Well, why not?

1970

2011-09-23T11:28:00.000+10:00

I just put a Pearl Jam CD on for the first time in years, and it occurred to me just how old that music is! This particular CD is from 1991, 20 years ago. For my almost 12-year old niece, that's more or less equivalent to 1970 for me. That's and and And Woodstock. Fucking Woodstock! Beatles breaking up. Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison and Louis Armstrong dying. Christ

Voluntarily Separated!

2010-11-30T18:08:00.000+11:00

That's right, as of about an hour ago I am officially gainfully unemployed, having accepted a voluntary separation package (that's redundancy to you and me) from my Employer Who Shall Not Be Named. What does that mean? Well, a whole lot more time to devote to home education and one or two projects I've got lined up. And maybe study. But more on those things will follow shortly. For now, I'm

Whirlygig

2010-11-03T13:53:00.000+11:00

Well it's been a bit of a whirlwind around here lately, in a good way. Lots of things going on, opportunities coming up which I can't talk about yet, and plenty of interesting events. But it's been so helter-skelter that I've found it difficult to know what to write where and how to organise my thoughts. Why do people come here? What do people want to read? All about bikes? Home Education?

Myers-Briggs

2010-10-20T21:07:00.002+11:00

Well I'm an INFP (or INTP... pretty much deadlocked) so that tells you all you ever needed to know about me! Good ol' staff development days, where would we be without them, huh?

Dead Chooks

2010-10-12T19:14:00.000+11:00

Not too much to say today... couple of backdated posts further down. The last of our Isa Browns died today; I buried her in the rain.

St. Kilda crits back on again!

2010-10-11T15:18:00.000+11:00

There are a couple of non-cycling-related posts to go up, but they have photos, so will have to wait until this evening. Sunday 10 October was the start of the crit season down at St. Kilda Cycling Club, and the official start of my racing career! So to speak. There may have been blips before this one, and it's not so much a career as a fun diversion, however it'll do as a description... I

Grupo Puja at the Melbourne Festival

2010-10-09T23:32:00.001+11:00

Home-Ed group visit to Collingwood Children's Farm

2010-10-08T18:19:00.002+11:00

Today I went along to a tour of the Collingwood Children's Farm organised by a member of the local Home-Ed group - my first outing in the home-ed community, which was an interesting experience! We've been to the farm plenty of times before, of course, but never done an actual tour with cow milking and so on. The most interesting thing was that it turns out that a family we've seen in passing

Elite Men's UCI Road World Championships

2010-10-04T12:29:00.000+11:00

Okay, so it's not an elite man - but it's my daughter riding for the first time on the morning of the elite men's race. Portentous? Gerro was doing a lot of looking around on the climbs, making sure that the Aussies had good position. Cancellara hiding. Cadel's group attacking and about to catch the last of the breakaway on the climb up Challambra. Davis pushing

Elite Women's UCI Road World Championships

2010-10-02T22:44:00.003+10:00

She looks like she's madly attacking, but as you can see... There were 5 more. Blogger/Geelong internet ate the rest after 4 hours of uploading! So you'll get the rest on Monday. ...she's just trying to survive the hill! I don't know her actual stats, but I'm thinking she's got about 0.7% body fat... she stayed out the front for a long, long way. The Aussie women all found it

U23 UCI Road World Championships

2010-10-01T20:08:00.005+10:00

Very slow internet connection here in Geelong... where's that NBN when you need it? Might have to upload the rest when I get home... Top of Challambra for the last time... Okay, the rest of the photos: I mostly just like his eyebrows... Yes, it's really that hard! Need... more... air!

Googley mapping

2010-09-30T08:19:00.003+10:00

We had a team meeting scheduled for tomorrow which was moved to today in Google Apps. Google Apps helpfully provided a map for the meeting in 'Paul's Office' - which apparently is not next door to mine, but is actually in Helena, Montana, USA.Just out of interest, I asked Google to give me directions, since I've never attempted to travel from Melbourne to Montana before. This is the advice that

Just a little bit out of date...

2010-09-29T13:38:00.005+10:00

Whoops! I keep on intending to write things here but never make enough time to actually do it... oh, the posts you've missed out on! You must be sad.Anyway, a quick update on the racing - I did end up racing again in the Northern Combine because of a tragic mix up with permits or some such which meant that, rather than being run on some awful hilly course, the Italo Trophy was run on the fast and

What was that you said, legs?

2010-08-09T13:29:00.004+10:00

Golly. D-Grade Northern Combine, you're too much for me on those hills!55 kilometres of racing (officially 50, but it's essentially a race without anyone attacking for the 5km rollout to the start/finish line) and more or less 46kms of ITT. Awesome! I even had a collision on the way out to the start in the bunch while under neutral - I'd failed to anticipate well enough the rider in front of me

Balliang IRTT. Shut up, legs!

2010-07-31T20:14:00.008+10:00

Saturday, 31 July. Balliang. IRTT. 24 kms. Mostly flat. Good, if not butter-smooth, surface. Sounds like an ideal introduction to racing.Whoever thought that failed to take in to account the impact of 40-50 km/hr winds that were mostly cross, painful when head, and almost unnoticeable when tail. A lot of energy was taken up just trying to keep the bike rolling in a more or less straight line, and

E-Grade, here I come!

2010-06-10T12:25:00.002+10:00

As some of you may be aware, I've decided to get in to racing in a dedicated way (rather than the odd spot here and there!) come October this year. The idea is to use a few races through the Northern Combine Winter Road schedule to give some interim training goals before tackling the summer season of crits with St. Kilda Cycling Club.My programme at the moment is sketchy, but will likely include

RANZCOG considering allowing Female Gential Mutilation

2010-05-28T12:47:00.003+10:00

Yes, they call it 'nicking' because, you know, it sounds cuter, but it's still female genital mutilation. I almost fell off my chair when I saw this in today's Age, but I shouldn't be so surprised - after all, they did it in the US, so it's bound to at least be put on the table here. I can't say anything much more than the Blag Hag said it, or the others referenced in this post, but - Jesus, Paul

Holy Comfort Batman!

2010-05-21T13:07:00.003+10:00

I use a site called Bookmooch to grab second-hand copies of books, give away unused/unwanted books, and so on. usually it's fantastic - new books for the cost of shipping, more or less. But sometimes there are traps... and I got one of those in the post last night. A copy of a 150th anniversary edition of Darwin's Origin of Species came up, and I thought - Great! Might mooch that. So I did, and

Learning and Motivation

2010-05-18T11:36:00.002+10:00

I've been thinking a lot about the idea that:"...the happiest children are not always learning the most. This is because they're probably doing what they're already good at. It's true that this may be their lifelong passion and they'll learn well if they're motivated, but everybody should have to try things they don't like sometimes. You never know, you may find you like it - or it turns out

World's Greatest Shave

2010-03-13T09:59:00.002+11:00

Just a blatant plug for donations! If you haven't heard about it, the World's Greatest Shave is a way to raise money for the Leukaemia Foundation:Money raised is used by the Leukaemia Foundation to fund free services to support patients and families living with leukaemias, lymphomas, myeloma and related blood disorders. It also funds blood cancer research to find better treatments and cures.If

An approach whose time has come

2010-03-12T11:23:00.003+11:00

And I'm amazed that it's happened so relatively painlessly - in New South Wales, Norrie (who, interestingly, also has no last name, at least as it would appear) has been registered as 'Gender: Non-specified', and it would appear that the option might be extended more broadly - something which would seem essential given the growing awareness of the problems caused by forcing children born

Toxic Sting

2010-03-12T10:06:00.002+11:00

It's small things, sometimes, that amuse the most:The Victorian Health Department regulates drinking-water safety in this state, and spokesman Bram Alexander says there does not appear to be any danger to Victorian water supplies. ''We are looking at this issue closely. Based on available evidence, it is too early to draw any conclusions. However, from our regular monitoring of water quality in

Knit knit knit knit

2010-02-18T15:30:00.007+11:00

This is just a fun little video, which you'll probably particularly enjoy if you're Finnish and like knitting. But you may like it even if you're not.Oh, and go visit Perfect Notes for all of your Small-Business CRM needs. They're lovely people and excellent at what they do.

There's a published philosopher in the house...

2010-02-17T15:19:00.000+11:00

As you may or may not know, I'm a writer. As opposed to a published author. My partner, on the other hand, as of today, is a published author! Her article, "Human Centrism, Animist Materialism and the Critique of Rationalism in Val Plumwood's Critical Ecological Feminism" has been accepted for publication by the journal of the Emergent Australasian Philosophers.It's an electronic journal, not a

It was just a dream...

2010-02-16T09:32:00.001+11:00

I went to see A Midsummer Night's Dream by the Australian Shakespeare Company on Saturday night - always an enjoyable, energetic and funny show. The cast, as always, changed around this year, and while I missed Brendan O'Connor as Puck, he played a brilliant Bottom (blame Shakespeare, not me!) and it actually gave the show a better balance, I felt. And the very-nearly-naked acrobatic fairies...

Well hello there

2010-02-09T13:28:00.004+11:00

Yes, it's me again. Don't pretend that you didn't miss me, I know that you did. So what's been happening in my life in the last 7 months or so? Hmm. Lots. Too much. Sorry, you'll just have to ask.Otherwise? Well, I discovered that people throw the most amazing things in to hard rubbish (as well as, well, a lot of rubbish.)Someone's already having lots of fun with that one!What else? Well, I had a

School Refusal

2009-07-16T16:25:00.003+10:00

I received an email on 'Health and wellbeing' from my employer today, and for some random reason it included a short article about 'School Refusal', and how to treat it.School refusal is not a formal psychiatric diagnosis.Oh, well that's a relief then.Children with school refusal usually present with anxiety symptoms, and adolescents have symptoms associated with anxiety and mood disorders.Cause

More cycling around Britain...

2009-07-15T16:04:00.000+10:00

Ian asked me about the trip.I told him I was writing a column and that something odd had happened to me these past seven weeks; that since leaving London I had become far less tetchy, had started to like people a lot more. "I think it has to do with having space to breathe, being outdoors," I said. "Friends phone me from the city and say: 'What's that incredible noise?' 'The birds,' I say. '

Is there a medic in the vicinity?

2009-07-13T22:21:00.000+10:00

Had a bit of a scare on the way home tonight - was cycling up a hill and happened to look to my right just in time to see a pedestrian knocked down by a car - and worse, the wheeled chariot that she was pushing in front of her thrown 20 metres down the road.I threw the bike down in the gutter and raced across to find what damage had been done - and discovered that the chariot was a walker, not a

152 kilometres of goodness

2009-07-12T21:43:00.001+10:00

That's what today was for me! I'd planned a relatively 'easy' little jaunt down Beach Road and back, with a short sharp climb at the turnaround point, as part of my training for Around the Bay. Instead, a group of 6 to 8 of us had 5 flats between us and what I'd hoped would be a 6-ish hour ride turned in to a 9-hour epic!The important thing though is that I got through it without any great

Greenline Service

2009-07-09T20:36:00.003+10:00

Just a quick thanks and ad for Greenline Organic Direct, the company we order our organic goodies from. We've generally been quite happy with their service, and tonight they took it a notch beyond - we'd left our order to the last 15 minutes or so, as we often do daredevils that we are, and they called to let us know that their website was down so if we wanted to do an order this week then we

Sometimes, you just want to bottle them.

2009-07-03T14:59:00.001+10:00

Excerpt from an email conversation this morning with my not-quite 4yo daughter (with a bit of assistance from my partner): I wrote: 'ello [Daughter]! How did you sleep? Did you dream? What're you doing today - reading, playing, puzzles? Hope you have a good day! My Daughter wrote: Pretty well. Yeah, um, about pretty nice well. Yes. (Do you want to tell papa a bit more about what

Planning for sprawl

2009-06-30T20:19:00.003+10:00

Suddenly, the planning policy of the Victorian Government begins to make some sense. I just wish that it didn't. Justin Madden, the minister for planning, has set out a defence of the latest increase to Melbourne's growth boundary. Which at least gives some insight in to what the governments priorities are (presented as)."Planning policy should be about the aspirations of individual Victorians."

So I figure I've got about 54 years left to train for this one...

2009-06-29T14:57:00.003+10:00

85 years old and cycling from Brisbane to Cairns - 1680kms in 18 days? Can't be too difficult, when you've already ridden around Australia three times! This quote particularly makes a strong point for the benefits of looking after yourself physically:"How many people live to 85 in the first place? How many people at my age are in a nursing home or using a walking frame?"And how much of an effect

Stuff and nonsense

2009-06-24T13:03:00.002+10:00

Couldn't think of any one thing in particular I felt like rambling about, so figured I'd just plump for a bit of everything! It's been a week and a half since my last post, and people are still visiting. Amazing! You should probably just subscribe, then you would only have to visit when I posted something. Of course, you'd be best to work out some sort of subscription that only let you know when

Earthship Nautilus

2009-06-12T14:42:00.005+10:00

Oh, but this is a thing of beauty... I'm not totally sold on the spare tyre construction (why not just rammed-earth or adobe?) but the design idea is fantastic. There's this version as well, but... well, it's a sculpture; it looks pretty but I don't know how well designed it is from a living perspective.The integration of the water tank, extensive internal gardens, high thermal mass not just of

2009-06-09T11:27:00.000+10:00

This is going to be a bit of an empty post, just because I don't have much to add to this link, but it's funny in a bit of a cutesy way. I've not yet had anyone yell anything out to me (that I remember) besides encouragement while riding, so it's an experience I've not had. Not that I'm at all upset about that! All of my riding experiences have been perfectly lovey-dovey, except for the odd

Happily never after

2009-06-06T13:31:00.001+10:00

Clever title, don't you think? I don't normally like to comment on topical articles, but given the way that this article by Catherine Deveny ties in with some of the things that I've been writing about, I thought I might just as well.Go on, read it, I'm not going anywhere.Done? Good. It's not argument, of course, it's straight assertion. Nothing wrong with that, but it's not going to convince

How dare you!

2009-06-05T19:51:00.001+10:00

Apparently, I wasn't the only one thinking it might be a good idea to go out and catch 'swine flu'. Parties no less! It's interesting that the two primary strains of argument are i) A cost/benefit analysis - you just might die and you may not have any immunity anyway, and ii) doing so is socially irresponsible.Frankly, i) seems a ridiculously weak argument, particularly where we assume that at

"Look at that poor sod...

2009-06-03T17:59:00.003+10:00

... out there getting soaked by the rain... poor thing must be miserable and cold. Hang on... it looks like... no, he couldn't be, could he? He's smiling! Mad bloody cyclist!"That's me! I know, who cares? But it still baffles me how much of a drop-off there is in cycling numbers, especially commuters, once it starts getting cold and wet. Sure, you need a bit more skill to control the bike. Sure,

Century number the two

2009-05-30T20:24:00.000+10:00

At least, I think it was - close enough anyway. Must get my computer fixed or replaced one of these days. Around half of it was in a group from St. Kilda to Mordialloc and back, trying to keep my glasses free enough of water that I could actually see the wheel in front, and gently feathering the brakes every couple of minutes to give me a vague chance of being able to stop should the need

What's so bad about pigs?

2009-05-28T19:24:00.002+10:00

So, let me just clarify a couple of things about 'swine flu'. It's highly contagious, check. It's much less dangerous than ordinary, run-of-the-mill flu, check. There is potential for it to mutate in to a more dangerous version later on, for which exposure now might provide some level of immunity, check. Recommended quarantine away from work for a week, check.Hmm.Oi! Swine flu! Over here! Anyone

Cycle-touring around the island

2009-05-26T11:19:00.002+10:00

This is the perfect way to ride to work:Tomorrow morning I will, as usual, head off on my bicycle towards work. Crossing the Thames at Wandsworth Bridge, I'll cycle east along the Embankment until I come to Blackfriars. On any usual Monday, there I would turn left and, 10 minutes later, be at my desk.But tomorrow will not be a usual kind of day. Because instead of taking that left turn, I will

Old-growth paddocks?

2009-05-25T21:00:00.000+10:00

A report released today has shown that almost 40% of areas defined as old-growth forest are nothing of the sort. Why does that matter? Well, there was a finite area set aside by the Victorian Government in 2006, as part of an election promise, to be protected from logging (that is, woodchip-harvesting and land clearing for pseudo-plantations) due to its value as old-growth forest. So if almost

Louis Burdett

2009-05-22T20:53:00.003+10:00

I'd always wondered, but never bothered to enquire in to, who Louis Burdett was, if indeed there was such a person. And why might somebody sound like him? Well now I know!The Whitlams, a fantastic Australian band, a long time ago (well, a decade and a bit, that's long enough) released a song called "You sound like Louis Burdett." It turns out that Louis is a very fringe, avant-garde artist of '

Commentatoring

2009-05-21T21:31:00.001+10:00

Yes, this is a shameless call for comments. I've even added one of those silly little 'Reactions' things at the bottom, so that all you have to do is click a box to tell me how much you love (or not) me. I'm a writer, I crave feedback! Even if it's anchovies...

What's so bad about group sex?

2009-05-20T20:05:00.005+10:00

Well, I feel like being a bit provocative! This post has been prompted by, but is in no way a commentary on, the whole Matthew Johns 'scandal'. It is born really more of some of the media around the incident. I must admit I don't really remember the coverage at the time, and I know the recent coverage came from allegations, many years later, that perhaps it wasn't a completely consensual act,

Chooks in tractors

2009-05-19T11:27:00.003+10:00

We already keep our chooks (two Isa Browns and one Rhode Island Red) in a tractor, letting them out to roam around our yard most weekends and keeping them hard at work digging up the garden for us the rest of the week.The problem is that the Rhodey has been moulting (which the Isas barely do, at least noticeably) and so the Isas, which are jointly top of the chain (I've never, ever noticed either

Oh, so much stuff.

2009-05-06T14:12:00.003+10:00

So much stuff has been going on. So why haven't I been writing about it? Well, partly laziness, partly a focus on novel writing. But that's not going to be ready in time for the Vogel, so can probably ease that off a fraction and mix it up a bit more. I've been really enjoying the novel though, especially as it starts to come together (which it's still doing, and will probably continue to do so

My maiden (metric) century!

2009-04-17T15:04:00.001+10:00

So, with a week off work, and not having been on the bike for as long, I thought the time might be about right yesterday to try for my first century ride - 100 kilometres. The furthest I'd ridden before this was about 60km - a bit of an oversight after more than a year of cycling! So rather than just roll down a nice flat Beach Road, I figured I might as well do a bit of climbing, since I love it

Goongerah Part 2

2009-04-16T19:47:00.000+10:00

So after such a full day Saturday, Sunday we decided to take it a bit more easily, rest up, and look in to some of the activities around the camp. One of those was 'Waterwatch', which was supposed to involve measuring the health of the river and so on. However the scientist in charge of running the session had chosen today to do one of the full-day activities away from the camp, which essentially

Goongerah

2009-04-15T10:03:00.004+10:00

Goongerah is where we headed for an Easter Ecology Camp run by a group of people from the Greens, the Wilderness Society, and Environment East Gippsland. Some sort of politico-environmental rant will probably follow another day, but today I just want to show you some pretty pictures and talk a bit about the camp itself.We were hoping, and had planned, to arrive sometime around lunch on Friday, so

A-camping we are going...

2009-04-09T15:49:00.000+10:00

Off camping until Tuesday, so definitely no posts until then! DO try to keep yourselves amused, won't you?

Sex? No thanks, we're - Australian?

2009-04-07T19:18:00.000+10:00

It's funny how little serious discussion about sexuality there is - at least, serious non-academic, non-anonymous discussion. So I'm going to do my best to give it a genuine go. While I don't entirely escape the 'non-anonymous' accusation, I'm not exactly well-hidden!The shame surrounding sexuality and generally anything involving 'the body' as opposed to 'the mind' is routine but still

Around the Bay - in a Day

2009-04-02T20:47:00.000+11:00

Yes, I've decided - I'm going to do the Around the Bay in a Day ride. 250kms - or, if I'm feeling adventurous and want to do an imperial double-century ride (200miles), 321.868 kms (essentially around the bay plus riding to and from the start plus a little extra). What's my longest single daily ride to date? 60kms! So I've got some training to do. But I'm going to do it... oh yes, I shall ride!

Freedom of choice

2009-04-01T21:02:00.001+11:00

So what does it mean to give a child freedom of choice? Well, there are easy situations - which of the available colours of ice cream would you like? It's up to you! No worries. May you run out on to the busy road? No. No you may not and I will do everything in my power to stop you doing so. Again, easy. But is it really?I'm taking for granted here that we allow children some level of freedom of

Hi''in' the bo''le

2009-03-31T14:08:00.003+11:00

No, not me - last night was the first night that our daughter, at 3 years 7.5 months, has slept the night without bottle or nappy since she started using them. So hurrah for that! It's really hard to gently suggest to someone of that age that they not persist in certain behaviours without coercion, but... well, I don't think we really succeeded.The bottle issue is difficult because it's not just

Excuses excuses...

2009-03-30T21:17:00.003+11:00

Part of the reason for the lack of posting here for a bit is that some of my energy for writing has been taken up by this. I've written a full-length novel once before, but it really was a warm-up - I haven't even submitted it anywhere, nor done the requisite editing and so on that would be required.I've changed a bit in the intervening years, and my style, approach and general environment are

I hereby promise...

2009-03-24T15:41:00.001+11:00

... to start posting again. I'll be backdating some stuff no doubt, so be sure to check back, or just randomly navigate around. I apologise for this disruption, and assure you that it will not, under any circumstances, not happen again.I guarantee it!

Shakespeare, The taming of the Shrew

2009-03-01T10:12:00.000+11:00

Did I like it? Well, as always, it makes for an entertaining evening out. The Australian Shakespeare Company really know how to extract the maximum comedic potential, though sometimes the hammier scenes are a bit over-hammed.I must say though, didn't really enjoy the storyline, and I don't think there's much you can do besides major revision to alleviate that problem for this play. Besides being

How do we know that we know?

2009-02-27T21:02:00.001+11:00

Following from the earlier discussion of knowledge, it might be helpful to backtrack slightly and ask how it is really possible to doubt that we know things. The initial position might be something like - I either know something, or I don't know it. Further, if I know something, then surely I know that I know, and if I don't know something... well, hang on, how do I know if I don't know something

Yes, I know.

2009-02-26T21:14:00.002+11:00

I've been naughty. A bad blogger. Look - only 10 posts all month, including this space-filler! What can I say. I'm tired and busy. Maybe I need encouragement from my legions of fans. Or maybe I just need enough coherent time in front of a computer where I'm not having my life sucked out by work. Or, for the moment, perhaps just sleep.

Kaki Love

2009-02-20T09:46:00.003+11:00

It's happened again. We went to see Kaki last night (and... erm... this morning!) at Ruby's Lounge and I've been destroyed. Utterly. I have nothing left. She's sucked it all out of... well. That's the interesting thing.Ani is all about the storytelling, the politics, the emotional journey as told through her lyrics. She's energetic, flying around the stage, words and music cascading out of her

MSO Free Concert III

2009-02-18T22:48:00.001+11:00

So last night we wandered off to see the third in the series of four free concerts put on by the MSO - this one was Beethoven's 9th. Along with probably just about everyone who's ever heard it, this is one of my favourite orchestral pieces, and it was the first time I've heard it performed live.I'm not going to begin to bother to give it a review, except to say that it was fantastically enjoyable

Woyzeck

2009-02-14T23:23:00.001+11:00

We went to see Woyzeck at the Malthouse theatre tonight - quite an experience! As has been remarked in reviews, it's virtually a rock-opera; so integrated is the music that it's a character in and of itself, apart even from the musicians themselves who romp about the stage at times. As you'd expect from Nick Cave, we're talking music which sounds seductively dangerous in and of itself; coupled

MSO Free Concert 1

2009-02-12T22:17:00.001+11:00

We went in to the Sidney Myer Music Bowl for the first of the free concerts put on by the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra tonight. Unfortunately we only managed to stay for about half of it - missing the medley from Carmen! Which was what 3.5 was particularly interested in (it's the only opera she's ever seen - on dvd, at that) but couldn't quite stay awake enough for. Hopefully she'll be

Flowerdale

2009-02-09T19:31:00.000+11:00

In more bushfire updates today...Nothing is left of dozens of houses built remarkably close together for such open country. What last week was a little neighbourhood just off the Whittlesea-Yea Road no longer exists. This road was for many in the area the only means of escape. From the air yesterday — Flowerdale was only open to fire crews, police and victim identification crews — it was clear

Bushfire Update

2009-02-08T19:22:00.003+11:00

My sister's house was untouched, as were the animals sequestered in one paddock. Some paddocks were burnt, it would appear, but no structural damage - though I don't know yet about fences etc.And still no threat to us, though the fires just to the north of us have destroyed several towns utterly and killed many people.

Bushfires

2009-02-07T23:30:00.001+11:00

The situation's pretty grim around Victoria at the moment! My sister's property is right in the middle of one of these areas, but it's too early to know if it's been burnt out - she's safe, her family's safe, so that's the main thing for now.There are fires not too far from us as well, but they're burning in the opposite direction and we shouldn't be in any danger at any stage, though we're

Start 'em young!

2009-02-04T21:14:00.003+11:00

That's the way to get people used to an idea, to allow them the best opportunity to master a skill, and to ensure that the whole process becomes as natural and automatic as possible. Just like riding a bike, or... using clipless pedals!If she gets a road bike before I do, I'll really be upset!Oh, and I realise the photo's not the best - but she was going so fast! It's amazing what clipless pedals

Bloody pink. Bloody Princesses!

2009-02-03T21:17:00.002+11:00

I'm getting very, very angry and soon enough something's going to explode - it may or may not be the top of my head, it's hard to tell at the moment.Everywhere we go, every book I seem to read at the moment, sneaks in a princess here, a pink fluffy dress there, a docile female being swept up by a handsome, rich fella who'll make her happy and generally lead to a worthwhile life in which everyone

The little folksinger

2009-01-31T17:17:00.003+11:00

We (partner, 3.5yo and I) went to see Ani diFranco play last night here in Melbourne, in the 40-odd degree heat... what a wonderful evening! It's the first time she's been out here for 4 years - the last time she was here, we went to see her with a -0.5yo bopping about in the womb!The atmosphere inside the Palais theatre was perfect - stupidly hot, but not oppressive nor stifling. Just the thing

Territorial Copyright

2009-01-29T11:03:00.003+11:00

This is the first I've heard of the productivity commission's inquiry in to the removal of territorial copyright restrictions. I don't know much about the background to the issue, obviously, but it's concerning that the few arguments I've read are talking about end-price for the consumer, being able to get international titles a whole 30 days earlier (potentially), that online sales are

The importance of death

2009-01-28T14:05:00.003+11:00

So let's expand upon why it is that an understanding of death is important to living life.I take it as a given that we will all one day die. I imagine most people are actually aware of that fact - if not all the time, at least occasionally. I also take it as a given that we are all going to live - at least for those people currently able to read this. I imagine that slightly fewer of the people

Sweating unlike a pig...

2009-01-27T18:39:00.002+11:00

It's only the start of the heatwave, and I'm really really trying to stay cool and sensible. Honest! It was a perfect day today for riding though, even this afternoon - it was hot, but not super-low humidity, so it was fairly comfortable.I'm sure right about now, with 4 days in a row predicted to break 40 degrees, that we can see the reignition of the climate change/global warming debate, which

Demaenetus senex est, Euclionis avus

2009-01-25T10:47:00.000+11:00

"The old man is Demaenetus, the grandfather of Euclio."That's about the current state of my Latin! Whatever happened to translating things likeArma virumque cano, Troiae qui primus ab orisItaliam, fato profugus, Laviniaque venitlitora, multum ille et terris iactatus et altovi superum saevae memorem Iunonis ob iram;multa quoque et bello passus, dum conderet urbem,inferretque deos Latio, genus unde

The Elusiveness of Knowledge

2009-01-23T19:51:00.004+11:00

Several years ago (a bit over 4, in fact) I wrote a paper on David Lewis' "Elusive Knowledge"* which I'd like to revisit and re-explore.In epistemology, essentially the study of knowledge, one of the important questions is, ostensibly, a simple one - what is knowledge? Or, put another way, how do I know that I know?A common approach is to say that knowledge is justified true belief (JTB). True,

I'm slowly getting there...

2009-01-22T20:38:00.000+11:00

In two areas - writing and cycling! I have a few posts banked up which are slowly coming, but they're complex, so they're taking a bit of time. I might start parcelling them out piecemeal, so as to neither hold them too long, nor end up with posts of thousands of words...Riding-wise, I'm three weeks in to the new year and picking up well! I'm on track for around 1000kms in this first month alone,

What a load of nonsense

2009-01-21T16:40:00.000+11:00

That's what I'm full of just at the moment - load after load of nonsense! That's why I haven't been posting much this last week or two - nobody wants to read that! Nor do I want to write it, come to that. So I'll get us back to our regularly scheduled programme shortly, get a bit more philosophy happening, a story or two, tales of cycling glory... all that sort of exciting stuff. And absolutely

Ani Love

2009-01-16T13:03:00.005+11:00

and I tell you what,there is plenty wrong with you;stuff you'd sooner fight for than cop to.That's an Ani diFranco love song for you! It's very easy to read this in a typical 'modern' way, of ambivalence between love and hate, of a tension between Ani and her beloved. Because any tension must be negative and a symptom of hatred, indicative of something to be avoided at all costs in any good,

Hoop A, hoop B, hoop C...

2009-01-10T11:41:00.000+11:00

Ah, it's the sort of thing that makes one despair, does it not? This article by Robert Nelson of Monash University makes clear the sort of nonsense that is going on in the community (at least, as it's represented by the government) at the moment. The things artists are now expected to do, just to create their art...I'm not going to dwell on this, because I don't generally want to comment too much

Happy Birthday Alien!

2009-01-09T14:30:00.001+11:00

May this next year be even more weird than the last. PP!!

Back on the bike for 2009

2009-01-03T13:08:00.001+11:00

I was going to go for a nice long ride, out of about 4 different possible routes, but instead went for a 16 kilometre ride to get bacon from the Research butcher. Somebody has to provide breakfast for those still fast asleep in bed!By the time I got back, my average heart rate was 168 - 88% of my maximum! I didn't feel enormously tired, and my legs felt fine, but my heart was really up there -

Happy New Zzzzz...

2009-01-01T12:55:00.000+11:00

That's New Years for us - thank good golly gravy we never were party animals, or we'd have to start worrying that we were old farts by now!

Christmas Dinner (again!)

2008-12-30T22:56:00.001+11:00

Yes, it's time for some more Christmas Dinner... I know, I know, how many can one stomach handle, but I assure you it's up to the challenge! Let's just hope my legs are up to the challenge of my stomach once I get back on the bike...So, what do we have here? Yes, it's the Devil's own Chocolate Cake.This is the plain, undecorated version - see further down for something more ornate. I can't give

Driving driving driving...

2008-12-29T20:14:00.001+11:00

I'm not used to this! I hardly ever drive now, maybe half an hour or so of a weekend if I'm unlucky, and now I'm driving 500-odd kilometres in 3 days... down to geelong and back, down to geelong and back... I found myself today looking at the emergency/bike lane, dreaming of being on my bike instead!Though I do admit, it's a slightly quicker drive than it would be ride... and probably easier to

Peppermint Bark and Panettone!

2008-12-28T20:40:00.000+11:00

I promised I'd produce some pictures, so here they are! The recipe I used for the peppermint bark is here, and the panettone, here.Doesn't look very exciting, does it?A pair of helping hands, however small, are always useful!So is a bit of refreshing peppermint bark along the way...This is after the first kneading - time to prove!It's either ready to knead and prove again in the tin, or it's time

12-25

2008-12-27T20:04:00.001+11:00

I finally got a new cassette today to replace the one that was on there - turns out that that was indeed what was required to go with the new chain! Nice to know it wasn't just general incompetence on my part!Now, I had an 11-30 on there, to go with my 48-38-28 chain rings. That gave me a top of 9.2 metres travelled for each turn of the cranks, and a low of just 2 metres - less than one full

Boxing Day

2008-12-26T19:57:00.000+11:00

Well, today was rather harder! Third day in a row out socialising, lots of driving, lack of sleep... it all added up. The day itself wasn't particularly stressful or anything like that, simply the culmination of Christams-y-ness.But it's all over now at least - for another two days at least! 29th I'm heading down to Geelong to see my Dad, then he comes back up here with us on the 30th, then I'll

Christmas!

2008-12-25T18:55:00.000+11:00

Okay, so it's not currently Christmas any more - I'm backdating entries that I've written/conceived over the last week or so but not had the time to publish. Hope you don't mind!We celebrated on Christmas Eve with my partner's parents - it's the French thing to do. We had a lovely meal and so on - very casual, but nice. Nice family atmosphere, easy conversation... a fine way to spend the

Christmas Stories

2008-12-24T16:14:00.002+11:00

Well, I couldn't quite decide upon which story to write, so I hereby humbly submit them to the viewing public to decide which one I should go on with - just vote for your preference in the comments. If noone votes, then I'll just randomly choose!Hope everyone has a great christmas/holiday-type thing!

Christmas Story 4

2008-12-24T16:09:00.001+11:00

One of the hardest things to overcome in life is the assumption of mediocrity. In one way or another, it affects pretty much everyone, anywhere, whatever the situation: middle-class Westerners, Untouchables in the slums of India, homeless people anywhere, any other 'class' of people you cared to list. Except the super-rich (super-rich by Western standards that is, since everyone in the Western

Christmas Story 3

2008-12-24T16:08:00.003+11:00

I always knew that Love could bring great sorrow, pain and incredible ambivalence. I always knew that Love could bring rapturous joy, longing and a feeling of belonging. I always knew that Love settled down, faded, became a pleasant memory. I knew that because that's what I was told.Nobody told me that it didn't do any such thing. Nobody told me that all love did was give you the choice between

Christmas Story 2

2008-12-24T16:06:00.003+11:00

'Twas the night before Christmas, and all through the house... just one creature was stirring, and it wasn't a mouse. Bernhard crept through the rooms of the house, quietly moving presents from their hiding spots to underneath the tree. Some were from him, some were from his partner, some were for his partner, some, he noted, were for him, but most of them were for their son, Bertrand.None of

Christmas Story 1

2008-12-24T09:55:00.002+11:00

Bertie, that doyen of the CRR (Cootamundra Road Ride), was full of doubt as he surveyed the pile of gifts under the christmas tree. There was nothing there that looked even remotely big enough to house the 2009 Felt F2SL with Dura-Ace that he'd asked for – not even for the frame with the components boxed separately for him to assemble.Had he not dropped enough hints? Had his family not recognised

Christmas Foodstuffs

2008-12-22T17:30:00.002+11:00

We're not hosting Christmas this year, but just the same it's the season for making food. I've already made some Peppermint bark (basically a layer of dark chocolate with a layer of peppermint-infused white chocolate on top) which is in danger of not living to see its intended recipient!I'm also making some panettone instead of christmas pudding this year for the first time - I've never tried

It's the holidays! Yay!

2008-12-19T21:44:00.002+11:00

As my daughter would say (after a little coaching!) Today was my last day at work for the year, until 05 January... it'll be nice to have the break!From work at least. 'Tis the season and all that, so there'll be barely a moment's rest until probably New Years! But it's all family stuff, so that's better than work.With luck I'll even be able to post some more interesting things here... perhaps do

Goodbyeee!

2008-12-18T19:23:00.003+11:00

Black Adder IV, Episode 6GoodbyeeeRowan Atkinson as Captain Edmund BlackadderTony Robinson as Private S BaldrickStephen Fry as General Sir Anthony Cecil Hogmanay MelchettHugh Laurie as Lieutenant The Honourable George Colthurst St. BarleighTim McInnerny as Captain Kevin Darling--<<-->>--(in the trench, raining)George: Care for a smoke, sir?Edmund: No, thank you, I'm... (he lights his own

Oh how I laughed...

2008-12-17T11:15:00.002+11:00

The Age online's top 50 stories (measured by click-throughs) have been announced - and are we surprised that Heath Ledger's death lead the way? Well no, not really. What about that something about a former staff member of Bill Clinton moderating a debate in the US? Well yes, rather actually. Who cares?But the best was the third-ranking story for the year - not financial crashes, nor elections,

That certain look in your eye...

2008-12-16T19:53:00.000+11:00

...that says so much.