They Should Come live in Darwin

The Japanese might have to move.

Perhaps they'd like Darwin. It's a bit warmer, a few more crocodiles, but what's not to like?

There's a few natural disasters that come past - some cyclones. But that's just a storm. Not the earth shattering under your feet twenty times a day.

Broadcast News Experience

I wish I'd filmed this as it happened, but there was simply no time.

And the phone was playing up - which is key to the story.

Here's me telling it...

and here is the overlay that was worth all the trouble

Sunday in Sydney

Although yesterday had really taken the biscuit - 41 degrees or more across the city - the expected Southerly change didn't happen overnight. Indeed it was still 33 degrees at midnight, and didn't get below 27 even early in the morning.

I know - I was up at 5 again. Tom likes to get up early on a warm day.

By the time we were on the 0905 a373 from Randwick to the city, a bus we caught in a rather more exciting manner than was strictly necessary, the young lad had fallen asleep.

He was still asleep when we started to roll through the park. I don't think I've ever walked through Hyde Park so early on a Sunday, and although a few bearded types were lurking about, no-one was actually playing.

So - our first game of Big Chess. I wonder if we could make a Big Chess on our new terrace?

By the time we'd wrapped the game, it was getting genuinely hot again. Izel needed relief.

Terrific light though. SOmething about really hot weather - it's like it burns through the air and strikes the ground in a bolder 'get out of my way' kind of manner.

Art Gallery was delicious, but not as delicious as the Southerly change that's just arrived half an hour ago.

Weekend Roundup

Good advice.

What a fab weekend. Let me reminisce.

Friday we wrapped up and went to the beach for supper - fish and chips and a few lovely photos of the girl.

Then on Saturay we TIDIED and Cris found six bags of stuff to give away to the Benson Thomas's. Izel went to MaPa's for a sleepover and Tom had fun at the Glasshouse.

We ate a beautiful dish - duck breast with fig - and drank no more than we needed to be merry. And we met Graham the Wheneverly Correspondent from Mongolia.

The next day was Ma's birthday, so we scrambled a dozen eggs and took them to Wylie's Baths.

I love Wylie's Baths. It's the best place in the country. And such good life advice.

Big, Soapy Tears

This is the best invention I've seen all week.

It's simple and brilliant. Why deal with the mess and waste of a soap dispenser - those things are evil! And soap bars are not much better - slippery and they get mucky when they're wet.

You grind some flakes - you wash your hands! It's so brilliant I could cry big, soapy tears.

I want one now!

Perhaps it's not surprising that the inventor is a Swissie - recently graduated from the Design Academy in Eindhoven.

Approaching the end of the day

Just saw this joyful little robot video - a real robot from (I think) the university of wisconsin (it's UW - any other ideas).

Back in the Office

Lovely day to be back in the office. Stevie C sent me this video of his group the Honeybees performing a flash mob in the QVB.

It's just about 1000hrs, I've got a stack of work to do, and Cris has taken the kids to the pool. We're going to get ourselves a family membership this year - more swimming please!!

N

"In other news"

Jan 7th 2011

SO I've been listening to a lot of cricket in the last couple of weeks...

One more habit I can dispense with now. No more cricket :-(

However that does free up time for other things - doing my tax return for 09/10 for example, there's always a cheeky load of washing to be done, I could clean up the desktop, vacuum the floor, feed the cat ...

Instead I'm blogging and with a serious point. The photo above demonstrates just a small corner of the sweeping changes enacted by my wife (Cristina) upon the kitchen that serves so well our generously proportioned family (except for Izel - whom the kitchen does serve, but who is not generously proportioned).

One or two things still to be done, but by jingo I think we can lick it. If not we'll just eat outside more often.

N

Now in TREBUCHET MS!!

Why name a font after a medieval siege engine? APparently those wits at Microsoft were one day discussing whether it would be possible to launch Angry Sam, the barmy English programmer with the BO and the vacuous conversation, from his nook to the sef-serve cafe a mile away on campus? Mr V Connare, a font designer, thought the word 'trebuchet' might serve both to deal with the limey, and also make a neat title for the new san-serif font he'd been designing (the one with the splayed edges on the uppercase M and curved tail on the lower case l)

Due to the evil that is Facebook I'm moving my musings to this blog.

Posting a video soon - look out for it.

N