Not Only Old But Inexcusable!

Steven Spielberg was discussing his new project – an action docu-drama about famous composers starring top movie stars. Sylvester Stallone, Steven Segal, Bruce Willis, and Arnold Schwarzenegger were all present. Spielberg strongly desired the box office ‘oomph’ of these superstars, so he was prepared to allow them to select whatever composers they would portray, as long as they were very famous.

“Well,” started Stallone, “I’ve always admired Mozart. I would love to play him.”

“Chopin has always been my favorite, and my image would improve if people saw me playing the piano,” said Willis. “I’ll play him.”

“I’ve always been partial to Strauss and his waltzes,” said Segal. “I’d like to play him.”

Spielberg was very pleased with these choices. “Sounds splendid.” Then,looking at Schwarzenegger, he asked, “Who do you want to be, Arnold?”

So Arnold says……..

“I’ll be Bach.”

Illusion

Are there any gray dots?

Kiwis today, Brazilians Tomorrow

Because of complicated comment procedures, I cannot enter the commentatory riot which took place on Daddy Papersurfer’s blog when this wonderful whimsy was published there.

So I am stealing it.

Although I don’t know what other people will sayers – - -

Golden Fang

Skyline

Photo Hunt # 77; Original

In June 2003 I bought my first digital camera.

A Pentax Optio 330GS.

With 3.2 mega pixals it was not state of the art at that time but was close.

This is the first image I recorded with that camera. My original Digital Image.

In the four years since,  says he checking the digital counters, I have taken nearly 20,000 images with this camera and over 10,000 with the SLR I now use most of the time.

St Joseph’s Catholic Church, Subiaco, Western Australia

In 1896 the Sisters of St John of God arrived in Western Australia to help care for the sick. They initially “set up shop” in the private home of a well-respected but recently deceased leader of the Catholic community, Bernard Smith*.

While this was a good place to begin their ministry, it was not suitable as a long-term hospital site. After several years it was decided that a purpose-designed hospital should be built near the railway line in the near-Perth suburb of Subiaco.

A small convent was built along with the new St John of God Hospital.

The Hospital was built on the other side of the road and remains in use today, along with many modern additions.

In 1933 an impressive new church was built for hospital patients and their families as well as the locals in the developing suburb.

Impressive as the external architecture is, the inside of the church is equally grand.

The reason all of this is worthy of note is that Subiaco is undergoing large scale urban renewal. The railway line has been put underground and this has opened up new land for development. Many old buildings have been removed and modern, multi-story luxury residential units are being erected.

I was in the area last week and saw the convent and church as I have never seen them before. The buildings masking this final view have been removed and will be replaced by one of these large residential hives.

This view, partly from the rear of both Convent and Church will not be seen for possibly another century.

* Great Great Grandfather of regular commentor on this blog, genius genealogist and spouse, Buff.

Another Falcon Webcam

Wed 26 Sept, 2007

THE third hatchling of the year for Frodocam stars, peregrine falcons Frodo and Frieda, hatched high above Brisbane this afternoon

The white, fluffy chick hatched about 2pm on the falcons’ penthouse ledge above the Brisbane River.

The previous hatchling arrived about 6am today.

Frodo and Frieda now begin the task of keeping food up to the ravenous chicks.

Watch Frodocam as the chicks grow – fast!

We should also be able to collect some (gory) video of the falcons feeding their young, mostly on feral pigeons hunted in their inner-city territory.

This will be the fourth clutch of chicks raised on webcam by this family. It could well be the eighth clutch raised in this nest by this pair.

Unexpected

I found this over at mastercowfish and was blown away.

I just have to share this with you.

Just click on this presentation of photos and enjoy a most unexpected experience.

Western Australian Wax Plants

Wandering through public gardens
or simply walking along the street.
Sudden sights of flowering shrubs
Deep pink lightening to off white
From all over this great state
Sure signs of Winter’s end.

Possibly the most common proof that spring is here is the sudden flowering  of the wax plants. Not just a few blooms but a total recolouring of the plant from its wintergreen.

Although there are wax plants named after many towns in the South West of Western Australia. All different. All with waxy flowers of shades ranging from  deep pink to white.

The Geraldton Wax. The largest flowers and the widest range of colours.

Long lasting, they make an ideal cut flower.

Providing you grow your own shrub. As so many do.

Cutting branches of this attractive flower are not permitted, either in public gardens or out in the bush.

John Carter, Alive and Well on Barsoom?

A NASA spacecraft has apparently found seven cave entrances on the surface of Mars. triggering interest in hunting for other caverns that might be hiding life on the Red Planet.

While the caves discovered may be too high in altitude to host life, scientists say caverns elsewhere on the Red Planet could be underground habitats, or even one day become shelters for astronauts.

Images from the Mars Odyssey orbiter showed seven dark, nearly circular spots between 100 metres and 250m wide on the slopes of the Arsia Mons volcano, located near the planet’s highest peak.

Researchers concluded that the seven circles could be windows to underground spaces after checking their day-time and night-time temperatures by using Odyssey’s infrared camera.  “They are cooler than the surrounding surface in the day and warmer at night,” said Glen Cushing of the US Geological Survey’s Astrogeology Team at Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, Arizona.

But the discovery of the holes, dubbed ‘Seven Sisters’, has triggered interest in hunting for caverns elsewhere on Barsoom, NASA said.”Somewhere on the red planet, caves might provide a protected niche for past or current life, or shelter for humans in the future and, just maybe, John Carter could be waiting for a rescue craft.”

Equinox in Space

We haven’t had a NASA Photo of the Day for a while. As a celebration of the equinox yesterday (my time) here is an old equinox photo from the files of NASA.

The Equal Night
Credit: STS-68 Crew, NASA Explanation: Today, the Sun crosses the celestial equator heading south at 0951 UT. Known as the equinox, the astronomical event marks the first day of autumn in the northern hemisphere and spring in the south. Equinox means equal night and with the Sun on the celestial equator, Earth dwellers will experience nearly 12 hours of daylight and 12 hours of darkness. Of course, for those in the south, the days will grow longer with the Sun marching higher in the sky as summer approaches. A few weeks after the September Equinox of 1994, the Crew of the shuttle orbiter Endeavour recorded this image of the Sun poised above the Earth’s limb. Glare illuminates Endeavour’s vertical tail (pointing toward the Earth) along with radar equipment in the payload bay.

Everlasting Porn

 Cole Porter, back in 1955, wrote:-

….birds do it, bees do it
Even educated fleas do it
Let’s do it, let’s fall in love

Well, let’s reproduce!

Birds and flowers and bugs and mammals all do it.  In full view of the rest of the world.

Here is an Everlasting reproducing. Having sex! Needing a threesome to do it successfully.

Talk Like An Egyptian

On this blog I do not often record the day to day minutia of my rather dull life. Events and visual experiences around me are far more interesting.

Yesterday was an exception. Although, again, it was based mainly on some rather special visual experiences.

Years ago I helped daughter with a school assignment on the Sumer civilisation and ever since she has had an interest in ancient civilisations.

Daughter and family came up to Perth last night for a martial arts competition (note to self :- don’t upset daughter or grandchildren) and stayed up overnight so they could take two children and an aged parent to the State Art Gallery.

The Art Gallery is hosting an exhibition on loan from the Louvre. An exhibition of ancient Egyptian Funerary Art.

Hundreds of real, ancient man-made objects. Like these 209 Ushabti. I won’t talk about the rip-off prices on the memorabilia tables.

Naturally she had to introduce her children to very old stuff. And I was able to be there and share their wonder. It was also interesting to see daughter doing the early explanations with enthusiasm and skill. A genuine natural and unspoiled teacher with a subject with which she is still fascinated.

I was also able to wonder at a seven year old grandson who insisted on reading the labels and stories out loud. Getting most of the long words right. Even the Egyptian ones. You try pronouncing “Nephthys”, “Qebehswenuef” or “Djedkhonsouiouefankh”.

I am a very impressed grandfather.

101 Uses For A John Howard #61

Parliament may well have risen for a three week break but our politicians will not cease from assaulting our senses.

As cartoonist Kudelka points out, the Prime Minister, Yellow Cake Johnny, always leaves a lingering stench behind.

After ten years in power, any Prime Minister’s going to start getting a bit on the nose and I strongly suspect people are starting to take the stairs more often at Parliament House these days. A recent poll asking whether voters would prefer to be trapped in an elevator with John Howard or be locked up in Guantanamo bay for 6 years was strongly in favour of the Cuban getaway, prompting the PM to claim that a majority of Australians still support David Hicks’ continuing detention.

One of the more lingering stenches in John’s elevator is his very sensible refusal to sign up to the Kyoto protocol on climate change on the grounds that it isn’t quite ticketyboo. Now while the more hysterical world leader might feel that an impending worldwide cataclysm suggests taking any port in a storm (or apocalyptic uber-cyclone as the case may be) John has maintained a cool head in the face of soaring world temperatures and bravely followed the United States’ lead in being one of the only two industrialised not to present a united front on saving the world from catastrophe.

While we’ll no doubt thank him for this visionary approach one day, some of the more unkind Kyoto signatories could well liken John to a large cloud of greenhouse-causing flatulence in an enclosed space.