Capital City Trail / bike ride

On the weekend Reid and I cycled around the capital city bike trail. It was a beautiful late winter sunny day – 19 degrees, perfect blue sky.

We started at the bike hire shop at Federation Square and followed the Yarra east all the way round through Richmondto Clifton Hill – at which point the trail turns away from the river and heads across the top of the city into the Docklands. The entire trail is on special cycling (or walking), lanes not once on the 32 km trail do you have to ride on the road, which is bloody awesome! In fact I think we must have been about ¾ of the way around before we even had to cross over a road!! I think it is so brilliant in a (relatively) large city there are so many accessible and well maintained cycle paths.

We also got to see quite a beautiful part of Melbourne – most of the places we cycled were away from the main high streets or train stations (the only places we usually get to see) – clean and no graffiti

So now what – we are going to buy our own bikes and check out some of the other cycle trails. Reid said today (21 August) that he was definitely keen to get his own bike and go riding more often – I thought I’d write that down in case I have to come back to it later and “remind” him J

We had a great day! (no mention of sore bums of course)

Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince

I really enjoyed this book, it is such an easy read and sometimes it’s great to be able to sit down for hours and just keep reading.

In this book, I think more so than the others, I was more aware of the easy escape – because this is a story about magic any tight corners in the plot are easily eluded with the flick of a wand or the all knowing stroke of a wise old beard.

I also thought the book focused a little too much on Harry, with not enough development of some the minor characters. Now admittedly, Harry’s journey was well drawn out, suspense and tension were developed quite well, all with a nice little twist at the end. Of course you could argue that the book is called HARRY POTTER and the Half Blood Price.

Overall, nice read, quite exciting, doesn’t leave much work for the screenwriter.

casting off

I've finally finished my scarf - after a quick check back it looks like I started knitting on 16 July - so it has taken a whole month!!!



I tired to alternate the rows between plain and pearl - however on more than one occasion I knitted two plain rows together, so I've inadvertanly created a small pattern.
However, when it came to finishing the patter in the final few rows I mucked it up again! DOH! nevermind, I'll just wear that end facing inwards!

lauhging stock

looks like intelligent design's (formally creationism) stint in Kansas is almost over. The recent state school board elections saw two new pro-evolution members join its ranks; now the majority of board members are pro-evolution.

according to a brief story in new scientist:

"the people of Kansas are tired of being the laughing stock of not just the nation, but the world"

bad timing???

Is this another "what is the world coming to" incident, or is it just a matter of bad timing.

A flight from London to Washington DC was diverted to Boston (escorted by fighter jets) overnight. Apparently a woman on board caused some sort of disturbance, it has been reported that she was claustrophobic and had some sort of panic attack. According the BBC a spokesperson from the Boston FBI said

"This isn't just an 'I want another drink kind of thing,' it was a disruption that caused them to divert the plane"

The news article also says that

Reports the woman was carrying a screwdriver and a note referring to al-Qaeda have been denied.

This is quite a specific claim - a screwdriver and a note from al-Qaeda, where did this claim come from??? Sounds very much like a bad case of Chinese whispers!!

I bet passengers cause disturbances on planes all the time - until now the only time it was reported in the media was when the culprit was a rock star.

Lets keep our fingers crossed this was just a bad case of nerves, by everyone involved.

Spare a thought for all those who work in the air every day, those charged with making our journey as comfortable as possible. It’s a trying time for airlines at the moment, threats of terrorism and high fuel costs are hurting the industry, I bet that means the salaries of cabin crew don’t reflect the increased risk (imagined or otherwise) of flying at this time.

what's going on

Reid has been onto me to keep up with my blog, but I've not been up to much so don’t really have much to write about. Since it doesn't look like much is going to change in the not to distant future I thought I'd just note down a few less interesting things - bit of an insight into the every musing of moi!

Yesterday I had really bad gas, not the farting kind but my belly was really full of air and I blew up like a balloon!! It was really uncomfortable!! I don't know what caused, I guess it was something I ate, Reid thinks it might be stress. I guess it could be - I'm a bit worried about this new job opportunity that is coming up at work, not that I don't think I can do the job, but I might have to move from my great office with great people to a new office on the absolute other side of campus. People don't like change - better the devil you know . . . Anyway, Reid looked up on the net for treatments for gas and found that it is caused by swallowing air.

I've started a nine week short course on yoga. Yoga is brilliant, I think the best way to describe how yoga makes me feel is to think about waking up on Saturday morning nice and early, you're really comfortable in bed and nice and warm, you look at the clock and don't need to get out of bed for at least another half an hour so you can lie there in the cosy warm and stretch and yawn. Bliss!

A friend of Reid's is turning 30 in a couple of weeks and is having a 70s funk/disco theme party. Last weekend Reid and I went and had a look around the shops for an outfit. I don't really know what I should wear - lots of bright colours I guess. We didn't find anything so we went and sat outside the state library in the sun, it was a great day, I think winter might be over early this year.

Next month we're doing the around the bay bike ride with a bunch of people from my work. We aren't actually riding around the whole bay, we're just doing the short 42km ride. We'll make a day of it, take a picnic. The full ride around the bay is over 200kms - man my bum would hurt if I did that ride - I haven't been on a bike for years.

get happy

http://www.gethappy.com/watchmore.html

the circle of life!! this is a great little short film about desire, drive, and ambition, and the trade off with happiness and self esteem! superbly filmed and great simple cinematic techniques to portray emotion.

definitely fresh :)

the blind assassin

I've just finished reading Margaret Atwood's The Blind Assassin.

The Blind Assassin won the Booker Prize in 2000, and as much as I hate to admit it, was the reason that I bought the book in the first place. According to the prize website

"The Man Booker Prize for Fiction represents the very best in contemporary fiction. One of the world’s most prestigious awards, and one of incomparable influence, it continues to be the pinnacle of ambition for every fiction writer."

So, my expectations were pretty high. The only other Booker Prize winning book that I've read is Yann Martel's Life of Pi, which I really enjoyed.

The Blind Assassin contains three stories based on the lives of Iris and Laura Chase. Now in her 80's Iris lives in small town Canada and begins to write her memoirs, reflecting on life as the daughter of the town’s wealthy businessman. The book opens with the death of Laura Chase in a terrible traffic accident, two years later Iris publishes Laura's book - The Blind Assassin, which is received with critical acclaim making Laura and instant and enduring star. This secondary story tells of two unnamed lovers who meet in secret in dingy rooms in the unsavoury parts of town. He writes stories for trashy science fiction magazines and recites these stories for her (yet another story inside a story). Chapters of the book alternate between Iris' recollection of her youth and Laura's The Blind Assassin. The third story is intermingled with Iris' memoirs, giving the reader an insight into Iris' life now, in her twilight years.

As the three stories come together at the end of the book there is a twist - unfortunately, this twist is quite obvious throughout the book, and ultimately means that Iris' memoirs are empty and bland. To avoid exposing the twist none of the excitement of Iris' youth is revealed (Hughes, 2002) - unfortunately this left me feeling no empathy towards the young Iris, who seemed banal and indifferent to the world around her. For example, her much beloved sister is mysteriously whisked away on account of her mental instability to some distant institution - Iris barely reacts to this news aside from the occasional worried thought, she seems incapable of tracking her sister down or finding out what is really wrong with her. Again, when her father dies while she is on her honeymoon her husband keeps this information from her until their return - at which time she barely batters an eyelid that she wasn't informed or that she missed the funeral - she just takes the news with little reaction. On several occasions Iris mentions that she just prefers to spend her time wandering aimlessly and has no interest in being involved in any activity or interacting with anyone. In comparison the lovers in the alternate story are intensely passionate, and desperately needing each other, and we really get the chance to experience their highs and lows – unlike Iris who is unfulfilling.

I’m not sure how the story could have been told differently, without the twist, but I am sure that it could have been much more exciting. Often when I finish reading a book I feel a sense of loss that I wont be peering into the lives of the characters any more – when I finished this book I had no such feeling for Iris, I wasn’t sad to see her go at all.

I must admit, at the end once the twist had been revealed and Iris opened up I did have a good cry – so she must have done something right!?!?

Did it deserve the prize?? Surely in all of 2000 there must have been a better book!

(Hughes, 2002 http://www.geocities.com/fantasticreviews/blind_assassin.htm)

current events

I’ve not said very much on this blog about current or news worthy events what I think of them.

The current crisis in the Middle East is revolving around Israel and Hezbollah – according to Wikipedia it is Operation Truthful Promise (Hezbollah) and Operation Change of Direction (Israel).

What do I think about this? Not sure really, mainly because I’m not really sure I have enough information about the conflict to make an informed opinion.

There is a large Lebanese community in Australia and therefore the focus of news bulletins here is the Israel Armed Forces v the Lebanese people . . . . often the only mention of Hezbollah is in the brief opening headline. So I don’t really feel that I know what is going on, although many Australians have fled Lebanon.

Obviously, I’m non-violent so as a matter of principle don’t support armed conflict and think it should be avoided at all cost. In which case I support calls for an immediate ceasefire (listen to me, you’d think I was talking directly with Condoleezza Rice). On the other hand, old George Dubya thinks the conflict should continue until a suitable resolution has been reached. (To be honest I’m not exactly sure how that works, do you just keep killing civilians until one side calls for mercy??) Anyway, what I am wondering about his opinion on the current crisis is – how does it fit in with the greater Middle Eastern Conflict? As time goes by I’m getting the feeling that the US aren’t bothering to try and disguise their intentions any more. With the Iraq war we were feed the “WMD” argument, now it’s about terrorism, democracy, and freedom (and the American way). Can the US really claim that they are trying to create democracy around the globe, and to do this they need to eliminate those who stand against democracy – terrorists – and expect that the rest of us will just sit back and say “well thank goodness someone has that under control”??

How long will it be before the US just comes out and says, “yeah, look, the price is getting a bit high at the bowser. . . . so if we just antagonise a little over here, and inflame a little over there, that ought to bring the prices down”

People often ask how different the world would be if Al Gore or John Kerry had become president of the US, I wonder if we should be asking how different would the world be if everyone decided to use public transport???

Then there would be the added bonus of reduced greenhouse gas emissions!!!