Meerkat Clippings

Sweet F*** all

2012-01-30T10:58:00.001+11:00

Top of a bollard, Broulee, NSW, Australia.

Señor Pantalons, the juvenile King Parrot

2012-01-25T22:39:00.000+11:00

Taken at the holiday house in Broulee.

Señor Pantalons. I'll explain later.

A little birdy sitting in the tree
Nomming berries quietly
Señor Pantalons is he
Señor Pantalons

Señor Pantalons is a juvenile King Parrot. Eventually he will be all red with green wings. For now he's just got red 'pants' hence my nick name for him. He's a lot less wary of humans than the other birds visiting (crimson rosellas adult and juvenile, bower bird female and juvenile, little wattlebird) hence I have been able to pop a few good shots of 'him'

It's tricky capturing those pants with the camera.

An adult King Parrot who was accompanying Señor Pantalons.

A juvenile Crimson Rosella.

Royal Albatross - partial skull

2012-01-20T21:29:00.006+11:00

At Broulee, NSW, Australia I found a partial marine bird skull which I hypothesised to be that of an albatross. I took it back down to the seashore to take some photographs of it.

The Ancient One
digital image

Using the Seabird Osteology site, I have since identified it as the skull of a Southern Royal Albatross. According to the bird field guide I have to hand there are two races of these species: Diomedea epomophora is endangered and the other, dark winged , Diomedea sanfordi is vulnerable. Without having seen a full corpse with feathers I can't be sure which one it is. It is a little smaller than the depicted specimen - beak is about 14cm - so I'm guessing it could be a female or going by the slight difference in eye socket shape, a juvenile.

Time eroded
digital image

I certainly didn't expect to find a piece of endangered bird on the beach and had to make sure it wasn't something more common like the comorants seen in the area. As it turns out, all Australian species of albatross are either endangered or vulnerable. It's not something you want to know but at least now I'm a little more informed on the subject, and thus so are you.

My Meerkat Experience at Mogo Zoo

2012-01-19T15:23:00.005+11:00

From J: the best Christmas present EVER :) Mogo Zoo, NSW, Australia offers various Animal Encounters, one of which is a Meerkat Experience. All of these photographs and the short clip were taken by zoo keeper Bek/c while I enjoyed feeding my favourite little peeps. Bek/c took heaps of photos for me so I'm only including some.

[sings]Getting to knooooow you,
getting to feed you stuff from a bucket.

The dominant meerkat of the five boys spent most of the time with his head in the bucket except when meal worms were brought out...

... and put on my head, shoulder and lap.

It didn't hurt, but it took a bit of getting used to having this little critter run his paws and claws through my hair. Their claws are very long but dulled by digging and foraging.

Call me back later, I'm feeding the meerkats!

My favourite photo of us.

Their fur is a not as soft as a cat's but not as coarse as some adult dogs. Afterwards my hands smelt spicy and earthy - sort of like curry powder or maybe tumeric.

Keeper Bek/c said this was the cutest pic she had ever taken of this little chap. He is the oldest meerkat of the five, at nine years old. He was once the head male. Not anymore, he sat apart while the others did their thing. So sweet though as you can see by this pic.

I don't remember his name but here he is again...

...and here too.

The four amigos sun bake in a line. Apparently the keeper had never seen them lying in a line like that before.

Please M'am, may I have some more?

Precious little pygmy marmosets

2012-01-14T00:25:00.003+11:00

At Mogo Zoo we were admiring the agility and cuteness of the pygmy marmosets. A boy of about 8 walks by and excitedly asks his older brother of about 12
"Can we order one of those?!"
"Yeah sure - they're six million dollars!"

Happy Hedgehog hovering habove hundercarriage whipes.

2012-01-10T19:01:00.004+11:00

At Tullamarine airport, ladies' toilet near large cargo deposit area, just above toilet paper dispenser in 2nd or 3rd cubicle on left ... I found the above and couldn't help myself but add to it (with water based pen of course).

Lose Xkg with this weird old trickery...

2012-01-04T13:57:00.003+11:00

In my adverts column on FaceBook the ubiquitus diet ad read 'Dr Oz - Lose 6kg/week' and something about this 'using this weird trick' nothing odd about that. When I go to do my regular 'hide all by this advertiser' the advertiser listed for this ad is 'Mochi Ice creams'. The ad I hid before that was for a dieting whatever but the advertiser had the word Veterinary within the company name. Weird or what?

Also has anyone every clicked on one fo these ads because they thought it looked good? No, really? These ads don't work? Who would have thought it...

"When are you gonna have kids/get married?"

2011-12-27T00:26:00.005+11:00

Christmas and Boxing Days: Food was good; Questions about 'When are you gonna have kids/get married?' not good. Especially since they came from people I barely know. One I don't even know her name and it was the first time I met her. My simple, polite answer is that I don't want kids. For the first person this sufficed. For the others I got a talking to that one day I might feel differently. I doubt it. Why this assumption that I want kids? I've known what I want for as long as I've been old enough to make that decision. I don't feel an innate desire to have them, neither does my partner and why is the activity or otherwise of my womb anyone else's f***ing business anyway?

It's like asking a person who owns a dog why they don't want to own a parrot instead. 'Your biology will change and you will want a parrot. When you're older you won't be so lonely with a parrot.' What if I just don't want a parrot? Why are you so hell bent on me joining your parrot owning club? I'm very happy with my dog thanks. Grrr.

I wasn't ready to be barraged as I was this afternoon. Usually simply saying I don't want kids is enough. Now that I've been turning the subject over in my head for a few hours now and ranting with my partner at least now I'm prepared for the next time it comes up. It will. I don't understand why some of my aquaintances have felt the need to bring it up more than once.

Next time I'm asked that I'll politely answer back
'Why do you assume that I want kids? I don't. It's my choice as an adult to make. I'd thank you to respect that and drop this subject'.

Fruit Platter

2011-12-10T01:16:00.006+11:00

My first fruit platter ever. I made it for my Lovely One as he slept in this weekend because he's worth it. Best, tastiest pineapple I've ever had. I called it The Temple of the Sun. The watermelon shards and wedges are the walls with the golden pineapple in the centre representing the radiant sun. The berries are the worshippers. I'm not trying to create profoundity into my fruit platter, but it's the thought process behind its construction. My Lovely One did note that the watermelon looked a bit 'like Stone Henge or something' where upon I divulged the secret title, so the thought was not lost on my subject :)

We couldn't finish it though, and had to save some for later. It's not fancy fruit carving but I would have researched it a bit before attempting that. I did my produce justice, it was fun to do and a pleasure for us to eat. I got a couple of interesting detail shots as well.

I call this one the March of the Cherries.

Hopper on a grape vine.

2011-12-05T15:37:00.006+11:00

This wingless little chap was about 15mm long and so cute! The thing I like about critters like this one is not only are they exquisitely fine but because of his eye structure you can clearly see that he was looking at me.

This particular insect appears to have basic compound eyes made up of many ommatidium which allow a wide and accuate field of vision. Being flightless but a hopper he wouldn't have more than 1000 ommatidium. A housefly has about 4000. Flying insects which rely on strong eyesight include the butterfly, praying mantis and dragonfly. In the case of the butterfly - up to 17000 ommatidium - they need to probe precisely into flowers while keeping an eye out for predators. For the praying mantis and dragonfly - both 30000 - they have ultra compound eyes to enable their formidable hunting skills.

Deviant 'Lego' street art

2011-11-30T15:18:00.006+11:00

Each 'Lego' figure holds a different weapon of deviance. The biggest one appears to have been holding a molatov cocktail. There's also a meat cleaver, axe, knife, chair, chain, ice pick, cane ala Clockwork Orange film version, broken bottle, two sticks of lit dynamite.

Fellowship of the True Blue, Southern Cross Son, Manly Man, Ring

2011-11-25T11:49:00.000+11:00

Imagine this being read out by an ocker, beer swilling, football following, 'true blue' Aussie bloke. Better still, if you can do the accent, read it out aloud. If it was an 'Authentic reproduction of the original 1854 flag' then it wouldn't be a tiny little man ring and it wouldn't be 'echoing' it either. It would be a flag. It's cheap and nasty rubbish - plated sterling silver not solid. How is wearing an ugly, cheap ring positively patriotic?

What happened to old fashioned quality that's made to last?
Why is it only men can rely on this symbol?

The only thing the ring identifies the wearer as is an idiot. If he was really such a great bloke he wouldn't be wasting his hard earned money on a piece of crap like this. Awful. I was going to say this entry writes itself but I got a bit ranty there ...

Kiwi fruit vine wallpaper and iGoogle theme

2011-11-20T01:51:00.001+11:00

Following my previous post featuring photographs of the kiwi fruit vine in our backyard here is an early Christmas present for you, readers.

For those of you with an iGoogle account - it works with your blogger account, I use it for Google Reader - you can now have these photos as your iGoogle theme. Over the course of the day it will change photographs. Simply click 'change theme' then put 'kiwi fruit vine' into the search box, hit search, then click the theme to use it.

If you have a longer format screen as I do then here's a link for a wallpaper of my favourite image from the series (yes it's my current wallpaper). You need to do is download it to your computer then set it as your wallpaper.

click image

[cue Bowiesque riffs] Ziggy had some mail...

2011-11-15T23:49:00.000+11:00

... but he'd already moved from here,
and the spiders in the yard.
So we forwarded on his mail,
and this wasn't the only item.

A previous tenant at my new house. What an awesome name!

I prefer the Bauhaus cover version. It's edgier.

Kiwi Fruit Vine

2011-11-12T15:06:00.005+11:00

These photographs are of the female kiwi fruit vine in our backyard. Her male counterpart isn't ready to fertilise her flowers yet. Hopefully he will have some mature flowers on him soon thus enabling our mature lady to have kids/fruit. Otherwise she is flowering in vain, unless there's another male in the neighbourhood.

It's a bit like the quintessential modern woman who is ready to have kids but her partner isn't mature enough yet for that to happen ... In the vine's defence he took a knocking during the drought and almost died, so he is growing as well as can be expected under the circumstances. She's all luscious and leafy and he's all thin and barely grown decent foliage. Perhaps she is encroaching on his area of the garden bed? [shrug]

We will help him along with food and water.

Then we will eat their kids!

[semi-evil chuckle]

[EDIT] I have made an iGoogle theme using these images and a desktop wall paper. Links to follow soon.

Pizza. Just eat it!

2011-11-10T23:35:00.005+11:00

It has never occurred to me to do anything else with it! How about you?

Kneadable eraser gone wild! Ooer...

2011-11-05T09:08:00.001+11:00

This is not typical of what happens when the three of us at our house have a drink together. One housemate has a kneadable eraser she uses when doing sudoku puzzles. At the time we were drinking she had a cold. I marked our glasses with blobs so we wouldn't get it. My other wanted something else and it all went downhill from there! My eraser owning housemate made the ample pair for my glass but I made the man and woman nether bits.

Polly wants baked beans on toast!

2011-11-03T23:21:00.001+11:00

'Best description of owning a parrot: "... it's like having a toddler running around with a canopener on its face..."'
a friend of a friend on Facebook.

Concept Radical

2011-11-03T23:04:00.004+11:00

Finally won something for my art as an adult*: third prize in the Concept Radical art competition. In my characteristic and ironically artless way on receiving my prize
"Oh wow, I never win anything!"
Professor Carl Schiesser, Director of ARC while shaking my hand
"Well, you've won something now"
"Thank you! [big grin]"

Flow
digital image of collected beach flotsam

Concept Radical Art Exhibition
Free, and open to the general public
Wednesday 2 November 2011 – Wednesday 9 November 2011.
The gallery is open 11am – 5pm Monday to Friday.
George Paton Gallery, Second Floor, Union Building, University of Melbourne, Victoria.

Official site here.
Summary and details here.

*Have won things as a child. It has been a while...

Stop by the bakery.

2011-11-02T00:29:00.006+11:00

Near a bakery and some (Victoria Market's deli section has a few baked good purveyers) Melbourne CBD. I was waiting to cross the street to catch my tram, and noticed what I first thought was simply a little cake sticker brightening up the sign, then on closer inspection:

Someone has gone to the trouble of creating a whole sticker with wording to match and blend into the sign. Nifty! I love spotting quirky little things like this when I'm out and about. It's one of the things I love about Melbourne, which is well regarded internationally for street art. I am wondering how long it's been there without me noticing and also many more are out there.

Brain juice needed

2011-10-29T09:22:00.000+11:00

At work in the city my colleague's first customer of the day:
"I'm after a juicer."
"What sort/type?"
[pause] "Zzzt! Zzzt!"
"Electrical?"
"Yes."

Smurfing power point

2011-10-29T09:04:00.003+11:00

Being short sighted and not having poked around in the cupboard near this I didn't notice a quirky little feature in our new house's bathroom - one of my housemates did. It's a tiny little faux powerpoint. Totally cracked me up when she showed me. The painters seems to have masked it off and painted around it just like a real one! I've included my Smurf keyring and keys to give you an idea of scale.

You don't wanna touch this

2011-09-22T23:08:00.003+10:00

Mike Rowe on TV show Dirty Jobs is instructed to clean up the living area for the birds in a Las Vegas magician's show. On being told to get the kinks out of the long, pink water hose
"This is a very kinky hose ... The kind you don't take home to Mama."

Take a closer look

2011-09-19T22:13:00.004+10:00

The first time I noticed this eucalyptus was a few months ago, while jogging by. I thought it was just a bit of branch some kid had shoved into a crack in the weathered mooring post. It seemed to stay fresh for a rather long time. Over a week later I took a closer look and realised it was a tiny tree. It's been there about 6 months now.

Taxman/highway man same diff: both like to bowl!

2011-09-17T22:07:00.003+10:00

Generously proportioned, red wine glass/trophy with shiney silver rim and graphic was bought from Savers in Brunswick. Depicts Australian highway man/hero (WTF? I've never understood that, he was no Robin Hood) Ned Kelly.

Random thought on God.

2011-09-15T22:04:00.001+10:00

Not sure if one person wrote both of these or not since it would be odd to write it in two different media yet the script is similar. I happen to like hommus though I haven't always.

Lost silhouette

2011-09-13T21:56:00.001+10:00

An oulined shadow of a person next to a sign in Footscray. It has since been removed.

Buntissue

2011-09-11T21:48:00.003+10:00

A used tissue of mine that when the light hit it from a certain angle looked like a bunny.

'Flow' in Concept Radical

2011-08-29T23:53:00.007+10:00

click image to view

I have an entry in the Concept Radical art competition. Art submitted to Concept Radical explores free radicals and their impact. You can help me win a prize just by viewing my art which if you click on it will take you to a larger than life view of it. If you create a log in identity you can also rate it and comment on it there on the site.

Cookie Monster and Tom Waits mashed up.

2011-08-29T21:34:00.001+10:00

This is very clever. He/she must have watched a LOT of footage to get the perfect clips. I love the way they've used Cookie's characteristic finger in the air and face palm to convey the importance of his words, and feeling of helplessness in the context of the song. Cookie Monster never seemed more profound. I hadn't fully appreciated his ability to emote until now.

Kudos to Henson and Oz for creating a character that connects so well with people of all ages. He is my favourite SS character.

Make a Beer Baited Slug Trap

2011-08-16T22:55:00.012+10:00

Slugs like beer to death and so do snails apparently but only slugs seem to come to my refurbished, Ye Happy Slug Inn (M3). It's very simple. You set up an 'inn' amongst whatever plants they are munching. Slugs go in, guzzle beer, get legless and drown - dying a happier death than they do by pellets I'm sure.

1. Save and wash clean a small cuttable plastic container, in this case a 1L milk bottle which has a nice wide neck.
2. Using a box cutter/stanley knife, cut container into two halves to make a shorter container. Use scissors to tidy up the edges if you wish. Make sure the lower half is tall enough to contain about 1/2 cup liquid. If using a lidded tub, cut a hole about 4cm in diameter/square in the lid to let the slugs in. A lid of some sort helps to keep rain from diluting the mixture and other larger animals from getting at the beer. If using a bottle choose one with a wide neck to waft the beer scent and invite slugs in. A soft drink bottle is too narrow, but some water and energy drink bottles have suitable wide necks.
3. Put about 2 to 3cm of beer in base of container and put on lid. I previously tried Carlton Draught which works but not as well as a Corona and Pure Blonde blend do.
4. Place amongst whatever slugs are eating. If in a garden bed you may wish to partially bury the base to 2-3cm above ground level, for stability and to ensure only slugs climb up into it and no other invertebrates fall in.
5. Check every few days to fish out dead slugs, or more frequently if it has been raining. The beer is fine to keep reusing. You will find that with warmer weather a layer of yeast will form. Although icky, yeast is what attract the slugs so you should leave it. I use an old sieve to strain out the slug carcasses and bury them in shallow graves in garden beds and pots. You could also use an old spoon to fish them out of the beer.

The sign is made of an offcut from the bottle, a toothpick and decorated with a mostly permanent pen (HDPE plastic is hard to write on).

Hosiery at the beach?

2011-08-07T21:57:00.000+10:00

I guess it will keep the sand from getting between your toes if you're weird and don't enjoy that.

Lustre hosiery, image from the 1929 annual of The Draper of Australasia.
I found the disembodied pair of legs and solitary hand disconcerting and oddly accessorised. That appears to be a child's beach pail and spade next to her.

Rebekah Bogard

2011-07-28T21:00:00.001+10:00

Doing random google searches without anything in particular in mind usually leads me to something cool. This time it was 'ceramic artist'* which led to Rebekah Bogard's curvaceous, sensual and colourful works. I particularly liked the detail and texture of her Scientific Series which seems to have been inspired by nudibranchs. Those are awesome critters to start with. The execution is spot on.

Intrigue
2001
9" x 7" x 6"
earthernware, underglaze, glaze
image credit: Rebekah Bogard

Later works are cute and colourful animals with a toy aesthetic about them. This is teamed with a subtle sensuality, pain or other human experience which can be a fraction unsettling at first, yet pleasing because the cuteness is a hook that reels you in.

Happiness
2006
27" x 21" x 16"
earthenware, underglaze
image credit: Rebekah Bogard

*Technically a ceramic is a cast item, while pottery is clay that is hand formed.

Lusty fabric

2011-07-21T21:57:00.001+10:00

Lustre crepe fabric, image from the 1929 annual of The Draper of Australasia.
That's a sexy piece of drapery lying there and those ladies know it. Uh huh.

Men's Socks Illustrated

2011-07-14T21:51:00.000+10:00

Lustre half hose for men, image from the 1929 annual of The Draper of Australasia.

I've never never seen such a pair detailed, skillfully rendered and styled half hose aka socks before and I probably won't ever again. Neither will you I'm quite sure so here's a detail for your delectation.

Top Dog something something...

2011-07-07T21:39:00.000+10:00

Top Dog bathers for men and women, image from the 1929 annual of The Draper of Australasia.
I'm not sure what is going on in this image but it's odd. The first thing that caught my eye was the inflatable crocodile. I didn't know they made them back then! Next, the woman's right leg is tucked away or resting at a weird angle or is possibly being eaten by the crocodile. The man's left arm and hand is invisible, then my brother noticed that his fingers are in weird positions for holding a ball. If you're on the look out for odd things with a vague sexual connotation well there's that in this picture as well...

Random thoughts on dogs*

2011-07-06T17:47:00.006+10:00

A dog is like a person only better.

Puppeh is another word for dog.

I've always wondered why dogs with their superior sense of scent always smell each other's bottoms directly instead of just sniffing nearby or elsewhere, and also how can some dogs find faeces an attractive meal? I know that dogs have scent glands under their tails. After watching a documentary from the BBC about the sense of smell I came up with a hypothesis.

Things that are harmful to humans to ingest such as off food, faecal matter, vomit, rotting flesh give off organosulfur compounds or sulfides in their scent. Our sense of smell is particularly sensitive to sulfides. Dogs can happily eat any of this stuff without much harm and sometimes to benefit because thier guts are designed to deal with it.

My hypothesis is that dogs are virtually insensitive to sulfides. They don't need to detect them, only the other parts of what make up the scent. By ignoring one note of the scent they can appreciate the finer nuaunces of a scent that make it unique.

Have you marvelled at the texture and form of your dog's nose? You can immortalise that in a silver pendant to treasure always. Clicky here.

*May be added to in future

One Piece Bathers with Cut Outs - For Men!

2011-07-01T21:19:00.000+10:00

Over the last couple of Summers, women's one piece bathers have featured saucy cut out sections for the slim, brave/fool hardy among us. You need to have the body of a model to pull that look off as you can see here.

Image from the 1929 annual of The Draper of Australasia
Smokin' hot or what? The Melford suit was also available in black trimmed with two red lines around the bottom hem which looked even smarter. No really!

You can feel the heat radiating from the glowing face of this Adonis.

In all seriousness though he is a buff chap/trio with fine pins!

Enjoying the silence?

2011-06-28T00:31:00.000+10:00

[to the tune of Sound of Silence, by Simon and Garfunkel]
Hello insomnia my old 'friend'.
You've come to taunt me yet again?
I will fight you off with myyyy red wine,
And surf the web just oooone more time.
As my vision, it grows blurryyyy with fatigue,
Longing for sleep,
And the rooooad outside ... grows silent.

Wonderful

2011-06-24T21:32:00.003+10:00

I sat on the tram to work earlier this week with 3 older ladies, who I think I've sat with before or possibly served in my shop. Anyhow they were chatting about how many cookbooks and cooking magazines they had and didn't use, how they'd been sorting through them. One lady said after talking about the assorted magazines she had accumulated around the house said
"I've got _so_ many! When I die they will think 'She must have been a _wonderful_ cook!', when all I've got is a wonderful collection [chuckles]".

Funky little lion logo

2011-06-24T21:06:00.006+10:00

This is the first of a short series of images scanned from the 1929 annual of The Draper of Australasia. Sure I could have scanned a great many images of the fashion of the time, but let's face it I think we're all quite familiar with that sort of thing. This blog is more about the quirky rather than the quaint. I don't find 1920s fashion particularly exciting anyway.

Trademark, John King and Sons and Glasgow, drapers specialising in curtains
He looks like he's holding up his thistle with a grin, a spring in his step, a slightly flamboyant curl to his mane, and tiny round sunglasses perched on his nose.

Preserved Moroccan style lemons.

2011-06-19T19:00:00.005+10:00

This recipe is for a basic Moroccan style preserved lemon. The actual recipe is very easy but the technique for stuffing the lemons can be fiddly and potentially wasteful so I'd like to visually share my technique with you to help you get the best result and prettiest jars!

The finished product goes beautifully with meat and fish. Most Morrocan recipes call for only the rinsed and finely choped rind but if you like things extra lemony you can try using the pulp as well in your cooking.

You will need:
1 wide mouthed 1L jar, sterilised*
up to 12 or so, small, thin skinned lemons
1/2 tsp peppercorns
1 bay leaf
1/2 cup rock salt

Some of the lemons will be preserved in the jar/s others will be juiced only. Start with your preserving lemons first which the instructions will refer to.

Gently wash lemons in warm water with a soft bristled brush. This is to remove the natural waxes on the skin.

Hold lemon, stalk end down and use a small knife cut into lengthwise quarters but ensure quarters are still joined at the base like the petals of a flower.

Over your chopping board, put a small amount of rock salt into the lemon quarters to seperate them from each other like this:

Hold the lemon on its side and prise the quarters apart to fill. Use the side of the spoon to fill and push in the salt. Give it a squeeze to hold in place as you continue to repeat between the other sections.

This isn't full yet! I have found it's best to gradually stuff them with salt rather than try to get it all in at once.

A fully stuffed lemon.

Put the filled lemons into the jar one by one. You should squish them in to truly fill the jar and release some of the juice. When the jar is half full add the peppercorns and bayleaf. Once it's full of lemons you can juice the remaining lemons. Add the remaining salt, including any salt spilling from the stuffing process, to the jar. Cover lemons with lemon juice. Close and gently shake. Store in a cool, dark place for 6 weeks, shaking the jar once a week. The liquid should eventually clear up and the lemon pith will turn yellow. Then, it's ready to cook with! Store in refridgerator for around 6 months.

You can divide the ingredients between more than one jar so there's one for you and one for a gift. I've used a 500ml, La Parfait jar and an old olive jar. The tall jar should fit another lemon to really cram it full but I wanted it to be pretty :P

*STERILISING JARS must be done to ensure the shelf life and food safety of your preserve.
There are a few ways to do it, but never use a towel to dry! Also note that this is only part of what you need to do when making jam or other hot mixtures, in which case the boiling water bath method is necessary.
Anyhoo:
1 You can wash them in hot soapy water then dry them upside down on a clean tray, in a cool oven (100-130C) for 15 minutes. OR
2 My manager who has made prize winning jellies and preserves recommends the microwave technique because it's quick and easy. Simple fill jars with hot water and microwave for a couple of minutes. Then dry in the oven as above or for this recipe, simple empty and allow to cool a little. OR
3 Putting jars through the dishwasher on a hot cycle will also sterilise them. Immerse the rubber seals and metal parts in boiling water for a few minutes until you're ready to use them. OR
4 Fully immerse in boiling water for 10 minutes then oven dry.

Metal lids and rubber seals can be immersed in boiling water for 5 minutes.

Ricky Swallow: Field Recordings, by Justin Paton.

2011-06-13T01:22:00.007+10:00

Ricky Swallow: Field Recordings
By Justin Paton
Published by Craftsman House

One of the reasons I haven't read many art books is because I feel that art is for looking at not writing about. As an artist I am loath to write too much about my own artwork because I’d like the artwork to speak for itself regardless of the inspiration and backstory of it. The other reason I have an aversion to reading and writing such statements - and some art criticism - is that it’s often gibberish infused wankery and I want no part of that. Galleries, critics and educational institutions seem to insist that words about art must contain a higher than average percentage of polysyllabic words within a set artistic vernacular. Artists are encouraged to talk up works without it being evident of having put quite as much thought into their execution, perhaps to make up for lack of technique or complexity in the final work.

The reality is that artists do need words to convey the depth of their ideas and allow their audience to get the most out of their art appreciation. Perhaps if artists were allowed to say exactly what they believe their artwork is about or what they were inspired by, instead of what is expected of them the whole process would be simplified. For an artist a skull is a really interesting shape ... which happens to be a universal symbol of our mortality and commonality as humans. By saying little about his work, and leaving it up to the viewer to interpret, Ricky Swallow allows his work to be appreciated in its own right.

I purchased this publication at the most recent, major retrospective of Swallow’s art , 'The Bricoleur' at the National Gallery of Victoria, at Federation Square aka NGV Fed Square. There were a number of tethered books in a little reading room that viewers could peruse at their leisure. I spent a few minutes with this one before deciding I’d like to own and read it in full.

I’ve been an admirer of Swallow’s sculptures since seeing a series of his turntables on a window sill back in 1999, following his career ever since. As an artist his skill, use of small scale, craftsmanship and discipline has been an inspiration to me. It was good to hear some of his artistic philosophy, which I strongly identify with. Swallow believes that if you want your audience to spend time looking at your art, then you need to spend a certain amount of time creating it.

The focus of this book is Swallow’s technically refined, unforgettable, world class sculptures, while skimming over his watercolours which are unremarkable by comparison. For some works I can’t help but feel that Swallow savoured the artistic challenge and time needed to carve in wood - particularly something complex in form - or the paradox of recreating something soft in a hard material. There has been a consistent, underlying irony, in his choice of materials.

Without quotes from the artist to confirm, I am unconvinced the bulk of meaningful descriptions of the artworks featured are what the artist intended - rather than a writer’s interpretation of what they could mean. Some of this is the expected dietary art wank fibre but nonetheless, fairly digestible from beginning to end offering further insight into Swallow’s art than may be gleaned by simply viewing it. The writer's interpretations provide food for thought, and that is where the value of reading about art comes into play, and why this is a worthy book.

Amazing Rare Things.

2011-04-18T18:50:00.003+10:00

Amazing Rare Things: The Art of Natural History in the Age of Discovery
by Martin Clayton, Susan Owens, Rea Alexandratos, David Attenborough, soft cover edition

Prior to this I read Eaten by a Giant Clam by Joseph Cummings, which proved to be quite a good companion text.

In some ways you can judge this book by its cover; there are some equally gorgeous illustrations inside; David Attenborough's contributions are insightful; it's too small in format to be an art book. Visually it's an appetiser rather than the meal its title promises to be. The text makes up the bulk of the book providing background to some illustrations whilst directly referring to others. It's the referencing that is let down by the format size. Smaller pages means more pages of text between illustrations. Being the diligent reader I am, I endeavoured to view each referenced illustration to give it context which made my progress through the book slow and something of an effort. I strongly feel this book would be a better read if the pages were bigger so that not only could you get more text to a page but the highly detailed illustrations could be better appreciated.

An interesting read and beautifully illustrated but any subsequent editions should be in a larger format.

Chilli sauce as a weapon

2011-04-18T01:31:00.000+10:00

At work today a man walked in holding a large squeeze bottle of what looked like chilli sauce which he must have just bought. He was otherwise unremarkable. As I stood near the register I thought "He could hold up the shop with that! Has anyone ever staged a hold/stick up armed with the threat of chilli sauce squirted in the eye?"
DISCLAIMER: Don't try anything like this, I am not endorsing that at all. That would be a really horrible thing to do.

However maybe the airline security people should be onto this?

[edit]

I asked a friend of mine who works in the field of Aviation Security about this. She said in her personal opinion that

'On international flights it would be a LAG* and therefore confiscated (over 100mls). On a domestic flight it's feasible but the fear factor wouldn't be there like a knife or gun which can be fatal, plus the reaction time to squeeze it out is longer compared to capsicum spray. If you attacked someone with it, you'd have plenty of other crew and passengers reacting and getting the bottle off the assailant. I'd deem it low risk on its own, but it could be used with other weapons.'

*Liquid, aerosol, gel.

Neverending Doggy

2011-04-15T01:10:00.003+10:00

Seeing a spritely, white, little, dog running to its owner with its ears flapping in the breeze I thought "It's a little Falcor! Okay I want a dog called Falcor. Yep, I'll call my next dog Falcor if he's fair ... or Artax. Maybe Atreyu if he's dark. How awesome to have a such a dog or three and to call in the park 'Faaalcoooor! Artaaaax!!! Atreyu!' Yeah that would be cool."

Noooodles

2011-04-15T01:06:00.002+10:00

Overheard in a Vietnamese grocery shop in Little Saigon, Footscray
[sing song female voice] "Noooodles, noooodles where could you be?"
Followed by a young woman in gumboots, to a small boy
"No udon for you. Go back."

Perfect Pyjamas

2011-04-06T23:22:00.004+10:00

Larry "What, are those?"
Balki "My spiderman pyjamas."
Larry "Let me rephrase that. Why are you wearing those?"
Balki "My He-Man pyjamas are in the wash."

The Magic Otter

2011-03-28T20:37:00.001+11:00

Eaten by a Giant Clam

2011-03-28T20:28:00.003+11:00

'The English naturalist Charles Waterton would often startle guests to his Yorkshire manor, Walton Hall, by hiding behind the front door and biting them as they entered. (His pretentions to being a dog were no idle fancy - he was perfectly capable, even when well past sixty, of scratching the back of an ear with his big toe). '
From Eaten by a Giant Clam by Joseph Cummings

Attenborough's Madagascar

2011-03-10T01:12:00.001+11:00

Brush-tailed Possums

2011-02-16T22:11:00.002+11:00

[edited 16/02/2011]
Here's some snaps I took of a gorgeous brush tail possum mother and another cute, smaller individual while on holiday at Broulee, NSW, Australia. While the brushie - as they are affectionately known - is commonplace Australiawide including in the city, it's only here that I've taken the opportunity to snap some shots of them. They are Australia's equivalent to an opossum or small monkey in terms of size, habitat, adaptability to developed environments, being nocturnal and diet.

A little curious.

Very curious. A particularly large and bold individual not unlike a tom cat in both respects.

Ready for her close up, she is the picture of health.
That moist pink nosicle is too much! ;)

Brushies are very cuddly looking. Note to overseas readers: Do not cuddle a brushie! They've got claws as sharp as a cat and they never retract.

We only noticed she was a mum after seeing her bulging pouch. After getting aquainted with us we gave her a bit of space to do her thing.

Mama Possum sat and her pouch slowly dilated.

She allowed the joey to emerge, gave it a solid grooming before popping back it in and going on her way.

[edit]

Mama Possum and bub. Taken about a week later when she returned and the joey was on her back for a while.

Young 'Snaggletooth' out and about. This one is much smaller than Mama Possum. He was first discovered by J, sleeping on a blanket in the downstairs bedroom cupboard on our arrival. His presence has since been confirmed by myself, as temporary resident of said cupboard. It was part of my daily ritual to quietly slide open the cupboard door to check on him. He must have an alternative sleeping spot because he wasn't there everytime I checked on him. It's just as well because we had to block his entry into the cupboard!

He's a very gentle, shy, sweet possum. I know this from having fed him some fruit scraps. He was very careful not to scratch me with his claws, daintily taking the food in his mouth and gently holding onto my finger for balance. Mama Possum did scratch me slightly and grabbed onto my fingers very firmly even though with both possums I didn't offer my fingers to be held! He is at the bottom of the pecking order as far as other local possums go. Mama Possum hissed him off, while the another chased him off. He's had a hard life, and that little bit of missing lip revealing his teeth was probably the result of a close encounter with another possum's sharp claws.

Not sure what to title this one!

2011-01-29T11:11:00.003+11:00

'Having spent the first five years of my academic life studying great ape social cognition, I’ve seen more simian penises than I care to mention. I once spent a summer with a 450-pound silverback gorilla that was hung like a wasp (great guy, though) and baby-sat a lascivious young orangutan that liked to insert his penis in just about anything with a hole, which unfortunately one day included my ear.'

Jesse Bering, Secrets of the Phallus: Why Is the Penis Shaped Like That?, Scientific American, April 2009

Adel Rootstein mannequins of the 1980s

2011-01-25T17:02:00.005+11:00

I was chucking out my unused resource files when I came across these old Adel Rootstein mannequin promotional sheets. They were too funny not to share before condemning to recycling. Enjoy!

Ah, the 1980s: when men were effeminate and women were drag queens.

Ms Tracy Leigh is actually modelled on Ms Tracy Leigh. Adel Rootstein have a history of modelling their mannequins on real people, in particular famous people.

The very model of chillaxment apparently. I reckon he's frowning too much to be considered laid back but maybe that's just me.

We are the goon squad and we're coming to town.

Beep, beep!

Posing! Posing like a swan. Posing! Posing for a portrait ... Posing a threat!
Some rather contrived poses on the reverse page of the Runway ladies. I put some modesty patches over their 'bits' so it should be safe for work!

Smoked Salmon and Mushroom Salad

2011-01-12T19:45:00.005+11:00

I came up with this recipe while on my evening walk. I had a packet of salmon close to its use by date, and was brainstorming a lean, healthy way to use it. I had all of the other ingredients.

This was so delicious I thought I'd better write it down and share it :) Keep in mind that sambal oelek is a crushed chilli paste so those of the faint palette may wish to reduce the quantity of it. Chilli is good for speeding up your metabolism.

Smoked Salmon and Mushroom Salad
4 or 5 leaves of red oak leaf lettuce (to cover a dinner plate), whole or sliced as you prefer
4 or 5 button mushrooms (about a handful), sliced
2 or 3 slices of smoked salmon
2 tsp capers, rinsed
1 tsp sambal oelek
1 clove of garlic, crushed
a splash of olive oil
a splash of lemon juice

Spread the lettuce over a dinner plate.
Chop or rip up the smoked salmon. Distribute it over the lettuce. Keep plate in fridge until ready to serve.
Warm the oil in a small frying pan, saute the garlic.
Add capers and crush them with a wooden spoon. Heat through.
Add sambal oelek and stir through.
Add mushrooms. Stir through then cover. Fry until soft.
Stir through a splash of lemon juice to moisten, then allow to evaporate a little.
Distribute over the salmon and lettuce.
Serve immediately.

Serves 1.

Serving suggestions

2010-12-22T22:15:00.006+11:00

Has anyone EVER eaten the serving size quoted in the nutritional contents panel on the packet of anything that comes in more than a single serve?
eg on a packet of water cracker dipping biscuits: serving size 15g, 6 biscuits.

I do feel a bit devil-may-care, naughty for always eating more than the nutritionally described serving size. Sometimes I'll eat the whole packet in one go!

How do they decide how much a serving is? Perhaps the manufacturer is legally obliged to recommend moderate consumption of what is often a processed and therefore unhealthy snack food. For me it always seems a unrealistically small serving and not very useful as dietary information. That's why, if I want to understand and compare the nutritional content I look at the per 100g information and think of that in percentages.

MasterChef...

2010-12-08T20:23:00.003+11:00

At work, two middle aged ladies are looking for a gift for a bloke they know.
"Ah MasterChef aprons! They have MasterChef aprons. You could get him a MasterChef apron. Do you think he would like that?"
"I think he would be insulted [low chuckle]!".

The first moving images of the new life forms from NASA!!!

2010-12-03T22:41:00.001+11:00

The first moving images of the new life forms from NASA!!!*

* aka Shipoids in the Night from Malcolm Sutherland on Vimeo.

Gold

2010-11-26T23:12:00.002+11:00

On the train from Footscray into the city we pass a temple under construction. It features a golden statue almost as tall as the temple itself. There is a group of jovial Maoris behind me.
On seeing the statue one bloke says "Whoah... What is that - gold?"
His mate "Cheese."

An analogy about veganism

2010-11-26T02:07:00.002+11:00

'Vegans are to meat what Christians are to sex. The best way to control people is through shame, and attaching shame to a natural part of being human is hugely powerful.'

'Wolter' commenting on this article.

2 @ Wunderkammer

2010-11-24T18:18:00.000+11:00

Flight of the Crayfish
print from a paper collage
21 x 29

2 @ Wunderkammer is the second exhibition of art by Patricia Denis
at Wunderkammer featuring her latest two dimensional works in collage.
An array of unique, full colour paper butterflies will flutter up the wall while the Spam Tales collage series continues.

2

@

Wunderkammer
by Patricia Denis
Wunderkammer
Nov 25 - Dec 9, 2010
Open: Mon to Fri 10-6, Sat 10-4
439 Lonsdale Street,
Melbourne, 3000 Victoria, Australia
info@wunderkammer.com.au
Phone: +61 3 9642 4694

Join the Facebook group,
Art by Patricia Denis
to keep up to date with events and news.

Egalitarian cuisine or disrespectful to the fish?

2010-11-11T01:38:00.004+11:00

I learnt today that having a taste for salmon doesn't mean you know how to pronounce the word. I'm not sure if this makes salmon sushi handrolls an egalitarian cuisine or disrespectful to the very tasty fish. If it were a foreign word it would be less of a thought curio.
At a sushi shop in Melbourne CBD,
"Yeah we want two sushi rolls. One of them sal-mon..."

The windmills of your pink paté.

2010-11-06T16:23:00.003+11:00

'But how you get a rainbow activity map, or any other useful figure, out of a 2.2 lb lump of pink paté -- that's a part of the story they rarely tell. The truth is, brain tissue looks blah. It's boring. Sliced brain is about as pretty as a thinly chopped white mushroom; you can see only a few obvious structures, and those structures only grossly correlate with brain function. '
Jessica Palmer @ Bioephemera.

Pushed too far, one fine day: RIP James Freud

2010-11-04T20:36:00.002+11:00

RIP James Freud

Freerange eggs and pork.

2010-10-26T21:27:00.006+11:00

I saw this ad appealing for free range pigs on the tram to work recently. 'You are Our Hope' is a campaign funded by Animals Australia*. You would need a heart of stone not to be at least a little moved and think a bit more about the welfare of your food sources. Bred freerange pork products are currently so hard to find. Chicken and eggs on the other hand is fairly easy. Hopefully this campaign will raise enough awareness to create demand and lead to happier Aussie piggies. Coles has committed to making its fresh pork products sow stall free. Use this link to appeal to the other major food retailers to do the same.

Admittedly you do have to be selective/educated about which freerange eggs you buy. I owe it to the Epicure section from The Age earlier this year for my knowledge:

Some are actually barn laid with access to outdoors through an opening too small to allow but a few chooks through in a day. Others have their beaks trimmed whether they need it or not, and in some cases this is done so severely that other farmers have described it as debeaking. Beak trimming is only acceptable where other measures to deal with pecking order issues are unsuccessful, and even then it must be professionally done.

Further reading:
http://www.greenwashreport.org/node/74

I hadn't previously been successful finding them, because the Epicure print article didn't have the logo included but now I know what to look for:
http://www.freerangefarmers.com.au/

*yes they are a vegan promoting bunch but listen to what they have to say in this campaign, if nothing else.

Tiramisu

2010-10-13T06:37:00.010+11:00

I made this :)

Recipe from here. Dusted with Dutch cocoa powder.
To create strawberry garnish:

Wash and dry fresh strawberries, preferably more than what you think you will need so you can practice. For best results, select berries of a uniform size and shape.
Use a sharp paring (small, smooth blade, pointed) knife to carefully slice strawberry from tip to hull into four or five slices, but not all the way through. You need the hull to hold the slices together.
Gently fan out the slices.

'The Art of Tidying', for girls in 1886,

2010-09-03T19:48:00.002+10:00

A room that needs tidying.

‘One of the few anecdotes intended to prove a warning to my heedless youth, which I can now remember, related to the homely subject of tidying up. It was to this effect, and was short and sour. Miss Smith had long been engaged to be married to Mr Jones. That gentleman was invited to sleep a night at Mr Smith’s house, and coming down to breakfast he passed his intended wife’s bed-room, from which she had gone down, leaving the door wide open. There he saw such a scene of confusion that he felt sure his home would not be a comfortable one under Miss Smith’s management, and so he broke off the match.
“Mean man!” all you girls cry in chorus; and I am not the least commending Mr Jones’s behavior; I am merely telling you what effect on his conduct the sight of that untidy bed-room had.
My own view of untidiness is that it is an indication of a very inferior mind – a mind lacking in imagination, lacking in the sense of the appropriate, lacking in will-power.
…
It sees that the armchair cannot be used to sit on because a skirt lies across it; the floor cannot conveniently be trodden on because a wrap would trip up the feet; the sunshade must be removed before the smaller chair can be taken from the wall; and the children may catch their heedless little heads against the corners of the open drawers.
…
By acting thus the untidy girl shows herself lacking in the sense of the appropriate. I strongly suspect she is the kind of girl I meet with a fur cape on her shoulders in July, and thin summer shoes on her feet in December. In common language, she never knows “what’s what”.
…
Let it be every woman’s ambition to lead a perfectly beautiful life, and to do that she must try to cultivate a very beautiful mind; for surely we know that the outward is only a picture of the inward, and that a little drop of water can contain a miniature picture of the world; therefore all great results can be accomplished in a very small space, and every little life, in any humble sphere, be so exquisitely lived that it would be a fit subject for a poet’s verse, a painter’s picture of home-life, or a heart-refreshing biography from the pen of a loving friend.’

Image and extract from: Power, Helen, ‘The Art of Tidying’, Cassell’s Family Magazine (annual), 1886, p172-173

Old Spice | Questions

2010-08-11T18:55:00.000+10:00

The La Choy dragon.

2010-08-10T22:59:00.001+10:00

Via Laughing Squid

Swan dive!

2010-07-14T18:12:00.004+10:00

The sequel to that Old Spice commerical:

Comments on You Tube about this :
'Holy beans, this is so manly it makes my mustache tingle.'
'Would 299 OldSpice men plus yourself, wearing manly armor made of the freshest scents, muscle and a towel be able to take on the power of an army of Narwhal riding tigers?'

How did they make it? Click here.

Proposed close time for seals, 1873

2010-06-14T20:48:00.004+10:00

Click image to see bigger version.
Proposed close time for seals
S.E. Waller
from the editorial by Frank Buckland in The Animal World, A Monthly Advocate of Humanity, Issued by the R.S.P.C.A, No. 43 - Vol. IV, April 1873

This was on the cover, illustrating an article proposing the creation of a hunting season of baby seals to allow them to reach a bigger size. Regulating this would offer the seals as a species a better rate of survival since the babies would not be quite so helpless when the time came. One would expect the later hunting season would require a swifter killing method than what was happening - leaving the younger seal pups to starve to death after killing their mothers. It would appear to ease a collective conscience albeit temporarily. He went into some gory detail about the inhumanity of the then current 'slaughter of the innocents' method. He did not call for an outright cease to hunting nor change in technique, acknowledging the economic value of the animals.

Epp's Cocoa, and Condy's Water adverts.

2010-05-31T23:14:00.002+10:00

JellyCat

2010-05-30T23:05:00.005+10:00

Box received in a kitchenware store. If it were a toystore perhaps the JellyCat wouldn't seem so random. Cool logo and interesting product description. I recommend the Truffle Collection.

You can find inspiration in everything

2010-05-20T23:17:00.002+10:00

'Smith's fondness for tin robots of all shapes and sizes and antique bakelite radios is well known; some of these gizmos have even been known to spill into his shops. His prediliction for velvet Elvis paintings and rubber chickens is something he generally keeps to himself, however.'
Jim Davies on Paul Smith from 'You can find inspiration in everything*... *and if you can't, look again' by Paul Smith.

Hine Mizushima soft sculptural works

2010-04-23T11:00:00.003+10:00

I love Hine Mizushima's work! I haven't looked through all of it yet. What I have seen so far is beautifully detailed, lovingly well crafted, with a gentle dash of sometimes black humour here and there.

Mizushima's site is here. You must check it out. You will not be disappointed :)

Found via The MochiMochi blog.

Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne

2010-04-23T00:30:00.001+10:00

In a nutshell: STFU about the fish and get on with the adventure.

The plot when there was plot was rivetting, and Verne's occasional comic relief through both Conseil and Ned Land was entertaining as well. I'm told that comprehensive detailing of the science in SF is characteristic of the period. If it were published today it would probably be half as long because as a modern reader that is tiresome and we like to be entertained by the non-fiction aspect don't we? The modern reader has access to books, journals like New Scientist, the internet if he/she desires to learn more. We don't need that level of detail. There is extensive discussion of maritime history, geography, specifics of longtitude and latitude, physics and waaay too much coverage of every single fish and lifeform encountered.

This reader understands that the narrator is a marine biologist but is this text written for the benefit of fellow scientists? The use of scientific names only in some cases was particularly annoying! The text would be at least a quarter if not a third as long if these piscine descriptions with pared back to the essentials.

Ramalama Gaga Gogo

2010-04-11T22:33:00.003+10:00

Listening to: Ramalama Gaga Gogo*, on my i-Pod

Ramalama (Bang Bang) by Roisin Murphy
Enjoy the Silence 04(Mike Shinoda Remix) by Depeche Mode
Strict Machine by Goldfrapp
Silent Shout by The Knife
Are You the One? by The Presets
This Must be It by Röyksopp
Destroy Everything You Touch by Ladytron
Anarchy by KMFDM
Fascination Street by The Cure
Coloured Bedspread by Annie Lennox
Paninaro by The Pet Shop Boys
Girls and Boys by Blur
Oh La La by Goldfrapp
Mr Brightside (Jacques Lu Cont’s Thin White Duke Remix) by The Killers
Zero by The Yeah Yeah Yeahs
Hey Boy. Hey Girl. by The Chemical Brothers
World in My Eyes (Cicada Remix) by Depeche Mode
Bad Ego (Michael Jackson vs. Alter Ego) DJ Earworm mashup
The Men by Covenant
Nirgaga (Nirvana vs. Lady Gaga) DJ Lobsterdust mashup
Rush by Depeche Mode
Precious by Depeche Mode
Shine by Cyndi Lauper
Always by Erasure
Telephone by Lady Gaga
Ladykiller by Alice in Videoland
All I ever Wanted by The Human League
Damned don’t Cry by Visage
Dance in the Dark by Lady Gaga
Here Comes the Rain by The Eurythmics
Pitbull Dream by What's
Wrong by Depeche Mode
Bad Romance by Lady Gaga
Love is a Fool by Primary
Night on Fire by VHS or Beta
To Cut a Long Story Short by Spandau Ballet
The Way I Are by Timbaland
Neutraface by DD40
It’s a Sin by The Pet Shop Boys

*i-Tunes playlist I composed using two of my most recent On the Go lists. Click on the titles in italic for the best clips out of those found.

These are a few of my favourite things.

2010-03-24T00:20:00.004+11:00

Today my bliss out time was:
wearing stripey tights and Mary Janes,
while sitting on a large, high backed, fancy street bench crowned at each corner with metal sunflowers,
eating a choc mint cupcake,
and being an island of tranquil bliss while everyone rushed to the station to get home.

Pork wonton peaks

2010-03-21T23:13:00.005+11:00

Listening to: Running Up that Hill by Placebo

Pork wontons prepared this afternoon. As I was making them I couldn't help but notice the pleasing pattern they made, complemented by the soft natural light. My cooking experiments are providing me with a great opportunity to practise my food styling skills and photography.

Aerial view

Playing with depth of field.

Grayscale with slight levels tweak to bump up contrast.
I've made this one my desktop wallpaper, I like it that much - plus it's well suited to it.

Here Comes the Hook Again

2010-03-19T23:54:00.003+11:00

Telephone call for Lady Gaga:
[Hello, hello baby you called I can't here a thing]*
It's Dave Stewart and Annie Lennox.
[I have got no service at the club you say, say]
They want their hook back from Here Comes the Rain Again.
[Wha, wha, what did you say? Huh? You're breaking up on me]
You used it in Dance in the Dark, yeah?
[Sorry I can not hear you. I'm kinda busy]
Cheers!

*All small print, lyrics from Telephone by Lady Gaga, The Fame Monster.

Spaceman to Victorian diver customization

2010-03-14T17:17:00.000+11:00

Customization in progress.
20th century spaceman, 1 1/2" tall, plastic figure bought to accompany my Sea Monkeys on Mars tank.

Victorian diver
In order to make this convincing, I did a bit of google image researching.
The front window is a brass eyelet and a plastic disk. The side and top windows are googly eyes with the lens cut back to just a rim. I used a scalpel. emery board and carving tools to cut off the space paraphernalia, define the helmet, and 'depuff' the suit.

I also did a mini steampunk style customization on the base of the tank.

Happy Bug sayz "Hai!" ;)

2010-03-14T15:50:00.005+11:00

Listening to: It's My Life, by Talk Talk, from The Collection.

Unidentified* cute bug on my bedroom window this afternoon. He hung around long enough for one photograph.

Enhance!

"Oh hai and welcum to de naiborhud."

*I tried to but there doesn't seem to be an easily accessed online resource for local bug identification. There is for spiders and butterflies. He was about 8mm long.

Sunny day, cool sky.

2010-03-13T16:56:00.000+11:00

Actually read 'STAY COOL LIPTON ICE TEA'.
From my new backyard this afternoon.

The Hippo Jar

2010-03-13T16:34:00.003+11:00

Listening to: Shining Light by Annie Lennox from the Annie Lennox Collection

The weird, ceramic Japanese hippopotamus pot/jar/vessel I got from the Salvos a few years ago. I had eyed it off for a few weeks before sucumbing to its odd charm.

Open hippo.

Hippo on mah belleh. Looks even funnier on a bare belly because it looks like he is emerging from it like water!

Sir David Mellifluous Attenborough

2010-03-11T22:41:00.003+11:00

Listening to : Telephone by Lady Gaga from The Fame Monster

Quote of the Day
'I have just received the televisual equivalent of a Sunday comfort shag from David Attenborough spooning sweet nothings about sand dunes into my gaping, ravenous ear. Is this what heroin feels like?'
Stephen Collins @ Coelacanth Diaries

Plastics are killing marine life.

2010-03-11T12:22:00.002+11:00

via Bioephemera

Get the gist?

2010-03-05T21:52:00.003+11:00

The soft 'g' in gist is pronounced in the same way as the 'g' is in giraffe or ginger,
not
like the hard 'g' in girder or get.

Get it?
Got it?
Good!

c. 1933* HMV record sleeve

2010-03-05T21:16:00.005+11:00

Australian, HMV generic, LP record sleeve c.1933*

Detail

Detail showing HMV's portable record player

From the reverse of this sleeve.

*As surmised from the copyright notice on the reverse of sleeve.

Franz Ferdinand and moshing

2010-03-05T19:08:00.006+11:00

Franz Ferdinand at The Forum wasn't as exciting as I hoped. Perhaps I built them up too much.

A while back I read that Franz Ferdinand got together to create music to make girls dance and not have just have a bunch of guys moshing. The area closest to the stage was not a lady friendly zone - it was a mosh pit. I saw other women with slightly anxious looks on their faces as the guy/s closest to them bounced fiercely up and down like demented Masai warriors. I saw women back away and others try to make their partners stop moshing.

I don't mosh. It's intimidating being in the middle of it. Guys think it's alright to keep bumping into you. When I told one guy "Get off me!" because he sort of leaned and draped over me, he told me "Relax, it's a concert". His friends were pushy pricks too.

Saying that it reads like other fans spoiled FF for me doesn't it? Well they did. It went against what I had expected from such a gig. I think I would have had 100% fun if I could have gotten closer without being jumped on.

Tim Burton's Alice in Mashupland

2010-02-23T20:44:00.013+11:00

There's a something of a brouhaha over Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland because yet again the director has strayed from the original source material. Given critical opinion of 'Planet of the Apes'*and to an extent 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory' this is understandable. Burton and sci-fi did not work, while C&C Factory was a good fit for Burton but what was with the excessive CGI Oompa Loompa/s?

A conspicous portion of American McGee's Alice PC game concept seems to be incorporated into Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland. The major plotline is closer to the game than Lewis Carroll's books: An adolescent Alice returns years after her first adventure in Wonderland to find The Red Queen/Queen of Hearts has taken over. She must ultimately fight her and free all her Wonderland friends from tyranny. Carroll's Alice was only 6 years old, fought no one and - though she tried at every opportunity - failed to successfully befriend anyone in Wonderland except for the Cheshire Cat. She did fair better in Looking-glass Land.

The Red Queen is not the Queen of Hearts, but two separate characters in different books - in the film they are merged into one. In Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, the Queen of Hearts rules Wonderland and is based on the queen from a deck of playing cards. Her sister is the Duchess and mother of the baby who turns into a pig. In Through the Looking Glass, the Red Queen is from Looking-glass Land and based on the queen from chess. Her ditzy sister is the White Queen.

Announcement, 2007
digital collage

Film adaptations of Caroll's two Alice books usually combine both stories but use Wonderland as the dominant thread with most of the characters from Wonderland. The talking flowers, Tweedledee and Tweedledum are examples of Looking-glass characters which are often incorporated into such productions. Hatta and Haigha are Looking-glass versions of the Mad Hatter and the March Hare sans teaparty. There are few film adaptations of Through the Looking Glass. Perhaps this is because while it is a good read, it doesn't have the same level of clever delight and originality found in Wonderland. Nonetheless the author recommends you read both because they don't write children's stories like this anymore.

In summary Tim Burton has taken his liberties with an existing story/ies but he isn't the first and he won't be the last. So sit back and enjoy the visual feast this movie is sure to be, and hopefully the 'reimagined' plot will follow!

*Third result when you google 'Planet of the Apes Burton'!

Cocktail Recipe: The Polar Bear

2010-02-03T00:34:00.006+11:00

Listening to: Happiness by Goldfrapp from Seventh Tree

Ah vodka how I love thee. Let me count the ways. 1, 2, 3, 4...

I came up with this new way, earlier this evening.

The Polar Bear

In a high ball glass build in the following order;

two or three scoops of lemon/lime sorbet,

a two or three fingers of vodka,

fill with soda water.

Stir with preferably with a metal straw-spoon -it is the biz and maximises ya fizz!.

Fun with Rufus and Mr Firth.

2010-01-26T16:09:00.002+11:00

'He putz da fun in cardeeo maylfunshun'
pj perry from I Can Has Cheezburger comments on this one

see more Lolcats and funny pictures

The First Men in the Moon by H.G. Wells

2010-01-19T19:44:00.003+11:00

Despite Wells' modesty about glossing over the science with fiction (namely Cavorite) in The First Men in The Moon, I found it to be one of his most scientific pieces so far. His explanation of defying Earth's gravity, how life forms might evolve in the absence of earthly gravity, and how humans might find moving about on the moon then returning to earth were all scientifically plausible if not accurate. Well's background in natural science is highly evident in his descriptions of lunar vegetation, its habits, and in particular its growth cycle.

None of this is to say that the science overwhelms the story for indeed it does not. True to form this is as rollicking a Victorian adventure as any Wells has written. Woven throughout the book is a philosophic pondering on the often exploitative and violent nature of humans. Allowing the audience to read the story from the two characters' viewpoints in two, carefully spliced sections of the book adds a clever twist to what could otherwise have been an anti-climatic ending.

Childhood favourite Sesame Street segments

2010-01-03T15:30:00.001+11:00

Still my favourites as well :)

The Yip Yip Martians meet a telephone (blue Martian puppeteered by Jim Henson)

Grover's Health Minute - Teeth

Grover the Waiter - Big Hamburger

Born to Add

The Beetles, Letter B

Most memorable animations:

Me and My M.

The Ladybugs' Picnic

Number 12 from the Pinball counting song, sung by The Pointer Sisters

I could go surfing You tube all day looking for more but I'll leave it at that!

Nurdles aka mermaid tears

2010-01-01T21:27:00.009+11:00

Nurdles are tiny plastic pellets from the plastic moulding industry. Raw plastic is formed into pre-production plastic pellets or plastic resin pellets less than 5mm in size. Their size and shape make them easy to feed into the hopper of a plastic moulding machine. Not every nurdle makes it into the hopper. Some may be spilt or blown away on the wind. These usually end up in waterways.

Nurdles are also known as mermaid tears because they make up a large portion of marine debris. Scientists have been aware of the danger of marine plastic debris for some years now*. However it is only the recent set of images of dead albatross chicks that have made a wave in the sea of public consciousness.

*So have I (see blog entry here) though not as long as they have obviously.

Rant about marine plastic debris

2010-01-01T21:20:00.002+11:00

Never mind chaos theory's flapping butterfly: one carelessly disposed of plastic item inland, could end up in the gut of an albatross chick on a remote inland thousands of kilometres away. That object could be one of many plastic fragments and particles that will fill this bird's belly thus starving the animal to death.

Hundreds of seemingly insignificant nurdles are swallowed by other animals such as fish, leaching toxins into their bodies.

What can anyone do about any of this? We can all learn to be responsible. We can tell others about it. We can share articles and images with our friends and family to help them understand no piece of plastic is insignificant. It means life or death for the animal that eats it. That animal could indirectly be us. As the dominant species on this planet we have the capacity and therefore the responsibility for our collective actions.

Hail to the train driver

2009-12-24T20:56:00.002+11:00

'Train driver: "Sorry about the late running of this train ... we had been held up by bunyips that have escaped from the zoo ... on crack."'
Overheard, MX, December 15, 2009

Santa meeting Uncle Sam

2009-12-20T15:24:00.003+11:00

GREETINGS!
Inside card: 'NOW AND FOREVER _ _ Merry Christmas AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR. Corp. and Mrs Jake de Hartog.'
Circa early1940s, USA made greeting card featuring a map of USA inside

The artful swan dodger

2009-12-20T15:19:00.003+11:00

Chateau de Chillon et la Dent du Midi*

I understand that white swans have grumpy temperaments. With that in mind I would give these giant swans a very wide berth.

*Vintage postcard circa 1910/20.

Ellen is generous

2009-12-09T12:25:00.001+11:00

Clint Eastwood on the Ellen show
"I'm just here for my stuff."