Happy 2010

A beautiful 2010 and a brand new decade ahead for us all.

Enjoy the new year day by day, moment by moment! The beauty is in the moment, and the treasures; try not to let them become the moment that has just past us by. :)

Leap and the net will appear.

The Great Burger Con | Bull and burgers: mincing their words

Amazing stuff. This intrigues the intrinsic marketing communications training I've had  thus far - it's really all in perception. The mind is such an easy thing to toy with sometimes. But the truth about the Macdonald's Angus Burger is, it is bloody tasty. It could be relative to the standard of the rest of their burgers of course, which have significantly decreased in size and taste over the years. Smart.

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Bull and burgers: mincing their words
Source - The Age, 30 December 2009
Image Source - http://www.sydneytable.com/angus/

Hats off to the year’s most spectacular marketing success, or con job, depending which way you care to look at it: the rise and rise of the Angus beef brand via the lowly means of fast food hamburger mince.
McDonald's and now Hungry Jack's have pushed beyond the  marketing aphorism, “sell the sizzle, not the steak”, by flogging a vague and arguably uninformed concept of the sizzle.

The Land newspaper reported in September that the launch of the two “premium” Angus burgers had resulted in McDonald's beef sales soaring by as much as 20 per cent.

The greatest confirmation of that success has been rival chain Hungry Jack's jumping on the Angus bandwagon. Ah, the power of branding.

But also big winners are Angus cattle breeders – to the chagrin of other breeders - as the massive advertising campaigns print on the brains of the great unwashed that Angus is the superior breed of moo cow. Chances are the vast majority of fast food customers seeking something “a little bit fancy” only know the names of two or three breeds anyway and a great deal less about the meat itself.

It’s a dangerous thing to criticise any cattle man or woman’s breed of choice - you’re much safer criticising their religion or even brand of ute – so I’ll play safe and just say that Angus is a very fine breed, as are several others.

The Sydney Royal Easter Show steer and carcase competition is by no means a definitive indication of beef superiority, but for what it’s worth, the Stanhill Trophy this year was taken out by the Limousins with the silver going to Charolais, followed by Shorthorn, Square Meaters (yes, there is such a breed), Poll Hereford, then Angus, Murray Grey, Galloway and Santa Gertrudis. Properly prepared and slaughtered, they are all very fine eating.

Beef taste testing becomes very subjective, as several other competitions can show. What’s more, the breed of the beast is well down the list of what makes a particularly tasty steak. What the animal had been eating, its age and condition and how little stress it experienced in the lead up to slaughter all count a great deal more.

And as for what goes into hamburger chain patties, well, despite the advertising, it’s not actually the prime cuts of prime beef.  That sticker on the McDonald’s ads, “Prime Australian Beef“, doesn’t seem to be actually defined as anything by Meat and Livestock  Australia.

It doesn’t necessarily mean cattle in their prime, just good Australian hamburger mince which, depending on the season and what’s being turned off, can mean a whole pile of old cows as well as the usual offcuts and less-marketable bits from trade steers.

So there’s actually nothing particularly special about McDonald’s or Hungry Jack's hamburger mince that happens to be made from cattle that are at least three-quarter Angus (the definition allowed McDonald’s by Certified Angus Beef Pty Ltd).

There might have been a hint of what the marketing success was about in this paragraph from The Land:
“Bronwyn Stubbs, corporate communications manager for McDonald's Australia, said Angus beef had come up trumps in its extensive research with local customers to identify what they perceived as a good quality, great tasting beef.”

Perception is a wonderful thing. It was probably helped by the availability of plenty of cattle of that breed with a well-organised breeders’ lobby group promoting them. That Angus burgers were first launched by McDonald’s in the US three years ago no doubt has absolutely nothing to do with it.
So congratulations to McDonald’s, Hungry Jack's and Angus breeders on a well-copied marketing format that has more Australians eating beef.

For what it’s worth, taste being such a personal thing, the best beef has to be grass fed – all that grain-fed nonsense just ads weight, fat and maybe some tenderness to a beast while taking out  taste.
The animal has to be prepared well for slaughter – no stress. And then, if you really want something a bit fancy, it will have lived on desert grasses.

Without doubt the best steak I’ve ever had was in Birdsville while doing a story on the Channel Country’s OBE organic beef. I’ve tasted nothing like it before or since. And the breed didn’t really matter.

Michael Pascoe is a BusinessDay contributing editor, now in hiding from feedlot operators and Angus breeders.

Farewell 2009

More evidence of domestication levels at dangerous levels. :) 2009 is coming to a close, and as with all good things, we must not learn to only savour in retrospect, but to enjoy it all in the now too. 2010, here I come!

Pandora's inbox

Mighty good read this, we should all take some time off to take stock. Microsoft research seems to show that "we spend an average of 14.5 hours a week reading and answering email..."And that's just email!

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Pandora's inbox
JOHN ELDER
December 6, 2009
Source - The Age



SOME people get up early to walk the dog or do tai chi in the park. Others get out of bed to look at the sunrise, bathe in their own thoughts or otherwise meet the day in a happy way before the circus of life puts a bridle in their mouths and starts whipping them with a riding crop. Peter Beilharz feels the hurry-up lash as soon as he opens his eyes.

It wasn't always this way for Professor Beilharz. There used to be time to think. But that was in the days when work messages came by memo on a piece of paper, and friends wrote letters and postcards. With snail mail and even the telephone there was no sense of being constantly on call, he says.

These days, dozens of pressing matters pile up in the night-time and the La Trobe University sociologist gets up early to check his emails before going to work.

''If I don't check my messages before I get to the office I'm already three hours behind,'' he says. ''I used to go to work and do stuff. Research, teaching: that's what academics are meant to do, but we spend three or four hours a day communicating. I'll have urgent things in my diary but I'll forget my diary because I keep checking my email. I don't feel I have any control of how much I use it. It just shows up … distracts me from what I am meant to be doing. It's a silent medium but you feel it shouting at you.''

Beilharz isn't making news by venting his spleen at the distracting, time-wasting and somehow controlling power of the email inbox. Email trouble is spawning a host of academic research, self-help books (such as Inbox Detox), and entire businesses (such as Sydney-based Email Management Solutions) devoted to solving your problems.

Just ask around and it seems that most people - particularly those with jobs and families to commune with - have some kind of love-hate relationship with email. The words ''a blessing and a curse'' come up sooner rather than later. ''As a message system, it's great,'' says Beilharz, ''but … there is a supposition that you are on tap all the time … and that speed is good for you.''

The short version: email is a symptom of a world where time, under the pressure of accelerating demands, has been cut up into small units. Our day-to-day lives are now a factory line of many things to do quickly.

''And it feels OK because it feels like you are doing something valid, that cult of busyness … . [but] our days are full of endless small tasks that mightn't add up to a great deal at all,'' Beilharz says.

Email in particular has a demanding personality. ''It's not dialogical. If I say something to you in a conversation, you can correct me or respond to me. I think email informs ultimatums … it lays down the law.''

Beilharz was one of a dozen academics contacted for this story, initially to ask if they agreed with US writer John Freeman, who recently made a small but significant splash here and abroad with his book Shrinking the World - the story of how email came to rule our lives. The book is both a neat gathering-together of all known complaints against email, and an eloquent, almost crazed, plea that we return to some form of ''slow'' communication (such as writing a letter now and then) as a means of returning to our more natural, happier selves.

In an online essay that presaged the book, Freeman writes: ''In the past two decades, we have witnessed one of the greatest breakdowns of the barrier between our work and personal lives since the notion of leisure time emerged in Victorian Britain as a result of the Industrial Age. It has put us under great physical and mental strain, altering our brain chemistry and daily needs. It has isolated us from the people with whom we live, siphoning us away from real-world places where we gather.

''It has encouraged flotillas of unnecessary jabbering, making it difficult to tell signal from noise. It has made it more difficult to read slowly and enjoy it, hastening the already declining rates of literacy. It has made it harder to listen and mean it, to be idle and not fidget. This is not a sustainable way to live.''

While most local thinkers have sympathy for Freeman's general argument, they tend to see email more as a symptom than a cause of the world speeding out of control. And not all agree with Freeman's specific charges against the inbox. These include:

■ The compulsion to check our inboxes (up to 40 times a minute, according to one piece of research he cites) is akin to poker machine addiction.

■ The faceless disinhibiting psychology of email communication unleashes our dark side, making us rude, even nasty, or at least lacking in the consideration that we apply to letter composition.

■ People feel pressured to keep up with the ever-filling inbox because a failure to reply to email within a few hours can lead to loss of trust and relationship difficulties.

■ There is emerging evidence that the brain is becoming hard-wired for instant gratification and that email is part of the rewiring process.

■ The hours spent dealing with email interfere with workday productivity and keep people in the office and away from family and friends.

Support for the last claim, particularly from the corporate sector, is accumulating like flies on dog dirt. A recent British newspaper report declared email ''a broken business tool'' that had become the new time-waster, like coffee and cigarettes. Sharon McNevin, of Sydney-based Email Management Solutions, reckons ''it doesn't seem to matter what corporations try to do. Software solutions don't work … they need to address the cultural problems.''

McNevin, citing Microsoft research, says we spend an average of 14.5 hours a week reading and answering email and the time we spend looking for and analysing information costs companies $28,000 per employee per year. And based on her work with local businesses, McNevin suspects it is getting worse. A US study found that broadband access in the workplace had ''increased the number of web pages viewed by individuals by 55 per cent and increased the amount of time spent online by 23 per cent''.

However, Dr Brad West, a sociologist with Flinders University, sees the personal use of email in the workplace as reflecting new work practices where employees self-manage their time and are kept tied to the mast for longer periods. ''It's a trade-off. Workers will use email for non-work purposes during the working day, but in exchange they have new demands on them which often means there is a fuzzy line between work and home.''

We might be busy with email, but are we actually addicted? University of Technology Sydney anthropologist Dr Jonathan Marshall says the number of people who have lost their wages or home because they check their email is probably quite small. ''If there is any validity to this point about addiction, it is simply that we live in a society which encourages addiction … Email just becomes part of the wider pattern.'' Marshall suspects that apart from people who are expecting a specific message, the only people checking their inboxes 40 times a minute ''would generally be people who are bored out of their skulls and seeking the only stimulation they get at work or, if they are really depressed, at home''.

Dr David Holmes, senior lecturer in communications and media studies at Monash University, says Freeman's addiction thesis can perhaps be better explained by seeing email less as an exchange of information than as a ritual. ''I agree that many email users are feverish about checking their mail. But the same persons are probably very anxious about receiving printed mail also,'' he says.

''The difference with the online experience is that it is an 'always-on' technology … The addiction lies not in discovering what is there, but what is not there. It is about being satisfied that there is nothing that constitutes a gift, an unsolicited communication, that is not simply a functional reply, but is distinguished, sincere content that is the internet's equivalent to 'breaking news' on the TV.''

According to associate professor Peter Corrigan, of the school of behavioural, cognitive and social sciences at the University of New England, compulsive use of email reveals our fears of being left alone. ''The receipt of an email proves that we actually exist for others … The more we need validation from others … the harder it is to switch off,'' he says.

This may be why teens spend so much time being connected to others through texting and emails, Corrigan says. ''In some ways this is a sign of the higher-than-usual chances of that particular social group not lasting.''

FREEMAN'S contention that email makes us rude, even malevolent, inspires a shrug from University of Sydney anthropologist Dr Stephen Juan. ''Disinhibition leading to rudeness also exists on the buses, trains and on the roads,'' he says. ''We are experiencing an age of rudeness. The reasons for this would constitute another article.''

But Jonathan Marshall sees it differently, arguing that email brings about a different class of behaviour because of its lack of visual cues. It can be hard to tell if people are responding to you or like what you have written, he says. Emailers who maintain polite discourse may lack a sense of how they are being received. If you are unpleasant, on the other hand, you will almost certainly get a response from somebody, Dr Marshall says. ''Then you know you exist and the response is a reinforcement of your existence, so you do it again.''

If this is true, it lends weight to the idea that we become anxious or even angry when our emails are not promptly answered and that relationships are subsequently strained.

Associate professor Julie Fitness, an evolutionary psychologist at Macquarie University, agrees with this notion, saying it has become the norm to feel anxious and aggrieved if emails are not answered right away. In her own profession, her students complain bitterly when a response is slow in coming. But responding to this kind of pressure just increases it, Professor Fitness says. The more often and sooner we answer the incessant, demanding emails, the more we reward the emailer.

''We are laying ourselves wide open, saying my time belongs to everybody,'' she says.

One of John Freeman's most interesting arguments is that ''the boundlessness of the internet always runs into the hard fact of our animal nature, our physical limits … the overheated capacity of our minds''.

Stephen Juan sees this as possibly true, but notes we have ''no data that we have reached the human mental breaking point''.

Maybe we're not at breaking point, but some cracks are showing. A Hewlett-Packard study found that workers who are constantly distracted by email and phone calls suffer a temporary 10-point fall in their IQ, more than twice that found in studies of the impact of smoking marijuana. Plus, there is evidence that our limited working memory is being sorely tested by email.

PROFESSOR John Sweller, of UNSW, is an educational psychologist who came up with the influential ''cognitive load'' theory, which refers to the load of working memory during learning. Regarding cognitive load and email, he says: ''A large number of emails on disparate topics all of which need to be handled 'now' can overwhelm humans' limited working memory with occasional disastrous consequences such as emails sent to the wrong people with information we would probably prefer was not sent.''

Glitches or weariness is one thing, but is the brain being rewired to adapt to digital living? Juan says the data is lacking. ''However, science has taught us that the brain is continually reworking its synapses. So this rewriting is possible.''

There is some evidence that this adaptation is already in play, notably among younger people. US research found that ''digital natives'' (people born into the online age) seem to adapt better to online information-gathering, simultaneously managing to maintain a more balanced relationship between the online world and that occupied by friends and family. Better, that is, than ''digital tourists'' (the older folk, who grew up doing things more slowly).

Beilharz says: ''If you joined a university in the last few years, that's the way the world works. If you entered 20 years ago, you can see it has significant effect on the capacity to do other things. Time spent on email is time not spent on doing other things.'' Such as the job one is paid to do.

In 2005, Professor David Levy, of the University of Washington's information school in Seattle, published a paper arguing that ''the accelerating pace of life is reducing the time for thoughtful reflection, and in particular for contemplative scholarship''. Professor Levy illustrates how the blessing and curse of the internet is notably ironic and bittersweet for academics. ''The loss of time to think is occurring at exactly the moment when scholars, educators and students have gained access to digital tools of great value to scholarship.''

In 2006, Levy started running a course called Information and Contemplation. It teaches students how to slow down their thinking to a contemplative pace, as a response to ''the speedy, fragmented and inattentive mind states that digital technologies seem to encourage''.

But what about the rest of us?

John Freeman suggests we cut down our inbox access to twice a day. ''And wherever possible, don't send.'' Speaking from New York, Freeman says he hasn't managed to get his own usage down to twice a day. ''I try and check it five to seven times a day rather than minute to minute.

''I could write emails all day long. The more emails I write and reply to, the more I will get … But I don't check it when I get up in the morning. I have breakfast with my girlfriend. If I'm going to have to work, I won't blend work with chatter. But it's like a Pandora's box, your mind starts to drift.''

Blues Traveler | Run-Around

Top 5 songs of all time!

November - Spring Pizzas

New migrants work harder. Do or die.

"New migrants work harder. Do or Die."

Simple and profound words of wisdom from Singapore's founding father Lee Kuan Yew.

Will give my research a whole lot of perspective.

In the meantime, I've returned from my 4000km gallivant. Pictures to follow!

We'll start with one of 'em that highlighted the trip - lots of tender loving care, and here's a sweet morning breakfast pancake surprise by my host in Adelaide, ah-Rah. To top it off, we had some pretty darned awesome Jasper's coffee to the mix. Heaven!

Been a while

It's been a while since the last update. In the midst of a long gallivant across three states, and about 4000km of travel.

Be back soon! :)

But to sum up how it's been so far, and in the glorious words of Jim Croce - "...but there never seems to be enough time to do the thing you wanna do once you find them." I swear I would walk the span of the planet if I could!

spring!!!

the last thing we need are these black and white views.

may the spring colours fill this blank canvas.

this certainly changes things. always was of the idea that time was a human construct.

Scientists Find A Precision Clock Logging the Milliseconds Inside Your Brain

By Clay DillowPosted 21.10.2009

Source - Popular Science Australia

Tick Tock Certain neurons in the striatum and prefrontal cortex fire at certain intervals, which MIT researchers have determined to be an internal clock time-stamping sensory experiences for memory just as a digital camera might time-stamp a photo file.

Though we do it without thinking, keeping track of time is integral to the brain's function, keeping our senses and our actions ordered in a chronology that we then recall in the form of memory. But important as it is, researchers have never understood the mechanism by which humans index the happenings of everyday life. Now, two macaque monkeys may have helped MIT researchers solve the time tracking puzzle.

Neuroscientists have theorized for decades that the human brain time stamps events as they happen, just as a camera tags the date and time onto a digital photo file. These stamps keep our memories organized so when called upon, our brains can reach back and pull the correct time-stamped file. While it seems like we do this without thinking, it's actually quite a feat, especially considering that no evidence for these time stamps exists beyond the theoretical.

But after training two macaques to memorize an eye movement task and having them repeat it back, the MIT team thinks it has found exactly where the time-stamping is taking place. Certain neurons in the striatum and the prefrontal cortex -- areas responsible for learning, thought, and mobility -- fired at specific times during the exercises. The macaques were allowed to perform the eye movement task at their own pace, so the movements were not synched with particular movements. Rather, the researchers have determined that the neuron signals were marking intervals of time, ticking off time-stamps down to tens of milliseconds.

Measuring for the subtle signals within small clumps of cells in the brain was itself no easy task, enabled by a new technique allowing the researchers to monitor electrical signals from hundreds of neurons at the same time and then analyze them mathematically, a process involving researchers at both the RIKEN Brain Institute in Japan and Penn State University.

The team suspects other regions of the brain may also keep time, and learning more about the process could lead to breakthroughs in understanding and treating Parkinson's disease, which often manifests itself in symptoms consistent with a disconnect in the brain's timing mechanism. Treating those timekeeping neurons with drugs, or even with chemicals like dopamine already found in the brain, could suppress those symptoms. First, the team must determine exactly how the time-stamping work and its effects on the brain and memory. When things turn slow-mo in an emergency situation or time seems like it's flying by in low-stress environments, it may have less to do with perception and more to do with the tiny clocks inside your brain.

Spring has got to be the most awesome season there is.

Been spending quite a bit of time busying up the green fingers. Spring's the time for lots of sun and big smiles.

Kuroshio Sea - 2nd largest aquarium tank in the world

Please check this out if you have a few minutes to spare. It's amazing.


Kuroshio Sea - 2nd largest aquarium tank in the world
http://vimeo.com/5606758

Wandering China has moved

wanderingchina has moved from blogger.com to wordpress. sleeker, easier to navigate, and yummier to read!

Check it out here! http://wanderingchina.wordpress.com/

Thanks!

Time

"Time selects the superior and eliminates the inferior, choosing the thoughts which impact upon human civilization in the long term." Jin Canrong, vice-director of the School of International Studies of Renmin University of China.

Source - Global Times
60 foreigners who helped shape China's 60 years
http://special.globaltimes.cn/2009-09/469109_2.html

Chope | Easy Come Easy Go

Easy Come Easy Go
I keep calling from a higher point
To take advantage of the situation I'm in
And I turn it around to you
Should I call it some polite violence?

Chope 2009
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Written by Wesley Choo
Performed by Wesley Choo, Ronald Lee and Bob Tan

** Yes it is a little lo-fi and recorded in a home studio without a suitable complement of mics and acoustic paneling. Enjoy it nevertheless!

Raid finds 37 people living in single Brisbane house

37 in a single house is pretty intense man. First, is this by choice or circumstance for both parties? Then, two key questions - why did the students allow this to happen without being to utter a voice of reason? And what kind of landlord is that? Unless they're paying negligible rent, this isn't the best piece of news I've heard in a while.

Raid finds 37 people living in single Brisbane house
CHRISTINE KELLETT
September 16, 2009
Source - The Age

Thirty-seven students have been found living in a single house in Brisbane's south.

The shock discovery at Sunnybank Hills was made as part of a series of council raids on properties across the city in a bid to curb residential overcrowding.

Since July last year, Brisbane City Council has inspected more than 1000 homes and units, issuing about 180 notices for non-compliance with sanitation, planning and fire regulations. A further 179 amenity issues have been identified in just the past month.

Among the breaches of the Housing Code, garages had been converted into bedrooms and temporary Portaloos were being installed in back gardens to accommodate the illegal numbers of people being packed into residential homes.

brisbanetimes.com.au revealed in May foreign students were overwhelmingly the victims of overcrowded accommodation, with four young women forced to share a bed in one case.

"Previously, the most we've seen is about 19 people living in one house, so this [at Sunnybank Hills] is quite extraordinary," Brisbane Deputy Mayor Graham Quirk said.

"In many cases these are overseas students being charged top dollar to live in substandard accommodation with not enough toilets or bedrooms.

"Students bring over a billion dollars to our annual economy and they spend a lot of money to get here, yet some find themselves victims of poor housing and sanitation."

Council last week passed amendments to its House Code, reducing the number of people allowed to reside in one household from six to five.

Cr Quirk said the council would continue to push for power of entry provisions to be granted to it, despite a previous refusal by the State Government on privacy grounds.

Local authorities have only been able to gain access to homes to conduct inspections with the assistance of the Queensland Fire and Rescue Service, which can demand entry into private property.

The raids have resulted in a single but successful prosecution for breaches of fire safety laws earlier this year.

Cr Quirk said some overseas students were choosing to live like sardines to save cash.

"But there is no doubt some landlords are clearly profiteering from Brisbane's good reputation," he said.

"What we are seeing is organised accommodation in a lot of cases."

Individual fines for landlords can range up to $100,000 for non-compliance.

As well as "spoiling the experience" for international students, Cr Quirk said overcrowding posed serious health and fire risks.

He said improvements had been made in the past year, but warned the checks would continue.

Quintessentially Singaporean - 'Kevin Matthew's My One and Only'

Quite quintessentially Singaporean. Anyone recall Lum May Yee's cover a decade odd ago? Those growing up years... :)

Chope | Almond Nomad

Whimsical and funky quite rightly describes this instrumental piece about a nomadic almond.

Chope 2009 ---
Written by Wesley Choo Performed by Wesley Choo, Ronald Lee and Bob Tan

** Yes it is a little lo-fi and recorded in a home studio without a suitable complement of mics and acoustic paneling. Enjoy it nevertheless!

Donnie come lately

Donnie Yen Rocks!

Care to remember the kung-fu master in a breakdance moment?



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Donnie come lately
Actor Donnie Yen goes from Ip Man to leading man in, oh, 26 years
IHT
Source - Straits Times 03 September 2009


SHANGHAI - FOR the past 26 years, Donnie Yen has developed a dedicated following in Asia for his impressive martial arts skills and a cult status internationally for his roles in popular action movies, including Once Upon A Time In China II and Hero. But until recently, he had, he said, 'never tasted what it meant to be a superstar'.

Instead, in big-budget movies, he often played in the shadow of established stars such as Jet Li and Jackie Chan.

But with Painted Skin and Ip Man, two box-office successes last year, Yen's star is finally rising.

'He's been around as long as the two Js,' said Mr Daniel Yun, outgoing managing director of MediaCorp Raintree Pictures, referring to Li and Chan. 'For a long time, he was the third choice; but with his films making big money at the box office, he's become the leading man to watch.'

Painted Skin, which was co-produced by Raintree, grossed 230 million yuan (S$48.57 million) in China last year, making it the second most successful film of the year there behind Red Cliff.

Yen, 46, seems to approach his newfound success with healthy scepticism.

In a recent interview in Shanghai, where he was filming his final scene for Bodyguards & Assassins, a big-budget period action film produced by Peter Chan, he commented that he had 'a lot of new friends' now - whereas in the late 1990s, he could not find anybody to help finance Ballistic Kiss, his second film as a director and producer.

'Now all the producers are calling me and I have films lined up all the way to 2012,' he said. 'It's beginning to sink in that after 26 years in the industry, I'm finally getting my break.'

Yen, who also recently finished work on 14 Blades, a Ming-era martial arts movie, acknowledges that he has tended to avoid expanding his acting abilities. He believes that directors never really encouraged him to act.

'It was more 'come in, fight, look cool, show your muscles',' he said, laughing. -- INTERNATIONAL HERALD TRIBUNE

Churchill National Park

Churchill National Park 30 August 2009. Located in Rowville, the park boasts 172 species of birds, kangaroos and wallabies. Stumbled through a few massive kangaroo colonies, tried to make friends with 'em that resulted in a few glorious scenes of 'roos zipping through the fields, and ended up getting very lost in the 1668 hectare park. Took us three hours and some massive detours and faux short cuts through hills to find our way out.

Consisting of 4 solid hills, a former reservoir, it was no walk in the park as it got dark. Doubling up as a mountain bike trail, most of the trek involved massive slope climbing action. Glad to have come out in one piece! Good training for sure.

History

And...spotted by the roadside on the way to work today - a board that read, "The true value of the past is to enrich the present."

Mad weather in Melbourne

It was mad driving home from work today. Massive hail, pockets of snow near the mountains where I was. Had to pull over a coupla' times to ensure a safe journey home. 120kmh winds! Intense does not begin to describe the madness.

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Storms affect peak-hour commute
Mex Cooper, Thomas Hunter
August 25, 2009 - 6:03PM
Source - the Age

Wild weather has caused a number of delays for Melbourne commuters as howling winds and heavy rain sweep across the city.

A fallen tree outside Essendon station has caused delays up to half an hour to both citybound and outbound trains on the Broadmeadows line.

A problem with signalling systems also caused delays in South Kensington earlier this evening, but a Connex spokeswoman said the problem had now been rectified.

Connex had buses and maintenance teams on standby for the extreme weather but services were running "relatively smoothly," the spokeswoman said.

Winds up to 128km/h hit Avalon earlier this afternoon and were due to arrive in the city about 5.20pm.

Bureau of Meterology duty forecaster Geoff Feren said the cold front would see the temperature drop rapidly and damaging winds of about 110km/h sweep through Melbourne.

She said the strongest winds - 117 km/h - had so far been reported at Mount William in the Grampians National Park in the state’s west.
Commuters were advised to leave work early as extreme weather threatened to play havoc with the public transport system.

There was also a warning for potential blackouts.

A Yarra Trams spokeswoman said emergency crews were also ready in case overhead tram lines were damaged this afternoon.

Falling trees pulled down both overhead tram and train lines on Friday, causing delays and cancellations when high-speed winds lashed Melbourne.

Connex and Yarra Trams advised commuters to monitor their websites for updates but said it was up to passengers to decide whether they should leave early.

SES spokesman Scott Hilditch said motorists should also take care as debris could be blown on to roads and traffic lights may malfunction from power outages.

He said up to 700,000 people commuted to the city each day and leaving early would help to minimise possible transport snarls.

Emergency services crews were this afternoon gearing up for damaging winds, possible thunderstorms and power blackouts across the state.

Gale-force winds are expected mid-week, in what is shaping up to be an exceptionally gusty season.

The destructive winds would gust to 120km/h in alpine and other elevated areas, while parts of Melbourne and other southern areas would get wind gusts of 100km/h, Bureau of Meteorology forecaster Peter Blake said.

The bureau said this morning 100 km/h winds would strengthen in the state's west from early afternoon before hitting Melbourne.

"That front is approaching, it may bring a band of rain and will come late afternoon, 4 to 6pm," he said.

"There will be several hours of winds, it will pick up and strengthen during the day and into the evening.

"At least a lot of people will be safely in their houses by then."

A severe weather warning is in place for much of Victoria predicting sustained winds up to 60km/h and locally damaging gusts up to 110km/h in the Wimmera, western and alpine forecast districts and in parts of the north central, northern country, Mallee, central, northeast and Gippsland regions.

But SES spokesman Allan Briggs said people could help lessen the disruption of powerful winds.

"People need to be prepared for a power outage," he said.

"It's good to have a battery operated radio and torch, and if the power goes out they shouldn't try to do any power repairs themselves. Phone the power company, whose number should be on the bill.

"We'd also advise against using candles, unless in an absolute emergency.

"We're also urging people to avoid parking or sheltering under trees, and suggesting they secure loose items, like outdoor furniture, around their house."

Mr Briggs said SES workers had attended about 150 jobs across Victoria in the last 24 hours, helping the public cope with fallen trees and damaged power lines.

Although the strong winds will originate in the state's west, Mr Briggs said metropolitan Melbourne and the state's elevated areas could be the worst-affected areas.

Monty Python set to reunite

Monty Python set to reunite!!!

Right, the photo on the left has nothing to do with Monty Python except that it's what I made for dinner today - lamb chops and pineapple/apple milk shake. But that is purely for something completely random. Back to regular programming -

"The surviving members of legendary comedy troupe Monty Python will reunite in October to commemorate their 40th anniversary as a team.

John Cleese, Michael Palin, Eric Idle, Terry Jones and Terry Gilliam are expected to appear together at a red-letter event in New York City on October 15.

There, the Pythons will be honoured by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) with a special award that commemorates their "outstanding contribution to film and television".

"It promises to be a rare and memorable occasion bringing the hugely talented Monty Python team together again, and we feel that the special award is a fitting tribute to this much-loved and singularly British institution," said BAFTA chairman David Parfitt.

According to The Hollywood Reporter , BAFTA previously recognised the work of Monty Python in 1987, when they were presented with a Michael Balcon Award for outstanding British contribution to cinema.

Monty Python's Flying Circus , the TV series which ran from 1969 to 1974, was the home of iconic comedy sketches such as Ministry of Silly Walks, Dead Parrot and The Lumberjack Song. The team also wrote and starred in classic films such as The Life of Brian and The Holy Grail ."

Source - http://au.tv.yahoo.com/news/article/-/article/5846439/monty-python-set-to-reunite/
Date of Access 23 August 2009

And here's the Ministry of Silly Walks.




And a personal fave. The Silly Olympics.

Worth Sharing

Worth sharing.

"The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page."
St. Augustine.

Being Happy.

Caught whilst trudging through Orchard Road. Was glad that amongst the homogeneity of Singapore's rapidly shifting loss of identity via all those bloody new metal buildings that primarily conduct heat, making the island hotter and hotter; wait I digress... that we still have people staying happy, doing what they love, and having a great time. Check out Singapore's legendary happy uncle.

We are the remnants of a long line of people.

The One Giant Leap ideal has been a great inspiration all this time, and in line with some of the thoughts gathering in my head about how we have much to be grateful for. That we are what's left of a long long line of survivors who made it through some impossible odds. I mean, pause to have a think. From the amoebas to amphibians to the apes, through the ice ages, the dark ages, the wars, the famines and great epidemics, to the stresses of everyday colonial to capitalist, competitive living. And we are the survivors. We are the sum total of what's left.


The video above isn't the original from the project, but a fanvid that quite does the job.

Here's a verse from the track 'My Culture' that is really apt. And check out the last line.

"When I look back over the years
at the things that brought tears to my eyes
papa said we have to be wise to live long lives
now I recognise what my father said before he dies
vocalise things I've left unsaid
left my spirit unfed for too long
I'm coming home to my family
Where I can be strong
Be who I planned to be
Within me, my ancestry
Givin' me continuity
Would it be remiss to continue in this way
would you rather I quit
come with the other shit
making people's hips sway
lip service I pay but I'm nervous
I pray for all the mothers who get no sleep
like a lifeline I light lines cause my compassion is
deep
for the people who fashioned me, my soul to keep
and this is who I happen to be
and if I don't see that I'm strong then I won't be "

'nuff said. let's find happiness in that!

Gallivanting

And here they are, recent adventures on film. All good things!

I'd rather.

Inspired by One Giant Leap, this thought was greatly provocative. Simple. Not simplistic. But a fundamental truth so easy to forget.

"Do we reckon that at our deathbed, we'll regret not making more money, or working harder?"

I'd rather travel, do, think, and do, spending time with people I love, sharing what I know, and experiencing the planet. The gallivanting continues! Just last week I covered about 1200kms. Will be adding another 600 this week. Onward. And yes, pictures soon.

Some top tens

Some top tens worth checking out when you've got spare time.

1.) Ten Most Diabolical Fish (warning, some of 'em look really really nasty)

2.) Ten misspelled tattoos - Oh the horror of immortalizing your thoughts with a spellingly challenged artist

3.) Ten Famous Paintings recreated in Lego

Walk to the city

'twas a bright and sunny Friday, and temperatures were awesome for a pretty chilly winter. The barometer topped at 17, and it felt an awesome day for another hike. Had always wanted to walk to the city from home, just to see how long it'll take. All in all 16kms were covered in just under 4 hours, and the celebratory lunch in the city was some awesome middle eastern meat ball action. Had good company this time too. Turned out to be quite the feat, too many traffic lights, zooming traffic that made for excess noise, and crowds of people in the way. Will keep the walking wanderings out in the 'burbs or the country from now on.

here're some photos of things along the way!

Blender Action and Ham Burger

Finally got down to getting the blender. No more sugared drinks (I think), and onward with healthy smoothies, shakes and juices. It just doesn't make sense paying $4-5 for one of 'em health drinks in Oz. First project today - Apple/Banana + Honey juice, Served 4 people with plenty to spare. Cost? $2. Well, the blender set me back $55 (thanks to Mum), but here's to good health!


Massively 'seedy' bun with salami, lettuce from the yard, and ham, and a generous going of pepper + cayenne pepper

Indian Sweet Child of Mine

Indian Sweet Child of Mine

very nuts. very nice. we are all rock stars.

Vegie Patch Update

Vegie Patch is alive! Check out the latest of Bob's easy DIYs - roof for the vegies!

A lovely day

Today was a bit nuts, a great day, awesomely beautiful in terms of things that happened, but awesomely cold too. Melbourne's experiencing a massively cold front.

It was a heck of a wandering planet moment. Sent the car to the workshop to get the transmission problem fixed (thanks in no small deal to some support from the bro), then spent the rest of the day hiking (to not spend money, thanks to this new hole in the pocket for the repairs). From Bayswater where the workshop was I trekked to the base of Mt. Dandenong about 10ks away, and back (had to thanks to the rain), and then to Knox City Shopping Centre to get a rest at Borders (and time to browse around for the latest domesticated acquisition - a fruit blender - smoothies and shakes made at home...woohoo!) . All in all, about 30+kms of walking in the cold, and at times heavy rain...

Best thing is, car came back running perfect! Purring like a tiger again. Good things all round.

...and some pictures.