tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-71053492024-03-14T03:16:35.400+11:00Gleanings from Fallow FieldsGeneral rambles, comments & thoughts on a reality-based world, <br><em>sometimes</em> Fair and Balanced.Epacrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03799899284595235636noreply@blogger.comBlogger276125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7105349.post-79954921250683414402009-11-18T14:52:00.005+11:002009-11-18T16:08:56.856+11:00Fade away or gradually dieSome more sad news Edward Woodward's BBC Obituary
I mentioned Breaker Morant just recently elsewhere. Callan seems to have branded itself into a generation, too. Glad now DVD releases are available. The Wicker Man has left quite an impact as well. Saw him only a couple of weeks ago, doing a good job in a recent Britcrime TV drama. Only one I can see in IMDB list is Jonnie Johnson in The Bill &Epacrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03799899284595235636noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7105349.post-63612559230731627622009-11-09T09:09:00.001+11:002009-11-10T14:42:33.852+11:00Disturbing Wall Art in BerlinAltho' this Daily Mail article, linked at end, has a different main subject – starting with Nicolas Sarkozy's confused recollection of his part in the fall of the Berlin Wall & continuing with general reflections on that event & its 20th Anniversary – there was a background in an accompanying picture that I found striking, disturbing &, unfortunately, memorable (brain bleach wanted). Epacrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03799899284595235636noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7105349.post-75823807627193133452009-10-23T00:59:00.001+11:002009-10-23T01:22:08.036+11:00American PoemI AM the people—the mob—the crowd—the mass.
Do you know that all the great work of this world is
done through me?
I am the workingman, the inventor, the maker of the
world's food & clothes.
I am the audience that witnesses history. The Napoleons
come from me & the Lincolns. They die. &
then I send forth more Napoleons & Lincolns.
I am the seed ground. I am a prairie that will stand
for much Epacrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03799899284595235636noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7105349.post-63769511333803568862009-10-03T04:59:00.002+10:002009-10-03T05:06:46.900+10:00So, it's Rio for 2016 OlympicsWhen the human world & its damage to itself & its planet gets too much, sometimes looking at a bigger picture can distract us from our distress & despair. (NB: Need better, official links for these two.)
Mysterious Mercury reveals more surface secrets to Messenger spacecraftThe Messenger team were hoping to take close-up pictures of other features glimpsed during the first two fly-bys, but an Epacrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03799899284595235636noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7105349.post-14328785878236841562009-09-22T06:00:00.000+10:002009-09-22T06:00:56.463+10:00The Antiquity of the Novelty SongAn odd thing I discovered while searching for details of a quite different nursery song for someone.
Nursery Antiquities, from Popular Rhymes and Nursery Tales by James Orchard Halliwell"The following has been traced to the time of Henry VI., a singular doggerel, the joke of which consists in saying it so quickly that it cannot be told whether it is English or gibberish:"In fir tar is,
In oak Epacrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03799899284595235636noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7105349.post-57016474023825077832009-09-09T06:16:00.000+10:002009-09-11T06:24:10.977+10:00The Strange Story of Stan Brock remains untold hereA report from Guy Adams in Los Angeles at the music arena that has been turned into a makeshift medical centreThe Independent (UK) Guy AdamsSaturday, 15 August 2009The brutal truth about America’s healthcare: &hhellip; Some of these Americans had walked miles simply to have their blood pressure checked, some had slept in their cars in the hope of getting an eye-test or a mammogram, others had Epacrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03799899284595235636noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7105349.post-36843709442304338242009-07-04T02:21:00.003+10:002009-07-04T02:33:31.974+10:00A Sonnet to be kept for a proper timeSonnetIf I should die some night and never seeDawn's light, my email, and my morning tea,I face the thought with equanimity,In fact, it would be worse for you than me.Not that I want to die and turn to clay.I'm only half-way through, I want to stay, I want more years, more books, more chance to sayI love my life, my work, my friends, my day.But I would know for sure the mysteryPerhaps go on to Epacrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03799899284595235636noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7105349.post-14539582035371465972009-06-20T15:30:00.002+10:002009-06-20T15:52:53.934+10:00Apology AgainNot putting much here right now. Haven't given up. Life goes on, so far.Epacrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03799899284595235636noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7105349.post-55491064811759629972009-06-03T22:53:00.001+10:002009-06-03T23:03:25.543+10:00Hate CrimesOne quote from a recent American Terrorist story jumped out. From my local paper's report (‘Gunman says murder of abortion doctors was 'justified'’), via Associated Press, also in variations from several sources"The anti-tax stuff came first, and then it grew and grew," said Lindsey Roeder … he became involved with the Freemen movement, an anti-government group that discouraged the payingEpacrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03799899284595235636noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7105349.post-7574558931675264972009-05-22T05:01:00.003+10:002009-05-22T05:12:14.846+10:00Two Anniversaries: the Effluxion of TimeFrom comments on a review at Rixosous of The Mayor of Castro Street, by Randy Shilts.Today is the 30th anniversary of the White Night Riots, which occurred when Dan White was given a ludicrously low sentence for the murders of Harvey Milk and George Moscone.Tomorrow is Harvey Milk's birthday. He would have been 79. It's hard to imagine.Posted by: Susan de Guardiola | May 21, 2009 at 12:22 PMEpacrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03799899284595235636noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7105349.post-22278631294296002672009-02-27T05:12:00.001+11:002009-02-27T05:12:17.697+11:00Watchmen WidgetEpacrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03799899284595235636noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7105349.post-60846001486492439232009-02-11T10:27:00.006+11:002009-02-11T11:46:38.046+11:00Leviathan's Underbelly: TVI've mentioned John Birmingham's book Leviathan* (Assorted links) before (5 June, 2005). Here's one of the chapters, expanded and filmed. Also see the works of Rupert Kathner Underbelly: Back where it all began - SMH TV & Radio - Entertainment:"Sydney had been corrupt since the Rum Corps, but in the 1970s it exploded. A cell of bent detectives effectively franchised crime using 'pet' Epacrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03799899284595235636noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7105349.post-2968103153510542742009-01-18T04:31:00.003+11:002009-01-18T04:46:47.923+11:00A Minnesota January — Things People Do When It Gets Cold<!-- A Minnesota January — Things People Do When It Gets Too Cold -->Still Too Cold To Go Birding (15th January, 2009)www.birdchick.com/ 2009/ 01/ still-too-cold-to-go-birding.htmlThere's a video of unusual banana use, and stories of bubbles and spray.Elsewhere, there's ‘Is it cold enough for you’ (by dmilstein) showing the effect of cold air on hot water.www.youtube.com/ watch?v=Epacrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03799899284595235636noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7105349.post-84297701548218758362008-12-28T14:24:00.010+11:002009-09-12T01:04:35.060+10:00Humanist Podcasts through DecemberNew Humanist Advent Calendar Podcasts (link to list)
From Monday, 1 December 2008 to Wednesday, December 24th, these were posted up day by day. There's a short entry and an embedded player in the blog, or you can listen directly to the MP3 file. Each interview subject was asked to pick a scientist or philosopher or writer who they'd suggest be commemorated by an annual day, rather like Epacrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03799899284595235636noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7105349.post-47127234748172437662008-12-23T22:14:00.001+11:002008-12-23T22:25:35.643+11:00USA Today: Car Smashes in the SnowOuch - two car crashes survived. Photos shared from Flickr. ~*Leah*~ [untitled] & Lauren takes Pictures, Day 198 of 365Epacrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03799899284595235636noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7105349.post-21575130911278513952008-12-13T09:04:00.001+11:002008-12-13T09:10:35.748+11:00SMH Obituary - Dacre Smyth, 1923-2008www.smh.com.au - A poetic observer, unwittingly, of Hiroshima:www.smh.com.au/ text/ articles/ 2008/ 12/ 10/ 1228584924971.htmlSmyth was on HMAS Norman 160 kilometres east of Japan on August 6, 1945, when another officer called him on deck to see a 'spectacular sunset'. Smyth immediately wrote a poem, of which the second verse says: 'No cloud, I say, but yet the sun did light/ On towering columns Epacrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03799899284595235636noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7105349.post-81370122549492541112008-11-06T20:35:00.003+11:002008-11-06T21:24:00.684+11:00Post-Election Musical ThoughtsDEMOCRACY It's coming through a hole in the air,from those nights in Tiananmen Square.It's coming from the feelthat this ain't exactly real,or it's real, but it ain't exactly there.From the wars against disorder,from the sirens night and day,from the fires of the homeless,from the ashes of the gay:Democracy is coming to the U.S.A.It's coming through a crack in the wall;on a visionary flood of Epacrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03799899284595235636noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7105349.post-9328386735291743792008-10-06T13:45:00.003+11:002008-10-06T13:51:12.737+11:00OH NOES! RUN! RUN! RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!Panic Nowmore animalsChrisMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03973594361559849355noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7105349.post-87835447295442849632008-10-02T06:52:00.004+10:002008-10-02T07:41:09.250+10:00Satellite Photo Maps and 'Reality'1) My home is on a busy & important road, running straight for over a mile along the top of a ridge next to central Sydney. On my first use of Google Street View, like everyone else looking for my place, it was in the only block along the whole length missing. 2) Walking in a new area of the city I discovered a tiny hidden oasis right off a big busy main road. Two little angled lanes of brick Epacrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03799899284595235636noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7105349.post-75213680612650387112008-09-22T19:59:00.000+10:002008-09-22T20:00:33.994+10:00Links on Compulsory VotingHere's a link to the Australian Electoral Commission's very brief summary page on Compulsory Voting. This links to more detailed PDF documents (1-short, 2-fuller. See also Informality. For excruciating detail see Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918). It covers the Federal law, the States have their own (NSW, see legislation: Parliamentary Electorates and Elections Act 1912 No 41, Div 13), and each Epacrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03799899284595235636noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7105349.post-20090461622734114522008-09-19T02:23:00.004+10:002008-09-26T13:40:24.386+10:00Life (sort of) Imitates Snow CrashPizza man fined for delivering very fast fast foodSeptember 17, 2008, 3:29 am(Reporting by Pauline Askin, Editing by Michael Perry and Miral Fahmy)SYDNEY (Reuters) - An Australian pizza delivery man gave fast food a new meaning when he was caught, and fined, for driving 53 km (33 miles) over the speed limit.The 20-year-old man, driving on a provisional driver's license, said he was speeding ChrisMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03973594361559849355noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7105349.post-35131845493083656212008-06-20T14:24:00.003+10:002008-06-20T14:29:01.658+10:00Nice NoisesMP3 extracts of Richard Einhorn's music - composer of Voices of Light, etc, www.richardeinhorn.com/ Audio/ AudioIndex.htmlVoices of Light link www.richardeinhorn.com/ VOL/ VOLHomepage.htmlAnd another space … listen.to/ whitenoiseYouTube clip called Kaamelott - The perfect fifth. It seems to be part of series called Kaamelott, I think. I did LOL (quietly (LQ?)) at 'diabolus!', rememberingEpacrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03799899284595235636noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7105349.post-4630928706593195492008-06-20T01:02:00.003+10:002008-09-27T00:47:21.137+10:00What Cannot be Knitted or Crotcheted?Knitted Tardis (don't let the BBC hear, tho'): TARDIS Knit Plush Pattern Instructions, and Pattern Graph; Knitted Tardis Flickr set; and Instructables page: The Tardis - knitted. I would love someone to bring one along to the Sixth Annual 702 ABC Sydney Knit In for the Wrap With Love charity (the Big Day is 1st August this year), 'cos our ABC is & has been the Dr Who purveyor in Australia sinceEpacrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03799899284595235636noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7105349.post-45411625409055079752008-05-29T17:01:00.002+10:002008-05-29T20:16:59.839+10:00Mud of some sort or anotherSomeone mentioned mud, and I immediately sang in my mind “mud, mud, glorious mud” – from ‘Hippopotamus’ by Flanders & Swann.Mud is something they'd love to find on Mars — see HiRISE images of the Phoenix landing site at www.planetary.org/ blog/ article/ 00001472Mud also plays a small, but vital role in the film The Ballad of Cable HogueAnd for a picture that evokes quite different Epacrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03799899284595235636noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7105349.post-53056275456469760602008-05-01T12:07:00.004+10:002008-05-01T12:53:35.420+10:00Some English language alphabetsJohn Higgins's silent alphabetA as in BREADB as in DEBTC as in INDICTMENTD as in HANDKERCHIEFE as in GIVEF as in HALFPENNYG as in GNAWH as in HOURI as in FRIENDJ as in MARIJUANAK as in KNOWL as in CALMM as the first M in MNEMONICN as in AUTUMNO as in PEOPLEP as in PSALMQ as in COLQUHOUN (a Scottish surnamepron “Cull-hoon”)R as in FORECASTLES as in ISLANDT as in CASTLEU as in GUARDV as in Epacrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03799899284595235636noreply@blogger.com0