Fri, 30 May 2008
Movies // at 23:59
We seem to see fewer and fewer movies as the years go by, after starting 2007 with the best of intentions I think seeing a couple of movies at Chadstone sitting ankle-deep in rubbish while obnoxious people talked through movies, answered their phones through movies, or played with lasers through movies, put us off for the rest of the year. Maybe 2008 will be better...
2008-Apr-23 The Painted Veil
2008-May-30 V for Vendetta (DVD)
Sat, 13 Oct 2007
Movies // at 09:00
I wonder what movies I'll end up watching through the year? Here's hoping it'll be more than we managed to see in 2006! Somewhere in the past few years we went from being frequent cinema-goers to almost complete abstainers.
2007-Oct-12 A Scanner Darkly (DVD)
2007-Sep-02 Amazing Grace
2007-Aug-12 Black Book
2007-Aug-10 Desperado (DVD)
2007-Aug-04 El Mariachi (DVD)
2007-Jun-17 Overcoming (DVD)
2007-Jun-03 Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow (DVD)
2007-May-27 My Best Friend
2007-Apr-01 A Sunday in Hell (1976)
2007-Apr-01 Vive Le Tour (1962)
2007-Mar-04 Thunderball (DVD)
2007-Mar-03 The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada (DVD)
2007-Feb-25 Miss Potter
2007-Feb-24 Pirates of the Carribean: Dead Man's Chest (DVD)
2007-Jan-20 Casino Royale
Wed, 04 Oct 2006
Wed, 19 Jul 2006
Coffee // at 01:25
The Atomic
A magnificent find! Jo and I were rummaging through a second-hand book and Brik-a-brack store in Inverell when we spotted it.
The Bialetti
The Vesuviana
It isn't mine, some friends resurrected it from a bedraggled state after discovering it in the back of a cupboard.
External Links
Birrarung Marr // at 01:25
Birrarung Marr is a new park on the banks of the Yarra, “Melbourne's
first new park in 100 years.” Opened officially on Australia day
2002. Nobody seems to know about it yet, maybe next summer when
Federation Square is open people will come through there and down to
the river.
After months of talking about it, one
Saturday, Jo and I walked along the river
from Richmond and explored what there was to see. Most striking is
the Federation Bells, but they're only played at 8am and 5pm, so we
couldn't hear what they sound like.
One final look at the city skyline from the park.
Girlfriends // at 01:25
![[*]](/2003/04/12/m_104-0491_img.jpg)
What did you expect to see in here? I'm married now, not allowed to
have a girlfriend!
This is Jo, she's still my girlfriend, even though we were married in April 2003.
Fri, 30 Jun 2006
Books // at 07:33
Wanted List
Step one: identify the books I think I'd like. Not that this helps much, since most of the books I read or buy are “books of opportunity.” I guess I could try using Amazon's wish list. Maybe some rich benefactor will surprise me!
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A New Kind of Science |
|
Art of Deception |
Recent Purchase
Step 2: The growing pile of new books next to the bed, waiting to be read:
Currently Reading
Step 3: Far too many books being read at once! Does http://allconsuming.net/ work, or should I stick to maintaining my own list here with the booklist plugin? [ RDF ]
Recent Readings
...and the books that I've actually got around to reading in 2008, 2007, 2006, then older still...
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The Architecture of Happiness, Alain de Botton |
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Slowly Down the Ganges, Eric Newby |
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Who Goes Here?, Bob Shaw |
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Cod: A Biography of the Fish That Changed the World, Mark Kurlansky |
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Secrets and Lies, Bruce Schneier |
|
The Transparent Society, David Brin |
|
The New Nature, Tim Low |
|
Baudolino, Umberto Eco |
|
Reflections of a Marine Venus, Laurence Durrell |
|
On the Shores of the Mediterranean, Eric Newby |
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Love and War in the Apennines, Eric Newby |
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Accidental Empires, Robert X. Cringely |
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Whirlwind, James Clavell |
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The Emperor's Codes, Michael Smith |
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A Parrot in the Pepper Tree, Chris Stewart |
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Warrior Class, Dale Brown |
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Zodiac, Neal Stephenson |
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The Hope, Herman Wouk |
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Patriot Games, Tom Clancy |
|
Tour de France: The History, the Legend, the Riders, Graeme Fife |
|
French Revolutions: Cycling the Tour De France, Tim Moore |
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Foucault's Pendulum, Umberto Eco |
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Gerald Durrell — The Authorised Biography, Douglas Botting |
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Neuromancer, William Gibson |
 |
The View From Docker's Hill, J. M. McMillan |
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Struggletown, Janet McCalman |
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The Gobbler, Adrian Edmondson |
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The Beach, Alex Garland |
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High Fidelity, Nick Hornby |
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Cryptonomicon, Neal Stephenson |
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Forever Free, Joe Haldeman |
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It's Not About the Bike, Lance Armstrong |
Thu, 08 Jun 2006
Nigerian business proposal // at 03:36
For what is a day without spam?
I just had to include this. After years of waiting, I finally recieved the famous Nigerian Business Proposal scam in my email inbox.
Here, for you education and amusement, I've included the text in full.
**Engr. WILSON OSARO** Treasury Department Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Tel: +234 80 231 22537. PERSONAL Dear sir, I am WILSON OSARO a Treasury Officer in the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and a close associate of the immediate past Minister of Petroleum Resources. The Minister has mandated me to transfer the sum of US$88 millions recovered from an over-invoiced contracts involving the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) into several private accounts in Europe and United States. A total sum of US$73,700,000.00 has been transferred before the emergence of this present Civilian Administration, leaving the balance of US$14,300,000.00. I have made proper arrangement/documentation to transfer the balance which is retained in a coded account of the NNPC with the Central Bank of Nigeria. We are soliciting that you help us to receive the fund in trust. We cannot complete this transaction smoothly without the participation of a foreign partner who would provide an account where the funds could be lodged. Since it is a contract payment, the funds must be remitted to a foreign account. The remittance of the funds requires little documentation that would be completed as soon as you provide us with a secured bank account where you may wish to receive the money. There is no risk involved on your part in this transaction since the former Minister and I have covered this transaction with adequate contract and external credit documents from the beginning. What we require from you by telephone or fax are viz: (i) Acceptance letter of this offer (ii) Your company name and your confidential telephone and fax numbers (iii) Convincing Honesty, Trustworthiness and Willingness to abide by the requirements of this proposal paramount of which is CONFIDENTIALITY We have agreed that you will retain 20% of the entire US$14,300,000.00 for your effort in this transaction, 70% for us partners here in Nigeria and the remaining 10% will be used for defrayal of incidental cost in the course of this transfer. Please reply urgently by email,fax or telephone as above,we expect that the transaction will not take more than ten working days. And please note that this transaction must be top secret. Best Regards WILSON OSARO Treasury Dept. NNPC
Gerald Durrell // at 03:36
One of my heroes.
A pioneer animal consevationist and much-loved author, Gerald Durrell has always been a character I have admired. The following letter was penned by him and embedded in a time capsule at Jersey Zoo in 1987.
To Whom It May Concern
Many of us, though not all, recognise the following things:
- All political and religious differences that at present slow down, entangle and strangle progress in the world will have to be solved in a civilised manner
- All other life forms have as much right to exist as we have and that indeed without the bulk o fthem we would perish
- Overpopulation is a menace that must be addressed by all countries; if allowed to continue it is a Gadarene syndrome which will cause nothing but doom
- Ecosystems are intriccate and vulnerable; once misused, disfigured or greedily exploited they will vanish to our detriment. Used wisely they provide boundless treasure. Used unwisely they create misery, starvation and death to the human race and to a myriad of other lifeforms
- It is stupid to destroy things such as rainforests, especially because in these great webs of life may be embedded secrets of incalculable value to the human race
- The world is to us what the Garden of Eden was supposed to be to Adam and Eve. Adam and Eve were banished, but we are banishing ourselves from Eden. The difference is that Adam and Eve had somewhere else to go. We have nowhere else to go
We hope that by the time you read this you will have at least partially curtailed our reckless greed and stupidity. If we have not, at least some of us have tried...
We hope that you will be grateful for having been born into such a magical world.
Gerald DurrellExternal Links
