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Our friends Alana and Sean left a couple of weeks ago for a one year posting to Kashmir with MSF working on earthquake relief, and specifically water sanitation. The 'quake happened in October 2005.
Here's UK volunteer Paul Jawor's slideshow and audio of what it's like working for MSF in that region.
We're thinking of you two.
Bill Clinton gave an interview to Brownstein of the Los Angeles Times about his reading material, and particularly biographies of U.S. Presidents which he has read.
[pointer from Rebecca Blood]
Back in the 70's and early 80's there was a fad going on around the world to line up thousands of dominos and then topple them in a chain reaction. Read about that old-school phenom here and here. Those stunts used to feature on the nightly TV news.
A few Japanese guys have brought that tired old sport up to date. Turn up the sound and view the YouTube here.
[Pointer from Gulfstream.]
There's a report in today's papers about Mr. John Buckingham, a prominant member of the local branch of the Liberal Party, who has received a one-year suspension. Why? Because he had the temerity to write a letter to the Editor of the Manly Daily Newspaper criticising factionalism for his party's loss of the by-election in Pittwater last November. The letter was printed prominently in the paper. Read the front page story in today's Manly Daily. A quote from the 15-year party member:
"I was distressed that prior to Friday night the maximum penalty was four months but then suddenly it became 12 months."
Buckingham's suspension from the Liberal party also got front page in the Sydney Morning Herald.
Hmmmm. Let's compare Mr. Buckingham's treatment with the Liberal Party's professed beliefs. Look at the website of the New South Wales branch of the Liberal Party. Here's the link to their "Our Beliefs" page.
It says,
"We believe......in those most basic freedoms of parliamentary democracy – the freedom of thought, worship, speech and association;
The other story which caught my eye today highlighting infringement of free speech was sportswriter Roy Master's column on the back page of the Sydney Morning Herald Nothing to gain from AFL's lead. There he reviews a few concepts which have been imported from the Australian Football League's top clubs to the National Rugby League's top clubs.
A couple of choice quotes from Masters' column:
"Since when does pulling on a pair of football boots mean losing your civil rights?"
"Since when does registering with the AFL involve surrendering the right to free speech? Doesn't the AFL derive most of its income from the media, including a $780 million contract for TV rights?"
Roy Masters referred to the disciplining by the Brisbane Lions Football Club of the star player Jason Akermanis for writing comments in his (Akermanis's) newspaper column which were construed as being critical of the club.
Masters makes some good points, however having a soapbox also confers some responsibilities on Akermanis and others. For example bloggers. Telling the whole truth about everything is not always the most appropriate course of action if commercial interests are involved when a commentator or blogger has undertaken to do his or her best to advance those commenrcial interests.
The Omega Speedmaster Professional Chronograph. Also known as the Moonwatch. Here it's on a NATO style black band. I've got the bracelet for the watch too, but wanted to see how it looked on something different.
Here's Omega's current version. Here's Omega's claim that this model was "the first watch (and the only watch since) to be worn on the moon."
It was certainly the first watch worn on the Moon (Buzz Aldrin's watch; Armstrong's watch was left in the lunar module orbiting the Moon) but serious doubt exists about it being the only watch worn on the Moon. Here's some details about the possible location of the first watch worn on the Moon, long thought to be lost.
Added: Chuck Maddox has written a well researched article about other watch models which have also been worn on the Moon. Read it here.
Edward said that he wanted to do some painting. We've got a little water colour paint set, an Ikea Mala set.
Gabrielle was going to help Ed with another brush, but he wanted both brushes for himself. He's a two fisted painter. He's got a neat polka-dotted smock to keep the paint off his clothes, and his Grandfather thought it made him look like the King of the Mountains.
Over the past couple of weeks I've updated my list of "blogs I suggest" in the right margin. Added some, and eliminated some.
Today I stumbled across the blog Bob Sutton - Work Matters. It's now in my list. Bob Sutton's Professof of Management Science and Engineering at the Stanford Engineering School. It's a great blog. Go take a look. Sutton has written some books, of course, and is famous for the "no-asshole rule".
I was just reading on the blog Marginal Revolution that Alex Tabarrok has done some analysis of the price trend of premium versus regular gasoline in the USA, and offered some reasons for the variation in the price spread between the two fuel grades.
Back in July 2005 I did some fuel economy analysis for my Mazda Tribute 4WD here and here.
Then, in July 2005, regular unleaded was $1.179 per litre, and premium unleaded was $1.239 an increase of 5.09%.
Alex Tabarrok's blog post reminds me that I should run over the figures at today's prices. Now let's look at the recent prices, where the spread has generally been 10 cents.
Let's say regular at $1.429 per litre and premium at $1.529 per litre. That's a 7% price difference.
According to my fuel consumption figures from my July 2005 blog posts, my gain in fuel economy by using premium fuel was 8.42%. So, even at today's prices and with this 10 cent price differential, premium fuel offers a price advantage based upon fuel economy.
I know, I know, you economists and statisticians are going to tell me I can graph these constants to give useful information, but there's also variables in engine tuning and ageing to take into consideration.
This rough figure analysis will probably be sufficient for now.
Cameron Reilly is Ebay auctioning some advertising space on his podcast G'Day World.
Read his blog post about it here.
The Tuesday edition of the Sydney Morning Herald comes with a lifestyle supplement called Good Living. Yesterday's issue of Good Living had some features on coffee, cafes, and coffee drinking. It included readers' recommendations of good cafes around Sydney, grouped into geographical areas. Some I have tried, and the recommendations were valid. I turned to the section for cafes north of the Sydney Harbour Bridge where we live and was very relieved to find that none of my favourite cafes were mentioned. (recommendations not available in the online edition)
Relieved, because it would have guaranteed those cafes would get very busy, real fast.
Now, because you are a loyal reader of this blog, and there's not enough of you to make these cafes busy, here's my tips for good coffee north of the bridge:
Pino's cafe in Clarke Street, Crow's Nest. Near Willoughby Road, not to be confused with Pino's pizzeria in Willoughby Road. Great coffee, good people watching. Child friendly, but not much room to move. Outdoor seating only, under awning. Metered street parking.
Forest Cafe in The Centre, Darley Street, Forestville. Great coffee, Older style cafe with takeaway food. Child friendly. Indoor and Outdoor seating with plenty of room for Edward to run around. Nick, Chris and Hong always have a friendly greeting for Edward and all regular customers. Plenty of parking in shopping centre carpark.
Greenwich Village Espresso Bar 93 Greenwich Road, Greenwich. Opposite the Primary School. Great coffee, nice food, free on street parking. Child firendly. Kids' toys and books available for use inside. Free on street parking.
Ok, don't tell too many people. I don't want to have to battle for a table.
[footnote: I'm not saying that the coffee at Pino's pizzeria is bad, I simply haven't tried it.]
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