|
|
| |
Peter Nixon
|
Sunday, 27 November 2005
|
|
Friday I rode home from work. I
couldn't believe the head wind! I normally take between an hour and ten
minutes and an hour and a half to get home - Salisbury to Henley Beach
via Port Adelaide. Friday took two agonising hours, battling wind, in
full sun. Such a contrast to the day before.
Thursday, I had to leave early for
a gig. I left at about 12.40. I couldn't believe the speed I was doing.
The first stretch along Salisbury Highway is slightly downhill,
although you wouldn't pick it in a car, and I was hitting 43 kmh, where
normally I'd do around the very low 30s. There was, because it was so
early, a (fairly normal) daytime north wind assisting me greatly.
Unfortunately, I had gone about a quarter the way when it swung around
to the afternoon sea breeze! My speed was cut in half.
I had made enough headway to make
a respectable average, and get home in an hour and ten minutes; not the
fastest I've done it, but certainly respectable.
9:57:35 PM 
|
|
|
Cory Doctorow:
The Transport Security Agency in Pittsburgh required a passenger to
remove her body jewelry before allowing her to board a flight. I don't
think that banning nipple rings makes airplanes safer, do you? What the
hell are these dorks doing, wasting our time and tax-dollars to enforce
petty, abusive, made-up policies like this? The 2006 elections can't
come too soon for me.
At least one passenger who traveled through Pittsburgh learned this the
hard way. She had to remove her piercings in a restroom after airport
security told her she couldn't get on a plane with her hardware intact.
The pierced passenger filed a complaint with the Transportation
Security Administration, which logs all claims against its personnel at
airports across the country.
Link
(via Fark)
[Boing Boing]
9:37:25 PM
|
|
|
Xeni Jardin:
Actor Pat Morita, whose portrayal of Mr. Miyagi in "The Karate Kid"
inspired countless kids to take up martial arts, has passed away.
Wipe on, wipe off.
Link (Thanks, IgnacioP)
[Boing Boing]
6:42:34 AM
|
|
|
|
|
Friday, 25 November 2005
|
|
Global warming concerns have been fed by new findings that carbon dioxide (CO2) levels are 27 per cent higher than at any point in the last 650,000 years.
Uh-oh.
[ABC News: Science and Technology]
9:20:38 PM
|
|
|
|
|
Thursday, 24 November 2005
|
|
Mark Frauenfelder:
Jeff says: "Human faces have shrunk on average by 30% over the last 10,000 years, according to the Sunday Times."
Many men [10,000 years ago] would have had the shape of
Arnold Schwarzenegger[base ']s head while women might have looked more like
Camilla [the Duchess of Cornwall]. By contrast, Tony Blair and George
Bush are good examples of the more delicate modern form. Some nasty member of my family criticises my face because all the features are in the centre.
Perhaps I am Future-Man!
Link
[Boing Boing]
2:28:45 PM
|
|
|
|
|
Tuesday, 22 November 2005
|
|
Limon has already served 4 years in prison for a crime that
would have gotten a heterosexual one year; now the despicable
state of Kansas wants more...
We've followed the case of Matthew Limon for years. Limon
received a 17-year prison sentence for giving consensual oral
sex to another male when a heterosexual offender would have
received at most a little over a year. Eventually the Kansas
Supreme...
Just when you think institutionalised bigotry can't get any worse...
[morons.org headlines]
8:18:29 AM
|
|
|
A new study of workers shows more than half feel overwhelmed with pressure and stress.
Tell me about it.
[ABC News: Health]
8:08:49 AM
|
|
|
Mark Frauenfelder:
 From
PCL Link Dump: "Link Wray has passed away.
The King.
Most people refer to Elvis as the King - and they are not wrong. He was
the King. Link Wray was the The KING OF ROCK. And he most certainly was
The KING OF THE ROCK GUITAR."
Another great gone. Link Wray was a huge influence on rock guitar. John Lennon counted himself as Link's biggest fan.
Link [Boing Boing]
1:04:55 AM
|
|
|
Sunday was my mother's birthday, and the family got together at my sister's house on the seafront at Henley South. As usual, lovely food, wine, conversation and gorgeous nieces.
Eventually everyone drove away, but I decided to walk home along the beach. It was such a glorious afternoon.
I was tempted by the Bacchus,
where The Healers were just setting up. I called in, drank more
wine(!), nattered with the band, spoke to a few regulars, and stayed
for set and a half, then walked home. Great day.
12:54:32 AM
|
|
|
Saturday, busy, after a night of insomnia. I waddled down to Henley Square for a haircut, and a short espresso.
Long rehearsal in the afternoon
with a couple of guys I've never played with before, for a gig
(corporate cocktail party!) Thursday night.
Home for a short snooze, then to the Grange Hotel to be a guest and a musician at a party.
The band was The Dave Taylor Band.
We had last played together six years ago. The party was for the
keyboard player's daughter's 30th birthday. We later found it was also
for the keyboard player's own 60th birthday! The combined ages of this
four piece band I calculate to be 229! At 50, I'm the baby of the group.
We played a short, but powerful
set of party music. It was great to play with these great players
again. Dave is a fantastic front man, and I'd forgotten just how much
energy he puts into performing. One of the reasons the band stopped
working (and never worked often) was because Dave's health didn't cope
well with the pressures he put himself under.
We all had a great time. Talking
to Dave's wife later, far from being concerned that Dave might get the
itch to play again, she pleaded with me to get the band happening
again and get Dave out playing!
She took the line that I believe
myself - musicians don't have friends, they just have people they play
with. When we're not playing together, we don't see each other. She
said that Dave loved us all, but never saw us. Everyone was talking
about starting it up again. I think I had more laughs in this band than
in any other. I think we might just find us some gigs.
I was intending to walk home, but got a lift in the end. It was a great night of laughter, beer and conversation.
12:48:21 AM
|
|
|
|
|
Sunday, 20 November 2005
|
|
Vietnamese police have arrested British rocker Gary Glitter on a child molestation charge, a state-run newspaper is reporting.
I've often wondered, sprung on a dodgy sexuality beef, does someone say, "Fair cop, gov", and never do it again?
Apparently not.
[ABC News: Entertainment (with Mpeg1)]
10:16:01 PM
|
|
|
|
|
Wednesday, 16 November 2005
|
|
Researchers from the University of Queensland (UQ) have found a successful treatment for cervical cancer.
Another great breakthrough?
[ABC News: Science and Technology]
10:26:56 PM
|
|
|
Cory Doctorow:
Sparky has launched "Sory Electronics," a site that calls on Sony to apologize and make amends for its systematic infection of over 500,000 computer networks with a malicious trojan-horse rootkit that is sneakily installed on your PC when you try to play a Sony BMG CD.
DRM is bad for people. DRM stops users from enjoying their content and
frustrates consumers while doing nothing to stop pirates from stealing
and selling their digital wares. DRM is the industries' way of saying
you no longer own your content when you buy it, but are merely
borrowing it.
Sony refuses to apologize for their aggressive and dangerous
actions that infected millions of computers, and left consumers
helpless with their expensive computers with limited functionality. It
is for this reason that Sory Electronics and others such as Wired News
call for an immediate boycott of Sony products and Sony/BMG music. Sory
Electronics encourages you not to buy CDs, DVDs, Playstation products,
games, or personal entertainment equipment from Sony.
Every dollar spent on a Sony product sends a message that you
are OK with a corporation who spies on your personal computer habits
and opens up your PC to malicious hackers.
I haven't posted much about Boing Boing's anti-Digital Rights Management campaign. It's worth checking out. Boing Boing
has been at the forefront. Cory is an author who puts his money where
his mouth is. He publishes online, then sells to print publishers. He
still sells.
Link, Link to Nov 14 Roundup Post [Boing Boing]
10:07:58 PM
|
|
|
|
|
Tuesday, 15 November 2005
|
|
Australian scientists say they have stumbled upon a plant-based treatment that stops termites dead in their tracks.
Excellent!
[ABC News: Health]
10:24:59 PM
|
|
|
|
|
Monday, 14 November 2005
|
|
I heard some good news today. Adam
Hodson, who plays guitar in Satch Boogie, a band in which I play bass,
has been offered a permanent job at Salisbury East High School. He
completed his teaching qualifications last year, but, more importantly
to me, this was after completing Cert III, Cert IV, Diploma, and
Advanced Diploma in Music at Salisbury TAFE where I teach. In fact I
was one of his teachers for several years. He is one of many success
stories from our courses.
But, again, more importantly, he is a personal success story.
While he was studying he applied
to his old high school for a job teaching guitar. He got the job after
being interviewed by the very principal who expelled him!
He was expelled, not for any bad
behaviour other than failing to do any work. He did no work because he
had no aims. The principal who expelled him was a very wise man. He
brought Adam's parents in and said not to worry; by the time Adam
turned 19 he would have some idea of what he wanted to do, and he would
work hard at it, and he would be excellent at it. Which is exactly what
happened.
He always worked incredibly hard
at TAFE. If he messed something up, he did it again, and again if he
had to, until he got it right. He has immense drive to be the best at
what he does, and to do everything right. He is and will be an
excellent teacher.
11:47:55 PM
|
|
|
Cory Doctorow:
Simon directs us to this gallery of "really cool images of a Flash Mob
Pillow Fight recently occured right in the middle of ancient Roman
ruins in the center of Milan, Italy."
Does this look like fun or what?
Link
(Thanks, Simon!)
[Boing Boing]
8:17:14 PM
|
|
|
|
|
Sunday, 13 November 2005
|
|
This weekend Felicity came back
from Perth (long story) and had the weekend off work. I expected her to
want me to do something with her, or to have some tasks organised for
me. As it happened, there was talk of a building project for the
tortoise and his pond (there's a tale), but Kato had volunteered to
look into that, so I was off the hook. So cinema beckoned, the
advantage of cinema being that it is a way of going out together that
does not require speaking to each other. That sounds bad, but after 30
odd years together, looks and nods are often all we need. We didn't get
to the cinema anyway.
Sunday, Felicity thought we would do some gardening, but she did it all,
because I had not slept all night (old insomnia problem) and was a bit
slow, and had some personal matters to attend to.
In the afternoon, we had been invited to Hello Sailor, the guided walk
through the gay history of Port Adelaide, part of the Feast festival, the gay and lesbian celebration of the arts, but we didn't quite get it together to get there.
(Kato wanted me to be his engineer for some recordings, which made us
run a tad late). So we did get to the cinema after all.
We saw Kiss Kiss Bang Bang. Excellent!
What a genre-bending, post-modern trip! Is it a Raymond Chandler rip-off? The titles suggest a lineage.
On reflection, I realised it had actually taken half a dozen Chandler
plots and mashed them all into a 21st Century context. I'll have to see
it again, to spot the references!
But even in terms of genre, everything was up for grabs. Is it a
romantic comedy, a heist movie, a buddy film, a mystery, a film noir,
or what?
All the conventions of whatever genre you might settle on are
questioned, as you are taken through a humorous, rather than funny,
ride through a very self-referential and self-conscious exploration of old
filmic forms. Check the narration!
I loved it.
10:41:24 PM
|
|
|
|
|
Friday, 11 November 2005
|
|
Mark Frauenfelder:
Ian Wallace says: "Oak Island, part of Nova Scotia, is home to the
legendary 'Money Pit,' a pit supposed to contain buried treasure but
also ingeniously booby-trapped to flood with sea water. The Money Pit
site and history are famous amongst treasure buffs and cryptology buffs
alike, because the site was famously discovered after some encoded maps
and documents were deciphered. Lots of info out there, of course, but
the new detail is that the current treasure hunters who own the site
are selling it off."
I've been fascinated by the story of the money pit on Oak Island for years. There's no real
evidence of treasure (apart from a few coins), but the mystery of the
vertical shaft with false bottoms and the booby trap that let in the
sea to prevent investigation suggests someone invested a lot of time
and effort in concealing something many years ago.
Link (Good site about Oak Island here. Great article and Map by Boing Boing pal Joe Nickell here.) (thanks, Ian!) [Boing Boing]
9:01:01 AM
|
|
|
The ozone hole over Antarctica is the fourth largest on record, but scientists are encouraged that it is no longer growing.
It shits me that this thing ever
became the problem that it did. While authorities argued for years that
there was no problem, and it was finally decided about 15 (?) years ago
that there was, I remembered reading about the proposition and
discussing it with friends in high school in 1971 and 1972! Adopting a
conservative/conservationist line then (fluorocarbons, hydrocarbons and
chlorofluorocarbons were already implicated) would have begun the
slowdown immediately, and the reversal trend not too long later.
[ABC News: Science and Technology]
12:07:14 AM
|
|
|
|
|
Wednesday, 9 November 2005
|
|
Cory Doctorow:
Simson Garfinkel rounds up the ten worst software bugs in the history
of the world. A surpsiting number of these resulted in human deaths.
1982 -- Soviet gas pipeline. Operatives working for the
Central Intelligence Agency allegedly (.pdf) plant a bug in a Canadian
computer system purchased to control the trans-Siberian gas pipeline.
The Soviets had obtained the system as part of a wide-ranging effort to
covertly purchase or steal sensitive U.S. technology. The CIA
reportedly found out about the program and decided to make it backfire
with equipment that would pass Soviet inspection and then fail once in
operation. The resulting event is reportedly the largest non-nuclear
explosion in the planet's history.
Tog has been writing a series of articles on bugs since last December. He even has a photo of the first bug ever.
See also his article on interfaces that kill, which shows how a poorly designed interface was responsible for the death of John Denver.
Link [Boing Boing]
11:19:17 PM
|
|
|
A Queensland state Liberal parliamentarian has suggested daylight
saving cost a young Queenslander his place in a popular televised
talent quest.
We wuz robbed! they say.
[ABC News: Offbeat (with Mpeg1)]
10:55:13 PM
|
|
|
|
|
Monday, 7 November 2005
|
|
Queensland scientists say common drugs such as aspirin may hold the key to reducing the risk of developing skin cancer.
Kids, I have to say aspirin was always a miracle drug. Here's another example.
[ABC News: Health]
10:21:58 PM
|
|
|
So much cocaine is being used in London that traces of the white powdered narcotic can be detected in the River Thames, the Sunday Telegraph newspaper reported .
Freak me out brussel sprout!
[ABC News: Offbeat (with Mpeg1)]
9:52:08 PM
|
|
|
Kids, I'll never get Alzheimer's, but I'll be so pissed you'll never know the difference.
[Scientific American]
9:47:56 PM
|
|
|
|
|
Sunday, 6 November 2005
|
|
Cory Doctorow:
A cruise ship attacked by pirates off Somalia defended itself by firing a sonic blaster at the boarders:
The 10,000-ton Seabourn Spirit came under fire at about 5.30am. The
pirates approached in 25ft speedboats and shot at the ship with the
grenade launcher and machineguns. Terrified passengers watched as the
pirates tried to get aboard âo[per thou] only to be repelled by crew members who
set off what one described as a âo[ogonek]loud bangâo�...
The Seabourn Spirit, owned by the cruise giant Carnival, was on its
way from Alexandria in Egypt to the Kenyan port of Mombasa. It offers
the height of luxury, with huge suites, marble bathrooms and more than
one crew member to each passenger. Cruises aboard the liner cost from
£6,100 for a 16-day sail to £18,270 for an epic 46-day voyage.
The liner used a sonic blaster to foil the pirates. Developed
by American forces to deter small boats from attacking warships, the
non-lethal weapon sends out high-powered air vibrations that blow
assailants off their feet. The equipment, about the size of a satellite
dish, is rigged to the side of the ship. I only just heard about this on Radio National; there was no mention of the sonic blaster, which is obviously the coolest part of the story!
Link
(Thanks, Allan!) [Boing Boing]
10:34:41 PM
|
|
|
Just back from playing with The Mike Festa Band at Glenelg.
I had expected an easy time, as I have played with them before, albeit
not for a year or two, and I was expecting all the regular players to
be there to gloss over any problems I might have.
This was not the case. The drummer, Harry Milochis, has only played with Mike
for a few weeks, and the rest of the band were ring-ins like me. Harry
was groovy, and had pretty good time, with good feeling shuffles.
There was Josh Bennett on second guitar, whom I had seen a year ago at the Bacchus, doing a solo, mostly acoustic act. He has blues wisdom beyond his years. I'm fairly certain he is a protege of Chris Finnen. He did some great stuff, but couldn't always follow Mike's direction.
On tenor sax, we had Dusty Cox, an American who lectures at Adelaide Uni in the jazz courses, a hot player. Some great solos, but, as often happens in this kind of guitar based band, didn't always have enough to do.
There was some great playing.
Apart from a couple of serious dork-outs (a loss of form in a straight
blues for Gawd's sake!), I acquitted myself well. Grooves were
good, punters were happy, Comfort Inn reasonably satisfied and the bandleader pleased.
And there was money.
9:12:03 PM
|
|
|
Cory Doctorow:
A Dutch designer has come up with an ingenious way to help goofy,
bra-shopping men accurately report on their significant others'
boob-size -- by giving them a wall of variously-sized boobs to squeeze
until they find a pair that seems about right:
"When trying to buy a sexy bra for their wife or
girlfriend, usually they point to other women in the shop or, when
asked about size, they say a 'handful'."
The wall consists of rows of silicon breasts in all sizes. By look
and touch, male shoppers can work out the right size, she says.
I think this is a great idea; but what about the sad men who'll no doubt keep turning up just to get a feel?
Link
(Thanks, Betsy!) [Boing Boing]
8:24:48 AM
|
|
|
"We dance for laughter, we dance for tears, we dance for madness, we
dance for fears, we dance for hopes, we dance for screams, we are the
dancers, we create the dreams." [~] Albert Einstein
Good old Albert.
[Thriving Quotes]
1:01:52 AM
|
|
|
A bachelor who amassed a fortune by living simply left all his money to his cat after his death, The Ottawa Citizen reports.
You often hear about this kind of thing, but here is a real documented case.
[ABC News: Offbeat (with Mpeg1)]
12:46:20 AM
|
|
|
|
|
Friday, 4 November 2005
|
|
The message from a new hard-hitting anti-smoking campaign is that nearly every smoker has the early stages of emphysema.
Kids, don't smoke.
I watched my wife's grandfather die a horrid death from emphysema.
I played for over 15 years with a trumpet player who struggled to play
because of the effects of emphysema. If he is still with us he
will almost certainly die from emphysema.
My mother, who smoked from her teen years until she turned 65 (she quit
because she answered my daughter one day when she asked when Grandma
was going to stop smoking, "When I'm 65", and she did, telling no one,
and not for a minute lapsing - I so love her for that).
She is old enough that other things may kill her before emphysema does. In the meantime it is not a pleasant condition.
Kids, don't smoke.
[ABC News: Health]
1:28:57 AM
|
|
|
|
|
Thursday, 3 November 2005
|
|
Title says it all.
Great, but short session tonight.
Last weeks recordings played back are excellent.
Peter Thurmer, Ralph Franke and I were all, for our own reasons, out of sorts last week. the playing was therapeutic.
We played very differently from usual, setting up yummy grooves. It was magic, but so very different.
Peter had forgotten the digital recording equipment, so instead of
recording 24 bit digital stereo with two Rode mikes, we recorded to
glorious Dolby C audio cassette, in mono, with a Beyer mike. The sound
is very warm, with some high frequency loss, but still sounds great.
Next week we choose tracks for a demo to send to the booker for the
Singapore Jazz Festival, in the first instance, but also to Latvia and
Sydney.
11:36:10 PM
|
|
|
|
|
Wednesday, 2 November 2005
|
|
John Coltrane is my favorite sax player and a huge influence on my playing. What a treat to see this story.
"In a surprising
development, saxophone trailblazer John Coltrane accounted for two of
the top three jazz albums last week, 38 years after his death."
True greatness is timeless.
I
read a review of one some time ago; it was a gig at the end of the
golden era of Trane's final conventional jazz group, before he went to
the totally modal and free jazz of the last period of his life. I'll be
getting these albums.
[Crooks and Liars]
11:36:00 PM
|
|
|
Cory Doctorow:
This spring-driven tea-serving robot is available as a kit or in
pre-assembled form. Either way, it is ingenious as hell, particularly
because its design is four hundred years old:
 An
example of Japanâo[dot accent]s first robot is the fascinating Karakuri: Tea
Server, designed almost four centuries ago and today remains a
remarkable example of Japanâo[dot accent]s keen sense of robotics. What does it
do? This Kabuki-styled doll approaches surprised guests with a full
teacup on a tray; it stops walking when the teacup is taken, waits
quietly, bows, then slowly turns around, smoothly scooting away with
the empty teacup on its tray...
This kit is made of computer designed precision modern materials, but
is as close to the original design as possible. The driving force of
the original tea-carrying doll came from a spring made of whale
whiskers (actually whale teeth). All the other components, such as its
gears, body and escapement for speed adjustments, were made of wood.
How does it work? When a tea cup is placed on the tray, the stopper is
released by the whale spring attached to the dollâo[dot accent]s arms; the spring
forces the stopper to engage again when the cup is lifted from the
tray.
Amazing!
Link
(via Make Blog) [Boing Boing]
11:28:36 PM
|
|
|
|
|
Tuesday, 1 November 2005
|
|
woolies. 1st carpark ar woolies. my first surf after a long break. 4 ft swell and offshore.
roh, birdie, dave and me
And as for me, man I wish I could surf.
[A Clogwog in Oz]
11:07:20 PM
|
|
|
|
© Copyright 2005 Peter Nixon.
Last update: 27/11/05; 9:58:17 PM.
|
|
|
|
