(via Boing Boing, of course)
31 May 2012
27 May 2012
Central Coast
Some photos from the Central Coast weekend. Lots of gazing into sunsets. Other things, too, of course, but maybe it's the time of year, or the smoke from the burn-offs across the lakes, but the colours really were so vivid. And the company.
We also did a bit of hiking along the way back. One stretch of banksia was ominous.
Seabirds of many varieties were in evidence, from the pelicans of The Entrance to the cormorants of, well, everywhere.
Also in evidence, if slightly less so, was the variety of uses and users of the seacoast.
We also did a bit of hiking along the way back. One stretch of banksia was ominous.
Seabirds of many varieties were in evidence, from the pelicans of The Entrance to the cormorants of, well, everywhere.
Also in evidence, if slightly less so, was the variety of uses and users of the seacoast.
09 May 2012
Awesome
Just a head's-up: The Avengers is very entertaining. The new Hulk was good; I thought at first that it was too bad that Edward Norton didn't play puny Banner, but Mark Ruffalo did a fine job. The other players/characters were in fine, well-practiced form.
But I think I'll skip 3-D from now on. It really didn't matter.
04 May 2012
Cynics
Marco Rubio as Vice President? Well, when we’re considering the possibility of Mitt Romney as Commander-in-Chief, why not? Sure, as a one-term Senator, he’s not no more qualified for the top job than Obama was, but in this case what we’re dealing with is a cynical ploy to retrieve votes lost by extreme right-wing pandering on immigration issues, if not outright bigotry, and it’s just the VEEP job, anyway. It’s not like past Presidential campaigns didn’t use the Vice Presidential selection to deliver key demographics in the past. It used to be that you’d pick a Southerner if you were Northern or a Northerner if you were a Southerner. Or if you were perceived as weak in a key area, you picked someone to provide the requisite strength. Biden, for example, was a similarly good choice for Obama as Johnson was for Kennedy, in that he was a Senate-business strong-arm (although that doesn’t appear to have worked out quite so well in the current term, so maybe it’s more Clinton-Gore). Instead of going with the top insider, though, Romney is going straight at the votes. Rubio may deliver more Hispanics than Mittens could otherwise expect, but if they do take office, can he work the Senate? Or is he just going to be another Tea Party foamer, but with a nicer office?
25 April 2012
Excursions
The longest period of travel I've ever had started with a final trip to Auckland for work. So some final photographs are in order. Next time I go to New Zealand, I hope for the south island, but if back north, at least the bay of islands or thereabouts. Auckland's nice, but I've seen enough of it for a while.
Albatross populate the harbour extensively. They're quite loud, too, some mornings, but are something to see, soaring along. Not so much just standing there, though.
I do like their tower very much.
Their harbour is almost more open ocean than anything else, but watching the fog roll in and lift by early morning is lovely.
On the final weekend, there was a special exhibition on of Japanese art, for which a demonstration of Japanese drumming was performed.
The hotel we stayed in had a distinctly Overlook-ish aspect. I kept expecting to see creepy twins at the end every morning.
After a brief stopover back home for Easter weekend, I flew to Paris to meet the girlfriend, who was traveling there for work, but had also built in some tourism, as you do. Paris is a very distinctive city, in large part due to Napoleon III, who tore down vast sections of it, rebuilding according to a particular style, and also with an aim to have large boulevards, not easily barricaded, so as to prevent having another, successful revolution. These buildings along the Rue de Rivoli, as seen from the Tuillieres Gardens, are a good example of the style.
Not that Paris doesn't have its colourful aspects, such as a bit of graffiti here and there.
Or their museum of modern art, the Pompidou Centre.
Something newer in that regard is the pedestrian bridge, the Pont des Arts, which the citizens and others have determined should also serve as a monument to relationships. Couples attach a padlock where they can. No word on whether they keep the keys, just in case, or not.
Besides gilding everything they can, a common motif in Paris are their stone lions. They're pretty good.
This one's actually Greek, in the Louvre, but I liked the expression on his face.
This one's in Versailles. He looks appalled at something, but there's no indication what it may be.
This last one is on a fountain, but he's a good example of snarl.
The view from the top of the Arc de Triomph is hard to beat.
That other arch at the far end, the squared one, was built for the 200th anniversary of the Revolution, and is actually outside Paris itself, where the buildings are limited in height. Outside the city limits, they can go as high as they want.
Didn't get to Montmatre; maybe next time.
One thing we did get to was the Louvre, of course, along with thousands of others.
My favourite painting was the Wedding Feast at Cana.
We also took in Notre Dame.
The gargoyles are a lot of fun.
For a day trip, we took a minibus to Versailles and Claude Monet's gardens in Giverney. Versailles was the proof that there is just no getting away from crowds when touring Paris.
But the grounds are extensive and extensively sculpted. Pruning must be a university degree course.
The gardens at Monet's house were wonderful. The set-up made you easily see what the Impressionists were on about. Every bend and aspect showed you different things the light was doing, and you could imagine what the day would do to change each view as the light changed, day to day, season to season.
It may have been one of the best parts of the trip.
Once B.'s work week kicked in, I traveled up to York, where Mom & Dad had the intention of seeing the minster.
It's a fair bit more time in York than I think is entirely called for, and the weather generally was bad for walking around ye olde England, although maybe giving a feel for the way the city would have often felt back when it was still new. I'm amazed that the city wall was retained for all these centuries, but someone had some serious foresight.
One element of the trip that was particularly welcome is that Mom & Dad know someone there, someone who is engaged in studying and restoring the stained glass. So we got quite a lot of information about the process. And, of course, York's minster was spared much of the ravages of Cromwell's iconoclasts, so there's quite a lot of stained glass to look at and learn about.
My favourite, however, was a small panel, playfully inserted along the bottom of some other work, involving saints and such, but depicting a monkey, and telling a little story, from right to left, of the monkey being ill, being attended by a monkey doctor, and then having a monkey funeral procession, when that didn't work out so well.
It was good to see Paris again, after 24 years, and York, after 30, but it's nicer to be home. No more travel beyond the Blue Mountains or Central Coast, I think, for a good long while.
I do like their tower very much.
Their harbour is almost more open ocean than anything else, but watching the fog roll in and lift by early morning is lovely.
On the final weekend, there was a special exhibition on of Japanese art, for which a demonstration of Japanese drumming was performed.
The hotel we stayed in had a distinctly Overlook-ish aspect. I kept expecting to see creepy twins at the end every morning.
After a brief stopover back home for Easter weekend, I flew to Paris to meet the girlfriend, who was traveling there for work, but had also built in some tourism, as you do. Paris is a very distinctive city, in large part due to Napoleon III, who tore down vast sections of it, rebuilding according to a particular style, and also with an aim to have large boulevards, not easily barricaded, so as to prevent having another, successful revolution. These buildings along the Rue de Rivoli, as seen from the Tuillieres Gardens, are a good example of the style.
Not that Paris doesn't have its colourful aspects, such as a bit of graffiti here and there.
Or their museum of modern art, the Pompidou Centre.
Something newer in that regard is the pedestrian bridge, the Pont des Arts, which the citizens and others have determined should also serve as a monument to relationships. Couples attach a padlock where they can. No word on whether they keep the keys, just in case, or not.
Besides gilding everything they can, a common motif in Paris are their stone lions. They're pretty good.
This one's actually Greek, in the Louvre, but I liked the expression on his face.
This one's in Versailles. He looks appalled at something, but there's no indication what it may be.
This last one is on a fountain, but he's a good example of snarl.
The view from the top of the Arc de Triomph is hard to beat.
That other arch at the far end, the squared one, was built for the 200th anniversary of the Revolution, and is actually outside Paris itself, where the buildings are limited in height. Outside the city limits, they can go as high as they want.
Didn't get to Montmatre; maybe next time.
One thing we did get to was the Louvre, of course, along with thousands of others.
My favourite painting was the Wedding Feast at Cana.
We also took in Notre Dame.
The gargoyles are a lot of fun.
For a day trip, we took a minibus to Versailles and Claude Monet's gardens in Giverney. Versailles was the proof that there is just no getting away from crowds when touring Paris.
But the grounds are extensive and extensively sculpted. Pruning must be a university degree course.
The gardens at Monet's house were wonderful. The set-up made you easily see what the Impressionists were on about. Every bend and aspect showed you different things the light was doing, and you could imagine what the day would do to change each view as the light changed, day to day, season to season.
It may have been one of the best parts of the trip.
Once B.'s work week kicked in, I traveled up to York, where Mom & Dad had the intention of seeing the minster.
It's a fair bit more time in York than I think is entirely called for, and the weather generally was bad for walking around ye olde England, although maybe giving a feel for the way the city would have often felt back when it was still new. I'm amazed that the city wall was retained for all these centuries, but someone had some serious foresight.
One element of the trip that was particularly welcome is that Mom & Dad know someone there, someone who is engaged in studying and restoring the stained glass. So we got quite a lot of information about the process. And, of course, York's minster was spared much of the ravages of Cromwell's iconoclasts, so there's quite a lot of stained glass to look at and learn about.
My favourite, however, was a small panel, playfully inserted along the bottom of some other work, involving saints and such, but depicting a monkey, and telling a little story, from right to left, of the monkey being ill, being attended by a monkey doctor, and then having a monkey funeral procession, when that didn't work out so well.
It was good to see Paris again, after 24 years, and York, after 30, but it's nicer to be home. No more travel beyond the Blue Mountains or Central Coast, I think, for a good long while.
11 April 2012
15 March 2012
High Finance
What a pack of self-serving lies. Goldman Sachs has been known for decades as a pack of rapacious bastards. Why do you think "thousands" of people apply for jobs there straight out of university? Because they'll pay off their student loans and live in a fantastic Manhattan condo before they've been there 10 years, let alone 12. Investment banking should be subject to stringent regulations, or criminalized.
What a pack of self-serving lies. Goldman Sachs has been known for decades as a pack of rapacious bastards. Why do you think "thousands" of people apply for jobs there straight out of university? Because they'll pay off their student loans and live in a fantastic Manhattan condo before they've been there 10 years, let alone 12. Investment banking should be subject to stringent regulations, or criminalized.
14 March 2012
Parking & the City
Here's a book that creeps like NSW Premier Barry O'Farrell and Miranda Devine really ought to read: Rethinking a Lot. Maybe if they would read a little more than they'd talk/write, they'd be able to think, too, but it seems unlikely. But they'd rather present themselves as the arbiters of all that is good and holy, and that ain't bicycles or pedestrians or anyone trying to use what's on offer in the city that isn't parking.
Here's a book that creeps like NSW Premier Barry O'Farrell and Miranda Devine really ought to read: Rethinking a Lot. Maybe if they would read a little more than they'd talk/write, they'd be able to think, too, but it seems unlikely. But they'd rather present themselves as the arbiters of all that is good and holy, and that ain't bicycles or pedestrians or anyone trying to use what's on offer in the city that isn't parking.
13 March 2012
Quote of the Day
"We don't need altar boys" says a Roman Catholic Church spokesman, in reference to trying to shut down a pedophile-priest victim's advocacy group. Should have thought of that sooner, eh?
"We don't need altar boys" says a Roman Catholic Church spokesman, in reference to trying to shut down a pedophile-priest victim's advocacy group. Should have thought of that sooner, eh?
07 March 2012
The State Versus the City
The State Government of NSW changed hands not so very long ago, moving from Labor to Liberal, and the new Premier, Barry O’Farrell, has been finding his feet ever since. Not unlike his predecessors in the job, however, he has found the Lord Mayor of Sydney, Clover Moore, irksome.
Under Bob Carr, Labor NSW attempted a power play, redefining the various council boundaries, including joining South Sydney Council with the City of Sydney Council, attempting to wrest control for their preferred administrators. It backfired. Clover went rogue, becoming an independent, but retaining her position as Lord Mayor and her seat in State Parliament. Why should that be so? Because she does a good job for her parliamentary constituency and for the city. She has remained a gadfly to so-called conservative commentators and all extreme right politicians, including those on the Labor Right.
She had an idea that the City of Sydney, made up as it is of disparate suburbs, many quite small, but all expressing different characteristics in one degree or another, could share its various offerings in a way that made it more liveable overall. Part of her idea was to introduce environmental sustainability efforts, such as co-generation of power in council buildings, but also getting the various bike paths that had been introduced over the years to actually link up, encouraging us to stop relying so much on private vehicles. Better bus service, maybe an eventual return of trams, and even the introduction of traffic-free zones within the CBD were in the works. These various efforts could also have the effect of getting the people who visit the city regularly for work to linger for a meal or an event outside of work. If the city has more to offer and more ways to ease the problems of getting in and out, we’d feel better about sticking around. Hell, we might even think about living here, instead of commuting back and forth from near and far suburbs. All very laudable.
But bicycles are like vegetarianism: they generate a nearly inexplicable derision, if they are not outright despised. Those cyclists, with their tights and their invariable disregard for their own safety or that of others, whizzing through traffic, except when they’re going slower than the traffic on the streets they’re forced to share from the lack of bike lanes that they don’t deserve, because they wear tights and won’t ever ring their bells as they approach a pedestrian and . . . foam, foam, foam. What is it about bikes in the city that’s so bad?
Anyway, Clover started joining up the bike lanes, putting some in where there had been none, too, and keeping pedestrian and vehicular traffic separated. My GOD! She spent money, taxpayer money on bicyclists!
So now here comes Barry, and before anything can be done in regard to city streets within the City of Sydney, a committee of seven members will be consulted, four of whom are appointed by Barry, and three from the City. Any chance of progress? Only if progress meets Barry’s definition, which, so far, appears to be none.
Barry’s concern, ostensibly, is the effect to city businesses when bike lanes reduce on-street parking, or if no-car zones would reduce accessibility to businesses by people in cars. As if there weren’t other ways to get there (Barry: the trains! The buses! Didn’t you say you were going to fix those?).
If traffic is a problem, Barry, it isn’t bicycles that are the cause, it’s that you (and previous governments) have done nothing but create new suburbs with little else than highways that join onto city streets not capable of accepting the volume. Newtown’s King Street and City Road can’t handle what they receive. Even Parramatta Road can’t manage the volume from the west – even on weekends it’s easily overwhelmed.
What’s needed isn’t an intervention on bicycles. What’s really needed is better planning. Parramatta and Chatswood have the potential to be true alternative city centres, creating corridors that could feed into one another. Trams, light rail, improvements to the existing passenger trains that aren’t just schedule tweaks to hide poor on-time performance, more buses, more alternatives to driving into the city, these would help.
It won’t happen. Not anymore. We had some momentum for a little while, but the derailleurs are on now.
Update: See, it's all about depowering Clover. What bastardry.
The State Government of NSW changed hands not so very long ago, moving from Labor to Liberal, and the new Premier, Barry O’Farrell, has been finding his feet ever since. Not unlike his predecessors in the job, however, he has found the Lord Mayor of Sydney, Clover Moore, irksome.
Under Bob Carr, Labor NSW attempted a power play, redefining the various council boundaries, including joining South Sydney Council with the City of Sydney Council, attempting to wrest control for their preferred administrators. It backfired. Clover went rogue, becoming an independent, but retaining her position as Lord Mayor and her seat in State Parliament. Why should that be so? Because she does a good job for her parliamentary constituency and for the city. She has remained a gadfly to so-called conservative commentators and all extreme right politicians, including those on the Labor Right.
She had an idea that the City of Sydney, made up as it is of disparate suburbs, many quite small, but all expressing different characteristics in one degree or another, could share its various offerings in a way that made it more liveable overall. Part of her idea was to introduce environmental sustainability efforts, such as co-generation of power in council buildings, but also getting the various bike paths that had been introduced over the years to actually link up, encouraging us to stop relying so much on private vehicles. Better bus service, maybe an eventual return of trams, and even the introduction of traffic-free zones within the CBD were in the works. These various efforts could also have the effect of getting the people who visit the city regularly for work to linger for a meal or an event outside of work. If the city has more to offer and more ways to ease the problems of getting in and out, we’d feel better about sticking around. Hell, we might even think about living here, instead of commuting back and forth from near and far suburbs. All very laudable.
But bicycles are like vegetarianism: they generate a nearly inexplicable derision, if they are not outright despised. Those cyclists, with their tights and their invariable disregard for their own safety or that of others, whizzing through traffic, except when they’re going slower than the traffic on the streets they’re forced to share from the lack of bike lanes that they don’t deserve, because they wear tights and won’t ever ring their bells as they approach a pedestrian and . . . foam, foam, foam. What is it about bikes in the city that’s so bad?
Anyway, Clover started joining up the bike lanes, putting some in where there had been none, too, and keeping pedestrian and vehicular traffic separated. My GOD! She spent money, taxpayer money on bicyclists!
So now here comes Barry, and before anything can be done in regard to city streets within the City of Sydney, a committee of seven members will be consulted, four of whom are appointed by Barry, and three from the City. Any chance of progress? Only if progress meets Barry’s definition, which, so far, appears to be none.
Barry’s concern, ostensibly, is the effect to city businesses when bike lanes reduce on-street parking, or if no-car zones would reduce accessibility to businesses by people in cars. As if there weren’t other ways to get there (Barry: the trains! The buses! Didn’t you say you were going to fix those?).
If traffic is a problem, Barry, it isn’t bicycles that are the cause, it’s that you (and previous governments) have done nothing but create new suburbs with little else than highways that join onto city streets not capable of accepting the volume. Newtown’s King Street and City Road can’t handle what they receive. Even Parramatta Road can’t manage the volume from the west – even on weekends it’s easily overwhelmed.
What’s needed isn’t an intervention on bicycles. What’s really needed is better planning. Parramatta and Chatswood have the potential to be true alternative city centres, creating corridors that could feed into one another. Trams, light rail, improvements to the existing passenger trains that aren’t just schedule tweaks to hide poor on-time performance, more buses, more alternatives to driving into the city, these would help.
It won’t happen. Not anymore. We had some momentum for a little while, but the derailleurs are on now.
Update: See, it's all about depowering Clover. What bastardry.
05 March 2012
City of Sails
As usual, these days, more time in Auckland. Although I didn't bring a camera this last trip, which was sort of too bad, as I climbed to the top of Rangitoto island, which is a volcano, 600 years old, approximately, in the middle of the harbour, and walked across the entire width of New Zealand (o.k., fine, it's only about 6 or 7 kilometers across Auckland, but the walk, especially with the divergences I took because of the mediocre map and sometime intermittent markings, was probably closer to 16 or more). But I did also get to be in town on the last trip for Auckland Anniversary Day, which included the Seafood Festival.
The Seafood Festival costs, this year, NZ$20 to get in. Then you spend NZ$10 to try something to eat. Anything you buy is pretty much enough to be lunch, so you either need to be very hungry and willing to spend an extraordinary amount of money for lunch, or very choosey. I fell somewhere in between, but enjoyed my selections.
Also on that weekend, I climbed to the top of Mount Eden, Auckland's highest point, and an extinct volcano. Climbed isn't what it used to be, as really I just followed the road up to the top. But it was a swell view.
Here are photos:
View from Mt Eden
Mt eden Crater
Mt Eden Crater View
View from Mt Eden
on Mount eden
Seafood Festival Crowd
Seafood Festival Fire
Seafood Festival Flyover
Seafood festival Stilts
Seafood Festival Makeup
Regatta
Container Loading
Container from harbour
Night Port
As usual, these days, more time in Auckland. Although I didn't bring a camera this last trip, which was sort of too bad, as I climbed to the top of Rangitoto island, which is a volcano, 600 years old, approximately, in the middle of the harbour, and walked across the entire width of New Zealand (o.k., fine, it's only about 6 or 7 kilometers across Auckland, but the walk, especially with the divergences I took because of the mediocre map and sometime intermittent markings, was probably closer to 16 or more). But I did also get to be in town on the last trip for Auckland Anniversary Day, which included the Seafood Festival.
The Seafood Festival costs, this year, NZ$20 to get in. Then you spend NZ$10 to try something to eat. Anything you buy is pretty much enough to be lunch, so you either need to be very hungry and willing to spend an extraordinary amount of money for lunch, or very choosey. I fell somewhere in between, but enjoyed my selections.
Also on that weekend, I climbed to the top of Mount Eden, Auckland's highest point, and an extinct volcano. Climbed isn't what it used to be, as really I just followed the road up to the top. But it was a swell view.
Here are photos:
View from Mt Eden
Mt eden Crater
Mt Eden Crater View
View from Mt Eden
on Mount eden
Seafood Festival Crowd
Seafood Festival Fire
Seafood Festival Flyover
Seafood festival Stilts
Seafood Festival Makeup
Regatta
Container Loading
Container from harbour
Night Port
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