others - a house around the corner from theirs, then street decorations in Martin Plaza/Place (can never remember what it's called) and the illuminated facade of Sydney Town Hall.

Flying first

After dying on a British Airways flight from Heathrow to Boston recently, a business class passenger was strapped into a semi-reclining seat in first class for the rest of the flight. It's a hell of a way to get an upgrade.

Xmas tree pictures

The Christmas Tree at the QVB in Sydney is huge - and really quite difficult to get a picture of.

Unlucky

... although "unlikely" could also apply. A woman who had been missing for two weeks was found - wedged upside down behind a bookcase in her room, in the house she shared with her family. It was feared that she had been abducted, and she was only found after her sister noticed a foot protruding from behind the 6 ft book case. It appears that she became trapped while reaching behind the shelf perhaps to adjust a television cord. The woman was apparently quite petite which could explain why she was unable to free herself. It seems the cause of death was suffocation.

Nature's own

Also at Bateau Bay, while going to visit Sooz's Dad, and being unable to find a spot in the car park, I took the car a bit further up the road - and on the walk back, found a nest which had fallen from a tree. Not sure what happened to the owners - but there didn't appear to be any broken eggs in the immediate vicinity - but given how light the hair/twig/fluff construction was, it could have blown in from some distance away. (If you type "fluff" as "flugg" it really makes it sound quite different, doesn't it?) (In fact, now that the Cole Report has been released and the Australian Wheat Board has come out not exactly smelling of roses, the name Flugge takes on a different meaning!)

More Xmas

At 10:15 yesterday morning, at the Bateau Bay, I heard my first Christmas carol in a shopping centre for the year. I'm not sure if Xmas has come earlier this year, or if I am just more aware of it. Only 27 big sleeps to go now.

Career choice

We currently have colleagues from Singapore visiting, one of whom recently married. She is keen to let people know her husband's profession - treasure hunter. Of course, you could also say that he's a marine archaeologist but "treasure hunter" seems so much more fun, daring and swashbuckling! ... and romantic. At their wedding, he said that she was the greatest treasure he had ever found.

For the ladies

The small Brazilian town of Novo Santo Antonio has started to distribute Viagara to its elderly citizens - reportedly spicing up the sex lives of dozens of local residents. Of course, it has had an unwanted side effect - some of the men have started sleeping with people other than their wives. In a bid to keep it all in the family, it looks like men signing up for the program may now have their Viagara distributed to their wives - who can then slip into a something a little more comfortable - and slip them a little something - when they're in the mood. The Reuters report quoted the Mayor of Nova Santo Antonio as saying that since the "Pinto Alegre" ("Happy Penis") program started, the elderly population has been "much happier".

The cost of love

A man wanted for a double homicide in Arkansas was arrested on the weekend in Wisconsin after he posted his name, picture and address on an online dating Web site. This wouldn't have been so critical but for that he was also featured on television's America's Most Wanted. So Calvin A. Bennett, 26, has been charged with two counts of murder in the killings of Pierce Odell, 79, and his wife, Mary, 78, who were found shot to death late last month. Authorities said Bennett had confessed to killing the Odells during a botched burglary. One of the messages on Bennett's Web posting said he "liked to cuddle." (Reuters Limited)

G(u)ilt?

A thief who swallowed a ring he stole from a jeweller's window display developed acute abdominal pains during questioning by police. They had apprehended him with an empty box soon after the theft but he said there had been no ring in it. Not so insisted the jeweller - hence the questioning. The thief was rushed to hospital with suspected appendicitus but irstead of an inflamed organ, doctors found the ring ... and removed it with pincers on a stomach tube. The odd thing was that there was no medical reason for the pain. Guilt perhaps? Or maybe he just doesn't have the stomach for this line of business.
And speaking of lines ... there has been a rash of releases of new gaming consoles leading to long-ish lines of want-to-be buyers outside participating outlets. So imagine the surprise when one such line was held up by armed robbers!

Happy Holidays

Welcome to Monday 20 November. When phoning the local council to arrange a waste pick-up this morning, I was greeted with Muzak to the tune of Deck the Halls and a message wishing me and my family the best for the holiday season and the New Year.

Sculpture by the Sea

Well, at 7am this morning we were at Bondi Beach and about to set off to view Sculpture by the Sea. We had left it to the last day and were hoping to beat the others who wanted to get in before it was gone. Now if only we'd picked up one of the little books that told us what each of the pieces was ... but we had a go at guessing some!

Less is more ...


Dog's life ...


Wooden heart


Some boats (actually the first two shots are the same boat ...)


and the rest ...

Numbers up

A poll back in August in the US showed that more Americans could name the Three Stooges than their three branches of Government. 74% could correctly name Larry Moe and Curly, while only 42% could identify Executive, Judicial and Legislative. In the same poll, one quarter of Americans could name 2 members of the Supreme Court while three-quarters could name 2 of Snow White's Seven Dwarfs. (NPR 15/8/06)

Personal ad space

On the bus this morning one of the regulars was wearing something new ... a flashing sign - a single line LED digital display - the whole thing about the size of a credit card - just slightly longer, and not quite as wide. It was displaying the message (over and over and over and over again) "starts Dec 1st www.followmyfitness.com" although really it was the other way around, starting with the www bit - but every time I try to write it that way here, it turns into a web link (that doesn't work).
It's an interesting concept - for personal advertising and, well, personal advertising. If you've a mind to, visit the site and you'll see what I mean.

Unnatural use of a Palm

Just when you thought you'd seen everything - Palm being used for all manner of wonderful things including delivery confirmations, restaurant order taking - along comes the unkindest cut of all ... Palm being used for writing traffic citations (or, as we know it here in Australia, parking tickets). I guess it was only a matter of time but how could something with so many good points be used for something so ... so ... mercenary!

In the pink ...

... which is a huge difference from Jennifer's normal "black on black" wardrobe - except for the previous only exception - a denim jacket. But now, today, she is wearing ... colour! (She allowed me to take this photograph as proof of this momentous occasion!)

Not snake charming

If you want to take the Bible literally, you could try following Mark 16:17-18 which talks about "them that believe" and how they should be able to "take up serpents" without being harmed. I'm not sure that the snake handling churches test believers with "drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them" although that could explain what happened at a church in the US last year when the liquid refreshments were poisoned. But back to serpent handling ... and even though it is illegal in many areas in the US, included Kentucky, it's still happening. And it may have claimed a victim earlier this week. Linda Long, 48, was bitten Sunday at East London Holiness Church (London, KY), where neighbors said the reptiles are handled as part of religious services, according to The Lexington Herald-Leader. Long died four hours after being bitten. So, was she one of "them that believe". I can't imagine that she would have picked up the snake if she didn't think she was - and if she didn't, and someone forced the snake on her - would that constitute some form of manslaughter or homicide?

Massaging - the truth.

Massages can be dangerous. A current affairs program recently told of a young woman who was seriously injured while being given a massage at work. She had become either a paraplegic or quadriplegic (I only saw the teaser, so don't know the full details). The other person who knows the danger of massages must be the US Pastor Haggard who is currently spending time away from his flock for his extracurricular activities with a man who allegedly supplied him with drugs and other services. Pastor Haggard says that all he was really doing was getting a massage. (The explanation may have changed since that report came out.)

Seeing things

People see different things - ever if they are ostensibly looking at the same thing: that is apparently why the Police prefer to have one witness only to an event. rather than several. We've all heard of experiments were psychology students watch a video and are told to watch for something - and are so busy concentrating on that, they don't notice the gorilla. We all have selective attention - and filtering! Hopefully I will never be called on to be a witness. I know my powers of observation and/or recall are, well, challenged.

Project Management

I was chatting with an acquaintance the other day about a past project- and she said, matter-of-factly, that it had been the reason for her daughter's birth. She fell pregnant rather than work on a project she knew was going to be horrendous ... and she hadn't been wrong! Apparently, years later they still. talk about how much that project failed. I wonder how many people do that - manage (manipulate is probably too strong a word) their way out of troublesome projects.

Day out

I decided to go gadget looking today - at an electronic outlet at Auburn, 30-40 minutes drive from home. Imagine my surprise then when l arrived to find that even though I was there, it no longer was. How could this have happened in the two years since I was last there? But I did have a look through two of the stores now on the site - office stationery - and electrical appliances. But it just wasn't the same - but it was substantially cheaper i.e. I didn't buy anything!

Mobile phone calls up in the air

It seems that the stories we've been told about cell phones interfering with aircraft navigation equipment may not be entirely true. Otherwise, why would Emirates be looking to introduce calls on their planes in the new year? You won't be able to use your phone while the plane is landing, taking off, or ascending or descending during flight - but once above 6850m (or 20,000ft) and steady - you'll be good to go. But will they have a special section for people wishing to use their phones mid-flight and loudly proclaim "I'm on the plane …"? And will there be a rule about the type and volume of ringtones that are allowed in-flight? And - if you flush someone's mobile phone down an aircraft toilet - will it be able to be retrieved, and if so, will it still work. (This is assuming the stories of toilet waste from planes being ejected, frozen, is not true. If it is … looks like someone on the ground might get a big surprise ... and a phone!)

AIDS aids

A South African company has developed a new tool in the fight against AIDS (and other sexually transmitted diseases). It's a condom that can be put on quickly - straight from the packaging without unwrapping, in about 3 seconds. The time it normally takes to find, unpack, etc. etc. a condom is often cited as the reason for not taking the precaution of donning one. Hopefully the Pronto Condom will help increase rates of use - and lead to a decrease in STIs.

Dead Democrat beats Living Republican

I read on the web (an odd news site somewhere) that in one of the seats recently contested in the American elections, a woman who had died two months before the ballot - too near it to be removed from the proceedings - actually polled better than the Republican candidate in that electorate. If it is true, no doubt there will be jokes doing the rounds about it in due course. If it's not true, some people will no doubt think that it should be. (Does the name Marie Steichen ring a bell?)

Watch This Space

This is old news now, but recently the US moved to adopt a tough new space policy - designed to stop any country from using space for purposes hostile to the US. It didn't say if they would return the courtesy. But it did suggest that it wouldn't use weapons to deny its "adversaries" access to space. Wonder if they're referring to military or commercial adversaries. If you're interested in finding out more, the BBC report carries a link to the report.

Unattached

Reuters recently carried the story of a Viennese man who cut off his ring finger and presented it, with his wedding band still on it, to his ex-wife after an acrimonious divorce. After being charged with dangerous harassment and assault, he told a preliminary hearing he did not regret having cut off the finger and had chosen deliberately not to reattach it. "It was an act of breaking free," the man was quoted as saying. He did not miss his finger, could work well without it and did not plan on getting married again anyway, he said.

The eyes have it

... or more to the point, it seems that the eyes may help make sure you don't take it unless it's yours. The feeling of being watched makes people act more honestly, even if the eyes are not real, a study from the Newcastle University (UK) suggests. They tested this by monitoring whether people put money in an "honesty box" to pay for drinks in a canteen. If a poster above the box was a pair of eyes, people were more likely to be "honest" than if the poster was of flowers. The experiment was conducted with an existing "honesty box" and there was no mention in the BBC report I read if the same individuals changed their behaviour based on the poster. In fact, it seems that no-one was actually watching and taking notes of the experiment. As the BBC report said: "At the end of every week, the researchers calculated the total amount of money collected and the amount of drink likely to have been consumed."

Subway in the news

Did a woman really find part of a human finger in a Subway sandwich? Or is it a hoax like the one that cost the Wendys chain $2.5 million last year after a woman conspired with her husband to use his workmate's finger - severed in a workplace accident and surrendered in lieu of a debt - in the extortion bid. Investigations are now underway with the Subway claim. Hopefully it won't have customers asking them to amend their slogan from "Eat Fresh" to "Eat Flesh".

Harsh punishment?

A crew from an entertainment network recently trespassed in the grounds of Brad Pitt's Hollywood home. A statement from E! Networks said it had not authorised "anyone working on its programme to improperly intrude onto private property". The report then went on to say that the individuals involved had been "terminated". Well, that might seem a bit harsh - but it might teach the other papparazi a lesson.

Cat on a ....

treadmill. Really. Lots of them. Visit the Wired story to see footage of these amazing feets.

Boy Humour

At breakfast at our favourite cafe the other morning we were within earshot of two couples and their children. The men were chatting - and one of them started talking about his work in the building trade ... and how one of their team had found a dead rat in a roof, only a few months dead and "still juicy" ... so they put it in some guy's desk. Pretty funny he thought. Almost as funny as when they raised a place on stumps and instead of putting the usual keys there, put a mousetrap there, primed and ready to go - and then sent one of the guys to check for the keys. Well, that was also enough to have them laughing. It's certainly got me thinking about boy humour and how different it can be.

Clear vision

The US has decided to risk a mission to fix the Hubble space telescope. And it is not without risk … a great deal of risk. You'd have to be really pleased to be one of the astronauts chosen - although it seems they have done it before and are being re-formed for the mission. So what's the risk? If something goes wrong with the Shuttle, they are too far away from the Space Station to take refuge there. So, to minimise the risks, there will be a second Shuttle on standby to mount a rescue mission if required. I hadn't realised that the Hubble is actually in orbit and will one day come crashing back to Earth.

All at sea

Ellen Walker's ashes have been scattered in the Atlantic Ocean ... 92 years after she was conceived on board the Titanic. Her father, Henry Morley, died in the sinking leaving behind a wife - as well as Ellen's mother, Kate Phillips. (The already married) Henry and Kate were eloping and traveling under the assumed names Mr and Mrs Marshall. Their story is said to have inspired the blockbuster film Titanic.
And speaking of the Titanic, the year the movie was produced, one of the more popular Halloween costumes was "frozen victims". Which may or may not be more tasteful than one of the costumes doing the rounds this year - a bloody stingray barb attached to a khaki shirt - in memory of Steve Irwin. Not sure whether costumers or the folk at South Park thought of it first - because a recent episode of that show had Steve Irwin (complete with stingray) attending a party in Hell. Is it bad taste or a way of people to help people cope with grief? The jury may still be out on this one.

The Frugals

Have you heard of "The Frugals"? Could sound a bit like a new children's show complete with large primary-coloured oddities. In actuality, it's a new movement which seeks to improve on "reduce, reuse, recycle" by not buying anything new. There are about 1500 self-avowed Frugals currently in the US - which seems to be where the movement started. Would you be able to meet the challenge? I'm not sure I would. Ah to be cursed with a love of technology and gadgets! Of course, being a Frugal would not mean that you couldn't have these things - it would just mean you had to be creative about how you acquired them - you could borrow or trade, find, get review samples - there are probably a whole lot of ways you could do it. A woman being interviewed on the Chris Evans show said she had spent some ridiculously small amount of money on "new" things - but it was actually very impressive. The family had embraced trading in a big way- for example, they trade eggs for tea bags. I can feel an exchange economy coming on.

That's entertainment?

If you're planning to see Saw III, be prepared for more fright than you may be able to handle. Several UK moviegoers have fainted, and at least five (including one who had to be hospitalised) have needed to be treated for adverse reaction to torture scenes. There have also been reports of people running screaming from cinemas. Now, you know, that won't be me. I haven't seen either of the first two Saw movies because the premise of people being captured and tortured just doesn't seem like entertainment to me.

You are feeling sleepy ...

Apparently you can't do stage hypnosis and be a hypnotherapist in the UK. It would be a hard choice to make: whether to help someone stop smoking - or make them act like a chicken.

Gullible.com latest

The mouth of an average vegetarian contains about twice the odor-causing bacteria than that of a non-vegetarian.
While this may or not be true, certainly their emissions seem to be very "fruity"!

Postal

How scary would it be if one of the so-called rogue nations went nuclear AND postal at the same time?

Pigeon

Pelican ... its beak holds more than its belly can - which isn't exactly true - just ask visitors to London's Hyde Park last week who watched in horror as one of the resident pelicans scooped up and devoured a passing pigeon. The pigeon went down flapping and fighting - but went down nevertheless.

Workplace safety

Go-Go girls in Bangkok are to get training in classical dance to help prevent pole-swinging strains and other gyration injuries. (It didn't say whether they would be padding the Poles .... which are getting swung - sorry - bad joke.)

Face Off On

British surgeons have been given the go-ahead to do the first full-face transplant. But which of the 60-odd people waiting will be chosen as the first? As well as tissue matching, they have to make sure there is a match for skin tone, texture and hair colour. But what if the transplant doesn't take? But where would people get the donor material for face transplants? It reminds me of bad detective fiction where the villain on the run would have their face re-made so no-one would recognise them. I'm sure this isn't the same - but imagine if people were able to get face transplants to conceal their identity - although apparently when you get a full face transplant, it's just the skin you're getting - not all the bone structure e and other characteristics which make you look like you. You might get gangs roaming the country for face donors - beating them up to convince them to go with them - and the head gangmember saying "not the face ... not the face!".
Eye lash transplants are also available now. But wouldn't it be awful if the surgeons mistakenly put eye BROW hairs in instead of eyelash hairs. And wouldn't it be worse if the donor were someone like Bob Menzies (owner of incredibly bushy eyebrows while he was alive).

Cleaning up

What's $405,000 dividied by $494 - because if you can work that out, you can work out how many hours worth of naked cleaner Michael Lee had at the expense of the firm where he worked as a financial director. Not that they realised - but once Michael had drained his own bank account paying for the "call girl" to dust and vacuum wearing only rubber gloves - he couldn't give her up. And he had already spent $197,000 via credit card (after his own $49,000). He gave himself up to local police when his conscience got the better of him. One of his neighbours seemed most surprised that even though Michael was paying top dollar for his cleaner, his place was absolutely filthy.
I wonder how many times a week she visited. (My calculator suggests nearly 820 hours of service for his employer's $404k - hopefully it made him a happy person around the office!)

Christmas comes early

Well, there you have it. Proof that Christmas is getting earlier each year. These snaps are from Sydney's Queen Victoria Building where it was reported that "many trucks arrived and about 100 men" put up the Christmas Tree and sundry decorations overnight. The tree is massive and goes all the way to the top of the building! Well worth a look if you're about ... but no need to rush - at this rate it's going to be there for at least two months - that would also be a sixth of the year, in excess of 60 days - you get the picture!

The Urawaza Way

I am on the search for more information about Urawaza - secret tips for solving life's little problems - like how to make a band-aid stay on your finger, how to improve your bowling game and how to extend your reach to help touch your toes. I found out about Urawaza through a Wired article - but I want more. I went to YouTube but it seems all the Urawaza clips have been pulled because they infringed copyright. Drat. At this rate I may have to move to Japan so I can watch the Urawaza show on television there - and see the tips tried in real time in front of a live studio audience. (Yes, I know, not point doing it in front of a dead one!)

Shower

What do you do in the shower - how long does it take - and how much water does it waste? With Australia in the grip of a continuing drought, the thoughts of many are turning to water conservation - and how better to conserve water than by studying people's shower habits? Apparently locals here in Sydney are wasting water by singing, day-dreaming and playing with toys rather than concentrating on washing. They're also shaving legs, shaving faces, washing hair and cleaning teeth - good grief! What else will people think to do in the shower? The most amazing thing - besides that Sydney water authorities are distributing thousands of shower timers - was that all these other activities seemed to take about 8 minutes each. It's made me determined to see how long my showers are - in minutes as opposed to "half the hot water" (we have a very small hot water system).