lifeasdaddy

It turns out Fortune Cookies originated in Japan

Or so says Yasuko Nakamachi in this New York Times piece by Jennifer 8. Lee.

Cool middle name, 8, isn't it?

Christmas in Australia

[ Again, this is late due to technical problems ]

It's Christmas Day.   

Preparations began last night with setting out a libation and a gingerbread biscuit for Santa and some water, a carrot and some magic reindeer food for his team.  The pic shows Edward taking a photograph of his tableau.

Then off to bed for our boy, to try to overcome excitement and get to sleep.

On Christmas morning we opened some gifts, including this fishing game for Ed from his Uncle Damian and Aunt Sharon.  It comprises a tin containing magnetic fish.  The fish are caught by Edward using his fishing rod with a magnet on the end.  Loads of fun.

Ed's Grandpa Alan gave him a Hotwheels kit with a hand-held launcher and a few cars. Wow.

Gabrielle and I gave Edward a bicycle, and Grandpa Roger gave him a helmet to preserve his brain.  This bike is decorated with a Lightning McQueen motif, currently one of Ed's favourite movie characters.

We hosted family Christmas luncheon and of course children brought along their newest and best Christmas things.  Eloise was very proud of her new swimming goggles.

When things had calmed down and our guests had gone Edward did some construction work with the wheelbarrow which was gifted by Aunt Jayne.

Later when some quiet time was needed it turned out that the wheel barrow was also a good resting place.  You'll note the more than somewhat glazed look in Edward's eyes.

Ed's first concert at the Sydney Opera House

[ Due to technical problems inserting images - this post is a bit late to market. ]

Edward knows perfecty well which buiding is the Sydney Opera House, and a couple of weeks before Christmas he found out what goes on inside.  Music!

We attended a Babies Proms Christmas concert in the Utzon Room which is dominated on one side by a huge woven tapestry  and on the other side by floor to ceiling windows overlooking Farm Cove.  The 16-piece orchestra was conducted by Big G, and there was a solo singer named Saskia.

A highlight for Ed was hanging his ornament on the Christmas tree at the end of the show - he's in the horizontally striped shirt in the pic.

As for the concert, it was great fun for the littlies, and well run by the Opera house team.

Tyler Cowen's points of uncertainty

Tyler Cowen writes a very intereseting econoblog Marginal Revolution which I've been reading for quite some time.  He writes comprehensively and with wisdom on a wide range of topics - yet has room in his mind to juggle contradictory ideas.   He lists here a number of policy areas about which he is uncertain. 

Having just gone through the process of trying to determine the best place to cast my vote in the recent Australian election I found myself likewise vexed by policy uncertainty - my own view of which direction is best taken in several areas being the uncertainty.